Starts With Ends With - A Cheap, Fast Paced, Word Game App

Starts With Ends With is an app that I released a few months ago, based on a card game I created a few years ago. The concept is real simple: Players are given a starting and ending letters, and you must come up with the longest word using the letters that you were given. The app is exactly the same, except for it's single player and you can play on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. I kept it cheap (only 99 cents!), and the reviews have been really positive so far.

Click through the jump for more information on the app, some excerpts from recent reviews, and my plans for immediate and distant future.

Review: Cowboys and Aliens is Wild(west)ly Forgettable!

I like John Favreau, Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell and I goddamn love a curmudgeonly Harrison "Indiana Solo" Ford! I also quite like aliens and can tolerate cowboys, so when you mix all this stuff up and hurl it at the big screen, I would expect to leave the cinema both full and satisfied. So why, after seeing the much anticipated Cowboys and Aliens am I left underwhelmed and wanting much, much more?

In short, it's a bland, predictable film that seems reluctant, or unable, to truly capitalize on its outlandish premise. You would expect it to be an insane genre-bending thrill-ride filled with robust characters and escalating money shots but, after a promising start, it rapidly loses speed and ambition.

Want to know all the ugly details? Join me after the jump and we'll give these cowboys and aliens what for! (Spoilers ahoy!)

YouTube Artist Danielle Fricke

I just have to write a few words and show off an amazingly talented singer/songwriter, Miss Danielle Fricke!

She's got a great YouTube channel HERE where she puts up videos and songs, both covers and originals, on about a weekly basis. I can't get enough! Stumbled upon her one day while looking for an interesting cover of some song or other and haven't gone a week without listening to at least one or two of her songs ever since. Plus she's super nice. Answered all my stupid questions about her recording/editing process and responds to pretty much every comment everyone makes on her channel.  So yeah, check her out!

Thundercats Thunder-recaps Episode 5: Old Friends! SAMOFLANGE!

I've finally caught up on the 2011 Thundercats episodes and can begin recapping/reviewing them in a timely and responsible fashion! After being severely underwhelmed by the last two shows, I tentatively enter Episode Five: Old Friends with a number of pressing questions:

1) Will the underused and objectiveless Tigra be forced to solve Suduko puzzles in the background?
2) Will the newly returned Panthro whip Lion-EmO with his nunchuks for being a large, gelatinous sissy?
3) And why isn't anybody trying to mack on Cheetara?

Join me after the jump and we'll soon know!

Our Week of Reading! Vol. 2!

You're probably amazed that such a rag-tag team of go-getters/gad-about-towns even get time to read! And yet four of our stalwart readers managed to squeeze some literature in, even though two of those are mostly pictures.

If you'd like to see what the well-read, well-spoken, and elegantly presented Fruitless Pursuits staff were reading this week, then you need look no further than past the jump! (Contains one slightly NSFWish cover, but relax! It's the weekend):

Ghost Rider 2: Spirit of Vengeance Trailer Urinates Fire!

2007's flaming skeleton motorcyclist head-scratcher Ghost Rider isn't the first thing you'll think of when you consider films crying out for a sequel, but it actually exists and now we have footage to prove it. Truly bat-shit insane footage that will make you wonder what you're looking at, possibly making you question fundamental human laws. And why not?!

Why not capitalise on the unpredictable vortex that is the mighty Nicholas Cage and amp this bikie Skeletor movie up a few notches! I've defended Nicholas Cage before, and think what you will about the man he isn't static. He's always working, and forever experimenting. So dammit let's try another Ghost Rider! One that clearly explodes in a torrent of fiery demon urine:

So what say you? You know, I'm going to give this a shot!

Where's Wall-E?

Ok, so two questions for you...

1 - Where's Wall-E?

2. How many can you name? List them out below if you dare (Edit: numbered guide below the cut!)

Fun with Lego: 3D Printing

Lego + Drill Bit + Knowledge = Awesome

Project Runway Recaps: S09 E04

 

Welcome to another week of Project Runway! As always, you don't have to have seen the show, you just have to love laughs and life and love.

