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

05/26/2007: Jordin Sparks is a squid head who eats Snickers bars.

I watched American Idol all season for the first time in years (originally quitting after Fantasia won), and I can’t say that I share the overwhelming opinion that it was the worst season ever. 24 had its worst season ever. Idol, I don’t know. Why am I mentioning this? To gripe about Jordin Sparks. I cannot rationalize what I’m about to type, but I hate Jordin Sparks. I’ve always hated her. I smelled from the early-goings that they were shuffling the cards in her favor, and despite her power pipes and wholesome appeal, I couldn’t shake the idea that I was watching one phony little crabtart suck the fun from the show in a sea of fabrications and crocodile tears. I pretty much wanted anyone but her to win, in part because she totally fronted when Phil got eliminated (went from being completely apathetic to completely devastated as soon as she noticed a camera on her), but mainly because she was like some mutant factory-born American Idol archetype creature thing.

I probably won’t watch next year, not because this was a bad season, but because it’s too much to invest 2-3 days a week for half a year, every year. I’m so glad I can give my Tuesday and Wednesday nights back to devil worship and macaroni art now.

I haven’t written about Kenner’s old Star Wars toys in a long while. Not sure why that is. Maybe it’s that those articles are for an audience that have grown to be so much more knowledgeable of the subject matter than me. I don’t collect toys anymore, and I certainly don’t live and breathe Star Wars in any way, shape or form. It’s no fun to write when you’re worried about being corrected on your points. Especially when you’re me and you tend to make up points as you go.

That said, I’d like to use this opportunity to pay a small tribute to Squid Head, one of the very best action figures from the vintage collection. Squid Head was one of those figures that I must’ve had, lost and repurchased a dozen times throughout childhood. Next to the Emperor’s Royal Guard, I can think of few other SW figures that stole my heart to such a degree.

The cloth clothes were a major factor. I loved any SW figure that had real cloth clothes. Even shitty ones, like Klaatu. Squid Head was extra special, coming with two separate clothing artifacts in different colors, not to mention a gigantic plastic belt that doubled nicely as a me-sized thumb ring. Then there’s the fact that he’s a squid. Real cloth clothes or not, I was bound to love any action figure that was a squid. I wish I was a squid.

In other news, the Shrek 3 marketing blitz is in full effect, which might be a necessary evil considering how many people are calling it the worst movie in history. I’ve still never seen any of Shrek’s work outside of trailers and assorted clips, but that doesn’t take away my right to enjoy green-dyed food promotions at every turn.

Though most of the Shrekky food tie-ins are just repeats from Shrek 2, there are a few new arrivals worth mentioning, starting with what’s seen above: Snickers bars with green filling. Hell yes. Reminiscent of those green-filled Shrek Twinkies, the candy bars look normal at first, but when you bite into ‘em, BAM, OGRE GREEN FILLING! Okay, so it’s not exactly overflowing with green goodness, but there’s enough lime-colored shit in there to turn a Snickers break into a conversational point.

Happy SNT, if you’re here.

First comment again (maybe). I thought you and squids had a long standing rivalry?

I’m glad you wrote about old Kenner Star Wars action figures. I just watched the Star Wars Holiday special for the first time and I am pretty sure it gave me cancer. That was awful. It’s nice that you reminded me what is great about Star Wars and it’s all about the toys.

Every picture of Shrek looks so freakin’ stupid, he’s always got this dorky look on his face, they should have stuck with the grouchy “I am an Ogre… ARRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!!”

I think green can only make snack food better - as long as it’s not due to mold.

I’m still pissed that ooze-filled turtle pies didn’t make a comeback for tmnt.

I haven’t seen Shrek the Third either (the first one was OK, but didn’t like it enough to see Shrek 2). I sort of thought that the franchise would start running out of steam with this one. You can’t rely that much on pop culture jokes and references and expect to keep it up. That and the fact the print ads make use of the worst puns I have ever seen.

Despite the fact that she was such a “fan favorite,” I’ve only encountered like ONE person who was an actual fan of hers.[/tin foil hat]

that snickers looks so gross. i bet some people are gonna buy a bar thinking its normal and the cover is just advertising some contest, then theyre gonna bite into it and totally lose their shit when they see its gross and green. yuck

I totally used to buy my action figures based on accessories rather than their actual coolness. For example, I had one Destro, one Storm Shadow, and one Snake Eyes, but I must have had 3 or 4 Snow Vipers, two alpines, and even Psych Out just because they came with the most stuff. I mean, Destro’s cool, but what did you get with him? A backpack and a pistol, big whup. Snow vipers came with snowshoes, a gun, and a friggin mortar.

Idol wasn’t the same for me this year after Gina was voted off. Not saying I didn’t watch every single minute beyond that point, because of course I did, but it made me sad.

McD’s has some sort of ranch burger right now that, to add a Shrek theme to it, they’ll put the fries on the actual burger. It freaks me out a bit.

I wasn’t so opposed to Shrek 3. I took it for what it was — a gooey piece of fluff. It was pretty good for a giant piece of fluff, although as a shoujo fan perhaps I’m more immune to it. I’m curious to see how Shrek The Halls will fare come Xmas season.

I hope to every fucking deity connected to this plane of existance that you are kidding.

Seems to me that most critics savage any all-ages movie nowadays that doesn’t have massive amounts of adult jokes in it. I liked Shrek 3 better than 2, it didn’t smack you with the pop culture references every two seconds and concentrated more on bringing the story of Shrek and Fiona to a good end. Its a lot less likely to get dated than the first two as a result. And Puss and Donkey’s parts seemed much more natural this time around than they did in 2. It even has Monty Python references!

I have absolutely no interest in “American Idol.” I could care less who wins. I don’t even know who Jordin Sparks IS.

