I picked this up a few years back but just got around to watching it this week. It was just as awesome as I had remembered. Jonny has definitely aged well. The purists will bitch about the wrong credit sequences being used on the episodes (it’s true – for some reason they grafted the same one to each episode) and some of the un-politically correct dialog being dropped – but I really didn’t notice. I was too busy getting sucked into the stories and the styles. Absolutely one of the most beautiful cartoons ever created. The boxed-set says “Season 1” but there really haven’t been any other seasons, so this is it. Sure they created a new Jonny a few years ago, but that version sucked, so sink your money into this one and you’ll be complete. If you don’t wanna lay down your bread, pick it up at Netflix. Perfect for watching while you eat your cereal.
Monthly Archives: February 2009
Sweet Emotion… not so much.
Finally picked up Guitar Hero Aerosmith a couple of weeks ago. I’m not a huge Aerosmith fan, but I had a giftcard burning a hole in my pocket, so I grabed that and Rockband2 for the Wii. I haven’t cracked open Rockband yet – still kind of winding my way through Guitar Hero: World Tour.
The game looks pretty good – graphics are on par with GH3, but the onstage character animation feels great. Seems very Aerosmith. When wii little Steven Tyler starts spinning around, you almost expect to see if his package flopping around inside his spandex. Playability – exactly the same as GH3, including the f*cking stupid boss battles. The premise is kind of fun though… in each multi-song set, the first couple of songs are covers, performed by you and your band, and then you perform as Aerosmith when they headline.
But here’s the thing… Aerosmith songs aren’t that much fun to play. Probably if your’e a superfan it’s awesome, but as a fan of rock music in general, their music is… meh? There are some classic tracks, no doubt – “Sweet Emotion” is a fave, particularly when used as the title sequence for Dazed and Confused – but the rest of it I could leave.
Right now it’s $20 at Amazon. Wait till it drops to $12.
America, F*ck Yeah!
From 1935 to 1942, the WPA created a series of guide books that captured what life was like in each of the 48 states. Inspired by that series, the editors of State by State paired together some of today’s most interesting authors with each of the fifty states (D.C. is an afterword) to paint a picture of our nation today.
There are a couple of entries that left me a little dry, but each essay is so completely different in tone and style that it makes for a great ride. Anthony Bourdain crafts his memories of growing up in New Jersey with such detail that you can practically smell the funk wafting off the page. In the Massachusetts entry, John Hodgman equally makes me want to avoid that state at all costs, yet find a nice place there to retire. And there’s more than one state that is presented in graphic novel format.
The entries vary wildy from “facts” about their founding fathers, to memoirs of growing up to basic observations of daily life. Somehow it all works and when you’re done you feel just a little bit more knowledgeable about that neighbor state you only visited to buy fireworks. Plus if nothing else, you’ll be able to come away knowing the state bird of Oregon. It’s the western meadowlark.