Don't Stop Mario Now

Via Kotaku.

Goodnight, Sweet Lou

Not that Lou. Piniella lives.

Unfortunately, Captain Lou Albano, the beloved wrestler and actor, has died at age 76. Lou was famous for helping pro wrestling cross over into the mainstream and also for portraying live action Mario on the short lived The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!.

Rest in peace, Lou. Thanks to you, I'll always know how to do the Mario.

Thanks to Kotaku for the heads up.

The Lyrics of Zelda

Pretty funny stuff from YouTube entertainer Brentalfloss. He's also laid down tracks to the Final Fantasy, Mega Man, and Duck Tales theme songs. Check out more of his off the wall work here.

Thanks to Kotaku for the heads up.

Almost, Maine

If you happen to be in the neighborhood of Kennebunkport, Maine anytime between now and next Saturday (August 29th), come and check me out in the Arundel Barn Playhouse's production of John Cariani's Almost, Maine. I'm playing multiple roles alongside a terrific cast and crew and the Barn is really a charming space. It's been a whirlwind of a process and it's turned out to be a solid production.

For more details on location and performances, check out arundelbarnplayhouse.com.

8-Bit Weezer

When you go on a retro kick (and I know you do) and you start hanging out in the garage and blowing on cartridges and drinking lots of sody pop, your mind tends to wander towards the finer things in life and the mysteries of the universe. You may wonder aloud, "Hey, I wonder what some of Weezer's songs would sound like if they were a soundtrack for my favorite NES games?" because, hey, I know I have. Well finally, we have an answer.

Enter 8-Bit Weezer, a compilation of Weezer songs from Pterodactyl Squad all made in the style of retro game soundtracks. All of the tracks are very well done, clear standouts being Tugboat's cover of El Scorcho, nordloef's blistering rendition of Buddy Holly, and my personal favorite (and my favorite Weezer song of all time) Bit Shifter's excellent version of The World Has Turned And Left Me Here. Honorable mention goes to videogame orchestra for getting Castlevania in my Weezer with their brilliant Island In The Sun (Belmont's Revisal). Gosh darnit, people are just so frickin' creative!

If you like Weezer or if you like retro gaming, you owe it to yourself to check this out. Thanks to Winston LaGrange and Offworld for the heads up!

R-O-C-K-Y

If you're in the Columbia, SC area from now until July 25th, make a point to stop by Trustus Theatre and catch me playing the asshole Brad Majors in Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show.
It's a really fun production of the inexhaustible cult classic. If you love the movie, you'll love the original stage show as well (the play did come first, after all). The cast and crew are all very talented and I promise they won't disappoint. I've heard I'm not bad, either...

Where: Trustus Theatre, 520 Lady Street in the Vista, Columbia, SC
When: Now through July 25th. 7:30 PM Wednesday and Thursday, 8 PM Friday and Saturday.
Cost: $25

Buy your tickets in advance by calling the theatre at 803-254-9732. They are going fast.
For more info, visit trustus.org.

You know you want to do the Time Warp again...

The Tonys

The Super Bowl of theatre came and went last night and except for a hell of a lot of technical difficulties, it went pretty well, mostly due to the job well done by the phenomenal Neil Patrick Harris.

Why next to normal didn't win every award it was nominated for is beyond me, but congratulations to Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey for their much deserved Best Original Score win and also to the incredible Alice Ripley for her Best Actress in a Musical victory.

If you're in the Apple, go see this show!

Totally Literal Eclipse Of The Heart

This is one of the funniest things I've ever seen.
For more of this guy's work, check out his YouTube Channel.

Thanks to Daria for the heads up...and so much more.

Rubberduckzilla

Anyone who knows me knows that I have an affinity for rubber ducks.
Ben knows me.
Thanks, Ben.

next to normal

The best thing I did in my three week New York experience was go see next to normal at the Booth Theatre on Broadway. It's an excellent new musical and if you're in the Big Apple, you owe it to yourself not to miss this one. It'll probably be tough to get tickets now that it's been nominated for 11 Tonys (should have been 12, condolences to the terrific Aaron Tveit, though I'm sure this is only the beginning for someone as talented as he is). Michael Greif's production of Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey's original musical is truly phenomenal.

