A little bit of everything reviews....and other stuff.

A tribute to a fathers lost son, they are both missed

2007-06-17T11:04:00.001-04:00

.tvs part of content boom

2007-06-04T17:30:00.000-04:00

For 77 days and counting Justin of Justin.tv has been broadcasting his life on the internet. Everything he does is caught online give or take a few server issues and other technical glitches. I can barely handle being in front of the camera for two seconds let alone every second of my life but Justin is hanging in there and so are his friends. I seem to have missed all the good stuff, like the interview with Justine (who also is on camera most of the time at http://www.tastyblogsnack.com/live)that have made Justin so popular. Is it possible that with the advances in technology and things like online video and podcasting becoming so popular anyone can become famous? I mean I understand that most people still don't know what a podcast is or what justin.tv is but its still fun to think that with the right content and the right means to get it out there anyone can have their moment of fame.
Some may even turn that into more then just 15 minutes. Hopefully with the continued advancement of technology more talented and entertaining people get more then a 15 minutes of fame and put their opinions, their content, their lives out there where people years ago would have never seen it.

Heroes among us

2007-05-23T18:38:00.001-04:00

Halo 3 Beta Delay

2007-05-16T16:51:00.000-04:00

According to Frankie at bungi:

Crackdown Delay: We Know!
Posted by lukems at 5/16/2007 5:22 AM PDT
Frankie writes:
With any luck this will be a short delay. People entering the Beta through other methods - Friends and Family, Rule of Three and so on, are unaffected.

Halo 3 release date

2007-05-16T05:58:00.000-04:00

According to xbox.com the release date for all editions of Halo 3 is September 25th. This is over month earlier then the original not official release date listed for November. That puts us 4 months and 9 days from the release as of today. Merry Early Christmas to all the Halo fans out there.

The Halo 3 Beta is about to begin

2007-05-15T19:15:00.000-04:00

Players from all over the world will get their shot at playing the multiplayer of Halo 3 in less then 12 hours. I will be one of those players. I was sorta excited about it until about 10am this morning. Thats when I listened to the EGM live podcast. Just hearing them talk about the beta and the fun they were having, the new control scheme, the maps, the man cannon?, and how they were not sure they could go back to Halo 2 after playing it. I wanted to play it then. I was tempted to take a vacation day on Wednesday so I could play it all day long. I didn't, but I will definetly be devoting alot of my time to it over the next several weeks. My coverage will appear here, on the podcast (That's Good to Know), and on the website Popular Distractions. Hope to see you online.

PS: I am not sure how it will work, but I am planning on using the video capture ability added to Halo 3 to post some video on my xbox live gamertag. I know they are viewable, I am just not sure if its only on xbox live or if you can see them on xbox.com, I will keep you posted. My gamertag is JCrichton77

Falling behind sucks....especially with Smallville

2007-05-13T19:57:00.000-04:00

Smallville has been one of my favorite shows since the day it first aired. Over the years I would miss an episode here and there but catch it reruns. This year I missed a few too many I think. Then tonight I went on youtube and found a bunch of videos for the finale and a BIZARRO episode? ??? Does that really exsist? Either way I am psyched now. I have 2 episodes on tape and the finale this week. Take a look at these videos and see what you think.

Is Kevin Rose leaving Digg?

2007-05-10T18:41:00.000-04:00

Is Kevin Rose planning on leaving Digg? After reading this story on wired it seems more and more likely. I have been a fan of digg since I started listening to podcasts. I hope its not going to happen, but if it does I wish Kevin the best in his future endeavors.

*Check out the wired blog post linked above for more on this story*

Spider-man 3 spoiler alert

2007-05-05T18:45:00.000-04:00

Two Villans and two heroes?

Spiderman 3 was the second movie I have seen so far this Spring/Summer (Hot Fuzz being the first), and if it is any indication this is going to be a great summer for movies. The story picks up what seems to be maybe a few months up to a year after the end of the second movie. Mary Jane is still on Broadway. Spider-man has cleaned up NY and everyone besides Jamison loves him. All good things must come to an end and things start to go bad at least for Mary Jane. This is the begining of the tail spin that her and Peter, and even Eddie Brock Jr go through. As in the first two movies the special effects are spectacular. The new additions for this movie, Thomas Haden Church (Sandman,Flint Marko, Topher Grace(Venom, Eddie Brock Jr/Venom) and Bryce Dallas Howard (Gwen Stacey) fit in perfect in each of their roles. Now I know the character of Gwen Stacey in the comic books was more developed and has more to her then what was shown in the movie, but I feel they got what they needed out of her, leaving her character open to become more developed and more a part of the story in future movies. The movie flows really well. It has its ups and downs in the begining. One minute a huge action sequence, next an emotional scene with MJ or Aunt May. The comedy was definetly there as well, especially in the scene with Bruce Campbell. Stan Lee also makes an appearence and if you say you didn't see him, stop reading this blog.

Overall the movie the movie is worth the $5-$10 you spend on it. The story is good, the effects are great and just the final fight scene is worth at least half your admission. So go see Spider-man and get the season started off right.

Message about Michael Turner from Michael George, Comicon Chairman

2007-04-22T19:35:00.000-04:00

A Message from Comicon Chairman - Michael George

The convention is one week away and I know you are all excited. We're super-excited too, but I do have to give you a bit of bad news. Michael Turner, who has become a dear friend of my wife and I over the years, will not be able to make it to the 2007 Pittsburgh Comicon. As many of you may have heard, Michael is once again going through chemotherapy treatments. He is feeling strong and healthy, but the chemotherapy treatments which are currently being done on Thursdays sap Michael's
strength for week-end events like ours, particularly when you add a cross country flight into the mix. I know many of you will be disappointed by Mr. Turner's absence, but our focus is on the hope that Michael will finally be able to put this behind him and return to Pittsburgh soon. Our hopes and prayers are with him.

