Nintendo and me. Part II

 In a previous post I talked about how I got my first Gameboy Advance and Nintendo DS, today I would like to continue with the stories of Nintendo and me.

After I sold my DS, I didn't have a console for a while. At that time I had emulators for Gameboy, Gameboy Advance, and Nintendo DS on my phone, but a new console was realized, the Nintendo 3DS, just like the DS it had two screens, but now it was more powerful and had 3D technology, yes!  You could see in 3D without needing glasses, for me it was futuristic! I asked my dad for a 3DS but he said it was too expensive so I spent months sad and only desiring a 3DS. 

I was very young, and I even remember I made a 3DS out of paper. One day my dad accepted (after a lot of begging) to buy me the 3DS, and so he did, we went to Las Pulgas again and we bought one used, I wanted a cyan one, but they only had a red one, I also got to pick one game, so I chose Pokémon X, the game was brand new, it just had released in the markets, and I'm sure about this because I even got a Torchic from the launching event. I even remember downloading it at the doctor's because my mom had an appointment. 

I only had Pokemon X so I took advantage of it, a year later my grandma traveled to the United States and brought me two games, Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7, I really enjoyed those games, I played them a lot and also the free demos I downloaded from the Eshop. However one day, I would lose those two games in a restaurant, I asked a few days later if they had found them but it was pointless. After I while, I went with my mom to Las Pulgas to modify my 3DS, so I could install pirated games, and it worked, a new world opened to me, new franchises, different adventures, hundreds of hours playing, the Nintendo 3DS became my favorite console, and it still is one of my favorite's. Sadly, one day my mom left the 3DS on the cable box and it overheated, the games wouldn't save anymore and the console would turn off constantly, I still have it and I would like to fix it one day, for all the memories I had playing on it.

That was everything for this part, I hope you've enjoyed the lecture, and in case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night.

- Carlos Meléndez

Ride the Cyclone!

 Hello everybody!

Today, I would like to share with you one of my favorite musicals, Ride the Cyclone. This is a musical created in 2008, by Jacob Richmond and Brooke Maxwell, and this is the second part of a trilogy called "Uranium Teen Scream Trilogy", a three parts collection of theatrical works, the first part being "Legoland", which at this moment is considered to be lost media, only a scene of the play being available on Youtube, and the third installment hasn't been written yet.

In this story, we meet  The Amazing Karnak, a mechanical fortune teller who has the ability to predict the deaths of people at a carnival in Urinaium City. In this carnival, an incident happened where 5 young choir members passed away in a malfunctioning accident on a roller coaster called The Cyclone, even Karnak recommended the 5 teenagers ride the cyclone. Karnak could even predict his own death, a rat was chewing one of Karnak's powering cables, killing him In about one hour.

Full of guilt, Karnak summoned the soul of the 5 teenagers, Ocean an ambitious girl who has succeeded in everything, Noel the only gay boy in town who is filled with passion, Mischa an angry Ukrainian boy with a gangsta persona who tries to talk with his online fioncée Talia, Ricky a boy with disabilities but with a huge imagination, and Constance, a nice girl with some insecurities about her and her town. There was also a mysterious character, Jane Doe, another victim of the accident, whose corpse was found with the other ones from the choir, but without a head, there was no way to know her identity. All these children would compete to win the big prize: come back to life. During the musical, we will see each kid show their dreams, wishes, sad stories, and learnings to see who deserves to live once more. 

I learned about this musical from a song I found on Tiktok, I listened to it, then watched the scene, and then I watched the whole musical. Then I realized that many of the songs were on trend at some point on TikTok, so yeah! The songs are really good, and the show is very funny and emotional. I really loved the characters and the story, I've watched many times this musical and every time there's a new detail that I find. So I would really recommend you check this musical, expect everything from the songs, the characters, and the plot. You can find the musical on YouTube as Ride the Cyclone slime tutorial, just make sure not to like the video or it will be erased.

Thank you for reading! And in case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening and good night!

-Carlos Meléndez

Nintendo and me. Part I

 I've played video games since I was a kid, mostly Nintendo games, and they have become an important part of my life. 

