2010 Revival?

We'll see...

Dusting Off The Pen And Pad

To: Adonis, Lance, Ray
From: Nazer

So there's a period of 10 minutes between the time I order my food, and the time to go pick it up. I ordered a large cheeseburger sub, because I couldn't decide between a hamburger and a sub, and an order of curly fries. The place I ordered from (conveniently named College Pizza) is literally one short block away, hardly enough to justify the amount of calories I'm about to take in and the amount of calories lost from walking there, but I've never really been a healthy guy, with my diet of nachos and computer games.

So today I went to church, and then immediately after went to the liquor store to pick up a 12 pack of Sam Seasonal (Oktoberfest). There's humor in that somewhere, to go from praying on a pew to downing bottles of alcohol. Maybe there's some super psychological underlying meaning thing going on, but at the moment I don't see it, let me know if you do.

Shortly after I sat my ass in front of the TV to watch the Patriots get outplayed by the Jets, and then in front of my computer to watch the Chargers get outplayed by Baltimore, all while sketching music notes on paper and following @erwinism and @swftwzrdRAWfiki's twitterific commentary. Oh well, at least the Emmy's are on after these old guys talk on 60 Minutes.

Life up here has been okay. I get a ton of work done, but I wish I had one of those unlimited flight passes like the cast members on LOST so I could fly home on the weekends to hang out. It's definitely not as fun up here, but I guess that's where that "life is a balance" idea comes in.

And that's pretty much it. Well, not really, but my food is ready, so maybe more later. Thanks for reading.

Meals, Deals, Forrealz?

Have it your way

Evolution 2009 Starts Today

At 9:00 PST the biggest fighting game tournament in the country (some say even the world) begins. The 2009 Evolution Championship Series is a fighting game tournament full of tradition, featuring the worlds greatest fighters in various fighting games. Held at the Rio in Las Vegas, this three day tournament will put the best against the best, with fighting game superstars like SoCal's Alex Valle, East Coast's Justin Wong, and the ever-so-feared Daigo flying in from Japan.

This past year, the fighting game scene has witnessed quite a few changes to their community. Unlike other games such as Starcraft, Halo, and CounterStrike, the fighting game community never acquired that widespread attention to qualify as an official eSport. The community has been known to hold their own in a sort of wild west fashion, organizing their own tournaments and keeping the community afloat with Youtube videos and the pure love of the game, all without the need for sponsorships and professional companies like MLG or WCG.

But with the release of Street Fighter 4, the scene was exposed to a sort of rebirth. Just as the number of competitors and popularity of the games was falling, SF4 brought with it a resurgence, filling the community with a strong sense of pride, along with a brand new feeling of hunger with everyone wanting to prove that they're the best once again. The pure popularity of SF4 gave the fighting game community a ton of exposure, bringing in both old school SF2 players as well as a younger generation of fighting game enthusiasts.

After a years worth of tournaments, the one tournament that everyone has been preparing for starts today. Some competitors are students at school who play fighting games as a hobby, some are 30 year old Street Fighter veterans who have been playing their whole lives. Some have dropped everything else in their lives and have become professional players, and some don't even compete; they just have a love for the community.

At Evo this year, the headlining game is Street Fighter 4 which boasts over 1040 entrants. Other featured games are HDRemix, 3rd Strike, Guilty Gear XX: Accent Core, Marvel Vs. Capcom 2, and Soul Calibur IV. There is also a community sponsored Brawl tournament on the side, and kiosks featuring new games like BlazBlue, Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom, and Tekken 6. This is also the first year that Evo will be hosting a proper live stream, featuring coverage across all three days, with the finals for all of the games on Sunday. The live stream can be viewed at http://evo2k.com/live/ and starts Friday at 10:00 PST.

For those interested in the history of the fighting game community, check out these pieces:

- I Got Next started out as a students final project at art school, but quickly grew into a much bigger fighting game documentary. Ian Cofino traveled across the country and made a movie highlighting the Street Fighter 4 hype, with a focus on the growing rivalry between the East Coast and West Coast. You can view the short cut of the film at http://www.igotnextmovie.com/

- Over at All Is Fighter (www.allisfighter.com), writer DJcream wrote up an incredibly strong piece entitled the Dawn of Evolution, highlighting the history of the Evolution fighting game tournament. Armed with a ton of history and video clips, the piece is a great overview on the fighting game scene, and is a must read for any fan. Check it out here.

