email me: chris@chris-karath.com
March 2007
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Saturday March 31, 2007 7:11:16 PM #
Let's Go Surfing
» Wachowski Bros. Speed Racer live action movie. Introducing the lead:
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» Simple Spreadsheet freeware program.
» Cellphone/pda sized projector. proof of concept only, but neat.
» It's a Draw Powergirl Meme
» Take a look at this touchscreen cellphone interface.
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» Really nice Color Picker. Pick one color and get an entire palette of colors that work with it.
Thursday March 29, 2007 6:10:34 PM #
Mephisto
» Marvel Select's Mephisto shipped to comic stores yesterday, and I have pics below. This figure works well with Legends, although he's a little tall, it's excusable what with him being all demon-like and stuff. Blackheart was a large Legends figure, and he fits in very well with this release. I threw in FF Box Set Doctor Doom and ML ghost Rider for size comparisons as well.
» Below are the real finds of the week. DC Superheroes' Steel and Parasite. These DC Mass Market figures just keep getting better and better. Got both for $4.80 at a local store (details in my toy forum).
These Steel's scales work pretty well together.
Scale is pretty good with DCD Superman too.
Great Sculpt!
Thursday March 29, 2007 5:37:40 PM #
The Heap
» Inspired by Mike Sterling's recent Progressive Ruin post on The Heap, I started reading up on the character a bit on the internet. It turns out that McFarlane updated the character some time ago and also made a "The Heap" action figure, which I was fortunate to win on eBay for $1.50 (+$10 Shipping). In anycase, pics below, with Man Thing for comparison (DC really needs to re-release the Swamp Thing, cause I don't have that one, otherwise that would be in the pics too :(
Monday March 26, 2007 3:49:12 AM #
Let's Go Surfing
» Cool Sony Commercial. via TechEBlog
» KITT is a Cylon T-Shirt. Maybe, but he's a good cylon.
» Steve Carell is doing a Get Smart movie Should be interesting to see how they make the shoe phone funny again.
Sunday March 25, 2007 8:35:13 PM #
Go look at my friends' blogs
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» I hit a few stores today, still no sign of new DCSH (well other than orange Doomsday at TRU a couple weeks ago). Did see this Astonishing X-Men Cyclops large Legends figure at Target though:
A little more commentary on todays' toy hunt in my forum
Sunday March 25, 2007 10:47:20 AM #
Let's Go Surfing
» Yesterday I read that the 4th season of Galactica would be 22 episodes long. Now it seems the fourth season may also be the last. (Although the network isn't completely onboard with that creative direction.)
» Jenna Fischer "nude" WIRED cover SFW.
» Steampunk Star Wars Illustrations. These are pretty neat.
Sunday March 25, 2007 1:29:44 AM #
Random Non-Sequiters
» Saturday, I had the highest single day number of unique blog viewers ever, at 371 visitors, beating the previous highest day of 359 on January 30, 2005. Go Internets!
» I updated my geek calendar with a slew of movies through the end of the year.
Let's Go Surfing
» Finally someone has the guts to stand up to Steven Colbert. Stop the Falsiness. ;)
» Cool, more Battlestar Galactica
SCI FI Channel has increased its episode order for the fourth season of Battlestar Galactica to 22 from the original 13, including a special two-hour extended episode that will air during the fourth quarter of this year and be released on DVD by Universal Studios Home Entertainment thereafter.
» Slate article on the end of ZeFrank's the show.
» AFHub has these nice pictures and some information on JLU action figure stands.
» Pirates of the Carribean, Admiral Norrington Figure... Dunno, looks like General Washington to me.
» 24 Minimates. CTU playset not included.
» The Super Mario Bros. Theme has Lyrics
» It's Raining 300 Spartans? Funny.
» New Movie Trailer: Stardust, Michelle Pheiffer as an evil sorceress, Robert Dinero as a Pirate. Based on a Neil Gaiman Graphic Novel. One Ticket Please. Thank You.
