The WATCHMEN has been WATCHED!

I remember reading the graphic novel in the early 90's. A good 5 years after it's initial release. The Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons comic changed all of comicdom forever and upon it's first reading I could tell why. A grand, epic and dark story of an alternate history of 1985 where Nixon is still president, we're seeped deep into the Cold War and costumed heroes actually exist and and run amongst the city "protecting" it people. That is until they are abolished and are forced to loose the capes and masks and try and live real lives. Part murder mystery, part commentary on society's ills and part pulp action comic, Watchman proved that comics weren't just for kids anymore and that not all costumed heroes had all of society's best interests in mind. It forced comic companies and writers to look at new aspects of the medium that were quite a bit more dark, sad and gritty.

Since last weekend was filled with 40th B-day festivities for my good friend Iris Von Beaverhousen, I sadly did not get to go out and see the movie. But, I made time after work on Tuesday night to shuffle over to a local megaplix and sit down for the good 3 hours and view the movie.

I have to admit that when I first heard that Hollywood was going to adapt the piece of literary art into a movie, I was really worried. I knew how epic the story of the comic was and I thought there was no frellin' way they were going to do any type of tasteful homage to the comic. How the frack were they going to fit that big of a story and plot into a film. A miniseries, maybe. But, a film? Could anyone really capture the full extent of the graphic novel in a movie???? Then I heard that Terry Gillaim's name was bandied about as a potential director. This peaked my interest as hope that perhaps someone with the right tools could bring the story to the big screen. Then after a while, for whatever reason, Gilliam's involvement with the film dissolved and we fans of the comic were left wondering, "Well, what's next?"

After a few years news on the potential movie didn't surface. In the meantime a phenomenally awesome flick based on the Frank Miller comic, "300" was turned into a movie and directed by Zack Snyder. It was beautifully done and one of my personal faves.

Then I heard that Zach was going to take the rains of the Watchmen film. I started to get a little excited again. I loved 300 and wondered what Snyder could bring to the immense story of Watchmen. I, again, got the hope that someone had the capable hands to translate this dense, yet incredible story to the big screen.

I wasn't disappointed. Upon my viewing I found that the flavor of the comic was consistent and I was pleased with the outcome, overall. I can't say there were any major complaints about the film. Perhaps some very small quibbles.

I still feel that perhaps two movies would have covered the epic saga a bit better. There were some important parts of the comic that were understandably omitted, yet still important to the original story. The comic's chapters are separated by verse. The verse can be considered short stories that link the main story together. A lot of these are completely omitted or are converted to the opening credits. Not a horrible mistake, by any means. Especially since they were tasked with turning the epic into a motion picture. But, some of the real story is cut out. The mini-story of The Tales of the Black Freighter is nowhere to be seen. I feel that this is one of the key story points. They're going to release it as an animated DVD later this month, but I felt it should have been part of the main story of the movie. I do understand how they only had so much room for the points they wanted to convey in the movie. But, I was still saddened to see that it didn't make it into the film.

The film is almost 3 hours long. I really worry that people not familiar with the comic might be turned off by the running time. If you're a fan of the comic, you'll have a vast appreciation of the film. If you're some lame schmo off the street who is not at all familiar with the subject matter, you may be looking at your watch two hours into the movie. (At which point you deserve to be slapped upside the back of your feeble head.)

What does make this movie rock? The actors are a major factor in turning this literary piece of wonderment into a motion picture! Milan Akerman, Patrick Wilson, Jackie Earl Haley, Billy Crudup (even if he was dumb enough to leave Mary Louis Parker), Mathew Gooode, Jeffery Dean Morgan, Carla Giugino, Matt Frewer (Max Headroom), and even bit player like the beautiful Apollonia Vanova,( who has no speaking part and is only featured in the credits), are what make this film a triumph and all deserve golden statues!! Rorschach and The Comedian are the psychoes we feared and loved from the books! Silk Spectre I and II are both as desirable and tragic as they were in the comic. And Night Owl is the geek you cheer for who gets the hot cheerleader in the end. They all seem to devour what the comic's characters are. They really bring them to life. They all have full understanding of who they play and make them a real entity for the screen! As a fan of the comic I found this to be the film's biggest asset! They all seemed to really care for Moore and Gibbon's superheroes.... and villains.

The effects are frackin' good and the action / fight sequences are darn brutal! Perhaps even more so than the comic. There is some great fight choreography and some intensely violent action sequences in this film. Fine by me.

