DEMON'S SOULS Will Devour You And Spit Your Bones Out

I've had this PS3 game Demon's Souls for a few months now and am finally getting the hang of it. Its the first rpg dungeon crawler type game I've ever really tried and it really is starting to grow on me. The story in Demon's Souls is simple enough and similar to plenty of other games out there. The kingdom of Boletaria has been overrun with seemingly unstoppable hordes of evil monsters and creatures and it is up to you to single-handedly slay each and every one of them without breaking a sweat in the process. However, this is not just another Dante's Inferno or God of War type hack n' slash button masher(Although I love those types of games just as much as the next guy).

Demon's Souls forces you to really think about each strike and attack. If you don't strategize in combat the game will kill you and keep killing you till you learn what to expect and how to take it down. I know this sounds really frustrating but it is actually one of the game's strongest points. Because of the high difficulty there is a great sense of accomplishment when you finish an area and slay the boss demon. For that briefest of moments you actually feel like you just rid the world of some horrible evil. Then you remember it is just a video game of course and move on.

A few other great aspects of the game are the multiplayer element, the bloodstains, and the message system. As long as you have an internet connection the game is already set up for multiplayer when you start the story mode. You can see other players moving about in ghost-like spirit forms as they play their own games. Every time a player dies they leave a bloodstain that any other player can activate to get a glimpse of that player's last few moments. This sometimes gives you hints of hidden enemies or traps. In addition to this, players can leave messages for other players to read. These can be very helpful at times if you are stuck. You also have the ability to summon other players to join your game. This is a lot of fun and makes for some exciting(and much less frustrating) boss battles when you can team up with a few other players to fight. There is no way to verbally communicate with your teammates but it is by far one of the greatest parts of the gameplay.

Now every time you slay an enemy in Demon's souls you obtain souls. Souls are the currency of the game and can be used to buy items, upgrade items, and level up your character's stats. Tragically though, every time you die you lose all of your souls and are transported back to the Nexus, a staging area beneath Boletaria. This can be very painful especially if you have collected a great amount of souls and then lose them all in an instant. Like other rpg games you decide what type of character you want to be whether that is a soldier, magician, hunter, etc. I started out as the hunter just because he had a bow and a big axe and I thought he looked cool. I then moved onto the soldier who was a little more balanced since he had a nice shield and a long spear. Finally, I started all over again with the magician and I really like him even though I haven't leveled up enough to use the bigger swords and shields yet. I can, however, hurl balls of fire at my enemies with my wand and thats just cool. This game will keep me coming back for quite a while and I have to hand it to the developers for creating an adventure experience unlike any other game I have ever played.

REPOMEN Gives Audience Gory Ride Through Dystopian Future

In the not so distant future you'll be glad to know that you don't have to settle for dying just because you have a faulty organ. You can buy an incredibly expensive, state-of-the-art, artificial organ that will make you as good as new. Unfortunately, if you can't stay on top of your payments for this lifesaving device the company who installed it will be more than happy to repossess it by force. This is the premise for REPOMEN, starring Forrest Whitaker and Jude Law. These two portray the best of the best at what they do. When people fall too far behind on their payments for their artificial organ these guys are sent out to carve it out of their chests in a usually unpleasant and painful-looking fashion. Apparently, a lot of people find it difficult to keep up with the payments so Jude and Forrest are kept pretty busy and do their job with a sense of accomplishment and even enjoyment. However, after an on the job accident, Law's character wakes up in the hospital to find himself fitted with an artificial heart from his own company. He begins to see the clients that he is killing as individuals with families and starts a mission to shut down the company he previously worked for. The film is filled with plenty of blood as Jude removes organs from people and later slices and dices his way through enemies trying to stop him from destroying the company. In the end the viewer is presented with a confusing ending that fails to deliver the redemption I was hoping for.

DATE NIGHT Great Date Night Movie

Steve Carrell and Tina Fey shine brightly in this hilariously ridiculous comedy as a married couple from New Jersey trying to spice up their relationship that has become routine in the midst of juggling work and children. The two portray Phil and Claire Foster, a tax lawyer and a real estate agent, who get caught up in a series of misadventures in New York City, after Phil, in an attempt to get them a table at one of the fanciest restaurants in town, claims they are another couple,the Tripplehorns, who fail to show up for their reservation. Unfortunately, the actual Tripplehorns have stolen a flash drive from mob boss Joe Miletto and Phil and Claire are excorted from the restaurant by a duo of crooked cops who believe they are the Tripplehorns. After being held at gunpoint and luring the cops to a boathouse in Central Park, the Fosters make a daring escape and spend the rest of the evening in an action-packed romp trying to clear their names and not get arrested or killed. In the process they grow closer together and reignite the fire in their marriage. Steve Carell's comedics are genius as always and Tina Fey plays the supportive, overworked mother and wife with very funny results as well. Not to be missed by anyone who wants to laugh for a bit.

