Kelly Clarkson gets herself SKOOLED!!

I promise this one will be a quickie since I took the day off to bum around and schlep a bit. So I don't want my blogging time to interfere with either my schlepping or bumming.



First and foremost, I found this little You Tube doosey that I thought I'd like to share with you. No, it doesn't have anything that deals with Sci-Fi, Fantasy or Horror, but how many times in your lifetime can you say that you've seen an intoxicated Kelly Clarkson sing along with a Hair Metal comedy/tribute band called Metal Skool. "None.", you say? Then, by all means, feast your eyes HERE for a bit of a chuckle. (By the way, hope you don't have dial-up, like I do. 'Cause it will take you at least 45 minutes to fully download this post American Idol extravaganza. Oh, also, there is a bit of adult language associated within the video. So if your ears are cursed with a puritanical mentality, best not to witness. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! And please don't Flag me, ya simps!).

See, even teen idols need to seriously kick back, rock out and take no prisoners. Ya just have to wonder what kind of a hangover Ms. Clarkson had to endure the next day.



Anyway, one of the reasons I took off of work today was to rest myself for tomorrow's festivities. The annual Feast of Robhain (aka: my friend, Roberto DelAmorte's, 40th birthday bash) will be in full swing and some of the contests can get quite competitive. So, I have to mentally ready myself for the trails that lie ahead for my team and me. This year's theme is World War II so I suspect there will be lots of references to odd German military jargon like, Panzerfaust and Maschinengewehr 08 and Flammenwerfer 35 and the dreaded Panzerwehrwerfer 69 (ok, that last one I made up.). I of course will let you all know how things went.


Otherwise, nothing to geek out about this week, sad to say. Ok, then. On to more bumming and schlepping. Perhaps tonight I'll indulge in a nice fat cigar. Hmmmmm....

Until next time, Seacrest out.

Zangz.

One Big STEAMER!

Let's roll right into things, shall we?

I have to exclaim the fact that I have seen the second greatest animated movie known to mankind's history. Coincidentally enough, it was created by the man who brought us the actual greatest animated movie known to mankind.

Keep in mind, that as big of a geek as I am, I'm not a raging fan on Japamation, or Anime as it's more commonly know. The whole big eyes and bad voice looping always bugs the frell outta me. But there have been a few gleaming gems peaking out of the rough that I've thoroughly enjoyed. There's a little anime feature that came out over ten years ago called Riding Bean that I found quite enjoyable. Then there's the animated series Cowboy Beebop that, when I have a chance to catch it on the Cartoon Network, I find quite intriguing. And as a youngin' Speed Racer and Battle of the Planets had always kept me captivated.

But Anime such as Pokeman and Yog-E-Ohh I find quite detrimental to the genres of the fantastic. They're more about making money than quality and they seem to be the trend of Anime these days.

Well, I had the pleasure to rent, what I think to be one of THE greatest Anime, let alone animation, movies of all time. It's a little surprise that traveled America in limited release this past winter called, Steamboy by famed anime god Katsuhiro Ottomo who brought us THE greatest animated movie of all time about 20 years ago called Akira.

Where Akira took place in a doomed futuristic Tokyo and had very adult themes to it, Steamboy takes place in an alternate history of Victorian England where everything is run by steam machinery. It is also quite a bit more family friendly than Akira.

The lead character, Steamboy, is a young lad who is particularity gifted in the machinations of steam and how it all works. He falls into a world of corporate greed and must find a way out. It features the voices of Patric Stewart (Star Trek:TNG, X-Men), Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2) and Anna Paquin (X-Men). But all of that isn't the reason you need to see this movie.

This movie is fantastically, visually stunning! And I don't give a crap if that's bad grammar. If you have a soul for the fantastic and artistic, this is a movie for you. Victorian England never looked more wonderful on film. The steam inventions that run the country all seem quite feasible in their design. On top of all that, Katshiro Ottomo always knows how to capture mass destruction in such a beautiful way. He continues that trend with Steamboy.

A great little film, check it out if you have a soul!


Having decided to put CoC:DCOTE on indefinite hold, I went ahead and rented a few other Xbox games to dink around with for a while. Both of them first person shooters (FPS). And I enjoyed both of them quite a bit.

The first one was Painkiller: Hell Wars. Simplistic enough in the fact that you simply acquire 5 different weapons (you can only handle two at a time - a lame trend in most modern day FPS games that started with Halo) while you run around different earthly looking levels of hell shooting up different dead things and demons. Maybe, story wise, this isn't exactly Dante, but visually, it's pretty fan-frellin'-tastic. From a haunted grave yard, to a haunted house, to a haunted military base, to a haunted cathedral, every level has lots to check out and explore, even though the game is very fast paced. A fun rental.

The second one I checked out was simply titled Black. In this one you are a imprisoned ex black operative agent. The whole game is played as a flashback and explains how you got into prison. First my one major grip about this game is that it's to short. Otherwise, it has lots to offer. It's very challenging (without being frustrating) and fast paced! This game will keep you on your toes. I even was shaking a bit after one particular level.

The levels all look excellent. Some are even downright creepy, which is odd to pull off in a game that is based on espionage, terrorism and spy stuff. The settings are very destructable. I don't think I've caused that much destruction in a game that I can remember. There was one level in an abandoned asylum where there was glass and poceline tiles flying everywhere. Awesome.

