but i'm lazy. i might do a quickie the lazy 11 days thing, on christmas (assuming a) i bring my laptop to PA to my parents' house and b) i remember....)
but i had to post this link, cos i find it funny, and it ties in very well with.... day 2? the superman one...
http://againwiththecomics.blogspot.com/2007/12/secret-origin-of-santa-claus.html
(i'd just post the images, but i still have presents to wrap and it's late... presents before bloggers.)
23 December, 2007
14 December, 2007
day 14a
this isn't a full post, i just for some reason find this funny. full post will be something more... rodenty.
13 December, 2007
day 13 - s-a-n-t-a c-l-a-u-s hooray for santa claus!
ok.
it's often one of those "worst movie" list movies.
mst3k did an episode around it.
it has pia zadora! (as a kid. but still. other than her appearance in hairspray, and the references on mathnet, pia zadora sucks.)
but, come on, this is just one of the best movie plots i have ever seen:
"The story involves the denizens of the planet Mars, including Momar ("Mom Martian") and Kimar ("King Martian") who are worried that their children Girmar ("Girl Martian") and Bomar ("Boy Martian") are watching too much Earth television, most notably station KID's interview with Santa Claus in his workshop at the North Pole. Consulting the ancient 800-year old Martian sage Chochem, they are advised that the children of Mars are growing distracted due to the society's overly rigid structure; from infancy, all their education is fed into their brains through machines, and they are not allowed individuality or freedom of thought. Chochem sadly notes that he had seen this coming "for centuries", and states that the only way to help the children is to allow them to have freedom, to be allowed to have fun. To do this, they need a Santa Claus figure, like on Earth. Leaving the sage's dwelling, the Martian leaders decide to kidnap Santa Claus from Earth and bring him to Mars to make toys for the children of their planet. One warmongering Martian, Voldar, is in constant disagreement with this idea and repeatedly tries to kill Santa Claus, as well as two kidnapped Earth children, as he believes that Santa is corrupting the children of Mars and turning them away from the race's original glory. Throughout the movie, Santa Claus makes several jokes to the kidnapped children, laughing to himself and met with silence. He then slowly laughs in disappointment each time.
it's absolutely the kind of movie you would expect to see on basic cable/uhf stations during the holiday weekends (see the included video). i particularly love their co-opting of the star wars music for their commercial... and it does include the awesome theme song!
it's often one of those "worst movie" list movies.
mst3k did an episode around it.
it has pia zadora! (as a kid. but still. other than her appearance in hairspray, and the references on mathnet, pia zadora sucks.)
but, come on, this is just one of the best movie plots i have ever seen:
"The story involves the denizens of the planet Mars, including Momar ("Mom Martian") and Kimar ("King Martian") who are worried that their children Girmar ("Girl Martian") and Bomar ("Boy Martian") are watching too much Earth television, most notably station KID's interview with Santa Claus in his workshop at the North Pole. Consulting the ancient 800-year old Martian sage Chochem, they are advised that the children of Mars are growing distracted due to the society's overly rigid structure; from infancy, all their education is fed into their brains through machines, and they are not allowed individuality or freedom of thought. Chochem sadly notes that he had seen this coming "for centuries", and states that the only way to help the children is to allow them to have freedom, to be allowed to have fun. To do this, they need a Santa Claus figure, like on Earth. Leaving the sage's dwelling, the Martian leaders decide to kidnap Santa Claus from Earth and bring him to Mars to make toys for the children of their planet. One warmongering Martian, Voldar, is in constant disagreement with this idea and repeatedly tries to kill Santa Claus, as well as two kidnapped Earth children, as he believes that Santa is corrupting the children of Mars and turning them away from the race's original glory. Throughout the movie, Santa Claus makes several jokes to the kidnapped children, laughing to himself and met with silence. He then slowly laughs in disappointment each time.
When they arrive on Mars, Santa and the children build a factory to make toys for the Martian children. However, Voldar and his assistants, Stobo and Shim, sabotage the factory and change the programming so that it makes the toys incorrectly. Meanwhile, Dropo, a Martian who has been acting silly ever since Santa came to Mars, puts on one of Santa's spare suits and starts talking and acting like Santa Claus. He goes to the toy factory to make toys, but Voldar mistakes him for Santa Claus and kidnaps him. When Santa and the children come back to the factory to make more toys, they discover that the machine has been tampered with. Voldar and Stobo come back to the factory to make a deal with Kimar, but when they see the real Santa Claus in the factory they realize that their plan has been foiled. Dropo, held hostage in a cave, tricks Shim, who was guarding him, and escapes. Kimar then arrests Voldar, Stobo and Shim. Santa notices that Dropo is acting like him, and says that Dropo would make a good Martian Santa Claus. Kimar agrees to make Dropo a Santa Claus on Mars and sends Santa and the children back to earth.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus_Conquers_The_Martians)"
ok. it's bad. worse than bad. but this was the early/mid 60's. comic-surrealism in sci-fi was in. best of all, it's a christmas movie that lacks a lot of the sappiness and moralizing that christmas movies do. yeah, it's shit. bad acting. bad effects. bad directing.
it's absolutely the kind of movie you would expect to see on basic cable/uhf stations during the holiday weekends (see the included video). i particularly love their co-opting of the star wars music for their commercial... and it does include the awesome theme song!
12 December, 2007
day 12 . well, something is vile...
the grinch.
awesome. at least the book, and the original animated speciel. boris karloff! the guy who did the voice of tony the tiger! awesome!
the movie with jim carey?
travesty.
why?
(no, not why is it a travesty. why did they even bother? was it nescessary??)
first, why give the grinch a back story? why make his hatred of christmas and the whos a result of some childhood issues? do we live in such a touchy feely age that a grinch can't just be a grinch, with a two sizes two small heart and a nasty disposition? and isn't cindy lou who supposed to be only 2? do we need jim carey's hamming it up in bad makeup?
ugh. ron howard, i know you like money and stuff but why on earth would yo do this? it's ridiculously cynical. not to mention just really poorly done . i'm glad that the horton hears a who movie coming up is animated, so that regardless of what they do with the story, it won't have the weird, awkwardness of live action actors trying to play dr seuss characters (seriously, the animation looks much more dr seussish and even a little like the animation from the original horton animated thing, which is cool).
sadly, this is is the crap that gets shown on tv - i'm looking at you abc family - and pressed on us as a christmas classic (by the cast of kyleXY, no less!). i'm sure these kids have seen the original and are just contractually required to say how awesome the one that the family channel owns the rights to show is...
sigh.
awesome. at least the book, and the original animated speciel. boris karloff! the guy who did the voice of tony the tiger! awesome!
the movie with jim carey?
travesty.
why?
(no, not why is it a travesty. why did they even bother? was it nescessary??)
first, why give the grinch a back story? why make his hatred of christmas and the whos a result of some childhood issues? do we live in such a touchy feely age that a grinch can't just be a grinch, with a two sizes two small heart and a nasty disposition? and isn't cindy lou who supposed to be only 2? do we need jim carey's hamming it up in bad makeup?
ugh. ron howard, i know you like money and stuff but why on earth would yo do this? it's ridiculously cynical. not to mention just really poorly done . i'm glad that the horton hears a who movie coming up is animated, so that regardless of what they do with the story, it won't have the weird, awkwardness of live action actors trying to play dr seuss characters (seriously, the animation looks much more dr seussish and even a little like the animation from the original horton animated thing, which is cool).
sadly, this is is the crap that gets shown on tv - i'm looking at you abc family - and pressed on us as a christmas classic (by the cast of kyleXY, no less!). i'm sure these kids have seen the original and are just contractually required to say how awesome the one that the family channel owns the rights to show is...
sigh.
holy shit, what?
thanks to wikipedia's article on Rankin Bass:
"The company is now in production with a new holiday film scheduled to be released in 2008. The film will be titled "Rudolph vs. Frosty". It is to fall in line with the recent films depicting classic characters from different series facing off with each other such as "Freddy vs. Jason" and "Alien vs. Predator"."
umm...
ummm......
fuck.
"The company is now in production with a new holiday film scheduled to be released in 2008. The film will be titled "Rudolph vs. Frosty". It is to fall in line with the recent films depicting classic characters from different series facing off with each other such as "Freddy vs. Jason" and "Alien vs. Predator"."
umm...
ummm......
fuck.
11 December, 2007
day 11- how would they know it's christmas?
band aid. nice idea - popular recording artists getting together to aid the starving in africa. bob geldof may be a little bit of a sanctimonious cunt (sorry, but he is. lily allen is right.) but it WAS a nice idea. and where/when else would you have bono, sting, simon le bon, george michael, paul young, and boy george all singing lead together? really.
but... umm... don't they see how it's just a little "white man's burden"-esque?
"well tonight thank god it's them instead of you."?
"There will be no snow in Africa this Christmastime"??
well, first line might be meant ironically. maybe. but is so easily taken as serious - after all, bono sings it with such damned passion. and they do talk about saying a "prayer for the other ones."
and of course there will be no snow in Africa. it's AFRICA. except maybe on mt kilamanjaro there IS no snow. especially since, i'm pretty sure it's summer down there at christmastime.
and, really, other than the ones christianized by the brits and the dutch, a lot of Africans wouldn't know it was christmas, or at least wouldn't care much, because they are muslims.
and really, shouldn't we be thinking of them all year, and not just at christmas?
the song, however, is kind of awesome. and both musically, and in it's sentiments, very thatcher-era britain (just as "we are the world" was very reagan-era USA). and really, what else would you expect? this was still before celebrities actually tried earning points by travelling to Africa, including mr bono. and the little synth line? fucking awesome, though for some reason in my head it sometimes morphs into the intro of "the final countdown."
hmm.
but... umm... don't they see how it's just a little "white man's burden"-esque?
"well tonight thank god it's them instead of you."?
"There will be no snow in Africa this Christmastime"??
well, first line might be meant ironically. maybe. but is so easily taken as serious - after all, bono sings it with such damned passion. and they do talk about saying a "prayer for the other ones."
and of course there will be no snow in Africa. it's AFRICA. except maybe on mt kilamanjaro there IS no snow. especially since, i'm pretty sure it's summer down there at christmastime.
and, really, other than the ones christianized by the brits and the dutch, a lot of Africans wouldn't know it was christmas, or at least wouldn't care much, because they are muslims.
and really, shouldn't we be thinking of them all year, and not just at christmas?
the song, however, is kind of awesome. and both musically, and in it's sentiments, very thatcher-era britain (just as "we are the world" was very reagan-era USA). and really, what else would you expect? this was still before celebrities actually tried earning points by travelling to Africa, including mr bono. and the little synth line? fucking awesome, though for some reason in my head it sometimes morphs into the intro of "the final countdown."
hmm.
10 December, 2007
mtv get off the air, now! (not christmas)
everyone write nasty letters to eMpTyV NOW and demand they rectify this (from the State official website):
"* * * NOTE (Nov 1, 2007): We are sorry to report The State DVD is now NOT being released this fall. We worked closely with MTV to make a great DVD set with lots of extras for the show, and the DVDs are completed, but they have chosen not to release the set at this time. We don't know why."
seriously. what is this bullshit? they have chosen not to... what? the time is NOW! while things like reno 911 are hot. while christmas is coming. while...
i want it!
(i'll still want it 3, 6, 9, 12 months from now but....)
"* * * NOTE (Nov 1, 2007): We are sorry to report The State DVD is now NOT being released this fall. We worked closely with MTV to make a great DVD set with lots of extras for the show, and the DVDs are completed, but they have chosen not to release the set at this time. We don't know why."
seriously. what is this bullshit? they have chosen not to... what? the time is NOW! while things like reno 911 are hot. while christmas is coming. while...
i want it!
(i'll still want it 3, 6, 9, 12 months from now but....)
day 10
charles dickens never thought of this badly animated, slightly repulsive, definitely non-christmasy, bit of "holiday special":
"Cricket on the Hearth" is, of course, not charles dickens' best known christmas story (did he like this one better? hmm. don't know. i haven't heard of him having yo get completely plastered in order to read this one to audiences, though my guess is the makers of the animated film might have been...)
quick plot synopsis, of the original:
"John Peerybingle, a carrier, lives with his wife Dot (who is much younger than he), their baby, their nanny Tilly Slowboy, and a mysterious lodger. A cricket constantly chirps on the hearth and acts as a guardian angel to the family, at one point assuming a human voice to warn John that his suspicions that Dot is having an affair with the lodger are wrong.
The life of the Peerybingles frequently intersects with that of Caleb Plummer, a poor toymaker employed by the miser Mr. Tackleton. Caleb has a blind daughter Bertha, and a son Edward, who travelled to South America and seemingly never returned. Tackleton is now on the eve of marrying Edward's sweetheart, May.
In the end, the lodger is revealed to be none other than Edward. Tackleton's heart is melted by the Christmas season, like Ebenezer Scrooge, and surrenders May to marry her true love. It is suggested ambiguously that Bertha regains her sight at the end. It has also been theorized that the ending paragraph is revealing the baby as the narrator of the story, which he would have been shown by the Cricket"
the cartoon casts off much of this story, focusing more on caleb a bertha, and altering their story quite considerable. truthfully, the cartoon resembles the original in that there's a cricket, a hearth, some wacky mistaken identity (edward is now bertha's beau, not brother, whose dissappearance is what makes bertha blind), a bunch of sweet, sappy, and completely unrelated song numbers - with pretty colors! - and danny thomas (who does the voice of caleb) giving is a nice intro, claiming it to be "charles dickens classic" and then also closing the show, in live action, telling us who played who - his daughter played, well, his daughter; roddy mcdowel played the cricket - and a reminder of the true meaning of the holiday.
the character of tackelton is kept, and probably as dickens meant him - a miserly, and very visible "jewish" stereotype (no, tackelton isn't a jewish name, but that didn't seem to stop the animators.) a weird plot point with him is his pet crow, who he has kidnap the cricket with a monkey and a dog (who meet at the bar where the singing burlesque cat performs), though it's ultimately thwarted.
ummm....
honestly, i can't find a lot of info/pictures/footage. it's available as part of a christmas classics boxed set, which also has rudolph and frosty. and... yeah. i don't think i've seen it on tv - abc family aside - since i was a little kid. seeing it now - i watched it again recently - i'm not sure it's as good as i remember it being. it certainly doesn't SUCK, but between the extremely hippy-ish, late 60's songs and animation, it's quite awkward to watch it now.
and the cricket, seriously, looks like a pickle!
