Animated Waspinator

I bought the Transformers: Animated version of Waspinator a while back when they were reported to be gold-dust on the UK toy shelves.

Since the rarity has dropped and Waspinators are reported to be cropping up again, I decided to free the nasty green insect from his packaging prison.

Having previously owned the 1996 Original and the later Transmetals release I found this newer figure to be just as good, but a lot more expressionate.

I shed a tear today. For Transformers: Animated was a show that came and went within a year, but the toys still linger.

I got the new WIndcharger

I'm pretty excited about Transformers Month here at GB.net

Aparentley the new Windcharger figure has made its way to the shores of Blighty before an American release.

I have the said toy on my desk after a recent acquisition. He is a pretty darn decent bit of kit and fans of the G1 character will apreciate this new modernised redesign.

Windcharger now looks a lot more like the way he is depicted in the Sunbow cartoon and both robot and car modes make up the right balance for a good Transformers figure.

I was put off for a while from Scout-class Transformers before when the first wave of Revenge of the Fallen toys presented brittle and poor quality offerings in that assortment. Aside from Rollbar the milk lorry, the rest of the first wave were best left avoided.

As things got into 2010, Scout Class Transformers picked up again.

As great as Windcharger is, the only slight flaw is the awkward transforming of the legs when folding up into 'trans am' mode. I've read other grips online about this so I know it isn't just me. The transformation from the waist down requires some delicate precision to get right and it can be fiddly to get into place.

Aside from that the new Windcharger toy is a tremendously good update of the magnetic Autobot hero and there is no doubt a Tailgate remould or repaint will be on the way.

Bring on Rumble and Frenzy.

Don't Call Me Old School

It would be fair to say that, from the instant I heard about Transformers: War for Cybertron to the day I finally purchased the game, I was in a near constant state of anxious bliss. The Transformers video game franchise needed some serious reinvigorating, and I'd been looking forward to a G1-inspired offering, honestly, since I first learned about console gaming in 1985. I tried to pace myself, playing from one checkpoint to the next and then taking a break, but I still burned through the game in just under 48 hours. It was a fantastic game, but disappointingly short. Happily, I had unlocked characters to play in other game modes, and I was looking forward to trying them out when I finished the main story.
But there was a snag.
All the other game modes were made to be played online. I had unlocked characters for use in modes I couldn't play. Add to that the fact that the character creator is also only for online play and my frustration began to mount. I'd payed full price for a game I could only play part of. I played through it again, desperate to get the most out of it, but its limitations began to show. The let-down took a good while - months, perhaps - but when it finally fell upon me with its full weight, I was dismayed and bitter with the state of the industry as a whole. But there was one more surprise waiting.
I went to my friend's house to play the co-op mode with him. I didn't care if that mode was limited to a few screens of time trial combat; I just wanted to find more fun in the game. But we couldn't play co-op. Even when we were sitting side by side in the same room, we could not play together unless we had X-Box Live. Neither of us do.

For some time before this profound disappointment, I had been worried about the increasing popularity of online multiplayer. It seemed to me that more and more games were being developed with an emphasis on online play to the detriment of their single-player campaigns. The industry attitude seemed to be incredulous as to whether anyone would want to play a single-player game when he or she could sign on and deathmatch with people from all over the world, and I felt left behind. My experience with Transformers: War for Cybertron hammered this home in grisly fashion, if you'll pardon the hyperbole. The reality was stifling: I had payed 100% of the price for less than 100% of the game. X-Box Live was no longer a choice - it was a necessity if I wanted to get my money's worth. In all honesty, I find this to be oppressive. I don't want to play online. Why must I pay full price if I can't play the full game? Why can't I enjoy the game in its entirety unless I get in on an increasingly popular fad?

But that's just it. Online console gaming isn't a fad. It's the new state of the industry. Even my dad has X-Box Live. Am I stubborn, clinging to some imagined golden age during which one could play Contra or Ikari Warriors at home with a friend or a sibling and have a blast? I don't want to be stuck in the mud, but it feels like online gaming is being forced upon me. These days, a game that doesn't have online play is likely to have points taken off in reviews. There are even games now that one cannot play in any fashion unless one buys them in an online store. What does the future hold for gamers like me, who just want a simple, intimate gaming experience and aren't interested in competing against other players online? Sometimes I think that I should simply get with the times, as though I am a fan of 8-tracks railing against the increasing popularity of cassettes that is making obsolete my preferred method of listening to Stevie Ray Vaughan's Texas Flood. But most of the time I feel like a gamer who is resisting, and who will always resist, the onslaught of runaway consumerism in the guise of fun.

