The X-Entertainment Blog!

08/25/2007: AHHHHHHHHHHH.

Sorry I haven’t been around for a week…it’s been a really lousy month.

Remember Gizmo’s reaction when the malfunctioning water fountain sprayed his head near the beginning of Gremlins 2? I’ve been doing that all month. Every five minutes. It’s become a coping device. Like, I’ll be at work, find out that a thousand bucks worth of tape has gone faulty, and instead of yelling…I do the Gizmo water fountain reaction. If I wake up in the morning and notice that my left eyelid has mysteriously swollen up to twice its normal size in an apparent effort to make me face the world as a monster, I don’t cry…I just do the Gizmo water fountain reaction. These are all true stories, and I suggest that everyone give it a shot. Dunno where I’d be without the Gizmo water fountain reaction. Likely in a box.

I can’t wait for August to be done with, because I’ve decided that the month is cursed.

And besides, we all know what September brings…the all-too-early and yet all-too-inviting start to the Halloween season. I’ve been trying to look the other way as every store in town starts filling their aisles, because I don’t want to waste the glory of a New-For-2007 Halloween item when it’s 100 fucking degrees outside. Shit like that calls for sweater weather, not sweat weather.

Still, try as I might, even with a swollen lid, I can’t pry my eyes away from the holy unholy sights of things orange and black. Especially when they’re edible and light-shining:

As a premise, “Lightning Pumpkins” is nothing new. I’ve seen the same gimmick on other candy sets, usually ones involving gummy bugs. The frightening fun involves picking up little pumpkin candies with a special tong featuring an inbuilt red light, which is powerful enough to beam through the gummies and create some kind of glowing alien pumpkin effect.

The packaging is extra special. It seems to have stolen a bunch of Halloween clipart from one of the few still-running 1998 Geocities sites that offered such things, with repeating images of the same angry ghost and the cutest little pumpkin patch ever put to plastic.

Admittedly, grabbing pumpkin candies with light-up tweezers gets old after a while, but it fulfills its promise of $1.39’s worth of entertainment value. What’s even more fun is using the tweezers on other, random items to see which are able to get a full shine-through.

Anyways, after a couple of days in the office next week, it looks like I’ll be in the clear for a while. Just in time to scour Target for the latest bat-shaped snacks. Stay tuned, and happy SNT…if you’re here.

August IS cursed. I’m about to go watch Gremlins 2 so that I can study Gizmo’s reaction and implement it in my day-to-day life.

Jeff: It’s totally worth it. The second you see it, you’ll know I’m right.

Glad to finally hear from you, Matt! Sorry about the shitty week. I too am excited for the all-too early halloween excitement. I’m an awful sentence maker. Anyway, I got my Boo Berry cereal the other day, and I smiled for days.

By the way, do they still make Cocoa Bat Peeps? I’ve been searching for them constantly since you reviewed them years ago, and no luck yet.

I always felt like August was sort of an “off” month; I think it has to do with school and work ratcheting up again after the summer lull. BTW, I have not seen Gremlins 2, but I think I get the idea of Gizmo’s reaction.

Everyone I know including myself has had a shit August. Earlier this week I found out someone charged $1500 to my American Express card. Luckily they were cool enough to notice it was not my usual spending habit. I don’t spend $350 at Joe’s Crab shack.
I didn’t have Gizmo’s reaction though. Mine was more like the first Gremlins, the microwave scene.

Matt: After some goatee stroking and thoughtful posing, I believe that you are certainly on to something with the Gizmo AHHH. Now if we had only known this would have worked sooner.

With football season upon us and my allergies beginning, I can feel the seasons changing despite the suffocating heat.

And is it just me, or does anyone else become especiallly nostalgic during the changing-of-the-seasons?

August indeed must be cursed for so many people to have such a lousy month. I now have to go watch Gremlins 2 so I can master the Gizmo reaction. Hope things get better Matt.

Thats weird that you mentioned Gremlins 2 ,as I have just started reading the novel.

My August hasn’t been so much bad as plain boring. I did get a lot of things done, but I haven’t been able to do a lot of trips or running around until recently due to bad weather and a bank account tilting perilously towards empty. Better hours at work and nicer weather over the past week or two have greatly improved my mood. Southern New Jersey is back to killer heat, but it apparently isn’t lingering this time like it did at the beginning of the month.

The grocery store where I work finally started putting out the Halloween candy yesterday. I walked by it on the way home and said to myself “That’s definitely Matt stuff. He’ll be thrilled.”

son: I haven’t read the G2 novel, but the first was incredible and every Gremlins fan should read it. It’s nuts — the author goes into insane detail about what was going through Gizmo and Stripe’s minds throughout their adventures. The novel was also a lot darker than the film and totally without humor.

I’ve become QUITE industrious in the 2 weeks I’ve been without proper internet acess or tv

I get my net back monday after switching to Verizon. No tv til i get enough cash to give Direct TV, b/c Fios is not in my area yet. that and the knee fracture and allergies, August sucks. I even had to miss Highschool Musical 2.

Aside from Super Metroid and MP3 on Monday, August has sucked for me, too. I work in a music store and as this is back-to-marching band season, this month is one of those “the shit has hit the fan” months. Just crap.

Of course I’m here! To not be here for a SNT would involve me having some sort of social life. I think I’d rather hang out online with you guys than deal with drunken frat boys at the local bars (college is back in session in these parts).

Matt: The G2 novel is good, but it doesn’t sound as good as the first book,but then again neither is the movie.

I hate eye problems more than any other problem. I mean it’s your freaking EYE. Nothing in this blog registered in my brain after I read swollen eyelid. I hope you figured out what the problem is and are presently “deswelling” your eye.

August has been a tough month out here in the southeast. No one wants to go outdoors in tempartures that reach 100+. We had two straight days where I live where the temperature hit 104.

Matt is quite right about the first book. Completely awesome, but a different type of gremlins experience without humor! It did have like 8 pages of pictures from the movie smack dab in the middle of it, though.

