Will You Have Halo Flu?

Look at your co-workers on Monday. Study them closely…because chances are many of them will be calling in sick on Tuesday. Maybe they’ll even be out the rest of the week. It’s called Halo Flu around Arune.Com and it’s not uncommon.

Unless you’re completely unaware of pop culture, you’ve heard to the video game franchise Halo, which releases its third installment this Tuesday. It’s going to blow away records for first day revenue by a video game, film or anything else you can imagine. Those record breaking movie weekend numbers? Halo 3 is going to do more in one day. I’m not a huge fan of the second game, but I’ll be picking up the third installment this week (as an early birthday gift thanks to my family) and I’ll be playing it a bit each night. The first game was a true joy, combining an intelligent shooter with a gripping story about one man’s fight to defeat a seemingly unstoppable alien enemy. The ultimate action movie…and players were in control

So if you notice your office a bit more bare, just know that there’s a good reason: they’re playing what may be the most revolutionary video game in history.

One question remains: are any of you coming down with Halo Flu this Tuesday?

Friday Night Lights Season 2 Premiere Online

If you’re a fan of Friday Night Lights and await the Season 2 opener on October 5th, don’t wait any longer: it’s online for free. Go straight to Yahoo TV and you can watch the FNL Season 2 Premiere, without commercial interruption, for free. If you’re new to the show, this isn’t the best introduction, but for those who’ve seen the first season, I think you’ll be happy.

The Good Kind Of Surprise

So yesterday I leave work, exhausted for a rewarding but long work week. When Friday rolls around, my plan is always simple: relax, catch up on some television and reflect on the week. Examine my decisions, the rationale, the results and consider how I could– or should– have done something differently.

Exciting, I know.

Living in Lower Manhattan, you find a lot of great bars with character– as they’ve survived a lot– and one of those near me is a favorite because it’s a bar. Not a place to pick up women. Not a place to act “cool.” Just a place to eat, drink and be merry. So I stopped in for some food before I got home, when one of the waitresses (who I’ve met a few times) asks me if I like hockey. Bear in mind she doesn’t know I’m Canadian nor does she realize I’m wearing a New York Rangers t-shirt (my second favorite team behind the Habs). I said yes and she gave me two tickets to the Rangers game that night at Madison Square Garden. Sure, it’s pre-season hockey, but it’s MSG and against the New Jersey Devils– one of their biggest rivals!

I quickly said yes, thanked her profusely and ran down the street to find a cab, before realizing none were stopping for me and finally got on the subway. I called everyone I knew to see if I could find someone else for the game, but no one was available, so it seemed I’d be flying solo on this fortuitous night.

When I arrived at MSG, I ran into three guys trying to get hockey tickets. They were all from Canada and wanted to see a game, but didn’t have tickets and asked if I had any for sale. I said I had one and they admitted they had no money to offer, so they didn’t expect a miracle.

So I gave them my extra ticket with the condition they not sell it and actually watch the game. It seemed like the right thing to do.

The game was fantastic. The sound of skates gliding over ice, sticks hitting ice and players slamming into boards takes me to a place of complete happiness. Hockey captures my attention and emotion like nothing else because it represents my past, present and future in one. It reminds me of my wonderful childhood, my parents who took me to as many games as they could and provided us equipment to play street hockey, even when I knew it cost them more than they’d like. It represents my Canadian heritage and all that nation gave me in my nearly 20 years there. It represents the one sports team that I’ve always loved without fail– the Montreal Canadiens– and the one sports passion that keeps me excited for the winter. It’s also the one sport I want to start playing again, the activity that I think would bring a lot of happiness to me.

During the game, two fans of the Devils were being completely obnoxious and yelling obscenities at people. That’s part of games these days and I try not to be mean to fans of the opposing team, as I respect their passion, but these fans were yelling, “Fuck you and all your mothers” fairly loud. By the third period, the entire crowd was chanting “Sit down assholes” with some clapping in between (to a 1-2, 1-2-3 count), so loudly that some players looked up at us before the puck was dropped for a face off.

The Rangers won 4-3, which was great, but winning and losing didn’t matter– I was entranced for hours, yelling so much my throat is still sore today, clapping so much my palms feel a bit tender and smiling so much I can still feel it on my face. That’s hockey.

At the end of the day, I got free hockey tickets for no reason I can imagine. Maybe it was karma. Maybe it was good luck. But I do know one thing– it was a damn good thing.

Mint

Merriam-Webster defines “mint” as:

1: any of a family (Labiatae, the mint family) of aromatic plants with a square stem and a 4-lobed ovary which produces four one-seeded nutlets in fruit; especially : any of a genus (Mentha) of mints that have white, purple, or pink verticillate flowers with a nearly regular corolla and four equal stamens and that include some used in flavoring and cookery

2: a confection flavored with mint

However, if you went to my high school and knew a certain student (not me), you’d know he used “mint” to describe attractive women or extremely fortuitous situations. EG: “That girl is so mint” means the girl is attractive. If one were to be given, let’s say, two free tickets to a hockey game, the appropriate response would be “That’s mint.”

My friend Kurt and I always joked how stupid the word sounded in that context, so much so that “it’s mint” was the punchline to many of our jokes.

That was until two weeks ago, when Kurt visited and we decided to take the word back, to make it our own and make it cool. So we’re imploring you to add “mint” to your vocabulary, to use it in the above context and take it back from those people in our high school who twisted it around. Join the revolution.

