I'm Jonesing on a 5 day holiday weekend high!

Today starts my 5 day break from monotony! I'm off Thursday, Friday Saturday, Sunday and of course Memorial Day Monday. It's the first time I've had 5 days off in a row in about 11 months, and I'm going to have one heck of a good time, by hook or by crook! I deserve this, dammit!

And as for Jonesing, by this time tomorrow I will have laid mine eyes upon the new Indiana Jones movie.....

INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL

I'm hearing mostly positive reviews of the film, but there are a few disappointed people who have obviously geared themselves up for having a similar experience as they had the first time they saw Raiders of the Lost Ark. There's no friggin' way anybody is going to walk out of that theater and say "That was just as good as Raiders!" It's completely impossible to compete with the first Indy movie! All I'm expecting is a fun thrill ride that will reunite me with one of cinema's all time favorite heroes. I'm looking for some good pulpy fun and I have a pretty good feeling that I'm going to get just that!

Look for my review somewhere soon.

Also keep your ears open for a new....

Zangz's Pod Of Geekdom

That's right! We may be back in business. It took a year to get back on track, but we may have our next podcast up by the end of next week. So check back here and here to see any developments!


I only have one movie review for you that is geekworthy....

The Golden Compass - Though I dug the visuals and the performances of the fantasy flick, I found myself a little lost at times since I haven't read the series of books that it is based on. There's an awful lot of history and mythos to swallow in a small amount of time so that you can catch up to the viewers who are acquainted with the book series. Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman are wonderful in it. Sam Eliot is always a treat to watch and hear! The sets and special effects make you feel that you truly are in a new and exciting fantasy world. The anti-conservative theme is pretty blatant, yet the anti-Catholic message that is prevalent in the books is very much downplayed. Probably due to the studio wanting to not ostracize potential ticket buyers. There's not much action until the very end battle, which is pretty cool, but also pretty short. Though it came up pretty short as being a big name fantasy film, I guess I'll be interested in seeing the next one as this movie ended on a very unfinished note. Just to see what happens next. Not a keeper, but a renter.

Short, but sweet. I'm outta here for a pre-Memorial Day cigar and beer to usher in the 5 day weekend I have comin'!

Stay vertical and be sure to remember hug someone who has served our nation this weekend (unless he's that creepy uncle who makes odd grunts when he's hugging you).

Zangz.

Quick and brutal...just the way I like my blogs.

The summer cometh with a promise of beers, cigars, cookouts and bonfires... and wonderfully geeky movies for my brain to consume like a mutha trucker! I'm just hoping that we'll start to get a decent warm up sooner or later. It's a bummer waking up to 40 degree weather outside when it should be in the high 50's at least.

But, what am I complaining about? The summer season kicks off officially next week with a 3 day holiday weekend (that I'm going to extend to a 5 day weekend with vacation days) that will feature (drum roll please)......

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull!

Hellyeah, I'm psyched! too bad most friends aren't quite into it as much as I am, since I've been bugging them about when they want to see it. Of course they ignore my cries for geekosity and don't reply or answer. Hopefully we'll have this resolved by next weekend.

One summer blockbuster I have seen and enjoyed the frell out of was Ironman! I'd give a review, but mine would be exactally like the ones you've probably have read already on the internet. Robert Downey Jr. is frackin' brilliant as Tony Stark, the action sequences (the few that there were... one gripe) were frackin' brutal and the fact that Gweneth Paltrow comes off as being frackin' adorably hot in the roll of Pepper Potts rather than slightly aloof which seems to plague the actress a bit was quite welcome. If you're a fan of the comic, definitely go see this mutha as it has a very interesting way to be very loyal to the source material without being dated. If you're not a fan of the comic, go for an excellent fanboy experience!


Let's see. What else? Oh, I finally finished Jim Butcher's first novel of the Dresden Files, "Storm Front". Though I enjoyed it, I kept finding myself going back to the character of John Constintine, also a magic detective of sorts. Unfortunately Constantine is a bit more up my alley rather than Harry Dresden. Constantine is far more darker and off beat. Though I certainly plan to revisit Harry Dresden's world one day, reading Storm Front made me yearn for the days when Garth Ennis wrote the John Constintine comics. I can't say Ennis' version of Constantine is better than Butcher's Dresden. He's just slightly more my kind of mage who tries to solve problems of the paranormal.

I'm still working on "Sister of the Dead". I'm also going to hacking through the Alice Cooper autobiography "Golf Monster", the short story anthology of one of the very first pulp action characters, "The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane" by the late, great Robert E. Howard. Then I still have to get back to the world of pathologist Alex Cross in James Patterson's "Big Bad Wolf". Lots of reading to do this summer.


There's also lots of time that will have to be spent on GTA4 this weekend. I love this friggin' game!!!! I do have a couple of quibbles with it. First, the control of the automobiles is a little to limiting compared to the last games. Just try and make a sharp turn while being perused by the law and not fly out of control! I'm hoping there's a way to get a hang of it to make the experience more enjoyable. There's also the fact you're being bothered all the time by contacts you make in the game. Just try and float around the city while discovering new sights when suddenly you're girlfriend, Michelle calls you on your cell phone for a date. Or your dumb-assed cousin calls you to go out drinking while you're in the middle of trying to do a stunt jump. It gets a little monotonous at times. But, I still love this friggin' game.


Ok, I'm gunna head out and smoke a cigar while I get a little more reading done before the sun goes down. Until next time, as a very wise man once told me, stay vertical.

Zangz.

Tomorrow Liberty City Falls.....

Well, kids, I grabbed my copy of Grand Theft Auto 4 the day it came out (this past Tuesday) and I have to tell you, after playing a full 5 hours of the game (not in one sitting...honest. Well, ok, maybe 4 hours of full sitting and one hour sometime there after) I've hardly scraped the surface of what the open ended sandbox game has to offer! I haven't even gotten out of my neighborhood yet! This game is huge and incredibly epic. The graphics are so incredible I feel that I'm damn near visiting New York rather than playing a game that is based off of it!

What I have played so far is just incredible. Not only can you do the usual car jacking, causing havoc, fleeing the law and all the other accoutrement's that the GTA series has to offer, I've also played a bowling game, played a dart game and gotten completely hammered at a bar and had to try and walk back to my car without falling on my face! Yep. They replicate what it's like to be drunk! How crazy is that?!?!

Already the "Puritanical Police" have condemned it for it's crime simulation content just to get their names in the media. Wil Wheaton has nice blog about that which you can read HERE. They can kiss my lily white A$$! "Cause this game rocks my world!

I could go on and on, but I haven't even gotten to a point where I can review it since I'm hardly that far in the game.

Tomorrow I plan to immerse myself more in depth into the fictional Liberty City and see what more it has to offer.

I'm sure I'll be bloggin' more on the subject at a latter time. So stay tuned.


In other news, I've found myself very envious of my mom as she just recently bought a nice Mac and set up for DSL. Here I am stuck with a PC and dial up. I spent an evening at my Mom's downloading YouTube videos of movie trailers and music videos 'cause they download as they play rather than taking 30 minutes to download a 5 minute clip. I may have to upgrade to DSL very soon. We'll see.


