In the basement with my Gramps

Hey people's today I am going to write about something I used to do with my grandfather. Here it goes.

My grandad A.K.A. Gramps has an office in his basement and I remember when I was younger we would watch shows like the Lone Ranger and Hop along Cassidy. We would turn the lights off and bundle up in coats to watch the shows from his television. It seemed like he always had a plastic tub of cookies we would get out to munch on. Down there I watched a few movies too, like Harvey and It's a Mad Mad world. Harvey is a movie about a man and his friend, the giant invisible rabbit, called a Pookah. It's a Mad Mad world is a movie about a bunch a people finding out about a bunch of hidden money from a dying man. The information sparks a crazy adventure where more and more people find out and it turns into a mad race to get to it!

Recently the new Lone Ranger came out and I took Gramps to see it. It was enjoyable but very different from the show I watched as a kid. The Lone ranger wasn't much of a hero. He made all the right choices but he was not the hero type. Most of the time it was Tonto leading around the Lone Ranger, Tonto riding Silver, or Tonto saving the Lone Ranger's but. It was an okay movie but it wasn't the real Lone Ranger. The real Lone Ranger was almost dead, and he got up, Tamed a Horse, forged silver bullets, and put the bad guy in jail. That's why he is considered a classic.

Anyway I just wanted to write about an experience I enjoyed from when I was younger. I also wanted to mention that my Dad's good friend Bill is in the hospital and to please keep him in your prayers. Bye.

By Ashton

My Minecraft world

Hello people's. Today I am doing another blog on Minecraft and I know some of you are groaning right now but I wanted to say this for some other people out there. Here it goes.

Recently I was finally able to get the full version of Minecraft on to the computer. Currently I only have one survival world and one creative world. This part of my blog is about creating things in Minecraft. The seed I am using (how the world will look like) has a really cool mountain in it with many cool overhangs, craters, tunnels and other things weaving through it and I think it would make a great place to build a medieval style castle/home. They are many monsters in Minecraft and many necessary things to do build so this (my current house) just will not cut it.



My pitiful house.


Zombies are breaking down my door!

Bye the way it is raining in some of these pictures if you were confused. This is the front view of the mountain and as you can see I have already built most of the castle bridge.





I have wired it to work when I flip this lever.


Ta da! So when I remove the walls water will cover the bridge until I flip the switch pushing up blocks to form a path.



This will be the front of the castle and I am thinking that I will have boats lined up here for passage through the castle like the streets in Venice.



I'm sure I could make another cool water feature with this waterfall.



Here is a tunnel going through the mountain that could be a cool hallway.




I could have a spiral staircase going up through this hole.

Perhaps a guard's lookout over the bridge could be here. This would probably be where the main tower will go, up and through the mountain. A beautiful view showing just how amazing this mountain is. I also plan on adding an alchemy tower for potions an enchanting station a lookout, and many different farms including a big trap for monsters.



Another waterfall.

In Minecraft your character normally looks like this.


Minecraft permits you to change how you look so that on multiplayer people look different. How you look is called your skin. The official app for creating your own skin is called Minecraft skin studio. This is my skin which is almost done.


He is styled after some kind of God that exists in Minecraft and his home will be my castle. He has blood red gauntlets and sword in a white sheath.
He also has light leather armor and a gray robe. Right now I have named him The Hunter.





This is a Template I made for a bow and quiver. I realize the bow is ridiculously small but due to space I cannot make it any bigger. I have not decided whether or not to keep the sword or replace it with this. I like how his sword looks more but I want my character to have a bow.

So that is my Minecraft world so far. Please comment with any advice on my castle or my skin. Bye!

By Ashton

Pacific Rim

Hey people's. Today I am doing a blog on Pacific Rim. Here it goes.




Me, my dad, and his friend Steve saw Pacific Rim on Friday. It was amazing. For a movie with giant robots fighting giant alien monsters it really didn't need much of a plot to be liked but the story was still really good. It looked really good too.

The movie was filled with color like the neon signs in Hong Kong, Monster Acid, and laser beams.




The CGI looked real. The movie is based off of a inter dimensional rift opening in the Pacific ocean. Huge monsters called Kaiju started coming out and destroying cities on the coast. Tanks and planes were not enough. The world pooled their resources and created giant robots called Jaegers that had to be piloted by two compatible people because it was to much on one persons brain to fight the monsters. We started winning but now the Kaiju have evolved...




