Reviews

Sequence This

Okay, this thing a perfect way to avoid work.

Font Envy

I'm desperately trying to find a way to justify spending my severance package on delicious looking fonts for which I have absolutely no purpose. But somehow I think my world would be a better place with such pretty things to look at...

SkinDeep

Pushing Daisies

Have you seen Pushing Daisies? It was a tv show that only ran two seasons, but I can't get enough of it. It's kind of a fairy tale mystery series chock full of dark humor, colorful characters, and great actors. I'm sure it's dramatically unique style was too much for the average viewer to handle, but I wish it were still running. It was created by the same guy who created Dead Like Me which was another dark comedy series that was canceled too soon. What other off-the-beaten-path shows should I not miss?

Blue Cheesiest

I had dinner tonight with friends at Blue. Their food is always amazing. Their pot pie is heavenly and their regular mac & cheese is dreamy. Well tonight I tried their special "Blue Mac & Cheese" made with blue cheese, bacon & chicken. It was near orgasmic. Hours later I'm still having post-dinner afterglow. I think I might want to marry this new mac & cheese.

Watch This

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans - Underwhelming
Milk - Amazing story, but played out more like a documentary than a drama where I could related to the characters
Under the Sea 3D - Breathtakingly beautiful. I was honestly moved and want to see it again

iPhone Assimilation

I lost my phone while I was in Alaska so upgraded to an iPhone. I've been reading reviews and downloading apps. Here are the apps I'm enjoying so far. What are your favorite apps?

Games:

Wurdle
Critter Crunch (Lite)
Tetris
Bejeweled 2
Mouse About (Lite)
Agents of Interpol

Utilities:

Now Playing
UrbanSpoon
WeatherBug
Shazam
Pandora

What am I missing?

Wonderboy

Saturday night I saw Wonderboy by the Joe Goode Performance Group. This modern dance company is known for mixing artistic disciplines in unexpected ways to brilliant effect. Even so, I was skeptical about seeing a dance performance that involved a puppet. Joe Goode didn't let me down as the lone puppet, Wonderboy, captivated my attention with his deeply personal journey. Through puppetry, dance, singing, powerful monologues and an amazing original score the performance touched me in ways that still resonate strongly. The extremely well done puppetry (accomplished through collaboration with puppeteer Basil Twist) and amazing dance moves all supported the intense awe, fear and excitement of this overly sensitive puppet who bravely decides to become a part the scary world outside his window. The score was also powerfully emotive and stands alone and some brilliant work by Carla Kihlstedt & Matthias Boss.

I find this kind of artistic collaboration so inspiring. Now if only I could find a puppet, dancer, lighting designer, costume designer and touring company to work with...

MySpace Music Tour

Last Thursday night I went to see Justice as part of the MySpace Music Tour in the Concourse of the SFDesign Center. The concourse is basically one gigantic warehouse/barn and wasn't the ideal setting for a concert. Nevertheless, Justice was amazing and I want all twelve of their love children. Their unique sound was great as was the light show that accompanied them.

The best part of the evening was the guy who, tweaking on something, decided he needed to scale the railing and up the support beams. With amazing spiderman-like abilities he pulled himself up to the cross beams of this barn-like building some 10 feet above us. He danced while flipping off the security guards below who couldn't figure out how to get him down without hurting him and everyone around him. He finally came down of his own accord, was kicked out of the building and immediately started texting 20 of his closest friends.

I'm Just a Seven

Has anyone else seen The Nines? What'd you think? I saw it recently and loved it. Besides being a cool 'wtf is going on?' movie, each little story within a story was brilliant on it's own. And I love, love, loved Melissa McCarthy in this. Damn funny actress.

Kathy Griffin

I saw Kathy Griffin Saturday night and she was just as hysterical, crazy, gossipy and evil as she is on tv. Looooved it! She was here for the International Bear Rendezvous (a gay "bear" event) and catered the first half of her show to the bear crowd. It was filmed by Bravo so I'm curious to see what they decide to actually air from the event. The show was so worth the nearly $100 ticket price.

