The best game convention in Japan has now debut and lots of new upcoming games trailer been shown.

So I'll run down the best games in my pick with their new awesome trailers.


BlizzCon Exclusive first minute of Starcraft 2 opening cinematic.

The next generation entry of the most hyped Castlevania franchise.The much anticipated game of the year RESIDENT EVIL 5 new trailer debut.and it's alternate trailer.From the makers of Devil May Cry comes a new game with completely the opposite of Dante: Bayonetta new gameplay trailer debut.The full CG movie of our favorite survival horror: Resident Evil Degeneration debut with a new trailer and more of Claire and Leon.The leaked trailer of Final Fantasy Agito XIII in the close mega theater of Square-Enix.


Akuma's awesome gameplay and the last character entry for Street Fighter IV >> Sakura.

A terrorist take hold of the virus from the Raccoon City and now unleashed it to a new region. Join Chris Redfield ready to raid the place with a trusty sidekick Sheva Alemar. See a familiar character from the Resident Evil history and probably another one behind the cloaked character. This game is getting way better every time something new is released. The Alternate Trailer from TGS. Rumors been floodin' that it's Jill (the cloaked character) and might even join Chris later on this game.

Although they were announced earlier today, it was done so in the Closed Mega Theatre. However, since then, images have surfaced online which confirm the inclusion of both Cloud Strife and Terra (Tina) Branford in Final Fantasy Dissidia.

Only one in-game render has been released of the pair so far, and that's of Terra, who appears next to the Emperor from Final Fantasy II.

After we reported a few days ago that Bartz would likely be confirmed at this year's Tokyo Game Show, it seems that Square Enix decided to jump the gun and announce Bartz a day early.

A new scan from Shonen Jump Magazine shows off Bartz in his re-done Dissidia concept style, which has been rendered by Tetsuya Nomura based off of Yoshitaka Amano's original work.

Here's the complete line-up with their voiceovers...

Warrior of Light - Toshihiko Seki (Cid, FFU)
Garland - Kenji Utsumi (Alex Armstrong, FMA)

Firion - Hikaru Midorikawa (Llednar Twem, FFTA Radio Drama)
Emperor - Kenyuu Horiuchi (Han Solo, Star Wars dub)

Onion Knight - Jun Fukuyama (Lelouch, Code Geass)
Cloud of Darkness - Masako Ikeda (Gillian Hewley, FF7CC)

Cecil Harvey - Shizuma Hodoshima
Golbez - Takeshi Kaga

Bartz Klauser - Soichiro Hoshi (Marcus, Digimon Data Squad)
Exdeath - Taro Ishida (King Triton, Kingdom Hearts)

Terra Branford - Yukari Fukui (Nia, Gurren-Legann)
Kefka Palazzo - Shigeru Chiba (Buggy, One Piece)

Cloud Strife - Takahiro Sakurai
Sephiroth - Toshiyuki Morikawa

Squall Leonhart - Hideo Ishikawa
Ultimecia - Atsuko Tanaka (Rosso, FF7DoC)

Zidane Tribal - Romi Paku (Edward Elric, FMA)
Kuja - Akira Ishida (Gaara, Naruto)

Tidus - Masakazu Morita
Jecht - Masuo Amada

Cosmos - Sumi Shimamoto (Ishizu Ishtar, YGO)
Chaos - Norio Wakamoto (Xemnas, KH2)

Narrator - Bunta Sugawara

 

Prologue:

"The Keyblade is said to hold phenomenal power. One legend says it's wielder saved the world while another says that he wrought chaos upon it. I must know what this keyblade is. A key opens doors..."

 

 

My Theory!

Though not officially confirmed by Square or Disney, creator Tetsuya Nomura has openly admitted to having a plot for Kingdom Hearts III in the works and is planning to create it. Though, he has stated that he is working on another title first. Much like Kingdom Hearts II, Kingdom Hearts III's first look can be found in the secret trailer at the end of Kingdom Hearts II. The first look at the game shows some new, unknown characters and a whole lot of keyblades.

"The Keyblade is said to hold phenomenal power. One legend says it's wielder saved the world while another says that he wrought chaos upon it. I must know what this keyblade is. A key opens doors..."

WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD!

I bet everyone is wondering: "Will KH3 display a new main playable character"? My answer to this is no. Kingdom Hearts III will be having Sora again. What leads me to this believe? Well according to Nomura in the Famitsu interview a couple years ago said KH is different from Final Fantasy in that the same character is always the main character, thus leading to my conclusion that Kingdom Hearts will remain with Sora until the end.

