Review: TRON: Legacy in IMAX 3D

I really don't even know what to say about this movie. You could say I was a fan of the original TRON, but then again it came out in 1982, and I probably saw it in 2002, so I was a bit behind the curve. Looking back at the trailer now, after having just seen the new visual masterpiece that was the sequel is like comparing a sleek new Ferrari 599 GTO to an old Ford Model T. Seriously, from the beginning of this movie all the way through the credits, this movie is stunning.

Now there are two things you should know if you have any sort of interest in this movie and I am here to report on both of them. One is the soundtrack. It is original music, entirely composed by Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter. Or as I like to refer to them as, Daft Punk. I am a huge Daft Punk fan, and from the very beginning of this movie, when the music starts bumping it is phenomenal. Being a movie set mainly in a digital world, the digital stylings of Daft Punk work perfectly. And while the music alone is good, this is where the IMAX theater comes in. The base literally shakes the seats. You feel the music, and it adds exponentially to the experience.

The other thing that you may have noticed from the commercials is the usage of computer generated effects to de-age Jeff Bridges 21 years. Now it's a little weird, and it takes a little getting used to, but after you do it's really a non issue. I mean, I've seen giant blue guys on screen and I think I dealt with that pretty nicely. I'll admit it's not the best work I've ever seen, but then again absolutely everything else in the movie is gorgeous so I am going to let it slide.

Also I just wanted to say, I really liked this movie. It's the nerdiness, the video game-ness, the music, the visuals, the whole she-bang-bang. The world created by the events and aftermath of the original presented a really cool sequel. Plus, I thought the acting was pretty good too. I really liked Olivia Wilde in the movie, but I think that's just because she actually showed some emotion, specifically happiness, as opposed to her role as the sullen, emotionally reserved 13 in House. The main guy, Garrett Hedlund was also pretty good too. And who doesn't love Jeff Bridges right? I'm not the best critic for acting but I thought it was enjoyable all around.

The ending could have been better. It left me a bit confused I guess. The movie was so sweet then the ending fell flat and it was just so odd. All in all, if you like Daft Punk, spectacular visuals, video games, and some sweet action Tron provides a good movie going experience. Definitely a must see for nerds of all ages. 9/10.

Now I'm off to buy the soundtrack! You should too! Hooray!

A list of Excuses for why I can't write my 10 page paper:

• I sprained my typing finger (right, middle) so I can't type it. Or write it.
• I was too busy watching a 7 hour cricket match between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe on ESPN3 on the xBox 360.
• I had to watch the latest Blamimation on PATV.
• I had to watch the one of the movies for the paper, that I should've watched two months ago.
• I had to watch the countless videos of John Mayer that Jake kept finding on YouTube.
• I had to listen to Jake play guitar.
• I had to check, double check, and triple check my See Friendships with random people on Facebook.
• I had to Tweet about how bad this paper was.
• I had to make incoherent babbling sounds.
• I had to write a dozen fake intros to the paper using slang and cuss words to describe the class.
• I had to delete those intros.
• I had to write how much I hated the class.
• I had to delete that too.
• Andy kept talking my ear off every time I wanted to start working.
• Seriously, he'd be all like, "Hey man stop going on Facebook and do your work." 
• What a chatty Cathy right? 
• He's such a jerk.
• I kept staring at our fish, Wendel for inspiration.
• The Christmas lights we use to light our apartment just make it too comfortable to entertain the thought of doing anything other then staring at their dull white glow....
• I had to throw my hat in the corner in disgust of how bad I'm doing at writing this paper.
• I had to moan about how my hat is now over in the corner and I want it back on my head.
• I had to moan about how I'm too lazy to go get it and Andy why won't you go get it for me I don't care if it's farther away from you just go get it I know it's my hat but c'mon please you're such a jerk I hate you why don't you love me fine I'll go get it jerk.
• I had to double check and see if Netflix works on the xBox.
• I'm thirsty and I can't work if I'm thirsty.
• Alright so I'm totally gonna do it, but I just gotta pick out some music to listen to.
• What time're the Pats on again? Oh I could totally just start it after. Okay fine I'll start it!
• Dude this song's really good. 
• Just sit back and listen man.
• Close your eyes and just go for it.
• I had to wonder if Kevin was having fun in class. Or wherever he is.
• I had to ask what was for dinner.
• I had to get yelled at.
• I had to ask Jake how his car ride was first.
• But seriously this is getting ridiculous, I'm gonna go start it.
• I had to write a blog about how I couldn't write it.
• I did write a blog about how I couldn't write it.

Ode to the Worst Class I've Ever Had The Displeasure of Taking

College is a wonderful place. There's plenty of opportunities, there's plenty of girls (or guys (if that's your thing)) to swoon over, and there's plenty of interesting classes you can take. Unfortunately, after the honeymoon that is most student's freshman year, in my case freshman and sophomore years, you settle down with a major, maybe a minor, and you have to take some classes that aren't so interesting.

Now I don't remember if I've ever gone into detail on my schooling and whatnot, but I'm now officially a Communications major here at the good ol' University of Massachusetts. I'm also unofficially an Education minor. It's a Catch-22 system, where you can't be a minor until you have completed all the courses, and it never tells you what courses you need to take online, because you are not a minor. It's a dumb and flawed system.

But what's more dumb and flawed is one of the classes that I've needed to take. Now I won't go into specifics of when I had to take this class, or which class it is specifically, but let me tell you about it. This class had a promising title, offering to teach us about international things, implying that the general scope would be scattered, you know, internationally. Turns out international, in this context, stands for "Africa, India, and China."

Now, I wouldn't mind studying Africa, India and China, except that's all we did. I was under the assumption that if our teacher was from Great Britain, we might actually take interest in the U.K. and Europe, but apparently I was mistaken. My Bad.

Anyways, this class was painful to go to. Not only did we have the class in a room that always had the heat blasting from 5 gigantic radiators, even during the fall when it was already high 70's, but the class was rarely taught by our actual teacher. Most of the time, we'd walk into class, and we'd have a guest speaker, talking about something irrelevant, and non-consequential to the class. Then a few times, we'd walk in to class only to find that all 8 of the TA's were going to parade up to the front of the class and tell us about all their time spent in the peace corps in, oh wouldn't you look at that! Africa. The few classes she actually taught? Yeah, she just stood up there and talked at us. It was painful.

So that's what happened from a "teaching" perspective for the first few classes. From a "student" perspective I did the following:

• Read a book
• Listened to my iPod
• Played PSP
• Played Trivia/Solitaire on my iPod
• Played Mahjong on my Laptop
• Read the Newspaper

There was no wireless in this building for some godforsaken reason. Who knows why. Perhaps they thought the heat would make us pass out before we tried to use it. Perhaps they were right.

I will take this time to tell you the sole, shimmering gem of wisdom I've gleaned from this class. Having all that time of sitting in class allows one to accomplish tremendous feats. I mastered the alphabet. Backwards. Yes. Through repetitive writing, and filling two pages of paper, I, Jim Redding, have conquered the alphabet both forwards and backwards. I feel accomplished. I also wrote a short screen play for a Star Wars spoof created by my bro-host Kevin and myself. We are thinking of selling it to Robot Chicken. They seem pretty cool.

After the Midterm Reviews, where everyone slammed her for having an awful class, she decided to merge the second and third papers of the class into one final paper. At this point I need to mention the discussion section of the class. The class only met once a week, with a discussion section immediately following the class itself. Two and a half hours of class purely on one subject is brutal, even in the best of classes. This was living in a hellish netherworld where time falls to a standstill and you are prodded with a pointy stick for what seems like eternity.

Now my TA was nice enough. Arguably too nice. Hailing from, oh weird, AFRICA (specifically Nigeria), she was all about being our friend, and us being buddies. So the first couple of classes, we'd go in, and instead of you know, having class, possibly getting through everything so we could get out early, we'd sit down, and have to find a neighbor and ask them, "How was your day?"

Cue the prodding.

This is the last place any of us wanted to be, and we were forced into niceties with strangers, that nobody really wanted to be there with. This eventually escalated into "Friendship Groups" which consisted of 5 people sitting around and asking each other how our days were. This was quickly replaced with us asking each other why they had made the horrible decision of taking this class.

This also might be a good time to note, while after the midterm beat-down, our teacher started teaching, and actually used PowerPoint, we weren't graded or tested upon anything we learned in class. The entire grading system is based on homeworks, done using readings provided to us online, and turned in to discussion. We took a few weeks off after we figured this out, skipping the class and blending in with the crowds as we filtered off to discussion. It was, unfortunately, all too easy, and still horrifically painful.

I have explained to you my rage, and agony I have experienced for participating in this class, but this does it no justice. Should you ever be in a similar position to that of my own, be wary of international classes. I beg of you. Should you ever stumble into a class where there is a promise of "International" and "Learning," be wary. Be very wary.

Lookout: The Lifesaver

So for those of you not in the know, I am the proud owner of the original Droid. It has been a most admirable companion, coming in clutch in many a situation. This past weekend however, we had a very close call.

Going out as some tend to do, on weekends, in college, I found myself walking home in the middle of the evening by my lonesome. Upon arriving home, I reached to check my trusty Droid only to find my right pocket man was not there. Surely my left pocket? Back pocket? Jacket pockets? Alas! My Droid was lost! After a moment of panic, the answer hit me as it so often does. Right in the face.

