This blog is about the latest and greatest in the world of entertainment. It focuses on new movies, TV shows, music, video games and comics and some of the classics.
DragonForce are back with their fifth full-length album The Power Within, which is the follow up to 2008’s Ultra Beatdown. The Power Within features Marc Hudson on vocals, who replaces vocalist ZP Theart. This album is different from previous DragonForce albums for two reasons one being the new addition of Marc Hudson who is a much more capable vocalist than his predecessor and the other being a change in the DragonForce writing formula. The Power Within contains some of the shortest songs they have ever done and the songs are not all in the super-fast tempo that is expected from DragonForce.
DragonForce are viewed by many detractors as the ACDC of power metal, in that “all their songs sound the same” and The Power Within completely demolishes that statement, which is always made about them. The album does features songs that sound like DragonForce of old such as Die By The Sword and Fallen World, but the album also features songs that completely unexpected when listening to a DragonForce album, such as Cry Thunder and both Seasons. There is also an acoustic version of Seasons along, which is amazing and is a first for DragonForce.
The Power Within is a great album that is packed full of amazing songs. I can only hope that DragonForce continues with the direction they went for The Power Within on their next album because it is the best DragonForce album yet and is sure to only establish them as one of the best power metal bands today. Go and get this album, you won’t be disappointed.
This blog post is different than the others have been so far because I wanted to write about a TV character who we could all relate to and here he is, hope you enjoy it. “Butters” Stotch is one of the most relatable characters in South Park and he represents a never-ending innocence, unlike every other character in the show. Butters is a typical happy-go-lucky child and that’s relatable because we were all once like that and in some ways Butters also represents our inner child.
Butters is the typical good natured, cheerful, optimistic child. Butters never swears he uses other phrases such as “oh hamburgers” because he is always anxious that he will get in trouble if he does anything that he sees as even remotely wrong. We can relate to this because when we were younger we would never swear out of fear that we would get in trouble. Butters is always cheerful and a happy child who just loves life and enjoys every minute of it, which we all were. Butters is extremely optimistic, the littlest things in life excite him such as going to eat at a restaurant. All kids get really excited and optimistic from the simple things, which is why it is so easy to relate Butters.
Butters has a huge imagination and all of his playtime activities consist of characters he has created for himself or putting himself into unique places where he can have fun. Butters creates characters for himself such as Inspector Butters, Big Rig Butters, Professor Chaos and many other characters. Butters also likes to sing and make up songs when he is having fun or doing anything.
This is relatable to us because we have all come up with our own characters when we were having our playtime and put ourselves in unique situations. Even as we get older we often use our imagination to see ourselves in situations we are not normally in. We can all relate to Butters because no matter what age we are, we always using our imaginations in unique ways.
Butters is relatable to us because when we see him using his imagination or see how optimistic he is, it reminds of when we were younger and also Butters represents our inner child who is innocent and good natured, which is why he is such a great character.
Wrestlemania 28 has come and gone, it was being called the biggest Wrestlemania ever, but is this true? I can tell you that that’s not entirely true, but it could have been much better than it was. So here we go, sit back and let’s see what went right and wrong with Wrestlemania 28.
The show opened with The World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan taking on Sheamus. These two superstars were scheduled to face each other last year but the match never made the show and this year, what happened was only slightly better than that. This match was a total of 18 seconds and Sheamus is the new World Heavyweight Champion. This match could have been great but for some reason it was only 18 seconds and not a good way to start the show.
Randy Orton vs. Kane was up next and surprisingly this match was actually pretty good. The match started out slow but eventually picked up the pace and Kane won with a Chokeslam off of the second rope, which was pretty cool. The Big Show then defeated Cody Rhoades to become the new Intercontinental Champion in a pretty short match that was nothing special. Up next was the washroom break known as the Divas tag-team match Kelly Kelly and Maria Menounos defeated Beth Phoenix and Eve Torres.
Up next was the Hell in a Cell with Triple H taking on The Undertaker with a new hair due with Shawn Michaels as the special guest referee. This match started off as a great brawl between the two veterans but once Triple started beating The Undertaker with the steel chair it pretty much went downhill from there. Like past Wrestlemania matches featuring The Undertaker, they tried to add too drama to this match and it just kept going and going and the match felt like it was an hour long. Triple H and The Undertaker had a better match last year and this one almost bored me to tears like a crying Shawn Michaels. Undertaker wins 20-0, like expected let’s hope these two don’t wrestle each other anymore.