Sadly, once you find yourself totally immersed in the plot and story line, the game is done. What da...? Hopefully there'll be a longer sequel.


I'd like to congratulate my best bud, Goof, on his becoming a father this week when his lovely wife finally pinched out a baby boy. Both mom and son are healthy! When I heard it was a boy the first thing I told Goof was, "Cool! Now we can buy the kid action figures!" His reply? "Exactly!"


Does anyone else notice the fact that the trees are ever so slowly changing color. I noticed it the other day driving into work. It's like they're already preparing for the season of the dead. There may be no chill in the night's air or odd shadows moving about yet, but the time grows ever so close. Bruhahahahahahaha (lightning/thunderclap).


In other news, my grand media empire of the internet is one big step closer to becoming a reality. Keep your ears and eyes peeled come September when the shat hits the web!

Well, that's about all for now.

Until next time, stay vertical.

Zangz.

Sweating in places I never thought possible....

I'm quite glad we've come to the end of one heck of a hot and humid week. I tell ya, I found that I had sweat glands in places that I never thought was humanly possible. Frell! Even my cornias were moist and sticky. But it's cooled down here and is at a comfortable temperature. So, I'm now free to blog on without passing out from heat exhaustion or dehydration.


Well, I guess the big geekafied news this week was that I saw the last big summer movie that I really was anticipating. As you know, I've seen X-Men:The Last Stand, Superman Returns and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. I found all three enjoyable to different extents with Pirates being at the fore front. Last Sunday, I got a chance to hook up with my two buddies, Spanky and Coreboy, and see the fourth movie I've been really looking forward to, Clerks II. Don't expect me to give away the whole story, but I will tell you if you truly appreciated the first Clerks movie that was released back in the early '90's, you'll find this one just as fun!

You will have to keep in mind that it is coming from a different place than the first movie was. Director/writer/actor Kevin "Silent Bob" Smith had made a very low budget, black and white independent film which was able to capture the day in the life of a couple of convenience store clerks. It wasn't the wacky shenanigans that took place throughout that day that made that movie a geek-lovin' classic. It was Smith's wonderfully written dialog that had us geeks in the palm of his hands. Especially the argumentative diatribe of how innocent lives were lost during the Battle of Endor in the Death Star II when many an innocent contractor/workman building the intergalactic monstrosity lost their lives when it blew up.

Even though Clerks II is in color, and isn't an independent film, takes place in a fast food restaurant instead of a convenience store and is not separated into chapters as Clerks was, this film still gives you the same geeky vibe as the last one did. Instead of an argument about the fate of the Death Star's inhabitants, there's a wonderful debate on which geek genre is superior, Star Wars or Lord of the Rings. The battle ends in vomit, and that is just one of the sight gags that may churn the stomachs of the squeamish.

I love when good comedy can push the envelope, and this puppy pushes it all over the place. Political correctness be damned! There's one scene where Jason Mewes, of Jay and Silent Bob, give a special homage (pronounced om-age) to the movie Silence of the Lambs that has to be seen to be believed.

Honestly, this was a real fun movie. It was great to see what the characters of Clerks (Dante, Randal, Jay and Silent Bob) were up to. The new cast members and characters were just as welcome. Especially cute as a button, Rosario Dawson. Though the movie had some edgy humor, it also had loads of heart. You care about what happens to the characters and the outcome in the end is where you want it to be.

In the end I have to say a most definite two thumbs up. Mr. Smith did himself proud once again. Who knows what's next in his Veiw Askew universe? I'm just hoping that this isn't the end! Clerks two is pretty much tied with Pirates as my favorite genre movie of the summer. It shall be summoned to my DVD collection once released!


Guess who's already yearning for Halloween? Yep. It's me. Though it's still, technically, three months away, I start celebrating and getting into the spirit (pun intended) in mid September. And in a month and a half we'll be there folks. Hopefully I'll be able to drag friends to a few more Haunted Attractions this season than the paltry one event I went to last year. Don't get me wrong, the event wasn't lack-luster in any way, it was the amount (1) that I went to that was disappointing. This year I may try and make up for that.


Here's something I forgot to Blog about from a while back. I was lucky enough to go down to my local art museum and see a traveling display on the history of comics. It was quite enjoyable. The subjects I got the most enjoyment out of was the wonderful pulp comics they had on display. Getting to see original prints from Jack "The King" Kirby, Will Eisner's The Spirit and Chester Gould's Dick Tracy were a real honor. Too bad I don't have the money to collect any more. Some of the more artsy-fartsy alternative comics were presented there where I wished they would have concentrated more with modern day artists as Todd McFarlane, Norm Breyfogle and other real comic artists that really know how to give the books more pizzaz rather than modern art crapolla.


I'm still working on that expansion to the Zangz's media empire. Watch for an announcement soon.


Here are a couple of Bond bits that came out of the entertainment media recently. First of all Pinewood Studios had a huge fire that ruined much of the 007 Sound Stage. It apparently ruined a set resembling Venice that was built for Casino Royale. Fortunately, they had finished filming there before it got all pyroed up.

