Yesterday, my coworker brought in a bag of Nacho Cheese Bugles.  I had quite the late ’80’s/early ’90’s flashback, accompanied by the thought “Can these really be as good as I remember?”  Well, ladies and gentlemen, I assure you - Bugles really are as good as you remember.  While my childhood delight with them mostly focused on putting them on my fingers and pretending I was a witch, this time around they disappeared too quickly for any such play.  The Nacho Cheese flavor is delicious and not as in your face as Doritos.  And who knew that Bugles have actually been around for 5 decades, according to the General Mills site?  They also have a Chinese “Fun Club” although that site appears to be down - I say appears because I do not read Chinese.

The bottom line, folks, is that you really should try Bugles again.  Sure, their time of popularity was about two decades ago, but that doesn’t mean they’re not still delicious.  I highly recommend them.

Please to enjoy, Vince and Lucas’s conversation with Warren Ellis from within his hotel room at Wizard World Chicago. He talks FreakAngels, other Avatar work, his Internet presence, and how he feels about being back with the X-Men. Every time this man opens his mouth, gold spills out. Hit play and catch some for yourself!

 

 Standard Podcast [6:07m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Well, folks, it’s been fun. Troy wanted me to take this one and let you all know our exciting news. We hit the radar of several companies, as we recently made some large jumps in viewers of the site. We took several bids, and Home Depot won out.  Now, I know that seems like a weird fit, and it is, but they’re looking to diversify. You’ll see the color scheme change first thing- we’re going to Home Depot Orange. You will see a few Home Depot ads, but nothing too obstructive. So don’t worry, and welcome us to the Home Depot family. Also, it should be noted, Shots in the Dark will now be an all hardware podcast. The Geek news was fun, but hey, nothing lasts forever.

Ahoy! Shots in the Dark IS the official podcast of Shotgun Reviews, so we thought we’d hit you up with an all review episode (after the Gatling Geek news segment, of course). We went a little outside the box, though. First, Janelle reviews The Sims 2: Freetime, the likely final expansion pack to The Sims 2, and even gives you a sneak peak of The Sims 3, due out next year.  Then we take a deep look at the first 7 “episodes” of Warren Ellis and Paul Duffield’s FreakAngels; the completely free webcomic. Head over, take a listen, subscribe through any and all podcasting services, and be a better human being. Or Warren Ellis will send the arse eels. It’s your choice.

 Listen Right Here!!

by John Stvan AKA Halcylon
Edited by Vince Scalabrino

Much like the fabled unicorn, Achronos is elusive, majestic, and beautiful.  Well, we assume he’s beautiful.  Regardless, the Shot in the Dark crew managed to track down this mythical man and cornered him.  He agreed to grant us three wishes.  The first two were wasted on Lucas’s wish to have Spider Man’s super powers and Vince’s wish to have Codemaster’s “Overlord” become a reality.  With Spider Lucas out the window and The Dark Lord Vince safely within his evil tower, the rest of the crew were left to have their final wish granted: that Achronos answer a battery of questions.  The following is a relatively exact representation of what ensued.

(more…)

by John Stvan: Shots in the Dark’s Halcylon

Forum ninjas (ˈfȯr-əm ˈnin-jəs): The secretive thread jockeys of the night who lurk about the digital corridors of Bungie.net, at once being fans and more-then-fans. Shots in the Dark was enthused when Evilcam, one of Bungie’s cadre of elite super-forum users, agreed to indulge us with an interview.

(more…)

We held off on an individual spotlight for a bit so we could bring you a HUGE spotlight: it’s the Shots in the Dark team! In the shot above, pictured clockwise from left, are Vince, Janelle, Imoticon, Lucas and Michael Madsen. Yes, the REAL Michael Madsen. The Shots in the Dark crew doesn’t mess around. Read on to meet Lucas, Janelle, Vince, The Viceroy, Imoticon, and John after the jump, or watch the latest episode right now!

Name: Lucas Siegel

Shots in the Dark team position: Co-Producer, Booking

Specialty: Comics, tech, anime, random knowledge

Things I do: Newsarama.com, ShotgunReviews.com, Truman College Newspaper Arts and Entertainment Editor, Generally kick-ass, Get linked to by Rolling Stone

Interests: Comics, video games, writing (creative and journalism), all the geeky stuff we talk about on the show, Da Bears, making fun of Vince, trolling/giving negative karma to JB on our forums (found at shotgunreviews.com/shots/forum)

Name: Janelle Siegel

Shots in the Dark team position: co-host/token girl

Specialty: smart assery, comics, saying “your mom” at inconvenient moments, video games (The Sims 2 in particular), manga, and using my boobs to get my way.