Anyone wishing to pass along their best wishes for Michael can send
them to:

Michael Turner
c/o Aspen Entertainment
585 Green Valley Circle
Culver City, CA 90230

CNN BREAKING NEWS

2007-04-20T16:47:00.000-04:00

According to CNN

HOUSTON, Texas (CNN) -- NASA evacuated a building at the Johnson Space Center in Houston after an employee with a gun was seen and a shot was fired, a NASA spokesman said Friday.
story continues below
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/20/nasa.gunfire/index.html

Blogging isn't easy

2007-04-13T21:18:00.000-04:00

I am online everyday. That would make you think that I could easily take a few minutes to blog. I wish it was that easy. I think part of it is I am really bad when it comes to organizing my time. I have a podcast that I do with 2 of my friends, 2 blogs *one for the podcast*, a job, I am searching for a second and tons of other stuff going on. I mean lets see. I listen to podcasts, probably more then I watch tv. I am addicted to twitter and everyone elses blogs. I am supposed to be writing reviews and stuff for our website, http://www.populardistractions.com and I am addicted to xbox live.

Hopefully a night like this and a rambling post like this one will get me back in the swing of things.

I hope this is one of many.

Later

Fanboys the movie update

2007-03-25T19:13:00.000-04:00

According to the wikipedia entry the movie is due to be released on August 17,2007. I hope that is true but in the last few minutes while trying to access the movie site http://www.fanboys-movie.com I found out that, that domain is up for sale. I hope that is just an oversite or maybe a server glitch but it did not look good.

Video Games Live

2007-03-24T20:09:00.000-04:00

If your a fan of video game music like I am Video Games Live is for you. Its a concert brought about by Tommy Talarico and Jack Wall. It travels from town to town bringing video game music to life and letting you become a part of it. Watch the video and hope and pray that it comes to your town.

Time to make a comeback

2007-03-24T19:53:00.000-04:00

I know my few loyal readers, hi Dave, have been disappointed in the fact that I have not posted in months. Well now I am making a comeback. I am not sure if it will be a Rocky size comeback but I am gonna try.

FANBOYS trailer

2007-03-24T19:42:00.001-04:00

This could be the best movie that I will never get to see. What is the deal? It was due out this month? Does anyone know whats going on? ANYBODY????

Transformers the movie, trailer

2007-03-24T19:34:00.001-04:00

After seeing this trailer I think I am convinced that even with the changes they have made to some of the characters that we know from the cartoon, the movie in the end will be good. I mean in the begining I wanted them to remake the cartoon movie in live action. Now that I look back at that, it would be good for me, but its about getting the largest audience possible to see this movie. If only the Transformer fanboys went to see this movie, it may still make millions but in the end the creators will wish they had made their changes and got the other millions of dollars they can get. watch the trailer and go see it. Its going to be great. REAL LIVE TRANSFORMERS!!!! How can they go wrong? ok, don't answer that. just watch

Rainbow Six Vegas

2007-03-24T18:12:00.000-04:00

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas
Rainbow Six Vegas is the 5th game in the Rainbow Six franchise. Each time a new Rainbow Six game came out I passed on it, not being a big fan of squad based games in the past. Two things lead me to buying this game. First: it takes place in Las Vegas. Las Vegas is the perfect set up for a terrorist plot like the one the takes place in Rainbow Six. The second reason was the review it got by our friends over at the Video game Outsiders podcast. They all loved it. I was surprised how all three of them were in agreement about the game so I had to pick it up. At first you start off in a border town in Mexico with your two teammates. Don’t worry, your only outside of Vegas for a little while and what happens in this first mission gets you emotionally involved in the plot of the game.
The game has the look of Vegas down. It also has the look and sound of what you think terrorists would be like down pat too. This game is not for kids though. Terrorists swear more then I used to when I would get sniped on Halo 2 online. Trust me, its happens a lot.
It adds a lot to the feel of the game when your crouched down in a dark room and your ready to move and all the sudden you hear someone talking just over your shoulder or behind a door that is close by. The sound plays into the game as much as the graphics. It reminds me of how when you would play Metal Gear Solid and you would hear the bad guys talking...."hey what was that?" and stuff like that. Rainbow Six takes that all to the next level and makes the game so much better.
The multi player is as much fun if not more fun then the single player campaign mode. You have several options when you take Rainbow Six online. You can play co-op story mode, survival, co-op terrorist hunt and sharpshooter, which are fairly self explanatory. Then there are modes like Attack and Defend. In Attack and Defend one team defends an object, usually a briefcase and the other team attempts to retrieve the package and take it back to their base. It sounds like capture the flag and in ways it is, but it has a different feel to it then that. The maps on Rainbow Six also make it less of a grab and run situation and lead to more strategy on both teams parts.
Another added feature to online play is creating and improving your character. When you first go online you create a character. You give him/her a look that fits you and select his/her gear from what you have available. As you play online you get experience points which eventually move you up in rank as is if you were really part of the military. Each rank unlocks new weapons and armor. This just adds to the online play as your character changes the more you play.
Overall I think Rainbow Six Vegas is a great game. The single player game’s story is very entertaining and keeps you on the edge of your seat to the end and with the multi player getting two new game modes and a few new maps at the end of March, there is no reason why if you have a Xbox 360 you should not own this game.
(Rainbow Six Vegas also has a Windows version and a PSP version with others on the way)

Tribute to James Kim

2006-12-09T22:30:00.000-05:00

**This is a copy of a forum post I posted to cnet's BOL Lounge but I felt it should be posted here too**
There have been many incredible, emotional tributes to James over the last few days. I am still a bit emotional from watching Molly's Eulogy. I think that us, the BOL-ers, and anyone else on the cnet forums, crave forums, news.com forums, everyone who has heard of James Kim needs to pay tribute to him. James' death reminds me of when our Mayor O'connor here in Pittsburgh died. Many people were sad and grieved his lose. The one thing that seemed to sprout up all over town around the time before and right after his death were the outpouring of happy stories about the mayor. How he made a difference in so many people's lives. Now most of us have never met James in person, but in some way he effected our lives. We may have watched his reviews on cnettv, we may have heard him on a podcast or ever just heard Tom, Molly or Veronica talk about him on BOL. We all got closer to James through the site, the podcasts, and the forums. This site and these forums feel like an extended family to me sometimes, and James was a happy, always smiling, always mentioning his kids part of that family. So here is what I think we ALL need to do.

1. If you have a blog, podcast, website, plane with a banner hanging off the back of it, billboard, anything, get the word out about James. Tell someone a happy story about James. Everyone is so sad and upset now from James' death that we all need to remember and think about the good times, without forgetting what has happened. So spread the word.

2. If you go to forums for other podcasts or other tech sites or anything and they have a general news or off topic section, post something about James there. Tell a happy story, even one you may have heard from someone the cnet staff in their blog or forum post.

