> Matchbook

Welcome to freshmen yea-….wait a second. This isn’t freshmen year. Where the hell did all the time go? If you’re not careful as an underclassman, the college years can easily slip past you in the blink of an eye. Well, either the blink of an eye or a flurry of studying, drinking and eating.

Growing up isn’t all bad, though. It has just as many perks as being younger has flaws.

Adapting any media into a movie is like walking on a tightrope held by the fans with guard rails provided by the movie studio: The fans may get mad at some executive decisions and shake the rope, but the producers and director have the big wig-guard rails to hold on to. After all, it is their movie and their money. Who says they have to listen to us?

There is a day every week that a lot of people look forward to. That day is Wednesday. Why? Because on North Avenue, at an establishment called BBCs, a little deal goes on called Burger Hell. For $1.75 you can enjoy a tasty burger and fries with one-dollar Pabst Blue Ribbon beers. How can you go wrong?

Well, if you don’t know about Brothers on Water Street, you could be missing out on another option entirely. Their deal is just as good as BBCs’. For a dollar you can enjoy Miller High Life Light and savor 10 cent wings, 30 wings per person and in four different flavors: original, barbeque, garlic ranch or ass-burner.

Can you believe that some people have never been on an airplane? Can you also believe that some college students have never been on a road trip?

This almost constitutes blasphemy…madness even! Both are great experiences that should be shared with the best of company.

Here we go folks, an epic clash of the two titans of comics. Because both of these universes are so large, we will use examples of the two most arguably popular franchises from both sides. For Marvel we will have the X-Men and Spiderman. For DC we’ll use Superman and Batman.

First up are Marvel and the X-Men. Starting in 1963, X-Men have a cast of colorful characters, each with a unique power to keep things feeling fresh. It is safe to say that Wolverine is the most popular X-Man, if not one of the most popular comic book characters of all time.

In the spirit of the damned and the dead, we are looking at two icons of All Hallows Eve: vampires and werewolves. Which one is truly the king of Halloween?

When just talking about origins of these two legends, it’s easy to cite the Wolfman and Dracula. It all starts with Dracula and ends with Dracula in most cases.

Continuing with the theme of Halloween, this week we turn to zombies and humans. You would think that humans would win this one with no problem with all their guns, logical thought and motor skills. Well, you would think, anyway.

Let’s take a closer look at why humans don’t utterly dominate the undead, and why zombies and humans are more alike than you think.

Before we begin our adventure about pirates and ninjas today, let me say this: In the real world, ninjas would simply poison the rum of pirates. Hell, they probably did poison the rum of pirates.

Now that the real world has its answer to which faction would win, let us take a gander at the glamorized life of these to professions.

In years there will be video games that are not limited by controllers, but rather your imagination. I’m sure that some sort of apparatus will be stuck to your head as you cruise through tunnels in a racing game or swing a sword in a mythical world. Until then, we have this thing called reality; maybe you’ve heard of it?

With games like “World of Warcraft” slowly taking over the world, it’s easy to see how kids (and adults) can lose touch with reality. Both have advantages and disadvantages, but which one is really good for the long haul?

Since the release of the iPod, everyone and their mother’s have thought about getting one, and why not? Despite their diminutive size, they are jam packed with features, and just ooze trendiness. If an expensive car is the status symbol of the adult world, then a feature-loaded iPod is the status symbol of the teenage and college kid world.

That’s well and fine, but all the buzz around the iPod is kind of a buzz killer to other MP3 players. Anyone who gets an iPod may not even know what other cool MP3 players are out there.

When it comes to the holidays, nothing can compare to Thanksgiving. The food, the football and the family all combine and become one cohesive eating, celebrating and bickering machine.

It really is a bittersweet sight. Dad watches football while yelling at the little cousins to sit down and be quiet, mom slaves over the stove and you, the college kid, come home to it all, dreading the day when YOU will have to pay for the food and cook the meal.

As the lazy days leave us and the sunny hours become shorter and colder, so too do students’ toleration for trying to impress people. Face it, the last thing on your mind when you’re getting ready for your Friday class is what pair of jeans you are going to wear.

At the same time, it’s something some people continually think about. Everyone knows that one person who showers every morning before class and always looks like they walked out of a modeling advertisement.