Irregularly Scheduled Podcast

I know the Dinorama podcast has like ten avid liseners, so this post may disappoint the majority of you. People have been asking me when the next edition of Dinorama is going to be available. Well, here's the thing. Scott and Raven are in the process of moving. However, we did record the April episode (two weeks ago), but technical problems quickly manifested. Scott and Raven actually re-recorded a few segments, but it turns out that my voice sounds muffled throughout the entire show. We may end up re-recording the entire episode, in which case there will not BE an April edition of Dinorama.

I do apologize. We all need to be on headsets, frankly. So if any of you readers out there in Readerland want to be on the MAY edition of Dinorama, well, let me know. All it takes is Audacity Beta, Skype, and the resolution of any scheduling conflicts that may arise based on proximity.

Funny Stuff

Someday, I am going to get off my ass and write an actual blog post with content, not shout-outs to other blogs and half-assed pieces of art, or pictures of half-naked video game vixen sculptures.

Today is not that day.

Instead, I'm going to share with you a very, very funny blog. It was recommended by Bill Parker, and after about five minutes of reading it I was laughing so hard I started coughing. I like it Alot. So head on over to my new favorite funny-blog, Hyperbole and a Half, and laugh your ass off. I know I did.

Hilarity is just a click away.

Very, very funny.

Velvet from Odin Sphere

Yup, gonna need this one, too. Odin Sphere is one of my favorite PS2 games, but the earlier Gwendolyn figure was too expensive for my tastes. Velvet is a bit cheaper, I think, and the sculpt is better.

I really need to get back to this game...

Postscripto: WOW, release dates are all over the map for this figure. January 2010, March 30, 2010, "early April" 2010, and even June 2010. Can a brother get a solid figure, here?

Postscripto2: WOW, prices are all over the map for this figure. The cheap end is around $80, the high end is $130. My bet is somewhere in between. I have ordered her from Bosco's, though, because they are "pretty sure" they're getting her anyway. Now, to sell a kidney...

Postscripto3: Okay, deep breath. I'm going to pre-order her from Bosco's. I will be required to put a down payment down (of 20%) because they won't be able to sell her to anyone else. Her total cost is...$130. Damn. However, sadly, this is my cheapest option. Every internet store has cramp-inducing shipping fees, even eBay. And this really is a beautiful figure. I will be reminding Bosco's that Yamato has a US distribution center, so hopefully they can get her a little cheaper that way than overseas.

Pokeholicsm Returns

The addiction returns. It's not full-fledged obsession, as it was for Pokemon Pearl, thankfully. When Platinum came out a bit more than a year later, I was burned out after catching them all, and was content to play just enough to write a review. But now, just a year later, I get a review copy of the newest game, Pokemon HeartGold, and I'm right back in the thick of it. I'm playing this game fo' real, yo, even trying to catch a lot (but certainly not all) of 'em. I initially meant simply to trade over my Tier 1 team from Pearl once I beat the Elite Four, but I'm finding myself sticking with my original team, which is mostly caught Pokemon: Red Gyarados, Feraligatr, Ampharos, Lucario, Gallade, and Ho-Oh. I have a Bibarrel as an HM slave. I'm in Kanto now, and I have no intent on stopping, even after writing a two-man two-man review with Neal Ronaghan.

So, anyway, as Pokefanatics already know, the pull of this franchise is strong. It's almost as if, at some point in our evolutionary history, collecting adorable monsters and using them to resolve conflict was paramount to our survival. Most of the Pokemon I meet in the wild easily submit to a Quick Ball, but those damn legendaries, as always, provide considerable challenge. We've all been in the situation of facing a legendary who we've managed to knock down to 1 HP AND put to sleep, only to experience the heartbreak of running out of Pokeballs. That happened to me twice while trying to check off Ho-Oh. Oh, the frustration! Eventually, however, I made it part of my team, and Sacred Fire has been setting those bothersome Grass and Steel types alight ever since.

Now, the other reason the game is taking up all my time is that it's getting me off my ass. No, really. This is a video game that encourages exercise, and not in a forced Wii Fit sort of way. Behold: the unbelievably simplistic, but addictive, Pokewalker.


This device is a pedometer. It counts your steps. However, there's more to it than that! For every twenty steps you take, you earn a "Watt." For every ten Watts you earn, you get chance to catch a Pokemon that is then stored on the Pokewalker until you wirelessly connect it to HeartGold. For a mere three Watts, you can play a "find an item!" game where you can find rare items, like Stardust and Berries. When you import one of your Pokemon to the Pokewalker, you also choose a "Route" to walk on, which really just means "what batch of Pokemon would you like to catch?" There are six Pokemon per route, but they are divided into two "classes," and you never know what class you start out with until you start finding them. Furthermore, the best Pokemon in each class are only findable after walking nine or ten thousand steps. That's a lot of stepping! However, it pays off: today I caught a Pikachu that knows Fly (or Surf, depending on the class--I don't know which one yet).

So the Pokewalker gives me incentive to walk more, which is great!

I also just beat Koga's daughter. I'm totally pwning this game. It's so awesome.

Ceratopsian Volume Out Today!!!

EXCITING NEWS, EVERYBODY! As it turns out, we were all wrong about the constant delays! Yeah, we thought it was coming out on April 5th, then I told you recently that the publisher told me that it's actually been delayed until June 2nd, but GUESS WHAT? It's out NOW! And even BETTER, the first twenty people who order the book online will get it for FREE as an apology for the perpetual delays!




I had considered doing a post about some fake new fossil that proves BAND right after all, and that birds actually evolved from casids or something, but that would've been MORE plausible. April Fool's, everybody!