If you only shop at Toys R Us for your children, you need to get out more. Educational toy stores have so much more to offer kids.
One in particular even offers free! craft sessions on Saturdays.
Lakeshore Learning, located on Kennedy Blvd. near the West Shore Mall is our local franchise. While parents browse the aisles, kids can make a holiday or seasonal themed craft. Their website details which craft if offered each week so that you can pick a session that your child is most interested in.
We never ended up at The Hub on the night before Thanksgiving. My brother and his girlfriend invited us to watch Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It was the first Harry Potter movie I’ve ever watched, and after seeing it I can’t wait to begin reading the books.
Last night, after a late dinner of half-priced appetizers and $4 espresso martinis at TGI Friday’s, we celebrated Thanksgiving in Ybor City at The James Joyce. We did the family thing earlier in the day, so we decided that we should go out and party since neither of us had to work today. The Joyce was the place to be last night, too. Seamus and Kelly, the owners, fed me mashed potatoes with some of the best gravy I’ve tried. The secret ingredient in it is Guinness, and I may have to try to seal the recipe for the holiday party I’m hosting in a few weeks. After two beers and a several shots, we walked over to The Castle, where we hung out with some friends.
Sometime the musical selection at The Castle bothers me. Last night, for instance, we heard New Kids on the Block and that tacky, terrible song by The Black Eyed Peas, “My Humps.†I like to think I’m pretty open minded as far as music goes, but those two songs test the limits of what I want to hear when I’m in a nightclub.
But the VJ also played Sophie Ellis Bextor’s “Murder on the Dance Floor,†which made everything okay.
System: Microsoft Xbox 360
Also available for: Windows PC
Publisher: Activision
Reviewer’s rating: A
ESRB rating: Mature
Game type: First-person shooter
Kind of like: “Medal of Honor” series
Best feature: These are some of the best video- game graphics you’ve ever seen on a television.
Worst feature: The online multiplayer mode is a bit shallow, mainly because you can’t have more than eight players.
The bottom line: It’s a good omen for the Xbox 360 that a game originally released on the PC translates so well to the living room. In the past, the best shooters have been the domain of folks with high-end computers — “Halo 2” excluded.
Not only are the visuals on par with the PC version, but the controls have been adapted beautifully to the layout of a gamepad.
From a story standpoint, it’s been done; World War II is a shooter genre unto itself. The narrative is broken down into separate parts. You’ll play as Russian, British and American soldiers.
But “COD” also uses the powerful 360 hardware in a less conspicuous fashion. The AI in the game is brilliant thanks to the extra horsepower. Enemies lay down suppression fire and attack your flank.
Fellow soldiers react in much the same manner when they aren’t running into your line of fire.
With a Dolby 5.1 Surround setup the game will rattle your senses. This is Xbox 360’s first must-have title.
System: Sony PlayStation
Publisher: Namco
Reviewer’s rating: B+
ESRB rating: Everyone
Game type: Action/adventure
Kind of like: “Katamari Damacy”
Best feature: There’s a wider variety of levels this time around.
Worst feature: It’s still kind of short.
The bottom line: If you never played “Katamari Damacy,” it was tough to grasp the game’s appeal. A little guy rolls a ball around. Things stick to it. The ball gets bigger. So what?
Once you played, though, it made sense. Rolling stuff up was addictive. It was hypnotic. It was fun.
“We Love Katamari” offers a variety of new worlds to roll up, including underwater levels, outer space levels and a huge level in which you’ll roll up entire continents, including landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower and the Taj Mahal.
The game works the same way as before: Anything that’s smaller than about a quarter of the size of your ball (or “katamari") will stick to it. As your katamari increases in size, you can go from rolling up matchsticks and thimbles to collecting cookies and batteries, then pumpkins, then mailboxes, then vending machines — and about a million other things — getting bigger and bigger until time runs out.
The sequel also retains the quirky Japanese charm — and eclectic soundtrack — that made the original so endearing.
Sure, in the end it’s basically just more of the same, but they’re rehashing one of the most unique console titles ever. We’ll take it.
A happy post-Thanksgiving to all. If you are as sleepy and lazy as I am today, well, actually, I’m sort of surprised you could drag yourself to the computer. But since you have....
Graphic novels, comics, telling stories through pictures, whatever. This age-old method of telling stories continues to gain traction in the mainstream. People like Michael Chabon win a Pulitizer Prize (for The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay) and then go on to co-write Spider-Man 2, professing a love for the comic medium. Director Kevin Smith takes over writing Daredevil and Spider-Man comics (with mixed results, I have to say). Writers like Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman have earned reputations as sophisticated writers through the comics meduim. Now comes Audrey Niffenegger, author of the bestseller The Time Traveler’s Wife, with The Three Incestuous Sisters: An Illustrated Novel, which, while not a graphic novel, does use minimal text with pictures to tell its story. It’s an interesting concept and the art - gothic, haunting - couples nicely with this tale of three sisters, one good, one jealous and evil, one trippy and blessed with supernatural powers.