Saturday March 24, 2007 7:05:39 PM #
Toys R Us Exclusives
» Saw the below Toys R Us Exclusives this past Wednesday. Nothing I wanted, but still cool to see new stuff.
These diecasts have been around in various forms, and I've had the GL one for awhile, but this is the first time I've seen the main cast all together in one box set.
I think the diamond Emma actually looks better than the regular one, since it doesn't have the bad face paint job. Interesting to note that this figure is a $1 more than the regular Legends. (Blurry phone cam pic, sorry)
Interesting collection of Batmen from various different toy lines.
Saturday March 24, 2007 6:50:46 PM #
At the Movies
» Saw TMNT (The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle CGI feature) last night.
Started the evening off with a group pre-turtles get together at a co-worker's place. Watched the 1st two episodes of the original 80s TMNT cartoon, followed by a good chunk of the 1st 90s live action movie. The new TMNT movie picks up from those earlier works in a similiar way that Superman Returns carries on from the 70s Superman film. You don't have to know anything about the Turtles to enjoy the new film but it's much much more enjoyable if you have a familiarity with the characters and their history.
TMNT is not an origin movie. At first I was sort of hoping it would be in the vein of Batman Begins, now I'm glad they did not go that route. There is a brief recap of the orgin, but for the most part this movie starts off and keeps running non-stop.
I also thought from the previews that this would be a kids movie, it turned out to be more than that. Certainly any guy is going to find alot to enjoy in the CGI action of this film that is more 300 CGI than Incredibles CGI. They're a few touches thrown in for the gals too, as Sarah Michelle Geller does a great job in April O'Neil's voice acting, and there is a nice "D" story between her and Casey Jones.
As I mentioned above the action is non-stop in this film, the fight choreography is fantastic, and through many parts of the movie, you may forget for a moment that you are watching a cartoon.
Beyond fighting the bad guys however, there is a very touching story between the brothers Leonardo and Raphael, a great buddy dynamic between Rapheal and Casey, and comedic relief in the ever hilarious Michaelangelo. It's a good film, I reccomend you Go See. (I'm going to try to catch it a second time in the theatre myself.)
PS: favorite line "It's time for my stories". "I've still got it" was pretty good too.
PPS: Friend Jeff also has a review up.
Saturday March 24, 2007 4:54:06 PM #
» Some new action figure pictures. Pics below contain this week's releases of: Elesworlds' Red Son: Hal Jordan, Elseworld's Kingdom Come daughter or Dick Grayson and Starfire: Nightstar, Elseworld's Supergirl, and (from two weeks ago) Steel's daughter niece: Steel.
I'd really like to put a non-Elseworld's, regular Hal Jordan,
hatless head on this figure.
Which scale is RS Jordan supposed to belong too?
Not familiar with the story, just got this one for the character design.
Her scale puts her more in league with Alex Ross figures.
This figure could also make a good eleseworld's Powergirl,
for (2) obvious reasons.
Assortment of Supergirls
Pretty good scale
Can you believe I don't have a Kingdom Come Red Robin?
A McGinness sculpt that looks good with the "standard figures".
Saturday March 24, 2007 3:04:33 PM #
Shameless promotion of a couple of my friends
» Time for another round-up of blog posts and art by my good friends', that amazingly artistic husband and wife dynamic comic art making duo: Adam Withers and Comfort Love.
They've been busy blog posters over the last month or so, so without further ado, let's get to the art thumbnails (categorized for your easy clicking pleasure.). Click on any picture to go to their blog post that contains the larger image.
Anime/Indy
Marvel
DC
Other Commissions
Star Wars
Creator Owned
Not them or their art, but some of these Con photos
(Mega Con Florida 2007),
A & C took were great too.
Beside's their Blog you can find....
...More of Adam's art on: Comic Art Fans Page or his Deviant Art Page
...More of Comfort's art on: Comic Art Fans Page or her Deviant Art Page
(Did I mention they do commisions too?)
