ReCollection #3: Harvest Moon (1997) & Harvest Moon GB (1998)

 

"Rise up with the sun, water the garden, feed the animals, and visit the town all before sunrise!"

Game Power! Sonic the Hedgehog

Blue streak speeds by...

While I don't have a ReCollection for the Sonic the Hedgehog series yet, I want to post the one-off for Sonic the Hedgehog 1 on the Sega Genesis. Since this will be an image-heavy post, I'll be hiding the bulk of the post behind the Break, so hit that Keep Reading button if you wanna see the meat of this episode.

I think like probably a lot more people than we'll ever know, the original Sonic the Hedgehog wasn't most people's introduction to the character. That honor likely belongs to Sonic 2 in the same way that Animal Crossing New Leaf probably stands as the bulk of the Animal Crossing fanbase' introduction to the series, just out of shear popularity that it as a sequel attained by word of mouth from those that played the previous game(s).

But enough about that for now. Let's get to Mobius and bop that Robotnik!

Gamer Power! Beyond Oasis #5: That's No Rancor

 

Welcome back to. . .

Traversal of the mountain was rough; Enemy soldiers were around every corner, and when I wasn't fighting soldiers, these goblin-like creatures were on my case every other step of the way! They were easy to kill, but that didn't make their presence any less of an annoyance.

Game Power! Beyond Oasis #4: Rock, On!

When I finally arrived on the distant shore, a storm had kicked up, casting the craggy lands around me into a dreary, unsettling atmosphere. I needed to get off the beach as soon as possible, so I began my search, albeit carefully, amongst the slippery rocks.

Game Power! Beyond Oasis #3: Go East Young Man, Yeah!

After defeating the gnarly Black Skull and recruiting Efreet, I ventured back to the castle and was told that an enemy army was amassing on the eastern shore, beyond the water palace. Why the king couldn't just send a troop of well-armed and combat-trained soldiers instead of a lone swordsman, I do not know, but I also agreed to continue the investigation, so off I go!

Review: Faze Pop by Ghost Energy

I "reviewed" the Ghost Sour Patch Kids Redberry drink last week as a test run for my Commercial Break series of posts where I just talk about new products that I have tried or gush about old ones that I really like while offering some opinions on its quality and flavor (if applicable).

I initially wanted to kick the series off by talking about the new Faze Pop flavor of Ghost, but the local Speedway and exclusive vendor for the flavor were slow on getting the product out on the shelf, but luck was finally on my side this morning as they had finally put them out to just as much surprise to the cashier.

I have no idea what a Faze Clan is and at this point, I am too afraid to ask so instead I shall focus on the drink itself.

If you ever had a Bomb or Rocket Pop growing up, you know what to expect based on the can alone. The red white and blue coloring of the can mimics the frozen treat with a flair that is typical of the radical imagery typically seen on energy drinks, which I quite frankly love as it tends to harken back to that 90s attitude, specifically that of the old Cherry Coke can design. I like it, very eye-catching and exactly what you want a new product to do.

Flavor: If you know what a rocket pop is, then you'll know that it's a frozen treat on a stick presented in three layers. The top is red, which is cherry. The middle is white and lemon-flavored. Finally, the bottom and smallest portion of the pop is blue raspberry for some reason. I don't quite get the infatuation with blue raspberry in products, especially when blueberries exist and taste vastly superior, even when artificial. Blue raspberry isn't even a real fruit. I suppose one could argue that it's just a vehicle for pushing raspberry as a flavor and not having another red color on the market, but whatever.

Does it work?: Yes, very well! Being a zero-sugar drink, the sweetness isn't punching you in the teeth, but the flavor profile is extremely loud. Whatever black magic GNC has performed to layer the flavors there is something else as I am getting strong notes of each of the three flavors of the rocket pop at different points of the sip, typically with cherry spearheading it with the berry closing it out. The lemon part is more of an all-encompassing presence in that the drink is imbued with its bitterness. Sometime you'll get the citrus aftertaste, and sometimes you won't.

Is it dope or does it stink?: It's dope! I can't see myself buying it too often because the other Ghost flavors are more readily available and, I don't know, exciting? I am a sucker for the candy stuff. But I would definitely recommend giving this new flavor a go if you can find it, especially if you like cherry-flavored things because that is by far and large the loudest flavor note here. 