Team Johnny vs. Team Teddy was up next for control over both Raw and Smackdown. Team Johnny consisted of David Otunga, The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, Mark Henry and Drew McIntyre with Vickie Guerrero and Brie Bella. Team Teddy consisted of Santino Marella, R-Truth, Zack Ryder, Kofi Kingston, Booker T and The Great Khali with Hornswoggle, Aksana, Eve and Nikki Bella. This match was crowded with a few cool moments in it such as the Monkey Flip to Dolph Ziggler and the triple dive over the top rope which was cool. Eve distracted Ryder and The Miz won the match for Team Johnny who now controls Raw and Smackdown. After the match Eve kicked Zack in the balls.
The Best in the World CM Punk vs. The Best in the World at everything he does Chris Jericho. As expected from these two superstars who are fighting over Best in the World supremacy and the WWE Championship, this match was awesome and the match of the night. Lots of cool moments like the Suplex to the outside of the ring, the mid-air Codebreaker and the end of the match where each superstar kept reversing each other’s submission moves. CM Punk won the match when Chris Jericho couldn’t escape from the Anaconda Vice, to retain the WWE Championship.
Once in a lifetime John Cena vs. The Rock was the main event of Wrestlemania 28. I had low expectations for the match itself and I was surprised how good this match really was. John Cena made The Rock look great in this match. I noticed the crowd seemed to only chant towards Cena rather than the hometown Rock, which was a bit odd. John Cena got cocky towards the end of the match and went to hit The Rock with the Peoples Elbow and The Rock hit him with a Rock Bottom and won the match. I don’t think I have ever been mad based on the result of a wrestling match but this really annoyed me. John Cena should have won this match and when The Rock won I smelt what The Rock was cooking and it smelt like horseshit.
Just announced Kiss and Mötley Crüe are going to tour United States and Canada together. Kiss and Mötley Crüe are two of the biggest rock and roll bands in the world right now and a co-headlining tour will be huge. Both bands are bringing their full stage shows on tour, so be sure to expect fire, blood, pyrotechnics and kick ass rock and roll when these two huge bands hit the stage.
You wanted the best, you got the best the hottest band in the world KISS! Kiss was formed in January 1973. The band is known for its face paint, stage outfits and their spectacular live performances, which includes fire breathing, blood spitting, guitars that shoot rockets, levitating drums and lots of pyrotechnics. The band has sold over 100 million albums worldwide. The band consists of founding members Paul Stanley (The Starchild) on vocals and guitar, Gene Simmons (The Demon) on bass and vocals, and members Tommy Thayer (The Spaceman) on lead guitar and Eric Singer (The Catman) on drums. Kiss has recently finished work on their 20th album Monster which is due for a summer release, which they will tour in support of.
The bad boys of Rock and Roll Mötley Crüe, consists of original members Vince Neil on vocals, Nikki Sixx on bass, Mick Mars on lead guitar and Tommy Lee on drums. Mötley Crüe was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles, California. Mötley Crüe is known for not only their hit songs but the reckless and decadent lives that they all lead, which is defined as sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Mötley Crüe has sold over 80 million albums worldwide. The band is currently in the studio recording a new song that will be released in time to tour in support of it.
Be sure to check out this tour it is sure to be awesome. I know where I will be September 13, 2012. For tour information visit http://www.kissonline.com/ or http://motley.com/. "The Tour" is sure to rock and roll all night on the wild side.
The Walking Dead season 2 finale, Beside The Dying Fire has come and gone and there is only one word to describe the finale, and that word is intense. From beginning to end this was an awesome episode and certainly lived up to the expectations that I had from the finale. This episode had the fallout of the death of Shane, many questions have been answered, a few surprises and the group has finally left the farm after being there pretty much all of season 2 and will be on to bigger and better things next season.
Before I start talking about the finale, I want to do a short recap of what happened since the mid-season finale. Dale had been killed by a walker, which Carl set free when he got too close to it. It ripped dales chest open when he went for a walk because he refused to stick around when the group were going to kill the prisoner Randall. Darryl and Glen found Randall who turned into a walker after Shane snapped his neck. Shane lured Rick out into a field to murder him, so he could take control of the group and take Rick’s family to be his own. Rick calmed Shane down and when Shane let his guard down Rick stabbed him in the chest and killed him. Carl shot Shane who had turned into a walker that was going to bite Rick and we then see a herd of walkers making their way to the farm.
