Gustatory Reflex & Oral Chemesthesis is Da'Bomb! (aka new hot sauces I like)

Gustatory Reflex & Oral Chemesthesis are the fancy terms for sweating, snotting, and coughing fire. I found new hot sauces and here's the rundown.

El Yucateco is a damn fine brand. I picked up a bottle of Kutbil-Ik which - according to their website - is Mayan for "crushed chile". Rated at 11,600 Scoville this stuff is...well...my direct quote was, "It's like a volcano shit in my mouth." It's awesome stuff and I love the flavor but I don't know if I could just put this on everything I ate. Kutbil-Ik is something to: use very sparingly, use for some kind of Shaolin chile pepper eating, or for punishing children. On the other end of the spectrum I picked up the Chipotle style. It's much milder ranking in at 3,400 Scoville. It is very tasty and far superior to any other chipotle sauce I've found. This is going to be a staple hot sauce. If you can find it I strongly suggest picking it up. I haven't picked up the Green Habanero but have tried it a couple of times at restaurants around town. It comes in at 9,000 Scoville. Not so good on its own - it's too bright but could be tasty mixed in rice or guacamole. The green is not one I'll be picking up though.

San Luis Hot Sauce "Really Hot" is good. About the same caliber as Valentina Hot Sauce. It's a solid every day use hot sauce. I've been partial to putting it on breakfast - not Strawberry Rice Kripsies...yet - eggs, sandwiches, egg sandwiches, etc., etc. It's not particularly hot but it's not a slouch either. At an eighty-nine cent price tag for a 17 oz. bottle there's no reason not to have a bottle kicking around. Only one problem - opening the bottle is a pain in the ass. The cap doesn't screw off so you have to punch a hole in the cap and fish out the plastic or leave the chunks of plastic in the bottle.

You can pick these up at your local Mexican supermarket, bakery, taqueria, or if you're not smack dab in the middle of whitey-town your regular supermarket.

The Spice must flow.

Working on the Spice Mix this weekend. Thanks to Amanda for taking pictures and taste testing.

Dear Rangers,

thank you for continuing to beat the Yankees and keeping losses to close games. Now stop losing to the White Sox.

xoxo,

Joshua

Getting my learnatorium sea legs: Part I

I've already found a computer I like in the library. I plan to start lurking in the stacks pretty frequently. The fiction section is pretty solid though I forgot the joys of wandering around a library picking books up at random. I found the complete run of Life Magazine and spent a good hour leafing through 1969. The only problem is a lot of the photos would lend themselves very well to photomontage so it makes it a little hard not to just requisition the book for my own nefarious uses.

My goal today is to find the cookbook/food writing/food culture section and see what there is to see. With any luck I can find something interesting about East Texas/Louisiana cuisine. This is part of an idea I have kicking around in my head - Major in Texas History and focus on food. If there's one thing you can say about Texas Culinary History it has a lot of interesting influences: White, Mexican, Indian, and it'd be interesting to see what kind of influences SE Asian immigrants have had in the last couple of decades.

My library is now 95% catalogued!

I picked up a CueCat barcode scanner and beefed up my account at librarything.com. Maybe it's my low level OCD and hoarding tendencies but I kind of love cataloging, organizing, and alphabetizing my stuff. A friend once told me, "Hey, you're coveting your own stuff."

The CueCat scanner is very easy to use. If you can manage to plug in a USB cable then you can use a CueCat. It does take a little finesse to get the barcode to read properly but once you get the hang of it there's no problem. One drawback is that there's no information registering beep.

There's a pair of widgets over on the right if you'd like to browse my library. A bunch of other HYR contributors have accounts as well:

• BC3
• blipvurt
• demimode77
• iguanasomethinsweet

Check it out, join the fun.

Re:sonance DJs get a write up...

over at welovedc.com. This is Mike and his buddy. They are spinning around the DC area and i recommend going out to see them. I haven't gone to one of their gigs - what with living in TX -but I know the quality of the music they listen to. Get your asses out to see them. They also slum around on the myspace: http://www.myspace.com/resonance429

p.s. There's also a link to a mixtape of selected cuts. Available only for this week. Pretty solid shoegazer-y stuff and remixes.

Lost Boys: The Tribe (2008) dir. P.J.Pesce

We watched this so you wouldn't have to.

I don't know what possessed me to download this but I did.

Lost Boys: The Tribe had one big strike against it from the get go - the Lost Boys name attached to it. People don't seem to realize that The Lost Boys wasn't that good to start with. Granted it has its moments but all in all? If you don't believe me then you haven't tried to watch it recently.

The Tribe is pretty bad but not really any worse than any other cheezy late late night cable movie with Corey Feldman in it. It's pretty gory, has a bunch of nudity, a couple moments that were funny, and a large amount of dialogue directly ripped from the first movie. There is also another gauzy "love making" scene done to Cry Little Sister. A crappy cover of Cry Little Sister.

There's ultimately no point in seeing The Tribe. Really. It's not even that much fun to make smart ass remarks about. This is much cooler:

"OUCH! GOD DAMN IT!"

Very simply put, knives do not mix with thumbs.

Doomsday (2008) dir Neil Marshall

I love Neil Marshall movies. Hell, he makes movies I want to watch. Dogsoldiers - best werewolf movie ever made. The Descent - best hot chicks spelunking movie ever made. Doomsday - best love note to early Carpenter, Cameron, and all around awesome made in a long long time.

Doomsday is not high art wanking. Bjork does not roll around in congealed vaseline yelping for an hour before people look sullen while telling us war is bad. Doomsday is shit bowing up, bodies exploding like garbage bags full of chum dropped from four stories up, and pure insanity. This is one of those movies I enjoy because everyone on screen seems to be having such a blast. It's gory, shit explodes, bunnies get blasted to shit by automated gun sentries, everyone hates Scotland, politicians are evil, Bob Hoskins is Bob Hoskins, multiple decapitations, Neil Marshall reserves a special death for Sean Pertwee, there's a completely apeshit floorshow, Rhona Mitra is slammin' hot, a steam locomotive, and a bus that has "Out of Fucking Service" graffitied over it's destination box. Doomsday rocked. Oh and put a lot of Beavis emphasis on rocked.

A major problem with Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution

Near the last third of the game there are some major lag issues simply because there's so much going on. I would suggest saving fairly often because of these lags. I would also suggest patience. Your console isn't frozen - one way to test this is to pop open the dashboard. If that pops up there's just game lag. If it doesn't well then I hoped you saved because you're gonna have to reboot.

Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution (XBOX 360)

Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution is a fun game. I never really played the PC versions until I needed something to play while waiting for the newest version to be released. Some reviews said that the console version lacked the depth and complexity of the PC games. That's definitely true but I found the PC to be complex to the point of tedium - much like a Romance of the Three Kingdoms game.

So I tore through SMCR. At the beginner levels you can basically just whup and whomp on the enemy to your heart's content. "King" difficulty is tough and frustrating but doable. Unlocking the "Deity" level Achievement points is a borderline nightmare. Most of the time you are holding on by your fingertips and the moment you have a lead the other leaders gun for you. You must remain 100% focused on your goal, make careful decisions, and be very lucky. Very, very lucky.