Things I do: copy-edit Newsarama (can I say that? I think you know the link but might want to clear with Matt), Shotgun Vlog (http://www.youtube.com/user/SitDShow), write for Shotgun, and co-host SitD. To pay the bills: office administrator for fashion designer Andria Lieu - website still in development.

Interests: Your mom. Ha. Seriously: comics (love Fables, X-Men, Birds of Prey, and Suburban Glamour), manga (Fruits Basket, Ouran High School Host Club, Nana, Vampire Knight), video games (The Sims 2, Final Fantasy 2/4-8, SSX, Burnout, Smash Bros.), books (favorite authors include Stephen King, L.M. Montgomery, and John Irving), my husband, animals (especially our cats Monkey and Chicken!), TV (favorite show ever = Veronica Mars, favorite show currently on TV = Lost), movies (Empire Records, Gone With The Wind, and Lost in Translation), music (I <3 U2), and editing (I hates the bad grammars).

Name: Vince Scalabrino

Shots in the Dark position: Co-Producer, Marketing

Specialty: Retro video games, Non super-hero comics and pop culture obscura: Dr. Who, 80’s animation, vintage computer tech and games, robots, etc.

Things I do: Digital marketing (www.icrossing.com), voiceover acting (www.voiceofvince.com - Coming soon!), audio and video production (www.shotgunreviews.com/shots), writing (Right here on www.shotgunreviews.com).

Interests: See specialties. Vince is also a casual harmonica player, snowboarder and unabashed Karaoke lover. He blogs on very rare occasions @ vscalabri.livejournal.com. There are rumors he is also in the early stages of development of his very first novel.

Little Known Fact: Vince once got up in front of 500-some Motorola employees and their former CEO, Ed Zander, and sang 12 bars of Cole Porter’s “Night and Day”, in the style of Ol’ Blue Eyes. In case you were wondering, he no longer works at Motorola.

Name: The Viceroy

Shots in the Dark team position: Co-Founder, on-air talent, and random odds & ends support

Specialty: Video Games, Tabletop & Board Games, Collectible Card Games, random facts of nostalgia (Like Vince only more extensive & random!), as well as general geek-ese and geek-isms. Oh, and making everyone wonder who is the man behind the mask…

Things I do: Senior System Designer at an unnamed “super secret” video game company, part-time entertainer at Chicago Bulls basketball games, and Voice Overs if he ever has the time (demo tape is just about done!), typically speaks of himself in the third person

Interests: See Specialties & Professional sections above. In addition to those, The Viceroy also has an analyst streak in him and follows most of the Chicago pro teams (Bears, Bulls, Cubs). The Viceroy also dabbles with building with LEGO and has a fond appreciation Cartoons & Animation. The Viceroy would like to write again at some point as well…

Little Known Fact: The Viceroy could have been one of the ‘contestants’ on the TV Show “The Pickup Artists”, but decided against it.

Name: Imoticon AKA Steve Scalabrino

Shots in the Dark team position: On-Air Talent

Specialties: Movies, TV, Games (FPS,Action,Fantasy)

Things I do: Acting (stage, print and TV), retail gigs to cover the gaps (Starbucks and the like).

Interests: Airsoft, Movies/TV, All things of 80’s, good sushi restaurants, know any?

Name: Halcylon AKA John Stvan

Shots in the Dark Team position: Graphic Designer / Cinematography Lead, On-Air Talent

Specialties: Halo, Halo 2, Halo 3, Call of Duty Series (Any First Person Shooter, really), Star Wars (Movie and Book form), Graphic Art, Digital Art

Things I do: Graphic design (www.gravityforcegraphics.com), Video producing/ editing (www.shotgunreviews.com/shots), Bungie.net user/abuser (Halcylon’s Profile).

Interests: See Specialties. Anything involving the color blue (It’s the only color I can truly see well). I have read almost every book available regarding String Theory, partake in skiing in Colorado and have acted in plays and movies since high school (almost a decade of work in all). I have a fuzzy kitty named Sierra who is a dog in disguise (she barks and plays fetch). In case you didn’t already guess, I enjoy long drawn out conversations regarding anything to do with myself. =)

Aaand, here’s the last one for the week. Lucas brings you an X-stravaganza, reviewing three X-titles under the “Divided We Stand” banner, which he couldn’t quite remember while recording- whoops! Wolverine, X-Force, and X-Factor each get a few minutes, and as a big X-fan, all seems to be well in his favorite part of the Marvel Universe.

