Entertainment

Posted inGames

The Agency

by Deck

How cool does this look? …

The game is called The Agency from Sony.

The Agency is an intense action shooter set in a high tech world that lies just around the corner. Live the life of an elite agent in a persistent online world of super spies and rugged mercenaries, who use both the highest technology and the lowest tactics to accomplish their goals. Featuring cooperative and competitive play, The Agency is designed to provide instant action and long term strategy for all fans of espionage, intrigue, and explosive gameplay.

In other words, 24 meets Alias meets Counterstrike. Sign me up!

Posted inGames

Ding!

by Deck

As defined by Wikipedia:

ding - Jargon for advancing a level in many video games, particularly of the role-playing genre. It originates from Everquest as there was a "Ding" sound when you leveled up.

Why do you care? (Well honestly, you probably don’t. ;-))

That’s right, read it and weep, n00bs! It took a while, but I finally overcame my natural gaming attention deficit disorder and played one game long enough to reach the level cap. Yay me!

Here’s a screenshot of the actual Ding moment (click to bigify)…

Lord of the Rings Online

The game is Lord of the Rings Online (blogged previously here and here), and it’s far from over despite the level cap. There’s lots of high-level content to see and phat loot to acquire. The beauty of LotRO is that there’s a ton of Middle Earth left for the developers to add to the game in the form of free updates, and eventually a paid expansion or two. (I can’t wait to explore Moria!)

That’s not to say I’m not looking forward to other games, but Lord of the Rings Online will be my home (literally) for some time to come.

p.s. In LotRO the level up sound effect is actually closer to a “whoosh” than “ding”.

p.p.s. In the interest of full disclosure, I was the last of my regular gaming group to level up. However, I contend that they cheated… How dare they continue playing when I’m lazy and/or not in the mood! :-P

Posted inMusic / Television

Introducing Penelope Fortier…

by Deck

Penelope FortierI’ve noticed a striking brunette in a number of different commercials lately, but didn’t actually make the connection until tonight that they were all the same brunette…

Her name is Penelope Fortier and in just about each new commercial I’ve seen her in, I’ve thought that she reminds me a little bit of Kate Beckinsale (although not so much in this photo).

She has recently appeared in commercials for Radio Shack, Verizon, and in Mastercard’s “My Favorite Things” spot.

However, in addition to her acting/commercial appearances, Penelope is also a talented singer. Check out her MySpace page to hear a selection of her tunes or watch her music video.

Or you could clicky-click the ‘Continue Reading’ link to see these videos here and now. :-)
Continue reading “Introducing Penelope Fortier…”

Posted inTelevision

Saved by the Bionic Woman…

by Deck

I watched the second episode of NBC’s new Bionic Woman earlier tonight (on TiVo of course). I enjoyed this episode more than the premiere (previously blogged here), although that’s not really the point of this entry.

… SPOILER ALERT! …

This episode centered around Jaime’s first official “away mission”. She manages to save a teenager from a bunch of generic paramilitary terrorists, and then steps aside while her new mentor (formerly known as Grey’s Anatomy‘s Dr. Burke) uncovers the location of the rest of the terrorists and their conveniently left-over cache of deadly nerve gas. There, Jaime discovers a map with a number of locations prominently targeted including Jackson, Mississippi and Portland, Oregon. Oh yeah, and another one slightly closer to home…

Target: Springfield

That’s right, the Bionic woman saved me (and the rest of Springfield) from certain gaseous doom.

(I think I experienced a little of that the last time I had a La Bamba burrito. :-P)

Posted inMovies

Meet Wall-E, the Star of Pixar’s Next Movie…

by Deck

Yahoo Movies has the trailer for the next movie from Pixar, makers of such classics as Cars, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Toy Story, and my personal favorite Monsters, Inc.

WALL-E is the story about the last robot left behind after mankind has abandoned Earth. After 700 years of doing what he was built for – he’ll discover what he’s meant for.

WALL-E

Supposedly, the movie is going to have little to no spoken dialogue. Says director Andrew Stanton: “I’m basically making R2-D2: The Movie.” That sounds a little dicey, but Pixar has definitely earned the benefit of the doubt from me.

Check out the new Wall-E trailer, as well as the official site. Also, check out the faux corporate site for Buy n Large, makers of the Wall-E robot line.

Wall-E is scheduled to hit theaters June 27th, 2008.

Posted inTelevision

Five Premieres and a Finale

by Deck

Got a few TV things that I’d like to discuss today… A while ago I blogged about Amazon Unbox on TiVo. Of course, I never actually used the service until just last week. I noticed that Unbox had a number of fall television premieres available for download. For free…

Big Bang TheoryBig Bang Theory premieres Mon 9/24 7:30c on CBS

Big Bang Theory is a harmless half-hour sit-com about a smoking hot stereotypical dizzy blond who moves across the hall from a pair of MIT uber-geeks. Actually, the geek humor is pretty damn funny and the budding puppy love that one of the geeks has for his new neighbor is extremely cute. So, this series is probably doomed.

