Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Friday, April 26, 2013
I Heart Graffiti: Can It!
Well hello! Long time no graffiti post, eh? This massive piece (about 7 foot tall) is on the way to my favourite comic book store and has been haunting me the past couple weeks to take a picture of it. Enjoy!
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Comics: 24th April 2013
Man, yesterday was a great day for awesome comics. Weirdly it was also all about Jonathan Hickman with four of the five comics I bought being written by him. That 5th comic is a brand new one from Mark Millar and Frank Quitely.
It's all happening!
- The Manhattan Projects #11
- Written by Jonathan Hickman
- Art by Nick Pitarra
Considering how fucked up and homicidal this comic has been most issues, this one is actually a rather sweet story in comparison. There is still the usual violence and plots from deranged maniacs but there is also a tale of friendship and love. It's a welcome break and it's inclusion highlights it's previous absence, something that I wasn't conscious of before but now seems glaring to me.
Since we last saw them, a sizable chunk of time has passed by and our crew have now set up a base on the moon. They're all feeling rather smug about themselves and try to decide where to go from here. Considering "here" is outer space, you can only imagine what kind of plan they come up with.
We also get some back-story on Harry Daghlian, a man I must admit I had never heard of previously. Considering he's an irradiated skeleton floating in a space-suit now, I probably should look him up.
It's all happening!
- Written by Jonathan Hickman
- Art by Nick Pitarra
Considering how fucked up and homicidal this comic has been most issues, this one is actually a rather sweet story in comparison. There is still the usual violence and plots from deranged maniacs but there is also a tale of friendship and love. It's a welcome break and it's inclusion highlights it's previous absence, something that I wasn't conscious of before but now seems glaring to me.
Since we last saw them, a sizable chunk of time has passed by and our crew have now set up a base on the moon. They're all feeling rather smug about themselves and try to decide where to go from here. Considering "here" is outer space, you can only imagine what kind of plan they come up with.
We also get some back-story on Harry Daghlian, a man I must admit I had never heard of previously. Considering he's an irradiated skeleton floating in a space-suit now, I probably should look him up.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Word-A-Week Vocabulary Vlog #38: Apodyopsis
This week's is slightly not safe for work. Or possibly your brain. It's hard to tell.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Tease Me, Baby! - Thor: The Dark World
NOTE: This article was originally published by me on TheWebsiteOfDOOM.com
When Marvel's first phase of films were announced, the one film we were all a little skeptical of was Thor. He had the wildest back story. He was a god. He was known the least by the general public. How would they react to such madness? Well, while he probably had the most mixed critical reception, he actually took in more at the box office than Captain America. So I would claim that's a pretty sound success.
No doubt Marvel will want to improve on those reviews from the press and with movement towards the next Avengers movie beginning this year, they'll want to capitalize on the good feeling the franchise has. On board are all the original cast and with the addition of Christopher Eccleston as our bad guy and Chris O'Dowd in an as yet unnamed roll (ooooooooooo) that's a nice place to start.
This is the first trailer to be released for the film but with it being released in October we're sure to see more soon. Let's check it out.
When Marvel's first phase of films were announced, the one film we were all a little skeptical of was Thor. He had the wildest back story. He was a god. He was known the least by the general public. How would they react to such madness? Well, while he probably had the most mixed critical reception, he actually took in more at the box office than Captain America. So I would claim that's a pretty sound success.
No doubt Marvel will want to improve on those reviews from the press and with movement towards the next Avengers movie beginning this year, they'll want to capitalize on the good feeling the franchise has. On board are all the original cast and with the addition of Christopher Eccleston as our bad guy and Chris O'Dowd in an as yet unnamed roll (ooooooooooo) that's a nice place to start.
This is the first trailer to be released for the film but with it being released in October we're sure to see more soon. Let's check it out.
Monday, April 22, 2013
TDMTLTUT: M.A.S.K.
