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01/18/2007: Ninja Turtles & Strawberry Mini-Wheats.

In the previous post, I called “slenderer” the plural of “slender.” This is incorrect. I’m not even sure if a word like “slender” can have a plural in any reasonable fashion, but I may be wrong again. I’ve said my Hail Marys and I hope all is forgiven.

In a previous post but not the previous post, I asked y’all for suggestions on what to trade Red Steel in for, because Red Steel apparently sucks. You had a lot of great suggestions, but upon going to Toys ‘R’ Us with visions of Elebits dancing in my head, I traded the bad game in for a shiny gift card and left not with Elebits, but with lots and lots of toys. Starting with this:


There’s already a full gamut of toys based on the upcoming Ninja Turtles CG flick, including the four green heroes in what I’d call their best action figure translations to date. Really, the new figures are just about perfect. While I dabbled in the resurgent TMNT line based specifically on the resurgent TMNT cartoon, these are much, much nicer. I picked up Raphael to begin a collection that will inevitably end up as desk decor at work, and the picture above says it all. It’s a great mold with or without the connection to the new flick, with around 47,000 points of articulation and a bandana that actually looks like a bandana and not at all like a knob of raw steak glued to the side of a Ninja Turtle’s head.

I really love their chic simplicity. In many ways, seeing the new movie toys reminded me of when the original Turtles toy craze first launched — with four totally basic, soft-headed Turtle figures that came with 27 brownish plastic weapons. Like those figures, the new set relies less on any specific gimmicky action feature and more on the idea that these are great toys to let imagination-through-hands run wild. It’s a shame that I’m too old and fogyish to utilize Raphael as anything more than a decorative statue, but kids who end up with these figures are in for countless afternoons of adventure by their own dictation.

Not all of the new TMNT movie toys follow Raphael’s holy pattern of simple awesomeness, but the best ones do. And they’re only $6.99! That’s not much more than I paid for the elusive Metalhead figure back in grade school.


There’s a great commercial for new Strawberry Delight Frosted Mini-Wheats cereal, where a normal, white-frosted anthropomorphic Mini-Wheat mistakes a pink-frosted anthropomorphic Mini-Wheat and starts hitting on him. I am so damn proud of the person who pitched that to Kellogg’s well enough to get an OK. I decided to reward the mystery pitcher’s grand effort by buying a box, and now that I’ve tried it, I hereby proclaim Strawberry Delight Frosted Mini-Wheats as both Cereal of the Month and Cereal With The Longest Name Ever. Shit’s good, son. Real good.

Take a bowl of Frosted Mini-Wheats, but replace the milk with Strawberry Quik. That’s what this tastes like, and it works much better than that visual dictates. The frosting is far thicker (”thicker” being the plural of “thick”) and more indulgent than the regular whitey version, and my taste buds had to light a cigarette after the experience.

And that’s my story. Turtles and cereal. You know what I should write? Articles. It’s been a while. That’s on the to-do list, assuming I can get past the recent habit of writing articles halfway, hating them and ditching them. In the meantime, check this page for a bunch of older articles that I liked well enough.


Posted by Matt. E-mail me!

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Discussion Thread: 215 comments

Whoa! Nostalgia jackpot!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wishbook/sets/

Ghosted by Luap @ 01/21/2007 1:57 AM EST


Holy Crap Luap! You did indeed hit it big!

In the 1985 Sears Wishbook, pg #441 features none other than the Hyve in its full #47.99 glory. (I also discovered that one of the figures I got in a Transformers Grab Box a few months ago was none other than a GoBot!)

Ghosted by Invader Norbert @ 01/21/2007 2:29 AM EST


Holy crap! Transformers, Voltron, the G.I. Joe aircraft carrier, MOTU by the dozens, M.A.S.K.?!!! That really took me back. I remember looking at those exact pages when I was 7, back in 1985. Thank you Luap!!!

Ghosted by Justin @ 01/21/2007 3:00 AM EST


It’s amazing how much stuff I owned from the ‘85 Sears Wishbook. It’s even got my kitchen set, THE best kitchen set ever. It was all steel and metal hinges and shit…. gorgeous.

Ghosted by Mystie @ 01/21/2007 3:04 AM EST


Justin, I found my log of the dream and I left out the part where my dad needed the secret dryer room for “Jury Duty”, the fact that I spent 13 minutes in dream time trying to get back into the secret dryer room because the girls were sleeping with the door locked “like a safe” when I had to get them out of there and finally the fact that I had to carry all of their furnature into my room to get them to come out and was pissed off that I had to also get the green carpet (it was ugly.)

