Zangz's X-Mas List!

I sit here at my computer this morning as throngs and throngs of goofball ding-dongs who have gotten up hours upon hours ago descend and attack our local malls and stores, looking for that holiday bargain, knocking over and trampling whatever poor soul who happen to get in their way.

I'm here in my Vault of Geekdom, safe and sound from the obnoxious behavior and horrible parking conditions. And that's the way I intend on staying for the remainder of the day. In fact, I'll probably be spending much of the day continuing to tackle Fallout 3.

For those of you family members and friends of mine out there braving the craziness who are asking themselves that all important question, "What should I get Zangz's for X-Mas this year?" I've come up with some ideas and some plans that will help aid you in you quest.

Here's how this works. You can stick with one plan or the other. Work from the options which define your relationship with me (Family or Friends). I'm assuming my family members in the Houston area will send the usual box of X-Mas joy, so these plans don't fall under their jurisdiction and are not obligated to follow any of the plans brought forth here. However, my local family are.


FAMILY PLAN A:

One Family member - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on DVD.

One Family member - Hellboy II: The Golden Army on DVD.

One Family member - Batman: Dark Knight on DVD (releases December 9th!).

(no blue ray as I'm not set up for the overpriced drivel as of yet.)

FAMILY PLAN B:

All chip in and choose from the following....

Saints Row 2 for the Xbox 360

or...

Fable II for the Xbox 360.


FRIENDS PLAN A:

Best Buy Gift Certificates!!!

FRIENDS PLAN B:

If you can think of something I'd like better than Best Buy Gift Certificates, or perhaps something more personal go for it.

I already know what I'm getting a few people. Others will take a little more effort.

That's it. Pretty simple, I think. I hope this assists you all. in your grand shopping endeavors. Shallow and void of what the holidays are supposed to be about? You betcha! Happy shopping.

Zangz.

Thank this!

I truly believe that having a great imagination is a blessing. Now, to be able to use that imagination and create something tangible from it is a grand gift. I also believe that to be able to take that imaginative tangibility and have thousands enjoy the hell out of it is a joy given from the gods themselves.

I am very envious of people that are able to do that. Comic book writers, fantasy artists, television writers, creators of anything Sci-Fi, Fantasy or Horror related media all fall into that category. Look at guys like J.J. Abrams, Kevin Smith, Joss Whedon, Russell T. Davies, Wil Wheaton and Neil Gaiman. All masters of the craft of geekhood. Hell, let's throw video as well as role play game designers into the mix. They're all getting to do what they love, make money from it and, very best of all, have throngs of lovers of the genres really enjoy it.

Sure, I have a bit of a pretty good imagination. But, to have the brains to take it to the next level has always alluded me. I'm not the brightest bulb on the tree. I'm far from the most talented. Heck, I can't even put together a timely podcast. I think that only two people read this friggin' blog, for god's sake.

Don't get me wrong. It's good to be a geek and have these wonderful, if not wonderfully strange interests. It just kind of stinks to not be able to be more immersed in them and actually consume more of my life.

I can't really dwell on this too much as I kind of get a little sad. What I do need to do is count my own blessings and be thankful for what I do have (see where this is finally going? Know what tomorrow is?).

What am I most thankful for? It's not my Xbox 360, not my James Bond movie collection, not my old comic book collection, not my boatload of video games, action figures or Halloween adventures.

It's two things.... FAMILY and FRIENDS! If all of those other really frackin' cool things suddenly went away, I'd know that deep down everything would be ok 'cause I have the support of my family and friends!

You just gotta look to the very base of what you're thankful for when you start to think too much about what you don't have.

I hope you get to have Thanksgiving with either friends or family members or at very least, someone you love.

I'll be posting my Xmas list within the next few days, so keep your eyes open.

Now go shove some turkey down your craw, fercrissakes!

Zangz.

The Quantum of Bunnies.

First and foremost, THIS is cool as hell. Thanks to Mad Mario for sending me the link. Lovers of James Bond (and bunnies) will friggn' love it. More so the Bond fans will love it.

And, yes! I am trying to put the word Quantum in every blog title that I post this month.


