Zangz's Best of 2009!

Last Blog Post of the Decade!

It seems that in the last blog post of every year I post something to the effect of, "Let's hope that the new year doesn't suck as much as this past year did".

But, every year seems to surpass the previous in pure crap-a-tude! This year was marred by a lot of people close to myself and my family dealing with some unfair sucker punches that life tends to deal out. Sicknesses, unemployment, bad investments, economic instability, car accidents and a whole plethora of corn filled crapolla has plagued many in our lives in '09.

So this year I'm hesitant to put down this past year and wish for a better upcoming year, because it seems to put some bad voodoo vibes out there.

Thus, the best I can come up with is this....

May 2010 be a lucrative, happy, rejuvenatory, healing year for us all!

Having said that, I do realize that not everything was totally poopville in 2009. Here are a couple of my favorite things that I either discovered or came upon this past year.....

Best Movie of 2009:

Star Trek

The newly revamped telling of the classic TV series that was directed by geek icon J.J. Abrams really put the Star Trek franchise back on the map after it was starting to disappear and dwindle into nothingness. The very clever storytelling, character development and cool as frell action sequences have more than made up for the last few Next Generation movies that Hollywood was drenning out! And bravo to Chris Pine for really capturing a cocky, young Captain James Tiberius Kirk so perfectly. You can read my review on the film HERE and you can watch the trailer for it HERE.

Best Comedy of 2009:

The Hangover

Ok, I'll admit it. There's a heck of a lot of bathroom humor in this tale of four guys going to Vegas for a bachelor party and after a drunken night of debauchery they lose the bachelor. The day after plays out like a real warped comedy mystery. There are scenes in this movie that will have you laughing out loud and then realizing what a disturbing person you must be for laughing at them. Zach Galifianakis was the stand out for me as the awkward, slightly off kilter future brother in law. The character harnesses the biggest laughs in the film with his dimwitted and a bit creepy persona (just why does he have a court order to stay far away from high school?) Check out the trailer HERE.

Best Book Read in 2009

Devil May Care
by Sabastian Faulks

I didn't read a lot this year. In fact I started about three or four different books, but only completed this one, thus, sadly, it's may favorite of the year...sigh. Actually it's not too bad and as a James Bond novel, it reads pretty fast with a lot of action in it. Faulks brings the characer of James Bond back to the cold war era to fight against another odd, megalomaniac arms dealer. Faulks adhears to a lot of the James Bond trappings that fans of the character really enjoy. Exotic locations, beautiful women and nasty villains are all handled quite capably here. And it is not a long grueling book to read through as some of John Gardner's novels were. It is quick, action packed and to the point. Though my favorite Bond novelist is still Raymond Benson, I'm hoping the Flemming estate will stick with Faulks for a few more novels. You can see a bit about it HERE.

Best Web Series

The Guild

This independent web series created by actress Felicia Day is about a group of online gamers who spend hours upon hours playing World of Warcraft. The comedy is more about their social lives (or sever lack there of) than the game itself. The episodes are short so it's a good "go to" if you've come home from a stressful day at work for a couple of hearty chuckles. Click on "The Guild" above to see episodes!

Best Haunted Attraction Visited in 2009

Hartford Jaceey's Haunted House

They've won over Terror on Rural Street for the 2nd year running. It's all about the ridicules amounts of attention to detail they put into the show.

And last, but in no means least....

Best Video Game of 2009

Borderlands

Last year Fallout 3 got the honors and this year I've been playing a heck of a lot of Fallout 3 also. But, I didn't want to be redundant and this year I was pretty addicted to Borderlands! In a nutshell, it takes place on a post apocalyptic planet called Pandora where bandits, mutants and renagades run rampant trying to find "The Vault", a hidden place with a possible alien cache of great wealth. You play one of three types of fighter classes you can pick from. From then on it's a wonderful cell shaded, open sand boxed, first person shooter that has a huge wealth of weapons and stash you can switch out and sell.

There's also a good dose of RPG character progression which adds to the already addictive amount of different fire arms that are all over the planet. It wasn't the most perfect RPG game created. Once you find "The Vault" it's not all it's cracked up to be and you find yourself up against a pretty nasty boss where you'll find the learning curve for defeating bad guys has gone through the roof. That last fight can be pretty frustrating. Once you beat the last boss, you're forced to watch the credits. Then after that you are able to go back and still play the game without any quests being given to you. You can still trudge about the world taking on bad guys and even go up against some of the minor bosses again.