Also, Eon studios have announced who will perform the title track to Casino Royale. Chris Cornell (formerly of Soundgarden, currently of Audioslave) will be lending his powerful voice to the main track. This is the first time that they have had the balls to employ a hard rocker to do the honor. The heaviest Bond title song previously was Paul McCartney and Wings doing Live and Let Die. This should be interesting. November 17th, folks. Hopefully there will be no curse for the producers after unfairly getting rid of Brosnan too prematurely. Cross your fingers.


That's all I have for tonight. Until next time, Smoke 'em if you got 'em.

Zangz.

Call of Cthulhu video games and our city planner... What do these two things have in common?

I started this uber-humid day by driving around the downtown area trying to find the DMV station. The location of the station was smack dab in the middle of both highway AND roadway construction. So what should have been a 10 minute drive turned out to be 45 minute ride of zig-zagging back and forth and a 5 minute unwanted surprise freeway trip. Quite frustrating (yet not as frustrating as playing the Call of Cthulhu video game. More on that later.) But I eventually got to my destination with a skip in my step and a song in my heart. The song goes something like.... "Let's hunt down the city planner and his family... then we'll hog tie them and put them in the trunk of a car... and then".. errr...ummm... I know, I know. Inside voice, Zangz. Inside voice.

Well, there's lots brewin' in the genres of the fantastic, but not much actually happening as of late. So I'm sorry if this particular Blog of Geekdom seems a bit uninspired, but after I saw most of the movies I really wanted to see this summer, there's a bit of a lull here in the Vault of Geekdom. But there's still plenty to mention, so here we go....



I finally finished Far Cry: Instincts on the Xbox. I must say that for whatever reason, I enjoyed it more the second time I played it than the first. Probably because I finally got through the end of it. My only complaint is that it could have been slightly longer. Not a lot longer, just a tad. Perhaps a little more FPS action on the lava covered, nightmarish island towards the end. Another nice quality of this game was that it really moved like a movie, yet it had very few in-game video sequences. Most of those can really break up the pace of a game. Far Cry: Instincts uses them sparsely.

One real cool feature of the game is that it has it's own level editor so you can create your own multiplayer playground to eviscerate your friends in. I created my own little moon lit swamp with ancient ruins scattered about. Perhaps I'll whip up another one before I return it to my co-worker.


I wish I could say that I'm having the same great time with the Xbox's Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth. It's disappointing to stumble through a game that should have a lot going for it, only to want to toss the controller out of my window in states of red hot blind rage!!! This game should have had it all. It's produced by Bethesda, who made my favorite game, Morrowind. It takes place within the world that the father of modern day horror, H.P. Lovecraft, created. Visually it's very creepy and captures Lovecraft's dark little seaside town of Innsmith quite well.

It's just too bad that the creators decided to make it the most frustrating game I have ever played. It tries hard to be a survival horror, FPS and stealth hybrid. But, it just ends up being a game where you just keep running away and avoiding everything. Your character is supposed to be a tough as nails PI, but ends up being a wimpy, unarmed, frightened woos-bag. That's right, I've played through the first 10% of the game and the designers have yet to let the character get his hands on any type of weapon. The antagonists are armed quite well with blades and shotguns. Three stabs or three shots and you're a goner. You are forced to run, sneak and make awkward jumps (I FRELLIN' HATE AWKWARD JUMPS!!!!) to get away from the baddies who are faster, MUCH FASTER, than you. To add insult to my character's injuries, if you get either hurt or frightened too much, your controller won't respond to your commands. So if you get into a bad situation, you might as well call it a day, 'cause it's going to get even tougher. On top off all of this, the game has save points rather than being able to save anytime you want to (the way to go from a player's perspective). So, if I get killed (and I get killed in this game A LOT) I have to go way back and go through the whole crappy ordeal again.

Not to mention that fact that if you don't have any kind of walkthrough, you'll have no clue as to where to go or what to do in certain situations.

There's a big difference between playing a challenging game and playing a frustrating one. If the people at Bethesda want to do a cool FPS, horror game, they should play through Clive Barker's Undying for the PC to get pointers. Now THAT is how you fuse action, horror and survival together to make an enjoyable game. I'll keep trudging through CoC:DCotE on the ol' Xbox, but it's a sad day when I actually don't look forward to playing a game on my Xbox. Who knows, maybe if I keep torturing myself with this game I'll end up getting some form of enjoyment out of it. So, if you happen to be walking past my apartment on a nice little stroll and you suddenly get pelted with an Xbox controller, I apologize in advance.



In a couple of weeks a whole bunch of my gaming friends are making the trek to Indianapolis, IN to GenCon (big gaming convention that used to be, and should STILL be here in my hometown). Two things are keeping me from going. The fact that I'm bitter it left and feel that it has changed into something more corporate and greed driven. So I stand alone in defiance. The second reason is that I lack the funds to make the trip. If I ever get more green in the future, I may relent and head on out there one of these years. People keep murmuring about it coming back here, but I think it's more wishful thinking than anything else. Greed always seems to win out.


Speaking of conventions, the San Deigo ComicCon was last weekend and there are bushels full of news coming out of it appearing on the net.

