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!

Spider-Man 3 Teaser Trailer

OK wow! The trailer was released today and it is really nice. Like the one for Spider-Man 2 they don't give you just crappy shots just to tease, but they give you enough to want to make it be May 4th already. Check it out:

http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/spider-man_3/

June is so Boring

Yes, I have the Internet. Yes, I view this site on a fairly regular basis. So why are there no updates? Basically because so little happens outside of work. Let's see..

The comic book store in Fremont closed so now I have to go into Omaha to get my fix. There's a new store in Omaha that I try to give my business to called PhantaC Comics. He's basically selling his personal collection along with any new things he gets so he has a lot of HeroClix. I went to the free Bright Eyes concert where I realized I'm not young anymore. It started to pour and was relentless and everyone's excited and having fun and I'm thinking, "Is anyone else wet because I am wet?" So Daniele and I went back to Jodie's car to dry off. The concert was good, I just don't find much fun in being totally soaked.

I am planning on being up in Wayne this weekend. I have to work a lot this week to do it but it's worth it. Because Superman Returns premieres on a Tuesday night I probably won't be seeing it at midnight so I'll see if I can get to it up in Sioux City or something. I picked up X-Men Legends and have been playing that for a few weeks. It's fun but I just gotta beat this thing. I am so ready to go back up to college. I have so many ideas for this semester that I really want to get started.

Midnight Review of "X-Men: The Last Stand"

Josh and I planned on seeing this a few weeks ago and Matt and Jen were gathering a group as well. We caught up with them at Barnes & Noble and Will and I geeked out on comic stuff. We then went in and I played some of the clips on my iPod as we waited. Now, to the movie.

The movie revolves around the development of a cure for mutation that threatens mutant existence. Magneto and his followers believe it is an attack on the mutant community. We also see the return of Jean Grey as the incredibly powerful Phoenix. One thing that got to me was the explanation of the Phoenix for the movie continuity. Although I prefer their reasoning for movie audiences than the comic one, it made Professor X seem like a jerk. Others didn't like the "Serenity factor" that if you see the movie, you'll know what I'm referring to.

Personally, I liked the movie. I really enjoyed it and it was visually neat. Josh very rarely likes many movies so I don't take his interpretations very seriously. Listening to him complain on the way home I could tell he was reaching for reason to hate it. Everyone except me and one other guy felt disappointed but it was what I expected. I knew it would feel different because of the change of direction. As for the other two movies, the third one felt slightly betrayed. In a small nitpick, the first two started with a narration by Xavier followed by a CGI opening sequence. The third one has no narration and begins with chronological flashbacks before giving the credits.

On the whole, I enjoyed this movie and I would see it again. To those who didn't like it, I asked, "Which is better: X3 or Fantastic 4?" It was very hard for some to answer. I liked the movie because of the explosion of evil in this. Finally a relentless Magneto and Brotherhood! Some complained that they didn't develop the new characters because some don't really need or require an advanced backstory. Also they complained that Rogue was useless, but she was already in X2. I do like what they did with the characters because they don't have hundreds of movies to evolve characters slowly. Also, the franchise is still open and I encourage people to stay after the credits when you see this movie.

My review: 8.5 out of 10- Although others felt disappointed, I didn't give it unreal expectations.
DVD-worthy: Yes, I will probably do a midnight run to get this movie.

Your IQ Is 120

Your Logical Intelligence is Below Average Your Verbal Intelligence is Exceptional Your Mathematical Intelligence is Exceptional Your General Knowledge is Exceptional

A Quick and Dirty IQ Test

Looks like I went up from last time.

It's Electric! 

Your Political Profile:

Overall: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Social Issues: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

Ethics: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

How Liberal Or Conservative Are You?

You Passed 8th Grade Geography

Congratulations, you got 10/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Geography?

Free Comic Book Day

Today was Free Comic Book Day. I went over to Krypton because they had Sarah Douglas, the actress who played Ursa in Superman II. I didn't get in line but she seemed really nice. There were so many nerds in costume, especially Jedi and stormtroopers. I was there for a while and then I went to Dragon's Lair in Millard. Not only were they giving out the standard free books, but they were also giving away other free ones. There was a good amount of Ultimate Spider-Man and X-Men but I am done with the series. I picked up a few good ones and then went to see what the other Dragon's Lair had. I picked up a few more and then I maxed out on comics. That's good. Now I have to read!

Finals Bi-Polar

All this week I wish I had another week. It's weird what college does to a person. It's the only time when you don't look forward to summer for some reason. Having nothing to do isn't great, it's boring. Before my World Civ test today I totally wanted another week. After the test, my hand hurt and I was so ready to go home. I have finals bi-polar or something. Oh well, I'm excited to go home and take it easy for a couple days until I start work on Monday.

