Three Day Weekend, folks.... Hoist 'em!

Another week come and gone and we're into a 3 day weekend! Whahooo!

On to the nerd stuff.

I promised you all a review of The DaVinci Code, which myself along with a few family members went to go see last weekend. First and foremost I have to mention that most of the critics were a bit nasty with their reviews for the movie. It is far from being a horrible movie as they would like you to think. It's actually quite enjoyable, especially if you've read the book. Keep in mind, most critics are bitter old turds who have little respect for anything that's not in black and white or in a foreign language.

For those of you with your heads in the sand, The DaVinci Code is a movie strongly based on the pulp, thriller novel by Dan Brown which is sort of a treasure hunt for the "Holy Grail" (except there's no Nazis or Sean Connery or fedora wearing thrill seekers). In Mr. Brown's novel, "the Holy Grail" is not the cup from which Jesus drank from at the last supper. It is Mary Magdalene who, according to Brown and many conspiracy therorists, was Jesus' wife from whom he bore a daughter. This has, of course, created an uproar among the religiously fanatical. Who can actually envision Jesus gettin' jiggy with it? Ewwww.

I'm not going to debate the possiblility of the whole "Jesus was married" debacle except to say that we do have to keep in mind that the Bible has been written and re-written many a time throughout both ancient and medieval times. So who knows what is true and what is story from it.

The film follows the book quite closely, changing a few small things here and there. It's still a very interesting piece of cinema. Especially if you've had the chance to read through the book. I'm not a quick reader. It usually take me a month to trudge through a novel. But The DaVinci Code took me two weeks. It was a slick, quick, fun read. Nothing less, nothing more. If you've read the book, the movie's plot moves a little quicker for you. If not, I can see where one might be a little lost at times and the plot may slow down for you.

There's some great things about this movie. Paul Bettany does a great job as the twisted albino assassin, Silas. The settings and cinematography are wonderful at capturing both the beauty and creepiness of Paris. Audrey Tautou is quite adorable and Ian McKellen walks away with this movie. Tom Hanks is good with what little his character is given. Jean Reno is always enjoyable as he is here. There are no horrible performances as critics suggest. Ron "OpieRichyCunningham" Howard does a fine job with the task of translating a somewhat confusing book into a movie.

I don't think there was anything I was horrificly disappointed with in this film. There was only one plot hole that I had a problem with. If you don't want to know the ending of the movie read past the darkness, if you've seen the movie or read the book or don't give a frell highlight to read....

Once Tom Hank's character realizes where the tomb of Mary Magdalene is hidden, it is not fully explained why it is where it is. The ending reveals that the tomb is buried under the Louve art museum. This may make a few people who haven't read the book more than confused on how it ended up there. The filmmakers forgot to point out the fact that the architect who designed the newer glass pyramid entrance to the Louve was a member of a secret sect who vowed to not only protect the sarcophagus of Mary Magdalene, but also keep it's hiding place a secret. That fact might have helped explain the fact of how it ended up at the Louve.

So, while not an extraordinary movie, it's still worth checking out. There are some good locations, performances and intrigue to check this movie out.

I'm hoping to see X-Men: The Last Stand this weekend. I've heard both very good and horrific things about it. Since sadly, this is supposedly the last one of the series (a mere three films in what could be a plethora of movies), I'm hoping that it does the franchise some form of justice since the first two were pretty friggin' awesome!


Two of my favorite shows had their season finales this week. I find myself having to wait a few months before I have some answers to the cliffhangers I was left with from both Lost and "24".

"24" ended with the main character captured by a Government he cheesed off last season. And Lost left a few main characters in a nasty situation while, at the same time, leaving us viewers scratching our heads, trying to figure out how the last scene was at all relevant to what is/was going on in the plot. I wouldn't expect anything less from both programs.

Personally I'm finding myself drawn more toward Lost than "24". "24" has been excellent the last few seasons, but I find it using a few of the same plot devices each season. There's always a mole among the heroes. There's always someone who has no clue as to what is going on taking charge. It's getting a tad stale. Both my friends Mr. Salty and Spanky think that this was the best season ever, I disagree. I felt that last season (2005) was a snot better. Just a small bugger, mind you. Not a full Kleenex sized one. I loved the way that this season started with killing a boat load of main characters (though, I'll my lonely geek sensabilities will miss the character of Michelle Dressler dearly). Other wise the season was good, but not fantastic.

Another problem I had was there was no sign of "Mini Skit Mandy", our Boba Fett of "24". The mysterious terrorist who pops in from season to season was nowhere to be seen. FRELL!!!!

The only problem I have with Lost is that it presents questions that are never answered. Weren't there polar bears on the island at one time? Well, what the frell happened to them? Wasn't there some sort of tree smashing, floating form of smoke that was thrashing about the island? What was that supposed to be and where did it disappear to? Now that Libby is dead, will we ever find out why she was at the same nut house that Hurrley was? If none of what I'm talking about makes any sense to you, then you need to awaken yourself and get the DVD of the first season of Lost and then when the second season comes out on DVD get that too. It's well worth it. Even though few questions are answered, it's still like crack-cocaine. Great TV!


I found out this week that a good friend of mine who's in the Navy Reserves is being sent to the middle east at the end of July. He'll be there for a year and a half (WTF?????). No matter how anyone feels about our country's involvement in this war, you have to give serious props to those that serve our country and put their lives on the line in the name of freedom and democracy. I can tell you that this friend is a good hearted person and every bit the patriot as he can be and is proud to serve our country. Be sure that your hearts and minds are with our past and present troops this Memorial Day weekend.


Since the idiots at the Sci-Fi channel decided not to show an episode of Dr. Who tonight (WTF????), I'm off to have a cigar. Enjoy the 3 day weekend and remember what and who it stands for. Be sure to hoist a few for those that both currently and have served us! Whether you side with the Dixie Twits or the likes of Rush Bimbo, shouldn't matter. Hoist 'em anyway!

I'm outta here.

Zangz.

This blog is such a waste of space, I don't even have a title for it......

I know. I missed a couple of weeks there, but, believe it or not, I actually get to slink out of my den of dorkiness and tare myself away from the Xbox and PS2 and actually have somewhat of a social life on the weekends.... once in a while.