I managed to bag the Economic Achievement with the Incas - barely. They start the game with enough money to rush production of a warrior which gives you a five turn edge for exploration of the map. If you can grab enough villages you can make the 100 gold to get the Settlers bonus. The villages I got had Caravans which I promptly sold - doing this allows you to get 30 gold without handing anything over to enemy leaders. I also noticed that not running into enemies for as long as possible made life a little easier. The sooner you meet them the sooner they start making demands. After that I focused on scientific advancement and building everything I could to make money - Markets, Trading Posts, and Banks. I made no effort to build wonders. I kept one city cranking out defensive troops and slowly built "speed bumps" at key points - i.e. borders between nations. Eventually everything worked out. It was still a freaking nightmare. Near the end I was cranking out defensive troops as fast as possible just to keep my cities from falling in order to buy time to build the World Bank.

The other Deity acheivements were much, much easier. I started with the Germans in the hopes of a Domination victory. I was extremely lucky from the start. I managed to find an ideal location to put Berlin. I quickly built an army and smashed the Japanese who were very close to my starting point. My section of the map only had two access points so I was able to set up a defensive perimiter early on. I put all my effort into cranking out troops and working toward unlocking military scientific advances. I was at war for almost the entire game - Arabs to the North, Indians to the South - but managed to hold them off fairly easily. At the defensive strong point my troops gained a lot of experience which helped me later in the game.

Note: DO NOT leave attacking troops undefended! Watch where you are placing your troops - location is vital. Hills are your friend unless controlled by the enemy. DO NOT take the bait! I noticed that the computer would dangle a weak army in front of my positions. If I sallied forth with a unit that didn't have a high enough movement to return to safety they would be stranded and summarily picked off. REMEMBER to bring occupying forces along with your blitz. Nothing worse than conquering a city only to have it snatched away because you didn't have units there to defend it.

I strongly suggest using Spies - who gain a bonus from being in the same area as a Great General. I had one city cranking out Spies as soon as I could get them. Form one cell to defeat any opposing spies in an enemy city - the rest of your spies keep single units. When you finally mobilize your forces focus your effort into one unstoppable sledgehammer use the spies to decimate the city. I stole every Famous Person I could, then tore down defenses and then battered the living hell out of the opposition. Hint: Bring more troops than you think you need. For taking one city I suggest nine core troops choices plus whatever else you can get your hands on. Three sets of: Defense, Attack, Blitz - i.e. Archers, Legion, Horsemen. Plus a good number of spies and at least two defensive occupying troops. It's a lot but you want to win don't you?

Domination was a breeze compared to the Economic victory. Now for the cheezy part. This probably isn't 100% Kosher but it's a good cheat. When I got to a point where I knew I had the game in the bag - three out of four enemies defeated - I saved. Then I just achieved each victory and reloaded from that save point to achieve the next one. A cheat? Yes. However after nearly tearing out my eyes in frustration for days trying to win the Economic victory - Amanda & George ran and hid from my ranting - I felt I deserved the break. Plus it was fun to just pulverize the enemy. I mean just grind them into dust. I think I continuously bombed London for most of the 20th Century just out of spite.

Oh - just to let you know - nuking an enemy capitol does not count toward a Domination victory you still need to move troops in to occupy it. It's also a good idea to move all troops away from the city you are going to cook unless you just don't care.

I only have one achievement left to acquire but damned if I'm even going to try - win the game before 1000 AD. Screw that, I'm gonna play more Battlefield: Bad Company.

Two tastes greats that taste great together? Darren Aronofsky & Robocop?

I was kind of pissed when I heard "they" were going to remake/re-boot Robocop. Then I kind of forgot about it. Then I read that Darren Aronofsky is directing. That could be pretty cool actually. Much better than if Wes Anderson tried to remake it.

Max Payne - Debut trailer.

I have to admit that I am really excited about this movie. We all know I man-love mark Wahlberg.

Olde Towne General Store

Olde Towne General Store

205 E. Main St

Nacogdoches, TX

75961

936-560-3210

This is a kick ass lunch joint on the north side of the square. That's the long and short of it. There's no point in going to some fast food place when you go to a place like this. I'd to try their soups but they are usually out by the time we get there.

Mike's Barbeque House

Mike's Barbeque House

1622 South St

Nacogdoches, TX 75964
(936) 560-1676‎

We ate here for the first time today and I have to say, "Really, is this so hard?" I mean that this place is damn good. It's kind of surprising and disappointing when you go into a Barbeque joint and everything is just not that good. Mike's is good across the board though they were out of pork and I didn't get ribs or dessert.

The brisket was nice and tender without gnarly globs of fat. The sausage was damn tasty - next time I go I'm gonna get their sausage po boy. The turkey was solid but I kind of wish that I had gotten ribs instead. The sides we got were all good. The beans had a good smoky/sweet flavor with chunks of brisket in it. The rice was dirty. Cole slaw was minced without too much vinegar or mayo. The potato salad didn't have eggs in it and had the consistency of mashed potatoes - which was pretty damn awesome. There were also pickled tomatoes. Even though I ate at Mike's this afternoon I'd eat there right now.

I have to say that I was most impressed with the sauce. I can honestly say that I wouldn't change anything about the sauce. It was perfect BBQ sauce. Little sweet, touch more vinegar than most places, little bit of heat, touch of salt, just right. If they had it bottled I would have bought some.

All in all a great experience. Mike's is the place other BBQ joints in town have to measure up to.

Film and Television Scores, 1950-1979

This book looks like it could be pretty cool. According to amazon.com it hasn't been released yet but I might just try to weasel a copy from the publisher. It doesn't look like something that's going to be high demand though. It could be completely unreadable but I get the feeling that it's pretty interesting. Then again I love scores.

Site Updates & Assorted Mumbo Jumbo.

I think that I have everything in general order. For now. Hopefully. Possibly.



Blogposts are still the same. Commenting is still the same. Most the links, feeds, and fun stuff on the right has been streamlined. I am constantly adding feeds and if there's anything you would like to see added - or removed - please let me know.



If anyone has anything to contribute please do so. If you're not a contributor but would like to be one please let me know. Everything - reviews, links, feeds, insane rambling, food, movies, gaming, naked pictures of Hitler sunbathing - are all going on this page.



Any questions, comments, or ideas are welcome.

National Lampoon Presents: The Beach Party at the Threshold of Hell (2008)

Don't bother. It's not even remotely as good as Six-String Samurai. Beach Party etc etc is like one of those independent movies you have to watch because someone you know was in it with a budget.

I'm not sure how National Lampoon got involved as distributor. The DVD cover has pretty much nothing to do with the movie. Actually I'm sitting here looking at the cover of the DVD and it looks like it could be pretty cool. It's not.

What I have done on my Summer Vacation.

I realize that it's been weeks since the 4th of July but here are some pictures, etc, etc, etc. For some reason I am having trouble getting the pictures to line up with text and all that shit so here are the pictures. Amanda took most of them.

