Comics! Godzilla! Stuff!

Went to the Comi-c..., er Wizard World Chicago yesterday as planned. All went well. I didn't have a big plan going into the day and all that did was make it easier to successfully enjoy myself. Even better, I didn't spend a lot of money while I was there. Since I'm still planning on going back Sunday, I suppose I still have time to screw that up.

Bought my copy of 'Brandon's Little Problem', the comic from Kevin and Kurt, yesterday. Kurt signed it in a manner that caused his wife to give him grief. I laughed. No, I won't repeat it. My work buddy Travis (who went with me) and Kurt had met before regarding a mini-con at MSOE (Milwaukee School of Engineering) so there's talk of the guys attending that as well.

I have read the book and enjoyed it. It's funny and I enjoyed the art. There's a great sense of comidic timing to the book which I've decided is a combination of the writing and the art. Thumbs up, recommended!

Went to a panel for the first time at this con. That was fun. It was interesting watching professional geeks deal with geeks in a civilized fashion.

Spike TV had a booth with TNA wrestlers doing signings. I hadn't expected that at all. The autographs were free, as opposed to most of the autographs that are offered at the con. That was extra nice.

Classic Media has a booth promoting the upcoming DVD release of Gojira/Godzilla King of the Monsters. I already watched the sampler DVD they handed out. I am well pleased. The two versions of the first Godzilla movie are very different. If you've only ever seen the King of Monsters version of this movie, the original is a treat. For what kaiju films came to be, this movie is strangely serious and unnerving. Try it, you'll like it.

Going to a wedding today. I should probably start getting cleaned up. These things take time.

Failure

Failure interests me. I learn from failure. Even better, I like learning from other peoples' failures. I like learning from other peoples' failures so that I can succeed. I'm not fond of failure; it just interests me.

This is part of the reason I watch 'bad' movies. Quite often the movies are failures but not total failures. Often there is some plot point, some storyline device, that I see used in a unique way and I catalog it for future reference. Sometimes I learn how not to do something from a storytelling perspective. Sometimes you run into a movie like 'Gore-Met, Zombie Chef from Hell' and you learn that anything can get released. Did anybody ever make any money from that 'film'? It's... rough.

This interest in failure is why I bothered to post yesterday. I felt reassured that the post wasn't going to work but I felt the need to try. If I failed, perhaps I could learn something from it. If nothing else, perhaps I'd learn to listen to the voice in my head that says 'That's dumb; don't post that.'

You never know if you don't try.

Experiment

The rain poured today. Thick and heavy, it scrubbed at the land. When it left, the heat remained. Humidity came to choke the land.

The weather sucks. It's my excuse for not being funny today.

I'm going to bed.

It was bound to happen: wrestle talk

I enjoy the work of wrestler CM Punk. CM Punk is straight edge meaning that he does no drugs, drinks no alcohol and smokes no… smokes. With that in mind, is it wrong for me to be drinking schnapps while I watch him wrestle?

CM Punk is ECW. If he’s given the chance, I believe he’s the future of wrestling. He’s muscular without looking unreal. He has a unique look with all his tattoos (including a Cobra symbol tat!) and piercings. Most importantly, he can wrestle and sell convincingly (meaning he looks like he’s actually fighting).

The revived ECW has a lot of things going against it. One of my biggest concerns has been the amount of WWE talent that has moved over to ECW, evidently in order to provide ‘star power’. The reigning ECW champion, the Big Show, has defended his belt every week against invaders from ‘RAW’ and ‘Smackdown!’, not against fellow ECW wrestlers. Many of the storylines have been derailed but that’s not all the fault of the bookers as there have been a number of things they’ve had to deal with and adjust to, such as, oh, arrests. It’s also been awkward watching the ECW alumni jobbing to wrestlers who, until recently were WWE superstars as it makes them look weak.

Of course, there have been positives. Joey Styles is one of the best wrestling announcers of all time. He calls holds, he tells stories and gets emotion over. Tazz is a fun counterpart for him. The Big Show, while he may not have been the planned champ, has done an admirable job with his revised character and wrestling in the hardcore style. Balls Mahoney getting over last week was reassuring as it showed, given a chance, that the crazy old ECW guys could still get that kind of reaction. This is especially true of Sabu, the suicidal, homicidal, genocidal madman seems energized by the revived ECW has is getting quite the reaction.

