X-Entertainment's Christmas Season & Advent Calendar, 2008.

04/28/2007: Shin Bowl Saturday!

It’s a little late for an SNT so I don’t expect this one to get much traction, but oh well. I’d like to introduce you to my buddy, Shin Bowl.

I love Shin Bowls, even though this is only the second one I’ve ever purchased. Many months ago, I returned to the office around 5 PM after a hellacious day of uptowning/downtowning that was set to continue into the night with no end in sight. I complained aloud about my predicament, saying something to the effect of “guess I’ll eat lunch at 10 fucking o’clock tonight.”

It was at this point that a nice girl who I used to sit near opened one of her desk drawers. Not just any desk drawer, but her legendary snack drawer. She had this thing constantly stuffed with all sorts of strange Asian candies and crackers, and everyone on our half of the floor made a point to be nice to her, lest we be crossed off the list of employees eligible for gummy candies flavored like lychee nuts or some shit.

Taking pity on me, she grabbed a Shin Bowl and led me to the kitchen. “It’s like a Cup O’ Soup,” she said while boiling water in a somewhat cracked and coffee-stained pot. “Only it’s really hot.” So began a brief debate on whether I would be able to stand the heat, and as someone who’d down a bottle of Tabasco sauce for a sum as little as five bucks, I couldn’t understand her position. Of course it wouldn’t be too hot.

And it wasn’t, but man, motherfucker was REALLY hot. Whatever Mr. Shin puts in the magic powder packet for each Shin Bowl has to be a Scoville Top 10′er, and by the time you get through the noodles and have nothing but plain old broth left to drink, each sip makes your mouth hate you more and more.

Despite this, it’s amazingly good, and I wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone who wants to feel both satiated and as if Hell was actually a tiny place that existed in their throat. While my buddy from work most certainly picked up her Shin Bowls at a gen-yoo-ine Chinese market, I found ‘em at another of our planet’s finest culinary centers: 7-11. That’s also where I found the new Spider-Man Slurpee cups, but we’ll save that story for later.

Those soup-in-a-package things always kind of scare me. Yeah, I know the stuff’s edible, but when I think about certain soups (like the Cup O’Soup with shrimp I saw in a vending machine) I worry about the person’s mind who thought that up and if he’s really close to snapping.

Wow, alot of the kids at my school eat those. Recently, today, actually, i discovered something you might like to try if you enjoy shin bowls. They’re noodle bowls ( not like cup o soup ) with really good flavors, especially the roasted peanut. They are manufactured by Simply Asia. Happy noodle-consuming!

So what is/was everyone’s favorite ramen brand?
Mine was Maruchan.
Anybody like “Top?”

I had to get out tonight but all my friends are working and there’s NOTHING to do in this area other than bar hop. I wound up sitting in Barnes and Noble paging through a huge book on Transformers collectibles. Man. I could have just stayed home and read Wikipedia.

I don’t know my favorite ramen brand. That didn’t matter….as long as it was flavored BEEF.

Mystie
I just saw the pic of Dave Coulier on your site and immediately noticed it was from Out of Control! That was without a doubt my favorite Nick show as a kid. It was such an original and wacky show. I LOVED it! Thanks for the great little synopsis to feed the massive nostalgia section of my brain!

Love me some Shin Bowl, but have you checked the nutrition information? Hopefully that magic powder does something about clogged arteries and high blood pressure.

I think I had a stockpile of ramen in a cabinet when I started college. I don’t remember what kind it was because I never had any of it. If I remember correctly, I left it in the cabinet for my roommate when I moved out a few years ago.

As for the Cup-O-Soup I remember eating (not the apparently Irish Cup O’Soup version I was thinking about earlier), it was the chicken flavor. They’re pretty decent when there’s nothing else around.

I can’t do the spicey either. I always ask for one star when I order Thai. I do like those Asain bowls though.
My mother still sends me care packages in the mail. She ALWAYS includes at least 5 packages of Raman. I’m like, “Hey Mom, is it worth the postage?” But she also sends me all the mints she’s collected from dining out. So, I think it’s more a what crap do I have lying around that I don’t want as opposed to what does my daughter need…
All this talk about 7-11 is making me jealous, I so wish we had them here.

I just picked up 2 of those Spider-man cups…they’re better than the stuff inside them

Love the spicy, been known to do Tabasco shots w/o a single dare in the air. Non-taster status, ftw!!

So, what do you have out there instead of 7-11s? Those things are like Starbucks stores (which, strangely enough, there are probably five 7-11s & WaWas between where I live and the nearest Starbucks).

I ate ramen in college and during my early years in Wildwood, but I finally dropped them - too salty. They’re really big with my grocery store customers, though, especially students and those looking for a cheap way to fill up their kids. My youngest sister was addicted to ramen for the longest time.

I saw the Spider Man Slurpee cups at our local 7-11 down the street from me the last time I was there. I’m not a big Spider Man fan, so I won’t be buying one this time.

So, I just saw this Shrek commercial for oversized M&M’s. Anybody know anything about these?

It seems like whenever I check the ingredients of any noodle soup they’ve got MSG so I get sketchy about eating it. I can’t imagine there can be much in there, but I’m still looking for one that doesn’t have any so I can stock up. When I was growing up Top Ramen was one of my favorite foods, but I wasn’t allergic back then.
Happy SNT everybody!

Lackadaisical- In the town i am currently living in we have a Stop and Shop, which I don’t know if it’s a chain or not. Also there’s lots of Bill’s here. But if you go towards Minneapolis, the biggest one I bet is Super America. But previously I lived in Seattle and there’s pleny of 7-11’s there. And sadly, I was a patron of the hot dogs and big gulp specials more times that I should have been.

kb- I lived in Seattle, too. It was my first experience with 7-11s that were built into other buildings and didn’t have parking lots. The suburbs spoiled me growing up. Hell, my hometown had three 7-11s, all within walking distance, and I think even owned by the same guy.

