Sunday, December 27, 2009

Christmas 2009.

Another year, another Christmas. For me, it was pretty good. Here's the haul of awesome I received this year around.

First off, the Devil Girls statue. Lovely aren't they?

Next up is a few more pictures of Jessica, a few close ups.

I've said it before, but damn, that dress makes it.

Next up is a tower of media, also the biggest chunk of my gifts this year.

So, what all is in there? Lets see, for books there's George Carlin's autobiography Last Words, Berserk volumes 28, 29 & 31, The Goon volume 4, Hellboy volume 2, The Boys volumes 1-5, Wolverine Weapon X: 100 Covers. Then there's the movies & TV, You're Under Arrest Fast & Furious volume 1 DVD, Transformers Complete Series DVD, Battlestar Galactica Complete Series BD, Ultimate Cut Watchmen BD, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movie Box Set BD and all of the following on BD: X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Transporter, Robocop, The Boondock Saints, A History of Violence, The Wrestler, Up, Ronin, Dark City, Spaceballs, Corpse Bride and V for Vendetta. Lets not forget about gaming, with 3 XBox Live 1600 points cards, Mad World for the Wii and Dragon Age Origins for the 360. FInally we have 2 Western Digital 500GB external HDDs and the Battle Machines laser tag RC cars 2 pack.

Damn, almost forgot, music, Lynyrd Skynyrd's God & Guns, Weird Al's Essential Weird Al and DethKlok's Dethalbum II. One thing of note with the music is that I am disappointed with the latest Skynyrd album. I know it's not the same band from the 70's, been that way since the plane crash, but this album is horrible in my opinion. I was worried it wouldn't be much good with a title like God & Guns, turned out I was right to be worried. Every other song is some silly damn message. If this is what Skynyrd is going to be from here on out, I'm done, I'm sticking to the old stuff.

This next little gem is a Speed Freak. Basically a cartoon car brought to life in statue form. This one in particular is called Flathead Flyer and it's the second one I've acquired. The first one was the Acid Dipped Racer. I think the Flathead Flyer is one of the more radical ones of the bunch though. Hope to get more of these in the future.

Finally there's a 1:18 scale garage accessories kit. Just some neat little bits and piece of things you'd find in an automotive shop. There's more of these and I hope to continue my collection of them so I can eventually build a miniature shop display.

That's it for me with exception to a work style shirt. I should have got a picture of that, it's pretty sweet. It's black and has a red & gold custom pinstripe deign on the back. I think it's going to be a constant reminder to get back to practicing my pinstriping.

Well, that's what I got for Christmas. I hope everyone else got what they wanted or at least had a good Christmas with family and/or friends.

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Back in the Day - Mad Bull 34 12/26/2009.

Back in the Day - Mad Bull 34

Just another buddy cop show, except for all the sex with hookers.


Well, that and all of the other things that will make you go what the f*(#!?! First off, lets make it clear that Mad Bull 34 is horrible - used urinal cake horrible. Sure, it’s quite entertaining, but, good? No. So why would I bother, you might ask? Why have I decided to talk about such a stain on the history of anime? All I can say is Mad Bull 34 is some of the weirdest anime you will likely come across. It gets so weird that even one of the characters says it’s weird. With things like exploding coffee, a baked cat, a hand grenade jockstrap, sex with hookers in each episode, a hospital bed wedding, a fingernail decapitation and even an Alien/Predator baddy, the list of weirdness doesn’t seem to end. Also, keep in mind, this article is based on Manga Entertainment’s dubbed VHS release of the show, so that in itself made for some bad decisions on the localization of the OVA. An OVA originally released in Japan in 1990 and then licensed by Manga Entertainment and released on VHS by them in 1996.

So where to start? Well, Mad Bull 34 follows two beat cops of the 34th Precinct (hence the 34 in the title), where the toughest and most dangerous criminals run amuck. So it’s up to our heroes John “Sleepy” Estes, aka Mad Bull, and Daizaburo “Eddie” Ban to rid the streets of the worst of the worst of the 34th. First off, there’s the show’s name sake, Mad Bull, named so for his unorthodox style of law enforcement, otherwise known as police brutality and/or unnecessary/excessive force. He means well though, so it’s OK, he’s just taking down the punks, pushers and scumbags of New York. As for prostitution, he’s got that taken care of - personally. He runs the biggest prostitution ring in the precinct himself, all the while dipping into the candy jars. Once again, no need to worry. All the money he takes from the hookers goes to a venereal disease clinic for battered and raped women, so it balances out. Well not really, but hey, he’s the big lovable bear of the show, so it’s OK. Seriously, you could mistake the guy for a bear if he was covered in fur. At one point he’s standing next to the patrol car and you have to ask yourself, “how the hell does he fit in it?” Yet, lets not go off half-cocked, for it to be a buddy cop show “Sleepy” has to have a partner, and that partner is Daizaburo. He’s a Japanese-American fresh out of the police academy, a rookie that’s an accomplished marksman and an expert in the martial arts (which you never see in action). All of which is stupendous considering he’s only 18. Talk about a complete and total lack of reality consideration. (What am I saying? This series doesn‘t understand that idea). He’s also the straightedge, by the book kind of guy and he thinks his new partner is as crooked as they come. He wants his partner to change his ways. Instead, he ends up becoming more like “Sleepy”. Except for all the sex with hookers, or any sex for that matter. For you see, Daizaburo is a virgin and he believes his bride deserves one on their wedding night.

