Board Games

The other day I was at Wal-Mart and I saw something interesting that immediately took my attention. It was a Spider-Man Origins Operation game. Apparently, based off the box art, you are Doctor Octopus and you must remove Spider-Man's problems so you can fight later, I guess. Don't touch the sides! If you know me, I like revamped versions of board games. I have Pirates of the Caribbean Battleship, Star Wars Game of Life, Batman Monopoly, Lord of the Rings Risk, Star Wars Clone Wars Risk, Batman Begins UNO, Superman Returns UNO, and The Batman UNO. The Pirates of the Caribbean Life and Star Wars Original Trilogy Risk escape me for the moment. Luckily, I found out that I will have to add at least one more game to my list. Looking at images from the Hasbro Toy Fair, it seems there will be a Spider-Man 3 Sorry. Whoops, sorry Venom! What I'd like to see is a mixed up version of Clue that isn't The Simpsons or the Haunted Mansion. I'm just not sure of what except for that DnD Clue, that's just cool.


Additionally, there seems to be some sort of Spider-Man Mr. Potato Head a la Darth Tater, Spudtrooper, and Artoo-Potatoo but I can't make out what it says...

Spring/Winter Break

Friday, there was a wonderful blizzard keeping people from traveling. Spring Break was to start then and the dorms were to be closed at 5:00 pm. Classes were not cancelled, but the college was willing to let people stay until Saturday at 5:00 pm. Morey was an exception. They put up a big sign that said that we were welcome to stay as long as needed to get home. I really appreciate that. Later Jodene put up a sign that said we could stay as long as necessary until we could get home for free. She rocks! Faye braved the weather on Friday, which, in my opinion was stupid because there was so little visibility. Steph and Daniele headed out this morning but Steph got stuck so the roads were crap. So basically it was down to me, Heidi, Sarah, and Jared (among others) remaining with nothing but time. I had the shortest drive, but Highway 77, which I live on, was closed today until 4:30 pm. We didn't get cabin fever, just a severe case of boredom.

It's no different than any other weekend when people go home. The difference is you're really not supposed to be there. There's a skeleton crew in the dorm and there's no food service. There's no rules so escorting, checking in, quiet hours are all gone. A nice concession if you can't go anywhere. There is Campus Security if you get stuck on campus, which is nice. I drove to McDonald's and the in-town roads were nice especially the highways. The out-of-town was supposed to be nasty. After more time passing we went to Pamida by foot. I wanted to pick up a Nintendo DS lite this weekend but since I wasn't near Omaha, I decided to buy yet another gaming system at Pamida in Wayne. They had the model I liked, luckily, buy games were sparing. I didn't want a piece of crap and I don't want too many games since I don't intend on playing it nearly as much as a Wii. I was able to find New Super Mario Bros. which was on my list of 4 games to get so I was happy. We also went to Quality Foods to get some, well, foods. We then went to Movie Gallery to look for games and possibly a movie to rent. While we are out and about on the roads of Wayne by foot, we notice the relatively nice weather and roads here. It's very much a negative reinforcement to see this, yet know you cannot leave this town.

I like my DS. It's pretty. The game is fun too, but there's still a lot I need to learn. The other games I want are Nintendogs, Mario Kart DS, and Brain Age. For now, that is all. This wasn't just a random purchase. I've been contemplating either an Advance SP or a DS for some time now. But when I got my refund check, that pretty much settled the argument. We still got bored so eventually Heidi and I got around to playing Wii Sports and Mario Kart 64. I also hopped into Animal Crossing to get a song from Totakeke [I bought that highly-addicting yet utterly pointless game last week, I just realized I never blogged about that, more to come on that escapade later.] because he only appears on Saturday nights. Sarah then joined us for some Super Smash Bros Melee. Then Heidi and I, still bored by the way, watched Fantastic Four and then got tired.

So now, I wait to see if conditions improve. My mom was stranded in Fremont last night and stayed at my uncle's house. She got home tonight but advised to wait another day. I want to get home but I don't want to be trapped there. Irony of course is that if I had skipped class on Friday as I wanted to and went home on Thursday, I would be home, but trapped with a closed highway running low on food like my dad was. I'm not sure yet if that would be an improvement.At least my laundry would be done. It should be obvious by now how bored I am due to the rambling about very, very inconsequential information but when nothing else happens, you have rights to blather. I really hope the weather improves at home so I can accomplish the things I wanted to do. I want to get the ISP out to our house to rework the connections because they're 6 years old and horrible to network. Only my laptop receives the Internet wirelessly. No Wii, and probably no DS. Not even other laptops. I wanted that fixed while I was home but now I'm not sure if it's cruel to ask them to come. I also wanted to go to Lincoln but who knows if that's going to happen! Oh well, I'm sure to find ways to enjoy my Spring/Winter Break.

You Are a Smart American

You know a lot about US history, and you're opinions are probably well informed. Congratulations on bucking stereotypes. Now go show some foreigners how smart Americans can be.

Are You a Dumb American?

George Takei responds to Tim Hardaway

Funny video featuring the Star Trek actor here.

Fall Out!

I rented Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz this week because I have fond memories of Super Monkey Ball 2 on Nord's GameCube. I heard reviews that the learning curve was difficult but was better to use the Wii Remote than an analog stick. The reviewers were right on the learning curve. The first world is cake, the second mixes it up, the third starts getting difficult. By the end, it is exceedingly difficult. I don't care for it, but Book Lady seems to be having a blast. I take it she likes the puzzle challenge games. I like knowing a game has the hope of being beaten, and this one has a faint glimmer. The minigames are depressing as well. Most are hit and miss, especially the ones based on real games. The fun ones are the ones they made up. But it's not enough for me to buy it at this time. It is a good rent, though. It gives you something to work on for a week and then get sick of falling into ravines or lava. I plan on picking up Rayman Raving Rabbids this weekend. That is an example of a fun single player with outrageous multiplayer. Super Monkey Ball is good, don't get me wrong. You just have to be determined to enjoy it.

On another note, I borrowed Animal Crossing from Heidi. That's very interesting. It's a good boredom game, but it's not much to watch. It makes people watching it to start playing the Sims 2. I know it's coming out for Wii, it's just a matter of when and what it will do. I would love it if it expanded on your GameCube save game that you may or may not have made. I am afraid that I will rent it and keep getting messages from animals on my Message Board.

STOP Class

Today I had my STOP class to get rid of my citation. It started at 8 and I had a minimal breakfast of juice and water before going in and I felt fine. About an hour in, the instructor starts talking about an accident involving this woman who totaled her car into a house. She got out of the car but didn't really know that she had about a minute to live because she separated her aorta. I'm not a big fan of large quantities of blood as that is one of the things that keeps me from watching horror movies, although Carrie doesn't creep me out because it's so fake. But when I hear extended blood talk that I am unable to ignore, I feel like I become aware of my own blood which is unsettling. The way he's describing it, particularly how after the blood circulates and without an aorta, how the blood "empties into her belly" it makes me a little queasy. Even after he moved on, the images were still in my brain and it made me very woozy and I felt like I overheated and blacked out.