Where in Seattle are you talking about? I lived in green Lake area, I can think of 2 with parking lots, none without.

Shrek M&Ms are wicked awesome! They are about the same size as peanut M&Ms but filled with chocolate. Very tasty. I got some at Target about a week or so ago. I really wish they would become a standard variety.

Hey everyone! I’m pretty sick right now, but i thought i’d update you on the upcoming McDonald’s Shrek III promotion, because yesterday my boss at work showed me a newsletter about it. The following details have been confirmed: we’ll sell collector cups of some kind for about $2 each, there’ll be a new McFlurry flavor, swamp sludge (green M&M’s and choco/mint or something like that), and a shake flavor, mint green mudbath(green-colored, chocolate mint flavor). Not to mention Happy Meal toys, decorations, all kinds of silly stuff for the crew to wear, and even green straws. Starting May 10th. Plenty of X-E fodder for our friend Matt. Hope you enjoy!

I lived in Belltown with very little access to areas outside the city. At least I think the one I always went to didn’t have a parking lot (or much of one).

Ahh, makes sense now. Did you go to the Art Institute there?
(I’ll stop hogging blog space now)

The other day I went to a handful of them, across two cities and none of them were working. I actually cursed at the last place.

Yes, I did. It was an interesting less-than-a-year experience nearly 10 years ago. I think the main reason I left was because I missed sunlight.

I bet you could make a weeks worth of meals out of food with Shrek plastered all over it and have a different menu every day. Granted, a lot of those meals would be cereal and snack food, but I’m sure it’s possible.

Matt, which spiderman slurpy cup did you pick up? I already got venom. I was on a late night excursion to the store and i saw them and I HAD to have it.

I love spicey food at work. I think there is a reason for that. I like the way that lunch can distract me from the mundane by making my mouth implode to and explode. I need that.
Better Off Dead is on Com Cent.

Btw, “Better Off Dead” is on ABC Family right now. I love perfect Saturday night movies. Anybody else have those movies that you’ve seen 1,000 times, own, yet still watch on TV and not be bothered by the editing?

I was vegetarian for four years, so the only flavor of ramen I could eat was maruchan mushroom. Oddly enough, rather than becoming sick of it, I can now eat it whenever I want, as often as I want and not get sick of it. Magic!

ty bill and lackadaisical, I love that movie! Now to bed to fall asleep watching it

a hahah thats hilarious, why just tonight my dad made a stop at T&T Supermarket (ie Chinese supermarket) and not being Chinese I was super duper excited about everything I encountered. 1. The cookie/candy isle where I stocked up on little cookies shaped like koala bears with strawberry cream inside, Pocky sticks, those Yam Yam things with the cookie sticks that come with a side of chocolate icing for dipping, chocolate covered gummies, wasabi peas, I coulda re-stocked that girl’s snack drawer! and 2. The noodle isle, where I can only come across my FAVE instant noodles that come with 5, yes FIVE seasoning packets inside, and let me tell you, it is DELICIOUS. I also got to see the gigantic lobsters swimming in their tanks and I actually got the courage to touch one…thats right my friends, it was the equivalent of my parents taking me to some kind of zoo when I was 5 and letting me stuff my face with as much chinese supermarket goodies as I could throw in the cart.

hey kb, hows it doin? i wanted to tell you that my gf made a trip to the Goonies house as well, about 7 years ago.

Super America is def. a midwest thing…as for the 7-11’s, I saw one, ONE only, about, shit, like 20 years ago when I was 7. Nowhere in Wisconsin have I seen one, not even in Milwaukee…hmmm.

“I know it’s bacon. What did you do to it?”
I love when the goo just moves right off his plate.

I am an asian market fan-girl. There was an asian market a block from my high school, and I explored it with fervor on a daily basis. Strawberry Pocky is one of my favorite snacks EVER. I don’t like explosively spicy foods, so I don’t think I’ll be trying those bowls.

kb-I have recently discovered that there are more than one “Stop & Shop” chain. I grew up in Rhode Island, where the Stop & Shop was the supermarket of supermarkets…and may still be. This particular chain used the predictable red and green color scheme for their signs. However, in my travels this past month, I found another “chain” in Utah…..very boring. I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out how that could be. I always figured supermarkets would have trademarked names or whatever.

On the 7-11 tip, all I want for spring is a Venom cup, and every single one that I’ve been in, across 3 states, has been out of them. This whole traveling and not always having internet thing is wearing on me. On the upside, I’m set to get a yet another tattoo next week(I hope). I’m getting a tomato with a banner that says “Killer”. I want to get it on the top of my palm, but that would be highly irresponsible of me. Instead, I’m going to get it just above my knee. That way, it can still “attack” if need be. Yup, I’m just like that.

Wow, Larry, that’s almost a haiku.
In addition to shilling every snack out there, Shrek’s doing PSAs about getting at least an hour of exercise a day. Apparently they’ve been out since February, but I haven’t seen any of them. You can watch them online, but it’s just not the same as seeing them in the middle of the Best Day Edder or Spongebob or whatever.

I’ve never seen one of those bowls opened, but now I’m suddenly hungry. Man, leave it to this site to always awaken some culinary desire I didn’t know I had. If I wasn’t already settled in for the night, I’d be off for two or three of those and as many Spider-Man cups as I could get my hands on. Oh, and some KitKats, because I can’t leave a 7-11 without some.

Mint Green Mudbath shake must = the return of the Shamrock Shake. Awesome! I tried to get one a while back and they told me it was over with. Well, it’s too good to be over with, says Shrek. In your face, random McDonald’s employee. In your face!

