Phil

[Phil]

Wow, still? Doesn’t this thing surface on ebay an average of twice a year?

Not that I’m saying it wasn’t worth a link, Cliff. I’m just amazed at how frequently that same item gets listed. Is nobody in the world interested in buying it?

[Phil]

Those do look, great, Ben, and not bad likenesses. Except for Danny. He looks good, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think I’ve EVER seen a Cat replica that looked “right.” Absolutely no idea why.

[Phil]

Jesus Christ, Tanya. Obviously that could have gone far, far worse, but that’s terrifying.

[Phil]

>and anyone who tries to TELL you their predictions whilst you?re watching something is a pain in the fucking arse.

Gah, my father used to do this all the time when I was little. Bugged the hell out of me. Mainly because, being little, I only watched programs that were very formulaic, so he always ended up being right.

Nowadays it still drives me nuts.

[Phil]

>Did you lose anything in the trashing?

Some CD cases were shattered, a few DVDs were unprotected on the floor and so possibly scratched…but the major thing for me was my books. I’m the kind of reader who doesn’t even crease the spine of a paperback. I don’t mark them up and I’m always careful to keep them in good condition. I don’t know…I respect books. Even books I don’t like much.

But, well, throw some books across the room and you’ll see how easily spines separate, pages crease, paperback covers get bent back…that was the most maddening of all. Worse than seeing the guitar laying on its face, which was bad enough. (The Wii, for the record, was the first thing I tried, knowing it was still in warranty but maybe not for long. It worked.)

But yeah…I don’t know. Seb’s exactly right about it just FEELING odd that someone was in your house without you knowing, behaving so disrespectfully. To him they were just books. Just objects. To me those were things that I’ve accumulated over a lifetime that had sentimental meaning.

>That said, your landlord sounds great.

Yeah, he is great. My first weekend (or maybe second) in my apartment I had a party and he stopped up. I thought he was going to tell us to keep the noise down, but instead he just wanted to know if he could have a beer.

The funny thing about this is that if the kid had just walked out the door (which would have been easy enough after coming through the window) he probably wouldn’t have raised suspicion. At least not enough for my landlord to just come straight for him.

>I don?t know whether the police getting involved would have made you feel better

Yeah. I guess that’s true, and that’s good to hear. That makes me feel a little better. If anything, I might even have felt guilty about it.

I guess the whole thing…I don’t know. I’m an adult now, you know? Dealing with adult things and dangers that are sometimes horrible. And for whatever reason I feel at least slightly like a failure that when this happened, I just wanted the kid to go away so I could lay around feeling sorry for myself.

Well, whatever. I’m wallowing. I’ll probably wallow for at least another few days. Eventually I’ll look back on it and laugh. For now I just wish I had something better up my sleeve than conflict avoidance.

[Phil]

First episode wasn’t that bad. I haven’t watched the others, though. If I caught it on television I’d probably watch it through. Shatner was funny. The Al/Hal stuff was pretty awful though.

[Phil]

The big reveal at the end of Matrix 3 is that even the first film sucked.

[Phil]

>Shit your leg off

A rare Blue Jam reference!

[Phil]

Yes, I remember it well.

[Phil]

I nominate this thread for Hall of Fame status.

[Phil]

A 10-track Tongue Tied CD? How many versions of that song are there?

EDIT: I realize now that it’s a spoken-word album of TongueTied asking ten of his best trademark rambling nonsense questions.

[Phil]

>It?s interesting how Nintendo are offering all these alternatives to the Wii Remote + Nunchuk.

I’m hoping they keep that up for the new Mario Sluggers game. I loved the Gamecube version because it was very fun in spite of the fact that I’m not a big baseball fan. But the new version intends to use something similar to the Wii Sports interaction for hitting/pitching. Except I’m sure it’ll be more complex in terms of the types of swings/pitches you can do. Also the game is sure to be much longer and more tiring.

Personally, I’m all for hitting a button to swing a bat. It’s nice that the motion-sensing control will be in place for that sort of thing, and I’m sure it’s a lot of fun, but if I intend to play for any very long stretch of time I’d like the ability to control the game more “traditionally.”

[Phil]

Oops! Was Pete asking about MKWii? In that case I apologize. I mainly use the Wiimote/Nunchuck, though I did spend a lot of time with the wheel, which I only stopped using because I injured my left thumb making item use impossible.