Hey everybody, I need some help…the kind of help only X-E readers can provide! Sometime in the late 90’s/earily 00’s the same company that makes the Valentine’s Day candy Sweethearts came out with a line of similar type Halloween candies. You know the type: little chalky bland tooth chippers (I really love Sweethearts although I know they suck). One of these Halloween candies were little white ghosts. I don’t remember the name of them but they were kinda bubblegum flavored and came in the same size boxes as Sweethearts. I was fucking addicted to those damn things! They were only 25 cents a box and by mid October I had a $2 a day habit. As far as I can tell, they’ve completely vanished! Can anyone here tell me if you remember these things and are they still available in your area? I’d go through the trouble of ordering them if I know they still live.
But I have a bad feeling they’ve gone the way of all my other favorite junk food (like Pepsi Blue. I fucking LIVED on Pepsi Blue!). Any feedback would be fantastic! Thanks in advance!

(Last year Dallas had something like 6 weeks of 100+ degree days, back to back.)

Let’s not talk about the heat; nothing but 100 degree plus down here in GA.
Speaking of Georgia, big shout-out to the hometown boys of Warner Robins for winning the Little League World Series today. I taught some of the siblings and relatives (some of which were on T.V. today) so it’s pretty cool.

It was a relief to no longer see BOOGAZ at the top of the blog. Sorry to hear about your shitty week, though. Let’s hope this is not some new form of Eyeball Disease.

Whoohoo! Just finished my last paper for my MBA and sent it in. I’m done for a whole 2 weeks. Happy SNT indeed! It sucks I still have to work but I’ll take what I can get. It’s Miller time.

Manimal: I was watching those kids. I can’t believed that some pitch 100 mph +! To think I was afraid of getting beamed by a 45 mph ball back in the day makes me a little sheepish.

Wow, I will definitely have to pick up and read the Gremlins novel. It actually sounds really good.

Looking forward to the Halloween season, can’t believe it’s already almost been a year.
Happy SNT!

I hope things get better for you Matt. I also can’t wait for the Halloween season and whatever insanity it inspires on X-E. Reading all the coverage last year ranks high among the best times I’ve had in a long time…shows how exciting MY life is.

August has sucked, except when I was in Maine and had to buy two sweaters to keep warm. That was a good week. Except for the bladder infection, which was right after a weird allergic reaction that I got from my first pedicure and appeared in early August. This weather so humid and hot that it makes my skin prickle.

Matt: last night I had this dream that I was visiting you at the warehouse where you keep all the crap you review, and you were super proud of this Hello Kitty house that had a special door for a Sanrio version of Darth Vader. I hate hot weather dreams.

Congrats on being done with school! Mississippi is FINALLY processing my application…so I’m hoping to hear back from them in like a month or so…

Jeff Mack: Oh brother, I’m not even half way done. I’m just finished for two weeks before my next term. I’m getting it from Villanova and their executive MBA program is a little off the regular Fall under and graduate schedule. Small successes are enough for me to drink beers.
Good luck with Mississippi!

I just really need to get something off my chest. It’s been bugging me for years, and I’ve just got to get it out in the open.

Ahem. How about we yabba dabba don’t and say we yabba dabba did, you paleolithic jackass?

Sorry to hear about everyone’s terrible month. Mine was decent until this past week when I had to make the transition from summer bum to student. Not fun. The only thing that is getting me through is knowing that it’s my last semester.

I was looking forward to Halloween until I realized I have a class that night. And I have a mandatory forum to attend on my birthday (Oct. 30) so that’s really going to blow. Hopefully I’ll get enough exposure in the weeks leading up to it to feel content.

Out of curiosity, has anyone here been to Gettysburg? Looks like I’ll be there for a day or two in October. Know there’s some ghost walks and shit, but if anyone can pass along some spooky vacay tips, it’d be appreciated!

Wow, Gremlins novelizations? I’ll have to look out for those.
Sorry about your mutated eyelid, Matt. A sty maybe?
I had a lame week, but I’m having a fun weekend so far. Finally saw Superbad last night. It was hysterical…then today we went and painted ceramics. I was feeling the premature Halloween spirit so I did up a skull all Dia de los Muertos style. Now I want to carry it around with me everywhere and make like Rick Moranis in LA Story.

my g/f is in Seattle for the week, so I’m home alone, watching Chevy Chase and Mel Brooks movies. Pretty fun if you ask me!

Manimal: Any kind of Halloweeny stuff (shows, museums, shops, etc.) that we can do? Good bars?

Matt, my grandparents live in Philadelphia and I have been there every Fall. It’s best to do the B&B thing. You can drive from battle site to other sites. We went on a ghost tour and they say at night there is a spot where soldier were shot in the head by low velocity projectiles and they roamed around like zombies until they bled out, starved or died from infection. The tour said every night you can witness movement at that site.That is creepy. I think this was the same spot.

Matt - This weekend’s Mid-Atlantic heat/humidity attack has left me more miserable than any other time this summer, so I know how you feel. I’m so not ready for Halloween yet, and I’m ALWAYS ready for Halloween (a permanent decoration in my bedroom is haunted forest Halloween wallpaper).

The bright spot is that I just today got from Amazon the Gremlins 2 DVD. I always meant to get it but it’s one of those things you need to put on a shopping list or you forget it. Also got Ernest Scared Stupid (and Goes To Jail) so there’s a little Halloween ’round here anyway.

Halloween through Christmas is the most excellent time for this site. Sure, the summer megaparty has been great, but the holiday season brings out the best in you, Matt. Keep up the great work, and get well soon.

I’m waiting for some paint to dry on my Pac-Man restoration, so it’s a good excuse to check out X-E and see what you all are up to.

As a matter of fact, my sister went to college in Gettysburg and I’ve been there several times. Doesn’t get much creepier than Devil’s Den, and I’d recommend stopping by the Lincoln Dinner.
You should check out the Jenny Wade house too- she was the only civilian killed during the battle- last time I was there, they had a mannequin with one of those Styrofoam heads used to model wigs- but they projected the face of an actor over it. It should at least make you uncomfortable.

sadly, it looks like halloween is being passed over here in central kentucky. the local wal-mart is already putting out christmas merchandise. haven’t seen a single black and orange package yet. just lots of red and green.

This month is indeed cursed. One of my cats passed away suddenly last week, I got nauseous from workers laying down polyurethane in my office building, I had a fight with a good friend of mine at work this past Friday, my parents ordered one of those Sun Setters awnings that took almost THREE WEEKS to get all the parts from them, the list goes on.