When my vision and hearing returns I am on the ground with very blurred vision and people asking "Are you alright?" I answer I'm fine and realize that I am in fact on the ground. At first I think it's my mind daydreaming playing a trick on me but soon that wears off. They give me my glasses which are very bent and have a drop of blood on them. They ask if I'm epileptic and I say no. I get back on my chair and check my forehead which is bleeding a little bit. I go to the bathroom to clean up and wash myself and I sit down for a few moments. I return and the instructor asks me if I'm fine or if I want to take the class at another time. I say no and I'll manage. It was just very strange to have that happen.

Apparently I looked as though I feel asleep, then fell on the floor. My eyes rolled into my head and the instructor thought I may have been having an epileptic seizure. They rolled me on my back and I came out of it. The last time I blacked out completely was around 8 years ago in church when I overheated. I also lost my vision on Christmas when I ate a really hot piece of food and it lodged itself. All the same I will probably look into it just to make sure I'm OK but I'm hoping it was just a fluke.I did get to joke about it though when he asked when the last time anyone had experienced tunnel vision and I said "About an hour ago." On a positive note, I did pass the test with a happy face and a "Good Job" meaning I missed no questions.

Doom, New Goblin, and Venom

I found a link off digg that has production art of the villans from the Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and Spider-Man 3. Doom looks interesting and New Goblin and Venom seem to be on track with everything else we've seen.

Check it out here.

**Updated: Thank God the Doom artwork has been confirmed to be fake. The action figure basically looks the same as well so there may or may not be a redesign of the character's appearance.**

Lectures vs. Discussion

I'm taking the History of World Religions. I went in thinking it would be fun to learn about more than I know. But recently, I find it so dull. I think I've narrowed it down. He wants us to read the book and then discuss it. While that's nice and all, it's disappointing because I don't learn that way. When I read a required text, I have to try to figure out what is essential and what's going to be asked. I hate that. There's no narrative to follow or anything so I find myself bored. I prefer lectures. I know many would shoot me for that comment but I am much more attentive plus it gives me something to do in class, take notes. I learn better when I'm taught. I am still the student here. If I wanted a book to teach me, I would've paid for it alone and not pay for the class with attached instructor. I was hoping the person in there would teach me something I didn't know. I don't want to discover the text together. When I took Hickey's Military History class we had to read and discuss. I sucked at that class so bad. But now I'm in his Early National America and it's lecture based and I am enthralled with the topic. It's not that Military History is boring by any means. I just hate reading a text instead of being lectured at. I'm hoping it gets better when we get to the more mainstream religions and I know more. I would drop the class and take up something else later but I already had to choose between this and Renaissance/Reformation and I may be regretting it. Although Renaissance/Reformation has a complete ton of reading. Oh well, it all makes me excited for Greece.

DDR: Hottest Party for Wii

Some information has been released on the new DDR game for the Wii. It looks really interesting. It seems you use the GameCube pads combined with the Wiimote and Nunchuck. The pads record the arrows and there will be symbols for when to shake either the nunchuk or remote. This reminds me of the Rayman "dance" modes and is reminiscent of what they wanted you to do with the EyeToy camera with Extreme on for PS2. I hope this doesn't get too confusing but I'm excited. Plus, you can have up to 4 players at once. Something the Xbox version had on the PS2. It's going to be weird to buy DDR pads again. I haven't done that since 2003. One thing is for sure, you are going to need one large room to fit 4 pads comfortably but it's still freakin' sweet.

For more information on Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party, go here or here.

What Have Wii Been Doing?

I picked up Marvel: Ultimate Alliance last weekend. I've been playing that for most of last week. It's, not surprisingly, very similar to X-Men Legends, but still very fun. The Wii controls seem to accent the game rather than drive it. I periodically did a motion to attack but mainly stick to pressing A all the time. The cinematics are breathtaking though. I've unlocked all the characters without cheating so that makes me smile. Now I want to play it on Hard.

I rented Rayman Raving Rabbids this weekend. That game is so sick, twisted, and fun. Basically an army of bunnies puts Rayman through a series of minigame tasks that use the Wiimote to its potential in order to be set free. People who watch us must think we're screwed up in the head to be attacking bunnies but they are not friendly once you get into the game. I likened it to the Internet Insanity Test in the weird noises you hear as you play the game. It's very good and I will probably get it soon.

I also rented Superman Returns for the PS2. I have to say, I was quite disappointed in it. I was expecting something like Spider-Man 2 and Ultimate Spider-Man with the free-roam city and, although you have that, the game for me gets bogged down with strange controls and weird missions. It also suffers from Episode III-itis. In that game, although fun, there are many enemies with the ability to block lightsabers. It's a lightsaber! In Superman Returns, Superman's powers seem quite useless against villains. I really have to bring myself to want to play it again. There was so much potential, but it seems wasted.

I read a thing online about Mortal Kombat: Armageddon for the Wii. There's a video floating around that shows how moved will work. For example to use Scorpion's spear, you swing the remote and there it goes. Many people have complained that this takes the fun out of the game I disagree. I think it makes the game accessible to anyone. The button-mashers out there liked having the exclusivity of having to memorize a combination to make a powerful move work. Now the layman can do it. I see this a lot recently. When we play Bond on PS2, I have to step back when the others play so they have a chance because I'm too familiar on it. On the System Link for Halo, Mark and Brenner say that people don't like it when they play because they're so good, and they are. With simplified controls, the playing ground is even.

Also, Mario Kart 64 came out on Virtual Console this morning and oh, how I've missed it. I never had a Nintendo 64 because that came out during the time when my parents wouldn't pay for video games themselves. So I missed out on a lot but thanks to Virtual Console, those games are back. The game plays so wonderfully and seems to be graphically smoother than my emulated version, but that could be the emulator. I really wish they could get the license to GoldenEye 007 for the Virtual Console. The company who made it is now owned by Microsoft, plus they need the Bond license but that game would sell so well.

Silver Surfer's Packing

Apparently, I'm not sure who found this out but, in the HD version of the Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer trailer, which is a neat trailer by the way, the Surfer for a few frames appears to be anatomically correct. Throughout the trailer, he's a Ken doll but somewhere after the 1:00 mark the Surfer flies by and I guess the animators wanted to have a little fun. I highly doubt that we will see this in the final film, it isn't Hollow Man. I'm just wondering when the trailer will be replaced. And please, no "rise" of the Silver Surfer jokes.

You can see the nads here.

Wii First-Person Shooters

I found another article off digg I want to talk about. This one talks about how the first person shooters on the Wii are difficult to control and suggest ways for the developers to fix this before they lose sales. I have Call of Duty 3 and I admit, it was not fun to play at first. I aimed the Wiimote at the screen directly and noticed how if you look in any direction that wasn't the center, the camera would zoom off in that direction. It wasn't fun holding the controller at the screen in an unnatural position for so long. Try holding a remote control at a TV for 30-60 minutes. I played a couple of missions and my hand cramped up and hurt the next day. Even though it was difficult to control, I surprisingly enjoyed it.

The solution on the player side is to take the Wiimote and brace it against yourself. Have it rest on your leg or something. It's much more natural and you have greater stability over where that cross hair goes. I find myself enjoying the game so much more now that it doesn't cause me pain and anguish. I even got Steph to play it and she did the same and she enjoyed it even though it made her nervous. Whenever the Wii Zapper comes out, it might improve the stability of the unbraced hand. Holding a gun at something for an extended period is creepily more natural that doing the same action with a remote. Unfortunately, the prototype displayed found at Wikipedia doesn't seem to leave much actions for the Nunchuck, but in Call of Duty 3, most of those actions have a button duplicate. Although, it would be really cool to have four of these for some kind of future multiplayer Bond game.

