Tearing up the charts in the nineties were the gothic definition of teenage angst, The Smashing Pumpkins, known for such wonderful melodies as “1979”, “Zero”, “Disarm” and “Bullet With Butterfly Wings”. The band featured Billy Corgan as lead singer, guitarist James Iha, D’arcy Wretzky on bass and Jimmy Chamberlin on drums.
As the grunge movement died out, The Smashing Pumpkins disbanded and went their separate ways. In 2006, Billy Corgan reunited with Jimmy Chamberlain and swapped out Iha and Wretzky with Jeff Schroeder and Ginger Reyes, recording the album Zeitgeist (with hit single, Tarantula). Unfortunately for Corgan, it was recently announced that drummer Jimmy Chamberlin has decided to break away and look for greener pastures, leaving Corgan alone with his band name, a few newbies and an empty drum set.
Chamberlain was quoted saying “I can no longer commit all of my energy into something that I don’t fully possess. I won’t pretend I’m into something I’m not. I won’t do it to myself, you the fan, or my former partner. I can’t just, ‘Cash the check’ so to speak.” Billy Corgan has yet to remark on the departure, but hopefully its eating him up inside and he can write a soul wrenching new song about it.
What’s left of The Smashing Pumpkins will be holding auditions for a new drummer April 10th in Los Angeles, CA. Those interested are suggested to email their background information, pictures of themselves (rocking would probably be helpful) and performance links to pumpkinsdrummer@gmail.com. Act now before Billy Corgan goes the way of Axl Rotten and pisses on all the merit he and the band’s name accumulated over the years. Don’t act like it’s not possible. He wants a new drummer because a new album is being planned.
Title: Henry Hatsworth and the Puzzling Adventure System: Nintendo DS Rating: E Before I started playing: Hey this is a combination between two of my favorite gaming genres. No idea what the game actually was though, when I put it on the list of games to try. Quick Review: I enjoyed this game. Review: There are games out there that try to be different and start something new. Really there is nothing in this game that is new. If you want a game formula look here.
Mario + Bejeweled + Zach and Wiki = Henry Hatsworth
Luckily all three of these games are excellent. Let me tell you about the equation. Mario because of the platform genre (talking about the old Mario games). Bejeweled because you match blocks together... just like Bejeweled. Lastly Zach and Wiki, because you are collecting clothing items in each stage, where in Zach and Wiki you collected treasure pieces of a pirate (sure there are many games like this).
The main story is, that there is this suit, it gets lost and you must get it. This evil professor tries to ruin your plan. So you're collecting clothing pieces, which gives you powers. For example: You receive pants, which allow you to climb up walls.
Now to what makes this game unique. Basically every enemy you kill is sent down to a puzzle below on the bottom screen of the DS. You then have to press X on the DS to go to puzzle mode. This brings the puzzle to the top of the screen and you must make a 3 way match, just like Bejeweled. If the enemies get to the top of the screen they come back to the top screen with you and hurts you.
I really enjoyed this whole set up, it was great. Now if you don't like puzzle games, stay away! Also this game does get pretty hard, I mean with the puzzle part and the platform part. They find many ways to make the game harder.
I have nothing to really complain about, this was a very solid game. I don't think many people know about it, which is really a shame. I think if you have a DS that usually means you like Puzzle games. So you should try this game out.
Other Opinions: Got a 9 on IGN, 8.5 on Gamespot, and got 5 stars on Amazon from 4 reviews.
I was logging into my Myspace where I saw an article, saying that Paris Hilton got into some sort of fight. I read the little blog she wrote and was very surprised that Paris Hilton likes Daft Punk.
The story is that she didn't like the music playing at a club. Got upset and complained to the hotel manager. The hotel manager sent her up to the DJ to ask him to change the music. The DJ refused and I guess his body guard came over and gave Paris a "Big Push." Paris Hilton's boyfriend got involved sticking up for her and it turned into a fist fight.
I don't know if this is what really happened, because this is only Paris Hilton's blog. So I haven't heard the DJ's side of the story. I think the most adult thing that could and should of happened was.
Paris: This music sucks! It's giving me a headache. Lets just leave here.
Who knows, maybe everyone in that club really enjoyed the music.
What would of happened if video games were involved: You're at a party and there is Rock Band. The people at the party keep on making you play the songs you do not like.
