I’ve played chess for fun since I was a kid and I enjoy it if I win or lose. The fun for me is in the game itself. I’ve been looking for a very special chess set for years and there are a lot out there–many have caught my eye, but none like the Clamp No Kiseki chess set.

As many Anime and Manga fans know, Clamp is a group of four women who created some of the best Anime for multiple generations. Some of the titles include XXXholic (pronounced holic), X/1999, Chobits, Angelic Layer, Cardcaptor Sakura and Tsubasa–just to name …

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WOW! Alright, let me get through Battleground Evil-Lyn and then we’ll get to…well, just wait for it!

December, the final month of the subscription service from Mattycollector.com—thankfully… Missing is Demo-Man–the concept of Skeletor was delayed until Janurary so for now it’s Battleground Evil-Lyn and The Wind Raider.

Battleground Evil-Lyn is a repaint of standard Evil-Lyn however; it’s a very nice figure and comes with some cool extras. Apparently since the early 80’s everyone wanted an Evil-Lyn with her hair showing and here she is. Her short mop of white hair is exposed and her face sculpt is good—perhaps she appears older …

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The Trans-Siberian Orchestra brought their awesome show to Philly yesterday for 2 shows. I attended the 3pm show where a very good crowd of 10,100 people attended. Everyone seemed to be in a great mood and the show was terrific. The band played for nearly 2 1/2 hours and the ticket prices were certainly fair considering their amazing “living” stage and the spectacle of lazers and lights. It was akin to being at a rock rave.

The first half of the show features a more traditional storyline-based show. A narrator spins a tale of lost love on a cold Christmas Eve …

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Recently I’ve put down my text books and picked up a read that I didn’t know too much about. The book is called “The Way Of One Gypsy” By: Clarissa Simmens. “The Way Of One Gypsy” is a fictional story about a family of Romani (Gypsies) who came to the United States from Europe. The story is loosely themed like the animated movie “American Pop” by: Ralph Bakshi where it begins with the great grand parents and then goes down until the main character Kaylita whom tells the story is the focus and her life is revealed as the story progresses.…

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If you weren’t one of those who dished out $70. bucks last weekend to watch Mayweather vs. Ortiz on PPV, HBO has a special on the fight which goes behind the scenes with interviews, recaps, and shows the controversial match itself with slow-mo replays of Ortiz’s dreaded head butt and Mayweather’s ensuing sucker punch.

As someone who lost all respect for Mayweather when he royally punked out of fighting Pacquiao with his ridiculous last minute demands of drug testing, I was already rooting for Ortiz… especially now that Pacquiao has agreed to Mayweather’s demands and he’s still running scared.

For the …

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Straight from Japan and after about 7 months on pre-order is Black Rock Shooter: The Game-Premium White Box.

This is the definitive version of the first Black Rock Shooter video game. Playable on any PSP world wide and in the Japanese language, BRS: The Game came in a large and beautiful box with great head-shot images of Black Rock Shooter and White Rock Shooter. This set comes complete with the PSP game which once again is playable in all PSP systems, however it is entirely in Japanese so it’s feel it out as you go along–unless you know Japanese.

Also included …

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Okay, so it probably comes as no surprise but Anne Hathaway was on the Daily Show last night showing her exuberance over being a nerd.  At 1:04 after taking her seat, she says “So these are the nerds?” pointing to the audience, to which the audience responds with cheers and applause.  Then she stretches out her arms and exclaims “My people!”  In response, Jon Stewart chimes in with some joke about War of Warcraft.  Later on they talk Scrabble and Anne jokingly threatens to hurt Jon on the grounds that she’s playing Catwoman in the upcoming Dark Knight Rises.  …

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Final Destination movies excel at gory, chain of reaction death scenes and over the top gore. Critic Roger Ebert termed them “dead teenager movies” and the Final Destination series has been a good example of them. The formula is so simple and easily replicated that the series could go on forever. Happily, if Final Destination 5 is the last film, the series has gone out on a good, gory note and the final scenes pay homage to the first and best film in the series. Gone is the more jokey tone of the last sequel (one which I liked but divided …

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You might have seen a video or two on Youtube created by these three ladies.  They’re known as LBK (which stands for Lisy, Bora, Kim).  LBK is a motivational group who frequently get together to raise money for charities.  Their positive outlook and happy-go-lucky natures are infectious.  Take a look at this video and you’ll see what I mean.

I came across this one day when I was looking into a competition called Tough Mudder.  Tough Mudder is a 10 mile obstacle course designed by British Special Forces guys.  They hold this event periodically in different places to raise money …

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Rise of the Planet of the Apes plays like a PETA wet dream. All the apes are CG (amazing effects courtesy of WETA and Gollum himself, actor Andy Serkis) and the movie is like an old-fashioned B movie with a strong moral center. The effects are spectacular and the movie itself has an odd resemblance to the documentary Planet Nim. Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a prequel to the popular Apes series while also tackling such weighty moral issues such as animal experimentation, human disease, and the exploitation of animals in the name of profits.

The film is …

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