Show You Care About the State of the Union

I'm not saying this is the answer but historical changes are built on events like this. This group is calling for America to strike on 9/11/07, not for one particular issue, but for everything that the government has lied to us about or taken away from us. The success of any sort of strike depends on participation, and it could be hard to not show up to work, but if you really care about this country you will show your support any way you can. Click the banner to find out more about the general strike. Your thoughts and comments would be greatly appreciated in the comments.

And you must be the Monopoly guy...

So there is a rumor out there that we could be seeing the classic board game Monopoly make it to a big screen near you.

Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Master and Commander) is heading the project, and has expressed much excitement over the film. "Somewhere in [Monopoly] is a hysterically amusing and I think rather exciting film."

Expect to see Russell Crowe in this one, since he's pretty much in every other movie he's directed.

This has also left me to think of what other board games should get movie adaptations.

• Simon - Who wouldn't want to have to copy everything the movie does?
  
  
• Hungry Hungry Hippos - I can totally see this being the next Pixar classic, the tale of four colourful hippos who's appetites cannot be supressed.
  
  
• Balderdash - Adam "Pacman" Jones and Mike Tyson star in a heartwarming family comedy about making up their own words.
  
  
• Pong - An epic battle between left and right, a struggle over the love of the ball. Someone they both can't help but push away.
  
  
• Connect Four - No idea how this one would work... but you know someone like Sony would try to pull this one off. Imagine the sequel, Connect Five.
  
  
• Jenga - Stalone is back, in Cliffhanger form as he tries to scale the ever-changing Jenga tower. Maybe Bowie could sneak in for all those Labyrinth fans out there.
  
  
• Scrabble - With subtitles!
  

What do you think? I think we could be witnessing a few blockbusters on this list. Hollywood, I'll sell you these plans at a low-low cost.

Cruisin' the Trailer Park

I'm a little behind on my summer movies and so I'm behind on trailers too. I found a few good ones in my quest to catch up. Here's a few movies to look forward to.

The Darjeeling Limited- This is the next movie from Wes Anderson, director of such classics as the Royal Tenenbaums, and The Life Aquatic. In my opinion no matter what he does there is always an offbeat wit and charm that I love. This movie looks no different, telling the story of three brothers on a journey through India. I'm looking forward to this one for sure.

Rocket Science- This movie looks like it could be a great quirky film. One of those coming of age stories that could actually be funny.

3:10 to Yuma- I love a good western movie and with Russel Crow and Christian Bale you can't go wrong. Watch this trailer and tell me they aren't bad ass. Westerns are so few and far between these days so when they do come out it's worth seeing them.

Be Kind Rewind- From Michel Gondry, director of The Science of Sleep and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, we get Be Kind Rewind. Staring Mos Def and Jack Black which seems like an interesting combination. In the trailer it totally works. Just watch the trailer and you'll want to see this movie, it's that simple.

Lars and the Real Girl- I didn't know what to expect when I watched this trailer but even though the idea is a bit weird it looks really interesting. This one could go either way but it's from one of the writers of Six Feet Under so it has potential.

Dan In Real Life- Holy crap, Steve Carell and Dane Cook in the same movie? Well I think this is definitely Carell's moment to shine as this looks like a good blend of drama and comedy. He seems to be keeping a good balance between the over the top comedies and the more serious ventures. I think he is great at both, just as long as he remembers that he's best at being Michael Scott.

Alrighty, thats it for now. As always I want to hear your reactions and even your trailer recommendations in the comments.

Sorry if we're funky

I'm making changes, again. And I'm sort of learning how to web edit as I go. So, if things are a little janky, they'll be fixed shortly.

Love,
C

Misguided Music

Music picks are back with a vengeance. So here we goooo....

Mr. Muffin has been jamming:

Due to an inability to find all three bands cover art.. I'll forgo the usual artwork that accompanies my selections.

The Panic Division - Songs From the Glasshouse

"Versus" is such an underrated album. Not nearly enough people have heard of these guys. Now that I think about it, listen to both of their albums. Their new album is a little bit more toned down than last release, but still good music to listen to.

Jonah Matranga - And

One of the nicest, and coolest guys around. Not to mention he makes great music. This solo release is nothing different to expect, just quality music.

Dragonforce - Inhuman Rampage

Their instrumentals own you. That's about it.

Clab recommends-
1)Nickel Creek- Why Should The Fire Die
Amazing progressive bluegrass. Quite honestly my favorite band.

2)The Dear Hunter- Act II: The Meaning of, And All Things Regarding Mrs. Leading
I'm revisiting this CD over and over.

3) Mae- Singularity
They know how to make catchy music. A little more up tempo from the Everglow album.

Mr Muffin goes to the movies...

This is my first real stab at writing any sort of review of a movie, so cut me some slack.

If you go back a few months when we gave our summer movies we were looking forward to, I put Hot Rod on the list merely because I'm a fan of the work that Andy Samberg does on SNL. After seeing more of the previews, I began to look forward to it more.

With all that being said, I knew full well walking into the movie that this was not going to be the be-all end-all comedy of all time. No awards coming their way. Just a good time and hopefully, lots of laughs.

I'll get my overall thoughts out first, I thought the movie was very funny. It had many original takes while paying homage to 80's movies about overcoming the odds and spoofing them at the same time. One of the most noticeable things with their 80's theme is the soundtrack. From the opening credits to the close, there is nothing but music straight from, or created to sound like movies from years past.

Samberg and his fellow cast mates give performances that seem appropriate for a movie like this. Playing true to their characters, while still having an obvious good time making the movie at the same time. No one's winning an Oscar for their part, but they're doing an excellent job of providing high LPM's.