One of the things that caught my eye was news from a panel made up of actors, writers and directors involved with a move called 300. This is based on Frank Miller's comic series which chronicles a band of 300 Spartans of ancient times and the battle of Thermopylae where they took on the overwhelming Persian army. It looks as though it's going to have a real Gladiator meets Lord of the Rings feel to the cinematogrophy. There's a real buzz coming from it. It stars former Phantom, Gerard Butler and LOTR alumni David Wenham. I guess the footage they showed the fans was the talk of the whole convention. Perhaps there is life for the silver screen post Star Wars and Rings movies.

There were also other panels that gave us geeks some reasons to look forward to upcoming releases. It looks like Marvel Comics will have oodles of movies based on their comics coming out, including Ghost Rider, Iron Man, The Avengers and Spider-Man 3. Hopefully, most of them will be on par with the first two Blade and X-Men movies and not another Fanastic 4.


Speaking of Superheros, did anyone get to check out the SciFi Channel's new reality series, Stan Lee's Who Wants to be a Superhero? An excellent premise! Get a bunch of people to create their own alter-egos as superheros, have them live in a house together and have daily challenges. Of course one gets voted off every week by Stan "The Man" Lee. Too bad the whole show is quite obviously scripted. I could go for a little more real life human drama, but I guess that died out in reality shows after the 4th season of The Real World.

I caught a bit of the show that followed it, Garth Marenghi's Dark Place. How can I describe it? It's a British comedy, it's a spoof on a supernatural hospital show and it's got a real odd sense of humor about. I must say, I like it in an odd way. I hope to catch more of it. I'm just not sure if that kind of humor can last more than one season. You'll all have to check it out for yourselves.

I'm gunna go get some grub. Again, I'm sorry there's no real "news" or substance to this week's blog. It's just another attempt of mine to pinch out one small percentage of attention in my otherwise geek-a-fied existance.

Enjoy what's left of the weekend.
Zangz.

Why do we need Gene Shallit when we have ME?

Sorry it's been a spell, but I've been pretty frellin' busy lately. But, I do have a boat-load to blog about today so let's get started. Shall we?

I've just seen a whole slew of genre based movies. Some of them current big summer block buster and others a year or so old. But, I was in a movie craze last week and got to see a bunch I'd like to mindlessly prattle on about. Remember, I'm no Gene Shallit here. But unlike Gene I don't die my overgrown facial hair to disturbing lengths, nor do I make cutesy analogies and silly sayings (Unless you count the upcoming dead hooker, vomit and creepy uncle Eddie comments). Read on, brave web traveler......

Superman Returns
Before I saw this movie I heard either wonderful reviews on it or mediocre, slightly disappointing reviews on it. The good news is that I found it rather engaging and quite enjoyable! It goes a couple steps further than simply being a homage to the original Christopher Reeve Superman movies. It truly fits in along the side of Superman I and Superman II as quality Superman movies. The effects are seamless and wonderful, the story, though a bit long in the tooth, works out well with very few plot holes and the mass majority of acting performances are very good.

When I first saw a picture of Superman actor Brandon Routh, I was slightly hesitant that he would be able to carry off the role of the world's greatest super hero. He looked a little young and seemed to have a smaller physique that you'd think "The Man of Steel" would have. But, Routh ended up winning me over in a big way. He nailed the role! He managed to keep the same attitude and cadence that Reeve captured years ago, while at the same time, making it his very own.

Both Kevin Spacey and Paker Posey do the villain schtick quite well. Although Spacey does a fine job as Lex Luthor, he still doesn't catch that sense of pure menace that Gene Hackman brought to the role back in '78. It's very close, but no cigar.

The "qualms and quibbles" I had with the movie? It was a bit long in the tooth, clocking in at nearly 3 hours. A LOT of this movie is ' set up' and prologue. They could have nipped and tucked a bit. There's also very few show down's or confrontations between Superman and the antagonists of this film. There's some great action sequences that are heart poundingly phenomenal, but when it came time for Supes to go at it with a little hand to hand ass kickery, there was seldom to nil to be found. Yawn.

All in all, this was a really enjoyable super hero film that, for me, brought a lot more to the table than X-Men:Last Stand did. Thumbs up.


War of the Worlds
I got to rent this one recently and have to admit, it wasn't bad at all. In fact, I was quite glued to the screen throughout the mass majority of this Sci-Fi thriller. This film is far more about human nature and the human condition than it is about giant, octopussian (yup... that's a word!) robotic androids taking over the earth. And it accomplishes this task without being preachy at all. On top of that, I was able to forget that Tom Cruise is this couch jumping, Xenu fearing wack-a-doo and really enjoy his performance in the film. Though, not the huge Sci-Fi epic it was advertised as being, Speilberg delivers a really good story that's worth the rental. Doubt I'd buy it, though. It's one of those movies that give you that, "Once I've seen it, I've seen it" feeling. Yet I still give it a thumbs up!


The Legend of Zorro
I may be in the minority here, but I really friggin' enjoyed the first movie, The Mask of Zorro, quite a bit. I loved the action sequences and choreography of the sword fighting. The story line was quite captivating and cleaver. On top of that you get to watch Catherine Zeta Jones for a few hours. That certainly won't make you tear your eyes out.

So when I saw there was a copy available to rent I grabbed at it for a weekend viewing. Here's what I found. Though, The Legend of Zorro is certainly an action, adventure movie that is quite engaging and entertaining, this episode seemed to drag a bit more than the last one. There's a lot of political intrigue (that is slightly on the preachy side) that slows the movie down a bit, but not to a grinding halt. There's still lots of sword play in this one, but nowhere near the amount that was in the first movie.