Some how those little, far and few in-between, moral rights balance out (not really) all the rape, murder, arson and rape. Yes, the show does like it’s rape. Clothes are seemingly made of the cheapest, hand-sewn-by-9-year-old-Korean-children fabric. The ease and speed at which they rip, tear and shred away are astounding. How they stay in one piece at all is amazing itself. So be prepared to see big, bountiful, beautiful, bare breasts, try saying that five times fast. Then there is the violence, which Mad Bull 34 also has in spades. In the first episode after a quick run down about who Daizaburo is, it quickly jumps to “Sleepy” taking down two nude dudes who are about to rape (or possibly already have) a random blond. In typical Mad Bull fashion it’s shoot first, ask questions later and one guy has his head taken off bullet by bullet as they nip away at the guy’s neck. Later on in the same episode we are treated to robbers on roller skates wearing hockey masks, yeah, you didn’t read that wrong, I said robbers on roller skates wearing hockey masks, getting gunned down with one of them getting his head blown off. Bit by bit as if he’s having a little cut off from the top, except, you know, down to the neck. Those are just the first couple of several beheadings that pop up as the show goes on. People lose their heads in this series like an Alzheimer’s patient loses track of what day it is. If the baddies don’t lose their heads, they lose a bit more, like most of their body, thanks to a head on greeting with a subway train. The death toll for the series is right on up there with the best, er, worst of them. Even the cops have to look out for the ‘ole stabby stab in the final episode.

Oh, and what a weird, odd and complete lack of sense, of any nature, episode it is. This is when Capricorn shows up, our Alien/Predator hybrid if you will with a penchant for killing cops. Why is he/it/her named Capricorn? Because “Sleepy” thought it was cool like Scorpio in Dirty Harry. Yeah, like I said, it makes no sense at all. The Aliens reference doesn’t end at Capricorn either, eventually the police of the 34th Precinct devise such a ridiculous plan it just might work, one again, not really. The plan? “Sleepy” challenges Capricorn to a one to one fight at Yankee Stadium, where “Sleepy” is strapped into a mech that clearly looks like the power-loader from Aliens. If that Aliens reference doesn’t pull those famous 3 words, or at the very least, 3 letters (WTF), from your mouth, then what happens after the reveal of who Capricorn is should. If you still haven’t dropped an F-Bomb of your own after that, you are either dead and thus a zombie craving brains or lying in a hospital bed comatose, craving brain function. Speaking of the F-word, it gets tossed around as if it’s the new favorite word of the day, every day, in the series.

If you think the content is trash, then you’ll just love the flow of the story, quality of the animation and spot on dubbing. The first episode jumps around like an 8 year old on a sugar rush, and it doesn’t get much better by the 4th and final episode. Plots are as shallow as that cheerleader that wouldn’t go out with you in high school and makes as much sense as watching VHS on an HD TV. Seriously, VHS isn’t the best media format to have ever graced the home theater and Mad Bull 34 isn’t helping. With animation that was handed off to the Chinese, it’s no surprise it was rushed like so much other animation of the time. How bad is it? As bad as the rancid Chinese accents in the 3rd episode. Chinese who happen to be assassins, assassins who chose death over failure. Extreme, but more played out than House Party 3. As for the rest of the voice acting, it’s acting alright. Acting around like no one gives a shit. Pay close attention and you’ll notice stumbles that were left in and all of the other bad accents that degrade into something else all together as the series goes on. Lets not forget the hard rock soundtrack either. It’s so terrible, one has to wonder if Manga Entertainment made a casting call to the local high school garage bands.