Sunday March 18, 2007 2:48:17 PM #
Let's Go Surfing
» Watch this "futuristic" microsoft video to see Microsoft's vision of office computer use in the near future. Interesting.
Video: Microsoft's Vision of 2010.
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» Tracy Morgan on ElPaso Local News Station. "Somebody's gonna get pregnant." via digg
» Combining the "Fair and Balanced" reporting of Fox News with the legendary sophisication of Myspace, how can Myspace News not be a success.
» Marvel Bears. 13 more images at the link.
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» Star Trek vs. Classic Battlestar Galactica. 9min.
» Bruce Sterling gives blogs 10 years. Personally, I think there is a segment of the poulation that has a blog for a fad of having a blog. But within every group, I think there will be an individual or two that will collect and maintain information of interest to the group in some sort of online fashion. Text is the fastest way to do this. Timelines are the most natural way to structure information. Therefore, blogs are going to be around for quite awhile. The masses will probably migrate to some sort of open "multimedia/message board/toy chest all-in-one sort of thing" (Think along the lines of an interconnected Myspace/Gmail/Calendar with a "multimedia Youtube/Flickr shared space"). But I think, blogs are going to stick around too.
Sunday March 18, 2007 11:55:01 AM #
» Hey lookit that, my best friend from work has a little girl now!
7 lbs 15 oz. and 21 inches. Born Wednesday, 3/14/07 at 6:31pm. |
Barbara, Christina and Greg are all doing great.
(Work people: I'll post more photos in her cubicle Monday.)
Saturday March 17, 2007 2:58:26 PM #
Let's Go Surfing
» Time Magazine article from 1966 looking at the world of 2000 (6 pages). It didn't quite turn out the way they thought.
via Paleo-Future
» Automated Waffle Machine via Gizmodo
» C|net looks at the future of digital comics. Con interviews with Phil Jimenez and Dan Didio, as well as convention fans. 3 min.
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» Interesting article on the bus service Google runs for it's employees.
» I understand the econonmic reasoning behind the desire for a Hard R rating, but I honestly think in this internet day and age, there really is no need for ratings at all. There are plenty of commercials out there to let you know what a movie is like before opening day. After opening day there are hundreds of sites that will let you know if a movie contains any content a person might want to avoid. I think they should should have two ratings a G (General Audiences) and a R16 (Restricted 16 and older) and be done with it.
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Thursday March 15, 2007 9:09:59 PM #
» Nothing I wanted to get, but at least there are finally some new things showing up in stores.
Worlds' Finest Two Pack 12 inch Justice League figures.
(TRU 28th, a week or two ago.)
Some Superhero Squad Package Sets. X-Men and Avengers.
(TRU Alpine, today 6pm)
The all-silver 25th Aniversary Wolverine.
I suppose this might be what Wolvie would look like
if he became Galactus' Herald.
(TRU Alpine, today 6pm)
5" Spidey Figures. These are interesting figures, but the 5" scale makes them a definite "pass" for me. Legends and DC Direct are 6" scale, these 5" scale figures look way to small next to the rest of the collection.
(TRU Alpine, today 6pm)
I also posted this in my Forum
Saturday March 10, 2007 3:45:18 PM #
Random Non-Sequiters
» Regarding Captain America's "Death" and the media. Fictional characters can't die. Non-story. Now, "Marvel loses publishing rights to Captain America, new owners vow to cease publication of the character.", that would be a story. But imaginary people can't die.
Let's Go Surfing
» Online Free Flash Game Trivia Pursuit Bring On the 90s
» P2WY Flickr Photos: Chicago Railway Station
» Paint on your Walls with Digital Light. Forget this being a toy, I want one of these too! via Gizmodo
» Ten Sites for Legal Torrents
» Software for Retouching Faces, there is a free trial that I haven't tried, but it looks interesting.
