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03/24/2007: I don't want to think about Doritos when I'm talking to Spider-Man.

We didn't go see the new Ninja Turtles movie last night as planned. Wish I had a good reason for that, but it really just boiled down to becoming obsessed with reading about various Mortal Kombat characters on Wikipedia. For real. I'm also now faced with really, really wanting to see The Hills Have Eyes 2 whenever I step foot inside a movie theater, so I'm going to pretend that I'll actually go through with seeing two movies in succession on some nearby Saturday afternoon, when the reality is that I probably won't see either movie until they're packaged with exclusive mini-posters as Best Buy DVD exclusives seven months from now.

More importantly, Spider-Man called me this morning.

What an awesome promotion. Today marks the in-store debut of Spider-Man 3 toys, and Hasbro has just been totally godlike in their promotional brilliance. For one, each of the major chains has their own "exclusives." I think Wal-Mart bests TRU and Target — they've got some really cool black-costumed ultra-articulated Spider-Man figure that looks like the kind of thing that needs to be gracing the top of every geek's computer monitor by the end of the weekend. It's a safe bet that thousands of collectors zipped to all three stores this morning just to grab the exclusives, and I'm having trouble deciding if I'm happy or sad that I missed all of the hubbub. At the very least, I hope to own a "Spider Spud" Mr. Potato Head by the next time I shave.

Among the many clever ways that Hasbro has instilled a sense of urgency in the toy-buying public is something that I think people will remember for years and years and years. If you were smart enough to enter your phone number on a special promo site, you are one of the blessed souls who received a phone call from Spider-Man early this afternoon. I, of course, couldn't resist.

My phone rang at about 12:20, and I was subsequently treated to a 45 second prerecorded Spidey message reminding me that his new toys are now on sale! Yes! Sure, it's just blog fodder for me, but think about all the kids who got that call today. It's something they'll be writing about on their own nostalgia sites twenty years from now. Some would argue that we shouldn't dilute the heroism of Spider-Man by making him personally shill action figures and playsets, but who better to inspire people to buy Spider-Man dolls than Spider-Man himself? Aside from the obvious consumer awareness aspect, Spider-Man just has the perfect salesy voice. I'd pay a sawbuck for dog shit if he told me to.

In another great albeit totally unrelated promotion, the folks at Frito-Lay are letting us choose between two new Doritos flavors. After tallying up our votes online, one of the currently limited edition flavors will become a permanent fixture…and the other…will DIE. The new flavors include "Wild White Nacho" and "Smokin' Cheddar BBQ," and the former beats the latter in every category from taste to packaging design to personal bias. I will be extremely surprised and suicidal if the BBQ chips win the election, because it's not just that Wild White Nacho Doritos are better…the other ones just flat out suck. If there is an invisible line in the sand marking the point at which something tastes way too much like concentrated barbecue sauce powder, Smokin' Cheddar BBQ Doritos doesn't just cross it — it crosses it, turns around, pisses liquid chipotle all over it and performs an annoying touchdown dance. Do the future of junk food a favor — vote for Wild White Nacho Doritos.

In other news, an article of mine is in this month's ToyFare Magazine (#117), titled "Best of the Beast." It's a three-page look back at Battle Beasts, one of my very favorite toylines ever. There ain't a heck of a lot of new information in the piece if you're already a big fan of the toys, but I did get to make a decent joke about one of the figures looking like the company logo of a bad fried chicken restaurant.

Let's call this one an early start to the Saturday Night Thread.

Oh, I booked a cruise for later this year. We're on the Norwegian Spirit. Anyone have any experience with Norwegian cruises? Discuss in the comments, please. I know they're not the greatest line, but they're way cheaper than most of the others, and I'm pretty sure I'd be satisfied vacationing on a floating dumpster so long as it got me away from real life for a week.

Norwegian is fine. The only catch is the restaurants. When you first get there book dinner reservations at the different restaurants for the week. It will save you from eating dinner at the crappy cafe-like place everyday. Have fun!

Wow, Norway? That's sounds really neat. You're going to have a great time

Happy early-start SNT, everybody!
I know what you mean about getting to the movies. I think I saw maybe four in theaters last year, so I resolved that this year I'd see at least one a month. But they always put out all the good ones in conflict with each other, so my decision-making capacities get short-circuited and I don't end up seeing anything. And Best Buy is the bane of my pocketbook, especially now that I've got the Wii. My goal for this weekend is to go out to LA to catch some of the Grindhouse Festival , but we'll see if my resolve holds.

Happy SNT! I’m not really that excited about the new spider man movie… I might go see it. I know that in all likelihood I won’t see the new TMNT movie. I am looking forward to getting the next issue of ToyFare and reading your article though. Now I’m off to my math tutor, toodles!

Matt, you read the MK Character's on wikipedia too? That's freaky, I wasted time doing the exact same thing last week.

My bday was yesterday, and me & 2 friends walked around NYC. Sure, we had to go to the Met first, but after that, it was crazy!

Went to the Virgin Megastore where Matt saw the Turtles, and I even went to the Penn Station Roy Rogers! Sure, I ended up settling for the Nathan's next to it because RR didn't have a fish sandwich (the Nathan's did, adding a replacement on this list for A&W). I even took a pic of the very same Fixin's Bar, complete with the missing "I"!

One of the best parts was probably the M&Ms store in Times Square, where we found not only a Kwanzaa-themed M&M blend, but also a Hannukah one (which is ironic, since milk chocolate is non-kosher)

Squee: Despite the name, the cruise won't take me to the land of trolls and oil rigs. :/ It will however drop me off in Nassau, Orlando and some random island for a select number of hours.

Norbert: The M&Ms store is great. Totally outshines the Hershey's store across the street.

