Christmas C64 Style!

Ah, Christmas.  I love Christmas.  I'm a child at heart and a total kid when it comes to Christmas.  I love everything about it.  I love the tree, the decorations, the music and the movies.  Everything.  When I was a kid we had a Commodore 64 (as I'm sure you are more than likely aware, if you read this.).  Back in those days the internet was not in existence.  There were BBS's (Bulletin Board Systems) though.  I'm going to assume that you guys know what a BBS is, since you're reading this blog.

Uploading/Downloading from a BBS took FOREVER, so more often than not, my Dad would trade software with friends from work.  This is where I got the majority of my new games and such.  One such trade took place around the holidays circa 1986 or so.  One of the disks that my Dad copied off of a friend had some various "software demos" on it, including a Christmas music/graphics demo.  It became a family tradition to gather around the 12" computer monitor and watch 8-Bit Christmas music videos.  After the first video collection, somehow more found their way into our collection.\

Here, for your enjoyment, are the videos that we used to watch on those holidays of yore.  I hope that you find these as warm and nostalgic as I do!  If anyone has any fond C64 Christmas memories, please feel free to share them in the comments!

So here's the first Collection that my Dad had gotten:

Now remember, this was back in the 80's and as far as home computers were concerned, this was state of the art technology!  We thought this was the most awesome thing in the universe!  I must have watched this about 8 trillion times that Christmas. 

The next year, Dad got ahold of a couple more Christmas programs....my favorite being The Jingle Disk - A C64 Christmas.  Check it out:

Then there was also the C64 Christmas Demo, which was cool, but not as cool as the Jingle Disk!

There were also some pretty cool Christmas themed C64 Games that I would play non-stop during holiday seasons.  Stay tuned for a rundown on those!

I hope that my little nostalgic trip to the pixelated Christmases of yesteryear helps to enhance your enjoyment of this holiday season!  

Chicks With Chainsaws

In celebration of the fact that it's Sunday morning.  I give to you my top 5 photos of Chicks with Chainsaws!  What does this have to do with Sunday morning, you may ask?  What's the connection?  Beats the crap out of me!  I just wanted to post up some pics of hot chicks holding mechanical weapons of mass bodily harm!  Let's kick off the countdown!

#5

I'm pretty sure this was like for a chainsaw ad or something.  It's not really a very artistic photo, but damn, if that girl doesn't look like she's ready to mess you up but good!  Seriously!  Look at her!  She means business.

















#4

I like to think that this lass here just finished sawing up a My Little Pony....or some other cute, cuddly little critter!  Warms the cockles of my heart to see pink blood dripping off a chainsaw......

















#3

I think that I were getting chased by her, I would just let her carve me up.  And I would die with a smile on my face.  I've got a serious soft spot for chicks with tattoos.  This one's covered in 'em AND she's wielding a chainsaw.  YES PLEASE!
















#2

I just happened to stumble across this picture and immediately I knew she was going to be in the countdown.  I have no clue when this photo was taken, but I like to imagine that it was taken somewhere around 1987.  This chick looks like she means BUSINESS!  Look at that saw!  Holy crap!  Leatherface would be proud.  So not only is this girl hot and her saw huge, but it's got that awesome retro vibe to it, which earns it the #2 spot.


























#1

Yep, Numero Uno is this epic masterpiece of beauty and carnage.  The Crazy Babysitter Twins!!!  This one has got it all....gorgeous girls, blood dripping chainsaw, nice creepy atmosphere....AND it's got the bonus machete to boot!  What's not to love?

Starfish Hitler

Every once in a while you just come across something so fucking awesome that you have to share it.  This is one of those times.  Ladies and Gentlemen, I give to you, Kamen Rider X vs Starfish Hitler!  FUCK YEEEAAAAUUUUHHHH!

Watching this make me all warm and fuzzy inside.  I love, love, LOVE living in a world that gives us weird shit like this on a constant basis.  It also makes me want to watch far more Japanese television.  Friggin brilliant.

Halloween, Bettering Myself and other Random Stuff

Yep, the summer is definitely in it's final days......as I noted before Pumpkin Spice coffee is back at Dunkin Donuts (as well as other fine coffee slinging institutions), Target has put out their Halloween Greeting Cards and the candy is coming out in spoooooky bins and the craft stores are bringing out their stock of decorations.