Also concerning family matters, things are finally looking good. My one relative finally got in touch with me and is doing fine after a very serious operation. They're at home recuperating and in very good spirits! thanks for the good vibes you sent their way.


Movie reviews, why the hell not.....

3:10 to Yuma - It's not quite up there with Silverado or The Unforgiven, but it certainly holds it's own as a cool as hell western! It's a bit slow at times, but the performances are spot on and the action scenes are pretty good. The story is quite good also. If you're a fan of westerns you'll want to check this one out!

Hostel Part II - Again, I'm not a big torture porn horror fan, but they seem to pull this one off with a cool story. There are a lot of parts that will not scare you , but piss you the hell off. But, in one particular scene one psycho get his come-uppence in a way that will have guys closing their legs closed for dear life. A decent flick, but if you're more into paranormal horror rather than slasher flick, you may want to avoid this.

Closure (Straightheads)- This movie about a doomed sexual relationship and revenge may be a cliche of a lot of sexually driven thrillers and may have a plot that is as half-assed as any ever put on film, but card carrying members of the Gillian Anderson Appreciation Society. will revel in this flick. I won't get into too much detail, suffice it to say, there's the female lead is topless in a couple of scenes and there is an anal rape scene involving a sniper riffle. Who the frell thinks up this dren? Male X-Files fans might want to check it out on a lonely Friday night.


I'm gunna call it quits for now as I have more Torchwood, season one to catch up on right now (Yep. Another lonely Friday night).

Zangz.

All is well in Hobbiton.....

....Actually all is FRACKIN' FAN-FRELLIN'-TASTIC in Hobbiton!!!!

New Line Cinema nearly dropped the ball completely when it tried to ban Peter Jackson from any involvement to the prequels to the Lord of the Rings films due to some legal disputes he had with them trying to bilk him out of his contractual fair share of the LOTR profits. But, apparently they've pulled their heads out of the sphincters, resolved the matter and have hired him on the Hobbit projects. Not as a director, but as producer. Still a very good move because there is no other person I can think of who has a deep felt love with the source material who's going to know how to get it all done.

When they made the announcement on who's going to direct this past week, I nearly involuntarily moistened my geek self! None other than GUILLERMO DEL TORO will be helming the picture under Jackson's producer roll. It's like a The Brave And The Bold comic where Batman and Superman team up to thwart evil!!! Two of the greatest genre minds of all time banding together to bring one of the greatest fantasy stories to the big screen! It's more than enough to make my nipples hard.

Though Peter Jackson's directorial work on the LOTR films is a tale of legend and myth, Del Torro has directed more than a few films that are permanent staples in my DVD collection and rental history. Hellboy, Blade II, Mimic, Cronos as well as the upcoming Hellboy II: The Golden Army and the in preproduction hell adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's In The Mountains of Madness all have, or will have, that spark of mad imagination that only Del Toro can pull off.

These won't hit theaters until 2011 and 2012 which will give us some more great movie anticipation time after IJATKOTCS comes out next month.


So, at least, that was some good news that got my mind off of other things going on in my life. There were some family health issues that had me quite concerned this past week. One story ends on a good note as all tests turned out with decent results. Now we wait another six months and check it all out again.

Then there's very sudden situation where a another close family member had to go in for emergency bypass surgery. After a preliminary bypass operation it was found that it would have to be quadruple bypass surgery. Another unfortunate notation in this story is that since this family member doesn't live close by in the northern Midwest and there were/are some major communication gaps in what is going on with his health situation. From what little I can gather the surgery took place on Tuesday and they were put into ICU for an unexpectedly long time. The end of Wednesday they were awake and lucid and doing much better. Then Thursday morning they weren't doing as well. By Thursday afternoon they were doing much better again and within the next couple of days they will be out of ICU and into a normal hospital room.

Communication-wise it's a very frustrating situation at best. News is coming very slow and my family was never given "special codes" that give us access to the core medical information we need.

Again, please have good thoughts for my relative and shove some good vibes down south in their general direction.


While waiting around for calls about my relative to reach my cell phone, I finished off Kevin Smith's "My Boring Ass Life" while enjoying a cigar or two, sitting outside since the weather was very nice earlier this week. Now we're back to cold, rainy and windy. As long as it's not cumulating snow, I'm good.

The book is a must read for die hard Kevin Smith fans!!!! If you're not that well acquainted with his film work... get a friggin' life and rent Clerks, Clerks II, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma or Jersey Girl. You should also pick up the DVD's of his Q&A panels, An Evening with Kevin Smith and Evening Harder. They are some great stories he tells on them. Which brings me back to the book. There are some stories here that Kevin Smith fans will more than appreciate. He goes through his sidekick's (Jason Mewes) heart wrenching experiences with drug abuse, his winning the big ass award at the Cannes Film Festival, and how he went from directing his own films to co-staring in other people's film (like Catch and Release which I've rented for this weekend).

The only quibble I have with the book is that it can be mucho mucho repeditivo. Keeping in mind that the book is plucked straight from the director's on-line journal, so much of the book is as follows.....

Day 1
"The dogs woke me up at nine AM-I took them out-I took a s**t and showered-took the daughter to school-the wife and I went out for breakfast-then she went shopping and I went to the DVD store and picked up a ton of movies-went to the production office for a while-picked up daughter from school-picked up take out for dinner-ate dinner with family-worked on my computer with movie playing in the background-fell asleep to TIVOed Simpsons."

Day2
"The dogs woke me up at nine AM-I took them out-I took a s**t and showered-took the daughter to school-the wife and I went out for breakfast-then she went shopping and I went to the DVD store and picked up a ton of movies-went to the production office for a while-picked up daughter from school-picked up take out for dinner-ate dinner with family-worked on my computer with movie playing in the background-fell asleep to TIVOed Simpsons."

You get the picture. There is a lot of that to sift through before you get to some good meaty and juicy stories. And Ohhh how succulent that juicy meat is. It's meat dripping right off the bone. (crap... now I'm hungry).

So there's a lot to get through before the good stuff hits, but it's also a wonderful read for those of us with ADD as the book is sectioned off into small diary entries rather than big lumbering chapters. And of course it's always a blast to read Kevin giving the written smack down to snooty critics who give his projects and fans a hard time!

If you're into the Askewiverse, this is a damn good read!


This is gunna be a long one, I can feel it.


I finished off Rainbow Six: Vegas. It was a nice little title that was really challenging but well worth it when you got to sneak up and take out a terrorist with a well aimed head shot. Not something I'll pick up. It was a little on the short side. But, it certainly kept me entertained for a while. Good rental if you get the chance.

Now my Xbox 360 is all readying itself up for this Tuesday's little release that will be picked up sometime this week........

GTA:IV!!!!!!!

I cannot wait to return to Liberty City and wreak mass destruction upon it. Let's hope that the game world is every bit as large and interactive as it's predecessor San Andreas!!!!


Here are some quicky movie reviews as I'm far behind....

