It's Me!

"Let him go, he always was a loner."

I'll take that. That was actually the one I predicted, too.

Actually this is the second test for BR characters that I took. The first one was a better one test-wise, but the html sucked on it, so I fudged my answers on test 2 to get the same results as the previous.

Needless to say, I just finished the book. Now I'm digging around the net to find any images from the movie, just to see how it looks. Hiroki Sigimura kicks ass, though. Nice guy, karate specialist. Spends most of the book searching for one particular character who he's madly in love with, and fights Kazuo and Mitsuko, the two biggest killers in the book, to a draw.

He's also the first (and only one of two that they mention) characters who does all this while equipped with a defensive weapon. While most of the students were given things like knives, guns, and grenades, he was given a tracking device, which he uses to great advantage.

Part of me really wants to see the movie version of this book. However, I also know that they're probably going to beef up the violence. And I also know that they changed the plot to fit with a more modern audience, making it even more Running Man by turning it into a government-sponsored reality show instead of a "military exercise".

There's also a sequel that's coming out next year that, well, sounds pretty stupid.

But this is a book I would suggest to anyone who can stomach written violence akin to, say, IT or Dark Tower. Basicallly, if you can handle Stephen King, then you can handle this. You'll get a gripping novel that treats characters with a depth that many books ignore. With the exception of a few characters, you learn the motivations and histories of most of the students, both good and evil. The only real let-down, and I don't think that this is a huge spoiler, is that the two previously-mentioned baddies, Mitsuko and Kazuo, have a pretty anti-climactic battle.

Also, a bit of a warning: if you're not too adept at Japanese names, you might have to keep checking back and forth to previous chapters. Names like Yukie, Yukiko, Yuko, and Yuka can feel a tad redundant and confusing if you're not prepared for them.

But overall, my best summary is that I'm going to buy this damn book for a re-read in the future. And this is coming from a guy who never buys his books beyond the Potter series.

The weekend and the end of the year is upon us, and my compputer decided to up and crap out on me. I'm currently writing this on my dad's computer, moving between this one and the laptop. So if anyone's looking for me on the IM's the next few days, your better shot's probably just to call me.

Oh, and for those with any interest, I've added a few new albums to my mp3 player so far:

- Evanescence: Fallen
- Smashing Pumpkins: Siamese Dream
- Alien Ant Farm: ANThology
- Failure: Fantastic Planet

I'm ripping Green Day's Dookie right now to throw on before bed, and will probably get to Mark Mallman and/or Flogging Molly tomorrow. Then I'll either throw one or two more on after that, or just start digging around for some singles (Dungen & Sufjan Stephens are looking like that).

I'm also looking for something to read. To get my Potter juices flowing again I might read OotP. Either way, I'm gonna have to sit down now that I'm done with BR and get The Calling of Seven back up (working title, most likely crap).

mp3: The Awakening

Sign of the times: I am just now getting to enjoy my first digital music player after having downloaded maybe, oh, 12 songs in my lifetime, from other people's networks.

It's not a massive mp3 player (and I'm technically playing windows media, not mp3's). it holds around 1 G of music, but I'm having fun with it so far. I have four cd's on that took up about 200m. I'll be tossing more on this weekend, and will be updating what I have on, for those who care about my, um, varied music tastes.

Four albums so far, they may be edited in the future to remove songs I'm not a fan of:

- Pearl Jam: Ten
- Oasis: What's The Story (Morning Glory)?
- RENT: OBC
- BtVS: Once More With Feeling Soundtrack

I'm also currently downloading Evanescence onto my computer, with stuff like Alien Ant Farm, Modest Mouse, Smashing Pumpkins, Weird Al, Metallica, Bush, Green Day, Journey, and The Offspring to be tossed on this weekend.

And I'm also recognizing that I may have to ditch a lot of Rent & Buffy already, because a lot of the songs just don't work in shuffle format. Ah, well, most of the stuff I like is good in fragmented format.

Technology, even modest technology, rules.

Cursed Diversions

I've barely thought about my HP story at all these last few days. It's amazing how much the combination of writer's block, Christmas, and another good book can pull you away from another story.

I'm still trying to think of a decent way to get the story rolling again. A way for my characters to get an announcement of a gathering out with limited resources & limited mobility. Half of the characters are easy, taking a note from OotP, but the other half that I want around, two in particular, are proving to be pretty damn difficult. There are ways, of course, but I'm trying really hard to not just hand-of-god the thing.