Within the "secret" or additional ending to Kingdom Hearts II we see what we believe to be a Keyblade Graveyard full of Keyblades scattered everywhere. Three heavily armored soldiers go up to three particular Keyblades, one that looks like Kairi's Keyblade, the Kingdom Key, and Riku's Keyblade: the Road To Dawn. Due to the figure, and walking style we figure one of the armored soldiers to be a girl. With this all said could the three soldiers actually be Sora, Riku, and Kairi? From what I've heard it's been officially denied, and that they are three new characters being introduced to the Kingdom Hearts series.

Suddenly, there is a distant rumble, almost like an explosion. The three look into the distance and through the haze of the heat, an outline can be seen of a figure. After that some screen captions appear, below is only a few we found most important.

"Memory of Xehanort" Could it mean that Kingdom Hearts could largely deal with Xehanort's lost memories from before he met Ansem?

"Keyblade War" Perhaps a war that is coming or already passed. It could explain why the three characters are in armor.

And last but not least a theory told to me from a friend.

"This trailer is actually advertising a Kingdom Hearts CGI movie, much like Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children." I'm sorry but no. If you have read the Official Playstation Magazine (August '04 edition) Interview with Nomura it had said Nomura knows this experience is crucial to his career, but he relishes the opportunity to learn more about directing before moving on to other projects. But there's a bittersweet side to his involvement with Kingdom Hearts II. "I love Sora, but it's with a broken heart." Nomura mutters out from underneath his hat. Indeed, not unlike a parent giving a child up for adoption, Nomura has no control over Sora or any other original characters appearing in Kingdom Hearts. The contract between Square Enix and Disney gives almost full control of the Kingdom Hearts property over to Disney. If you happen to see Sora appearing outside of a game in a something like a cartoon, there's very little chance Nomura is involved, but that doesn't affect his excitement (or ours) for Kingdom Hearts II.

Well then again I look at that, and it only says that Nomura couldn't do it and that Disney is the one with the rights to the characters. So in truth if we did see a movie it would be done by Disney, and well honestly I doubt that would ever happen.

LOS ANGELES (AP) "The Dark Knight" continues to obliterate box office records, crossing the $300 million mark in just 10 days.

The epic Batman saga grossed $75.6 million in its second weekend in theaters, pushing its domestic total to $314,245,000, Warner Bros. head of distribution Dan Fellman said Sunday.

That surpasses the record set in 2006 by "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," which took 16 days to make $300 million.

The latest Batman installment already had broken records for best opening weekend at $158.4 million and best single-day with $66.4 million. It's also busted records in its showings on IMAX screens, making $16.3 million in its first 10 days.

Fellman expects that "Dark Knight" could reach $400 million in about 18 days, which would beat the record "Shrek 2" set in 2004 when it made that much money in 43 days.

"What can you say? We've been getting a lot of repeat business coming in," Fellman said. "Our audience is expanding, like you would expect with terrific word-of-mouth and strong reviews. Our audience is getting a little bit older, that's the good news. We're finding the younger demographic, male and female, coming back."

He called it "a big surprise," adding: "To do $300 (million) plus in 10 days, we just couldn't have predicted it."

"The Dark Knight" could pass "Titanic" as the highest-grossing film in U.S. history, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers. James Cameron's 1997 extravaganza made $600,788,188 domestically, a record no other movie has come close to touching.

"The `Titanic' record has sat in a lock box for 10 years. It's a tall order but if any film has a chance to surpass that number, it's got to be `Dark Knight,'" Dergarabedian said.

Director Christopher Nolan's follow-up to his 2005 origin story "Batman Begins," which again stars Christian Bale as the tormented comic-book crime fighter, initially benefited from the mystique of the late Heath Ledger giving his masterful, last performance as the Joker, Dergarabedian said.

"Now, it's all about word-of-mouth," he said. "The first weekend, there was this huge, pent-up demand and eagerness by audiences to see this movie. Now, it's like a freight train it seems to be unstoppable."

Part of the film's visual allure comes from the fact that 30 minutes of it were shot with IMAX cameras, including an elaborate bank-heist scene at the start.

Friday, August 1 is a red-letter day for eclipse enthusiasts. On that date, the sun will be partially eclipsed over an immense area that includes western and central Asia, parts of northern and central Europe, all of Greenland and even a small slice of northeastern North America.

 
A total solar eclipse — the first in nearly two and a half years — will be visible along a narrow track that will start over the Northwest Passage of Canada, gives a glancing blow to northern Greenland, then shifts southeast through Siberia and western Mongolia and before ending near the famed Silk Route of China.

The path of totality for this upcoming eclipse is never more than 157 miles (252 km) wide.

                                                      Where it's visible

The total eclipse begins at sunrise over Northern Canada's Queen Maud Gulf, where the moon's umbra will first touch down on the Earth, resulting in Canada's hosting its first total solar eclipse since February 26, 1979.

