Mortal Kombat Armageddon is meant to draw to a close this chapter of the Mortal Kombat story, wrapping up all the loose ends brought on my all past incarnations of the popular (and bloody) fighting game. In this way, all of the characters you know and love are back, from classic Sub-Zero, Scorpion, and Kano to newer characters like Bo’ Rai Cho, Li Mei, and Mavado.

Second perhaps only to the legendary Street Fighter series, Mortal Kombat is probably one of the most popular video game series out there when it comes to the standard one-on-one beat ‘em up. Sure, you have your Tekken, Soul Calibur, and King of Fighters, but who can resist the appeal of “Get Over Here” Scorpion and “You Are Next” Shao Khan.

Doing a quick count on the selection screen below (courtesy of Kotaku.com), you’ll find no fewer than 64 kharacters fighters kombatants from which to select. Sixty-four. Wow, just wow….

I’m just upset that this will not be available for my beloved Nintendo GameCube.

Look for Mortal Kombat Armageddon to hit the Microsoft Xbox (not 360) and Sony PlayStation 2 (not PS3) this October.

According to Wikipedia, the characters above are:
* 1st row: Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Reptile, Rain, Ermac, Chameleon, Noob Saibot, Smoke, Cyrax, Sektor.
* 2nd row: Stryker, Kabal, Dairou, Jarek, Darrius, Reiko, Fujin, Bo Rai Cho, Mavado, Hotaru.
* 3rd row: Nightwolf, Mokap, Johnny Cage, Kano, Jax, Kai, Kenshi, Shujinko, Hsu Hao, Kobra.
* 4th row: KaK Red (Kreated), Daegon (Locked), Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Shang Tsung, Quan Chi, Shinnok, Raiden, Taven (Locked), KaK Blue (Kreated).
* 5th row: Sonya, Kitana, Mileena, Jade, Ashrah, Li Mei.
* 6th row: Tanya, Frost, Sindel, Nitara, Kira, Sareena.
* 7th row: Sheeva, Baraka, Motaro, Havik, Drahmin, Moloch.
* 8th row: Meat (Locked), Shao Kahn, Goro, Kintaro, Onaga, Blaze (Locked).

UPDATE (08/02/06):
I found out that although Mortal Kombat Armageddon isn’t going to be on the GameCube, it is going to be on the Nintendo Wii! Not until January 2007, though.

Yesterday was CityTV’s Taste of the City, held at the Plaza of Nations in Vancouver. To recap, there were 20 some odd local restaurants showcasing their dishes to the eager (and hungry) public, from butter chicken to hamburgers, Filipino desserts to mildly-flavoured water. In exchange for a certain number of tickets (which were being sold at $10 for a sheet of 20, effectively making them 50 cents a piece), the stands would offer a small sample of their food. No dish would cost more than six tickets, so nothing cost you more than three bucks.

To some, this may sound an awful lot like the Eat! Vancouver food and kitchen festival held a few months back at BC Place Stadium (ironically, just across the street from the Plaza of Nations), and, well, that’s not all the far away from the truth. The main difference is that Eat! Vancouver had an admission charge (Taste of the City let people in for free). That said, Eat! Vancouver had a number of free samples, whereas anything you decided to stuff into your face at Taste of the City would cost you a pretty penny

There were a good variety of bistros and restaurants in attendance, including some finer dining options like Feenie’s, at this, the fourth annual Taste of the City… but there was something that really detracted from the event and it wasn’t Simi Sara on the stage.

The only thing that I despise more than crowds are line-ups, and sure enough, CityTV’s Taste of the City had both. Not only would you be shoulder-to-shoulder with someone at all times, the lineups for certain stands (most, really) were incredibly long. At the Kelsey’s booth, for example, there were no fewer than 70 people anxiously waiting for a taste of their ribs at any given time. In fact, several booths sold out of their food well before the event wrapped up at 8pm.