I might have to work Hedwig and/or Pigwidgeon back into the story. That might help a bit.

The biggest two diversions are currently Kingdom Hearts on my DS and Battle Royale by Koushun Takami.

KH, at least, is looking like it has a chance to be a quick game. As far as I can tell I'm halfway through it already after only three days. That appears to be one of the major limits for GB Advance games is the memory size involved. Plus I'm currently stuck on one boss, which might help in getting me away from it.

I'm also almost halfway through BR. Like I stated in a previous entry, it's a translation of a popular Japanese novel. It's intense, it's violent, it may be politically incorrect to a lot of people, but it's also gotten me hook, line, and sinker.

Part Lord of the Flies, part Running Man, part Long Walk, the basic plot revolves around a fascist society in 1997 Japan (although I haven't figured out the publication of the original Japanese novel, the pop culture references place it as a 1980's release). One aspect of the regime's control is, for no reason anyone in the story can figure out so far, is to take a group of 15-year-old students and throw them into an isolated area. There they are forced into a "battle royale", forced to kill each other until only one survives.

Again, like I said, the subject matter is politically incorrect, to say the least. It was an incredibly controversial novel in Japan, made into an equally controversial movie. But the way it's written, the way the story is laid out, has drawn me in more than I thought it would.

The main thing that gets me about it is the spreading of narration. Shuya Nanahara is the main character, for sure, but so far only about half of the chapters have focused on him. Koushun makes a strong effort to give many characters a voice in the story, where we can see their backgrounds, their motivations, and their relationships with each other.

The first few times he did this, it seemed like he was just going to different characters to show their death scenes, but this is far from reality as I get deeper into the novel. He's put us into the heads of at least a dozen different characters so far, allowing us to make an emotional attachment to many of them. I know I was upset to see many of the characters die, even ones who only had a chapter to themselves, and am rooting for the downfall of others. To have a feel for secondary characters like that is the mark of a good book.

If you can handle a little blood and gore, this is a damn good book.

Why Don't People Tell Me These Things?!?

The Flying Spaghetti Monster has been in the public eye since at least June, and I'm just hearing about it now? Curse you, liberal media!

Three more names to add to the Batman pool, two of them loosely confirmed as "rumor", and a third just tossed out there. All from this article on darkhorizons.com:

- Philip Seymour Hoffman in talks to play The Penguin. I can see it, but not sure how he's going to be integrated into a film that already has The Joker and Harvey Dent, unless they just keep him in crime boss status, either separate or antagonistic to Joker. Possibly as a replacement to the Falcone gang.

- Sam Rockwell is apparently campaigning to play Joker. Again, he wouldn't be my top choice to play Joker, but he's a name that I never thought of, and I'd have to put him in top five. But I guess my vision of a Joker in Batman Begins II would be someone older than Christian Bale, a character who's already established himself in the crime world as Jack Napier (or whoever) before reverting to his alter-ego.

- The name that was just tossed into the pool by Garth at DH, just his personal choice, no word anywhere on any involvement, is Geoffrey Rush. Not a bad name to toss in there, although my top choice would be Michael Keaton or Kevin Spacey (if he wasn't already Lex Luthor).

Elsewhere, I've spent a lot of money in the last few days, not even counting my car repair bill. When you have 300 in Christmas money, plus another 100-150 that you're allowing yourself to be loose and easy with, the pile can grow a bit:

- Nintendo DS with three games so far: Mario Kart, Kingdom Hearts, and Risk/Battleship/Clue
- A new cellphone, as my old one has ceased to be a useful member of society
- 60 dollars in cellphone cards (but they only cost me $50, so in the end I'm saving money)
- Serenity (do I even have to explain why?)
- Gunbuster (one of my favorite anime of all time, just ordered from the ebay for 11 dollars)
- Evac (review pending, along with 3 others)

Along with that, I still have my copy of Smallville season 2 to return, in exchange for season 1 for cheaper at Target.

I'm still thinking I'm going to get one more game for the DS, as the only two games I've bought (KH and R/B/C) are technically games for the Advance. I'd like to have one game that's pretty modern and popular so I can take advantage of the Wi-Fi connection on a populated game like Animal Crossing, or a game that uses the touchpad, like Trauma Center, Phoenix Wright, or Lost In Blue.

