Lego Minifigures: Street Skater

This toy is from series 4 of Lego Minifigures and was released in 2011. The Street Skater’s accessories include a skateboard, a beanie hat and a face with glasses.

Lego:

www.lego.com

YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzq8NcNofpg

ThunderCats Classic Lion-O

This has been the toy I have been waiting for more than 20 plus years to re-release.  The last time I had a Lion-O figure was when I was in daycare and my figure got stolen on the playground.  It’s funny because I was so young to even understand the concept of stealing.  I just knew someone had taken it from where I had placed it, and I never saw it again.  I didn’t even cry, though I was sad.  Now looking back I guess I can say it was because my childhood was driven by my imagination and not the material goods I had.  In other words it’s how I played with the toys that made it fun, and not the actual toys themselves.

I still live my life like that, by making the best out of what I have.  Buying toys now as an adult, is only a reminder to me of that philosophy.  They bring me comfort by reminding me of my childhood.  Though this new Classic retro model of Lion-O isn’t the same replica of the original, I’m still happy Bandai updated this figure.  I like it because it now comes with so much more articulation, making it easier to pose for pictures.  The paint is really nice and clean and uses bright colours that stand out.  Most noticeable of this update is the face sculpt which is amazing to look at.  The accessories that this toy comes with are a sword, dagger, claw shield, and extra hands.

One thing I must admit to is that I am also a mint in box collector so I won’t be opening this figure up (unless I buy another Lion-O).  Making it easier to keep him in the box is the clear packaging; so I am able to look at the figure in a nice display.  I don’t really have anything negative to say about the figure except that from other reviews I have noticed the sword is a little flimsy.  Other than that it’s still a wonderful toy, and I am very excited to own it again.  Now when it rains outside and I hear thunder, I can proudly sing the “thunder, thunder, thunder, ThunderCats song.”

ThunderCats Wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ThunderCats

Bandai:

http://www.bandai.com

YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1XRRtC79HY

Portus

Title: Portus

Writer: Jun Abe

Art Work: Jun Abe

Publisher: VIZ Media LLC

Portus is a horror graphic novel that involves a mysterious video game that kills people.  The reason I first picked it up was because of the front cover, it had all the elements of a scary movie with a floating eye, torn paper, and blood.  I was very interested in reading it because I had never read horror manga, and was curious to see how it would be.  I’ll be the first to admit it I love graphic violent scenes that the Japanese love to create.  Another thing I like to do when picking up a manga novel is to look at the back (or in this case the front), and checking to see if the story ends in this book.  Luckily this story did end in this book.

The story revolves around Asami Kawakami (an art student), Keigo Sawa (her teacher), and Mayumi Yamashita (another teacher).  In the beginning Asamai is worried about her friend Chiharu, who’s been ditching school for a few days because she’s been playing a video game called Portus.  Later on, Chiharu commits suicide and Asamai starts to question the motives for her suicide.  She then decides to play the game Portus to see what could have caused her friend’s death.  Along the way Keigo and Mayumi also try to figure out why this game is so deadly.  What they discover is a danger that must be stopped in order to save the life of Asamai.

This graphic novel is rated mature, and is justified in doing so because it contains many violent scenes in it.  The characters are very much a cookie-cutter pattern of what is popular in manga; high school students, and trendy teachers (Keigo smokes in class).  Regardless of this, it’s used because it’s a working formula that can get into a storyline without having to explain each and every character’s individuality.  As for the story, I found it to be exciting at first and then it just moved over to a more horror story that became less realistic for me.  I guess I should have expected this from a horror genre because it asks you to suspend your disbelief, and I suck at that.  Either way anyone that loves horror and especially appreciates it’s unrealistic ideas will like this novel.

Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Portus-Jun-Abe/dp/1421513838/ref=pd_sim_b_20

S’mores Donut

This has been a wonderful summer, and nothing defines summer as much as S’mores.  To think such simple ingredients can create a wonderful snack is amazing.  Just in case you don’t know what S’mores are; well they are charbroiled marshmallows that are put on top of milk chocolate and then sandwiched between two graham crackers.  The outcome is a messy, gooey, melted chocolate snack that is delicious.  I didn’t think it could get much better than that, but then Tim Horton’s came in this summer and introduced the S’mores Donut.  The donut consists of a chocolate donut that is dipped in chocolate and then pieces of marshmallows, milk chocolate and graham cracker are added on top.  This donut was delicious and unfortunately, just like summer only lasted a limited time.