All performances are good although there is a slightly annoying "cute kid" in the movie. Not to fret! His role is tolleratable. Rufus Sewell is, once again, asked to portray the smarmy villain of the film and he does pretty good at it.

At the end of the day The Legend of Zorro is a fun little romp with not as much gusto as the first Zorro movie, yet it makes a fun little rental. Thumbs up, but not as high as the last Zorro flick.

Sky High
Usually I stay away from Disney produced teeny bopper tripe as though it were the bird flu. But, I had heard that if you've enjoyed comic books, you'll enjoy this little underrated gem. So, I, once again, threw my pride into the wind and went up to the rental counter with a copy of Sky High.

The premise to this film is that it takes place in a world where superheros are common and real. Many who show super gifts at a young age are sent to a high school for superhero's that is located on a floating platform high above the city (ala Nick Fury and S.H.E.I.L.D.'s hide-a-way). The story is a generic coming of age theme of how the young son of two famous superheros (Kelly Preston and Kurt Russell) finds his way and powers amongst the usual socio-political crap that most high schooler's face on a day to day basis.

My thoughts? The feel of the movie is quick and fun. There's a lot of enjoyable comic book cliche's thrown into the mix. Most of all there's a lot of actors in this movie I really dig! Kurt Russell (Big Trouble in Little China), Linda Carter (Wonder Woman), a couple of former cast memebers form Kids in the Hall and most appreciated.... BRUCE CAMPBELL.. CAMPBELL.. AMBELL.. ambell..ambell..mbell (echo mode off). Good o'l Bruce was in far more of the picture than you'd expect portraying a tough as nails gym teacher.

Final verdict: A fun movie that's surprisingly good. A great rental for the whole family. Well... most of the family. You better keep creepy uncle Eddie who smells like fish and "plays with his keys" most of the time out of the mix. Two Bruce Campbell lovin' thumbs up.


Last, but in no means least....

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Out in out, the best movie I've seen so far this summer! It's an all out action, adventure, fantasy, horror picture. Right up my alley. Umm... not the alley with the dead hooker and vomit in the corner. The other alley.

Johnny Depp rocks as the lovingly sleazy Captain Jack Sparrow. His performance in this movie matches the enjoyment he brought you in the first one! He is the second best scoundrel (next to Han Solo) of movie history, in my opinion!

There's enough eye candy for you to swallow that you better get a diabetes test right after the showing. Both the special effects as well as the set production and props are all spot on and wonderful, transporting you back to the 1700's when Pirates roamed the sea. Fantastic I tell you.

Quibbles: It bothered me a bit that the movie does end on a major cliff hanger. We're not given at least one shred of closure in this one. Some critics have called this second installment to the POTC franchise as the Empire Strikes Back of the trilogy. I feel that at least at the end of Empire you were given a small shred of closure and hope. It felt like a complete chapter, where POTC:DMC ends with a "TO BE CONTINUED" feel. It's as though the first movie was book one and the second and third movies will equal out to be book two. I sort of feel there should be three equal books that are definitely intertwined, yet can each stand alone. But, it does leave me yearning for the next one not due until next summer.

There's also the fact that within the first hour, the plot is thrown at you at a ferocious pace. Then towards the last half of the movie, it tends to slow way down and drags out a bit. That's when you start feeling the full 2+ hours of the film.

But, this one will definitely sit within my DVD collection within the near future! Major thumbs up!!!!!


One for the road....

Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang
I didn't expect to see this film, but some friends had rented it when I was visiting them and we ended up watching it. I found it to be one of the most annoying, yet funny movies I've ever seen.

The Bad: The plot is absolutely all over the place. It is very hard to fallow at times. It has a lot of references and plot devices that only the socially elite who are immersed in the Hollywood movie world would really appreciate. Both the stars, Val Kilmer and Robert Downey Jr. talk so fast it's easy to miss what they're saying. You really don't want to miss anything they're saying because....

The Good: This movie has some of the funniest, most hysterical lines I've ever heard in a movie. You don't want to miss any of them 'cause you'll be regergatating these at the water cooler come Monday morning. Oh, and the female lead, Michelle Monaghan is pretty fantastic. Her first shot... wow. I nearly pulled an Uncle Eddie. Although the story is quite unfathomable and is all over the place, there are some incredibly clever moments here.

Definitely worth a peek, if for nothing else, some of the best lines I've heard in a movie in a long long time. Thumb up.


In other geekafying news....

I finally finished the Xbox game of X-Men: Legends. I enjoyed it as a good dose of both action RPG and team based combat. It's a good and long game. I think I clocked in a total of 51 hours playing it. I believe all RPG's should be epic and long and this game delivers! Visually its fun due to the fact that it has a cel shaded look to it reminiscent to cartoons and comic books. Unlike the movies, all the X-Men favorites are represented and you can pick and choose a group of four you want to use on each mission / level. Very cool. It is also very right on when it comes to the mythose of the X-Men. Something the movies have to start looking into. Especially after the last one!

