A Few Thoughts on Comics from this week

Some generally interesting books this week but no real 'whoa!' of excitement, which is fine.

The first issue of the ongoing Doctor Who book was fun, with a twist or two, and gets extra points for being set in the time period at the end of the silent movie era with a not-quite Charlie Chaplin star. The story's there, fitting together nicely in a traditional sort of way, with a cliffhanger that's both serious and funny at the same time; a moment of danger that you know the Doctor will escape from but is amusing because it's a cliche of sorts from the time period in question. The art is good but Tennant's likeness is just a bit off more than I'd like. This is generally an issue with licensed books like this; the art either needs to accurately depict the look of the characters we know from the other medium they normally inhabit or needs to be individual enough so that this 'other' look for the characters feels right. I point to the recent Muppet Show comic for an example of the latter. Still, in all ways, this is a good start and I can see where I would recommend the DVD in a few months, err, I mean trade paperback collection. Not quite the same thing.

I need to give a nod to the Mighty Avengers #27 as well this week. For the past couple issues we've been reading about Hank Pym's big project and this issue we finally get to see it: the Infinite Avengers Mansion. It's another dimensional area for the Mighty Avengers to stay that has doors leading to different areas in space for them to pop in and out of as they need to respond to situations. It's essentially a TARDIS that doesn't travel in Time or Space but allows the users to travel in Space to some degree. The issue also introduces a 'forgotten' character from Inhumans history that will either be very interesting indeed or very, well, forgetable.

Punisher #7 shows the recently revived super-villains adjusting to this new time period and their enhanced power set. Frank's already working to return them back to the land of the unliving. I believe the art here is by a different artist than normal for the book. It's not bad but it's a bit looser than I'm used to seeing.

Speaking of loose art, it took three artistic teams to complete Amazing Spider-Man #599. This must be the price for having Amazing be three times a month; less time to cover for creative team changes. The letters page indicates that the team on the first issue of this five part story hopped over to Astonishing X-Men after completing that first issue. If I was still getting Astonishing I might not mind but, as I'm not, I shall politely boo and hiss for awhile here. I did enjoy the story and ended up not minding the art we got, so that's why it's all meant politely. There's no point in getting too upset by what I 'could' have gotten because it didn't happen. Unless of course in ten years or so they have the original team redraw the books like they were supposed to do, kind like the 'Clone Saga' mini that they're soon doing. Then I could compare and contrast and be annoyed if I want.

Marvel Adventures - Avengers continues to be fun. Issue #38 has a third grade class spending the day on a field trip with the Avengers and the Mandarin uses the children as a shield for his attack. The Hulk is running the part of the field trip at a petting zoo, which is a good way to keep the Hulk calm as he likes animals and knows how to be nice to them. How he can be this calm and still the Hulk is not important really. Hulk referring to sheep as 'dogs with funny sweaters' is good stuff.

Simpsons Comics #156 is set in the year 2194 and the Simpsons are the most important family in history! A museum tour explains why as flashbacks explain how Our Favorite Family brought peace to the world and saved the environment. Of course, it's never as non-complicated as it sounds. Saying anything more would give it away so I shall stop here.

Bother

Do you know the feeling where a certain something has been in a spot for awhile, perhaps years, but, while you're cleaning, you realize that it should really be elsewhere, as this new spot is the 'perfect' spot for it, but then later you go to look for it and you can only remember the old spot for it, not where it is now?

I've had that all week. It's crushing me.

More Personal Baseball Stats

Looking back to the 2008 season, I attended 18 games, according to the tickets I have on hand. The Brewers record for those 18 games was 13-5. If I've done the math correctly, that gives me a .833 winning percentage. Very nice. This includes the sole playoff game that the Brewers won last year. The longest winning streak within the season was 5 games.

If I've done the math right, my percent for this year is .8 so, even with the streak, my numbers for this year are close to last.

Does this mean that, despite their rough play of late, the Brewers are playing to a similar pace to last year? Or am I just lucky?

