New game: GermChain

So since my last post, my hard drive died... but I got a new one and had most of my files backed up on my external, so no big deal.

Here is GermChain!

Try not to smash your mouse in frustration.

New game

I made another game... actually started it about 6 months ago, when i was learning flash so it's not perfect but, it is a stepping stone:

Asteroid Chunks

Have fun, more to come.

Movie: Batman Forever

http://illtrythat.blogspot.com/

3/5/08 - 2/17/09

(above photo stolen without permission)

Go buy t-shirts..(leave me a message if you want larger sizes or different styles/colors, and i mean anything, graphics or designs, just nothing copyrighted). http://zebrahdesigns.spreadshirt.com/us/US/Shop/
or play my game... http://www.kongregate.com/games/ZebraHDH/tangraze

See ya suckers! (really, its been fun... Here's a quick list of things i tried and never told you about: Wazoo Candy bars, Quadratini- tiramisu flavor, FUZE drinks, white chocolate M&M's, 74 movies(16 on dvd), 11 Xbox360 games, 5 Nintendo Wii games, 3 deodorants, a fish tank with 3 types of fish, 2 hats, some gum, 3 kinds of floss, 4 toothbrushes, and a dentist) Good luck deciding and trying things on your own... Here are some stats:

Illtrythat--

Income from Google Ads: $2.39
Income from Amazon Associates: $0
Income from Stimulus Bill- $0

Not Illtrythat--

Income from Spreadshirt (t-shirts): $15.50
Income from Kongregate (flash games): $14.41
Income from selling my old crap on Ebay: $850'ish and some odd cents

So yeah, I'll be putting more time into other things now... it was nice to do this for nearly a year, but i ended up boring myself to death with my own reviews... I would much rather do something i enjoy.
Thanks for watching, and have a great 2009-2076.

When are we allowed to start saying "Twenty-oh-nine", or is it next year in, "Twenty-ten", I don't recall anyone saying, "Man, I'm glad we took care of all the Y2K updates back in one thousand nine hundred ninety-nine." 2000 was the only* exception in my opinion, *as will be 3000, 4000, and after the second coming of Jesus 1000 again. On that topic, we have BC, and AD... so what will be next? AR (after returning)? AJCB (after Jesus came back)? WHFO (when hell froze over)? Ok, ok, ok enough of that.. How will the between time be measured? Forwards from 1AD to 3127AD and then its back to 1AJCB? or do we rewrite everything and get rid of the AD? Making it counting down from BCWBTDTECB (before christ was born then died then eventually came back) leading to ACCBTETWMIKOSTKTOWTTIC (after christ came back to end the world making it kind of silly to keep track of what this time is called)... Yeah that seems correct... Ok, before I end up ranting... goodbye forever(but not in a suicidal way, think "Batman Forever").

Candy: Snickers 'ROCKin NutROAD'

It just occurred to me that I forgot to post this.

It's a Snickers bar, Rocky Road style.

Very good if you like nuts and marshmallow.

Give this one a try if they have it in your area.

Movies: Happy Halloween Spooky Movie Lists

Since this year Halloween falls on a Friday, I think the holiday should extend to the entire weekend. So, since you'll have all that extra time to be spooked, I thought I would make a couple of lists for you to theme your scary movie festivals with.

Classics:
Dracula (1931) starring Bela Lugosi
The Wolf Man (1941) starring Lon Chaney Jr.
Frankenstein (1931) starring Boris Karloff
The Mummy (1932) starring Boris Karloff

Vampires:
Interview with a Vampire (1994) starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt
30 Days of Night (2007) starring Josh Hartnett
From Dusk Til Dawn (1996) starring George Clooney and Juliette Lewis
The Lost Boys (1987) starring Corey Haim and Feldman


Zombies:
28 Days Later (2002) starring Cillian Murphy
Resident Evil (2002) starring Milla Jovovich
Dawn of the Dead (2004) starring Sarah Polley and Ving Rhames
Night of the Living Dead (1990) starring no one of interest

