'Ancient Egyptian Plumber'

Mario-inspired t-shirt designs pop up with such regularity these days that most folks probably stopped caring about them long ago.

It's hard not to care about a well-produced Mario-inspired t-shirt design, though, and in my humble opinion the one below (and here) fits rather snugly within that category.

The quality of this particular design, titled "Ancient Egyptian Plumber," isn't all that surprising once you realize it was produced by the Los Angeles-based artist who answers to both "herky" and "Lucky1988."

Another reason to like herky's/Lucky1988's creation: The tongue-in-cheek article that promotes it over at shirt.woot.com.

CAIRO, Egypt – An illustrated tapestry recently unearthed here seems to suggest that plumbing, long believed to be a primarily Roman invention, may in fact have originated in ancient Egypt.  

Depicting a leaping figure wearing boots, a cap, and a form of ancient Egyptian overalls, the illustration indicates that Egypt can claim credit for the now-iconic plumber archetype.  

“It’s remarkable how contemporary the plumber figure looks,” says Prof. Martin Etcharles of the University of Shigeru. “It looks like something that could have been drawn in the early 1980s in Japan.”

The tapestry is believed to date from the reign of Pharaoh Bowserkhamun III, during the so-called Mushroom Dynasty. Etcharles says that the whole field of plumbing archaeology has been electrified by the discovery.  

“Of course, there’s always the possibility we’re getting too fixated on this plumber character,” he says. “But we wouldn’t be the first to do that.”

Cream-colored tees featuring this "Ancient Egyptian Plumber" can be picked up here for $15, while "natural" totes can be bought here for $12. Both are only available until Saturday, May 26, so get your butt over to shirt.woot.com pronto if you want one.

See also: More of Lucky1988's designs

Mario's Panic Restaurant

You know what? I'd love it if Nintendo made a game that somehow combined its Mario Bros. series with Taito's kitchen-centric platformer, Panic Restaurant.

I can't see the company brass green-lighting a full-fledged release based on that premise, but maybe they would find a downloadable one (sold through the eShop, for instance) a bit more palatable?

As for what prompted this epicurean epiphany: I just stumbled across the following t-shirt design, produced by Los Angeles-based artist herky (aka Flickr user Lucky1988):

If you find this design--called "Trouble in the Kitchen of the Ristorante"--to be as delicious as I do, cast a vote in favor of it at shirt.woot.com between now and next Thursday at noon.

See also: More of Lucky1988's designs

Someone just *has* to turn this into game

"This," by the way, is the illustration below. It's called "Hadoucat!" and was created by artist Lucky1988 (who kindly shared it with the world via his/her Flickr photostream earlier this week).

If nothing else, I'd love to see the cat sprite used in some sort of Bubble Bobble clone. (In a perfect world, the person creating said game would copy the gameplay of Chip Chan Kick, a treasure of a PC-FX title that features cute little girls who stun enemies with what look like Puyo Puyo blobs before kicking them into the hereafter.)



Somewhat random aside: Lucky1988's image was in the running to appear on a t-shirt via shirt.woot.com, but it was rejected for being "off topic." Pshaw, I say!

See also: 'Super Maui-o Bros.'

'As accessible as Centipede and as complex as Defender'

On his company's website, Mike James says, "my wine is for anyone who spent time trying to save a princess or fit odd shaped blocks together."

That comment alone makes me want to buy a bottle or two (or four) of 8-Bit Vintners' Player 1, a Syrah-based blend of fruit from vineyards throughout the Columbia Valley, Wahluke Slope and Walla Walla Valley.

Another comment that makes me want to buy a few bottles of Player 1: The folks over at woot.com say James' wine "is as accessible and approachable as Centipede, but as complex and intriguing as Defender."

Speaking of woot.com, the web-based retailer is selling a four-pack of Player 1 for $49.99 (plus $7 shipping). Considering a single bottle of Player 1 usually goes for $18 (plus shipping), that's a pretty great deal.