Category: Written Features

Today marks twenty-five years to the day that the world lost Thuy Trang.

Best known for her portrayal of original Yellow Ranger Trini Kwan in the first two seasons of Power Rangers, along with a couple bit parts in other movies, her life was tragically cut short in a car accident. The news of her passing didn’t hit until September 10th… a day before the attack on the World Trade Center.

I never got around to doing a “proper” tribute back in the day because I was still in the midst of figuring this webpage business. I wrote a couple things here and there; most of which never saw the light of day until recently. But I never did a blurb on Thuy’s passing. Truth be told, the news was difficult to process when I first heard about it… and then September 11th happened.

Always a terrible thing to lose a beloved and gentle soul… made even more wretched when that loss becomes an afterthought in light of a much bigger tragedy.

The story of Thuy Trang is that of resilience. Her family fled Vietnam and fought to keep their daughter safe from those who wished to throw the sickly child overboard. Refugees who eventually made their way to the United States, where Thuy learned English and pursued civil engineering as a career before pivoting to acting, where she eventually got the Power Rangers role.

Baring my soul here, while most of you were crushing on Amy Jo Johnson back in the day, I was crushing on Thuy. I don’t know; I had a fondness for the Asian ladies and there was something about her natural beauty that I found particularly attractive. When Thuy was gone and replaced with Karan, young me was unsurprisingly sad and wanted to find out more about her post Power Rangers-life… which basically amounted to a horrible Crow sequel and a bit part in a Leslie Nielson spoof film… and then nothing.

There were a couple headshots that would pop up here and there… but I wouldn’t hear anything regarding Thuy until her passing… and chances are the first time I heard about was after 9/11.

An episode of Time Force was dedicated to her memory; I forget which one, but it involved Circuit. And of course, Once And Always also had a dedication to both her and JDF, who passed away recently.

Wanted to do a brief little blurb on Thuy for a while now… better late than never to say how much we miss her… and how a young talent was taken from us so early in life before it had a chance to blossom. Chances are she would have been thrilled with the current convention scene.

Word broke recently that Robert Edward Turner III a.k.a. Ted Turner had passed away at the age of 87.

I don’t think any tribute paid to the man could properly do justice the enormous impact that he has had in the world. CNN, TBS Superstation, TNT, Cartoon Network, Goodwill Games, Captain Planet, Monday Night War… too many things to list on here. A man who had billions and did what he could to make the world a better place… whether he actually accomplished that is another story entirely, but from most accounts, his heart was usually in the right place.

I salute you, sir. Godspeed and thanks for Nitro.

Val Kilmer – best known for his roles in Top Gun, Tombstone, Batman Forever, Heat, The Saint, and more – had passed away from pneumonia this past Tuesday. That he passed away on April 1st gave me pause and had me wondering if this was a cruel April Fool’s joke, but that proved to not be the case. Kilmer had been struggling with some ailments – notably throat cancer – so while he shall be missed, his suffering has come to an end.

Thoughts and prayers to his family and friends.

Godspeed, Val.

Twenty five years.

On January 29th, 2023, news broke that Marcus Sparacio had passed away due to medical complications, a little over a couple weeks after his 40th birthday.

Sparacio is perhaps best known in the Youtube circles for his series of angry review videos under the moniker of Armake21; one of the first such reviewers to gain a following after the explosion of the Angry Video Game Nerd and the whole angry reviewing cycle. Over the years, he has adopted many other online handles; NicotineAlien, BoxedEntertainment21, TheWaste0Time, and Marc0. He made videos that had him playing games and sometimes even discuss certain topics, but every once in a while, he’d bring back the Armake21 gimmick for a special occasion.

Out of all the angry reviewer types to come out of the woodworks, the one that I gravitated towards the most was Armake21. And for what it’s worth, he was one of the best in the genre because his performances in those videos were such that it blurred the lines between reality and fiction. Whereas most angry reviewers would show mock anger in a completely unbelievable manner that made it obvious that this was just a show, Armake’s anger felt believable, genuine, and sometimes unhinged to the degree where you had to question whether this was an act or was he really that angry? That’s what made his videos so good. Because the idea of angry reviewing is getting pissed off at the most trivial things; that’s where the humor lies. Seeing some guy rage over the fact that he fell off the Deadly Tower time and time again and getting more angry with each passing moment was fucking hilarious.

What added to the persona was when he would talk about more topical things. His rant on copy protection methods fucking over the consumer who buys legitimate copies of games is one that I urge everyone to watch, as it touches on a subject matter that is as relevant today as it was back then, if not more so now. The Decline Of Gaming is another one. Most people remember the absolute railing that he gave to Chris “Irate Gamer” Bores. Those are great rants. Hell, I even enjoyed the one video where he showed people how he made reviews. He only made one, but I actually enjoyed it, if only to see that process in action.

Marcus fell off the radar a few times and when he came back a few years ago and he did videos that were just him playing games… those were some good videos. It was just a guy playing games and having fun. It was a stark contrast from the guy who once wrecked a copy of Bomberman Act Zero. And in a way, it was a nice bit of storytelling in hindsight; the angry young man who raged to the heavens found peace and emerged from the darkness an enlightened man.

I never knew the man, never spoken to him. All I know of him are through his videos and his occasional comments on various Youtube videos. And yet his loss feels like I’ve lost a friend that I hadn’t seen in years. It probably doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but when you watch someone for as long as I have – whether it was his newer stuff or whether it was revisiting the classic material hosted on the ArmakeArchive Youtube channel – well worth checking out to revisit some classic Armake videos – you feel as though that person has been a part of your life in some indirect fashion.

My thoughts and prayers go out to Marcus’ family and friends.

Thanks for the memories, Marc0.

Godspeed.