Torture:
Saw (2004) starring Danny Glover
Hostel (2005) starring Jay Hernandez
Ôdishon aka "Audition" (1999) starring Japanese people
Turistas (2006) starring Josh Duhamel and Olivia Wilde

Car broke down is the worst place ever:
House of 1000 Corpses (2003) starring Karen Black and Sid Haig
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) or (2003) starring Jesica Biel
The Hills Have Eyes (2006) starring Vinessa Shaw (you know, the girl from Corky Romano)
Wrong Turn (2003) starring Eliza Dushku

Fun Stuff:
Club Dread (2004) starring Bill Paxton, Jordan Ladd, and Brittany Daniel
Shaun of the Dead (2004) starring Simon Pegg
Dead Alive or "Braindead" (1992) starring *cough*
Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006) starring Nathan Baesel and Robert Englund

These are some other random ones I thought of that are worth mentioning:
Pulse (2006)
An American Werewolf in London (1981)
The Descent (2005)
Cloverfield (2008)
Planet Terror (2007)
Nightmare on Elm Street- and sequels (1984-1994)
Friday the 13th- and sequels (1981-2001)
The Thing (1982)
and finally,
The Masters of Horror TV series has put out it's share of crap but there are a few that are fantastic. The 2 that stick out in my mind:
Jenifer (2005) with Steven Weber
Pelts (2006) with a M. E. Atloaf. (yeah, Meat Loaf)

And that concludes this year's Halloween Movie recommendations. I purposely did not include movies I didn't see. I don't need anyone coming back to tell me that I ruined the Movie Fest by suggesting a movie that turned out to be complete rubbish. But, that means I may have missed some good ones too. Let me know if you have any old or new scary movies in your collections that I failed to mention.

Be safe.

Kids, don't forget to let your parents check you candy before you start eating it, and parents don't forget to check the candy.

Also check out the sexual predators in your area, Halloween is their Christmas, only the gifts are bringing themselves. http://www.familywatchdog.us/

That last thing was supposed to be a joke, but it ended up just sounding like good advice.

Happy Monster Day.

TV Show: Fringe

Fringe is one of the new shows on TV this season. I thought I would give a quick summary for people that might not have given it a chance.

First off, the series is a main storyline, but each episode has a self contained story as well. It's easily comparable with the X-files, as the subject matter is science fiction.

The title "Fringe" is actually the idea behind each story. Years ago, the government invested in research into "fringe sciences", meaning the abnormal and theoretically impossible, and that leads us to the present where the scientist is helping a special task force to solve unusual cases. It's very "Mad Science'y" but in a fun, "I wish this were possible" kind of way.

The cast is very good. Note: Joshua Jackson is in it, and does well. The rest of the cast is fine for there "token" parts in a series like this. The special effects are top notch, and believable, which really helps to emerge you into the story.

It hasn't won me over 100% yet. But, I have watched, and will continue watching just to see what "fringe" subject is tackled next. They are available to watch online from the link, so give it a try. Let me know what you think.

Sorry for the "quote heavy" post.... But hey look at me... posting... Neat!

PC Game: Spore

Never before have I ever purchased a game for my computer that was so worth the price.

Spore, from the creator of Sim city, is a simulation/strategy game loaded with customizable content. Let me walk you through a game:

You start as a tiny cell wading around the primordial ooze of your planet. Choose to be an herbivore or a carnivore, and later an omnivore, then get to eating chunks of food. When you acquire some new body parts you can call your mate over to edit your offspring's appearance, then play as it. This process repeats a few times until you finally evolve a bigger brain.

Your new brain allows you to evolve into the "Creature Stage" and add the first set of legs to your character. This stage is on the land of your planet, which is populated by about a hundred other species of creatures. You can choose to befriend them, or make them your enemy, or even your food. Along your adventure, you will come across new and more complex parts to add to your creature, which can be done by finding your mate using your mating call.

Now, you have made some friends, and enemies, evolved a creature that can sing and dance, bite and spit, and even grew a bigger brain. It's time to discover fire. You make the final adjustments to your creature, adding "graspers"(hand-types) is a good idea, because the next stage you will not be a lone creature anymore, you will be commanding a tribe of them.

