Ian Fleming's Post Mortem 100th B-Day.

If he were still living, James Bond creator, Ian Fleming would have been 100 years old today. Instead of digging the old guy up to put one of those goofy, pointy, cardboard birthday hats on him, his estate instead decided to release a brand new James Bond novel with spy-like fanfare.

Author Sebastian Faulks penned the new Bond adventure, "Devil May Care", and brought Bond back in time to the good old days of the cold war. This is the first adult Bond adventure since Raymond Benson wrote "The Man With The Red Tattoo". I think I may wait a spell before reading it. I have so much to read through yet.

Well, happy B-day to the late, great Ian Fleming.


I bet you're all wondering what I thought about....

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Well, there will be a review forth coming. And you can look for it within the next Zangz's Pod of Geekdom that is coming up real soon. Keep your ears and eyes open for it!

This was a quickie, so I'll be back sometime this weekend to regale you with more useless geekified, pop-culture information. So stay tuned and stay vertical!

Zangz.

I'm Jonesing on a 5 day holiday weekend high!

Today starts my 5 day break from monotony! I'm off Thursday, Friday Saturday, Sunday and of course Memorial Day Monday. It's the first time I've had 5 days off in a row in about 11 months, and I'm going to have one heck of a good time, by hook or by crook! I deserve this, dammit!

And as for Jonesing, by this time tomorrow I will have laid mine eyes upon the new Indiana Jones movie.....

INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL

I'm hearing mostly positive reviews of the film, but there are a few disappointed people who have obviously geared themselves up for having a similar experience as they had the first time they saw Raiders of the Lost Ark. There's no friggin' way anybody is going to walk out of that theater and say "That was just as good as Raiders!" It's completely impossible to compete with the first Indy movie! All I'm expecting is a fun thrill ride that will reunite me with one of cinema's all time favorite heroes. I'm looking for some good pulpy fun and I have a pretty good feeling that I'm going to get just that!

Look for my review somewhere soon.

Also keep your ears open for a new....

Zangz's Pod Of Geekdom

That's right! We may be back in business. It took a year to get back on track, but we may have our next podcast up by the end of next week. So check back here and here to see any developments!


I only have one movie review for you that is geekworthy....

The Golden Compass - Though I dug the visuals and the performances of the fantasy flick, I found myself a little lost at times since I haven't read the series of books that it is based on. There's an awful lot of history and mythos to swallow in a small amount of time so that you can catch up to the viewers who are acquainted with the book series. Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman are wonderful in it. Sam Eliot is always a treat to watch and hear! The sets and special effects make you feel that you truly are in a new and exciting fantasy world. The anti-conservative theme is pretty blatant, yet the anti-Catholic message that is prevalent in the books is very much downplayed. Probably due to the studio wanting to not ostracize potential ticket buyers. There's not much action until the very end battle, which is pretty cool, but also pretty short. Though it came up pretty short as being a big name fantasy film, I guess I'll be interested in seeing the next one as this movie ended on a very unfinished note. Just to see what happens next. Not a keeper, but a renter.

Short, but sweet. I'm outta here for a pre-Memorial Day cigar and beer to usher in the 5 day weekend I have comin'!

Stay vertical and be sure to remember hug someone who has served our nation this weekend (unless he's that creepy uncle who makes odd grunts when he's hugging you).

Zangz.

Quick and brutal...just the way I like my blogs.

The summer cometh with a promise of beers, cigars, cookouts and bonfires... and wonderfully geeky movies for my brain to consume like a mutha trucker! I'm just hoping that we'll start to get a decent warm up sooner or later. It's a bummer waking up to 40 degree weather outside when it should be in the high 50's at least.

But, what am I complaining about? The summer season kicks off officially next week with a 3 day holiday weekend (that I'm going to extend to a 5 day weekend with vacation days) that will feature (drum roll please)......

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull!

Hellyeah, I'm psyched! too bad most friends aren't quite into it as much as I am, since I've been bugging them about when they want to see it. Of course they ignore my cries for geekosity and don't reply or answer. Hopefully we'll have this resolved by next weekend.

One summer blockbuster I have seen and enjoyed the frell out of was Ironman! I'd give a review, but mine would be exactally like the ones you've probably have read already on the internet. Robert Downey Jr. is frackin' brilliant as Tony Stark, the action sequences (the few that there were... one gripe) were frackin' brutal and the fact that Gweneth Paltrow comes off as being frackin' adorably hot in the roll of Pepper Potts rather than slightly aloof which seems to plague the actress a bit was quite welcome. If you're a fan of the comic, definitely go see this mutha as it has a very interesting way to be very loyal to the source material without being dated. If you're not a fan of the comic, go for an excellent fanboy experience!


