Nicklas Lidstrom

Today at 11am, Nicklas Lidstrom announced his retirement. Lidstrom spent 20 seasons playing for the Detroit Red Wings and will go down as one of the best defense men the NHL has ever seen. 4 Stanley Cups and 7 time Norris Trophy winner. I’m sad, really sad. He spent all of his 20 seasons with the Detroit Red Wings. 20 years with one team, even if he wasn’t a amazing player that would be something to be respected.

A lot of people won’t remember it, but the Red Wings weren’t always the power house they’ve been for the past 20 years. Between 67 and 82 they were so bad people called them the Dead Wings. I remember watching games with Yzerman, Lidstrom, and Federov. I knew they were amazing, but I didn’t really appreciate how amazing they were at the time.

I’m not pompous enough to think that Lidstrom or anyone else in the Red Wings will ever read this; but I still want to say thank you to Nicklas Lidstrom. Thank you for 20 years. Thank you for 4 Stanley Cups. Just thank you.  Enjoy your retirement Mr. Lidstrom, you deserve it.

Thoughts on 2 Years

Yesterday was the two year anniversary of That F’ing Monkey. My post about it was pretty short, but it still managed to be longer than the site’s first post. A lot of the first year was a hot mess, there are still things that I’m proud I wrote; but it took awhile for me to get comfortable with the format. I think our second year was much better handled. At times I’d say we almost look professional.

When I started everything, I was only updating Tuesday through Saturday. It wasn’t until Brandon joined that we moved to a Monday through Saturday posting schedule. Still we’ve put up some pretty good numbers, today is our 581st post. That’s even more impressive when I started the whole thing as a writing exercise and I wasn’t sure that I’d even keep it up for a month.

The first time I really felt like I wasn’t talking to myself was after Shark Week and I wrote about copepods. The site is still getting traffic because of that. It is the fifth most visited article on That F’ing Monkey. The day after writing it, I wrote about Blacksad. That is the fourth most viewed page on the site. I was on fire in August of 2010. The third most viewed post is about Harry Potter, but I really think that is just because of image searches for Mad Eye Moody. Diablo 3 Beta Access is the second most viewed, although now that the game is out that will start to drop. The most viewed article on the site? Flash Friday: Angry Birds in Space. I’m as surprised as you are.

I’m probably most proud of the movie articles that were written for when I was away. Beside the awesome Michael May stepping in for us, I thought the stuff Brandon and I were putting out was a step above our normal day to day posts. I was also really proud of the interviews that came out of Heroes. Heck, I’m proud that the people who read the site is slowly increasing every month. So here is to the next year, may it be even better than the last.

2 Years of That F'ing Monkey

Today marks the two year anniversary of That F’ing Monkey.  I have a lot to say about the past two years, but I’m putting that off for tomorrow. 

I had the day off today, so I got to spend it with my wife and son.  I do want to thank everyone who comes here regularly.  It doesn’t matter if you come here daily, weekly, or once a month; I appreciate any time you spend here.  Because if it wasn’t for you, I’d just be talking to myself.

Voice Star Wars

I am a huge fan of voice actors. I think the ability to perform using only your vocal chords and make one laugh or cry (Jurassic Bark I am looking at you through tear filled eyes). I had the great fortune to interview my share of voice actors when I used to work on a radio nerd show - The Sci-Fi Zone - many moons ago. They were all a delight to chat with, more so than some of the on-camera folks we talked to.  I even bought Mark Hamill's "Comic Book - The Movie" just because it stars voice actors. 

 
Yeah I am an unapologetic fanboy.

So when I ran across this slice of nerdvana I was an ecstatic geek. Yes it is over an hour long and well worth every second. However if you don't have that much time to kill then just watch from the 4:44 to the 9:03 marks. It is well worth your time.

So do you have any sweet voice actor stories you want to share? How about your favorite cartoon character? Let Your F'ing Voice Be Heard in the comments, our Facebook page, or the Contact Us button.

Lego Monster Hunters

I have a confession to make, I am an addict. Every time I walk by a toy isle I get the itch. I need Lego. The building sets, the mini-figs, I love everything about them. It is really hard for me not to buy stacks of them. Years and years ago an online toy retailer was going out of business and had a crazy sale on everything. They were so cheap; I had 6 Lego X-Wings. I’ve got things under control now and usually only pick up one set a year. It is going to be even harder to resist the urge now that Lego is bringing out Monster Hunters.