The Real Mini Mates...

Thanks to a heads up from the Ghostbusters message board at Matty's, I found about this set that Art Asylum is offering at Toys R Us come April. They look pretty cool.

Tech Talk Thursday: Sci-Fi vs Reality?

So today is the first edition of Tech Talk Thursday. This is going to be a fun run as I’m not really a techie. Since science fiction and comic books have began, there have been countless gadgets that have turned into reality. The communicators from the classic Star Trek, for example, are today’s cell phones. It seems like half the stuff that Jules Verne wrote about over a century ago has happened.

So let now let’s take the cartoon show call M.A.S.K. (Mobile Armored Strike Kommand) and see where we are going with that and today’s technology. We’re not talking about Transformers either. Nope, these vehicles aren’t robots in disguise at all. What they are is one vehicle to another vehicle and back. Imagine your Lamborghini speeding down the parkway and then getting lift off as it becomes a jet. Or your Volkswagen bus turning into an underwater vessel. Now, if you ask me that’s pretty sweet too.

So this seems pretty farfetched, right? Let’s look at what was in the news last week.

Or another example is the whole Exo-Squad set up being realistic. Sure Aliens had the E-Frames as well but let’s look at Exo-Squad just because I’m a bigger fan of the series that had J. T. Marsh battling synthetic alien clones for a good while in space during the 1990’s; the majority of my childhood. A couple of years, these actually started popping up as being real.

Heck, the jetpack idea has been a reality. Sure in World War II, the Rocketeer battled Nazis...

But is it that far fetched now? 

Bill Murray and Ghostheads...

Not yet posting but... http://picstexted.com/view/mobile-phone-pic/217

Some Tidbits About My Life

So right now, I have nothing in particular to talk about on this site. So I'm just gonna describe things going on right now in my life. Football season is pretty much over for me. The Jets pulled one on the Patriots last weekend and sent them home as they moved on in the playoffs. Yeah that left a bitter taste watching that game.

 I recently went to Toys R' Us with Scott and we picked up some stuff. I nabbed an RC Warthog from Halo. The driver is a blue spartan that comes with, already in the seat out of the packaging. He is however removable. A Master Chief figure is also included that you can put in the vehicle which has mounts at the bottom of his feet that match that ones on the gun. I let my brother drive it and he complains chief falls off too much. The car is still pretty cool. Also for those of you who know tech, I got a little tired of my old acer laptop running slowly with windows. I just put Ubuntu linux on it. Now I'm content with the speed. Have used ubuntu on some old machines previously that I didn't have recovery discs for as well as one machine where the hard drive crashed, a year after I bought it rebuilt.

Courtroom Peter Venkman

Bill Murray in Plastic. 

I'm doing my first real mobile post. Kinda excited. Kinda not excited on the product this time so I'm blogging from the throne room. Kidding. Possibly.

Okay. So first thing is first. The visual packaging. I'm not one for packaging most of the time but it was cool to see how Mattel put use of the Ghostbusters II one the white protective box for shipping. Man is it cool to see that they care enough to make a change like that. I'm being serious too. It tells me that they took the time to do that. But the actual blister pack set up? Still from the first movie's rooftop scene. Terror dogs and Staypuft. I would have liked some Vigo art gallery or jello going on. Oh well. I got the toy for the toy and not the packaging.

Bill Murray in Ghostbusters II.

So let's go on to the toy. Another Peter. This time it's Scrooge edition. He's in his courtroom clothing with a irremovable Proton pack. Uhh that kinda sucks. I really didn't want another Peter- slimed or not. So that's why I got it for the pack in.

Bill Murray in Scrooged.

And that turns out to be a sad item. The Scoleri brother ghost has awesome paint apps and detailing. Except the promise is in the details... The ghost cannot stand on it's own. He did not even come with a base to make mock flight. But wait! His ankles have a ball-in-socket set up but he cannot be set up right to stand. Sigh. Yeah this figure is not getting my highest praise.
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***EDIT: After getting ready to toss out the rest of the blister packaging, I happened to find a second set of feet that allow for this to be changed. I'm still feeling numb to this addition though.