Here I am having fun like a normal person. This is normal right?

Perhaps this is why every one was so chum-y?

Aren't my nails pretty? I got them did for vacation.

Further proof we were at the beach.

FEEDING.
"WOO! VACATION! WOO!" - direct quote

No. That is not me fishing. Why would you ask that?

Picturesque. It was actually very pleasant.

And then there were fireworks.

We went to the Goliad State Park on the way home. This is the mission. Here is some video:

This is the top of the Fannin Memorial. It's near Goliad. This was a WPA project and this is a great example of the craftsmanship.

Brideshead Revisited...the movie?

Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited is one of my favorite books - Top 100. I am a fan of the BBC miniseries with Jeremy Irons. I really don't know if I could possibly enjoy the movie. There's simply too much going on in the book. Bah I say. Bah.

Battlefield: Bad Company

Whatever your feelings are about EA Games they do make some polished quality games.
Battlefield: Bad Company is no exception. I've really been enjoying the online mode even though there aren't too many options for missions - i.e. Deathmatch, Conquest, etc. - but this doesn't bother me too much because more often than not I end up playing Team Deathmatch anyway.

How does B:BC compare with Call of Duty 4 and Rainbow Six Vegas 2? As far as story goes B:BC has the most enjoyable storyline. It's more along the lines of Kelly's Heroes than a Tom Clancy potboiler or other modern military mumbo "evil dictator has a nuke" jumbo. It's fun and I found myself laughing more often than I do during comedies. One of favorite lines so far has been,

Sweetwater: But that place is heavily guarded.
Haggard: Well we're heavily armed!

B:BC doesn't take its self too seriously and that allowed me to have fun even at a higher difficulty level. Playing isn't punishment or profanity inducing - okay it induces profanity but it's more along the lines of, "FUCK YEAH!" than "FUCK YOU!" Part of the fun is that things blow up real good. I've developed the habit of blasting holes in walls instead of using doors. Hey, it works. I've also learned the joy of ferreting out snipers by reducing cover to bits with a well placed mortar attack.

Game control is standard FPS controls. There's not much in the way of a cover system a la RS: Vegas but you don't really need one. COD4 needed that because the game was punishing.

I'm not saying B:BC is the end all be all for FPS but for a summer diversion it definitely fits the bill. Whatever problems I could have with B:BC can be remedied by playing the other FPS out there.

Fallout 3 - 10/07/08

From the makers of Elder Scrolls: Obilvion a post apocalyptic RPG. OMG doesn't even become to cover it. Fallout 3 this Fall. Boo-yah.

Minute Maid Cherry Limeade is not made of people.

Minute Maid Cherry Limeade is crack. While I haven't begun to steal TVs, mug old ladies, or sell myself for a carton I am not ruling out the possibility.

I picked up two cartons from Kroger's this afternoon. They were on sale 10 cartons for $10 but Amanda would only let me get two. Earlier I was cutting the stuff with iced tea but now I've moved to the straight stuff.

You have to keep in mind that I am still relatively new to sobriety and limeade(s). Previously lime was something you put in something clear, refreshing, and alcoholic or on food. The one real bitch about sobriety - besides me - is the fact that I am always thirsty. Water gets pretty boring pretty fast. Iced tea is good if strong enough. Iced coffee...well I get a little jittery after the second pot of coffee. There's just something about limeade and Cherry Limeade in particular that just hits the spot. Kind of like Pink Grapefruit, kind of like Limeade, kind of like crack. All magic.

When there's no more room in Hell...

wear the dead as jewelry!

I saw this ad on the side of imdb and had to click on it. My morbid curiousity would not be ignored.

Yes folks. LifeGem creates gems out of your loved one's bones! LifeGem is made of people! Pets too - if that's your preference.

Maybe I am just overly sensitive but this is pretty creepy. Not as creepy as wearing a lady suit and slow dancing to "I Only Have Eyes For You" but still. This is morbid, weird, and just vaguely ghoulish. They range in price from only $3500 to a mere $20,000. At least turning people into meat pies yields an affordable - and tasty -product.

Momento Mori are one thing but turning people into bling? This is one gem that is truly outrageous.

Batman: Gotham Knight (2008)

Batman: Gotham Knight could have been a "Can't wait to see the new Batman movie! Need Bat-fix!" but it most certainly wasn't. I downloaded it because I was bored and it's usually a safe bet that some thing animated from the DC Universe will be pretty solid.

B: GK is made up six different shorts by six different animation crews. Amanda quipped that it's kind of like a Batman Animatrix. She's not wrong. Several of the animators worked on that as well. It also has some similar themes, etc., etc. I think The Animatrix kicked ass and B: GK does as well. It always makes me happy to watch worthwhile and self contained animation/anime.

I'm going to pick this up if I see it for a reasonable price and would watch it more than once.

The Barbecue House "Oldest Restaurant in Nacogdoches since 1959"

I figure since we live here now I had better do some restaurant reviews/impressions/whatever. First out of the gate is The Barbecue House. The sign says "BBQ House" so I don't know what the hell that is about.

Maybe it was because we went on an off day but I can't say that I was impressed. The beans were great but maybe it's just me - when I want BBQ I want brisket, sausage, turkey, chicken, and pork. Sure some slaw and some beans or some potato salad so I just don't have a massive pile of meat to feed on.

The brisket was okay, kind of dry, standard brisket. The sausage was pretty unimpressive. The turkey and chicken were good and the sides were pretty damn good. The slaw was a little mayonaisse-y but was a'ight.

They do have sandwiches that may be good. I don't know if they are any good and if I'll be back to try them.

About the sauce. There's much debate about sauce in BBQ: Sauce? No Sauce? Sweet? Vinegar? Thick? Thin? Slathered? Dry? Spicy? Smoky? The Barbecue House has pretty weak sauce. It's sort watery and doesn't have any particular goodness to it. It strikes me as a fairly generic flavor. Combined with average - at best - meat you have a real meh experience.

Fortuately there are still several BBQ joints in town to check out.

The Eye (2008) dir. David Moreau

The Eye was one of those movies that I downloaded - legally - because it was a horror movie to watch. I've often wondered why horror fans will watch crap. I think it's because most of the time there's no choice. We just want to watch a horror movie.

The Eye is not terrible. In fact it's actually perfectly reasonable - for a Lion's Gate movie. It's got some scares and it's directed/cinematographed pretty well and Jessica Alba is Jessica Alba.

The only real problems with the movie are with the story and characters. That is if you're paying any attention at all. Parker Posey shows up as Jessica Alba's sister. Whenever Posey shows up in "regular" movies I always have a moment of confusion. I want to yell, "the Christopher Guest movie is that way!"

The Eye isn't really worth watching unless you really need a movie to watch. Jessica Alba looks normal without make-up (but still is awesome) and she pretty much carries the whole movie.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) dir. Guillermo Del Toro

Hellboy II: The Golden Army is awesome when Del Toro is allowed to go apeshit and do what Del Toro & crew do best - dark fantasy the likes of which Terry Gilliam only dreamed of. The rest of the movie is pretty stupid and funny. I don't mean funny I laughed. You'll either enjoy this or you won't.