It looks like ECW got picked up. I’m glad. If nothing else, go CM Punk!

Enough excitement for one evening

Twas a busy weekend. For now, I tell a story near its end.

I ran by Chad's house last night as I craved a boon. With all my recent cable related issues I realized I had ended up missing an episode of 'Hell's Kitchen'. Hoping he had a copy of the episode that wouldn't be replayed tonight and hoping that I could be caught up before that airing, I called to see if I could get a copy of any copy he might have. He's been having computer troubles but thought he could help. Hooray!

He said to stop my his mother's house rather than his own. The difference is but a block. He was assisting his niece Amanda and her roommate Beth (I think I have that right) in packing furniture into a van. I assisted by running my mouth and distracting the dog: two things I'm quite good at doing. None of this took very long, Chad handed over a disk holding the episode that he hoped would work and we were ready to go.

Suddenly, from the alley about a block away, lept a gray vehicle. Sparks flew as it sped across the street and into the next alley. A police car quickly followed suit. It also kicked up sparks. Tires squealed in the distance. The young ladies were keen to depart and Chad strongly discouraged that departure. The streets were not safe.

Moments later, the battered and heavily stickered gray Subaru sped past on the street alongside the house. Sparks flew again is it bounced through the intersection. The police car soon followed, still in hot pursuit. Chad noted the street they were heading down was a dead end. We waited for the sound of a crash but none came.

There was a moment of peace. I took advantage of that moment to get my car off the street. Just in case.

Neighbors emerged from their homes. We were told there had been a road block near the dead end street but the car had escaped it somehow. After a few minutes of silence, we could hear sirens in the distance again, in the residental area across the nearby major street. I pointed out police lights and we saw a couple of squad cars manuvering in that area. The sounds faded into the southeast.

We took the opportunity to get out of Dodge. I checked the paper today for details but didn't see a story on it. As a result, I currently have no ending to the story.

It was... interesting. Oh and Chad's disk proved to be unreadable. Blast!

Good and Bad

One of my favourite things about writing is that moment when the quiet guy in the back of my head speaks up. When I'm writing sometimes there are a lot of voices in my head, all looking to be heard, as if a group of people are in a room shooting out ideas. In that group, there's always a quiet guy that waits until everyone else is done and says one line that blows everyone away. This morning while I was driving, the quiet guy spoke up. I think what he said will work for the character involved and is incredibly clever.

One of my least favourite things about writing is that I want to tell someone else this clever idea but I don't want to spoil any future stories for them. Additionally, this twist isn't something I can use straight away; it might take years for it to be the right time.

It's no fun being clever if you can't tell anyone that you're clever...

Almost forgot...

The cable tech came today and replaced the cable from the house to the pole. Apparently there were signs of squirrel related damage. I now have FOX again. Hooray for the cable company!

I'll try to explain but it might not work

I own 'The Horror of Party Beach' on DVD. Allow me to try to explain why that means something to me.

When I was a child, I spent most of my summer vacations going to the library and getting books to read. I love reading. I also love movies. As a result, I liked getting books about movies, mostly horror movies and the history of horror movies. For whatever reason, this stuff fascinates me. As a child, I never expected to be able to see most of the movies I read about. I didn't get a VCR until high school and cable TV came after that. The only hope I had to see movies was on TV and I didn't expect that most of the movies I read about would ever be on normal TV.

Now, with DVD, most of the movies I read about as a kid are available to buy or will be soon, often remastered and with extras, treated more lovingly that they were upon release decades ago. This is one of the reasons I love life.

To return to my point, 'The Horror of Party Beach' was one of those movies I read about as a kid. Despite never having seen it, the concept stayed with me. I based part of one of my stories on that movie. Now, I own a copy.

I first read about this movie because it was one of the world's 'worst' movies. An interview with the director on the DVD notes that this movie was a parody of beach and horror films. If true, it's another reason why the book in question is inaccurate and has been since it was published.

Anyway, owning a copy of 'The Horror of Party Beach' makes me feel like part of my childhood has been returned to me.

