Favourite video games from my youth

I admit that the Xbox 360, WII and PS3 have taken gaming to a whole new universe. But there is still something very classic about these games from my childhood.

1. Blaster Master

2. Guardian Legend

3. Zelda II: The Adventures of Link

4. Final Fantasy

5. Castlevania

6. NHL 92

7. Strider (For Kev)

The seven: Hot TV moms

Here is a list of some of the hottest mom characters on television right now. I bet there is more than seven so feel free to write in any additions.

1. Mary Louise Parker – Weeds.
2. Joely Richardson – Nip/Tuck.
3. Minnie Driver – The Riches.
4. Marg helgenberger – CSI.
5. Chandra West – John From Cincinnati.
6. Perrey Reeves – Entourage.
7. Ali Larter – Heroes

The seven: Hottest women of 80’s movies

I was a young teen as the 80’s came to a close and these women were the goddesses of my movie watching. For those of you old enough, I know you feel the same way about some of these lovely ladies. Maxim helped out but I did agree with most of their choices.

1. Phoebe Cates in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
2. Janet Jones in The Flamingo Kid.
3. Deborah Foreman in Valley Girl.
4. Kelly LeBrock in Weird Science.
5. Catherine Mary Stewart in Night of the Comet.
6. Diane Franklin in Better Off Dead.
7. Julia Montgomery in Revenge of the Nerds.

The seven: Chuck Palahniuk books

I am currently reading Rant by Chuck Palahniuk so I figured it was a good time to list seven books by one of my favourite authors.

1. Fight Club – One of my favourite books and films ever.
2. Survivor – This book is awesome and so hard to even explain.
3. Invisible Monster – My first taste of the world of Chuck.
4. Choke – A hard read but over time I have liked it more.
5. Lullaby – Good story but it did not grab me.
6. Diary – Freaky and not bad but not great.
7. Haunted – Did not like this one at all.

The seven: Highest paid stars on TV

This week we check out the best paid stars on televsion. No shocker at the top of the list but there are some surprises there at least to me.

1. Oprah Winfrey – $260 million a year
2. Simon Cowell – $45 million a year
3. Judge Judy – $30 million a year
4. Katie Couric – $15 million a year
5. Zach Braff – $6.3 million a year
6. William Petersen – $500,000 (per episode)
7. Charlie Sheen – $350,000 (per episode)

The seven: Best Simpson’s Endings

Today’s list is from Best Week Ever and it is the seven best Simpson’s endings of all time. I would think this list will start some chatter and if you want to see the top 10 go here.

7. Home Sweet Home-Diddily-Dum-Doodily (Season 7)
In the dramatic conclusion to the frustratingly amusing Child Welfare episode, Homer and Marge rescue Bart and Lisa from a Ned Flanders baptism (and Maggie from a symbolic baptism into the Flanders family), then the four walk off together, confident in their shared imperfections, with Homer laughing at the old paint cans in Flanders’ garage with the pointless insult, “Ha ha, Old Painty-Can Ned!” Not only a terrific new take on the old “we’re a crazy family, but we’re family” idea, but it also perfectly sums up the “no faults whatsoever but you still want to hate him” character of Ned Flanders.

6. Lisa’s First Word (Season 4)
The hubbub surrounding the show bringing in Elizabeth Taylor to deliver Maggie’s first word sort of overshadowed the episode’s independently touching ending; after a full flashback documenting Marge and Homer’s problems handling baby Bart and Lisa, as well as both children only referring to Homer by his first name, Homer tucks Maggie in and secretly confides, “The sooner kids talk, the sooner they talk back. I hope you never say a word,” after which Maggie manages to formulate the word, “Daddy,” delivered to an empty room, before she falls back asleep. It’s cute enough to make you want to push that first baby lamb out of the way.

5. Treehouse of Horror IV (Season 5)
The Simpsons has always had a flair for the occassional absurd twist, and while the device became trite and lost its impact in the later seasons (what wouldn’t after a damn decade?), there is perhaps no more inane — and yet, weirdly satisfying — turn of events than at the end of the fourth Halloween special, when the entire Simpsons family of vampires converges on Lisa, then they all stop, turn to the camera, and shout “Happy Halloween, everybody!” and the show fades to credits with everyone Lu Lu Lu’ing a tune from “Charlie Brown Christmas.” On any other show, it might have seemed like a cop-out, but in retrospect, can you think of any other way to end a story about vampires? Coast Guard?

4. Duffless (Season 4)
The reason I have such trouble fully embracing episodes like “Homer’s Phobia” and the Frank Grimes episode is because the character of Homer, while fluctuatingly stupid, lazy, and prone to anger, was never really a fundamentally ‘bad’ person. This fact is never more clearly illustrated than in the episode when Homer gives up drinking for thirty days, then when the thirty days are up, he rushes back to Moe’s out of habit but has second thoughts, and the episode ends with Homer and Marge riding a bike together and duetting “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head.” It’s impressive enough when a show like “The Office” makes people believe that two fake human beings are perfect for one another, but when an animated show can do that?? Groin-grabbingly transcendent.