I've heard great things about Billy Elliot as well but I have to climb on my soapbox for next to normal. The Tony Awards are an American theatre award. Billy Elliot already had a successful run in London and won 4 Olivier Awards (the British equivalent to the Tony for those that don't speak thespian). I honestly believe that imports should not be eligible for or at least should be unable to win Tonys or Oliviers. I hate to sound like a nationalist here, but the Tonys should be reserved for new American plays and musicals. It goes both ways; I wouldn't have wanted August: Osage County to win the Olivier for best new play. That honor belongs to a production native to the UK (and this year, Black Watch by Gregory Burke from the Royal Theatre of Scotland won). Unfortunately, Jersey Boys won the Olivier for Best New Musical (guess the Brits aren't cooking up any songs right now) and my guess is that Billy Elliot will rob next to normal of the Best New Musical award (among many others) it so rightfully deserves. It is bold and brilliant and quintessentially American and human. It deserves any and all accolades it receives.
One thing is for sure: If Alice Ripley (pictured above, with Tveit and J. Robert Spencer) doesn't win the Tony for her beyond-brave portrayal of Diana, someone up there is perpetrating a fraud.

In The Wild

One of my favorite images as of late...

Some photographers managed to capture this striking image of the majestic anteater defending its natural habitat, and the message its posturing evokes is at once crystal clear.























Classic.

Thanks to the Angry White Guy in Chicago (and his dad) for this one.

The System

Apologies for the lengthy hiatus, but I've had a good reason. I'm opening a show in NYC.

If you live in any of the five boroughs and want to see some brand new theatre, come check us out at La MaMa E.T.C. at 2nd Ave and 4th St in the East Village starting tonight through May 10th, Thursdays through Sundays. The show is at 8 PM on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights and at 2:30 PM on Sundays.

Check out La MaMa online for more info. Break 'em.

Billy Corgan Apparently Needs Money

Wow, Billy. Tough times getting to you too?

Here's an excerpt from a not-so-recent (2004) Newsweek interview with the Pumpkins' prickish front man:

The notion of "selling out," licensing songs, how has that changed? Fifteen years ago, that seems like it would have been unacceptable. Career death. Is all this completely different now?

I'm not romantic about the notion of "selling out." People who are not in your position deciding what is and isn't selling out I always thought was a crock of s---. The song I wrote, "Today," which ended up being a pretty big song--that song literally saved my life. I was completely suicidal, and I wrote that song in a cold bedroom on a day where it was like, "I'm either going to kill myself today, or I'm going to live because I'm sick of thinking about this." When I played it, it was an intense, extreme feeling. Last year, I was offered heavy, heavy money to license that song. I actually turned down two huge, huge, seven-figure-plus deals last year for two songs.

For "Today" and for which other song?

"Tonight, Tonight." That's a fundamentally difficult position to be in. At this point, it's just free money. Song's already been played. It's been exploited. The record company's literally begging me: go ahead and take these commercials. At this point in my life, I don't feel comfortable. Those songs are the reason I'm alive. If your music is not sacred to the point where it's a really, really, really heavy decision about whether or not you would allow somebody else to exploit it, then what's not for sale? For a long time there was this dream that you could hit this utopian point The Beatles hit. "All you need is love." You'd write that song that would change the world. That seems to have gotten lost. Now songs are just vehicles for personality. The song is not the sacred thing anymore.

That's why your new stuff doesn't really rock. Ass.

Time to revisit Siamese Dream...which, by the way, was released in 1993. Wow.

Watch Out for the Watchmen

This is a great little video from one many imaginative contributors to Newgrounds. If only Watchmen had been made into a Saturday morning cartoon... Thanks to Kent for the heads up on this.

As for the film (which opened today), go see it. All two hours and forty five minutes of it. I liked it. It does justice to the book, an already mammoth undertaking, keeping most everything intact. Only a few side plots are axed or shortened and the ending is altered a little. I actually think the film's ending is better than the graphic novel's. It at least makes the book more accessible to people who haven't read it. The film is paced very well and rarely drags. That being said, it definitely feels like two hours and forty five minutes. The action sequences are truly exhilerating and the CGI and special effects are all well done. The film does a good job in developing the characters in the same way that the book does. More so, much of the dialogue from the book is used word for word in the film. Good for the writers. No reason to change Alan Moore's already excellent characters and story.

