Even Terrorists know about Godzilla?

Apparently New York City is experiencing an unfortunate rise in terroristic threats, which is placing everybody there on high alert.

New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly was recently on 60 minutes to talk about this.

During the segment he went over all of the efforts his police and anti-terrorism departments are taking to help thwart such threats.

An interesting tidbit occurred when he began discussing items overheard on surveillance tapes.

Apparently some of the suspected terrorists kept referring to attacking "that Godzilla bridge".

Of course they were referring to the Brooklyn Bridge featured in the 1998 Godzilla
film. This famous scene involved Godzilla getting stuck between the bridge's cables, which led to his eventual doom.

How morbidly bizarre (and unfortunate) that some of the most despicable people out there somehow know of Godzilla.

This is one of those rare circumstances where even Toho studios would want none of this associated with their franchise.

Here's the original article for further info:

Latimesblogs.latimes.com: NY Police Commish Warns Terrorists to stay away

Forget Sad Keanu, how about Sad Godzilla

Oh boy....

I come across some weird Godzilla news every now and then, but occassionally there's one that takes the cake.

I present to you the newest novel called "Sad Monsters: Growling on the Outside, Crying on the Inside
", which according to author Frank Lesser containes "humourous storeis about the undead...and the unloved".

Such is the case with one short story called "Godzilla's Existential Crisis".

It's essentially Godzilla questioning his own existence through a myriad of depression/antectodal notes.

Here's a quick excerpt from it:

September 3:
Woke up after twenty-year hibernation. Hate when I oversleep-meant to hibernate fifteen years, sixteen tops. Terrible crick in neck-must have slept on my tail wrong.

March 8
Wound up hitting snooze for six more months. Barely had enough energy to rampage to the bathroom, let alone through a city, but finally rolled out of bed and destroyed Tokyo. Again. Starting to wonder, what's the point? They're just going to rebuild.

March 12
Couldn't sleep, so woke up early and went for a jog through Osaka. Kept wondering what happens to people after I stomp on them. Do they have souls that live on, that I can also stomp on? Or is the human soul unstompable? Maybe I'm just going through a midlife thing. Never had these worries during the Mesozoic era. When I was younger, each screaming villager felt like a triumph, like I was really doing something with my life. Now I just wish they'd shut up and accept it, or at least quit it with the antiaircraft missiles. Those things really irritate my eczema.

...oh boy.

Although I'm not just going to dismiss it right away. If there's good writing then it should be read. I just find it so weird that Godzilla is involved.

But I did like the cartoon illustrated above. It looks like a chariacature of Godzilla morphed in with Woody Allen.

Here's the original article for further excerpts:

Gawker.com: Sad Monsters by Frank Lesser

Godzilla Kingdom of Monsters #6 Rankings

Well it looks like this series is enjoying a steady set of sales now.

Last I looked issue #5 was recuperating from the disastrous results issue #4 had, jumping to 148th place with 13,750 issues sold.

The latest results for issue #6
are out, and it's only lost a little bit of sales...coming in at 172th place with 12,524 issues sold.

This is great in that the see-saw effect we've been seeing before now seems to be dissipating.

I'm sure IDW is happy about this because comic book retailers HATE it when a series does that.

Such retailers have to rely on a steady set of numbers in order to anticipate what to spend their cash flow (money reserved for purchases) on. This money is limited and has to be used wisely.

If they can't do this then they face risk commonly associated with too much of one comic left over that nobody wants, and too little of another that everybody asks for.

We'll see with issue #7 how things temper out though.

Godzilla Gangsters and Goliaths #3 Rankings

Well it looks like this series continues to hang in there, only losing slight ground when it comes to sales.

Last time I had checked issue #2 was at 162nd place selling 11,611 issues.

Now the latest figures have come out for issue #3
...and it's dropped a few more places to 196th place, selling 10,525 issues.

Not bad for a series that is getting nowhere near the type of promotion "Godzilla Kingdom of Monsters" gets.

In the movie/TV industry such a steady set of sales is considered as having "legs", where a consistent set of consumers faithfully stick to the series as it continues.