On the developer side, I think they should add in a little auto-aiming. I know people don't like that because they think the computers doing all the work or something, but it would help the player control the game slightly better. It's not the same as using an analog stick to aim, you physically have to point at it. Also, it would be nice to modify the look sensitivity of the Wiimote, somewhat like you can in Halo.

I don't think that first person shooters on the Wii are doomed. Gamers are just going to have to adjust better. I had to adjust to using one analog stick to move/strafe and another to look. That seemed counter-productive to me, but I see the merits of adjusting to it.

What the Wiki?

Apparently it seems that Wikipedia is too smart for us. An article found on digg says that the content of Wikipedia is becoming too unreadable, not by idiots adding whatever comments Stephen Colbert tells them to put on the elephant page, but by the language and vocabulary used on the site. The writer of the article says that the George Washington page's introduction qualifies as post-graduate level writing. See, I don't get this. I can understand it, not trying to sound like I'm a post-graduate or anything, but I would guess it's because Wikipedia is trying to be more of a source in its academic affairs. Although, if you were to start a question in Dr. Hickey's class with, "According to Wikipedia..." you wouldn't get very far in the credibility scales. That fact that anyone can edit it is unique, but it is truth by consensus. The people on digg also pointed out a Simple English Wikipedia that dumbs it down even further into short sentences and words. Seriously, on the front page it says "Agriculture (growing crops)" in reference to the entire "field" of agriculture. Obviously! Nice for the 4th grader, but what is happening to our society? Reading used to be a privilege reserved for the elite and now it seems that books are greatly ignored or dumbed down. I mean, honestly, one of the the top selling books for children and adults is Harry Potter, a book written for children! I'm not saying it's bad but our adults are reading youth novels. Of course, I read comic books so I'm really no better, but the fact remains, if people don't have to read, they won't. And when they do read something, like Wikipedia, it's too complex for some to understand. I'm glad I'm not going into English Education because they have a lot of work ahead of them to turn future adults into active readers.

You Passed High School with an A+

You have the brains of a high school graduate... at least!

Could You Pass High School?

Of all places, Pamida

I went over to Pamida today to pick up tissues and Tylenol and I walked over to the electronics, just to check, and they had a Wii! I picked that thing up and got my stuff and checked out. I was floored. I brought it back to Morey and showed people what I got at Pamida. I put it together and now the fun happens.

It was very disturbing going into Fremont, Omaha, Lincoln, Norfolk, and Sioux City and finding PlayStation 3's sitting on the shelves and no Wiis. Only recently I've been finding the price marking for the Wii at stores. I go everywhere and it's sitting in Wayne at Pamida. It wasn't even marked up like usual. They said they got 6 in on Friday and that was the last one that was not reserved. I'm so happy Christmas came in January.

A minor scare

I was just going through the planner the college gave us to plan on when our Sci-Fi meetings would occur and I crossed off Easter Sunday, of course, and I noticed the date. It said April 15. I get a little freaked out, not because of tax day, don't be silly, but that's the last day of WillyCon. I think to myself, "No, there's no way we would've scheduled that during Easter. That's not possible. It's gotta be wrong." So I check Wikipedia, the best source in a rush, and it says that 2007 Easter is April 8. I am so relieved. But I want it to be known that the WSC planner has Easter on the 15th, not the 8th. That's the last time I trust the college to plan my events.

New Pirates of the Caribbean Pictures

Apple TV and iPhone

Apple TV is a box that you can sync with iTunes to play music, movies, TV shows, trailers, and podcasts wirelessly from the iTunes Store. This is very interesting. I've wondered why you would buy Pirates 2 for $9.99 on iTunes just so you could watch it on a computer or the small screen on iPod. Buy the DVD. But now, you can stream it to a TV making your digital media on demand. You don't need to find the disc, it's already on your TV. It's interesting, but not portable. You can take the disc with you if you need to. You won't want to drag the box. But it does validate purchasing videos, especially movies, on the iTunes Store if you now have a way of playing it in a neat fashion. Or you could buy the iPod Universal dock kit for $99, connect it to a TV, and watch it that way but that's no fun. Price: $299

iPhone is stylistically a very neat product. The whole thing is one big touch screen. It has a very clean and spiffy interface and has a 4GB to 8GB iPod built in. Apple's site has videos that show how well the interface works. It's got full Internet browsing as well as several neat phone features. It arranges texts well and will show you your voicemail. It can play videos like iPod and will rotate on its side for widesceen ones. But at 4GB and 8GB, how many videos will it hold? Not many. You won't be watching Pirates 2 on this bad boy unless you don't want much else on there. The price is staggering at $499 and $599, making it effectively like a PlayStation 3, but it is state-of-the-art. It's also exclusively under Cingular which is good for me if I wanted it, but I wonder how long it will remain exclusive (like how the RAZR was). This is a neat product and neat to look forward to.

Keep in mind I have never seen these devices, nor actually handled them, I am only responding to the information that has been presented so far so don't go thinking I'm an expert, people. I just thought they were cool announcements and wanted to share my two cents on them.

Your results:
You are The Joker

The Joker 48% Lex Luthor 44% Venom 43% Magneto 42% Dr. Doom 31% Apocalypse 30% Poison Ivy 29% Mr. Freeze 29% Green Goblin 29% Kingpin 27% Mystique 25% Riddler 22% Two-Face 21% Catwoman 17% Dark Phoenix 15% Juggernaut 9%

The Clown Prince of Crime. You are a brilliant mastermind but are criminally insane. You love to joke around while accomplishing the task at hand.

Click here to take the "Which Super Villain are you?" quiz...

Making Up 2 Weeks in 2 Days

On Friday I went into Omaha to get some stuff taken care of before returning to Wayne. I went into Wal-Mart and picked up some medication. I went over to PhantaC and picked up some comics. I called Daniele because she wanted to get together sometime. I told her I was going to Krypton next and she was about to get in her car and drive over. So much ADD. I went over the Dragon's Lair and then Hobby Lobby to get supplies. I went to Best Buy and picked up War of the Worlds and Superman: the Movie. I then went to the other Dragon's Lair to see what they got. I then went to Walgreens to get more medication. I got a pretty good haul of stuff to read.

Yesterday after work, I headed out to Daniele's. We eventually went over to Jodie's and it was good to see her. We went to Trade-A-Tape and I picked up Superman: Secret Identity. We then went to Comic World and I picked up some trading cards. We went to Best Buy and I was really tempted to get Star Trek IV and Insurrection but I just didn't care. We then tried to eat at Lazlo's over by the Batman Bank, then at Ruby Tuesday's, then Olive Garden, then the food court, and ended up at Fazoli's. We then went to Barnes and Noble. I picked up Casino Royale because I want to read the Bond novels in order. Then we went down to the Haymarket and had I had some Earl Grey at the Mill. Then we went to Wal-Mart. I picked up some yarn so Jodie can crochet me a scarf for my new coat. They had 2 PS3s and no Wiis. It was very depressing. At Walgreens I got a nasal inhaler for my congestion that works well. We then waited for Book Lady to arrive at the train station. She got in at about 1:45 AM so we dropped off Jodie and they took me to my car. All in all it was fun if not late.

