Awhile back, my AT&T U-Verse crapped out on me. I was literally without cable TV or Internet access for 24 hours. It was quite an ordeal getting it repaired, because AT&T had to send someone to the house to fix it. Unfortunately, they entered a wrong digit for my phone number int he AT&T data base, so it became a big pain in the butt to get my cable running -- and I missed Monday Night Football. it was a terrible inconvenience for me, which is exactly how I explained it to the nice lady who was informing me that I had missed my appointment because they had entered my phone number wrong and that someone would be out between 5-9 that night (it was closer to 9:00). The reason I mention this is that when I mentioned that I was now a FORMERLY happy AT&T customer, they jumped on the grenade and gave me HBO free for three months to placate me. And, this, ladies and gentlemen, has allowed me to watch The Incredible Hulk roughly 16 times in the past month.
Let me point out immediately, that by The Incredible Hulk, I mean the new one. The one with Ed Norton and Liv Tyler. The good one. I actually saw this twice in the theater, the first movie to earn that distinction since maybe Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. Those of you who know me well will find this no surprise at all. I have been a huge Hulk mark my entire life. As a matter of fact, I even defended the first Hulk movie, The Hulk, and it's crappy Ang Lee directed story. I said it "wasn't that bad" and that "I liked the Hulk parts, I just wish there'd been more of them" and "Jennifer Connelly looked hot in it." What I've since discovered is that just like in the comics (except for crappy red Hulk -- Nice work Loeb), the new version Hulk always kicks the snot out of the old version Hulk.
Then, during one of the many viewings of The Incredible Hulk, it dawned on me.....How the hell did that happen when you have Ang Lee directing your movie??? Having Ang Lee make a movie that sucks is like turning your kid's little league football team over to Mike Ditka and having it lose. You have to take all things into account here. Ang Lee directed an Oscar-nominated movie about gay cowboys. Yes, gay cowboys and Oscar-nominated were used together in the last sentence. So how does THAT guy make the Hulk suck? Which would be harder to work with -- big green guy who smashes stuff or gay cowboys? In any case, Brokeback Mountain gets rave reviews, and The Hulk gets, at best, mixed reviews. And I develop a deep seeded loathing of Ang Lee.
I've actually spent a lot of time trying to figure out how this happened, and I think I have it figured out. When Ang Lee started to make The Hulk, he vowed to create a Hulk movie with feeling and heart, that was more than just "Hulk Smash!" Therein lies the problem. Die hard Hulk fans want to see "Hulk smash," not "Hulk looks within himself to try to figure out his daddy issues and how these have thus affected his relationships as he has matured." Remember the Incredible Hulk TV series? All I ever wanted from that show as to hear the late, great Bill Bixby say, "Don't make me angry, you wouldn't like me when I'm angry," because that meant it was time for some Lou Ferrigno-fueled destruction. And that was fun to watch.
The new Incredible Hulk movie has lots of smashing. But, almost ironically, it has a lot more heart and feeling to it than the crummy Ang lee movie. As a big fan of the Hulk comics (I currently own a run of nearly ever book between issues 300 and 400 from the 80s and 90s), I thought the little things that the new movie touched on, like the relationship between Betty Ross and Bruce Banner, and the dynamic between Betty and General Thunderbolt Ross, was more successful in the new movie. The other thing I like about it?....lots of HULK SMASH!!!! And the Hulk shouting, "Hulk smash!" I am especially fond of the smashing parts.
Well, I think it's about time to wrap up my blogging for the night. I feel better now having unleashed some of my Ang Lee angst, and lauding my boy Hulk. I also just happened to check out the guide on the TV and just happened to notice that one of the 14 HBO channels I'm getting for free is showing The Incredible Hulk in about 15 minutes, and I don't want to miss that.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
I Have Seen the Enemy...and It is Nerds
A couple Sundays ago, I found myself in the car - alone - running errands around town -alone- and realized that for one of the rare moments in my life the past few years, I was actually alone. So, I did what any nearing middle age father would do when face with similar circumstances, I went to the comic book store. This is, actually, a bit unusual for me, because I found that tiny voice in my head that sounds a lot like Jiminy Cricket telling me, "You never go to the comic book store on Sundays. There's a reason for this, you know." You know the voice I'm talking about. It's the same one that told Tiger, "You know, a voice mail here would be a BAD idea, Tiger." And like most men, I completely ignored that little voice. Then I walked into my local neighborhood comic book store, the esteemed Prairie Dog Comics, and realized that there IS a reason I don't go to the comic book store on Sundays. . .Sunday is card gaming day.