I liek ramen noodles from the bags. I crunch them up in the bag, stick it in a cup, and pour in hot water, this way, the noodles stay semi crunchy and its good that way to me.

as for chinese markets those are awesome. I like the candies as well, I had chocolate candies once called kancho, tee hee. still have the box, I liked the name so much.

i hate my nearest 7-11 it doesnt have spidey cups, and also, my nearest mcdonalds doesn’t even have normal happy meals, they have those STUPID bags and never give out the toys. pisses me off. my neighborhood don’t participate in crap, now i want to destroy them all. >=(

Is it just me, our I’m I the only one that could care less about Shrek 3? I was talking to a friend today and they said they were looking forward to it more than other movies…WTF? I thought the first one was all right, but I regreting paying to see the second one. Maybe I’m just crazy….

Also, the local CW likes to show Friends late at night, and it’s episodes I’ve never seen…which is more odd: I thought I saw all of them or I’m admittingly enjoying watching them at 2AM…

Are they better than the $.30 microwavable Maruchan ramen noodle cups? I had one of those and it was really bad…. But it looks like this one isn’t intended for microwaves, so there is hope yet!

It’s a little late for an SNT so I don’t expect this one to get much traction

Not necessarily. I can’t be the only one who always forgets about the SNT until it’s too late–12:30 AM. 3:30 AM for Matt! A later SNT would be fine with me, a West Coast net user.

Is it just or are there a LOT more people online from the East Coast than there are from the West?

for my money, Nissin Top Ramen is the pinnacle of instant noodle quality. Nissin vs. Maruchan is almost like Coke vs. Pepsi to me. I don’t know when or why I decided they were bitter rivals, but I did and when I chose sides, it was for life. It’s Nissin and Coke, always and forever.

I was from the east coast, now I’m on the west coast. In Seattle, unfortunately not close enough to a 7-11.

Yeah it’s too bad that at a certain point in the night it’s mostly just us West Coasters left. There is definitely a strong East Coast contingent around here, but I never thought it applied to the net in general.
I haven’t ever been particularly crazy over Shrek, but I thought the first one was better then the second. Antonio Banderas and Jennifer Saunders were the only standouts in the whole sequel, I really don’t see why they needed to make a third. I’m most excited about Pirates, myself. Got my tickets and everything. Couldn’t get tickets for the midnight show though, because the El Capitan wants you to shell out 100 clams for a marathon of all three movies and that’s too much even for me. It was cool seeing all the news crews and goofballs dressed as pirates, but c’est la vie.

RE: Shrek III. I, too, really don’t care about it, though I’ll probably go see it, just to see it. But I just don’t fine either of the previous Shrek movies as engaging as say, the Pixar movies. Sure, they’re funny, but something about them just doesn’t make them seem like movies that the next generation will remember as classics.

Not saying you can’t get a kick out of them. I fully expect the Transformers movie to be terrible, too, but that doesn’t mean it won’t make a good popcorn flick.

What about the MSG content in the soup? MSG will cause my heart to explode and give me minor hip discomfort. Did you try adding a little Time Juice for flavoring?

Mars: Ever since I was a kid I always got Maruchan, so I guess that makes us archenemies.

Shuanfu Right after Shrek 2 came out they announced because they were suprised it was such a success they signed a contract for shrek 3 and 4. I think that is sad on so many levels and they were obviously talking about the Shrek merchandising. I watched Shrek when Shrek 2 was coming out on NBC one Saturday just like the one that just passed and it wasn’t funny at all to me. Probably because I was comparing it to the Toy Story movies. My sister thought it was hilarious (Shrek) but my sister is a airheaded moron so I am not dissapointed in me not having the same opinion I should be proud. Also I hate sequels that have nothing to do with an ongoing plot. Like you have the first one right the build up of the plot then you have the second one that is just the same title but “goes to vegas” or something like that. And prequels are lame too. I should have a blog post of my own with the rant and save space here.

Did you know they are making snickers candy bars with GREEN nougat shrek style? Gross!! I would still eat 5 of them though or more. We are having a food shortage here.

Cup o soups are very yummy indeed, unless they are tomato flavored… not that I’m a mater hater by any means, they just don’t translate well to powdered soup dusts.

damn, why so hard on Shrek? It has funny characters, funny stories, lots of fairy tale crap that I grew up on, awesome cgi, I mean, c’man people.

No, it doesn;’t have the seepest plot or character development, but its just a fun ride that should be enjoyed at face value.

anyway…Shrek 3, who gives a shit? I’m pumped for Die Hard 4, that will rock! It’s hard to believe that Die Hard 3 was like 12 years ago!!

Also, I just watched Pirates of the Carribbeann 2 for the first time yesterday, it was pretty good. My gf is a POTC freak, so she’s really excited for that one.

But as far as sequel’s go, Shrek 3 is about the last on my list. Really, I can’t stand those movies.

Although the whole entire crop of recent animated movies are not really up my alley. They just all look the same…computer animated, BFD. I can’t even keep track of them all. I saw Cars once, it was good, don’t get me wrong, but I def. wouldn’t want to watch it more than once. My nephew is a freak about The Incredibles and Monsters, Inc. and on and on.

Oh well, beautiful fucking day out here in Wisco. Glad I got my laptop so I can go sit out in the yard on it

The following details have been confirmed: we’ll sell collector cups of some kind for about $2 each, there’ll be a new McFlurry flavor, swamp sludge (green M&M’s and choco/mint or something like that), and a shake flavor, mint green mudbath(green-colored, chocolate mint flavor).

Holy. Crap. This may well be the return of the Shamrock Shake as we know it! My quest won’t be a failure after all!

And I know I’m not the only one who’s seen the Shrek-themed rice-krispie treats, all green colored.

