The Crossroads

A little task for myself

2010-03-01T21:59:00Z

I've decided to give myself an odd task, to read 100 books from the beginning of the year to June. I have also given myself several rules to follow so here they are:

*I have to read the book, no audio books, this just feels like cheating.

*Since i have to read it I'm not limited to just paper, I can read it on my computer and/or ipod.

*Also no comic books, most cause I read quite a few comics a week.

*I must have some interest in the book(s). I added this to keep myself from going to my sisters room and reading 100 romance novels.

*It must be a book I'm reading for the first time.

Thats really all I can think of it at this time. I am counting all the books I've read since January... well maybe February. January was a lazy book month. So here is a list of books I've read so far.

1. Empress- Karen Miller

2. The Riven Kindgom- Karen Miller

3. Homeland- R.A. Salvatore

4, Exile- R.A. Salvatore

5. Sojurn- R.A. Salvatore

6. The Crystal Shard- R.A. Salvatore

7. ?

And that is where I'm up to now. I have until June 30 of this year to read 94 more books. My mind hurts already.

Zombieland Review

2009-10-05T17:57:00Z

While I am not a big fan of horror movies I really enjoyed Zombieland. The movie surrounds the adventures of a young man nicknamed Columbus (played by Jessie Eisenberg) who has developed rules for surviving Zombieland. As the movie unfolds you realize that this is a different type of zombie movie. The first thing you notice is the cinematography, as Columbus describes his rules for survival various flashbacks and the use of animated text you are warned that this movie is just going to be a roller coaster of fun and destruction.

The next thing you notice is that Columbus is not your typical hero, his rules are just structured cowardice so that he can survive. While he is alive, he is also very alone and not only has no one after the virus hit but also had no one before the virus hit.

Most importantly this movie is just fun. Its not a political commentary. It's not a reimagining of a classic. It's a thin story more suited for a video game that relies on it's humor and horror to entertain and it does so with out apology.

With scenes of little Zombie girls attacking a soccer Mom or a zombie stripper chasing after patrons you can't help to have the bar set high for the movies silliness factor and this movie does not disappoint.
Action scenes that are impossibly over the top and a kick ass red neck stereo types (Woody Harrelson) are just a small part of what makes Zombieland so great. The truth is that this movie takes it's cue from one of my all time favorite TV shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer. There's comedy, there's action and there's even a sprinkle of drama that you don't expect but is actually quite touching. It combines these elements in an unexpected way but entertains none the less

All in all I would say this movie was a pleasant surprise and I highly recommend it. I give it 4 stars out of 5.

Heroes: Redemption Episode 1 (Spoilerific)

2009-09-22T02:32:00Z

I was actually looking forward to the season premier of Castle more than I was Heroes tonight. Nathan Fillion dressing up as a serial killer to meet his daughter's prom date? Priceless. But my computer's been mad at me and working well today, so I thought I'd see what the Petrelli's were up to tonight. I wasn't really expecting Heroes to pull out of its death-spiral. Here's how it did it:

1. Matt/Sylar - This was brilliant. It's like someone on Heroes saw Star Trek and realized that Zachary Quinto really is an actor. He gave Sylar more personality tonight than over the last three seasons, and I'm seeing that none of that was his fault. It reminded me of Farscape, where the main character has a neural clone of his nemesis in his head. Sylar's taunting was definitely the high-point of tonight.

2. Peter - Very Spider-man, but I'm okay with that. It's almost like a reboot of the character, taking him back to where he belongs so they can take him to more interesting places later more naturally. His obsession doesn't come off so well for me, though, but it doesn't hold the story back. Maybe if he explained it by talking about his father instead of the vague "company" it would have been more convincing. I especially loved his simple "Why not let them have it" argument to Noah.

3. Claire - This is one of the first times since season-friggin' one where I haven't felt as if Claire was a drag on the narrative. And there's really something off about her new roommate.

4. Noah - Christ, this guy's been through a lot. Much of it his own doing, but still... I really need them to give me a reason for why he's still doing this, because as of right now I have no clue.

There was one thing that didn't work so well for me, though. Nathan/Sylar. Leave this one alone. No need to bring it to a boil so damn quickly. Let this one simmer. It felt like they were rushing it a little tonight, and I didn't need that.

In conclusion... I haven't felt this interested in Heroes in a while and I'm looking forward to next week. And in case you're wondering I'm a little neutral on the Hiro plot.

