I have got some great links for you today. Some of you know that I am a big G.I. Joe fan. In fact I like G.I. Joe almost as much as Star Wars. When Hasbro released their 25th anniversary line of action figures I could not resist. It brought back memories of running up the stairs (when they were in the middle of the store) at The Bay (now the Northern store) and seeing all the Joes on display. Funny, that I only remember buying Scrap Iron there. I should correct that and say my parents buying Scrap Iron for me. One day I would love to display all my old toys. I haven't seen them in years and I hope they have weathered well at my parents house. If Kim and I ever find a bigger house I am bustin' those suckers out.
Some may ask, why do I love G.I. Joe so much? I think, like with Star Wars, I am drawn to the characters. G.I. Joe has a ton of different characters and I find myself drawn to strong unique character stories. I think that is why the remake of Battlestar appeals to me so much. They have great characters.
Well, onto the the cool stuff for this post. If you are a 30 something year old guy you probably remember watching a lot of the G.I. Joe and Transformers cartoons in the 80's. The recent release of the G.I. Joe DVD/Action Figure M.A.S.S device packs were great. There have been a few Joe cartoons released since the classic series but they were not great. Thankfully, my wish of a new cartoon based on the classic series has finally come true. A new cartoon series was just released this week and it is fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. The first three episodes are up on Youtube. Well, they are actually up on Adult Swim but because I don't live in the U.S. and A I can't watch them on their website. The Internet is truly a wonderful thing though and I can watch them on a different site. You can watch them Here, here, and here.
I won't ruin the awesomeness of this cartoon for you but if you like seeing your old favourite Joes in their classic costumes this is for you. The story is great. The only bad part is that the episodes are only about 5 minutes long. When they are all released I think the total length is supposed to be about an hour. Perhaps if there is enough interest in it they will make some more.
For those of you that don't know the there is a live action G.I. Joe movie coming out this year on August. You can watch the trailer here. I am very skeptical on how this movie is going to turn out. Seeing some of the new toys makes me really nervous. This movie could really suck. The look of Cobra Commander really scares me. WTF!! Where is his hood?? What kind of shitty mask is that! Has the director ever read the comic book or watched the cartoon? I am going to try and go into that movie open minded and pretend I don't know anything about G.I. Joe.
If the movie doesn't pan out I can always buy the original cartoon series that will finally be released on DVD.
I almost forgot, if anyone knows somebody in the Hamilton area who is willing to stand in line for me for about 5-6 hours on May 2 please let me know. I am willing to dish out $100 to anyone who will go and stand in line for me at the Hamilton Convention Centre for the annual Canadian G.I. Joe convention. Why would I ask somebody to do this for me? Well, the deal is they must get in line early enough to buy the five convention toy exclusives. Here are a few pics that are part of the set. There are only 100 sets. This is not a joke and I am being serious here. The condition for the $100 is that you have to actually get the set for me to pay you. I will pay you for the set as well (obviously). My guess is that you will have to be in line at 3-4am. It is quite an experience to stand in line to get in to a convention at that time in the morning with other people who are just as crazy as you. Here are the rules for buying the exclusives. Yes, there are rules. It would be chaos without them. Hopefully, someone takes me up on this offer.
Well, that is all for now. I hope you enjoy the new cartoon as much as I do.
YO JOE!!!
Friday, April 17, 2009
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
The Coach Part 2
Well, today was our B-Ball tourney in Dryden and it was heck of a ride. Although, we could not technically win the tournament we still had fun, going 2 wins 1 loss in the round robin and losing in the final. Coaching a team sport is a very interesting experience. Every game is completely different. It allows you to relive your youth through others.
I always preach to my team that someone is going to get hurt. Thankfully, we did not have any major injuries but nearing the end of our final game one of the girls took a ball square in the face. Not a pleasant thing. She toughed it out. Not to forget my other player whose head rebounded off the floor and stayed in the game. They are troopers to be sure.
I am proud to say my team was one tough group of girls. The game against Pinewood was the most physical game I have ever been part of as a coach. I learn something new all the time. Do you tell your girls to back down in the face of elbows, pushing, punching etc? It was almost like something out of a movie. The other team sends on a player and as they come onto the court they nudge our player. Don't mess with a 13 year girl. Well, let's just say I didn't tell my team to back down. After our very rough and tumble game one of the coaches from another team commented to me that they were a little nervous because they had to play us next. Intimidation factor? maybe, being labeled as goons? maybe. Nonetheless, we won the next game. It was a clean game. All our other games were pretty clean. It is interesting to be part of a heated game. How do games turn into grudge matches? I will leave that one to the philosophers. A person could write a book on that kind of thing. There probably are some books about this out there and perhaps I will look it.
I always wonder how someone else would coach the same group of girls I did. Would they do better, worse, the same? A question that will never be answered. All in all it was a good season. I am always a little sad to see it all end but the rest is good. This is the last time the team will be together. I will always be able to say I had a role to play in the lives of their basketball careers. Maybe one day one of them will become a superstar and send me a royalty cheque.
There are five returning players next year. Who knows what the future may bring.
Turn up the Heat!
I always preach to my team that someone is going to get hurt. Thankfully, we did not have any major injuries but nearing the end of our final game one of the girls took a ball square in the face. Not a pleasant thing. She toughed it out. Not to forget my other player whose head rebounded off the floor and stayed in the game. They are troopers to be sure.
I am proud to say my team was one tough group of girls. The game against Pinewood was the most physical game I have ever been part of as a coach. I learn something new all the time. Do you tell your girls to back down in the face of elbows, pushing, punching etc? It was almost like something out of a movie. The other team sends on a player and as they come onto the court they nudge our player. Don't mess with a 13 year girl. Well, let's just say I didn't tell my team to back down. After our very rough and tumble game one of the coaches from another team commented to me that they were a little nervous because they had to play us next. Intimidation factor? maybe, being labeled as goons? maybe. Nonetheless, we won the next game. It was a clean game. All our other games were pretty clean. It is interesting to be part of a heated game. How do games turn into grudge matches? I will leave that one to the philosophers. A person could write a book on that kind of thing. There probably are some books about this out there and perhaps I will look it.
I always wonder how someone else would coach the same group of girls I did. Would they do better, worse, the same? A question that will never be answered. All in all it was a good season. I am always a little sad to see it all end but the rest is good. This is the last time the team will be together. I will always be able to say I had a role to play in the lives of their basketball careers. Maybe one day one of them will become a superstar and send me a royalty cheque.
There are five returning players next year. Who knows what the future may bring.
Turn up the Heat!
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