In the second vlog this week, Janelle covers a mismatch of sorts. First, the last issue of a mature comic, American Virgin #23. Then, the first issue of a comic geared towards kids with Tiny Titans #1.

The first one this week features reviews of Captain Marvel #3 and Nova Annual #1. One of them was billed as hot and somewhat boring, one of them gets no love from Marvel at all and is consistently awesome. Stay tuned for more!

So lately I have been addicted to a wide range of female singer/songwriters. It seems as if they are taking over the music industry, but maybe that’s just me. Regardless, my “Chicks, man” playlist is pretty much all I’m listening to these days. So I thought I would offer up our favorites, along with some YouTube action:Kate Nash - she’s ironic, bitter, and plain-spoken. Plus she has a real-girl body. Did I mention she’s extremely funny? Plus her videos are amazing, and very bright and colorful.

Kate Nash - Mouthwash video

Kate Nash - Foundations video

Kate Nash - Pumpkin Soup video (personal fave)

Lily Allen - more well known than Kate Nash but very similar. Lots of irony and humor in her songs, and her videos are also bright and colorful. Probably the most accessible of all of these singers as she is definitely the most attractive and her sound is a more… not generic, but uses more popular genres (like hip-hop). Plus she’s worked with Common :)

Lily Allen - Alfie video

Lily Allen - Littlest Things video

Lily Allen - Smile video (her most famous song) (more…)

The Latest and Greatest Shots in the Dark Episode!

From the desk of our podcast:

Alas, our favorite comic has come to a close. Of course, we’re talking about Brian K. Vaughn’s masterpiece, Y: The Last Man. Over the past 6 years, we’ve laughed, cried and perhaps even screamed aloud in public. We’ve followed closely the journey of Yorick Brown, the last man on Earth, as he searched for love and the meaning of life. We’ve dedicated this very special episode of Shots in the Dark to discussion of Y, beginning with a Y: The Last Man-themed Gatling Geek and a review of the series’ finale, Issue 60.

If you haven’t yet had the pleasure to enjoy this amazing work of art, fear not! We were very careful to keep the show almost completely spoiler-free. So take a listen and when you’re done, be sure to click on over to our forums to tell us what YOU think.

Also, check out Dialectic, our featured band of the week, with lead singer Ying-sun. Get it? Y name? Perfect!

Welcome to an all new feature, the Quick Shot. A Quick Shot will come out the same day as the item it’s reviewing, and will often be a shorter review as a precursor to a longer one at a later date.

But hey, let’s talk Y: The Last Man #60. Simply put, this issue is a masterpiece. This story is held near and dear in a lot of readers’ hearts. I know, I’m one of them. Brian K. Vaughan first caught my eye with the X-Men Icons: Chamber mini-series he did for Marvel around the same time that Y started. When I liked that, my comic shop recommended this Vertigo book to me to check out. I was instantly hooked. This book has been a constant “top of the pile” book for me since I started getting it monthly, and this last issue held ten times the expectation for me.

The issue itself surprised me at every turn. I had so many theories and thoughts of how the story would end, and NONE of them were right; because of that, it was perfect. Pia Guerra’s art did not miss a beat. Every nuance, every heartbreaker, and every joyous moment cried out off the page.

I said heartbreaker, and yes, there are plenty. I literally said “Holy S**t” 6 times in the first four or five pages. I outright cried once, and teared up two more times beyond that. This journey we’ve been on has been a wild one, and it is weird to say goodbye.

All in all, if you’re a regular reader of this series, I will be shocked if you find any disappointment in this issue. If you haven’t yet succumb to the siren’s call, it’s time. The story is complete, and you can now take the trip of a lifetime. I am going to miss seeing what trouble Yorick and Ampersand get themselves into every month, but with an ending like this, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Thanks, Brian, Pia, and all the crew that helped out, for a great literary epic. Is January too soon to declare the best single issue of the year?

For more talk on Y: The Last Man from me and my cohorts, check out this weekend’s edition of Shots in the Dark. The entire show will be dedicated to Yorick and friends, and we’ll be talking about this issue and the series as a whole. Also, look for a full Feature review of the book in next week’s edition of Best Shots at Newsarama.com. Want to talk about Y yourself? Head to this forum topic and let us know what YOU thought.