The ending to the film is changed slightly from the book. This may erk some hard core fans. It also ends on a slightly more upbeat feeling than the book did (Hollywood does have to whore itself a bit, doesn't it?). But that's minimal when you look at the big picture.

So, if you're a big fan of the orignal comic, you really need to take a look at it. If you're not, you may have a hard time dealing with the 3 hour storyline. But. please, sit through it! If you have a soul and a brain you'll really get it. If you're a geek, like me, you'll want to see it in the theater and then buy it on DVD! The acting really brings these charters and movie to full life. 'Cause Snyder really tries as hard as he can to bring the whole monster to the big screen and succeeds quite well! You can tell he is a fan of the core material, and it really shows. Though, it's not quite up there with The Dark Knight or Iron Man, this puppy has a special little place in the comics to film genre. You'd be less of a person or geek to not go see Watchmen!


I'm going to go have some dinner, so please, until next time, Stay vertical! And God bless the likes of Milan Akerman, Carla Giugino, and Apollonia Vanova! What can I say. I'm a goofy fan-boy.

Zangz!

Saints Row 2 vs. Grand Theft Auto 4: Compare and Contrast.

I know it's been a month since I last posted here, but February really sucked the life out of me. The cold, the snow and the destruction of our national economy as a lasting remnant of the previous administration was a real bummer. On top of that, February isn't really that great of a month. It's just a lot of snow and cold and nothingness.

Right now Spring is trying so very hard to peek its head out from Winter's gloom. The last couple of days have been sunny and "warm" (high 40's to low 60's). It's pouring rain right now which is sucha vast improvement from that god awful snow that I can live with it!

I spent much of the month of February doing exactly what a self respecting geek would do. Playing video games on the good ol' '360! Right now I'm between several different games.

I still haven't finished Fallout 3 which I took a break from for a while. I also find myself popping back in and out of Grand Theft Auto 4 (GTA4) which also is far from being completed. Then there's Fable II which I haven't quite gotten to far in as of yet. The little gem I find myself going back to again and again and again is Saint's Row 2 (SR2)

Saint's Row 2 can be described as GTA4's bastard, unruly son. Both are open world, crime simulation games with big cities to race around in, chase around in and create as much destruction and bedlam as possible. However, I'm currently finding SR2 far more entertaining than GTA4. SR2's controls are 100% better, the freedom is far more reaching and the amount of customization is just crazy! Add to that the mini-games within the city are far more addictive than any of the actual missions in GTA4.

When I recently went back to GTA4 and drove around the city a bit, I found steering the car a monumental task. Try and take a curb at a fast speed and you'll find yourself in an uncontrollable power-slide that is hard to recover from. In SR2 you can take curbs and do a very controlled power-slide AND get extra points for doing so.

Your character in SR2 (that you create from the get go - we'll get into this in a bit) can pretty much run rampant throughout the imaginary city of Stillwater all they want. Sure the cops will chase you, but that's half the fun. You can pretty much do the same in GTA4, but I find the IA police a bit more relentless in their pursuit. Sure, this is more challenging, but is it more fun? You also have to constantly manage relationships with many of the side characters in GTA4. Imagine you're out exploring what Liberty City has to offer and suddenly your cousin, your girlfriend or your drug supplier calls up on your cell and wants to go do something with you. If you don't they wont help you out later in the game. And they call ALL THE TIME! It's great to get immersed in a virtual world, but this ain't The Sims!

The customization of your character in SR2 is far and vastly superior in every way shape and form when compared to GTA4! In GTA4 you get the male, Russian character of Niko Belik. A lovable rogue if there ever was one. But, outside of his limited amount of clothing, you're stuck with the designer's' character they have created for you. In SR2 it's a whole other monster. A monster you can create from the ground up! At the beginning stage of the game you choose if you want your character to be male or female, athletic or fat, have a big or small nose, have beady or large eyes. I don't even want to go into the hair options 'cause you'd be here reading it for next few hours. Needless to say, my character is a male with jet black, mulletized hair with bright purple dye in it's back who has a King Diamond goatee, Alice Cooper eye makeup and wears tight black jeans with skull and crossbones t-shirt. He speaks in an East Ender English accent and occasionally sports cop sunglasses. For a nominal fee of money you obtain in the game, you can go to many of Stillwater's plastic surgeons and change the look, swager and attitude of you character as well as darn near anything else you want. That way you're not stuck with the same look for the entire game.