» Pretty Cool, Anime Style Scooby Gang Drawing.
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» Couchville, simple TV Guide. Clean easy to use AJAX Web based application.
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» Starz Movie's Reenacted by bunnies in 30 seconds. James Bond, Borat and more.
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» You're the blue ball, avoid the red balls. Flash Game
» Microsoft Soda. Just don't drink the "Blue Flavor of Death".
» Sci-Fi Channel has made a slew of Battlestar Galactica Music, Sound Effects, location shots etc. Available is some massive Zip Files and is encouraging fan films. Cool. Lots of these sound effects would be great to replace your OS sounds etc. too.
» Black bulletproof raincoat, looks like something HRG would wear.
» Burger King: The Movie. No word on if you can get fries with that.
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Saturday March 10, 2007 10:39:27 AM #
» I saw 300 last night. I enjoyed it. It was as violent as you would expect, but given it's historical and "fantasy" type setting, the violence wasn't as "much" as I would have thought. One problem was that most of the best "one-liners" were in the 300 various trailers I've seen for the movie, so those lost some of their punch due to over promotion.
I also saw this movie on a Digital Projected Screen. Overall a visually stunning film, worth seeing on the theatre if you are a fan of this type of Movie. Go See.
» On the topic of seeing too many previews. The theatre I was in had, not one, but two previews for Spider-man 3. I've seen way way to much of that film already, and I haven't even been trying to see any of it. Movie commercials really are out of control.
Thursday March 8, 2007 11:32:04 PM #
» Kenneth from 30 Rock was on the show with zefrank!
» 10 minutes of zefrank's greatest musical hits. What makes that more awesome? Johnathon Coulton (of Code Monkey fame). Good Stuff.
» the show ends March 17th.
Thursday March 8, 2007 10:38:06 PM #
» Pushed the "MyDVR" button on my Comcast DVR and noticed the menus were different again. Clicking around abit I noticed, the "On Demand" feature finally works now. I spent abit of time scrolling around the On Demand Free Choices. Their are quite of few on there (I counted over 100 movies), not that I needed access to more video, because frankly I'm drowning in video choices, but all in all it's a neat feature, so no complaints really.
» Light Blogging week again, but the weekend is fast approaching and my queue of bits and pieces to post is looming large. So there will be stuff to come.
Tuesday March 6, 2007 7:48:12 AM #
» Heroes last night, Awesome! Linderman's casting, Awesome! The new "villian", Awesome! Reruns until April 23rd, NOT awesome.
» Saw the preview of Spider-man 3 during Heroes last night. Did NOT go to NBC.com to see the additional 7 minutes. There's so much footage out there of these high profile movies now a days. Am I the only one who wants to WATCH a movie and NOT know what is going to happen. It's getting to be a chore to not be completely spoiled on every plot point and special effect scene before the first day of release. It's really ridiculous at this point, no?
Sunday March 5, 2007 12:30:01 PM #
» Had Super Drama TV Night a day early, on Sunday, this week.
Started with a little 30 Rock. Wayne Brady and LL Cool J were guest stars. 30 Rock is far and away the smartest comedy on TV right now and last week's episode was no exception. (Of course I also really enjoy The Office... but for the big Laughs you can't top Alex Baldwin, Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan and the guy who plays the NBC Page. Fantastic Show!)
After 30 Rock, we tried to watch a little of Winner, Rob Corddry's new 40 Year Old Virgin rip off. After 5 minutes I pretty much had enough. Terrible laugh track, terribly overly scripted jokes. Just plain terrible. I loved Rob Corddry on the Daily Show, probably the only plus is that this show should be cancelled soon and maybe he'll be back on with Stewart. (Did I mention the horrible laugh track too? *shutter*, awful.)
Rome, one of my favorite shows at the moment. Last night's best line: "Now that's an exit.", spectacular scene. Overall this was a "breather" show that slowed down the pace abit, and let the audience catch it's breath. Alot of things did happen however, much got wrapped-up and set-up for future eps. Next week promises to be a "sit on the edge of your seat" spectacle, it's going to be one to watch I think.
