1-Up (For My Gamer Friends)

I saw this guy's first Mario video that circulated the internet quite some time ago.  I'm glad to see he's still putting in the time.



I remember when my parents bought a Nintendo for me.  It was wonderful.  The console came with the Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt combination cartridge and that super-dope pistol.  I used to shoot at the Duck Hunt dog whenever it made fun of me for missing the ducks.  That mutt pissed me off!

The last Nintendo game I remember playing with considerable frequency was Super Mario Bros. 3, where Nintendo first introduced the concept of Mario and Luigi having more capabilities than just running and jumping.  After a year of messing around with that game I finally sold my Nintendo to make way for a spanking new Sega Genesis, which I still have.

In recent years, because many of us that are part of the Nintendo generation are coming of age, I've noticed numerous expressions of gaming nostalgia such as this.  From what I can tell, it seems as if we are the first generation to truly express such sentimentality and remembrance for the culture of gaming.  Certainly, there are people who spent time with the Atari systems that preceded Nintendo's dominance.  However, I would argue those folks saw video games as more of a recreational novelty rather than the electronic social movement it has become.  There would be no World of Warcraft if not for The Legend of Zelda.  Halo exists due to the path forged by Contra.  Nintendo was act one of the gaming revolution.



peace.

Child of the Eighties

Imprinting is real, because I've been singing these to myself all my life (as I've mentioned a bit before here).

If you were born between 1978 and 1983 and your parents paid for cable, it's very likely you were imprinted the same as me. These brilliant Nickelodeon bumpers were the work of tv ad men Fred Seibert and Alan Goodman during their revamp of the Nick brand during the mid to late 1980s. Charged with the mission of rescuing the stalling network's market share, Fred and Alan developed the doo-wop sound to be one of the defining bits of vocabulary for the channel.

From FredAlan.org

When we brought up the notion of a sound identity, Nickelodeon executives, still not fully understanding of where we intended to steer the channel, suggested a consideration of Raffi, then a recent phenomenon as a singer for young children. “He’s very popular; our research confirms it.” Fred/Alan tried a lot of arguments to bring them around to a doo-wop sound, but they fell on deaf ears. “Doo-wop’s 30 years old, no kid has ever heard of it.”

We won the day on two grounds.

Fred played on the executives’ liberal backgrouds. “We love all forms of African-American music, and using doo-wop will be a great way to educate American kids without anyone being the wiser.”

Alan’s worked even better. He opened his mouth and, quoting The Marcels’ arrangement of chestnut “Blue Moon,” sang:

“Bom-ma-bom, a-bom-bom-a-bom, ba-ba-bom-bom-a-bomp, b-dang-a-dang-dang, b-ding-a-dong-ding.”

“What kid isn’t going to relate to that right away?” Alan asked.

Case closed.

It's fascinating to read about simple decisions made miles away such a long time ago, and how those decisions shaped our perceptions of the world. I mean, these guys were absolutely right. I hadn't heard doo-wop before I heard these, and I did relate to them immediately. So much so that I've given them enough importance to spend 30 minutes writing and researching them on my blog. They were inventive, artistic, and absolutely charming.

peace.