1998 Marvel Creator's Collection Sketchagraph cards.

2009-09-18T07:20:00Z

Back in 1998 a set of Marvel Comics Baseball size cards were released, these cards not only had your typical Marvel comics art, each box also contained a piece of Original Artwork. These cards where called “The Marvel Creator’s Collection Sketchagraph Cards “. The idea was to have MarvelComic's artist draw card size sketches. I happen to be one of these artists who worked on the cards, I don’t recalled how many I did but I do know it was quite a few of them. I’ve happen to place some samples of the artwork on to my Comicspace page, and since I didn't have copies of them, I started to look for a few of them on the internet. (And I found that these cards have been sought after for a while now, because of popularity of this set more companies jump on this idea and a slew of sketch cares have come out and a few are still being produce. Recently I found out that they have made a set to represent the Monsters of Hollywood. So, I may have to look into drawing these kinds of cards again.) Well not only did I find my cards on the net I also found, to my surprise, a list of a few of them that sold over the years and well, they sold for a very pretty penny. Below is a list of what I found. WOW! Not bad for a sketch that took me only a few minuets to do. There where so many cards that had to be made we could only spend a short amount of time working on them, and I think I only got paid like 2 bucks a card! It’s great to see how popular the cards got; I do think I’ll have to make a few new ones for conventions. Below are copies of some of the cards Idid.

For more of my artwork place check out my comicspace page www.comicspace.com/ramoskaiju

1998 Marvel Creator'sCollection Sketchagraph cards.

Wilson Ramos Jr.

MCC98 Iron man May, 02,2006 -- $208.50

MCC98 Medusa Mar. 12,2006 ---------- $102.50

MCC98 Cloak and Dagger Jan. 15, 2006 -- $323.00

MCC98 Black Panther Sept. 06,2004 ---------- $119.39

MCC98 Kingpin Apr. 13,2003 -- $112.49

MCC98 Dr. Doom Mar. 08,2003 ---------- $200.69

MCC98 Spider-man Feb. 11,2003 -- $92.00

MCC98 Spinx Jan 05,2003 ---------- $61.33

MCC98 Moon Knight Dec. 16,2002 -- $200.50

MCC98 Black Panther Oct. 27,2002 ---------- $82.21

More to come.

WilsonRamos Jr.

Obama-Wan Kenobi

2009-09-17T03:36:00Z

Coolest

President

Ever.

Marvel Super Hero Squad

2009-09-15T00:07:00Z

I just finished watching the new Super Hero Squad on Cartoon Network. I loved it for some strange reason. The animation was very clean and polished. The jokes were often often funny and sometimes subtle (Thor uttering "So say we all?" Had to be a Galactica reference.) It's targeted at kids, there's no doubt about that, but there's enough substance here for me, too. Give it a shot.

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies Preview

2009-09-12T21:55:00Z

Here's a few minutes of footage from the new DC Animated Movie. After New Frontier, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern, I have to say that Warner animation is kicking all kinds of ass. The funny thing is I didn't like the original story in the comics all that much. Part of the problem is that I just don't like Jeff Loeb, but it was also way over the top. Supers and Bats take on several bad guys in one scene who normally give them a run for their money. The way it was pulled off just seemed to make them far too god-like than I can stand.

That said, I think this will make an excellent piece of animation.

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies

The Expendables

2009-09-09T04:32:00Z

Okay so I just discovered a new action movie slated to come out in 2010. The Expendables, written an directed by Sylvester Stallone. Now many people assume that Stallone is just a dumb action hero but the truth is that Stalone is actually a talented writer who got lazy. He was able to get by for a while on his rep and his physique but in later years he’s gone back to basics and started writing solid stories.

All that aside I have no idea if this new movie will be any good but I am sold on the cast alone. This movie reminds me of the dirty dozen where every action hero they can think of is being brought in for this movie. Besides Stallone Listed actors are Jet Li, Jason Statham, Mickey Rourke, Dolph Lundgren, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Eric Roberts, Arnold Schwarzenegger and there is even a rumour that Bruce willis will be in the movie. The Theater has my 12 dollar. The movie could be the above actors just sitting in a bar discussing the political ramifications of legalizing pot I would still see this movie. Granted this movie is apealing to my childhood but who cares as long as the movie is entertaining.

Check out the full cast at the IMDB.

Welcome

2009-09-08T00:27:20Z

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