I bet you watch TV. I bet you see commercials. I will even go so far as to bet that you've seen more than one commercial about the Droid. Perchance you might have seen the Droid commercial about Lookout, Mobile Security. I too have seen this commercial, enough times for it to appeal to my paranoid side, that, "Hey, security is good! I should get some on my phone!" I've got to figure, we've got alarms on cars, anti-virus on computers, low-jack for both, why not on a phone? More importantly, why not on my phone?

As I made a mad dash the two feet from where I was standing to my laptop, I was questioned as to what I was doing. A quick explanation and some mad typing later, and I was on the Lookout website, logged in, and it was in the process of hunting down my phone. It hunted it down to within about 10 feet before I realized I knew exactly where I'd dropped it and set out on a quick jog to go get it. At last my Droid and I were reunited.

It was a scary 5 minutes, but once again, technology saved my ass. This is a PSA to all you smart phone users. I don't care if you're young or old, cause you're just as likely to drop your phone at a party as you are at a business meeting. Either way, Lookout helped me find my phone, and saved me the time and hassle, not to mention the money it'd take to replace my phone. So spend the 2 minutes it takes to find the App on your Droid or Blackberry or Windows Mobile, and save yourself hundreds of dollars and a boat load of stress. As for you iPhone users, maybe you can find a comprable app, but you dumbphone users are outta luck. Just another reason for everyone to get a Droid.

My name is Jim Redding and I approve this message.

Jim Redding vs. The State of Massachusetts

This post is already awesome. The title alone is not only a legal thing, but also a Scott Pilgrim thing. I am the master of word play. It is me.

So last Tuesday I went to court. "Now Jim, you're such an upstanding why would you ever need to go to court?" you ask. Well friend, I was LIDAR'd speeding in Gardner. A tragic tale, I assure you. Feeling as it was my duty to get my day in court, I decided to fight the ticket. I mean really, worst case scenario I have to pay my ticket, which I'd have to do anyway. So I decide to go to court.

So the night before I look up a few ways of getting out of the ticket, and long story short, I stayed up until 4AM writing cross examination questions. I basically would have destroyed this Officer's credibility.

I say would have because what I didn't know, is that in Massachusetts I don't get to confront my accuser. Instead of the age old way of having your officer show up (or hopefully not show up) and take your case in front of a judge, you go in front of the Court Magistrate, after paying a 25 dollar filing fee, and some old Officer sits in the witness stand and reads the original Officer's report of the incident. Not knowing this, most of my cross examination questions were reduced to little pointless jabs at this (presumably) innocent Officer. And being under oath I couldn't lie about the incident (morals!) and inevitably, my motion to be found Not Responsible was denied. But they did drop down the fee, which was nice.

However then I was told that if I didn't like the finding, I could pay 50 bucks, then do the whole Judge thing, and they'd then subpoena my citing Officer. But at that point, I'd skipped class and driven an hour to the court house, and waited another hour for my hearing only to be found Responsible, and to be honest, that's a lot of stuff to be hit over the head with mid-October, when I should just be living it up at school. So I'm not doing the second hearing cause in the end, it'll probably be the same finding, and let's be honest, if the cop used a Laser enhanced Radar gun, and tagged you as speeding, you were speeding. Which unfortunately I was. So next time you're fighting a speeding ticket, at least in Massachusetts, unless you were paying some huge fee (like I was) or you actually weren't speeding, especially if it's an hour away from where you live, and you have to drive there on a b-e-a-utiful fall day, it's not worth it. Save the gas money.

Adventures in Radioland

Week 3 of classes is in the hole, but more importantly week 3 of Music Salad Sandwich has blessed the airwaves. If you haven't heard Kevin and my latest adventure on the airwaves, I must say I think we're outdoing ourselves. Last year, our brutal taskmaster of a program director came to us mid-semester and basically told us, "Listen guys, I don't want you playing any music that has ever been played on any other station, and I don't want you talking more than three or four times an show." Fearing for our infant show's life we accepted these terms and conditions.

But now it's a new year, and a new show, with a new program director. We're making the rules this year. As well as having our intern Mariah on the phones Kevin and I really have a lot more of our creative juices flowing at midnight, instead of 2 AM.

Point in case, on our way to the Station last night, we drove by the Rotary by Totman that we see every day. This time I stop to ask Kevin what he thinks is going in the middle of it. Before we even park the car down the road, we've got it. UMass's greatest alumni, back to back buddy cop style. That's right, Bill Cosby and Dr. J. Can you imagine, driving down the longest street through campus, only to find the literal gold at the end of the rainbow? That's right, not only is it an amazing statue, it is also an amazing gold statue. It would make everyone on campus's day. Imagine the nice warm spring sun gleaming upon the golden statue as snow slowly seeps off, revealing the heroes of UMass under the tundra. There would be absolutely nothing better.

Now we know, this idea has not only made your day, but your lives. We get it. This is everyone's dream come true. We don't need a lot of recognition, names on a plaque perhaps. But what we do need, is everybody's signature. If you're interested in this beautiful, priceless statue adorning our unworthy campus, write on the Music Salad Sandwich wall, through either the link up there, the link at the bottom of the page, or http://www.facebook.com/pages/Music-Salad-Sandwich/141646119211523 for all of you who are reading through Facebook and let us know you're interested. Tell your friends, get them in on this. Who knows, maybe we can actually get this dream realized!

Jim's State of The Union

So tonight was the first real night in the apartment. Everyone's settled in. We all woke up and ran some errands. Hung around all day, grilled dogs and burgers while we played a little catch on the front lawn. Then to top it all off we rented Repo Men off OnDemand and had a little movie night. The guys all went to bed, but I'm a bit of a night owl so I'm up and watching the last half of Criminal Intent before SVU comes on in a few minutes.

Being here with the guys, hangin out, talking, broin' out (yes, separate from hangin' out) and even just sitting watching TV makes me realize that this; right here; this apartment, this year, this college, this life, that I am living, is the prime of my days. I arguably couldn't be happier with the situation. I mean, sure, there are things I want to change, like I'm sure I'll dislike a class or two, I'll wish I had a better situation with some girl, and I'll wish I had a bigger budget to buy more video games, but on the whole, I am very pleased with my situation in life as a whole. I mean as far as the good life is concerned, I'm livin' it.

I guess I'm going to keep this one short. But the brevity is not for lack of emphasis. Trust me, the emphasis is there, and there's a whole bunch of it. We're keeping this one short, due to the fact that I think you guys might get a little annoyed with me rubbing it in your faces that right now, my life is incredible.

Procrastinating!

So as I sit here, "packing" and "getting ready to go back to school tomorrow," I'm doing what I do best, procrastinating, and what I do moderately well, blogging (in my opinion.) I can't help but be nostalgic on this summer, which in my books will be known as the summer of SVU.

Sure, the beginning of the summer held trips to Los Angeles, Amherst, and the movies, as well as heart-breaking losses, cherished covers, and theories about Zombies, as well as books galore. I read about 8 or 9 books, plus about 9 or 10 graphic novels. And then, on June 3rd, I was bored, and found that 10 seasons of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit were on Netflix. OOOOHHHH BABY. It took me approximately 74 days, to finish SVU but man, was it worth it. I'd always liked the series, and watching all of the seasons really made me like it that much more. I got to see plot lines beginnings and ends, the characters grow and mature, and the series progress ten years over this summer which has been really cool. Now I miss it. But new episodes start up this fall! :D

I was able to watch this much TV in this much time because of my work schedule. Don't get me wrong, work was all well and good, but every Friday and Sunday for the last half of the summer, I had to get up and go to work, which was definitely a damper when Friday and Saturday nights were the only nights of the week when the guys could hangout. So when they were working Monday through Friday, and not wanting to hang out cause of their early mornings during the week, I had a bunch of time to sit around and hang out with my good friends Elliot, Olivia, John and Fin.

But that's not to say that I wasn't active. I went and gym'd it up for a majority of the summer. Monday through Thursday for reasons already explained. That was a good thing! Right? And work was fun from time to time. Two of my co-workers, Daria and Zack as well as myself decided to make Lacrosse Pennies for the Garden Center. The first ones we ordered were too big, and the second ones aren't done yet but no worries. Next summer.

Next summer will be bigger, badder, and a lot more fun. I'll be 21, friends will be off interning in various places I can visit, and they'll be 21 too! That's not to say I want school to fly by though. With a schedule first semester as sick as this, and roomates like Jake, Andy and my bro-host Kevin (Late Night Window returns Tuesday mornings at Midnight this fall!) this is going to be a fun year. SO PREPARE YOURSELF FOR MORE NERDVENTURES COMING YOUR WAY! UNTIL NEXT TIME!

VIVE LE TROIS DE FIN DE LA SEMAINE!

Review: Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

A while back, I saw the trailer for the movie, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World. I thought, "Wow, that looks pretty cool." Then I stumbled upon the internet, where everyone was, how do you say, FLIPPING OUT. I hadn't been made aware of Scott Pilgrim's basis in the realm of comic books, which, needless to say, only made me like it more. It was drawn and written by Bryan Lee O'Malley, who though I hadn't heard of him, had a really cool style that appealed to my cartoon loving self. This happened to be all around my birthday, and with not much else on my birthday list, I decided to ask for the first 3 books. I was hooked. The protagonist, Scott Pilgrim, is a 20 something, with no job, a few friends, and is lost in life with the exception of his band. He's also comically slow witted. I took a liking to him immediately. I bought the next 2 books, and eagerly awaited the 6th and final book to come out last month.

