Me, Jimmy "The Mouth Of The South" Hart, Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart and Bret "The Hitman" Hart
(Click image to view)
Friday, July 22, 2005
The Best There Is, The Best There Was and The Best There Ever Will Be...
Me, Jimmy "The Mouth Of The South" Hart, Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart and Bret "The Hitman" Hart
(Click image to view)
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Jim Aparo Passes on...
Just found out that one of my favorite Comic Book Artists has passed on.
Jim Aparo was the artist on Batman when I first started reading comics, and to me, his version of Batman IS Batman. He was also the artist on my first Hawk & Dove comic, two of my favorite characters. His best known work has to be the "Batman: Death in The Family" series. "Batman: A Death in The Family" was the series that featured the death of the second Robin, Jason Todd. Arguably, he's also responsible for the best known piece of Batman art, the cover to "Batman: A Death in The Family".
Jim Aparo 1932 - 2005
R.I.P.
Jim Aparo was the artist on Batman when I first started reading comics, and to me, his version of Batman IS Batman. He was also the artist on my first Hawk & Dove comic, two of my favorite characters. His best known work has to be the "Batman: Death in The Family" series. "Batman: A Death in The Family" was the series that featured the death of the second Robin, Jason Todd. Arguably, he's also responsible for the best known piece of Batman art, the cover to "Batman: A Death in The Family".
Jim Aparo 1932 - 2005
R.I.P.
Sunday, July 17, 2005
Just a Quick Note...
I got some props for helping with a story on PWinsider.com. Just wanted to let everyone know.
Click here to read it.
'slater,
Luthor...werd
Click here to read it.
'slater,
Luthor...werd
Saw this last night for the first time. I have mixed feelings about it.
Bad Stuff:
The way Doctor Doom was written and played was WAY over the top, and they royally screwed up his origin and powers. Doom is an over the top character and should be played that way, but the movie portrayed him as a Silver Age cheese ball villain, complete with bad lines and unnecessary diatribe. The comic book Doom doesn't have special powers, he uses his mass intellect to do his misdeeds. That was another bone of contention; Doom(comic book) doesn't view himself as a villain. Doom does what he does because he feels that his way is the only way and he believes that he's always in the right.
I don't know if it was me or not, but it appeared that the film creators started to run out of budget funds. Fantastic Four should have been the most brilliant over the top special effects movie ever made. Their lives are truly fantastic and have extraordinary things happen to them every day. The rare use of their abilities in the film show that there just wasn't enough cash to go around.
The Thing(Ben Grimm) is a big rocky guy. As in, made out of rocks. I never had that feeling with the character in the movie. The foam suit just never did it for me. See below.
Comic Book Thing
Movie Thing
Bad Stuff:
The way Doctor Doom was written and played was WAY over the top, and they royally screwed up his origin and powers. Doom is an over the top character and should be played that way, but the movie portrayed him as a Silver Age cheese ball villain, complete with bad lines and unnecessary diatribe. The comic book Doom doesn't have special powers, he uses his mass intellect to do his misdeeds. That was another bone of contention; Doom(comic book) doesn't view himself as a villain. Doom does what he does because he feels that his way is the only way and he believes that he's always in the right.
I don't know if it was me or not, but it appeared that the film creators started to run out of budget funds. Fantastic Four should have been the most brilliant over the top special effects movie ever made. Their lives are truly fantastic and have extraordinary things happen to them every day. The rare use of their abilities in the film show that there just wasn't enough cash to go around.
The Thing(Ben Grimm) is a big rocky guy. As in, made out of rocks. I never had that feeling with the character in the movie. The foam suit just never did it for me. See below.
Comic Book Thing
Movie Thing
The ultra cheesiness of the script really didn't do too much for me either. Johnny(the Human Torch) was played more goofy then cocky most of the time and has some of the cheesiest lines in comic book cinema history.
Good Stuff:
They nailed the relationships in the group really really well(except for Doom and Reed). Sue(the Invisible Women) was loves Reed(Mr. Fantastic) but wants him to be less book worm and more take charge leading man. Johnny annoys the hell out of Ben, but respects him above all else. Reed and Ben are best friends, with Reed as the brains and Ben as the brawn. Those dynamics came across really well.
