Mel Turns 10

The celebration of Melapalooza '08 was this weekend, but Tuesday April 22nd marks the 10th birthday of Melbotis Perkins.

He will get a trip to the vet, many treats and a walkies.


The Birthday Boy hisself.



The birthday boy with his biggest fan.



Little sisters get to come to the party, too.



And sometimes relatives come in from out of town for parties. Mel with Kristen and Doug.


Cassidy was all set to party.


And here is your League, in his "pontificatin' hat"

Happy 10th Birthday to the best darn dog any boy ever had.

You can see the photostream here.

End of an Era: Dave's Long Box is put in the attic

Let me get this out of the way: I love Dave's Log Box.

Sometime in 2005/2006, JimD turned me onto the site, and it's consistently been one of the best comic blogs on the planet (nay... in the UNIVERSE), since its inception. Dave may have invented the idea of theme weeks for blogs, as near as I can tell. He brought the frenetic energy of fandom to the fore, celebrating both the good and the absurd in superhero comics with equal enthusiasm.

Blogging isn't a paying gig, Leaguers. So when folks discovered Dave's talents from the world of dollars and cents, he was able to parlay his blogging gig into a paying gig, writing for the Invincible Encyclopedia, a comic or so, and now writes for ABC.com. And for that, I salute him. We'd all of us bloggers probably have a secret wish that someone would put us on a payroll and give us medical and dental just for doing what we're already doing, and every once in a while, it actually works out for the best of the bloggers.

And Dave is one of the best.

Last Wednesday, I missed Dave's final post thanks to a few factors:
1) I check it once a week, because that's about how often Dave had been updating
2) Doug's malevolent presence

But he did leave a farewell post. I invite you to read his good-bye's. And not just because League of Melbotis gets a passing mention (In the privileged position between "the creators of Laser Force", and Bahlactus. Pretty solid company, if I say so, myself).

He's moving on to ABC.com full-time. And I wish him well.

There's a promised new blog coming, so I'll keep my eyes peeled. And you should, too.

I'll also be cleaning up my blogroll to include Dave's ABC work and the new site, whatever that might be.



Vaya con dios, Dave's Long Box.

I admit relief...

It seems the Justice League movie has been "tabled", according to super-producer Joel Silver.

Read here.

Everything about the movie's production sounded... wrong. It reminded me very much of the press coming out regarding the attempt at a Superman movie before Singer took the reins.

-It was not going to be a Magnificent Seven-style story, bringing the JLA together.
-Rumors were floating that it involved Brother Eye, which works in DCU continuity, but would baffle fans of the Batfilm franchises and cartoon.
-In order to avoid conflict with the Superman movies, rumor was it was to have Superman "dead" through the film. Dead. Ie: We don't need Superman for this movie, a point with which I will not agree.
-They were casting young, hip and sexy with CW-style fluffy bunny actors.
-They were talking about one of the old Mad Max guys for Martian Manhunter for some reason. The last live-action J'onn we got was played by David Ogden Stiers. A fine actor, but... not exactly super-hero material.
-Not casting Bale as Batman and Routh as Superman seems... short-sighted.
-It all sort of had the same vibe as the failed 1997 TV show for some reason.

I would love a JLA movie. A huge, Earth-shattering Morrisonian epic would be great (WWIII?). I sort of got the feeling the screen writers picked up recent JLA comics to see what the comic was actually like, were impressed that it's not the kiddie faire they assumed they'd be adapting, and started lifting from Rucka's "Project OMAC" series and Countdown to Infinite Crisis rather than actually understanding how all of this fit. This was serious, latter-day JLA lore, when the DC was in need of rebooting and retro-fitting, not entry-level stuff.

So, yes, I am happier with no JLA movie rather than a compromised JLA movie.

Also, WB... Morrison will soon be done with many of his comic-writing duties. I am sure Paul Levitz and Dan Didio have his number, if you'd like it.

The past week has been a bit of a rollercoaster.

It is true that I have (ahem...) extra time. Fortunately, Doug was already scheduled to be here for the week to entertain and amaze Jamie, so I never really got much of a chance to just sort of roll around in the dark and feel sorry for myself. I was in a weird mix of not feeling great/ anxious/ glad to be playing host/ geared up for Mel's party/ coming down from my own very nice birthday... In addition, it was great to have Judy and Dick in the area for the past few days.

In addition, the past week my grandfather was in the hospital in Florida. KareBear has been out there since last Thursday helping out, and The Admiral went out there before the weekend. My grandfather is home now, but its likely that they'll be moving out of their home and into a retirement facility of some sort in their current town. I'm watching all of this from a bit of distance, but am feeling positive about the steps my parents and uncle and aunt are taking.

Anyhow, this week will be different. I've done the resume polishing. We'll see what happens.

I'm also hoping to play a little more bass this week. Maybe get to read some, and maybe draw a bit with some gear I got for my b-day.

well, huh...

I will probably still see this, but...

Thanks, Leaguers!

Hey, Leaguers!

I think its safe to say Mel had himself a great birthday party yesterday. We missed those of you who couldn't make it. Perhaps the next League gathering?

Thanks to those of you who could make it to the party. A special thanks to both those who brought Mel gifts, brought food, etc..., and a special welcome to doggie guests Pierre and Levi. We had five dogs in the yard, and it seemed that they all had a pretty good time. Although poor Pierre had it in for my plastic squirrels I keep on the front porch.

Jason posted some nice pics here.

Leaguers came from near and as far away as the furthest reaches of Parmer Lane (hi, Sue!). We had some new guests with Jason and Mike, as well as Amy C. Our timing with the Shoemakers was a bit off, and for that I apologize. We'll have to catch up with dinner this week. The In-Laws attended what will surely be the first of many League HQ parties, and despite the fact I would not eat Judy's blue-cheese crackers (look, I can't deal with blue cheese), it was fun to have them meet so many of the folks they've heard about over the years.

Mel had a great time (that much attention never hurt him). It was great to catch up with so many folks. We even wrapped things up and headed over to Madam Mam's for some Thai food at 8:30 or so. So, I think it was, all-in-all, a success.

Special Request: If anyone is posting pictures to Flickr, etc... let me know.

Doug and Kristen are leaving today, so by this evening, its going to be pretty lonely around League HQ.

Next week will probably be a lot of putting my nose to the grindstone and job-hunting. If, uh, anyone knows of any local companies looking for an able-bodied project manager, let me know.

Melapalooza on SATURDAY

Hey all,

Everyone who reads this is welcome to attend Melapalooza '08. Please be aware that we open doors at 2:00. I think there's some confusion over what time the party starts, so I just want to make sure I make a final note about that one. As much as we love all of you, I'm kicking you folks out before midnight.

The League needs his beauty rest.

Anyway, hope to see everyone. If you need directions, etc... do not hesitate to e-mail.

Best,

Ryan