Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Busy week for Marvel Superheroes

Here’s Chris Evans, the guy who’ll be playing Captain America in the movie of the same name.


If Evans looks familiar, well he should. Take another look at him playing as a different superhero.


So as you can see, when Evans isn't covered in flames to kick some ass, he's wearing a patriotic costume to kick some ass.

I’m just wondering why Marvel didn’t look for another actor to play as Captain America. Not that I’m questioning Evans’ qualifications. After all, he did a pretty good job of playing as a Marvel superhero prior to CA. But wouldn’t this cause some problems in the future, especially if Marvel will produce a movie that will involve both characters that Evans played?

Hollywood must be running short on superhero-worthy actors.

Anyways, there's been recent photos of the Captain America shoot proliferating online. Just click here if you're interested.

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Your friendly neighborhood superhero is getting extreme makeover.

According to IGN, starting November, Dan Slott will be taking over the Amazing Spider-Man series. And with him calling the shots, expect the Spiderman universe to undergo major changes.

For one, some of the web-head’s archenemies will be getting new identities, looks, motives and powers, in addition to new baddies that will make their debut in the comic book series;

Second, Spidey will become an Iron Man wannabe (more on this later);

Third, to level the playing field, Spiderman also gets new powers;

And lastly, he’ll be changing careers. That’s nice, Spide….WTF?! Peter Parker won’t be taking photos anymore?!

For those who have read their fair share of comic books, or have seen the movie, we all know that Parker is a nerd of sorts and is simply working as a part-time photographer in the Daily Bugle to get through college.

In connection, Slott wants to focus the Amazing Spider-Man on Parker’s intellectual side. Instead of being a photojournalist, Peter will now earn his living as a scientist. But don’t expect him to mope in his laboratory while waiting for trouble ala Mr. Fantastic. Parker will use his wits and resources to produce gadgets and suits that would aid him in crime-fighting (thus, the Iron Man reference).

Aside from the career switch, Spiderman will also get new powers. Though no official word has been released regarding this matter, Slott mentioned that some of Spidey’s abilities from the ‘Other’ arc will be making a comeback. Such abilities are: night vision, fangs, wrist-based spear-like stingers and cocoon-based regeneration.

I’m really behind with my comic book reading and the closest I have for a collection are a pile of Archie comic books from the 90s and some tattered issues of Funny Komiks, so please forgive me if I don’t know what the heck the ‘Other’ arc is.

But let me tell you this, those new powers don’t sound good to me. I know Marvel’s just trying to reinvent the web slinger so that people will have renewed interest in him, but you can’t simply go around nerfing or boosting Spidey like some DOTA hero.

Part of what made Spiderman appealing is that his powers stay true to the attributes of a spider: Wall crawling, Spider-sense, agility and some superhuman strength. And since he can’t produce web out of his butt, Parker artificially produces some and shoots it through a wrist-based device. So you see Spidey doesn’t go beyond this parameter. Even Armored Spiderman doesn’t shoot rockets and emit lasers in Marvel vs. Capcom.

Because of this characteristic, Spiderman becomes easily identifiable unlike some of his peers who either have so many destructive powers or have abilities that don’t match their names. I mean, what’s up with the cocoon-based regeneration? Spiders don’t have cocoons. Butterflies do. And that’s the kind of insect spiders feed on.

And as Parker leaves behind his lenses and camera, what happens to the Bugle? Is there any other photographer skilled enough to get photos of Spiderman other than himself?

Whatever the case may be, this things gonna get mixed reviews for sure.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

NBA expands technical foul guidelines




Ah, the technical foul. The only weapon a referee can use to directly get back on a player that he/she dislikes.

But seriously, the goal of the tech is to help players keep their emotions in check.

When players become too physical and starts turning the court into a ring, give them a ‘T’. When coaches start cursing and character assassinating the refs, give them a ‘T’. When a team official hits the head of a player, give his team a ‘T’ and ban him from the league. When a baller, coach and/or team official still has the guts the pull another technical foul-worthy stunt after earning one, give him another one so you can kick him out of the game.

