Episode 91 featured our trip to the Fun N Games arcade at Willowbrook Mall in Wayne, NJ, a week before it shut down. In addition to audio, we also recorded video of the arcade.

Although Fun N Games is part of the mall, the entrance is on the outside. There was a table set up with small TVs and people playing Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike for the Sega Dreamcast. There was also:

an air hockey table near the entrance

a basketball free throw game in the back corner

racing games:
Daytona USA 2: Battle on the Edge, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Indy 500, Initial D Ver. 3, Midnight: Maximum Tune 2, etc.

light gun games:
Crisis Zone, The House of the Dead III, Police Trainer 2, Silent Scope EX, Time Crisis 3, Time Crisis 4, etc.

rhythm games:
Dance Dance Revolution Extreme Plus, DrumMania 10th Mix, In the Groove 2, etc.

one-on-one fighting games:
Capcom Vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001, Marvel Vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes, Street Fighter Anniversary Edition, etc.

pinball machines:
The Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Simpsons Pinball Party

and other games:
Beach Head 2002, Derby Owners Club: World Edition, The Grid, Ms. Pac-Man/Galaga, Virtua Tennis 2, etc.

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Jerry O’Connell, or JOC as we Sliders TV show fans call him, did a viral video by SNL alum Jerry Minor. Jerry is spoofing the ridiculously absurd Tom Cruise Scientology video, where Tom babbles the whole time about nonsense, rather than convincing anyone to follow Scientology. Jerry is actually talking about the WGA writer’s strike and goofing on that. Great stuff.

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Just when I thought rock music couldn’t possibly get any worse, I saw this two-and-a-half minute video of a band in Finland performing “Hotel California” by The Eagles.

It’s still not as bad as when Van Halen played in North Carolina last year though: Van Halen – Jump (Greensboro, North Carolina, 9/29/07)

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If you’ve followed the classic gaming scene at all, or more likely, remember the Famous Nintendo Entertainment System……..Undoubtedly you remember the blinking screen when inserting a game and pressing the power button. Remember the solution back then? Blow onto the cartridge connector, maybe even spit in it! Well, the real solution was some type of cleaning solution and a Q-tip to clean the connectors. Even then, my 20 year old NES has gotten too annoying to use. I can’t play a game without cleaning it first, games which were originally mine and would not be dirty.

Modern Age Solution? The equally infamous 72-Pin Replacement “ZIF” connector. That’s right, just $4 bucks plus shipping, and I’ve got a new connector. To replace it?
Follow these directions: http://www.jandar.net/nes72pin/

Here’s my image via camera phone….

Wasn’t too hard….result? Well, almost all games now work on the first shot, no more blinking. Catch? Of course there is! Paunch curse and all. Try to get the game out of the system! You need Hulk Hogan’s 52 inch pythons, it’s that stuck in there. I think it gets looser with time, I hope. My thumb is in pain.

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Yesterday, January 23, 2008, entrepreneur Richard Branson unveiled a model of the “spaceship” he hopes will take paying passengers on space flights beginning in 2009. His company, Virgin Galactic, is charging $200,000 per two-and-a-half hour flight.

That’s pretty expensive considering the flights won’t actually be going into outer space. Technically, passengers will be taken on a sub-orbital flight 62 miles above sea level. By comparison, the Moon is 240,000 miles above sea level. Passengers will be weightless for about five minutes though. Isn’t five minutes of nausea worth $200,000?

Over 200 people have signed up so far, including actress Victoria Principal and physicist Stephen Hawking. Imagine him in his wheelchair spinning around weightless puking all over everyone.

Also entering the business is Bigelow Aerospace, a company aimed at creating space hotels. Seriously.

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Heath Ledger
Born: April 4, 1979
Died: January 22, 2008 (age 28)

Actor Heath Ledger, 28 years old, was found dead in his $24,000-a-month Manhattan apartment this afternoon. An initial police report cited by The New York Times states foul play is not suspected and that pills had been found near Ledger’s body. He was found unconscious and unresponsive in one of the apartment’s bedrooms around 3:30 p.m. when a masseuse arrived for a scheduled appointment and the residence’s housekeeper went to inform him of the masseuse’s arrival.

