Credit to Team

Emphasis on TEAM!

I finally started playing Team Fortress 2. Yeah the game that came out 2007, we're so topical on this blog. (We just finished Avatar and I just started TF2.)

If you are one of the three PC gamers out there not playing this game, stop reading this review, and download this game from Steam. It will cost you $10, and yes an online First person shooter (FPS) that is approaching its 4 year mark is actually still worth picking up.

I've primarily been a console gamer in my life. I was pretty good at Goldeneye and Perfect Dark but that's about where my FPS skills maxed out. My problem is that FPS on average are games you have to learn by playing other humans. Where I like to get the basics down versus the computer and refine my skills against humans type of player. This game is (should that be was at this point?) a game changer. Not good at sniping, that's fine, be a medic, or build turret guns, or man the flamethrower. This game is not a first person shooter in the traditional format, you have a class it has strengths and weaknesses, and your team instead of an individual will be the deciding factor of a match.

The effect of an individual was what kept me out of games like Counter-Strike for years, and coincidentally away from PC gaming in that period. I didn't have the time or inclination to get my ass handed to me for hundreds of hours before I could start doing the owning. Besides I like a cooperative game better anyway. I love being the hero of the team, or the guy who does something really useful for the team more then I like owning noobs. And that's what surprised me first on this game, a great player can be like a force of nature. But since every class has a rock-paper-scissors element to it, there is a class that can cancel you out, and you will eventually run into it. When that happen you need a teammate.

The other thing that amazed me with this game is the attention to detail. You get hidden weapons just for playing every couple of deaths you'll get a screen saying you got a new item. It's random, but you can trade or melt down weapons to make others, or outright buy what you need. But the impressive part is none of these weapons are super weapons, they all have positives and negatives. It's more so you can tailor the class to your playing style. Also the attention to detail shows in how the levels are made so that they are easy to navigate after your 2nd or 3rd time in them. Ask me about the Caves in Goldeneye, not all FPS are worried about this. The art is made so you can identify what class is approaching, and what they're carrying even at a distance.

If you would like to see the rest of the "Meet the..." videos you can find them here. The videos are probably the best example of the in game humor, and graphics. Both of which I was a fan of long before I played the game. Warning: The in game graphics are slightly worse then the videos but not by much. So seriously give this game a chance even if you hate first person shooters. If you love FPS's you've probably already played this game.

It's V-Day! Storm the beaches of their hearts!

Happy Valentines, kids! If you were a clod and forgot to get something to show the one you love that you really don't hate them at all, then Uncle Stranger has your back! Below are a selection of Valentine Images sure to get him/her/it into the mood for LOURVE!

Source: meekshall

Source: london16

Source: GoblinQueen

Source: Unknown

Source: Unknown

Source: Zaerook

Source: Piano-Kun


Source: Daniel-Link

So Many Nits

So our group recently finished Avatar...no not that one.

The Last Airbender...no not that one.
The cartoon, I'd say Anime, but the anal retentive will yell at me because it's not Japanese. (It's bad when I have to tell you get a life, I work on a blog in my spare time.)

Don't look up nits on Google, they will haunt your dreams.

Anyway where was I before I was interrupted, so we finished all 3 seasons (books according to the DVD packages). And I got to say it was really good. Do I have complaints...yes (I'll cover them in a later review), but for a show that was so consistently good over 61 episodes I feel like I'm just nitpicking. (See, the picture is related. By the way, that's the cutest picture of a nit I could find.)

But the real reason I'm posting is that I have decided to watch The Last Airbender, yeah the one we mentioned earlier, the one that has a 7% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Here's some fan reactions when it first came out. (the only thing edited in this clip is the poster, and the 3 hours later tag.)

Here's so real fans reactions. Also you can see Boog's review of it here.

Why am I going to watch this? Because I've recently had bad movies on my mind. Mostly in the thought of at what point does a movie become so bad that we have to relegate it to the wall of shame? Once it's past a certain point of crap (measured in the empirical standard as a unit of Keanu) we should be allowed to download the movie for free. Mostly because the movie industry thinks that piracy is bad but lazy movies are okay.

And yes this standard would be mostly for the Hollywood mainstream movies, just because it shouldn't be possible to create the level of crap they do each year with the amount of money they waste on stupid movies.
Luckily I found The Last Airbender at my local library. I'm hesitant to even pay a dollar to Redbox for this thing. Although I am kind of upset that my tax dollars bought a copy for the local library.

So sorry there's no sports articles this week, but there will be Champions Leauge and Europa League games this Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, so have fun with those, and I'll probably have something to post in the middle of the week.

And stay tuned for some new sections soon.

Flick Picks, 6.0

Hello Readers, Boog here, with the sixth installment of Flick Picks, and a few announcements as to the format of what this review segment shall become, and some new things on the way. First, Flick Picks, for me, will usually be films I haven't seen before, or ones I have not seen very often, so that opinions on them will be fresh, and hopefully, entertaining. That said, I plan on implementing a kind of 'milestone reward' system for myself, so that occasionally I get to review something extremly fun for me to do. I will be starting that milestone system next week, as every seventh Flick Pick from here on out will become the Guilty Pleasures edition. Movies that I love, that are just downright horrible and stupid. I also have a milestone planned for every twentieth review, but I will get to that when it arrives. Second, I am wroking on two new segments, one on Music, titled CDreams, and one on Books, titled PageBurners. I have the subjects for the first review for each segment, I am now in the stages of compiling my notes and trying to make some sort of sense out of them. These new segments will have no set schedule, as Flick Picks will still be my main focus. But I felt that I am starting to get the hang of this review thing, as it were, and could therefore handle the extra workload, and provide more entrainment for you, the reader, while providing some insight into myself, my process, and my opinions.