- And last but not least, the closest thing the Condo has to competitive gaming, our very own Jeff and Keng in a teams match at a San Diego tournament.

2009 Emmy Nominations: 30 Rock is Crazy

So in light of the recent events, I'd like to kick off the string of relevant, fun, and informative blog posts with my thoughts on the 2009 Emmy Nominations!

At 5:35 AM PST, Chandra Wilson and Jim Parsons stood on a CBS set and announced the 2009 Emmy Noms. Of course I was wide awake, due to my messed up east coast internal clock, and watched as the two actors read a bunch of words in succession which meant the world to me, but jack shit to most everyone else in the world. The full list of nominations can be found here, thanks to the folks at The Futon Critic, one of my favorite TV sites. I'll be commenting on the main categories.

Lead Actress In A Drama:
It's cool seeing Sally Field's name on the list once again. Watching Forest Gump's mom lead a corrupt family week after week is enjoyable, but my vote goes to Glenn Close as the powerful female lawyer Patty Hewes on Damages. I'm also glad to see a nomination thrown to Elisabeth Moss for her role as Don Draper's sidekick and holder of secrets, Peggy Olson.

Lead Actor in a Drama:
I'm pleased to see that most of my favorite lead actors made the list. Bryan Cranston coming off of last years win is nominated once again for Breaking Bad, and Jon Hamm as Don Draper in Mad Men is simply the modern definition of cool and suave. Hamm also received a nom for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy as Dr. Drew Baird on 30 Rock, the handsome yet ridiculously dumb love interest for cool kids favorite Liz Lemon (Tina Fey).

Lead Actress in a Comedy:
Tina Fey, that reunion episode was so good.

(and I'd like to point a bit of credit to Toni Collette for her role on United States of Tara, well deserved)

Lead Actor in a Comedy:
Once again the NBC mainstays are on the list; the hero Jack Donaghy and leader of the Michael Scott Paper Company, Michael Scott. I've only seen a couple episodes of Monk, but wtf is Tony Shalhoub doing on that list again? And while Flight of the Conchords was funny in its first season, the train wreck second season lead to a nomination for Jermaine Clement? I'd rather see Adrian Pasdar on that comedy list, because his acting on Heroes didn't last for one second without laughter.

Supporting Actress In A Drama:
My vote would probably go to Rose Byrne for Damages, but that's probably because I haven't seen In Treatment. Seeing Cherry Jones for her role as female Commander In Chief on 24 is cool, but personally I'd rather see Girl Jack Bauer on the list (Annie Wersching, who was playing celebrity softball with Pam Beasley and Nelly earlier this week).

Supporting Actor In A Drama:
Can we take the Boston Legal people off the list please? I swear that show ended 5 years ago. Regardless, Michael Emerson as the most evil man in the world is always awesome, and so is Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman, bad kid gone...badder on Breaking Bad.

Supporting Actress In A Comedy:
Jane Krakowski was so good on 30 Rock this year, and so were Kristin Wiig and Amy Poehler for their various roles on SNL. But my pick has to be Kristin Chenoweth for Pushing Daisies, because I'm a super fanboy, and I've been listening to the Wicked soundtrack all summer and she kills it. And Weeds? Forget that shit it isn't even funny anymore. Oh yeah, Hayden Panettiere as Claire on Heroes would have been good too (okay I'll stop).

Supporting Actor In A Comedy:
It seems like they just pick a different Entourage cast member for this list every year, but Tracy Morgan and Jack McBrayer both receiving nominations is fantastic. And
I only started watching How I Met Your Mother this year, but damn, Neil Patrick Harris is fricken...wait for it...legendary.

Outstanding Drama:
I watch every show on this list except for Big Love, and they're all good choices. I could easily see the award going to any of these shows, but I'd probably give it to Mad Men or Breaking Bad, and then save the LOST win for next year after the show is over.