I love Del Toro. To me this is just one movie closer to At the Mountains of Madness.

Okay folks - time for feedback.

Since I have some time on my hands I figure it's time for an overhaul of the site. So if you guys would please tell me what you like, what you don't, suggestions for design, ease of use, etc., etc., etc. then that would be dope. I promise to no longer use the term "dope". I reserve the right to use "fresh".

I would also like to know wether or not you guys would like one giant post page or seperate pages for different posts i.e. food/blog/movies.

HYR also has a few new links and gewgaws on the side bars. You can review the site on blogged.com. I also have a handy dandy subscribe button over there on the right - see? there it is! That way you can RSS HYR and get all the FYI you can shake a BFG at.

The banners for the webcomics look like smashed ass. I know. I am working on that...after I drink this cup of coffee and smoke another cigarette.

Thanks for the help. Hope to hear from you.

By the by I am working through emails and assorted correspondance - at a lazy snail's pace - but I hope you are all well and not dwelling in the Hell of the Upsidedown Sinners.

WTF movie news.

Saw today these interesting pieces:

1. Tarantino is actually going to make Inglorious Bastards after all. Part of me is excited but most of me is waiting for Tarantino & the Weinsteins to turn it into a three part movie. P.S. I'm still waiting for a single volume Kill Bill you pricks.
2. Someone still thinks they are going to make any money making an Elfquest movie.
3. A remake of Hellraiser. Huh. Y'know if it was done right it could work. Personally I'm a Hellraiser II fan - I enjoy Hellraiser as well. Now if they decide to remake Hellraiser with hillbillies and shitkickers then I would be very happy. "We'll tear y'all's souls apart! Woo!"

This sums it up pretty neatly.

Thanks to Zach for sending me this article: "Area Man Makes It Through Day"

Editorial about GTA IV.

Junot Diaz has written an excellent editorial for the WSJ about GTA IV.

Funny Games (2008) dir. Michael Haneke

Funny Games (2008) is a movie you are either going to love or hate.

Personally I fucking hated this movie. I was so pissed off after watching it that it took me the rest of evening to not be pissed off. The original might be better but it will take a miracle for me to watch it.

I'm not even particularly sure why I hated this movie so much. It should have been a movie I enjoyed: a taut psychological thriller, a twisted home invasion, a turn of the camera on the viewer, holding up a mirror to show the audience that it's as blood thirsty and psychotic as the home invaders, dark humour, and a scathing denouncement of the fantasy life that the idle wealthy live. Perhaps Haneke's Funny Games (1998) hit these marks but his adaptation for the American Art House market failed miserably. For every moment that worked there were several that didn't. (2008) begins well enough and the pace works. There's an early moment of Watts in her Pottery Barn weekend country house kitchen, preparing dinner, chatting on the phone that is very well done. The sense of dread, of impending doom is excellent and there is no jump scare to spoil it. In fact I was enjoying the movie up until the home invasion really kicks in. Then it becomes a smug, smirking, self conscious, pretentious, and predictable let down.

Part of my anger was directed at everyone in the movie. The bad guys were a leering pair of Patrick Bateman knock offs. The family were useless upper class twats. They waste time trying to use their cell phone. The list of aggravations goes on.

Maybe I would have enjoyed this movie if it had come out in the days of Man Bites Dog. One critic called Funny Games (2008), "Funny Games is an art house Hostel -- it mistakes self-consciousness for intelligence." Personally I think David Edelstein's review makes the most sense to me.

LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures

LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures is exactly what you'd expect from the LEGO Series of games. Good nostalgic fun through an "E for Everyone" filter. If you have played any of the LEGO Star Wars then you'll know what I mean: goofy humor, fun level design, great secret characters, and revisiting classics in a way that breathes fresh air into them. Also Original means "A game based on the movies that didn't suck."

I enjoyed LEGO Indiana Jones more than I enjoyed the Star Wars installments but that's because I was always more of an Indiana Jones fan. The game revolves around the first three movies and visits familiar sites, characters, and John Williams' cues. The game play is pretty straight forward though there were a few points where I got stuck and had to say bad words. There are a lot of achievements to be had with the 360 version - I just don't know if care enough to chase down the rest of them. I am missing one last secret character but at this point there's not much point besides completion's sake.

There are a few downsides - minor complaints really.

1. This is a complaint against all the LEGO series - your camera angles for platforming at times suck. Trying to jump onto a ledge that seems to be spot on but falling to your death - repeatedly - is annoying as shit. Granted this is a much more forgiving platformer/puzzle game than games in the past but still being hindered by the camera is getting to be unforgivable in this day and age.
2. Unless you are a recreational gamer/are going to play this with your kids on game night/play twenty games at once or have a life don't buy this game for full price. This one is a weekend rental.
3. Vehicle control is a nightmare or if not a nightmare then a pain in the ass. It's not intuitive and there were many times I ended up spinning around in circles or zooming off a Spielberg cliff.

I have to say that this is a fun game and I thoroughly enjoyed it. There is a lot of style in the details. The character animations are pretty clever and varied. Henry Jones Sr. keeps hold of his hat when he runs and after putting down heavy items rubs his back - you practically hear the "oof". There are plenty of moments that I found myself quoting the movie - usually the next line in a scene. I once said, "This is intolerable!" after failing a jump. Free Play is a lot of fun after finishing a level. If I had kids I'd totally play this with them.

James Bond and The Modicum of Respite

Thanks to Mike for sending this along. Woo! Daniel Craig! Woo!

"Well turn it up man!"

Nacogdoches: We Got Trees Part 3

It's our second official day here in Nacogdoches and we are getting settled in. Have been doing the recon/shopping/oh crap we need a screwdriver routine. Made a rather disconcerting foray into the Uber-Walmart down the road. I don't know what my problem is but I get rather confused and over-stimulated in big box stores. All the lights and colors and mind numbing array of products have a "deer in headlights" effect on me. All I wanted was a cat crap tray and a Master Lock and ended up wandering lost through aisles of items I couldn't possibly justify using but wanted them any way. Guns! Ammunition! Fishing gear! Frisbees! Tennis rackets! Jumbo coolers I could stash hunks of drifters in! 600 varieties of "Institutional" sized pickles! Oh and the locks are in the back fucking corner of the store. So after choosing a lock I found myself in the toy aisles and there it was for $10.88:






Yeah baby. While assembling the set I realized that I should have been playing with LEGOs for the last ten years. There have been some serious advances in the LEGO field. Seriously. The next kit I want to pick up is this one:

* * *

Just a quick plug for All My Sons Movers. These guys were awesome. We hired them to help us move and they just rocked. I've used movers before and they were hired goons. All My Sons made things ridiculously easy and if it weren't for the fact that wires got crossed and we couldn't get in to the apartment it would have gone smooth as silk. Yeah, if you need movers these are the guys to go with.

