Well I finished up the fourth book(Choke Point by Jay MacLarty) in the Simon Leonidovich series and I’m pretty satisfied with how it ended. I was a little put off early when suddenly, without explanation, Simon was no longer involved with his love interest from the previous book. But only temporarily as I soon forgot all about her and focused on the inevitable relationship between him and Kara. It just made sense. Again, well written with lots of intrigue and impossible to get out of situations. Unless of course you are Houdini Leonidovich, aka Simple Simon. Half the fun with these books is seeing just how he’s gonna escape the predicaments he’s in. And he’s in a shit ton of them. I hope there’s a 5th book in the series eventually.

Also started reading the first Harry Potter book…no thanks to that cunt J.K. Rowling. Apparently you can’t get the Harry Potter books on the Kindle(or any e-reader) because she wants kids to have the feeling of actually holding and reading her book. Of course that screws people like me with fucked up hands. Those books are fricken ginormous. If they ever are released on the Kindle I won’t hesitate to buy them, but until then, fuck her. I’ve got all seven of her books on my Kindle thanks to a kind sir and an easy to download torrent.

Anyway, pretty good thus far. I was a tad skeptical as I believe this was her first book so I thought it’d be a little slow going. Also having seen the movie a few times made me a little apprehensive as well. Thus far though, I’m really enjoying it. I’m only 6 chapters in but so far I think it’s better than the movie. Of course that’s pretty much par for the course as far as book to movie adaptations go.

I may have mentioned it before but I love my Kindle 2. Reading is actually fun again. Also found out, it’s a pretty good device for reading Manga thanks to a handy tool called Mangle. I added my own screensavers as well. Mostly authors I really like. Some randomness as well. I’ll post them now. I have a sweet Alan Moore one as well, but it’s currently M.I.A. I’ll post it when I find it

My fricken external hard drive got knocked off the table and started making grinding noises. Then quit like 2 minutes later as I was trying to access it. About 80 gigs of comics gone. Including the entire run of Question and Batman. Question took a little over a month to download and Batman took 2.

I did have some backed up. Luckily I had just burned off Miracleman for a friend which took even longer to download than Batman. I’m so pissed that I didn’t have the drive in a more secure spot. I’m not even sure what all was on it comic wise. So frustrating. Enough ranting, depression is setting in now.

AAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGH!

Current Mood: Tired

Overnight – An inside look at the meteoric rise of a douchebag and how said man’s douchebaggery can make you a pariah in Hollywood. It’s good to have faith in yourself and your skills/talent, but this guy takes it to epic leves of faith. Like he’s the second coming of everything great ever. Who is this mighty God of film AND music you ask? The writer/director of Boondock Saints, Troy Duffy. Never heard of him? Not a big surprise since he’s been pretty much blackballed. Good look at his attempt at getting his film and his music career going and how he fucked up a great thing. Worth a looksee.

Hang Em High(1968) – Clint Eastwood western…nuff said…only it isn’t cuz the ending fucking sucked. Nothing resolved at all. It was decent to good but I can’t recommend it.

Hand of Death(1975) – Chop socky flick that was way too over-choreographed and looked it. With that said, it was still enjoyable. Jackie Chan was in this in a supporting role before he was Jackie Chan. He was still being billed as Chan Yuan Lung at this point. No zany antics, just straight up kick-assery…overly choreographed kick assery. If you’re into older chop socky flicks, check it out. Otherwise pass.

30 Days of Night – My first Blu-Ray movie watched on my new TV(52″ Samsung Ultra Thin LCD) It was pretty glorious. Good movie, and Josh Hartnett wasn’t completely fuckin’ horrible. Only actor I dislike more than him is Keanu Reeves. Of course I may be biased as it concerns the movie, as I’m a huge fan of pretty much anything vampire related…except Queen of the Damned. God was that a pile of shit or what? Also, Fuck Twilight and it’s bastard ass vamps. Anyway, brilliant concept. Vampires descend on a small town in Alaska during the annual 30 days of night and lay waste to the town and it inhabitants. Really enjoyed the end as well. Gonna read the comics it’s based on this week.

Current Mood: Mischievous & Surprised

…or just a visual representation showing that Dr. Manhattan was becoming detached from humanity. Things that we freak over, have zero meaning to him as he’s no longer with us. If you’re confused by the opening of my post then you suck for not reading The Watchmen. My opening statement is based on the movie however. I can’t believe how many people are so shallow/stupid/short-sighted/small-minded/etc. that something like a blue penis makes a movie unwatchable. He no longer felt anything for the human race. Blue penis…get over it and grow the fuck up. I’m done preaching now…so on to happy happy fun time review movie time!

Watchmen(Imax) – Better than I expected and Imax is still amazing. My biggest complaint…the horrible music choices throughout the movie. The main two being the hallelujah song during the sex scene between Nite Owl and Silk Spectre and the most out of place piece of music imo was easily Jimi’s “All Along the Watchtower”. Just came out of nowhere and didn’t fit the scene at all. What works in print does not always translate well to screen.

