Yup, I'm slipping

So I promised to try to do a post like every Monday. It's Thursday now and how long has it been since my last post? Yeah, this post is basically to apologize for that. Oh, also, if you look up "insect" on Wikipedia, you can see a GIF of a bee taking a leak. For reals.

Recovering from Heroes

Heroes was a pretty cool show. It got me watching tv that wasn't cartoons. The idea of a live action series involving people with super powers was sweet. It was cool that the people with powers all came from different walks of life. There was an artist, a teenage cheerleader, a nurse, a police officer, and a woman who made web cam videos. Like, adult videos. Ever hear that song that's like, "What would you do if your son was at home, crying all alone on the bedroom floor cause he's hungry, and the only way to feed him is to, sleep with a man for a little bit of money..."? I'm getting off topic. That show was pretty sweet because it had all of the super powers that are standard in comics. You know, super speed, mind reading, flight, ect. Even though it certainly was "inspired" a lot by X-men and the story in Watchmen, it was entertaining. Here's what was sweet:

Hiro Nakamura - Japanese geek who gets control over space and time. Seriously, who would enjoy powers more?

The Company - An organization made to keep people with powers from running amok. They have pairs of a regular and a super powered agent. Best team is Noah and a man known as The Haitian.

It was on Mondays - No one really looks forward to Monday. This show helped you start off the week.

Any downsides to the show? Nothing is perfect. The character Angela Petrelli was so annoying and completely worthless to the show. Claire Bennet takes the same route. I don't want to go into these characters further because it will just make me upset.

Heroes lasted four seasons but I only watched the first three (see above for why). I still like the idea of a live action series concerning super powers. Where was I to go? I eventually started watching Tower Prep.
Tower Prep is about a school where kids with powers are a taught how to use them. They are trapped at the school and it's all mysterious and junk. I watched it for to long just hoping that it would get better. It didn't. Super power high school is not cool. All of the powers seemed less combat-friendly. There is a girl who has an extreme sense of taste. Glad I'm not her. Seriously, that power is lame. Very rarely will I opt not to have a super power. I don't really feel like going too much into this show because, overall, it's not that impressive.

Heroes made a void that in the end, even itself couldn't fill. I've given up on live actions super power series. Good thing they came out with that new Avengers cartoon.

The next post

When will the next post happen? What will it be about? You don't know and neither do I. I have such big plans for the site and yet such a small budget. Not to mention I also don't have the most time on my hands. You've all heard this before. All I ask is that you be patient. You're probably better off forgetting about the site for a really long time. That way, when you remember, there will be a lot of stuff to look at.

Back to business. I need to actually have some content in this post. I don't know what to say. I'm just gonna wing it. If I have a thought I'll type it.

Chili powder on potatoes is never a bad idea.

When is the world going to realize how awesome Steve Zahn is?

I wonder if there is a correlation between how smart your dad is and how bad you are at sports. I figure my dad would be smarter.

I feel like the "@" symbol isn't all that much faster than writing "at."


Ok, enough of that crap. I'm gonna try, you've heard this before, to do a post a week. I can't guarantee a post, but I'll work to give you something. Look for them on Mondays. Peace out.

Strange AOL ad

After No-Post-August and half way through September I thought I would grace the blog again. I can't stress enough, big things are going to happen for this blog. What's holding it back? Money. I have other things that require the money I make so the advancements to the blog have been taking a backseat. Be patient. If you're still viewing.



On to the post. I came across this ad when I was checking my AOL e-mail. I have multiple e-mail addresses. I'm not bragging, I'm just stating a fact. So this is what I saw. If you want a bigger image just click the pic. AOL's safety toolbar makes it safe for the little ones to surf the web. That must be why that little girl is so happy to browse the internet. Maybe she's looking at The World of RC4. Probably not. She's probably on Facebook. She is a girl after all. There is something wrong with this ad though. Look at the mom. She seems real pissed off about something. Why is she upset? Is it because the girl can now hog the laptop all the time? What reason does she have to be upset in this ad? Was it intentional? I know in my twisted mind the dad was asking if it was ok to invite someone extra into the bedroom. That would give her plenty of reason to be mad. Look at him. His posture and look on his face just screams, "Come on, baby." Whatever it is, a love triangle or content filtering, she ain't interested.

No Pic Post

If anyone is still following "The World of RC4," I have an announcement: I'm shutting it down. Nah, I'm just kidding. On a more serious note, posts are going to be few. I got big plans for the blog but they are going to take some time. Now on to the post.

Just a small thing here. I had a chicken cutlet sub. Later I had a cookie dough twisted frosty at Wendy's. Now I'm burping and the taste is so weird. A little gross for a little post. Bye.

My Shorts!

Yeah, this is a post about my shorts. Not all of them mind you, just one pair. They are brown. At first I was like, "Brown shorts? Whatever." But I've grown to like them. I swear this post gets more interesting.

