Season of Spooks Has Begun!

The morning autumnal chill that we have recently awoken to makes most want to stay within the warm, cuddly, safe embrace of their bed quilts and pillows. But, for others of us, we know that there is far more to it than that.

We know that true safety only comes once the sun rises. During these longer nights, we know that there are things that dwell within the darkened shadows, lurking, waiting, whispering and moaning. They come from netherworlds and forgotten dimensions.

For most people these mythical monstrosities are things of legends and campfire stories. But, for others of us that know better, they are the unspeakable horrors that feast off of the living's fears and flesh.

FOR THIS IS THE HALLOWEEN SEASON!!!

And right on into the season we go here on my Blog of Geekdom! I've finished my annual alterations on my blog so that they are more suitable for this wonderful, spooky season.

So lets get right into it, shall we?

What creepy activities have I jumped into to start the celebrating of the spook season? Well, I've been playing....

Red Dead Redemption: UNDEAD NIGHTMARE - This is neither a sequel or prequel to the old west, open world, shoot 'em up, Red Dead Redemption. This is more of a "What If" story that ponders the notion, "What if the old west suffered from a sudden outbreak of a zombie plague?"

Lead protagonist, John Marston finds his safe and sweet, rancher lifestyle torn to shreds as the nearby township of Blackwater is infested with the flesh-eating undead. This sets him on a open world journey throughout the old west to try and find a cure as well as survive.

The game features the same map and locations that the original Red Dead did, but most townships and ranches are zombie filled and burning to the ground. You have to guide Marston through the countryside and either avoid or kill off hordes of zombies while taking on a whole slew of missions. You'll be expected to cleanse graveyards, hunt sasquatch, capture the four horses of the apocalypse, clear towns of zombies as well as taking on the main story's quest missions.

The game play is pretty much the same with a slight survival horror twist. There are thousands of zombies in this game and ammunition is not as plentiful as it was in the last game. In fact, one of the only places you'll find it is off of the bodies of zombies that you have dispatched. Not all zombies carry ammo. Just the ones who have gun belts on them. Sometimes you get rewarded with ammo after completing a mini-mission, but there are no working stores to exchange items for money. So whatever ammo you get, consider yourself lucky. Sometimes you have to decide if it's going to be fight or flight when confronted with a brood of zombies on the road in front of you when you're low on ammo.

There's also a little more strategy involve when taking out oncoming zombies. In grand zombie folklore tradition, the only way you can completely kill a zombie is a good, solid head shot! This can be made a little easier when you use the "quick shot" feature which slows down the scene and lets you set well aimed shots. However this only lasts for so long and has to recharge after its use. This can be detrimental when more zombies are coming at you. You have to figure out if you want to run from them as you quick-shot meter builds back up or if you want to aim out the shots on your own, real time. You can also shoot them in the legs and lower extremities to slow them down and allow you to take better aim. Either way, there's a distinct possibility that you will become zombie chow.

Some of the frustrating control issues have not been fixed from the last game. You'll find yourself circling a dead zombie carcass over and over again until you find the right angle where the game lets you search the body for ammo. And of course there are times when you are running from zombies and you easily make the mistake to put your character into the crouch position rather than continue running which is always a ton of fun when you have a few zombies on your back.

Despite these control issues, the game is a ton of wicked, spooktacular fun! The creepy atmosphere, gallows humor and zombie hunting more than make up for the slight frustrations. The game is also priced pretty frackin' nicely for the amount of content that's there.

If you are a zombie fan and like tales of the old west as well as open world game play, this is a must buy!

I'll keep this introductory Halloween season post short. I have to start plotting on what poor souls I'm going to try and drag to a Haunted Attraction this year. I hope you all get to take on some fun autumn and Halloween activities this season!

Zangz.

"I'm a loner, Dottie."

- Pee Wee Herman, Pee Wee's Big Adventure.

In the wild world of video gaming, multiplayer and co-op seem to be the big main draw to bringing in common folk who wouldn't usually be into the video game scene. These functions have popularized the gaming industry by leaps and bounds as well as making it a lucrative competitor to the likes of Hollywood film studios. In many ways it has helped catapult the geek cultural renaissance we've been having over the last few years.

Being able to get online and shoot it up with a bunch of people from all over the world seems like it would be an entertainment draw for the likes of myself. But, to tell you the truth, online gaming with others takes away from many aspects of why I love video gaming to begin with.

For example.....

A. Gaming with a bunch of kids is, simply put, a colossal pain in the arse. Immaturity seems to run rampant throughout online gaming. Whether it be silly, vulgar insults or cheating during competitive game play, it kills the joy of pure competition.

B. Even if you're playing with people you know and trust who are on an equal maturity level as you are, there's always going to be that one person, THAT ONE PERSON, who has traversed the game level over and over and over again before you've gotten acquainted with it. He or she knows every nook and cranny and has found several wonderful spots to hide and snipe at you so every time you get killed by them and regenerate, BLAMMO!!!, head shot. You're dead again.