Not only is your character uber-customizable, so are the many autos you can obtain the game. There are a few special designed cars you can't change, but they are far and few between when compared to the insane amount of vehicles that can be taken to a Stillwater mechanic to have paint jobs, upgrades and awesome stylization. In GTA4 you can take a car to a mechanic who will fix it up and give it a paint job of the game's choosing. Not your own. You can also customize your own radio station or just listen to the many that Stillwater has.

Now, am I saying that SR2 is far superior than GTA4? Not at all. Let's look at the overall quality of the games. GTA4 wins hands down. The story and game are far more epic. The details are incredibly more in depth. Just look at how Liberty City mirrors many of the aspects of the actual Big Apple. It's darn right spooky at times! Also GTA4 is a far longer game than SR2. SR2 has a heck of a lot of missions to get through before you complete the main storyline, but I finished it in less than a month. I bought GTA4 nearly a year ago and my Niko is still being sent out on missions. And GTA4's graphics are several grades up the color ramp than SR2's. SR2's are a bit cartoony where GTA4's are quite in-depth and gritty.

Here's what it feels like. The guys at Volition played through many of Rock Star's GTA games and said, "Let's make a mirror copy of this kind of game, but let's make it less restrictive and concentrate on giving it a more playground feel to it rather than overly challenging and dark and gritty."

This is why I found myself playing through SR2 one entire time with my English King Diamond Alice cooper character and then starting it all over again with a newly created character (a cute but deadly Goth chick!). I rarely do that. Once I play through an entire game I go onto something else. Like I said, I have a couple I need to get back to, fer crissakes!

Sure, I hope to pop into Liberty City again and complete the game at some point. But, right now I'm having a blast in Stillwater! GTA4 might be the better all around game, but SR2 is fun as hell!!!!

'Nuff said there.


You know, I'm finding myself quite the Anglophile as of late when it comes to renting DVDs. I just completed seasons 1 and 2 of The Tudors and now I'm starting on the 25 year old Britsh series, Robin of Sherwood. There's something about English history and legends that has gotten a hold of me recently (and, NO! It's not Natalie Dormer or a young Judi Trott you pervs! Well...not totally).

I found the fate of Anne Boleyn, of The Tudors, both tragic and slightly self deserved. Sure, it's weaselly to sleep your way into monarchy for your kaniving family. It's a whole other thing to be falsely accused of things you never did and sentenced to public death just because King Henry's ego has been bruised. Karma can be one brutal sledgehammer of payback.

So, I'm watching Robin of Sherwood this morning and I'm looking at the bloke who plays Jack Scarlet. I'm lookin' at him and lookin' at him and going,"God, I know that guy". I get my answer in the end credits. Scarlet is played by Ray Winstone who was Mac in Indiana Jones and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull! He also voiced Beowulf in the GD animated movie of the same name (useless Zangz's pop culture item #556).

I remember watching the sword and sorcery show in the late 80's on Sunday afternoon where they aired on the local public television station. I forgot how piss poor the sound quality was. The music was this soft Enya-esque keyboard slop that they must have recorded in someone's basement. Then instead of using quality sound effects, they used what was recorded on set live. So instead of Clank, Clank Clank during a sword duel you hear, tink, tink, tink. When someone gets punched you hear, pat, pat, pat, instead of SMACK, SMACK, SMACK! I find the poor quality of sound in this show really disturbing. Perhaps I'm spoiled with what we have now on today's TV show sound. I still enjoy the storytelling the show has to offer.

Anyway, I can see I'm rambling on endlessly and will call it a day here soon. I do need to start to prepare for some covert hi-jinx involving a very good friend turning 40. Welcome to the club, Honey.

That's it. I'm outta here.

Zangz.

Viva Pacte des loups!

I know it's quite rare for me to post two blogs in under 24 hours, but after viewing a movie that I just have to ramble on about for a little while, I felt inspired. So here's an impromptu movie review you can add to the ones I posted last night.

Brotherhood of the Wolf - It was at 4:30 in the morning while I was tucked away nicely under the covers that a car alarm went off in my building's back parking lot. Thinking the owner would have half the brain to eventually get out of bed and turn the thing off, I found myself disappointed with the realization that the owner was probably a complete tool since and hour later it was still going in 10 minute intervals. I finally gave up and got out of bed, went to the living room and turned on the tube. I was very glad I didn't have to go into work today. After flicking through a sea of infomercials (What the hell is Peter Fonda doing in one of those????) I decided I would pop one of the movies I got from my rental club. It was one I had heard rumors of for the last couple years and kept my eyes open for. But, I couldn't find it for the longest time. When I joined my online movie rental club I put a search out for it. It had the title in its library, but it was marked as unavailable. I put it in my queue anyway.

