Well, after seeing Chis Nolan's take on The Batman mythology I do have to say that it had its initial bumps in the road but overall it was worth it. I initially rejected Batman Begins back in 2005 becuase of the little details in comparison to Tim Burton's Batman like The Scarecrow not feeling like a very convincing villain and the fact that the batmobile was a tank-like vehicle (better known as The Tumbler), but over the years the movie grew on me and I liked the backstory of Bruce Wayne's origins as a ninja to better fit The Batman character appearing from the darkness, that and the additional plot twist that Ra's Al Ghul, his mentor, later became a villain.

Tim Burton's Batman was popula because of its dark visual style and a dramatic musical score made by Danny Elfman. In comparison, when Batman was rebooted by Chris Nolan, its mythology was expanded even further, not just making it dark visually, but emotionally. As for the musical score by Hanz Zimmer, it's much more suspenseful in comprison to Elfman's theme, but at times it isn't as memorable like Elfman's theme which was later used for the 90's animated series.

When I saw the Dark Knight, I was completely blown away. Heath Ledger's version of the Joker was for the most part disturbing but there were times where you simpathized with the character. He loved getting away with murder,wreaking havoc in gotham city and not giving a crap about the consequences. As for Christian Bale's take on Batman, he was more emotionally disturbed and constantly carried that burden over the death of his parents in the first film. In the 2nd film Bruce dealt with bigger issues that lead to the deaths of his childhood friend Rachel Dawes and the Attorney Harvey Dent.

After seeing the Dark Knight Rises, I overall enjoyed the film, despite it having several unexplained plot holes at times like how Batman was locked up in a pit located in the middle of nowhere and he was able to return to Gotham city which was completely isolated when Bane destroyed all access to the area. How did he do it? BECAUSE HE'S BATMAN!

In this film, Bruce has been living as a hermit in his mansion for 8 years with a broken leg and Wayne enterprises went bankrupt. Bane was more of a psychological menace to the people of Gotham City, but he's nothing compared to The Joker. As for Catwoman, she was portrayed as a cat burglar this time and even showed to be more human when she worked with and even betrayed Batman. The ending felt a bit cheesy, but it was also a fitting conclusion to the trilogy, seeing that Bruce decided to Sacrifice his Batman alter ego and start anew with a different identity accompanied by Selina Kyle (Catwoman). What was even more interesting was that it even hinted at a possible (though unlikely) spin-off with the new John Blake Character being Robin after finding the bat cave.

overall, like I said before, The trilogy is worth it and, all plot holes aside, The Dark Knight Rises is a fitting conclusion to the story.

Over the years I grew up watching a lot of anime, before it started oversaturating the market and in most countries is largely ignored after animax Failed to gain a worldwide adience (Thanks to Sony) among other issues.

I might as well present a list of anime that I recommend, some of which influenced me over the years.

Saber Marionette J: A story that takes place in another planet starting in the 22nd century. Seven Men from Earth have successfully survived on the planet thanks to advanced human cloning techniques. However women haven't existed in several hundred years, so to make up for that, they created robots with femminine features called marionettes. A young man found 3 of these marionettes that have a special "maiden circuit" which allows them to express human emotion. These Marionette dolls were found shortly before a huge Nazi-like invasion war broke out and they are the only ones strong enough to save their land. I recommend the show since it's part sci-fi, part harem anime and the colorful characters develop well over time.

FullMetal Alchemist: The story of two young Brothers who after uncuccessfully using alchemy to revive their dead mother sufferred horrifying consequences (one boy lost an arm and a leg and the other boy's soul is sealed in a suit of armour), became part of the military in search for the Philosopher's stone in order to return themselves back to normal. I strongly recommend this one. has a blend of child like comedy with some serious adult themes in a sort of steampunk based setting. The series is full of cliffhangers and you get hooked instantly. There are two versions of the show, the latest one is a more faithful adaptation of the manga, but they're both fun to check out.

Crayon Shin-Chan: The story of a six year old boy who apart from being a little perv hitting on older women, is also quite the trouble maker. He makes Bart Simpson look like an honor roll student. for the most part it's a comedy, has its tender moments too and I loved the over the top silliness of the anime.

Red Baron: A mecha- themed anime kinda like power rangers, except that it involves a giant robot fighting tournament in the year 2050 and there's this mysterious organization who wants to know the secrets of the Red Baron Robot an it's Pilot. it has it's campiness, but also has a certain charm to it since it's fun to see robots duke it out.

