Happy New Year!

Family, friends, work, and the recent holidays have kept me busy and away from blogging, so I wanted to spend this quick free time to wish everyone a prosperous and healthy New Year!

Here's some quick tidbits on my hobbies and interests during the time I couldn't post here:

Comics: I am seriously behind in my comic reading since about October(?), and the only book I read on a timely basis is 52. I've even cut my visits to my LCS from weekly to bi-weekly. With the major holidays behind us, I'm hoping to go back to my regular Wednesday visits.

Movies and Television: I haven't been to the theaters much, and the only movies I've seen at the theater since the summer were Rocky Balboa and The Good Shepherd! I have been watching Star Trek: The Next Generation on DVD, and have finished the first season, and I am currently about halfway through the second.

Music: I'm listening more to Netcasts (Sorry, the "P" word has been personally banned...) than music recently. I got a whole bunch of CDs for cheap before Tower Records closed down, so when I have the time, I'll rip those to .mp3. Speaking of MP3, My MP3 player went on the fritz, and I can only listen out of the right headset at the moment...

Gaming: Games I've played recently: MtG, WoW, Nightfall, EQ2, Star Trek: Encounters, Dyansty Warriors 3, Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows, Pirates CSG Online, Titan Quest, and Puzzle Pirates. Games I've dropped recently: WoW, EQ2, and Titan Quest. Games I've come back to recently: Pirates CSG, HeroScape, and EVE: Online (a three year break on this one!). I've been giving serious consideration in buying a XBox 360 within the next several months. Gears of War looks seriously wicked!

Again, I would like to wish everyone a happy new year, and may your casual time be spent with lots of fun!

8^B

Guild Wars Nightfall Funnies

I've been spending more time having a blast with Nightfall. The wide open spaces, the heroes, the quests and missions, and the humor. The humor?!? Yup, ArenaNet seem to be a lighthearted bunch of folks (God bless 'em for that!) who like to sprinkle their games with "easter egg" pop culture references or little bits of quirky humor. Part of the fun of playing with the Guild Wars series is finding these little snippets. Here's a few I found this weekend:


I found this Inscription on a focus item and had to salvage it. If you're a fan of the Seinfeld TV series you'll catch this reference.


Another Inscription, it'll be hard to find anyone who doesn't know this reference to the scene between Cuba Gooding Jr. and Tom Cruise from Jerry Maguire.


I received a quest to rescue one of my heroes who was captured by the enemy. I LOL when I read the description for the quest rejection option!


Ok, I wasn't really playing for 12 hours straight (I just left my character logged in while did some real life stuff), but I thought it funny that ArenaNet was concerned enough to remind me how long I could have been playing!


After just being rescued from a hellish prison, what's the first thing Koss wants to do? Go out and get some "perfomance enhancing" elixirs! I love the reject option description.


I can now hear the theme music playing in my head...

I'll post more yuk-yuks when I find them. You're a bunch of goofballs, ArenaNet! :)

8^B

Tags: Gaming Guild Wars Nightfall

Lost in Elona...

Where, oh, where, have I been? Well, I've been vacationing on the sunny isle of Istan! For those who don't know where that may be, it's located in the latest Guild Wars PC game release, Nightfall.

I've been an on and off player of Guild Wars since its initial release back in the spring of 2005. I was attracted to the game for its "No monthy fees" setup, the Magic: The Gathering style of skill management, and gorgeous graphics. After it's initial release, the game has seen a free update and two Stand-alone "expansions".

The latest Guild Wars release, Nightfall, is light years beyond it's previous two releases. Heroes, Inscriptions, templates, graphics, and gameplay make Nightfall the game to get. I've been spending most of my play time either customizing my heroes or getting my existing characters to the islands to unlock their heroes.

I have to admit I needed to take a "Mental Health" day from work just to play Nightfall. Other than that, I've only been able to devote a couple hours per night to play. So far, I haven't even been able to leave the island, but that's typical of my casual PvE playstyle. I like to stop and smell the roses...

If you see me in game, say hello! I play a variety of characters, all with the Chi Qin surname. So if you see Szechwan Chi Qin, General Chi Qin, Mu Shu Chi Qin, or Bharak Ali Chi Qin, that's me!

8^B

Tags: Gaming, Guild Wars, Nightfall

I'm with Future Hiro!

The Heroes TV series is kicking all sorts of ass! What started off as pedestrian storytelling has now picked up in pacing as the individual heroes' storylines now begin to intertwine. Nikki/Not Nikki is hooking up with That Bastard Nathan, while Mimic Peter is running around with Professor M looking for Destiny Isaac, and Wolvie Claire is dishing out the vengeance on a much deserved creepo. Poor Telepath Matt, where will he end up? And Hiro?!? Future Hiro, or should I say Kyle Reese/Cable/Hiro makes a kick-ass entrance!

Heroes has been picked up for the rest of the first season, so it'll be interesting how the current arc will transition into the rest of the season. I'm certainly along for the ride!

