| Dan DiDio's Theme Song |
[May. 18th, 2008|01:02 am] |
So I've been listening to podcasts of DC's panel at various conventions for several years. I've listened to Dan DiDio take honest questions and acknowledge them without really dealing with them. There's a song that his behavior reminds me of and thanks to the miracle of YouTube I now present that song to you.
Yeah, that about covers it. |
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| Here's An Odd Question |
[May. 18th, 2008|12:25 am] |
Ok, everything is still a go for Rachel and I's trip to Metropolis in June. Money will be tight but doable. So that's awesome.
Here's the thing; Incredible Hulk is coming out that weekend. I'm very much looking forward to this film.
So, if I see Hulk while in Metropolis am I cheating and...
...is there anyone on my Friends List going to Metropolis who would like to check out the Hulk movie with me?
Just curious. |
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| VIEWS FROM THE LONGBOX EPISODE 39: THE KEITH DALLAS CONVERSATION PART 1 |
[May. 14th, 2008|09:44 pm] |
This week kicks off a two part conversation with Editor-In-Chief of Comics Bulletin and writer/editor of the upcoming FLASH COMPANION from TwoMorrows Publishing Keith Dallas. Keith was Michael’s editor back when he wrote reviews for Silver Bullet Comic Books and was nice enough to come on the show. Part 1 has Keith and Michael discussing Keith’s collecting history, including a little digression into Star Wars. Then you get to hear a preview of sorts of the FLASH COMPANION and some of Mark Waid’s thoughts on the Bart Allen Flash series before Mike and Keith get into a kind of haphazard discussion of the Flash and his history. Two Links of Interest Comics Bulletin- The site Keith is the Editor-in-Chief for. It’s a great site and even has a column by the freaking awesome Beau Smith TwoMorrows Publishing- The publisher that is putting out the Flash Companion. They also have a bunch of fantastic books and magazines that will no doubt put you in the poor house. |
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| It Pretty Much Works Like This |
[May. 11th, 2008|08:45 pm] |
Until my wife and I actually have a kid I will not personally enjoy mother's day.
To all of my female friends that are mothers (not muthas as David Addison once pointed out) I wish that you have a happy and healthy mother's day. I really do. You all deserve it.
But I hate the day. Hate it with a passion.
Because I don't have a Mom any more.
Yeah it's been nearly fifteen years since she died and overall I have gotten over the vast majority of fucked up that her death caused this is the one of the few days that reminds me of her and reminds me how much I miss her.
And I don't see that changing until Rachel and I have a kid. Then it will be ok again.
So honor your mothers and I hope everyone has a great day.
For me, though, I just want it to be over. |
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| That's What Friends Are For |
[May. 11th, 2008|07:04 pm] |
Good friends are the type that will find crap for you even if they don't like said crap.
Take ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) greenfencer for instance. Now I am relatively sure he doesn't like The Greatest American Hero and I am almost dead certain that he isn't the biggest fan of either Skid Row, Sebastian Bach or the Gilmore Girls.
But he finds this for me anyway. And that's why he is awesome all day.
Never heard the song punk before. Not bad at all. |
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| This Actually Looks Funny |
[May. 10th, 2008|10:58 pm] |
Naughty language in trailer.
You know, this kind of feels like a Trey and Matt production. Co-written by people who worked with them apparently.
I like the fact the Elizabeth Shue is playing herself as a school nurse.
"Rock Me Sexy Jesus" should be the Top 40 hit of the summer. |
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| Well, That Was Nice |
[May. 10th, 2008|09:35 pm] |
So I have been having a pretty crappy time of it lately. Nothing I really want to get into right now for various reasons and I am not trying to be cryptic. Things just aren't all sunshine and lollipops right now. I hate my job. Rachel hasn't been feeling good lately, which has me worried and even Boo isn't her normal, cheerful self.
Not the worst of times, but surely not the best of times.
One bright spot occurred this afternoon. I went up to Titans to see if they had a copy of 80 page special DC put out this week showcasing Libra, one of the going concerns in Final Crisis. I noticed yesterday that I was supposed to review it for the Homepage since I review all of the Justice League related specials but alas both Titans and Dave's were sold out so I am going to have to make other arrangements there. In any case while the comic wasn't there a buddy of mine named Ray was. Ray used to run the comics programming at DragonCon and we think along the same lines comic book wise. So in between him running a HeroClix tournament we talked comics, mainly 52, which he is just getting to read in trade form.