With such a great love for the books, having now read and enjoyed them all tremendously, the trailers (one in particular) were increasingly amazing as scenes from the movie were almost panel for panel with the comic books. With such a faithful representation, and being directed by the awesome Edgar Wright, who some of you might remember from directing Shaun of the Dead, and Hot Fuzz, the entire nerd community, yours truly included, was throughly stoked.

After letting the movie marinate in my brain juices all weekend I have decided that they had every right to be. Due to time constraints, the story of the movie closely parallels the first three books, then takes its own course, but it remains very faithful regardless. The story is about the previously mentioned Scott, played by Michael Cera, who meets Ramona, and in order to date her has to defeat her Seven Evil Ex's. Video game and pop culture references commence.

The little nods and the amount of references was incredible and vast, from Zelda's Great Fairy Fountain to the Seinfeld scene switch music. The cinematography was also incredible, mimicking the stylized drawing of the books, but at the same time making it aesthetically pleasing and often times hilarious. The mash up of movie stereotypes and the line blurring of comedy, drama and action film with a handful of references interspersed was incredible.

The action scenes were equally as well done. The fighting was as good as I've seen in kung-fu movies nowadays, but was done over a layer of video game stylization, which was what really made me like it. I caught myself during a few of these action scenes thinking, "Wow. I love this movie." I mean, when you have Micheal Cera fighting a legion of bosses, while getting 64 hit combos and coins for defeating them, you know you've just made fanboys' days worldwide.

As I said earlier the subtle sound clues are really good, but at the same time, Scott's band, Sex Bob-Omb plays an integral part in the plot, so there's a lot of music played in the movie, almost all of it written and performed by Beck. I'm no Beck fan, but boy! I really dug the music in this movie. To the point where I am deeply considering downloading the OST off of iTunes. It's that good you audiophiles.

However there are a few detractors. I loved this movie, because I got all the jokes, the subtle little nods, and could kinda empathize with the characters' situation being a 20 year old myself. But if you haven't played a video game in your life, you'll be missing out on a lot of these jokes. The movie is still good on the surface, but it was the little things, and emphasis on detail that really made this movie, "An epic of epic epicness."

If you're in the teens, twenties, or thirties possibly, I'd say this film is right in your wheel house if you like romantic action comedies. Yes, that is the label I am giving this film. Actually, I'm going to call it a romantic nerd action comedy. I am also going to give this film a 9.5 out of 10. I could really watch this movie again. And again. And possibly again. But I might need to pee at some point. But then I'd definitely watch it again. Go see it.

GAME OVER

I Watched Way Too Much TV As A Kid

Or, How I spent my Saturdays for the Majority of my Life.

So I'm hanging out in Amherst, at our brand spankin' new apartment, fighting the router, and lounging around au naturel, when (via Digg.com) I stumbled upon this neat article, listing the 50 Greatest Saturday Morning Cartoons. So of course, I go into this experience knowing that chances are good that I've seen at least a few of these shows.

Turns out a few of these shows meant 36 out of the 50.

And those were just the ones I had seen a few episodes of. I hadn't heard of 5 of them. 45 outta 50 is an A- last time I checked. So naturally I got to thinking, "Wow, I can't imagine how many hours I put into these shows," which of course just got me trying to imagine how many hours I put into these shows. Television was a huge part of my childhood, and probably for a lot of people in their 20's and 30's, but it's weird to think that it wasn't always this way. Our parents somehow managed to go through school every day, walk through their front doors and not crash on the couch in front of the TV. I don't even know what they did when they woke up early on Saturdays.

My routine would be going to school, coming home, "doing homework," (let's be honest here, prime homework hours were before school started the next morning, and in class), and then Toonami would come on Cartoon Network, and I would tell my Mom I was done, even if I wasn't so I could catch my daily cartoon fix. I can remember more than one occasion where I woke up at 6, or 7 on Saturday morning, and sat 5 inches from the TV watching Steve Irwin or some other Australian animal guy talking about animals until the 'toons came on at 8, where I would then plan out my time between Cartoon Network, Fox and The WB. I also remember more than one occasion where my Dad came out to yell at me because the TV was too loud, even though I was sitting 5 inches away.

I've grown up, and I couldn't get up at 6 or 7 on a Saturday morning if I wanted to now, but all that time with these cartoons really did shape my childhood. Cartoons were what got my imagination going. Watching everything from Pokemon to Thundercats to Ninja Turtles, I was always thinking about "What if?" What if I was a ten year old, who left home, alone, to go travel the world, fighting little monsters against each other in an attempt to trap and fight every species? What if I was an anthromorphic lion, with an extendable sword, that got longer everytime I yelled out my team name, who was a king with a mummy for an arch-enemy? What if I was a normal baby turtle who got splashed with chemicals, so that I became human-esque and was taught by a ninja-master-turned-ambilatory-rodent to patrol the cruel streets of New York and protect the citizens from an evil ninja warlord?

The "What if?"'s really became a big part of my life, and while now I'm more into thinking what if this became a career, or I got a job doing that, in the end cartoons really opened the door into a world of unending possibilities that in generations past had only been opened for the fortunate few by books and then radio. I was watching Cartoons way before I got into video games and comic books. So even though a lot of the big hoopla is about getting kids out to play, and getting them off the couch, all I'm saying is I spent a lot of time heavily immersed between the intergalactic peril on TV and the middle cushions of my couch. Letting kids watch Cartoons is a good thing, in moderation. Don't underestimate the potential of letting your kid get lost in some show about a pretty boy, a rich girl, a nerd girl, a stoner and a dog, because when they eventually do get outside, their only going to want to stay there if they can pretend that they're not just in their own backyard, or at the playground, but on the surface of an alien planet, fighting bad guys for possession of 7 magical stones.

So next time you're trying to shuffle your kid out the door, tell them to think happy thoughts... about cartoons.

Review: Inception

Over the last few years, Leonardo DiCaprio has been slowly but surely climbing the rungs of my favorite actors. After earning my unrelenting disdain for his performance in Titanic, he's slowly been working his way back into my good graces with films like Catch Me If You Can, The Departed and more recently with Shutter Island. Inception is another film that elevates him on my list.

Inception is a thinker's film. (My favorite kind.) If you can wrap your head around the initial concepts going into the film, that being the plausibility of going into people's subconscious mind while they're sleeping, you're going to enjoy this film. There are Dreams, within Dreams, within Dreams, and with each increasing level of dreaming comes more action. You pretty much can't go wrong.

Christopher Nolan writes and directs a mean film as evidenced by Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, as well as The Prestige. This film created a world where there is a pandora's box of options. Dreams change person to person, night to night and in a world where people can share dreams it seems like there isn't anything that couldn't happen. But with so many options and variables, obviously there have to be rules. They like to tell you the rules, then proceed to bend them and break them, just because they can. Therein lies the big appeal of this movie. Nobody likes playing by the rules, and the outcome of skirting the rules set up is nothing short of fantastic.

The characters are smart, complex, and definitely likable. Though the film concentrates mostly on Leo's character of Cobb, there is definitely enough plot in there to fill the hundred and forty-eight minutes of screen time. The supporting cast is great, with names like Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page and another favorite actor of mine, Michael Caine.

From Cast to Characters to Story, this film can't go wrong. At the end of the film you're going to be sitting in your seat uttering various one word phrases multiple times, be it, "Wow," "Damn," or "What?" If you can handle the thinking part of the film, then you shouldn't be thinking about it any more. Go see this movie. I'm going to give this one a 9/10.

Helpful Hints Vol.1: How to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse

As everybody knows, or perhaps should know, when it comes to the Zombie Apocalypse it is not a matter of who, what, why, or any other interrogative question other than when?

Hint 1: Stay Calm. Panic will not lead to rational decisions.

Sure, when you hear the news that somewhere in the world humans have indeed risen from the dead and are now stalking the earth in an attempt to feed their hunger for human flesh, you might get a little panicked. Understandable. But after your moment of terror, you should realize that this is the day you've been waiting for.

Hint 2: Practice makes Perfect.

Any responsible human has been training for Z-Day for years. Through video games, movies, and even published survival guides, the future leaders of mankind's survivors have honed their senses and strategies to the point where when this goes down, they'll grab their gear, and hit the road even before the rioters and looters hit the streets. These stoic champions go unnoticed now, but when the time comes, look around for your closest nerd, for he or she has the skill-set to save your sorry butt.

Hint 3: Find the Nerd.

Much like there is an urgent call over the loudspeaker when someone becomes ill on a plane for the Doctor, when you hear that Zombies have arisen, unless you yourself are a nerd, look around you, call out, and run to them for aid. A good nerd will know what to bring, as well as where to go.

Hint 4: Pack light, but for the long haul.

Packing a ton of clothes, smart on some levels, not on others. You don't want to be burdened by excess as when your life is in danger from the un-dead, fashion will not be your priority. Though one's first thought might be to abandon all luxuries and focus purely on weaponry and resources, at the same time, should this be the last time you're in your homestead, take something that will get you through the long nights when the Zombies are at the gates. This includes iPods, paperback books, cell phones, and other portable electronics, as well as their respective chargers. We'll have no idea until Z-Day on whether power will go out, cell service will go down, or blood will rain from the sky, but as electricity and water hopefully won't go right away, packing a few small items with such great value will surely be of use. Flashlights and Radios are a must!

Hint 5: Know where you're going, and get there ASAP.

