I am the Biggest Geek

Shaving on the Cheap!

2011-05-15T21:44:00.001-06:00

Tired of the high cost of double and triple blade disposal razors, cans of gooey shave cream, try shaving the old fashioned way!

All men typically shave their face on a regular basis. I happen to shave almost everyday. I am currently 46 and have been shaving since I was 20ish (ya I started late). Still, that's 26 years of shaving.

Now I am probably like a lot of people out there, I had used either a double blade, or triple blade cartridge or disposal razor almost my entire life with Edge shaving cream.

I'm sure that we all know the cost of these types of blades and cartridges, they are terribly expensive and most really don't give a great shave.

Well, this past Christmas I was given a Parker double edge butterfly safety razor, along with a badger shaving brush, a ten pack of blades and a bar of Williams shaving soap.

Okay, I had never used this type of system before, and it is kinda of a process to start with.

First of all, take a shower first, it helps prepare your beard for shaving. While you are showering, soak the bar of Williams shaving soap in hot water. When you get out of the shower, soak your face and the badger brush in very hot water. Take the brush, swirl it in the bar of shaving soap, then apply it to your face. Very important, then swirl the brush directly on your face in a circular motion. This action will start to create a meringue like foam on your face. Once you get there, brush it on in a paint brush like motion.

Now you are ready to shave. Be careful, this is a double edge razor it is very sharp. I find it is best to move the razor along your face at about a 30 degree angle. The first few time I cut my face. Note that it could take a couple of passes, here and there.

After shaving I apply some Nivea post shave balm, to help prevent burn.

I know it sound like a process, but its kinda of fun. Also after doing it a couple of weeks it becomes routine.

Now here it comes, get ready :)

There is the starting cost of buying the razor $25-35 and the badger brush on average $13-40

Then there is the ongoing cost. razor blades $1.97 for 10. $.97 for the Williams shaving soap and then the most expensive (for me) Nivea post shave balm $6.99 for 3.3 fl oz.

I change blades once a week that is 0.19 per week.

A bar of shaving soap last about ten weeks, that is $0.10 per week.

A bottle of Nivea post shave balm last about 25 weeks, that is $0.28

that is a total of $.57 per week or $0.8 per shave! compare that to disposal systems.

I have to admit there are more expensive products out there. However, you can buy blades from Amazon extremely cheap. Williams shaving soap is not the best shaving soap out there, and I probably will be trying some other product. Still how can you beat this price. Sure there is a startup cost involved, but think of it as an investment over time.

So I recommend this type of shaving very strongly, it is really going to save a lot of money down the road.

Thor

2011-05-13T22:30:00.002-06:00

This is my review of the movie Thor, released by Paramount Pictures and Marvel Entertainment. It is written by Ashley Miller, Zack Stentz and Don Payne and directed by Kenneth Branagh. It is rated PG-13.

Thor is based on the Marvel Comic of the same name. It is the story of the Norse God Thor, set in the modern age. The comic and movie both, blends mythology with superhero action.

The comic has been continually released by Marvel comics for nearly fifty years. Thor's first appearance was in Journey into Mystery #83 (Aug 1962). That issue was written by Stan Lee (who makes a cameo appearance in the film), penciled by Jack Kirby and Inked by Joe Sinnott.

The high points of the comic has been the Lee and Kirby run, a long storyline in the 80s by Walt Simonson and recently a storyline by J. Michael Straczynski, who gets a story credit for the film.

I just want to note that I saw the 2D version of the film (my rant about 3D versions for another time).

The film, pretty much mirrors the characters of the comic, with some slight changes and updating. However I think that the character of Loki, Thor's brother is handled slightly better in the film and given better motivation for his actions.

The modest summary of the plot is Thor finds himself banished to earth, and must save the girl, and his father, and become a better Norse god for doing so :) I HATE SPOILERS, so I won't do it (ever).

With that being said, lets get this out of the way, right now, Thor is an action movie. No highbrow message to be found here, this film is all about special effects, explosions and popcorn. Does that necessarily make this a bad film. No, it's actually a pretty good film. I enjoyed it from beginning to end, and found it to be very entertaining. The special effect are living large in this one, as the entire realm of Asgard is created, as well as a planet populated with frost giants and the super cool Destroyer.

All I can say about the cast is they do an adequate job. There are no stunning performance here. Although the cast includes Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman and that guy from Good Will Hunting. They have all done better jobs in better movies. I think the stand out and underplayed performance in this film is Tom Hiddleston who plays Loki. As for Chris Hemsworth, I believe that he did a much better job in his ten minutes of screen time in Star Trek.

Is this film for everyone? No. Many will find the fantasy aspect, too much, or plot line too little. I don't think many of my married friends will be bringing their wives to this one either.

Thor is one of many Marvel Entertainment movies that have been released, including the upcoming Captain America which are leading up to next years Avenger's movie. Like the other films this one also includes post credit scene with Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.

If you love comics or action movies I think that you will be highly entertained by Thor. If the typical summer movie season is not your thing then pass it by.

Irredeemable

2011-04-20T22:38:00.003-06:00

Mark Waid's Irredeemable published by Boom Comics is the story of a Superhero who decides to become a villain.

Imagine Superman one day deciding that the rest of the world is beneath him and he starts punishing the populous for making so many demands on him, while they never understood the sacrifices he has made. This punishment is doled out in extremely violent ways across the globe. Also who needs friends, so lets start killing off everyone on my superteam as well.

Mark Waid is one of my favorite writers, he did one of the most amazing runs on The Flash years ago and created the "speed force". He is known for being a fanboy writer and has extensive knowledge on comics. He uses it well in this new series, utilizing many archetype characters that seem very familiar but fresh at the same time.

The main villain "The Plutonian" reminds us of Superman of course, but a superman gone wrong. Some people would say this is Superman if he was bad, that over simplifying the story. You see Superman could never go wrong, many writers have built up a back story, a history a moral upbringing that would not allow it. However The Plutonian we find as we read on, did not have the happy childhood Superman had, and therefore the seeds are planted.

The art work is done very nicely and I really appreciate the flashback scenes which pay homage to Curt Swan.

I would not say Irredeemable is a really great comic, I mean it's really good, and I look forward to reading each issue. However, it seems like ground covered before, not the whole premise, but the dark violent tale.....so 80s. I had hoped seeing the trend in comic in the past few years that grim and gritty was done and over.

Can I recommend this........not to everyone, I mean it seems that if your going to go down that grim and gritty path, do you always have to have some type of rape scene. See I am a big fan of Garth Ennis, so I have read violent books, but in this case, sometimes the violence is done I think for violence sake. I think it should be done to move the plot along, character development or sometimes just outrageous humor. In this case it seems forced.

However, that being said, I find myself finishing one issue and picking up the next.....because I still want to see whats going to happen next. The first trade is out, it's selling on Amazon for 9.99 so what the hell, might as well give it a whirl.

Google Celebrating Will Einser's 94th Birthday

2011-03-06T11:19:00.004-07:00

Today I noticed that google has posted an image celebrating Will Einer's 94th Birthday.

that is geeky cool !

Hiew's Boardgame Blog: Die Macher full game

2011-02-05T14:10:00.000-07:00

Hiew's Boardgame Blog: Die Macher full game: "Finally, I got to play Die Macher again. This was the third time for me, but the first time playing the full game with 7 elections. I played..."

All Star Superman

2011-01-25T16:47:00.006-07:00

As you can tell from previous posts in this Blog, I am a Superman fan, big time. My first introduction to this character was when I was a child watching episodes of The Adventures of Superman.

Then shortly after I was introduced to the Superman Comics, but not the Superman comics which were being published at the that time.

When I was younger I would go to the local barber shop to have my hair cut by Ernie the barber and he had a large collection of older comics, I think that they were his sons from his younger days. Most of these books were from the silver age of comics from the 60s.

The 60s was probably the greatest age of Superman, where the mythology was at its highest, with different colored Kryptonites, a whole array of Superman family members, the legion and so on.

But over the decades especially after the the first Crisis and the introduction of the "Byrne" era the character has grown stall and tired and the really great stories have been few and far between.

It is only recently in the past five years or so, that the newer writers have embraced the past of the Man of Tomorrow and started creating some really great Superman tales......which call back to a more innocent day and are in fact "fun".

But no writer has touched on this as best as Grant Morrison in his twelve issue mini series All Star Superman.

This series is an out of continuity story which tells a tale of a dying Superman, who must face his greatest challenges in his last days just before the end. The series seems so fresh yet so traditional at the same time. We have lots of nods of the head and homages to the great silver age of Superman, and we touch base with modern mythology of Superman as well.

