The Ramblings of a Compounded Geek

Fiction... or Future Fact?

2012-01-23T19:35:00.000-06:00

I'm not big into conspiracy theories. I think humans often find patterns in the silliest things and build these things into Something Very Serious Indeed. Most of these are overly complex and crazy to be too real.

I do believe in motives and plots. I try to observe how people react to events. I know that people don't like change and most like control. I like the idea of control. I'm quite sure that part of the reason I write fiction is to have some control over something in life.

So maybe this is a theory and maybe it's just me wondering aloud. Maybe not.

At the end of 2011, the major music labels announced that they would be getting out of the CD business during 2012. From a business perspective, I can see the sense in this. No need to generate physical media (that's a financial risk, lower the overhead), just some servers and a bandwidth pipe for downloads. No need to wait until an artist has 10 or 12 solid songs ready; they can pop a song or two out whenever they are ready. Less 'unfinished' songs made to make an album release date. All good for the company, the artist, and the consumer.

Isn't it?

If there are no stores that the physical CD is in, then there's less choice. How many legal download sources are there for the 'big labels'? Half a dozen perhaps? No more fighting to get an album into Walmart or cutting an exclusive deal with Target, it's download it here or nowhere potentially.

Control.

No need to clearance the CD out because it's not taking up any physical space. No need to buy a CD, get bored with it, take it to a second hand shop, and let someone else try it for a discount price. It's on a server to legally download and nowhere else. There's no incentive to have a 'sale' or 'discount' price. If you didn't download it from this site or that site then you must have it illegally.

But that's okay. You don't care for much mainstream music anyway. Most of the bands you are interested in belong to smaller labels, ones that may still make CDs. For awhile anyway. Now that the larger labels aren't making them, demand for CD media has gone way down, making it more expensive. Now you can't buy as many songs and smaller bands that aren't on labels can't afford to make CDs anymore. More and more they put their music online to download.

Only the large labels don't want them alongside their 'good' music. They have to go to smaller sites with higher overhead and costs. Some bands would be willing to give their music away, they used to have links to download it legally from Megaupload and the like but those sites are gone now. The only real way to make money in the music industry is to work to get on a major label.

Because they have the control. Just like old times...

A Baseball Story

2011-06-11T21:15:00.002-05:00

Trying to look casual and failing, I glanced around me and followed my friend down to the seats in the 100 level of Miller Park. Generally speaking, you need tickets for seats in that area in order to access it; tickets we did not have. We shouldn't have been able to get near the stairwell without someone checking on us. In the bottom of the 14th inning, security relaxes a bit. Without bothering to check whether or not I was following him, my buddy sat in the last row of seats in the section nearest home plate, leaving the aisle seat open for me.

I dropped down next to him and observed the situation. From this perspective, Ryan Braun looked as big as life at the plate. Loudly, the baseball smacked into the catcher's glove, raising the count to three balls and no strikes. “Just walk him already,” I muttered. “Then Prince can hit a home run and we can all go home.”

What time was it in the bottom of the 14th inning on a Friday night? Or, at this point, Saturday morning? I had deliberately avoided observing the stadium clock for fear that knowing the time would make me feel tired. Now was not the time to alter that plan. My gaze remained focused on Braun as he watched Ball Four zip past him. We applauded as he took his base.

The Brewers and Rockies had been struggling back and forth throughout the game, keeping it interesting. While the Brewers couldn't get a commanding lead, they would tie the game promptly. The Rockies would score in the top of the inning, then the Brewers would lead off the bottom of the inning with a home run, that sort of thing. As a result, there wasn't much drama surrounding the concept of the Brewers tying the game, just if they could finally take the lead and win the game.

With one attention demanding crack, the baseball rocketed away from Prince Fielder's bat. Suddenly I was on my feet, watching as the ball bounced around the scarcely populated upper decks of Miller Parks. It was easily a fair ball and the home run that won the game for the Brewers.

For a moment, I just stood there, mouth agape. Surrounded by the cheering and the clapping and fireworks and celebrating, I was struck silent. “Huh,” I finally muttered. “Whadya know?”

Then I joined in.

Jim Henson

2011-05-16T20:17:00.000-05:00

March 1, 1990. Apparently as part of the pending sale of the Muppets to Disney, Jim Henson, Frank Oz, and Michael Frith discuss how the Muppets work, even to the point of describing how they should be drawn. While still a rather top level discussion, it's a look under the felt that's rarely equaled.

The Muppets have a big special airing on May 6, 1990. The week before, Jim Henson promotes the special on the Arsenio Hall show by talking about it as little as possible. He is excited and cheerful as he plays with Arsenio and watches Kevin Clash best the talk show host.

May 1990. Jim finds out that what he thought was a lingering cold is actually a bacterial infection, Group A Streptococcus. May 15, 1990. Workaholic Jim finally checks into the hospital to have it investigated.

May 16, 1990. Jim Henson dies. He was 53.

May 21, 1990. The first of the memorials to Jim Henson is held in New York.

Have you ever considered what it's like to perform as Big Bird? Have you? To walk about, nearly blind but for a TV monitor strapped to your chest, holding your right hand far above your head while the weight of the Bird head pushes down upon it? Then, blind and stiff, your muscles moaning, you need to sing? And to try doing this as you cry?

Caroll Spinney did it. Somehow.

If that felt like the saddest Muppet Moment Ever, then you may not have seen this before. November 21, 1990. Now it's everyone's turn to celebrate Jim Henson. When Fozzie and Gonzo gasp, I'm done. Everytime.

May 16, 1991. Jim's last major Muppet project is released as Jim Henson's MuppetVision 3D officially opens in Walt Disney World. So today's not all bad afterall.

As always, thank you Jim. Miss you lots.

I Wrote Some 'Doctor Who' Today

2011-04-19T22:44:00.000-05:00

I've written a lot of 'Doctor Who' fan fiction in my time. A lot. I don't so much anymore, what with my urge to get something of my own done and available. I've been sick, tired, sick and tired, or just whatever a lot in the past month or so and my creative energies have been at a low ebb during this time. In the past week they've started to revive and I've eagerly been trying to get back in the swing of things. Today when I sat down on my lunch break and had some time to write, some 'Doctor Who' came out.

It's been a couple years since the last 'Who' story I wrote and I don't think that this scene will turn into anything. It was just something I had been mulling over the past few days as part of the 'stories I tell myself' and apparently it wanted out. I felt bad at first, like I was wasting valuable time by doing this, but it was probably like stretching, getting those writing muscles loosened up with something 'easy' like the Doctor and Julie getting into trouble. It's restful and it was flowing easily until just after Two when the fire alarm went off. It was cold, windy, and raining but we were outside for a fire drill. Wonderful.

Then I get home and Elisabeth Sladen is dead at 63. Sarah Jane Smith is ripped from me like a speedily removed Band-Aid and it hurts.

I'm not trying to say that her passing had something to do with the writing I did today. The thoughts for today's scene have been in my head for a week or so already. If it was just something to do with her, then why did the Brigadier's passing not generate a similar act, as I was also specially fond of Nicholas Courtney?

Maybe because Sarah Jane is, well, Sarah Jane?

I remember watching her run on 'Doctor Who' again when I was in high school. While physically she wasn't my type at the time, being not busty and red headed, I still remember taking such a shine to her. She was fun, she was brave, she was kind, she was mean, she was so very human and lovely that it was hard not to like her. When I'd see Liz be interviewed and you'd see those elements of the character show up in her, well, it was hard to not like her too. I never got the impression that she stopped loving 'Doctor Who' for what it was and for the fact that people still loved it. Many characters or actors on 'Doctor Who' have gone in and out of fashion in fandom: the Fifth Doctor is weak and sad, until the Sixth Doctor is so crazy that the Fifth isn't so bad, and then the Seventh is Awesome!, well maybe not that awesome, etc. I don't remember a time when Sarah Jane was out of fashion. It might have happened but I don't remember it. Ever.

That's why it was so great that, when the show returned, so did Sarah Jane. She was great, the show was great, and we all got a chance for it to be great. Just to see the excitable, brave Sarah Jane again.

The singular joy I have right now is that she had to know. Many actors in that position don't get that last moment in the sun when people can express their affection for them and what they've done, certainly not from something new but Liz must have had that, over and over again as actors came to the show and said 'Sarah Jane!' and hugged her.

I didn't get that moment. I wanted it. I want it.

In Patrick's story, his girlfriend is named Sarah Jean Smith. It was always meant as a reference. The character changed so much from my original plans for her and maybe it's only now that I realize why. I couldn't just name someone that without them being spunky and brave and sweet and understanding like her.

Thank you Elisabeth Sladen. I miss you already.

Behind

2011-03-15T06:47:00.000-05:00

Didn't get to the comic book store for two weeks, got caught up on purchases last Saturday, and I still haven't read through those books, with Wednesday and new books looming.

That just doesn't seem right.

'Is that an antique?'

2011-03-11T20:32:00.000-06:00

I grunted politely to request a repetition of the question. The elderly lady politely tapped the record in my hand, the Sesame Street Bert and Ernie record in my hand. She smiled. 'Is that an antique?'

I smiled back. 'It's about as old as I am so I'm going to say yes.'

How I Spent My Sunday

2011-03-06T20:20:00.002-06:00

A Few Thoughts on Recent Comics - Feb 2011

2011-03-02T06:40:00.002-06:00

Magic Kingdom - November 2010

2011-02-21T18:32:00.000-06:00

Magic Kingdom

Pirates of the Caribbean – four times. This ride made me aware that I was starting to become familiar with some of these rides as I started noticing the malfunctions. There was an issue with the Davy Jones mist as one of the jets didn't seem to be firing properly. The Mayor's wife wasn't emerging one day while we rode. Did it ruin things? Not at all as these were details. The castmembers are good at amping up this ride a level. The castmembers at the exit had extra chants to add to their spiel; the one I recorded was sung along to the 'Yo Ho' song and went 'Yo Ho, Yo Ho, It's time to get out of the boat', Love little stuff like that.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – five times. Yee haw! We managed a trip through in the rear most car where things are a bit looser. We came through and asked about getting the rear car. There was a wait for it so we just got on the ride, not worrying about our location on the train. When we came back around a few minutes later, the cast member we'd talked to recognized us and asked if we were still interested in the back car. That's GREAT customer service.

Mickey's Philharmagic – twice. Great show. Finally managed to see it more than once a trip. It's worth multiple visits.

Tomorrowland Transit Authority – once. Enjoyable, and I love the technology that runs it, but once is enough.

Railroad – partial trip from Frontierland to Toontown. Love trains. Got to spend a little time in the station, which was fun.

Haunted Mansion – twice. Only twice? Oh yeah, there were lines for the ride, even on a 'calm' day. Got another 'plus' castmember here with a fella slapping the wall in the Stretching Room and kicking garbage cans to scare the unwary. He found someone that jumped and focused on them like in a Haunted House. Nice!

Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress – twice. New to us. A trip through history to see how technology and family have changed. I rather enjoyed this, mostly because I enjoy historical perspectives. While you can argue that the perspective is dated to the show's creation, in the 60s, it's still a perspective from another non-current time. It's fun, has some bad jokes, and a catchy song.

Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin – twice. Target practice. Enjoyable.

Peter Pan's Flight – once. I enjoy the ride but I don't feel it's worth waiting for any real length of time to see. I don't understand why it gets a 45 minute queue on a 'slow' day.

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh – once. It's a fun cute ride that I'm surprised I don't ride more.

Mad Tea Party – once. I got the teacup to spin to our usual standard speed by myself. Man that hurt my arms. Good exercise and fun.

its a small world – once. Once is plenty. The boats always seem to get backed up in the last quarter of the ride which doubles or triples the length of time you spend on it, which decreases me desire to re-ride it. We got a little noisy but we were in the very front of the boat so we weren't bothering too many people. Hopefully.

Space Mountain – 3 times. All three in a row even, back to back and almost broke my back doing so. I've decided one of my issues with the ride is the vehicle and its lack of back support. I try to lean back and brace myself so I end up tightening my back to ride it. It does remain a classic but I question my sanity every time I ride. Love the look of the place.

Barnstormer – once. Cute fun coaster. As we exited, my buddy's kid called out to a young girl, maybe 4 or 5, that was about to get on the ride, jokingly warning her that it was terrifying. She paused, looked at him, and replied 'No it isn't' before continuing on. I laughed.

More Missing Footage Returns 'Home'

2011-02-10T06:52:00.000-06:00

Almost 200 American made silent films found in a vault in Russia:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/08/AR2011020806347.html

90+ Minutes of long-long Super Bowl I footage turns up in an attic on a home recorded video tape:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704709304576124373773290508.html?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsTop

There's still more out there. It's nice to get a little hope back in that regard.

A Few Thoughts on Recent Comics - Week of Jan 26th 2011

2011-02-01T22:53:00.001-06:00

A Few Thoughts on Recent Comics - Week of Jan 26th 2011 - Fantastic Four #587 Special

2011-02-01T06:42:00.000-06:00

Hollywood Studios - Nov 2010

2011-01-26T22:36:00.000-06:00

Hollywood Studios

The Great Movie Ride – twice. And both times my recording cut out so both are incomplete. Oh well.

Twilight Zone Tower of Terror – six times. Considering how terrifying I originally found this ride to be, I find it fascinating how relaxed I am on it now. I carried on a conversation with my buddy about a 'hidden extra' I spied from the top of the Tower and barely paid attention to the ride itself. I began posing for the camera, knowing when it would go off. It's not that I don't still love the ride; I just find it weird how my reaction has changed.

Rock n Roller Coaster – twice. Started posing for the camera on this one as well. Good coaster but there's always a line for it.

Walt Disney : One Man's Dream – once. It's been updated. There are new props on display and the scope has been expanded to feature more 'Legacy' material. Tron helmet, Rocketeer jetpack, extince EPCOT material, lots of neat stuff to see.

MuppetVision 3D – five times. Got to see the entire pre-show once, most of the pre-show another time, the last show/ride for my trip was MuppetVision, and, most importantly, slapped five with Sweetums! The film has been remastered and looks excellent! Love it!

A Few Thoughts on Recent Comics - Week of Jan 19th 2011

2011-01-25T06:32:00.002-06:00

EPCOT - November 2010

2011-01-17T22:35:00.000-06:00

EPCOT

Spaceship Earth – twice. Only twice? I love this silly ride and I only rode it twice? Did perhaps the delay during our second ride through have anything to do with that? Did that five minutes or so spent stuck in the Matrix tunnel affect our urge to return? I will say yes.

The Living Seas – once. Short fun ride but it tends to be associated with a look in to the large, more interesting, aquarium and that can take some time. Once can therefore be enough.

Journey Into Imagination – twice. New to us. You ride through the Imagination Institute as Figment works to expand our view of our Imaginations beyond Dr. Nigel Channing's views on the subject. It's fun but it doesn't really say much. The message seems to be 'You use your imagination all the time and need to use it more' but it doesn't do that all too well. The song does cover a lot of these gaps but not enough. It's a good ride but seems to lack focus. Seeing Eric Idle as part of a Disney ride makes it worth visiting at least once.

Maelstrom – twice. Short neat ride. Love the backwards section and the drop. The North Sea room as perhaps gotten a bit too tame. Skipping the movie at the end = priceless.

Soarin' – once. Good ride but I still question if its worth waiting for as the lines are always so long, even on a 'quiet' day.

Gran Fiesta Tour – once. Now that I've seen Tres Caballeros for the first time since my youth, it's impressive to me how well this ride fits that film. I know there are those that complain about the characters having been added to this ride but their appearances and this ride fit together too well to not have them come together. And it's fun.

Animal Kingdom - November 2010

2011-01-15T21:55:00.001-06:00

Animal Kingdom

-Kilimarjaro Safaris – once. Once again watching animals 'in the wild'. Very enjoyable. I think this is one of the main reasons to attend this park.

-Kali River Rapids – once. You ride in a great tube (with seats) down a river with rapids and drops. It's a ride where you WILL get wet. You might get soaked. I got soaked. Cold water. I enjoyed the ride but don't look forward to riding it again.

-Everest – three times. Nothing new to report. Love it. Can't deal with the strobe effect near the end.

-Finding Nemo the Musical – once. Delightful. Had an angle on the stage that let me see backstage a bit. Loved that.

-Primeval Whirl – once. You ride through 'time' to the extinction of the dinosaurs. It's a 'kid ride' but it knocks you around rather roughly. Enjoyable but a bit mean.

-Dinosaur – twice. Mind the Carnotaurus!

-It's Tough to be a Bug – once. Fun show that I still feel I should catch more. Lots going on. Recommended.

Universal Islands of Adventure - November 2010

2011-01-12T22:25:00.000-06:00

Islands of Adventure

Hulk – 3 times. I finally cracked the Hulk banner! I was very nervous the first time through, standing in the queue, sitting in the car waiting for launch, and then when the car began to move? Wow! Three things helped me get to this step: riding Rock n Roller Coaster again to get used to Inversions (upside down), comparing the ride vehicle to other rides I'd survived so that I saw how much more secure you were in this ride, and then riding it for the first time at night so I didn't see the sky so much. Loved the ride. Generally after riding something like that for the first time, I exit somewhat shaken by the experience. Not this time; I exited exhilarated, loving it. I also exited a but wobbly. What I later figured out was that I tended to pull my head up off the headrest so that it got jostled in the turns. Yeah, don't do that.

Spider-Man – 3 times. I love this ride. I dunno that I have anything else to say.