I completely agree with Matt. Felt clothes on an action figure IS cooler. I somehow retained the felt cape that came with my childhood “Return of the Jedi”-era Luke Skywalker, and my original Red Guard still has his felt robe, too. (Those two felt capes are the ONLY accesories I’ve retained over the years for our original “Star Wars” toys. God only knows how I managed to hold onto those.)

None of the sequals this summer hold the slightest interest for me. While I enjoyed the original “Shrek” in the theater, I wasn’t that impressed with the second and have absolutely no interest in the third. As with most overhyped movies, though, working in a grocery store has made it hard to avoid an overdose of Ogre green (or Spidey red, or Pirates tan). The Snickers is new to me, though. I can’t imagine a green Snickers.

So, I’ve never watched any of them, but I have played Kingdom Hearts II. What’s this I hear about ‘multiple jacks’? Did they have Johnny pull an Agent Smith?

Hmmmm…I am feeling a little masochistic tonight. I can’t tell if I should watch the end of Bring It On: All or Nothing, Poker on TV, Air Bud or go for the jugular and watch Nancy Grace…

I just got home from a hellish night of TRU working. Luckily it wasn’t *too* busy, because we had some thing going on at a park nearby, and a carnival. I was thanking the Carnival Gods, because I was sure we’d get slammed after the park thing was over. But, I have a headache, and it sucks really bad.

I don’t know what I’m saying… oh yeah, the snickers. We have those in our vending machines in the breakroom at work, and the guy I like bought one, not realizing it had green nougat. I pointed it out to him and I made him open it to let me see. He didn’t wanna eat it after he saw it.

Ooze-filled TMNT pies FTW! Thanks for reminding me, all! My mom used to take me to the Hostess store where they had them all lined up. I still have some of the sticker that came with. Ah, memories. Happy SNT all!

Funny, you’d think someone who had the word “frog” in their nickname wouldn’t be grossed out by the color green.

Yeah, I checked the link Yet Another Matt provided, Moony. It’s alright, not like I have to watch it

Ryane! How goes the gaming? Since we last spoke I finished KH II, am still playing XII, and started Twilight Princess.

Hey K-! Unfortunately, my PS2 hasn’t been touched in quite a long time.

I should be flogged, I know.

One of my friends made me buy Pokemon Pearl, though, so I’ve been trying to catch all those little bastards.

I’ve never played a pokemon game before this one… yes, probably another flogging is in order.

I’m sure this is old news to everyone here but i couldn’t believe this when i saw it. Rambo 4

I’m too lazy to read through 170-some posts on the last blog…so…has anybody tried the new Vault Red Blitz? It’s Coke’s rip-off of Code Red and it’s not bad.

Shrek 3 really wasn’t THAT horrible. It was definetly not the worst movie in history. It had some good laughs.

It’s alright, Ryane. I took a LONG break from XII, rushed through KH II and went back and finished Jiminy’s Journal.

I got caught up in the Pokemon craze over at FFShrine, but I decided not to buy the game, since I’ve never played before and I’ve got enough stuff to get through. I’m half playing VI on GBA and Ocarina of Time on the Virtual Console, as it is

You won’t have to watch it, K-, but I’ll bet dollars to donuts you’ll have to deal with the bombardments of plushies of Shrek dressed as Santa.

Boy, is Snickers have their priorities backwards or what? Peanut butter Snickers are nowhere to be found anymore, but the shelves are crammed with Shrek-themed Wasabi Snickers. What gives?
I guess people like candy bars that, when you take a bit out of them, clear out your sinuses. I, for one, will run to the nearest Asian grocery tomorrow morning to stock up.

lol i had a friend say the exact same thing about that jordan chick, especially about the fake tears when that one guy got eliminated. i saw clips of the last episode and i gotta say, she seems like an ok singer but some of those other people looked like they were better singing and far better entertainers. not really sure why they picked her she’s not attractive, oh well.

Shrek 3 was just as good as the other two. Today we took my brother and a friends daughter to see it and the next two showings were sold out. We had to go to a different theatre and barely made it there in time and ticketwise.

BTW Matt, do you still collect Kool-Aid and cereal premiums? We haven’t seen one of those in a long time.

Ew, that Snickers looks awful.
K-, I’m usually not one to favorably compare things to the Matrix, but I guess you could say they did.

Hopefully the KH’s II bug will bite me again soon. I can only pray, because I don’t wanna be stuck where I am now (trying to get past Demyx the 2nd time) when the 3rd one comes out. Ugh.

Yeah, the pokemon thing isn’t totally addicting, to me, but it’s ok, and my friend made me feel guilty since I begged him to buy Animal Crossing so we could play together.

He just wanted someone to trade and evolve his pets with.

That’s such an odd coincidence, we had a poster asking about the second Demyx fight the other day. It was Nigel, in fact. I didn’t use the guide, even though I bought it. I only used GameFaqs when it was time to collect synthesis materials. Point being, I didn’t find Demyx very hard at all. Xigbar and Xaldin, on the other hand…

@phunqsauce -
Seen the preview for the new Rambo, I have to say I am seriously fired up for it. There are honestly no good action movies out anymore (shoot em ups). And just the preview was gory and brutal enough for me to count down to next year.. damn it.

McD’s has some sort of ranch burger right now that, to add a Shrek theme to it, they’ll put the fries on the actual burger. It freaks me out a bit.

…Holy Crap. I eat at McDs way more than I should, but I think I’m going to check this out.

As for Shrek The Halls…No. NO. NO! I hope it goes the way of the Star Wars Holiday Special so it dies a horrible death and only the hardcore nerds will preserve it to torture new generations of people 30 years down the line.

On the topic of Vanilla Coke, my GF found it at the IGA she works at. Pretty sweet, I should have it in my hands in the next few days.