It's also obvious that, unless something odd happens, I'll be attending more games this year than last year. Excellent.

Personal Baseball Stats at the All-Star Break

Did a little digging to confirm some information regarding the lost lamented streak I had at Brewer games.

Going back to last season, I observed 12 straight victories at Miller Park by the home team. This includes one playoff game as well as a game played by a Brewers associated minor league team, the Timber Rattlers. 10 of the victories took place this season, starting with Opening Day. The streak started on Friday Sep 26, 2008 vs the Chicago Cubs with a 5-1 win. The last win of the streak was Sunday May 31, 2009 vs the Cincinnati Reds with a 5-2 win.

Now, since May, the Brewers play has been less consistent. I had grown to feel that I hadn't been to many successful games of late and that day games were a specific weak point. Actually checking the record showed that things weren't as bad as I thought. Since the streak ended, my record is 2-3 with one of the wins being a day game. That said, the last two games I've been to have been a bit on the painful side, so perhaps this is the basis for my discomfort.

For the season to date, my record is 12-3. Overall, this is excellent. I've nothing to complain about when I look at it, at least at this point. There is a lot of season left. I shall also have to have look at last season for comparison purposes.

15 games already this season. Wow. Hey, that's fifteen 3 beer walks. Woo-hoo!

An Open Letter to the Driver of That Van

I'm sorry, but I have to ask why. Why would you pull out in front of me when you know your crusty, rusty van can't accelerate properly? Did you somehow not think that I was easily doing the posted speed limit of 35mph or that traffic was not clear behind me? Did you expect me to just swerve around you as you struggled to get the van to a double digit speed, seeing as how the left lane was clear? Why should I have to swerve? Why didn't you use the right-most of the three lanes to accelerate instead of jumping into the center lane with me?

I'm trying to be nice in not questioning why you'd continue to drive such an obviously ramshackle vehicle as I understand that times are hard and this may be all you can get for transport. That still doesn't mean you need to pilot such a vehicle thoughtlessly. Just because there are so many other thoughtless drivers on the road doesn't mean you have to join them.

If you didn't see me, then consider glasses. If you were hoping I'd hit you for the insurance, well, then you're a jag, and you didn't do a very good job of it.

Eat a rock,

-Steve

Morrissey, I Want My Ten Dollars

The transitions are always confusing. There's a moment where who, when, and where become paramount questions to be answered. Sometimes I'm not all that clear as to who I am or when I am in my own personal time-stream. After that moment, most answers become clear.

I am still me but I'm not sure what age I am as there are no reflective surfaces nearby. I think I'm about twenty because, somehow, that seems right. I'm in an alleyway? No, like a passageway, a hallway but outside, leading to an outdoor market. Brick walls, cool air, bright sunlight. People mill about me but I'm not alone as I'm with Johnny Marr.

Wait a minute, I am? So I am. Based on his appearance, I've gone back in time as he looks like a younger version of himself. Early eighties maybe? Have the Smiths hit big yet? Have they even formed? We work to get to our destination, whatever it might be, through the crowd.

We pause briefly and this is when Steven Patrick Morrissey arrives, bright eyed, hair carefully combed. A large man looms behind him, a truck driver that Morrissey bummed a ride from in exchange for the promise of ten pounds.

Really? That's a lot of money. Why couldn't he have just taken the tube? Typical Morrissey.

Johnny and I reach for our wallets. I haven't exchanged my money and still have American dollars in it. Will he take ten dollars instead? Or in addition to whatever Johnny has available? I hand over the money and promptly wake up.

Morrissey, what a mooch. Snore...

A Few Thoughts on Comic from this week

Yes, Comic. Singular. Oh, there was a magazine or two and I did get a trade paperback but there was but one item that most people would actually refer to as a 'comic'. Thankfully it was enjoyable.

The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #36 contains a story that managed to move forward some subplots as well as set a few up. While it does tell a specific story, there's a lot left open and unresolved for those already-announced-future-stories to fill in.