[Phil]

So far I’ve only played it with the Gamecube controller and with the Wiimote/Nunchuck. If it weren’t for the horrid jumping and discard actions on the Wiimote/Nunchuck I’d spend more time with it. For now, though, I end up with the old faithful Gamecube controller.

In all honesty I haven’t found much time to play it since I picked up Mario Kart Wii, Twilight Princess, and a few Virtual Console games. (Not to mention working my way through the Luigi version of Mario Galaxy.) I’m sure my gaming habits will cycle back around to it, though.

[Phil]

Which I’m all in favor of. Melee came across to me as a button-masher. The only decisions you were ever making was whether to use a long-range weapon or a close-quarters one. I actually prefer the decrease in speed because it means an increase in actual strategy. The N64 version never felt like a button-masher to me. It was comparatively simplistic, yes, but it seemed rewarding in that simplicity. It was easy to pick up, but you always had to keep your wits about you.

In Melee “keep your wits about you” was replaced by “keep whacking the other guy so he doesn’t whack you,” “keep jumping so you don’t get killed by this ridiculous moving stage that doesn’t belong in a fighting game,” and that old chestnut “watch yourself get killed by a hazard that was colored so darkly it was practically invisible.”

[Phil]

I ADORED the N64 version. It was probably the last time in my life that I would stay up with friends playing the game literally all weekend.

Eventually I picked up a Gamecube just so we could play the next version…and it really didn’t do anything for me. I was very disappointed by it, actually. I think I was just hoping for the same game with more characters and levels. Instead it tried to do too much of everything, and the graphics were actually distracting and difficult to discern, despite them being, in a technical sense, better.

The Wii version is definitely a big step back in the right direction. Nothing will ever top the original for me, if only because of the memories I have, but it’s at least a really good, really solid game that keeps all the advancement of Melee but removes everything it did wrong.

[Phil]

Was this actually a poll? I get the feeling it was just a few writers from the site assembling their lists independently.

The forced disregard of animated characters is more than a little pointless. They ARE comedy characters, just as much as anyone else on that list. And even if I did take into account all of the piss-poor Simpsons episodes (every single one of them), I’d take Homer Simpson over at least 1/3 of the characters mentioned in those lists.

[Phil]

Watched this last night with someone…we actually didn’t make it all the way through. Which surprises me, considering how much of a Futurama fan I am.

It’s not that it was bad–it wasn’t. It’s not that it wasn’t funny–it was. But I think it felt pretty directionless. In BBS, just to grab a related example, you might not have known where the plot was going next, but you knew it was going somewhere. It was clearly enough building toward something.

This time…well, maybe they were–I didn’t see the end–but it didn’t feel that way at all. Good moments, some very big laughs, but we ended up finding other things to do about an hour into the film. Which pains me to admit.

And Ben isn’t exactly WRONG about how he feels…I think we’re just viewing the same thing from different angles. He feels that it devalues two major emotional episodes of the show. Certainly in the BBS version of things that’s an easy argument to make. But the fact that Yancy WOULD HAVE felt that way if his brother hadn’t returned, or the fact that Seymour WOULD HAVE wasted his entire life waiting…it still works for me. In the same way George McFly WOULD HAVE grown up to be a wimpy little weed.

The time-travel alters the outcome, but doesn’t make the original outcome any less affecting.

To me, obviously. I can’t speak for anybody else, and I’m taking care not to make the opposite opinion seem invalid. No matter how you argue it logically, it all comes down to whether or not you feel those scenes retain their emotional identity. (And probably for others still, whether or not you even care about that.)

[Phil]

I nominate this thread for Hall of Fame status.

[Phil]

Dave – makes “jism-chasm” joke
Danny Stephenson – laughs at “jism-chasm” joke

[Phil]

Bodysnatcher – My grandmother has never seen this episode
Timeslides – My grandmother has never seen this episode

[Phil]

This site has been closed.

LucasFilm has asked us to remove this site, as they felt it infringed on their properties. We have enjoyed seeing the tens of thousands of users over the past several days, and thank you for your interest.

[Phil]

>Wasn?t WEC available individually, though? (As, for that matter, the Dwarf stuff is.)

I haven’t seen either. My comment was intentionally general.