Of course one of the greatest challenge we have in the story is the great Superman villan Lex Luthor who finally is sitting on death row, and who although is facing death is unrepentant for his crime and feels justified in his hatred of the Man of Steel. He is the reflection of Superman goodness with equal portions of evil.

Also in the tale are old familiar faces such as Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen and the whole planet gang and also new friends from DNA P.R.O.J.E.C.T. ( a nod to Cadmus Project from the Kirby days).

Also included in this Superman tale are Superman Robots, Bizarro, Atlas, Sampson a Doomsday of sort, Superman One Million, the tyrant Sun and the Death of Pa Kent.

This is one of the best Superman tales ever told if not the greatest. It moves forward and back at the same time and we are taken along for the ride.

The book also includes artwork from often Morrison collaborator Frank Quitely. His version of Clark Kent is amazing, and for the first time you can understand how he gets away with the secret identity. It not just a pair of glasses, but a complete change in body language and posture. So complete is the disguise that even when Clark reveals his "Secret Identity" to Lois she does not believe him.(No one believes that Clark can be Superman).

This series was originally published in twelve single issues and then two Hardcovers, then two trades and now an Absolute edition.

This is not just a great Superman Comic it is a great Comic.

Seek it out......

The Scarf is finished

2011-01-17T17:02:00.002-07:00

Finally after all this time the Scarf is finished and looks pretty good. I had a lot of help from my friends Anna and Brandi. So here is a picture of the scarf with my puppy Oliver.

Progress on the Scarf

2010-11-17T15:08:00.002-07:00

I'm a little more than half way done with the Doctor Who Scarf.

Doctor Who Scarf

2010-10-19T16:58:00.007-06:00

I am such a big geek that I learned how to knit only to make a Doctor Who Scarf for myself.

So far I've progressed so far about 24% of the scarf.

Nosferatu, a slient classic thats really creepy!

2010-08-03T20:56:00.003-06:00

Silent films are pretty much just a forgotten format nowadays. Really with a generation which won't even consider watching a black and white film what chance does a film without sound have.

This is a real shame, there are many great films from the silent era which everyone should enjoy, one being Nosferatu. Nosferatu is a very loose adaption of Bram Stoker's Dracula directed by the silent film great F.W. Murnau.

I first saw this film in the third grade, thats right the third grade. It was Halloween and my teacher wanted to celebrate with a scary film. So we watched it on an 8mm projector with no music. I think she thought well it's a silent movie, How scary could it be? DAMN SCARY!

This film feature the creepiest vampire every film and then uses stark light and shadows to create a disturbing mood throughout. Most adults would think this film scary as a third grader it freaked me out. Really I had nightmares for weeks after-words.

However I never forgot this film and neither will you. Its easy to find a copy of the film its no longer copyrighted and.... oh there is a copy right here on this post.

So I highly recommend, and hope you enjoy.

High Fructose Corn Syrup not so sweet for you diet!

2010-05-27T13:08:00.000-06:00

How I learned to stop worrying and love Hulu..........and Netflix

2009-10-09T16:19:00.001-06:00

Two Months ago I canceled cable. Why is probably obvious, the cost and the fact that although having over 100 channels there was still nothing to watch (ever).

However, today that does not mean the end of televison viewing. There are several internet options available.

One of the best options is Hulu.com. Hulu is a free internet site which allows to you watch network television shows. Right now Hulu has shows from NBC, ABC, FOX, FX & A&E as well as many classic television shows.

Typically Hulu will post new episodes of shows from these networks a couple of days after they air and keeping them accessible for about three weeks with about five available at any one time.

The drawback to this system is commercials. Yes commercials at the typical break. Typically one 30 to 60 second spot per break, compare this the numerous commercial filling the breaktime on aired television is about ten minutes.

Most recently Hulu has also provided a desktop program allowing access to the site through a software interface rather than a browser. This program is also available for Linux as well as Windows and Mac.

Other services is subscriptions which will send you emails when new episodes of your favorite shows are posted.

Oh did I mention its free ? (maybe I did).

My second best online televison option is Netflix "Watch Me Now"

The Watch Me Now feature is available to anyone who has a Netflix account. Netflix is a great rental site for Dvds.....but they also have available the Watch Me Now feature which alows you to watch alot of content through a web browser. There are many movies and televisions shows available. The accessibility of this system is easy to use and navigate. One down side is the cost, you have to have at least a basic subscription at $9.99, another is that it cannot be used on a Linux computer Windows & Mac only.

A third system is CBS online, although they have many episodes available the site is horrible to navigate through....

In addition is Crackle.com which is an online site which allows to access a very limited number of movies through your browser.

With all of these options available it makes getting rid of Cable really easy.

For The Love of Japanese Films

2009-09-11T14:19:00.004-06:00

In 1954 two films were released in Japan that would have everlasting effects on the cinema, world wide and American pop culture. Although coming from the same shore each film's director had drastically different styles and careers but they both shared a lifetime friendship.

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The films were Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai & Ishiro Honda's Gojira or better know as Godzilla.

Both films at the time were high grossing films in Japan and both would very shortly be imported to America.

Seven Samurai would be hailed as a brilliant artistic achievement and play in high brow art houses in its original form with English subtitles. In contrast Gojira was retitled Godzilla King of the Monster was heavily edited with additional newly created scenes and was released in B movie houses. Both film would be well received in America and become classics as well.

Seven Samurai is a tale of peasant farmers who hire wondering Samurai to protect them from an outlaw band of thieves. The story has been copied dozens of times since its release. The films director Akira Kurosawa who already had fame in his own country would gain the reputation of a master film maker in America as well and would have many other well renowned films and also influence many young American films makers.

Godzilla is a icon of movie monsters, and would appear in sequel after sequel for the next fifty years. This films director Ishiro Honda although would not have the reputation of Akira Kurosawa would have a long standing career making similar types of films and owned Japaneses science fiction films during the 50s, 60s and 70s. And later in life would work closely with his good friend Akira Kurosawa.

I was first introduced to Godzilla as a child watching Creature Double Feature on channel 56 in Boston. I loved that show and it created in me a deep admiration for Japanese Monster movies. At that age I did not appreciate that the bulk of these films were directed by Honda, I just thought Godzilla was cool, something above the rest of the other giant monster movies that aired on the same program on a regular basis.

I did not see Seven Samurai until I was in my mid twenties. I was amazed by the scope and the depth of this film, and was well aware from the start who the director of this film was. Shortly after I devoured all of the Kurosawa films.

Its funny that many of these films were made in a similar time period and from the same studio. Good examples of the range of different types and quality of Japanese films out there.

As I have gotten older I have gained a great appreciation for Foreign films and it all started with Godzilla and other Japaneses monster movies and grew from there to other Japanese films and other languages.

Recently many of Ishiro Honda's films have been released on Dvd in both the original Japanese language with subtitles and the English language edited version, many with commentaries. The Akira Kurosawa films are all readily available in Japanese Language with English subtitles, many with commentaries.

I highly recommend both these directors works and suggest that you rent a few and give them a try:)

4 Reasons Why Grass-Fed Beef Is Better

2009-08-19T14:06:00.001-06:00

4 Reasons Why Grass-Fed Beef Is Better: "The benefits of grass fed beef are numerous, when compared to conventional beef cattle raising.

Night Gallery

2009-07-07T13:31:00.003-06:00

The Night Gallery was a television series which aired on NBC between 71-73. This was a anthology series by Twilight Zone Creator Rod Serling. It was a kinda mixed bag, but had many fine episodes. One of the best was an episode directed by a young Steven Spielberg.

This series is available to watch on Hulu, but unfortunately the Pilot is not online, but the show is fun and you should give it a try.

REC vs Quarantine

2009-06-20T13:48:00.004-06:00

Last year,the movie Quarantine was released in theaters. This was another in the recent trend of documentary style fiction movies (i.e. Cloverfield). However this was also a remake of the Spanish language film REC.

A comparison of these films demonstrates very interesting observations about remakes of foreign films into English.

First off its obvious that something in the original films sparked an interest in making an English language version. However it amazes me that they are never truly simple remakes and that there are always changes to the films sometimes just esthetics's but many times it is changes in plot lines as well.

Both films are about a two person television crew following firefighters on call for the evening. Both versions are about that call leading to an apartment building which a woman is acting strangely, resulting in some type of infection spreading through the tenants, making them crazed killers.