Peter is in Boston for a party of Aunt May's. He gets to meet a number of relatives on his aunt's side of the family for the first time and he ends up having a moment that I'm familiar with experiencing, one that I will refer to as 'ah crap, that attractive lady is related to me'. Lots of entertainment going on until Peter gets attacked by a super-villain of sorts. Not 'Spidey goes to stop a criminal', not 'Peter sees a crime in progress and changes into his costume to stop it', Peter gets attacked because he's Peter, not because he might be Spidey's 'friend' or anything like that. The guy sees Peter, goes 'That guy! I hate that guy!' and attacks. This confuses Peter and finding out the truth of the matter doesn't make it any better: this guy wasn't looking for Peter, he was looking for Ben Reilly, Peter's dead clone.

It's been ages since that period of Spidey's history was dealt with in the main Spidey book. Now there's a story coming about Ben's history and a mini-series that will tell the 'original' version of the Clone Saga. Combining this with the current 'X-Men Forever' series that is supposed to tell Chris Clarmont's plans for the X Books in the early 90s, as if he hadn't left the titles then, it seems like Marvel's trying to reclaim the 90s, as if to 'fix' things left broken.

Or they just like the 'What If?' idea but know it can't support a regular book anymore so they're just playing about with stories because, why not?

Before I get too distracted I liked the art for the Annual as well. It was provided by Pat Olliffe, who's art is one part Sal Buscema, one part realistic, and one part cartoony. I've long liked his art. I like his art so much that it's been enough to talk me into buying DC books and that's not all that easy.

All in all, it was fun. Nothing too deep, and some foreshadowing of tales to come. Good deal.

Remember Before I Forget

Eric and I kinda motivated each other to go to Job Camp 2 today. To sum it up, it's a meeting of individuals in a somewhat structured form in an effort to provide some direction and encouragement for their job search. As he'd both gotten a bit 'meh' from lack of response, we figured we needed a recharge.

Entertainingly but not surprisingly, Eric had the momentum to get my momentum going but didn't have enough momentum to get there before me. It was located at an establishment that neither of us are particularly familiar with in general. I checked in, wandered about a bit, read the booklet, and went to settle in.

Of course, that's when Eric called. I worked my way through the loud crowd and spoke to him. He was outside and confused as to how to get to where I was. I explained that I'd parked in the parking structure, gone up the stairs to level four, and walked across the 'skyway' to the level of the building with the Camp, as per the instructions the Camp had given us via email. As I spoke, I'd made my way back to the skyway area.

Eric had parked in a lot and was outside, staring up at a 'bridge'. I took two steps to the left in order to stand by the window. As I looked down, Eric looked up at me. We laughed and waved at each other. As I was clearly visible, I gestured as I spoke, making my directions quite clear. He was upstairs in a flash.

We found it amusing.

Welcome to the House of Fun

This might be a bumpy ride than normal. I just started pondering this and I'm not sure I've got this thought worked out yet.

What is fun? I know, that's much like asking 'what is funny?' and trying to explain it scientifically. It's not possible, its not interesting, and its not funny. Certainly there is a 'fun' reaction to things and, in most people, this reaction seems to fade with age, perhaps due to the responsibilities of life, perhaps due to cumulative experiences, or perhaps due to the fact that 'eliminating' fun is considered part of growing up. Whatever. If I keep the question too open at this stage, I'm writing a book and that's not the goal here. Not at this point anyway.

For the sake of creating a more focused discussion, we will agree that geeks have fun with whatever they are geeky about, remembering how we've defined 'geek' in the past. When exposed to their subject of interest, the geek, no matter the age of the subject, has a chemical reaction occur in their brain that creates a feeling of enjoyment that is considered to be 'fun'. It's not that this segment of the population is the only one that can experience fun from the subject of interest, but, largely, the geek has become a geek for that subject of interest because of the 'fun' reaction within them. For example, not everyone that attends a baseball game is a baseball geek, but baseball geeks are more likely to attend a baseball game or to be drawn to a baseball game. Squares are rectangles but not all rectangles are squares. Or something like that.