Then, this past week I receive the title in the mail. A pleasant surprise, indeed, in every way shape and form. I'm no fan of French movies that have subtitles, let alone ones that are period pieces! Usually the idea of having to sit through a 2 hour plus movie of the like would get me quite nauseated. Well, I have to tell you, the experience was quite the opposite.

This 2001 movie blends a whole bunch of genres into one sweet experience while at the same time still retaining a tight cohesiveness. Sure it's part drama and period piece, but it also has a lot of goodies mixed in.... A good dose of martial arts, some horror, a little fantasy, some political intrigue, a dash of swashbuckling, suspense, mystery and a slight teaspoon of fairy tale.

Based on actual French folklore of the 1700's, the dreaded Beast of Gevaudan is running about the French countryside attacking and slaughtering fair maidens. The creature is believed to be some sort of monster wolf. The king sends two men into the area to seek out and hunt down the creature. No sooner do Grégoire de Fronsac, a knight of the king, and his cohort, Mani, an American Indian arrive that trouble rues it's ugly head. They find themselves defending a woman who's being accused of witchcraft by a bunch of barbaric townspeople. The two get off their horses as dole out a nasty can of Prime Grade-A Whoopass! It is here that I realized this wasn't going to be your usual dry, dull, boring, subtitled French film (actually, one thing that helped was that I turned off the subtitles and activated the English dialouge).

Being a French film there are of course bouts of the movie that drag a bit, but all of the goodies this film offers make up for them. The cinematography is top notch, beautiful, bright and lush. The set designs were fantastic and gave a slight dark fairy tale feel to the fim. The costuming was phenomenal!! I'd love to get my hands on one of the trench coat outfits that the two heros are wearing when we first see them for a Halloween costume.

There are a few twists and turns in the plot, keeping it fresh. The story itself has all sorts of elements that keep in moving. Some of the characters are right out cool pulp stories. Advenurous hero, spiritual sidekick, dastardly villians and of course buxom, exotic women (Monica Bellucci, anybody?).

I have to say that I was quite blown away at how epic this folklore story ended up being. It left me wanting to know more about the hero and his other possible adventures. There a comic book, role playing game or new series of books out there just waiting to be created out of this.

In the end I was pretty blown away with it and would like to find out where I can find it to put it into my collection!

Oh, and here's #225 of Zangz's Completley Useless Pop Culture Trivia: The actor who plays Mani in the film is none other than Iron Cheff host Mark Dacascos. he also played the part of The Crow on the quasi comic book related, syndicated TV series.

I hope you all try and seek this big treat out. You can always set the language to spoken English and avoid the subtitles. You will NOT be dissapointed!

I now have to go and take out the trash, enjoy the nice weather with a cigar and then some Fable II.

We'll talk with you later. Stay vertical!

Zangz.

Finally! A blog of "substance" is posted......

I know it's been a while since I posted a good, meaty, lengthy, substance-filled ("substance" being loosely coined) blog here, but the bitter winter and crappy economy have gotten the better of me. I became lazy and lethargic and let the blog slightly decay into lameness. Not the usual lameness that it retains, but an even deeper lameness. For that I apologize. So let's roll right into it!

First and foremost, many of my favorite genre TV shows have come back on for new seasons. Both "24" and LOST have really nailed it this year! "24" was going downhill the last couple of seasons, but seems to be redeeming itself this season. LOST is still the crazy "What the frack is going on?" fun-fest that it always has been. Even some of the answers to all of the questions are finally being revealed. Perhaps not as quickly as some would like, but at a good enough pace to still make you wanting more.

I've been playing both Saints Row 2 and Fable II as I procured some nice X-Mas/B-Day money. Saints Row 2 is far better than the first with more customization and freedom. However It's a little short when compared to it's richer-man's GTA4. I've just started Fable II. The first Fable game was very good, but quite limited when compared to other epic, action RPG's. This one seems to be a little more epic and open for gamers to traverse and explore.

My sister recently got me into The Tudors. I've blown through the first season on DVD. It's no Deadwood, but how can you not get a little crush on Anne Boleyn?