Improvapolooza

Tonight Angie and I went to see Improvapolooza 8 at the Kentucky Center. The Louisville Improvisors performed for the first half of the show and, while not bad, only left me mildly amused. I was worried that I'd not only wasted my money, but that my subsequent blog bitch rant would only serve to confirm my diva status. But then The Groundlings (from LA) came to the stage and rocked the house. Rather than relying on gimmicky improv games they took a few initial suggestions from the audience and then spun improvisations off each other for nearly an hour. Their humor was smart and their energy was invigorating. I found myself wanting to take each one of them home and make them my new best friends. Since the amount of spare room in my luggage was slightly lacking space for 5 mid-sized adults, I decide to release them into the wild. Fly away my precious comedy doves. Make merriment wherever you go.

Wizard of Oz

Last night I saw The Wizard of Oz with live accompaniment by the San Francisco Symphony. It was magical to see the score performed while the movie played on a big screen. And enjoying one of my favorite movies with a few thousand other people was great. Everyone hissed when the wicked witch appeared and cheered at all the classic lines. The symphony was great and added so much life to the film. I had a great time and would definitely see something like this again.

Not So Silent Night

Last night Lou and I went to see the Live 105 Not So Silent Night concert featuring several indie rock bands. We intentionally got there late, but still saw Spoon, Angels and Airwaves, Modest Mouse and, my favorite, Jimmy Eat World. There were some damn talented bands.

Even more entertaining was watching the throngs of people squashed into the standing-room-only floor with their mosh pits, crowd crushing waves and crowd surfing involving flipping, throwing and occasionally dropping the delirious surfers. The nearly 500 bobbing heads created an ant-like texture of swaying and jumping to the beat of the music. I was completely mesmerized by the crowd while at the same time so incredibly glad not to be in the middle of that nameless pandemonium.

PB&S

I just had a muy delicioso Peanut Butter and Stuff sandwich at Specialty's. It's a sheer genius concoction of chunky peanut butter, green apples, bananas and a whole cranberry sauce all on a fresh whole wheat bread. PB&S never tasted so good.

Pink Martini

Tuesday night I saw Pink Martini in concert at the amazing, gorgeous and awe-inspiring Paramount Theatre in Oakland, CA. Pink Martini is "somewhere between a 1930s Cuban dance orchestra, a classical chamber music ensemble, a Brasilian marching street band and Japanese film noir..." Throw into the mix an occasional pop stylist nod and you've got yourself a whirling ball of eclectic goodness. The 12-piece band is full of amazingly skilled musicians who know how to work together brilliantly, have fun at what they do and put on an amazing show.

Opening for Pink Martini was March Forth, a bohemian marching band that reminded me more of a wacky circus than acne covered, angsty youth. They had a great sound, though I did feel they're whole routine would have worked better marching down a street than putzing around a stage.

Family Values Tour

The Family Values Tour concert was a lot of fun. Seven hours of hardcore/metal/rock/alternative music on two stages some of which I loved and some of which I loved laughing at.

Twin Method looked a bit like some sitcom's gender bending "boys gone bad" version of the Spice Girls with each members punk colored hair matching their clothing accessories. Still I really enjoyed their sound and how tight their arrangements were. I even enjoyed the lead vocalist who sounded like he had just finished blowing satan and hadn't yet stopped retching the demonic bile from his stomach.

Through You was great. For me, they were the previously-unknown band of the day that I'd like to hear more of.

Five Finger Death Punch had a cute lead singer. He took his shirt off for me. What a swell guy.

Hellyeah was so hell no.

Flyleaf brought the first girl power to the day with their lead vocalist. They also brought a little more sophisticated sound than a lot of the bands. Though they still practiced the standard hardcore moved of head banging with long locks of hair and repeatedly jumping off anything and everything around them. Ok, the leap off a double high tower of speakers was pretty cool.

Korn wrapped up the evening with more head banging, screaming and an impressive stage set-up, but my favorite band of the day was by far Evanescence. They put on a good show, had a great sound and an amazing light show. They were worth the ticket price alone.

Beach Blanket Babylon

Valette, Steve and I saw Beach Blanket Babylon last night where every number was like an over-costumed musical finale of blissful hilarity. Some great vocalizations, impersonations and adept comedic timing kept me fully engaged in spite of my earlier desire to have napped the day away. I had heard the show was good, but was skeptical. I even tried to be too good for the show, but it didn't stick. I'm so glad I finally got to see it. It was a great way to enjoy Valette's last night here and following the show up with pizza and gelato made the evening darn near perfect.

Oso

Thursday night's at The Eagle Tavern are live music sets by various bands both local and traveling. The quality of music is very hit and miss, but it's usually groups who've not yet made a name for themselves which I love.

