Mario Review

This may seem strange that I have decided to write this blog post about one of the most famous video game characters, but I found myself thinking of all the ways that Mario has been redone and remade.

Through out the years we have gone from the first ever Mario, all the way up to Super Mario Galaxy where we find our lovable little Italian where Mario literally travels the final frontier of space, with a few additions and improvements from the creators of the game

Mario was originally made by the Japanese creator Shigeru Miyamoto for the Nintendo and was soon decided to serve as the mascot of Nintendo itself.

Image source: www.theage.com.

Mario games are considered by most as the most popular game series ever created and the franchise has sold over 210 million units. Although Mario was originally designed for the Super Mario series, he was appeared in many other games from the famous Mario Kart all the way to the fun and easy going RPG, Paper Mario.

The main plot theme of the original game of Super Mario is a classic in the gaming world. The helpless princess Peach is captured by the evil Lord Bowser which sets our hero, Mario, into motion to rescue the fair and helpless princess to the best of his abilities.

Image source: http://s3.amazonaws.com/

This will always be one of my favorite game series, and Mario will always be one of my most well loved and favorite video game characters.

Black Veil Brides

Two days ago I stood in line, in the freezing cold, for two and a half hours to see the best concert that I have been to as of now. The line stretched nearly around the block and out into the street, but luckily my group and I had gotten a good place in the middle of the line.

Who were we waiting for you might ask..

None other than Black Veil Brides themselves.

Image Source: Themetalresistance.com

The concert started at approximately 7:00 and by the time I made it to the doors of The Complex, I was being crammed into a tiny room with a billion of other people. Imagine having an inch of personal space for two seconds then all of a sudden being pressed up against three people without enough room to move your arms.

That's how crowded it was.

As soon as the opening band came on stage everyone was rushing forward with screams that nearly punctured my ear drums. The opening band was a crunk-core band that went by the title of I Capture Castle. A local band from Salt Lake City, whom I found myself loving every second of each song they played.

I Capture Castle worked the crowd up and got the energy flowing and the vibe reverberating. The crowd was screaming their lyrics and jumping around like there was no tomorrow. Mosh-pits riled up and people were surfing through the crowd. I couldn't believe all the amazing madness, what with this only being the opening band and all.

Image Source: Jamesbelliston.com

My feet had begun to hurt by the time that William Control took over the stage and I must admit right now that his music didn't really intrigue me, though his fashion sense was actually very interesting. His music was a mix of screaming and electric beats that, for some reason, just made me want to cover my ears.

However, he was dressed like an old school vampire, what with his posh brittish-punk clothing style and funky up-do that made him seem just the slightest bit aloof. He did, though, have a very excited and upbeat on stage personality that kept the crowd dancing and screaming for Black Veil Brides to come onto the stage.

Image Source: Jeremysaffer.bigcartel.com

....Finally the time had come...They were finally coming on stage...

C.C. (drummer for BVB) was the first to appear on stage, and just the mere raise of his fist made the crowd wail like a bunch of lovesick girls. I clearly remember that tears sprung to my friends eyes when Ashley Purdy (bassist) walked on stage and formed a heart with his hands.

The band did not disappoint. They played a number of great songs, including a cover of Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell" with an interesting 80s metal twist. They made me laugh and scream and jump around, as well as wish that the concert would never end - no matter how bad my feet had started to hurt by this time.

The concert, songs, and band members of all three bands were amazing and worth the money and time spent on going to see them, and even the fan-base (audience/crowd) were a very interesting bunch of people to hand around.

Harlem Shake...Really?!

Okay, let's just ge one thing straight right now, shall we? Internet memes are either complete genius, or they don't make any sense and then there are the memes that are just completely random and stupid.

For example, the Harlem Shake. This merely started out as a thirty second video of a man in a mask dancing by himself, then, as soon as the bass drops there are nearly twice as many people dancing around with him. This video transcended up the ranks of internet popularity faster than a rock being chucked at your face.

Before last week I didn't even know what the Harlem Shake was, but now that I do, I wish I could reverse time and go back to the simple days when internet scandals were no more than pictures with random quotes and writings around them.

Image Source: Wikipedia.com

The picture above is a regular meme, not the Harlem Shake. I think that any stupid viral videos should somehow be banned from the internet as to avoid the nuisance of having to watch and hear about them twenty-four seven.

Anytime someone tries to make a Harlem Shake video, I hope they meet the same result as the man in the video below.

Video Source: Youtube.com

(Sorry about low quality)

Would You Just Look At That?!?

Recently two new little guys have entered my lives and their names are Tryggvason and Kaiser, my new baby brothers. I know what you're probably thinking, what kind of names are those? I thought the exact same thing when I was first told and my father explained to me that the name Tryggvason is a powerful Viking name, while the name Kaiser is emperor for German. Apparently, though, to my dad they will always just be Butch and Sundance.

Trygg and Kai

They were born nearly two weeks ago at St. Marks hospital and I must say that even if when I was first told I wasn't the happiest person ever, they are pretty adorable to watch. Today actually happens to be my first day actually seeing them in person and let me just tell you right now, they are the smallest little babies I have ever seen in my life.

From the picture it would be obvious to tell that they are twins and I suppose that I should just come clean right now and admit that I really cannot tell either of them apart whatsoever. To me it looks like someone took a baby, scanned him, and made a perfect replica or hologram.