Also, Starscream is currently clearance priced, so I'm gonna wait a week or two to see if it drops in price even more before picking it up.

Back To It

I wanna start up on my bank holiday rant again, but after having the last week off, it'd probably be a little half-hearted.

All I know is that, compared to today, the day after Christmas, the above rant from the day after Thanksgiving feels slightly absurd. In basic phrasology, it is DEAD downtown today. I left for work at my normal time, driving because the buses were running holiday schedules. Expecting to just barely make it to work, I ended up being a half-hour early and in a discounted parking spot. The skyway to work was locked because the adjacent building was shut down. Most restaraunts are closed, so finding a place to eat lunch may be difficult. And it's 10 am and I've only gotten two phone calls.

In hindsight, I probably should have brought my new mp3 player in and started building it up.

Christmas is almost over for me and my family. My mom's side of the family is getting together on New Year's Day for our Christmas lunch, but that's a present-free experience. Aside from the other $345 from my cousin's boyfriend in return for my ticket to Vegas.

A decent haul, all things considered:

- An mp3 player (not an ipod, but beggars can't be choosers)
- An electric toothbrush (which my dentist strongly recommended for me)
- Seven cd's: Sufjan Stevens' Michigan & Illinois, Radiohead, Journey, and burned copies of Dungen, The Decembrists, and Langhorne Slim
- Batman Begins
- Gun (for the PS2)
- Smallville Season 2 (which will be exchanged for Season 1)

But the fun should be coming from the $250 from my parents, plus the $100-150 I'm allowing myself from the cash that would have gone to Vegas. Nintendo DS w/ two or three games, Serenity, Angel Season 3, Big Lebowski, Starscream, and Evac... it's a good thing I drove into work today.

More posts later, most likely, as I'm bored.

Hot Wax on the Crotch

So those candlelight services can be a pain. Just when you think you've made it through without burning your hand... well it skips the hand and goes into our most private of parts... it didn't burn, it just made a white mark where a white mark probably shouldn't be...

Things are good around here... Christmas Eve is done, with the stash so far being a shirt, an electric toothbrush, and Batman Begins.

I haven't written any Potter in a few days. I know where I'm going (the choosing of the seven, the reconciliation between Harry & Ginny, and the final battle with Voldemort), but I don't know how I want to get there without too much machina.

Finally, I got myself an early Christmas present last night: Galvatron, Galvatron, Galvatron! More on that later, thought, I'll be going to bed and handing the laptop off to my brother.

EDIT: Oops, forgot to block out that spoiler warning. If anyone cares. And also fixed any fragments of shtuff resulting from typing in a church-induced haze at 12:30 in the morning.

Taint Gonna Happen

I suppose it's probably a good thing that my story's turning out to be so flippin long that there's no way I'm going to be done with it by Christmas. I'm 13 pages in in a 10-point font with spaces between paragraphs, and I don't even know if I'm halfway through yet.

Maybe by the end of the year. If I had a laptop I'd probably be doing better, but such is life.

Not a lot going on here otherwise. I'm a bag of golf tees away from finishing my Christmas shopping, plus I got myself an Optimus Prime from Toys R Us.

I'll update at a time when I'm more movitivated to write....

Update on FREEDOM!

First off, I have to try really hard to not read any more of my new book, Battle Royale by Koushun Takami. I'm going to probably talk more about it after Christmas, but the best way to describe it is Lord of the Flies meets The Running Man. It's intense, it's ultraviolent, and it's incredibly absorbing. And considering I'm only 9 pages into a Harry Potter fanfic that I would like to get done by Christmas Day, I have to try to keep myself from any other fictional worlds that will taint my thoughts.

And I say this as I watch Firefly for the first time since Serenity.

For those who have any interest in my fanfic, I'm currently about halfway through it. I'm not sure how much I've discussed it with anyone, but here's a brief summary:

(Highlight the text if you're interested, and if you have read HBP)

Harry, Ron, and Hermione return to The Burrow on Christmas Eve, a brief respite from their search for Voldemort and the horcruxes. That night a betrayal causes a chain of events that will end in the final conflict between Harry Potter and The Dark Lord.

There, isn't that purdy?

I'll be writing a bit more soon about what things have been goin on during the week, but I'm too tired to write more. I'm gonna attempt a little more Potter, then bedtime.

Six Hours, Twenty Minutes

And less...

Damn, I can't wait for vacation. I haven't had anything more than 3-day weekends since I started working here in March 2004.