Alright, so you’ve made it his far and maybe you have the morbid curiosity to actually watch Mad Bull 34. Well, for those of you willing and brave enough to take the time to watch Mad Bull 34 and those who have done so already and know I haven’t exaggerated one bit, the bad (or good) news is that Mad Bull 34 has been out of print for years. There was talk from Manga Entertainment that they were going to release the series on DVD, but before they could the license expired in ‘06. So if you want to get your hands on Mad Bull 34 you will have to hunt down the VHS tapes Manga released back in ‘96.

UPDATE: Discotek Media acquired the rights to Mad Bull 34 and released it on DVD in 2013 under their Eastern Star label. It is currently available from several retails, from RightStuf to Amazon. So if you want it, hop to it and pick it up while you still can. If some how you want even more Mad Bull 34, there is a manga which the 4 part OVA was based off of. It ran from 1986 to 1990 and was collected into 27 volumes; then in 1999 a sequel, "Mad Bull 2000", was started. I don’t know if it was ever licensed for US release nor do I know if anyone has been crazy enough to scanlate it. Though it wouldn’t be too surprising if someone has considering Mad Bull 34 was authored by Kazuo Koike, more famously known for writing “Lone Wolf and Cub“. In the end Mad Bull 34 is an exercise in the excess of violence, naked women, 4 letter words and the weirdest of the weird. You aren’t likely to find much more that is on the same level as Mad Bull 34, and we should all be thankful for it. In parting, I wish the best of luck to anyone that dares watch the series and I hope you at least find it entertaining in the same manner I have.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Comic Day 12/23/2009.

OK, these heavy weeks are killing the wallet. I expected a light week with it basically being the last of the year. Only thing coming out next week is DC's Blackest Night. Still no Rocketeer Deluxe hardcover, but they did get a Goon volume 4 in, so I snagged that for Christmas.

New Mutants #8
Wolverine Origins #43
Wolverine Weapon X #8
X-Men Forever #14
Uncanny X-Men #519
X-Men Legacy #231

Secret Warriors #11
Fantastic Four #574
Amazing Spider-Man #616
Punisher #12
Thor #605
Captain America: Who Will Wield the Shield? One-Shot
Incredible Hercules #139

Halo Blood Lines #1 of 5
Avengers Initiative #31
New Avengers #60
Batwoman Detective Comics #860 Variant
Batwoman Detective Comics #860
Teen Titans #78
Justice Society of America #34

Before I headed out to Greenville today for the comics I had a nice surprise sitting at my door steps. A big brown box, man, seems like there's always awesome things in those. I had started to think that my Jessica Rabbit statue I ordered wouldn't make it by Christmas since I got the shipping confirmation on the 21st. So it really was a surprise to see that box this morning. I decided to go ahead and take her upstairs and set her up after seeing that the dress was done with what looks to basically be glitter. Man, that dress totally makes the statue, it picks up the faintest of light sources. Yet it is fragile, loose bits of the glitter does come off. The statue isn't perfect, and I'm a little disappointed about that, but it still looks great. She's also larger than I had imagined, biggest figure statue I've gotten so far, the heaviest is still the Doom statue though.

I plan to get some more shots of her, but I need some batteries for the camera. Well, I need to just buy an AC adapter for it, then I can go back to using the rechargeable battery, it lasts way longer than any AA batteries. Also, I'm tempted to try and mix some paint up to fix the small paint flaws on her. I already cleaned up the dress lines by scraping off excess glitter. For now I'm going to hold out and see if the bit of an OCD in me is that bothered by the paint flaws.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Comic Day 12/16/2009.

Another heavy week, especially when the 4th volume of The Boys TPB came in for me as well. Though that was put aside with the rest of the Christmas goodies.

DareDevil #503
Captain America: Reborn #5 0f 6
Black Panther #11
Hulk #18
Amazing Spider-Man #615
Ms. Marvel #48

Cable #21
Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth #6
Dark Wolverine #81
Astonishing X-Men #33
X-Men Legacy #230
X-Force #22
X-Factor #200

Thunderbolts #139
Mighty Avengers #32
Dark Avengers #12
Justice League of America #40
Batman #694
Tales of the TMNT #65
Chimichanga #1

Next week should be a light week with it being the last week of the year for comics. Then in January Marvel's last big event for a while (I hope), Siege, starts. Also, maybe that Deluxe Rocketeer hardcover will come in. The regular hardcover came in this week, so if nothing else it gave me a chance to flip through it. The book looks awesome, now I really want to get my hands on the Deluxe hardcover.

Man, Christmas is just a few more days down the road. Nine more and it's the 25th, time seems to fly around the holidays.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Did some recycling.

