Kirby Star Allies (Nintendo Switch) Review

 I've been a fan of the Kirby series since I was a little kid back on the NES with Kirby's Adventure. Granted I skipped a vast majority of his games on handhelds as they were numerous and not many seem to stand out more than another from what I could tell. But I really wanted to check out this new Kirby game on Nintendo Switch. So how was it? 

Photos: FDR Memorial Waterfalls

 These are the only non-history parts of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington DC. I really liked this waterfall a lot.

Fact of the Day: Nicholas Roosevelt

The last common ancestor to both Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Delano Roosevelt was Nicholas (Rosenvelt) Roosevelt. He was born when New York City was called New Amsterdam. Like his two future president descendants, he did hold public office though it was a rather minor one for New York City. 

Jeff Sessions To Create "Religious Liberty" Task Force

When I hear the word "religious liberty" from a Republican, 99 times out of a hundred it means mandating right-wing Christianity or at least advocating for it. I'm not so fond to hear that the evil Keebler elf, Attorney General Jeff Sessions is seeking to create a "task force" to protect hate groups and bigoted individuals from being rightfully punished when they do wrong. Soon enough, he'll have a religious police to "keep the peace".  

Photos: Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial

The FDR Memorial in Washington DC is one of its best. Which is odd considering how far out it kind of is. Took us forever to figure out how to get to it.

Full Metal Jacket (1987 Film) Review

 Full Metal Jacket is a movie I've heard of for many years, but I never had the chance to watch. I knew it was about the Vietnam War, but I didn't know much else about it. Vietnam War films are numerous, and it's often confusing about which ones to watch and which ones to avoid. I had an rough idea what to expect, and I was pleasantly surprised that it was quite a bit different from what I imagined in my head.

Fact of the Day: Soviet German Finns

Since the Soviet Union relied very little on international trade especially in its early days, they were one of the few spots in the world where they were not negatively affected by the Great Depression. Many immigrated during this time (mainly from Germany and Finland) but the Soviet leadership eventually turned on many of these immigrants by sending them to Siberia and having their Russian-born children sent to an orphanage.   

Things I Like: Burt the Bashful (Yoshi's Island)

The first real boss in Yoshi's Island, Burt the Bashful is a normal enemy turned by Kamek's magic powers. Even though he was easy, I do fondly remember this boss battle.

Photo: Vietnam Women's Memorial

This was the last addition to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, a tribute to the forgotten women who served during the war. Most of them didn't see combat, but were mainly nurses. And I'm sure our ladies in green were awfully busy too. 

Fact of the Day: Religious Nursing

Before modern nursing came to be, nurse-like care was mostly seen in religious circles as monks and nuns would often perform similar work for people in need. 

Things I Like: Aldrich Killian/Mandarin (MCU)

 A twist bad guy in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we kind of ignore his importance for the most part at the start. He appears in a flash back way before Tony Stark became Iron Man. 

 He's a dorky scientist who tries to get Tony Stark to let him do something big for him. Tony appears to want to help.  

But Tony ends up not caring and Aldrich plots revenge.  

Years later he becomes a Tony Stark of his own and even manages to impress Pepper Potts. But it turns out he was the real Mandarin behind all the bad things that was happening.  

And his powers were more bio than tech with the Extremis invention which gave him super powers (very lava/fire based) without a metal suit. However it was unstable and he gives Pepper the powers so Tony could find a cure. But Pepper ends up killing him using the same powers he "cursed" her with. Whoops!

Photo: The Three Soldiers (Vietnam Veterans Memorial)

These statues are The Three Soldiers which is part of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. This was an addition to the monument as some people thought the standalone memorial wasn't "traditional". 

Fact of the Day: Empire of Vietnam

The Empire of Vietnam was a short-lived country that was a puppet state of Japan during 1945. While the Japanese had considerable influence over the ruling French, they officially took control for a few months in 1945. In a move to calm the Vietnamese people, Imperial Japan restored their Emperor and gave them a Prime Minister, but they were nothing but puppets.  

