Tuesday, December 26, 2006
The Fat Man Does Good by Zangz!
I admit it. I was in quite the Ebeneezer Scrooge mode and must apologize to those of you who might hold the holidays near and dear to your hearts (and also to the throng of outraged Stryper fans). For I was visited by three ghosts on Xmas eve who all reminded me what the true meaning of the holiday should mean to me......
Getting a bunch of money for an Xbox 360!!!! That's right kids, the "Family Donation Xmas Fund to Buy Zangz and Xbox 360 Foundation" came through in a pinch and come this weekend, I'll be playing Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion in a zombie-like addictive game mode type of vibe. Ahhh... ya just got to love Xmas.
Other good news that has come upon this holiday is that my favorite band, Type-O-Negative, have moved up the date of their next recording opus (Tentatively titled: Dead Again) from their original date of the 7th of Never to the 13th of March! It may take them a while to record an album, but once it comes out it is worth the wait! I'll be looking forward to that.
More fun news.....
You may have noticed a slight change here and there to the format of this blog. Blogger.com has upgraded their system so I took advantage of it and added / revamped some of the things you see in the column to the right of this blog. Nothing too crazy, but you'll notice that as you read these blogs, I'll be ever present, watching you. My eye's shall be burning into your skulls, consuming all your thoughts, loves, hatreds and dreams. Bwahhahahahahaha!!!!!!
Well, I'm going to continue to enjoy my day off and bum around a bit. Hopefully I'll jump back in here before the end of 2006. If not, make sure you have a great and safe new year!
Zangz.
Friday, December 22, 2006
Fa La La La La...La La La.. Blahhhh!
Here we are, knee deep into the holiday "cheer", just a scant amount of days before ol' fat-ass leaps down the chimney and regales all the good boys and girls with loads and loads of gifts galore. Then there will be the kids tearing apart their gifts while at the same time screaming at the top of their lungs and running around in a sugar induced sense of spastic hysteria.Ahhh... Xmas.
Lets face it folks, Xmas is strictly for two types of people... 1) The people who are wealthy enough to not have to worry about Xmas doing serious damage to their financial stability, and 2) The church going faithful. Now, I'm certainly not Donald Trump and I haven't been to church in years, unless you want to count funerals, baptisms etc. So pardon me if Xmas isn't exactly that big on my list. As you all should know, I'm a Halloween man myself. And I'm still coming down off of that high. Also, the prospect of getting an Xbox 360 for Xmas this year looks bleaker and bleaker. So basically, some spoiled little bastage, who's father is probably some corporate leader and is responsible for a bunch of lay-offs this Xmas season, is living in Yuppieville and will be getting his video game counsel and stocking full of games and ol' Zangz will be sitting there with a bunch of new socks. Grumble Grumble Grumble......
I know, I know. There is a "reason for the season" as I recall the 80's hair band Stryper used to sing (hey, didn't they dress like bumble bees?). Let's just say I won't go into some diatribe on my personal religious beliefs and leave it at that.
Call me a Grinch or a Scrooge all you want, but at the end of the day Xmas just blows! It allows those that are blissfully happy to be even happier and those that are down in the dumps, lonely and financially strapped to feel like pure crapolla. 'Nuff said!
So what good things do I have to say about this time of year?
- I am happy to say that all my Xmas shopping is done and over. Now all I have to worry about is wrapping the buggers. I am quite pathetic at this. Relatives and friends know when they've gotten a gift from Zangz as the wrapping is all disjointed, catywhompus and half-assed. Hey, I do my best!
- I have also been able to take a couple of days off to unwind from a busy couple of work weeks. So I'm laying back, doing my blog here on a Friday afternoon after sleeping most of the morning away. This afternoon I'll wrap gifts while watching one of the Lord of the Rings movies.
- One of my favorite beer companies has come out with a winter lager that is always quite scrumptious this time of season.
- There's going to be a holiday party coming up that I annually attend that should be a rollicking good time. There's going to be a chance to auction off cruddy Xmas gifts we receive with play money we win at contests throughout the evening. Which is great since I'll have a ton of socks to unload.
I'm going to have to get going now as I've been trying to publish this post at the same time, apparently, that Blogger is doing some sort of work on it's server and going from a beta version of this website to a final version and I'm having all kinds of problems posting this friggin' thing. Hopefully they'll get their act together and I'll be back for more grumbling at a latter time.