My US & Canada test was good and for Urban Geography we watched Falling Down. Good movie. The World Civ test went well and I think I did good on it. I got my Con Law take home final done (finally) today and I think/hope I did well. I gave Dr. Slaymaker my paper because he wanted to use it as an example. He said I got a B in the class. That makes me happy considering how my first test went.

Well, to everyone up at Wayne, see you in 3 months!

I hate you, Kenny

So it turns out they're going to release the Star Wars films on DVD again as individual two-disc editions with both the 2004 special editions and the original unaltered theatrical editions as bonus material. Thank you so much, Lucasfilm, for having us buy a trilogy DVD pack when you plan on releasing them again and again. They'll be out only from September 12 to December 31 so it looks like I'll be buying that, again. Why? Because I'm insane. Plus, it never hurts to have more than one copy of Star Wars. Believe me, I will now have 3 after this.

The Week of Film Clips

Wow, new footage was released for 3 of the summer's hot movies:

X-Men: The Last Stand - Wolverine vs. Sentinel clip
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - Trailer
Superman Returns - Full Trailer

Review of "Crash"

We had to pick a movie to watch for Urban Geography. Tough homework. We picked Crash because it was the closest thing we could think of that would show city dynamics. This movie is a very powerful film. I don't think it was a good as previous Oscar winners but it is still very well told. The cast is huge so you can't really focus on one character because everything comes full circle. The movie is basically on racism in Los Angeles. It shows different people in different situations and how they react to the situations. It illustrates the snap judgments and tensions we all experience at some point. It shows you that sometimes those feelings are justified but most of the time people call a situation totally false.

I really enjoyed this film and I recommend watching it at least once. I also not recommending watching the menu for more that 15 seconds because the looping music doesn't last very long and, on its own, it very annoying. Just ask my class and the Class Evaluator who had to listen to it for about 10 minutes. Honestly though, watch this movie, it is very eye-opening.

My rating: 9.5 out of 10
DVD-worthy: At this point, with all the hype, it's most likely expensive but I probably will own this movie.

I actually knew the answers

I am such a slacker. I really should blog more. It's not that I don't care, it's just that nothing seems to happen. Today we had no Bertolas class but if we went to the Undergraduate Research Celebration, we would get the questions for the final on Hawaii. It started at about 2:00 and I showed up at 2:30ish and there's most of my class looking bored. I sat next to Dan and he told me he had been sitting there since it started and that he had ice cream, saw the posters, and watched the movie twice waiting for Dr. Bertolas. I waited for a while and then Cara called him. He was at his office so she told him to get here because we're waiting. He tells her that the questions are already there. So everyone scatters like a scavenger hunt looking for this paper. We find it and leave. Too funny.

I had my World Lit final today rather than Friday, nice. I was so mad at myself for not knowing #10 on the last test but I redeemed myself by having notes on every question and I was able to write on everyone with detail. I also wasn't the first one done so I knew I wrote more that others in the class. I may reward myself by going to Norfolk and buying Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 13 early and getting my Wal-Mart supplies since Wayne has none of it here.

Another new MSN...in a way

I've been seeing the advertisement at the bottom of MSN for too long..."Download the new Windows Live Messenger Beta Now!" I decided to try it. I knew that there's been some talk about Windows Live and what it's about and it seems that it will be a part in replacing MSN with Windows Live. There's very little differences aesthetically. I've also confirmed my feelings on what Microsoft wants you to do with their program. Basically, in the newest release, they added the Personal Message space that is really easy to edit and change. They assume that people would do what they want...Use the main blank for a name and put the stupid quote in the Personal Message blank. But people don't get it. They still use quotes, 2 quotes, for one person. OK? Personally, I like to know who the person is in my messenger list. I don't want to have to get through the dumb quote just to find the email address, who sometimes I can't even remember from that. Now I admit I do have a quote, and they are stupid, but I want people to know that that is me right away so they know who they can avoid talking to via MSN. Well, in this new beta, they give you the opportunity to change someone's name on your end. This means that if your friend Jimmy's name is some really long, really stupid quote, you can right click on Jimmy and make the messenger call him "Jimmy" as a nickname (finally!). This has been a feature in Messenger Plus for a long time and now it's official. However, the new nickname replaces the main blank, meaning you will only see the quote in the Personal Message blank. They really want you to use a name. I like this because people can rename my name to however they know me. The Jimmy group can rename me to that, the Kevin group can change it to Kevin. That way no one would think that Kevin/Jimmy is two people sharing one MSN.

Long story short...download the new Messenger and try it out for yourself.

Too Many Comics

Today we went off to Omaha for a Comic Book Convention to see what they had. We picked up Angie in Norfolk first and we were off. We found the convention and it was neat. It was basically a large WillyCon vendors area but with a lot of crap in it. I wanted the next Ultimate Spider-Man volumes but they had none of them. There was a good amount Ultimate X-Men, though. They had Amazing Spider-Man #36 which is the 9/11 reaction black issue for $35.00. I thought that was too much and I wouldn't keep it in perfect mint condition so I declined. I did pick up Marvel Zombies which is hilarious. Everyone came out with purchases.

