Distraction: What good day was Ice Cube talking about?

Ever wonder when exactly was that "good day" Ice Cube was rapping about in his 1992 song "It Was a Good Day"?

Here, a theory: Someone figured out exactly what ‘Good Day’ Ice Cube was talking about (NYMag.com)

Distraction: Spotting X-Files in everything

Ever recognize bits and pieces of your favorite television shows in your other favorite shows?

Any of this sound familiar? How to spot The X-Files in Homeland, Breaking Bad, and American Horror Story (NYMag's Vulture.com)

Things I Forgot Were Happening in 2012: Part II

...The Mayan Apocalypse!

Just kidding, I didn't really forget. How could I? But I did forget a lot of what I learned about the Mayan calendar, history and culture since taking an ancient history courses in college.

Perhaps it's time to brush up!

Many ruins of Mayan villages still exist. Have you ever been to any?

I've seen one in Mexico, but it would be great if I could visit some other locations.

This article gives you a window into Mayan ruins throughout Latin America: Celebrating Year of the Maya with tour of Latin America's ruins

So, where would you like to travel?

Things I Forgot Were Happening in 2012: Part I

Here come the Men In Black! (wait, what? why?)

So, I completely forgot this movie comes out this summer.

I love-love-loved the first movie, tolerated but chuckled through the second one, but, seriously, how tired do Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones look in the trailer? Like they are too tired to even count their millions, right? Am I being rude? I'm sorry. But of all franchises I would rather look upon fondly as a fun moment of my childhood and not something I should try to explain why it can still be cool to my eye-rolling kid brother (I say with love), well, Men In Black is somewhere on the VIP list (also, He-Man, She-Ra, Nickelodeon's GUTS).

That isn't to say I won't check it out. Maybe I will. Maybe they will surprise me. I hope so! But if it is indeed better than its trailer implies, it may be time for new trailer tropes for summer blockbusters in the coming years.

In the mean time, rock out to this classic. You guys know you remember the dance!

P.S. I got called out by my dear longtime friend Chris on Twitter for not posting enough (visit his blog or follow him on Twitter @cjhannas). Whatever, I was napping. For the entire winter. I will play your little game shortly. Also, I briefly entertained the idea of fighting you for who had Hunger Games first, but I'm busy making a grilled cheese sandwich.

Battle: Star Wars vs. Star Trek

Star Wars. Star Trek. Spock. Yoda. Two great, sprawling sci-fi universes, with stand-out characters and hyper-devoted fans. In some circles, to be a follower of both can be cause for suspicious questioning, much like saying one saying he or she likes the New York (Football) Giants AND the New York Jets. As if you can't like cupcakes AND cookies.

"But which is your real favorite?"

A post on one of CNN's blogs launches into a showdown between the two fantasy behemoths. What do you think?

Thoughts on thoughts: So, in the grand battle of Star Wars vs. Star Trek, who is your winner?

'Look out, here comes the Spider-Man'

New photos have been posted to Facebook page for The Amazing Spider-Man movie, starring Andrew Garfield (as Peter Parker/Spider-Man) Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Martin Sheen and Sally Field, which is slated for release July 3, 2012. See the trailer and check out the photo album!

Price is right

Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles

I know. Everyone is still playing Skyrim (except me **grumble, grumble**).

But if you happen to be taking a break from playing with virtual dragons and steeds and want to save some cash, now is the time to stock up on some solid mobile games as many game developers are having pretty awesome holiday sales on their apps.

Electronic Arts (The Sims, Madden NFL), Gameloft (Assassin's Creed, Rainbow Six) and Big Fish Games (behind a variety of bestselling puzzle mystery casual games) have reduced the price of a number of their apps down to $.99. That's a saving of almost $4 to $5 for some of the more popular (and expensive) listings from the last couple of years.

I, myself, bought Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles and Tom Clancy's Rainbox Six: Shadow Vanguard for iPhone and Shadow Guardian for Android (Kindle Fire edition) — all at $.99 — pretty immediately.