You: Hey! This music is FTL! Lets play some good music! Kid at party: No man, this is the only music I play! Other Kid: YA MAN! WTF IS YOUR PROBLEM *Push* Your other friend: WTF Don't push my friend! You: WTF! You guys are such noobs! Play some Blue Öyster Cult! Other Kid: STFU! *Push* Your friend: *Takes drum stick and lashes at guy that pushed you* *Everyone is beating each other with these plastic instruments* You: You only can play on easy! I don't see why you get to pick!
Luckily this hasn't happened to any of the Rock Band parties I've been too. Except for one time, someone tried to choke someone with a drum stick. I don't think hes coming to the parties anymore.
I still don't see why the body guard just came up to Paris and pushed her. Maybe he wasn't a big fan of her career.
Maurice Sendak’s bestselling children’s picture book, Where The Wild Things Are has clearly aged line fine wine over the last forty years, as it is set to be made into a live action film. The Spike Jonze’s directed film is due to release October 16, 2009, just in time for Halloween.
All I have to say is, “yes please!”
The film’s premise is said to be very close to the book – a young boy named Max is sent to his room for mischief he’s caused, but fantasizes a colorful and vast world full of enormous fuzzy monsters. These monsters take kindly to Max and want to make him their king, but of course the real world continually interjects and rips Max away from this world “where wild things are”.
Not since The Never Ending Story has someone taken a live action cartoonish film with a good script and pumped truckloads of money into it. In the trailer alone, you as the viewer go through the entire spectrum of emotion and feel an immediate sense of closeness to the characters.
I hear the mail-truck today. I think I have some mail truck hearing-ability, because I always know when it's coming. Well that, or I hear it stopping, then going, stopping, and going. I quickly get up, cause I know I have a special thing coming and I see it at the top of the driveway! This was excellent, because the package I was getting couldn't fit in a mail box and when the mail "woman" is at the top of the driveway... well you can figure it out.
So I get this box that was the hardest package to open ever. If you look at the package you can see that it has this big envelope on it. That along with the rest of the box was covered in tape and I didn't want to jab it with something sharp. If I cut the Sega with a knife or something, I wouldn't be happy.
I finally open it and I have to dig away into the box to find anything. The seller on Ebay was very careful with this Sega and I am very happy! The box was filled with these bubble type packing things... no idea what they are called.
The Sega came with a cable connector, which connects to the cable input on the T.V. Not used to the old school technology, but I still hooked it up! I tested all the games I received and they all worked! So this Ebay transaction was a success! Now I just have to invest in more games.
Also hearing some of the sounds from the games, really hit my memory. "OMKTF! I remember this!"
Realtor, Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd, star of David Wain’s quirky Role Models) proposes to his girlfriend, Zooey (Rashida Jones, AKA Karen Filippelli from NBC’s The Office) but finds himself somewhat mocked by everyone for not having a set best man. Truth be known, Peter’s probably the most socially awkward guy to ever meet as another guy, having grown up specifically focused on befriending girls. A series of haphazard “man-dates” occur in this “bro-mance” comedy until Peter meets Sydney Fife (Jason Segel, star of Judd Apatow’s hilarious Forgetting Sarah Marshall) at an open house for Lou Ferrigno’s multi-million dollar estate.
The only, very minor complaint I have, which I didn’t even notice until it was pointed out to me, was that it had a lot of product placement. But Auguste Rodin’s “The Thinker” sculpture could have a chipped toenail and still be a masterpiece in most people’s eyes. Director and writer, John Hamburg definitely topped his last “success”, Along Came Polly with this 09 release.
My Highlight:
Rush. Duh. Freaking RUSH! The most epic classic rock band only had a few moments on screen playing themselves in a concert, but Peter Klaven and Sydney Fife worship the ground they walk on through much of their time together. And in closing with that, Peter slappin’ da bass.
Overall Rating:
4.5*’s out of 5, or 9/10. It’s hard to give any movie a full ten, but this one was really, really close to it. Never again will anyone who watches this movie have to feel bad about spending time with the fellas.
When You Should See It:
Yesterday. It’s fantastic. If you’re a single girl, frankly, wait till it comes out to DVD/Blu-Ray to rent, or flat-out buy for a guy you’re interested. But if you’re a girl wanting to play to your man’s interests without having to endure bloodshed on the big screen, this is the flick to pick.
