I hate can openers

I really hate can openers.

I don't know what it is exactly, but I just don't like them. It really shouldn't be that difficult to use one metal object to open another metal object. But it is. Most of the time I give up. "To hell with this...I didn't really want any corn anyway!!" or other times I fight the can. I squeeze it, crush it, bang it, (after using the can opener) and nearly cut myself from getting the contents out. Why is it so difficult? Am I can-opener declined?...sigh.

Kudos to Campbells for the pop top tab lids on their soups. Sometimes I open all my soups just to get a feeling of achievement. Why can't all cans be like this?

That's why you never see anyone donating a can opener to a food drive, once you find a can opener that actually works, you hang on to it like it's your first born. "Sure, I'll give you some of my pears- oh wait, you want to open it to? Sorry, can't help you."

I currently own three can openers now and only one of them works. I've mangled two forks, three knives, and shattered a spoon in the process of opening these devil cans. Luckily the third can opener works splendidly and I can finally eat my fruit cocktail in peace.

Because you're so deeply enthralled with my story, here's a picture to go with it. The can on left was opened with my new can opener. The can on the right, well...you get the idea. If you look closely you can see teeth marks. Stupid cans.

Best Month Ever?

There's a lot of comic related merchandise coming out in October. Plus Halloween naturally falls in October too, so that means comics and candy. I feel like I'm a little kid again. Only this time I don't have to ask permission to get either or go door to door to get said candy. It's the one time during the year comic fans can blend into the general public and not address too much attention to themselves while wearing the costume of their favorite hero. Not that I have anything major planned-just the idea that excites me. "Cool Spidey costume!"..."Thanks". End scene.

Here's pictures of all the fun stuff I want and release dates:

X-Men 3 DVD (Oct. 3rd): The vast majority HATES this movie. Too bad. It's X-MEN. It's an X-MEN MOVIE. There is absolutely no way it is going to live up to everyone's expectations. Yes, the story is weak. Yes, it's short. LET IT GO- IT'S JUST A MOVIE. Did it entertain you? Were you excited to see it? I was. If you don't like it don't watch it.
'Nuff said.








The Marvel Encyclopedia (Oct. 16): My friend has the DC Encyclopedia which is quite impressive and thick. I was hoping that Marvel would catch on since the previous encyclopedias are horrible. Each book is based on one character and layed out like a D&D manual. That's all fine and good if you're into that but for the rest of us, we'd like to see all the great artwork from 60+ years of artists along with crucial storylines and character evolutions. Well done DK publishing.







Justice League Heroes (Oct 17): Yeah! Multiplayer
side-scrollers are just plain fun. Especially with superpowers.
Variant costumes with different abilities, power combos, and
even a cool AQUAMAN make this game a must have. A less
intense version of X-Men: Legends.....wait for it.....











Marvel Ultimate Alliance (Oct. 24): Or X-Men Legends 3, finally expands characters to include the entire Marvel U and build your own teams with choose-your-own adventure plotlines. And you get to fight Galactus. Wow. This makes up for that lame a** Fantastic Four movie game. "It's trade-in time!!"










Guitar Hero 2 (Nov. 7): Okay, this isn't really comic related-
but still is a great game. I was skeptical when I had
purchased the first Guitar Hero, but quickly put my fears to
rest. Very addicting and fun- easy to learn, near impossible
to master. I still can't beat Iron Man on hard mode. A second
guitar controller will now increase the replay value to Guitar
Hero with multiplayer as well as Guitar Hero 2. I love this
game. If you own a PS2....BUY IT NOW!


So, lots-o-crap. Bring on the snow. I already have my cure for cabin fever. Just as long as the power doesn't go out...then I'm sleddin'! Whee!!!

Marvel Legends Game Night

Work sucks.

Yep. Sure does.

(Hence the gap in blog postings- all day on computer at work, not as exciting to do at home.)

That's the funny thing though because I remember all the crap of trying to get a job. I went back and found these comics I created to deal with the stress of it. Enjoy.

Not So Fantastic Four?

I visited Marvel's site and noticed they are finally done promoting the "eh" Ultimate Avengers 2 DVD. Now they've moved onto Fantastic Four which, I haven't seen yet- but judging from these two posters will be a mix of the Teen Titans (GO!) and X-Men: Evolution cartoons. At least Justice League Unlimited is coming to DVD soon....(It could be good- then again, that's what I said about the FF movie. Ugh.)

MST3K Homemade 'Bots

I'm a huge Mystery Science Theater 3000 fan.