Let everyone know that there are happy, fun to work with people out there. There are good fathers and husbands who put their families before themselves and do anything they can for them.

3. If you do any of the above things, post a link to the cnet tributes and to the jamesandkatie.com site so people can help them out. I know its the holiday time of the year and money is tight, but can you look at the pictures of James and his wife and kids and not want to do something for them.

That is my idea. If anyone wants to comment on it, add to it or tell me why its a bad idea please do.

We will all miss you James.
My thoughts and prayes are with the families and with everyone here at Cnet.
Chris

James Kim: A Father Lost

2006-12-06T20:13:00.000-05:00

James Kim husband and father of two was found this afternoon after a search had begun 2 days ago. His wife and 2 kids had survived 9 days stranded in the wooded mountains of Oregon, and James had gone for help sometime earlier in the week leading to his death. James will be missed by cnet fans and old tech tv fans all over the world.

Leave your wishes, thoughts and prayers for the Kim family on this page on cnet.com set aside for the family.

HELP FIND JAMES KIM

2006-12-05T12:54:00.000-05:00

If your on the net and into tech at all you have heard of or been to cnet.com and heard many of their podcasts and/or watched videos on their site. One of their editors, the well known James Kim is missing in Oregon. He was with his family, his wife and two daughters and they all went missing sometime friday. His family since then has been found but James in an attmept to get help for his family left them during the weekend to find help and has not been found.
Please keep him and his family in your prayers and pray for his safe return to his family.

Alive in Baghdad

2006-11-16T20:03:00.000-05:00

When you watch the news, local or world news or cable news (not the Daily Show or Colbert) do you feel like your getting the whole story? I am not trying to use my blog to start any political debate. I feel that everyone has their own opinions and without them most blogs and podcasts and good tv shows would not exsist. I do want to point everyone, no matter what side of the war you are on to a different perspective on things in Iraq. If your open minded enough and want to see things from an Iraqi's perspective then go to Alive in Baghdad. Its a great video series started by Brian Conley, winner of 7 Vloggies. Brian gave a few people in Iraq cameras in order to film their side of the was in iraq. Its was not made to show anything more then their perspective. Give it a chance and maybe you will want to see more news from more areas from BOTH sides of things, not just our view.
Alive in Baghdad

Podcamp 2007....turning people into podcasters and name droppers

2006-11-13T10:43:00.000-05:00

I went to podcamp having no idea what to expect. I mean it was going to be a big meeting of local and not so local podcasters, bloggers, vloggers and people who think all that stuff is cool and want to get involved. At first I thought it was going to be a bunch of classes set up by the groups organizing it and in between we would get to talk to each other about our shows and blogs and things like that. That was back when I first heard about it. Then through emails, forums and talking with people who have gone to or know people who went to podcamp Boston I realized this would be different. I still wasn't sure how different until the sessions started popping up on the wiki page. *This is the part where I become a name dropper.* First off I saw that the cast of Something to be Desired had signed on. Justin Kownacki and Chris Brogan were two of many people behind getting podcam up and running. They were also two of the most approachable people I have ever met. Justin seemed to be everywhere. On Saturday I he seemed to come in at the last minute of every session I was in to let us know that the time was almost up or that lunch was ready. Chris seemed to be having as much fun as any of the rest of us when he was giving a presentation or if he was at one. He also does a great Luke Skywalker impersenation, but don't tell George Lucas or Mark Hamill when he is not working for or promoting Network 2 or working on his site. They were both involved in many of the sessions and most of the activities over the weekend. Everyone from someone who had never blogged or done a podcast to people who had could create a session. Alex Lyndsay a Twit *This Week in Tech for those who don't know* and host of TWIM, This Week in Media was busy doing sessions through the day on Saturday. Before podcamp listening to the twit shows, no matter how corny this sounds and Leo even brough it up in his speech at the PME, they and many other shows I listened to made me feel like we were all on a level playing field. It wasn't the big shows versus the little shows. Podcamp re-enforced that. After the Alex's session was over I was able to talk to him which in a geeky way was something that at first made me nervous. After a while though I realized that no one there thought they were better them me, except the DJ G, he thinks he has the best podcast in all of Bloomfield. Just kidding G, and yes I downloaded your show. From that point on, except, to be honest, when I heard the words La La is here, I get nervous around beautiful women ok, I was feeling comfortable talking to everyone. Next year I might even host my own session....well don't hold me to that. I just hope that no one gets hit with a chair like they did at the Wrestling Mayhem Show's session. I only saw a picture of some of what went on but next year I want to be there, somewhere toward the back so I don't get hit but I want to be there. Michael Sorg, Doc Remedy, Chad "the Shad", Will "Lunchbox" Rutherford, Anthony "Chachi" Walker, and Kyle Morton do their show in podcast form and on WPAJ radio,showing a new side radio shows in giving people an archive to listen to shows they may have missed or not been near a radio to hear.

I feel bad now, I got this far into my look back and I forgot to say Happy Birthday to the Blowing Smoke Podcast hosted by Rob Heming and wish good luck to Jeff Persch on Podsea, a site that helps podcasters get together with advertisers, its in Beta now but I bet it won't be by podcamp 2007.

Now your probably thinking to yourself this is podcamp and I am reading a blog, were bloggers involved with podcamp? YES, in a big way. The Pittsburgh bloggers were represented in a big way by Lindsay Patross from IheartPGH.com , Mike Woychek and Cynthia Closkey founders of Pittsburgh Bloggers were there, and Elizabeth Perry *with her junior assistant Piper Stroup* took part in one of the sessions. Thats just four bloggers out of many who contribute to the Pittsburgh side of blogging. There are many more like them and hopefully podcamp started some new ones off in the right direction.

Podcamp overall was a great experience. I already tried 2x today to register for Podcamp 2, but its not ready yet. I will be on there day one. Two days was not enough, I think most of us could have went on forever.

And thanks to podcamp, starting today I am blogging again.

Thank you Chris, Justin, Pittsburgh Filmakers, all the people who had sessions, all the sponsors and how can I forget..................................

The guy who brought around the cookies......they were great. Next year I am bringing some milk with me.