God I hate Xmas!!!!
Zangz McScrooge.
Monday, December 18, 2006
A Lil' Something for the Stocking.

Since were closing in to that holiday when a big fat creepy old guy breaks into our homes puts presants under the tree then sneaks up to our bedrooms and watches us while we sleep, fighting his every urge to put his hands around our necks and start to squeeze.......
Ok, maybe I've gotten off the topic here and am skating on some twisted ice, I'll get to the point. Here's a pre-Xmas gift for you all..... the newest post of Zangz's Pod of Geekdom Podcast. This one is a big clue as to what to get that special geek in your lives.... if you have a pants load of cash to spend on him/her. The next generation of video game counsels that have hit the store shelves. Roberto DelAmorte joins me again as we review the Xbox 360, Wii and PS3. You can find it by clicking HERE!
I'm hoping to pop in here right before the Holidays and post about.... sumthin'. We'll talk soon!
Zangz.
Monday, December 04, 2006
It's Up!!!!!

The latest edtition of Zangz's Pod of Geekdom is up and posted right HERE!
As I've mentioned before this post revolves around a review of the latest James Bond movie, Casino Royale. It gets pretty interesting as I have special guest, my friend Spanky, on to help me review the movie. I hope you enjoy it!
I have to go and gawk at Ali Larter on Heros right now.
See ya.
Zangz.
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Tossing the Twenty Sider in the Star Wars Universe
Everybody always brings lots of grub to shovel in our craws as we roll the dice, take hit points off our character and babble on about the latest episodes of Dr. Who and Battlestar Galactica or how frackin' excellent the new James Bond movie is.
Things usually take a turn for the bizarre once we start to crack open the mass quantities of different beers that we've brought to the game. This usually leads to flying off the beat and path of where Mad Mario was originally aiming the scenario to go the way he had meticulously planned it out. In the end everyone always has a darn fine time of it all! After the 4 to 9 hour gaming session we usually relax and talk about.. well... episodes of Dr. Who and Battlestar Galactica or how frackin' excellent the new James Bond movie is.
Since I've mentioned a few times before in these blogs about the character I play (Jodz Burdoz) in the game, I will not bore you with it again. Suffice it to say, he's a rogue-like captain of a smuggling vessel called The Naughtier Vixen that has a crewload of odd characters all going on missions that get them into some form of intergalactic and political intrigue.
I've decided to post a recent recap of one of the last scenario that Mad Mario ran. And the neat thing is that it's in his own words as he emailed us all a recap of the game. So without further yammering on, here's Mad Mario.......
Notes for the Star Wars scenario:
" Cargo and merchandise "
Reaching the Bastion space station #56 in the pursuit of the criminal Kamino geneticist Saji and the Ogres, the crew of the Naughty Vixen discovered very quickly two things. One that the Kamino and the Ogres were not the only residents on the space station.
A small ionic signal coming from a ship moored at the lowest point under the station. A ship called the Hounds Tooth belonging to the nefarious Trandoshan Bounty Hunter Bossk.
And two...
A powerful energy emission was detected on board the station as well which was mysteriously duplicated moments after they arrived in the system.
Managing to physically connect secretly to the Hound's Tooth they soon learned that the second emission was their friend D who decided to make his appearance and help funnel the Ogres who were near the generator and the lowest part of the station.
But when D arrived on the station the “ other “ D arrived on board the Vixen. Learning now that there were two of them and this one seems to be some kind of elder the crew moved quick. But somehow D got left behind after he funneled the Ogres on board the cargo hold of the Houdns Tooth and learned that his father has now entered the Star Wars universe with the intention of destroying it.
With the Wokiee and the cargo now on board the bounty hunters ship and the good D now making it to the Naughtier Vixen the heroes headed back to Coruscant.
However Quarren Mercenaries hired by the Trade Federation were waiting in ambush and before they could land they were attacked by not only the Quarren but a hidden forty Vulture droids. Immediately they broke out of the Corsucant system. Buzz near the Hoth system and Jodz to regions unknown.