Taste of the City is a good idea, but it needs to be executed a little better. The organization just wasn’t there, with the lineups to the different food booths being quite unclear, snaking in and out of the eating area (which was an absolute mess with leftover plates of half-eaten food).

Am I going next year? I certainly hope not… and it’s not because of Simi Sara.

—
According to the official website:
Participating restaurants at Taste Of The City reflect Vancouver’s growing ethnic influence, while still catering to traditional appetites. This years’ list include: Ashiana Tandoori, BC Chefs Association Jr. Chapter, Beaches Restaurant at Coast Tsawwassen, Burgers etc. BBQ House, Cassis Bistro, Century Restaurant, Chutney Villa, Feenie’s Bistro, Fiddlehead Joe’s Eatery and Bar, Habibi’s, Joeys Restaurant, Kelsey’s Restaurant, La Gavroche, Maurya Indian Cuisine, Memphis Mikes, Milestone’s Restaurant, Mosaic Bar & Grille, Mouse and Bean Antojerio Mexicana, Nando’s Flame Grilled Chicken, O’Doul’s Restaurant & Bar, Patisserie Lebeau, Relish, Sate Satu Restaurant, Senova, Slim’z Barbeque & Steakhouse, T.G.I. Friday’s Restaurant and Bar and Vera’s Burger.

Came across this during my daily journeys through the forums and blogosphere. A user on REVscene.net known only as kspec let his lawn go unmowed for a solid four months. The result was an absolute jungle… in his own words, it “turned into a basic jungle…[a] jungle for creative ideas to flow through.” After five hours in the sun, a little imagination and planning, and the help of a digital camera for documentation purposes, he came up with something a little different from the rest of the pack.

Without further ado, here is his internet-worthy salute to the world of short-hand. ROFLcopter, my friend, ROFLcopter….

Writing for Mobile Magazine has got its perks. I already had the chance to review the Archos 104 music player, but for the past week or so, I’ve been toying around with the Motorola i580 iDEN phone from Nextel (also offered as the i570 in Canada, through Telus Mobility). It’s one ultra rugged number with a surprising level of multimedia functionality. Check out my full review here

Put briefly, it’s bulky, heavy, and slow, but it’ll withstand the worst of environments and that’s exactly where it belongs. With military-grade resistances to dust, water, and shock (drops, bumps, and bruises), the Motorola i580 mobile phone is one tough cookie. But let’s not fool anybody… it ain’t exactly the prettiest cell phone out there, and for $220 USD with a 2-year contract, I’m quite sure you can find a more attractive handset with an equivalent (or better) feature set.

There’s a lot of garbage on television these days, but there are also a lot of programs out there that don’t get as much media attention as the latest edition of American Idol, for example. In future entries in this blog, I might venture into the more mainstream programs that show up in primetime on some major networks, but for today, I’m showcasing a small handful of shows that I enjoy watching for a variety of reasons. I’ve left reality TV and sitcoms on the backburner for now, as much as I enjoy the latter, but I hope that you’ll like some of these shows. I know I do. And you may not have even heard of some of these.

Technical Knockout: Syndicated on CH and Global, Technical Knockout is hosted by Su-Ling Goh and Carey Roberts. Despite what the title may lead you to believe, this is not a show about boxing (although they did mention Mike Tyson in one particular episode). Instead, the focus is on the “technical” part of its title, featuring new technology, vehicles, inventions, and that sort of thing. They seek to demystify the electronics section of your local department store, opening up some new computers and explaining them in layman’s terms. Video game enthusiasts get treated to the odd review or preview, music lovers get introduced to new MP3 players, and trivia aficionados get a tidbit or two. If you’re seeking in-depth reviews, this isn’t the show for you, but it does give a brief overview of a wide variety of topics related to technology. Myself, being a writer and editor for Mobile Magazine, not very much on this show is “new” to me, but I still enjoy watching it.

