Four years ago, I was not in a happy place. My friendship with someone I consider a brother seemed to be disintegrating for no good reason, I was miserable, I was depressed, and then I got an invitation to attend the first mod meat in Philly, and without a hint of exaggeration, it changed my life. Four years later, mod meat is the highlight of my year, and it's something I look forward to as soon as I come home from the last and this year was no exception.

Beyond flash, beyond the forums, beyond anything else, the best thing about NG to me is the community, it is the wonderful folks who come here (yeah yeah, not everybody fits that description, but there's still enough of 'em to make that statement true). If you get a chance to go to ANY sort of NG meetup, I strongly advise you go, you will not regret it, official or not official. First, some thank yous and general shout outs:

Malachy: Thank you for being gracious enough to drive the pedo van crew down to meet, thank you for hanging out with me, and thank you for continuing to be a loyal contributor to The Endless Crew, I really really hope we can do the whole damn thing over again next year...but with maybe a slightly better GPS.

NG Staff: Thank you again for your continued kindness and desire to keep this event going, and for believing in it in the first place. Say what you want about the way NG has evolved over the years, but one thing you cannot question is the genuine passion and appreciation everyone on the main staff has for this site and for it's members.

To all my mod meat mates that came: Thank you for one of the absolute best meats I have ever been to. I was really glad to see everybody really getting around and mingling and so glad to see that this continues to be an event that dosen't have people breaking into cliques or "the old guys" vs. "the new", it was also great to have Rucklo and Anna there, it's awesome to be able to talk with and meet people from a different cultural persuasion then what you are. Always happy to see the Canadian contigent out too, while you may be from an inferior country, you do it proud ;) <3. <3 all you guys, you are my e-homies, and it's cool to know there's always gonna be people there I can chill with above all others.

To all my mod meat mates that didn't come: You were missed, I hope you get to come next time out and hopefully nothing in my life changes to where I can't.

I cannot do the experience justice in words, if your a moderator that hasn't come, you owe it to yourself to do so, there is no valid excuse not to do it. If there's an unofficial meet happening near you, go! It's amazing how the people on this site just want to reach out and connect, it's a testament to the love and inspiration NG has given to it's fans, and to the kind of people it attracts. People of quality...who are just a wee bit twisted :)

NG really is a revolution, and I think while some people will point to this place and say it embodies everything wrong with the internet, I'd say it embodies everything that's right about it: passion, creativity, friendship, love, and sharing. I know it sounds sappy, but I think that is so truly rare, and it should be praised and celebrated when it's found.

It's gonna be so hard going back to my job on Wednesday, and even to just go back to some semblance of real life in the meanwhile. What a great great weekend, worth missing the Subway Series for.

Oh, and lest I forget...the most important lesson of all:

penispenispenis cockjokecockjokecockjokecockjoke.

Here there will most probably be spoilers, I'll try to avoid them as much as possible, but I get the feeling I can't convey what I liked and didn't from this movie without potentially spoiling just little bits. If you don't like that, I'll just give you the quick summary: Go see this movie! It's fun, it's funny, it's the most realistic type super hero movie I've ever seen, and they just did so much great and right here. A must see summer flick.

Now then, with that said. Iron Man was a fantastic flick. They leaned heavily on the version of Iron Man from Marvel's Ultimate version of the character, which I personally loved since that's the version of Iron Man I dig the most. Robert Downey Jr. was the perfect choice here as he plays the egotistical, womanizing bastard of early Tony with great aplumb, humor, and style. He's a hateable guy in some of his actions, but Downey still makes him likeable enough that you can see why the people close to him stick by him.

The relationship between Stark and Dr. Yensen is very very good. The friendship they develop while in the captivity of The Ten Rings (and I think all long time comics fans like myself will understand where our logical progression to the next film is going, kudos for that as well as now they can flow directly into the next movie like it's an extension of this one, rather then something they'd have to have a certain level of disconnect, and building of the villian off of) feels real, honest, and it's an emotional moment when that bond is broken. The romance between Stark and Pepper Potts is also spot on, and great to watch, as it's not the ham-fisted sort of thing we're used to from so many super flicks. Stark and Jim Rhodes also have a wonderful friendship that is by turns endearing, and occasionally makes you say "why the hell does Jim put up with this guy?". Great work on the relationships.

