Yearly Archives: 2011
The Black Friday Craziness is Real!
The media loves a little Black Friday shopping insanity, and this year, I actually got to be a part of it. Right here in dinky little Rome, NY, the shoppers at our local Wal-Mart went nucking futs! There was trampling and shoving and somebody even got stabbed! It’s one of those things where you never think it’s going to happen in your neck of the woods, then suddenly…stabbing.
More like 'Black & Blue Friday', amiright folks?
Now I wasn’t there, but as Rome’s local crazy shit-covering newsman, I got to write about it for my day job. I love writing about crazy crap going down.
If you’re so inclined, you can read my articles here. I’ve written two so far. I don’t normally talk about my day job on this blog, but sometimes something cool actually happens.
‘After Midnight, Shopping Brawl Erupts’
‘Hurt Employee ‘Scared’ by Black Friday Chaos’
Also, be prepared to visit one of the worst websites in the entire Internet. And I work there! Lucky me.
Merry Christmas, Doctor Who
Back in the middle of all my Multiple Man grieving, I failed to note the announcement of this year’s Doctor Who Christmas special. I’m sure everybody could have heard the news a million other ways, but I want to mention it anyway. And here it is: Doctor Who is going to have another Christmas special, yay!
Why is that a big deal, you ask? Well, Doctor Who has a tradition of making their Christmas episodes a big deal. They occur outside of the normal season order, but at the same time they are still very important (and often times awesome) episodes. I never saw any of the pre-2005 reboot Christmas specials, but the new series has had some good ones.
The first was an alien invasion that introduced new actor David Tennant. There was the one that introduced Donna Noble, my favorite companion, a full year or so before she’d become a series regular. Then there was the Christmas episode about the Space Titanic.
One of the best was current Doctor Matt Smith’s first Christmas episode. He had to convince a miserly old man to be kind to others in order to save the Doctor’s friends. But the old man wouldn’t budge. So the Doctor went back in time to when the old man was a child and started visiting him every Christmas, having adventures together, in order to warm the man’s heart. Brilliant episode.
Well here’s the trailer for this year’s Christmas special, called The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe:
And here is the official blurb:
It’s Christmas Eve, 1938, when Madge Arwell comes to the aid of an injured Spaceman Angel as she cycles home, in this year’s Doctor Who Christmas Special, starring Matt Smith as the Doctor.
He promises to repay her kindness – all she has to do is make a wish.
Three years later, a devastated Madge escapes war-torn London with her two children for a dilapidated house in Dorset. She is crippled with grief at the news her husband has been lost over the channel, but determined to give Lily and Cyril the best Christmas ever.
The Arwells are surprised to be greeted by a madcap caretaker whose mysterious Christmas gift leads them into a magical wintry world. Here, Madge will learn how to be braver than she ever thought possible. And that wishes can come true…
So I have no idea what to expect…Should be good though!
Review: Teen Titans #3
The new Teen Titans series just isn’t clicking with me. I loved the first issue, but it’s been downhill ever since. The antagonist is hyped beyond credibility and the heroes, though individually fun to read, are saddled with some less than stellar dialogue. Issue #3 continues the downward spiral for a story that’s all over the place, features some fairly odd moments and finally introduces us to every member of the team – though they’re not a team yet. I think part of the problem is that I might be expecting a different sort of comic.
Teen Titans #3
I think I want a serious Teen Titans comic, whereas we’re getting a light and fluffy tale.
Comic rating: 2/5: bad.
Teen Titans is bright, fun and cheerful. The characters are peppy, especially newly introduced Bunker, and they literally seem to be bouncing all over the place and against each other with energy and excitement. But that’s just not clicking with me. I’m not enjoying it. The comic isn’t solidifying into a good story yet. It’s stretched too thin, in my opinion. Writer Scott Lobdell telling a harmless story about harmless characters who are not in any real danger, yet can’t stop talking about what danger they [i]think[/i] they’re in. As I said in my review of issue #2, the antagonist organization N.O.W.H.E.R.E. is just too ridiculous at this point, and the character just can’t stop talking about N.O.W.H.E.R.E.
I think what this book is missing is heart. Where’s Ma-Ti of Captain Planet when you need him? Spoilers to follow.
Spreading the Word of Springfield Punx
I am a fan of many unique and just plain cool websites out there in the world wide web, and believe me, there are a lot of neat places to visit. One of the coolest is a site called Springfield Punx. Artist Dan Fraser basically draws a bunch of pop culture figures and celebrities in the Simpsons style, as if they were going to appear on the show. That’s all it is, and it’s delightfully brilliant. So if you’re looking to kill an afternoon, you can do worse than Springfield Punx.
What causes me to advertise this dude’s site? His latest image, of course: Arkham City Robin!
I'm attempting to become the go-to place for Robin stuff on the Interwebs
General Skyrimming
So the other day I introduced everyone to my Skyrim character: Tannenbaum the orc warrior. I trust many of my readers are playing Skyrim as well, and I thought perhaps they’d be interested in seeing what Tannenbaum has been up to. I know I’d be interested in hearing about your characters or your Skyrim adventures. Post some in the comments!
Anyway, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is much like any other massive role-playing game. I travel the countryside slaying trolls and zombies, I visit towns with NPCs who have fetch quests, and trust me, a random stranger, to deliver letters are parcels for them on the other side of the country. Some quests are fun. Some are gruesome. A lot of them involve sieging dungeons and tombs. I’m having a blast. At one point I used a wicked dagger to cut through the roots of the world’s oldest tree, which lived in a hidden grove. I then used the dagger to collect some sap from the tree, only for the tree to get pissed and create a bunch of wood monsters to come at me. I slew them all…but not before the wood monsters shamelessly slaughtered the peace-loving hippies who were visiting the hidden grove.
And the hippies had warned me against messing with the tree. Oh well.
One of the coolest parts is killing dragons.
Here is Tannenbaum, standing before his latest kill
You’d think dragons would be a pretty big deal, and they are. They’re part of the storyline. But at the same time, dragons are randomly spawning creatures. Just as if you were wandering in the woods and came upon a wolf or a bear, you can randomly come upon a dragon. Tannenbaum slayed this one with his mighty axe.
But the game isn’t all questing and slaying monsters. There’s also a hobby portion. Tannenbaum has taken up blacksmithing, where he can make his own armor and weaponry, either for use or for sale.
Here, Tannenbaum made his trust sidekick, Lydia, some matching golden armor.
Can you say Christmas card picture?
Until next time Tannenbaum does something worth sharing, everybody have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Henchman-4-Hire 