Memories From Childhood, Part VI

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1989)

I remember watching this at a friends house (before I'd seen anything else by Terry Gilliam) and really enjoying it. It hada lot of famous actors for being a relatively unnoticed film, such as John Neville , Robin Williams, Uma Thurman, Eric Idle, Oliver Reed, & Johnathan Pryce. It was a very nice mix of fantasy, history (a very small part), and comedy. Fun for children and adults (at least the ones that can catch the innuendos, etc.). Definitely a recommended film!

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons (2001)

This is one of my favorite Zelda games, other than Ocarina of Time and Link's Awakening. Paired with Oracle of Ages...not sure if they had been planning this for a while, or if they were following GameFreak's model with the Pokemon games. I think they pulled it off, since my brother and best friends got different versions and played together. Spent many an hour playing this, and enjoyed every minute of it. Still not as good as Link's Awakening, but most handheld versions aren't- especially with the direction they're going now with games like Phantom Hourglass & Spirit Tracks. 

Transformers: Beast Wars (1996-1999)

Didn't watch this show very much, but it sticks in my memory as one of the few iterations of Transformers I actually like (other than Michael Bay's first Transformers movie). I'm pretty sure the reason why I liked it was because they transformed into animals instead of lame things like trucks and such. Remember that the voice acting wasn't that great...then again, most animated kid's shows don't have very good voice acting (with some exceptions... like Scooby Doo & Spongebob).

The Redwall series- Brian Jacques

I really love this book series. One of the best fantasy children's series out there. Period. It's too bad that Brian Jacques passed away earlier this year. Most of my favorite authors are dead now (J.R.R.Tolkien, Michael Crichton, Brian Jacques, Robert Jordan, & C.S. Lewis)... the only ones left are Terry Goodkind, R.A. Salvatore, & Anne McCaffrey! At this point, I've read all but 4 of them (Eulalia!, Doomwyte, The Sable Queen, & The Rogue Crew), and there hasn't been one yet that I haven't liked. There are definitely ones I prefer over others, but all of them are good. I really like Lord Brocktree, Rakkety Tam, Salamandastron, High Rhulain, and The Pearls of Lutra (Badgers and Otters are my favorites). My all-time favorite would have to be Lord Brocktree though. You have to let your kids read these books! Just be prepared for them to be hungry after reading them-  Jacques goes all-out when describing meals and feasts! :)

Memories From Childhood, Part V

The Princess Bride (1987)

This movie is (apart from Monty Python & the Holy Grail) one of the most quoted/quotable movies of all time. I love this movie, and NO it's not a chick flick! There's something for both men and women, so everyone enjoys it. Bought the book as well, and it was just as good as the movie, if not better. Humor was very close to Douglas Adams' in "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". You need to see this movie.

..."Anybody want a peanut?"  =D

Harvest Moon GB (1997)

You might think that this game is stupid or girly, but hey, I enjoyed it. So there. Harvest Moon is a farm sim game that kicks the pants off of FarmVille. Fun game to dink around on, but not one I would play for long periods of time. Honestly, it's better for younger kids anyway.

Bill Nye the Science Guy (1993-1998)

I learned a lot from this show. I wish it was still on the air, but alas, it is not. I still get the seasons song stuck in my head from time to time. Sunrise, sunset...

The Swiss Family Robinson- Johann David Wyss

I read this book in junior high, I believe. Really liked it- it's one of my favorite Classics. Yeah, it's not technically a classic, but I consider it as one. The Disney live-action movie wasn't that great, but I enjoyed both as a kid. Definitely a recommended read.

Memories From Childhood, Part IV

Warriors of Virtue- 1997

While I realize that this movie is incredibly bad, at this age (I was 9 at the time), your sense of taste and what's "awesome!" aren't fully developed. This movie is basically about a kid who gets transported to this fantasy land and fights off an 'evil' warlord with five kangaroos who can use kung fu. I still like this movie for its nostalgia factor, but that's about it. The only famous person (to my knowledge) in this movie- not that it matters- is Angus Macfadyen. Doesn't sound familiar? Well, maybe you'd remember him as Robert the Bruce in Braveheart. They made a sequel to this movie (Warriors of Virtue: Return to Tao) in 2005, which was even worse.

Golden Sun- 2001

I LOVE this game! Even though it was a handheld title, it is one of my favorite (true) RPG games. This game, and even it's sequels, were amazing! Though I don't particularly care for turn-based combat, it didn't really get all that repetitive like most turn-based games are. If you haven't played it, go do so! No excuses, they have emulators for it!

Doug- 1991-1994

Doug was the a cool show at the time, and for the most part still is, though it's not on TV anymore (I think). And yes, the air dates posted above are not incorrect, for Doug only aired on Nickolodeon for 4 years, then Disney bought it and ruined the show.