C. You tend to lose out on the wonderful experience of exploration and discovery. I lean toward huge, epic, open world games. I like to experience a game that really puts you in a virtual world where discovering new places is a major feature of the game. When you're forced to rely on other people in the game, you're pulled away from you own quest of discovery.

D. Having to rely on other players and when or if they want to play or even finding the time for everybody you want to play with at a given moment can be just as intricate as transposing a Frank Zappa song.

E. I'm a selfish bastage when I play. I want to do things on my own time. Do I want to take path "A" or path "B"? It should be up to me and nobody else. If I make a mistake or choose unwisely, I should be the only player who suffers the consequences.

So there you have it. I'm a loner gamer and have no problem with it. And as a loner gamer, I'm looking forward to the onslaught of cool as frack releases that will be popping onto game shelves within a years time.

1. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: 11-11-11 is the release date for this open world, fantasy and action filled lovefest. It's predecessors, Morrowind and Oblivion, have proven themselves to be some of the greatest games ever released. Here's how geeked out I am over the game. I plan to pre-order it within the next few weeks, go to the midnight release and take the day off. I've NEVER done anything like that for a video game, ever! For Skyrim, I'M DOIN' IT!!! You can view a preview of the gameplay as demonstrated by game lead, Todd Howard if you click HERE.

2. Saints Row, The Third: The first Saints Row game was criticized for being another open world, crime sim, GTA clone. And it pretty much was. But, where the GTA series has a good dose of frustrating "throw the controller at the TV screen" moments, Saints Row leaned more toward fun. They took that feeling even further in Saints Row 2. This upcoming installment will push the fun factor to the limit with crazy weaponry that includes a vehicle that sucks up pedestrians and shoots them out of a cannon, a satellite from which you can call in missile aerial strikes on rival gangs and a hand held...um...well...this weapon has me going "WTF?" I tried to find a preview to link to that wasn't as controversial or adult orientated as the game is. I couldn't. So, if you really, really want to see some game play, search it out on YouTube yourselves. But be sure not to do so at work or where children are present. If you work at a day care facility, you're really screwed.

3. Borderlands 2: More of the same shoot 'em up, loot 'em up gameplay as the first Borderlands? YES, PLEASE!! A good mix of RPG looting and character building while shooting up baddies with a massive amount of weaponry to choose from on a desolate Road Warrior-esque planet can't go wrong. Can it? Methinks not! To see a way too quick first trailer of the game, click HERE.

4. Mass Effect 3: THE greatest sci-fi RPG to grace the video game world since Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Not only is it a great RPG, the story line is incredibly captivating. This will be the last of the trilogy where we will see if our Commander Shepard can save both the Earth and universe. See the trailer HERE.

5. Dead Island: Upon hearing about yet another zombie shoot them up, survival game, I thought it would be a dull version of Dead Rising or Left 4 Dead. Well, I just went over a number of reviews and all of them were pretty impressed with the game. It turns out to be a RPG / open world / survival horror hybrid taking place on an island resort that goes to hell in a hand basket when a zombie outbreak takes place there. Zombie killin' and RPG mechanics?Me likey!! To watch a blood and gore soaked preview, click HERE, but don't do it at work or with kids around. I guess if you work at a day care facility, you'd be really screwed.

6. RAGE: More post-apocalyptic action and adventure in id Software's predecessor to it's other first person shooter games, DOOM and Quake. These guys are the originators of FPS gameplay and god knows they've had quite a while to work on this puppy. How can this go wrong? No Duke Nukem Forever jokes, please. There's a look at a preview of the game HERE.

That's a good cache of games coming out soon. This is the first time in a while where my wish list has been more than one or two games. I'd better start on that Xmas list pretty soon. Some of these titles are coming out this fall, if they haven't already.

And speaking of fall, my favorite, creeptastic holiday is right around the corner. I have already seen at least one Halloween store opening its doors. I'm already watching YouTube videos of Haunted Attractions around the country. More on that in a latter post closer to the season.

I think I'll end my latest entry here. Until next time, stay vertical!!!

Zangz.

Geeks & Podcasts. Our legions grow!

We are the geeks of the world and we are growing and taking over the realms of New Media!

Within the last few years podcasting has grown in leaps and bounds. There are podcasts for every interest under the sun. Whether it be automotive, hobbies, pop culture, politics, or your mom, there is something for everyone. Go to iTunes and go to Podcasts and then do a search on whatever you fancy....BLAM! You'll find dozens of shows to choose from. It is the new wild west of New Media.

Obviously geek culture has more than just made its presence known in the podcasting world. The podcasts that cover the topics of the fantastical number in the thousands. Star Trek, Star Wars, Firefly, D&D, Video Games as well as Ghost Hunting are all strongly represented in the podcast realms. It's probably a small part of the reason I've been sorrily neglecting my blog this year.