Now, with all that out of the way, today I will bring you one of the better little action movies Christian Bale has ever done, and most of you probably don't even know it exists. He's since done better (the Nolan Batman films), but this little gem should really be watched. I'm talking about a film called Equilibrium.
Some of you are now going, "wait, this was in 2002? Why haven't I seen it?" First of, it had made it's money back overseas in DVD sales before it was released here, so the studios (Miramax and Dimension), opted for a smaller US theatrical release, so as not to potentially lose money. And it probably would have, for here is a list of films that the stars and side characters of this one were in that same year:
Chicago(Taye Diggs), Red Dragon, Punch-Drunk Love (Emily Watson), Reign of Fire, Laurel Canyon (Christian Bale), Lord of the Rings: the Two Towers (Sean Bean), Dog Soldiers (Sean Pertwee), Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (Angus MacFadyen). So, as you can see, it had a lot of competition that year, some of it even Oscar-winning. So it's understandable that this movie ended up being lost in the shuffle. But it's damn entertaining, so I'm gonna go into it in detail. If you hadn't figure out the SPOILERS by now, oh well.

First of all, the production values look stellar here, as this film was made for $20 million, and if you went by the sets and the body count(236, btw), not to mention the costumes, props and bits of CGI, would probably have guessed anywhere from a $35 to $45 million budget. The script and plot really want to bash out a good deal of symbolism here, so the amount of detail that goes into the sets and costumes here is very refreshing. The main city, where most of the film takes place, has a flag that is has the same colors as the National Socialist Party, and is even just a slightly modified version of it, turning the swastika into more of a cross. All the building have a religious, temple feel to them, the people dressed simply monk-like, in drab robes of gray or blue, no exceptions, except for the police, who wear black, and usually add some sort of long coat, and leather gloves. The conformity and sameness is bland at first, but then starts to become creepy, jarring, heavy. It really helps the plot along, giving you a sense of just how far into madness this society has gone. The police is where the symbolism ramps into high gear, first the regular forces, dressed to rather resemble Nazi stormtroopers, at least that's the aesthetic that comes to my mind when I see them, faceless, black-suited apparitions carrying assault rifles, gunning down everything in their path. Except for when the real badasses are called. These police, I should mention, are a direct military arm of the government of the area, a government that calls itself the Tetragrammaton. For those that don't know, the word means 'a word of four letters', and is a direct reference from Judaism for the name of God, as it was spelled 'YHWH', or "Yahweh', as it was pronounced. Scared of this Government yet? But back to the matter at hand. The true badasses of this police force are the Grammaton Clerics, which are really the idea this whole movie was built around. They are not just badasses, they are badasses that know what I'm going to call Gun Fu for the rest of this review. It's a great idea, and it's used to great effect in the film, driving some pretty damn awesome action choreography.

Gun Fu, is called the 'Gun Katas' by the movie, and both names are entirely accurate. It's basically a martial art, just one designed with guns and bullet trajectories as it's focus, using statistics and physics to place user in a position where his bullets can kill the most enemies, while remaining as safe as he can be from return fire. Like I said, great idea, and it's what the film is built around, so while not exactly accurate, or possible in a realistic sense, they at least give it an explanation, which in turn gives a reason why Christian Bale's character is this film is the supreme special badass that he is. So I say, just go with it, and enjoy the film. The action is pretty constant in this movie, each break for dialogue and plot heavy bits being relatively short, the longest being a ten-minute bit in which there is still some running and other small stunt work, but I digress. The film is chock full of scenes for the sake of symbolic visuals, with fire, religions, and churches being prominent metaphors for power and its abuse, and plenty of sun and tears as metaphors for purification and rebirth, with an especially potent scene involving Beethoven's 9th Symphony.

One note about the music. Other than the Beethoven track mentioned above, most of it is techno-rock fueling the action sequences in the background. Nothing special, but it gets the job done. The writing, one plot hole aside, is very solid, giving a complete story, nor frills or from left field surprises, it's science fiction action at its core, giving a well done three dimensional villain, a hero that becomes three dimensional by the end of the film, and a standard story with enough new wrinkles through the Gun Fu and religious overtones to make it fresh and engaging. This kind of story has been done before, but here it is done well. The dialogue, due the heavy symbolism of the plot and setting, is a bit hammy, but powerful at times, and most of the scenery chewing comes from the villains and side characters, so it's all in fun, and doesn't detract from the enjoyment factor. The plot is a basic sci-fi paradise gone wrong story, with the city of Libria, being where most humans live after the third World War, and the populace taking a drug named Prozium, which is designed to suppress all emotion, as it has been decided that hate, anger, jealousy, while also being the path to the Dark Side of the Force, is also the root of all Wars and crime, especially Rape and Murder, and should therefore be erased from humanity. The drug also suppresses joy, love, compassion, and everything else the Care Bears stand for, but, it the minds of the ones in power, this is a small price to pay for the ultimate peace. The story then revolves around one the senior Grammaton Clerics, John Preston, and what happens to him, and the entire city-state of Libria, after he accidentally misses a dose of Prozium, and during the course of an investigation, finds his emotions, and therefore his humanity. This part is played extremely well by Bale, as he opens the movie being very cold, distant, exacting to the world around him, no compromise, no mercy. His first partner is played by Sean Bean in a side role that is given less than twenty total minutes of screen time, but he does well with what he's given, dying in a pathos riddled slow-mo shot in an abandoned church, quoting poetry by William Butler Yeats. Taye Diggs then enters the story as Brandt, the new partner, acting as a kind of mirror for Preston, being new to the Cleric profession, showing a kind of hero worship for the uncompromising nature of Bale's character. Soon after comes the missed dose, and the love interest of sorts, Mary O'Brian, played by Emily Watson. She's best with strong willed female leads, and she continues to be good with them here, giving out a good performance with a lot of heavy handed contempt for the system, and Preston in general, as he is the one who killed Sean Bean, who, we find out, was in a relationship with her. Ouch. She slowly comes to realize Preston's unique situation, as he gets her to see the guilt and grief he has over the death of his partner, and also, her.