Outstanding Comedy:
Once again Flight of the Conchords and Weeds, not funny this year, but what else is there. 30 Rock for the win bar none, but it's also nice to note that Family Guy is the first animated comedy to appear on the Outstanding Comedy list in almost 50 years (true fact: http://www.thrfeed.com/2009/07/family-guy-nominated-for-best-comedy-series.html)

Other Notes:
I would've loved to see some love for Battlestar Galactica. It got a few nominations in the production categories, but it truly is the best piece of sci-fi programming I've ever seen in my life. And where the hell is Chuck at? Generally one of the most consistent shows on television, and it receives no awards except for stunt acting or something like that. They could've easily threw some of the actors and actresses into the comedy slots. And even though I only know a couple of people who watch it, Friday Night Lights definitely needs some exposure. It rebounded from a so-so 2nd season and found its footing once again, and it's honestly one of the best shows on television. Oh, and by the numbers, 30 Rock has 22 nominations, the most ever for a comedy, and Mad Men holds 16, the most of any drama for 2009.

So I doubt anyone will read this entire thing, but if you did, post your thoughts on the nomination list, which once again can be found here. Looking forward to the show in September, maybe I'll do a prediction list when its closer to show time.

WTF HAPPENED!?!?

Welcome! To The Nazer And Ray Blog-extraordinaire!

After several minutes of thought, I have decided that Nazer and I are the Coolest guys in this room. The lack of posts from the other half of this quartet of awesomeness are obviously uninterested in keeping the seed alive. I feel like danity kane after Diddy gave aubrey and d woods the boot. Left wondering WHAT THE FUCK just happened and what the hell do we do now. However, I like to think that Nazer and I have more appeal and talent in our big toe's than the surviving members of DK. Sad thing is adonis' lack luster and Lance's frequent bukkake posts keep readers interested and wanting more. So the real question is can the Cool Kids survive the recession that it is in right now.

My assumptions as to what Lance and Adonis actually do are about as good as yours (non existent reader). But my excuses for them go as follows:



Lance
1. Busy "working" for food at his mom's office
2. Studying Infromatics takes up too much of his time. (whatever that is)
3. Gone into depression after moving out of 198
4. Is getting play on a regular basis
5. Taking singing lessons so he could try out for American idol the 500th season
6. Watching a heavy amount of porn all day which then leads to him crying himself to sleep at night.



Adonis
1. Caught up in summerschool
2. Boycotting actual clothes by limiting himself to faded shirts and basketball shorts. (reminds me of the friends episode where Chandler gets his heart broken and only wears sweat pants).
3. Doing everything within his power to become and actual repellant for woman by resorting to endless hours of playing Magic the gathering with Tuan.
4. Trying to make it so that when you search his name on UrbanDictionary.com it says see Scrub.
5. Gone into depression that the 198 apartment is gone which limits his bull shitting time.
6. His triton vision has gotten the best of him and he now jacks off to images of Ben stiller from dodgeball.
7. Trying to get into the Guiness Boook Of World Records for longest nap at 72 hours straight.

Maybe we can start another massive comment conversation by listing your own personal thoughts as to why Lance and Adonis aren't posting. Till next time readers....watch your step you might run into cobb webbs the next time you walk into the cool kids room.

Just Ray

On Why I Find Twitter Incredibly Useful (and comments on Gossip Girl)

In our technologically-driven world of gadgets and gizmos, there are limitless avenues to receive information. You can be a traditionalist; read the paper or call your friends by telephone to find out how they are, maybe even send a postcard if your handwriting isn't ruined by constant keyboard strokes. Or you can be what I would call the typical college student; facebook and myspace account, reading status updates through the news feeds, and having a few websites bookmarked, maybe just for news or sports.

Or, if you so dare, you can be a completely tech driven individual, facebook news feeds, RSS feeds for favorite blogs/websites, and finally a Twitter account to follow everything from friends and family to restaurant discounts and the latest TV ratings numbers.

I love Twitter. Instead of spending time browsing numerous websites for information, I receive everything in a nice, concise 140 character tweet. And if I need to read an article, a convenient tinyURL is placed so I can go straight to it without having to drive through avenues of ads and banners. I use an app called Tweetie where I can do everything that I need to with Twitter without having to open my browser and go to the website itself.

I've had the account for a pretty long time now, and I'm ecstatic at the fact that its gained such enormous popularity, because now everyone has one. I used to follow a couple of blogs and that was it, but now I can follow all of my favorite video game sites, television gossip sites, game developers, friends, and more. And the simple fact that more of the hometown people are jumping on the twitter train is awesome because it keeps me updated on all the news that would've just passed me by. How else would I have known that Alexand was doing his laundry, or that Raf got excused from jury duty? Without simple, small status updates I'd never know!