As you know, I've gone and bought myself an iPhone and spend a little too much time on it than I should. The iPhone has been my introduction to iTunes and other media related programing. iTunes brought me the wonderful world of geek podcasts that occupy a good dose of my time.

There was a time that I had my own Podcast, Zangz's Pod of Geekdom. It was started back in the day when Podcasting was just starting to get really popular. If you get a chance to listen to the shows you'll see they are a wonderful documentation of the progression of a fledgling podcast.

We started out trying to use Skype that worked like pure crapolla on a dial up modem (Yep. I'm pretty low tech). Then we moved on by using telephones as microphones as the producer recorded remotely from his home fifty some odd miles away. We then found room in my producer's dad's office and I ended up recording in a broom closet there for sound buzzing issues. I was the idea guy who came up with most of the creative concepts of the shows and outlined them. Double-A-Man was the tech guru and producer who handled the engineering and all technical aspects of the show. As time went on the podcasts actually started to sound pretty darn professional. Especially when I'd get friends in round table discussions.

Sadly, logistics and problems with scheduling people and getting others involved proved to be the demise of Zangz's Pod of Geekdom. It would be great if one day we could resurrect The Pod of Geekdom, but we'd have a hell of a lot of competition.

There are a plethora of Podcasts that do Geekiness far better than I ever could. Here are a few that I follow regularly and urge you all to follow as well.

(Before you go downloading some of these, please realize that podcasts, thankfully, aren't censored. Free speech, baby! Might you have younglings in listening vicinity, you may want to use a headset. Many of these podcasts use adult language. You have been warned!)

Dovahkiin: An Elder Scrolls V Podcast - I nearly crapped myself with happiness when Todd Howard and his crew at Bethesda Games announced that the next Elder Scrolls open ended RPG video game, Skyrim, would be coming out on 11-11-11. Apparently I wasn't alone with the sudden case of happiness crapposity. These Elder Scrolls fans put together their own podcast that chronicles the progression of the coming video game. They also reveal any and all hints at what we might expect from the game. The faux background noises make it sound as though they are recording from one of the many pubs in the game world. Clever. They haven't updated in a few months and I'm hoping that is due to them being busy in the summer. With luck they'll be back in the fall with more info on what is to be one of the most epic games ever made.

Critical Hit: A Dungeons and Dragons Podcast - What's better than sitting down and playing a pencil and paper RPG with real, tangible polyhedral dice? How about listening to a bunch of guys playing one. The world famous RPG, Dungeons and Dragons, get the digitally live treatment as we get to hear D&D game sessions being played by a bunch of gamers. Sounds too geeky for you? Give it a try and lose yourself in their game world.

The Game Informer Show - Being a very choosey video game player, I have to have a good idea of what a game has to offer before I dump $60 on it. This is why I subscribe to Game Informer Magazine. It helps me navigate through what I might find fun or what I need to avoid. The magazine has its own podcast that features editors and writers from the mag putting their two cents on everything from reviews to previews of games as well as the state of the business side of the gaming industry.

The Geekbox Radio Podcast - Definitely one of my favorites of the bunch. This is usually a roundtable discussion on the past week's geeky happenings. Video games, genre TV shows and movies are bandied about between a round table of gamers and genre fans. I love the casualness of this one. It mirrors what me and my geek friends would talk about if we were all sitting around shootin' the dren.

SuperGeeks Podcast - If you can stomach the often cheesy opening skit's goofball humor, you'll be treated to wealth of comic book movie knowledge. All things Superhero-tastic on the big screen are discussed in this little gem of a show. It's quite obvious these guys have a mad love for comic book inspired movies and TV shows.

20 Sides of Nerd - This podcast reviews both video and role playing games as well as getting into a lot of reviews on up and coming technology.

The Nerdist Podcast - Rarely do I keep a podcast saved to my iPhone after I've listened to it once. I usually delete it and download the latest in the series. Not so, with The Nerdist. I currently have 14 episodes of the show saved to my phone. Even though I've listened to each one more than once, I find myself going back and listening to them again and again. Comedian Chris Hardwick (Singled Out, Web Soup, Attack of the Show) and his buddies take a improvisational comedy, roundtable approach and seamlessly mesh it with tons of nerd sensibility. Dare I say it, they almost make being a nerd or a geek hip.

Whether they have celebrity guests or are just chatting with eachother, I have found myself laughing out load with my earphones on. In fact I was mowing my mom's lawn the other day while listening to The Nerdist when I looked up and saw a passerby look at me like I was out of my mind. It was then I realized that I was laughing my ass off out loud. Then there are the guests! They get a whole cornucopia of interesting people that cover stand up comedians to genre celebrities. From Patton Oswalt to Neil Gaiman, from Matt Smith to Kevin Smith, from Craig Ferguson to Nathan Fillion. They all show up in one cast or the other. This is the podcast I highly recommend over all others!