As the sun comes into view over the north-northeast horizon its disk will become completely blocked by the moon. This is in the area of the famous Northwest Passage, a sea route connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through the Arctic archipelago of Canada. The various islands of the archipelago are separated from one another and the Canadian mainland by a series of Arctic waterways collectively known as the Northwestern Passages. Politically, this region belongs to Nunavut, the largest and newest of the territories of Canada; it was separated officially from the vast Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999.

Although the umbral shadow narrowly misses the towns of Cambridge Bay on Victoria Island, and Resolute on Cornwallis Island, its northern edge just clips the northernmost permanently inhabited place in the world: Canada's remote outpost of Alert, which lies just 508 miles (817 km) from the North Pole and has a population of just 5. Here, totality will last 43 seconds.

Crossing the open Arctic, the southern half of the totality path slides across the many fjords of northermost Greenland, coming to within 450 miles (720 km) of the North Pole at 9:38 UT over the Arctic Ocean before turning southeast. Totality sweeps over the Norwegian island group of Svalbard, while the northern edge of the umbra's path just grazes Russia's Franz Josef Land island group, then cuts across the crescent-shaped island of Novaya Zemlya on its way to central Asia. The umbra first touches the Russian coast on the Yamal Peninsula. Not far inland, greatest eclipse, producing 2 minutes 27 seconds of totality, is attained near the town of Nadym (pop. ~46,000), just inland from the boot-shaped Gulf of Obskaja.

Spending part of your summer in Siberia may sound a bit more appealing upon hearing that the central path passes almost directly over the city of Novosibirsk, Russia's third most populous city (pop. ~1.4 million) where totality begins at 10:44 UT and will last 2 minutes 18 seconds. The center of the path will then follow the Mongolia-China border for several hundred kilometers, with Olgij, Mongolia getting 1 min 36s of totality. Totality finally whisks into north-central China, crossing the west end of the Great Wall before leaving the Earth at a point northeast of the major city of Xi'an (pop. 3.9 million).

The northern half of Maine as well as the Canadian Maritime Provinces will experience a partial eclipse at sunrise.

                                                                    Eclipse expedition

A most unusual attempt to rendezvous with the moon's shadow will be made by an Airbus A330-200 twin-engine long-range aircraft. Following a flight plan optimized specifically for the purpose of viewing this eclipse, all of the many unusual requirements of this flight have been evaluated and satisfied with arrangements by the air charter company Deutsche Polarflug (AirEvents) which has previously operated successful over-flights of the North Pole with this same aircraft.

Glenn Schneider, from the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory and a veteran of 26 total eclipses, has worked out the detailed formulation of the flight plan. He is targeting a point from the high polar north, at approximately +83-degrees latitude and about 440 nautical miles from the North Pole at an altitude of 37,000 feet above the Arctic Ocean.

This will be a unique event in the annals of solar eclipse-chasing since there are no records of any total solar eclipse observations as far north as this. While total solar eclipses in the polar regions are not rare, accessibility is very difficult. Until this juncture in time (and technology) very high-latitude (north or south) total solar eclipses have been elusive. The total solar eclipse of 23 November 2003 was the first in history to have been observed from the Antarctic.

Once again it needs repeating: to look at the sun without proper eye protection is dangerous. Even if you are in the path of the total eclipse you will need to protect your eyes during the partial phases.

 

                         Summons - Final Fantasy XIII 

Shiva, referred as both male and female in various scriptures, is most well known as the Hindu god of destruction and trasnformation. Shiva is most often seen in meditation or as a skilled dancer. The Shaivism denomination of hinduism considers Shiva to be the supreme god, while other denominations consider her to be merely a highly ranking diety. The sanskrit word “shivam” is most likely defined as favorable, gracious, and friendly.

Shiva was one of the first summons to be shown off along with the unveiling of Final Fantasy XIII during E3 2006. She was the source of much confusion as she, for the first time, took the form of two sisters, one light and one dark, who appear to merge to create a motorbike, harping back to the days of the classic motorcycle minigame in Final Fantasy VII. It is believed that Shiva will likely have some sort of function outside of battle, as hinted by developer statements that summons would take on a “digital” form in Final Fantasy XIII, and by more recent trailers that show Mr. 33CM riding Shiva in her motorbike form as he tries to rescue Lightning.

Shiva in the Final Fantasy Series:

Shiva was among the first summons to be introduced in the series with the release of Final Fantasy III, and since then, has been featured in every main Final Fantasy installment. Shiva has primarily dealt Ice element damage, and is likely the most well known female Final Fantasy summon, usually appearing as a beautiful, majestic young woman. Her special ability is known as “Diamond Dust”, in which she creates an arctic, chilly blast which devastates her enemies.