Game Power! Beyond Oasis - #2: Efreet

 

Welcome back to the first ever Let's Play! on Channel 90! We're continuing exactly where we left off last time after the fight with The Giant Claw in the water palace.

Upon my return to the castle, I was told of another location where an elemental spirit might reside. Wasting no time, I gathered more supplies from the castle basement and set off on my way.

Game Power! | Beyond Oasis #1: It Begins Again

Like a Let's Play, but told from within the game itself!

Eventually, I'll have to write a ReCollection post to go more in-depth regarding the title of this series, but in a nutshell, "Game Power!" was something I used to record as a youngling with my camcorder. The "shows" would first start in real life and I'd get a distress signal from whatever video game I was currently wanting to record, stating that the world was in danger and that I was needed inside the game itself to save it. By shouting the words "Game Power!" I was transported - ala Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad - to the digital world where I set off on a quest to defeat the villain and save the game.

So that is how I wanted to approach my Let's Play! series, by repurposing the idea and toning it down a bit. This gives me the opportunity to practice more creative writing outside of Secret of Memoria, which is part of the reason I created this blog to begin with.

So without further ado, here's our first trip into the video game world!

I really wish that I could remember when I first rented the game, but the only few memories I have of the game are from a rental where I had messed around with the save file right before the final boss, which I failed at horribly.

In Preperation for Tomorrow Morning's Fishing Trip

 

The odd burst of inspiration always comes at the most random times. While I was sitting around watching Youtube, the thought crossed my mind that I have been overcomplicating my approach to fishing lately, making trips out a hassle at times trying to decide which rod or rods to bring. If I wanted to make it a heavy, bottom fishing trip or an ultralight topwater deal. And I get it, for some people, carrying a bunch of rod/reel combos with them out on every trip is part of the experience


But that's not for me. I like the idea of having a good mid-range combo that can tackle most situations, so I started looking at my medium-light loadout again and decided I'd refocus my efforts on just the one rod/reel. 

Thus with that in mind, I set out for Wal-Mart one Sunday evening.

Before I left the house, I did a quick inventory check for what I already had. I was good on string, sinkers, hooks, and plastic lures. I also made note of the lure weight range on my pole, equipped with its 10lb test.
With that all in mind, I headed inside.

So Wal-Mart definitely is not the best place to shop for fishing gear, but Dunham's was about to close, and plus the local store is REALLY bad about keeping shelves stocked, so I had to make do with Wal-Mart.

With some refocusing must also come new storage. I've had my eye on one of these sort of tackle sleaves for some time now, and since I had some expendable cash for the first time in months, I took the plunge.

Pictured below was my haul:

Everything fits o nicely inside, all organized and looking pretty-like. =)

And now, the gear preview!

I'm a Spincast purist. I find their ease of use still so compelling to this day, and with proper TLC before and after each trip, they last. 

The Zebco Omega Pro was a gift to myself last year for my birthday and it has treated me well ever since, even if it wasn't quite sure what it was intended for. 
Now though, it has a clear role.

The 5'6" Rhino Tough Medium-Light pole was something I bought after the new year to pair with the Omega Pro. It's a beast of a rod and feels great in the hand.

"That's not a noife"
A birthday gift from my brother. It's a beautiful little piece that looks and feels more like a dagger than a knife.

Finally, my rucksack! A gift from my parents for my birthday last year, obtaining a rucksack was something I had always wanted to do ever since I was a kid, Mostly due in part to the farmers in the Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons games all having them.

The Bookshelf #1: Valour, Book II of The Faithful and the Fallen by John Gwynne

5:07PM Update: I decided I am putting it on hold. I'm having to force myself to read and am not having any fun. 

I received the complete quintet of The Faithful and the Fallen for Christmas last year. I was excited about starting a new epic fantasy series and was hearing nothing but rave reviews about this series, so I figured it'd be perfect to fill that niche I'd been missing between Stormlight Archive books. 