While this is happening, we get some scenes involving the villains of the piece, one Father, played by Sean Pertwee, as the 1984-esque voice of the people, constantly droning on from various screens all over the city about how destructive mankind was in the past, and why it's so important for Libria to be the way it is now, to prevent it from happening again. The other major villain, is played by Angus MacFadyen, who most of you will remember played Robert the Bruce in Braveheart, and some of you may remember played the villain Komodo from Warriors of Virtue. You know, the one with the kangaroos doing Kung Fu? Yeah, here he is doing plenty of scenery chewing, and does well as a bad guy, his plans not even being all that ambitious, just getting rid of the token resistance films like this always have, so that the perfect society he is in charge of running, remain safe, and in control. A little more on the action here, as I really do like the fight choreography in this film. The gunplay is rather awe inspiring, using the Gun Fu gimmick to make it seem almost supernatural at times. And the final battle between Bale and MacFadyen is just awesome, being a pistol duel between Gun Fu masters. One of my favorite final battles ever.

Now, on to the two problems most people may have with this movie. First, with 236 on screen deaths, of which Christian Bale's character is directly responsible for 118(that's exactly half, in case you were wondering), there is little to no blood in the movie at all. There are two reason for this: to keep the costs down, and to keep the rating down for a wider release. It gets kinda annoying at times for an action fan such as myself, to see so many bodies on the floor without the corresponding pools of blood underneath them, but eventually you get over it. Not to say that there isn't ANY blood, just that there's five instances of blood in this film at all, one in the opening sequence, and four within the last twenty minutes of film, leaving a large bloodless gap of dust squibs for about and hour and twenty minutes. And then there's the gun swap plot hole. There is a scene in the movie, that will flashback to another scene in the movie, that will make no sense whatsoever when it happens. This, unfortunately, is a flaw that comes directly from the director/writer, and ruins the movie for some people. However, the rest of the movie is very entertaining, and if you just ignore the plot hole when it shows up, the movie itself will make it irrelevant a few moments later, and you can enjoy the final showdown with glee. The only other thing I haven't mentioned is in the opening, where Dominic Purcell cameos. It was just before he got famous for the TV series John Doe, it's a rather small part, but you can see him with the long hair he had before he shaved it off for Blade: Trinity and Prison Break.

In closing, I really enjoy this film. The sets are haunting, the detail into the costumes and plot are just chilling, and most of all, you really feel for the main character, every scene with him adding a new layer to the overall character arc, making you sad when he is, and best of all, joyful when he succeeds. Go find this on DVD, netflix, wherever you can. This is one that no one should miss.

Bright Ideas: The Remake

This is just a quick post. Boog will be posting later, but I figured I would sneak my own movie post in between his and Stranger's.

A while back I had a post called Bright Ideas, well here's the remake, not because I'm redoing the post, but because both bright ideas involve remakes.

First off there is a remake a Arthur in the works, starring Russell Brand, a trailer has been released. The trailer is better then I expected, but seeing as how I was expecting a plague upon humanity, that's not saying much. My main question here is "Why?". Why do we need a remake of this? The original is not that old, and is still very funny.

Secondly a screenwriter and director have been chosen for the Highlander remake. It's the screenwriter of Twilight, and the director of the last two Fast and Furious'ses movies. Was the Highlander franchise cursed? Did Clancey Brown curse the movie after finishing the first one. (he was the only main actor smart enough not to come back* for the 2nd one, and yes he was asked.) It's the only theory that makes sense, because after 5 movies, 2 TV shows, a cartoon, all of which get ruined by the sequels that line of "There can be only one." looks like it should be taken literally. Even one film reviewer who love Highlander compare its fans (himself included) as domestic abuse victims. We turn out for horrible movie, after horrible movie. So they keep making more and keep telling us don't worry the next one will be great.

* Christopher Lambert wouldn't do Highlander 2 unless Sean Connery came back too, because they hit it off so well on the 1st movie. Now you know why Ramirez comes back, and how we could have avoided that crappy sequel.

OMG! Nerdy Movies From Here to the End of Eternity (Or June)

I Am Number Four – Feb 18th

Number one on our list happens to be Number Four. Or at least that's what he's telling us. This is an adaptation of the Teen Sci-Fi book by legendary "fiction writer" James Frey. Angsty heart throb teen aged aliens abound in Michael Bay produced explosion fest. Our Prediction: Sure, it kind of looks a little twilight, but replace the creepy “romance” with awesome special effects!