Your tribe has one objective, absorb the other tribes, seven or so in all. You can attack their village using spears, stone hammers, and torches, or make them an ally by gifting them some food and play your didgeridoos. You will also have your first bit of shame, luckily there is some tribal clothing for you. Add it anyway you like.

So the tribes are all gone now except for yours, and your village is getting bigger. Time to make your first city and move on to the next stage: Civilization. Build a city hall out of the huge selection of parts to begin. Now, your citizens decide, based on your actions throughout the game until now, what type of city you will be. Were you aggressive and violent? Then, you will likely be a military city. Passive and constantly recruiting friendships? Then, you are a religious city. Or, perhaps you have always known when to attack and when to befriend, this make you and economic city. Whatever your people decide, the first thing to do is build a car for doing your business with. Later in the stage you will have the opportunity to build boats and planes as well, these are the units that you will be commanding around your planet. There is some new garb to choose from too, in case you want to look more sophisticated. When your city gets more money and power you will want to build yourself some houses to add to the population, some factories to add to productivity, and some places for entertainment to keep the people's minds off of work. Ah! Lots and lots of customization, I love it.

So the planet is yours, you have dominated the other cities in one way or another. What is left? SPACE OF COURSE! Build a spaceship. Leave your planet...Leave your solar system...Explore the galaxy! There is a seemingly endless amount of stars, planets, and other galactic phenomenon Meet other beings from other worlds, trade with them, do missions for them, perhaps go to war with them. You can colonize planets, and terraform them for safe living, mine the precious spices, and customize the surfaces with oceans, rivers, mountains, etc., and the colors too.

That's the game, in a huge nutshell. It is highly addictive. Your content is shared with others online so their planets have your creatures, buildings and vehicles on them, and vice versa.

The game is a bit too much for an older computer to handle, so check the specifications before you buy it. oh and BUY IT!

OK, here is some info, link and all that good stuff.

The Spore Creature Creator--- FREE TRIAL(limited parts, but still very fun)



My most recent creations: (This is not working at the moment but i copy/pasted the code exactly so the problem is on their end. I am going to leave it here in case it ever gets fixed. You can see my stuff here if you like.)

Not absent yet.

I'm still here, and haven't forgot about you.

Just looking for something good to review.

Stay tuned, I'll try to get something to you this week.

Thanks!

Movies: Summer Movies

So I had the joy of seeing most of the movies I wanted to this summer, and even though the summer is not over yet, the "Summer Blockbusters" have come and gone. So I thought I would go through the films I got to see in theaters and let you know what I thought of them, as well as whether or not to grab it on DVD.

Ironman- This was an incredible film. Everything about it was fantastic from the beginning to end. You don't even need to be a fan of comic books to enjoy it. Terrorism, corruption, and greed are the enemy throughout the movie, and the hero is the opposite of all of heroes you've ever known. Robert Downey Jr. was the only man that could have played the character and he did it flawlessly. DVD: There is no doubt that I will be getting this when it comes out. I imagine there will be loads of special features to make this a very good buy.

Hancock- The first thing that comes to mind, is strange. Its a very clowny movie that tried very hard to get you to root for the characters, but there is a twist toward the end that will either make you wonder what's going to happen next, or why are you watching this movie. Will Smith is good, but when has he not been. I really like Jason Bateman, who plays Hancock's PR guy, so his addition to the cast made it much more watchable. DVD: This isn't a movie I feel that I will need to watch ever again, unless it's to refresh my memory for if a sequel ever happens (which I doubt ever will). Rent it if you like the genre, or Will Smith acting like a douche.

