RANDY SPREADS HIS GENOME ABOUT WITH NO REGARD TO THE SAFETY OF OTHERS
In case you didn't know, Loyal Leaguer, Randy, and his lovely wife, The Mysterious M, have had a baby.
Congratulate Randy. He is 50% of the face of a new generation.
THE INTERWEB IS WATCHING
I can only assume that Technorati, etc... are to blame for why so many people are finding The League in reference to themselves. I had another person find me.
Here. Read the comments.
I don't know who posted the original bit about Dave Ramsey, but you've helped to make the world a little smaller.
TOTALLY LAME
Blogging about blogging is totally lame. But...
As much as I understand WHY visitors to the site may wish to remain anonymous, I'm not a big fan of anonymous posts to the comments. In a perfect vacuum, I suppose it shouldn't matter who you're speaking to, but that's just not reality.
Without exception, I like and respect the folks I consider to be Loyal Leaguers. And I think you'll find that even in the most heated debate, I tend to try to pick my words carefully when I'm talking with someone I consider a pal, no matter how far on the other end of an ideological spectrum. That's just common courtesy. Also, if I know with whom I'm speaking, I always have the option of taking the conversation off the blog and into an e-mail conversation.
But I also don't really want to block out the random folks who roll by. If they want to drop a comment, that's okay.
I'm a bit baffled by the recent exchange which took place in one of the posts. Not that someone disagreed with me, because that's par for the course, and I'm cool with that. I just had no idea with whom I was speaking, and that's a bit odd. Obviously this person became upset with me, but I also sort of felt like this person hadn't been around for some of the more colorful debates which have occurred here at The League.
At some point when someone is posting anonymously and failing to identify themselves, you don't necessarily feel as if you've got to put on the same "we're all friends here", game show host face. There are certainly times when i know exactly who "anonymous" is, but I choose to behave with some bizarre gentleman's agreement that I will not reveal the identity of "anonymous". In this case, I don't mind as much, but it does make debate a bit difficult at times as part and parcel of this gentleman's agreement is that one not reveal the identity, even when certain revealing examples could be relevant. But, as I tend to like these folks... I mostly play along.
But the truly anonymous posters...
In no small part, truly anonymous posters are a bit like a person who has crashed a party and then decides to pick a fight with the host. It's a bit baffling to me when a poster such as the one from this week's debate takes umbrage and declares I'm standing on a soapbox. While I'm writing on my personal blog.
In this instance, I sort of think that "anonymous" wasn't anyone I know. At this point I recognize the writing of most Loyal Leaguers, and, moreover, most of you know me well enough to know what my opinions are and where I'm going to draw lines and how I'm going to debate. I'm still not sure what "academic" debate this guy was trying to have, but he didn't get it, I guess.
What was most downright hilarious was the insistence that Anonymous was so busy, so pre-occupied with higher minds than my own that he didn't have time to actually debate with me. But he had time to keep coming back. And surf sites mostly dedicated to nonsense, while leaving lengthy comments.
Anonymous, I salute you.
Tori Amos and school children...
This is incredibly sweet. And with all you Leaguers dropping kids onto the face of Mother Earth, I thought I'd share a moment of brightness and hope that makes me think kids aren't just small, stinky, stupid people...
Skip to the 4:00 countdown mark
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
SICK!
dang it! I'm sick!
I noticed when I got up, I didn't feel terribly well, but due to Jamie's jimmy leg and Matt Mangum in the guest room, I wound up sleeping on the couch last night. Being a little extra groggy after a night of couch sleeping didn't seem like a big deal, and so my plan included a Starbucks Double Shot while en route to work.
I still couldn't shake the general feeling of fatigue after arriving and trying to get some work done. I went and grabbed a coffee, and then got cranking, but during my 10:00 phone conference, I began drooping. By the time we were fifteen minutes into the call, I felt a bit like I was hearing things through glass and I just wanted to put my head down.
By 11:15 I was pretty sure I was getting sick, and by 11:45 I was headed home feeling feverish and awful.
Anyhow, I feel not great. Hopefully better tomorrow.
Off to go lay very still.
I noticed when I got up, I didn't feel terribly well, but due to Jamie's jimmy leg and Matt Mangum in the guest room, I wound up sleeping on the couch last night. Being a little extra groggy after a night of couch sleeping didn't seem like a big deal, and so my plan included a Starbucks Double Shot while en route to work.
I still couldn't shake the general feeling of fatigue after arriving and trying to get some work done. I went and grabbed a coffee, and then got cranking, but during my 10:00 phone conference, I began drooping. By the time we were fifteen minutes into the call, I felt a bit like I was hearing things through glass and I just wanted to put my head down.
By 11:15 I was pretty sure I was getting sick, and by 11:45 I was headed home feeling feverish and awful.
Anyhow, I feel not great. Hopefully better tomorrow.
Off to go lay very still.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Monday, June 04, 2007
Adventures of Superman DVD's on Sale!
Never in the history of man has there been greater news. Well, that's not really true at all, but this is good news.
Amazon has all the George Reeves DVD's on sale! HALF OFF!!! (Come on, Randy... you're having a baby. You have plenty of time to watch these episodes!)
Anyway, here's the story from the Superman Homepage.
Amazon has all the George Reeves DVD's on sale! HALF OFF!!! (Come on, Randy... you're having a baby. You have plenty of time to watch these episodes!)
Anyway, here's the story from the Superman Homepage.
Bankston in the News
My former roommate, KB, has made the news.
Here's the article.
Well done, KB.
Honestly, I think that's the first time I've seen him in a baseball hat.
Here's the article.
Well done, KB.
Honestly, I think that's the first time I've seen him in a baseball hat.
Time and Time Again...
So back when I didn't feel like blogging for a few days, I asked for Loyal Leaguers to submit questions. And one Loyal Leaguer asked the following super-related question:
Aside from how Superman has made me sort of poor... I can't think of a compelling argument for why I would convince myself not to become a fan of the Man of Steel. My Superfandom has sort of served as a funnel to contain a lot of my smaller tics and obsessive tendencies that I am absolutely certain would have manifested in other ways. And as I honestly believe that the ideas behind Superman are kind of neat, if not merely benign, I'm not sure if I can form a compelling argument as to why I wouldn't be a Superman fan.
I think my Superman fandom sort of forms out of this perfect storm of how Superman intersects at so many of my areas of interest. There's film, TV, comics, pop-culture history, a passing interest in mid-20th Century sci-fi, somewhat more substantive history (as in the context of Superman's genesis and how subsequent portrayals have reflected the attitudes of the time, as well as corporate culture). Add in my love of mentally categorizing things, date-stamping items, cataloging, etc... (I've often thought I should get a master's in Library and Information Science). As well as the sheer vastness of not just the DCU, but 70 years of Superman media... There are literally over a thousand Superman comics I'll never own, maybe thousands of stories I'll never read. Whole television programs I may never have a chance to see (every episode of Smallville, Lois and Clark, the Adventures of Superboy, the many iterations of Super Friends and the various Superman cartoons that have hit the air...)
So, yeah, there's sort of an endless realm of discovery within the character and franchise, brand, what-have-you.