Problems? Just a couple. There's a lot of camera stiffness in times when a full view of what is going on is direly needed. There's also the issue of the final battles and the learning curve. You do pretty fine throughout the levels, but when you fight the last boss, a mass majority of your team gets killed off very quickly. My suggestion, make sure each time you take on the huge sentinel robot make sure you have an X-Men that has some serious ranged attacks. If you have the credits, keep resuscitating that character after he/she gets killed off. Have that character continue to blast the giant sentinel over and over and over again with their ranged attacks. That's how I beat it.

I currently borrowed Xbox's Far Cry and am playing through it again since I never finished the last time. I also found a deal on the Xbox version of the game Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth based on the role playing game I run from time to time (I know, I know! Give me a flippin' date already, would you guys!). I'll let you know how that all works out.

Well, I've finished my prattling for today and am headed off to a cook out where I'll say 'Take care, but not good bye" to my friend, Carlo, whose Naval Reserve regiment is headed out to serve us in these troubles times. Please hoist a few to him and his regiment this weekend.

That's all, until next time,
"Kurt Cobain Ate my cricket's!"

Zangz.

Another Underachieving Blog Post..............

Well, here's hoping that you all had an Independence Day filled with boat loads of BBQ'd meats, lotsa beer and a plethora of explosives. And here's also hoping that the beer and explosives did not lead to anyone losing any appendages or trips to burn wards.


I still have yet to see Superman Returns. Even though a lot of the reviews are quite good, friends who've seen it are less than dazzled. I've heard the film does drag and that Superman doesn't have as much action in it as you would think. I'll have to find some time and see it for myself.

However, I will be seeing Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest this Sunday and I'll be sure to let you all know how that one came out.


I'm also growing closer to solidifying little project that's being cultivated. As I've hinted before, if this does come into fruition, I will be making a huge expansion in my already powerful media empire and one step closer to world wide domination...bwahahahah. Look at me! I'm MAD WITH POWER!!!! (screams Zangz, sitting all alone in his small, dusty one bedroom apartment wearing only his boxers while his only friend, a General Grievus action figure, looks on in despair).

Anyway, once I have something tangible and in the can, I'll make an announcement. So hold your water and be patient.


I'm so friggin' slow. I'm still plodding along with the Barb and J.C. Hende dark fantasy novel "Sister of the Dead". It's not that it's a slow moving book, it's trying to find time to read it.

I'm also still playing through X-Men: Legends on the Xbox. So far, a really fun game with one or two glitches as it were. I'll go over them here once I'm done with the game.

I also find myself, sneaking over to Roberto's house to play a little Oblivion, which is going well. I also have been going back to playing a bit of Oblivion's predecessor, Morrowind from time to time. I'm still finding quests, caves and tombs that I didn't come across the first time I played it. That's the wonderful thing about massive, open ended games. You can truly get lost in them.


Speaking of massive, open ended games, there's a game coming out in August called Saint's Row for the Xbox360. Apparently this is going to be their answer to the PS2's Grand Theft Auto series. So much so, in fact, that the play of the games are quite parrallel. You're a bad boy trying to move your way up in the gang and crime world of the virtual city of Stillwater. But unlike the GTA series, Saints Row is supposedly going to have far more customizable options when it comes to characters and cars. Plus, the graphics will be far better. We'll have to wait and see if Saints Row can steal open ended, virtual crime thunder from GTA.

Actually the '360 seems to have a couple of gems coming out that look good. Gears of War: Emergence Day, Shadow Run and Lego Star Wars II all look pretty darn fantastic. They just have start putting these games on the shelves PDQ since the Xbox360 is seriously lacking in variety of released games right now. I think I counted less than 20 titles on the store shelves the other day. After the '360's release 8 month ago, they better get crackin'


And speaking of crackin', I've got some errands to run this morning. So, until next time, I leave you with these wise words my father once told me....

"Stop touching yourself in public, damnit!"

Zangz.

Good Site Drenched in Creepiness........

I know it is rare for me to pop in here in the middle of the week with and entry as of late. But, I felt that the blog has been lacking in a feature that I rarely do around here. So I'd thought I quickly shoot in here and do another edition of......

Zangz's Blog of Geekdom's Website of the Moment:

City of Shadows

Here's a site that caters to those of us who are attracted to the creepiness of an old city that has a lot of dark history to it. This site is dedicated in educating people in the history of Victorian London, England. God knows this spooky old city has had more than it's share of serial killers, ghosts and genuinely diabolical happenings during the 1800's. This site is quite the compendium for it's dark and gruesome history.

There's another subject I'd like to quickly broach. Keep your eyes out here for a possible big announcement from the Blog of Geekdom. I may be actually moving into the 21st century and expanding upon my already pathetic and sad media empire. I've got to do a bit more research on the subject and see if it's a possibility before I make a formal statement. So stay tuned.

Zangz.

All Mysteries of the Universe Revealed RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!!!!

Naw, not really, but do you see the extravagant lengths I go through to get people to read this friggin' thing. C'mon folks, throw a lonely geek a bone here. What's the worst that can happen? At the very least you'll walk away feeling a heck of a lot better about yourself.


I guess I should cheer up a bit since I did spend the entire day yesterday geekin' it up with a group of friends playing the Star Wars RPG. Our game master, Mad Mario had us rolling many a 10 and 20 sider in a gallant and successful effort to thwart off a massive attempt by the Speratists/Trade Federation to break Count Dooku out of a maximum security prison on the planet of Dantoonie. My character, a 12th level scoundrel, took out a Sith or two (of course that was well after a few other characters knocked the Sith thugs down quite a few hit points). But who's really keeping track?