I guess I'll have to find the time to watch it, hmm?

Please pardon the pimping as it is not for me

I do things out of order at times. I mentioned Kurt and Kevin's comic in the last entry before I checked my email and, behold!, a link to their website mentioning the same book:

http://www.imaginarytales.com/

Go. There isn't much on the site but what is there is fun. I'm sure the book will be as well. If you're going to Wizard World Chicago, go buy a couple copies.

I'll try to refrain from doing the whole 'pimp' thing a lot in the future. This was something of a special occasion. I'm all excited and stuff...

Pardon the brevity

Missed a day so there is slight guilt. Tired, late, this is what I got for you.

I called the cable company Monday night and went through the 'leave your number' thing again. This time they called back so I'm of the opinion I did screw up on Sunday. My work and home exchanges are off by one number so I do mix them up regularly. Any way, they decided something's wrong with the box so a tech is coming to look at it tomorrow.

Kurt and Kevin's comic is printed up and ready for next week's Comi-con. Pete bought the first copy today and hopefully I got a picture of it. I'll find out once the film is developed because that picture was either the last one on the roll or that picture the camera half takes at the end of a roll.

Yes, I still have a film camera and the pictures need developing. Oh really? Well, if all you can do is taunt me for not having a digital camera yet then I'm done for today.

Why again?

So last night I check my cable for FOX again. Now it's completely black, not even a hint of trying to connect, even after unplugging the cable box for a half-hour. I call up for service. If I don't want to hang on the phone, I'm given the option to leave my number and they'll call me back in '33 to 34' minutes. So I gave that a shot. I'm pretty sure I inputted the number correctly but I may have failed. That was about twenty after eight.

An hour later they've not called back. I call again. I receive the option to leave my number again and this time the wait is about a quarter of an hour. I don't bother.

Fifteen minutes later I call back. The wait is now 9 minutes. I go to bed instead.

I wonder if there was only one person answering the phones last night. Could be. If so, I feel bad for him/her because I've been in that position before. Still, I've now called in four times and never spoken to a person. Not cool.

Round three tonight...

That settles that

I ordered my pass for the upcoming Wizard World Chicago (an event I continue to refer to as the Chicago Comi-con for some reason) so I guess I'm going. I've talked myself out of going the last year or two but have been very looking forward to this year's event for some reason. It should be fun. Currently I'm planning to go on Friday and Sunday (I've a wedding to go to on Saturday).

I like looking at the tv and movie stars that will be attending as it amuses me to get autographs at these events. Some of the names made sense to me: Dirk Benedict ('Battlestar Galactica' and 'The A-Team') and Richard Kiel (Jaws from the Bond films) for example. Joyce DeWitt and Pricilla Barnes from 'Three's Company' confused me a bit. Pricilla (I know I must be spelling that incorrectly) at least was in 'Mallrats' so there's a geek connection there but otherwise, huh? Thomas Jane is scheduled to be there as well. I generally don't like queueing up at the Comi-con but, if I'm going for two days, perhaps I will in order to meet the Punisher.

Decisions, Decisions...

Movie Review: 'Clerks II'

'Clerks II' (2006)

The QuickStop, long-time place of employment for Dante and Randal, has burned down. Both find employment at a Mooby restuarant and, after a year, many things remain the same in their lives. However, one massive thing HAS changed; Dante is engaged and is planning to move to Florida, leaving New Jersey and Randal behind forever. As the bulk of the movie starts, it's Dante's last day at Mooby's before moving away. In many ways, it's just like every other day.

In a lot of ways, 'Clerks II' is the same movie as 'Clerks' but in just as many other ways, it isn't. The bits that 'isn't' are the important ones. The original movie takes place in the space of one 24 hour period. In the sequel, the bulk of the action takes place in one 24 hour period but there is also an intro piece set a year before the main action and a coda that takes place months after the main action. In the original, the Clerks close the store to attend a funeral. Here, it's to go ride go-karts. Both movies have scenes set on the roof of the store but only one of those is set to a Jackson 5 song. The sequel manages to follow many of the same storyline beats as the original without following it completely and becoming the exact same movie.

