I know a lot of people may be surprised, at Europe's most famous smash hit The Final Countdown being the prime anthem for airing celebration - but you should know by now, I am never without genuine reason for anything.

As I struggled through my hellish past, I would take absolutely anything which would make me happy - and yes, long story short, the live action Street Fighter movie turned out to be very powerful in that noble cause. Bearing in mind my revenge methods... perhaps the movie was given to me, in revenge for a shocking truth: one of my most lethal past upsets began on the same day as Raul Julia's state funeral. This is, of course, a key reason behind the speculation about Raul watching over me as my guardian angel - and why I hope he haunts anyone cruel enough to think such things as hating the live action movie so much, they genuinely believe it killed him. Let the 'backfire' of Street Fighter X Tekken be an in your face, to those who say such terrible things about Raul!

The Final Countdown was one of several tunes to catch my eye (ear?) - I heard it a few times in the past, like in a local indoor market, and I quite liked it. I liked a number of tunes both 80s and 90s back then - though I must say, The Living Years by Mike & The Mechanics made me cry.

When I became a Street Fighter fan, and the live action movie still seemed like just another comfort... I found myself thinking of General M Bison, every time I hear The Final Countdown. You can't deny, it would definitely work as a theme for Bison - particularly bearing in mind, Raul Julia's portrayal of he. I did tell others, including Roy, about the association.

Bearing that association in mind, I then went on to sing The Final Countdown on karaoke when I was 22 - in fact, in the celebrations for my second Santa Claude visit (in Deadeye Month 2007). We had already played some Kylie Minogue music at this happy time, namely we played her then-newest album X during a Christmas breakfast mom threw a couple of days after I'd gotten the announcement - but when mom took me Christmas shopping at this happy time, I could not turn down a karaoke disc on which The Final Countdown was included! I still genuinely credit Dark Kingdom Assassin for accurately predicting that Santa Claude visit, by the way.

But it wasn't until I was 25, during my absence from the site at that age... when the inevitable 'finally' occurred. Sad but true, the very 'Super' actor Dennis Hopper died on an airing day - hence May being Dennis Hopper Memorial Month. The need for a safe new airing was all too obvious - and with that, it wasn't too long before my pre-airing gaming achievement tradition came to mind... and I felt it would be a very sweet, very fitting tribute to Dennis were I to act upon that. I would try a number of Mario games (obviously featuring Bowser) which I haven't completed, in the hopes at least one of them will be an achievement when the time comes - first and foremost, for any of those to be the first achievement. Despite my then-absence, I also felt Wizzard (this was before Lemmy joined) would be proud of my actions.

Once again, it was good old Roy and co. who wholeheartedly supported my plight - right down to the three Street Fighter t-shirts, namely three shirts designed like Guile's tank top, which Roy placed in my care... so I was certainly covered for new airing shirts, along with the Street Fighter 4 shirts I bought as airing gifts a couple of days before Dennis died. It is precisely because much of that support was offered in June 2010, as well as because Roy is himself a June baby... why June is now Bully Koopa Month here, like how Lemmy briefly took on the Hip Koopa moniker (Hip Koopa and Bully Koopa are Lemmy and Roy Koopa's respective names in the cartoons); not to mention, in Pray To Him Month I bought mom a copy of New Super Mario Bros. Wii, which Roy recommended to me yes because Roy Koopa is in it. Just as I thought, mom enjoys that game.

And did I watch Super Mario Bros.? Yes I did! Mom -who herself also enjoys that movie- and I watched it, in fact on the day of Dennis's funeral. The Goomba elevator scene cracks me up every time LOL

The time finally came in Bucky O'Hare Month (July) that year, in fact just a few days after I marked 18 years as a Bucky O'Hare fan, when a new airing was announced for early White Cape Month (August). The first achievement was New Super Mario Bros. (the DS one), and two other Mario games -namely that 8-bit version of Lost Levels (the one on the Super Mario Bros. Deluxe cart), and Mario Kart Double Dash- also went on to being achievements.

But I was in for another surprise: an inevitable new airing tradition! On the day before the big day, just hours after completing Wonder Boy 3: Monster Lair (I knew that one was next, after Roy sold it to me that week!)... I found myself with less than 24 hours to go before the airing, so for a joke I posted on Facebook asking people to 'start the FINAL countdown' - i.e. bearing in mind, 24 hours or less could be considered a more precise final countdown to something as important as an airing. It wasn't until I actually posted up my status, when I realised what I'd said - and no sooner had I realised, than I'd gotten a message saying Roy had posted something on my Facebook wall. I took a look - and my reaction was priceless. It was a Street Fighter 2 Animated Movie video set to The Final Countdown - it seems my Bison/Final Countdown association had, uhhh, finally paid off!

The video has since been deleted, sadly, also I cannot post it up on the forum yes because it includes 'evil Chun Li' - so if it was still available, you'd have to Email me or PM me to request the link. The Animated Movie was itself my first 15-rate movie, by the way - I'd had it for my 15th birthday.

