Big Lots! Beast Wars Megatron Knockoff

Back in June I was at the Big Lots! in Rensselaer, NY when I spotted something that looked familiar. It was a knockoff of Transmetal II Megatron from Beast Wars!

It was a exact mold of the original but instead it was in a dark grey, blue and gold color scheme. This is very different from the Cryotech repaint that was primarily blue. It looks of almost equal quality to the original Megatron with the exception that the transparent helmet and cockpit canopy are now black opaque plastic.

It also includes a translucent lizard man, and not sure what that is for!?

The packaging has a goofy looking Beast Machines Cheetor. It also says that it was manufactured for Big Lots!.

I wonder if Hasbro knows that Big Lots! is selling their intellectual property for the low price of $10.

Anyway if you can find one buy it!

• Big Lots!
• Hasbro
• Transformers
• Transformers Knock Off Thread - Seibertron
• Official Transformers Collectors Fanclub

Almost hit a Coyote

I was driving home from work yesterday when a coyote shot out right in front of my car. I was able to tap the brakes and swerve a little which was just enough to not hit it. I am pretty sure its tail did brush the front of the car.

One thing I did notice that its tail was quite bushy. Also it looked scared ;-) I figure it weighted about 60 lbs.

This was almost the same place where a mountain lion ran out in fron of my car earlier this year.

• Location in Google Maps Street View

Fall Anime - What I will be watching

Fall is almost upon us which means a new season of anime fresh from Japan! Below are just some of the show I will be watching:

Gundam 00 Second Season

Gundam 00 has to be one of the best Gundam's ever, and the worst. It is created by the creator of Onegai Teacher! and Onegai Twins! -- Yōsuke Kuroda (黒田 洋介) -- two great anime shows both of which have no gigantic robots. Which can be seen in Gundam 00. Previous Gundam shows were much more shallow and the basic story was about the tradigy of humans fighting humans not because of race or economic standing, but because where they live. The visuals from the first season were amazing, and the story quite depressing and enthralling!

My daughter and I watched the show together, and we put together a Gundam Model. She followed along in the directions and removed and put each piece together! All I did was to put on the stickers and marker in the details! Not bad for a four-year-old!

Vampire Knight Guilty

The first season of Vampire Knight was good -- I haven't finished watching all the episodes, but it has some of the same darkness that Zombie-Loan had.

Rosario to Vampire CAPU2

Completely lacking of any kind of plot, this show is actually quite cute. Let's just hope that this season's story is a little more developed. It is like a very bad version Seto no Hanayome (瀬戸の花嫁).

Full Metal Alchemist (Second Season)

All you need to watch the original season of this show is to turn your TV to Cartoon Network. Yeah it's good. I am looking forward to it.

Clannad ~After Story~

This show really tugs at my heart. I really want Tomoya and Nagisa to be happy together! Just a really great show. I love the dangos! I bought some recently at a local Asian food market. Yummy and cute!

Ef ~A tale of melodies~

EF was also just as good as Clannad -- but the story is a little temporally (skips around) disjointed -- not as bad as The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (great show!)

¿More?

This is just a vary short list -- I just got tired typing. Check the links below for more shows.

• T.H.A.T Fall 2008 Anime Preview
• A year of sequels - Bokutachi no Blog
• Clannad ~After Story~ confirmed

Zombie-Loan back for a second season? Wait no.

I was checking out the new anime fansubbed episodes on fansub.tv today when to my surprise I saw episode 12 of Zombie Loan! Zombie Loan ran for a very show 11 episodes last fall. This is a most awesome anime was adapted from the mangaka duo Peach-Pit. Peach-Pit also created my daughter's favoriate anime Shugo Chara.

Zombie Loan is a awesomely dark anime about a teenage girl who get caught up with two male teenage zombies. These zombies are working for "the riverman" to payback a loan. This loan is for making them undead from previously being dead. Once they pay back the loan they will become fully alive again. Of course as with all Japanese stories it is never quite that easy.

The style of the show's animation is quite striking with rich colors. The color read is always the most vivid of colors. The opening song "Wolf's Throat (オオカミのノド)" by The Birthday is raw and full of energy that really sets the mood for each episode. And the ending song "Chain Ring (チェインリング)" by MUCC caps off each episode and leaves you looking forward to the next episode!

But alas no new season of Zombie Loan -- just 2 new episodes from the DVD release, but I will take it! I highly recommend that you watch it as soon as possible!

