May movie preview

Holy cow, have we already reached the end of the month?! Ok, let's do this....

 Alien Covenant

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice...well you know. To be honest, I'll probably have to go see this disaster of a film when it comes out because Megan wants to see it so badly. I just hope it's not too long of a movie.

 Baywatch

This looks as interesting as the guy from the Roadshow Antique show, talking about a hundred year old shoe. PASS.

 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2

To be honest, I could skip this in theaters but my wife won't let me, so I'll go. I'm sure it'll be fun though. Gunn knows what he's doing when he makes a film.

 Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul

Little secret here...I loved the other three films. I know, shocking right? I never read the series but got board one day and watched the first one, then had to see the others when they came out on rental. This one whoever is a soft re-boot with new characters and I think I can finally say goodbye to this series without watching another one ever again. (though it was nice to see Alicia Sylverstone still getting work after so many years)

Pirates: Dead Men Tell No Tales

I got to be honest, I'm actually looking forward to this movie. After re-watching the series last year I realized it's a lot better than I gave it credit for back in the day. For that reason I welcome this new installment with open arms!

So what others movies did I miss? I'm sure you'll let me know in the comments.

Wildstorm Review: Team 7

My final Wildstorm review for now is one of my favorite series from the entire Image run. Team 7 was a prequel series which focused on the original special command force that would later be a huge impact on the Universe as it was today.

This series was incredible. I  told you my friends and I each collected different series but I think we ALL bought this one at the same time. Chuck Dixon writes an incredible story and it's easily the best comic in the entire Wildstorm era. It holds up well, like most of Mr Dixon's stories usually do.

While re-reading this though, I noticed I was missing an issue. Then it all came back to me, that one of the last mini-series for this comic was NEVER read by me because I wanted to get that missing issue before I read the whole series! Totally forgot about it over time until earlier this month when I read it.

Thankfully, I picked it up online for less that cover price and now have a complete set (at least to that date) of the series.

Is it worth your time? I think I already answered that but if you didn't read the middle part and skipped to the end, then YES. Read it. So much fun!

Wildstorm Review: Gen 13

Now we're getting to the book I collected back in the day. (as did millions of other folks in the 90's) Gen 13 took the comic book world by storm and instantly became a huge hit! Kids, our age with super powers, cool get-ups and awesome lingo. "He's so Baldwin!" and "Not!" are featured in the original run. I'll admit, the series went south quick when they came out with the ongoing series. I guess I should have known they'd sell out the fans when 13 alternate covers were made for issue #1. But the original mini-series is still fun.

There's so many moments I remembered, looking back over the panels. I must have re-read these a dozen times as a teen. And if you'll look at the front cover that's exactly who this was written for. Teenage boys. Scantily clad females was all the rage back then, which added to the rush for comic book shops to sell out each issue.

Looking back over it it's laughable to see the main villain strip his opponents naked and hold them in cells for no apparent reason other than the artist to draw them "covered naked" on the pages. Besides that though, Gen 13 is a delightful romp through my childhood and what was considered "Cool" back then. (I still think the grunge look is cool by the way)

Is it worth your time? This comic actually dates itself by stating it starts in 1994, so if you're a child of the 90's then yes, it's a definite read for you. 

Wildstorm Review: The Kindred

What do you get when you put 2 of the coolest super heroes in the Wildstorm Universe together in the same comic? A whole lot of awesomeness, that's what!

Kindred stars Backlash (formerly featured in Stormwatch until the creators realized he was way to cool a character for such a lame group of super heroes) and Grifter from WILDCATS. One of Images more popular comics at the time. (my brother collected them)

I don't know exactly why I bought it because I didn't buy either of their team of individual comic books at the time, but I thought the art was good as was the story so I picked it up.

After re-reading it again...still good. The art though is the highlight of the series. It's SO beautiful to look at, I'm not sure if I've seen many of artist do a better job. The story further explores the past of a super team known as Team 7 who would later star in their own comic, but back then it was still a mystery as to who they really were.

Is it worth your time? Yes. Especially if you love good artwork. It's one of the best!

Wildstorm Review: Stormwatch

So back in the day I read a lot of Wildstorm comics. We loved the universe growing up. My brothers and friends each collected a different title and shared those with the others. It was great seeing a universe connect so well. (although, looking back at it now, it wasn't as perfect a fit as I thought) But overall the series as a whole was very good. So this week I wanted to discuss all the titles I've recently re-read and give you my thoughts on it.

The first thing I re-read was Stormwatch. Now I said "re-read" though to be honest I didn't read all the issues of it back in the day (my cousin bought them all) I read a few here and there.

My cousin dumped his collection on to my brother, who handed me these gems that'd I'd been curious about reading for a while. I was happy to get back in to comic book reading, with a story that was very similar to the X-men, where you have a team of super heroes working together to keep the planet safe. Oh and they're run by the United Nations.

