So Long, Borders

These were taken just two days apart (7/21 and 7/23).

*sniff*

Borders did many things wrong (and even its old owner, pre-bankruptcy Kmart), but I assure you: print media isn't dead!

Cereal labels

This should carry a bit of explanation:

My uncle's house in Baton Rouge (which he is now selling, by the way) used to have something unique: all of his cereals were in plastic containers that had pop-open lids. The type of cereal would be neatly taped onto the box, while there were other cereal labels that were not in use (on the wall). Eventually, the system was discontinued, and the cereal was in boxes.

This was because of the fact that there were ants in the pantry that required the use of the containers. The ants were attracted by the cat food outside, so when Tiger the beloved Maine Coon cat passed away in 2000, the cat food was no longer necessary, and thus the ants no longer appeared, and thus the cereal could be kept in their native boxes.

Recently, I acquired the old labels, which are a treat in themselves. Many are discontinued or promotional cereals, as you will see.

I kind of like the skewed look (it's impossible to set them straight anyway, given the tape, large number, and uneven cuts): it gives it an artistic look.

Also, on topic: I swear I remember "Frosted Wheaties" in the late 1990s in a purple box. Can't find an exact box (and it was NOT Honey Frosted Wheaties, either)

And I put the Kix label upside-down. Whoops.

Veg(emite) Out

Recently I bought a thing of Vegemite from an import shop in Houston (as nowhere in town carries it), and found it to taste a bit like vegetarian bouillon (it's made from yeast, and it's VERY salty). It's also really strong: if making a sandwich, only put a thin layer on one slice of bread, and preferably (it's recommended) on buttered toast (which makes it better).

Similarly, it can be mixed with cream cheese (or if there's none around, American neufchâtel, which works just as well) for a tastier treat.

The End Is Near?

Clear this one up for me: there's rumors (although usually in tech, "company denial" and certain rumors always true more often than not, at least the less far-fetched ones) that Blogger would get renamed to Google Blogs, which I just can't see going over well: I would hate my .blogspot.com addresses to be changed, it's certain the interface would be radically different, and it wouldn't be tied with my existing Google + services. In that case, expect Carbonizer and the only truly "active" blog, In, Around, and About the Brazos Valley to hit the road and leave Google behind.

Of course, it may not end up happening (or at least, it's not as bad as previously thought) and the blogs remain.

Super 8 and Green Lantern Movie Reviews

With the white text now known to work, I'm going to write a movie review for both Green Lantern and Super 8. First up is Green Lantern, which I've seen most recently.

After being spoiled by Marvel's Thor and The Dark Knight of Batman fame, Green Lantern was definitely a let-down. It takes everything I didn't like about Dark Knight and made it worse. Plot elements aren't explained clearly or not explained at all. Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern character has flashbacks of his father's death, but he never really seems to grasp it fully: he can't even explain it to his aerospace co-worker/love interest, not even by the end of the film. Hal's nephew is seen toward the beginning of the film, moments before the Green Lantern Ring kidnaps him and brings him to the dying alien that would change his life. He never reappears. The villain, scientist Hector Hammond, was infected by the other villain, a many-tentacled cosmic horror, but it wasn't his fault he died and wasn't all that much of a surly character before becoming evil (most comic-book villains, including the comic book version of Hammond, were). The other main villain, a "Guardian of the Universe" turned evil, has pretty much zero character to him and is just some soul-eating beast to descend upon the city and have the Green Lantern save him.

I can't tell what exactly was wrong with Green Lantern: bad character development, very little humor (heck, I laughed more at Dark Knight then this one), the wrong mix of action, too much talking and exposition...it just wasn't good. There were four people in the theater (including me) that I went to go see it (on Friday), on one of two showings.



So I didn't like Green Lantern all that much, but I did enjoy Super 8. It's directed by Steven Spielberg and J.J. Abrams, so it comes off as a very interesting mix as E.T. meets Cloverfield. There is a boy who forms some sort of psychic link with an extraterrestrial, but in Cloverfield fashion, the extraterrestrial is in fact, a many-eyed insectoid monster who destroys property and kills human beings.

If you're reading this (and not by accident) you have to understand that if I individually tried to pick through everything good and bad about it, we'd be here all day. Highlights: Lots of 1979 references, including a Mattel Electronics electronic football game (Google it). I couldn't quite tell if it was a real one or the 2000-era replica one (the real one has "Mattel Electronics" written on the top, the replica has "Classic Football" in the same font). The fact that it had that beats the shot of Green Lantern'sPokémon Sapphire cartridge but just barely.

Testing 1-2-3

I'm about to write a review for Super 8 and Green Lantern, and I'm testing this white font (spoiler protection). Problem is, those with RSS feeds will be able to see all of it (maybe). What say you?

Highlight for text.