Unknown – Feb 18th

Coming out the same day as I Am Number Four is Liam Neeson's latest thriller flick Unknown. The premise is an old one but a fun one: Imagine you woke up one day and found out that you suddenly no longer existed. No paper trail, no one recognizes you – not even your own family! Our Prediction: Liam Neeson is very solid in a thriller role. I'd love to catch this one in theaters.

Drive Angry – Feb 25^th

After colossal failure Ghost Rider, Nick Cage is getting a second chance to make it right. Drive Angry is a man escaped from hell to kick serious ass on the people who sent him there. Our Prediction: Here's hoping this time they spread the awesome out instead of trying to condense it all into one scene.

The Adjustment Bureau – March 4^th

Matt Damon and Emily Blunt are a politician and ballerina in love! Except, ONOES, someone is trying to keep them apart (For some reason). Our Prediction: Phillip K Dick? Love Story? Oh man, that sounds just too weird not to watch.

Rango – March 4^th

I wasn't so sure about this one at first, but recent trailers have changed my mind. Johnny Depp is a cowardly chameleon who takes on the role of Sherrif in a small persecuted town and finds some kind of Seven Samurai moral lesson... Or something. Our Prediction: Eh, it'll be fun for the kids.

Battle: Los Angeles – March 11^th

Part of the growing genre of Documentary style-shot “First contact turns into massive Alien/Human War and we're in California/New York for some reason” genre. Aaron Eckhart saves the day. Our Prediction: Ok, despite misgivings about all these movies lately this one actually looks like it'd be a fun watch.

Mars Needs Moms – March 11^th

Based on the book by Bloom County cartoonist Berkeley Breathed on the premise that Mars is in such dire need of a mother's touch that they start abducting moms. Our Prediction: High quality Santa Clause Vs. The Martians.

Red Riding Hood – March 11^th

Twilight Director Catherine Hardwicke does TwilightTwilightTwilight TwilightTwilightTwilightTwilight FOOOREEEEVEEEERRRRR Our

Prediction: She falls in love with the big bad wolf.

Suing The Devil – March 11^th

Good day for movies, apparently! Lawyer makes a sham case to sue the devil for his entire history of wrongful actions – except then the Devil totally shows up! Our Prediction: Malcolm Fucking Mc Dowell is the devil!! How awesome is that?!

Paul – March 18^th

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost turn their Dynamic Duo into a Terrific Trio with the addition of tiny CG Alien Guy Paul (Seth Rogan). Sigourney Weaver makes an appearance – what, you're too good for Ghost Busters III but you'll do this? OurPrediction: ET Meets Shawn of the Dead – Totally wicked!

Sucker Punch – March 25^th

I promised myself I wouldn't talk about this movie. If I talk about it, then you won't want to see it and you need to see it. Our Prediction: Watch the trailer, dude!

Source Code – April 1^st

Soldier relives the dying memories of a man killed in a bomb blast with the intention of finding out who set us up the bomb, then decides that's not how the game is played and tries to prevent it from ever happening. Our Prediction: Ehhhhh... It's just the memories, where did this Einstein get the idea that he could actually prevent the outcome? Either this'll be a really awesome high-concept piece of art or another case of Hollywood forgetting how its own plot works.

Super - April 1^st

James Gunn brings back the joy and takes Rainn Wilson and Nathan Fillion with him. This time he takes on Super Heroes. Our Prediciton: I'm always a little 'meh' on Rainn Wilson, but NATHAN FILLION man!! Captain Hammer rides again?

Rubber - April 1^st

Rubber tire comes to life. Starts making peoples heads explode. No. Seriously. Our Prediction: AHAHAAAAHAHAHA.... AAAHHHAAAAAAAHHAAAAAAAH Gasp HAAAAAAHAHAAAA!

Hanna – Apil 8^th

La Femme Nikita Lolita. Saorise Ronan is a young assassin trained by her father to do his dirty work. Our Prediction: As long as it doesn't have any of the creepy pedophile implications of Luc Besson's brilliant The Professional, then I'm all for it.

Your Highness – April 8^th

Speaking of Natalie Portman... She joins James Franco and Danny McBride in a bold-faced mockery of the fantasy genre. It's gonna get spoofed right in the butt. Our Prediction: The trailer already highlight several hilarious moments. There are some high hopes for this one.

13 Assassins – April 29^th

Martial Arts tale of assassins on the road to revenge. Our Prediction: If you're coming to this for anything other than beautiful cinematography and incredible fight scenes then you're in the wrong theater.

Thor – May6^th

The God of Thunder heralds arrives at the end of the April Showers to bring an entire month of movie May Flowers. Kenneth Branagh is the big surprise here, but he's got a long history of far more than competent director work. Natalie Portman again. Lady's busy this year! Our Prediction: By Odin's One-eyed Salty Codpiece, this will be fun!

Priest - May 13^th

Paul Bettany is a priest in a post apocalyptic world fighting vampires to save a baby or some other people or something. Our Prediction: Looks weird but fun, but I'll admit I'm getting sick of vampires.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides – May 20^th

The one remaining redeeming quality of the original trilogy gets his own movie. I mean, the last two were his in all but name so I guess they figured why not just go all the way? Our Prediction: Could be awesome or could be lolawful

The Three of Life – May 27^th

This movie is... hard to describe. Terence Malick and Brad Pitt discover that all the world is a miracle and there is something in there about God's Divine Plan. Also, lessons about forgiveness. Our Prediction:

Weird-o-Meter is off the chart. Try to go into this one without expectations. Could be awful, or it could be 2011's answer to Inception. Keep your mind open, but whatever you do definitely see it. We need more films with this potential in the box office.