Deciding that Rigal-7 would be a good place to meet after Buzz left the Ogres in cryogenic freeze thanks to some heavy cash being sent to a band of smugglers on the ice world; Jodz fell into a bit of a trap with three killer Twi'Lek mercenaries named Bambi, Thumper and Rose. Who were looking to hold him hostage.
While waiting for the Wookiee and managing to get out of the killer hot tub with his new friends they decided to lay low for a while.
But as things go, nothing stays calm forever.
Intoxicated with a mind enhancing beverage the Bothan somehow accidentally obtained an encrypted series of commands that look as if they originated from the computer of the Supreme Chancellor himself. An executive order that is somehow transmitted through a very sophisticated network. Technology that is highly advanced much like the Kamino.
Reaching Rigal the Wookiee thought he'd give Rose a try in the Fiore sandpitt and when it went well, the Trandoshian crashed into the wrestling pit Squib gun blasting. Desperately trying to save their friend, the Bothan was all but killed as well as Jodz himself.
When the rest of them arrived the battered Wookiee was gone.
Burnt blasted and wounded after his fight against the trio, A grisly end was intended for our heroic Wookiee Buzz as Bossk dragged him back to his recently acquired ship; but a timely intervention by the Twi'Lek Mari changed that and when Bossk went for his gun; the Twi'Lek cop shot him through the head.
Now resting in their personalised Bacta tanks the heroes ponder these new series of events.
Look for the crew of the Naughtier Vixen returning January 2007 in: " Ogres on Ice "
Now, that may not have made any sense to anybody, I still thought I'd be fun to show all of you reading this how friggin' intricate Mad Mario's games get. Pretty frackin' cool isn't it?
Real quickly I wanted to mention that I saw Casino Royale for the second time last weekend dragging my family. They all loved it. Both my Mom and sister, Dizzy Lizzy, thought Daniel Craig was very sexy.
Speaking of Casino Royale, keep a watch on my podcasts for the next installment of Zangz's Pod of Geekdom where my opinionated friend, Spanky, will guest star and we'll go at it reviewing the movie. It should be up soon!
This afternoon I think I'm going to watch one of the Lord of the Rings films while this evening I'll be indulging myself with a game of Munchkin with friends.
On that note, I'm getting some lunch in me. Take care.
Zangz.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Two posts in under 24 hours!
Yep. I'm sneaking in here again because I forgot to mention something on yesterday's blog. Perhaps it was because the whole Hobbit catastrophe had me all shook up that this little notation was temporarily tossed out of my mind.
I had a chance to play the new next gen, big hit video game, Gears of War. I have to say, though I don't know if I would become as addicted to it as Oblivion, I was quite impressed. The look and settings in the game are spellbindingly stunning! There was a PVP level (player vs. player or one on one, if you will) that took place in a mausoleum / graveyard setting that was quite creepy, while at the same time, also very beautiful.
The game play isn't first person as I thought it was going to be, it's more of an over-the-shoulder perspective. The controls take a bit of getting used to as they're not you typical FPS settings. The creature AI is quite receptive to what's going on and they're as nasty as mother-truckers!
One of the things I'm most impressed about isn't the game itself, it's the commercial spot they have running on TV for it. A quiet, sad song by R.E.M. (Mad World) plays softly against graphic and action packed scenes from the game.
Ok, well, that was about it. But far be it for me to leave you with such a little snippet of a blog post. So here's another.......
WWdN: In Exile
Wil Wheaton's not-so-temporary blog.
I mentioned Wil in my last blog. Though I was never a real Trekkie, I always liked Next Generation and was never as repulsed as a lot of Trekkie's were toward his character of Wesley Crusher. In any case, he's grown up and is quite comfortable in his geek skin. He blogs about quite a lot at his web blog. So if you're looking for far better geek banter from someone who actually has some fame attached to him, this is the place to check out.
Enjoy the rest of your Turkey Day.
Zangz.
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
The Reckoning of the Shire.
It seems to be a matter of New Line trying to shill Peter Jackson out of some money it still owes him from The Lord of the Rings movies. Mr. Jackson feels that there may have been some questionable practices when it came to the accounting of the money owed to him by New Line. So he enacted a clause in his contract with them to audit their financial agreement from the trilogy.
Since he did so, New Line has taken offense and told him that he and his creative forces would not be asked to have anything to do with the Hobbit project(s).
