Hundreds of millions of Super Bowl advertising dollars have come and gone. A few of you mentioned being underwhelmed with Super Bowl XLVI’s commercials and I mostly agree with that sentiment. Having said that, there were several spots that…
Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, M.I.A.’s middle finger, The Undertaker vs. Triple H WrestleMania rematch, or Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. being a weight cheat, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
Hundreds of millions of Super Bowl advertising dollars have come and gone. A few of you mentioned being underwhelmed with Super Bowl XLVI’s commercials and I mostly agree with that sentiment. Having said that, there were several spots that caught my eye. Here are my 10 favorite Super Bowl XLVI commercials. After you’ve gobbled them up, please let me know which ads were your favorite.
1) The Avengers Teaser — Earth’s mightiest heroes (and also Hawkeye)! Scarlett Johansson in her remarkably tight Black Widow costume! I’m totally geeked out for this movie.
2) MetLife — Any commercial that brings together Voltron, Charlie Brown, Marvin the Martian, Mr. Magoo, etc. is pure win.
3) Kia — I will absolutely buy that men dream about Adriana Lima and dozens of other women in bikinis. I think it’s hilarious that Kia thinks men dream about old bands (Motley Crue) and old MMA fighters (Chuck Lidell).
4) Audi — Making fun of vampires is always a good thing.
5) Chevy Silverado — This was a cute and clever spot. Combining Barry Manilow, a post-apocalyptic world, and Twinkies is borderline genius.
6) Teleflora — More Adriana Lima! This time she shows off her body and her sexy Brazilian
accent.
7) Volkswagen — I’m a geek. This commercial features the Mos Eisley cantina. Of course I loved it!
8) G.I. Joe: Retaliation Teaser — The action looks slick and I’m a homer for movies starring The Rock.
9) Time Warner Cable — I’m really unhappy with my Time Warner Cable television and Internet service, but I have to give the company props for this commercial with Rick Gervais.
10) Fiat 500 Abarth — Sexy Italian woman dropping frothed milk on her breasts? Yes, you have my attention Fiat.
Last night my friend Paul notified me that X-Play’s Adam Sessler recently shaved his head and started growing his facial hair. Two things immediately popped into my head. First, I remembered a moment in early 2011 when RPadholic N8R told me how awesome Adam would look with a shaved head. I also thought about the possibility of Adam being replaced by Evil Adam Sessler From an Alternate Universe. Whatever the case may be, I’d love to hear your opinion on Adam’s new look. Clearly he looks awesome. The question is, how awesome?!?
This video of Kris Humphries — the most disliked player in the NBA — has been circulating. Some people are using it to fuel their hatred, saying that it shows his homophobic behavior. Others are saying that he’s not really being homophobic; at best he’s being ignorant and at worst he’s being idiotic. Check it out and decide (please)!
I honestly don’t think that Humphries is homophobic. Knowing what I know about reality television, I’m going to guess that a lot of this was an angle “urged” by the show’s staff. At worst, his homophobia is passive, but I’m more inclined to think that it was manufactured by the show’s writers and producers. I definitely agree that he’s ignorant and idiotic.
What’s your take? Is Kris Humphries a homophobe, an idiot, or both?
Here’s a video clip of Chris Jericho’s return to the WWE on last night’s episode of Raw. It was unusual and brilliant at the same time. Let’s talk about the unusual part first. Jericho, one of the best talkers the WWE has had in the last decade, didn’t say much. He soaked up the cheers, played the crowd, and smiled in an exaggerated way. Every now and then he screamed Come on baby!!!” and “Yeah!!!”, but he didn’t say anything substantive. Everyone was expecting one of his classic promos, but it never came.
His return was just genius. He completely played the live crowd and the television audience. People are going to be tuning in next week to see what he’s all about. It was a fantastic swerve that nobody could have predicted.
While I’m sure that he was genuinely excited to perform in front of a WWE crowd again, I’m going to guess that the smiling was disingenuous as far as his character is concerned. I can see him berating the crowd next week for cheering him like a returning hero. He’ll mock them for reacting to his return that way when he thinks they’re all hypocrites, parasites, sycophants, and gelatinous tapeworms.
Then again, maybe he won’t. Jericho’s return has people wondering what will happen next and his character has an awesome unpredictability that should be milked. I don’t know where he’s going with this run, but I can’t wait to find out.
What did you think of Chris Jericho’s return to WWE Monday Night Raw?