It's always fun to noodle on about playing table top, pen and paper role playing games (RPG) since there's a boat load of people out there who have no clue as to what the frell I'm referring to. For those of you scratching your heads trying to figure out what I'm talking about, I'll refer you to HERE.

And yes! I'm still trying to get a date set for my game of Call of Cthulhu. It's up to the players at this point.

On to other points of interest...


I've been able to weasel out more time on the new Elder Scrolls game (Oblivion) for the Xbox360 while over at my friend's place. As I get further into it I can say that this is almost as addictive as the first...... Almost. I've said it here before and I'm going to say it again. Though, the graphics are years ahead of its predecessor, Morrowind, it is a bit lacking in the variety of landscapes that Morrowind had. This is a bit of a disappointment as one of Morrowind's high points was the visual variety in several different landscapes. But, I will admit that the game play will still keep me coming back for more.

On to the silver screen....


They're really going to attempt it! After years and years of deals, rewrites and legalities Alan Moore's Watchman is going to be making it to the big screen. How they're going to take Moore's very deep, superhero, socio-political thriller and turn it into a motion picture is beyond me.

Sure, Moore's V for Vendetta was a success at capturing the themes and messages in that graphic novel without damaging the overall story. Yet, I'm not too optimistic that Hollywood will be able to do the same for Watchmen. The story itself is deep, dark and epic. There's lots of important flashbacks, plots intertwining and character developments that work wonderfully in the book, but might be too much for a movie. They'll have to cut a lot from the graphic novel, which could easily neuter the power of the tale being told. We'll have to wait and see where this all leads.


Although no summer "blockbuster" has really smacked me up side of the head with grand delight as of yet (V for Vendetta came real close), I've have been hearing real good things about Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. It sounds like they have captured the essence of the first film and built upon that. I've also heard that Depp rocks just as hard, if not harder, as our favorite pirate Jack Sparrow. So in a couple of weeks I may have found my favorite summer release, if not sooner....

The other movie I'm cautiously excited about is Superman Returns, which my friend Spanky is just piping at the brim to go and see. I've heard both very good things and marginally good things about this movie. If what I've heard is true and that this movie should be looked at as what Superman III should have been, then we have something to look forward to.

And on that note, I'll end this post with a bit of an interesting Geek fact: Did you know that Superman Returns actor, Brandon Routh is an admitted World of Warcraft freak and has probably spent many an hour playing the computer, on-line massive multiplayer role playing game. And he has an insanely beautiful girlfriend also. Perhaps there's hope for us after all..... NOT.

God I've fallen in love with Wikipedia!

Until next time, keep it clean, folks.
Zangz.

Whole lot o' 360 Goodness.....

Well, a few weeks ago I had a chance to really sit and play on my friend, Roberto DelAmorte's Xbox 360. Ohhhhhhh..... I needed a cigarette once I was done. Really, I'm actually toying with robbing some convenience stores to be able to purchase one.

Lemme tell you what I got to experience. I got to play a few hours of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. I can honestly say it's the crack/cocaine of first person perspective, action based RPG's. So much so that Whitney Houston broke into my friends' home while I was playing it and tried to wrestle the cordless controller from me. But, seriously, I got to create a character, which in of itself was a myriad of insanely intricate choices. Then I played through the "tutorial" portion of the game. This involves breaking out of a castle's prison and escorting the King (voiced by Patrick Stewart) through the sewers of the city as he tries to evade a strange group of robed cultists. The tutorial is so smooth you don't even realize you're playing a tutorial. Other voice acting throughout the game is done by Lord of the Rings/GoldenEye star, Sean Bean and Wonderwoman star, Linda Carter. Pretty geek-a-fied, huh?

I also got to play a bit beyond the introduction of the main story a bit. The scenery and graphics are phenomenal, especially when viewed on a widescreen, HD TV which Roberto has (lucky bastage!). The combat is far better than it's predecessor, Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. The one and only worry I have for this game is the fact that the landscapes don''t seem to have much difference to them as they did in Morrowind. It's all grassy, hilly landscapes. No swamps, no deserts, no odd ancient ruins and not to much variety. Hopefully, if I get more chances to play this game, I will explore more of the insanely vast world that exists in Oblivion. Maybe I'll bribe my friend Roberto into being able to play more. Or maybe I'll sell my body to creepy old men on the internet to be able to buy an Xbox 360 of my own. Hmmmm.... decisions, decisions.


I also got to play quite a bit of Quake IV. The graphics of this first person shooter are pretty spectacular. It plays like many FPS games do. This one actually had a good amount of vehicle driving which you didn't see in the other Quake games. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Lot's of carnage and uber-violence that would turn the stomachs of many of the puritanically elite. Good stuff.


Even though I've been quite impressed with what the Xbox 360 has to offer so far, I do have some concerns about where it's going. Although it's DVD compatible it isn't geared for the upcoming HD DVD or Blue Ray DVD formats. That may hurt it in the long run. There's also the point of the very limited selection of games to play on it. It's been out for at least 6 months and we have less than 20 games for it. C'mon! What's the problem? Get cracking programmers! Where's the beef?


