At the end of the day, we still managed to gather up enough strength to take one final walk through Central Park. We walked to the Jackie Onassis Reservoir which was basically  the biggest man-made body of water in the park. There was a nice walking/jogging/biking trail around it with great views of the city. We rushed back to the hotel for a quick (5 minute) freshen-up and then to Times Square for dinner where Jess and I met Ruthi and Doug at Ruby Foo's. I met Ruthi in my junior year of high school as a photography course partner, where we developed a great friendship. We even ended up playing in a rock/glam band together. It was great to see her and her husband and catch up on old times. Turns out she is a very talented portrait photographer who also works with the Obama campaign.

After a great week in the Big Apple were were sad to call it a day, but we were anxious to get home. It's always good to be home.

Hello. NBoN will be quiet for a few days until I restore my health due to some unwanted bug nesting in my body and making me throw up more times than Linda Blair did on three repeats of The Exorcist and a bit of Repossessed thrown in for good measure. When my temperature hits the ice age, there'll be a return to form. Until then, I'm going to drink the river Nile, and your mother sucks c*cks in Hell.

***spoiler alert***

Okay, if you ever plan on seeing this show, I urge to see it without knowing anything about it. Do not read on if you want to go in as a Fuerzabruta virgin. I'm actually not going to go into details, but what I am going to describe will still spoil the experience.

The show was best described as Cirque Du Soleil in a club/rave atmosphere. It was visually stunning, and slightly provocative. We were drenched my the end of the show. Literally wet. We didn't know we had a choice. We rode the subway home this was way, and even grabbe a slice of pizza on the walk back to our hotel in this condition, without anyone batting an eye. It is NYC, after all; I'm sure there have been many greater spectacles than a couple we tourists.

***end spoiler***

We got back to our hotel and called it an early evening. I had only gotten three hours of sleep prior to our travels, so I was wrecked. The next update will be tonight since sleep won't be critical.

Yes, the spiritual guru, and part time cook, Steven Seagal, is dying to get an Under Siege 3 in the can. He's been quoted as wanting the navy seal chef, Casey Rybeck, involved in a story that deals with extraterrestrial conspiracies. You can see it now, Chef kicks ass in Area 57 (consipracy!) before finding out martians only invaded the planet to learn new culinary skills, fight with martial arts, heal spirtually, play the blues and watch girls pop out of birthday cakes. I'm hooked!

Also it must be noted that a certain Mr Van Damme has apparently made the greatest film of his career in J.C.V.D. A film which I've very kindly robbed a trailer for you to throw your retinas on.

Yes, it's the weekly happenings in the world of rhytym based music games! How I love this time of the week, it makes me so warm inside. This is another situation, where I'll rant at the sheer outrage of this debacle, then months down the line I'll be weak willed and file amongst the other naysayers who were proved wrong.

Well, it's not really coming to that. This piece of news is rather odd for me to digest. As a child, my rawkin' musical upbringing consisted of Led Zeppelin, Alice Cooper, Queen, Judas Priest and AC/DC. The latter I'm still a fan of to this day (new album, Black Ice, out real soon kids!), probably as when I was a wee DvS in my mother's womb, I was actually at a gig right near the speakers, (gigging when pregnant is good for you they say) resulting in my distinct hard of hearing. Anyway, AC/DC have rocked harder than any donkeypunch video for years and now you'll get an opportunity to relive a phenomenal concert from 1991.

Us Europeans will get a stand alone Rock Band disc in December, featuring the cream of the crop from AC/DC's Live album, recorded at Donington (and some tracks from Russia) Monsters Of Rock in 2001. Eighteen tracks are on offer, and if you like numbers, you can count them to see if I was lying with this handy list that's going to appear after these words.

"Thunderstruck"
"Shoot to Thrill"
"Back in Black"
"Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be"
"Heatseeker"
"Fire Your Guns"
"Jailbreak"
"The Jack"
"Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap"
"Moneytalks"
"Hells Bells"
"High Voltage"
"Whole Lotta Rosie"
"You Shook Me All Night Long"
"T.N.T."
"Let There Be Rock”
"Highway To Hell”
"For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)”

Now I'm prepared to forgive and forget the exclusion of Who Made Who and Sin City as there's a pretty strong list to choose from, and let's face it, who DOESN'T want to bust a nut to piss about with Back In Black with your fellow plastic instrumental chums? Ha, well let's talk about the shit points, for we knew they were coming...

Eighteen tracks for the Xbox 360 will cost you a charming £29.99. Yet the PS3 and Wii versions will be ten pounds less (I put it down to the hilarious waiting times they've suffered to play Rock Band for their formats). Considering the Chili Pepper's Blood Sugar Sex Magik album comes out this week as downloadable content for less money again and two extra tracks, it's hardly a bargain. But then, I know that I can moan all I like about it, yet when December arrives, I'll be quite happily getting Thunderstruck all over again.

ADDITIONAL: As a true nerd of this album, I'll tell you straight off that Jailbreak and Let There Be Rock have two insane guitar solos, and go on for about nine minutes a piece. Be interesting to see if this carries over to the game. Green Grass GTFO!

LA shredders rejoice! You just got yourselves your first (legal) street skate spot!

The Ambassador Street Skate Plaza in Wilmington, CA had its ribbon cut and its cherry popped on Saturday, September 27th. Daewon Song, P. Rod, and some of the DVS team made it out for its inauguration to sign some decks, throw around some swag, and push around a bit. The park looks to be a tight place and a convenient locale. What else could a shred ask for? Grease up dem bearings and git out 'dere!

Props to Spohn Ranch Skateparks for makin' the magic happen.

Check out some photos of the event here.

