Bryce's Pipe Bomb Survival Guide*

Really, where do Transformers come from? The exact process for creating new transformers shifted around a bit in the generation one continuity. Sometimes new Transformers could just be built, and then off the went, other times some sort of catalyst was required, commonly the "Creation Matrix" that Optimus Prime possessed. Really, though, it seemed to be up to the whim of whomever was writing the comic or cartoon episode at that moment. Ever since then, depending on what cartoon, comic, or movie you're looking at, it varies quite a bit, although most commonly, it's now depicted are relying on some sort of catalyst, like the Allspark in the live action movies. For me, this leads to thinking about where Transformers as a race come from. In the Generation 1 cartoon, Transformers were built by an alien race, called the Quintessons, as a product to be sold. In the comic version of Generation 1, the Transformers were created by a primal god of the universe, Primus, who co

If you spend anytime reading about people's favorite post apocalyptic flicks, almost invariably you'll see an item on everyone's list, and that' Six String Samurai. I finally tracked it down and gave it a watch. I don't think anyone quite prepared me for what I was going to see, and I'll admit that my expectations were a little high. Just take a look at that movie poster up there, drink it in for a minute. There's a certain joy in the visual design, with the hero being dressed remeniscent of Buddy Holly, and the villain as Slash. That joy in design pervades the entire movie, with many characters and groups of characters being homages to either musical icons or at least fashion trends. Every new scene reveals something new and delightful to see. The backstory is that Russia nukes the US in 1957, and Las Vegas, being one of the least affected areas, becomes the center of a new society, with Elvis as its king, centered around rock and roll, and ass kicki

Let's get this right out of the way, this is not a science fiction movie, time travel is just treated as a magical effect that lets our heroes travel back in time, where they do all kinds of stuff that should create any number of paradoxes. The premise is: Three friends and a nephew take a trip to relive the friends' glory days, staying in the same hotel room that they stayed in 24 years prior. After a night of drinking heavily in the hot tub, they dip a Russian energy drink (it's got illegal ingredients!) into the timing control of the tub, and wake up in 1986. They appear as the same to themselves and each other, but reflections in the mirror, and other people perceive them as their 1986 counterparts. Except for the nephew, who wasn't born yet in 1986. What follows is an interesting look at three people, whose lives haven't been going where they thought they would, view living through their teenage glory day again. The humor is good, if more than a little vulgar.

I've been in the process of reorganizing my hobby room, (no reason to have a computer desk if I only use a laptop, and can't stand to stay in an upright sitting position for more than 30 minutes) and just this last weekend, I finally go to a point where I have space to take pictures again! Today we've got Full Metal Panic's Arbalest mech, as represented by the Revoltech line. A little background on Full Metal Panic, it's an anime/manga about an independent military force, not officially tied to any government that runs around keeping the peace through highly advanced and superior firepower. The core piece of equipment used in warfare in the world are Armslaves, large humanoid piloted mechs. The Arbalest is their most advanced Armslave, equipped with an experimental and not fully understood weapon, called the Lambda Drive. The Lambda Drive allows the pilot to do all kinds of crazy stuff, like creating forcefields, and weird invisible attacks that just crush oppone