Michael Chiklis nailed Ben Grimm. Ben is a big guy with a big heart but can easily be manipulated. Despite his deformed figure, he's the most human of the Fantastic Four(and maybe in all of Comics). Ben wants to do right, but is sometimes overcome by his monstrous appearance. Chiklis got all that down pat and is by far the best part of this film.
I liked the fact that they set up at least 2 other movies without making it blatant for "average Joe" none comic book reader. Alicia Masters' introduction was very subtle, and if you don't know comics, you would have no idea what she brings to the table.
Getting to see Jessica Alba in skin tight clothes is ALWAYS a good thing. If the movie has just been her walking around in that suit, I would have left the theater satisfied.
Overall:
I liked this better then I thought I would. As I've said before, Comic Book movies are hard for me. I love and know these characters well and sometimes the transition from the page to the screen is rough. While this one was far from perfect, it was enjoyable. If you can overcome some of the cheesy dialogue and lack of special effects, then I think most people would enjoy it.
'slater,
Luthor...werd
PS: Two days, two huge posts. Will I make it three?
Good Stuff:
They nailed the relationships in the group really really well(except for Doom and Reed). Sue(the Invisible Women) was loves Reed(Mr. Fantastic) but wants him to be less book worm and more take charge leading man. Johnny annoys the hell out of Ben, but respects him above all else. Reed and Ben are best friends, with Reed as the brains and Ben as the brawn. Those dynamics came across really well.
Michael Chiklis nailed Ben Grimm. Ben is a big guy with a big heart but can easily be manipulated. Despite his deformed figure, he's the most human of the Fantastic Four(and maybe in all of Comics). Ben wants to do right, but is sometimes overcome by his monstrous appearance. Chiklis got all that down pat and is by far the best part of this film.
I liked the fact that they set up at least 2 other movies without making it blatant for "average Joe" none comic book reader. Alicia Masters' introduction was very subtle, and if you don't know comics, you would have no idea what she brings to the table.
Getting to see Jessica Alba in skin tight clothes is ALWAYS a good thing. If the movie has just been her walking around in that suit, I would have left the theater satisfied.
Overall:
I liked this better then I thought I would. As I've said before, Comic Book movies are hard for me. I love and know these characters well and sometimes the transition from the page to the screen is rough. While this one was far from perfect, it was enjoyable. If you can overcome some of the cheesy dialogue and lack of special effects, then I think most people would enjoy it.
'slater,
Luthor...werd
PS: Two days, two huge posts. Will I make it three?
Saturday, July 16, 2005
Say One Thing, Do Another...
So I said I was going to be updating a lot this week and didn't end up doing any updates at all. I think I have some kind of writers block. I tried to write a couple of things during the week but nothing really turned out the way I wanted it to, so I put them in ye olde blogs "saved posts" file and there they still be.
This week was really really long. I did very little work and did very little else.
The one thing that I did do productively this week was plan my summer vacation. My buddy, Marc, and I have planned out more then a few days of frivolity.
First we're off to St Louis, Missouri to see a Cardinals game, tour Budweiser's brewing facility and take in the Gateway Arch.
Then we're off to Columbia to visit a friend and enjoy some wine and slushy drinks.
After that we're going to Terre Haute, Indiana. Why you ask? Well it seems the Indianapolis Colts are having an open training camp there. So we're going to crash that party and try to get some autographs from my boy Peyton and his crew.
Next up we're driving to Dayton, Ohio(or there abouts) to crash for a night and just kind of relax, but the next day, we're going back to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. I'm of the impression things are going to be pretty insane around those parts come that time(it's the day after the Hall of Fame game), but Marc seems to think it will be dead and we'll have no problem getting in. Time will tell on that one I suppose. We might hit a few more spots after that as time and money allow.
I think I'm going to work a little over the next week on changing the template for this blog. I've been talking about doing it for a while, and now that I have some time off, I might as well. I want to do something completely different. I have a few ideas(ask Peggy, she'll tell you), but since I'm neither HTML literate nor artistic, it's kind of hard. I'd like to register a domain name and turn this into a full website, but I'm weary of spending the money and not using the site often.
