Shadow in Darkness

I’ve come from the grave of dead blogs to bring it back to life with this!!!:

I’ve always wanted to read manga but never really got into it since most people read them online and it’s not exactly the cheapest thing to buy volume after volume. A few months back though, i bought a nook, thinking it would be beneficial since I had finally started reading books after years of avoiding it, even through school. So I decided to do some research since I’d really like to start reading Naruto, Bleach, and Fullmetal Alchemist. I tried to find torrents with the pdf’s themselves, since the nook doesn’t exactly read a huge variety of ebook/document formats.

After some snooping around I found a program named Calibre. This program is essentially built for e-book readers and can convert virtually any format to… virtually any format. I downloaded hundreds of manga and converted a few to try it out and sure enough it does a much better job than I would have ever guessed it would. It doesnt cut pages to make them fit or anything, it just works.

So if you’re looking at reading manga, and want an e-reader as well… get a nook and download Calibre, I promise you won’t regret it.

I’ve recently begun to start watching Naruto again. I got tired of it when it entered the 3 tailed beast arc but I was told that it was out of filler again. I looked up the manga and realized that they are 150 chapters behind from the manga, thats about 75 episodes. Anywho, I’ll not spoil anything about it, what you should know is that it is mainly about sasuke and his quest to defeat his brother Itachi. Sasuke has grown to become extremely strong and is as calm as he always has been. Anywho, for those of you wondering the anime returned to canon at episode 113 in Shippuden. There is currently another filler arc about 8 episodes long but other than that it’s all straight from the manga.

On the other hand, Bleach has returned and is pretty intense as usual. All the main characters are still hanging out in Hueco Mundo so if you’re looking for an action packed anime that would be it. Sado has gotten very powerful, something is to be unveiled about Orihime, Rukia is fighting some pretty powerful dude, Renji is apparently just like Ichigo, and Ichigo is… well growing more powerful in the same pace if not quicker than he always has been. I know I’m missing someone but, I haven’t seen them yet so I won’t mention them :). If you’re looking to begin watching Bleach again, the recap was on episode 266 and 267 is this weeks and it’s all back to canon.

Also, watch Fullmetal Alchemist… because it’s amazing.

I had a friend show me a trailer for this movie quite a few months ago and though it looked mildly funny I didn’t think much of it, I figured it’d be a nice movie to rent when the option was made available. I stand corrected on the judgment I made the day I watched that trailer, this movie does indeed kick butt for lack of a stronger word.

The movie first off is another one of those movies I mentioned in an earlier post where… since it’s a good movie, it must be a… comic book, anime, older movie, book, etc. It is a graphic novel written by Mark Miller and it follows a geeky kid who notices crime happening with people watching who do nothing about it. The kid later finds himself face to face with another duo, a father and preteen daughter who fight crime as well. The movie is funny, action packed, progresses extremely well, and simply makes you love the characters.

If you are not a fan of gruesome or graphic violence, you should stay away from this movie, otherwise enjoy.

One suggestion I will propose is that you stay away from the comic book. Watch the movie, and if you’re so inclined and are wondering what the background to the movie was, go ahead and read the comic book, but the movie in itself is quite sufficient.

Enjoy the Trailer:

I’ve been looking for an easy way to be able to access my computer and grab files that I may have just finished downloading or files I may have forgotten to bring to work with me, etc. I was introduced to Log me in a while back which did what I wanted (connect remotely to my computer), but it did not allow me to copy files over to other computers. I was then introduced to DropBox by a friend painteddigital and it’s a great tool for pretty much anyone who works with computers on a regular basis. It functions as a folder, you can just drop files into it and use it as a bridge to the DropBox application on another computer. If you click here you can set up an account, add an additional 250 mbs to your account and mine :)

A few months ago I promised a friend of mine that if he picked up World of Warcraft again that I would play without giving up. This was a pretty huge step for me since I normally play for like 20 levels or a bit more and then give up. I’ve realized thus far that the reason I always give up is because the game is not much fun without other people (preferably a friend) to play with and socialize. I’ve now reached level 32 and am still running without giving up and it’s much fun with others and I’m attempting to get Katie (my wife) to join as well.

I’ll continue to write as I achieve more… like level 40 at last, level 55, Outlands, level 60, and Northrend. If this article bores you, please forgive me, I just needed something to write about. I hope you enjoy my little elf dude below :)

According to mugglenet.com in an interview with a nameless source from Leavesden Studios “We’ve got to be honest. When we started shooting Deathly Hallows, none of us wanted to stop. We experienced a fan-gasm. The book is simply amazing, and we love the people we work with. Each time we shot a scene we shot way too much extra footage because we loved the content so much. Before we knew it, we had enough content to fill three films.”

Another source at Warner Bros. “Mr. Horn got so excited when he heard about all the extra footage that he immediately jumped out of his chair, picked up his Looney Tunes commemorative pen, and started pretending to throw Avada Kedavra spells at other studio’s headquarters he could see out his window. He knows that other studios are gonna hate this news.”

Apparently movies 2 and 3 may have a 2 year delay with part 3 coming out in July, 2013. Though it may be in part that they’re milking the franchise this should make for a much better and much more authentic transition from book to movie. Lets hope for the best.

So, most of you have already watched the trailer. I’ve noticed recently that all decent movies coming out from Hollywood are books, games, comics, old movies, etc. So noticing that I’ve decided to make it a habit to look for all of those alternatives whenever I see a trailer I like. Sure enough, Scott Pilgrim is a set of 6 comic books that began to release in 2004 by a Canadian author known as Bryan Lee O’Malley. The comics seem pretty similar to what I saw in the trailer and it follows a 23 year old Canadian kid in a band named Scott Pilgrim and a rollerblading, punky looking American chick named Ramona Flowers (age:unknown) and how they begin dating, etc.

The first volume I found to be actually quite entertaining, it’s short and can easily be read in one sitting but it was fun, and quite funny since the author didn’t mind writing in somewhat adult and current down to earth concepts like amazon or twitter and some videogame cameos. If you don’t enjoy reading somewhat romantic comics/manga then this is not for you but if you don’t mind a little romance combined with fun, rock and rollish fighting then you should pick it up and give it a shot.

What I read so far closely follows the words used in the trailer so if you’d rather not spoil the movie… You should probably steer clear of the comic series.

For more information on the comics visit: http://scottpilgrim.com/

For more information on the movie visit: http://www.scottpilgrimthemovie.com/

As if anyone wants to read yet another review about Final Fantasy XIII. Well I feel like writing one so here’s a heads up :)

Final Fantasy XIII review coming soon!

I can’t begin to describe how much I enjoyed this movie. Not to mention I love dragons and the mythology behind them. This is a great movie for adults and children alike.

The movie surrounds a viking kid named Hiccup who though may have been born into a viking family is not quite viking-like. These vikings are harassed most nights by a swarm of dragons who are in search of food. The movie then goes on to show how much viking…ness Hiccup lacks and how he comes in contact with a dragon and begins to realize that everything he’s been taught about them has been incorrect. He becomes the first viking to train a dragon, as the title may have hinted. I’ll spare you the rest of the spoilers, but rest assured the movie is worth your while.

Enjoy the trailer after the break: