Junk in the Trunk

Lately, I've acquired too much junk. I'm not talking about the fun comic/video games stuff- but rather the day to day items- keys, wallet etc. How much stuff you ask? Check out the lineup below:

Left to right- Jump drive, Cell phone, iPod, Wallet, Nintendo DS,
Digitial Camera, Glasses cleaner. Car keys should be there too. Oops.

Do I really need to carry all of this on me at one time? No, but it helps. You never know when you might need a particular item. Granted- many of these items are condensed into one item (iPHONE) but most of us don't have that kinda cash to throw around- and when we do, it goes towards gaming (XBOX 360/PS3). So what am I babbling on about? I need more cargo pants. Lots and lots of cargo pants. Or I hate to say it...the dreaded Man-Purse. Or Murse/Satchel/Tote/Shoulder Bag/what have you. I'm not against the Man-Purse in general, it all depends on what you have in it and what it looks like. Jump drive- YES. Lipstick- BIG NO. Here's a chart to help clear things up...

Even your favorite super heroes are guilty of the 'murse'
or in this case, utility belt:

And the less than popular 'Ankle-Murse'.

That about covers it. If you can pull it off and don't feel like a complete idiot wearing one (that's you Scarlet Spidey) go for it. But if you can't*...well, you'll just come off like another goober with a fanny pack. Sad, but true.

*Savage beat downs/verbal abuse from men may occur. Do not wear if you already have an excessive amount of pockets. While wearing the murse, you may be subject to paranoia-unexplained location of items, shoulder rash/discomfort, and neck pain. Rare occurrences may be subject to significant other combining purse into larger murse. Proceed with extreme caution as your relationship, manhood, and fate of the world depends on it.

Castle Doom in 3-D (part 1 of 2)

Below is a map of Castle Doom featured on a great heroclix map site- Clixbuilders.com

(I'd link the text- but the site is currently under construction)

Anyway, after getting compliments from my gaming chums on my recent Legion map- I decided to tackle Castle Doom. Unlike the Legion map, Castle Doom will have graphics on all the walls- adding to the overall demeanor that is DOOM! The right side of that map (which I thought to be stables- Since when did Doom have horses?) is actually jail cells. I'm experimenting wih acetate to create 'hanging' prision gates for the outer walls. The remaining walls are going to be cobblestone, matching the floor color for a near-seamless effect. If you squint, you can see ten individual brown squares with a gray figure inside- this is where I'll be placing my army of DOOMBOT clix. So far I only have four. I'll have to shop around at WIZARD WORLD CHICAGO next month. I've constructed the basic walls along with some blocking terrain, here's how it's turning out thus far:





One other thing to mention- the map isn't full size- I have four rows of squares to fill on each side. Not sure if I want to build up more walls and rooms, or create something simple like a moat of lava. Hmmm.....

SSX Blur- Wii Review

Yesterday I picked up the latest game in the SSX snowboarding series for the Nintendo Wii- SSX Blur. It's the first (and hopefully not the last) of a non-party game that actually has responsive and tight controls. Shredding down the mountain using the nunchuk's analog stick to twist and turn through curves- then flicking it upward to launch off jumps or holding the Z button to grab your board just feels right. You can even rotate the nunchuk for wider turns as well. While in the air- you use the wiimote (waving right and left or up and down) to perform tricks. It's simple and fun- somehow, most Wii games only do the later.

The graphics are comic bookish and vibrant- the navigation screens are easy to get around in and load times are minimal. The sound adds much to the game- the better you do- the better the music gets- faster paced, more beats- it adds to the adrenaline of racing. When your character wipes out (you recover by playing both controllers like drums)- they become covered in snow- moving slowly from the fumble and banging their fists on their head in frustration. You can also throw snowballs at opponents and skiiers.

My only gripe is the Ubertrick system. While pulling off an array of crazy jumps/stunts- your trick meter charges up- reaching an ubertrick mode. In this mode you are suppossed to trace shapes with both controllers while holding the A button. Simple enough right? Wrong. Even in the tutorial- I haven't been able to pull one of these things off. Am I doing it too quickly? Too slowly? Or is it the simple fact the controls crap out for no good reason? I believe the fault lays with all three- but it does land squarely on the programers/game testers. It's something I'll continually fuss until I get it. Overall, despite this hiccup (you don't need to do ubertricks to have a great time playing this game- but you do need them to rack up higher scores later on) the game is solid. It features a two-player split screen and a 'hot-seat' four player mode which you take turns passing the wiimote after each turn- eh....would've liked to have four split screens....oh well, SSX Blur 2, right?

Game on!

New Comic Wednesday July 11th

Not quite as many books this week. Seems Marvel is pushing for the big fight scene covers. DC continues with the focus on one JSA member per cover. A nice change of pace. Omega Flight is wrapping up quickly, kinda sad to see it go. Dig those wacky Canadians. New Avengers reveals more Skrulls (?) and the MC2 universe comes back whether you liked it or not with Fantastic Five #1.

I was mixed on MC2- despite J2, we did get Spider-girl out of it. It also featured another take on those F 'ers. Whoa, that came out bad! FF' ers. There, that's better. Whew!

Legion in 3-D

Having picked up the latest DC Heroclix set- Legion of Super Heroes, I played a game using the Legion indoor map. It's a nice map... a large space routunda with transporters in each corner to quickly move your team around in the heat of battle.


But like most maps, elevation can be a problem. At first, we though the center square was the raised elevation. We then looked closer at the stairs (and their cast shadows) and realized it wasn't. So, not having made anything in awhile- I decided to fix the problem. Five x-acto blades and four large sheet of foam board later....I had myself a 3-D Legion Headquarters.



Granted it's just the basics, but it is the future right? Isn't everything in the future minimalist and white anyway? For the mini billboards (with black feet) I'd like to get some acetate and have a transparent screen (again adding to the future look). The floating orange globe wasn't part of the set- but rather an accessory from He-Man's Orko figure. Reminds me of the scene of the attack on the Death Star or any other plan of attack in a sci-fi feature. The blocks are divided up into eight chunks and can easily be moved around to fit other formations and maps. I chose not to do the angle stairs (upon further discussion with friend Chris) and made the blocks square instead of with a missing block. We'll make up our own rules when the times comes. I think it turned out cool for being so simplistic. Now I just have to play on it next game night to see if my time spent building it wasn't wasted (it two 2 days).

No Comic No Work Wednesday

Happy 4th of July to all!

Another holiday has claimed the weekly ritual of New Comic Wednesday- pushing the books release to Thursday (while simultaneously giving all stuck in cubicles the day off).

I'm not complaining- I love it actually, not having to work in the middle of the week is FANTASTIC. Only two more days- then repeat. Why can't ever week be this good? How much happier would that make everyone? The further I get in my career and acquire more time off- I'm seriously thinking about putting my 'No Work Wednesday' into effect. Yeah, that's the ticket.

New Comic Thursday July 5th

Looking forward to the return (and conclusion) to Donner/Kubert's Action Comics run. The issue is also in 3-D, hmm...let it go guys. This week also features the return of the real Thor- not the hated "Clor" from Civil War. Countdown has the funeral for Bart and Uncanny hits the sewers. Fallen Son: Iron Man I'm on the fence about- like most comics I say I'll pick up on NCW, they're at least worth a flip through on the rack...