With only two more issues left though, I bet the number of issues sold will increase as people look to see how this great series ends.

Nerds night out now includes Godzilla

In Duluth, Minnesota there's an ongoing bi-monthly event where nerds everywhere gather to talk about everything they love.

From comic books to superhero films to sci-fi television, this even includes Godzilla now!

Created by self-proclaim nerd Adam Brisk, he established this as a way for geeks everywhere to share their knowledge with fellow fans. "Every nerd has the secret desire to share their knowledge" he boasted.

At this event each presenter goes over a particular topic, with each 10 to 12 minute presentation involving pictures, charts, humor, trivia, etc.

One was a speech called the "Godzilla Mythos", where presenter John Lee went over trivia involving the King of Monsters himself!

And here's the best part. If anybody decides to heckle the presenter (no doubt in good humor) then a copy of the "The Notebook" is read in order to calm things down!

Wow what an event!

How I would love to go to one of these shows, as I'm a geek galore who enjoys everything sci-fi. This is definitely something made for me.

It's too bad it's all the way in Minnesota...which is way to cold to visit anyways in my opinion.

Here's the original article for further reference:

duluthnewstribune.com: Even nerds get a night out in Duluth

In the mood to eat a Godzilla Roll?

Well you're in luck because a certain Norwegian Cruise Line is introducing a seafood menu named after the King of Monsters himself.

Dubbed the "Godzilla Roll", it will consist of sweet shrimp, mango, avocado, caramelized cashews and coconut.

(I can honestly state that I like NONE of those items, but if they work for you all the better. Give me some good fajitas and chicken barbecue any day).

No mention though of how big this rolls are, which is why I'm assuming it's associated with Godzilla.

Norwegian Cruise Line is looking to introduce this, along with other seafood items, as a way of spicing up their menus.

You know I've never been a cruise line, although I've fancied it for quite some time now.

I love the idea of traveling the seas, nothing but water around you as the sun is beaming down overhead. Sounds like a really great trip, very peaceful.

In any case here's the original article for further reference:

blogs.sun-sentinel.com: Norwegian Cruise line rolls out Epic Sushi-a-la-carte menu

Godzilla mural by Minneapolis kids covers up bad graffiti

It looks like Godzilla saves the day yet again!

Apparently some homeowners in Minneapolis kept seeing their garage spray painted with gang signs.

No matter how many times they kept covering it up with paint, the next day those thugs kept doing the same thing.

Here's a sample of what that graffiti looked like:

After months of this happening the homeowners were surprised to receive a letter from some middle schoolers proposing a solution.

They would paint a Godzilla mural over the graffiti!

The owners decided to go forward with this idea, and as you can see in the top photo the end results looked pretty great.

It was a little weird to see Godzilla a) purple, and b) spitting out flowers instead of his flame breath, but I imagine it was all geared towards sending a positive message to whomever was doing this.

And apparently it worked, as the story didn't include any mention of those gang members doing anything else thereafter.

So Godzilla saves the day yet again!

Here's the original article for further reference:

Blogs.citypages.com: Godzilla mural by Minneapolis kids covers up bad graffiti

Say hello to the Godzilla R35

Or Nissan's newest GT-R, which is such a monster of a vehicle it's been dubbed the "Godzilla R35".

With 570 horsepower, reduced emission, a better aerodynamic body, it has enough new high-tech technologies to make jaws drop.

Personally I've always thought that such cars do two things with extreme certainty:

1) They become easy speeding tickets for cops, as cops know that such car owners would rather pay their tickets than contest them (out of convenience).

2) They are within every car robber's radar, as such cars are lucrative to steal and strip for fast cash

But if it's something people want they'll always pay good money for it, and if it's so powerful it reminds people of Godzilla then all the better.

Godzilla Movie News: So what's going on with the Godzilla 1985 DVD/Blu-Ray?

Here I go over some information related to the status of the Godzilla 1985
DVD/Blu-Ray, what's causing its delay, and my thoughts on some solutions.

Godzilla 1985 was shown in Digital?

Apparently so.