30 Days of Night - This thing kicks ass!!! It's a very interesting angle on the vampire story based on a graphic novel. Since vampires only come out at night they've found the perfect hunting grounds in a small town in Alaska where it's night for one month straight. The local sheriff and town members must fight back. Lots of good grisly gore and a original vampire story line. I'm hoping to buy this one soon!

Beowulf (CG animated film) - One of my favorite writers, Neil Gaimen, along with Roger Avery churn out an excellent adaptation of the ancient English poem. Taking place in fantastical medieval Denmark, a hero of fortune comes upon a kingdom cursed by a monster known as Grendel. After his defeat of Grendel the hero, Beowulf slowly learns the long, life learned lesson of honesty and what a true hero is. I'm so happy that Hollywood finally gave us adults a computer generated animated movie to enjoy. I'm quite sick of those cutesy Pixar films directed solely at the kiddies and their parents' bank accounts. There's some excellent action, adventure scenes as well as some of the best CG animation I've ever seen. Shrek my skinny, hairy ass! Pick up a REAL CG animated movie to appease the genre geek in you. And, yep, I already picked this one up!


A couple last notes to mention....

What fool is responsible for this happening to Bond's car?

And........ drum roll please......................................... Zangz's Pod of Geekdom may be making a triumphant return in the not too distant future after a year long hiatus. There's some technical ideas that may be put into fruition that will make it far more easy and compact to record my Pod of Geekdom without having my tech, Double A Man, to have to come out and set up a small studio wherever we wanted to record.

Stay tuned!

I'm off to get me some grub, until next time, Stay Verticle!

Zangz.

Shake, Rattle Roll....

So, I was in this deep R.E.M. sleep Friday morning, dreaming about sitting on a couch in an apartment (not mine) doing some dog sitting for friends (dreams are weird). Suddenly, the couch starts to move side to side for no reason. Just then I start to wake from my slumber in my bed to the half asleep realization that the side to side shaking movement was not limited to my dream and was not subsiding at all. My bed was seemingly making this movement on its own (WTF?!?!)

Still in partial sleep mode my mind wondered if I was on a "Witch's Ride" (you're in a dream state yet fully aware that you're in a dream state and can't wake yourself out of it). Once I woke up a little more I realized that my bed was indeed shaking side to side!! Did some large animal get into my apartment and burrow itself under my bed and was now humping the travel duffel bag I keep underneath there? Was my apartment haunted by a ghost? Was my apartment haunted by the ghost of an animal humping my duffel bag under my bed???? Or was it a lot of the stress I've been under lately finally starting to take root in my psyche and this was the first signs of a pure, unadulterated, full mental breakdown?

As I slowly came to being fully awake the shaking of the bed came to an end. The whole incident only took about 25 seconds at most. I turned on a light and sat up in bed. After much contemplation I decided to ignore the urge of getting up and looking under my bed (perhaps to find some wild raccoon who'd leap at my face and chew it to ribbons or some undead thing that would try and eat my brain) and to just go back to sleep for the next 50 minutes before I had to get up for work. It had already been a restless night for me prior to the possessed bed incident and I knew I needed to catch a few winks to be able to face the coming day. So back to sleep I go without further incident.

After getting up latter in the morning I turn on the TV and find that there was a 4.5 earthquake in southern Illinois that's effects reached waaaaay up north. This pretty much solved the mystery. I breathed a major sigh of relief that I wouldn't have to have my bedroom blessed by a priest waving holy water over my bed or have the ASPCA come over to wrangle some varmint from under my bed or that I was yet to reach full mental nut job status.

So that was interesting.


I apologize for not having a more frequent posting schedule in this month. Things are pretty crazy right now! Both my professional and social life are pretty crammed filled with a ton of stuff. Plus, there are a few personal issues that are tooling around in my little noggin' at the moment. So I have a full plate of stuff going on lately and I'm reeeeeeaaaaallllly hoping that by the time summer kicks in and we get some really nice weather that issues will have worked themselves out and things aren't as frantic. That way I can enjoy some good herfs of of some fine cigars!!!

I've already dipped into my summer supply and have enjoyed a few. In fact I tried one that I hadn't smoked before that I really enjoyed. Try yourself a Gurkha Shaggy. It's exposed end (the one you light, dumb a$$) is slightly shredded to make for a far more easy and distributive lighting experience. It's very flavorful and wonderfully smooth.


I know I'm behind in all sorts of geeky media reviews so here are a quick couple of video games I recently tried out....

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas - In a somewhat squad based FPS, you and your fellow elite anti-terrorist outfit members try and wipe out a terrorist threat that has plunked themselves down in Las Vegas and have taken over a few of the massive casino hotels. I have to tell you that I'm not at all a big fan of squad based games, but RBSV makes controlling your squad pretty easy. It's also very challenging, once in a blue moon, borderline frustrating. But it makes taking out the bad guys with a head shot all the more gratifying. Graphics wise, it's no Call of Duty 4, but the look and feel of the casinos makes you feel like you're in Vegas. I'm not done with the whole game yet, but I'm closing in. So far I enjoy what I'm playing. Not quite enough to go and buy a copy of my own (I'm borrowing Roberto's), but a good time-passer video game!

Turok - I was a HUGE fan of the Nintendo64 versions of the FPS series that had you being an American Indian with lethal bow in hand ridding the world of aliens and dinosaurs! The games mixed the attributes of FPS, arcade and platformer games. Visually they took you to crazy, visually stunning words. I loved them. When I heard that they were going to revamp the game for the Xbox 360, I had high hopes. But, after renting it, all hopes fell flat. Sure the graphics were excellent, but there's only so much of jungle level followed by jungle level followed by jungle level a gamer can take. It also took a lot of cheap shots at your character making the combat experiences very frustrating, not challenging. How many dinos can one character take on at once? Not the best gaming experience of my life, but if you like frustrating FPS games, go for it!


I'm still reading like 50 books at once right now. And being a slow reader doesn't help the mater. On top of my current reading list I still have yet to get to "Alice Cooper: Golf Monster" and an anthology series of Robert E. Howard's (Conan The Barbarian) of "The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane" that my gamemaster, Mad Mario, lent me last night in preperation of his running an RPG based on the character that will start up next summer. It will take me that long to just finish the stuff I'm on now.

Anyway, my weekend is booked again. I gotta get out of here and do some snack shopping for a CoC game I've got today. Plus there's also episodes of Torchwood I rented this weekend as well as some more Rainbow Six: Vegas so I can return it to Roberto soon. I may even try and sneak in a cigar, weather permitting. So I have to motor now.

Zangz is outta here.

I'm lovin' me some Torchwood!

Since I don't have the BBC America channel that is included in the overpriced, uber-cable TV set up that the local cable company overcharges it's customers for, I didn't get to check out the wonderful little Dr. Who spin off that a lot of my fellow geek friends have been bantering about for a long time.

Finally I rented the first DVD of Torchwood out of my rental club and got my first look at the debut and second episode. Within the first 20 minutes I was frellin' hooked! The best way to describe it would be if you took The X-Files and melded it with Dr. Who. Then you took a dash of adult humor and content and a whole lot of excellent writing and characterization and you have Torchwood.