Ya know, Halloween is over and Quantum has been released. There's not a hell of a lot to spew on about lately. I guess there's the coming holiday of Thanksgiving. That will go pretty smoothly as my Bro-In-Law's mother usually puts together a pretty big spread that his whole family and my family usually cram our faces with.

The whole shindig is pretty smooth. We get there, talk for a while. Before you know it dinner is served with lots and lots to eat. After we're done eating, the turkey buzz comes on and we're all beat. The party comes to an end at a decent hour and we're on our way home to play more Fallout 3 and watch more Torchwood on DVD. ......er.......... I meant to say, keep in mind all the things we're thankful for..... like Fallout 3 and Torchwood!!!!!

I have been really enjoying the Fallout 3 experience. Since I last rambled on about it, my character has gone looking for his father in the post apocalyptic waste lands of a future Washington, DC. He's gotten his ass handed to him in several combat situations. He's currently smack dab in the middle of downtown DC trying to gain access to one of the last working radio stations. However, he's getting a pretty bad beating from a large group of super mutants. Rumor has it, if I complete this quest, I will have access to a cache of weapons and ammo as a reward. That'll be pretty frellin' cool if I can actually survive. That's what the large game guide said, anyway. I ended up buying it at a local bookstore since the game is mega huge! The book is like 15 lbs., 25 " thick and cost me $25. That's how big this game is. Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit. I'm sure I'll spew out more drivel on this beauty in many blogs to come.

I'm also in the process of renting the second season of Torchwood, a British produced Sci-Fi series that is best described as X-Files run amok. I've seen a few episodes now and the second season is every bit as good as the first. If you're a genre fan, you really need to check this show out ASAP!. Eve Myles.... oddly, cute as hell!


What music have I been listening to lately? Glad you asked. Strangely, I've been in a real powermetal mood for the last few months. Bands like Dragonforce, Helloween, Nightwish and Yngwie Malmsteen have been blaring out of my computer speakers as I blog and surf the web. Maybe it's the old '80's metal head in me, but there's something about music that is booth powerful, and yet, melodic that really turns my crank.

Family and friends can keep their eyes peeled here for my X-Mas list to make shopping for Zangz far more easy and painless!


Well, I got nothin' else right now. So I'm hoping all readers of this blog (the 4.5 of you) have a wonderful Thanksgiving feast. And enjoy the turkey buzz!

Zangz.

Bond is Back and kickin' all sorts of Quantumized A$$!

After a long week, Friday has finally arrived which usheres in the opening of the new James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace.

But first a notation about tonight's post.

If you haven't seen Quantum of Solace yet you may want to wait to read this post as some of the review could possibly hint at spoilers.

So, here we go...

My friends, Coreboy, Spanky and Spanky's lovely wife Alla joined me for tonight's festivities at the movie theater. We picked a pretty excellent theater to see it in. One with reclining comfy chairs that rocked along with a digital projector and surround sound. And best of all, one that let you bring in your beers to guzzle while you viewed the movie.

Though, we picked a good theater to see it at, we didn't exactly pick a good time. At the same mall that the theater was located, they were having a special X-Mas tree lighting ceremony. This brought out every god awful yuppie family in the entire township. All of them were doing their best to utilize their SUV's and screw up traffic and parking within the entire mall area. After about 20 minutes of driving around aimlessly I ventured to the top level of a parking structure and grabbed the first open slot I could find. Jeebus! Where's a Walter PPK when you need one?

I finally got to the theater and met up with Coreboy. We chatted it up until Spanky and Alla showed up. We then went into the lobby and ordered some food and drinks. They ordered some meals and sodas and, since I had eaten earlier, I ordered a Guinness in honor of Daniel Craig's second outing as James Bond. We then made our way to the theater and found our seats that Spanky had pre-ordered..... in the very last row.  No skin off my back.  I was just happy to be in a comfy, reclinable chair with a Guinness in hand. But, Coreboy wasn't impressed with the seating arrangements. Of course he and Spanky we smarmming at each other on into the beginning of the movie. It's a weird tradition for them to constantly banter back and forth with smarmy comments that hen peck each other.

