Daily Dose of Awesome: Sonic Screwdriver Car Door Opener

I'm a pretty big Doctor Who fan, though admittedly I much prefer the relaunch compared to the classic series.

A while back, it occurred to me that they could make an electronic car door opener that is shaped like a sonic screwdriver (a device who's primary function is to unlock doors).  Now, they have sonic screwdriver keychains, but those are really just penlights.  I want to take that concept and bring it to the next level.  You'd push the button and the light on the end of the screwdriver would light up; it could even have the trademark sound effect and it would unlock (and lock, of course) the door to your car as any other electronic car key would.

I doubt such a thing would get made, it is kind of a niche market to appeal to, but if we get to a point where we could customize those things, I think it would be a neat, and rather amusing, thing to offer.

Strait Jacket film review

You can read my review here.

A Dark Tower Animated Series

There has been talk of adapting Stephen King’s Dark Tower series to film for years, and it usually hits a dead end.

While I’m a fan of the franchise, I don’t think film is the proper medium.  The series is, ironically enough, too big for the big screen.

This is why I propose that it gets adapted to television, where the material can be properly fleshed out.  While a live action series could work, I feel like animation is the proper medium.

You can read more of my thoughts here.

Sharp Aquos High Definition TV review

You can read my review here.

Microsoft Lawsuit over Xbox Live Service

My roommate's a pretty big gamer. Usually around 9 or 10 o clock at night, he'll throw on his Xbox, connect to Xbox live and play a couple of rounds of Halo 3. He can play from a half hour to several hours depending on what day it is, who's on, and what else he has to do. Every once in a while, Xbox live won't connect. He'll grumble and groan, but that will pretty much be the end of it. He will either start channel surfing, throw in a movie, read, or get on his computer. Even as a heavy gamer, he's able to respond rationally. It seems a few gamers out in Texas are suing Microsoft for five million dollars. During the holidays, the online network was experiencing problems and was down for a few days. It is because of this that the gamers feel that they are entitled to heavy reimbursement for "damages."

Really? Five million because you couldn't play video games? I know they offer a service and you expect it to work, but sometimes it doesn't. Our internet here in the apartment goes out from time to time. We'll curse, but then we move on and do something else while still paying the bill in full. This is a minor inconvenience at best. If Microsoft gave gamers a few extra points to use on Xbox live or knocked a few dollars off the charge the next month, that would be much more then enough to atone for the "egregious sin" that has been committed. I didn't think it possible but someone has actually come up with a civil case that is almost as ludicrous as that one man who sued a dry cleaner for 8 million dollars over a pair of pants. It's not quite there yet as an Xbox and games are more expensive then pants, the point remains that this is ridiculous.

Even if the Xbox itself exploded, assuming no one was harmed, you shouldn't expect a huge check. No, a new Xbox (preferably one that doesn't explode) would be an appropriate payment for those damages. If you got shrapnel in your leg, then yes they would probably have to foot the bill and maybe toss in a couple thousand bucks for the trouble, but again, not 5 million.

Microsoft is a big well. I'm guessing that people think that 5 million is nothing, and while that is probably the case, it doesn't justify people being spoiled, whiny, greedy and generally stupid. If you're going to sue someone, do it over something worth suing over. Not being able to play Halo with your buddies is not it. If you want to get rich quick, become a pro. Gamer tournaments offer huge sums of money to do pretty much what you're doing. It's tragic in a way but hey, if you get to make high sums of money doing what you love then mazel tov.

There are other things to do in the world. Why you could read a book, you could watch a movie, you could go out bowling, you could go to a restaurant for dinner. There are endless possibilities when it comes to occupying yourself during your free time. But you really really wanna play right now? OK, how's this? Have some friends over and play multi-player on the one system. You can do that you know. It's all the fun of online play without online play. If everyone else is busy you can always play in single player mode. From what I hear, and from what I've seen, it's a fun game. Crazy, I know, but you can still enjoy Halo and other games without connecting to Xbox live.

There was no online game play for systems like N64, Sega Genesis, or Nintendo. We all got along fine, we never sued anybody because they did not give us the ability to play with people who weren't in the room. Why is it, after a short time, we feel like it is a necessity? Gamers need to get their priorities straight. This lawsuit is a huge waste of time and taxpayer money (as if the government isn't bad enough at money management but that's a whole different thing). Go do something useful and break your addiction to the box. There's a whole world out there, a real one, with people as opposed to avatars. Who knows? This could be an opportunity for growth, having no online game play could be the best thing that ever happened to you. If you vehemently disagree feel free to write me off as a "noob", yeah yeah I'm just jealous cause of your "uber-leet haxx skillz" right? Oy vay.

Daily Dose of Awesome: Ghostbusters Wedding Cake

My old roommate came across this on The Daily Wh.at.  That, ladies and gentlemen, is a very well designed cake.  As you can tell, it depicts the Ghostbusters battling Gozer in his destructor form (that of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man).

As a huge Ghostbusters geek myself, I squeed when I saw this.  This is what I want my wedding cake to be; it's that freaking awesome.

Daily Dose of Awesome: How Man of Steel Should Have Ended

American Vampire (Volume 1)

Stephen King Co-Writing Vampire Comic Book 


*Originally published on 10/26/09


Earlier today, regular reader and commenter, Casey, emailed me a link to a story that broke, announcing that Stephen King will be one of the writers on a new Vertigo comic series called American Vampire.  You can read all about it here, here, and here.  Unlike the other King comics, this will be original material as opposed to being derived from one of his earlier works.

