The Significance of Archie & The Gang

Since Filipinos in general are quite fond of American culture, it’s no surprise we’ve taken to one of their iconic pop culture icons, Archie Andrews and his merry gang from Riverdale. I, as a young teen, used to collect the single and double digest versions of the comics and read them fervently like, I imagined, every other kid in the world was doing at the time. So imagine my surprise when I learned during my 8 year stay in Sydney, Australia that almost no one there has ever read Archie comics, with some people having never even heard of it in the first place. This got me to thinking, “Why then is the popular title and its characters so endearing to Filipinos?”

Top 5 (Baddest) Decepticon Names

Let’s face it, the Decepticons had way cooler names than the do goody Autobots. I mean, the name Decepticons is great in itself. So to coincide with the release of Revenge Of The Fallen (which I will see and probably not enjoy just like the first movie), here is my Top 5 list of Transformers baddies’ names. I never watched any Transformers cartoons past the 1986 movie so I only included characters that I actually know. [Note: All art taken from deviantart, click on preview for the full version: all credit goes to original artist.]

5. Bonecrusher

- wikipedia entry – Mean name, and a Constructicon to boot. He also gave Optimus a run for his money in the 2007 film albeit in the end, his head got skewered by Prime’s sword(!)

4. Scrourge

- wikipedia entry – Evil sounding name, nuff said.

3. Cyclonus

- wikipedia entry – I love hearing Orson “Unicron” Welles say his name when he was being ‘transformed’ from either Skywarp or Bombshell.

2. Starscream

- wikipedia entry – Love him or hate him, Starscream was a great name and an even more interesting character.

1. Devastator

- wikipedia entry – Most awesome name ever. Practically the only Decepticon the Autobots ran away from. I sure hope he’s meaner than he looks in the new movie. Click here to see what he OUGHT TO really look like in the movies.

Bioshock: Life Imitates Art

Actual scene from Bioshock developers 2K Boston’s offices after heavy rain forces their office ceilings to cave in.

Watchmen Movie: Too Literal a Translation

OK I just saw Watchmen last night. Hmmmm. Well, there are some things that just don’t translate well to the big screen and Watchmen, I have to say, is one of them. It’s a shame as it was a really good read originally. I do have an opinion though as to why the movie didn’t do it for me. Watchmen, the graphic novel, is quite heavy in exposition and back stories, see? The movie pretty much translated the book in sequential order. The film makers did not condense that many parts (the movie runs for almost 3 hours!) and it really bogged down the pace of the film. I watched it with my female cousin who does not read comic books but loved the X-Men and Batman movies and she thought Watchmen was a very boring movie.

I think what makes the comic book ‘better’ is that with comics or any printed literature for that matter, if you sort of miss a bit of the plot, all you have to do is turn back a few pages and re-read. While watching the movie, I was always thinking, “Man, if I hadn’t read the book I’d be totally lost right now.”

So yes, the Watchmen movie is not great and is just ok. In fact I would say it’s a disappointment.  It’s stylish, violent, with some very good performances but do yourself a favour and read the book instead .

Sleepy Manila Taxi Drivers

A few nights ago, I unbelievably experienced for the third time a ride in a taxi where the driver would fall asleep behind the wheel an uncountable number of times. To give a rough idea of what I mean let me recall the first time such an incident happened to me. It was in a cab ride home that took us through the busy, speedy roads of C-5. The taxi would jerk back n’ forth as the driver fell asleep and his foot would slip off the accelerator pedal. Sometimes we’d come to an almost complete stop much to the disapproval of the queue of cars behind us. Then once in a while when we had picked up speed again, Mr. Narcoleptic would nod off and then the taxi would proceed to swerve into another lane again much to the chagrin of the other motorists. I of course did my best to keep the driver awake and entertained by chatting to him but this hardly helped.

Some of you might be thinking, “Why the heck didn’t you just ask him to stop and then look for another cab?” To my defense, we were on C-5 and the chances of getting another cab there were quite slim. On the other hand I probably should’ve been asking myself “Would I rather wait an eternity for another taxi on the side of the road? Or would I rather stay in this coffin on wheels and die a horrible death?”

The next time I had such an experience wasn’t as bad, as this taxi driver only started nodding off a couple of times which some would say is a couple of times too many. The third on the other hand is where I drew the line. But for the first few minutes of my giving him directions to take me home, Mr. Rip Van Winkle, was pretty much falling asleep the whole trip! It got to the point where I really actually did ask him to pull over and let me out as I felt a real fear of getting into an accident albeit a very low-speed one. To top off the merry trip home he had the audacity to remark  ”Hey at the speed I drive, at least you know you’re safe!”