My shorts are by the company Ezekiel. They like to use numbers and backwards numbers to look like letters because they are cool. Not really, but I digress. Above is their current logo. Lameness of their font aside I think it's pretty cool. A bear and a star. Not too bad. Below you can see their old logo.
This picture is from the actual pair of shorts I mentioned earlier. Instead of a bear, the logo has an eagle. Still cool I guess. I'm gonna take a break for a second to give a shout out to my sister. She shall be called JC3. So JC3 gave me her camera and now I can fill the blog with exciting pictures of shorts and things that aren't shorts too. So yeah, back to the logo. It's an eagle but I always thought about vikings when wearing the shorts. Why is that? You'd have to see the logo from my perspective, as if you were wearing them.
Looking down at the symbol you can't tell me that doesn't look like a viking. Crazy! Was that intentional?

A post

It's been almost a month since my last post. I said I would be trying to do a post a week. Do you feel neglected? Have I been neglecting you? Yeah. I have. Too bad for you. I don't need you. Who puts in all the work on this blog? Me. Who comes up with unique points of view and interesting topics to discuss? Me. I'm doing everything here and you have the audacity to feel neglected? I don't have to impress you.




I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Come back, I didn't mean it. Without you there is no RC4. It's all about you. That's why I do this. Don't leave me!

Now that that's over with, let's do a movie review. From the 80's!

Coming out in 1984, The Last Starfighter's premise is simple. A video game is made to simulate piloting a real ship. A guy named Alex who beats the high score gets brought by an alien to a space station so he can pilot the real thing. All the other pilots die and therefore he becomes "the
title." I mean, "The Last Starfighter."

I would assume that a movie like this would be something I could really get into but I found it to be sub-par. The acting is acceptable from an 80's perspective. The concept is so good that at this point in time it would be considered cliche. I also thought the music was great.

When it comes to sci fi movies, arguably the most important aspect is special effects. I'll sit through a movie with a story I don't feel like even following (Chronicles of Riddick), with characters I don't care about (Chronicles of Riddick), played by actors that don't impress me (Chronicles of Riddick). If it looks as good as say, I don't know, Chronicles of Riddick, then I can overlook everything else. But RC4, this movie was made in the 80's. My response is that Star Wars was made in the 70's. Star Wars looked way better and it was made before. No excuses.

A really cool aspect of sci fi movies is the aliens in them. The Last Starfighter fails completely. It's got these cool octopus guys that love to fight. Sounds awesome, right? There are only two and they both die. Not so awesome. The bad guys have some cool aliens that look like brown rock reptile guys. They also have interstellar hitmen that look kinda cool. The good guys, post-cool octopus guys, get the short end of the stick. They got Centauri who looks like a human unless he takes his face off which only happens twice, Grig who looks somewhat like a humanoid anklyosaurus who has a cooky personality, and a whole mess of people who have receding hairlines. Even the women. Lame. Just Lame.

There are typical 80's attempts at humor. Some are really funny. Some are not. The concept of an old lady with a shotgun never made me laugh. The little kid who has a bunch of Playboys got me think more of "how did he get those?" and "what is his mom doing about this situation?" Oh, By the way. The kid sees his brother and his brothers girlfriend kiss and then says "diarrhea" in disgust. In a later scene he is looking at a Playboy. Either he is an innocent little kid who still thinks girls are icky or he is a perverted little kid with a stash of porno mags. Pick one or the other.

All in all, I'm glad I did not ask for the movie on DVD. I really want to watch Chronicles of Riddick for some reason.

Dewmocracy: Another election I didn't vote in

Ok, so the game plan was I that I was going to try all three flavors, review them, and then encourage people to vote for the one I like. That didn't happen. By the time I could afford to buy three sodas, the decision was made.The winner is Mountain Dew Voltage. It is raspberry citrus flavored. Does it taste good? That's what I'm here to tell you.
First off, let me say I enjoy a nice Mountain Dew. Back in high school it was common for me to unwind after a hard day of drawing in my notebooks with 2-3 Mountain Dews. When Code Red was introduced I was pleasantly surprised. It was like Mountain Dew, but different. And it was still good. Then they had Live Wire, or as it is called, Orange Mountain Dew. I thought it tasted like Mountain Dew and Pez. No thank you.
Back to voltage. That sounded like a sweet metal song. BACK TO VOLTAGE! I don't like it's color because it reminds me of how the water looks when I paint with blue paints. Other than that it's pretty good. The flavor is light but not too light. Basically you can appreciate it slowly, like a do with my Cokes, or you can chug it. You know, like if you can't wait to get diabetes.

Wonka Chocolate Bars

I'm sorry there wasn't a post last week. You all are taking it real hard, I'm sure. There has been a big change. RC4 = employed. You know the old story: guy goes to college, graduates, then gets a job doing something completely unrelated while he figures out what he wants to do. Just add a year of doing nothing to that and you have my experience. What does this employment mean for the blog. Big things. But here's a little one.

Have you seen those Wonka commercials for their new candy bars? If you haven't, don't bother checking youtube because they don't have them. Anyway, there are now three new Wonka chocolate bars out. What with the new fortune I've have now I decided to try them. Two of them that is. RC4 doesn't dig on white chocolate.

I had one that was chocolate with toffee and peanuts. I thought this would be the best thing ever. It's not. I didn't see any toffee and I certainly didn't taste any. The enjoyable part about peanuts is their flavor and crunch. These had no flavor and they were about as crunchy as rice crispies. Basically the peanuts were just a chore to chew on so you could safely eat the chocolate of the bar which is actually quite good. If only they made a bar that was just chocolate.