 

Few! If only we had this many interviews on a regular week! 1UP had the opportunity to sit down with Square Enix to talk about Final Fantasy XIII and it's progression, as well as a bit on the future of Final Fantasy VII. To me it sounds like things are going smoothly and the best is yet to come! Check out the interview below.

1UP: Will the development of FFXIII for Xbox 360 result in a delay for the PS3 version in Japan?

Shinji Hashimoto: No, the development of a 360 version won't necessarily affect the PS3 version, purely because the PS3 game will be completed first. That's been in development for some time and is still on schedule. And, really, since we haven't ever announced any sort of release date...then it couldn't really be "delayed," right?

1UP: For the upcoming 360/PS3 role-playing game The Last Remnant, Square Enix began the localization process much earlier in development than with past Final Fantasy titles; that game will see a simultaneous worldwide release. We know that FFXIII will still debut in Japan first, but will the traditional nine-to-12-month gap between releases be reduced?

SH: Yes, a simultaneous release would be difficult for FFXIII, but we're definitely trying to decrease the gap between the Japanese launch and when we release it to the rest of the world.

1UP: In terms of lessening the gap between the Eastern and Western releases, does it help that the game's been in development for such a long time? The story should be nearly complete by now, right?

Yoshinori Kitase: As you mentioned, it definitely helps the localization when you've got a finalized story. Our story is now complete, and we're just about to start the voice casting and recording. Once that's complete, we can really get into the localization process.

1UP: Can you discuss the process of developing the game's engine -- as it evolved from the White Engine into Crystal Tools, did everything go as planned, or were there some bumps along the way?

YK: I'd say that it's on schedule as we'd originally planned, but it certainly hasn't been easy, and it's been quite a time-consuming process. FFXIII currently functions in all the basic ways, but we're still working to polish the engine. People may be under the impression that it's a total package that only needs to be tweaked a little bit in order to port the game to 360, but that's not the case -- we still have to fix it to make it more platform-specific.

1UP: Lightning, the game's heroine, seems to break from the tradition of more reserved female characters in your past FF games. She seems much more dynamic and assertive than FFVII's Aerith, FFVIII's Rinoa, or FFX's Yuna, for example. What can you tell us about her?

YK: The game's director and scenarist definitely wanted to create a new type of character, one who's stronger and carries herself in a certain manner. But although she's strong and outspoken, she also has a kindness within her that balances her personality. Right now, the team is trying very hard to find someone who can portray both her powerful and gentle sides.

1UP: It's been seven years since FFX released, and although FFXI, FFXII, and the other various spin-offs have been largely well received, none had the unique feel of a "Kitase Final Fantasy." Do you worry that it's been so long since FFVII, FFVIII, and FFX that the fans' expectations will be hard to meet? Do you feel a strong pressure to deliver this game?

YK: Even though it's been seven years since FFX, I haven't been far from the series, since I was working on the various Compilation of FFVII games. I don't specifically feel any pressure; instead, I'm looking forward to being able to provide FFXIII to the fans and seeing their reaction to the game.

1UP: For the last two years, you've been adding a few new scenes to the existing FFXIII trailer at each successive press event. How much longer will you keep this trend going? Will you blow us all away with an all-new trailer anytime soon?

SH: We're going to work like this for just a little bit longer; with every update, we're working very hard to include new material. Please be patient -- it'll be just a little bit longer.

1UP: Do you have any update on the mobile title Final Fantasy Agito XIII? U.S. cellphone tech is starting to catch up with Japan's, and we have the iPhone now.... Do you think that's a potential platform for it?

SH: No plans have been confirmed, but we're constantly researching the potential for bringing it to the U.S. Still, Japanese mobile tech is very powerful compared to other markets.

1UP: Has there been any negative reaction from Japanese Xbox 360 owners about the FFXIII announcement? It's not coming out on 360 there, and Japanese gamers won't be able to play the U.S. import on their systems, since the console's region-locked.

SH: There doesn't seem to be any overly negative feedback yet, as Japanese users have known since the beginning that it's coming to PS3.

1UP: In the last few FF titles, you've had a vocal theme song performed by a popular artist. Have you decided if FFXIII will also have one?

YK: We're definitely considering a vocal theme for FFXIII, but we're nowhere near recording it or anything like that yet.

1UP: Recently, Square Enix was one of the first publishers to announce downloadable content for a WiiWare title. Do you think you may offer DLC for FFXIII as well?

YK: Currently, there is no DLC planned for FFXIII, but I'm personally very interested in the concept, so I'm very conscious of it.

1UP: Last week, Final Fantasy Versus XIII director Tetsuya Nomura said that he's hard at work adding new scenes to the FFVII: Advent Children Complete Blu-ray release. Can you give us any update on that project?