What a coincidence! I was craving chicken ramen noodles yesterday so I walked to the corner Xtramart and bought a weeks worth. I always loved that they’re like $.15 a pack. Happy SNT on a Sunday…

Hey Kidney- Yeah, That’s about the time I was there. It was actually up for sale at the time. Can you imagine, living in the Goonies House? It totally still had the fence too. I would be the jerk to try and make friends do the truffle shuffle before entering. Ok maybe not, but it’d still be funny.
Has anyone seen the M & M’s Adam’s Family commercial for the dark chocolate ones yet? Nice change from the red and yellow guy ones.
I bought one of those Shrek snickers, tastes the same. It just looks really really strange.

hey matt,
my girlfriend is korean, and we eat this stuff all the time. i prefer the one that you make in a pot. koreans love their hotness.

HA! Those little flavoring packs are for wimps. I take my ramen straight up. No water, I just eat the whole thing like a Nestle Cunch Bar.

I love spicy and I love noodles; I’ll need to try these. I enjoy the fact that Ramen hasn’t changed in price during my entire lifetime. This week, it’s on sale at a grocery store here: 30 packs for a dollar.

I seriously thought I was the only one here from Wisconsin. I was actually excited when I heard kb had been to Madison.

o_O How appropriate that you, of all people, bring us word of the food that will see us through the apocalypse. Stock them shelters boys, stock ‘em now!

Hey K-, my cousin (in-law) went to a MCR show on Friday night (27th) somewhere out East (honestly dont have a clue where). He said it was awesome though. That’s all I’ve got.

I luv asian markets! I bought Cock flavored crackers and chiz chips and they had corn and cheese flavor ice cream

Hey Matt, are you planning anything for Spider-Man week? I’ve put an interactive map link under my name. There are some decent things on there, like taking your picture with a 60-ft. Spidey.

I had similar things when I was training in Thailand. Everything there ranges from spicy to “I think this is spicy but all I feel in my mouth is pain”.

What a coincidence! I was craving chicken ramen noodles on Saturday so I walked myself down to the corner Xtramart and picked up five days worth. I always loved how they’re like $.15/pack. Are the Shin Bowls cheap too?

Sorry for the two-in-a-row but that Anonymous was me…Forgot to put my name in.

Shin Bowl’s are from South Korea and are very popular. The name shin means spicy where as in Japan it would mean super. The bowls are fairly inexpensive though not compared to ramen noodles. Oddly enough, there are hotter brands of ramyun in South Korea though this is perhaps the most popular. Each bowl is roughly 500 calories and even with all the sodium it still is healthier than a McDonalds value meal. I also recomend eating a Shin Bowl with some kimchi, it makes the noodles even better.

I can never remember what “my brand” of ramen is until I get to the store and see it… I just know I only eat the roast beef flavor. And I like to drain the water before adding the seasoning… mmmmm, beefy.

In high school, we used to crunch it up in the bag into managable pieces, sprinkle in the seasoning and munch away.

Lastly, in college a friend of mine was in a band and they were “known” for their song “Ramen Boy,” an ode to ramen of sorts.

I also do not care for the Shrek movies.–
I saw the first two and thought they were terrible. It really bothered me that Shrek wasn’t able to be happily ever after with Fiona until after she turned into an Ogre, as if to say, “only uglys can be together with other uglys”.
also, Eddie Murphy is extremely annoying as the Donkey.

At lunch and slurpin’ on some ramen right now. My brand is Maruchan, but I am unfortunately eating the Nissin chicken flavor right now, which is my least favorite. The redeeming factor, however, is that it was free (I stole a few packs from my friend after a long night at the karaoke bar then beer pong). I was going to eat some when I got home, but ended up at Hardee’s instead where, much to my shagrin, I had to order from the breakfast menu b/c it was so late/early. I wanted a sourdough burger!! Either way, I now have lunch for a few days.

My Spiderman slurpee cup makes it look like Venom’s yelling at me when you tip it up and down at various angles.

Didn’t see no Shin Bowl’s when I went into sebben-lebben though. Maybe I should look harder.

Waaayyyy back when, in the halcyon California days of the 70’s, the multi-lingual cable station I loved to watch used to run it’s block of Asian programming in the late afternoon/early evening. Aside from watching Gattaiga and some cartoon about a little boy learning to be a Buddhist monk, the ads were pretty much what I kept an eye out for. I remember one for cup Noodles that had some Japanese guy walking in a animated glen, eating noodles and all sorts of cartoon Disneyish animals walking alongside. He gave a young deer a noodle. I wonder if YouTube has the ad?

MaryJane, that was the night before mine (28th). I can’t remember offhand where they were that night.

Hey its good to know there are some west coast peoples here. i was starting to feel like the only one for a bit. Holy, in LV we have a goddamn 7-11 on EVERY block. Its really annoying when someone says ” turn at the 7-11″ .

as i read this, i’m eating Nong Shim! It’s the Kimchi version and it’s hot as well. Give it a try! Got it at Wally World.

I shop way too much at 7-11…. Mostly because it is the closest store to my house.

WHOA. I taught in South Korea for a year and those Shin Bowls take me back. They are as popular over there on grocery shelves as Chef Boyardee is here in North America. Nong Shim bowls, as faroniousd sais, are the kimchi version and are also fucking HOT.

Having Chrone’s Disease, these things always fucking KILLED me, but I would often eat them anyways, standing on the street with students in between classes. Those kids could slurp them up FAST with chopsticks, whereas I always had to resort to drinking the last noodles, and couldn’t get them with the sticks…*hangs head in failure*

I don’t know, I just had my first Shin bowl, and it wasn’t too bad… hot, but not “holy shit my mouth” hot

For all the compliments I have paid 7-11 in the….um….last thread, they are rather pricey.

I start as a door-to-door salesman today, yes! That will make for an interesting chapter of my biography. Anyone done it before?

Man, I can’t do those things. I need to train myself to eat hotter food. Even the salsa with the endless chips at Mexican restaurants kills me.

What?! They still have door-to-door salesmen? Shit. Aren’t you afraid you’re gonna ring the bell and suddenly come face to face with a shotgun?

great… just when I was getting over my craving for a Shin bowl… *sigh* I ate this way too much in China and Korea… yummy stuff.