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Geek U.S.A.

When I was growing up, like many children, I was an outsider. I didn't have the confidence of the popular kids, which was bolstered, starting around 9th grade, by experimentation with drugs and alcohol. I was neither pretentious and moody enough nor enough of an elitist to fit in with the theater kids, whose contrived eccentricity seemed to require a self-seriousness that I could never quite muster. Even among those who would later come to be called goths but who, at the time, identified themselves as freaks, I stood just on the fringe of social acceptance. I didn't like the right music, I wasn't interested in sports, I dressed plainly and was nervous. I looked in on a social hierarchy that was based on clans and labels, some of which got incredibly baroque when you consider the ephemeral distinctions on which they were based, and I had no label. I had no clan. I saw it all as superficial, and yet I wanted to take part - I wanted to be called something. So I studied. I was intrigued by the ways in which these people made social distinctions, the idiosyncrasies that could shift one person from one clan to the next, blessing or shackling him with a new moniker that, ultimately, would be just as meaningless as the last one.
This is the way we are in school. Lacking social experience, the model of society we build as we develop as individuals is primitive and, predictably, based on appearances. I learned, as a high schooler languishing in social oblivion, that it was a person's interests that made him a jock, a nerd, a freak, or a prep. A jock who was socially awkward could cover that up by forming friendships with students who shared his interests in beer and partying, thus ingratiating himself with a crowd that, otherwise, he may have approached with fear. Nerds had less of a buffer. Their interests in reading, sci-fi, and computers put them among a minority, leaving their collective social weaknesses all the more exposed and compounded by their status as pariahs in the greater social scene. I watched all this with bitter fascination. My interests weren't specialized enough to garner me a place among any group, so I suffered through my academic career as a ghost and formed no rewarding relationships.
But now I am grown. I'm old enough and experienced enough to see that those superficial distinctions don't have a place in the world. What really matters is not what a person's interests are but the content of his character. I should be happy to be beyond that, but I find myself on the outside yet again. The old labels stick around; the old prejudices die hard. And now the division is pressed even wider by the recent surge in popularity of a word that was seldom used among my classmates: geek.

Geek is an old word. As a pejorative, it refers to someone who is interested in such things as sci-fi, fantasy, RPGs, and technology on top of being socially underdeveloped. The wearing of glasses and or pocket protectors may work in concert with severe allergies to complete the effect. It used to refer to circus freaks, like the bearded lady or the guy who would bite the head off a living chicken in the finale of what were sometimes referred to as "geek shows." But geek is a reclaimed word. The sting is almost gone from it entirely; it is now self-applied with dignity, worn as a badge by many who see their interests as indicative of superior class or higher intelligence. This, in my opinion, is every bit as stupid and limiting as the word when it is used as epithet.
But it gets worse.
Geek, like all such terms, refers to a person, first and foremost, who has certain interests. Interests can be marketed to. And so, geek is now a demographic. If you're a geek, you'll buy these types of products, you'll watch these certain shows, you'll respond to this specific type of nostalgia. At the same time as geekdom is celebrated, it is levered into marketing plans that only make the distinction emptier and more offensive.

What does it mean to be a geek? How do you go about fitting in among geeks, if you so wish? What action figures should you buy? What movie quotes should you recite? What kind of haircut is appropriate? A better question is this: what does the word geek say about you as a person? How does adjusting your tastes in technology and entertainment to fit into a certain social caste have anything to do with your understanding of how best to improve the well-being of the people in your moral sphere?
Geek remains meaningless - like all the other labels we used in school to foster separation. It is not a distinction that is necessary for us to make if we are to function well in society. In fact, I assert that such branding can actually be very divisive. Like what you like. Wear what you want to wear. Be a person and not an icon representing the interests of a demographic profile constructed to facilitate the development of a marketing strategy.

Backgrounds?

Oh, this is a test of something I'm working on with ScrapMetal...

The Toysday Tuesday Tease

I was going to write up something massive about some of the new Transformer toys I've seen and picked up but I decided to slag it. Why? Because February is going to be a Transformers month.

Movies and Music for Monday?

Ok, I’m going to write about a movie I haven’t yet seen and that is because I’m going to explain why I am writing about it first…

The Green Hornet, in my opinion, has always been one of those characters who has potential to be an interest but will sadly fall short. No, it’s not because of his lack of superhuman powers. The dude has weapons and vehicles like Batman’s armory. He’s like Dick Tracey with Stark Enterprises’ vehicles!  It’s honestly just the way he’s portrayed that makes him lackluster to me. He’s a goofy and smart crime fighter. That can work; the Green Lantern for example is a fine example.