I blazed through the first book, Malice, in like a week. It read a lot(and continues to...) like a diet Game of Thrones, with the brunt of the happenings involving court politics, warring nations and a whole mess of giants. The epically fantastical elements that I read epic fantasy sadly have once again taken the backseat, going as far as to not even refer to magic as magic, but rather "earth power". This has been a huge thorn in my side with fantasy following the explosion of popularity of A Song of Ice and Fire in that authors are constantly trying to write fantasy without the actual fantasy elements like they are writing them for the jocks that would poke fun at the kids carrying a copy of Lord of the Rings around.

ARE there fantasy elements? Well yes, thankfully we have the aforementioned giants, wolven, talking animals, slithering wyrms, and... "earth power" and also the apparent coming of the God-War, which I imagine will resurface at some point but has since been a no-show in any meaningful way halfway into Valour. 

I am still enjoying the book for sure, as I do like Corban and his group and have some interest in seeing Maquin get his revenge against Jael, but everything else is struggling to keep my attention and that is why it's taking so long to get through this. Plus I struggle to keep up with who is who and where they hail, what their allegiances are.

Whether I continue with the series beyond Book 2 remains to be seen and if the events at the end of Valour are enough to hook me into reading the third book. Courtly fantasies are not my cup of tea and I will certainly do better to try and avoid them in the future.

Star Wars and the Ewok Double Feature

 

A long time ago, back when television networks were cool about the weekends, the ABC Network would hold double feature presentations Saturday mornings, oftentimes showing two (family-friendly) films back to back, and those films were typically sequels to one another more often than not.

As I mentioned in a previous entry, I grew up a huge Star Wars fan(and later had a huge falling out with it) but now I'm back to loving it again and the funny thing about that is, it was rewatching The Caravan of Courage on Disney+ several months back that helped to reignite my love of the franchise. Watching the movie in all its low-budget, direct-to-video glory lit something up in me like a lightsaber; Possibly the alien moon of Endor and its indigenous, beautifully stop-motion animated life, or the lore that surrounds the whole entire thing. 

Godzilla Versus - Episode #1: The History of Monster Island

 

Monster Island, home of the earth's monster population, or "Megafauna" as they have been known to be called. Massive animals of varying shapes, sizes, intelligence, and abilities. All gathered together on a land mass that was at one time in the distant past submerged miles beneath the ocean — When it was known as the Mariana Trench.

Upon discovery of the Hollow Earth in 1973, expeditions were sent to the Mariana Trench to discern whether the nearly fifteen-hundred-mile-long expanse was connected to the discovery made by Monarch biologists Randa and Brooks following the Skull Island expedition or not. A small unmanned nuclear-powered submarine—the first of its kind—equipped with state-of-the-art sonar technology, was sent to the trench to try and uncover a link between the two. 

But instead, something found them.

The sub was attacked by an unknown entity, large enough to grab and hold the sub. The last readouts from the sub showed the interior temperature heating up rapidly, prompting those familiar with the case to theorize that whatever had hold of the sub actually bled its own body heat into its nuclear reactor, causing a catastrophic meltdown that resulted in a massive underwater explosion that caused a ripple effect across the sea floor, severing what was once assumed to be a deep gash into the planet itself to separate from the earth and, miraculously float upwards where it remains today as an island twice as long as the state of Texas.

Within the year following the island's emergence, monsters from all over the planet began to converge there almost as if beckoned by some unknown voice. This great migration came with much rejoicing from those that had no choice but to co-exist with a monster that had taken up residence nearby, as there would always be the risk of a territorial dispute and as anyone that has lived through a monster attack can tell you, entire cities can be flattened in minutes.

Text Transcript from MNN Breaking News Report; 9.8.1987:
News Reporter Austin Scott (AS):...zilla had arrived about four hours ago according to officials overseeing the ongoing studies on the surfaced Mariana Trench. We are here with you live from aboard the Japanese military's battleship, the S.S. Destroyah. We have our eyes and I am sure the eyes of those all around the world right now glued to their TV sets as we broadcast these amazing images of the world's youngest landmass seemingly being besieged by Megafauna!

*The camera zooms in over AS' shoulder to a Godzilla, standing almost silently despite his mass, on the beach in the distance. His normally bone-white dorsal fins glow a soft blue. He appears to pulse his light like a beacon.