For the last couple of months WWE has been teasing the return of a “mystery” WWE Superstar. Several sources believe that Chris Jericho will be making his return to pro-wrestling in tonight’s Monday Night Raw. What do you think? Is “the best in the world at what he does” coming back? Or will it be someone else? (I’m hoping for Festus…just kidding.)
Certainly WWE would be better with Jericho. He’s an established star that’s absolute money on the microphone and strong in the ring. Jericho setting the tone for WWE in 2012 would be fantastic. That said, the next few months are sure to be dominated by John Cena vs. The Rock. If Jericho is coming back, wouldn’t it be better to have him return after WrestleMania in a (mostly) Rock-free WWE?
Anyway, please let me know if you think the mystery WWE Superstar is Chris Jericho. If you think it is, are you excited by his return? If not, who do you think is coming back?
In case you missed any of the “Best of 2011” stories, here are links to your fellow RPadholics’ picks for the best game, videogame graphics, videogame sound, movie, and gadget. While you’re here, feel free to leave any “Best of 2011” choices that weren’t covered last week. From your favorite comic book, Netflix rental, TV show, sports team, coffee, fast food, WWE Superstar, and more, use this post to get 2011 out of your system (please)!
I’m totally marking out for WWE programming right now. This has been my favorite period of WWE television since Shawn Michaels retired. A guy that used Twitter to get over and two guys I watched with dozens of other people at Ring of Honor…
Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, random people paying off random layaway accounts at K-Mart, Rudolph vs. Frosty, or Intelligentsia’s Colombia La Loma, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
I’m totally marking out for WWE programming right now. This has been my favorite period of WWE television since Shawn Michaels retired. A guy that used Twitter to get over and two guys I watched with dozens of other people at Ring of Honor shows are holding championship belts. I love that three guys that work hard and genuinely connect with fans are getting pushed by WWE. While I have an aching suspicion that at least one of the three championship reigns will be short, I’m going to enjoy it while it lasts. Join me as I reflect on three of the current WWE champions.
Zack Ryder United States Champion: I wrote a bit about the crazy phenomenon of Ryder a few weeks ago. As an Internet nerd, I have to give it up to a guy that used Twitter outreach and YouTube videos to connect with fans. I completely respect and admire what he did; WWE management wasn’t giving him an opportunity to shine, so he took matters into his own hands and created his own success. While I’m happy for Ryder, it’s not the same level of excitement I feel for the next two champions.
CM PUNK WWE Champion: I know that a few of you are down on Punk because of his size, but you can’t question his in-ring ability or deny the fact that he has cut the best promos in WWE all year. As you probably know, I’m partial to Ring of Honor alumni and love when those guys do well in bigger companies. Punk also gets mad bonus points for posing with some of my Pokemon dolls for a Games Radar article I did back in the day. I love that my photos of Punk and my Pokemon are on the first page of Google results when you do an image search for “CM Punk”.
Punk is just a great wrestler that has worked hard to get one of the top spots in the business. I think it’s great that he’s old school. I love that he prefers the term “pro-wrestling” over “sports entertainment”. It was nice that he wore a Randy Savage outfit and started incorporating Savage’s elbow drop shortly after Macho Man passed away. Even though I generally don’t trust people who drink, I think Punk is awesome. He’s my second-favorite straight-edge person.
Daniel Bryan World Heavyweight Champion: Before WWE re-branded him as Daniel Bryan, Bryan Danielson was one of my favorite Ring of Honor wrestlers. I believe he’s one of the top three wrestlers in WWE today. His game is just so diverse, mixing outstanding mat wrestling, high-flying moves, and modern MMA twists. Yeah, he’s still finding his way on the mic, but he’s getting a lot better (something John Morrison never did). More importantly, his wrestling is so good that fans connect with him and want to see him do well. It’s weird seeing him (fake) tan and wearing more black than red these days, but he’ll always be “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson to me — one of the best wrestlers I’ve seen live.
I love the photo above from CM Punk’s Twitter feed. Seeing Punk and Danielson with the two major WWE straps gives me warm fuzzies. It’s great seeing two guys that are superiors wrestlers make it to the top. It’s sweet that two guys that have known each other for more than a decade and have wrestled in hundreds of high-school gyms are headlining shows that are watched by millions of people. In many ways, the photo reminds me of when Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit held those belts. Similar to how Punk and Danielson made their way through the indie scene together, Guerrero and Benoit went from ECW to WCW to WWE together. The two were also great wrestlers that were on the small side. When Benoit and Guerrero were celebrating with their titles at WrestleMania XX, I remember thinking, “Damn. That’s a lot of confetti,” and also, “It feels nice to see that the right guys have the belts.”