Ryane I too have Pearl, and I think it’s the best pokemon game since Gold & Silver (where I think the series achieved its perfection, and the only one where you could get 16 Badges). This probably has the most stuff to do, what with WiFi and the Underground, as well as a lot of stuff to do after getting the National Dex (beat Elite 4 and see all 150 pokemon in the SinnohDex), as well as 13 Freaking Legendaries!

You can only catch 4 in each version of the game before National Dex: Azelf, Uxie, Mespirit, Dialga (Diamond), Palkia (Pearl)

Not counting Manaphy, which you need to complete the mission from Pokemon Ranger, and then breed THAT with Ditto to get Phione (somehow larger than Manaphy and doesn’t evolve)

The ones after the National Dex are Cresslia, Heatran, Regigigas (you need Regice, Registeel & Regirock in your party in order to face it), Giratina (which may be the Legendary of the possible 3rd game of this Gen). Technically Rotom only appears after National Dex, but I don’t think it’s a legendary.

Not to mention 3 Event Only Pokemon: Shaymin (this gen’s Mew, Celebi, Jirachi), Darkrai, and Arceus (the so-called God of Pokemon). These are the ones you need an Action Replay to get.

There’s also the rest of the legendaries themselves: Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Mewtwo, Mew, Entei, Suicune, Raikou, Ho-oh, Lugia, Celebi, Regice, Registeel, Regirock, Groudon, Kyogre, Rayquaza, Jirachi, and Deoxys, who are only available in their repsective games (you can catch the Kanto legendaries in FireRed/LeafGreen and you can catch most of the rest of them in Emerald)

Whew. Without even looking anything up to. If anyone has Diamond or Pearl, my Pearl Friend Code is: 1976 6905 0153

Just my luck, my comment got Approval Binned. Oh well, I hope Matt finds it soon.

Man…I remember having a conversation back when American Idol first started and coming to the conclusion that is was all gonna be a set-up to push new songs and CD sells…guess we were wrong…oh, wait….

My copy of Ouendan 2 finally got here yesterday…so much fun…and I’m on PokeBreak right now; almost like a recovering addict…I got my NationalDex and I need to go and do a bunch of stuff at the end…must resist…need help…Oh….Oh…Ouendan!!

Wow, that’s alot of info, Invader Norbert.

I don’t really have the jist of the game yet but I’m learning - so I copied all that for future use.

Thanks!

K- Oh that’s really weird about Nigel. Hmm… I wonder if he got past him - I could do the first part of the battle, but then he’d start hammering me, and I would die abruptly. Ohh, that spoiler is planting the seed of “spend my whole Sunday off getting back into KH’s”

Yeah, Nigel got past him. It’s really just a matter of reaction commands when the timers are in effect, and whacking him when they aren’t.

Sadly, the fight in question is the second to last fight in the longest tournament in the game. 50 rounds, was it?

I wouldn’t even enter unless you’re lvl 99.

Wow- this gaming talk is making me think of Zelda:A Link to the Past, and EarthBound, for SNES- the last 2 games that my world revolved around. I never moved on.

It saddens me that I will NEVER be able to have a real, original Star Wars action figure with REAL CLOTHES. All those things are such a big business now that the figures would all cost so much that its not worth it to start. That Squid Head guy looks fucking awesome though. Damn. I’m bummed out about it.

I only watch 2 shows on TV: The Office and *blushes* Grey’s. So I have no idea who Jordin Sparks is and I am only assuming its a girl…but is it a girl? Jordin is also a guy’s name.

There is no shame in that Muppet Baby. Certainly two of the best games ever made.

Ok, I’ll admit, I didnt watch any of AI past the auditions, and I actually said to people watching the finale “Holy crap, Jordin’s a chick!”

Thanks, K-! You made me feel better about still rocking out the ol’ SNES. It’s the only system I have hooked up. There are currently a PS2 and a GameCube in my house since I got new roomates and I still haven’t tried them out…I am scared to get into games again- they sucked me dry when I was younger!

I thought Jordin was probably a girl from reading the blog…she sounds fake and marketed.

Muppet Baby -

the last system I bought was a SNES and I still have it. Mine came with Zelda 3 and was a steal @ 75 bucks back in 1995. I took advantage of the fact that the 16-bit era was coming to a close with the emergence of PS1 and the N64…SNES forever!

Masterfoods’ new additive, rennet, is used in the production of whey and the most common source for animal-based rennet is the inner mucosa (fourth stomach) of slaughtered, milk-fed, new-born cow calves. Interestingly, there are a number of readily available non-animal rennet alternatives including, vegetable, microbial, genetically-engineered, or acid-based coagulation — but they cost more to produce.

Rennet will now be found in Snickers, M&M, Twix, Milky Way, Bounty, Mars, Dove Chocolate and Malteasers products, as well as the ice cream versions of all Masterfoods’ bars. Paul Goalby, corporate affairs manager for Masterfoods, said, “If the customer is an extremely strict vegetarian, then we are sorry the products are no longer suitable, but a less strict vegetarian should enjoy our chocolate.”

SuckaMC - Thanks for that info, I had no idea that was happening, or going to happen. It’s so gross and sick, but it’s yet another reason I’m glad I’m a vegan.

So i was wondering if any of you out there had any big plans for the long weekend, and if so what are you doin? I don’t really have anything planned except relaxing and possibly partyin a lil bit tomorrow and eatin some barbecue…

Well, there’s nothing like recieving a drunken “I’m so pissed off at my girlfriend and I’m roaming around the streets of Boston and need someone to talk to” phone call at 3am.

Jesus… That’s not what my headache needed.

Has nobody yet tried a Shrek Minty Mud Bath shake at McD’s yet? It’s sickeningly sweet, but kind of good too. Basically, it’s a Shamrock Shake with some chocolate shake syrup poured in.

Wow. This SNT is hopping. Idol bored me this year, and I was a fan in the past. It wasn’t just Sanjaya. I think it was just less talent that got me.
And I know I have mentioned before that I just love that snickers bar. The movie sucking aside, green filled snickers is something that was born to be loved.
Happy really late SNT everybody.