They Don't Make Them Like They Used To is a little section on my blog where I talk about old TV show theme tunes that I think are wonderful and you scratch your head wondering what I'm talking about (you damn kids, get off my lawn!).
M.A.S.K. was one of those cartoons that were pretty much only made to sell toys. Considering that the toys were excellent, I can't complain. Much like Transformers there were lots of cars that changed into something else. However instead of changing into robots they changed into other vehicles, usually something that flies. All the characters wore masks that had a power of some kind but you usually lost that part of the toy within the first week. As a kid, this was more than enough to hook me in.
The name M.A.S.K. stood for Mobile Armored Strike Kommand because fuck spelling. Like every show of it's time it featured a kid who tagged along despite his parent's protests but what made this one stand out is that he had a robot friend named T-Bob (short for "thingamabob") who looked suspiciously like R2-D2 and could become a motorcycle at the drop of a hat. Neat-o!
Check out those amazingly futuristic green lined graphics at the start! That's how you know it's quality.
I love how it describes the show in full just in-case you've never seen an episode before. It's a wonderful bit of easy exposition that shows sadly don't do anymore.
I vividly remember owning the green bike that turned into a helicopter but was always jealous of the kids who had the red car that turned into a plane. That was the business. Lucky bastards...
M.A.S.K. was one of those cartoons that were pretty much only made to sell toys. Considering that the toys were excellent, I can't complain. Much like Transformers there were lots of cars that changed into something else. However instead of changing into robots they changed into other vehicles, usually something that flies. All the characters wore masks that had a power of some kind but you usually lost that part of the toy within the first week. As a kid, this was more than enough to hook me in.
The name M.A.S.K. stood for Mobile Armored Strike Kommand because fuck spelling. Like every show of it's time it featured a kid who tagged along despite his parent's protests but what made this one stand out is that he had a robot friend named T-Bob (short for "thingamabob") who looked suspiciously like R2-D2 and could become a motorcycle at the drop of a hat. Neat-o!
Check out those amazingly futuristic green lined graphics at the start! That's how you know it's quality.
I love how it describes the show in full just in-case you've never seen an episode before. It's a wonderful bit of easy exposition that shows sadly don't do anymore.
I vividly remember owning the green bike that turned into a helicopter but was always jealous of the kids who had the red car that turned into a plane. That was the business. Lucky bastards...
 |
| Don't worry buddy, I still loved you. |
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Comics: 17th April 2013
It's a quiet week. Only one of my usual comics have a new issue. As a result I took a chance and bought the first issue of something that I thought I would never buy. Lets see how we get on.
- Mara #4
- Written by Brian Wood
- Art by Ming Doyle
Everything is starting to form together now. All of Mara's new abilities are becoming apparent. Everyone thinks she's dead. The government have her on lock-down and plan to use her as a kind of nuclear deterrent. It's all taking shape.
There is an interesting part of this story that deals with the idea of freedom, or at least the idea of personally freeing yourself. Mara's powers give her that but also destroy ever other fabric of life that she clung on to. In a way, she had to destroy her life to find power in it, even though she didn't destroy it purposefully.
I don't know. I feel like I may be reading too much into it. It is one of those comics that begs to be over-analyzed and I like that about it.
One comic that doesn't need to be over-analyzed is...
- He-Man and the Masters of the Universe #1
- Written by Keith Giffen
- Art by Pop Mhan
Like any man my age (an indeterminate age, in case you're wondering) I grew up watching the He-Man TV show and playing with the endless number of action figures. But that was a long time ago now and while I have fond memories of it, He-Man doesn't hold up at all as a show. So I picked up this as a bit of nostalgia and general curiosity but without any expectations of quality.
Giffen seems to have done his homework. This first issue is steeped in He-Man history with the death of the Sorceress who gave He-Man his powers apparently occuring before this story begins and lots of talk of Teela's weird past. A past, and a character, I had no recollection of and had to read-up on (with a massive thanks to this article) to make sense of anything going on here.
