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12/20/2006: Christmas Trees, More Mangers, Madness.

Christmas draws near, and yesterday, I took advantage of me-being-on-vacation-oh-hooray to go do some last minute shopping. The Internet took care of most of my gift-buying this year, and it’s certainly the easier option, but I kinda feel like I have to go shopping out somewhere at least once during the holiday season. You know…go to a mall, see a crappy Santa, drop a buck in a Salvation Army spittoon…it’s all part of the process.

I did that yesterday, and quickly remembered why online shopping is so attractive to me in the first place. I wouldn’t say that I’m totally agoraphobic, but I would say that shopping alone tends to give me shingles. My mind wanders to the worst and stupidest places. Like, I’m at the Woodbridge Mall in Jersey, and one of my contact lenses started acting up. Nothing major, but I spent a good hour staring at the floor because I was positive that it looked like I was crying. So there I was, bumping into people and poles all over the mall, all because I didn’t want people to think I was some guy in a long black coat sobbing his way through the fucking Woodbridge Mall, ALONE. I’m sure these are everyday trials for everyday people, but this sort of thing seems to happen to me very often. Me mudda never loved me.

Oh well. All part of the holiday tradition. Another part of the holiday tradition is the Christmas tree, so, how about that segue?

Over the weekend, we went to a couple of different “tree yards.” Where I live, the places where one can buy a Christmas tree are mighty eclectic. Some of the “stores” are converted garden centers. Others are legit backyards modified for a Yuletide purpose. I even saw one guy operating out of what I swear was a construction site experiencing downtime. Every tree was held upright by cinderblocks, and there were big giant saws everywhere.

I’m pretty particular about my tree. I don’t want it too big, but I don’t want one of those baby trees that come in silver pots with recipes for rosemary chicken — WAIT THAT’S NOT A CHRISTMAS TREE, IT’S A ROSEMARY BUSH CUT LIKE ONE! I don’t mind if the tree is misshapen or whatever, because that’s kind of Charlie Browny, but I hate that sort of bluish hue a lot of trees seem to have nowadays. If I wanted a blue tree, I’d go to Toys ‘R’ Us and spend ten bucks on the pre-decorated one that comes with all of the Power Rangers ornaments.

We hit a few places and found nothing, but on a final run (one of those runs where you actually drive home, stay in the car and say “FUCK IT I’M GOING BACK OUT!”), we hit the goldmine. Incredibly enough, it was at the same nursery that hosted that Halloween Playland thing back in October.

After scouring their generous selection of trees and being really happy that they were all twenty bucks cheaper than everywhere else’s trees, we narrowed it down to a few beauties and prepared to, as they say, “call the guy over.” Then I noticed all of these signs telling us to “go left” if we wanted to see a nativity with live animals. I don’t think I ever went left faster in my life.

The nativity scene was, uh, interesting. Maybe it’s just because I was coming off of a church’s nativity where everything had to be primped and proper, but I swear, the camels looked straight out of a Hanna-Barbera cartoon, all with crude black painted smirks and neon pink feet and stuff. Also, the statues (plastic statues that lit up) were obviously from a bunch of different sets, lest anyone believe the Virgin Mary had a hundred pounds on the Three Wise Men.

They delivered as promised with the live animals. When my friends and I busted into the church manger the other night, we had it made. Here, I had children punching me in the balls because I was diverting the attention of their llamas. The animals themselves were of a different disposition than the ones at the church, apparently very used to soliciting large crowds for handouts. These were party manger animals. Running, frolicking, smiling-for-the-camera kind of animals. It’s pretty neat to think that I met two llamas in two different places in the same week, and they were complete polar opposites.

Strangely, near the big pen full of animals were small cages stuffed with rabbits and roosters. The rabbit cage seemed adequate, but man, those roosters were setting the Guinness record for stepping in their own shit. Seemed kind of wrong, really, but I prefer to think that by nightfall, the place’s owners set the roosters up in some kind of posh rooster penthouse, where they have marble floors, A-grade seed and all the chickens they can fuck.