Set in a secret base under Britain's Millennium Centre there's a small secret society of investigators looking into intergalactic, paranormal and otherworldly phenomenon. This small band of detectives are led by the energetic, roughish and darn charming Capitan Jack Harkness. He's apparently an immortal who runs around in a cool military trench coat and has some great snappy repartee. He's played by actor John Barrowman who supposedly has family here in my home town and has actually been spotted here in the Brew City from time to time (though I could be horribly mistaken as I see that he's actually from Scotland)

Then you also have the naturally sexy-as-heck-girl-next-door-with-Betty-Page-hair-beauty, Gwen Cooper. She's the "newbie" who fell into Torchwood acting as their police liaison. She's the Alice Through the Looking Glass character that the viewers relate through while she experiences the new sites and situations that the Torchwood Institute has to offer (like a live tyradactile that flies around in the Torchwood underground base - WTF?!?!?!). Gwen is played by the wonderful Eve Myles who I developed a bit of a crush on after the first episode.

The outrageous creatures, aliens and oddities that the Torchwood gang come across seem secondary to the characters and good smart, adult writing. It's good to be living in a TV age where smart writing is being fused with genre TV (Battlestar Gallactica, Lost, Dr. Who, The Sara Conner Chronicle.... I'm not gunna Wiki link all of these. Google 'em yer damn selves). Sadly, there's a rumor amongst the Torchwood fan sites that the BBC plans to dumb down the show to get a wider range of viewers. This includes the ousting of lead character Capt. Jack (WTF?!?!?!) perhaps due to his omni sexual preferences, a highlight of the adult nature of the show.

So you better check this little gem of a show out before it goes all "Mr. Rogers Neighborhood" on us. The first season is available on DVD for rental or purchase. I believe the second season is being shown in England and BBC America. The third season has yet to be shot, but is rumored to be the season where they start messing with the characters and story lines so dumb people will like it as well.


I had a great Easter! Easter really isn't my bag when it comes to holidays, but my family ended up having a really good time. We started with an excellent brunch at a really nice, East Side cafe. I had an excellent Bloody Mary followed by a great Eggs Benedict dish that wasn't only tasty, it was affordable also. Then we all motored over to my sister and bro-in-law's house to walk their two dogs, Pipen and Frodo. Though, we had just had the worst snow storm of the year that Friday, the weather was nice enough for me and my bro-in-law to enjoy some beer and cigars out on the front porch. My first cigar of the spring/summer season was hurffed up with great enthusiasm and it actually puffed quite well despite the slightly cold weather and the fact that it was a bit dried out. I can't wait to hurf some more in the coming months!


We're still waiting on more tests to find out if my relative's health issue is something more serious. I don't want to slag the medical community because I know they do their very best, but for the money we pump into the medical community and health care, you'd think they could be a frack of a lot quicker with these things instead of the back and forth and waiting weeks for the next appointment /test! With medical bills as astronomical as they are due to corporate greed that has infiltrated the medical world, we should have had this all figured out and taken care of already. I don't think I'd be quite as critical if medical treatment was affordable. Until it is, I'll be quite skeptical.


I took a break from Mass Effect and Bioshock and went back into my catalog of games and started to play some more Crackdown. I've now incompletely beefed up my agent character to his most superosity. So jumping around town, destroying things and tossing thugs off of high rise buildings isn't anywhere near of a hassle as it used to be. Very Cool!

I'm also greatly anticipating this little ditty that's coming out the end of next month!


Well, I'm off to ejoy another Saturday afternoon with movies, Zangz's Killer Chili and a good long session of Mass Effect.

Let me leave you with this little spew of wisdom.... gap toothed chicks can be pretty friggin' sexy and cute as hell, also!

Zangz.

God Is Dead, All Hope Is Gone and Evil Reigns Yet Another Week....

It's the second day of spring. The second FRIGGIN' day of spring!!! Did it start with birds chirping? No! How about a beautiful sunrise? Nope! Was it a semi-warm day? The kind that makes you anticipate what a great summer it will be? The kind of day that when you get home in the evening you can go outside and enjoy a beer and cigar. Oh, hell no!!!

The day was met with vertical flying snow that slowly, but surely, built up into several inches of heavy snow throughout the day. I left work a half an hour early, and it still took me 2 and 1/2 hours to get into my cozy apartment and have a beer in hand. The sad thing about it was that even though the roads were rough, it took me under an hour to get home. It was the shoveling myself into my own parking spot while getting myself out of two snow drifts that took up the majority of time. Finally by 6 PM I was in my apartment cold and soggy, yet enjoying a nice frosty, Friday evening brew.

"F" Mother Nature and "F" Al Gore! Lets see that bloated ding dong live through this winter in the upper Midwest and then see him whine about global warming (and I'm a moderate progressive)! Jeeze, I must be into full S.A.D. mode! Someone, get me one of those generic lamps! If it doesn't get spring-like in a short amount of time, I may just go nuts!!

On top of all of that my favorite Idol contestant was booted off the show by the majority of idiots that actually vote. I haven't even seen one full episode this season and know that the winner will be some generic, mindless turd that will be owned by the American Idol corporation and will find themselves in eternal enslavement 'till kingdom come. You might be thinking to yourselves, "But if you don't really watch the show, how can you pick a favorite singer, Zangz?"

It's because I'm a lonely, dirty old man-geek, OK! There! You've pulled it outta me! Are you all happy now!!!!!!!


Let's move on to some movie reviews I've been holding back on for a few months....

Star Trek: Nemesis - This wasn't exactally the movie that should have closed out the Next Generation chapter as it felt more like a 2 hour episode of the TV series rather than a full bloodied Star Trek motion picture. It deserved a hell of a lot more that what was given to it, both script-wise and production-wise. It was a nice effort, but the cast and fans deserved a frell of a lot more! And where the frack was Wil Wheaton, fercissakes? Frack you, you Wesley Crusher haters!

Doom - Have I reviewed this one yet? I rented it quite a while ago and thought that I might have done a review of it. If not, here goes. This is basically a marginally fun filled rental. If you went to the theaters to see it, consider yourselves about $5 out of luck. If you rented it you're only about $1 out of luck. If you got to see it for free, then you're pretty right on the money! Not quite up to par with what it could have been had it really been a full blown homage to the revolutionary video game, it was still a bit enjoyable. I love Karl Urban and Rosemund Pike in this movie. Even The Rock is ok. But, like most video game to movie screen films, it comes up short. It is VERY predictable. Could have been better, yet not a complete waste of time for us Sci-Fi video game geeks.

Hannibal Rising - Disturbingly good. It's not anywhere up to par with the original Silence of the Lambs. But, it is a very interesting introspective to where serial killer, Hannibal Lecter, got some of his traits. The film takes place during WWII and takes Hannibal from the the war that destroyed his family to his obsession with his hot Asian step mother as well as his obsession with revenge. I didn't think I would, but I actually enjoyed it. If you're a big fan of the Hannibal Lecter series of movie and/or books, it's worth a peek.