However the approaches to these films are very different. REC is more brightly, starkly light throughout, and the camera work appears of less quality leading to the belief that this is a real life event. The scenes in Quarantine are much more darkly lite and the picture quality is sharper and clearer. Therefore it is only the camera movements that evenly slightly leads you to believe this is real life.

Also the major plot point of the infection is handled very differently in both films. In REC there is never any clear cause or identification of the virus throughout the entire film. I think this leads to a more suspenseful film. There is also one scene which one victim which was obviously dead suddenly disappears, making this more of a Zombie film.

In Quarantine the virus is identified by the resident Vet as some kind of Super Rabis, I found this to be very silly plot device, and unnecessary.

Also is was odd there was much more swearing in Quarantine than in REC, as though the writers of this version thought it helped in character development for some reason.

As you can read, I feel that REC is the much superior film, and that Quarantine is a poor substitute for an English language version. Its a shame that there are so many people adverse to subtitled films, because there are so many great ones out there. Especially for horror films this seem to be the only outlet for anything of any quality.

Using Linux.........A Year Later!

2008-12-02T23:08:00.000-07:00

A little over a year ago, I had decided that I needed a new computer, and that I was going to build it (with lots of help from friends). At this same time I made the gigantic decision to change my operating system also. At this time I had chosen Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon.

I had made this decision based on my utter hatred for all things Microsoft and my frustration with the high cost of software overall. Ubuntu is a Linux distribution and the operation system is open source (meaning free). I had been assured by other people that at this point this particular operating system was pretty user friendly. And by user friendly I mean, someone who knows a bit about computers and has lots of patients to learn.

Well I built this computer, and had problems from the start. First of all the Raid card which was installed to allow for additional hard drives would not be recognize by the system. The dual monitor system which I really enjoyed on my Windows system would not work! And the TV card would not operate and I could never get the network printer up and running either. However, I still wanted this system, and I felt I could learn to live with the inconveniences over time. I kept the system and used it as my daily operating system. It was not easy, I soon missed many of the “Windows” application that I had used over the course of many years and it seemed many of the neat software applications and web applications were made for Windows only. Also there was my complete lack of knowledge of the system which meant many mistakes over and over and over.

It always seemed to me that everything that seemed so easy to do on Windows was much more difficult on Ubuntu (Linux). I could not run my work programs either which meant not working at home and staying late at the office many nights.

It also seemed that my lack of knowledge always lead me to crashing the system or completely messing it up and then I had to reinstall the whole thing. And reinstall and reinstall......... I became and expert at installing the operating system.

….But slowly I began to learn. Actually finding the answers to my questions and problems was really easy, a quick Google search and typically there it was. Of course it meant learning to input these answers into the Terminal (direct command input in text format), which I am really still learning. I began to understand that the Terminal was actually easier than the graphical environment for doing many things and pretty powerful (this had lead me to reinstall my system many times).

I also began to learn about the software repository, a way to easily access hundreds of free programs to do almost any task you can think of. Also I had to learn to install software using the source code and debian files. A little difficult at first but then the answers are always out there (more readily than answers to Windows problems).

I started to like the system very much, and when the next release 8.04 came out I gave it a try and was disappointed. I found that it was a little more difficult to configure and there was a couple of problems that I could not fix..... and the dual monitor and the raid card still did not work......so I went back to 7.10 and was pretty happy with it, much happier than with Windows. I occasionally had problems which would required a reinstall, however the benefits outweighed this inconvenience.

Now the very latest release 8.10 Intrepid Ibex had been made available, so I gave it a whirl...........and right from boot up, the Raid was working and the Dual monitor system, and the network printer practically configured itself, it also saw the network and many of the other little bugs had been worked out. And since using I started using the system I have also learned how to remotely access my work computer so that I can work at home. This latest version seems to be very user friendly, almost to the point of recommending it to people who have some computer knowledge but not a whole lot.

I guess the point of this post is that I have switched from Windows to Linux and I am happy with the change. So it might be time for you to try the switch and get that Windows monkey off your back. I did and am glad of it.

Shepard Smith.........Again

2008-11-13T14:56:00.001-07:00

I found this post recently. It seem that Shepard Smith, might just be the only "Fair and Balanced" person on Fox News.

Shepard Smith, Honest Guy?

2008-11-09T16:00:00.003-07:00

I did not post anything about the Obama win, lots of other people did that. I did however wanted to note my latest observations about Fox Anchor Shepard Smith. I have seen two interviews by the guy in recent weeks that seems to me make him possibly the only honest guy over at fox. What do you think?

Cheney Endorses McCain

2008-11-01T20:01:00.001-06:00

Less than four days from the Election and Dick Cheney endorses John McCain for President. Who's next Satan!

A message of Change, Hope, the Future

2008-10-29T22:05:00.003-06:00

With six days till the election, Obama aired this program on seven stations this evening. Its nearly one half hour in length and there is not one negative comment about John McCain. That a message for the future not a smear.

The Current Campaign Ads

2008-10-26T14:08:00.002-06:00

Its about nine days left till the election and these are the current ads the Candidates have up. One speaks about how problems will be solved and other points fingers at the other guy. Which person do you want in the White House?

Politics and the Internet

2008-10-23T15:34:00.000-06:00

As the name of the Blog states I am the Biggest Geek, generally this refers to your typical geeky pursuits comics, movies television. However it also means and includes politics, I am a politically junkie! I love this country and am proud to be an American and as such I fully believe in my right to “freedom of speech”. At this point in time there is less than two weeks to the upcoming election and I feel compelled to add my voice to the crowed of collective lunatics and nut balls.

First off an important observation. In previous elections there were many points of misinformation spoon fed to the American populous. This being from exaggerations to out right lies about opponents and pundits. But with the growth of the Internet and the technology behind it, we are at a point in history where speeches past and present are readily available for reviewing by all! This means lies and contradictions are easily exposed and harder to keep.

As is noted in the networks and national papers, Senator McCain is far behind in many of the polls across the nation. I believe that this is due on the greater part that McCain has been running a negative campaign against Senator Obama, and that many of the accusations alleged in his attacks cannot hold up, through just the simplest “Google” of the facts in questions. A person can easily review any misstatements or outright lies from Candidates easily and with repeated frequency. At this point the American people have the ability to fact check for themselves and many do. This has not served Senator McCain well at all. Also there are many bipartisan websites that keep a history of a candidate's voting record which now exposes them to their real agendas.

In todays world the candidate's must remain true to there convictions and their record and stop the lies and deceptions to the American people, because now more than ever it's gonna come back and bite them in the ass!

Dr. Horrible Sing Along Blog

2008-07-19T11:42:00.003-06:00

This is just fun.......from the creative mind of the guy who brought you Buffy and Firefly!

update Dr. Horrible is available to watch again at http://www.hulu.com

Harlan Ellison Documentary Coming Summer of '08

2008-06-29T21:13:00.003-06:00

Harlan Ellison is one of the greatest writers of the 21st Century, oh and he is also a bastard!

SHAZAM! AGAIN

2007-11-18T23:29:00.001-07:00

SHAZAM!

2007-11-18T23:24:00.000-07:00

I recently purchased Shazam! The Monster Society of Evil hardcover. This is a new Captain Marvel story from Jeff Smith the creator of Bone.

The character was created in the 40s, as young Billy Batson was giving a magic word from the Wizard Shazam (his name) which transformed him into Captain Marvel, worlds mightiest mortal. Also over time the Captain got a whole family of Marvels including a teenage sister Marvel Marvel.

Right from the start this book really had me. I've been a fan of Captain Marvel since I was a young boy, watching the CBS Saturday morning live action show. From that point on I ate up everything I got my hands on which stared “the big red cheese”.

I have to admit over the years, it all wasn't very good. You see the problem with the Captain Marvel character is that during the run in the 40s and 50s it was done very tongue in cheek, whimsical and innocent. Lots of fantastic adventures and outrageous characters. But then the book was canceled and during the absence of the Captain Marvel from the 50s to the 70s, comics started to take themselves seriously. So when Captain Marvel returned to comics no one really knew how to handle a magic hero with a talking tiger. Therefore we've had many interpretation of the character not many very well done. Also many of the newer creators did not understand Billy relationship with the Captain. Most thought billy transformed into the Captain, that simply was not the case, The Captain, kinda possessed Billy. Well during the late 80s and 90s the creators wrote Captain Marvel as though Billy was stuck in an adults body “Wrong”.

With this new book, Jeff Smith has returned to the roots of Captain Marvel. Sure he has brought him to the 21^st Century with many changes and updates, but with a real innocence and charm that fits very well with the mythos. Also in a stroke of genius Jeff Smith came up with the idea of making Mary Marvel a little tiny girl, Therefore making the Captain her big brother.