Ghosted by dohopoki @ 01/21/2007 3:24 AM EST


You have no idea how much I coveted the U.S.S. Flagg (G.I. Joe aircraft carrier. They only produced it from like 85 to 87 and they were NEVER available in our general area, and yet… my older cousin had one.

Every single time I stayed at his house, I would simply gaze at it’s magesty. Toys weren’t supposed to be THAT big and THAT awesome, and he had one and I didn’t.

In his early teens (I was still young enough to covet it), he began using it to stack his comic book collection on. Such a terrible waste. I guess it’s in storage now. I’ll have to ask him about it next time I see him. I refuse to believe he got rid of it, but I know it isn’t at his parent’s house….

Ghosted by Wukong @ 01/21/2007 3:29 AM EST


for me sgt pepper’s = the pinnacle of the beatles’ genius, but my favorite single of their’s was “i am the walrus”. i still think george martin was as important to their success as they were, those string arrangements were amazing

i had a few experiences when i was a lil kid, most remembered by those around me more than myself. i won’t go into too many details but the most vivid experience was when i was three and basically just involved me sensing danger from about 5 minutes in advance, and pointing off into the distance where they could see nothing. i was persistent and after we were on our way they could finally see what i was alluding to, and we got out right in the nick of time. around this time she would also see me playing with an imaginary friend.. while i was watching tv i would all the sudden perk up like someone just entered the room, and start playing hide and seek with them and speaking a weird language. after a little while they would leave and i would go back to whatever i was doing for the rest of the day. i was just a lil kid though and u know how little kids are..

that experience i’ll take with a grain of salt, but these i totally dismiss as faulty perception or coincidence: when i was about 9 my aunt claimed to see my floating above my bed, and a short while later (at the same house) my dad claimed he came into my room while i was having a bad breathing attack, felt a strange presence in the room and then looked down on the bed and saw a huge indention next to me on the bed where i was sitting, as if something was sitting next to me with it’s arm around me, trying to help.

later on that year (at a different house) my mom saw me sleep walking one night, she followed me into the back yard and finally asked what i was doing, i told her that there was money buried back there and she told me to go back to bed. a couple months later she was doing yard work and found a five dollar bill sticking out of the grass

i can’t say i’ve had any more “experiences” since then, personally i sway more toward the skeptical side of things

Ghosted by cheeky @ 01/21/2007 4:44 AM EST


before a war is started, their’s = theirs, my bad!

Ghosted by cheeky @ 01/21/2007 4:46 AM EST


I had the U.S.S. Flagg. If only my parents had known how valuable it would become, I’m sure we would have kept it. But it was sold in a garage sale, not 2 years (maybe even 1) after I got it, along with virtually ALL of my other G.I. Joe stuff.

Ghosted by Cameron T. @ 01/21/2007 10:15 AM EST


OMG!! Alright here is a short list of what I am most excited about seeing:

*The Puzzler–Go-Bot Car gestalt
*Friendly Warrior Power Set–ahahaha, the name!
*OG Astrotrain!!!!
*Diecast Lion Force Voltron

I still have all of those–in my house, not in storage. And the U.S.S. Flagg was as much as Fortress Maximus!! I’ve never even seen the thing. I was never big on GI Joe. I had a couple loose figures but that was the extent. I had the Army Gear Canteen/Carrier though :D

Ghosted by K- @ 01/21/2007 12:04 PM EST


Awesome find, Luap. I’ve got tons of the Wishbooks here waiting to be scanned for articles-in-planning. They’re my favorite books ever. :)

Ghosted by Matt @ 01/21/2007 1:02 PM EST


Kevin Smith has a part in the new TMNT movie?!?!? So very awesome.

Ghosted by K- @ 01/21/2007 1:57 PM EST


I remember the diecast Voltron from ‘85. It was recalled later because the paint was lead based and my folks threw it out. I still use it as a scape goat when I do stupid things. We also lived next to powerlines too.
hmmm….I am not stating a good case for my iq.

Ghosted by Bill @ 01/21/2007 1:59 PM EST


Really, Lead-based paint? In that same Transformers Grab Box (which, as stated earlier, the ‘85 wishbook revealed that one of the figs was a GoBot!), I also got the Yellow Die-cast Voltron Lion too!

And in that same box, I got OG Astrotrain (albeit in a not-as-mint condition, but its one of the reasons I shelled out $$ for the damn thing)

And I can relate to relatives with cool toys we didn’t have, my cousin had almost all of the good GoBots (Leader-1, Cy-Kill, Cop-Tur, etc), and got pissed when I’m pretty sure he got rid of them, as he probably knew that I would’ve gladly taken them.

