Sushi A-Go-Go

Yesterday I had a little father/daughter time with my kid and we went to, what is now my new favorite restaurant, Sushi Umi. I had pasted by the place many times and always seemed to eat sushi at Ichibon instead, and the last time I did try to stop here it was closed for the season. So yesterday we went into Terre Haute and stopped to eat. I have to say that I was very impressed. It is small with only about 10 tables and the counter and a small tea room off to the side. the very extensive menu offers many Japanese favorites from sushi to a nice loaded Bento box.
I had a very nice selection of sushi, including some delicious Eel and Sea Urchin. My daughter had the Bento box with Teriaki chicken. The Bento included the chicken, chefs veggie, tempura shrimp, tempura squash, 6 pieces of Cali roll and Miso soup. And to finish it off, some green tea ice cream. The presentation is wonderful. the table next to us ordered a large sushi combo and it was served in a ornate boat model. I would give Sushi Umi a 5 star rating for great food and very reasonable price.

For fun I posted the below Sushi "Documentary" it is very funny and should help you enjoy your Sushi experience.

A Lizard,,,Where??? and some Movie News

Let's start this entry off with some viewer mail. A reader, whom I shall call "Little Kyle", from Indiana asked about the Lizard being in Spider-Man 3 because there is a lizard toy in the new Spider-Man 3 toy line posted on Hasbro. Well "Little Kyle", I have done alot of digging and there appears to be no Lizard in S3. Yes the Doc is in the movie a little more than the last two, but it doesn't look like the old one-arm-doc will be going reptile on us yet. I believe Rami has his hands full with Sandman and Venom and the surly Aunt May. The toy showing up in the new line could be just the fact that they have the character rights, why not make a toy. The same can be seen in the new Ghost Rider line with the Scarecrow figure that never appeared in the movie, and in countless other lines. I did notice that there is no Aunt May figure in the new S3 line. She could have super-geriatric action and Ben Gay smell. Thanks for your question "Little Kyle" and thanks for reading.



While we are on Spider-Man. Sony has released the final S3 trailer in connection with Comcast. The new trailer really gives us lots of new views of the movie and some great Venom shots.....Finally. The May release date is coming on fast and it looks like the movie won't disappoint us. You can view the new trailer HERE.



Another new trailer to come out is for Disneys Pirates of the Caribbean : At Worlds End. The trailer is of coarse awesome, as all of the Pirates trailers have been. Lots of quick action, CG shots and little doses of comedy. Some of the visuals are truly amazing, including the 2 ships fighting inside a whirlpool, the ship crossing the desert and a sword battle in the ship masts between Cap Jack and Davey Jones. Check it out (all formats can be found) HERE. They also have a short scene from the movie.

WATCHMEN Peek in 300 Trailer.

Movie and Comic Geekdom is all aflutter today with the release of the r-rated 300 trailer that appeared on YouTube. The trailer of coarse is amazing, and I saw the moie last night it it is truly a great movie (we will cover that later), but the big interest is the brief image inserted at the 1 minute 52 second mark of the trailer. That image is no other than Rorshach from the Watchmen series that is supposed to by Director Zach Snyders next project. He has stated that it is just a test image, but come-on,,,,it is way cool. It will probably be done like 300 and Sin City with heavy use of green screen. Zac Snyder will definatly be the director to pull this project off. After the remake of Dawn of the Dead, and now the amazing 300, he has solidified himself as one of the best new directors in town.

So here it is, our first look at Watchmen made flesh (or test-flesh if you will)

Def Jam Icon Demo on LIVE.

Yesterday morning EA Chicago unleashed the demo for Def Jam Icons on Xbox Live. The free demo is on the small side, under 500mb as compared to some of the whopping 1.5gb ones that have been out lately. The download may be small, but the demo is excellent and shows off the game well.



EA Chicago has crafted a game with the same game-set as the popular Fight Night Round 3. The screen is not cluttered with health bars and weapon meters, or even a score for that matter, you get the game in all its glory filling up the screen. Damage is displayed on the characters themselves. The character models are very detailed and the motion capture is spot-on. Damage shows up as bruises, cuts, blood, even the clothes degrade with damage.



The backgrounds are very interactive and everything looks animated and alive. Gas pumps explode, fire flys and even the background buildings shake during explosions. The whole demo takes place in the gas station arena, but it more than enough to show off what it can do. Controls took a little time to get used to. Left stick moves the player and punches are mapped to the face buttons, more moves are mapped to the right stick (ala FNR3) as well as the grab. After the grab the d-pad pulls off another move such as throws and hits. Blocking is mapped to the the triggers, again like FNR3. One of the cool new features is the way that the game moves along to the music soundtrack and your control over it. Environments move and explosions blow in time with the beat. In the demo case it is to the song Kryptonite. With the use of the left trigger and the 2 sticks you can "re-mix" the song at certain times to trigger explosions and other events. Say if you throw the CPU into the gas pumps, back away quickly and pull L trigger and use the 2 sticks like turntables to change the music beat and make the explosions go off on CPU character.

