For anyone reading this that's not informed: I'm writing a series of blogs about cartoons. My loose plan is to feature one cartoon per blog and tell you--dear reader--why I love each featured cartoon. We can then proceed to recall the 'good ole days' of our respective youths.

Full series:

• Part 1 -- "Hey Arnold!"
• Part 2 -- "The Magic School Bus"
• Part 3 -- "Rugrats"
• Part 4 -- "Spider-Man" (You're reading it!)

Rugrats

Surprise, surprise. I was a child of the 90s, and I watched Rugrats. Is Rugrats super played out this day and age? Maybe, but it doesn't change the fact that Rugrats was one of my favorite cartoons as a wee lad. Having gone back to watch a few episodes of it on YouTube, it actually holds up. That may or may not be pure nostalgia talking, but I enjoyed reliving some episodes none the less. I'm finding, as I write these blogs, a common denominator between my favorite cartoons. That denominator being: super memorable and unique characters.

Rugrats is obviously no exception, as many of you I'm sure remember. The characters are endless: Tommy, the fearless leader; Chuckie, the scaredy-cat; the always fighting twins, Phil and Lil; and Angelica, the older bully. Those are the most prominent characters, but there are other just as memorable characters that appear throughout the series such as: Susie, friend to the babies; Kimi, Chuckie's step-sister; Dil, Tommy's baby brother; Tommy's parents and grandpa, Stu, Didi, and Lou; Phil and Lil's Parents, Betty and Howard; Chuckie's dad, Chaz; and of course the dog, Spike.

Whew, that was quite a few characters. If I had to choose two that I most closely related with growing up though, it's hands down Tommy and Chuckie. In the show, Tommy and Chuckie are almost polar opposites. Tommy finds adventure and danger to be exciting, while Chuckie wants nothing to do with it. This dynamic ends up playing a big part in most of the episodes. When I was young I had a friend that was similar to Tommy, and as you may have guessed, I was more on the Chuckie side growing up. I can recall a specific moment when my friend and I were getting our usual adventure on, and exploring the local wilderness. There was a spot, where in order to get through, we would need to cross these super thorny bushes. I wanted nothing to do with it, but my friend tried his best to convince me by saying "Come on. Are you a Tommy, or a Chuckie?" So then I thought to myself for a minute before coming to the conclusion that "eff this, I'm a Tommy!". We then both proceeded to trample through this treacherous patch of thorn bushes. Minor scrapes and scratches may have been acquired. That just goes to show you: Kids that watch Rugrats learn to make stupid decisions! :P

I think a very large reason I liked Rugrats as a kid--and continue to like it--is the incredible ability to relate with the babies. Everything that they do--no matter how crazy or magical--is something that I too most probably did as a kid. The show has a great way of capturing the delightful thoughts of blissfully ignorant babies. A good example is an episode where Tommy's dad Stu decided to order an extravagant and complicated toy for the babies. This toy ends up being more trouble to put together than it's worth, but that doesn't stop each of the babies imaginations from running wild with the box that the toy came in. Each of the babies has their own box fantasy, and it's just an absolutely perfect example to me of how kids think, and I love it. I know I was that way as a kid as well. This episode's on YouTube, so check it out!

There was another episode in which Tommy's grandpa fakes that he is sick with a "bug" in order to get out of trouble, and out of doing yard work. The babies hear about the "bug" and naturally think that there's a real creepy crawly bug inside Tommy's grandpa. It's moments like this that makes this show so terrific, as the babies come to the conclusion that the only way to get the bad bug out of grandpa, is to get a whole bunch of "good" bugs from the back yard, and have them fight (!) the bad bug. How amazing is that?! Whoever writes these episodes is a great person. The simplistic logic of the babies in nearly every episode, and how that leads to interesting events, is always top-notch.

I can't write about the Rugrats though without bringing up it's attempt to grow up with it's audience. That's right, I'm talking about the "All Grown Up!" spin off. In this cartoon, Tommy, Chuckie, and the rest of the gang are now several years older as the title suggests. To be honest, I didn't watch a lot of this series; It just didn't appeal to me nearly as much without the things I mentioned earlier, like the babies simple (yet amazing) logic. It could very well be a case of people not taking too kindly to change, but I have only heard negative things about the "All Grown Up!" show. It's sad really that the series had to go out on this kind of note, but it doesn't take away all the great original series episodes. Maybe I'll see if I can find a couple of the "All Grown Up!" episodes on YouTube to see what I think about it. That's not a high priority though; I'm perfectly happy looking back on the original cartoon, which was without a doubt one of my favorite shows as a child.