SH: You can look forward to the upcoming invite-only fan event DKS3713 [taking place in Tokyo on August 2 and 3], where we'll have a major announcement that will shock the fans in attendance.

1UP: Both of you named FFVII as your favorite FF game. Do you think we'll see more Compilation of FFVII titles?

SH: Well, there's Advent Children Complete, of course.

1UP: FFVII's characters are so beloved that they'll probably never go away, right? Just like Mickey Mouse....

SH: [Laughs] That's true, because today's 15-year-old kids were only 5 when the game released. Even though they weren't interested in it then, now they're getting into it. We're seeing a new cycle of fans emerging....

 Many who played the Ubisoft hit Assassin's Creed last year probably had the same thought mid-way through the game: Boy, it'd be pretty awesome if they turned this into Prince of Persia. Well, in a way, Ubisoft Montreal has done just that. Prince of Persia is back, using an upgraded version of the Assassin's Creed engine and starting anew with a brand new Prince and a completely different storyline. Gone are Farah and the Sands of Time, replaced by what appears to be an even more interesting story and a whole new gameplay philosophy.

If you had a fondness for The Sands of Time, don't worry. Ubisoft isn't soiling the franchise in any way. In fact, the Montreal team is setting the Prince free of the shackles of the previous three titles. Though the Prince loses his time powers, he is gaining more acrobatic skills, a completely new combat system, and an open world free of the linear constraints of the previous game. Though Prince of Persia has an open world and is using the Assassin's Creed engine, don't think of it as a clone. This is POP for the new generation and it looks and feels like the perfect transition.

When the game begins, our hero is no prince. He is a vagabond, an adventurer wandering the desert in search of adventure. While chasing his runaway donkey, the Prince (for lack of a better name) gets lost in a sandstorm. When the dust clears, he finds himself in an oasis, a Garden of Eden. The walled garden has a centerpiece -- The Tree of Life.

Millennia ago, two brothers, both gods, went to war. Ahriman was the bad one, a being of darkness who spread "The Corruption" across the land. It was his brother Ormazd who finally defeated him, trapping Ahriman and his corruption into the Tree of Life. There he has remained trapped for 200 generations. The garden and the tree were once guarded by a long lineage of warriors, but the guardians' numbers have slowly dwindled almost to nothing. Moments after his arrival, the Prince witnesses the destruction of the Tree of Life, which sets free Ahriman.

The good news is that the walls of the oasis can still contain Ahriman. But the corruption finds cracks in the wall and spreads slowly into the rest of the world. Soon enough, Ahriman will be free and the world will be lost. That is, unless the Prince and his mysterious new companion, Elika, can force the corruption back into the garden.

The corruption is everything dangerous and evil in this world. It takes the form of your enemies and molds into the traps that attempt to end the Prince. There are no saw blades, no spiked floors this time around. There is only the corruption, a black ooze which dynamically changes as you play through Prince of Persia. It may form a puddle of ooze below you so that if you fall it consumes and kills the Prince. Or it may try to grab you as you pass by. Or it might infect you. Or explode out of a wall. The variations in the Corruption are something Ubisoft is keeping under wraps for now, but its ability to change as you progress through POP is going to make a huge difference in how you play.

The oasis acts as your hub world. From there you can head to the various locations in Prince of Persia at your discretion. You choose which areas to save first. This choice makes a big difference. At first, the corruption is only just barely spreading. So the first area you go to heal will have some traps forcing you to pull off a few acrobatic moves, but nothing too sinister. As you heal locations, the holes in the garden wall grow bigger and the corruption pushes further into the remaining lands. Clearing an area basically pushes the corruption closer and closer together, making the final areas far more densely covered.

Based on info from insiders who say they’ve read Benioff’s script, get ready for all kinds of prequel action as Wolverine’s first ties to Weapon X, his first run-in with Victor Creed (aka Sabretooth), his bonding with adamantium and his feral origins are explored. When asked if the film would touch on Wolvie’s early-year comic book connections to Japan, [Hugh] Jackman curbed the rumor in favor of others.

“[The Japan connection] is still something we really want to do,” admitted the actor-producer. “What we need to do is establish who he is and find out how he became Wolverine. And by the end of the movie, I want it to be that you definitely knew who this guy was, like Mad Max and Dirty Harry. He’s a good guy, but he’s not a nice guy. He’s just the guy you want on your side.” Sources also mentioned scenes featuring Wolverine in Vietnam, a pre-X-Men love interest for the furry mutant and character names familiar to comic fans such as the teleporter John Wraith, who served with Wolverine on special ops missions as part of Team X, along with Fred J. Dukes (aka the Blob).