Ok, let's talk about the suit and the tech then. The suit looks great, there's some dodgy science used throughout sure, but I think they follow the rule of sci fi very well, that rule being "as long as you can properly and clearly explain how something works, it's all good". I also like that Stark doesn't treat it like some heavy burden or big responsibility. To be honest, that always rang false to me in his portrayal in the comics, if you have something that can fly, and makes you almost completely impervious to harm, you are gonna be elated to put that thing on and use it. That is how they play it here. I also like that they include plenty of scenes and time to Tony developing the armor, and going through trial and error. I appreciate that kind of craft and the aversion to taking short cuts, it allows the audience to understand how the armor works along with Tony. They perfectly play how the armor can effect Tony's medical issues in the finale.

Speaking of the finale...STAY THROUGH THE CREDITS PEOPLE!!! The rumors are true, and as a big fan of The Ultimates, I absolutely marked out hard to see that role, with that actor, on the screen. I'm trying hard not to spoil it for people that haven't heard about it.

I can't really find anything wrong with this flick honestly, for it's genre, for what it is, and I think that's how you have to judge these things; it's simply fantastic and something you need to see on the big screen. I also look forward to picking up the DVD, and I think that's the true test of any films true merits, would you want to own it? For me, hell yes.

I'd give Iron Man 4 stars.

It's the blog nobody demanded!!! Oh, wait...no, some people actually did. What the heck is wrong with you? Do you understand how little effort I put into these things? Right then.

You wanna know something I'm tired of? The religion vs. atheism debate. I got into this conversation with some friends of mine last night, based off of something I was watching on Bill Maher the other day (if you get HBO, have at least some interest in american politics, and haven't checked this show out, please check your listings and so do, funny and thought provoking). Maher is an avowed atheist, he even has a movie coming out on the subject, and he just thinks religion is ridiculous especially the Judeo-Christian religion with the talking snake and flying bodily to heaven. Now, I imagine that pisses off religious folks, even open minded religious folk. I would think of one of the friends I'm speaking with about this as somebody who was open minded religious folk but when you bring up that there's someone fundamentally denying his religious persuasion, or the idea of God, he got fairly frazzled. Like trying to say "oh, well it sounds like he just has a problem with the bible" "no, he has a problem with the whole belief structure, you can't think the bible is dumb and say 'but I still buy into the belief system!' it just doesn't work that way". Pretty amazing to me how people get all worked up about this stuff, it really is.

Look, I personally believe there's some greater intelligence that made the universe, and guides it's movements, at least to the extent that it keeps the cosmic trains running on time, it may or may not however, be taking an interest in whether or not you get that promotion at work. You may not, you may think that's a pretty irrational way of looking at things, and to me? That's absolutely fine, that to me is the beauty of the world, we don't all believe in the same things, just respect my right to believe what I want, and I'll do the same. That's it! Why have we needed crusades, heated debate, enacting legal precedents, or just endless threads and flame warring on the internet about this? It's dumb, and it's all going to come up the same way.

Here, let me end every religion vs. atheism topic ever, right now:

Religious guy/girl/some form of bipedal mammal: You can't 100% prove there isn't a God!

Atheist guy/girl/some form of bipedal mammal: You can't 100% prove there is!

At the end of the day, it's an argument that boils down to faith and belief, and faith and belief are intensely personal things. You should have the personal security to be confident enough in your faith and beliefs, whatsoever they may be, that you don't have to make the rest of the world believe the same thing. Can't do that? Don't make a thread on the internet, start an argument in the streets, or a big ol holy war. Just take a good long soul search and figure out what's wrong with you. It'd be a better world if everybody could do that.

Now for some stuff that will either entertain, or be extremely stupid to some I imagine, pick and choose at your discretion:

So I see Stan Lee is going to be creating a new super hero universe for Virgin Comics. Riiight, because that's just what the world needs, another super people universe. Because Marvel and DC are doing so well with that right now, and they aren't just big convoluted cash cows. Not to mention, Stan has always been a phenomenal man for ideas, but I've got to say that with the exception of Amazing Spider-Man, Stan's writing and plotting skills aren't the vaunted things they sometimes are believed to be (his Daredevil issues were sometimes downright wretched). I do admire and respect Stan's creativity, his ambition, and the fact that the man is pushing in on 90 and is still an active, and vibrant creative man. God bless him may he live another 100 years, but this has been touted like such a big deal and to me it really isn't, unless this winds up pole vaulting Virgin into being a big time player publisher, and not just another indy pipe dream that hangs around for a year or two and then the angry creators who can't cash checks or don't get checks at all start banging down the doors.