Oh yeah, the tree:

We haven’t had a chance to actually put ornaments on the thing yet, but for some reason, I’m digging it without ornaments. That’s not like me. I guess it’s just been a subdued year overall, and a tree without a hundred Starburst-flavored candy canes on it feels right.

Then again, if you look close, you’ll notice a Boglin serving as our tree topper. I’m just a big stupid liar.

Matt, is it worth the trip or should I just resign myself to working with the Assmouth twins?

Advent is awesome again. I loved the running gag with the bunk beds. And I’m agreeing that the Extreme Closeup Mistah Snowman is freaking hilarious.

And add me to the list of those who wanna pour some cinnamon on Mystie’s Buns.

okay i know that was incredibly annoying…but i couldnt resist! Im going to read the advent calendar for today now

Damn potted rosemary trees. My parents bought one a few years back. I kind of dig the idea of having a little living tree, but I don’t really want it to be remotely edible. It did survive the pot-to-ground transplantation though. Growed like a fucker too. Grew. Grewed.

Also, is Bird going to show up at all in this year’s Advent Calendar? I know he hasn’t yet, but I’m holding out hope.

Mike, I can’t believe how much you like Bird. Had I known there was a Bird fan out there, I would’ve prepared!

Yes, I know, getting a tree going 5 days before Christmas is pretty bogus, but I find solace in knowing that it will stay up until March.

Oh snap- I saw one of those Rosemary trees at the grocery store yesterday and I got really excited until I got closer and saw it was a damn HERB. And wow on all the live animal farms up north. I live in Atlanta where you’d expect a little bit of country but I haven’t seen any Christmas-y animals besides my cat when I put a Santa hat on him.

1. I didn’t know “rosemary trees” existed and I’m pretty sure I was happier before knowing this.

2. I’m terrified of shopping alone. You know why? Contact lenses. Yes, it’s true. I’m terrified one of my contacts will fall out and I’ll have to call someone to come pick me up because I won’t be able to drive myself home. Even worse, before I leave the store I’ll be forced to walk around pirate-eyed because I literally can’t see to walk without one of my contact lenses. So I feel for ya, Matt, I really do. But I won’t be caught dead walking around in public with my glasses on, so I guess that’s the sacrifice I’ll make to look non-geeky.

3. On the bulletin board… “Hand made grave blankets”??? Can someone explain to me what this is and why I feel compelled to own one?!

I’m glad you mentioned that your topper was a Boglin. I was trying really hard to figure out what it was before I read the last sentence. All I could come up with was a perhaps melted and deformed Jigglypuff. But then I couldn’t figure out why you’d top your tree with that. So yeah. My Daily Lesson: Finish reading before you hurt your brain trying to figure out grainy pictures.

Loving the tree btw. My roomates kid’s decorated ours and it is a picture of gawdyness….cute though.

What do 11 year old girls like these days? I can’t find a damn thing for my neice.

Also, I think that the Halloween Playland/Green Side up needs to be nominated to be the best place ever.

Tommy: It’s hard to say because some 11 year olds these days act like 16 year olds. Does she like crafts at all? Cuz you could get some sort of craft kit, like one that makes friendship bracelets. Or you could get 20Q, that seems to be a popular toy this year. I got one for a friend and sat there playing with it for half an hour before I wrapped it. If I were 11, I would want this, but mainly because it looks like something straight out of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse.

Tommy:When I was 11 I wanted Mall Madness for xmas….and I got it. If I was 11 now, I’d still want it. But only if the electronic sales lady still called the Kitchen Store the CHiTchhen Store. My roomates 11 year old daughter seems to have grown out of toys and fun things already….maybe we should just buy her a six pack. Kids these days. I hate to say this, Mystie’s right….a lot of 11 year old’s are like 16 yr olds these days. And the only safe thing to get a 16 yr old is a gift certificate. I’m not a proponent of those though. Maybe ask her parents?

Oh my god I got up too late and have to wait until my English exam is over to read the advent. I’m going to go insane.