Get the title right, good sir! It’s “Shrek The Third”, *not* “Shrek 3″. A semantic argument, no doubt, but one that has to be made.

Dude, you watch “American Idol”? Are you 14? Come back to the land of sanity, good sir!

And I totally agree with you about “24″. Unless Tony and Michelle come back as zombies and use their insatiable hunger for human flesh to help CTU fight evil, I’m out and won’t be watching next season.

I wish there was the squid guy from the advent calendar plush toy with a santa suit on. I would definitely buy one and put it out every christmas with pride. Especially if Matt signed the box **swoon**

Invader Norbert: I have Diamond; I registered your code. ;D Mine is 4124 1605 7416 if anyone wants it. =) I just beat the 7th gym, but I’ve been spending most of my time tending to berries and playing underground…

My Saturday was spent trying to recover from a really nasty hangover. Remind me to never touch tequila again.

Well, I saw Pirates 3 tonight and thought it was okay but not necessarily good. Definitely an improvement over the second movie, which was a flaming pile of dog shit. *dodges arrows*

Oh, and Snickers are disgusting even when they don’t have nasty green crap in them. What a waste of chocolate.

phunqsauce, my only weekend plans are moving from Oklahoma City to Texas. Bleh.

I didn’t watch any of Idol this year. Truth be told, the only part I really enjoy of idol is the auditions, anyway. Call it Schadenfruede, but I love watching all those terrible singers who think they can sing well get told how awful they are. Hell, I know I couldn’t sing well enough to get past the judges, but at least I’m smart enough to know that!

RE: Green Snickers. That…actually sounds kind of tempting. I usually don’t like Snicker’s Bars, but I might have to try one of these. If I don’t like it, I guess I can go protest at the M&M Mars plant down the road…

I’m moving about 30 minutes north of Fort Worth. I guess it’ll be cool, but it’s been ridiculously stressful. I’ll just be glad when it’s all over with.

Ooh, on another topic, last night I found some of those Starburst that have the Optimus Lime in them. It was pretty good for a lime-flavored thingy.

I don’t see how that game can be rated 10+.. if I was a 10 year old trying to play that.. I’d end up throwing the control across the room. Of course.. I still had the urge to do that once or twice. But I must say KH2 is the first game that has been *addictive* for me in a while.. Once I turn it on and start playing.. I sit there for a good 5 or 6 hours straight. K- Do you remember how long it took you to beat that? The longest I ever spent on a game was Final Fantasy 7.. I think I spent like 120 hours playing it.. ::sigh:: good times…

Note that KH II does have a Beginner Mode. I’d like to think any younger players with difficulty would use that.

Ugh. Green filled snickers. You should seriously try one of the totally awful O-Henry’s made to celebrate CANADA.

They look normal on the outside, but on the inside? Red and white. And Brown. Red gooey caramel and white nougat. Ugh. Tastes just as good as it sounds. A very frightening combo.
I highly recommend it.
Gordon, Toronto On, CANADA

VII-81:23
VIII-88:10
IX-88:09
X-139:53
XI-It was around 80 hours, I’m not digging out my PS2 HDD
XII-206:55:24, I’m only in the Feywood.

I just beat the 7th gym, but I’ve been spending most of my time tending to berries and playing undergroundâ€¦

1) Why does everyone cept Ryane & I have Diamond? Probably because of Dialga, Honchcrow, and Skuntank that can learn flamethrower. Then again, if it was my choice on getting which version, I would’ve went with Diamond too.

2) I only got the game last week, so I’m past the 2nd badge, on my way to the third. Then again, my friend beat his diamond game in a week and was up to Pal Park about 9 days after the launch date. I don’t have that much free time.

That’s fine, you don’t need to. It’s not widely known though, and I thought some people would like to know. I don’t eat red meat often, but I definitely don’t want cow in my chocolate.

Matt, did you try to contact me last night? In my dream? With an IM? A dream IM? About your brother??

Wow, that picture made me totally not want to eat a green Snickers. Reminds me of when green ketchup was first released and my mom thought it would be fun to use that in her meatloaf over regular ol’ red ketchup. Now, I love meat as much as the next guy, but when I have a large piece of green baked cow, I draw the line.

Why is baby cow stomach lining a nessecity in chocolate? What purpose could it possibly serve???? Hell, all the best candy here in America is from Mars. Anyone in the UK want to ship me some Aeros, Crunchies and Turkish Delights? Or some Lilt for that matter??

I-I don’t remember if the original has a time counter, guess I could dig out the NES to check.
II-the Colonel has my GBA copy and if he’s so kind he could tell you the times for I&II
III-38:34:28; second town, I’ve been leveling jobs for over 6 months. BLECH.
IV-Never owned the US version, borrowed it from the Colonel. He has my GBA copy, but I didn’t bother finishing, because I don’t really enjoy it.
V-Around 90 hours, if I recall correctly.
VI-Played way too many times to remember.

Man. I just made it back to The Land Of The Dragons.. My only complaint with the game so far is all the musical sections in Atlantica.. But the double-team move that Sora does with Mulan is dirty.. it’s called “Red Rocket”… that still makes me chuckle.

I don’t care how much of a dork it makes me, I freakin’ love Atlantica. The songs written for the game do indeed suck, but Part of Your World and Under the Sea are and will always be epic. I’m putting it in just to do that. Fo’ real.

K- I still know all the words to those songs. lol.. That’s why I don’t like it though.. I get those songs stuck in my head. I actually do better on those levels with the sound down though.. I get distracted.

You don’t have to get perfects on them, you just have to try them again after you do it for the story. I’m grateful for that. I mean they aren’t horribly difficult but I always manage to mess up at least once. Like on Under the Sea. You’re not supposed to respond with it’s Sebastian on the icon, but there is one point where you HAVE to. Totally random, but whatever.