Now if you're relying on your resident nerd to have this planned out, you're probably going to just have to follow orders in this part, but then it is up to the nerd to have this planned out. Key properties of a good safe haven include:

• Food or some other form of sustenance
• Fences
• A look out, or watch tower
• Tools, or other weapons
• Sturdy
• Scentless, or Scent covering

For example; the Marblehead Garden Center is an ideal place to get through the Zombie Apocalypse. It has fences on all sides, lots of concrete blocks (perfect for building or re-enforcing walls), a basement for storage, a second floor which can see the entirety of the property, plenty of shovels, spades, pick axes, a lot of hoses, direct access to the sewer system, pallets filled with stone for defense, fertilizer for explosives, and foul smelling manure to cover the scent of our human flesh. It also has a huge tractor and a truck which could be used to plow a hole through the horde, and whisk survivors to safety respectively. With a little heads up, and a team of strong men I am positive that I could have that place Zombie proof within 24 hours of the outbreak. And with plenty of dirt, as well as fruit, herbs and vegetables, the Garden Center is a veritable gold mine of survival. It falls to the nerd to have assessed their town and other surrounding areas for this ideal safe haven. Perhaps it is a high school, an abandoned factory or some other location with some of these qualities.

Hint 6: Rely on each other.

I'm not saying let every yahoo into your haven, who happens to walk by. It's the Apocalypse for crying out loud! But if you go to someplace where you trust people, and they trust people, and nobody is leaving any time soon, cooperation is going to be key for your survival.

Hint 7: Get ready for a long one.

Elect a leader, or perhaps leaders if democracy is your thing, hunker in, and start building some shelter, because who knows how long this Apocalypse is gonna take. The Government is going to do everything they can and all that, but who knows how long it's going to take for you and your fellow survivors to be rescued. Defense is the name of the game. I don't care if you hunker down in a gun store, only attack Zombies when absolutely necessary. Zombies will react to noise, as well as movement, and blowing a hole through one Zombie isn't going to make any difference in the whole of it.

Hint 8: Don't get bitten.

Duh. Bitten, scratched, slobbered on; No one knows how this zombie-ness will infect normal humans, and we can only hope it's not airborne. But basically, unless you want to spend the remainder of your days haunting your former compatriots, do yourself and your friends a favor, and leave camp while you still have the ability to make your own decisions.

Hint 9: Look for weaknesses.

Sure, Zombies have traditionally one weakness, this being loss of their central nervous system, or BOOM HEADSHOT. But hey, who knows, if you see that they keep rapidly decaying over time, or have an aversion to water, use it to your advantage! If they have a weakness besides brain loss this Apocalypse could be over sooner than we think!

Hint 10: Stay connected.

Hopefully everything doesn't go to hell in a handbasket and phones and internet stay up. Bar that keep your radio tuned in. I'm sure somebody will broadcast something letting people know what is up. Maybe even if you find the weakness you can save some lives!

Well, that's all for my Helpful Hints, so be sure to be prepared! If nothing else remember: It's not if but when, and don't you dare go to the Garden Center.

Jim Redding vs. Hewlett-Packard

I went to Amherst two weekends ago to visit my main man Andy, as well as to visit my pad with John. I brought my laptop, I used it all weekend, all was good in the world.

Then I got home. My computer predicted a SMART error on my Hard Drive.

I don't know what that means really, but my computer is down for the count, and since then I've been waiting on HP to get themselves together. See, I've been put in a very peculiar position. My original laptop that I bought from HP in 2008 was not only my first laptop, but also a piece of junk. My Dad got me a extended warranty to go with it, which is a good thing. In the two months I had it, the mouse broke, the fingerprint reader didn't work, and even after sending it in to get it all fixed once, it came back, still broken.

After ripping them a new one, my Dad convinced HP to keep their crappy laptop, and send me a shiny new one. This was a good thing. And it was a good thing for the last two years, but then my Hard Drive decided that two years was a good run, and offed itself somewhere between Daniel Shays Highway and 128. Naturally I call my good friends at Hewlett Packard, and tell them my dilemma. Then my nice Indian helper hit me with some excellent news!

My service plan didn't switch from my original laptop to the new one they sent me. I was then told I'd receive a phone call in the next 24-48 hours from a Case Manager, the only ones with the authority to switch my warranty, telling me that they could, in fact, switch my warranty. Needless to say, I never received a phone call. After absconding to California for nearly a week I returned to my homestead perturbed that I still had not received any communication from my favorite computer company.

After giving them another ring-a-ding-ding, and repeating all of the information I had given them previously, even though I had given them a case number, allowing them to see all the information I gave them the first time, I was told that I called too late and all the Case Managers were out for the night. I guess it doesn't matter that they're in India, and that they're about 9 hours ahead. A bit agitated I was told yet again, to wait 24 hours for a phone call, and if I didn't receive one, to just call again the day after.

Finally after not getting yet another phone call, I called them yet again today. After 80 minutes, about 45 of which I spent on hold, and 25 I spent repeating information I had already told them, the 10 minutes I spent talking to my Case Manager, got me the assurance that in about 24 to 48 hours I would be recieving a phone call telling me that my warranty had indeed been switched to my current laptop. Then after that is done I can go about wrangling them to get my hard drive fixed, or at least replaced.

I forget who said it, and really I'm too lazy to look it up, but "War is Hell." And dealing with Customer Service, be it HP, Dell, Comcast, Verizon, or any other huge conglomerate, is most certainly War. A War where the odds are stacked against us. So until I get my Laptop fixed, I'm gonna be a bit short in posting. But I have some good stories to share. Well at least I think they're good, I suppose you'll be the judge. So I hope you enjoy this spiffy new set up, and this tides your unrelenting appetite for more Nerdventures. So be patient. More is on the way.

My Thoughts: Tattoos

"Hey nice tattoo."

"Thanks!"

"Yeah I've got a bitchin' tat of an Eagle soaring across my back."

"REALLY?!"

"No."

And just like that a blog post was born. I'm standing around watering at work today, when I notice, and decide to comment upon a co-worker's tattoo. I then proceeded to bamboozle my co-worker with a fabrication, which clearly worked. And it got me thinking.

Who would ever want an eagle soaring across their back?!

I mean, I get it. Tattoo's are a way for someone to represent something they feel they need to represent at all times, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And when it's something like a family motto, or a cross, I get it. You like your family and you like Jesus. Hey, fine by me.

But then you come across people who have chinese characters, and tribal tattoos, and you think to yourself, "Well maybe he spent some time immersed in another culture." If that is the case, then awesome, but 99% of the time, that person is a douche. To be clear, I'll define douche as a person who is fake to the point where they compel others to dislike them. I mean, you can walk up to tons of jacked bro's out there with their little tribal tat's going around their biceps, and say, "Sweet tat man, what is it?" to which they'll respond, "Thanks bro/dude, it's tribal." Ask them what tribe. Please. If not only to get their best, "Uhhhhhhhhhh" face, then to publicly decry them for the douche they are.

If you have a good reason for getting a tattoo, like if you and your best friend get matching tattoos of something that bonds you two forever or whatever, power to you. If you're obsessed with something to the point where you feel it needs to be permanently etched into your skin, just don't go too big, and you're cool. And if you're in the Armed Services or something and get your unit tattoo'd on you, you're golden. But when you take off your shirt to reveal a giant majestic eagle/other animal, a tribal tattoo of any sort, or worst of all a tattoo of any sort on the small of your back (a.k.a. a tramp stamp) you're just begging for people to think less of you. It's like introducing yourself to someone for the first time by telling them you never tip anyone ever. Horrible first impression.

If you have to do it, make sure you can't live without it, because even with most of these new laser and chemical removal options, you're gonna leave some sort of mark, that you'll remember forever. If it's just a little something that you can hide by wearing a t-shirt, or pants, and makes you feel good when you see it reflected back at you, great. But just don't fall into the trap of putting something on you that has nothing to do with you. Tribal tattoo's don't count as "artistic expression." It's just lines. Put at different angles from other lines. It's dumb.

So save for Jesus, Mottos, or something with immense symbolic meaning that you hold dear, I'd sleep on it. And maybe sleep on it again. But if you have to get ink permanently inscribed into your flesh, just keep it classy, because the second you show someone your tattoo, and you hear, "Ohh... It's.... nice?" You've screwed up.

The New Apartment (To the tune of The Old Apartment by Barenaked Ladies)

Moved into the new apartment,

This is where we're going to live!

Brand new futon, really comfy,

Some new stuff and wooden floors,

This is where we're going to live.

Hey did they paint the walls?

Hey should we clean the floor?

Hey should we maybe put down a carpet right next to the door?

This is where we're going to live.

Hey should we get a book shelf?

Hey should we get a bath mat?

This is new to me now,

I guess we have to, let's go right now!

Moved into the new apartment.

Just twelve steps from the door.

Brand new roommates, brand new landlord,

on the left down Presidential.

This is where we're going to live.

Do we have to mow the lawn?

Do the keys work in these locks?

Oh man, am I excited, I only came here for fun.

This is where we're going to live.

How are the neighbors downstairs?

Are they possibly real cool?

We should go down and see if they want to come up just for fun!

I know we just moved in here today,

We came from home to move our stuff in,

Packed up everything yesterday,

I'm glad we're here,

Cause this is where we're going to live!

Moved into the new apartment.

Put a poster up on the wall,

Making memories, brand new memories,

To start off our junior year,

Let's get it done!

(Let's get it done!)