I will be the first to admit that I am a nerd, but one thing I have vehemently avoided is playing card games. Aside from a briefs dalliance with Magic, which I swear was a one-time thing and the result of some bad advice from a friend, I don't get into Yu-Gi-Oh, or Magic, or anything else along those lines. As a matter of fact, when I was teaching I was the sponsor of the Comic Book Club and rule #1 was "NO CARD GAMES." Generally, I leave card gaming people to their own little world. But that particular Sunday, in that Particular comic shop, our worlds collided, and I was not happy.
Why, you ask? Allow me to explain. The first thing about card gaming days in the comic store is that the store smells funny on those days. Yes, I know this sounds cruel, but people who work there can back me up on this. The other thing that struck me as odd, is that I noticed one of the teens playing Yu-Gi-Oh had a tripod with a video camera set up so he could record his Yu-Gi-Oh match......which I later learned would be posted on his facebook page. There was also another teenaged boy (that goes without saying -- they were all teenaged boys) who appeared to be some kind of game moderator or something walking amongst the (2) tables of gaming talking trash to the other players. About Yu-Gi-Oh. Seriously.
Now, here is the part where I started to get annoyed. First off, these guys make all nerds look bad. Through the carefully planned success of four "Revenge of the Nerds" movies, Bill Gates, Harvey Pekar, and the Spider-Man move franchise (OK, just 1 and 2) we've been able to bring about some semblance of respect for nerds. Then these guys come along. Nerds of the world unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains! Only through solidarity will nerd-dom rise above the shackles of preps and jocks. Way to go card dorks, you've set our movement back 20 years.
The other thing that bothered me about this incident, was the sudden memory of what I was doing at their age. When I was a teenager, on Sunday afternoons, I was doing something apparently unheard of to the Yu-Gi-Oh playing denizens of Prairie Dog Comics...I had a JOB! If I wasn't working, I was probably involved in a backyard football game somewhere, or at least watching football somewhere. What I wasn't doing, was sitting inside the comic store, smelling up the joint (once again, this is confirmed by reliable sources), and spending my time declaring the dominance of my nearly unbeatable green deck of magic cards. I try not to get political when I write, but don't you think the economy would benefit from a few teens working part-time jobs. I'm not even going to bother bringing up childhood obesity, though I could, because most of the card playing kids are relatively thin but doughy. Seriously, I don't want to sounds all preachy and stuff, but I can think of about a million other things that teenaged boys could be doing on a Sunday afternoon instead of sitting in the comic store playing Yu-Gi-Oh.
In any case, I left the store as quickly as possible. I called my buddy Hugo, who used to work at the aforementioned comic store, who reminded my that "you never, EVER, go to the store on Sundays" and "at least you don't work there and have to smell the place after they leave." I was pretty relieved to get out of there, to be honest. But then I remembered, someone has to be the Robert Carridine in this scenario and turn the nerds into the heroes they were meant to be. I will be a role model and show these boys the light. I'm just not going to do it on a Sunday. And I'm pretty sure light burns their skin.
I will be the first to admit that I am a nerd, but one thing I have vehemently avoided is playing card games. Aside from a briefs dalliance with Magic, which I swear was a one-time thing and the result of some bad advice from a friend, I don't get into Yu-Gi-Oh, or Magic, or anything else along those lines. As a matter of fact, when I was teaching I was the sponsor of the Comic Book Club and rule #1 was "NO CARD GAMES." Generally, I leave card gaming people to their own little world. But that particular Sunday, in that Particular comic shop, our worlds collided, and I was not happy.
Why, you ask? Allow me to explain. The first thing about card gaming days in the comic store is that the store smells funny on those days. Yes, I know this sounds cruel, but people who work there can back me up on this. The other thing that struck me as odd, is that I noticed one of the teens playing Yu-Gi-Oh had a tripod with a video camera set up so he could record his Yu-Gi-Oh match......which I later learned would be posted on his facebook page. There was also another teenaged boy (that goes without saying -- they were all teenaged boys) who appeared to be some kind of game moderator or something walking amongst the (2) tables of gaming talking trash to the other players. About Yu-Gi-Oh. Seriously.