The demo is very short. After a few minutes of fighting you are throw to the white info screen and the demo starts over. the only problem I saw was some clipping occurring with the characters. I am sure this will all be fixed prior to the official game release. This looks to be a very promising game for fight fans and a big jump from the Def Jam wrestling of past games in the series.

Spider-Man 3 FirstLook

National CineMedia has posted its FirstLook piece online. It shows some new scenes that we have not seen yet, but still no good Venom shots. Also we get a look at Harry Osborn/Goblin 2's new snowboard inspired jet-sled. You can view the FirstLook segment here.

Congrats To The COLTS

Another Super Bowl is in the books and the Indianapolis Colts are the Champs. Being a split household we had lots of cheering going on, especially after the first 20 sec run back. It was a good, close game. And it would have been a lot better if the Bears had remembered to bring a quarterback to the game with them.

How much up-chuck could a woodchuck up-chuck if a woodchuck could up-chuck .

OK, a friend sent me a link to this Family Guy snippet. It pretty much explains itself. Don't eat while watching. You have been warned.

Dinosaur On Film.

This short clip is from Japan and shows a very rare Frilled Shark that wandered into the shallows off the coast. This is truly an amazing looking sea creature. Looks like a lost link in the evolutionary ladder. Very creepy. Could be the next challenge for Godzilla or its already being served as expensive sushi in Tokyo.

Accident On Invasion Set.

On all the news channels this morning is the news of the accident that occurred on the set of the new movie Invasion starring Nicole Kidman. As can be seen in the video, the rig truck hauling the car set-piece looses control and strikes a light pole. Now everyone has been talking about poor Nicole and how shook up she was. she went to the hospital to be checked and was released with no injuries. I really feel sorry for the actors clinging to the outside of the vehicle. If you watch the video you see 2 of them fly about 15-20 feet after the impact, what about them ?? Nicole was safe inside the vehicle, it wasn't that bad of an impact for someone inside. I am sure the Director saw dollar signs flying out the window after that impact until he knew she was ok.

Ninja Warrior or How I spent My Down Time.

I had about a 4 week down time during my last surgery that I spent in bed or in my lazy boy. So in between marathon Xbox sessions I was able to catch up on some TV shows and movies I have had lying around. One about midnight I was flipping channels and stumbled across a Japanese show on G4 called Ninja Warrior. After about 30 minutes I was hooked. Unlike a few other Japanese shows on US TV, this was a serious competition. the contestants ranged from Olympic athletes, wrestlers and gymnasts to regular working men. Truly some amazing feats of strenght, agility and speed are shown off thru the competition which starts out with 100 men. Through the coarse of the 4 events the men are whittled away. The goal is to reach the 4th and final stage and the grand prize. The day I watched all 100 dropped out on the 3rd stage. Below is a video of Makoto Nagano, only the 2nd man to ever complete all 4 stages and win. I think I could make it over the first jump on the first stage, then just fall to the ground and lay there for a couple days.

Book Review : The Road

The Road

by Cormac McCarthy

Knopf Publishing 2006

241 pages Hardcover

Sometimes I am very bad with jockeying books around on my reading list. Some move to the top and others continually move up and down but don't get read. I am sorry to say that the later happened to The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I received the book in with about 3 others and it sat on the self and was passed over many times as new books piled in around it. Last month it started appearing on several lists as the top book of 2006, so I dug out my copy. Not reading this book right away was the biggest mistake I could make.

McCarthy's book is unlike anything I have ever read. McCarthy has written some dark , dreary books in the past, and this one follows suit. But the mood is what makes the story and just drags you along page by page through its sparse prose storytelling.

McCarthy has written a story that doesn't bog you down with tons of back-story and character development. The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, this we know. What has exactly happened and why is never revealed. The landscapes is often described as gray and dead, ash falling like rain, no animals, no trees. We follow the travels and trials of a father and his son. No names, no ages and only small hints of thier past is ever revealed. This is actually a good thing. You find yourself totally engrossed by the characters only referred to as The Man and The Boy. You are thrust into thier world of hardship from the first page and it never lets up. Your spirits raise when they stumble upon good fortune and your nerves jump when they come across the horrors that this new world has spawned. It is a tight and hard-written story that keeps you on edge till the end, and I challenge the strongest reader not to slump into thier chair during the last chapter, which you know is coming but spend the entire story hoping it won't.

Cormac McCarthy has made a new american masterpiece which in my opinion should be on everyones reading list for years to come.

On to the Superbowl !

Now isn't this a interesting situation. 2 teams that I want to root for are together in the Superbowl. Being a south-side Chicago boy pulls at my very roots to cheer on the Bears, while my Indy transplanted side wants the Colts. I have to say that both games yesterday where a thrill to watch and had their ups and downs. Payton only managed to give us only a few minor heart attacks thru the coarse of the game.

So who to root for. Mrs. G will wear her old Bears Superbowl Shuffle shirt and cheer the Bears , and I will cheer on the good ol Colts. So whoever wins, we have a winning team.

Time keeps on slipping............

Wow, it has been a long time since my last post. Sorry for the long absence. After some a lot of work at home, a engagement announcement, a surgery and now a long recovery,,,,I am finally going to try and start up posting again.

I you are a past reader checking in, then welcome back. If you are a new reader, stop back often and you might just catch something that interests you.