Contacts are bad! I do love how casual contacts people are about sticking things in their eyes, though.

How do you get a boglin to stay on top of the tree like that? Not sure I could get my girlfriend to go along with it, but I would sure like to try!

when I lived in Joiseyy I used to go to woodbridge mall alot, I wonder if we ever bumped into eachother admiring the GameStore and wishing to god we could afford that weird butler guy statue?

“I’m terrified one of my contacts will fall out and I’ll have to call someone to come pick me up because I won’t be able to drive myself home.”

Special K - I’ve had that happen. I had to drive an hour and a half on one contact lens. It wasn’t too bad, actually. For a while I just kept one eye closed, but that got annoying after a while. So then I just kept them both open. Things looked kind of weird…like the whole world was a “magic eye” painting that I just couldn’t get to pop out. But eventually, you get used to it.

Perhaps as a result of my hearing disability, I’ve developed a STRONG phobia against putting anything in my eyes. So no contacts for me. Just the thought of them makes me cringe.

I can understand if glasses make you uncomfortable and all, but you can’t beat the convenience of them…

i’ve watched people put contacts in and it freaks me the fug out. They swear contacts are better cuz they move around with your eye, where glasses sometimes you gotta move your head, but cripes! I also got a nice eyefull of wiper fluid this morning, so i imagine contacts would sting me too

I did most of my shopping online too, but because my lady is a lady she needs to touch things before she purchases them. Which means, I must go to the mall with her. So, last night we head over the bridge to the deptford mall in jersey and we got our mall on. I never want to go to the mall again.

Tommy, I have an 11 year old cousin who adores hoodies (hooded sweatshirts). I loved hoodies at that age as well. I know that shopping for clothes for a tween girl sounds intimidating, but you can’t go wrong with a hoodie.

MissJess: I LOVED Mall Madness! I never had it, but my best friend did…I was so jealous.

Matt: The Advent Calendar is fantastic. I read it every morning when I get to work…Starts my day off right.

Your tree looks great. I guess it’s the Boglin that makes it great.
Since there’s been suggestions for others, I’m not afraid to ask. I ahve to buy a gift for all my employees. They are 16-19 yrs old. My limit is about 20 bucks each. Any suggestions?
Tommy I think 11 year olds want what one would think a 13 year old does. Cause those darn litle girls want to grow up so fast.

Mystie, MissJess : Thanks! Yeah I got her Mall Madness a couple years ago, and I don’t remember exactly but for some reason they got rid of it, that’s all she wanted that year too! I’m on a mission today to find one of those BeDazzler’s or whatever, but if all else fails, I’ll just give her money, and coupons for free guitar lessons from me that I was supposed to start like 4 months ago.

Special K, a grave blanket is a sheet of pine branches (usually castoffs from Christmas trees or chopped up charlie brown-type trees) woven and/or tied together. Often there will be some tacky ornaments hot-glued on as well. Basically it’s a solid wreath that is laid on a grave.

Matt- I dig your tree! It has a great shape. Glad you finally got to put one up.

11 yr old girl: Gift certificate to HMV (to buy CDs of Emo bands) or gift certificate to a clothing store (to buy outfits that make her look much older than 11)

kb- I would again go with gift certificates to HMV. That way they can all get a CD- something nobody that age actually BUYS anymore.
Or “Movie Money” so they can go to the theater on free dates and make out.

I am a T-shirt freak. I have everything from Iron Maiden Tshirts to a IHOP “Powered by Pancakes” shirt. My point is you should sell an Advent/ Advert shirt next year. Nothing too crazy because the last thing you want is to be tied to a retail project + XE + work + Advent + Christmas + Jager drinking free time ect… I just think you could clean up pretty well with yearly shirts. Kind of like Hess trucks. I would definitely rock a Mista Snowman or Waiterbot shirt while shopping for a last minute back massager or foot bath. I don’t think Playmobile or Leggos would mind.