Let's see. What else? Oh, I finally finished Jim Butcher's first novel of the Dresden Files, "Storm Front". Though I enjoyed it, I kept finding myself going back to the character of John Constintine, also a magic detective of sorts. Unfortunately Constantine is a bit more up my alley rather than Harry Dresden. Constantine is far more darker and off beat. Though I certainly plan to revisit Harry Dresden's world one day, reading Storm Front made me yearn for the days when Garth Ennis wrote the John Constintine comics. I can't say Ennis' version of Constantine is better than Butcher's Dresden. He's just slightly more my kind of mage who tries to solve problems of the paranormal.

I'm still working on "Sister of the Dead". I'm also going to hacking through the Alice Cooper autobiography "Golf Monster", the short story anthology of one of the very first pulp action characters, "The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane" by the late, great Robert E. Howard. Then I still have to get back to the world of pathologist Alex Cross in James Patterson's "Big Bad Wolf". Lots of reading to do this summer.


There's also lots of time that will have to be spent on GTA4 this weekend. I love this friggin' game!!!! I do have a couple of quibbles with it. First, the control of the automobiles is a little to limiting compared to the last games. Just try and make a sharp turn while being perused by the law and not fly out of control! I'm hoping there's a way to get a hang of it to make the experience more enjoyable. There's also the fact you're being bothered all the time by contacts you make in the game. Just try and float around the city while discovering new sights when suddenly you're girlfriend, Michelle calls you on your cell phone for a date. Or your dumb-assed cousin calls you to go out drinking while you're in the middle of trying to do a stunt jump. It gets a little monotonous at times. But, I still love this friggin' game.


Ok, I'm gunna head out and smoke a cigar while I get a little more reading done before the sun goes down. Until next time, as a very wise man once told me, stay vertical.

Zangz.

Tomorrow Liberty City Falls.....

Well, kids, I grabbed my copy of Grand Theft Auto 4 the day it came out (this past Tuesday) and I have to tell you, after playing a full 5 hours of the game (not in one sitting...honest. Well, ok, maybe 4 hours of full sitting and one hour sometime there after) I've hardly scraped the surface of what the open ended sandbox game has to offer! I haven't even gotten out of my neighborhood yet! This game is huge and incredibly epic. The graphics are so incredible I feel that I'm damn near visiting New York rather than playing a game that is based off of it!

What I have played so far is just incredible. Not only can you do the usual car jacking, causing havoc, fleeing the law and all the other accoutrement's that the GTA series has to offer, I've also played a bowling game, played a dart game and gotten completely hammered at a bar and had to try and walk back to my car without falling on my face! Yep. They replicate what it's like to be drunk! How crazy is that?!?!

Already the "Puritanical Police" have condemned it for it's crime simulation content just to get their names in the media. Wil Wheaton has nice blog about that which you can read HERE. They can kiss my lily white A$$! "Cause this game rocks my world!

I could go on and on, but I haven't even gotten to a point where I can review it since I'm hardly that far in the game.

Tomorrow I plan to immerse myself more in depth into the fictional Liberty City and see what more it has to offer.

I'm sure I'll be bloggin' more on the subject at a latter time. So stay tuned.


In other news, I've found myself very envious of my mom as she just recently bought a nice Mac and set up for DSL. Here I am stuck with a PC and dial up. I spent an evening at my Mom's downloading YouTube videos of movie trailers and music videos 'cause they download as they play rather than taking 30 minutes to download a 5 minute clip. I may have to upgrade to DSL very soon. We'll see.


Also concerning family matters, things are finally looking good. My one relative finally got in touch with me and is doing fine after a very serious operation. They're at home recuperating and in very good spirits! thanks for the good vibes you sent their way.


Movie reviews, why the hell not.....

3:10 to Yuma - It's not quite up there with Silverado or The Unforgiven, but it certainly holds it's own as a cool as hell western! It's a bit slow at times, but the performances are spot on and the action scenes are pretty good. The story is quite good also. If you're a fan of westerns you'll want to check this one out!

Hostel Part II - Again, I'm not a big torture porn horror fan, but they seem to pull this one off with a cool story. There are a lot of parts that will not scare you , but piss you the hell off. But, in one particular scene one psycho get his come-uppence in a way that will have guys closing their legs closed for dear life. A decent flick, but if you're more into paranormal horror rather than slasher flick, you may want to avoid this.

Closure (Straightheads)- This movie about a doomed sexual relationship and revenge may be a cliche of a lot of sexually driven thrillers and may have a plot that is as half-assed as any ever put on film, but card carrying members of the Gillian Anderson Appreciation Society. will revel in this flick. I won't get into too much detail, suffice it to say, there's the female lead is topless in a couple of scenes and there is an anal rape scene involving a sniper riffle. Who the frell thinks up this dren? Male X-Files fans might want to check it out on a lonely Friday night.


I'm gunna call it quits for now as I have more Torchwood, season one to catch up on right now (Yep. Another lonely Friday night).

Zangz.

All is well in Hobbiton.....

....Actually all is FRACKIN' FAN-FRELLIN'-TASTIC in Hobbiton!!!!