OK, I need help. This is totally off-topic but people on this board are smart and nice, so I thought I'd ask.

I need a laptop to finish a recording project and it needs a Pentium IV or better w/ 1G of RAM. Anybody have any best-kept secrets for getting a deal on computer stuff? Thanks a lot!

Spidey vs Hagar the Horrible over a bag of Doritos? And phoning you about it? wha-?!?

Haven't been on Norwegian, but have heard good things. I did however just step off of a cruise on Royal Caribbean…can't say enough good things about them.

P.S.
To get liquor on the boat, just put vodka, light rum, or any other clear liquor in a water bottle on your way back to the boat.

Fine, but with that attitude, all you're going to get is a review of my fish tank stand.

Consulat, most laptops these days easily fit those specs. Id recommend finding one at sears or somewhere else that has a good return policy, use it to finish your project, then return it, claiming that it wasnt the right pc. I got through college doing that.

I haven't seen those Doritos yet, but yesterday I did buy one of those 99 cent bags of the Habenero flavored ones. Haven't tried it yet. Also bought new flavor of soda called Vault Blitz. Haven't tried that either.

I just got back from seeing TMNT and it's a pretty good movie. Although the Winters character looked like the dad from the Incredibles, only with black hair.

Matt dude, I'm sure that article would get me all nostalgic about all the fish tanks that I've had over the years.

My grandparents went on one of those, except they actually did go to Norway. They also went on a cruise ship to Alaska once… I dunno, they like being in the middle of cold oceans, I guess. Anyway, from what I can tell, they really enjoyed it. If you have never been on a cruise before, let me warn you about something: WATCH WHAT YOU EAT! I gained 9 pounds over seven days on that thing. It was probably my daily breakfast that did it: hash browns, bacon, oatmeal, and a doughnut.

this guy reviews bad reg nintendo games, he does a few other things as well. It's funny stuff and it makes me feel better about sucking at some reg nintendo games.

The ad Hasbro's been running to promote the phone call is classic. I wish it were downloadable somewhere.

For those who've missed it: you see Spider-Man answering the phone and then leaping into action, and then oddly, a much shorter Spider-Man doing the same, and then a potato in a Spider-Man costume….the ad ends with a Spider-Dog. (There must really be a Spider-Dog for sale then…)

TMNT was great and only briefly stepped on the toes of the Ninja Turtles legacy with Splinter watching Gilmore Girls.

Seriously, TMNT made me emotional. The Leo/Raf drama. It's also great to see Casey Jones.

TMNT was great and only briefly stepped on the toes of the Ninja Turtles legacy with Splinter watching Gilmore Girls.

Okay, NOW I have to see the movie….
By the way, Splinter has good taste. As long as the episode he was viewing was from the pre-Logan years.

I must put those Doritos on my Radar, although I suppose us Canuckistanians will not be able to partake in the Great Dorito Taste-off of '07. I agree with you Matt, probably won't see TMNT or Hills Have Eyes 2 until they end up on the shelf at Blockbuster. Happy SNT to Folks on both sides of the Border!

Kinglklash, wow. Vikings are fucking awesome. And that was the first time I ever saw the lyrics for Immigrant Song. I always thought it was more Lord of the Rings what-not. Huh.

Yeah, Greg, my brother just checked the store for me, said we didn't have 'em. Shitty.

I pissed away a night reading about Mortal Kombat characters on wikipedia once. And how theres been like, three Sub-Zeroes.

I just got back from a Brazilian buffet and I don't think I need to eat for a couple days. My friend also gave me some guarana soda, which is great if you've never had it.

I'm really looking forward to movies this year, and I didn't think I'd ever say that considering how many sequels there are.

I was hoping for a spiderman reference because I saw our old friend Spider Bum in a hip hop video on youtube(it was a Jin video). I love Spider Bum.

I, too, got a call from Spider-Man and was utterly befuddled when I looked at my cell phone and saw the number it was calling from: 1234567890.

Did anyone elses Spider-Man call glitch?? Mine got stuck in a loop at the very beginning and kept saying "Hey it's your" "Hey it's your." "Hey it's your". Can I have permission to use your wave Matt? I wanted to record this so badly for my own thing.

I would've voted for White Nacho, but I didn't have the rest of my fucking life to fill out thirty pages of personal info. This beer isn't gonna drink itself. Stupid Frito Lay.

I tried the White Cheddar Doritos on a whim…they were alright, but nothing to write home about. However, they tasted just good enough to write a blog comment about.

Matt, I was on the Caribbean Cruise on the Norwiegen Dream. It was the best vacation. I stayed on the boat most of the time because you bump into the same people on all the islands and it's overcrowded so what's the point? The tips are included for the 10 bars on board too. I think it's 15 or 20%.

I don't even like Spider-Man that much outside of the movies, but I still let out a "whoopie!" when I saw the commercial about going online and signing up for a call from him. I signed up my friends without their knowledge, and I'm curious if my fanatic friend is going to bellow out a, "GUESS WHO CALLED ME TODAY?!?!" when I see her later. Judging by her reaction earlier this week when I handed her a Spider-Man balloon for her birthday, the phone call may have very well given her a Spider-gasm.

I had those White Cheddar flavor last weekend and the first thing I thought of was, "I dont want to think about chicken when I am eating Doritos" and the response my sister gave me when I said it. And I liked them. Now my favorites read as: Cool Ranch, White Cheddar then Nacho Cheese. Thesse are important things.
Tomorrow I am seeing TMNT. Very excited. Too much darn work to go today, unfortunately.

Matt, you have seen TMNT yet? Yeesh, for a Ninja Turtles freak, that is atrocious.

Thanks to Kansas and Texas A&M, my bracket which was on life support now is in Terry Schiavo land.