This is where we're going to live!

(Let's get it done!)

For those who don't have the song, click here and play it in one window while you read the lyrics off another! It's fun!

Dear Blog: Anniversary Edition

Dear Blog,

Hey buddy. Congrats! You're officially one year old as of yesterday. We've been through a lot together this past year. To think, I couldn't even manage to go a whole month without posting a blog. I posted a whole 52 Blogs! (Not including this one.) That's a blog a week! Wowzers. Didn't feel like it. But it is what it is I suppose.

Well, I just wanted to say thanks to you, and all 5 of my readers for sticking around the last year. It's been an honor and a pleasure. I'm going to try and keep this train a-rollin' for another year with more reviews, opinions, and nonsensical stories. I'll keep this one short and sweet for a change.

Viva le trois jours de fin de la semaine!

Hearts and Kisses,

Jim

On Fandom

So earlier this evening I was watching Game Six of the Celtics vs. The Cavs with Koshy and Andy, while I was texting Jake, and reading articles on Wikipedia on my Droid, multi-tasking much to Andy's chagrin, Jake made a comment about not being a "real fan." That got me thinking, am I a real fan?

I mean, I guess first you have to define what being a real fan is. Is a real fan someone who knows all the stats, to all the players for the last 20 years? Or is a real fan someone who through thick or thin will root for their team, never wavering for the temptations of any other team. In my opinion, it's more towards the latter.

The first kind of fan is what I like to call a die hard. They'll do research, spend hours crafting the perfect fantasy team, and pick teams or players here and there that exemplify, in their opinion, the "best" attribute. The Best Team; The Best Player. To the die hard, it is this group of teams or players that make the sport worthwhile. Without these pillars of athleticism, the sport becomes hollow, and isn't worth watching or dedicating that much effort to pay attention to.

Personally I'm all for my New England Teams. Sox, Celts, B's, Pats. (Who cares about the Revolution? I haven't heard any U.S. Soccer news on SportsCenter in... 2 years not counting David Beckham.) I've got a few outside loyalties from my Parents home states. Cubs, Bulls, Bears, Dodgers, 49ers. No love for the Lakers. I know some of the stats, most of the big names, and I'm always glad to hear one of my teams dominated.

While I might not watch every game all season, I'm always happy to see one of my teams win. Throughout the season, I'll catch a game here a game there, and always cheer for my team. If I don't catch a game, for the most part I'm not phased. Then it gets to playoff time, and I know it's important, so I'll put a little more effort into watching and rooting. In the eyes of the die hard, that's being a fair weather fan. In my eyes, it's helping my team when I know they need it most. But rain or shine, even if I know my teams aren't the best, I'm never going to say, "Well, the Sox are having an off season, the Yankees are my team now," and I feel that is why I'm a better fan than a die hard.

A die hard will follow players around, and as soon as they start doing bad, they drop'em and pick up that new rookie phenom that's going to be a star a few years down the line. Take Big Papi for example. He used to hit home runs left and right. Now? Not so much. But unlike a die hard, I'm still rooting for him every at bat. Sure I can talk crap about him if he does bad, but it's those couple times he comes in clutch hitting what would normally be a double, while he hobbles to make it a single, but still gets 2 RBI, enough to take the lead, that I really get fired up. It's the little things that make me happy, not the highlight reel, but that still never hurts.

However then you have to differentiate. You can't just hop in at the playoffs, learn a few names and be a real fan. If you can tell me that you watched a game, alone, mid-season, with nothing riding on the outcome, you're a real fan. If you started watching at the end of the season, where they needed to win to get into the playoffs, you're a fake.

What I'm really saying here is to me, a fan doesn't just care about all-stars, or statistics. A fan cares about characters, and history. I'm not saying you can't be a die hard fan for all your favorite teams, but on the scale of things I don't think a real fan should have to care about a player's OBP, IBB, GDP, ABC, FBI or whatever the rest of those weird statistics are. Just whether or not they're gonna play ball.

If I check NESN mid-summer, and the Sox are playing the Tigers, I'll watch for fun. Mid-winter? Bruin's and Sabres? Celtics and Warriors? Why not. So, later, if I'm making a night out of hanging out and watching (most of) the game with the guys during the playoffs, pulling for the Celts all the way, and flipping out when Tony Allen had a nasty one-handed dunk, I think I'm entitled to call myself a real fan. What do you think?

Review: Iron Man 2

As everyone knows, one of the cardinal, unbreakable, unyielding rules of the universe is that Samuel L. Jackson is a Bad Ass. So with the inclusion of Sam, along with Robert Downey Jr. and Don Cheadle going to town on robots in mechanize battle suits, plus Scarlett Johansson kicking ass and not taking names, the Bad Ass level of this movie is pushing the limits.

I've been pumped about this movie ever since the first movie came out. I loved all the characters in the first one, and Don Cheadle replacing Terrance Howard didn't phase me at all. The interaction between Tony Stark and James Rhodes is arguably better for it. Robert Downey Jr. is Tony Stark. Witty, sarcastic, eccentric, and narcissistic (agreed). The witty sniping between the two characters was one of my favorite parts of the movie.

The story of this movie was pretty solid, involving Tony dealing with the aftermath of his public unveiling as Iron Man at the end of the first movie (OMG SPOILERS?! Sorry but if you haven't seen the first movie, not only should you not be reading this article, but you should not be doing anything other than seeing the first movie,) as well as the government and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s relationship with the now ousted superhero. If you liked the first movie, it's got a lot of the same feel with Tony doing what he does best. Being Iron Man, and showing off.

The fact that Marvel is trying to get it's continuity together in order to form a basis of movies that will serve as the lead in to an eventual The Avengers film is nothing short of awesome. They're dropping little (and sometimes big) hints about other characters, past events, and future events that will shape the film when it comes out and for a self-proclaimed comic aficionado, that makes me giddy as a school girl. A very giddy school girl.

In the end, I would say that this movie is a good continuation of the feel of the first movie, and that if you liked the first movie you're definitely going to like this one too. When Tony and Rhodey get into action, you're going to get excited, because let's not beat around the bush; What's better than Iron Man kicking ass alone? Iron Man and War Machine kicking ass together. I'm giving this movie a 9/10. Get up from your computer, corral your posse, and go see this movie.

Review: Final Fantasy XIII

This review is extremely nerdy, and is not for the casual gamer. Read on at risk of your own mental health. However if you have played a RPG or contemplated buying FFXIII, read on knowing that you are still probably at risk for overwhelming nerdiness.

So it took me 60 hours, 35 minutes, and 28 seconds, but I beat the game. Whoo baby. That was a labor of love. I've played a lot of Final Fantasy games, starting with IX, then VIII, then X, X-2, and XII, along with a boat load of the spin-offs like Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, Tactics Advanced and A2, Kingdom Hearts 1,2, and 358/2. Every game has been different and improved upon it's predecessor in some way shape or form. Mostly.

Alright now to hell with the roman numerals for a bit. I really liked Final Fantasy 9, it being my first Final Fantasy and all. When 10 came out that was when I knew how hooked I was on the series. Everyone always harkens back to Final Fantasy 7 as when they knew, but I came in after that so I had to wait a little bit. Anyways, I put countless hours into 9 and 10, after beating the game and going back and doing side quests, in 10 playing another couple dozen hours of Blitzball (most underrated side game ever!). Then Final Fantasy 11 came out for PC as an MMO, and even though I wanted to play it, my computer sucked to bad, so I skipped it. Then at long last Final Fantasy 12 came out. I rejoiced! I played for a couple of hours.... then.... I stopped. I don't remember why I stopped now. It was mid-summer I think, so I probably just had better things to do. But then I went back to it last year when I was bored and I realized, "This isn't any better than 10!" Pretty much cause the story sucked.

So then when XIII came out, I got all excited again, especially with the announcement that XIII was going to set the stage for the next decade or so of Final Fantasy games. As reviews started coming out I kept hearing the same thing, "The game doesn't really start until about 20, 30 hours in." While I was a little perturbed, I threw plenty of hours into X and Kingdom Hearts 2, I thought, "I can spare 20 or 30 hours."

So I go out, get the game, and I mean Wow. When they say the game doesn't really start for a while they mean it. I had no idea why I was fighting other than a few random cut scenes for the first ten or so hours, and I had no control over who was in my party for another ten or so hours after that. Albeit, after you get to that point the game picks up, but I mean really Square Enix? You couldn't have cut off a little bit of running around fighting level 1 monsters with a glorified attack selection system, that could only select "Attack"? I mean I couldn't use magic until this tutorial-intro phase of the game ended.

So after that point, when the story gets going, and you start picking up on the differences between Fal'cie, l'Cie, and Cie'th (all actually names of concepts in-game) you start thinking, "Okay time for some good ol' fashioned Final Fantasy exploring!" Wrong. Unlike every other FF incarnation to date, including almost all the spin-offs I've played, there's no World Map, no way to back track, no real honest to goodness exploring. That hurt. They took out a lot of the good things that in my opinion are quintessential aspects of the series including:

• Exploring
• Dungeons
• Towns
• Mass Weapons
• Mass Money

I guess when they did this, they started from the top and just went down the list taking things out. Without exploring, you don't need dungeons to explore. Without dungeons, you don't need towns, or hubs to go to to stock up on new weapons and items. Without a wide selection of new items, you don't need a lot of money! It all makes perfect sense- if you feel like ruining a tried and true system. And another flaw, is the Weapon Upgrade system they created to replaced this system. It is similar to the new system used in Mass Effect 2, where lots of progressively better weapons were scrapped in favor of an upgrading system with fewer weapons. The problem being that it would completely sap all your cash if you tried to upgrade all your weapons, and even though I tried to save up as much money I could in the game, almost 1 Million Gil, if I wanted to get but one of the character's Ultima Weapon, I would have needed another million. I did not like this system.