I also want to do a podcast, like badly. I don't talk about it often, but I went to college for radio and I think doing a weekly podcast might be like doing my radio show again, minus the whole music thing. I have wild ambitions and little drive, so who knows.
I'm really digging Morgan Spurlock's TV show, 30 Days. The basic concept of the show is to take someone and place them in a totally different life for 30 days and see how it changes them when the time is over. There's only been 5 episodes, thus far, but it's become something I just can't miss.
This weekend is the San Diego Comic-Con. San Diego was the first big comic book convention and remained that way for a long long time. Over the last few years its been over shadowed by the Wizard Convention in Chicago, but it's still huge. There's a lot of news coming out of it and I'm really very stoked about what's coming out comic wise over the next year.
Speaking of comics(well kind of but not really), I've decided on my next tattoo. I'm just looking for someone to design it for me. If you are artistic and interested or know anyone who would be interested email me and let me know. It's really simple and wouldn't require a whole heck of a lot of effort. Let me know.
Hopefully you'll hear more out of me in the coming days.
'slater,
Luthor...werd
PS: Check out my side bar over the next few days, I'll be adding My Digg News to it shortly. By the way, you should be checking out Diggnation, a weekly podcast featuring Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht.
This week was really really long. I did very little work and did very little else.
The one thing that I did do productively this week was plan my summer vacation. My buddy, Marc, and I have planned out more then a few days of frivolity.
First we're off to St Louis, Missouri to see a Cardinals game, tour Budweiser's brewing facility and take in the Gateway Arch.
Then we're off to Columbia to visit a friend and enjoy some wine and slushy drinks.
After that we're going to Terre Haute, Indiana. Why you ask? Well it seems the Indianapolis Colts are having an open training camp there. So we're going to crash that party and try to get some autographs from my boy Peyton and his crew.
Next up we're driving to Dayton, Ohio(or there abouts) to crash for a night and just kind of relax, but the next day, we're going back to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. I'm of the impression things are going to be pretty insane around those parts come that time(it's the day after the Hall of Fame game), but Marc seems to think it will be dead and we'll have no problem getting in. Time will tell on that one I suppose. We might hit a few more spots after that as time and money allow.
I think I'm going to work a little over the next week on changing the template for this blog. I've been talking about doing it for a while, and now that I have some time off, I might as well. I want to do something completely different. I have a few ideas(ask Peggy, she'll tell you), but since I'm neither HTML literate nor artistic, it's kind of hard. I'd like to register a domain name and turn this into a full website, but I'm weary of spending the money and not using the site often.
I also want to do a podcast, like badly. I don't talk about it often, but I went to college for radio and I think doing a weekly podcast might be like doing my radio show again, minus the whole music thing. I have wild ambitions and little drive, so who knows.
I'm really digging Morgan Spurlock's TV show, 30 Days. The basic concept of the show is to take someone and place them in a totally different life for 30 days and see how it changes them when the time is over. There's only been 5 episodes, thus far, but it's become something I just can't miss.
This weekend is the San Diego Comic-Con. San Diego was the first big comic book convention and remained that way for a long long time. Over the last few years its been over shadowed by the Wizard Convention in Chicago, but it's still huge. There's a lot of news coming out of it and I'm really very stoked about what's coming out comic wise over the next year.
Speaking of comics(well kind of but not really), I've decided on my next tattoo. I'm just looking for someone to design it for me. If you are artistic and interested or know anyone who would be interested email me and let me know. It's really simple and wouldn't require a whole heck of a lot of effort. Let me know.
Hopefully you'll hear more out of me in the coming days.
'slater,
Luthor...werd
PS: Check out my side bar over the next few days, I'll be adding My Digg News to it shortly. By the way, you should be checking out Diggnation, a weekly podcast featuring Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht.
Friday, July 08, 2005
It's 4am...Do You Know Where Your Luthor Is?
So here it is 4 am and I'm at work.
I was scheduled to come in early to get a little O.T. to make up sometime for the impending Shut Down. I got here and watched as all the plant denizens left. When I got to my post I was shocked and amazed to discover...hey look...they sent my part of the plant home too...which means...I'm here 4 hours early and have SFA to do.