Here are a few of the tricks we discovered during this move:

1. All that paper lying around - the stack of over due bills and threats from debt collectors? - shred it and use it as packing material. None of our stuff that we packed this way broke.


2. A la #1 phone books. You're never gonna recycle them. Don't bullshit yourself. Use it to wrap glasses and mugs and assorted trivets. It works.


3. Don't throw out all the empty six-pack cardboard carriers. Use them for all that crap in your kitchen that is a major pain the ass to pack but won't throw out: bottles of hot sauce, spices, oils, vinegar, dried goods, condiments, jars of chile paste, and other assorted non perishable items. Load the six-packs up and put them in the box. I used flattened Lone Star boxes to layer and add additional packing.


4. Don't drink so much that you can use beer packaging as packing material for an entire kitchen.


5. Anti-depressants.


6. Do your laundry before you pack.


7. Pack a suitcase with a couple of days worth of clothes. Having a couple changes of clean dry clothes makes a world of difference.


8. Play "We're going to Russia" and pack toilet paper.

I hope these tips are helpful.

* * *

Not too much else to currently report. I'm a bit behind on my gaming but have begun to rig up everything. Next step is setting up speakers and all that goodness.

Nacogdoches - We got trees. Part 2.

Well folks we are here. It went 80% smoothly. There were a few moments of blind panic - like when we arrived expecting the landlord to have left the key - but all in all everything is a'ight. We'll be back in Austin this weekend and then pretty regular after that. Have some pictures of before and after the move. Here ya go:

Yeah, not much rhyme or reason but you get the gist. More news to follow. I think I need to take another nap.

Harman Kardon HKTS 14 6-Piece Loudspeaker System

I finally gave these speakers some legs and I'm impressed.  The other night put them through their paces.  Granted, I'll never be able to play them that loud ever again but woo.  The old Polks are amazing speakers and I'd love to keep them for the garage/workshop/dancehall but they never had the clarity these had.  If you're in the market for a boxed set of new speakers for a reasonable price I wholeheartedly recommend these.

Still getting used to Safari

If the layout or the fonts look a bit off then you'll just have to be patient.  I'm trying to get used to Safari and also trying to monkey a bit with the HTML.  A buddy of mine - cheers to you Mark - taught himself CSS and I think I'm gonna stick my toe in during my break.

If you have any suggestions - a la layout/colour/font I'd appreciate them.

Humuhumunukunukuapua'a

Humuhumunukunukuapua'a is the Unofficial state fish of Hawaii.  The only reason that I know this is because of Sarah.  Whenever she says this we giggle uncontrollably.  In any case it's an interesting piece of trivia. 

The packing and moving prep is going according to plan.  We are now up to nearly thirty boxes of books.  I'm not sure why we're so surprised.  In car today Amanda asked if we wanted to stop by Half Price Books.  I said that we don't need any more books.  She replied, "Well we never need more books."

On one hand it's kind of daunting looking at all the crap we have to pack but realistically we don't have that much.  No fridge, no washer/dryer, no major appliances or accessories, and really not that much kitchen stuff.  I only had four boxes of CDs and three boxes of VHS.  You know, VHS, kind of like a cassette that has movies on it.

Whatever.  Humuhumunukunukuapua'a.

Hooligan Youth Reviews is moving away. It is your fault, like when Mommy left Daddy.

We are moving from Austin, TX to Nacogdoches, TX on June 17th.

Fortunately we are not being run out of town by people with pitchforks and torches. Amanda and I are going to school in the Fall and will probably be living in a Kenmore box burning our collection of sci-fi for warmth by Winter.

Hooligan Youth Reviews will be on hiatus for a while. I am taking some time off from pretty much everything except sleeping, cooking, and gaming. With any luck I'll be able to catch up on my movie reviews and play some games that aren't GTA IV but I can't promise anything.

Drop us a line or give a call or send an email if you want.

Hope you are all well and we will be in touch ASAP.

Awesome article in The Onion.

The Onion has a very amusing article about GTA IV. Here is the link. Yes.

New Dubby Conquerers (2001) - Seeed

Once upon a time I was supposedly ruder than rude and tougher than tough. Boots and braces. Lager lout. If we weren't at a goth/industrial club we were at a ska show. DC had a late 90s resurgence. The Pietasters keep bringing crowds in. The NYC SKA MOB had sets at the 9:30. The Skatalites played at...well everywhere. Tiny bands from along the East Coast and the Midwest opened and sometimes headlined at places like The Velvet Lounge or Phantasamoria. One of the owners of La Cueva told me about the club he was opening with his friend when he was a teller at the Bank of America and I came up to the counter in my jacket. We saw Mephiskapheles several places. The Stubborn All Stars played regular like.

And then I moved to Austin in '99. Seen a couple of shows but it ain't the same. 'Cept that Skatalites show Amanda realized what the hype was about. Of course I have to say that The Stingers are a solid Soul/Riddim band from ATX.

Basically Ska and Riddim has taken a back seat over the last few several years. I pick up a Trojan Boxset here and there but I haven't been really paying attention to what the American labels have been putting out. The Easy Dub All-Stars have put out two excellent cover albums: Dubside of the Moon and Radiodread. Personally I think Dubside is a better album but thats just me.

Like I said in a previous post Seeed is a great band I just found out about. Now those of you know me know I penchant for bizarre world music. Not quite as bad Paul Simon or David Byrne but still...

Seeed's New Dubby Conquerers is a solid solid solid album. In all honesty I don't know why it took me seven years to find this album. Maybe I should read the emails I get from skaworld.com every once in a while. This album is brilliant in a way I haven't heard since the heyday of The Stubborn All Stars. Although Seeed has a sticky Collie riddim that makes me hanker for a four footer.

New Dubby Conquerers is a summertime album. Pool party, chicks in bikinis, fat boy grill masterin', just that right before lager takes control but you're sweatin out more lager than you're takin in, everythin a'ight, put this on random with What's Goin' On, Innervisions, and The Harder They Come. For a starter mix that should do you just fine.

Nitty gritty:

• Dancehall Caballeros. I don't give a shit what these krauts are saying. It's dope. I'm not well versed in Dancehall. The mix-up on this makes for a track is a brilliant album opener. I'd sell my mother for sin to hear this ear bleeding loud in a klub.
• Riddim No. 1 has a sample beat of the intro riff off Could you be loved or whatever shite later Marley song it was. Other than that the song is all on the plus side. It's got bounce. It's got the kind of bounce that the ladies like. Fun but vaguely dirty.
• Pape Noah has a classic Third Wave sound. No seriously, listen to Hepcat's Out of Nowhere.
• Walk Upright is downstepper. The kind of song you slow dance kind of naughty wit your rude girl.
• Dickies B is the single video song. Man, I tell you what...this song has bounce. This is the kind of shit you want to block party. Everyone with an ounce of Soul in their soul can shake their ass to this. I really want to hook up the old Polk monsters to hear this song.
• Psychedelic Kingdom is a classic cool down. Time for a pint, time to risk a snog, leaning elbow first against the wall trying not piss on your brogues.
• Sensimilla. Syrupy. Once upon a time...
• We Seeed. Brilliant song sampling Junior Murvin's Police & Thieves. Sure, we've heard the sample before but in this sample it's a bon mot. Something to make to smile while you sway and dance.
• Tide is High. Once a cover of cover then Blondie fekked bout with it. These lads, either because they actually give a shit or I'm drunk enough to think this is brilliant, have done an excellent cover.
• Top of the City is the type of song that would make me shift from boot tip to boot tip and roll back and put my heels in and back into it. This is a show off the rocksteady steps with a heavy bass sway. Ladies and gentlemen he pulled off that back pivot lager intact.
• Fire the Hidden. Another song that you hear while waiting for a lager. Elbows pulled back on the rest. Too lagered to lean smile and put that bobcuts pint on your tab.
• Miss Understanding. That same girl gives you a half smile, knowing you're laggered and harmless, but kind of cute in a stumbling way, she's seen worse. So she gives you a dance. And maybe if you can remember which foot is which foot she might give you a real number.