I had a cookout or two to attend. And far be it from me to pass up food, beer and some good ol' trash talking. Yep. Another game of Munchkin was played. This time out I had my keister handed to me on a platter, much to the sadistic joy of my friends. Well, you can't win 'em all. Actually I can hardly win any. I think I've won twice in the 4 or 5 years that we've been playing. Though, I really enjoy the game, I pretty much blow at it. Go figure. At least there was no bloodshed, tears or broken furniture this time around. Well, that may not be entirely true as I though I saw a small, wet glimmer run down the cheek of our buddy Peej.


Can you believe it's been a full year since some friends and I were waiting outside, in line for the midnight showing of Ep.III. Time really does fly when you get older. Feels like it was just a few months ago that we were out in the cold, wet air salivating for a decent prequel movie. Well, we sure got it! It was THE BEST of the prequels as well as one of the best in the whole Star Wars saga. You can read my blog from that time here (Scroll down to "The Morning After"). Enjoy reliving the pure geek rapture that is the opening of a Star Wars movie!


I recently headed into my local used video game store and came out with the action RPG X-Men: Legends. So far, what I've played I've enjoyed, but it certainly hasn't knocked me off my rocker as it has for many video game magazine reviewers. It's a good solid action RPG that delves into team play and is all about smacking around bad guys while using your team's mutant powers and combos to thwart Magneto's evil mutants. If you've read the comics or seen the movies you'll probably get far more out of it than the casual player.

One of the things that bugs me a bit about the game is the fact that your team uses up a ton of health packs early on. You'll find yourself down to 1 health package between 4 characters with a number of nasty fights looming around the corner and no other health packs to be found anywhere. Oh, there's an abundance of energy packs all over the place, but when you desperately need some serious health, there are none to be found. If one of your characters die, it will cost you credits (money) to resurrect them. Which brings me to my other gripe, although there's a lot of credit tolkens to be found, they don't add up to much. At least not enough to let you buy a decent item you may need to purchase back at headquarters.

I'm finding the trick to getting stronger characters in this game is not necessarily taking them out in the field one mission after the next, it's having them practice in the war room constantly. This way they level up, receive credits, health packs and can practice combo maneuvers and other things that get our geek blood boiling. I'll let you know my final thoughts once I finish the game. Hopefully it will be a better X-men experience than the upcoming movie is rumored to be.

I'm also replaying another action RPG that I had borrowed to my friend Roberto a year or so ago. I forgot that I had it. Since I got it back I've been tooling around in the world of Everquest in Champions of Norrath. Basically, it's the EXACT same gameplay as the two Baulder's Gate games that are on the PS2. So, though it's nothing new or innovative, it allows me to waste a couple of hours in a hack 'n 'slash frenzy. Ya gotta love that!


Tomorrow me and some of the family will be heading to the movie theater to check out The DaVinci Code. I read the book and loved it. Bitter critics are chewing it up in the reviews. But, I've heard that if you've read the book, you'll understand more of what's going on in the movie. If you haven't, it could be a bit long winded and boring for you. Either way the whole controversy the subject matter has seemed to drum up is quite amusing to watch.

I'll let you know how I liked it.


Oh yeh. Tomorrow is the start of a new reality show that I just have to check out. Supergroup will air on VH1 and features Sabastian Bach of Skid Row fame, Ted Nugent, Evan Seinfeld of Biohazard, Jason Bonham of the band Bonham and son of Led Zep's John Bonham, and my personal fave, Scott Ian of Anthrax. They all get put into a house in Vegas for a week or so and have to write, record and perform live a couple of original songs. They call themselves Damnocracy! All of them are very strong personalities. All of them are very opinionated. Some of them are drinkers. Some of them are alpha male, right wing gun nuts (well, maybe one of them. Guess who?) Some of them have VERY short fuses............ Someone's gunna die.

I love both Scott Ian and Ted Nugent (Uncle Ted). Neither of them are very shy about saying what's on their minds and what their beliefs are. Both are politically polar opposites. Hopefully we'll have a little Hannity and Combs session with the two.

Though I admire Uncle Ted for the fact that he doesn't back down from his beliefs and tends to cheese of more than a few of those that are fanatically on the left wing (actually, he probably cheeses off a few of those on the far right as well..... all the more reason to like the guy), I was quite disappointed by his all out lack of respect when recently commenting on the late, great Darrell Abott. Shame on you Ted. (Actually, I should watch what I write. Ted is actualy in town here at a big ass gun show as I type this! I don't think he reads geekd out blogs though.).

That's gunna have to be another edition of my Blog of Geekdom for now. Until next time, Geek out, mutha truckers!

Zangz.

Evil Card Games, a Haunt in Peril and some Star Wars Stuff.....

Ya know, there's nothing like getting together with a group of friends and playing a less than friendly card game of Munchkin. If you've never played it before, it's a competitive card game that is based on the properties of a role playing game, yet has all the facets of an Enron scandal. The game encourages backstabbing, cheating, maliciousness, stealing, placing curses on your opponents and turning unspeakable monsters on them just when they think they're at their hour of triumph. I'm sure the game is responsible for divorces, jail time and a few secret holy wars in small countries.

Last night I enjoyed a game or two of Munchkin. My opponents tried to make me their whippin' boy but I found myself victorious, much to the chagrin of those that scorned me. I left my friends' home that evening with a "Don't let the door hit your keister on the way out!" farewell from one friend while another swore slow, painful revenge upon me.

Munchkin....... Good times.... good times.

So that's why you didn't see a weekly, Friday night post up on my Blog of Geekdom yesterday. I was out losing friends. The reason I didn't post something last week was due to sheer laziness. I apologize for the slackosity.

Now on to more stuff.....

It's looking less and less likely that my favorite Haunted Attraction, Terror on Rural Street, will make it's resurrection this coming Halloween. Sadly, the people who ran it, volunteered on it and built it have segregated into two factions.

"Group A" are accusing "Group B" of showing a lack of support in the Haunt, creating rumors and drama and tarnishing the name of Terror on Rural Street within the community. So "Group A" have decided to shut down the operation completely and screw over the charities, public, fans and Haunt enthusiasts that have visited the Haunt for the last several years.