We got a note from someone who was on set this week while they shot test footage of an actor in a huge rubber suit for The Blob. The interesting part is that they made the suit to look like The Blob was about 800lbs, but producers want to make him bigger, something like 1200lbs. I did some research (as I am not too familiar with The Blob's history) and I found that he was around 500lbs. originally.

                                     Will.i.Am revelations on his role...

Black Eyed Peas rapper Will.I.Am is offering up some rare clues about his feature-film debut opposite Hugh Jackman's iconic superhero in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine."

"I'm a teleporter. ... I'm here, I'm there, I'm everywhere. Boom, boom, boom!" Will revealed. "My character's name is John Wraith. He's a black Texan. He's not a cowboy, but his gear suggests that he is. He's just a badass who'll whoop your ass."

Will has been whooping some butt himself in the four months since he landed his first film role, touring the world with the Peas, winning an Emmy last week for his Barack Obama "Yes We Can" video, and even landing a voiceover gig in November's highly anticipated "Madagascar" sequel. But while he's never been one to hide his "Wolverine" excitement, he revealed to us that the role cost him a lot of blood, sweat and tears.

"You see that little scar I've got on my knuckles?" he asked, holding up his hand. "I'm a newbie when it comes to big action films and stuff. ... It was my fight scene. I was real into it, and then I missed my mark, and I punched the camera and broke the lens!

"But that goes to show you," he grinned. "I ain't to be messed with, because I break lenses!"

Discussing the scene a bit further, Will revealed that once director Gavin Hood replaced his camera lens, he had the rapper/actor run through the battle quite a few more times. "I missed a couple marks," he laughed. "They'd say, 'OK, come in, hit your mark, turn to the left ... and, action!' I missed my mark! 'All right, take two!' So I missed my mark a couple of times, then I got the hang out of it: Boom! Pow! It probably took me 50 times, but I got it. It was hard for me, but it was cool and fun at the same time."

These days, Will is putting the finishing touches on the May 2009 film and enjoying a pair of new friendships. "Hugh Jackman's the coolest dude," he marveled. Then, speaking about the villainous Sabretooth, he added: "And Liev Shreiber? That dude's my homey.

"It was a really good experience," Will said of the flick, which also stars Ryan Reynolds, Dominic Monaghan, Danny Huston and "Friday Night Lights" star Taylor Kitsch. "It's my first movie. ... And with 'Madagascar 2,' I think there has to be an angel or something or my grandma's prayers guiding that. It's pretty, pretty dope. And I'm grateful and happy about it all."

                   20th Century Fox will release "Wolverine" on May 1, 2009

      It was filmed on New South Wales as seen with this spoiler image.

                           Blacksmiths Beach

 

 This is at sale in one of the market in Thailand..

 

 

 

 

 

Kittiwat Unarrom got a master's degree in fine arts and now makes lifelike body parts out of bread at a bakery in Thailand. All the disturbing yeast sculptures are made out of dough, raisins, cashews and chocolate. He'll also paint the outside with some sort of edible paint to give it an even more gruesome appearance. When asked why he does it, Kittiwat replied,

                     "I'm a wackjob and I like making people sick" 

 

It's actually just a bread! A really good-looking bread.

                       Yummy! I want to taste one!

 

 

 

Smoking cigarettes has the same effect as cutting the life span by close to five years, according to a mortality risk chart released Tuesday in the US Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

"The effect of smoking on the chance of dying is similar to the effect of adding five to 10 years of age," the study said.

"For both men and women, smoking increases the risk of death by nearly the same magnitude as adding five years to a person's age."

The figures were derived by compiling death and health risk statistics from various agencies such as the American Cancer Society and National Center for Health Statistics, and were arranged into 10-year risk charts.

"For example, a 55-year-old man who smokes has about the same 10-year risk of death from all causes as a 65-year-old man who never smoked," it said.

Among women who never smoked, the 10-year risk rates of dying from breast cancer and heart disease were similar until age 60, after which heart disease was the biggest killer.

"For women who currently smoke, the chance of dying from heart disease or lung cancer exceeds the chance of dying from breast cancer from age 40 on."

The study, which aimed to help doctors convey the risks of smoking, was led by Lisa Schwartz of the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Vermont.

"We hope that the availability of these simple charts will facilitate physician-patient discussion about disease risk and help people understand where to focus risk reduction efforts," the authors wrote.

- - - -  -

Unless you want to die young then you shoud try it.

The pace of life gets faster and faster, and people try to cram more and more into every minute of the day.

As things get more hectic, sleep tends to get short shrift. It's seen as wasted time, lost forever.

"For healthy people, there's a big temptation to voluntarily restrict sleep, to stay up an hour or two or get up an hour or two earlier," said Dr. Greg Belenky, director of the Sleep and Performance Research Center at Washington State University Spokane.

