It’s been well-documented that I have so much love for Doctor Who. It’s no understatement to say that I was looking forward for this finale since this has been the strongest story so far of our favorite time-travelling madman in a box.
To recap: this season started with the Doctor’s death. Amy, Rory, and River try to keep that a secret from the younger version of the Doctor, whose legend as a warrior who can send ships flying off at the mere mention of his name is growing. The problem is, he’s already starting to believe his own hype. This massive ego leads to one of the Doctor’s greatest failures - the battle of Demon’s Run, where Kovarian manages to trick the Doctor into thinking he’s won, only to find out that she’s stolen Amy’s baby. The child, Melody, is brought to 1969 by the Silence, raised to be a psychopath with only one goal: murder the Doctor. Melody eventually turns into River Song with the help of a couple of regenerations and a few kisses with the Doctor. The Doctor realizes that he’s believed in his own legend and that he puts Amy and Rory in danger every other time because of his vanity, hence he drops them off and says goodbye. He now bounces in time for 200 years on a farewell tour, without companions, meekly facing his own death. But we all know the Doctor, and we’re all sure that it’s not that simple.
Which brings us to The Wedding of River Song. Warning: spoilers.
There are very few things I get my inner fanboy on for, but the comic book series Trese is on top of that short list. The series details the adventures of Alexandra Trese, an investigator of all things supernatural. When the Manila PD have a problem with the various mythic denizens of the city, they call on Trese and her bodyguards, The Kambal, to help sort things out.
It's sort of like CSI, but so much more fun.
I've been buying the collected editions regularly since first stumbling onto the series several years ago, and have been waiting for word about when book 4 was coming out. Imagine my chagrin when I found out I'd missed the announcement on Budjette Tan's various blogs.
Trese Book 4: Last Seen After Midnight Book Launch October 8, 2011, Saturday Bestsellers Bookstore 4th Flr. Robinsons Galleria Ortigas Center, Pasig City
The collected Volume Four will have four stories (released as ashcans at various cons over the past year or two) included: A Private Collection, Fight of the Year, Cadena de Amor. and Wanted Bed Spacer. I've actually read 3 of them since I've started going to the cons again this year and was able to buy the single issues. Still doesn't mean I'm not excited as hell to get a copy.
Do you like giant fucking robots? OF COURSE YOU LOVE GIANT FUCKING ROBOTS! Who doesn't love giant fucking robots?! We ain't even talking about regular run of the mill humanoid autonomous robots. We're talking MECHAS, MOTHERFUCKER!
Have you ever wanted to drive a mech? You know, one of those big ass bipedal machines made of tons of metal, 70,000 pounds of ammo, an insane amount of weaponry, violence, and all the dying whispers of its victims? Yeah, those mechas. You're in luck, friend - HAWKEN, MOTHERFUCKER!
What is Hawken? It is a mech combat first person shooter being developed by an independent game developer, Adhesive Games. That little bit of info actually makes this all that more impressive. They're a team of 17 people and they have made something this fucking cool.
You see that little box of text on the upper left corner? It says "Early prototype. Does not reflect the quality of the final product." Wait, so you mean, it can get better?! Mind effectively blown. But with all those particles and effects and all the crap in the background it has to render, I imagine you'd need a computer that can bench press Chuck Norris to run this game at relatively maximized specs. The game was built using the Unreal engine; while it may not be as advanced as the 3rd Unreal engine, it's still looking nifty.
They've recently surprised everyone by announcing the Kindle Fire, a full-fledged tablet that runs Android OS on a dual core processor and implements cloud storage. It also focuses on your basic multimedia needs- web browsing, checking e-mail, watching videos, listening to music, playing Angry Birds games and of course, reading e-books. How awesome does that sound? Pretty darn.
Kindle Fire ($199) Come up with a tablet that features what everyone wants, offer it for really cheap, and give it a cool name. That's how to one up everybody else.
And it gets better.The Kindle Fire will come with a price tag of only USD199. That's less than half of what most tablets cost these days. Granted, it will have limited capabilities, but really, the Kindle Fire has pretty much everything you need in a tablet.
The new Kindle ($79)
The Kindle Touch ($99)
Besides the Kindle Fire, Amazon is also releasing improved versions of the most popular e-book reader- the (new) Kindle and the Kindle Touch. The new Kindle is basically like the old one, but lighter and faster. The Kindle Touch will do without a keyboard and feature a touch screen.
These new toys will sell like pancakes as soon as they're out. Get them now, they're all available for pre-order on the Amazon website, but only if you have a US shipping address.