I do feel kind of sorry for these drivers as some do have 24-hr shifts which they take on out of necessity. But I reckon as a general rule, taxi driver or not, if you’re feeling drowsy behind the wheel you should pull over & take a 5 minute break to recharge yourself. If you don’t want to do this then at the very least, don’t take on passengers and just keep the number of lives endangered to a minimum, preferably just yourself.

The 2008 Razzies: The Cream Of The Crap

Ok so I stole that byline from Gamespot but it’s too damn funny. So as most might not know, as I am also one to recently discover, The Golden Raspberry Awards, better known as The Razzies, is the counterpart to the prestigious Oscars. These awards honor the worst the movie business had to offer for the year. When I hear the words “worst” and “movie” in one sentence I always think Uwe Boll. For those not in the know the German director, Boll, is responsible for making some of the worst video-game movies ever. Now that’s saying something considering Mortal Kombat is regarded as one of the best in this genre! Some have said that Mr. Boll is our generation’s Ed Wood but that would be giving the Ed Wood, ‘Worst Film Director Ever’, major discourtesy. Anyway I’m happy to report that Uwe Boll is being given the Worst Career Achievement Award at this year’s Razzies, to be held on Feb 21. And now the nominees…

Should Sony Embrace PS3 Piracy?

Right after publishing my previous blog entry on fake Blu-Ray movies, I remembered what I thought to be a very valid point that a colleague of mine raised regarding piracy on the Playstation 3. He stated that Sony would actually benefit if counterfeit copies of PS3 games finally arrive. See, the biggest deterence for consumers in buying a PS3, especially here in Southeast Asia, is the absence of pirated games and only because original titles are quite expensive due to the currency exchange rate. (To earn the US$40-$60 price point of a regular PS3 game, it would take the average dollar earner around 4 hrs while someone like me would have to work 2-3 days for the same amount.) This is the reason why the Microsoft XBOX 360 console, which has had pirated games readily available for it for a while now, is outselling the PS3 in great numbers. So according to my Sony fanboy friend, once bootleg PS3 games are obtainable, folks will flock to the easily superior Sony product and PS3 consoles will be flying off the shelf.

I thought, “Wow. Brilliant. That’s a splendid and devious albeit simple business model (like Starla from Arrested Development…)”. But then I read this article on gamespot.com reporting on how Sony actually loses money on each PS3 console they produce. Bummer.

Fake Blu-Ray Movies: HD or Not?

I find it simultaneously annoying and amusing that many people think Blu-Ray movies have made it into the pirated market. It’s not bad enough that the illegitimate copies now bear the Blu-Ray branding and packaging, but the vendors even insist to unassuming consumers that what they are purchasing are real Blu-Ray copies and they will be watching Blu-Ray movies on their DVD players at home.

Zapped!!! @ Attica Bar review

Disclaimer: Forget the fact that we were out to just have drinks at a nice bar with decent music. Forget the fact that the “we” in question were a bunch of 30-somethings and would feel old no matter where we’d end up. Most of all, forget the fact that this author is a music nazi and would be chin-stroking to any tune that was being played by any given DJ that night.

Now that that’s out of the way, let me tell you about this event called Zapped!!! that was held Monday the 29th at Attica Lounge at A-Venue , Makati Avenue.

Maxim’s Hardest Of The Hardcore

I was perusing my old collection of Maxim mags when I came across one of many hilarious/wacky features found in their pages. May 2000’s issue had an article called Hardest Of The Hardcore which was a rundown of “the virtues of the most badass people, places, and things this side of hell”. I thought I’d share this treasure with you, but keep in mind that this was published more than 8 years ago.

DJ Rafik on Traktor Scratch

View video on Traktor site

I’m no turntablist and most of the time I don’t enjoy scratch DJs but this young fella just blew me away. Most turntablists I encounter do juggle and they do beatmash but DJ Rafik somehow manages to make the mix sound coherent and not too erm, scratchy.