The new book by Jeff Smith is a retelling of the Monster Society story originally done over multiple issues during the 40s. I won't go into the particulars of the storyline, but this was one of the funnest books in the last decade. I highly recommend it to all comic fans out there. Also it would be a great book to introduce young kids to the world of comics.

Back again

2007-11-18T22:49:00.001-07:00

Well its been quite a while since I last posted. There are many reasons for the long delay. First off and had about two and one half weeks of Appraisal classes, in preparation of getting my Idaho State appraisal license. Then after there was the move, we move down the street to a new place, and with th combination of the selling, the packing and the hauling it took a while to finish up everything. Lastly the server at the office (which was also my client machine) died and had to be replaced. We replaced the machine and using it solely as a server machine and utilized the home computer as a new client machine at the office. Which meant we needed a new home machine. This time around I decided to try my hand at linux. It is not go smoothly. Tried to do an array system which we never got working so, just using the hard drives as individual drives. However, finally got everything up and running. I expect to do a few posts the week and also to do the game night post regularly again.

Game Day August 12, 2007

2007-08-13T21:30:00.001-06:00

Marcus once again called and asked if I wanted to play a game on Sunday. So him, Michelle and Brian showed up for an evening of games.

The first game was Hoity Toity. This is a game that Michelle won at Icon, the Idaho Board Gaming Convention. This was the first play for all of us. I read the rules and watched a instructional video on Board Games with Scott just prior to playing our first game. It was fun, all the players make their moves simultaneously, playing cards which give them an action, which interact with the other players actions, all to move their pawns across the board to come in first. We enjoyed the game, but realized. that it would be even better if we played the game with a full six players. Brian won this game.

The Second game for the night was RA, which is an auction game, in which players bid on sets of tiles drawn from a common bag, in order to collect tiles of high values to them. I really love this game, the first few plays are vary bland, until you discover the rhythm of the game. I think we always have a good time with this one. And Michelle, won this game by a big landslide.

Game Night August 9, 2007

2007-08-13T21:17:00.001-06:00

In attendance were Brian, Thomas, Anna, Alan, Scott, Whitnie, Marcus, Michael, Andrew, and Myself. Oh and the other Brian showed up for a little while.

Thomas, Anna, Alan and Brian showed up on time and all the others were running very late, so I decided that we would start without them. So I picked Zooloretto. I explained the rules, but everyone seemed to be having difficulty figuring out the money aspect and the snack bar part of the game. I think this is due to the familiarity with Coloretto which is very similar. By mid game I think everyone got and was enjoying themselves. Alan won that game by a large margin.

By the time we had gotten into the game, everyone else showed up almost at the same time. Marcus picked the game they would play which was Shadows over Camelot. This is a Co-operative game in which everyone plays against the game mechanic in trying to complete several different quest to obtain a set number of swords(white) and if you fail you receive bad swords (black). Now there are many Co-op games out there but this tend to be one of the best , since one play could be a traitor and working against the rest. Strangely Marcus decided not to utilize this portion of the game. Scott and (the other) Brian did not make through the game and left early, the other seemed to be enjoying it, for just the fact that they had invested so much time they wanted to defeat the game. Which they did.

While the other played Shadows.... we were able to get in another game, although Alan had to leave. So Thomas, Brian, Anna and I played Thurn and Taxi. This was the first time for Anna, who seemed a little cool on it, although she won. I always enjoy this game.

Game Day August 5, 2007

2007-08-13T21:01:00.001-06:00

Marcus Called and asked about getting together and playing games. So Scott, Marcus, Michelle and Myself got together and for a Sunday afternoon of gaming.

The first game was Ticket to Ride:Marklin This was the first game for the rest and the third play for me, and also my third win(I love this game!).

Also We had dinner together as we played which was Homemade Turkey Chille and Quesadillas!

The second game for the night was Zooloretto, I had not played this game since I won it at The Gathering of Strangers. Its a fun tile collecting game very similar to Coloretto but with animals. Michelle won this game.

After Scott took off, Marcus and Michelle stayed to watch Gene Simmons Family Jewels and I went into the office to type some files, but it was much easier to go in since I had got some gaming in.

Game Night August 2, 2007

2007-08-13T16:56:00.001-06:00

In attendance were Alan, Scott, Matt, Anna, John, Marcus, Thomas, Brian and Myself.

It was a really were night, most of the Physic Students had just finished a conference and the University and were really wiped out. Three times it was requested by different people that they wanted to play "something easy".

Well I decided to play Betrayal at House on the Hill. Playing this game were Alan, Anna, Matt, Scott, John and Myself. Although everyone seemed pretty fried, we got through it and I think everyone still seem to enjoy the game. In this game John turned out to be the traitor and the rest of us were able to defeat him and win the game.

Marcus, Thomas and Brian played Ingenious and then Coloretto, I'm not sure who won each game.

After we had finished Betrayal, most people packed it in early (they were all really tried and just wanted to turn off), but Alan, Scott, Matt and I finished the evening with a game of Coloretto, which Alan won.

Game Night July 26, 2007

2007-07-27T10:30:00.001-06:00

In attendance were Brian, Megan, Anna, Michael, Andrew, Ken, Marcus, Alan, John, Thomas and Myself.

We broke into two groups.

Brian, Andrew, Thomas, Alan and Marcus played a game of Hacienda, which ran about an hour and one half with Thomas winning, well not just winning but just destroying everybody else in the game.

Michael, Ken, John and myself played Ticket to Ride: Marklin Edition. Again this is a fantastic light game with a little bit of Euro feel to it. Michael, was not enjoying himself totally since he appeared to be having terrible card draws. The game was very close between John and I at the end, and I ended up pulling way ahead due to the number of destination cards I completed.

Megan and Anna did not play a game, they both were knitting.

I want to thank everyone for coming and hope you had a great time and I'll see you next week .

Oh and Josh was not able to attend due to the recent birth of this fourth child Lillian Wheeler!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Game Day July 22, 2007

2007-07-22T23:00:00.001-06:00

Earlier in the week due to the amount of work that I had facing me, I had to cancel Game Night. However, Alan was good enough to step up to the plate and host it himself. I was not able to attend but was told it was a very good turn out and games played were Puerto Rico and Settlers of Catan.

Brian called me Sunday and asked if I would be interested in playing games and that he would make a couple of calls to see who else would be also. So in attendance on Sunday for games were Alan, Brian, Whitnie and myself. Also Brian brought a pizza from Papa Murphy's along with him (thank you very much Brian).

The first game we played was Ticket to Rid: Marklin Edition, This the third version of the classic Ticket to Ride series. Game play is similar to Ticket to Ride standard version but the differences are two destination stacks, long routes and short routes and also the addition of passengers, who travel across established player tracks to collect point markers. It was a pretty tight game, but I won due to the number of destination cards I completed.

After Alan and Whitnie left for the evening, and Brian and I played a two player game of Hacienda. This is an area control and building game in which each players are establishing land tracks and then building livestock herds off them to collect money and score points. It was a very nice two player game, but I could definitly see the potential for really close and confrontational games with three for four players. At the end of the game, when we totaled points I came out front due to my last minute building of the water.

It was a nice game day and everyone enjoyed themselves and I'm looking forward to our regular game night this Thursday.

Game Night July 12, 2007

2007-07-14T20:13:00.001-06:00

In attendance were Alan (after a long absence vacationing in Spain), Whitnie, Scott, Matthew, Brian, Megan, John, Thomas and Myself.

I made brownies for everyone for snacks(mmmmmmm.....)

Brian, Alan, Scott, Thomas and Matthew played Railroad Tycoon which Brian was really looking forward to since last week. However Alan was the one to come out on top.

Whitnie, John and Megan and myself played Barbie Queen of the Prom Game. Megan had brought the game and Whitnie insisted that I play. So in order to get a forth I bribed John with a promise to play battlelore when it was finished. It actually turned out to be fun (sometimes its not the game its the people who play with). Megan won that game (making her extremely happy since it was her game).

After that game John and I sat down for a game of Battlelore which is a really great simple two player wargame. I own Memoir '44 and Command and Colors Ancients and I think I like this game most of all. John won the game but we both had a really great time.

All in all it was another great game night and I can't wait to see everyone next week.

Create an Avatar at the Simpson's Movie Site

2007-07-14T14:53:00.000-06:00

Over at the Simpson's Movie web site they have an online tool for creating a Simpson's like character for yourself. All you have to do is register and not only can you make characters of yourself but also friends and family. Lots of fun, try it out.

