I have quite a few friends in the United States and a few days ago, one of them asked me if Canadians used different electrical outlets than Americans. Not sure why he asked this since I’ve brought my laptop over to his place a few times before, but it’s about time for me to clear up a few misconceptions on the “great white north.”
March 2009
All articles posted in March 2009.
Fullmetal Alchemist Manga
Frederick Linsmeyer • March 27, 2009 • Manga
Fullmetal Alchemist vol. 18
Volume 18 of the Fullmetal Alchemist manga is due out on May 19th, 2009 after a long drought from volume 17, which was released on October 21st, 2008. Looking forward to see what happens when Riza Hawkeye discovers a deep secret about President Bradley, and how the Elric brothers handle Winry’s capture.
Also, Fullmetal Alchemist returns to television on April 5th, 2009 in Japan. The original Japanese cast, including Romi Park and Rie Kugimiya are returning to voice Edward and Alphonse Elric, respectively.
Canucks 3 – Blues 0
Frederick Linsmeyer • March 20, 2009 • Hockey
Roberto Luongo and Kevin Bieksa during pre-game skate.
The Vancouver Canucks triumphed over the St. Louis Blues last night at GM Place. Roberto Luongo earned his sixth shutout this season to give Vancouver their 11th home ice win.
The first period was all St. Louis as they had 18 shots on net, while Vancouver managed a measly four. The second period lit up with a goal from Alex Burrows just five minutes before the period ended giving Vancouver the lead.
In the third period, Vancouver took control and got two more goals from Mason Raymond and Henrik Sedin, cementing Vancouver’s win. Vancouver is now in fourth place in the Western Conference with 85 points.
Editorial: Wii is no longer family friendly
Frederick Linsmeyer • March 18, 2009 • Editorials, GamingAccording to the Chicago Sun-Times, the National Institute on Media and the Family is claiming that Nintendo has abandoned its family friendly focus on Wii.
The fuss is over Sega’s latest creation, MadWorld, which is gory game where players fight like gladiators using vicious and improvised weapons. Obviously, the game is rated M, but there’s still the problem that video games are still played by young children and that Nintendo’s kiddy image is being tarnished.
Unfortunately, these watch dog groups think that the family is always the happy mother, hardworking father, and young impressionable son and innocent daughter. As time progresses, the son and daughter grow up and move on to different things (like the son will go out and skateboard and the daughter will hang at the mall and discuss the latest purse fads or whatever). The groups want to keep the family together and as young and innocent as possible from all the evils and trends in today’s society. And outside of the family are violent movies, vulgar music, bloody games, and so on which have become main stream in Western culture.
Many parents are uninformed over video games and what they should let their kids play (comes back to my experience where I saw a mom buy a copy of Conkers Bad Fur Day for the Nintendo 64 because it had a cuddly squirrel on the box). But what gets me is that families and watchdog groups start going ballistic when an M rated game is released for a Nintendo system because of the company’s perception of being more family oriented. Well, a DVD player is family oriented as well isn’t it? I don’t see why people are freaking out over this because the son could pop in his father’s copy of 300 into the DVD player and spend all afternoon screaming “Tonight we dine in hell!” instead of watching his educational Barney episodes.
Here’s something: if it doesn’t suit your family values: don’t buy it, don’t play it, and don’t whine about it. There are thousands of other games available if you’re not comfortable with one. Responsible gaming is in the hand of the parent. Read the box first before opening your wallet.
Source: Chicago Sun-Times
Nature’s Sushi Bar
Frederick Linsmeyer • March 17, 2009 • VideosNature’s finest sushi bar, no longer exclusive to birds anymore.
Bleach Hitsugaya t-shirt
Frederick Linsmeyer • March 16, 2009 • The Otaku Culture
Hitsugaya Shirt
I think this is a cool shirt, just because Hitsugaya is awesome. Nice colour and Hitsugaya has an awesome pose on the lower right side. There’s also a Bleach logo on the left sleeve too. I don’t think it’s on sale yet, but when it’s on the shelf, I’m gonna get one.
Just kick Lacey off. Please.
Frederick Linsmeyer • March 16, 2009 • TelevisionI can’t stand Lacey in season five of Hell’s Kitchen. Here’s why.
Read the rest of this article…
The Willis Tower
Frederick Linsmeyer • March 12, 2009 • NewsSears Tower
A London based insurance organization, Willis Group Holdings, has leased 140,000 sq. feet of Chicago’s Sears Tower. Along with the lease comes the naming rights to the tallest building in the United States. The group will be moving in later this summer as a part of consolidating their Chicagoland offices.
Among other changes aside from the name, there could be some aesthetic changes made to the landmark, including re-coating the exterior in silver to lower energy costs and attract new tenants.
Source: Chicago Sun-Times
