GAMES. wii zapper

for christmas i got the wii zapper. its a plastic attachment that you pit the remote and nunchuck into to turn it into a gun style device. its only twenty bucks, and comes with a zelda game. so, i figured id try it out. the game is called 'link's crossbow challenge'. its a fairly basic game, mostly designed just to utilize the zapper attachment. its really quite fun, it involves about 8 levels, each level consisting of three stages. the fun thing about each stage is its variety. now, the game itself is basically a glorified light gun exercise, but it finds many interesting and fun ways to use that premise. the first stage of each level is a target shooting game, basically its like a shooting gallery carnival game. the second stage is a third person shooter where you move around and shoot at the bad guys. the final stage in each level is a first person shooter, which can sometimes be like a duck hunt or lethal enforcer style game. each level is challenging and a lot of fun. a fun aspect of the game is the multiplier for successful hits in a row. if you hit your targets consecutively the point value can jump from 50 to 5000 or more.

it was very fun. i figure a good indicator if its fun level is the fact that a half hour after playing it i wanted to play it again!

THEATER. too much light makes the baby go blind

back when i was in college i was involved in a play called 'nobody move, and nobody gets hurt'. it was a very strange play. we took our idea for the play from a group called the neo-futurists. the basic premise is this: we perform about 40 short plays in 90 minutes. each play is unique- it may be a work of poetry, a monologue, a short drama, or anything else we could think of. the fun twist of the whole thing was that the audience would decide what order we would perform the plays in. we had a clothesline going across the top of the stage and pinned in to it were sheets of paper with the numbers 1-40 written on them. in the audiences playbill would be the titles of all 40 plays. at the end of each short play we would say 'scene', at which point the audience members would yell out the number of what play they wanted to see next. what ever number we heard first would be the next performed.
the play was an astounding success. we quickly sold out each night that we performed, with may people coming to the show multiple times because the order would change the play so much. (for example, if we start off with a silly slapstick play it could influence the mood for when we would get to the more heavy drama plays, and vice versa) we added a couple more shows, but even that wasnt enough to fill the demand. so, about two months later we opened again (with 15 of the 40 plays being new) and performed about 8 more shows to sell out crowds. the show, as strange as this sounds, actually went on tour! at the beginning of the summer our college has a drama group go around to different high schools (who are still in class) and perform, and we were asked to do it that year. unfortunately i backed out at that time, i had summer job commitments and all, but they went on the road and had a great time with a replacement actor.
anyway, the structure for the play was lifted from the neo-futurists who perform in chicago and every weekend they perform their version called 'too much light makes the baby go blind'. ive been living close to chicago for over 4 years now, and i finally went down and saw the original. a couple friends and i went one saturday night and had a great time! part of the fun for me was just reliving my time in college, but it was also cool to see how these professionals work the idea. they were quite a bit more extreme than we were, they would pour water and shoot mustard at each other, and other things that we didnt do (mostly we didnt want to have to worry about the clean up...) it was also cool to talk to my friends who went with about the experience from their fresh perspective- it seemed perfectly normal to me, but they thought it was really strange. and fun.

AUDIO BOOKS. stardust

last weekend aaron gave me a copy of the 'stardust' audio book. i knew it was going to be a tough drive home for me, having not gotten enough sleep the night before, so i figured a book on cd would help keep me awake. well, it worked!

i finally finished it earlier this week, and totally loved it! i was already quite familiar with the story. i had read the book a couple summers ago, and saw the movie in the theater with jeffry lee a couple months ago. but what really got me about this audio book was the power of the spoken word. it is read by neil gaiman himself (hes the author, if you werent aware), which was quite a delight. it always seems cooler when the original author is able to read his own stuff aloud.

the book is more different from the book than i remembered (i know, very poor sentence structure, get over it). when i saw the movie i remembered bits and pieces from the book, and thought they came pretty close to what was written. now, looking back, there were many big changes. but, fortunately, all the changes made sense and would have been really hard to do the book stuff on film. and the movie did do a good job of keeping the spirit of the book.

listening to the book on cd was a lot of fun! i havent listened to a book on cd in a long time, so it was fun to have that experience again. granted, some times its hard to focus on the story and the road, but it was great to hear little clips of the story through out the week as i drove in little ten to fifteen minute bursts. all week ive been looking forward to driving around a bit.

now that ive got the audio book bite, i went out and got my next listen: 'measure of a man' by sidney poitier. ive wanted to read this one for a while, but once i saw that the audio book is read by poitier himself, i figured its a no-lose deal.