In other "WTF?" stupid news, somebody paid 170,100 dollars for the Red Sox jersey some crazy ass workman tried to bury in the foundation of the new Yankee Stadium to curse it. Stop, go back, and read that sentence again. I can wait, please, go back and read that, and let all of that sink in for you. Now, there's two parts of this story I want to address:

1. The burying of the jersey: For people who aren't entirely familiar with baseball and it's myths, there's an old legend that when the Boston Red Socks sold babe ruth's contract to the Yankees they cursed themselves from ever winning the World Series again, or some such. The Curse of the Bambino as it was called, lasted 86 years till Boston won in 2004. A black, black year (yes, I'm a diehard Yankee). So apparently the idea here by this workman was that he'd bury a jersey in the foundation, and that'd curse the Yankees.

People, what. The. FUCK!!!

The curse is a nice story, it's a fun bit of American myth, especially if your on the Yankee side of that fence. But to go this far? Come on! That's taking it entirely too far. What this guy did was criminal, and the Yankees treated it as such, as they should. Is it worth your job? Not to mention, you have to figure if this guy wasn't already a part of the company handling the deal, he would have been getting himself hired specifically just to vandalize the place. There's The Bleacher creatures, which are super fans, and then there's morons like this guy.

2) The auction: why the hell is this jersey being auctioned? Why the hell is the person who spent this money going to get honored at Fenway Park by the Red Socks later in the year? It's a team giving a criminal some credit, and it maybe encourages somebody to do this kind of nonsense again. I'm sure some people will defend it as it was a charity auction, but fuck that, you got that kind of money to spend? Then just flat out donate it. Don't glorify somebody's stupidity. As far as Boston making a big deal of it, well, guess I can't blame them, there's a lot of money made on both sides of the line from the Yankees/Red Socks rivalry. Not to mention, the Red Socks probably need to celebrate every little bit they can, it's not like they've actually really been beating us on merit or anything, they just wind up taking advantage when the Yankees fall apart. Shut up Red Socks fans, you know it's the truth.

I'll try to update these more often I think, since people actually want to read it, and reply to comments more often too. I just don't usually have a lot to talk about since I lead an exceedingly boring life, and there's usually so little to write about. There's lots of stuff that pisses me off, but so little that's worth wasting my energy on writing about.

Cheap plug section: Wanna read some various rants I've had about comics over the years? Pop on over to www.theendlesscrew.com and check out "avie rants", I'm trying to find some time somewhere to post up a new one. You can also join up with our forums and hang out with the misfit gang of NG users and other assorted internet people what stop over there.

I was asked for one specific thing in this: I had to talk a bit about puppies. So I will: Puppies rock, you don't like puppies? You go kill yourself. Teh end.

Anyone else getting a little sick of the untruth in environmentalism? I don't mean anything about is global warming a myth, or the science that may or may not be incorrect, or yadda. No, I'm just saying the untruth in advertising. Let's tell the truth: It isn't save the planet, it's save the planet for US.

Which is a fine damn idea I say! I like being alive, I like the idea of people I like and my bloodline continuing, these are things that are of personal importance to me, and if we could keep the planet in a state where these things can happen; I'm down. All this stuff is anyway is another hobby for most people, because lets face it. Top of the food chain is humanity, and we gotta figure out ways to stay busy...least until the deer figure out how body armor and shotguns work...then it's de-evolution time but until then. Yeah, let's just be honest, we can't destroy the planet, the universe has been trying that for billions of years (sorry Mike Huckabee supporters, the evidence is pretty clear it's been more then a mere 6000) and hasn't succeeded yet, so I don't think our plastic bottles and super bad garbage is gonna kill it. We can only fuck it up for ourselves and maybe kill the species, so let's just put that on the bumper stickers please "Save the humans! Stop polluting!". Yeah...I guess that one isn't as catchy.