It’s just the whole advertising for the movie that makes this concept look like a bad run. Take Jonah Hex. The movie was barely advertised and had every Bayformers’ fanboy crush, Megan Fox as the love interest and that was with her being a prostitute at the bar so she had skimpiness. The advertising alone should have had those clips and every Bayformer fan there in a heartbeat. She wasn’t the reason behind me seeing the flick either; it was Jonah Hex; A former Confederate who becomes a bounty-hunter in a post Civil War era America. That’s pretty great for a concept.

The Green Hornet cruising out with Coolio? Not getting my $10 for a ticket. I'll rent it when it comes out.

As for movies coming out on DVD, we have a couple of the picks. Takers is just like your stereotypical bank robbery movie. A group of expert criminals decide to go for that one last heist and of course this is when a detective is able to get a lock in on them to put them down. Then there is Stone; which is about a firebug being up for parole and the parole officer’s stressful life being even more affected by this case. Death Race II also happens to be up for sale tomorrow. The plot revolves around a cop-killer still, as it is a sequel after all, attempting to get his freedom by competing in a Mad Max-esque car racing competition. So far, Red Box won’t be seeing any of my money for renting these titles.

Music wise? Social Distortion: Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes has my attention. Possibly The Decemberists: The King is Dead as well.  

Good news though is that I found these awesome things at a Barnes and Noble:

Mobile Phone Testing.

With the new site add ons, I now am testing my phone. :)

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Random Finds!

I saw these randomly and figured they were worth posting:

http://www.wtfmovieblog.com/tag/stay-puff-marshmallow/

http://dvice.com/archives/2010/12/artist-turns-sn.php#1

And last but not least; for those of you wanting to make your own piece of Star Wars in your snowstorm, click here. 

The Agenda has been CHANGED.

I promised to start doing some more reviews on things outside of Ghostbusters. So here we are.

The WB/CW channel has been airing this series for now six seasons and we're about to see the new episodes kick off this Friday on CW. So what is this show about? Well, it's about the Winchester family; Sam and Dean. Two brothers who witnessed the tragic death of their mother when they were children' Sam was only six months old while Dean was a couple years.

The series starts off with Dean trying to convince Sam to help him track down their father, who happens to be a (paranormal) hunter and has been missing for a couple weeks. Sam is reluctant but agrees to help out for this one time. Using clues from the case that they knew their father, John Winchester was last on, the brothers deal with a homicidal ghost and manage to destroy her. After getting home, Sam finds out that his girlfriend was killed by the same demon that killed their mother and that their father was tracking.

Now to not reveal too many spoilers, Season One continues on as the brothers try to track down their father and finally do so. After that's been completed the family now faces more obstacles while trying to destroy the yellow eyed demon and then suffer a loss. The next seasons deal with Sam and Dean trying to fight off hell hounds, shapeshifters, vampires, werewolves, angels, demons, ghouls, and get this; the Apocalypse.

The monsters range from urban legends such as Bloody Mary to religious and mythical characters such as Lucifer and windigos. It's like your X-Files kind of show where there are a ghost/monster/ghoul/spirit/etc of the week.

Check here for your local listings. 