"Group B"who may have not been as active in the Haunt as they should have been, are suddenly crying out and feel that they weren't given a fair shake or a fair say in the emotionally charged decision to toss the whole project into the garbage.

"Group B" wants to use the organization's remaining funds to re-boot Terror on Rural Street and start a new.

"Group A" wants to give away the remaining fundage to charities. Recently they have been using the money to pay their lawyers to keep Terror on Rural Street and the cash away from "Group B".

Oh what a pathetic, sad, tangled web we weave. It's so disappointing when ego and inaptitude ruin something so creative and fun. Personally, I say that "Group A" are being a bit egotistical and selfish about the whole thing. And though "Group B" want to continue on the tradition, it sounds like they don't want to put in 100%.

The best thing that could happen is that both groups mediate with one another, make up, work out their issues and continue on Terror on Rural Street (TORS) so everybody wins. But, something tells me that egos have been too bruised and ruined for that to happen.

The next best thing that can happen is that "Group A" deflates its ego, and gives "Group B" the funds to start up a new TORS. And that "Group B" actually puts in the time, initiative, professionalism and maturity to not only keep it going, but make it every bit as big of a success as it has been, if not more.

I loved TORS and it was a Haunt I hit every season. Last year there was a big void in my Halloween without it. It would be nice to see it continue.


In other news....

My friend, Mr. Salty informed me recently about Lucas Arts plans for a possible video game where you play as Darth Vader. It may take place shortly after the events in Ep.III unfold. They've been on a winning streak when it comes to SW video games for the past few years. If they continue to play their cards right and give the game a first person perspective where you get to hunt down other Force users during the purge of the Jedi using whole slew of Dark Force powers, this could be big hit! Hopefully they won't give Vader the cheap-o-reapo treatment that they gave Boba Fett and Obi-Wan in their previous titles.

In other SW news, it's official, SOLO SHOT FIRST!!!!!!! Yep. Lucas has finally relented and will release the very ORIGINAL first trilogy unaltered on DVD this September. You will be able to view the original trilogy as they were when they were first released in the late 70's and early 80's. We will once again be able to see the bad ass that Han Solo was when he blew away Greedo in the cantina. Not the PC version where Greedo shoots first and misses... at point blank range.

Well it's Saturday and I think I'm going to go and do some cleaning, organizing and other constructive things..... or maybe I'll just play Gauntlet: Legends all day on the ol' PS2.

"Blue Knight needs food!"
"What a gallant effort!"

Talk to you later.

Zangz.

A whole lotta nothin', and then some.....

Once again it's been a week with no big news in the worlds of the fantastic. So I'm not going to have a heck of a lot to blog about. But that's a good thing since I've become addicted to the TV series Doctor Who that comes on in ten minutes. It's my Friday night crack-cocaine!

First on the agenda, I finished the John Constantine novel, ,War Lord by John Shirley. It was a decent read, but by no means a hit out of the park. It only quasi-captured the true feel of the comic book, John Constantine: Hellblazer. The character himself was well represented, but out of his traditional element. Instead of investigating some creepy demonic happenings within his ancient town of London, Constantine finds himself smack dab in the middle of the Iraq war trying to fend off a plot by a secret fanatical, right wing, war mongering sect. So of course readers will have to trudge through Mr. Shirley's personal political beliefs to get through the story. Although it's a short book, it's not what I'd call a real page turnin' kind of book. You're not really wondering, "What the frell is gunna happen next?!?!?!" The climax isn't really all that much of a spectacle. In fact it's covered quite quickly, yet in the grand John Constintine tradition of him being a bit of a weasel, he comes out triumphant. So in that respect, you do get a bit of a chuckle.

If you're a big John Constintine: Hellblazer fan, than by all means, pick up this paperback. If not, go read the DaVinci Code again. Right now I've moved on to the fantasy novel, Sister of the Dead which is the 3rd book in the Barb and J.C. Hendee created Dhamphir series. In short it's the stories of a female half vampire / half human vampire hunter within a medieval, fantasy realm. The books are quick reads that are easy to get into, something that is quite missing from the fantasy literature genre. I'll let you know what transpires.

Now on to something else....

I know what you've been thinking. Let me guess, you awoke this morning with a shocking jolt out of your slumber wondering, "What summer blockbuster movies is Zangz really looking forward to?!?!?!?!" This quagmire has been burdening you all day, hasn't it? Well, let me put your minds at ease so you can enjoy the weekend. As I mentioned in a former blog post, there isn't a frack of a lot to really jones over this summer......

Last summer we had SW, Ep. III: ROTS (I'm not spelling that out for those of you dullards who don't know what that stands for) which blew away the whole summer movie experience. This summer we have very few points of light to anticipate. I personally have only two movies that I'm even remotely jonesing for. That would be Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and the Kevin Smith opus, Clerks II. Other than those two, there are very few summer movies that even remotely interest me. Xmen III and Superman: Returns could be interesting, but only time will tell. The third installment of Xmen is rumored to already be a big steamer. We'll have to wait and see. Some will hype MI:III, but Tom Cruise makes me nauseous, the nutty bastage! Then there's the DaVinci Code. But, I've already read the book so I know what happens. But that will be fun Sunday afternoon movie to take mom to. But, I really don't see a huge movie event until the next Indiana Jones flick graces our silver screens. Otherwise, with the absence of another Star Wars or Lord of the Rings movie, there's little else to really anticipate in movie experiences.

Sadly, this all I have for you this week. Tune in next week when there may just be an equal helping of fun, frolic, silliness and pure, unadulterated despair.

We'll all see you then.
Zangz.

Villainy

Well, spring has finally sprung here in my hometown. And far be it for me not to enjoy the evenings warmth than going outside this evening and enjoying a nice stoggie while watching the Harleys rumble by and viewing a big beautiful orange moon over the lake.

As I enjoyed this evening's end of the week relaxation ritual I started to contemplate on something that has been rotting around in my noodle for quite some time. What makes a really good genre based villain? After all, every good fictional hero has to have an equally decent bad guy. Bond had Blofeld, the Jedi have The Sith, The Doctor had the Master, Batman has the Joker, the list goes on and on.