West Coast represent yo! OlyWA in the house! For the time being at least. I’m a native New Englander (Merrimack NH)and plan to return someday. I sure hope Matt’s not a Yankee fan. GO SOX!

Mystie, it sounds worse than it is. There’s a new internet/phone/cable service coming to my town and relieving it from a monopoly thats been here for a long time, it’s not like i’m selling vacuum cleaners.

‘Hi, My Name is Tommy from Cox Communications, and I won’t leave until I make a sale’

I’m a bit more south than your family. Okay a lot more south. I am from SE Wisconsin (grew up halfway between Madison and Milwaukee) and now I live closer to the stateline area.

I can still make it to the east side of Madison in a half hour, Milwaukee in about 75 min, Rockford in 45 min (not that I want to go there so much) and Chicago in about two hours. It’s really not that bad.

Can’t say that I’m one of those Packer fans. I will love Brett Favre forever but that’s about it. We get Chicago and Madison tv stations, so we tend to watch the Bears more often. And the Cubs. But I’m loving those Brewers this year.

Hey, everyone. Hate to bring this thread down, but one of our dogs named Jackson died this morning after a long illness. RIP Jackson.

Sorry about your dog JLA. I know it is cliche, but it really is better to have loved and lost, than to never loved at all.
Back on topic, I have the culinary skill to say that I once burned Ramen. Apparantly your supposed to watch them instead of playing NES Guerilla War.

And I have no interest in Shrek 3 either. It actually wasn’t untill I saw a story on EW that I realized this is the summer of 3. Pirates, Shrek, Spidey, and probably something else I forgot. I cannot believe that the summer movie fest starts this weekend. I am so pumped though.

“With my rice I like some cow, cow, cow!
Tastes so very good, I don’t know how, how, how!
It’s my favorite kind of chow, chow, chow,
Wooooooow!
EAT NOW!”

Does anyone else look at the google ads on the blog? There’s one up there about buying Asain food online, including Ramen. You can buy Ramen online?

one of THOSE Packer fans? lol. Yeah, dah bears. Well I am from WA and at least Im not a Seahawks fan..am I right? :o)

I don’t understand the Shrek hate here. That’s one of the films I’m looking forward to this summer. I loved the first two films and can’t wait to see the films.

To be honest, the film that isn’t exciting me at all is Transformers. I think that part of the reason is that I’ve never really been that much of a fan of them. I’ve never seen an episode of the original series (by the time I got into cartoons, the cartoon was over and for some reason it was never rerunned) or the movie, and I only caught occaisional episodes of the various later series. Also, I’ve never owned a Transformer toy other than the one where Splinter turned into the Turtle Van, and that was because I’m more of a turtle fan.

Oh man, please tell me someone else was just watching Ellen. They had this little kid on performing a rap about Ellen and afterwards Ellen was all, “Hey we hear you like Ninja Turtles. Well how would you like EVERY PLAYMATES NINJA TURTLES TOY?!” and they brought out this huge display of Ninja Turtles toys… it was so amazingly adorable. You have no idea.

Has anyone seen the Transformer Nike shoes yet? I don’t know what to think about these. Stinky toys.

Hey I dig the Shin bowls. I worked at a Korean company, Hynix, and those things are cheap and bomb

9Line wrote…It actually wasn’t untill I saw a story on EW that I realized this is the summer of 3. Pirates, Shrek, Spidey, and probably something else I forgot…

“With my rice I like some cow, cow, cow!
Tastes so very good, I don’t know how, how, how!
It’s my favorite kind of chow, chow, chow,
Wooooooow!
EAT NOW!”

Holy Crap, kingklash, you get +32 points for referencing “Ultimate Muscle” (which was actually decent)

for being “M.U.S.C.L.E.: The Next Generation” they had some creative characters. A cell-phone themed wrestler? Another a robot built out of traffic signs & stops lights and had traffic-themed movies? I always thought Checkmate was an awesome character, and I was sad that they didn’t make him into a full-fledged action figure.

For those not in the know about Ultimate M.U.S.C.L.E. in general and Kid Muscle in specific, clicky my name for a review by a blog regular

K- Ah yes, I should read a bit more closely. I will blame general fatigue on my part. Yeah, it’s book 5, all right. I think it will be a good film, maybe the best so far.

I eat those all the time! I have a lot of asian markets in my area and it’s sort of a hobby to try every strange thing I can, and those really cheap. Yes, they are very spicey. They are also high quality for a low price. They have chunks of really tastey mushrooms and other vegetables in them. And they clear your sinuses with ease. It doesn’t taste like ramen noodle soup, either. Which is a good thing, because I can’t stand those.

You know, I totally realized I forgot about Harry Potter when I said that too. Good thing I can play the technicality card as I said summer of 3.

This rule also applies to Die Hard 4. Honestly I cannot remember another summer loaded with sequels. Not that I am complaining though, as I plan on seeing most of them.

BTW, while Ultimate M.U.S.C.L.E. had a certain appeal, you can’t go wrong with the original pink rubber figures. They came in a garbage can! Does it get any cooler than that?

If you’re a die-hard fan about MUSCLE Things, but are easily shocked, don’t ever research the whole Kinnikuman property. You got chojin wrestlers getting their faces peeled off, or ripped in half, or that Kid Muscle’s beef bowl song is still goofy in it’s original Japanese.

BONUS FUN FACT!
The little pink guys were supposed to be just regular pencil erasers, but Japanese kids liked them too much to use them as such. The eraser concept was abandoned, and then were sold as collectable figures.

JLA: I’m with you…I’m looking forward to Shrek 3…The first two were fun!

Mary Mary: Jackson was a Yorkie. I got some more bad news. We have a cocker spaniel named Kelly that has the same illness. We’re not sure how long she has left. She’s currently in better shape than Jackson was, but my mom is starting to see some huge changes in her, so who knows.

