LOCKDOWN!!

So, today in school we went through what is called a 'soft lockdown', in which we are not permitted to leave our class. As a result, we were trapped in our first hour classes for about three hours. Luckily for me, I was in the Discovery Center with my English class, and Maffey just let us goof around on the computers the whole time. Looking back, I really should've worked more on my poetry project...Oh well.
Also, I need the e-mail addresses of everyone I talked to about the super blog.

Tonight, He Comes

ODYSSEY PROJECTS BACK BY FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maffey said it himself. If you don't believe me, read the comments in the latest post on his blog.

Also, it seems that Maffey has been grading my Odyssey Project for about a week. I saw it with a bookmark in it on Wednesday of last week, and MKB said he was grading it when she came in this morning. That it means it's either really good and he's savoring it, really bad and he despises grading it, or he's just taking a long time to grade it.

It seems like everybody's on board with the blog, except the displaced Nelson.

Also, while I was watching "American Idol" last week (hell yes I watch "American Idol") I saw a preview of Will Smith's new superhero movie, "Hancock". It looks awesome! It's about an alcoholic superhero gifted with the powers of superstrength and supersonic flight; over the course of the movie, he goes through rehab and becomes a real hero. The special effects are sweet, and the movie in general looks awesome! There's another superhero movie to see over the summer.

3-Day Weekend!

It's a three-day weekend! Awesome! I don't even care that the band kids are having fun in Disney World without me right now (especially since the bus trip there and back again takes like, a whole day). I don't even have that much homework. Now back to blogging.

I just recently came up with an idea for a new blog. Authors would be me, Boots, Pods, Andy, and anyone else who's nerdy enough; it would be the Ultimate Nerd Blog! It would be sweet! We need to start it!

Just as a taste of what would be on this new blog, I'll talk about the sequel to The Gunslinger Born, the comic adaptation of Stephen King's awesome Dark Tower series: The Dark Tower: The Long Road Home. From what I've seen, this miniseries will pick up right where The Gunslinger Born left off: Roland, Cuthbert, and Alain are eluding John Farson's posse of rebels. However, there is a twist: Roland is suddenly drawn into the todash realm by Maerlyn's Grapefruit, the magical sphere they're carrying with them. This series will be five issues instead of seven, and will probably be more interesting than the first one, since it doesn't directly follow any book plotlines.

We need to make that blog, guys!

Na na na na na na...Pope Man!

As you all probably know, Pope Benedict XVI is currently visiting America. He visited Washington, D.C., and I believe he'll be coming to Chicago soon (if he hasn't already). However, this isn't the ridiculous part. The weird part is that people are acting like he's some sort of rock star. American Idol Kelly Clarkson opened for him ('opened for him?' What is this, a rock concert?), and he's said that he's trying to reach out to young people. Something tells me that not many 'young people' will want to listen to an old German guy, who looks like he could drop dead at any second, preach about the Catholic Church. Also, people were selling T-shirts and buttons of him! WTF? Where can I buy a black "Pope Benedict XVI: Tour of the Americas 2008" T-shirt? Something tells me that said T-shirt exists somewhere.

Also, I just wrote a sonnet in trochaic and iambic pantameter about how I couldn't think of anything to write for my sonnet. Looks like writer's block actually helped me out this time.

Webcomics Galore!

Besides "Bored and Evil", I've found a bunch of other good webcomics worth reading. Most are funny, although some have more of a semblance of a plot than others. I've just added them to my blog on the sidebar titled "Webcomics I'm Reading". Here's the breakdown:
"Bored and Evil"-I've already talked about this one a lot. It's about a geek who moves into a monster-infested appartment, and the hilarity that ensues.
"Achewood"-Funny webcomic with demented, anthropmorphic stuffed animals. Hilarious gag-a-day antics (no real recurring plotlines).
"Dresden Codak"-A good, pretty funny sci-fi webcomic. Be prepared to do some research to find out all the political and quantam physics references. To make reading this webcomic easier, I've added a link to Wikipedia in my "Wondering Where I Get My Crazy Ideas?" sidebar.
"Scary Go Round"-Another funny, somewhat sci-fi webcomic. Unlike the other webcomics, this one revolves around long plotlines.
These are all good and I recommend you check out all of them.

The Guy Kind Of Jumped On My Machete

So, we are now in the midst of the poetry unit, and it's starting to get harder. We have a sonnet due next Tuesday, and that will probably be pretty difficult. I also have T.S. Eliot as my poet, and his poems like "The Waste Land" are filled with so many references that it's hard to keep track of them and their importance. This is worsened by the fact that I have never read the books/plays he's referencing.

I just read that Robert Downey Jr., who is playing the lead character in next month's "Iron Man" movie, will have a cameo as Tony Stark in Ed Norton's "The Incredible Hulk" movie (out later this summer; it's independent from Ang Lee and Eric Bana's movie a couple years ago). It's also rumored that Samuel Jackson will play the role of Nick Fury in both movies (it will probably be a small role). This has been done to build unity between the two franchises, and Marvel Studios has said that this may lead to a future "Avengers" movie with Downey as Iron Man, Norton as Hulk, and other characters. "Iron Man" director Jon Favreau has even expressed interest in directing it! THAT'S AWESOME!!! Unfortunately, the movie is a couple years off at the most, to allow characters like Thor, Ant-Man, and Captain America to be introduced in their own movies. Still, that sounds sweet.