Funny story…last night I took my niece to the mall to buy some clothes for her Senior picture. We were at PacSun and she was trying on some shirts and called me over for my opinion. I casually start to walk over and am suddenly and very violenty struck by a dressing room door. I mean I was hit so hard I almost fell to the floor and I have a charlie horse rising on my arm from the door knob. When I look to see WTF just happened it is the smallest little girl in the world who has jumped my shit and went all sucker punching crazy on me. The only thing I could mutter was OUCH and she meekly said sorry and went on her way. No one in the store checked on me despite the fact that they were all over us to help up to this point so I am a little miffed about that but what really pisses me off is the 2 fold…

1) Who thought it would be a good idea to have the dressing room doors open OUT into the shopping area (Einstein)? And 2) Who the hell runs out of a dressing room like that unless your ass is on fire? I mean seriously, did the outfit look so amazing on her that she couldn’t wait to get to the register with it?

Today I have a crappy bruise and knot on my frickin arm and a permanent fear of dressing room doors. Just perfect, another phobia to add to my list next to needles…dressing room doors! August has been one of those months and I might just lock myself inside for the rest of it in an act of self preservation. Matt, I feel your pain.

August has been a pretty “meh” month for me, with a few interesting things happening.

I went into Manhattan again last wedesday and did one of those double-decker bus tours. Very worj it and a good, interesting way to kill 3 or so hours.

I saw that McDs rap in the last blog and I have to say it was pretty good. I liked it and checked out one of his other raps, where the guy raps about Eggs Over Easy. Very creative.

Speaking of which…I never saw the video to Chocolate Rain until yesterday. Is this some fad that passed or am I not the only X-Er that never checked it out until someone told me about it?

Do try and see if they have those caves you walk through. like they take u on a tour and show the stalactites shaped like mice and boobs.

anyone else play Bioshock on here? i haven’t been able to pry myself away from this came since i got it.. sigh, happy SNT everybody!

Matt, Gettysburg is fine, but if you have the means and the time you really have to come to Savannah,GA. I promise you will get what you pay for. It is the spookiest place that I have ever been to. You can drink at a pub where pirates used to drink, visit haunted hotels and houses, and above all else there is no open container law. You can wander aimlessly around the old district between 300 year old grave yards and colonial houses with a big cup of “Call-a-cab” slurpee from Wet Willies. On River Street there are tons of bars, candy shops and cheap-o souvenir shops. It’s a good time, trust me. History, ghosts, beer…what more can you ask for?

And you betta review it, Matt. Its a promotional soda for Halo 3 and its being marketed as “game fuel”. I’m not hyper yet, but I did finish off the bottle in approximately 4-5 gulps. Damn that stuff was tasty. Its my current favorite soda…that is until this years reincarnation of Pitch Black.

I got an e-mail about that a few weeks ago…can’t wait to get my hands on it. Love the bottle design.

Its so delicious. I require another. I found mine at Wal-Mart somewhere in Louisiana. Tour rules.

Matt: You may want to check and ensure that you don’t have the pink eye. This is especially true if you’ve felt any odd cravings for brains (South Park reference).

It’s amazing how quickly fall is coming - college football starts next Saturday and the NFL soon after. Has anyone else noticed that time does seem to move quicker as you get older?

Very true - before you know it, September will be gone and we’ll be looking into the face of Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Gotta agree with the above about the Mt. Dew Game Fuel soda - I love the stuff as it tastes like a liquified gummy-bear with the Mt. Dew zing at the end. I hope it sticks around for more games after the Halo 3 release.

Andrew: Yeah, I have a copy of Bioshock sitting on top of my entertainment center. I have yet to toss it into the 360 yet, but I did beat the demo a few times. The game, from what I’ve seen, is sensational.

Hey Matt : Find some nutty Civil War reenacters and ask them about spooky stuff there. I knew a couple who had some stories about seeing ghosts and shit.

Hate to double-post (if that happens), but I just wanted to post my Xbox Live gamertag in response to jjwspider.

don’t get me wrong I freaking love the stuff but it seems to me that mountain dew just got lazy. i think they just took live wire and code red and schlapped them together to make an uber caffienated sugary liquid for people who play video games, and people who read x-e and can’t not buy things that say limited edition, like me.

also for gettysburg all i can remember from my 8th grade trip was that anywhere we went besides the touristy main part, is that everything had a very eerie vibe, you could tell that people had died there. gettysburg has a feel to it.

august hot weather sucks! things are looking up though.. forecast shows a cool snap by week’s end and i found out about a pretty sweet horror convention this october just a couple of hours from my doorstep. and i received my amityville horror dvd box set in the mail! excellent..

Why is it that with pop/candy bars/cereals we hardly ever see a completely new product? Seriously, when was the last time you remember a completely new candy bar coming out? (not counting new versions of existing ones)

Haha, Mountain Dew Gamer Fuel. I was in a Target earlier tonight and it took every bit of my strength to not buy a twelve-pack of the stuff.

Magic Toy: I would so buy a 12 pack if I could find one. I honestly think this is one of the nicest looking promotional campaigns I’ve seen on a product in a long time. That, and I’m a Halo freak so it bumps it up a little.

I know August seems cursed for most of the people I know. My old PC died recently and I’ve been having really bad panic attacks since. My buddy’s gonna look at it after I mail it to him to see what it could be and, if the hard drive is still intact, he’ll burn all my old stuff to DVD-Rs for me.

Meanwhile, one of my friends has even more irritating medical problems. Like severe ones. And another got caught in that gnarly shitstorm that pounded the area around the Great Lakes area this week. X.x

What is probably the most original candy bar I have ever had were those Bubblicious Mondo bars from the early-to-mid 90’s. Anyone remember those? They were literally just a big tab of Bubblicious gum, roughly the size of a pair of Twix bars.

jjwspider: I’ll tell you what… since we are now Live buds I’ll take you advice and grab some the next time I grocery shop.

My August: New job and a flea infestation. I feel like there are fleas all around the house all the time. But we fogged the house and got the vet meds this weekend, and it’s much better tonight…god, I hope they are all dead. If ever I’ve hated an animal it would be the flea. Little bastards…

And Manimal congrats to those kids; I had taught a few on the Columbus team, so I know the feeling; it was crazy around here during all that….

