Domination!

It was a big win for the L.A. Galaxy today as they played away in Utah against Real Salt Lake. As us Galaxy fans know, the team is notorious for their losses as visitors. Last season, I believe, they only one 1 out of their 14 away games. So today's victory was monumental in that respect. Also, Coach Sampson has been very ambitious as of late, altering both the starting line-up as well as the formation of the team. Today's gamble seemed to pay off, although we lost Vagenas early on to what seemed to be a head injury. Both Jones and Hartman were not part of the starting 11, although Cobi later came in as a substitution for Vagenas. Young Steve Cronin guarded the net, looking to accumilate some actual playing time. Within the first 6 minutes Real Salt Lake had penitrated our net. It wasn't looking so promising for Cronin. But soon Donovan retaliated with a steal off of a Salt Lake dribble. With things tied up, Galaxy looked to advance their lead, and it came in the form of a header off of Cobi Jones, with an assist from Chris Albright. In the middle of the 2nd half Galaxy, once again, invaded Salt Lake keeper Garlick's territory when a well placed pass from Donovan to Herculez Gomez found it's way to the back of the net. But the scoring wasn't over, when Jason Kreis pounded his second nail of the game on the Galaxy's coffin, but it still wasn't enough. Galaxy snagged it's second win of the season, and it's first on the road this season. Galaxy finds itself in Foxborough, Mass. next week against the New England Revolution. Hopefully, today was the start of a winning streak on the road.

Out of Print

For some strange reason, my printer decided to just up and die on me. Well, technically it didn't die. It still has some functionality, mostly as a large paperweight. This last week, the black ink ran out, and this thing won't work unless all the ink cartridges have at least SOME ink in them. It won't even let me mix the other colors to make black if the black is empty or missing. Anyways, we bought a new cartridge of black. Did that solve our problems? Noooooooo... Anything that we printed out came out either mulitcolored, or missing lines. I conducted a head cleaning and routine maintenance and tried again. Still, the same problems persisted. So we figures we might have gotten a faulty cartridge. (Hey, it happens!) We bought another cartridge to replace the one we had gotten only a few days prior. Did that solve our problems? Nooooooooo... (The Culprit: Epson Stylus CX6400)

So I decided to give Epson a call. It was going to be $30 for an over the phone consult, but the tech guy told me that if I did it via e-mail, then that would be free. So I took the e-mail route, told them my problems, told them what I had done already to try and solve them, and then anxiously awaited their reply. A few minutes later they answered my e-mail with suggestions of things that I could try to remedy the problem. (All of which I had already done, by the way, and had told them in my e-mail that I had already done them!) There was a number I could call in case their suggestions didn't work and I required further assistance. And seeing how I had done the e-mail thing, the over-the-phone consult fee would be waived. (YAY!)The second time around, the phone guy told me that I could either take it to a printer technician in the area, or pay big bucks to have Epson take a look at in and try to repair it. Seeing how I didn't feel like shipping off my printer, I decided to take it to a local tech. I called the tech's office to see what the price for a consult was. $45!! But I swallowed my pride, and tried to convince myself that if that was all I had to pay to get it fixed, then it would be alright. (As long as the price didn't exceed the value of the printer).That was Friday afternoon. The lady at the repair shop told me to expect a call on either Monday or Tuesday. Today, Friday, she calls to tell me that the cleaning and the flushing of the ink heads yielded no results. (DUM DUM DUM!!) "So, what does that mean?", I ask her. She says she'll call be back with a quote. 15 minutes later, she drops the bomb. Two Hundered and twenty five f#%!ing dollars!! That's about twice what I paid for the printer when I first bought it. I told her thanks, but no thanks, I would be picking up my large electronic paperweight and be on our way. So the search begins for a replacement printer for the Peña household, and my brother's and I are gonna partake of a little printer bashing! (In the strictly non-sexual sense!)

Lost Galaxy

Our trusty band of Galaxians are off to a bad start. Another loss this Saturday against visiting Columbus Crew. (1-0 final score). It's sad to see that the only win so far this season has been the one game that we've gone to see. (Lucky for us, huh?) Head Coach Steve Sampson is putting himself in a precarious situation. He's not producing the desired results, and fans are slowly beginning to turn on him. I fear that a few more loses, and the Galaxy may be in the market for a new Head Coach. Hopefully Cornell Glen can start producing a few more wins himself (goals or assists) before we regret trading for him. Next game is this Saturday in Utah against Real Salt Lake. Go Galaxy!