Sicko

2007-07-08T21:53:00.001-06:00

Okay, okay I know I usually blog on very trivial stuff, game night, comics, dvds and so forth. However I felt compelled to at the very least to say a few words about Michael Moore's new film Sicko. I know Moore is a controversial figure and there is are two definite camps "Love him" and "Hate him" and never shall the twain meet, but this issue is so important and goes beyond politics that I believe we all can agree, our health care system presently DOES NOT WORK!!!!!!!

In this film, Moore really takes a back seat, and has the least amount of on camera time as in any of his previous films. Although many might think that this is a film about the millions of people who lack health care (and there are) it really about the ones that do, but that it does little for them.

We all at some time have been sick enough that we considered going to the Doctor or the hospital. We consider it and weigh all the factors (my co-pay, if I need referral, do I have to call my HMO first). This is a sad commentary that going to the doctor has to be a consideration, and we have to think about it at all.

What is even sadder is that in the film, Moore visits other countries to examine their Health care system, such as Canada, Britain, France and Cuba. In all cases their system appeared to be superior to ours in the fact that there was no cost to the individual for any visits or procedures. This is horrendous considering that we supposedly live in the greatest country in the world and Cuba has a superior health care system.

I will admit that Mr. Moore did not outline the cost in taxes and/or freedoms, but come on, we can't have better health care than Cuba!

Now I know there are many of you out there going, either love this country or leave and go live in one of those other countries (pinko). I just want to note, I do love this country, but I'm saddened by what its becoming and that we lose sight of the most important aspect, the people. I feel that the Governments, Corporations and such always put the all mighty dollar before anything else, and of course Businesses are in the business of making money (I understand that, I'm not an idiot), but when these same corporation are recording profits in the billions and CEOs are getting bonuses in the millions, is it right that someone in a hospital bed right now this minute this very moment can't get $5.00 worth of medication because their insurance company won't pay for it.

So please, please just see this film.

Game Night July 5, 2007

2007-07-08T21:15:00.001-06:00

First off Happy Birthday United States of America, secondly Happy Birthday Megan!

In attendance on game night that evening were Anna, Brian, Megan, Whitnie, Matthew, Katie, Scott and Myself. Also Anna brought her friend Abby from Boston with her this evening.

Katie, Megan, Brian and Myself played Thurn and Taxis, a game about establishing Postal routes in Germany. We were all familiar with the game expect Megan, who it was her first time playing. Like always its always a close game as far as scoring goes, however Katie came out on top and took the win.

Anna, Abby, Whitnie and Matthew played El Grande. El Grande is an area control game with an auction mechanic built in as well with three scoring stages. This game went on fairly long as we were done with our game long before their finish. I got to watch the end game, which was a tough finish between Anna and Whitnie, but Whitnie was able to utilize her last card very well giving her the ability to score the Castillo all on her own, pulling her out way in front to come in for the win.

After the during the end game and after I was able to have a nice conversation with Abby, who like I noted is currently from Boston (Newton actually just outside the city). It was nice to talk to some from the back east who knew all the places I knew.

Gathering of Strangers June 30, 2007

2007-07-01T22:16:00.001-06:00

This weekend I attend the Gathering of Strangers board game convention in Salt Lake City at the University of Utah.

Brian, Whitnie, Marcus and Myself drove down from Pocatello early Saturday morning, its about an two and one half hour drive.

When we arrived in the city we decided to have lunch first, and Brian made us drive around for about a half an hour looking for an Indian place that he was sure of where it was located. After not finding it we Brian suggested the Lemon Grass, A Thai place, of course we we got there we found out that they do not serve lunch on Saturday. Luckily Trang Restaurant is located right next door.

Trang Restaurant is a an Asian place that I usually try to stop at every time I'm in Salt Lake, The food is excellent with a very diverse menu and the best dumplings I have ever had in my life.

Lunch was about an hour so we did not get to the convention till 1:oo pm. The first game we played was Inkognito, older deduction game, Whitnie and Marcus won that game.

After I was asked by David to play Succession: Intrigue in the Royal Court, a small negotiation bluffing game, which I did not really care for, it was extremely light, but we were only playing with three, and I think it would be better with a full five players.

Next David asked me to play Plunder, a small Pirate card game, which I like much more than the previous game, although it was light, I felt that if I had more experience with the game and there was at least one additional player this would be a lot of fun, don't get me wrong I did have fun, but with more players it would be a blast.

While David and I played Plunder they had the raffle, Marcus, Brian, David and I all won prizes. I won a copy of Zooloretto.

Funny enough, the next game I played was my spanking new copy of Zooloretto. I played this game with Robert, Tammy and Jordan. Nice little game from the creators of Coloretto. It was quick and fun and a really nice prize. Oh and Jordan won the game.

While I was playing these games Brian, Whitnie, Marcus and one other person played Thurn and Taxis. I don't know who won that game.

After that they played a game of Power Grid, which Marcus won.

After that Marcus said he was hungry though we were planning on playing a game of Mall of Horror with Josh from our game group who was also there.

Josh and Eric were in the middle of a game of Twilight Struggle and probably had another hour to go, so we decided we would get pizza and bring it back. I asked Tim from Game Night Games for a local pizza place and he suggested The Pie.

We got over there ordered a 16" ultimate veggie and a 23" pepperoni, The 23" was huge, I mean gigantic we couldn't even fit in the back seat of Marcus' car. I mean it was massive (no really it was big).

Got back to the convention just as Josh and Eric were finishing their game and chowed down on some Pizza and started a game of Mall of Horror.

Playing the game was Josh, Brian, Eric, Marcus, Jordan, Myself and Whitnie, this is a Voting Negotiation game about survival from a zombie invasion. A kind of last man standing type of game, much like Lifeboats. During the game they made the announcement that the convention was shutting down shortly, but we were able to finish with Brian and Myself tying for the win.

All in all, Gathering of Strangers is a great con, and I know I'll be attending again next year.

Game Night June 28, 2007

2007-07-01T21:34:00.001-06:00

In attendance was Anna, Scott, Whitnie, Brian, Megan, John, Thomas, Matthew and Myself. Arriving late was Katie and Scott.

Anna, Scott, Whitnie, John and Thomas played Lifeboats, with Whitnie winning that game.

Brian, Matthew, Megan and myself played Ticket to Ride, with Brian winning.

After Brian, Katie and Myself played Thurn and Taxis with Katie winning that one.

Thanks everyone for attending and I hope to see you next week.

Mountain Dew's New Ad, I'm left speechless!

2007-06-23T20:33:00.001-06:00

I just saw this today, and I was stuck between laughing out loud and stunned silence.

Game Night June 22, 2007

2007-06-22T20:25:00.001-06:00

In attendance this evening were Anna, Whitnie, Scott, Thomas, John, Brian, Megan, Josh, Marcus and after a long absence Matthew.

Off the bat, Thomas asked what game I would really like to play, and I decided on Die Macher, and then asked who did not have to get up early and could stay for a long one. Josh, John and Thomas said they could stay late and we would play that.

Scott and Matthew played a game of Battlelore. Scott won that game hands down.

Anna, Whitnie, Brian and Megan played Coloretto,then a game of Cluzzle and finally Marcus joined in Megan dropped out for a game of Betrayal of House on the Hill.

I don't know who won the first two games, however Anna became the traitor and won the game against the other.

In all this time, our group was playing our one game of Die Macher which lasted until 12:00 am, with Josh coming out victorious.

I hope everyone had a good time and hope to see you again next week.

Game Night, May 14, 2007

2007-06-18T21:47:00.000-06:00

It has been awhile since the previous game night, I've been away on vacation and last week was a busy work week.

In attendance that evening was Anna, Whitnie, Brian, John, Michael, Andrew, Thomas, myself and this time Karen joined in.

John, Thomas, Michael, Andrew and Myself played Puerto Rico , this was the first time for most except for Michael, who had two games under his belt and of course me. It ran long approximately two and one half hours. However, everyone really seemed to enjoy it especially Michael who won the game.

Anna, Brian, Whitnie and Karen played Pinochle this was the first time for Karen, however the other are all Pinochle veterans. That game took just about as long as the Puerto Rico, and Anna and Karen Won, the score being 1,780 to -10.

I hope everyone had a good time and hope to see you next week.

Icon, Idaho Convention for Boardgamers May 19, 2007

2007-06-18T20:26:00.000-06:00

In May I attended and ran a few games at the Icon convention. This is a Board gaming convention held in eastern Idaho in the city of Idaho Falls. So far this event has been semi annually and is run by Josh Wheeler a gaming enthusiast and friend of mine.

