A clothing brand- The Wonderful Life

40% Off EVERYTHING starts Monday

Matt Gondek — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:33:56 +0000

Get your wallets ready, and prepare to enter a savings vortex unlike which you have never experienced.

This coming Monday through Friday, everything in our online store will be 40% off, even our Winter collection. We’re getting ready to increase the sexual tension with our Spring line and need to clear out some space.

History will look back on this event with disbelief, but you’ll have lived through this Savings plague.

MONDAY.

The Quarter Bin: Speedball Bounces Back!

Matt Gondek — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:21:17 +0000

The Quarter Bin is written by Joe Fogle

Since 1988 Marvel Comics’ Speedball has been bouncing off of enemy’s fists and into the hearts of comic fans worldwide. Ok, well…maybe not. In fact, a large number of Marvel fans probably had no idea who the hell he was or if they did they could care less. I was one of the latter.

I followed the New Warriors comic briefly in the 90’s and seen some Speedball cameos in Spider-man and Avengers books but thought that he was too slapstick-y and his powers were pretty much worthless. Night Thrasher and Rage were waaay cooler anyway.

Speedball stayed out of the limelight of being a somebody in the Marvel universe until the events of the Civil War crossover. He was a catalyst and the only survivor of a tragedy that killed 612 people, mostly children. It was at this point that I realized that I either: A) A diehard Speedball fan and I just didn’t know it or B) was just mad that someone decided to take one of the few remaining light-hearted characters in the Marvel U and turned him into a pain-loving emo kid. I’m thinking that it is probably option B. Probably.

During the events of Civil War the superhero formerly known as Speedball took up the name Penance and started donning an iron maiden costume with spikes that would dig into his skin and activate the offensive version of his powers. Now instead of being able to take punches and bounce around like a pinball, Penance could now pretend that he was Gambit and punch people back for once with kinetic energy…all because he now likes to cut himself.

Speedball / Penance

Robbie Baldwin, aka Speedball aka Penance spent the next few years in Marvel time crying about how everything was his fault and that his parents won’t talk to him anymore and that he lost the love of his life Squirrel Girl (seriously, I’m not kidding) and that he must suffer for every victim that was lost and that the pain made him feel good and was empowering…blah blah blah blah blah. Stupid, stupid stupid! I wanted the bouncy off the wall nigh-invulnerable wisecracker that used to waste precious page space by catching cats by bouncing and tripping up the Juggernaut by bouncing. Speedball wasn’t bouncing anymore! He was cutting himself and writing gloomy poetry while listening to the Cure. Really? Seriously Marvel?

Well, like the title says, Speedball finally bounced back. In the events of Fear Itself, a brief little seven part mini-series called “The Homefront” pretty much erased the horrific memories of Penance and brought Speedball back to his former glorious bouncy self. Someone finally wised up and listened to the dozens upon dozens of Speedball fans and finally tied up the loosed ends that were still keeping Penance relevant.

This particular little story arc in “The Homefront” was probably one of the most well done comic stories Marvel has done in the past few years. The art was amazing and the story really added a human side to the Speedball character that I don’t think he ever had. It really brought Robbie Baldwin/Speedball to a whole new level. He’s not going to be an Omega level superhero or the God of Thunder, but he’s now an Avenger, became friends with his longest running antagonist since Civil War and best of all, he is no longer a whiny emo kid that cuts himself. He back as the fun loving, light-hearted bubble riding hero that I never knew that I would miss. Now go away Speedball. You’re annoying me again.

Joe is the creator of the indie comic book “Creatures of War”. He would like to shamelessly plug the website here: CreaturesOfWar.net. Be sure to check out Creatures of War on Facebook for even more shameless plugs.

Did you miss the last Quarter Bin: Why Can’t Marvel Finish Off a Crossover Anymore? Check it out here.

Preview Review: Chronicle

BaconKnight — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:52:30 +0000

Have you ever dreamed of waking up one day to find that you have super powers? Of course you have. Every morning when my dog wakes me up crying that he needs to go outside I try to use my mind to throw him against the wall. Not that I want to cause him harm, I just want to knock him out allowing me to sleep another 20 minutes. As of this writing I still can’t throw my dog with my mind but that won’t stop me from trying.