I've been promising movie reviews for a while now so I'm going to bless you with a few. There will be more coming in the not too distant future. Now, here's how I'm going to do these from now on. I'm going to stick with strictly Sci-Fi, Horror, Action and Thriller movies. The type of movies we geeks enjoy. I may do a "Honorable Mention" review that is either Drama, Comedy or some other form of movie that I find worthy of our geek time.

Hitman - Based on the popular stealth/assassination video game, this movie isn't half bad. Timothy Olyphant (Deadwood) plays the bald, programmed assassin that is double crossed. There's some pretty decent action sequences as well as current Bond girl, Olga Kurylenko. You get to see a lot of Olga.... a lot. She's a lot darker and troubled than she is in the current Bond movie. There is a lot of cheese factor to this slightly cliched action flick. But, it's still worth the viewing!

The Spiderwick Chronicles - I'm very jealous of the kids today and the movies and literature they get to experience. In my day, all I had was Disney's Mary Poppins. Today kids get to see some really fun films based on some really fantastical books. Based on the series of Spiderwick books, I found this family friendly flick a load a fun. Sure, there's some scary stuff here, but parents should drop their wimp factor and let their youngins enjoy this movie that deals with magical beasts involving themselves with the new home of a single mother and her three children.

Doomsday - Here's another post apocalyptic action piece, not that much better or different than any of the others out there. The Road Warrior did it best, but this one is worth a looksey. Perhaps rent it. Don't bother buying it. If you've seen one mo-hawked villain, you've seen them all.

And now for the Honorable Mention Portion of the reviews...

Run, Fat Boy, Run - This is a real sweet and fun comedy about how far a common Englishman will go to win back the love and affection of a woman from the arms of a greedy, shallow yuppie. The comedic presence of Simon Pegg and Hank Azaria doesn't hurt a t all.


I've added a couple new blogs to my blog list here. Please check them out.

First there's Seth Is LOST. If you're a fan of LOST you will want to check this out 'cause this will help put things into perspective. It's run by a local guy who shows up on a local radio morning show to explain what's all going on in the Lost world. One of the better LOST blogs you will find anywhere.

Then something for you game masters. Gnome Stew. This has boatloads of great ideas for running some real cool Role Playing Games. Take a gander if you will. Thanks to Wil Wheaton's blog for bringing my attention to it!


Ya know, tomorrow is supposed to be a nice and warm winter day. Something we've been badly needing for the last 3 months. I think I'll go out and enjoy a nice cigar tomorrow.

On that note, I'll leave you to your relaxing weekend.

Zangz is outta here!

Zangz.

Zombies Attack!!!!

It's true!!!!! See the link below! "Tis the end of the world.

Zombies!!!!!!!

Here ya go, Mr. Salty. You asked me to blog about the end of the world. So there you go!

Zangz.

The Crappy Year So Far....

Out of the gate 2009 is starting off to be a real poop-storm of a year! After learning of a very close friend's personal tragedy that really tore at the heartstrings, the local area is hit with loads of snow and then a nasty arctic blast of cold wind. So I haven't been into the bloggin' mode as of late. Please forgive me.

I'm just glad the weekend has arrived and I have a nice dark frosty beverage in hand.

Not a lot to wax poetic on right now. I have some movie reviews coming, but am not in the mood to do them right now.


I am currently reading a pretty good fantasy novel. It's called "the first law: book one, The Blade Itself" It's not your normal fantasy novel. It focuses on the characters and how they go about screwing each other over. It's almost a case study on the darker side of how we treat each other. I'm just starting it and I'm finding that the characterization is really, really compelling. If you're a fantasy fan, you may want to check this one out as it's not really the normal fantasy type book.


Hey! We lost Kahn and The Prisoner this week. Sad times for us geeks.


Recently I joined a certain on-line networking service. I have mixed feelings about it so far. It's very interesting to hear from old friends you want to catch up with. It's a whole other thing to be contacted by people you knew when you were younger that didn't give you the time of day back then. But, I'm being a good samaritan and letting bygones be bygones and just enjoying the fact that they actually know that I still exist.


Myself and my good freind Roberto will be attending a bachelor party tomorrow evening. The theme of it will be "Wear your ugliest sweater". I had to borrow mine from one of my sister's friends. It is very Cosby-esque. The evening will start at a steak house where you can cook your own streaks (I'll burn the place down with my lack of grilling knowledge. Roberto, please help!). Then we head downtown to a sing along piano bar. Sorry, no boobies. Sigh.


