This post was supposed to be about Metallix, the best version of Metal Sonic ever devised. But that could go on for ages and ages, and I'm not really in the mood. Then it was going to be about Bizarro, but I could spin that into a week of its own. Then it was going to be about the Candybot from the Donkey Kong Country cartoon, but then I realised everyone would find out about some kinks of mine that I'm not comfortable with them knowing.
So instead it's about the evil twin from 'Man in the Iron Mask'. I have neither read this book nor seen this film. The closest I've got to it is the second series of Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds, which I haven't actually watched yet. However, as a student of English Literature, I realise none of that is necessary.
Basically, I like this guy's moxie. He put his twin brother, the true prince of France, into a dungeon, stuck an iron mask on his face and went around pretending to be royalty. That sounds like just the sort of thing I would do. His scheme would probably have worked, if it weren't for the fact that he was facing the Three Musketeers. And d'Artagnian, but apparently he sucks in it. I've read that he's really cool in The Three Musketeers (Which I totally agree with) but then at the end he begins to suck, and it continues for the sequels. Ah well. At least Aramis is still cool. Aramis is the best Musketeer, no matter what you may hear.
So yeah. Hopefully tomorrow we'll have Metallix. Or if not, then maybe the Candybot. I'll try to restrain myself.

Evil Twin Week

I have exactly 33 minutes to get this done. Let's go.
Welcome to Evil Twin Week, where we discuss evil twins. Monday's twin is Captain Pollution, the alternative to Captain Planet.
One day, the 5 main villains of Captain Planet got together and made special pollution versions of the Planeteer's rings. Thanks to Wikipedia, I know these villains and their powers.

Super Radiation (Duke Nukem. No, not that one. This one was an orange guy in an Hawaiian shirt)
Deforestation (I think this was Hoggish Greedly. Look, the show wasn't big on subtlety)
Smog (Looten Plunder. The villain I remember the best)
Toxics (Possibly Sly Sludge. I think it would fit.)
Hate (Dr. Blight, the hot evil female with a terrible secret)

And when their powers combined, and there is nothing cooler than hearing an orange hulkster in a Hawaiian shirt saying the words "Then let our pollution powers combine! Super Radiation!" without a hint of irony, they would summon Captain Pollution.
Captain Pollution had two advantages over Captain Planet. One, he caused pollution, Captain Planet's one weakness. Two, he had a cool insane surfer voice. It was mint. "By your powers combined, I am Captain Pollution!" doesn't sound cool on its own, but imagine a demented surfer saying it. Awesome.
Captain Pollution was so powerful that his first appearance merited a two-part episode, back before those things became popular. Nowadays, every cartoon follows one storyline for a whole series. Back then, you were lucky if things in one episode got referenced in another.
The Transformers did it all the time though, sometimes even three-parters. Because Transformers was the best.
Eventually though, ol' Captain Pollution got defeated in a massive comeback from Captain Planet. I think he rammed him through the Earth or something. Sounds pretty cool. The evil twin managed to make a comeback for another episode, but that was pretty much it.
I think, if they ever remake Captain Planet for modern times, Captain Pollution's gonna be an end-of-series villain, who the kids will have to defeat through teamwork and friendship and whatnot. As long as he still sounds like a crazed polluting surfer, I'll be happy.

Announcement

You know that old chestnut about how every action has an equal and opposite reaction? That probably explains the multitude of evil twins you get in cartoons and video games. Next week will be dedicated to them. I was going to do a post now about Captain Pollution, but then I realised I culd easily extend this theme to a week. And hey, no one reads this blog anyway, so I can do whatever the hell I want! Such is the dark power of the blogger.
That means that today, instead of a thoughtful post about the environment and radiation monsters in Hawaiian shirts, you get this: Kingdom Hearts II is the best PS2 game to have come out this year. Let's reflect on that.

The Power is Yours!