See you in August 2007

Podcasting community

2006-10-12T19:06:00.000-04:00

Most people are close to their family and friends. They spend time with them and share their lives with them. Now with the internet making it easier and easier to keep connected and connect to new people with similar intrests. This also comes into play with podcasts. Most podcasts are done by regular people that don't have huge sponsors or large companies backing them. Podcasting has given people a way to see into people lives through their show. People can now hear other people's opinions on any subject you can think of. They allow you to interact with them and learn about them more then you would reading a post on their forums.
I have been a part of the podcast community now since May when Dave and I started our show That's Good to Know. Since then I have met and talked to many different people from many different shows. Most people in podcasting are very friendly and willing to help out. They become your friends. One show helps another without even thinking about it. There is little to no competition its just a big community trying to get their word out.
That lead to what happened yesterday. The plane crash that happened in NY yesterday put two thoughts in my head. One....terrorism? Two ....I hope the guys from ifanboy are ok. Ifanboy is a comic book podcast based out of NY. The guys are ok and I am glad. Before the show I would have never thought that I would have had that come to mind at a moment like that, but ever since I have been in the podcasting community, they have become friends to me, not just guys on the net.

Got the E3 blues? SpectacleFest to the rescue!

2006-08-08T10:42:00.000-04:00

The down-sizing of E3 has caused us to wonder, what will happen to the fire dancers? Who will employ beautiful women to climb up thin rags of red ribbon in front of huge plasma TVs? What will the hordes of teeming tech fans stand in line for? Began as a passing comment on Buzz Out Loud, this concept has really begun to take off.

read more | digg story

I have listened to Buzz Out Loud since I got my ipod last year and have seen stories and ideas take off just from being mentioned on this show. Now E3 has met its matched. Spectacle Fest is HERE!! If you have $8 and a way to get to California next year you have to go. Its where all the in crowd will be.

Sign up now so you can be sure to be part of history. If we are lucky, maybe Tom, Molly and Veronica will do a live BOL from there. You can't get that at E3.

Visit Spectaclefest.com to see what your missing.

Good or bad...or why am I talking about this now when its only August?

2006-08-06T21:05:00.000-04:00

I have been watching all the comercials, mini trailers and reading the ads about all the new shows and network shakeups for the upcoming fall season. Some things look promising, but seeing Matthew Perry get slapped and seeing a bunch of hot women flash on the screen one after another for example in the new NBC ad does not make me go out and buy a tivo and set it to tape NBC 24/7. I hope some of those shows pan out, since every year I get excited about something on NBC, and like clockwork that show bombs. REMEMBER JOEY!!! I like Joey, on friends and even for a little while on JOEY, then BOOM....it crashed and burned.

I am more worried about the new CW. It could be great with shows like Smallville, Everybody Hates Chris, Supernatural, Gilmore Girls and some new shows. I am still worried about one of my new favorite shows, Veronica Mars. Yes I am a bandwagon jumper but this show deserves to have people watching it and buying the dvds. Its a well written, very well put together show. I just hope it stays. I have heard everything from its going to CBS to its being cancelled. Keep this show, worst off if the execs think its not worthy, keep it till one of the shows they think is worthy tanks like JOEY did, then the fans of Veronica Mars will show you why you made the right choice.

San Diego

2006-07-25T20:07:00.000-04:00

I have never been to San Diego but its one of those places I have seen on TV, heard about from friends and co-workers but never visited. I have been to Las Vegas and Los Angeles but never SD. SD hosted the biggest Comic Con I have seen in my life time. The one in New York I heard was big but this one from the coverage and all the talk from people there and people like me who wished they were there, it seemed special. Dave and I have our goals set for our podcast. We want to improve the podcast in everyway and be in San Diego next year. All dreams are possible, and if this one comes true you will have two happy podcasters.

I am a slacker

2006-07-02T20:31:00.000-04:00

I know I haven't blogged in .....a long time. I think its the heat, the podcast, and the fact that I have not seen Superman yet. I promise to become a better blogger and hopefully win back all my fans, that means you Dave and that bot that keeps posting ads for his site in the comments.

Civil War update SPOILERS*

2006-06-25T19:33:00.000-04:00

I have been back in comics for a months now. Dave and I went to the comicon, met Brian Bendis, saw and bought tons of comics and heard about the beginings of civil war. We have even done an episode and a half of our podcast, THATS GOOD TO KNOW, shamelss plug, about it. Civil War has been good so far. I mean Captain America surfer a fighter jet from shield headquarters, disguised himself in order to free the Young Avengers from custody.....ohh and SPIDERMAN REVEALED HIS IDENTITY!!!! Now in the movies, these things happen on smaller scales. Spiderman on the subway car in Spiderman 2, and the end half with Peter and the Goblin and the dinner scene. But this was in front of tv cameras. Now I know it can be erased with some time warp, a new earth being formed...wait thats DC, or with Infinity Gems,,,,REALLY? I just hope that whereever they take this, its intresting. I will always be a fan of Spiderman just like I will be a fan of X-men, comics and movies. I just hope that the story continues to twist and turn and make me crazy waiting for the next months issue. This and New Avengers Disaassmbled are two of many comics I am looking forward to in the next few months.

Comics are one of the greatest things ever created. When can you get all the coverage on one thing like the Spidey identity thing did when it came out. Where can you get people in an uproar that a person is now a lipstick lesbian. And where can you have a story that becomes one of the funniest stories on The Colbert Report I have seen in a long time. If you want to see it go to this link fromifanboy.com and watch the clip. Its great.

Keep reading and keep listening.....THAT's GOOD TO KNOW!!!

Need for Speed Most wanted finally falls.....NEXT!!

2006-06-14T17:55:00.000-04:00

I finally finished NFS: Most Wanted. It is a great game for anyone who likes racing games with a little bit of a story to go along with it. My only problem is what to play next. Do I want to stick with racing (Forza, Burnout), move on to an RPG (Morowind, Fable) or move on to a shooter (Graw, Battlefield 2, Far Cry Instincts, or good old Halo 2 again). I also have xbox live now so playing on there is an option. Its hard to choose after having so much fun with NFS. I think my future holds a little Halo online against people like Kittylicker, *yes that is someone's gamertag* and some mlb 2k6 online.

oh and by the way, one of the kids who played in the same game with me and Kittylicker thought he/she was an animal abuser. Things like that are what makes xbox live an interesting and wierd experience.

