just my luck...the google reader replacement that i chose is shutting down...it looks like they couldn't scale fast enough to handle the additional users and their servers crashed last week...
http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/29/4569836/the-old-reader-closes-registration-after-months-of-hell
now i have to find another one that does not require signing in with a google account
31 July 2013
22 July 2013
sdcc star wars
finally, they're releasing a new mara jade action figure...i'll have to look for this if it is released in regular toy stores...i hope they make more expanded universe stuff, because the prequels stink...
http://www.tomopop.com/sdcc-2013-hasbro-star-wars-31301.phtml
han and greedo figures look pretty good too
kotobukiya also has a good expanded universe figure of jaina solo...they have a good commander shepard one too...i'm always tempted to buy these when i see them at a con, but i know i'll spend way too much money if i start getting collectible figures...kotobukiya figures are more affordable than the figures from hot toys/sideshow collectibles though
http://www.tomopop.com/tomopop-review-kotobukiya-s-artfx-jaina-solo-28417.phtml
http://www.tomopop.com/tomopop-review-kotobukiya-s-mass-effect-bishoujo-shepard-29656.phtml
http://www.tomopop.com/sdcc-2013-hasbro-star-wars-31301.phtml
han and greedo figures look pretty good too
kotobukiya also has a good expanded universe figure of jaina solo...they have a good commander shepard one too...i'm always tempted to buy these when i see them at a con, but i know i'll spend way too much money if i start getting collectible figures...kotobukiya figures are more affordable than the figures from hot toys/sideshow collectibles though
http://www.tomopop.com/tomopop-review-kotobukiya-s-artfx-jaina-solo-28417.phtml
http://www.tomopop.com/tomopop-review-kotobukiya-s-mass-effect-bishoujo-shepard-29656.phtml
sdcc summary
good list of the major announcements from sdcc...unsurprisingly no news about actual comics were announced...didn't know peter dinklage would be in x-men...at this point in his career, he probably doesn't want knights of badassdom released
http://www.wired.com/underwire/2013/07/comic-con-news-2013/?viewall=true
http://www.wired.com/underwire/2013/07/comic-con-news-2013/?viewall=true
21 July 2013
qmx stuff
article of the stuff qmx is showing at sdcc...i'll probably get the mal figure when it is available if it isn't too expensive
http://www.tomopop.com/sdcc-2013-quantum-mechanix-31289.phtml
20 July 2013
comic con news
so much good stuff at comic con...sort of wish i tried harder to get tickets...
1. walking dead season 4 trailer that was shown during the panel...lost some fighters after shane and andrea were killed off...now they have michonne and tyreese, and carol seems more capable...it doesn't look like they'll be able to stay in the prison with so many walkers crashing the fences...i think it's going to be another good season
2. game of thrones panel and the "in memoriam" vid...nice touch with the music...
3. x-files 20th anniversary panel...one of the best shows ever and probably the best duo ever...gillian anderson looking pretty good...if they make a third movie, they better close out the series instead of the crap that was the last movie
4. superman/batman movie...if it's done well, then it could be the best comic book movie to date...but that is a big if, and adapting the dark knight returns for a superman sequel is going to be difficult since superman is simply a tool for the government in the comic
http://www.geeksofdoom.com/2013/07/20/sdcc-2013-director-zack-snyder-announces-supermanbatman-movie
5. x-men days of future past...would be pretty cool to see all of these characters, but the x-men franchise has not been very good even with very simple plots...days of future past is pretty complicated with alternate timelines
http://www.geeksofdoom.com/2013/07/20/sdcc-2013-fox-brings-out-past-future-x-men-for-x-mendays-of-future-past-panel
6. last line of the article - avengers 2: age of ultron
http://www.tor.com/blogs/2013/07/avengers-age-of-ultron-sdcc
if they're doing this arc, then there might be more superheroes to add to the cast...i wonder how much integration there will be with the other marvel franchises...mainly x-men and avengers since spiderman is still owned by sony
7. and finally the best part of comic con...the loot
voltron collectible...looks expensive...might be worth checking out frank and sons next week to see if anyone has it...looks a lot better than the super plastic looking version from sdcc 2011
http://news.toyark.com/2013/07/17/sdcc-2013-voltron-wednesday-92620
sdcc toy coverage from tomopop
http://www.tomopop.com/
it might be better that i couldn't go since i probably would have spent way too much money
1. walking dead season 4 trailer that was shown during the panel...lost some fighters after shane and andrea were killed off...now they have michonne and tyreese, and carol seems more capable...it doesn't look like they'll be able to stay in the prison with so many walkers crashing the fences...i think it's going to be another good season
2. game of thrones panel and the "in memoriam" vid...nice touch with the music...