There are a few more I've downloaded, but haven't checked out yet. I'll let you all know how they are once I have given them a listen.

So, there you have it. Start downloading these beauties onto whatever mobile media player you carry.

Until next time, stay verticle!

Zangz.

My new found respect for "The Sound of Music".

First, a few apologies.

1) Yep. This year is going to be a little anemic for posting here. I've been suffering from a bad bout of Brain Drain as well as a severe lack of imaginative inspiration.

2) This post is going to come off a little sappy, not a motif this blog usually dwells upon.

3) This post has little to do with any geekines.

4) I'm doing this from my smart phone while at a Starbucks and haven't figured out how to hyperlink text. So wiki or google terms and titles you don't get. The spellcheck is a little wonky also, and you all know my lack of spelling skills.

Now that that's all out of the way, I can tell you that something pretty frackin' cool happened to me a few weeks ago. I became "Uncle Zangz" when my sister gave birth to my niece, "Lil' G". And I'm pretty stoked about being a first time uncle. I get to hang out and enjoy the cuteness and as soon as the screaming or bodily functions that newborns spring out on us start to hit the fan, I can hand her off to Mom, Dad or Grandma. No fuss, no muss. A luxury most of us single uncles and aunts are blessed with.

Anyhow, I recently had a wonderful experience involving me new niece that put a bit of a lump in my throat.

Before I go on with the story I have to emphisise how I previosly had a strong dislike for the classic musical film "The Sound of Music". First off, I loathed how saccharine and silly it came off as being. I mean the movie starts out with a goofy singing nun flailing around out in the mountains of Austria wailing away about "The hills being alive with the sound of music...". I mean, c'mon!

Then there were the Von Trapp kids. These kids were so Goody Goody that the Brady kids could have beaten the living crap out of them. When they weren't whining about something, they were breaking into song every five minutes.

One of the main reasons I had a grudge against the film ist that when my sister was a kid and I was away from the house she decided to watch the movie on my Betamax machine. The tape got jammed in the heads tearing them to shreds leaving the piece of video history a useless hunk of junk. Not cool.

The film seemed th plague me ever since. I was forced to watch it everytime we went to visit my Grandpa in the nursing home since it would be playing on the big TV in the main room to placate the residedents who hardly new where they were half the time. Up until recently that movie reminded me of watching my Grandpa slowly slip away into dementia didn't help it's popularity with me in the least bit.

Yet for some reason my Mom and Sis would force me to watch it every Easter when it is played on the Family Channel annually. This past Easter was no exception. I was able to make a deal. If they were going to have that on, I should be able to tool around with my new smart phone without any complaints. Surprisingy they agreed.

So as I downloaded nerdy- geeky podcast after nerdy-geeky podcast I tolerated the Von Trapp's caterwauling in the background. Lil' G was in attendance gurgling and moving around as newborns do.

At one point my Mom was holding her and that's when it happened. The song "Edleweise" came on and my Mom started rocking Lil G and sang it to her. My Mom is no singer by any means, but something about this hit me like a rock in the chest.

The whole vision put a great big lump in my cold hearted Sound of Music hating heart and cleared all the animosity I had for the film away in one magic moment.

I hid the swell of emotion from the others in the room and sucked up any tears that may have been welling up. I realized that from this moment forward "The Sound of Music" would no longer represent broken Betamax machines or old folks homes. I would now bring emotions of family love and the birth of my niece and the sweetness of a Grandmother singing to her grandchild.

Now I can tolerate the film. I can probably even watch it without any nausea. Sometimes it truly is the little special moments in life that can make a difference.

Told you this was going to be sappy.

Until next time, Doe.... A deer... A female deer.......Beeeeeoootches.

Zangz.

New weapon of mass destruction!

I've added a new weapon to my arsenal of on line machinations of doom!
I've gone mobile. I now can control the Blog of Geekdom from my brand spakin' new smart phone. I am doing so now. Fear me, beeeoootches!!!!

More to come.

Zangz

Note to my Lack of Normal Sleep patterns: Tanks for the Oddball Dreams!

....and I do mean "Tanks".


This long, cold winter is truly sucking the life out of me. Well, it's both the weather and a huge workload pit that just gets deeper and deeper every day. It's great to be busy and employed in these trying times, but my mental and physical exhaustion is on overdrive. Pile on top of that the fact that my sleep patterns are pretty topsy-turvy.

Here's how a typical workday evening works for me....

I get home anytime between 6 PM to 8 PM. I hop on the computer and check email and do a little social networking to catch up on everybody.

I then grab something to eat and watch some TV anywhere around the 8 PM to 9 PM hours.

Usually by 9:30 PM I'm out cold on the sofa. I wake up anytime between 10 PM and 11:30 PM when I hustle my butt into bed and fall asleep within minutes of my head hitting the pillow.