And in some ways I almost think I need Superman to occupy the portion of my brain that enjoys worrying about those sorts of things. As I said before, I am pretty sure if it weren't Superman, it would be something else such as airplanes or cars, sports or music or something.
The source of the Superfandom has a few crucial moments, and I have no idea where the cut-off would be. Would it be The Admiral taking me to see the first movie when I was a little kid? When I saw the second movie? The third? Watching SuperFriends? Tying on handmade capes received as gifts from my grandmother and playing SuperFriends in our basement when I was three or four? (I always got to be Batman or I pitched a fit. The Superman thing came along later).
Would it be when I saw Superman: The Movie on TV one night (the first time I'd seen it in years) when I was 14 and was blown away by how genuinely good it really was? Would it be when I saw internet bulletin boards for the first time in college and was reading Superman forums? When Bruce Timm and Paul Dini launched the Superman animated series? When I crossed the line from picking up the occasional Superman comic in college to picking up the full line? When I started reading up on some of the randomness of the Superman comics in order to make sense of Big Blue, sometime around 2000? When I hung that enormous Alex Ross poster in our living room in our first house and poor Jamie had just seen the tip of the iceberg?
Like any other memory, the idea of erasing some part of your mental make-up can be a bit horrifying. Who would I be if not for the Man of Steel? Much different? I've no idea, but like any icon from our youth, it's difficult to imagine what we'd be if it were stripped away.
Perhaps at the root of the question may be the possibility of whether or not I think I would be a more successful person, a kinder person a more decent person if I were not a Superman fan. I don't think so. Do I think Superman has made me more successful, kinder, more decent...? I can say that surely my interest in the character was based at least in part upon a representation of what I felt reflected my ideals, especially once I no longer found myself as interested in some of the more extreme elements in comicdom. Whether Superman reinforced those ideals or not..? maybe you could ask Jamie. There's nothing mystical there. I just happen to think we tend to seek out those things which have a ring of the familiar.
I'm fairly certain that at this point it will be a long road ahead for me as a Superman fan. I enjoy picking up vintage back-issues, enjoy reading up on Superman's many incarnations, track the movie franchises and look forward to the release of Superman material on home video. Jamie's been plenty patient with the whole thing and has nary batted an eye as whole sections of the house have been given over to Super-Memorabilia.
So, yeah, we'd probably be driving gold cars and living in a mansion now were it not for Superman. But, you know, we have our fun.
The funny thing is that I know I'm not alone. There's a Superman Museum in, of course, Metropolis, Illinois. The Superman Homepage is very well trafficked, and Superman through the Ages, the Supermanica Wiki is cool, and there are a slate of other encyclopedic-style web sites dedicated to the Man of Steel.
We are among you, and our numbers are legion.
This was a tough question. Hope you don't mind that I took so long to answer it.
If you could go back in time and convince yourself not to become a fan of Superman, would you? Why or why not? If not, what would you go back in time to tell yourself, and to what year would you go?
Aside from how Superman has made me sort of poor... I can't think of a compelling argument for why I would convince myself not to become a fan of the Man of Steel. My Superfandom has sort of served as a funnel to contain a lot of my smaller tics and obsessive tendencies that I am absolutely certain would have manifested in other ways. And as I honestly believe that the ideas behind Superman are kind of neat, if not merely benign, I'm not sure if I can form a compelling argument as to why I wouldn't be a Superman fan.
I think my Superman fandom sort of forms out of this perfect storm of how Superman intersects at so many of my areas of interest. There's film, TV, comics, pop-culture history, a passing interest in mid-20th Century sci-fi, somewhat more substantive history (as in the context of Superman's genesis and how subsequent portrayals have reflected the attitudes of the time, as well as corporate culture). Add in my love of mentally categorizing things, date-stamping items, cataloging, etc... (I've often thought I should get a master's in Library and Information Science). As well as the sheer vastness of not just the DCU, but 70 years of Superman media... There are literally over a thousand Superman comics I'll never own, maybe thousands of stories I'll never read. Whole television programs I may never have a chance to see (every episode of Smallville, Lois and Clark, the Adventures of Superboy, the many iterations of Super Friends and the various Superman cartoons that have hit the air...)
So, yeah, there's sort of an endless realm of discovery within the character and franchise, brand, what-have-you.
And in some ways I almost think I need Superman to occupy the portion of my brain that enjoys worrying about those sorts of things. As I said before, I am pretty sure if it weren't Superman, it would be something else such as airplanes or cars, sports or music or something.
The source of the Superfandom has a few crucial moments, and I have no idea where the cut-off would be. Would it be The Admiral taking me to see the first movie when I was a little kid? When I saw the second movie? The third? Watching SuperFriends? Tying on handmade capes received as gifts from my grandmother and playing SuperFriends in our basement when I was three or four? (I always got to be Batman or I pitched a fit. The Superman thing came along later).
Would it be when I saw Superman: The Movie on TV one night (the first time I'd seen it in years) when I was 14 and was blown away by how genuinely good it really was? Would it be when I saw internet bulletin boards for the first time in college and was reading Superman forums? When Bruce Timm and Paul Dini launched the Superman animated series? When I crossed the line from picking up the occasional Superman comic in college to picking up the full line? When I started reading up on some of the randomness of the Superman comics in order to make sense of Big Blue, sometime around 2000? When I hung that enormous Alex Ross poster in our living room in our first house and poor Jamie had just seen the tip of the iceberg?
Like any other memory, the idea of erasing some part of your mental make-up can be a bit horrifying. Who would I be if not for the Man of Steel? Much different? I've no idea, but like any icon from our youth, it's difficult to imagine what we'd be if it were stripped away.
Perhaps at the root of the question may be the possibility of whether or not I think I would be a more successful person, a kinder person a more decent person if I were not a Superman fan. I don't think so. Do I think Superman has made me more successful, kinder, more decent...? I can say that surely my interest in the character was based at least in part upon a representation of what I felt reflected my ideals, especially once I no longer found myself as interested in some of the more extreme elements in comicdom. Whether Superman reinforced those ideals or not..? maybe you could ask Jamie. There's nothing mystical there. I just happen to think we tend to seek out those things which have a ring of the familiar.
I'm fairly certain that at this point it will be a long road ahead for me as a Superman fan. I enjoy picking up vintage back-issues, enjoy reading up on Superman's many incarnations, track the movie franchises and look forward to the release of Superman material on home video. Jamie's been plenty patient with the whole thing and has nary batted an eye as whole sections of the house have been given over to Super-Memorabilia.
So, yeah, we'd probably be driving gold cars and living in a mansion now were it not for Superman. But, you know, we have our fun.
The funny thing is that I know I'm not alone. There's a Superman Museum in, of course, Metropolis, Illinois. The Superman Homepage is very well trafficked, and Superman through the Ages, the Supermanica Wiki is cool, and there are a slate of other encyclopedic-style web sites dedicated to the Man of Steel.
We are among you, and our numbers are legion.
This was a tough question. Hope you don't mind that I took so long to answer it.
Hey, Leaguers!
Busy weekend. These days I'm finding that the most tired I am going into work is on Monday mornings, which means I need to start taking it a little easier on Sundays.