Also, saw The Mist yesterday, great flick, awesome adaptation (but since it was done by Frank Darabont who also did "Shawshank Redemption" and "The Green Mile" can we be surprised?) of a King story about what fear does to people. The ending is a bit rough, and if your a parent, it will probably fuck with you, but I still recommend peeping it out.

Hope everyone had a good holiday and remember to be nice to your store clerks tomorrow...as one of their number, I can tell you we live in mortal fear of tomorrow. Maybe I'll do one of these before somebody complains about how long it takes between them again, lol.

Good night, and good luck...or something.

I don't usually feel there's much of anything interesting going on in my life worth a comment on, still don't, but I thought I'd hit on just a few topics good and bad going down with me of late:

Saw the new Halloween on Thursday, caught the only midnight show going in Jersey. I was really all set to hate this movie going in because, let's face it, just about every remake ever has sucked complete balls and been all about everyone involved getting a pay day and bilking the audience. So with that in mind, but with hope that Rob Zombie could take the positive lessons learned on his last two movies and translate it into a really good horror movie....

...he knocked it out of the park.

Zombie starts off by really giving us a look at the sad childhood of Michael Myers, something Carpenter did not do. At first I was afraid Carpenter would try to play him as a sympathetic sort of creature (much as Thomas Harris began to do with Hannibal Lecter, having that culminate in Hannibal Rising), my personal feeling is you always need to try and keep a murdering psycho like Myers hateful, his crimes need to be abhorrent, or else you are simply catering to the blood and guts crowd, and you offer nothing for any intellectual thought. As the movie progresses though, little Michael is shown to be more and more evil, culminating in the murder of his sister, and his abusive bastard of a stepfather, his distraught mother must deal with the stain and the trauma of what her son has done, the love/hate conflict, and the "where did I go wrong?" until reaching her own solution. Sherri Moon Zombie is great here, nearly stealing the movie and owning every scene she's in, why the hell does this woman not get more work?

The attack on Laurie Strode and her friends comes off almost as a side dish, whereas that was the meat of the original movie. Zombie also does a much better job of explaining the continuity, so that we are clear on the family tree, something that was made pivotal in Carpenter's original two, but sadly, was not terribly fleshed out and expanded upon (much like in Empire when Vader announces himself to be Luke's father and the proof is basically presented as "you know I'm your daddy! Accept that now audience!!!). Go see it, if your a Rob Zombie fan, or a horror fan, this is an enjoyable night at the movies.

So there's a big batch of controversy in wrestling again, guys getting busted for receiving growth enhancers, which seems par for the course sadly anymore, but what really gets to me is some of the names on said list. Chavo Guerrero BURIED HIS UNCLE, buried his uncle who was like a brother to him because his Uncle Eddie continued to abuse this stuff even up to two weeks before he died. When the hell does it sink in? When the hell do you stop mortgaging your future. William Regal wrote an excellent autobiography on how he beat his demons and no longer took anything, and how he came back from major heart problems that could have killed him. Guess we need to file that book under F for fiction, and Regal himself under C for Carny, what a pathetic lier he's unmasked himself to be. Ken Kennedy, wow, how stupid can you get? Going out and playing Mr. Company Guy and how you are so pissed at the media for shitting on your business and your livelihood, and you talk about how you don't take ANYTHING, then get proven a blatant lier. Hope that bag of stupid was worth that great bit of elevation you were gonna get buddy. I'm glad some guys are going to get oppurtunity they weren't gonna get otherwise, but it's just a shame so many people have to be such total fuck ups to do it, and it's a shame the guys who are trying to do things correctly, and not take short cuts (I'm sure they're out there) will be undermined and painted with the same brush as these guys who embarrass themselves, their families, and their profession. That's life I guess.

On the reading front I've read a couple really excellent Terry Pratchett novels back to back, both Discworld, both Sam Vimes stories, you like to laugh? You like fantasy? Go pick up some of Pratchett's Discworld stuff immediately!!!

