Earthworm Jim
Created: 2011-11-27 14:38 -07:00 | Views: 25- View Entry
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Earthworm Jim is a video game franchise that spans numerous systems.
In the Earthworm Jim cartoon, it was said that nutlogs were the hardest substance in the universe. Whenever Jim had occasion to use one for something, he would yell out "Nutlog!" Adam and Josh enjoyed this bit of randomness. Years later, they'd notice a text file in a miscellaneous directory on the family computer named "frunlog.txt". Remembering Jim's cry, they shouted "frunlog!" They did the same for another file named "runlog.txt". They continue this practice to this day.
In the second Earthworm Jim game, Jim hails a taxi at the end of one of the levels. He extends his pointer and wags it as he calls "Whoa! Whoa!" Adam and Josh enjoyed this and began emulating it, referring to it as "beckoning". Extending this idea, Adam and Josh would often "beckon" to one another when calling the other one. Josh began the practice of responding to the beckoning by running to Adam in a manner similar to Jim's rather dutiful running in place from the game. This became a sort of call and response.
Sometime later, Adam and Josh were sleeping in on a Friday, alone in the house. They were both awakened by a loud banging at the front door. Strangers had mistaken their home for someone else's and seemed very intent on having the occupant answer, to extent of opening the mail slot and yelling "Ramon!" Scared already, neither Adam nor Josh wanted to answer, especially since neither of them knew Spanish, making it all the more confusing.
When visiting a friend's house one afternoon, Josh saw the movie "The Butterfly Effect". At one point, a Mexican man is trying to get the attention of the protagonist and his girlfriend by following them, extending his hand, and saying "Señor." The protagonist shoos the man away, getting into a car with his girlfriend. Very shortly after, the car plunges into the deep water by the side of the road. The protagonist tries to free his trapped girlfriend when suddenly the Mexican man appears next to him underwater, having jumped in to help. As the Mexican man extends his hand to help, Josh's friend's younger brother, who was watching with them, said "Señor." the same way the man did earlier, suggesting that he was only there to get the protagonist's attention rather than to help. This ruined any drama in the scene as all who were watching laughed through it.
When Adam and Josh related both stories above to their parents and Josh's friend's mother who came to visit, each element somehow fused together, forming the scene below:
*someone yelling off-screen* "Ramon!"
*Ramon jogs dutifully, a la Jim, up to a person to whom he extends his hand* "Señor."
This went on for years until an unfortunate incident. When upstairs one day, Adam beckoned for Josh. Josh, in typical fashion, jogged dutifully up the stairs. Nearing the top, Josh stumbled, somehow folding his foot underneath him and putting all his weight on his little toe and its corresponding knuckle. After hearing a loud pop, Josh crumpled in a heap of pain while Adam was thoroughly confused as to what happened. It is quite possible that Josh had broken his toe, though he didn't go to the doctor - instead he went to work as a bagger at Ralph's Supermarket, a job that required him to be on his feet all day. Due to this, Josh officially retired the "jog" response to being beckoned.
"frunlog!"
In the Earthworm Jim cartoon, it was said that nutlogs were the hardest substance in the universe. Whenever Jim had occasion to use one for something, he would yell out "Nutlog!" Adam and Josh enjoyed this bit of randomness. Years later, they'd notice a text file in a miscellaneous directory on the family computer named "frunlog.txt". Remembering Jim's cry, they shouted "frunlog!" They did the same for another file named "runlog.txt". They continue this practice to this day.
Beckoning
In the second Earthworm Jim game, Jim hails a taxi at the end of one of the levels. He extends his pointer and wags it as he calls "Whoa! Whoa!" Adam and Josh enjoyed this and began emulating it, referring to it as "beckoning". Extending this idea, Adam and Josh would often "beckon" to one another when calling the other one. Josh began the practice of responding to the beckoning by running to Adam in a manner similar to Jim's rather dutiful running in place from the game. This became a sort of call and response.
Sometime later, Adam and Josh were sleeping in on a Friday, alone in the house. They were both awakened by a loud banging at the front door. Strangers had mistaken their home for someone else's and seemed very intent on having the occupant answer, to extent of opening the mail slot and yelling "Ramon!" Scared already, neither Adam nor Josh wanted to answer, especially since neither of them knew Spanish, making it all the more confusing.
When visiting a friend's house one afternoon, Josh saw the movie "The Butterfly Effect". At one point, a Mexican man is trying to get the attention of the protagonist and his girlfriend by following them, extending his hand, and saying "Señor." The protagonist shoos the man away, getting into a car with his girlfriend. Very shortly after, the car plunges into the deep water by the side of the road. The protagonist tries to free his trapped girlfriend when suddenly the Mexican man appears next to him underwater, having jumped in to help. As the Mexican man extends his hand to help, Josh's friend's younger brother, who was watching with them, said "Señor." the same way the man did earlier, suggesting that he was only there to get the protagonist's attention rather than to help. This ruined any drama in the scene as all who were watching laughed through it.
When Adam and Josh related both stories above to their parents and Josh's friend's mother who came to visit, each element somehow fused together, forming the scene below:
*someone yelling off-screen* "Ramon!"
*Ramon jogs dutifully, a la Jim, up to a person to whom he extends his hand* "Señor."
This went on for years until an unfortunate incident. When upstairs one day, Adam beckoned for Josh. Josh, in typical fashion, jogged dutifully up the stairs. Nearing the top, Josh stumbled, somehow folding his foot underneath him and putting all his weight on his little toe and its corresponding knuckle. After hearing a loud pop, Josh crumpled in a heap of pain while Adam was thoroughly confused as to what happened. It is quite possible that Josh had broken his toe, though he didn't go to the doctor - instead he went to work as a bagger at Ralph's Supermarket, a job that required him to be on his feet all day. Due to this, Josh officially retired the "jog" response to being beckoned.