The Madness of American Mcgee Returning In An ALICE Sequel

Yes, Electronic Arts(EA) has officially released a teaser trailer for the hugely anticipated, upcoming sequel to American Mcgee's popular PC game, ALICE. The first game presented an older Alice returning to a horribly twisted Wonderland after a family tragedy. Once again, Wonderland needs her help and it looks as if she is going to have to pull out some of her combat skills from her first romp. If it sounds like the recent Tim Burton film don't get confused. The film did share some visual similarities with the game but Alice's character is quite a bit different from Burton's version. The initial screenshots look impressive and subtly remind me of this previous winter's DANTES INFERNO game. EA has announced that the game will be released for the PS3 and XBOX 360 so the game will be accessible to many who may have never played the first one. I remember the first installment fondly and really enjoyed the design as well as the gameplay. ALICE:Madness Returns will definitely remain on my radar.

Immediate's Trailerhead Presents Epic Music At Its Most....Epic

I happened upon a song from this album while listening to Slacker radio in my classroom. After picking up the whole cd I was amazed to find that every song was just as enjoyable and epic as the previous. And I do use the word epic a lot but when I say it here I truly mean epic in every sense of the word. Films like Lord of the Rings and 300 immediately come to mind when I listen to music like this. Your mind instantly pictures historical battles in real or fantasy worlds in which thousands upon thousands of soldiers are clashing in an ultimate battle of good and evil. This is essentially the only album you will ever need if you love epic music and every song features a gothic choir singing in latin. For some reason, this always seems to be a staple element of epic music in general. Prometheus Rising is my personal favorite but, as I mentioned earlier, the entire cd is excellent. I have been looking for music like this for years and will probably not look anymore until the same company comes out with more of this type of music.

Nimrod Antal Does the Predator Justice in PREDATORS

Lets face it. Compared to the first two PREDATOR films neither ALIENS vs. PREDATOR film did the predators much justice at all. The new Predator movie, PREDATORS, starring Adrien Brody, Danny Treho and Laurence Fishburne gives the audience a great action/monster movie experience that feels much more like the earlier films with Schwarzeneggar and Glover. The story is simple enough but works perfectly. A group of humans ranging from the militant to the criminally inclined find themselves stranded on a jungle planet that just happens to be, you guessed it, one big game preserve for predators. As they struggle to survive in the harsh environment the predators pick them off one by one in particularly unpleasant ways. Two new alien species are interestingly introduced and the film brings back a character from the first film in the midst of the carnage. The film was a lot of fun and, although Treho and Fishburne were both more token characters than actual main characters it was still cool to see these actors in the predators' universe. Brody carries his own as the loner hero of sorts throughout. It should be noted that the really cool scene in the trailer showing Brody with a dozen or so laser sights on his chest and face never actually happens in the film. That was apparently just a shameful and totally needless marketing ploy to make people want to see it even more.

Whatever Happened to the Cutscene?

I have fond memories of playing games on my dad's computer as a young boy. Sure, compared to today's graphics they did not look that great and cutscenes were pretty much nonexistant but they were still a lot of fun. Fast forward to my sophomore year of college after my girlfriend(now wife)gets me the playstation one for my birthday. To my astonishment and delight many games now had these incredibly cool, high resolution intros and cutscenes.

The great thing was that you never knew when cutscenes were going to take place. Sometimes there was one when you successfully completed a big level or maybe you would be treated to one right before a big boss fight. All I knew is that they were fun to watch and really added to the gaming experience. Some of my favorite cutscenes I remember were from PSone games like ODDWORLD, HEART OF DARKNESS, and MEDIEVAL. When the PS2 came around most games featured, at the very least, a really nice, full-resolution intro cutscene and, if you were lucky, there were more placed throughout the game. GOD OF WAR 1 and 2 both boasted gorgeous cutscenes that could be played again and again after you played the game.

Now fastforward to present day. The full resolution, highly detailed cutscene still exists. However, we seem to find it less and less in today's typical video game. Because of increasing technology games tend to look better and better. This is not a bad thing. But, because of this, many game developers tend to now use in-game graphics for all of their cutscenes instead of the super detailed, high resolution cutscenes I have come to love so much. Even GOD OF WAR 3, which is still one of the most incredible-looking games I have ever played, traded high-resolution cutscenes for in-game graphics cutscenes.