--Gnargusto

Matthew Vaughn appears to no longer be attached to helm the big screen treatment of Thor, so the internet hath decreed over the past few days. Today I wake up and find that now there's negotiations and talks and meetings and dark secrets revealed amongst chinese whispers that there's a new fellow for the director's chair. His name? Kenneth Branagh.

Normally, I'd be trembling in fear of this, as I've never been really bothered by luvvy-luvvy Branagh's stuff, but his telling of Henry V is actually worth watching, especially now you've heard this news, as it's pretty heavy on the action and is a pleasant surprise as the film's budget was next to nothing. So, I say give it to him, we could be safe knowing that Asgard is in good hands and (as I read this morning on some crazy forum) there's hope for Brian Blessed to shout lots in cinema once more as he gets given the role of Volstaag. All we need to know is who is going to play Thor. Any suggestions?

Paul Newman, star of all time greats The Hustler, The Sting and the mighty Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, died yesterday at his farmhouse home after losing his battle with cancer. He was eighty three. Let us commune and watch The Color Of Money.

Art show at Orchard!

Friday, Sept 26th, 2008
7–10pm

Featuring:

Louis Sarowsky, Nick Sherman, Jake Hertzler, Jad Angell, Zered Basset, Lee Berman, Silas Finch, Abe Pieciak, Bro Gumpright

BE THERE!

In a constant quest to keep bringing you the coolest shit your eyes have ever seen, today's find has captured the hearts and minds of Team Nerd everywhere. Imaginative, well crafted and damn unique, these little customized gallopbeasts come from the mind (and fingers) of a Finnish girl (GIRL. Easy now) who has posted her pimped ponies up on her Deviant Art page. Movies and comics seem to be her vices with the customs, so we welcome her with open stables. Really, if you're as nerdy as you say you are, this really is up your alley.

This week's shirt comes from some oddball place called Stylin' Online. They seem to be a Yahoo run store and it basically covers every single nerd property made available on clothing known to man. Even Saved By The Bell. As much as I would have loved Elizabeth Berkeley, Tiffany Amber Thiessen, or Whasshername, as close to my chest as possible, and Screech became some amazing brown nosing legend just to save his house, we'll have to make do with this awesome cross of High School Jock/Legendary Thrash Metal Band imagery printed on all black. Hit the link to indulge yourself. I aim to before the year is out.

Well, the clock finished, and we're still none the wiser. Clues have led to believe (from nerd analysts of the interweb who may have spent just as long with Cloverfield virals) that it's a new single player expansion for Halo 3, set in between the periods of the end of the second Halo and the start of the third. Oh and it comes out in January 2009. God they're good. Anyway, for those who have a soft spot for Master's Chief, then this video appeared as the countdown clock hit zero.

(Natty, gorgeous.)

Some HUF 5's from the Landmark Series. Niiice.

And the ALL red Mantica's from the RGB series. Both of these really only cost me 30 duckets, was supposed to have a pair of Carroll Limiteds but something fell through with the order. Jeeeez Active!

As someone who knows what it's like to keep messing with their art until they've ultimately destroyed it past the point of no return, I can really appreciate the "undo" function of the computer. So now that I can undo my mistakes into oblivion, when do I say stop and finally put down the brush mouse?

I've been messing with my overprocessed logo for months now, and I'm still not happy with it. Does it convey the "O" and "P" of over-processed? Should I angle the "P" or keep it proper and straight? Does the lettering look better in a container and should the container have straight or rounded corners? Should I use the glossy black look that I love, or has it been way overused at this point? (I know it has) These questions and many more run through my head when I'm creating something that will brand me from now until eternity. Does it really matter that much? Art is subjective. He may not like it, but she might. So in the end, I guess all that really matters is how I feel about it. But how I feel about it is, I wonder how they'll feel about it. You see the dilemma. So, tell me how you feel about it.

WOO!

Howsabout that then? Smells Like Wii Spirit is a device that you plug into your Wii and will let off a scent that you'd associate with whatever game you're playing at the time. Examples being if you were playing Tiger Woods, you'd smell mowed grass. Wii Sports/Wii Fit, you'd smell perspiration. Super Mario Galaxy, you'd smell...erm...flowers. Ingenious, huh? So far it's only available in China, and no one knows if it'd ever come to these shores.

Questions that need answering so far would be if you were to play Resident Evil, would you smell flesh? What if you played Red Steel? Would you smell shit?

Unreal with Punisher characters? Oh my f'n god, yes. Here's some words from Zen Studios, the team behind this blinding revelation:

We’re calling the game The Punisher: No Mercy because that’s exactly what it is – merciless. For the first time on consoles, you’ll see the Marvel Universe through a first-person perspective in some intense arena-based multiplayer action. Also, the game is being built from the ground up with some serious tech – yes, we are using the Unreal Engine 3 (the ultimate FPS engine) for this exclusive PSN release. Our main focus is to create an awesome online multiplayer experience with the style and grit from the Punisher’s world, complete with characters like Jigsaw, Bushwacker, Barracuda and even Silver Sable (been reading War Journal lately?…).

I'm oh-so-excited again. No Force in sight! Keep tabs with this either with my scribings, or by clicking onto the official site that's a bit boring so far.

So, I've done a little experimenting with Quartz Composer. Nothing big right now, just getting comfortable with the process. This is one (download) that displays two scenes that dissolve between each other. The message is open for interpretation.

You can use Quartz Compositions as screen savers. Just drop the unarchived file into System: Library: Screen Savers and choose it under your System Preferences. Don't worry, it won't bite. If you just want to see what it looks like without installing, open it in Quicktime, or preview it by hitting the space bar in Leopard.