Neon-Genesis Evangelion: This show is messed up. it takes place in a post apocalyptic world, strange aliens called "angels" are taking over the world, three teenagers are assigned to pilot robots called Evangelions, or Eva for short, to fight these angels, most of the cast have personal traumatic incidents in their lives and the story itself blurs the line between science and religion. At times this Mecha anime can be very graphic and it's a little hard to understand the whole plot, but the Anime is one of the most memorable ones.

Slayers: A Comedy fantasy themed anime, like your typical RPG. It stars a hot headed sorceress, an airheaded swordsman with a light sword (like a light saber), a bubbly sorcerer princess and a chimera sorcerer . the team during the early parts of the series started searching for the Clair Bible which explain all the secrets behind light and dark magic. now for the most part they're mostly bounty hunters the show can get over the top in campiness, but it's hilarious none the less.

Those who hunt elves: the story of 3 humans (a martial artist, an actress and an army brat scholgirl with a tank) are accidentally transported to a fantasy world full of elves. The only way to get back is to find spell fragments that are magically tattooed on female elves. so this means that they have to underss these women to find these fragments. Kinda perverted, but what do you expect from anime?

Gundam Wing: A mecha- themed political drama that talk about fighting an evil empire. plot is a little hard for me to follow. all I know is that the female lead (a princess who discovers her true past later turned into a queen of the world) has her eyes set on one of the Gundam pilots, despite the main character looking and acting mysterious yet very one dimentional. He only focuses on his top secret mission.

Digimon: This series is somewhat overlooked, mainly cause of the bad english dubbing, but at times the series can be either childish or very dark the basic plotline is that a group of kids are usually chosen to enter the digiworld and come across digital monsters who befriends them and they fight evil digimon while at the same time either return back home or protect their city from being destroyed. The plot varies depending on the season, but what got me hooked is the music in the original Japanese dubs. The music makes the transformation scenes EPIC!!

Dragonball : Who doesn't know about it? Do I really need to explain? Just watch it!

Pokemon: initially the anime was fun, but over the years it kept recycling plots over and over. I watch it on occasion ,but it's not as fun as it used to be. the only differences made are that Ash is in another region still striving to become a pokemon master and we keep getting a different female lead after a saga ends. they should have at least let the characters grow up and mature a bit, instead of getting stuck in a floating timeline.

Viewtiful Joe: A comic Book/Movie geek that gets sucked in the movie world. never played the game before, but the show was interesting to watch Not much to say about the whole plot but the show was pretty random for the most part, taking several movie themes and elements and incorporating it to the story.

Well, I guess that's it for now. if you have any to recommend feel free to post it.
Later!

The following is a request from a buddy of mine Hoodedcobra, the guy behind Pokemon: Gold Rush on youtube. It's for a charity event, so feel free to be a part of it.

We stream Nintendo games live 24/7 from Wednesday July 11th to Wednesday July 18th, while encouraging our viewers to donate to the Child's Play charity.The Child's Play charity is a charity that buys toys, books, and video games for children in hospitals to make their stay all the more pleasant.

We offer gifts for donating. You can, instead of just giving out money for no reason, get a cool Nintendo-themed t-shirt...Or, SOMETIMES, we do ridiculous stunts when we get enough donations... Last year a kid who is part of the marathon shaved a single leg. The year before, we tried swallowing a spoonful of cinammon. We MAY be giving out a raffle of prizes to a random person who donated...OR they can just watch and not bother donating, because more viewers in the chat=higher on the main page of uStream=more viewers joining. So, they can just sit back and watch humorous live Let's Plays of Nintendo games...

"Founded in 2010 by Let's Player TheChewyChimchar, Video Game Satirist HoodedCobra, and redditor PR0CT0R, NM4CP (or Nintendo Marathon 4 Child's Play) does whatever it can to turn gaming into philanthropy, and leisure into work!" Any other questions,send them my way.

BTW, we are not officially affiliated with Child's Play Charity (which is owned by the folks from Penny Arcade), we just like helping their cause. We stream 24/7 by taking sleeping shifts, eating shifts, and being in at least 3 different time zones.

Site: http://www.nm4cp.org/
Hoodedcobra on Deviantart
Hoodedcobra on Newgrounds
Hoodedcobra on YouTube
Hoodedcobra on Facebook

Here's a preview of Four Swords Misadventures 8

The episode is still in its early stages. I currently have my hands full with more important things since I'm in the middle of an internship (stuck doing office work for 8 hrs. a day) and I'm about to graduate soon, so this could take a while to get done. I've been slowly getting back on track after all the stuff I went through the last 18 months. Been feeling a bit rusty, but I did this to prove that the series hasn't been cancelled.