Growing Up Gaming-A Look at My Life of Gaming

So, ever since I was a kid I was into video games. It all started with a Sega Genesis that was given to me by a good friend of my family at the time. I remember being in the kitchen in my family's small house we rented at the time as I saw a cardboard box with a black Sega Genesis sytem and many games. Not sure which ones were there and which ones were purchased later on. I remember playing Sonic, The Power Rangers Movie Game (which was awesome, I must say), Robocop vs. Terminator, Boogerman: A Pick and Flick Adventure (one of my favorites about a guy in a cape, who threw boogers at opponents and I'm serious), and Beavis and Butthead which was probably my favorite. There are still many more which names elude me. Too many games to remember. That was the start of me getting into gaming.
From there the nexy system was a PlayStation One. At the time it revolutionzed console gaming. Great games like Crash Bandicoot and Spyro poored out to Sony's new gaming system. As a kid I was extremly pleased with the console. It was a step up from the sega, graphics improvements were clearly noticeable! I also remember a game called Monster Rancher, which at the time was a decent cartoon. You would put other music or playstation discs in to create monsters. This was similar to the tv show, as in the show they found stone discs and they got the monsters from those. You could also freeze monsters for use later, and combine them as well. Digimon was another cool game, but I never finished it. I feel they died off too quick. I could never evolve my digimon to its max stage as their lifespans didn't give me enough time to evolve them fully. Gaming only got better from their.
In the next generation of consoles was the Sony successor PlayStation 2, Microsoft's own gaming system the Xbox, and Nintendo's gamecube. I had them all. I wanna say this was my peak of being into gaming. I had great playstation games at my fingertips. I could also play PS1 games on my new playstation. The xbox graphics were amazing. I had Halo 2 for my xbox, it's just a shame I never had xbox live for it. I also really like Star Wars:Knights of The Old Republic which came with my xbox. I played it so much I scratched the disc up so bad it would not play. Gamecube was cool for some nintendo games, but the first game I had for that was Need For Speed:Underground. I still feel some kind of link to that game, I played that quite often. Any game I wanted, I could get. Did not matter what console. I liked that feeling.
Now I have a playstation 3, and all the previous generation consoles are unplugged and collecting dust. It overheats a lot but never kicked the bucket on me. The systems graphics are great, a step above the previous generation of consoles, especially now with HD now available. A lot of good games on there. Right now im into Call of Duty:Black Ops. Recently I had played with some co-workers and had some fun. They still have great exclusives like they did years previous. The great part is their online gaming service is free, and also has a pay in option for some bonus stuff.

It All Starts... NOW!

So I’ve been quiet recently and that’s been possibly a bad thing because that means that there hasn’t been a real surge in news to talk about, right? Yes, that seems to be the situation.

For starters, I found out that I move to Hoth. Please notice these pictures are where I live. Tonight, I am proud to say that I was successful in taking Wicket out with me for a nice run seeing what he thinks about this. He just seems to be too stuffed.

There has not been much to really post about with the Ghostbusters. Sure Mattel is giving us another Venkman figure that most collectors will end up getting just because we want the accessory of the Scoleri ghost pack in. With a Louis Tully figure due later in this year, I can say that we haven’t moved into the end exact end of the first Ghostbusters movie merchandise and will only be seeing Ghosbusters II products; but the hopes for a Janine, Gozer, Zuul, and Vinz Clothro to be made are starting to look a bit dimmer. 

Allegedly, Ghostbusters III is now looking to be CGI; according to findings at this site: http://www.thirdage.com/news/ghostbusters-3-update-ghostbusters-3-film-may-be-3d-production_1-13-2011. Now, my personal opinion to a CGI Ghostbusters movie is that it’s not going to be the same as the first two. My thoughts on a live action movie are that it’s definitely not going to be the same. The actors have aged a bit and replacement casting would not be too promising. I’m not exactly a fan of replacement characters either; Extreme Ghostbusters already fulfilled that task.

But Atari has made the idea of a CGI Ghostbusters movie seem like the best option as their 2009 video game has demonstrated that the effects that they can pull off of a video game with the voices of the real crew could hold a promising edition to the Ghostbusters movie franchise. Voice actors used from The Real Ghostbusters and Extreme Ghostbusters since Lorenzo Music, voice of Peter Venkman for The Real Ghostbusters has passed on.

But then again, there is this ugly rumor about no one backing the movie will not happen unless Bill Murray agrees to star; as supported by Moviefone; http://blog.moviefone.com/2011/01/12/ghostbusters-iii-bill-murray-required/&sa=U&ei=I3UwTdnjD4udgQerh6TVCw&ved=0CBsQFjAB&usg=AFQjCNGjFzeThTVCZeDsDV1DhdxbNxxu8Q. Honestly, I think it’s all a publicity stunt. Murray’s mentioned on again and off again feelings about being part of a third movie; was quoted that he enjoyed doing the voice for the video game, and the rest of the crew has basically green lighted the idea for a third movie. So where does that take us? It takes us to the point where I’m willing to bet that Ghostbusters III will happen with Murray publicly finally agreeing to do it but acting reluctant. He’s an actor; this is in his nature. Plus the payola involved that he’d get would be worth his time. Even if he all does is just offer his voice for the production; like Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Mattel would clearly benefit  with all the new action figures and merchandise and well, we all know about the upcoming Atari Ghostbusters game… yes, Sanctum of Slime. However, with the CGI models made for the movie, I’d think Ghostbusters the TV Show would be a great SyFy or Cartoon Network series. Heck, Nickelodeon has been showing some promise with their Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles CGI cartoon show talk and Wolverine and the X-Men was a good run so why can’t we get a Ghostbusters show again? To be honest, I’d rather see the PS2/ xbox style animation because it has that Real Ghostbusters feel to it.