But all faux internet sarcasm aside, I really do find it incredibly useful. Every now and then I see a facebook status update of someone saying "twitter is for people who have no lives, gonna go pick up New Moon!!!" or something of that nature, and I'm like, no, you just don't see the advantages of it. So, if so inclined, if you don't have a twitter account yet, go sign up for one, and follow me @nazer858 and follow the coolkids @coolkidsroom too. And Direct Message on twitter is seriously the best way to get in touch with me, sends a text straight through my phone, awesome.

And I finally caught up on Gossip Girl. Is it just me or when all the kids work together to solve a problem at the end of the seasons does it remind anyone else of the Scooby gang? And if you haven't checked out PopCap Games' (the makers of Bejeweled) latest drug, check out Plants vs. Zombies, its awesome. Thanks for reading, I'll see you all in San Diego, I'm coming in Monday night at 8:30 PST.

18 Days later: Whos Watching The Cool Kids 2

(It has officially been 18 days since we've had a decent post)

Sure the lack of content may not be as dramatic as say zombie infested London 28 days later, but like the beginning of 28 days the cool kids blog world appears to be a desolate uninhabited skeleton of its former self. Only instead of flesh eating zombies, the cool kids prefer to feast on california burritos with a ferocity that remains unmatched by any rabid zombie. Readers are left to themselves scared and cowering in fear as humanity yearns for a cure from this untimely dry spell. The lack of content has forced readers to resort to other blogs like P. Diddy's blog. Oh the horror!!!

I haven't felt this much despair in a room since watching the classic horror flick Glitter starring Mariah Carey.

The monstrosity that is the cool kids room is starting to look a lot like horror movies of today, bland and lacking any real content. So horrible in fact that readers begin asking to please, Drag me to Hell or others who have simply gone Psycho due to less than thought provoking post from the past month or two. But enough about Adonis' posts, the real issue at hand are the countless hours the cool kids put into their own personal lives or the lack their of. Could this be the cool kids recent departure from the blogosphere? It seems that we've singled handedly killed the genre of perverted/random/college student writing, in the same way that Resident Evil killed the horror genre.

The following is a breakdown of what the cool kids have been up to since their casual departure from the cool kids room.
________________________________________________________
Just Ray

I myself have been busy at work on an upcoming novel appropriately titled,



What? it was either that or Know I'm dope .

(Check out http://rdapparel.bigcartel.com/
buy your T-shirt today enter justray for 20%OFF coupon code{Oh Sup?}).

Not to mention i've been up to hard work at Pat & Oscars in an attempt to live up to at least half the man, no the legend that is Nelson Vuong when he worked diligently in the To-Go station of Pat&Oscars.
_______________________________________________________
Nazer Lagrimas

SHOCKING NEWS!!!!
Nazer has been busy attending every possible Boston Celtics home game, not only revealing his love for the team and dropping his "R's", but he has become the team mascot.


_______________________________________________________
"Commander" Cacho & Adonis the "Warrior of Doom"

NOT THAT SUPRISED NEWS!!!!



The two have since lost collectively 150 pounds on the p90x workout system and have come out of the closet after the California Supreme Courts decision of upholding Prop 8. The doom warrior has been quoted saying, "We love each other and nothing will ever come between us...No law is gonna hold us down we're moving to Connecticut and tying the knot late july." Commander Cacho however has frequently denied any love towards The Warrior of Doom saying, "I'm just trying to get laid."
_______________________________________________________

There you have it folks the reason('s) the cool kids have been on hiatus. If you don't like how you've been portrayed cool kids, step it up and post something.

special thanks:
r/d apparel for permission to use their shirt on this site.
girlfriend for teaching me how to cut n paste images better on MS paint.
nazer, lance, adonis for your stories

-Just Ray
Cool Kids staff
Lone survivor

Who's watching the cool kids?

I see the room...but where's the cool kids?

Weezer Covers MGMT and Lady Gaga...

...resulting into a blur of pop music that makes my head all sorts of crazy.