Kaiju Rampage

 Welcome to the next "big" thing on Geek Streak (or Time is a Spiral..., if you follow me there) and the destruction of civilization as we know it.  For almost 60 years, giant monsters have risen from beneath the Earth's surface to wreak havoc on humanity and each other.  These nigh unstoppable forces have awed audiences all around the world.

But what if you know little to nothing about these behemoths of the silver screen?  That's what I'm here for.  Now, I may not be the definitive expert on all things daikaiju, but I have studied these creatures in their natural habitat and observed their behaviors and decided that I should share my findings with the world.  So, without any further ado, this is Kaiju Rampage.

Let's start with a short primer on the subject.  In Japan, a genre of film and television was created called tokusatsu, which means "special effects," as these were live action films and television shows that heavily relied on scaled models, pyrotechnics, and men in rubber costumes as well as other special effects.  The genre originated with the use of action scenes and puppetry in early Japanese theater, but came into its own in the early 1950s.  Generally, tokusatsu focuses on sci-fi, fantasy, and supernatural horror and, in the early days, were very similar to American movies such as King Kong, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and Plan 9 From Outer Space.  This genre also includes Japanese super hero shows, such as Kamen Rider, Ultraman, and many of the shows that would be transported to the US as the Power Rangers series (most of these, you will notice, also mixes kaiju with their superhero action).

 The Power Rangers series (known, in Japan, as Super Sentai)

has been a longstanding staple of tokusatsu in television.

Of course, the most popular sub-genre in tokusatsu is kaiju, which heralded the birth of the genre with the release of Toho's 1954 film, Gojira (Godzilla).  The movie became such a huge hit, that it spawned a dynasty that has lasted over half a century; producing numerous sequels, spin-offs, and copycats.  The word kaiju means "strange monster," which doesn't, necessarily, denote a giant monster.  Daikaiju, "giant monster," is a more literal term, but kaiju is almost universally accepted to describe these radioactive titans.

Unlike King Kong, who was a naturally big ape in an island of primordial giants, a lot of kaiju tend to be radioactive mutations of animals that grew to monstrous size, the creations of ancient civilizations or alien invaders, or mystical guardians that rose from their slumber to heed the call for help.  While King Kong mostly fought dinosaurs and, in the fateful ending, a squadron of bi-planes, kaiju like to beat the crap out of the JDF (Japanese Defense Force) and each other in brutal, destructive battles.  A lot of times, kaiju die, only to be reborn or rebooted in another movie.  Only the original Gojira and a few other movies, including the original Gamera, featured only one kaiju.  Usually, the more kaiju you put in a movie, the better (from what I hear, Destroy All Monsters is a battle royale of epic proportions).

The movie that started it all.

However, I do feel that some kaiju movies do try to convey a similar message to King Kong, just in a different way.  In King Kong, mankind was meddling with one of the last great wonders left on Earth.  They made Kong a captive in a world that he cannot survive in.  By keeping this overgrown ape in their grasp, the magnificently savage beast dies and the promise of adventure in an ancient lost world dies with him.

With Gojira, it is something else that mankind is meddling with, as the 1950's were the dawn of the atomic age.  It was a cautionary tale of trying to harness destructive powers that mankind may not be able to contain (something that Japan was the only nation to completely witness firsthand at the end of World War II).  Godzilla is not a ferocious, but fragile beast that cannot survive in our world.  To the contrary, it is humanity who cannot survive in Godzilla's world.  Mankind has opened Pandora's Box and must deal with the impending age of destructive giants.  Humans must either subdue or placate the titanic reptile in order to survive.

Even Gamera, the "Friend of All Children,"

won't put up with your crap.

To posit one of my theories, Godzilla and other kaiju have become post-WWII kami, which is a catch-all term for spirits and forces of nature in Shintoism.  As America crushed the notion of a divine emperor in the wake of the war, Shinto beliefs dwindled. Japan had to find a new medium to convey the powerful and aloof personifications of nature that have been an integral part of Japanese culture throughout their recorded history.  Kaiju rose to fill that void, not only as "gods" of primordial nature, but as vengeful spirits, seeking to punish humanity for toying with things they cannot understand - a punishment that humans are foolish enough to lash out against.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, though.  Aliens have threatened the planet with slavery and destruction, which Godzilla, along with other kaiju, such as Mothra and Gamera, to name a few, have come to Earth's defense.  Kaiju is more than just the struggles of giant beasts played by men in rubber suits.  It's an ongoing war to prove who is master of Earth.  Humans may use and abuse the planet, aliens may bring violence and devastation to conquer it, but the world belongs to the kaiju, and they are not pleased.

When the Kaiju Rampage returns, we'll get into the different eras of tokusatsu and what each one brings to the table.

Ginger, on the martial arts behind Waterbending

So this week it's installment 2 in my Avatar: The Last Airbender mini series. I have found I have a somewhat obsessive personality when it comes to new, exciting things. I think that probably gets a little old for my friends and husband, though they would never say so, sweet people that they are. What I'm referring to is my mini (ok not really mini) obsession with the Avatar TV show recently. Everything about it is fantastic: the character development is really strong, the writing is realistic and funny, the setting is actually somewhat believable. Sorry, I'm getting carried away again. Anyways, what impressed me most about the series is the realistic look of the marital arts, and that they were all distinctly different - even in cartoon form. After looking into it a bit more, I found that the creators ( Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Koniezko) brought in a martial arts instructor (Sifu Kisu) to help them develop the four different bending styles - talk about commitment! After that I wanted to know more about the martial arts the bending forms were based off of and I thought maybe you guys would be interested to. So I came up with this four part mini series were I would share my findings. Check out Part 1: The martial arts behind Airbending if you missed it.

