@Kid_Twist: That's a classic.
@russdanger: That was the soundtrack that defined my youth and got me into punk.
@smitty: Wubba Wubba Wubba?
@south2nd: Geez, that's awful. Sounds like they were understaffed then too! Oh no, gotta pull someone important out of the office! I would think a huge store like Wal-Mart would have tons of employees, any one of which could have driven you to the hospital.
@llamalash: I totally agree. If I remember correctly, it is a loss leader. Lose a little money on something just to get people in the door to buy a whole bunch of other stuff at regular price. They know what they are doing, and, like you said, they have been doing it for years. I say, do the sale, but do it right, dammit! It seems the only way that they may change this practice, or god forbid, staff, train and secure it properly, is if they get their asses handed to them in court.
I hope it happens.
@Dearhaw: True. What amazes me though is not the who, but the when. HOWDEEDOODAT?! LOL, excellent pic, Jesus.
Holy shit! Jobs has Robert Duvall and Diane Keaton circa 1974 on his side! He is awesomer than we ever could have imagined.
WAL-MORTE.
Wal-Mart has had many incidences (attacks, rapes, murders) in their parking lots and they still don't bother to pay for proper security. Obviously, they didn't have proper security on hand for this stampede they incited. Of course having a crazy sale will bring the customers and have them lining up before the store opens. But to expect your normal store employees (and temps like this poor guy) to just deal with a crowd like this is negligent on the part of the company and the management. I don't blame the ad agency at all--I doubt they had anything to do with the sale or its short duration. It is Wal-Mart that created the situation.
I used to work at a music store that also sold tickets to concerts. Every concert had a line, but for one concert in particular we had about 1000 people lined up outside my tiny store. We had lotteries for line placement, we were out there barking orders to the crowd, we called in extra help, and I am pretty sure we had extra security around (this was 16 years ago, so I can't remember for sure re: the extra security). We had no problems.
This couldn't possibly be true. Look how happy she looks in that picture.
Someone signs up for a "reality show" about their life, but when real reality (and reporters) come knockin', it's none of our business. Noted.
@kingmanic: I agree in regards to the western serials--people will only ask "what are they going to do this week?" so many times before they get bored because nothing grows or changes over time. One place where the serial style has worked in my opinion is the Bond franchise. You can watch any of the older Bond films without having seen any of the others, and still enjoy whichever one you are watching. I have not seen either one of the new Daniel Craig Bond films, but I understand that Quantum of Solace starts up right where the previous one left off. This brings the Bond franchise successfully into the storytelling style of the 21st century. The downside of doing that will make it more difficult to change to the next Bond when Craig gets bored with it!
Of course, the Star Wars movies are probably the best and most successful example of a franchise, and George Lucas (I believe) planned the sequels and prequels in advance. He created the gold standard of a mythology, with great characters and interesting story arcs. I may be dreaming (or hoping), but wasn't/isn't there a plan to make episodes 7-9? It would make sense to let some time pass by making the prequels and then bring back the cast from episodes 4-6 (now appropriately aged) to make episodes 7-9. To me, it makes perfect sense, and it would be welcome. As long as Lucas lets others write and direct them!
It may not seem like it in my first comment, because I did like those shows (and that serial style) when I was kid, but I prefer the more thought-out and long-term story arcs. It makes the setting more real, it makes the characters more interesting and dimensional, and overall, I think it is better writing and storytelling.
I wonder how the Ark II would fare in the snow? I'd take one, especially if it came with the talking chimp!
I think you might have nailed it when you talked about today's pop culture being less open-ended. It is hard to get into a series if you haven't seen it from the beginning these days. While I'm sure the arcs do create an obsessive and rabid fan base for the shows, its hard to jump in in the middle and know what's going on. It also makes any jump to another medium seem "tacked on" and runs the risk of alienating the show's core fan base.
Your original Star Trek is a good example because they had a good core set of characters, and (for the most part) each episode was its own stand alone "mission." Another long-running and successful set of shows that follows that episodic style are the Law & Order shows. Of course, those are not sci-fi, but they are very successful!
Many of the sci-fi shows that I watched growing up were the same way, no doubt following the successful formula of the original Star Trek series. Shows like Buck Rogers, Battlestar Galactica and Space 1999 pretty much resolved everything by the end of the hour. When there was a major catastrophe, it spanned two parts...
SNICKERS!
These are fantastic--I really like the color palettes that he used.
@Rumpelstilskin: Ahh, good one. I think Gawker should do that for holidays (when they aren't posting), even if it is simply a HAPPY THANKSGIVING post. You know it would get hundreds of comments that day.
@MisterHippity: That sounds great! Mine will be small and drama-free, but I would love to hear from other Gawker commenters! How about an open Thanksgiving thread?
@92BuickLeSabre: WOW--Molly Ringwald. She's only two years older than me and I had a huge crush on her. None of the arcades I went to were cool enough to have anything filmed there. I probably would have been mad that I couldn't play, but if Molly Ringwald was there, shutting down my arcade, I would have given a pass. And hung out in hopes to meet her.
@Grrsn Dn: It is. It's Boards of Canada.
This post is great. Judging by the post and the comments, there are lots of people my age that were at the perfect age at the dawn of video games. I was right there with ya, Ed (and 92BuickLeSabre, and I suspect, others), and I remember it fondly. In fact, my coworker and I were talking about our arcade experiences today--not too much the games specifically, but the whole experience.
Excellent.