Calvin & Hobbes- Bill Watterson

Calvin & Hobbes is by far my favorite comic of all time. Now-a-days I read a few web comics (Order of the Stick, Looking For Group, & Multiplex to name a few), but Calvin & Hobbes has always been and always be my #1. It's funny, it's intelligent, and people of all ages can connect to it at one level or another. Kids like Calvin; adults can relate to Calvin's parents or the babysitter; & smart-alecs like myself like Hobbes. If you haven't read any of Calvin & Hobbes, I really sincerely suggest that you do.

Memories From Childhood, Part III

The BBC Chronicles of Narnia movies (1988-1990)

I watched these videos so many times when I was little...It originally was a TV miniseries on the BBC network. By the time I got my little hands on it, it was a 3 disc DVD collection; one for The Lion, the Witch, & the Wardrobe, one for both Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and one for The Silver Chair. While the special effects and costuming of the animal characters were pretty bad, the music and plot lines were enjoyable. The animal suits never really detracted from the whole experience for me, even now (and those beaver suits were pretty bad).

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (2003)

This game has got to be (other than Pokemon) the game that I have played the most, logging over 100 hours of gameplay. I love this game (and it's sequel)! While the missions never change, there are so many of them. Plus there are a ton of different job and ally configurations to try, it never gets old. Definitely one of my favorite strategy games.







Rocket Power (1999-2004)
Good show from the early 2000's. My favorite character was Tito, of course. Kinda makes you wish that you lived in Hawaii. And, like in "Lord of the Flies", my friends associated me with the fat, geeky kid with glasses...so I was Squid. Jerks ;)

The Giver- Lois Lowry (1993)


I read this book in elementary school, though I can't remember if I read it in fifth or sixth grade (age 11 or 12). I really like this book- it's my favorite out of all of the "required readings" I had to do in elementary school. My only complaint is that it was too short. I have heard that there are two more books in the series, so I'll definitely check those out in the future. I believe they're called "Gathering Blue" and "Messenger".

Memories From Childhood, Part II

Movie

The Sandlot (1993)

Man, this movie has it all: Funny lines, great characters, awesome music, and baseball. I loved this movie as a kid, and I still greatly appreciate it even though I like other movies more. My favorite scene is when they play a night game on the 4th of July, and the fireworks are going off, and Ray Charles is singing America the Beautiful in the background...simply awesome! 

"You drink out of the toilet...and you like it!" 

"Well, you play ball like a girl!" 

*gasp*

Video Game

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX (1998)

Oh geez, this game was/is great. I wish that I still had the cartridge so I don't have to play it on an emulator. Either way, this was one of my first GameBoy games, and definitely my first Legend of Zelda game. My cartridge had a glitch or something in it though... it would always wipe the memory right after I beat the last dungeon, so technically I've never beaten it.

TV Show

Dexter's Laboratory (1996-2003)

I really liked this show when I was a kid, though I'm not really sure why. It's not that it's a bad show, I just don't remember why I liked it so much. My favorite episodes are the D&D spoof episode and the one where Dexter and his friends become superheroes. It's not "Lab-ratory" it's "La-bor-a-tory"!

Memories From Childhood, Part I

With this series, I would like to reminisce a bit, and put a few things that I remember fondly from my childhood. Each entry won't have the same kinds of things each time, but most will be media related. Here we go!

Movie
"The Hobbit" (1977)

This had to have been one of my favorite movies of all time- well, at least when I was a little kid. From the age when my mom thought that the goblins wouldn't scare the crap out of me, I watched this all the time...I'm surprised I didn't wear the VHS out. I still have it to this day. Even though most people think that the soundtrack was bad (and I guess they're mostly right) the songs were one of my favorite parts of the movie (that and the battles). I especially liked the songs involving the goblins.

Video Game

Pokemon Red (1998)

This was one of the first video games on a system other than PC. While I found the TV show dumb, never really got into the manga; I loved collecting the cards and playing the games. The Pokemon series is still one of my favorite handheld gaming franchises. I remember the first time I played it, I holed myself in my room, sitting on my bean-bag chair and played it from the time I got home from Target to dinner time, and then again after dinner until my mom made me go to bed. I started with Charmander, and I remember having the hardest time beating Brock and Misty until I leveled up my Butterfree and Oddish enough.

TV Show

The Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog (1998-1999)

While looking back now, this show was just a crappy copycat of Power Rangers, but as a kid, I loved this show even though it only lasted for a year. It was about 4 young knights in medieval/mystic Ireland, and many of the episodes involved Celtic myths. I remember I had one of the action figures (Angus- the one 2nd from the right) and I played with that thing a lot. It had many small armor pieces, and I never lost any of them surprisingly enough. To be quite honest, I'd like to get the action figures again, but they're hard to find- especially Ivar's.