Kai

Funny story, I decided that I was absolutely exhausted today and thought hmm, maybe I will just go catch myself 40 winks. Well, 20 winks through I hear this high pitched drawling coming from upstairs. I sit up from the couch I had passed out on, rubbed my eyes, and groaned. They may be cute, but crying babies are never ever a good time if I may be so blunt.

Well, I guess there isn't really much else I can say because I've only been around them for a few hours. Anyways, here's to being a new sister I guess, I can't wait to see what this is going to bring me...

Trygg

No Celebrities, Just Plain'ol fun

Please keep an open mind about this blogpost because I will merely be sharing with you my experience that I had while I went trekking around Park City during Sundance (perhaps, just maybe, looking for all those famous people everyone is always going off about).

Anywho, I did not make this journey alone! I was accompanied by three of my very good friends (Picture below) who kept me well entertained and cheery while we walked up and down the very thin and very crowded sidewalks of Mainstreet. We searched up and down those sidewalks, in every crevice and alleyway we could find, just to get a glimpse of someone who may or may not have been famous, but after half an hour we gave up and decided to enjoy ourselves.

By going into every store we saw...

I should admit right now that we did get yelled at a few times to "NOT TOUCH ANYTHING!" because apparently nowadays browsing means that you must have your hands tied behind your back  and stand at a safe distance, which I guess is 5ft away from the actual shelf.

Left To Right: Anna, Me, Naomi (My friend Zizi had the camera).

After a few hours we ended up heading to Dolly's bookstore, where we stumbled upon this adorable pooch with the most piercing blue eyes I have ever seen in my life. I felt like that dog was staring into my soul and deciding my fate with his face! Okay, so that was worded a bit weird, but that's what it was like readers, you have no idea.

After I got through with the dog, however, my friends and I found ourselves rather hungry but sadly we were all broke, penniless, no money to spare, you know what I mean? Well through a little thing we like to call walking and talking, we ended up finding a place that was handing out free food.

The place was called Morning Star and they were trying to spread the message that vegetarian food is better for you and can taste good, therefor they were offering free vegetarian burgers to the public.

How could we say no?

With little less than a five minute wait, we were chowing down on some grade A vegetarian "meat" I suppose you would call it, and truth be told it wasn't half bad.

Dog with the eyes to the soul.

Well, I guess that's all I really have to say about that. I did end up seeing a few Sundance films and I must say that they were interesting, if not a little hard to follow. The free will and expressionism that comes with making a film for Sundance is absolutely astonishing. If those artists want to spread a message of view they know exactly how to do it and aren't afraid to say what they want to say.

Well alas this post has come to the end and I shall end by saying that if you have never been to the Sundance Film Festival, it is a must try thing that should be experienced once in your life.

The Egyptian Theater

Stepping Foot In The World Of Blogging

I've always wanted to try and start a blog where I could tell short stories based on a picture or piece of art, or review music; something that fit inside two of my greatest interests, and I've finally been given that chance, and I don't intend to squander it. Of course, I can't just jump right in head first without doing my research, which is exactly why I started with the one and only Art Blog.

This certain blog alone shows me just how creative I can be with my voice, while talking about art. Each blog featured sounds somehow different, yet tied to the others, maybe from their word choice, or just from the way they phrase things. But, the Art Blog also can sound very formal and official when reading it, but I suppose that's just how reviews are. This blog in particular inspired me, because I have always been a fan of art - even if I don't understand some of it - and it's uplifting to see that I'm not the only one who has that love for talent. Yet, it truly inspired me when I saw all the different possibilities of art out there, just waiting to be evaluated and reviewed. I think the Art Blog will help me grasp a more profesional tone. One other thing I forgot to mention is the simple, yet interactive layout of the homepage that keeps the the reader involved, and not overwhelmed.

Now, the NPR Music: Blog, however, seemed to have a more peppy, hip, and stylish tone. The thing I enjoyed about this blog was the fact that it let me know what is happening in the art universe, whose gravitational pull is sound itself. This blog, does in fact, give me a few ideas if I do decide to settle for album and band reviews. Because, it allows me to see what keeps this type of audience in the action, and invested in completing the entire review. Possibly, making them want to go to a specific festival or concert. This blog, though, seemed a little harder for me to follow. Not because it was flashy, or in my face, but really, because it involved a lot of scrolling just to find what I'm looking for. I'm naturally a very lazy person, and tend to take the easiest route, but, I don't know...This just didn't seem to work for me as much as the first blog.

If I find myself stuck at a fork in the road, and can't decide between these two blogs, or I just don't want to do either of those in the future, there is no need to worry! I have devised a fallback on video gaming reviews, walkthroughs, and such. Destructoid: For Gamers By Gamers, was really something I cherished. Yes, I know how weird that sounds, and yes I know I may sound nerdy now. But really, games and I are like two peas in a pod, and this blog really captured the type of tone that keeps me reading. A tone I call the teenage voice, it was a bit random and spunky, but it also got through the reviews with a sort of failing grace. It made me chuckle a few times. This blog helps me, because now I know it's okay to write things a bit weird and out of the ordinary, or to even add a tint of humor every now and then.

Víola! I just took my first step into the blogging world.....Only a few million or so left to go, right?