TWIG-Birdman’s Boombox- MC Frontalot Interview & Listening party

 

 TWIG Birdman's Boombox-Mc Frontalot: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

In today’s edition of Birdman’s Boombox,we get a chance to talk with one of Birdman’s favorite new artists. We are talking with Damian Hess aka Mc Frontalot. We get a chance to talk about some of his earliest influences on his music and some of the rumblings from the worlds’ 579th greatest rapper. We also have get to hear 3 tracks from his latest album ZERO day as well. Its a nerdcore wish come true and its only here on ThisWeekingeek.net with Birdman’s boombox.
Also kids remember, don’t be a dick

Check out MC Frontalot’s official Website and buy his CD Zero Day @

Geeks:
Mike Birdman Dodd
MC Frontalot
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GUEST BLOG-Harry Potter Exhibition at the Ontario Science Centre by The Infamous Kelly

EDITORS NOTE:
Welcome Birdman’s new friend, Kelly R to the site as she contributes what hopefully will be more blogs in the future and even a possible segment if her time allows it.

Gather your friends and family and take them to see this once-in-a-lifetime exhibition!

The Harry Potter Exhibition at the Ontario Science Centre is truly amazing! As Canadians we all know that sometimes when there’s a tour or traveling exhibition we can sometimes get the short end of the stick, so when I came to the Ontario Science Centre that morning I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised that not only was the content of the exhibition of very good quality and relevant to the franchise but presented beautifully and dramatically. We entered through the front curtain and our first treat was being sorted into our houses by the infamous Sorting Hat. I found out once-and-for-all, that I am in fact a Ravenclaw, and oddly enough, so is the Birdman. The lovely Blaire was sorted into Gryffindor, and if you knew her you’d know why. Our host was sorted into the Hufflepuff house upon her first visit to the Sorting Hat, and has been inspiring the young visitors to be loyal and reliable in their lives ever since. We proceeded in where we watched select scenes from the first six movies, then we got a big surprise! (Come on guys, I can’t give everything away!) All the props and costumes were carefully put together to resemble the sets from the movies and the items themselves were the ones held and worn by the actors. This made the exhibition extra special because it put you closer to the stars and to the place where it all started.

We were told that the creator of the Harry Potter world, JK Rowling, herself had approved the exhibition so we know that it was truly representative of her vision for the characters. The ones that stood out the most to me were Professor Snape’s original robes and the Half-Blood Prince’s Potions Book from the most recent movie. The model of Buckbeak, savior of Sirius Black from the Prisoner of Azkaban, was larger than life and very realistic, and I thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful replica of Fawkes, beloved pet phoenix of Professor Dumbledore, featured in the Chamber of Secrets. The interactive areas inspire you to participate in the world and let your imagination run wild. We pulled a mandrake root resulting in the requisite squeal, though our hearing is still intact. We tried our hands at Quidditch, some of us were better than others! Then we sat in Hagrid’s chair. I thought I was a relatively tall person up until then.

We also sat down with Jessica Moss, one of the floor staff for the Centre, and cheesy fake accent aside, she gave us some great insight into how the exhibition can be educational as well as entertaining. Potions as science experiments, learning about creatures featured in the movies, teaching children how to think critically about what they see and encouraging literacy in children of all ages are all key areas on which they focus. The advantage of an exhibition of this type is that it draws in audiences that would not normally be interested in the Science Centre and allows them to learn about familiar concepts in new ways. Visitors are also encouraged to visit the rest of the Centre. I recommend the IMAX movie: Hubble. Jessica also told us about the types of fans who came to see the exhibition; there are tons of Cedric Diggory (played by Robert Pattinson) fans, some Draco Malfoy (played by Tom Felton) fans, and several fans of those in the Gryffindor house. Jessica also told us she thought the books and movies were so successful because the author really created a new world that fans can enjoy on every level. She says though she has been through the displays several times, the excitement of each new group of visitors makes the experience new and exciting every time.

The Harry Potter Exhibition runs until August 22, but while we were at the OSC we heard a rumour that the run may be extended due to popularity. As we were leaving the Gift Shoppe there was quite a line-up to get in so I hope they will!
A little bird also told us that they may be acquiring a very special and very scary treat fresh from the set of the newest installation of the saga, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, a Dementor of Azkaban. Exciting, if true.

The exhibition is different for everyone who is involved it because everyone contributes and gains something different from it. Seeing this exhibition with my own eyes was truly magical. It was like having scenes from the movies come to life all around me. The exhibits took me back to fond memories not only from the movies, but of the enjoyment I experienced from reading the seven books. It made me want to run home and watch a marathon of Harry Potters!

Harry Potter the Exhibition is not to be missed!

GUEST BLOG-Mike”Fist of Justice”Laidman-I’d Like to change my answer – Batman: Under The Red Hood Review

Recently I had the chance to attend a press screening of Batman: Under the Red Hood in Toronto. Warner bros wined and dined myself and a few others in a VIP Cineplex with leather chairs and all sorts of swag (although it was raffle and I didn’t get any. I’m not bitter).