Hey everyone. In my local paper today was an article on a guy who is using his Wii to help him lose weight. Here is a link to that article:

JLA: What’s the disease? Does it have anything to do with the recent tainted dog food?

They both had/have kidney failure. She just took Kelly in one day to the vet for a checkup, the vet did bloodwork and said that her levels were so high he was surprised she wasn’t already sick yet. Jackson was an old dog and was losing weight rapidly among other things.

That dog food thing was weird because they were both diagnosed with it at about the same time that happened, and while mom did get food from that company and from Wal-Mart, she does strictly dry food while the recall was for canned. Even when they kept expanding the recall they never recalled the food we used. Also, we have a third dog and a cat and they ate the same food and they’re both fine. The vet thinks it’s something genetic with both of them.

JLAJRC- I’m so sorry to hear about your dogs- that’s terrible. I hope Kelly recovers.

In other (happy) news, I’ve been loving the black cherry lemonade Slurpees at 7-11. That’s my favorite flavor of Tropicana Twister (and it got really hard to find around here in a bottle for some reason), so it’s perfect. I’ve had more Slurpees this week than I’ve had in six months or more. And I realized why I might like them so much (besides because they’re awesome)- they taste a lot like FruitSlush. Not the same (and nowhere near the Ecto Cooler legend), but close enough for me. They’ve just got that Lemonade tang that’s a bit stronger.

I finished Kingdom Hearts II, tonight, Squee. It’s much better than I originally reported back in the Primal Rage thread. Not sure it’s “buy another PS2″-good, though.

Can’t honestly say that Jack Sparrow won me over, as a character or a teammate. Of course he is a pirate. I mean, another movie by Mr. Depp says it all: even fairies can beat pirates

So we drunkenly hit 7-11 tonight on the way home again, the woman wanting her obligatory Reese’s, me anything purely sugar. She got her Reese’s Pieces and me spotting a box of Tropical Fun Dip, I indulged. “Oooo, Fun Dip!”

Eh. I don’t regret buying it. I’m tearing into it as I type, but it just makes me want the original display even more. “Watermelon Sandia, Mango, and Strawberry Fresa” are all true to their names, and aside from the new feature of the damned stick turning green as soon as saliva hits it, I’m missing Cherry, Grape and Green Apple even more. Mango tastes like mango (first time ever a candy has proved that. From what I’ve had, anyway).

I’m still campaigning they sell a pack that’s solely five of the Lik-a-Stix’s by themselves. They’re the best fucking part.

Ew, not these. They made the damn Lik-a-Stix’s a lime basis. I was expecting a chalking sugary goodness, but I get this crap!

I always ate my lik-a-stix before I’d could get through all the flavors. I usually stuck with the singles for this reason but then you only get one damn stick. Yeah I want five sticks.

JLA, I’m sorry to hear about your doggies…losing pets and/or hearing that they’re very sick is really hard. We just had to put the family cat down a few months ago…she had lung cancer. Apparently, she was sneaking cigs her whole life and we never noticed. She hated me, but I loved her and I miss her a lot.

Colonel, thanks for warning me about Fun Dip…I’m always tempted to buy some when I stop by the Rite Aid near work (which has a seriously amazing candy selection), but I’ll be sure to carefully read the label when I finally give in to temptation. My favorite part was always the stick, too, but I would obessively wait until I had eaten all the powder before I’d let myself eat the stick. What delicious torture. God, my parents hated buying me that stuff, but my grandparents would usually go for it. Heehee, it was such fun being the only granddaughter and getting spoiled rotten.

Is there anyone here that used to watch cartoons REALLY early on saturday mornings? I’m talking like 6am here

There was a show on FOX at around the same time Escaflowne was on, I only remember it airing once, it was about a woman, who was dressed in black, at some point in the show she busted through a window on the roof of a warehouse and kicked some butt.

THe closest thing thatit could be is Cybersix, but i don’t think that ever aired in the US

Anyone know what i’m talking about? I’ve been thinking about this show for like 10 years

Spotted some about 15 minutes ago at the hole-in-the-wall cafeteria in my building at work and decided to give it a whirl.

Halfway through a 20oz bottle and I still can’t tell whether it’s good or absolute shit.

I’m drawing a blank right now, so I will relate the following story. We used to have a table at this giant flea market, like twice a year, for a good decade or so. The Colonel remembers, he accompanied us more than once.

This was middle school, btw, so I felt a little silly, but I brought a portable TV, just so I could see the Green Ranger finally become part of the team. They formed the Mega Dragonzord (is that the correct name?) and it was sooooo worth it. I always hated the Red Ranger. Puffed up leader types, pssh, who needs ‘em?

Tommy, FTFW. A Powerrangers institution.

It was on a Saturday, so you know it all relates. Sorry, I don’t know the one you’re looking for FS

hey thanks K, i think it might have been Cybersix, cuz i was on wiki and it aired the same year as Escaflowne

Oooooooooo the Green Ranger saga. UNGH that was so badass, I had the hugest fucking crush on Tommy. I was in middle school, too, so I had to keep my Power Rangers watching under raps. I ran home every day after school to tape that shit when the Green Ranger saga was going down…. sadly, I lost the tape.

Now that I think about it, I do remember vaguely hearing of this before. I know it was natural causes, though a freak occurance.

Aside from when her character got excited over something and she raised her voice, she was one of the best actors on the show. And I always felt bad for her, as an actress, when they’d splice into the Japanese footage of the Rangers. In Japan the yellow ranger was a guy, and any semblance of a figure was nowhere to be seen for her. That’d have pissed me off.

1.) How are you going to say you don’t remember her dying, then say you know it was of natural causes, THEN bust out with information about the show I didn’t even know about (I was in it for the zords, not the ladies, apparently)

she died in a car accident, the only natural thing about that car accident was the rock wall her driver slammed into, its on wikipedia

Well I’m lazy, and the only natural thing concerning that was waiting for someone to do it for me. So thank you.