DVD. friday night lights

a couple years ago a couple friends and i went to see the movie 'friday night lights' because we had heard such good things about it. it turned out to be ok. im not really that into sports movies (well, except 'field of dreams', but thats a requirement of all guys).

this past tv season nbc decided to make an hour long drama based on that movie, and the book of the same name that inspired the film. i heard about it and quickly dismissed it. i didnt really care for the film, so why should i give the show a chance? after the show got fair ratings i figured it was an easy choice since nbc would probably cancel it anyway. it turns out that nbc renewed it for next season, not because of ratings, but because they believe in the show. strange, huh?

fast forward to this week. i kept reading reviews of the show all season and each one was glowing about how great the show was. it just came out on dvd this week and it seems that nbc is really getting behind the show. they are selling the first season (22 45 minute episodes) for only twenty bucks, and on top of that, they are offering a money back satisfaction guarantee that if you dont like the show they will give you you twenty bucks back.

i just so happened to find myself in a circuit city yesterday and decided to take nbc up on the offer. last night i watched the first 4 episodes, and i must say, it is a lot better than i had anticipated! the focus is well balanced between football and the relationships of the towns people. the acting is good, and the writing is refreshingly believable. ive got 18 episodes to go, but at this point i dont think ill be sending it back...

WEBSITE. thinkgeek.com

after jeffry lee introduced me to this website, i spend some time rooting around and checking out what they had to offer. the site is really cool, its mostly for people who like unique stuff thats kind of geeky. for example, they have a little thing you can attach to your faucet, it has led lights that make the water coming out look red. cool, but geeky. they also have tee shirts with the transformers logo that lights up. totally rad, but geeky. and there in lies the fun. these things are strange, but at the same time kind of cool!

i decided that i needed to get some nintendo stuff, so i got a 5 inch yoshi action figure, and a little fire mario figure on a block that when you push him, the box makes noises from the game! i have decided that i am going to use this thing all the time in my classroom! oh, the kids will get so annoyed with me! but really, isnt that what teaching is all about?

GAMES. sales figures

its no secret that i am a fan of nintendo. im not just a fan, im one of those people who would be considered a 'fanboy'. what i mean by that is that what ever nintendo puts out, i will buy. the flip side of that fact is that i also care very little for xbox or playstation. now, the life of a nintendo fanboy was a hard path to travel a couple years ago. in the last console race the gamecube did horrible. the playstation 2 blew away all the competition.
when it was time for the companies to begin releasing their next gen consoles, and it was expected that sony would blow away the competition, and actually had many people wondering why nintendo was even in the hardware business anymore.
then something strange happened. nintendo presented its next console to the world: the wii.
as it turned out, they werent out of the race just yet. now, a little over 9 months later, the wii has just surpassed 10 million sales. this is really impressive because the xbox 360 has only racked up about 11 million sales, and it was released a whole year earlier. heres the best part though: the playstation 3, which was heralded as the 'best of the next gen gaming consoles' has only 4.2 million sales. (by the way, the stats come from this site)
all is right in the world for a nintendo fanboy, as it should be.

TV. relationship builders

lately there have been a couple shows on that are quite interesting. the two shows that have caught my interest are vh1's 'the pick-up artist', and 'scott baio is 45 and single'. both are kind of lame reality shows, but there has been some aspects about them that have brought up interesting ideas about how to build and keep a healthy relationship.

'the pick-up artist' is a vote-off show a la 'survivor', but in this particular show the contestants are a bunch of shy guys trying to learn how to talk to and relate to women. at its core its somewhat superficial, but the ideas brought up are cool. it deals with getting over nerves, instructs the contestants how to start conversations, and how to actually listen to what others are saying. the host/judge is a guy nicknamed 'mystery', and he teaches the guys how to be confident and comfortable with themselves and around others. most of the contestants are very nerdy and hapless in social settings. this show has a big potential to become lame, but so far it has been really interesting to watch.

the other show, 'scott baio is 45 and single', has a similar theme. baio has been a swinging bachelor all his life, caring little for the women he sees (by his own confession). he is scared to death of commitment and marriage, but he feels it is time to start dealing with that and settle down with someone. the show follows him as he hires a life coach and works through different exercises to better himself and come to a place where he can accept the next step in his life. one of the exercises was visiting with old girlfriends and asking them what he did wrong, and how he can improve himself. it is fun to watch his journey because he doesnt put up with his therapists bull, but is willing to admit when he is wrong and she is right.

its always insightful to learn more about how we as people relate to each other.

