Cold Season Cure: ToeJam & EaRL

With midterms over, Julia finally has a chance to sit back and take in the full flare of fall. Sadly, this flare comes with a head-cold. So I found the perfect remedy: ToeJam and Earl for Sega Genesis.

It's working!

Not to be confused with Earl Grey tea, ToeJam and Earl is a two player cooperative game where you goof around with presents in a surreal landscape. It's as if the universes of Marvin the Martian, Ren & Stimpy and Roberto Matta intersected with hip hop on my 5th grade wallpaper. And it really will cure the common cold!

Health Benefits:
It's non-competitive. So much so that when Julia and I walk up to one another in the game, our characters give a high-five. Virtual high-fives are a great way to avoid spreading germs.

It's fun. Much of the fun comes from bizarre interactions between ToeJam, Earl and a strange crowd of cherubs, mad scientists, hula dancers and bees. I find myself less concerned with completing a level, than making Earl do a goofy dance that makes Julia laugh.

It's widely available. For those bleakest cases unable to leave their homes, you can find this game within the radius of your wireless signal. To play ToeJam and Earl on your computer, you just need a Sega Genesis emulator program and the ToeJam and Earl ROM file. If you're on MacOS you can download them both here:

Disclaimer: Now I'm not normally one to go for video games, but in the name of health, I'll do whatever it takes. Period.

Season 2: Brooklyn, NY

The KC Masterpeas have moved to Brooklyn! We considered starting a new blog, but somehow PeaNYC didn't roll off the tongue. Anyway, maybe we are still in Kansas City. And we have just uncovered an extremely dense new area.

Julia is doing a graduate program at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs.

I have come up with an incredible new way of doing laundry!

We got to see Laurie Anderson perform at a venue that's a fifteen minute walk from our house. There's a 24 hour natural food store called Mister Coco's about 500 ft from our kitchen. My sister Madeleine in Boston is now close as Saint Louis. And at the farmer's market I saw Julia's ears perk at the mention of a Fort Greene Neighborhood Association. Hmm?


We have been very fortunate with an easy move. We swapped into this apartment when our friends Matt Robison and Julia Meuse moved away. I'm still up to web development work. We passed safely through life's tornado. And so many familiar faces are here with us!

Many friends who we knew from different past places have all just moved here at the same time.

Kansas City
• Alex Phillips
• Bobby Grace
• Colin Leipelt
• Stewart Losee

Santa Cruz
• Justin (via Kelly!)
  
• Kelly McCormick
• Megan Healey
• Michael Rekevics
• Ryan Villarreal

Welcome to New York!