It's interesting to see how many people in Hollywood are making career ending decisions lately. Whether it be Michael Richards and his racist diatribe in response to a couple of A-hole hecklers at a stand up gig or Mel Gibson and his drunken anti-Semitic babbling while being arrested for drunk driving, it appears the powers that be at New Line want to join the tardling party (yes, that is a word, not the most politically correct, but a word).
Anybody born with a brain and soul knows that Peter Jackson and his team are the only ones who can truly bring the works of JRR Tolkien to the big screen without if being pure crap. But New Line, under the spell of pure greed, think otherwise.
You can read about the whole silly debacle HERE with a letter Mr. Jackson wrote to a Lord of the Rings fan site.
On to more pleasant avenues.....
If you haven't seen Casino Royale yet, get off you lazy butts and do so! It is the best Bond movie to hit the silver screen in a long time. Don't get me wrong, I loved Pierce Brosnan as Bond and am saddened he won't return. But, the reinvention of the series is really a good booty-kickin' event and Daniel Craig delivers!!! I'm going to see it again this weekend when I drag my Mom to go see it.
You'll be seeing a new Podcast uploaded in the not too distant future. There are some scheduling glitches, so we may not be as prompt as we usually are. But, rest assured, a really cool Zangz's Pod of Geekdom will be up soon featuring a heated review of the new Bond pic, Casino Royale!
You know who's a real cool, out of the closet Geek? Wil Wheaton! A lot of fanboys gave him flack for playing the role of Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation, but the guy is real down to earth and not afraid to "come out" on his love for geeky stuff like being a gamer. Might I direct you to a recent column he wrote about a recent gamer convention? Click HERE! Now, he's not refering to the REAL Gen Con I used to go to yearly when it was located in Milwaukee. He's reviewing a mere shadow of that con that's held in California and is related only by name (yes...still bitter). But, it's still cool that he's attending and enjoying himself. Very cool dude. BRING GEN CON BACK TO MILWAUKEE YOU GREEDY CORPORATE WHORES!!!!!!
Speaking of gaming, I've got another really cool session on the Star Wars Role Playing Game coming up this Saturday. There was a tense moment there when the game master, Mad Mario, was thinking about ending the game and starting something new. Though, I'd like to try out some new RPG in the near future, I'm way too addicted to my rogue character of Jodz Burdoz (imagine Kurt Russell from Big Trouble in Little China) to give it up just yet. Mad Mario decided to continue on with his Star Wars scenarios for a bit more. Huzzah!!!!!
I'm hoping everyone reading this will have a really good Thanksgiving and be able to cram as much food into their craw as humanly possible without any digestive catastrophes including regurgitation or a good long sitting on the porcelain god.
On that note, everybody have a great and festive Thanksgiving!
I'm outta here, like Michael Richards' career and New Line's IQ!
Zangz.
Friday, November 17, 2006
Scratching That Itch!

I've just arrived home form one heck of a fine and enjoyable evening! It involved some Guinness, a cigar and most importantly the new James Bond flick, Casino Royale!
After the producers over at Eon Productions turned the Bond franchise into a cluster-frack of a mess by unceremoniously ousting one of the best James Bonds since Sean Connery, Pierce Brosnan, we Bond fans had a major itch we needed scratched. We all heard rumors that they were going to reinvent Bond for the video game generation and get someone much younger. Names like Heath "Cowboy in Love" Ledger and Tom"Couch Jumper" Cruise were rumored to be possible replacements. Horrible images filled our heads as we saw our beloved 40+ year spy movie franchise crumble into fragments of rotting rubble and dust.
After what seemed like years, they finally announced a little known actor, Daniel Craig, as the new James Bond. A lot of Bond fans were repelled by the idea of a blond, shorter and "not as handsome" actor taking on the roll. Add to that the fact they were going to take the continuity of the series and frell it all up by starting the James Bond story all over while it still would take place in modern day times. I had my doubts, but instead of acting like a childish brat and threatening to boycott the movie, I decided to be a bit optimistic and took the "wait and see" point of view. Hey, I of all Bond geeks, understand that the 86ing of Brosnan was quite uncalled for and that he should have done one last Bond movie before they rebooted the series.
