TV Theme: December

It’s the final entry on my year long dedication to the usually ignored and vanishing art form called the TV show theme.

My closing choice of favorite theme is the opening from The Big Bang Theory. 

Instead of being an instrumental, it features a part of the song “History of Everything” by the Barenaked Ladies.  Other shows have done this including Veronica Mars and True Blood.  Like in those cases, the choice of a real song fits this show perfectly.  The Big Bang Theory celebrates all things scientific in a sitcom and the theme follows that course.  Here are the lyrics if you couldn’t catch them:

Our whole universe was in a hot dense state,
Then nearly fourteen billion years ago expansion started. Wait…
The Earth began to cool,
The autotrophs began to drool,
Neanderthals developed tools,
We built a wall (we built the pyramids),
Math, science, history, unraveling the mysteries,
That all started with the big bang!

(lyrics provided by lyricstime.com)

If you are interested, here is a subtitled full version of BNL’s “History of Everything”.

Added Bonus:
Since I am featuring the theme from The Big Bang Theory, I can’t resist sharing their ever-popular version of Rochambeau called Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock.

Hut, hut, brains!

Two things come to mind when I think of this time of year:  football and Halloween.  Put those together, and you get this week’s featured site:  Zombie Football.

This simple, yet addictive, game allows you to be a lone player against zombies in the Voodoo Bowl.  Using your arrow keys or ijkl keys, navigate around the undead team and grave stones strategically placed on the field to reach the end zone.  Have fun running down the referees, and don’t forget to have your speakers on!

A special, spooky thanks to Nick for showing me this site.

Literate Invertebrate

Thanks to my brother-in-law I am now addicted to another online game.

This past weekend Nik introduced me to Bookworm, a game that involves linking lettered tiles to make words.  The goal is to make as many words as you can: the longer the better.  As you play, you are rewarded with bonus tiles worth more points.  However as an extra challenge you must eliminate burning tiles.  If these flaming tiles reach the bottom of the screen, you burn the library down and lose the game.

What I like about this game is its simplicity and its challenge.  I like a little intelligence sometimes in my games.

Plus that little worm is so cute!

Feeling Poetic?

Haiku, Cinquain, Diamante…pick you favorite type of poem or none at all and explore this week’s site at magopo.com.

Most of us are familiar with the concept of Magnetic Poetry.  However, instead of needing a metal surface and an actual magnetic poetry kit, all you need is the play section of the webpage.

There you can choose a kit of words (artist, genius, office, poet, or romance) and pick a background surface to stick your words to.  You can make up your own poems or even look at poems that other people have saved on the site.

There is also a kids’ version.

Here is a “poem” I created after receiving my own actual magnetic poetry kit long ago…

he used his tongue on her skin
why you dirt she said want a slice of this
after a bruise the man staggered off
red and blossoming

Have fun, and feel free to share any poems you create!

Great Scot!

Calling all lads and lasses!

If you like all things Scottish or are just curious, head out to Oakbrook this Saturday and check out the 23rd Annual Scottish Festival & Highland Games!  This year will be my third time, and I highly recommend going.  You don’t have to be Scottish to enjoy rugby, the caber toss, kilts, and bagpipes.

Find out more information from the Illinois Saint Andrew Society including an event schedule.

Och, ye’ll ha a guid time!

How Puzzling

I remember something called logic grids from when I was in sixth grade.  These puzzles gave a listing of clues (like Hannah is in front of Joe, but behind Kelly) that you kept track in a grid form to find an answer to a question.

Those were my kind of puzzle.  A mystery that you could use common sense and no guessing to reach a conclusion.  I am still like that.  I don’t like crossword puzzles that require outside knowledge other than logic.

When Sudoku came around, I was hooked.  A puzzle with numbers that didn’t require math skills only reasoning?  I’m in!  For more about Sudoku puzzles, check out websudoku.com.

I’ve been solving Sudoku puzzles since 2006 and recently came across a different kind of number puzzle called KenKen.  Now part of the reason I liked Sudoku so much was that it only relied on logic.  KenKen does involve some simple math facts along with reasoning.  I’ve just started with simple 3X3 grids and addition only, but I think I’ll enjoy this type of puzzle.

I really think keeping your brain active is good for you.  Sudoku and KenKen keep me thinking and are fun too!

Need a distraction?

This week’s site is one I visited often in college. (Probably when I should have been writing a paper.) Orisinal features easy to play games that can be very addictive. There’s only one thing… you’ll never beat the high scores listed. Even after playing and playing, I’ve never once got close!

What I love about the site is the soft, colorful graphics. It can be pretty and cute despite one game where if you make a mistake, one of your monkeys gets hit with a bomb. (The Three Monkeys) My all-time favorite game is Bubble Bees.

The site is always adding new games. Take some time (even if you should be doing something productive) to play and let me know what games you enjoyed!

As you wish…

If someone asks me what my favorite movie is and forces me only to pick one, my answer is The Princess Bride.  Its got everything:  romance, comedy, action…You name it, it’s in there.  Anyway, I came across princessbridegame.com

Here’s the description from the web page:
“The Princess Bride Game combines spectacular animation with the best of casual, narrative and adventure games – all based on the classic hit movie. Help Princess Buttercup and Westley manage life on the farm, defeat dastardly villains, survive the Fire Swamp, concoct miracle remedies, and vanquish the evil prince in order to live happily ever after.”

I usually prefer watching someone else play video games, but I did scroll down to the game demos and enjoyed myself.  It’s fun seeing my favorite characters animated!  I haven’t bought the game, but I’m tempted.
Explore other parts of the site, too.  Like the “cool stuff” section.

“Have fun stormin’ da castle!” ~Miracle Max