Now, here is the part where I started to get annoyed. First off, these guys make all nerds look bad. Through the carefully planned success of four "Revenge of the Nerds" movies, Bill Gates, Harvey Pekar, and the Spider-Man move franchise (OK, just 1 and 2) we've been able to bring about some semblance of respect for nerds. Then these guys come along. Nerds of the world unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains! Only through solidarity will nerd-dom rise above the shackles of preps and jocks. Way to go card dorks, you've set our movement back 20 years.
The other thing that bothered me about this incident, was the sudden memory of what I was doing at their age. When I was a teenager, on Sunday afternoons, I was doing something apparently unheard of to the Yu-Gi-Oh playing denizens of Prairie Dog Comics...I had a JOB! If I wasn't working, I was probably involved in a backyard football game somewhere, or at least watching football somewhere. What I wasn't doing, was sitting inside the comic store, smelling up the joint (once again, this is confirmed by reliable sources), and spending my time declaring the dominance of my nearly unbeatable green deck of magic cards. I try not to get political when I write, but don't you think the economy would benefit from a few teens working part-time jobs. I'm not even going to bother bringing up childhood obesity, though I could, because most of the card playing kids are relatively thin but doughy. Seriously, I don't want to sounds all preachy and stuff, but I can think of about a million other things that teenaged boys could be doing on a Sunday afternoon instead of sitting in the comic store playing Yu-Gi-Oh.
In any case, I left the store as quickly as possible. I called my buddy Hugo, who used to work at the aforementioned comic store, who reminded my that "you never, EVER, go to the store on Sundays" and "at least you don't work there and have to smell the place after they leave." I was pretty relieved to get out of there, to be honest. But then I remembered, someone has to be the Robert Carridine in this scenario and turn the nerds into the heroes they were meant to be. I will be a role model and show these boys the light. I'm just not going to do it on a Sunday. And I'm pretty sure light burns their skin.
Monday, November 9, 2009
My City, My City, Why Has Thou Forsaken Me?
When I was a senior in high school, the vocal music teacher talked me into being a dancer in the school musical, Oklahoma!. Yes, you read that right, I said a dancer. Before you begin to plan some smarmy comment for the end of this blog, let me remind you that this occurred 20 years and a bout 50 lbs ago and that the music teacher recruited out-of-season athletes (like myself) to be the dancers. So there.
The reason I bring this up is because I was familiar with the famous Rodgers and Hammerstein prior to performing in it. What I knew about the musical really boiled down to it having a song titled "Everything's Up To Date in Kansas City." You remember the tune, "Everything's up to date in Kansas City / It's gone about as far as you can go..." As a young Kansas Citian, I took pride in the fact that someone famous had written a song about my city. And why wouldn't I be? You have to remember that my life is pretty much structured around family, work, sports, and comic books -- in that order. So, in that regard, things looked good, real good. The Royals were perennial contenders to make the World Series, and would eventually win it in 1985. The Chiefs were just a couple years away from Marty-ball and Christian Okoye and legitimacy as powers in the NFL. Even the NBA's Kansas City Kings were a respectable organization. Kansas City looked good.
And then something horrible happened, and things weren't up to date in Kansas City anymore. If you had to make an updated version of Oklahoma! the song might say, "Everything's gone to crap in Kansas City / It's gone about as low as you can go. / The Royals are a laughingstock / The Chiefs just flat-out suck / Event he Wizards don't do very much." It's kind of catchy really....also sadly very true.
I think the fall of sports in Kansas City started when the Kings left for Sacramento. I'd say it started when the NHL's Kansas City scouts left for Colorado, but even the most die-hard hockey fans I know don't realize that the NHL ever had a franchise in Kansas City (but this explains why I cheer for the New Jersey Devils, they are the old Scouts). Truthfully, though, every other sport actually got better when the Scouts left, so I don't think you can blame them. When the Kings left, however, there was hardly a whimper. I remember it as a fairly apathetic response from the City, "Oh our NBA franchise is leaving? OK." I think that's where sports started going south in KC.