Generic idea, with cliche characters but one of my favorite things they did was after Issue #9 they skipped ahead and did Issue #25 to show you what the future would have in store for the comic. A year and a half later they came out with #24 and skipped to #26 so you can put #25 in order and see how it matched up.

Though not perfect (a few scenes being changed in #26) it was pretty cool to see how far planned out the series was at the time. I haven't seen anything as impressive since.

Is this story worth your time? Not unless you have a love for the Wildstorm Universe as I did back in the 90's. The stories and dialogue are extremely dated, but it makes me smile knowing I never realized that as a teen and thought instead it was some of the greatest stuff ever!

Bye bye DVD plan

Well after only a month I've decided to cancel the DVD option for Netflix. The reason being was the choices were very limited, more so than the last time I joined. I was surprised on how many titles they DIDN'T carry anymore.

Of course it makes sense when you think about it. Their first competition back in the day was Blockbuster. And to beat the giant of DVD rentals you need a huge inventory. Now that most rental stores are gone, I guess they decided having a big inventory wasn't worth it anymore.

Sad too, this used to be a great thing they had going. Oh well!

Have a great weekend folks!

End of the season

Just wrapped up my strat-o-matic season and after several hours and games...my team didn't even make it to the World Series. LOL

That's ok though. A new team won this year and I'm all for that. Now it's back to getting some reading done in my spare time..until next season!!!

Monroe: The Windy City of the South

I know they call Chicago the "Windy City" but the same should be said here. We have THE WORST windy days. Some days when I'm walking outside the office on my lunch break, the wind is so strong I can feel it pushing me.

Same for when I'm walking around my neighborhood. It is ALWAYS windy. I don't know the scientific reason for why, but it ruins my book reading/walk sessions that's for sure!

Tax Time

Well folks, today's the final day to get your taxes filed. Since the 15th feel on a weekend they extended the deadline. I filed mine months ago but my Dad always waits till the last hour of the last day to pay.

Seriously.This man heard our Post Office would be up late to accept last minute files so dad waited until the hour before to do his taxes and rush it up to the doors before they closed. I have no idea why he does it that way but it's always been like that since we were kids.

Hopefully, you're not like my father and aren't waiting till the last minute to do this. Happy Tax Day folks!

Blast from my past

So after making my "rant" about the local library it made me think of a book I used to check out all the time as a kid. It took me a while to find it, but here it is!

I picked up a used copy on Amazon and am super happy to have it. It's not that good but for me, it was one of my favorite books to read as a child. It's about a boy who meets an Imp, Scalawag and Goblin who tell him scary stories, but the boy tells them the scariest of all. Not much of a story and I can't explain why I loved it so much as a child, but I love that I now have a copy to look at whenever I want.

Ah, memories....

Happy Easter!

Find eggs, Celebrate spring and worship Him who gave us all things good!

The downfall of Libraries

I used to love the library. I remember my Mom and Dad taking me all the time to grab a book to read for the summer. Most kids hated it, but I loved picking out new books to read. I loved going back to pick up another one as well!

In high school it was the place to rent videos for free. Mom and Dad did it all the time as did we. (I'd even pick up a book) And to study for any class it was always a joy to go to the library. Then the internet, ebooks and the future come along and now these places are relics of the past.

Previously to this post, I would've defended these once great structures but after an experience I had last week, I can no longer do that.

This place sucks.

And it's not the Library....it's the people that work there. Uncreative, Unimaginative and (some) with no more intelligence than a McDonald's Janitor.

Now I realize this may be only our library but hear me out.

I recently went back to begin a new relationship with my library. There were books I was interested in reading and this was an excellent place to go. When I asked about books on CD they told me about an app I could download to listen to them for free! How awesome is that!!

Then when I was having issues signing on I realized no one in the whole library knew how to work the app....seriously. After 2 days of constant back and forth it was evident to me that these people were too stupid or just didn't care about whether it worked or not. They wanted to sit behind their desk, half asleep and babysit kids too young to drive but too old to play outside.

It's a sad thing to see and after this week, I'm never going back. 

Cube: Movie review

It'd been a while since I'd watch this movie, so I thought I'd rent it again and check it out.

It's more bloody than I remembered, which wasn't a turn off, just something of note. The story holds up and the acting for the most part is good. I love sci-fi and this movie about a group of random strangers that wake up in a room with 6 doors with identical rooms in every one. (some even boobytrapped) the story really works and pulls you in the entire time.

The sequel is garbage and though I heard the prequel was good, I remember being "ho-hum" about it when I first saw it. Though after watching this classic, I might give it another try.

Have a good one folks!

Verizon's "better" deal

So after getting my phone, I then got my bill. I got Verizon's new "Unlimited Data" plan which is advertised for $45 a month per line.

So here's what they don't tell you...