Omar's Collection Spotlight #5: Clive Barker's Tortured Souls (Part 1)

(This will be the first part in a three part series focusing on the Todd McFarlane & Clive Barker figure line called Tortured Souls. This entry will cover Series 1, which was released in 2001.)


At first glance, the Tortured Souls line seems like a throwback to the characters we've become familiar with in the Hellraiser movie franchise (also credited to Clive Barker, one of the masters of the horror genre!) Like I've stated before, I'm not a big fan of the horror genre in general, but there was something about this set that appealed to me. I don't know if it was the elegance of the figures themselves, despite being in varying degrees of carnal mutilation, or the way the figures were produced, in such a manner that they are almost sculptures instead of figures. (That's the McFarlane way, and one of the main reasons why I've collected many of the Spawn figures, as well as other series' produced by McFarlane). Each of the 6 figures in series 1 comes highly detailed, and included with each one is a chapter to an original story by Clive Barker that revolves around these characters. (Possible the source material for an often rumored Tortured Souls movie!) But enough talk, let's meet the gang, shall we?


( WARNING: NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART. GRAPHIC MATERIAL AHEAD. NO CHILDREN UNDER 18 ADMITTED WITHOUT A PARENT. SE HABLA ESPANOL. NO SHOES, NO SHIRT, NO SERVICE.)


First up, Agonistes. Talk about a facelift! This poor guy had his whole face removed altogether. (That would be that piece of flesh stretched out over his head on that rig he's carrying!) He wears a "crown" of metal spikes and blades, and has surgically implanted various metallic enhancements. Poor sucker doesn't even have eyes to see just how ugly he is. (As you can see, the costumes are very remeniscent of the Hellraiser series.)Next, is The Scythe-Meister. Why is he called The Scythe-Meister?? Well, I'd think it would be obvious from the large SCYTHE he is carrying. Here's another guy who is trying to get rid of those unsightly wrinkles...TO THE EXTREME!! Meister here has his face, still in place, tightened and stretched to a point behind his head on that rig he's carrying. His eyes, nose (what's left of it), and mouth have been bound in leather straps. See no evil, speak no evil...smell no evil?? (Naw, that can't be right!) He's also got various hooks and chains accentuating his ensemble. (They're in this season, you know?)Here we have Lucidique, the First Lady of Tortured Souls. (Hand check, Gentlemen!) She makes disfigurement and mutilation look sexy, almost. This young lady has something going on with her hair that can only be described as Predator-esque (That's ONE Ugly Mother!) Her outfit is slightly more revealing then those we have seen so far, but that makes sense. I mean, come on! Just look at her! There is far less blood and gore on this figure than the others, but the hooks and chains make a welcome return. There is nothing wrong with a girl who's into leather, am I right guys?This poor fellow is Talisac. Okay, now this guy, he's all honked up! I mean, look at him!! Seriously, what is wrong with you people! First of all, the dude is hanging from his face. FROM HIS FACE!! He's got these hooks that are connected to chains, that are connected to that death-trap of a base he's on. Second, his skin has been flayed and opened over most of his body. Third, he's got this giant artifical womb shoved up his keister. (With GOD knows what growing inside!) Fourth, he's on life support! Does that bag of blood and all those tubes look healthy to you? No, didn't think so! (By the way, if you can't tell, this is my favorite figure in this series...hehehe).Let me introduce Venal Anatomica. Out of all the figures, I think that Venal here is the one that looks the most intimidating. (I mean, I wouldn't want to run into him in a dark alley, would you?) He looks massive, like he could just break you in two by just breathing on you. The chains and hooks are back, with a large meathook on his right arm thrown in for effect. He's got this blade coming out of his left shoulder that looks pretty bad ass, but just slightly forced on him. And under that protectice skull dome he's wearing, is a face that only a mother could love. (If she survived the savage mutilation that this guy no doubt put on her when she forgot that he likes his sandwiches cut at an angle, and when he opened up his Scooby Doo lunch box at school and saw that she did it wrong, and then he began to cry because he knew no matter how hard he tried he wouldn't be able to eat his favorite PB & J because he was too upset, and so the other kids made fun of him and called him Little Anal Venal Sobby Pants...Kids suck!)And last, but not least, Mongroid. He's a Mog, half-man, half-dog! He's his own best friend! Or is he?? (DUM DUM DUM!!) Words almost fail me here. Okay, not only does the dude have 4 hands, he could probably work with that. (There's gotta be girls out there who would keep his hands pleanty ocupado, if you know what I'm talking about Ladies? *WINK WINK*) For some bizzarre reason or other, the guy's gut has been transformed into a large, gaping maw, complete with teeth, drool, and a hole that leads who know where. His real mouth has been gagged, and he's got this look of horror in his eyes. Perhaps from thinking about how he's gonna pick up after himself, you know, when he's gotta go! I sure hope poop doesn't come out of that mouth as well. (Of course not! That'd just be weird!)


