Flash Friday: Why You No Run?

Happy Flash Friday everyone! The new issue of the Flash is getting some pretty favorable reviews but sadly I got really busy and haven’t had a chance to pick it up yet. Today is a bit of a rant, but I promise it isn’t full on nerd rage and it won’t get all hellfire and brimstone. Yesterday I got the comment, “It’s funny that you like the Flash so much, but you hate to run.” While it is the first time something like this was directed at me, it’s not the first time I’ve seen internet snark saying pretty much the same thing about overweight fans wearing a Flash shirt.

It is true, I am not thin. In all honesty, time on a treadmill wouldn’t hurt me, but my physical appearance has no bearing on which fictional characters I like or dislike. Even if I do spend every day at the track or gym it’s not like I’m going to suddenly be able to break the sound barrier or touch the speed force. I like Iron Fist but I’ve never taken a single martial arts class. I must be a failure as a fan.

Why does no one make fun of people wearing Batman shirts? Surely they could spend every second of their life training their mind and body to be a living equivalent of the Bat God. By that same standard all Green Arrow and Hawkeye fans better enroll in some archery class now.

So run if you want to Flash fans. I think I did enough of that when I was enlisted.  Check back for tomorrows update where we talk about something less ranty.

Hangover Thursday: Ace of Spades

It’s Hangover Thursday, how’s your head? I’ve still been drinking and enjoying Shiner’s Black Lager. I’m also seeing Shiner Bock showing up at a lot of bars and restaurants lately. I have a feeling it is going to be the new trendy thing pretty soon. We aren’t going to talk about Shiner Bock today though, today is about Kronenbourg 1664. Actually it is about a commercial for Kronenbourg 1664.

We’ve talked about beer commercials before. Hahn’s commercial was epic but I think Kronenbourg may have outdone them. The video above is an acoustic version of Ace of Spades preformed by Motorhead. Exactly. It makes me want to go out an buy a Kronenbourg 1664 right now.

Upset that the commercial only has part of the song? Well the video above has the entire song. Just remember to thank Kroenbourg for this masterpiece.

The Next Level in Office Warfare

Apparently Nerf wasn’t content with just sending foam darts sailing through the air. They’ve just launched their all new Vortex line that ditches the dart and shoots a foam lined plastic disc. From all reviews the disc fly further, straighter, and hit harder then the darts ever did. There are four different guns available out there at different price points. We’re going to take a quick look at them right now.

The Proton is the smallest of the Vortex guns. It is a single shot gun that costs around 10 dollars. It looks very similar to the single shot dart guns. For about 6 dollars more you can upgrade to the Vigilon. This pistol has a built in clip and can hold 5 discs. This looks like the disc equivalent to one of the coolest Nerf guns ever made, the Maverick.

At 25 dollars the Praxis is the cheapest Vortex gun to use the removable 10 disc clip. The Praxis is pump action and comes with a removable shoulder stock. It also has Nerf’s “Tactical Rail” on the top so you can load on extras like scopes or lights. Finally there is the big boy in the group, the Nitron. The fully automatic Nitron comes with a 20 disc magazine and an electronic scope (takes 2 AAA batteries). All that power comes with a 45 dollar price tag and takes 6 C batteries to work the flywheel. The shoulder stock has the ability to hold a space clip.

Zombie Dickheads

You may remember back in June when we had an interview with Chris Moreno that we talked about his up coming project Zombie Dickheads.  The book will be coming out in October, so now is the perfect time to show off an 8 page preview!  The preview alone should be enough to show you how funny this is going to be, so make sure you have your local store order you a copy.





Greatest Movie Ever?

Busy day at work today so I am just going to introduce everyone to "The FP", which could be the greatest movie ever.

WARNING - NOT SAFE FOR WORK (there is a very brief set of bare breasts near the end of the trailer) We don't normally post NSFW things here at That F'ing Monkey, however this is just too great of a trailer not to share with our readers.





So what do ya think? Opening night or just too much awesome to ever see? Let your F'ing voice be heard!

Old Republic Release Date Announced

Brandon and I have both announced how excited we are to play Bioware’s Star Wars MMO the Old Republic. Although I’ve been signed up to participate in beta testing for over a year now, I’m sad to say the only thing I’ve gotten to really see is leaked game play footage. There was talk of beta weekends, but that didn’t go as smoothly as they were hoping.