Harry Potter – 4 times. The new ride in the new 'land'. I know very little about Potter but this ride was fascinating. There's a bench of four seats, all facing in the same direction so as to direct the 'camera' of the ride. You fly through set and video screens through a quick moving story. Props feel like they're directly atop you. The goal of the ride and the area was to step up Universal's cred, to make them more 'Disney' in their presentation. I think they succeeded.

One Fish, Two Fish – twice. You climb into a fish that goes in circles and has controls to steer the fish up and down. There's a song that plays, telling you how to dodge the water that occasionally squirts from the fish surrounding the area. It's fun, especially if you have a kid with you and it's warm outside so getting blasted with a bit of water doesn't sound like such a bad thing.

The Cat in the Hat – twice. Action packed trip through the delightful Dr Seuss book. Still great fun.

Flight of the Hippogriff – once. The former 'The Last Unicorn' ride is repackaged as a Harry Potter ride. It's a fun coaster, sort of the Nuthouse Coaster/Barnstormer for the park. Enjoyable but not really worth the wait it has now for being Potterized.

Poseidon's Fury – once. A show that takes you deeper and deeper into a set of ruins while the show occurs around you. Long show but lots of fun. It's not every day you get to walk through a tunnel of water.

Seuss Trolley – once. Still simple fun on a 'railroad' in the sky while a story is told.

Universal Studios - November 2010

2011-01-10T22:02:00.000-06:00

Finally I reflect on my trip to theme parks in Florida from this past November.

Universal Studios

Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast – once. Niko and I rode this by ourselves while the others did, well, other things. The ride is what it is; simple fun, nothing too wild apart from the chicken dance. What was interesting was the people sitting next to us in the row: a trainee and trainer ride operator. I heard quiet commentary on what were physical effects, what the current ride operator was doing right and wrong, etc. Loved that. Made me glad I left my camera in my pocket as Universal tend to be very serious about recording and pictures on the rides.

JAWS – once. We sat in the front row of the boat. I had the very left side of the boat so when JAWS went belly up it did so right in front of me. Out-standing.

Men in Black : Alien Attack – twice. We got different endings based on our average score. At least I think that's what did it. I'm not sure I ever noticed that before. We did earn our suit one time through. They still wiped our memory at the end. I think.

The Simpsons Ride – three times. It appears they've added a mark to the wall in the 'safety video' area to easily identify tall people and direct them to the front row so as to prevent them from being injured by the design of the ride vehicle. That's how we met the Tallest Irishman and found it was his first time on the ride. He laughed at all the right spots and got off the ride grinning madly. Good stuff.

ET Adventure – twice. They seem to have been having some issues with Botanicus in the entry queue as he wasn't active every day. We rode this almost as it opened one day and the fog sequences were delightfully thick.

Revenge of the Mummy – twice. The two trips through were nearly back-to-back as there was a child swap involved. We rode it, tagged in a different adult, and hopped back on almost immediately. Enjoyable ride but it feels shorter and shorter as I ride it.

Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster – four times. I think that four times was in about 15 minutes. We rode it, Kara giggled madly, and we ran to get back on. Remembered/Found the bells in the queue that play a tune if you hit them all in sequence.

Terminator 2:3D – once. Entertaining show. Long as well; depending on how you queue for this it'll take 45mins to an hour to go through this. Wait until it's raining or you want to sit down for awhile before visiting this. Its good but the length is such that this isn't an everytime show for me.

The Doctor's Daughter is also the Doctor's Fiance

2011-01-04T22:23:00.000-06:00

If you haven't heard already, Doctor David Tennant has gotten himself engaged to the Doctor's (Peter Davison's) daughter Georgia Moffett. Hooray and Huzzah! Cheerful celebration is called for and such! Good for them. If the two minutes I spent with Peter Davison a dozen years ago are any indication of Georgia's nature then she must be very pleasant. If I'd have known he had just an attractive daughter I would have tried to make a better impression and would probably have failed.

Then it dawned on me that Doctor Who fan David Tennant would now have a life that was almost constantly a mini Doctor Who convention. Family functions will always have that Who-vibe. It feels like it would be the funny version of a SNL sketch.

David: (smirking as he slids up to Peter) Hullo... Dad.

Peter: David.

David: So... What was it like the first time you met the Daleks? (smirk becomes wide grin)

Peter: (sighs) You don't really feel like you're the Doctor until you face the Daleks. It was something important for the character to accomplish. (David squees with glee.) You ask me that every week.

David: (quickly as his breath escapes him) I know because it's just so cool!

Peter rolls his eyes and sighs again.

And Peter can answer any question about 'Time Crash' with 'you were there too!'

Do I sound jealous? Cause I probably am.

Movie Review - The Thrillkillers

2011-01-03T22:03:00.001-06:00

A Quick Look at 2010

2010-12-31T17:30:00.000-06:00

Just off the top of my head, this year I...

...got to see Frank Ferrante's brilliant re-creation of Groucho Marx.

...got to visit with Jim, Mark, and Kent again after far too long.

...got to go to theme parks in Florida again.

...started trying my hand at video blogging.

...got a temporary job, held it, and has a few more months to see if it will become permanent or not.

...watched some good TV and bad.

...watched some good movies, bad movies, and some good bad movies.

...added to the collections.

...wrote a lot but not as much as I wanted.

...watched a lot of baseball. Again. And loved it.

Was it a perfect year? Probably not. Could it have gone worse? Certainly. At a glance, I end the year satisfied and hungry for more.

Maybe 2011 will be the year I finish something in my written career. It would be about time.

Thanks for reading. See you next year!

Movie Review - Dance With Me, Henry

2010-12-27T20:43:00.002-06:00

A Few Thoughts on Recent Comics - Week of Dec 22th

2010-12-25T23:26:00.000-06:00

Green Who?

2010-12-13T20:53:00.000-06:00

'Character' (played by an actor normally known for his comedic roles) is known by those around him as having issues, he's not living up to his potential. When (someone) dies, he's thrust into a position of responsibility and suddenly has to decide what to make of himself. He decides to fight for good and wisecracks his way into a more responsible role in life, even if he hide this from normal people as part of his secret identity.

I know I've cut the stories from the trailer to their core but am I talking about Green Lantern or Green Hornet? I don't know either but it might explain my current lack of interest in both movies.

A Few Thoughts on Recent Comics - Three Book Day

2010-12-07T06:34:00.000-06:00

GLCW Blizzard Brawl VI – December 4th, 2010

2010-12-05T20:16:00.000-06:00

I didn't take notes this year so it's possible I'll misremember something.

Beginning of the Show Chatter:

A Proclamation from Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett is read, praising promoter Dave Herro.
Dave acknowledges we tend to boo ring announcer Jeff Lynne but defends his friend for all the good he's done in the past for GLCW and getting Blizzard Brawl off the ground six years ago. Dave calls him 'Capable' Jeff Lynne.
Armando Alejandro Estrada returns, reminds us that he retired last Blizzard Brawl, and then informs us that he's here to unretire. Somehow he refrains from making a Brett Farve joke. He promises something big later in the show in his regained position as Commissioner.
This all took time but doesn't last forever. It didn't feel as long as some opens in the past.

Match One: Trios Match – Dysfunction, Tony Scarponi (sp?), and Chase McCoy vs 'El Vato' Jose Guerrero, Billy Goat, and El Grande Something or Other

Dysfunction, Tony, and Chase come out playing three distinct heels: Dysfunction loud and obnoxious, Tony quiet and dismissive, and Chase intense with outbursts of anger.
'El Vato', looking a bit out of shape, had a problem or two with some moves, but generally did fine, mostly playing Ricky Morton (spent time as a face being beat up by the bad guys during a tag match). 'Billy Goat', wore a goat mask and worked that gimmick but butting his head into people and such. I guessed it was local worker Bobby Valentino and was later told I was right. He also played Ricky Morton for awhile. I thought he was the best worker on his team. El Grande Whatever was just a fat guy in a mask.
Hot fun opener to get the crowd going and it worked. All three faces pinned the heels at once.

Match Two: Matt Longtime vs Scotty Too Hotty

Crowd, as normal, are pro-Scotty. We, as normal, were pro-Longtime. Our 'Heel Corner' fully fired up at this point as the guys around us turned out to have a similar attitude to us. We also discovered that a dozen kids does not equal One Herman. A rest hold spot ran longer than it may have been planned for as these kids started cheering for Scotty and our Mr. Herman shouted over them, killing the growing face heat and silencing the kids. After a minute or two the crowd realized they needed to cheer for Scotty in order for things to progress and did. While I missed seeing it, apparently Scotty grabbed Longtime's tights to get the win.
Scotty celebrated the win with the owner's son Kal who'd accompanied him to the ring but Longtime returned for revenge. He knocked Scotty down to the ring and began to chase Kal. We chanted 'Hurt the Kid' which just felt wrong and clearly would have been anywhere but in wrestling. Scotty recovered to save him and was able to dance and pose with Kal.

Match Three: Ego Fantastico vs Silas Young vs the Hurricane

Silas played a grumpy heel, doing his best to not participate at first so Hurricane could mock him. Ego (announced as being from Mexico City, Wisconsin, also wearing a mask) and Hurricane were faces but willing to wrestle each other. Ego over-rotated on a couple of his flips but these were minor flubs in an excellent match. Hot match filled with good spots and a decent story. I wish I had more to say about this match but it just clicked and worked. My Best Match of the Night.

Brief Hall of Fame moment:

Daemon Nelson gave a little speech inducting them into the PWR (Pro Wrestling Report) Hall of Fame. He kept dragging the crowd into his thoughts as if he spoke for us all. He didn't say 'I think we'd all agree...' but rather 'all of us here say...' or words more to that effect. While I like Demolition a lot and think they're a great tag-team but 'Best Ever' is a bit of a stretch. I quickly rattled off a half-dozen tag-teams that I'd declare as better in some way, no offense meant to Demolition. I also thought taking the opportunity to complain about the state of tag-team wrestling in a company that Demolition hasn't worked for in nearly 20 years was similarly pointless to me. Still, it was Daemon's moment to say what he wanted.

Match Four: Tag-Team Championship Match: Demolition (champ) vs the Urban Assault Team w/manager Angel Armoni vs Electric Eric Freedom and Psychotic Someone or Other w/ manager Joey Eastman vs 'The Dream Team' Brutus Beefcake and Greg 'The Hammer' Valentine

I might have the managers associated with the wrong teams. Greg Valentine needed some help getting into the ring. Brother Bruti had a ring in each nipple. The match was announced as a 'fatal four way' which should mean that the first pinfall would win the match but it played out as an elimination match. The Urban Assault Team was eliminated by Demolition. Freedom and Psychotic were eliminated by Zodiac and Hammer. The Demos then pinned Disciple and Valentine to retain their belts. This was a good fun match, if busy, especially considering the average age in the ring was probably about 50.

Intermission.

During intermission our Mr. Herman discovered that an old high school chum is a promoter on the South Side. While we talked to him, Angel Armoni approached to say hi and we got to interact with him. Funny guy.

Match Five: Ladies Championship Match: Traci Brooks vs ODB vs Sarena vs Mike Some Radio Guy (champ)

Mike Some Radio Guy makes sexist remarks and brings out an actual lady wrestler (Something Cruz I think) to represent him in the match. Women wrestling over a women's belt; what a concept! Traci and ODB get eliminated. Some Radio Guy returns to take over, directing his representative to go make him a sandwich while he takes care of business. She slugs him low and leaves him. Sarena spears him and gets the pin. She has an emotional moment over the belt upon receiving it. Nice match with good action and some comedy but not as comedic as some previous GLCW Ladies matches.

Match Six: GLCW Heavyweight Championship: Rhino vs Al Snow (champ)

Armando Alejandro Estrada appears to announce himself the number 1 contender to the belt. Rhino attacks Al Snow outside the ring with a chair before the match, laying him out. Al gets rolled into the ring and Estrada forces the referee to start the match and count the fall. He does and Rhino wins.
This is where the show gets derailed. Small things can add up and make a mess of good intentions. While the crowd was confused by this turn of events, Rhino grabs a microphone and says... something. The mic doesn't work and, even though we weren't that far back, I couldn't hear a thing he said. We began chanting 'What?' trying to get his attention but it didn't work. No one explains what happened but a minute or so later Al manages to roll Rhino up and Al is announced as the winner of the second fall. The match continues.
The match continues well enough but I got the feeling that the crowd is still largely lost and confused. Al manages to win the match and 'Capable' Jeff Lynne announces the end of the second fall again before quickly and unclimatically announcing the match is over and Al won. The combination of the confusion with this mistake triggered a rather energetic from the crowd, at least from our section. We immediately and lustily booed.
Estrada attacks Al, knocking him out, pins him, and becomes Champ. This is one step too far. Security and Medical personnel come out to check on Al and carry him from the ring. When we should have been applauding Al or concerned for him, we were too busy griping about the way things didn't come together. We were disappointed.

Match Seven: Mr. Anderson vs Matt Hardy

Ken Anderson comes to the ring wearing an Aaron Rodgers Packer jersey (earlier he was wearing a Clay Matthews throwback jersey) and explains he can't wrestle, blaming it on his current employers and not a recent chairshot to the head that went wrong and left him with a concussion. He removes his jersey to reveal a referee shirt. The crowd warms to the local boy coming home.

Match Seven: Shawn Davari vs Matt Hardy

Davari comes out with a rant that quickly gets the crowd hating him. Matt Hardy is easily the face once he emerges. The match is about to start but Davari grabs the microphone in order to ask Anderson to call things down the middle. He calls upon various pieces of wrestling continuity referencing how the Hardy Boys have caused him grief in the past. All this is starting to go a little long and then Matt and Shawn start having a crowd cheer off, pointing to different parts of the crowd to get a reaction from them. While the crowd generally reacts positively to Matt as opposed to Shawn, there is a moment where the cheers fade and one loud boo follows them, to the amusement of Mr. Anderson.
All this goes on for a bit long. Once the match actually starts, Davari and Hardy brawl in the crowd on the other side of the ring, making it impossible for us to see what's going on. Around this time we notice that it's already after 11, which seems late for one of these shows, and most of the children have been taken home, no doubt due to the lateness of the hour. By the time the match returns to the ring, it's too late for our section of the crowd, perhaps the entire crowd as most of the match continues in a weird, tired quiet with the occasional outburst. Matt Hardy ends up with the win. He calls Mr. Anderson to the ring to finish out the show as this is his turf. Ken talks a bit more and then the show is over, round about 11:30.

It was a really good show with great moments up until the last couple matches. The problems with the title match as well as Estrada 'stealing' the title did feel like a drain on the crowd that never completely faded. In general, the crowd seemed to die partway through the main event, but I'm not sure how much of that opinion is due to our section, and especially our group, going 'eh' after the stalling and the talking and the brawling we couldn't see. We expected better of the main event and the combination of issues during the title match derailed it. It was a great show that just stumbled severely enough at the end to make you walk out with a sour taste in your mouth.

There was no announcement of the next card which I thought was odd.

A Few Thoughts on Recent Comics - Two Week Wrap-Up Post Nov Vacation

2010-11-30T06:33:00.002-06:00

A Few Thoughts on Recent Comics - Theme Parks

2010-11-28T19:40:00.001-06:00

'What is Gum?'

2010-11-25T23:19:00.000-06:00

I am reasonably comfortable with my skills and where their limits lie. My inability to update this blog on a more consistent basis is a fine display of those limits. It is very possible that I am too modest regarding these skills. On many occasions I've told a story or pitched a movie or worked out some wrestling booking and been told how I should be working more professionally in some of those venues. While perhaps true, I generally demure from such comments. I know I'm not up to that speed. If put in that setting, I might get up to that speed but I don't know that would be so.

My week in Florida reminded me of that lack of 'speed'. It made me feel like I've lost a step. Normally speaking, I'm the abnormal one. I'm the one that's 'playing'. This can cause some frustration in others and I've had to become more 'serious', especially in the workplace.

Then I go to Disney where everyone plays. You don't really think about it but the Cast Members, even those 'just' funneling you in and out of a ride, are always one. In fact some of the best rides are the ones where the Cast Members add a little something; whether that be a Pirate 'accent' or loudly smacking a wall during a quiet moment at the Haunted Mansion. I was chatting with 'Muppet Labs Technicians' at the MuppetVision 3D show and they even stayed in character when we were talking normally. It managed to throw me off. They were doing my 'thing' back at me.

I got thrown in deep early on in my trip. Most of the characters you meet are silent as they wear costumes that prevent speech. Mickey and Donald and such communicate via gestures. The human characters don't have that impediment and are eager to interact with you, give you a moment.

On my first day of the trip, we were heading for the Pirates of the Caribbean ride when we saw Ariel was at the Meet and Greet spot in Adventureland. As we had a six year old girl with us and the line wasn't long, we stopped. As Ariel is a pretty red headed girl, I also got in line. In an effort to not take too much of her time and trying to not be too creepy, my pal and I decided to approach her together. I expected to say hi, make a joke about Neptune or something undersea, get my picture taken and move on. That's not what she had in mind.

“What are you chewing?” she asked me as I approached.

“Gum,” I answered, suddenly backpedaling because I didn't know if I could chew gum in the presence of royalty. She was totally confused by my declaration and it led me to showing her the wad of gum within my mouth, which really had to be a bad idea when interacting with a Princess.