After you reach the final “waypoint” (not to be confused with save point; i.e., the last time you can go back to a save point) your journal’s requirements will be revealed. You can reveal them yourself, of course, but they blow it open for ya, list and gray out the one’s you have done yet. Like I said, nothing horribly difficult. I beat the Hades Paradox Cup on my first attempt.

Fact that will make your head spin: Stitch will end up being your most used summon. Yeah, you read that right

Norbert: My friend and I pre-ordered one of each, and he said it was up to me to pick which one I wanted. I ultimately picked Diamond because I thought Dialga looked cooler than Palkia. =p Speaking of which, I couldn’t sleep all night, so I finished the last non-gym quest to beat Galactic and catch Dialga, woo.

Anyway, hah, I don’t have a lot of free time either, but I’ve been carrying it around with me everywhere. ;D I definitely agree that it’s the best Pokemon game since gold/silver.

I just won some contest at work, and they linked me with $3000 in amazon.com cash. Normally this would be a good thing, but I live in Canada and we can’t buy a whole lot on the .ca site. I figure I’ll try and sell this off for like $2500, but I’m wondering how I should do it. Do you think ebay would be the best bet?
Thanks

I would’ve bought Diamond instead of Pearl, if I had a choice… because, you know, girls like diamonds WAY better than pearls, in most cases.

My god, that Snickers looks like crap. I do recall those TMNT pies, but I don’t have much of a memory of how they tasted. There were trading cards with bubble gum sticks…this was back in the pre-strike era when baseball cards were still popular and had bubble gum in them.

Do any of you have any info on how that Pirates movie went at the box office? Box Office Guru hasn’t been updated yet.

Has anyone else heard about the live action He-Man that Warner Bors. just said they were gonna do?

mjf7583 - The Walt Disney Studios’ ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End’ Uncovers $58 Million in Worldwide Box Office Treasures in Pre-Weekend Tally; Figure Includes $17 Million from Domestic Shows on Thursday Evening…

BoxOfficeMojo has it estimated at $112,547,000 so far….the list is connected to my name….

Third time maybe? BoxOfficeMojo.com has it’s estimates up as over $112 million….

I’d imagine Shuanfu is right.. my source was from the 25th.. I didn’t check the date on it.

I have heard about the He-Man movie, and it pretty much adds more to my belief in that every old television show is going to be made into some modern day movie whether we like it or not. Take that Underdog movie, for instance - from the trailers and posters I have seen of it the film sounds unnecessary. so did all those other live action editions of Jay Ward cartoons (here’s hoping we don’t see a Peabody and Sherman movie)

He-Man doesn’t need another live action movie! The Dolph/Courtney Cox/Mr.Strickland movie was AWESOME and it doens’t need a re-do! NOOOOOOOOO!

An XE Facebook group would rock! I will have to check it out and see if I can join any pre-existing ones.

I just checked and apparently I am the only member left of the X-entertainment rules my life group. Just search Facebook and you’ll find it.

The new He-Man movie MUST contain the following:
1. Webstor with a significant role. The grapling hook that actually never worked in real life will get a big screen chance to redeem itself.
2. He-Man and Teela have to get jiggy, and I mean her getting used as his sword sheath!
3. The Fright Zone with the grey foam quick sand, the monster puppet, and the green goop shower must make an appearance.
4. Man at Arms MUST be properly addressed as Duncan.
5. Mossman has to skull-fuck Skeletor

Well, I just returned from a holiday visit to see my folks and they cleaned out the basement so I now have a car full of old VHS tapes from the eighties. I am watchin old commercials from Halloween, Thanksgiving and now Christmas 1987 and 88. Matt, this is gold for XE but I’m sure you have plenty of material. If you want them they’re yours of course.

206 HOURS into FFXII? That is ridiculous… I am 46 hours in and was hoping it would wrap up around the 60hr mark. I love the game to a fault but dont have the patience for these billionhour RPGs anymore. My interest tops out at the 15 hour mark and anything after that, I start watching the clock and praying its over.

All that green food is gross. There is something wrong about slimey or gunky green stuff in your food. Its just wrong. Green belongs on vegetables, leaves and mint chocolate chip ice cream. Putting filling that color in twinkies and sneakers and dusting cheetos with it is absolutely rancidly grotesque. (loooks for a barf bag)

Usually all the movie tie in promo stuff doesnt bother me but the Shrek assault has been obnoxious this year. With Fiona hawkin Dell computers and Donkey wanting soda, its just gone overboard into ridiculousness. Some of the animation done for the commercials are not up to par with the movies either which makes it especially cheap and creepy. I loved the first Shrek movie and liked the second so its not like Im a hater of the franchise, quite the contrary, it just seems to e in overkill this year. And Shrek the Halls? Geez….

Hollywood likes Safe Bets. Safe Bets mean guaranteed box office. And big video sales. And what says Safe Bet more than Familiarity. Even the New Stuff gets stuffed into a tube sock so we can get beat over the head with it again and again. If it worth doing, it’s worth overdoing, that’s the Studio Way! Hoist anchor, start your engines, and let’s drive these dogies right down Main Street, U.S.A.! These sequels ain’t gonna watch themselves!

I would love it if this turned out to be one of the top Google searches for Jordin Sparks.
Anybody planning on watching the Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed special on the History Channel tonight?

…….who would play He-Man??? Heath Ledger? Marky Mark? I don’t like this one bit!

Everybody celebrate! According to Wikipedia, today is JIm “Kamala” Harris’ 57th birthday. And like Matt finding his website purely by chance, I found out just by going through the birthdys on Wikipedia’s May 28 page.