Now at least I know how much longer I have to wait. Yes, we finally have a release date! 12/20/11 is official. I’m pretty happy with that date too, although I really want to play Arkham City and Saints Row the Third are hitting in October and November, so I’ll have plenty to keep me busy until Old Republic finally releases. Also, they’ve moved on to their second stage of pre-launch guild building. So now you can befriend other guilds.



Are you signed up already? Any idea what you’re going to play?

Flash Friday: Rabbit Skeletons?

Happy Flash Friday! I was all set to talk about the first issue of the new Flash comic this week until I stumbled across something we just have to talk about. This is seriously the strangest piece of DC merchandise I’ve seen in a long time. DC themed Skelanimals.

Skelanimals have been around for a few years now. They are black plush animals with their skeletons printed on the material. They were featured heavily in one of Target’s past Halloween line. This December they’ll be dressing up as Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, and the Flash. They come in two varieties. The 10” plush cost 25 dollars and the smaller clip ones cost 9 dollars.

Except for some minor differences, the plush look pretty much unchanged from the normal line. Dax the dog is Superman, Jae the fox is Batman, CungKee the panda is Green Lantern, and Jack the rabbit is the Flash. For the record the names were all included in the description. Toynami is the maker of Skullanimals, so I really can’t see any rhyme or reason behind the cross over; especially with them coming out in December. At least if they came out in October they’d make a little more sense.

For the record this is the second comic book crossover Skelanimals have made. There was a SDCC exclusive Hellboy also. So if you’re interested, at least you don’t have to pay convention exclusive prices this time around.

Hangover Thursday: Fridge Monkey

It’s Hangover Thursday, how’s your head? I think I’m sick sick, not hungover sick. Not sure, I’m still trying to fight it off. Because of that I didn’t drink anything last night. That doesn’t mean I’m not ready to talk about beer though. Actually we’re going to talk about beer storage today. I’ve looked at keg coolers, but the honest truth is that no matter how much I love Guinness, I really like picking up random beers that I haven’t tried yet.

Since I’m keg-less and I’ve yet to get a fridge specifically for beer, I have to balance the available fridge space between food and different types of beer. Currently I have about four bottles stashed all the way in the back of the top shelf and I’ve completely filled the crisper drawer. When I finally do get my own beer fridge I’m going to make sure I maximize the space I have with the Fridge Monkey.

For seven dollars you get this soft rubber mat that lets you stack up to 10 bottles with out them rolling around. Throw two of these bad boys on each shelf and besides looking all artistic, you’ll be able to store a serious amount of beer. I do realize that storing beer on it’s side isn’t the best thing in the world, but if you’re buying something to help you stack more beer in your fridge I’m hoping you’re drinking it quick enough that storing it on its side won’t be an issue.

Batman the Animated Skin

Everyone I know is excited about Batman: Arkham City. The first game got everything about being Batman right. So a version that is bigger and filled with more villains and gadgets sounds amazing. The pre-order information is coming in fast and furious right now with all sorts of surprises. The biggest surprise is probably the PS3 exclusive Sinestro Corps costume that will come with the Green Lantern Blu Ray. Yesterday I got an email from Gamestop talking about one of the other pre-order skins.

If you pre-order from Gamestop and you’re part of their Power Up Rewards club you’ll get a Batman the Animated Series skin. This is in addition to the Joker’s Carnival challenge map that you’ll get just from ordering at the store. I love some BtAS, I have the entire series on DVD. In fact I’ve been watching it every night on the Hub before I go to bed. I don’t think it’ll get much use when I’m playing Arkham City though.

Unless switching to the animated skin suddenly cel shades everything else in the game I think Batman will just stand out too much. It’d be like watching a superhero Roger Rabbit. The toon Batman taking out all the real people bad guys. Anyway, if the animated skin is something you must have, now you know where to get it. Personally I’ll keep my fix of Animated Batman restricted to late night Hub viewing.

Tales from the Brain Jar, #18

Tales from the Brain Jar is back! Since last December I’ve turned this into a monthly feature because I was burning through the sketches in my brain jar sketch book way too quickly. The good news is that I still do have a buffer. Right this moment I have 11 sketches that haven’t been featured on the site yet. So I have some time to pick up more before I run out. Eventually I will run out of sketches but I hope that won’t be for a long time.