Bim's note: If you don't have a US shipping address, Johnny Air it!
Among the three figures from the first wave of Thor: The Mighty Avenger line, Lord of Asgard Thor is its wave's repainted and re-used figure. For its neighboring line, Captain America: The First Avenger, they have the WW2 Captain America. Well, at first, I thought that this figure from the wave will be the lame one but surprisingly, it's the one that stood out next to the comic series Loki.
Yes, it was released already before, Hasbro Marvel Legends Blob Series Thor. Back then, it had a lighter color scheme, shades were not that evident, color pretty much made it too plain. Unlike now, the darker scheme made it look god-like and mighty. Every part seemed to be rendered to be darker - accessories, shoulder pads, chains, coat, facial hair and lastly, the helmet.
Poseability? Here you go, lots of points for articulation but sadly, with the cape on, you can hardly pose the figure. Putting the cape or whatever you want to call that thing, will limit the figure's action poses - hair, head swivel, flight stance, arm positioning and some minor ones.
Anyway, will leave you with the video review for you to see for yourself. Enjoy and don't forget to rate, comment and subscribe!
According to the WWE's official website, there has been a total of 21 different Hell in a Cell matches so far since October 1997, when Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker first squared off inside the Devil's Playground. That's right, 21 matches inside Satan's steel structure. Which begs the question... is it worth looking forward to?
I'm not the biggest fan of gimmick matches mostly because they aren't entertaining (read: Punjabi Prison Match, Kennel from Hell, and the infamous Iron Circle match that involved Steve Blackman), and they really don't make sense from the wrestling standpoint. Powerbomb matches between Jeff Jarrett and Kevin Nash from WCW, and Reverse Battle Royal/King of the Mountain matches in TNA are just that: gimmick matches that don't foster storylines and ring psychology, but just add quick spots for us to cringe and wow over during highlight reels.
But Hell in a Cell is (supposed to be) different: it shortens careers, it ends old feuds, and creates new ones. This Sunday, though, the annual PPV features a Cell match between Randy Orton (been there before) and World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry (a 15-year veteran who should count the "Sexual Chocolate" gimmick as one of his career highlights). And there's a triple-threat Cell match between WWE Champion John Cena (been there before - Cell matches, and 10 times 'round the block with the title), CM Punk (I'm rather interested with how he'll do in this kind of match considering his history with the Indies) and Alberto del Rio (I'll talk about him in a later column).
Which brings me to a rather interesting point: while I'm not the type of guy who would have "insider information" or such, I don't think that any of these feuds would benefit from a Cell match. In its earliest incarnations, Hell in a Cell was a brutal, physical match that involved lots of blood and grievous bodily injury: something that you don't see these days on WWE programming. Except for the possibility of Henry dismantling the structure, or Punk being AA'd on top of the Cell, there's nothing here that would end a feud (the Orton-Henry feud is just getting started), start a new feud (Del Rio already cashed in his Raw MiTB briefcase), or shorten a career (save for Henry, these are sports entertainers at the peak of their careers). Basically, you have the usual championship matches from Raw or SmackDown, graced by the presence of a larger-than-usual steel cage.
It doesn't exactly scream Mankind thrown from the top of the structure and onto the table, or Kane ripping apart the Cell door with his bare hands. The past few Hell in a Cell matches have been lackluster at best, with the only passing memorable moment being back in 2008, when Undertaker chokeslammed Edge from the top of the Cell and through the ring below. Heck, even Vince and Shane McMahon already had matches here.
Which is kind of sad, considering that there's nothing demonic or sadistic about it anymore. Money in the Bank has overtaken the Cell as the top spotfest gimmick match in the WWE, and the Elimination Chamber shows itself to be far more imposing than this 14-year mainstay of WWE pay-per-view.
Unless there are memorable moments to speak of in this year's PPV, Hell in a Cell would probably be just that: just another monthly WWE pay-per-view decorated with a big steel cage.
PREDICTIONS:
Sheamus v. Christian: Sheamus by pinfall. WWE has a lot riding on the Celtic Warrior, and this would be an excellent way for Christian to put over last year's Breakout Star.
Kelly Kelly v. Beth Phoenix: Kelly Kelly by pinfall, but I don't really watch Divas matches (more on women's wrestling in a succeeding article).
Del Rio v. Cena v. Punk: Punk by clusterf**k. Expect Nash, Laurinaitis, Truth, and Miz to run in.
Henry v. Orton: Henry by pinfall; methinks he'll lose it at Survivor Series. I'm thinking Daniel Bryan will turn on his word and cash in afterward, but that's just me.