That's it for now. I promise to be more inspired next time I blog.

Zangz.

Zangz's Best of '08!

Happy frackin' New Year, folks! I hope all of you were able to bring 2009 in with lots of fun, frollick and safety.

My New Years Eve was a real treat. I was invited over to Roberto and Iris' place along with a couple of other good friends where a wonderful feast of tenderloin, Bloody Mary's. buttery mashed potatoes were followed by a game of Munchkin and then some Karaoke themed video games (It's odd how a virtual Paula Abdul acts just as heavily medicated as she does on American Idol!). Before we knew it the new year was upon us, then the next thing we know it is 2 AM. We had such a good New Year's festivus that time really flew by.


Now that 2008 is over, it is time to reflect on my Best Of 2008. I have never done this on my blog before so bear with me here. Let's touch upon movies first....

Best Movie of '08.

#3. Iron Man - Robert Downey Jr. nailed the role of Tony Stark while director, John Favreau brought in a lot of the the Iron Man mythos into the movie. There was real care to put this comic book up onto the big screen.

#2. Quantum of Solace - This bad boy almost made it to #1, but a loss of plot and characterization that was so prevalent in it's predecessor, Casino Royale, knocked it down by a nose hair of a nano-point. Otherwise, this non stop James Bond thrill ride was indeed one of the biggest entertainment highlights for me all year!

And my NUMBER ONE movie of 2008..........

#1. The Dark Knight - Comic book movie, crime thriller, action flick and thespian playground. This Batman movie had it all, dark as dark can be. And of course the late Heath Ledger's Joker is among the top movie villains of all time! My mouth was agape the whole flick. But, again, this movie barely skooched ahead by a simple nose hair. Quantum gave it a nasty run for it's money. But, after some meditation and sole searching I had to give Dark Knight a slightly higher enjoyment level.

Honorable mentions....

- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - Not the best Indiana Jones movie, but far better than what is being written by a lot of the silly internet nay-sayers who want to bash anything sequel or prequel-esqe that has anything to do with George Lucas. A fun pulp romp, period.

- Hellboy 2: The Golden Army - A fun, pulp, action packed romp through a mythical fantasy world. I'm really hoping for a 3rd instalment of the Hellboy series.

Best Comedy of '08 goes to.....

Stepbrothers - Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly can do man-child like no others. It's out for rental right now, so if you need a good laugh and missed it in the theaters, go out and check it out!

Best Album I Listened to in 2008....

Nightwish's "Dark Passion Play" - Even though this came out towards the end of 2007, I picked up my copy in the fall of '07 and found myself listening to it well into and throughout 2008. Orchestral power metal at its finest.

Best restaurant dinner I crammed down my face in '08.

The Chop House's Fillet Mingone - I was taken there for my 40th birthday and have fondly thought of the dinner ever since. It truly melted in my mouth with each bite.

Best party attended in '08.

It's going to have to go to my 40th surprise party. It was a James Bond themed extravaganza that was the best time I had all year.

An honorable mention should go out to Hope and Mario's Halloween party.

Best Video Game of '08.

Fallout 3! Open sandbox gameplay in post apocalyptic Washington DC. Very addictive gameplay also helps this game skim past GTA4. Mass Effect should get an honorable mention for it's grand sci-fi story telling and addictive game play.

Best Haunted Attraction attended in '08.

Hands down the Hartford JC's Haunted House pretty much stole the show out form under our usual fave, Terror on Rural Street.

Best Book Read in '08.

James Patterson's "The Big Bad Wolf". Another fast paced Alex Cross thriller. I blew through three of them this summer and Big Bad Wolf was the best of the three.

I think that will be about it for my Best Of 2008 wrap up. Here's hoping that 2009 doesn't suck as much as 2008 did for you.

Until next blog, stay vertical!

Zangz.

The Post X-Mas Euphoria.

Ya know, for all the gripping and bemoaning I do every year about X-Mas and the X-Mas season, I usually end up having a decent holiday.

This year was uber-laid back. X-Mas Eve I went over to my sister's (Dizzy Lizzy's) place where me, my Bro-In-Law, my mom and sister had a nice dinner and then opened gifts. I scored some cigars and the three movies I asked for on DVD. I also got some money sent to me from Dad and I've already used it buying Saints Row 2 today. I haven't played it yet as I'm still rockin' through Fallout 3. I'm finding that F3 is slightly more limited than Oblivion and may be done with it soon.