So why not blog a little?
Yesterday's attacks in England have left me with that same OMG feeling I had after 9/11. I think everyone gets that. What's next? Where's next? During the whole 9/11 thing, living where I live, I always had a feeling we were going to get hit. Every attack since I've had that same feeling. It's eerie and it sucks.
Having a friend that lives over there(who I haven't spoken more then 5 words to in about a month), is also a concern. I'm really worried for her and I hope she is doing ok. Having something like that happen so close to home can't be easy. I'm thinking of you Jen.
Happier stuff:
Tim Horton's coffee at this time is always a good thing. I think I could easily drink a pot of this stuff right now. It's about the only thing(well besides the extra pay) that makes coming into work this early worth while.
I'm still really into DC's whole Infinite Crisis storyline. There are so many angles and everything is coming at so many different directions, it's just really cool because you don't know whats going to happen next. Marvel's House of M has been pretty decent thus far as well, but it doesn't have the same kind of feel as Crisis. Crisis has the feeling that something BIG is about to happen in the DCU, where as House of M feels like another Marvel story(which isn't really a knock, just doesn't feel as special...and run on paragraph ends....now).
My all time favorite wrestler is coming to Windsor. Bret "The Hitman" Hart is going to be doing a special autograph signing at the next BCW show. I'm stoked and hope to get a chance to meet him. Meeting King Kong Bundy(who was my childhood favorite) was pretty freaking rad and I doubt Bret would dissappoint. Bret and Bundy would make it 2 heroes met...only about 400 more to go.
Since I have nothing to do, I just went and searched around and found myself a Double Chocolate glazed doughnut. SCORE!
One of my stories made the main page on Digg. Click HERE to get some free mags on your computer. I also posted another story about Audioscrobbler and got bashed for it being a DUPE. To the dude that told me to "do a f#cking search", I thought Digg's story submit search would find anything with Audioscrobbler in the title. It didn't. The only thing it found was an Audioscrobbler competitor. I'm sorry that I wasted a whole 30 seconds of your life. I'm sure the 5 minutes you surely took to find the other stories and bash me was well worth while. And by the way, BLOW ME ASSHOLE.
Well this has taken up a whole 30 minutes. Now I have another 3 1/2 hours to blow with not a thing to do. Fun times.
'slater,
Luthor...werd
PS: I'll probably be posting a lot over the next few weeks. There's not going to be a whole lot going on so I'll be bored often and this is definately and outlet.
PSS: Click HERE to see what I'm listening too.
PSSS(wow, that's a lotta s'): The Eel's webpage has a link to a 30 minue sample of the show they are currently doing. Click HERE to take a look(you need REAL PLAYER, or REAL Alternative).
I was scheduled to come in early to get a little O.T. to make up sometime for the impending Shut Down. I got here and watched as all the plant denizens left. When I got to my post I was shocked and amazed to discover...hey look...they sent my part of the plant home too...which means...I'm here 4 hours early and have SFA to do.
So why not blog a little?
Yesterday's attacks in England have left me with that same OMG feeling I had after 9/11. I think everyone gets that. What's next? Where's next? During the whole 9/11 thing, living where I live, I always had a feeling we were going to get hit. Every attack since I've had that same feeling. It's eerie and it sucks.
Having a friend that lives over there(who I haven't spoken more then 5 words to in about a month), is also a concern. I'm really worried for her and I hope she is doing ok. Having something like that happen so close to home can't be easy. I'm thinking of you Jen.
Happier stuff:
Tim Horton's coffee at this time is always a good thing. I think I could easily drink a pot of this stuff right now. It's about the only thing(well besides the extra pay) that makes coming into work this early worth while.
I'm still really into DC's whole Infinite Crisis storyline. There are so many angles and everything is coming at so many different directions, it's just really cool because you don't know whats going to happen next. Marvel's House of M has been pretty decent thus far as well, but it doesn't have the same kind of feel as Crisis. Crisis has the feeling that something BIG is about to happen in the DCU, where as House of M feels like another Marvel story(which isn't really a knock, just doesn't feel as special...and run on paragraph ends....now).