It is well acted for the most part, standouts being Patrick Wilson as Dan Dreiberg/Nite Owl and Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach (There is no Walter Kovacs). Malin Ackerman as Sally Jupiter/Silk Spectre began to grate on me after awhile. Matthew Goode gives a nice, effective performance as Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias but is a little too much of a pussy for me. Not that I would've done a better job. I would've come off as a pussy, too. Yay, me. Billy Crudup is appropriately detached as Dr. Manhattan, however, I always thought Manhattan would have a much deeper voice. Jeffrey Dean Morgan looks and acts every bit the part of Edward Blake/The Comedian. That's just good casting (not to take away from Morgan's work).

In the end, the film of Watchmen, one of Time Magazine's 100 Greatest Novels of All Time, is as good as it can possibly be. Those who are disappointed by it are expecting too much. The film may not get Alan Moore's stamp of approval, but it certainly gets mine.

A Boy And His Blob

A Boy And His Blob for the NES was one of the best (and most difficult, IMO) entries in the system's incredible library. You controlled the titular Boy and you would feed your Blob different flavored jellybeans, causing him to turn into various objects like ladders, bubbles, and trampolines to help you deal with whatever situation you came across. I have many fond memories of playing this game while wearing footed pajamas.

Well, the Boy and the Blob are getting an all new adventure on the Wii, and I'm officially excited.

Nintendo Power broke the story in their most recent issue, but you can check out all the drool-worthy screenshots over at Kotaku. Seriously, the game looks gorgeous.

Currently, the game is slated for a Fall '09 release. I'll be waiting impatiently.

Thanks to Kotaku for the heads up.

Strindberg + helium

If you live in Chicagoland and you haven't checked out the Edvard Munch exhibit at the Art Institute yet, I highly recommend you do so before it's over. I found it equally fascinating, moving, and disturbing...an excellent educational experience.

Munch was buddies with Swedish playwright August Strindberg (as well as Norway's own master dramatist Henrik Ibsen), which is not surprising when you think of the dark nature of both Munch's and Strindberg's bodies of work. There is even a painting of Strindberg's in the Munch exhibit at the Art Institute!

All of this talk of Strindberg reminded me of a site that my good friend PKone and I got quite a kick out of last February during out NYC sojourn: Strindberg + helium. I implore you to watch all of the misadventures of Strindberg and Helium as they are two parts delight to every one part miseryyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.

100

This is it. The 100th post. Dread Pirate Robots is officially 100 posts old. Officially.

"How long can you possibly keep this up?" you asked.

"Indefinitely," said I...

...and there was much rejoicing.











Yay.

Duuuuuuuuude

The Obama administration has said that it will no longer interfere in states rights pertaining to use of medicinal marijuana. This is a big deal, since the former administration took it upon themselves to raid pharmacies and growhouses in California that were licensed to distribute marijuana to those with a doctor's scrip for it. States Rights what!

I see a great way to get out of this recession: Legalize it. It'll start growing like...well, weeds on farms across America. It can be regulated and sold via state approved merchants and the federal government can tax the ever living shit out of it. Talk about a cash crop.

It's only a matter of time until we can go to the corner smoke shop and get what we really want. To quote JB: "The tyranny and the bullshit's gone on too long." Gawker reports....and I stole their label for my post title. Thanks Gawker!

Punched Out!!: The Mike Tyson Story

Ah, the Onion. The imagination storm swirling around in that office must be truly overwhelming. Here, they detail a new documentary called Punched Out!!: The Mike Tyson Story about the Ear-Biting One's meteoric rise to virtual boxing stardom. Head on over for the full (fake) article. It's too bad, really. I'd put down my Fistful of Quarters in a heartbeat to see this winning, tell-all documentary. I'd especially like to hear more from Mario on what refereeing all of those classic bouts was like. Just to be in the ring with Super Macho Man and King Hippo would be a dream come true.

Furthermore, the new Punch-Out!! for Wii has been dated and will release for North America on May 18th. Don't fuck it up, Ninty! Thanks to Kotaku for the heads up.

Grammyhead: Part Deux

Here is the aforementioned performance of 15 Step with the USC Marching Band (lucky little trojan bastards) at the recent Grammy broadcast.
Thom's so weird...and Jonny's so cool. (You're cool too, Thom. You too Ed, Colin, and Phil.)
Good times. (Noodle salad.)