Underneath all the crudeness and geek language is a point. The point is: be yourself. Find out what you want to do with your life and do it. Don't strive for something that other people want you to be when you can be yourself and be happy. Oddly enough, Randal had this figured out in the original 'Clerks' and is why, despite his complaining, he is so upbeat throughout the movie. He is happy. He gets to watch movies all day and his best friend is just next door. This is all he desires from life and, for the longest time, he gets it.

As with all Kevin Smith movies, I tend not to recommend them to people who don't like Kevin Smith movies. They are crude and this one is certainly no exception to that rule. Before spending a pile of cash to see this one in the theatre, rent the original 'Clerks' or one of Kevin's other films (apart from 'Jersey Girl' which is another style altogether) and see if you like that first. If you are already a fan of Kevin's work, then you should enjoy this movie as well.

Daily you say?

I have no real format planned for this thing and I rather prefer that to having a format. I have so many diverse interests that segmenting this blog to one of them would probably kill any writing momentum I might start.

That said, if there are any requests for specific topics of discussion you’d like me to, well, discuss or any stories you’d like me to tell here, feel free to make those suggestions. I’m not adverse to input from the readership.

Whatdaya mean it sounds like I’ve already run out of ideas? Poppycock! Rot! Drivel! I’ve just run out of ideas for today is all…

Drink, Gurls, Feck

Every once in a while I grow particularly philosophical. When in that mode I attempt to understand the basic things of life; those things that most people never even question. One topic I often enjoy considering is: why do I find the female form attractive? What is it about that general arrangement of flesh, bone, muscle and fat that appeals to me so deeply?

To date I have yet to figure it out. Perhaps someday I shall figure it out. Perhaps not. In the meantime, I suppose I will have to continue observing the variations in the female form as part of my ongoing research.

This is not the toughest assignment I’ve ever had in life.

Remind me again?

Monday night I sat down to watch ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ because I enjoy Gordon Ramsey’s intensity. His desire to help people make quality food via screaming is impressive to me as is his ability to swear fluently. Fox was not coming in properly on my cable. It appeared to be the only channel thusly affected. I rebooted my cable box and waited for a few minutes. No change. I hopped on the phone to give the cable company a call as maybe it was just a problem on Fox’s end of things. I waited on hold for over twenty minutes. I never spoke to a person. Once the episode that was new for this week started, I gave up on the phone as it wasn’t worth the effort anymore.

Why am I paying for cable again?

Preapology

One problem I've already noticed with doing this blog type thing is that I have all sorts of ideas on what to ramble about... until I have my computer in front of me. At that point, all those ideas just disappear on me. So, I'm working on fixing that already.

Baby steps.

I start a blog and immediately had to go on vacation

So this past weekend I visited my friends in Stevens Point that I haven’t seen in years. I had a good time and, as I tend to prefer while on vacation, accomplished very little. We hung out, chatted a lot and watched movies. I’m looking forward to doing it again soon.

I don’t like overly complicated vacations. I got to go to Japan a couple years ago and there was this concern on the part of the friends I was meeting there that they wouldn’t have enough for me to do. I didn’t need much. I spent a couple hours one morning just sitting outside the train station, having something to eat and watching people go by. It was awesome.

One item of interest regarding the Point trip was that the path that I take to get there had changed for the better. The highway into town had been more or less extended to the freeway. This meant that I arrived in Point about an hour earlier than expected. I was pleased.

There was a bit of a wrinkle upon my attempt to return home to Milwaukee. I was barely out of town when police cars flew past me. My forward motion was soon ended by the same cars. An accident spread across the road and prevented any further progress in this specific direction. I was forced to return to town. The upside to this is that there is another highway that goes through Point. The downside to this alternate path is that it is a longer route so I had to drive for about three hours instead of about two. I hope no one was seriously hurt in the accident. It looked complicated from a distance.

I wish there was something more exciting to report from my trip but, apart from the joy in seeing my friends again, nothing all that exciting happened. Perhaps next time.

Well, I guess it's a start

As some people say, greetings and salutations!

I've had it expressed to me that I am skilled at rambling, so skilled in fact that I should go about rambling while on the Internet, for all to see!

Me, I'm of the opinion I'll grow to regret this. Until then, welcome!