I then wake up from some odd, crazy dream at around the 2:30 AM to 4:30 AM hours and from then on to about 5 AM I try and fight off stressful thoughts about work and other things going on in my life. I usually get one more good half hour of sleep before my alarm goes off at 5:30 AM to get into work before 7 AM. Not fun.

And speaking of odd and crazy dreams, I had a whopper of one just the other morning. It started off with me in the backyard of my childhood home. I was looking into the backyard of our elderly next door neighbor's house and noticed that someone had left a huge army tank back there. My neighbor's house had been abandoned since her death (in my dream anyways). Time seemed to pass for months and nobody from the army or special services or the CIA had come to either claim or pick up the tank.

So after a while I decided to see if I could operate it. I hopped my fence and climbed up to the hatch and found that I didn't need to climb into it to drive it since there was a control panel that stuck out from the side of it.

Of course there was a big red button on the panel and I just had to push it to see what would happen. The thing fired a shot with the most bizarre results you could imagine.

It made a beeping sound that got faster and faster when it finally fired out a canon ball that flew high into the air for a while before it plummeted to the earth and landed with a huge thud and rumble into the next yard. In the dream I could feel the vibration in my feet when the ball hit the earth. There was no explosion, just a lot of dirt and dust after the impact.

I looked around hoping that no one noticed. After a short time I realized that nobody came out of their homes to see what the hubbub was all about. So, what would any self respecting person who cared about his neighbors and safety of others do in a situation like this? Try another shot!

I pushed the red button again. And again a canon ball shot high into the air and landed with the exact same thud and rumble as it did before.

Now I was real paranoid that the CIA or the Feds would come and get arrest my ass and question me on why I had not reported the abandoned tank months ago when I first noticed it.

As my fear in the dream grew, I woke from the slumber only to continue to stress out. But, not due to the whole canon ball firing tank dream, but from what was going to be expected of me at work that day.

Well, what can you do? At least there are some activities that can get my mind off of things during the weekends.

Within the last six months my gaming group has ventured into The Savage Worlds of Solomon Kane. This tabletop RPG is based on the writings of pulp visionary Robert E. Howard who's best known for his creation of Conan the Barbarian. But, before he created the world famous Cimmerian barbarian warrior, Howard brought us the adventures of the 16th century puritan avenger who traveled the world hunting down evil doers and mythical abominations with musket and sword in hand. There's a European movie that is just itching for an American release based on the Character. See trailer HERE!

The game has proven to be a lot of fun and is well run by my game master, Mad Mario.

I'm also plowing through Fallout: New Vegas as you may have guessed if you read my last post.

Catching up on episodes of Entourage is quite relaxing, even if the shows creators seem to have great disdain for those of us bathed in the geek culture. Check out the episodes revolving around the Aquaman movie and the San Diego Comicon from the 2nd season and you'll get an idea.

Where's the geek lovin'? Pretty much everywhere else. A lot of Hollywood is very much aware of our presence and power and are catering to our likes as best they can.

Hell, even David E. Kelley is trying to reboot and resurrect a Wonder Woman TV series. I've seen a picture and I'm hoping he doesn't give the series the Alley McCraptastic treatment and truly makes Wonder Woman a kick-ass broad, not some whinny-assed, lovelorn dingbat (errr.. nothing against Mrs. Indiana Jones).

Cross your fingers folks.


I'm done ranting for this evening. Go get yourselves a cold one for the weekend.

Zangz.

Finally back....and now for something completely different!

"The road under my feet is cracked and torn beyond repair. The sand on either side of me is endless and has seeped it's way into every crevice of my leather armored clothing ever since I managed my way across what's left of the states to the far west.

I was a child when it all went to hell. The war that was waged was a quick one, but no one was a winner. It left what was once called the United States of America a vast wasteland of ruined buildings and twisted highways where we survivors try and make a life for ourselves.

Many find work as traders. Others find work as farmers. Sadly, others join gangs and wreck havoc as bandits. I've found my personal calling as a mercenary for hire.

Need me to hunt down a group of bandits who have done you wrong? I'll do it. Do you need someone to find a specific item that is in a cave full of wild, undead dogs? I can get that for you. Do you need me to relay a message to someone in another township? Consider it done. For the right amount of bottle cap currency, I can make it happen. But if you're going to ask me to inflict harm on the innocent, I'm more likely to put a bullet through your head. It's hard to have morals in this world, but I have my own code I live by.

I've been walking this highway for what seems like weeks heading out to the town of New Vegas to search for a guy who shot me in the head a while back. Luckily he wasn't the best shot and I survived. Too bad for him 'cause he has one hell of a comeuppance coming his way. But, that's a tale for another day.

Right now my main concern is how I'm going to deal with the family of radscorpions that are blocking my way down the road. Rumor has it that before the nuclear war, these things were tiny little creatures that were the size of your hand. Now they're the size of a friggin' horse. And there are five of them up ahead of me.