Ghosted by Invader Norbert @ 01/21/2007 2:29 PM EST


dohopoki, be glad that your green carpet was just in a dream. Until I was about 10ish, my room had the ugliest green carpet ever. Then I finally got to move into my own room, with much better carpet. But the rest of the house was even worse–red carpet, wallpaper in my parent’s room, bright orange carpet in the living room. And the bathrooms matched the red and green. Ugh, I still shudder thinking about it. But my parents finally redid everything, so at least I don’t have to see it anymore.

Ghosted by snowfire @ 01/21/2007 3:34 PM EST


My thoughts regarding Smith in TMNT were quite different.
That guy is a terrible screen actor to begin with, which spells disaster for voiceover work.
Not to mention his horrible, nasally voice.

Ghosted by Somethin' Funny @ 01/21/2007 4:00 PM EST


That was mean! :( Who cares what his voice sounds like, it’s HIS voice and that’s really all that matters. His involvement has singlehandedly made me want to see the movie. When it hits DVD of course, but still.

I still have the die-cast Lion Force Voltron like I said. I’m not getting rid of him, as I don’t plan on eating the paint chips :P
I’ve got Vehicle Voltron and just one piece of the Gladiator (was it?) Voltron as well. I’m a fan, what can I say :D

Ghosted by K- @ 01/21/2007 4:33 PM EST


Well according to IMDB Kevin Smith is only playing “Greasy Chef” which doesn’t sound like a prominent role. Though Sarah Michelle Gellar is voicing April, which means there’s the potential for a torrent of creepy Buffy fangirls pouring into the theaters wearing TMNT babydoll shirts they bought from Hot Topic.

Ghosted by Mystie @ 01/21/2007 5:08 PM EST


Man, fuck 2007. Being rushed to the emergency room, friends being rushed to the emergency room, relatives houses burning down, furnaces breaking down, new allergic reactions, postal service fuck ups galore and now our car has been totalled.

Ghosted by dohopoki @ 01/21/2007 5:26 PM EST


Hey Matt: I’d really like to check out your Miis if you’d add me. I’ve already added you.

3637 1301 5363 1440

Thanks. I’m having my mind blown today.

Ghosted by Spoodles @ 01/21/2007 5:33 PM EST


Somethin’ Funny, Smith has more about him as an actor than he will ever have as a director. Clerks 2 would have benefited from more Smith and less O’Halloran (I have no idea how you spell his name).

Ghosted by Rye @ 01/21/2007 6:17 PM EST


I will agree that he has more skill as an actor than a director, but I stand by my previous comment about his acting ability.

Clerks 2 would have benefited from less Clerks 2.

Ghosted by Somethin' Funny @ 01/21/2007 6:38 PM EST


Blasphemy!!! Fantastic Director, Fantastic Actor, Supranatural Writer. Yes, I’m a Kev-Head, sue me. Hands down the greatest writer/director out there, besides the Wachowskis.

Clerks II was immaculate. Best performance Jeff Anderson has ever given. It wasn’t perfect, but it was delightful.

Ghosted by K- @ 01/21/2007 6:55 PM EST


Wait does immaculate have the connotation of being perfect? I don’t care, I was in a rush. I had to defend Kevin :D and thanks ALOT for making me think in those terms, guys! Emotion over Grammar anyday.

Ghosted by K- @ 01/21/2007 6:58 PM EST


Lol sry but Robert Rodriguez ftw. :)

Ghosted by squee4242 isn't an English major (anymore) @ 01/21/2007 7:35 PM EST


Jesus K, log onto AIM once in a while! I’ve been chasing your ghost for the past three days.

Ghosted by ColonelCatsup @ 01/21/2007 7:39 PM EST


i never understood the kevin smith hype. his movies seem amateurish with horrible, stiff lines and some of the worst direction ever caught on film.. and then his acting, damn.

the only one i liked was dogma, i’ll admit that was well made, but the others – mallrats and clerks 2 come to mind, literally seem like they were made by a college film student

robert rodriguez on the other hand, when he’s not makin kiddie flicks, is the balls

Ghosted by cheeky @ 01/21/2007 8:06 PM EST


Everything after Dogma would be best to be ignored and everything before Chasing Amy was enjoyable but wouldn’t bother me too much if I were told I weren’t aloud to see ever again.