How fun does that look? Classic horror archetypes, a little steam punk, monsters, and the awesomeness of Lego. I’m not thrilled with how their Swamp Creature turned out, but he fights an airboat driving, rockabilly gunfighter. The Vampire Hearse may be too cool to pass up. Hopefully these sell well that we get a cartoon out of it, the concept destroys Ninjago.

Flash Friday: Action League

Happy Flash Friday everyone! I’ve been meaning to talk about today’s topic for a while now, but Peterson gave me a much needed kick in the ass last week! This week I have two sets of Action League figures to talk about. I was actually been keeping them in package until I was ready to take pictures, so last night was some box ripping fun. The two sets are a Flash/Zoom and the Flashpoint Flash/Citizen Cold. For the rest of the article I’ll be calling him Captain Cold, I don’t think there is any need to dwell on the Flashpoint part.

I’ve already talked about how much I love the Action League line. The first Flash has never left my desk, unless I’m taking pictures of him punching things. The think I don’t like is how inconsistent the line is. I found the Flash/Zoom line randomly in a Toys R Us one day long after the line was supposed to be launched. For the Flash/Cold set I broke down and picked it up off eBay.

The new figures in the line are much like the ones that came before them. They turn at the neck and waist and at the shoulders. They are stylistically posed, so even though you can move the arms there may not be many poses that you can put to figure in. How stable the figure is also depends on the pose. The “running Flash” sculpt actually comes with a figure stand, I wish the Captain Cold did.

In the Zoom/Flash set we have a brand new Flash sculpt. Flash comes with a tornado accessory that slides over his fist. The Professor Zoom uses the original Flash sculpt, the one I like to call “running Flash.” The back of the box had a strange background blurb. “A longstanding enemy of the Flash, Professor Zoom fulfilled a prophecy when he saved his foe from the Speed Force.” I’d have put something easy for the kids to understand like, “Professor Zoom is from the far future and travels back in time to battle the Flash.”

The Cold/Flash set also uses the “running Flash” sculpt. This time he is made out of a translucent red plastic to better signify…yeah I don’t know. Maybe he’s vibrating his molecules really quickly? I have no idea. Someone probably thought it looked ‘kewl.” Captain Cold is a new sculpt though. The ice shooting from his gun is not removable, so getting him to stand can be a balancing act until you get his pose just right. That is a minor complaint though, the figure looks great.

Not everyone likes the Action League line. I personally love them. I want more Flash sets. I don’t know that I want any more of the “running Flash” pose. When three of the figures in the display have the exact same sculpt it starts to show. Again, this is a very small gripe though. If each set with a newly sculpted Flash villain and another “running Flash” I’d still buy them.

If you include the Action League figures from the Batman Brave and the Bold show Flash starts to have a pretty formidable group of enemies. I know not all the characters in the group shot would normally work together, they still look good together. Besides, we still need to be impressed they actually made a Top figure. Now we just need Mirror Master, Weather Wizard, Trickster, Piper, etc…

I think the strangest thing about the two Flash sculpts is how different the heads are. The “running Flash” head is rounder and thicker. The “tornado Flash” has a longer, thinner head. If you have to call one Barry and one Wally, it would be very easy to call them two different characters.

Hangover Thursday: Drink to Hawaii

It’s Hangover Thursday, how’s your head? There is a dull throb behind my eyes right now, thanks to a couple of different beers from Cigar City Brewing. Their Imperial brown ale, Improv is one to look for. Their black lager, Liegero is also fantastic. Sadly that is draft only, so you can’t take a six pack of that one home with you. I don’t know where you are, but in Florida it certainly feels like summer. Because of that I want to share a song for all those people whose dreams are bigger than their bank accounts.

Johnny Aloha is the tiki music alter-ego of lounge singer supreme Richard Cheese. It should be noted that Richard’s newest CD, “Back in Black Tie” will be out in August. Most of the songs on Johhny Aloha’s CD are “Tiki-ed” covers of popular songs. “Drink to Hawaii” is an original though and I think it is the best song on the album. Cheers.