Although it had over 100 side quests in addition to the main quest, the game could have been a bit longer and more epic. When you want to put an RPG video game out there, you'd better be ready to be compared to the big boys. Anyone who's played the aforementioned Fallout 3 or games like Morrowind and Oblivion have experienced truly epic games. Borderlands is kind of short in comparison. But it's addictive gameplay makes up for it. I see myself playing through the game again some point down the road. I had that much fun with it.

See gameplay HERE.

Consider that my review of Borderlands I've been promising.


I got Dragonage: Origins and Sacred 2 for X-Mas and I'll let you now how they play out. The next big game I'm looking forward to is Mass Effect 2. It comes out not too far off from my birthday, so I think I know what some birthday money is going to buy.

I'm not promising anything, but several posts back I've alluded to my Buddy Bruce providing us with a review of this past summer's DragonCon '09. Well, his computer did some serious crashing, but things are back up to normal now and he actually hopes to have it ready soon!

That's it for the posts of 2009. Remember to stay safe tonight and stay vertical.

Until next year, see ya.

Zangz.

Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men, yada, yada, yada......

Here it is, X-Mas Eve day, and there's just one thing that is on my mind right now...."JEEBUS is that Iron Man 2 trailer looking pretty darned awesome!!!" If they give the care and love of the character and comic that they infused into the first movie into the second, then all will be alright with the world.

I know. Commenting about the new Iron Man trailer seems a bit shallow when we should all be focusing on Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men, yada, yada, yada and whateverthehellother X-Mas pleasantries you want to toss in there. They seem ironic when put up against the modern day backdrop of stores and streets filled with obnoxious people all knocking each other down and running each other off of the roads to get there hands on a gift for the already spoiled little Johnny-Brat-Face.

Are you waiting for the X-Mas spirit to manifest itself on this post yet? Keep reading...

I know I've joked on this blog before about presents being the major deal of X-Mas just to stir the pot a bit. But, for me the real deal of the holidays is being with family and friends! That's all there is to it for me. And that alone is a big, major, hairy deal to me.

I take this time to celebrate in a personal manor how important friends and family are to me. Out there in the shallow, yuppie world of normalcy, geeks like myself are thrown to wolves. If it weren't for the acceptance of my closest friends and the support of my family, I'd be in over my head trying to fit into a world where the themes of the fantastic are constantly under conservative scrutiny.

The acceptance and support I get from them are the best X-Mas gifts I can ask for. The best thing is that I don't have to ask for them. They are given unconditionally.

The next couple of days will be about family, friends, good company, great food, good drink, and both giving and receiving some presents as well as time away from the hectic work schedule.

Here's hoping that the rest of you all get to have the same things this holiday season!


That's about as festive as it's going to get in my Blog of Geekdom. So on to more geeky things....

I've almost come to the very end of Borderlands for the Xbox 360. I'll have a full review once I'm done, but so far thumbs up! After that I'll go back to completing the additional content from Fallout 3. Hopefully I'll find a new game in my X-Mas stocking tonight so I have something after Fallout 3. If not, a little X-Mas money may have to go toward either Sacred 2 or Dragonage: Origins. We'll see.

As far as television viewing, I'm catching up on the two season HBO epic, ROME on DVD. I'm pretty hooked as they spare no expense in showing how brutal it was during the rise of the Roman empire.

That's about all there is for this X-Mas Eve day post of my Blog of Geekdom. So I'll end it on this holiday wish to you and yours...

May the fat man get you some groovy swag this holiday season!

Merry X-Mas!

Zangz.

Jack Frost Can Suck It!

Ho, ho, frackin' ho.

The X-Mas season continues it's plague across the lands as arctic temperatures linger about, freezing the nards of all man, woman and child. Well, maybe not "woman". Well, maybe some women....who have just had that surgery.

In any case, it's cold as hell, making the chore of going out X-Mas shopping beyond the point of "less appealing". It downright blows. Jack Frost can go pound sand! I love giving loved ones cool stuff, but schlepping my way through nasty crowds in freezing cold temperatures sure doesn't bring me the yuletide joy.

