3.28.2008

New Comics 3/26/08

And so it goes...

Release list 3/26/08

IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT ELSE COMES OUT TODAY.

Because All Star Superman #10 was released, and any day that comes out is an automatic DAY OF AWESOME.

If you want to know why, click here.




Oh, I also bought the first issue of Jonathan Hickman's miniseries about genetic manipulation and cybernetics, Transhuman. It is quite good, as everything he's done so far seems to be.

So, what did you get...?

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3.21.2008

Video Friday 3/21/08

This is the latest (and final) trailer for the Pixar/Disney movie coming out this summer, Wall*E. I can't wait to see this movie. Pixar has a damn fine track record, and the fact that the first 20 minutes or so are apparently dialogue-free makes it interesting to me on an artistic level.

Also, cute robots and spaceships always win. Like Batman.

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3.19.2008

spring break woo

I've resisted thus far. I've fought against the urge. I've won my personal battles of will. I was not going to write on politics. And there was a reason: this country broke my heart.

I know this is a stupid thing to say. But it's true. Four years ago, I was very into the political process. More so than I'd been even four years earlier, in the first presidential election I'd ever voted in. I read books. I followed the news. I detected, I sleuthed, I studied. And I, unsurprisingly, came to the conclusion that George W. Bush was the worst candidate for president I'd ever seen. But I also came to the conclusion that I did not like any of the Democratic candidates all that much either. They all seemed too. . . I don't want to say "wussy", but that's the best word that comes to mind. And I'd be fucked if I was going to vote for Nader again. But still. . . Bush had to go.

So, Democrat-bound I was, to whomever ultimately won the ticket (Kerry, duh). I polled, I pushed, I wrote, I proselytized, I even prayed (not very hard or well, but still, the effort was there). I thought, yeah, this could work, the American people will see what a crooked bunch has been running the country the last four years, and they will vote against him and his wicked ways. And I truly believed that. I had faith in the intelligence and forthrightness of my own view point, and faith in the intelligence and forthrightness of America.

And we all know the results.

So I dropped out of politics, a ruined broken shell of a man. I just stopped. Stopped reading the blogs and the websites, stopped watching the news, stopped buying the books. Only enough news to keep abreast of what's going on. I stayed away. I voted in every minor election, and was cheered a little when the Dems retook Congress 2 years ago, but somewhere in the back of my mind was a small voice saying, "It doesn't matter; it's too little and too late."

And now, here we are on the cusp of another tight presidential race, the first of my life without an incumbent president or vice president running, with the Democratic nominee not decided yet, not by a long-shot. I hadn't decided who I wanted to win. I knew who I did NOT want to win. But that would just bring me back to where I was four years ago: voting against someone rather than voting FOR someone. And I didn't want to do that again. I didn't want the choice to be between the lesser of two evils. I'm tired of the negativity that surrounds everything I love, and choosing between two candidates I don't like smacks to me of a zero sum loss.

But today, I have found a reason to believe again, I think.

I realize this is not saying much in the way of reason or logic or personal issues. I won't be going into my reasons for this, for they are long and complicated, and I don't even understand much of my own brain chemistry myself. I have no evidence to back this up, short of one amazing speech, and a sense of hope that maybe, this time, we can get it right. "It requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams."

Barack Obama '08.


Thank you for reading. We'll be back to yr regularly scheduled sarcasm and pop culture shortly.

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3.07.2008

Video Friday 3/07/08

This is the video for the title track off Aesop Rock's album from late last year, None Shall Pass. I am obsessed with this song. It is a fucking amazing example of lyrical ability on the part of Aesop Rock, and I feel like I must share it with the world. The video's style is nouveau Terry Gilliamesque animation, and I like it quite a bit. Enjoy!

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3.05.2008

New Comics 3/05/08

I bought stuff!

Release list 3/5/08

After a few weeks of NOTHING coming out, there was finally some love given to me by the demiurges at the comic publishing companies. (This includes one that came out last week that I didn't get 'til now. Sorry I skipped a week, but there were. . . complications.)


Batman #674

Grant Morrison's run on Batman has been. . . interesting, to say the least. He's doing something similar to his All-Star Superman series here, in that he's bringing a lot of Silver Age concepts back and putting them into current continuity. The execution hasn't been up to his best, I will admit, but the story he's been trying to tell (which keeps getting interrupted by stupid corporate mandated crossovers and artist delays) is starting to come together, in a way that reminds me of his New X-men run from a few years ago: seemingly disparate stories that have a slowly revealed connective tissue. It'll be fun to read it all at once when they story is finished.

Casanova #12

Matt Fraction has been on a roll, and I want to give him a hug. Every issue of Casanova is just better and better than the last. And the most amazing thing? The main character (Casanova Quinn, super-spy, love, fighter, dimension-hopping bon vivant, and general vagabond) has been absent from the series since the second "album" started in issue #8. The subtitle of the storyline has been "When is Casanova Quinn?", and while that provides the through-line, the surface story has been focused more on the current actions of his (thought dead, but really not) sister Zephyr, who is as much of a bad-ass as he is. This issue is titled "Fuck Shit Up", and believe me, she does.

Pax Romana #2 (of 4)

Jonathan Hickman's miniseries The Nightly News was my favorite comic/graphic art project of last year, so when I heard his next project coming was a 4 issue mini involving time travel, Catholic Church history, and Constantine in Rome, I shouted out "SOLD!" and plunked my money down right then. (Of course, I was in the middle of a library, and looked rather foolish doing so. There were stern glares issued all around.) Thus far, the series has been fairly interesting, less full of sidebars and statistics as The Nightly News, but still very wordy, and still featuring Hickman's distinctive art style. If you like historical/speculative fiction, I would very highly recommend this.

So what are you reading?

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3.01.2008

Video Friday 2/29/08

It's Leap Day! Today is a phantom day! It means you can do whatever you want!

But it's still Friday. So, I'm posting a video!

This is a montage/clip video someone made of some scenes from the two seasons of the Venture Brothers (which, coincidentally, is my favorite television show. I plan on writing about it eventually! [I plan on writing a lot of things eventually!]) Anyway, it's awesome, funny, and awesomely funny.

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