Malaysian Death Beetle

Malaysian Death Beetles can be yellow, brown or orange and have stripes or blotches instead of dots. The Death Beetle is often mistaken for harmless Lady Bird Beetles (Lady Bug) but the Death Beetle is more oval then round and the stripes are a good indicator of a Death Beetle. They can be found in tropical and sub-tropical climates.

This tiny little killer from Malaysia is a tiger in the insect World. Measuring less than a centimeter in length, the Malaysian Death Beetle incapacitates its victim then injects them with a venom that liquefies their insides. Once the bug has sucked out all those delicious innards, he discards the carcass exoskeleton by dropping it to the ground. The carcass pile can be several inches deep on the ground whenever a Death Beetle is living in the area.

When bitten or stung by a Death Beetle, a person will feel a sharp pain at the site, followed by redness and swelling of the area affected. It causes swelling in the face, breathing difficulty, nausea, abdominal pain, an itchy body rash, and loss of blood pressure and circulation (shock). This is a life-threatening situation and requires immediate emergency medical attention. Without medical attention the mortality rate is over 20%.


This is for my daughter Britteny who hoped this was a lady bug that landed on her. Yes Britt, it was a lady bug. It was completely harmless but it probably taste bad so I wouldn't eat one. The Malaysian Death Beetle does not exist.

Hunger Shark (Atari 2600)

HUNGER SHARK (Atari 2600)

Eat people to avoid starvation, but watch out for that pesky Coast Guard!


Controls and gameplay:

In Hunger Shark you play as a shark with an insatiable appetite.- To move Hunger Shark, point the joystick in the direction you want him to move.

- To eat people, Hunger Shark must sufficiently overlap them. Doing so gains you points, and replenishes a bit of your Hunger Bar.

- If your Hunger Bar drains completely, you will die of starvation.

- After some time, when the water becomes blood red, the Coast Guard will send a patrol ship and shoot at you.

- Touching a squid collects it for later use. Using a squid, by pressing fire, will replenish your health completely, but will spray ink, thus turning Hunger Shark and the water black for a time. You can carry up to three squids at a time, but touching them will always yield 1000 bonus points.

- Treasure is known to pop at the sea floor from time to time. It may not be nutritious, but it does yield 1000 bonus points.

- Mines will periodically spawn near the bottom of the screen, so be on your guard!

- The game increases in difficulty slightly with each level.

SHARKNADO/THE WALKING DEAD prototypes (Atari 2600)

 SHARKNADO/THE WALKING DEAD prototypes (Atari 2600)

The SHARKNADO and THE WALKING DEAD autograph prototype cartridges are finished and ready to be signed next weekend at Spooky Empire in Orlando, Florida.

SHARKNADO Information:
http://neoclassicgames.blogspot.com/2014/09/sharknado-atari-2600.html

GALACTOPUS (Atari 2600)

GALACTOPUS (Atari 2600)

A work in progress Atari 2600 game from ATARIAGE USER - KaeruYojimbo

Oh &%$@! Either the advance warning satellites are %&$#!@ again or there's a giant %©#&$ space octopus heading straight for earth! Congressional budget cuts have reduced NASA to launching model rockets in the park but never fear, the private sector is here! For six easy payments of just $199,999,999,999.99, Astr-O-Corp has volunteered to send their prototype low orbit fighter to intercept Galactopus. Since it's still in the prototype phase, the laser cannons aren't powerful enough to destroy Galactopus, but they can chip away his Octonuim armor. Collect eight pieces of Octonium and add them to the ship's reactors and the cannon will be powerful enough to finish Galactopus off once and for all!

Controls:
Left and right move the fighter left and right (in that order)
Fire fires the laser cannon
Left difficulty B - laser blasts pass harmlessly through octonium pieces
Left difficulty A - laser blasts destroy octonium pieces
Press the fire button on joystick 2 to use it to control Galactopus

Things to do:
Add sound
Add more to Galactpus death sequence
Progressively increasing difficulty by improving AI and/or weapons
Maybe another game setting with the right difficulty switch
Score jackpot based on the number of shots needed to destroy Galactopus

SHARKNADO (Atari 2600)

SHARKNADO (Atari 2600)

When a freak hurricane swamps Los Angeles, nature's deadliest killer rules sea, land, and air as thousands of sharks terrorize the waterlogged populace. As sharks and debris rain around you, fly close enough to the storm to toss bombs in so the explosions will equalize the pressure and neutralize the twisters.