List of Gameloft games on sale on iTunes
• Silent Ops
• BackStab
• Fast Five the Movie: Official Game
• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Shadow Vanguard
• N.O.V.A. 2 - Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance
• Spider-Man: Total Mayhem
• Iron Man 2
• James Cameron's Avatar
• The Settlers
• Assassin's Creed - Altaïr's Chronicles
• Gangstar Rio: City of Saints
• 9mm
• Gameloft Action Pack (iPhone only)
• Gameloft Sports Pack (iPhone only)
• Rayman 2: The Great Escape (iPhone only)
• Driver (iPhone only)
• Warplanes (iPad only)

EA has listed their sales and deals here: eamobile.com/dailydeals

Get the games while the sales last. Happy holidays!

Break-stuff Bane

The new movie poster for next summer's Dark Knight Rises is out. See Bane? Those familiar with the comic book story line (and Superman's!) may see a bit more woven in the poster than the average fan, but still, pretty dark, right? And so, the legend ends, they say. Well, I suppose all great, awesome, amazing things must come to a conclusion eventually. Though director and writer Christopher Nolan (seriously, standing ovation) apparently is finishing up his own personal Batman trilogy, it is likely that hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office will equal future Bruce Wayne stories coming to the screen from separate sources. (Do I make a New 52 reference here?)

Anyway, in other news, should you be heading out to see the new Mission Impossible entry MI: Ghost Protocol, consider heading to one of the IMAX theaters slated to be showing an exclusive 6-minute preview of Dark Knight Rises on Dec. 16.

Who else is getting excited?

Enter the Batman

Some of the scenes for the new Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises, that is slated to come out next summer are being filmed in Newark, N.J. Production was scheduled for Thursday and Friday in the city.

As a mega Batman fan and lover of pretty much all things DC Comics, how awesome would it be to take part in that — even to just catch a few glimpses of the cast? Hopefully, Newark Mayor Cory Booker (follow him on Twitter) gets to enjoy some of that; I hear he's a comic book geek, too!

Sigh. Where does he get those wonderful toys? Where, indeed. 

Full story: Batman movie to film in Newark

P.S. I need Batman: Arkham City to happen to me. Birthday presents?

Apple calls it 'magical'

Apple CEO Steve Jobs shows off the new iPad
during an event Wednesday. By the way,
am I the only one who thinks he looks
like he's going to kiss it? (Paul Sakuma/AP)

The iPad, Apple's new entry in the tablet category, is finally here, ladies and gentlemen.

General reception, besides some snickering at the name (come on, I heard you laughing, too), seems fairly positive. But, what does it offer besides a pretty display? Will it have the easy elegance and power that the iPhone offers?

The basics:
• The iPad has a 9.7-inch touch screen, is a half-inch thick, weighs 1.5 pounds
• It comes with 16, 32 or 64 gigabytes of flash memory storage
• The basic models will cost $499, $599 and $699, depending on the storage size
• All models have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity built in; a version with pay-as-you-go 3G data plans from AT&T will be available in the U.S., but those models will cost more depending on memory
• The Wi-Fi only version will be available worldwide in March, and the 3G version in April.

Anyway, as much as I whined and pouted, I wasn't able to manage a hands-on with the device, so I'm still formulating my final opinion on it. But other bloggers have plenty of thoughts to offer:

• Engadget gets to play with the iPad and compares 3G costs on the iPhone vs. iPad.
• Pulptone: How the iPad could affect the comic book industry
• New York Times: With Apple Tablet, Print Media Hope for a Payday
• MSNBC: iPad reactions: Nothing could have met hype

So, who wants one? I know I do :)

Wish I were there

For the curious (aka everyone on the planet):
Engadget and MacLife (among many, many others) are live-blogging the Apple news conference event. Join in!

P.S. Apple is calling their lovely new creation an iPad. We'll discuss later. :)

Think different(ly), squared

So, a very important leader to millions across the United States of America will take to the podium tomorrow. His carefully crafted speech likely will deliver great news, news so many have been waiting with bated breath to hear. News that could shape a generation. News that will make techies either groan or squeal with unequaled, unabashed joy.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs is seen
during an Apple event in September
in San Francisco
(File Photo / AP)

Yup, you got it: I'm not talking about President Obama and his State of the Union address — I'm talking about Steve Jobs and the Apple announcement slated for 10 a.m. (PST) Wednesday.


"Come see our latest creation," Apple beckons. Such mystery. Rumors everywhere suggest that the focus of the news conference will be the ever elusive tablet. But the tiniest of supposed intel leaks to (by?) the Wall Street Journal and elsewhere (Read iJournalism: Why Even Steve Jobs Can't Keep Secrets Anymore) has produced more questions than placated any suppositions. What will it do? What will it look like? What will they call it? What in the world were they thinking?