Did you ever watch Captain Planet? That was a pretty big part of my childhood. Really not really, but it was a part nevertheless.
'Captain Planet and the Planeteers' was a show about an ethnically-diverse bunch of teens (and a monkey) who each recieved rings (except the monkey) from Gaia, the spirit of the Earth (voiced by Whoopi Goldberg, I believe), that controlled the elements of the world. Not from the Periodic Table of Elements, although that'd be pretty cool, but the standard Greek elements (Earth, Fire, Wind and Water) plus Heart, which was basically their get-out clause. I don't remember what Heart did exactly. Probably made people more caring about the environment. The kid with the Heart ring (named Ma-Ti, from South America) had the monkey, probably because he felt gyped with the ring he got.
So this group, known as the Planeteers, would go around in their X-Men-like plane and try to stop eco-terrorists from hurting the environment. And then when something really bad would happen, like a big smog monster came and terrorised the desert or whatnot, one of them (Probably Wheeler, the dumb American kid with the power of fire) would shout something like "It's too big for us to handle!", and then either Linka (Soviet Union, Wind) or Gi (Thailand, Water) would say "We don't stand a chance!". That'w when Kwami (the leader, from Africa, had the power of Earth) would shout these immortal words:
"Then let our powers combine! Earth!"
"Fire!"
"Wind!"
"Water!"
"Heart!"

And they'd all point their rings to the sky, and from their powers combined, Captain Planet would pop out and save the day, usually whilst making some witty remarks. Captain Planet could have also been called Captain 80s, since he sported a skintight suit and a mullet. He also had green hair.
You know what Captain Planet's weakness was? Pollution. You know what he fought? Pollution. Not really the best thing to do. It'd be like Superman fighting a Kryptonite monster. Wait, wasn't there once a Kryptonite Man? Whatever.
The only thing anyone ever remembers about the show is the kickass end theme. You know, the one that explained how Captain Planet was a hero, and how he would take pollution down to zero. That was pretty cool.
So yeah, that's Captain Planet. Maybe someday we'll talk about Captain Pollution, undoubtedly the coolest bad guy on the show. In fact, let's do that tomorrow.

More news on the Bob story: Ryan's aplogised for what he said, and he'd like you to know this (his words, not mine):

BOBWINKLE: Never intended for him to leave, but then again, I could have handled my points a bit better, and really, I regret not doing that. That said, I'm not someone who minces their words and if I've got a problem, I'll come out and say what I feel if there's a chance it will sort things out for the better. I have no real problems with him, just disagree with him on certain issues! It's like everything else in here! Some believe God created the Universe, others believe it was a big bang, go figure!

But if anyone has Bobwinkle's e-mail, drop him a line and tell him there's still a place for him here, if he wants it. You can't agree with everything someone says, and I feel I'm as entitled as anyone else to state my arguments and opinions, despite being the Admin. And again, I'm sorry for being snappy!

So come back Bob! We all want you to!

To Bob

Later today we're going to talk about Captain Planet. But first I want to say something to my friend Bob, a.k.a Bobwinkle.
In case you didn't know, Bob has left SiF because of some comments made about him in the Advice thread. While I can understand why he would want to leave, I still want to ask him to come back. Don't let some silly comments influence you. For one thing, you're not a kiss-up. Secondly, and more importantly, we'll miss you. Remember the first time you left? We all missed you then, and we'll all miss you now.
If people want to leave, it's their decision. And sometimes it's for the better. Mstnoodle for example seems a lot happier since he left SiF. But for people to leave over some stupid comments that should never have been made, especially when they seemed so happy in every other aspect...well it's just not right.
Bob, if you're reading this, please reconsider. You'll always have a place waiting for you back at SiF. At least comment on this blog every so often, so I know you're OK. Or better yet, send me an e-mail at daemaus@yahoo.com.
Well, that's that. Coming up later, Captain Planet.

Random thought

Did Jeff Tracy keep John in space because he didn't have good personal hygiene?

I'm at Uni!

Been at Lancaster University for about 4 days now, and I have to say, I'm handling it a lot better than I expected to. Eating regular meals is a bit of a problem, because I rarely seem to be that hungry nowadays, but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it soon.
I've managed to make friends with everyone in my flat, so that's a plus. Also managed to befriend someone on my course today too, so woohoo, you know? And hey, there's even a guy from my old college here. Not someone I was great friends with, but we had Physics together, so...
Not really much to report other than that, really.