We were still waiting for the meals to be ready when the lights went down for the previews. Spanky and Coreboy decided that they'd go to the lobby and check on the food, however, they really wanted to see the trailer for the upcoming re-boot of Star Trek that was rumored to be showing with Quantum. So they actually would run back and forth from the theater to the lobby after the start of each trailer to make sure they wouldn't miss it. Well they got back and stood in the side of the isle just in time to see it. I won't go into too much detail, but suffice it to say, it looks totally wonderful! And I'm not a Trekkie. Some great casting choices, excellent effects and wonderful set design could make this a "Zangz must see on opening day" kind of film. Summer of '09!

The food situation was settled and the movie had started. So here we go with my review of...

Quantum of Solace - I tried hard not to find out too much about this movie before I saw it. But, that's really friggin' hard to do when you're living in the prime of the information age.  I had read some not too spectacular reviews about the film and it sort of both grounded me and worried me at the same time. After seeing it's predecessor, Casino Royale, my expectations were a bit out of control at first. Casino is in a class of its own when it comes to both Bond films and action thrillers. It had a wonderful touch of characters you actually felt something for and some great storytelling also. But when I came upon some reviews for Quantum on the Internet my head came back down from the clouds. I knew I was going to enjoy this one, but at the same time, I realized it wasn't going to be a Casino Royale.

I know the questions you want to ask me...

Zangz, is this a great James Bond film?  Yep! It is!

Zangz, is this a great action film?  You betchya!

Zangz, is Daniel Craig as cool as hell as he was in Casino Royal?  Honestly, every bit as cool!

Zangz, is this the perfect sequel to Casino Royale?  Well, not exactly.

Lets get through some of the bad stuff first. I did have a few problems with the film. Unlike Casino, Quantum is a full fledged action movie.  There's not a lot of time for more character building and story development like there was in Casino.  I think a lot of fans are going to be hoping for that.  While this is the first time we've actually seen a continuation from one James Bond movie to the next (this story starts about one hour from the end of Casino), it doesn't exactly have the same feel.  This story focuses more on action rather than characters.  At least, far more so than Casino did.

And speaking of action.  Even though there were a lot of cool action sequences, the jerky, jump cuts, shaky-cam, MTV generation style of editing really took away from the thrills and excitement.  I'm sure there were some well choreographed sequences.   It's just too bad they were kind of poorly presented. Especially the opening car chase sequence.  It's so fast, it's hard to grasp what's going on.  Then before you know it, it's done.

I liked the title song, however, I wonder if it will hold up in the pantheon of all the other Bond songs. Will it stand out as one of the best in ten, twenty years from now?  I'm not totally sold on it yet.

And whats with the under 2 hour running time?  I was still getting into to the movie when it came to an end.

Those silly quibbles aside, Quantum is one Bondified love jones of ass kickery!  In this adventure we really get to see how effected Bond was by the death of Vesper in Casino.  He's a man on a self mission.  A man with a grudge!  He's not afraid of the consequences when he puts a bullet in the skull of someone who may give the British government leads.  Daniel Craig has already proven himself worthy of being Bond.  He, of course, continues the tradition here.  He's far more hardened and brutal than he was in Casino.  Very cold and cool as a cucumber.  I liked that.

The Bond girls are quite fetching, but aren't given anything really memorable or as substantial as former Bond girls had been given.  But, both do great jobs with what they're given.  Spoiler ahead! Highlight to read: One of them does a nice little homage to a scene from Goldfinger. Obvioulsy, she isn't in much of the film.

Of course Dame Judi Dench can do no wrong as Bond's superior, "M".  And it's great to see Jeffrey Wright return as Felix Lighter!  He may just be the best Lighter yet.

The villain is as slimy and greasy as they get.  He tries so hard to come off as such a nice guy and caregiver to the world.  But, in the end, he's just another greedy CEO who's a major part of a very powerful and sinister organization (no, not S.P.E.C.T.E.R. and not Smersh).

Speaking of this nasty organization, there's a way cool scene that reveals how they go about conducting their secret meetings.  And it's not at some huge, long stainless steel table in some secret lair nestled in a dormant volcano (though, that's pretty cool also).  It's conducted pretty much out in public.  Very, very clever idea!

There's a lot of very cool action in this movie (would have been even better without the speed that it is thrown at you), some good explosions and lots of fight sequences in which Bond deals out some seriously brutal blows that highlight the film.

A couple of more notations on the film.