In other music news the new Phoenix CD is good, and some other guy won American Idol. And for all the indie ass kids that pass by here, check out Owen Pallett of band Final Fantasy perform a cover of Joanna Newsom's song "Peach Plum Pear." And for all the techno hipsters, check out Royksopp's "Happy Up Here." Love and peace.

Define: Awe-Inspiring

so good

So It's Finally Over 50 Degrees in Boston

(...someone post something)

The Dates Are Set

Just wanted to let the world know that I'll be in San Diego from June 22nd to August 2nd. See all you coolkids later.

Vanity Fair Cover March 2015: Cool Kids Issue

I have to be honest that I could give a fuck about vanity fair. I don't even know what the target audience or usual content of the magazine is. Vanity Fair has had a multitude of folks grace its cover. I guess the only thing that is truly appealing to me is the photography because it is generally on point.

From important history making people to irrelevant little shits Vanity Fair doesn't discriminate.

I.E.
Brotha Homeboy LiL Bama


to

Future wife of Kevin Federline Miley Montanna Cyrus Hannah???



---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Despite hardly talented teen Disney losers like Montanna. Vanity Fair really impressed me with its most recent cover...


(from left to right)Jonah Hill, Seth Rogan, Jason Segel, Paul Rudd

These men give me multiple laughgasms. In my honest opinion these four are some of the most hilarious people in Hollywood today. I took a look at a bunch of other photos that were in this issue and I must say I was impressed. The issue featured photos of some of the top comedic actors of our generation. I've had the conversation multiple times, with both the cool kids themselves and our affiliates. All the comedies that come out these days have a little bit of something for everyone.

If you didn't like Seth Rogen in 40 year old virgin, you like him in Knocked Up. If you didn't like Jonah Hill in Knocked Up you liked him in Super Bad. If you didn't like Paul Rudd in every one of his movies in the 90s you like him now. If you didn't like Jason Segel's Penis in Forgetting Sarah Marshall hopefully we'll never have to see it again.

The question I pose you Cool Kids readers is what would it take for the Cool Kids to get on the Cover of Vanity Fair...Never mind that how could we get in the magazine period. The answer is we would have to be in a movie. While none of us have the acting chops to pull of a movie. I do think we are all relatively hilarious in our own ways. So instead of us playing ourselves in the Cool Kids movie. I would have Judd Apatow decide or we could use perfect actors and musicians who could truly do us justice.

The Coolest Kids In The Room MOVIE directed by Judd Appatow
Starring...
T-Pain as Dun-Dun



James Marsters as Nazer


Sorry Lance but this is the best i got
Fulton from mighty ducks as Lance
alonside his side kick Kieren Culkin as Ant


last but not least
Jay Hernandez as Just Ray

Yea i fuckn picked jay hernandez and what wanna fight about it?
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Regardless of what our movie might look like or who would play us, all i have to say is seth rogen crew look out cuz in 2015 Vanity Fairs cover wont look like this:


It will look like this:


GOTTEMS
-Just Ray

Bear with us…

  
I apologize for the lack of content for the past few weeks, but as you could imagine, we’ve all been quite “busy” lately… (especially Lance)

Thank you for your continued support, we’ll be back to 100% soon.

/end lie

Saying Goodbye to Battlestar Galactica

Tonight, the series finale of the smartest show on television aired, Battlestar Galactica. It's not a show I talk about much, and it took the season 1 set of DVDs to get me hooked in, but after watching that first season of mayhem I was instantly hooked.

The show was a re-imagined version of its 1978 counterpart. It takes place in a far off universe where society lives amongst twelve colonies. After an attack by a robotic race known as the Cylons, created by the humans themselves, the people were forced to board any spaceship available. The main set piece being the Battlestar Galactica, run by their military leader Commander Adama (Edward James Olmos).

The show was definitely a hard sell. It aired on the Sci-fi network, a channel that most aren't even aware of, and at first glance looks like any other sci-fi show; space funerals, unknown technology, awkward languages, and so on. But the show rose high above everyones expectations, and quickly gained critical acclaim among many mainstream publications (ala TV Guide, Entertainment Weekly, etc).