I did take a break from F3 recently and barrelled through Halo 3. It was the first time I played through it. I found the action and environments the highlight of the game. But the single player campaign was a little on the quick side compared to its two predecessors. I'm glad I borrowed it and didn't rent it or buy it. I think the developers, Bungie, are getting a little too obsessed with the on-line, multi player modes of the game over the single player experience. Still, I found it really challenging and entertaining. Just wish it was longer.

Then on X-Mas we went over to our cousins' place. Their house was featured in a local magazine on how well they decorate their home during the holidays. There was good company and at the end of the evening I took on my cousin's little boy, Danny, in a game of Wii Batman Legos and got my ass handed to me on a silver platter.

I do have a bunch of geekified movie reviews coming up sooner or later. I just have to go over what I've seen and get my thoughts together.

I hope you all had some form of decent X-Mas celebration!

Short and sweet, this blog is (Zangz says in his best Yoda imitation).

Until next time, stay vertical!

Zangz.

Snow-ocalypse!!!!!!!!

There are twelve inches of cold, white death on the ground jam packed and encased in my hometown right now. The first really big snow storm of the season has fallen, and it will be followed by two more this same weekend! This is just the beginning. We have at least 5 more months of these kind of Mother Nature blessings to look forward to.

On my way up one, busy, city street on my way home from work I saw a slew of parking police jeeps, up and down the avenue, with their meter maid's ticketing any car that are parked, or stuck, on the curb. Merry X-Mas! Those that weren't being ticketed were being towed away into overly expensive oblivion.

I wish I had the money, brains and gumption to be able to pack up and head out to someplace with a warmer climate. Austin? Atlanta? Phoenix? Great cities in better climates, all of them. Sadly, they are void of the "Three F's" that keep me here in Milwaukee. Family. Friends. Fall. (The season. Not plummeting to the ground).

I know what's going through your heads right now, "But, Zangz, the Holidays are right around the corner. Surely that's worth a little anticipation and happiness?"

And I answer, "Nope. Though X-Mas is next week, these times before and after it are filled with turmoil and stress for your grand, geek hero... Zangz."

I'm not going into detail, but I can easily say that this is the 3rd worst X-Mas I've ever had. The first one was when my grandmother died of intestinal cancer one week before X-Mas. The second one was when I found myself unemployed right after Thanksgiving due to the usual culprit of corporate greed/ineptitude.

I'm not going to get deeply into why this is the 3rd worst X-Mas I've ever had, but stress has a frack of a lot to do with it!. And I've learned a few hard lessons this season. 1) There's no way you can please everybody all of the time, so stop trying to! 2) Realize that God made Zangz VERY, VERY, flawed and cursed. So much so that Zangz needs to double check, triple check, and quadruple check everything he does. Even if time doesn't permit it. 3) God hates Zangz!

This X-Mas I'm in a perpetual state of self loathing and pure, unadulterated stress. And today's events didn't help matters at all. In fact they tossed them into an abyss of pure nastiness. "Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men" my behind!!!!

I hear you. "But, Zangz, aren't there any blessing that have come during this season? Aren't there any signs of hope?"

Actually there are two and their names are Emma and Melody. My best bud, Goof and his wife, Gayle, welcomed their twin daughters into the world this week. Kudos for them! Now the kids' older brother, Harrison, will have a handful to deal with. Hopefully that can be remedied with Goof buying Harrison boat loads of action figures as he grows older.


In other stuff.....

I finished off the first season of Pushing Daisies. The first couple of episodes had me hooked, but, sadly, I kind of got bored with it after a while. There's only so much of cutiness I can take. The show follows a pie maker who has the ability to raise the dead for only a short period of time. If they are resurrected more that a minute, something/someone else has to die in their place. He helps a local private eye solve crimes. If Tim Burton and Dr. Seuss got together to develop a crime thriller, this is what they would come up with. It's fun and different, but after a couple of episodes it gets kind of old. The characters are endearing (especially Olive. yummm). But, it's the same thing over and over and over again. I've heard that it has been cancelled already after a season and a half. Kinda sad, but understandable.


I've taken a break from Fallout 3 to finally play Halo 3. I've borrowed it from my very good friend, Roberto Del Amorte, and am finding it quite action packed and challenging with lots of great visuals to boot.


I've got nothin' else to blab on about today. So, if I don't pop up another post before X-Mas, I truly want all of you to have a far better holiday than I'm currently having.