Friday night Jamie and I headed to the Alamo South to see "Knocked Up", which was preceded by a reel of sex-ed clips from the 1960's and earlier, each creepier than the next. Mix in some Judd Apatow clips and deleted scenes from "40-Year Old Virgin" and it was a good show. It was also Matt Mangum's birthday, and so I bought him a beer at the show.
I liked "Knocked Up", for the record.
As some Leaguers know, the Krypton Kruiser has seen better days and we're now looking at trading her in. I'm a lot sad about the idea of giving up on my car, but I think Jamie and I are now at the point where we're throwing good money after bad with that car, and we'd actually save money by taking on a car loan and a 3 year warranty. No, seriously. That's the kind of money the damn car is costing me.
Jamie was supposed to be in the market for a new car two years ago, but she never bothered to look, so we're both looking at cars with a strong chance we'll both be in new cars by the end of the summer. I'm a Consumer Reports believer, so I'm only looking at cars with a minimum of a check mark (as in recommended), and looking a lot at fuel consumption and safety features.
Anyhoo, Saturday was mostly spent looking at cars and standing out on the pavement in the sun. There are a lot more options in the arena of the Forester (small SUV/ station wagon) than when I was looking seven years ago, and we have fairly good options within our price point. But I haven't come anywhere close to making a decision yet. It's not like when I got the Forester seven years ago and had been researching the heck out of that car for months before I walked into a dealership. I actually really still like the Foresters, and it has the head room and safety features your League needs, but it's a little weird to think I'd be driving an updated model of the same car, putting me in the same auto from 2000 until past 2014.
Saturday night Nicole was sick, so we took Matt out on his lonesome for his brithday margarita and dinner. A tough trick as it was both the Republic of Texas biker rally weekend and Gay Pride weekend, which meant many restaurants were hopping both in town and out as restaurants on Manor (down near where Matt is living for the moment) seemed more packed than usual. We wound up at El Mercado, which was Omega Man empty, had some margaritas and then went back to Matt's to check in on Nicole.
My folks also needed to get into our house Saturday night as they'd been tubing the Blanco river, so we returned home and they were snugly asleep in the guest room.
Sunday we headed to Threadgill's for the Gospel Brunch (which is fun if you're in town on a Sunday), said our good-bye's to The Admiral and Karebear, and then Jason and I hit Barton Springs for a while with Kim Bloom. I am pale, hairy and chubby, which isn't really the demographic for the shirtless of Barton Springs, but I braved the sunshine, anyway.
Barton Springs hasn't changed much since I first visited prior to even moving to Austin in 1984. It's a great summer-time sort of place, with water at a constant 68 degrees, a nice lawn to throw down your towel, and you mostly don't need to worry about anybody stealing your stuff while you're swimming. Jamie was grabbing some much needed sleep, so I don't know if she's ready to take on the Springs once again.
Grabbed a sno-cone on my way out, then ran home and did the front yard.
Last night we got pounded by a fairly serious storm, and our program was interrupted by predictions of tornadoes. Last week marked the ten year mark since Jarrell was leveled by an F5 killing two dozen people, and the meteorologists around here still take this stuff very seriously.
Once the storm passed I got some comic reviews done, which meant I also stayed up too late.
Hope everyone had a good weekend.
Busy weekend. These days I'm finding that the most tired I am going into work is on Monday mornings, which means I need to start taking it a little easier on Sundays.
Friday night Jamie and I headed to the Alamo South to see "Knocked Up", which was preceded by a reel of sex-ed clips from the 1960's and earlier, each creepier than the next. Mix in some Judd Apatow clips and deleted scenes from "40-Year Old Virgin" and it was a good show. It was also Matt Mangum's birthday, and so I bought him a beer at the show.
I liked "Knocked Up", for the record.
As some Leaguers know, the Krypton Kruiser has seen better days and we're now looking at trading her in. I'm a lot sad about the idea of giving up on my car, but I think Jamie and I are now at the point where we're throwing good money after bad with that car, and we'd actually save money by taking on a car loan and a 3 year warranty. No, seriously. That's the kind of money the damn car is costing me.
Jamie was supposed to be in the market for a new car two years ago, but she never bothered to look, so we're both looking at cars with a strong chance we'll both be in new cars by the end of the summer. I'm a Consumer Reports believer, so I'm only looking at cars with a minimum of a check mark (as in recommended), and looking a lot at fuel consumption and safety features.
Anyhoo, Saturday was mostly spent looking at cars and standing out on the pavement in the sun. There are a lot more options in the arena of the Forester (small SUV/ station wagon) than when I was looking seven years ago, and we have fairly good options within our price point. But I haven't come anywhere close to making a decision yet. It's not like when I got the Forester seven years ago and had been researching the heck out of that car for months before I walked into a dealership. I actually really still like the Foresters, and it has the head room and safety features your League needs, but it's a little weird to think I'd be driving an updated model of the same car, putting me in the same auto from 2000 until past 2014.
Saturday night Nicole was sick, so we took Matt out on his lonesome for his brithday margarita and dinner. A tough trick as it was both the Republic of Texas biker rally weekend and Gay Pride weekend, which meant many restaurants were hopping both in town and out as restaurants on Manor (down near where Matt is living for the moment) seemed more packed than usual. We wound up at El Mercado, which was Omega Man empty, had some margaritas and then went back to Matt's to check in on Nicole.
My folks also needed to get into our house Saturday night as they'd been tubing the Blanco river, so we returned home and they were snugly asleep in the guest room.
Sunday we headed to Threadgill's for the Gospel Brunch (which is fun if you're in town on a Sunday), said our good-bye's to The Admiral and Karebear, and then Jason and I hit Barton Springs for a while with Kim Bloom. I am pale, hairy and chubby, which isn't really the demographic for the shirtless of Barton Springs, but I braved the sunshine, anyway.
Barton Springs hasn't changed much since I first visited prior to even moving to Austin in 1984. It's a great summer-time sort of place, with water at a constant 68 degrees, a nice lawn to throw down your towel, and you mostly don't need to worry about anybody stealing your stuff while you're swimming. Jamie was grabbing some much needed sleep, so I don't know if she's ready to take on the Springs once again.
Grabbed a sno-cone on my way out, then ran home and did the front yard.
Last night we got pounded by a fairly serious storm, and our program was interrupted by predictions of tornadoes. Last week marked the ten year mark since Jarrell was leveled by an F5 killing two dozen people, and the meteorologists around here still take this stuff very seriously.
Once the storm passed I got some comic reviews done, which meant I also stayed up too late.
Hope everyone had a good weekend.
Friday, June 01, 2007
Southside! RIP
Yesterday I went to my comic shop and saw the manager, Ty, standing in the doorway.
"What's up?" I asked. During most of my previous trips to Southside, Ty was stationed at the counter, balancing on the stool or sort of pacing behind the display cases.
"We're closing," he said, looking a bit nervous.
"Oh, I'll just grab my stuff and get out of your hair, then," I nodded, looking at my watch and seeing it was 5 til 7. I didn't want to keep him around if he was ready to go home...
And then I put one foot inside the door and realized... Ty was not closing for the night, he and the folks dismantling a few bookshelves were closing the doors of the shop for good.
I guess my expression said it all. "You didn't think we were actually closing," he said.
