Today has been a rather active one across the Southeastern quadrant of the United States, to be certain. Two PDS Tornado Watches (Particuarly Dangerous Situation) were issued this afternoon, watches which covered vast swaths of territory... from the Gulf Coast, to the southern Appalachians, up the Mississippi into northern Tennesse. Many tornadoes have been reported and confirmed thus far, and it is not unthinkable that the tornadic threat will continue, at least in a limited capacity, as this system pushes east into the Carolinas.

I'm anxious to see the SPC's next Day 1 Convective Outlook, to see whether my hypothesis about the lion's share of the instability/convective potential being limited to the southern and central tiers of the Southern States. There's nothing I love more than to see my area cleared of it's potential. Recent convective trends ahead of the front in Georiga, however, have me a bit unnerved. The radar has literally exploded with scattered showers and thunderstorms, though it appears as though the majority of them are elevated... and therefore unable to tap into the lower-level jet.

Temperatures ahead of the front associated squall line in Alabama are in the middle 60s now, with temperatures falling increasingly the farther to the east of the system one travels. Atlanta is currently at 61-62, Athens is at about 63, and Greenwood (small town, southern piedmont of SC near fall-line) is at around 60. However, in my part of the region, temperatures are in the lower 50s... with Greenville-Spartanburg Int'l reporting a temperature of about 51. Obviously a discrepancy. Hopefully, the "Carolina Wedge" of cool air will prevail, and prevent us from having to contend with violent weather associated pre-frontal supercells and the squall itself.

Time will tell! And here's to hoping, too.

I'll take both, if the rumors are true. With each vehicle, I currently have three units (2 POTFII Y-wings, 1 OTC... 3 POTJ TIE Interceptors). Seeing as how both the Y-Wing and the Interceptor are some of my absolute favorite OT ships, I can conscience another hypothetical pick-up.

I am given pause, however, to think that the Y-Wing is basically just going to be the same as the 1999 release. If that's the case, I'll probably either pass or score only one unit. I would really like the droid slot to be open, so that I can at long last put an R5 unit in the space, but attm I'm dubious. Time will tell, as Hasbro has suprised the "collective we" (Cha-zam!) before! 

For some reason, they weren't taking PayPal tonight and thereby lost my $110 transaction. Boo and Hiss! I know they'll be loosing some sleep over that! 

Tim Burton's Batman Returns was on Turner Classic Movies last night. It had, literally, been years since I had seen it, so rediscovering that gem was rather enjoyable. I especially appreciated DeVito's The Penguin, not just because it was well done, but also because of the visual throwbacks to The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (which, actually, I'm none too fond of. However, respect must be payed to the essential classics, so).

After reading up on the film today, I learned that the franchise was turned over to the ******bag Joel Schumacher after some bad press. Which, actually, made me again realize how very much I hate JS. He is to celluloid as Cancer is to the Immune System. I'll admit Batman Forever wasn't too bad, but duuuuuuude- "Batman on Ice" was bad, man. I can remember that even from seeing it in theatres way back in '97! That's not even to make mention of what he did to The Phantom of the Opera, though that could be blamed more on some über-poor casting choices (Gerard Butler?  ), maybe.

(// end rant)

Anyway, yeah. Really enjoyed Batman Returns, if you've not seen it in a while, it's worth another view.

I've been studying the pics for the better part of this evening, and it has occured to me that the new Force Unleashed Stormtroopers might be using kitbashed parts from the Concept Stormies. If you'll notice, the helmets, upper arm and leg structures are strikingly similar.

Neat idea, in any case, as I've always liked the Concept Stormie. Still, does anyone else see something here?

SSG has some initial pics...

Thoughts en brief;

Vehicles:
V-Wing looks awesome, I'll probably pick up three. Two for Republic purposes, one to make into an Imperial Training Vehicle.
The Sith Infiltrator's paint application looks sharp. Neat vehicle.

Basic Figures:
Overall, they look rather sharp. I'm a bit disappointed by Jedi Luke's oversized joints, but the headsculpt is fantastic. The Concept Figures have me the most excited. The Chewbacca especially ... I'll take 10! 

VOTC:
Stronger offerings than last year's, IMO. Hopefully pics of IG-88 and the Snowtrooper are forthcoming.

I tend to agree with Quazar on this one. Aside from all that, it's a neat toy... and to be perfectly honest, I'm thrilled to even be getting a new vehicle from Episode I.

I'll probably pick it up online.

You'll notice, however, that pouches do appear to be under the skirt. These pictures all have a bit of a hard copy feel to them, so I'm guessing that the skirt is simply out of place right now.