As a result we have a comic that is clearly geared towards the hardcore fanboys but not necessarily accessible to those with a passing interest. It feels like they're missing out on a trick because any young person who didn't grow up on the show will have no idea what is going on and probably won't come back. I haven't decided yet if I will either.
- Written by Brian Wood
- Art by Ming Doyle
Everything is starting to form together now. All of Mara's new abilities are becoming apparent. Everyone thinks she's dead. The government have her on lock-down and plan to use her as a kind of nuclear deterrent. It's all taking shape.
There is an interesting part of this story that deals with the idea of freedom, or at least the idea of personally freeing yourself. Mara's powers give her that but also destroy ever other fabric of life that she clung on to. In a way, she had to destroy her life to find power in it, even though she didn't destroy it purposefully.
I don't know. I feel like I may be reading too much into it. It is one of those comics that begs to be over-analyzed and I like that about it.
One comic that doesn't need to be over-analyzed is...
- Written by Keith Giffen
- Art by Pop Mhan
Like any man my age (an indeterminate age, in case you're wondering) I grew up watching the He-Man TV show and playing with the endless number of action figures. But that was a long time ago now and while I have fond memories of it, He-Man doesn't hold up at all as a show. So I picked up this as a bit of nostalgia and general curiosity but without any expectations of quality.
Giffen seems to have done his homework. This first issue is steeped in He-Man history with the death of the Sorceress who gave He-Man his powers apparently occuring before this story begins and lots of talk of Teela's weird past. A past, and a character, I had no recollection of and had to read-up on (with a massive thanks to this article) to make sense of anything going on here.
As a result we have a comic that is clearly geared towards the hardcore fanboys but not necessarily accessible to those with a passing interest. It feels like they're missing out on a trick because any young person who didn't grow up on the show will have no idea what is going on and probably won't come back. I haven't decided yet if I will either.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Tease Me, Baby! - Man of Steel
NOTE: This article was originally published by me on TheWebsiteOfDOOM.com
Our beloved Sharpo reviewed the previous Man of Steel trailer with much gusto but this new (and most likely last) trailer falls within my domain. Muuuuhahahaha. Ahem. Yes. So anyway...
A release date of June 14th means we don't have much longer to wait to see this movie. With a stellar cast featuring Kevin Costner, Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne, Michael Shannon, and Russel Crowe it has a lot of fire power in it's tank but back that up with 300 director Zack Snyder (who seems to be the film version of Marmite) and a story by The Dark Knight's Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer... and suddenly this is a powerhouse of a movie.
With so many previous Superman films missing the mark, can Man of Steel break the mold?
Our beloved Sharpo reviewed the previous Man of Steel trailer with much gusto but this new (and most likely last) trailer falls within my domain. Muuuuhahahaha. Ahem. Yes. So anyway...
A release date of June 14th means we don't have much longer to wait to see this movie. With a stellar cast featuring Kevin Costner, Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne, Michael Shannon, and Russel Crowe it has a lot of fire power in it's tank but back that up with 300 director Zack Snyder (who seems to be the film version of Marmite) and a story by The Dark Knight's Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer... and suddenly this is a powerhouse of a movie.
With so many previous Superman films missing the mark, can Man of Steel break the mold?
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Word-A-Week Vocabulary Vlog #37: Defenestrate
A big thank you to JJ Hawkins who suggested this week's word!
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Comics: 10th April 2013
It's a good week for comics. Any week with both #Hawkguy and Saga are good weeks.
- Hawkeye #9
- Hawkeye #9
- Written by Matt Fraction
- Art by David Aja
This issue kinda marks the end of innocence. In previous installments we've seen Hawkguy be the lovable rogue, getting into scrapes and doing the right thing. But it seems that all his careless adventuring has gotten him into a big hole that he's struggling to get out of.
For the first time we start to see the consequences of Clint's lifestyle. His personal life is falling apart and he doesn't seem to care. He's almost doing it on purpose. But what is he punishing himself for? That hasn't been made clear, yet.