In case you couldn't guess I love this album.

Seeed zwei.

This is the song that got us into them:

Ich lieben dich Seeed.

We saw a piece about Seeed last week on current.com about this Berlin dub/reggae/downtempo/New Orleans march band. I downloaded their Magic Monks legally and it is a solid solid album. Here's the video for the song that isn't available for download but gives you a good taster:

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) dir. Steven Spielberg. Spoilers!

It is impossible to write an impartial review of this movie. An entire generation of men and women love Indiana Jones. Raiders of the Lost Ark was one of the first movies I can remember seeing in the theater. In Second Grade I wrote a story titled Indiana Jones vs the Great White Shark. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was the first movie I saw in the theater by myself. My father, Grandfather, and I saw Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade more than several times together. Indiana Jones was the template upon which I built my ideas of what it meant to be a man. Indiana Jones was my hero.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a disappointment. Not a total disappointment but in some ways that makes it worse. I can forgive Indy for leaving a pregnant Marion. I can forgive his weary distrust of the Atomic Age and eventual pathetic death from radiation sickness. I can forgive Cate Blanchett's "Moose and Squirrel" accent. I can forgive the poor misuse of both John Hurt and Ray Winstone. I can forgive John Williams' piss poor rehashed cues and themes. Hell, I can even forgive "The Beef".

What I can't forgive is the fact that the magic is gone. Who said that this story, that this script, was worth a mummer's fart? Who said, "Yeah, this is good."? Who said, "This is worthy of a final Indiana Jones movie."? That person should have a rabid badger attatched to their taint. Before Amanda and I left the theater we looked at one another and said, "Aliens? Really?". On the ride back to the hotel all we could say was, "Aliens? Really?". From the beginning of the movie there was little mystery about what the plot device was. 1957. Area 51. "Okay, maybe it's going to be a race to unlock an alien superweapon that..." Wait. What? Alien superweapon? When did Indiana Jones get all Chariots of the Gods? Yeah, we'll just white wash the Judeo-Christian mumbo jumbo of the first and third movies and...aliens? Really? Are you sure it wasn't midichlorians? From there the movie just kind of staggers along ticking off marks on the Indiana Jones checklist. The problem is that it doesn't. Crystal Skull doesn't have the mystery, thrill, excitement, "How's Indy gonna escape this time?", or fun of the earlier installments. Amanda said she looked at my face several times during the movie and said that I went from, "YAY! to eh."

There are moments of goodness in Crystal Skull. Most of these moments involve Indy using phrases and mannerisms his father used - i.e. "This is intolerable!". There are moments between Indy and Marion which capture the fire of Raiders. "The Beef" is often being beaten and pummeled and made to look foolish. The Atomic Cafe theme running through the begininng of the movie is pretty neat. Marion is in it. Indy never loses his hat.

Some reviewers have said that if you just take Crystal Skull for what it is worth and go for the ride then you'll enjoy the movie. Fuck that. I'm gonna pretend that this installment never happened and you're talking to a guy whose favorite is Temple of Doom.

Aliens? Really?

My current custom playlist for GTA IV.

1. Main Title 2:19 David Shire The Taking Of Pelham One Two Three
2. Kaneda 3:11 Akira Symphonic Suite
3. Main Theme 3:12 Jacques Loussier Dark Of The Sun
4. Main Theme - Carter Takes A Train 3:00 Roy Budd
5. Ricky's Theme 3:44 The Beastie Boys
6. Summertime Killer 3:40 Luis Bacalov
7. Main Title 2:36 Hideakira Sakurai The Best of Lone Wolf and Cub
8. L Arena 4:46 Ennio Morricone
9. Zorba The Greek 2:56 John Murphy & David Hughes Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels
10. Parade of the Slave Children (From Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom) 4:53 John Williams
11. Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra (From Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) 2:48 John Williams
12. Battle of the Heroes 3:42 John Williams Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
13. Getting Nowhere In A Hurry - Instrumental 3:11 Roy Budd Get Carter
14. Main Titles 3:42 Vangelis Blade Runner
15. Hong Kong Underground 4:43 Jesper Kyd Hitman Contracts
16. Vegas Blood Money 6:35 Jesper Kyd Hitman: Bloodmoney
17. Winds Over The Neo-Tokyo 2:48 Geinoh Yamashirogumi Akira
18. Nightstalker 1:45 Kenji Kawai GHOST IN THE SHELL
19. Theme From "To Kill A Dead Man" 4:26 Portishead Sour Times EP

GTA IV Secret - Spoiler

If you get Playboy X's apartment - head over to change clothes. Cycle through the outfits. Eventually you will land on the outfit that the protagonist of GTA III wore. Kind of kicks ass and is only available there...as far as I can tell.

The Sword - Fire Lances of the Ancient Hyperzephyrians

This is quite possibly one of the most awesome things I have seen in ages. Thanks to James for sending this my way.

My first impressions of GTA IV - about a third of the way through the game.

If you've been following any of the reviews online or off then you will know that GTA IV is one of the most amazing games to ever be released. There are certainly a few minor problems here and there but over all these are simply quibbles. I'm gonna get the complaints out of the way:

1. The soundtrack isn't my cup of tea. The score is great and some of the stations - i.e. Vladivostok & IF99 playing Eastern European pop and Afropop/Funk respectively - are a blast. The Latin station is a welcome change. I was happy to hear a Jazz station though I kind of miss a Classical station. Journey FM does a decent job of filling the Classical slot though with ambient Tangerine Dream-esque tunes. There are a good number of stations that are hit or miss for me. The rock stations are meh. One is old hits DJ'd by Iggy Pop and the other is new white belt rock DJ'd by Juliette Lewis. The rest of the stations are okay, some modern urban crap, rap classics, some smooth gettin ass music about shorties, and an electronic station I always skip past. I usually end up just turning off the radio.
2. I want more clothing options. So far there are only three stores. Yes this is a ridiculous gripe.
3. I miss taking pictures of stuff. In past games you could take snapshots and save them. Maybe this happens later in the game.

And those are the only three I can think of right now.