DVD. stargate sg-1

ive written before about my recent unnatural obsession with stargate, but this week it went to a whole new level. ever since the series finale last month i have been looking forward to this tuesday. the reason is that this tuesday the 1oth season came out on dvd. i knew that in the past best buy has always had a special on the old seasons when the new ones come out. when season 9 came out i was just getting into it, so i picked up a couple seasons (oddly, i started with seasons 4 and 5. go figure...) and over the last month have watched all of the episodes from those seasons. often three or four at a time. and then often again with the director commentaries.

with the new season out this week i was planning on picking up a couple more of the seasons at the much cheaper $20 price (usually they are double that at $40). after a bit of hunting early in the week i bought three seasons, but i then found out that the lower price would only be offered if i also bought season 10 on the same receipt. so i planned to get them on tuesday. but by the time i got to best buy they had already sold out (i guess im not the only loser who likes this show after all!). i went hunting around all the other locations in town and none of them had any left, and by their comments i was doubtful if they would get any in by the end of the week, when the deal would expire.

i decided to take matters into my own hands. i tracked one down and drove out to get it. where? lets just say i got to listen through my new silverchair cd a couple times each way... after making such a long hike to take advantage of the deal, i figured i would just go all in and get the rest of the seasons i didnt have yet.

so, i guess my birthday gift to myself was seven seasons of stargate sg-1. that means i have roughly 160 episodes to watch. yikes, what have i gotten myself in to?...

BOOKS. sci-fi short stories

ive been doing a lot of reading lately, and its mostly been in one area: science fiction. im not entirely sure what brought this on. ive never been a huge fan of sci fi lit. ive always been into science fiction as a genre, but usually that has been in the realm of tv and movies. i will admit, i was totally into start trek: the next generation when i was growing up (mostly because my dad liked it, and anything he liked was automatically awesome in my book). ive always enjoyed a good sci fi movie, everything from star wars to jarassic park. my favorite author growing up was michael crichton (admittedly though, hes more science than fiction).

but for some reason i have recently had a hankerin' for some science fiction. i find the best way to explore this genre is actually through short stories. the best part of sci fi is the ability to deal with different ideas about what is possible and what is impossible. also, its a great way to discuss social issues in a different context. the most interesting part are the unusual scinarios that are dealt with. i find that short stories are able to deal with these the best because they dont have to follow the standard structure of a mystery or love story, but can be pure in their presentation of a new perspective or idea.

i am looking forward to digging deeper into authors like ray bradbury and isaac asimov. got to do something to keep busy during these summer months, right?

COMEDY. daniel tosh

this guy had a special on comedy central a couple weeks ago. i had never heard of him before that, but i tivod it and gave it a shot. and to my surprise, this guy is hilarious!

the comedians i really like are brian regan, mitch hedberg, and dane cook. i have been looking for some more quality stuff lately. i often listen to comedy cds when i drive to or back from michigan. sometimes i need something that will keep me awake.

so, i went down to circuit city and picked up a cd/dvd of this daniel tosh fellow. (as listed before, i really enjoy brian regan. one of the reasons for that is because he can be so funny with out being dirty. well, daniel tosh is about the opposite of that...) his style of comedy is very strange. like mitch, he doesnt bother with segueing from one joke to the next, he just goes through them like hes writing a list. he also has a way of making a very broad joke, and then continuing the punchline further and further into obscurity. let me give you an example: one of his jokes starts with talking about day light savings, and ends with shopping for socket covers at target. and before he gets to that last one, he has also referenced going to a bar, a pterodactyl, and brushed steel picture frames.

strange. but funny.