AS: As you can see over my shoulder, Godzilla is here. He is on the still unnamed island that now floats above where the Mariana Trench used to sit miles below the surface. My sources tell me that Godzilla arrived here shortly after 4am local time after being tracked off the coast of San Francisco the day before. No one has been able to give me a clear indication as to what the lights on Godzilla's back mean. As I am sure you at home are well aware, his dorsal fins only ever glow when he was about to unleash his destructive atomic breath, but that has so far not been—

The screen shakes as the massive ship rocks back and forth. The cameraman falls over, sending the camera sliding across the ship's deck and almost going over the railing. There we see a swell of water, followed by hundreds of pale-yellow spikes breaking the surface

AS: It's Anguirus! Anguirus is here, I can't believe what I am seeing. I don't know if you can hear it at home people, but the two monsters are calling out to one another! Godzilla seems to be waving to Anguirus! His dorsal fins glowing brighter than before, even though the increasing morning daylight!

[Strange monster vocalizations between Godzilla and Anguirus can be heard, with a third unidentified squawk from the distance cutting in] 

AS: Another! Another monster has arri—No, three! Rodan is here from Montana, and he's carrying the two Mothra larvae on his back! This is incredible, people, I can't believe what I'm seeing! Never have so many monsters congregated like this in one place. 

The cameraman retrieves his equipment in time to record Rodan landing atop a platform further inland. The two larvae are seen gently skittering away, chattering with one another. 

Over the course of that week in September, most if not all of the monsters that had taken up residence in various locations around the world converged on the island, which the media and mankind alike, had taken to calling 'Monster Island' due to the communion. 
Baragon and Varan appeared a day later, leaving their North and South Carolina dwellings far behind. Gorosaurus was next, followed by Titanosaurus and a second Godzilla species that had for the longest time plagued the subways of New York and was the bane of the local fish market. 
Ebirah and Manda both arrived almost simultaneously, with Manda quickly holding up in one of the island's many deep caverns. Ebirah kept to the oceans surrounding the island, as did an unnamed sea serpent.

As time went on and more and more monsters showed, the island's surface began to change. Plants began to grow; exotic flowers and trees of all sorts. Strange animals began to appear as well, but from where no one was sure. Gigantic praying mantis and spiders, along with oversized condors and octopi. All observations had to be made from a distance as the monster's body language warned off any potential expeditions, much to the chagrin of scientists around the world.

Thirty years after the emergence of the aptly named 'Monster Island', the island has grown over and now from a distance, looks like any other island in the Pacific, with one minor difference: Its inhabitants are giants. Earth's population of monsters has since joined together to live in harmony, though why scientists still do not know

ReCollection #2: Local Stuff (Part 1)

 

I was looking and thinking about what I could write my next ReCollection about, going through various media, toys, and other things. But since I like to, or at least tend to, write articles about that sort of thing while I am currently ingesting the material, I wanted to try something different and not quite something that others will have any familiarity with.

So I landed on things that exist—or existed—in the town I live in that have now since been remodeled, closed, or rebranded. 

The first was this little local chain of, I don't know what you would call them? Budget markets? Flashy dollar stores? I honestly don't know, but there are multiple stores around the town of similar quality, all with different names but the same smell and "stuck in the 80s/90s" atmosphere.

I'm talking about (now defunct) Super 10:

Review: Ghost Energy Redberry

If you grew up in the 90s, then there is a pretty good chance you remember the early stages of the energy drink boom. One of the more widely recognized drinks at the time, although not considered an energy drink by normal standards, was Josta. A Pepsi product of that 90s attitude and a wholly unique flavor that to this day has not been re-released or even repurposed to this very day.

And I am here today to tell you that: No, this doesn't taste like Josta all that much, but it's close enough to me! 

Ghost is GNC(a vitamin company)'s venture into the congested energy drink scene and from standpoint, Gfuel's direct competitor in the "Hey remember this thing? It's a drink now!" market. Where Gfuel had been picking up and releasing flavors inspired by various video game and anime properties, GNC is steering towards the candy market by releasing flavors based on Sour Patch Kids, Bubblelicious and Warheads, among many others not currently available in canned drink form.