Her face crinkled up at this sight. “Did it look like that when you put it in your mouth?” I assured her that it looked better beforehand when it was still a stick of gum. “A stick?” Despite my gestures, it became clear to me that our concepts of the word 'stick' were not the same. “Why?” she questioned. I pointed to the fact that it made my breath minty. This was also lost on her. “Are you going to swallow it?” she wondered. I offered to do so but explained that this wasn't the normal procedure.

By this point, she was totally confused. “You put a stick in your mouth to make your breath minty but you don't eat it?” She turned to my buddy standing behind her, adding “No offense but you humans are weird.”

Then we politely linked arms and took a picture together.

I was on the defensive the entire time. I kept up, essentially playing the straight man, but never took control of the situation and turned it back to her, asking her about life under the sea. I didn't think of it quickly enough.

I wasn't ready. I've lost a step. Or perhaps I never had the step.

I also think she's awesome and have a crush on her. Me like a pretty redheaded girl that messed with me so successfully? No shock there.

Rule No 1

2010-11-16T21:39:00.000-06:00

If you're planning a trip to theme parks, get some exercise before you go and make sure you have some comfortable shoes. I hadn't been walking enough and apparently hadn't broken these shoes in properly. Massive blisters. Very unpleasant.

Beyond that, great time so far. Have tried new stuff and it's panning out. This is a Good Thing.

A Few Thoughts on Recent Comics - Bela Lugosi's Tales from the Grave #1

2010-11-08T21:39:00.001-06:00

Looking Forward

2010-11-07T17:47:00.000-06:00

This time next week, unless something horrible happens, I'll be in Florida. Yep, more Disney and Universal Studios for me! I can't wait. For the past couple months, my brain has been giving me bursts of memories of Main Street USA while at work. I'd pick up the phone, someone would start talking to me, and, boom, there'd be this vivid memory in my head, like my brain was reminding me why I was doing this and that it would be okay. For about a month it was always Main Street USA, which I thought was odd. Of late, it's become more random: walking to Pirates, getting on the ET ride at Universal, being in the restaurant in Tomorrowland, all different, all enjoyable.

I'm sure it'll impede my posting for the week I'm gone. It will give me something to talk about. If you're not in the mood for another discussion of the Theme Parks, be warned that's coming.

I can't avoid that. It'll be too much fun to not review.

A Few Thoughts on Recent Comics - Muppet Sherlock Holmes # 1 and 2

2010-11-01T21:41:00.000-05:00

Music Monday - Scary Time

2010-10-25T20:03:00.000-05:00

I'm gonna scare you but not with monsters and such. I'm looking for the truly frightening.

Like a British sequel to 'Convoy'

'Live action' Smurfs?

And, what is clearly played constantly in the lowest levels of Hell (if Hell existed, which it doesn't unless you count the DMV)...

I have clearly lost control here. I can't stand the chicken dance...

'Frankenstein's Daughter' Review

2010-10-22T23:42:00.001-05:00

'Frankenstein's Daughter' – 1958

Synopsis:

A descendant of Doctor Frankenstein uses chemicals and good old-fashioned cadaver pieces to follow in the family tradition.

Thoughts:

I was a Monster Kid. I read books about old Horror movies. Every week I watched 'Shock Theater' with the local horror host Toolouse NoNeck and the classic film he had to present. I don't know how many films I saw that way. I clearly remember seeing three: 'The Green Slime', the original 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers', and 'Frankenstein's Daughter'. It was a movie clearly trying to tap into the teen monster trends of the time. I didn't remember it being a very good movie but vividly remembered a sequence where a character gets run over by a car in order to be added to the creature being assembled. After a long day of this and that, I popped in this movie, curled up on the couch, and fully expected the movie to interact with my existing tiredness to assist me in dozing off.

The movie woke me up. Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to claim its a lost classic or anything like that. As tired as I was that night for the movie to engage me to the level that it woke me up is quite an accomplishment. It gets points for that.

Its not a perfect movie but it has a lot going for it. The story is reasonably solid for what it is, with a feeling of progression. The 'bad guys' aren't immediately evident as they aren't caricatures. At the same time they are 'updated' versions of the characters as we'd see them in a movie set in the 1700s or 1800s. Loyalties and levels of sanity alter as the story progresses so that the characters move forward. Stories of monsters are dismissed as stories until proof is received.

I was also impressed with the makeups. The creatures are rather hideous looking. It gave me the impression that the filmmakers knew they needed to deliver something wild here and spent enough of their budget making this right.

On the downside, there's a character or two that just disappears, removed from the story by dialogue rather than action. There's also an acceptable but pointless party sequence with a song.

I've seen better films and plenty that were worse. If you have an interest in older monster movies, this may appeal to you more than you expect. If you can't deal with black and white films or horror movies where people don't get ripped in half while on screen, well, then this won't work for you.

Recommended with reservations.

What Am I? Seven?

2010-10-19T22:22:00.000-05:00

My sinuses have been giving me issues for the past couple months. I dunno if it's an issue I've always had that's just worse this year, or me getting old, or allergies or what exactly. It's not the biggest deal in the world but it's something I've been more aware of lately than years past. I've been taking some herbal remedies to combat the congestion but, for awhile, wasn't as consistent as I should have been.

My mom told me a story of a friend of hers that took these herbs for a couple months and then leaned weird or something and had all this green fluid ooze out of her nose and sinuses. It sounded really gross.

It made me more consistent with my herb taking. I want green ooze too.

Music Monday - Doctorlike?

2010-10-18T21:11:00.000-05:00

Things occur to me in strange ways. I also have a habit of seeing things just through the filter of my Crazy World. Like where everything relates to Doctor Who.

Thomas Dolby? He kinda looks like Peter Davison.

And in this twisted world of mine, the lead singer of A Flock of Seagulls looks like Colin Baker, or at least his mopy brother.

Yes. I am not right.

A PSA from Brett Favre

2010-10-12T18:58:00.000-05:00

Hi. I'm Brett Favre and I've been playing football for a long time. I've gotten my share of injuries over the years but the worst one may be the hidden one. I've got postal... connie... well, I can't say the word but Dr. Nick says I got it. It's this brain thing from taking all those hits over the years. I forget how old I am or what's going on or who people really are. It can be embarrassing, like when you realize you're with a girl that looks like your wife, but isn't. Football is slowly killing me, like when I drink beer while taking pills, I mean when I DID do that, cause I don't anymore. I won't quit football because I have nothing else to do with my life. So when you see me under a pile of Viking defenders, remember I'm putting myself out there for your entertainment.

Dang, that's right. I play for the Vikings now. No wonder Coach gets upset when I throw towards a green jersey. Well heck, I only had to do that for like a billion years. Old habits are hard to break...

Music Monday - Minnesota Music is Not Just Prince and Bob Dylan

2010-10-11T20:10:00.000-05:00

Timing is everything. The 1980s and early 1990s were a hotbed of music around the nation. Grunge would become the dominate musical style and the Seattle 'scene' became the in thing.

It wasn't the only scene. What might have happened if the next big thing was... Minneapolis?

Information Society's brand of techno pop was both of the time and of the future. Change the colors in the video, heavy up them beats a bit and you might still have a hit today, even if the lead singer looks like a young Vince McMahon with a weird haircut.

I remember watching Trip Shakespeare videos quite often on 120 Minutes, you know, back when the M in MTV stood for 'Music'. I remember liking them but not enough to grab an album. A different formation of this band would later hit the big time under the name SemiSonic.

Powermad brings the metal! Long hair, squealing vocals, powerful guitars. Where's Strong Bad to love this?

The Replacements were one of those bands that I thought everyone knew about. Maybe they did then but they don't now. I should know them better. Paul Westerberg is full of awesome.

Aw what the heck, I covered Husker Du already so I shouldn't again. Ah! After Husker Du, Bob Mould formed Sugar and cranked out an excellent album in Copper Blue. 'How can I explain away/something that I've never done?' Love that lyric!

Being Teased

2010-10-11T19:22:00.001-05:00

Music Monday - Screamin' Jay Hawkins

2010-10-04T20:28:00.000-05:00

I gravitate to what is called 'novelty' records: parodies of songs, stuff not meant to be taken seriously, or stuff that's just weird. I collected tv show theme songs as a kid. Probably still would except there aren't any anymore. I also like monsters: Frankensteins (I know the name belongs to the Doctor, bear with me here), vampires, kaiju, and such. The good naturedly creepy.

When they combine, oh boy!

I've got an Elvira's Monster Hits tape somewhere I've had for years but I'm sure I heard 'I Put a Spell On You' on the radio as a kid. It's the sort of song that all sorts of people have covered over the years. For my money, nobody puts the creepy in it better than Screamin' Jay Hawkins!

Seriously, what is going on there? I don't know but I love it and it sounds like he's in tune. Classic.

Also on that tape was his 'Little Demon'. I think Mojo Nixon took Jay's 'gotta have at least one freak out in every song' theme but who cares? This dude is nuts!

Love. It.

It'll Be November Soon

2010-10-02T17:48:00.001-05:00

At lunch the other day, I leaned back from my exciting peanut butter sandwich and closed my eyes. It's nice to be working but it does wear me out some days. I sighed and tried to get comfortable in my car.

I tasted barbeque sauce.

Why would I taste barbeque sauce? Peanut butter tastes nothing like barbeque sauce. Why would I even be thinking about it?

Suddenly, it wasn't even the taste of barbeque sauce, it was barbeque sauce on a hamburger with bacon. It was a happy taste. Suddenly, I was elsewhere.

What was the name of that restaurant? It's in Frontierland, near Splash Mountain. Casey Jones maybe. It's getting later in the day. I'm hungry. The burger is good. I'm surrounded by items made of wood. The table, the chairs, the walls are all made of wood. I'm very comfortable. I lean over the table as we chat and eat.

When we walk outside, it's grown dark. The Magic Kingdom lights up, glowing in the dusk. Things are good.

I'm Watching Spike Milligan So You Should Too

2010-09-27T22:23:00.001-05:00

Music Monday - Covers

2010-09-20T22:12:00.000-05:00

Cover songs can be fun. Sometimes they're just a cheap way to be a familiar song into a movie without paying the big money for the original. I say booo to that. Do something to make the song your own. This week I'm keen to feature a few songs that take that concept to a whole new level.

Disco is dead. Do you know what killed it? DEATH METAL!

Bert and Ernie. Peanut Butter and Jelly. Electric Guitars and Bagpipes? Yes, really. If you've ever wanted to hear a bagpipe play the guitar riff from an AC/DC song, this is the place to see it!

Rap and Metal have intermingled since the 1980s but Rage Against the Machine threw a bit ol' slab of Funk in there as well.

Stir your brain up. Mix things together and see what happens when two things collide. Get chocolate in your peanut butter, sucka!

Music Monday - Caroll Spinney

2010-09-13T22:21:00.000-05:00

I am thirty-six and a half years old, more or less. I've been a Muppet fan since before I can remember. I do not remember a time when that switch was not flipped into the 'on' position. Finally last Saturday I met a Muppeteer. Not just any old Muppeteer but one of the longest serving ones and, arguably, one of the most popular. I met the man behind Big Bird and Oscar, Caroll Spinney.

I had no great expectations for the experience, just the hopes that I wouldn't make too much of a fool of myself. It worked out great. There was no mad rush for him and I ended up spending an hour or so, off and on, with him and his wife, watching him draw and chatting. It was like meeting an uncle you'd never met before and finding out he's a really neat guy, just like you hoped.

Caroll and his characters go back to the beginning of Sesame Street when things were a bit different. Apparently Oscar hadn't been exposed to his trash for as long and had yet to turn green. But he could sing.

Big Bird was different in those early days as well, a little smaller of head, literally and figuratively. Early on, he was 'younger' and played more as a more learning, simple character than the innocent he would become. Ah, days when words had different meanings and before government cutbacks would eliminate Q and Z from the alphabet...

I love Oscar for many reasons. This song and the thoughts behind it may be most of the reason why.

Mr. Spinney, good health! And have a rotten day! heh heh heh

Sesame Street: 40 Years of Sunny Days Sesame Street: Old School, Vol. 1 (1969-1974)

Helping Out

2010-09-12T18:19:00.000-05:00

Saturday was largely spent in Illinois at a Card Show. Not long after arriving, I headed for the restroom before I started exploring the show in earnest. As I went to open the door, I saw there was a gentleman in a personal motor scooter inside, working to get the door open so he could exit. Quickly I pushed the door open as widely as I could, holding it open so this gentleman could exit with greater ease. As he thanked me, I looked up at him.

It was Richard Kiel. Jaws from the 70s Bond films amongst other things. He was a guest of the show.

And that was my good deed for the day.

Music Monday - Scythian

2010-09-06T19:41:00.000-05:00

I remember a rainy weekend at Irish Fest a few years ago. The rain had driven away my friends and I wandered the Fest alone. At the Celtic Rock Stage Scythian played to about 20 others braving the weather. Due to the wet, they couldn't use the amps and the band struggled to be heard. Yet, they were smiling, thankful, and working to have a good time. I sat in the drizzle for a bit and listened. Despite the obstacles in front of them, they were still communicating fun to the crowd. I bought their CD which was good but didn't quite grab their live entertainment. They faded into my background.

Then Irish Fest 2009 they popped up in the packed Tipperary Tea Room and blew the roof off of it. Not literally mind. They'd also released a live album. When I got it signed, I was complimented on my sideburns.

In short, this band is awesome. And has good taste in facial hair.

They take music from various areas of the world and can play it 'straight' but also fuse it with other forms. Greek style violin can go gypsy or have an accordion added and get somewhat... techno...

They can also cover songs, and cover them well.

And they remember their 'days in prison'...

They have their little schticks, stuff they pull out of a bag of tricks at concerts because they work. This past Irish Fest they headlined a stage themselves because they are now officially That Good. Yet, it's not all silly. They can be serious as well.

I have yet to see them in front of an audience that wasn't on their side, if not when they walked on stage, at least by the time they walked off. Even the toughest crowds are not immune to their charm.

These guys do good work.

Immigrant Road Show Scythian Live, Vol. 1 Scythian Live, Vol. 2

Ode to August

2010-09-01T21:34:00.000-05:00

August.

August is always action packed. I may not know which weekend has what event but I know I'll be busy.

August is the only month I know I'm busy. Next August? Already booked. Can I tell you what's happening next weekend? No. August 20, 2011? Irish Fest.

August keep me running.

August tires me out so that I miss standard weekly events.

August always brings memories that I will cherish for years to come.

August is fun.

I love August.

At the same time, I'm looking forward to being able to sit a little in September. Maybe just a little...

New Hats Make Me... Something or Other

2010-08-23T22:05:00.000-05:00

Music Monday - Gaelic Storm (on a Thursday)

2010-08-19T21:32:00.000-05:00

Irish Fest started today! No I'm not there! I won't be there until Saturday! Why are we shouting! I don't know!

I do know that Gaelic Storm is awesome.

One of the advantages of Irish Fest is that a lot of the bands play multiple times during the weekend. If two bands you're interested in are playing at the same time, you can always schedule to see one later on. Also, if you like a band, you can see them again. Gaelic Storm's been a regular visitor to the Fest for the past few years and they've been closing down their stage consistently cause no one wants to follow them. They put on a great show full of fun and energy. They sing songs you don't need to know the words to because you'll learn them quick enough. I might have seen them a dozen times now. Last year I saw them at least three times in five days. Maybe more.

The crowd around the Gaelic Storm stage is massive every time they play. The band seems to love the attention. They end up playing Wisconsin a couple times a year. The other year when they released their 'What's the Rumpus?' album, you got a free live track to download if you preordered it. It was 'Born to be a Bachelor' from the Pabst Theatre, downtown Milwaukee. So cool!

If you can't sing along, you can clap along, can't you?

At least that's what I heard but I wouldn't trust a person like me if I was you...

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go die of thirst.

Music Monday - The Young Dubliners

2010-08-09T22:21:00.000-05:00

It's been a week already? Bugger.

It's August and it occurs to me that Irish Fest 2010 is the weekend after this one. Wow! Finally! Can't wait. As my mind heads in that direction, that's where we're going.

We saw the Young Dubliners at Irish Fest a year or three ago. They return this year and I'm looking forward to it. They work in that punked/rocked up version of folk music that I rather love. Speedy guitars and fiddles at the same time. Good stuff.

Oh and a flute. Not enough flutes in rock music.

The Irish Sessions album referred to in the Early Show video is an album of covers. They cover two Pogues songs. Unfortunately (sorry fellas) this is the one I like less. It's still quite good, but I enjoy their cover of 'Tuesday Morning' more.

This is my favorite song that they do. It just gets me somewhere. It gets inside and stays there.

Why are they the YOUNG Dubliners when they're clearly not that young? Well, cause there's already a Dubliners and, well, they're older. Still AWESOME though.

Music Monday - Pop Will Eat Itself

2010-08-02T20:08:00.000-05:00

Pop Will Eat Itself aka PWEI aka the Poppies were a late 80s/early 90s band, mostly known in the UK. The majority of their music is electronic dance with samples all over the place, with geek references all over the place. If you remember Information Society, they're kinda like that. Oooh, Information Society, gotta remember to write about them too.

So, beats for geeks. Well, not only geeks, but the geek references add a layer.

Sampling Rod Serling is not enough. Let's list all the things we like. Oooh, and center the song around a chant from one of the most comic book movies to not actually be based on a comic book, The Warriors. Great fun movie about a gang getting accused of killing the wanna-be kingpin of town at a meeting and then having to fight their way to their home turf, through gangs like the Baseball Furies (wearing pinstrip uniforms and Kiss style makeup), and that lesbian gang and...oh yeah, the Riffs! The video is FULL of panels from 'Watchmen' because, as everyone knows, Alan Moore knows the score.