FP Friday Night Movie Review!

While the fledgling Fruitless Pursuits staff may not get invited to the industry previews of the most recent blockbuster films, we're still a bunch of movie buffs. Or at least we've been known to watch movies in the buff. In the same room.

Head on after the jump to read mini-reviews of the films that our contributors have watched this week!

Thank Gif It's Friday

App Review: Hipster City Cycle!

Hipsters, whether you like them or not, you have to admit... they have some cool bicycles! Lately I've found myself falling into the bicycle scene. Looking at fixed gears on craigslist is just a daily thing for me. So, of course I got really excited when I found this!  A couple months back, a handful of Philadelphia's game developers/local hipsters made a really fun iPhone app called: Hipster City Cycle.

Lego Minifigures Series 5 is Out and I Have Photos to Prove It!

Most email advertisements are super annoying. On Tuesday I got one from Five Below (lots of junk all priced $5 and under) that said the new Lego Minifigures series was in stock. It came over pretty late, so I drove over about 15 minutes before they closed.

I didn't have a chance to cheat and look up the barcodes (which are now impossible-to-see, lightly pressed dots) so I had to wing it and try to feel around enough to get the figures I wanted. This was super embarrassing because they're right at the front counter, and I had basically push a bunch of kids out of the way. But I was on a mission..

Transformers Classics: Autobot Hound!

Not wanting to disappoint my fan, I figured I'd better put up a picture review of everyone's favourite Autobot scout/tracker, Hound. As promised, here's a few comparison shots of the original G1 toy, released in 1984, and the Transformers: Universe (the second incarnation of Classics) toy released in 2008. As a bonus, we also get a comparison of G1 Ravage and Transformers: Universe Ravage, since he was an accessory with Hound for the 2008 release!

 

Incoming Toys! New Huck Gee Gold-Life Dunny and Star Wars Pop Series 2!

I'm obsessed with Kid Robot's Dunnys - blind-boxed, vinyl rabbits that some of the world's leading designers have drawn all over. I'm an amassing a modest collection and recently received an entire case of the truly excellent 2011 Series - which in my ill-educated opinion is by far their finest yet. 

I've been anxious that I'd have to wait another whole year to see what they follow it up with, but luckily there's plenty to keep us occupied in the meantime. Kid Robot have just announced a series of Gold-Life Dunnys by artist Huck Gee (he designed the zombie in the 2011 series) and they look amazing:

More Dunnys after the jump! Plus a second wave of Funko's beady-eyed Star Wars Pop bobbleheads!

7 Wonders - An Illustrated Review

Cookie Monster Singing Tom Waits will Haunt and Delight You.

This has been doing the rounds for a day or so, but if you are yet to witness the unrestrained, fuzzy, blue embodiment of ego that is Cookie Monster, singing and dancing to Tom Wait's creepy-as-all-hell God's Away On Business, then you are seriously missing out. And don't be fooled into thinking that "one of these things just doesn't belong here" because, when you realise how eerily similar their voices are, you're going to be awake all night!

What's Out? Week of 17th of August

It's new comics day! I'm here to tell you what is available this week by looking at Diamond's shipping list (it's not just comics). I have comments, maybe some suggestions and a lot of questions!

Fancypants Horses look far more ladylike than I do

It's only a little post, because sadly this photographic collection by Julien Wolkenstein only consisted of three photos. Which KILLS ME. But I suppose after four hours of hairstyling which gets undone the minute a pony decides they feel the need to shake it out, and day-long shoots for each horse-  fair enough. I probably would have drawn the line at three too.

Meet Harmony the Rastafarian Arabian.

Redakai - A Trading Card Game That Amazes Me and Makes Me Feel Old

I came across this game a few days ago, and I'm really intrigued by it. I have no clue what Redakai means, or even what it is, but I'm a sucker for trying out a new card game. I'll pick them up from time to time to check out the mechanics, or art style. After buying a starter set, I wound up buying another, and then a few more packs, and now I can't stop.