TV. stargate sg-1

for one reason or another, i got sucked in to this show over the past year. its been on the air for a very long time, and i always just dismissed it as a cheesy sci fi show. but then i watched it. and i soon realized the truth: it IS a cheesy sci fi show- but its really fun!!! the characters are very well written and the concepts they present in the shows are often interesting. so, having come to the party so late (its been on the air for ten years now) i have been trying to catch up with whats been going on. its not too confusing, but every once in a while there can be a reference that i dont get.

the frustrating thing is this: just as i was beginning to love this show, the sci fi channel cancelled it! argh! ive been enjoying all the new episodes this season, and the series finale was on this past friday. i was finally able to watch it yesterday. i wasnt sure what to expect, if they would go for the big ending, or just have another normal episode. how they dealt with it though, is exactly why i enjoy the series so much. heres what goes down: through a series of events that are too complicated to explain (hey, i even missed most of it) the crew on in a space ship with no shield power, and a shot has just been fired on them. before it can hit, a time bubble is created around the ship and everything stops (it makes sense in the show, just go with it...). the fired shot is about to hit them, and they have no way of stopping it once they turn off the time bubble. but since time is stopped, they have as much time as they need to figure out a solution. over the course of the episode time passes and each idea fails. but during that time the six crew members continue on with their lives, finding new hobbies, and finding new loves. by the time a solution is found, 50 years have passed in the bubble and so much of their lives have changed and brought them each into a deeper understanding and love for each other. it was actually quite touching and a very satisfying end to the show.

i guess there are still going to be a couple straight to dvd movies, and there is also the show stargate atlantis (which isnt nearly as good though). its strange to think what a rich and textured world has come from that kinda lame movie from the 90's...

WORDS. contronym

i learned a new word today! i like to think of my self as being fairly verbose in my use of the english vocabulary. i do find enjoyment from, time to time, using them 'five dollar' words. but today i came across one that really intrigued me: contronym. the strange thing is that it isnt even listed in the websters dictionary.

near as i can explain it is like this: you know what a synonym is, right? it means two words that mean the same thing (eg. broad and wide). and you know what an antonym is, right? it means two words with opposite meanings (eg. up and down). but check this out: a contronym is a word that is its own antonym! the same word means the exact opposite of itself! how crazy/cool is that?!?

some examples: apology. it means to to admit fault in what you think, but it also means a formal defense of what you think. weird, huh? another example: custom. it means something that is usually done, but it also means something that is done special. rad! if you are digging this idea as much as i do, check out this site, there are tons of them!

GAMES. starfox and wii play

in preporation for jeffry lees visit last weekend i went to gamestop and picked up a game for him. hes been mentioning for the past several months that he really wanted to play 'starfox assult', but he doesnt own a gamecube. we figured that this would be a good chance to pick it up and let him play for a while on my 'cube while he was visiting.

we ended up having some free time saturday afternoon, so he decided to pop it in and give it a try. i myself didnt play it at all, but jeffry lee thought it was pretty cool. i guess hes always had a soft spot for starfox since the first one on the super nintendo. aw, how cute.

but once he left i realized something: i had just bought this game for him to play, but i had no interest in playing it myself. so, i decided to do the reasonable thing and return it. but i also figured (or talked myself into) buying a different game would be the right way to deal with this problem. so, i picked up 'wii play'. i figured it was a good investment anyway: it comes with a free wii controller (usually $40), and a disc that has 9 games on it. all for only fifty bucks. my rationalizing mind figured its like buying a new controller and getting 9 more games for only ten bucks. i havent been able to try it yet, so i cant really say if it was worth it or not. i guess ive got my plans for this afternoon figured out!

TV. on the lot

there have been so many reality shows the past several years, and most of them are really stupid. the worst offenders have been ones about relationships and finding 'love'. but there has been a subcategory of reality shows that focus on doing something usefull. whether its a song contest that introduces us to new talent (or more often is the case: no talent), or a performance based contest that results in new interests. the new reality show on fox called 'on the lot' falls into that latter category. the set up is this: they get together a bunch of novice directors and put them through the drills of creating a short fill each week. they show the films and the audience decides whos was the best. the prize is a developement deal with dreamworks. now that sounds interesting. and so far, it has been. there have been a few episodes so far, and its really quite exciting to see some of these different people create 1-3 minute short films. some of them are very good, and others are disasters, but each one shows a unique perspective. i look forward to watching this one for the rest of the season and seeing what may become of the winning director.

hey, at the very least, theyve got to be better than brett ratner...