Happy SNT. A Spidey phone call is better than an Alec Baldwin phone call, which my sister rigged for me once to my annoyance– I was over my minute limit that month. I later found it sorta funny, though. I have a thesis due in two weeks, and I'm trying to work on it but having huge panic attacks instead. Also, I really really want to see TMNT.

Spider-Man would totally pimp his own action figures over the phone if he had the chance. One of my favorite things about the character was always how poor he was. Tony Stark's a millionaire, and Clark Kent had a million-square-foot pad at the North Pole, but poor Peter Parker was always having to decide whether to buy groceries or a new lens for his camera. And yet he spent his days stopping people from robbing banks for no pay. It was always a cool dynamic, in my eyes. Action figures would have been a good source of disposable income.

consulatsunset: Now that I've firmly established my geek-cred, Newegg.com is always my first choice for gadgets, especially the limited-time offers that crop up if you're patient and check the site often. A Celeron M processor should fit your needs, and a Core 2 Duo should easily exceed them. A quick glance shows that most of the 1 GB laptops come with the Core 2 Duo chip and should run in the neighborhood of $1200. If you decide to "rent" a laptop from Sears or similar, make sure you don't get hit with a restocking fee. Newegg and Best Buy both have a 15% fee on returns, which in this case would be nearly two hundred bucks. Ouch.

I saw those Wal-Mart Spider Man 3 toys briefly when I was in there tonight. It was hard NOT to see them - there was this huge banner over the boys' toys section. I didn't really do much browsing, since I was on my way out at that point, having scored "Moonlighting: The Fifth Season" for cheaper than I'd seen it anywhere else, including online. (Yes, I know that show wasn't as much fun after the leads got together, but I think this was the season that mentioned the writer's strike.)

I'd love to see TMNT. I'll have to see where they have it around here, though I'd probably be seeing it alone unless I could somehow talk my sister into going.

Doritos? Ick. I hate Doritos, and anything with that fake cheese powder stuff that gets all over your fingers.

Good luck with the cruise, Matt. Closest I've been to a cruise is the pictures my brother took when HE went on a cruise two years ago with a friend and his family. I'm hoping to return to my best friend's house in New England on my summer vacation again this year, this time with my knee intact.

TMNT fell through tonight…I might wind up going to see this one by myself, but so be it!

For those that have seen the TMNT movie…would you say its geared for a very young crowd, our age, or somewhere in between?

Sorry for the double post, but I also wanted to let Muppet Baby know that every time I see one of her posts, I get the Muppet Babies theme song stuck in my head…lol.

I'd say somewhere in between. Pre-teen, really. However, I'm 24 and thought it was badass. But no, I don't think it's geared towards the younger crowd at all…

Thanks for the response! I just turned 25 recently (gah!) so I will probably think its bad ass then also! Off to the movies tomorow!

Have to add my voice to the chorus of praise for TMNT. I really don't know what I was expecting out of the movie, but it had some really amazing visuals, and it managed to not completely screw up the characters or internal continuity. Now can we please get Krang in the next one?

On a bit of the same tick, I've spent much of tonight attempting to watch "Captain N: The Game Master" for the first time since 1990. Ugh, to say that it ages poorly is a massive understatement. I don't even want to see what happens when I go back to "ProStars" or "The Mighty Ducks."

I was also biased towards the White Nacho Doritos…but eating a small bag of both, I emerged with the exact opposite opinion. The Cheddar BBQ ones were decent, and I felt like the should've named the White Cheddar ones "Unflavored."

I saw they had some Spidey 3 figures that came with Venom Ooze! Ah, the spirit of toy ectoplasm and mutagen lives on.

Aside from aging poorly, how is the Captain N Box set DVD (assuming you have it??) Is it subtitled?

Cameron, I'm actually renting the whole thing from Netflix, but I'm going to make my way through the whole thing eventually (I've got to see the Link crossover episode, and it's apparently on the last disc). The video quality is decent, the audio excellent, but the menus don't make any sense and there are no subtitles. It feels like a bit of a rush job, especially since the SMB Super Show DVD was so well done.

Matt, the M&Ms store is way better than the Hershey's store, it was so freaking tiny! The sign outside was bigger than the whole store!

I also stopped off at the famed Nintendo World and literally had a nerdgasm. My obessed gamer friend that was with me was able to identify every theme song that played in the store, including the one for Star Tropics.

I also went to the Times Square TRU and saw the walled off display for the Spider 3 figures. I looked through a crack in the barracade, and thet looked awesome (and I'm pretty sure I saw Venom)

Last but not least, I went to Midtown Comics and saw the Battle Beasts article in ToyFare!

I'm going to Wiki immediately…I need to read about Mileena. Right now. Happy SNT everyone!!

I just can't believe they won't let us vote for some of the other temporary flavors. Guacamole was really the best flavor of Doritos I've ever had. I remember it was this big thing when I moved to a different state, because they had SMALL packages of them. I remember wistfully going down the aisles of supermarkets seeing if they got some old, last shipment in.

haha thats cool matt, they did the same phone reminder thing with snakes on a plane.. try imagining samuel jackson giving you a personalised phone call! it was pretty awesome

Yeah, H-B Norb! I was going to post on your birthday, but I got distracted. Sorry!

Muppet Baby- have a good time in Michigan. I hope the decent weather holds up for you.

You could have concievably gotten to a theatre playing ATHF: Movie Film for Theatres. So, how awesome was it?

Thanks to that whole Boston incident, ATHF was moved to April 13th! That & TMNT would've made the best double feature ever! Now ruined!

I need your help Matt , any cool junk stores in NYC? I'll be there in May and if I don't leave with at least a little junk my trip won't be complete. It's funny, my mother-in-law (to be) is going to be on the Martha Stewart show again, so I'll be to meet her. Yikes.