I don't want to talk to much about the actual movie itself as I would like to avoid spoiling any of it for you, the reader. While some of the scenes feel really cheesy, and sometimes a little dumb, you still find yourself laughing lots. If you're on the fence about the movie.. rent it, you'll have a good time. For those of you who want to see it, what are you waiting for?

You did ask for it...

Remember that video game when you were little, where the end of it had a level that seemed beyond impossible? A level where you hated the guys who made it because it just seemed mean that they would go out and create such difficulty almost to make it so you couldn't beat the game?

Welcome to 2007.

To everyone who said that Dragonforce HAD to have a song on the next Guitar Hero game. You got your wish.



Say hello to the most impossible thing I have ever seen. I think I would get dominated by this on easy.... or even practice mode.

With that said, I'm still planning on getting this game, and trying to get to a point where I'm not that bad at the game either. I'm also going to make this prediction now... this December, we are going to see some 8 year old kid dominating this song on expert just like that one kid who does it to every song on Guitar Hero II.

Misguided 5: Most Loved Toys

So we're getting back into the swing of things around here and that starts with getting Misguided 5 up and running. This week we're taking a short trip down memory lane looking at the toys we grew up with and still wish we had.

The Clab's Toy Box-

1)Lego's- I think a lot of people my age grew up with huge bins of Lego blocks. My box of Legos never got put away for long. It was a never ending supply of entertainment trying to come up with a new vehicle or building to build. I see some of the Star Wars sets they are coming out with today and I seriously consider buying that Millennium Falcon set. Someday I will buy these things for my kids only to steal them when they aren't looking.

2) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles- Ninja Turtles, TMNT, whatever you call them they are classic. I had a ton of TMNT action figures, Leonardo's sword, and somehow I even had a cassette from Pizza Hut of the Ninja Turtles singing and rapping. It was awesome and you wish you had it. If you didn't also have the video tapes from Burger King, then you aren't a true fan.

3) Micro Machines- My pockets tended to be full of small toys when I was a kid. Anything to keep me entertained when my mom dragged me to the store. I still remember playing with Micro Machines under the clothing racks. I could fit a lot more of those tiny cars in my pocket then any other toy. One of the cases where smaller is way better.

4)Nintendo- It might sound a bit cliche', but where would I be without my Nintendo? It was like a whole new world opened up to me when I first played that Mario Bros/Duck hunt cartridge. It was the first step to becoming a true geek and I never looked back. I'm no hardcore gamer today but I still find myself spending way too many hours playing my games.

5) Silly Putty- I love this stuff. I actually think I have one of those red plastic eggs around here somewhere. I would periodically get Silly Putty as a kid and then it would disappear. Usually it would be found stuck to the carpet, couch or car interior. Needless to say that stuff can be like gum and it was a bitch to get out of carpet. I would have long droughts where I couldn't have Silly Putty after that.

Mr Muffin's Toys of Choice -

1.) Transformers - Come on, if you (all 6 of you) didn't see this one coming... you obviously don't come around to read enough. I had so many of these things, it was out of control. I still have some newer ones in my room to this day.

2.) G.I. Joe - Yo Joe! I was all about G.I. Joe, the cartoon, the toys, playing war as my favorite Joe. You name it. The toys were so much fun too. Every guy with their own special gun, all their crazy vehicles. I spent many of hours of my childhood battling the evil Cobra.

3.) Toy guys - Every boy plays war back in the day. My friends and I played a ton. It was just the thing to do. We didn't want to ruin our good toys, so why not do something "stealthy" or "covert?"

4.) Arcade games - I'm skipping Nintendo, everyone had one. Now arcades... those were awesome. I can't even fathom how much money I spent back in the day playing X-Men, the Simpsons, Final Fight.. and so many other games. Arcades were the best part of going to places like the mall, or some of the better pizza places around. I still enjoy playing them from time to time, but having to spend a buck to maybe get to the second level just is not the same as going as far as you can on your first quarter.

5.) Legos - Have you noticed how expensive these things are?? I just did a while back, and now realize I had it made as a child with the tons of Lego pieces I had. Personally, I was a big fan of the futuristic space stuff. They were money.


Cerra Wishes She Still Played With:

1. Voltron: Although I had nothing but love for the other action toys, those Voltron metal lions that all assembled together...awesome. Granted I always fought with the boys over who got to use the finally complete voltron, sharing is caring, it still had awesome battles.

2. She-Ra and He-Man: I ate up anything and everything from this series. I loved the giant Castle Grey Skull, She-Ra's sword, Battle Cat. Just incredibly fun and awesome. I didn't even notice or care how homo He-Man was/is. I have fond memories of my mom making me a she-ra crown so I could run around and stab people with style.

3. Batman: Yeah, my personal favorite superhero of all time. I had an awesome Bat-mobile as well as the Batman himself. He also meshed well with the GI-Joes and Ninja Turtles for some truly epic battles.

4. The Climbing Tree: It was this tree in my front yard with a slightly bent trunk for easy climbing to the lowest branch, which at around 5 ft was MASSIVE to me. Spent hours trying to kill myself by flipping off it in various twists and turns while spinning upside down and trying to land vertically. So much fun. I drove past my old house not too long ago and saw that the bastards had cut off the branch. I thought I was going to cry.

5. The Mac: I loved it with the green screen and when I had to enter in numbers to make it work. When it moved to 16 bit. HOO HAA was that exciting. Oregon trail in color...frogger. And from the guys who created Myst, Manhole. Which was a great alice in wonderland-esque game. Loved those floppy discs. Macs have had a place in my heart since. Oh what? It SOOOO counts as a toy.