And now they start to rise......

Ahhhhh....... The chill in the air, the leaves falling slowly to the ground, the nights coming sooner and sooner, the Octoberfests in the beer section of the supermarkets and Type-O-Negative's "World Coming Down" in the CD player in my car. These signs can only mean one thing. The living dead are rising from their graves to celebrate the Season of the Dead. Though it's not quite October yet, this weekend brings in the fall festivities along with the flavor of Halloween!

Zangz's Headquarters is already decorated from one end to the other with gravestones, Jack-O-Lanterns and things that go bump in the night. I'm in full swing Halloween mode once again! Bruahahahahahahah!

Tomorrow I may go on my first Halloween expedition. It'll be either a pumpkin farm or a fall festival. I'm not sure which one yet, but I'll be sure to report back. Not only will this blog be filled with Halloween spookiness throughout the month of October, so will my podcasts. Hopefully we'll have the first of three Halloween episodes up this Monday!


Tonight was the first two episodes of the 2nd season the of new Dr. Who TV show. Both were quite entertaining, although the first one took a while to really brew up. The new Doctor (David Tennent) was pretty good and easy to warm up to, though he isn't quite as dark and ballsy as his former incarnation. Rose was smokin' in the second episode and should go for that more... "heaving" look in future episodes, most definitely!!!


It's going to be a short post as I have a wonderful Octoberfest chilling in the fridge waiting for me. You know... nectar of the gods from the teet of Mother Nature and all that. Hope you all fall into the spells of Halloween soon. And beware of the ghosts, ghouls and living dead. Bruahahahahah!

Zangz.

What's Hollywood Pinching Out for us Geeks?

What's stirring in my feeble, little, twisted mind this week you may ask? Well, much to your chagrin, I'm going to tell you, ad nauseum, per what you usually find around here in my Blog of Geekdom.

I've been contemplating on what the people in Hollywood are cooking up for us genre fan-boys after the peak at which the Star Wars prequels and The Lord of the Rings trilogy ruled the movie screens. Honestly, I do believe we are in a bit of a grand downfall when it comes to anticipation for great Action/Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror movies. Sure there's a plentiful amount of them in production to be released. But, how many of them within the next few years will command a number of us geeks to camp out for midnight showings.

Let's take a look at what's coming out in the future.


Indiana Jones:4 - Apparently, this movie looks like it will be coming out sometime around the 7th of never. Little has been done when it comes to preproduction outside of getting a script together. There are alternating stories that have been coming out for the past few years as to the script being approved or not approved by Spielberg, Lucas and Ford. So who knows where they are at with it. In any case, if this movie is destined to be made, it will surly be worthy of a midnight showing with fellow geeks dressed in brown leather jackets and fedoras! I just hope to god they don't frack this one up and keep with the fast paced pulp stories of the original three.

I am Legend - Based on a 1950's horror novel about one last survivor of an apocalyptic virus which has turned most of the city into zombified vampires where Will "Get Jiggy Wit it" Smith forges on to do battle with the undead. Sounds cool as hell, doesn't it. Though I do enjoy Will Smith in movies, his casting worries me that producers have decided to Hollywoodize the story to aim it as a blockbuster rather than a great movie. Rumors already have the story deviating from the book. Wait and see.

Casino Royale - I've said enough about this one already. If you're not acquainted, read many of my past blogs! Suffice it to say, I'm really looking forward to this one and am hoping that it will be a welcome addition to the James Bond series.

300 - Based off an awesome graphic novel by gifted scribe, Frank Miller, this movie depicts a grand battle during the ancient times of the Spartans. Buzz on this baby is that, though you may not have heard anything of it in the mainstream media, this will either be a huge blockbuster or a phenomenal cult, classic sleeper hit.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End - Of course this one will be a fun one and a big blockbuster. It will also be filled with elements of the fantastic and a great pulp story. Depp will rock! 'Nuff said.

Die Hard IV: Live Free or Die Hard - Bruce Willis will return as John McClain, the cop who by sure circumstance always finds himself smack dab in the middle of someone's wacky terrorist plot. Sure. I loved the first three Die Hard films, but I don't know if I'm all that psyched for this one. I'll wait and see.

The Mummy III - Looks as though things are in motion for a 3rd Mummy film to start shooting. A script is being written and both Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz are showing interest. Surprising, since Ms. Weisz hinted heavily after the release of the 2nd one that she wouldn't do a 3rd. I absolutely loved the first one. It brought back that sense of pulp adventure that had been so lacking in movies since the last Indiana Jones flick. The second one was a lot of fun also, although it got way too far fetched in the second half of the film, even for a fantastic pulp action movie. So I'm looking forward to what they're going to come up with in the 3rd.

Harry Potter Films - Being a geek, I guess I have to give a shout out to the several Harry Potter films still coming out..... Well, that was the shout out.

The Hobbit - This prequel to The Lord of the Rings trilogy could also be a biggy for the geek movie genre, if done as it should be... with Peter Jackson at the helm!!!!! Both MGM and New Line are very interested.

