Announcing the Anti-Blogfest Gary Fest! Plus Ninja and Cassa News, The Bay Movie Review, and Monster Movie Trivia Answers

Ninja News

Milo James Fowler has stories in TWO publications this week – Big Bad Anthology and Bards and Sages Quarterly. Congratulations, Milo!

My blogger buddy Jeremy Hawkins just released four art books in the “It’s Time” series! Congratulations, Jeremy. He will be touring next month, so expect a visit from the Retro Art Master in August.

Rachel Morgan has several short stories in the textbooks Grade 7, 8 and 9 Core Readers for English First Additional Language. Congratulations, Rachel!

At lot of cool news came out of Comic Con this past weekend, including the fact that Zack Snyder will direct the next Superman-Batman movie. Yes, both superheroes in one film! Fans were also treated to a Godzilla experience similar to a ride at Universal Studios. And the metal band Metallica was even there for a panel!

Cassa Updates

Charity Bradford posted her early review of CassaStorm on her blog last week, with high praises for the world building and science elements. That blows my mind, because those areas are not my strong suit. (Although I am currently reading a book that glosses over those elements more than I do.) I guess Byron isn’t the only one who has grown and changed over the years.

CassaStorm is also on the Goodreads list for Can’t Wait Sci Fi Fantasy of 2013. It won’t take many more votes to get it into the top ten, so if you’d like to add your vote, I would appreciate it!

Monster Movie Trivia Answers!

1 – What was the monster in Brotherhood of the Wolf? A lion
2 – How many times have Godzilla and Gamera fought? None
3 – DeForest Kelley fought giant rabbits in what film? Night of the Lepus
4 – Which X-Men cast member starred in Deep Rising? Famke Janssen
5 – What year was the original King Kong released? 1933
6 – What was the giant creature in Lake Placid? A crocodile
7 – In Godzilla vs. the Thing, what was the Thing? Mothra

Movie Review

The Bay
Written and directed by Barry Levinson, this movie chronicles an ecological disaster in a small Maryland town which was covered up by the government.
An entry in the ‘found footage’ genre, this one is unique in how it handles the footage, piecing together views from dozens of cameras to reveal what happened one fateful Fourth of July. Something has infected the water – a combination of pollution, poultry farm runoff, and an unknown entity – and people are dying. The movie follows numerous characters, most notably a college student as a junior reporter for the local news.
What makes this film effectively creepy is the realism. What is killing the people is a real threat that kills fish. The possibility that in the right toxic soup it could kill people is disturbing.
It’s rated R and there is gore, but it’s not sensationalized.
Not for everyone, this movie will stay with you for a while.

The Anti-Blogfest to end all Blogfests!

Announcing the "Anti-Blogfest Gary Fest" on August 12, a blog hop in honor of Mr. anti-blog hop himself, Gary at Klahanie.

Hosted by Mark “Madman” Koopmans, Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh, “Life is Good” Tina, Rockin’ Robyn Engel and Morgan “The Morg” Shamy.

The rules are *very* simple.

Create the titles of three PG-13 rated blogfests you would never join - and then add a descriptive sentence or two. That's it!

For example, I would never sign up for the:

Cheesecake & Cauliflower Bloghop - "where dinner and dessert is mixed in one dish."

OR the

Blocked up Toilet Blogfest - "where crap happens."

OR even the

Alphapet Zoo-mbie Bloghop - "where cuddly undead toys learn how to spell."

Sign up below!




Can you see growth in your writing? Have you seen The Bay? Get the movie trivia correct? (Joshua nailed it!) Can you vote for CassaStorm? And who’s in for some anti-blogfests?

Captain America, Comic Con, and More!

Thanks again to Karen Walker for amusing the Army last week with her guest post – and for your awesome comments!

With temperatures around a hundred degrees, it was a good excuse to go hide in a cool movie theater for a couple hours. And I’m glad I did!

Captain America

This film was a lot of fun and one of the best times I’ve had in the theater all year. The story flowed well with solid action scenes, and the WWII setting gave it an old-school vibe. There is a certain innocence to the film, due in part to the time period and the main character. It sets up next summer’s Avengers movie, but it also stands well on its own.

The cast was great. Chris Evans really fit the role. (I’d also like to know how the CGI guys made him look so scrawny in the beginning.) Hugo Weaving did his usual great job as Red Skull and Tommy Lee Jones had some of the best lines. Howard Stark’s character is in the film, and the storyline centers around a magical cube from Thor’s world – again, setting things up for the Avengers movie.

Marvel keeps hitting them out of the park – Captain America is a great movie. Next summer’s Avengers promises to be huge!

Comic Con was this past week in San Diego and all sorts of interesting news, videos, and images were released. (Did you know they are making a Jurassic Park IV? And that Spielberg is involved?) For the best coverage, visit G4TV’s site.

Did you see Captain America? Any Comic Con news catch your attention? Did you melt in the summer heat? (And if so, can I have your Hot Tamales?) Oh, and I'll announce my next big blogfest in August. Care to make any guesses?