Sunshine - It was supposed to be the next generation's 2001, but it didn't quite make it to that level. The first half of the movie I really enjoyed the hell out of. The set up was great, characters were awesome and story seemed to flow well. However, it got a little convoluted toward the end. Rather than the characters dealing with an out of control computer, they have to deal with this quasi-ghostly entity that may or may not be what is left of the captain of a space ship that was formerly sent to help revamp the sun's power to save the earth. The current group of astronauts that are on a very similar mission (since the last one failed) have to thwart this wacky, blurry entity to reach their goal. It is never really revealed what happened to this omnipotent character and why he's so.... blurry. It's definitely a good watch , though. Not quite up to par with 2001, but a fun Sci-Fi watch still the same. Check it out!!!

Premonition - I love Sandra Bullock and feel that all of the performances of this movie are spot on, especially her's. However, If you're into unhappy endings that have a slight glimmer of hope, then this might be up your alley. I, myself, was hoping for something that was a bit of a paranormal thriller. It had hints of that, but in the end, didn't deliver. If you knew your lover was going to die and could travel back in time to stop it would you? Or would you be resigned to the fate that no matter what you did, your future with said loved one was frelled up the whazoo? That is what the move explores. OK rental, but if you like unhappy endings with slight glimmers of happiness, rent it. Otherwise stay the frack away! Sandy rocked the hizzhouse but.....

Zodiac - this could have been a real awesome thriller about the Zodiac Killer murders in the 70's, but it got a bit long in the tooth for me. It was done well and, again good acting chops throughout. But, it was till missing that feeling of real mystery, serial killer, thriller that it should have been.

The Last Mimzy - Not anything particularly out of this world, but when it comes to kids films that are inspired by the genres of Sci-Fi/Fantasy it blows the roof of of the funeral dirge that is known as Disney's The Bridge to Teribithia. Not a milestone in Sci-Fi, but a fun enough film for families!

Ok kids. that's enough for my saltiness and bitter attitude. Ive got a lot to do this weekend. More movies, more Mass Effect, bills to pay and more snow to shoveling to do (An Inconvenient Truth, my left nard! Howzabout An Inconvenient Parking Space That Takes You An Hour And A Half To Shovel Out Because Of The Massive Snow Storm That The Global Warming Has Not Gotten Rid Of? Why isn't Leonardo DiCaprio falling all over himself for that potential documentary?)

To attempt to end on a happy note. Above is a picture of the stamp a friend used to send in her annual tax return check. Enjoy!

All right. I'm outta here before I blow a gasket and go all hard core coronary, ballistic on ya all.

Zangz is outta the hizzhouse.

Zangz.

Zangz's Saturday Afternoon Chili to Eat as I Watch My Saturday Afternoon Movies

Another week gone by, another 7 days of yearning for gaming, action figures.... and love. Pathetic? Perhaps. But, this wouldn't be called my Blog of Geekdom if there weren't some awkward moments of pure silliness. And this is the place for just that!

Though, not a heck of a lot has really taken place since my last entry, I'm sure there's something I can dink around with here in the Blog of Geekdom.

I know! I can talk about tomorrow's events. There's yet another birthday party that will be taking place. It will be for the ever-so-lovely Iris VonBeaverhousen. There's already been some plotting and planing and all sorts of behind the scenes Tom-foolery that Roberto, her ever faithful man-servant and husband, has been dealing with to get this puppy off the ground.

Today I went out and got her a few presents since she was the one who was the mastermind behind my James bond themed 40th Birthday festival. I know she never friggin' reads this thing, but I still wont divulge what I'm getting her.
A mini-manga Boba Fette toy and a Nintendo DS game.
Tomorrow, I'll be cramming a lot into one weekend day. First there will be the getting up late (about 8 AM - 9 AM). Then I'll shuffle off to the living room couch and turn on the TV while I lay there lazily contemplating if I should continue watching crappy Saturday morning TV (usually consisting of paid programming and news shows) or should I get off my lazy ass and pop in a movie. I have three of them rented for the weekend and have little to no time to watch them. Then I'll contemplate if I should watch the movie or pop in a session of Mass Effect on the ol' '360. This will take another hour or so as my waking mind is still glued to the paid programming and crappy Saturday morning TV.

Finally it will be noon and I'll decide on a movie. But, I'll also be hungry by then and will make my famous "Zangz's Saturday Afternoon Chili to Eat as I Watch My Saturday Afternoon Movies". Here's the recipe for those constitutionally gifted and adventurous. It's comprised of Hormel No Beans Chilli. Pour a little beer in there. Preferably a Bock or Lager, something with a bit of dark flavor. NOT a light domestic! Then we put in a dash of chili pepper. Then a dash of curry powder. Then a tad of Tabasco sauce. If you don't have that, any hot sauce will do. Then I shake in a good dose of shredded Parmesan cheese. Then its a squirt of Sweet Baby Rays Hickory brown Sugar BBQ Sauce. Now mix thoroughly. After mixing put on a secondary layer of Parmesan cheese. Do not mix this layer as it is going to be kind of the equivalent to the crust of sugar on Creme Bru Le. Except it's going to be a cheesy goodness that tops off a carcenergenic meat monstrosity. On top of the layer of Parmesan cheese you'll place slices of sharp cheddar cheese that will cover the entire circumference of the bowl. Put in micro on high for 2 minutes. Then take out and let settle for 2 minutes. If it doesn't try and bite you after that, it should be fine to consume. (Consult you doctor before digesting. Zangz's Saturday Afternoon Chili to Eat as I Watch My Saturday Afternoon Movies may cause one to spend their entire day clenching up their butt cheeks while in public. DO NOT taunt Zangz's Saturday Afternoon Chili to Eat as I Watch My Saturday Afternoon Movies as it may strike at you without warning.)

Then I'll sit back enjoy my chili and watch whatever movies I've rented. But, tomorrow, I'll only fit in one as I have to make a clandestine rondevue (that's French for secret meeting) to retrieve something for Iris's B-day function. That will take up a portion of the afternoon. And I'll have to figure out if I'm going to head straight to the party afterward or have time to do a little Mass Effect or another movie afterward.

Then I'll head out west to the party where food, drinks, and gaming will commence in grand celebration of the birth of Iris Vonbeaverhousen. God Bless Her!

I may crash at Roberto and Iris' establishment. But, I may high-tail it home afterward as I've been crashing at their establishment a bit too much each weekend this past month and their probably sick of washing the Zangz crust out of the sheets of the bed in the guest bedroom.

Sunday is reserved to paying taxes in hopes that my return comes quick enough to put into the nasty gas increase that G-Dubya and his Oil Barron croonies have planed for us as the summer hits. Cucking Funts!


On a bit of a sad note (yep, another) one of my favorite artists died this week. His name was Dave Stevens. He did a killer job on the comic that inspired the movie Rocketeer. He could draw up a Betty Page like nobody's bizznezz! He was also married, at one point, to one of my favorite scream queens, Brinke Stevens. Take a peek at some of his artwork HERE and bask in the glory of a real artist, rather than some turd who throws paint on a canvas and calls it art.


Anyway, I'm heading out of here and maybe getting a head start on the movies for this weekend. See's ya.

Zangz.