As always, feel free to share your own Rugrats memories. Cartoon memories in general are always welcome too. :)

<3

--JJWeatherman

For anyone reading this that's not informed: I'm writing a series of blogs about cartoons. My loose plan is to feature one cartoon per blog and tell you--dear reader--why I love each featured cartoon. We can then proceed to recall the 'good ole days' of our respective youths.

Full series:

• Part 1 -- "Hey Arnold!"
• Part 2 -- "The Magic School Bus" (You're reading it!)
• Part 3 -- "Rugrats"
• Part 4 -- "Spider-Man"

The Magic School Bus

I really don't have a gauge on where other people's opinions lie on "The Magic School Bus" series. This was never a series I talked about with my friends, or really made a big deal about at all. That doesn't mean I didn't love it though. Way back when I was in elementary school, I would religiously wake up for school an hour before I realistically needed to--sometimes even earlier--in order to watch The Magic School Bus. I have the fondest of memories freezing under my blanket every morning as I enjoyed Ms. Frizzle and class' wacky adventures.

For anyone not familiar with what The Magic School Bus series is about, I'm ashamed to be relating with you. I kid; I'm honestly not really sure how popular the show was. The cartoon is based on a Scholastic book series by the same name. The show revolves around a class of average students with a not-so-average teacher named Ms. (Valerie Felicity) Frizzle. Ms. Frizzle happens to own a magical school bus, which is the initiator of all the action. Naturally, the class takes a different "field trip" every episode. With the help of the bus, the class is able to experience Ms. Frizzle's lessons as opposed to just sitting in a class and listening. It's not uncommon at all for the class to climb into the bus, and shrink down to the size of ants. A trip to Pluto is also entirely possible with the help of the bus. In one episode, the class even shrinks down to take a trip into the human blood stream via an open scab. Ewww.

So yeah, the show's kinda nuts. What saves the show from being too nuts though, is the characters. Each one has a distinct personality and--at least for me--are each very memorable. At the forefront is the extremely eclectic teacher, Ms. Frizzle. Frizzle's great; she's always super enthusiastic and gives the show a lot of energy. Frizzle's ability to keep her cool, even in the face of immediate danger, is always fun to watch. Apart from the always topical dresses though, Frizzle is more or less a static character. The more interesting characters are the kids in Frizzle's class. Each have very distinct personalities, and are constantly discovering problems, finding solutions, and learning lessons. I don't want to go on and on, but there are a few of the class members that I really like. Arnold, for starters, is probably the most prominent of the kids. Any time the situation becomes dire (which is often), Arnold slings his catch phrase: "I knew I should've stayed home today!". Arnold's basically the stereotypical wimp. Then there's Ralphie. He's the outspoken one, and is always unintentionally causing trouble. Dorothy Ann is another essential character as she's the brains of the class and is constantly spouting her own catch phrase: "According to my research...". Describing each character at length would probably make you--dearest of readers--want to punch a kitten. I'm all about kitten safety here, so lets move on.

It's honestly hard to remember the quality of the humor in this show, as it's been so long. The great thing about The Magic School Bus though, is that humor is secondary--if not tertiary. For me, this show was genuinely interesting. Back when I was a kid, I knew very little about, well, everything. So when the class would, lets say, take a trip inside a plant to learn about photosynthesis, I was fascinated. It's really a genius idea for a show because the writers are able to explore any educational topic they want, and always have a plausible (and highly interesting) way to be able to explore the chosen topic. There's another episode where the class learns about the rain cycle by literally transforming the students into water, and putting them through the entire cycle: From evaporation, to cloud, to freezing rain. Damn, that's one magic-ass bus. Sometimes the lessons are less bus-focused though, and more practical. An example off the top of my head is when the bus takes the kids to the north pole. In that episode, the bus breaks down and the kids learn all about the properties of heat, and the ways to best retain it. As I mentioned earlier, space travel isn't an obstacle when the Magic School Bus is on the scene. The episode where Frizzle and the class take a trip into space, is a pretty great one. I was actually able to find this episode on YouTube. Oh YouTube, what would we do without you? Anyways, I think this clip of the episode does an excellent job of showing you everything that I just told you. At least watch the shows introduction, as the music is downright funky!

I could probably rattle off different episodes, and how interesting they were, all day. I have a feeling, though, that kitten punching feelings may quickly set in if I were to do that; again, I'm all for the kittens. But I hope I was able to convey my love for this show adequately. It was really the creative approach to educational topics, as well as the wacky characters, that drew me in as a kid. Having watched the above clip, my suspicions about this show being less appealing now than it was back in the day, are more or less confirmed. Watching the class take field trips to strange places is still fun, but the show's not nearly as fascinating now that I'm in college, and not grade school.

As per usual, feel free to share any memories you may have, or wish you had (?), about The Magic School Bus. General cartoon talk is always welcome as well. Keep it classy duders and duderettes!

