That Not So Fresh Feeling

I’m posting from the new iPhone app. Here’s a picture.

Vacation means I do stuff.

Like changing the theme on my blog (thanks http://www.blogohblog.com/).
Updating plugins.
Writing.
Other stuff.

So, if anything is broken, let me know.

So, back before Christmas, Brett had been singing the praises of this little Nintendo DS game called Elite Beat Agents. He described the game exactly as it was: “you tap the screen to the beat of songs and you help these guys like cheer on people to solve ridiculous problems.” To which I replied (paraphrased): “Ummm, no thanks. You smell like fish.”
Then I tried the game.

And the little light bulb went off in my head. I got it. It all made perfect sense.

Elite Beat Agents is the most fun game I’ve played in, I don’t know, forever. Basically, it’s Guitar Hero for the Nintendo DS. The game sets up these little scenarios, like say, two “socialites” getting stranded on a deserted island. Then the “Material Girl” by Madonna starts playing, and you tap along to the beat, hitting these little circles in order, occasionally dragging a circle back and forth over a path. If you tap along in time, you win. If you don’t, you lose.

You hear someone describe it, you think it sounds ridiculous. You see someone play it, you get a little intrigued. You play it, you’re hooked.

It’s one of those games where you get frustrated because you can’t get by a song (let’s say, “Canned Heat” by Jamiroquai, since that’s the one that kicks my arse), but you keep trying, since you get a little further each time. On your 5th try, you finally pick up the beat and you breeze through.

Everything about the game is silly. The song selection (”Sk8er Boi”, “YMCA”, “Material Girl”, “You’re the Inspiration”). The scenarios are silly, except one about a girl who’s dad DIED and his ghost brings her a teddy bear, which is sooooo out of place in the game that it’s awesome.

I can’t do it justice. This game is astounding. A Technorati search turned up 4000+ mentions of the game.

You won’t understand it until you try it, but to get an idea, check out this YouTube video of the “September” level.

I’ve decided that adding “smells like fish” to things is the new way to make a snappy comeback. It works with everything.

• If someone cuts you off while driving, rather than flipping them off or shooting them with a gun (the two most common forms of comebacks), you can simply say “I bet their car smells like fish.”
• If someone disses your mom, as in “Your mom is a poophead”, you can simply say, “oh yeah, well, your mom smells like fish.”
• Should someone bump into you while shopping for Christmas gifts in the very crowded shopping mall, and then that person shoots you the “ohhhhh, if we weren’t in a mall I would so crush your head with a Casio keyboard” look, you can simply tell them “hey, stop staring at me, your eye stare smells like fish.”
• If the Dead Sea Spa people try to harrass you into testing their products in the mall, you can simply say “Sorry, your Dead Sea Spa smells like fish.” (This one, I wish I had thought of a few weeks ago).

I can’t think of a single thing that you can’t use “smells like fish” in response to. I encourage you to start using it in your daily life.

If you do start using it, I encourage you to link to this post using the words “smells like fish” … maybe I can get the top spot on Google!

P.S. Stop reading this, your reading smells like fish.