• Zombie-Loan Official Site (Japanese)
• Zombie-Loan Episode 12
• Shinsen Subs
• The Birthday - Official Site
• MUCC - Official Site

Book Review: Learn Japanese the Manga Way

I have been "self teaching" Japanese for about 2 years now. Most of it has been very casual, primarily watching fansubbed Japanese anime, and listening to Japanese music.

I have several Japanese dictionaries and other learning materials -- but what I have always wanted was a book that would translate Japanese word-for-word literally. This year I was given this book by a very thoughtful coworker for my birthday. It does just that.

The book will show a panel from a manga with the original vertical Japanese, then it will write the Japanese right to left, then under that it will translate each word literally. Then below that it will have a properly constructed English translation! All I can say is that this book is AWESOME!!! And so is Mike for giving it to me! Thanks!

If you are teaching yourself Japanese I cannot recommend this book enough. Pick up one right away!!!

• Wayne P. Lammers - Author's Homepage
• Japanese the Manga Way - Google Books
• Japanese the Manga Way (Amazon's Look Inside)

Anecdote Cookies

One of my biggest pet peeves are fortune cookies that do not contain any kind for fortune, but some anecdotal saying. What ever happened to the fortune cookies of auld? I clearly remember cookies with fortunes like "You come into some money", etc.

So I was looking up fortune cookie on Wikipedia, and I was surprised to learn that the fortune cookie was invented by the Japanese and imported to the USA and modified.

Mr. Subb Bistro!?!?

Well this new store kind of shoots a hole in my plan to fill a card with each Mr. Sub location stamp (this makes 25 locations, dang). I figure that since it has a different name it does not count. I will be visiting this location to see what it is like!

• Mr. Subb or Monsieur Subb? - Times Union
• Mr. Subb

Broken Nissan Murano Door Lock Actuator

About 2 weeks ago the front passenger power lock on my wife's 2005 Nissan Murano lost the strength to unlock the door. I went to the dealer to see how much the part would be. It turned out to be ~$200!

Now I find it strange that a power lock acutator would break in only 3 years of usage -- I have never had a problem like this in any of my cars. Well looks like other people are having this problem as well!

So it looks like I will be hitting the junk yard to see if I can find a replacement.

Please sign this petition asking Nissan to replace these broken actuators for free.

• Nissan Lock Petition
• Nissan USA

Mr. Subb Stamp #2

I picked up stamp #2 on at Store #5 on Pawling Ave. in Troy, NY. Not the best part of town -- yet the Mr. Subb was very clean. I had a SumperMix sub (Roast Beef, Turkey and Ham).

Mapquest has the newest satellite imagery

Yesterday I took a look at mapquest's satelite view and noticed that it is only 1 year old -- while Google maps view of my house is over 5 years old!!

Get with the program google!

Screw the environment! Or not?

By now I am sure most of you all know that congress has outlawed the sale of "inefficient" incandescent light bulbs. You may also be aware of the controversy over the fact the primary alternative lighting option -- the compact florescent light (CFL) -- contains mercury. In fact each CFL bulb contains enough mercury to contaminate over 6000 gallons of water beyond safe drinkable levels!

One has to wonder what congress is thinking -- they aren't. Most likely this law was the result of lobbying of power companies and bulb manure-facturers. They both stand to gain -- the bulb companies by being able to sell greater profit margin CFL bulbs -- and power companies by being able to raise power rates and deliver less power (at the same time avoid having to upgrade the nation's antiquated power grid) and therefore reap more profit. Of course there are the retarded world will end in a great flood environmentalists who cannot see the bigger picture (sheez -- giving toxic mercury filled CFLs to children -- bright idea!)

Well not if I have my say, because in my attic I have stock piled more than 400 100w bulbs! I will be set for quite a while. And while the rest of the country settles into the new dark ages I will be enjoying a bright future. Screw you Congress!!!

If you value the environment or just don't like congress telling you how much power you can use I suggest you hit your local Wal✭Mart and buy a couple hundred yourself! Time might be out to buy 100watts already!!!

I will be Mr. Subb

One of favorite places to eat is Mr. Subb -- a local sub shop that has been able to hold its own against the giants Subway and Quisno's. The reason I love it so much and the reason it does well is because of the quality of the food (healthy and tasty), the reasonable prices.

Recently I was looking at the Mr. Subb Value card and noticed that the number of stamp slots is 24 -- the exact number of Mr. Subb locations! I thought that this would may a fun hobby -- collect a stamp from each location! Then I truly would be "Mr. Subb"!

Here is the first stamp -- Store #18 3 Troy Road, East Greenbush:

Below is a list of all 24 shops so check back and see my progress!