"Cricket on the Hearth" is, of course, not charles dickens' best known christmas story (did he like this one better? hmm. don't know. i haven't heard of him having yo get completely plastered in order to read this one to audiences, though my guess is the makers of the animated film might have been...)
quick plot synopsis, of the original:
"John Peerybingle, a carrier, lives with his wife Dot (who is much younger than he), their baby, their nanny Tilly Slowboy, and a mysterious lodger. A cricket constantly chirps on the hearth and acts as a guardian angel to the family, at one point assuming a human voice to warn John that his suspicions that Dot is having an affair with the lodger are wrong.
The life of the Peerybingles frequently intersects with that of Caleb Plummer, a poor toymaker employed by the miser Mr. Tackleton. Caleb has a blind daughter Bertha, and a son Edward, who travelled to South America and seemingly never returned. Tackleton is now on the eve of marrying Edward's sweetheart, May.
In the end, the lodger is revealed to be none other than Edward. Tackleton's heart is melted by the Christmas season, like Ebenezer Scrooge, and surrenders May to marry her true love. It is suggested ambiguously that Bertha regains her sight at the end. It has also been theorized that the ending paragraph is revealing the baby as the narrator of the story, which he would have been shown by the Cricket"
the cartoon casts off much of this story, focusing more on caleb a bertha, and altering their story quite considerable. truthfully, the cartoon resembles the original in that there's a cricket, a hearth, some wacky mistaken identity (edward is now bertha's beau, not brother, whose dissappearance is what makes bertha blind), a bunch of sweet, sappy, and completely unrelated song numbers - with pretty colors! - and danny thomas (who does the voice of caleb) giving is a nice intro, claiming it to be "charles dickens classic" and then also closing the show, in live action, telling us who played who - his daughter played, well, his daughter; roddy mcdowel played the cricket - and a reminder of the true meaning of the holiday.
the character of tackelton is kept, and probably as dickens meant him - a miserly, and very visible "jewish" stereotype (no, tackelton isn't a jewish name, but that didn't seem to stop the animators.) a weird plot point with him is his pet crow, who he has kidnap the cricket with a monkey and a dog (who meet at the bar where the singing burlesque cat performs), though it's ultimately thwarted.
ummm....
honestly, i can't find a lot of info/pictures/footage. it's available as part of a christmas classics boxed set, which also has rudolph and frosty. and... yeah. i don't think i've seen it on tv - abc family aside - since i was a little kid. seeing it now - i watched it again recently - i'm not sure it's as good as i remember it being. it certainly doesn't SUCK, but between the extremely hippy-ish, late 60's songs and animation, it's quite awkward to watch it now.
and the cricket, seriously, looks like a pickle!
09 December, 2007
day 9
rankin\/bass gave us the classics. rudolph. frosty. jack frost.
the year without a santa clause.
truthfully, the title is misleading, as santa gets off his arse and decides not to get a well deserved rest. it's overall a great story, really, showing the importance of the christmas spirit of giving, etc. but the whole heat miser/snow miser portion of the plot...
umm...
what?
are they villains? they're certainly set up that way at first, but then when we see them again, they're petulant children, with song and dance numbers too boot...
what's with the mini-them dancing around and singing with them? creepy! and there's something just a little... well... i don't think heat miser's the only one who's "flaming." if you get what i mean (i'm amazed paul lynde didn't do one of the voices) but they're definitely not villains, just minor nuisance/antagonists who get dealt with pretty easily.
so, to help get the south to have christmas spirit (because it's hot! amazingly, though there's not a single colored person in "southland USA", the christmas spirit has nothing to do with jim crow, which given the apparent time period, is definitely in effect), two elves and mrs claus have to get it to snow. so they contact these two brothers, and ultimately their mother -mother nature, of course, the family resemblance completely lacking - to make it happen. and guess what! it doesn't work! well... wait... does it? no, i guess not, because it's not the snow that makes santa believe that people believe again. it's a sappy rendition of "blue christmas" sung by a sad little girl (featuring puppets with huge, disproportionate blobs of glycerine on their eyes) and then, a bunch of racial/ethnic stereotyped children - though i guess it's a little more like the small world ride at disney get together and give santa presents.
they did a tv remake a few years ago, with john goodman playing santa (yeah, goodman taking part in another ruining remake/sequel to a rankin-bass classic!... i'll talk about frosty returns another day). they kept the heatmiser/snowmiser songs sort of - harvey firestein played the heat miser? wtf?!?! was that necessary? ugh.
(i feel sad putting this here, but...)
the dancing girls are unnecessary, though i'm guessing nbc lacked the budget to make mini-michael mckean/harvey feirsteins, but it made me think of the one bad thing about "viva variety" which was the dancing girls thrown into every musical act's number... regardless of the song/act (yeah. viva variety. with the state DVD in limbo, i'm assuming we'll NEVER see that either....)
the year without a santa clause.
truthfully, the title is misleading, as santa gets off his arse and decides not to get a well deserved rest. it's overall a great story, really, showing the importance of the christmas spirit of giving, etc. but the whole heat miser/snow miser portion of the plot...
umm...
what?
are they villains? they're certainly set up that way at first, but then when we see them again, they're petulant children, with song and dance numbers too boot...
what's with the mini-them dancing around and singing with them? creepy! and there's something just a little... well... i don't think heat miser's the only one who's "flaming." if you get what i mean (i'm amazed paul lynde didn't do one of the voices) but they're definitely not villains, just minor nuisance/antagonists who get dealt with pretty easily.
so, to help get the south to have christmas spirit (because it's hot! amazingly, though there's not a single colored person in "southland USA", the christmas spirit has nothing to do with jim crow, which given the apparent time period, is definitely in effect), two elves and mrs claus have to get it to snow. so they contact these two brothers, and ultimately their mother -mother nature, of course, the family resemblance completely lacking - to make it happen. and guess what! it doesn't work! well... wait... does it? no, i guess not, because it's not the snow that makes santa believe that people believe again. it's a sappy rendition of "blue christmas" sung by a sad little girl (featuring puppets with huge, disproportionate blobs of glycerine on their eyes) and then, a bunch of racial/ethnic stereotyped children - though i guess it's a little more like the small world ride at disney get together and give santa presents.
they did a tv remake a few years ago, with john goodman playing santa (yeah, goodman taking part in another ruining remake/sequel to a rankin-bass classic!... i'll talk about frosty returns another day). they kept the heatmiser/snowmiser songs sort of - harvey firestein played the heat miser? wtf?!?! was that necessary? ugh.
(i feel sad putting this here, but...)
the dancing girls are unnecessary, though i'm guessing nbc lacked the budget to make mini-michael mckean/harvey feirsteins, but it made me think of the one bad thing about "viva variety" which was the dancing girls thrown into every musical act's number... regardless of the song/act (yeah. viva variety. with the state DVD in limbo, i'm assuming we'll NEVER see that either....)
08 December, 2007
day 8
oh the wonders of backdating... not that i would... no.... never...
but anyway.
ahh, mid 80's rap. before bling, puffy, and the benjamins ruined it. before everyone got scowly and serious (ok, i like a lot of the scowly, serious rappers too, but give me almost anything before 1989 or so over most of what gangsta wrought, and especially over all the puffy/ma$e/whatever junk of the mid 90's).
could a modern rap act even get away with this? probably not, at least not one with the kind of mainstream acceptance that got RunDMC on the first "very special christmas" compilation in the first place. maybe some of the more indie minded rappers, but anyone else would just make a mockery of it. not that the song isn't "funny," but it's certainly not a joke.
best lyrics:
It's Christmas time in Hollis Queens
Mom's cooking chicken and collard greens
Rice and stuffing, macaroni and cheese
And Santa put gifts under Christmas trees
Decorate the house with lights at night
Snow's on the ground, snow white so bright
In the fireplace is the yule log
Beneath the mistle toe as we drink egg nog
The rhymes that you hear are the rhymes of Darryl's
But each and every year we bust Christmas carols
it's sort of silly, and innocent, and... awesome.
someone - POD, maybe? - did a godawful remake of this a few years ago. they did keep the lyrics but it was unnecessary. nobody can really recapture this. back when Rap was young, and - while still certainly socially conscious - wasn't above just having a simple good time, without everything that would these days be railed against by social commentators as "negative influences."
i definitely count this as one of my favorite christmas songs ever.
but anyway.
ahh, mid 80's rap. before bling, puffy, and the benjamins ruined it. before everyone got scowly and serious (ok, i like a lot of the scowly, serious rappers too, but give me almost anything before 1989 or so over most of what gangsta wrought, and especially over all the puffy/ma$e/whatever junk of the mid 90's).
could a modern rap act even get away with this? probably not, at least not one with the kind of mainstream acceptance that got RunDMC on the first "very special christmas" compilation in the first place. maybe some of the more indie minded rappers, but anyone else would just make a mockery of it. not that the song isn't "funny," but it's certainly not a joke.
best lyrics:
It's Christmas time in Hollis Queens
Mom's cooking chicken and collard greens
Rice and stuffing, macaroni and cheese
And Santa put gifts under Christmas trees
Decorate the house with lights at night
Snow's on the ground, snow white so bright
In the fireplace is the yule log
Beneath the mistle toe as we drink egg nog
The rhymes that you hear are the rhymes of Darryl's
But each and every year we bust Christmas carols
it's sort of silly, and innocent, and... awesome.
someone - POD, maybe? - did a godawful remake of this a few years ago. they did keep the lyrics but it was unnecessary. nobody can really recapture this. back when Rap was young, and - while still certainly socially conscious - wasn't above just having a simple good time, without everything that would these days be railed against by social commentators as "negative influences."
i definitely count this as one of my favorite christmas songs ever.
07 December, 2007
day7-chompchompchomp
ok. there was supposed to be a day 6 but because of car accidents due to stupid high school kids who are late for foorball games...
here's day 7: one of the best memories i have of holiday cartoon goodness from my childhood
i think it really speaks for itself. (and, awesomely, this links to the whole special! thanks aol!)
a few things though: pac man's kind of a jerk. i never really thought of him as being from brooklyn either.... and why are the ghosts singing jingle bells? i mean, why not but... why?
this pops up on cartoon network every once and a while, but when i was a kid it was really a staple of the USA cartoon express. being a little nerd like i was, i loved the pac man cartoon for a lot of reasons (honestly, i'm not sure i played a lot of pac man as a kid. we had it on our Atari, but i think i was more of a "burger time" fan, and "pitfall." that, and our atari burned out when i was 6 so... looking back, i think they took a lot of liberties with the game and such to make the cartoon - all video game cartoons/movie adaptations do this though so i can't blame em, and pac man doesn't really give a ready made backstory - unlike mario or even zelda. in some ways, it feels like more hanna barbera taking classic concepts from old tv and movies (the flintstones as a prehistoric honeymooners, for example) and applying beloved video game characters over it. i'm sure - though nothing rings a bell - that like a lot of animated holiday specials, this is a redone tale with some pac man lingo thrown in.
truthfully, though, i just love that christmas came to pacland. it's up there with santa and superman. and it's just absolutely fucking brilliant.
anyway. tomorrow resumes normal schedule. i'll make up for missing one by making a super post or something, possibly related to the show we didn't see due to the accident, a christmas carol.
here's day 7: one of the best memories i have of holiday cartoon goodness from my childhood
i think it really speaks for itself. (and, awesomely, this links to the whole special! thanks aol!)
a few things though: pac man's kind of a jerk. i never really thought of him as being from brooklyn either.... and why are the ghosts singing jingle bells? i mean, why not but... why?
this pops up on cartoon network every once and a while, but when i was a kid it was really a staple of the USA cartoon express. being a little nerd like i was, i loved the pac man cartoon for a lot of reasons (honestly, i'm not sure i played a lot of pac man as a kid. we had it on our Atari, but i think i was more of a "burger time" fan, and "pitfall." that, and our atari burned out when i was 6 so... looking back, i think they took a lot of liberties with the game and such to make the cartoon - all video game cartoons/movie adaptations do this though so i can't blame em, and pac man doesn't really give a ready made backstory - unlike mario or even zelda. in some ways, it feels like more hanna barbera taking classic concepts from old tv and movies (the flintstones as a prehistoric honeymooners, for example) and applying beloved video game characters over it. i'm sure - though nothing rings a bell - that like a lot of animated holiday specials, this is a redone tale with some pac man lingo thrown in.
truthfully, though, i just love that christmas came to pacland. it's up there with santa and superman. and it's just absolutely fucking brilliant.
anyway. tomorrow resumes normal schedule. i'll make up for missing one by making a super post or something, possibly related to the show we didn't see due to the accident, a christmas carol.