Why does it matter, Doritos after 4 or 5 all taste the same, that is, you no longer can taste them.

No TMNT in australia for another week, sigh, and is it acceptable for an australian to post in the SNT thread when in reality he is sitting here typing away on a sunday.

Matt, are you sure your cruise will be taking you to Orlando? I lived in Orlando and I can tell you that it's landlocked in the middle of the state (i.E., no ocean, no sea port)

Even though I work at TRU, I didn't get enough time to actually stop and check out each action figure and stuff, yet. Last night was insane - you would've sworn it was Christmas. I don't ever remember Easter being THAT big of a fucking deal. I'd get a basket of candy and a CD or something. Not a damn Power Wheels.

Anyhow, I saw the word Chipotle and automatically wanted some of the new limited time flavor "Chipotle Lime" Pringles. They are delicious.

Oh man, I totally had that orange bat thingie. I was wondering what the hell it was.

Crazy, I also spent part of last week reading up on mortal kombat characters on wikipedia =)

Have you tried the library? I don;t know how it is everywhere but our libraries in Jacksonville FL hava had a HUGE push lately and you can sign out laptops for use in the building/on the patio at least..mkght be a cheap solution, me not knowing your whole project situation.

lmfao, glad to know I'm not the only one who spent hours reading MK articles on Wiki.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure we've all fell into that trap. Mortal Kombat characters is how I FOUND wiki in the first place.

I haven't tried either Dorito flavor but I'd say that Wild White Nacho has the tastiest looking bag.

I went to McDonald's today to buy all the TMNT Happy Meal toys and they still had Shamrock Shakes. So I got a new set of Ninja Turtles toys AND a small Shamrock Shake!!!

Who hasn't wasted hours on wikipedia reading about how Sub Zero and Scorpion are totally different in every single way yet share almost the exact same look?

Rainbowfeet- Thanks! Yeah, I hope to hit good weather…when you're spending 20 hours in a car, y at least want it to be sunny.

Crazy_Mainer= I recently turned 25 also! It's a BIG one, that's for sure. *sighs* Also, I adore the Muppet Babies and love their theme song, so I hope you consider having the song in your head to be a GOOD thing.

Sorry for the double post, but MYSTIE= that sounds like an amazingly great afternoon. TMNT Happy Meal and a Shamrock Shake- awesome stuff.

I am extremely jealous right now…and hungry!

While reading my philosophy book, I got to Aristotle and for some reason thought of turtles. It was then when imagination sparked my mind and I opened MS Paint to produce this:

Went to the W. Palm boat show today and there was a dorito vender giving out white nacho and BBQ doritos. Definitly liked the white nacho better even though I swallowed one too soon and it felt like it cut me all the way down. That sucked.

Besides seeing TMNT yesterday, I just got back from seeing the new Japanese monster flick "The Host." It's very good. Not very scary, but a good creature feature.

I would have to say the Rocky III and TRON double feature of 1982 that happened in my hometown was the best double feature.

Am I the only one who picked up the Venom and Secret Wars Spider-man Origins figures?

Keep all your essentials and two days worth of clothes in a pilot case and DO NOT give it up to the porters when you get on the ship. They lost our bags for two days last time. It was awful.

Ben- That was awesome. I like knowing there are others out there that still rock MS Paint.

When Aristotle pops up, I think either think about Plato (the Allegory of the Cave and consequently the Matrix) or So-crates (and consequently Bill and Ted).

Actually, I whipped that up in about 30 minutes. I actually like to make comics out of MS Paint, but since I'm too poor to host them myself and too busy to make them frequently, I have to use my old Xanga. Sorry Matt, but I would like to link to all my previous work. Hopefully it'll be entertaining enough to not get me banned from posting. =P

http://x87.xanga.com/767a80e57323577574193/z52567336.png
This was my first MS Paint drawing, which I made around 9/12 last year. It was an evil robot that attacked me in my dream and I wanted to draw it to make sure I'd never forget….

http://x93.xanga.com/9f1d13f33513287611366/z60509092.png
This is my biggest and most elaborate comic. It's based off true events (a Nerf battle my friend and I had) and took a looooong time to make. Something like an hour a frame, but about double that on the ninth frame. This was completed around 11/05 and since then, I've really been too busy to do the finale, which I promised would be all action. Hopefully I'll have enough time this summer to finish it (and I don't forget what happened). The sweater I was wearing and the guns themselves are pains to draw, so that's holding me back…

*Pre-labs are teh suxxorz

*Isn't that first one the gun that inspired the Classics version of Megs?

MrEleganza, finally someone who agrees with my opinion on the Doritos. I too thought the White Nacho ones were almost flavorless. I loved the BBQ Cheddar though (which probably means they will be the ones that lose

)

saw TMNT last night with about 15 of my friends, all of us thought it was completely awesome. if you haven't seen it yet, I don't think I can talk to you anymore

"If there is an invisible line in the sand marking the point at which something tastes way too much like concentrated barbecue sauce powder, Smokin' Cheddar BBQ Doritos doesn't just cross it — it crosses it, turns around, pisses liquid chipotle all over it and performs an annoying touchdown dance." Absurdly funny! Hope your paychecks allow you to bathe in money, Matt. Your kind are rare animals that allow us humorless deadbolts to revel in chipotle piss (wow, that'd hurt!)and other fabulously clever observations. Huzzah for you.

Hey everyone! I caught the very first showing of TMNT on opening day at my local Mann theater, 12 noon. I got a free mini-poster! There were only a few other people there, a family and what looked like some middle/high schoolers cutting class. What a movie! It was the first turtle movie I saw on the big screen, although once when I was a kid I saw part of TMNT III playing on another screen at the drive-in.