Oh, but they did. Sorta. It's dark chocolate and milk chocolate. It just doesn't do it for me. It's like the two flavors are battling in my mouth and I don't get to be the victor. It's ok. It's basically tastes like a subdued dark chocolate.

In conclusion I am disappointed. The candy bars aren't bad, they are just not great.

Impressed by video games: Part 2

Sony's Dual Shock Controller

The Playstation 2 had a sweet controller. If you mated it with the Dreamcast controller it would give birth to the XBOX controller. Age that a bit and you get the 360 controller which is, in my opinion (fact), the greatest console controller ever. But back to the PS2's. There is something special about it. Is it the analog face buttons? No but that is pretty cool. MGS3 is the only game I've played where mastery of those buttons is essential. What truly impressed me was it's two analog sticks. Growing up with an N64 and Dreamcast I was only used to having one. Those things are cool and this post is dedicated to them.

GTA: Vice City (2002)

Do you see what Tommy is doing in that photo? He's crouching. How did he get that way? Someone pressed L3. The stick is also a button. No way! That freaked me out. It's like they wanted another button but instead of just throwing it on (I'm looking at you XBOX's black and white buttons) they worked with what they had. (picture taken from IGN)

Devil May Cry (2001)

Devil May Cry makes another appearance as a game that impressed me. It did, in fact, impress me a lot. Just not enough for me to keep it. I traded it in for Pokemon Snap. So worth it! Anyway, using both of the sticks, Dante can move in one direction and shoot in another. That is awesome. If they made games now where you couldn't do that, everyone would be disappointed. I doubt this is the first game to feature such a thing but it's the first I remember playing. Excep maybe Apocalypse. I'm gonna reference that game again, just wait for it. (Picture from IGN again. Totally taking advantage of them)

Katamari Damacy (2004)

This game is so much fun. The only area where it really disappoints is the multiplayer but I believe they improved that in the sequel. You use virtually just the analog sticks in the game. There is some button pressing for the menus and you press the shoulder buttons occasionally for the camera but other than that it's just the sticks. And it works too. It does take some getting used but once you get the hang of it it's super fun. Yeah, super fun.

Rise To Honor (2004)

In rise to honor you play as an undercover cop. The character is modeled after Jet Li. It's like what they did with Bruce Willis in the game Apocalypse (I told yeah I was gonna mention it again). The game is mostly a beat em up game but what makes it special is how you fight. There is no kick or punch button. You move with the left stick and you attack in a given direction by tapping the right stick. I found this to be very original and it works pretty good. The times in beat em up games that are the most frustrating are when you are surrounded. In this game, it's when it's fighting system shines. Just tap the stick in each opponent's direction and Jet Li will perform an expertly choreographed martial arts sequence.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001)

If ever there was a game that people thought was great but all they can do when talking about it is bitch and moan it would be this game. Yes, you have to play as Raiden. No, you are not going to play as Snake for the rest of the game. Better graphics and superior game engine but why can't I play as Snake? I feel like this game was why they made Twin Snakes for Gamecube. Back on topic. Raiden is holding a sword (which you get way too late in the game). All weapons are controlled with the square button except for the sword. It uses the right analog stick. tap right and he swings right. Down and you get a downward slash. Push R3 to thrust. It is super intuitive and it is probably the best sword controls in any game I have ever played. Impressive? Oh yeah!

My Favorite Restaurant

I recently ate there and came to that conclusion. Please note that I said "my favorite restaurant" and not "my favorite place to eat." I would feel strange calling Arby's a restaurant. Yeah, so I used the word "favorite." I'm prepared to back up my statement.

(French)-Canadian blood runs through my veins so I have a natural draw towards this steak house. The food is pretty good as well. Anyone will tell you though, presentation and atmosphere are just as important as the quality of the food. I could eat the best steak I've ever had, but if it's in a place with pop garbage blasting on the speakers and there are pictures of hairy naked dudes up on the walls, I'm not likely to revisit the establishment.

Let's discuss what you eat with. I had a salad. Don't freak out, it came with my steak. It was a wedge salad which, for those of you who don't know, is the manliest of salads. It's a quarter of a head of lettuce with dressing and bacon on it. And I'm not talking leafy lettuce. Oh no. This is the good stuff. Iceberg lettuce. Nothing but green, water, and crunch. No leaves. What makes the salad so manly you might ask? You absolutely have to use a knife to eat it. A salad that requires A KNIFE! This salad knows you're responsible, and it wants revenge! They don't give you just any knife there. I wielded a weapon the length of my forearm.

For a drink I merely had a water. I could have had something manlier like a beer or a mug of gravy but I just felt like ice water. In order to make sure I didn't feel any less like a man, Bugaboo made sure their cups are of thick glass with a handle. Why a handle? So I can make a fist while I'm drinking!

My steak was good. Tender, moist, and salty (but not in a bad way). The fries were good too.

Then there is the best part. Animatronic animals! There is a moose, a bison, and, during the holidays, a tree. If it's your birthday they bring out a puppet of a moose that you're allowed to get to first base with. One might think I would be into that. I do love puppets after all. I just don't feel comfortable doing it with everyone watching. It's like, it just loses the intimacy.