But I think that what makes a particularly good nasty-ass is one that has issues that we, ourselves, can relate to that seem to take over and make these villains what they are or have become.

One of the greatest villain origin stories that I have ever read was in a one shot, Batman comic written by famed comic scribe Allan Moore called "The Killing Joke". It is a reworking of the Joker's origin story. It stays true to the original story where a low life criminal named Napier, falls into a vat of chemicals during a botched robbery (foiled by Batman), turning him into the pale faced, green haired clown prince of crime, freak of humanity we all love to hate. Yet, it's slightly different than the story of Napier being this chronic low life who's always had his hand in organized crime as many of Batman's writers have always envisioned him. Instead he starts out as a very down on his luck stand up comedian who is doing the best he can to follow his dreams and provide for him and his wife. He is a character that is doing the best that he can, but never seems to get a break in life. Society is always kicking him when he's down and kidney punching him when he's not looking. Once he's at the bottom of the barrel and reached the end of his rope he is led to take drastic measures and team up with a bunch of thugs who are going to break into a chemical plant. The rest is comic history. He was at one time just an honest guy, trying to make a place for himself in this world.

Of course I can't talk about great villains that start out on a decent path and our led down a dark well of evil without talking about Star Wars' Darth Vader. Once a young Jedi who wanted to do good for the galaxy becomes frustrated that he's not moving up the Jedi ladder as quickly as he wants. Add to this his slightly warped ideology of how the galaxy's government should work, a personal love life that seems to tear at him and a diabolical mentor who manipulates him and, in time, you get a biomechanical Sith lord.

I find these baddies far more intriguing than the average' "I want to rule the world" supervillains. Mainly because there's a small piece of us inside them before they succumb to villainy.

Real life villains are what are real scary. A real life villain may be motivated by greed or revenge or sadism, but don't see that they're evil. Most fool themselves into thinking that backstabbing, manipulation, destroying the lives of others to better themselves is perfectly acceptable and are just stratagies to try and survive. Do you really think that the CEOs of Corporate America wake up one morning and say to their trophy wives at the breakfast table, "I think I'm going to lay off thousands in my company so we can afford that house in the Hamptons."? Of course not. They truly believe that they are doing good for their company and the economy of this nation, when in reality they're just trying to save a buck for themselves and their board members.

On a smaller note, I think everybody has that one friend that is wonderfully talented in self promotion and manipulation. They also have that distinct talent of making you feel small and worthless by giving underhanded compliments so that they can feel better about themselves. They seem to feel that they're still being really good friends. In reality, their just villains.

I guess I prefer the crazy, fictional masters of crime rather than the real life sucubi of the human species.

Well, I don't have much to comment on. It's been another slow week in the realms of geekville. But I do have another edition of.....

ZANGZ'S BLOG OF GEEKDOM'S WEBSITE OF THE MOMENT

TAPS: The Atlantic Paranormal Society
"Dude, RUN!"
I know we're nowhere near Halloween season, but I thought it would be fun for you all to take a peek at the official website of TAPS. TAPS is featured in the reality based Sci-Fi Network's TV series, "Ghost Hunters", a personal favorite of mine. These aren't the usual song and dance psychics who shill people with real unearthly problems. These guys are a non-profit organization who investagate and also debunk hauntings around the East Coast region. If you haven't watched the show you need to check it out on Wednesday nights. In the meantime check out their website, it's fun and informative and you will see what a really closed knit group of down to earth folks they are also.

That's another week and another $30 out of my pocket and into my gas tank (speaking of villains, someone is getting rich off of that.)

I'm Zangz and I'm outta here.

Town without Pity / World without Pitney

You may find yourselves scratching your heads wondering why a blog that regales you in Sci-Fi nonsense, while the closest thing to music news is brainwashing you with how great Type-O-Negative are, would bother to mention the passing of an artist who might be considered a "middle of the road" crooner. Well let me explain.

Being a fan of extreme, loud, aggressive Rock'N'Roll the mass majority of my life, I never thought I would become a bit of a Gene Pitney fan. Well, it goes like this. About 13 years ago I worked for a media company that had music artist, Gene Pitney as one of it's clients. So, those of us who worked there got to see and hear a lot of Gene Pitney material. For some reason I ended up enjoying his music. I found it catchy and endearing and easy to grow accustomed to. Case in point, he grew on me. Most of you might not know who Gene Pitney is, but I bet you've heard a lot of the music he wrote. "Hello Mary Lou" sound familiar? While Ricky Nelson is best known for that song, it was Mr. Pitney who wrote it. He also collaborated with the likes of Burt Bacarack (Sp?), Hal David, Carol King, The Beatles, Del Shannon, Roy Orbison, Phil Spector, George Jones, Randy Newman, Marc Almond (Soft Cell) and the Rolling Stones. His solo career also gave us some great Americana tunes like "Town without Pity", "The Man who Shot Liberty Vallence", "It Hurts to be in Love" and "Something's Gotten Hold of my Heart".

Though, he was far bigger in Europe than he was here in the States, Pitney loved performing and touring everywhere. He had a big, subculture fan base that would travel miles to see him live. And a few years ago he was inducted into the Rock'N'Roll Hall of Fame, well before even the likes of Black Sabbath were. So he's up there with Sabbath, Skynyrd, Elvis, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Stones, Stevie Wonder, The Who, Simon and Garfunkle, Wilson Pickett, Tina Turner, Johnny Cash, Jimmi Hendrix, The Doors, Frank Zappa, Bowie, Fleetwood Mac, Paul McCartney, The Boss, Clapton, Aerosmith, James Taylor (big frellin' yawn!!!!), Ramones, AC/DC, U2.... (big gasp of air! I'm not linking all those people. Google them ya lazy bastages!). Just think, Gene's in the same league as all these other artists, yet few realize what part he's played in Rock'N'Roll.