3. x-files 20th anniversary panel...one of the best shows ever and probably the best duo ever...gillian anderson looking pretty good...if they make a third movie, they better close out the series instead of the crap that was the last movie
4. superman/batman movie...if it's done well, then it could be the best comic book movie to date...but that is a big if, and adapting the dark knight returns for a superman sequel is going to be difficult since superman is simply a tool for the government in the comic
http://www.geeksofdoom.com/2013/07/20/sdcc-2013-director-zack-snyder-announces-supermanbatman-movie
5. x-men days of future past...would be pretty cool to see all of these characters, but the x-men franchise has not been very good even with very simple plots...days of future past is pretty complicated with alternate timelines
http://www.geeksofdoom.com/2013/07/20/sdcc-2013-fox-brings-out-past-future-x-men-for-x-mendays-of-future-past-panel
6. last line of the article - avengers 2: age of ultron
http://www.tor.com/blogs/2013/07/avengers-age-of-ultron-sdcc
if they're doing this arc, then there might be more superheroes to add to the cast...i wonder how much integration there will be with the other marvel franchises...mainly x-men and avengers since spiderman is still owned by sony
7. and finally the best part of comic con...the loot
voltron collectible...looks expensive...might be worth checking out frank and sons next week to see if anyone has it...looks a lot better than the super plastic looking version from sdcc 2011
http://news.toyark.com/2013/07/17/sdcc-2013-voltron-wednesday-92620
sdcc toy coverage from tomopop
http://www.tomopop.com/
it might be better that i couldn't go since i probably would have spent way too much money
damn banks
this is another reason why i hate banks and the financial industry...
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/21/business/a-shuffle-of-aluminum-but-to-banks-pure-gold.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/21/business/a-shuffle-of-aluminum-but-to-banks-pure-gold.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
17 July 2013
london comic con
london comic con vid...some pretty good cosplay...might even be better than sdcc...also, HODOR!
kotor
kotor is 10 years old...one of my favorite games, and it was star wars done well...kotor 2 was good except for the ending which didn't make much sense...too bad they didn't make it a trilogy, but instead came up with a crappy mmorpg...
http://kotaku.com/happy-birthday-kotor-thanks-for-having-such-great-sta-790512958
http://kotaku.com/happy-birthday-kotor-thanks-for-having-such-great-sta-790512958
07 July 2013
anime expo
found some good loot at anime expo...i overpaid a little on a couple of them, but i found a really hard to find die-cast model of galaxy express 999 for a good price...a quick check on amazon and ebay only had a few matches and were listed at much higher than what i paid...some of my earliest memories after moving to the states are of watching galaxy express and mazinger z
if i bought early, i could have gotten a full one day pass for $20, but since i got it at the door, it cost $30 for just the exhibit hall...with another $20 for parking, it cost $50 just to get in the show...in order to get my money's worth, i walked around the exhibit for over 7 hours straight non-stop (good thing i wore good shoes) and tried to look at everything...if i didn't make one final pass just before closing, i would have missed the seeing the galaxy express model, which was what made the trip worth it...i was also hoping to find a die-cast model of the space battleship yamato, but i could only find the super huge one and not the 1/1300 scale version circa '78 or re-released '98
the exhibit hall was only in south hall and the other halls had events and panels, which i didn't have access to...maybe next year, i'll get a full day pass and see the other stuff
i never really watched gundam, but the figures looked cool...people might mistake them for robotech or macross (robotech is a US version of a mashup of various macross animes i think)
unfortunately, i didn't take many pics after this...the next time i thought of taking a picture, my phone was already running low on battery and was only able to take a pic of a couple steins gate figures before it shut off...the battery is old and can't keep a charge
the convention seemed to be a younger crowd than sdcc and had more cosplay...any google search of anime expo and cosplay should result in a ton of pics....the big three of naruto, bleach, and one piece were the most common...then next most popular costume was probably attack on titan...it started to get packed around noon, but nothing like sdcc...my main interest was in the toys and collectibles and to see how they differed from the stuff at comic con...the main difference aside from the obvious anime/manga stuff instead of star wars, marvel, and dc was that there was a larger focus on figurines instead of action figures...they were true collectibles for display and not toys that were meant to be played with
the majority of anime is targeted to teens and young adults and most are familiar with the standard formula of fighting and leveling up like in dragon ball, but there are anime that can be enjoyed by older adults and are probably better than a lot of what passes for entertainment on tv...the anime versions of mushishi and usagi drop (bunny drop) are two that i would recommend
mushishi is about a man named ginko who travels the land studying mushi, which are very primitive life forms that border on the supernatural and sometimes come in conflict with humans...the stories are about his travels and him trying to help people who are afflicted by mushi...it is an episodic series, and there is little continuity between episodes, so character development is a little lacking....however, the stories are quite original and worth watching...the series meanders at a leisurely pace, so it took a few episodes before getting a feel for the anime and some patience is needed...i was hoping to find any collectibles related to this at the convention, but i did not find any...i didn't read the manga version, so i can't recommend it
usagi drop is a "slice of life" anime about a 30 year old single man named daikichi who adopts his grandfather's illegitimate six year old daughter named rin after the grandfather passes away and the mother abandons her...the other relatives want to put rin up for adoption, but daikichi decides to take care of her...it is a very simple, heartwarming, and funny series about the two of them trying to be a family...i can't recommend the manga version of this one either