New Line Cinema nearly dropped the ball completely when it tried to ban Peter Jackson from any involvement to the prequels to the Lord of the Rings films due to some legal disputes he had with them trying to bilk him out of his contractual fair share of the LOTR profits. But, apparently they've pulled their heads out of the sphincters, resolved the matter and have hired him on the Hobbit projects. Not as a director, but as producer. Still a very good move because there is no other person I can think of who has a deep felt love with the source material who's going to know how to get it all done.

When they made the announcement on who's going to direct this past week, I nearly involuntarily moistened my geek self! None other than GUILLERMO DEL TORO will be helming the picture under Jackson's producer roll. It's like a The Brave And The Bold comic where Batman and Superman team up to thwart evil!!! Two of the greatest genre minds of all time banding together to bring one of the greatest fantasy stories to the big screen! It's more than enough to make my nipples hard.

Though Peter Jackson's directorial work on the LOTR films is a tale of legend and myth, Del Torro has directed more than a few films that are permanent staples in my DVD collection and rental history. Hellboy, Blade II, Mimic, Cronos as well as the upcoming Hellboy II: The Golden Army and the in preproduction hell adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's In The Mountains of Madness all have, or will have, that spark of mad imagination that only Del Toro can pull off.

These won't hit theaters until 2011 and 2012 which will give us some more great movie anticipation time after IJATKOTCS comes out next month.


So, at least, that was some good news that got my mind off of other things going on in my life. There were some family health issues that had me quite concerned this past week. One story ends on a good note as all tests turned out with decent results. Now we wait another six months and check it all out again.

Then there's very sudden situation where a another close family member had to go in for emergency bypass surgery. After a preliminary bypass operation it was found that it would have to be quadruple bypass surgery. Another unfortunate notation in this story is that since this family member doesn't live close by in the northern Midwest and there were/are some major communication gaps in what is going on with his health situation. From what little I can gather the surgery took place on Tuesday and they were put into ICU for an unexpectedly long time. The end of Wednesday they were awake and lucid and doing much better. Then Thursday morning they weren't doing as well. By Thursday afternoon they were doing much better again and within the next couple of days they will be out of ICU and into a normal hospital room.

Communication-wise it's a very frustrating situation at best. News is coming very slow and my family was never given "special codes" that give us access to the core medical information we need.

Again, please have good thoughts for my relative and shove some good vibes down south in their general direction.


While waiting around for calls about my relative to reach my cell phone, I finished off Kevin Smith's "My Boring Ass Life" while enjoying a cigar or two, sitting outside since the weather was very nice earlier this week. Now we're back to cold, rainy and windy. As long as it's not cumulating snow, I'm good.

The book is a must read for die hard Kevin Smith fans!!!! If you're not that well acquainted with his film work... get a friggin' life and rent Clerks, Clerks II, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma or Jersey Girl. You should also pick up the DVD's of his Q&A panels, An Evening with Kevin Smith and Evening Harder. They are some great stories he tells on them. Which brings me back to the book. There are some stories here that Kevin Smith fans will more than appreciate. He goes through his sidekick's (Jason Mewes) heart wrenching experiences with drug abuse, his winning the big ass award at the Cannes Film Festival, and how he went from directing his own films to co-staring in other people's film (like Catch and Release which I've rented for this weekend).

The only quibble I have with the book is that it can be mucho mucho repeditivo. Keeping in mind that the book is plucked straight from the director's on-line journal, so much of the book is as follows.....

Day 1
"The dogs woke me up at nine AM-I took them out-I took a s**t and showered-took the daughter to school-the wife and I went out for breakfast-then she went shopping and I went to the DVD store and picked up a ton of movies-went to the production office for a while-picked up daughter from school-picked up take out for dinner-ate dinner with family-worked on my computer with movie playing in the background-fell asleep to TIVOed Simpsons."

Day2
"The dogs woke me up at nine AM-I took them out-I took a s**t and showered-took the daughter to school-the wife and I went out for breakfast-then she went shopping and I went to the DVD store and picked up a ton of movies-went to the production office for a while-picked up daughter from school-picked up take out for dinner-ate dinner with family-worked on my computer with movie playing in the background-fell asleep to TIVOed Simpsons."

You get the picture. There is a lot of that to sift through before you get to some good meaty and juicy stories. And Ohhh how succulent that juicy meat is. It's meat dripping right off the bone. (crap... now I'm hungry).

So there's a lot to get through before the good stuff hits, but it's also a wonderful read for those of us with ADD as the book is sectioned off into small diary entries rather than big lumbering chapters. And of course it's always a blast to read Kevin giving the written smack down to snooty critics who give his projects and fans a hard time!

If you're into the Askewiverse, this is a damn good read!


This is gunna be a long one, I can feel it.