And if you're wondering why I refer to Christmas as X-Mas... If you read my blog and have bad eyesight it looks like I'm talking about the X-Men rather than X-Mas. And the X-Men are far cooler than X-Mas, aren't they?

Until next time, as a very wise man once said, stay vertical!

Zangz is outta da hizzouzz.

And the darkness of a cold, black holiday season decsends....

I remember when I was a kid and I'd be really excited about the winter and holidays. I remember loving to go outside in the late afternoon before dinner and jump around in the huge snow banks as darkness fell. I would pretend I was an astronaut on the moon or some other strange planet.

I loved frosting cookies with my mom and decorating the tree and house in preparation of Santa arriving on X-Mas eve to bring me my Kenner Star Wars Death Star Tower, or my G.I. Joe Action Team Headquarters or my Atari 2600. I loved staying up late on New Years Eve to see the ball drop (insert your own puberty joke here______________.)

Outside of the material crap that X-Mas provided (Did I forget to mention the Six Million Dollar Man action figure or the Lone Ranger action figure or the Big Jim action figure I got several X-Mas' past?) there really was a sort of mysterious magic about the holidays. There was an energy that you could almost taste. Perhaps it was the two weeks off we got when school went into it's winter vacation period? Or maybe it was all the toys and treats that we were smothered with during the season.

One thing that I really loved on X-Mas eve, outside ot the presents, was that my family was all together on one evening. Mom, Dad, Sis, Grandma and Grandpa. We'd drink eggnog and chow down on cookies and open presents together.

X-Mas has certainly changed since childhood. Grandma and Grandpa are long gone. Mom and Dad are divorced. That enchanting, white planet that I used to romp around on is now nothing but dirty slush I have to shovel up and avoid slipping on. The air is bitter, cold feeling I don't remember having to deal with during childhood. Or maybe I just didn't care. Who knows. I don't see myself getting the Star Wars G.I. Joe Action Death Tower I got when I was a child this year.

Instead, I get to deal with cognitively challenged drivers who go 20 mph under the speed limit when there's an inch of snow, obnoxious yuppie shoppers and an economy that expects us to spend-spend-spend when none of us have anything to spend in the first place thanks a bunch to greedy CEOs of Fortune 500 companies that can STILL afford to get their spoiled brats animatronic dinosaurs for X-Mas.

Plop on top of all that the comfort and joy that has "blessed" us over the last couple of weeks. We've been hit with two huge snow falls this winter, the death of Forrey J. Ackerman AND Bettie Page, I've learned that two close friends of our family have cancer (one isn't going to make it and one caught it early enough) and you get a full tilt crapolla holiday season.

Here's hoping that some of you actually get to rediscover that magic of the season, and those of us that can't can at least tolerate the holidays.


On to more nicer subjects....

I've been renting TV shows I've missed like a mad man. I finished off Torchwood season 2 (goodbye Tosh and Owen. You shall be missed!), went though season 2 of Dexter (Goodbye Doakes. You were a D*&#$@ B!@%. You will not be missed.). And will start Pushing Daisies this weekend. Down the pike I have all of the original 1980's BBC shows of Robin Hood to check out. I loved that show when they would show it on public TV in the late '80's and early '90's. We'll see if it still holds up in my appreciation of it today.


I'm really rockin' through Fallout 3. This is a deep, dense, dark game that I really love so far. I do have a few complaints about it and can't say it is up to quite the standards of Morrowind or Oblivion (it's predecessors from the same production company). But it is till one of the best games I've ever played! Please check it out for your totally imearsive, open world, post apocalyptic, video game, role playing extravaganza! Once I've done pretty much all you can do in the game, I'll give a full review of it. Highlight for spoiler....

My understanding is, that you don't want to really go full force through the game with only the main quest. Start the main quest when you begin the game, then go out and explore the world, do a lot of the sub-quests and once you've found everything in the world, then go and complete the main quest. Otherwise you're going to miss out on an awful lot the first time around!


What am I listening to right this very second as I type this? Well, I'm going a bit old school and listening to Social Distortion, "Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell" It's hard to believe that this was released 16 years ago. It stands up to today's standards as a great Rock 'N' Roll album! Don't tell me that you can't listen to "When She Begins" without rockin' out just a little bit.

Okay, I'm gunna check out the first season of Pushing Daisies. Hope it doesn't suck as much as this holiday season.

Bah friggin' Humbug, mutha trucka's!

Goodnight sweet Betty, we'll miss you dearly.

Zangz.