Your results:
You are Superman

Superman 80% Green Lantern 70% Hulk 60% Robin 57% Spider-Man 55% Catwoman 55% The Flash 55% Supergirl 54% Iron Man 50% Batman 45% Wonder Woman 39%

You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

This is getting annoying

Well, my bronchitis is gone and I'm done with my medicines. So I went back to work yesterday and my nose was just relentless. It kept running and running. My cough also picked up a bit. The doctor said that it is the remnants of the disease and now that it's over, my body needs to get rid of the mucus. He gave me a new syrup that stopped the runny nose, but not the congestion. So I basically destroyed my nose trying to get rid of the snot that won't leave. So I'm not taking that again. I got very little sleep last night and now I have a mild headache combined with my congestion, cough, and runny nose. I am so sick...of being sick. I need a gallon of orange juice or something because my immune system must no longer care. I really want to go do stuff with people but I'm just taking it one day at a time.

Also, I am now aware that I used the wrong tense in my Spanish in the previous illness post. I apologize to any Hispanics I may have offended with my linguistic incompetence!

What I'm looking forward to in 2007

1. Spider-Man 3 - How good will it be? It's got Venom, Gwen Stacy, and Sandman added to the cast. It will be interesting to see if after this movie if there is any life left in the franchise, or if it allow itself to end.
2. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End - How is Barbossa back? What exactly is Keith Richards' cameo going to be like? The summer has answers for us.
3. Other movies - Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, maybe Ghost Rider. I also hope we'll get to see what Heath Ledger looks like as the Joker in The Dark Knight
4. Ultimate Spider-Man sans-Mark Bagley - The long-running comic loses its artist after shattering a Marvel record. We'll see how it goes from there.
5. Friday's off - I have no Friday classes next semester and that's something to be excited about.
6. Greece - I have the chance to go to Greece for a class at the end of May and I am so taking it.
7. WillyCon IX - We have so many guests of honor lined up. Im also exctied to see what develops at this year's con.
8. Nintendo Wii - I'll get my Wii sometime in 2007. I really want to play with my Wii.
9. Halo 3 - When is that dang thing going to be released?
10. PPST - I really, really need to take that stupid thing. Why am I so lazy?
11. Practicums - when I take that stupid PPST, I'll have loads of practicums!
12. No more history classes - They will end after this semester. I will miss them as I'm bored to stupidity with education classes.
13. 30th Anniversary of Star Wars - What do they have planned?
14. Tellering - Once I'm back from Greece, I'll get to work again! Yay!
15. Summer trips - I'll probably head back up to Wayne and Norfolk and Sioux City in the summer again. It's so fun seeing people outside of stress.
    
16. The unexpected - You never know what's out there...
    

Judgment

Now, typically I don't get religious in my posts because I don't feel it is necessary to advertise my beliefs. I believe in tolerance. I let you believe what you will and try to respect you for that. In turn I hope to learn more about what you believe so I may confirm or add to my own beliefs. I don't want to be shut out to ideas because I may have been told to. On that note, it happened again. It happened at Thanksgiving and one holiday later it happened one more time. On Christmas, I'm not sure how, but my family went off on homosexuals again. It's very disconcerting to hear their hateful and un-Christian remarks. It drives me nuts when people claim Christianity but listen to very little of it. I must admit, I said nothing to them, partially because of my voice, but mainly because I didn't want to make an issue. My mom, though, seems to share my mentality which helped restore my views of the obedient Christian.

First of all, we are to reserve our judgment. Matthew 7:1-2 NIV says: "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." I love the Message Remix which translates the Scripture into contemporary English. Matthew 7:1-5 in it says: "Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticise their faults--unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It's easy to see a smudge on your neighbor's face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, 'Let me wash your face for you,' when your own face is distorted by contempt? It's this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing the holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor."

They would argue how they must be sinners. I would counter that all of us are no different. Romans 3:23 NIV says: "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." More importantly, I was always taught to love your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 18:19, Mark 12:31). How is loving your neighbor the same as condemning them for something they have no control over and how God made them? In fact, we, as Christians, are not to lash out, but to turn the other cheek when we are attacked (Matthew 5:39 NIV) or as the Message Remix puts it: "'Don't hit back at all.' If someone strikes you, stand there and take it." Ah, the fundamentals of tolerance. Similar to love the sinner, hate the sin. You don't have to like what other people do but that shouldn't stop you from loving and supporting them in whatever they choose to do. I just hope my family realizes this before their private opinions may turn into public, and life-damaging remarks.

Do I hate them for this? No, As much as it disturbs me, I must try to help them see the truth. No matter how I feel, one strong Christian value is that of forgiveness. We are to "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." (Ephesians 4:32 NIV). Sorry to get all spiritual on everyone, but, as I said, it bothers me when Christians, the people who should be the most loving people you will meet, can act with such hatred.

Holiday Awards

OK, I'm going to go over the presents in a fun way.

Most surprised reaction: Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows for PS2. I got this from my mom's side aunt and I was totally not expecting this. They have never picked up PS2 games before and it is very appreciated.

Least surprised reaction: a brown light-weight coat. I opened this and I was taken back. I already have my brown corduroy coat which I like and this just seemed so similar. I'm sure I find a good use for it though.

Most consistent: iTunes gift cards. I love these things and I got two of them.

Most practical: I got a bunch of long-sleeved shirts and nifty ties with black pants for when I can go back to work.

Least practical: Call of Duty 3 for Wii. I love it and I can't wait, but I don't have the system yet.

Neatest gift: a long black wool coat with scarf and leather gloves. So cool.

Belated gift: Nintendo Wii, when I get one, it counts as a Christmas gift.

Funniest gift: a pillow that says "Be Nice or Go Away."

Unfortunate gift: Call of Duty 3 for PS2. I just got the Wii one earlier in the day and my aunt picked it up. I felt bad but I know I could exchange it for Zelda or something.

Gift you wouldn't expect me to love: CD-Rs. I have none of these at all which is surprising.

Gift I wish I got: an electric razor. Mine has its sideburn razor broken so they get long until I go home and nix it.

Still Wii-less

This is a late post but I find myself with time now. On December 17, I heard that there would be another shipment of Wiis in. Toys R Us would get 7, Target would get a bunch, Best Buy would get some, and Wal-Mart would get some. So I woke up at 4:00 am to get to Wal-Mart in case they sold them at 5 instead of 8 like they did in Norfolk. When I arrived in Fremont, they said weren't getting any in so, not to waste time, I went to Omaha's Wal-Mart and they didn't have any. I was wondering if they were lying in order to prevent a line, but wondering wasn't going to get me one. It was about 5 and I went to Target to see if there was a line. There was, and there were tents. They opened at 8 and I was #37. It was very cold (possibly explaining my sickness) and I had some conversations with the people there. After 45 minutes the Target people came out and said there were only 15 Wiis and 8 PS3s. So I was out of there and went back to Wal-Mart. More people were there expecting Wii and they said they didn't have anybody. They sent someone back to make sure and they said they had none. So I went home to sleep.