I finished off Rainbow Six: Vegas. It was a nice little title that was really challenging but well worth it when you got to sneak up and take out a terrorist with a well aimed head shot. Not something I'll pick up. It was a little on the short side. But, it certainly kept me entertained for a while. Good rental if you get the chance.

Now my Xbox 360 is all readying itself up for this Tuesday's little release that will be picked up sometime this week........

GTA:IV!!!!!!!

I cannot wait to return to Liberty City and wreak mass destruction upon it. Let's hope that the game world is every bit as large and interactive as it's predecessor San Andreas!!!!


Here are some quicky movie reviews as I'm far behind....

30 Days of Night - This thing kicks ass!!! It's a very interesting angle on the vampire story based on a graphic novel. Since vampires only come out at night they've found the perfect hunting grounds in a small town in Alaska where it's night for one month straight. The local sheriff and town members must fight back. Lots of good grisly gore and a original vampire story line. I'm hoping to buy this one soon!

Beowulf (CG animated film) - One of my favorite writers, Neil Gaimen, along with Roger Avery churn out an excellent adaptation of the ancient English poem. Taking place in fantastical medieval Denmark, a hero of fortune comes upon a kingdom cursed by a monster known as Grendel. After his defeat of Grendel the hero, Beowulf slowly learns the long, life learned lesson of honesty and what a true hero is. I'm so happy that Hollywood finally gave us adults a computer generated animated movie to enjoy. I'm quite sick of those cutesy Pixar films directed solely at the kiddies and their parents' bank accounts. There's some excellent action, adventure scenes as well as some of the best CG animation I've ever seen. Shrek my skinny, hairy ass! Pick up a REAL CG animated movie to appease the genre geek in you. And, yep, I already picked this one up!


A couple last notes to mention....

What fool is responsible for this happening to Bond's car?

And........ drum roll please......................................... Zangz's Pod of Geekdom may be making a triumphant return in the not too distant future after a year long hiatus. There's some technical ideas that may be put into fruition that will make it far more easy and compact to record my Pod of Geekdom without having my tech, Double A Man, to have to come out and set up a small studio wherever we wanted to record.

Stay tuned!

I'm off to get me some grub, until next time, Stay Verticle!

Zangz.

Shake, Rattle Roll....

So, I was in this deep R.E.M. sleep Friday morning, dreaming about sitting on a couch in an apartment (not mine) doing some dog sitting for friends (dreams are weird). Suddenly, the couch starts to move side to side for no reason. Just then I start to wake from my slumber in my bed to the half asleep realization that the side to side shaking movement was not limited to my dream and was not subsiding at all. My bed was seemingly making this movement on its own (WTF?!?!)

Still in partial sleep mode my mind wondered if I was on a "Witch's Ride" (you're in a dream state yet fully aware that you're in a dream state and can't wake yourself out of it). Once I woke up a little more I realized that my bed was indeed shaking side to side!! Did some large animal get into my apartment and burrow itself under my bed and was now humping the travel duffel bag I keep underneath there? Was my apartment haunted by a ghost? Was my apartment haunted by the ghost of an animal humping my duffel bag under my bed???? Or was it a lot of the stress I've been under lately finally starting to take root in my psyche and this was the first signs of a pure, unadulterated, full mental breakdown?

As I slowly came to being fully awake the shaking of the bed came to an end. The whole incident only took about 25 seconds at most. I turned on a light and sat up in bed. After much contemplation I decided to ignore the urge of getting up and looking under my bed (perhaps to find some wild raccoon who'd leap at my face and chew it to ribbons or some undead thing that would try and eat my brain) and to just go back to sleep for the next 50 minutes before I had to get up for work. It had already been a restless night for me prior to the possessed bed incident and I knew I needed to catch a few winks to be able to face the coming day. So back to sleep I go without further incident.

After getting up latter in the morning I turn on the TV and find that there was a 4.5 earthquake in southern Illinois that's effects reached waaaaay up north. This pretty much solved the mystery. I breathed a major sigh of relief that I wouldn't have to have my bedroom blessed by a priest waving holy water over my bed or have the ASPCA come over to wrangle some varmint from under my bed or that I was yet to reach full mental nut job status.

So that was interesting.


I apologize for not having a more frequent posting schedule in this month. Things are pretty crazy right now! Both my professional and social life are pretty crammed filled with a ton of stuff. Plus, there are a few personal issues that are tooling around in my little noggin' at the moment. So I have a full plate of stuff going on lately and I'm reeeeeeaaaaallllly hoping that by the time summer kicks in and we get some really nice weather that issues will have worked themselves out and things aren't as frantic. That way I can enjoy some good herfs of of some fine cigars!!!

I've already dipped into my summer supply and have enjoyed a few. In fact I tried one that I hadn't smoked before that I really enjoyed. Try yourself a Gurkha Shaggy. It's exposed end (the one you light, dumb a$$) is slightly shredded to make for a far more easy and distributive lighting experience. It's very flavorful and wonderfully smooth.


