Starting Friday morning, at 12:01am GMT (this afternoon at 4:01pm PST / 7:01pm EST), Steam is offering a free 24 hour trial of the PC version of Left 4 Dead.  It’s a great opportunity to try out a (as I’ve heard tell) fantastic zombie survival game without any obligation or cost.  It’s a great offer, so take advantage of it while it’s available!

Why does the movie industry feel the need to saturate viewers with movie remakes?  Why not do something original more often?  The last few years, especially, has seen a veritable explosion of movie remakes, and it seems the trend is far from over.

Anyone remember the 1991 Phoebe Cates / Rik Mayall film Drop Dead Fred?  It was a fantastic film that, while commercial unsuccessful, gained a very large cult following and fanbase over the years.  The film was done very well, and left little room for improvement.  This, it seems, is not good enough, though.  Russell Brand, the at times annoying, at times funny British comedian with the weird hair, will be starring in the remake, written by the same man who is penning the Land of the Lost remake for Will Ferrell.  But it is not only our beloved Drop Dead Fred who is getting the makeover treatment; no, no, there is more.  Dudley Moore earned an Oscar nomination for his performance in Arthur, as the titular character, the loveable drunkard heir to a vast fortune.  The film won two Oscars of the four it was nominated for, which is an obvious sign that it needs to be remade!

And don’t get me started on the garbage “[Insert Topic Here] Movie” and “[Insert Topic Here] Flick” that studios will vomit out every four months.  The “spoofs” (if you can call them that) are filled with random pop culture mentions connected together by the loosest of plots pulled, at times, directly from the parody movie with no original spin added.  These movies give “spoof” films a bad name.  Good God, is there not an original bone left in Hollywood?  Why can’t we have more of films like The Fall, or Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story, or Pan’s Labyrinth?!  COME ON!

SERIOUSLY.  COME ON.

-Because I said so

Last night, Lindsey and I saw a very interesting Schick razor commercial for women.  I won’t do it the disservice of attempting to describe it with my paltry vocabulary.  Here it is in all of its glory:

Brilliant.  Absolutely brilliant.

-Because I said so

A much shorter gap between 8 and 9 than 7 and 8!  Going into Progress Update 9, I had 1 star remaining (that I know of) before the Kitchen Observatory’s Bowser battle.  I jumped back into the Ghostly Galaxy for the final star.  This level introduced me to the Bomb Boos, black ghosts that would explode when spun into an object.  Mastering spinning the ghosts where you want is the only way to progress through this level and defeat the final boss, who was quite the doozy.  Being unable to obtain the comet star of the Ghostly Galaxy (as there were no comets in orbit), I continued on to the Bowser battle with 41 stars in tow.  The Bowser battle galaxy gave me my first taste of the launch cannons I so loved from Super Mario 64.  Defeating Bowser Jr.’s airship attacks was fairly simple, and yet another Grand Star was mine, opening up a new Observatory on the Comet Observatory!  The newly opened Bedroom Observatory galaxies were already completely opened to me because of my high star count.  I have four galaxies to get through before the Bowser Battle of the Bedroom Observatory, after which the final Observatory (the Engine Room) will be available to me.  The Bedroom Observatory, in a departure from the other Observatories, contains only a single one-star galaxy, and three three-star galaxies, whereas the other Observatories contained two of each.  That’s it for this update!

Tune in next time for Progress Update 10!  We’re nearing the finish, I think!

Late last year, Lindsey and I came across an amazing video on YouTube showing Shao Kahn’s creepy perverted side near the end of a match between Sub-Zero and Liu Kang.  Poor Subby Wubby.  He shouldn’t have to put up with that kind of harassment.