BOOKS. between the bridge and the river

recently i finished a rather unique book called 'between the bridge and the river'. now, in the interest of full discloser, i must tell you who the author is. its written by craig fergison, the host of the late late show on cbs, and one of the funniest people on tv in my opinion (which happens to be correct...). so, my analysis may be a bit bias, but i will try to give an honest assessment.
the basic story is about two scottish boys who are great friends through out school, but in high school one of them, fraser, gets fed up with it and drops out of school. this starts the drifting apart of the two former friends. the book picks back up about 30 years later. each of the men have made a life for themselves, fraser is a tv host with a show about God, and charlie has a family. each of them has a life shattering event happen to them, charlie has just been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and fraser has been found out for the playboy letch he is. they both react by fleeing, one to america, the other to france. they each have some very interesting adventures; one thing leads to another, and at one point they both die.
heres where things get interesting.
fergison brings up some very strange and unique ideas about the afterlife. he imagines that when we die we go on a journey which just so happens to be guided by virgil. yes, the same virgil who guided dante on his trip through the infamous inferno. only its not an inferno, its something else for each person. at one point the two of them meet in the world war 1 trenches and try to figure out whats going on. they make it out alive, and the story twists and turns from there. their story is riviting and increadibly fasinating.
the only problem is, there are two other main characters as well. there are two brothers who are on a soul searching road trip of sorts, and eventually find the perfect con. their story is interesting, but its quite obvious that their story, most of which is set in los angeles, is fergisons attempt at mocking the culture he has been surrounded with since entering show biz. there are somewhat lame attempts at poking fun at scientology and movie executives meddling in productions, but for the most part they seem dated and too easy of targets.
all things considered, it is a very good read. the best parts of the book are fergisons unique style of writing. he often shares short asides explaining the life of characters who are quite inconsiquental to the story. but the fun part is, if you are paying attention to those asides, they often show unusual connections between many of the minor characters. another great writing mechinism he uses very well is the idea of virgil as a storyteller. as the character is being led by him, he shares a few stories. these stories are self contained, but are some of the most memorable short stories ive read in years.
the book delves into alot of questions about religion, but with a very even-handed aproach. there are good and bad on both sides and the topic is never glossed over or simplified to an easy answer.
thought provoking and an amusing page turner. cant beat that!

TV. heroes

it has been quite interesting to watch as the show 'heroes' begins to resemble the story of the 'watchmen' comic book. watchmen, if you are unaware, is considered to be one of the greatest comic book stories ever written. and now heroes is ripping it off.
here is the basic story of watchmen: a bunch of heroes are not appreciated by the public. there is one hero who used to fight crime, but got disenfranchised by the whole thing because he felt like they werent making a difference. he wanted to get to the root cause of the crime and criminals: hatred. so he left the superhero business and entered into the business world. he amassed a fortune. the whole time though, he has been working on getting rid of the root problem. when his plan is revealed it turns out that he wants to destroy new york city, the reason being is that if there were a big enough catastrophe it would bring everyone together and force them to work through their hatred and instead show love for those around them. in the comic ozymandias is the mastermind behind the whole thing, and now we have found out that the mastermind behind the exact same plot on 'heroes' is the mysterious figure of linderman (played by malcom mcdowell).
i wonder what allen moore, the writer of watchmen, thinks of all this plagiarism...

GAMES. ssx blur

one of my favorite games on the gamecube is the ssx series. i first got into it on the second edition, ssx tricky. i really loved it and then ssx3 came out. still my favorite edition so far. when ssx: on tour came out i was a bit disappointed. the game play had taken a bit of a backslide since the 3rd one.
now, this series makes its triumphal entry onto the wii. i wasnt sure what to expect- i knew the controls were going to be all different due to the motion sensitive remote. i was worried that they might follow the lazy controls of tony hawks downhill jam, which just slightly used the motion capabilites. happily, they came through with a very different and inventive control system. all the turning and speed are handled by the nunchuck, and all the tricks and jumps are done with the remote. it is a totall blast to play. in order to achive bonus power and cooler jumps you have to form shapes, or follow patterns of movement with both parts of the controller. i am not good at physical dexterity, so when i try to perform these huge power jumps i look like a rave dancer having a seizure! after i landed my first jump i had to pause the game: i was laughing so hard because i knew how silly i looked doing these controls! i double checked to make sure my blinds were closed, and then i jumped back into it! through out the rest of the night i hit the slopes, giggling at my self all the way!