Here are some of my favortie "Bored and Evil" comics as well.

Don't Eat My Fishsticks (I Got Them From Jesus)

About a month ago, I posted about the upcoming video game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, which will be released on just about ever console you can imagine. I now have more information about that game! The Wii version of the game will feature a two-player Duel mode, which early reviewers have said is a multiplayer mode to match Brawl. Here is the complete roster:
(note, the Secret Apprentice, Maris Brood, and Rahm Kota were original characters created for this game)

-Secret Apprentice

Versions: Bounty Hunter Disguise, Corellian Flight Suit, Father's Robes, Light Training Gear, Training Gear, Raxus Prime Survival Gear, Sith Robes, Jungle Combat Gear, Industrail Explorer Outfit

-Ultimate Good*

-Qui-Gon Jinn

-Obi-Wan Kenobi (Episode III)

-Anakin Skywalker (Episode III)

-Darth Vader

-Luke Skywalker

Versions: Episode IV, Episode VI

-Mace Windu

-Ultimate Evil*

-Shaak Ti

-Darth Maul

-Count Dooku

-Asajj Ventress

-Master Rahm Kota

-Aayla Secura

-Mara Jade

-Darth Phobus

-Maris Brood

The only two characters I have absolutely no clue about are the characters called 'Ultimate Good' and 'Ultimate Evil'. Ultimate Good looks to be dressed in white Jedi robes, while the Ultimate Evil is wearing a mask similar to that of a Stormtrooper. Maybe they, too, are characters from the game's single-player mode.

This roster looks awesome; the only downside is that you can't play as Yoda or The Emperor, who would probably be the most fun to play :(

I'll post again tomorrow about the Wii version's controls.

In other Star Wars news, Yoda and Darth Vader will both appear as playable characters in the next-gen weapon fighting game Soul Calibur IV. (although not together; Yoda is only in the Xbox 360 version, while D Viddy is only in the Play Station 3 version). Yoda will be a smaller, quicker character, while Vader will be a stronger, heavier character. Both characters will use the Force to augment their fighting style.

I Can't Believe I Sold My Soul For Low Rent

I just read Boots' latest post where he talks about some awesome webcomics. I decided to check out the one called "Bored and Evil". It's hilarious! It's basically about a comic geek (like me, except older) who moves into an apartment with a werewolf, the creature from the Black Lagoon, Jason from "Friday the 13th", and a tentacle that lives in the sink. I highly recommend that you check it out. Here's the link:

www.boredandevil.com/

And I know it's kind of late, but...

http://movies.ign.com/dor/articles/863515/legend-of-zelda-movie-trailer/videos/legendofzelda_filmtrailer_040108.html

Word-I'd Rather Be Drawing Monster Trucks

I should start this post by proclaiming that I HAVE NO HOMEWORK TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

Now that I'm done rubbing in our face, I'll move on.

Today in Orchestra, we found a box of "Slang Flashcards". These flashcards seemed meant to teach old white people modern slang, such as "bling" and "dawg", as well as some I've never heard before, such as "po-po". These flashcards were double-sided: one side would have a slang word, while the other side had a dictionary-like definition of the word, a sentence of dialogue using the word, and a picture to go along with the sentence. The title of this post was accompanied by a picture of a little boy and girl drawing basic geometric shapes such as squares and triangles, with the boy seeming a little annoyed by this task. Needless to say, these cards were hilarious. I wish I could remember more examples, but they were funnier if you actually saw them. I have included a pic of another one with this post.

Peace.

You Must Be The New Coffee Machine

I was disappointed at both the lack of April Fools Day pranks today, and at my own inability to come up with some witty gag to write in this post about the holiday today. Personally, I think we should get April Fools off. And we should get tomorrow off for International Childrens Book Day. And we should get April 5th off for National Read-a-Roadmap Day. And next Monday off for Ponce de Leon Day (Hey, I think if a guy searched for the Fountain of Youth, we should get a day off in memory of him). And of course, we should get April 16th off for National Eggs Benedict Day.

No, I am not making these up.

Moving on, it looks like English fourth quarter will not be as carefree as I had originally hoped, since we seem to have a Poetry Project of some sort (which Maffey was vague about, as usual) and probably some essays about our independent book. However, we didn't have any English homeowork today for the first time in a few months, and our in-class assignment was really fun. This post's title comes up a line me, Boots, and Samy included in our amazing poem. We took it from a recent Dilbert comic, which I have included in this post (as a side note, I have a link to Scott Adams' blog here for those of you who haven't noticed. It's pretty funny)

I'm interested to see how many Google/Wikipedia searches it takes you guys to either understand or confirm the references I made in this post.