It was kind of weird. Southside doesn't even really have all that many fixtures. It had shelves on the walls and some folding tables for gaming in the back room, but that was about it. At some point Ty had made the decision to run the shop sort of lean and mean, so it was never littered with the usual unsold action figures and other comic-related merchandise madness that begins to fill a lot of shops.
I have no idea what was to become of the back issues I'd raided on FCBD, nor the comics lining the walls of the shop. I guess Ty is being transferred to the store way, way up North, so that's about the last I'll see of him.
He's transferring my subscription to Funny Papers, which is the same shop I used from Freshman orientation at UT in Fall of '93 until I moved in '02. It's actually about a block and a half from my office, so in some ways, it's more convenient than going to Southside, which was literally on the road on my way home. But, you know, Jamie wasn't too crazy about those hour-long delays I'd have on my way home when I'd address the issues of the DC Comics day with Ty and other comic geeks.
I think the shop I frequented in Tempe, Pop Culture Paradise, has also shut its doors.
The comic game is a tough one, from working as a creator down to keeping the doors open on your shop. And I can't blame folks for closing their doors when the rent goes up. Unfortunately, all those geeks who hang about all day don't actually spend all that much money to keep the place open.
At this point, I think the only comic shop left in South Austin may be Juniors Comics, and that's kind of sad.
"What's up?" I asked. During most of my previous trips to Southside, Ty was stationed at the counter, balancing on the stool or sort of pacing behind the display cases.
"We're closing," he said, looking a bit nervous.
"Oh, I'll just grab my stuff and get out of your hair, then," I nodded, looking at my watch and seeing it was 5 til 7. I didn't want to keep him around if he was ready to go home...
And then I put one foot inside the door and realized... Ty was not closing for the night, he and the folks dismantling a few bookshelves were closing the doors of the shop for good.
I guess my expression said it all. "You didn't think we were actually closing," he said.
It was kind of weird. Southside doesn't even really have all that many fixtures. It had shelves on the walls and some folding tables for gaming in the back room, but that was about it. At some point Ty had made the decision to run the shop sort of lean and mean, so it was never littered with the usual unsold action figures and other comic-related merchandise madness that begins to fill a lot of shops.
I have no idea what was to become of the back issues I'd raided on FCBD, nor the comics lining the walls of the shop. I guess Ty is being transferred to the store way, way up North, so that's about the last I'll see of him.
He's transferring my subscription to Funny Papers, which is the same shop I used from Freshman orientation at UT in Fall of '93 until I moved in '02. It's actually about a block and a half from my office, so in some ways, it's more convenient than going to Southside, which was literally on the road on my way home. But, you know, Jamie wasn't too crazy about those hour-long delays I'd have on my way home when I'd address the issues of the DC Comics day with Ty and other comic geeks.
I think the shop I frequented in Tempe, Pop Culture Paradise, has also shut its doors.
The comic game is a tough one, from working as a creator down to keeping the doors open on your shop. And I can't blame folks for closing their doors when the rent goes up. Unfortunately, all those geeks who hang about all day don't actually spend all that much money to keep the place open.
At this point, I think the only comic shop left in South Austin may be Juniors Comics, and that's kind of sad.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
The End of Humanity a Good Idea?
As much as The League wants to put on a happy face and love all of humanity, there often seems to be someone out there who wants to make me sort of think the inevitable rise of our robot masters is going to be for the best.
Or, you know, if LA did just fall off into the ocean. That would be a good start.
Because I love doggies and aardvarks, I don't wish for the doom of all life on Earth, but if there were to be a comet coming which was only going to smush humans, I just might think this clip informs my opinion of why this would be a good thing...
Thanks to Randy for both links.
Or, you know, if LA did just fall off into the ocean. That would be a good start.
Because I love doggies and aardvarks, I don't wish for the doom of all life on Earth, but if there were to be a comet coming which was only going to smush humans, I just might think this clip informs my opinion of why this would be a good thing...
Thanks to Randy for both links.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
The Lameness Continues...
Hey, all. Welcome back to the lamest blog, ever.
Last night was surprisingly quiet. I caught up on some much needed Comic Fodder work (I mean, needed for me... not the general populace). With no Matt nor Doug and Kristen, the house was stunningly quiet. I think the dogs were just flat-out tired as they just weren't interested in harassing me at any point during the evening.
Really, not much to mention, which is why this is the lamest blog ever.
DC Rehabilitates the Supergirl Re-launch
The 2004 re-appearance of Supergirl wound up looking like this.
She will now look like:
here's the article.
In other words, Supergirl's flailing re-launch is going to make Supergirl into a girl once again and not a bratty LA party rat. Writer Tony Bedard is also a name writer with some good stuff behind him, so I'm looking forward to the new artistic and story direction. Not enough of a change to have to write a whole story around it, but also DC isn't insisting that they're giving the readers a version of the character we want, when, clearly it is NOT the Supergirl readers want. More than anything, it's a Supergirl that fits into 70 years of Superman comics and more than fifty years of Supergirl without seeming to alter the character so radically that it's no longer recognizably Supergirl.
the Astros' slide continues...
Blogging Countdown.
In addition to my usual Comic Fodder duties, I'm partnering with a gentleman from my office named Jason (no relation to my brother of the same name) to write a series of columns discussing DC's new weekly comic, "Countdown" and how it relates to DC, Comics in general, etc...
Check it out if you have the time. Hopefully the discussion will be entertaining.
I think I'm supposed to blog on some Jack in the Box commercials, but since I never saw them except on You Tube, I've not really developed an opinion of them. Sorry, team.
Lauren posted this, but it's so good, I must repost. Rejected Wii games.
Whenever I feel like comic geeks are weird, there's always Star Wars fans.
This weekend was the 30th Anniversary of Star Wars, which meant a massive Star Wars Celebration in San Diego, where they finally answered the question: No, you cannot have too many Princess Leia's.
More pics here.
Last night was surprisingly quiet. I caught up on some much needed Comic Fodder work (I mean, needed for me... not the general populace). With no Matt nor Doug and Kristen, the house was stunningly quiet. I think the dogs were just flat-out tired as they just weren't interested in harassing me at any point during the evening.
Really, not much to mention, which is why this is the lamest blog ever.
DC Rehabilitates the Supergirl Re-launch
The 2004 re-appearance of Supergirl wound up looking like this.
She will now look like:
here's the article.
In other words, Supergirl's flailing re-launch is going to make Supergirl into a girl once again and not a bratty LA party rat. Writer Tony Bedard is also a name writer with some good stuff behind him, so I'm looking forward to the new artistic and story direction. Not enough of a change to have to write a whole story around it, but also DC isn't insisting that they're giving the readers a version of the character we want, when, clearly it is NOT the Supergirl readers want. More than anything, it's a Supergirl that fits into 70 years of Superman comics and more than fifty years of Supergirl without seeming to alter the character so radically that it's no longer recognizably Supergirl.
the Astros' slide continues...
Blogging Countdown.
In addition to my usual Comic Fodder duties, I'm partnering with a gentleman from my office named Jason (no relation to my brother of the same name) to write a series of columns discussing DC's new weekly comic, "Countdown" and how it relates to DC, Comics in general, etc...