Doom (Nintendo Switch) Review

Doom certainly wasn't the first FPS to exist in video games, but to "popular culture" it might as well was. FPSs used to be called "Doom clones" for good reason. That's until games like Half-Life, Halo, and Medal of Honor far surpassed it in quality and evolved the genre in full 3D. This reboot of Doom was the first game in the series since Doom 3 (2003), which is a pretty large gap. 

Photos: Vietnam Veterans Memorial

 The Vietnam War Memorial is actually really close by the Lincoln Memorial, but it's easy to miss. The wall isn't nearly as tall as I had imagined.

Fact of the Day: Vietnam POWs

The Vietnam War saw many American soldiers captured as prisoners of war under Communist Vietnam. The first to be captured, Floyd James Thompson spent nine years in captivity, making him the longest-serving POW in American history. 

Photo: Washington DC Hammock

I saw this colorful hammock someone had setup at the National Mall near the monuments in Washington DC. I will say, it does look like a great place to take a nap. Especially when your feet is beyond sore from all the walking you did that day. 

The Martian (2015 Film) Review

 The Martian is a movie I had been planning to see for about three years, but kept delaying myself and whatnot. When I think of the movie, my mind goes back to the movie Gravity which predated it by about two years. I really liked Gravity, but I was a little unsure of how I would like The Martian. It was based on a book of the same name, has a pretty stellar cast, and got plenty of praise from critics. What could go wrong?

Fact of the Day: Native American Hammocks

Hammocks were an invention from Native Americans. The Spaniards were the first Europeans to discover the hammock as they came across them during the Spanish Conquest. 

Things I Like: Princess Zelda (A Link Between Worlds)

 Though not much different from most incarnations of Princess Zelda, I liked her in the 3DS game.

Photo: Second Division Memorial

While walking around in Washington DC I spotted this memorial but we didn't have time or the energy to see it up close. It was pretty hard to miss a giant golden sword with a metallic flame. I did research on it later, it was to built honor the 2nd Infantry Division's (of the U.S. army) role in the defense of Paris (and the rest of France) in World War I against the Germans. 

Fact of the Day: Shiny Gold

The main reason gold doesn't tarnish easily is because it doesn't really chemically react with other common elements such as oxygen.  

Things I Like: Trevor Slattery/Faux Mandarin (MCU)

 In the MCU were are to believe that this man is the Mandarin, a character from the comics who is one of Iron Man's greatest foes. He seems pretty real and he causes quite a havoc in reality and for propaganda.

Photos: Ice Cream Break in Washington DC

 After getting done with The White House viewing, my wife Daisy got some ice cream from a vendor near the sidewalk.

Fact of the Day: Leonard Da Vinci

The Italian/Portuguese/Spanish name Leonardo means "brave/strong as a lion". The English/German/Dutch version of the lion name is Leonard.  

My Kirby: Star Allies (Nintendo Switch) Impressions

While Kirby has never been one of Nintendo's greatest series, I've found it difficult to hate the little pink hero over the years. Star Allies is one of the rare console Kirby games but since the Nintendo Switch is a hybrid of both console and handheld, I guess it's both?

Photos: Lafayette Park Statues

 A few yards north of the White House is Lafayette Park which we only saw two statues but there are more. I saw this one of the park's namesake, General Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette. He was a very important French soldier during the American Revolution.

Fact of the Day: Jackson at New Orleans

While it didn't matter in the overall picture (as the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 occurred before news reached America) the Battle of New Orleans was a very important part of early American history. Andrew Jackson and his forces (while outnumbered) defeated the British very successfully. This helped greatly to make Andrew Jackson a war hero to the American people. 

My Doom (Nintendo Switch) Impressions

 Doom was one of the real popular FPS games to ever exist, so much that people used to call the genre "Doom clones" all the time. However Doom as a series fell behind the likes of Call of Duty and Halo once video games started to get really good in 3D. The Nintendo Switch got a port of the PS4/Xbox One game from two years ago and I decided to give it a try.