As the basketball season prepares to take off, Abrams Press has released Hoops: Four Decades of the Pro Game, which delivers on its promise, featuring hundreds of photographs of the game’s most storied players.
Feeling a bit more literary? The third volume in Norman Sherry’s biography of Graham Greene - The Life of Graham Greene: 1955-1991 - is on shelves now. Apparently it leaves no stone unturned - although its the third volume in the series, it’s 900 pages long. 900! Obviously, for true Greene fanatics only.
I apologize that I’m a day late with the scoop about the show, but I often find it difficult to keep up this blog on a daily basis. Props to all of you bloggers who find time to write every day.
Sunday night at Masquerade, I witnessed more musical talent than I’ve ever before seen in one place. Unfortunately, due to a line that wrapped around the block, Mick and I missed the opening act. We got inside just in time to see Jean Grae, who headliner Talib Kweli claims is one of his favorite artists in the world. That’s not too shabby for someone who isn’t well-known in the world of mainstream hip-hop.
Then Pharoahe Monch hit the stage. I remember downloading Pharoahe’s debut album from Napster during the earliest days of music pirating, which should give you an idea of how much it meant for me to see him live. It was a shame that he didn’t perform my favorite song, but he did sing his major hit “Simon Says” and his Lyricist Lounge hit song with Mos Def and Nate Dogg, “Oh No.” Between those two songs, the concert was entirely worth my money.
Madness ensued when Kweli hit the stage. He performed every song that I hoped he would, including “Too Late,” which is one of the most engaging tracks I’ve ever heard. At the end of the show, he invited the b-boys and b-girls of Tampa Bay onto the stage. Some of them tore it up, like the short guy who twisted himself into positions that would cause most of us to have to go to the hospital. It was a shame that Mos Def wasn’t there alongside Kweli, but the show was spectacular and I’m glad I didn’t miss it.
Tonight my boyfriend and I went to the mall to shop for Christmas and birthday presents. Afterword, we were both hungry and looking forward to a steak dinner at home. But then, Mick spontaneously decided to take me to Four Green Fields in South Tampa for shepard’s pie and beer-battered fish. He had a couple of Smithwick’s and I drank Guinness. It was kind of busy for a Tuesday night, and I was glad. A place like Four Green Fields should be busy all of the time.
We left after dinner and headed back to Wesley Chapel. I might have the week off, but there’s still work to do around the house. As most homeowners know, it never ends.
I think we may head to The Hub tomorrow for the pre-Thanksgiving gathering that it holds every year on the Wednesday night before turkey day. If you’re still in town, then I’d love to see you there.
Ok, so I’ve been in the lab for the last couple of days running through the paces with Microsoft’s new console. To this point I’m pretty impressed.
Not neccesarily with the diversity of games, but more with the machine itself. It’s a design marvel. Sure, there are some great games, but you can just look at things like Xbox Live and Xbox Live Arcade and think about all the future goodies on the way.
Over the next few days I’ll be bringing you impressions of the hardware and the launch titles. I’ve been able to get my hands on most of them, and even the ports look pretty good.
If you are one of the lucky ones, you know what I’m talking about.
Mickey and I are going to go to Samurai Blue before heading to tonight’s show at Masquerade. We’re both craving sushi and I love the place’s Spontaneous Combustion roll, so we figure it’s a good choice to go there for dinner. It’s not Friday or Saturday night, so we might actually be able to get something to eat without having to wait an hour for a table. After we eat, we’ll go to the concert, which promises to be a good time even though Mos Def had to drop off the tour. I’m looking forward to seeing Jean Grae, one of only a few female rappers in the male-dominated world of hip-hop. Think about it. I bet you can count the number of women in hip-hop on one hand. And in case you were wondering, Gwen Stefani doesn’t count.
Just a word about the Ted Leo concert: awesome. He’s an excellent, engaging performer, and it was nice to see him live. I ran into several old friends there, too. There was one downside, though: he didn’t play his famous cover of Kelly Clarkson’s “Since You’ve Been Gone.” After the show ended, Mick and I headed to New World Brewery with our friend Jen and her “pseudo-boyfriend,” who is into Kerouac and The Velvet Underground as much as I am. I sipped on my usual Lambic Framboise, which tasted like candy after the Pabst Blue Ribbons I drank at The Orpheum. These are the good times, folks.
Speaking of concerts, I learned yesterday that Mos Def won’t be at Masquerade this weekend. He dropped off the big PlayStation tour featuring him, Talib Kweli and Pharoahe Monch. What the heck is that all about?
Tonight we’re heading over to The Fox on Kennedy Boulevard in Tampa. I’ve never been there before, but I hear it’s the best jazz club around. That’s not such a feat, however, since there are so few of them in the area. Still, I’m excited because the place seems very classy and elegant. Too bad I haven’t learned how to swing dance yet.