Holly and I went to A.C. Moore's the other day to pick up some candles (What?  We like good smelling candles!).  While we were there, I stumble across this bad monkey:

Awesome right?  I'm actually a bit pissed because if I had even half a brain, I would have made ALL the Mummies dance.  Hindsight is 20/20, eh?  Just imagine an epic line dance of Thriller Mummies.......I might have to go back to make that happen.

In other news I have decided to try and go back to school.  I've tired of the EMS field and it is definitely not something that I want to do for the rest of my life.....so I've decided that I'm going to go back and get my degree in computer sciences.  I've always had an interest in programming and have even made some simple (and I do mean SIMPLE) programs when I was younger.  Okay well, I didn't design the program.....I just tweaked it slightly from the original code.  Of course that was also back in the day of the Commodore 64.....but anywhoo, that's the scoop on that.

Pumpkin Spice Coffee.....drink of the GODS!

Well, I've pretty much vanished for the month of August.  I've got no really good excuse.  Sure my access to the blogs has diminished during the day.  But there is still time at night that I could....but I've been distracting myself with other things....my new DVR/HD cable set up....I finally got around to getting a PS3, thanks to a terrific sale at GameStop and a tax free weekend colliding in a perfect storm.....catching up on some Fango/Rue Morgue/Horror Hound back issues that I had been neglecting......as well as other stuff.

As it so happens, I can switch gears from INSANE-O mode to NOT-SO-BAD mode today here at the magical land of work.  I can afford to relax a wee bit and I thought I would take a moment to reflect on the fact that this summer has FLOWN by at warp speed.  Actually it's gone by at LUDICRIS speed (Spaceballs reference there for those who missed it!).  This makes me sad, as I love the summer....but not quite as much as I love Autumn.  I've always found something quite magical about the Fall and I was quite pleasantly surprised to find that there are some coffee houses (as well as select Dunkin Donuts) that are already serving up Pumpkin Spice Coffee!  This makes me very happy!  Sure the temps are still soaring in the 80's with enough humidity to keep an oyster alive out of water, but damnit, I just can't help but ordering a nice big hot cup of Pumpkin Java, slinking down in my chair in my air conditioned office and pretending it's October.  It's also come to my attention that Coffee Mate is putting out a Pumpkin Spice creamer, so I will be haunting all the stores scouting out for that!

Now I've just gotta wait until Starbucks starts to sell thier awesome Apple Cider again!  It's like drinking Grandma's apple pie.  No lie.  It's that good! 

So if you are like me and love Autumn, search out the nearest Dunkin Donuts, Boston Donuts or local coffee house that's starting to serve up steaming styrofoam cups of liquid happiness.  Get a large.  Then let the aroma and taste take you to a places where the air is crisp and the leaves are gold.  A places where candy apples are in abundance.  A place where trick or treating and giant turkey dinners are only right around the corner.  Wow....this is starting to sound like a friggin HallMark card.  Ah fuck it, I don't care!  That's how much I love Pumpkin Spice Coffee!

Gals and Guns

Speaking of the 80's......I can't NOT share this little gem from the 80's that I also found on YouTube.....

Like Girls in Bikinis?  Like automatic weapons?  Like watching girls in bikinis firing automatic weapons?   Got ya covered here!   Don't say I never gave ya nuthin, boys!

God I wish we could just go back to a time when you could order a VHS out of the back of a catalog.  A VHS tape that had nothing but 60 - 90 minutes of bikini clad babes firing guns.  God Bless America!

Damn, I miss the 80's!

It's no secret to anyone who knows me....I am an 80's buff.  I love everything about the decade of my childhood....from the cartoons and TV shows to the toys and the music.  It's all friggin fantastic!

  So the other night I was in need of amusement while Holly (my beautiful wife) was getting her Twilight Eclipse fix (for the umpteenth time.).  So I started to putz around on my laptop and decided to throw in a pair of earphones and watch some YouTube.  I can easily pass an entire evening this way.

I start to search through old 80's sitcoms and just happen to run smack into some clips from one of my favorites:  Mr Belvedere!  Score!  After watching the extended intro for the pilot, I happened across a golden little nugget of severely misguided 80's humor.  The episode in question is the one in which Wesley (the son of the family) becomes phobic of his friend Danny from school when he finds out that Danny has AIDS.  Topical, yes.  Appropriate for a sitcom.....perhaps not.

