Saturday, June 21, 2008

Why can't we all just dance...?

Its The League's firm opinion that the vast, vast majority of people, given the opportunity, would rather crack a beer with a complete stranger than shoot at them. Travel 'round the world, and we're all very different, but that doesn't mean we can't share a meal, get to know one another, or just... you know, dance badly.

And that's why The League always gives a tip of the hat to world traveler and jig-specialist "Matt".

You might recall the fellow from his YouTube video from a few years back. Apparently he'd set off for an amazing trip around the planet, and in every place he stopped, he had someone videotape him doing the same dance.

Well, Matt is back.

It seems Stride gum has sponsored Matt on another journey of epic proportions.



If seeing Matt share his dance with people all across the planet doesn't give you hope for humanity, I'm not sure what will.

Friday, June 20, 2008

Screenwriter to watch?

Hey, awesome...! Looks like League-pal Shauna C. has been listed in Variety as a "Screenwriter to Watch". Let us hope they mean track her career, and not that they feel Shauna is making weird, spastic movements or something that we should all be on the watch for.

Here's the IMDB page for Whip It!

Its worth noting that joining Shauna on this list is J. Michael Straczynski. JMS is a popular comic writer, who did (IMHO) a good run on Spider-Man in recent years. He's also the mastermind behind Babylon 5, a sci-fi show that I was addicted to for a few years in college. I always thought JMS should do a run on Superman, but it hasn't happened yet.

Anyway, Shauna is keeping good company in the pages of Variety. Its really weird to see someone you know being talked up by Drew Barrymore.

Randy, you need to get on that. Where's your quote from Drew?

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Stray Thought of the Day: Sperm Whales are weird looking

I think Sperm Whales look like both a prototypical whale, like is someone asked you to draw a whale... it would be a sperm whale. But, they look weird. They're big, and chubby looking and pale and have a huge forehead.

Something like yours truly, when I think of it.


sperm whales have a weird, skinny bottom jaw with very scary teeth. Also, it seems, like yours truly.



Summer Movie Time!

Summertime is movie time at League HQ. The run up to Academy Award time and most Christmas movies are not bad for movies, but geez... its sort of become obligatory to go see a bunch of nicely crafted movies that are about as much "fun" as hanging out in the euthanasia room at the pound. Important/ thought provoking = relenetlessly depressing.

I'm not AGAINST this kind of picture. I was incredibly pleased with both "There Will Be Blood" (yes, Steven, I think its a very good movie), and "No Country For Old Men" (which I prefer of the two). But I mostly have a hard time getting really revved up to go see Nicole Kidman be weepy and trudge through a melodrama of some sort. That's not to bag on Nicole Kidman, but... you know, Christmas is crazy enough. If I'm going to sneak out at night to see a movie, I'm gonna want a ninja gangster robot with a heart of gold whose fighting Nazis from space or something.

Those movies, however, mostly show up during the summer. We get a few during Christmas. I think this year "The Spirit" is coming out during Christmas (Eisner material, directed by Frank Miller and featuring Scarlet Johansson? Twist my arm).

But summertime and Batman and Iron Man and The Hulk and Indiana Jones is what its all about here at The League of Melbotis.

We're also pretty pumped up about Hancock. Now, admittedly, I don't know much about the movie except that it stars Will Smith as a drunken, loused up version of a superhero (Superman without X-Ray Vision)? And it has Jason Bateman. And I generally sort of don't think that superheroes + comedy works. But Will Smith knows how to deliver a wacky line, and I can buy him as a lackluster crime fighter.

A secret, guilty part of me is always glad when they do movies like Hancock, Hulk, Iron Man, etc... because I sort of think that it raises the bar for the next Superman movie or Green Lantern movie. It shows whats possible, and I think Superman movies more or less should feel obligated to then raise the bar higher.

Anyhow, we've got a pretty good chunk of summer left, and there are a few more flicks coming out I'll be paying to see. Batman. Wall-E. Hellboy II. X-Files. And even Clone Wars.

Some folks might get tired of the special effects extravaganzas, but when I think back to the former staples of summer featuring 'roided out actors who were, invariably, rogue police officers in a spat with some drug kingpin, or terrorist cell... Anyway, somehow the geeks took over, and summertime is full of the movies we didn't think we'd ever see.

I mean, whether its good or not, there's a @#$%ing Watchemn movie coming.

More Dancing Sequences!

Nathan suggested I check out this dance number from The Band Wagon (1953), with Cyd Charisse. And, well, he was right.

The Girl Hunt Ballet, from "The Band Wagon":


And, a re-mix with Michael jackson's "Smooth Criminal", which I still think isn't a bad tune.


Make 'Em Laugh from "Singin' in the Rain"


And, apropos of nothing: Wolverine sings "Oklahoma!"