[Phil]

Bodysnatcher – Bodysomething
Bodyswap – Bodysomething

Lazy dicks!

[Phil]

Part of the reason “straight to youtube” doesn’t have a stigma (at least, that I’m aware) is that it’s free…so there’s really no gamble on whether or not you enjoy it. Sure, there’s an investment of time, but since you didn’t have to pay to view it there’s nothing stopping you from navigating away after a minute or two. You also get a nice cross-section of that person’s other work, in case you happened to just stumble onto one of his/her weak videos. It’s mutually beneficial and the content isn’t necessarily business-driven. It’s harder to get upset about having viewed a lousy free video than it is to get upset for having subscribed to a lousy mobile service.

[Phil]

Ooh, good find!

[Phil]

I hate you people.

[Phil]

Michael Cera is… The Cat!!!
http://www.adultswim.com/video/?episodeID=0520da99bf0cba3901e1e5a0810011f4

[Phil]

>Ringo two? Where is Ringo one?

Ringo two is behind Ringo one, and three ahead of Ringo five.

[Phil]

Yeah, that’s Elton John, I’m sure. And Ringo two behind him.

[Phil]

Michael Cera is… The Cat!!!

I’m gonna have unprotected sex with you little Juno,
I’m gonna have unprotected sex with you little Juno,
I’m gonna have unprotected sex with you little Juno,
because I like to have unprotected sex!

[Phil]

Who’s the guy with the H on his head? Is that Marleen?

[Phil]

Rats…I can’t find a working clip of Kitty Cat Man. I’ve failed all of you.

[Phil]

YOUR LOSS

[Phil]

Michael Cera is… The Cat!!!

[Phil]

Chris Barrie made a surprisingly good Johnny Cash, you have to admit. Almost as good as Craig Charles did in Ray.

[Phil]

>the Nazi short

I remember reading about that aaaaaages ago, but I was never sure if it was real or not. What an awesome find. How on earth do people manage to locate this stuff?

[Phil]

>notably this show that?s surely a contender for the greatest sci-fi sitcom of all-time!

Funny you remember that show…most Americans don’t even remember it!

I used to watch it all the time, but I admit I don’t think I’ve seen that full-length intro. Maybe they trimmed it down in later seasons, or maybe I only caught the show on edited repeats.

The music was definitely the same (for many, many years I always thought of that song as The Theme From Out of This World…I never realized it existed long beforehand), and the logo, and the paintcan being halted in mid-air, but that’s all I remember for sure. The departure sequence for Earth was definitely cut out of whatever airings I was watching.

Definitely something I used to love as a child, though. Ditto Small Wonder, about the little girl robot who would misinterpret simple commands. They really don’t make shows like that anymore, do they?

Thank god.

[Phil]

I’d like to compare relevant pictures of her rear end.

[Phil]

>More VCP, please. :D

For that, check out Shooting Star, which is the final story in God Ran Out of Faces. That’s where the Very Cancerous Physician idea first came up. I don’t want to spoil it for you if you DO decide to track it down, but it’s more than a little interesting that, by the time of The Ghost of John Hoare, it’s taken the shape of a stage musical. It implies that something very specific happened between Shooting Star and Ghost.

Glad you enjoyed it! John Hoare is a very atypical story for me…the one I submitted for issue two (Cowboy Fiction!) is actually much closer to the sort of thing I naturally produce.

The launch party for the magazine was this past weekend, and I have about 30 pictures from the event in an album on myspace, if you’re interested.
http://www.myspace.com/chickenbrutus

For anyone else interested in the magazine, get your orders in. They printed a very limited run because they didn’t know what to expect in terms of first-issue sales and they’re nearly sold out already.

[Phil]

>This movie has all the best parts from an action film, a background story, a mission, something valuable to get, goodies, baddies and a somewhat unorthodox car chase.

All the best parts from an action film, there.

>My favourite line comes from the sequence where Tom has disguised himself as a Space Centre employee, and is whacking a vending machine to get the attention of the security guard. The security guard tells him that whacking the left hand corner works, Tom does this, turns to the camera and shouts ?Thanks God!?

I just wanted to quote the part that gave me diarrhea.

[Phil]

>we?ll be Wii-less this weekend as we?re going to a party?