The first console I owned was the Gameboy Advance; Many of my classmates had one, and I asked my father for months for one Gameboy. I remember one day to "Las Pulgas", and he went to buy something and we were waiting in the car, I had no idea what he was doing there, then, he returned and told me "Close your eyes" and I did, and when I opened them I had a purple Gameboy Advance in front of me. I was very happy, even though I had no idea how to start the game, I put the cartridge backward. I even remember my mom had a dentist appointment that same day, and I was there, with my Gameboy turned on but without playing. I had so many great times with that console; thanks to the anime and my best friend at that time, I decided to buy a Pokémon game, Pokémon Ruby. And after that, all my love for Pokémon started. I have a lot of memories with my Gameboy Advance, taking it with me when I went with my father to his job, or taking it to school to play Pokémon with my friends, even though my mom had forbidden it. or playing Pac-man World with my cousins. It was a great console that sadly I lost one day.

Years later my father bought me a Nintendo DS, I remember I bought the game "Pokémon Mystery Dungeon", I was very excited that day, so excited that I left the charger at the store. I played all afternoon, and I was sad when the battery died because I had to wait a few days until we went to the store again. Gladly, they recognized us and returned me the charger. I really took advantage of the Nintendo DS, my father bought me an R4, which is a pirate cartridge to play all the DS games you'd like. So I played a lot of Pokémon, Mario Kart, MarioParty, Zelda, Kirby, and WarioWare. I have a strong memory of me, at my grandparents' house, playing The Simpsons Game on my DS while my grandma was baking pastries. Something I regret a lot is selling this console with all my Pokemon games, I hope one day to get them again.

Wow, look at the time! I hope I'll share with you my other anecdotes about my consoles another day, but for now, I hope you've enjoyed reading my blog.

And in case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night.

- Carlos Meléndez

The woman on the window of The Rescuers

 Hello everyone,

Do you remember the 1977 Disney movie "The Rescuers"? Or as it was called in Latin America: "Bernando y Bianca", a film about two brave mice trying to rescue a little girl who was kidnapped. Okay, great! Maybe you had forgotten about this part of our childhood, or maybe you didn't, I don't know. But did you know there was a photo of a naked woman in this film? Crazy, right?

This photo was found on a blink-and-you'll-miss-it part, only two frames of the movie; when the two mice are flying down. If you paid attention to the building in the background, you would notice a naked woman on the window, not a cartoon woman, but an actual naked woman. This was not noticeable until the VHS release in 1999, and these VHSs had to be taken back because someone had found the hidden woman. This version was a rerelease of the 1992 VHS version of the movie, which didn't feature the woman on the window, so the 1999 one was a different print. Disney said that the film they projected in the cinema didn't include the mysterious woman, but people on the internet have found Behind-the-scenes fragments that did include the woman, ON TV!!!!!

The reason that it passed unnoticed is that (unlike in the cinema) you could pause and rewind the movie at any moment, making it easier to notice this "easter egg". Of course, every version you now see has that background edited removing the woman on the window, including the Disney+ version, but, she was there. 

It's interesting to think how something like this sneaked out the Disney's strict revisions. This and other similar controversies with Disney have made a lot of people theorize that Disney is putting subliminal messages into the kids. I remember reading all these theories when I was younger, and I was shocked. Now I just think that these could be jokes that the animators would do to release tension and stress, that accidentally slipped through the official releases. 

And in case you were wondering "Who put the woman on the window in the background?", I have the answer for you. Her name was Ann Guenther, a very important background artist who participated in many important movies and who had won many awards due to her beautiful work. The last movie she had worked on Disney was The Rescuers, after being replaced by the person she had trained before. Could the woman in the window be the last revenge? Tom Sito, a co-worker of Anne's and the person who confirmed she did the woman on the window, said that it was a nice theory, but that everything was just an inside joke.

Well, that was everything, the only mystery that remains is "Who is the woman in the window?", we may never know. I hope you've found this entry interesting, that you've learned a little more about animation, and that you know a bit of Annie, an amazing background designer, an incredible artist, and the responsible behind the woman in the window.

Thank you for reading.

And in case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night.

- Carlos Meléndez