MissJess: CHiTchhen Store! Because of that game, that is how I always say kitchen. People think I’m insane.

flabslapper: Ouch! Wiper fluid in the eye! I’ve had vinager in mine, so I know all about stinging eyes.

BTW my 15mo old son, just started singing along with Last Christmas on the jukebox! I’m so proud!

Not to take away from all the Christmas talk and AC goodness, but the new trailer for the live action Transformers movie is up. Check it:

Matt, I just want to reiterate that the advent calendar is super rad this year. So many twists and turns, I can’t wait to see what happens tomorrow!
Also, I think your tree is super cute. I only had one ‘tree yard’ so to speak to choose from. There used to be like five around here, and now there’s just one.
Last year, whereas a medium sized tree was $20, now a small tree is $30. =(

OK so Matt never did answer me about the bad breath thing with the new Sun Chips so I am going to have to assume they are just as bad and consider it a loss.

Also, and I am not sure if it is just me or if it is a East Coast thing, but What The Frontdoor is this “Handmade Grave Blanket” that they are selling at this nursery? Am I missing out on something totally cool that I need to rectify immediately or do people seriosly buy blankets for graves in an effort to keep the dead from being cold at night? I am so very very lost and confused.

Perhaps a shot of Jager and a new AC entry will help to calm my shaken nerves! *subtle hint*

Matt, I hope your tree is far from your TV if you’re getting a Wii. I hear all those purdy lights screw up the sensor and make your remote act like mista snowman on crack, without the christmas carols…

OK so I figured out what a Grave Blanket is thanks to a little help from my friends over at Ask Jeeves. Apparently they are only available from about October thru January though so honoring the departed is just a seasonal thing. Now I know. Whew!

I am now making a mental note to make sure to die/depart/shed my mortal coil during the winter months so my peeps will have to spend money on some shrubs to honor and remember me. I am thinking this is a pretty cool idea now.

Also, Invader Norbert…if you want we can start a band and call ourselves the Assmouth Twins. I can’t sing so anything coming from me would amount to total Shite and thus would earn the title. How about it? Let me know.

I really really want to be excited about that Transformers trailer. But… I just can’t… I guess I’ve just heard too much…

No, I will not go there!
Too….. horrendous…. to…. con…tem…plate….
These…. are…. the ….voyagessss…… *ACK*
(sound of kingklash hitting floor)

but I prefer to think that by nightfall, the place’s owners set the roosters up in some kind of posh rooster penthouse, where they have marble floors, A-grade seed and all the chickens they can fuck.

Stuff in my eyes…I got hot sauce in my eye a few times. Not the crappy “Taco Bell” packet hot sauce either…REAL hot sauce that rates 357,000 scoville units (40x hotter than tabasco). THAT hurts.

I was reading posts from XE’s Christmas past because, well, I am on vacation and I am fluish so this is what I do. Anywho, I read this and it really does sum up how appriciative most of us are that we can be reminded what it is like to be excited for Christmas as if we were 12 again.
That was a sentence full of gramatical errors. This season sure can get you down with the gift ritual, malls, traffic, traveling, fruitcake, having to eat across from a three year old who eats with his mouth open and has snot all over his face. But when it’s too much we can always log on and read about Swillers and Garfields Christmas. So thanks Pal.

Ahh, so Kuse has a thing for Claire? Who knows? ‘Tis the season for miracles…

That tree is gorgeous, Matt! It was worth the long search. That Green-Up place must really, really like you.

my tree has ONE ornament on it, for the sheer fact that I dont want to pull everything from out under my bed to get some glass balls and patrick and spongebob. but the single paper dinosaur is still cool.

his the halloween now christmas playland have all kinds of kitschy fun things to buy?

Matt, Woodbridge Mall always makes my contacts act up too. I think they have the driest heating system I’ve ever experienced. I spent 12 hours there the other week, and by the time I left, I looked like I’d spent equal time out in the desert.

Bill - you aren’t the only one going through the archives; I am too and am loving them.