Well, Boys and Girls, that's it for Part 1. Come back in a few weeks for the continuation of this disturbing voyage into the world of the macabre. Up Next: Tortured Souls 2: The Fallen! (If you thought these guys were weird, you ain't seen nothing yet!) Wait, is that a double negative? Does that mean that you, in fact, HAVE seen something yet? Hmm...Discuss amongst yourselves...

A New Addition

There has been a new addition made to the family. This cute little guy was not meant to stay, but apparently my girlfriend and her dad have grown attached to him. He was only supposed to stick around for a couple of months while his real owner was away, but this week they got around to looking for a name for him, which I take it to mean that he's a keeper. I'm not exactly sure what kind of dog he is, I just know that he is related to Buffy, our other dog. He's not too old, 10 weeks I believe, and he's shy, but friendly. Also, he's very soft and cuddly (not that I, being a MAN, would know anything about that. I've just heard it said...ummmm, anyways, where was I...)We went through a large list of names. The main problem is that since her mom only speaks spanish, she wanted a name that would be easy for her to say. I threw out some really good ones that my girlfriend and I really liked: Krypto, Ace, Duke, Spike, etc. I was asking friends at work what a good dog name would be.I heard everything from Bruno, Bluto, Bowser, Bruiser, Chomper. I even jokingly said Angel, since we alreay had a Buffy. (Which is also the reason I said Spike, but we kinda liked that one!) But, go figure, for some bizarre reason, her dad came up with the name Jason, and I guess that that is the puppy's name now. They took him to the vet, got his shots, and named him Jason. (We're still in denial about it. I think I'll just keep calling him Spike!) Anywho, I just wanted to introduce him, seeing how he's gonna stick around for a while. Enjoy the pics. (Don't look so bummed little guy, we still love ya!)

Happy Easter Everyone!

Don't forget, that Easter is the time we celebrate how Jesus resurrected the Easter Bunny from an egg, so that he can bring us ham and candy! (Or something like that, right? What the hell does a bunny have to do with Jesus?? Oh, well!) Happy Easter everyone!