I know I'm behind in all sorts of geeky media reviews so here are a quick couple of video games I recently tried out....

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas - In a somewhat squad based FPS, you and your fellow elite anti-terrorist outfit members try and wipe out a terrorist threat that has plunked themselves down in Las Vegas and have taken over a few of the massive casino hotels. I have to tell you that I'm not at all a big fan of squad based games, but RBSV makes controlling your squad pretty easy. It's also very challenging, once in a blue moon, borderline frustrating. But it makes taking out the bad guys with a head shot all the more gratifying. Graphics wise, it's no Call of Duty 4, but the look and feel of the casinos makes you feel like you're in Vegas. I'm not done with the whole game yet, but I'm closing in. So far I enjoy what I'm playing. Not quite enough to go and buy a copy of my own (I'm borrowing Roberto's), but a good time-passer video game!

Turok - I was a HUGE fan of the Nintendo64 versions of the FPS series that had you being an American Indian with lethal bow in hand ridding the world of aliens and dinosaurs! The games mixed the attributes of FPS, arcade and platformer games. Visually they took you to crazy, visually stunning words. I loved them. When I heard that they were going to revamp the game for the Xbox 360, I had high hopes. But, after renting it, all hopes fell flat. Sure the graphics were excellent, but there's only so much of jungle level followed by jungle level followed by jungle level a gamer can take. It also took a lot of cheap shots at your character making the combat experiences very frustrating, not challenging. How many dinos can one character take on at once? Not the best gaming experience of my life, but if you like frustrating FPS games, go for it!


I'm still reading like 50 books at once right now. And being a slow reader doesn't help the mater. On top of my current reading list I still have yet to get to "Alice Cooper: Golf Monster" and an anthology series of Robert E. Howard's (Conan The Barbarian) of "The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane" that my gamemaster, Mad Mario, lent me last night in preperation of his running an RPG based on the character that will start up next summer. It will take me that long to just finish the stuff I'm on now.

Anyway, my weekend is booked again. I gotta get out of here and do some snack shopping for a CoC game I've got today. Plus there's also episodes of Torchwood I rented this weekend as well as some more Rainbow Six: Vegas so I can return it to Roberto soon. I may even try and sneak in a cigar, weather permitting. So I have to motor now.

Zangz is outta here.

I'm lovin' me some Torchwood!

Since I don't have the BBC America channel that is included in the overpriced, uber-cable TV set up that the local cable company overcharges it's customers for, I didn't get to check out the wonderful little Dr. Who spin off that a lot of my fellow geek friends have been bantering about for a long time.

Finally I rented the first DVD of Torchwood out of my rental club and got my first look at the debut and second episode. Within the first 20 minutes I was frellin' hooked! The best way to describe it would be if you took The X-Files and melded it with Dr. Who. Then you took a dash of adult humor and content and a whole lot of excellent writing and characterization and you have Torchwood.

Set in a secret base under Britain's Millennium Centre there's a small secret society of investigators looking into intergalactic, paranormal and otherworldly phenomenon. This small band of detectives are led by the energetic, roughish and darn charming Capitan Jack Harkness. He's apparently an immortal who runs around in a cool military trench coat and has some great snappy repartee. He's played by actor John Barrowman who supposedly has family here in my home town and has actually been spotted here in the Brew City from time to time (though I could be horribly mistaken as I see that he's actually from Scotland)

Then you also have the naturally sexy-as-heck-girl-next-door-with-Betty-Page-hair-beauty, Gwen Cooper. She's the "newbie" who fell into Torchwood acting as their police liaison. She's the Alice Through the Looking Glass character that the viewers relate through while she experiences the new sites and situations that the Torchwood Institute has to offer (like a live tyradactile that flies around in the Torchwood underground base - WTF?!?!?!). Gwen is played by the wonderful Eve Myles who I developed a bit of a crush on after the first episode.

The outrageous creatures, aliens and oddities that the Torchwood gang come across seem secondary to the characters and good smart, adult writing. It's good to be living in a TV age where smart writing is being fused with genre TV (Battlestar Gallactica, Lost, Dr. Who, The Sara Conner Chronicle.... I'm not gunna Wiki link all of these. Google 'em yer damn selves). Sadly, there's a rumor amongst the Torchwood fan sites that the BBC plans to dumb down the show to get a wider range of viewers. This includes the ousting of lead character Capt. Jack (WTF?!?!?!) perhaps due to his omni sexual preferences, a highlight of the adult nature of the show.

So you better check this little gem of a show out before it goes all "Mr. Rogers Neighborhood" on us. The first season is available on DVD for rental or purchase. I believe the second season is being shown in England and BBC America. The third season has yet to be shot, but is rumored to be the season where they start messing with the characters and story lines so dumb people will like it as well.