Variations are acceptable. A particularly great situation could be described as “mind condition” if you’re a bit geeky and want to add your own spin to the word.

Let us know how it goes.

Ultimate Marvel– By Arune Singh!

That’s right folks– Arune Singh is a credited author once more. Make Mine Marvel!

ULTIMATE MARVEL

Written by ARUNE SINGH
Cover by DAVID FINCH

The groundbreaking Ultimate Universe changed the face of comics, redefining your favorite heroes in bold new epics. Now, get your first look at Ultimates 3, Ultimate Iron Man II, Ultimate Origins and all the other Ultimate books that will have your jaws on the floor! Add in exclusive commentary from creators, never-before-seen art and you’ve got the perfect holiday surprise at the right price! The Ultimate Universe will never be the same and this is your chance to get in on the ground floor!

32 Pages/Rated A…FREE

On-Sale– 11/21/07

So, much like some of the other writing I’ve done, it’ll be chock full of interviews with big name creators and lots of preview art! And c’mon…can you beat that price? Don’t forget to click on the above cover for a larger version of that gorgeous David Finch art!

The Truth Revealed– Marvel’s Costume Contest

For more details, visit the official Marvel.Com story about the costume contest.

And yeah, I know, I’m a geek.

The Friday Night Lights Guarantee

“This new drama about high school football could be great — and not just television great, but great in the way of a poem or painting…” — The New York Times

“Lights has a rare ability to portray life in small-town America without being condescending or sentimental. Those are rich fields to explore, and Lights shows promise of doing so with both warmth and intelligence.”– USA Today

“If viewers get over their preconceived notions about what they think this series is about and actually give it a shot, they’ll be as stunned as everyone else.”– The San Francisco Chronicle

You’ve probably heard this from every major critic our there, but the best scripted show on network television– and one of the best shows on television in general– is Friday Night Lights. Yes, it’s a show about football. Yes, it’s a show about a small town in Texas. Yes, it’s a how about teens and their families. But it’s also about something entirely universal: life.

FNL launched last year to critical acclaim and continues to be one– if not the– best reviewed shows on television. The first season is available on DVD (under $30 even at full retail) and you’ll be hooked by the end of the first episode. Hell, if you’re not, the creators of the show did something ballsy– offered to refund your money for the box set. So let’s get this out of the way and say that you lose nothing by trying out this show, except perhaps a few hours. And the reward? One of the best television shows I’ve ever seen. I’ve got no complaints. At all.

Is that not enough? Just go to NBC.Com and you can view every episode, in their entirety, for free.

I actually just began watching the show this on a lark, after a friend recommended the show and Netflix’d the first two discs. After the first five minutes of the pilot episode, I was hooled and purchased the DVDs so I wouldn’t have to wait for the rest of the series. I just finished the first season and can say, without a doubt, that this (along with The Shield, Rescue Me, and Battlestar Galactica) is not only can’t miss television, but actually raises the bar for the medium.

If all that isn’t enough reason, here’s a list of the things that make this show stand out from the rest.

Continue reading The Friday Night Lights Guarantee…

Spider…Arune?

So…I’m dressed up as Spider-Man in his black costume.

Why?

Details coming soon…

The Mistaken Identity

As I’ve written before, I’m often mistaken for being a cop, but there are some other fun stories of mistaken identity worth sharing that occurred recently.

Yankee Stadium Employee: at a recent Yankees game, my friend Mike and I were waiting for a friend outside Yankee stadium. There are hundreds of people out there at any given point before the game, so two guys wearing Yankees t-shirts shouldn’t draw much attention, but people kept coming up to me and asking if I worked there. I generally replied, “No, but can I help you?” and ended up directing close to a dozen people to the appropriate places. It was an odd situation because there were real employees around the stadium but they consistently came to me instead for help.

Professional Wrestler: the interesting thing about this mistaken identity is that I’m only ever mistaken for a wrestler at hospitals. Every time I’m there, someone asks me if I’m a wrestler. Then again, needing to wear specially sized hospital robes (because the regular ones are too tight), probably makes them think I’m training to beat up someone.

Marine Paratrooper: well, this one is bizarre. Kurt visited this week and we traveled on the subway to go to most places. On Monday, around Central Park, we were getting off the subway when some guy (who seemed a bit crazy) asked me how many pushups I could do and said he thought I could do 100 million pushups. He wasn’t kidding and followed it up by asking me if I was a Marine. I was a bit surprised and he kept saying how I was military guy, could beat up some guy standing next to us and then when leaving, said he thought I was a paratrooper. He was still yelling this even as I was exiting the train.

The Best Feeling

Today I spent a good five hours (if not more) walking around Central Park with my friend Kurt (who’s in town for a visit) and near the end of the walk, I noticed two women (and a little child) trying to carry a stroller up the stairs. So I went over to help them carry the stroller— which contained a cute baby—up a few sets of stairs and one of the women told me, “You’re going to be a great father.” I responded by saying, “I hope so.”

When I was leaving, the five year old daughter yelled, “I hope you have a baby soon so you can be a great father.” I laughed and said, “Well, I hope it’s not too soon,” But the smile on that girl’s face, the sheer happiness she got from me helping her family…there’s no better feeling than that. I’m not saying we do good things in the hopes of any kind of reward, but when you can make someone that happy, it’s all worth the effort just for one person reacting that way.