Well, except for when I've been sick, but that's far from a vacation.

It's not Vegas, but, hey, I'll be keeping myself occupied:

- Christmas Shopping
- Sleep
- Car Repair
- Meeting with Mortgage Lender
- Department Luncheon
- Sleep
- Writing HP fanfic
- Playing much Dark Cloud 2
- Sleep
- Seeing King Kong, The Producers, or Walk The Line
- Returning crappy Shockblast Alt & hopefully finding unlisted Cybertrons & Alts
- Two nights of rehearsal
- Christmas Eve with the grandparents
- Christmas Day with the fam (with a possible re-viewing of Narnia in the process)
- Did I mention sleep?

As such, I honestly can't say how much blogging's gonna be done between now and the 26th, when I return to the boredom of work. I can see some happening, though. Just don't expect daily updates, you two people who read this on a regular basis.

Another Level of Advertising

So I've seen advertisements on the side of trucks.

I've seen rotating ads on the side of trucks.

I've seen video screens on the sides of trucks.

I've seen video screens being hauled by trucks without trailers.

But today I saw a truck advertising Mexico.

It was hauling a small greenhouse.

With real plants.

And actors inside playing tourists.

Wow.

Suit Up

Darkhorizons posted new X3 pictures, which are, in essense, really cool bio pictures that will probably be used for promotional purposes. Posters, magazines, etc. A few things stick out at me.

- All of the images seem to be taken by the studio except Cyclops, which seems to be a photoshopped clip from the film.

- The characters that are in costume, which assumes that they're now a part of the team as opposed to just students. Colossus & Shadowcat both have the leather gear (most notably Shadowcat's pink/purple trim, which is a change from her usual blue costume).

- You have to kind of be looking for it, but it appears Magneto has geared Pyro up with flamethrowers. If you look at his hand, you can see a tube strapped to his palm, meaning he should be able to create fire at will, as well as control it. But he's still in street clothes, much like most of the characters on Magneto's side.

- Jean Grey (who should probably be called Phoenix now) is in maroon, the same as the unknown character standing next to Magneto in the trailer. Well, we know where her alliegences lie now, at least for part of the movie.

- Angel is still shirtless, like the only scene in which we've seen him. Who knows where he stands, or what his story is.

- Anyone know who the tattooed girl is? M? White Queen? The "X-Hooker"? Or does the tattoo shapes suggest a connection to Omega Red, who is a confirmed casting in the flick?

EDIT: Actually, my money's now on tattoo being Callisto. She's being played by Dania Ramirez, who was a Potential on Buffy, and the picture of her looks pretty damn familiar.

But don't quote me on that.

Another EDIT: okay, here's Dania Ramirez (Callisto). Here's Mercedes Scelba-Shorte (M). I'm leaning towards Callisto, but you be the judge.

New Story Posting

I just posted, over on my LiveJournal, a new story for the Pairing List at ithurtsmybrain. I tossed it together pretty quickly, so it's not exactly in-depth, but who the hell cares? It's out of my brain now so I don't have to feel an urgency to write it next week while working on my "serious" fic.

Here it is, for those who want to read. Neville Longbottom meets Michigan J Frog:

Hello, My Trevor!

Things I Learned from Lego

European traffic lights apparently have clocks on them.

At least the ones on the border patrol did.

I tweaked the beginning of my Harry Potter fanfic last night. It makes Ron a little less fucked up, and also takes into account things I learned and/or forgot from HBP & Wikipedia.

I'm probably going to start writing again on Friday, and might toss together my Neville/Michigan pairing story in the meantime.

I had a lot of time to kill at work yesterday, so I was studying up on Potter for story purposes. For those who have read HBP, I'd suggest these entries in Wikipedia, as I learned a lot of things I either didn't know, or hadn't thought of. Again, don't open unless you've read HBP, as there are spoilers in every entry.

Dean Thomas (as well as the rest of the Gryffindor's in Harry's age group, but Thomas stands out in a family history that Rowling has decided to reduce in importance so far)
Ginny Weasley (name origin, fan opinions, and Rowling's word on her)
Weasley Family (nice breakdown & name origins)
Aberforth Dumbledore (including information confirmed by Rowling, but never mentioned in the books)
Regulus Black (RAZ)
Harry Potter Book Seven (summarizes events that should be occurring)
Hogwarts Houses (includes a full list of every known character in every House, past and present)
Hogwarts Founders
Horcruxes (seriously, don't read this if you want to know anything about HBP)
Dumbledore's Army, Death Eaters, & The Order of the Phoenix (full list of members in each faction, past and present)
List of Potter Spells (pretty self-explanatory)

Helpful Info

First off, isn't it great when you are found by a friend online who you haven't spoken to in 7 or 8 years?