I had a great Easter! Easter really isn't my bag when it comes to holidays, but my family ended up having a really good time. We started with an excellent brunch at a really nice, East Side cafe. I had an excellent Bloody Mary followed by a great Eggs Benedict dish that wasn't only tasty, it was affordable also. Then we all motored over to my sister and bro-in-law's house to walk their two dogs, Pipen and Frodo. Though, we had just had the worst snow storm of the year that Friday, the weather was nice enough for me and my bro-in-law to enjoy some beer and cigars out on the front porch. My first cigar of the spring/summer season was hurffed up with great enthusiasm and it actually puffed quite well despite the slightly cold weather and the fact that it was a bit dried out. I can't wait to hurf some more in the coming months!


We're still waiting on more tests to find out if my relative's health issue is something more serious. I don't want to slag the medical community because I know they do their very best, but for the money we pump into the medical community and health care, you'd think they could be a frack of a lot quicker with these things instead of the back and forth and waiting weeks for the next appointment /test! With medical bills as astronomical as they are due to corporate greed that has infiltrated the medical world, we should have had this all figured out and taken care of already. I don't think I'd be quite as critical if medical treatment was affordable. Until it is, I'll be quite skeptical.


I took a break from Mass Effect and Bioshock and went back into my catalog of games and started to play some more Crackdown. I've now incompletely beefed up my agent character to his most superosity. So jumping around town, destroying things and tossing thugs off of high rise buildings isn't anywhere near of a hassle as it used to be. Very Cool!

I'm also greatly anticipating this little ditty that's coming out the end of next month!


Well, I'm off to ejoy another Saturday afternoon with movies, Zangz's Killer Chili and a good long session of Mass Effect.

Let me leave you with this little spew of wisdom.... gap toothed chicks can be pretty friggin' sexy and cute as hell, also!

Zangz.

God Is Dead, All Hope Is Gone and Evil Reigns Yet Another Week....

It's the second day of spring. The second FRIGGIN' day of spring!!! Did it start with birds chirping? No! How about a beautiful sunrise? Nope! Was it a semi-warm day? The kind that makes you anticipate what a great summer it will be? The kind of day that when you get home in the evening you can go outside and enjoy a beer and cigar. Oh, hell no!!!

The day was met with vertical flying snow that slowly, but surely, built up into several inches of heavy snow throughout the day. I left work a half an hour early, and it still took me 2 and 1/2 hours to get into my cozy apartment and have a beer in hand. The sad thing about it was that even though the roads were rough, it took me under an hour to get home. It was the shoveling myself into my own parking spot while getting myself out of two snow drifts that took up the majority of time. Finally by 6 PM I was in my apartment cold and soggy, yet enjoying a nice frosty, Friday evening brew.

"F" Mother Nature and "F" Al Gore! Lets see that bloated ding dong live through this winter in the upper Midwest and then see him whine about global warming (and I'm a moderate progressive)! Jeeze, I must be into full S.A.D. mode! Someone, get me one of those generic lamps! If it doesn't get spring-like in a short amount of time, I may just go nuts!!

On top of all of that my favorite Idol contestant was booted off the show by the majority of idiots that actually vote. I haven't even seen one full episode this season and know that the winner will be some generic, mindless turd that will be owned by the American Idol corporation and will find themselves in eternal enslavement 'till kingdom come. You might be thinking to yourselves, "But if you don't really watch the show, how can you pick a favorite singer, Zangz?"

It's because I'm a lonely, dirty old man-geek, OK! There! You've pulled it outta me! Are you all happy now!!!!!!!


Let's move on to some movie reviews I've been holding back on for a few months....

Star Trek: Nemesis - This wasn't exactally the movie that should have closed out the Next Generation chapter as it felt more like a 2 hour episode of the TV series rather than a full bloodied Star Trek motion picture. It deserved a hell of a lot more that what was given to it, both script-wise and production-wise. It was a nice effort, but the cast and fans deserved a frell of a lot more! And where the frack was Wil Wheaton, fercissakes? Frack you, you Wesley Crusher haters!

Doom - Have I reviewed this one yet? I rented it quite a while ago and thought that I might have done a review of it. If not, here goes. This is basically a marginally fun filled rental. If you went to the theaters to see it, consider yourselves about $5 out of luck. If you rented it you're only about $1 out of luck. If you got to see it for free, then you're pretty right on the money! Not quite up to par with what it could have been had it really been a full blown homage to the revolutionary video game, it was still a bit enjoyable. I love Karl Urban and Rosemund Pike in this movie. Even The Rock is ok. But, like most video game to movie screen films, it comes up short. It is VERY predictable. Could have been better, yet not a complete waste of time for us Sci-Fi video game geeks.

Hannibal Rising - Disturbingly good. It's not anywhere up to par with the original Silence of the Lambs. But, it is a very interesting introspective to where serial killer, Hannibal Lecter, got some of his traits. The film takes place during WWII and takes Hannibal from the the war that destroyed his family to his obsession with his hot Asian step mother as well as his obsession with revenge. I didn't think I would, but I actually enjoyed it. If you're a big fan of the Hannibal Lecter series of movie and/or books, it's worth a peek.