Photos: We Got To See The White House

 As someone who adores American History, and who is also very interested in politics, The White House means a lot to me. I always wanted to see it with my own eyes, it is a shame though that I only saw it after it had been soiled by the orange clown man-baby Russian colluding traitor moron.

Fact of the Day: White House Paint

It takes about 570 gallons (2157.68 liters) of paint to cover the exterior of the White House.  

Things I Like: Marshmallow Fruity Pebbles

 I saw this in the supermarket not too long ago. I don't think it's super-new, but I don't think I ever noticed them until now. The idea of Fruity Pebbles cereal meets Lucky Charms did make me wonder enough to try some.

Photos: Smithsonian Natural History Stuffed Animals

 While she already got a new panda at the National Zoo, Daisy always likes seeing stuffed animals.

Fact of the Day: Chinese Pandas

All pandas in non-Chinese zoos are simply on loan from China, this also counts baby pandas born in other countries. 

Photo: Smithsonian Science Paleontologists

Near the fossils at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, you can easily see where research on fossils is done. I hope the scientists actually can't see on the other side of the glass. It would bother me personally, if stupid fat people were gawking at me all day while I'm trying to work.   

Favorite Quotes: America's House

"I never forget that I live in a house owned by all the American people and that I have been given their trust."

-Franklin Delano Roosevelt

I read this quote somewhere in DC and it really struck an emotional cord. I truly believe FDR meant these words. If only our current orange President would have the common sense to believe this as well. 

Fact of the Day: Latin Fossil

The English word fossil is derived from the Latin word fossilis which means "dug up". 

Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 Plus (Nintendo Switch) Review

From old people to the newest generation of little ones, almost everybody knows who Pac-Man is. However Pac-Man certainly isn't the gaming giant he used to be. There was a time that this beloved mascot was more popular than Nintendo's Super Mario, but the series has struggled to evolve and stay relevant. One good revival was Pac-Man Championship Edition which I played back on the Xbox 360. While this game hit the PS4 and Xbox One awhile back, the Nintendo Switch got the title not long ago. 

Photos: Smithsonian Dinosaurs

They had just a little about dinosaur fossils at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. When I see dinosaurs now, I think of the ultra-religious Christian lady at work who believes they don't exist, and that all fossils are fake. The triceratops was always one of my favorites. 

Fact of the Day: Flying Lizard

While considered to be a dinosaur by many, the pterodactyl wasn't a dinosaur. In the eyes of science, the animal was a "flying lizard". 

Photo: Smithsonian Samurai Armor

At the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History I saw this example of samurai armor. Samurai were basically Japan's version of knights, but their armor was made more of leather than metal. These samurai outfits also inspired Darth Vader's costume in Star Wars.   

Fact of the Day: Samurai Numbers

Like the knights of Europe, the samurai of Japan were just a small chunk of the population. Less than ten percent of the country's residents in any period of Japanese history qualified to be in any stage of the samurai class. 

Things I Like: Yuga Ganon (A Link Between Worlds)

 While this version of Ganon died in the finale of A Link to the Past, it didn't take many years for him to rise again from the ashes. 

Photo: Smithsonian Meteorite

This was at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. It's one huge piece of meteorite. You certainly would hate if this thing had landed on your house.  

Fact of the Day: Shooting Stars

Meteoroids (shooting stars) move about 80.77 miles (130km) per second in the sky.  

Reign (TV Series) Season 4 Review

Reign is one of the shows that my wife Daisy and I watch together. Granted, I probably wouldn't have finished the whole series if it had not been for Daisy. The main reason why is that the CW is very adamant about making long seasons with lots of filler and that can dilute the ending product. Luckily the fourth (and the third as well) had much of that cut to make the seasons better. The fourth is the last season of the show, as a show based on the life of Mary, Queen of Scots could only last so long because well... you should know.