Bugaboo Creak = Pretty cool place to eat.

Terrible Movie Sequels

Now it's time for the bad movie sequels. A lot, more likely most, movie sequels are not as good as the originals. I would say it has to do with people just wanting to milk the franchise for more money. Anyway, what qualifies a movie for this list is not that it is not as good as the original, but that it is so bad it should never have been made. Also I should clarify, these are all movies that I have seen. There are some worse ones out there but they have not been viewed by yours truly.

Conan the Destroyer (1984)

Sequel to the best sword and sorcery movie ever made. Low fantasy at its finest. How could the sequel to Conan the Barbarian be bad? We still got Schwarzenegger as Conan. We still have Mako playing whoever he's supposed to be. Unfortunately those are the only good aspects of the movie. They got Bob from Batman as a coward who stabs people in their kidneys and Grace Jones as an extremely annoying amazon-type lady. As a side note, there is a picture of her on the inside of the DVD cover where her boob is exposed. Who let that one slip? Get it, slip? I'm hilarious! So yeah, Conan fights a guy wearing like half of a gorilla costume. Also they try to turn up the humor which is a mistake in a movie like this. Awful.

Die Hard 2 (1990)

Tough cop gets stuck in a building full of terrorists. Awesome. Now he's at the airport. Not anywhere near as cool. I've been to that airport and nothing like that happened when I was there. What are the odds that something like this would happen to the same guy from the Nakatomi building incident. At least with the third movie, which I admit I have not seen, it connects to the first one. Whatever. Did you know they made a video game based on John McClane being an older guy having to rescue his then police officer daughter? It's true.

Neverending Story 2 (1990)

Falkor cannot support an entire movie by himself. New Bastion, new Atreyu, new child-like empress, and Rock Biter has a baby. No, no, no, and no. The movie itself is based on the original book, somewhat. The end product is just bad. The villains in it are super lame. There's Xayide who is the boss and she's all cunning and tempting. That's cool enough I guess. Her main assistant is a rip off of He-Man's Man-E-Faces and her spy is a chicken-man. Seriously, a chicken-man. Next movie.

Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997)

I have to admit, killing off Johnny Cage in like the first five minutes of the movie made me think it was gonna be really good. It sucked though. Sub Zero came back and I think Scorpion too, I don't remember. Didn't they die in the first movie? Yeah, in this one they are like brothers with the same name or clones, I don't really know or care. Raiden gives up his powers, Jax somehow fights better without super-human cyborg arms, and for some reason, even though they make robots and cyborgs, no just takes a gun and shoots people. Once you introduce robots, ninjas are no longer that special. Even freezing ones.

Batman and Robin (1997)

I count this one as a number two sequel because it is the second one by Joel Schumacher. Batman Forever came out and we all had a good laugh but his play time was over. He should have left the franchise alone. Now come on, is it that bad? Let's just take a look. My favorite Batman Villain, Bane, was ruined because they made him a dumb brute instead of a criminal genius. My second favorite Batman villain, Mr Freeze, was ruined because they turned a misguided skinny scientist into a jacked guy who can't stop making ice puns. Batman was ruined because the Bat suit had nipples. Poison Ivy is not really a "movie caliber" villain. Batgirl was completely changed and introduced so late in the movie that no one really cares. What did she do anyway? This was made so shortly after Clueless I was expecting Batgirl to break out a cellphone and say "whatever." Robin was always lame, there's no way this movie was gonna make him cool.

Awesome Movie Sequels

This week's topic is movie sequels. Today I'd like to mention five movie sequels that were awesome. These movies were so awesome that I consider them to be better than the first movie. Also, as a point of clarification, I'm only counting movies that came after the original as "sequels." Here goes.

Hellboy 2 (2008)

I have already confessed my love of this movie so I don't think it requires any more. It's a solid movie. It has comedy, action, romance, and elves. It rules.

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)

Two words to state how this movie is better than the original: Lord Humungus! That's how it is spelled, don't worry. This is an example where the villain makes the movie. Lord Humungus is way cooler than Toe Cutter. Supremely jacked dude wearing a hockey mask? Awesome! Also worth noting, this movie was a bit more "post-apocalyptic" than the first one. What kind of post-apocalyptic society has towns, vacations, and modern law system. The 'Wheel" from Mad Max 3 is a post-apocalyptic style of law, not the ridiculous, "we don't have the evidence" or whatever the excuse was in the first movie.

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Battle on Hoth, better lightsaber fight, more character development, Lando, Yoda, and one of the best movie twists of all time. Empire is awesome. As a side note, my spell check has nothing wrong with "Yoda" but there is a red line under "Lando." Racist.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Why is the movie King Kong no more fun to watch after they leave the island? Because it's cool to see monsters fight monsters. In Terminator 2 it's robot against robot. Plus they fight with guns! They can get shot at and not die, especially the T-1000. Ever since Avatar came out, people are all up on James Cameron's business (read that any way you want to). Avatar was so successful and so was Titanic. So there's the movie that you have to see because everyone else saw it and the "Twilight" of the 90's. Did he make anything really good? It's so easy to forget Terminator 2 nowadays. It is so cool. Cameron also made Aliens which almost got on this list but I thought another movie deserved it more.