What I like about Ghost and Gfuel, ignoring the fun flavors, is their use of natural caffeine in their drinks which for me is a major plus as synthetic caffeine tends to have the opposite effect on me, leaving me feeling drained and tired rather than that gentle get up and go feeling that the real stuff gives me. 

Speaking of crashing, I also greatly appreciate the fact that Ghost and Gfuel are strictly zero sugar with their widely released products. Having adopted a low carb lifestyle in recent years and avoiding most sugars when possible, being able experience the taste of Blue Raspberry Sour Patch Kids and Swedish Fish again without ingesting the candies themselves is just plain great and serves as a constant reminder that it was never a matter of actually eating the candies themselves, but rather getting to taste the louder than life flavors.

Ghost Energy Sour Patch Kids Redberry is very true to the candy that it's based on. A refreshing blend of sweet unnamed berry with a hefty blend of a bitter agent to replicate the citric acid found on the candies.

Now it needs to be said that Ghost ALSO has a drink based on the red Swedish Fish candy, and that it tastes like a much sweeter variation of the formula used in Redberry, just minus the sour accent. 

They are both quite good and if you are wanting a caffeine fix at the same time as downing a box of candy, then you could do much, much worse. 

My verdict? It's dope! You could worse purchases while browsing the coolers at Sheetz or Speedway (cough Monster cough) and with the array of flavors Ghost has out there right now, I am sure you will find one to tickle your fancy if brand-based flavors aren't your thing.

(No scores, I rate based on whether it's "dope" or "stinks") 

My Theory on the Graboid's Origins

I talked a little bit about this in an earlier post, but that was made amidst an ongoing double-feature of Tremors and Tremors 2: Aftershocks (because I can't watch one and not the other!) but I wanted to elaborate on it a bit more because I don't think I did it justice the first time around.

First, allow me to introduce you to the magnificent creature known as the Graboid. This beautiful babby has been classified as a land squid, thanks in part to the boney beak and the tentacles that protrude from its mouth. The beasts range anywhere from 20 to 30 feet in length and are capable of flying through soft sand and soil. They are a creature that goes through multiple stages of life, each sporting unique features that aid in its survival, but all sharing a similar look that would tell you at a glance what they are.

Work Musings

Though the approach to the blog has changed considerably, it's still a blog and is still where I intend to post most of my personal musings. 

Today marks my second paycheck after starting my new job. Finally, I have money coming in again, and while the reduction in hours from my old job means I'm not pulling in as much money overall as before, the near two-dollar increase in my hourly wages has definitely taken off a lot of the sting that I would have experienced had I not got the pay that I did when I started at the new place. I do plan to go full-time as soon as the option becomes available.

This week, I had worked some of the wildest hours yet; Having to get up at 4:30am and be at work at 5:30am, a full thirty minutes before the store even opened. I was taught how to do the Safety Check in my department and handle down stocking. They said next I'd receive training for the power loading equipment, in other words: I'm about to become Forklift certified! I also asked to be given register access so that I could help knock down the lines of customers that sometimes form when no other help can be gained and I've nothing immediately important to attend to in my department.

I shouldn't be likening everything to video games, but it honestly feels like I'm beginning a brand new game in the Search Action genre(or Metroidvania, whichever you prefer), particularly that of Metroid Fusion or Metroid Dread in that I am in a familiar setting, but a brand new store with a bunch of new protocols to learn; In order to progress, I need to re-learn old abilities that fit the new work environment as well as learn the layout and location of products around the whole store, not just my one department.

I've worked every day since Monday, with tonight being a 6pm to 10pm closing shift, to which I get to clean up the department for the hour following the store's closure and just make it look nice for the opening the next day. After tonight, I have the next three days off and with rain coming on Saturday and tomorrow looking to be a beautiful midspring day, a fishing trip is in order!

Nostalgia Hunter - Episode 1: SOMA Sonic Ranger Figurine

 What happens when a hopeless nostalgia-fueled individual strikes out on a quest to re-obtain lost and potentially unidentifiable toys from his childhood? Keep yourself planted on that couch and keep that VCR warmed up because you aren't going to want to miss a second of Nostalgia Hunter!

* * *

I began this hunt two years ago. Well, longer than that actually, dating back as far as 2018. But my purchases were sparse and only happened here and there. It wasn't until late 2021 that I really began to dive into recapturing lost possessions from my childhood, be it actually unearthing them from somewhere in the house to via a quick search on eBay.