Boy, now I have NO desire for any Mars product AT ALL. Not because of the green color, but because of the unnecessary use of day old cow in it…especially since that means they’re born, and immediately thrown in a truck and taken to the auction house (which is a horrid experience in itself) or the rendering plant. Another good reason to go totally organic, let alone vegan (which I’m not).

Squee - I most likely will watch it even though it won’t tell me anything i don’t know about the saga. Star Wars just has that effect on me…

Been there done that. It was pretty okay. I don’t think I need to drink another in my life, though.

Okay, so here’s a weird predicament I’ve gotten myself into. Some dude picked me up at karaoke last week, and even though he looked like he just strolled out of the ghetto, he was pretty nice so I let him have my number. He’s called me a couple times and left messages, and the last time he called I could hear what was definitely a baby in the background. So now he calls tonight and wants to take me out, except I have to pick him up because his license has been suspended and he’s gonna call back in an hour and a half to confirm.

Mystie
I say you see this a a chance to flex some acting muscles and see how great of an oddball story you can tell him and have him still believe you. I mean, you just met the guy right? And you can spare his feelings by lying. Everybody wins.

Tell him planned parenthood called with your test results, and well you’ve got some bad news

K: I think Milo was smuggling rolls from the church buffet/karaoke night. It’s a guess but if my life was on the line, that is what I would go with.

Actually, now that I have been watching it, it is pretty good but I thought they were implying that Lucas knew this all along. I don’t believe that. I’m looking at it from a 10 year old’s perspective.

No, I don’t think Lucas “knew it all along,” but I do agree that he knew he was playing on key archetypes that are within the common human understanding. Some of these were probably concious, and some were likely unconcious decisions (After all, archetypes are supposed to exist within our common unconciousness–they are images and feelings deep within the soul that are common to all humans).

Can someone explain to me why Necron quotes Yoda almost word for word at the end of Final Fantasy IX?

Does it have something to do with the fact that one of Lucas’s companies did some of the effects and music?

Lucas claimed all along that he was using Joseph Campbell’s scholarship to inform his writing, so I imagine it’s not too far-fetched. We just finished DVRing it, I’m interested to see what they say.

I did the only thing I could do. I called up my girl to freak and then we went out to see Pirates of the Caribbean 3. Since he didn’t call back before the movie started, I had a perfectly good excuse for having my phone turned off.

The Star Wars thing was decent, but falsely advertised…the commercial and print ads made it seem like they were going to show where all the parts of the movies -not just the characters- were getting their inspiration form. Remember the Samurai fight movie that hinted they would cover that source? And there were print ads that had a WWII fighter jet drawing that evolved into other drawings that eventually became the X-Wing. The character and mythology stories were interesting, but how could they do it without touching on more of the eastern influence and serial films that they only mentioned in passing. And not having Lucas himself on a show endorsed by Lucasfilm (saw the logo at the end) or even mention the movie The Hidden Fortress as another major inspiration alongside Seven Samurai and the (well covered) Joseph Campbell works; that’s why it was a bit of a disappointment for me.

Mystie: You could just tell him you’re ‘not really interested’, or ‘you’re not my type’, or ‘I’m looking for something else’.

By trip I mean LSD and she had to be restrained to a bed and knocked out. Reality is much better than reality TV.

No prob, Bill. I love doin stuff like that; besides, John Candy was a superhero to me. Tough time at the ER dude! I once worked a job that had “supported work” employees (ie mentally ill people straight out of institutions) and I used to take these people to the ER all the time. The other destination was the Johnson Unit, which is the nut house at Sacred Heart Hospital in Eugene, Oregon. Highlights include a woman who claimed she was raped 10 minutes ago, was now pregnant, and had her vagina stolen, and then a guy who found a used needle with dope in it inside his garbage can and decided to use it! Dan Isle would always tell everyone that we had 5 more seconds left to live before the world ran out of oxygen, and to numerous and mind blowing sayings and escapades to mention.

Mystie: You could just tell him you’re ‘not really interested’, or ‘you’re not my type’, or ‘I’m looking for something else’.

If we learned anything from Homer Simpson, it’s these 6 magic words: “I’m not gay, but I’ll learn.”

140th comment! woooooohoooo!!! y’know, I used to post here as “SKiTZo from stupid5pin.com” - but alas, X-E outlasted S5P (well, it’s new home is stupid5pin.net). Anyways, I digress. I kept checking the main page every now and then when i’m bored at work, and for a while there i thought “boy, Matt sure is slacking…” Now I know that it was my dumb arse that was slacking - I never checked the blog!

and one more thing… how much yellow stuff do you guys think we can expect come mid-July with the imminent release of The Simpsons Movie?

Bill- hope all is well, did you get stiches? or at least a cool story, I mean besides the acid freak out story.
Mystie- You came up with a good plan, IMO.

K- How far into LoZ: TP are you? I started flying through it but once LoZ: OOT came out TP has been collecting dust.

dude…just one real article is all i need to last another 4 months with dead snt’s. Just one fix matt! come on! Write about all the different flavors of bubblicious you can recognize stuck under a bench in washington sq. park! I have a sticker collection, the site needs another sticker review! PLEASE

The History Channel shows were okay, but lacking. I prefer that one film that was a spoof of that Shakespeare movie. It supposedly showed how Lucas was inspired in college by a young lady to re-write his “Space Oats” script, and you see where he got the ideas for Yoda, Jabba, speeder bikes, the whole lot. Even a surprise visit by Mom. First time I saw it, it was on Sci-fi’s old “Exposure” film showcase, Star Wars Edition, hosted by Kevin Smith.

Ok, despite living across the street from the base I work at, I decided to goto McDonalds to shoot for buying the 4 Shrek glasses. No luck.

I did pick up a Minty Mudbath shake for my troubles and I saw the “burger” that has fries on it, but it’s actually a chicken BLT and you can “make it crunchy” or something similar by having them throw fries on it.