04 December, 2007
day 4 - thin white angel of death vs. bing
Bing Crosby - Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy
Posted Nov 07, 2006first of all, it's obvious that david bowie knows exactly who he's talking to when he mentions he "even has a go at white christmas." wink nudge. of course, this was all a planned number, but it completely loses the pretense of sponteneity when he says that. but, at the same time, i doubt the audience would particularly give a damn. i would really not be surprised if bing had no idea who he was talking to, though even that's unlikely - this was when bowie was particularly huge, both in the UK and the US. to assume that he wouldn't know bowie at all...
when bing asks bowie if he likes any of the old stuff, bowie replies he likes john lennon and harry nilsson. ha! wacky way to show the generational difference!
the song itself is my next point of contention. seriously, if "little drummer boy" is david bowie's son's "favorite," why does he end up singing an entirely different song? according to the washington post:
"The original plan had been for Bowie and Crosby to sing just "Little Drummer Boy." But "David came in and said: 'I hate this song. Is there something else I could sing?' " Fraser said. "We didn't know quite what to do."not that the "peace on earth" song is BAD. it just, again, makes no sense in the setup. (hell, the setup that "white christmas" is one of the "traditional" things is sort of silly too...)
Fraser, Kohan and Grossman left the set and found a piano in the studios' basement. In about 75 minutes, they wrote "Peace on Earth," an original tune, and worked out an arrangement that weaved together the two songs. Bowie and Crosby nailed the performance with less than an hour of rehearsal."
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/19/AR2006121901260.html)
i guess there's not much more to say about this. bing crosby died not too much later, giving a sort of creepy "angel of death" vibe to david bowie (they also aired a performanc/video of heroes on the special, as they had done for marc bolan. both crosby and bolan died before their respective specials aired).
years later, bob mould and craig kilbourne did a note for note, word for word, remake of this for the daily show before john stewart made it the awesomeness it is today (sadly, i can't find a video of this). thankfully, neither of them died before it aired...
03 December, 2007
25 days of x-mas day 3
i posted about this back when i first started my blog, but it being christmas i thought i'd revisit it and all it's "pre-crisis" cheesiness.
so first, the cover. a little misleading when it comes to the story, but really, a lot of cominc book covers are these days (seriously, who ever sees those comic book covers with two heroes "fighting" and thinks that, inside, you'll see a giant superhero battle royale? world war hulk and civil war aside), and were even more in those days. but no, nowhere in this issue is superman going down a chimney or toyman ambushing the big boy scout and the man in the big red suit from the rooftop with an army of toy soldiers.
the issue itself is the kind of story you really won't find anywhere in comics today, except maybe in some indie's homaging of this era. post crisis DC comics are, largely, too "serious" for this type of story (though apparently someone's bringing back bat-mite soon!).
a few things to remember: the fortress of solitude is in the north pole. santa's workshop is in the north pole. it only seems natural that these worlds would collide.
after superman stops timmy from robbing a charity worker, he finds that the kid is under the hypnotic spell of a toy made by the original toyman, so he takes him to the fortress to cure him. suddenly, a beam from the toy hits superman and he falls from the sky - the victim of toyman finding "meteorite laced with White Dwarf-Star matter on sale as a paperweight." (seriously, who writes this stuff?)
superman wakes to find himself surrounded by elves and santa himself. he wonders why he has never seen it, which is apparently the result of magic (superman can't beat magic) because only people who santa wants to see it... blah blah blah... they tour the workshop and superman sees a toy that reminds him of one he had when he was a baby that was destoyed when krypton went kerblooey - a thought projecting device.
superman still too weak to fight toyman, santa offers to help, even giving him a ride on the sleigh. they go down toyman's chimney and... well... santa unleashes his "good toys" to beat toyman's "bad toys" which were all carrying kryptonite making santa's help a necessity.
when all is said - all the evil hypnotic toys are rounded up and everything seems great - another "gravity beam" hits superman. he wakes up in the snow at the fortress with timmy hovering over him, and thinking his entire santa encounter was a dream. then, when he gets home, he finds.... a thought projector! which then projects an image of santa wishing him a happy christmas!
all in all, it's a fun comic. good clean american christmas fun. of course, i wouldn't be me without pointing out a glaring - to me at least - plot point. superman thought the entire santa encounter was a dream, shouldn't he have then immediately thought the entire toyman battle was fake, not return timmy home yet, and go after toyman? granted, it wasn't a dream but still... superman might not be as knee jerk as some superheroes, but he's not methodical or contemplating either.
i'm sure there are other great christmasy comics... i just might have to talk about them sometime.
so first, the cover. a little misleading when it comes to the story, but really, a lot of cominc book covers are these days (seriously, who ever sees those comic book covers with two heroes "fighting" and thinks that, inside, you'll see a giant superhero battle royale? world war hulk and civil war aside), and were even more in those days. but no, nowhere in this issue is superman going down a chimney or toyman ambushing the big boy scout and the man in the big red suit from the rooftop with an army of toy soldiers.
the issue itself is the kind of story you really won't find anywhere in comics today, except maybe in some indie's homaging of this era. post crisis DC comics are, largely, too "serious" for this type of story (though apparently someone's bringing back bat-mite soon!).
a few things to remember: the fortress of solitude is in the north pole. santa's workshop is in the north pole. it only seems natural that these worlds would collide.
after superman stops timmy from robbing a charity worker, he finds that the kid is under the hypnotic spell of a toy made by the original toyman, so he takes him to the fortress to cure him. suddenly, a beam from the toy hits superman and he falls from the sky - the victim of toyman finding "meteorite laced with White Dwarf-Star matter on sale as a paperweight." (seriously, who writes this stuff?)
superman wakes to find himself surrounded by elves and santa himself. he wonders why he has never seen it, which is apparently the result of magic (superman can't beat magic) because only people who santa wants to see it... blah blah blah... they tour the workshop and superman sees a toy that reminds him of one he had when he was a baby that was destoyed when krypton went kerblooey - a thought projecting device.
superman still too weak to fight toyman, santa offers to help, even giving him a ride on the sleigh. they go down toyman's chimney and... well... santa unleashes his "good toys" to beat toyman's "bad toys" which were all carrying kryptonite making santa's help a necessity.
when all is said - all the evil hypnotic toys are rounded up and everything seems great - another "gravity beam" hits superman. he wakes up in the snow at the fortress with timmy hovering over him, and thinking his entire santa encounter was a dream. then, when he gets home, he finds.... a thought projector! which then projects an image of santa wishing him a happy christmas!
all in all, it's a fun comic. good clean american christmas fun. of course, i wouldn't be me without pointing out a glaring - to me at least - plot point. superman thought the entire santa encounter was a dream, shouldn't he have then immediately thought the entire toyman battle was fake, not return timmy home yet, and go after toyman? granted, it wasn't a dream but still... superman might not be as knee jerk as some superheroes, but he's not methodical or contemplating either.
i'm sure there are other great christmasy comics... i just might have to talk about them sometime.
02 December, 2007
day 2: holiday heap recap and joy
so the CCCM's second show, holiday heap, has now come and gone. and let's just say it was AWESOME! seriously, even with the sort of hectic feeling of the last week, it was seriously one of the coolest things i have ever been a part of.
first things first, sleepy records (ie annie and me) DJ set lists:
hour 1:
The Godfather Waltz
Fairytale of New York - The Pogues
No Action - Elvis Costello
Kings Of The Wild Frontier - Adam & The Ants
Johnny 99 - Los Lobos
Comic Strip - Serge Gainsbourg
The Gash - The Flaming Lips
Let Me Go Home - Camera Obscura
Rebellion (Lies) - Arcade Fire
Spanish Bombs - The Clash
Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna Fight Tonight) [Single Version] -The
Ramones
No. 5 (Boogie Woogie No. 5) - Puffy AmiYumi
A Little Respect - Erasure
Like a Virgin - Madonna
Kiss - Prince
If She Knew What She Wants - The Bangles
hour 2:
Christmas Time Is Here - Vince Guaraldi Trio
Christmas Time is Here-Ivy
City Morning Song-Sarah Shannon
Postcards From Italy-Beirut
anthems for a seventeen year old girl - Broken Social Scene
The Start of Something-Voxtrot
christmas time is here-capsela
Silver Lining-Beulah
New York Snow-Looper
Frankly, Mr. Shankly-The Smiths
Try A Little Tenderness-Otis Redding
When the curious girl realizes she is under glass - Bright Eyes
Puttin' On The Ritz-Shiny Toy Guns
The Best Days - Softies
Everything And More - Dolly Mixture
Call Me - I Am The World Trade Center
Thanks for Christmas - XTC
The Sun Goes Down And The World Goes Dancing - The Magnetic Fields
hour 3:
Let's Go Crazy - Prince & The Revolution
Party Time (a Womyn's Luv)- Lesbians On Ecstasy
She Bop - Cyndi Lauper
Push It - Salt-N-Pepa
Friendship Station - Le Tigre
Bust a Move -Young MC
Don't You Want Me -The Human League
The Sound Of The Crowd - superheroes
Major Tom (Coming Home) - Peter Schilling
Electric Renaissance - Belle & Sebastian
Ultraviolence - New Order
24 Hour Party People - Happy MondaysM
Do You Want to - Franz Ferdinand
Riot Radio -The Dead 60s
hour 4:
The Christmas song The Raveonettes
Credit In The Straight World Young Marble Giants
Temptation (Original 7-inch) New Order
Dancefloor The Brunettes
St. James Infirmary Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan
First Of The Gang To Die Morrissey
Another Girl, Another Planet The Only Ones
Feed The World Richard Davies
Girls & Boys (Pet Shop Boys 7" Mix) Blur
The Fox in the Snow Rasputina
Motorcrash Sugarcubes
Three Girl Rhumba Wire
Tales of Brave Aphrodite Velocity Girl
New England Kirsty MacColl
Christmas In Hollis Run DMC
All The Right Reasons Dressy Bessy
Let's Pretend We're Married Prince
hour 5:
Squance - Plaid
Xtal - Aphex Twin
As Serious As Your Life - FourTet
Risingson - Massive Attack
Death Goes To The Disco - Pulp
Halo - Depeche Mode
Discotraxx - Ladytron
Computer Blue - Prince & The Revolution
Dance 1- Kiss Me Deadly
Sing Songs Along - Tilly & The Wall
Fire In Cairo - The Cure
The Day That Thatcher Dies - Hefner
(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais - The Clash
Dreaming - Blondie
hour 6:
In the Bleak Midwinter - The Pipettes
Round - Lou Barlow
Y Control [ The Faint Remix ]- Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Pocket Calculator - Kraftwerk
Crazy Rhythms - The Feelies
Santa, Bring My Baby Back to Me - Belle & Sebastian
Killing - The Rapture
Rock_Me_Amadeus - Falco
Broadway (So Many People) - Low
I Was Born On Christmas Day - Saint Etienne
Chick Habit - April March
Fools Rush In - Bow Wow Wow
Everythings Just Wonderful - Lily Allen
Victoria - The Fall
White Lines - Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
White Christmas - Bright Eyes
Sally MacLennane - The Pogues
hour 7:
Creepy Santa
Just Like Christmas - Low
Knee Deep At the National Pop League - Camera Obscura
Sweeping The Nation - Spearmint
The Model - Belle & Sebastian
Talulah Gosh - Talulah Gosh
Waterfall - The Stone Roses
Ask - The Smiths
Tracy and I - Little Name
Spotlight on Christmas - Rufus Wainwright
Silver and Gold - Calla
The Only Moment We Were Alone - Explosions In The Sky
Sea-Microphone - Cake On Cake
I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm - Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra
we got a lot of great compliments for our sets, which is always nice we're talking of a) getting some real DJing equipment, so we don't run into the issues we had at 2640 with the sound equipment (i mean, it worked but... yikes. plugging a portable cd player into a mixer and then doing some neat wiring and cabling tricks to get sound into the second room just doesn't work so well... i mean, it does, but seriously could have been better managed...)
the sleepy records table was a success as well, though i guess since we were basically giving things away, it really couldn't do anything but. we also got a good bit of donation money for the baltimore sandwhich project and other sleepy records projects, though i think the adorable bear helped:
next time, i think, we'll actually sell stuff (6 months to make product for little mouse vintage and maybe have some cd's/tshirts/etc. for sale from sleepy... yeah... we can do it....). but other vendors who were selling things were also phenominally successful! lots of people! lots of money!
one of my favorite non-mafia vendors - other than karma's cafe which was tres awesome with her cider and deliciousa cookies - was noosed kitty (ok, her work has a morbid end to it, but it's also brilliant - i got a print and some badges). but there were so many good vendors (including the cigar box guitar guy... go here for the complete list of vendors.)
we also had some fun with decorating with dinoboy
,
who strangely here is sideways because my camera did something funny when it loaded the picture, and whose santa hat and beard you can't get the full effect of...
as well as with one of the coolest, most exciting movie homages ever:
which got zero outraged comments, despite the presence of children (ann apparently was even warned, while wearing her antlers, that "they're beheading reindeer in the other room").
all in all, exhausting - especially after trying to lug boxes and bags of canned good to my car and then back because we realized the impossibility of carrying and storing them until friday and then found out the the shelter at the church where the even was could take the canned goods - but absolutely bloody brilliant.
now starts the planning for the next show... pile of craft 2!