Rule.

Also, I've discovered a nice helpful piece of web service for the fanficcer in me... well, I knew the site existed, but Wikipedia's the kind of site where you can look up the history of a particular character or item, to make sure you don't make yourself look like too much of an idiot.

I found a lot of helpful information on Horcruxes, Regulus Black, and Aberforth Dumbledore. And for those who have not read HBP, those names should have no bearing on spoilers, but DO NOT click on the links, as the ensuing articles are just chock full of em.

In other news, people are afraid of Superman's Fortress of Solitude. Or his Superboy. Or his Red Kryptonite. Or his Little Clark. Or his... umm... dammit, innuendo's tough.

Narnia & Hogwarts

Two great debates that go great together.

And, what do you know, I have something to say about both genres today!

First off, I have the first three pages of my new HP fanfic written. And I'm going to be going back to tweak it later, because I really did a number on Ron, and I feel I should go back and at least partially fix it.

It's amazing how dark my brain can be sometimes. Let's just put it this way, in the search for the Horcrux I have:

1) made Ron mute
2) made Hermione a gimp
3) turned Harry into a focused, unemotional mission machine
4) come up with a lot of ideas that will lead to more than a few dead bodies, and a few betrayals, in the next two or three scenes. And more later on in the story.

I'm twisted.

In happier news, I saw The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe over the weekend. Considering I had no idea what to expect going in, I really enjoyed myself.

Spoilers to follow....

















seriously...





















One of the good things about making a movie about this book, as opposed to Potter, Lord of the Rings, Jurassic Park, or, well, pretty much any book-turned-movie in the history of mankind, is that TLTWATW is pretty damn short. I watched a cartoon version of the book last week and came to discover that a direct translation of the book only covers about 90 minutes. To make a film that's supposed to compete with the HPs and the LOTRs of the world, Narnia's gotta run at least 2 1/2 hours.

So to fill that gap, they added scenes that were either hinted at in the original text, or left out completely. The biggest addition is probably the opening of the film. I'm sure there were more than a few confused faces in the audience when the first shot of the film is of a Nazi warplane during the bombing of London. But this scene really helped flesh out the characters, and also showed how they got to the house and to the wardrobe in the first place.

Another major scene they added a conversation between Edmund and a pre-stoned Mr. Tunmus in the White Witch's palace. It was a welcome addition, but one which I was hoping to see a little more payoff for when the White Witch told Tumnus that it was Edmund that sold him out.

Beyond that, most of the big changes were made either to make some of the character decisions more plausible, or to heighten the action in order to compete with the Helms Deeps and Tri-Wizard Tournaments of the world. But none of these changes would be what I consider over the top, and they pulled them off well.

The biblical allegory was still there in force, the whole Easter Story thing. It should be interesting to see what they decide to do with the rest of the series, if they're going to just focus on the Pevensie stories (Prince Caspian & Dawn Treader), or if they're going to just choose the major stories and not focus on the Pevensies (most likely Dawn Treader, which would bring back Lucy and Edmund and introduce their cousin, Eustice, & Last Battle, which has Eustice & Jill Pole). Or if they're planning a huge endeavour they could always just do every other book in the series.

Time will tell, of course.

When all is said and done, and in making the obvious comparisons between Narnia, Potter, and LOTR... well, I'm not ready to make that comparison yet, as we've only seen one Narnia and four Potters. It's easier to make the comparison between the opening movies of each series, as they all ultimately share the same overall goals: introduce the characters & their world, make big action sequences to hook the audience, and leave them with the obvious realization that the story's not over yet.

As such, I would put Wardrobe as a close second behind Sorceror's Stone, and ahead of Fellowship. Stone gets the edge because the characters were more engaging than likeable than in Wardrobe, while Fellowship has a lot more slow points than Wardrobe.

Narnia having a wider array of interesting "species" doesn't hurt, either. Fights with a ton of human-like characters & orcs are interesting, but they don't hold a candle to a battle with humans, centaurs, minotaurs, dwarves, gryffins, wolves, cheetahs, lions, and a woman that can turn people to stone.