Let's focus the discussion further. Movies. There are people that attend movies for the sake of going, people that expect certain things from the movies they see, people that just enjoy the night out, etc. The audience for any given movie is likely to be a mix of people there for many different reasons. Most will have differing reactions to what they see and hear. Based on my general geek friends, I'm going to generalize people into three basic groups, knowing that people can move from one group to another.

Positive: this group is out for the movie to show them a good time. They will focus on what they enjoyed in the film. Plot holes or mistakes caused by editing may concern them but they will often consider 'filling the gap' to be their job. It's not that this group is not critical, that they blindly enjoy everything they see, or that they are easily entertained, they feel that the filmmakers were trying to entertain them and it's their job to be entertained so they try to fill that role.

Neutral: this group tends to flip between positive and negative regularly based on the subject matter of the film so it's not easy to anticipate their reaction to a film. They may react very positively to one film and very negatively to another. They may respect a positive reaction to a movie they didn't enjoy or a negative reaction to a movie they did enjoy. They are more likely to not have an extreme reaction to a film, being able to enjoy it without professing love or hate. Not wanting to demand the return of money and time is considered more acceptable to them. This group tries to enjoy what the filmmakers provide them but know that, sometimes, things don't come together in the right way to make something they'll enjoy but maybe someone else will enjoy it and that's okay.

Negative: this group tends to be more demanding of the entertainment placed in front of them. They are considered 'negative' only because they often have a more negative reaction to movies. It's not that they necessarily WANT to hate the movie in question, but that some part of it was just so bad to them that they can't help but focus on that as opposed to the parts of the movie that were good to them. Perhaps its a plot hole, or many plot holes, perhaps its one of the cast that doesn't quite 'fit', perhaps its a special effect that doesn't go off correctly. Perhaps it's just not unique enough, feeling very generic. They will often have a list of reasons why they feel the way they do about the movie in question. They may expect a movie to have some sort of message, even if hidden. This group can't understand why more movies can't come together and be 'right' in the ways that their favorite movies are 'right'.

There are more extreme versions of all of these categories. There are positives that just love everything blindly. There are neutrals that get dragged to a lot of movies that aren't in their areas of interest. There are negatives that can't explain why a movie sucked but insist that it did. There are certainly some variations in these basic levels, some details left unexpressed, but, looking at many of my friends, this is what I see as those default areas.

The positives feel that the negatives can't have fun at the movies, or don't understand that some movies are just there to be uncomplicated fun, 'popcorn movies'. The negatives feel that the positives are too forgiving, or too blind, to see the problems in the film and why they are problems. Then there's usually some sort of yelling about foreign films and subtitles.

They are, of course, all right. It's just their reaction to the movie and there's nothing necessarily wrong with a reaction. Everyone has an opinion and has a right to it. There's a lot of factors that build into that reaction.

Expectation. What did the trailer make the movie look like? Were all the funny bits in the trailer to make it look like more of a comedy than it was? Did it look like an action film but was a satire? Sometimes you expect one thing and get another. Sometimes that's a good thing and sometimes not. 'I didn't think it would be as funny as it was!' 'The trailer made it look like it was going to be a big action movie but it got all talky and dark at the end.' 'I expected zombies. There were no zombies. Boo!' Often, the lower the expectation, the easier it is to enjoy the product involved.

Source material. Is there any? This can often feed into expectation. Is it based on a book? TV show? Comic Book? A remake of an earlier movie? How familiar are you with the source material? Not at all? A little? Mostly? A lot? How faithful do you expect the filmmakers to be to the source material? How faithful did the filmmakers say they'd be to the source material? Positives are more likely to go with the flow of the movie version, even if very familiar with the original source material, judging the filmed version on its own merits as it's an adaptation. Negatives are more likely to expect the filmed version to be like the source material as what's the point of adapting something and tossing out most of the elements of the original?

Mood going into the theater. Rough day? Grouchy? Have to get up early tomorrow? It might be harder for the movie to win you over. Chipper? Feeling comfortable after a good meal? You're more likely to enjoy what you see.