Sunshine - It was supposed to be the next generation's 2001, but it didn't quite make it to that level. The first half of the movie I really enjoyed the hell out of. The set up was great, characters were awesome and story seemed to flow well. However, it got a little convoluted toward the end. Rather than the characters dealing with an out of control computer, they have to deal with this quasi-ghostly entity that may or may not be what is left of the captain of a space ship that was formerly sent to help revamp the sun's power to save the earth. The current group of astronauts that are on a very similar mission (since the last one failed) have to thwart this wacky, blurry entity to reach their goal. It is never really revealed what happened to this omnipotent character and why he's so.... blurry. It's definitely a good watch , though. Not quite up to par with 2001, but a fun Sci-Fi watch still the same. Check it out!!!

Premonition - I love Sandra Bullock and feel that all of the performances of this movie are spot on, especially her's. However, If you're into unhappy endings that have a slight glimmer of hope, then this might be up your alley. I, myself, was hoping for something that was a bit of a paranormal thriller. It had hints of that, but in the end, didn't deliver. If you knew your lover was going to die and could travel back in time to stop it would you? Or would you be resigned to the fate that no matter what you did, your future with said loved one was frelled up the whazoo? That is what the move explores. OK rental, but if you like unhappy endings with slight glimmers of happiness, rent it. Otherwise stay the frack away! Sandy rocked the hizzhouse but.....

Zodiac - this could have been a real awesome thriller about the Zodiac Killer murders in the 70's, but it got a bit long in the tooth for me. It was done well and, again good acting chops throughout. But, it was till missing that feeling of real mystery, serial killer, thriller that it should have been.

The Last Mimzy - Not anything particularly out of this world, but when it comes to kids films that are inspired by the genres of Sci-Fi/Fantasy it blows the roof of of the funeral dirge that is known as Disney's The Bridge to Teribithia. Not a milestone in Sci-Fi, but a fun enough film for families!

Ok kids. that's enough for my saltiness and bitter attitude. Ive got a lot to do this weekend. More movies, more Mass Effect, bills to pay and more snow to shoveling to do (An Inconvenient Truth, my left nard! Howzabout An Inconvenient Parking Space That Takes You An Hour And A Half To Shovel Out Because Of The Massive Snow Storm That The Global Warming Has Not Gotten Rid Of? Why isn't Leonardo DiCaprio falling all over himself for that potential documentary?)

To attempt to end on a happy note. Above is a picture of the stamp a friend used to send in her annual tax return check. Enjoy!

All right. I'm outta here before I blow a gasket and go all hard core coronary, ballistic on ya all.

Zangz is outta the hizzhouse.

Zangz.

Zangz's Saturday Afternoon Chili to Eat as I Watch My Saturday Afternoon Movies

Another week gone by, another 7 days of yearning for gaming, action figures.... and love. Pathetic? Perhaps. But, this wouldn't be called my Blog of Geekdom if there weren't some awkward moments of pure silliness. And this is the place for just that!

Though, not a heck of a lot has really taken place since my last entry, I'm sure there's something I can dink around with here in the Blog of Geekdom.

I know! I can talk about tomorrow's events. There's yet another birthday party that will be taking place. It will be for the ever-so-lovely Iris VonBeaverhousen. There's already been some plotting and planing and all sorts of behind the scenes Tom-foolery that Roberto, her ever faithful man-servant and husband, has been dealing with to get this puppy off the ground.

Today I went out and got her a few presents since she was the one who was the mastermind behind my James bond themed 40th Birthday festival. I know she never friggin' reads this thing, but I still wont divulge what I'm getting her.
A mini-manga Boba Fette toy and a Nintendo DS game.
Tomorrow, I'll be cramming a lot into one weekend day. First there will be the getting up late (about 8 AM - 9 AM). Then I'll shuffle off to the living room couch and turn on the TV while I lay there lazily contemplating if I should continue watching crappy Saturday morning TV (usually consisting of paid programming and news shows) or should I get off my lazy ass and pop in a movie. I have three of them rented for the weekend and have little to no time to watch them. Then I'll contemplate if I should watch the movie or pop in a session of Mass Effect on the ol' '360. This will take another hour or so as my waking mind is still glued to the paid programming and crappy Saturday morning TV.

