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To stand at the brink of Niagara Falls—sun shining through the transparent water, the mist rising, the roar underneath, a rainbow overhead—is to experience a beauty so humbling that philosophers and painters describe this dizzying, unsettling moment as “the sublime.” While viewing the Falls, not many can suppress the overpowering thought of how the rushing current would easily sweep them away. Over the years not a few have tested this notion, but only a few have survived. Some have plunged […]

Continue Reading about Skill, Risk, Play, and the Daredevils of Niagara Published on:
June 19, 2012

Father’s Day, being right around the corner, reminded me of some of the most and least paternal characters presented in video games. Whether they’re role models, deadbeats, or something in between, I enjoy interacting with all of the characters that came to mind.
My personal favorite video game father is Ethan Mars from the 2010 blockbuster Heavy Rain. The game centers on Ethan’s desperation to save his son, Shaun, from the Origami Killer. In order to rescue Shaun, Ethan drives against […]

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June 14, 2012

One-hit wonders. You know them well—the artists whose catchy lyrics and infectious tunes earn them a fleeting moment of mega fame before they plunge back into obscurity. Even so, songs like “Come on Eileen” and “Ice Ice Baby” will live on forever, immortalized in VH1 countdowns and karaoke archives. I can probably do the “Macarena” in my sleep (VH1 considers the 1996 Los Del Rio tune the top one-hit wonder of all time), but I’m also familiar with a different […]

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June 12, 2012

While in Seattle for a conference a couple of years ago, I ditched the scheduled luncheon and scooted over to the EMP Museum, a flashy, entertaining, interactive museum devoted to music, popular culture, and science fiction. When I went down to the basement annex, I found the Science Fiction Hall of Fame packed, wall-to-wall, with deeply absorbed science-fiction fans, some in alien makeup or mocked-up space suits. I never counted myself as one of these fans. Until that is, while […]

Continue Reading about Ray Bradbury, 1920-∞: At Play in Space and Time Published on:
June 11, 2012

Do you remember your first pair of roller skates? I do. I can easily visualize the bulky metal skates that clamped onto my shoes when I was about seven years old. Those skates weren’t easy to maneuver, especially as I navigated the uneven sidewalks of my dead-end street, but I recall a certain sense of freedom to having my own set of “wheels” at such a young age.
Those roller skating memories came to life again as I consulted The History […]

Continue Reading about Spinning Wheels: Roller Skating through the Years Published on:
June 5, 2012

In the past months, I have noticed the steady buzz of fanfare for Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee.  A year’s worth of royal parades, pageants, parties, and pomp celebrates the six decades Queen Elizabeth has served as monarch. The people of the British realm certainly adore her. And to be honest, many Americans also follow news of Britain’s royal family, finding the whole notion of queens, kings, princes, and princesses fascinating despite fighting a war to stop British royals from ruling […]

Continue Reading about Elizabeth II Is Such a Doll! Published on:
May 29, 2012

Buzzwords and hot topics permeate the media as the 2012 election approaches. Watch almost any news report and you’ll likely hear phrases such as “fiscal responsibility” and “balance the budget.” As gloomy as the current political circumstances or economic conditions may seem though, history tells us that it’s nothing new. People have long persisted through tough times—and even had their fair share of fun doing it.
 Take for example Balance the Budget, a card game in the National Museum of Play’s […]

Continue Reading about Fantastic Fiscal Fun Published on:
May 23, 2012

Recently, ICHEG added the controversial arcade game Death Race to its collections.
 Released by Exidy in 1976, Death Race became the first arcade game to spur a national controversy over violence in video games.  A player of the game navigated a white car across the black screen as white stick figures, which developers called “gremlins,” ran back and forth. The driver attempted to run over the gremlins, which let out high-pitched screams and turned into tomb stones complete with crosses. With […]

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May 15, 2012

“Plunk yer magic Twanger, Froggy!” Back in the early 1950s, these magic words enabled that impudent rubber frog known professionally as Froggy the Gremlin to suddenly appear out of nowhere on The Buster Brown Show. Materializing in a puff of smoke and uttering his famous “Hiya kids; Hiya, Hiya!” greeting, Froggy’s subsequent antics and smart aleck remarks visibly annoyed the show’s host, a jolly fellow known to all as Smilin’ Ed McConnell, but always delighted the kids gathered in the […]

Continue Reading about Back in the Day: Early Television for Kids Published on:
May 15, 2012