System: Sony PlayStation 2
Publisher: Sony
Reviewer’s rating: B-
ESRB Rating: Teen
Game type: Action/shooter
Kind of like: A futuristic “American Gladiator”
Best feature: Another great (albeit smaller) arsenal of fun weapons.
Worst feature: All combat and no adventure makes Ratchet a dull boy.
The bottom line: As the console game industry charges excitedly into the wild frontier of communal, online, multiplayer experiences, I can offer only this quiet plea: Don’t forget about those of us who play video games to escape from other people.
The first three “Ratchet” titles were truly excellent single-player adventures. Innovative weapons and gadgets made them stand out from typical platform games, while exploring their huge, colorful worlds made them different from any other shooter.
The latter aspect is conspicuously absent in “Deadlocked,” which focuses on heavy artillery.
The short single-player mode feels routine and monotonous. The two-player cooperative mode is more fun, but — again — requires the presence of another human.
Lacking actual friends, you can play against (and chat with) strangers online, where the action (deathmatch, capture the flag, etc.) feels disappointingly similar to your standard kill-or-be-killed free-for-all.
System: Sony PlayStation 2
Publisher: Namco
Reviewer’s rating: A+
ESRB rating: Teen
Game type: Fighting
Kind of like: “Samurai Shodown” in 3-D
Best feature: The sheer size of the game is astounding. It just goes on and on.
Worst feature: We wish it would load faster and that it were on every system.
The bottom line: After “Marvel Vs. Capcom 2,” we got a little spoiled. We began thinking that every fighting game should have 50-plus characters like that game. Most fighting games, even new ones, don’t have enough characters.
“Soul Calibur III,” however, is brimming over with tons of stuff, from characters to extra weapons to outfits and more. There are more than 20 regular characters, but there’s also a create-a-character mode with a dozen jobs to give your made-up fighter, with each of those jobs including several disciplines — in other words, different sets of moves. In short, because of the countless characters you can create, we still don’t know how many different fighting characters there really are in this game.
None of this would matter if “Soul Calibur III” didn’t have a good fighting system. The fighting is among the best there is, with incredible, unique weapons, fluid 3-D movement and an excellent balance of attack and defense. You can parry an attack and gain an advantage, for example, but the parrying isn’t so easy to do that it dominates.
The game is violent but there’s no blood.
Graphically, the game looks very good, although it’s no “Dead or Alive.” The sound is great, though, as it was in past “Soul Calibur” games, with really good classical-based music. This game includes the option for either English or Japanese voices. As is often the case with imported games, the English voices are painful to hear. Try the Japanese ones instead.
What are these fine upstanding citizens doing? Put it in your own words.
...is, of course: “My, what a fabulous look. I simply must know who designed this toilet!” I’m sure you all have thought similiar thoughts. Or not. But perhaps my sarcasm is misplaced. Someone (Firefly Books, to be specific) thought it a topic worthy of a book, having just released Public Toilet Design From Hotels, Bars, Restaurants, Civic Buildings and Businesses Worldwide by Christina del Valle Schuster. You are to be forgiven if you do not believe me, although you should give me credit seeing how I also did not make up that one about show chickens a few entries back. Anyway, read about lovely toilets and the people who designed them here. Also, here’s a picture of the cover. I admit it’s a handsome-looking toilet, as these things go:
On a more mainstream note, the designer Dena Fishbein - who hosts her own show on the DIY network - has released Embellish Your Home, full of advice like using newspapers for shelf edging. At last! A use for those darn things that keep showing up on the driveway every morning!
National Geographic, mentioned here often in recent weeks, continues to put out cool but niche books. The latest is for the bird lover on your list: Complete Birds of North America. Over 600 pages of nothing but pictures and information about birds. The book jacket calls it definitive and comprehensive, and I believe it.
After watching The Perceptionists only two nights ago, I’m ready for another show. This one is Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, and they’re playing at The Orpheum tonight. You can check them out, too, for only $10 at the door, or $12 if you’re under 18.
I wrote about The Orpheum for this week’s column, which will show up in the Friday Extra’s Clubland section tomorrow. I have many fond memories of the place, as well as some not so fond ones. Specifically, I remember going there one Saturday night and kissing a guy I liked. A few days later, my throat was swollen and I had rashes all over my body. It turned out that I’d gotten a rare form of strep throat and I was sick for three weeks.
Normally I can’t stand bands that are so image-conscious, but I have to admit I really enjoyed The Strokes‘ first album (you know, the one with “Is This It"). And their second disc, despite the predictable backlash, wasn’t half bad either.
The uber-hip New York quintet may yet prove to be a flash in the pan, but their demise will have to wait at least until after the release of their third effort, “First Impressions of Earth,” which is scheduled to drop in early January. The first single, “Juicebox,” is already making the rounds and you can check it out here. I’m digging the “Peter Gunn"-style groove.
A Strokes track courtesy of RCA Records:
The Strokes: “Juicebox” from “First Impressions of Earth” [mp3]
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