This is not to say that games need higher-resolution cutscenes to be good games. DEADRISING is still my favorite game and all of the cutscenes were in-game graphics. I can understand that it is probably a lot cheaper for developers to use in-game graphics for their cutscenes rather than pay for the higher-resolution models to be created and animated. To me there is just a deeper richness to the game if the nicer-looking cutscenes are there. So thank you to those of you who still throw in the higher resolution intros and cutscenes. This gamer salutes you.

THE CRAZIES Remake Adds Another Great Film To The Zombie Genre

The 2010 remake of George Romero's 1973 film by the same name proves that remakes can be done right and succeed in more ways than the original. THE CRAZIES takes place in a small town somewhere in Iowa and follows a group of survivors as they try to escape the area after it has been overrun by a virus that turns people into....well....crazies intent on hurting those around them. Timothy Olyphant plays the sheriff trying to get his pregnant wife, deputy and other survivors to safety. Things get more and more difficult for the group as the military gets involved and begins wiping out as many people as they can in an attempt to contain the pandemic. Genuinely creepy at times and delivering plenty of action and suspense, this was a film worth seeing for any zombie fan.

Edgar Allan Poe's Only Novel Is Incredible Read

"I feared that the public would regard what I put forth as merely an impudent and ingenius fiction."

Surprisingly, THE NARRATIVE OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM OF NANTUCKET was the only novel Poe ever wrote. Published in 1838 and usually less horrific than most of Poe's writing it follows the extraordinary adventures of a young man who stows away on a whaling ship. The story is told in first person narrative and describes one unbelievable circumstance after the next as Pym is thrown into countless situations of incredible peril on the high seas and unexplored lands beyond. The novel was inspired by a real newspaper article Poe read and reflects narrative exploration history in a true fashion. The story runs about 200 pages and is very difficult to put down once you start. Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys reading adventure or suspense stories.

I'm Still Asking Why

If you are anything like me there are just certain things that are very hard to let go of and accept. One of those things I am still struggling with is why DISTRICT 9 did not get the best picture award last year. The film was a spectacular achievement and presented science fiction in its purest form. I would say it easily belongs in the same hall of classics like E.T. and ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND. The movie just got everything right and the fact that it didn't have any big name actors makes it all the more amazing. However, as you all know, DISTRICT 9 did not get the best picture award. Honestly, I can't remember the last time the film I thought was the best picture did get the award. I'll just have to accept that those who typically decide what wins and what doesn't may not look at film from the same perspective as I do. So here is to a best picture that I will hopefully agree with for 2010.

Killzone Establishes Itself As A Flagship Series For The PS3

KILLZONE 2 is not only fun to play but it is also one of the most polished looking first-person shooters out there. The futuristic, otherworldly setting is one of the things that sets it apart from other equally gorgeous shooters like FARCRY 2 and MODERN WARFARE 2 and fighting the Helghast on their homeworld does make the game intense and adds that extra sense of desperate struggle and conflict. With KILLZONE 3 on the way the series has established itself as one of the main flagship titles for the PS3 along with the RESISTANCE games. If you own a PS3 and are a shooter fan you have probably already played KILLZONE 2. If you haven't playet it yet I highly recommend giving it a whirl. The Helghast may be disappointed that you did but you will not. Trust me.

Completed Greenmen Sculpts

Here is the second greenman I started as a teacher example for my seventh graders.


The completed first greenman after being bisque-fired and partially painted with glaze. One of my students painted the glaze on this one for me.

The second greenman after being bisque-fired, glazed and then fired a second time. I put this up in my boys' room.

This one went up in my daughter's room.

McCarthy's THE ROAD Presents A Bleak Future With Little Hope

THE ROAD, starring Viggo Mortenson and Robert Duvall, began as a 2006 novel by the author of NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, Cormac McCarthy. The story follows the journey of a father and son across a post-apocalyptic America after an unexplained event wipes out all of civilization and, seemingly, nearly all life on earth. Mortenson portrays the desperate father trying to get himself and his son to the ocean after his wife, overcome by despair and grief, selfishly abandons them both and commits suicide. The landscape is utterly desolate and void of any form of order or structure as they make their way through destroyed cities and countrysides. To add to their struggles for food and water in a world where all resources and technology have been completely depleted they also have to deal with groups of cannibalistic nomads. This is a tragic tale to say the least and the father/son relationship is truly heart-breaking in its sincerity and love in the midst of such extreme hardships. Nevertheless, the film is an excellent adaptation of the book and a small nugget of hope is tossed into the viewer's lap in the end. I was still frustrated by the fact that there really is no explanation whatsoever in the book or the movie as to how civilization was destroyed so thoroughly.

