It Looks Like a Silver Record, but it's not a Silver Record

"It's a Laser Disc! There's a movie on there!"

Hello again folks. As you may have guessed, I am going to talk a bit about Laser Discs. I have been the proud owner of a Laser Disc player for a little over a month. It was a birthday present from our very own Sethifus. In much the same way that retro gaming is big these days, I have a special place in my heart for outdated video formats, and a Laser Disc player is something I had sought after for quite a few years. So armed with a stack of discs and a player, I was ready to take my journey. The general viewing experience with a Laser Disc is not unlike VHS. Though it is a disc based format, like DVD, the films lack a menu. This is especially strange because many Laser Disc had commentary tracks and the like. The picture quality is just a step above VHS; it's pretty clean, but nothing to write home about given the availability of both DVD and Blu-ray. The real downfall of Laser Disc is that the discs are huge and require flipping. I have to say, it does take you out of the viewing experience, and some films have multiple discs, which means flipping and switching discs to watch a single movie. All the same, I am glad to count the player and the movies amongst my fetishized possessions.

Double it, you still get zero

I saw this movie sitting on the shelf at my local library and thought "I like Groucho movies, I like Sinatra songs, I'll watch it!" And I did.

It was fun. The story is kinda boring. It's about Sinatra thinking some money he won betting on horses or something was stolen from his girlfriend's bank. This sucks because he only made the bet because she wouldn't marry him because he was poor. Something like that, I don't know, it was hard to pay attention.

The reason I recommend this film is because Groucho Marx is in it. I love the Marx Brothers, and while this movie is not as good as any of the Marx Brothers movies (in my opinion), Groucho's part is pretty close to the characters he portrays in said Marx Brothers movies. His delivery might be a little slower and a smidge less energetic, but it's still Groucho! I missed Groucho, and it was nice to see him in a new-to-me movie. He also has this odd character trait of delivering appropriate quotes from books and plays and such. Odd... but not uncomfortably so.

I also enjoyed both of Sinatra's songs. The first sung with Groucho (!) and the second with Jane Russell. Good stuff.

If you're a fan of Groucho Marx or Sinatra song styling's, check it out.

Hello World

So I haven't posted in a while. The thing about the Ponder Couch, is that it is comfy and promotes naps and procrastination every bit as much as the viewing and reviewing of nerdy goodies. In my absence from the blog, however, I'd like to think that I have been amassing experiences and materials to write about. I watched a movie that I was warned not to see. It is currently considered one of the most offensive horror movies ever made, and it has certainly earned the hype. I won't call it the reigning champ, however, as I have faith in humanity to continue to make filthy movies that are more horrifying still. I assume that people may be irritated that I haven't said the title of said film, and I do this, because I don't want to risk actually publicly recommending in any way shape or form.

Since last I wrote, I attended a comic trade show, and participated in Free Comic Book day. Yes, I am a comic nerd. As a result I am quite fond of a new comic series (by which I mean new to me) Hack/Slash. The Basic premise of the series is that Cassie Hack hunts down Slashers, which are supernatural serial killers much like Jason Vorheez, with her partner Vlad, who resembles Jason. She fell into this business after surviving a run in with her first slasher, The Lunch Lady, who was her own mother. This isn't terribly new ground, as the scooby gang, amongst others, have been hunting down baddies for quite some time. That said, I love the books and highly recommend them. Cassie and Vlad are characters you will care about, and as a long time horror fan with a special fondness for slashers, I enjoy seeing the original slashers they come up with.

Something else I have gotten up to is a new tattoo. I have always had a love for be movies, and some years back, I had Freak, from the Washington St. Artistic Design tattoo the Army of Darkness painting on my left calf. As soon as that tatt was finished, I knew I wanted a companion to bookend it on my other leg. Just under two weeks ago I went back in to see Freak, and had him tattoo the Toxic Avenger on my right calf. Thus I cemented Troma Entertainment's place in my heart, with a permanent place on my skin. The tattoo, turned out amazing, and I cannot wait to show it to Troma President Lloyd Kaufman at the next convention I run into him.

I think that wraps up my post for now, but I have more to write about, and I hope to get a part 2 in here soon. Thanks for reading!