3. Lisa’s Wedding (Season 6)
The majority of Lisa’s future episode is just a series of (hilarious) gags one after the other, usually involving supporting characters and their terrible future selves. The ending, however, is a complete sucker punch; after being ashamed of her family in front of her future fiancee and struggling to withstand their constant, grating quirks, Lisa ultimately realizes how important her family, for better or for worse, is to her life. The episode returns to the present and fades out on Lisa walking away with Homer, listening with genuine loving enthusiasm at her dad’s stories of eating fudge and riding the teacups.

2. Bart Gets An Elephant (Season 5)
There’s nothing especially touching or inspiring or meaningful about the ending to this Season Five gem, it’s just simply one of the funniest gags in the show’s history. When Bart’s elephant enters a wildlife refuge and immediately just starts butting all the other elephants, the refuge director explains to Marge, “Some of them act badly because they’ve had a hard life, or have been mistreated… but, like people, some of them are just jerks. Stop that, Mr. Simpson,” then a pan out reveals Homer butting the director with his head for no reason. Rivals the “No HomerS” ending from “Stonecutters” as the best flat-out punchline in the show’s history.

1. And Maggie Makes Three (Season 6)
Through all of Homer’s on-and-off parenting skills throughout the run of the show (and within even this episode), he is never exposed to be more tender and lovable than at the very end of this flashback episode, which also might be my favorite overall episode of all time. If you manage to make it through the ending without tearing up, after Homer has placed photos of his unconditionally beloved third child over the demotivational plaque at his workstation to make it spell “Do It For Her”, and you’re not in a desert somewhere with no moisture left in your body, then you are a more cold-hearted human being than I ever believed this planet could produce.

A huge painted doughnut at the base of the CN Tower feeds the hype surrounding the Simpsons movie.

The seven: Movies that are too long

Today’s list is seven of movies that I think were way too long! Maybe some editing would of improved the quality and success in some cases of these flicks.

Hulk
Running time: 138 minutes
What to cut: Nick Nolte. Not him entirely, but do you need to stop the movie to pit him and Eric Bana in chairs opposite one another to discuss antigovernment issues? I don’t want Bruce Banner in therapy—I want him pissed off, green, and busting up shit all over the place.

King Kong
Running time: 187 minutes
What to cut: The buildup. Part of the original film’s charm is that it takes its sweet time before things really start cooking. But in the 1930s, audiences didn’t mind sitting in theaters all day, because their only other options were standing in lines and starving.

Pearl Harbor
Running time: 183 minutes
What to cut: Nearly everything. Make this a brisk, 45-minute, painstakingly detailed account of the invasion, and I’d pop in that DVD whenever there was some time to kill between CSIs. If anyone needs to know anything more, they can fire up Wikipedia. I would also suggest keeping a few shots of Kate in there just cause she is super hot.

The Matrix Reloaded
Running time: 138 minutes
What to cut: Maybe this is harsh but how about the part right after the opening credits to the part where the credits roll?

Alexander
Running time: 220 minutes
What to cut: Just like the previous flick I would have to say pretty much chop the whole thing down to the length of a trailer. Funny, I remember seeing the trailer and thinking wow that will be a good movie. I will say this, it might be the first movie to ever make you feel like you are actually living out the timeline of the story.

The Thin Red Line
Running time: 170 minutes
What to cut: Sitting through The Thin Red Line in a movie theater actually qualifies as a tour of duty. I remember actually dozing off a few times and always waking up feeling like I did not miss a thing. So I would have to say cutting out a lot of the imagery and adding some actual story.

Heat
Running time: 171 minutes
What to cut: The personal lives. Pacino has enough to scream over without a difficult home life or a moaning Natalie Portman (wait a sec? haha) to worry about, and De Niro’s wooing of Amy Brenneman is just embarrassing for all who watch. Ashley Judd was in this flick but clearly they did not do enough to make me remember her.

The seven: Female athletes in Playboy

In honour of Amanda Beard being on the cover of Playboy I figured it was due to have a list of all the ladies of sport who have bared it all on the cover of the World famous men’s magazine. Enjoy and if you are looking for nakedness, you will have to take another five seconds and do your own google search. This is a family blog, well for the most part.

1. Katarina Witt – Former ice skater
2. Gabrielle Reece – Famous volleyball babe
   
3. Amy Acuff – Olympian
   
4. Mia St. John – Professional boxer and Tae Kwon Do champion
5. Chyna – WWF wrestler, not the country
   
6. Amanda Beard – Swimmer
   
7. Maria Sharapova – Okay so it is not true but
   I needed seven to fill out the list

Bonus clip

Amanda on Letterman this week to talk about the cover.

See even more Amanda shots here

And here

For even more pictures go here.

For the naked pics go here

The seven: Sexiest album covers

Today’s list is seven of the hottest album/cd covers over the years. Sex sells and I am sure a lot of people bought these without caring how the music sounded.

Pulp, This Is Hardcore

Christina Aguilera, Stripped

Slunt, Get a Load of This

REO Speedwagon, Hi Infidelity

Jennifer Lopez, On the 6

Aerosmith, Pump

Catherine Wheel, Adam & Eve

The seven: How I Met Your Mother clips

Last night the second season of How I Met Your Mother ended and it is unsure that the show will be back for a third season. It is one of my favourite shows and just wanted to post some clips for those of you who do not watch it. Enjoy.

1. The Barney Stinson story
2. Top 10 car names
3. My rack is bigger
4. Slap bet
5. Dirty dancing
6. Crazy eyes
7. Legendary