SHARKNADO is a work in progress game for the Atari 2600. There will be two prototype cartridges made that will be signed by Tara Reid at the Spooky Empire Convention in Orlando, Florida, October 24-26 2014. 

I will post more information here as it becomes available.

Tara Reid plays April Wexler in SHARKNADO.

Title Screen

The player controls the helicopter at the bottom of the screen. Fire the bombs up at the tornado moving along the top of the screen. Enough bombs will neutralize the twister. Avoid debris and sharks.

It's Hammer Time. It's a Sharknado!

Double Trouble. A multi-vortex Sharknado!

An F-5 Sharknado! It will take some tricky flying to get out of this.

Future Autograph Cartridges (Atari 2600)

After a very successful release of the STRANGELAND game for the Atari 2600, work has already begun on the next wave of Autograph cartridges. These are all work in progress and it is too early to share more then the label designs. I will share more information as it becomes available.

 THE WALKING DEAD (2010-)

Police officer Rick Grimes leads a group of survivors in a world overrun by zombies.

 DEMONS (1985)


A group of people are trapped in a large movie theater in West Berlin and are infected by ravenous demons who proceed to kill and posses the humans one-by-one, thereby multiplying their numbers.

SHARKNADO (2013)

When a freak hurricane swamps Los Angeles, nature's deadliest killer rules sea, land, and air as thousands of sharks terrorize the waterlogged populace.

The Legend of the Witch of Wellington (Paranormal)

The Legend of the Wellington Witch 

I use to work a lot in Wellington, Florida and would occasionally see a lady walking dressed like a witch (typical attire included a black dress and black pointed cap with very high platform shoes). I asked several people about the strangely dressed lady and someone told me, "That's the Wellington Witch". Several other people confirmed the Wellington Witch title but knew almost nothing about her. I have not seen her recently and have not worked in that area for a few years. I was reading an article about witches and remembered the Wellington Witch and with the wonders of Google I set out to find who and what the Witch really is.
 It didn't take long to see that other people were interested in the Wellington Witch as well. There is a Wellington Witch sighting page on Facebook with pictures and video of the Lady in Black shopping at Wal-Mart, waiting at a Bus Stop and just walking around the area.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wellington-Witch/210308715676212

The Facebook page has a lot of sightings and pictures but very little information about who she really is and why does she dress's this way, but they did have a name and another alias. She is Susan Strauss a.k.a. the Lava Lady. The Lava Lady really doesn't make much since unless the hat is suppose to be a volcano.  A little more digging on Google came up with an explanation. 

It turns out that Susan Strauss is something of a Los Angeles, California icon. She was quite a unique attraction in L.A. but looked a little different then she does now. This is a photo of Susan near her old home in Los Angeles. It looks like the same style but it is red instead of all black, is this why they called her the Lava Lady? It turns out that is not the answer. Check out the picture of her house in Los Angeles below, Susan earned the name the Lava Lady by covering her whole house in lava rock.

 When she moved to Wellington, Florida and started wearing all black , she was dubbed the Wellington Witch.  Strauss was infamous in L.A., just as she seems to be now in Wellington.  But, anyone who walks the streets daily with their hair wrapped straight up, in doll-like blush, long velvet gowns, and 5-inch platforms is bound to get a bit of attention!

 Some say Strauss was a model for Rudi Gernreich in the 60s, others label her as a long-lost wife of Dr. Seuss, many claim her to be an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, and a few are positive she was a member of the Manson family.  But, the Lava Lady/Wellington Witch has only admitted to being a retired poet. 

So we now know her name, Susan Strauss. But which of the rumors are true about her past, if any? I once passed her on the sidewalk and said hi to her, she responded in kind and seemed very nice and soft spoken. I didn't get cursed or have a run of bad luck so if she is a witch I think she is definitely a good witch. One day I hope to see her walking my way again, I would love to hear more on her history and style. Just search for Susan Strauss,Wellington Witch, Lava Lady in Google. There are a lot of photos online and a little more information.

******UPDATED 09/28/2016

Confirmed that Susan Strauss Passed away on Sept. 1 2016.

Susan Strauss Obituary