This week Obama recommends “THE WALKING DEAD”
Most of you would have watched AMC’s “The Walking Dead” on TV. Season 2 is airing right now on AMCTV but the graphic novel is a whole different story, literally. As good as the TV storyline is, the graphic novel goes down a whole different path. Read the rest of this entry »
I distinctly remember my first G.I. Joe figure. I was around 5 and one fine saturday morning, my mom brought me along for her weekly grocery shopping. On the way home, I made her take me to a toy store called Leo Toys. And in this store is where I came across an action figure so awesome, so kick-ass, 3 inches of plastic in all its glory, molded, shaped and painted in the form of a half-ninja, half commando, which in the mind of a 5 year old epitomizes everything that’s cool in the world. I had never seen anything like it. I just had to make it mine and that’s how Snake Eyes, my first G.I. Joe figure, came to be.
Taking home that Snake Eyes figure sparked a childhood obsession that lasted for many years afterwards.
From that point on, I would never miss a chance to tag along with my mom for saturday morning shopping and it soon became a ritual that my parents would buy me G.I. Joes for my birthdays, for christmas, as a reward for doing well in school, for doing chores around the house and any other occasions which included giving gifts, I would get G.I. Joes.
My collection grew at a considerable rate. And as my addiction grew, collecting just the figures couldn’t fully satiate my hunger anymore. I had to have the G.I. Joe vehicles and playsets too. Pretty soon, my room was filled with G.I. Joe toys of all shapes and sizes. Tanks, Boats, Choppers, Jeeps, Planes, Bikes, Flight Pods, Jet packs, Cannons, all sorts of evil Cobra devices. You name it, I had it. And I was in command of this plastic army. Life was all good in the Hauva hood.
And now 20 years later since I first picked up that Snake Eyes, it’s deja vu all over again.
Earlier this year, I was out at the mall with my girl. I decided to check out the local Toy’s R Us store. Quick browse, I thought. Anything was better than shopping for clothes with a girl. So. Walked around the first aisle, the second aisle and in the third aisle, I was greeted with a spectacle so grand my knees almost buckled. Shelves stacked full with G.I. Joes. Apparently, Hasbro celebrating G.I. Joe’s 25th Anniversary, released updated versions of all my favorite Joes from back in the day.
So which was the first figure that caught my eye? Snake Eyes, of course. The updated version of Snake Eyes totally blew me over and I felt like that 5 year old kid from so many years ago. No way was I leaving the store without it. That figure had to absolutely come home with me. Damn you Hasbro.
The Snake Eyes you see on the right woke up the collecting beast in me that had lain dormant for so many years and now my obsession begins all over again. And it certainly doesn’t help that a G.I. Joe movie is being released this summer and a whole new wave of movie merchandises and action figures have already hit every toy shop and major retail chain stores nationwide. My wallet is becoming increasingly bulimic and is now a mere skeleton of its former self.
Now obviously, this G.I. Joe obsession dictates that I spend a lot of my time in toy stores and ebay hunting for figures, and with so many other different types of action figure lines available in the market today, I realized that my Joe addiction was only the start of it. This also made realize that I’ve become a big geeky toy collecting nerd. Just with any addiction, it starts off with something harmless but you don’t realize how far deep into addiction you are until it’s too late.
There are different levels to this addiction. One of the most severest form is the “completionist”. The completionist has to own every single figure released in a particular line regardless of whether or not he actually likes the figure. For example, a completionist would buy each and every figure from Hasbro’s line of 25th anniversary G.I. Joe which would be around 50 to 60 figures.
Another extreme stage of addiction is the “army builder”. As the name suggests, an army builder will keep buying the same exact figure over and over again so as to amass enough of the same figure to create an “army”. An extreme case that I have heard about is a guy who apparently has 221 of the same figure, of which he opened 66 of the figures and left a 155 unopened in their boxes for storage. Below you can see the product of this man’s obsession. A bit much? But who am I to question another man’s life choices.