This may be the geekiest video apart from one of those Matthew Sweet video with the anime clips in it. Oooh, Matthew Sweet, another good call there. She loves me, she loves me not...

Anyway, I found out about all this after the fact. I came into the band with the first single off of 1994's 'Dos Dedos Mis Amigos'. With this album, the band became less dance and more industrial. Very heavy. This song just blew me away. I was instantly hooked. That it had a message didn't hurt any.

I love this entire album as, while it's heavy and more 'serious', there are certainly light moments to be had. It's not all the doom and gloom of 'Everything's Cool'. I'm not much for fan made videos, but at least they chose reasonably logical subject matter for this one.

Unfortunately for me, this new direction didn't go very far. Apart from an album that was solely made up of remixes of 'Amigos', there would be nothing. The band broke up, forming other groups (like Bentley Rhythm Ace) and lead singer Clint Mansell is known more now as maker of soundtracks. With the 25th anniversary of the Poppies approaching there's suddenly talk of a reunion. A new single came out earlier this year which I must now find.

It's also an awesome band name. So terribly true...

Dos Dedos Mis Amigos This Is The Day...This Is The Hour... This Is This Cure for Sanity

Music Monday - Chuck Berry

2010-07-26T20:58:00.000-05:00

Chuck Berry's music is in my blood. As a baby, my play pen was by the speakers to the stereo where my Dad would play Chuck and Little Richard and assorted other awesome bands from when Rock n Roll was Rock n Roll! In middle school, I managed to weave a biography of Chuck into a project for history class. Chuck Berry stamped Rock n Roll forever. Elvis may have been called the King (and Little Richard the Queen) but Chuck Berry was the MAN!

As much as I love punk rock and it's 'you can do it, just try' attitude, Chuck Berry has the advantage over all of them. The early days of rock are often considered to be filled with 'simple' songs but listen to Chuck not just play his guitar but have the skills involved to RIP IT UP!

The thing that gets me about Chuck is that he's clearly skilled but doesn't seem to be showing off when he's playing. He may go into some wild unexpected version of the riff you know but he doesn't seem to be trying to impress you. He's having fun. He's having a great time and he's trying to share it with you. I love that.

And his verbiage! His confidence to create words as a poet might. 'Motorvating' and 'botheration'... I use botheration all the time. I love that word.

Is Chuck Berry crazy? Probably. He has every right to be. He was mistreated as a black performer during a still segregated county. He spent time in jail at the peak of his career on what may or may not have been a trumped up charge in an effort to 'kill off' Rock n Roll. He certainly seems to have some... interesting ideas about life and ladies.

But man o man does he have a good time.

I Don't Know About This

2010-07-24T11:33:00.000-05:00

I have done very little to see what the plan is for the 'Green Lantern' movie. I've not really dug around the rumor mill or anything like that. I know who the lead is and now I've seen the picture of the costume and I'm concerned.

I like Ryan Reynolds. I think he's funny. He's good at the style he does. That's the whole thing; Ryan has the image of being the smart-aleck. Most of roles he's best known for have him playing that guy. Now, I'm guessing that his Green Lantern will be Hal Jordan. This causes my concern. I'm not terribly familiar with the details of the DC characters but when I think of Hal Jordan I think of someone that's very serious, not without a sense of humor, but more of a quiet wit than the sarcastic characters Ryan is known to play. It's not that Ryan can't play that style, but will the Ryan Reynolds fans accept that? If he plays Hal Jordan like a standard Ryan character, will Green Lantern fans turn on it? If he's not playing Hal Jordan, then why not? Isn't Hal the primary Green Lantern of the DCU now?

The Green Lantern costume is a triumph of simple design. It is classic, green and black. It is the uniform of an Intergalactic Police Officer. As I understand it, the mask is Hal's addition, to protect his identity while on Earth. So what is with the weird lighting effects on display in the movie costume? It looks like it has ground effects? It looks more like a Tron costume that Green Lantern. If it only glows on occasion, why let that be the first picture of the costume to be released? If it's lit like that constantly, it's gonna look ridiculous.

This all makes me worry that Warner Brothers is trying to make this their Iron Man movie, to the point of altering the main character to make him more sharp and funny.

For DC fans, this movie HAS to work. If this movie doesn't do well, doesn't make money, then you will get nothing apart from Batman movies for the next decade. If Green Lantern doesn't succeed, what other DC hero will succeed? What other character will get the nod?

Then again, even if it fails, maybe Warner Brothers will make another DC movie. I mean, they made Catwoman.

Music Monday - Peter Sellers

2010-07-19T21:45:00.000-05:00

Between the Pink Panther movies that I watched with my Dad as I was a kid and the Muppet Show appearance burned into my memory thanks to the record, I was very familiar with Peter Sellers as a child, enough to be a bit sad when he died. I was only six. That sort of thing doesn't mean that much when you're six. Seven maybe.

Peter Sellers was a comedy genius. A comedian with an ear for voices and the ability to mimic them, he first hit big in the 1950s with fellow geniuses Harry Secombe and Spike Milligan as a member of the ever mobile Goon Show! Witty, fast, cartoons on the radio, there was also songs in the mix on occasion, including this bit of nonsense.

By the 1960s, Peter Sellers had become a movie star, racing Alec Guinness for who could play the most different characters in one film. Peter wasn't the only British export to make in big in that era and when these two things clashed, there was beautiful silliness to be had.

In the late 60s and early 70s, Peter's star waned a bit but reviving the Pink Panther movies also revived Peter's career. Clouseau got him a shot on that furry, free wheeling, fast, and frantic Muppet Show where he was able to be, well, whomever he wanted to be.

There may well have been two Peter Sellers. In 1964, Peter suffered a series of devastating heart attacks. He was not expected to recover but did. His heart was never strong after that and it would finally give out on him in 1980, at the young age of 54.

Did Peter Sellers, as he was known before the heart attacks, die in 1964, survived by a 'weaker' version. He was certainly funny after that but people that knew him indicate that there may be some truth in the joke he tells Kermit backstage on the Muppet Show...

Ah, let's end on a laugh.

Old Wrestling Magazine Weirdness

2010-07-18T19:55:00.000-05:00

At the New Year's Sale this past January, I picked up some wrestling magazines that are about as old as I am. One is even cover dated March 1974 which is kinda neat. I've only just started reading through them in the past few days and they're still a lot of fun. Many of the wrestlers are written very well, translating their vocal style well to paper, Bobby Heenan especially.

The design of these magazines did not change much for over a decade. Most articles start with a couple pages in the front half of the magazine and then to get to the rest of the article you have to flip to the back half. Since it's not complicated reading and there are a lot of pictures, it feels like there's a constant back and forth. The bulk of the advertisements are in the back half of the magazines and the ads confuse me.

Who were the audience of this magazines?

For periods of time, wrestling captures the interest of the general public. I'm not completely sure but I don't think the seventies were one of those times. Admittedly tastes change but the seventies were an often hardcore and bloody period of wrestling. The color photos on the covers were often gorier than the average Fangoria cover. There's the occasional mild swear, nothing too fancy, possibly still teenage friendly I guess. Some of the magazines have 'pen pals' or 'fan club' pages that are mostly kid orientated. Mixed amongst the X-Ray spec or junk jewelry ads are ads for muscle building, learning deadly arts like karate, correspondence courses, franchises. Nothing too weird there, something for the young adult perhaps. Then there are the 'personal viewing' movie projectors, ads that ask you if you're 'half a man', and some rather adult 'companion' dolls. The ads for these are pretty way-hey-hey, especially next to those X-Ray specs ads. In a few years, ladies wrestling would devolve into 'apartment wrestling' and the less said about that the better.

Wonder how many kids got busted reading these and protested 'ma, it's just a wrestling magazine' and meant it? Until they turned twelve at least.

Sheesh!

Looking for My Swing

2010-07-12T14:01:00.002-05:00

My back’s been acting up again. Mostly it’s been in small, subtle ways, just annoying enough that I’d notice the complaint but not enough to be a big concern. I was more bothered by other physical issues that were dragging me down, things that seem more obviously caused by this back muscle issue in retrospect: the weakness in vision, the tummy trouble, the tiredness. Once those signals start getting delayed or muffled as they travel your spine, it can cause a lot of havoc. I’m not broken down or crippled or anything like that but the combination of issues just leaves one tired after a long day at work. You know you’re getting old when the primary reason you’d like a young lady around the place is to rub your back.

Please note the use of ‘primary’ in the above sentence as opposed to ‘solitary’. I’m not that old yet. It would be nice if she could cook a little too.

Since there’s no queue of ladies waiting to apply for the job of rubbing my back…

Hang on, let me check before I say that for sure. Yep, no line.

Since there’s no queue and I’m not really taking applicants, I’ll just have to return to stretching and heating pads like always. At least the muscles had the dignity to flare up properly yesterday and let me know I’d neglected them. Now I know what needs to be done. Once they relax, I’ll probably get busy and neglect them again. It’s the way of things. Not right, not without trying, but true.

Doctor Who Series Five Finale Comments

2010-06-29T22:24:00.000-05:00

Faithful readers, all two of you, I'm sure you are aware that I work to keep this as spoiler free a zone as possible. In order to discuss these episodes properly, there will be details reviewed. If you've not seen these episodes, then these comments will be spoilers. You have been warned.

'The Pandorica Opens' makes no sense. At all.

The trouble is started by a Vincent Van Gogh painting that gets collected by Winston Churchill. who ends up getting in contact with River Song on accident. She then breaks out of jail and steals the painting from the Queen of Spaceship UK in order to take it to the Doctor. Complicated much? Lucky that painting survived 3000 years. Are we to understand now that Vincent Van Gogh's suicide was brought on by visions of the TARDIS exploding and fearing his friends were inside? Dark beginning.

This leads to 100AD and a Roman Legion around Stonehenge. The Pandorica is here and is opening. Why now of all times?

Around the Pandorica itself are the remains of a Cyberman, broken into sections. This creature is considered the remnants of a scout destroyed in the battles over the Pandorica and its contents. Indeed, the ships of multiple races are in the night sky, jockeying for position. Wait. How did they get here? Daleks have long had time travel capabilities but no one else, traditionally at least. There was talk that time travel technology slipped out to the greater universe as part of the Time War but is it this out and about now? Any everyone knows to show up now?

Amy's fiance Rory reappears with the Roman Legion but it turns out that they are all Nestene duplicates. The situation is a trap, built out of the interests of Amy. How did they get an imprint of Rory's mind? If they took it before Rory was erased from history, it would have been erased with him. If they scanned Amy's mind after he was erased from history, and since he knows he was erased from history this seems likely, he wouldn't have appeared as an important figure as she can't remember him. Even when she sees him, it takes time for her to remember him. So why copy Rory then?

The big payoff to the episode is that the Pandorica is empty. Its meant as a prison for the Doctor as the assembled creatures have projected that the TARDIS will explode, destroying the universe. Since 'the Doctor is the only one that can pilot the TARDIS', they will cage the Doctor and fix things themselves. So they don't know about River Song then? If they were setting up the Doctor, then where does the damaged Cyberman that almost killed the Doctor and Amy come from then? It wouldn't have been from infighting. And why almost kill the Doctor if you're planning to cage him? For that matter, why cage him at all? Why don't the Daleks just kill him? Do they think he can't be killed? It's not like they haven't tried before.

And why are the Silurians there? When Earth becomes the only planet left in the universe, why do they disappear? They're from Earth!

It makes no sense!!!

Wait. It makes no sense.

When Replica Rory first makes himself known to the Doctor, he goes unnoticed as the Doctor mutters that he's missing something obvious. Rory, and the viewer, knows it's his presence and we laugh at the Doctor's absentmindedness.

What if Rory isn't what the Doctor was thinking about? What if the Doctor was realizing that this situation isn't making sense and Rory is a distraction from that realization? What if all this is a distraction? I mean, once the Doctor is safely caged, the universe disappears immediately. It's not long after that that the Doctor's free again. It can't be that great a prison if the Doctor can get free that quickly. As it turns out, the Pandorica holds the tools to 'reboot' the universe as it was, with some modifications. Handy that.

By the end of the episode, the universe is restored, Amy brings back her 'lost' parents, Rory is human again, and the Doctor is returned from the Void. While the universe is restored, Time can be rewritten, allowing these changes to be made. Hmm.

At the end of the episode, we still don't know who caused the TARDIS to explode or why. There's more to come, it isn't a forgotten point.

That's the key. It's not 'what' caused the TARDIS to explode but 'who'. Some one did this and this is why it makes so little sense. This mastermind's plot is designed to destroy the universe knowing that the Doctor will restore it successfully. To what end? To bring someone or something back, to rewrite history, as Amy did. The Pandorica plot is designed to distract the Doctor, keep him off guard, but keep him from preventing the destruction of the universe so that he'll have to fix it.

Who would do this? Visibly we have two likely options: the Doctor's 'dark' subconscious from 'Amy's Choice' and River Song. The Doctor remembered Rory and could have replicated him. River's appearance at Amy and Rory's wedding is odd, a bit suspect. It's almost implied that she knows to drop the diary off to trigger Amy to remember the Doctor but that would mean she might remember the Doctor. If River remembers the Doctor, then why does Amy have to remember him? Tricky.

But to what end? What might be restored? Well there is something currently missing from the mythos.

Perhaps this 'reboot' erased the Time War from happening. Perhaps Gallifrey is back.

Or perhaps not.

Music Monday - Husker Du

2010-06-28T21:10:00.000-05:00

Remember Night Flight? Anyone? I didn't have cable as a kid but they'd repeat the show in the middle of the night on NBC and I'd tape it once (a) I got a VCR and (2) I figured out it was a weird show that needed taping. The musical acts I picked up on from that show! Before I had access to 120 Minutes on MTV, when MTV played music videos back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, I had Night Flight. One night they did a piece on Minneapolis and there was Husker Du!

The band was so janglely I didn't even realize that they were thrash punk. I mean, Night Flight said they were thrash but I was all 'am I gonna trust my ears or this late night show clearly assembled by drunks?' Trust the ears!

I bought what turned out to be their last studio album 'Warehouse: Songs and Stories' at the Camelot that used to be up by what used to be Northridge Mall. The store's a Half Price Books now so I still love the place. 20 tracks and I don't think there's a clunker in the lot. As time went on, I picked up older albums here and there but none of them entranced me the same way that 'Warehouse' did.

Punk rock needs more guys with handlebar mustaches. That's what'll revitalize the genre! More punk bands with mustaches! Doing covers of television theme songs!

You know how punk rock Bob Mould is? He was a writer for WCW for awhile. Sure that's when WCW was spending money on all sorts of crazy things but having a college rock icon write for wrestling is just full of awesome.

Warehouse: Songs & Stories Metal Circus Living End (Jewl)

For the Record...

2010-06-22T18:39:00.000-05:00

Yes, I am caught up on Doctor Who. No, I will not be discussing this week's episode until I've had a chance to see next week's episode. At all. There's too much lingering out there at the moment to treat this episode on its own.

Music Monday - Johnny Cash

2010-06-21T21:13:00.000-05:00

I'm wearing one of my Johnny Cash t-shirts and my deluxe edition of the 'Cash - The Legend' box set showed up in the mail today. Hmm, who should I feature today?

Johnny Cash was Johnny Cash. He's not really country, but he was for awhile. He's not really Western, but he was for awhile. He's not really folk, but you could argue he was for awhile. Johnny Cash made people happy being Johnny Cash, expressing himself in the way he enjoyed expressing himself and, like him or not, you've got to admire someone that can accomplish that in their life. I surely do.

'I liked those hotels in Europe where they had the beautiful paintings on the walls. This one painting, this woman had this beautiful cleavage and I tried to throw my Bowie knife in between her breasts. Sometimes I made it, sometimes I'd miss a little bit. That cost me a thousand dollars.' - Johnny Cash

'CBS were laying their money on the young people. If you were over a certain age and your body didn't look just right, the record companies wouldn't put money on you. Problem was, there are a lot of beautiful people, and a lot of talented people, but there aren't that many that are both.' - Johnny Cash

'Don't break your tap root, or you'll die. That's the root that's tapped in to the divine -- into the sacred, the holy, the power. Into life.' - Johnny Cash

Forever the Man in Black.

The Essential Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison The Johnny Cash Show: The Best of Johnny Cash 1969-1971

Doctor Who - Pocket Reviews (aka Catching Up)

2010-06-16T21:57:00.000-05:00

'The Vampires of Venice' in which the TARDIS crew go back in time and deal with some creatures that are feeding on humans. Not a bad episode, some good running about. some good explanations, some good character building, but I wasn't completely happy with the Doctor's reaction to the creatures. He seemed to jump to 'realistic but hopeless' too quickly for me but that's just me. Not bad not not really great either.

'Amy's Choice' in which the TARDIS crew exist in two realities at once, not knowing which is the true reality they should try to stay in. Great episode, funny, kept you on your toes as to what was going on, some really strong character moments. Very solid and very enjoyable. I think this may have something to do with the finale but that's just a thought.

'The Hungry Earth' and 'Cold Blood' in which the TARDIS crew encounter creatures that sleep below the Earth. Good story with excellent effects (I want a theme park ride that lets you walk through the underground city as part of the queue as it was beautiful) but was let down ever so slightly by my familiarity with the show's history. The very basic plot felt like 'Inferno' connected with 'Doctor Who and the Silurians'. There's even the young creature that wants to wipe out the apes while the older creatures are willing to talk things over. Good scares, well put together, but a bit familiar.