Much like the awesome DC series, Trinity, each issue of this comic will feature two stories.  One will be written by short story writer, Scott Snyder and the other will be written by King himself.

The articles all summarize King's portion of the five issue arc in a similar fashion, saying that it will focus on a murdering, bank robbing cowboy named Skinner Sweet who turns into a new breed of vampire.  Interestingly enough, Skinner doesn't fear the sun, and even gets his powers from it.

The first issue is set to release in March of 2010.

Something else of note is the nature in which King got signed on.  It turns out the author sent Mr. King a letter asking for a simple blurb to use for publicity.  King liked the idea and said he'd be willing to write a couple of issues, if Snyder was OK with it.  Snyder, of course, agreed.  Apparently, King was originally going to write two issues, but his story expanded to five.

If you're a fan of Stephen King and comics (as I am) than it's a great time as there is certainly no shortage of Stephen King comics being released in the near future.  I, for one, am quite happy with this development.







Issue 1

I was finally able to make it out to a comic book store yesterday.  My main priority was to pick up the King back issues that I missed over the past couple of months.  Ironically, the comics I did pick up were the more recent ones and since they were out of the "next" issues, those will have to wait at least a week.  I was able to nab a copy of  the first issue of American Vampire, though.

It's a decent comic.  As was said when it was first announced, each issue would consist of two stories, one by Stephen King and one by another writer.  I'm not going to go into a whole lot of detail on the other story, it's good, but not relevant to this column.  We'll instead focus on the King half of the comic.

The story is narrated by good Will Bunting, a man who had an encounter so bizarre that he had to write it down.  He talks of the capture of an outlaw named Skinner Sweet, who is being taken to be hanged for his crimes.  Meanwhile, a group of shadowy figures plots to derail the train.

I went in thinking that Skinner was already a vampire (the fact that the shadowy figures say the crash will kill everyone but Sweet enforces the idea), but as it turns out, this part is more of an origin story. I probably would've been fine had he been a vampire the whole time, but seeing as he's supposed to represent a "new breed", it makes sense that they'd show why he differs from the rest of the pack.

The artwork is decent.  Compared to the other King comics, it pales in comparison, but it is by no means bad.

Same goes for the writing.  It was a little harder to get into, as this was the first comic where the reader is starting from scratch. Given that there isn't a whole lot of room to work with inside half of an issue, it felt a little general, but that may very well have been the point.  I figure the next few issues will focus on Skinner to a greater extent and flesh out his character a little more.

Issue 2

Issue 3

Issue 4

Issue 5

Ninja Scroll

You can read my review here.

Maxtor 1 TB hard drive

You can read my review here.

Medieval Times review

I was home for the holidays to spend it with my family. On the last night before I flew back, we decided to head out to Medieval Times at the Arundel Mills mall for dinner. I myself had never been there but I heard it was enjoyable. All I knew about it was what I saw in The Cable Guy, that is they preserve medieval authenticity by using metal plates and cups, no silverware, and by serving Pepsi. This is all true. The staff is more enthusiastic about their roles then Janeane Garofalo's character and they don't actually call people from the audience to duel, but aside from this the movie pretty much gets the atmosphere right.

It's a good old fashioned dinner with a show. When you walk in you're given a knight to side with. They encourage you to root for your knight and his allies while booing the opposing side. Even the knights work the crowd, riding around on their horse and throwing flowers to girls in the crowd. The games mostly center around accuracy, that is until the actual jousting. The big reveal of the "villain" isn't that big a shock but that's not the point. It's fun to watch if for no other reason then to see how much the cast revels their respective parts. The villain goes to great lengths to come off as one and the king was clearly getting a kick out of his role.

The games are fun but it doesn't get really good until the jousting starts. I was worried that it was a misconception, dinner had been served and it seemed as if things were winding down. It was somewhat understandable as the risk for injury is quite great. They do in fact joust and duel with real weapons. I can't attest to their sharpness but sparks flew when swords clashed; not only that but the actors were always sure to strike their opponent with the flat side of the sword so I assume that they were at least sharp enough to cause injury. The choreography is hit or miss. At parts it's breathtaking and you actually believe that they are fighting in an intense battle, at other parts it's obviously staged and the actors overdo their reactions. All in all though, it's entertaining, which is what they strive to do above all else.

Medieval Times is unusual in that there is no menu. The meal is picked out for you. It starts out with a bowl of vegetable soup. I'm not a big soup eater so I didn't do much with that. You have to drink it as, again, there is no spoon to eat it with. My family said that it was quite hot, so much so that it was hard to hold the bowl. Up next is garlic bread. What's there to be said, it's garlic bread and like all garlic bread, it's delicious even if it is only a small piece. The main course is a big chunk of chicken with a side of spare rib. Vegetarians need not worry as they do have an alternative meal available The chicken is quite tasty and filling. The rib is good, however it is only a small piece. For dessert you get a pastry, in our case it was an apple fritter-esque treat, not bad at all.

Medieval Times is an enjoyable experience. I'm not sure if it works for multiple visits but it is worth checking out at least once. If the fights and tournament aren't your thing there are the cute (and very well trained) horses to look at. Even if your knight does lose, as Leroy Jenkins would be quick to point out, at least you got chicken.