Don't my hands look good for my age?

I know it sounds a little crazy, so I'll explain why..

Supeheroes are Punch-happy A$$holes that will Ruin Your Car.

For the first time in many, many years I am catching up on mainstream superhero comics and have become increasingly astounded at how quick these supposed grown-up men and women are to punch each other in the face. These super-assholes will fly off the handle at the slightest provocation, imagined or otherwise, and back it up with power-enhanced fist to the mouth. When was the last time that you could only solve a problem by punching things? Yeah? Well, Iron Man solves breakfast by punching things. He'd punch a crying baby if it was keeping him awake.

And superheroes might be here to protect you but they SURE AS HELL DON'T GIVE A DAMN about your personal belongings. One more car payment and it's yours? Not any more. These caped bastards have a mad on for destroying auto-mobiles and I've got the pictures to prove it. Over the last week we've seen leaked set pictures from movies such as Superman: The Man of Steel and The Avengers and it has been like a demolition derby!

Howdy! I'm Captain America! And I'm taking a shit on your car!

Head after the jump for more CARnage and commentary!

The C-List Podcast! Episode 12: Transformers 1-2 Robot Boogaloo (part one)

If you were unaware (and millions are) Taylor and I have a podcast called The C-List where we analyse, taunt and discuss the blink-and-you'll-miss-them minor characters of your favourite blockbuster movies! Our schedule is sporadic, but Episode 12 has just hit, and this is how I'd describe it:

We pit the C-List humans against the C-List robots in Michael Bay's outrageous first Transformers movie! Only one team can take the Not-Quite-so-Crappy-as-the-Other-Team-of-Losers crown! Also: we answer questions such as: does Michael Bay command a tiger? Is Megan Fox part Oompaloompa? And what does an agitated monkey sound like when performed by a globe-spanning American and an Australian?
But that's not all! Learn about our inclusion in the Spooky Outhouse Productions network and we discuss Eric Walker's (Mace Towani in the ewok movies!) successful Kickstarter campaign to publish his book Growing Up on Skywalker Ranch.
And if you make it all the way to the end, there might even be a rap! It miight not be our best episode content wise, but it's our best sounding episode now we've finally conquered our new gear!

You can grab the episode at the official site, or RIGHT HERE (click to stream, right-click to download).

Nothing says "C-List" like a robot that shoots Mountain Dew!

New Clone Wars Series 4 Trailer: Ackbar and Mandalorians and Sith! Oh My!

If you're a lapsed Clone Wars viewer or dismissed the series completely, then let me assure you that it gets better and better, continually evolving into something that feels like a welcome bridge between the two trilogy of films. What you may not be aware of: John Favreau is a Mandalorian, Anakin is ten times better than the one in the films (and chokes people when nobody's watching), Darth Maul has a brother (and may still be alive), and Ahsoka is pretty much legal now and doesn't call the future Darth Vader "Skyguy".

And if you just hate prequel stuff in general (for shame!) then there are plenty of original trilogy links. Seasons 2 and 3 saw episodes featuring: Bossk, Boba Fett, Greedo, Sy Snootles, Tarkin and Chewbacca. And we already know that the new season will introduce Admiral Ackbar and Dengar (hopefully to give a Lucas approved explanation for his bandaged head. I'm hoping "got liquored up and hit it on the sink". Then I hope we get an explanation for his loafers).

Season Four: Battlelines, is soon to hit (September 16th) and this new trailer shows off a lot of cool stuff we haven't yet seen (especially after the half-way point). I'm amped! I can be amped enough for both of us if I have to!

P-Tone riffs on the fresh jam from Jay n Weezy, namsayin?

TRANSLATION:  Ghostface Killah reviews 'Watch The Throne', the new collaboration between Jay-Z & Kanye West.

It is unclear how much the eagle contributed to the review

I bought the record the other day, listened to it a few times, enjoyed it, etc. But as I am not a player of the GAME (and admittedly not a massive rap/hip hop fan), I'm not overly qualified to review it and do it justice.