Title: Jet Set Radio Future System: Original Xbox Rating: T How much: $5 Story of mine: This was actually a combo disk. It came with another game on the disk called Sega GT 2002. I did play this game and found it to be just like every other racing game out there. Just to put this out as a thought that $5 is getting you two games.
Review: I like playing the games that weren't big hits, so I can see if there is any buried treasure out there. Like you won't be seeing a review for Halo on this blog. This brings me to playing Jet Set Radio Future, which I remember was advertised a lot with the Xbox. I think I remember Xbox making this one of the games that would make people buy an Xbox. I'm not going to lie, this game looks awesome from the outside. Cool graphics, cool music, cool skaters, and cool graffiti, how could you go wrong?
First screen you see is a giant warning, saying graffiti is art, but don't do it. So I guess I should put the warning on this blog, so I don't get sued.
WARNING! DO NOT GRAFFITI UNLESS IT'S LEGAL!
Good enough? Lets move on to the story. You play a skater (Rollerblade guy or girl) and the cops are mad. The cops are taking over the place! Skating and graffiti is the only way to win this battle. You need to get more skaters on your side to win. Jet Set Radio is this underground radio station that is to help you on your journey.
I think this is the first skate type game that I have seen with a health bar. When I first started playing I was like, "What is this bar? Is there a health bar in this game?" I was to soon find out that yes it was in fact a health bar.
You start out in tutorial land. When you get out of it, you're in the city and it's time to paint. Graffiti is your friend and you must go around collecting and spraying it around the city. After you're done that you chase down this guy and you have to race him! Win the easy race and TA DA! He is now part of your group. After he becomes in your group, the cops come and ruin the party.
Fighting the police goes as this: 1. Push cop 2. When cop is on the ground, go over to the cop 3. Spray cop with spray paint 4. Cop disappears?
That whole set up repeats and you keep getting people into your group.
The graphics in this game are awesome.
They have the cartoon look to them and that is great for this game. This game is not like Tony Hawk game or any other type of skating game. You can't even fall when you're grinding... actually I don't think I fell once. The graphics fit perfectly.
The music in this game is pretty cool as well.
Time to complain though and I am going to make a reference to another game review I did. The Simpson's Skateboarding also did this and this was that the player says something after every Ollie. In Jet Set Radio it isn't as bad though because it's just the skater yelling something short. It still was annoying after you jump about 100 times. Also to complain about is the jumping, it seemed like I couldn't have much control on how high I could jump. This would make it hard to get to places I needed to be. I found myself jumping too far over the platform I wanted to be on.
Final Words: I have played better skating games and I have played worst skating games. This one is right in the middle of the two. For $5 though and it comes with another game, it's a pretty good deal. If skating interests you one bit, I recommend this game. If not, I don't think you will enjoy it as much.
Other Opinions: Jet Set Radio Future got really good reviews from other places: 8.7 at GameSpot and 9.1 at IGN.
Happy days for myself, because I have purchased a Sega Genesis. If you have never been a part of the Ebay culture, you don't know what you're missing. I really wanted this Sega, so I had to play dirty. Yes I had to be the douche that waited till the 15 second point to place a bid. Playing dirty doesn't always work out the way you want though. Someone else was playing dirty on the Sega Genesis. Luckily I outbid him by just $1! Good thing I'm smart and put a $41 bid of stead of a $40 bid.
It wasn't just a Sega Genesis that came with this $41 I spent. I also get two controllers and 9 games!
The Sega Genesis was the first video game system I actually owned. Sadly it broke over a decade ago. Now I just have to get some more games for it and I am all set.
What I want: -ToeJam & Earl -Ristar -Sonic & Knuckles -Sonic 3 -Kid Chameleon -Comix Zone -Dynamite Headdy -Gunstar Heroes
As of late, my schedule has been rather tight and I've been regurgitating news stories from third party sites without my own unique touch to them. The minor exception to this is the piece on The Cleveland Show, which I at least summarized the article because I thought quoting the mediocre writing that was written verbatim would be a negative. Also, some of the news stories I've needed time to really wrap my head around, as they were just so shocking. So in the future, I'm setting a goal for myself not to throw out news without my own opinion on them, but for today, I'm going to recap my thoughts on the last handful of blogs done both by myself and my friend Nick.