Tommy: I hear you man. I think it is a hard market for candy and cereals in a time that has Ronald McDonald is in the front leaning rest while still trying to push Happy Meals. If it wasn’t for X-E I would believe my vision of pop culture would be long dead.

Tommy, on the topic of new candy bars, I like the Take 5 a wholeshit of a lot!
But what bugs me is the Peanut Butter Twix, they’ve never gone away, it’s just that this new one has a chocolate cookie in the middle, the reg one had the normal cookie.
I never saw them individually packaged, just in the 8-pack box, like for lunches and stuff.

Oh, that new Reese’s Crispy Crunchy bar is good, but it’s pretty much like Butterfinger with crunchy peanut butter around it. Get it, “Crispy Crunchy” “Crispity Crunchity Peanut Buttery Butterfinger” weird eh”

So I decided to DVR the remake of The Fog that came out a year or two ago. It was on Encore earlier today and I decided to check it out since I loved Carpenter’s original so much.

Well, the very first scene had me questioning the re-make because it felt so silly compared to the original… and then came the Fall Out Boy soundtrack.

Dammit, Ktulu beat me. I was in Shrine chat all night, okay? No, it isn’t, cause he was too

Hey, apropos of nothing, but I thought that the people here might be able to ID a toy I remember fondly from my childhood. This would have come out in the late 70s, early 80s: basically it was a white rifle that fired a light and made a lasery kind of sound. Accompanying the rifle was a little rotating platform that had these little gray plastic rockets on it. There were sensors around the platform, and when you shot them with the light from the rifle it would cause the rockets to pop into the air via the magic of springs.

Anyway, it was a really cool toy, but I’ve never been able to find out what it was called. Any ideas?

Yeah this month has been crazy. But guess what I did today? Went to the motherfucking beach. There’s like a huge man made lake in the county here so it’s only a 20 minute drive. I even got into my swimsuit and went in the water. And since it’s just a lake I didn’t have to worry about fucking jellyfish and sharks and all that crazy shit.

Man, I loves me some Game Fuel. It tastes like somebody made a soda using yellow and pink Giant Sweet Tarts.

And personally, I believe the reason they don’t make new candy bars any more is that they’ve run out of stuff to put in them. There’s only so many permutations of nuts, nougat, chocolate, and caramel possible, and I think we’ve got them all. The only direction we can go from here is mayonnaise, and I don’t think anyone wants that.

The sad truth is, they probably don’t make new chocolate bars because people won’t buy them. However, make a “spin-off” bar of an already-comfortable favorite (like Mint Milky Way or Peanut Butter Twix) and it’ll sell like gold. The Take Five is actually only two or three years old, but it’s the newest “New Bar” I can remember (assuming that anything with “Reese’s” in front of it is simply a brand extension).

That Game Fuel is *sick*. My husband was drinking it in the car last Sunday when we were driving home from Maine, it smelled as though crushed Smarties were floating through the car.

The reason why they don’t make new candy bars is because there’s no reason to, since the Milky Way bar (Mars bar in England) already achieved divine perfection.

I was just watching Gremlins 2 last week on Cinemax. The Gizmo reaction is totally the way to go now.
I was going to drink some of that Game Fuel stuff. But ever since my Valut Binge during the months of October to April just passed, I’ve been taking it easy on extreme sugar.
I damn near shat myself when I saw that Vault boasted 78 grams of sugar in a bottle and it slowly sunk in how much sugar that really is I was ingesting.

Matt I thought I broke your site ever since I add it as my homepage since a week ago. Wow I thought this sucks, I can get my daily or somewhat daily dose of XE and I brought it down LOL! Good to see your still alive, yeah I been getting my Gizmo face on this week 2.

Looking away!? I’ve been scouring those aisles for weeks, hoping that Oreos had finally replaced their pearl white filling with the satisfyingly orange cream of Gods.
I never did finish Gremlins 2. Don’t get me wrong; the DVD cover awesome is fantastic. Almost like one of those old Goosebumps covers. But it was somewhere in between the corporate office and the–well the lack of plot for half an hour that I shut if off.

I think I speak for your alternate self when I say that Ghoulies quote is totally worth living through Hell Month.

So I’m assuming with this new mountain dew game fuel we will not be getting a new pitch black this year.

They also say that August is the worst month for movies. They dump the crappiest moviest into this month. So yeah, August sucks.

I bought a bunch of chocolate recently and I was looking for as many new/unique ones as I could get. A quick paw through the bag shows five candies that are just variations on existing stuff (Kit Kat Extra Crispy bar, Chocolate Mocha Kit Kat, Reese’s Big Cup, 100 Grand Dark and Nestle Crunch Dark with Caramel) and only three that are really new: Hershey’s Cacao Reserve, Kissables (which might fall under the last category but I thought they were sufficiently different) and the awesomely delicious Take 5. Why are there not more candy bars with pretzel?
I only have Gremlins 2 on VHS and I don’t have a VCR set up. I was going to head out to get the Dexter DVD so I might have to look out for the G2 DVD as well.

I found something at the local mom and pop deli down the road…its called Bubble Chocolate….it kinda looks like a cookie ish biscotti thing…and i think it fizzes in your mouth like pop rocks…i gotta try it.

kneg-
don’t even concern yourself with the fall out boy soundtrack they play like 15 seconds of sugar we’re going down. that movie is awwwwwful.

The old folk ’round these parts would say that Matt must have looked at the wrong person.

The best part of havin’ the ol’ drippy eye? The threat of rubbing it on your friends and family. It’s crustacular!

I think someone in an earlier post was a movie biz insider and said that yes, by August, they dump out the questionable flicks just to meet their contracts and rid themselves of them. Sometimes it’s not all bad (Fast Times at Ridgemont High was apparently an August release).

Plus by August most people in school are already bored of summer, probably. Especially since it often seems that August is the hottest month of the year. And it’s been my experience that late August is the worst, or even right around the first day of school. Although…jeez, it seems like schools throughout the country are starting earlier and earlier! Can’t they give the kids at least two full months off? And since I always went to summer school, I usually only had a full month off myself.

The gamer fuel tastes like the red freeze pop juice at the bottom of the wrapper.

As for the site, I love it. I’ve been browsing it for about 3 years now especially around Halloween to Christmas, but I rarely post.