And then you have the collectors that are only into high end collectibles. But really, who can blame them? When you see the level of quality and detail of these figures, you lose your breath. You also lose your breath when you see the price tags. Currently, one of the biggest and most popular producers and sellers is Hot Toys. Check out some of their products and tell me that you’re not impressed.
Yes. Every picture you see above are of action figures from Hot Toys. Pretty-fucking-amazing aren’t they? To see a gallery of all their products, head on over to their site by clicking here. Now that is what you call attention to detail. Unsurprisingly, each of these figures are well into the price range of 150+ US dollars. That is if you can get them on retail because they sell out in the blink of an eye. So if you’re not fortunate enough to get these on retail, you’ll find some of these figures on Ebay for say anywhere between $300 to $1000 US dollars.
My addiction to G.I. Joe figures pales in comparison to some of the collectors I’ve talked about considering that a G.I. Joe cost only $16 and I only buy the ones that I really like. But the more I immerse myself into the world of toy addiction, I can feel that i’m dangerously close to moving onto a whole new level of collecting. If not for the fact that my girl is keeping me on a tight leash, I would probably have already owned some of the figures above. Boy, talk about being pussywhipped. No but seriously, I would have been dead broke and living without electricity, dining on tinned beans, reusing tea bags and strictly on a ramen noodles diet for a couple of months.
But for now, all I can do is to hope that my Joes and whatever figures I already have will be sufficient enough to support my action figure addiction. To see some of my own collection, click here to visit my facebook album.
Action figure addiction is no joke. You’re in your mid-20′s and you’re still hanging around the toy section at the department store and fighting over toys with 7 year olds. It’s just embarrassing. People look at you like you’re a pedophile or something. It’s just not pleasant but you just can’t help it. A toy hunger in a collector goes way too deep to be ignored.
Some of the hardcore collectors even have blogs which are updated regularly with toy reviews. Some of these guys even get paid to review toys. And the best part is that companies like Hasbro, Mattel, Playmates or NECA will send out free toys to these dudes to review. Free Toys! Anyway these are some of my favorite sites to visit for toy reviews, news and upates:
I’m a hillbilly. Upon reflection, i’ve realized that i’ve spent the most part of my life with my head in the clouds, literally. To illustrate this point, check out the following pictures:
This is where I was born and raised:
Mizoram, North East India
This is where I went to High School:
Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu, South India.
This is where I went for Uni and am currently living at:
Blue Mountains, NSW Australia
I’m a mountain goat jumping from one mountain range to another and then to another.
I wouldn’t be surprised if you thought they were all part of the same mountain range. To the untrained eye, they all look pretty much the same.
But this isn’t to say that I haven’t had a taste of the bright lights of the Read the rest of this entry »
We all know that one guy or girl that obnoxiously repeats movie lines and stand up lines over and over again in a loud obnoxious voice, and even puts it on as a facebook or MSN status as if to declare to everyone his originality, cleverness and hipness.
A prime example of this is Russell Peters jokes. The man is an absolute genius and his style of humor is impeccable and his jokes make sense and are insightful.
One of the main reasons he got so big was because of his viral video, yeah that one from Comedy Central, where he does all the accents and makes fun of “take some bong”. We all know that one. That video floated around on the internet till it became a big hit sometime back in 2005.
Back in 2005 when I first watched the video, I laughed till I cried. I remember all the jokes:
“Aay we are Indian and we are gaaay!”
“I love women too much to get married!”
“…we have our own motherland. England!”
“Chinese people and Indian people cannot do business with each other”
etc etc etc
We all have our favorite lines from that video. And to this day I still find myself letting out a chuckle whenever i watch it. His facial expressions are priceless. And another thing is that you find yourself going,”That’s so true” so many times throughout the video. That, my friends, is the mark of a reall stand up comedian. He makes you think. His jokes are a reflection of society. They reflect you and me. So what Russell Peters does is he lets us laugh at ourselves. And when you learn to laugh at yourself, then your mind opens up, and with an open mind you can pretty much find peace in anything. Cheesy but true.
