With falling fleas, bouncing spiders, and screen-crossing scorpions, Atari’s Centipede had bugs in this arcade game classic from 1980.
On the day after Lemonade Day, you might need some refreshment. JediShua and shazbazzar serve up 77 minutes of fun from the ’70s, bugs from the ’80s, and fast food utensils from today. So grab your chilled square bowl, Kellogg’s Special K, skim milk, and Frork or chopsticks (to enable recycling of the milk) and spin the trackball for a game of Centipede!
[iframe url=”http://html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/5336176/height/90/width/1000/theme/custom/autonext/no/thumbnail/yes/autoplay/no/preload/no/no_addthis/no/direction/backward/no-cache/true/render-playlist/no/custom-color/089efc/” height=”90″ width=”1000″ scrolling=”no” allowfullscreen=”allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen”]
Centipede, Space Academy, and Stolen Death Star Plans
As we draw ever nearer to the actual 40th anniversary of the release of Star Wars in theaters, the excitement continues to grow everywhere in this galaxy as well as that one far, far away after Princess Leia’s Stolen Death Star Plans stormed the Internet with A New Hope for original mash-ups as Palette-Swap Ninja provided a Beatlesesque soundtrack for the movie with the 50th anniversary of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band just weeks away.
In the NEWS…
Wear your old mix tapes on your sleeve with the new ELBOW from BrainMonk — a smallish portable cassette player that may actually be released in the near future. Then you can sit back and relax in your Silver Chair while you wait for the next movie in the Narnia saga. And don’t forget to use the Frork when eating one of the newest sandwich offerings at McDonald’s. With a bit of Beatles news from Sirius XM and the aforementioned album from Palette-Swap Ninja, the news this week is so far out-of-this-world, we might need to charter the classic Star Tours ride (at least in virtual reality) to catch up to the genius of this parody rich duo.
We Love Our Cereal…
British neuroscience research consultant Dr. Jennifer Newson conducted a widespread study of a diverse group of subjects (78 women in the U.K.) in a two-day experiment for Kellogg’s Special K to discover how women’s “eating context” affected their perception of how nourished they were from 30 grams of cereal in 125 milliliters of cold skimmed milk. The headline for this highly scientific study — “REVEALED: Why eating cereal from a SQUARE bowl will make you feel fuller.” Thanks, Thea De Gallier of express.co.uk.
TechnoRetro Arcade
Atari spins the rollerball …er, uh… trackball and mashes the quickfire button in classic exterminator style with their release of Centipede to arcades. JediShua and shazbazzar found at least some success in racking up points and levels in the arcade version of this iconic video game. With fleas, spiders, and scorpions, Centipede has always been a popular pick amongst gamers for over thirty years.
Saturday Morning
When Doctor Smith from Lost in Space tries to ride the coattails of Star Wars, a television series will surely be lifted to new heights as the rising tide lifts all boats. What’s that? Space Academy isn’t a boat? You don’t say! It was cancelled once it failed to find a following in the fall of 1977.
History Lesson
Captain America watches the Brooklyn Dodgers play against Philadelphia. 1984 is on the phone and wants its fascist agenda back (thanks, George Orwell). And Kyle Reese emerges from the future to prevent a Terminator from stopping John Conner before he ever gets started.
Give us your tips on playing Centipede, your hopes for this year’s Star Wars fare, or anything about cereal by contacting us on social media or give us your feedback by calling our voice mail line at (209) 878-7323 or sending us a message or mp3 via electronic-M to podcast@TechnoRetroDads.com. Don’t forget to rate and review TechnoRetro Dads on iTunes and Stitcher.
Share and enjoy!
click banner for all episodes and homepage!
Join shazbazzar and JediShua each week for a look back at the ’70s and ’80s as they share the fun and also fandom of their youth with their families, friends, and EarBuds. Topics include TV, film, music, toys, and games of the ’70s and ’80s as well as franchises which have continued into the 21st Century, like Star Wars, TRON, Battlestar Galactica, and Centipede. TechnoRetro Dads is a blend of new stories as old legends are then passed down from one generation to the next.
If you’re a TechnoRetro Dad, the child of one, or appreciate the ’70s and ’80s, then this podcast is definitely for you!