Wii Virtual Console

I got $20 to download games from the Wii Shop Channel for Christmas. I already have a few games I've downloaded, but I find I don't really play them very much. There is one game that has made the whole system worthwhile: Dr. Mario. I used to play that game with my old middle high/high school friend Shane Harris. We'd battle it out all night. Anyway, here is the list of downloaded games I have (the ones with asterisks are the ones I just downloaded with the $20).

Castlevania (NES)
Donkey Kong Country (SNES)*
Dr. Mario Online Rx. (Originally from NES)
Galaga (NES)
Mario Kart 64 (N64)
Ninja Gaiden (NES)
Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis)*
Star Fox (N64)
Street Fighter II (SNES)
Super Mario Brothers (NES)
Super Mario Brothers 2 (NES)
Super Mario Brothers 3 (NES)*
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES)

Here's what I've got my eyes on still, for future purchase:

Double Dragon (NES)
Mega Man (NES)
Metroid (NES)
Super Mario World (SNES)

Where I am lacking is the WiiWare titles. I'm not too familiar with most of them. I know Justin and Tomoe downloaded the Tetris, so Justin, if you're reading this, do you guys still play it very much? I'm sure it's nothing like Dr. Mario with Tomoe, but has it remained a fun game? So, you gamers out there, throw me some ideas!

(Image from: http://graphicshunt.com/images/super_mario_bros-12814.htm.)

Farewell to Whitney

The State of Hawaii has been in a bad financial condition for the past year and a half. With the economy hurting, the State is suffering, too. Unfortunately, this has led to layoffs, bumping, and furloughs. One of our vacant clerical positions was cut last February, never to be filled again. Now we've lost Nicole's position, also a clerical position, and another clerk, Jerry, was bumped. Although Jerry's position will be filled by another State clerk from another State office, Jerry has already had to leave but the new worker hasn't showed up yet. That means that out of four original clerical positions, only one is left now. Not good for the Archives. Meanwhile, our newest archivist, Whitney, scared that her position would be cut, started looking for a new job back on the mainland. Well, she found one at the Bill Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, Arkansas and recently moved. So things at the Archives are quiet now. Here is a picture of Whitney at her farewell dinner that Romney and I went to.

Visiting Neighbors

Cheap Entertainment

Romney and I were pretty sad when our main source of cheap entertainment closed down just a few weeks ago.

Photo from scrivner of flickr.

Restaurant Row Theaters was the dollar theater of Honolulu. For a total price of $2.00 (pricing had recently climbed to $3.00) we used to be able to see some of the interesting, or not so interesting, movies just before they came out on DVD. The theater had a 50 year lease at $1.00 a year with the plaza it's in and it's been there for 15 years so far. But recently the plaza was bought out and the new owners are trying to "clean up" it's image. They think the cheap entertainment attracts the "wrong" crowd of people. (I guess that includes my wife and me along with the hundreds of other young couples I've seen go there.) So the plaza offered the theater millions of dollars and bought them out of their lease. Bye bye dollar theater.

Our last option for cheap movies is the "Red Box" or "DVDPlay" at the grocery stores. It's cheap and easy to use, although the movie selections are minimal. But, $1.00 beats the $10.00 you'll have to pay at the full-priced theater or $5.00 at Blockbuster to rent.

Picture from videobusiness.com

Legend

So Romney bought her brother the movie Legend for his birthday. I remember watching it when I was younger.

I had mixed feelings about it; I remember it being cool, but scary at the same time. Anyway, I had forgotten the movie even existed until we saw it on his wishlist. I really want to see it again. I remember something about the boy (who I now realize was Tom Cruise) jumping into a lake or river and becoming trapped in it. I think that's the part that scared me to death as a kid. Anyway, the next time we visit Taylor we'll have to get him to let us watch it.

Happy Birthday Romney!!!

I know this is a bit late, but we really haven't done anything worth blogging about so this is the most exciting thing I could think of. Well, Romney just turned... You really don't think I would tell you how old she is, do you!?! Whatever her age, let's just say she's younger than me. :(

I didn't know what I was going to get her for her birthday. Every time I asked her what she wanted, she said she didn't know. I was ready to buy her something off her Amazon wishlist but she finally started saying what she wanted: a pair of work sandals. *Sigh* She's so practical. However, the family members helped get her some fun things though, including Stranger than Fiction (I usually don't like much of Will Ferrel's stuff and apparently Taylor, Romney's brother, thinks similarly, but we both liked this one, as well as Romney), CandyLand, a Hello Kitty lunch bag that she absolutely adores, a Japanese-character notebook (I don't know which character it is), and another thing or two I don't remember. Plus we got some cash which we used to go out and eat a nice dinner at Ruby Tuesdays. We ended up asking our friends, Justin and Tomoe Call, to come along with us. We also went to Yogurtland for frozen yogurt a new fad that seems to be sweeping Honolulu.

I also made Romney a strawberry cake with vanilla frosting and some "wavy" candles. As she was going to blow the candles out, Justin and Tomoe asked where our video camera was to tape it. With the candles still burning, we started running around looking for the camera but couldn't find it anywhere. Meanwhile, the candles had almost burned out so Romney had to quickly make her wish and blow them out before they sputtered out and died. We were pretty disappointed. Later that night, we found the camera under one of the bedroom nightstands since we really didn't have anywhere else to put it, but I forgot that I was the one who put it there...so it's all my fault. If I hadn't "lost" it, there could have been a short video of Romney blowing out her birthday cake candles. Anyway, happy birthday Roms! You're the best.

4th of July 2009

Independence Day was another fun holiday for us this year. We were invited to Mark and Marty Alsop's place for dinner with a large group of friends from the McCully Ward. There were several new people we got to meet and get to know. After the meal, some of us walked to the Ala Moana Beach Park where the Shopping Center puts on a firework show each year. It was rated as the 7th best firework show of the nation. We took the 20-minute show and reduced it to four minutes. We had a good viewing spot, but unfortunately, there was a young girl in front of us that kept screaming through the whole show. Why her parents didn't tell her to shut up, I don't know or understand. I wish I had brought some duct tape with me... Anyway, if she is too annoying, just skip through the video to the grand finale; it's pretty cool. Or, mute the sound.