My all time favorite wrestler is coming to Windsor. Bret "The Hitman" Hart is going to be doing a special autograph signing at the next BCW show. I'm stoked and hope to get a chance to meet him. Meeting King Kong Bundy(who was my childhood favorite) was pretty freaking rad and I doubt Bret would dissappoint. Bret and Bundy would make it 2 heroes met...only about 400 more to go.
Since I have nothing to do, I just went and searched around and found myself a Double Chocolate glazed doughnut. SCORE!
One of my stories made the main page on Digg. Click HERE to get some free mags on your computer. I also posted another story about Audioscrobbler and got bashed for it being a DUPE. To the dude that told me to "do a f#cking search", I thought Digg's story submit search would find anything with Audioscrobbler in the title. It didn't. The only thing it found was an Audioscrobbler competitor. I'm sorry that I wasted a whole 30 seconds of your life. I'm sure the 5 minutes you surely took to find the other stories and bash me was well worth while. And by the way, BLOW ME ASSHOLE.
Well this has taken up a whole 30 minutes. Now I have another 3 1/2 hours to blow with not a thing to do. Fun times.
'slater,
Luthor...werd
PS: I'll probably be posting a lot over the next few weeks. There's not going to be a whole lot going on so I'll be bored often and this is definately and outlet.
PSS: Click HERE to see what I'm listening too.
PSSS(wow, that's a lotta s'): The Eel's webpage has a link to a 30 minue sample of the show they are currently doing. Click HERE to take a look(you need REAL PLAYER, or REAL Alternative).
Saturday, July 02, 2005
I Knew There Was Something I Was Forgetting...
Umm...hi.
This whole week I've had that feeling like I forgot something. Well, just remembered what it was...
Ye Olde Blog!
Let's see, week in review:
Monday: Got up early, had a shower, had a smoke, went to work, did the same thing 500 times, came home and did nothing.
Tuesday - Thursday: Lather, Rinse and Repeat.(Thursday night I went to see War of The Worlds. Good blowing stuff up kind of movie. Lots of blood and guts.)
Friday: Happy Canada Day!
For the second year in a row, I spent Canada Day in Detroit. Marc, Nic, a friend of Nic's(who's name totally escapes me) and I went to the Detroit Beer Company for lunch followed by a trip to Oakland Mall.
Food = Good.
Beer = Good.
Finding a toy I've been looking for = Made my day.
Once we got back from the States(I think thats a Windsor thing, anytime we head over to Detroit or go on vacation over there, we all say, "we're going to the States." Anytime I've read or seen people from anywhere else going that way they refer to it as America...just an odd little thing..and that side note ends), we headed over to Marc and Nic's parents for a (now) yearly BBQ. Good food, good drink and good company. I don't think you can ask for much more on a holiday.
The rest of the weekend looks slow...and I'm not complaining.
Sorry for taking so long to update. I'll have more to say soon.
'slater,
Luthor...werd
This whole week I've had that feeling like I forgot something. Well, just remembered what it was...
Ye Olde Blog!
Let's see, week in review:
Monday: Got up early, had a shower, had a smoke, went to work, did the same thing 500 times, came home and did nothing.
Tuesday - Thursday: Lather, Rinse and Repeat.(Thursday night I went to see War of The Worlds. Good blowing stuff up kind of movie. Lots of blood and guts.)
Friday: Happy Canada Day!
For the second year in a row, I spent Canada Day in Detroit. Marc, Nic, a friend of Nic's(who's name totally escapes me) and I went to the Detroit Beer Company for lunch followed by a trip to Oakland Mall.
Food = Good.
Beer = Good.
Finding a toy I've been looking for = Made my day.
Once we got back from the States(I think thats a Windsor thing, anytime we head over to Detroit or go on vacation over there, we all say, "we're going to the States." Anytime I've read or seen people from anywhere else going that way they refer to it as America...just an odd little thing..and that side note ends), we headed over to Marc and Nic's parents for a (now) yearly BBQ. Good food, good drink and good company. I don't think you can ask for much more on a holiday.
The rest of the weekend looks slow...and I'm not complaining.
Sorry for taking so long to update. I'll have more to say soon.
'slater,
Luthor...werd
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