But not every search is as simple as throwing a few keywords into a search engine. Some require extra digging, and that is exactly what I had to do with the first topic, which I dubbed: "The little green and orange robot". 

THANK YOU FOR TUNING IN TO CHANNEL 90

 Picture this, if you will: It's 1996 and you are nine years old. You're lying in your bed on a hot summer night. School's out for the season, and you have only free time. A rental copy of Mega Man X3 is currently in your Super Nintendo and you've just finished watching your Godzilla Vs. Gigan VHS for the fifth time this week. You cut your VCR off and turn the channel from channel 4 and begin channel surfing. You want to get up and retrieve a Squeezit from the fridge, but not before parking your tuner on the right channel.

USA Network? Nah, not in the mood for Duckman. Nick@Nite, but wait, no, I Dream of Jeanie is on and Bewitched is the better show. You lay your thumb down hard on that Up button and the channels flash by at a blinding pace. Then somehow, someway though your tuner does not go as high as this, you land on a mysterious new channel that you had never seen before, or heard of for that matter. Where did it come from? It's not snowy nor is the picture scrambled enough that you can barely make out what is on screen. No, it's... crystal clear. 

An ad for an upcoming Ewok double-feature is playing; It says that they will be playing this coming Saturday morning starting at 8am, with Caravan of Courage starting the block and Battle for Endor ending it. 

And then the logo appears on the screen...

The commercial break ends and... Wait, what's this? A video game is being shown. Not something recorded off-screen with a video camera, but an honest-to-goodness line-in video presentation! It's Breath of Fire 2! You recognized it immediately as you've rented the game a few times already. But why is it on TV and being presented in a TV show-like format? You never saw video games on TV outside of commercials or re-runs of Nick Arcade.

Then a quick graphic pops up in the bottom left of the screen and it says:

"You're watching the Mega Hour: Breath of Fire II. Stay tuned for Sonic the Hedgehog 2, coming up next!"

The graphic slides all in on itself and explodes into a tiny C90 logo in the bottom right corner. 

You're flabbergasted and quite honestly wondering if you're dreaming or not.

* * *

Welcome to Channel 90, the blog that's presented as if it were a television network in the mid-90s! I wanted to do something new and exciting with my blog and not just make it another blog for the sake of it. I want to present things to different degrees, such as programs being aired on a TV network. The theme is the 1990s, as that was the era I grew up in, being born in 1987; Thus I have the most nostalgia for it. 

I have got a lot of neat ideas for content going forward, so presenting things in this way is going to make blogging more than just a past-time. It's gonna give me a chance to be creative outside of my writing Secret of Memoria.

Saying Farewell to Youtube (Sorta)

 For well over a decade, I had maintained a Youtube channel that primarily focused on boss battles and life-sim playthroughs, all presented in high-definition clarity, original resolution, and framerate and free of any sort of commentary. Early on in the era of streaming video, my channel took off, particularly in 2007/2008 with the Godzilla Unleashed videos I was posting regularly.

As time marched on though, Let's Plays became a thing and the channels that focused primarily on raw gameplay became less and less of a priority in Youtube's everchanging bizarre algorithm, so my content was getting less and less traffic as viewers sought out personalities to go along with their gaming media. I tried a few times to revive my channel and push back against the changing tides, but found it neither fruitful nor fun; I just didn't enjoy recording myself playing video games anymore. 

So with my having sold off the Elgato HD60 S+ yesterday, I've officially hung up my video game capturing days on Youtube and will soon be transitioning my channel over to something different; Something to compliment my blogging, which is where all my future video game-related work will be produced and posted.

Founded on October 18th, 2007
TUNE IN HERE

It's a bittersweet decision as I love documenting things, having developed it as a hobby in 1994 when I was given a camcorder to play around with. That evolved into my recording playthroughs of games onto VHS tapes, which eventually evolved into the Youtube channel. But it's a decision I made based on the reality of things, plus my wanting to focus on writing/blogging more and not have my gaming time spent glued to my TV. It just wasn't fun for me anymore. 

