Here are 10 things you may not know about our favorite video game character Mario:

* Mario was first seen in the video game Donkey Kong, but he was called “Jumpman.” He was also a carpenter then, not a plumber.

* Mario was named after Mario Segale, the landlord of Nintendo of America’s office, who barged in on a company meeting demanding an overdue rent.

* Shigeru Miyamoto drew Mario as wearing a cap because he found drawing hair difficult. He also drew in the moustache, because it was easier to see than a mouth in the crude video game screen resolution back then.

* Mario and his younger brother Luigi are known as the “Mario Brothers.” This means that Mario’s last name is also Mario, so his full name is Mario Mario.

* Mario is voice-acted by Charles Martinet, who crashed the audition for “an Italian plumber from Brooklyn” character. Here’s an interview with the man:

* Mario’s nemesis is Wario (a combination of “warui”, the Japanese word for bad, and Mario). Similarly, Luigi’s rival is Waluigi. Both are also voiced by Charles Martinet.

* Mario has appeared in over 200 video games so far, has sold over 193 million units of games (all of the Mario series) and even has his own TV cartoon show. Super Mario Bros. 3 alone grossed over $500 million in USA.

* TV Schmeve, you’re nothing till there’s an opera done on you. In 2003, Jonathan Mann of California Institute of Arts created The Mario Opera, a rock opera:

* Super Mario Bros. theme music, written by Koji Kondo, is known worldwide. It has inspired countless fan-renditions, including one played by Zack Kim on two guitars (viewed over 4 million times on YouTube!), played by Jean Baudin on 11 string bass, beatboxed by Greg Patillo on the flute, and played by the Oregon Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra on the trombones.

But my favorite is this one by Play! symphony orchestra:

* Mario is the most famous character in the history of video games, and perhaps is the most famous character ever. In a 1990 poll by Marketing Evaluations, Mario was found to be more popular (and recognizable) among children than Mickey Mouse.

My quaker oats and raisins just left the microwave and is waiting for me to devour it when I came across this amazing video clip.

I loved how the dude – yes he’s a dude and is currently training in the So. Korean Army – does his tapping.  If you weren’t watching the video you couldn’t tell how it was played.  According to guitar players this style is the hammering and pulling off type and that’s what he says here, too.

He’s a musical genius!  He has a few original scores too and they are cool!  Find him here.

Now, I have to get back to breakfast.  Quaker oats with raisins, here I come! Tasty!

Esto es lo que se llama un puto amo…

Visto hace tiempo y recordado hace poco, se ve como va incrementando la dificultad, lo mejor a partir de 1:30.

Canon en Re Mayor de Johann Pachebel, interpretado por Anthony Deaton a dos guitarras (metodo tapping)

Otro que vi hace tiempo que maneja la misma técnica de tapping a dos guitarras: Zack Kim – Super Mario Theme

A new index “Fellow Musicians” has been added.

• Fellow Musicians

  • AbsolutePitcher (Tetsuya Shima)
  • ANIME KEYS
  • Anime on Strings~
  • AnimeSheetMusic.net
  • えれけん (Eleken)
  • ロジカリズム (Haruhana)
  • fTVA
  • Ichigos Sheet Music
  • josh’s anime sheet music
  • L’indestin
  • Parasoul
  • SODA Sheet Music
  • Sperion no sora
  • Zack Kim guitarist
  • ZetaRemix | Xald Balghostriped

Out of all the links in there, I’m most impressed with three of the links.

• えれけん (Eleken)
• ロジカリズム (Haruhana)
• fTVA

There, you can check it out.

Please suggest more links to add using the comment function below.

ok so I’m using my other computer so maybe you won’t be able to see the video but go to the link!^^, his name is Zack Kim and I don’t know if you have ever seen him in youtube but OMG~! he’s amazing! like I have never herd anything like it, he’s just perfect when playing his 2 guitars AT THE SAME TIME! that’s like what?! o_O lolz XD ok so the link is my favorite song is an original of his, but he has many more songs so check them out!