A consider myself a neutral and mood is important to me. A bad mood that's dispelled by a movie usually gets a positive reaction from me. It must have been good to get me out of that mood, right? The converse is also true. That movie must have been pretty bad to wreck such a good mood.

If this makes no sense or feels incomplete, well, I warned you. Just remember that the title of the blog only promises rambling. I need to eat lunch now anyway.

Not that anyone will care

I rearranged about half of my DVD collection today. The bulk of the collection is held on two large bookshelves with a number on the majority of a smaller bookshelf, some on two even smaller shelves, and a number tucked away in a cabinet. The primary shelf had become mostly television shows of British origin so I cleared away the movies from the other shelves and made it an all-TV case. Most of the movies went to the shelves where the TV shows were from but a number went into the cabinet. The other primary shelf unit was rearranged a bit, with the few VHS tapes still on it removed. Some movies buried in the medium sized shelving unit were 'promoted' to this unit to make them more accessible, primary amongst these the George A. Romero films. All the shelves involved were re-sorted in order to add in movies that had been obtained since the last big shuffle or had been removed and never properly returned to their place.

The upside to this is that I've got some better access to the stuff I watch the most. In general, I watch more of my TV DVDs than my movies, so having them a bit closer and altogether is handy.

On the downside, my shelves are pretty full. 'Luckily' I haven't been buying many DVDs of late so I'm less likely to completely overflow them anytime soon.

Now I just need to watch a few more of them. I still have a number that are still in the wrapper. Silly me.

A Few Thoughts on Comics from this week

I really enjoyed 'Captain America: Reborn' but lucked out in that I found a number of books I really enjoyed this week. This is rare. I generally enjoy most of what I buy every week but rarely really enjoy more than a book or two.

Fantastic Four #568 is part three of four of the 'Masters of Doom' storyline. Having dealt with Latveria, said Masters come to punish the Fantastic Four. Much of this surrounds putting Reed Richards through some torturous ethical situations. Reed's answer? 'There's always another way, and we're going to teach you.' Reed is awesome. This story is great. I did have some concerns when Millar and Hitch came to take over the book. I was concerned it was going to get all 'Ultimate' freaky but it's been largely awesome.

The Simpsons Super Spectacular #9 completes the three-part 'Radioactive Man Event' storyline. The three issues make up a three-act Simpsons episode of sorts. The first issue set up the basis of the story: a big change is coming to the Radioactive Man comics and the hype gets people interested. Act/Issue two builds the hype and the situation. Act/Issue three delivers the big change. While the story has built up that hype in comics never seems to pay off, the 'non-hype' of this story pays off big. It's funny, it's Simpson-y, and it gets to make a comment about comics in general. It largely becomes a love-hate letter to comics, mocking all the things we love about comics and love to hate about comics while we still read them. Well, those of us who do read them anyway. These were great. If you like watching the Simpsons on television, you should give the Simpsons Comics a try.

Muppet Robin Hood #2 introduces a few more characters to the story while building the Robin Hood/Maid Marian relationship. Fozzie Bear appears as Friar Tuck. Link Hogthrob appears as Prince John's primary knight. And Prince John? Johnny Fiama! And Sal! Woo-hoo! Some of my favorite characters from Muppets Tonight! Uncle Deadly appears as one of Prince John's monsters. Once again, the 'actors' in the book react with the knowledge that they're doing a 'performance'. Wonderful stuff.

As wonderful as Muppet Robin Hood is, the Muppet Show Comic Book is that much more wonderful. Issue #4 featured Miss Piggy's story. It's mostly about her fear of losing Kermit and her anger issues. :) This issue features a panel that made me laugh out loud, lean back and laugh out loud, lean over the comic again, see the panel again and start laughing all over again. That is beautiful. On another note, the Talking Houses sketch returns! More Pigs in Space! Vet's Hospital! Sweet moments, funny moments, laugh out loud moments. I love this book! As they're releasing the Muppet Show series in four issue installments, no doubt to release each as a trade paperback with its own title, there will soon be a collection of four issues to be bought. Getting this is highly recommended by me. For whatever that's worth.