'Vincent and the Doctor' in which the TARDIS crew meet Vincent Van Gogh. Wow. Sensitive, moving, sad, depressing, invigorating. The Doctor does something that I've dreamed of doing for a creator. This is a high point for the season in my book.

'The Lodger' in which the TARDIS gets stuck and the Doctor gets bored. The Doctor has to pretend to be a 'normal' human while investigating roommate Craig's upstairs flat. Funny, a bit clever, a little scary, and heartwarming. A fun buffer episode before the finale hits us.

All in all, it's been a great season so far. Moffat has been clicking on all cylinders as far as I'm concerned. Two episodes left. Can't wait until Saturday...

Music Monday - Strange Land

2010-06-14T22:15:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday I attended what is expected to be the last time that Strange Land will play together live. It was a great time. Of course I didn't think to do this last week when it could have been an encouragement to attend so, well, sorry for that Chad.

Strange Land proudly identified itself as a prog-metal band. They played loud, inventive music that sought to sound different but not at the expensive of harmonies and hooks. As such, it has the ability to get stuck in your head.

I'm working with live recordings this week and the quality here will vary from normal due to the recording. Our first song, 'Asinine', is even incomplete. Not only is it a great song but I just adore the 'spend your time, wasting mine' lyric. It's so cutting and clear. Of course now I've probably misunderstood it and the entire song so you'd better check it out yourself.

Lament. Wailing. Pain. All on display while the music soars.

'Evolve' is part of the epic song 'Catharsis' from the album of the same name. I love this song for many reasons. I mean, listen to all the expensive learning words Chad spits out. He's had some learnin'! Somewhat more seriously, this song strikes me as the band's mission statement. They were eagerly doing what they did, not so much for any personal gain (not that it would have been a bad thing as such) but it was for the music in general. Music deserves better than the wasteland that is radio. Stretch out a bit. It's not easy and supporting new things can be difficult (I claim no great skill in this regard either) but it's rewarding.

I need to get out more. Good times.

http://www.strange-land.net/

Anomaly Blaming Season Catharsis

Stream of Consciousness YouTube Playtime

2010-06-09T22:21:00.000-05:00

i did this awhile ago and mentioned it today and thought I'd do it again. 'Caddyshack: The Inside Story' is on so I'm thinking of RODNEY!

Rodney was on 'What's My Line?' Great!

That led me to George Carlin on 'What's My Line?' Before he grew his hair out. Wow!

That led me to this, honestly, no cheating. Clarence Nash on 'What's My Line?' during an earlier time period.

Having played that, I HAVE to play this then. Uncle Walt!

Music Monday - Manfred Mann

2010-06-07T20:17:00.000-05:00

'Manfred Mann' you may be thinking. 'The band that did Do Wah Diddy?' Well, yes, but they were so much more than that. It's a shame that radio plays only this song from that era of the band or that 'Chapter Two' is represented by 'Quinn the Eskimo', if it's represented at all. That's part of the reason I like doing this sort of thing, trying to break people out of their boxes of song a bit.

Manfred Mann is a jazz/blues band that becomes a pop band. The influence never really leaves them, making their songs, as silly as they might be at times, layered musically. They didn't want to be just another British band during the 'British Invasion' and man did they try. For the record, Manfred Mann is the keyboardist with the glasses and the beard that looks like a chinstrap. Our first song, 'Come Tomorrow', is still from 'Chapter One', with original singer Paul Jones.

By 1966, Paul Jones had left the band for a solo career and Mike d'Abo took over as lead singer. The band also changed labels around this time. While the band was still called 'Manfred Mann', this period is referred to as 'Chapter Two' of the band. One of my favorite songs from this period is 'Fox on the Run'.

There's something about the imagery that gets me. It's summery, warm, sunny, running in the fields. Yet there's a warning in the sounds of this sweet song. It's not a love song as much as a song about things that didn't go so well. It's wistful in a way. I really like it.

And then some songs are just kinda silly.

In 1969, 'Chapter Two' breaks up. 'Chapter Three' followed for a brief period of time and then there was the 'Earth Band' where everyone knows 'Blinded By the Light'. This band still exists.

How do you make a goofy song even goofier? Have a Japanese pop band cover it! Go Pizzicato Five Go!

Trying

2010-06-06T19:58:00.000-05:00

In a way, it's funny. I had all this free time on my hands up until about a month ago. I went and found myself some temporary employment and, boom!, now I've almost no free time. A lot of the time when I do have free time, I end up using it to rest. Like today. I had to take one of those 'if I lay down this headache might go away' naps today. It worked so that was good but that's the situation I tend to find myself in at the moment. Adjusting. Busy. Tired.

So this is my apology. I'm sorry that content has been sporadic of late. All I can say is that I'm trying and my limited energy tends to go more into my fiction at the moment.

Thank you for your patience.

A Few Thoughts on Comics from Last Week

2010-05-26T22:10:00.000-05:00

I'm catching up! Sorta...

Avengers #1. The book gets relaunched yet again. Bendis and JR JR. Bendis has been criticized over the years for being whatever with the Avengers but this issue just FEELS big time. The building of the teams. The joy the characters feel for being in their 'proper' place again. Thor not hesitating to smack Kang around. Great art, good subplots, it feels like an old school Avengers comic and updated at the same time. I hope this is how it stays for awhile. Loved this.

Invincible Iron Man #26 continues the 'reboot' of Tony's life. 'Captain America doesn't do razzle-dazzle on my schedule.' Honestly, I can't beat that line.

Transformers - Last Stand of the Wreckers #5 is the end of the series. I can't say much without giving away the story but will point out that 'last stand' is in the title for a reason. Lots of things go boom.

Simpsons Comics #166 in which the Simpson men decide to join forces and cheat to win a local bike race. It's a reasonably well done plot, more character based than gag based. It actually could have used a few more gags. It was good but not as funny as I felt it should have been somehow. There should be a couple of really good lines in the story and there's maybe one. Homer breaks a bike during training and notes he needs a beer. Bart states 'I think what you need is a tetanus shot.' Combined with the visual it's amusing but it lacks a certain 'I ate all my caps.' repeatability.

Muppet Snow White #1 just wasn't coming together for me. Art that was a little too wacky, a story that was too close to the style of King Arthur rather than Peter Pan, I just wasn't feeling it... until we meet the Dwarves. It's the Electric Mayhem and they sing their song in the mine over a two page spread. I read it, got near the end of the pages, it clicked, I got shivers and reread it. The song is apparently titled 'Seven Dwarf Hop' and it's clearly meant to be to the beat of the Ramones' 'Blitzkreig Bop'. Animal yelling 'Heigh! Ho! Go! Go!' You have my attention again. Please continue. Oh yes and I need this song as a single. Now.

Music Monday - 'The Phantom of the Paradise'

2010-05-24T22:08:00.000-05:00

You ever forget things? I do. I forgot that I had a lot of music in lossless format on my external hard drive. I started going through it the other day, putting it onto CD so I could travel with some of it. Amongst these things I found the soundtrack to 'The Phantom of the Paradise' and I'd forgotten how much I love that movie. Basically, it's a rock update of the Phantom of the Opera story with a heavy dose of the Faust tale thrown in. It's better than it has any right to be because the music is by Paul Williams who also plays the bad guy in the film.

...yes, that Paul Williams. Here's the trailer.

Talented writer Winslow takes his songs to publisher Swan and signs away his life's work. When Swan butchers those songs to maximize their commercial potential, Winslow freaks and attacks the record pressing plant (it was 1974 afterall), becoming badly injured but is believed dead. He resurfaces under a mask, haunting the concert hall, and demanding only Phoenix, whom he loves from afar, sing his songs. Swan talks him into rearranging the songs for her and, of course, gets screwed by the publisher yet again. It all get problematic from there.

Yes that was Archie Hahn.

The songs range from wickedly satirical, like the first song, to heartfelt love songs to mean spirited attacks. It's a musical and the music is good. Sometimes it's GREAT Music.

'If I could live my life half as worthlessly as you, I'm convinced that I'd wind up burning too.' Wow! That's a lyric!

Where's my DVD? I need to watch this again.

Phantom of the Paradise (Ultimate Edition) [Blu-ray] Phantom of the Paradise Phantom Of The Paradise: Original Soundtrack Recording

A Few Thoughts on Comics from Last Week or So

2010-05-23T20:12:00.000-05:00

Siege #4! Finally the wrap-up to the storyline! Years in the making! Nothing can live up to all that and this didn't. It wasn't actively bad but the way the main villain is dealt with is meant to be a desperation move and a cool action moment but it comes across as a Russell T. Davies moment. Russell was the showrunner of Doctor Who, bringing the show back, but he had a few stories, 'The Sound of Drums' springs to mind, where the villain gets the upperhand and things are Very Serious Indeed and suddenly you get the impression he doesn't have a good way for the good guys to resolve the situation so it sort of fixes itself. I'd be more condemning of this but I have the bad feeling I just did it myself. This issue plays out as big action moments and excitement but there are a few 'really? that was the plan?' parts and apparently things are so serious that it's okay for Spidey to swear. I'm happy that we are where we are now in general. This wasn't awful but it wasn't as awesome as it might have been.

Dark Avengers #16 ends the book, wrapping up what happens to the team post-Siege. I rather liked this. It could have been two pages at the end of Siege #4 but it would have been rushed and not as effective. Good wrap-up.

Avengers: The Initiative #35 ends this book as well. The main characters are wrapped up before the book gets relaunched with a new title. Not as exciting as Dark Avengers but solid.

The New Avengers Finale wraps up the last of the storyline elements from Siege and lets the characters have a happy before this Avengers title also gets relaunched. It's a double sized issue and was a bit on the long side but, you know, this title has been known for stretching out its storylines so, really, why should the last issue be any different? Not sure Bryan Hitch knows how to drawn Wolverine out of his costume though. Besides all that, it was a good ending.

Web of Spider-Man #8 made me laugh out loud. While trying to flush out a bad guy, Pete creates a picture blog with Spidey 'bloopers'. At the bottom of the page is a panel with JJJ announcing it as the best web-site he's ever seen, written as if in a hushed tone. The main story was actually a good combination of funny, mysterious, and character based. Just as I was wondering how Pete had figured out how to do internet stuff as he's been portrayed as clueless in the past in this regard, we get a conversation with Betty when he thanks her for helping him set it up. Thank you Mr. Writer! Thumbs up.

Savage Dragon #160 is the final part of the Dragon War. Many Bad Things happen. Lots of characters die. I'm really wondering what's next.

The Marvels Project #8 was grand. In the Marvel Universe, the Axis attacked the Allied on a secret front the same day as Pearl Harbor. Somehow this works. The original Human Torch and Toro aren't enough to stop Pearl Harbor. The main characters are all but in a 'place' as they should be at the beginning of WWII. I really enjoyed the art and story in this miniseries. I would recommend getting it in trade paperback.

Prince of Power #1 begins a quest to bring back Hercules. That's all you need. Standard but fun storyline and clear crisp art. Solid comic.

Transformers - Ironhide #1 has, well, Ironhide in it. Except he's dead. Or not. There's a lot of flashback in this issue and it's not clear what's going on at this point. This would be bad if I didn't think that was the writer's goal. More solid robot art.

The Amazing Spider-Man #631... did the Lizard just do what I think he did? Oh my. That's not right.

Vincent Price Presents #17 has a great CGI cover picture of Vincent Price done by Pixar artist Bill Zahn. The story inside has scraggy art and a story that has more build than payoff. Not awful but not impressive either.

Iron Man Legacy #2 confuses me a bit. The story is fun and the art is good but is this set in the movie continuity or what? It's not quite clear and I don't know. Maybe I shouldn't worry about it. That would be wisest.

A Few Thoughts on Comics from a Couple Weeks Ago

2010-05-19T21:46:00.000-05:00

Yes I'm behind, yes time is limited, yes let's get to this!

Amazing Spider-Man #630 continues the Gauntlet storyline with the return of the Lizard. Long term storylines get nudged forward. The Lizard seems bigger and less human than ever before. Nice creepy start to this part of the story.

The Spectacular Spider-Girl returns in a new number 1! Yay! Since soliciting the book, it's gone from a series to a four part limited series. Boo! The gang war that's been heating up in the various Spider-Girl appearances of late is hitting a pinnacle here as a retired 'player' returns to the game in this issue: the Punisher. Even as a white haired older man, Frank Castle still kicks butt. This should get messy very fast.

Uncanny X-Men #524 deals with the fallout of the issue previous in the 'Second Coming' storyline. It seems to be a breather issue to build importance around the tragic event that just occurred, to give it depth. I thought it succeeded in that but am forced to wonder how long it'll be before this tragic event gets reversed.

Walt Disney Comic #706 features the fourth and final part of the 'World to Come' storyline. Will Mickey and Minnie be able to stop the Rhyming Man from reshaping the world to his liking? Well, it's a Disney comic so an unhappy ending is unlikely. This was a good, solid storyline and I really enjoyed it. It was clever, it had action, it brought up some complicated thoughts in a simple way. It was a good story told in a sweet but not sugary way.

Muppet King Arthur ends with issue #4. While I wasn't completely on-board with this story, the end 'battle' where Kermit and Robin fight with bad puns is funny and very Muppety. Kermit gets a good Kingly speech and everything turns out okay, even if it's because the script demands it. A certain Scottish gargoyle that gargles Gershwin makes a brief appearance at the end. I think the ending was good enough to raise the series up a notch. Still no Muppet Peter Pan but this was okay.

The Muppet Show Comic Book #5 continues the Family Reunion storyline (there's even more? Yay!) with the reappearance of Randy and Andy Pig from Muppets Tonight. The 'Genius' (aka Scooter's 'unnamed' twin sister) is still around and helping out. Unsurprisingly, the dimwitted Randy and Andy mess things up, annoy their aunt Piggy, and get into trouble. They try to make up for everything and succeed at failing. This job is too hard! Classic. Hilarious. Get this.

Music Monday - Jim Henson

2010-05-17T22:29:00.000-05:00

Yes, I'm aware that we had Music Monday with the Muppets not too long ago but yesterday, May 16th, was the 20th anniversary of Jim's death and, well, I can't let that pass completely without saying something. I mean, MuppetVision 3D just reopened from its refurb in time for this past weekend. That just can't be a total accident. If they can do a nod, we should too.

Much of Jim's work was tied to music. Early sketches on 'Sam and Friends' involved puppets miming to records. This no doubt made it easier for him to perform along to a recorded track later during the Muppet Show for things like this:

Those guys look familiar at all? Take another look to be sure. Yup, the Muppets are caricatures of the performers: Jim Henson, Frank Oz, and Jerry Nelson. Neat way to 'appear' on your own show, huh?

Musically the Muppet Show was also educational as I heard many different types of music that I wouldn't otherwise have been exposed to on my own. Was I drawn to Gilbert and Sullivan? Only so much that one of my favorite records had one of their songs on it. Sure it's Rowlf and Sam singing it but that's still cultural, right? Why is it Rowlf the Dog, Sam the Eagle, Kermit the Frog, but not Fozzie the Bear? Hmm.

I softened you up with silly songs for this moment. At least the intro sequence is trimmed back because the couple minutes leading up to this are the Saddest Thing Ever.

One more silly song? Yes, I think that sounds like a good plan.

Once again, thanks Jim. That was swell.

Getting there

2010-05-11T21:13:00.000-05:00

Yup, still tired and worn out from New Things. Also from being stuck at work until 6pm. I hope this is not a trend. On the plus side, I get an hour for lunch and have gotten some nice progress done on Patrick's story. It just needs the time and energy to get it typed up.

A pick-me up is required. The Leprechan Brothers will surely lend a hand.

Not to say this is the inspiration for the late 80s/early 90s sketches from SNL, but it reminds me a lot of Tarzan, Tonto, and Frankenstein 'singing'.

I miss Phil Hartman. Maybe some Rocket Fuel Malt Liquor will cheer me up.

It has!

Music Monday

2010-05-10T20:00:00.000-05:00

Here's the deal folks. I started a new (temp) job today and am just beat tired from all the new learning and thinking and such. The reason for the lack of entries here of late has been related to this new (temp) position as I had a lot of paperwork to print, scan, and email as well as just being busy these past few days. They got filled up. When days get filled up, you need a piece of something to relax you, let you ease back on track a piece. The Man in Black poking fun at his friend the King seems pretty perfect for that to me.

Enjoy. We'll get back to 'normal' soon enough.

Doctor Who - 'Flesh and Stone' review

2010-05-04T15:08:00.000-05:00

Synopsis:

The Angels are coming. Amy Pond has something in her eye. There is a crack in the wall and it's getting wider...

Thoughts:

The story keeps motoring along, moving forward not only in location, but also in explanations. We get to find out more about River Song. We get to find out more about the cracks in reality. The Doctor thinks aloud through most of the episode, feeding us information as he goes along.

The fate of Octavian and his men is quite sad indeed. There are a couple of great sequences surrounding Amy's affliction. The ending comes to us logically with the pieces fitting together nicely as you suddenly realize that you'd forgotten all about one of those pieces for the bulk of the episode despite it being right there. At least I forgot.

The post story wrap-up or coda or whatever you want to call it gets very interesting indeed. It was one of those things I should have suspected but had seen reason to not think that way but yes. If that helps because it won't. The Doctor gets to be very Doctorly and lies about his age yet again. Unless something's happened there, which it might have done.

