Lost Lyrical Lounge Interview: The Kid Famous (Interview by Angelica LeMinh)

Our girl in Canada, back after far too long . . . that's right; it's Angelica LeMinh, late of the Lyrical Lounge with a "Lost Lyrical Lounge Interview" of The Kid Famous.

Ain't No Use even trying to deny that The Kid is Famous, he just happens to deserve it too. Your favorite Canadian freezes her hands off on a rooftop to to listen to a fellow 51416 transplant. We talk Brita, cell-phones, Simpson's (Homer not O.J.), fav colors and of course hip-hop!

-I love this city. (Toronto) It's my favorite city in the whole world, I'm always glad to come back to Toronto. When the weather is nice. Nope, I can't do it in the winter, I can't even do it.


-Yes, I did give away all my shoes, clothes too. I buy a lot of clothes and I don't really want them. Besides, in this industry, once you take a picture wearing something, it's over. I know a lot of kids, and they know me, so I try to give the gear to the kids, it means something to them...


-I don't have a thousand phones, just two. The iphone is for my friends, mom, dad, the ringer stays on. Besides, the internet is way better on it. The blackberry is more for business, I don't have anything updated on it, but it has bbm.

A Pretty Much Unwanted Modern History of Video Game Systems, or, How I Can Contribute to the Shotgun Reviews Revival With a Timely Subject and Still Let my Geek Flag Fly! by Jon Hueber

Has it really been this long? It seems like only a few months ago that Troy Brownfield and I began talking about me writing game reviews for his new website, shotgunreviews.com. Hell, if you look at it in terms of video game systems (which I plan to do, as it is the entire basis of this article, and if it doesn't work, I deeply apologize) Shotgun Reviews (SGR) started in the era of the original PlayStation and the Nintendo 64, and the Game Boy Color handheld system.

Microsoft still made crappy, bug-filled security risks that they called "operating systems," and had only just begun to envision a ridiculous-sized console with an equally ridiculous-sized controller (seriously, anybody out there remember the original XBox controller, named "The Duke?" It was the size of a small VCR, and felt like you were trying to control the NASA lunar lander in your lap).

Anyway, here we are today on the day of the launch of the newest video game system, the PlayStation Vita. Yes, it is basically a PS3 in the palm of your hand. We've come from arguably the biggest (in size) game system of all time (the original XBox), to the most powerful handheld ever. Ain't technology grand?

I remember those days, back in 1999, playing CD-Rom games on the PlayStation, and writing really crappy reviews. I seemed to like games that other people overlooked, and didn't care much for the games everybody loved. Heck, I didn't even like Tony Hawk Pro Skater until the sequel (and then I was obsessed, like a fat kid in the studio audience of Iron Chef America!)

The SEGA DreamCast was launched in September of 1999, and it was, well, a Dream system. It was the first with the next-gen graphics that would rule gaming for the next six years. In fact, the DreamCast was much more powerful than the biggest selling game system of all time, the venerable PlayStation2. But sadly, even with the jump start, and some really brilliant games, the DreamCast was about to be blown out of the water.

Believe It or Not, Here are Four Reasons Why You Should Watch TNA Wrestlng by Corey Henson

Corey Henson and Troy go back.  Corey once worked at ADV, and he and Troy wrote for Newtype USA together before Corey came over to Shotgun.  Corey was one of the three original Best Shots members with Troy and The Rev. OJ Flow.  And when Troy became Newsarama's Blog@ Captain, Corey was part of that crew too.  His Shotgun rep is deep, and his knowledge of comics, anime and wrestling is large.  Ladies and gentlmen, Corey f'n Henson is back . . .

TNA Wrestling has been the laughing stock of professional wrestling for many years, and not without reason. Frankly, for much of its history, TNA has been completely unwatchable. As a matter of fact, I stopped watching TNA during the summer of 2009, and didn’t miss it for even a second. Recently, I decided to give Impact Wrestling another chance, and I was pleasantly surprised that the show had improved greatly while I wasn’t watching. In fact, I’d say that most weeks, TNA Impact Wrestling is a much better show than WWE Raw. If you’re a wrestling fan who’s been ignoring TNA, here is, in no particular order, a list of reasons why you may want to give the company a chance to make a positive impression.