I thought Jordan was pretty good. I liked Melinda more, but Jordin really had it all. I do have to give it up a little for Phil with the Beat Boxing. Beat boxing became popular when I was in the 5th grade and I am probably 10 years older than him.

Now a nit to pick. I followed the link to your review of The Animal posted a couple of blogs back. The Animal was not radio controlled, but just battery operated. this was before the boom of RC and at the beginning of monster truck popularity. There were several lines of trucks (about 1/16th scale) that were started by the Playskool SST Bigfoot monster trucks that are powered by 4 “AA” batteries, 4 wheel drive and usually a shifting mechanism. Schapper had the “Stomper Bully” Tonka had “PTO” like that had power takoffs to run accessories and steel bodies. The Animal was clearly the king of the gimmic though. Also, the link to the commercial was dead. If Matt actually reads this, I’ll eat one of those Snickers.

I’m yet to get internet at my new house and web filters at work here block a lot of “non-mission essential” sites, so I’m unable to find anything from here, but did anybody here have one of those Atomic Powered Talking Robot? He stood about 16 inches tall, had red glowing eyes, would turn around if he bumped into a wall (like a roomba), he would blow smoke out of his mouth if you put oil in him, and would say “I am the Atomic Powered Talking Robot, please give my best wishes to everybody!”

I stumbled upon the Shrek-related offerings at McDonalds on a road trip this weekend, and being a huge fan of the mint/chocolate combination, could not pass up the Minty Mudbath shake. I’m not normally one to be phased by novelty foods that are made to look disgusting, but they took it too far with that shake. As soon as they handed it to me, I could see a patch of dark green slime under the lid. I immediately appreciated the efforts to nasty-up my beverage and started drinking it. The flavor of the shake was pretty good, but when I got further in, I opened the lid to peer inside and the thing looked absolutely disgusting. It looked like a milkshake with pond scum in it, the kind that’s dredged up from the bottom of a lake when you’re fishing and your hook gets caught on a stick or some other water-logged detritus. I drank the majority of the shake, but I couldn’t stop thinking about what I was ingesting and eventually had to just put it down and be done.

While this post is far more appropriate in the previous blog enty, no body’s there to read it…

WOO HOO! I bought 4 12packs of Vanilla Coke Zero last night! I can die happy now. Didn’t see the regular stuff yet, but soon enough. I’ve just switched to drinking the zero sodas and once you get used to it I can’t really tell much difference. The Vanilla flavor is definitly the best of them by far.

Also, greatest and scariest cartoon villian has to be The Horned King from The Black Cauldron. Motherfucker raised an army of the dead in a Disney movie for Christ sake! Tell me he doesn’t need to be in Kingdom Hearts III. MCP from Tron is a close seceond choice if CGI counts.

My co-worker and I find your comment quite humorous, yet uncomfortably familiar. Speaking of ingesting, a large McDonald’s contains 1,150 calories, just so you know.

I had a large Minty Mudbath, 2 double cheeseburgers, and 1 large order of freedom fries for lunch for a grand total of 2,600 calories. Thank god I’m only 6′1″, 160 lbs, only eat McDonald’s once a month, maybe, and I’ve been doing a lot of moving and will be doing more moving today. Even still, I think I’m having only celery tonight for dinner.

How’s the taste compare to the Vanilla Coke of a couple years back? My co-worker tracked some original Vanilla Coke down this past weekend and he said it was more like Pepsi, where the vanilla isn’t so “vanillary”. He said he could also have picked up a bad batch, because I took him to the Subway in a local Wal-Mart who has sold vanilla coke via fountain for the past couple months and it tastes just like I remember a couple years ago.

My co-worker and I each got a minty mudbath shake. When we first got them, they almost looked like frozen split pea soup, or even a dijon mustard shake. He finished about half his shake and had to run out of the office for about 30 minutes only to come back and notice his shake had changed colors. It seems that every hour that has gone by, it has turned more and more greyish-brown. It’s still pretty much cold and frozen for the most part, but it now looks absolutely disgusting. It almost looks like somebody clipped a bunch of Dick Tracy comics out of the newspaper, created paper mache with them, finely chopped the mache in a food processor, then froze it. It has the weirdest brownish gray yellow color I’ve ever seen.

I for one hope that McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy’s, ALL OF ‘EM go nuts over the Simpsons movie- I would love to get my hands on some Simpsons toys, glasses, food, etc.

When I took a trip to the USA recently, one thing really shocked me- there was CHERRY COKE IN THE FOUNTAIN POP MACHINES AT RESTAURANTS. At one sandwich place, they gave me an empty cup, and you get your own pop- and CHERRY COKE WAS AN OPTION. Wow.

Matt, or anyone else, did they mean to do this or is it a hilarious coincidence?

I’m at Lake Hylia, currently, Nork. I have Ocarina, but I made myself not play it. I’m tidbit-ing on XII, but can’t really bring myself to play either at the moment

I think the only solution is to start Xenosaga Ep. III FINALLY. The Wii gets enough attention from my parents

Pretty damn close, but I’ve only tried the Zero variety which has a lot less “syrupiness” in the finish than regular Coke to begin with, but other than that, can’t tell much difference. I would assume the “fat” version is even better.

Bill: Im pretty sure they did it on purpose. Btw, Have fun in Vegas! By the time you get here we will be over a 100 degrees :o/

I totally see a letter writing campaign to get Photog in the new HeMan movie, it’s just that I am too lazy to do so.

In keeping with the times.. I’m sure Photog would have a digital camera for a head.. ugh.. I just made myself sick.

I’m not sure if it’s the UK version, but that’s irrelevant. It’s so simple and elegent. Tore me to pieces.

In keeping with the times.. I’m sure Photog would have a digital camera for a head.

HAHA Probably. And his MySpace photo would be of him standing in front of a bathroom mirror with the flash covering half the picture.