Ended the night with Battlestar Galactica. Yesterday's episode was a real headscratcher as there was a major happening to a major character that sortof came out of left field and leaves you wondering: 'What are they going to do now?', but not in a nail biting anticipation way. A friend of mine was over and thought the character in question might be "pulling a Billy" which is going to be my new phrase to describe major characters leaving a show for another show. I'm not sure if the character in question "pulled a Billy" or not. I'll find out next week or online later I suppose.
Tonight, Heroes (Which last week officially passed Battlestar as my favorite show, sorry A&C, BG is still a strong #2). A co-worker through internet means caught part of tonights show from last night's Canadian Airing and says tonight is supposed to be a good one! (You don't have to catch an early airing to figure that out though... Hoorray for Heroes! Must See TV.)
Sunday March 4, 2007 8:15:01 PM #
Sunday March 4, 2007 1:30:50 PM #
Let's Go Surfing
Try the binocular icon at right and type in Lois It will search the Browseable text for all instances of the word and show you the quotes. Neat. | |
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edit: Their provided embed script didn't work very well at the time I tried it, and it was different than the script that they used themselves (which I placed above) to show the content. Still neat, but maybe not ready for primetime yet. | |
» The Slashdot crowd talks over the concept of recording ones entire life. As is echoed on the site the problem is in editing, not in actually doing it anymore. The other point of interest is that many things that are interesting to participate in are less so to actually watch. Still, it's an interesting area of research.
» Meetings Make You Dumber, when groupthink comes into play, anyway. Also here's Slashdot's commentary on the topic too.
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» Jenna Ficher, Pam, from The Office dressed as a stripper in a scene with Wil Farrel, in the upcoming Movie, Blades of Glory. There's also a nice recent SFW nude photo of her in a kitchen too that you can find easily with a Google Image search.
» Metafilter tackles Chocolate Chip Cookie, recipes and links
» Pictures from P2WY: Chicago Train
» DimFuture reviews Dungeons and Dragons, 80s Cartoon DVD with Screen Captures. I don't think it was a very good cartoon in hindsight, but as a kid I loved it, and the premise of the orgin episode is still very strong. Good Stuff.
» This Meet the Robinson's Trailer looks cute:
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» While the political statement is a bit much, this Chariot I saw on Gizmodo is pretty neat.
» Heroes Character Relationship Map
» Just downloaded this handy little Task Tray alarm program Swiss Tool. Looks very useful. Screenshot
Friday March 2, 2007 9:55:23 PM #
» I was in Kaybee last week and found these Shape Shifter Marvel "Transformers" for about $5. It's a toy drought right now so I picked these up. The Hulk one is actually a very amusing little toy. Apocalypse is close to being interesting but he suffers from a lack of articulation in the arms and legs.
Let's hope that some "real" ;) toys come out soon. Anyway, enjoy the craziness below:
Two different Spidermen that turn into spiders, Wolverine turns into a Mutant Wolf, Iron Man turns into a Batlle Axe ('natcherly??), Apocolapse as a Gun, Venom as a 3-headed serpent?, Rino as a Raging Rino, Punisher bends over and fires rockets out of his @ss, and Lizard turns into a Mutant Aligator.
Hulk and Apocalypse
Dino-Hulk can pop-out claws just like short, brown costumed, sharp-clawed funny-haired man.
What kid wouldn't love a Dinosaur head coming out of their Hulk's backside?
It's a Hulk that turns into a Dinosaur, What's not to love.
Big Hulk watchout for little Hulk friend!
Not really too bad when it comes to scale with Legends.
It looks like the designers had alot of fun with the "rocket" placement of this transforming toy.
Apocalypse as a Ray Gun, Megatron much?
» Some more pics from the last month and my reports of not finding things in Grand Rapids in my forum.