What is clear, though, is that the stakes have just been raised. Any fan who reads the last page and isn't affected is probably heartless or just a robot. The next issue can't come soon enough.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Aaron's WWEport - The Fans-dango
NOTE: This article was originally published by me on TheWebsiteOfDOOM.com
There is a weird thing that happens the first RAW after Wrestlemania. All the hardcore fans who save up to go to the biggest show of the year hang around and go to the show the night after. Grown-ups. With jobs. Folks who have been fans all their lives. Folks, who aren't always happy with what WWE have been doing lately. And the RAW show seems to be where they make their points.
Last year, we saw the "YES!" chant begin. The discontent with how Daniel Bryan was being treated, especially after losing his title in an 18 second match to a man who isn't exactly universally liked, was being shown in a way that couldn't be ignored. The whole show was being dominated by "YES!" chants. Now keep in mind, this wasn't a thing before, this was the very first night we saw it. The fans homed in on something that Daniel did on the way to the ring, embraced it, and it became a rallying cry. It dominated promos from The Rock and also John Cena (to the point where both had to acknowledge it). They started to chant "¡SI!" for Del Rio. Daniel didn't even perform that night on RAW but they put him in a dark match at the end. Here is what happened at the end of that match.
I like to think those fans changed some of the thinking back-stage. Bryan got a huge push since and is still part of most of the big happenings in the company now. And it's well deserved, I must add.
Well, this year it was no different. I think there was 1 main moment where I think the amazing New Jersey crowd managed to make a point that I think was important, and one long moment where I think they were just having fun.
There is a weird thing that happens the first RAW after Wrestlemania. All the hardcore fans who save up to go to the biggest show of the year hang around and go to the show the night after. Grown-ups. With jobs. Folks who have been fans all their lives. Folks, who aren't always happy with what WWE have been doing lately. And the RAW show seems to be where they make their points.
Last year, we saw the "YES!" chant begin. The discontent with how Daniel Bryan was being treated, especially after losing his title in an 18 second match to a man who isn't exactly universally liked, was being shown in a way that couldn't be ignored. The whole show was being dominated by "YES!" chants. Now keep in mind, this wasn't a thing before, this was the very first night we saw it. The fans homed in on something that Daniel did on the way to the ring, embraced it, and it became a rallying cry. It dominated promos from The Rock and also John Cena (to the point where both had to acknowledge it). They started to chant "¡SI!" for Del Rio. Daniel didn't even perform that night on RAW but they put him in a dark match at the end. Here is what happened at the end of that match.
I like to think those fans changed some of the thinking back-stage. Bryan got a huge push since and is still part of most of the big happenings in the company now. And it's well deserved, I must add.
Well, this year it was no different. I think there was 1 main moment where I think the amazing New Jersey crowd managed to make a point that I think was important, and one long moment where I think they were just having fun.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Monday, April 8, 2013
The Drive In Of DOOM! - Iron Man 2
As always we find a drinking game for you to play if you're so inclined. This time it's "take a drink" whenever we refer to the awesomeness of Sam Rockwell or when we pretend to be Russian and talk about our bird. Please drink responsibly.
To listen to the podcast CLICK HERE or to download directly CLICK HERE.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Comics: 4th April 2013
This week's comics were released on Thursday rather than Wednesday due to some rabbit dying two thousand years ago (I think). Ho-hum.
- All New X-Men #10
- Written by Brian Michael Bendis
- Art by Stuart Immonen
This is still in my Top 3 "Can't Live Without" comics. We're ten issues in and it still only feels like we're getting started.
This issue sees future-Cyclops and company on the front lawn of the Jean Grey School For Higher Learning and he announces that he's opening the new Xavier School. As you can imagine, that draws a few responses. It's nice to see future-Cyclops step out from hiding and talk to everyone. He also shines a light on how everyone's feelings for him aren't as black & white as they'd like to make out. This understandably affects the past-X-Men team as they're still trying to figure out what the hell is going on in general.