See, techs are good. In a competitive game like basketball, there are so many emotions involved that you need rules like this to save the hardwood from turning into a war zone.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Glee's 2nd season lives up to expectations

The award-winning TV series Glee returns to Philippine TV and I barely got to see it. ARGH!!!

Don’t get me wrong, unlike other Pinoy Glee fans, I’m not in it for Charice Pempengco. I’ve been watching Glee even before the talented Filipina became part of the musical-comedy’s cast, thanks in part to Naya Rivera.

Cheerleaders aside, Glee’s tunes are so catchy and ear-friendly (with emphasis on New Directions rendition of Madonna and Journey songs) no one can blame you if you start turning into a Gleek yourself.

Moving on to the new season, I can only provide my insights to parts of the show I actually saw. But before I start babbling, here’s a quick recap of the 1st episode of season 2 (SPOILER ALERT…for the uninitiated).

Thursday, September 16, 2010

10 things to look out for as NBA draws near


With the conclusion of the FIBA Men’s World Championships comes another major basketball event set to take place after a few weeks.
The world’s premiere basketball league, the NBA, opens on October 6, and in anticipation of the coming 2010-2011 Season, Lone Opinion gives you a rundown of 10 things to watch out for when the ballers return to the hardcourt.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Post World Championships Reaction

ISTANBUL, Turkey – Kevin Durant led the American onslaught to lead Team USA past…Tur…key…Zzz…Zzzz…Zzz.

Don’t get me wrong, the World Championships was exciting, but I’m not surprised that USA is back on top of the global basketball scene. All that talk about the ‘B-Team’ being underdogs is nothing but rubbish. Even without the members of the 2008 Olympic team, Team USA pretty much owns the most talented roster in the tourney. Other participating countries could only put up little resistance against the American delegation since key personalities like Tony Parker (France), Manu Ginobili (Argentina) and Pau Gasol (Spain) were missing in action.

Never mind that previous representatives of Uncle Sam had early exits in the World Championships albeit as talented as this one. There are no prima donnas in 2010 and that secured the gold medal for the US.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Mark Cuban gives Dallas $100,000


In third-world countries like the Philippines, the masses are often burdened by lots of things – usually economic in nature.

Low wages, inflation and of course, taxes.

Taxes that were meant to fund important projects that'll benefit the public ended up becoming a bulge in the pockets of few politicians.

Taxes spent wrongfully on expensive dinners and resulted into the emptying of the National Treasury.

Because of such circumstances, people, if not reluctant, don’t like paying taxes. And who does anyway?

If there’s anything worse than taxes, it’s gotta be tax hike.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Origin introduces Xbox and PC hybrid

In a fast-paced world, time is 10,000 tons of 24K gold.

Whenever we’re in a jiffy, wasting seconds in search of your essentials can prove costly. That’s why getting hold of multipurpose stuff ain’t a bad idea.

Nowadays, the norms are camera-phones with music players and Wi-Fi, Swiss knives with storage devices, and to top it off, you also got cars turning into speedboats.

Now, if you’re a hardcore gamer, you’ve probably wasted precious hours (every second worth it) of your life and loads of cash on various gaming consoles and gizmos. In the desire to play games in almost every platform available, it’s quite understandable.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Barking at the barkers


bark•er (bär-kər) a person who stands at the entrance of an establishment especially movie houses or theaters and tries to attract customers to it.

In the Philippines, barkers call the attention of passengers towards public utility vehicles like cabs, buses and jeepneys. Not only do they make the job of drivers a bit easier by saving the latter’s throat from hollering whole day, they also help commuters locate PUV terminals and inform them about a PUV’s destination.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Quirino Grandstand: The Aftermath



It’s been 9 days since the Quirino Grandstand Hostage Crisis took place, and since then, little progress has been made.

While the Philippine government is still busy pointing fingers as to who should take the biggest credit for this blunder, Hongkong forensic experts are currently in the country to conduct their own investigation.