Alright alright, so back to the topic. So what’s my gripe all about? It’s about people that are still doing Russell Peters jokes and expect you to laugh and think they’re funny and shit.
Last week, I was smoking a cigarette and chatting shit with this Indian dude from school. And then he starts telling me Russell Peters jokes like they were his own. He starts going,” …blah blah God played a joke on us Indians, puts us in the hottest place on Earth and covers us with hair blah blah”.
Dude thought he was really funny and original. And it sorta turned into an awkward situation when he saw that I wasn’t dying from laughter and praising his excellent sense of humor.
Here’s the thing. It was really funny back in 2005, still kinda funny in 2006, a little less funnier in 2007. NOT funny anymore in 2009.
So dude, that Russell Peters video you recently found on youtube and found so damn funny? We’ve all seen the video and heard the jokes ages ago so don’t embarrass yourself by thinking you found a gem that none of us know about. I’m not trying to say that i’m a real hip dude and know every new thing that comes along, it’s just that its reached a real high level of annoyance and makes it awkward for everyone when you have to force yourself to laugh for the sake of politeness.
Stop fucking doing Russell Peters jokes. It’s not funny anymore. Maybe in another 20 years or so when everyone’s forgotten about it, it’ll be funny again but for now, just please shut your damn pie hole.
Global Warming IS happening. That much is true. Can’t argue against that. It’s a 100% correct. But sometimes I can’t help but feel that this whole “green awareness” trend that’s happening is a scam perpetuated by corporations and governments. Sounds like paranoia?
I respect that people are becoming more aware of their impacts on the environment and it’s great that we are living more responsibly. Taking shorter showers, using energy efficient lightbulbs, recycling, adjusting the thermostat, using low-flow showerheads etc. the whole shebang…. that’s all good and fine but we need to take a look at the bigger picture.
In reality, to effectively stop the production of Carbon Dioxide which is causing global warming on a mass scale, to significantly decrease the production of CO2… it is out of our hands. Simply due to the fact that the major polluters and consumers of energy is not from everyday household uses but instead from factories, industrial plants and even industrial agriculture. And who controls these? Governments and Corporations.
I’m sure Read the rest of this entry »
Feeling like a simple Simon lately? Do you find yourself constantly making wrong choices? Lacking in good judgment? Need a big strong dose of prudence and a smackof perspicacity? Then what you, my dear friend, need is a Bill Stones wisdom tooth.
This here is a once a lifetime deal that you absolutely cannot refuse. A vintage 1984 wisdom tooth in full grown condition, slightly coloured due to its mature age, which only adds to its aesthetic appeal. This particular tooth is especially ripened with wisdom and intellect. Guaranteed to make you feel smarter within hours. Impress your friends and colleagues with your wit and knowledge when you Read the rest of this entry »
Too lazy to write so i’ma just post these videos of a really talented Mizo basketball player named Bill Stones or Freddie or something like that. Did I also mention that he’s incredibly handsome and smells nice too? He’s also especially polite and kind and spends his free time doing charity work, saving endagered animals, helping old ladies cross the streets and I hear from girls that he’s also a very great listener and always remembers to leave the toilet seat down for the ladies. What a great guy.
Back in the day, when the old Stones Connection site was up and running, when we wuz at our heydays with the “Stones humor” we used to run segments of mock informercials in our online store. So i’ve managed to retrieve a few ones just so you can get a small glimpse of how things were done back then, young ‘un. Without further ado: Read the rest of this entry »
Existence is disproportionate in a proportional way. It’s interesting to take a step back and look at things from an outside point of view and see different aspects of life compacted into this single planet. How many differences can there be and how much similarities are there? It’s basically a giant tree with countless branches but nevertheless stemming from the same root. What is that root in life? Is it a biological or an intellectual entity or even spiritual? What is our real identity? Read the rest of this entry »