My mother works for Frito Lay. The season cooks are hoping you all DONT vote for the White Cheddar Doritos. The light, white color of the seasoning is too difficult to keep an eye on as far as even distribution on the chips. Therefore each bag is very uneven in taste.

The first nerf gun. I've heard that model hypothesized as the source of inspiration for Megatron's alternate form from the Classics line. Norbert is on top of that stuff and I wanted him to corroborate it.

Dang it. I linked to a pic of Classics Megatron, Ben but I got approval-binned. Just google him yourself. I'm referring to the gun in your last comic.

So the Wild White Nacho are better? I haven't tried the BBQ, but I felt that the Wild White Nacho were a total waste of time. They're like the regular Nacho kind, only with 10% of the flavor.

The BBQ ones must be REALLY bad…I should try them.

Wow, my day was just made, small world, for the past week I have been trying to remember the name's of these toys I had when I was a kid and I couldn't come up with it. I also wasn't able to come up with the right combination of words for a google search. Then you talk about them. Battle Beast. Thank you for that, now I won't stay up at night wondering.

Ok ripped from fark, but wine flavored ice cream. It says it 5% alcohol. What else can they put alcohol in now?
also do you think there should be a X-E tour of new york?

Oh, no, all the guns are Nerf. The two in the comic are the Maverick and Longshot, part of the N-Strike line. At the time, that's all anybody had.

Matt, the only thing you really need to know about Norewegian Cruises is that they have a pizza bar on the top deck that is open all the time, and the pizza is delicious. They deliver to your room as well. Just remember this and your trip will be great.

Hey Matt, check out http://www.cruisejunkie.com/ to see if anyon'e jumped off your ship or got the norovirus in the past 5 years. Cruises are fun, but Carnival is my jam. Did one Norwegian cruise a couple of years back on an old, old ship and had a blast but got murdered at the bar. Oh well, live and learn! You'll have fun though. Vacations are what you make of 'em.

My roomate and I saw TMNT last night. It was actually pretty good!
I kept thinking the whole way through, that if I sent this film back in time to be watched when I was 7, that I probably would have died from joy-gasm before I reached 3rd grade.
and there is a small, vague reference to what is most likely Shredder in case they make another movie.

Best double feature?
Jaws and Deep Throat
Ice Pirates and Spaceballs
To Wong-Fu…. and Caddyshack
Legend of Boggy Creek and Deliverance
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians and Apocalypto
Killer Klowns From Outer Space and Shakes the Clown
Spawn and Life of Brian

Well, as I promised, I finally uploaded my pics from my day in the city! The first pic is oddly familiar to all of us here.

I thought Vault Red Blitz tasted like a cherry Otter Pop (not saying that's bad, just that it does)

Invader Norbert= Thanks, it was fun to live NYC vicariously through your photos!

I can't wait to try these new Doritos flavors on my Michigan road trip. We never get new flavors where I live.

3 days until I hit the road!

I tried Amp: Overdrive and it is the amp equivalent of Code Red. Now we just need a Pitch Black II variant.

God. I am going to miss Rome SO fucking badly

. I don't know if another show will ever be able to pull that off so well. Even in the middle of such a tear-jerking cry fest as that finale, they still manage to throw out the choice similes. "Like Medusa on the rag", LOL. Sorry, I know that doesn't fit in with the TMNT/Doritos/Spiderman topics, but somebody out there gotta feel me.
I hit the Grindhouse festival yesterday for a double feature (Pretty Maids All in a Row/Revenge of the Cheerleaders) but I have to admit I took off after the first one. Best Double Feature ever? Maybe Head/Pootie Tang?

Going to see TMNT tomorrow, can't wait. I haven't had a chance to try the two Doritos flavors, but my mind immediately said "Wild White Nacho wins." when I noticed the two at the store. I kinda wanted to try 'em, so it's disappointing to hear that they're borderline shitty.

Finally had a Shamrock Shake and I think they're pretty awesome. Not sure I could consume anything bigger than the small size, though.

Almost forgot about the "I dont want to think about chicken when I am eating Doritos" bit. That's still funny. Maybe I'll randomly toss it into a conversation tomorrow.

This might have already been brought up, but how can anyone be THAT quick with a camera and microphone. You had time to whip it out, take a picture, find a microphone and hit record, and still answer it before it hit went to missed calls? I guess you could have waited for voicemail, but the picture says otherwise.

hey, just wanted to say those TMNT toys at McDs are pretty cool! I got Leo and Mike (Mike is kinda broken though) with leg squizin' ACTION. Has anyone else been gettin these things, cuz those weird statue ones where thier shells open up are still a mystery to me. What's inside? Candy? Tiny Turtles? Something to choke on? I must know! Oh and SAtam Sonic comes out today! Everyone knows he's got attitude, but, can he really move? You be the judge!

If you read earier comments you will see that the number of Spiderman was 1234567890. On Matt's phone it was different which was just a picture to represent he had a phone call. That's all. He didn't say that that was the exact call. People take this stuff seriously.

I've got an idea. I think Matt should write an article filled with misspellings, wrong dates and links to pages different than what was intended. Then we can have a contest to guess the number of correction comments and the closest one gets a prize. I'll donate.

flabslapper The figural ones you press the head down on and a tiny wheeled turtle figure comes out the back. Like Mikey has an orange one of him on a skateboard. The first McDonald's I went to would only give me the figures 1+2, but since the had Shamrock Shakes it wasn't a total loss. Plus the encounter was just hilarious.