Matt - your tree is beautiful. I would’ve stopped at just lights myself this year if it weren’t for my 16 year old daughter who wants things done like always. Maybe it’s that I’m getting older, but I’m finding that simpler is better sometimes…..

I know the feeling. I don’t particularly care for Bay, or his work. I think Don “Douchebag” Murphy is a whiny, bitchmade, immature fat co**sucker, but the trailer made me at least warm up to the flick. I think these things are goign to look like morphing robots, instead of Transformers, but the Prime sequence really gave me hope, at least that they will look half decent, regardless of the “EXTREEEME” designs.

I’m dying to hear Cullen’s voice come out him. I think I might wet myself when I do.

Here’s the US High Definition version. You owe it to yourself to check it out:

The tree looks great. (sorry, just got to finish reading the blog article) Sometimes simple works. I almost did the same thing with my tree. I actually just liked the lights and the star alone. Then I remembered I spent a ton on my ornaments, so I might as well use them.

And the AC has been hysterical and awesome. We still have 5 days until Christmas, so there is still time for some crazy shit to go down. Knowing Claire, it’s VERY possible.

Hey, here’s a quick question for those in NY and who may have access to such info. Anywhere in this known univers ewhere I might be able to score a Wii??!?

To quote the African American fellow with the full Affro combing the dessert in Spaceballs:

I have no tree to speak of. The gifts will be placed under a 3 foot tall revolving fiberoptic tree from Target. Jealous much?

No tree for me this year. I also have a small German carousel horse that I decorate in years when there’s no tree, but I just don’t have room this Christmas to move him to somewhere other than his shelf. The lights are over the window, and there are some half-assed wreaths I made from garland holding the one REALLY IMPORTANT decoration I must put up every year - a wooden reindeer ornament my mother made when I was three and they couldn’t afford better ornaments.

I’m cheerful, tho, ’cause no one died this year…tho FedEx is trying to ruin my Christmas by ‘losing’ the box of cookies my mother sent me, the poopyheads. The trace went out yesterday, so I should know if I will have chocolate crinkle goodness in time (and hopefully not stale) for Christmas cheer. :) My presents from them did make it at least.

I wonder how much that place rents out for? I’m thinking that’d be the perfect spot for X-Con 2007! Maybe they’d even bring out the Halloween and Christmas props for us!

And what I wouldn’t give for a t-shirt or a hoodie with a picture of James Lipton’s face on the front and “Remarkablous!” on the back.

Casual Jeff: My eyesight is horrible and I get migraines without my glasses or contacts, so for the sake of everyone on the road, it’s better if I just call someone to get me. lol

Rhino: To me, “grave blanket” invokes some really awesome visuals. According to your description, they should have just called it “tacky wreath.”

Stop taking pictures with a $10 webcam. We know your other pictures are quality….unlike your Christmas tree pic.

Mully, if only it were that simple. Actually, the grainy pics you see on the site are grainy because FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY nullifies most of what I want to get out of the picture. (In this case, tree lights.)

Grave blankets sound pretty sweet. Funny story about the mall! My favorite Matt in the world story is still the one where you’re trying to make copies of the crystal pepsi article :DDD

http://www.x-entertainment.com/articles/0952/
Holy S*&t! I have had too much free time because I just got into a pissing match with Dr. Sbaito and he party errored me. What Matt failed to mention is that when that happens this incomming artillery whistle blares on the computer. I didn’t have his voice on so it was unexpected.I almost fell off the couch! I think all the meds ampliphied it a little too. He’s kind of a dick.

Many, many points to make:
-I read the explanation of grave blankets, and the idea still perplexes me.

-Advent is AMAZING this year. Definitely the best ever. I even drew the advent characters on the Christmas card I sent my friend, and I shouldn’t have said that because she totally reads this.

-11 year old girls vary WIDELY in what they like. Some are mostly still kids, some want to be teenagers. Some are tomboys, some are REALLY girly. At that age I was obsessed with CDs and video games; but some of my friends were way into makeup and clothes. Whether she is in middle school or elementary makes a big difference too - I was only in 5th grade at 11, but the next year in middle school I turned into a wannabe teenager almost instantly. Long story short: Girls are complicated. Get her a gift card.