We then went to Dragon's Lair to see the selection. Steph toyed around with purchasing Munchkin, 1602, or Maus. She decided to wait. I picked up volumes 8 and 9 which made Book Lady giddy. We then went out eat at Biaggi's. I had to tell Daniele, the driver, 5 times to turn right onto Dodge. Frickin' A! Biaggi's was awesome, as always. We then went to Krypton to see the selection. They had a Green Goblin from the movie! It was out of packaging too so it was cheap. I'm excited. Steph picked up action figures as well and got 1602. We then went to Dave & Buster's to see the arcade. We then returned to Wayne to read the multitudes of comics.

The Da Vinci Dream

Last Friday, I had a strange dream. Not only is it strange because I actually remember it, but it was epic. I dreamed that there was a group of us in Paris. I figure it's because I read The Da Vinci Code not too long ago. We decided to go to the Louvre. It's basically me, Daniele, Steve, and Jodie for some reason. We getting our tickets to go in and we see the Inverted Pyramid. Bear in mind, I have neither been to the Louvre nor Paris in my life so my brain is in overtime. They see the pyramid and decide it would be funny to take a picture of it because of the novel. So they stand in front of something, but instead they're in front of some other display next to some Dutch people. I get them over to the correct area with the pyramid and after trying to get my battery-hogging camera to take the picture we walk off. I stop to check that no one actually stood in front of the pyramid.

We go up to the first floor and everyone scatters. So I wander for a while, find a map, and meet up with Daniele at the staircase. She's watching the other people's stuff and I wonder when they're getting back because I want to see the Mona Lisa on the second floor (I know it's there because I now have a map!). She says, "There's more!" as she stands next to the giant staircase. I say, "Of course," she starts running up the stairs. I remind her that she's watching people's stuff so she comes down and a few seconds later they how up. For some reason, I'm really apprehensive about walking across balconies, stairs, catwalks, etc. So walking up these stairs is freaking me out because I don't want to trip or drop something over the banister. We see the Mona Lisa and start walking around. Somehow the Louvre has a Lincoln section because I remember seeing a door and saying, "Oh, that's the State Library. We've already been there," recalling spring break.

I then walk upstairs to the third floor and for some reason, there's a ton of books as if the Louvre has books now. I'm looking at books and there's this statue of Leonardo Da Vinci. The statue says to me, "You want the gold?" I say, "What gold?" and he tells me to follow some guy in the distance. He instructs me to grab one of the brown books and follow him. I pick up a book with a wooden cover and strange, red and black text in it that is unreadable (You can't read in a dream anyway). I follow him back down to the lobby level, freaking out down each stair. There's a not-so-secret passageway right off the lobby that the guy disappears into. It's very dark and shadowy in there. The others find me somehow and Sam winds up in the shadows. We find the gold behind a door. It's basically a bunch of coins, chains, crowns, and other treasure classics. So Sam takes a wheelbarrow and drives all this gold out of the passageway into the lobby with us following him. He walks past the ticket clerks as they give odd looks at the sight and we get outside. Suddenly a guard starts running after us and, for the one logical moment, as Sam takes off running with the gold in tow, we all freeze and ignore him as the guard slips past us. I wake up. I said it was epic.

Holy crap! They shot him!

Well I was fairly productive over the weekend. I got a job at the bank I always work at. This time I'm a teller at the downtown branch. It's a little nice because it's full-time and from May to the end of July so I have August to prepare myself for college mode. Now let's see if I can manage to squeeze in some midnight showings this year...

On one hand, I'm really glad I have a job. On another I wish I was moving to Omaha or Lincoln to work because I would like to be on my own. It's just not cost-effective at the moment. Well, one less stress in my life.

I got a haul from the weekend. I got so much money to buy more Ultimate Spider-Man volumes. Apparently, Book Lady went up to my room before I got back wanting #5. I surprised her by not only bringing #5, but #6 as well. She may have joygasmed.

My room is much smaller now it seems. I took some stuff home. I don't miss any of it but it reminds me that all things end, well at least for 3 months. I never thought I'd be at a point where I'd rather be at school than out for summer. It's a good thing I'm going into teaching!

When I was at Wal-Mart, I saw they had Superman Returns action figures. They had every concievable Superman, but where was the pussy Lex Luthor? Who is he supposed to fight? I just found out the other day that they did make a Green Goblin from the first Spider-Man movie. I would love to find that nice and cheap. It would be neat if they released a line based on Ultimate Spider-Man.

A few days ago I was playing Star Trek: Armada and I was getting upset at getting owned too easily. I basically pulled a Brenner and chucked my mouse. It got jammed. I opened it up and cleaned the gunk out and fixed the problem. After doing that, I realized I actually improved the thing. My scrolly thing no longer clicks and scrolls much smoother. Cosmic.