The conventions features mostly open gaming, featuring many types of games, Euro games, classic board games and some Wargames. There are also a couple of tournaments,and lots and lots of door prizes.

The convention typically runs from 9:00am and until midnight.

Like I stated, I demoed a few games, ElGrande, Battlelore, Twilight Struggle, Cluzzle and Wits and Wagers.

Conventions Like these are a great way of meeting other board gamers in the area and although this one is in its infancy, its a great little Con!!!!!

I highly recommending attending and will post the next date here!!!!

Robot Chicken Star Wars

2007-06-18T20:20:00.001-06:00

You can't beat this combination, of Robot Chicken (one of the funniest shows on TV) and Star Wars. You can watch the whole thing on the Cartoon Network website.

Abbott and Costello "Whos on First"

2007-06-12T21:37:00.000-06:00

This is one of the greatest comedy routines ever, and one of the best performances of the routine taken from the film The Naughty Nineties.

Batman the Animated Series

2007-06-01T18:09:00.001-06:00

I recently purchased the Dvds of the complete Batman the Animated Series. This series first aired in 1992 after the release of the Batman Returns feature film. This series featured the animated adventures of DC comics Dark Knight, produced by Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski. This “cartoon” took a serious approach to the Batman mythos, showing a grim Batman set in a very dark Gotham City. From the start with the first episode “On Leather Wings”, Batman fans knew that this was the Batman we had been waiting for, there was no camp, no mugging for the camera, and grown up tales of a Batman we had seen only before in some of the best Comics of the series.

It is certainly evidenced that the creators were Batman fans based on the detail given all the characters of the series. It’s widely known that Batman has the best rouges gallery of any hero and it shows in all its glory within the series.

One of the best features of the series in the voice acting, no longer did a company use the stock performers we all grew up with from the Hanna Barbara stable, no this time real actors took on the roles giving it their all. For example Mark Hamill, brings the Joker to manically life throughout the entire series, so much so that when ever you see the Joker all you can here is Hamill’s distinct laugh for the character.

Also the series features some of the best writing for these characters ever produced with many of the best episodes being written by Paul Dini. Dini not only utilize all the elements of what made all the characters great, but in many cases reinvented them and gave them more depth, for example Mr. Freeze in the first season episode “Heart of Ice”.

Also the look of the series was very distinct, given a very dark look, with very detailed lighting effects and a style which can easily be traced back to the old Max Fleischer Superman cartoons of the 40s. The pictures in this series are dark, extremely dark and this fits the mood of the entire series and the characters. Again, much of what animation had looked like in the past thirty hears had been established by companies like Hana Barbara and Flimation, which utilized very limited background stills and reused the foreground art over and over again.

In my opinion the creators of the series had done the definitive Batman……The Batman that every fan knew and didn’t know, and wanted more of each week. I can’t recommend this series enough; it’s a treat for every Batman fan out there and possibly for any anime fan as well.

Also it is noted that Paul Dini, is currently writing Batman in Detective Comics and is introducing many of the animated elements into current Batman continuity, so check it out!

Game Night, May 17, 2007

2007-05-20T12:30:00.000-06:00

In attendance were Thomas, John, Josh, Marcus, Brian, Scott, Anna, Ted (after a long absence) and joining us were Whitney and Trish and of course myself.

Starting off, Whitney, Scott, Anna and Brian played The Game of Real Life
, while Trish, Ted and John played Settlers of Catan, and finally Josh, Thomas and I played Settlers of the Stone Age.

Marcus did not play a game right off the bat and sat out on the three that were going on.

The Game of Real Life ended earlier than the other two games with Scott wining, after that the same group played a game of Cluzzle which according to most accounts Anna was victorious.

I the time it took that group to play two games, the other two groups continued with there game with finally Thomas wining Settlers of Stone Age and Trish wining Settlers of Catan.

After, Whitney, Scott and Anna left for the evening leaving Brian, Marcus, Trish, Ted and John playing a game of Ticket to Ride.

At the same time Josh, Thomas and myself played a game of RA.

Both game took about the equal amount of time to play with Josh wining RA and Ted wining Ticket to Ride.

Just one side note, This was my fifth play of RA, and I'm just now starting to see all the layers this game has, on the surface appears to be a very simple auction game but it contains much more depth, and complexity that is only apparent after several plays.

I want to thank everyone for coming to game night and I hope that you all had a really great time.

Just a reminder, I will be on vacation next week so game night is cancelled for the 24th and 30th.

However it will be back on June 7th.

thanks

Game Night, May 10, 2007

2007-05-11T17:22:00.000-06:00

Game Night had arrived again. In attendance were Marcus, Alan, Anna, Brian, Scott, Thomas, Michael, Andrew, Josh (and his little daughter), myself and after a long absence John.

The previous Monday had been had been Thomas' birthday and so John had brought a cake for us all to share (thank you very much John), (and Happy Birthday Thomas).

Well last week Scott had requested a game of Marvel Heroes and earlier this week
Anna had emailed me that she wanted to play Fury of Dracula.

So we split into three groups, Scott, Thomas, John and myself playing Marvel Heroes. I had played this once before but this was the first time for all the others.

Anna, Brian, Alan, Michael and Andrew playing Fury of Dracula. Anna and Brain had played this previously but this was the first time for all the others.

Marcus, Josh and Josh's daughter playing Cluzzle.

The game of Cluzzle is fairly short so that game finished much earlier than the other two, and I don't know who won that game. After Josh had to get home to put his daughter to bed and Marcus left early also.

The Fury of Dracula ran long, till about 11:00 pm, from what I'm told it was coolly received which is a disappointment since usually we have a really good time with that one, Anna had played Dracula and the other players beat her (though she said near the end she was being reckless).

Our game of Marvel Heroes was the last to finish, at approximately 12:45 am (boy am I tired today), but we had a really great time. The first hour of the game was a little tense since it was taking a while for everyone to catch on, but finally when that did it was a blast. Scott won the game breaking a tie with John, after I had 5 points detected in my last turn. (really have to play this again!)

Oh and Alan had brought some Baklava (thanks Alan!!!)

I want to thank everyone for come to game night and I hope to see you next week!!!!!

Game Night, May 3, 2007

2007-05-03T22:22:00.000-06:00

In attendance was Alan, Marcus, Brian, Scott, Andrew, Michael, Josh and Myself.

Marcus, Josh, Scott and Michael started the evening off with a game of Lifeboats, which ran much shorter than the first game the group played a few weeks ago. Scott was the winner of that game. Then that same group played a game of RA, which Michael won.

In the time it took those guys to play two games we played one game of Starfarers of Catan, this was the second time, Alan and Brian had played and first time for Andrew and I, we all really enjoyed the hell out of this one, and in the end I came out on top and won the game.

Thanks everyone for attending and I hope to see you all next week.

p.s. Scott made a request to play Marvel Heroes game, lets see if that get done.

SuperFriends

2007-05-03T16:02:00.001-06:00

I Just loved this series when I was a kid, but looking at it now it really appears simplistic and not keeping with many of the characters. However it will always have a fond place in my heart.

Game Night, April 26, 2007

2007-04-27T16:30:00.000-06:00

In Attendance were Alan, Brian, Scott, Marcus, Thomas and Myself.

Alan had recently purchased a new game Starfarers of Catan, and Marcus and he sat down to go over the rules, while they did that Brian, Scott, Thomas and myself played a game of Ingenious, it was an odd game everyone scored very high, brian actually got Ingenious on all the colors and won even before the last tile was played.

After that game, Thomas had to leave shortly so Brian, Alan and Marcus played Starfarers while Scott and I played 2 games of Command and Colors Ancients. This was Scott's first time, although he had played Memoir '44 a few time. He said that he enjoyed Ancients more, since it appeared that the cards gave you more options and the player aid sheet included with the game, gave a player all the information they needed to know during the course of play. Scott won the first game and I won the second.

In the time it took for Scott and I to play two games of Command and Colors, Marcus, Alan and Brian was just finishing up their game of Starfarers. Alan won the game making the purchase that much sweeter, although he did say that a four player game would probably be better since each player would have less room to move across the board.

All in all the three of them agreed that it was a fun game and would gladly play again.

Thanks all for coming and hope to see you next week.