You can read all the other reviews about how awesome GTA IV is. It truly takes gaming up to a new level. There are countless moments of "Holy shit I can do that?!?" and "Holy shit look at that!".

What really makes GTA IV an amazing experience for me though are:

1. The character interaction. A lot of the game depends on social interaction and keeping up with various characters through out the game via phone, hanging out and email. It's kind of bizarre because I am so bad at this in RL but have some what mastered it in IV.
2. The high quality of writing. The dialogue and story are top notch. IV is much more serious and adult in content than any other in the series. I don't mean adult purient I mean characters are dealing with some pretty awful issues on a personal level. This lends a level of sophistication that's refreshing in gaming. A lot of the wacky humor the series was known for has also been scaled down.
3. The overall theme of addiction and recovery is pretty astounding and handled in a way that blows me away. I actually wonder if the writer is in recovery. What could easily be over wrought After School special junk is not. The addictions run the gamut from gambling to alcoholism to drug use to violence. I am looking forward to finding out what happens with the main story line.

More news to follow.

MEIN GOTT!

Besides loving long walks on the beach, Hitler was a strict vegetarian, anti-smoker, and loved dogs and children. He truly was the personification of evil.

BANZAI!

The Easter Bunny believes in you or "One of these things is not like the other."

Rainbow Six Las Vegas 2, There Will Be Blood, and I'm not dead just working.

Apologies for the long delay in posting folks. Nothing too earth shattering to report lately. Just a lot of work and tooth pain.

Have two quick reviews:

Picked up Rainbow Six Las Vegas 2 and yes, Virginia, it is awesome. It is also hard as all get out even on the regular difficulty. I prefer this game over Call of Duty 4 but the combat is completely different. You can't charge the enemy apeshit in Vegas 2. For one -If you do you will blasted into little chunks of meat with scraps of fabric and hair stuck to them. For two - there's not a melee attack. The cover system is just my style and I like the shift from FPS to 3PS when you take cover. The graphics and the sound are awesome - especially on the new speakers. I like the level design - there's enough variation to keep things interesting. One gameplay factor I like is the fact that a second player can pick up and play either the story mode or "Terrorist Hunt" - track down and eliminate all the terrorists on the level. I haven't put it to the test yet but the next time me and the lads hang out and game I think we might give it a shot.

There Will Be Blood is one hell of a movie. In a way I am amazed that it's by the same guy who made Magnolia & Boogie Nights. There Will Be Blood is nearly Shakespearean in its scope. Daniel Day Lewis seems to have taken a new direction in his acting - that of the insufferable bastard - and it works. Apologies to sound cheezy but this movie plays like a meditation on the evil that men do - to themselves and others. Perfectly paced and stunningly filmed There Will Be Blood is a real movie - a real cinematic experience. Instead of some gruelling "War is bad." NPR totbag movie or some totally insipid rom-com or gornographic throw away There Will Be Blood nails you to your seat and keeps you there. A movie like this has renewed my faith in film. Now I just have to watch No Country for Old Men.

Final Fantasy VI Advanced (1994) Square Enix

Final Fantasy III was released in the US on 10/20/94. It was actually the sixth in the series in Japan but this ain't Japan. I had grown up on Zelda, Final Fantasy, Dragon Warrior, & Ultima for the NES and the SNES but Final Fantasy III was something totally different entirely. This was melodrama, death, destruction, love, loss, a psychotic villian, a large and varied cast of kick ass heroes & heroines, hidden characters, some warped humor, and some truly difficult profanity inducing boss battles. Final Fantasy III or VI or whatever you want to call it is a completely awesome RPG that is a true classic of the genre.

I haven't played it since 94 but had been hankering to pick it up since I got a DS. For the last week I haven't touched my 360. At first I thought the game was much easier than I remembered. Levelling was pretty smooth and for some reason I remembered locations of items and the hidden characters. Combat - even boss battles - was a snap. Then I hit this point in the story where everything goes to hell and damn it the difficulty level ramped up.

The story is really frickin' awesome and I can't remember the last time I had such a good time with a Final Fantasy title, even VII. The cast of characters in pretty large - not Suikoden large but still. Sure you can only use four at a time but character management is pretty simple but with enough fiddling to satisfy stat-line whores.

The graphics are good but in some ways I wish I could actually play this on a TV because the sprites are so wee. The soundtrack is still memorable and oddly catchy.

All in all if you see any copy of this game pick it up, even if you have to buy a SNES, GBA, or DS to play it. That is of course if you're a RPG fan.

Nacogdoches: The Oldest Town in Texas a.k.a. "We got trees!" - PART 1.

As promised here are pictures and a bit of commentary:

Masons...and uh...here is their office in Nacogdoches.




This is the place that I am obsessed with - the Main St. Theater. It's closed and rundown and I wants it.

Creepy Easter display on Main Street. Antique & Collectible Creepiness. Reminds me of Castle Rock's Needful Things.

X-Files 2 preview.

Call of Duty 4 (GOTY) avec new maps. Nacogdoches news.

Coming April 3rd are three new multiplayer maps for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. The one I am excited about is the Chinatown map. Though I am not the world's best player - nor do I care to be - I've played through the maps about a million times. I'm trying to resist the urge to pick up a copy of Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Las Vegas 2. Apparently Vegas 2 is a much more tactical style shooter instead of being from the "run & gun" school.

I have a copy of Final Fantasy VI for the GBA on hold. Have to dig out some games to turn in for credit. This sticks in my mind as perhaps the best of the series as I played it on the SNES. Back in '94 it was released in the States as Final Fantasy III even though it was the sixth released in Japan. I wonder if some of the hidden characters are still available. Hmmm...I will review when/after I pick it up.

I had forgotten that we have some pictures of Nacogdoches plus we're going to an open House for the campus this weekend so we might have more pictures. They will get posted.

New speakers? Accepted into SFA? Assorted other jibber jabber?

Most important news first. Found out today that I am actually accepted into Stephen F Austin State University. That's right folks I'm going to the learnatorium to get my college on. I'm going to focus on History and see if I can't get into something along the lines of Conservation & Preservation. I'm a bit nervous about the whole going to school thing but I'll get over it.

In celebration I purchased new speakers: Harman Kardon HKTS-14. They are a few years older but according to the reviews and contacting Harman Kardon's customer support the two differences between the HKTS-14 and the newer HKTS-18 are: the 14 has a 12" subwoofer and the 18 comes with a 10" and the 14 is silver where the 18 is black. For the substantial price difference between the sets there was no reason for me to just buy the newer set.

Now if any of you fine folks - or anyone you know - are in the market for speakers please let me know. The speakers I currently have are still excellent speakers. They are just kind of huge and old and need a good home. There's two floor standing Polks, a Bose VCS-10 center speaker, and a set of Bose Acoustimass that I might just hold on to.

More news to follow. Now is time to tote that bale.

Darkly Dreaming Dexter (2004) Jeff Lindsay

After watching several episodes of Dexter - starring Michael C. Hall - I decided I wanted to read the book that the series was initially based on. I eventually found a copy while wandering around the Hastings in Nacogdoches.