Overall the changes didn’t bother me too much. I think it helped that I went into it knowing it could never meet my expectations so I just enjoyed it for what it was. One other minor complaint was the fact that apparently they were all expertly trained ninjas with super strength but I could let that go too. It made the fight scenes pretty enjoyable.

Good points. They could not have picked a better person to play Rorschach. That was pretty much the greatest casting EVER. Ozymandias, Dr. Manhattan, and The Comedian were great as well. Silk Spectre was ass. All in all, I can’t wait for the DVD. If I were to rank the current crop of comic-book movies it’d go…

1. The Dark Knight
2. Iron Man
3. Watchmen
4. Spiderman 2
5. Batman Begins

Current Mood: Indifferent & Tired

This time, the above average Part 1 offerings. There will be spoilers, so if you don’t want to be spoiled you might as well move on. We’ll start with comics.

First up is the Ultimates Volume 1&2 – The Ultimates is a re-imagining of many Marvel comic favorites…and not so favorites. The Cast includes Nick Fury, Captain America, Iron Man, The Hulk, Thor, Hank Pym(Giant Man/Ant Man) his wife The Wasp, and in minor roles, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, and Black Widow.

The tone is a little grittier than some comics, and some of the super heroes aren’t so super. For example, the Hulk goes on a murderous rampage. The Ultimates are Ultimately forced to execute The Hulk. Dr Hank Pym is a wife beater, even going so far as to send an army of ants after his wife while in her Wasp form. The Thor side story was fun and actually made me like him(wasn’t ever a fan). And the overall story arcs of both volumes were pretty good. I say pick up the graphic novels and give them a read.

Next up, Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter – Guilty Pleasures – I’ve never read any of the Anita Blake books, hell never heard of them until this comic was released. The story is set in a place where Vampires, werewolves, and all kinds of creepy crawlies exist. Vampires are now “out” among the public. Anita, a necromancer and licensed Vampire Hunter is hired/blackmailed by the Master Vampire of the city to investigate a series of Vampire murders. She does so, and in the process gets into a whole lot of shit. If you’re into Vampires at all, check it out. Not sure if it’s available in Graphic Novel form yet. So you may have to acquire it through other means. Ebay, comic shop, *cough*demonoid.com*cough*

And the last post in part 1 of Above Average Media…an actual book…though it is Star Wars.
Star Wars: Darth Bane – Rule of Two by Drew Karpyshyn – Not near as good as the first one, but it mostly focused on his apprentice Zannah who I just couldn’t get into at all. It was still a good read and I really enjoyed the ending , but I had high expectations after the first Darth Bane book and Zannah didn’t deliver. So while it’s still above average, it was also disappointing in some respects.

Still left in Above Average Media reviews…
Live Free or Die Hard
Home Movies Season 2
Outlaw Star
Hard Boiled
3:10 to yuma

Last night my cousin and Cody stayed the night and we watched two movies. Both of which I had seen before. American Pie and The Crow. American Pie is what it is. Low brow teen comedy. Good stuff.

The Crow on the other hand. Easily one of my favorite movies. Everything about it is incredible. The cinematography is my favorite part of the movie…yes really. It just gave the movie so much atmosphere. Of course, the action and story was very nice as well, and the acting was pretty good. It didn’t hurt that the star was Brandon Lee, son of the legendary Bruce Lee. I had followed his career since the beginning as I’m a huuuuge Bruce Lee fan. It’s a shame Brandon Lee died during the movie. Just like his dad before him, just when they were set to become huge stars, tragedy strikes them down. Sad bit of business.

My favorite quote from the movie…
“If the people we love are stolen from us, the way to have them live on is to never stop loving them. Buildings burn, people die, but real love is forever.”

If you haven’t seen it. First off, shame on you. Second of all, seriously, shame on you! And thirdly, go watch it now.

I would love to see a Sin City movie by the people behind the Crow.

Current Mood: Happy

…wish it was Sunday, that’s not funnay, I don’t have to runnay…Just another media Monday.

Sorry, the song(”Manic Monday” I think by Bananarama ) has been stuck in my head all morning. Anyway, I don’t have a life to speak of so here’s a recap of shit I’ve watched…

House returned and it’s still all kinds of awesome. I’m liking the dynamic with House, Wilson, and Vindictive Bitch even if it is a bit childish. Also Kumar is starting to grow on me…he’ll always be Kumar but he’s starting to find his way.

Of course The Office is always great and last Thursday was no different. I missed some of it thanks to Mother Nature and frequent cut-ins by the local news weatherman to tell us about said Mother Nature. Stanley was great and Michael actually handling it well in the end really helped this episode. Kind of disappointed they didn’t follow up on Toby from the previous week and his oh so creepy knee rubbing.

Earl is Earl. Consistent but nothing you have to see.

Scrubs is still very funny and I’ll say it again. Scrubs final season yet ER is still going on.

Finished up Neil Gaiman’s Eternals. Good stuff. Looking forward to the upcoming series. Hopefully it’s a continuation of Gaiman’s work. Gonna read Live Wire next.