ChuckChuck premieres Mon 9/24 7:00c on NBC

I think Chuck could be a hit. Coincidentally, it’s also about a geek who’s life changes after he meets a smoking hot blond. Chuck is a life-long underachiever who accidentally has all of the government’s extra-super top secrets uploaded to his brain. So obviously, Chuck teams up with the blond spy to help save the world, one episode at a time. Good stuff.

Bionic WomanBionic Woman premieres Wed 9/26 8:00c on NBC

I’ve been looking forward to this one, because of its shared parentage with Battlestar Galactica. As with BSG, the original bionic lore has been updated and twisted a little bit. OK, a lot. The first episode was interesting, but awkward. It tried a little too hard to be as cool as Galactica. I’ll keep my eye on this one. We’ll see…


JourneymanJourneyman premieres Mon 9/24 9:00c on NBC

I think this has potential, but probably won’t last. Journeyman is about a man who takes, uh, journeys. Through time. So he can help people. I know, I know… You’re thinking Quantum Leap. And you’d be right. But there are differences, and the tantalizing hint of an interesting mythology, which is where the potential come in.

LifeLife premieres Wed 9/26 9:00c on NBC

Life is good. This show is about a detective just released from a maximum security prison after DNA evidence proved that he didn’t commit the heinous crime. With millions from a huge settlement and high motivation to return to the job (and find out who framed him), the main character is quite the character. I hope this one makes it.

Burn NoticeBurn Notice new episodes June 2008

Finally, if you enjoy kick-ass spy action with a healthy side of humor, you should be watching Burn Notice on USA. Unfortunately, if you haven’t caught it yet, you’re a little late… As I type this, the two-hour season finale is on. The Season 1 DVD will be a must-have for me. Have to wait until next summer for Season 2. D’oh!

Posted inGames / On The Web

I Never Metaplace I Didn’t Like

by Deck

MetaplaceRaph Koster is a game designer known for his work as the lead designer of Ultima Online and the creative director behind Star Wars Galaxies.

A little more than a year ago, Raph started a new company named Areae, which has been feverishly working on a super-secret MMO-related project. Today was finally the official unveiling of Raph’s project, called Metaplace.

Metaplace allows anyone to build their own virtual spaces and treat them just like any other Web site. You can build chat rooms, store-fronts, online apartments, and all kinds of homebrewed games and attach them easily to your blog or MySpace page. Areae is even building their own full-blown MMO using the Metaplace tools.

From the FAQ…

Can I make my own world?

That’s sort of the whole point. You should be able to stage up a massively multiplayer world with basic chat and a map you can build on in less than five minutes. It’s that easy. Inherit a stylesheet — puzzle game, or shooter, or chat world — and off you go! Building maps and places is as easy as pasting in links from the Web, and dragging and dropping the pictures into your world.

Of course, as with any Web 2.0-ish social experiment where users generate most or all of the content, 90% of the resulting product will be complete crap.

<cough>MySpace<cough> <cough>YouTube<cough>

Uh, sorry about that. Of course, that also means that 10% is pretty good stuff. If Metaplace really is as easy as they make it sound, it should be extremely interesting to see what kind of cool stuff we end up with…

Posted inMovies / On The Web / Television

An Archive of Siskel and Ebert (and the other guy)

by Deck

The Balcony Archive

Ever wonder what Siskel and Ebert (or Ebert and Roeper) thought about Independence Day (2 thumbs down), That Thing You Do (2 thumbs up), or Serenity (2 thumbs up)?

Gene and I knew those old shows would be worth saving, but for a long time nobody agreed with us. In the years before home video, it seemed like a waste of expensive video tape to preserve hundreds of episodes of “Opening Soon at a Theater Near You,” “Sneak Previews” or “At the Movies.”

Fortunately, someone finally agreed with Ebert and started saving the old shows. Now, the past twenty-ish years of movie reviews are indexed and available for our (re)viewing pleasure at the Balcony Archive.

Posted inHumorousness / Movies / Television

I’ve Been Simpsonized!

by Deck

Despite the fact that everyone should just know that Homer and Bart’s hometown of Springfield, USA is nowhere near Vermont, I haven’t forsaken The Simpsons completely.

So, here I am Simpsonized…

Dave and Boo - Simpsonized

Not bad, although I must say that my cat Boo is better looking than Snowball (pictured).

You too can become a Simpsons character by visiting Simpsonize Me. Upload a headshot of yourself, and then tweak the available options in faces, hairstyles, body types, and accessories.

Don’t know about you, but I’m digging the orange and purple cabinets. Maybe it’s time for a kitchen makeover at Casa de DeckMonster. ;-)