Day of Loss......

I really had to pop in here and chime in on a couple of unfortunate milestones that took place today.

First, the announcement that Brett Farve is retiring. I heard about it in the lunch room at work at about 1:30 pm . Honestly, I thought he was going to give it just one more season. Though, it's disappointing, I'm more worried about the fate of the Packers for the seasons to come. Farve had become a bit of a crutch to them. Hopefully we have some hidden talent in that team that will persevere in the future.

This being a blog of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror as well as video games and RPGs, I know it's odd that you'd find a sport related topic sprouting up. But, I have to tell you that I've been following the Packers for the last 15 years. I'm not a big sports fan at all, but the Packers were something I found myself rooting for every Sunday afternoon of the fall and winter season.

I don't think we should be upset with Farve for his decision. He's given us Packer fans over a decade of great and exciting games. He also took us to the Superbowl twice with one win out of the visits. Though, the very end of his last season ('07-'08) wouldn't be what most players might want to end their career on, I think that the we have to look at the whole picture of Farve's career with the Packers to really get a feel of completion and a saga coming to an end. Let's let him do some relaxing and enjoy his life and be thankful for his input into the history of the Packers!

You can read about Brett Farve's retirement HERE.


Then I come home and find an email from a friend telling me that Gary Gaygax died. If you have to ask who Gary Gygax is, then you need to educate yourself in the geek culture. Check this out HERE. I briefly met this man once at a big gaming convention. He was at a booth promoting the movie Dungeons & Dragons (yikes). He was very friendly to all who approached. This man's great legacy to the realms of Fantasy and imagination shall live on forever. Let's raise our Swords of Everlasting Flame (+30 damage, +70 damage to ice beasts) in the air and hail a great innovator of imagination! HAZAH!

Read the Yahoo News article on Gygax's passing right HERE.

Will Wheaton (Star Trek:TNG) does a nice job of lamenting Gary on his blog HERE.


FYI, the Billy Joel concert was pretty excellent. I forgot how Rock 'N' Roll he originally was! He even had a roadie come up and sing AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" as Billy backed him up on guitar. Joel also had a pretty awesome light show on this tour. The only problems were getting there and leaving there. Apparently the Bradley Center parking lots leave a lot to be desired when it comes to organization and brain power. But, again, Billy rocked the hiz-house.


I'm still waiting to hear the outcome of my relative's health issue. Please keep those good thoughts coming.

Until next time, stay verticle!

Zangz.

The Good, the Bad, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Boy, was today an "up and down" day for me. Trying to get to work on time was a real challenge as people seem to always forget how to drive when it snows and putter around at 10 to 20 mph under the speed limit. I barely got into to work on time by the skin of my teeth.

Loads of work came in and at first we had a real good grasp on it. In fact we even started to get ahead of it a bit. Then, as usually a poop-storm of it hit all at once at the very end of the day and we found ourselves scrambling to make sure it was all done and gone on time. But, we persevered and got through it all and hopefully did well at the end of the month.

Then I got an ecstatic call from my mom. Apparently, she scored a couple of tix to go see Billy Joel this Sunday! I'm not a huge Billy Joel fan, but free tix are free tix and I'll whore that offer up fer sure! I've heard he always puts on an excellent show. I remember being a kid in grade school and his album, 52nd Street came out and that was one of those albums that you just had to own!

Then my mom drops a little bomb of news that made me not even want to go see Billy. Apparently a very, very close relative went in to have a physical and the doctor found "something" that will have to be further tested. Lets just say, it's something that most women dread finding. It could be nothing, but until the further testing ensues and we get results, I'm going to be a bit worried. Let's hope all goes well. Keep my relative in your thoughts this week.

I then finally get home from work (yippee) and find that my rent is being raised again in under a year (boo-hiss). Can this day just frellin' end, please?


It's been awhile since I delved into any movie reviews, so here are a few for you....

Shoot 'Em Up - It's a no holds barred, non-stop action flick that barrows a lot from Robert Rodruigez's uber-acrobatic, gun play action movies. The silly twist to it is that it tries to apologize for the uber-violence being depicted by ending up with an anti-gun message. that's kind of frackin' lame, isn't it? The movie is a lot of fun and both Paul Giamattti and Clive Owen are both good in it and a lot of the gun play / choreography is top notch. It just loses its nards with the whole anti-gun stance. Seems a bit hypocritical. "Lets make a insanely violent movie with lots of guns, and bloodshed, but then excuse ourselves with a blatant anti gun stance towards the end of the film." Even though their morals are a bit messed up and silly its' still a fun as hell film to watch. And Monica Bellucci is very nice in it. It's a total bubble gum, action, escapist romp.

Live Free or Die Hard - Here's another fun as heck action thriller that is also the 4th installment of the Die Hard series featuring Bruce Willis as Detective John McLane who always finds himself in odd situations that deal with terrorists trying to take over buildings, airports or cities. I had a lot of fun with this one, even though it wasn't exactaly as popular as the other three films. I really enjoyed the villain as well as his beautiful side kick. The action was over the top. Would you really want to settle for less? this was also a fun as heck action flick that needs to be viewed by all.

Believe it or not, when it comes to genre films, those are the only ones I have really viewed in recent weeks. I gotta get back on track. I've updated my on-line video club with a few more that I will review in weeks to come. So hold tight.


I've been looking at past blogs and have found that I've been pretty much on the attack about some things I've recently found unjust. I figure it has something to due with the S.A.D. I'm dealing with as the winter weather has no hint of letting up any time soon. So I apologize to the Wienstein Company for my rant about how they're trying to frell up the movie Fanboys in my last blog. I guess I'll wait 'till it comes out to pass judgment. I just hope they don't screw it all to hell and back for the almighty dollar.


I'm still working on BioShock and Mass Effect ....... and Resident Evil 4. ...as well as reading My Boring Ass Life by Kevin Smith as well as Storm Front... and Sister of the Dead... and Manhunt: The 12 Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer. ADD can really take the pizz outta me.

Speaking of ADD. have you been catching LOST lately. Time travel!!! WTF? I'm lovin' it, even though it's really cheesing off my friend Iris Von Beaverhousen. No answers, but more questions. Still gotta love it!

Oh, yes! I recently found out that my friend Dave is in the process of procreating for the first time! His seed has successfully inhabited his wife's egg and in several month's time he will be a proud poppa! Congratz to Dave and Stacey! If anyone deserves this blessing, it's the two of you!!!


And in major geek news, it appears that the latest edition of D&D won't be anywhere near as bad as rumored to be. Though, I haven't played the game in over a decade (I'm in CoC mode right now), I'm wondering how the rest of the RPG community will accept it. Here's a pretty stellar review of it.


Until next time, I'm outta here. Stay vertical!

Zangz.

The Greed Machine Rolls On....

I'm finally feeling a bit better after the plague strain that hit me, and many other co-workers and friends, has finally come to pass. This winter is just kickin' my ass. If I'm not sick, I'm shoveling a ton of snow to get my car out of my parking lot. If I'm not shoveling a ton of snow, I'm feezin' my dingle berries off in Hoth like temperatures. I'm totally hoping that the elements of spring come early as I have officially had it with this frackin' winter!