Neither "Q" or Moneypenny show up in this movie. They have yet to be introduced in this new, rebooted Bond franchise.  I'm hoping that their characters will eventually be addressed as they're too loved and adored by fans to be complely left out of the loop.  I'm not really botherd by this yet.  But, if we get up to a few more Bond movies and they're characters are still not addressed, it will be quite disappointing.

The set pieces hearken back to earlier Bond films.  There's a cool hotel that is smack dab in the middle of the desert that looks more like one of the big ass secret villain lairs from the Bond flicks of the 60's and 70's.  Of course the cinematography and exotic setting help accentuate the whole spy thriller motif that is so prevalent in the Bond films.

Also note that you may want to give Casino Royale a viewing before you see this movie. There is a lot referenced of the former film in this one.  It truly is a direct sequel!!

Yup! I had a great time with this movie.  Did I have as great of a time with Quantum as I did with Casino?  Not quite, but Quantum of Solace is still a great Bond film and will certainly be beyond satisfactory for us die hard Bond geeks!

Well, it's late and I have to get up early for an oil change at my Bro-In-Law's garage.

Until next time, Stay Vertical!

Zangz.

Mad Mario's Review....

My good friend, Mad Mario, rented the animated movie, Star Wars: the Clone Wars. I kind of avoided it when it came out this summer since I heard it licked dead monkey nards. Apparently, Mario actually liked this film. So in a rarity here at Zangz's blog of Geekdom, I thought I'd post Mad Mario's review of the movie he e-mailed everybody. We'll make it a kind of opening, special guest review to my upcoming headlining review of Quantum of Solace that is coming up this weekend.

So without further adieu, I revert the blog over to Mad Mario's train of thought. Take it away Mario!

Hi there,

Normally I don't do reviews but I wanted to pass on one person's opinion on the new Clone Wars DVD that came out today. Having the day off I thought I'd give it a whirl and I have to admit: I liked it.

It's obviously for a younger and more current generation but some of the visuals are indeed stunning. My particular favorites were the wall walk the side of a bluff to get to a temple where the little glob is being held as well as the night fight with Dooku on Tatooine.

It's fast paced and although the characters look like warped action figures from Japan; the plot is more thought out than I expected.

A few perks are voice work done by Christopher Lee, Anthony Daniels, and Samuel L. Jackson

Essentially the trailers never gave a reason for the story except some bad guys, guess who, kidnap Jabba's son. Indeed, you don't get the idea of really who was behind it all until near the end of the film.

Certain departures from traditional Star Wars movies are the verbal narration & explanation for the beginning of the film, no trailing yellow paragraphs to read, as well as a more middle eastern styled soundtrack.

If you look at it as animation(Star Wars meets PIXAR) it's kinda cool. The young Padawan kinda grows on you and the troopers are kick ass. I guess what you can't accomplish with wires and human actors you hang back with CGI.

So, RENT IT, first and see if it's worth the cash within today's economic grind. I think you might be surprised. Something to watch while you're doing the laundry or if you're itching to be dazzled by lot's of color.

Which explains why I was drawn to it. " Look honey color and movement!!!!" Poor Hope....

Keep in touch kids & May the Force be with you!

Mad Mario

Ok, so that was Mario with his rather positive review of Star Wars: the Clone Wars. At least Mario is taking a different attitude than most who have seen this movie... who thought it licked dead monkey nards. Perhaps I'll get myself a viewing soon.

In quicky other news, family and freinds should keep thier eyes on my blog as that's where I'll post my X-Mas list soon. I'll keep it pretty cheap with different options for people to choose from. After all the one and only good thing about the holidays is the gifts we get..... and I suppose give......sigh......whatever.

Next up, a personal review of the heavily awaited Quantum of Solace!

Zangz.

The Quantum of Monkey Poop

My co-worker, Mr. Salty, commented on how my first post after Halloween is always a bash on the X-Mas season and he was looking forward to me doing my annual anti-X-Mas post.

Actually, this year, we do have reason to celebrate as there is a day coming up when both children and adults can revel in pure happiness, where families can get together and remember what is truly important to them, a day where hope and joy will warm the harts of both young and old alike, a day where we can all celebrate and hold the hands of our fellow man and not feel shame or sadness about anything. It's a day where a great gift will bestowed upon the masses.