The season finale opened with a great scene that shows how the walkers formed a giant herd and made their way from Atlanta to the farm that the group was staying on. When the walkers heard the gunshot they started to go in the direction of the sound and that led them to the farm. This was a good scene because it showed how the walkers got to the farm and that they just weren’t there randomly to overrun the farm.
The first half of this episode was what everybody who is a fan of this show has been clamouring for and that is more zombies and more zombie kills. If you one of those fans you’re in luck because this episode delivers. Rick and Carl notice the walkers and run to the barn to hide to draw them away from the house where everybody else was staying. Rick poured gas all over the barn and let the walkers in and Carl dropped the lighter and the barn went up in flames. While this was going on the other members of the group were trying to fight off the herd of walkers and escape from the farm with everyone together. Jimmy who was trying to help Rick and Carl escape the barn was eaten alive by a group of walkers and Patricia was also eaten when trying to escape the farm with the other women. The rest of the group manages to escape the barn except for Andrea who gets left behind to fend for herself.
The second half of the episode is dramatic and exciting, but the walker killing is still not over yet. The group manages to reconvene at the highway where they had set up supplies for Sophia when she went missing. The group mourns their losses and decides to find a new place where they can make a home and be safe from walkers. We then see Andrea who is running from walkers in the forest by herself, where she is a badass and takes out several walkers, while staying on the move not to get caught by them. She is tired and running low on bullets and has to fight the walkers off. Andrea is then tackled by a walker and right before we think she is going to get eaten she is saved by a mysterious hooded person (known as Michonne to comic book fans), who wields a katana and has two walkers chained to her, which was awesome.
Rick and the rest of the group stop on the side of a road and come up with a plan to stay there for the night and look for supplies and a new place to live in the morning. Darryl questions why Randall turned into a walker without having been bitten and Rick finally tells them and us what Dr. Jenner whispered in his ear when they were leaving the CDC in the finale of the first season. All of the survivors are infected and as soon as they die from any cause they will turn into walkers. This causes the group (except for Darryl and Herschel) to be angry with Rick and question his leadership from holding such a big secret from them. Rick then tells Lori how Shane died and that Carl shot walker Shane, which shocks her and causes her to pull away from Rick.
Later that night the group hears a noise and Rick doesn’t let anybody investigate in case they were to be attacked and Carol questions Rick again and Rick finally snaps. He then tells the group that he didn’t ask to be in charge and keep everybody safe and he tells the group that he killed Shane for them so they would be safe. Rick then encourages anybody who doesn’t believe in him to leave and when nobody does he tells them “If you're staying, this isn't a democracy anymore," where he establishes himself as the leader of the group. The camera then pans away from the makeshift camp site where the group is staying for the night and we see a shot of a prison as the season ends.
This was an exciting episode and a very exciting season that was full of twists, surprises, excitement and drama. I can’t wait for the next season of The Walking Dead, which is sure to be bigger and better than this season was, October can’t come soon enough. For more information on The Walking Dead visit http://www.amctv.com/shows/the-walking-dead.
South Park returned last night with the 16th season premiere Reverse Cowgirl. The episode is focused on a disaster that occurs when one of the South Park boys fails to listen to repeated warnings to put the toilet seat down after he is done in the bathroom. Trey Parker and Matt Stone have done it again because this episode is South Park at its finest- with a funny plot, satire and moments that are sure to make you laugh your ass off. So sit back, relax and enjoy my blog at least half as much as I do.
I bet when you read what this episode is about you assumed that the boy is Butters, but that would have been too obvious. The boy who just would not put the seat down was Clyde Donovan. The episode starts with the boys playing at Clyde’s house, then they hear Clyde’s mom scream for Clyde to get inside because he never puts the toilet seat down after he uses it. Clyde was embarrassed and asked his friends to not tell anybody at school and Cartman of course told everybody right away as soon as the next day started. While at school, Clyde’s mom comes back and yells at him to go home and put the seat down, which only prolongs his embarrassment.
Butters then finds out how he uses the toilet wrong, where he uses the toilet backwards, so he sits the opposite way so he can use the back of the toilet as a table for his comics or chocolate milk and so the flusher is right in front of him when he goes. Butters then gets a little embarrassed after not knowing how to use the toilet properly.
