Hello everyone, and welcome to “better-late-than-never” May edition of my monthly round up. April had to be skipped over, because I was in Las Vegas, and honestly, I was concentrating on having fun south of the border. And yes, I am aware, when us Canadians mean south of the border, we are not talking about Mexico. Except for the times we are referring to Mexico. You know what I mean.
The rain is coming down like buckets right now, the lightning is making it booming outside. I don’t know about you, but I can listen to that all night, and fall asleep to it any day of the week. Since I was a child, I have loved the sound of a good thunderstorm. It’s so peaceful in its chaos, if that makes any sense. Makes for good background noise to do some writing.
Anyway, let’s get this going.
- First up, a status update on Weight Gate 2012. And the good news is that I am still on the downward cycle. I am altogether down 35 pounds. I have hit a bit of a wall in the last couple of weeks, not moving an inch, but the little milestone, and it’s something to be proud of. With the weight I have, I can lose another 35 pounds, easily. The question is do I want to go that far down. I think I can hit 50 pounds by end of June or end of July, if I go, as the expression goes, balls to the wall. I will reassess at the end of May. I am still a big fan of the progressive targets. It’s easier to say I will lose 5 pounds in two weeks, then say I will lose 50 pounds in six months.
- Not much writing in the last month. I haven’t lost my motivation to write, I just lost time and discipline. I agreed to help a friend out with some freelance website programming, and that should net me some extra coin in my pocket, but it means that I have to sacrifice some free time. Also, there are other things going on in my personal life, but I don’t want to get into explicit details. Keep the private stuff private.
- Speaking of lack of free time, if my Nintendo system had eyes, it would look at me right now with sad puppy dog eyes right now. Seriously. I will get back into it, but the timing has to be found. I did manage to squeeze some time on the Xbox Live Arcade for a little indie game, and I will be typing up my review sooner than later.
- Going to throw out a couple of quick plugs to help out some of the gamers in needs. First, if you haven’t checked out the new and improved “Dojo Retro” site, please check it out. There’s a lot going on, and a lot of potential. There are a lot of excellent writers there. And when you can, don’t forget to send in your vote for their weekly poll. Many retro consoles have a library of games just waiting for you to weigh in on what is considered the best. Also, the almighty legend of Nintendo himself, Eric Bailey, is soon to launch the new “1 More Castle” website. I can’t wait to see the outcome of this. You should too. Also, check out the newest Youtube series “Retromancers“. A couple of good guys, playing some excellent games, and keeping it real for the cameras, and keeping it entertaining. Check them out, as they first conquer Altered Beast, one of the classics.
- Since the Leafs are out for the season, and I am done crying uncontrollably, its time for the hockey playoffs. As of this writing, it’s the second round, and the action is only getting better. I think the Rangers still have the best chance of winning, but because of a good twitter’s friend’s pet hamster, I have to root for St Louis to take it all. But keep an eye out for the Kings. They are strong right now, and even though they were eighth-seeded, they are playing like top seeders.
- My Blue Jays are the team to watch for as well. We may be struggling with teams like the Orioles, but we took two games out of three for the best ranked Texas Rangers. That means something huge. Bautista is slow out of the gate this year, but Encarnacion is filling in nicely. And I’m sorry, but I’m laughing at the Angels right now, spending all that money on Albert Pujols, and he hasn’t had a single homerun so far. I’ll probably be eating my words later in the season, but I can enjoy it while I can.
Okay, we’re done here. Time to see what movies are coming out, and which ones I will be lining up for.
Yes, I would like to see:
Marvel’s The Avengers – May 4
Do I really need to explain why? I think you know why. Don’t make me go into full detail as to why, when you know exactly why? Iron Man: Awesome. Hulk: Great. Thor: Surprisingly great. Captain America: Pretty cool. Put them together, and you got something special. Already have my ticket pre-ordered, so tune in for a review soon.
Battleship – May 18
Make fun of it all you want, it still may be a fun movie. The trailers make it seem formulaic and predictable, but it still could have the potential to be simple and fun. I’d see it on cheap night.
Men in Black 3 – May 25
I’ve seen the first two. I enjoyed the first two. Hopefully I’ll enjoy the third one. Tommy Lee Jones looks to be sitting out on a lot of the movie, which concerns me because he made the first two work flawlessly. But it could still be worth checking out.
No, I have no interest in seeing:
Dark Shadows – May 11
Tim Burton and Johnny Depp is back for the eleventy billionth time, and quite frankly, nothing has impressed me. I’ll wait.
What to Expect When You’re Expecting – May 18
I’m not expecting anything worth watching. But I’m not the target audience, so why would I want to see it?
The Dictator – May 18
Sadly, or gladly depending on how you look at it, it’s not a remake of the old Charlie Chaplin classic. I like Sasha Baren Cohen, but I would go into the theatre thinking I have already seen this. So, I’m not going to burn money in the theatre for this.
Chernobyl Diaries – May 25
It doesn’t help that it’s the same guy who wrote the abysmal Paranormal Activity, but there’s nothing appealing about this at all. I mean, I am thankful they didn’t go the lazy route by doing another Blair Witch ripoff, but it doesn’t look scary or entertaining to me.