Check it out if you have the time. Hopefully the discussion will be entertaining.
I think I'm supposed to blog on some Jack in the Box commercials, but since I never saw them except on You Tube, I've not really developed an opinion of them. Sorry, team.
Lauren posted this, but it's so good, I must repost. Rejected Wii games.
Whenever I feel like comic geeks are weird, there's always Star Wars fans.
This weekend was the 30th Anniversary of Star Wars, which meant a massive Star Wars Celebration in San Diego, where they finally answered the question: No, you cannot have too many Princess Leia's.
More pics here.
Monday, May 28, 2007
A Memorial Weekend to Remember
Doug and Kristen have been here this weekend. Doug is, of course, Jamie's brother, and Kristen, Doug's ladyfriend.
It's been a really fun weekend, and I think we've done a good job of playing tour guide. I also have come to realize, in driving around town, how I have an anecdote for almost every 200 yards of vast stretches across town.
Saturday we took Doug and Kristen to the Alamo Drafthouse to see Pirates III. (Eh.) On Saturday night we took them out to "Esther's Follies", which I assume is an experience replicated somewhere in the Bay Area from which they hail, but, anyhow... it was fun and I think they liked it.
Sunday we rolled to Green Pastures for the Sunday brunch, which was amazing. Including the "Milk Punch", which should really be called "Satan's Secret Sledgehammer". Smooth, delicious, sweet, and then all of a sudden-like, you realize you'd best hand over the keys and let Jamie drive. Much like a pirate, I like my rum.
We tidied the house, hit the grocery, and by 5:00 we had a few people trickling in for a cook-out that wound up lasting until 12:00. Lots of folks came and went. A good time was had. Unfortunately, I also got a Wii this week, which meant Doug and I stayed up very, very late making disturbing Mii's and talking comics.
Got up today and Doug and Kristen suffered through Ryan's unofficial tour of Austin (which involved pointing out places that had caught on fire, and one place where I had caught on fire).
We wound up passing my old neighborhood where I grew up, so I decided to detour and pass my old house. The current owner was out in the yard, so I jumped out of the car to say "Hi". The guy happily welcomed us in to the house to see what became of the house where a young league had once spent many an hour pouring over his X-Men and Batman comics.
It was really, really weird going back in. (a) whomever lived in the house since we moved out in 89 has put in really nice fixtures, redone the kitchen, put down nice tile and put in wood floors in the foyer and all through the upstairs. (b) Hello flashback city. There was the corner Jason used to hide behind to leap out and terrify me. Here were the windows I totally forgot were at the top of the living room. And as much as had changed, it wasn't hard at all to see it as it was in my mind's eye. Except for the expansive backyard which now is filled with a pool.
Oh, and that damn hill in the front yard? That you had to mow at an angle? It's been cut up into tiers and turned into nice planters. However, the tree in the front yard, that was struck by lightning? I think it's gone. Or else it wasn't ever where I remember it sitting.
We also toured the Capitol, ran down by Lake Travis, zipped past the re-born Oasis restaurant (it's going to be pretty cool when they finish), and ate dinner/lunch at Hoover's off Manor. At Hoover's we saw a wheelchair bound Harry Knowles and at the Capitol we saw Rick Perry wandering out of the front doors and headed toward the governor's mansion. If he weren't on his cell phone, I totally would have flagged him down and made him welcome Doug and Kristen to the state.
I don't know how much Doug and Kristen got out of it, but we saw Austin from Slaughter Lane to Windy Point, and that's kind of cool. Austin's a small town, even when it's not, and even when it's growing.
It's been a really fun weekend, and I think we've done a good job of playing tour guide. I also have come to realize, in driving around town, how I have an anecdote for almost every 200 yards of vast stretches across town.
Saturday we took Doug and Kristen to the Alamo Drafthouse to see Pirates III. (Eh.) On Saturday night we took them out to "Esther's Follies", which I assume is an experience replicated somewhere in the Bay Area from which they hail, but, anyhow... it was fun and I think they liked it.
Sunday we rolled to Green Pastures for the Sunday brunch, which was amazing. Including the "Milk Punch", which should really be called "Satan's Secret Sledgehammer". Smooth, delicious, sweet, and then all of a sudden-like, you realize you'd best hand over the keys and let Jamie drive. Much like a pirate, I like my rum.
We tidied the house, hit the grocery, and by 5:00 we had a few people trickling in for a cook-out that wound up lasting until 12:00. Lots of folks came and went. A good time was had. Unfortunately, I also got a Wii this week, which meant Doug and I stayed up very, very late making disturbing Mii's and talking comics.
Got up today and Doug and Kristen suffered through Ryan's unofficial tour of Austin (which involved pointing out places that had caught on fire, and one place where I had caught on fire).
We wound up passing my old neighborhood where I grew up, so I decided to detour and pass my old house. The current owner was out in the yard, so I jumped out of the car to say "Hi". The guy happily welcomed us in to the house to see what became of the house where a young league had once spent many an hour pouring over his X-Men and Batman comics.
It was really, really weird going back in. (a) whomever lived in the house since we moved out in 89 has put in really nice fixtures, redone the kitchen, put down nice tile and put in wood floors in the foyer and all through the upstairs. (b) Hello flashback city. There was the corner Jason used to hide behind to leap out and terrify me. Here were the windows I totally forgot were at the top of the living room. And as much as had changed, it wasn't hard at all to see it as it was in my mind's eye. Except for the expansive backyard which now is filled with a pool.
Oh, and that damn hill in the front yard? That you had to mow at an angle? It's been cut up into tiers and turned into nice planters. However, the tree in the front yard, that was struck by lightning? I think it's gone. Or else it wasn't ever where I remember it sitting.
We also toured the Capitol, ran down by Lake Travis, zipped past the re-born Oasis restaurant (it's going to be pretty cool when they finish), and ate dinner/lunch at Hoover's off Manor. At Hoover's we saw a wheelchair bound Harry Knowles and at the Capitol we saw Rick Perry wandering out of the front doors and headed toward the governor's mansion. If he weren't on his cell phone, I totally would have flagged him down and made him welcome Doug and Kristen to the state.
I don't know how much Doug and Kristen got out of it, but we saw Austin from Slaughter Lane to Windy Point, and that's kind of cool. Austin's a small town, even when it's not, and even when it's growing.
Friday, May 25, 2007
SUPERMAN AT THE PARAMOUNT
hey, Leaguers!
I was just checking the summer movie schedule at The Paramount (and, seriously, it's like someone asked me exactly what movies I might want to see on the big screen...)
July 14th and 15th "Superman: The Movie" will be showing at the Paramount!
I'm thinking I'll take in the July 14th, 3:00 PM showing. Anyone who wants to come, we should form some sort of expedition! (This means you, JimD).
For the totally great summer line up, click here.
Oh, and next Sunday I will try to see "The Big Sleep". Because (a) it's a great movie, and (b) because it's Lauren Bacall at her foxiest.
Then, on the 12th and 13th I'm heading down to see the two Thin Man movies, schedules permitting.
I was just checking the summer movie schedule at The Paramount (and, seriously, it's like someone asked me exactly what movies I might want to see on the big screen...)
July 14th and 15th "Superman: The Movie" will be showing at the Paramount!