--JJWeatherman <3 <('-'<) -- (Kirby loves me)

So I've been getting back into Halo 3 recently. what's the deal with Halo 3? /Seinfeld impression 
 
It's actually not the game which forced these thoughts into my head, but rather the players I've been playing with. I know that the internet has been the go-to destination for as long as I can remember for people to show up and complain about other players online, for that reason I usually don't like to write something about a bad experience I've had online. Nobody cares; everyone has bad experiences. I had an experience today though that was just bizarre. So here's what happened: 
 
I jumped into a ranked team slayer match, nothin' special. So I got grouped up with three fellow Covenant killers. We proceeded to play out the match as usual. I think I finished with like a +8 KD ratio, which is fairly good I guess. So this guy invites me to team up next match. I don't often jump in and play with random players, but I was like OK whatever. I joined his game, we talked some, whatevs. He seemed like an alright dude. He even sends me a friend request (presumably so we could play again later). There was an issue though with the friend system I guess; must have been a strict NAT on his end. So anyways as the friend system struggles to figure its self out, I'm stuck in the guide menu as the match starts. Right off the bat the guy starts flipping out on me. Somewhat understandable I suppose since I was just standing there for about 10 seconds. Once I finally get out of the menus and into the game, I quickly realize that I aint goin' +8 this time. I wasn't racking up as many kills as this new "friend" would like, and he starts saying things like, "Are you TRYING to lose? Why don't you have any kills?". I just kept telling him things like, "Sorry man, I'm trying. I'm havin' a bad game." Long story short, I finished the game with very few kills (like 5 maybe), but my KD ratio was still somewhat respectable as I at least kept myself from dying non-stop. All-in-all a very stressful match. After we were sent back to the lobby, I said something like, "That didn't go very well". This guy says nothing and leaves the game. Two seconds later he boots me out of the party. I just sat there thinking "What the hell...". I have no doubt that if the friend system hadn't crapped up and I had added him earlier, he would have deleted me from his friends list too. 
 
OK. Now's the time that I refer you, dear reader, back to the title of this blog. Go on, scroll up; I'll wait. Scroll back down yet? Good. I mean come on man! One match and you bail? That was super lame. Uggh, people these days. Amirite? What happened to getting together with a bunch of bros. (even random bros.) online and having fun? It just seemed really shitty and I wanted to tell everyone about it. I was an inch away from taking this whole situation personally until I realized I shouldn't even worry about it. I don't want to play a game with someone that's that competitive anyways. That's why it just seems like a bizarre situation. 
 
We need to rally together and bring the fun back to video games! Guys I can't do this without your help. That's why I've started this online petition... 
 
lol, jk. There is a way you can help though: Play video games and have fun doing so. Don't hate on people just because they don't shoot down a UAV in BC2. Don't flame someone for failing to get a kill. Don't send nasty messages telling others how horrible their SSFIV execution is after a match. Together, we can change the world. At least the world of online gaming.
 
¡Viva La Revolución!

For anyone reading this that's not informed: I'm writing a series of blogs about cartoons. My loose plan is to feature one cartoon per blog and tell you--dear reader--why I love each featured cartoon. We can then proceed to recall the 'good ole days' of our respective youths.

Full series:

• Part 1 -- "Hey Arnold!" (You're reading it!)
• Part 2 -- "The Magic School Bus"
• Part 3 -- "Rugrats"
• Part 4 -- "Spider-Man"

Hey Arnold!

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls:

I like cartoons. However, I don't watch them nearly as much as I used to. The memories I have of watching cartoons in my youth though are pretty dang fond. I think everyone else here likes cartoons too, so I'm going to write some blogs about them. I don't really have a plan for this. I'm just going to sit down every so often and write about whatever cartoons pop into my head, like this one:

So I was born 1990 and grew up in what I have come to believe was the heyday of cartoons. Nickelodeon was in full force, and one of my favrite Nick shows was undoubtedly "Hey Arnold!". Hey Arnold! was great, I think everyone can agree on that. The characters were relatable and fun. The situations Arnold and pals got into were always kind of crazy but plausible. I think those things added a lot to the likablility of the show.

So quick rundown of the characters: Obviously Arnold is the hero of the series. He's a smart, lovable football-headed boy that lives with his Grandparents in a boarding house. Arnold's a great character as he's always helping others with their problems and learning lessons in the process. Then there's the best friend Gerald. You know, the bro with the tube-shaped afro. Gerald's awesome if only for the sweet handshake he commonly performs with Arnold. The sound that their thumb's inexplicably produce is amazing. I couldn't find a video of it, but it's almost as good as this.