News broke this week that the Royals traded Mark Teahen, one of their most consistent performers the past few years, and that they would not re-sign CoCo Crisp. Aside from having a name that just aches for jokes, CoCo seemed to be one of the bright spots for the Royales (with Cheese) at the beginning of the season. His season-ending injury coincided with the club's demise to their perennial spot in the cellar of the weak AL Central. He was brought in for veteran presence, so the management said, so why get rid of him? This is just another in a line of puzzling moves by the Royales. They seem to have no plan to improve their club. The Management actually reminds me of the owner in the first Major League movie, where the showgirl/owner tries to assemble the worst team ever in order to move the team to Florida. Is the Royales' management trying to get the team contracted into oblivion? If they are, they're doing a great job.
Of course, the Royales may actually be in better shape than the Chefs. How do you come off a bye week and look worse than you did before the bye week? Seriously! The Buccaneers came off their bye week with a rookie starting at QB (a questionable rookie at that) and they won! They looked like the worked over the two week stretch. I wish I'd been at Todd Haley's press conference afterwards. I imagine it goes something like this...
Reporter: Coach how did you spend your time during the bye week?
TH: I played some golf, signed another guy no one else wanted, oh, and I had that whole Larry Johnson thing to deal with.
Reporter: But what did you work on with the team?
TH: Ummm...yeah...I knew there was something I didn't do on my list...
In any case, I am trying to believe that the Chefs know what they're doing. I am willing to give them a chance. They did make a step in the right direction with their fans this morning. It's just interesting that no one seemed to see this coming as the team declined the past few years. Don't you think some draft choices could have learned from Willie Roaf or Will Shields for a couple years? See, I could do that job.
Hopefully, the sun will shine on the Kansas City sports world again someday ans things will be up to date once again. But until that day, it will be another long cold winter spent wondering what LSU player the Chefs will take with their first draft pick and which career back-up or aging veteran the Royales will sign as "that one last piece needed to put them over the top." When you think of it, I hope it snows a lot this winter to bury my sorrows.
The reason I bring this up is because I was familiar with the famous Rodgers and Hammerstein prior to performing in it. What I knew about the musical really boiled down to it having a song titled "Everything's Up To Date in Kansas City." You remember the tune, "Everything's up to date in Kansas City / It's gone about as far as you can go..." As a young Kansas Citian, I took pride in the fact that someone famous had written a song about my city. And why wouldn't I be? You have to remember that my life is pretty much structured around family, work, sports, and comic books -- in that order. So, in that regard, things looked good, real good. The Royals were perennial contenders to make the World Series, and would eventually win it in 1985. The Chiefs were just a couple years away from Marty-ball and Christian Okoye and legitimacy as powers in the NFL. Even the NBA's Kansas City Kings were a respectable organization. Kansas City looked good.
And then something horrible happened, and things weren't up to date in Kansas City anymore. If you had to make an updated version of Oklahoma! the song might say, "Everything's gone to crap in Kansas City / It's gone about as low as you can go. / The Royals are a laughingstock / The Chiefs just flat-out suck / Event he Wizards don't do very much." It's kind of catchy really....also sadly very true.
I think the fall of sports in Kansas City started when the Kings left for Sacramento. I'd say it started when the NHL's Kansas City scouts left for Colorado, but even the most die-hard hockey fans I know don't realize that the NHL ever had a franchise in Kansas City (but this explains why I cheer for the New Jersey Devils, they are the old Scouts). Truthfully, though, every other sport actually got better when the Scouts left, so I don't think you can blame them. When the Kings left, however, there was hardly a whimper. I remember it as a fairly apathetic response from the City, "Oh our NBA franchise is leaving? OK." I think that's where sports started going south in KC.
News broke this week that the Royals traded Mark Teahen, one of their most consistent performers the past few years, and that they would not re-sign CoCo Crisp. Aside from having a name that just aches for jokes, CoCo seemed to be one of the bright spots for the Royales (with Cheese) at the beginning of the season. His season-ending injury coincided with the club's demise to their perennial spot in the cellar of the weak AL Central. He was brought in for veteran presence, so the management said, so why get rid of him? This is just another in a line of puzzling moves by the Royales. They seem to have no plan to improve their club. The Management actually reminds me of the owner in the first Major League movie, where the showgirl/owner tries to assemble the worst team ever in order to move the team to Florida. Is the Royales' management trying to get the team contracted into oblivion? If they are, they're doing a great job.