I was stung by one not too long ago and it took weeks to recover. Lots of puking, crapping, blindness and dizzy spells for about a months time. If I hadn't gotten to a small town doctor right after the attack, I would have been a goner.

I'm going to squat down and move silently around them. Perhaps I can take shelter behind that dilapidated gas station to the side of the highway if I can be quite enough.....

CRAP! They spotted me. These mother's are quicker than the ones I encountered on the east coast!

I pull out my sniper riffle that I aped off of the dead body of a militia man a few months ago. I take aim and make a direct hit into the head of the first radscorpion coming my way.

Sod! It did little damage to the thing! These guys are far worse than the east coast buggers, for sure! I take another well aimed shot.

The prick is still bearing down on me with his brood just behind him! Time for some evasive maneuvers! I get up from my crouch and start bolting down the roadway in the opposite direction. They're right on my tale. I pull out a frag grenade and whip it behind me.

KAPOW!

I look behind me and see that they're a bit stunned. I whip out my shot gun since I'm close enough and unload one into the head of the leader and finally his six beady eyes explode and he falls limp.

I then take out my machine gun and let the other bastards have a spray of lead lovin'. Another two go limp. But, as I have to reload, the last two take chase of me again. I turn tail and once again run the other way.

As I run I try and reload the weapon, but it is old and heavily used and has been modified one too many times. I toss it aside and whip out the shotgun again. I turn around while running backwards and try and take a few more shots.

Luckily these two radscorps aren't as big as the others I took out and one explodes into a few pieces leaving one left.

He's on me pretty quick, but his stinger missed my leg by inches, giving me enough time to plant the head of my shotgun to it's head and let loose.

KAPLAMMO!

Now there's radscorpion guts all over my leather armor. Crap.

I pull out my blade and gut out its poison gland. Those can sell quite well with certain traders. I walk back up the road and gut out the others' glands as well. I figure I have well over 70 bottle caps coming to me for these glands. Not too shabby. On top of that I find a fresh dead body that they must have been feeding off of before they took to me. This poor bastard had a few bottle caps, a shotgun that I can use to modify and repair my used one with and a cool as hell helmet that will give me some more protection. I may have "a code", but this is survival, baby. He doesn't need this crap anymore.

I head back up the road toward New Vegas. Luckily, there's no time frame to worry about. My prey seems to be enamored with one of the casinos in that rebuilt Sodom and Gomorrah. He isn't going anywhere.

I'll probably take on a few more jobs along the way before I reach my main goal. I'm wishfully hoping that there will be fewer encounters with the creatures that happen to exist in this wasteland. Outside of the radscorps, I've come across zombie like ghouls, warring fascist factions, mutants and all sorts of odd and deadly creature.

This world is full of nonstop surprises and I have a feeling I'm going to encounter every single one of them.

Crap."


Ok, so if you haven't guessed it by now, I've been playing a ton of Fallout: New Vegas and finally found myself inspired.

I understand that its been been almost two months since I've posted anything here. You have to understand that the dark cold winter mixed with a relentless work schedule has sucked any and all of the creative juices right out of me. I haven't been at all inspired to do anything imaginative.

So what's going on with me? Well, first and foremost I'm going to become an uncle come April! My sister, Dizzy Lizzy, done and got herself all preggered up. So I'll be geeking out with a wee little one who'll I'll further refer to as G-Love within the next few months. Cross your fingers and send good vibes my sister's way for a healthy, sweet little one.

What am I listening to right now? I'm always glad you asked? It would be what is, so far, my favorite album of the year.... Social Distortion's Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes.

A darn good, hard rockin' epic with a nice touch of bitter sweetness to make it that much special.

I hope to pop up here more often than I have recently.

Enjoy the weekend!

Zangz.

Christmas Eve Morning with Blood and B00bs.....

It's X-Mas eve morning and I'm finally done with all of my holiday chores. All gifts are purchased and wrapped.

Tonight I head to my sister's place where my family will eat a nice dinner, followed by driving around looking at the neighborhood's' lights and decorations, then we'll head back and exchange gifts. Tomorrow we all head to my cousins place to eat drink and be merry. It is the final reward for a week long battle fighting off hordes of idiotic shoppers while trying to find those perfect gifts.

While wrapping the last of my gifts this morning I popped in a rented DVD of the cable TV series Spartacus: Blood and Sand that I watched while I absolutely crucified the art of using wrapping paper. Over the last few years I've grown accustomed to renting TV series that I miss out on when they originally air due to bad timing or not having the premium cable channel in my already overly expensive cable set up.

I'll get back to Spartacus in a minute, but I'd also like to touch upon some other jems I came across and would definitely suggest to someone who enjoys watching intriguing television.

Deadwood - I've raved about this Wild West TV show which aired on HBO years ago in past posts. But, one can never boost the popularity of what I feel is the greatest TV western to grace the small screen since The Wild Wild West.