The only flaw is that several times throughout they encourage you to buy peripheral products, pictures, items from the gift shop, you can be "knighted" by the king. The drinks from the bar are also a bit pricey.

Aside from that it is a grand time to be had by the whole family. I highly recommend it.

Daily Dose of Awesome: Batman vs. Galactus

This was a sketch done by comic artist J.K. Woodward.  Sure, Batman doesn't stand a chance, but it's still a cool image.  You can find the original post here.

Daily Dose of Awesome: Berger's Cookies

While cookies are inherently awesome by default, there are some that go above and beyond.  The most notable example of this is Mrs. Fields.  Another cookie that stands apart is the Berger brand cookie.  Now, alas, this is a local company, so you can only find it in Maryland stores, but they are delicious nonetheless.  It's basically a sugar cookie with a thick layer of chocolate frosting on top.  It's not healthy in the slightest, but as far as flavor is concerned, it ranks among the best.

If you live in Maryland and see these on display, pick up a pack and try them out.  If you're a fan of chocolate, you will not be disappointed.  For those who live elsewhere, you can order them online through their website.

Vampire Wars film review

You can read my article here.

Sinestro Corps War reflection

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!! In case you missed it, there are SPOILERS AHEAD!!!! Ready? In case you haven't read The Sinestro Corps War, you have one last chance to bail. Why? Because there are SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!

OK that should do .

Yesterday the six month long maxi-series The Sinestro Corps War came to its explosive conclusion. while most big events start off with a bang and then taper off, Sinestro Corps keeps the high octane action going throughout all 12 issues. Even the one shots, which were mostly introspective to give readers a view on to what the characters motivation was, contained enough action sequences and character development to drive the story forward.

The surprising thing about this event is how contained it is. Normally in comics when there's an event like this it somehow impacts every other comic in its universe whether it be DC or Marvel. Aside from the aforementioned one shots and one issue of Blue Beetle, The Sinestro Corps War takes place only within the pages of Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps. Credit has to go to the writers as I really expected this to branch off into other titles and act as a building block for the upcoming Final Crisis. There was certainly enough villainy at work. The freaking Anti-Monitor came back, the biggest villain in DC's Rogues Gallery and Geoff Johns managed to keep him in that title and on the sidelines for the most part. It actually worked though, this arc (heck even the one shot special that launched it) was more epic then both 52 and Countdown combined. Had this spread throughout the DCU, the epicness and scope (perhaps counter-intuitively) would've been diluted.

For years, Sinestro has acted as the arch-nemesis of Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps in general. It wasn't until recently that he was made into the galaxy threatening badass that he was supposed to be. Some may not like the "Space Hitler" approach but seriously? It works, and it works a heck of a lot better then the ol' handlebar mustache that he was sporting back in the day. Even with Superman/boy/crybaby prime, Cyborg Superman, Parallax, and the Anti-Monitor, Sinestro took the role of chief villain in this arc as he should do. I was unsure of Parallax taking over Kyle, mostly because I thought this was only done so that the rabid Hal fanboys can revel in the petty joy of saying "Ha Ha Kyle sucks, he's evil how do you like it Kyle fans?" It wasn't as bad as I thought. It actually worked for the story.

This arc brings in everything that's great about Green Lantern, and superhero comics in general. Geoff Johns is an OK writer, but there are certain things that he just "gets". Green Lantern is one of them. It's because of this that the comic is one of the best ones out today. He gets all the characters and knows how they work. While it's clear that Hal is his favorite, he doesn't elevate Jordan by knocking the other three down like some writers would. Instead, he elevates all of them giving them the proper respect and making Hal the alpha dog of the bunch. It pleases not only silver age fans who adore Hal as "the true" Green Lantern, but fans of the more recent characters whether it be John Stewart, Kyle Rayner, or Guy Gardner.

Even with Countdown spoiling major plot points (ie the fate of Kyle Rayner, the survival of Superman/boy/crybaby Prime) this story line managed to keep me as a reader in suspense and eager to read the next issue. Not only does this series end with a bang, but the two page teaser for the next major arc left me speechless. It's sad that I want 2008 to be over so that we can get to this arc because it's a doozy. I'm excited for it, almost as excited as I am for the upcoming Ghostbusters game but that's neither here nor there.

The only caveat in this series is that there is a lot of background info required to read it. You can play catch up as they do a good job of explaining through dialogue what the reader needs to know but you might be better off doing some back reading. Rebirth is quite great in its own right and acts as a launch pad for this arc. If you can't afford them (they've gotten somewhat pricey) or don't want to do even more reading you can always hit up the Wikipedia for whatever issues may be confusing you.

What's surprising is who comes out the winner. Sinestro knew that the GL's couldn't win without enabling lethal force. He brought it up to almost every lantern he took on. When the guardians finally caved, it seemed like a turning point. It's true that the playing field was leveled as the Sin Corps started taking some hits. It turns out that's what Sinestro wanted all along. By pushing them to allow lethal force he has proven that he was right. Even after being left imprisoned, ringless and naked, Sinestro still takes away a moral victory.

What the Manhunters did to Hank Henshaw was really unforgivable and mean. He had what he wanted. They didn't even do what they did out of some sort of desire to save him. They were just serving themselves which makes it all the more heartbreaking. I actually found myself thinking "No! Don't do it!" when reading those pages.

I highly recommend this series. It's epic, the characterization is dead on, it strives for a Kirby-esque mythology and the art is top notch. If you're a Green Lantern fan, you'll love it. If you're not a Green Lantern fan, this may very well make you one. Beware their power Green Lantern's light!

