PicoBlog

A newsletter about video games and the game industry, from writer, consultant and former Edge editor Nathan Brown By Nathan Brown · Over 9,000 subscribersNo thanks“Nathan's still got the Edge. Hit Points is like reading a more flexible magazine column every week.” ncG1vNJzZmigmam9sLXNrapnq6WXwLWtwqRlnKedZA%3D%3D

A note to Fight Freaks Unite readers: I created Fight Freaks Unite in January 2021 and eight months later it also became available for paid subscriptions for additional content — and as a way to help keep this newsletter going and for readers to support independent journalism. If you haven’t upgraded to a paid subscription please consider it. If you have already, I truly appreciate it! Also, consider a gift subscription for the Fight Freak in your life.

(Listen to the radio version here when I record it Wednesday morning.) When I did my Big Year in 2013, the very first bird I saw on New Year’s Day was a Hoary Redpoll—an auspicious sign! I was just looking out the back window when I saw it so didn’t even try to photograph it, but a little while later I did have my camera along when I went to my friend Pat Thomas’s house, where the first bird I happened to focus on was also a Hoary Redpoll.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! To celebrate, Gwynne Garfinkle is back with us to talk about obscure children’s shows from her youth. Specifically, we talk about Hobo Kelly, the magical hobo clown who has a leprechaun fly her around and drop her off at Hobo Junction. Sure and begorrah, ‘tis she! If you are like, “whhhhhaaat?” —yeah, so were we! Here are the only clips we could find. Here’s a teeny 30 second clip medley.

One last Oklahoma Barbecue history lesson before we let the month of May slip into summer… We all know barbecue has been popular since raw meat first fell into open fire, but in Oklahoma it became big business because of the Pig Stand. Founder Jessie G. Kirby opened his first with Dr. Reuben Jackson in October of 1921 in Dallas, fundamentally changing the way America eats to this day. Not because Kirby’s Pig Stand was home to “The Juicy Pig Sandwich,” though.

I’ve been reading a lot this week. Not the usual shower of shit. Twitter lists, Facebook drama, clickbait on the Apple News reader. Nope. I got me the new Stephen King and I am, of course, loving it. My Netflix stack o’ shame grows every day while I progress through Holly, the King’s latest horror/crime mash up. Mostly crime but. There’s no supernatural element to the story in Holly. The book follows on from his previous crime outings Mr Mercedes, Finders Keepers, End of Watch and The Outsider.

Certainly, for Native Americans with dreams of acting and filmmaking, this includes participating in the Oscars. Also known as the Academy Awards, staged annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and broadcast to millions from Los Angeles, California, in recognition of excellence in film. However, to this day, no Native American woman of any tribe located in the United States has stood on that stage to receive or give an award.

This is just getting sad.  It’s heartbreaking, is what it is. The story of Ernest and film began in triumph, with a hayseed savant of the local commercial universe scoring boffo box-office for his 1987 starring debut, 1987’s Ernest Goes to Camp.  By the time Ernest Goes to Africa was dumped direct to video in 1997 things had taken quite a turn. He was no longer working with Disney. His movies were no longer released theatrically or reviewed widely.

Well, the average home price in America remains just about as unaffordable as it's ever been. In fact, a recent report from real estate data provider ATTOM examined the median home prices last year for roughly 575 U.S. counties and found that home prices in 99% of those areas are beyond the reach of the average income earner. And to add insult to injury, 30-year fixed mortgage rates just rose back above 7%.