Waterbender Katara (check out the artist's page here!)

Waterbending is the first bending form you're exposed to in the series, though the character Katara. She acts as the narrator/secondary main character, and as the series progresses you get to watch her develop her skills and grow into a strong, capable young woman. (Quite fantastic if you ask me.) Anyways, Waterbending is based off the Chinese martial art Tai Chi. There are 5 major styles, each named after the family it originated from: (in order of verifiable age)

• Chen-style (Chen Wangting, 1580-1660)
• Yang-style (Yang Lu-ch'an, 1799-1872) 
• Wu/Hao-style (Wu Yu-hsiang, 1812-1880)
• Wu-style (Wu Ch'uan-yu, 1834-1902)
• Sun-style (Sun Lu-t'ang, 1861-1932) 

All the existing styles of Tai Chi today can be traced back to the Chen-style, which in the past had only been passed down as a family secret. The Chen family chronicles record Chen Wangting, part of the family's 9th generation, as the inventor of modern Tai Chi. Yang Lu-ch'an became the first person outside that family to learn the martial art. His success in fighting earned him the nickname "Unbeatable Yang", and his fame and efforts in teaching greatly contributed to the subsequent spreading of Tai Chi knowledge.

The study of Tai Chi itself primarily involves three aspects:

• Health: An unhealthy or otherwise uncomfortable person may find it difficult to meditate to a state of calmness or to use Tai Chi as a martial art. Tai Chi's health training, therefore, concentrates on relieving the physical effects of stress on the body and mind. For those focused on Tai Chi's martial application, good physical fitness is an important step towards effective self-defense.
• Meditation: The focus and calmness cultivated by the meditative aspect of tai chi is seen as necessary in maintaining optimum health (in the sense of relieving stress and maintaining homeostasis) and in application of the form as a soft style martial art.
• Martial art: The ability to use Tai Chi as a form of self-defense in combat is the test of a student's understanding of the art. Tai Chi is the study of appropriate change in response to outside forces, the study of yielding and "sticking" to an incoming attack rather than attempting to meet it with opposing force. The use of Tai Chi as a martial art is quite challenging and requires a great deal of training.

The philosophy behind Tai Chi is that if one uses hardness to resist violent force, then both sides are certain to be injured - at least to some degree. Such injury - in theory - is a natural consequence of meeting brute force with brute force. Instead, students are taught not to directly fight or resist an incoming force, but to meet it in softness and follow its motion while remaining in physical contact until the incoming force of attack exhausts itself or can be safely redirected, meeting yang with yin. Done correctly, this yin/yang (or yang/yin?) balance in combat, or even in a broader philosophical sense, is a primary goal of tai chi training. Lao Tzu provided the archetype for this in the Tao Te Ching when he wrote, "The soft and the pliable will defeat the hard and strong."

Katara's brother Sokka (same awesome artist as above)

Tai Chi's martial aspect relies on sensitivity to the opponent's movements and center of gravity dictating appropriate responses. Effectively affecting or "capturing" the opponent's center of gravity immediately upon contact is trained as the primary goal of the martial Tai Chi student. The sensitivity needed to capture the center is acquired over thousands of hours of first yin (slow, repetitive, meditative, low-impact) and then later adding yang ("realistic," active, fast, high-impact) martial training through forms, pushing hands, and sparring. Tai Chi trains in three basic ranges: close, medium and long, and then everything in between. Pushes and open-hand strikes are more common than punches, and kicks are usually to the legs and lower torso, never higher than the hip, depending on style. The fingers, fists, palms, sides of the hands, wrists, forearms, elbows, shoulders, back, hips, knees, and feet are commonly used to strike, with strikes to the eyes, throat, heart, groin, and other acupressure points trained by advanced students. Joint traps, locks, and breaks are also used. Most Tai Chi teachers expect their students to thoroughly learn defensive or neutralizing skills first, and then demonstrate proficiency with them before offensive skills will be extensively trained. There is also an emphasis in the traditional schools in which one is expected to show wu te (martial virtue or heroism) to protect the defenseless, and show mercy to one's opponents.

In addition to the physical form, martial Tai Chi schools also focus on how the energy of a strike affects the other person. A palm strike that looks to have the same movement may be performed in such a way that it has a completely different effect on the target's body. A palm strike that could simply push the opponent backward, could instead be focused in such a way as to lift the opponent vertically off the ground, breaking his/her center of gravity; or it could terminate the force of the strike within the other person's body with the intent of causing internal damage. Other training exercises include:

• Weapons training and fencing applications employing the straight sword (known as the jian or chien or gim), a heavier curved sabre (which translates into broadsword, though it is actually considered a big knife), folding fan (called san), wooden staff (2m. in length, known as kun), 7 foot spear and 13 foot lance (both called qiang). More exotic weapons still used by some traditional styles are the large Dadao or Ta Tao and Pudao or P'u Tao sabres, halberd, cane, rope-dart, three sectional staff, Wind and fire wheels, lasso, whip, chain whip and steel whip.
• Two-person tournament sparring (as part of push hands competitions)
• Breathing exercises; nei kung or, more commonly, ch'i kung to develop ch'i or "breath energy" in coordination with physical movement and post standing or combinations of the two. These were formerly taught only to disciples as a separate, complementary training system. In the last 60 years they have become better known to the general public.