Area-51

Spent a good afternoon last night at the Honda Super Clasico at the good ol' Home Depot Center. Galaxy vs. Chivas USA, where Galaxy was the visiting team. Needless to say, that we knew we were in for a rough night, being Galaxy fans in a sea of Chivas aficionados! From the moment we parked our car, not even getting out of the car yet, we were being heckled because we were wearing our Galaxy jerseys, that should give you some idea how heated this rivalry is.We made our way towards the will-call area to pick up our tickets, when we heard a thunderous noise and saw smoke coming up the main street leading into the HDC. A huge crowd of Chivas fans were making their way towards the stadium carrying a large banner, and setting of fireworks. They were chanting something or other, didn't really get a clear grasp of what they were saying. I took advantage of the time my brother was in line in the will-call area to make my way to the Team L.A. store, and picked up my brand spankin' new Galaxy jersey. I picked the away jersey, just because I like the way it looks better than the gold. Dropped 73 bones on that bad boy, but it was definitely worth it. We then made our way into the Stadium around 7:30pm (game set to start at 8:00pm). We sat in the northwest corner that was specially reserved for Galaxy fans, it just also happened to be right next to the General Admission seats for the hardcore Chivas fans. Right from the start it was a shouting match. We may have been few, but we held our own. On the field, the boys were warming up. I think this is the first Galaxy game we've been to where they were the visiting team.The game kicked off at about 8:15pm, which was not soon enough having sat through a mariachi band, the Chivas Girls, and the Chivas team enterance. We were beginning to feel a little out of place and unwelcomed. But the Galaxians and the Riot Squad soon brought us all together in a swelling sea of Green and Gold. The first half went scoreless, newbie Galaxian Cornell Glen missing about 4 scoring chances. (Pando, anyone?) Halftime saw some more crappy music, and pleanty of heckling from the surrounding Chivas fans. The second half kicked off, and right off the bat, BOOM! Chivas score. That just set the Chivas fans off! I mean, fights almost broke out between both groups of fans. Unfortunately, Kevin Hartman was now directly in front of the hardcore Chivas group, and he was pelted with confetti and streamers. They had to stop the game for a few minutes to clear off the field. Despite his first half might-have-beens, Glen stepped up in the second half and scored two goals, one off a header from Landon Donovan, the other off a cross pass from Donovan. (The second goal was in the middle of the 7 minutes of stoppage time the ref had allotted, which didn't go over well with Chivas fans!)The Galaxy players came to our corner to pay their respects, and we ours to them. They played a great game, keeping the Chivas on their toes. Their first win of the season, and an important one seeing how it was agains the rival team. Fights almost broke out in the stands, we were barraged with insults and heckles as we made our way across the parking lot towards our cars, but we still kept our heads held high, because in the end, we Galaxy fans knew that we kicked Chivas's ass! (A win is a win, 3 points!) Next week they take on the Columbus Crew at the HDC.On an unrelated note, bought a bike today. "Why is that important?" you might ask? Well, I haven't had a bike since I was 8 or 9. I haven't ridden a bike in about that long as well. I just felt it was time that I had one. My girlfriend's been telling me that I should be more active. I thought this would be a good way to do that. Found one I liked at Wal-Mart, and went to pick it up yesterday morning. I went out with it for about a half-hour this morning, and man, it's true, you never forget how to ride. It felt great, and I'm glad I decided to get one. I probably look like a spaz in my helmet though. (Oops! Sorry, British! Did I say spaz? I meant to say windowlicker!)

A New Way To Kick It Old School

It's nice to live in a time when all the games and characters that you grew up with as a kid are starting to make a resurgance. With the new DS console, Nintendo has brought back to the spotlight those 8-bit heroes of yore. I've already updated my collection with the new versions of Tetris and Metroid for the DS, and with The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess being pushed until November by Nintendo (probably to coincide with the launch of the Nintendo Revolution), I was pleasently surprised to hear that Nintendo is realeasing a brand new Super Mario Bros. adventure game as well as an all new Zelda game, both for the Nintendo DS.The New Super Mario Bros. is the classic side-scrolling Mario Bros. game in a while, and the first for the DS. In classic Super Mario fashion, Bowser and his cronies have kidnapped Princess Peach on Valentine's Day, and it is up to Mario once again to rescue her from his vile clutches. Of course, being on the DS, the game has to have new game elements utilizing the DS's new features. The top screen displays game-play, while the touch screen serves for just that purpose, to touch. Items that are collected, such as mushrooms and fire flowers, are displayed on the touch screen, and they are selected by touching them with the stylus. Some underground bonus levels are played on the touch screen, but for the most part it serves as an information screen. There are a few new items in the game, such as the Giant Mushroom which does just that, make you a giant Mario or Luigi. There is also a Blue Shell, which Mario or Luigi can ride as it rockets them forward. One really cool new element to the game is Mario and Luigi simultaneous play. Yep, that means that both brothers can be playing at the same time! There will also be some mini-games that will be unlocked as you progress through the game. The release date for the game has been tentatively set for May 15th, 2006.
The Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass will be the very first Zelda title for the Nintendo DS, and it looks very remeniscent of The Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker for the Gamecube. The animation and the style is exactly the same, with Link looking like a little kiddie cartoon. But I have to admit, despite not totally loving the graphics of Windwaker, it was an awesome game. So I am willing to give this one the benefit of the doubt. Very rarely does a Zelda game ever disappoint.There isn't too much information revealed about the game as of yet, other than a few screenshots here and there, and a short demo video. You can pretty much figure that Link has to travel through Hyrule to defeat Ganon and his minons yet again, in an attempt to rescue the Princess Zelda. As long as they find new and creative ways to keep you entertained, you don't mind the fact that you are basically playing the same game over and over again.Like the New Super Mario game, you will be able to utilize the DS's touch screen for various tasks during gameplay. From what I saw in the preview video, you are able to solve puzzles with the touch screen, mark targets and paths for your boomerang throws (very handy for multiple targets or opponents!), and also you are able to chart a course on your sea map which your boat will follow. (Also really cool!) There is no specific release date for this game other than it will be released sometime later this year.