Another thing I've had it with is the Harvey Weinstein Company. Apparently some serious issues have come up with their upcoming movie, Fanboys. Originally this movie was about a group of major Star Wars fans who were going to break into Skywalker Ranch and steal a copy of SW, Ep. I: The Phantom Menace before it was released back in '99. It seems their friend is dying of cancer and they want him to see it before he passes on. Star Wars fans who've seen the original cut of it said that it hearkened back to Stand by Me as a feel good, fun filled, emotionally charged comedy. It was really something special. Sadly, the movie company that's producing it, The Weinstein Company, has decided to completely re-edit it and turn it into a stupid teen sex comedy romp in the tradition of American Pie. Instead of a bunch of caring Star Wars fans trying to help their friend, it will be about a bunch of Star Wars fans portrayed as dorks trying to simply steal the movie for their own selfishness. The whole terminally ill story line has been nixed for a more derogatory image of Star Wars fans feel. Harvey and his corrupt company want to make a quick buck off of the film rather than make a quality picture.

Ok, kids. It's time to educate yourselves. You can read all about the greed filled debacle right HERE! Time to educate yourselves!


In other greed filled news. It looks like the greedy bastages who moved GenCon out of Milwaukee are finally getting their come-uppence. Once they turned GenCon into a corporate entity rather than simply a RPG and gaming convention that was held in Milwaukee every year and moved it to Indiana so they could make more money are now not only filling for bankruptcy, they're also being sued by Lucasfilms for a bunch of reasons. Here's an email that a friend sent me that explains a lot of it......

"Here’s a synopsis of the lawsuit Lucasfilm filed against GenCon (gotten off of The Force.net):

There's some big news that just came onto the radar: Lucasfilm is suing Gen Con over issues with Celebration IV! While the case is stamped January 10th, this is the first I've heard anything about it. You can read the full complaint but here are the allegations.

1. Gen Con failed to uphold its legal obligations in terms of financial reporting, accounting and payments to Lucasfilm ($500,000 in damages)
2. Gen Con did not give auction proceeds to Make-A-Wish as they had agreed to do ($150,000 in damages)
3. Gen Con did not give Lucasfilm their share of the auction proceeds ($150,000 in damages)
4. Gen Con did this all unjustly ($150,000 in damages)"

Interesting. The plot thickens…"

Hah hah. The curse for leaving Milwaukee has finally bit GenCon in the ass! Serves them right! Whenever a stupid decision is made by greed, it always has it's karma consequences. Hopefully, The Weinstein Company will feel the same karma sting very soon.

Greed sucks ass!

Zangz.

I feel too oogie to think of a catchy title to this blog post....

Since it has been a stretch between my last two posts, I thought I'd double whammy you with two this week. In the last post I mentioned that I was sick on Valentines day but was cheered up the new Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (IJATKOTCS) teaser trailer that was posted on-line that dark, sad and lonely day.

Well, I'm still sick. I was able to drag my sorry ass into work on Friday. Towards the end of the day I actually felt a bit better. But, when I got home that night I started to feel all oogie again and ended up hitting the hay at 9:30 pm on a Friday night. Saturday I woke up with a huge sinus headache which lasted the entire day. I finally pushed myself off of the couch to attend my sister's birthday dinner. Unfortunately, my bro-in-law couldn't attend 'cause he was sick at home also. The dinner was phenomenal as lasagna and Cherry Berries on a Cloud were the order of the evening!

It's Sunday morning now and I'm still suffering from aches and sinus problems. So today's agenda will be to do wash, relax and catch up on my Kevin Smith book.


In more pleasant news, I've finally finished watching all of the episodes of Firefly and capped it off with the motion picture Serenity which ties up most of the story. It was a great, short lived TV series that could have rose to great critical acclaim, but FOX Network executive (read: d*****bags) pulled the plug on it way to quickly. The outer space western hardly lasted a full season.

What made this show so wonderful? For one thing the cast and characters all worked well together as an ansamble. Each had their own story lines, personality, quirks and attributes. You cared for all of them. Even salty Jayne Cobb brought some pretty funny moments to the show.

The show didn't try to be all dark and speak over the fans' heads like Galactica can do at times. There was a fun, pulpy feel to the series as well as a nice dose of drama they didn't try and cram down fans' throats.

Speaking of Galactica, Firefly preceded Galactica's off kilter, shaky camera special effect space battles. By making the CG space scenes look flawed, it also gave a sense of reality to them. Something that Galactica has aped from since.

If you're a fan of the Sci-Fi genre and missed out when this show originally aired back in 2002, go rent yourself, or pick up, this fantastic and fun series!

For more information on the series you can check out......

ZANGZ'S WEBSITE OF THE MOMENT

BrownCoats.com

I may have made this one of my websites of the moment a while back, but since we're on the subject, I think I'll refresh everybody's memory. This website is for both fans and the uninitiated of the Firefly series alike. It has an insane amount of information on the series, characters, stars and story lines all placed in a relatively comprehensive set up. Do take time to check it out.

That's going to have to be it for now. I haven't seen any movies worth posting about and I'm still knee deep into Bioshock and Mass Effect. So until next time, Stay Vertical!

Zangz.

"...and though I hate to see you go, Oh No, it must be so. It's another lonely Valentines day"

Now don't get all concerned with the title of this blog. I'm not gunna hang my single, sorry butt or anything. It's just a lyric from Type O Negative's song The Dream is Dead. It just sums up my dislike of this holiday.

Let me tell you how I spent my holiday. It started with me waking up with a horrible cough. I get up anyway and go to work. Once I get to work I start to feel worse and worse with a looming headache and other achy body parts (think clean, people!). I then burn a half a day of paid time off to go home early and try and rest. I attempted a nap, but the achy parts kept me in a state of "in and out" sleep. I get up and watch a little day time TV which makes me a bit nauseous. So, I turn off the tube and try some more shut eye, which I'm actually a bit successful with this time.

I wake up in a coughing jag and go get some water. I decide to check some email and maybe a little web surfing. That's when I remember that both Mr. Salty and Spanky have reminded me about a little piece of loveliness that was revealed today.

My Valentines Day is not a complete bust. So all you happy couples in relationships who make the rest of us feel like plague victims every time this holiday comes around, feast your pathetic, lovelorn eyes upon a true Valentines day treat (hopefully you have high speed or DSL 'cause it took my cruddy dial up modem and hour to get this thing operational)..............

Click Here!

Now, how friggin' cool was that, huh? I can't wait! Happy Valentines Day mutha truckas!!!!

I'm going to catch a little more shut eye before Lost comes on. See ya!

Zangz.

Rediscovering Serenity....

I know, the title sounds like some sort of lame-assed, new age, hippie post, but it's not. I assure you.

It's just that I got some gift cards for my birthday a few weeks back and finally decided to cash them in. I decided to pick up the box set of the TV series Firefly, a brilliant sci-fi action show that was on FOX and lasted only one season (due to the pure stupidity of the number crunchers at the network). That one season is now a box set of DVD's that I'm slowly, but surely, going through. It's a very good time to do so with the writers strike and all.