Overall, a damn good movie, I'd suggest it to anyone.

Itchin'

So I started re-reading HBP yesterday, am about 130 or so pages, and half a notebook page of notes, in.

And last night/this morning I came up with a decent opening for the story. So I think I'm gonna start writing tonight. How far I get, or how much I have to go back and edit, I don't know. But I do know this thing is going to be much longer than my first Harry Potter story.

Which I should still really find a place for someday, even though it's an obsolete storyline.

At work today we had our Holiday Luncheon. Pretty damn good food for free.

Today's Lego guy: Construction worker guy. Complete with Jackhammer and Porn 'Stache.

If one has anything to do with the other I REALLY don't wanna know.

Review #2:

Runamuck is the final remold I will be purchasing (again, skipping Blurr, of which I already have the original). I avoided the original Armada version, Side Swipe, like the plague, but a new head mold and paint scheme convinced me to give this new version a whirl.

Runamuck's vehicle is a very realistic-looking car, modeled after I believe a Honda. The original was a basic blue and gold, while the Cybertron edition features a black paintjob, complete with flame detailing. The darkened windows also improve the overall look, considering the character's head is much less visible than in the Armada version. The rear half of the car flips over, revealing a nice-looking gun where there was a Minicon in the Armada edition. Runamuck's Planet Key feature is contained within the new exposed engine, pushing the front bumper into a (albeit crappy) battering ram. The improved vehicle mode was the main... well... only reason I bought this toy.

That's because the robot mode is, um... *shudder* is a great way to summarize it. Even though the head mold is much improved from Sideswipe, the fact remains that this body is an abomination that never should have been produced. Where to begin? Is it the arms that can't go all the way down? The bowlegged legs with doors that wouldn't allow Runamuck to walk through the Lincoln Tunnel? The reverse loincloth in back? The massive arms that are produced by splitting the car's front end in half? Or the lack of any Planet Key feature? At least the gun looks nice in his hand.

As more and more of my expendible income goes into these figures, the more and more my Transformers collection goes to the completist end. This figure is a prime example of this, one that my brain wouldn't have let me buy two years ago. I need to stop. But, hey, again, it is a decent looking vehicle, and will probably sit along side such figures as Armada Thrust, Smokescreen, and Energon Cruellock in alt-mode.

Belated Review

As I really don't have anything to discuss today (except that my burglar got a blowtorch today) I figure I could catch up on my toy reviews by discussing some figures I purchased a month ago and haven't gotten to. I'll do one now, and two more at some point in the next day or two.

Longrack is the second of four remolds, the second of three that I purchased (gonna skip Blurr, as I already have his Armada version). Like my review of Buzzsaw a few weeks ago, this review is going to both review the toy as well as give comparisons to his original mold (in this case, Hoist).

Longrack and Hoist both share the same vehicle mode, a backhoe. There's no real change in the overall design, beyond color scheme. Except for the Planet Key feature, of course. Hoist's Minicon feature allowed the shovel to move by hooking the Minicon awkwardly to the back. Longrack's is much smoother, attaching the Planet Key lock to the side. Overall, a fun mode, with a color scheme that's much better and much more realistic than his Armada counterpart. I've kept him in this mode as often as I have his robot form.

Robot mode follows a similar theme with many Armada figures. Some parts are pretty awkward proportionally, and parts fit strangely into the overall asthetic of the toy. In this case, Longrack & Hoist share a massive right arm. This thing can cause havoc if you want to pose the figure in anything but basic standing position, as the feet are actually pretty small when compared to other figures in the various lines. Longrack's head is a definite improvement over Hoist: smaller, more detail, better color. The Planet Key feature is identical in this mode as in the other.

Overall, a much cooler toy than I originally anticipated. One detail that I was not aware of, but learned while looking through the Seibertron galleries, is that all of the Armada Remolds are also designed in homage to figures from previous series. Longrack and Buzzsaw both follow from their Beast Wars counterparts, while Blurr & Runamuck (reviewed later) both resemble G1 characters. Just a nice little added attraction that I think Transformers designers should do more often.

Upcoming, my reviews of Jetfire & Runamuck.

But tonight I shop.

#5 w/ A Tree

60-foot Christmas Tree in Hong Kong.

Now that's big.

Four Posts

And it's not even 10 yet. Today's gonna be a LONG day.