Spandex and Underoos!

Like promised, here is the report of our fieldtrip to the Marvel Super Heroes Science Exhibition. Arrived at the California Science Center at about 2pm, with light traffic. A BIG difference from when were in the same area during the RBD concert. USC had something going on at the Coliseum that let out at the same time we were leaving, and that caused a little traffic, but not all that bad really. The next available time slot open for the exhibit was 2:30pm, so we got our tickets ($8.75 for adults) and proceeded to the exhibit entrance, which was located on the third floor.Managed to snap a few pictures of the decorations in the lobby for the exhibit. There were a couple of cool images of Spidey, plus an activity where you could do a little rock climbing, just like Spidey. (Well, maybe not JUST like Spidey, but as close as you can get!) And that's the whole purpose of the exhibit anyway. It introduces us to the characters, their powers, the science behind their powers, and the reality of those powers in our everyday world. They try to explain how advances in science are making things such as Iron Man's armor, or Doc Ocks Tentacles, possible.
Made our way up to the third floor where we found the entrance to the exhibit waiting for us. We came upon something that appeared to be an elevator, and from deep within the bowels of the exhibit we could hear the distinct sounds of screaming. (Could there be more to this exhibit than meets he eye?) My interest was peaked. Unfortunately, you see that big red sign next to the elevator doors? Yeah, it says no photography inside the exhibit. (Hear that? That's the sound of my bubble bursting!)So we proceeded to the "elevator" doors, since it was only meant to give the illusion of an elevator, and when the doors opened on the other side, we were greeted by images of the X-men. We walked into an area that resembled an alley, and from there we made our way to the main exhibit floor. Now, I said that there was no photography allowed inside, but that wasn't stopping anyone from doing it, so I made the rounds with my camera as well.Okay, overall the exhibit itself was a bit of a disappointment. That's not to say that it didn't have it's good points. I just think that perhaps we were out of the demographic range. It was clear right away that the exhibit was geared towards kids, and they were there in full force. The X-Men area of the exhibit showcased Professor Xavier with an explanation of mutation, Iceman with giant hands made of real ice, an x-ray of Wolverine's skeleton, and Magneto with a demonstration of how magnets repel each other.There was a cool animatronic Doc Ock that let you manipulate the tentacles with a joystick. (Yeah, I know that sounds dirty!) And I finally learned what the source of all the screaming was. There was a booth that focused on Banshee and his power which allowed you to scream as loud as you could in order to destroy a Sentinel on-screen. It was loud, and kinda annoying. There was a demonstration of an exo-suit that allowed you to lift a Scion xB in relation to Iron Man's powers that was also kinda cool.At the end of the exhibit there was a small showcase of Marvel artwork as well as a video presentation of Stan Lee speaking about comic books, superheroes, Marvel, and the importance of the media. There was a small gift shop at the end selling only Marvel merchandise where I picked up a Marvel Select figure of Doc Ock and Spidey. Also got a limited edition trading card promoting the exhibit with Spidey on it. I really think that if we had younger children with us we would have enjoyed the experience a lot better. There was more hands-on activities for the youngsters than for the adults. The last time we went to the California Science Center, it was for the Body Worlds Exhibit (http://www.bodyworlds.com/en/pages/home.asp), and THAT was definitely worth the price of admission. I guess that I was hoping that this show would be on the same scale. It would have been cool if they had the costumes from the movies, or even props from the movies, like Doc Ocks tentacles. But oh well, our curiosity was satisfied.