Saving the World From Aliens Has Never Been This Fun

I've wanted a PS3 since the day I heard Sony was going to be making one a few years back. I didn't get around to actually picking one up till about three months ago. The biggest reason I wanted one when I got it was, of course, GOD OF WAR 3 but the only reason I wanted the PS3 three years ago was because of one of the few launch titles for the system, RESISTANCE: FALL OF MAN.

RESISTANCE: FALL OF MAN, from Insomniac games, is a first person shooter that takes place in an alternate history where World War 2 never happened. Instead, a mysterious race of aliens, known as the Chimera, have quickly spread across Europe converting humans into hideous and powerful alien soldiers in the process. You play Sgt. Nathan Hale, an American soldier who is part of a task force sent into Britain in the year 1951 to retrieve some sort of secret weapon that will hopefully stop the Chimera. As you would expect, things don't go quite as planned and the entire team is wiped out by the Chimera except for Hale. Hale becomes exposed to the Chimeran virus but, instead of killing him, it gives him superhuman strength, regenerative abilities and these really cool yellowish eyes. Fortunately, despite all these physical changes his body undergoes, he manages to retain his humanity and still wants to fight the Chimera.


Most of the early parts of the game feel like a World War 2 shooter...except for the fact that you are shooting at aliens instead of Germans. The environments, though nicely detailed, are lackluster in color with muddy browns and greys but this is what really makes you feel like you are living out a World War 2 game thats quite different from any World War 2 game you've ever played. In addition to historically accurate firearms from the time period, like the Carbine, Hale also has the ability to use alien weaponry he finds along the way which adds to the uniqueness of the gameplay. All weapons become part of a weapon wheel that can be accessed anytime during the game. As the game progresses, the environments become more and more alien and futuristic-looking as you explore alien strongholds and bases of operations. The ending is, as you can probably guess, overloaded with action and finds Hale the sole survivor once again of an all out assault on the main Chimeran tower in London.

Resistance 2 finds Hale on U.S. soil attempting to thwart the Chimeran forces as they sweep across America leaving nothing but twisted wreckage and destruction in their path. Hale continues to slowly but surely transform into the very enemy he is trying to defeat as the Chimeran virus spreads inside of him. The game bounces from location to location taking the player to well-known cities like San Francisco, Chicago and Baton Rouge. It is clear that America has seen better days as you survey the damage the Chimera have done and there really is a sense that you are fighting for the very survival of the nation itself.

The second RESISTANCE improves upon the first in nearly every way imaginable. Environments, enemies, and weapons are rendered beautifully with plenty of details and the textures are nicely done as well. In addtion to this, there is a lot more color and vibrancy to the overall look compared to the first game. Sadly, the weapon wheel is gone and you can only carry two guns at a time but this seems to have become the norm for most first-person shooters. Fortunately, weapons are generously scattered throughout the game's levels.

The RESISTANCE series is definitely the flagship title for the PS3 and it seems like it would only make sense to make a third installment. The visuals rival more recent shooters, like MODERN WARFARE 2, and the only other PS3 title that could possibly outdo it in the near future is probably the upcoming KILLZONE 3. Until then, if you have not tried these games out and you've been thinking about it, definitely give them a whirl. They are a blast to play and yet another excuse to get a PS3 if you don't have one yet.

Quick Guide to the Best Chocolaty Beverages

If you're anything like me you spend at least a few moments out of every waking hour thinking about chocolate in some way shape or form. To me, there is nothing like tipping back a chocolaty drink on my way to or from work. Something about that chocolaty taste just makes me feel like a new man. So here is my list of some of the best chocolaty stuff available right now in no particular order.

Boost is a wonderfully chocolaty, nutritional supplement packed with 26 vitamins and minerals and can be found at most grocery stores. It can be bought in packs of six for between seven to eight dollars. Boost comes in vanilla, butter pecan, strawberry, and chocolate flavor. I highly recommend the chocolate since it is the only flavor I have tried but seriously, who wants to drink something that tastes like butter pecan? Boost makes a great breakfast if you are in a hurry. The biggest downside to Boost is that the bottles are so darn small(8 oz. to be exact). If you drink like I do, be prepared for it to be gone in about two gulps. You can make it feel like it lasts longer if you take small sips though. The other downside is the price. There are plenty of alternatives out there that will give you quite a bit more chocolaty goodness for your buck. On with the list.