But seriously, what if the new Apple product being announced tomorrow is NOT a tablet? Will a plague befall mankind? What if, all along, Apple intended to introduce something else, and we all ruined it. I imagine the product marketing meeting could have gone something like this:

Jobs: "So, we all ready with the iPhone 3D with helicopter capabilities?"
Designer: "Yes, Mr. Jobs, we even added in a button that turns your phone into a voice-controlled car, but listen! Everyone thinks we're making a tablet."
Jobs: "But we did make a tablet... in, like, 1994. They didn't like it."
Board member: "No, she means the public thinks we're making a new one that will be far more awesome than that. Like an iPhone, but bigger."
Jobs: "Nothing's more awesome than an iPhone."
Designer: "Yeah, I know, right, but we designers were bored the other day and totally already made a new tablet if you want to go ahead and debut that instead!"
Jobs: "Fine, I guess so. If that's what the people want, but..."
Board member: "Do it. Otherwise Google, our evil frenemy, will beat us to it, and then I — and my money — will be sad."
Jobs: "Tablet it is."

For serious, though, tablet or no, what will Apple and its new product be bringing to 2010? Will it revolutionize? Add a new challenger to the e-book battle? Ultimately disappoint? I can't wait to find out :)

Lo, hark, the video game gods sing

"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" for PS3.
The game also is available for XBox 360 and PC.

That sound you hear is fanboys everywhere shrieking and ripping the shrink wrapping from their finally obtained copies of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

While the game was highly anticipated for quite some time — it's expected to top half a billion dollars in sales! — remember this, Game Boys and Girls: Wednesday is Veterans Day.

Between multiplaying and high-fiving and cooing over the animation action, take a moment to reflect on all the men and women who served for this country in real warfare.

All right. At ease, soldier.

Save the princess, save some dough

God of War 2 for PS2: A fairly
solid game... if a bit too short
and simple

My absolutely adorable handsome younger brother (who, sadly, at 12, is already taller than me) spends a large chunk of his free time not already claimed by homework, reading and various sports practices playing video games on nearly every console system imaginable. To him (and my cousins and his friends), one of my awe-worthy accomplishments is that I've beaten him (and my cousins and my other brother) in nearly every one of those games. Yup, I might be bragging just a little.


Anyway, yes I'm a big gamer, but — like many shoppers, I assume — I'm slow to purchase consoles. I find it hard to justify giving in to those increasingly higher and higher prices for the system and the games. Wow, I haven't gotten a new console since I was given a Playstation 2 by my older brother so many moons ago. So, while little bro can jump easily between Nintendo Wii and Microsoft XBox controllers, I stick to the Nintendo DS Lite and PSP handhelds and replays of PS2's God of War 2 as I wait patiently for prices to drop.

Nintendo Wii

But good news in tech blog land! It's been rumored that Nintendo will be dropping the price of the Wii $50 to a sweeter-sounding $200. Maybe not a lot, but remember: that's the price of a game or two!

The price drop might not change your mind about purchasing a Wii if you were unsure before, but if you've been hovering near a Toys R Us ever since the gaming console's 2006 release (and bemoaned its subsequent forever sold-out status due to its blow-your-mind popularity), this is just the news you've been waiting for. Read the story

Sony Playstation 3, which
also is now available in a
"slim" model, launched Sept. 1

In other gaming news, in addition to Sony dropping the price of it's 80-gig PS3 (to $299), it also is planning to launch a new motion controller this spring (Read the story).

Question is, despite all the pretty graphics, solid game library and Blu-ray bells and whistles, can the struggling game system catch up to the Wii with a controller? Time will tell if it's as fun and functional as what Nintendo has going.

Anyway, rumor has it the Nintendo Wii price drop will take effect beginning this Sunday. Just in time for some early holiday shopping, perhaps? Sounds good to me :)

'The worth of a book...'

"How many a man has dated a new era in his life from the reading of a book." ~ Henry David Thoreau

Ahhh. Summer days are stretching their last legs, and that summer reading pile of yours likely is a bit smaller is stature.

Sigh. I'm in 'like' with Kindle.

I have an Amazon Kindle. I love it.