I’m having a pretty good day today. Spent it watching the entire “Back to the Future” trilogy on HBO Comedy. I’m having chili cheese waffle fries for dinner. Had a Dairy Queen “Georgia Mud Fudge” Blizzard for a snack today. But it is hot as heck here today.

I had that “Game Fuel” soda a couple of weeks ago. It was ok, but nothing to write home about. In fact, I kinda forgot what it tastes like.

As for new candy bars, Target always seems to have some new “limited edition” stuff. Usually it’s the same thing but with a small twist, like a dark chocolate Snickers. Although those Reccess PB and Banana Cups with Elvis on the bag weren’t bad.

I’m addicted to Game Fuel personally. It’s like mountain dew and gummy bears fucked long and hard and squirted out a beautiful, beautiful baby full of caffeine and sugar

Magic Toy, prepare for pain. I watched that stinking pile on cable a few months back, and I SWEAR it gave me scurvy. It’s so bad it sucks the vitamin c out of you!!!

And is it wrong that I’ve already plundered Micheal’s on three different occasions, decorating my house with the findings?

Magic Toy, prepare for pain. I watched that stinking pile on cable a few months back, and I SWEAR it gave me scurvy. It’s so bad it sucks the vitamin c out of you!!!

And is it wrong that I’ve already plundered Micheal’s on three different occasions, decorating my house with the findings?

JLAJRC: I’m actually kind of mad about that. I spent all week trying to catch all three of those movies in some kind of coherent order. I had charts and graphs. I rescheduled appointments. And then they go and just show them all back to back on my day off. Buttheads.

Plus, does anyone else feel sort of scared and alone when they think about how much closer we are to 2015 than 1985? Not only is my optimism as per the flying car ebbing lower with each passing year, but can you find one single 2007 model car that looks half as futuristic as a De Lorean?

Hey all!
Jessica Marie: I thought it was funny that you mentioned having a dream about Matt, because I had a dream like a year ago that I won a contest to see Matt and then when I got there his friends challenged me to a bike relay race to see him! … AT least Im not the only one!

hmmm….August…. like our 5th month of summer in Vegas…
AHHHHHHHH! Sorry, its enough to drive you mad. Horray for October when it cools down and brings CANDY!! candy candy candy candy CAAAANDYYY!

GOODBYE summer crap HELLO halloween crap. Hell, might as well start the Halloween blitz….Rob Zombie has his raping of a movie classic remake coming out next friday.

Jedoc; not to mention that the way things are going, 2015 probably won’t look nearly as cool.

And I’m sorry, but yeah, I agree with Mufu. I’m sick of all these movie “reimaginings” and remakes of classic series. Went to see Mr. Bean today (the one where he goes to France; it was better than I thought it would be), and saw an ad for a movie of Alvin and the Chipmunks. Yes, complete with CGI recreations of those rodents looking half-real, half-fake the way CGI characters always look. Oh yeah, their clothes were slightly gangsta-style, so you can imagine where that’ll go. I thought Underdog seemed like a new low, but this is truly sad. Do those overpaid drug addicts have nothing more to pull out of their Botoxed asses?

I have seen these in gummi worm form before. I was hesitant to buy the glowing food for my son and then realized the glowing did not come from the candy itself.
This is SNT number three in a row I have missed. I am bummed it seems like it was an active one. Well…happy delayed one everybody!

At the risk of getting skinned, I didn’t care for the MOUNTAIN DEW Game Fuel. I hated it at first, then it kinda grew on me but I wouldn’t buy it again.

Even bigger congratulations to the Warner Robins team for beating the Japanese today in the Little League World Series. I am sure there will be a craptacular parade coming up. Pics soon…

I am all for the ghost tours in Savannah and all but I am not sure about ones in Gettysburg (yeah, yeah, I’m a square).

The ManimalI don’t follow Little League at all, but I happened to catch the end of the game. This is really bad, but please tell me I’m not the only one that shouted “There’s no crying in baseball!” when the Japanese kids started crying?

Uh oh, Magic Toy hasn’t posted since watching the remake of The Fog. I hope another pointless and worthless remake hasn’t claimed another victim. I don’t care how “respectfully and lovingly” Rob Zombie remade Halloween. I could “respectfully and lovingly” cover a Queen song and it would sound like shit.

I’m double posting (it’s dead in here, so I don’t feel as bad). I noticed I used a cover song/movie remake analogy. I’m not sure why I love some cover songs, but revile every movie remake I see. Please don’t point out my hypocrisy, as I have already noted it. Thanks, and back to you…

I seem to be in the minority who hasn’t hated August, I quit my job so that ruled, weather is nothing to whine about in Idaho this month, and
Randy Couture beat another fighter half his age last night, awesome. Plus college football starts next week.

Also forgot to mention that I saw a car with the liscene plate “JONNY5″ today. That made me smile!

Bludge, I dont think it’s the movies that you’re pissed at. More likely, your angry at the current trend in hollywood of not relying on new original material, and instead playing it “safe” and remaking classics that should have been left alone.

Wet Willy’s is still there? I was stationed at Ft. Stewart back in the early 90’s and used to get epicly (is that a word?) hammered at that place. How about Kevin Barry’s? I tricked a friend of mine into going in there wearing a blaze orange T-shirt. He thought it would get him a free drink. Heh!

August is cursed indeed. Between being sowrn at by a old lunatic while shopping at a mall yesterday, having lots of wrenches thrown into my plans by random people, and nearly losing something of importance to me, I’ve pretty much gone apeshit.

i’m so stoked for HALLOWEEN, i can’t wait until this gross, hot weather is over.. uggghhhhh..

Yeah, it generally is the month that studios dump their crappiest movies; in hopes of at least recouping enough money to cover the chinese-takeout bill for the film crew.

On the other hand, the wife and I went and saw Superbad last night, and it was fucking hilarious. Often crude and juvenile, but hell, that’s a selling point if it’s done well.

the Gripp, you hit it right on the head! I know I can always count on the X-E shrinks to help me out.
And referring to the thread… I’m sorry so many are having a crummy August. I like summer.:(
But I like Halloween too.:)

Eh, I was done with Summer Mid-July. I didn’t do shit today but I feel fucking great! Looking outside, weather was perfect - a bit foggy and a light drizzle. And if that wasn’t enough, Matt pumped out his first (mostly) Halloween themed post! The Halloween season has begun! And thank God, because I’m done looking at the sun for another 6 months.