One of the neater aspects of the event was that they brought in Comic artist/ Writer Ty Templeton (http://tytempletonart.wordpress.com) to do a Q&A after the film. Ty was quite funny and a very interesting guy with great thoughts on a variety of subjects. One of my favorite comments was when he was asked what he would say to Chris Nolan if he had input on Batman 3 was ignore Batman Begins and just do what he did in The Dark Knight again. “Pull out a sheet of paper and write down the number of times Batman does something heroic [in Batman Begins]. You’ll find by the end of the movie the paper’s still blank.” Looking back, he has a pretty good point. I’ll have to watch again, pen and paper in hand.

I was fortunate enough to have a short chat with Ty one on one as well to grab his thoughts on Under the Red Hood. “I thought it was a surprisingly sophisticated adaptation of the work. For an animated film you expect a kind of slightly more juvenile approach and they don’t do that. I think it’s a movie that would be enjoyed by the same audience that liked the Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight film. Which is a lovely surprise.” He did go on to talk about the more adult tone of the film. “A little more blood than I expected, but just as much drama and excitement as I was hoping for.”

As for myself? I tend to be in agreement with Ty on this one. Under the Red Hood is extremely well written and packs multiple twists. The plot written by Comic writer Judd Winick covers elements of the “A Death in the Family” and “Under the Hood” storylines from previous years. Being relatively unfamiliar with the latter storyline I went in pretty blank waiting to be wowed. Knowing enough about comics I knew who the villain is revealed to be eventually, but for those who don’t know there’s some HEAVY clues early in the movie so it’s not the big mystery. That’s fine though. Where that character comes from and their motivations? That’s where the mystery and twists lie.

So here’s a synopsis for you. Red hood becomes a new player in Gotham City. He’s as well trained as Batman but the difference is, he’s not afraid to take a life. His war with Black Mask brings in the Caped Crusader who’s really taking hits on all sides and the history of the Red Hood reaches far into Batman’s past bringing in other memorable members of Batman’s Rouge’s gallery like the Joker and Ra’s Al Ghul.

So what’s to like about this one? Tons. The story is well written and ends in a satisfying and very emotional way. The climax of the film is breathtaking, I was on the edge of my seat the entire scene. Why these scenes work so well is because of the voice cast. I was iffy with Bruce Greenwood as Batman at first, but he adds enough gravitas to the part he sold me as a Dark Knight, humbled and much more serious following the outcome of his greatest failure. Speaking of people who surprised me, John Di Maggio as Joker. If that name’s familiar to you and you’re not sure where to place it, John is the voice of Bender on Futurama. Somebody’s been watching old Batman TAS episodes. Di Maggio comes off as Mark Hamill’s Joker if he was much more sinister. His laugh is almost pitch perfect to Hamill’s and I know lots of people are disappointed Mark is retiring from being the Joker after Arkham Asylum 2 but I’m not anymore. Here’s my new favourite (after Mark I mean). A huge surprise is Wade Williams as Black Mask. This guy is amped up to 11 the whole movie and his over the top ranting had me looking forward to every time the guy would show his face again. The music is fitting and the action scenes are extremely well paced and energetic. Like Ty pointed out earlier, this film can be pretty bloody. The opening in particular is brutal to watch and it’s because of how shocking that first scene is it adds so much emotion to later scenes. This movie doesn’t play with kid gloves. It plays with crowbars.

Despite all that good I do have a few problems. Pobody’s nerfect an all that. Personally I felt the story could have done without Nightwing as he was used here. NPH voices Dick Grayson and you know what? He’s great as the character, but he’s barely in it. He essentially shows up to say “Hey Batman you heard of the Red Hood? Here’s some one liners. K bye!” If you’re going to give us NPH, give us NPH. All of the dialogue he has that is important to the plot could have been given to Alfred. The only other gripe I had is so small you could say I’m just nit picking. Red Hood’s mask has these eyeholes that put large black circles around his eyes. He comes off to me looking like Deadpool in a motorcycle jacket. These black circles aren’t present in the comic design, so why are they here? Honestly though, if that’s all that’s wrong with it that tells you just how good this film is.

I’m not going to get into the special features at this time, because to be honest, haven’t seen them yet. Expect a report on those during the audio review in an upcoming week’s Nerd News.

As for the title of this review, what significance does it have? At the time of this writing, a few of us had previously gotten together and recorded a roundtable discussion on all of the Warner Premiere DC Animated films thus far. It won’t be on the site until early August if I remember the schedule. At the close of the cast Birdman poses the question “Which movie was your favorite?” Ignore whatever the hell it was I said. THIS is my favorite. It’s a high recommendation from me. It has it’s flaws like I outlined, but they’re so few and minute it doesn’t subtract from the film at all. Take a look Under the Hood. You’ll be glad you did.

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