Wrong Coast: Airing several times a week on the Comedy Network, the Wrong Coast spoofs all those entertainment gossip shows that are on TV, like Entertainment Tonight, Extra, and Access Hollywood. They make use of clay-mation with hosts Jameson Burkwright (voiced by Mark Hamill, yes, “Luke Skywalker” Mark Hamill) and Debbie Sue Ashanti-Melendez (voiced by Kathryn Greenwood, yes that “I haven’t heard of her before this either” Kathryn Greenwood). One of the most amusing field reporters is Ti Hua Foo, who apparently represents every Asian culture there is. Sometimes you’d think he’s Chinese, othertimes Japanese or Korean. I guess that’s typical of Hollywood, though, just like the token black person, but that’s exactly the beauty of this show. They aim to spoof us all, from highlighting new movies like That 70s Movie (starring the Wayans brothers in a variety of 70s movies scenes, like Rocky, Jaws, and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid), American Booty (where the Kevin Spacey character gets infatuated with Queen Latifah’s robust derriere), and First Wives Fight Club (the first rule of First Wives Fight Club is… oh, nevermind). Unfortunately, there is only one season that has been completed (it takes eight hours to make a 15 second segment).

Driving Television: Another show on the Global network, Driving Television is hosted by Dagmar Midcap and Zack Spencer, the latter of which you’ll probably recognize from his on-air personality days at Z95.3, “Eye on the Street” at BCTV, or currently as the weather anchor for BCTV Morning News. This show focuses on reviewing a couple of vehicles, getting the input from both hosts. They look at the performance, the look, the feel, the interior, the drive, and anything else that may affect your purchasing decision (y’know, like price). They list their pros and cons, giving you a general feel of that particular car. In between, they’ll have short segments on improving fuel economy, and other car-related issues.

Yo Momma: Now that That 70s Show is over and done with, Wilmer Valderrama (you probably know him simply as “Fez”) has found his new calling hosting this show on MTV. As you can probably guess, this program is just filled with yo momma jokes (I’ve always spelled it as yo mama, but what do I know). It seems like he visits different locales, in an attempt to find the ultimate diss machine. They sometimes call them “battles”, he may sometimes tell them to begin by saying, “Let’s bully!”, but whatever you call them, there’s some wit to be found there (but a lot of cheese as well). The local participants challenge each other for $1,000 in “cash money” and the chance to appear on the ‘championship’ show later on in the season.

Pinks!: Generally speaking, Pinks!, found on Speedvision, is strictly for gear-heads and grease monkeys. If you’re not into high horsepower cars, loud exhausts, and fast spooling turbos, you’re not going to enjoy this program. That said, if you know exactly what I’m talking about when I mention a EK HB with a Garrett GT28R, then this show is right up your alley. It pits “everyday” cars against one another on a quarter-mile drag strip. They negotiate the terms, including giving head starts, deactivating nitrous (best known by the popular name brand “NOS”), and other things. First car/driver to win three races wins the competition… and his opponent’s car. You see, the reason why this show is called Pinks! is that they compete for pink slips: the deeds to their cars. Good fun.

We’re in for a heatwave. At least here in Vancouver, and I’ve heard that it’s not exactly getting any cooler in the BC Interior either. In fact, towns like Lytton are hitting the high 30s (that’s in Celsius, of course, so about 95 degrees Fahrenheit for any American readers out there. Tamara Taggart, voted favorite broadcaster, went out on a beach during tonight’s news and attempted to fry an egg on a frying pan, without the aid of a regular heating element of any kind… just the power of the sun and this blistering oven that we’re all experiencing right now. I didn’t manage to catch the end of the show, so I’m not sure how successful she was. Sorry.

From what I hear, it’s only going to get hotter over the course of the next few days, so I think it best to just hide away inside my house with all the windows open and fans going on their maximum setting. Of course, I’d still be in an oven.

For the record, Vancouver is nowhere close to being the hottest in the world. Arizona, I believe, hit 40 degrees today, and the all-time record (in recorded history, anyways) belongs to the country of Libya where it nearly hit 60 degrees Celsius back in the early 1900s. Now that’s pretty freaking hot.