Remember that disaster I mentioned earlier? Well here it is, once again Clyde forgot to put the seat down and his mother who got up during the night to use the toilet fell into the toilet because the seat was up and got her ass stuck in the toilet. The Ambulance and the Police had to be called to the house to get her out, but it was worse than they thought. When she fell into the toilet she accidently flushed the toilet and if they tried to pull her out or turn off the water it would suck out her insides and she would die. She accepted her fate and asked for the water to be shut off and she died.
This led to her funeral, where there was an open casket that had a toilet inside with Clyde’s mom still stuck, but they managed to dress her up somehow. In the South Park fashion, this was unlike any other funeral because the eulogies were either the men talking about how women should take the extra second to put the seat down, and the women saying how the men should take the extra second to put the seat down, instead of being about the departed.
The disaster which was caused by Clyde’s mom not putting down the toilet seat lead to the Toilet Safety Administration (a play on the Transportation Security Administration) to implement new toilet safety regulations, such as all toilets needing safety harnesses and security cameras. Randy Marsh got a ticket for not having his safety harness while on the toilet, which was only the beginning of the extremes that the TSA were going to go to, to make sure the toilet safety regulations were kept in order.
The TSA then began conducting inspections for private and public bathrooms which made the lines even longer and the TSA employees were going as far as searching inside peoples assess and wiping them to make sure the regulations were in order. The whole town is in uproar because of this and tries to find a way out of it. A TSA employee, who is monitoring the bathroom security cameras and enjoying it, sees Cartman on the monitor with a gun, a baby, and a TSA inspection employee as a hostage on camera. This leads to Randy Marsh speaking out against the TSA saying that a terrorist got past the security checkpoints.
The town then tries to contact and sue the inventor of the toilet John Harington with a sueance. The ghost of Harington appears at the courthouse and tells the people of South Park that when using the toilet you are supposed to be facing the tank, much to everybody’s surprise including Butters. We then see Clyde using the toilet the way it is 'supposed' to be used and when he is done he puts the seat up and gives the middle finger to his dead mother.
So now that you guys know the proper way to use the toilet, you can feel welcome to try it out while reading my blog. Reverse Cowgirl was a great episode of South Park and season 16 is already off to a great start. I can’t wait for more hilarious episodes in the coming weeks. For more information about upcoming or previous South Park episodes visit http://www.southparkstudios.com/.
The Simpsons episode 22 Short Films about Springfield, gives us the chance to see inside the lives of other Springfield residents in a series of short stories. This episode is a loose parody of the film Pulp Fiction, in that all the stories intertwine with each other to form the overall plot of the episode. The episodes title is a reference to the movie 32 Short Films about Glenn Gould and there are only fourteen short stories in this episode not twenty-two like the title suggests. So sit back and relax while I go through each short story and talk about the greatness which is this episode.
The episode starts out perfectly with Bart and Milhouse pouring ketchup and mustard on cars from an overpass. Bart then wonders if anything interesting happens to the people of Springfield, which kicks off the episode a look into the lives of some of the lesser known Simpson characters.
Apu is up first the story titled “The Jolly Bengali” where Apu’s brother Sanjay invites him to a party at his house. Apu is reluctant to at first, but then decides to “party for the next five minutes like it’s on sale for $19.99”. Apu then goes to the party and eats a hotdog, drinks beer, dances, then does the deed with a woman and then falls in the pool and is back at the Kwik-E-Mart with one minute to spare.
Lisa is next where Bart throws gum in her hair and Marge tries to get it out using a ridiculous amount of techniques, which only makes matters worse for Lisa. Marge uses Peanut Butter and Mayonnaise and then tells Lisa to sit outside and let it melt in but then she is attacked by bees and we then see one single bee fly away which leads is into the next story.
Mr. Burns and Smithers are out for a bike ride, Mr. Burns sits on the back of the two peddled bike and reads a magazine, while Smithers does all the work. Well that bee we just saw flies into Smithers eye and Mr. Burns tries to swat away the bee and it stings Smithers on the eye, who then begins to have an allergic reaction. Smithers asks Mr. Burns to peddle but we all know that isn’t going to happen so Mr. Burns gets them to the hostipal the only way he can, by coaching Smithers to do all of the peddling to get them there. They finally get to the hospital and they fall off the bike and the hospital workers bring Mr. Burns inside and leave Smithers on the street. Dr. Nick then walks by and gives Smithers change and walks into the hospital.