Chronicle is the story of three teenage boys that have developed pet throwing abilities and how they deal with those powers.

These three guys happen to find a hole in the ground and decide that it might be a good idea to jump down into it. Little did they know that what they find will change their lives forever. The trailer isn’t giving away what’s in the hole but my money is on some kind of meteorite.

The boys slowly start gaining strange powers like moving things with their minds, becoming impervious to forks, and the ability to sing Jessie J songs, badly. They use these powers just like any teenage boy would, scaring little girls, mind slapping stupid looking people at the mall, sneaking a peek at couple pairs of boobs, and stealing cars. All the things I image the Teen Titans would do if they were real.

Then one of the boys decides that when some a-hole in a pickup truck beeps at them that person deserves to die so he throws the truck into a lake. This will be the turning point in the story were they figure out that one of the members of their super group is really an evil prick and no amount of talking is going to stop him from trying to take over the world.

This movie looks sweet. I love the idea of a super human movie that’s not based on a comic book. Finally I can watch a movie where people have god like powers and not have to hear countless people bitching about how the comic book was better or that they F’ed up the origin story. Maybe Hollywood will learn something from this movie and actually start making some original ideas.

One thing that I’m a little confused about is the overall style of the movie. At first the trailer makes it seem like this is another found footage flick with all the POV shots but then by the end it looks like it’s filmed like a normal movie. Maybe they spliced the two styles together and I’d be fine with that. Outside of the porn world POV movies get boring really quick so why not add some third person prospective to the story to keep it interesting.

It looks like this movie is going to have a pretty good story and some very iconic scenes like that kid smashing a car by crumpling up his hand like a Darth Vader want to be and a whole swat team and their cars flying through the air like leaves in the fall. Even some real big studios are taking notice of this movie. It hasn’t even been released yet and the director is already in talks of helming the Fantastic Four reboot.

I give Chronicle a Preview Review of 5 out of 5 Rascals.

Check out the BaconKnight’s Preview Review of The Grey, right here.

Check out more of the BaconKnight’s wild conclusions on his website.

Stop by the BaconKnight’s facebook before it gets shut down for Tasteless Nudity.

LIFE-O-RAMA, Our new FREE compilation album. Get it now.

Matt Gondek — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:47:10 +0000

We’ve been talking it about for a few weeks now, and finally the time has come. Our first compilation album, Life-O-Rama is now available for download FREE.

LISTEN TO AND DOWNLOAD LIFE-O-RAMA HERE

The compilation album has 14 different bands from all over the world. Below is this full list of bands and song titles.

This is a Standoff – Head in the Sand – Home Base – Toronto, Canada

Living in Hiding – This is Who I am – Home Base – Glasgow, United Kingdom

Take Cover – Back Pedal – Home Base – Minneapolis, Minnesota

Goodbye Blue Skies – the Great Debate – Home Base – Toledo, Ohio

Major League – Subject to Change – Home Base – Mantua, New Jersey

Doomsday Initiative – Prayers for Paranoia – Home Base – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Car Party – Please Me – Home Base – Baltimore, Maryland

Jody Has a Hitlist – Nobodys Looking at You – Home Base – Dublin, Ireland

New Riot – Guilty Pleasure – Home Base – London, United Kingdom

The Nightlife – Western Medicine – Home Base – Schenectday, New York

Challenges – Present of a Best Friend – Home Base – Millbury, Massachusetts

Exit Cleveland – Starting Rumors – Home Base – Cleveland, OH

This is Breathing – We Just Click – Home Base – St. Paul, Minnesota

$neaky – Get Weird – Home Base – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The Compilation album is available free to Listen and Download here.

What’s your favorite song on the album? Let us know in the comments, or fight about it on our facebook page with other people.

Life-O-Rama compilation album Drops tomorrow.

Matt Gondek — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:13:36 +0000

The Wonderful Life’s new compilation album, Life-O-Rama drops tomorrow. Be sure to stop back tomorrow to listen and download completely free. In the meantime, check out the video.

Shirts For a Cure: Celebrating ten years of Fighting Cancer

Matt Gondek — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:02:15 +0000

Shirts for a Cure, a charity organization that sells band shirts to raise money to fight Cancer, is celebrating their 10 year anniversary this year.