I was lucky enough to briefly meet him many years ago. The manager of our local branch knew that I liked working on Pitney's projects that his PR people would bring in for us. One day I'm working in the back room and get paged by our manager to get up to his front office STAT! We'll I'm thinkin', "What the frell did I mess up this time?" I walk into his office and see this silhouette of a figure standing against the backdrop of a sun drenched window. There's no one else in the office at this time. Assuming that it was my manager about to holler at me about something that wasn't my fault, I answered, "Yes, what's up?" The figure turns around and it's none other than Mr. Pitney himself. I blast out with a "GENE PITNEY!!!!!", like I'm one of his groupies from the '60's. The rest of the employees come into his office giggling at my expense. Gene, accompanied with his PR agent, was in town for one of his son's weddings and wanted to drop off some material he needed work on. He was in good spirits and very cordial. He seemed to be a very nice and down to earth guy. Not very affected by both past and present fame. He was a guy's guy.

Sadly, while on tour in Wales, he passed away in his sleep this past Wednesday morning. I have to admit, I'm slightly vaclempt. Most of the media giants paid no attention to his passing. There was no mention on E! News or ET. I found out from my former co-worker, Carlo, through an Email. The Rock'N'Roll world has yet to realize what a subversive icon it has lost!

So those of you who are fans of iconic, Rock'N'Roll songwriting, hoist a few this weekend for Gene and the loved ones he's left behind.



On to the geekiness......

Here are a couple of things I forgot to mention in my last couple of blogs....

• Today, after my friend, Mr. Salty, was finished vomiting out a whole diatribe on how Queensryche's Operation Mindcrime II is a steaming pile of dren compared to the first Operation Mindcrime, he reminded me of a major plot flaw in the game "Star Wars, Knights of the Old RepublicII: The Sith Lords". Apparently, the game was rushed and left a major plot hole that I totally forgot about. There is a situation that takes place at the end of the game where you are to blow up an entire planet. However, the remote droid you are to do this with is last seen being held hostage by an assassin droid. Well, after this situation presents itself, the game returns to your character's current predicament at the climax of the game. The climax and final battle take place. You, if successful, ride into the sunset apparently leaving the planet safely with the planet still in tact and the remote droid still held hostage. Huh? Oh, you never get to see the rest of your crew again, but are told of what happens to them in the future. So I guess the programmers were hurried to get the game out and never tied up lose ends. I did end up enjoying the overall game, but the ending blew total Krate Dragon chunks!
• Second on my, "I forgot to tell you guys about this" list is the pirate themed birthday party I soooo enjoyed a few weeks back. My friend, Iris was turning over another year and her husband, Dr. Roberto DelAmorte, threw her a big shindig that included both pirate and pop-culture quizzes, beer, remote control cars, beer, a blindfolded session of Halo, beer, and a fog machine. How frellin' cool was that dren? Very frellin' cool, indeed!!!!! I give a toast to Roberto for his ingenuity and creativity and a really good time. Iris toasted him with something else that night, but we're not going there. Wink, Wink, Nudge, Nudge. Know what-I-Mean, Know what-I-Mean.

And now for something special. A quick preview of the video game I've been talking about for several months now, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Since Roberto has a Xbox 360 and rented the game, Oblivion, last weekend while I was over at the DelAmorte pad, I got to see a bit of it being played. Holy Dren! This thing is awesome!!!!!! I have to admit, I was watching it on a HD big screen TV, so the graphics were at their highest level. Being able to watch grass sway in the wind has never been that wonderful. Visually it's pretty brilliant. The gameplay seems even easier to get into than the previous game. For a video RPG, that's pretty darn decent! We only got to traverse a short distance between townships, but what I saw was beautiful. The NPC's were more than decent and didn't sound fake when going through their dialog. Being able to play a mini-game to boost their confidence in your character seemed a lot better than relying on Jumma Juice as in the last game. The only worry I have for the game is the fact that there didn't seem to be a lot of diversity in the landscaped of the game. Again, we were traveling between two towns so maybe that particular area is only green grass and trees highlighted by a few ivory white, Greek ruins. I'm hoping it delves into the same variety of the world in Morrowind, Oblivion's predecessor. In Morrowind there were deserts, medieval townships, swamps, rocky mountain ranges, arctic islands, surreal cities and small fishing villages. There was always some area that was completely different from the last place you visited at every turn. I'm hoping that Oblivion isn't stuck in the rut of grassy fields and trees all over it's vast world. A real good, epic RPG needs diversity in it's lands to really immerse you. But, from what I saw, I'm hooked and hope to get a Xbox 360 much sooner than estimated (by current financial accounts, that would be sometime around the 7th of Never).

Ok, on to the next subject... summer movies! What am I looking forward to this year. Well, last year at about this time I was chomping at the bit for SW, Ep.III:ROTS, but this year is a barren wasteland when it comes to great genre movies. Sure, there's X-Men: The Last Stand. But, I've heard that the script is a steamin' pile of dren and Bryan Singer has little to nothing to do with it this time. There's Singer's current project, Superman Returns which looks interesting, but doesn't really grab my nards to a state attention formation. The DaVinci Code looks like a fun little romp. But I've read the book and know the story and that's half the fun. So hopefully there will be some movie that pops out and becomes a fun surprise this summer. Otherwise, the summer movie's are going to be a big bust.

There is one movie I want to see that comes out real soon, Silent Hill, based on one of my all time favorite survival horror video games. Aparently it stays close to the game when it comes to the visuals. From what I've seen of the trailers and previews, they're right on the mark.

Ok, Dr. Who is on and I got to get my Rose fix going. So let's hoist one in memoriam to Mr. Gene Pitney and then I'm outta here.

Mazzletov!!!!

Take care.

Zangz.

First Year of Zangz's Blog of Geekdom done and over with. On into a whole new year of lameness and self loathing!

Happy Friday to one and all!!! Welcome to another pathetic attempt at humor, creative writhing and cry for attention that is known as Zangz's Blog of Geekdom. Well, now that you're here you might as well stay a while and venture into my pathetic little realm of the absurd and unimpressive. I got a few Bock beers in my system to ensure a very interesting, if not horrorificly misspelled, blog entry. So, ground yourselves, 'cause here we go.....