-I finally bought a PS2 today AND I finished my Christmas shopping AND mailed cards to all the fuck over the place. Did you know a standard-weight letter from Florida to Australia only costs 84 cents? Fascinating? Probably not, but I thought it was neat.

Matt, regarding photos: Get yourself a tripod and then you can take long exposures w/out the flash. Then they won’t be grainy and whatnot.

Sorry for the 2x post, but I just looked at the Transformer preview in 1080p. You know, I’m not a big transformers fan (my theory is that my parents never bought me the toys…I don’t remember watching the show, either), but I think the movie actually looks like it might be a good summer popcorn action flick, on par with ID4 and the like.

I’m pretty sure that I’ve never experienced the sheer joy of having a Boglin as the X-Mas star. The farthest I’ve ever gone is to have Captain America sitting in one of the branches–but that wasn’t so much for decoration as much as because he was spying on the Cobra army.

Ronald MacKinnon, if you don’t tell me where you got that thing I’m not sure we can be friends.

I’ve found them at a few online stores, but I want to put the thing on my tree this year, and I don’t want to pay for some super-fast shipping.

Aren’t the links right there in his post? I might be missing somthing, but I am pretty sure stomptokyo.com might be your avenue.

Strangely enough, I have also recovered Dr. Sbaitso. I called him a little shit so many times his system melted down and sputtered alskdnalksdblaskbdklasbd at me.

Coolio tree, I put about 15 ornaments on my tree this year (which isn’t much considering its about 6′5″). I said I wanted a more traditional look but I just didn’t want to get the other box of ornaments out.

If that site sells them I can’t find them. The pictures he posted are from a blog post about the ornaments.

Just watched the new TF trailer. meh. Who wears a Strokes shirt in 2006? No one likes the Strokes anymore. C’mon use your head

It’s because VW didn’t want to associate their cars with violence, because we all know Germany has no history of agression at all.

Speaking of which, I saw the trailer just now and I’ll be the first person in line for that movie, despite Micheal F’ing Bay’s name tapered all over the damn thing. Why is he still legally allowed to make movies?

Saw Rocky today. Really good times. I’m not quite sure it topples III (Clubber Lang!!!) but it’s really quite moving. Tore me up a good 5 or 6 times.

PS: Advent entry for the 20th we be up by 1 AM EST. (Sorry, it’s longer than I expected!)

Wooooo! Supersize advent calendar! Longer than expected! Random Phrases! I don’t like to think about chicken while I eat Doritos!

I really want to see Rocky but I promised my brother I’d wait and see it with him over Christmas. Definitely glad to hear good things about it though. I’m watching the Year Without A Santa Claus, it always annoys me during the Blue Christmas song when they get to “decorations of red on a green christmas tree” and the girl has clearly drawn a blue tree with green decorations. It has a red star, but that’s it. What gives?

I saw the trailer, too, and it didn’t change my opinion one bit, nor will I be going still - unless there’s a miracle and I can suddenly afford BotCon this year and it premieres or ‘previews’ there.

Moony: how come you won’t go see the movie? I’m just wondering what has the die hard fans so against it? my only concern is that the transformers may not look….human enough..for lack of a better phrase. I understand their need to make them look better than the cartoon because..that wouldn’t work on the big screen however just from short clips some look to..abstact. Beyond that whats the problem from what little we have seen?

Before yesterday’s entry I would have sworn the new Mare was going to be angelic. What was I thinking? Kinda like the time I told a friend of mine how sweet it would be if they could get Hayden for the Star Wars tv show and he reminded me they’d only need him if they did an un-masked scene. Sometimes I forget obvious things. Like that I have to breathe every once in a while.

Wow, not even a day old and this year’s Mare has already killed 3 Lego people. Not to mention Claire is going completely bat-shit crazy.