Again, however, as I previously stated, it's not the end of my days on Youtube. As seen in one of my experimental videos from last year, I want to gravitate more toward making videos that will augment content here on the new written form of Channel 90.

Looking back on it all, I had some good times. :) 

Currently Watching: Tremors

So I am sitting here watching a Tremors double-feature. Movies that I went from loving as a very young child to outright fearing for several years as a slightly older child and then looping back around to unconditionally loving the films. Well, movies 1 and 2 and to lesser extent, the 4th film. 

These movies, like The Thing, are infinitely enjoyable upon rewatches, regardless of how many times. I am always finding something new to appreciate about the movies and the creatures within. 

Upon this viewing, I was just happen to be paying close attention to the sounds the Graboids make and couldn't help but think that Earl was right in that the Graboid species were indeed alien despite their presence dating back to the precambrian period. I also feel that two of the theories the characters have ring true in that they are also very much a product. 

My reasoning is that they simply sound evil. Not animal like in the slightest. No other animal, at least those alive or that we can draw lines to make or would have made noises like these things. Every little noise they (and their transitional forms) make are unearthly, from their roars, the throaty growls, the screeching of the tentacles and the mournful howl as they birth the Shriekers-- None of it sounds remotely earthbound to me. The sounds are pure monster, evil and malicious. 

Ultra-Light Fishing Adventure #1: Tutorial Trip (New area unlocked!)

 So yesterday I picked up a cheap Shakespeare Ultra-Light fishing rod. I had one last year but broke it after a few trips out and couldn't be bothered at the time to get it replaced. Now that I'm working again and have a cash flow once more, I thought I'd treat myself to a new one and then spend the morning at the river to really get a feel for the weight bracket.

My favorite area to fish in town is at the W. Kerr Scott Dam spillway. I've caught many catfish here in the past despite fighting with an incredibly rocky bottom which has resulted in so many snags, but they're worth the aggravation when you finally hook something big. 

But my destination wasn't the spillway itself or the pier that ran along it; I was heading for the inlet where the Yadkin River meets a slow-moving stream(which is a beautiful area to visit in the autumn). With a 5+ foot rod, fishing the stream wouldn't be worth it when the fast-moving river full of multiple bass and catfish species was right there, but with a shorter ultra-light? You better believe I was going to fish it.

The area pictured is maybe four feet deep at max with the bottom visible even without polarized sunglasses, making sight fishing pretty easy if there's anything in the area at the time. But this wasn't my destination, or at least it wasn't after I realized the water was low enough that I could cross over into the hilly area that runs along the stream.

I've always looked at this worn-down path with interest, but as I had discovered it in the cooler months, getting across to it wasn't a wise idea, even with my waterproof hiking boots. But with it now steadily in the 80-degree temperature range and with sandals, I could easily trek across the expanse of water that separated the panhandle and the greater greenway on the other side. 

Zebco 33 Micro Spincast Reel / 4lb Cajun Red Mono / 4'6" Shakespeare Ultra-Light Rod

I'll say it: I am a Zebco fanboy. I grew up using their products and will until the day I hang up my rods for good. I am also a Spincast purist. It's not that I can't use a spinner(I just don't want to) or a Baitcaster(Too expensive...), it's just I prefer the ease of use a spincast reel gives you. And as long as they are properly cared for, never present any issues, at least in my experience.

My main goal today was to really get a feel for how to fish with an Ultra-Light setup. In the past, I took it to far more turbulent areas where I'd constantly snag and end up pulling too hard, breaking the rod in the process. This time, with the clean, clear running stream, I could practice without worry, getting a feel for how to cast and whatnot.

Since I wasn't casting bigger lures or jigs, I had to approach casting differently as it's pretty easy to get the lighter test snapping back on the pole and getting entangled, which it did several times when I'd use something a bit too heavy for it.

Eventually, with a small single hook spinner, I was able to get this lovely little bluegill. On the UL setup, even something as small as this puts up a satisfying fight, and even though it was the only fish I caught after four hours, I learned a lot and will be more ready the next time I head out.

On my way out, I noticed a number of good-sized bass(and a sucker fish!) just hanging out beneath a downed tree. I tried to coax one out using a number of different lures, and while the for did get the biggest of the fish to approach, they never bit. Ah well, maybe next time.