Of course, I love tangible new (and old) books — holding them, smelling their fresh pages and ink, gliding through the aisles as I search for what to pick up next — more, but the Kindle is a lovely addition to my literary collection. Anyway, I'll leave any reviews on Kindle to a future discussion.

Sony is expected to announce a new e-reader that will be $100 cheaper than the Kindle. Considering Amazon.com dropped its price on the smaller product, Kindle 2, from $359 to $299, putting the new Sony item at $199, well, that's quite a bit of bank!

One of the current Sony Readers

Yes, perhaps, still too much to pay for a reading platform, but it could give Amazon some healthy competition (finally!), especially after that whole book-deletion-lawsuit situation.

I know not everyone is comfortable — or even interested — in this digital-reading phenomenon, and I don't blame them, but a little Sony-Amazon battle would be pretty interesting on the tech front, whether  you care for e-readers or not. Kind of like if Google and Apple threw down and what the declared victor's win would mean for the industry. We would all buy tickets to THAT fight.

But how will it measure up? Will it be worth it? Is there a future in e-readers? The digital plot thickens. Let's see what Sony's next entrant offers. :)

It's your birthday, Mr. President

I wouldn't even know how to cut
this thing, but it looks yummy!

August 4 is President Barack Obama's birthday.

I know, he didn't even invite us to the party, but that doesn't mean we can't send a belated gift and hope for some cake.

So, what kind of birthday gift do you get for the person who runs your country?


I'll assume Michelle's got his clothes picks covered. And yes, I know she's got more going than just her fabulous attire choices — but, well, her attire choices are fabulous, so whatever.

I'm going to go ahead and picture her handing him a gift bag containing new jeans for his next baseball-throwing adventure. You can picture her gift-wrapping a riveting nonfiction work on tax litigation. Everyone wins.

'Hilarious! Oh, wait, were you
pointing at me, Mr. President?'

Taking note of the random, quirky gifts (I mean, really??) presented to past presidents, I have to wonder, what exactly goes into buying for the master chief these days?

I can almost hear the random thought trains: "Gift wrap? Check. Birthday card? Check. Giant moldy cheese ball with sticker of Obama on side? Check and check. I think we're done here; he's going to love it!"

What would you get him?

It seems he's had to dismiss quite a few people; perhaps he'd like a "You're Fired" T-shirt? Maybe. Or is that too weird?

You know you want one, Barry...

... Or how about a bobblehead of his himself? I bet he doesn't have one of those for his desk in the Oval Office.

I wonder what he'd have his aides get me for my birthday? I already have an iPhone, after all. :)

P.S. Oh, and no one ask me about his birth certificate. Seriously.

Hogwarts must have one high tuition

The sixth Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, premiered today in theaters. But you already knew that (it reportedly earned about $22.2 million today, selling out in multiple cinemas and setting a midnight showing record). Chances are good you probably already saw it, even if you don't want to tell anyone you dressed up as Dumbledore and sat in the back.

Hogwarts Castle, Harry Potter LEGO set, selling
on Amazon.com for wha? $388.88?!
Yeah, OK. Do you take Monopoly money?

With every popular book series comes the movie series comes the horde of merchandise to entice the wee ones and the fun-loving adults. As much as I'd love to purchase this Lego set for, um, my younger brother, well, recession or no, that's just a bit too much for what essentially is a toy that he likely won't even be taking out of the box.

Are there better, and possibly more amusing, alternatives? Well, first, if you haven't done so already, purchase the book series! Trust me on this. If you're even marginally mildly entertained by the movies and you decide you'll deign yourself to read maybe just a few chapters of the first book, it'll only be a matter of moments before you're bleary-eyed and not eating as you try to rush through the pages of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — the seventh and final book in Ms. Rowling's series. And if not for you, get them for the child in your life, who will thank you for it. After all, who doesn't want to encourage tots to read? For your page-turning pleasure, a box set might be your best bet should you want to purchase all seven; Barnes & Noble offers an online discount for the set. Compare and pick what's best for you.

Barnes & Noble also is selling the Harry Potter film DVDs for up to 30 percent through the end of July. A bargain, yes, for them, but Target also has an equally good — if not better, in some locations — bargain on the movies should you miss the sale or wish to go elsewhere.

Now, for toys. Skipping right over that nauseatingly expensive LEGO set, other products include a Harry Potter-themed Clue game, Scene It? game and other assorted playtime goodies.

Anyway, go see the movie. We'll discuss. :)