HP 9210us laptop review

You can read my review of the computer here.

The Tommyknockers mini-series review

Part 1

It's been years since I had seen this miniseries.  I remember watching, but beyond that my memory was pretty foggy.  My roommate insisted that it's pretty terrible.  It is.  Seeing the 3 hour run time didn't fill me with eagerness to sit down and watch this.  Luckily, they were nice enough to split it into the two parts that it aired in.  A few of the DVDs have just crammed it all together or divided the series in such a way that it doesn't match how it would split up on television.

OK, it's not the worst adaptation, but it's definitely down there.  The acting is pretty wooden and the characters aren't really fleshed out all that much.  Gardner's politics, for example, are played down a great deal.  There's one mention of his dislike of nuclear power after his poetry reading, but beyond that his main trait is boozehound.

While some stuff is cut, it does follow the book's narrative pretty closely.  All of the major events are there, the botched disappearing trick, the dolls, the unfaithful husband who gets his comeuppance through the television set, the telepathic typewriter (which while creepy is admittedly pretty awesome, I would love to write a novel in my sleep).  

There are parts that try to be creepy, but don't really pull it off.  There's a scene at the vet as Bobbi is taking her dog, Petey, into the lobby where all the other animals freak.  It was actually not badly done until we cut to a close up of a cobra sliding along the floor and some kid with an alligator.  I mean, really.

There were a few nods to other King works, the Micmac tribe gets mentioned, as does Derry.  The latter isn't that surprising, since a few characters actually go to the small town in the book.  Ruth's comparison of Petey to Cujo was also pretty amusing.

This series didn't have much of a budget and it shows.  It's not low budget enough to be simplistically charming or funny, but it's enough to ruin your suspension of disbelief in a few scenes.  

Even worse is the fact that it's not even so bad that it's funny to watch.  Admittedly, it doesn't induce physical pain like some other bad movies, nor does it tax your sanity, but it's just there and I found myself rather bored throughout most of it.

I will give credit where credit is due and say that the closing scene with the fireworks was rather eerie and well done.

So far, this is looking like it's one series worth skipping.  We're not done yet though, there's still part 2 to wade through.  Will the second half salvage the series?  Find out in the next article!

Part 2

OK, what's up with the default subtitle setting being French? The default should be none and you should be able to add them if needed.  It's a vexing inconvenience.

Part 2 isn't much better than part 1 sadly enough.  All of the romance and what not seemed phoned in and while there were scenes that tried to be creepy, they couldn't pull it off.  Take, for instance, the scene where they're outside the town hall chanting.  It tries to be eerie, but it did nothing for me.

It stays close to the book for the most part, but then decides to take a radical left turn.  Part of it was to make it a happier, more upbeat ending, but some of it seemed random.  Having the townsfolk revert to normal after the ship leaves is one thing (I love how it's a complete 180, no recovery time needed, all of the emaciation and missing teeth are just magically undone) but the nature of the Tommyknockers is radically different too.

In the book, the townspeople were being turned into the aliens while here, the effects are similar, but it's more like the Matrix.  The dead aliens are trying to bring themselves back to life by sucking out the townspeople's bio-force or something.  It's true, the aliens did do that to some people in the book, but the implication is that the ship is draining everyone, which, if it is the case, why bother with the contraptions?

The alteration also weakens the series further as the aliens look ridiculous.  They're very clearly rubber monsters and they don't come off as scary at all. Especially notable, is the scene where Gardner throws one of the alien corpses off of the ship's piloting console.  You can tell it's a prop, Smits doesn't even pretend the thing has any weight, he just tosses it aside.

I was surprised when the dolls killed Ruth that the clown dolls didn't play a bigger part. I figured they would be the ones to relish the violent kill more than the other dolls.

Even with a 3 hour run time, a lot of stuff gets glossed over.  It's understandable to an extent as the book is about 800 pages long, but even taking that into account, the watered down version just isn't very good.  As I mentioned before, the characters are all flat and uninteresting and all of the emotional moments don't have the desired effect.  You'd be better off just passing this one by and not even bothering.

Daily Dose of Awesome: Batman vs. Shark

Do I really need to explain this one?  It's Batman fighting a shark with a lightsaber.  I think the awesomeness of this speaks for itself.  The only thing that bugs me is that Batman's not wearing a re-breather, seeing as he's underwater and all.  Still, it's an awesome picture and the artwork is really well done.  Oh, and umm, something about Bat-shark repellant.  I can't think of a specific joke, but it definitely warranted mentioning.

N web video series

Memories film review

You can read my review here.

Cowboys vs Jessica Simpson

Tony Romo's performance in recent games has been under his usual par. The one time this happened was last season. His then girlfriend, American Idol Carrie Underwood, was present to root for him. Paradoxically, his game got worse. Now he's in another slump and teammates, along with Cowboys fans are wondering if his new girlfriend, Jessica Simpson, is responsible.

