Thursday, December 05, 2002

Kaboom! Ever wondered what it would be like to strap on explosives and take a busload of civilians with you on your journey to the gates of paradise? Well, wonder no more! Now you can experience all the thrills of suicide bombing from the safety of your own home via the exciting new simulation game, Kaboom, from Newsgrounds.com, where you can also find such favorites as Extreme WTC Jumper; Sniper's Revenge, a first-person shooter based on the recent sniper attacks in the Washington area; and Pico's School an adventure game mocking the Columbine killings. According to a story in the New York Times, "the Webmaster of the Newgrounds site, Tom Fulp, 24, said the game had been played more than 875,000 times, and the site contains hundreds of approving reviews. While Mr. Fulp conceded that the game was offensive, he said it was not intended to promote hatred or violence. 'It doesn't make specific references to Jews and Palestinians,' he said. 'People in general do need to lighten up and realize there are far worse problems in the world than what games people are playing.'" I really, really wish that I had made this up. Update: More info on WTC Jumper and new offerings in the same vein here. 12:00:14 PM    Emphasize This! [] R.I.P. Bigfoot A most unusual obituary appears in today's Seattle Times for one Ray Wallace, credited with launching the Bigfoot legend into popular consciousness. According to the story, in August 1958 in Humboldt County, Calif., a bulldozer operator for Wallace Construction saw prints of huge naked feet circling and walking away from his rig. The next day, the press coined the term "Bigfoot" and the myth of the giant ape-like creature stalking the northern woods was born. On November 26, 2002, Ray Wallace died at the age of 84 and his family finally admitted what many had suspected: the whole thing had been a trick that spun out of control. Wallace's nephew Dale Lee Wallace was quoted in the Times article as saying of his uncle: "He'd been a kid all his life. He did it just for the joke and then he was afraid to tell anybody because they'd be so mad at him." The younger Wallace claims to have the alder-wood carvings of the original giant feet used in the first prank. Wallace milked the story for years afterward, encouraging the growth of an entire cottage industry of Bigfoot watchers, authors and enthusiasts. As it became clearer over the years that Wallace was just having some fun, this community began to distance itself from its problematic founder. Needless to say, even after the family's revelations, some still cling to their belief in the creature's existence. 11:07:24 AM    Emphasize This! []

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