I remember coming back from this movie thinking is this the next generation's Godzilla? When I was little I watched the old black and white Godzilla movies over and over again and I loved them. Now I still like them because I liked them as a kid but I realize their age and how old the special effects are. Will their be a time where I'm watching something like this with my kids but for them it will be awesome but more like this?




Make sure you watch this movie people. Bye!




By Ashton

Pacific Rim

Hey people's. Today I am doing a blog on Pacific Rim. Here it goes.

Me, my dad, and his friend Steve saw Pacific Rim on Friday. It was amazing. For a movie with giant robots fighting giant alien monsters it really didn't need much of a plot to be liked but the story was still really good. It looked really good too.



The movie was filled with color like the neon signs in Hong Kong, Monster Acid, and laser beams. The CGI looked real. The movie is based off of a inter dimensional rift opening in the Pacific ocean. Huge monsters called Kaiju started coming out and destroying cities on the coast. Tanks and planes were not enough. The world pooled their resources and created giant robots called Jaegers that had to be piloted by two compatible people because it was to much on one persons brain to fight the monsters. We started winning but now the Kaiju have evolved...



I remember coming back from this movie thinking is this the next generation's Godzilla? When I was little I watched the old black and white Godzilla movies over and over again and I loved them. Now I still like them because I liked them as a kid but I realize their age and how old the special effects are. Will their be a time where I'm watching something like Pacific Rim with my kids but for them it will be awesome but more like this?


Make sure you watch this movie people. Bye!


By Ashton

The Man of Steel

Hey people's. Today I am doing a blog on The Man of Steel. Here it goes.

A few weeks ago my family saw The Man of Steel. It was a great movie. It looks great. The acting is good, but there was a few things I didn't like.

SPOILERS

People died. In this movie there was Superman and people still died. In the beginning Jor El is killed by General Zod and Kal is sent to earth on a mission to preserve Krypton. This is a cool concept but as far as I'm concerned Superman's parents died in each others arms as Krypton exploded and the only reason they sent Kal off in a Rocket was because they loved him.

When General Zod started terraforming Earth a gravity beam was violently picking people up and slamming them to the ground. Nobody ever said they were dead but I doubt many of them survived that. A military general crashed his Plane to stop Zod. This idea I am okay with because he was a good man sacrificing himself to save humanity. At the end General Zod with his newfound powers is fighting Superman in a museum and they get in a position where General Zod dies or General Zod kills a family.

Superman snaps General Zod's neck. I am not saying that that was the wrong choice for Superman or that he did the wrong thing I am saying Superman doesn't kill. Superman is one of the most influential characters in American culture and one of his rules is that he doesn't kill. After Alex saw this movie we were at Ocean City and he was playing with his action figures. Superman was killing the bad guys. Dad had to explain to Alex why Superman had to kill general Zod. I realize that chracters have to adapt to new tastes in modern culture but that might have been to far. Superman made the right choice but I don't think that Superman should ever be portrayed in a movie or comic killing anybody. It could of been a lot better if awesome music came on, Superman figured out how to stop General Zod, and put the General in the Phantom Zone.

Nevertheless it was a great movie and you should all go see it and tell me what you think. Of course here I am just pointing this out because I feel like it had to be seen. Bye.

By Ashton

Ocean City toys!

Hello peoples. Today I'm doing a blog on the things I got at Ocean City. Here it goes.

This year was very successful in the toy hunt and I'm am very happy with what I got. First off is one of the Aliens. This is an Alien warrior by NECA. I got both this, and a predalien from It's A Toy Store out of package. This figure is the Alien warrior from Aliens. It has all the features of a warrior and not from the drone such as the head ridges, elbow blades, feet, and hands. The paint is great with the black, blue, and just a little brown. It only has one flaw on it's left upper arm but as I said I bought it out of package. I also bought it with no accessories but it could of had some. The mouth and even the inner jaw can move. The head on mine can move but is quite stiff and the sculpt restricts it. The arms are ball jointed at the shoulders, hinged at the elbows, and cut on the forearm. The wrist moves but be careful not to break the fragile elbow blades. The chest is ball jointed and the tail has a bendy wire in it. The legs are cut at the hip and thigh, and hinged at the knees and ankles. Probably my favorite alien figure so far. 4/5 stars because it could of had better jointed legs so it could crouch easier.





