Friday, November 19, 2004
Mrs. League here. Something exciting is finally happening in Chandler, Arizona. The first annual Arizona Balloon Festival is being held this weekend, not 3 miles from our house! If we go tomorrow evening, we'll be able to see over 30 lighted balloons at sunset, dudes jumping out of a plane (Flyin' Elvises!), and fireworks. Wow. My esteemed work colleague Alan hopes that all of this will happen at once, like a live version of Missle Command.
Leaguers, you have to remember that a Saturday night out on the town for Mr. and Mrs. League includes going to a niceish restaurant and a movie. I am psyched.
2:40 PM |
Thursday, November 18, 2004
Recently I was bemoaning the fact via e-mail to Maxwell that I don't have bio page linked here. Not that anyone reading this page isn't already roughly familiar with my bio, but it would be a nice ego stroke to write even more about myself.
Say, said Maxwell, doesn't Blogger have a "profile" section.
And, by jiminy, it does.
So what is my personal profile?
The profile does ask those two all important questions:
About Me
and
Interests
But, what "about me"? I guess this is when I could wow folks with my amazing life story, or something astonishing which is all about me. But I have nothing.
I was born a middle-class kid and graduated from a public university. I married a wonderful girl. I now work for the state of Arizona, live in suburbs, and own a golden retriever.
Wow. Enthralling.
Interests? This is usually where profiles fall apart. People either put too much info or too little. And, invariably, this is where people try to prove how much more interesting they are than other people by listing every eclectic fancy they ever had. You'll find Henna art, interest in obscure artists nobody ever heard of, musicians whose names they found on PitchforkMedia and haven't really ever followed.
You will rarely see "I'm really into Monday Night Football and Everybody Loves Raymond. Oh, and I think NASCAR rocks. Occasionally I get so lazy I will allow myself to watch two episodes back to back of Dharma and Greg in syndication. I also have a Billy the Big Mouth Bass."
Instead, according to blogger profiles, every single blogger is a wildly free artistic soul with an amazingly exotic panoply of tastes and interests.
After that, I am defined by my media.
I note that my comments in the musical section were not published. This is what I said: I don't know anymore. I'm not foolish enough to think that because I own a lot of records in different categories that my tastes are, in any way, interesting to anyone else. Working for a mall based record shop sort of killed my belief that having a favorite music is a good idea. And who really has a favorite band after high school, anyway?
I think what I'm realizing is that I shouldn't have a bio up. And apparently Blogger doesn't think I should either, as they won't print the comments in the musical section. Maybe my disdain for bio by form and my general misnathropy is not very conducive to having a bio at all.
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
I know this has already been circulating for a while, but...
Scientician A: What's the steering wheel for again?
Scientician B: Goddammit, Ernie, it's gotta look futuristic. It's for the Time Travel-o-scope.
Scientician A: And we have pressure gauges why?
Scientician B: To show the doo-hickeys and whatzits clackin' away. Don't you know nuthin' about nuthin'? Now go fetch me those blinking lightbulbs. We gotta fancy up this console. I still say this thing should take up most of a Woolsworth's if it's gonna be from the future.
6:23 PM |
I know that this is probably a comma placement mistake and not a real toy, but I'm damn curious about the "38" Playtime Trampoline Happy, Birthday Bear".
**Update: They fixed the comma already.
Other toys on the bad list this year: -Pocket Rocket Miniature Motorcycle -Megabuster Battle Weapon -Imaginarium Police Car Building Blocks -Dress Me Paz (I'm imagining Paz as some naked doll version of Tipsy McStaggers) -Fun Slides Carpet Skates (aren't these usually called socks?) -Air Burst Rockets -Parents Magazine Mirror Pound-A-Ball -3 Gun Squad Set -- Uz-1 Commando Machine Gun
Austinites and former Austinites... even under Chapter 11, Katz's Never Closes!
I suspect they will pay off their creditors with buckets of pickles.
Look, it's overpriced and the wait can be ridiculous, but I love Katz's. Seriously love it. It would be a shame if they shut down. Of course, Mr. Katz is all but a gangster, so I'd be curious to know where all the money from that joint went. How can you always be busy and still file Chap. 11?
Maybe popularity really fell off since I left... who knows..?
In addition to appearing briefly in a cameo on JLU this season, Krypto is getting his own cartoon for pre-schoolers, and he's now going to be on Smallville.
Here's some gossip for you, that again we're not posting on the spoilers page until there is some official confirmation.
Rumor has it that the title of episode #4-13 is "Krypto." For those of you unfamiliar with the Silver Age Superman comic books or recent stories in current continuity, Krypto is Superman's super-powered dog from Krypton. No word yet on how it will be handled on the show. But hey - we were right about the Flash and Mxyzptlk, so we'd say it's a safe bet!
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
So there are some really nice things about having your own little website.
One of the nice things is how it keeps you up to date with folks, and how it kind of creates a little bubble world with people orbiting around it.
Recently Maxwell was updating her bio on her blog, and I was asked to participate. Her bio is not written by Ms. Cowgirl Funk herself, but by her readership.