PS: I think that one of the things about his playing is that I can see how he enjoys music, and playing the guitar he shows such a happy relaxed face that I’m like this song rocks!!!! lolz XD

Having recently joined the South Korean armed forces, Zack Kim has been away from his musical pursuits. He is “in love with music and dreams of performing around the world someday.” Well I gotta say young fella, move to Bushwick and lets start a band. Check out his Blog here. He does a cover of Zelda and Super Mario Bros. too.

Youtubeando me he encontrado con la música que hace el surcoreano Zack Kim.

Como se puede ver en los videos que os pongo, el chaval se dedica a tocar dos guitarras eléctricas a la vez, posando sus manos sobre el mástil de cada una, lo cual le permite realizar una curiosa polifonía.

Esto hace que el sonido que consigue (a mi parecer) sea muy apropiado para aquellas musiquitas que sonaban en los videojuegos de antaño, o en series de dibujos animados.

Aquí os dejo algunos ejemplos:

Doraemon Opening:

BSO The piano (me encanta esta canción, tenía que ponerla):

Super Mario (en mi opinión, la más “resultona” de las que he escuchado):

El chico tiene muchas más grabaciones, las podeis encontrar en su blog: http://www.zackkim.com/

 I’m scheduled to work till 10, but I can go home earlier if I don’t have a class at nine which is about half the time. Today I attempted to leave at 9, but the manager asked me to stay. I could see in her eyes, she REALLY wanted me to stay so I did. Turns out, I didnt leave till 11:15.  After the prospective student left, the manager just lost it and cried. I hugged her and tried to help as much as I could, but I just think the pressure of being a manager finally broke her. My shoulder was wet when she was done. I’m glad I stayed now because she apparently really needs the support.  Just at the time, it really sucked to stay that late.

As I was biking home, being a little upset that I am getting home 2 hours late, I get an email from coworker telling me how helpful I am. Sometimes life throws you a bone to remind you that you are lucky. And I am.

I called party girl today and this time she answered! Since she knows very little english… the phone call was shaky, but I did get to ask for her email, so I sent her the email that was used in a previous Japanese of the Day. I will inform the world of her response, via this blog. I can see how forced conversation really does help in learning a language though, because it just makes your head struggle to find the words. There is no better way to get those pathways burned into your mind than pressure.

Japanese of the Day Time!

One student brought their DS and I got to play Mario vs. Sonic Olympics. Their were a few interesting differences to the American version of the Mario franchise. At least to me. Probably boring to you haha.

#1 Bowser…. is just…………..Koopa(クッパ)??? Weird.  To me, a koopa is…

 #2 Toad… is…….Kinopio(キノピオ)???? ..like Pinocchio but not….<–”Who me?”

# Wart … is Mamu(マムー)??  I wonder what the translaters were thinking.. Mamu doesn’t sound menacing enough?

Weird… ne?

Music of the Day….Koji Kondo – ” Mario Theme” Played by Zack Kim on two guitars! Crazy.

Zack Kim Yong Woon e’ un ragazzo di Seoul, in Corea del sud, che ha acquisito fama attraverso il suo particolare modo di interpretare la chitarra elettrica.

In pratica, servendosi di un particolare appoggio, riesce a suonare impugnando due chitarre: la prima viene utilizzata come se fosse un organo, per i suoni alti; mentre la seconda viene utilizzata come una classica chitarra attraverso la tecnica del tapping, per i suoni bassi.

Inutile dire quanto questa tecnica sia difficile e complessa, poichè e’ come suonare contemporaneamente due strumenti diversi!

Veramente eccezionale.

Per maggiori info, il suo sito ufficiale e’ http://www.zackkim.com

 Vous ne connaissez certainement pas ce jeune guitariste Coréen… (Voir Biographie ici) Je vous laisse donc le découvrir… Un mot: Épatant!

Jouer de la guitare, c’est déjà bien, mais en jouer deux en même temps, ça c’est ce que j’appelle du talent!

Pour voir d’autres de ses vidéos sur Youtube, cliquez ici.

Son site officiel zackkim.com