The Incredible Hulk- This one I am really on the fence with. It is loads better than the previous attempt, but not enough better that I would say that its the best they can do. The storyline is much more like the TV series (kinda), and you are somewhat thrown into it forced to have a tiny bit of an idea as to what the back story is. So it's not a big deal if you know somethings about Hulk but not so good if you know nothing. As it goes on, you get caught up with the past and present situations but a hardcore fan may not make it that far into the movie to care. Edward Norton got the job done, but not in any way that someone else couldn't have done it the same. The only thing that was truly entertaining is the action scenes and the main villain. DVD: This is definitely a rent if you didn't get to see it, and would like to. Whether or not to buy it is totally based on how much you liked it. I am choosing to skip this one.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army- I saw this on an impulse. I didn't love the first one, in fact, I barely even remember it. The main reason for seeing it was "Pan's Labyrinth". It was such a deep and profound film, that I figured I owed it to Guillermo del Toro to see his next movie, even though he did the first one too. So all in all, I would say I did enjoy it. I really laughed at some parts, and marveled at others. Visually, the film is right up there with "Pan's Labyrinth". The only genuinely weak aspect of the film is it's climax. There is so much build to it that you end up expecting more from it. DVD: There is no reason for me to own this one, as I don't own the first.

The Dark Knight- I can't really add anything to all the raving reviews of this excellent film. Batman Begins was great, and so is this, only on a much higher level. I love most of Christian Bale's movies, and he is one of the few actor's I would be very star-struck and intimidated by. I am super psyched he will be starring in the new Terminator Movie. Heath Ledger, dead or alive, should be awarded for his portrayal of The Joker. I really wish I could have seen this in IMAX. DVD: I will probably end up getting this. I don't know how much behind the scenes type stuff there will be though, and if possible I would love to see and uncut, unrated edition. With any luck they will release this in a 2-pack with Batman Begins.

Step Brothers- The last movie, to date, that I have seen this summer was so nonstop funny I wish I could have seen it again immediately after the first time. I love Will Farrell's humor and comic delivery, and not many people can say they don't agree. John C. Riley has been his comic "wingman" of sorts in many films now making them comedy gold. As a side note, "Semi-Pro" with Will Farrell, surprisingly not that great, however, "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox" Story with John C. Riley is one of the funniest musical-esque movies of all time. DVD: This is a 100% no-brainer BUY for me. There will definitely be an unrated version because half of the commercials for the film featured lines that were not even in the movie. The standard Will Farrell movie DVD usually is loaded with improv and outtakes as well.

Looking back at the movies I saw this past couple months, I would say that some of the best movies of the past ten years came out this year. I would love to hear your opinions on these or any movies I missed.

Stay classy San Diego... and thanks for stopping by.

TV: Generation Kill

Greetings gals and gents!

In my quest to NOT let my blog drop into the depths of the Internet, I bring you a quick "check this out" type of thing.

Generation Kill is an HBO Film's mini-series that follows a battalion of US Marines from the beginning of the invasion of Iraq. There are the obvious creative liberties being taken but there are many aspects taken straight from newspaper headlines.

I will admit that I was not even slightly interested in watching it until a night that there was nothing of interest on TV, so I browsed the OnDemand. HBO OnDemand has the entire series (to date) up, so you can catch up in the story and characters just in time for the finale on August 24th. If you don't have HBO OnDemand you should still be able to catch some encore showings on HBO.

Enjoy.

DVD: Cloverfield

This movie is basically Blair Witch Project meets Godzilla.

Notes--
If you get motion sickness easily, you will probably have to look away from the screen a few times throughout the film.

The larger and louder the movie is when you view it, the better the experience is.

It is easier to enjoy the "horror" of it if you turn off your brain. If you start to ask why this happens or how they did see something, you are going to find too much wrong with the scenario to get into it.

There is a huge Internet viral campaign for Cloverfield, and it is worth it to look into it before AND after seeing the movie.

The DVD is packed full of interesting stuff. its about a 7 out of 10 as far as the extras are concerned.

Verdict: Exciting film. Very unique to the genre of "Giant Monster" movies. Worth seeing at least once, and perhaps more than once if it's you type of thing.

Cloverfield - definitely check out the external links at the bottom of the wiki.

Web Games: Old School Nintendo

Hey! If you like the original NES, you will love this site: http://www.nintendo8.com/

It has a huge selection of NES games to play online.

Candy: Trident Wild Blueberry Twist

Welcome back! This is the new "I'll try that!" now. You may be wondering, "What makes it new?" Well, I have lost alot of the will to keep this up. I feel like I gave it a try, and it's just not something I enjoy doing enough to continue doing it at the extent I was doing it in. Got it?