I remember eating lik-a-maid for the first time in front of my mother. She about freaked when I took a bite of the stick, she thought it was plastic.

Bill- If those shoes were wearable, they would be much cooler. But who want’s to play with a shoe? It reminds me of the part in Big where they have the toy that’s a building that turns into a bug.

Way off topic, but it seems like the trend today. I just got my very first apartment without help or a cosigner. I do realize I am far too old to make this claim, but I am stoked anyhow. It is in the greatest neighborhood in the greatest city that my state has to offer.

I’m a regular reader, rare poster, but I scored myself a really nice house in a really nice neighborhood yesterday for CHEAP! The best part? It’s right across the street from the military base I work at.

$70 a week in gas (as the prices stand now in Oklahoma) just isn’t working for me.

Why did I mention I’m a regular reader, but a rare poster? Because nobody knows me and just as many people probably care.

I dunno, you posted 3 times in this thread. Keep it up, and you will be regular in no time.

We care about you, Mr I-can’t-figure-out-a-cool-way-to-abbreviate-your-name, we care a lot

Ricky is the name, but since I always post as, and use the screenname, fistpittingnork, it’s probably easiest just calling me “nork”.

I’ve been reading Matt’s articles for the past 2 years and as far as I know, I have read every single article he’s written for this site from day 1. Though I’ll admit I skipped through a couple of articles written by that other guy a few years back.

I usually don’t pay attention to who left what comment, unless it’s something funny, interesting, etc.. but I do recognize quite a few regulars. K-, ColonelCatSup, Matt#2, and others.

I’m no stranger, you just don’t know me. Or something deep and poetic like that.

I finally got ahold of those two new Doritos flavors Matt talked about awhile ago. I’ve only tasted the White Nacho one so far and I don’t know what to think of it. People say it tastes like the original, only it’s a different color, but I’m not so sure. It’s not bad, but I think I’d rather have the original orange color. Could this be sorta like the Pepsi/Crystal Pepsi thing they pulled years ago?

Very true, exactly why I said nothing to the effect of knowing you. You post enough (and not just in this thread), for me to be aware of you. We care about you as a poster, in that special internet way

JLA I didn’t much care for the BBQ. It was a good flavor and all, but seemed to fit a potato chip better than a corn chip.

I don’t think the white nacho tastes different enough from nacho cheesier to warrant keeping it as a new chip, though I do taste a difference.

If it were up to me, I’d scrap both flavors and try again with 2 different flavors that are actually that… different.

I do like the blazin buffalo flavor. Nothing beats cool ranch in my opinion, except for the Taco Bell Supreme that I haven’t seen since about 93ish. The new taco doritos are great and close to what I remember the Taco Bell doritos tasting like, but still not quite dead on, similar to the Vault/Surge comparison.

My favorite Dorito flavor is the Salsa Verde. Spicy, but not too spicy. The Habenero ones were good too. I didn’t care for the Buffalo ones, but I’m not a big fan of Buffalo wings to begin with.

Anyone remember Wild ‘N’ Mild Ranch Fritos? The commercial with the claymation ranchers doing a round up of wild fritos? (”Shoot, one of ‘em even let Luke pet ‘em!”)

Haven’t posted in a while, that dam work always gets in the way. But in a matter of 4 and half hours I will be watching Spidey 3. I heard and read that this one suxs, blah blah blah….but I will decided for my myself. Viva La Frito Bandito….um sorry.

I’m officially offering to do my John Cusack impression. It consists of running out in pouring rain and either just standing there or screaming obscinities at the windows from which my friends are watching.

dallasmovie
I feel your pain, man. It’s rained a ton here the last few days. But it cleared up today. It’s got to stop sometime!

A frat bro of mine works in a movie theater and saw Spider-Man 3 already and said it was awesome. Some slow parts that “made you feel embarassed for the movie” but other than that, its awesome.

Sadly, he told me that there is no Bruce Cambell playing Mysterio. No cameos but the already-confirmed Gwen Stacey, but the villain lineup is Sandman, New Goblin/Green Goblin II, and Symbiote Spider-man/Venom. This depresses me, so I have my doubts if I’ll go see the movie or not.

*OK, SPOILER’S DONE. YOU PROABABLY READ THAT. I DON’T CARE, I STILL GET PAID*

Speaking of Doritos, my mom won a Cinco de Mayo basket at some Chinese auction, and one of the things in it was one of the 2 new Doritos, White Nacho. Haven’t tried it yet.

I’ll admit, my favorite has always been Cool Ranch, but when did they get rid of the blue powder that was on all the chips? You can hardly see them now.

Just got back from Spidey 3. That’s all I want to say right now; I really don’t wanna ruin it for anyone else. But, as such a huge Spidey fan…so hard not to type anything! I’ll post my thoughts in my blog for anyone that’s interested…and I found a review of the movie that I completely agree with….now I need to sleep….

It’ll probably be late next week before I can see Spidey 3, so keep spoilering those comments like Invader Norbert was so kind to do, poeple…

Off topic, but worth mentioning are the amazing Spider-Man 1967 cartoon trading card replicas over at http://www.thisissomescene.com

I might have a snack related story interesting to maybe at least two of you out there.

When Fritos came out with the Chili Cheese flavor chips I used to buy them quite frequently. At the time I also gave them to my son as snacks. He was all of 3.
Best part was that I called them scooby snacks which was all the more fun to mess with his little mind. He’d ask for some scooby snacks and I’d get out the chili cheese fritos. Cool.
It became even more fun when he got to stay over at Grandma’s house one weekend. We got a call late the first night, from exasperated Grandma wondering what the hell scooby snacks were. Apparently the little tyke wanted them and no matter what she shoved in front of him fit the bill. I about died laughing listening to my wife explain that was what we called those chips. Messing with the kid is great fun, but messing with the in-laws at the same time, it doesn’t get any better.