City	Street	Map
Albany	City Square Plaza (Delaware & Whitehall)	map
	Loudon Plaza (across from Memorial Hospital)	map
	911 Central Ave. (Westgate Shopping Center)	map
	New Scotland Ave. (near St. Peter's Hospital)	map
Ballston Spa	327 Milton Ave., Route 50	map
Clifton Park	The Crossing (Routes 9 & 146)	map
Colonie	Rosewood Plaza (Wvlt-Shaker & New Karner)	map
	1558 Central Ave. (west of Northway)	map
	Colonie Center (Food Court)	map
	496 Albany Shaker Road (Near Osbourne)	map
East Greenbush	3 Troy Road (corner Routes 4, 9 & 20)	map
Glenmont	329 Glenmont Road (Town Squire Plaza)	map
Guilderland	2005 Western Ave. (Pinebush Plaza)	map
	Guilderland Thruway Travel Plaza	map
Halfmoon	222 Guideboard Road & Route 9	map
Latham	Skyview Plaza (across from Latham Ford)	map
	Latham Farms (near SAMs Club)	map
	Route 7 Mobil (corner of Albany Shaker Road)	map
Rotterdam	1870 Altamont Ave. (Price Chopper Plaza)	map
Troy	463 Second Ave. (corner of 112th Street)	map
	625 Pawling Ave. (next to Cumberland Farms)	map
	546 Hoosick Street (corner of S. Lake)	map
Waterford	90 Broad Street (Route 32)	map
Watervliet	620 Nineteenth Street (Route 2)	map

Why is Monster Jam Awesome?

It is because of Dennis Anderson and his Grave Digger!!!

Anyone remember TNT's Tuff Trax!?!?!

Here is a video that brings back the memories!

Here is some more great Grave Digger footage from the early 90's

$39.99 One Year Xbox Live Subscription?!?!

This is so sweet! $10 off a one year subscription to Xbox Live. Yello Netflix que! Just make sure you notice that it expires 8/21/08.

$39.99 Microsoft Xbox Live Gold 12 Month Subscription Card -- Newegg

Demolition Derby Time!

I had this week off to spend time with the family, and one of the fun things we did was to attend the Cobleskill Sunshine Fair.

We do this every year and it wouldn't be complete without seeing the demolition derby!

Every year I tell my wife Jennifer that I will enter. This year a highschool classmate Eric Sperbeck was in it.

Oh ya I am so gonna do it, and I am going to do it in style, with a awesome custom paint job. I could do nothing less for a car that will bear the name "Awrecknid" or maybe "Awrecknophobia"!

My wife suggested that a Lobster themed car could be called "Crushstation"!

YEEEEEE HAAAAAW!!!!!

natto ga suki ja nai dai yo!

I have been watching Japanese television and listening to Japanese popular music over the past 2 years in hope to learn the language. Well, I have picked up quite a bit -- and not just the language but the culture too.

One thing that has always had me curious about was a Japanese food called natto. I wanted to give it a try -- and just my luck I was in the local Asian food market and I found some with I snatched up before I could regret it.

I will be lazy here and link to a site on how natto is to be served.

I stirred it as instructed while noticing the arouma which has been described as dirty socks, but I would describe it as the following:

1. Coffee beans
2. McDonald's french fries
3. that weird smelling modeling clay that wouldn't harden like play dough.

Now take all those things and mix them up in the blender and leave it in a hot car for a day. Overall it is not bad smelling -- but certainly weird.

It has been said that if you like blue cheese you will like natto. Now that I have tried it I can easily say that it not true. I could eat itif I were starving -- I would not choose to eat it if there were other things to eat.

Wii is not for Mii

Christmas 1986: I got my first video game console, and NES. I played it hard. I loved it. And through the years Nintendo never let me down. I always knew if I bought a Nintendo console (and I have them all except the Wii) and a Nintendo game that the chances are that it will be good.

Not so anymore.

Nintendo you have let me down. I have no interest in playing a Wii and waving my hands around in the air like an idiot or a fool. I want to sit back and play a game. It's called relaxation.

I really don't care if they want to make billions selling to grandmas, what bothers me is that they have forgotten me.

So I have forgotten them -- and purchased myself a brand new xbox360 pro. I look forward to Street Fighter II HD, Street Fighter IV, Ace Combat 6, Battlefield Bad Company, Bionic Commando: Rearmed, Pacman Champion Edition, etc.

I still love my DS, but the Wii is not for Mii.