I finally finished "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II, The Sith Lords" on the Xbox. Overall, it was quite enjoyable. Not much of a difference than it's predecessor (Knights of the old Republic) when it comes to game play. But, that can be overlooked as it's still an epic entry into the Star Wars mythose. It took me a good month and a half to play through the entire game. I consider that a good thing. Designers need to immerse the player into the world they create. If the game is over within 7 or 8 hours, it's a bust. When it comes to RPG's, you want to delve into an epic experience. SW:KOTORII,TSL does just that. The gripes? Well, the story line is a bit more deep and convoluted than the first one. There's a bit of a plot twist, but you kind of see it coming early on. Whereas in the first game, the plot twist was a total mind-frack, whereas the one in II is a bit lame. Another gripe? Some of the planets you visited in the first game, you visit again in this game. I would have liked to have come upon a whole bunch of new and original planets rather than revisit familiar territory and the same settings. My friend, Mr Salty is playing it also and I think he feels the same way. I gotta go back and play the game as a Sith Lord and see if the game has even more to offer.

My last blog noted that the sequel to Elder Scrolls IV: Morrowind was released, Elder Scrolls V: Oblivion and how I will have to wait quite a while to be able to play it. Well, I ran into a guy who owns the liquor store where I puchase my favorite brews and as I was purchasingthe fomerly mentioned Bock beer that I'm currently consuming, I overheard him talking on his cell about how he's been playing Oblivion for the last three days straight. We'll refer to him as "Murry". Murry said he loved the game! He mentioned that it was a it more challenging than the Morrowind as it's much harder to get away with some of the stuff you could get away with in Morrowind. No more stealing from unattended boxes of barrels, as the law are quite astute at what you're doing, whether they are present at the scene of the crime or not. Again, you'll all have to wait a great while before you see any form of review of the game from my Blog of Geekdom as I'll have to wait quite awhile before I can purchase an Xbox 360 as well as the game itself. However, I would like to put into effect the official Zangz's Blog of Geekdom Xbox 360 Donation incentive. Anyone donating both and Xbox 360 as well as a copy of Elder Scrolls V: Oblivion to myself, Zangz will be eligible to have their names posted right here on my blog. I can't think of a better reward than to actually be a part of the Blog of Geekdom. It's something that both world leaders and forgotten gods wish for on a daily basis. So donate to the cause now!!!!!!!

Let's step away from the video game realm for a while and venture onto something else....

HEY! I ALMOST FORGOT! IT'S THE FIRST YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF MY BLOG OF GEEKDOM!!!!! HOLY FRELL!!!!!

Yep. One year exactly. Let's see where we were at back then.

• I was anticipating the release of Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and the onslaught of action figures from the movie that were about to hit the shelves of most of the noteworthy toy stores out there. In fact, I was offering the should of my first born son to get my geeky little paws on a General Grevous figure. Well I got it! So much for ever having a son.
  
• I was also jamming out to some Monster Magnet on my computer. They're still a great band. It's just that their lead vocalist has to drop the drug habit and stop overdosing so they can come out with a new album.
  
• I was also playing Fable on the Xbox. A very good, if not short, foray into the realms of counsel RPG's. Visually stunning, but not very long or epic. After you achieve the main quest there is very little for you to do. Not the greatest game if you've been playing Morrowind for the last 8 months.
• The Pope was about to buy the farm and of course I was being snarky about it. There goes my whole soul thing again.

Well, on to other stuff....

Last week's episode of Dr. Who was right up my alley as it involved Victorian England and the undead returning from the grave. I love that creepy, spooky stuff. This week's episode revolves around a UFO crashing in the Thames river. Not as intriguing to me as the undead of Victorian London, but I'm still looking forward to tonight's episode.

I actually taped the Sci-Fi Channel's Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King belive it or not. The Sci-Fi Channel isn't exactly the predesesor of high quality TV movie entertainment. In fact, a lot of their original movies are pretty unwatchable. About 90% of them are rip off's of the Alien movies while the other 10% are rip off's of massive insect festation movies that plagued us during the late '70's. I was truly hoping for something different when they tried to manifest a fantasy movie. Well, if you can ignore the fact that half of the cast can't act and that the effects are quite obviously CG'd, it's actually watchable. Keep in mind that it's based on old tales known as Ring of the Nibelungs that was about old Pagan gods and that the producers of the Sci-Fi Channel decided to focus mainly on the human story of it. It's good for a bit of a one time watch. Other than that, it's quite forgettable. Why did I even bother writing that????

I think that's all she wrote for now. Until next time, onwards and upwards!

Zangz.

Idon'twannabemeIdon'twannabemeIdon'twannabeme......

Another Friday night and the Zangz is back. For the next few minutes I'll be pounding on the ol' computer keyboard, puking out the least important facts and news about the geek world. All the while anticipating this evening's future activities as the newest Episode of Dr. Who is aired while many bottles of Bergoff Dark are emptied down the gullet which will immediately be followed by locking myself in my bedroom, turning off the lights and uncontrollably crying for the next few hours as Type-O-Negative's song "I Don't Wanna Be Me" is played on a loop tape. It's another wondrous Friday night here in Zangz's Vault of Geekdom!

This may be a shorty since there's not a lot to expound about here in the Blog of Geekdom. There are, however a few nibbles and bites here and there......

Gary Oldman turned 48 this week and has confirmed he will, indeed, reprise his role as Sirius Black in the next Harry Potter film. Oldman has been one of my favorite actors and usually takes on incredible roles that fly under the radar. I'm hoping he'll have a bigger role in this one than in the last two.

Two of my favorite TV shows are moving right a long at warp speed. Both Lost and 24 have had some really great story lines and plot twists this season. Lost keeps us guessing at every turn while 24 has killed off more than a few of their major characters. "Sole Patch" Tony, the beautiful Michelle, "Special Edger" as well as a newer character this season (Played by Lord of the Rings graduate, Sean "Samwise" Astin) have all been killed off, wasted and bleedin' demised. When will the carnage end? I'm just hoping to God that Mini Skirt Mandy pops in this season.