New England Pwning Religion - OMKTF, the abolishing of organized religion will never occur. It's far more likely that the churches in America will reform and bring people back in. I would have started with the much more upbeat appearing "Buddy Christ" But there seems to at least an attempt to hook 'em while they're young now. In fact, after seeing this trailer for Angel Wars, I'm a little tempted to find my lord and savior, Jesus Christ. (You’re going to want to crank the volume up)
Kanye and Cleveland - I love me some Kanye West. Best active rapper in my opinion, but this show is jumping the shark before it even introduces itself. Family Guy has become too big for its own good, much like The Simpsons, and its legs are now beginning to crack and crumble under its own weight. I'll give The Cleveland Show a chance, but I'm going into the maze progressively unwinding a ball of yarn so I don't find myself stuck and lost in front of a Minotaur.
MacGyver Phoenix Rise - No matter how amazing or poor this movie turns out to be, I'm going to see it for the sole reason that it's going to acquire a cult atmosphere two weeks into its showing. I'm crossing my fingers that they can get some decent star power for the film so even if everything becomes too entangled and chokes on its own complications, it'll receive decent attendance and reviews from the mainstream. The role of MacGyver doesn't appear to be a necessary age-restriction, I'm kind of hoping that Richard Dean Anderson makes only a cameo appearance and passes the torch onto someone else to see how they can "MacGyver" the part.
My picks for MacGyver: - Sean William Scott (who, based on his work in The Rundown, seems qualified for the role when he tones down his comedy, keeps the smuggness and does most of his own action work) - Neil Patrick Harris (He's got a cult following just like MacGyver thanks to his resurgence in the Harold and Kumar films) - Jared Padalecki (who was slated for a television series in 2003, Young MacGyver, probably because of the similar hair style)
It's A Clown - Remaking Stephen King's "It". It's about time. Great movie on paper, but does not stand up the tests of time, and apparently was too distant from the book in some instances, making certain things hard to follow. My biggest gripe with the original movie, baring one scene where he's a werewolf, Pennywise is always either light or a clown... but at the end he's a giant spider. Why couldn't they just kill him as a clown? I guess this made more sense in the book, so I hope they do something about this in the new film.
Day Tripper - is awesome no matter who plays it. Give a three fingered monkey a guitar and the basic enough knowledge to play Day Tripper and it will come out amazing.
Radiohead vs. Miley - Unless there are more details to this story than what's been going around, screw Radiohead. I'd understand if Miley Cyrus said to Radiohead "hey, let’s do some blow, make a sex tape, and then get some Thai food" and Radiohead collectively said "uh... we don't do that sort of thing", but from the sounds of it, she just wanted an introduction. Why be the loners in mainstream media and Hollywood? It's called Networking. Making small talk to your biggest fan isn't the same as collaborating an album with someone. I'm left wondering by these actions where Radiohead gets their level of self-entitlement. I liked Creep, but I guess it takes one to know one.
I was reading from this article that mentions New England has become the least religious region in America. Being from New England this sparked my interest, so I checked it out. 22% of the people from New England have no religion. The main point of the article was saying that New England passed the West Coast in having no religion. The West Coast is at 20%, but I believe the West Coast has a bigger population than New England so that should be taken into account as well.
This means that America is losing their religion all together in the very long run. I doubt everyone will give up on religion, but what would America be like without religion?
Churches: Would they keep all the churches? I'm sure they would because of the history behind it and maybe they will become a museum someday. This will make a lot of museums in the end run, would the country try and keep them all running? Would priests and pastors become the tour guides?
Holidays: Less holidays means less gatherings with family. In effort to connect with family members, America will invent new holidays.
-April 10, Fort Building day: Is the snow melting? Is it getting warmer? Get out there and build a nice tree house with Grandpa! -June 2, Anger Day: Hey everyone is getting happy about Summer coming. We might get so happy well never get a grip over ourselves again! So take out Monopoly and play it with your family. The objective isn't to get Boardwalk, it's to see who gets upset first, throws the game upside down, build a nice little fire and burns the game to ash! (For ages 3 and up) -September 5, Merry School Day: School is just starting for a lot of kids, so why not make the experience suck even worst, by having everyone in the family go to school! "Sit up straight! I can't believe you wore that shirt! Pay Attention!" "Yes mom...*sigh*"
People: No more people coming up to the door to talk about religion. Now that no one will probably ever ring your doorbell again, you can finally get things done. Well except for girl scouts, but usually delicious cookies are involved.