Braindumper: I was 1/75 B co Hunter Army airfield. Yeah, Kevin Barry’s has a special place, upstairs for all of us. Rangers All The Way!

Nah, I’m alright. I survived the horror that was the remake of The Fog. I definitely had to roll my eyes at more than a few points (Ok, like 91 times to be honest), but at least it is over. That is a positive thing. Right?

To be fair I did like the look of the ghosts somewhat. Overall it was pretty darn bad though.

I’ve been playing some Bioshock on my 360 tonight. Has anyone else gotten a hold of this gem of a FPS yet? It is pretty incredible. As good as the game is (gameplay, etc.) I’d say the story is truly the high-water mark. I hope Roger Ebert gives this game a go before he claims that no video game can ever be art, ever again.

Sadly this is solidifying by belief that my game skills are eroding. I decided to start playing the game on the medium difficulty setting (as opposed to easy or hard) and I am wishing I would have bitched out and chose the kindergarten level.

Okay, so I finally tracked down a rentable copy of RE4. Yes, they are there and they are more than just green pixels, they are beautiful rainbow pixels.

This game looked like this on the cube? ASTOUNDING. I might have to actually buy this when I get my Wii back.

Ugh, it’s been a crappy month for me, too. Apartment hunting in San Francisco is absolute hell, especially when you can only budget about $1000 a month. Not sure September is going to be much better, though, since I’ll have finals and (hopefully) be moving at the same time. Whee. October had better rock.

Whoa! Owen Wilson tried to kill himself? I always enjoyed that guy. It’s always the one you least suspect. Poor guy.

*before I get corrected, the Ranger school motto is “Rangers Lead the Way.” In battalion we kept it “All the Way” after R.I.P. until you were sent to the leadership school which is Ranger School. Just to be clear.*

Wow, summer really is almost over, and I never even got to go to the beach. Oh well. Speaking of early Halloween celebrations, Busch Gardens Williamsburg is starting Howl-O-Scream on Sept. 14! I didn’t get to stay there late enough to enjoy the full Europe-themed-amusement-park-turned-spooky goodness last year, but as I was leaving the park I stopped to watch a couple of undead pirates….wait for it….breakdance fighting! So that pretty much ensured that I would be back this year.

Jedoc: I know what you mean. But I find that while the lessons/morals/warnings that filmakers instill in scifi films still have merit (corrupt governments, Big brother, corporate shenanigans, etc.) when it comes to predicting stuff like technology, that’s where they’re way off. In fact, I love watching those old shorts that try to tell us what life is going to be life in the future and it isn’t even close (Cars of the future, kitchens of the future, etc.)

IN THE FUTURE…
X-Entertainment wil come in a easy to use anywhere pill form. It will be like Matt Caracappa and 72 degrees in your head all the time.

You know, I really tried, but I couldn’t get into the Game Fuel. I drank it a couple of times, but the rest of the 2-liter sat until it went flat. My initial reaction was that it tastes an awful lot like Alka-Seltzer cold (I think the orange flavor.) Then I realized the aftertaste was almost identical to chewable Dramamine. I don’t want to think about medicine when I’m drinking Mountain Dew.

Magic Toy: that remake of The Fog SUCKED so bad. I saw it for free (thankfully) when it was out because my ex boyfriend had a friend who managed a theater so he got us in for nothing. It was awful.

Matt keep your head up you ole bastid, 4 more days left in August and tomorrow is MP3 day anyway!

That Mountain Dew Game(r?) Fuel I thought was supposed to be cherry-tangerine, not cherry-limeaid, unless I’m missing something? Personally, I thought it tasted like absolute balls. Like a half and half mix of Mountain Dew Live Wire and Mountain Dew Code Red, both of which I don’t much care for.

What is it with this summer anyway? I’ve seen a lot of people having hard times, and I’ve been having a real grand old time myself over here. Since my fiance got laid off, I don’t get to move back in with him until God knows when; his family still hates me. Also, I have to somehow find a job in this shitty-ass town, preferably something that doesn’t make me want to kill myself with a spoon.

Bill,
I saw that about Owen Wilson! It is still a rumor at this point, so hopefully it’s not true. But it probably is. That is sooooooooooooooo sad. The Royal Tenenbaums is my favorite movie of all time.

I can’t drink Mountain Dew, it makes my heart jump. So I will never know if the Game Fuel is good or not…

Matt,
If it makes you feel any better, I woke up Sunday morning and my lips were all swollen up. I went to a bachelorette party Saturday night where we passed a bottle around. Hopefully it’s coincidence…

Lame packaging aside, I loves me the gummi lightning bugs. It’s been months and my light up tweezers are still going strong … picking up green grapes is pretty cool!

I say that we all band together and get the month of August removed from the calendar forever. We can rename it MegaParty month or something like that. I officially dislike August enough to state out loud that I will no longer acknowledge it exists. We were strong enough to bring Matt into reality so I am convinced that we can therefore do the opposite to August and make it go away!

I agree with the whole theme of “August Sucks”. In my case it’s because I work during August, at a job I hate and usually end up with ‘cuz I can’t find another. Fortunately, there’s only 6 more days at that place.

Can we atleast leave Aug 20th on the calendar? Since it’s my birthday and all.

Nork you would have MegaParty 20th for your birthday instead. Just think of the possibilities!

August does sux. It needs to be spank, shaved and locked in the closet, so the other months can play well. But September…your not that innocent either, ither,…oither…aww, you get the point.

Cricket- I am with you all the way. Even growing up I was so excited for school by the end of July. I was sick of summer all of August. But, just think, not only is this Saturday the beginning of the weekend, it’s gonna be SEPTEMBER! It has become a ritual of mine to go and buy autumn candles on the first of September every year.
One more thunderstorm and I’m gonna riot.

Am I missing something? When did August suck? My August has been A-FUCKING-MAZING. And to top it off, I’m going to see Halloween opening night (31’s), and then first thing in the morning I’m going to my local Halloween store for their opening morning. I love August!

I’ve gotta admit that I’m kind of looking forward to the end of August - it may finally mean I can get some rest and relaxation while I’m at home. With all the major projects going on at my house - it’s a constant construction zone.