So with the slightly depressing news out of the way we can talk about today’s sketch! Scott Wegener did this amazing Atomic Robo for me at the 2008 Megacon. The brain in this specific sketch is Robo’s enemy, Baron Heinrich Von Helsingard. A lot of times it is hard to figure out why the character would have a brain jar in the sketch, but when one of the big bad guys in the book is a brain in a jar, it becomes pretty simple.

If you aren’t familiar with Robo he is an automatic intelligence created by Nikola Tesla. After that he goes around with his Action Scientists and runs afoul of all sorts of supernatural strangeness. The book jumps around through different time periods and mixes in a lot of humor with all of the action. There are a number of trades out there when you ready to jump into the weirdness.

TACOS!!

I have said before that my day job is in the TV News business. So I see lots and lots of stories from all around the globe every day. This one made me laugh, not really for the dude that was high as hell. More for the fact that it reminded me of something else...



Which of course brought up memories of another taco loving fool.

Video Game Skills

I was lucky enough to join a few friends last night in a private match of Space Marine. It was an interesting experience. I knew the first two people in the party and consider them both good friends. Then another friend and his buddy joined up, and so on and so on. So the group ended up as three people I knew well, one person I had met, and two people I had never met. It was at that point I got schooled.

Two of the players were big first person shooter fans. I see one of them playing Gears of War and Call of Duty all the time. He and his buddy are calling out that they are in area alpha or bravo. I’m impressed and I’m dead. A lot. I’m not complaining though, because I had a blast. And those times I took an objective or made a kill were exciting and fun. It made me think about my own skill at video games though.

There are so many different genres grouped under the banner of video games that saying you’re good at video games doesn’t really mean anything. You may be unbeatable in a racing game but get destroyed in fighting games. I am not good at shooters, but I’m getting better. It was interesting seeing someone that is good at shooters though. Earlier this year my wife finally started playing the Lego Harry Potter video game. She had never played a platformer before. Watching her learn was fascinating, she was picking up skills that I’d learned way back in Pitfall.

What are you good at? Are you unstoppable in MMO pvp? Do you avoid multi-player completely and dominate RPGs and sandbox games? Do you pick up every midnight release of Madden?

Flash Friday: Marketing Fail

Happy Flash Friday everyone! I’ve been thinking a lot about the new DC re-launch lately. To be honest I find most of it depressing and a bit of my comic interest is dwindling. Despite saying all of that, I am looking forward to reading the first issue of the Flash. The one thing I found very odd though is how DC has really dropped the ball on some marketing opportunities.

All things considered, the Flash had some pretty minor costume changes. Sure he got the required mess of unnecessary lines on his boots and costume, but he also got a tweaked symbol. So the first issue comes out next week, why isn’t a brand new t-shirt coming out with it? I realize we’ll probably see it in a few months, but if you really want to hype your changes why not do it when issue one is hitting the stands.

They were smart with Flashpoint, the Flash and Reverse Flash shirts were out before the books were. I still don’t really understand why the Reverse Flash shirt was black, but I think it looks cool and I’m happy I picked it up. I’m also surprised DC Direct didn’t have a full Justice League line up in their new costumes ready to go the same day of the Justice League launch.

Hangover Thursday: Brewzkey

It’s Hangover Thursday, how’s your head? I have not been hitting the bar as much as I like to lately and I’m not really sure why that is. My normal bar night got replaced by my normal D&D night. So I usually still have a drink or three on Wednesday nights, just not as many. Since I’m drinking at home I want to talk about a tool I use all the time. Today is all about the Brewzkey.

There are times I talk about products that I’d like to buy. I show you cool pictures and talk about the item. Sometimes it is before it is available; sometimes I just don’t have the money to order it at the moment. That is not the case today. I’ve had the Brewzkey attached to my key ring for close to two years and I love it. I got mine from Think Geek for three dollars. I like it so much I got my dad one.

I realize it is only a bottle opener for you key ring and there are plenty of those out there. You’ve seen the brightly colored, oversized bottle openers at the party store. You may have had one on your key ring in the past. The beauty of the Brewzkey is that it looks just like a key. No one is going to notice it hanging from your key ring. It doesn’t make your key ring bulky in your pocket.