Lucas and his cohorts are slowly moving forward with a live action Star Wars TV show. Producer Rick McCallum recently was heard saying that they are writing the series right now. It's supposedly going to take place between episodes III and IV and will revolve around a group of bounty hunters. It's also supposed to be slightly geared more to us adult SW fans with a tinge of darkness to it. Don't expect it to be on your TV set anytime before 2008 or 2009. Please, Lord, let this be on a cable station I have!!!!!

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (sequel to my all time favorite video RPG, Morrowind) just hit the shelves this week. It's designed to be played on the Xbox 360 as well as VERY powerful computers. It's getting rave reviews as being one of the best, open ended / sandbox gaming experiences of all time! There may be a few frame rate and loading situations that critics are griping about, but, all in all, this looks to be a game that may put the GTA games to shame when it comes to player imearsiveness. Sadly, I'll have to wait a few eons before I can afford a '360. Perhaps then the game will be on the greatest hits list and will be less than the $60 price tag the game carries.

Since it's been a slow geek week here in my Blog of Geekdom, I guess I'll have to bless you with yet another chapter of.......

ZANGZ'S BLOG OF GEEKDOM'S WEBSITE OF THE MOMENT

X-entertainment
Ever have a jones for that cereal, Saturday morning cartoon,candy or toy that you used to get immense pleasure out of when you were younger. Well look no further for that jones. It's right here at this website! You'll get a lump in your throat when you traverse through here and reminisce on many a pop culture memory.

I got to get going on my Dr. Who, Bergoff and crying for the evening. We'll talk later.

Zangz.

"V" for Vexcellent, Vawsome and Very Good!

Ok, let's shake off our post St. Patrick's day hangovers, throw up our green beer and then get straight to the nerdosity, shall we?

I went to go see "V for Vendetta" last night and was quite impressed. First, a brief back history. The movie is heavily based on a graphic novel (that's a "big comic book", for those of you not into the geek genres) written by famed comic scribe, Alan Moore, that came out in the early '80's. The story revolves around a not too distant London which is under the dictatorship of a right wing, conservative government. However, there is one masked, mysterious and ubertheatrical individual who takes on the government who calls himself "V".

The Sci-Fi, action, drama film is making waves in the media. Most reports and reviews are hearkening it as a frightening parallel of what the Bush administration is up to in our current times. The film is also posing questions about where vigilantism ends and terrorism begins. So, not only do we have a great action movie on our hands, but also something quite thought provoking to mess with our noodles.

Most of the time I'm quite turned off when Hollywood and its socially elite celebrities try and preach to me how I should manage my social ideals. I don't need the likes of George Clooney and others like him that earn more making one movie than I will ever see in a lifetime trying to tell me how I should think. Sorry, it ain't gunna happen! However, "V for Vendetta" is a bit different in the fact that not only does it make you think, it also has a very deep story that at one point gave me a bit of a lump in my throat. Admittedly there are a few messages that are thrown at you that are, indeed, blatant propaganda. But, it's Hollywood. What would you expect. Being a militant moderate who leans to the left, there were times that I could relate to and times that I was rolling my eyes a bit saying to myself, "C'mon! Could they be anymore blatant with this message? We get it, George Bush sucks! Can we move along to some more action and violence, please!"

Not giving too much away about the plot and story, I felt that both Hugo Weaving (V) and Natalie Portman (V's young protege, Evie) put on fan-frellin'-tastic performances! I'm loving this Weaving guy more and more every time I see one of his flicks. I hope he continues to go the geek genre route with the films he chooses. He's becoming a fan favorite. To be able to put on a convincing performance while the whole time he's wearing a mask is pretty impressive. Miss Portman returns to the same energy she had way back when she was 14 years old and made "Leon: The Professional". Sadly, this energy was completely vacant during the Star Wars prequels when she took on the role of Padme Amidalla. But, you'll see that she gives her all in "V for Vendetta", and it really pays off wonderfully! An excellent performance!

The movie itself is an excellent cross-breed of futuristic Sci-Fi, action and drama that is mixed quite well for most of the movie. There are a few portions where the drama did lag on for a bit longer than it should have. Yet, there were also times where it made the film that much more important. The action is choreographed to sheer perfection! Would we expect anything less than the men that gave us the Matrix (Joel Silver and the Wachowski Bros.)? The few fight scenes were visual wonders. I just wish there were a few more to balance out the heavy handed drama and sociopolitical commentary.

All in all, this was my type of movie and I'll at some point or another I'll put into my DVD collection. But, then again I still have to get both Batman Begins and Sin City also. Guess I'm a cheap bastage!

Cripes. This is going to be a long one. Sorry folks, but there's a lot we have to catch up on. Next topic.....

Once I got home from the movie I had the great pleasure of watching Dr. Who on the Sci-Fi Channel. For those not of the geek breed, Dr. Who is an immensly popular, British TV series that has been running on and off for about 30+ years now. The Doctor, himself is a immortal time lord who travels from time to time, galaxy to galaxy and parallel universe to parallel universe solving intergalactic crimes and hunting down both alien and robotic baddies. The Doctor is also a being that can travel from body to body every so many years. Which helps out the show's writers and producers when an actor retires, leaves or gets too old for the role. Keep in mind this thing has gone on for more than three centuries. There have been more than a few actors who have taken on the role of Doctor Who.

I was first introduced to the series in the mid to late '80's when the local public station aired about 3 of them in a row on Sunday afternoons. This was during the Tom Baker period, where the actor portraying Dr. Who wore a long brown coat, fedora, long colorful scarf and a piece of celery pinned to his lapel. I never got deeply into it as many Dr. Who fanatics (called Whovians) are. But I did enjoy its grand stories and cheap effects. It was a very quirky, fun show. Sadly the local channel stopped airing them in the early 90's and haven't broadcast them since. Prigs!

However, they've re-invigorated the series in England and are now showing last years season on the Sci-Fi Channel. Last night was the first two episodes in the series. I have to admit that I really liked them. It lost a little of it's charm as the effects were far better than the endearing old, horrible effects of the original series. But the story, pace and cadence of the show was still present. The Doctor always pulls some unsuspecting, usually hot female earthling into his world of intergalactic craziness. The new shows are no exception as a beautiful blond, Rose gets put on the Whovian crazy train. She's both a fun character and quite nice on the ol' peepers. I think I'm gunna like Friday nights in Sci-Fi!