Even though his thumb is injured. People have projected their frustration on to the pop star saying that she is a distraction. This is counter-intuitive for quite a few reasons. The first being that even if Jessica was a distraction, that's more Tony's fault then hers. Sportscaster Mike Golic was smart enough to point this out. Jessica has no impact on where Tony's attention is focused. It's up to him to keep his head in the game regardless of the eye candy that sits in the stands. It's also up to his teammates to point out to Romo that he needs to focus on the game. Even with cheerleaders around, Romo has been able to stay focused so having pretty girls in close proximity to the field should not be a problem. "Well, they're pretty but she's Jessica Freakin Simpson, she's in a class all to herself" you say? OK, fair enough. Let me cite another example. Tony Parker, as many know he is married to Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria. She attends many of his games and is sure to sit up front so that she can root for her man. Has this affected his game negatively? Not in the least. This puts the ball in Romo's court..metaphorically speaking of course.

Secondly, the fact that he only played this poorly with Carrie and is doing so again with Jessica is purely a coincidence and the logic is based on circumstantial evidence. Many will cite Batman saying "there are no such things as coincidences". Unfortunately, there are. There's a limit to their impact but they do in fact exist. Were he to start dating another pop sensation with the same results, then I could accept it as the odds of that are much less.

One of the driving forces behind men is their ego. We have a bizarre desire to prove ourselves better then others. It's a testosterone thing but we're a competitive lot. This is especially true around women. We try to show off and impress them. It's why we try to get the fancy job, nice car or exercise (what'd you think we did that for? Health?). Looking at this logically, Simpson's presence should be driving him to play even better then he normally would. Nothing makes a man feel better then knowing that he's done something well in front of the woman he is with.

On the flip side, it's only natural for Simpson to want to try and show interest in her beau's career. It's what people in relationships do. It also makes sense that she'd want to be there in person to root for him. If she weren't there, I'm sure people would complain that she doesn't care enough to go see him.

As I said before, Romo's thumb is currently hurt. As a quarterback, a hurt thumb can really mess up your game. It's a crazy notion, I know, but maybe that's why he hasn't been playing up to his usual standard. Even with a healed thumb, quarterbacks have off days. Tom Brady, Brett Favre, and even Peyton Manning have games where they're passing ability is a little under what we're used to seeing. Players have slumps, some longer then others, and we as fans should be able to cut them some slack. They already spend most of their time trying to improve, they don't need us throwing around crazy theories to explain why.

I know Cowboys fans only want their team to win. It's natural to try to find someone else to blame when someone of Romo's caliber takes a dip in stats. What we have to remember is that Romo is a gifted player and the Cowboys do have a solid team this year. Even with a comely singer in the stands, they can pull through and finish this season on a high note.

Xbox 360 review

You can read my review here.

Daily Dose of Awesome: Automated Nerf Sentry Gun

I had no idea Nerf wars were such serious business that they required heavy artillery like this.  Alas, I have no idea where you would buy such an item.  Still, look at that thing.  I'm not even a Nerf guy and I think it's freaking cool.

The Dark Tower: The Battle of Jericho Hill

Issue 1

Issue 2

Issue 3

Issue 4

Issue 5

A Dating website for anime fans?

I was contacted somewhat recently and informed about a very unique dating website. What makes this website so different from the dozens of others that are out there? Well, it caters to anime fans specifically.

Fans of anime are often categorized as loners by nature. I know of some who were able to marathon shows for over 10 hours. I, myself, have never been able to pull of such a feat, so hats off to them.

Impressive as it is, it doesn't really lend itself to dating, and that's where maiotaku comes into play.  It's a website that allows anime fans to find others, share their interests, and, hopefully, make a meaningful connection.

This isn't the first dating website to cater to the geek community. Geek2Geek also attempts to help geeks find love. As geekdom is something of a niche as it is, it was gutsy to try to make a dating website to cater to a niche within a niche. It seems to have paid off as the site boasts over 20,000 users (real human ones too!).

Speaking of Geek2Geek, this site seems to boast a similar business model as you can sign up for free to get a small sample of what the site offers, but need to pay money to sign up for more advanced plans that allow users to access more of what the site has to offer.

Whether you're looking for someone to curl up with you on the couch to watch "Death Note" or just looking to expand your social circle, maiotaku may be a site that you'll want to check out.

Edit: After browsing the site, I was under the impression that the free membership only allowed for basic features. I've been informed that this isn't the case. True, there is a premium membership, but the free membership allows you to communicate with others and operate within the community, no problem. Apologies for the misconception.

Agents Comics review

When I lived in Wichita, there were two comic book stores that my roommate and I frequented.  I already posted the review for one.  Here is the other.

Dark Knight viral campaign

Fanboys, geeks, and Batman fans are eagerly awaiting the release of The Dark Knight, Nolan's sequel to the smash hit Batman Begins. While there has been only a teaser released with no actual trailer, the studio has made sure to keep us salivating through the internet.

It all started on whysoserious.com. Web surfers were asked to submit their e-mail addresses to reveal one pixel in a much larger image. This turned out to reveal the initial picture of The Joker. I was less then pleased with it to be quite honest. I knew that Nolan was going to go for something different with his Joker but that wasn't what I had in mind. Honestly, I'm still not quite sure. People on the set rave about his performance, and I hope they're right.

I would love for Ledger's performance to be a dead on perfect portrayal that makes me giddy with geek joy the way that Neeson's Ra's al Ghul did. However, at the same time, one has to consider the fact that there is no other response. What is the cast supposed to say? How is Ledger's performance as Joker? Psssh he stinks PU, bad. As you can see it doesn't work. I'm giving Ledger some wiggle room; I can't picture him in the role but I am rather curious to see how it plays out.