1. THE RESURRECTION OF STING
TNA has a history of spending way too much time and money on middle-aged, washed-up wrestlers who ultimately do nothing to make positive contributions to TNA. Randy Savage, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Hulk Hogan and others have all failed to live up to contracts with more zeroes than a New Jersey night club. At the opposite end of the spectrum there’s Sting, the 52-year old legend who’s turned down numerous opportunities to sign with the WWE for the sake of multiple runs in TNA. Sting’s TNA career hasn’t always been stellar, thanks to a combination of poor booking and Sting’s own diminishing abilities as an athlete. There was also a heel turn in 2008 that was hard to watch because Sting never seemed to fully commit himself to making it work. For the past year, however, Sting has been one of the highlights of TNA. Once again, he’s reinvented his character, swapping the Crow motif he developed in 1996 for a new persona that’s equal parts Frank Gorshin’s Riddler and Heath Ledger’s Joker. It sounds utterly ridiculous on paper, but in reality it’s quite awesome, because Sting is busting his ass to make it work both in and out of the ring. Most of all, he looks like he’s having fun again, and it’s a blast to watch. If these are indeed the waning days of his wrestling career, as it’s been rumored, then he’s definitely going out on a high note.

Are You Following Team Shotgun on Twitter?

SGR: www.twitter.com/shotgunreviews

Troy: www.twitter.com/troybrownfield

Shawn: www.twitter.com/shoegazer72

The Russ: www.twitter.com/The_Russ_Says

Birdsong: www.twitter.com/grimlock74

Janelle: www.twitter.com/gimpnelly

Oseye: www.twitter.com/thequeenoseyeb

Sarah Jaffe: www.twitter.com/seasonothebitch

Lucas: www.twitter.com/LucasSiegel

Kevin: www.twitter.com/khuxford

Steve Ekstrom: www.twitter.com/steve_ekstrom

Jon Hueber: www.twitter.com/wullbinkle

Jeff: www.twitter.com/golemlord

David: www.twitter.com/peposed

Russ B.: www.twitter.com/russburlingame

George: www.twitter.com/hatetodeath

Lan: www.twitter.com/pittsed_off

Angelica LeMinh: www.twitter.com/hiphop_spinster

Vanessa: www.twitter.com/psyphichic

Vanessa and Erika: www.twitter.com/girls_gone_geek

Dirk Manning: www.twitter.com/dirkmanning

Barb: www.twitter.com/demented_pants

Matt Brady: www.twitter.com/bradywriter

Tim: www.twitter.com/tmjanson

Kimmi: www.twitter.com/kimmi_page

Joanna: www.twitter.com/Morcae

Nathan: www.twitter.com/nscranor
All right . . . who did I miss?

Untitled Family Drama by Michael C. Lorah

Good day, Shotgun readers, I’ve returned to share more work-in-progress. Let me know what you think.

Untitled family drama

By Michael C Lorah

Chapter One

The Thresher’s season might as well be over, Roy Templeton thought. Mid-June, the long baseball summer just barely underway, and the team had sunk like an anchor to the rocky bottom of the Florida State League. Little Leaguers played with more poise; the Thresher kids threw the ball around wildly, hurled bats and water coolers at the slightest suggestion of a controversial call, and self-promoted at any opportunity. No matter how creative Roy’s public relations campaigns, getting fans into the ballpark to watch such immature gamesmanship proved impossible. Roy was under considerable pressure to improve attendance, but he didn’t have anything in his bag of tricks to overcome a simply terrible product. The blistering heat of Florida’s early summer certainly wasn’t making his job any easier either.

It was too damn hot for baseball anyway. Who wanted to sit under the cancerous sun, breathing scorched, humid air? He hadn’t walked down to the field, the open, sun-baked, heat-shimmering field, for three weeks now – never left his temperature-controlled office unless he was meeting in somebody else’s temperature-controlled office or stepping out for dinner at a too-air-conditioned local eatery. He could see the sunlight lancing down into the Earth, burning away any comfort, eating up the life of Floridians everywhere.