Today's Lego: A crappy-looking safe for yesterday's burglar to slice into with his circular saw.

Probert Encyclopedia

It's like Wikipedia.

But not.

The Plan As I Know It

1) Stop reading this damn book on the Mongols. I really want to learn their history, but so far (and I'm halfway through the thing) it's more about economic systems, communication systems, and things like that after Genghis' run. They haven't even said how he got to where he was.

2) Start re-reading Half-Blood Prince. Take copious notes.

3) Finish HBP by December 16th. I think I can do it, considering I read the whole damn thing in one day the first time.

4) Spend much of my vacation time writing. Get that HP fanfic that's been bouncing around in my head going, write one or two more ithurtsmybrains by Christmas Day, which is the "cutoff."

5) Pray I find the motivation to do such a thing. Video Games are a hideous side hobby.

Die Harry Die!

Rowling wants him dead.

I think I'd better get hoofin on that fanfic before everyone starts jumping on this bandwagon.

Oops. I may have said too much.

My Online Wishlist

Things I want for Christmas:

- Pictures of me that are actually good
- A decent header for this blog, taking full advantage of my dorkness
- A nice signature for the Transformers messageboards, hopefully taking advantage of my RPG group
- HTML lessons

More Proof Of Global Warming

When I left for the bus stop this morning the news said it was -4 degrees. This is mid- to late- January weather in early December. But at least it means a White Christmas is more likely.

More additional information from yesterday: The X3 trailer. Beyond the characters pictured in the link I sent yesterday, we also see (if you pause, rewind, etc):

- Vinnie Jones as Juggernaut (check the scene when Magneto's speechin in the woods)
- An apparent love triangle between Rogue, Iceman, & Shadowcat
- Moira McTaggert, Colossus, & Pyro
- A few other unknown mutants on Magneto's end (also in the woods). Possibly Madrox, Emma Frost, and Scarlet Witch. And a woman standing next to him that's either Jean Grey or an incredible likeness. Might be that character from the
- Jean Grey's very angry return
- Lots & lots of screentime for Wolverine, Beast, & Storm (Halle must have forced them to give her a ton of screen time) showing that they're probably going to be the primary fighters, as Cyclops appears to be too moody to make much of a threat.

Also, mentioned in the IMDb listing are two children playing "Young Warren" & "Young Jean", meaning an 11-year-old Angel & a 13-year-old Jean Grey. Whether this means that we're looking at separate flashbacks, or a possible connection in their history. Time will tell...

Anyway, watch it here, or it'll also be attached to King Kong. So I'm there.

Last night was our first rehearsal for Secret Garden. Should be interesting, I'm playing some minor character that pops up in dreams on a regular basis. More to come.

Today's Lego guy shows that my timing's off:

A burglar w/ stocking cap & circular saw

Battle Of The Barely Legals

While dinking around IMDb's listing for Narnia, I'm finding some of the amusing message board conversations comparing who's better looking: Narnia's Anna Popplewell, Snicket's Emily Browning, and Potter's Emma Watson.

The balancing act for fanboys trying to appreciate the hotness of women who are all below legal age (even though Anna & Emily are both legal by the end of the year, if I'm doing my math right) is quite amusing.

But, through a similar conversation I've had in the last few months (and the person I had the conversation with knows what I'm talking about), the decision was made that, as long as it's on the context of "can't wait till they're 18" then it's okay. But to read people struggling to keep the proper level below pedophile is fun.

That being said, it's fun to find that fantasy novel fanatics have something to talk about, a face to put to their girls. Add LOTR's Miranda Otto or Liv Tyler to the conversation, and it's a fanboy buffet.

EDIT: My math's wrong. They turn 17 this year.

Welcome To All Things Blue

If it's not blue, it's CRAP!

For those who haven't seen, here's the first picture of Kelsey "Frasier Crane" Grammer as X3's Beast, published today in USA Today. He looks like an odd mix of Beast & Banshee (heheheh, blue sideburns). Definitely a less hairy version so far than the comic book version, but we'll see how he looks.

The article also has pictures of Ben Foster as Angel, as well as new pictures of Wolverine & a black-streaked Storm. Take a gander, should be interesting.

The weekend is over, and there's not much to report. I finally opened my Alternator Shockblast, only to find the hood fall off as soon as I started transforming it, and get bent up as I'm trying to put it back together. Thankfully it's still within 90 days of the original purchase, so I can (hopefully) exchange it.