Your name in lights

2006-06-06T17:48:00.000-04:00

Everyone wants to have their name in lights, or their name on the spine of a book, somewhere that will show that they did something big. Some people get their name in lights and its the happiest day of their life. A big Hollywood premiere, a major book release or a newspaper byline may be a person's turn to have their name up there for everyone to see. Some people seem to have their names up there all the time.

Sometimes people have their names in lights and its a moment of sadness and happiness all wrapped into one. That is the story of Issue #26 of Batman Superman, written by Sam Loeb. Most comic book fans out there know his story (if you don't click on his name and read his story from Newsarama's and his father viewpoint). He is the son of Jeph Loeb who finally got his name in print just like his dad. He worked on a story that brought Robin and Superboy back together for one last time. It gave fans of Superboy another chance to see him in action even after his death in Infinite Crisis. The story was written by a boy who fullfilled many comic book fan's dreams, to have their name on the cover of a comic book. Its something that no one can take away from him. He will always be known as Jeph Loeb's son, the author of issue #26 of Batman/Superman.

One of Sam's favorite characters, Superboy, died trying to save the world and his friend Robin. Sam died living a life that made people smile, and wrote a comic that did too.

*everything below was taken from the Newsarama article on Sam Loeb*

If you want to know more about The Sam Loeb College Scholarship Fund, or if you want to make a donation no matter how large or small, please send an email to SAMLOEB4@AOL.COM. Someone will contact you ASAP.

Podcasting

2006-05-30T21:12:00.001-04:00

My friend Dave and I started a podcast about a little over 5 weeks ago called "That's Good to Know." Its been a fun and sometimes tiring time for both of us. Dave is the tech guy on the show. He puts the themes together for each show and uploads them while I take care of the PR part of things.

Just a hint.....Dave is the one that is not Brian Bendis.

Before we started this show I had a long list of podcasts that I listened to on a weekly basis. Now I listen to even more. The difference now is I know some of the people doing the shows. I have talked to some through email, forums and even voice mails on their shows and am slowly getting used to calling myself a podcaster. Its alot of fun and one thing that I would reccommend to anyone who has the time and the equipment to do it. Just make sure you have an idea of what you want to do. If you need some suggestions or ideas listen to some of these shows and go to their message boards or email them. Once you get into podcasting you will never want out, except for those times when Garage band decides to die on you.

The Bucket - Jen and Corey's Weekly show. They talk about their lives, cats, and the Hershey Bears

GeekIntertainment -Randy and Wayne discuss everything Geek

Nowhere in Mulberry -The Mulberry Gang discusses things in the world of entertainment
including Smallville and 24

ifanboy -Ron, Conor and Josh discuss comics, mainstream and indy.

Diggnation -Kevin and Alex talk about some of the top stories from Digg.com for that week and occasionally get drunk.

Twit -Leo and his gang talk about issues in the tech world

Buzz out Loud - Tom, Molly and Veronica discuss tech news and even Snakes on a Plane occasionally.

The Video Game Show, 1up Yours, the OXM show, Gamespot presents the Hotspot, The Video Game Outstiders, and All Games Interactive are all great places to get your gaming fix.

oh and if you need some tips from Dave and I you can go to the That's Good to Know Blog or just subscribe right through itunes.

I never thought I would have something in common with Fred Durst

2006-05-25T21:05:00.000-04:00

Its true, I Chris, Co-host of the podcast That's Good to Know, have something in common with Rock Star, well, performer, well, guy everyone knows by name Fred Durst. If you look at the pic here in this blog I think many of us do. It also shows that I know if it was me I would need someone to talk to her for me too, so from me to Fred, I would have asked her manager about her first too, good move.

Its good to know that even guys like that need some help with women every once in a while. Now tonight while I am playing Need For Speed or Halo I will think that I am one manager away from talking to Kim Smith....wait...thats not gonna happen. Oh well, back to my xbox.

Gaming....am I just a fanboy or is it that good?

2006-05-18T22:02:00.000-04:00

When I buy a game it could be for many reasons. It could be because I read a great review on it from a couple sources I trust. It could be because I played the previous game in the series and loved it. Sometimes I just read so much about a game and hear so much on podcasts and tv shows that I just want the game and I buy it. And sometimes I rent them and like them so much I want to own them. The one thing that is the same no matter what my reason is for buying the game is that once I buy a game my goal is to enjoy it as much as possible and finish the game, if it has an end and hopefully enjoy it enough to play it over again several times.

Some games you buy, you play, you finish and then you trade in at your local store or you just let them sit. If you get a game that you want to finish again and you enjoy it as much the 2nd, 3rd and so on times through it then you picked a winner. In this case for me so far the Halo series has been that for me. I will be honest, I bought the first Halo used a week after I got my xbox at least a year or 2 after Halo was first released. I got it because at the time and to some it still is now, the face of Xbox gaming. I always loved shooters but thought most of that were just shootem ups and had no story, plot or anything besides big explosions and occasional blood. Now this may be the fanboy in me but I really got hooked on the story and the characters in the Halo series. Master Chief was the leader of an army that faced a force that looked like with its weapons and just pure numbers were going to wipe the humans out. Then there were scenes in the game where you beat the odds, like any other game but you did it with the help of characters that as the game moved on you began to like. Especially in Halo 2 when the fight is brought to earth and the Marines fighting along side show their pride and go out and fight even when giant 4 legged robots walk down their streets smashing everything in site. And I know alot of people didn't like this but seeing things from the other side made the story open up even more and showed a brewing civil war that I know will have a huge impact on Halo 3.

If Halo 3 is the end of the series I will not be upset, casue I know it will go out with a bang. If its not the end I hope the guys at Bungie can promise me one thing...no more cliffhangers. Well I am off to play some Halo 2. CYA

I've been Bricked!!!

2006-05-14T15:31:00.000-04:00

Don't you hate when that happens? You playing Ghost Recon, you and 2 of your friends and out of no where....BANG...you've been bricked. Its the notorious Brick monster. Comes out of no where and takes you down before you can even turn to get a look at him. Sometimes you can go for 20 minutes without getting bricked but then other times it happens 1,2,3 and you and your two friends have all been bricked before you can switch controllers. What are we to do? How can we defend against this? Is there a way? Is there a person out there who can stand up to the Brick Monster? Can anyone one save us from its invisible terror?

The only way I can see us stopping this menace is......................................................................