first things first, sleepy records (ie annie and me) DJ set lists:
hour 1:
The Godfather Waltz
Fairytale of New York - The Pogues
No Action - Elvis Costello
Kings Of The Wild Frontier - Adam & The Ants
Johnny 99 - Los Lobos
Comic Strip - Serge Gainsbourg
The Gash - The Flaming Lips
Let Me Go Home - Camera Obscura
Rebellion (Lies) - Arcade Fire
Spanish Bombs - The Clash
Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna Fight Tonight) [Single Version] -The
Ramones
No. 5 (Boogie Woogie No. 5) - Puffy AmiYumi
A Little Respect - Erasure
Like a Virgin - Madonna
Kiss - Prince
If She Knew What She Wants - The Bangles
hour 2:
Christmas Time Is Here - Vince Guaraldi Trio
Christmas Time is Here-Ivy
City Morning Song-Sarah Shannon
Postcards From Italy-Beirut
anthems for a seventeen year old girl - Broken Social Scene
The Start of Something-Voxtrot
christmas time is here-capsela
Silver Lining-Beulah
New York Snow-Looper
Frankly, Mr. Shankly-The Smiths
Try A Little Tenderness-Otis Redding
When the curious girl realizes she is under glass - Bright Eyes
Puttin' On The Ritz-Shiny Toy Guns
The Best Days - Softies
Everything And More - Dolly Mixture
Call Me - I Am The World Trade Center
Thanks for Christmas - XTC
The Sun Goes Down And The World Goes Dancing - The Magnetic Fields
hour 3:
Let's Go Crazy - Prince & The Revolution
Party Time (a Womyn's Luv)- Lesbians On Ecstasy
She Bop - Cyndi Lauper
Push It - Salt-N-Pepa
Friendship Station - Le Tigre
Bust a Move -Young MC
Don't You Want Me -The Human League
The Sound Of The Crowd - superheroes
Major Tom (Coming Home) - Peter Schilling
Electric Renaissance - Belle & Sebastian
Ultraviolence - New Order
24 Hour Party People - Happy MondaysM
Do You Want to - Franz Ferdinand
Riot Radio -The Dead 60s
hour 4:
The Christmas song The Raveonettes
Credit In The Straight World Young Marble Giants
Temptation (Original 7-inch) New Order
Dancefloor The Brunettes
St. James Infirmary Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan
First Of The Gang To Die Morrissey
Another Girl, Another Planet The Only Ones
Feed The World Richard Davies
Girls & Boys (Pet Shop Boys 7" Mix) Blur
The Fox in the Snow Rasputina
Motorcrash Sugarcubes
Three Girl Rhumba Wire
Tales of Brave Aphrodite Velocity Girl
New England Kirsty MacColl
Christmas In Hollis Run DMC
All The Right Reasons Dressy Bessy
Let's Pretend We're Married Prince
hour 5:
Squance - Plaid
Xtal - Aphex Twin
As Serious As Your Life - FourTet
Risingson - Massive Attack
Death Goes To The Disco - Pulp
Halo - Depeche Mode
Discotraxx - Ladytron
Computer Blue - Prince & The Revolution
Dance 1- Kiss Me Deadly
Sing Songs Along - Tilly & The Wall
Fire In Cairo - The Cure
The Day That Thatcher Dies - Hefner
(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais - The Clash
Dreaming - Blondie
hour 6:
In the Bleak Midwinter - The Pipettes
Round - Lou Barlow
Y Control [ The Faint Remix ]- Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Pocket Calculator - Kraftwerk
Crazy Rhythms - The Feelies
Santa, Bring My Baby Back to Me - Belle & Sebastian
Killing - The Rapture
Rock_Me_Amadeus - Falco
Broadway (So Many People) - Low
I Was Born On Christmas Day - Saint Etienne
Chick Habit - April March
Fools Rush In - Bow Wow Wow
Everythings Just Wonderful - Lily Allen
Victoria - The Fall
White Lines - Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
White Christmas - Bright Eyes
Sally MacLennane - The Pogues
hour 7:
Creepy Santa
Just Like Christmas - Low
Knee Deep At the National Pop League - Camera Obscura
Sweeping The Nation - Spearmint
The Model - Belle & Sebastian
Talulah Gosh - Talulah Gosh
Waterfall - The Stone Roses
Ask - The Smiths
Tracy and I - Little Name
Spotlight on Christmas - Rufus Wainwright
Silver and Gold - Calla
The Only Moment We Were Alone - Explosions In The Sky
Sea-Microphone - Cake On Cake
I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm - Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra
we got a lot of great compliments for our sets, which is always nice we're talking of a) getting some real DJing equipment, so we don't run into the issues we had at 2640 with the sound equipment (i mean, it worked but... yikes. plugging a portable cd player into a mixer and then doing some neat wiring and cabling tricks to get sound into the second room just doesn't work so well... i mean, it does, but seriously could have been better managed...)
the sleepy records table was a success as well, though i guess since we were basically giving things away, it really couldn't do anything but. we also got a good bit of donation money for the baltimore sandwhich project and other sleepy records projects, though i think the adorable bear helped:
next time, i think, we'll actually sell stuff (6 months to make product for little mouse vintage and maybe have some cd's/tshirts/etc. for sale from sleepy... yeah... we can do it....). but other vendors who were selling things were also phenominally successful! lots of people! lots of money!
one of my favorite non-mafia vendors - other than karma's cafe which was tres awesome with her cider and deliciousa cookies - was noosed kitty (ok, her work has a morbid end to it, but it's also brilliant - i got a print and some badges). but there were so many good vendors (including the cigar box guitar guy... go here for the complete list of vendors.)
we also had some fun with decorating with dinoboy
,who strangely here is sideways because my camera did something funny when it loaded the picture, and whose santa hat and beard you can't get the full effect of...
as well as with one of the coolest, most exciting movie homages ever:
which got zero outraged comments, despite the presence of children (ann apparently was even warned, while wearing her antlers, that "they're beheading reindeer in the other room").
all in all, exhausting - especially after trying to lug boxes and bags of canned good to my car and then back because we realized the impossibility of carrying and storing them until friday and then found out the the shelter at the church where the even was could take the canned goods - but absolutely bloody brilliant.
now starts the planning for the next show... pile of craft 2!
01 December, 2007
25 days of X-mas day one
so what better way to stay a christmasy countdown then with the ultimate in christmasy countdowns, the 12 days of christmas.
on the first...
first, this statement: According to the 23rd annual survey, the cost of “The Twelve Days of Christmas” is $19,507 in 2007 (from pnc bank's website on the subject http://www.pncchristmaspriceindex.com) .
so, really, who actually calculates this stuff? ok, the website TELLS you that, but has christmas become - as charlie brown so memorably lamented - so commercial?
this song has itself had many versions. bob and doug mackinzies version, replacing the partridge with "a beer... in a tree" is canadian humor at its best. yay canadian jokes!
anyway, here's the chart to show what shallow money counters/lenders - like scrooge mcduck! - have been observing about christmas for the last several years:
on the first...
first, this statement: According to the 23rd annual survey, the cost of “The Twelve Days of Christmas” is $19,507 in 2007 (from pnc bank's website on the subject http://www.pncchristmaspriceindex.com) .
so, really, who actually calculates this stuff? ok, the website TELLS you that, but has christmas become - as charlie brown so memorably lamented - so commercial?
this song has itself had many versions. bob and doug mackinzies version, replacing the partridge with "a beer... in a tree" is canadian humor at its best. yay canadian jokes!
"Bob: Ok, on the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me..
beer.
On the 2nd day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
2 turtlenecks,
and beer.
On the 3rd day of Christmas, my true love gave to me..
3 french toast,
2 turtlenecks,
and beer.
There should be more there, eh?
Where?
On the 4th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me..
4lbs of backbacon,
3 french toast,
2 turtlenecks,
and beer in a tree.
Oh. See? ya need more.
On the 5th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me..
5 GOLDEN TOQUES!
4lbs of backbacon,
3 french toast,
2 turtlenecks,
and beer in a tree.
On the 6th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me..
6 packs of two-four.
5 GOLDEN TOQUES!
4lbs of backbacon,
3 french toast,
2 turtlenecks,
and beer in a tree.
Ok.
On the 7th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me..
7 packs of smokes,
6 packs of two-four,
5 GOLDEN TOQUES!
4lbs of backbacon,
3 french toast,
2 turtlenecks,
and beer in a tree.
oh, i keep forgettin'.
whew, this should be just the 2 days of xmas, this is too hard for us!
On the 8th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me..
8 comic books,
7 packs of smokes,
6 packs of two-four,
5 GOLDEN TOQUES!
4lbs of backbacon,
3 french toast,
2 turtlenecks,
and beer in a tree.
Wow,That beers empty
Day 12.
G'day and welcome to day 12.
Yeah.
5 GOLDEN TOQUES!
4lbs of backbacon,
3 french toast,
2 turtlenecks,
and beer in a tre-e.
Where did you learn to do that?
Uh, Albums.
Boy, so thats our song merry Christmas, and g'day.
G'day everybody. Happy new years.
Ok, ya know what ya left out?
What?
Donuts. I told you to get me donuts.
Oh no!
Either on the 9th day, or the 10th day or the 11th day. I wanted donuts.
The song is over merry Christmas everybody, or the 12th you coulda gotten me a dozen donuts.
Go to the stores and get some presents. You coulda gone down to the donut shop where you buy a dozen donuts, you get another donut free. Then it coulda been 13 for the 13 days of Christmas.
Next Christmas, get me a chainsaw.
Take off!
Boy that song was a beauty.. it moved me.
Yah , it ranks up there with stairway to heaven."
so there's that...
i dunno. i happen to really like the song, maybe because i grew up with the muppets/john denver version - something which rightfully deserves it's own geekdom post - which is probably the first version that enters my head whenever someone brings up the song.
but back to the price index stuff...
so christmas would have the true love spending almost 20000 dollars, meaning it's more than a years salary of a growing portion of people in this country. the price of gold and the minimum wage hike (milkmaids, also probably pipers and drummers, because i would assume that their musicians unions would ask for a hike to coincide with the min wage hike) have apparently caused this...
but really, who wants these things. a partridge in a pear tree? when i was little we had a pear tree. i think if a partridge had shown up in it it would have freaked us out a bit. it was tiny anyway and probably wouldn't support the partridge's weight. and who gives someone a fruit tree for christmas anyway, with or without a bird already living in it? hell, all the bird gifts seem just a bit ridiculous, unless they're meant for eating, but who eats swan? hell, who eats a turtle dove?
really, the only good "gift" in the bunch is probably the gold rings. but who needs five? are they in love with liz taylor? miss piggy loves them, certainly, but then again, where does she wear them, her tail? (ok, she;'s a muppet and therefore is a pig with fingers... but honestly...). otherwise, all the singer is getting is a ton of birds, and a musical troupe that, really, should all arrive at the same time anyway if they expect to have a cohesive musical performance...
i'd imagine the mackinzie brothers version is far cheaper, even now. hell, in canadian dollars it's even better!anyway, here's the chart to show what shallow money counters/lenders - like scrooge mcduck! - have been observing about christmas for the last several years:
26 November, 2007
holiday happenings
so, i know i said this about halloween, but i think i'm going to do somethinc christmasy here. i think i might even take the stupid abc family channel idea of "25 days" of christmas and run with it.... christmas music, movies, books, etc.
suggestions?
suggestions?
holiday heapster
so, if yr in baltimore, and need something to do this saturday...
(for more info, see www.charmcitycraftmafia.com)
02 November, 2007
it's karen black's fault
yeah.
so i completely dropped the ball on the entire week of horror movie related posts.
anyway.
more. later. or something.
so i completely dropped the ball on the entire week of horror movie related posts.
anyway.
more. later. or something.
25 October, 2007
days 2 and 3.... spoooooooky
well, the WAS going to be daily...
lazy blogger. lazy.
anyway....
so today... errr... yesterday, i am going to talk about one of the more predominant threads in slasher/horror movies: holidays.
of course, duh, there's the entire halloween series - debate its quality all you want (and i will, later) - but holidays and horror really somehow go hand in hand.
probably the next most prolific horror holiday is christmas. now, gremlins aside (yes, it is sometimes considered a horror movie, and is probably one of the better "wink wink nudge nudge" style horror movies, before the whole trend in the mid 90's that "scream" started - yes, another post for another day), there are really two major players on the scene here.
first we have "black christmas." bad, "hot teen" filled remakes aside - as a general rule, i don't see remakes of horror movies, unless they really intrigue me, which they basically never do - black christmas was really the standard bearer for the whole "holiday slasher" film genre (and actually came 4 years BEFORE "halloween"!) it also was one of the first "the killer is in the house" movies. and, honestly, it's kind of a good movie.
the cast: juliette, lois lane, and david bowman! (errr... olivia hussey, margot kidder, and keir dullea). kidder was before her heyday, and was sort of a scream queen at the time - amityville horror, etc; dullea was still probably mostly known for 2001 (i didn't even know that he actually has been in quite a few movies, though none of them particularly great movies); and olivia hussey's career had sort of devolved from zefirelli's "romeo and juliet" - yeah, she played the virgin mary a few years later, and would one day play mother theresa - but she also ended up playing mrs bates in the bad made for Showtime "Psycho" sequel).
it's odd that this one even holds up - few slasher movies do, especially since all the deconstruction done on the genre. i mean, that it even qualified for a remake is testament to that... but yeah.
on the other side of the coin, we have "silent night, deadly night". now, when i was a kid, i actually thought that this movies was just a punchline to some joke told on the gary shandling show (i am pretty sure it was there, at least). little did i know that not only was it for real, but it also had a host of sequels!
plot is basically, kid sees dad murdered and mom raped by guy in a santa suit - after being told that santa punishes those who are naughty by his catatonic grandfather (he even warned his mom, after she said something unkind about santa, that she would be punished). so he's scarred. grows up, dresses as santa one day, and ends up going after "naughty" people - since this was the 80's, it wasn't just revenge that drove him - teenagers having sex, etc all were declared "naughty!" the end then brings us one of the most blatant openings for a sequel ever - when the killer is killed, as all slasher movie killers are, at least apparently, the camera pans to his younger brother - who also witnessed mom and dad getting killed - who says to the camera "naughty."
this one does not hold up. not in the slightest. pure 1984 cheese. seriously, if this movie wasn;t shown on the USA network's saturday midnight movie thing - which the only rule for what they would show was apparently that it had to be shit - i would be surprised. seriously, the best slasher movies are the ones that are somewhat inventive - hell, even sleepaway camp with the whole "female killer who's actually a male!" reveal has a certain quality to it - but this just seemed like someone saying "hey, let's make the killer a guy in a santa suit!" followes by "oooh, let's make a lot of quick, even cheaper, sequels!"
other holiday horror:
"my bloody valentine" and "valentine" for, well, duh.