1) $45 per line is the deal....when you have 4 lines on your bill.
2) There is a $30  "Set up" fee that they don't tell you about until you get your bill.
3) You pay for your phone in installments. (Add another $25)
4) There is a $20 charge PER LINE to USE the Verizon network. I guess your plan doesn't include using it with a phone you BOUGHT from them!?

So don't believe the hype of their deal. I'm keeping it for now and plan on using the heck out of some data, though I hear they slow you down after a certain amount. We'll see how that goes.

I'm not ready to leave Verizon yet, but I have to honest that I'll be looking into AT&T again, once I pay off my phone.

New phone

So I got a new phone a few weeks ago. The Galaxy S7. I know it's last years model but Target was giving away a $150 gift card for every purchase of one and I couldn't pass that deal up. (Megan ended up taking the card from me)

I used to have Samsung as my phone for years until I replaced it with the HTC. The HTC M-Series was awesome. It carried WONDERFUL speakers on it that made my music sound great. Unfortunately I discovered they've altered their design to look like Samsung so now it's an inferior phone with below average speakers. Sad.

It's taken a while to adjust to my new phone. Most of the feature and navigation I remember. It doesn't have the "talk to text" option, which was disappointing but I'll get used to "swipe text" again soon enough I'm sure.

I'm not a fan of Apple products. Had an iPad once and hated it, so I'm happy with this phone....I just miss those speakers!!!

You know it's time to cut the grass...

...when the weeds are as big as your wife.

(sigh) It's going to be a long day...

Classical inclination

This past month I got the strange urge....for classical music. I find it odd because I don't listen to it that much but did growing up. Over the summer our Dad made us listen to one album a day from one of the classical composers. Then on Friday he would test us to see if we could tell who was who. It was part of our "summer Education" I guess and every Sunday dad would always have the music rolling through the house as we got ready for church that morning.

I remember plenty a time waking up to Bach, Vivaldi, Mozart and Beethoven more than one occasion. I guess in my "older" age I've grown to appreciate it once again but REALLY enjoy it for it's brilliance and not just nostalgia.  

In fact...I'm listening to it right now as I type this post!

Have a good weekend everybody!

10 Cloverfield Lane Review

So after a year I finally got to see this movie a last month. I never saw Cloverfield, but I hear these two movies are loosely connected so I decided to give it a shot. I'd heard good things anyway.

Well, they were right.....sort of. 10 Cloverfield Lane is a pretty good movie with an interesting twist in the end. Something I didn't see coming due to how weird it actually sounded. The movie is well shot and acted with just one exception. They reveal the location to take place in south Louisiana, yet EVERYONE in the movie talks with a northern accent. Hard to swallow when you know what the real things sounds like.

Besides that, it's an enjoyable film!

Jaws The novel (review)

I got this novel for Megan for Xmas last year. She loved it! She sat down that night and read the first 16 pages. Today she's read....16 pages. So last week I took it from her nightstand, blew off the dust and read it in 2 days.

Incredible book. Much different from the movie (which is great as well) but the book goes in a different direction in so many ways. First off, the Mayor of the town has his own story line which is so good, I'm sad it wasn't included in the movie. He's not just an ass who wants the beaches open for business, but I guy who's in over his head and is almost being held captive by mistakes he made in the past. I don't want to ruin it, but I thought it was good.

Hooper is a completely different character from what we see in the films. You don't know whether you like him or not. Quint is still fantastic and though the book ended abruptly (and not as climatic as the movie) I gasped a few times at deaths not featured in the movie (not everyone you think is going to make it out alive) but was so engrossed in the story, when it ended I didn't even realize I was on the last page!!

Now that's how to keep your audience captive!

It's only 311 pages so if you're looking for some reading this summer and you have the interest, it may be good enough to put on your list.

Ewok Phone

Saw this on Ebay last month. A talking Ewok phone.

I want it...but what would I do with it?! And why aren't they remaking great toys like this anymore?!

When I was a kid, my cousins had a similar phone for Disney. You'd press a button and a message from that character would speak. Pretty cool toy back in the day.

Just thought I'd mention it. 

Starship Troopers 3 review

Continuing my reviews on the Starship Trooper sequels is the 3rd and final installment "Maruder"

This was a strange one because it brought back Rico from the first film, but only featured him throughout half the movie.

It suffers the same fate as the 2nd one. The characters are bland, the acting is hit or miss but in my opinion it's only on par with the sequel. Kind of wish these had gotten a bigger budget because I think they would have been cool but I guess the only thing we can look forward to now is a reboot of the series.(though given it's lack of popularity it may be unlikely)

But never say never for Hollywood right?

The sequels "ok" see it if you care about the series, but skipable if you're short on time. 

April Fool's Day surprise

Got something fun planned on my YouTube channel for April Fool's day. The LIVE feed starts at 10am CT today. Join (if you get this message in time) LOL

Happy April Fools Day

Look what new mini-expansion I bought for my Catan game!

Catan: Santa Claus

Am I joking? Research and found out. : )