I <3 TECHNO: Format B – Steam Circuit

THIS IS NOT A REVIEW

Everyone can understand when I say we rarely come across a CD or record that we enjoy from start to finish. I can name a few that stood out for me; System Of A Down’s Toxicity, Faith No More’s Angel Dust, Soundgarden’s Badmotorfinger & Superunknown. Well another release shall be added to my sadly short list and that is Format:B’s Steam Circuit. Admittedly, I only discovered the German techno duo a few days before the release of this unmixed CD. I think they can consider me a fan now. I frankly think every track on the CD can be a serious floor filler in any techno night. A couple of them lean towards the deep end of the techno spectrum and the rest are the bouncy, quirky, bleepy kind which I’m really digging (again). I’m loving this CD so much that I featured no less than 3 of its tracks on my latest mix.

As an added bonus all 12 tracks are featured in a mix done by the boys themselves. Bargain!

1. Intro
2. Like A Techmachine
3. Si Pero No
4. 2Quite
5. Pulsator
6. Widow Maker
7. Boing 030
8. 69 Bronson Road
9. Edding 850
10. 55 Cadillac King
11. Boot Cut
12. Something Suitable
13. Steam Circuit mixed by Format:B

Format:B on MySpace

Format B Official Site

Steam Circuit on Beatport

I Happen To Like Windows Vista!

I hear and read about all the Vista hatemonging & I sit and frankly wonder why? I happen to like Windows Vista. In the almost 2 years I’ve had it running (Business Edition pre-installed) on my Asus laptop, I have seen the dreaded Blue Screen Of Death, oh about, 4 times? Plus, most of my hardware, if not all, works with the OS without a hitch. Am I just blessed with the world’s least buggy copy of Vista?

Chris Benoit as The Wolverine

Before Hugh Jackman made us all believe that a 6-foot tall Australian can indeed play The Wolverine in the X-Men movies, I was adamant (pun?) that professional wrestler Chris Benoit should have been cast in the role. The physical resemblance was uncanny (pun again?). Both were short, ripped, and frankly kind of ugly. Both hailed from Canada and had the distinct ability to go into ‘berserker’ mode. And of course, Benoit coincidentally had the professional nickname The Canadian Wolverine. Obviously physical resemblance would’ve gone only so far and it really was Hugh Jackman’s performance that won us over. In any case, I don’t know why I never thought of doing this before, but here is a quick photo-manip of Chris Benoit in the updated traditional Wolverine getup.

Oh and here’s a really old piece I did way back in 2004 when I first heard that Christian Bale was going to play Batman in the new movies. Cowl design obviously from the Batman 1989 film.

Coincidentally, I used to do a lot of digital art and most of my work can still be found on my Deviantart page. There’s a number of Batman-inspired stuff there.

The Dark Knight ArtFX Statue – Me Want!

Kotobukiya recently announced this limited edition 11″ ArtFX statue based on The Dark Knight. It looks sweeeet. I’m glad there haven’t been any TDK action figures released (as far as I know) from the likes of Kenner and Hasbro that totally ruin the Batman image.
  

The SRP varies and I’ve seen some sites pre-ordering this item for as low as US$109.99

On a side note here’s another Batman statue I would love to have…

Piracy: Society & Geography’s Role

I came across an interesting blog about the prevalent issue of (gaming) piracy. The author makes some interesting and, more importantly, valid points about society and its role in piracy. Roy Taylor points out two examples on maybe how to handle the escalating situation. He mentions that in the U.K., the number of DUI cases have drastically plummeted because the media and police have handled the whole scenario in such a way that drinking while driving has become socially unacceptable. So now the Brits don’t do it simply because it feels wrong to do so. The other example he gives us is the case of Texas’ campaign of “Don’t Mess With Texas” which was implemented to combat their littering problem of years past. Again the media’s role influenced the locals to cease littering since it is now deemed uncool. Mr. Taylor then mentions that the present aggressive policing being done to fight piracy has, on the other hand, not worked for the music and movie industry. So in short, the answer to the piracy problem would seem to be that the media and powers-that-be (and indeed we, gamers as well) need to come up with a new way of making piracy just not the right thing to do.

Chicks Kissing & Why It’s Inherently Hot

I think I can safely claim that the majority, both male and female, think 2 women kissing is hot. Or at least not as gross as 2 men kissing. A whole lot of my female friends have admitted to kissing other girls and those who haven’t experimented either say they want to try it someday or that it isn’t for them but at the same time they’re not against it either. These very same ladies, on the other hand, think that 2 guys making out is disgusting. So here I shall discuss the stigma attached to that issue by simply asking two questions.