IDW’s soon to kick off their INFESTATION run with Ghostbusters, GIJoe, Transformers, Star Trek, and probably some of their own titles if I understand things correctly. I’m not too sure if this crossover of zombies will spread the Ghostbusters into Transformers and such because the legality of that will be a mess.

So with that being the current Ghostbusters news, let’s move on to the other news.

At the bitter end of Christmas shopping, I happened to be out with my friend Dana at a Walmart and scored not just Supernatural Season 1 on DVD but Season 2 for around $10 each. I figured $20 on forty some hours of a TV show that I’ve only caught a couple fragments of episodes of was a worthwhile investment. And so is the fact that it’s something else to review about.

So Sam and Dean Winchester are the sons of a family of (ghost/demon/freaks of nature) hunters and end up going around mostly North America to investigate and exterminate them. That or stopping the Apocalypse. Or possibly fighting angels. Dark and dramatic drama demons and devils (HOLY ALLITERATION BATMAN!) or slapstick cases including talking teddy bears. For those wanting to catch this series, I strongly recommend watching the episodes. To do so, check out what a guy named Marty put together; http://www.iwatchsupernatural.com.  Or catch it on SyFy. For the new episodes, catch up on CW. But you might want to get a little bit of the back story because it’s one of those shows where if you miss a bit, you miss a lot. Also, be on the lookout for Ghostbusters, Thundercats, and a ton of other science fiction references.

Now that I’ve ingested six seasons of Supernatural in about a month, I’m about to investigate Warehouse 13 and The Walking Dead, which both have lesser episodes.

While on the TV talk, Psych is returning with new episodes to USA in the summer. December’s season finale was really great with a conclusion to the Yin and Yang story arc. Or was it? Their Christmas episode was probably one of their best episodes ever.

Mattel has mainly been keeping my interests with their Ghostbusters toyline. Their DC figures are impressively sculpted and so are the Masters of the Universe, but I just can’t really get into them as much as I’d want to. Perhaps their price points are crosshairs to my interests.

Hasbro’s Transformers are becoming more and more topnotch with each of their G1 tribute figures. I’ll be touching this in more detail soon. As well as the Iron Man II: The Clearance Finds.

I’m also now toying with my side business that I’m finally really going to start launching as a part time gig that will hopefully pay off. ScrapMetal Industries is about to finally be taken seriously by me as a career option and next week, the first product we offer will finally be available for ordering. It will be unveiled in a couple days…

I also love my new staff. Not that I ever had a real staff prior but John is a coworker of mine and he’s doing a great job starting into this. Then there is awesome Ryan Dawson. These two are just pretty damned sweet to have on staff. I talk with John almost daily about the site and ideas that I’m in the process of getting things set for this year and all the kick ass event planning. Ryan, on the other hand, I’ve never met but I know him through Transfomers: 2005 and his impressive knowledge of science fiction is trumped by his musical talent.

Lastly, since writing about Ghostbusters has become really limited and opening the site up to almost a freedom of the minds, I haven’t been able to really find what my niche is anymore. So I’m going with structure. And the structure, for now, is suggested to run like this:

Sunday – TV Series

Monday – Movies and/or Music

Tuesdays – Toys

Wednesday – Comic Books

Thursday – Tech Talk

Friday- Video Games, Fight Night

Saturday – Cartoons

Now, I’m not too sure if staff will follow and join in on these topics and I’m not asking them too. I’m flattered to have the diverse and talented on my team and there is no reason to change them.

This week’s sneak preview of the agenda is going to be possibly something like this:

Sunday – Supernatural

Monday – The Green Hornet

Tuesdays – Transformers

Wednesday – Staff’s Comic Book Picks

Thursday – MASK and Exo-Squad? Almost Realistic!

Friday- Iron Man II

Saturday – The Real Ghostbusters

I’m also on the verge of merging Ghostbusting.net with the some Web 2.0.