Back to the viral marketing. Some time passed and whysoserious became a flash animation of a jack-o-lantern with a candle burning inside. Over time it became clear that the candle was melting down. Speculation ran rampant as to what this burning candle was counting down to. Burning candle, led way to a wilting pumpkin akin to the cover of The Long Halloween. Many were thinking that this was going to be the reveal of Two-Face, gladly it wasn't. What we got was another Joker pic. It was disappointing at the time, but I'm glad. Two-Face should be something that we don't see until the movie itself, the end of the movie to be exact.

It seemed the Joker wanted to play a game with us viewers and he sent people on a scavenger hunt to take pictures at various locations across the country. At each location was something shaped like a letter. When put together, a message was formed, The only sensible way to live in this world is without rules. From here, Joker told us to take pictures in Joker make up and submit them, promising a reward in return. I was digging the viral campaign up to this point, but this was turning into homework. Given the fact that the carrot being hung in front of us was likely to be another picture it didn't seem worth it. Pics are nice, don't get me wrong, but if fans are going to go through all this trouble there needs to be some sort of enticement.

I'd heard of 7 minutes of footage that showed at..wizardcon or worldcon...one of the big comic/movie conventions. I hoped that this was the reward. I'm sure this is the preview that will be shown before I Am Legend, but if I could see it beforehand I would be happy. The Dark Knight made its presence known at Comic-con through dollar bills that were "vandalized" with a joker smile that was taped on to George Washington's face. It made sense to follow it up at the other big conventions.

Within the past couple of days, not one, not three, not five, but seven new sites have popped up. I haven't had a chance to check them all yet. I skimmed two of them, the first being a copy of The Gotham Times that gives us some articles about Gotham post fear gas attack. If you want to check it out go to www.thegothamtimes.com. Be warned though, the print is tiny. You'll probably have to lean in close to your screen and there are 4 pages of stuff. If you got the endurance for it, from what I've read it's some well written stuff.

Up next is The Ha Ha Ha times at www.thehahahatimes.com. It's the same newspaper done a la The Joker. Again, the print is tiny but the "edited" headlines are quite amusing. "Batman Saves Money on Car Insurance" and "Cry Baby Bruce Wayne Cant' Stop Being A Wuss" are only a couple of the greats on there.

The third site is www.wearetheanswer.com. Here, Harvey Dent asks Gothamites for a call to arms to put an end to police corruption. The campaign is alluded to in the fine print of The Gotham Times but from what I saw there was no link. This site actually lets you submit tips (though I'm not sure exactly we can do to save a fictional city). There are some Harvey Dent quotes and letters of support from the city's citizens who are glad that someone, besides a loon in a bat costume and a hardcore vigilante cult leader, is doing something to save Gotham from itself.

Site number four is an ad for Gotham National bank (www.gothamnationalbank.com these site names are so complicated aren't they?) It's pretty straight forward. It has some location listings and a link regarding fraud prevention. Evidently, the bank is not FDIC insured.

www.rememberinggina.org is a memoriam for an innocent casualty in the mob war since Carmine Falcone's fall from power. Mentioned in The Gotham Times, her death is one of the things that Harvey Dent's campaign mentions in the hope of lighting a fire under Gotham to rally the citizens.

Ever thought about being a cop? Gotham's looking. Go to www.gothampolice.com. You'll also find a list of your rights and discover that Gotham teens have a curfew.

For the more charitable, you can adopt a bus stop at www.gothamcityrail.com. Just so you know, you won't be able to as construction is getting in the way.

It's all simple stuff but it keeps the buzz going. Heck, all they had to do was release that "I believe in Harvey Dent" poster to get Two-Face fans salivating. I love it. Nolan's doing a great job at keeping the big stuff under wraps while still teasing us with pictures and sound bytes. I also like the fact that the events of Begins haven't been forgotten. Almost every site makes some mention of the Narrows attack or the fear gas incident. Even though Ra's al Ghul is dead (though I wouldn't be surprised if he either returned or Talia showed up to avenge him; more-so the latter since Nolan apparently got ticked off when he found out that the Justice League movie planned to use her) his impact on Batman's story is far from over.

All of these articles are surprisingly in depth given that they're just based on a movie. If this doesn't keep us busy until I Am Legend, or even until TDK's actual release, then quite frankly, nothing will.

Paypal articles

Reviewstream review

If you're going to write online, most sites require you to have a paypal account. It's more efficient for them to do an online transaction than to print out a check and mail it to you. As it turns out, this is a win/win scenario.

You are able to get your money much quicker, which is a definite plus, but that is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the perks of paypal.

While Amazon (sadly) doesn't accept paypal, there are plenty of independent online merchants who do. I hope Amazon eventually jumps on board. As I do a vast majority of my online shopping through Amazon, being able to buy things from there with Paypal would be a great setup.

Paypal gives you a safe way to pay for things. It also keeps your credit card balance much lower, which is always a good thing. Paying with paypal is also much quicker than using a credit card. You don't have to dig out your wallet to type out the number, usually it's just a matter of typing in an email address or clicking a button or two.

They only require a minimal amount of information. What information they do take is secure, while some people are uneasy about linking sites to their checking account, you need not worry. I've been using the site for years now and have had no problems with it.

They provide a detailed list of all the transactions that have occurred, making it easy to spot any discrepancies.

The money usually takes a couple of days to transfer, but it will get to your account fairly promptly. You can also add money from your checking account to your paypal account, but I've had no reason to do that so far. I usually try to keep it going the other way.