A Few Thoughts on Comics from this week - Special

Captain America - Reborn #1

This is what I expected to see in Captain America #600. This is clearly the beginning of an epic tale. Characters from all over the Marvel Universe make appearances, important appearances, not just cameos. You can feel the heroes are putting their heads together because they now have enough clues to go on to investigate. It's not a random 'we can't believe our buddy is gone' thing, it's a 'here are our clues' investigation beginning.

While trying to keep true to my normal pattern, I'm going to try and answer an important question without any spoilers. Is Steven Rogers in this book? Yes. How? Ain't telling.

Good story, good art, still a lot of mystery to resolve, and yet room for some action. That sounds like good comics to me!

Not much and late. I know.

Busy day. Lots of running around, followed by some cooling out, and far too much getting bit by mosquitos. Blasted bugs.

Did get some writing and typing done this morning. I feel very good about that. The story is materializing well and quickly so far. Feeling VERY good about that.

Home Movies

Sent the bulk of my family's old home movies in to be converted to DVD. They arrived today.

There were moments I've seen over and over again, mostly footage of myself and my brothers.

There was footage of my father as a child with my grandfather, going on trips and celebrating graduations and such. I'd seen that before, just not as often.

Then there were some surprise moments. Some of the films were from my mother's father, my other grandfather. Unexpectedly, we saw footage of my mother's wedding shower, my parents right after their wedding, and my mother's family at my grandparents house in winter going to snowmobile.

It was fun. And there was Disneyland footage from about 1960 as well!

What a Difference a Day Makes

Sept 28th 2008. A fine day. Food with friends. Packers win. Brewers win. Mets lose or something and the Brewers go to the postseason for the first time since I was in grade school. Fun time. I won a gift certificate to the restaurant we partied at, which made things that extra bit better.

June 30th 2009. While getting my checkbook from my glove box, I unfold a piece of paper and find the gift certificate. It expired about three months ago. Doh!

Besides that, today was fun as well. Went to the zoo. Different type of fun from eating, drinking, and watching sports but fun nonetheless.

A Few (Late) Thoughts on Comics from this week

I'm not sure I can go see the new Transformers movie for I have read All Hail Megatron #12. They've added four more issues as a 'coda' to the story but issue #12 paid off the storyline big time. There were the big action moments, a couple of stunning 'wow' moments, and an another twist and turn for old time's sake. This should be animated. I found this so enjoyable that I fear the recently released movie will be unable to compare.

Part of my reasoning in that regard is due to the free 'Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen' preview book that I also received this week. The art must be the reason it was free. The robots looked okay but the humans... not so good. I didn't recognize characters the art was so scruffy. The story was not bad but it was only a preview so it's not indicative of the movie in general.

I suppose I should have figured out that cliffhanger for Amazing Spider-Man. Issue #598 explains it so quickly that I felt like a dummy for not having it figured out immediately. Now that I'm no longer expecting the Phil Jimenez art, I've been enjoying the art that's here. Story remains greatly evil. I'm digging this right now.

New Avengers #54 starts to line up the continuity of recent books as moments of other books appear to line things up a bit. This all builds to a bit of a 'whoa' moment at the end. The new Sorcerer Supreme has been chosen and some fun stuff is to come.

Secret Warriors #5 feels like it's building to the big payoff from this first storyline. In other words, it's doing exactly what it should be doing. Good art, good story, still wondering where this is leading overall. It feels like Nick Fury is rebuilding SHIELD without actually rebuilding SHIELD.

I've not been reading the big 'War of Kings' storyline but I have been reading Nova which ties into that story. Impressively, the storyline in Nova feels organic in the way it's built to cross into the larger storyline. I plan to get 'War of Kings' in trade but, at the moment, I don't feel like I'm missing out on something I need in order to understand the one book I've been getting month in and month out. This is a good thing.