*Signal Lost*

Comic books/xbox and dvds....have to choose?

2006-05-08T20:20:00.000-04:00

Tonight I have a few choices to make and some made for me. I have research that needs to be done for our special Marvel Civil War episode of "That's Good to Know", that is the one made for me. But after that I have many choices. I can read part of the stack of comics I have. That should be done soon since this Wednesday "52" will be starting and that will be a weekly book that I will need to keep up on so I need to get my backlog cleared up. I do hope to get some Xbox in though. I am half way through Need for Speed: Most Wanted and I want to play some Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter. Well I guess I better get going or the only thing I will be doing is wishing I had done anything at all.

PS I promise my next post will be more then me having trouble deciding what to do.

ESRB/Government/Parents/somebody???

2006-05-07T20:15:00.000-04:00

Ok. I was hoping I would not have to many rants that in any way involve politics but I had to say something about the video game ratings system as we know it after listing to the 1up Yours podcast and their talk about the Oblivion Mod for the PC version that caused the ESRB to adjust the rating on the game from T for Teen to M for Mature. Now according to everything I have heard the Mod makes female characters topless in the game by removing the bra function. Now I understand the decision to make it M based on this Mod, but in some ways it may seem not fair. One of the best quotes I heard on 1up was that "If you draw boobs on Jessica Alba in People it makes it a porn magazine" -Jeremy on 1up blogs. That is why I think there has to be some way to show that the game as it comes to you may be an M, but it can be adjusted by Mods and that may bring in more "Adult" content that will effect gameplay. This is similar to what happened to GTA in a way but GTA already had adult themes. Oblivion is a game that you should expect blood and violence in but not topless women, at least in the game as it comes from the creators before the MODS.

That lead to the Xbox 360 version being also changed from a T to an M. Now that I do not understand. The game from what I hear on 1up from John, the Oblivion guy on the show, makes it seem like an M rated game. Now I have no problem with it being rated M but I do have problems with it taking something like this on the PC version that in this case does not effect the 360 version to change the rating. The game is bloody and violent from what I heard on the web and podcasts and John on 1up says he was suprised it wasn't M from the begining.

The way games are rated needs to be improved if things like this are always going to come up and cause everyone to panic and in some cases government officials feel they need to jump in and "fix" things. Now here is the question everyone, parents, uncles, cousins, everyone who is involved in any child's life needs to answer: Do you pay attention to or care about what your child has access to, plays, listens to, watches, ect? I mean some parents, not all, but some use DVDs, videogames and music to babysit their kids or to keep them out of their hair. If you need the government to regulate what your kids can see and play with when it comes to video games then you need someone to explain that what your kid does, at least until they are 18 is your responsibility, thats why your called parents. There needs to be a major overhall to the ESRB so that when parents look to see what their kids are buying or already playing they can decide if it is right for them be playing it. We already have issues with DRM, and possibly tiered internet, I think we should try to handle the video game situation on our own, before we can't do anything without looking over our shoulders or asking for permission first. Some freedom that will be.

Swithpod is down for now

2006-05-07T19:54:00.000-04:00

Did you ever plan on doing something, something fun, exciting and new, with one of your friends. You get together and you create a podcast. It almost feels like you just recorded one your conversations and tried to send it out for all the world to hear. Then something happens, the key to your podcast getting out there in our case, Switchpod.com crashes. Now it should be up soon, so hopefully our dream of having people listen in on our geeky comic/tv/sci-fi/cardboard cut out star trek comercials converstaions will still come true. It just feels like you did something big, like you taped the finally of your favorite show and you went home to watch it and the power went out. You know in your mind it was good but you still need to see it, and hope that all your friends that watch it thought it was good, and the blogs and message boards you read on the net thought it was good.

I hope that by the time our next show is recorded which will be Wednesday night, after Dave gets his haircut switchpod will be back up. I know, I have to explain to Dave that our podcast is an audio show and no one can see him, but if it makes him feel better who am I to argue. This delay though has given me time to try to make some new friends on podcast pickle and get some good advice too. First off, we should not "advertise" our show till after episode 5 by Steve from The Wickedly Good Podcast. At first that seemed a bit odd to me, but then it was suggested that we ask other podcasters to listen to and look over our show and give us their thoughts. These guys have been in the "business" longer then we have obviously so they could definetly help out and I will look into that. Next in the same forum thread Random from the Sturgeon's Law podcast and he suggested to listed to your own podcast. Now I will admit Dave and I had both been listening to it but I am not sure if we have been all that critical of ourselves. For us its hard since its coming out almost exactly how we thought it would. Just us talking about things we like.

For once something stopping a dream, even though it was a small one compared to others has helped me find ways to improve on it once we get rolling again. Podcasting is a fun and exciting thing to be involved in and I hope it never stops being like that.

Top 10 Movies that Should be Comics

2006-05-02T20:21:00.000-04:00

Movies and comics have been longtime bedfellows. Just as more and more comic books are made into movies, a lot more films are also being translated into comic books. It began in the late '70s with Star Wars, continued in the '80s with Indiana Jones and has blossomed into its own sub-genre in the new millennium.

read more | digg story

When I first saw this story on Digg I thought it was gonna a be a list about the reverse, comics that should be movies. I was clicking on alot of stories when I first read it. The idea of movies being made into comics though sounds interesting to me. The first five on the list
10. Half Life/Deus Ex
9. The Transporter
8. Bourne Again *Bourne Identity, Supremecy*
7. Blade of the Immortal's
6. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

I could see Half Life and Deus Ex being like a cross between Batman and the X-men. Deus Ex has some stealthy detective elements to it while at the same time you may get attacked by some monsters. Half Life is a you against the establishment kind of story, which is a small part of Batman's story on occasion, but other times you run around guns a blazing killing everything in site which is a theme that some comics like the Punisher use on occasion when he is pissed off. I could see these making a good comic as long as they made the characters deep and especially in half life made you like the characters in the resistance and feel for them when they were pushed back or seemed to be against overwhelming odds even when you know or at least feel they will win in the end.

9. The Transporter I can also see as a comic to a point. There are comics out there (from what I heard) like 100 Bullets that have self contained stories within each issue with some bits of a bigger story running in the background. That would work for The Transporter. It could be one story each month with the real deep background story of the Transporter developing in the background.