So, instead of giving up completely, I am going to shorten it down to something that is most likely going to be less fun to read. I know, it stinks, but it was either this or nothing.

I'm going to try to add some new aspects though. Things like: Links to games I like, short musings about one thing or another, and I may continue doing "Guess What I tried!" as well as a few other interactive things like that.

Anyway, I bought this Trident Wild Berry Twist. It's gross. What is Xylitol and why is it in all Trident gum? The Answer.

(This is the top left picture in "Guess What I Tried!"3)

Verdict: "Stick" to chewing your favorite gum.

Ahhhh!- Update

Hey gang! I just wanted to drop a quick line to let you know I am trying to update as often as possible. It has been a busy few weeks and I am really backed up on products to review.

So if you are willing to bare with me, I promise I will get lots of new stuff up, as well as finish up the current "Guess What I Tried!" so I can start the new one.

Thanks for checking in!

Food: California Pizza Kitchen Crispy Thin Crust Margherita Pizza For One

I like pizza... Scratch that... I LOVE PIZZA!

I eat pizza as often as I can, so I am always looking for better microwavable personal size pizzas when I am at the market. They generally only take a few minutes to make and fill me up well and good.

The California Pizza Kitchen is a restaurant chain that made quite a bit of success in a small amount of time. The next logical step was to get their pizzas in the super markets. There are many different 'flavors' and sizes, but this was my first time seeing a microwavable one. Hooray!

The Margherita Pizza is a little "tomatoey" for me but it was delicious none the less. These are very high quality microwaveable pizzas.

(This is the bottom left picture in "Guess What I Tried!"3)

Pros:
Conveniently microwavable.
Great flavor selection.

Cons:
It's not a very healthy meal.
A bit pricey.

Verdict:
As a pizza junky I love these, but they may not be for everyone. I don't really see myself getting these often, but definitely occasionally. Try these, or others from this brand, out, you'll enjoy them as a treat.

Snack: Dannon Light & Fit- White Chocolate Raspberry Yogurt

In my quest to eat more healthy foods, I have decided to make yogurt a new snack in my diet. The only problem is that I hate yogurt. So, I was pretty happy when I came across this yummy flavor of Dannon's Light & Fit.

The best way to describe the taste, is a favorable mix between white chocolate pudding and raspberry yogurt, only it still feels and smells like yogurt.

Anyway, it's delicious and good for you.

(This is the bottom right picture in "Guess What I Tried!"3)

Pros:
Yogurt is good for you.
This flavor is a good "gateway" or "starter" yogurt.

Cons:
It rarely ever quenches my hunger, so i end up eating something else right after.
It expires fairly fast, so you need to eat them pretty soon after purchasing.

Verdict:
Well, its yogurt. All I can say about it is that if you think you want to try eating yogurt, this is a good flavor to get you eating the stuff. Then, you can venture into uncharted flavors in the future.

(By the way, I am dropping the ads for grocery store type product reviews for two reasons. Reason 1- Most of the time it's hard to get them on Amazon in anything smaller than a case. Reason 2- No one buys yogurt or M&M's or deodorant on the Internet. So this means less ads for you to avoid, and less time wasted for me finding them for every single post I make. Booyah!)

"Guess What I Tried!" 3

"Guess What I Tried!"

Take a look at these cleverly cropped images of some of the things I will be reviewing soon, and see if you can guess what they are! Try to be as specific as possible. I will note them in their review as being part of the game, so guess as many times as you like. And, keep an eye out at the store to see if you can spot them!

Have fun!

Snack: Nilla Cakesters

Nilla Cakesters are Nabisco's not-so-likable version of the much more popular, much more delicious, Oreo Cakesters.

The Cakester concept is actually directly ripped off from a state fair/local bakery treat called a "chocolate gob" that is two massive cake cookies
sandwiched together with creamy white frosting.

(This is the bottom right picture in "Guess What I Tried!"2)

Pros:
It's probably the newest thing to happen to Nilla in 20 years

Cons:
Nilla is very bland and so are these, yet they manage to pull off being incredibly sweet.