Greetings from Ultr4l4ser

Hello all my name is Geoff and for those of you who know I am a massive nerd. My ponder couch contributions will certainly focus on all things nerd from video games to movies. One thing I will try to incorporate is a request system. Add me on Facebook or send me a message on a topic and I will look into it. I want to thank everyone for reading and I look forward to providing informative entertainment as I like to call it.

" A friend asked if I wanted a frozen banana. I said no, but I want a regular banana later so... Yes. " -Mitch Hedberg

P.S. Yes I will be ending all posts with a random quote usually pertaining to the subject matter.

Bloom County and Iowa City

A few weeks ago Princess Melawesome and I visited my cousin Meryl Irwin in Coralville, IA. She showed us around nearby Iowa City, IA.

At the Iowa City Public Library we happened upon several Berkely Breathed original cartoons!






I've been a fan of Breathed's work for as long as I can remember (through my Dad, Hemry). So this was quite exciting for me. Almost as exciting as the time I met him and had him sign a book for me and one for Hemry!
Meryl then took us to a comic shop and a book store .The store also had some Breathed originals on the wall. (I didn't realize there were originals, so I didn't take any pictures. Poo.) When I got home I found out that Breathed lived there for a while and based Bloom County pretty heavily on Iowa City. The boarding house that most of the characters from the strip is based on an actual house in the city (which I'll find when we visit Meryl next), and the Bloom County radio station's call letters are those of an Iowa City station, and the Bloom Picayune is based on an Iowa City paper.

But I ramble...

The Prairie Lights Bookstore was the basis for Bloom County's Prairie Lights Newstand!

So that was a welcome surprise at the end of a long, wonderful trip to the Dakotas and back. I hope to visit other comic strip-related points of interest. If and when I do, I'll make sure to blog about them.

Oh, for the strip at the top of this post to make sense, it helps to be familiar with Opus the Penguin from the Bloom County, Outland, and Opus comic strips and my strip Ponder and Enlightening (the strip of which this site is, in fact, a spin-off!) The penguin hilarity begins HERE!

Friend of the Ponder Cocuh

So one of my oldest friends has started doing some youtube reviews, and I would like to present them here. This is Bryan Trusty's review of the Sega Master System converter for the Sega Genesis. The man has always been naturally entertaining, and it comes through here. Please to enjoy.

'We're Throwing Science to the Wall Here to See What Sticks'

In 2007 software company Valve released a game called the Orange box. It was a collection of 5 games, and while the whole thing was considered a great value, despite being mostly rehashed content, I kept hearing about one game, Portal, in particular. This game kept getting praise, but was also warned to be 2 hours long. At the time, it was the only game on the Orange Box that interested me, and at a full $60 it seemed a bit steep for me. It was a song that finally made me take the plunge. Two gaming podcasts at IGN, Gamescoop and Podcast Beyond, played the song, "Still Alive" on their podcasts the same week. Let me skip ahead, and say that the song was one of the most clever and funny songs I had heard, but I highly recommend playing Portal before listening to it, as it will mean much more to you after that experience

Just this week Portal 2 was released. Reprising your role as Chelle, you awake after hundreds of years in stasis to find that the Aperture Science labs in a state of extreme disrepair. You are guided by a newly introduced AI, named Wheatley, in an attempt to escape the derelict labs. In an attempt to find an escape pod, he accidentally awakens GlaDOS, the homicidal AI that ran the facility before the indecent in the last game. From that point forward there's an actual force to escape in the game. A few plot twists later, you find yourself exploring the hallways of the original Aperture labs. You're given the opportunity to take in the history of Aperture Science and become acquainted with the founder, Cave Johnson, through a series of charismatic prerecorded messages. The exploration of the forgotten chambers introduces you to a few new features, such as a super bounce gel, and a speed amplifying gel. Eventually you make it back to the current labs and have to devise a plan to survive and set things right, before the building explodes.

I would recommend this game to anyone with even the slightest interest in gaming. There is so much to find in this amazing world, that you'll want to take your time exploring it. There are messages sprawled on walls from test subjects before you as well as fascinating motivational and safety posters covering the scenarios amazingly unique to Aperture Science. The characters in the game are humorous and very three dimensional. The game play is challenging but overall rewarding and quite fun. I play a lot of games, but very rarely do I want to play them again. As soon as I finished Portal 2 I was ready to go back and play through some of my favorite parts again. I can really give it no higher praise.