Hershey's syrup is something you should always have on hand. If you have one in the refridgerator thats great but make sure you keep one in the glove compartment of your vehicle as well. Hershey's syrup is best when mixed into milk and then stirred but if you are in a bind you can just squeeze it into your mouth directly from the bottle. Keep in mind this should only be done in moderation. Its also great on top of ice cream.

Carnation Instant Breakfast is a powder that is mixed into milk and is something my dad got me hooked on years ago. I remember him talking about how he would wake up in the morning as a young boy and my grandmother would be handing him his Carnation Instant Breakfast as he got out of bed. This comes in other flavors as well but really, who would want any other flavor if chocolate was already one of them? This makes a great breakfast on the go and is best bought in the powder form. I know you can buy it by the bottle now but it just doesn't taste as good. Trust me.





This stuff is about 16 oz. of one of the most unique chocolate flavors you will ever experience and, unlike most of the other items on this list, it doesn't really taste like milk at all. So if you want to try something different to quench your thirst for chocolate give Yoohoo a try.


Ever since I heard Ralphy mention this stuff in THE CHRISTMAS STORY as a young boy I wanted to try it. All you have to do is add milk and presto!!! This is a very satisfying drink that I wish I would have started drinking earlier in life.

Nesquik is another powder-based drink from Nestle that you add to milk. It comes in other flavors than chocolate but chocolate really is the best as far as I'm concerned. Now, you can get this in the store in a bottle as well but beware. It has a weird taste and does not taste nearly as chocolaty as if you were to mix it with milk.



This is simply my favorite chocolate drink hands down. Not only because it can be found at most gas stations and groceries either....but that does help. Dean's has mastered the formula of chocolaty goodness. On a good week the front of my van will be littered with two or three of these empty bottles.

SPLICE Likely to Deliver Thrills

Unless there is another monster movie coming out in the next few months that I haven't seen the previews for yet, SPLICE is shaping up to be the best beast of the summer. With two brilliant scientists combining human DNA with some other "stuff" to create a completely unique creature all their own I am guessing this will impress with both visuals and dramatic dialogue as well. Sure, this sort of thing has been done before but the concept of scientists attempting to fix something and instead creating a nightmare has been around since Mary Shelly's Frankenstein. I will definitely be in the audience for this one.

Check out the SPLICE website for some really creepy sounds and some clips from the film:

http://www.splicethefilm.com/

V Continues with Wholesome Sci-Fi Goodness

In the tradition of THE BODY SNATCHERS and Robert Heinlein's THE PUPPETMASTERS the aliens are once again among us but they have managed to disquise themselves to look and act exactly like we do. Clever indeed. The ABC season finale of the reboot of the popular eighties series V continued to pile on the action with a healthy dose of sci-fi as well. It seems obvious that the pastor's boss is an alien but who knows for sure? They had a couple of chances to show us what the new alien/human hybrid baby looks like but all we were given was a lizard-like tail wrapping itself around daddy's finger. Fortunately for the humans, the soldier eggs were destroyed with a little help from the fifth column. I'm hoping that next season will begin to show a lot more of the aliens as the evil lizard people they truly are. And why haven't they shown any of them eating a rat yet?

Greenman Sculpture

This is a greenman sculpture I created in class as a teacher example for my 7th graders for their last clay project. It turned out pretty nicely considering it is the first one I have done and I haven't worked with water-based clay for quite some time. This is the first year I have had a kiln available to me at school so I am able to do clay with the kids. Water-based clay has usually frustrated me in the past mostly because it dries out very easily and tends to crack apart sometimes when it dries but I am getting more comfortable with the material as I work with it more in the classroom.
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Gummi Bears: Remembering a Saturday Morning Triumph

Take a moment and try to think back to those lazy Saturday mornings in the eighties during a time before computer technology prompted far too many cartoons on television to take a step backwards rather than forwards. This was the time of the Gummi Bears. Aside from the catchy theme song that will forever be imprinted into my brain the show had a certain magic to it that you don't see in many cartoons today. Who could forget Grammi, Cubbi, Zummi, Gruffi, Sunni, and Tummi bear? Duke Igthorn and his gang of bumbling ogres were always up to something rotten in Gummi Glenn and it was up to the Gummi bears, with a little help from the young boy, Cavin, to keep the forest as well as Dunwyn Castle out of danger. And who didn't imagine what it would be like to ride in one of the hawk-shaped cars in the quick tunnels beneath the woods? The Gummis made saving the day look pretty easy at times. Of course, gummiberry juice always came in handy whenever they needed the ability to bounce uncontrollably all over the place. It was also nice that the juice gave Cavin, as well as any other human who drank it, superhuman strength for a brief amount of time too.