Enter Ghostface Killah, aka Dennis Coles, aka that guy from The Wu Tang Clan. He knows his shit (or, 'his shizzle my nizzle' as I believe it is said).

Batboobies

On August 25th, 2009, two things happened that were HUGE in the life of Yours Truly. One, we were packing up the Lillymobile and hitting the road, headed up to Cleveland Clinic to have our then 21 month old son Bennett's skull cracked open so that he could have a brain tumor sucked out.

And the second was, of course, that Eidos and Rocksteady released Batman: Arkham Asylum for the XBox 360, and superhero gaming was never the same again.

For the first time in the history of sweat-soaked gamepads, geeks everywhere got to REALLY feel what it was like to actually BE the Dark Knight Detective, facing off against the likes of adversaries as little known to the General Population as Killer Croc and Scarface, or as well known as Scarecrow, Bane, Poison Ivy and of course, The Joker.

This game had everything. Batarangs. Bat Grappling Hooks. Detective Mode. Awesome fighting moves with a wide variety of martial art techniques. Even many sequences that required you to use more stealth than strength.

Plus, there were titties.

Thundercats Thunder-recaps Episode 4: Song of the Petalars

(I'm still playing catch-up on these as I started a little late. Once I've done this one I'm back on track and I can get the reviews out much closer to when the episode airs).

I loved the first two episodes and was somewhat underwhelmed by the third. Can Episode 4: Song of the Petalars reignite my fantasy man-cat interest, or will my resolve and interest wane? (Just like yours already has when it comes to these posts!) Will Tigra do anything? Will super-dick Lion-O's arrogance be entertaining or annoying? And will he stab a filthy mummy in the throat?

There's only one solid way to find out and it's after the jump! (Heavy spoilers apply! I am going to ruin the ending!).

Paint by Pouring

Real quick - painting is fun. Pouring things onto other things is fun too. Put them together...

What else you got?

Glorious Bounty: The Convoluted Killbots

As excited as you were about the end of The Sticky Goat Affair, I'll bet you're even more excited to know that The Convoluted Killbots, book three of Glorious Bounty, launched today!

That's right, you won't be rid of us that easy!

In this book we delve a lot more into Furious Bruce's mysterious past! Plus there will be killbots! That's an ironclad guarantee!

There will be a new page every Tuesday, as always. Please follow along at gloriousbounty.com!

The Green Album is Classic Muppet Songs Covered - And You Can Hear it for Free!

I have been hanging out for this one! If you're keen to hear bands like OK Go, Weezer, and Alkaline Trio cover classic Muppet Show songs like Mahna Mahna and I Hope That Something Better Comes Along, then you may have been anticipating The Green Album as much as I have.

It's released on the 23rd of August, but thanks to NPR (National Public Radio) you can stream the entire album early for free.

Go and listen to it RIGHT HERE.

Ocarina of Time Retold as a Childrens Book

I came across these earlier today and wanted to share them with you. Several years back, Vikki Chu did a series of linoleum cuts for a project where she needed to reinterpret the look and feel of a video game. She had chosen to retell Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time as a childrens book, complete with illustrations. The following are her works.

More after the jump!

What Would Larry David Do? Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 8 Episode 6

Wouldn't life be interesting if people acted more like Larry David does on Curb Your Enthusiasm? We all know someone who does, to a degree.. but nobody is as picky, as forward, and as brutally honest as Larry David is in Curb Your Enthusiasm. 

Larry can, and will, take an awkward situation to a complete other level of awkwardness. He'll also do the same with a scenario void of all awkwardness. For the rest of this season, I'll present some of these instances, give you a chance to think about what you would do if you were in Larry shoes, and then answer the burning question: What Would Larry David Do? 

(episode spoilers ahead)

The Results are in for the 1st Lego Challenge!!!!

Ladies and gentleman, the time is upon us for the revealing of the Lego competition submissions. It has been decreed that all parties involved (Luke and J) were not to be trusted with this task, and that a third party needed to intervene.

So without further ado, It is time.

