Looking forward

While most people would probably assume a person a month away from their wedding would only be focused on that (to the point of scaring small mammals) but my fiance and I don't quite have that tunnel vision.

Instead we have a whole bunch of things coming out over the next few months we're really excited about (some of which we've been waiting years for).

So without further ado, here is a list of all the cool things that are coming. If there's anything you're looking forward to that isn't wedding related please share. I feel like I'm forgetting something myself.

Lego Batman:
September 23rd

Come on, it's a lego game with Batman! We've actually been going through replaying the Star Wars Lego games in anticipation. My guy is practically salivating at the thought of getting to play as Batman and beat the snot out of Clayface.

IronMan on DVD
September 30th

We are a Marvel family (the only DC allowed is Batman, I loathe Supes) but neither of us were at first sure about IronMan. After all his general character is a rich alcoholic bastard, but after watching some trailers I got that tingle I get that was telling me this is gonna be a good movie (I am very very good at picking which movies we'll like and which we won't) so we got to the theatre and were blown away like most people by Downeys performance.

Terry Pratchett's latest book
Nation
September 30th


Terry Pratchett, the author of more Discworld books than I can count, has turned to writing some children books lately and they are very different from most typical young adult books. They don't talk down to the audience, and they don't shield the reader from the hardships of life (I really recommend the Tiffany Aching set if you know anyone who likes fantasy stuff and is anywhere from 8 and up). This one is not taking place at Discworld but I still have faith in it being an interesting read.

Rock Band 2:
October 19th on PS3

Does Rock Band really need any explanations? We both love their song lists way more than the latest Guitar Hero.

Now they just need to add a keyboard option.

MST3K: 20th anniversary edition
October 28th

Okay so my honeymoon is a bit of a hint that I am a huge MSTie, but alas I didn't get into it til it moved to Sci-Fi so I missed out on a whole lot of the history (which I've been slowly catching up on thanks to Rhino).

Well now they are putting out a 20th anniversary set that has 4 movies and for the first time with these sets a whole host of extras.

I've seen Werewolf and FutureWar (I only have FutureWar on tape) and those are split your sides hilarious (what I would not have given to have Jack Frost on it). But what I am most excited about is the possibility of finally getting to see LaserBlast. It's like a right of passage for a MSTie right up there with enduring Manos, or getting into a Joel vs Mike debate.

Futurama: Benders Game
November 4th



Please Dear God, let all of the Futurama movies sell well. We'd give anything to have it back on TV.

This one looks like a whole lot of fun, spoofing fantasy genres in general. There's even talk about the web that Gary Gygax (on of the creators of D&D)has a small cameo before he passed on.

Quantum of Solace
14th November 2008

I'm not usually a big celebrity chaser or crusher on (sounds like they're alumminum cans)but there is just something about Daniel Craig that pushes all my buttons (especially in Layer Cake, though I think Colm Meany is the best). My guy generally just puts up with it and can pick on me for it (it's okay I can get back at him for having a thing for Jean Grey).

But it is nice having a Bond that can actually take a few punches (and really looks like he already has) and have a much more realistic story (no more invisible cars please).




Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2: Fusion
God Only knows


Did I mention that we're big Marvel fans? Well I think we've played the Ultimate Alliance game about 30 times through. It's amazing just how huge that game is and how many options there are. We look forward to the second one.

Now give us a release date damn it!

I do, now what?

Let's fast forward to the future and pretend that the wedding is all over. You've already finished packing away the cake server and knife (for a day it rains cakes), changed your name to Oscar the Grouch (don't drink and fill out paperwork) and shared your wedding pics with every bus driver in your town.

So, now what?

Some people seem worried about what they'll do after all the planning is done, after all the hours spent putting together the pop out invitations and crafting intricate centerpieces what can they devote all this time to now?

The short answer is, anything you want (though I wouldn't recommend being on a reality show). We haven't yet fallen into the time sucking daemon that is wedding planning so we'll take time to play video games or watch old movies during the week. So maybe we won't be the bride and groom who after the wedding is all done stand in the middle of the room and have no idea what to do.

But for those who need some new projects here are a few different ideas. First off, everyone loves food (well unless you're big into the food pills from the future) and some people like to sample different and exotic food stuffs so why not take a fancy cooking class at a local community college. We're pretty big into Indian food, he's all over the curry (thank god we're not in England, all he'd eat was curry) and I love tandoori (I wish I had a clay oven) so we may take an Indian cooking class if we run out of things to do.

For those who fear the kitchen and have nightmares of that stove from Beauty and the Beast, you could always adopt yourself a pet and then work on training it to be the "Best Dog/Cat/Bird/Lizard/Chicken Ever!" My Dad trains labs for hunt tests and field trials so I know all too well how training a dog can just suck up the hours. It'll also drive you nuts when the dog starts running the show and gets to say when he goes to train, but it's all worth it to have them really good at picking up things and bringing them back.

Another option for the allergic to fur and feathers variety, you could rearrange all the furniture in your place once a month. Do it in the middle of the night or during lunch to freak your new spouse out. If you're still eating a lot of pizza you could even make a maze and challenge him to try and find the remote at the end of it. Just make sure to have some load bearing boxes, no one wants to have to explain a pizza box cave in to a firefighter.

If pets just didn't seem like enough of a life altering change you could always get started on having kids. I an hoping everyone getting married doesn't need instructions on that, so moving on . . .

There are always those extreme hobbies you just never got around to, but now you have hours to devote to bungee jumping, sky diving, shark snorkeling, bull running, or goat feeding (goats can be mean). Think of how many eXtremes you can add to your resume.

Or if none of these appeal to you at all, you could just focus on starting a life with your guy moving forward with all those goals you talked about before the wedding and hopefully loving most of the minutes you're with him. You can always take up elephant polo after you've been married a few years.