Mystie: I need to buy all the TMNT Happy Meal toys.
Cashier: Oh, okay, well we have the first two. How many do you need?
Mystie: 8.
Cashier: …. are you serious? You want 8 of each?
Mystie: NO! There's 8 figures total, and I need one of each figure to collect them all!
Cashier: Um, we only have the blue guy and the orange guy.
Mystie: Fine, *pout* just give me one of each. You still have Shamrock Shakes?
Cashier: …. yeah…
Mystie: Gimme one of those, too.

The one down the road was much nicer, they just got the box out of the back room and picked out the rest of the figures for me and stuck them in a Happy Meal bag.

Hahaha I can't wait to see Ninja Turtles. It is going to rock… i even had their sheets when I was a little kid

No it isn't. Look again. Unless of course Mike P was pointing out that Matt's call was a set-up, hence the 1 through 0 bidness.

The pic of the phone actually does have the number 1234567890. I knew it was coming around noon, so I had my camera's movie recorder ready. Then I ripped the still image and the audio file from the recorded movie. Mystery solved!

The man and I are thinking of a Disney Cruise for our honeymoon- we went on one this past September and it was pretty darn sweet. Plus, I (no longer) secretly want to wear one of those "Minnie Ears With the Bridal Veil" caps.

OMG Head? As in the Monkees? I thought I was the only person in world that had been subjected to that movie by my father! LOL.

LOL Crazy_M that's the one. I thought about pairing it with another Jack Nicholson movie for the synchronicity, but nothing quite fit.
Cole me down on the panny sty, K-

You know, I always thought they should do an R-rated Pootie Tang remake/sequel. That movie had no business being PG-13 in the first place.
Oh hey if anybody was like me and forgot to catch the first night of Planet Earth, they're replaying it all week. And if you need any convincing as to why you should watch it, I got three words for you. Bioluminescent. Vampire. Squid. Lots of other neat stuff too, but "vampire squid from hell" has a better ring to it.

I'm 24 y old and seen TMNT twice already ….its that good.A+ Best Turtles movie by far the only small gripe is Casey Jones is a weak/dumb character when compared to all the character development. especially between Raph and Leo..

Man…I want to see TMNT again…Just no time right now…I hope it does well enough for them to make a sequel (FIVE TMNT movies!!??!?! Wow!)

You know what's horrible? I went down the frozen pizza aisle today and didn't see ONE Ninja Turtle on the boxes. Plus Wal-Mart had this big display of TMNT bedding sets, but only in twin. *pout* I want Chef Boyardee to bring back Ninja Turtles pasta. How long do licenses on pasta shapes run for? Hm. I wrote them the other day asking if they'll bring them back, and they wrote me some BS e-mail thanking me for the letter and saying they're sorry to learn of my "experience." Wha?!

Benjamin I felt the same way! That was the only little thing that I could pick out that could have been better. Casey needed to be more of an asshole and Raph needed to be a little less of one.

Well honestly I thought Casey's character was spot on–I mean, it's obvious that he's mellowed some over the years. It would appear that he's living with April now, so maybe she has had an anti-asshole effect on him. If anything, Casey acted as a perfect counterpoint for Raph in that he didn't act like an asshole.

Mystie
It sounds like you got the standard form letter response when you write to complain about a product. I got one once after I wrote to complain about something growing it a can. All I got was the form letter and a coupon for a free can of the same thing I complained about…

I can't believe no one mentioned the Sweet and Spicy Chili Doritos from a few months ago. Those were heaven. And of course, I cannot get them anymore. Sometimes I hate how much I love Doritos.

Wenthral:
At least you didn't get a coupon for a free whatever-it-was that had taken up residence in the pasta.

FYI: "Bring It On - All or Nothing" is on tomorrow night on the Family Channel. I would hate for you guys to miss it. My Thursday night is set. (3 on's in one sentence)

kinglash
I was more than a little dumbfounded with the situation. After complaining about there product, the best they could do for me was to offer a free can of the product I just complained about?
Who thought this would be a good idea?

Executive, "I know how we can score brownie points with the consumer. If they complain about the mystery sauce lets give them a free can. They'll love us for it."
Small voice in the back, "But won't they want to avoid the product that grossed them out the first time?"
Executive, "The coupon is a great idea, Your fired!"

Bill: I don't know what I did to anger you to the point that you would try to trick me into watching that, but whatever it was, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, and I'll never do it again. Truce?

I had absolutley no interest in watching Bring it on Sequel number whatever until I noticed that the actor that plays Claire on Heros is one of the cheerleaders.

….is what I'd say if I didn't worship the celluloid Josie and the Pussycats was committed to.

Benjamin: I didn't have any problems with Casey. My only gripe with the movie (and most of my friends agree) is that April had a sword, did some fighting, etc. She's supposed to drive the van and run the camera. She doesn't fight.

snowfire
See, I expected a lot of people to have that reaction because their only exposure to TMNT was the old cartoon…

But in every other version of TMNT, April actually gets trained by Splinter and kicks ninja butt.

Besides, the yellow armor/suit/whatever you call that thing that made April look hot was obviously a throwback to the old yellow jumpsuit…

I have watched several episodes of the new cartoon and didn't like it as much as the old one. And I have seen the other movies, it's just been so long ago I don't remember them that well. I think I should watch them again now…

Anyways, it's not that I really have a problem with April being trained, just that the original cartoon (and its versions of the characters) has always been my favorite

Going to MICHIGAN today! Hello USA! I am so excited. I am going to gorge myself on US junk food and watch TMNT and oh yeah- drive for 2 days straight! Hopefully I can find some wireless access while I am there.

lol, i saw that this morning too, i want the other one! I will call it 'fluffy' because naming a shark 'fluffy' would be deliciously absurd

Matt — Some quick tips on cruising … Duty Free Shopping is freakin' awesome if you smoke or drink. Stock up on duty free smokes and cheap booze on board. I came in through the NYC terminal from my last Canadian cruise with 12 bottles wrapped in my dirty clothes. I was oh, 10 bottles over our customs limit. And I got all that booze for under $100. If I still smoked, I'd have done the same thing with those too.