Uncanny X-Men #512 felt like a combination of Doctor Who episodes 'The Next Doctor' and 'Father's Day'. I say this being a Who fan, I've no idea if they were influences or not. At the same time, the storyline fits the book so, if Fraction did 'reference' Who, it made sense to do so. Good stuff this, mostly because it dealt with the X-Club adventures and not the X-Men themselves.

Vincent Price Presents was a book that started out very rough, with both poor stories and poor art. The last few have been much better and #10 was one of the best. I actually didn't see the twist coming and I should have done. Well done!

Incredible Hercules #130 I liked. I've been enjoyed this book in general. Not much seems to happen but a lot happens in the arguments that occur during the Trial of Zeus. What fascinates me most is that the characters all have different points of view, all feel like the traditional versions of the character and yet they're just that bit updated so that they feel free. I continue to get the feeling I shouldn't be enjoying this book but I do.

Dark Avengers #6 shows some cracks forming in Norman Osborn's plan. There's also a moment that shows some weakness forming. I'm increasing of the opinion that this 'darkness' overwhelming the Marvel Universe exists to be repelled by the return of Steven Rogers.

I had been wondering about the point for continuing with Avengers: The Initiative. Why did the book still exist with it's reason to exist gone? Issue #25 finally establishes the new environment and, bam!, just like that I'm willing to stick around. The Great Lakes Initiative had a cameo! Good stuff that!

Daredevil #119 keeps things rolling. I know the Kingpin is up to something but I can't figure out what.

Finally Thor #602! It felt like forever since the last issue. Love William's reaction to realizing Asgard has been moved to Latveria. Thor has to go through some rough stuff to repair Mjolnir. Finally we get a bit of a happy ending.

Bart Simpsons #48 continues the Radioactive Man Event. We see what hype can do. Still no clue what's being done to Radioactive Man. Loving it.

Magic

Hesitantly, Kevin spoke up. “I know how everything works. I programmed many of the robots. When we ride for maintenance checks, I start out noting things down but I get distracted, I get lost in the story. I know how every works and yet, for a moment, it all feels alive.” Somewhat nervously, painfully aware of William's gaze, he finished by noting “So I guess I believe in the magic.”

Should have more to say...

...but I don't. I'm tired and probably going to bed soon. Wrote 13 pages in longhand in the last three days. That's a lot for me and is an excellent sign that the writer's block I was getting concerned I had is gone. Would have been even more pages today but, again, the tired. Two different projects are involved. Lots of fun.The four pages yesterday flowed like water.

Love it.

Not Quite Time Travel

When you're a kid, it's pretty easy to categorize people by their age. There are other kids, adults, and old people. Other kids are pretty easy to figure out. Old people are people as old as your grandparents or older. Adults are a pretty nebulous group when you're young. Older teenagers can fit into that adult group, despite them not being adults by anyone else's view, because they can babysit you and therefore tell you what to do.

A lot of the 'adults' from when I was young (10ish and younger I guess) are all in that same mix in my head. Some of them may have only been five - seven years older than me (high school when I was in grade school) but they felt like adults at the time, so terribly, terribly grown up compared to me.

Bumped into one of those 'adults' today. Haven't seen her for twenty years or so. Still looks the same, still looks good. Had one of those moments where something clicked in my head and I thought 'Aha, that would explain a lot.' She was one of those 'adults' that I had a bit of a crush on when I was too young to realize that's what it was (like Lynda Carter and Erin Gray). She smiled today, a bright warm friendly smile, and it pleased me to see that wasn't gone.

And Another Thing...

Just finished going through the big Previews catalog I get every month from the Local Comic Book Store. It's chock full of fun stuff that'll be on sale in a couple months, in theory anyway. I got hung up in the book section as they were promoting the release of the sixth book in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series.

Yes, sadly, Douglas Adams is still dead. He was working on a sixth book but never finished it. Someone else has done that for him.

I know this sort of thing has happened before and will happen again in the literary world. I'm not sure how I feel about this specific situation. Somehow, it doesn't feel right but I'm not sure why yet.

I'm all confused now.