I forgot to mention that a few weeks ago I rented the game Area 51 for the PS2 and found it to be quite disappointing. It follows the cliches of most FPS games as well as being insanely frustrating. There were a lot of cheap shots taken by the AI. I got through most of the game, but completely faltered at a particular unfair and exhaustingly aggravating boss battle.

The only upside to this game was the voice acting by both David Duchoveny (X-Files) and Marilyn Manson (devil worshiping rock star). Otherwise, it was the a complete waste.


Rumor has it that while entertaining, Superman Returns isn't anything that spectacular. Though, geek I am, I'll still go see it.


Last Friday's Dr. Who finale was quite wonderful. The show always has a wonderful way of mezmorizing you with the characters. I don't remember the original series doing that. It was sad to see the current Doctor leave us and only getting a quick glimpse and funny "new teeth" remark from the new Doctor. The guy who plays the new Doctor, David Tennant had a brief role in the last Harry Potter movie as one of Voldermort's evil henchmen. So he's got quite the geek stature.

Very sadly, the actress who plays Rose, Billie Piper, has gotten a case of the "afraid to be typecast" bug from former Dr. Who, Christopher Eccleston, and will leave the series after this upcoming 2nd season (keep in mind that we Americans are a year behind the show which is shown and produced in the UK). Quite a disappointing decision, really. Both her acting and character were not only quite fetching, but also quite enjoyable and grew on us fans.


I'm still puttering around with ideas for my next Call of Cthulhu game, but the players have stagnated on potential dates for the game. C'mon people, let's come up with a date! I'm up for anything! If The Peej can't play, we can bring in the Senior Dr. Von Baverhousen if he wishes. Just, someone, email me. God.... I can't even get my players to email me anymore. Dear god, this blog has indeed become my only home of solace. Sigh... Oh, the life of a geek constantly seeps in loneliness.

Well, I'm off to rob a liquor store. Xbox 360, here I come!

Zangz.

"Doctor X" and other dumb play on words......

It's been a few, so lets get right into it.

I finally had a chance to see X-men III: The Last Stand. I heard a lot of different opinions about this movie prior to seeing it. Much like our president, it conjured many polar opposite feelings in people. Either people absolutely disliked it or thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Me? I simply thought it was a real good action / adventure movie loosely based on the X-men comic book. And THERE'S the rub, folks. From what I can tell, if you're a die-hard fan of the comic book, you'll absolutely shat a brick if you see this movie. The writers certainly create many liberal changes that differ greatly from what has happened in the comic. I mean, if they don't kill off major characters, they take away their super powers. I could see where this would passionately annoy the frell out of those that have followed the comic and invested themselves into the story and the characters.

Though, I was a comic geek, I never really got into the X-Men. I was much more of a DC, Vertigo and independent comic book fan rather than a Marvel fan. So I warmed to the characters of the X-Men more through the movies than the comic. So the major changes didn't effect me as much as they would have the comic book shop owner from The Simpsons.

Best I can tell you is that it's not as good as the previous two movies. This is the least favorite of the three. However, if you've only seen the movies and not read the comics you may want to check it out 'cause it still provides a good action packed romp with a good dose of socially conscience message of how we need to progress as human beings and stop taking the rights away from those that are different. Other than that, watching a few hours of Halley Berry and Famke Jenssen does not suck.

I also got to see a couple of cool trailers for upcoming films. Pirates of the Caribbean: Davey Jones' Locker looks pretty friggin' amazing and is the next big one I want to check out. Then there's Superman Returns which has me slightly intrigued. If director, Brian Singer can do for Superman what he did for the first two X-Men movies, we'll have a real treat on our hands!


So, the end of the current season of Dr. Who comes on the Sci-Fi Channel in a matter of minutes. I have to say that though the production value of this series isn't exactly top notch, the writing and characters are more than enjoyable! You can't help but enjoy the characters of The Doctor and his companion, Rose. Tonight's episode will end the tenure of the current actor playing The Doctor, Christopher Eccleston. While next season will usher in the new actor in The Doctor's role, David Tennant. It's too bad that Eccleston got the ol' case of "being typecast" fear and scooted out of the show after just one season. He was quite phenomenal as the Doctor and certainly put his mark on the franchise. To bad he chickened out just as things were getting good. Silly bastage! Hopefully this Tennant character will do just as good a job next season.


So far the reality show Supergroup rocks. The main theme of the show seems to be the other musicians have to work around Sebastian Bach's temper tantrums and tirades. This week's episode will have bassist, Evan Seinfeld (possibly related to Jerry according to urban legend) bach-slapping (he he, funny play on words) Sebastian. Can't wait.

I'm finally getting up the energy to put together another game of Call of Cthulhu, a horror based RPG that takes place in H.P. Lovecraft's 1920's Cthulhu mythology. My players have been getting quite restless since it's been over a year since I last ran a game. I'm workin' on it! I'm workin' on it!

Ya know, I'm not gunna link this one up. You guys are net savy. If you don't know what the heck I'm talking about, Google it, fercrissakes!

Until next time, keep your feet in the ground, your hearts to the stars and whatever the heck else sounds incredibly cliche and cheesy.

See ya!

Zangz.