The reason for its fame being the incredible crew behind it. Created and developed by David Eick and Ronald D. Moore, the show took on so many themes on such vastly deep levels. They dealt with maturity, love, race, humanity, politics, the struggle of society, and that's just the beginning. The way they integrated all of these themes into this universe was truly masterful. Supported by a stellar cast, featuring Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Katee Sackhoff, Jamie Bamber, James Callis, Tricia Helfer, Grace Park, and so many more, you instantly found a piece of yourself in all of these characters; witnessing their many triumphs as well as their unique personal flaws.


This show first aired around 2003, a time when my love for television really began with shows like Lost, House, Grey's and so on. It's really something else to follow a show from beginning to end. I got to follow the lives of these characters for five years, watching their individual struggles take place, and then to witness their last moments on screen, truly remarkable.

I remember going to Comic Con year after year, attending the Battlestar panels, being surrounded by so many dedicated fans, who also fell in love with the characters and the brilliant storytelling. This is why I love television, and why I want to be a part of something as epic as this. A combination of magnificent storytelling, the unity of an enormous crew all working for the same goal, and the adoration of so many people worldwide, really what more could you ask for. So to everyone involved in the creation of Battlestar Galactica, I congratulate you on a job well done, and I look forward to seeing more work like this in the future. A piece like this will go down in television history as one of the most emotionally powerful artistic works ever created, so as I raise my glass, I'm sure many will join me in saying, "so say we all."

Keys to winning America’s Best Dance Crew

Some of the requirements:

1. You must represent the West Coast
2. Your group must consist entirely of dudes (Asians preferably)
3. You must portray yourselves as goofy, energetic, and fun-loving
4. Your group must know how to breakdance, or at least have a few Bboys

Anyways, congratulations to Quest Crew for achieving the (Asian) American Dream last week, earning the distinction of being America’s Best Dance Crew for Season 3.

I actually never follow ABDC anymore, not since the first season with Kaba Modern and the Jabbawockeez running the show, but if I did, I’d of course include some generic compliments.

“Quest Crew KILLED it this season.”
“I knew they were going to win from the start!”
“After their performance in Week 4, the competition was pretty much OVAH.”

I really thought the runners-up, Beat Freaks, were going to win it all this season, especially after their amazing display of telekinetic powers.

Then again, they failed to fulfill Requirement #2 (See above). Better luck next season!

Watchmen is not your ordinary Fanboy popcorn flick: A Review & Spoilers

**WARNING! SPOILER ALERT!!

Thanks to my Hollywood hook-ups (aka MCAS Miramar), I got the chance to catch a special showing of Watchmen this past Sunday, so for the time being I get to play the role of a hard-to-please movie critic.

Watchmen, however, did not disappoint one bit. I had never come across the comics/graphic novel before, but even as a standalone product, the film easily turned me into a fan. After watching one of the greatest movie trailers back in July during The Dark Knight, and after a long wait as the release date kept getting pushed back, Watchmen nevertheless lived up to all the fanboy hype and much more.

Be prepared, though, for a lot of slasher-esque violence you typically found in horror films, with limbs getting chopped off, skin melting, people getting vaporized and exploding into gory bits and pieces – lots of fun stuff. Be also prepared for a lot of nudity, as the Blue Man Group (Dr. Manhattan) decides to spend most of the movie fully exposed and casually showing off their glowing goods. The main female character in the movie, Silk Spectre, takes her clothes off too, so I guess that balances things out for those of you worried about two hours of blue dick on screen.

Those issues aside, I wouldn’t actually consider Watchmen your standard “comic book movie,” like what has been popular in Hollywood for some time now (i.e. Fantastic Four, Transformers, Ironman), or at least in a general fanboy sense. Sure, it includes plenty of fanboy elements that would please any theater full of nerds – lots of fight scenes, sex, explosions, cool superhero costumes – but in reality, Watchmen deals with much more serious and mature themes that makes it way more sophisticated than the average ‘origin-of-superhero-to-defeating-villain’ formula.

War, propaganda, politics, crime, morality; even more interesting is how the Watchmen story re-imagines and deconstructs the whole superhero genre, creating an alternate history where costumed vigilantes exist in society and explores how they deal with real-world issues. (If a bunch of guys decide to disguise themselves and rob a bank, why can’t someone decide to dress up themselves and stop them?) The Watchmen universe is just as interesting, set in a 1985 America where Nixon is still President, the war in Vietnam lasted only one week (thanks to Dr. Manhattan.) and is now the 51st State, and Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union is about to reach its breaking point.