Thanks for the reads, gang. 2011 will be the year of Ghostbusting.net! 

Werewolf Pre-School Sighting

I find Pre-Schools sometimes end up on the receiving end of awesome retro clobber. I've worked at one long enough to see the nature of the beast.

My latest find has been The Werewolf from the 1989 RGB Monsters assortment.

I spotted this wee beastie after it had been set aside and out of sight from the children. I was allowed to take this lucky lycan away and give it new dwellings.

I find this figure has aged pretty well. A basic colour palette but a decent scheme all the same and great mould detail. This toy is what it is, with no need for silver bullets, bones or accessories in general. It's a werewolf that does'nt look exclusive to the Ghostbusters line and looks good as a general baddie amongst other collections.

The main gimmick on this Werewolf is the head howling movement which can be activated by moving the arms aside. As I've said before, it needs no other additions except for being the way it looks, ripped clothes and all.

The only downside is a missing tail...

A House Divided

I have no head for politics. I want to understand the issues - I really do! - and I want to vote wisely. I want to contribute to the well-being of my city, state, and country. What turns me off is the nature of the rhetoric right now and the "Us VS Them" attitude I see being promoted by pundits on both sides. Adding religion into the mix definitely doesn't help; it's been the most divisive force in human history, and we're already struggling to compensate for the growing division between the parties. Year after year, I become more disgusted with American politics and politicians. The solution to many of our nation's problems isn't more government, but it's not less government either; it's smarter government.

While I hold no special place in my heart for the kind of people who are able to hedge their own ideals so thoroughly as to function as spokesmen for any one party's obscene bias, we are occasionally reminded that these politicians are humans, too, and that they are every bit as susceptible to the violent prejudices of gun-toting headcases as we are - doubtless moreso because of their publicity. As I am sure most are aware by now, congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona was wounded in what may have been an assassination attempt while she was speaking to constituents in a convenience store parking lot. I've been following this story pretty passively, catching bits of it here and there. It's a terrible thing, of course, but it's been interesting seeing how our nation is responding. There's been a great outpouring of care and concern, but there's also been a lot of pretty nefarious insinuation going on. I won't comment about Sarah Palin and the bull's-eye graphics, nor will I opine about Giffords's policies. I don't want to make this about any one person's politics, and that's the point of this blog.

Gabrielle's shooting has shown us, if nothing else has, that partisan bickering can disappear when we show genuine concern for the suffering of another human being. We can disagree without slander, speak out without malice, compete without enmity. We can - we can - remember that government is about people, not about advancing one set of ideals into the halls of power. That kind of mindset is what creates people like Gabrielle's shooter. It at least inspires them. Move the right forward, move the left against them. Killing for ideals. How far are we from that, really? Giffords survived this attack, but she was one of 20 people who were shot. Six are dead, including a child. Isn't it a little bit galling to think that there are people who are turning this into a political issue?

"My religion is peace," said the Dalai Lama. A government that does not foster peace cannot function, no matter what its policies or religious leanings may be. Jared Lee Loughner represents a large faction of people who are every bit as eager for peace as the Dalai Lama, but for their version of peace to be achieved, certain people have to die. The more divided we become, the more ground individuals like him gain, even if they remain on the fringes. As we hold out hope for Gabrielle and as we grieve for those who died in Loughner's shooting spree, may we take away the lesson that a house divided against itself cannot stand - that we would do well to spend more time at each other's ears than at each other's throats.

The Spiderman Reboot

Ok, so I was just on facebook and just saw an article of pictures from the new Spiderman reboot, which is set to focus around Peter Parker in high school. Emma Stone (Easy A, Lucky Louie) is playing Gwen Stacy. Wait, WHAT!? She has red hair, Mary Jane has red hair. Why did they not just cast her as MJ and not have her dye her hair. I'm sorry, but this movie is starting to scream FAIL!
First of all, I liked all of the previous Spiderman movies directed by Sam Raimi who also did the evil dead movies. The first movie was great, possibly the first time anything like that was seen on the big screen. The acting talent was there, as it blasted some of the actors into other roles. William Dafoe played an amazing Green Goblin/Norman Osbourne. The movie led into other things in the next movies, such as Harry Osbourne and Peter fighting over the death of Norman.
The second movie was good, but I felt it was short and not as good as the first. It was an ok sequel and did the job it needed to do. But thats all I feel I can say about the second movie.
The third movie got a lot of criticism, but I liked it. I liked it a lot. Comic nerds said it sucked, well I say they were terribly wrong. It had some really great effects.Sandman was brought to life. Venom was brought in which was great, even though some complained about that too. I guess hobgoblin teaming with Peter pissed some people off but whatever.
Now, because people were so turned-off by the third movie, and Raimi leaving the series behind, they are doing a high school reboot. Seriously!? Why didn't they stick with the last series of movies? I just don't think a high school reboot is what I'd prefer and a lot of other people wouldn't ether. Also, when I say a lot of people, I think I speak for A LOT of people, like a good mass of Marvel's fan base. Will I see the movie? Yes I probably will and maybe I'm over-reacting a bit. I just feel this movie is setting itself up to do bad.

