Mario in a Boot

I've been playing a lot of old school NES games recently and I'm amazed at how much fun they still are to play.  Do you remember that level in Mario 3 that had the green shoe?  You could jump on spikes and piranha plants and everything.

I love that shoe.  But you only get to use it in one level.

Rip off.

Will Strong Recommends - Super Mario Bros. Crossover

I'm a big fan of the internet. It brings me things that I would never find through normal (see legitimate) means. My favorite piece of the internet is currently to be found at http://supermariobroscrossover.com/

Some mad genius took the very first Super Mario Bros and inserted other classic NES era characters into the game. Samus, Mega Man, Link, Simon Belmont and more are all playable. Each of the characters behaves just like they do in their own games. Link has his sword. Samus has her blaster. It seems like it shouldn't work but it does. Brilliantly. Watch the video and you'll get the idea.

If you're a fan of old school NES games (or video games in general [or mad genius creativity]) then do yourself a favor and check it out. Do it quick before somebody gets sued and this game disappears forever.

New Longboard!

But not for me.

My nephew Ethan just turned 7 years old and the only thing he wanted in this big, wide world was a longboard of his very own.  He had lots of fun a few months back riding mine up and down the sidewalk (on his knees.)  So, when I called him up to wish him a happy birthday and also to tell him that we would be visiting his family soon he made sure that I brought my paints along for the ride.

Ethan originally wanted a dragon on his deck, but we later found out that he pretty much wanted anything with fire.  So I suggested Mario.  And Ethan embellished by telling me that he wanted Mario throwing a fire ball and jumping on his skateboard and flames on the wheels of Mario's board.  (He also wanted some other characters and the castle all with fire but they got cut in favor of getting finished before leaving the state.)

Ethan even helped me paint some:

A badly stitched together Photoshop composite.

Now the two boards are friends.

Look Ma, I made a fan art.  And I still fit into my old scout shirt.