"But you're really reducing your productivity and exposing yourself to risk," Belenky added.

That's a message doctors are trying to spread to Americans, including the estimated 40 million people who struggle with some type of sleep disorder each year.

Before Thomas Edison invented the light bulb in 1880, people slept an average of 10 hours a night. These days, Americans average 6.9 hours of sleep on weeknights and 7.5 hours a night on weekends, according to the National Sleep Foundation.

"The group of people getting optimal sleep is getting smaller and smaller," said Dr. Chris Drake, senior scientist at the Henry Ford Hospital Sleep Disorders and Research Center in Detroit. "When a person's sleep drops to six hours or less, that's when a lot of things become very problematic."

While experts recommend seven to eight hours of sleep each night, the amount needed for an individual can vary.

But lack of sleep affects a person in one of two ways, Belenky said. First, sleeplessness influences the day-to-day performance of tasks.

"The performance effects are seen immediately," he said. "You short-change yourself of sleep, and you see the effects immediately. You can make a bad decision. You can miss something. Have a moment's inattention, and you're off the road."

The longer-term effects of sleep deprivation involve a person's health. Doctors have linked lack of sleep to weight gain, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart problems, depression and substance abuse.

"Hormones that process appetite begin to get disorganized," said Drake, who's also an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience at the Wayne State University School of Medicine. There's a decrease in the amount of leptin, an appetite-suppressing hormone, when a person gets too little sleep. At the same time, ghrelin -- a hormone that stimulates appetite -- increases with a lack of sleep.

Too little sleep also interferes with the body's ability to regulate glucose and can cause inflammation leading to heart problems and a rise in blood pressure. "There's a stress response to being in a sleep loss," Belenky said.

The types of people not getting enough sleep also break down into two groups. First, there are those who make the conscious choice to go without enough sleep.

"It's sort of part of the culture," Belenky said. "People pride themselves on getting little sleep. You'll hear people bragging, 'I only need six hours a night.' So there's a macho element here."

On the other hand, there are people who are suffering from sleep disorders. These disorders include:

• Insomnia, an inability to go to sleep or stay asleep.
• Sleep apnea, or breathing interruptions during sleep that cause people to wake up repeatedly.
• Restless legs syndrome, a tingling or prickly sensation in the legs that causes a person to need to move them, interrupting sleep.

Someone suffering from any of these problems should visit their doctor or see a sleep specialist, Belenky said.

Sleep apnea, the most prevalent sleep disorder, can have particularly serious long-term effects if left untreated. "You're waking up out of sleep to breathe. You can't sleep and breathe at the same time," Drake said. "It's a risk factor for developing major cardiovascular health effects."

Some people who have trouble sleeping will resort to mild sedatives like Ambien and Lunesta.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently asked the makers of these sedative-hypnotic drugs to strengthen their warning labels. This action followed reports of dangerous allergic reactions, as well as a host of bizarre behavioral side effects that include sleep-driving, making phone calls, and preparing and eating food or having sex while asleep.

Drake and Belenky both consider sleeping pills to be fine for the short term if taken properly.

"Sleeping pills are a temporary solution," Belenky said. "If you're upset about something or have situational insomnia, or you're trying to sleep at the wrong time of day because you've traveled across time zones, they are effective."

But, both doctors noted the pills will do nothing to help a chronic sleep problem. "They don't address the pathology of their sleeplessness," Drake said.

The U.S. National Institutes of Health offers these tips for getting a good night's sleep:

• Stick to a regular sleep schedule.
• Avoid exercising closer than five or six hours before bedtime.
• Avoid caffeine, nicotine and alcohol before bed.
• Avoid large meals and beverages late at night.
• Don't take naps after 3 p.m.
• Relax before bed, taking time to unwind with a hot bath, a good book or soothing music.
• If you're still awake after more than 20 minutes in bed, get up and do something relaxing until you feel sleepy. Anxiety over not being able to sleep can make it harder to fall asleep.

 

HERE'S SOME FOOD REMEDY TO HELP YOU SLEEP

If your mother used to give you a cup of warm milk before sending you off to bed, she had the right idea. Dairy foods are a good source of tryptophan, an amino acid that your body converts to melatonin and serotonin — both of which are thought to induce sleep. Other tryptophan-containing foods include oats, bananas, poultry and peanuts.

To improve your chances for a restful sleep, eat a light bedtime snack that is mostly carbohydrate with a small amount of protein. This high-carbohydrate, low-protein combination is thought to increase the availability of tryptophan to your brain, which helps it make more melatonin and serotonin.