I'm thinking I'll take in the July 14th, 3:00 PM showing. Anyone who wants to come, we should form some sort of expedition! (This means you, JimD).
For the totally great summer line up, click here.
Oh, and next Sunday I will try to see "The Big Sleep". Because (a) it's a great movie, and (b) because it's Lauren Bacall at her foxiest.
Then, on the 12th and 13th I'm heading down to see the two Thin Man movies, schedules permitting.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
STAR WARS ANNIVERSARY
There's been some buzz about Star Wars' 30th anniversary lately. So now's as good a time to talk about it as any.
Like probably millions of other American kids, my childhood is intrinsically mixed up with the Star Wars franchise. There's no beginning of my memory of childhood that is really separated from my first memories of Star Wars. My earliest memories include falling down some carpeted stairs at an apartment complex where we briefly lived and a matinee showing if Star Wars that The Admiral took me to when I was two (during which the @#$%ing Tusken Raiders scared the living @#$% out of me). I have a fragment of a memory of staring wide-eyed as the Death Star exploded into a million, billion sparks (back before that odd pressure wave was added to the effect). Others have suggested that, no, I did not see the movie in the theater until some re-release. I confirm that I saw the movie during it's initial release.
By the time i was three, the bedroom I shared with Jason had one wall covered in wallpaper featuring photos of the Star Wars characters, as did bedspreads and books scattered around. Every Christmas and birthday meant the arrival of a landspeeder, or X-Wing or one of those little 12"x18" playsets for the Star Wars gang to hang out.
@#$% YEAH!!!
The kids will be amazed to hear this, but we couldn't go and rent a movie six months after its release, and so you didn't sit down and watch the movie whenever you liked. We had the kid's Star Wars storybook that we'd page through and look at the pictures and figure out the words, and wonder why this scene featuring this guy "Biggs" telling Luke to leave Tatooine was in the book, but nobody remembered seeing it in the movie. So Star Wars was there while I was learning to read.
When we played outside, we had Han's blaster, and a Stormtrooper blaster (they weren't "guns" when you were playing Star Wars. They had to be "blasters".) And one Halloween I was Han Solo, Jason a Jawa, the kid down the street was Luke, and his little sister... an adorable panda bear.
It was unlikely you hadn't seen Star Wars, but if you hadn't, then you were either not born in the US or were, literally, a girl. Usually it meant you were a girl whose mom didn't think girls needed to see movies about space cowboys and samurai in order to be a proper young lady. And whose dad had probably gone to go see the damn movie, himself, anyway.
But Star Wars also gave us ideas about girls, or at least Princess Leia made us believe that girls were supposed to carry blasters, and that their whiplash insults were really just a prelude to smooches we'd get in the engineering bay of the star cruiser we'd eventually win in a hand of cards.
And, poor Carrie Fischer, will always be seen in the mind's eye of a generation of Americans as the girl who launched a thousand hormones when Lucas put her in a metal bikini and made her sit next to Salacious Crumb. (Of course we just as quickly learned that sexiness doesn't equate to helplessness when Leia took Jabba out with the very tools of her imprisonment. So there.)
Most certainly a dame in the media the league once dug
And was there anyone better to teach us that dads can make mistakes, too, than Darth Vader? or Palpatine to teach you that putting a bottomless pit in your living room in an architectural bit of hubris you might not want to consider?
And Yoda taught is it is not the size of the person who matters... not when you really want to move that X-Wing. For years The Admiral would quote to me from Yoda, either fancying himself to be a wizened Jedi Master or knowing that I was far, far more likely to buy the words of Yoda than whatever other advice he might give me. "There is no try..." was oft quoted in the halls of Steans Manor.
It's sad to dwell on the eventual limping fate of the series, but especially with the first two movies... We were kids who still grew up with fantasy lands full of dragons and giants. But we were also kids who had robots and slug gangsters and giant, mechanical quadrupedal death machines to fill our fantasy worlds. Mystic knights of virtue (as well as their brethren who'd gone wrong and needed redemption) populated our consciousness, and, hell... my 4th grade teacher used both Episode IV and Episodes IV-VI to illustrate the Aristotelian three-act structure as well as the various literary themes of Man vs. X.
I have no idea what kids today have latched on to. Power Rangers or Yu-Gi-Oh or something, I guess. But it was a smaller world, and pondering this other universe was something we all had in common.
That's it. I'm not editing this thing.
You guys chat about Star Wars amongst yourselves.
Like probably millions of other American kids, my childhood is intrinsically mixed up with the Star Wars franchise. There's no beginning of my memory of childhood that is really separated from my first memories of Star Wars. My earliest memories include falling down some carpeted stairs at an apartment complex where we briefly lived and a matinee showing if Star Wars that The Admiral took me to when I was two (during which the @#$%ing Tusken Raiders scared the living @#$% out of me). I have a fragment of a memory of staring wide-eyed as the Death Star exploded into a million, billion sparks (back before that odd pressure wave was added to the effect). Others have suggested that, no, I did not see the movie in the theater until some re-release. I confirm that I saw the movie during it's initial release.
By the time i was three, the bedroom I shared with Jason had one wall covered in wallpaper featuring photos of the Star Wars characters, as did bedspreads and books scattered around. Every Christmas and birthday meant the arrival of a landspeeder, or X-Wing or one of those little 12"x18" playsets for the Star Wars gang to hang out.
@#$% YEAH!!!
The kids will be amazed to hear this, but we couldn't go and rent a movie six months after its release, and so you didn't sit down and watch the movie whenever you liked. We had the kid's Star Wars storybook that we'd page through and look at the pictures and figure out the words, and wonder why this scene featuring this guy "Biggs" telling Luke to leave Tatooine was in the book, but nobody remembered seeing it in the movie. So Star Wars was there while I was learning to read.
When we played outside, we had Han's blaster, and a Stormtrooper blaster (they weren't "guns" when you were playing Star Wars. They had to be "blasters".) And one Halloween I was Han Solo, Jason a Jawa, the kid down the street was Luke, and his little sister... an adorable panda bear.
It was unlikely you hadn't seen Star Wars, but if you hadn't, then you were either not born in the US or were, literally, a girl. Usually it meant you were a girl whose mom didn't think girls needed to see movies about space cowboys and samurai in order to be a proper young lady. And whose dad had probably gone to go see the damn movie, himself, anyway.
But Star Wars also gave us ideas about girls, or at least Princess Leia made us believe that girls were supposed to carry blasters, and that their whiplash insults were really just a prelude to smooches we'd get in the engineering bay of the star cruiser we'd eventually win in a hand of cards.
And, poor Carrie Fischer, will always be seen in the mind's eye of a generation of Americans as the girl who launched a thousand hormones when Lucas put her in a metal bikini and made her sit next to Salacious Crumb. (Of course we just as quickly learned that sexiness doesn't equate to helplessness when Leia took Jabba out with the very tools of her imprisonment. So there.)
Most certainly a dame in the media the league once dug
And was there anyone better to teach us that dads can make mistakes, too, than Darth Vader? or Palpatine to teach you that putting a bottomless pit in your living room in an architectural bit of hubris you might not want to consider?