I was working in the lobby with a teller that was hired when I left for college, Laura. She's fun. She likes sci-fi stuff so I had stuff to talk to her about. She saw Eragon and said they left a bunch of stuff out of the book. She and her husband were also looking for a Wii. She said he was 4th in line at Gamestop for 5 Wiis and had to leave to go to work. He was offered $100 for his spot. During the week, my brother said that my sister-in-law, Jordan, was at Wal-Mart and they announced over the speakers that there were 3 Wiis that just came in. My brother was so mad she didn't stop and pick one up. I didn't mind. The next day Laura said her friend was at another Wal-Mart with the same announcement and picked one up right away. So she got to play one. I was at Best Buy and there was a bunch of PS3s just sitting there with a worker watching them. He said the Wii was all sold out. I did get Call of Duty 3 for Wii so no I have a game and a controller with nunchuk, but no Wii. Hopefully once the holiday hype dies down, I'll be able to pick one up conveniently.

Es muy inferma

I was coughing lightly throughout last week, but on Saturday it began to escalate. We went to see Casino Royale and I was coughing fairly regularly. We got ice cream afterwards and the cod didn't help. My voice lost itself on Christmas Eve and I blacked out on Christmas Day. My voice was gone the following day. Every time I talked, it triggered a coughing outbreak. So I took work off. It didn't get better so I went to the doctor yesterday. I hadn't been there since 1991 when I got my stitches out. The worst thing is both of my parents don't remember me having stitches. That's very depressing. It's weird though, because there's very few headaches, no body pains, minor nasal problems, no stomach problems other than my coughs periodically triggering my gag reflex. It's all throat and chest. So the doctor said I have a form of bronchitis and gave me a prescription for a couple of syrups. One tastes fine but the other has a nice kick. My voice sounds horrible and I try to shut up for most of the day to relax my vocal cords. I hope I get better by the weekend because my cousin's wedding is on the 30th and Daniele is having a New Year's party and I want to go. Until then I'm very contagious and catching up on my relaxation.

The Silver Surfer

Almost There...

Well, I'm so close to being done I could taste it, if it was possible to taste the future. My Ethics and Values final went well. I got the poster project done and the self-assessment done for my education classes. I took the Ancient World test and made history of it. I've got my 15-20 page paper almost done. I just need to proofread for grammatical errors. Then it's under Dr. Taber's door following my Anthropology final at 10:30 and I'm outta here.

I've got a list of games to rent for PS2 and I hope to find the Wii over break. I've also got American Gods to read for Sci-Fi Club. I'm not working too much so I hope to have time for stuff.

I found about a class I want to take. It's the History and Geography of Greece, in Greece. It's from May 21-June 5 and it costs $2500. I'll see what I can scrounge.

Your 1996 Theme Song Is: 1979 by The Smashing Pumpkins

Shakedown 1979 Cool kids never have the time On a live wire right up off the street You and I should meet

What's Your 1996 Theme Song?

Boggle Challenge: 11 words

At the bottom of the window it says there are only 11 words possible in this Boggle grid. My question is: Can you find them? I only found 6 in the three minutes but I'll give you a few days. Good luck:

If you don't know how to play you basically form words that touch horizontally, vertically, or diagonally without reusing letters.

Wii-less

I heard that Wal-Mart would be selling Wiis at 8:00am today so I called them up on Monday to confirm. I asked if they would be available at midnight and they said 8:00am. Someone on Amazon claimed that there is a lock on the Wii so they cannot be sold until 8:00am. So I slept early and woke up to get there at about 7:15. There was no line. I thought it was weird so I got my stuff and listened around. They said that people were waiting at 5 and the Wiis were all claimed. I was thinking it was a ruse to prevent a rush on the systems so I paid for my stuff and waited around the electronics. They kept saying the same thing so I gave up.

That bugged me a bit because they never told me to get there earlier and I was under the impression that they couldn't be sold until 8. I think what happened was somebody got impatient and tried ringing them up to prove a point on the electronics registers. The Amazon guy said that the electronics and jewelry departments don't have the lock for some reason. They saw they would work and sold what they had. So when I hear about the next shipment, I'll just be more vigilant.

Review of "Casino Royale"

It seems like forever since Die Another Day where Pierce Brosnan was able to somehow manage to escape from a burning-but-not-yet-exploded airplane in a helicopter with Halle Berry in tow. Well, we have a new Bond and you don't piss him off. Focusing on the 00 agent's early years, Casino Royale is a very welcome return to what seems to be classic James Bond. When the movie started I almost freaked out because there was no gun barrel intro, but rest assured, it's only delayed. The opening credits are fantastic by the way. And Chris Cornell's "You Know My Name" is way too catchy. It's a shame the only way to obtain it is through semi-legal means.

The plot is solid with very few unbelievabilities. There is little focus on gadgets as evidenced by the lack of Q and no watch lasers. At one point he even, God forbid, drives a Ford. The film was co-produced by Columbia thus connecting it to Sony explaining the multitude of Sony-branded products throughout the movie. I almost expected him to whip out a PS3 in his off time. But, no this is a darker movie. The villain, Le Chiffre, is very cool, very calm and sophisticated...in the first part of the movie. I feel the casino scenes show some 21st Century influence with the use of Texas Hold 'Em Poker as the game of choice but it helps you connect more. M is also much more determined in this movie, for lack of a better word. Bottom line: If you're a Bond fan, and action fan, or just like great movies, go see this film. This or Happy Feet...whatever.

My rating: 009.5 out of 10
DVD-worthy: I will most likely own this as soon as possible, if I can wait until March 27th.

Where Have I Been?

OK, recap. This could get as long as a Jodie post but I feel the need to catch up on what's been going on.

Game Day and V for Vendetta
On November 4 the Sci-Fi Club had our Game Day. It was a lot of fun. I rented LEGO Star Wars II and DDR Extreme 2. I also played some Risk and we watched a bunch of movies. We had a good turnout but they kicked us out at 9. We're going to do it again for our Christmas Party and we'll ask to stay longer like at WillyCon. The next day we played V for Vendetta for the campus in Ramsey. There was some confusion about whether or not it was public and if it was illegal. We decided it is illegal but no one cares. We had a decent turnout but it gave us ideas for other movies. I then played LEGO Star Wars II and beat the first one.

My Brother's Wedding
Last weekend my brother got married. I guess they both got really sick with the flu before the wedding. I got down to Beatrice in record time and we went to the rehearsal. It went well and then we had the prenup at Valentino's. My cousin brought up Guitar Hero and I watched him play it. I went over to Wal-Mart at about 11:00pm and was really tempted to get it.

