Okay, so it’s probably not the official Batman week, but in my world it is. See, this week saw the release of one of the most anticipated video game titles in a long time – Batman: Arkham City. The game looks and sounds spectacular. But it’s not all about the video games here. This week also saw the DVD and Blu-Ray release of the latest DC animated feature – Batman: Year One. I’ve written about my excitement about this release before, but I didn’t actually put two and two together with the release date of the video game.

Man, this week is going to be chalk full of rogues – can’t wait.

Here’s the game trailer for Batman: Arkham City.

And here’s the trailer for Batman: Year One.

Morning all,

For those of you who follow the Vancouver Canucks closely (and by closely I mean you scour the Interwebs for trivial commentary and listen to Vancouver-centric sports talk radio) then you may have already heard that the best resource for Canucks personality, analysis and comedy is now gone. Kapoof! Disappeared! I’m speaking of course about the Orland Kurtenblog. If you frequent the Bloated Penguin (yes mom, that’s you) then you know that the Kurtenblog was one of my morning reads, but now that it’s gone I’m feeling slightly lost…

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, check out this farewell post from the Kurtenbloggers that showed up last week.

Okay, so I probably sound like one of those crybabies that didn’t get what he wanted, and to a point, yes, that’s exactly what I am, but what is really perplexing is the mysterious non-story behind the reasoning for this occurrence. In the farewell post, the Kurtenbloggers say they will stay in the business, but the blog and the radio show will no longer exist. And then that’s it. There isn’t any, “Come check us out on blah blah blah,” or even, “Oops. We got fired.” It’s simply over…

This conversation with myself is becoming vaguely familiar (Bloated Penguin reminisces about every time his heart was kicked to the curb).

So if anyone has any information on what happened to the Kurtenbloggers, please reply with a detailed description of the story.

** UPDATE**

Turns out the Kurtenbloggers got a cushy gig writing about hockey for NBC Sports.

Go check them out here!

And to top it off, The Province is looking for their replacements.

Morning all,

How about some great news right before the weekend? Okay, here we go! It’s what we’ve been waiting for since that fateful first time we all watched Back To The Future II. No, sorry, nobody will be mass producing hover boards. And no, Doc Brown and the DeLorean still haven’t hit 88MPH. But what’s the next best thing? YES! You’re correct! Marty McFly‘s kicks from Back To The Future II are finally coming to the mass public. Sure, in the flick he doesn’t get them until 2015, but I guess we’re a bit ahead of schedule.

(Re) Introducing the Marty McFly Air Mag Shoes!

Earlier this week the press was given a box from Nike with an iPod, some Doc Brown sunglasses and a whole bunch of snacks from 1989 like glass Pepsi bottles, Nerds and Bubble Tape. The iPod contains a message from Doc Brown that says:

“Welcome to Los Angeles. If my calculations are correct, over the next 24 hours you are about to see some SERIOUS SH*T!”

Still no word on when exactly we’ll be able to pick these up, but I’m sure there will be lineups.

So part II of the annual vacation meant the GF and I were off to Chicago. Home of the Bulls, the Blackhawks, the Cubs and the White Sox. But this wasn’t a trip about sports, this was a trip about pigging out. Hats off to the men and women on the food industry in this great city, their job is unmatched by any I’ve ever experienced. From gourmet hot dogs at Franks & Dawgs, to one of the best pieces of steak I’ve ever had at the Chicago Chophouse, this place was heaven on the bone. Check out the photos beneath and I promise, I’ll be back soon with news you’ll actually care about.

Morning all,

This time I’ve got a valid excuse for not being around for a while. I’ve actually been on vacation! Last week the GF and I flew down to Orlando Florida to take in the sun, the experience of Universal Studios and the brand new Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Needless to say, it was spectacular. A few highlights? Okay then:

Went to Bubba Gump Shrimp, you know, the shrimp’n boat company from Forrest Gump. Well it turns out the restaurant chain actually existed before the movie, but since Ton Hanks ate a box of chocolates it’s really taken off. That, and Bubba Gump has basically changed itself from a restaurant to an all-out Forrest Gump movie restaurant. This is basically the definition of selling out, but who cares, American portions!!! Ate way too much, but that was just the start.

Hogsmeed was spectacular. Staying on the resort allowed us to jump the line-ups the entire time we were there so I’m not sure how different it would have been if we had to stand in the boiling heat for 3 hours before a 2 minute ride. In any case, WOW. The rides were great, Olivanders is a step above any gift shop in the world (in my opinion) and ButterBeer tastes like a caramel float. Think about that one for a second…. sounds pretty good huh?

But the best part of Universal Studios Orlando to me was visiting The Quick-E-Mart. That’s right, I went to Apu’s convenience store and had a Squishee. All in all, fun fun fun. Hopped a plane up to Chicago right after, but that’ll have to wait. Enjoy some photos!

Morning all,

Going to throw a bit of a twist into today’s post because it is time for a much needed celebration. And by celebration, I mean vacation. Phew. It’s been a tough few months in the last little while, but for those of you aren’t already aware,

I’m Taking My Talents To South Beach

Kind of. Okay, seriously though, I’m headed out of town for a little while but I’ll be back in due time. The GF and I will be testing our magical skills in Orlando as we’ll be visiting Hogwarts. That’s right. After that it’s a quick trip up to Chi-Town for a few days where we’ll eat pizza like gluttons and then home and back to the grind. So until then my friends, enjoy.