Terminator 4? - There could be another man vs. machine flick down the road. It's questionable if A-nold will be involved. I really could care either way. The last one didn't floor me as the first two did. I'm over the whole Terminator thing anyway.

Sure we'd love to see more Star Wars films, but it ain't gunna happen so stop yer whinnin'. We're stuck with what Hollywood throws us. Hopefully, we'll all find some new film franchise to glom onto and obsess about very soon.


Very quickly, I'd like to give a shout out to Iris Vonbeaverhaousen and her husband Dr. Roberto DelAmorte for filling me with meat and beer last night and sending me home with even more meat. Your constant hospitality is mucho appreciated!

Well, I'm off to rent more Deadwood! So I'll leave you with some grand words of advice from Deadwood resident Al Swearengen....

"!*$#@$@*^! You sons of $&#@*$^@#$^! !@)#*#$&#@^%@^!!!!)#$@*$)#@$)@*#)$!!!!!"

Zangz.

New Podcast!

Just a quicky announcement that the 2nd Zangz's Pod of Geekdom is up and running. It revolves around the "fully possible action collectable".

You can find it HERE!

Sit back with a cold one and listen to a full grown geek expound on his loves.


Hopefully I'll post something here at the end of the week.

See ya.
Zangz

"YOU HAVE JUST REACHED MILE 2, HANGOVER BOY!"

So here I sit before the keys on a nice Saturday morning nursing a bit of a hangover. Last night I attended a friend's wedding just down the street from Zangz's Headquarters. Perhaps I took the convieniece of not having to drive home a touch to far. Yet, I'm not so sure it was the amount of drinks I had as much it was the fact that I broke the golden rule of drinking... Don't Mix Your Liqures! Uggh.

To add insult to injury, there's a huge charity walk/race being held right on my street in front of my appartment this morning. I'm all for charity walks and the such, but do they really need a guy shouting through a bull horn telling the runners that they've "JUST REACHED MILE 2"? Why don't they just do away with the charity walk and have a charity Slipknot concert to hold right in front of my appartment this particular morning? It would have the same effect on my fragiled skull, yet be oh so much more visually stunning.


I just read a review of the upcoming reinventional Bond movie, Casino Royale and it's looking to be quite good. As I've said before, I still think it was an insulting error to give Brosnan the boot they way they did and not let him do one more film, but I'm pulling for Daniel Craig and the Bond franchise and it sounds like giving the Bond series the Batman Begins treatment could do the trick! Cross yer fingers folks. We have two more months before this puppy hits the theaters!


The Halloween and Haunt season is just starting to rev up a bit. In fact, NEXT WEEKEND some of the local Haunts are going to start opening up. I was also just at a local craft store and they had loads of spooky goodies to gawk at. If I weren't on a strict budget and saving up for going to the haunts I would have scooped up some of the decorations they had on display. There was a pirate skull that had eyes that would pop out and float around before returning to the sockets. Very cool! I'm hoping for another banner Halloween season. Of course this blog will be celebrating Halloween throughout the entire month of October!


It's gunna have to be another quick one since I'm starving and need to fix up a bowl of Zangz's Chilli 'o' Death. That'll cure a hangover for sure.

See you soon.
Zangz.

40 Years of Boldly Going.....

Being a hard core Star Wars fan boy, I know what it is like to be faithful and dedicated to a specific Sci-Fi institution. The action figures, midnight premier showings and way too long discussions on the 6 movies and they're accompanying video games, comics and novels always springs up a scenes of joy and excitement that the average yuppie, jock and "normal" human being will never understand.

That is why I salute the contingency of Trekkies around the world on the 40th anniversary of the Star Trek franchise. It all started 40 years ago last week, when Star Trek aired on network television. Although this series would only last three seasons, it would slowly spawn not only a national movement, but 4 other spin off TV series as well as 10 movies and thousands of toys and other collectibles.

Having gone to a few genre conventions in my day, I'd always marvel at the huge turn out of Trekkies that would attend and how unified they were in their love of all things Trek.

Sure, they certainly are of their own breed. I mean you gotta wonder how may restraining orders Star Trek:Voyager actress, Jerri Ryan, doles out a year. But, in the end Trekkies take the ridicule like an odd badge of honor. Good for them!! I have to admit, I've never met a Trekkie I didn't like!!

So once again, congratz to the lot of ya!



I'll be making this post short and sweet as I have some preproduction work to do for my next Zangz's Pod Of Geekdom Podcast.



Here's something I mean to do here more often but never think to do it. So strap in for another segment of.....

ZANGZ'S WEBSITE OF THE MOMENT:

THE MEGO MUSEUM

While doing some research for the next podcast, I fell into this wonderful little Memory Lane of a delite that will surely send a lot of us old school action figure fans back to the days of tossing our Superman figures across the backyard in hopes that his cheesy vinyl cape would help him glide just a little bit. The Mego company made loads and loads of fully possible action figures of dozens of Super Heros from both Marvel and DC comics. Take a peek and see all the figures they made.