Well, I gotta tell you, I saw the movie tonight and must say that those stooges who've decided to boycott the movie are missing out on something quite wonderful. Casino Royale will go down in history as one of the best Bond flicks of all time. For me, it's right up there with Goldfinger and GoldenEye! Craig ROCKS HARD as a rougher, grittier Bond! There's far more characterization of the main characters (something Brosnan was fighting for while they were giving him invisible cars to drive). And the action sequences are less cutesy clever and far more brutal and all out balls to the wall kick-ass!
Let me break it down for you....
The story and plot work well as a way to show us how Bond became the double 0 agent he is. Though there is a little dragging here and there the story is put together well. However, the pace of the movie isn't as smooth as other Bond movies. But for those that have read the Ian Fleming novel, Casino Royale, you'll understand why they paced the movie that way. They tried hard to follow Fleming's novel as best they could while still providing us with something that's worthy of a good action / spy movie for the entertainment factor.
As I've said before, Daniel Craig makes a fine fledgling James Bond. He's far more ruthless and roguish than any other Bond before him. Both him and Connery are the only two Bonds you wouldn't want to find yourself in a bar fight with. With the other guys you'd think that maybe there be the off chance that you could maybe take them. But with Craig, you'd know you'd be in for a serious ass whoopin' followed by a hospital stay. Craig also plays it cool throughout the movie, even though his Bond makes a few mistakes here and there. He's classy yet rough. I'm gald I took the "wait and see" approach with him, otherwise I'd be eating crow like all the nards on the "I Hate Daniel Craig" message boards. I'm hoping he'll do more than the two or three he's contracted to do. And hopefully Eon productions won't treat him the way the treated Brosnan at the sudden end of his tenure.
All the other performances are top notch also. Eva Green (Vesper Lynd) is not only naturally beautiful, she's also got the acting chops to not be another Bong Girl ornamentation. Mads Milkensen is creepy and weasely as the bady, Le Cheifre. Dame Judy Dench is once again wonderful in the role of Bond's superior, M, even if it is a bit of a continuity glitch having her be M again. Not one sole in this movie had a bad performance!
I was quite a bit worried that I wouldn't enjoy this Bond movie when I heard that a lot of the usual trappings of a Bond film were omitted from Casino Royale. I always loved a lot of the gadgets and gizmo's he used in past movies. There's also no Q, no Moneypenny and no opening sequence where we see the white dots float across the screen. But after viewing this movie I understood why. This is Bond's first assignment becoming a double 0 agent. Perhaps we'll see a bit more of the Bond mythos revealed in the next couple of movies. As for the gadgets, there is a bit of techno coolness to this movie, but without the invisible cars, mini-copters and submersible Lotus Esprees.
There's also quite a few cool as frack action sequences that will have you holding on to the edge of your seats. All were excellently executed. I just wish the last big bruahah would have been a bit longer.
There's also a torture sequence that is quite graphic in Fleming's novel and I was surprised to see that they had the balls (pun intended) to actually portray it in the film. (Scratch that itch, buddy!)
Oh, and here's a pretty geeky observation I made. Towards the end of the film Bond is recuperating at some villa in Italy. If you are a die hard Star Wars geek, like myself, you should recognize the setting right away. It's the same place that Anikan Skywalker and Padme Amadalla get hitched at the end of Episode II. GeekGeekGeekGeekGeekGeek!
After the movie me and my friend, Spanky, sat and discussed our love of this movie over a good dark stout and some fine cigars that smoked quite smoothly. Hopefully you'll be hearing the two for us rave over the movie on my next podcast.
All in all, weather your a Bond zealot like myself or just someone who wants to see a great spy thriller, go see Casino Royale. They really did pull it off quite nicely!!!
In other geek news, I saw in the media the release of the new Playstation 3. Once again Sony was pulling the ol' "Lets under ship the amount so we can fail at satisfing everyone at launch time" game which of course created a frenzy. People were camping out days in advance of it's release. In some places there were riots and shootings in the lines waiting for the system. One person in my state got trampled underfoot for crissakes! What idiots! By summer they'll have more than enough of these things on the shelves. On top of that Sony has out priced itself by loading on a hefty price tag of $500 to $600 per system. Youch!
I, myself, am waiting to get my paws on an Xbox360 before I even start to think about purchasing a PS3. So for those of my friends and family that actually read this blog and have a vested interest in my happiness, you may want to band together and make a donation to the "Zangz's Needs a '360 Cause", since Xmas and my B-day are right around the corner. Hinty hint hint!