Katara (season three)

(Spoilers?) Surprisingly, I think the series showcased water's ability to adapt and strengthen (like how water forms a canyon over time), especially as Katara's character evolves. Tai Chi was an ideal form for Katara because of it's soft, flowing nature - She's every strong, but in a flexible, quiet way. (Still waters run deep anyone?) Also, as she learns to master her bending, Katara is the epitome of martial virtue: "I will never turn my back on people who need me." (Season 3, episode 3) And again in episode 16 (season 3 again) Katara shows wisdom and mercy someone three times her age would struggle with. That I think, more than anything, is the reason Tai Chi is a perfect fit.

What Sifu Kisu has to say about it:


Check us out next week for part 3: the martial arts behind Earthbending!

Brian Jacuqes Dead at Age 71

This weekend a great man died. Brian Jacques, writer and radio actor, died at the age of 71 from a sudden heart attack. Jacques, a Liverpool native, was famous in literary circles for his Redwall series of novels – a prolific series containing 22 installments covering multiple areas of history of the beautiful and fictional Mossflower Wood and Redwall Abbey.

Jacques brought joy to millions of children and adults in over twenty countries with his books, including one particular Stranger. These books were heavily influential in my emotional development, and helped me get through a lot of hard times as a child. More importantly, though, the books were key in his work with disabled children in his home town. He wrote in a very distinctive style so that when the books were read, every dialect, sight, sound, and smell would come to life for children who were robbed of their sight.

He was an inspiration to several authors and well known in the industry, but his writing was an early developed talent. In grade school he was punished by a teacher with a cane for writing a story of a bird who cleaned a crocodile's teeth – the teacher assumed it must have been plagiarized because of the talent involved. His younger life was spent as a truck driver when he'd become inspired by blind children to write the books, as mentioned above. The man was tireless and dedicated.

The Redwall series was initially published in 1986 with the titular book. It expanded to a trilogy after that with the second installment Mossflower - technically a prequel - and Marlfox to follow after. The series itself revolves around the world of Mossflower wood and the animals that inhabit it - anthropomorphic versions of the woodland creatures one would expect to find in England living out a pleasant medieval existence.

The series has come under attack over the years for accusations of racism in the fact that the villains are universally creatures classically considered "vermin," leading many to suspect that Jacques message was a faulty Aesop teaching that certain peoples would always be evil no matter what you did. Instead Jacques and supporters of his series took the platform that they referred less to specific racial groupings but more to the overall symbolic morality play of good versus evil in the general sense.

Twenty one books have been published to date with his last book - The Rogue Crew - due to be released on May 3rd.

I was introduced to the books in middle-school with a review for the freshly-released Martin the Warrior's review in Analog magazine. I finally managed to get my hands on the book in a school book fair in the sixth grade, and was immediately immersed in the world described and the plight of the honorable young mouse Martin and his quest to avenge his father's death and retrieve his father's blade. I followed next with Mossflower to see how he come to Mossflower Wood and met the creatures that would later help him build the legendary Redwall Abbey.

These books were instrumental in carrying me through bullying, sickness, and many other horrible periods in my life. They helped teach me how to behave, and were a very strong influence on shaping my character - without them I'd hardly be who I am today.

Mr. Jacques, we're very sorry to see you go, for the life you lived helped many of us in so many ways. Rest in peace, old friend.

Alchemedia: Portal

The main character is a blonde.

Hello, I’m Alchemilla, and today I’m going to talk about my first Nook purchase.

Portal

Imogen Rose

 

This book is available at both B&N and Amazon in digital copy for 99c, or around $10 for the physical version. (Just as a quick note, the Nook edition was really poorly formatted, and there were lots of punctuation errors, but I don’t know if that’s present in the print edition.) It is a young adult novel, and Imogen Rose’s first published work. You can find her website at www.imogenrose.com.

Come Find Me Two Years Ago... Six words that propelled ice hockey playing tomboy, Arizona, into an alternate dimension. She suddenly found herself in the past. In one moment she went from being an ice hockey playing teenager in New Jersey to a glamorous cheerleader in California. She found herself transported from a happy life with her dad, Dillard, to a new, strange one living with her mother whom she hates. Apparently it's a life she's always lived in. Everyone knows her as Arizona Darley, but she isn't. She is Arizona Stevens. As she struggles to find answers she is certain of one thing- that her mother Olivia, a brilliant physicist, is somehow responsible. . PORTAL is the story of the repercussions of Olivia Darley's attempt at creating a perfect world for herself and her children. Arizona's quest for answers threatens to undermine the seemingly perfect world that her mother has so carefully constructed. PORTAL is the first book of the Portal Chronicles. Fans of time travel, romance, and the supernatural will enjoy Arizona's quest for answers.
 

I'm going to start by saying "spoilers," but I really feel like that's a ridiculous thing to say after posting the description from Amazon.

Portal does exactly what it says on the tin (or the description) in that nothing that isn’t covered in said description happens. You may have noticed the “hook” at the end there. As she struggles to find answers she is certain of one thing- that her mother Olivia, a brilliant physicist, is somehow responsible. 

Pretty much that is the whole of the explanation you get. I understand that this is the first in a trilogy, but seriously, NOTHING HAPPENS in the whole of this book that in any way resolves the plot. Adjust your expectations accordingly.