Of course, the Royales may actually be in better shape than the Chefs. How do you come off a bye week and look worse than you did before the bye week? Seriously! The Buccaneers came off their bye week with a rookie starting at QB (a questionable rookie at that) and they won! They looked like the worked over the two week stretch. I wish I'd been at Todd Haley's press conference afterwards. I imagine it goes something like this...
Reporter: Coach how did you spend your time during the bye week?
TH: I played some golf, signed another guy no one else wanted, oh, and I had that whole Larry Johnson thing to deal with.
Reporter: But what did you work on with the team?
TH: Ummm...yeah...I knew there was something I didn't do on my list...
In any case, I am trying to believe that the Chefs know what they're doing. I am willing to give them a chance. They did make a step in the right direction with their fans this morning. It's just interesting that no one seemed to see this coming as the team declined the past few years. Don't you think some draft choices could have learned from Willie Roaf or Will Shields for a couple years? See, I could do that job.
Hopefully, the sun will shine on the Kansas City sports world again someday ans things will be up to date once again. But until that day, it will be another long cold winter spent wondering what LSU player the Chefs will take with their first draft pick and which career back-up or aging veteran the Royales will sign as "that one last piece needed to put them over the top." When you think of it, I hope it snows a lot this winter to bury my sorrows.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
The Best Thing I've Read Lately
I like to read. Maybe that's why I ended up majoring in English, because I've always liked to read. I will admit that majoring in English teaches one that while you might like to read, you generally only like reading things you like, and loathe things you find uninteresting -- like The Scarlet Letter. But I digress. I've always liked to read.
As a result, I've read a lot of good books. During my teaching career, I read Lord of the Flies, To Kill A Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, and Animal Farm more times than I care to remember. I've also read Brave New World, 1984, Fahrenheit 451, The Odyssey, Great Expectations...OK, I didn't actually read Great Expectations, I Cliff's Notes-ed that one. I have a deeply profound dislike of Charles Dickens. But if you went over the list of the "Greatest Novels of All Time," I've read most of them.
I still like to read. I like all sorts of different genres, but mostly I just read for fun. Over Labor Day, I went to a used bookstore and stumbled across Spellsinger by sci-fi/fantasy stud Alan Dean Foster. The Spellsinger series was my favorite series when I was like 14. I was able to track down all six of the books through used bookstores, and by the end of the long weekend had polished off three of them. They're still fun to read 20+ years later.
I bring this up, because I'm always on the lookout for something new to read. I recently gave in and read Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Yes, it's geared towards middle schoolers, but nobody has ever accused me of being smarter (or more mature) than a middle schooler. Loved the book. I even happened to LOL at several points. It was good, but not the best thing I've read recently.
The best things I read are usually reserved for my favorite genre of literature. No, not early American literature, which I only professed to love as a thinly veiled attempt to get a better grade in Dr. Machor's graduate level "American Literature: 1776-1865" class on Tuesday nights. My favorite thing to read is comic books (SURPRISE!) and I read a lot of them....a LOT.
So, without further ado, let me tell you of the best thing I've read recently. It's called The Colorblind Art Teacher and can be found at http://www.mwteel.com. Mark Teel is a friend of mine. A very funny and talented friend. It would be very easy to write this off and say, "Oh, he just likes this comic because his buddy writes and draws it." The truth is, this comic --which is made up of vignettes from Marks life, past and present -- is about my life. And my friend Terry's life. And my friend Dave's life. Not your life, Hugo, but pretty much anyone around my age can relate.
Let me elaborate. The first issue of The Colorblind Art Teacherthat I received dealt with Mark taking his daughter to parent/toddler swim lessons. It was funny. It also reminded me of taking my son, Lukas, to parent/toddler swim lessons. Another vignette (oh, that's fun to say) on the web site tells of Mark getting "revenge" on a guy who annoyed him in high school. Mark, working at Price Chopper, refuses to sell the guy beer because he knows he's under 21. I did the exact same thing once, except I was working at Dillons. There's other examples I could give you, but I don't want to ruin things for anyone. When you get down to it, what I like about The Colorblond Art Teacher is that it reminds me of Harvey Pekar's seminal work American Splendor. It's the simple story of a simple guy leading a simple, quirky, funny life. For the record, Teel is not as dorky as Harvey Pekar (nor as rich). Also for the record, I am a big fan of Harvey Pekar (just in case he happens to read this blog).