"leprechaun" - ok, i don't think it takes place on st patrick's day but...
and, for easter (no, giant killer bunnies don't count):
the passion of the christ (zombie!)
the last temptation of christ (zombie! william dafoe!!)
* and yes, the last one was a joke....
lazy blogger. lazy.
anyway....
so today... errr... yesterday, i am going to talk about one of the more predominant threads in slasher/horror movies: holidays.
of course, duh, there's the entire halloween series - debate its quality all you want (and i will, later) - but holidays and horror really somehow go hand in hand.
probably the next most prolific horror holiday is christmas. now, gremlins aside (yes, it is sometimes considered a horror movie, and is probably one of the better "wink wink nudge nudge" style horror movies, before the whole trend in the mid 90's that "scream" started - yes, another post for another day), there are really two major players on the scene here.
first we have "black christmas." bad, "hot teen" filled remakes aside - as a general rule, i don't see remakes of horror movies, unless they really intrigue me, which they basically never do - black christmas was really the standard bearer for the whole "holiday slasher" film genre (and actually came 4 years BEFORE "halloween"!) it also was one of the first "the killer is in the house" movies. and, honestly, it's kind of a good movie.
the cast: juliette, lois lane, and david bowman! (errr... olivia hussey, margot kidder, and keir dullea). kidder was before her heyday, and was sort of a scream queen at the time - amityville horror, etc; dullea was still probably mostly known for 2001 (i didn't even know that he actually has been in quite a few movies, though none of them particularly great movies); and olivia hussey's career had sort of devolved from zefirelli's "romeo and juliet" - yeah, she played the virgin mary a few years later, and would one day play mother theresa - but she also ended up playing mrs bates in the bad made for Showtime "Psycho" sequel).
it's odd that this one even holds up - few slasher movies do, especially since all the deconstruction done on the genre. i mean, that it even qualified for a remake is testament to that... but yeah.
on the other side of the coin, we have "silent night, deadly night". now, when i was a kid, i actually thought that this movies was just a punchline to some joke told on the gary shandling show (i am pretty sure it was there, at least). little did i know that not only was it for real, but it also had a host of sequels!
plot is basically, kid sees dad murdered and mom raped by guy in a santa suit - after being told that santa punishes those who are naughty by his catatonic grandfather (he even warned his mom, after she said something unkind about santa, that she would be punished). so he's scarred. grows up, dresses as santa one day, and ends up going after "naughty" people - since this was the 80's, it wasn't just revenge that drove him - teenagers having sex, etc all were declared "naughty!" the end then brings us one of the most blatant openings for a sequel ever - when the killer is killed, as all slasher movie killers are, at least apparently, the camera pans to his younger brother - who also witnessed mom and dad getting killed - who says to the camera "naughty."
this one does not hold up. not in the slightest. pure 1984 cheese. seriously, if this movie wasn;t shown on the USA network's saturday midnight movie thing - which the only rule for what they would show was apparently that it had to be shit - i would be surprised. seriously, the best slasher movies are the ones that are somewhat inventive - hell, even sleepaway camp with the whole "female killer who's actually a male!" reveal has a certain quality to it - but this just seemed like someone saying "hey, let's make the killer a guy in a santa suit!" followes by "oooh, let's make a lot of quick, even cheaper, sequels!"
other holiday horror:
"my bloody valentine" and "valentine" for, well, duh.
"leprechaun" - ok, i don't think it takes place on st patrick's day but...
and, for easter (no, giant killer bunnies don't count):
the passion of the christ (zombie!)
the last temptation of christ (zombie! william dafoe!!)
* and yes, the last one was a joke....
23 October, 2007
week of "horror": day one
yes, every day for the next week (plus one, because i suppose i'll make an actual post on actual halloween day) i am going to postg about a horror movie. or in some cases, a "horror" movie (y'know, the ones that are supposed to be scary, but are kind of ridiculous...)
which is how i start. with the ridiculous:
Wes Craven's first film, "the last house on the left."
Now, looking at the cover (this is the Canadian edition, apparently, though the US edition of the DVD has the same image) gives you a sort of "psycho/amityville horror/house" vibe. ooooh. scarrrrry!
and incredibly misleading...
basically, the movie is a cheesy, and extremely exploitative "horror" version of Bergman's "The Virgin Spring."
yes, that's right. wes craven adapted bergman into a horror film.
granted, this was the early 70's. the exorcist had just scared the bejeezus out of everyone, so horror was a nice commodty. and craven, who would go on to create the nightmare on elm street series - probably the one thing with his name on it really worth watching, "new nightmare aside" - was just giving the people what they wanted. sort of.
the plot is simple enough. it's mari's birthday. she is going to a concert with her rebellious friend phyllis (to see a band called bloodlust). parents give her a nice necklace. they go to the city, try to score some pot, meet some escaped criminals who proceed to rape phyllis. the next morning, they throw the girls in their trunk and head out of town, with mari's worried parents at home, calling the cops.
criminal's car breaks down right in front of mari's house (ooooh. coincidence.) and they criminals lead the girls through the woods, where a series of exploitative torture happens, including a gratuitous lesbian sex scene:
which really adds nothing to the horror. i mean, it's not even to the quality of russ meyer standards. granted, they could easily remake this movie today as one of those ridiculously annoying "torture porn" style horror movies. but it's really just... ech.
so finally they end up killing the girls (phyills when she tries to escape and mari, after they rape her again, gets shot while swimming/escaping in the nearby lake). the killers "clean themselves up" and then go to...
mari's parents house. where they are welcomed, though the parents are obviously suspicious of them. then, mom sees mari's necklace and the killers' dirty/bloody clothes, which oddly prompts them to run down to the lake where they find mari (who they say is already dead, but oddly is moving and gasping for breath - apparently due to a redubbing of dialogue). they then decide to take revenge....
first the husband sets a bunch of home alone style traps (electric wiring on the doorknobs, shaving cream on the floor to make it slippery, etc). mom then seduces one of the killers - the one who stabbed phyllis - who takes him down to the river where she bites off his penis, apparently killing him - again, this mostly made me think of russ meyer. granted, you don't see anything particularly sexual but... then dad, who is a doctor, comes after the other three more diectly, with a shotgun.
etc. etc. ultimately, the bumbling cops show up just as the good doctor is shoving the business end of a chainsaw into the face of the "leader" of the killers (who has just forced his stepson to blow his own brains out). they tell him to stop but, well, too late. leaving them to contemplate what they have just done....
(for a better plot description, go to the wikipedia entry)
right.
so aside from the crappy cinemtography - stylistically it seems almost like it was done like texas chainsaw massacre would eventually be done - and the incredibly cheesy/sexploitation vibe (film opens up with mari in the shower). the biggest problem with the movie is the tone, which is largely set by the music. apparently, it was an intentional counterpoint to the horrors on the screen or whatever, but any movie where the killers have a theme song that plays while they are driving (called "baddies theme" - and apparently performed by one of the stars of the film) is just... wrong. then there are crappy synthesizer sounds throughout the killing scenes - sort of like music Psycho as performed by tangerine dream.
ug. thankfully, craven would go on to better things. most of the stars of the movie went on to do nothing, or further their careers through more exploitative crap (the girl who played innocent mary, went on to such fine films as "legacy of satan" and "massage parlor hookers"; the actor who played the main killer was in a movie called "nutcracker: an american nightmare")
so was the movie scary? no. there is no real suspense in the movie, as every scene of "horror" is pretty much telegraphed to the audience long before it happens. even the rape scenes lack any "shock" value - which craven seems to be confusing with horror, much like a lot of supposed horror movie directors are doing these days... (yes, eli roth, whoever directed the saw movies, etc, i'm looking right at you guys...)
tomorrow... well... i don't know yet...
which is how i start. with the ridiculous:
Wes Craven's first film, "the last house on the left."Now, looking at the cover (this is the Canadian edition, apparently, though the US edition of the DVD has the same image) gives you a sort of "psycho/amityville horror/house" vibe. ooooh. scarrrrry!
and incredibly misleading...
basically, the movie is a cheesy, and extremely exploitative "horror" version of Bergman's "The Virgin Spring."
yes, that's right. wes craven adapted bergman into a horror film.
granted, this was the early 70's. the exorcist had just scared the bejeezus out of everyone, so horror was a nice commodty. and craven, who would go on to create the nightmare on elm street series - probably the one thing with his name on it really worth watching, "new nightmare aside" - was just giving the people what they wanted. sort of.
the plot is simple enough. it's mari's birthday. she is going to a concert with her rebellious friend phyllis (to see a band called bloodlust). parents give her a nice necklace. they go to the city, try to score some pot, meet some escaped criminals who proceed to rape phyllis. the next morning, they throw the girls in their trunk and head out of town, with mari's worried parents at home, calling the cops.
criminal's car breaks down right in front of mari's house (ooooh. coincidence.) and they criminals lead the girls through the woods, where a series of exploitative torture happens, including a gratuitous lesbian sex scene:
which really adds nothing to the horror. i mean, it's not even to the quality of russ meyer standards. granted, they could easily remake this movie today as one of those ridiculously annoying "torture porn" style horror movies. but it's really just... ech.so finally they end up killing the girls (phyills when she tries to escape and mari, after they rape her again, gets shot while swimming/escaping in the nearby lake). the killers "clean themselves up" and then go to...
mari's parents house. where they are welcomed, though the parents are obviously suspicious of them. then, mom sees mari's necklace and the killers' dirty/bloody clothes, which oddly prompts them to run down to the lake where they find mari (who they say is already dead, but oddly is moving and gasping for breath - apparently due to a redubbing of dialogue). they then decide to take revenge....
first the husband sets a bunch of home alone style traps (electric wiring on the doorknobs, shaving cream on the floor to make it slippery, etc). mom then seduces one of the killers - the one who stabbed phyllis - who takes him down to the river where she bites off his penis, apparently killing him - again, this mostly made me think of russ meyer. granted, you don't see anything particularly sexual but... then dad, who is a doctor, comes after the other three more diectly, with a shotgun.
etc. etc. ultimately, the bumbling cops show up just as the good doctor is shoving the business end of a chainsaw into the face of the "leader" of the killers (who has just forced his stepson to blow his own brains out). they tell him to stop but, well, too late. leaving them to contemplate what they have just done....
(for a better plot description, go to the wikipedia entry)
right.
so aside from the crappy cinemtography - stylistically it seems almost like it was done like texas chainsaw massacre would eventually be done - and the incredibly cheesy/sexploitation vibe (film opens up with mari in the shower). the biggest problem with the movie is the tone, which is largely set by the music. apparently, it was an intentional counterpoint to the horrors on the screen or whatever, but any movie where the killers have a theme song that plays while they are driving (called "baddies theme" - and apparently performed by one of the stars of the film) is just... wrong. then there are crappy synthesizer sounds throughout the killing scenes - sort of like music Psycho as performed by tangerine dream.
ug. thankfully, craven would go on to better things. most of the stars of the movie went on to do nothing, or further their careers through more exploitative crap (the girl who played innocent mary, went on to such fine films as "legacy of satan" and "massage parlor hookers"; the actor who played the main killer was in a movie called "nutcracker: an american nightmare")
so was the movie scary? no. there is no real suspense in the movie, as every scene of "horror" is pretty much telegraphed to the audience long before it happens. even the rape scenes lack any "shock" value - which craven seems to be confusing with horror, much like a lot of supposed horror movie directors are doing these days... (yes, eli roth, whoever directed the saw movies, etc, i'm looking right at you guys...)
tomorrow... well... i don't know yet...
14 October, 2007
book love 10/14
i am a big fan of silly old ads, cookbooks, etc. (huge fan of lileks.com, though it's probably been a year since i last looked at it, as it seriously was missing things like updates). so this book is pretty much awesome.
best titles:
"the day amanda came"
"the awful disclosures of maria monk"
"cookery for the middle classes"
"totty: the truth about ten mysterious terms"
"what to do if it's catching"
i'm sure a site exists that has some of the covers, which are just as funny, if not funnier...
ok... that's all...
best titles:
"the day amanda came"
"the awful disclosures of maria monk"
"cookery for the middle classes"
"totty: the truth about ten mysterious terms"
"what to do if it's catching"
i'm sure a site exists that has some of the covers, which are just as funny, if not funnier...
ok... that's all...
some girly ass shit made be myinnergeekdom
i made it:
http://www.littlemousevintage.com/item.php?item_id=49&page=3
(there's only 3! omg!! buy one now!!)
http://www.littlemousevintage.com/item.php?item_id=49&page=3
(there's only 3! omg!! buy one now!!)
