Branch by Branch

I have a new favorite Arcade game: Tropical Troubles. This involves the monkey from "Bananza," which I've always had trouble managing, jumping from branch to branch collecting bananas, avoiding deadly spiders and insects, and knocking over pineapples and cocoanuts to possibly roll on the deadly spiders and insects, which gains you extra points.

I can't say I'm really good at it—I think my highest score has been 22—but I really enjoy it because it reminds me of the old Jumpman game—and if the monkey falls, he doesn't get killed the way Jumpman does. :-)

I do hate that one bug, though, the one with the big eyes that pops up and follows the monkey. The other bugs just wander at random, and the spiders just crawl up and down branches, but you either have to scramble to avoid the big-eyed one, let yourself get bitten, or hit it with a cocoanut or pineapple to get rid of it. It's a pain in the neck.

Cat of a Different Color

I picked up a Siamese cat at the FYE at the mall in Owensboro, KY, so his name will be "Owen." What's with Ganz and their weird animals? First we get a "Yorkie" that's white (guys, that's a Maltese...) and now a Siamese cat with green eyes.

June Pet of the Month

CorneliusI'D had an elephant for ages hoping one of the older pets would be POTM, so I was pretty happy about the choice of the elephant.

What I didn't know was what to name it—I either didn't like some of the choices, like Bimbo or Kala Nag or Two Tails, or thought they were a little cliché, like Babar, Trunks, Peanuts, Dumbo, etc. It couldn't be Modoc or Maya because it was an African elephant and a male to boot.

I finally settled on a literary elephant, just not the usual one: Cornelius, one of the wise old elephants in the Babar stories.