There isn’t a whole lot you can say about a bottle opener. I’m not going to write pages and pages about the Brewzkey. But it does work and I highly recommend them.

Goon Movie…Not that Goon

It has been announced that Kevin Smith is making himself quite the epic movie about hockey. Hit Somebody (named after an incredible Warren Zevon song that we’ve talked about before) is not only going to be split into two films but it is also supposed to be his last films. I’m looking forward to it, but someone has beaten Smith to the punch. Alliance films is set to release Goon in 2012.

The trailer pretty much speaks for itself. I’m biased, because I really love hockey, so this one looks pretty funny. Obviously it is a comedy, but even still it is showing how brutal minor league hockey can be. I’m not going to get into a big discussion on the levels of violence and how it differs between the NHL and the minors. I will say I’ve seen more bench clearing brawls in the minors. Anyway, I’m sure we’ll have more on these hockey movies as more information comes out.

What kind of Ice Cream?

Summer may be over, but here in Florida we haven’t really gotten much of a break from the heat yet. That means it is still prime ice cream weather. Ben & Jerry’s have been known for making different and pop cultured themed flavors before. Stephen Colbert’s Americone Dream is pretty much my favorite ice cream in store freezers right now. The ice cream makers have stepped up their game though and made something that I don’t think anyone could have expected, Schweddy Balls.

Based on the Saturday Night Live sketch where Alec Baldwin is playing Pete Schweddy a guest on the NPR Show The Delicious Dish. Schweddy then goes on to talk about his rum balls and the Schweddy Ball jokes come rolling in. It is a classic and has been voted as one of the funnier bit of SNL history. So why not turn it into a “vanilla ice cream with a hint of rum & loaded with fudge covered rum & malt balls.” If that sounds like something you want in your mouth, grab it quick, because this is something that is only going to be around for a limited time.

Personally I just wish they’d bring back from Russia with Buzz. The “cross of coffee ice cream with coffee liqueur & dark coffee ice cream mixed with espresso fudge chips” was my favorite ice cream ever.

Deathwatch

You may have noticed a bit of chatter around these parts about miniature war gaming lately. I was infected with the bug first then Ken was worn down and fell to it as well. Being nerds we tend to obsess with things that take our fancy so now we talk about Warhammer 40K a lot between each other. In that vein there are a few RPG's based it this world of Grim Darkness.


There is Rogue Trader, in which you play someone trying to scratch out a living around constant war and suffering.


Next up is Dark Heresy. This is where you play a better than normal human that works for the Inquisition routing out Chaos and Xenos that threaten the Imperium of man.


However the one we are going to be focusing on is Deathwatch. This is the game that you take up the mantle of one of the Adeptus Astartes, the Space Marines.

I do not personally like the 40K Space Marines much, but I will talk about why another week. The players of the game should know this however because I will be running a Deathwatch adventure in the near future. I will be doing my best to knock those overconfident mutants off of their pedestal - insert evil laugh here. Ken will be playing one of his pyro loving Salamanders, so things WILL burn. Also if there is any interest we may open some slots up for readers to roll up characters as we will be playing over the internets.

I am sure this is not the last time you will hear about the universe of 40k upon this esteemed blog, in fact soon I will be showing off my crazy magnetization obsession on some of my army.

So let your F'ing voice be heard! Does anyone have a hankering to do some nerding out with us? Let us know in the comments or on our Facebook page. Keep in mind there may be a bit of an interview process, we don't want anybody more crazy than Ken and myself...

Florida Sharks

Having lived in Florida most of my life I realize we are not a state known for common sense. In fact I’d be willing to bet that the majority of crazy news stories come out of Florida. I think the heat and mixture of cultures just seems to bring out the crazy in people. Florida finally made a decision that I am happy about. I realize that not every one will agree with me, but I’m thrilled about it. Florida has just banned the killing of four species of shark.

The species in question are the tiger, the smooth hammerhead, scalloped hammerhead, and my personal favorite shark, the great hammerhead. Obviously not everyone agrees with it, I’ve skimmed through a few fishing boards and read the outrage. This ban doesn’t stop anyone from fishing the listed shark species, but once you catch them you’ll have to release them.