It still blows my mind how Joss Wheden created such a wonderful show that was not given its fair due. It follows a rag-tag crew of smugglers who pick up odd jobs here an there throughout the galaxy several hundred years from now. They're housed in the space ship, Serenity which takes them from planet to planet in a galaxy that has a wild west feel to it rather than a more fantastical or futuristic driven motif. Joss created characters that you really care about (especially Inara... ehem, ehem). If you're ever looking for something that is completely different from all the other sci-fi shows on TV, pick up or rent the series Firefly. You will not be disappointed!!!


Since we're on the subject of genre television, I must also mention that I'm going through the second season of HBO's equally defunct, odd as frack TV series Carnivale. The show follows the exploits of an old 1930's midway carnival across the dustbin of America. Of course there are bizarre, creepy, paranormal things going on around the freak show folk. It's another series the was yanked before its time by network number crunching numb-nuts. Another series you all need to check out. Especially when the girls dance "the Hooch"!


Still on the topic of genre television, the phenomenal TV series LOST launched its latest season last night. And, as usual we get a few answers and far more questions. But, I still love this show! I hope the writers' strike commences before the eight episodes they've been able to shoot are done!


Hey, believe it or not, I actually won a game of Munchkin, much to the surprise of the rest of the players. I never frellin' win...ever! But, somehow my brilliance finally paid off. actually it was because a few of the players were shat-faced on red wine and I slipped right by them. Bahahahahaaha. Eat it, kids!


I think I'll be calling it a night here as I need to go fantasize about Inara from Firefly.

See you all later.

Zangz.

The Quantum of Solace of Turning 40!

Hello Mr. and Mrs. America and all the ships at sea!

Welcome to another blog that is butt-loaded with completely useless, geek filled, Sci-Fi lovin', Fantasy driven, information. We get to start off this blog with how I celebrated my 40th birthday recently. And, NO, it did not involve me, by myself, at this computer, on-line porn, weeping, having a tea party with action figures, blow up dolls I've named Christina or any lotions of any sort.

In my last blog I mentioned how friends and family were treating me to a high end steak dinner at a well established steak eatery. Dinning with me was my sister (Dizzy Lizzie), my brother-in-law, my mom, my friends Iris Von Beaverhousen and Roberto DelAmorte. And I have to tell you, after a couple of Bloody Mary's and a few Heineken's, I had the best medium rare Fillet Minionge (I don't know how to spell this thing. And spell check is being to stupid to figure it out for me) that I have ever consumed in my entire lifetime! It was a very nice, relaxing, formal dinner in a very classy, tasteful and relaxing atmosphere.

However, that wasn't the end of the evening by any means. As they were paying the bill, the waitress came up to me and placed a secret agent dossier in front of me and said "I'm supposed to give this to you".

I knew immediately that something was afoot, as my Mom, sister and Iris made a B-Line out of the restaurant, and I was left with the dossier, my bro-in-law and Roberto. I opened the dossier and there were instructions for me to go with the two agents (Roberto and my Bro-in-law). But first I had to solve a puzzle they had for me. It was explained in the dossier that neither Roberto or my Bro-in-law (who shall be hence forth called B.I.L.) would be able to communicate since they were "silent agents who didn't speak English", thus couldn't give me clues to the puzzle. The three of us went to the SUV and whilst in the back seat I went over the puzzle as well as a box of clues and instruments that were provided for me by "M" to find out where I needed to go.

After stumbling around in the back seat of the car to figure out the address to have Roberto and B.I.L. take me (remember, I had 2 Bloody Mary's and a couple of Heineken's in me), I barely figured out the address and gave it to Roberto, my chauffeur, and we sped through downtown Milwaukee to a bridal suite of a high class club. Once there, I found the suite we needed to be at, knocked on the door and was greeted by the unmistakable voice of my friend, Spanky, asking me for "the password".

Evidently, Spanky was going off script, 'cause there was never any password given to me (his improvisational skills suck ass, but he means well), I just spoke out the first thing to come to mind ("I'm looking for a safe house"), at which time he opened the door and I was lead into the suite with Spanky holding a toy gun on me.

He went through this shtick that I was supposed to get on this metal table (there was none) with a laser pointing at me (there was none) and recite a famous James Bond line of, "So Goldfinger, do you expect me to talk?" at which point he replied, "No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!"(his improvisational skills suck ass, but he means well). After this point my family and more of my friends walked out of the bedroom of the suite and yelled "Surprise!!!"

I honestly was quite flabbergasted! I had all different groups of friendships represented there. It was cool to see worlds collide!!! There was even a private stock of beer for me to consume throughout the evening. I did my share of imbibing.

I got surprise calls from other friends of mine in the hotel room throughout the night, as well as more puzzles for me to solve. Since I was feeling no pain at this point, I couldn't solve a puzzle in Highlights magazine at this point. So "M" (Iris) was lenient on me. I still got my prizes/presents.

Also featured that evening was a huge cake that had scenes from various Bond movies decorated on it (special thanks to Spanky). Also, there were various James Bond posters about the suite that had my face superimposed on the Bond images. There was also a huge banner with my festering face on it hanging over the room's TV.

Mad Mario and his lovely wife, Hope even showed up as well as a few other special guests. The whole evening was something incredibly special and just darn spectacular! At the end of the evening, Roberto, Iris, Mad Mario and Hope were the last to close down the suite @ 2:30am.

Apparently, Iris Von Beaverhousen, was the main conspirator with Roberto and Spanky and Dizzy Lizzie in the frey of it all!

It was a incredible evening that I won't soon forget! A major shout out has to go to Iris and her planning and plotting with many different people to get this thing off the ground.

The fact that people actually put this much time into planning, financing and executing this whole shinding for me, really blows my mind!!!!!!

Thanks to all who attended and took part!!! I am forever grateful!!


So, they officially announced the name of the next James Bond opus, "Quantum of Solace" (read announcement here). It doesn't have quite the same ring to it as past Bond movies, but it is the name of a Ian Flemming short story, so I guess it has a bit of flair to it. Supposedly it is to take place, literary one hour after the end of Casino Royale. It will also have lots more action that Casino did with more answers to who this secret organization is that Bond is after. I can't wait until November '08!!!!

I'm getting going now as I have to shuffle my ass into work tomorrow (Saturday) to get a special project out tomorrow.

Until the next exciting installment, Happy Birthday to Me!!

Zangz.

P.S. Rest in peace, Heath Ledger, star of TV series, Roar... which everyone has forgotten, but should not.

Birthday of the Living Dead....

Here we are at the start of another weekend. A well deserved reprieve from the stress of the weekday grind. There are a couple of things that make this weekend stand out a bit.

First and foremost, I'm turning the big 4-0. Not exactly a shinning moment in most peoples' lives. But, for some odd reason it doesn't bother me quite as much as I thought it would. Sure, I realize that's it's all down hill from here on in. But, I have good family and friends. I'm working. I also have butt loads of video games. So I guess I'm all set for now.

Zangz's 40th anniversary plans include a trip to a very nice, high class steak house, a vi