Ok, kids, I told you it would be a quick one this time. Until next time, I'll leave you with more insightful words my father would tell me...
"Damnit Zangz! Stop playing so rough with your toys, 'cause if you break them I'm not buying you new ones!"

Zangz.

One more weapon in the arsenal of Zangz's Media Empire!

Now is the time for my big announcement! If you haven't guessed, I now have my own Podcast! It is brought to you from the wonderful people at AZcast.com, 'cause there is no friggin way I could put it together myself with the lame assed computer and dial up connection I have.

The first Episode (Podisode?) features the subject of what's going on with the James Bond movies, as well as a few thoughts on some of the past summer blockbusters that I have seen.

Keep in mind the first show is a bit shaky as I've never friggin' done this before. So be kind. And I hope you have a high speed connection!

Here's the link to the site you can download it from....

http://www.azcast.net/menu/radio/zangs/zangs100.htm

So I'm just one more step toward world wide domination! Bruahahahahahaha! Soon I'll have my own hidden base in a dormant volcano with stainless steel staircases all over the place.

In some sad news, one of my favorite resources for James Bond information has gone the way of the Crocodile Hunter. Well, not really. It didn't shut down due to being pierced through the heart by a stingray's tail. It was closed down due to the webmasters not having enough time to keep it up to standards. So we bid farewell to Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Good luck and god's speed!

To those of you who are Steve Irwin/Crocodile Hunter fans, I apologize for the smarmy and tasteless remark. I'm drunk with power.

Enjoy,
Zangz.

A Robhain for Roberto.

This week brought no new exciting genre stuff to geek out about. However, last weekend was one heck-o-roonie of a good time! It was the 40th celebration of Robhain (aka: my friend, Roberto's 40th birthday party) So sit back a bit and I'll tell you about it.

Every year my friend's wife throws him a HUGE birthday extravaganza that is usually theme oriented and involves lots of contests, beer and food. In years past we've had Horror themed ones. This year it was a WWII theme as the party goers were separated into two teams, Axis and Allies (as Roberto has been addicted to Call of Duty on the Xbox 360) . The competitions included a recreation of the bombings of Berlin/London with water rockets (none came close to the miniature cities we created out of cardboard boxes, but one nearly took out some roofing on Roberto's house, much to the chagrin of his lovely wife, Iris). There was also a code/cryptix treasure hunt, rocket cars, dwarves dressed as Churchill and Stalin doing a dance, a mine field race, smarming from Peej, a knee injury, an ankle injury, an ass injury (all incurred well before the festivities even started) and lots and lots of food prepared by the good Lady Peej, wife of Peej The Smarmer. (actually, the dwarf thing I made up. I was checking to see if anyone actually reads these friggin' blogs).

All in all, Robhain 2006 was a wonderful success. I'm already wondering what Iris is going to think up for next year. Dwarves?


Here's something I was pondering on a bit lately. What ever happened to Saturday morning cartoons? Do you remember when Saturday morning was the be all to end all? When I was a kid we had Scooby Doo, The Funky Phantom, Sid and Marty Kroft's Super Show, Super Friends, Clue Club, Jabber Jaw , Josie and the Pussycats (can you tell I loved the adventure and mystery cartoons?) and loads more cool as heck cartoon and children's programming. Now Saturday morning's are plagued with news shows and horrible infomercials.

I remember when Saturday morning was an event! Once the crisp fall air would waken us on a Saturday morning we'd race downstairs from our beds and watch all the new cartoon shows that the networks would come up with. Very few of them had anything to do with Poke-what's and Youh-Gi- Who's. The Friday night before the new cartoon season they'd have TV specials on each of the networks to showcase the new season! Then the next morning from as early as 7am on through, sometimes, 1pm all three major networks would regale us with hours of fun filled adventure. The commercials were a wish list of all the new toys, action figures and uber-sugarized cereals. It was a cornucopia of fun that stroked our youthful imaginations. The kids today are lucky if they get a couple of hours of corporatized cartoons disguised as crappy anime. But then again they have things like video games, iPods and internet porn to amuse them. Sigh....ahh, the good old days.


In gaming news.... I'm replaying through Return to Castle Wolfenstein on the Xbox. A fun FPS with lots of spooky, pulpy content. A fun one, but you can chew right through it within a day's worth of pounding on the controller.


The Octoberfests are starting to make their way to the store shelves, the local convenience stores are starting to stock Trick-or-Treat candies and the leaves are, indeed starting to change color. Labor Day is upon us already and these are all signs that the wonderful time of year when the undead rise from their graves and seek out the living is right around the corner. As usual, my Blog of Geekdom will be turned into a virtual Halloween Headquarters where you'll be able to share in the love of Halloween that I have.


Hopefully, very soon I'll have that announcement on the expansion tot eh Zangz's media empire that you've all been waiting for.


Well, I think I'm going to run on over to the local blockbuster and rent me some episodes of Deadwood. Since I don't have HBO, I check out the show on DVD. What an awesome, if not VERY adult oriented, show. That Al Swearengen is one nasty bastage!

So, see ya later.
Zangz.