The Dark Knight (2008)

Honestly, I don't think I have to explain why this was better than Batman Begins. I feel like everyone knows how awesome this movie is. I feel I should mention however, that Batman Begins was a good movie. The Dark Knight was just way better.

Coming up is gonna be the bad movies. Yeah!

Capcom Movies Online

There are two movies online that came out this week based on famous Capcom franchises. One is based on the classic action-platformer Mega Man and the other on the innovative Street Fighter series. So how are they?


Let's start with Mega Man. The movie is located here:http://screwattack.com/videos/Mega-Man
At over 90 min it's actually movie length. I watched the whole thing. I wanted to stop but I owed it to you to watch it for you. It's not that great if you couldn't tell already. The acting and dialogue are pretty bad and the action scenes aren't intense enough to save it. I do have to say however that the costumes were good and the CGI was better than the movies that the sci fi channel makes. I felt there was just too much filler (read: crap) in the movie. What's the deal with Dr. Light's wife? How is Mega Man adjusting to being a robot in a human world? What is the story behind the first android Dr. Light and Dr. Whiley made? No one cares. Seriously. People who like Mega Man are not interested in story and drama. They want to see a blue robot lay some laser-pain on other robots.

The next movie is called Street Fighter: Legacy and can be found here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2ZXSzaUIBQ
This was not really a movie because it was only a bit over 3 min long. It was sweet though! They totally need to make a full length film in this style. It wasn't cheesy like the 90s movie or horribly lame like the Chun Li movie (I didn't see it but, come on, I didn't have to.) It wasn't perfect but it was the best live action Street Fighter thing ever made. Watch it!

Roll out some sweet rides

Over the years there have been some pretty sweet vehicles in various media. I'm gonna show five of my favorite rides.

Eagle Five from Space Balls

When I was little I thought the idea of a house van was the coolest thing ever. You can have a bed and tv and stuff and you can drive it around. A Winnebago is like a house van except it's bigger and better. They got toilets too! Even better than that though is a Winnebago that can fly in space. And it's fast too. It can go to plaid!

Punisher's GTO from The Punisher

Classic car driven by a cool dude. Plus it has the pull down bullet-proof windshield cover. That would be nice to have some times.

Cyclone Armor from Robotech

Motorcycles are cool. I don't ride one or want to but I have to admit that they are still cool. What's cooler than a motorcycle? One that can turn into power armor. I would totally rock that out.

The Slave 1 from Star Wars

This ship is pretty cool. I feel like we were denied seeing it in action. There was that scene in Attack of the Clones but that wasn't really I battle. Come to think of it, The Slave 1 is a lot like its owner Bobba Fett. Really cool, but not presented as such in the movies. Fett gets made to look like a tool in Jedi. Am I right? Yeah, I am.

The Batmobile from Batman

Seriously, how could this not be on the list? It's the frickin batmobile! The Tim Burton version I think is the best. The show one was lame, the Schumacher versions were lame in the other direction, and I felt the Rumbler didn't have the coolness factor that this one had. The batmobile is a sweet ride and anybody with a heartbeat would love to drive. Driving it is the cool thing, not riding in it. Women who get attacked and Robin get to ride in it. Driving = cool, riding = not cool.

So these rides are cool and all but what about something a little more real? Ok, I got something for ya. It hasn't come out yet but when it does it's gonna be awesome.

Scion Fuse

Normally I don't dig on two door cars but I will totally make an exception for this one. Supa awesome. I would totally have mine painted black and add little wings on the back. Can you say mini-batmobile? To put it simply, I wants... this car.

A New Browser Must Be Chosen!

Let me start off by saying that I really like Internet Explorer. I was rocking version 6 for a long time until Youtube said I had to update or else I would lose support. They kind of stretched the truth because I would still be able to watch video I just wouldn't be able to do extra stuff that I don't care about. Regardless, I updated. And I liked it. The problem is I get viruses. As much as I like IE it has to be replaced for security reasons. Let's take a look at the challengers for the title:

Mozilla Firefox - Mr. Popular


After IE, Firefox is the most used web browser. Most of the people that use it are people fed up with IE or Linux users (people fed up with Microsoft in general). As a side note, In Japanese mythology, the fox is said to be able to set things on fire by resting its tail on them.


Google Chrome - The ProdigyWhen Google sets out to do something they usually do it right. Google is the most used search engine so it would make sense for them to have a web browser. This thing is fast, which is good. Also, being from Google, I can launch Google Chrome to Google and then Google using my Google bar. I don't like things being shoved down my throat and I bet the thing would explode if I set Yahoo as my homepage. It has a cool logo so I'll forgive it.

Opera Software's Opera - The Foreigner
Well, well, well, the little boy from Norway wants to play. That'll be fine Opera, as long as you got the goods. A little feature I liked in this guy was that you can have little images in the tabs that show what's going on on the page it represents. Neat!

Apple's Safari - The Uninvited
Hi, I'm a PC. I'm not letting this thing get anywhere near my computer. No thank you.


The reasons I like IE are as follows: It's easy to use, I like it's appearance, and I like the way it allows tabbed browsing. Let's see how each guy stacks up.

Ease of use - Because it is the most used browser, IE pretty much has to be idiot-proof.