Next is a predator I got at Mike's Toy Store on the boardwalk. This one is called Big Red and is styled after a Samurai. One of the reasons I bought him was his uniqueness. It is part of the NECA Predator line. It's skin is yellowish brown, his armor is bright red, and it's wrist blades are gold. The armor where the wrist blades are stored is a different shade of red which throws that part off a bit.


He is ball jointed at the head, shoulders, hips, wrists, and ankles but the sculpt is a bit restricting. The elbows are hinged, you can turn the waist, and the knees are hinged. It comes with a long and short samurai swords, and 4 hands, opened and closed so he can hold the swords. You can even fit the swords in the sheaths at his belt but be careful.


Overall 4/5. It could of had a removable mask, some articulation in the chest, the thighs are a little to fat and his chest could have been bigger.









Next off is another Alien warrior my grandmother got me. It is also made by NECA. This was there attempt to upgrade the first warrior I reviewed as well as put out a corporal Hicks, and a private Hudson from Aliens but I don't have those. He has the same paint as the first but with a brown overwash and his claws on his feet or hands don't have a metallic silver on them like the first.








He has a ball jointed head, shoulders, chest, and hips. The elbows and knees are double hinged, the wrists are ball and hinged, the feet are hinged, and the tail is bendy. No accessories. Overall he is a 4/5 too. His abdomen is thick and stocky and detracts from the tall thin look the alien is supposed to have, also the right leg on mine is a little loose and some of the double joints are stiff. I consider him more as an equal to the original I have.











A comparison between the two Aliens.

Now we have got the Falconer predator from Predators. He is the same as the one I got for Christmas but a different paint job and this one actually comes with the Falcon. The Falcon is a mechanical hunting bird/ creature. The Falcon fits on the predators arm and back.








This predator has a really cool paint job. Part of him is translucent and the other part black and gray so I assume he is in mid cloak. His only paint flaws are that you can see some of the joints inside him, and the black looks rusted metallic, even on his flesh which looks cool but is inaccurate. He has a ball jointed head but mine is a little stiff leaving him looking down a bit. The shoulders and elbows are ball hinged, his hands turn, his waist turns, his hips and fore legs are cut, and you can turn his boots. His knees are hinged but be careful because one of mine on this one is stiff and the one I got for Christmas broke there. He comes with a Falcon that you can take the blades out of, and his wrist blade with fits in his gauntlet. The wrist blade is translucent so be careful not to lose it.


Overall 3.5/5. The only reasons I bought him is his paint and his Falcon.








A comparison between the two Falconers

I also got the Kenner Aliens Hovertread from It's a Toy Store. It came with a sound pack with batteries included but this is older than me so you can barely hear it with these batteries. The laser guns and the cannon on the front move and you can lift the harness to fit a figure inside. The armor and treads fold out so it can fly. I am not going to rate this because of it's age but it could of had an included figure and wheels under the treads.











My corporal Hicks figure inside the Hovertread.

Lastly we have the Predalien from Aliens Vs Predator: Requiem. No matter How much people hate the character in the movie this figure looks awesome. The paint is nice and insect like with the black, browns, and spots. There is an extra bit of detail around the dome on the head but it looks a little like it was obviously painted there. The see through head dome is nice; it does have a little cut on it but it is not very noticeable. The head is ball jointed and moves the best compared to the other figures. The shoulders are ball jointed but seem very fragile and the the left arm brushes against the left hip which makes it pretty weak. The forearm is cut, you can turn the wrists, the hips are cut, the thighs are cut and there is a wire in the tail. The tail is very long which I don't know if it is accurate but I like it.


The tail spike on mine is bent a bit.


Overall 3/5. This figure looks amazing... in the one stance you can put him in. All it would of taken was some elbow, knee, and a waist joint and this figure would easily be a 4.5/5 or higher. Shame on you NECA.











Me and my brother Alex also got Minecraft swords and I got a hat.


There are the figures I got at Ocean City. Gramps, I will try to write that blog soon but I got a lot of Ideas right now. Bye!


By Ashton