It's a great issue with a big cliffhanger ending and as always the art is just flawless. Can't wait for #11.
- All New X-Men #10- Art by Stuart Immonen
This is still in my Top 3 "Can't Live Without" comics. We're ten issues in and it still only feels like we're getting started.
This issue sees future-Cyclops and company on the front lawn of the Jean Grey School For Higher Learning and he announces that he's opening the new Xavier School. As you can imagine, that draws a few responses. It's nice to see future-Cyclops step out from hiding and talk to everyone. He also shines a light on how everyone's feelings for him aren't as black & white as they'd like to make out. This understandably affects the past-X-Men team as they're still trying to figure out what the hell is going on in general.
It's a great issue with a big cliffhanger ending and as always the art is just flawless. Can't wait for #11.
Word-A-Week Vocabulary Vlog #35: Scrouge
Thanks again to the folks at No Drama Theatre for helping me out!
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Tease Me, Baby! - This Is The End
NOTE: This article was orginally posted by me on TheWebsiteOfDOOM.com
James Franco, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, and Craig Robinson. That's the core cast of this movie. It's completely ridiculous. Then there are smaller parts for pretty much everybody who is under 40 and makes comedy in Hollywood. Seriously, it's ridiculous.
But, comedy is a weird beast. It's not just the sum of it's parts. It's magic. Even the best comedians can make a dud. Or several duds (I'm looking at you Eddie Murphy).
This Is The End is an apocolyptic comedy where the previously mentioned actors all play themselves as the world comes to an end around them. It will either be sublime or it will become the legendary failure that will haunt them forever. Lets take a look at the NSFW second trailer for the film.
James Franco, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, and Craig Robinson. That's the core cast of this movie. It's completely ridiculous. Then there are smaller parts for pretty much everybody who is under 40 and makes comedy in Hollywood. Seriously, it's ridiculous.
But, comedy is a weird beast. It's not just the sum of it's parts. It's magic. Even the best comedians can make a dud. Or several duds (I'm looking at you Eddie Murphy).
This Is The End is an apocolyptic comedy where the previously mentioned actors all play themselves as the world comes to an end around them. It will either be sublime or it will become the legendary failure that will haunt them forever. Lets take a look at the NSFW second trailer for the film.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Aaron's WWEport - Predictionmania II
NOTE: This article was originally published by me on TheWebsiteOfDOOM.com
It's that time again. The big show. Not him, Wrestlemania. My predictions last year were damn near perfect. The only winner I got wrong was Rock/Cena, but considering that was the big shock of the night, I'm OK with missing just one. Can my accuracy continue?
These are the announced matches at the time of writing this article. Considering there is no Diva's title or US title match on the card 5 days before the show says a few things but I'm sure there'll be last minute matches for both on the night.
The rumble in the pre-show! Nobody really cares about this match so it's not too surprising it's a YouTube only event. Although if that was the rule, half of these matches would be on the pre-show instead of the PPV. That being said, Barrett versus Miz being off the Pay-Per-View also locks in it's inevitability. They won't change belts like that.
Winner: Wade Barrett
Via: Pin-fall
It's that time again. The big show. Not him, Wrestlemania. My predictions last year were damn near perfect. The only winner I got wrong was Rock/Cena, but considering that was the big shock of the night, I'm OK with missing just one. Can my accuracy continue?
These are the announced matches at the time of writing this article. Considering there is no Diva's title or US title match on the card 5 days before the show says a few things but I'm sure there'll be last minute matches for both on the night.
Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett vs. The Miz (Interactive Pre-Show Match)
The rumble in the pre-show! Nobody really cares about this match so it's not too surprising it's a YouTube only event. Although if that was the rule, half of these matches would be on the pre-show instead of the PPV. That being said, Barrett versus Miz being off the Pay-Per-View also locks in it's inevitability. They won't change belts like that.
Winner: Wade Barrett
Via: Pin-fall
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