So, this is my shameless plug of my buddies comic book. Please go to the website and check it out. I don't think you'll be disappointed. If you happen to be disappointed, don't get mad at me about it...and remember, I'm probably bigger than you. Until next time, excelsior true believers!!!
As a result, I've read a lot of good books. During my teaching career, I read Lord of the Flies, To Kill A Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, and Animal Farm more times than I care to remember. I've also read Brave New World, 1984, Fahrenheit 451, The Odyssey, Great Expectations...OK, I didn't actually read Great Expectations, I Cliff's Notes-ed that one. I have a deeply profound dislike of Charles Dickens. But if you went over the list of the "Greatest Novels of All Time," I've read most of them.
I still like to read. I like all sorts of different genres, but mostly I just read for fun. Over Labor Day, I went to a used bookstore and stumbled across Spellsinger by sci-fi/fantasy stud Alan Dean Foster. The Spellsinger series was my favorite series when I was like 14. I was able to track down all six of the books through used bookstores, and by the end of the long weekend had polished off three of them. They're still fun to read 20+ years later.
I bring this up, because I'm always on the lookout for something new to read. I recently gave in and read Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Yes, it's geared towards middle schoolers, but nobody has ever accused me of being smarter (or more mature) than a middle schooler. Loved the book. I even happened to LOL at several points. It was good, but not the best thing I've read recently.
The best things I read are usually reserved for my favorite genre of literature. No, not early American literature, which I only professed to love as a thinly veiled attempt to get a better grade in Dr. Machor's graduate level "American Literature: 1776-1865" class on Tuesday nights. My favorite thing to read is comic books (SURPRISE!) and I read a lot of them....a LOT.
So, without further ado, let me tell you of the best thing I've read recently. It's called The Colorblind Art Teacher and can be found at http://www.mwteel.com. Mark Teel is a friend of mine. A very funny and talented friend. It would be very easy to write this off and say, "Oh, he just likes this comic because his buddy writes and draws it." The truth is, this comic --which is made up of vignettes from Marks life, past and present -- is about my life. And my friend Terry's life. And my friend Dave's life. Not your life, Hugo, but pretty much anyone around my age can relate.
Let me elaborate. The first issue of The Colorblind Art Teacherthat I received dealt with Mark taking his daughter to parent/toddler swim lessons. It was funny. It also reminded me of taking my son, Lukas, to parent/toddler swim lessons. Another vignette (oh, that's fun to say) on the web site tells of Mark getting "revenge" on a guy who annoyed him in high school. Mark, working at Price Chopper, refuses to sell the guy beer because he knows he's under 21. I did the exact same thing once, except I was working at Dillons. There's other examples I could give you, but I don't want to ruin things for anyone. When you get down to it, what I like about The Colorblond Art Teacher is that it reminds me of Harvey Pekar's seminal work American Splendor. It's the simple story of a simple guy leading a simple, quirky, funny life. For the record, Teel is not as dorky as Harvey Pekar (nor as rich). Also for the record, I am a big fan of Harvey Pekar (just in case he happens to read this blog).
So, this is my shameless plug of my buddies comic book. Please go to the website and check it out. I don't think you'll be disappointed. If you happen to be disappointed, don't get mad at me about it...and remember, I'm probably bigger than you. Until next time, excelsior true believers!!!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
And Robin Shall Restore Amends...
Ah, yes, whenever I feel I have nothing to say, I just quote Shakespeare and then things begin to happen. And yes, to follow Puck's lead, I am here to restore amends. I've let down my blog. I haven't posted a new one since September 8, shortly after Disney's purchase of Marvel Comics -- a day which may or may not live in geek infamy. I do apologize to all my readers (Sorry Hugo, Sorry Terry, Sorry Mom--that covers everyone), but in my defense I got real busy with work around the beginning of September, and it finally slowed down for about a month now. Hopefully, I'll have some time to write more, and then I'll get in the habit, and then I'll keep my blog updated regularly. I might also point out that during this busy time, I also don't pick up my comics regularly, so I don't have much to write about.