Fire Fox: No real concerns. Works out.
Chrome: Super simple. No real issues.
Opera: No problems. I got my eye on you viking.

Winner - complete tie

Appearance - I like the menu setup in IE as well as the icons.

Firefox: traditional menu setup. Nice colorful icons. Plus I can move the icons where I want or remove them entirely.
Chrome: Icons are bland. Menus are off to the right. Not a fan of that.
Opera: Icons were generally not impressive except for that cool red menu button. He had some style. I did not care for the setup as it often had a menus coming from the side of the screen.

Winner - Firefox

Tabbed Browsing - For the longest time I refused to do this. I did not need tabs, I needed new windows. When Youtube made me upgrade I started using tabs and I've not looked back. The thing I like about IE tabs is that you can decide what website comes up in the new tab, say for instance, your homepage. I like that and want that.

Firefox - Open a new tab and it is completely blank. Seriously? Why blank? I did find something to download to make it open up new tabs to my homepage but I couldn't do it with just the program itself so it doesn't count.
Chrome - Open a new tab and it gives you suggestions on what site you might want to go to. I don''t want my computer thinking for me! Generally Google (my homepage) is one of the suggestions but I don't like the added step to get there. You would think that new tab to Google would be something Chrome would love to do. Sadly no.
Opera - Same type of situation as Chrome. I did notice with Opera that you can set it up so that certain websites don't come up as suggestions. Isn't that great? I like how web browsers are catering to the porn enthusiast who shares a computer.

Winner - complete tie for last place.

If it wasn't for security I would just keep IE. As can be seen by the subjects I'm grading on, my needs are very simple. One would think that any browser would work for me. But it can clearly be seen that the web browsers out there don't seek to satisfy me. I was actually surprised at how little I could change with Chrome. This whole experience was rather disappointing. The browser I currently use now is Firefox. There is a reason why it is so popular. It's good and I'll continue to use it.

Dah-Dah-Dah- DUNE!

In the year 1965 Frank Herbert released a book that became considered one of the greatest science fiction books of all time. That book was Dune. It was 19 years later that the movie Dune came into theaters. It has since become a cult classic of the sci fi genre. I saw it and am now going to do my best to review it.
Let me start off by saying I haven't read the book. I'm just gonna review it and not complain about how they didn't include this and that. The most I've done was listen to the Iron Maiden song based off of Dune. I'm going into this unclouded.
Dune has a sweet cast. No one is particularly bad at acting which is not true for most fantasy and science fiction movies. They got Brad Dourif (sweet), Patrick Stewart (yeah Picard), Sting, and even the legend Max Von Sydow. There are also some female who I didn't bother to learn their names. I swear I'm not sexist it's just they don't have too great an impact in the film. There's the lady from Blade Runner and the principal from Kindergarten Cop. The problem with this cast is that the parts are generally so small. Sting, to my amazement, seems to have no problem acting but really only says any lines at the end of the film. There is also a scene with him kind of just posing in a space speedo. The word unnecessary isn't strong enough to describe this.
So yeah, this movie has a plot. Not a bad one too. Basically everyone is secretly against the House Atreides. The emperor of the universe gives them the planet Arrakis and plans on using the House Harkonnen to take it back and knock House Atreides down a peg or two. The planet Arrakis is like the most important planet in the universe because it is the only place you can get the spice melange. The spice makes interstellar space travel possible. So the Atreides royal family goes to the planet, they get betrayed and the Harkonnens come and mess them up and Paul Atreides runs away into the desert. The whole planet of Arrakis is a desert, forgot to mention that. Paul ends up finding these people called the Fremen and they fight a war to take back Arrakis and get some sweet sweet revenge. Not a bad story.

Here are some of the stuff I thought were cool about the movie. The costumes were all done well and so was all the different scenery. The sand worms were cool (look at my picture). Also the Space Guild was cool. There is this guy who talks through a staff that translates what he's saying. There is also this mutant guy who has to stay in a zero gravity chamber to move around.

What's not so good about it? Well, the pacing is not so good. Whenever you make a movie from a book you either take out a bunch of stuff or you have pacing problems. From what I understand this movie did both. I can't really blame the movie for this though. The book was 412 pages long. Honestly I would rather have had a more well paced four hour movie than something that felt rushed. If it's good enough I'll hold out on a long run time.

I thought the weapons were a bit lame. They pretty much have microphones connected to guns that turn their shouts into lasers. Now that I type that out it sounds even dumber than seeing it in the movie. As it turns out, this was completely created for the movie. I bet the fan boys didn't care much for that. I don't blame them.

There was some stuff that was just weird. Paul ends up having a super powered two year old sister who can walk and talk perfectly as well as use crazy powers. There are these ladies known as the Bene Gesserits who are kind of like psychic space nuns. Oh, and at the end of the movie Paul becomes the Kwisatz Haderach. I say that so often know because it just sounds cool. What this means is that he becomes so powerful that he can kill people just by saying, like, "you're dead."

The movie was 137 minutes long and it was an ok movie. I feel if it was polished and paced better it would have been a great movie. They did come out with an extended version which was 189 minutes so it's possible that my main complaint with this film has already been addressed. The extended version does not have the approval of the film's director so I don't know of it's quality. Oh, well. Maybe one day I'll see the extended version and write a better review. Or make my own version with puppets!