Ghosted by dohopoki @ 01/21/2007 8:27 PM EST


yea i hope that didn’t come across too harsh, i’m used to talkin to my friends and we just kinda put it all out there, there were some moments of the first clerks i liked, but it was one of those things u give the benefit of a doubt cuz it was low budget, but it seemed like even after he had more of a budget his stuff didn’t get much better for me, worse in a lot of parts.. i think my girl digs most of his stuff tho

Ghosted by cheeky @ 01/21/2007 9:31 PM EST


So who else besides me took their teddy ruxpin story tape threw it in the trash and popped a FAT BOYS tape into good old Teddy. Watching the T-Rux beatbox was a trip. Gonna shop for one on Ebay. I need to relive this memory.

Ghosted by Event Horizon @ 01/21/2007 9:50 PM EST


Did anybody else have the Raph where he was in a space suit? TO THE MOON!

Or the giant developmentally disabled turtles that actually transformed into non-mutant turtles the size of your fist?

Ghosted by Andy @ 01/22/2007 12:34 AM EST


I did. A step cousin stole his space helmet and so I never played with it ever again, nor talked to that person.

Ghosted by dohopoki @ 01/22/2007 12:43 AM EST


I guess everybody went to the park or something. Oh well, hope everybody’s week gets off on the right foot!

Ghosted by squee4242 @ 01/22/2007 2:34 AM EST


Hate to double post but I want to add that Gervais and Merchant writer/direct circles around Smith too (not that I don’t like him; I think I’m the only person who actually thought JaSBSB was good). Should have said them earlier but I was thinking features.

Ghosted by squee4242 isn't an English major (anymore) @ 01/22/2007 10:22 AM EST


I picked up a box of the Strawberry Mini-Wheats this weekend, but I have yet to crack them open to indulge in their strawberry goodness.

Random Question: People that only attend church around Easter and Christmas times are called “Chreasters”.

What are people that only visit X-E around Halloween and Christmas called?

Ghosted by bad karma @ 01/22/2007 10:53 AM EST


fat.. boyyyyyyyys, da da da daaaa daaaaaaaaaaaaa..

“3.99 for all U CAN EAT!” haha, man i never had a teddy ruxpin, if it wasn’t gi joe or transformers it was pretty much off my radar. i do seem to remember somebody having one and us puttin tapes in there though, good times

my favorite directors would probably be:

pre-pussywhipped guy ritchie
pre-90s john carpenter
roman polanski

as for writer/direct projects i thought cabin fever was great, but couln’t stand hostel.. i hope he returns to that tongue in cheek campy horror again

Ghosted by cheeky @ 01/22/2007 11:40 AM EST


I never thought I’d see so much anti-Smithism around these parts. I always assumed you guys were totally into him like everyone else I know. And in the known universe. It just boggles my mind how anyone could NOT just love him. To each his own, of course.

I had those transforming Turtles, they were awesome. I liked the transforming vehicles as well, especially the motorcycle that became a hangglider. I’m always about any line throwing their Transformers homage into the mix. I’m suprised I never got those Star Wars ones.

Ghosted by K- boldly begins sentence fragments with conjunctions @ 01/22/2007 12:45 PM EST


Got iced in at home Saturday. Nice to see the thread still going nowhere, and having fun getting there. Here’s my contribution:

Conjunction Junction, what’s your function?
Hooking up words and phrases and clauses.
Conjunction Junction, how’s that function?
I got three favorite cars
That get most of my job done.
Conjunction Junction, what’s their function?
I got “and”, “but”, and “or”,
They’ll get you pretty far.

“And”:
That’s an additive, like “this and that”.
“But”:
That’s sort of the opposite,
“Not this but that”.
And then there’s “or”:
O-R, when you have a choice like
“This or that”.
“And”, “but”, and “or”,
Get you pretty far.

Conjunction Junction, what’s your function?
Hooking up two boxcars and making ‘em run right.
Milk and honey, bread and butter, peas and rice.
Hey that’s nice!
Dirty but happy, digging and scratching,
Losing your shoe and a button or two.
He’s poor but honest, sad but true,
Boo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!

Conjunction Junction, what’s your function?
Hooking up two cars to one
When you say something like this choice:
“Either now or later”
Or no choice:
“Neither now nor ever”
Hey that’s clever!
Eat this or that, grow thin or fat,
Never mind, I wouldn’t do that,
I’m fat enough now!

Conjunction Junction, what’s your function?
Hooking up phrases and clauses that balance, like:
Out of the frying pan and into the fire.
He cut loose the sandbags,
But the balloon wouldn’t go any higher.
Let’s go up to the mountains,
Or down to the sea.
You should always say “thank you”,
Or at least say “please”.