Now, the good news is that while I've been not writing, I've made several important realizations in my life. What follows is a compilation of those very important realizations. I don't want to call them "revelations," because that makes me think of the Book of the Bible where the world ends. And, my thoughts aren't nearly as spiritual or important as, "Hey, guess what? There's going to be a rapture!" So without further ado. . .
Now, the good news is that while I've been not writing, I've made several important realizations in my life. What follows is a compilation of those very important realizations. I don't want to call them "revelations," because that makes me think of the Book of the Bible where the world ends. And, my thoughts aren't nearly as spiritual or important as, "Hey, guess what? There's going to be a rapture!" So without further ado. . .
- Under no uncertain circumstances is it OK to let your dog poop on the sidewalk. Every time I run my dog (this consists of me riding a bike and the dog doing the running), I take the same sidewalk in a residential neighborhood with a large amount of pedestrian sidewalk traffic. I've noticed that every time there is dog poop on the sidewalk. Not like a random piece occasionally, but full on piles, in regular intervals. NOT COOL PEOPLE! Once, my dog pooped in the gutter and I had a conniption fit. It's just disrespectful to dogs like mine who poop in the field across the street.
- While I'm on the topic of things that aren't cool to do in a residential area with a large amount of pedestrian sidewalk traffic...If you live near a pond with ducks, where people like to stop with their kids to feed the ducks, it's not cool to put up signs all over that say "PRIVATE PROPERTY" in order to keep FAMILIES with CHILDREN from enjoying the ducks. It's also not cool for the same person to put fence pickets up on one side of their deck to screen out their neighbors. There's places for people who don't like being around other people, it's called Wyoming.
- As I get older, I realize that there are a lot of things I just can't do anymore. Like the other day, I tried to pop a wheelie on my bike and hop a curb. That was possible when I was 8. Not so much at 38.
- However, it's still possible AND fun, to go really fast on a bike.
- Why is it that every time I share with my parents that one of my kids has done something stupid/annoying/dangerous my dad just laughs?
- There has to be an age at which kids can eat without getting food all over their face. I watched my son eat pudding the other day -- with a spoon -- and half of it ended up split between his face and his shirt. I am seriously afraid to pack pudding in his lunch for fear of what his teacher will think of me when he returns to class with pudding all over his face (and shirt).
- I have a theory that Clorox is owned by the Catholic Church. What other explanation is there for a private school to think white shirts are a good idea for elementary school children to wear every day?
- I also have a theory about the Persian Mafia, but I keep that quiet. The Persian Mafia is everywhere.
- It is physically impossible for me to watch even a trailer of Where the Wild Things Are (the movie) without getting a little choked up. It makes me think of all the times I read that book as a child, and how that was the first book I bought for my son when he was born, and all the times I read it to him. Yep, I am getting choked up just writing this.
- My mom got good news about a book she was shopping around to publishers. I'm excited about this because she's my mom and it's always been her dream to have a novel published. Mostly, though, I am excited because my mom has always said, "When I finally hit it big with my novel, I'll take the whole family to Hawaii or on a cruise." Yes, my mother raised a selfish child. And I will settle for Florida or Cancun.
I can hear my neighbor's dog barking right now, which means Sami, the big yellow dog, is getting it all riled up by bugging it from our side of the fence. That means it's time for me to sign off. I promise to be more regular with my blog posts from here on out. If you have any good ideas, please feel free to share them with me. Until next time...Excelsior, true believers!!!
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Don't Make Goofy Angry....You Wouldn't Like Him When He's Angry..
Well, folks, a major tremor shook Geekworld last week when it was announced that Disney was indeed purchasing Marvel. Now, If I had $4billion laying around, the first thing I would do is buy Marvel (actually, I'd try to get them to settle for $3 billion).
To some of us, this wasn't as big a surprise as we'd like to pretend. I've known for months that Marvel was continuing to increase the number of monthly titles it produces. Conversely, DC comics (owned by Time-Warner) was decreasing the number of titles it is producing. You might think that's just capitalism in action, but DC has been routinely topping Marvel in the sales categories lately, and the critics have gushed over DC titles like Blackest Night, while panning or giving lukewarm response to Marvel events like Secret Invasion. So, how can Marvel pull this off? Either they have an a$$ load of money, or they expected to get an a$$load of money. And X-Men: Evolution and Spectacular Spider-Man recently appeared on Disney's XD channel.....from what I hear. I don't watch kiddie channels. I'm a man! I'm 40!