And Yoda taught is it is not the size of the person who matters... not when you really want to move that X-Wing. For years The Admiral would quote to me from Yoda, either fancying himself to be a wizened Jedi Master or knowing that I was far, far more likely to buy the words of Yoda than whatever other advice he might give me. "There is no try..." was oft quoted in the halls of Steans Manor.
It's sad to dwell on the eventual limping fate of the series, but especially with the first two movies... We were kids who still grew up with fantasy lands full of dragons and giants. But we were also kids who had robots and slug gangsters and giant, mechanical quadrupedal death machines to fill our fantasy worlds. Mystic knights of virtue (as well as their brethren who'd gone wrong and needed redemption) populated our consciousness, and, hell... my 4th grade teacher used both Episode IV and Episodes IV-VI to illustrate the Aristotelian three-act structure as well as the various literary themes of Man vs. X.
I have no idea what kids today have latched on to. Power Rangers or Yu-Gi-Oh or something, I guess. But it was a smaller world, and pondering this other universe was something we all had in common.
That's it. I'm not editing this thing.
You guys chat about Star Wars amongst yourselves.
Batman is crazy
I confess...
I am still not sure I got Frank Miller's "All Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder". At least not until issue 5, which came out last week. And I'm still not sure I get it.
But Miller's decision between "Batman: Year One" and "Dark Knight Strikes Again" to portray the Justice League as a bunch of maniacs is sort of interesting, even when you feel like the comic is mostly out of control. And, no, I don't think Jim Lee is the right choice to draw the book. Except when he is. But I still sort of wish Miller had drawn this page himself.
Click on the pic to see the page full sized.
Anyway, for some reason I went from "?" to "...really?" on this book last week.
Because somehow the Justice League all being a bunch of nutjobs is a good idea, even if it doesn't work in Earth-1 continuity. It's sort of like getting in a car with a bunch of guys you don't really know very well and driving around at 100 mph on dirt roads. It's probably a terrible idea, and you start out kind of freaked out, but after a while, you either start laughing with everyone else or just make yourself miserable.
Like it or not, comics needs Frank Miller's Batman.
I am still not sure I got Frank Miller's "All Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder". At least not until issue 5, which came out last week. And I'm still not sure I get it.
But Miller's decision between "Batman: Year One" and "Dark Knight Strikes Again" to portray the Justice League as a bunch of maniacs is sort of interesting, even when you feel like the comic is mostly out of control. And, no, I don't think Jim Lee is the right choice to draw the book. Except when he is. But I still sort of wish Miller had drawn this page himself.
Click on the pic to see the page full sized.
Anyway, for some reason I went from "?" to "...really?" on this book last week.
Because somehow the Justice League all being a bunch of nutjobs is a good idea, even if it doesn't work in Earth-1 continuity. It's sort of like getting in a car with a bunch of guys you don't really know very well and driving around at 100 mph on dirt roads. It's probably a terrible idea, and you start out kind of freaked out, but after a while, you either start laughing with everyone else or just make yourself miserable.
Like it or not, comics needs Frank Miller's Batman.
update
It's been an odd couple of days.
Today Doug and Kristen will be here to visit Jamie and me. I think we're also soft-selling them on Austin, but I'm not sure that's still the plan.
For the past two days Matt Mangum has been staying with us. He's waiting for his new condo to be finished, and is trying not to wear out his welcome with his girlfriend's roommate/ landlord. It's nice to have Matty around, but it also puts a huge, glaring spotlight on the odd behavior Jamie and I have come to expect as normal. Example: Last night I had to complete bagging, board, sorting and inventorying five months worth of comics, plus back issues.
This was in order to get the house "tidied" for Doug and Kristen who probably don't care, but I wanted to do it, anyway. Anyhow, that sort of procedure is usually something that I do on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, or when nobody is looking. So it was an odd feeling to let my creepy, obsessive side out in the open.
I have no idea what Matt is going to do with himself while Doug and Kristen are here. We do have an inflatable mattress, so it might involve that.
Also, my Uncle had some health issues over the weekend, so I've been worrying about him a lot. Especially as the folks are out of the country (they're touring Italy). So for about 24 hours I thought that maybe I'd be flying into Dulles to go see him in the hospital. The good news is that he's out of the hospital, doing okay and has a plan for treatment. He just managed to give us and Aunt Linda a nasty scare.
We're pullin' for you, Bobbo. Stay healthy.
Anyhow, that's about it.
Today Doug and Kristen will be here to visit Jamie and me. I think we're also soft-selling them on Austin, but I'm not sure that's still the plan.
For the past two days Matt Mangum has been staying with us. He's waiting for his new condo to be finished, and is trying not to wear out his welcome with his girlfriend's roommate/ landlord. It's nice to have Matty around, but it also puts a huge, glaring spotlight on the odd behavior Jamie and I have come to expect as normal. Example: Last night I had to complete bagging, board, sorting and inventorying five months worth of comics, plus back issues.
This was in order to get the house "tidied" for Doug and Kristen who probably don't care, but I wanted to do it, anyway. Anyhow, that sort of procedure is usually something that I do on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, or when nobody is looking. So it was an odd feeling to let my creepy, obsessive side out in the open.
I have no idea what Matt is going to do with himself while Doug and Kristen are here. We do have an inflatable mattress, so it might involve that.
Also, my Uncle had some health issues over the weekend, so I've been worrying about him a lot. Especially as the folks are out of the country (they're touring Italy). So for about 24 hours I thought that maybe I'd be flying into Dulles to go see him in the hospital. The good news is that he's out of the hospital, doing okay and has a plan for treatment. He just managed to give us and Aunt Linda a nasty scare.
We're pullin' for you, Bobbo. Stay healthy.
Anyhow, that's about it.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Harvey Dent and Answering Questions
Hey, Leaguers.
Would you vote for Harvey Dent for DA? If this means anything to you, I'd click on the link and then let the image roll over.
The weekend was very busy as weekends tend to be when one is employed. Friday was dinner and margaritas with Matt and Nicole. Saturday was Spider-Man 3 with the Shaws. And Saturday night I began Wii Quest '07. There are no Wii's for sale in South Austin.
Sunday we did some serious yard work, I hung my flag for Memorial Day, and then crashed for a bit. We wound up at Nicole's house for dinner with the Garcia's. It seems Letty is now sporting dual French/US citzenship. So Letty is now one of us Amerikaners. God help her.
And that was it. Busy weekend. I ot four months worth of comics bagged and boarded, but not sorted and entered into the database (that has top happen sooner or later this week). Matt might be staying at our house in the evenings as he sorts out his condo/living situation.
And that's about it.
I am amazed at all of the traffic from my short post asking for questions.
1) Que tegusta hacer cuando jugar con unicornes?
I like to take them in the tub.
2) What's wrong with your stats? An average of 244 visitors/day not enough for you?
The high number is deceptive. It's literally a 95+% looking for pictures. Mostly of naked Supergirl. (Hello Google pre-verts!)
3) Why do you worry so much about how many people are reading your site?
I don't worry about how many people are reading. I worry about people returning. And participating. Or just saying "hi".
4) It all comes down to: do you enjoy it?
Sometimes. Most of the time. But sometimes not.
5) I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the new CBS show, Kid Nation.