Deadwood takes you back to the days when people were settling out west and the small town of Deadwood, South Dakota was fighting off inevitable domestication and still clinging on to being a gambling, whoring, booze ridden hole of depravity and sin. Leading the charge of depravity and sin is local "businessman" Al Swearengen, brilliantly played by Ian McShane. Swearengen has become one of may favorite TV characters despite the fact that he is pure scum. How McShane actually has you rooting for the villain towards the end of the series run proves that the Golden Globe her received for the role was well deserved.

The dialog of the whole show is spoken in what I like to call "vulgar Shakespearean". There is a very formal cadence to the way the characters speak, intermixed with a lot of "F" and "C" bombs being dropped every few seconds. It's not a show for the faint of heart as it depicts the depravity and violence of the old west in graphic detail.

The entire ensemble cast are all incredibly dedicated to humanizing their characters and there isn't a "phoned in" performance in anyone in this show. Sadly the show stopped dead in its tracks after the 3rd season, so there is little resolution to the stories being told. But, it is well worth your time if the kiddies are away for a weekend or two.

ROME - It took me awhile to get into this sword and sandals drama about the ancient Roman empire. It's another show that's very adult in nature. This show featured several stories interweaving in and out of each other. One storyline followed the adventures and friendship of two Roman Centurion soldiers. Another storyline covered the corruption and power of the Roman Senate during the fall of Julius Caesar. In yet another storyline we see a rich and powerful family try and grasp and claw for their status among the elite. Excellent writing and fine acting are the benchmark of this show.

Spartacus: Blood and Sand - More like Spartacus: BOOBS & BLOOD! This is an INSANELY adult oriented view of ancient Rome that is far more geared for the Fanboys than any drama loving historian. This series follows the hardships of the infamous gladiator character of Spartacus, originally portrayed by Kirk Douglas in the classic film. This time around the story is being somewhat reinvented and told in a serial format.

Much like in the series ROME there are power struggles and manipulations of the wealthy portrayed here. But the corner stone of this show is the abundance of computer animated gore which is a constant in every episode. The gladiator arena scenes are always filled with fountains of blood as someone is being struck by a sword.

Another factor of the show is there is overt nudity and sex everywhere. Much of the time the story is overshadowed by the shock factor. But for the fanboys in all of us, this series has to be seen to be believed, especially with the likes of Lucy Lawless and Erin Cummings presence in the show.

Fringe - When this first started to air I, unfortunately and misguidedly ignored it, assuming it was going to be no more than a poor man's X-Files. But after deciding to catch up with it through rentals I've really become enamored with the show. It was a bit slow to get into, but after sticking in there for a few episodes, I became hooked!

In a nutshell, FBI agent Olivia Dunham teams up with a "mad scientist" and his recently reunited, former con-artist son to solve crimes and incidents that reach outside of a scientific range of simple explanation. One such storyline has them dealing with an alternate universe. That sort of thing.

I think that the main factor that turned me into a fan was actor John Nobel's portrayal of Dr. Walter Bishop. Dr. Bishop is a scientific genius who's specialty is Fringe Science. Along the way Walter experienced some horrible professional and personal losses that rocked his world to the core and put him into a mental institution. Having been released by Agent Dunham and his own son he works with them under their custody.

To my recollection, Dr. Walter Bishop is the first character in a Sci-Fi / Fantasy genre that deals with mental health issues that is portrayed positively. This is where Nobel's portrayal really shines. You do not see Walter as a mad man or crazed lunatic. He is a caring, loving person who simply does not function in, or see the world the same we do. His observations are either delivered in grim straight forwardness or creepy exuberance which can lead to some good chuckles at times. He has a childlike quality that makes us want to reach out to him and protect him. He's becoming another one of my favorite characters on TV.

Warehouse 13 - Imagine, if you will, that the warehouse that is shown in the very last scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark actually existed. All of it's treasures and dark secrets that are locked within have to be protected by someone, right? This show is about two agents that are given just that task in a similarly imagined warehouse. Along with a few other oddball characters, agents Lattimer and Bering find themselves attempting to keep the inventory of Warehouse 13 safe and sound. But that's not an easy task when these powerful artifacts have a tendency to get out and have to be put back in or trouble will ensue.

This show isn't that much of a departure of the late 80's Horror influenced show, Friday the 13th: The Seires. But, instead of collecting cursed items in a creepy atmospheric peice, Warehouse 13 is more fantasy, and slightly, comedy driven.

This show is also far more family friendly than a lot of the other shows that are on my list. You don't have to worry about Little Tommy getting an eyeful of Xena's bare gazongas flapping about (not that there's anything wrong with that....ehem. I digress. I'm sooo getting coal in my stocking.).

I've only seen the first season and can't wait until I can find time to get a gander at season two which has already aired on the Sci-Fi channel. I may have to wait for DVD rentals again.