Conjunction Junction, what’s your function?
Hooking up words and phrases and clauses
In complex sentences like:

Conjunction Junction, what’s your function?
Hooking up cars and making ‘em function.
Conjunction Junction, how’s that function?
I like tying up words and phrases and clauses.
Conjunction Junction, watch that function.
I’m going to get you there if you’re very careful.
Conjunction Junction, what’s your function?
I’m going to get you there if you’re very careful.
Conjunction Junction, what’s your function?
I’m going to get you there if you’re very careful.

Ghosted by kingklash and Conjuntivitus Junction @ 01/22/2007 2:05 PM EST


I have very strong negative feelings about Roman Polanski so I will refrain from commenting on him.

On another note…I scored a Wii on Sunday and OH MY GOSH I am SORE!!! I might just quit the gym and start a Wii workout program. BTW I totally kick butt at Wii bowling because unlike real life I can’t throw the ball behind me and injure my friends.

Happy Manic Monday All!

Ghosted by Cricket @ 01/22/2007 2:29 PM EST


“What are people that only visit X-E around Halloween and Christmas called?”

Challoweeners. Or, Challowieners.

Ghosted by Spoodles @ 01/22/2007 3:34 PM EST


Mystie – I had to laugh about your sleeping with the TV on to keep ghosts away because I have not been able to sleep with mine on since Poltergeist. Creepy old dead people coming from my TV is out for me so off it stays while I slumber!

I too am a Kevin Smith fan. I think that most people love his work because he doesn’t take himself so seriously. He is what he is and that is all. He knows not everyone loves or even likes him and he isn’t trying to cater to the masses, just his fans. You gotta appreciate that.

Ghosted by Cricket @ 01/22/2007 4:03 PM EST


“What are people that only visit X-E around Halloween and Christmas called?”

suckers that miss out on 10 other months of awesomeness?

Ghosted by Phil B. @ 01/22/2007 4:38 PM EST


“In the mornings, when I’m usually wide awake,
I love to take a walk through the gardens and down by
the lake,
Where I often see a duck and a drake,
And I wonder as I walk by, just what they’d say
If they could speak
Although I know that’s an absurd thought.”

Ghosted by the missing sentence from kingklash's post @ 01/22/2007 4:49 PM EST


i went a lil turtle crazy today, couldn’t help myself these new figures are awesome.. got raph, mike, casey jones and the cowabunga turtle van.. all of it friggin AWESOME!

Ghosted by cheeky @ 01/22/2007 5:06 PM EST


Hallowen and Christmas? Why, Decemberweeners, of course!

I had those transforming Turtles, they were awesome. I liked the transforming vehicles as well, especially the motorcycle that became a hangglider. I’m always about any line throwing their Transformers homage into the mix. I’m suprised I never got those Star Wars ones.

I had all of the transforming TMNTs, with my favs being the Foot Soldier, and Splinter who turned into the Turtle Van. The worst one was Shredder who transformed into a drill tank thing. They actually had Bebop & Rocksteady ones too, not to mention April transforming into a tiger…growl.

Ghosted by Invader Norbert @ 01/22/2007 5:56 PM EST


“The worst one was Shredder who transformed into a drill tank thing”

How was that the worst? I thought it was done pretty damn well.

Ghosted by dohopoki @ 01/22/2007 7:09 PM EST


I would transform April into my bedroom.

Ghosted by Old E @ 01/22/2007 7:51 PM EST


I thought the Shredder Tank seemed awkward in execution. The idea that he transformed into the Drill Tank Thing seemed awesome, but he just didn’t seem like he made a convincing vehicle. Splinter, on the other hand, made for a kickass and very sturdy Turtle Van, with his hands at the drivers wheel!

And in a timely manner, the song up on my myspace right now is none other than The Super Bowl Shuffle. The Fridge at his finest…aside from his G.I. Joe figure, of course. Da Bears.

Ghosted by Invader Norbert @ 01/22/2007 10:29 PM EST


I thought the worst, not that I didn’t love the toy but just on a relative scale was, maybe Ralph but I’m not sure dressed up as a fireman and he’d turn into a firetruck. His head would end up looking like he was behind the wheel but it would only make sense if his head was 9 times the size of his body.

Ghosted by dohopoki @ 01/22/2007 10:36 PM EST


PSP-related autocomplete error up there…guess I should leave the clever handles to the pros.
I’ve been thinking, and I’d have to rank Wes Anderson higher than Smith too, but I’ll grant that he’s ten times the talent of M. Night Shyamalan.
Watched Big Girls Don’t Cry yesterday, which I most remember as one of the trailers on the TMNT VHS. IIRC they were calling it “Stepkids” at that point.

Ghosted by squee4242 @ 01/23/2007 2:17 AM EST


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