8. The Bourne Series I see as maybe a limited series once a year or so with the chance of being an ongoing series if the character of Bourne would be drawn out and given a chance to expand his character issue to issue and get closer to the truth while doing it.

7. Blade of the Immortal's
I have to be honest. I have never seen or heard of this movie.

6. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly I can see making a decent comic. There are a few western themed comics already out there. It could work since it already has a solid leading character, it would just depend on how the character was developed in the comic and always improved on each issue.

The next 5 are:
5. Unbreakable
4. The Princess Bride
3. Kill Bill
2. Blade Runner
1. Pulp Fiction

5. Unbreakable I can see being made into a movie but like most of the others listed before it all depends on character development. You would almost have to retell the whole movie in the first 5 issues or so and then move on and strengthen the characters from there. You would also have to be very careful what "villans" if that would really be what you would call them, could be added after the first story arc is over.

4. The Princess Bride is a great movie. I am not sure if it would make a great comic. It might make a good comic in the Teen Titans GO format but I would hate to see them look that cartoonish and not be drawn like they could be. I think its better off left on the big screen and on the shelf with my other dvds.

3. Kill Bill could only make a limited series in my eyes. I mean unless you plan on having her kill a 100 ninjas and some not so super villan every issue or two and always be trying to get to Bill, but that would get old really fast. Quinton probably could think up a good plot and group of characters for a comic, but this is not it.

2. Blade Runner could make a good comic. It is about a futuristic world and a small group of people within it. The base group could easily be expanded throughout the comic and other "villans" could be created after the actual movie story arc was completed but they would have to be deep and drawn out like the movie's story line was or the next story arc would never live up to the original.

1. Pulp Fiction to me would be like making a comic of the Sopranos. The jokes and one liners would still be there, but the attitude and emotion may not come across. I mean if you can show sarcasm, anger and other emotions felt by the characters in each scene well, you might have something. I think Pulp fiction would have to be almost to adult to be a good comic and is better off staying on screen.

Civil War on NPR

2006-05-02T19:58:00.000-04:00

When it comes to interview that can peak your interest without giving you any specific details the interview today on NPR with writer Paul Jenkins and Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada. The only real information about Civil War they gave was that Thor may make an appearence even though he is not really around. Now this may be the comic fanboy coming out of me but I was still excited about Civil War after hearing the very short interview. To me it was more important that Marvel is getting out there. They are not just sitting back and letting the message boards, blogs and the comic store owners spread the word about what is going on in their universe. They are out there pushing on their own. Showing that this story has some real world connections. Also something that is obvious but the fact that this is such a huge story but there is not a true villan in this story makes it even more interesting. In the end someone has to win and no matter what there will be people on both sides of this in the begining and I believe some of them like the characters in the story will change sides as things move on. It will be interesting to see how they end it and what "collateral damage" is done at the end. Things will change each month but I can't wait to see how the Marvel Universe looks in the end.

Xbox live: The Experience

2006-04-30T19:26:00.000-04:00

Xbox live is one of the coolest things ever created. It can also make you want to scream, cry or throw your controler through your tv. Its great being able to play people from any side of the planet and any skill level at probably 70-80% of Xbox's current library. There are times where you wonder what these people do when they are not online since they are so good its insane. I mean sometimes you could believe that people on certain FPS and even some racing games are cheating or hacking their players. Even if that is the case everyone isn't doing it, right?

No matter what Xbox live is a great. I could only imagine whats its like on the 360, but I am not one of the privlaged people who could afford one, for now. If you enjoy playing games with friends more then single player then Xbox live is for you. A group of friends and I used to have gaming nights all the time. We played all types of games from FPS to fighting games but that has died off. Mostly because we all have busy schedules. Xbox live alows everyone to just pick up a game and find a "friend" to play with.

Now I know if your reading this your thinking, he is a Xbox fan boy. Well, I am, but I also own a ps2 and a gamecube. I can only hope that in the next gen of consoles all three systems have a good online setup. That will give more people the chance to join their real friends and new online friends in a game of Halo, Smashbrothers or Conflict. If your looking for a friend, an average player, and someone who hates to lose on NHL 2k6, my gamertag is JCrichton77.
See you online.

Pittsburgh Comicon

2006-04-24T18:11:00.000-04:00

When a non-fan thinks about a comic book convention they probably think of a bunch of "geeks" dressed in Spiderman and Captain America costumes spending all their money on comics and figurines. This was not like that at all. My good friend Dave and I went to it Saturday morning. It started off like a comedic version of the twilight zone. We were both psyched up to go and while talking about it almost got lost. Then on the way we saw this strange older woman waiting for her bus and she looked me dead in the eyes and nodded her head at me like she was giving us the ok to go to the comicon. I waved back at her she smiled and we were on our way. The whole trip out we both wondered if that was someone we would see later that day at the comicon....now unless she was the one dressed as Chewbacca we didn't see her again.

Once we got there it was off to the races. We had a few hours to kill before we got to sit in on a Q&A with Brian Bendis, writer of Ultimate Spiderman, Jynx and Powers to name a few. Both Dave and I had our lists ready and were looking at every box of comics we could get our hands on. It took about half an hour before we bought anything but once it started we seemed to by something at each table. I ended the day with Daredevil vol 4 written by Bendis, Astonishing X-men vol 1 by Joss Whedon, Serenity in trade paperback, esential for a Browncoat, Extravers Genesis Jeff Ratliff *indy comic* and a few 25c comics like Teen Titans, Blue Beetle and Star trek all for a $1 or less originally.

In the middle of all that we decided to try and find the gaming room. My goal was to see how long I would last in a tournament there but we arrived to late. We were there early enough to see a few Star Wars fans including two stormtroopers and a guy who hopes to be on Stan Lee's who wants to be a Superhero. I got a picture taken with him and wished him luck so if he wins I expect to be written into issue one somehow.

After that little trip around the back area we came out and did some more shopping and saw the line from Brian Bendis the man we came to see. We both got in line and watched as more ahh....interesting people came by. Then we got to meet him. We had hoped he would be a nice guy and we were not disappointed. He talked to us about comics, the comicon and the death of Hawkeye. I got him to sign my trade of Daredevil and Dave got a picture taken wth him. He was a really nice guy. Not someone who was caught up in his fame among his fans.