TV. fact, not opinion

funniest man on television. period.

DVD. the amazing screw-on head

ah, what a wonderful surprise! i had never heard of this particular creation before. i am a huge fan of mike mignola and all things hellboy, but i was unaware of his short story about an amazing screw-on head. i went to buy the animated hellboy dvd when it came out and this dvd happened to catch my eye.
now, be warned, its not really a movie. its actually an animated pilot designed to show to different networks to try and get some interest in producing a full season. so, in essence, its only a 22 minute episode. but, my oh my, what an episode it is!
heres the premise: a head that can screw onto different bodies is hired by the president to fight monsters and other mythical creatures to keep america safe. and as a cool twist: it takes place in the 1850s, so lincoln is the president! the bad guy is emperor zombie, there are vampires, werewolves, mythical demigods, and a machine gun carrying monkey with a crown. needless to say its a bit over the top. but thats what makes it so silly and fun. the voices are fantastic and and to the crazy feeling of the animation.
though its only 22 minutes long, there are a few extras on it that pump up its replay value- there is a 20 minute making of feature as well as a commentary with the guys responsible. if, by some strange event, you have the chance to see it- i promise you will not be disappointed. confussed, but not disappointed...

TV. dave on aots

for the past 10 years or so, ive had one movie guy that i read on the internet. i find that i usually agree with his movie reviews and have enjoyed reading all of this opinions and stuff. with out his i might not have discovered such gems as 'the rundown', 'solaris', and many others that i enjoy. he used to be on tnt 'rough cuts' when there used to be such a thing (maybe around 1998 or so...), then he struck out on his own and created 'the hot button'. soon after though, he started his own hollywood news hub called 'movie city news'. i read these often, as well has his more candid (and more interesting) 'hot blog'.

when i got directv at my house i began to look around the dial and check out some of the stranger, more niche channels they had to offer. one such channel was called 'tech tv'. i started to enjoy some of their shows, among them 'screen savers' which was all about computer stuff, and rad things you could do with photoshop and stuff. also they had 'x play' which is a video game reviewing show. soon after i discovered this channel they were bought out by 'g4 tv', and screen savers was eventually revamped as 'attack of the show'. today, this show is my favorite show on tv (aside from 'the office', because nothing can beat that). they have a feature called 'the loop' on the show everyday where kevin pereira (the host) talks with a couple specialists about a different topic each day.

imagine my surprise earlier this week when these two favorite things suddenly and unexpectedly collide! the guy i read online appeared on 'aots' to talk with kevin during 'the loop'!!! it was like some sort of alternate reality where everything i love comes together for just one amazing cosmic moment!!! i half expected joy electric to show up and play the theme song! it was just so strange to see kevin and david bantering back and forth. i had to rewind it and watch it a few more times...

GAMES. wii remote straps

there has been a whole lot of talk about he problems with the wii remote straps. i have never experience any problem at all. i think the real problem with all these people breaking stuff and hurting themselves has more to do with their stupidity than it does about a faulty product. i have played my wii a lot and have never had any sort of problem with anything getting broken (expect when aaron swung before looking and sent his drinking cup flying to the floor). i think it just boils down to people getting way too excited and going crazy with their motions. all the games ive played can actually be simplified into wrist actions, there really is no reason to flail ones body about (but it does kind of amp up the silliness and fun factor when in a group).
even with this fact, nintendo has decided to offer free replacement straps to anyone who would like them. being a sucker for anything that says nintendo on it, i decided to take them up on that offer. last week i filled out the form to get new straps for my wii remotes. pictured above is a photo of the original and the new straps side by side. the difference is not huge, but the new ones are quite a bit thicker and stronger (the photo doesnt quite capture the difference). also, the new straps are about a half inch longer as well.
ill use the new straps on the two wii remotes i have, but i think im going to use one of the other straps on my ds, cause i think thats cool!