It’s time to celebrate the New Year with a hoedown! Swing your partner, dosie-doe.

Have a safe and prosperous New Year in 2007 from Old Man Musings!

Have fun and enjoy your games! Thanks to all the readers!

The collector’s edition Nintendo Monopoly is here and it looks pretty cool. The pewter tokens come in the shapes of a Donkey Kong Barrel, Link’s Boots, a Hylian Shield, a NES Controller, Mario’s Hat, and a Koopa Shell. It also features graphics and locations based on Nintendo’s rich history of video games. If you are a Nintendo fan and like Monopoly, you should be getting this for yourself.

It was all the way back last April when I first mentioned about this fun, new flavor of Monopoly. Boy does time fly!

(via 4CR)

Here’s a good article about the history of computer RPGs that I thought you may find interesting. He talks about the classics like Rogue (pictured above and a favorite of mine) and D&D which later evolve to the games we know today. It’s a wonderful walk down early gaming history, when we were happy to have 16-color monitors and the hero was depicted as a symbol. Oh how those ANSI/ASCII days have changed.

I received Frigits Deluxe for Christmas and I’m having fun playing with it. This unique toy is for kids 3 to 103 and it teaches the basic physics principles of inertia and gravity. Just place the magnetic rails, twirling buckets and funnels any way you want on any metal surface, like your fridge (or your office cubical), and start the marble roller coaster! They roll, drop and spin down the fridge door until they land in a collection tray. There’s a million ways to set this up, so that you could spend a lifetime playing with it. Here’s my video of it in action. I’d recommend it to anyone.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in their first CG animated film, coming to theaters at the end of March 2007. It looks like it’s darker and edgier than their 80’s cartoon, but it is still looks silly and easy going for the kids. Take a look at the trailers for yourself. I remember going to the their first film in 1990, with all the live action turtle power. That was a pretty good flick back in the day. I wonder if this will be as good.

It looks like another Fantastic Four movie will be hitting U.S. theaters June 15, 2007. Their last movie, didn’t look as interesting as this one - because this teaser trailer has Silver Surfer in it! If the Silver Surfer is there, Galactus can’t be too far behind.

Marvel’s first family of superheroes, The Fantastic Four, meets their greatest challenge yet in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer as the enigmatic, intergalactic herald, The Silver Surfer, comes to Earth to prepare it for destruction. As the Silver Surfer races around the globe wreaking havoc, Reed, Sue, Johnny and Ben must unravel the mystery of the Silver Surfer.

This movie looks really promising. More info and stills at CBR.

Have you had enough of the winter holiday season? Need to let off some steam but aren’t the leader of a nation? Well, do I have a game for you - World Domination Battle! Choose your favorite dictator and start the hostility! This Flash based game is pretty entertaining and there are a dozen or so guys you can choose to play.

I hope that everyone had a humdinger of a holiday season and got everything that they wanted and more. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or Festivus, it’s always fun hanging out with family and friends. Telling funny stories and enjoying each others company are what the holidays are all about. Old Man Musings wishes you the best.

Any fan of He-Man or She-Ra will just dig this great DVD! All of your favorite characters are together in one place celebrating Christmas. Watch the magic of the Christmas season take over everyone in Eternia, even Skeletor. It’s a good quality, inexpensive DVD and it comes in a nice case. Remember - nothing screams Christmas more than scantily clad heroes fighting bad guys. And as a bonus it includes a “montage of morals”!

Oh and it’s also Festivus! Happy Festivus everyone!

Here are the top ten posts of 2006, which were chosen in a somewhat scientific manner. All this couldn’t be possible without the continued support from readers like you. Thanks for keeping up with the musings of an Old Man! 2006 was a bunch of fun and I expect the same kind of excitement in 2007! Stay tuned for much more.

