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February 26, 2010

Joe Hadsall: New look for Enjoy section includes new features

Welcome to an improvement in the way The Joplin Globe covers entertainment.

Each week, this new Enjoy section will bring you familiar favorites, such as music reviews from Jeremiah Tucker, movie reviews from Benji Tunnell and our weekly listing of entertainment-related events.

But now, there’s room for so much more, including:

• An expanded listing of events, broken up into separate sections for family events and nightlife’s hot spots.

• A section devoted to the weekly events at casinos throughout the Four States, and a great weekly poker column from Chris Blount, who knows his cards and chips.

• An expanded dining guide, so you know where to grab some goodies before your big date.

• An expanded movie grid that includes theaters from Pittsburg and Miami.

• A section devoted to the area’s teens, including what to do and the cool stuff they are doing.

• This column. Every week in “Geeked Out,” I’ll tell you about what has me stoked, excited and irrationally exuberant.

With that in mind, here’s what has me geeked out this week:

• The latest episode of Lost. (It’s safe to assume that, until the season ends, this will be a running item.)

The introduction of Jack’s son in the flash-sideways means, I think, that whatever sent the Island underwater happened a lot closer to 1977 than 2004, the year of the original Oceanic 815 crash. My wife can testify that I called the Obi-wan Kenobi reference before the show. And how did Claire get to be such a cold-blooded killer? An axe in the gut — that’s cold.

• There’s nothing positive about The Rev, drummer for Avenged Sevenfold, passing away. But I am excited that Mike Portnoy, the drum-god from Dream Theater, is going to fill in for Avenged Sevenfold’s next album. Portnoy promised that he would stay true to the original scores written by The Rev — and he’s no slouch.

• For all the raving about Modern Warfare 2, I’m having way more fun with Bioshock 2. There’s no way it can capture the magic of its predecessor, but it is still engaging and well-designed.

And there is much more story this time around. The game’s predecessor dropped the main character in the middle of a plane crash in the ocean. In Bioshock 2, you get a great story before the character wakes up all shocked and surprised.

I haven’t tried the multiplayer yet, but I’m looking forward to it.

• Speaking of much more family-friendly games, I’m still geeked out about Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time. Though shorter on weapons than its predecessors, the ones you do get are satisfyingly explode-y, and the game is filled with brilliant, tween-friendly humor.

The best upgrade is the addition of space levels between worlds that are filled with side quests and dizzying moons. Nix that: The REAL best upgrade is the strongest weapon in the game. When you shoot it, it unleashes a fury of bullets, cannonballs and rockets, and plays the 1812 Overture. You think I’m kidding?

• Here’s some names y’oughtta know: Donna Moss, Jim Henry, Jeff Lehr, Brett Meeker, Steve Kraus, T.R. Hanrahan, Josh Roberts and Cynthia Clark. Why run these names? They know why.

• The New Orleans Saints. I was born in New Orleans, and I’ve been a Who Dat back when we were known as Aints fans. I don’t need to elaborate upon what I was doing after the Super Bowl, do I?

Contact Features Editor Joe Hadsall at jhadsall@joplinglobe, and keep up with all things geeky at his blog, I’m Geeked Out, at joplinglobe.com

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