8^B


Tags: TV Heroes

The WTF?!? of the Week: "The Meat" Action Figure

If I had a What the Fuck?!? of the Week, this week's entry would be The Meat Action Figure from the Rocky line of action figures by Jakks Pacific. That's right, folks, they've made a side of beef into an action figure! I can see it now, "Mommy, Mommy! They have The Meat figure! Can I have it, please? I want The Meat!".

Munchkin No. 1 and I were cruising the local KB Toys store this weekend when I ran into this thing. Actually, it was the Rocky logo that first caught my eye, but while going through the figures, I did a literal double-take when I found The Meat. This figure was so "out there", I had to get it.

The Meat has ZERO points of articulation, and it doesn't even have a display stand to hang the carcass. It does comes with a "bloodied" meat jacket for the Paulie figure to wear. Now that I think of it, I guess you can have the Paulie figure hold up the side of beef while the Rocky in Training Gear figure pounds on the slab...

I can see these selling out in specialty shops (for the novelty factor), but clogging the pegs at mass market stores...

8^B

Tag: Toys Action Figure Rocky The Meat

New Comics for the Week

Here's my interest list for this week:

Pull List:
Uncanny X-Men #479
52 #23
Green Arrow #67
Green Lantern Corps #5

Strong Interest:
Annihilation #3
Escapists #4
Devi #4

8^B


Tags: Comics Comic Books

Mag Warriors are Magnificent!

I first saw the Mega Bloks' Mag Warriors line of poseable magnetic action figures at a Target last year. I thought they were cool, but I didn't bother buying any. At the time, I was fascinated with the Xevoz line of poseable figures, and I didn't take the time to actually examine any of the Mag Warriors.

Flash forward to the present, and while browsing for Heroscape stuff at a Walmart, I happened upon a Mag Warriors Dark Portal set clearanced down to $10! Naturally, I picked up the set along with the other clearanced set, Doom's Gate. I took these sets home and discovered that these little guys are very well made, and best of all, they are extremely poseable! I had to get the rest of the figures!

Unfortunately, with at least year since their release, finding any Mag Warriors from the first wave would probably be hard to find in stores. After visiting a couple of stores, I found it to be true. Mega Bloks has moved on to another wave of figures, and for some odd reason, they've repackaged the line to be placed next to the Magnetix building sets. I get the "magnetic" thing, but these are action figures....

In dire need of a "Mental Health Day" from work, I decided to spend the day visiting all the major chain stores and toy stores I could reach within the city to get the new figures as well as any from the first wave. The new waves of single figures were easy to acquire, but the ones from the first release were a bitch to find. I ended up finding all four initial figures at two different Kmarts (the only two in the city).

All I need now to complete my sets are the two figures that come with mounts! I don't know if they've been sold out, or if they haven't been released yet. I may also go back to Kmart and pick up the rest of the first wavers to be used for army building.

8^B

Tags: Toys Gaming Mag Warriors Mega Bloks

Heroes Snags A Dedicated Viewer

Last week's premiere of NBC's Heroes wasn't quite as exciting as it was hyped up to be. Maybe the expectations were too high, or (from what I read) maybe because it was really only "half" a premiere (I guess this week's episode would be the second half). In either case, I wasn't "wowed" when I saw it last week, but given that it's comic book show in disguise, I decided to give the show another chance and watched it tonight.

Tonight's episode rocked! The characters were better developed, and the story flowed well. If the premiere was indeed split into two episodes, NBC made a mistake. I'm sure there were many of last week's viewers who are probably no longer watching the show because of the "incomplete" story of last week's episode. That's too bad.

Right now, my favorite characters are Hiro (Super Hiro!) and Mohinder. Hiro is such a supergeek, I can oftentimes relate to the guy (uh oh, geek alarm!). The guy is too funny. And it seems this week, there's more to his powers than just 'portin. As for Mohinder, he has no powers (at least not yet), but I like the character. I can see him being the Professor X of the group if/when they are assembled.

I'm glad I stuck around for the second episode, as it has me looking forward to Monday nights at 9pm. That reminds me, isn't 24 (the 6th season coming this Janurary) on Monday nights too? Arrrgh!

8^B


Tags: TV Heroes NBC Comics Comic Books

Blade TV Series Cancelled

Damn. I just read on the CGS forums that the Blade TV series has been cancelled. Well, at least it lasted one season. Actually, I'm not quite surprised of the cancellation, considering it was on a cable channel which has a hard time finding its own identity. The only bummer is that the show "ended" on a cliffhanger of a season finale, and the show also left some plot points unresolved. Let's hope another (better) channel picks up the series.

At least the Blade comic book started last week...

8^B


Tags: TV Blade Comics Comic Books

Comic Cover of the Week: Ramayan 3392 AD #1

Virgin has launched their comic book line at a great pace. I don't normally read Indian-based stories, but I currently read The Sadhu, and have started to read Devi. The fledgling company has released a new series, Ramayan 3392 AD, which is basically a "retelling" of India's greatest legend.

This version of the epic tale couldn't have started off better than having none other than an Alex Ross cover painting! The cover has such dynamic action, that you can't help yourself but pick up this book off the shelf. This is why Ramayan 3392 AD deserves this week's Comic Cover of the Week!

8^B


Tags: Comics Comic Book Virgin Comics Ramayan 3392 AD Alex Ross