The next day I helped set up the video for the reception. We wanted to get it connected to the overhead speakers without putting a microphone next to the speaker. I went over to RadioShack and picked up a microphone extension cord and a minijack adapter. It worked well. The Holiday Inn lady didn't even know that was possible. The tuxedos were nice but very restricting. I drove over to the church outside of Plymouth for the pictures. They had good weather so some were taken outside. The wedding went well. They had trouble getting a CD to play so me and her brother Caleb went over to look at it when they fixed it. So we had to run back downstairs to get back in our cubby at the front. It was a really neat wedding. The flowers had some sort of fruit in them and a feather. They also threw lavender at the couple as left left the church. Her family is so crafty. After the ceremony I was to take my cousins, the guest book attendants to the reception. I went to my car and found out I locked myself out. Stupid Wayne habits! My spare was also inside because I didn't want bulky pockets during the wedding. My uncle, my dad, and I worked on getting in but those Pontiacs are built air tight. So we left it and went to the reception. The food was fantastic and the video worked well. I basically winged my speech off the top of my head. But people liked it. That made me fell good considering this senior in college can be a total idiot at times. My uncle manages Sid Dillon in Fremont and he had them make up a key. We had another spare at home so we decided that I would ride back with my uncle to Fremont, stay the night, and drive back with him to unlock the car.

We got the car open and drove back to the hotel to load up my stuff. I felt so bad and my confidence was shot so that was fun. I helped my parents load up and they gave me gasoline and I began my 3 hour drive to Wayne. I stopped at home to get some things and let the animals in. I got back here at a reasonable time but I enjoyed the wedding for the most part. I'm so excited now.

Last Night
Yesterday Rachel, Steph, Faye, Daniele and I went into Norfolk for stuff and things. I guess the comic book store is gone now so we went to Target. I picked up The DaVinci Code on DVD along with Batman Begins UNO. We then went to Sonic to confuse the carhop. After the food we went to Hastings where I got a used copy of V for Vendetta. We then went to Wal-Mart and I picked up an external hard drive. My current one had only 2 GB out of 120 GB. So now this gynormous one is for videos only. I like it.

Haunted House

I am so loving the haunted house. We had basically no paying customers for scout night on Thursday but we totally made up for it on Friday. They were lined up and groups were being sent in constantly. I felt bad for the workers who never got their break so we took five minutes and I ran in pizzas for the workers and got whatever they wanted. I felt like a waiter. It was vigorous for all but it was so worth it in the long run. We also had a huge turnout for workers which really helped out. We had a decent night last night. People had time to come out to eat and scared a good number of people. Today was awesome. We didn't have as good of a turnout but everyone had a great time socializing. We were about to close up but another group came with 10 minutes to spare. I don't know why but we had so much fun with them. We scared the crap out of them and everyone was just spinning. I envy those who couldn't make it because it was a blast. Luckily, we still have tomorrow and Halloween!

Neologisms in Papers

I'm writing my Anthropology paper and I keep making up words that Microsoft Word doesn't recognize. They include:

• gravitic: relating to gravity. "This causes a gravitic problem."
• civilizational: of a civilization. "a civilizational breakdown" (recognized by Webster)
  
• naturality: relating to nature. "realize the naturality of the situation" (recognized by Webster)

I don't know where "gravitic" came from, most likely Star Trek.

Finally, Some Good Customer Service

My iPod has been goofy for quite a while. I just never cared. In about February or March it started doing this thing where after a while, the volume would no longer respond. The bar would move but there was no change. I had to reset the thing to get volume control. I tried searching Apple for the reason but all I got was angry Europeans whining about how they can't make the volume louder because of restrictions there. I hoped a future update would correct this. Nope. In fact the 1.2 update made it slightly worse. The volume thing was gone, but now it would freeze if it stayed idle most of the time. It would also play like 20 seconds of a video. So I deal with that for a while but it frustrated me on the Duluth trip because it would freeze and drain the battery. Sometimes it would shut down properly, otherwise it was a guess. It would even freeze in the dock.

I noticed the Apple Store opened in Village Pointe in Omaha a few weeks ago so I thought that perhaps they can service it without having to send it in to Apple. I brought it in and the took a look at it. They listened to it and tweaked it a little. Luckily it was frozen when I brought it in so they knew what I was talking about. I'm glad I remembered to bring the Best Buy receipt because that helped immensely. After a while they went into the back and gave me a new iPod of the same model! I was thrilled. The new iPods scratch like a son of a gun so I am going to be smart about this one. I used the first one as a testing ground so now I have a case to care for the iPod. I'm just so happy to have great customer service after the Cingular debacles.

Duluth and North Shore

On Friday I had to wake up and go on the Explorer's Club trip to Duluth. I brought a nice supply of reading material for the trip plus the great and powerful iPod to solve boredom problems. We went to Interstate State Park in Wisconsin after heading through Minneapolis to see the St. Croix River that serves as a border between Minnesota and Wisconsin. I'm so glad we went in autumn because it was beautiful. We lost a couple of guys but huzzah, they were found. We also formed a grudge against Wisconsin due to the lack of open visitors centers. We headed up to Duluth and ate a Fitger's Brewhouse but first we wandered through stores. There was a Benneton. Eww...Benneton! Tee food was good and I tried new things. I didn't know what alfalfa sprouts were (sadly) but they had no taste and they were good. I also figured out what chutney was. The other table gave us their excess appetizers so Rhea began to break the two pieces of pita bread so that everyone could have some. She was almost like Jesus! We then went to our Motel 6 which was interestingly dumpy. I got basically no sleep the first night because I'm weird but it didn't matter.

The next day we went to the Aerial Lift Bridge and saw Lake Superior meet the St. Louis River. We then went up to Two Harbors and ate brunch. Then we went to Gooseberry Falls State Park. That was really neat. It reminded me of Sioux Falls as there were really no rules about where you could wander. Steph, Heidi, and I went down to the Lake Superior shore which was neat and hurried back so Dr. Bertolas wouldn't leave us. I also squished a couple of pennies and got a patch. Neat! We then drove up to Split Rock Lighthouse. We watched a film on the lighthouse and watched them really accentuate the need for the lighthouse.The lighthouse was nifty and the view was spectacular. I squished another penny and then we went up to Palisade cliff edge which scared Dr. Bertolas into believed everyone would die. After that it was a trip up to Tettagouche State Park to see Shovel Point and more of Lake Superior. I have to say, that although breathtaking, you get really tired of seeing trees and water out of one side of the car. It was a really peaceful day but you just wish the Great Lake would do something great. Anyways, we went over to Northern Lights Roadhouse to eat. I tried Walleye, Elk, and Caribou. Not to shabby. We then stopped for pie on the way back. When we got back to Duluth, we went aimlessly up to Enger Tower to get a view of the whole city. I finally got a shot of the Aerial Lift Bridge at night after several attempts with my camera.

At the motel, two of my roommates never came back and I wish I used the other bed because no one else was. We checked out of the motel one hour early and drove down to the Twin Cities. We stopped at Tobie's to get the world's best frickin' donuts ever! We then went to the Mall of America. Ahh, memories. I'd hoped we'd get to wander for another hour because we were kicking time's butt on the way there but no such luck. I was pissed because when we got there at 10, none of the stores were open! Aah! But we were lucky: Spider-Man was making a stop at the time we were there on the day we were there. We saw him run, run, run over to his podium which was hilarious. We wasted an hour with very little to do except smash pennies and then we went to Barnes and Noble when it opened. They no longer sell the Onion in print there. What a bummer! Then we high-tailed it to the game store where I bought some miniatures and over to the LEGO store where I picked up some LEGO Batman magnets. We then had to get food because it was our lunch stop so we went to McDonald's without a dollar menu and walked back. I had hoped we'd gain an hour for when it was not open, but with everyone back already Dr. B was not about to let us go back in. Such a shame because I wanted to go back. On the way back I discovered exactly how magnetic the LEGOs were. Let's just say they don't clump together in a nice way. We got back super early on a good note and I'd love to go back sometime.