I am all about this!

Most Disappointing Movies

The following are my top ten of most disappointing movies I have ever seen. They're my top ten but they aren't in any specific order. Keep in mind that these are the most disappointing movies, not the worst movies.
Death Sentence (2007)
How did I see it: In the theaters
What was good about it: John Goodman had a funny line in it.
Why it disappoints: This is another one of those revenge movies that have flooded the cinema ever since people got all nostalgic about Death Wish. Kevin Bacon is by no means Charles Bronson. Instead of being about a one man crusade against evil with the hero killing off the bad guys in action-packed fights and unique killing methods (see The Punisher) this movie instead looks at how revenge leads to a descent into becoming evil. The main bad guy in the film actually says at one point, "Look at what I made you." This is one of those times where I want the cliche so bad.

Spiderman 3 (2007)
How did I see it: In the theaters
What was good about it: The casting for Sandman was perfect and the fight scene between Sandman and Spiderman in the sewers was pretty cool.
Why it disappoints: Casting is really important in a movie. Peter Parker/Spiderman, Harry Osbourne, Aunt May, J.J. Jameson, Gwen Stacy, and Sandman were all cast very well. That's almost all of the main characters. They messed up on Mary Jane and Eddie Brock/Venom. Kirsten Dunst playing Mary Jane in the third movie only makes sense because she played her in the other two. She does not fit the role though. Mary Jane is supposed to be a bombshell. Dunst doesn't cut it. Sorry lady. The one I will not apologize to is Topher Grace. Eddie Brock is supposed to be able to bench like 600 pounds. Eric Foreman is not a super villain. And they kept on showing his face. Leave the Venom mask on because it looks so much cooler!

Nightwatch (2004)
How did I see it: I bought it, ugh
What was good about it: There is a scene where the main character is on a subway car and he screams over nothing. It's pretty funny but it's not intentional.
Why it disappoints: It's not good. It's just a bad movie. The story sucks and I didn't give a crap about the characters. I thought the idea of good guys and bad guys fighting a secret war against each other would be cool. It's not. Because of this film I don't think I'm going to watch any more Russian cinema.

Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (1999)
How did I see it: In the theaters
What was good about it: One of the coolest villains ever in Darth Maul, pod racing scene, and overall good casting.
Why it disappoints: Let me start out by saying I like this movie. It still was a disappointment. Coming after the original trilogy there was no way for a new Star Wars movie to live up to the hype. This one didn't even come close though. The story was lack luster, the heavy use of CGI was unnecessary (use puppets!), and the entire film screams average. The gungans sucked, especial Jar Jar who wasn't even funny. I ended up feeling completely apathetic towards the space fight at the end. It lacked all the excitement of the Death Star attacks in episodes 4 and 6. The movie was a let down for sure.

3 Ninjas Knuckle Up (1995)
How did I see it: On VHS baby!
What was good about it: Victor Wong was in it. I think that's it.
Why it disappoints: In 3 Ninjas they take down a guy who is building a ninja army to provide muscle for his arms dealing activities. Cool. In 3 Ninjas Kick Back they go to Japan to stop this guy from gathering the ancient weapons to open the cave of gold. Cool. In 3 Ninjas Knuckle up they stop a rich bad guy on an Indian reservation who has the police and the mayor in his pocket. It's so trite it's painful. Any movie involving an Indian reservation is a movie I don't want to see. What do Indians have to do with Ninjas? I'm so glad I don't remember most of this movie.

Batman and Robin (1997)
How did I see it: In the theaters
What was good about it: I think Chris O'Donnell was a good choice for Robin because he breaks the "I'm a little boy side kick" mold
Why it disappoints: Nothing else in this movie was good. They took two of my favorite villains, Mr Freeze and Bane, and they destroyed them. Mr Freeze became an ice themed Arnold Schwarzenegger giving out crappy puns. Bane was a brute. The man is supposed to be a genius! And if ruining to comic book characters isn't enough, the bat suit had nipples. I wish that was joke. Nipples.

Mio in the Land of Faraway (1987)
How did I see it: bought it on dvd
What was good about it: Favorite actor Christopher Lee was the villain. Also Christian Bale is in it.
Why it disappoints: I wanted to see this movie so bad because of it's rarity. The dvd I have literally went around the world to get to me, starting in Australia. This film has some of the worst acting I have seen. The kids were bad at acting. The adults were bad at acting. Christopher Lee, although not bad in the movie, was certainly not bringing his A game.

Rambo 3 (1988)
How did I see it: Given to me as a gift on dvd
What was good about it: Rambo fills a hole in his body with gunpowder and then lights it on fire to stop the bleeding.
Why it disappoints: First Blood - Rambo can't adjust to civilian life in a world that rejects him. Rambo - Rambo goes back to Vietnam to rescue POWs. Rambo 3 - Rambo goes to Afghanistan to bail out Col. Trautman. I have never been a fan of Afghanistan. At the time everybody loved Afghanistan because it was like Russia's Vietnam. The movie is nothing more than a propaganda film and it pales in comparison to the previous films.