This was an interesting move for many reasons. One of those reasons is not to go to other blogs and forums to see how many people can post "I can't wait to see the Mickey Mouse/Wolverine crossover." That wasn't all that funny the first time someone said it. Know why? because we all thought it. Personally, I want to see a Donald Duck/Howard the Duck crossover. You'd have two ducks, and no pants. Hilaaaaaaaarious!
But seriously, There's some reasons to be concerned about this new Disney/Marvel amalgamation. The first, and most obvious, is the concern that this might "pussify" the upcoming Marvel movies, as someone put it on Facebook. I certainly hope not. Actually, the Marvel movies -- aside from Punisher -- aren't THAT violent. I have no qualms taking my son to see them, and he's six. I do, however, have major qualms of taking my son to see things like The Dark Knight or Watchmen (though he absolutely LOVED V for Vendetta, and totally saw how it was a satire of the Bush administration, not just a cool comic movie). The other thing to remember is that Disney also owns Miramax and Touchstone, two production companies that routinely turn out R rated movies. Heck, if I remember correctly, Miramax did "Pulp Fiction," and I always thought that movie would have been cooler if John Travolta had had the proportionate strength of a human-sized spider. However, I am concerned about the future of the impending Avengers-related movies.
If Disney is smart, which they generally are, they'll leave Marvel alone and let Marvel do their thing. The exciting aspect of this business move is that Marvel suddenly has the money and the technology of Disney backing their already awesome movies. Furthermore, Pixar had announced it wants to do a Marvel based film. How cool would it be to see Pixar do Devil Dinosaur and Moon Boy? That sounds good to me. And, if luck holds out, we'll finally get to see the Mickey Mouse/Wolverine crossover everyone is hoping for.
To some of us, this wasn't as big a surprise as we'd like to pretend. I've known for months that Marvel was continuing to increase the number of monthly titles it produces. Conversely, DC comics (owned by Time-Warner) was decreasing the number of titles it is producing. You might think that's just capitalism in action, but DC has been routinely topping Marvel in the sales categories lately, and the critics have gushed over DC titles like Blackest Night, while panning or giving lukewarm response to Marvel events like Secret Invasion. So, how can Marvel pull this off? Either they have an a$$ load of money, or they expected to get an a$$load of money. And X-Men: Evolution and Spectacular Spider-Man recently appeared on Disney's XD channel.....from what I hear. I don't watch kiddie channels. I'm a man! I'm 40!
This was an interesting move for many reasons. One of those reasons is not to go to other blogs and forums to see how many people can post "I can't wait to see the Mickey Mouse/Wolverine crossover." That wasn't all that funny the first time someone said it. Know why? because we all thought it. Personally, I want to see a Donald Duck/Howard the Duck crossover. You'd have two ducks, and no pants. Hilaaaaaaaarious!
But seriously, There's some reasons to be concerned about this new Disney/Marvel amalgamation. The first, and most obvious, is the concern that this might "pussify" the upcoming Marvel movies, as someone put it on Facebook. I certainly hope not. Actually, the Marvel movies -- aside from Punisher -- aren't THAT violent. I have no qualms taking my son to see them, and he's six. I do, however, have major qualms of taking my son to see things like The Dark Knight or Watchmen (though he absolutely LOVED V for Vendetta, and totally saw how it was a satire of the Bush administration, not just a cool comic movie). The other thing to remember is that Disney also owns Miramax and Touchstone, two production companies that routinely turn out R rated movies. Heck, if I remember correctly, Miramax did "Pulp Fiction," and I always thought that movie would have been cooler if John Travolta had had the proportionate strength of a human-sized spider. However, I am concerned about the future of the impending Avengers-related movies.
If Disney is smart, which they generally are, they'll leave Marvel alone and let Marvel do their thing. The exciting aspect of this business move is that Marvel suddenly has the money and the technology of Disney backing their already awesome movies. Furthermore, Pixar had announced it wants to do a Marvel based film. How cool would it be to see Pixar do Devil Dinosaur and Moon Boy? That sounds good to me. And, if luck holds out, we'll finally get to see the Mickey Mouse/Wolverine crossover everyone is hoping for.
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