"I hate you, mom!"

Anyway.

Let’s talk about the protagonist, Arizona.

Our introduction to Arizona is her remembering a play made in her last hockey game, rudely interrupted by perfume. Yeah, I don’t know how that works either.

Anyway, she explains to us how annoying her little sister is, how leather vs. fabric seating in her mother’s Hummer is somehow important enough to argue about, and how her mother wears Chanel black nail polish and has an “annoying” British accent.

Then, she introduces herself to the reader by saying that she is a tom boy, is on the hockey team, and wouldn’t describe herself as “pretty” and she hates her “full, wide lips.”

She then goes into great detail about how much she dislikes Olivia, her mother. The reasons are as follows: 1. “annoying” British accent, 2. Arizona was promised a growth spurt that has not happened, 3. her mom tells her that she is “so pretty!” 3. and she likes to have a clean house. What a bitch!

It’s pretty gross, actually.

Her cool dad, on the other hand (who she lives with) hasn’t cleaned house in eight months! “How cool is that!” she exclaims.

She also admits that she “did (her) very best to contribute to the battles” between her parents while they were married. What a peach.

Arizona goes on to explain how she hangs out with boys when she “wants things easy and uncomplicated” but hangs out with the girls “as much as possible” in order to fit in better.

But, girls, people. Girls talk about shopping. And we all know how annoying shopping is.

And then, this.

Minor Structural Damage.

“I consider myself a fairly normal teen, although I do have anger management issues when my mother is around. Perhaps issues is putting it mildly. It’s a huge problem, one that landed me in behavioral therapy, and almost on meds, after a huge overreaction by Mom to some minor structural damage to the house. Big deal. What are a few broken doors and bashed in walls in the grand scheme of life. I have to deal with the hatred I feel for her some way, right?”

Goodness, Arizona, why do you hate your mom so much? She must have done something terrible to you!

“I guess, simply put, I don’t like anything about her. She’s a pain.”

Oh. 

So, leaving aside the fact that Arizona is a sociopath who should probably still be in therapy, (and I am going to leave it aside, as the book completely does) what else is there to her?

OH SHIT! NO!!!

Not much, guys. She’s a tom boy. She hates pink. She wears a pony tail and doesn’t smile much. She hates her mom. That’s about it, man.

Over the course of the book, she discovers that she’s got a brother that she didn’t have in her other life, and gets herself a boyfrand!

Oh, and also, isn’t it weird that she’s suddenly in another life that is similar yet different from the one she knew? But who cares because 100 pages of BOYFRAND!!!

She does figure out that her mother had “something” to do with her being thrust into this different life, but doesn’t do anything with this information until this false sense of urgency due to the portal to her old life closing leads her to question her about it.

In this climax of the book, her mother and boyfriend urge her to do nothing instead of go back to her old life, and she agrees.

The choice to stay was the obvious one, but Arizona still acts like going “home” is the only thing to do.

It's kind of ridiculous, as she fits in quite well to her new life. She spends ages hanging out with and getting close to the other Arizona's friends and family. She joins the hockey team. Conveniently, her BFF from her old life made the transition too, so she doesn’t even have that reason to go back. She even seems to like her sister and mother, after she made a huge stink about hating them early in the book.

I found myself skimming page after page of uninteresting first person sections about Arizona and only really being interested in Olivia's brief sections. I have come to two conclusions about that. 1. The author clearly identified more with Olivia than Arizona, and made her a more interesting and sympathetic character and 2. Arizona was a purely passive player in the events of the book. As it said in the description, Olivia was “somehow responsible”. Arizona had nothing to do with the situation she found herself in, and really did next to nothing to change or resolve it. I can't say I understood Olivia, but I could at least feel that the author wanted us to identify with her.

”My work here is done.”

Arizona is a shallow and boring character who drives the plot simply by refusing to act. Olivia is a much more interesting character. I found myself wishing that the book had been about her.

There were a few significant plot holes. The largest and most confusing was when Arizona’s friend Simla was revealed to be an unlikely and frankly unmotivated antagonist. What changed? Nothing Arizona knew about and nothing that we, the reader, could identify, especially since we were treated to every passing thought in Arizona's head.

It also suffered from some dropped plot points. I'm not going to say that every single thing that is ever mentioned in passing should become important later, but making a big deal about something only to drop it later is annoying. Once, I'll bite, but it happened time and time again in this book.

OMG I have to take my little sister to school and I don't know the way, oh 2 pages later, never mind, dad will take her. I'm a cheerleader and Oh noz I don't know how to cheer! No, that's okay, I'll just sit out and quit the team and everyone will still love me. Uh oh! My brother and boyfrand are going to be mad that I tried out for hockey, except that they weren't, at all.

These red-herring non-conflicts are distracting and annoying, because they are the only kind of real adversity that Arizona ever has to face. As I mentioned, the plot was driven by Arizona’s inaction.

To sum up, yeah, no. I paid less than a dollar for this book. Did I get my money’s worth? I don’t know, I guess so.

Olive Oyl remembers.

It may go without saying, but I won’t be reading the following two books in this series, and I won’t be picking up a print edition to add to my library. I didn’t feel ripped off in the pocket book, but it did take me a good 3-4 hours to read, and I didn’t get much of a return on that investment.

I’ll give this book a (generous) D for “Doesn’t anybody remember that Arizona is a violent sociopath???”