To celebrate me going to Canada to be crowned KING OF AUTHORS?

>Wii Fit has been lodged in my Wii for too long.

Am I right to assume that’s a positive review on your end? I’m kind of fascinated by the idea of Wii Fit. Overall I’m about an average weight for my height, but I never exercise–ever–and I eat junk, leading me to believe I can’t be anywhere near as healthy as I look.

I’m tempted to get Wii Fit, but at the same time I’d feel oddly embarrassed doing so. Why is it that I’d buy a video game to get in shape but I won’t go jogging before work, or something?

[Phil]

Hosting another tournament Saturday at noon Eastern / 5 GMT. No rules, really…just a 4 GP free-for-all. To celebrate me going to Canada to be crowned KING OF AUTHORS.

[Phil]

No idea what you’re talking about, Ben.

[Phil]

Yeah, Kevin, all good points. A few of the carry-overs from SMB2 I really couldn’t care less about (Birdo…hooray…) but some of the others, such as the Bob-Ombs, really have become essential to the universe. It’s a great game, for what it is. I’m GLAD they went back to stomping rather than lifting/hurling, and there’s only so much vegetable picking anyone should have to do in an action game, but it’s still lots of fun.

The only real development I think Zelda 2 brought to the table was the abundance of NPCs. Which was, and remains, a hugely important development in the franchise, don’t get me wrong. But the “magic,” as it’s used in that game, we really don’t ever see again. Sure, you end up with a stray spell here and there in the later games, but you never have nearly that arsenal that you have in Zelda 2, and so the “spells” function more as items later on. (Items being something almost entirely absent from Zelda 2!)

You do get magic meters in later games, but for the most part it regulates spin attacks and certain non-ammunition items like the Deku Leaf from Wind Waker.

Magic WAS an important development, I do agree with you on that…but Zelda 2’s magic SYSTEM–which was the main innovation–didn’t survive to the next game.

[Phil]

Did I win that contest or what?

[Phil]

You know, I really LIKE Mario Bros. 2. I downloaded it on the Virtual Console and decided I still enjoy it.

I remember being disappointed as a kid…back then nobody really knew it was just a re-branded, unrelated Japanese game…and I was kind of worried about the direction the series was taking. It seemed like a big step backward.

But now that we know it was just an experiment (I guess…) we can kind of appreciate it for what it is…a pretty fun, cute little game.

Funny that the two major Nintendo franchises–Mario and Zelda–took such radically different approaches for the second installment…and then more or less abandoned that direction immediately.

[Phil]

Yeah, it’s fully possible that Iannucci decided on the framing and things branched off from there. In that case it turns into one big group-improvisation…but integrated seamlessly with the material that already does exist. Which is essentially just bliss on a stick.

I’m in the mood to go watch it now. Damn my employment.

[Phil]

You’re right. It FEELS like plot stuff, because it’s integrated so well. And, honestly, it probably makes the show 10x funnier than it would have been without it.

But the thing is…

I don’t know. When Alan says, “That’s your fault!” that’s a believable adlib. Funny enough, but not excedingly clever. The later stuff, though, about being in frame with the shit, and the horse being a critic…it’s almost too good not to have been in the script!

I’m sure you’re right, especially if it’s confirmed in the commentary. But I’m just in awe of how such a perfect moment occurred, and they reworked sections of the episode around it to almost make it a theme. THAT’S brilliant.

[Phil]

Speaking of possible improvisation, what about the first episode of Knowing Me Knowing You?

I’ve wondered about that since I first saw it.

The horse craps on stage. Could that have possibly been planned? Can they get a horse to defecate on cue? I kind of get the feeling that it just “happened” and they left it in, and Alan’s “That’s your fault!” could be a quick enough line-addition on the day.

However there’s more to it than that, because we have some fun later in the episode with Alan being concerned that he’s being framed with the shit in shot with him, and at the end of the episode a joke is made about the horse shitting as criticism of the show.

It just seems like an awful lot of humor later in the episode relies on that crapping horse, and yet I’m not entirely sure you can MAKE a horse crap. Wouldn’t it just…happen or not happen? I guess you could feed it something that’d make it sick enough to just expel feces like mad, but would that be worth it? And wouldn’t it be crapping all over the place instead of just one neat pile in a single scene?

I have to know. I have to know.

[Author]

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