If you pull in enough money online in any given time, you can actually build a small nest egg. Not enough to retire, but you can start to build a rainy day fund and start stockpiling surplus money without worrying about the FDIC insurance limits.

As I don't count paypal income until I transfer it to one of my main bank accounts, buying something with Paypal feels like I'm getting it for free even though I'm paying for it. It's a great sensation.

While paypal does offer a money market account, their main accounts don't offer interest. I hope they change that because nothing would make me happier than earning interest on that money. It doesn't even have to be a particularly high interest rate (although online banks do tend to offer higher interest rates than usual). As paypal has gotten pretty large, offering a small incentive to those customers would go a long way.

Having a paypal account is a convenient way to make, save, and spend money. For your day to day purchases, they do offer credit and debit cards as well, though I haven't utilized that perk. I highly recommend looking into opening an account. It has tons of benefits with very few drawbacks.

Daily Dose of Awesome: Sonic Screwdriver vs. Lightsaber

I came across this image of the Doctor disabling Darth Vader's lightsaber with his trusty sonic screwdriver.  Not only is it an awesome image for the clash of sci-fi titans, but that is pretty much what would happen if these two faced off.  Granted, Vader would probably just force choke the time lord 15 seconds later, but that's besides the point.

The detail on this piece is incredibly impressive and the artist should be proud.  This is really, really good.  You could even go so far as to say it's fantastic.

I found the image via an article on IO9, but you can find the original image post here.

The Dark Tower: Fall of Gilead

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"The Place Promised In Our Early Days" film review

You can read my review of the film here.

Hooters restaurant reviews

I wrote an article reviewing the popular food chain. You can read more below.


Hooters gets a bad rap. People say that it degrades women and whenever you suggest it as a place to dine, people will chuckle and then say that you only go there for "the wings". "The wings" of course being a euphemism for the women.

Now yes, the waitresses are quite comely. The shorts are short and the shirts are tight, but there is nothing lewd or inappropriate. You'd see more if a girl wore a bathing suit. Depending on the girl, their everyday clothes may be more revealing then their Hooters uniform. One could argue that this objectifies women. However, from what I've seen, the waitresses can handle themselves and usually turn this against the person gaining a larger tip for themselves. They're not so much prostituting themselves as manipulating the person. Before you say that this is wrong, do remember that the person in question was shamelessly leering at the girl so it's really just giving the person his just desserts.

More often then not though, the waitress will do just that, serve you your food and drinks and be on their way. They are busy after all. If it's quiet they will sit down and make small talk. If you are like my roommates and I, who have the same few servers, you can usually develop a decent repor with the waitress. Even then there isn't much in the way of flirting. This could just be lack of flirting ability or simple awareness over the fact that they aren't ever actually going to go out with us but it's pretty much just talking. People, and South Park, give off the impression that the flirting reaches the point where you're practically getting free lap dances just for ordering a burger. This isn't the case at all. They'll put their hand on your shoulder, but that is about the extent of it.

I also find it odd that people are so quick to write off the wings. I'm not even much of a wing person and I like the wings there. The curly fries are also quite tasty. Hooters also has a menu superior to many restaurants. How many places can you go to that actually serve grilled cheese? I know, you can make a grilled cheese sandwich at home but having it served to you is a much better experience. They've also got burgers, steak, chicken, and a giant hot dog. The fact is that, pretty girls or no pretty girls, if the food wasn't any good the business would've tanked in its first year.

Now I'm going on about how illogical the Hooters stigma is, but the truth is that even I'm not above it completely. I'm always perplexed when I see a family with little kids there, or if I see a couple on a date. Of course it's harmless and my confusion is irrational. The children aren't going to be corrupted and guys aren't so dumb as to shamelessly flirt with the waitress in front of their girlfriend (at least one would hope). The waitresses are smart enough to know when to keep it brief.

The point is that dining at Hooters is an enjoyable experience. Friendly staff, good food that's reasonably priced, and sporting events on big screen TV's (some of them in high def). It's true, I'm the demographic they're catering to but I see nothing wrong with going to Hooters for dinner every once in a while. 

The Dark Tower: Treachery

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And because the next comic is just a one-shot, I figured I'd consolidate things and add it here as something of a bonus, so you can also check out my thoughts on "The Sorcerer".


The Sorcerer

Blood: The Last Vampire

You can read my review here.

2008 Chevy Impala review

You can read my review here.

Writer's Strike of 2007

The strike is officially on. Members of the Writer's Guild have stopped working due to a dispute over residual payment on various new forms of media distribution (ie dvd and internet). There's a lot of hullabaloo about it given the fact that it will bring production of several TV shows along with a few movies to a complete standstill.

Being a writer I kind of have to side with them. However I'm going to try and see this from the studio's point of view. Whether I succeed or not has yet to be determined. If you read the talkbacks on aintitcool.com you get the impression that the writers are ridiculously paid and live lavish lifestyles and have more money then they know what to do with. What they don't realize is that that is not true at all. With a steady job writing for TV whether it be sitcom or animation, you can live comfortably but comparatively speaking writers tend to get screwed over. There are a lot of writers out there and the quality of the product varies but at the same time it's just bad form. How is an actor more worthy of a residual check then the person who came up with the script? It's not a huge amount we're talking about here. For a writer, every little bit helps put food on the table. Not every writer is Stephen King or Jeph Loeb. We don't all have hundreds of thousands in the bank just waiting to be spent. Most of us are just like everybody else, trying to make a living in a field we enjoy.