Norwegian is real big on their stupid souvenir cups but drinks are usually about 40% cheaper if you order them in glassware. The downside is that NCL usually has some pretty nifty souvenir cups. I tossed most of the plastic hurricane-type cups but have kept the little martini shaker-style one they had because it's a quick and easy way to mix up drinks without fully busting into the bar kit.

Don't bring beach towels, they're provided for you. They're in your cabin when you get there and if you get it wet or dirty or what have you, you can exchange them on the pool deck for a clean one.

Casino opens once you're 15 miles out to sea. The rule of thumb for playing slots is play early becaue that's when they pay. The machines are usually on the take on the last night and everyone who hasn't played tends to play THAT night so it's usually crowded.

The best food in the regular dinning room is usually served at formal night. Don't be afraid to ask for two entrees or appetizers.

Where are you going, BTW? If you're leaving out of NYC, I can give you tips on navigating that terminal too.

On the Mirage Studios site, you can read the original black and white TMNT books, at least the first couple of issues.

I took Matt's advice and voted for the white nacho doritoes. they make you go through a lot of superfluous shit at that site to vote. Didn't think I'd have to register to vote for freaking chip flavors.

All because they love all those fiddly bits around the fjords. They won an award, you know.

Just found the BBQ Cheddar Doritos at a local store (no sign of Wild White). Personally, I love the BBQ Cheddar, but I'll reserve final judgement until I try wild white.

Matt,
The woman and I did a Holland America cruise this winter to Australia. It was pretty fun but was filled with old folks… average age of 65. Make sure you are going in a normal time when other "young people" have off.

I don't know a thing about cruises - I've never gone, nor have I wanted to - but I just happened to run across a bit of news that should make Norwegian the obvious choice.

TMNT rocked! Those of you who don't see it while it's on the big screen are missing out. The character development and animation was unreal. Took a minute to get used to, but it was amazing.

Matt: If you do not see this movie, you have not lived. HYPE, HYPE, HYPE!!! RUUUUN!

kingklash wrote:So, LemurCat, NCL is doing it best to help you know where your towel is?

Something like that. I know they charge you like $25 if you lose one/steal one/leave one on shore.

I just saw TMNT and was wondering, does anyone else think Splinter looked an awful lot like Chester Cheetah?

Yeah, there's a thread a the Penny Arcade forums that has a photoshop the cheetah with Splinter. It's a dead ringer…

Best double feature EVER…when I was 10 I saw TRON with CLASH OF THE TITANS for freakin' sakes!!! (Carl). At a drive-in, no leaa!! Ahh, 1984 rocked…
And also, I'm drunk.

Not sure about Splinter, but Winters looked like the dad from The Incredibles with black hair.

and the blonde cheerleader girl from heroes used to be a child actor on guiding light (soap opera) as "Lizzie" spaulding. When I first started watching Heroes I kept on thinking who is that girl, also on those makeup commericals. I had to look it up before I remembered!! For the record, my Grandma watches that show lol. I love on the internet like imdb.com you can go to one show, look at the cast members and then click on them to see what else they've been in. I have used that at last 10 times at emergency type of moments.

i just had shoulder surgery on monday and am still feeling the massive effects of them drilling stuff into my bones and what not. also i'm on extra strength vicodin which is nice. i have tried neither of the doritos but still somehow feel that i'd like the BBQ ones better. I also have yet to see TMNT, and K- you are officially my hero for making and off hand hitchhikers guide to the galaxy reference.

How can you possibly be serious about the white nacho doritos?!? If for no other reason than they taste identicle to orange nacho doritos but are a different color. At least the smokey bbq cheddar is flavored differently from everything else on the market. I swear if people vote for white nacho and there are 2 exact same tasting nacho chips on the market with the only difference being that one is white and somehow wild I am gonna go nuts. Sorry, I just feel very passionate about this issue and think that the smokey flavored ones may be the greatest snack ever….and I am still miffed that Nabisco took Bacon flavored crackers off the market.

Left Canada at 10 AM Thursday…didn't stop driving for more than 20 minutes the whole time…arrived in Michigan at 7 AM the next day (today!). 21 hours. Whew.

We stopped at so many strange gas stations, and I ate chocolate bars that we can't get in Canada (Fast Break, Whatchamacallit, etc.) Today I must try these new Doritos flavors…:)

Weighing in on the whole Doritos flavor thing, I must say that I tend to prefer all things BBQ, so I will probably prefer BBQ Cheddar, as I already prefer Ranch over Nacho Cheesier. And, for those of you who follow taquitos.net, the snack chip ratings page, their reviewer weighs in with this:

Taste: I'm a big critic of Frito-Lay for making all of their Doritos flavors taste nearly the same, with just different combinations of ingredients. That said, this new flavor tasted different, with just enough of the familiar taste to know that you're still eating a Dorito. The chips were still yellow with red-orange seasoning (like the Nacho Cheese flavor), but this flavor had a really good barbecue taste — it reminded me of the smoky barbecue potato chip from Herr's. This is going head-to-head with the Doritos Wild White Nacho flavor in the "Fight for the Flavor" and I wouldn't be disappointed if this chip stayed around for a while, because the taste is good enough to last beyond the limited-time-only stage.

Dang, how far North do you live, that it takes you 21 hours driving straight, just to make it to Michigan? You must live pretty close to Hudson Bay!

Well, I think I'll try the Doritos later today. Both at the same time. There's you your double feature!