If you're not familiar with the show then I whole heartedly recommend watching it. CBS is showing it as part of their Sunday night programming. Basically the premise is that Dexter is a serial killer who works as a blood splatter expert for the Miami PD. His victims are only other serial killers or just plain bad folks. There's a great deal of humorous internal dialogue as he pretends to be a regular citizen. I like the side characters and am beginning to actually be interested in their stories. It's a good show.

The first Dexter novel - Darkly Dreaming Dexter - is not a bad crime novel. It's not a bad serial killer novel. The writing has a rapid fire pace that I appreciate. It's set in Miami and I get the feeling that if I was from Miami I recognize streets and places and the general feel of the place. Most of the events in this book I recognized from the first season I have watched so it wasn't very surprising. I pretty much enjoyed the book until the last quarter. I even read the last two chapter twices thinking that I missed something. Maybe I did because man, what a stupid cock-a-mamie ending. After I finished it I said, "Really?" I had to wonder if he actually had a good ending and his publisher made him change it. When "the twist" arrives you can almost hear the dun dun dun. I beat M. Night Shamalyan thought it was brilliant.

I hope the show doesn't continue to follow the book. If it this ends like Darkly Dreaming Dexter I won't be able to continue watching it.

For you DS owning Guitar Hero fans...

Yes. It is real. Guitar Hero: On Tour will be coming out this summer. Here's a video. Keep your hand out of your pants.

Thor's Hammer entire store up for grabs?

Apparently Thor's Hammer went under and the entire stock is up on the auction block. Here's the ad on craigslist.

Yet another Dune remake and more!

Saw on Variety that there's going to another Dune adaptation in the works. This one will be directed by Peter Berg (The Kingdom). Apparently the producer just got rights to the story and they are looking for a writer. I guess that's cool but I have to wonder who's going to be in it. I predict Shia The Beef will be Paul Atredies. You heard it here first. 2:1.

* * *

On the right is one of the music players from GTA IV. Looks like this particular world/funk station is being hosted by Femi Kuti. All signs point to the fact that this game is going to be more awesome than...well anything.

* * *

Well I didn't know that the terms bobbie and peeler (both British terms for police) originated from the name of British Home Secretary Robert Peel. Robert Peel was instrumental in helping Parliament create the London Metropolitan Police Act in 1829. Now the line, "He's a Peeler 716 come to arrest the Zulu." makes much more sense.

* * *

Why are people so surprised when I know off the top of my head wether or not we have a book in stock? I only look at the fucking things day in and day out for months on end. If there was anything interesting or good in stock I'd know about it - and it probably wouldn't be out on the shelves for people to get all grubby. Perhaps people doubt my cognitive abilities because of the dunce cap and rope of drool hanging from my lip.

* * *

More shouting and jumping up and down to be continued. Stay tuned.

The Strangers (May 2008) - Trailer

The Strangers - Official Trailer.
Uploaded by LivGirl47

Bully: Scholarship Edition (2008)

Rockstar blah blah blah fanboy blah blah blah. Bully blah blah blah fanboy blah blah blah w00t! Haven't tried the multiplayer blah blah blah.

Pick this up because GTA IV doesn't come out for another month. It's actually a really fun (and funny) game - despite the freezes a.k.a. "technical issues". Just save often and restart if there's a freeze up. It doesn't happen very often.

10,000 B.C. (2008) dir. Roland Emmerich

I wouldn't have wanted to see this movie except for the fact that I love insane prehistory tales, weird adventure tales, and ripping yarns. Historically inaccurate? Hey egghead go back to your learn-a-terium. What kicks more ass? Cavemen digging around in their own filth or cavemen being enslaved and using mammoths to build pyramids? If I wanted science and crap I'd watch National Geographic.

10, 000 B.C. is pulp. Pure, stupid, stare slack jawed at the moving pictures, "Oh, what the hell." fun. Does it suck? Yes. Is it awesome? Yes. It's the kind of movie you go see when you visit the family. We saw it on vacation at the only theater in Nacogdoches, TX. Frankly I think the best way to have seen 10,000 B.C. would be at a drive-in theater. Plus if it had been rated R it could have been totally awesome - as is it lacks both nudity and gore.

If you've seen the preview you know what you're getting. This ain't Chekov but it doesn't need to be. I think part of the reason I like the movie so much is because I am imagining Roland Emmerich talking people into making the movie. Sitting around with his producers and saying, "You know, I've always wanted to make a prehistoric movie." It makes me laugh thinking of the pitch and people working on the movie having a good time and saying, "ROFL, we're making a caveman movie!"

Another plug for Chromehounds and assorted minor items.

I am going to plug Chromehounds again because I am addicted to it - like a fat kid loves cake. I've actually started watching videos of 'Hound builds and combat. It's a good thing I have an understanding woman because I would never get one - this game is one the verge of preventing me from sleeping or leaving the house.

I did pick up a copy of Bully: Scholarship Edition for the 360. I couldn't help it. The previous incarnation for the PS2 was a solid and fun Rockstar outing. This edition is more of the same plus some new additions. A review will be upcoming.

In other news...well...there isn't really any other news. Hope you guys are doing well.

Diary of the Dead (2008) dir. George A Romero

"When there's no more room in Hell the dead will blog."

That's kind of how Diary of the Dead felt. The movie wasn't bad - it was better than Land of the Dead - but in no way was it even remotely close to the original. If you've seen the rest of Romero's zombie movies you know what you are getting: paint by number zombies, some gore - though this one was a lot less gory than I was hoping for, a touch of humor, and heavy handed social commentary. Pretty much you are either going to see this movie or you're not.

The basic idea is that some film students are out filming when the zom-pacalypse breaks out. Most of the movie is shot from a docu-aspect with the maker keeping the camera stuck to his face even when zombies are attacking his friends in front of him. He keeps filming because "people have to know the truth". Film maker, assorted fellow students, and drunken Professor drive around Pennsylvania filming the truth, dispatching zombies, and checking in on relatives. When I think about it Diary of the Dead is pretty paint by numbers. The heavy handed social commentary consists of the Government/Media lying to us, Homeland Security being a joke, if the way humanity treats itself when the chips are down (terrible) is humanity really worth saving (I don't need a zom-pacalypse to answer that), and it's up to the digital culture to carry the shining torch of truth. Oh yeah and Romero has a cameo as a government/military official telling us, "Everything is going to be okay."

At least it was better than Land of the Dead. I guess. The more I think about it the less I like it.

Gary Gygax: HP 0. Resurrected in better plane.

Gary Gygax has passed on at the age of 69. He was one of the guys in the USA to develop what we know of as RPGs. If you're familiar with the game Dungeons & Dragons - or any of the many TSR (formerly TSR) products - then you have Gygax to thank. Pretty much RPGs wouldn't be jack without his contributions. Cheers to you Gary Gygax, cheers to you.

Hedgie pic Monday.

As some of you may know I love hedge hogs. I don't know why. Normally I am a cat person but there's just something about hedge hogs. In any case thanks to Jenna for the picture.