Just a few years back in 2006 the "Monsters HD" channel decided to conmemorate the just-passed 20th anniversary of the Godzilla 1985
by holding a digital screening on their channel.

But it wasn't just any old release.

Rather "Monsters HD" took the time and effort of restoring the movie with a cleaner image, enhanced colors, stereo output, and it was all presented in widescreen no less.

They even altered certain scenes and sound effects to reflect the Japanese release.

It was amazing to think that my favorite Godzilla film obtained such a great release, as it deserves no less.

But it still creates a frustrating feeling because all of this special treatment went into this one-time showing for a movie channel...and yet a DVD/Blu-Ray still seems impossible?!

(More of this is chronicled here).

In any case here's a great website link chronicling in detail that special airing, and I highly recommend everybody to take a look:

hkfilmnews.blogspot.com: Godzilla 1985 widescreen on Monsters HD Channel

Timing of IDW's new 'Godzilla' comic poses a problem

This was an article from a few months back when the IDW "Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters" first began, and how the timing of the publications eerily postmarked the tragic Japan Earthquake.

What makes the issue so eerie was that with this recent Japan Earthquake, suddenly seeing Godzilla do what he normally does, i.e. trash and destroy Japan, took on a whole new meaning.

For those not in the know, there's nothing that IDW could have done (short of canceling the series) due to the lengthy production process involved within comics.

According to the article IDW first gained rights from Toho to publish the series back in 2010.

During the next few months Eric Powell was hired as writer, Phil Hester began drawing each panel, and the first issue was completed shortly thereafter.

On February 15th the book finally went to press, which was still a few weeks before the Earthquake even happened, so at no point could IDW have changed courses.

But such is life. No sooner did the Earthquake happen then readers were seeing Godzilla destroy Japan once again, which made everyone wonder why IDW was doing this.

Now IDW could have opted to have retailers return the issue...or cancel it outright.

(The article highlights past examples where certain comic book events eerily coincided with other major tragedies, and how those publishers acted upon this).

But according to IDW CEO Ted Adams the timing was too late, and these things had to go out.

He also hinted that changing anything from what Godzilla normally does would not have worked too.

Personally I never felt that IDW was ever in the wrong, or was trying to profit from anything related to the earthquake.

This was just an issue of simple and unfortunate timing; nothing more nothing less.

To IDW's credit they did decide to create a charity special
geared towards relief efforts in Japan (which IDW had no obligation to do at all but they did so anyways) so there's definitely something there.

In any case here's the original article for further reference:

Signonsandiego.com: Timing of IDW's new 'Godzilla' comic poses a problem

Popular Godzilla artist to pencil new Transformers Story

Popular Godzilla cover artist Matt Frank (who's probably done more covers in one year
than most artists do in a lifetime) now has a new gig.

According to Seibertron.com he will be a penciling a new story within the Official Transformers Collector's Club magazine.

I think this is great gig for Matt, as he truly has some great talent when it comes to drawing.

Thus far we've only been able to see his work on a cover to cover basis, but now we'll be able to see how he actually does when it comes to an entire comic.

I've included a copy of the sketchwork he's already worked on within the series.

His Transformers here seem to mimic the old cartoon series more than anything else, so no movie Transformers here.

Godzilla now wrecking havoc in Palestine?

No of course not...

...but here's a humorous article from craveonline.com that takes a poke at this theory as the Israeli/Palestinian conflict continues.

Just wait until you see the J.O.N.A.H. device they now have ready to counterattack Godzilla!

You know...the idea of a superthreat uniting nations is actually something that's been played before in the world of Comic books.

It's what made the graphic novel Watchmen so grand and memorable.

Here a sudden invasion of a giant alien monster caused the US and Russia to drop the nukes (the ones previously pointed at each other) and instead unit against this supposed alien.

I imagine that if a monster such as Godzilla truly existed and rampaged across the world, there would be a lot of warring countries suddenly looking for each other's help.

Here's the original craveonline link for further reference:

Craveonline.com: Israel to Palestine: "If We Don't Reach Peace, Godzilla Will Kill Us All"