Some examples of bedtime foods that help you sleep include:

• A small bowl of oatmeal or cereal with low-fat milk
• Yogurt with granola sprinkled on top
• Half bagel or crackers with peanut butter, 1 ounce of cheese or a slice of deli turkey on top
• Sliced apple with 1 ounce of cheese

However, avoid eating too much protein before bedtime. Protein-rich foods also contain tyrosine, an amino acid that stimulates brain activity.

Other foods to avoid before bedtime:

• Heavy, spicy foods, especially if you're prone to heartburn. Eating too much may cause you to feel physically uncomfortable when lying down.
• Too much liquid. Drinking lots of fluids before bed can cause you to wake up repeatedly during the night to use the bathroom.
• Alcohol. Although it may initially make you feel sleepy, alcohol can cause unrestful sleep and frequent awakenings.
• Caffeine. A stimulant, caffeine increases the activity of your nervous system, which makes falling asleep more difficult.

Nearly everyone has occasional sleepless nights. But if you have difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep that occurs on a regular or frequent basis, see your doctor to determine what might be the cause of your sleep problem and how it might be treated.

 

Foods to avoid

• Caffeinated food/beverages, three to eight hours before hitting the sack. Caffeine is a mild stimulant that increases the activity of the central nervous system. Caffeine’s stimulant effect peaks in about one hour and then declines as the liver breaks it down. If you’re an occasional coffee drinker, you’ll tend to be more sensitive to the stimulant effects. So, if you go to bed by 11:00 p.m., you’ll have to stop your caffeine intake by 2:00 or 3:00 p.m. to avoid insomnia. Also, beware of some “energy” drinks, which incorporate “herbal” caffeine including guarana seeds, kola nuts, and yerba mate leaves.

Caffeine amounts in popular foods and beverages:
Brewed coffee (8 ounces) = approx. 100 to 150 milligrams
Brewed decaf (8 ounces) = less than 5 milligrams
Espresso (1 ounce) = 40 milligrams
Brewed tea, black and green (8 ounces) = approx. 50 milligrams
Red Bull (8.5 ounces) = 80 milligrams
Popular soda, diet and regular (8 ounces) = 25 to 45 milligrams
Chocolate (1.7-ounce bar) = 12 to 20 milligrams for popular brands

Caffeine amounts in over-the-counter medications:
Vivarin = 200 milligrams
No Doz = 100 milligrams
Excedrin = 65 milligrams

• All liquids 90 minutes before going to bed. It takes about 90 minutes for the body to process liquids, so limit liquids of any kind for at least 90 minutes prior to bedtime if the need to urinate wakes you up in the middle of the night. This problem is especially common in older men.
• Alcohol and nicotine. Do not use alcohol to help you fall asleep. Although alcohol may initially induce sleep, once it wears off, the sleep tends to be fragmented. Also, limit nicotine prior to bedtime, as it is a stimulant and will keep you up.
• Heavy meals less than three hours prior to bed. Meals loaded with calories and fat rev up active digestion and can often leave you feeling uncomfortably full or, even worse, cause heartburn or aggravate a hiatal hernia.

How to improve your sleep

• Eat a light snack before bedtime to help produce serotonin (the calming hormone). Try a light snack — 200 calories or less — that’s mainly carbohydrate with a touch of protein. Many scientists claim that by combining an ample dose of carbohydrate together with a small amount of protein (which contains the amino acid tryptophan) your brain produces serotonin, which is known as the “calming hormone.” And when we’re calm, we are certainly more apt to fall asleep.

Suggested bedtime snacks:
1 slice of whole wheat toast topped with 1 small slice of low-fat cheese
1/2 cup healthy cereal topped with 1/2 cup skim milk
1 banana with 1 teaspoon of peanut butter
1 rice cake topped with 1 tomato slice and 1 slice turkey breast

• Regular exercise can increase your odds of getting a good night’s sleep. But avoid exercise within three hours of going to bed, as this will boost alertness and have a negative effect on sleep. Studies have shown that exercising more than three to six hours before going to bed has the most positive effect on falling asleep and staying asleep.

Sleep aid supplements

• Melatonin has gotten a great deal of attention in the past few years because this hormone controls the body’s circadian rhythm — our internal 24-hour clock that tells us when to sleep and when to wake up. As we get older, we produce less melatonin, which may account in part for insomnia in older adults. I would not recommend supplemental doses without speaking with your physician first. Studies have not been conclusive in regard to its effectiveness, and these supplements may interact with other medications.

 

• Valerian root is an herb believed to have a calming, relaxing effect on the body. It has been used for centuries to treat insomnia, mild anxiety and restlessness. The exact mechanism of action is unknown. However, it may act as a depressant to the central nervous system to produce a mild tranquilizing effect. As with melatonin supplements, first speak with your personal physician to find out if it’s an appropriate option — and certainly first try the other sleep inducers discussed above.