As you can see, I've only made good on half the promise. We've got the blog rollin' in the new layout, but there were just too many cross-browser bugs to put it up on the main page quite yet. (Plus, there's the issue of redoing about a hundred images within the new format.) At least y'all can converse without pine to the left and Santa to the right -- we'll get the whole ditty up soon. Thanks to Brian for putting it together. Still have some tweaks to make here and there, but we're getting close.

I didn't have high hopes for this one before putting it together, but I kinda dig the way it came out. And if you've ever eaten a package of Garfield and Friends fruit snacks, you will too. It's an essay on Garfield's Garfood -- a collection of candies, snacks and kitty treats branded with the fat cat, all from the late `80s/early `90s. I just picked up season 2 of Garfield and Friends on DVD, and realized how much that show used to mean to me. It was my absolute fave for a short while. If you're around the same age as me and were also bit by the Odie bug, you should remember at least a few of the things seen in the article. Get to it. And while you're at it, pick up the DVD sets. I know how the strip's been received in the past few years (read: poorly), but the cartoon was great stuff. I haven't gotten up to any of the episodes with the "oh we're the ants" songs yet, but it's good to know that the future holds treasure.

Also picked up Freddy Vs. Jason, the only film featuring either character that I hadn't yet bought. It was moreover to see the infamous original ending, and after seeing the infamous original ending, I can say for sure that it's a good thing they changed it to the dreamy Freddy/Jason lake epilogue. If you thought the film relied too heavily on the kids and not at all enough on the title characters, the original ending would've really pissed ya off. I hope they get around to making whatever kind of sequel they decide on -- at the horror convention, Englund pretty explicitly said not to expect Freddy Vs. Jason Vs. Ash, as Raimi/Campbell would prefer to do an all-new Evil Dead flick than throw their legacy to the wolves, so to speak. On the upside, he seemed confident that Freddy would be tangling with Michael Myers down the road, and I only hope that doesn't mean Jason's going to be left in the dust. I'd personally rather see each character return to their respective series for individual films closer to their original appeal, but that's seeming less and less likely. Ah well.

Speaking of movies, it's looking to be a way-great summer with Batman Begins and War of the Worlds being two definite must-sees. X-E's reliable snail of a designer, Brian, saw Batsy last week and loved it. And as far as War of the Worlds goes, I'm pretty sure I'll love it even if it's the worst movie ever made. I'm even slightly interested in Shark Boy and Lava Girl due to the 3-D thing, which is overstated in the television ads to the point where it'd be worth seeing in theaters just to watch all the kids cry with disappointment.