Bill, it’s a good thing she didn’t leave the door open with the air conditioner running. Someone might have been killed!
(Sorry, I just can’t help responding to one AD reference with another. It’s like a sickness!)
I agree with most of you guys, the Star Wars: Legacy special was just the same old Joseph Campbell hero’s journey blah blah. I was really hoping for some kind of Squid Head/Cthulhu connection. I did like they went beyond the predictable Peter Jackson/J.J. Abrams/Kevin Smith talking heads and threw in some oddballs, like Newt Gingrich and Camille Paglia. Also, I appreciated learning that my love of Sawyer on LOST isn’t based soley on Josh Holloway’s genetic blessings, but actually has an archetypal basis. Mercenary/Pirate FTW!

Homer: “Share, share the weath, that’s what I always say. Afterall, a boy without money is like a bowling ball without a liq-uid center!”

Speakin’ of pirates, saw POTC:Not Enough Lady Pirates last night. Not bad. Keith’s bit was a nice piece of work. Makes me want to see a live-action One Piece film now.

In the mean time, Little Brother sent me a “What’s Your Pirate Name?” quiz, and here’s mine:

“Mad Sam Kidd
Every pirate is a little bit crazy. You, though, are more than just a little bit. Even though you’re not always the traditional swaggering gallant, your steadiness and planning make you a fine, reliable pirate. Arr!”

Click my name, get you a name! And git yer scurvy hands off me booty! Except fer ye, Mystie. Ya gots a gentle touch.

Every pirate lives for something different. For some, it’s the open sea. For others (the masochists), it’s the food. For you, it’s definitely the fighting. You can be a little bit unpredictable, but a pirate’s life is far from full of certainties, so that fits in pretty well. Arr!

“Every pirate is a little bit crazy. You, though, are more than just a little bit. Like the rock flint, you’re hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you’re easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!”

So, I’m looking at this sweepstakes from Arby’s, of all places, for Live Free or Die Hard. The main prize is and I quote “a trip for two to Los Angeles, CA and spend the day with the stuntman from LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD.” Now, nothing against the stuntman from lfordh but couldn’t this guy get a date on his own? Did he really have to make a deal with Arbys for a sweepstakes just to get people to hang out with him for a day? What would I talk to this guy about for a whole day? Who the hell is he to begin with? Why do I want to win this? If I sign up am I going to win by default since no one else wants to be around this guy?

Iron Jack Kidd. Pretty swanky but the Metal Gear name generator was cooler. Now THERE was a game. There was a time when I would plow through a 40 hr game no prob. Now, I barely have time to play anything. If the Wii wasn’t so pick up and playable I wouldn’t have played a console in months. My DS on the other hand…

No seriously, while no one can claim that he had an ounce of talent, he did make things more interesting. My friends and I enjoyed laughing at his hair and his “Ain’t I charming?” demeanor. Did anyone else get a strong Michael Jackson-vibe coming from him? Anyway, I was hoping beat-boxing Blake would win because he was cool and different. Oh well.

I stopped watching Idol this season after Chris Sligh was voted off. *shrug* But I saw Sanjaya on Best Week Ever a little while ago and it was mighty funny.

Speaking of VH1 shows, has anyone seen the promos for the new Flavor of Love spin-off, Rock of Love? Starring Bret Michaels? Yeah.

I never thought American Idol would come up in conversation. Grey’s Anatomy isn’t next, is it?

I’m “Captain Morgan Bonney” which I like because apparently I’m hot and I get you drunk.
Bill, if you check out the blog entry titled “blue” from 2004 you’ll see another AI centric thread. I still have the same stand, which is that I don’t hate the show, but “I don’t need to see nine fucking hours of Ryan Seacrest’s face a week, thank you very much.” 2004 me is so profane!

Josh Ednoff,
I hate to nitpick, but Homer actually said “A boy without mischief is like a bowling ball without a liquid center.” They’ve been rerunning the really old episodes in my area lately.
Also, I took the test and learned my priate name. It’s better than I thought it would be.

That’s funny Squee. I was just thinking about Squidhead and how I swore that Matt already wrote about him. I need to reference more before commenting.
http://www.x-entertainment.com/articles/0514/

1) Finally got the “new” Coke Vanilla. It’s EXACTLY the same as before, and is indeed still awesome. It just has a new label on it.

It’s also becoming more available on LI, I found it in a local gas station (albeit still in its case)

2) Also saw Pirates 3 today. I liked it and it’s worth having a theater experience. I thought it was much better than the 2nd one, but the First is still better. I can see why some people didn’t like it, they did cram a LOT of story into it, like:

-All the different stories going on at one, with Beckett, Sparrow, Will & Liz, Davy Jones, Calypso, etc.
-Not really explaining how Jack got to Davy Jone’s Locker, or how Barbossa came back (it said that Tia raised him back because he simply died, Jack went to Davy Jones’s Locker after being killed by the Kracken…I guess we assume Jack killed it from the inside because we see its corpse at one point)
-We needed subtitles for Barbossa
-I don’t think we learned Jack’s Dad’s name (it’s Captain Teague), also needed subtitles for Keith Richards. There also wasn’t enough of him, he just…appears with no real explanation.
-Not enough of the other Pirate Lords

So is anyone going to explain the how and why of the multiple Jacks? I’m not going to break down and see these movies myself. I have standards, you know.

All I know is that when Orlando Bloom got all eyeliner-ified in the end with his sexy pirate outfit, I totally came.

Here, watch some quality. Yes it is the review of 2 with a beginning and an end tacked on.

“a trip for two to Los Angeles, CA and spend the day with the stuntman from LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD.”

lol hilarious.. i wonder how offended he’d be if you just took the trip and ditched the stuntman

and i’ll agree sanjaya does remind me of michael jackson except with none of the talent - so really all you’re left with is the whole creepy/girly man thing, but he’s got that on lock!