Citygirl brings up a good point, how many flirtatious comments do you get on a regular basis because of this site? Also I hope to be the first heterosexual man to tell you that you are sexy, a comment I reserve only for Brad Pitt in Fight Club and that balck dude from Andrameda, oh and Kevin Sorbo's chest in Hercules

Pssshhh… if I had to listen to Matt whine about how far away the remote is all day, I'd totally expect a cruise out of the deal.

I'm going on a cruise in December thats stopping off in tbe Bahamas and Jamaica. Not sure which company though.

Watching Montel one day, he did a show about cruises and suggested everybody hire a lawyer before you ever go on a cruise. He interviewed people who have been beaten, raped, killed, etc.. on cruises and the staff does nothing about it, which seems a little out there for me to believe, but remembering my Cancun trip, I guess anything is possible. One guy was 18 or 19, the staff let him into the bars, he'd get kicked out after he got drunk enough, then go to another bar, have a couple more drinks, get kicked out, and then wound up falling over the side of the boat and died. The cruise company destroyed security tapes showing this and nobody knew how he died for a couple years until a witness came out and told their story.

I'm not getting a lawyer, if I fall into the water and die, atleast I went down like the greatest American hero who may or may not have ever existed… Jack Dawson.

Danny: Kingklash started the chain, and finished it. Plus, he's been a huge fan for a long time. I'm honestly really new to Hitchhiker's. I read them for the first time last year. Kudos to Kingklash the master of all culture worth knowing about. One of X-E's most valuable resources. But thank you nonetheless.

Re: Straight Guys admiring other Guys–Keanu, Cusack, Hugh Jackman. Matt's a good looking dude, though

in other news i have a greater appreciation for kingklash, and also i have possibly the greatest girlfriend ever in the whole history of the relationships. since i'm recovering she brought me a meet the robinsons and a marvel universe coloring book so i have something to do. also i figured out why matt suddenly signed up for norwegian cruise lines, it was an under the radar but i figured it out, click my name to see the great secret revealed.

Old Jim- I live in New Brunswick, Canada- so I am quite EAST of Michigan, hence the 21 hours of driving.

I agree with what Matt said about riding a dumpster so long as it lets you avoid real life for a week- I utterly enjoyed my 21 hours in the car as it was an escape from 'real life'! Doing the same 21 hour route on the way home will not be as fun, however…

Damn- that big screen Wii action on the cruise line looks like that scene from "The Island" with Ewan McGregor…

Open mouth, insert foot… If you will forgive the impertinence of a poor, sleep-deprived Yank who has not had the chance to read every SNT entry in the X-Entertainment blog, how come you don't visit New England once in a while, as that is a relatively short border crossing, as opposed to Michigan, which, not being sure of my facts, I'm guessing involves a visit to friends or relatives.

I have finally tasted the Caramel Creme Pepsi Jazz…and I can tell you it tastes just like Diet Pepsi with a slightly better aftertaste.

I had no luck whatsoever with finding either Dorito flavor.

Minor update on my taste test:
It also makes your mouth taste like an aluminum can for at least half an hour (and counting) after you finish drinking, and this taste does NOT surrender to water…ugh, never again.

I'm not a star wars fan but I love looking at the merchandise sometimes. If I had that kinda money to spend on something so, um, carelessly I would be interested. Looks like good stuff!!

Dude, I had some of those bbq ones the other day, and they tasted like utter garbage. Even though I'll never try them, my vote goes to the white cheddar ones.

Despite what persistant rumors say to ruin my good name, I actually hate Doritos. Is there a an option in the voting where I can have all brands of Doritos banned forever?

Speaking of double features, I remember when Star Wars aired on Prime Time TV in the early eighties it was always preceded by this movie called "Six Pack" that stared Kenney Rogers. I guess he was a race car driver and had six kids or something. The title song was "Love will Turn You Around" and now that song will be in my head all day. shit.
Anywho, I remember watching that movie getting pumped for Star Wars as a 5 year old. Who knew Kenney Rogers could be linked with Star Wars?

I remember when Star Wars toys didn't have sound chips. When your X-Wing made a laser sound, it was acheived by a small electric motor spinning a cog against a plastic tab. Of course, then, as now, when your batteries died, you had to make the sounds youself. Shooom! Zzzst! Pkkkow!

If they build a Time Machine within our lifetime, let's all book a trip to '78. We can buy Star Wars toys and Atari 2600 games.

I always prefered my own sound effects to the built in X-wing "Reeeeeeeeee!" sound.

Flabslapper I agree all the way. I think even straight men find Matt incredibly hot. But, it's not just that. It's the whole package that shines through in his articles. Plus MYSTIE he just took her to Disneyworld too. But his girlfriend is probably smokin' hot AND humble and he would probably say he's the lucky one. I personally would fetch his remote anytime .

) ( sorry Mrs. Matt) Also a quick P.S. Is it just me or has anyone ever wondered what Matt's voice sounds like? I would love to hear his Italian, New Yawk accent.

)

actually i haven't thought about how his voice sounds, he probably sounds like Raphiel in the first movie, lol

TMNT sucked horse balls. Don't know what the hell you people saw in it. It can be thrown in the crap bin with the second and third ninja turtles movies.
Matt, If you haven't seen it yet, you're not missing anything special.

I totally signed up for that the minute I got the commercial. At first I was like, wth who is this unknown caller, then I answered because I was like, hey wait it's Saturday!

It was a nice Spider-man voice and I was definitely sold on the unique propaganda. I only wish that I had time to go get promotional toys that day ._.

Ahh…The Norweigan Cruise Lines. Wish I could tell you all about it - but I can't. I spent a year planning and booking an anniversary cruise with my now ex-wife. Only to have her tell me, 1 month before we left, that she wanted a divorce! So she went on the trip with some other guy.

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