Without revealing much, Spidey 3, um…ok, not as good as 2, but entertaining. All I’m going to say is, you cannot tell so many storylines in 2 and half hours. When will Hollywood learn.

BILL: Hey, thanks for the add. I tried to message you, but it appears to not work? Anyways, are you back together with your lady you sly dog? :o) Congrats!

Thanks Citygirl! I am. I guess if you find the love of your life you do what it takes to make it work.

I miss the Frito Burrito from Taco Bell. Why can’t THAT ever get some limited time loving like the McRib?

If you’re still looking for a Venom cup, email me! (rainbowfeet27 at comcast dot net) I just got one today and I can send it out to you if you want (it might take a little while but it’s here). If you’ve already got one, nevermind.

Mang why we talking about spider man lets talk about chips..Friday’s bacon chips rock!

BILL: I hope I have that someday, and good for you for fighting for what you believe in. She does look super-terrific. :o)

watch full versions of freddy’s nightmares free on aol tv! they have like i dont know 10 episodes.

you watch them online no problem, but if you want to download them you have to install some drm-driven software, screw all that just watch it online.

chili cheese fritos were the only flavor i marked for, that should be like the default frito flavor

i think i’ve only had a taco bell frito burrito once when i was stoned outta my mind, it just seemed like the thing to do. i recall it not being too bad, but then i was stoned outta my mind.

sorry for the double post but i thought matt might be interested in China’s new bootleg disneyland park

Wow, we’re still on the Shin Bowl post? I guess I’m not the only one glad this week is over. TGImotherfuckingF, huh?

K-, I’m glad to hear you ended up liking KH II more. I wish I could check it out, but I don’t think I even know anyone with a PS2. Lately my friends are all obsessed with Guitar Hero 2 on 360. Like, even to the point of snubbing the Wii. How many times do you think someone can listen to “Message in a Bottle” before they snap?
HAPPY FRIDAY!

I managed to catch Spider-Man 3 at the first show of the day (I don’t work Fridays, as I have previously stated here). I have to admit that I was starting to become hesitant about seeing the movie, as I wondered if it could live up to the hype. Without giving anything away, it was a thrilling, emotional movie, although it did take a little while to get going. I am willing to let that aspect slide, however, as I had to sit through TWENTY MINUTES of commercials and trailers before the movie itself started.

“Disneyland is too far away
please come Beijing shijingshan
Amusement Park!!”

I work at an international manufacturing company. One of my favorite things is to get “English as a second language” e-mails from the Asian subsidiaries. There is no finer art than that which is created unintentionally.

Bad news for those who’ve been keeping tabs on Kushinada1806’s Kinnikuman AMVs: this is the last one.

Hey hey, it’s cinco de mayo and therefore my birthday! Any advice on how to be twenty-six? What an ambiguous age.

Haven’t seen Spiderman 3 yet, though my husband did. He said it was better than the first but not as good as the second. Good story.

See, I liked one way more than two (I have no idea why two is so praised) so I’m curious to how I’ll feel about three. It’s going to be a good while before I can get to see it.

*Vindicated–Dashboard’s BEST, sorry Colonel

*The Night That the Lights Went Out in NYC
*Gifts and Curses

I just checked out the Spidy 3 soundtrack and it is abysmal. Not enough emo on a Spidy soundtrack is a bad sign. But I’ve heard that there is plenty of it in the movie itself to make up for it

1. I meant scenes to make up for it, not additional songs
2. I’m being tongue-in-cheek/serious only for myself, so n00bs don’t jump on me for using that to defend why 2 is better than the original
3. Most of 2’s soundtrack actually SUCKS. Train? C’mon now.

Are these songs in the movies? The only three things music wise I can remember is the main theme, that Macy Gray thing in one and something in two, I want to say “raindrops keep falling on my head”??

Honestly can’t remember, I only saw it all the way through once

Pretty sure I remember Train’s turd at the top of the pitching line-up for the credits.

Doesn’t surprise me. I hate to be like this when I’ve obviously not seen it yet but I’m reading a lot of stuff in these reviews that were obviously going to be problems from just seeing the trailers. Some things I called back when Spider-Man one was still in theaters “I hope they never attempt spoiler blank“

Can you write a decent movie/album/etc. review w/o spoilers? What would it contain besides “It was awesome/sucked” and “It had great cinematography/sound editing/other Academy Award technical category”?

The gf and I went out to see Spider-Man 3 today, and we really enjoyed it. I also can’t understand all the love for Spider-Man 2. I mean, it was good, don’t get me wrong (even bought the DVD of 2.1 today), but at the time I thought the first was better. I think 3 might be the best, though. It’s a great popcorn movie. It’s like going to see a Star Wars movie: you go for the action, the effects, and the easy-to-follow-yet-entertaining storyline rather than indie-style deep dialogue.

I love that stuff!
Its so hot…and delicious! Its nose running good! I know that sounds gross, but with Non Shim, its a pure sign of quality.

yes, I believe you can write a review without spoilers, yes it owuld be just ” its awesome/it sucked” but that woudl be expounded upon, such as, ” it lived up to the hype, the writing was true to the spider-man universe and the acting was superb as ever, the action scenes were directed masterfully..etc etc” any number of combinations, such as bad script, good acting, true to universe, not true to universe, etc.

not an in depth review ofcourse, but just a cursory glance at the experience as a whole, especially using info already known like the black costume, is it done correctly true to the actual happenings? things like that.

So is anyone else watching TMNT2 on ABCFam while they wait to see if we get a new SNT thread?

Watching MST3K, myself, .
I like Rotten Tomatoes for movie reviews, but it doesn’t have any specific spoiler policies that I’m aware of. If I’m really trying to avoid any and all spoilers I do a total blackout, otherwise I just try to read cautiously.
K-, it’s hard to balance not giving away too much and trying so hard at it that you don’t actually say anything. I̵