Results after the Jump

Comics Misappropriation! Plus: Five Card Nancy!

Grug's earlier post inspired me to dig into my own archive of hilariously doctored newspaper strips. Rambunctious mischief makers have appropriated classic newspaper strips and replaced the dialogue - and sometimes the art - with their own, making for some entertaining, mildly offensive, and incredibly bizarre re-interpretations.

I collected these some time ago, probably mostly from the geniuses at Something Awful but perhaps a few other sources as well. Sadly I do not have the information to credit the pranksters, but I'm guessing that, by the nature of these strips, they're willing to play pretty loose with accreditation. That said, if you lay a claim to any of these then let me know (and show me more of your stuff!).

See more after the jump (slightly NSFWish for language mostly) and then we'll misappropriate something of our own by playing a game or two of the legendary Five Card Nancy.

Metal Mondays: How to Sing Metal

Inspired by Suzanne, I have decided to take up Metal singing*. I thought it fit to share the how-to video that I'll be using to become the next Luca Turilli. So come, Brothers of Metal, and raise your fists as we raise our voices as one.

*No, not really.

Metal Mondays - The birth of something wonderful

It's probably not going to be every Monday. I'm sporadic. But rest assured, when it happens, it will be magnificient.

I'm a metal enthusiast, and not even strictly in the musical sense. I love the aesthetic, the theatrics, the ridiculous choices, all of it. I love the faux-Tolkien mysticism the best, and it's embodied nowhere better than this clip - which I must have watched hundreds upon hundreds of times in my life. Meet Rhapsody, and their more-epic-than-epic Unholy Warcry.

Steve Canyon Reprint On The Way! or How Modesty Blaise Used to Ruin My Day

One of my favourite imprints, The Library of American Comics, has just announced a new project! Steve Canyon by Milton Caniff!

Weekly Re-Crap - Week ending August 14th

It's the end of our first full week here (and already the future on the other side of the planet), which means that it's time to post our first (insert booming news announcer voice) WEEKLY RE-CRAP.

Click through the jump for a one-stop shop of all of our posts. Grouped in general categories for easy clickin'!

Transformers: Classics. Cybertron's finest warriors....

 Back in the fall of 2006, in order to appease long time fans such as myself, Hasbro released a line of action figures called Transformers: Classics. Knowing that the entire design aesthetic for Transformers toys was about to change due to the upcoming Michael Bay movie, they wanted to give us one more taste of the characters we'd known and loved since 1984. These few figures were designed with the idea "What if the original Transformers figures were released today with modern technology?"  The end result?  A line of Transformers figures that fans have waited for since first hearing of the planet Cybertron.

Thundercats Thunderecaps Episode 3: Ramlak Rising

As previously posted, I was blind-sided by how much I enjoyed the opening two-parter of the 2011 reboot of Thundercats, so much so that I think I might try to stick with the series as share my thoughts with you as each episode breaks. Episode four has aired so now I have to quickly get us up to speed with episode 3: Ramlak Rising.

Say "snarf" again, muthaf*cka, I dare you.

Last time evil lizards and a filthy old mummy went totally ape-shit in Kitty City leaving our arrogant heroes either dead or in disarray. What went down this time, and how did I feel about it? Find out right after the jump!

Bootleg Buddha Fett!

Since my first purchase from Suckadelic I've been pretty fascinated by designer bootleg toys. I am enchanted by the idea of rogue artists mashing together existing things into brazen Frankenstein creations that reinterpret all the things we love. I had plenty of mainstream toys as a kid but had a real affinity for those obscure oddball  figures you'd occasionally stumble across at the back of some store - creatures that were presented with no name or explanation and allowed your own imagination to fill in all the blanks. I would love to make my own toys! I need to learn how to make a mold and cast in resin or something.

Killer Bootlegs don't have an online store as yet but I was charmed by their recent misappropriation Buddha Fett, which they've cast in a variety of colours:

And if you go to their facebook page you'll see a lot of other equally outlandish experiments:

That's Beastman's head in the spacesuit there and I would totally buy that Wookiewok!