I think it's a concept that should have been explored with Survivor, but instead they turned Survivor into Double Dare.
6) The bit about the girl who I couldn't date because she was really into mountain biking....
I know it was confusing, but Jamie + mountain biking = unlikely.
No, that was a my analogy for my former, short lived job. We had very different ideas regarding what I would be doing for a living.
7) I think the RSS stuff has worked itself out.
8) If the only people that read are your Loyal Leaguers and a few randoms that stumble across it, does that make it less fun?
I guess I would compare hosting this blog to, oh, say... dinner theater. It's kind of hacky and dumb, but people show up, if just for the spaghetti. But I'm sort of flying solo up here on the creaky stage, trying to put on a performance every evening. I don't know how many of you have been in a play, but when you're in a show, you can't see the audience. All you can see are the lights. And that's sort of what it's like running this joint. I have no idea who is out there, if I know the people, what sort of people they are. Sure, a few friends said they'd show up, but I can't see them and I don't know where they are.
And every once in a while there's a stretch where the audience doesn't give you so much as a polite cough to let you know they're out there. You think you can kind of see the outline of a few heads, but you finish a big show-stopper, and all you can hear is yourself breathing a bit too hard. Or else you can hear someone in the audience arguing with the wait staff.
That's not to say I'm seeking applause, but as I often say, it's the Leaguers who make it all worthwhile. And sometimes when you've gone for a stretch and you have no idea if anyone is even showing up (or else the place is being flooded with senior citizens for the Tuesday Night $2.00 special, who aren't going to watch the show, anyway), you sort of want to say, "Okay, let's not run the show tonight."
And, anyway... Blogging takes time. And it's work, even when it's fun.
So, yeah, sometimes you want to take a look out form behind the curtain to see how many are in the house before you bother to get into costume.
9) Maybe you should have guest host, like they do occasionally on the Late Show or Tonight Show. So you start to feel burned out...turn it over to Stephen Harms for a week. Or Randy or Jim D.
I dunno. It's sort of a personal journal. That's a bit like letting your borther fill in your diary because you're out of town for a few days.
So, anyway, I hope this answers some questions.
Hope everyone is doing well.
Would you vote for Harvey Dent for DA? If this means anything to you, I'd click on the link and then let the image roll over.
The weekend was very busy as weekends tend to be when one is employed. Friday was dinner and margaritas with Matt and Nicole. Saturday was Spider-Man 3 with the Shaws. And Saturday night I began Wii Quest '07. There are no Wii's for sale in South Austin.
Sunday we did some serious yard work, I hung my flag for Memorial Day, and then crashed for a bit. We wound up at Nicole's house for dinner with the Garcia's. It seems Letty is now sporting dual French/US citzenship. So Letty is now one of us Amerikaners. God help her.
And that was it. Busy weekend. I ot four months worth of comics bagged and boarded, but not sorted and entered into the database (that has top happen sooner or later this week). Matt might be staying at our house in the evenings as he sorts out his condo/living situation.
And that's about it.
I am amazed at all of the traffic from my short post asking for questions.
1) Que tegusta hacer cuando jugar con unicornes?
I like to take them in the tub.
2) What's wrong with your stats? An average of 244 visitors/day not enough for you?
The high number is deceptive. It's literally a 95+% looking for pictures. Mostly of naked Supergirl. (Hello Google pre-verts!)
3) Why do you worry so much about how many people are reading your site?
I don't worry about how many people are reading. I worry about people returning. And participating. Or just saying "hi".
4) It all comes down to: do you enjoy it?
Sometimes. Most of the time. But sometimes not.
5) I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the new CBS show, Kid Nation.
I think it's a concept that should have been explored with Survivor, but instead they turned Survivor into Double Dare.
6) The bit about the girl who I couldn't date because she was really into mountain biking....
I know it was confusing, but Jamie + mountain biking = unlikely.
No, that was a my analogy for my former, short lived job. We had very different ideas regarding what I would be doing for a living.
7) I think the RSS stuff has worked itself out.
8) If the only people that read are your Loyal Leaguers and a few randoms that stumble across it, does that make it less fun?
I guess I would compare hosting this blog to, oh, say... dinner theater. It's kind of hacky and dumb, but people show up, if just for the spaghetti. But I'm sort of flying solo up here on the creaky stage, trying to put on a performance every evening. I don't know how many of you have been in a play, but when you're in a show, you can't see the audience. All you can see are the lights. And that's sort of what it's like running this joint. I have no idea who is out there, if I know the people, what sort of people they are. Sure, a few friends said they'd show up, but I can't see them and I don't know where they are.
And every once in a while there's a stretch where the audience doesn't give you so much as a polite cough to let you know they're out there. You think you can kind of see the outline of a few heads, but you finish a big show-stopper, and all you can hear is yourself breathing a bit too hard. Or else you can hear someone in the audience arguing with the wait staff.
That's not to say I'm seeking applause, but as I often say, it's the Leaguers who make it all worthwhile. And sometimes when you've gone for a stretch and you have no idea if anyone is even showing up (or else the place is being flooded with senior citizens for the Tuesday Night $2.00 special, who aren't going to watch the show, anyway), you sort of want to say, "Okay, let's not run the show tonight."
And, anyway... Blogging takes time. And it's work, even when it's fun.
So, yeah, sometimes you want to take a look out form behind the curtain to see how many are in the house before you bother to get into costume.
9) Maybe you should have guest host, like they do occasionally on the Late Show or Tonight Show. So you start to feel burned out...turn it over to Stephen Harms for a week. Or Randy or Jim D.
I dunno. It's sort of a personal journal. That's a bit like letting your borther fill in your diary because you're out of town for a few days.
So, anyway, I hope this answers some questions.
Hope everyone is doing well.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Too Close to Home
Sometimes you see something on TV that makes you sort of do a bit of soul-searching, even when it was never intended to cause that bit of soul-searching. Or not.
As I mention here upon occasion, I am well aware of my low-level, basic social dysfunction, but part of that awareness is also the awareness that there is absolutely nothing you can do about it.
And so I was watching VH-1's Acceptable TV a while back, and saw this sketch. And as funny as I find it, when I mentioned to Jamie that maybe I identified a bit too much with Gar, she certainly didn't argue.
So, as it turns out, I'm "Gar the Unbearable".
As I mention here upon occasion, I am well aware of my low-level, basic social dysfunction, but part of that awareness is also the awareness that there is absolutely nothing you can do about it.
And so I was watching VH-1's Acceptable TV a while back, and saw this sketch. And as funny as I find it, when I mentioned to Jamie that maybe I identified a bit too much with Gar, she certainly didn't argue.
So, as it turns out, I'm "Gar the Unbearable".
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Questions Para El League
Okay. I don't feel much like blogging for the next few days. Such is the fate of checking your Sitemeter statistics.
So I open the floor to you, the readership, to ask any and all questions of The League of Melbotis. I will answer them when I return.
Go nuts.
Also, this show will be on in the Fall. I think it looks pretty cool.
So I open the floor to you, the readership, to ask any and all questions of The League of Melbotis. I will answer them when I return.
Go nuts.
Also, this show will be on in the Fall. I think it looks pretty cool.
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