NYPD confirmed, then later retracted that the apartment belongs to Mary-Kate Olsen. Dummies.

Ledger is starring as the Joker in the upcoming Batman movie The Dark Knight, which is currently scheduled for release in the U.S. on July 18, 2008.

UPDATE: Heath Ledger died of an accidental overdose of painkillers, sleeping pills, anti-anxiety medication, and other prescription drugs, the New York City medical examiner said Wednesday, February 6, 2008.

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In this episode:

• celebrity deaths (The Fabulous Moolah and Evel Knievel, thanks to www.deadoraliveinfo.com),
• Deck the Halls (2008) starring Danny DeVito and Matthew Broderick,
• Holiday in Handcuffs (2007) starring Melissa Joan Hart and Mario Lopez,
• bad new reality shows (Clash of the Choirs and American Gladiators),
• Pros vs. Joes,
• Greg’s recent DVD purchases at Costco (The X-Files: The Ultimate Collection, The Karate Kid Collection, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3-Pak, etc.),
• Platoon (1986) incorrectly listed as Hot Shots! (1991) on the digital cable guide,
• stupid customer reviews on Amazon.com,
• The Three Stooges 75th Anniversary Collection DVD reissue,
• and lame DVD special features.

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32 minute MP3 file – 14.7 MB (right-click to save)

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Michael Bay is the winner of The Paunch Stevenson Show Lame Idiot of 2007 Award.

Michael Bay directed the horrible summer blockbuster Transformers (2007) and destroyed the classic science fiction franchise. He ignored the producers’ suggestions and decided to stick with a broken script and make the Transformers look like metal skeletons instead of robots.

According to Bay, “Tom Desanto proceeded to tell me how much he had problems with the robot designs and script issues. I realized he was worlds apart in my vision. I said thank you very much and then showed him my office door… I never spoke creatively with Don Murphy. I read his notes kind of trashing the script… he knew I was not going to talk creative with him.”

Read more: www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/michael-bay-wants-to-get-facts-straight/

Michael Bay has directed other masterpieces like Bad Boys (1995), Armageddon (1998), and Pearl Harbor (2001). He is also directing the upcoming Transformers 2 scheduled for release in the U.S. on June 26, 2009. Great.

(discussed in episodes 39, 42, 69, 73, 75, 76, 77, 85, and 93)

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LiveLeak.com – Ninja bank robber needs a crutch

On Tuesday, January 15, 2008, a man dressed as a ninja robbed a Bank of Albuquerque in Albuquerque, NM. Unlike most ninjas, this one was hobbling around on a crutch. The FBI has released the bank’s surveillance video and has posted the limping ninja’s picture on electronic billboards along major local roads. Maybe someone will recognize him and turn him in soon.

A $1,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the Crutch Bandit’s arrest. He is described as a thin Asian man, 25 to 35 years old, approximately 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighing 140 pounds, and crippled.

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In 2005, former American Idol contestant Carrie Underwood had a hit song called “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” which I hadn’t heard until today. Has anyone paid attention to the lyrics? I have and they’re ridiculous.

The song is about a woman who is driving too fast during a blizzard. She skids on some ice and starts screaming for Jesus to take control of the steering wheel so she doesn’t die. While the car is still out of control, she lets go of the wheel and somehow, the car magically pulls over to the shoulder and comes safely to a stop. The woman thanks Jesus and promises she’ll treat people better from now on.

There’s only one problem. This woman knows she’s a jerk and that it’s impossible for her to treat people nicely on her own, so she asks Jesus to take control of her entire life too, just like he did with her car.

Instead of learning her lesson about driving recklessly, the only thing the woman has learned is that whenever she does something stupid, Jesus will bail her out. That’s a great message to send to people. “Act like a moron. It’s okay. Jesus will protect you.”

The last thing people need is an excuse to be even more thoughtless and irresponsible than they already are. Way to go, Carrie Underwood.

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