Video Games and Art - Defending Roger Ebert

You may have noticed the disappointed and defensive noises video gamers made last April when film critic Roger Ebert wrote that video games can "never be art" in his regular column for the Chicago Sun. A small community of gamers who read the Sun Times or follow Ebert's blogs spread the word to a much larger community of gamers who, in all likelihood, can never remember whether Ebert is the fat one or the skinny one (and probably aren't aware that "the skinny one" died 12 years ago), who promptly kicked up the standard call-to-arms that you might hear ringing across the internet's hills and dales whenever someone has the gall to express a subversive opinion. That description may not necessarily be fair, but I'm exercising my editorial rights here because, despite an initial surge of indignation, Roger Ebert is a man I greatly respect and I have actually come to realize that I agree with him in a way.

"Video games can never be art." This is the most-cited quote from the article. Ebert refers to art as defined by Wikipedia and compares games to the works of Michaelangelo and Shakespeare. This is, of course, the statement that caused all the uproar, and I'm still on the fence as to whether or not I think it's true. One could certainly point to games like Shadow of the Colossus, Mass Effect, or Little Big Planet in order to make a case that video games are as deserving as A Midsummer Night's Dream to be called art. There is, at least, art in video games. The Assassin's Creed series pays very close attention to detail when designing the fantastic vistas - views of such places as ancient Acre and 15th century Italy - that are, in part, its hallmark. It's difficult to perch atop the iron cross crowning Florence's tallest church and be unaffected by the beauty of the game's design, even if, directly afterward, you dive into a hay bale and leap out suddenly to stab a soldier in the neck. The soundtrack and the storyline in the Mass Effect series rival those of many of the big screen features on which Mr. Ebert has made his living. From one perspective, how can anyone say that, in the wide realm of art, there is no place at all for video games?

But there is a deeper question here. Who is really qualified to make objective statements about what is and is not art? Few would argue that the Mona Lisa, King Lear, or Paradise Lost are not works of art, but there are styles that straddle the line. Dadaism is one such example; it is anti-art. The dadaist movement, which began around 1914, intentionally defies artistic conventions in the pursuit of generating works that can effectively comment on art itself or on the artistic process. Is this art? If it could be said, objectively, that van Gogh's The Potato Eaters is a work of art while it can also be said that art can arise from a movement which aims to create "non-art," as it were, then we should be feeling a little bit of cognitive dissonance. My point is that the definition is ambiguous, and I don't agree that Roger Ebert is in any place to tell us what can and can never be art. I tend to think that games are art, but I won't go so far as so to say that my opinion is the only right one.

There is a resolution to all this. Ebert has apologized for speaking out, though he still maintains that he is correct. We should now be quoting this passage:

"Why are gamers so intensely concerned, anyway, that games be defined as art? Bobby Fischer, Michael Jordan and Dick Butkus never said they thought their games were an art form. Nor did Shi Hua Chen, winner of the $500,000 World Series of Mah Jong in 2009. Why aren’t gamers content to play their games and simply enjoy themselves? They have my blessing, not that they care."

And this, at long last, is my point: we don't need to reach a consensus. Whatever video games might or might not be, those who enjoy them should and will go on enjoying them. It doesn't matter whether or not video games can be objectively said to be art, and it doesn't matter what Roger Ebert thinks about that issue. Thus, though he seems to render his entire argument meaningless with the above statement, I defend him. I defend his right to opine about something that I cannot imagine he really knows much about, because he does so with the caveat that his word is not law and that his opinion shouldn't be too terribly important to us anyway.