Dark Floors (2008)
How did I see it: OnDemand
What was good about it: It had Lordi in it.
Why it disappoints: The movie was not scary and it had bad acting. The only reason why anyone, including me, would see this movie is because Lordi is in it. I wanted to see Lordi running amok and going crazy. Mr Lordi, the leader of Lordi, only appears for a short time at the end of the film. The movie has something to do with time warps and parallel dimensions but I don't really care. I wanted more monsters.

Lilo and Stitch (2002)
How did I see it: In the theaters
What was good about it: The aliens, including Stitch, were cool looking, I also liked the scene when Stitch pretended to be a giant monster.
Why it disappoints: Where's the Disney magic? I didn't see any magic. The social worker is going to take Lilo away from her mom. Why? Because Lilo is a little crap and causes trouble all the time. Whatever. This movie was flanked by Atlantis and Treasure Planet. I saw both and didn't care for them. There were know cute lovable characters. I didn't expect Disney magic. I expected it with Lilo and Stitch, and I was denied. All Disney magic seems to be being funneled into Pixar now.

I LOVE PUPPETS! part 2

It's time for part 2. Let's do this!

Godzilla

This guy is so cool. Giant monster that fights other giant monsters. What's not to love? You know when I start to not care about the movie King Kong? It's right when they get off the island. At that point the big gorilla isn't gonna be able to fight any more opponents the same size as him. Godzilla on the other hand (except for the first film) always has someone to pal around with. Godzilla is broght to life on camera using a special technology called "suitamation." Pretty much the same a any other guy in a suit with an animatronic head. I chose the millenium version of Godzilla for the picture because that one is the best in my opinion. I think the Showa version is too friendly looking and I can't get past the Heisei versions thunder thighs.

Gmork

Have you ever been afraid of a puppet? If you've seen The Neverending Story as a kid you have. Gmork is scary and wicked evil. He wants the Nothing to consume all of Fantasia. That basically means he wants his entire universe to be obliterated. Now that I've typed it out it seems a bit emo to me. "I wish the world were gone. Boo-hoo."

The Sinclair Family

Honestly, if the show were rewritten a bit and they just used real people it would still be funny. I remember watching Dinosaurs as a kid and thinking "Wow, the dinosaurs are cool. They're walking and talking just like me!" After a few episodes you start to forget that they're dinosaurs and you're just watching a regular sitcom. They did such a good job with animating the suits that all the audience sees is a regular family.

Fozzie Bear

Fozzie is one of my favorite Muppets. I really like his personality and enjoy it whenever he's on the screen. Fozzie seems to provide the perfect link between Kermit and Gonzo. He's rational but at the same time cooky and not all that bright. There is something about muppets that confuses me though. What's the deal with clothes? Kermit - naked. Miss Piggy - fully clothed. Rowlf - naked. Gonzo - fully clothed. Then there's Fozzie. A tie and a hat. Why does he wear a tie?

Tik Tok

Look at that picture. Fairuza Balk is about 10 years old there. Inside Tik Tok is a FULL GROWN MAN. You see how he's taking a step? He actually walks. No strings. No special effects. It is, without exception, the best suit performance I have ever seen. Amazing.

I LOVE PUPPETS! part 1

I am a huge fan of puppets. They are awesome. I count full costumes combined with animatronics as puppets. In our modern times of CGI-abuse, we don't get to see them as much as we should. Puppets always look good on screen because the camera is actually filming something as opposed to adding in other footage. I'll be discussing some of my favorite puppets. It's worth mentioning that the majority of these have some connection with Jim Henson Studios. In this part I'll cover five and the next part another five. Let's begin!

Mr Wink

Let me start out by saying that Hellboy 2 is incredible. Easily in my top 50 favorite movies and probably in my top 20 as well. Wink, that's Mr. Wink to you, is troll warrior who is hard as nails. Look at his mitt! Not only is it all metal but it can fly out on a chain. And it crawls back to him!

Kermit the Frog

One of the most famous puppets in the world, Kermit is an icon. He has a star on Hollywood Boulevard and has starred in a number of films. What's impressive about him is the range of emotions he can portray. It is true that a lot of his demeanor comes out in his voice but his face also says a lot. Just look at the picture. You can't hear him but you know he's thinking, "Oh brother."

Cookie Monster

There are a lot of monsters on Seasame Street. Why did I chose Cookie Monster? Is the most famous? That's Big Bird. Fan favortie? That's Elmo. Most relatable? No, for me that's Telly. I think it is because Cookie Monster is the funniest. I saw him on the Colbert Report and he was hilarious. Plus he has a sweet voice. NOM NOM NOM!

The Ninja Turtles (Movies 1 and 2)

Watching the turtle movies I just thought, "Wow, they brought the cartoon to life." That's what they did. In real life there is more violence and there is a little swearing but it's still cool. They just did a solid job on the turtles. What can I say? Oh, how about this. The third movie sucked and so did the tv show. Not the cartoon show, that was awesome, I'm talking about the live action crap. Ugh.

Yoda

What's awesome about Yoda is that everyone watching Star Wars thinks of him as just another character. He's a little green man who lives in the woods! He was performed so well that no one cares. He blends in and he becomes just another character. Also, he has so some sweet words of wisdom. Who hasn't said "Do or do not" in real life?