This was an exciting episode and the feeling that we're building to something big is strong. I rather like that.

A spoiler-less review is difficult but there you go. Good stuff.

Music Monday - Social Distortion

2010-05-03T22:16:00.000-05:00

I forget what came first. Was it the print ad that showed the album cover, featuring a jumping guitarist? Was it the description of the band's sound, that they were like good ol' straightforward rock n' roll? Was it the WARP?

I bet it was the WARP. The AM radio version of Laser 103, broadcasting a string of 'alternative' radio. 'Cold Feelings' got played a lot.

As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, I saw them open for the Ramones. I believe this was after I already owned the album with the jumping guitarist on it ('Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell') as I knew many of their songs. What I remember most about their performance was lead singer Mike Ness yelling at us to get out of our seats and mosh a bit, within the incredibly limited parameters that the Riverside security allowed us.

Years later the following song became popular again. Something about being in a video game? Please note: if this is the only song you know by Social D, expand your knowledge! They are too awesome to be ignored.

There was a cover song then did during that concert. I couldn't say that I'd ever hear a cover of that performer before, not done that well anyway. I wonder what had ever happened to him...

Social Distortion Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell Greatest Hits

'A Nightmare on Elm Street' (2010) review

2010-05-02T16:15:00.000-05:00

Synopsis:

A bunch of 'kids' are stalked in their dreams by a mysterious burned figure in a red and green sweater.

Thoughts:

Remakes are just going to happen. They've been around since the early days of cinema. They happen. Sometimes they work out well, providing a different perspective on a familiar story. Sometimes they're a waste of time.

This movie was the latter.

Now, I'm not trying to argue that the original Nightmare from 1984 was the Best Movie Ever. I don't have it memorized or anything like that. I do enjoy Robert Englund's performance as Freddy in general and going into the film, that was my biggest concern regarding it. As it happens, Jackie Earle Haley's spin on Fred Krueger is a solid one. He's a little too quiet and a little too sane for my tastes, but he works well as the type of Freddy he's playing.

It's the rest of the movie that's the problem.

Now, I understand the concept of the formula. Certain types of movies tend to follow a pattern because the pattern works. This remake starts out acceptably, following the standard horror pattern, and then it just gets in a rut. It fails from the beginning by both following the standard pattern too closely, trying to be itself, and trying to reflect the original source material too strongly. It doesn't get the mix correct. It doesn't seem to know if it should be a movie that stands on its own or something that will only be watched by existing Freddy fans that will want to cut to the chase, so to speak.

As the original, the movie starts with a dream attack but the remake goes further. Instead of establishing the weird world we're getting into, it goes right for the throat, literally. It blunts the impact of the moment because it happens to a character we don't know and, therefore, don't care about.

This process continues for most of the film. We have characters that are just there, ever so loosely sketched in, and their eventual demises lack impact. While we meet the main characters in the first scene of the film, they rarely appear on screen until about halfway through the film. As a result, it's difficult to like them. The characters aren't built up together, giving the film a certain 'Psycho' reference point as well. It feels like two stories slightly connected instead of one arc.

The casting is poor as well. One of the main characters is supposed to be 17 but looks over 30. Most of the characters are that 'I'm 25 playing a teenager' look and that's fine. None of them fit together. Even the adults are a rough bunch. No one's too awful but no one really clicks. Our two main characters do a little by the end of the film but it's too little too late.

Being unable to care about the characters made the story that much more obviously muddled. There's an attempt to add more backstory to Freddy but that just made it more complicated. The premise is that Freddy was a groundskeeper (like Willie, who played him in that Simpsons Treehouse of Horror?) at a pre-school. He was accused of being a child molester and the parents hunted him down and burned him alive.

So, why does Freddy wait 12 years or so to get his revenge on these people? Just because the adults all stopped talking about Freddy, how does that mean that 20 or so kids in the class forgot all about this as well? Not only that, but it turns out that all the main characters forgot they went to pre-school together. I understand that they wouldn't all remember, I mean who remembers everyone they hung out with at age 5, but one of them doesn't? Why is the preschool still standing all these years later? If the adults were that bothered by the events and wanted to blot Freddy out, wouldn't they have the building torn down? In Milwaukee, we had a situation with an individual that killed a bunch of people and the apartment building he lived in was torn down within a year. The kids spoke about Fred's 'secret cave' but the adults couldn't find it. Once the main characters visit the pre-school basement, they find it in two minutes. In their defense, they've been there before, not that they remember it, but it's not exactly well hidden. Did the adults just not look? If they've tried to blot these memories out, then why did Nancy's mom keep a copy of their pre-school class picture? It's hidden but looks brand-new. It also conveniently has a list of everyone's names on the back. In typewritter. It looks like it's from the 1970s, not the 1990s.

One of the dream sequences explains much of Freddy's backstory. It starts as a dream attack sequence but then the character being attacked disappears. In theory he's supposed to be watching all this happen but he's not around to see anything. We see him briefly, the flashback starts, and he disappears. It looks like it was supposed to be just a flashback sequence and they tried to edit it into a dream sequence.

To wrap up, the movie is a mess.

There are bright spots. One attack in a pharmacy works well, being both stylish and creepy. There's another excellent effect near the end involving a hallway that works well. There's a haunting moment involving floating and a white dress as well. There's a neat moment when Freddy's voice floats around the speakers like the Ghost Host in the Haunted Mansion. These moments are too far and few between. The remake does try to reflect the original but the original version of those references are generally scarier and more solidly performed. In fact, after seeing the remake, we returned to my buddy's house and watched the original. It was better all around. The characters are developed. The attacks are creepier. The story fits together a bit better.

Honestly, skip this in the theatre. If you're really curious, wait until you can see it cheap. That way you're wasting more time than money.

Recommendation to avoid.

A Few Thoughts on Comics from This Week

2010-04-29T18:28:00.000-05:00

This was a rather sizable week for books so I'll be focusing my attention on a few rather than trying to touch on everything. The 'everything' way is fun though. Well, we'll see.

I believe the book of the week for me was Invincible Iron Man #25. One of a number of books to feature at least a scene set after the events of 'Siege' (which is awkward as that series is not yet complete), this issue seeks to set up Tony Stark's post-Siege status. He admits to some stupid mistakes (just because he's one of the world's smartest men doesn't mean he's perfect), works to restore his company, and starts restoring some of his good-will amongst his older friends that haven't trusted him in awhile. The book also features a new suit of Iron Man armor as well as a tie-in of sorts to the upcoming 'Iron Man 2' movie. I found it to be an excellent starting point for the upcoming future, one part remembrance, one part starting anew, without flushing away the stories we'd been reading of late. Very excellent.

Transformers #6 features a Combiner that can't quite get it's head together and Optimus Prime stomping some tail. The overall situation of the Autobots changes but things still aren't rosy and happy. This is good stuff. Every issue makes that live-action Transformers movie more of a distant memory.

Secret Warriors #15 pushes things forward on a number of different fronts. One of the early complains of the book was that the shock ending of issue #1 changing everything we knew about certain spy agencies that had existed in the MU for years. As the book has gone on, the details (the 'true' details if you will) have been fed out so that the 'shock ending' seems more and more fleshed out and reasonable. The change may still be annoying (like the erasing of Peter and Mary Jane's wedding in Spider-Man) to some but the stories we've gotten from the change have been solid and entertaining. I'll admit I'm surprised that i'm still enjoying this and that the book has managed to survive this long.

Hack/Slash #32 is the end of the 'superhero' storyline. The twists are good and the ending is, well, not bad, not impossible given the story, but just kinda 'whoa'. I think part of my increasing ambivalence towards the title is the main character's attitude. She's dark and brooding and has every right to be so but her 'tough-gal' style is getting a little old.

The Mighty Avengers ends with issue #36. The Ultron storyline is wrapped up in a clever manner, different from earlier encounters with the robot consciousness. There are some additional 'wow!' ideas to be explained and it still feels full of concepts. A scene near the end of the book seems to give away a twist from Siege #4. Boo to that. Otherwise very enjoyable.

Fantastic Four #578 does a few things. It explains the text endings of late. It re-introduces another classic concept, fleshing it out for future use. It also starts to move forward some of the concepts from recent issues, moving them towards the 'epic' mode I've been expecting. Love it.

Encouraged

2010-04-27T22:41:00.000-05:00

Over the past few months, one of the things that's been a source of irritation for me as been the amount of time I spent writing on a daily basis. I'd read articles about other writers, most of which I admire to some degree, talking about setting aside this period of time or that period of time during the day or night to write. Eight hours a day. I'd compare it to the time I snagged for it and worry. Was I not working hard enough? Was I not capable of more? Maybe I can't do this?

Then I read another interview with one of the writers that I'd seen multiple interviews with before. He talked about days where he got nothing done or had a hard time getting work done. It wasn't just eight hours of putting words on paper; it was work.

I thought about myself again. I can sit down most days and write for an hour, maybe two, with limited interruptions. The time I spend typing up those handwritten pages counts as writing. For that matter, so does my writing here, on this blog. I wasn't counting that.

Maybe I wasn't sitting down for eight hours a day but the time I was spending was fruitful. Maybe I was using my time efficiently, that was good, right?

My perception of myself changed. There was still work I could do to improve but perhaps I'm not as far off as I thought.

For that, as much as anything else, thank you Steven Moffat!

Music Monday - The Misfits

2010-04-26T17:09:00.000-05:00

Some time ago, I threw up a Misfits video and called that a day for Music Monday. I don't remember why I did that so today let's do it properly.

The Misfits start as part of the punk rock boom in the late 1970s. Taking their name from Marilyn Monroe's last film, the band's core was singer Glenn Danzig and bassist Jerry Only. Taking the style of 1950s and 60s rock as punk had, as well as the speed and energy of punk, Danzig fused in the imagery of monster movies. While not seen as such at the time, Horror Rock was largely born out of the efforts of the Misfits.

The band falls apart in the early 1980s. Danzig would continue on in Samhein as well as the band named after him with an even dark style of lyrics and an increasingly metal sound. By the 1990s, Jerry Only was ready to try again. With his brother Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein, he got permission from Danzig to restart the Misfits and did. Just like the vampires and wolfmen of old, you just couldn't keep these monsters in the grave. With imagery 'borrowed' from movie serial 'The Crimson Ghost', they were back!

After a few years and a couple of albums (as well as some time appearing on WCW was that ever weird), that fell apart as well. Doyle got hurt, the new drummer and singer left, and there was only Jerry. Currently Jerry's lead singing with drummers and guitarists that will hang out with him for months or years at a crack. There's talk of a new album. I give him credit for hanging in there and doing what he loves but I'm not all that fond of Jerry's singing voice. To the point where I say, why put a video of that up when I can post another song I like?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGUWla4OVrY

Perhaps there will always be a place in the world for punk rockers that dress up as old school monsters. There may not be a place for this however...

The Misfits Box Set Famous Monsters Project 1950

Doctor Who - 'The Time of Angels' review

2010-04-25T21:09:00.001-05:00

Synopsis:

After saving River Song, the Doctor and Amy find themselves wrapped up in her adventure, exploring a crashed spaceship that held in its hold... a Weeping Angel. They seek to shut it down but are stuck in the dark, underground, with more danger around them.

Thoughts:

It's fun to watch how irritated the Doctor becomes when River's around. She's fun, flirty, and forceful. It's unclear as to why she gets on his nerves. Is it her knowledge of his future? Is it his knowledge of hers? Is it just that he feels 'forced' into dealing with her because their timelines aren't synced up? It doesn't seem personal, apart from her ordering him about and calling him 'sweetie'.

The Angels were creepy in 'Blink' and that doesn't change here. We barely see them and that makes them all the more frightening. The dark doesn't help. The cave they find themselves exploring would be creepy without the Angel in it.

Amy gets to sulk, be playful, and be very, very clever. She seems amused by the concept that River and the Doctor may be husband and wife at some point. Perhaps she's confused. She doesn't seem offended, as if she was claiming him, which is good. Amy also gets to be very afraid, which is good against the Angels.

The Doctor continues to be the sort of guy that speaks, realizes what he's said and who to, and then apologizes. A bit. This is entertaining when the apology isn't accepted.

This episode gets really creepy as it goes along. This is a good thing.

No crack in reality this episode but the trailer for next week does show one as well as the Doctor noticing it. Good! That thread won't be ignored by our favorite Time Lord for the bulk of the Series and wrapped up in two episodes. At least that's what I'm guessing, I don't know.

If some of the earlier episodes in the season felt breezy to you, then halfway through this episode things get Very Serious Indeed.

Excellent stuff.

(Post 700)

Hero to Drunk Girls in Parking Lots

2010-04-24T15:40:00.000-05:00

The game had not been a good one. The Brewers had faced their fierce division rivals the Cubs. The Brewer pitcher had never kept the team in the game. We had people in our assigned seats and we ended up just wandering around the ball park, watching the game from different angles around the field. Certainly we COULD have made those people move or just sat in available seats but our pre-game entertainment hadn't put us in that kind of mood. By the time the game was over and we headed back to the car, it was drizzling on and off. Things were wet but not soaked. We got Saxophone guy to play a different song, tipped him, and laughed back to the car.

Since it was not actually raining, it had been decided it was not yet time to depart. The trunk was opened and then my buddy went to start up the radio. I intended to start extracting the chairs from the trunk but I was suddenly approached by a stranger. "Do you have an extra beer or two?" She'd appeared as if from nowhere. While I'm not good with determining age, she did look to be of the legal drinking age and was rather attractive with her dark hair and blue eyes. I popped open the cooler enough so that I could see inside and do some math. "Wait, you are a Brewers fan, right?" She checked my shirt and saw that I was here to cheer for the home team before making her request again with sad but hopeful eyes.

Whatever. I still had a few beverages remaining and handed over two. "Wow, PBR!" I'm not sure if she was being sarcastic or not. I'm going with not. She gave me a warm hug, thanked me a few times, and they wandered off. I shrugged my shoulders and returned to getting the chairs set-up.

Later, after we were comfortable, some of our pre-game entertainers returned. A large group of college aged girls had parked near us and we semi-watched the Worst Game of Beer Pong Ever. I don't know that there was a successful completion in the game as the ping pong ball seemed to always be bouncing on the ground, headed our way. Now, I know what you might be thinking, maybe this was their clumsy way of being able to come say hi to us? I'm going with no. They would have stayed and chatted rather than apologize and run back to their game.

We did interact with two of them more than the others. One was a gal of rather slender frame that my buddy recognized from a former workplace and made the mistake of telling her so. This made her visit us more frequently. Due to her limited stature, she had gone from zero to drunk in the words of her friend that apologized for her. This friend was not drunk, friendly, and an attractive blond from Minnesota that nearly attacked me with violence when I stated that the Twins should-a put-a roof on their new stadium.

They returned to depart and had some packing up to accomplish before they could do so. They greeted us as they went past and then there was some fumbling. A lot of fumbling. Finally we got up to see what was going on.

The vehicle belonged to the drunk thin girl. She had no plans to drive it as that task had already been handed off to Minnesota. However, they needed to get the trunk open to store the grill. There was some trick to the trunk handle that the drunk girl could articulate but not accomplish. After they fumbled with it again, I stepped it. She unlocked the trunk, I rolled the hidden part of the latch forward and then popped open the trunk. Success on the first try! We received thanks but no hugs this time. They packed up, we sat down. They drove past, we waved to each other.

That's how I played the Hero to Drunk Girls last night.

A Few Thoughts on Comics from The Past Couple Weeks

2010-04-23T15:19:00.000-05:00

Walt Disney Comics #705 explains the premise of the 'World to Come' storyline now that we're in the third part. Much of the mystery is peeled aside. The story is so gloriously Disney sci-fi that it's beautiful. Well meaning scientists. Giant computers. Fixing the world. Too much power for any one person. This is great!

Hack/Slash #31 continues the super-hero godbox storyline. It's great and dreary at the same time. I'm not sure why I'm not enjoying this more. The characters are well defined. It's a traditional slasher set-up. There's a twist in the end of the episode. It's just not clicking for me for some reason.

Hercules - Fall of an Avenger #2 does a number of things. It features a team selection sequence straight from the schoolyard. It takes a big time villain and dismisses him in seconds. It sets up the next stage of these characters and hints that Hercules is still alive. Should have been better, could have been worse.

The Tick #3 explains that the Tick is not good at plumbing. He also fights feral mimes in a sewer. That's how bad at plumbing he is; he ends up in a sewer. Funny!

Transformers - Last Stand of the Wreckers #4 features explanations, trouble, and things getting very, very deep. Still engrossing.

Simpsons Comics #165 gets points for having an ad for the new series of Doctor Who inside its front cover. The story is standard Homer and Marge have a tiff. Not bad but nothing special.

The Muppet Show Comic Book #4 features a character that goes nameless. She referred to as a lot of things but, apparently due to some licensing issues, never gets named. She's Scooter's twin sister and is clearly meant to be an older version of Skeeter from Muppet Babies! Wow! The art is by the lady that drew the Muppet Peter Pan series that was so awesome. Great issue!

Doctor Who - 'Victory of the Daleks' review

2010-04-21T14:07:00.000-05:00

Synopsis:

World War II! Churchill needs all the help he can get and seems to have gotten it in the secret weapon they call 'Ironsides'. The Doctor knows them by another name: Daleks...

Thoughts:

One story on contemporary Earth, the next on a spaceship related to a damaged Earth, and the third set in Earth's past with an historical figure. The first two stories are written by the showrunner and the third by Mark Gatiss. Is it 2005 or 2010? It's not that these new stories really resemble the first three stories of the revived series but it is interesting how this 'pattern' repeated itself.