For some time now I've had 4 left over shelving boards that come with those el cheapo fiberboard book shelves - which you can get for around $25 bucks at most any major retail store - just sitting over in a corner. I knew I'd use them for something, just wasn't sure until today.

I was staring at my comic box shelves and it hit me, the space between them could use a tiny purpose built shelf. So I took my measurements, marked my lines and took the boards out to the shop to get to work. I cut the top and middle shelves to size and painted the inside of the vertical boards black. Once the paint was tacky (screw waiting for it to dry completely, I was trying to get it done as quick as possible) I started the assembly. Every thing went together nicely until the fiberboards started to split in a few places. Of course, after thinking about it now I realize why. One, it's fiberboard and thus is just a horrible building material and then, two, the screws I used were admittedly a bit long. I made the best repairs possible to the split areas with some nails, good thing the splits were in the back.

I had planned to use this little shelf for comic boxes as well, but once the boards split my use of it change. It all works out, I now have a place for the devil girls statue and the Jessica statue since I moved some Wolverine items over to this new little shelf, and I've been needing a small area to put the bags and boards and what not. Looks just right.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Cookies!

So I got this idea for some bitchin' cookies a few days ago. What if I had some peanut butter, sugar and chocolate chip cookie dough and rolled them into one big log? So, I got some cookie dough and I set my idea into action. I first rolled each log of dough flat, one on top of the other. I then rolled them back up into a log and tossed it in the fridge for a few hours. After I had dinner I got to slicing out the cookies. Now, for what ever reason, most likely my judgment of cookie size once baked, I don't know how to bake small cookies. The result? Only 23 big-ass cookies from a 16" long, 3 1/2" diameter log of cookie dough.

Well, enough of my yammering about how and what I did to make them, here's some pictures to drool at.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Back in the Day - Dirty Pair TV 12/12/2009.

Back in the Day - Dirty Pair TV

OH NO! It’s the Dirty Pa…. I mean the Lovely Angels!


OH NO! It’s the Dirty Pa…. I mean the Lovely Angels! For that is the actual team code name of Kei & Yuri, more notoriously known as the Dirty Pair on every planet in any galaxy. Wherever they go, whatever mission they are on, no matter how well-meaning they are, their luck follows them and wreaks havoc along the way, dragging poor Mughi - their pet of sorts - right behind them. Yet, they always manage to get the mission done successfully, even if it means nearly collapsing the building they live in!

Over the years they have been righting wrongs in a few different iterations. In the beginning they first came about in 1979 in SF Magajin in serialized form and later the first book, Daatipea no Daibouken aka Great Adventures of the Dirty Pair, in 1980. Written by Takachiho Haruka and illustrated by Yasuhiko Yoshikau, the Dirty Pair was a mix of science fiction and detective stories. Since then it hasn’t deviated far from the original novels in each of it‘s reincarnations, but still each new form of the Dirty Pair has been it’s own beast. It wasn’t long after the first novel that the Dirty Pair made their way into their own TV anime series. This is thanks largely in part due to their appearance in Crusher Joe: The Movie in 1983, another creation of Takachiho. Even though it was only a short 30 second cameo of them in a movie of their own at a 22nd century drive-in theater, it was enough to get fans clamoring for more. As luck would have it, they were able to get the execs at the TV network to give it a shot. Thus Dirty Pair TV was born in 1985. But that’s where the little history lesson ends, this is about Dirty Pair TV, no further. If you want more, sit down and be patient, I’ll tell you were to go for all the Dirty Pair info you could ever want later.

Dirty Pair TV opens with “Ru-ru-ru-russian Roulette” performed by Nakahara Meiko, who also did the ED, “Space Fantasy”. It’s just the kind of song to get a person hooked and interested in just what they are about to see. It’s catchy, jumpy & exciting and also fits the style of the show, as well as the decade, quite nicely. You will enjoy watching the opening each and every time as it serves as a quick reminder of just what to expect from the series - an exciting romp through space that sprinkles trouble, danger and destruction along the way. As for the ED, “Space Fantasy”, it’s the kind of song that brings you down from the excitement that two beautiful women running amuck in space can cause. But only enough to prepare you for another episode, of course. As for the music in between, well, it works and does the job it needs to do, but I don’t think you’ll be left with any impression of it afterwards. For the most part you will be too busy watching things go boom, caused by a pair of scantily clad women.