But on to things I did like! While yes there were some fundamental problems, I did finish the game for a reason. After the story picked up, I actually cared what happened to my little group of heroes, which is always a good thing. Though a bit convoluted at points, and I was never quite sure how the whole magic crystal thing worked, or what exactly my characters were supposed to accomplish, it was good enough to keep me playing till the end.

The new combat system was good too. Switching between 1 of 3 different classes initially available to your characters (all of them are eventually accessible to unlock), and setting up different combination lists, like Fighter-Mage-Healer, Mage-Mage-Mage, Buffer-Saboteur-Defender, etc. all ended up playing vitally into your strategy when fighting bosses at later stages in the game. The only bad thing about this system was the difficulty/reward ratio of your enemies. Using the "Crystarium" system that opens up after the tutorial-intro, your characters can use points they get from beating enemies to progress upwards towards new abilities. Every once and a while, beating a boss will open up a new rung for your characters to climb through. While this all works in theory, I found pretty often that when I entered a new area, the difficultly level would jump drastically higher, without giving enough rewards for me to catch up, almost to the point where I felt like every time I got comfortable fighting the enemies in a level, some newer, stronger ones would come along and the process would start anew. I spent a long time in the only really "open" part of the game, where you can take on a series of missions, fighting these progressively harder and seemingly optional enemies, only to find when I got to the end of the missions, that there was no way I could beat these monsters without spending another 5-10 hours exclusively leveling up. Then after moving onto the next area, I found that I was still barely comfortable with these newer enemies. I shudder to think how great my disadvantage would have been if I hadn't spent hours completing these missions.

Where the game really shines though, is in it's visuals. There were cut scenes in the game that really were just astoundingly beautiful. I'm sure they were even better on the Blu-Ray version of the PS3, but us 360 players still had a little eye candy feast. As well as the cut scenes, the backgrounds of the game were polished to the point where you could eat off of them. The most intricate details could be seen on mountains or buildings far off in the distance, with the lighting being perfectly placed to the point where running through some of the long spaces with no enemies was almost kinda pleasant, except for the constant "Thunk Thunk Thunk" that you heard from your characters footfalls throughout the game. That never ceased to be annoying.

This game had a lot wrong with it. I think Square Enix took a risk, and attempted to broaden the appeal of the game by taking out a lot of the core RPG elements that it's predecessors pioneered. This might have worked if they didn't make the game take 50 to 60 hours to complete. Sure, I have that time, cause I'm a die-hard fan, and I have enough time to waste at college to beat it. But even then, it took me over a month, just because of the sheer daunting of going back to the monotony was at times too much to bear. For the average gamer, they simply can't, and often times won't play much longer than 20 or 30 hours. Sometimes even less than that. Which is understandable. With all the video games that come out of blockbuster caliber, devoting that much time to one game is denying yourself of two or three other really good games. Games that most likely everyone will be talking about in the months to come. So in the end, it comes down to a couple of questions. Do you have 50+ hours to spare on one video game and do you like Final Fantasy a lot? Cause if you answered yes, then good. Get this game, and play it through. It's apparently going to be important to all these other Final Fantasy games to come. But if you don't, don't even bother to rent it for the weekend, or just play a couple of hours to see how the game is, cause you're not going to get anywhere near the meat of this game unless you really work for it. Overall, I'm going to say this one is for die-hards only. It's getting a 6/10.

Review: Kick-Ass

If you know me, you know of my passionate love for comic books, and things comic-related. So with this trend of turning comic books into movies gaining more and more momentum, I've been having to go and see more and more movies. I'm not complaining.

Kick-Ass is one of the latest comic book movies to hit theaters, and it does not disappoint. The trailers leading up to it all made it out to be this kid living out a pipe dream of becoming a real-life super hero, and then he and other costumed vigilantes fighting bad guys. The movie itself is pretty much that, but a lot, a lot more violent. And by violent, I mean awesome.

There are a couple of good fight scenes, and they were all pretty graphic. Being a big fan of graphic violence, I was enthralled by these scenes. Watching these people do fancy acrobatic combat combined with guns, knives and batons was really enjoyable.

The movie's story was really good, and bar a kind of deus ex machina ending, I thought it was all within the realm of realism. The characters were surprisingly well written, with comical quirks and lines for everyone. You feel for these people. The nerdy protagonist is one of those characters you almost can't help but like.

If you like comic book movies, awesome fight scenes, and Nicolas Cage being a bad ass, you're gonna like this movie a lot. I certainly did. Giving this movie 8.5/10.

So I felt like Blogging. Uh oh.

Oh man. It's been one of those weeks. Classes. Tests. People. You're just all set with this week in general. The only thing keeping you going is that you know that after you finish up school/classes/work for the weekend on Friday afternoon, you're free. Well sort of.

Ah... the weekend. Ever since kids have been going to school, and even after we've moved on to work we've thought that three day weekends should become the standard instead of this B.S. five day hell that we've been subjected to since Preschool. We're all about equality man! 5:2 is a crap ratio. Even the Bookies in Vegas don't like those odds. With a four day work week, and a three day weekend, the world would become a better place. Follow me on this:

No More "Mondays" - Well, yeah, we're not going to entirely buck the system, and rename all the days of the week. That would be silly. What I'm talking about is no more of this, "Ugh it's Monday I feel like killing myself just so I don't have to go to school/classes/work today," feeling. Studies show conclusive proof* that a big part of this feeling comes from people not getting enough rest out of the weekend. With only two days of rest and relaxation, people need to "make the most" out of their weekends filling it up with two days of partying (for the youngsters) or two days of family trips (for those with youngsters) or two days of catching up on all that reclining and watching TV you missed while you were working (for everyone else). With a three day weekend, people can really settle in to their relaxing stride and mellow out, so that they can party, go on trips, and watch TV all weekend, but be ready to get back at it on the new, improved, and less sucky Monday.

3 Day Weekends Save The Economy - Think about it. If everyone is working five days out of the week to get money, they only have two days to spend it! Simple math here people! Three day weekends give everyone more time to go on vacation, go to the mall, or just waste time online! Any way you cut it, more money is being spent outside the desk/lecture hall/cubicle than in. Another prestigious study has shown conclusive evidence** that stores always have huge sales on three day weekends because they know that people are going to spend more money! These sales could then last all the time, dropping prices, putting spending up, and getting more money circulated into the struggling Economy.

More Time To Exercise - One word: Obesity. Two words: Playing outside. Studies have shown that one of the main reasons that people are getting fat is due to lack of exercise***. If we were to have three day weekends, people could still spend two days sitting by the warm LCD of your computer screen, and the third day running through meadows or skipping through fields. Or playing football or baseball. Even the nerdiest kids feel bad shut inside for three days straight without seeing the sunlight. I would know. However, with three day weekends, you can just go ahead and make yourself a little video games, playing outside, and video games sandwich every weekend. Hell, if you're feeling a little energetic you could even make an Uh-Oh Oreo out of it and go outside two days out of the weekend! The world would be your oyster!

So I think, that what we all really need to do, is just start not going to school/class/work on Friday. When your Teacher/Professor/Boss comes up to you on Monday, to reprimand you for not showing up on Friday, you can just say with a nice relaxed brain, and a tank full of energy from your glorious weekend, "Three day weekends are the way of the future." Sure, you might get detention/nothing/fired, but when this movement comes to pass, you shall be heralded as a Visionary, or a Prophet. Or just a Bad Ass who plays by his/her own rules. But if we act in unison, the Man will listen, and see the wisdom of our words. REBEL MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS! TOGETHER WE SHALL BRING THIS GLORIOUS REVOLUTION TO PASS! VIVE LE TROIS JOURS DE FIN DE LA SEMAINE! OR JUST YAY THREE DAY WEEKEND! THE POWER IS YOURS!

* Not really.

** Another lie.

*** True! I'm pretty sure!

Dear Everybody:

I turned 20 the other day.

Twenty. Two Zero. Two Decades old.

Seriously. How did I get this old?! People talk about things from '99 and I think to myself every time, "Oh that was what one-two years ago?" before I remind myself, "No it was 11 years ago, it's 2010. Oh yeah, and we still don't have flying cars yet."

Sometimes it really seems like it was only a few years ago when I'd get up bright and early Saturday mornings, sometimes too early, and watching cartoons on TV, sometimes causing my Dad to come out and tell me to turn it down, as it wasn't even 6:30 yet. Then later after everybody was up, and my cartoons started, my Mom'd bring me a glass of Apple juice and a Strawberry Nutri-Grain bar, and threw a blanket on me while I nibbled away, captive to my rigorous schedule of hopping from Fox Kids to watch Digimon, back to WB Kids to watch Pokemon or Yu-gi-oh before returning to Fox Kids to watch some other shows I've now forgotten.

Other times it seems like it could've been a year ago when I was hiding out in my basement, playing away at Donkey Kong 64 on my N64 or Final Fantasy IX on my PSOne, on this crappy TV where you had to turn a knob to get to the plethora of channels such as "3, 4, and 7," but trying to get as much time in, while being as quiet as I could, so maybe Mom and Dad would forget I was down there and wouldn't tell me to go to bed. Even when they knew I wouldn't be able to sleep, and would just sneak out and watch whatever Dad was watching on TV from behind the fireplace where he couldn't see me.