Anyway, as I was face-to-face with Maxwell mostly during her high school years, we ended up chatting sidebar, and I took some unexpected side trips down Memory Lane. Specifically we visited some nicer, out of the way places on Memory Lane, and then a few, dodgier holes-in-the-wall that I enjoyed, but hadn't been to in a while.
All in good fun.
I'm not in touch with too many folks from old KO anymore (although folks like Jill and Madi tend to pop up upon occasion, and its always fun). I do think its important to remember all that stuff, if, for no other reason, than to remember exactly where you came from. If you weren't that bright back then, what is 2004-you going to look like to 2015-you, Mr. Smarty-Pants?
Anyway, thanks to Maxwell for tossing some lighter fluid on the those barely glowing embers.
Another perk of being EIC of The League is that is that my readership sends me junk in the mail. GOOD JUNK in the mail, too.
Recently, Jim D. sent a crate of comics I still haven't properly sorted. And in the past two days I received some choice comics from RHPT.com and Nathan Cone, your voice of the noon-day hour on Texas Public Radio.
RHPT.com sent along several comics including this item, which is utterly fascinating.
Nathan sent along some odd artifacts located at a shop in San Antonio.
Screech: I'm even better looking in comics! Jessie Spano: And we're all even funnier!
It's a dialog like this on the front cover that makes you think the creators were looking for a way to lash out at these juvenile delinquents after having to lose a month of their life drawing the contractually bound spin-off comic. At some point you can almsot see the editorial staff at Harvey Comics wondering aloud who put an ugly little kid like Samuel "Screech" Powers on TV. And, while lovely, wondering exactly what comedic chops Jessie Spano had shown to get a spot on the show. Funnier than on TV, indeed. Unless you count the very special episode where Jessie got hopped up on goofballs to try to handle her school load and her work with the SBTB band, Zack Attack.
Anyone remember her breakdown during "I'm So Excited!"? No? Ah, well.
The comic inside keeps to the hi-jinks of the source material, but with a greater flair than what the $10 prop budget could have afforded on SBTB. Remember when they fired Hayley Mills? And then they fired Max of The Max? Mr. Belding must have been scared s**tless he was going to lose his job. He probably condeded to take less than SAG.
What's really horrific in the comic isn't just the stoney thud of dropped gag after dropped gag. Rather, the attempts to render the SBTB gang in cartoon fashion, trying to caricature each actor, fail to capture any flattering likeness of any actor, and somehow making it clear that this was hack work as the artist fought to break into comics. There's also the possibility that the artist is at the end of his rope and can't believe he's found himself working at Harvey Comics instead of Archie, and he's maybe sick of all these damn teen-agers and their acid washed jeans.
The SBTB gang sits at their usual booth at The Max. The lovely Jessie Spano is now a deformed hag thing.
Obviously the artist was roughly familiar with the interiors used by the SBTB crew, probably from hour of reference tape or the 3 times a day the show aired in 1992 when teh comic was released. The artist actually does use the same dumb booth that was so prevalent in episode after episode of SBTB.
For a rough idea of what our SBTB friends look like, you can see them in the game below. I'll send along answers if anyone wants them. I assume you have better things to do, though.
Update: Here, Jessie Spano looks like the love child of Mask stars Cher and Rocky Dennis. AC Slater now looks like one of Roger Clinton's illegitimate children.
Nathan also sent along a Supergirl comic from 1970. I actually suspect the first story is a reprint from the late 50's, but I can't prove it. Anyway, enjoy the two panels below.
Yes, that's a talking horse. His name is Comet the Superhorse. One day I will cover Comet the Superhorse, but for now, just sit back and soak up the groovy Silver-Age vibe.
Comet the Superhorse is a) not afraid to go out like a bitch b) not afraid to leave a major pile of guilt upon the lady who brought him oats and gelded him.
And just for fun, here's The Admiral on Halloween. He poses with his 12-foot Halloween decoration and the little girl from next door. Dad was very proud of that inflatable doo-hickey. I believe the distortion on the left is Ansel Adams' (aka My Mom's) finger.
We're sending the men with the butterfly nets after the holidays. We don't want Dad's shock treatment to spoil Christmas. 10:32 PM |
For some reason, Tim Burton is remaking Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
SPONSOR DOUG AS HE PEDDLES HIS WAY INTO GOOD KARMA
The League is neither particularly in-shape, nor charitable. But sometimes The League gets inspired by the hard work, determination and giving of others.
As the Holidays approach, we're selecting a few key charities we think you might like to dump your money into. Unlike stocks, bonds and bacon futures, the only thing you'll get in return is a chance to help a worthy cause and possibly assist in improving the human condition. That won't buy you a speedboat, but it will make you somewhat less evil.
The League's brother-in-law is both in-shape and charitable, and has gone and volunteered himself for the AIDS/Lifecycle. Doug will be peddling 585 miles over the course of seven days in order to raise money and awareness of the AIDS epidemic.
We're fully aware at The League that our readership is good of heart, if a little cheap. But it's creeping up on Christmas and I'm feeling full of Holiday mirth, so I'm giving you cheap bastards a shot. Back at League HQ we've taken a hard look at what we're going to sponsor this year, and we think this is a great cause. We hope you'll think so as well.
To sponsor Doug on his life-saving fantastic voyage, go here.
Archives