Oh.... wait a minute. You thought I was referring to X-Mas, didn't you? Awww... I'm so sorry for the mix up. I was actually talking about November the 14th, the day that Quantum of Solace is released. You actually thought I was talking about X-Mas? No, no, no. X-Mas is a big pile of yuppie lovin' greed filled pure crap! A holiday solely designed for the greedy and religious. Besides, it was originally celebrated as the winter solstice and then stolen and warped into something completley different. So I apologize for the miscommunication.

Yep! Bah-Humbug mode is activated to full tilt and will be until well after the new year.

Yep. I'm pretty stoked about the next James Bond outing that's one week away. I've heard mostly good things about it. It's a very excellent action movie. Daniel Craig kicks major ass in this one. Both of the Bond Girls are quite desirable. The only thing I worry for is the fact that they may taken a lot of the characterization and story telling out of this one that was so wonderful and prevalent in it's predecessor, Casino Royale. Either way, I'm going to really enjoy this one! I made plans to see this with Spanky and Coreboy on opening night long ago so you'll be getting a full review sometime next weekend. I'm sure Spanky will find a lot wrong with it as he seems to find a lot wrong with many a great motion picture (he still can't stop harping about THE greatest movie of 2008 so far, Dark Knight).


I'm still having loads of fun playing Fallout 3, the post apocalyptic video RPG. So far I've discovered a band of "vampires" living in the old subways of Washington, DC, gotten my ass handed to me on a silver platter by a bunch of nuked up zombies, found a small town filled with land mines (that handed me the same ass on the same silver platter), explored a survival vault filled with nutter survivors out to slice me to pieces and a whole town built out of the remnants of old airplanes, buses and automobiles. My character even has his own little rusty, two level home there. The game is quite challenging, which is good. It has a kind of survival horror feel to it as meds and ammo aren't as easy to come by as other RPG games. You really have to scavenge and conserve your swag. I'll let you know how it's going in latter posts.


Though this isn't much of a political blog, how can I not comment on the history that was made this past week? The current administration has been ousted. And they have only themselves to blame. A country that is allowed to vote for it's leaders will sooner or later wise up and speak its peace about a leadership that has done nothing but put this country right into the crapper.

I can't help but be a little teary eyed when I think that this country has progressed far enough to have an African American as their next president (it'll be cool! Just like "24"!).

I grew up in a conservative household. Outside of the cruelty of other children, it was a pretty darn good childhood. My parents raised me to be a decent citizen. I was never beaten or forced into some weird, ultra-right wing religion. So I can say that I had a very decent conservative childhood. But, as I grew up and saw the real world for what it was, I slowly started to lean to the left. Then when 911 hit, I started to come back to the conservative fold. Not a Jesus Freak, mind you, but someone who understood that there was true evil in this world, and if you turned your back on it, it could eat you alive. Then I became unemployed and before I got a new job I saw how the greed of corporate America took way too many liberties, had a vice hold on the current administration and how they utterly fracked up the economy of this nation. It was time for a change. I guess I'd consider myself a progressive, independent, moderate.

However, here's an analogy I'd like to use. There's this zoo (the world) and there's a monkey cage there (the U.S.) and they've just hired on a brand spankin' new monkey cage keeper. his name is Barak. It's Barak's first day and the guy who's training him takes him by the cage and gives him a small can of water, a container of Palmolive and a toothbrush. He then tells Barak, "You know, the last two monkey cage keepers fed these monkeys lots of chili, lots of dark beer and lots of laxatives as a diet. This lasted 16 years and they never cleaned the cage. These monkeys have shat everywhere! It's in every crevice of every tile and on every surface of every fake Styrofoam rock. And you now how much monkeys love to toss their poop! You have your toothbrush. Get started."

I do not envy Mr. Obama's challenges ahead. I I hope to god he can truly give us some hope and change that the last 2 administrations refused to do.

Zangz's Blog of Geekdom would like to congratulate President Elect Obama on his historic win!


You know, Gary Busey is ass-crackers crazy. And he's on TV right now in the greatest reality TV show to grace this earth, Celebrity Rehab. It's on right now, so I gotta go and check it out.

Until the next James Bond weekend, stay vertical!

Zangz.