08 October, 2007
ah. geek love.
full disclosure 1: in high school German class, i once did a skit in which we had to do things said on an airplane/in the airport. a line in ours was "der film ist Howard the Duck, ein film aus America." so...
so marvel has relaunched everyone's favorite anthropomorphic duck in a new series...
now, when they brought him back in the Civil War: Choosing Sides one shot, it was kinda cool. in part because the story made sense: howard pissed off about registering, goes to do so anyway, and is told that he doesn't exist. pissed off duckiness ensues.
so i had some high hopes for the series, or at least was very curious as to exactly what they would do with Howard in the current marvel universe...
well, the art, as seen here, was quite nice. and i have to say, this opening splash page of Howard dreaming he's playing cards with other 70's era marvel monster characters - though the placement of Ben Grimm seems odd. anyway. so yeah, art lovely.the story....
umm...
granted, i actually think there was a printing error in mine, as the "plot" seemes to start out of nowhere in the middle of what seems more to be the intro. there's no noticable framing device to say it's supposed to be that way so i can only assume it's not.
oddly, that doesn't save anything...
essentially it seems that howard is driving beverly to her rehearsal - actually she's driving, though she doesn't know how - then while he;'s waiting he picks up in his cab two scientists who want to... shoot him. i mean, if the story is going somewhere it hasn't started yet. there are little jokes that work. and again, art = good but... but...
i don't know. i, to be honest, quite love howard the duck. i''ve read - though i don't own - the essential howard the duck.
the original run was brilliant. slightly surreal. and just... awesome. it was a sadly underrated - kind of like omega the unknown, the relaunch of which i seem to have missed, despite really wanting to check out jonathan lethem's take on the character (though i hear it, too, was underwhelming) - book from steve gerber. and... yeah.but my true love for the character comes from this fine piece of cinematic fun. ok, it was ridiculously ill conceived and very poorly executed - so bad that George Lucas actually
dissavowed his involvement in the production. yeah, it's probably one of the worst movies ever made. but it's also fucking brilliant.full disclosure 2: i used to watch this movie every time it came on TV and quite possibly rented it a few times once we had a VCR. i also remember being 7 or 8 and playing howard the duck with some of the other neighborhood kids. yep. playing. howard the duck.
seriously: tim robbins, leah thompson, geoffrey jones (that's right: thomas jefferson himself... okay, he was also that dad in beetlejuice, and has done numerous other films. but i always seem his as thomas jefferson). all acting with a bunch of different midgets in a duck suit. true, the plot had nothing to do with anything from the comic book - changing beverly to a musician was one thing, making a villain called "the dark lord of the universe" show up which was a badly done, animatronic alien that reminded me a little of the aliens in "explorers" or AT least, like a really badly renderred man-thing... the fact is, Howard the Duck could have, like the original comic, been a brilliant satire. but george lucas is not known for that. so instead we get howard's "fish out of water" observations (duck out of water?) such as, when he is served eggs, or "if god had intended ducks to fly, he wouldn't hava taken away our wings." HA! and then the marty mcfly style jamming with beverly's band? awesomely necessary!
and really, that's where i stand on the new series so far. yeah, we probably don't need a new origin story. i mean, hell, he's a duck, on earth, with humans, one of whom he has a definitely non-platonic relationship with. what more origin do you need? no, he's not an established spiderman type character but, i mean, hell, he got his own video game for crying out loud !
i guess, the fact is that i. love. howard the duck. yeah, the new series could be a waste of time and ink. and yeah, his one time as a hollywood star pretty much sucked, and completely diminished the character. but, still, howard the duck rules. that's all.
30 September, 2007
pants on my head, pants on my legs
so today was Crafty Bastards.
what?
yes.
crafty bastards!
which was, predictably, full of people.
lots of people.
some with dogs.
i made a couple of purchases.
- a neat shirt from barry's farm.
- this awesome print from bendependent (mostly for mr pants. holy crap!)
- some cool wooden art things featuring goofus and gallant.(and now for a long aside about G&G)
i grew up reading highlights magazine. i mean, who didn't. (if you didn't, you're pretty fucking sad really. highlights was awesome, and educational. i had a subscription. which came in MY name. fuck yeah!) and goofus and gallant were one of my favorite features. and of course, i wanted to be like gallant. to quote:
(Goofus panel) Goofus climbs up to get his daddy's gun.
(Gallant panel) "That's Daddy's Gun. I Don't touch it."
Seriously. being like goofus would get a man killed. and at 5, just learning how to read and have social skills like a human being... no. i was not about to subject myself to that kind of life, let me tell you. Not that Gallant was cool - he was a little bit like those obnoxiously cloying sweet, "good" children in Dickens who usually ended up getting some ridiculously fatal disease, or at least being horribly crippled. other than, i guess, oliver twist. while the dodger - certainly the Goofus of victorian literature - pretty apparently gets it in the end (him and his buddy master bates), little Oliver gets to live all in one piece (though, maybe asking for MORE qualifies him a little goofus-like quality... yes... little oliver is in a lot of ways like Gallant gone a little wrong here and there. but enough comparing highlights magazine to high victorian literature...
Goofus looks at many of the comic books at the drugstore without buying them.
(Gallant) "My daddy says I must never read books in a store unless I have bought them."
Yes, as a bookstore employee, I am a big fan of Gallant's gallantry. but at the same time, i completely was Goofus as a kid. and really, why does Goofus's abhorent behavior get an omniscient third person narrative, whereas Gallant is speaking for himself? could Goofus obviously anti-social attitudes towards life, his family, and his friends really be the product of a frontal lobotomy? yes, i know there are strips where he talks too but my recollection is that the majority of them go this way, with Gallant showing the good while Goofus is someone's puppet. we see what he does, but is he really doing it because he wants to? or has all of his free will and good decision making been erased for a creepy experiment used to teach children proper behavior? and how do we jump from reading comic books in the drug store to grabbing daddy's gun? is this kid a sociopath in waiting?
mcsweeney's take on the pair is also a distinct possibility.
(and now to our regular scheduled ramblings)
- also, there was a guy with cigar box guitars and amps. i want one. apparently, you can get them online, though the website function seems lacking...
afterwards, we trecked down U street for some cake love/love cafe cupcakes. but, my love for warren brown's buttercream recipe is fodder for another post...
anyway. been a while. won't be one again.
what?
yes.
crafty bastards!
which was, predictably, full of people.
lots of people.
some with dogs.
i made a couple of purchases.
- a neat shirt from barry's farm.
- this awesome print from bendependent (mostly for mr pants. holy crap!)
- some cool wooden art things featuring goofus and gallant.(and now for a long aside about G&G)
i grew up reading highlights magazine. i mean, who didn't. (if you didn't, you're pretty fucking sad really. highlights was awesome, and educational. i had a subscription. which came in MY name. fuck yeah!) and goofus and gallant were one of my favorite features. and of course, i wanted to be like gallant. to quote:
(Goofus panel) Goofus climbs up to get his daddy's gun.
(Gallant panel) "That's Daddy's Gun. I Don't touch it."
Seriously. being like goofus would get a man killed. and at 5, just learning how to read and have social skills like a human being... no. i was not about to subject myself to that kind of life, let me tell you. Not that Gallant was cool - he was a little bit like those obnoxiously cloying sweet, "good" children in Dickens who usually ended up getting some ridiculously fatal disease, or at least being horribly crippled. other than, i guess, oliver twist. while the dodger - certainly the Goofus of victorian literature - pretty apparently gets it in the end (him and his buddy master bates), little Oliver gets to live all in one piece (though, maybe asking for MORE qualifies him a little goofus-like quality... yes... little oliver is in a lot of ways like Gallant gone a little wrong here and there. but enough comparing highlights magazine to high victorian literature...
Goofus looks at many of the comic books at the drugstore without buying them.
(Gallant) "My daddy says I must never read books in a store unless I have bought them."
Yes, as a bookstore employee, I am a big fan of Gallant's gallantry. but at the same time, i completely was Goofus as a kid. and really, why does Goofus's abhorent behavior get an omniscient third person narrative, whereas Gallant is speaking for himself? could Goofus obviously anti-social attitudes towards life, his family, and his friends really be the product of a frontal lobotomy? yes, i know there are strips where he talks too but my recollection is that the majority of them go this way, with Gallant showing the good while Goofus is someone's puppet. we see what he does, but is he really doing it because he wants to? or has all of his free will and good decision making been erased for a creepy experiment used to teach children proper behavior? and how do we jump from reading comic books in the drug store to grabbing daddy's gun? is this kid a sociopath in waiting?
mcsweeney's take on the pair is also a distinct possibility.
(and now to our regular scheduled ramblings)
- also, there was a guy with cigar box guitars and amps. i want one. apparently, you can get them online, though the website function seems lacking...
afterwards, we trecked down U street for some cake love/love cafe cupcakes. but, my love for warren brown's buttercream recipe is fodder for another post...
anyway. been a while. won't be one again.
02 August, 2007
26 July, 2007
25 June, 2007
pile of craft, future plans, etc...
so pile of craft was amazing. seriously, one of the most amazing things i've ever been a part of and possibly will be - at least until the holiday show... even just dj-ing it without a booth was just... phenominal... i love how all the vendors have had nothing but wonderful things to say (ok, one called the music loud and annoying... but they're jerkfaces...). anyway. ann and i got there a little later than we wanted though certainly not late and as we had nothing to do for setup... it was so amazing watching people just crowd in. the info booth was hopping! and the smiles on people's faces... when the guy said we were better than squidfire and better than crafty bastards, i swear, i almost screamed with joy...
i got me a cotton monster! and a little crocheted trojan warrior! and a plush egg and a plush strawberry. yes. i'm odd. pictures of them soon... on one blog or another... anyway...
our set lists:
as for future plans thing, well other than the upcoming "crisis on infinite blogs" crossover event (ok. wtfuck am i talking about? i think this might be me making an elaborate geeky joke relating to the fact i have like a zillion blogs...)...
brains and hearts the bear will be coming full force, once i get some other shit dealt with in my life., it will start with clay versions, but once i get the notion of how or who to get to swe for me, i'm thinking plush! and maybe... i dunno... t shirts? something else... wheee....
i got me a cotton monster! and a little crocheted trojan warrior! and a plush egg and a plush strawberry. yes. i'm odd. pictures of them soon... on one blog or another... anyway...
our set lists:
DJ Set #1- Ann
Looper- The Treehouse
The Shins- One By One All Day
Belle & Sebastian- The Gate
April March- No Parachute
Candypants- Dishy
Little Name- I Always See The Sun Rise
Camera Obscura- The Sun On His Back
The Gentle Waves- Sisterwoman
Hefner- I Love Only You
Violent Femmes- Prove My Love
Descendents- Bikeage
stellastarr*- No Weather
Pixies- Gigantic
The Pogues- Turkish Song Of The Damned
Tilly & The Wall- Rainbows In The Dark
The Cure- Fire in Cairo
Public Enemy- Final Count Of The Collision Between Us And The Damned
Lilly Allen- LDN
Le Tigre- Deceptacon
DJ Set #2- Dave
Kid Koala- Nerdball
Metric- I.O.U.
The Divine Comedy- The Pop Singer's Fear Of The Pollen Count
France Gall- Poupee de Circe, Poupee de Son
Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood- Some Velvet Morning
Azure Ray- If You Fall
Rainer Maria- CT Catholic
PiL- Public Image
Heavenly- P.U.N.K. Girl
Gang Of Four- At Home He Feels Like a Tourist
I Am The World Trade Center- California Dreaming Again
Liz Phair- Stratford-On-Guy
The Velvet Underground- All Tomorrow's Parties
All Girl Summer Fun Band- New In Town
Jimmy Cliff- The Harder They Come
Franz Ferdinand- Darts Of Pleasure
The Aislers Set- Mission Bells
Madness- House Of Fun
DJ Set #3- Ann
Belle & Sebastian- Your Cover's Blown
The Rapture- Pieces Of The People We Love
Blur- Girls & Boys
Le Tigre- Hot Topic
Ladytron- Evil
Aluminum Group- Love Action (I Believe)
Baxendale- Keep Feeling (Fascination)
Elvis Costello- Pump It Up
The Clash- Clampdown
Pony Up!- The Truth About Cats And Dogs (Is That They Die)
Kiss Me Deadly- Dance 4
Black Box Recorder- Sex Life
Call And Response- All Night Long
The Stone Roses- I Am The Resurrection
DJ Set #4- Dave
Velocity Girl- Crazy Town
Casiotone For The Painfully Alone- Toby Take A Bow
Dressy Bessy- Flower Jargon
Automator- Cartoon Capers
Beat Happening- Indian Summer
Serge Gainsbourg and Brigit Bardot- Bonnie and Clyde
Tompaulin- My Life At The Movies
Dave Schult- Sullen Girl
Tuscadero- Latex Dominatrix
bis- Eurodisco
Bright Eyes- Drunk Kid Catholic
The Housemartins- The People Who Grinned Themselves To Death
Saint Etienne- Sylvie
Jawbox- Motorist
Steve Burns- What I Do On Saturday
The Dears- The End Of A Hollywood Bedtime Story
DJ Set #5- Ann
Pulp- Mis-Shapes
My Bloody Valentine- Soon
Low- Canada
Mazzy Star- Bells Ring
Lush- Lovelife
Mogwai- Kids Will Be Skeletons
The Magnetic Fields- 100,000 Fireflies
Tommy James & The Shondells- Crimson & Clover
Maria Taylor- Birmingham 1982
Morrissey- Every Day Is Like Sunday
Little Name- Orienteering
The Cure- Grinding Halt
Rondelles- Like A Prayer
Blondie- Atomic
The Ramones- Sheena is a Punk Rocker
DJ Set #6- Dave
Sonic Youth- Teen Age Riot
Dolly Mixture- How Come You're Such a Hit with the Boys, Jane?