A lot of the reason for the ban doesn’t stem from the fishing that is taking place here, but rather the effect of shark fin fishing in other countries. I know this doesn’t fall into our normal type of article, but I figured since I spend so much time talking about Shark Week and Sharktopus that other shark news would be acceptable too.

Flash Friday: Protection in a Flash

Happy Flash Friday! How is the New 52 treating you?  Today is all about protection. By that I mean using Flash themed merchandise to keep yourself covered. So we’re obviously talking about Flash condo…no not that. I mean I would talk about them if they were out there, but I don't think they are.  We’re talking about the Flash themed phone cases by Coveroo.

A quick look around my office and I see everyone’s phone perched somewhere on their desk. Out of the ten I can see only one of those isn’t wrapped up in some kind of protective case. If we’re going to incase these devices in rubber and plastic, why not decorate it? No, no, don’t get your Bedazzler out. Coveroo is already doing that. The great thing is they don’t just have a Flash option to chose, they have seven!

You can get the Flash logo. You can get a few different versions of the Flash running. You can get the Flash standing. My favorite is the simple Flash symbol, but we’ve already talked a lot about how I prefer that over most of the designs when it comes to merchandise. Most of the device options also come in different colors, so you can find a color and design that you prefer.

The price is going to change depending on what kind of phone you’re trying to protect. The majority of them were around 30 dollars. Coveroo offers covers for all sorts of devices. On their site they have sections for iPhone, iPod, iPad, BlackBerry, Kindle, Apple, HTC, Journal, Kodak, LG, Motorola, Nokia, Palm, Samsung, Sanyo, and T-Mobile. They have other superheroes and other licensed properties too, but since this is Flash Friday we’ll just ignore the others.

Hangover Thursday: Bread and Badger

It’s Hangover Thursday, how’s your head? I had a couple Fat Tires last night but didn’t go overboard so I’m feeling pretty good. That was a special treat because that isn’t something I can normally get in the area I live. This week isn’t about Fat Tire though, it is about glasses. Pints, shots, lowball, and more. Everything we’re talking about comes from the Etsy store Bread and Badger.

Bread and Badger is a Amanda and Sean Siska. This husband and wife team make some fantastic looking drink ware. Amanda handles the internet side and is the artist who creates all the designs you see on the glass. Sean does all of the sandblasting.

The Jolly Roger is perfection. I mean is there anyone that doesn’t like drinking out of pirate glasses? The Retro Rocketship is a really fun design. Want to throw a big party when the Walking Dead starts its second season? Grab some Zombie glasses. My favorite has to be the octopus, I might have to grab one for watching Stanley Cup Playoff games.

Bread and Badger has tumblers, pints, lowball, round rocks, juice, and shot glasses. They also have mugs, soap dispensers, and a couple other neat items. All the images you see today have been pulled from their store so you can see the awesomeness for yourself. If you see something that you need to own, click HERE and check out their store.

ZZZ

That F'ing Monkey is taking a day off.  After a three day weekend the work has piled up and I need to focus on a few other things.  Our site hits have been pretty high lately and Brandon and I want to thank everyone for reading.  As always, if you enjoy the site please help pass it along to others who would enjoy our special brand of nonsense.  And remember we still have plenty of F'ing Monkey shirts for sale.

There is Only War

I suppose I didn’t really have a choice.  I mean I’ve been away from Games Workshop items for so long, but suddenly things started lining up against me.  I enjoyed Kill Team.  Then I talked about the great Games Workshop store in Oak Park.  The demo for Space Marine was just incredible.  Then a Games Workshop store literally opened five minutes from my house.  This weekend, well I caved.  

Now I used to play Warhammer 40K in the early to mid-90s, but I’ve long sold everything I had back then.  So I’m starting from scratch.  I picked up the Salamander novel, since that is the chapter I’ve chosen to play this time around.  All those fire weapons intrigued the borderline pyromaniac in me.  Then I picked up a Tactical squad and a commander.  It’s just a start, but those 11 miniatures will take me some time to put together and paint.  