Creature Double Feature WLVI TV56

2007-04-27T16:23:00.001-06:00

I grew in central Massachusetts about forty miles outside of Boston and when I was a child Channel 56 a local UHF channel aired "Creature Double Feature" every Saturday afternoon starting at 1:00 pm and running till 4:00 pm. I was glued to the set every time this ran, they showed a wide range of classic horror movies from Universal Monster, Roger Corman cheap B moves and Japanese Monster Movies. This is were I was first introduced to Frankenstein, Dracula, Godzilla and many little know monsters. Its a shame that these films are now considered by a wide circle to be outdated and no longer commercial. These were classic films which I fell in love with and still have a place in my heart for to this very day. This was when horror, for me was mood (sometimes cheese) but never gore.

Game Night, April 19, 2007

2007-04-20T16:24:00.000-06:00

In attendance were Anna, Alan, Marcus, Thomas, Brian, Andrew, Michael, Megan and Myself.

Alan, Anna, Andrew, March, and Michael played a game of Settlers of Catan with the expansion and Alan came out the winner!!

Brian, Thomas, Megan and Myself played a game of Hare and the Tortoise in which I came out victorious.

Later we were joined by Josh and Todd, but Todd could not stay long enough to play and Megan was finished with games for the night, so Josh, Brian, Thomas and Myself had a four player game of RA, and Thomas first game and He won!

I hope everyone had a great time and enjoy seeing you all again next week.

Game Night, April, 5 2007

2007-04-05T16:49:00.000-06:00

In attendance were Brian, Andrew(for the first time), Thomas, Alan, Micheal and myself.

I had picked up a copy of Lifeboats and was itching to play for the past month. Tonight was a rare night which a small number of people had attended and therefore I thought it a good opportunity to bring it out.

I explained the rules, its a simple negotiations games whereas you elect which boats spring a leak, then which player gets kicked off the boat and then which boat (out of seven) get advanced towards the island.

The rules state that the game can be played in 90 minutes (our game took 3 hours), but they were a very enjoyable 3 hours :)

All our negotiation went very long there was much arguing, pleading and convincing throughout the entire evening.

After all was said and done, I came out on top and won the game.

Everyone who played enjoyed themselves very much and all agreed that it would be one they would be very willing to play again.

I was very pleased that Andrew enjoyed himself so much since this was his first night with the group.

thanks again everyone see you next week.

Game Night, March 15, 2007

2007-03-19T19:39:00.000-06:00

In attendance was Anna, Marcus, Scott, Matthew, Alan, Brian and Ted and myself.

Anna, Matthew, Marcus and Myself played Order of the Stick adventure game. Anna won this game.

Alan, Brian, Scott and Ted played Railroad Tycoon, which Brian won!

Game Night, March 8, 2007

2007-03-10T23:45:00.000-07:00

In attendance was Alan, Scott, Brian and Myself.

The first game for the evening was Tigris & Euphrates I have not played this in a long while and it was Alan, Scott and Brian's first time. Brian won this game with Scott coming in second.

The second game was Coloretto, which Alan won.

Thanks everyone who game and I hoped you enjoyed the evening.

Game Night, March 1, 2007

2007-03-03T14:33:00.000-07:00

Starting with this Game Night, we decided to no longer serve dinner.

Game Night started in October of 2005 with a small group and dinner was provided as an incentive to grow the group, and the group has grown.

I believe that we have a nice size group which consists of people who love to get together each week with others to have fun, interact and play games. I'm sad to see the dinner portion of the evening end since it kicked everything off and gave everyone a chance to catch up and connect, before possibly spliting up into separate games for the evening.

I wil be very sorry if this change causes some people not to attend, however I am confidence that it will not and I do believe though that game night will continue and grow and evolve. soooo......

People in attendance were Marcus, Alan, Brian, Matthew, Thomas, John and Myself.

Alan, Marcus and Brian played a game of Settlers of Catan, which Alan won, then after they played a game of Traders of Genoa, which I believe Brian won.

Matthew, John, Thomas and myself played Fury of Dracula, with me being Dracula. This game lasted a few hours and ended with the hunters winning.

I want to thank everyone who attended and hope that they had a great time.

Adventures of Supeman on DVD

2007-02-25T13:24:00.000-07:00

My first experience with the man of steel as a child was episodes of the Adventures of Superman in syndication.

George Reeves has been in my mind the iconic Clark Kent if not Superman.

The show was a simple half hour program with most episodes aimed at kids. I say most because the first season of the show (filmed in black & white) was made up of little "crime noir" dramas, that were very much aimed at an adult audience. Still to this day "The Haunted Lighthouse" still creeps me out a bit and the episode "The Evil Three" is just crazy. In these first season episodes you really believed that the cast of characters of Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane and Perry White, where is danger for their lives.

The second season, saw Noel Neill join the cast as Lois Lane, and a toning down of the violence on the show. Still in Black and White, and still with some pretty dramatic episodes, some later adapted to the comics such as "Panic in the Sky" and "Around the World with Superman". Also the second season introduced Kryptonite to the television episodes. During this season Jack Larson's Jimmy Olsen character was starting to take on a more comedic role, and due to his popularity a new Superman comic was created "Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen.

The Third season introduced cutting edge technology to the program "Color", although originally aired in black and white the producers of the show, were thinking ahead. Brilliant move on their part, this is very much part of the reason that the show has been in syndication all these years. It is noted that the third and fourth season were released in the same box set, since both were only 13 episodes long. With the these seasons all the edge had finally been eliminated from the show making into a "kid program". Although there are still quite a few gems to be found in this season as well. By the third season, this cast also melded perfectly and it shows on the screen.

The fifth and sixth seasons were released in one box set as well and like the previous two seasons they have a much similar tone. However some of the worst episodes can be found in this last box set, but there are also a few classics as well.

Also all the box sets include a special documentary and box sets one and two (seasons one and two also include a couple of audio commentaries)

The Documentaries are Adventures of Superman from Inkwell to Backlot (S1), The first Lady of Metropolis (S2), Adventures of Superman: The Color Era, Faster Than A Speeding Bullet: The Special Effects of Adventures of Superman, Look Up In The Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman (excerpts) (S3,4) and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen (S5,6)

The video quality of the episodes vary, some are crystal clear and brilliant in color and other appear muddy and washed out. The content however is magical, and wondrous. This is a great set for any Superman fan, especially if you grew up with this being your first Superman !

My Top 10 Episodes

The Haunted Lighthouse
The Stolen Costume
The Deserted Village
The Evil Three
The Defeat of Superman
Superman in Exile
Panic in the Sky
The Big Freeze
The Mysterious Cube
The Perils of Superman (Directed by George Reeves)

Worst Episodes
Through the Time Barrier
Mr Zero (This is Awful)
The Gentle Monster

Game Night, February 22, 2007

2007-02-23T15:48:00.000-07:00

Another Game Night, In attendance was Marcus, Anna, Brian, Mike, Matthew, John, Thomas, Josh and Myself.

Dinner was a homemade minestrone soup , pizza and salad.

One Game consisted of Thurn and Taxis in which John, Brian, Thomas and I played. John won that game.

The other game was Memoir '44 which Mike and Matthew played. Mike won that one.

Josh arrived late and played a game of To Court The King with Anna. Anna won.

Then after John, Brian, Josh, Thomas and Myself played a game of Railroad Tycoon. John won that game.

Game Night, December 28, 2006

2006-12-29T21:45:00.000-07:00

Marcus, Anna, Ted, Trina, Brian, Michelle, Whitney, Megan and Myself attended game night this week.

We started the evening off with dinner which consisted of lentil soup and panini sandwiches for dinner.

We split into two groups, Anna, Megan, Whitney and Myself played the Barbie Queen of the Prom Game(yes, I played the Barbie game). Megan won this game.

While we played that game, Marcus, Brian, Ted and Trina played Tsuro, I do not know who won. They had time to play a game of Bonnanza, with Michelle joining in, again I don't know who won that game.

Lastly we all played three games of Werewolf.

I just want to thank everyone for attending and I hope you had a great time.

My First Hunting Trip Prt 1 August 31, 2006

2006-09-10T13:21:00.000-06:00

I have lived in Idaho for approximately two years now. In that time I have met some wonderful people and started some great friendships.

Two of these new friends of mine are Mike Hudson and Robert Purcell. I met both of them in a working relation doing appraisals for their firm Intermountain Home Loans in Pocatello.

Mike has lived in Nebraska, Montana and Idaho during his life and participated in many outdoor activities throughout his life being taught these by his Grandfather.

Rob has lived in Idaho most of his life leaving for a time to serve in the military.

Mike approached me one day and asked if I would be interested in going on a Grouse hunting trip with them? Being open to new things I said I would be interested.

Now I have gone camping in the past, many times and Hiking but I have never shot a gun in my life. I agreed to the trip, because I have enjoyed my life here in Idaho and wanted to immerse myself in the Idaho culture, which a large part is hunting and Fishing.