Much like 'The Beast Below', the basic story doesn't feel all that complicated. The Daleks are doing something weird as part of a devious plot to protect their future. It's 'Power of the Daleks' only half as long and without Patrick Troughton. While the story can be boiled down to a few words, the story never feels simple. Churchill is grand. The Doctor has to walk a line between encouraging him and avoiding telling him that things will work out in the end.

Traditionally, the Daleks have been short, squat little things, about five foot tall, not unlike Tom Cruise. In 2005 they were 'upsized' a bit in order to go eye to eyestalk with Billie Piper. Karen Gillian doesn't look all that tall until she leans over a Dalek and suddenly she's a giant. What happens? They redesign the Daleks to make them taller again. The Daleks will not be denied!

It's a rattling adventure that flies by at top speed. The Doctor makes a tough decision and believes that, in victory, he has still lost.

We have one trend for the series now: the cracks. The one in the first episode was part of the story but both episodes since have shown a crack in existence after the TARDIS departs. This has to be leading to something. It's probably tied to Amy's inability to remember the Daleks. The Earth was stolen! She remembers none of it. What happened? Is it just her or has something happened? Or will something have happened? I'm blaming the Daleks. They are so mean.

More good stuff. Three episodes in and things are going well.

Doctor Who - 'The Beast Below' review

2010-04-20T23:28:00.000-05:00

Synopsis:

Starship UK. The remnants of the mighty empire fly through space while the Earth burns. Yet there is something no one talks about, no one mentions the Beast Below.

Thoughts:

From the first moment that we see Starship UK, I was reminded of Mega City One and 2000AD comics in general. It just screamed of that type of sci-fi to me. For the most part, I was right. It's exciting Doctor Who, moving quickly and slowly at the same time, full of high concepts and crazy crazy events that mean Very Serious Things for the people involved.

It also may take place around the same time as the Fourth Doctor adventures 'The Ark in Space' and 'The Sontaran Experiment'. It's a continuity reference that you don't need to understand for the episode but adds detail for the long time fan, which is how this should work.

I must have slipped a spoiler into my head at some point recently because I figured out too much of the story too quickly. I'm pretty sure this was me and not the story being too basic. Normally I can read spoilers so long as they are months in advance as I will forget them. For this episode, I felt I knew too much. That said, there was a thing or two I figured out quickly but that was mostly because we were given information before it reached the Doctor and Amy.

How about that Amy? This is her first 'proper' adventure and she goes at it like she's been practicing since she was young. Perhaps she has been. The Doctor gives her some advice early in the episode and it proves key to resolving the situation. That twist I hadn't expected and rather enjoyed.

Matt Smith continues to shine as the Doctor. He feels like the Doctor to me. He has moments where he seems to look like Peter Davison. Not like twins or anything like that, but like they could be related, as if he 'took after' that incarnation of himself.

I'm not so sure about the Smilers. The name comes out of nowhere. I may have missed something but it seems like the Doctor just starts calling them that. I don't recall a scene where that name is established. Again, could just be me but it jarred. I also have no real understanding how they work. They just are there and do stuff. Not that I want a list of rules but it's not clear what their parameters are or what they are or anything.

Big crazy concept that works. The small stories are cute. The Doctor only interferes when children are crying? Sure, whatever.

Pleasantly enjoyable.

Music Monday - The Ramones

2010-04-19T22:51:00.000-05:00

The first concert I ever went to was on October 30th, 1992. Overwhelming Colorfast was the opening band (feel free to ask 'Who?'). Then came Social Distortion, great band. The main event was the sonic attack of the RAMONES!

I'd found them a couple years before while in high school. They were funny looking. They had played for ages. The music was simple at first listen. The lead singer's style was unique, to say the least. The lyrics were either very direct or confusing. There was a sense of humor to the band, as if they knew exactly what they were and wanted to let you know it would be okay for you to join them. It sounded like 50's rock played twice as fast. I quickly fell in love with them.

How can you not love a song that expresses the need for sedation?

You see, in high school, my geekdom was not considered to be as awesome as it might be now. I didn't care to be seen as cool and the majority of the people around be were willing to go along with that assessment of the situation. The Ramones were also outcasts, freaks, geeks. 'Gabba Gabba, we accept you, one of us' is the line they cribbed from the movie 'Freaks'. It was one of their credos: all are welcome here. They were geeks too. Who else would write a theme song for a Steven King movie?

During its existence, the band never really got the recognition (or money) it truly deserved. Bands during the 1990s identified the Ramones as their inspiration but it was too late for the group. They had toured hard and worked hard. The albums still weren't selling. In 1996 they called it quits.

Since then, the band was voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Founding members Joey, Johnny, and Dee Dee Ramone have all died. The band is gone, but wherever someone starts a song with the cadence of '1 2 3 4', they will always be remembered.

GLCW - 'Hell Froze Over' Review

2010-04-18T16:17:00.000-05:00

Last night was the next event in our local federation's calendar. Actually, they snuck in a card on Friday night as well, in Racine rather than Waukesha. The back-to-back shows seemed to impact the attendance at our show. There were people but the place wasn't as packed as we were used to seeing it.

Our pre-show promo involved local radio personality (apparently, I had never heard of him and I suspect that was the situation for most of the crowd) Mike Richter (spelling?) and 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper. The Scot had been on Mike's show and Mike had threatened to beat him up. Roddy got a little excitable and all was made well. Roddy told a story or two to the crowd's delight and the crowd sang Happy Birthday to him.

As was well until Dakota Darsow came out to confront Piper. Dakota was essentially explaining why he attacked his Dad at Blizzard Brawl 5: he was always on the road as a wrestler, out there more for the fans than his own son. Now it was Dakota's time. A young man came out to defend Roddy (I think it was Colt Toombs, Roddy's son, but that was never made clear and we didn't see him again that night) and got beat up a bit on his behalf. Roddy talks about refereeing the main event.

To drag things out a bit, Roddy was brought back to the ring for a formal singing of 'Happy Birthday' and a cake. This was poorly timed after Roddy leaving the ring and considering the crowd already sang to him. The gal who sang the National Anthem also sang to Roddy now, in a Marilyn Monroe to JFK style. It was creepy. This would have fit better right before the Intermission as Roddy spent that in the ring taking pictures. The crowd was getting a bit hot for the wrestling to start at this point.

Match One: Bobby V/El Vato (faces) vs Justin James/Dysfunction (heels)

Hot tag match to open. Local guys getting the crowd worked up. Exciting match, a few double teams, a couple of crazy bumps. Eventually a heel double-team backfired, Bobby V hit a splash from the top, and the faces got a double pin for the win. Good match.

Match Two: Electric Eric Freedom (face) vs Ryan Rogue (heel)

Really? The dirty Froot Loop throwing hippie is a face now? How? We had no issue cheering for the heel on this one. Rogue is a better wrestler all around and gave the hippie a good beating. Eric Freedom busted out a couple of armbreaker and I mockingly expressed my shock as I thought that Freedom knew no moves. A top rope reversal followed by a flying elbow drop from the top rope gave Ryan Rogue a clean win. Which was odd for a heel. Unless I missed something. Good finish but unexpected.

Match Three: Tony Scarpoini (heel wearing Cubs jacket) vs The Skullcrusher (face with taped ribs that were 'broken' last night)

Oddly slow match. Both are big men that I know can move. The 'taped ribs' gave the heel the advantage but some of Tony's punches to the ribs looked so light it made me wonder if Skullcrusher was injured to some degree. Another top rope reversal led to Skullcrusher hitting a massive frog splash from the top rope for the win.

Intermission:

Ring announcer has spent the entire show telling us that Road Warrior Animal and Piper will be in the ring together for pictures during Intermission. Animal gets nowhere near the ring. Did no one tell him? Fail.

We've seen Demolition 3 or 4 times now. Every time Brad gets at least one signed picture from them as they are his favorite. Before the show he bought three. At Intermission, he asked them if he could get a picture taken with them using my camera. 'Sure. You buy enough stuff from us, just come behind the table.' Awesome.

Piper was in the ring getting his picture taken with people and the line faded quickly. The batteries in my camera were running low but we should be okay for four pictures: one with each of us individually and a fourth with us altogether. We explained things, handed over the money, and got in the ring. Love being in the ring. Walked up, shook hands with Piper, got my picture taken, got out of the way for my buddies. I retired to the corner and leaned back on the turnbuckle, my arms stretched over the ropes. It felt so natural. Soon enough, it was time for the group picture and we got together.

Of course the batteries in the camera then went dead.

I had back up batteries and fumbled to load them into the camera. Of course they were dead too. Crap! Thankfully, the lady offered to take the picture with their camera, the one they were printing pictures from, at no additional charge. Nice lady! All ended well.

Match Four: Ladies Championship: Traci Brooks (face, Champ) vs Melanie Cruz (heel)

The radio announcer claimed to have set this match up and was suddenly playing the heel commissioner. Where did that come from? Cruz was playing the 'giant' which was odd as she wasn't all that tall or big. Muscular? Yes. Tall? Certainly. Attractive? Sort of. But no creepy giant gal. Traci stuck and ran to avoid the 'giant' offense. For a GLCW Ladies match, this was actually really good as opposed to the comedy match that they normally are played as. Traci hits a big DDT for the win. Big crowd reaction.

Radio Announcer 'guest host commissioner' guy claims to have been on the phone backstage with the real heel commissioner. He can set up any match he wants, declares himself number 1 contender to the Ladies Championship, and has them start the match now!

A surprise roll-up gets an easy three count on the confused Traci and this guy is now Ladies Champ. Crowd is PISSED. Seriously. I didn't like it because they had just gotten done with the 'skinny male radio guy is Ladies Champ' story and now they jump back into it. This was even weaker considering that the Ladies match had been solid. I'm going with Bad Decision on this booking, more for the repeat of the storyline than anything else.

Match Five: GLCW Heavyweight Championship: Al Snow (face Champ) vs Road Dogg vs Xpac

Crowd relaxes a bit as they can at least cheer for Al Snow. Crowd tries to encourage the beating of ring announcer. I agree. Ring announcer is in sweatpants and sweatshirt. Very tacky. We can tell Road Dogg is heeling it up as he won't go through his normal entrance chatter. Xpac gets a moment of reaction and then nothing. Which is normal. He's a heat vacuum.

Good three way match follows but the crowd is a bit quiet for most of it. The ending sequence I loved! Xpac gets a sleeper on Al Snow but Road Dogg walks up and slaps a sleeper on Xpac. Triple decker. The ref comes by to check on Al and the Snowman grabs the ref and buts him in a sleeper. After some applause and laughter, Al drops the groggy ref, Xpac drops the groggy Snow, and hits Road Dogg with a jawbreaker. All four men in the ring are out on the mat. More applause.

The wrestlers all come to at once, dive out of the ring to collect a chair, and return. (Road Dogg: 'We ALL had the same idea?') The ref starts to wake up. All three wrestlers slam their chairs into the mat and fall down as if hit. The ref wakes up and has NO idea what happened. He collects the chairs and starts pushing them out of the ring, making a mess of it. Road Dogg sneaks over to the timekeepers table, grabs the Championship belt and slugs Xpac with it. Meanwhile, Al Snow collects Head and waffles Road Dogg with the mannequin. Three count. Al Snow retains. Good stuff.

Match Six: Demolition (Ax and Smash)/Road Warrior Animal vs McCoy/Longtime/Blaze/Darsow (Dakota)

The story here is that Dakota is sore at his Dad (Demolition Smash aka Barry Darsow) for not being around enough when he was a kid. Reasonable idea. He spends the match playing the chicken heel, only entering the match when he has a clear advantage, cheating, and running his mouth while avoiding his Dad. Good solid match, Ax has face in peril, crowd was into it. In the end, Smash chases his son to the back (setting up a singles match in the future?) as the ring gets cleared. Ax and Animal hit the Hart Attack style clothesline on Chase McCoy for the victory.

Roddy didn't ref the main, despite it being set up. There were a number of little things that may normally have not meant much but built up during the show to irritate. It was by no means a bad show but it didn't quite click like earlier shows have for us. We walked out a bit disappointed despite having a good time. Something was missing.

Next show is Blizzard Brawl 6 on Dec 4th. There is another show they were advertising in June that is scheduled to have Baron Von Raschke at it. That would be cool.

'Kick-Ass' Review

2010-04-17T16:40:00.000-05:00

Synopsis:

Dave is your ordinary 'nothing' high school student that has an interest in comics. After getting casually mugged one too many times, he decides something needs to change. He orders a scuba suit, designs a costume, and decides to fight crime. He has no powers, no abilities, nothing more than good intentions. He is Kick-Ass!

Review:

It's not often that I walk into a 'comic book' movie and not know the complete story. I've only got half of the 8 issues of the book so much of what was to happen was new to me. I had no real 'that's not how the book goes' moments. It was relaxing to just watch the movie.

Let's get this out of the way immediately. There are no super powered people in this movie. There are masked vigilantes. The movie is violent. Limbs are removed, blood spurts, people die. There is harsh language. It is not for children.

It's clever. It calls for personal responsibility but also makes it clear that being a vigilante is not cool in 'real life'. At the same time it is an over the top action movie that will make you cheer. It's funny at times, gut bustingly so. It's a good ride.

I liked the casting. Our main character Dave looks like a good natured geek schmo. Even as Kick-Ass he often looks lost and over-whelmed by the circumstances he finds himself in. His good intentions rarely get him beyond trying but he does keep trying. His friends look and act right. Everybody 'fits', even Nicholas Cage as Big Daddy.

I was actually impressed by Nic Cage as he essentially plays three roles while being the same character. As the father of 'Hit Girl', he's almost like a weapons fascinated Ned Flanders or Mr. Rogers. As himself, he's cold and determined. As 'Big Daddy' the superhero... he's the Adam West Batman, except when he's fighting. It's hilarious.

The direction was stylish. There's a great action sequence in the dark that's illuminated by flashes. Another sequence looks exactly like the standard comic-book panel where all the lights are out apart from a spotlight and the camera is pulled far back. There are comic book panels to direct us through the timeline of the story and an animated comic book drawn by John Romita Jr, artist of the original book. Yet I never felt this was too heavy, too distracting into the 'reality' of the film.

I enjoyed it. It was serious but not too serious. It was funny but not too funny. It references 'real' comic-books without getting lost in anything too much.

Recommended.

It's been weird

2010-04-17T16:17:00.000-05:00

This has been one of those weeks where nothing quite went to plan. You set up events, put them in an order, and then things do whatever they want to you. I do feel that I got things done but not really the things I want or not in the amount I had hoped for. Friday rescheduled itself about a half dozen times in the course of 12 hours. Fun fun.

Anyway. Let's talk about something else, hmm?

A Few Thoughts on Comics from This Week

2010-04-13T22:11:00.000-05:00

After a couple weeks of a lot of comics, last week was a smaller haul. It was three comics. There were a couple magazines and a collection, but only three comics.

Uncanny X-Men #523 continues the 'Second Coming' storyline. I'm not familiar enough with what Cable's been up to or how the newer character of Hope is supposed to act to know if they make sense. I believe they've been hiding out in another point in time and Hope's been trained to constantly be on the run. How does she have a yearning to do her hair? Has she been taught about our period of time? Or am I supposed to believe that a character taught to be a soldier all her life has young girl instincts? It's nice and confusing at the same time. The book manages to explain away some of the problems I had with the first part of the story. It's a step in the right direction but I'm still not too excited about this crossover. Not for another two months.

The Weird World of Jack Staff #2 continues this British type comic. The storylines weave around each other in couple page sections. I've been reading this book for awhile, mostly because the characters are all familiar and yet different from things I've read before. The art is stylish, cartoony but not at the same time. I don't know that you can just jump into this book because of the way the storylines run. I like it but try a trade first.

The Lone Ranger #21 features some Very Bad Things. I've been reading the book since the beginning and these events were just a matter of time. The question is only how bad it will be. I'm guessing it'll be ugly.

Music Monday -

2010-04-12T23:21:00.000-05:00

I don't know what the weather is like by you but in Milwaukee, it's been mostly Spring! Warmer weather! Baseball! Barbecue! I ate probably far too many meals cooked over an open fire last week. Let's not even get into the beer.

Spring leads to lighter things: lighter clothing, lighter meals, lighter drinks. A spot of sunlight, in a backyard, grill working, lemonade and vodka, ah... So for today, I thought I'd pick out some 'lighter' songs. Songs that made me think of warmer weather for some reason. Not necessarily items lacking substance, but things that might go down light and sweet.

First we have the snow, then there is no snow, then there is. That's a Wisconsin Spring, maybe even Summer, if I ever saw one. The idea of just calmly sitting around, dreaming all day, just screams of vacation time spent relaxing in a sunbeam, having a think but not about much of anything. Perfect.

I said lighter clothes, didn't I? Lum's almost always in a bikini, so she counts. I'm not into manga/anime as much as I once was but I am still irritated that the official translation of the Urusei Yatsura manga was never completed. That's good stuff that is!

And then there's baseball!

What Kind of Audience Are You?

2010-04-08T23:18:00.000-05:00

What kind of audience are you? Do you listen? Do you pay attention? Do you cheer for the people on stage, wanting them to do their best?

