The A-Bomb

Week of June 21st, 2008

Isn’t that a clever title? Huh? I thought so. This week, in addition to publicly exclaiming my love for the new Indiana Jones movie, I’ve done some picks for things that are, in my eyes, ‘independent’ and therefore lesser known.

Movie: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

I admit I went into this movie with some reservations, as I loved the original trilogy like most sane people, and was worried this would screw up the franchise (mostly due to George Lucas’ involvement). Thankfully, I was pleasantly surprised by the pure unadulterated awesomeness that came from this movie. I was confused during the first few scenes, but soon, as Indiana Jones randomly discovers a nuclear test site and survives the impending explosion by hiding inside a lead lined (clearly marked) refrigerator that this movie was made to be hilarious and campy. The plot was decent (although pretty ridiculous), but the dialog and the events throughout were so lame that it was AWESOME. Harrison Ford was great for being really old and Shia Labeouf redeemed himself in my eyes after pissing me off to no end in Transformers. Also I loved that Janitor from Scrubs and Charles Widmore from LOST both showed up in the same scene.

Television Show: The ‘Bu

Created by the geniuses behind The Lonely Island, before they went on to write/act for SNL and create the amazing movie Hot Rod, this is a ‘teen soap drama’ the likes of ‘The O.C.’ and it’s so fantastic I don’t know where to begin. The first episode is a little strange (with the crazy squirrel and 3D glasses stuff) but still hilarious. After that the episodes have a bit of a continuity and it’s pretty awesome. Also Sarah Chalke of Scrubs and second Becky from Roseanne fame stars in a few episodes. Check it out at their website and enjoy.

Music: Majestic Vaginas

MajVag for short, these up and comers only have two songs released to the public so far, but what I’ve heard from them is fantastic. They seem to be from Europe, although I’m not sure from where exactly. They are definitely a band to keep an eye on, I’ve heard talks about another song being released to the public soon. Check out their profile on Reverbnation for now, and then when they hit it big you can say you liked them before they were popular.

Book: Seven Hill City by B. Thompson Stroud

I’m cheating a bit here, as I have not actually read this book yet. But that is mostly due to not having a credit card anymore and can’t order it off of amazon. However, I have read many many things by the author and can say without a doubt that he is one of the most talented writers I’ve come across. To see for yourself, you can read tons of things by him at his website. As soon as I get a chance I am reading this book, not only due to my love of his other writings but I’ve heard from all that HAVE read it that it is a fantastic read. For more information check out the listing at amazon, and if you enjoy his writing then check this book out.

Video Game: J.D. Spy

This is a game I came across a long time ago and was immediately impressed. First of all, the game starts out with an error message, that you have to decipher and fix to access the main game. And that’s the easiest part of it. The rest of the game works as a sort of mail client that you get fake mail/instant messages from someone asking for your help. As you go through the story you have to use a multitude of encryption and hacking that really immerses you in the world and you need to use your actual browser and other tools on your computer to progress. I admit I still haven’t beat it and it’s really, really tough. But it’s one of the better ‘reality’ games out there and if you enjoy those browser based puzzle games like Notpron then you’ll likely enjoy this game as well. The official site is down I’m afraid but you can find it at other sites, like Megagames for example.

This time next week I’ll be ready to hang myself due to the impending stress of my summer plays opening and therefore the picks may be late. But check back throughout the week anyway, who knows when I decide to post something new!