Also started a really good comics adaptation of Richard Matheson's "I Am Legend" out there no doubt because of the Will Smith flick in December. Is it just me, or does it seem like people are forgetting that this will actually be the third time this story is adapted for the screen? Maybe it's just because we aren't close enough to the release yet for anybody to talk about that, yay, I'll be first now:

The first try was with the late, great, Vincent Price in the very aptly, if unimaginitively titled; "The Last Man On Earth". This version sticks pretty closely with the main story as Price plays the role of Richard Neville, a man living his nights in fear, and his days on the hunt as a plague has wiped out the human race turning them all into blood sucking vampires. Neville struggles to keep his life and his sanity in a world completely overrun by the undead. Price plays Neville as just an average joe (well, with maybe a bit more dignity since I don't think Price could ever look or play completely average) swept away in a horrifying situation, staying alive by his own ingenuity and wits. Great stuff, and you can find a DVD of this sucker really cheap, hell your local Wal-Mart might have it in the 5 dollar bin, check it out.

The second version was Charlton Heston's the Omega Man. This film obviously had a huge amount of Heston's influence as it bears only a passing resemblence to the original source material. Neville (Heston) is an army captain (who is immune thanks to a super vaccine the US Government invents, but is sadly never delivered when the chopper pilot transporting it, and Heston dies of the plague), the plague is very clearly stated as caused by germ warfare between Russia and China, no vampires here, most of the population died outright. What survived are fully intelligent and human albinos organized into a cult by a former TV reporter named Mathias, that want to kill Neville simply because he represents the old way of living, which they believe the plague was sent to wipe out. The movie is a fun watch, though it patently panders to Heston as action hero and genius (scenes of him playing chess with himself should tell you that, duh!) and it's fairly obvious Heston is pushing his Christian ideals over the fundamentalism of Mathias and his followers, even the ending has Neville re-enacting the death of Christ (though not in all it's terrible detail of course) to save the world. A fun little action movie, if you get past most of the rather odious overtones and the agenda Heston is producing. The actor who plays Mathias is truly wonderful in his role as a religious fanatic who is turning his slow death into a holy crusade. Worth a watch I think, and you can probably find it cheap, but the Price version is superior overall.

I've got the next two days off, w00t, and that's about all. Hope everybody reading this is well, and that maybe I gave you a couple entertainment options for your own free time.

Pretty big week in my life, my 80 cent raise this year kicks in. For those not up to date, my plan to get promoted at work sorta work, they signed me up for everything tuesday (the raise for that just kicked in today, other half kicks in wednesday when I get my regular yearly bump), however I can't move to my new position yet since they lanced that perenial boil on my ass I have long had to sufferingly call a co-worker. You just knew it would have to come to something like that wouldn't you? I finally get rid of the worthless bastard after 5 years, but it's right when I was gonna move AWAY from the worthless bastard for more cash...hey, at least I got the more cash right?

This also upholds what I'm always saying about when you live like an a-hole that contributes nothing to helping others, it bites you in the ass. For reals.

I really need to try and do some housekeeping around the old website tommorow I think, specifically gotta look at some things to put back on the forum to clean the mod list up. It's good to have the extra help, but all those names on the list look a bit unruly, might also want to delete off those spambot accounts, long overdue for that again. Not to mention I should probably try once again to get back into the habit of putting new ramblings up for the people who (theoretically) still read 'em. Certainly have cut down on the distractions I was using as an excuse to not do that prior.

Almost through my current book on the NWA too...372 pages and it's taken the better part of 2 weeks or so to finish, bottom of the reading pile true, but usually I can read stuff faster then that. Uh...not that I'm one of those people that cares about things like that overly much, but it's nice to have useless little talents ain't it? Pretty dense though, very good, very well researched and if your a wrestling fan, you should give it a look. It can be a little dry though, so if your more a casual fan that wants to hear the colorful personalities of the business talking on the record about backstage type stuff, this book won't be for you.

Also a shout out to SevenSeize for the great banner. If you like it, leave her some love for the good work. If you don't...uh, being quiet is probably your best idea in that case then because if she dosen't hunt you down and beat you then I surely will. Nobody likes rude people.

Almost 4 a.m. that's my cue to make a crappy sign-off, yay crappy sign-off!!!

Long days and pleasent nights folks.

NO MORE BLANKED OUT ICONS!!!!

Yeah, mostly just testing if the feature works for me, and then I can have that shiny "manage icon" working. Also, this is a good test of who loves me, if you don't post your approval to this completely masterbatory post, it must mean you don't love me. Someone will be along to deal with you promptly if that's the case.

Now, the inside joke section:

lol, k....23 TIMES OMG OMG OMG!!!