I remember the long hours spent at the huge honking monitor of my ancient desktop computer in the Computer Room in the wee hours after my Mom had gone to sleep, playing some fan-translated Game Boy Advance rom or looking up some strategy on how to complete this epically hard side quest in Kingdom Hearts, like it was only a couple months ago.

I've spent a lot of my life in front of one screen or another. Most of the time with my Mom telling me to turn a light on so I don't go blind, still don't wear glasses by the way, and my Dad probing my thoughts on whether I thought computer programming or video game design, more recently video game reviews, were my future. But nonetheless I wouldn't be me without all those geeky things I've done. So thanks for being enablers Mom and Dad!

Still at other times I feel as though I'm hurtling through life at 88 miles per hour, and I'm going to be out of school and in the real world sooner than I can say "1.21 gigawatts." Pre-school, Kindergarten, Elementary School, Middle Schools, High School, and now College. All in no time at all.

Time is a fickle thing. It seems like yesterday I was in PJ's on my couch, and tomorrow I'll be graduating college. But yesterday I was sitting watching the Red Sox game here at UMass, and tomorrow I'll be figuring out the best way for me to waste the 7 hours between my Comm 222 class and my Comm 297S Action Film Screening. Wasting time is something I've gotten pretty good at over the years.

I just googled "time wasted quotes" because in this future-society that we live in that's all I had to put in before one click brought me to the Bertrand Russell quote I wanted. It's no robot butler, but it'll do.

"The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time."

I've enjoyed almost every second of wasting my time on video games, novels, comic books, T.V. and movies. Both by myself, and with friends. So here's to everyone who I've ever talked nerdy to, talked geek with, shared single player with, played multi-player with, or completely nerded out with. Whether it was only for a second, or whether we can't remember when we weren't; Thanks. For everything. I mean it.

And I think that there's only one suitable way to end this post so, "Play me off Keyboard Cat!"

PAX East 2010 Part 2: The Concert

When we last left our two heroes, they were triumphantly parading towards the Main Theater of the Hynes Convention Center. If you missed out on what they were doing there, click here.

So as we worked our way up the escalator and into the theater, the energy from the crowd was exuberant. Everyone was as happy to be there, as anyone could be to be anywhere else. Chew on that one for a bit. With people talking about how excited they were, Beckett (@beckettnoyes) and I surveyed the small crowd surrounding the stage. Beckett, being a bigger man than I, truck stick-ed through the small crowd landing us some pretty clutch spots to the right of the main stage's little catwalk. We could literally reach out and touch the performers. Which I did at one point. But so did everyone else so it's cool.

As we waited the long wait for the rest of the crowd to get situated, we looked around in eagerness, breathing in our successful mission to the front of the crowd. Soon after, the lights dimmed, and our two hosts, Jerry and Mike came out on the stage to present the participants of the Omeganaut's Tournament; a reccuring event at every PAX, where attendees register to participate in a myriad of games that test their dexterity as a gamer. From old school NES games, to cult Game-Cube surprises, to the popular games of the latest generation, these select few test their mettle against their worthy opponents in an attempt to win the grand prize. This PAX, it was a trip to Germany. Pretty sweet. In this, the semi-final round, it was revealed that the two teams of four participants would be competing against each other in Rock Band, both teams playing the song "The Gambler," by Kenny Rogers. A song which might seem an inspired choice for Penny Arcade readers. Gabe's Team, played the song relatively well, and the crowd seemed to have them picked. Tycho's Team, started with a rough patch, failing their first time due to having not picked their own instruments. Even during their second go round, their Singer failed out once, but was saved by a team mate shortly after. Though it looked like Gabe's Team may have won points wise, the unimpeded determination of Tycho's Team had won our hearts. Turns out they beasted the song too. Winning the challenge they moved on to the final round which would happen the next day.

As they cleared the stage, setting up for the first real act, the Video Game Orchestra, time seemed to creep by. One minute became five minutes, became ten minutes, became thirty. The crowd became restless. There was only one solution. The masters of the convention, the Enforcers did the only thing they could. The Wave. This was no ordinary wave. Starting on the upper left balcony, it went around clockwise, before hitting the right balcony, decending into the crowd below, with one massive surge across the theater back to it's origin. Not only did this magical Wave never false-start like many waves tend to do, this wave lasted at least 10 times around. BUT LO AND BEHOLD IT DID NOT STOP THERE! With the beckoning of the massive crowd below, the Wave changed directions, counterclockwise, for what seemed to be at least another five minutes before what was arguably the greatest happening in Wave history. We split the Wave. Starting at the middle of the balcony, the Wave crested out in both directions in unison, meeting in the middle of our massive crowd below, crashing against itself only to find new life once again on the top balcony! This Wave that was created in the Main Theater by the attendees of PAX East lasted but a moment in this grand timeline we call life, but I assure you, it will never be forgotten by those present. If there is a god of The Wave, I am sure that he smiles upon us for the great tribute that was made to him that day. Smiles and waves.

After the applause of the crowd wore itself out from our massive pat on the back, we realized it was about 45 minutes since the Omeganauts left the stage. We began to get antsy, as many crowds do, beginning to fervently chant, "V.G.O! V.G.O!" But soon after our wishes were granted and the Video Game Orchestra took the stage. They played crowd favorites from games such as Chrono Trigger, Silent Hill, Castlevania, Mario, Final Fantasy, but in such a unique blend of classical instruments and rock instruments that the songs were given new life. It was awesome. I fully intend to see them live again if I ever get the chance. When they had finished their set, the crowd cheered hard for an encore, which apparently caught them off guard, forcing them to pick a song they had already played, but I assure you, it was just as good the second time around.

By this point, the crowd has been standing for about 3 hours. So everyone sat where they could, but space was kind of hard to come by, leaving Beckett and I standing in agony. About a half hour later, all of the orchestral equipment was off the stage, leaving a keyboard and a few mikes on stage.

That's when the lights dimmed and Paul and Storm, the next band, came out doing a parody of this video. Then they were joined by the Prince of PAX, Wil Wheaton. The crowd burst into laughter, then applause, then back to laughter every time the trio of "Trololo Guy"s did a new dance move, or fought amongst themselves.

Shortly after they left the stage, Paul and Storm came back onto the stage. I had never heard of them before the Concert, actually only hearing of them after they actually walked out on stage. Beginning with "Opening Song" and going from there, their set involved the audience as much as they could, to the point of their own annoyance. After getting the crowd to give a big "Awwww" after one of their more sad lyrics, and getting the crowd to give a big "ARRRRGGGHHH!!!" during a pirate themed song, "The Captain's Wife's Lament" that is all the crowd would do to everything they said. It was a hilarious set, singing one song about the man who invented Chicken Nuggets, and another about a musical set around the video game "Frogger" going as far as to bring a scared little asian girl up onto the stage for Storm to sing a ballad to during the song. They were witty and hilarious, rolling with whatever the crowd threw at them, in one case pipe cleaner underwear, and left the stage to rancorous applause.

Then following a short break, the man we had all been waiting for, JOCO himself, Jonathan Coulton came on stage. The crowd went wild. His equipment consisting of a microphone, a guitar, a laptop and some strange machine, he came out graciously thanking everyone for coming, and for waiting the 5 hours to see him. He then played "Still Alive" and "SkullCrusher Mountain" acoustically, making the crowd go insane. Then he put down his guitar, and picked up the strange device. Slinging it around his neck and over his shoulder much like a guitar strap, the trapezoidial device was covered in black circular pads of varying size. He told us that the machine was called the "Distract-o-tron" and that we should pay attention to it, and not the next song he would be playing as he didn't like the song he was about to play as much as his others. Then he launched into this awesome rendition of his song "Mr. Fancy Pants." Each button either had a beat, a drum, a snare, or vocal clips from the song loaded onto it, and he played this incredible mash-up of a song on this machine, tapping away at all these similar looking buttons, making this unbelievable rhythm that could barely be followed. Then he hit one button and all the other beats and clips stopped, while a clip from "Single Ladies" came on. The crowd roared with laughter and burst into applause, but in no time he was back into "Mr. Fancy Pants." He finished the song to the loudest applause all night. After putting the "Distract-o-tron" down behind him, he walked back up to the microphone only to have one of the samples go off behind him. Looking behind him, he stepped closer; another sample. Then he made a little song of walking and jumping by the machine, seeing what played, until "Single Ladies" came back on, and that was enough of that.

Shortly after Paul and Storm joined him on stage, singing back up and playing a tambourine, then Metroid Metal, another band who had played Friday, came up behind him with electric guitar and bass, while their third man hopped onto the drum set behind them. They played a few more songs, making the crowd go insane with every next piece with crowd favorites such as "Re Your Brains" and "Future Soon". After explaining that after the next song they would be "done" and "leaving" the stage, they finished playing their "last song" and exited the stage. After about 45 seconds, they came back on much to our "surprise." They played one last jam and told us that even though yes, we could probably overpower the security guards and all stay night, it was time to leave, it being almost 2 AM by this point.