I'm enjoying catching up with these shows on DVD. I may review mare if I find the time. And speaking of time, I've wasted enough here for the day.


I'll leave you now with this thought,

Have a wonderful Christmas and enjoy whatever holiday you're into! Here's hoping it's full of family, food, fun, and warmth.

Zangz.

RINGing in the Holiday Season

I know that traditionally I use the weeks after Halloween to bemoan the coming holiday season here in my blog. It's just the way people seem to go mad and turn their D-Bag meters onto full tilt during the season that really gets to me. Just try and go to one store or mall and not have some jerk-wit not do something rude or just plain stupid to you.

In any case, I'd like to start the holiday season off on a good note and tell you of a yearly tradition I've started with myself that helps me get through the holidays.

It all started in the winter of 2001. A upstart New Zealand filmmaker named Peter Jackson released upon the world a gift of geek greatness. It was the first of the film trilogy of J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" fantasy stories called "The Fellowship of the Ring". It was followed up with "The Two Towers" in 2002 and "The Return of the King" in 2003 both being released right around the holiday season.

These spectacles brought back the feel of epic filmmaking that hadn't been seen since movies being made by the likes of Cecil B. Demille had graced the silver screen.

A few years later the movies were released on DVD in their basic form. I decided to hold out. I waited for the uber-awesome 4 disc directors cut, extended editions of each of the films and I'm very glad I did as they play a part in my new holiday tradition.

Within the weekends between Thanksgiving and X-Mas, I'll sit down with a bowl of chili, a couple of beers, some sodas, chips and dips in front of my TV set and watch one of the movies all the way through. Then I'll go through the documentaries that are included in each set. This usually takes an entire afternoon. But it is so wonderful. I'm not out in the cold trying to shop with the god-awfulness of the throngs of greedy yuppie culture knocking each other over to grab the newest fangled techno gift.

I'm snug and sound, warm and cozy with grub and beer and Frodo, Merry, Pipin, Gandalf, Gimli, Aaragorn and the whole Rings lot of them enjoying their adventures within Middle Earth. Not too shabby.

I suggest you all get the extended additions of the movie and take a few Saturdays in the cold of the holiday season and watch them. I'm sure they're available on Amazon or Ebay. They're well worth it.

On that note. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and enjoy the rest of the holiday season

Zangz.

Zangz's Early as Heck 2010 X-Mas Wish List.

Every year my family members ask me what I want for X-Mas. Within the last few years I have gotten in the habit of putting the list up on my blog for a couple of reasons.

1. To be able to give family a concise list with linked examples so they know exactly what to get me without getting too confused.

2. To force them to actually visit and read my blog at least once a year. I need the hits.

3. A desperate need for some form of attention.

You may be asking, "Hey Zangz, why are you posting your X-mas wish list when we're barely out of the Halloween season?"

The few who read my blog know that the X-Mas season isn't really my favorite time of year for various reasons which I've blogged about in the past. And god knows that I'm already going through post Halloween DT's. But, last year my Mom and sister caught me completely off guard and demanded to know what I wanted for X-Mas a day before I planned to post my X-Mas wish list blog up (you can read about the whole sordid incident HERE). So this year I'm beating them to the punch.

I'm also making the print a little larger than usual because my mom complains that reading my blog gives her a headache due to the small type.

So, friends and family, get you pens and paper out and start jotting notes. Here we goes....

VIDEO GAMES:
Pleas note: All video games are for the Xbox 360.

Fallout: New Vegas - The quasi-sequel to Fallout 3. The first person RPG takes place in the post apocalyptic world that Fallout 3 was in. Except instead of traversing the wastelands of Washington DC, you're now exploring the semi-rebuilt tourist town of Las Vegas.

Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare - Not to be confused with it's predecessor, Red Dead Redemption, this add on is a game pack for the original Red Dead. In non-gamer speak: it is extra missions not included on the original game that focuses on the wild west being infected by zombies. The add on disc will not be released until late November. Make sure you get the box with the DISC in it. Not the one that offers the game as down loadable content since I don't have my system hooked up to the Internet.

Fable III - The 3rd installment of the popular Fantasy game where not only is action a part of the game-play, so is managing your own Kingdom.

CLOTHES:

Cargo Pants - A couple more pairs wouldn't hurt. Finding the right size for me is the grand mystery.

Leather Winter Gloves - The ones I have are falling apart

OTHER:

Cologne - I haven't had a decent cologne in years. In fact the one I have is the "organic" one that my sister, Dizzy Lizzy, sold when she worked at Bath and Bodyworks. It's time for a change. I wouldn't know what type to get, though.

Surprise me - Do you think you know something you'd like me to have, but isn't on the list. Go a head. Knock yourselves out.

That's it. That's all there is for me. That's the list.

I gotta get my ass in gear since I just found out 30 seconds ago that I'm meeting some friends in Madison within the next couple of hours.

See ya.

Zangz.