Sadly, I don’t have a ton of faith in WWE creative to leave the strap on Danielson. Hell, he only has it now because Mark Henry suffered a groin injury and they had to quickly rewrite the match. It’s too early to tell, but I fear he’ll just be a transitional champion.
I don’t know how long these three WWE Superstars will keep their championships, but it’s great to see that, once again, the right guys have won.
During a multifaceted geek chat with Nerd Friend X, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon came up. As a tech enthusiast and a gamer, I feel obligated to support the show. It helps that I actually dig Fallon’s humor and my buddy Gavin works on the show…
Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, if Tebowmania will die down now that the Broncos’ streak has snapped, your WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan (!!!), or Rooney Mara vs. Kate Mara, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
During a multifaceted geek chat with Nerd Friend X, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon came up. As a tech enthusiast and a gamer, I feel obligated to support the show. It helps that I actually dig Fallon’s humor and my buddy Gavin works on the show. I was surprised to learn that Nerd Friend X hates the show and Fallon. It’s one thing if he doesn’t like Fallon’s humor and the show’s writing; it’s not for everyone. As a gamer and tech enthusiast, I feel that he should support it. After all, nobody else in late night features game developers and tech editors.
I love that Epic Games’ Cliff Bleszinski showed Gears of War 3 on the show. It’s awesome that Naughty Dog’s Evan Wells and Christophe Balestra dropped by to demo Uncharted 3. Microsoft got a ton of press when Microsoft’s Kudo Tsunoda showed Kinect to mainstream America on Fallon. TheVerge.com’s Joshua Topolsky (ex-Endgadget) drops by regularly to tell Jimmy and his audience about the latest and greatest in consumer electronics. Is there a late-night show that’s more nerd-friendly than Late Night with Jimmy Fallon?
Jimmy Fallon, his writers, and his producers are the future of late night…at least the future of what I want late night to be. People that grew up with games and/or obsessed with nerd toys are getting older. I love that there’s a late-night TV-show that covers my interests with respect and enthusiasm. I dream of the day Fallon gets the 11:30 slot, bringing great games and tech content to “the big show”. With your support, he’ll get there.
What do you think of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon featuring videogames and consumer electronics? If Fallon gets an 11:30 show, do you think he’ll continue bringing on game developers and tech experts as guests? Or will games and geek stuff be relegated to after midnight instead of before it?
In a move that I’m going to file under “It’s About Frickin’ Time You Hacks!”, Time Warner Cable has signed a deal with HBO for the HBO Go and Max Go streaming services. I’ve been extremely envious of my friends that have been able to enjoy the extensive library and advanced programming on HBO Go. Unfortunately, Time Warner Cable took its sweet-ass time to give its customers progressive features. I write this as I stare at my antiquated TWC cable box with its caveman UI. Before I start getting angry at TWC (again), here’s a clip from the press release:
Time Warner Cable today announced the upcoming launch of HBO’s authenticated online video destinations, HBO Go and Max Go. The companies will run a brief beta trial and then the service is expected to launch to all Time Warner Cable customers who subscribe to HBO in the next month. Time Warner Cable customers who subscribe to HBO and/or Cinemax will have free, unlimited access to the corresponding online services at any time, on any computer in the U.S. with a high-speed Internet connection, as well as a host of other devices, including the iPad.
This would have been 50 times more useful to me when Game of Thrones and Entourage were still on. Hopefully the service will continue to offer advanced episodes in 2012. I’m genuinely excited for the service and will definitely use the hell out of it when it goes live. That said, if my next apartment offers AT&T U-Verse or Verizon Fios, I’ll drop Time Warner Cable’s sorry-ass service — easily the worst I’ve ever had — in a second.
Meh. Let’s close this on a happy note. HBO Go is finally coming to Time Warner Cable subscribers!!!
The legendary George Takei (Star Trek’s Hikaru Sulu!) is calling for “Star Peace” — a movement that aims to unite Star Wars and Star Trek fans against the evil of Twilight. This is truly one of the most worthwhile causes I’ve heard of in years! Naturally, an Asian-American man is bringing everyone to their senses. Check out the video above and let me know what you think (please!).
Now kindly excuse me as I have to find my phaser and lightsaber. Hopefully they both work against bloodsucking teenagers.