That sucks Mare II killed Danny Bonaducci. He just got here yesterday! I guess that really was breaking bonanducci. Oh yes…I went there.

Ooh! A long shot (go “1 semester of basic film techniques” lingo!) of Legotron with all his heads. How fancy, he’s “breaking the fourth wall!” And, ooh again at such “dramatic irony!”

These are the only things I’ve learned in school so far, but I’m delighted to apply new, useless words to the Advent Calendar!

thejyav - Because I’ve been hearing about it from the start when they were ‘exploring’ the possibility, and haven’t liked many of the changes they made. I’ve seen the early iterations of the script, which from all indications became the shooting script (aside from any minor additions), the character designs, and had a tussle with Murphy myself over something really stupid because he was acting like a child. Plus, Bay was the last director I ever wanted working on any characters I love as much as I love Transformers. The only thing IMO in its favor is that fan pressure got Peter Cullen the part of Optimus Prime. It still hasn’t been announced who got the rest of the voice parts, including whether Frank Welker got Megs.

The movie has created quite a schism between movie supporters and ‘haters’, which the supporters dub anyone who has ANY problem with the designs, etc.

Okay, back on topic - great AC today, Matt! Good for scaring kiddies who are afraid the ’scary Mares’ will blow them up! XD

I had a chance to speak with Peter Cullen through work (he does all kinds of commercial/promo voice-overs), and can vouch for what an awesome, “not for show” kind of guy he is. I came in touch with him because we were taking auditions for a spot that required a “voice that sounded like Will Shatner or Optimus Prime,” and lo and behold, there was Optimus Prime’s agent. Peter was interested, but didn’t want to do anything that could be construed as a “Prime voice” because it meant so much to him and to the series’ fans — he didn’t want to taint it with an unrelated endeavor. He was willing to do “his” voice or whatever, but I decided to let it go because the last thing I wanted to do was make the guy feel uncomfortable. Hope I have a chance to work with him someday, but I dunno…bet this gets him enough cash to take a nice break.

I don’t have the same reservations about the TF movie as many Transfans. With Star Wars, bad prequels hurt the sum total because they were so literally connected to the original movies — the core base of fan interest. Here, if the movie sucks, it’s going to take a real lot for that to sour anyone’s view of the original toons, comics, or even the original animated movie. I’m not particularly annoyed by any character mods or directors or producers or anything — for me, I think it’s all going to come down to how the movie is written. I’m sure it’ll be kinda fluff and light and action filmy, but if they keep a good amount of legit serious storyline-driven tone throughout, it could be okay.

All that said, from what I gather, I do hope there’s a few more nods to longtime fans than there would seem to be. We’re easily sold. Throw us a couple of bones — little touches that we know are there just for us — and we’ll come home raving on the message boards and telling people to stop playa hatin.

I, for one, am excited about the Transformers movie, and plan to wear a skirt to the theater so I can diddle myself while I watch it.

Remember, then, sanitation first: Don’t be a Spearshead, wear underpants instead.

This Advent: keeps getting better & better! Now Mare II & Claire?! Wow, let’s see if she can kill Santa with purple lines.

Speaking of which, did anyone watch tonight’s Colbert Report, the Countdown to Guitarmageddon?

I agree with Matt on this one. I never expected to see a Transformer movie so I’m just happy its happening. I alo feel you can’t expect the movie to be TOO much like the cartoon because well…they tried that back in the 80s and the movie didn’t sell. 20 years later it certainly would not sell. Much like a movie based on a beloved book, you can’t go in expecting every little thing you loved about the book to be there in the movie because that is impossible. Bay probably is not the best possible choice but he certainly can shoot action which this movie needs. I think its going to be a fun movie and outside of the designs my only real concern is they screw it up like Alien vs. preditor or freddy vs. jason did and make it all about the humans we don’t care about.

I wish I was in the same city as Mystie, so I could sit behind her in the theater and pelt her with Red Hots.

“…all the chickens they can fuck.”,
followed by:
“Oh yeah, the tree:”…

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