Not Really.

From page 13 of Invincible #10

Yes, you knew it too...

...It's so true. *LOL*

Reaction: Rise of the Silver Surfer

The F4 sequel is finally out on DVD (and in my collection). I don't know what the big deal is, but Rise of the Silver Surfer turned out to be much better than people have been telling me. But maybe that's because I saw it after I watched 2 astoundingly mediocre films: Across the Universe and 3:10 to Yuma.

In fact, I could only come up with 3 major gripes with the this Fantastic Four outing.
1) I don't know who was in charge of costuming and make-up, but for all the good they did for The Surfer (the combination CG and suit FX were amazingly real) Sue Storm got the crap end of the stick. I don't know it is, but Jessica Alba looked horrible for at least the first half of the film.

2) Photography choices were a little on the dark side. I have my home theatre calibrated to THX standard but I spent a lot of time (particularly during scenes at night) squinting at my screen. Which is a shame because there was a lot to see during the action shots.

3) The universal threat reduced to a name. Galactus is a powerful and ancient creature. He's got reasons for doing what he does... And the ending was kind of vague.

Other than these 3 nits to pick, I actually enjoyed the movie. F4 is the kind of film that Marvel ought to be churning out. The Marvel Universe's roots are firmly in 1960s and for that, there is a lot of inherent cheesiness. But people tend to think (thanks to "serious" movies like Batman Begins) that super-hero movies can't be campy. So I ask, Why not? The original F4 comics were full of comedy. What other series would have the nerve to title itself "The World's Greatest Comic Magazine!?"
So I recommend to kick back, get comfortable, and have some fun with a movie.

Disgaea2 gashapon

I don't even know why I bought this. It cost a stupid amount at the local store but it did come with a cool little stackable dust-proof case. I haven't even played Disgaea ...any version. And I haven't actually watched the anime or read the manga. (but I probably should because it looks pretty crazy.

Anyway, the packaging was this groovy "collect an entire mini-army" or something ridiculous like that. So naturally, I had to get one.

Can somebody tell me about this character? She's got a pair of blonde wavy pigtails and carries a bow... And I think I just found something new to collect.

the inbox this week

A few items of note in my Inbox this week...

Best Buy is starting a rewards program. It doesn't really grab my attention though. You get a few dollars back for every few hundred you spend. Kind of reminds me of Canadian Tire Money: I totally ignore it. That is, I ignored it until I started collecting it with my credit card (meaning almost EVERY purchase I made anywhere could get me free stuff at Canadian Tire a couple of months later). So far the Best Buy "Reward Zone" is comparable to the HBC Rewards... useless.

My mom wrote me an email. Turns out that Messenger roll-out I reported a couple of weeks ago not only screwed me up, but also screwed up anybody who had added my current email address before it became my Messenger ID. My mom's contact list in Messenger still lists me as "Non-Messenger Contact." Not sure how to fix that but I guess I can get her to add me manually - just need to talk her through that when I have time.

Yamato wrote back to answer my complaint. They said they were sorry for the mix up and that a new replacement part would be sent out immediately. I wonder when it will arrive at my door (or the local postal outlet). When it does, and if it's the right piece this time, I will heave a sigh of relief. And I will probably finally tear open the bag with the manual because I'm sure there are still more features I haven't figured out on my own on the Scopedog model.

Yamato story continues

I was so psyched to find a postal slip on my door when I got home I did something I'm not known to do: instead of waiting for tomorrow afternoon as I pass the area on the way home, I decided to actually drive out to the post office to get my package.

I opened it to find a set of replacement armour bits for my VOTOMS, which is what I wanted except...

...right. They sent me the wrong colour. What I needed was a piece in a pale gray but the pieces sent to me were olive-drab, which doesn't help much. I wrote back to Yamato telling them this (but thanking them anyway for their effort). We'll see if another one (in the pale gray colours) shows up next week, but I'm not really holding my breath.