	10. Classic Cartoons: I Love To Singa All it takes is one nonconformist owl belting out a really jazzy song and the whole world follows. This catchy little cartoon has grooved its way into our hearts and long term memories. Who doesn’t love to sing-a, about the moon-a and the June-a and the spring-a?
	9. Pac-Man Paint with Water What else would a person want? You’ve got your favorite video game icon displayed on paper ready for some artistic water magic. Nothing could be finer than sitting back with your water and brush, quietly painting yourself some magical Pac-Man moments.
	8. Lonely Man Meals Eat like a king! No longer will lonely men just have to eat cold tuna out of a can. Now they’ve got a choice! With the new line of Lonely Man meals available, lonely men everywhere can rejoice in knowing that they’ll not go to bed hungry again!
	7. H.R. Pufnstuf Who’s your friend when things get rough? Well, I’d have to say that my vote would be for this silly looking, yellow dinosaur with a mop-top. Plus all those vivid colors and bizarre characters keep us high on life - in a legal, safe and entertaining way.
	6. It’s Jerry Time Brought to you buy those wonderfully creative storytellers, the Zucker brothers. Jerry’s gift of gab and his zany stories keep us all in stitches. With all of his strange, yet entertaining situations, I wonder what fun craziness we’ll see in the coming episodes.
	5. I Am 8-Bit Book Signing v2 This was the first show posted about on the site. The mixing of video games with art was a great idea. Finally getting to meet Gabe Swarr and Katie Rice was cool too. I missed out in purchasing some great pieces, but I did meet some super folks.
	4. Mr Toast Animated When everyone found out that Mr Toast went animated, it was the start of a whole new way of thinking. Sure we all enjoy Dan’s weekly gags and comics, but to see Mr Toast come alive in that first animation - that was an amazing sight. I wonder what other surprises Dan has planned for us?
	3. Fun with Food. No. 4 With all the requests coming in for Pork Fu, I’m considering selling it here on the site. Who knew that the soft and fluffy goodness of this tasty treat would gather so much attention and inquiries about pork sweaters. Come here for your Pork Fu fix and help spread the linty love.
	2. Flight 3 Book Signing It was exciting to go to this book signing, meeting all the talented folk and then showcasing it for all the world to see. As soon as this post hit the web, it was an instant celebrity. People from all over came to see what Flight 3 was all about.
	1. 2006 SD Comic-Con Since there were so many popular posts for this, I just included the entire category. With all the great comics, cartoons, games, toys, people, talent, comics, costumes and more, it was a super experience and I plan to return. If you have a chance to go - GO - it’s a blast!

These cute and funny Shaky Bacon Christmas cards are available at our good friend Dan Goodsell’s Etsy Store. There you’ll also find paintings, drawings, buttons, t-shirts and more - all of which make great gifts.

And don’t forget to get a Mr Toast plush for some fun holiday entertainment. Everyone loves Mr Toast!

When choosing gifts for kids - just remember that boys like toy guns and sports while girls like sewing, laundry and dolls. “Little girls love to sew!” The baby Betsy Ironing Boards were such a huge hit with the girls, as too were the toy gas range and stove sets. “A new stove, just like Mother’s.” I like the way it says “selected” toys for girls. It sounds as if the girls’ choices had already been made for them.

To see the much larger and full scanned copy of this classic ad, click here.

One loyal follower of the Flying Spaghetti Monster pays homage during this festive time of year. May you all be touched by His Noodly Appendage.

(via Boing Boing)

As mentioned before Making Fiends is a really fun Flash cartoon. There is now a X-mas Bonus to enjoy! What a wonderful little cartoon with an extremely catchy song. Have you been naughty or nice?

Note: It also looks Making Fiends is officially going to be a half hour show on Nickelodeon. Cool!

Great news - Dragon Quest IX will appear on the Nintendo DS! It finally came back to Nintendo! Thank you Square Enix! This is a great RPG series. Check out this new video for Dragon Quest IX on the DS!

High - Low Bandwidth Video

(via 4CR)