Dirty Pair, as they are known, is an apt name for the pair whose results end up dirty. Throughout the entire series it’s a reoccurring joke for them to correct those around them that their name is the Lovely Angels, for it seems no matter where they go their reputation precedes them. A reputation of destruction unlike any other, yet always accomplishing the mission goal. Kei, the red headed tomboy, & Yuri, the blue haired girlie girl, work for the WWWA (World Welfare Works Association), mostly called the 3WA. The 3WA is an organization that helps members of the United Galactica federation with what ever problems they may have by sending out “trouble consultants” to try and take care of the problems. This is where our heroines come in, they are the “trouble consultants”, the Lovely Angels. As the series goes on they end up on case after case that no one else is willing to touch. Yet, these girls love to party and parting doesn’t come cheap when you’re the Dirty Pa… I mean the Lovely Angels. So, what does their boss do? The same any boss does to any employee, bribes them with a big pay day, that they just so happen to manipulate in their favor. Once they get involved they are in it until the end, no matter the consequences, no matter the cost, even if they cause more monetary damage than the pay they get for completing the job!

It should be obvious to anyone who watches Dirty Pair TV that Kei & Yuri are polar opposites, an Odd Couple you wouldn’t mind getting in between. Thanks to this, their verbal assaults on each other are the icing on a double dipped cone of vanilla and chocolate. If this was a series that was purely episodic with no character development or genuine stories, albeit old rehashed tropes, neither I nor you would be here right now. As the series progresses it is clear that Kei and Yuri are getting better at what they do, since little by little less carnage is being left in their wake, but still carnage. Also, we are treated to their personal lives a few times and those small moments are a real insight to who they are. They really are more than the boy chasing, gun toting, walking deconstruction company they appear to be on the surface. At the end of each episode you really get that feeling of everything having worked out in the end, even if it’s less than perfect.


Once again though, I have to say that sadly the series was cut short and had an abrupt end. Like many series of it’s time, while highly successful with the fans, it still didn’t produce big enough numbers for the men in the tall buildings. So we are left with 26 episodes of the TV series, which is much more than what was typical of series cut short back then. The last two episodes were actually released as an OVA. Thankfully, Dirty Pair has lived on, from the OVAs, movies, Flash and even an American comic, your favorite Lovely Angels kept popping back up. Now I have to tell you the really bad news, Dirty Pair TV is the only incarnation of the Dirty Pair that has never seen a US license. When you consider that the TV series goes into details of Kei and Yuri so much you can understand why it’s such a shame. So what is the discerning fan to do, you ask? You’ll have to get dirty yourself and go hunting. I promise you it’s out here, in this madness of floating information known as the internet. However, if you are patient, there is the chance (however slim) that it may get licensed sometime in the future now that complete series releases are becoming the norm for anime here in the US. For now though, if you want to learn more about the Dirty Pa…. Lovely Angels, head on over to the greatest Dirty Pair fan site ever, Elenore City. See, I told you I’d tell you where to go for more.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Comic Day 12/9/2009.

As expect after a light week this week was one of the heavier ones.

Gen 13 #33
Titans #20
Punisher Max #2
Donatello: The Brain Theif #4
Gold Digger X-Mas Special #3
Gold Digger Tifanny & Charlotte #4

New Avengers Annual #3
Amazing Spider-Man #614
Web of Spider-Man #3
Incredible Hulk #605
Invincible Iron Man #21
War Machine #12
Ghost Riders Heavens on Fire #5 of 6

X-Men Forever #13
Dark X-Men #2 of 5
Uncanny X-Men First Class #6
Wolverine Under the Boardwalk One-Shot
Necrosha the Gathering One-Shot
Nation X #1 of 4
Deadpool #18

In other awesome news, my Coop statue of those naughty Devil Girls came in. Looks killer and I'm looking forward to getting some pics of it after Christmas. For now though, you can take a look at it here, and while you are there I suggest you take a look around.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Comic Day 12/3/2009.

Was quite the light week. Would've been a really light week if it wasn't for last weeks hold overs.

Halo Helljumper #5 of 5
TMNT Donatello: The Brain Theif #3
Deadpool Team-Up #898
Son of Hulk #17
Thor #604
Wolverine First Class #21
X-Force Annual #1
Uncanny X-Men #518
X-Men Forever #12

I got a smoking deal on the comics today. Did a little more Christmas shopping, this time at the comic shop, and I asked if I could get a little Christmas special on the pricing. Dave is one of the coolest guys there is. I picked up volumes 1, 2, 3 and 5 of The Boys trades along with volume 2 of Hellboy and finally The Hero Initiative's Wolverine Weapon X #100 all for a Benjamin.

Quick explanation about the Hero Initiative, it's a charity group that puts together different events and books and such to raise money for comic creators that have fallen on hard times. It's the community giving back to those that helped build comics from nothing to the huge industry it is today. For more info, check it out, The Hero Initiative.