I came to know of SFAC about three years ago when they began hiring me to design shirts for them. Since then we have done numerous projects together.

Be sure to stop by their site. If you see something you like, make a purchase and feel good knowing the profits are going to a good cause.

Preview Review: The Grey

BaconKnight — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:05:11 +0000

Some movie critics actually watch the movie before voicing their opinion. The BaconKnight just watches the trailer. First impressions are everything.

I can’t tell you how many nights I just layed in bed pondering who would win in a fight. A pack of ravenous wolves or Qui Gon Jinn? Well luckily for me my restless nights are over because Hollywood has answered that very question for me.

To help feed our countries oil addiction, a group of roughnecks abandoned their families to dig in the snow for some of that Texas tea. Although these guys are roughnecks they still aren’t man enough to protect themselves and that’s where Neeson comes in. He runs security for the oil rig which means he spends his days shooting at stray dogs and slapping members of the Sierra Club.

The crew very excitedly loads up on a plane to take them back to civilization where they can get some cheeseburgers and tang but they never make it. The plane crashes in the harsh arctic of the Alaskan winter land and not even Sarah Palin can save them. At first the survivors are all like, “Man this sucks but at least there aren’t any wolves.” Then a bunch of wolves show up and they’re all like, “Oh hells no!”

Now the small group of survivors must fight their way through injuries, below zero temperatures, and a maze of wolf teeth if they every want to see their families again and it looks from the trailer that most or all of them except Liam Neeson are going to die a horrible death by chewing.

This movie takes the concept of two of my favorite TV shows, Survivor Man and When Animals Attack, and throws them together. Up until this point the only movie I can really think of that did just that was The Edge and to this day it still pains me to admit I love a movie that stars Alec Baldwin.

Every time I watch this trailer I get pumped for this man vs. beast showdown. If this movie would have come out a few years ago I don’t think I would have been as pumped. Sure I’ve always liked Liam Neeson but I never really thought of him as a “tough as nails fight a goddamn wolf with my bare hands” kind of guy but then in 2009 Taken came out and I was blown away. Now I think Liam Neeson is the perfect pick to take down the whole wolf pack with nothing more than some tiny liquor bottles broken between his fingers.

If you have one once of testosterone in your body you need to see this movie and after watching it you’ll come out of the theater with the know-how and the desire to kill dangerous animals and prove to everyone that you’re a real man.

I give The Grey a Preview Review of 5 out of 5 Rascals.

See more of the BaconKnight’s heroic adventures at his website.

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Did you miss the BaconKnight’s preview review of Underworld: Awakening? See it here

Pittsburghia remake of Portlandia Opening

Matt Gondek — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:27:44 +0000

In the hit TV show Portlanda, footage of the city of Portland is shown over top the song Feel It All Around by Washed out during the opening credits. Recently, Pittsburgh photographer Lindsay “Danger” Mullen recreated the into using footage from the burgh.

PITTSBURGHIA from Lindsay Mullen on Vimeo.

Whether you live here in Pittsburgh, or never been check out the video. Tons of landmarks are shown throughout the entire thing, including bars and restaurants on my street. So close to home.

Learn more about the elusive Danger by visiting her Tumblr.

Hey, why not like the Wonderful Life’s Facebook page? You’ll be able to keep up to date on everything we’ve got going on.

Group show at Rocking Horse art Gallery in Pittsburgh PA this Friday.

Matt Gondek — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:02:12 +0000

If you live in the Pittsburgh area, and want to dip your toe in some culture, there’s an group art show this Friday.

The show is at the Rocking Horse gallery, located on 43rd St. in Lawrenceville. The whole address is

179 43rd St. Floor 1, Pittsburgh, PA 15201

Show starts at 7pm and as of writing will feature artwork by over 30 artists. Myself being one of them.

Here’s the Facebook invite for the complete details.

Real Life Beavis and Butthead. Get ready to throw up

Matt Gondek — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:50:49 +0000

Kevin Kirkpatrick is a special effects artist. He created busts of what Beavis and Butthead would look like in real life. Gross.

More pics here at buzzfeed.com

Hey, why not like the Wonderful Life’s Facebook page? You’ll be able to keep up to date on everything we’ve got going on.