Also no more religious jokes, oh well... we will have to stick to the other types of jokes that are geared towards someone (gender, race, hair color, left handed, redneck, type of cell phone someone uses).
The Word "God": Oh my Kermit the Frog! Will replace Oh my god (OMG = OMKTF). The game genre "God games" will become "Slave games."
War: This one is tricky. Sure there are wars out there that are because of religious views. Would no religion take the word war out of the dictionary? I doubt it; people seem to get mad at each other at all sorts of different reasons. "OMKTF! YOU JUST KNOCKED OVER MY NACHOS! PREPARE TO DIE A CHEESY DEATH!"
That was just a little preview of what the future might hold for us.
According to people magazine, the upcoming Family Guy spin-off will feature rap megastar, Kanye West guest-starring in one of the episodes. In a bit of a parody of himself, West will be playing the character of a bottom-of-the-barrel, struggling-to-make-it rapper named Kenny West.
Kanye West is known to be a huge Family Guy fan, and is said to have been very enthusiastic in his debut voicing animation. West is such a big fan of the show that he has personally had Family Guy creator, Seth MacFarlane over to his home. The Grammy winner apparently also had a bit of creative input on his character, so we'll see just how comedic West can be when given the opportunity.
The producers were so proud of Kanye West that they were quoted as saying, "we could write him in to the next 21 episodes!"
The episode featuring Kanye West is expected to air a few weeks into the first season, which will be starting up sometime in the fall of 2009.
New Line is using twine, bubble gum and a pencil to throw "MacGyver" into development as a feature film.
Raffaella De Laurentiis, daughter of Dino De Laurentiis, is producing through her Raffaella Prods. along with Martha De Laurentiis and series creator Lee Zlotoff.
Dino De Laurentiis is exec producing.
"MacGyver" was a science-oriented adventure series that ran from 1985-92 on ABC. Richard Dean Anderson, later of "Stargate: Atlantis" and "SG-1" fame, starred as an incredibly resourceful secret agent for the Phoenix Foundation who frequently would escape from dangerous situations with ingenious and lightning-quick engineering trickery.
Two telefilms starring Anderson aired in the years after the show's cancellation. The character eventually achieved enough cultural penetration to become a reference for anyone attempting to jury-rig a solution out of household items. "Saturday Night Live" took the concept to the next level with its spoofs "MacGruber," starring Will Forte.
No writer is attached, but the studio hopes to find a script that can acknowledge how the concept has staked a place into pop culture yet still makes for a serious and fun adventure movie.
"We think we're a stick of chewing gum, a paper clip and an A-list writer away from a global franchise," said New Line's Richard Brener, who will oversee with Sam Brown and Walter Hamada.
Warner Bros. is bringing Stephen King's landmark horror novel "It" to the big screen in an adaptation being produced by Lin Pictures and Vertigo Entertainment.
Dave Kajganich has been hired pen the script, which follows a group of kids called the Losers Club that encounter a creature called It, which preys on children and whose favorite form is that of a sadistic clown called Pennywise. When the creature resurfaces, the kids are called upon to regroup again, this time as adults, even though they have no memory of the first battle.
The novel is set in 1958 and 1985, though the feature version will be set in the present day.
"It" was the best-selling book of 1986 and in 1990 was turned into an ABC miniseries that starred John Ritter, Harry Anderson, Tim Reid, Annette O'Toole and Richard Thomas. Tim Curry played Pennywise.
The screen rights have bounced around town since then, and at one time landing at the WB and again at Sci Fi.
Kajganich, repped by UTA and Madhouse Entertainment, has stealthily made a name for himself with his dark materials, writing "The Invasion" for Warners and snagging gigs such as the "Pet Semetary" remake among others. He was recently tapped to write New Line's "Escape From New York" remake and is adapting "True Story" for Plan B and Paramount Vantage. The latter is a mystery drama.
Greg Silverman and Niija Kuykendall are overseeing for Warners.