The St. Croix River on the border of Minnesota and Wisconsin


The Aerial Lift Bridge in Duluth, Minnesota


Gooseberry Falls State Park


Lake Superior from Split Rock Lighthouse


Split Rock Lighthouse


Tettagouche State Park


Aerial Lift Bridge with a barge on Lake Superior at night from Enger Tower


Spider-Man running through the Mall of America

How White and Nerdy Are You?

Constitutional Conundrum

In Sci-Fi club, we have several amendments to our constitution based on simple clean up and making sure we cover our bases. One of the amendments has a provision that basically would allow the President to "appoint, remove, or replace a committee chair upon the advice of the committee, executive board, or club." The current constitution just says the President simply appoints. The Executive board then logically inferred that the power to replace and remove is also the President's handled in the same matter. So, if the President can pick someone on a whim, the President can remove someone on a whim. That's just irresponisble, hence the amendment making advice necessary before taking any action. The President needs the whole story. This is a way of protecting committee chairs from a President removing someone that the officer doesn't like.

At the meeting, we had a guest speaker from MENC to talk about joining Haunted House and if I had known, I would've had him go first instead of amendment talk. It was brought up first that the word "advice" should be changed to "approval." I stated that it is inefficient to have to vote on every committee chair's appointment and that it should be a quick executive action. We are not a communist society and that's why we have elected officials. They are the ones to do the jobs that don't require full democratic action. The other officers all have jobs that require no club approval to do, removing any power from an officer weakens the club as a whole. Then we discussed changing "or" to "and" but that would mean I would have to involve the entire club each time on what may be a private matter that affect a person's duties. Also, the power to appoint/remove/replace should be uniform in action so whatever steps it takes to remove need to be the same steps to appoint, which is an incredibly simple matter. Basically after all of this certain members probably scared off the MENC guy basically telling that club that we are too complicated an hung up on the difference between "and" and "or". That irritated Ron because MENC is actually willing to help this year and we may have shooed them off or made them hate us again.

Eventually they voted on an amendment proposal that reads: "To appoint, remove, or replace a committee chair upon the examination of the parties involved in the situation in the presence of the advisor if the advisor is available." First of all, that is not constitutionally appropriate language so I have to correct that. The constitution must have appropriate, logical language to prevent potential ambiguity. It would be irresponsible of me to submit an amendment that would flaw the constitution grammatically. The clause "in the situation" was removed by me because it is redundant. Who else would be in the situation? Then the phrase "in the presence of the advisor if the advisor is available" is contradictory because it basically means the advisor is not required granting executive discretion on whether or not an advisor should be present. We can't remove "if the advisor is available" because it was agreed that this should be a speedy decision. So, therefore, if the advisor is not required, it doesn't need enumeration. Then the question was: What is the difference between "the parties involved" and the groups previously listed? Who else would be in the involved parties that wasn't listed? I know they said that this should be a club decision, but when it involves the "parties involved," how does the club get involved? Now I have to figure out what the difference between "advice" and "examination" is. Am I supposed to give tests? What else do I get from an examination other than the advice I need to carry out the decision? I am going to add "concurring advice" to show that the advice I receive must agree with the decision but other than that the amendment will read the same way. I need to talk to Ron about how to accomplish this but honestly, I don't see the difference between the amendments.

Giggle Fit

Last night, it was way too late and we were way too caffeinated. I was playing LEGO Star Wars and Steph and Book Lady are in my room watching and of course, everything is hilarious on that game. We discovered that you can push the second player off an edge and that's funny. Then I noticed that never finished my grape Crush. So I drank it and it's warm and I said it tasted like Dimetapp. We we start laughing and my curious nature in me goes to Google to search for Dimetapp. The website makes me laugh, Steph makes me laugh, and Book Lady's passed out. I tried to stop laughing but "the Steph" finds that funny and laughs harder making me laugh again. I feel like I had Joker gas or something. So finally I sit on my stomach on my futon because it hurts less that way and laughingly tell her we need to get you back to your room so we can both stop laughing. So we giggle all the way down the hall as everything is hilarious. Soon after the tremors stop. Moral of the story: Always find time for a good laugh once in a while!

The Son becomes the Father, and the Father becomes the Son

It's becoming rarer and rarer to have a day go by without seeing the Superman shield. When walking to class you see the thing on at least one person's shirt. Even I have a shirt and a Christopher Reeve dog tag sporting the shield on my bag. Steph and I both came up with a Morey Hall shirt with the shield at the same time (creepy). I saw one over the summer that was on pink with the word "bitch" on it. I'm still not sure what that has to do with the character. It's so neat to see such an iconic character permeate into mainstream culture so easily.

Now I'm not necessarily the biggest Superman fan. Personally, he's kind of a prude. He seems so one-dimensional at times. He's not like the Marvel heroes with their problems or even Batman with his tormented past. He's got it easy. He has almost every neat power that you could think of. You can't kill him by sheer force. His greatest nemesis is a regular human holding a rock. I guess it's just the ideals that he stands for that makes him great. He is a representation of what it means to live life t the fullest, untouchable and without a worry in the world. It's also the thought of knowing that no matter how crappy the situation can get, Superman will pull through every time.

In Superman: Birthright, now the official origin story of Superman, the S-Shield is symbolic of Krypton and means "hope." It's on about everything and is almost like a family crest of the House of El as seem in the movies. That must be what people want: hope. That, or air which is what the modified symbol means in Smallville. Either way, it's a neat symbol that needs no explanation that anyone, whether a fan or a person who's never touched a comic can wear. Swell.

Norfolk vs. Sioux City

I love Sioux City. I used to go to Norfolk for everything until Sioux City came into view. Recently though, I've been finding out that Norfolk just disappoints me often. All it has going for it is Hastings, Sonic, and a closer Wal-Mart. Hastings is a big guess as to whether they have anything. If they do have it, it will cost you at least a testicle to purchase it. We midnight run to that Wal-Mart because it is closer but other than that, I find myself rarely in Norfolk.

Sioux City has ACME, which is awesome, and Rainbow which has the things ACME might not have. They also have the Dowry which is so unique for the area. They have a good mall with a Hot Topic, Spencers, and Barnes and Noble. They have Chick-fil-A! And recently, they have Best Buy and Old Navy. It's only tacking on another 10 minutes to get there and the road does get curvy, but I end up there more than Norfolk. And now that South Sioux has a super Wal-Mart on the way to ACME, I'm more appreciative. And most of this is in Iowa, too, which is amazing that I like going there for some reason.

And at times, Sioux City even makes Omaha cry all the way home to its mother. This weekend, I wanted to pick up Superman: Birthright while I was in Omaha. I went to PhantaC just to hope they had it. I went to Dragon's Lair with no luck, and also Barnes and Noble. Nothing! I was too lazy/tired/weak/stubborn to go into Krypton which probably had it but it was on the wrong side of town. I figured at least one of these places would have it since both ACME and Barnes and Noble in Sioux City had it. Of course, Norfolk's selection is pitiful, unless you want just Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 11 or Ultimate X-Men Vol. 8 with nothing else. Sioux City is also the place where you could go just to see on the small chance they may have a Smallville Clark "super-angst" Kent action figure and be able to find one at both ACME and Rainbow for cheaper than online. What a world!