Went and seen Iron Man yesterday and it is fuckin’ awesome! Robert Downey Jr. played the role great. They sorta touched on Stark’s drinking problem which I’m guessing will play a bigger role in the sequel. As I’m sure War Machine will also make it’s first appearance as alluded to in the film, with Terrence Howard looking at the Iron Man prototype suit and saying…”Maybe next time.” And the teaser in the end credits was sweet. Ultimate Nick Fury!

Good year for for comic nerds, what with Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk reboot, Dark Knight Returns, Hellboy 2 and the new Indiana Jones flick all hitting theater’s this summer. Can’t wait. I might go see Prince Caspian this month as well, depending on finances.

That is all…for Media Monday.

Current Mood: Tired

Just some random musings on things I’ve watched, read, and plan to watch, read.

I’ll start with Thursday night on NBC. A nice return of the Office we all know and love. Michael’s odd form of crazy, Creed’s awesome one-liner’s…”Then I’ll have 2, only one more to go.” lol. The sweet relationship between PB&J. Just good stuff last night. My favorite line/moment of the night was Michael’s conversation with Oscar. When he called Oscar, “Oscar Meiner Wiener Lover” and referenced his homosexuality as “your condition” I was rollin’. And of course the end with PB&J was great, and love those little moments in the show.

Earl had one of it’s better shows of recent. Funny and touching. Really, really enjoyed this weeks episode.

Scrubs has yet to be watched, but it’s almost guaranteed funny.

Next up is movie time! First up is Transformers. I was a HUGE Transformers freak as a kid. My favorites being Soundwave, Starscream, and of course Optimus. So initially I was excited as hell when I heard there was a live action version coming out…then I saw the character designs and my excitement was gone. I loved it when Megatron would transform into a gun for one of the Decepticons to fire. Anyway, so I decided to boycott then new movie. I was sick of Hollywood raping my childhood with half-assed uninspired remakes of things I loved as kid. Then I suddenly had a munchkin(Tre’) to entertain and had just bought the HD-DVD add on for my 360. So I broke down and bought Transformers in HD-DVD. I figured it’d at least be pretty and you can’t go wrong with giant fuckin robots beating the shit out of each other. So I watched it, and was pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t a Transformers movie as I knew it, but it was a fun action movie. Not gonna lie, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Needed a little more robot on robot action, but what can you do.

Also watched Stardust. Originally a book written by one of my favorite writers Neil Gaiman. I had a longer post concerning this movie but something fucked up and I lost it, so in summation, I will be buying this movie in the near future. Great fantasy movie.

I read The Secret Garden for the first time in like 20 years. Great book…for tweens. Next up in the literature department is The Eternals by the aforementioned Neil Gaiman or Live Wire by Jay MacLarty, the third book in the awesome Simon Leonidovic series.

In more pressing matters, is the sudden relationship between anime and Hollywood. We’ve already got Speed Racer coming. And according to Attack of the Show, Steven Spielberg is doing a live action version of Ghost in the Shell, M. Night Shyamalamadingdong is doing Avatar, and in the biggest head scratcher is Leonardo Dicaprio producing and starring in Akira. Fuck you Hollywood! So little creativity, so many greedy suits. I do however have a small interest in a live action Avatar, though finding someone good enough to fill the title role will be a bitch. He’s so damn likeable in the series.

That is all.

Current Mood: Rockin’

Hotel registration opened yesterday(and I forgot). So we called today hoping things were still open. We made a reservation in under 5 minutes. We’ll be staying at the Coronado Island Marriott Resort. About 4.1 miles from the Convention Center. Looks like a nice hotel. Nice little trip over the San Diego Bay. Should be a pleasurable trip…positive thinking.

Current Mood: Indifferent

…I just geeked out. Watched the third disc of Escaflowne. If it keeps going as is, it might actually get bought. I’m very picky on what anime I buy. Mostly due to cost, but anime is so diverse and most of it annoys the fuck out of me.

Right now, I only own 4 complete series. Berserk(great until the final disc), Trigun(fuckin’ awesome), Cowboy Bebop(Fuckin’ awesomer with a killer soundtrack), Neon Genesis Evangelion(good, but can be/is confusing) and one series I’ve yet to complete(but fully plan to) in Full Metal Alchemist. Only movies I really own are Studio Ghibli…loooove Hayao Miyazaki! Also have Wicked City(good, but not as into it as I was 10 years ago), Vampire Hunter D(love it), and Ninja Scroll(First anime I ever saw and bought it before I knew what good anime was).

Continuing with the geekfest, I read the first 2 volumes of Warren Ellis’ Transmetropolitan TPB and Spider Jerusalem is the coolest motherfucker ever. Just great stuff. An example of Spider’s eloquence with the english language…

Spider talking to the President…
“You’ve got your vote for hate, and I’ve got a column. And I’m not gonna rest until your raped, burned, castrated, and dog shit stuffed corpse is strung up in the middle of century square for the necrophile boys to play with”

Pure genius lol. His attack on religion was fuckin’ great and even profound in it’s own way. I want a Spider Jerusalem figure like yesterday.

and to end my geekfest, some Halo 3, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and Overlord on my 360.

Now I’ve manned up, and currently watching Texas vs Arizona State in the Holiday Bowl.