Fantasy Football last night was a twisted endeavor. Up against the worst team in the league, we were getting blown out of the water in the first half of the noon games, as every one of her players scored points, and we only had one touchdown in response.

But our team came back strong with 12 points from our defense (2oo yards and a touchdown), 15 points from Clinton Portis (2 touchdowns & over 100 yards), plus points from our kicker, tight end, and quarterback. We went from almost losing to the worst team in the league to probably getting the highest point total in the league, which will give us money.

And don't you just love it when I talk about things no one cares about?

Tonight is the beginning of Secret Garden rehearsals, with a readthough out in the boonies. Tomorrow is Charlie Brown Christmas, which I will not be missing.

And for those who are keeping track, the weekend's Advent Lego thingies:

Saturday: Fireman crane (not attached to a truck)
Sunday: Angry Policeman & walkie talkie
Monday: Dog w/ orange drape thing & police barricade

More Randomness

A picture from Shortpacked that's so funny (to me) I had to make it a signature on one of my TF boards.

Aslan + Leobreaker = hilarity.

- Wacky Tom Cruise bought a sonograph to watch his baby. Yup, that's safe.

Political Correctness

Three items that I wanna bring up, two of which have been in the news lately, another I personally have noticed.

- Goodnight Moon, the classic children's book that's been around for 50 or 60 years, is digitally altered in its new release because the photo of the late artist has him holding a cigarette. The new photo is the same as the old, except now he's just holding two fingers in the air. The family of Clement Hurd "reluctantly allowed them to do it," and there's a website called Goodnight Reality that's putting up a poll or petition trying to stop the altering of history.

Because, you know, everyone had it read to them as kids and now EVERY ONE OF THEM is smoking because of it. Ugh.

- The White House "Holiday Tree" has been changed back to the Christmas Tree. Hear hear. If they can have a menorah they can have a Christmas Tree.

- This one's not a "news article," per se, but it's a radio commercial that's airing locally that's bugging me. It's a car ad with a grandpa reading to his kid. I'm paraphrasing, but here we go:

Grandpa: But I heard him exclaim 'ere he drove out of sight, Happy Honda Days to all, and to all a good night!
Kid: But, Grandpa, I thought he says "Happy Holidays" to all!

The part of this commercial that irritates me is not the "Honda Days" part. It's a commercial, it's allowed, it's been done since before Coca Cola stuck Santa in the red & white.

But the kid corrects him and says "Happy Holidays to all." When they start editing a poem that's been around since 1822 to make it politically sanitized... between that and the cigarette, nothing's safe anymore.

What's next? Are editions of Huckleberry Finn edited to remove the racial stereotypes? Will future biographies about FDR eliminate his famous cigarette & holder? Will the Farrah Fawcett poster be re-released sans pointy?

History's not perfect, history's not politically correct. But it is history, and it shouldn't be changed because it offends someone today.

That is all.

Three Newbies

I added three more links (and deleted one) from my bar over on the right.

The first two are Digital Purgatory and Rob & Elliot. Both basically follow the same format as, um, half of my other comics over there: slackers talking about computers, video games, or other various geek culture minutiae. But both pretty dang good.

The third one is Wondermark. One of the stranger webcomics out there, it can probably be best described as an old, old, OLD-school sprite comic, writing comics using art from the 18th & 19th century. Funny stuff. They also "analyze" some real-life comics, like Dennis the Menace, Garfield, & Beetle Bailey, try to deduce what went wrong, and how it can be fixed.

It's Friday, thank god. Things are looking to be filling up pretty quick, but I'll be able to sleep, at least.

Today's advent calendar contents: fire hydrant, backpack, & water squirter (not squirting real water). For weekends I'll be opening one at the end of the day Fridays and the other one on Mondays along with the Monday one.

Buried in Blankets

I'm really tired. Part of it is me to blame, of course. I DID get to sleep at 11, which is earlier than other nights, since I just can't stop playing Dark Cloud.

But, hey, the alarm goes off and it's still dark out. It's cold in the house and you're buried under many warm comfy blankets. You can't blame me for wanting to sleep more.

Two more weeks and I'm off for a week of sleeping in. Sweet.

This morning is the first of December (no, seriously, check a calendar), so I got to crack open my new Lego Advent calendar. Too bad this is looking like a relatively crappy set compared to the one last year.

But, in case anyone has an interest, today's toy is a fireman.