Finally it will be noon and I'll decide on a movie. But, I'll also be hungry by then and will make my famous "Zangz's Saturday Afternoon Chili to Eat as I Watch My Saturday Afternoon Movies". Here's the recipe for those constitutionally gifted and adventurous. It's comprised of Hormel No Beans Chilli. Pour a little beer in there. Preferably a Bock or Lager, something with a bit of dark flavor. NOT a light domestic! Then we put in a dash of chili pepper. Then a dash of curry powder. Then a tad of Tabasco sauce. If you don't have that, any hot sauce will do. Then I shake in a good dose of shredded Parmesan cheese. Then its a squirt of Sweet Baby Rays Hickory brown Sugar BBQ Sauce. Now mix thoroughly. After mixing put on a secondary layer of Parmesan cheese. Do not mix this layer as it is going to be kind of the equivalent to the crust of sugar on Creme Bru Le. Except it's going to be a cheesy goodness that tops off a carcenergenic meat monstrosity. On top of the layer of Parmesan cheese you'll place slices of sharp cheddar cheese that will cover the entire circumference of the bowl. Put in micro on high for 2 minutes. Then take out and let settle for 2 minutes. If it doesn't try and bite you after that, it should be fine to consume. (Consult you doctor before digesting. Zangz's Saturday Afternoon Chili to Eat as I Watch My Saturday Afternoon Movies may cause one to spend their entire day clenching up their butt cheeks while in public. DO NOT taunt Zangz's Saturday Afternoon Chili to Eat as I Watch My Saturday Afternoon Movies as it may strike at you without warning.)

Then I'll sit back enjoy my chili and watch whatever movies I've rented. But, tomorrow, I'll only fit in one as I have to make a clandestine rondevue (that's French for secret meeting) to retrieve something for Iris's B-day function. That will take up a portion of the afternoon. And I'll have to figure out if I'm going to head straight to the party afterward or have time to do a little Mass Effect or another movie afterward.

Then I'll head out west to the party where food, drinks, and gaming will commence in grand celebration of the birth of Iris Vonbeaverhousen. God Bless Her!

I may crash at Roberto and Iris' establishment. But, I may high-tail it home afterward as I've been crashing at their establishment a bit too much each weekend this past month and their probably sick of washing the Zangz crust out of the sheets of the bed in the guest bedroom.

Sunday is reserved to paying taxes in hopes that my return comes quick enough to put into the nasty gas increase that G-Dubya and his Oil Barron croonies have planed for us as the summer hits. Cucking Funts!


On a bit of a sad note (yep, another) one of my favorite artists died this week. His name was Dave Stevens. He did a killer job on the comic that inspired the movie Rocketeer. He could draw up a Betty Page like nobody's bizznezz! He was also married, at one point, to one of my favorite scream queens, Brinke Stevens. Take a peek at some of his artwork HERE and bask in the glory of a real artist, rather than some turd who throws paint on a canvas and calls it art.


Anyway, I'm heading out of here and maybe getting a head start on the movies for this weekend. See's ya.

Zangz.

Day of Loss......

I really had to pop in here and chime in on a couple of unfortunate milestones that took place today.

First, the announcement that Brett Farve is retiring. I heard about it in the lunch room at work at about 1:30 pm . Honestly, I thought he was going to give it just one more season. Though, it's disappointing, I'm more worried about the fate of the Packers for the seasons to come. Farve had become a bit of a crutch to them. Hopefully we have some hidden talent in that team that will persevere in the future.

This being a blog of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror as well as video games and RPGs, I know it's odd that you'd find a sport related topic sprouting up. But, I have to tell you that I've been following the Packers for the last 15 years. I'm not a big sports fan at all, but the Packers were something I found myself rooting for every Sunday afternoon of the fall and winter season.

I don't think we should be upset with Farve for his decision. He's given us Packer fans over a decade of great and exciting games. He also took us to the Superbowl twice with one win out of the visits. Though, the very end of his last season ('07-'08) wouldn't be what most players might want to end their career on, I think that the we have to look at the whole picture of Farve's career with the Packers to really get a feel of completion and a saga coming to an end. Let's let him do some relaxing and enjoy his life and be thankful for his input into the history of the Packers!

You can read about Brett Farve's retirement HERE.


Then I come home and find an email from a friend telling me that Gary Gaygax died. If you have to ask who Gary Gygax is, then you need to educate yourself in the geek culture. Check this out HERE. I briefly met this man once at a big gaming convention. He was at a booth promoting the movie Dungeons & Dragons (yikes). He was very friendly to all who approached. This man's great legacy to the realms of Fantasy and imagination shall live on forever. Let's raise our Swords of Everlasting Flame (+30 damage, +70 damage to ice beasts) in the air and hail a great innovator of imagination! HAZAH!

Read the Yahoo News article on Gygax's passing right HERE.

Will Wheaton (Star Trek:TNG) does a nice job of lamenting Gary on his blog HERE.


FYI, the Billy Joel concert was pretty excellent. I forgot how Rock 'N' Roll he originally was! He even had a roadie come up and sing AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" as Billy backed him up on guitar. Joel also had a pretty awesome light show on this tour. The only problems were getting there and leaving there. Apparently the Bradley Center parking lots leave a lot to be desired when it comes to organization and brain power. But, again, Billy rocked the hiz-house.


I'm still waiting to hear the outcome of my relative's health issue. Please keep those good thoughts coming.

Until next time, stay verticle!

Zangz.