That's it for now. I'd link up all of this but it's nearly 1am and I still want to get a little snack in before I hit the hay.
Zangz .
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Popping in Quickly...

Just popping in to make my usual announcement that there's a new Podcast of mine up at the AZCast.net site. It can be downloaded HERE.
This podisode's about enjoying the three Lord of the Rings movies. Not my best 'cast as I was slightly unprepared due to recovering from a nasty head cold. Hopefully the next one will be far better and less snott filled.
To be brief, here's a couple of points I'd like to catch you all up on.....
- I saw Borat last weekend. It's friggin' hysterical!!! If you go see it, I hope you don't have an aversion to scenes involving male genitalia.
- This Friday is the opening of Casino Royale. Though, it won't be the pulpish romp that I thoroughly enjoyed during the Connery, Moore and Brosnan years, I'm still really looking forward to it and seeing what Craig can bring to the table.
- I still haven't taken all of my Halloween stuff down yet. Consider it an act of defiance upon the upcoming crap-fest that is the holiday season. In reality, it's because I'm quite lazy.
- Lost is off the air until February! What da....? Do networks believe in full seasons any more?
Ok enough of that silliness. Here's another edition of.....
007 Bond Supplement
Here's a near daily update on what is going on in the world of James Bond. Whether it be the books or movies, there's news on it here at this blog-like site. The site master scours the press for anything Bond related, so it's updated quite nicely.
That's all for now. They'll be more general bafoonery later in the week, I assure you.
Zangz.
Friday, November 03, 2006
The Downward Spiral Into the Realm of Dankness Known as the Holiday Season.
There's very little to look forward to, with the exception of the next James Bond movie, Casino Royale. Other than that, the holiday season always breaks out the saltiness in me. As I've mentioned before, the holidays always bring out the worst in people, especially the Yuppies. It's always the @#$%! in the BMW who is either moving at a snails pace in front of you or right on your tail behind you. An then when he/she drives by they have their cell phone in their hand without a care in the world.
Let's move on to some other nicer subject before I become all maudlin and snarky, shall we?
The news just broke that the Brothers Walchowskis (who brought us The Matrix and V for Vendetta) will be the ones to bring historic japanimation cartoon, Speed Racer, to the real life big screen. I remember originally Tom Cruise was interested in doing this movie as the title character. Thank god that fell through.
I have very fond memories of being a young lad and coming home from kindergarten and watching that cartoon on the local independent station while eating oatmeal with a boatload of cinnamon and sugar on top of it. I had weird food hang ups as a kid. What can I tell ya?
Sadly, the movie based on the uber popular video game Halo is on indefinite hold for now. Too bad since Peter Jackson was involved as a producer. The movie companies buckled like a bunch of wimps when it came to financing the project.
Speaking of man/god Peter Jackson (The man has a haunted attraction in his own house, thus he is of the god like echelon), there may be, not one, but two movies based on the J.R.R. Tolkein book, "The Hobbit". Please, please, please, please let Peter Jackson have a major power in these films. They shall be shat on form a very great height by us fan boys if he doesn't have some artistic say in how these movies are made. These could be something to really look forward to!
I played a bit through Evil Dead: Regeneration for the Xbox and thought it was quite enjoyable. A lot of the dialog is hysterical and the general creepiness of the settings were quite nice. Sometimes the game got a little frustrating, though. If your a big Bruce Campbell and Ted Raimi fan, I truly recommend it. Hopefully, I'll rent it again soon so I can finish it.
On a last note, before I check out the latest episode of Dr. Who, I want you to peruse this cute picture.....

This is a picture of one very happy child that I shall dub Solo Van Halen, son of my best friend, Goof. Ya see, already Solo Van Halen has delusions of his manly prowess as he is happily set all snug between two female newborns. Evidently, he's already plotting his adventures into puberty.
Ok, kiddos. I've got to get something into my system before the good Doctor appears with his buxom sidekick, Rose.
I'll find something to harp about later.
P.S. Look at my last blog entry as I was FINALLY able to upload a nice graphic with it. When I originally tried, Blogspot seemed to be having some issues with uploading pictures.
Zangz.