OYE!

Continuing from PART 1, we’ve got an early jump on the holiday season and finishing up our gift giving.  Here is the TOP 10 Toys for the Sick Kid 2008 Part 2.

#5.  Tinkle Time Kelly Doll (Barbie)

This might not be the sickest doll I could find, but it’s strange. A doll that goes to the bathroom that comes with a doll that goes to the bathroom. When will the madness ever end?“There’s pee everywhere!” I wish they actually made Tinkle Time Barbie.  

#4.  Scientific Explorer’s Disgusting Science Kit 

We’ve got an early jump on the Christmas season.  Experience has taught us that you cannot get in your orders (pre-orders) soon enough.  So here is our list of the TOP 10 Christmas Gifts for the Sick Kid 2008.    #10.  Nerf N-Strike Vulcan EBF-25 Blaster

When you’ve got too many enemies to name, this new Nerf automatic machine gun is just right for you.   #9.  Madame Alexander Ugly Betty Doll 

Yesterday Don LaFontaine left this world to voice-over to the next.  His name or face might not ring a bell, but his voice is sure to be familiar to you.  An amazing talent and by all accounts, wonderful man.  My heart goes out to his family and add my name to those who will miss hearing his unique voice.

 A memorial website has already been setup.  You can read memories here.

 

Virgin Comics is no more.

Launched in 2006, Virgin Comics was one of the many newly formed comic book companies that hoped to cash in on the comics to film mania.  It was a joint venture between Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and the India-based comics publisher Gotham Entertainment.  They put a lot of money into the venture and shot out of the gate with titles.

 All eight Virgin Comics employees have been laid off at the offices in New York.

They produced Ed Norton’s Dock Walloper, director Guy Ritchie’s Gamekeeper, director John Woo’s title Seven Brothers, Nicholas Cage Voodoo Child; porn star Jenna Jamison’s Shadow Hunter and British musician Dave Stewart’s Zombie Broadway.

I have to think that they didn’t do their homework.  Most of us have figured out that you’ve got to be able to survive a long time to build up the fan-base.  So many new publishers start big, then usually fizzle out after six month to two years.  It all depends on how much seed money they have.    Virgin lasted longer than many, but really with Richard Branson behind them I am a little surprised they didn’t last longer.

I think they just didn’t last long enough to work out all the kinks of being in the business.  I really hate to see any publisher fold.  It’s not good for their creators directly, or the industry as a whole.  We need healthy competition in comics, something sorely lacking in many areas.  Hopefully the employees will find work soon and others may learn a thing or two about this very tough comic book industry.  Hate to see the same mistakes being made over and over. 

Check out the article in Publishers Weekly.

Another good sale on Amazon, if you haven’t seen Heroes Season 1 then here’s your chance.  50% off for only $29.99. 

Season 2 is only $24.99 so for little over $50 you can have both seasons shipped to your door.

The Olympics are over, Thank God.  I enjoyed them but I have writing that needs to be done.  Plus I just traded on Goozex for Naruto: Rise Of A Ninja for my 360.  [If you don’t know, Goozex is an online community where you can trade video games.  It’s great if you’ve got a lot of old games that you don’t play, you may never have to pay for a new one again.] 

On a whim I traded some points for Naruto: Rise Of A Ninja.  (It was 600 points at that time…probably gone down by now.)  I really enjoyed the anime so I thought I’d give it a try.  Plus I felt like trying something different and had extra points lying around.  The beauty of Goozex is that if you don’t like the game you can turn around and trade it for something else.

It turned out that Naruto: Rise Of A Ninjais a great game.  A light hearted, comedy that so far has really kept me glued to my screen.  I’ve played quite a few single player games (usually the MP games that still have them) but usually get bored.  I finish them only if I’m close to the end, I’m just too spoiled by the multi-player games.  Naruto is different, almost feels like an old game of exploration that was stardard fare during the Final Fantasy VII days.

The basic idea is that you start off as Naruto, a wanna-be ninja.  You’ve got the whole town against you, weak powers, and mad enemies who want to slice you in half.  Plus your own team of friends aren’t exactly happy to be paired with you.  The goal is to make the villagers happy by doing odd jobs for them and train your ninja skills.  Also hidden around the city are gold coins that you can use to buy magic scrolls, weapons or the all-powerful RAMEN.

Sexy jutsu, tree jumping, shadow jutsu, and chakra concentration all have to be developed by the player.  And it’s fun developing.  Already as I’m fighting the big bosses I’ve gone from super wimp to mildly weak.  The retry feature saves a lot of frustration so you can just continue on from that fight, no need to spend an hour getting through the maze again just to get to a boss.

I think Naruto: Rise Of A Ninja is one of the hidden gems out there for the X-Box 360.  For fans of anime, it’s a must.  The cut scenes are taken directly out of the show.  For the rest it’s a relatively inexpensive, extremely fun game. 

I’d give Naruto: Rise Of A Ninja a B+ / A-

Today video proof of alien life living on earth was posted on the internet.  It’w quite disturbing, so please don’t view if you’ve got a weak heart.

 The brave ones should click here.

And this is a bit tongue-in-cheek since we all know the Olympic Committee isn’t listening to anyone.  They could not care less what we think.

 But Chris Chase wrote an interesting article on the “real” Beijing medal count.

He echoes what I’ve been saying privately.  Maybe not a conspiracy but these Olympic games are more fishy than bad eel.

You can read about it here on Yahoo Sports, but Shawn’s medal was well deserved, seemed like a long time in coming.  I imagine we’ll see more of her as she turned out to be one of the standouts of these Beijing games.  Great job Shawn.

Most of the time I’d honestly rather be reading a book or watching a film than sitting down on a couch to see football or baseball.  Sports have always been something to do, not to watch.  So I don’t.  Usually.

The Olympics are the one exceptions to my rule.  I’m not sure why, but I’ve always enjoyed the Olympics.  Winter and Summer both hold some excitement.  These Beijing Olympics have been no different.  It’s been great so far, half-way through these summer games.

Unlike previous years there is a new feeling creeping in, something that I’ve not really seen before.  Starting with the faked fireworks & lip-syncing at the opening, and now with tampering with the Indian Shooter’s rifle, seemingly insane scoring with women’s gymnastics, and the silent treatment for questions about athletes ages.

 

I cannot put my finger on it, but something is beginning to stink.  And it’s not sweat.  I know someone is going to call me a “hater” for saying this…and I’m not pointing fingers to anyone in particular.  Maybe I read too many detective stories, but when you’ve got a number of inconsistencies it usually leads to a suspect.

What is going on?  Not sure…but something has.  When a gymnast can win after falling over others who performed with minor mistakes, something is up.  [Alicia Sacramone getting a lower score on a vault after Cheng Fei fell down…definitely something is messed up with that]  Someone should check what’s in the judges water.

Food for thought.

Chinese shooter misses and wins.

Chinese boxer breaks rules and wins.