So there are issues here and there I at least got to unwind for a bit today.
Which is good, I guess. |
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| Views From The Longbox Episode 38: Views From The Longbox By Gaslight |
[May. 8th, 2008|05:00 pm] |
Back after a week off because he was under the weather Michael discusses DC’s Elseworlds as a concept as well as what many people consider the first Elseworlds tale; Gotham By Gaslight. Before that, though, you’ll hear about Michael’s distrust of a certain portion of the medical community and why he likes Sebastian Bach. The show clocks in at about twenty-five minutes this time out but still manages to stay as unimpressive as ever. Also, the language is pretty tame this week, so it should be safe for work listening. Unless you think the word “ass” is profanity. Then you might want to put on the headphones.
Links
Views's Home Base
Fortress of Baileytude
Once Upon a Geek
Media Gauntlet |
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| What The Hell?: Karate Kid Edition |
[May. 7th, 2008|09:46 am] |
So I'm watching my Karate Kid box set because I'm just in that kind of mood. I like the film. Not the finest martial arts film ever made but this is a movie about karate as much as the Rocky films were about boxing as in they are more about the characters than the thing the character is doing. The Karate Kid films went to hell in a hurry, though the third one has some unintentionally funny moments, one of which was centered around greenfencer looking at me once and saying, "Why the hell didn't Daniel just kick that guy in the back when he went to kick that red head? "I'm turning around now and putting my back to you! Don't do anything!" Man, that movie could have been over right then and there."
Along those lines I have a question about the first movie.
Why the hell did Daniel throw that kick at the end?
Now I realize that the movie itself is fantasy. I don't care what the quality of training you have it would be difficult in the short amount of time these people had to train for Daniel to go from learning karate at the Y to taking on guys who have probably been training since pre to early adolescence. But you make allowances for such things because, as I said, the movie isn't about a realistic portrayal of the martial arts it was about a kid learning something about himself and finding the surrogate father he desperately needed. There are some deeper things going on surprisingly because John Avidlsen is a fairly competent director, but come on. This was a movie that I'm sure the creative side thought had some really deep and meaningful themes but that the general movie going audience saw as a Rocky with karate where the good guy overcomes the odds and manages to somehow win in the end.
So in considering all of that, why the hell did Daniel throw that kick at the end?
Let's review; Daniel enters the tournament and through the miracle of movie magic and a Joe Espesito song gets his way to the final matches. After a fairly well choreographed fight between Johnny and some guy that frankly looked like he should have taken the tournament Daniel fights the other Cobra-Kai and the dude kicks Daniel in the knee. Now this brings up an interesting question about what would have happened if the guy had won fair and square and it would have been down to Johnny and his friend, but that is beside the point. So Daniel is injured and the magic rub is done and he's back in the match. Now I can buy the fact that he's fighting injured because this is a tournament match and not a street fight. There's rules and form and all that means if he can manage to stay on his feet and work off of adrenaline he has something of a shot. The fight goes on, the score is two to two and it is announced that the next point will decide the match. So what does Daniel do?
He throws a kick with his bad leg.
What the hell?
I know, I know. If he didn't throw the kick Johnny would have never grab his leg and he wouldn't have been able to do the crane kick. Fine. But seriously. If his training was that freaking good to allow him to work his way throw more experienced martial artists than you would think that at some point Miyagi would have at some point said, "Don't throw a kick unless you are absolutely sure it's going to connect." I mean I'm no expert but that seems a pretty good way to go, but no he thrusts his injured leg at his opponent virtually begging to be injured further.
God, Daniel sucks at this. |
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| Time For Bed |
[May. 6th, 2008|11:23 pm] |
Well, the latest episode is prepped, but I am freaking exhausted so it gets recorded before I go to see Iron Man.
Now is the time for sleep.
Beautiful, wonderful sleep. |
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| It's Free But Do I Still Want It? |
[May. 6th, 2008|05:24 pm] |
So I get an e-mail from some marketing guy wondering if I would like to get a reviewer copy of the upcoming Speed Racer: The Next Generation to...well...review.
Here's the thing; I like getting things for free and I like the concept that I am on some list of people that gets these reviewer DVDs and such makes me smile but here the thing.
I have absolutely no interest in Speed Racer.
I see ads for the upcoming movie and feel nothing but apathy. I just don't care. In fact I don't care so much that the ads and the movie are starting to annoy me.
So I am kind of at a loss as to what to do.