The third major character is the girl that torments Arnold but of course has a secret crush on him: Helga Pataki. Helga is delightfully schizophrenic, and never fails to spice up an episode. The great thing about Hey Arnold! is that even the supporting characters are fantastic. Characters like Harold, Stinky, Sid, Phoebe, Brainy, and Rhonda all bring a lot to the table. Brainy in particular is one of my favorites as he is constantly getting hit in the face by Helga--usually just after Helga gets all emotional about Arnold.

I don't know many of the actual names of episodes, but there are a ton that stick out in my mind for one reason or another. I'm not exactly sure why, but the episode where Arnold and friends decide to renovate the old lot in his neighborhood into a baseball field is one that I loved. I actually found this episode on YouTube with some random searching. Turns out is called "The Vacant Lot".

Another great episode was the camping trip one. In this episode, Arnold and Gerald ditch Arnold's grandpa (and his old-school techniques) while camping to hang out with Helga and her dad who brought all the high-tech gear he could fit into his enourmous RV. Long story short, all the fancy technology fails in one way or another and only the wilderness skills that Arnold's grandpa taught him earlier could save the day.

There are seemingly endless terrific episodes of Hey Arnold! that I could reminisce about, but this blog would be 1,000 pages. So this has been my first cartoon retrospective blog. Planning on more to come. Last thing, everyone should check out this video; it's outstanding:

It would be awesome if you guys shared your own favorite "Hey Arnold!" episodes/memories!(You're reading it!)

And man, it's lead to some photoshop work. Thought I'd post these: 

**My additions over time. Cause ya know... I'm still addicted to this show. 

MOAR! 

Still rollin':

*In my best sexy DJ voice* This is for alll yaaall followers out there: 
  

 It's rare that a game will give me such a strong first impression that I feel like I have to stop and tell everyone about it. That's the case here though. 
 
 

The release of Crackdown 2 is on the horizon now, which is great news for my fellow agility orb hounds. Upstart developer Ruffian Games is the studio behind the new release. The shift in development duties shouldn’t be palpable though, as most of Ruffian is made up of former developers of the original Crackdown. These guys know how to make a Crackdown game and it shows, for better or worse.  

The core gameplay concepts of the original all return fairly unchanged. You still play an agent who works for a mysterious agency. There’s still a wise-cracking, all-knowing voice giving you instructions. Your job is still to protect the city from gangs and general crime that may occur. Your agents various attributes still improve accordingly as you exert physical strength, shoot, blow things up etc.  The bottom line is that this feels very much like Crackdown. Refinements and tweaks aside, don’t expect a vast departure from the original game. For fans of the original, this is great news. But what about players who weren’t captivated by the faint whine of agility orbs waiting to be captured? 

Some of those tweaks mentioned earlier have the potential to make the game quite a bit more interesting. Structurally the original was the very definition of sandbox gameplay. There was no structure and very little story tying it all together. In fact, the original Crackdown’s structure essentially consisted of a list of people to murder. This time, missions will loosely tie into story elements and will hopefully help the story be something the player can actually care about. There is also more significance to the day and night cycle now. With the introduction of the new enemies known simply as “freaks”, different times of day will determine which enemies are out and about. During the day, the standard gangs are out of their hideouts and around the city. This makes gang hideouts easier to raid during daytime hours. Similarly at night, the freaks come out of their lairs and relentlessly swarm the streets of Pacific City. This makes freak lairs easier to raid during night hours. The changes being made seem smart and interesting. I think they’ll really help to mix up what was formerly a very bland structure. 

The multiplayer aspect of Crackdown 2 seems to have shaped up nicely. As in the first game, the ability to team up with friends and take down gangs is still available. This time the action is amped up though with the option of four player co-op over Xbox live. That’s double the mayhem of the original Crackdown’s multiplayer. Something totally new though is competitive multiplayer. Crackdown 2 will feature eight on eight action, which I imagine could get extremely hectic. Competitive multiplayer was always something I personally felt should have been in the original Crackdown, so I’m excited to see for myself exactly how fun it ends up being. The most fun I’ve had playing Crackdown was when I was screwing around with my friends. As long as the essence of that multiplayer sandbox experience is carried over to Crackdown 2, then this game should provide tons of hours of fun.  

When it comes right down to it, Crackdown 2 looks to be essentially more Crackdown. The shooting is still wonky and the climbing can still be a hassle. Whether or not you dug the original game should tell you everything you need to know about your feelings towards its sequel. For anyone who doesn’t have a reference point of the original, there is a nice 30 minute demo of Crackdown 2 that’s definitely worth checking out. I can say though that even with the issues Crackdown 2 may have, I’m definitely looking forward to jumping back into the world of Pacific City. No orb will remain safe!