 Check out this clip and you'll see what I mean.

Yeah....that just happened.  OH.  MY.  GOD!  Back then I'm sure a few people chuckled.....and I'm sure there was the usual bunch with sticks up their butts who were offended by the joke.  However, looking back on this now....in these times when everything has to be SO friggin PC, because God fucking forbid you offend some asshole......this is pure comedy gold.....and it  serves to remind of a simpler time when you could get away with shit like this!

Random Crazy Japanese Fun!

I love pretty much everything that has to do with Japan.  I think that the Japanese are so creative and so incredibly inventive.  A large part of my love of anything and everything Japanese has to do with my brother in law, who is COMPLETELY obsessed with all things Asian.  Apparently I've caught the bug because I just can't get enough of this stuff!

I was just trolling around and randomly started searching for Japanese advertisements.  For anything and everything.  I learned a few things that I didn't know before....but I won't get too far ahead of myself.  Check out some of this awesomeness.....

This massive blow up doll (according to the site I found it on) is an advert for an anime show on tv.  All I know is that there is a 50 foot school girl straddling a train and in my book, that equals 1,000% super-fun-happy-awesomeness!

Can someone please explain to me why WE don't have an awesome crazy mad scientist mascot for Dr. Pepper in the West?  This is friggin' sweet!  Me likey.

Quite possibly the coolest LaserDisc ad....EVER!  Frankenstein & Dr. Zaius in tuxes, probably waiting to go on their guest spot on Leno.....hanging out saying  "Hey man, come on over here and watch a movie with us!  It'll be fun!"  I'd SO be down for that.  Though I'm not sure why I'd be hanging out back stage at a Leno show.....

This is the description that came with the picture:    Little bacon wrapped sausages that acted as the crust, and mini hamburger patties on top of the mushrooms, soy beans, corn, paprika, garlic chips, green peppers, and pepperoni. It has 3 cheeses - Mozzarella, cheddar and parmesan. It also comes with ketchup and maple syrup for extra flavor.   Yes indeed..that right there is Japan's 646-Calorie-Per-Slice Pizza Hut Double Roll!!!!!  Um.....yes please!  Holy crap, it's like everything I love made into a pizza.  It's just missing a few crab rangoons on top......


So, remember I was saying that I learned a few interesting things?  Well check this out:  Apparently back in the day, western movie stars would get paid beau-coup bucks to do commercials in Japan for all sorts of things.  Check out some of these crazy commercials!

Nicholas Cage's Pachinko commercials.  Yep.  They're awesome.

Michael J. Fox in a bizarre Japanese soft drink commercial

Okay....seriously....what the hell?  Schwarzenegger doin' some seriously wacky commercials

Who knew, right?  Pure awesome-sauce!  Well, I suppose we can't very well talk about Japanese advertising without at least checking out a few video game ads, right?  

Hhhmmm...interesting.  Link & The Gang apparently are auditioning for Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation Tour......or something.  Bizarre Zelda commercial.

Holy Weirdness!  I would LOVE to know what Birdo is saying in this commercial.  If anyone who comes across this speaks Japanese, help me out!

Whoa....Metroid is one of my all time favorite games and this commercial is beyond cool

So many awesome commercials and ads!  Thought I'd share some of the awesomeness that I came across....I think I've done enough mind blowing for one night, so I shall bid you adieu!

Weasel Stomping Day!

Huzzah!  In honor of Weird Al Yankovic's newly released album, Alpocalypse on June 21st, I hereby decree that today is Weasel Stomping Day here at The House of the Atomic Rangoon!

Spread that mayo on the lawn!

And since we're in sucha  festive mood, here's the first single from Alpocalypse:

Perform This Way

Hi There!

I know what you're thinking:

"Just what this guy needs....ANOTHER blog!"

 Well this one is kinda more an experiment.  Rather than posting articles about specific things and trying to be all clever and stuff, I'm using this as a place to just vent some creative overflow, post about whatever I want without fear of it not jiving with the material on my other blogs.  Sure, there may be horror related stuff on here, or video games too.....who knows what will pop up!

I hope that if you find this little corner of my warped mind that you enjoy yourself and whatever you do, please don't take it too seriously.  Actually don't take it seriously at all!  I don't!  Kick back, relax, grab some pizza rolls and crab rangoons and have a ball!