I was reading an interview with an actress that was once in Doctor Who. I suddenly flashed back to a convention I attended years ago where she was one of the guests. During a panel where the guests got to get up and do something silly or just say a few words, she did a routine that she'd normally do at the cabaret evening but couldn't as she had to leave early. It was funny and I remember trying to focus on her, willing her to know that I was paying attention and that it was working. It's not that the room was empty or that no one else was laughing, I just wanted her to succeed for some reason.

I've been to concerts where people ignored the opening band. In all fairness, opening bands can be a mixed bag. Sometimes you just don't click with them. Sometimes they're not very good yet. To just ignore them because they're not the band you want to see just seems mean. Sure sometimes there are things that need to be done, conversations to have, beers to get, but I try to pay them some attention, give them some feedback so they know it'll be okay.

Public speaking is hard. Sometimes listening to a public speaker is hard. They are probably nervous. They may stumble. The subject matter may not interest you. You may be tired and bored and trapped at this meeting. I'll admit this can be rough going. I try and don't always succeed. I do try.

When you're having a conversation, do you listen? Or are you just talking, not really listening to the other person?

What kind of audience are you?

What kind of audience would you want?

A Few Thoughts on Comics from The Past Couple Weeks

2010-04-07T14:27:00.000-05:00

It's Wednesday. New Comic Day! I suppose before I get more books, I should finish reviewing the books I got last week, huh?

X-Men Second Coming #1 - Have you read an X-Men comic in the last, oh, 25 years or so? This is a lot like that, with nice art and an attempt to make this 'serious' and 'foreboding'. It's not bad, just too familiar. It doesn't feel like there's anything new here.

Punisher #15 - this continues to wallow in Universal Monsters imagery. The letters page is balanced enough to print 'what the heck did you do to Frank Castle?' notes. It remains crazy over the top fun, even when there's an acceptable fill-in artist. I guess they're actually going to change the name of the book to Franken-Castle. Wow. Trust me, I understand how this could be hated, I'm just enjoying the ride.

PvP #45 - collects more of the online strips. Funny geek jokes.

Hack/Slash #30 - as much as I enjoy this book about a girl and her ghoul that fights slashers, it has been looking for a direction of late. This starts a storyline about Public Domain superheroes from the 1940s and their sidekicks, tying their powers into the same energy that powers the slashers. Interesting idea. We'll see how this goes. Not a bad start.

Vincent Price Presents #16 - I always expect these to have a supernatural aspect to the story and they don't always. This one didn't. Not a bad story just kind of an 'oh, that's it?' story. Interesting Euro-manga type art. Acceptable but a bit flat. Actually needed a twist ending.

She-Hulk Sensational - This one-shot was supposed to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the first appearance of the character. There's a funny story, sort of, a story that feels like an inventory issue that they had laying around that they wanted to burn off, and a random reprint. Not actively bad but, meh. Nothing really to see. Get it for a quarter in a couple years.

Tales of the TMNT #68 - a cancer survivor (in real-life) writes a story where the Turtles get shrunk down and injected into April's sister's body in order to fight off alien cancer. They actually call it alien cancer. I won't mock it because it was clearly something important to the writer. Perfectly Acceptable Comic.

Amazing Spider-Man #627 - I'm never sure if it's a good thing or not when the story starts with a page or two of Peter remembering things from his history. With footnotes. To stories from the 80s. The twist ending works for me but a reader that just started picking this up recently would probably be lost. Instead of my 'oh wow' reaction they'd probably go 'huh?'. Enjoyable to me but might be too continuity bound.

Transformers #5 - Optimus gets a great speech that will probably turn the tide, Rodimus is the idiot we thought he was, and things get Worse. Good stuff.

Fantastic Four #577 - these single story issues feel like they have just an epic scope to them. This one actually feels like it's building to something bigger. Interesting.

Usagi Yojimbo #127 - Usagi gets into more trouble just walking around Japan. You feel bad for him sometimes. He's just walking to the next town, minding his own business, sees a swordsman outnumbered 20 to 1, is suddenly mistaken for a friend of that guy and is forced into fighting to protect himself. It always gets more complicated than that but it works.

And there we go. Caught up for a half-hour or so.

A Few Thoughts on Comics from The Past Couple Weeks

2010-04-06T17:14:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was Opening Day for the new baseball season and is therefore an unofficial holiday in Milwaukee. There's drinking involved so it's very serious in its unserious way. That's besides the point as I'm here to catch up on comic reviews. I've got quite a pile from the past couple weeks and I'm going to try doing brief reviews of each. Slightly different than the normal pattern. Let's see if this works.

New Avengers #63 - fight scenes and flashbacks. Some of the characters that primarily only appear in this book have a 'status update' to take them into Siege and prepare them for what lays ahead. Solid.

Mighty Avengers #35 - the team has mostly fallen apart, a massive Avengers villain makes his presence known, and Hank Pym acts weird. Big 'oh wow' moment at the end. The book seems to be building to a punchline of sorts. It's almost a pity that the Avengers as a whole are getting rebooted as it feels like this book just got settled and now is having to cycle through ideas before they could wear out their welcome.

Thunderbolts #141 - the team is sent to steal something from Asgard as part of Siege. They do the bad things you'd expect and then the Mighty Avengers show up. That might give away some of what happens in the other book but maybe not. Acceptable.

Uncanny X-Men #522 - the entire issue involves the rescue of Kitty Pryde. Rough art, some unclear storytelling pages, and no real action makes me wonder if this was dramatic or boring. Leaning towards boring. The X-Men have largely become a joke and that's rather sad.

The Marvels Project #7 - The early days of Captain America is World War II. Win!

Army of Darkness #26 - Ash has been taken over by Hell's Prophet. I'm not sure if this storyline is an interesting way to provide some epic quality to Ash's story or if it's a boring addition of other 'powered' people into this universe. Debating dropping the book.

Thor #608 - considering Thor's barely in this, maybe this should be Tales of Asgard. Interesting 'fill in the gaps' issue surrounding Siege but not really a Thor issue as such.

Project Superpowers Chapter Two #7 - Public domain World War II heroes return. I'm not sure I understand what's going on here. Should have cut this ages ago.

Transformers Last Stand of the Wreckers #3 - action packed, lots of twists and turns, I still enjoy this story.

Zorro #20 - lots of issues of this title have been told in flashback. This is no different. Zorro continues to play cat and mouse with the government yet it's not getting old because there's a feeling of progression, that things are changing in reaction to his actions. Good stuff.

Avengers The Initiative #34 - pretty much all Siege related fight scenes and revelations. Not bad for the middle of a story.

Secret Warriors #14 - Death and explanations. Are all spies double agents or are some triple agents?

Captain America #604 - feels appropriately gritty. At the same time it has the scale of a movie. Good deal.

Doctor Who #9 - beware what the trees are hiding.

Amazing Spider-Man #626 - bad things happen but at least Pete finally gets to explain some things to some people and that gets better for him. It's something anyway.

Futurama Comics #48 - just plain silly in the best possible way.

I still have about another dozen or so. We'll pick this up again later.

Doctor Who - 'The Eleventh Hour' Review

2010-04-04T16:55:00.000-05:00

Synopsis:

Little Amelia Pond has a problem. She hears voices by the crack in her bedroom wall. Thankfully when she asks for help it arrives, in the form of a strange man in a blue box that crashes into her garden shed. He hears the voice as well: 'Prisoner Zero has escaped'. It turns out that his blue box is broken and it's a time machine. He'll be back in five minutes to help. Well, have you hear the one about the Time Lord that couldn't tell time?

Thoughts:

I really wanted this episode to work. It's the beginning of a new Doctor as well as a new production team. If the episode did well, then it was a sign that the show would stay strong after these changes and wasn't a cult of personality around any of the former staff.

Thankfully, I loved it.

The early sequence as I summarized it above, is just darling. Little Amelia is a cutie and sweet and the whole thing could easily be rewritten as a children's book without issue. That's meant as a compliment. Moffat continues in his overall writing theme of the innocent childlike fears being real (the bedroom crack in the wall here, but he's used simple things as shadows, statues, and lost children before) and it roots the weirdness in a reality.

We see the story's timeline from the Doctor's perspective, with even a throwaway line to cover over a possible plot hole. Therefore we learn of the consequences of the delay in his return as he does and sees what affect it has on the 'Raggedy Doctor'. The main story is a relatively simple plot that's there to establish our new characters and new Doctor. It holds together and works.

It's hard to tell how much of Matt Smith's Doctor is on display here. He admits to the fact that the regeneration isn't quite complete ('I'm still cooking' he notes at one point) so some of his actions could be down to post-regenerative mania. If this is a sign of things to come, his Doctor seems energetic, a bit goofy, and a touch distracted. He's trying to focus on a hundred things at once as well as talk to you. He's a bit like one of those kids that does four things while doing their homework only he can actually concentrate on them all at once. Admittedly I've been through the new Doctor process a few times now but as I watched I never doubted he fit in. He locks onto the role immediately. From some angles, his face looks very mature. I think he'll do nicely.

I also found it easy to warm to Amy Pond but admittedly her being a pretty red haired Scottish lass probably had something to do with that. Her life continues to get turned upside down by this man in the blue box and she seems fascinated with it and angry at the same time. It's not all been happiness and joy. She's willing to let him know that and I like that. She also doesn't seem to fancy him like some recent companions have done, although there is a scene that might point otherwise.

The TARDIS, for reasons unexplained, took some damage of late and needs some time to regenerate herself. We don't get to see the new interior until it's done and it looks nice. For whatever people want to say about the 1996 Fox TV movie, it has had a lasting impact on the show in the design of the interior. It's been dark and brown ever since as opposed to the bright and white we had for decades. I want to explore it further but it looks more 1996 TV movie than the coral we've had of late, although the console does retain some of the goofier controls that we've had since 2005.

I'm not sure about the remixed title music but the visual sequence is nice, a bit old school without looking exactly like anything else.

Good start. Can't wait until next week!

Tidying

2010-04-03T18:48:00.000-05:00

One of my ongoing projects has been to tidy up my audio archive. Lots of items get imported into it and 'disappear' from sight because the information in the file is inaccurate or incomplete. As I have over 250GB of audio files, adding one or two that aren't tagged correctly means that they hide easily. This also leads to duplication as I can't remember or tell that the files have been imported.

It was a slow process until earlier this week when I realized that there was a different edit function available, one that let me update a number of fields and go from entry to entry without leaving the update field. Suddenly a tedious laborious process was made more simple. I started having some fun cleaning up the database as it didn't feel as much like work.

That's why this has been a bit quiet of late. I've become addicted to tinkering in the audio archive. Sorry about that. Will be catching up on comics soon. There's also new Doctor Who to talk about. Hooray for that!

Great Mileage from a Gift

2010-03-30T23:05:00.000-05:00

One of the problems with things that are always there is that they are always there. They become comfortable. It can be hard to acknowledge them. We expect things to be 'right' and 'functioning correctly' so we don't praise them for doing what they're supposed to do, only become upset when they fail.

Anyway, I was looking over some of the decorations in my room today and actually looked at some of them. One thing that occurred to me is that I don't redecorate often. One of the other things I thought was that I'd gotten very good mileage out of a decoration that was given to me ages ago as a silly gift.

So an additional thank you is necessary to those friends of mine that, at some point in the distant past, gave me that box of socks that featured Kathy Ireland on the box. It is still a source of amusement and such.

Music Monday - The Cardigans

2010-03-29T22:42:00.000-05:00

Frighteningly enough, I'm still a bit stuck in this 'pop' world. It's okay, I'm getting better.

Perhaps you saw the band name above and remembered their 'One Hit Wonder' song 'Lovefool'. Now you probably hate me for reminding you of it. When that song was first appearing, I was volunteering at a local college radio station on my buddy's show. They had received the album. We looked at it and saw 'Iron Man' on the track listing. Could it be the Black Sabbath song? We played it on the air and fell about the studio laughing with joy at their bizarre cover. They had a sense of humor. I was hooked. That lead singer Nina was mad hot didn't hurt any.

The other song I knew by them was from an earlier album with a slightly different style.

The song always felt like it should have been on the soundtrack to some 1960s spy movie, or an episode of 'The Man From UNCLE' perhaps. It's got a jangly, catchy Sergio Mendes style to it. From this song you can see where 'Lovefool' came from. It's not a style they stayed in for long.

It's not exactly subtle but it is a more complex narrative in the lyrics. At the very least, it's not mindlessly repetitive. It does remain catchy. I love the way the song soars around the chorus, as if the wind of the storm was picking up.

Another not-so-subtle concept delivered in an amusing way. And there's cowbell! Can't go wrong with cowbell.

Look, I'm not trying to say they're the best band in the world and had one song that entertained and annoyed the nation. I'm trying to say that you shouldn't hold that song against them. Try some of their other music as well.

Iron Man I Need Some Fine Wine And You, You Need To Be Nicer You're The Storm

'K-9 : Regeneration' review

2010-03-25T22:06:00.000-05:00

Did you know that K-9 was getting his own show? Yep, that's why he's not on the Sarah Jane Adventures. It's an Australian show made for Disney XD or whatever that channel is called.

At a non-specific time in the future, London is filled with robot police and young men willing to 'rebel against the system'. A young hacker gentleman and young lady trying to join him sneak into a house to avoid the cops after some cyber graffiti. There they accidentally interrupt a professor's experiment into time. He's trying to bring his family back and the young man interrupts the flow by tripping over the massive power plug for the machinery and pulling it from the wall. Plugging it back in doesn't get the professor's family but does get some weird hulking aliens as well as a robot dog, K-9. In the process of fighting off the aliens, K-9 self-destructs but then rebuilds himself as K-9 mark two. There's some conflict with the professor's young assistant, the company funding the professor's experiments, and the robot cops. It ends on a 'joke'.

It's really bad. It's not even 'I don't care for it but I can see how kids might like it', it's just bad. To be fair, it's only the first episode and it might get better, but this episode was just a bunch of things happening. I go no understanding of how the characters know each other or why the ones apparently just meeting each other bother to put up with each other. Is the cyber graffiti kid just rebelling as kids do or is the 'system' really sinister? I know you can't develop everything in one half-hour episode but this really felt like a lack of trying.

The redesigned K-9 is fine but he switches between an actual prop and a clearly CGI version. Not cool. At least the weird aliens appeared to be suits but nothing was made of their weird shimmer. I decided it had something to do with being in the time stream. I don't think they were even given names.

I was not impressed. At all.

Feeling Rewarded

2010-03-24T22:04:00.000-05:00

I belong to a number of 'reward' type programs for different companies or stores. There's the grocery one, the toy store one, the Best Buy one, all programs that say 'spend more money here and we'll cut you a slightly better deal'. At least that's the incentive to sign up. Rack up some sort of points from spending money and it'll work out for you. Or buy ten cans of soup instead of the two you wanted and it'll be slightly cheaper in the long run. That sort of thing.

I've joked about the love that Best Buy had for me in the past. How I spent so much money there at one point in time that they just gave me a Rewards Zone card back when there used to be an annual fee to have one. It was nice and I appreciated it but someone else has done better.

Last year in the haze of reuniting with the now-less-evil Disney, I realized that I was going to be engaging my Film History Geek mode more often as regards their movies. Disney has their own rewards program where you rack up points via the purchase of Blu-Rays and DVDs and movie tickets that can be turned into prizes at different levels of achievement. There are a number of movies that are only available on DVD via this rewards club. I realized that I had a number of codes in my collection from previous Muppet purchases and soon racked up a number of points just by looking around what I already owned.

For the past couple months I've been very close to a reward, a two pack of DVDs that I had an interest in moreso that the rest: the 'Donald in Mathmagic Land' short that I remembered watching in school and the 'Ducktales' movie. The club is active on Facebook and sends emails with bonus codes so I was whittling away at the gap, ten points here, fifteen there, while waiting to get a deal on a disk that would put my into reward completion land.

Earlier this month was my birthday. Still tired, I checked my email right away in the morning as I always do and here was a note from the rewards club: Congrats on getting old, want a free Blu-Ray? I followed the link to the club website and was offered one of five Blu-Rays for 'free', apart from paying for shipping and handling, a whole $3.17. Sure, what the heck! It might take 6-8 weeks to arrive.

Four days later, I had the disk as it came all the way from the Reward Club headquarters in Neenah, Wisconsin. I've never been that interested in moving up north before finding that out (they were hiring for awhile too!). The best part is that this almost free disk came with a code that gave me enough points to earn my reward!

I ordered the two disk pack, expecting to have to pay for shipping and handling again. Nope. When they say 'free reward', they mean it! No cost, here you go, they arrived yesterday.

I felt the love. The old opening for the Wonderful World of Disney show, packed full of old park footage, that played before the Donald short didn't hurt any either.

Thumbs up! Thank you!

http://www.disneymovierewards.com

Yes I understand that talking about this gag will not be as fun as watching it

2010-03-23T22:58:00.000-05:00

Today I watched the new episode of the Simpsons that aired this past Sunday. On the whole, not a bad episode, with some entertaining parts.

Early on there was a moment (I'll try to not spoil the whole thing) when Principal Skinner had reason to pretend to be Bart. He's on the auditorium stage acting as Bart but Homer's not buying it. Then Skinner snaps at him, calling him fat and such. Without hesitation, Homer cried out 'why you little!' and starts choking Skinner as if he were Bart.

I don't laugh out loud much when I watch TV by myself but this broke me up. The comedy of Homer becoming invested enough in that moment where Skinner became Bart to him was great. The gag built up perfectly. It was a logical event for the character that still had a comedic impact.

Off the wall wacky is all fun for awhile but character based buffoonery will win out in the end.