Downtime in college for me was watching this show with my friends and buying the episodes from Suncoast (RIP) along with catching it on Comedy Central and Sci Fi. I wasn't lucky enough to get The Amazing Colossal Man (pulled for licensing rights issues) but I do own others from the Rhino Video collection. Some of my favorites include I Accuse my parents, The Brain that wouldn't die, Mitchell, and The Unearthly. I don't own all of them- Sigh- some episodes are just too terrible beyond watching. Wild World of Batwoman. Manos: The Hands of Fate. I'll never get those hours back.

One day back in college my friends and I are sitting around watching MST, contemplating over what to do for our next video production assignment. My friend Jeff says: "Why don't we make an MST?" We all agreed we should, we just didn't have the robots. We proceeded to brainstorm over what parts they were made of, but never decided who would actually do the building. After several days of "I'll get around to it" I took the liberty and started my quest.

The hardest part was finding pieces for Crow. I looked online for a recipe list and came up with two parts I'd have to substitute: his torso, and eye socket. Servo was the easier of the two. Both pieces were odd items I couldn't pick up at the local hardware store. (The eye socket, a soap dish only available online from a now defunct manufacturer for $60, and the torso- a rubbermaid serving platter of sorts) I hit garage sales, dollar stores, hardware stores, you name it- to find the parts. It took me an entire summer to gather all the parts and with lighting cracking in the background- I gave my creation life for a low cost of $30.

I remember all the weird looks I received from people along the way- the clerk at Play-it-again-Sports when I asked him for a child sized hockey face guard: "Little 'bro starting hockey?" to which I replied in a Ralph Wiggum response- "I'm building a robot!" "Oh." Or the kind elderly lady at Ben Franklin Crafts (also RIP) "Santa Claus doll hands? Are you building a doll?" "Yeah, you could say that." "How delightful" she added. The best response was from my own grandmother when I asked her to search her 70+ years of household items. "You're looking for a platter? I think I have something like that lying around...what did you say you were building again? A robot? Is it going to do anything?" "No, not really." I uttered. "Oh...I see." It sounded like I was asking her to do the impossible, Give up tupperware? Luckily, she agreed and with Crow's torso being the last piece of the puzzle- I assembled the 'bots and unveiled them to my friends.

Their reaction was shock and awe. Having met their approval and still having video production accessible to us, we created our MST3K with a little help from a green screen. The film we riffed was 13 Ghosts (the old B+W version) which provided many jokes and spur of the moment humor. Despite Servo's heading falling off 3 times and audio complications- it turned out great. I'll try to get it posted on youtube...meantime, here's the 'bots as they are today- permanent roomates and a tribute to one of the funniest shows I've seen.

Horrorclix

I just purchased Horrorclix (the evil twin of Heroclix) and can safely say it isn't terrible.

However, the game mechanics are quite different from that of Heroclix. Your goal is to chase down and slay victim tokens/pogs to which you then transform and continue your killing spree. Horrorclix replaces the powers and abilities sheet with character cards. Some cards are two sided; one side for the good version, the other for the bad. You can choose which side you want at the beginning of the game. Neat.

When characters make their first kill, they go into a 'frenzy' mode which gives them new powers and the ability to move and attack in one turn. Play goes as follows: move victims, chase victims and fight monsters. Plot twist cards are introduced as well, cards to muck up your opponents strategy. They allow victims about to be slain escape, or give you the chance to reroll an attack. I enjoy this feature of the game as it adds uncertainty and suspense, like most horror movies go. The game ends when only one monster remains and you add up points for each victim or monster killed.

I haven't played an actual game yet, but I do think it's a great concept. The debate over whether or not Horrorclix is compatible with Heroclix is this: It isn't. Unlike Heroclix, Horrorclix powers (although the same color and slot) don't necessarily match up- every monsters powers are different. Add to the fact that some monsters have an hourglass icon in their slot- it doesn't mean their KO'd, just that they are temporarily "dead" and come back to life their next turn. Zombies, Ghosts, etc. all have this power. Ghosts are free to move through any terrain and upon killing a victim- inhabit them and become a solid... A little conversion here and there and you could get Horrorclix to work. Batman vs. a hanged corpse ghost just sounds cool. Well, everything but the "hanged corpse" part. Here's some pictures...

* The jock token is dead ringer for Flash Thompson. Heh.

Kneel Before Blog's a go!

Wow. I can't believe I was able to secure that name. Normally I can't even get my name to be available. Cool.

Now, where to start? As you may have guessed I like Superman. I like just about anything comic related. That's pretty much what you'll find on this blog along with other nerdy stuff. This blog isn't for those of you who aren't fanboy or girls. Stop now. The geek level is in the red. Turn back if you value your "coolness" among your peers who catch you surfing this site and please, silence all cell phones and pages. Enjoy the show!