Herein lies another problem, most people think writing is not work. Au contraire it's very hard work. Physically tiring? No, but it is psychologically exhausting. Coming up with a plot or idea and trying to find the right words to convey the emotions and ideas that you want and then revising the piece over and over and over again until it's just perfect. It can be a fun job, but it's still a job. We put the same effort into our labor as any doctor, lawyer, or corporate so and so. Whether it be in television, fiction, or poetry, writing is work whether you want to admit or not. Coming up with 25 different storylines for the same characters is not an easy task, and that's just one season. Ask Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, it's a maddening task. The same is true for a novel. I know airports and grocery stores are lined with books so one writes it off as something that can be done off the top of your head. Wrong! It's freakin hard. Admittedly I'm only 23 so I'm still a novice writer overall but I have tried and it is no easy task let me assure you. As for the issue of writing being it's own reward, well by that logic, teachers and police officers should be happy with their salaries and doctors' pay should be cut to about 10% of what it is now and they should be grateful for that. After all, the job is its own reward right?

The greed accusation, if looked at closely, becomes downright goofy. The writer is greedy when the station heads are the ones withholding the relatively small amount of money close to their chests saying "No! Mine!"? To say that the corporation deserves a bigger cut because they financed it is a valid point, but I'm not even saying the writer should get more. I just think that it's only fair that they get a cut on the peripheral profit as well. Getting a few cents or, dare I say it, dollars for each rerun or DVD sale is not a huge loss. I can almost guarantee the fat-cats that your wallets will still be packed with large bills. Also, it's a crazy notion, but maybe if you treat the writers well, they might be happy to work for you again. This would then give you another product to put out and make further profits from. A happy employee is a productive employee; this is true in film and television as it is in any company. There are many writers out there, but there are other places that he or she can go to put out his or her product.

I'm rather torn. I want my fellow writers to get their fair share and I'm glad that they're finally standing up and saying they won't take anymore crap. However, as a TV viewer, I like new episodes. Heroes is finally starting to pick up steam after 6 episodes of boring nothingness, Scrubs is coming to it's final episodes, and Venture Bros. Season 3 is in it's final stages of creation. We can only hope that the matter is resolved quickly in such a way that all parties come out happy.

So far, the only legitimate point that the anti-strike side has brought up, from what I've read so far, is the fact that the strike affects others who are now caught in the middle. This isn't a good situation but I'd rather that they fought for their rights as opposed to just caving. Writers have been crapped on a lot and it's about time they stood up for themselves. Besides, if the writers did cave it would set a bad precedent. The studio execs will come to believe that they can start screwing everybody over. The best option for them is to join the writers. For when their pay or benefits are threatened, the writers will be happy to return the favor and back them up as the actors have done.

I have no intention of going into TV or animation as my field of choice is fiction. The picket line has no effect on me, but I do stand behind the writers on this. Hmm, it seems I was mistaken earlier, I didn't side with the studios much, eh c'est la vie.

Daily Dose of Awesome: Godzilla vs. the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man

Daily Dose of Awesome: Warren Buffet rocks the Ukelele

This amuses me; and it never gets old either. Honestly and truly, it does not get old.

Daily Dose of Awesome: Dog befriends Pig

The Dark Tower: The Long Road Home

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Subs vs Dubs

It's the question that started a thousand flame wars. The anime equivalent of comicdom's Hal vs Kyle, the debate on whether anime is better viewed in Japanese with subtitles or dubbed over in English never fails to tear the fandom asunder.

Now, the obvious cop out answer would be that it's a matter of personal preference.  It sounds like a cheap case of fence straddling, but it isn't wrong.

I, myself, generally prefer watching anime with subtitles, but that isn't to say that there aren't some superior dubs.  For example, I vastly prefer the dubbed version of Dragonball Z to the original. 

There are quite a few factors that come into play when determining which version you prefer.  If you get accustomed to hearing a certain voice coming out of a character's mouth, trying to watch it the alternate way will always sound weird no matter which side you stand on.  For instance, I've only heard the dubbed version of Yu Yu Hakusho, so were I to try and watch it subbed, I have no doubt that the characters would sound weird to me.

One could also argue that a person's preference or distaste for subtitled anime is tied to his or her like or dislike of subtitles as a whole.  If subtitles annoy you when watching movies or television in general, it stands to reason that you're not going to like it when watching anime. 

Often, when people defend subtitles, they claim that the voice acting is superior.  The counter-argument is that you can't say that, as most American anime viewers don't speak Japanese and, as such, are just judging it by how it sounds.  This argument has some merit, but you have to wonder, if a character sounds more natural and in character, even in a foreign language, isn't that a testament to the original voice actor's ability? 

That being said, watching anime with subtitles doesn't give you reason to act superior.  It's true, there are some terrible dubs out there, but even the dub fans call those instances out when they occur.

It's actually a wonder that this fight is still going on.  Anime DVDs, whether they be individual 3 episode discs or full series box sets include both subtitled and dubbed versions of each episode.  So no matter your preference, you can enjoy it in the comfort of your own home.  Besides, it's kind of a stupid thing to fight over.  Rather than nitpicking and bickering with each other, anime fans should come together and enjoy the medium in all it's glory.  English or Japanese, it doesn't matter, just sit back and enjoy some anime.