also, as with most anime, i think subs are better than dubs...the only exception to this that i can think of is cowboy bebop where the english voice acting was pretty good
not sure if i will go again, but it was different enough from other comic cons like sdcc, comikaze, and long beach comic con to warrant checking out once
 |
| jackpot! |
 |
| ships from one piece and a mazinger figure... |
the exhibit hall was only in south hall and the other halls had events and panels, which i didn't have access to...maybe next year, i'll get a full day pass and see the other stuff
 |
| what i saw as i walked towards the escalators to the exhibit hall...the anime costume looks a little scary in person |
 |
| large gundam booth in the front |
i never really watched gundam, but the figures looked cool...people might mistake them for robotech or macross (robotech is a US version of a mashup of various macross animes i think)
unfortunately, i didn't take many pics after this...the next time i thought of taking a picture, my phone was already running low on battery and was only able to take a pic of a couple steins gate figures before it shut off...the battery is old and can't keep a charge
 |
| steins gate figures...a fun, time traveling anime that was adapted from a video game...okabe and kurisu in their lab coats |
the majority of anime is targeted to teens and young adults and most are familiar with the standard formula of fighting and leveling up like in dragon ball, but there are anime that can be enjoyed by older adults and are probably better than a lot of what passes for entertainment on tv...the anime versions of mushishi and usagi drop (bunny drop) are two that i would recommend
mushishi is about a man named ginko who travels the land studying mushi, which are very primitive life forms that border on the supernatural and sometimes come in conflict with humans...the stories are about his travels and him trying to help people who are afflicted by mushi...it is an episodic series, and there is little continuity between episodes, so character development is a little lacking....however, the stories are quite original and worth watching...the series meanders at a leisurely pace, so it took a few episodes before getting a feel for the anime and some patience is needed...i was hoping to find any collectibles related to this at the convention, but i did not find any...i didn't read the manga version, so i can't recommend it
usagi drop is a "slice of life" anime about a 30 year old single man named daikichi who adopts his grandfather's illegitimate six year old daughter named rin after the grandfather passes away and the mother abandons her...the other relatives want to put rin up for adoption, but daikichi decides to take care of her...it is a very simple, heartwarming, and funny series about the two of them trying to be a family...i can't recommend the manga version of this one either
also, as with most anime, i think subs are better than dubs...the only exception to this that i can think of is cowboy bebop where the english voice acting was pretty good
not sure if i will go again, but it was different enough from other comic cons like sdcc, comikaze, and long beach comic con to warrant checking out once
18 June 2013
f1
an interesting article from jalopnik about how rich people and celebrities party at the monaco grand prix...if i could go to one f1 race, it would be monaco...
http://jalopnik.com/how-i-got-inside-the-monaco-grand-prixs-most-ridiculou-511861360
http://jalopnik.com/how-i-got-inside-the-monaco-grand-prixs-most-ridiculou-511861360
16 June 2013
retirement
another article about retirement that is related to the last one...
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/16/your-money/suddenly-retiree-nest-eggs-look-more-fragile.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
it has some good links to retirement calculators...i need to save a lot more than i am currently to be able to retire in 30 years
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/16/your-money/suddenly-retiree-nest-eggs-look-more-fragile.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
it has some good links to retirement calculators...i need to save a lot more than i am currently to be able to retire in 30 years
08 June 2013
retirement
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/09/your-money/why-many-retirees-could-outlive-a-1-million-nest-egg.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
i'll never be able to retire...my guess is that i will need probably about 4 to 5 million to retire...sounds like a lot of money for retirement, but 4 million probably won't buy that much 30 years from now
i'll never be able to retire...my guess is that i will need probably about 4 to 5 million to retire...sounds like a lot of money for retirement, but 4 million probably won't buy that much 30 years from now
04 June 2013
housing market
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/06/03/behind-the-rise-in-house-prices-wall-street-buyers/
the same financial institutions that profited from the housing crisis that they caused are now able to rig the system again and use a pump and dump type strategy on homes as if they were stock for a company
03 June 2013
game of thrones
this has been going around the interwebs after the red wedding episode...obvious spoiler ahead...although since the book has been out for over a decade and the episode already aired, i don't think it really qualifies as a spoiler anymore...
game of thrones is probably the best show on tv now...even better than the walking dead...the two shows have an interesting dynamic between the fans who have read the books/comics versus the ones who haven't...a bit of geek snobbery from the ones who have read the books/comics
game of thrones is probably the best show on tv now...even better than the walking dead...the two shows have an interesting dynamic between the fans who have read the books/comics versus the ones who haven't...a bit of geek snobbery from the ones who have read the books/comics
14 May 2013
shield
new trailer for shield...agent coulson is back...i like ming na wen, but seems like an odd casting to me...also, i hope richard's character is better than gunn from angel...he probably was the least interesting character on the show...i hope glau can find a way on this show, but she's in the pilot for a show based on the comic peter panzerfaust (peter pan vs nazis)...her streak of cancelled shows might continue...
09 May 2013
spock vs spock
this commercial has been going around the interwebs...i don't like the cars, but the commercial is funny...
dfw speech
i know i read or saw this somewhere, but i don't remember...i gotta think this way more...
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