In preparation for the trip I had to get a hunting license and that meant finally getting my Idaho drivers license. I have been putting this off for some time, thinking that this would be the one factor which made up my mind about going back to Massachusetts. Well I guess I’ve made my decision.

Mike and Rob said that they would provide everything I needed for the trip; I just had to bring appropriate clothing, good pair of boots, a sharp knife and flashlight. I had all that so I was ready for the trip.

The trip would take place from August 31^st to September 3^rd, since Grouse season started on the 1^st.

Well Thursday the 31^st finally came around , I went into the office, were we share space with Intermountain Home Loans and worked until about 1:00 pm , then Mike came round to my desk and said it was time to leave. From there we went to Mike’s house to pack the gear, which included a homemade camp box which contained, dishes, pots, pans, towel holder, and other essentials for cooking out of doors. We also packed up mattress pads, sleeping bags, a white gas cook stove, a white gas lantern, fishing poles, and gear, and a shotgun.

We got all this into Mike’s old ’77 Scout, gassed up, got ice and went on our way. We were heading south along Route 15 heading to the Pebble creek camp area in Caribou National Forest. The trip was slow going since we were traveling at 55 mph almost the entire way. The area we were headed towards is located just outside of Lava Hot Springs proper. It’s off Route 30 six miles in, through open cattle range area.

When we got to the camp ground it was evident that it was going to be a busy place this weekend since almost all the sites and been reserved. However Rob had gone ahead of us and found a nice shady site and had also already set up the tent and the gear that he brought.

Mike and I started taking his gear out of the Scout, and Steve Klauser and His son Kiefer showed up in his RV (RVs are a big thing in this part of the country). Mike had mentioned that they would be joining us for the weekend for Hunting.

It a good thing to since Mike’s camps stove and lantern were not working, Rob and Mike left to see if they could find parts to repair them and left me at the camp site, while Steve went to look for a space. A while later Steve and his Son showed up and we talked for quite a while and it was getting late. Steve offered his bug lanterns and we went to his RV to get them, went back to our camp, set them up and Steve started the fire. It’s a good thing, since on all the camping trips I was ever on; someone else always started the fire.

As the sun started to set, we all became very aware that it was getting quite cold out!

Finally Mike and Rob returned, unsuccessful in finding the parts they needed. So Steve lent us a lantern.

Mike was disappointed that the camp stove was not working since that meant he would be cooking dinner over the fire. He had made homemade Pasties for everyone for dinner and was going to serve them with gravy.

Well they were all wrapped in foil so he just threw them directly onto the hot coals, and started the gravy in a saucepan over the fire.

In about 45 minutes everything was done and Mike served it up in bowls. I had a beef pasty and it was great, really good, not the first one for me either so I did have a reference for comparison and Mike’s were very good.

After dinner we all sat around the camp fire (very close since it was freezing now) and talked, Steve had a couple of beers and Mike and Rob had a little of George Dickle Whiskey.

Around Ten we all turned in and man I have to tell you it was really very difficult to get to sleep that night, I was in a sleeping bag, with my clothes, a hooded sweatshirt, and a stocking cap, and I was still freezing, it had to be a couple of hours before I was able to get to sleep and all the while I just kept thinking that I if I could get to sleep I wouldn’t know how cold it was.

But sleep did finally come………………

The Devil's Rejects

2005-09-13T20:42:00.000-06:00

I Just watched this film last evening and WOW! Although this is a sequel to Rob Zombie’s first film House of a 1000 Corpses, this film really stands up all by itself. In everyway that 1000 Corpses was cliché this film is original, and although it was billed as a horror film by many, it transcends that genre to become something more.

Back again are the evil family of killers known as The Devil’s Rejects. And although they were pretty much 70s horror movie caricatures in the first film, in this film they are characters. Rob Zombie brings them to life, gives them personality and very unexpectedly makes you care about these killer misfits.

Also in this film Rob Zombies is trying to say something about horror and fear. In this film the horror can be found in unexpected places and unexpected people.

The film has a very 70s look about it, not just in the set pieces but the cinematography also, as well as a really cool soundtrack which is utilized perfectly throughout the film.

Yes this is a horror film, as evidenced by the gore and the brutal torture and killings, which take place with painful glee through the film. However if you can look past that and see the real meat of the story, you will find one excellent film.

I can honestly recommend this film to any fan of Horror, but more surprisingly I can recommend it to anyone who just wants to watch a good movie.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood- Prince

2005-07-28T18:02:00.000-06:00

I just just finished the sixth book in the Harry Potter series and what can I say, Now I'm waiting in great anticipation for the seventh. What I really love about these books is the sense of mystery. Every chapter gives just a little clue or hint of the big picture, which forces you to keep reading. If you liked the previous books, well this one is right up your alley. If you didn't like the other books, nothing I say here is going to change your mind. Although there are still many people out there wondering what all the fuss is about , for a childrens book. Arrgh....................and these are the same people who will never , ever give them a chance.

Please read and enjoy:)

Shadows over Camelot

2005-07-24T22:54:00.000-06:00

This is a recent boardgame from Days of Wonder.

This is a cooperative game in which all the players team togethor and play against the mechanics of the game. Every player is one of the Knights of the famed round table and there are several on-going quests in which you work as a team or solo to win, such as quest for the Holy Grail, search for excalibur, quest for Lancelot Armor, fighting the Black Knight and so on. The game is really tough and everyone has difficult choices. One really fun aspect is that one of the players could be a traitor, secretly working against the rest of the players. This a really fun game, with beautiful components and boards.

Very good game, I give it a high recommendation.

Overheard in New York

2005-06-26T17:18:00.000-06:00

Overheard in New York

This is a really funny site. Its all about listening in on conversation without any frame of context.

TheFourthRail.com - Snap Judgments

2005-06-08T16:24:00.000-06:00

TheFourthRail.com - Snap Judgments

This is one of the better graphic novels out there right now. Its a story of the military using domestic animals as weapons and the moral questions that come up..................

Please check it out.

My Boring Ass Life

2005-05-31T20:08:00.000-06:00

My Boring Ass Life

This Kevin Smith's Blog,

I find him to be one of the most interesting Directors out there, not because I think he is the most fantastic film maker out there, but because he is one of the most outspoken about his craft.

He lets you know that this is just his job, and he feels tremendously lucky to be doing what he's doing.

With every entry in his blog you understand, that he just a normal everyday guy living his life.

Check it out

Revenge of the Sith

2005-05-20T21:44:00.000-06:00

Thank God!,

Finally a good Star Wars movie again. I went to see Revenge of the Sith last night (along with everyone else on the planet) and it was very good. Its probably the third best film in the entire series (I never liked ewoks).

The film is the darkest out of the entire series and pays off big time for all the plot lines which have been built up in the two previous films.

Everything in this film was much improved over the last two, Acting, Story Line Common Sense :)

The mark of a good film is if you can recommend it to your friends without adding the words..........but

Revenge of the Sith is the first big summer movie and it really pays off..........I highly recommend this film without any hesitation. If you were greatly disappointed in the last two films, please just forget them and go see this one.

Hope you noticed I didn't give any plot lines away:)

Darth Vader and the King

2005-05-17T18:32:00.000-06:00

Burger King must know how disturbing this character is, just by the way they seem to utilize him. In this recent commercial, not a word is said between the two, just alot of heavy breathing.

YouSendIt

2005-04-23T22:57:00.000-06:00

YouSendIt | Email large files quickly, securely, and easily!

This is a great web site for sending large files to someone. Very user friendly and reliable.

What does he have on his mind?

2005-04-22T21:41:00.000-06:00

This is another recent distrubing commerical, so far its the King, Jack and Queen?

Jack is equal to the King.

2005-04-21T16:34:00.000-06:00

This is another creepy guy in commercials. What is with this disturbing advertising?

Burger King is Back

2005-04-20T22:54:00.000-06:00

I'm sure everyone has seen this guy, is this the creepiest thing you've ever seen..........more disturbing commercials to follow.......

Howard the Duck Web Page

2005-04-20T21:51:00.000-06:00

Howard the Duck Web Page

This is my very own Howard the Duck Web Site, its been in around for over five years. I've recently started a major overhaul and its coming along pretty well.

Take a look, enjoy let me know what you think]

i am the biggest geek

Welcome to the Biggest Geek

2005-02-16T10:23:00.000-07:00

Hi welcome to my Blog (my very first blog), as the title suggest I am the Biggest Geek and this blog will be dedicated to all things geekdom, including Comics, Movies, Television, Books and Gaming.