But, that's exactly what I've been doing for the last couple of days, God bless my cold, anti-X-Mas heart.

I know what you're all thinking, "Zangz, are you so cold inside that you can't even appreciate the little things that give great joy during the holiday season?"

You may be surprised at my answer. I most certainly can. Just last weekend I had two tree decorating sessions that I really enjoyed.

The first one was at my sister's place. My Bro-In-Law feigned a hurt finger and was unable to put ornaments up on the tree. So I had to step in and save the day. As a child, tree decorating was "the bomb" (kids still use that kind of cool jargon, don't they?). I loved pulling out all of the home made decorations that my mom and Grandma made as well as the store bought favorites and picking the places on the tree that I would put them.

As an adult, tree decorating is at the same level of fun as being pulled through the cobble stoned streets of Charles Dickens' Victorian England on the ground by a team of wild horses. But, for some reason, I was kind of into it. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (featuring a very young Big Bang Theory star Johnny Galecki as Rusty Griswald) was playing on the tube as my mom, sis and myself put the ornaments up on the tree. In some weird way, after a crazy week at work, it helped relax me.

Then the next night I was over at the home of some close friends that are going through a bit of a challenging and tough time. My very close friend Iris Von Beaverhousen is currently kicking cancer's ass. I had the utmost privilege to watch her and her faithful manservant, and fellow friend, Roberto, put up their tree decorations with the ever so precocious 4 year old, "G-Love".

As they let me watch their collection of DVR'd episodes of Ace of Cakes, I would glance over at the family putting up the tree and get a warm, cozy, happy-time feeling ooze over me. Iris would be putting up her "Millennium Falcon flying over Mos Eisley" ornament while Roberto would have his Darth Vader ornament in hand ever ready to plunk it upon the appropriate branch. And G-Love would be wearing her Santa hat and helping Mom and Dad with the whole artistic endeavor the X-Mas tree is. Perhaps X-Mas doesn't suck half as much as I blog about. Perhaps there is hope for humanity during the holiday season. Just perhaps.

I did buy myself a little X-Mas present. Usually I wait until a few days before the new year to buy a calendar. That's when they all go to half price. But, while perusing through a local bookstore I came upon a calendar I just had to grab right away. I'm now the proud owner of the "Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog" 2010 calendar. How was I to resist a calendar that features both Falicia Day and Liz Vassey (Capt. Liberty from The Tick TV show).

If you're not up to speed on what Dr. Horrible is all about, you need to give yourself a bit of a treat and check it all out here. It's a heck of a fun time, even though the ending is bittersweet.

Also check out the music of The Bronx Casket Company. Being a big fan of Type O Negative as I am, a friend at work thought I might be interested in this band. So I checked them out and really enjoy what I hear. Very dark and yet melodic. Check them out, won't you?

That's going to be it for this post. Until next time, stay vertical and happy holidays (I threw up a little bit in my mouth just typing that)....humbug.

Zangz.

The 2nd Annual, Zangz's X-mas / B-Day Present Wish List.

Call me shallow as heck, but the only really good thing about X-mas is the gifts. Giving them as well as receiving them....I guess.

Unfortunately, the curse that is the holiday season has once again reared it's ugly head and affected our family's gift giving organization.

First, due to a supreme lack of communication upon both my sister's and my part, we both got our mom the same gift. A DVD player that she has been heavy-handedly hinting to the both of us that she wanted. Luckily I was able to guilt my sister into returning hers. But now there's another problem.

I was planning on posting this blog so my family had a place to find out what I wanted for X-Mas. But, I get this call from my Mom earlier this evening when I'm out and about and the conversation goes something like this....

Mom: I need your X-mas gift list now. Me and your sister are going shopping tomorrow.

Me: I hate X-mas so I really haven't thought too hard about it. I was going to post it on my blog this weekend.

Mom: I never read your blog (big surprise) and technology frightens me. Aren't there viruses on blogs? Just email it to me as soon as you get home.

Me: I have a few ideas, but nothing concrete yet. Can't you wait until the weekend?

Mom: Your sister and I are going out tomorrow, I'm not going to have time to read your blog in the morning to get a bunch of viruses. I need it emailed to me as soon as possible.