Because I have a strange work schedule I was off work today, so I got to pick up Space Marine first thing this morning.  If you’ve played the demo, you already know how much fun this game is.  It combat is just brutal; there isn’t another word for it.  The multi-player has some ridiculous customization options, but some of them are going to take some serious game time to unlock.    So, you should probably expect some more Warhammer 40K posts as my army slowly builds.

Happy Labor Day

Here is some Sam the Eagle for your Labor Day viewing pleasure.

What? This holiday is not about sitting around your place naked and playing X-Box? What the hell is this holiday about then?

Monsters Sighted!!

Every once in a while I feel like I’m doing a public service to those people reading the site. This is one of those days. Monsters have been seen inside stores like Target and Walmart. I repeat, monsters have been seen inside stores. Well, monster cereal has. Boo Berry, Frankenberry, and Count Chocula are starting to show up again.

I’m one of those people. I love Boo Berry. I don’t like actually blue berries, I don’t like anything else flavored like blue berries, but I fucking love this cereal. I’ve almost finished my first box of it. I’m well on my way to my normal Halloween routine. As soon as it hits the shelves I usually buy two or three boxes immediately. I then eat it until I’m sick of it. Usually I’ve taken out three to four boxes of it by the time it starts disappearing from shelves.

The other great thing about this discovery is it means the Halloween decorations won’t be far behind.

Flash Friday: My Reboot

Happy Flash Friday! Well, it all happened didn’t it? “You Maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!” All Planet of the Apes quotes aside, I am still unsure of the new DCU. I will still be buying Flash every month and for the time being, I don’t see Flash Friday’s going away anytime soon. Today though, I’m going to offer up a couple of Flash related books that I wish would happen. If Batman, Superman, and Green Lantern can have a bunch of titles, why can’t the Flash?

So we’re going forward and leaving the new Barry Allen comic alone. I’m not replacing Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato before they even get started. So the most obvious would be a Kid Flash book by Kid Flash Lost team Sterling Gates and Oliver Nome. I have no idea who the new Kid Flash is but I loved how Gates handled Bart. The end of Kid Flash Lost was just….well I sat down at the counter in my local shop and read it before I even left.

Wally West and the Speedforce would be my next choice. Sure I don’t know if he even plays a part in the new universe, but I hope he will at some point. Bring back Brian Augustyn, I enjoyed his 90s retro issue. Split the book, each issue has a Wally West story and then the back up would contain a story about a Flash character either in that current time or story set in a different time. Personally I’d like the back up to be a Walter story. We could bring back Paul Pelletier for the art duties.

Scott Kolins gets Rogues. Fist arc I want to see them piss off Grodd. All out monkey and Rogue battle. It’d be amazing. I hate the idea that the Rogues are going to actually have powers instead of relying on their devices, but there isn’t much I can do about that. Besides this villain style book could end up being the new Secret Six style book.

Okay, so most of these have been the same thing everyone else is asking about. I’d like to think Rouge/Monkey war was my idea, but someone else out there probably thought about it too. How about a Central City PD? Like Gotham Central did before, give us a look at the regular cops in Central and Keystone cities. Here is the best part; Barry Allen is a supporting character. Not as the Flash, just as Barry doing his day job.

That’s all I have for this week’s Flash Friday. What are your dream Flash relaunch ideas? And please keep them some what positive.

Hangover Thursday: Shiner Black

It’s Hangover Thursday, how’s your head? Despite having a few drinks last night, I’ve started working later hours so I got to sleep some of it off. Earlier this month I talked about my complete disappointment with Guinness Black Lager. Today we’re returning to the Black Lagoon…err…I meant to the Black Lager. So how did the Spoetzl brewery do?

Shiner Bohemian Black Lager is today’s topic and was last night’s beer of choice. Like its name it is a dark beer, but if you aren’t a fan of stouts don’t be scared off by the color. By definition black lagers don’t carry as heavy a taste. When you open one you get a hint of chocolate and hops, but not an overpowering smell. You might get the smell, but this is not a hoppy tasting beer. When drinking it you get that hint of chocolate, coffee, and sugar.

I think I paid around 9 dollars for a six pack of the Shiner Black. I’ve also found it in the beer coolers of a couple different places around town. This has been my go to drink for most of August. Obviously everyone’s taste differs, so this is one you’ll have to check out on your own. Personally I’m probably going to pick up another six pack or two for the long weekend.