For this one, I had no choice but to make a change in the cast in order to keep things moving. I got SpikeDaPenguin Back as classic Red (ep. 1-3), but Silverlink, who played Blue, dropped out of the project and Baldboy64 (who played Red in Ep. 4-7) will now be Blue Link. The things I do to keep this show going....

With that in mind, here's hoping that I get it done somehow. I'm even working on an early draft for episode 9 with he help of a friend, if you want more that is...

Later!

There are times where you come across an event or a film that delivers a powerful message when you least expect it. During my 6 month depression last year due to several issues(a tough break up and a sick grandma who passed away in march of this year), I came across this clip from Rocky Balboa that changed my life:

Now thanks to this scene I have a new found respect for Sly Stallone and his Rocky films.

A friend of mine also introduced me to this one a while back which is also good:

Here's another one from Arnold Schwarzenegger:

This one however, is a bit embarrassing though:

It's good to learn from these clips (except for the last one, that's just sad) Anyone got any other good ones?

First SOPA/PIPA gets shoved down our throats, now CISPA is popping up. Why do Govermnents have to insist on rubbing their noses on the internet? The internet isn't made for the Government, it's made for THE PEOPLE.

I understand that Internet Piracy and Copyright Infringement is one thing, but that doesn't mean that you have to restrict freedom of speech and rights to privacy from millions of users. From what I understood, the internet is supposed to be a free interactive communications tool, and when I say free, I mean with Free speech. To be able to do and say things you wouldn't normally do or say in society. Now slowly, each country is developing their "Big Brother" concept more and more. Spying on us 24/7 to see if we are breaking the law in some way or form. Sadly, our rights and freedom of speech are diminishing year by year. Not just in the US, but in most parts of the world.

Do you agree on CISPA? Do you agree on the thought of the FBI, CIA, INTERPOL or any authority figure monitoring your every move waiting to strike not because you're a terrorist, but because of Copyright infringement? if that's the case, then arrest the entire world for illegally downloading and streaming, music, games and movies and not just Kim DotCom for offering the Megaupload and it was shut down immediately after the SOPA protests.

I'm not that into politics really, but I'm against CISPA and Internet censorship.
The internet is for everyone.

Greetings World. We are Synonymous.

Anyone else thinks that Cartoon Network's lineup is very mixed or poor at times and it's current cartoons don't have that charm that the old one do? I grew up during the early era of Cartoon Cartoons and some of these shows even influenced my work, but over the years I noticed that CN's quality has been losing it's touch, with some occasional good material every now and then. But there are times that you expect something better based on the previous stuff they made over the years. which is why I decided to make a quick review of most of the stuff that CN dished out and that I watched since I was a kid (Not counting adult swim related content)

Here's my opinion on most of the content the channel has made since 1995 up to now

The Good
1-Codename: Kids Next Door: This show was fun, clever and visually creative. Loved the DBZ reference they made one time.
2-Cow and Chicken: Full of Random "Ren and Stimpy" styled humor.At times controversial, Who didn't like it? BTW, WTF was up with The Red Guy flashing his butt all the time? The butt jokes were for a cheap laugh though (Ben Pants, Dr. HighKnee, etc).
3-Dexter's Laboratory: A true Classic and quite possibly the best CN had to offer. I watched it constantly as a kid. Big Genndy Tartakovsky fan.
4-Ed, Edd n Eddy: Weird yet passable, interesting art style.
5-Johnny Bravo: A guilty pleasure. Just seeing him constantly get beat up by women always made me LOL. In this case Muscles don't matter.
6-The Powerpuff Girls: at first I didn't watch it, but I grew to like the subtle humor and the obscure references ( like South Park, LoZ and The Beatles among others). weird how they did an anime reboot of this one
7-Time Squad: very Anachronistic yet funny Time travel cartoon. Mark Hamill Did the voice of Larry the robot as an intentional parody of C3PO.
8-What A Cartoon!: From Weird and wacky to totally abstract this show had it all and it was awesome. clearly the launching pad for several shows. Back then I didn't know that Bruno Bozzeto made this cartoon!
9-Adventure Time: worth watching. Silly creative and mostly unpredictable
10-Ben 10, Alien Force, Ultimate Alien: I like the show at times, but MAN they're milking this show dry. IT'S ALWAYS ON!!
11-Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends: Loved this cartoon's dry humor and artwork
12-The Life and Times of Juniper Lee: Cute flashy and colorful. Monsters could've look more hideous and less colorful though. But it's a kids' cartoon....
13-Megas XLR: one of CN's few attempts to Americanize an anime genre(Mecha). The show was cool and should've lasted longer.
14-My Gym Partner's a Monkey: Original concept. A human stuck in an animal school because his last name is "Lyon". ok at times.
15-Samurai Jack: Being a Genndy Tartakovsky fan I had to watch it. the concept and art style is cool and all, but they should've finished the story after 4 seasons.
16-Sym-Bionic Titan: Another attempt at the Mecha Genre by Tartakovsky. Visually stunning but it didn't click. I was open to a 2nd season
17-Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi Capitalizing on the anime Craze as well, but with Chibi (super deformed) characters. It's cutesy anime mixed with 60's camp. for the most part it worked ok, but the Channel's anime trend was dying out.
18-Star Wars: Clone Wars: Also by Tartakovsky. 2 movies split into several 5 minute shorts. worth watching. But at times I wonder if it's supposed to fit with the canon of the other Clone Wars series or not (which I like too).
19- The Looney Tunes show: Hit and miss, but still watchable in part due to its nostalgia.