After the applause died down, the shuffle to the exit began. And after another brief wait outside, Beckett and I both got our PAX Badges signed by Paul and Storm, which was the cherry on the top of the gigantic chocolate ice cream sundae that was PAX East. PAX was phenominal. I could rant and rave about how great of a time it was, or how great of a community it is, but at the same time I realize, PAX isn't for everyone. If you don't have an extensive knowledge of nerd-culture, like "Rolling for Initiative" and "All Your Base Are Belong To Us" for basics, you might not like PAX. But that's okay! PAX does not discriminate. All are welcome. All Our PAX Are Belong To Everyone. Even with my leet nerd skills, I was put to shame by a vast quantity of PAX goers when it came to knowledge and obsession with all things geeky and nerdy.

If you're open to new things, and a casual to moderate video gamer, a one day pass, just to see what PAX is like might be for you. I was in a similar situation this year. But next year, I intend on skipping my Friday classes, and getting back to UMASS late Sunday night. Three days of glorious PAX East await me next year, and I fully intend to enjoy every second of it. If you have any questions, feel free to ask, because I could rattle on about a dozen other stories that were not included in my two posts, even though I think these might be two of my longest posts ever.

Thanks again Jerry and Mike, for being awesome, and making something like PAX for everyone to enjoy.

PAX East 2010 Part 1: The Convention

PAX East. One word to describe it: Epic. Another: Awesome.

A Brief overview. Penny Arcade Expo is a gathering of the many fans of the webcomic Penny Arcade. Created by Jerry Holkins a.k.a. Tycho, and Mike Krahulik a.k.a. Gabe, the writing and drawing half of Penny Arcade respectively, the comic has grown to have one of the largest, if not the largest internet community in the world. The original, PAX Prime, takes place in Seattle, and the first PAX East happened for the first time this previous weekend in Boston. This show in Boston had 60,000 people in attendance, and broke the previous record of 58,000 of the latest PAX Prime (or so I heard from some random guy.) The inaugural PAX East sold out of passes before the show even began, and next year they will be moving to a larger convention center as to be able to hold more people.

Glossing the boring details, Beckett (@beckettnoyes) and I arrived at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston around 9, 9:15 AM, and got ourselves some nice blue wristbands guaranteeing us admission to the Saturday Night Concert. Not long after lining up in the Queue Room, the room where they put all the outrageously long lines so as not to block space where people needed to actually move, we were moved upstairs to the 3rd floor, where we were crammed into line like a can of sardines for the Bill Amend Panel.

For those of you outside the loop, Bill Amend is the creator of Foxtrot which I used to read all the time in the newspaper as a youngling. After the panel started, he greeted all of us, and told us how immensely grateful he was to be welcomed to PAX, referring back to nerd superstar Wil Wheaton's opening speech the day before where he greeted everyone by saying "Welcome home." During the panel he mainly showed us a selection of his strips featuring video game jokes, and educated us on how hard it is to deal with newspaper syndication as sometimes he'll want to use a vulgar word such as "sucks" which apparently they're very against. Also he told us how sometimes he'll have good ideas for a comic but he won't be able to use it because it would only appeal to the small percentage of his readers because it's video game related. A pretty solid panel, but we peaced out a little ways into the Q & A portion cause we were pretty eager to check out the show floor.

The place was PACKED. Featuring fan favorite booths such as Microsoft, Behemoth, Ubisoft, Nvidia, Nintendo and plenty of other booths of varying importance to nerdkind. Beckett and I browsed, photographed, and got as much swag (free stuff) as we could in a brief period, before we headed downstairs to get some sweet merch (official PAX stuff) before we headed back into the Queue Room to wait for the Make a Strip panel.

Every PAX, be it PAX Prime or PAX East, Jerry lays down a script and Mike draws the comic for the following Monday live all while taking Questions from the Audience. This was the first time Beckett or I had seen the duo in person, live, and the few hours we spent being entertained by them were some of the best of the convention. They took whatever questions, stories, or donations the audience had graciously and with a smile. They had funny quips at each other and at the audience, and it was an experience that just left me feeling like "no wonder these guys have amassed such a huge following." Example: One twenty-something got up on the mike and said the following, albeit with more quips from Jerry and Mike and stumbling to get out what he wanted to say: "Hey, a friend of mine graduated school, is working in technology but feels really lost and wants to try and do something internet based, but is having a really hard time getting things off the ground. Any advice for me- I mean my friend?"

Jerry responded, "After this is over, come over to this curtain on the side of the stage, and I'll talk with you at length."

I love those guys.

After the panel concluded, we got some lunch at the Prudential Center Food Court (Flamers FTW) and returned to the show floor. We jumped around some more, got some more swag, played a few demos, and next thing we knew it was 6 and the floor was closing. We dropped our bags off at the car, and wasted what was left of the next hour lounging and watching people dominate on Rock Band in the aptly named Rock Band Lounge. When 7PM rolled around, we returned to the Queue Room for the 3rd and final time to wait for the night's concert.

Waiting in line, or rather, sitting in line we were gifted with some free donuts from a fellow PAX-goer, as well as some pipe cleaners to pass the next hour with from the PAX Staff, the Enforcers, a fan volunteer security group who helps run the show. Shortly after however, the two large screens that were set up on the sides of the line started being filled with typed messages of how huge nerds we were for making pipe-cleaner crowns (I made a lizard, much cooler.) It soon proceeded to lead us in a series of text-to-vote games, which were certainly time killers, before handing our drawn attention over to the Frag Dolls, a group of women gamers sponsored by Ubisoft. We were then instructed, nay, mandated or whatever its female equivalent is, to follow the visual cues of a dancing MC Hammer outline on the huge screen, in order to break some sort of Line Dancing record. Though humiliating, the shame was lessened by the fact that almost everyone was doing it, and those who weren't were either morbidly obese or too busy playing card games that I've never heard of before.

Shortly after, at the apex of our line waiting experience, after everyone was on their feet ready to roll, our captors played "Still Alive" by Jonathan Coulton, better known as the theme song to Portal, and everybody, everybody, sang it. This phenomenon cemented the fact that I was among fellow nerds. I can remember this moment of clarity and a single remark left my lips, "I love my life."

As the song ended, we paraded out towards the Main Theater to Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. Proudly, everyone sang until the time whence they entered the Theater, eager for the night to continue, by enjoying the semi-final round of the Omeganauts Tournament, and listening to the musical stylings of the Video Game Orchestra, Paul and Storm, and Jonathan Coulton himself.

To Be Continued...

But if you can not wait, feel free to peruse my pictures of the festivities via either Facebook or Picasa; read my tweets of the night's events; or watch the video blogs (vlogs) I made with Beckett of our day over at my brand-spankin' new Youtube site.

Review: Green Zone

Well, Green Zone was most certainly a movie. I can tell you that much. Deeper than that though, I really don't think there is much else to say. The movie wasn't bad, in fact I thought it was a pretty good movie, employing the shaky-camera technique that's become popular in all those war movies. But when it came to the plot and the action, there was never that critical moment where everyone watching really got into the movie.

In terms of action, there's a pretty solid chunk full at the end of the movie, but other than that it's kind of lacking. Being a movie based in 2003-04 Iraq, there's only so much you can do without throwing continuity to the wind. That being said the movie does a good job of tying in real events to the story being told.

I really do want to say more, but there isn't anything to say. There was nothing in this movie that made me hate it, but at the same time nothing that made me love it. The acting was solid, I thought the plot was pretty predictable, and the action wasn't bad. The movie I think was more focused on making a political statement about the war in Iraq, than on being a movie which isn't bad I guess, but it just meant that anyone trying to get into the movie was beaten over the head with political ideals when all they really wanted was a nice action flick. All things considered, if you don't end up seeing this movie, you're not going to have to worry about it in the long run. 5.5/10.

Review: Shutter Island

There are some movies where you go and get so immersed in the plot that you forget you're in the theater. Shutter Island is not one of those movies. Indeed, this is the kind of movie where you spend the entire movie trying to soak up every detail, track every plot point, and uncover every hidden motive, all in a fruitless attempt to figure out what is going to happen next.

Directed by Martin Scorsese, you know that there is a plot twist or two down the line. But even knowing that,you're still going to get blindsided when the plot culminates. This is a masterpiece of the mind, playing sleight of hand with your cinematic experience, and operating at least 4 layers under the surface. If you don't like having to think when you go to the movies, this is not your kind of movie.

Even though the trailers make the movie look like some sort of psychological paranormal thriller, the movie falls more into line with psychological experience. The movie is littered with false leads and misleading dialogue making our pathetic attempts to predict what would happen next utterly pointless, and that was one of the things that made the movie so riveting. Though you might guess a plot point here or an action there, for every one time you guess right there are at least 5 things you won't see coming.

Going into this movie, I was pretty unenthused. I figured, this is just another film meant to mess with your head, ending with some twisted outcome that no one sees coming for some obtuse reason. And while it does mess with your head, the turnaround just works. Not works in the sense, "Oh yeah okay, I can see that," but more in the sense of, "Mother of God. THAT'S BRILLIANT!"

There are some movies where after the credits roll, you and your friends hop in the car, and you talk about the movie for about five minutes before changing the subject to where you want to stop for late night burgers. Shutter Island is not one of those movies. We talked about it all the way home, and most of the day today.

If you go and see this movie, you'll have something to talk about at the water cooler the next day, with friends when you're sitting around doing nothing or with all your buddies online. Whether you loved it, hated it, didn't get it, this movie does a great job of starting talk, which is probably why it evolved from a small release into number one at the box office. I'm going to go ahead and give this a 9/10.