Dr. Nick is under review by the Medical Review Board for one-hundred and sixty mischarges such as performing surgery with a knife and fork. Dr. Nick is then called to see Grandpa Simpson who is demanding to see a doctor. We then see Dr. Nick’s medical incompetence when he tells Grandpa that if he doesn’t calm down he is going to give himself skin failure and that Grandpa’s skeleton will try to leap out of his body. Dr. Nick solves the problems Grandpa is experiencing and the charges against him are dropped.
We then see Moe and Barney who are talking about Barney’s bar tab and how much he owes Moe (which is fourteen billion dollars), Barney then gives Moe two-thousand dollars and Moe takes it. Snake then enters the bar with a gun and demands Moe to give him the money or he will shoot Barney, Moe then runs away and hides in a crawl space and tells Snake to do his worst. Snake then takes all the money while Moe has to watch from his crawl space.
Seymour Skinner and Superintendant Chalmers are up next in a way we have never seen them before. Usually when these characters are together Chalmers yells at Skinner for not running the school properly. Here we see them having a somewhat normal conversation with Skinner lying constantly and being called out by it. Skinner tries to make Chalmers dinner, but ends up setting his house on fire and trying to disguise food from Krusty Burger as his own. This is a great exchange between these two characters, who have a real interesting dynamic when paired together.
Homer is up next where he accidently locks Maggie in a newspaper vending box and tries desperately to get her out. Homer tries to pull Maggie out from it but pulls out her clothes instead and tries to send the dog for help, which also doesn’t work for him. He also has no quarters to get her out because he stopped at the train tracks for fun. Homer then uproots the box and places it in Maggie’s bedroom, with Maggie still inside.
We have Bumblebee Man up next, who we see for the first time out of costume and talking to his wife about his day, where he got pecked on the head by a woodpecker, electrocuted and hit with a giant baseball. We then think that Bumblebee Man is not like the character he plays on TV, until oranges fall out of his cupboard and he begins to fall over them and accidently makes his house fall apart.
We then see Snake run over Chief Wiggum and the two begin to fight in a scene straight out of Pulp Fiction from the Gold Watch Segment of the film. Snake and Wiggum begin a long fight where they tackle each other and roll into Herman’s store, who captures them by gunpoint.
Reverend Lovejoy then urges his dog to use Ned Flanders lawn as a toilet, but when Flanders see this Lovejoy says his dog is bad and he condemns him to hell, but then whispers to the dog not to stop. Flanders then goes to the Simpsons house to borrow a shovel but sees Marge still trying to get the gum out of Lisa’s hair. Flanders suggests to freeze the gum and smash it with a hammer to get it out, but this only makes matters worse. Various townspeople show up and give their opinions on how to get it out which leaves Lisa more embarrassed than before.
Cletus “The Slack-Jawed Yokel” is up next in a story which has a very catchy theme song, which will get stuck in your head. We see Cletus giving his wife boots he found to wear to her job but she doesn’t want them because they will dirty the topless dancing runway where she works. Cletus then puts the boots back on the telephone pole where he got them.
We then go to Comic Book Guy’s store where Milhouse has to use the bathroom, but cant unless he makes a purchase. Once the transaction is complete Milhouses dad comes in and catches Milhouse buying a comic and drags him out before he can use the bathroom. Milhouse and his dad show up at Herman’s store next where Herman has Snake and Chief Wiggum tied up. Herman allows Milhouse to use the bathroom and points a gun at his dad, but Milhouse comes out of the bathroom playing with a mace and accidently hits Herman in the face and Chief Wiggum makes his escape.
Lisa then goes to the barbershop to get the gum cut out of her hair and is happy with her new haircut until Nelson laughs at her. Nelson then begins to laugh at a woman who fell over and a man driving a small car. The man in the car gets out and makes Nelson walk down the street with his pants down while everybody laughs at him, and as he is walking he gets ketchup and mustard poured on him from Bart and Milhouse. Bart then says to Milhouse that interesting things do happen to the residents on Springfield, but there is no time to hear all of the stories. Professor Frink then runs onto the screen wanting to tell his story but he is late due to problems at his lab and a monkey stealing his glasses. The screen fades to black as Frink tries to tell his story but we never get to hear it.
In my opinion this is one of the best Simpsons episodes ever because we got to see into the lives of characters we wouldn’t normally see stories about and I had a great time re-watching it again and it only gets better after each viewing. I urge you to re-watch this episode from The Simpsons because of the great intertwining stories that make for a great episode.