The story doesn't end there, though! I'm delighted to report, the airing went beautifully - so I could rest assure myself, Dennis was finally resting in peace. My cat Jenny (who was still alive back then) even curled up on the bed with me that night, as if to say so. And yes... I do feel Dennis is now also a guardian angel, alongside Raul - I'm sure Raul has made Dennis aware of the 'situation' of his death, and they have become very good friends... and all other good souls associated with myself, the Master being one of them, look up to Raul and Dennis.

A couple of days later, I was set to visit my gran and grandpa Ken for lunch, and to pick up my airing photos (gran had prepared me for the airing, and taken my photos). While waiting for the bus to their village, I dropped in to see Roy - and he invited me in again the next day, as some of his staff wished to play a few rounds of Super Street Fighter 4 with me. Initially I politely turned the invite down, as I planned to spend the day working on Dragon Quest 9 (which I'd had as an airing gift, for that latest airing) - but as soon as I arrived home, I had no choice but to change my mind and accept the invite. Two more airings were announced for Balrog Killing Month - in fact, at the same time as my brief return then (i.e. when I thought I was helping Jenny de Cerna to deal with another assault by Lex). It seems one airing clearly wasn't enough for Dennis!

I messaged Roy, to let him know of my decision and my reason why - he was absolutely delighted for me; and before anyone asks, the first achievement was Resident Evil Deadly Silence. This, naturally, is another key evidence of Capcom appreciation being another prime airing tradition.

As promised, I called in at Roy's store the very next day. As Roy set up Super Street Fighter 4, I did ask if he'd put his Kylie Minogue music on - to which he replied by saying yes he would, but he'd added another song he was sure I'd like. I was like, "Uhhh... okay...", and simply carried on with playing Super Street Fighter 4 - but as we played, the 'another song' in question turned out to be none other than The Final Countdown! Once again, my reaction was priceless - and with that, I knew I had no choice but to confirm The Final Countdown as the prime airing anthem, and to officially declare myself a Europe fan.

The Final Countdown would then pave the way for other Europe tunes to be played for airings - primarily the classics, such as Rock The Night, which I had already begun to associate with Vega, Bison, Sagat and Balrog's entrance in the Animated Movie; and, yes, good old Ninja. Roy also insisted I ought to make a special airing entrance set to The Final Countdown, and had me frequently practice it - my own 26th birthday being no exception. All we needed now... was a new airing, so I could make my entrance for real - and we got our wish, with the announcement for my airings on November 11 and 12 2011.

My hate song about Carie the evil nurse is, as you can probably guess, a parody of the ballad Carrie. I'd found myself singing "Carie... Carie..." on that fateful Christmas Day, obviously the day after the Mute For Coal Incident, when my parents didn't give a flying fuck about anything other than it being Christmas - and so utterly lacked the 'goodwill to all men' to comfort their grieving firstborn daughter. Inevitably, my hate song about Carie became a smash hit here at the Realm!

Last Look At Eden starts off with a blatantly obvious anti-mute reference, hence that song being an airing anthem, and my using the terminology 'last look at Eden' in reference to one's last chance to see me before an airing - and my playing on the idea of it being my theme, were I a character in a Street Fighter game.

Then, of course, there is the point of Cherokee being mandatory for airings, due to a certain beastly addition to the anti-Jay group. You can always rely on me, to quickly think of such things as a suitable revenge - and Cherokee swiftly came to mind, in this case. I now play that song, as revenge for whenever the group attacks Jay's role as Vega - as was the case, when they screencapped SuperBeast saying "Wonder if this will be the face he makes when he realises he's going to jail", as a hateful response to Lady Juuban posting a snap of Vega's "WTF" face from the movie.

Of course, as mentioned in my revenge methods article, that surprise screening of the Animated Movie prompted my first real case to rock the night - and right 'til early in the morning light, no less! Rest assured ladies and gentlemen, I did hiss at Chun Li - and at Bison, for his sickening order to Sagat.

There is other miscellany of note - such as my using Europe-themed names for my royal family on Dragon Quest 5, on account of Dragon Quest 9 being an airing gift for my airing in White Cape Month 2010. The Dragon Quest games are notorious for puns - so why not slip in a reference or two to Europe?

Heck, on Christmas Eve 2015... the point of it being the third anniversary of the Mute For Coal Incident did not go unnoticed. I did some food shopping in town that day, and when I called in to see Roy he played several Europe tunes, including Carrie, on his store's music player - and I was like, "Oh, this is the third anniversary of my trouble with Carie... Carie..." LOL

Oh yes... and what do you think of my idea of the vocalist Joey Tempest playing Bison, in any future Street Fighter movies? I love the idea of Bison having such a line as "Ladies and gentlemen, it's the final countdown to my world domination" - no, it would definitely work!

I had previously considered other possible candidates, and yes I am very aware we can no longer nominate my previous #1 candidate Alan Rickman - but I like the idea of Joey playing our favourite evil general. If yes, then perhaps Europe could do the soundtrack for the movie - and that soundtrack would have to include The Final Countdown!