Tim Hortons:

http://www.timhortons.com

Lobster

A local supermarket in my neighbourhood had lobster on sale this past weekend so I decided to stop by and pick some up. I don’t usually splurge on anything, but I do like to spend my money on eating well. All summer long I had skipped local supermarket sales on lobsters, so I was eager to finally eat one.  Little did I know the ones on sale would be mutant size lobsters when I finally saw them. Although the one’s I bought were a little pricey, I just kept thinking that compared to ordering them in a restaurant I was getting a super deal. At the end of the day you only live once, and this meal was a once in a life time experience. Although the lobsters were huge, the meat tasted better than any lobster I had ever had, and it was totally worth every penny!

Butterscotch Pancakes

Today I made butterscotch pancakes with caramel swirl, toasted walnuts, and whip cream on top.  Unfortunately I wasn’t able to travel to the US this summer and visit an IHOPS, so I had to make my own at home.  It still came out tasting amazing, and it saved me from not having to travel all the way to Long Island to buy them.  I copied the recipe from memory and now that I know how to make them, I can make them year round, which is even better.

Old Love New Love

I started collecting deadstock (never worn) sneakers around 2005 when I first became aware of the Air Jordan XX.  I was reading a magazine when I came upon a Michael Jordan ad featuring his latest Air Jordan’s.  I hadn’t been interested in Air Jordans since the XI’s, so I had assumed that the line had died off after he retired the second time.  This magazine ad peaked my curiosity because it brought back childhood memories of sneakers as a kid.  Back in those days, I remember Air Jordans and Nike being so amazing and yet I took them for granted and never assumed that as an adult I would want to own them again.  I would simply get a new pair of sneakers and dirty them up as soon as possible.  I guess that’s why they’re so sentimental to me now, because I actually enjoyed them until they fell off my feet.

Fast-forward to 2005, and I went to the sneaker store to buy myself my first pair of Air Jordan’s.  Unfortunately they didn’t have my size so I had to go online (which was my first time looking for shoes on the internet), and try to find a pair.  To my surprise I came upon a vast collection of websites dedicated to sneakers and Air Jordans.  Over the next several weeks I dedicated myself to learning all about the sneakers I had missed out on since the Air Jordan XI’s.  What excited me the most through my research was when I found out that Jordan Brand and Nike would retro sneakers from the past.  These were sneakers I had always wanted, sneakers I had owned, and sneakers I had never known existed.  Truth be told until that time the only Air Jordans I had ever known about were the III’s-XI’s.

Knowledge is power; is an excellent quote to remember when entering a new hobby.  All I knew at that point was that I wanted to buy all the Air Jordans that were retroed.  Lamentably around that same time period, the DMP packaged released and I didn’t even know about it.  I felt terrible after because I had loved both those shoes in that package and was even willing to pay $500 to get them (luckily I didn’t).  I did however promise myself that the next package that Jordan Brand would release I would buy.  That package was the Old Love New Love package, a.k.a. OLNL pack, and Beginning Moments Pack, BMP pack.  They were going to be my first Air Jordan I’s and my first package.  I assumed that the package gimmick would only be used once in a while and the shoes would be well made.  Oh how little did I know.

My thoughts on the package are that I pretty much hated it from the beginning.  They’re not the same height as the original black toes, they don’t come with a Nike Air logo and instead have a Jumpman logo, they crease easily (after one wear), and the leather isn’t as thick as the originals.  While I do recognize that Jordan Brand wanted to release a package that was different from other releases, I also felt cheated because I had to settle for the only sneaker that came close to the original Air Jordan 1’s at that time.  It’s not so much that the sneakers are terrible, but it’s that I wanted to own a pair close to the OG’s and any substitute would not satisfy.  The positive aspects of the shoes are that the insoles have been upgraded and are comfortable, the shoe paper is lasered (similar to the CDP’s), and the shoe box was nicely designed.  (Speaking of the shoe box, I am also providing a picture of the box with Jordan’s back beside a photograph of him wearing the #45.  This has always made me assume that the picture on the box must have been photoshopped.)  Over all the shoes are great, but I wouldn’t recommend them to anyone who wants a retro similar to the 1985 black toe 1’s.

Jordan Brand:

www.jumpman23.com