On the plus side, today feels like a mini-Christmas. I won a lot of WildCATs comics on eBay for like $20 and this ginormous package arrived today with like 80+ comics or so. It’s going to take a long time before I finally get to read through all of them….

I’m going to cave and buy a game console. Madden 2008 looks too much fun to pass up. I don’t know if I should get a Wii, PS3 or Xbox. I had a Wii when it came out but re-gifted it to my 7 year old cousin. Can anyone help me out? Right now I am leaning towards the Wii again because I want to invite people over, get drunk and bowl in the den.

I say Wii…but you know I’m bias. Plus, Mario Strikers is good fun, and Metroid is out tomorrow if you like shooters.

I’m biased as well but I’ve gotta say I think the Xbox 360 is probably the best console on the market right now. Not only do you have the whole network of older games (like Golden Axe and the TMNT Arcade game) to download from Xbox Live they also have Halo 3 coming out in September. Lost Planet and Gears of War are both pretty good and BioShock looks like a lot of fun. Oh yeah - the price just dropped on the 360, so you should be able to get a slightly better deal. Just repeat the following: Halo 3…Halo 3….Halo 3…..

It really depends on what kind of game experience you want and what games you want to play. What do you like? The Wii is great for short, 10 minute gaming bursts, playing old Nintendo and Sega games on the VC, and the occasional longer, hard core game (Zelda, Metroid).

Really, both are excellent choices right now. PS3? Not so much….Too much money, not enough games.

August sucked ass. My car needed a tow and over $300 repairs, I have had major health problems, my car insurance went doubled because someone hit ME (I was parked! I was innocent!), I am packing to move in this heat, and right now my gums are inexplicably swollen over my back molar, so I can only chew on one side!!!

That sucks Muppet Baby. My car is pulling some BS right now too. I just know it will go tits up somewhere between redkneck town and hoodlum-ville.

As a Wii and Xbox 360 owner I would have to say that the 360 is currently the console to own. It has quite a few great games and a handful of true classics already. I also can’t praise Xbox Live enough and the ability to download demos.

I also love the Wii, but there just aren’t enough quality games (besides VC, but that isn’t really the point of owning a new console) yet to justify buying it over a 360. Honestly it is great having them both as they offer different experiences.

But hey… if you really want to bowl with friends… then your choice is already made. You know which system you really want. Trust your gut.

I love bowling with my lady. It is the only game (besides Mario Kart) that she will play with me.

With that said… Gears of War was the game of the year last year… and Bioshock has a great chance to do that this year.

Do you own an HDTV? If so the 360 gets recommended even more strongly. If not, then the Wii gets a point or two added to its tally.

Oh, and that The Force Unleashed trailer you posted looked awesome. I will have to read more about that.

Oh, hey Norbert do you want that Cherubi or not? My info is in the last thread. Oh, and I got a Palkia. Yeah-huh

Just wanted to remind everyone that tommorow is National “I don’t want to think about chicken while eating doritos” Day. I don’t think banks will be closed but it has been a year since people have been baffled with a random phrase.

Ever since atthemovies.tv came on the web, I have become ADDICTED to watching old Siskel and Ebert reviews. Since “Back to the Future” was mentioned (by me earlier), here is a link to their reviews of Part 2 and 3.

UFkegger2 You are my hero of the day for knowing that. I say we all try to use it again tomorrow.

Sorry to double, if anyone is baffled, click on my name for the link to the dorito/chicken blog.

Nice catch, UFkegger2!
We’ve got a Wii and a 360 in the house, and I adore my Wii but the 360 is really more of a gamer’s console. Personally the Wii’s more my speed but then I have a short attention span and lack of hand eye coordination XD
August hasn’t been all bad. There’s Superbad, and Meerkat Manor came back. I did have to go to two different Targets and still couldn’t get a copy of the Dexter DVD though, so maybe there is something to this curse business.

“my car insurance went doubled because someone hit ME (I was parked! I was innocent!)”

MuppetBaby, did you get a police report? How did you file the claim? If you filed it on your own insurance without a police report then it becomes chargable to you unless they can recoup the money they paid out on it. That can take a minor eternity and it will follow you on your insurance for 3-5 years depending on your carrier. My advice to anyone is to always get a police report and never file it on your own insurance unless they are uninsured.

In honor of the many who have fallen victim to August I once again submit my vote for changing August to MegaParty on the calendar!

I may have to kick my fiance to the curb… he won’t let me decorate for Halloween… August 15th was almost two weeks ago! hahahahaha He says I have to wait until September 15th… what’s that about?! Even our local Family Dollar store has some Halloween candy out! lol

A certain remake by a certain former musician turned director with the last name Zombie.

I’ve watched the first ten minutes or so and I am not impressed. Nothing but annoying characters screaming at each other. Hopefully it picks up.

Wait… technically wouldn’t I Don’t Want to Think About Chicken When I’m Eating Doritos Day be on the 30th? Because the post was made on the 29th and he said “tomorrow”? I didn’t get into the blog until last September, so I missed the inaugural IDWTTACWIED Day festivities.

Okay, I am going to ask if we can just NOT talk about the new Halloween movie until it is in the theaters.

We were nice and didnt talk about Harry Potter, and that didnt affect me because I dont read them, but despite the differing opinions, I have really been looking forward to this movie.

Random snippets: We’re going to Savannah again in November. We love us some B&B action and spooky walking ghost tours, apparently…I like the Wii ’cause it has old school games that I actually used to play like Super Mario Bros., but now that I hear Xbox has TMNT Arcade, I may become a convert. I’m definitely more in line with the Wii marketing strategy though: a girl who only plays short-term when games are awesome and puzzle-y, like Elebits!…I’m so sad Owen Wilson attempted suicide and even more sad that the media felt the need to share it with the rest of us. Whatever happened to medical privacy and all that. Clearly the dude has bigger issues on his mind and wondering what they’re saying about him on Entertainment Tonight should not be at the top of the list (or on the list at all)…Saw American Psycho last night. What a fucked up movie!…And finally, glad Matt made an appearance (however brief), though I personally don’t think August sucks. I think it at least starts off strong, as my birthday is 8.1!

You won’t have to hear anything from me, MaryJane…I had to stop watching after the first five or six minutes because my computer’s too slow to keep up.