Me: I'll see what I can do, but you'd have a far better idea of what I'd like if you'd just be patient and read my blog tomorrow.

Mom: I can't be patient and get a bunch of viruses! I need it so I can print it out quickly. I don't want to visit a virus ridden website!

Me: There are no viruses on the blog, Ma!

Mom: Then why can't I get channel 12 in on my TV?

Me: What?

Mom: Ever since I visited your blog the last time, I can't get in channel 12 on this whole new fangled digital TV stuff.

Me: Um, Mom. That has nothing to do with my blog. That's has to do with the new digital adapters that you put in once the TV stations went digital.

Mom: Well, I'm just saying, technology is all catywhompass. Also, I can't read your blog since the lettering is too small. Just email me your list.

At least that's the way I remember the conversation going down. So I relented and sent her a half-assed list. But for a far more detailed affair please peruse the items below.

RULES AND REGULATIONS: This is not just a X-Mas list it's also a B-Day list since my B-Day comes less than a month after X-Mas and I know people a conserving funds during the crappy economic times. I DO NOT expect to get all of this stuff, but I'm giving everybody a plethora of stuff to choose from. These are in no particular order of want or need. Here we go.....


VIDEO GAMES:

Sacred 2: Fallen Angel for the Xbox 360 - Another open world action fantasy RPG. I've heard that it's pretty good. But, not a knock out of the park. That's why I don't want to spend my own money on it. (for review view here)
Dragon Age: Origins for the Xbox 360 - Same as above, but got far better reviews. It's not quite an action RPG. It has a bit of timed strategy involved in its combat, much like Mass Effect. But reviews have been pretty excellent for this game. (for review view HERE.)

DVDs:

Since I already bought myself the new Star Trek movie, there's one other I'd like to have in my collection...

The Hangover - Funniest movie I've seen all year. I can't not see this puppy finding it's way into my DVD library. See the trailer HERE.

CLOTHES:
I've never been a big "clothes for gifts" fan. My sister does pretty darn good in choosing stuff for me. But it's always ironing intensive. So here's another idea.

Here are a bunch of websites that have some of the coolest frackin' shirts I've ever seen!

http://www.fright-rags.com/

http://www.lastexittonowhere.com/

http://www.bustedtees.com/

Here are a few that stand out from them.....

The Slaughtered Lamb (reference to American Werewolf in London)
Pork Chop Express (reference to Big Trouble in Little China)
Haddonfield (reference to Halloween)
Nexus-6 (reference to Blade Runner)
Tyrell (another reference to Blade Runner)
Main Force Patrol (reference to Mad Max/Road Warrior)
Miskatonic U (reference to Call of Cthulhu)
Zombie
Zuul
Obey
Brewster
Omen
Nosferatu
Gates
More Cowbell
Brains
What the Frak
That's How I Roll
Solo
Einstien
St. Dorothy (reference to Anchorman)
Deathstar
Strangers
Watchmen

Yep. That's a hell of a lot of T-Shirts. I guess that geek culture is growing in leaps and bounds. I know some of them are from an English website, but a guy can dream can't he. Isn't this the time for X-Mas magic? C'mon, people! Work for it!!!!

Shoes - Something between a work shoe and semi formal. Skeechters has some good stuff at times.

Winter Gloves - Heck, a black leather pair that isn't insanely cumbersome and doesn't fall apart at the slightest hint of manual labor would be fine.

Those last two picks are not at the top of my list! Check the T-shirts list first.

OTHER STUFF:

Money is always good. I can use it toward things. I'm thinking about purchasing a smart phone since I haven't had a really good organizer in years. I'm currently looking at either this or this or this. Or this.

Cologne - I haven't had a really good cologne in a long time. I heavily rely on underarm deodorant these days. That alone will not placate the ladies.

That's it for now. Start budgeting since I am a bit of an expensive beeeoootch.

I kid. Get me whatever the heck you feel like for my X-mas / B-day. I'll even be happy if I get a lump of coal. Being able to spend X-Mas with friends and family is always the ultimate gift (ass kissing alert.)

Until next time. Stay vertical!!

P.S. The script in this blog is bigger than usual so my mom can actually read it....sigh.

Zangz.