One last entry and I'll call it a day.....

Being a big Type-O-Negative fan, I was thrilled this week when the band FINALLY came out with some form of new material. The home video "Symphony for the Devil" was released and I've already enjoyed the mass majority of it. It combines live footage of a concert at a German Metal festival from several years back and intertwines it with candid (sometimes way to frellin' candid!) wacky, backstage highjinx. For the most part it's a great addition to my Type-O-Negative collection. However, how many shots of the band members' privates do I gotta see?

NOTE TO TYPE-O-NEGATIVE FROM MY BLOG OF GEEKDOM: Next time you make a video I could use more shots of Fuse TV's Juliya and less shots of keyboardist Josh Silver's junk!

I'm hoping they'll be a new album come this fall, but I won't hold my breath.

Jeeze, I haven't linked the frell out of one of my blogs like that in a long time. Hope you bastages appreciate it.

I gotta start to get ready for a Pirate themed B-day bash of a very good friend. Thus, ends a monstrously long Blog of Geekdom.

Until, next time...
Zangz.

More mindless drivel about lots of inane crap that few shall care about!

Here comes another fun filled journey into the world of geeky endeavourers, the genres of Sci-Fi - Fantasy - Horror, nerdy angst, absolute loneliness, a pit of desolation, self loathing and a desperate need for the smallest crumb of attention that is my blog.

I'm Zangz, and I welcome you to my little smidgen of the world wide web.

It's been a while so here we go.....

I think it's a safe bet that we may not see a new Indiana Jones movie until 2008. Spielberg has already said that he won't be shooting anything in 2006. So they'll probably shoot in 2007 and then release in late 2007 or summer of 2008. I bet when this puppy comes out a bunch of us will pull a full Star Wars sized geek-out and end up waiting in line at midnight again. They better get on it. It's not like Ford, Spielberg or Lucas are getting any younger. What does it take to get these guys busy on this thing. Apparently there is a script, but God knows when we'll see some serious work being done on this thing. Time is money, let's get going!

Next on the agenda, I've found myself enthralled with the Xbox version of the video game RPG "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II, The Sith Lords" as of late. I'm well into it and I find it more than parallel with the first game. So I'm quite enjoying it, but I don't see much progress from the former game to this sequel. I enjoy the game play, so I'm not that bothered by it. But it would have been nice to see far better graphics and a few more significant game play advances than the first game had. But still, I'm enjoying it a great deal. I have heard rumors that the PC version of the game cuts off some of the quests towards the end of the game due to the release date being rushed. I'm hoping that the Xbox version isn't plagued by the same problem.

I've also re-started "The Elder Scrolls II: Morrowind" on the Xbox. Since my old Xbox that died had 8 months worth of the game saved on it, I decided, "What the frell, I'll start all over with a totally new character". It's not like I'm gunna be playing the sequel, "Oblivion" on a Xbox 360 anytime soon. I need to win the frackin' lottery, dude.

I'm reading John Shirley's John Constintine novel, War Lord right now. It's pretty good so far. After I'm done with it I'll get to the third book in the Damphire series, Sister of the Dead. Of course there will be reviews that will bore your sox off that shall follow.

Can you believethat I'm already getting a jones for Halloween. I found myself searching the web for Haunted House sites and having a pang of hunger for the smell of dying leaves and the vision of a blood red, harvest moon. Good lord, I need a Halloween fix.

Hey, I attended my first same sex commitment ceremony last weekend. How progressive am I? It was a lot of fun and there was a lot of female eye candy. The two guys getting married had about 90 brides maids and all were very fetching (and attached, gosh darnit!). Ya know, I never intended the Blog of Geekdom to be a leftist propaganda source, but even the most homophobic retard has to admit to the fact that those in the gay community have to pay taxes, just like the rest of us. Don't you think that they should have the same rights that the rest of us do in this country. It's so sad that we're still trying to progress past this horrible state of puritanical stupidity that forces us back into the times of the dark ages where people were still being burned at the stake and the god police ruled with an iron hand.

Speaking of the god police and puritanical times, you all need to go out and see "V for Vendetta" next weekend!!! If the movie is true to the Alan Moore graphic novel that it is based on, it will kick some major frellin' butt!!! It will also have a very timely message! The fact that actor Hugo Weaving is playing "V" is enough reason for us geeks to throng to the theaters to see it. His Agent Smith from The Matrix and king of the elves in the Lord of the Rings trilogy was short of brilliant. I won't go too far into the story line of "V", but it takes place in the not too distant future where London is ruled by a fascist government. There seems to be one mysterious vigilante who is giving the government a run for their money. If it follows the graphic novel closely, there's gunna be one hell of a twist midway through the movie that will burn your noodles. Rumor has it that movie critics love the film, yet author of the graphic novel (and modern day mage) Alan Moore hates the final outcome. He may still be a bit sore with what Hollywood did with his "League of Extrodinary Gentlemen". Admittedly, they botched that one up a bit.

My weekend plans involve some very old friends I haven't seen in a while, a Admirals hockey game and a session of Star Wars role playing game run by Mad Mario. Then the next weekend involves "V for Vendetta", St. Patrick' day and a Pirate themed b-day party. So I'm loaded full of geeky hapiness to hide away the immense lonliness and self hatred. Yippeeeee!

To end this edition of my blog, I will feature something I haven't done in quite a while. Here's another version of....

ZANGZ'S WEBSITE OF THE MOMENT

Gotham Public Works
A lot of those of us wrapped up into the genres that make up the worlds of the fantastic have an interest in costuming. Many of the Sci-Fi and Fantasy conventions around the country feature costume contests where many a fan with the gift of the sewing needle come forth in a battle for the creative. Here you will find a group that have an incredible talent of recreating many of the costumes from the Batman mythose. Plus the movies, comic books and cartoon shows are represented here. And aren't the female leads quite fetching? So check it out if you have the time. These people spent loads of time putting this all together and it really paid off.

That's all for now. Check back again soon. God knows I'm quite lonely.

Zangz.