March 2009

When I was growing up in Queens, New York, I was lucky enough to have four very special friends.  We went everywhere together: the boardwalk, the basketball courts, the beach and (later) the bars.  We laughed with each other, competed with each other, and shared many adventures.  We met when we were around 12 or 13 and have remained friends to this day.  I am always grateful for that.

But of course, as you grow older, things happen.  Some people fall in love, some take a job somewhere else and life pulls you apart.  Even though we all stay in touch, we are spread out across the country.  For my friend JT, it was love that caused him to move to Fargo, North Dakota, where he now has a beautiful wife and amazing children.

So of course, as I heard the news about the floods in Fargo, I immediately thought of JT.  I won’t even provide links to this news…just look on any news site you like.  The situation there is dire, intense and dangerous.

I emailed JT at once and was happy to hear he was okay and his family was safe.  I also appreciated the updates he provided on what was transpiring in Fargo.  It gave me a much better picture of what was happening than any story or television report.

Now, I know this website usually focuses on fun, geeky stuff.  But once in a while, the opportunity for a really special post of a different nature comes along.  With a major disaster in far-off Fargo, I happen to have a good friend in the middle of it.

Since I found JT’s emails to me so compelling and amazing, I asked him to write his experiences up as an article.  This is not a news report, but a very personal account.  I am grateful that he was willing to take the time to write in the midst of all this.  And I am sincerely touched by his words.  

Thankfully, he has permitted me to share them with you.  So please read on.

[click to continue…]

This week was nearly a perfect streak. Had I known that people online this week were in a very Star Wars-y mood, I’d likely have tried to make it a clean sweep of Star Wars goodness. But sadly I could not peer into a crystal ball, I could not read tea leaves, and there was no tarot deck that could have helped me predict that this week was destined to be a Star-Wars-athon.

So I ended up linking to something non-Star Wars, just once.

Thankfully that one something was pretty damned cool and totally worth the link-love, but Daaaaamn! It would have been so cool.

Oh well, it was not meant to be I guess. Without me getting all bummed out, lets check out the Awesome that the internet has delivered to us this last week:

• The Strongest Star Wars Action Figure
• NIN|JA 2009
• Cash from The First Galactic Empire
• ‘Imperial March’ Played on Hard Drive
• Cantina Band from Star Wars on Harp
• Vintage Star Wars Figures

[click to continue…]

Alright, if you have been keeping up with Battlestar Galactica, by now you know that the series is over. Now all there is to look forward to is the direct-to-DVD release of its prequel, Caprica.

So, now that it is all over, what is there on TV, or for rent, that is worth watching? Good question, and thankfully we AGR-folk can help answer that very question.

But what did I think of the BSG finale? In all honesty? Overall I was rather meh about it. No worries, I won’t go into spoiler-territory, I try to not play that game. What I can say is that I was a little disappointed, but there were some definite bad ass moments in this last episode.

If you’ve not watched the entire revamped Battlestar Galactica series you really ought to give it a whirl. I was very skeptical at first, and I actually skipped the first season when it was on TV. When Season 2 was finishing up I decided to check out a couple of episodes. I borrowed the pilot episode/movie as well as season 1, and I was convinced that Battlestar was worth watching after 2-3 full episodes. I continued to be impressed, but somewhere halfway through Season 3 I was getting antsy for things to just wrap up. That’s not to say that it was starting to suck, I was just ready for it to wrap up and come to a conclusion of some sorts.

And what a conclusion did we get. Yeap, it will definitely go down as a series that will be talked about for a good while yet. But if you are ready for something different and are uncertain as to where you should turn, here’s what I am watching these days.

[click to continue…]

You know me…the consummate New Yorker.  I always have my finger on the pulse of this great city and my knowledge of interesting events and activities is encyclopedic.  So it’s no surprise at all that I knew about Krazy!, an exhibit at New York’s Japan Society which explored the “delirious world” of anime, manga and video games.  Okay, okay - I have to tell the truth.  I had no idea this thing was going on until a certain someone gave me the NY Times article about it.  Thanks Aggro-Mom!  Well, the important thing is that I went!

The Japan Society is on 47th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenue, which is in easy walking distance of Grand Central.  It’s also quite close to the United Nations if you’re interested in visiting that as well.  I’ve never actually been to the Japan Society before but it is a gorgeous place.  You are greeted by a soothing waterfall and there is a wonderful garden.  I also liked the style of the whole place - it was very modern and clean.  Just simple things like the stairs were gorgeous, as was a bench that looked like part of a tree.  

[click to continue…]

I never caught Chuck, the geek-turned-spy series, when it was on TV, but I just finished catching up on Season 1 by renting the DVD’s.  My overall impression is that the series is fairly entertaining but it really didn’t inspire me to rent the next Season.  I did find that as I continued with the series it was getting better…but not better enough to make me a fan.

Okay, to give the description of the series, I’m going to have to relate some spoilers.  But these are all made clear in the very first episode of the series.  If you don’t want to read them, skip to the next paragraph.  Chuck is a geek who was kicked out of Stanford and is currently working in the Nerd Herd (Geek Squad) at the local Buy More (Best Buy).  He receives an email from an old college roommate that appears to be a series of images but actually fills his brain with top secret info, turning his mind into something called the Intersect.  From then on, when Chuck sees something which relates to super secret spy activities, he “flashes” on it and recalls all sorts of helpful information.  A beautiful CIA operative named Sarah goes undercover as Chuck’s girlfriend to protect him and utilize his spy-mind.  She even gets a job at the nearby Weinerlicious hot dog franchise.  An NSA agent named John Casey with a deadly reputation scores a job working at Buy More for similar reasons.  

[click to continue…]

I‘ve been interested lately in reading more comics and graphic novels.  I feel like it’s a piece of my entertainment puzzle that has been missing for a long time.  I read a ton of comics when I was younger but since college I’ve kind of been out of that world.  I’ve already made a list of comic series I want to try, but I’d like to finish the whole run of Fables first, since I’m really enjoying it.  But I thought it wouldn’t hurt to read a few graphic novels as I was doing that, so I was happy when a friend (thanks Daniella) lent me her copy of Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware. (Note: I linked to the hardcover edition because the paperback apparently has some issues according to the reviews).  At the time, all I knew was that it came highly recommended, but it turns out the work has won a ton of awards and was called “the first formal masterpiece of (the) medium” by the New Yorker.  So I’m glad I started my graphic novel mission with this one.

I’m not going to say too much about the story.  At it’s essence, it is a simple one.  We meet a shy, lonely and awkward man named Jimmy Corrigan who is pushed around by his co-workers, mother and life in general.  He is contacted by the father he never knew and decides to visit him.  That’s really the main tale the book tells, but we also see inside Jimmy’s vivid imagination and dreams.  There are also a number of quite lengthy flashbacks which relate the stories of the prior generations of Jimmy Corrigans…or at least notable events in their lives.  So don’t expect superheroes (although there is an important “superman” motif) or grand battles or even typical high drama.  It’s an understated feel.  But even though the story seems mundane, I found it compelling and captivating.  I was completely drawn into the world of the graphic novel on all levels.

[click to continue…]