Terminator TV

ComingSoon! reports that "The Sarah Connor Chronicles" has been given the go-ahead to make a pilot. The show will tell the story of Sarah and her son John after Terminator 2 while they are on the run. On the run from what? In the crappy Terminator 3, John just lives "off the grid" and wasn't expecting anything else from the future until it arrived. They must be running from the law for blowing up Cyberdyne or something. Oh well, it seems interesting so we'll just see how it turns out.

Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, You are from Krypton

We've been watching way too much Smallville. I am so surprised by Faye's reaction to it all. She really gets into it. She talks to them and then flips them off when they don't cooperate. It's fun watching the first season again because it's been under a month. We've also adapted lines from "The Juggernaut Bitch" towards Clark. "Are you shooting bullets at me? You must not know who I am. I'm Superman, bitch! You're weapons don't affect me." They also want some red K even though they've never actually seen the effects yet, they know what it does. Luckily you can Lana's kryptonite necklaces at www.replicaprops.com. We've also adopted a new axiom: Whatever doesn't kill you gives you superpowers. Oh well, I'm excited for Season 5 on DVD in a couple of weeks along with the new season after that!

Your Taste in Music:

90's Rock: Highest Influence 90's Alternative: High Influence Adult Alternative: High Influence Alternative Rock: High Influence 80's Alternative: Medium Influence

How's Your Taste in Music?

Juggernaut?

Well, I'm all moved in. I like being on the first floor for once. It makes moving and odd trips to my car a snap. I am going to miss going to the basement without going through the lobby, but now I'll get to know the desk workers better. The Organizations Fair went well I'd say. We raffled off some random stuff we found at Wal-Mart including a Marvel coloring book, some Krazy Kryptonite, and Marvel POGs. I brought up my Atari 2600 for some retro gaming fun. Today we went over to Movie Gallery and I rented V for Vendetta and Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows so we'll see how that goes. I'm all excited to get another year off the ground.

The Star Trek XI Teaser Poster

The Dark Knight

Well, the next Batman movie isn't called "Batman Continues" or...um "Batman Returns". It's "The Dark Knight". That's a nice nifty title. It looks like they're doing away with any "Batman Does-Something" convention of titles. I wonder what Bryan Singer's going to do... They also announced that Heath Ledger would be playing the Joker. Now that's interesting. He has the world's largest smile so I can somewhat see it, but I mainly can't. I'm looking forward to being surprised on that one.

July is not so boring

I finished with X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse a couple of weeks ago and I really liked it. The story is better in the first one but the second one moves through the game much smoother. It remembers your stats even when you start a new story so you do simply replay and re-level up over and over again. I picked up LEGO Star Wars as a party game. It's so stupid that it's fun. I want to get Gauntlet next ('bout time). That or a DDR or some sort. I've also been buying the seasons of Smallville to watch now that they're on sale because of the new movie. I miss watching a TV show nonstop in order thanks to DVD. All those times with Nip/Tuck...aah. I want to watch those again once I'm caught up.

It's weird, but I think I'm at a point when I'm done buying HeroClix. I have all or most of the pieces I want. There's just a few left and I can upgrade some of the ones I have but I find myself buying only a few at a time. It's kinda nice because Star Wars Miniatures really has no end because you can have multiple pieces of the same figure in play. You can only have one Gambit! It makes room for me to get Munchkin already. PhantaC Comics now has the resurgence of Marvel POGs. I though those would die, but never fear, the POGs are here. I'm also finished with the Ultimates and Ultimate Galactus for now until the new ones are out. Ultimate Spider-Man is also getting interesting in the new issues.

Despite all this spending, I'm really doing better in comparison to last summer. I was even shopping for MacBooks. I'm not sure if I want one or not because my laptop is fine, but Macs are cool. I just don't know if you can view the Windows partition in OS X or not. I think I would want to share my iTunes between the Windows and OS X partitions but if they can't see each other, that kinda craps on my dreams. I just want to try one out to see how it works. Oh well.

Superreview of "Superman Returns"

No midnight show for this one. People work, I guess. I saw this in Norfolk with Rachel and Jodie and I liked this movie. It's got a lot of connections with the first two, especially the first. It also retcons III and IV into nothingness which is another plus. It also includes some dialogue and homages to tie in its vague history. Basically Superman leaves in search for Krypton for 5 years and now, he's back! But does the world still need the Man of Steel?

Brandon Routh does a good job as a Christopher Reeve impersonater but is also a good actor as well. Jodie complained that there was too much of him in the movie but I reminded her that it was called "Superman Returns." Kate Bosworth does a good Lois as well. One thing I liked was the scarcity of kryptonite in the movie compared to other incarnations where there's a glowing, humming ball of the stuff everywhere. The plot was neat and Kevin Spacey was an awesome Lex Luthor. He puts to rest a lot of the quirkiness of Gene Hackman from the first two by making him bitter for what Superman did to him. So now he's pissed and bald. One thing that bothered me about Superman as a character was that he was too overpowered and his arch-nemesis was an ordinary man with a special rock. Ooh! Kevin Spacey actually provides a threat to Superman that is worthy of his attention.

After the movie, we called up Matt and Will to get their takes and I tried to get a hold of Heath who is a huge Superman fan with no avail. When we went to ACME, the owners said that they went to the Des Moines screening that Brandon Routh went to. They said he's really nice and still down to earth so there's hope that he won't become a jerk. Overall, most people liked the movie with only minor complaints. Rachel commented that there's a lot of unanswered questions that hopefully they'll field in the sequel: "Superman Stays." No, not really. I made that up.

My superreview: 9-9.5 out of 10- It's just thuper!
DVD-worthy: I will probably go midnight run to pick this up and I hope it doesn't take too long to be released. I think they're also re-releasing the originals in nice super editions along side with it. I need to see it again because that frickin' John Williams score has been playing in my head for the past few days. Just ask Rachel, she had to deal with me.

Back, Superman, back! I have kryptonite!

Last weekend I went up to Wayne to go see Rachel. I brought her up some tamales, empanadas, and Mexican pop. I also brought up my toys with the new additions of the Green Goblin, Kevin Spacey, and Superman. On Saturday we went into Norfolk. We went to Hastings where I got a couple HeroClix boosters and then to the theatre to see Superman Returns with Jodie. After that we went to Wal-Mart to waste time before the fireworks. I picked up some Krazy Kryptonite to keep Superman at bay and to keep me entertained. I also picked up Futurama Volume 2 for cheap. The fireworks were neat and once they were done it started to rain. We waited forever to get out of the parking lot and then went back to Wayne.

On Sunday we went to Sioux City and stopped at ACME, of course. We then went to Rainbow but they were closed. Chick-Fil-A was also closed. What is it with Sunday? We wandered the mall and found Superman Returns and Pirates of the Caribbean Monopoly at Barnes & Noble. After that we went to Best Buy and I got X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse which I am currently playing. After that I went home and relaxed. All in all it was a fun time and it got me all excited to go back in August!


You'd think Superman would win, but Batman's got kryptonite!