Badly Drawn Boy- Disillusion
Francois Hardy- La Mer
Gil Scott Heron- The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
Kaiser Chiefs- I Predict a Riot
Electronic- Get The Message
Cub- Pillow Queen
Shudder To Think- Just Really Wanna See You
Kraftwerk- The Robots
Mary Lou Lord- Some Jingle Jangle Morning (When I'm Straight)
They Might Be Giants- Hey, Mr. DJ, I Thought You Said We Had A Deal
Toots & The Maytals- Pressure Drop
Pretty Girls Make Graves- All Medicated Geniuses
Tender Trap- Face Of 73
Charlatans UK- Weirdo
DJ Set #7- Ann
Joy Division- Digital
New Order- Age of Consent
The Smiths- Still Ill
The Clash- Police & Thieves
The Jesus & Mary Chain- Head On
Pixies- Dead
Pulp- Sorted Out For E's & Wizz
Camera Obscura- Razzle Dazzle Rose
DJ Set #8- Dave
Fishbone- Ugly
Mates Of State- Ha Ha
Adult- Dispassionate Furniture (Reupholstered)
The Buzzcocks- Orgasm Addict
Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins- Handle With Care
Hepcat- No Worries
The La's- Timeless Melody
Broadcast- The Book Lovers
Billy Bragg- Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards
as for future plans thing, well other than the upcoming "crisis on infinite blogs" crossover event (ok. wtfuck am i talking about? i think this might be me making an elaborate geeky joke relating to the fact i have like a zillion blogs...)...
brains and hearts the bear will be coming full force, once i get some other shit dealt with in my life., it will start with clay versions, but once i get the notion of how or who to get to swe for me, i'm thinking plush! and maybe... i dunno... t shirts? something else... wheee....
31 May, 2007
27 May, 2007
ahh. the joys of being a geek
so comic books comic books comic books.
not this time (that post comes later with a double decker, and much more stream of consciousness comic book day X 2 post). this is for other nerdy things... i mean, i'm not just a comic book geek.
for those of you not in the know, i'm a member of the charm city craft mafia.
doing what, you ask? well, i am a part of the sleepy records/little mouse vintage team. as well, i have my own - under the little mouse vintage heading - thing called...wait for it.... "my inner geekdom." and yes, i;'ve made stuff (no pictures yet, and they're not up on the lmv site yet but soon kids, soon...). mostly i make... well... random stuff. i started out with some "girly" stuff - rainy day pins, tortoise and hare clips (get it? it's a play on words! oh so clever...), turtle rings... a necklace (i'm actually making a few more... i dunno... there's something kinda relaxing and mentally... whatever about it that i like. mostly my inspiration is annie though...
(btw. sleepy records will be DJ'inf the CCCM's "pile of craft" show on june 23rd.
but my next project is something a little more... me. i call them brain the bear and heart the bear (pictures.... eventually). intially, they are going to be polymer clay - my medium of choice - and... yeah. they may have a neighbor named bob the zombie. and, i know, it sounds kinda care bearish...
think, instead, spy vs spy, but with bears (though i don't plan as of yet to make them different colors... though that's an idea...). there will be a "rock em sock em robots" style set, as well as various individual bears. ultimately, i'd like to cast them in resin, handpaint them, and have some sort of mass produced version... but that's ages away... and face it, "one of a kind" is cooler.
and now, randomly, a recent procurement of mine from an antique store:
a pac man bank (it looks cooler with the mouth open). but, is it me, or does pac man look a bit... stoned? ok, more than a bit. those sleepy eyes, that lackadazical grin... what exactly ARE power pellets?
so what does the inner geek do now...
signs off.
not this time (that post comes later with a double decker, and much more stream of consciousness comic book day X 2 post). this is for other nerdy things... i mean, i'm not just a comic book geek.
for those of you not in the know, i'm a member of the charm city craft mafia.
doing what, you ask? well, i am a part of the sleepy records/little mouse vintage team. as well, i have my own - under the little mouse vintage heading - thing called...wait for it.... "my inner geekdom." and yes, i;'ve made stuff (no pictures yet, and they're not up on the lmv site yet but soon kids, soon...). mostly i make... well... random stuff. i started out with some "girly" stuff - rainy day pins, tortoise and hare clips (get it? it's a play on words! oh so clever...), turtle rings... a necklace (i'm actually making a few more... i dunno... there's something kinda relaxing and mentally... whatever about it that i like. mostly my inspiration is annie though...
(btw. sleepy records will be DJ'inf the CCCM's "pile of craft" show on june 23rd.
but my next project is something a little more... me. i call them brain the bear and heart the bear (pictures.... eventually). intially, they are going to be polymer clay - my medium of choice - and... yeah. they may have a neighbor named bob the zombie. and, i know, it sounds kinda care bearish...
think, instead, spy vs spy, but with bears (though i don't plan as of yet to make them different colors... though that's an idea...). there will be a "rock em sock em robots" style set, as well as various individual bears. ultimately, i'd like to cast them in resin, handpaint them, and have some sort of mass produced version... but that's ages away... and face it, "one of a kind" is cooler.
and now, randomly, a recent procurement of mine from an antique store:
a pac man bank (it looks cooler with the mouth open). but, is it me, or does pac man look a bit... stoned? ok, more than a bit. those sleepy eyes, that lackadazical grin... what exactly ARE power pellets?
so what does the inner geek do now...
signs off.
26 May, 2007
the nerd is back
lots of stuff to talk about, comics and the like... but nothing right now... well... not much....
superman and santa claus totally humiliated toyman in a not terribly violent manner. pre-crisis sillyiness...
they really don't make comics like this anymore.
superman and santa claus totally humiliated toyman in a not terribly violent manner. pre-crisis sillyiness...
they really don't make comics like this anymore.
09 May, 2007
comic book day, comic book day! 5/9
ah. so countdown begins. spidey's pissed. thunderbolts has some fighty filler... the recaps, at least of my limited purchases (yes, limited.... i'm certainly not into it as i otherwise might be...)
marvel zomibies: dead days one shot
ok, so the marvel zombies universe needed an... origin story? no. i'm not sure where this fits. it opens with what almost seems to be a continuation of what happened in the army of darkness crossover, with spidey heading home to check on mj and aunt may, only to realize he's been infected and, well, eating them. however, it then seems to lead into the ultimate fantastic 4 which then lead into the actual marvel zombies miniseries in the first place... so... kind of circular? and a lot more characters zombified than i actually remember...
high points:
-gatefold cover "parodying" (i guess being the best word) the big x-men 1 cover from the early 90's x-men series.
-actual... depth to the zombie heroes, at least at first. colonel america actually wanting to cure/stop the problem.
-reed richards of the fantastic 4 being an outright cunt. as in civil war and even as in the fantastic four 1602 miniseries... just a cunt. infecting his wife and friends, so they can become zombies and then so they can turn him, because he wants to "known what it feels like"? what. a cunt.
countdown #51 (counting backwards from 52... umm... clever...)
well, it's a start. a confusing one. where in the newly reformed multiverse are we? jason todd is the red hood, not nightwing... and... yeah.
best part, so far, the mary marvel part. finally out of her coma... well... okay, the best part is when she says SHAZAM! and it starts to rain... (i really like the teaser ad, with what has to be eclipso wearing a "what would mary marvel" do button... intriguing...). but really, to start things off with joker's daughter... and is this the "new earth" joker's daughter or another? the monitor who kills her seems to indicate that it is, but... i don't know. and apparently, darkseid plays "heroclix" (silly role playing-ish superhero game with little figurines and whatever... i've never played it so i'm not sure, but even i got that in my head after seeing the first page of the issue...)
Gen 13 #8 (why, oh why, do i keep buying this book...)
so i like gen 13. i do. and to have "the authority" show up mid issue just... well... neat (i, granted, never was a big "authority" fan. but midnighter's kind of cool... thing that struck me was the end... right before leaving them gen13 kids alone (after what was sort of a fight, but mostly just some silly teen resistance), midnighter tells them that they're not supposed to even exist, and not to destroy the multiverse, sounding suspiciously like what the monitor tells duela dent right before killing her at the end of countdown 51.... so... umm... ok, both under the "DC comics" umbrella (though the wildstorm universe is sort of separate though i guess sort of part of the multiverse.... ) ... is this a tie in? hmmm... or not. maybe they're just going to tie in this version of gen 13 with all the previous ones. or maybe wildstorm has it's own multiverse?
bah...
thunderbolts #114
so, i never liked thunderbolts pre-civil war. not really. but now that they actually have dangerous criminals - well, venom and bullseye, as well as the character formerly known as speedball (who has gone from happy go lucky kinetic powered wuss to self loathing sort of badass....) it's more interesting. but something about this seemed to be just... filler to me.
amazing spiderman #540
aunt may's probably gonna die. spidey's found the shooter. the shooter dies. spidey hunts who payrolled him. finds out it's kingpin, doing his work from prison (which the readers knew), which the whole issue leads up to... so... hmm... as far as episodic story telling, this works great. and it's nice seeing spiderman act solely on emotion and anger - the black suit really works for this as well... yeah...
new avengers #30
still hiding from the mighty avengers. hawkeye shows up. and... big reveal... he's the new ronin. which. well. i called when it first was announced there was a "new" ronin who was going to be revealed as a former major player in the marvel universe, etc. etc. etc. yep. i called it. not daredevil. not steve rogers (cos, well, dead). hawkeye. not dead. not pissed at scarlet witch anymore. now. ronin.
then it's back to japan to rescue the old ronin, who at the end seems to be under the control of elektra (who really seemed at first to be thrown in so we would think daredevil would be the new ronin, and still seems superfluous, though she does lead the Hand now...), though if the cover of #31 is any indication, um, not for long...
but yeah. hawkeye. called it.
new x-men #38
demons. check. mutants. check. belasco's back. some snarky comments about whether the x-men will come save them. and. well. demons. magik makes a brief appearance as darkchild... and... yeah. good issue. yes. but again, a whole lot of stuff prolonging the inevitable... or is it inevitable? apparently, with all the other shit coming into the x-men universe soon, do they need another returning from the dead character?
sigh...
nerd, out.
marvel zomibies: dead days one shot
ok, so the marvel zombies universe needed an... origin story? no. i'm not sure where this fits. it opens with what almost seems to be a continuation of what happened in the army of darkness crossover, with spidey heading home to check on mj and aunt may, only to realize he's been infected and, well, eating them. however, it then seems to lead into the ultimate fantastic 4 which then lead into the actual marvel zombies miniseries in the first place... so... kind of circular? and a lot more characters zombified than i actually remember...
high points:
-gatefold cover "parodying" (i guess being the best word) the big x-men 1 cover from the early 90's x-men series.
-actual... depth to the zombie heroes, at least at first. colonel america actually wanting to cure/stop the problem.
-reed richards of the fantastic 4 being an outright cunt. as in civil war and even as in the fantastic four 1602 miniseries... just a cunt. infecting his wife and friends, so they can become zombies and then so they can turn him, because he wants to "known what it feels like"? what. a cunt.
countdown #51 (counting backwards from 52... umm... clever...)
well, it's a start. a confusing one. where in the newly reformed multiverse are we? jason todd is the red hood, not nightwing... and... yeah.
best part, so far, the mary marvel part. finally out of her coma... well... okay, the best part is when she says SHAZAM! and it starts to rain... (i really like the teaser ad, with what has to be eclipso wearing a "what would mary marvel" do button... intriguing...). but really, to start things off with joker's daughter... and is this the "new earth" joker's daughter or another? the monitor who kills her seems to indicate that it is, but... i don't know. and apparently, darkseid plays "heroclix" (silly role playing-ish superhero game with little figurines and whatever... i've never played it so i'm not sure, but even i got that in my head after seeing the first page of the issue...)
Gen 13 #8 (why, oh why, do i keep buying this book...)
so i like gen 13. i do. and to have "the authority" show up mid issue just... well... neat (i, granted, never was a big "authority" fan. but midnighter's kind of cool... thing that struck me was the end... right before leaving them gen13 kids alone (after what was sort of a fight, but mostly just some silly teen resistance), midnighter tells them that they're not supposed to even exist, and not to destroy the multiverse, sounding suspiciously like what the monitor tells duela dent right before killing her at the end of countdown 51.... so... umm... ok, both under the "DC comics" umbrella (though the wildstorm universe is sort of separate though i guess sort of part of the multiverse.... ) ... is this a tie in? hmmm... or not. maybe they're just going to tie in this version of gen 13 with all the previous ones. or maybe wildstorm has it's own multiverse?
bah...
thunderbolts #114
so, i never liked thunderbolts pre-civil war. not really. but now that they actually have dangerous criminals - well, venom and bullseye, as well as the character formerly known as speedball (who has gone from happy go lucky kinetic powered wuss to self loathing sort of badass....) it's more interesting. but something about this seemed to be just... filler to me.
amazing spiderman #540
aunt may's probably gonna die. spidey's found the shooter. the shooter dies. spidey hunts who payrolled him. finds out it's kingpin, doing his work from prison (which the readers knew), which the whole issue leads up to... so... hmm... as far as episodic story telling, this works great. and it's nice seeing spiderman act solely on emotion and anger - the black suit really works for this as well... yeah...
new avengers #30
still hiding from the mighty avengers. hawkeye shows up. and... big reveal... he's the new ronin. which. well. i called when it first was announced there was a "new" ronin who was going to be revealed as a former major player in the marvel universe, etc. etc. etc. yep. i called it. not daredevil. not steve rogers (cos, well, dead). hawkeye. not dead. not pissed at scarlet witch anymore. now. ronin.
then it's back to japan to rescue the old ronin, who at the end seems to be under the control of elektra (who really seemed at first to be thrown in so we would think daredevil would be the new ronin, and still seems superfluous, though she does lead the Hand now...), though if the cover of #31 is any indication, um, not for long...
but yeah. hawkeye. called it.
new x-men #38
demons. check. mutants. check. belasco's back. some snarky comments about whether the x-men will come save them. and. well. demons. magik makes a brief appearance as darkchild... and... yeah. good issue. yes. but again, a whole lot of stuff prolonging the inevitable... or is it inevitable? apparently, with all the other shit coming into the x-men universe soon, do they need another returning from the dead character?
sigh...
nerd, out.