-Because I said so

Never fear, I haven’t given up on this game quite yet!  Life has been good at keeping me away from it for the past couple of weeks, but no longer!  Progress update 8 finds me back in the Kitchen Observatory, collecting more stars!  Having completed all but one galaxy in the Kitchen Observatory (other than the Bowser Galaxy), I turn my attention to the Ghostly Galaxy’s first star, “Luigi and the Haunted Mansion”.  This star gave me my first experience with Boo Mario and my first meeting with Luigi!  Boo Mario is a great cap.  You can float as well as pass through bars, etc with ease, which is necessary for completing the level.  After meeting up with Luigi and gaining the power star, I sat through a cut-scene where I was told to talk to the newly freed Luigi for some help and information.  Luigi told me that I had missed a star in the Good Egg Galaxy and told me that if he found it, he’d write me a letter.  After this, I jumped back into the Ghostly Galaxy for star 2!  While heading into the star course, I found a secret route, and gladly followed.  This was a very difficult (at first) star to get.  You had a small area of ground to walk on, and it was constantly moving forward towards your destination.  You had to follow the ground, or risk falling off.  It was very surreal.  This star having been attained, I experienced another cut-scene, with a picture card from Luigi stating that he had found the Good Egg star, but was stuck!  The picture showed his location in the galaxy, and, eager for another star, I headed over!  Back in the Terrace Observatory, I enter the Good Egg Galaxy and quickly find Luigi to obtain the star he posesses.  At this point, our dog started growling at Mario for some reason.  Undeterred, Mario re-entered the second Ghostly Galaxy star.  This star consisted of a space race between Mario and a giant Boo.  It was a bit difficult, but very fun.  Now at 40 stars, a new chapter has been added to Rosalina’s Storybook, and Progress Update 8 comes to a close!

Keep your eyes open for Progress Update 9!

-Because I said so

I’m sitting here on my iPhone in a Starbucks about 45 minutes from home while Lindsey handles a very last minute Mary Kay appointment. I brought the laptop and our broadcasting equipment so that I could do the MehCast on time. Twenty minutes to show time, I try to boot up, only to be greeted by a heinous system error. Unable to get into Windows at all, I am left with no choice but to do a partial system recovery from the recovery discs I luckily keep in the case. Unfortunately, the recovery will take close to an hour from this point, so there is no chance the MehCast will go live anywhere near on time. By the time it would be ready to go again, I’d be on my way back home.

I am terribly sorry for the lack of a new episode tonight. I feel awful. We’ll make it up to you.

-Because I said so

I’ve read this book many times before, and each time is just as fun as the last.  Written by Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island was meant for his stepson, who inspired the entire story by drawing a simple island map where buried treasure lay.  While a children’s book at heart, the novel deals with many adult concepts, such as moral ambiguity in Long John Silver’s ability to switch allegiences without a second thought if it is of benefit to him, deception and murder in Israel Hands’ attempts to use Hawkins towards his own ends followed by his attempts to murder the young Hawkins, and more.  However, this is dealt with in a way that still makes it a wholesome book for people of all ages, and while many people may not have read this book, there are very few people who have not seen the influence this book has had on the modern idea of a pirate.  Peg legs, parrots on the shoulder, treasure maps with x’s marking the spot, and more all draw their popular culture origins directly from the imagination of Robert Louis Stevenson.

Read this book.

Yarr, mateys.

-Because I said so

I noticed an entry on the Fresno Beehive about this site and, having nothing else better to do while at work, I gave it a try.  My results:

You are Times New Roman

Dude. You have three names. You’re blue blood, old money, landed gentry, confident, assured; perhaps a tad old fashioned but you don’t let that bother you. Let the kids go crazy with their new fads — you prefer style that’s going to last. You secretly fear you need to get out more, and you’re probably right.

Take the quiz on BuzzFeed.com

At least I wasn’t Comic Sans (like @mikeoz).

-Because I said so

August 7th-9th, 2009 will witness the return of the legendary concert festival known as Lollapalooza in Chicago, IL at Grant Park.  Performers include TOOL, Jane’s Addiction, Beastie Boys, Depeche Mode, Kings of Leon, The Killers, The Kaiser Chiefs, and many more.  Advance 3-day passes are currently available for $190 each, with regular pricing tickets still TBD.  VIP Lounge passes are available at $850 a piece, and private Cabanas are available for large parties at an undisclosed price.  If Lindsey and I were to buy tickets, airfare, and hotel now, we would be spending over $1,600 after tax.  We don’t have $1,600 right now, so…yeah.

Whoops! Where did that come from? Who put that there? Oh well, what’s done is done!

-Because I said so