Verdict:
I have and always will be a fan of the Oreo version. The Nilla version is not for me. They lack flavor to go with the sweetness.

DVD: In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale

This is a review I have been really trying to avoid writing. I have nothing good to say at all, but if I don't tell you, who will?

In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale is a film with an unreasonably long title. Perhaps you've noticed that already. Anyway, moving on.

The movie stars Jason Statham, an actor with the worst agent in the world, unless of course any of his horrible movies make any money. Now, don't get me wrong, I actually do like him, and his career must be doing well considering his is making a Transporter 3 and Crank 2. Seriously though, are these movies better than Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch? No.

I could go on and on about him, but unfortunately I can't in this blog because so many people were screwed by this film.

So, who else was in In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale? Buckle your seat belts:

*Leelee Sobieski- Apparently, trying to come off of that career-high role in Wicker Man.
*John Rhys-Davies- I enjoy him. He was in the Lord of the Rings films, and one of my favorite cheesy sci-fi shows, Sliders. You also may have seen him in every made for TV movie ever made. He also does lots of voice over work for toons and games.
*Ron Perlman- He is other guy that does lots and lots of voice overs. He is mostly known as Hellboy though.
*Matthew Lillard- I don't expect much from him, because he must have the same agent as Statham. He went from Hackers and Scream to Scooby Doo and Without a Paddle.
*Burt Reynolds- I can't say anything directly bad about him. He was born in 1936, been acting since 1959, and still looks like a million bucks.

and the final person worth pointing out is.....

*Ray Liotta- He was in Goodfellas and also Wild Hogs. You be the judge.

Now, you may be saying to your computer screen, "Hey Mr. "I'll Try That!" Blogger, I think that cast sounds great! Why are you bashing them?"
Well, this movie was terrible, but not necessarily at the fault of the actors.

The first thing I will point out, is the horrific musical score. Imagine watching an action movie to a kid's movie soundtrack, and you'll get it. The dialogue was unreal. Not WOW!, more like OW! There is a part where two characters fall from a rope 100 feet into a shallow river, and their lines were: "WwwwwwHhhhOooAaa!" Ugh. The only thing that tops that line, is all of Ray Liotta's. The directing and editing are epic... epic failures.

~~I just want to note that I usually would edit the links so they would open in a new window, however the amount of links in this entry is more than usual, so you're all going to have to either right click to open in a new window, or navigate back and forth. Sorry!~~

(This is the top left picture in "Guess What I Tried!"2)

Pros:
The best thing about this DVD is..... *just picture me spitting on the screen here*

Cons:
It's my vote for the worst movie ever made.
Bad Dialogue.
Bad musical score.
Bad Editing.
BAD BAD BAD!!!

Verdict:
If I ever heard somewhere down the line that they made this movie on a dare, or everyone involved was caught at some big Hollywood coke party and this screenplay was written by the judge that ruled on the cases; letting them go if they agreed to make it... I would totally believe it. The only reason I would tell someone to watch this movie is if they honestly don't believe how bad it is. Just having to think about the movie while writing this has made me feel a little sick.

Hygiene: Right Guard Xtreme: Arctic Refresh

I will spare the details of my experiences that led me to this product because no one wants to hear about sweat and armpits.

I will simply say this:

I have been a canned, spray deodorant/antiperspirant user for many years. The problem I have had is that each brand I have used has discontinued production. I blame this solely on the "body spray" industry, which is only covering up the smell off sweaty men everywhere so they can also sell antiperspirant stick/roll-on. It's the biggest con ever, and there are also people putting cologne on over these other two scents.

It's so backwards and wasteful it makes me sick.

Anyway, the most effective antiperspirant I have ever used was the cans of Right Guard Xtreme Cool Spray. This is the stick version, and it works great.

(This is the bottom left picture in "Guess What I Tried!"2)

Pros:
It works. That's all it should do.

Cons:
I have to rub it in my armpits. Please bring back the Cool Spray.

Verdict:
Any man looking for a new deoderant should consider this first. The scent I have chosen is easily the most mild out of all the scents, of all the brands, in the store.