03 May, 2007
comic book day, one day later
so i didn't have time for this yesterday, so here goes:
comic book day! woo! not "free comic book day." just... well... wednesday,.,,
so really, in some ways, it was a miraculous one, for not one... not two... but THREE Joss Whedon books not only out on the same day, but on time! talk about miracles....
so we'll start with them....
Astonishing X-Men 21
now, i'll grant that this current arc of "Astonishing" hasn't really been my favorite, largely because... i don't know... maybe it just hasn't felt like Joss. Now, granted, the man's been busy with other things (and not with Wonder Woman... hmm... maybe that's what the books were all on time this month! though also, i think making Astonishing bi-monthly has also helped...). plot wise, we're further getting confused as to whether these aliens want to kill or honor Colossus, who, as it turns out, they are in part at least responsible for resurrecting, as they have some sort of prophecy involving him. anyway... but then, finally, the issue has it's true moments of zen. kitty pride appearing naked before collossus, after finding out that he's likely some sort of messiah; emma frost and cyclops arguing, before being attacked, with cyclops saying he loves her, and emma offering to sacrifce herself for him (a very Buffy moment, i dare say... though my guess is, our empathic friend who can also turn herself into diamond either has a plan, or some sort of backup in the form of wolverine and the new kid on the team will appear...).
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season 8 #3
ETHAN RAYNE!
Willow in full on witch battling action!
Zombie fight!
very odd aside between giles and a demon...
very scary image in buffy's dream of her with spike and angel all chained together....
but, then, finally... the big reveal....
see, at the end of the first issue, when amy was revealed, there was an allusion to another "person" found in the rubble of sunnydale, with a lot of question - and no clues - who it could have been... well, finally, at the end of issue 3, we get to see who, along with Amy, the government (in a sort of initiative throwback, though not really the initiative as much) has hired to bring down the slayer and her army (cos, if you all remember how the show ended... well... there's a whole lotta slayers out there....). and it is (icky drum roll please, cos, well, eeew...)
Warren! all skinless and everything! and ready for revenge (though, ok, telling Willow she "really gets under [his] skin." is sort of lame....
and finally, for the Joss Whedon portion of this post....
Runaways #26
For one, you can tell Joss loves writing Molly. The enthusiasim and exuberance he puts in her - though always a part of her character, is just all kinds of extra... fun. and she sucker punches the Punisher, right in the gut! which, frankly, is more fun than when captain america decked him back during Civil War (honestly, he thinks he can take the mantle of Captain America, but he can't even avoid getting the wind knocked out of him by a - granted a mutant one - little girl? i mean, getting clocked by Steve Rogers... makes some sense, and one even wonders if the Punisher had put up a fight in that one... But little molly hayes? awesome!)
best script moment:
runaways walk into Kingpin's office, to deliver what they "stole" for him (which likely was a product of their late evil parents)...
Nico:He said be at his office by first light. We got just enough time to hop out of state till we figure out what we're gonna... ninja. (lights come on, room full of ninjas)
Chase: That's a lot of ninjas.
Nico: It's a bunch.
Chase: More than the usual amount of ninjas.
_______
and now, the rest:
The Avengers: the initiative #2
bah... i'll be honest and say i'm not sure why i'm still going with this - or with the Omega Flight series, though at least that's limited... do we really need a new new warriors? granted, it's a pretty cool seeming team, for the new warriors (and we'll have to see how they deal with the stigma of being the new version of the team that destroyed an entire city, and led to the whole registration mess to begin with... i would imagine that the name alone is going cause some people to have a prejudice against them...).
though, the fact that now tony stark's shield is hiring ex-nazi scientists doesn't bode well, either...
the most intriguing character might be this new kid called "trauma" who, apparently, can read minds and shapeshift... though i'm much more interested to see who his new private tutor from the xavier institute's going to be....
52 #52
ok. the multiverse is back.... kind of anticlimactic, really. the multiverse is back and now countdown starts. ummm... i think that was really the point of the whole issue, though the ghosts of ralph and sue dibny - who apparently play a role in countdown, coming full circle, in a way, since it was sue's death that started identity crisis which led to infinite crisis which begat 52.......... but really. other than booster gold getting to see all the other earths... eh... hopefully countdown will not be a dissapointment, as some of 52 seems to have been (i'm largely been out of the loop on it. i'll have to read the trades when they come out i guess...)
Marvel Zombies vs. Heart of Darkness #3
zombie howard the duck. really all i have to say. but also, zombie power pack!? zombie hulkling? yeah... all in all, good times, with zombies!
Omega Flight #2
now, this actually brings in two interesting ideas... the best being that, well, this new canadian superhero team - in a country that has always had hero registration, but not used it as a weapon against it's own heroes - is being formed with a lot of influence by S.H.I.E.L.D. and this, understandably, has the canadians pissed. now that the US's villains - and fugitive heroes - are causing problems on the other side of the border, we're asking them - by helping them form and fund this new team - to basically, clean up our mess... and the new team:
USAgent... umm.... why? seriously, a wannabe captain america fighting for a wannabe america? (kidding... though i guess that's how he'd look at it...)
Sasquatch (the only survivor from alpha flight)
Talisman (daughter of a dead former alpha flight member, Shaman)
Arachne (Julia Carpenter, like spiderman, also now back in black...)
and Michael Pointer, who had at one point been the vessel for "the collective" (ie, all the mutant powers that were lost in M-Day as one giant energy ball), and who - in that form - was what killed the original alpha flight...
so... yeah... more to come... maybe it will get more interesting once there's a team... but wait... it's only 5 issues....
incredible hulk #106
ok. world war hulk begins now. but, oddly, no actual hulk in this issue (except in flashback)... she hulk's pissed though, and finally decided to take some action... however, it does set up a little bit whose side some characters - namely, Angel and Hercules - are going to be on when banner returns... well... probably anyway...
most importantly, they're finally going to tell a good Hulk story for the first time in forever...
anyway. that's all for now...
comic book day! woo! not "free comic book day." just... well... wednesday,.,,
so really, in some ways, it was a miraculous one, for not one... not two... but THREE Joss Whedon books not only out on the same day, but on time! talk about miracles....
so we'll start with them....
Astonishing X-Men 21
now, i'll grant that this current arc of "Astonishing" hasn't really been my favorite, largely because... i don't know... maybe it just hasn't felt like Joss. Now, granted, the man's been busy with other things (and not with Wonder Woman... hmm... maybe that's what the books were all on time this month! though also, i think making Astonishing bi-monthly has also helped...). plot wise, we're further getting confused as to whether these aliens want to kill or honor Colossus, who, as it turns out, they are in part at least responsible for resurrecting, as they have some sort of prophecy involving him. anyway... but then, finally, the issue has it's true moments of zen. kitty pride appearing naked before collossus, after finding out that he's likely some sort of messiah; emma frost and cyclops arguing, before being attacked, with cyclops saying he loves her, and emma offering to sacrifce herself for him (a very Buffy moment, i dare say... though my guess is, our empathic friend who can also turn herself into diamond either has a plan, or some sort of backup in the form of wolverine and the new kid on the team will appear...).
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season 8 #3
ETHAN RAYNE!
Willow in full on witch battling action!
Zombie fight!
very odd aside between giles and a demon...
very scary image in buffy's dream of her with spike and angel all chained together....
but, then, finally... the big reveal....
see, at the end of the first issue, when amy was revealed, there was an allusion to another "person" found in the rubble of sunnydale, with a lot of question - and no clues - who it could have been... well, finally, at the end of issue 3, we get to see who, along with Amy, the government (in a sort of initiative throwback, though not really the initiative as much) has hired to bring down the slayer and her army (cos, if you all remember how the show ended... well... there's a whole lotta slayers out there....). and it is (icky drum roll please, cos, well, eeew...)
Warren! all skinless and everything! and ready for revenge (though, ok, telling Willow she "really gets under [his] skin." is sort of lame....
and finally, for the Joss Whedon portion of this post....
Runaways #26
For one, you can tell Joss loves writing Molly. The enthusiasim and exuberance he puts in her - though always a part of her character, is just all kinds of extra... fun. and she sucker punches the Punisher, right in the gut! which, frankly, is more fun than when captain america decked him back during Civil War (honestly, he thinks he can take the mantle of Captain America, but he can't even avoid getting the wind knocked out of him by a - granted a mutant one - little girl? i mean, getting clocked by Steve Rogers... makes some sense, and one even wonders if the Punisher had put up a fight in that one... But little molly hayes? awesome!)
best script moment:
runaways walk into Kingpin's office, to deliver what they "stole" for him (which likely was a product of their late evil parents)...
Nico:He said be at his office by first light. We got just enough time to hop out of state till we figure out what we're gonna... ninja. (lights come on, room full of ninjas)
Chase: That's a lot of ninjas.
Nico: It's a bunch.
Chase: More than the usual amount of ninjas.
_______
and now, the rest:
The Avengers: the initiative #2
bah... i'll be honest and say i'm not sure why i'm still going with this - or with the Omega Flight series, though at least that's limited... do we really need a new new warriors? granted, it's a pretty cool seeming team, for the new warriors (and we'll have to see how they deal with the stigma of being the new version of the team that destroyed an entire city, and led to the whole registration mess to begin with... i would imagine that the name alone is going cause some people to have a prejudice against them...).
though, the fact that now tony stark's shield is hiring ex-nazi scientists doesn't bode well, either...
the most intriguing character might be this new kid called "trauma" who, apparently, can read minds and shapeshift... though i'm much more interested to see who his new private tutor from the xavier institute's going to be....
52 #52
ok. the multiverse is back.... kind of anticlimactic, really. the multiverse is back and now countdown starts. ummm... i think that was really the point of the whole issue, though the ghosts of ralph and sue dibny - who apparently play a role in countdown, coming full circle, in a way, since it was sue's death that started identity crisis which led to infinite crisis which begat 52.......... but really. other than booster gold getting to see all the other earths... eh... hopefully countdown will not be a dissapointment, as some of 52 seems to have been (i'm largely been out of the loop on it. i'll have to read the trades when they come out i guess...)
Marvel Zombies vs. Heart of Darkness #3
zombie howard the duck. really all i have to say. but also, zombie power pack!? zombie hulkling? yeah... all in all, good times, with zombies!
Omega Flight #2
now, this actually brings in two interesting ideas... the best being that, well, this new canadian superhero team - in a country that has always had hero registration, but not used it as a weapon against it's own heroes - is being formed with a lot of influence by S.H.I.E.L.D. and this, understandably, has the canadians pissed. now that the US's villains - and fugitive heroes - are causing problems on the other side of the border, we're asking them - by helping them form and fund this new team - to basically, clean up our mess... and the new team:
USAgent... umm.... why? seriously, a wannabe captain america fighting for a wannabe america? (kidding... though i guess that's how he'd look at it...)
Sasquatch (the only survivor from alpha flight)
Talisman (daughter of a dead former alpha flight member, Shaman)
Arachne (Julia Carpenter, like spiderman, also now back in black...)
and Michael Pointer, who had at one point been the vessel for "the collective" (ie, all the mutant powers that were lost in M-Day as one giant energy ball), and who - in that form - was what killed the original alpha flight...
so... yeah... more to come... maybe it will get more interesting once there's a team... but wait... it's only 5 issues....
incredible hulk #106
ok. world war hulk begins now. but, oddly, no actual hulk in this issue (except in flashback)... she hulk's pissed though, and finally decided to take some action... however, it does set up a little bit whose side some characters - namely, Angel and Hercules - are going to be on when banner returns... well... probably anyway...
most importantly, they're finally going to tell a good Hulk story for the first time in forever...
anyway. that's all for now...
29 April, 2007
speaking of transformers...
ok, so with the new transformers movie coming, i decided to watch the oh-so-classic, 1986 animated one on dvd.
and oh man... awesome.
the above image is a character hot rod - voiced by judd nelson - with the "autobot matrix of leadership." that's right. matrix. of. leadership. what it really amounts to is a funny little light up sphere wih handles that apparently gives autobot leaders the power to... ummm... lead, and is the only thing that can destroy unicron
(voiced by orson wells, in his last film role... which, on some level is awesome and in another is somewhere along the same lines as the last raul julia's last film to be in theaters having been "street fighter.")so, awesome plot aside, this movie has some major... well.... things.
1. deaths. lots of them. optimus prime, ironhide.... megatron (though he comes back as "galvatron"), even starscream buys it (disintegrated). and it's all so... violent. megatron shoots ironhide point blank in the head AFTER having already more or less destroyed him. and this was for kids...
2. swearing. just for a second, bumblebee - innocent bumblebee, who always seemed to be a kid on the cartoon, if only due to his size (a role taken up by hotrod, before he becomes "rodimus prime"), on seeing that unicron is on the way to devour the moon their one - yeah, devour... it's sort of a galactus rip off, really... with a bit of death star thrown in for good measure - says "oh shit, what are we going to do now?" why? who knows. was the swearing necessary? it definitely gave it it's pg rating but...
3. awesome 80's "rock" soundtrack (best song: "the touch" later immortalized by mark wahlberg in "boogie nights" (you've got the touch... you've got the power!) yeah, at times it seems sort of pointless and doesn't fit but... really, nothing says "transformers" to me like white lion on the soundtrack. the only non-metal track is weird al's devo homage "dare to be stupid," which also seems to feature a very odd dance party with several of the major characters.
despite everything above, the dinobots walk away with the best fucking thing in the entire movie award. seriously, when in doubt, give Grimlock something to say....
so, michael bay, maker of crappy big budget shite in the mid 90's, the gauntlet is thrown...
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