Do I review the movie or show or whatever this next generation thing is and hopefully stay on the list so that when something comes along I do want I can get it for free or do I say no? |
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| Hell Yes! |
[May. 6th, 2008|05:04 pm] |
Never Back Down finally hit the cheap theater.
I'll probably go check it out Friday night.
Anyone local wanna join me in this crap fest? |
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| That Was Nice |
[May. 3rd, 2008|09:31 pm] |
Somebody I have a great deal of respect for has agreed to come on Views.
More than that he told me he'd be honored.
That made my day. It really did. |
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| At Home and Ready to Crash |
[May. 3rd, 2008|09:16 pm] |
Rachel and I, along withmachfront, were going to check out Iron Man tonight but unfortunately Rachel fell at work yesterday. Nothing is broken thankfully but she's pretty bruised up, so right now she is sleeping and finally getting the rest she really, really needs.
So we catch Iron Man on Wednesday then, which might be better. Something about catching a movie after the crowds are gone sounds better to me.
Oh well. Back to listening to music on my laptop and doing nothing of consequence. |
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| Whoa |
[May. 3rd, 2008|08:22 pm] |
Just in case you ever wanted to see "What is this Feeling?" from WICKED as performed by She-Ra and Evil-Lyn.
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| Holy Crap That Was Good or Another Musical Post |
[May. 3rd, 2008|07:57 pm] |
I used to say a lot of crappy things about Josh Groban and for that I blame Oprah since that is where I first experienced the man. His recent cameo in "I'm Fucking Ben Affleck" changed a bit of that and this pretty much sealed the deal. This is Josh singing "Anthem" from "Chess" and aside from some technical difficulties towards the end he knocks it out of the fucking park.
Best version of the song I have ever heard. |
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| This Is What I Was Talking About |
[May. 3rd, 2008|07:47 pm] |
Here is Sebastian Bach singing "This is the Moment".
Let me tell you something about this song.
It is hard to sing. The fact that I can do a passable rendition is something of a minor miracle. "Jekyll and Hyde" as a musical is very tough on tenors because while the songs aren't overly complicated there are stretches where you have to hold the note for what seems like days. "This is the Moment" is a dream for power tenors because overall it is a powerful song that takes place right before drinks the potion that ruins his life. It is a song of hope and strength and finally taking the final step that will make or break his ultimate goal. In the original concept album the orchestration takes a very dark turn right at the end which hints at the calamity to come. It's one of those songs where a power tenor can just let it all hang out so to speak but at the same time is rather difficult to do right.
(In the concept stage, which is still my favorite recording, the overall dream was curing humanity of all evil and when it finally this hit Broadway there was an extra element of Jekyll's father being insane and that being the origin of his obsession with finding a cure for the mental ills of the world. They also exchanged on of the best songs, "Bring on the Men" with the sub par "Good and Evil". Very disappointing.)
Anyway at the end of this version, when Bach takes a breath right before the finish I really don't blame him because God knows going from "Moment for moment, this was the moment" to "The greatest moment of them all" and then holding "all" requires a serious set of lungs.
Frankly I wish they would have put this performance on the CD instead of the one they did. This one was much stronger overall. |
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| It Sucks Being Right |
[Apr. 28th, 2008|08:03 pm] |
So yeah, I indeed have an upper respiratory infection.
(Not lung cancer as the nightmare that had me literally waking up screaming at about four this morning had me having. Personally I blame the television show that was on since it was talking about a woman with lung cancer.)
This means several things.
1. I feel like ass and have to get up at five in the morning.
2. I have medicine, which I can't start taking until tomorrow because I have to wait a certain amount of time after I take my acid reflux medicine because I don't like break through reflux in the middle of the night.
3. My doctor noticed I had lost weight and encouraged me to lose more by telling me that my reflux will get better when I lose weight and I can eat spicy foods again.
4. I was not sent to the emergency room. Because my doctor has a fucking brain stem.
5. I won't be doing a Views this week. I need the rest. And besides...
6. I still have to finish up my "action plan" for work and...
7. I still have two reviews to finish (thankfully not start) and...
8. I could use a week to write out and maybe record over the weekend two episodes to get them in the can.
9. My "other" project is on hold.
10. I still have to edit that Unique Geek thing, but I should be able to take care of that tomorrow. Besides, something involving the Unique Geek being late is kind of expected at this point.
11. I love my wife because she puts up with my dumb ass.
I threw that last one in for no particular reason.
Sigh.
Off to shower, make something to eat and finish my "action plan".
I really need to find a new line of work. |
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