The 'ol Canucklehead can really sing!

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

round-up/ Cyd Charisse

hey, Leaguers!

Well, its been an odd week. In fact, the past two weeks have been sort of oddly... filled. For a guy who has no job, I don't feel like I've had any lack of stuff to do.

It seems that no sooner do we kick housemate Nicole to the curb (Hi, Nicole!) than we're going to rotate in pal-Heather W. Heather is a longtime associate of all at League HQ, and stood for Jamie when we got married. So we go back. She's in grad school in Lubbock, but earned an externship at St. David's this summer in speech therapy/ pathology, so she's going to be crashing in Nicole's room. I'd better wash the sheets and perform that exorcism to rid the room of the evil spirits Nicole left behind.

Last week we were fortunate enough to hang out with Letty's brother, in from Paris. We wound up first going to Black's BBQ in Lockhart (Texas BBQ Capital). A few days later, we wound up at a Vietnamese place off Rundberg.

You already know about the trip to the museum (w/ Lauren).

Friday Jamie, Jason and I went to a Round Rock Express game with my Uncle, who is in town visiting Cousin Sue. I love me a good baseball game. And I believe the magic of my rally cap was what turned the tide of the game (Express over Memphis, 9-7).

Saturday night Jamie and I packed a picnic dinenr of sorts and headed out to Zilker Park to see the Austin Civic Orchestra. The show was a lot of fun. Casual, if not informal. With the first set a tribute to Leroy Anderson. The second half was a "tribute to film heroes", ie: lets play film scores so rubes from the suburbs will come in. And, of course, I knew they were going to play Indiana Jones and Superman, and they did great with both.

I think we'll be looking at hitting their new season next fall.

This weekend we also saw Hulk, hit Barton Springs, cooked some hot dogs and hung out with Matt and Nicole. Tuesday I hung out with Uncle Donald (aka Unky D) who was in town. We caught a movie, visited a bit, and grabbed some dinner.

All in all, a pretty decent few days.

Sadly, performer and dancer Cyd Charisse has passed away.



I only really know Ms. Charisse from one movie, "Singin' in the Rain". Which is, btw, one of my favorite flicks. In no small part because of Ms. Charisse. And if you have to ask why I like Ms. Charisse, well...



hubba hubba

Godspeed, Ms. Charisse.

The League is back at Comic Fodder

Hey, Leaguers!

Some of you may recall my stint as editor at Comic Fodder in 2007. Well, Travis has been doing a bang up job over there, and I miss being in the mix... so.

I'm now contributing as an Op/Ed sort of guy. Posting maybe once a week on items in the DCU, etc... I dunno. We'll see how it goes.

You can find my posts with an icon depicting patron saint of League of Melbotis, Krypto the Superdog.



And, here's a link to my first, very lengthy post. Written a bit in response to someone's questions regarding "what went wrong with Countdown and 'Death of the new Gods'".

Please feel free to drop by and comment.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

The League Likes ABC Family's "The Middle Man"

ABC Family has a new show, called "The Middle Man".

It's fun, comic-book style, mad scientist, basic-cable-budget, sci-fi, slackery goodness. JimD will find the dialog too precious, but otherwise, I think the show is a good summer-time surprise.

Update: Check out the review at Chris's Invincible Super-Blog.

Spidey 2 Re-Mix



This... is... awesome...

Krypto




Superman's canine companion, Krypto, graces the September cover of Superman (issue #680).

For full September solicitations, go here.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Happy Late Father's Day



Happy Father's Day to my Dad, The Admiral. And, while I'm at it, to Jamie's Dad and my Father-in-Law, Dick McBride.

The Admiral is out of town at the moment, and I doubt he'll see this post before he returns next week. But that's okay. He's in Florida with my grandparents, and while he has Blackberry access, its unlikely he'll be doing much in the way of web-surfing.

The Admiral has had an exciting 2008, with a new position at work (officially making it so that I have no idea what the company he works for actually makes). He's traveling a bit, and he seems to really like the people and the job. So, bully for him.

I believe he's going on some globe-hopping trip as soon as he returns from Florida, so I often imagine the Indiana Jones red line following him around the globe.

So, catch you when you're back, Dad.

The League knows that its no guarantee that just because you married The World's Most Fascinating Woman(TM), that you're also going to wind up with great in-laws. So, you know, bonus for The League that Jamie's dad and I get along really well (as far as I know...).

Dick has not just an interesting professional career, but he's also a bit of a renaissance man. He's a world traveler, a videographer, a history buff, a piano enthusiast, an amateur astronomer, and.. really... the list goes on and on. Having him in San Marcos will, no doubt, add some spice to our lives here at League HQ.

So a salute to both Fathers running around in my life. Both great guys, and I look forward to having them both in the greater Austin Area in the next few years.

Happy Father's Day!