Morning all,

Okay, so I know you’re probably used to the morning rants about movies and TV shows and the such, but I think I’m going to switch things up. Wait, come back from the ledge, it’s just a trial.

Anyways, I think I’m a Moleskine nerd…. I never really thought about it but my pretentious nature has cloaked itself from my self-conscious and all of a sudden I find myself generally pissed off when I have to write in a book that isn’t a Moleskine. Get the hipster criticism out of the way now cause I warn you, it could get worse.

I think I was given my first Moleskine when I was in high school or something and ever since then I’ve just felt really uncomfortable writing in anything else. The texture is rough enough that I actually feel as though I’m accomplishing something when I write (although this is simply a myth), and it also bleeds a little giving it a sense of authenticity. Couple that with the fact that I prefer to write with a ink tip pen and you could say that my attitude towards this whole craft is achieving new heights of douchebaggery (I can’t lay claim to this term at all but I like to use it a lot).

Okay, maybe I’m just taking myself a little too seriously with this, but wait, there’s more. Not only do Moleskines come equipped with a built in page marker, but the neat little elastic band gives me the feeling of importance. Lame, I know, but if I’m walking around with a 5-Star coil notebook as opposed to a leather-bound Moleskine and I’m asking for an ounce of respect, which one would you prefer?

Anyways, Moleskine. Yes. And judging from the rant above, I think I answered my own question.

Please see these images of awesome Moleskines for your enjoyment. (Stolen from various places on the Internets)

This is a good one, especially because I already know 4 people who have sent this to me thinking it’s actually real.

Gmail (and subsequently Google), have done it again this year in releasing a fake feature for one of their products. This year’s culprit is Gmail Motion. The video is really good and I applaud those who kept a straight face while making it. My favourite part? Sending a message. Just lick a stamp and stick it to your knee!!!!

Okay, let’s try and get the office intern to fall for this.

Click here to check out Gmail Motion.

Say what you want about Flash development and all of the possible pitfalls, but sometimes you just have to sit back and marvel at what some companies are able to do with the technology. I actually don’t have a huge problem with Flash because I believe in the content. Call me crazy or just call me a believer, but if the content is great, the site doesn’t need to have the world’s greatest search capabilities.

Anyways, here’s an example. Check out this link to Nissan‘s latest Flash site. The campaign/site is called The Nissan Juke Experience and for what it’s worth (probably nothing coming from a writer) I think the art direction is absolutely spectacular.

Check out the Nissan Juke Experience.

The imagery, the colours, the style of navigation, the music, the sound – this is an entire production that is worth talking about. Normally I gab about movies and TV shows, but the web has always been the best experience for nerdy kids like myself. To be immersed in an online experience like this is somewhat of a dream considering most of us came from a world of Geosites and Angelfire.

The side scroll and the mouse effects (knowing where your curser is) create a series of small linear experiences, but the free-form navigation at the bottom gives users the ability to explore. And that’s really all we’re looking for these days right? The ability to discover on our own. Gone are the days where instructions were the key (for a lot of us those days never really existed) and we’re at a stage in interactive experience development where we can start to assume things. We can start to assume that great art combined with a story can put someone into an experience. We can also assume that most people are no longer Internet-Illiterate, meaning we don’t have to spell things out in plain sight as much as before.

Juke is a great example of all of this coming together. Hats off to the agency that threw this together. I’m jealous you got to do this.

The news of Anna Hathaway being cast as Selina Kyle in Christopher Nolan‘s Batman: Dark Knight Rises is making a lot of noise lately over the Interwebs. I’ve been extremely tentative to chime in on any of this in fear of this being a big thing when it doesn’t have to be. Not only are the comic nerds piping in

“Dude, Princess Diary is going to be Catwoman?”

But it’s really giving people some perspective on how the story is going to take shape. First up, Nolan has not confirmed in any form that Anna Hathaway is going to be Catwoman. All that is confirmed at this point is that Anna Hathaway will be playing Selina Kyle. After all of the casting rumours and apparent screen tests with Christian Bale, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say I trust Nolan with the choice. This is all based purely on the fact that he made Dark Knight work on so many levels even though he had to re-cast for Rachel Dawes. So instead of getting lost in the mix of folks screaming murder at the choice, I’m going to keep faith… for a little while.

On the flip side, after thinking about it for a while I’m really excited to see Tom Hardy as Bane (although slightly disappointed he won’t be playing Hugo Strange). I think back to the way Nolan did Dark Knight and showed the slow digression from White Knight to Two-Face for Harvey Dent. The CG wasn’t terrible, it made a lot of sense in terms of the story and Aaron Eckhart did a really good job. Going into Dark Knight Rises, really, how can anyone think Tom Hardy will put in a weak performance? Granted, some of the stories of Bane are a little bit campy, but again, trust Nolan. He’s not going to look at back issues of Batman and choose to base his story line on a giant prisoner with tubes coming out of his body (unless it make perfect sense). He’ll probably end up doing something similar to Two-Face where it’s subtle, but makes a lot of sense.

Still waiting on the official news of who will be playing Talia Al Ghul, but I’m hearing Eva Green right now which would be an amazing choice.