Next was eating time. Which turned very interesting. First I learned that my friend Dave is into Alien women. There was a woman dressed as someone from the Star Wars Universe and if she didn't have a boyfriend with a lightsaber and one of her own I think I would have had to get the bus home. There also was the perfect picture for a hooters/star wars ad. Two hooters girls who had been walking around the comicon all day were getting food and were asked if they would pose for the star wars group we were watching while we ate. The two girls posed with the lightsabers and took a few pictures. It was a strange mix but since they were hooters girls everyone was watching.

After the food and hooters girls and the lightsaber battles were over we made our way back to the back end of the tables looking for the Extravers Genesis table. I bought their comic basically cause they were giving away an xbox 360 but it ended up being a very well written thought provoking book, and I didn't win the 360.

It was finally time for the main event. The Bendis Q&A was about 30 minutes away and we headed for the conference room and sat down and began reading comics till he came in. Once the Q&A started you could see that he was just a normal guy who loved hearing what his fans thought and wanted to know about his work. The questions were mostly about the Ultimates but occasionally drifted to things like "the floating head of John Lennon" and the fact that Ultimate Spiderman ages a year every 100 issues. He told stories about how he had to ask for a list of who he could kill in the Avengers Disasmbled, which lead to Hawkeyes death. He also let out a little bit of information on Spiderwoman. He mentioned that the Spiderwoman will be making a return to after the Civil War. He seemed like he could have stood there all day answering questions and talking about how he would like to write his "dark" version of Plastic Man and his Daredevil/Batman crossover book, but the time came and we were told we had to leave so the next presenter could come in. An hour did not seem long enough, but eventually we would have run out of questions, or Civil War would have come out.

So when the talk was over we made our last trip around. We saw many of the "characters" we has seen throughout the day grabbing a few more comics and things and we grabbed a few at the quarter bin. That is where I got issue 2-7 of Darkhawk, which I think was a great deal.

One more comicon was now complete for us anyway and we headed home. Now I have to finish reading my books, and the few more I had left over from my Thursday purchases. See you all later. And if you like my blog or you didn't.......please listen to Dave and I's podcast when we launch it. We are planning on recording tomorrow. It will be all about anything and everything. The first one will focus mostly on the comicon but most of the shows will be wide open. I will have more details when I can. thanks for reading.

Digg controversy

2006-04-21T10:50:00.000-04:00

First off I want to say that I am a loyal fan of digg, the website and the podcast. So if anyone thinks I am have a bias, you can think that if you want but at least think about all that has been posted about this and the response from Kevin Rose at http://diggtheblog.blogspot.com/2006/04/digging-fraud.html
before you decide how you feel about it.
Any site that has users in the hundreds of thousands is going to have some users try and take advantage of the way the site looks and is run on occasion. I mean everything from voting for your favorite all-stars on a sports league site to getting your opinions heard in a survey can be fixed if you have the right programing skills or a bunch of friends with time on their hands. Give these guys and other "legitimate" sites out there that your fans of the benefit of the doubt. You do have to decide for yourself what is legit and what isn't but still just take the time to think about things before you assume.
The way the net is today anyone can post anything they want on the net. Some things end up becoming at least partially true, like the idea that windows will someday run on a mac. Good job Dvorak. And others like the pics of the Video, projector/spaceship future ipod model you see on the net, are just people trying to get attention. Those things are fun but if anyone believes everything they see on the net, especially with people becoming pros at photoshop, then you need to think a bit hareder next time you log on the net.
Just give these guys a break and if you want to get your stories out ahead of everyone elses make your own site don't ruin someone elses'.

Advanced Wars: Dual Strike for DS

2006-04-19T21:23:00.000-04:00

If you like turn based strategy then you will love Advances Wars. The story is the typical, bad guys came and are ruining and taking over our world and you and your friends need to stop them.
It gets cheesy sometimes when Jake the character you play tries to talk about how he "owns" the enemy when you win and tries to sound cool. The characters in it though bring their own personalities including the overly confident enemies you face.
The game is not a graphic masterpiece or anything but it looks good for what its supposed to show.
The units look good and you can see an overview of each one on your second screen. The enemy AI is ok, it will take some chances and leave itself open alot, but it also will take you down if you do the same.
I am about 9 missions in and each one has had its own little trick to it and special part to it. It does not get predictable at least in the set up of each mission and shows you something new each time.
It takes full advantage of the dual screen on the ds and gives you just enough game to keep you busy for long periods of time or for short bus and car trips.
Give Advances Wars a shot.

ifanboy.com the comic book podcast and website

2006-04-19T21:05:00.000-04:00

This podcast was introduced to me by my friend Dave. He mentioned that it was a good, non-biased show that makes marvels little press confrences on tape podcast look worse then it already does. Now the non-biased part is not completely true. The guys as a group are not biased. They cover everything from X-men to Justice League, Runaways *well kinda* to Y-the last man. Individually they are a bit biased. I mean some are more on the Marvel side of things, some on DC, some indy, and some no matter how good Batman is will not read it because they are too "overwhelmed" with the X-men part of the comic book universe. It's ok Ron, Conor and Josh do a great job keeping their audience entertained and informed. They don't just stick with the big name, well known comics that everyone knows about. They bring up comics like Queen and Country that I know most casual comic fans have never heard of.

Their website is during most weeks filled with as much information as the show. The threads that run on their start some of the best debates you will find when it comes to comics. New School vs Old School to what unknown trades do you read. I am printing out that one to take with me to the comicon.

Give these guys a chance and download ifanboy on itunes or straight off of ifanboy.com

Its a good show and the site will pull you in.

PS I did not praise these guys because I won the 100 frappr person contest. Now if the prize I get is awesome then I will write another review and tell you how GODLY these guys are.
Thanks. see you next blog

The Start: Blog 0

2006-04-19T20:53:00.000-04:00

OK, here is the plan. I want to start a review blog/site here. I will review everything and anything. I want to review movies, games, tv, and podcasts. The only thing I won't review are political speeches. The Daily Show does a good enough job on that. If anyone reads this, I will be happy. And if you do read it leave comments, suggestions, things you would like to have reviewed. If I can get ahold of it or watch it depending on what it is I will review it. I just hope people give this a chance since at some point soon, probably after the "Pittsburgh comicon". That is going to be a ton of fun. Well I guess its time for my first review. I will keep it seperate from this. I know this was one big ramble on my part and I don't want it getting mixed in the review.
thanks for reading.