300: A Review

Last night I went with three good friends to see the movie 300. I'm a bit late in going to see it, and most of you have probably already gone, but here goes my review anyway:

Over-the-top, impossibly fantastical, historically wrong, gratuitous in all regards, stylized beyond belief, and by far, one of my favorite movies that I've seen in a long, long time. Please don't think you're going to walk away from this movie with a history lesson. This movie is an unabashed tribute to the legend of Sparta. The Battle of Thermopylae, having been fought so long ago, is shrouded in myth, and some even question whether the battle even happened, though I think the current scholarly consensus is that it did indeed happen at the "hot gates". But again, for this movie, none of that matters. This is a story, a darn good story, and kept me glued to my chair the whole time. It's a masculine movie, no doubt there. These aren't the "fancy lad" Greeks you may have heard about. These guys live for battle, kill with glee, ignore maiming wounds, and die with a smile on their face.

So if you go and see it, I suggest leaving your history book at home. This is Tolkien meets Rambo, and it's not a good day to be a Persian. And that brings me to one other thing. I've read a lot about it being a metaphor for our current worldly situation. Well, I don't know about that. I take it more as a guys movie simply being a guys movie, though I know several girls that have liked it. But yes, I see the connections to today's wars and conflicts, but while I was watching it, that never crept into my mind.

I give it a 10 out of 10. And man, I hate most movies. The last three movies I've watched have been The Wild Bunch, James Bond's Casino Royale, and 300. Violence, mayham, and a strange sense of ethics. Loved em' all.

Emhar Vikings

I just saw on the last Michtoy newsletter that the Emhar Vikings were back in stock. I never got these, as I was a little worried that they were going to be 1/35 rather than 1/32. Also, I wasn't totally pleased with the plastic they used to make their WWI figures. Now, don't get me wrong, WWI figures of any sort are a welcome addition, but the plastic just didn't do it for me. So if anyone already has them, let me know what you think of them. I might get lucky and find them in stock at my local hobby store. They still carry the WWI sets.

New AIP Russians

Armies in Plastic is going to be releasing new AIP Napoleonic Russians scheduled for the end of April. I missed their last set of Russians, but hope to add them sometime. Now, a lot of guys might not like AIP because of their style, but for me, they make excellent line troops. You know, the guys that need to be there just to fill out the table... or as we sometimes call them, cannon fodder. I like em'. Do they command attention like Conte, TSSD, or Barzso... not really, but there they are, the forgotten figures that you can field an army of and not go broke. Plus, they cover some really cool topics that nobody else does. So Rock on AIP.

More of Mexico

This Barzso stuff is AWESOME. I snapped these pictures this morning. The colors and the texture of the buildings just make it come to life. These pictures don't really do it justice, but trust me, this is great stuff. And you should have seen the Buena Vista display they had at the Indy Show. It was huge!! When I got there, there were about 10 kids crowded around it picking out figures. I guess they were allowing kids to take a figure of their choice from the board. I didn't ask the age limit, but I assumed I didn't fit the bill. ;)

Ok, here is a question for you plastic experts out there. Conte's Alamo Defenders... rockin' figures, but dangit, all of mine are a bit warped and bent. I tried to boil em' and put back into shape, but they refused to comply. Any secrets on how to shape these guys up, or am I just out of luck?

I owe a few emails today to a few of you, and I should have a little free time later, so look for something from me if I've been silent on the email for awhile. Rock on'.

Self Promotion

I know most of you faithful readers won't care, but this Saturday, Rotovox (my rockin' sockin' band) will be taking the stage at Birdy's in Indianapolis. I probably do the least of all the guys to promote our shows, so this is for them. So come, bring a friend, bring some soldiers, we'll set them up on the bar and have mini skirmishes between the bands. It'll be awesome. The above picture was taken at the Rock Lobster a couple weekends ago. I'm in the hat and Aaron is on the left side. I've found that if I make strange faces while I play, and grit my teeth, people think I'm a really good guitar player... suckers.

Indy Show, The Goods...

Give me a couple days to do a full write up of the Indy Show, but for now, you can check out some of what I managed to pick up. Included are several of the reworked Barzso pieces including the new Hacienda piece. When it's all put together it makes a stunning enclosure.

Forgive the pictures, I didn't take the time to crop them or edit them in anyway. I'm too busy playing with my new stuff. Other additions included the Barzso small pirate boat/canoe thing. Some Conte Mexicans, some Conte Alamo Defenders, some Conte FFL, Butternut and Blue Confederates, the Barzso Mule Train, and some Formtech wall pieces.

I got to meet a lot of cool people, some that I recognized their names from forum boards, email lists, ect. But again, I'll write more about it all at length after I get done playing a bit. Rock on ya'll.

The Wild Bunch

Dude, I watched the movie The Wild Bunch last night. Never seen it before. Geez... That is one AWESOME movie. Now, I don't like a lot of movies. I'm pretty critical. Something has to be pretty darn good to take up 2 hours of my time. But man, when those guys were walking down that street towards the final shootout... chills man, chills. Plus, I'm from a generation that has seen it all. Sin City, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill... but this movie outdid them all. There was emotion involved instead of just pure shock value violence. Now all I need is for someone to make some WWI G.I.s, wait for those new cowboys from Steve Weston, and get that TSSD .30 cal machine gun. And a train. I need a train.

My next movie is going to be The Magnificent Seven. Nope, never seen it. I know, culturally deprived. I've been on a western kick lately. So, what other classics have I missed? I've seen all the Clint Eastwood westerns, some of the John Wayne flicks. What other classics do I need to watch?

Speaking of movies, my friend Myles told me that he got to see 300. I asked him if he liked it, and his words were "It PUMPED me up!!". He said it made him want to walk around stabbing people and scream "I AM SPARTA". Now that's a good review.

The Indy Show!!!!!

I'm not going to be able to go to the room trading. One of my friends is getting married this weekend, but I'll be at the show on Sunday. My dad has always gone with me, and last year my wife joined us. But this year, my MOM is actually going as well!!! Toy soldiers... bringing the family together. I think it's become popular with the fam because we've made it a tradition to hit the Cheese Cake factory afterwards. I never buy because my budget is totally spent by noon.

But yea, it's a really great show, and not just because it's only 30 minutes from me. Lots of plastic, lots of good dealers, Ron Barzso is going to be there, Spirit of 76' is usually there giving away coupons, and it's a nice place to wander around and look at toys. Plus, it's in a really nice part of Indy with plenty of food options and shopping. So, anybody going?

The Sewing Invasion Continues

Not only the wife with her sewing utensiles, but now the cat has decided that the table makes a wonderful napping area. Some serious tactical maneuvering is going to be required to reestablish control over the area.

Ever been to Mars?

This is super cool. It's a panoramic of Mars that makes you feel like you're standing on the surface turning in a circle. I love this kind of thing.