Thanks, Annette, I appreciate it. I didnt mean to make it seem like I was jumping on you. I was just afraid you guys would start discussing it, and I panicked.

Don’t worry… I’m not that dense. I know many people are planning on watching it this weekend and the last thing I would do is give away any spoilers.

Overall I would say it does pick up though. I didn’t love it, but there are a lot worse things to see in a theater.

DAM U AUGUST….won’t you ever end. I’m going crazy here. With all the stores putting all there Haloween crap, slowwwwly. Please leave and take your lousy HOT and RAINY weather, either, wither…wit u….chump. (making Gizmos face from Gremlins 2: Electric Bugaloo, into the mirror) I think I nailed it, the face… not Gizmo.

I dunno…I don’t like it when places start putting out holiday stuff too early. But that’s just me. Also, I’m bitter because I never get to do anything cool for Halloween.

I only like Halloween stuff right now because PetSmart has their halloween costumes out, and i can get a good selection before people take em all! Trying to think of something cute for my shih tzu…last year she was a punk rocker/witch…she had a witch hast with sequins and a pink wig atached and a black and pink witch dress. she’s not very girly AT ALL! so i may have to get her a devil costume or some such…she was still kinda infant last year at this time…around 3 months old, now shes 18 months and stuff fits her better

and tell me if this isnt some fucked up mess here! There are new kleenex tissues i just bought, and when ya blow your nose…the snot makes the tissue have little blue dots…weird…

Sweet. A few of you mentioned my current fav game Bioshock. That game is freaking intense! Me and man share our gamertag so I don’t think he will let me post it here. Let me know if you guys are up for a game of Gears. That’s my shit.

Now on a different note, I went to Gettysburg when I was a kid. We did some spooky ghost stuff and I really enjoyed it. I would recommend visiting the Devil’s Den. It’s a hill full of big ass boulders and rocks that you can run around. I would have loved to play Hide and Seek there.

Knegative, ya, I’m interested. I registered your FC. Mine is 1976 6905 0153

Sadly, I don’t have wifi in my house and tomorrow night I’ll be at a house where there is. Just post around 10pm and we’ll do it, since I don’t have AIM (but I do have AOL)

Also, TRU will legitimately be giving away Manaphy from noon-3pm on September 29th. It’ll have a red scarf and be in the Cherish Ball. Easy way to get it and Phione without Pokemon Ranger. I’m so there.

Metroid Prime 3 get! Sadly didn’t have much time to play it but it’s awesome so far..

Concentrate on your trip to Gettysburg, Matt, and August will go away! It sounds like a fun trip - I’d do the ghost hunting thing, too.

Mine has sucked, too. Remember back in April, when one of my cats was poisoned to death by her food, and the other one survived, but damaged? Well…you can read about him if you click on my name. He’s starting to head back downhill. Friends have been helping me out with donations for his care, to make the last months we have together as comfortable as possible for him.

I also learned that the other thing that I really love doing here at my apartment, my garden, is going to be paved over next summer. The beds *might* be moved, but ya’ll know how likely that is when a landlord and money is involved. And I had some really good plans for it, too.

On a positive note, the weather has been great. Only a few days above 90, with most being 85 or less. And about 3-4 days of rain, so I haven’t had to water my garden but once this month. And I found out I’m gonna be an aunt again.

Cricket: Yes, I filed a police report. However, here in parts of Canada, they have “No fault” insurance. This means that if YOUR car is damaged (even if its not your fault) then YOUR insurance company pays for the damage, causing your rates to go up. It is awful. So, that crazy bitch (who was going so fast in a PARKING LOT that she hit a pick up truck with enough force that the truck then smashed into MY car hard enough to crumple the bumper and cause $700 bucks damage) has made my LIST.

Muppet Baby, I am sorry to hear about that. We have several states here that are the same with No Fault insurance and it really does screw both the insured who is not at fault and the insurance company. I wish I could offer you some better advice on this one but you are up a creek until it falls off your claims history. I say you should take your list with the womans name on it and beat her about the head with it.

On another note, I am determined to have August removed from the calendar by Saturday! If we all pool together we can make it happen.

I’m… Thinking… As… Hard… As I… Cannnnnn!
Must… Get…. To…. Septemberrrrr!

Yes, I agree, August is cursed. I came back from Iraq (yay) because I lost a kidney (boo hiss). I’ve been trying to look for adventurous things to do, however for the past two weeks it’s rained. Finally the sun comes out today; but I just had two toenails ripped out. I have Tylenol with codeine… therefore I can stay in my room for the next couple days until August is over. With The Goonies and The Monster Squad as my companions.

I haven’t had time to pick up MP3, so besides Cameron, who here has picked it up and what are your thoughts?

That’s pretty cool, Norbert, glad you’ll be able to get a Manaphy, and a special one at that! Easily my favorite poke, but we all know why

Mine just got Bubblebeam! Oh, and none of mine are hacks, I just have an awesome benefactor who is like CONNECTEDED

I’ve only played about 45 minutes of MP:Corruption, but it’s been great so far.

My anticipation for this game had me on a huge, crazy ebay-ing spree the last few weeks. I picked up Metroid Prime 2 for the ‘Cube, Metroid: Zero Mission and Fusion for the GBA, and even Metroid 2 for the Gameboy (released in 1992)! I already owned the first Prime game, MP Pinball for the DS, and I even dusted off my good ol’ Super Nintendo and my copy of Super Metroid. So now I’m trying to play through them all, and I’m sure I’ll grab a copy of MP: Hunters for the DS once I’ve finished the rest of the portable games.

It’s really weird, I’ve always thought the Metroid series was decent, but after reading a preview of Corruption in Nintendo Power Magazine (of all things!) a few weeks ago, I’ve been absolutely obsessed with it. I have no idea what triggered it.

August -is- cursed. I’ve broken my foot AND gotten into a car accident this month so far.

Three more days until it’s over — I’m sure I’ll slam my fingers in a few more drawers to round the month out nicely.

*prays for the rest of the month to be nice, and no one to die…unless they’re supposed to and/or want to to alleviate suffering*

Plus, Augustus was sort of a dick. All he really accomplished was the destruction of the last vestiges of the Republic and the formation of the system of privilege and cronyism that would set the stage for such luminaries as Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. And for this he gets a whole month named after him? Screw that noise.