What I also really enjoyed about Watchmen was how it featured an ensemble cast of “superheroes,” and the ambiguity that came with attempting to define the true protagonist and antagonist of the storyline – especially at the end of the film, as the audience gets to decide who they relate to more, and there really is no right or wrong position to take. (Sort of like the set-up of the Iliad/Troy, and how you could argue “Achilles/Brad Pitt is the shit – No way man, Hector/Eric Bana is way cooler,” etc.)

This is probably what makes Watchmen such a good film and separates it from all the other comic book movies out there; by already having a complex, quality narrative anchoring it, the people making the film version of it would really have to fuck up to make it suck.

Of course, not taking away from the work of director Zack Snyder (300) and his crew, as his often surreal visual style seemed like a perfect fit for the premise and setting of Watchmen. The CGI and action scenes were on point, and while the acting was a little dry at times, the cast still played their roles well enough to highlight the distinct qualities of each of their characters. I also thought the use of popular music throughout the film was done quite nicely, with some pre-emo and hippie 60’s music thrown into the mix like Simon & Garfunkel and Janis Joplin. I would even consider the opening credits my favorite part of the movie, as a montage setting up the alternate history of the Watchmen world is shown, with Bob Dylan - The Times They are a-Changin’ playing in the background, all to great effect.

Hopefully, even with all the fanboy hype, positive reactions to Watchmen will help reshape the current stereotypes of comic books and the superhero genre, inspiring new possibilities and spurring more interest in similar, lesser known comics of its nature. Regardless, Watchmen simply reminds me why films are truly the art form of today and the future.

“The Superman exists, and he is American.”

Food Review: Coldstone Cupcakes

With the yogurt craze sweeping through California, the fine people at Coldstone Creamery, with their delicious scoops of fatty ice cream combined with your choice of topping, are fighting back with the introduction of everyone's favorite tiny, cup sized treat, cupcakes!

These delicious concocsions come in one of three flavors: Cake Batter Delux, red velvet cake with cake batter ice cream, Sweet Cream, yellow cake with sweet cream ice cream, and my personal favorite, Double Chocolate Devotion, devils food cake with chocolate ice cream. The first thing you'll notice when biting (or cutting) into one of these is that it's enclosed in a chocolate shell. Not exactly the easiest thing to hold by the hand and dive into, but tasty regardless. All three feature a chocolate shell, a very small layer of cake, ice cream on top of that, then topped with a buttercream frosting.


They're definitely good, but in some ways they totally miss the mark. As you can see from the photo, the amount of cake in the cupcake is actually pretty pathetic. When I think cupcake, I think a nice, fluffy cake, topped with frosting, but these are pretty much all ice cream. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, I mean, they are an ice cream store, but I believe that if the cake to ice cream ratio was improved we'd have a real hit. Another thing is they aren't very friendly to the hands. This isn't something that you can just walk up to and bite, unless you're planning on getting your face and clothes sticky, you'll need proper tools: maybe a small plate, a knife, a fork, etc.

Regardless, if you're looking for a nice ice cream treat, maybe something different from the typical trip to Yogurt World or Rite Aid, then these can really hit the spot. With a price tag of $9.99, they're not the most affordable option, but if there's something special going on or if you just feel like spending for whatever reason, there are crappier things you can spend your money on. So if you're in the mood for something sweet, check these out, because they're only here till March 31st!

To Hell and back: L.A. at its worst

Don’t get me wrong, I still consider Los Angeles a Big City of Dreams, but there are some areas in L.A. that San Diegans should avoid entirely. Namely, the Citadel Outlets located right off the 5 freeway. 

Sure, it’s an impressive sight with all its fancy Babylonian architecture, but what appears to be a harmless shopping mall is really an unholy temple dedicated to the worst of what mankind has to offer… 

 

It was sort of like seeing roadkill – repulsive to even look at, but you still take a look anyway, and as you get closer you eventually turn away in disgust.

Nothing could prepare me, though, for their most sacred relic… 

By then, enough was enough. It was as if the shoe was emanating some sort of foul stench, and I had to get the hell out of there before it caught on to me.  I usually have a strong stomach for most non-alcohol situations, but I’ll gladly take this horrible experience as an exception.