            Roy looked forward to getting away for two weeks, even if he had to take his laptop and work cell. All the summer’s giveaways and major promotions were already scheduled, so it was only the follow-through that required his attention. Getting fourteen days off early in the baseball season, even at the minor league A-ball level, required calling in a lot of favors. Roy’s boss Paul Simonson called him into the office three different times to ask why he couldn’t have vacationed during the offseason. Of course, the year’s promotions needed to be arranged prior to the season starting. The kids being in school added another wrinkle. Roy wasn’t sure those unavoidable factors registered entirely in Paul’s mind, which had sincere difficulty working outside his own box of strategies. But he’d gotten his vacation approved, and it was time to enjoy it.

Observations of a Grown-Up Megadork by Joanna Lees

Confession time: I was that kid who showed up in eighth grade like she had just moved to the area, but in fact was just homeschooled up until that point and didn’t get out much and wasn’t really allowed to watch TV at home. For all I had contact with my age group, I might as well have grown up in Greenland. I was exactly as socially awkward as you would guess from that description, so this continued through high school and well into my college years, when I finally got an internet connection. The end result is that I tend to come at popular culture from the outside, particularly when nostalgia is involved. I’ve done a lot of catch-up work, mostly on Wikipedia, YouTube and TV Tropes, but there’s still a gap of experience that will always be there. Luckily, that same gap has provided me the opportunity to make some interesting observations. For example ...

 It’s easier to jump into a franchise that has evolved over time. Case in point: Transformers. Now, I’m a huge fan of Transformers: Prime. It’s an awesome show, and I look forward to new episodes with unadulterated glee. However, the fact that it’s a Transformers show means little to me. I was barely aware of the franchise until the first live action movie, which I interpreted as “AWESOME PLANES and TANKS and GIANT SPACE ROBOTS, and also some kids for some reason, but mostly PLANES and ROBOTS”. And then the sequel sucked eggs on toast, so my interest meter fell back close to zero. I wouldn’t have paid any attention to Prime at all, except that I happened to catch the episode “Predatory” one night and was instantly hooked. Granted, the movies provided a little introduction to the main characters (really just Optimus and Megtron), but without that, Prime would still have pulled me in. I know from the interwebs that the show references a lot of franchise mythology, but again: That adds little to my enjoyment of the show. These characters aren’t awesome because I remember them fondly from my childhood; they’re awesome as characters in their own, surprisingly deep, story. The downside is that I can’t watch the G1 series without dissolving into a giggling mess at how silly it is. Which leads me to my next point ...

Checking in with JSA Jim . . .

Jim Beard came to us by way of the DC Direct Boards.  Known as JSA Jim, he was enthusiastic collector and spoke eloquently on the direction of DC's line.  An ardent proponent of the classic age of comics, Jim would work as a writer for Marvel's website, co-write a Red Tornado story for DC, team up with Troy and OJ for Newsarama's Super-Articulate column, and go on to write and/or edit books like Gotham City 14 Miles: 14 Essays on Why the 1960s Batman TV Series Matters.  Today, he talks about the shifting tides that can occur for a fan.

On Shotgun . . .

When I think “shotgun” I think of a scattershot blast of buckshot – so here’s a burst or two comin’ right atcha.

I don’t buy a lot of action figures anymore. Funny how they used to be a major part of my leisure time, often to the point of distraction. Collecting figures was so fun and engaging, but in the last few years or so it’s become a minor blip on my radar. Oh, I still dig ‘em. But is it me or is the field a little…boring of late? DC Direct is a pale ghost of itself, producing more statues than articulated figures these days and when they do solicit they’re from some video game I’ve never played or heard of or the umpteenth iteration of Superman and Batman. Gone are the glory days of JSA figures or Silver Age goldmines like Beppo the Super-Monkey or Hoppy the Marvel Bunny…or Composite Superman. Oops; that’s just another iteration of Superman and Batman, innit? I think I’ve bought more Star Wars figures in recent days than super-hero toys – have to hand it to Hasbro. They’ve reached a Golden Age in their output, I think. Still hard to find, though. My days of haunting Targets are far, far behind me. My tradition now is that if I can walk into a store at any time of the day or any day of the week and stumble across a figure I’d like to buy, than that’s how it should be. Are there still those idiots who haunt the aisles of Toys-R-Us like ghasts, flitting about, pale and unshaven, peering into boxes left lying about by the night-stock crew? I pity them, if they still exist.