The Bad
1-Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?: It had a very retro art style and campy humor. It reminded me of Schoolhouse rock. Very 70s disco style, but that's why it didn't last. It's style and humor felt extremely outdated.
2-Evil Con Carne: it had potential until they killed it by introducing "Cod Commando" Really? a fish with a G.I. Joe background?
3-Sheep in the Big City: weird show, full of improv, Real hit and miss and easily forgettable.
4-Courage the Cowardly Dog: Started off ok, but the concept started to drag over time.
5-The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy: I watched it at times, it was alright...ish. Not t my liking really
6-I Am Weasel: Amusing at first though for the most part formulatic and repetitive.
7-Mike, Lu & Og: cute and creative, but got boring real fast.
8-Camp Lazlo: it was made by the guy who did Rocko's Modern Life on Nickelodeon in the 90s. Nothing new here. I preferred Rocko.
9-Chowder: This show makes no sense...I hate it.
10-The Amazing World of Gumball: This show can't make up it's mind! Can't you focus on one art form instead of combining everything (flash, puppets, CGI, Stop motion) in a random setting? it's the main reason I can't stand it.
11-Generator Rex: Meh...nothing too new or interesting. They intentionally copied the Agent Smith look from The matrix.
12-The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack: Braindead humor. Don't bother...
13Regular Show: Don't really get this cartoon. And seriously, Why would anyone compare this to Beavis and Butt-Head? at least THAT cartoon is funny.
14- Squirrel Boy: Meh... I prefer Duckman
15-Transformers Animated: I prefer the old school transformers from the 80s.

Overall approval rating for the channel's collection of original cartoons over the years:
19 approved out of 34= 56% approval rating from my POV

I still think they should put more effort on newer cartoons with better art and storylines instead of focusing on crap like Chowder and Gumball. But then again, most of this stuff is aimed at a younger audience that doesn't really care about quality.

Oh well, everyone's entitled to their own opinions.

What do you guys think?

Time to play Majora's Mask! This may sound silly, but I've been playing MM during the Carnival season for the past 3 years just for the hell of it. To tell the truth the inspiration behind it is because I read that WWE Superstar Cody Rhodes is an avid Zelda fan and admits to playing A Link to the Past yearly. Hell, he even has Triforce symbols on his wrestling boots, just by that he has my respect.

As you can see, based on this I figured I follow his example and play a particular Zelda game once every year. As for OoT, I've played it so much that I know it like the back of my hand. Same with MM, I grew up with both games over the years and later got my hands on the other titles.

Oh and if you're wondering about the next Four Swords episode, I'm slowly working on it since I've been busy finishing my final semester at the university. I hope to get things back into gear really soon once I get things straightened out. In the meantime be on the lookout because I got something special in store for you guys in the next few months. In the mean time, enjoy the carnival season (if you actually celebrate it)!
Later!

Hey guys Happy new year! Like I've said in the title, It's time for a new beginning for me. 2011 kicked me hard, but things have been slightly improving and It's time for me to get back on the horse again. I got several projects that have been in the back burner for a while, some of them original animations and others being parodies, and I hope to develop them sometime throughout the year. As for FSM 8, it will continue. I don't care how long it takes I'll have it out at some point.

Thanks to the people who supported me during this tough year and here's to a bright future.
Later!

P.S.: The world will not end this year, so don't believe in that 2012 "end of the world" crap! Just enjoy life!