This past Thursday I got to see the band Oso and thoroughly enjoyed their folky, rock-esque instrumentals. Even with those broad impressions of their music, their style is hard to pin-down. Each song seems to cover an almost A.D.D. mix of influences, tempos and features. What I loved about them was how incredibly tight the musicians were. They all worked together flawlessly and the music was precisely executed. Their mix of electric guitar, fiddle, electric bass and drums was rich and fascinating. And the light speed fingers of all the musicians - particularly the fiddler and guitarist - added great textures to the songs rather than cluttering anything. While the folk influence in their music might normally turn me off, skilled musicians and tight arrangements made their eclectic style capture my attention. Yay for an 'accidental' good time Thursday night and for the odd beeswax coated, hand-made Oso cd I now own.

Ali and I

Last night I saw Alison Kraus in concert. While that style of music isn't my favorite, the concert was really good. She's a brilliant vocalist and I love her sense of humor. The entire band was very skilled and put on a great show. On top of that I loved the outdoor greek ampitheatre. Sitting under the stars watching the concert was beautifully romantic.

In stark contrast to this concert, I'm going to see The Deftones on Monday night. Probably not nearly so 'beautifully romantic,' but some head banging sounds a-okay to me.

Self Kiss

What if one could give oneself a kiss? (click the current photo to advance to the next)

// my personal research assistant: Valette //

Pain In the Ass

I've been out of work this week not feeling well and as such have been watching lots of movies. For the record, Pan's Labrynth is NOT a sweet children's fairy tale. It was good, but I was so not in the right frame of mind to watch that film. V for Vendetta is still an awesome movie. Epic Movie was only mildly amusing, while Music and Lyrics was quite enjoyable. Lady in Water kicked ass and is one I want to see again. Happily N'Ever After just kinda left me wondering why I'd wasted my time while The Ultimate Avengers II and Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo fed my superhero itch. So movies, Mike, Michael and two pounds of gummy bears have gotten me through that last few days. Tomorrow I actually have to go back to work before my 4 day weekend. What a rough, rough existence I live.

Bad Boy Bangs

Apparently bangs combed over the eyes makes one evil. I saw Peter Parker and his bad boy bangs on Monday. As much as I'm a sucker for superhero movies, the recent Spider-Man movie took hokey to a whole new level. If I comb my bangs over my eyes will I too get black clothes, say hurtful things to my girlfriend and suddenly develop mad piano/dance skillz while behaving like a slimey Casanova with random women on the street? Ooh, eeeeeevil.

A New Addiction

I'm going to get Lost. I've been getting Lost a lot recently. It's not my fault. Mike and Michael are to blame. I hadn't even wanted to get Lost until they forced me into it. Now, nearing the end of the second season, I'm addicted to getting Lost. Wanna get Lost with me?

Fujiya & Miyagi

Me rikes Fujiya & Miyagi long time. Please listen happy.

Apocalyptica

What could rock harder than four cellists? Well, ok, electric guitar... drums... bass... a deaf chimpanzee accordian player... But, I mean, besides that?

While I don't love all their stuff, I do love what Apocalyptica is doing and the sound their getting. They get my vote for best use of a stringed instrument since... well, since my next door neighbor used her viola for a kitty litter box (cuz, that was just sweet).

The song that hooked me was from an interesting and beautiful - if not brilliant - french movie I just watched, Vidocq. The music video from the film pairs the group with singer Matthias Sayer for a fascinating juxtaposition of warm, haunting vocals and driving, grungy accompaniment.

The Short Bus

Mike, Michael, Michael and myself (cuz, I like to stand out in a crowd) went to see The Short Bus on Sunday. Definitely not for the faint of heart. More likely for the faint of morals. I'm not going to give some grand review of the film, its merits, its choice to overload the viewer with extremely explicit sexual acts, or how the acting could have been better in that final orgasm scene. I really enjoyed it. So unique. I can't even say what the purpose of the movie was, but it was very thought provoking. It certainly spoke to personal and social issues much deeper than the surface value of what was happening on the screen. I'm glad I saw it.

Pandora Love

Pandora, I love you. You should love her too.

Tu Lan

If you don't mind exposed ducting, dirty floors, mediocre service and zero ambience... Tu Lan is quite the find. Damn good Vietnamese food that's really cheap. Endorsed by Julia Childs so how could you really go wrong? And I have the good fortune of having leftover chicken curry for lunch today. Mmmmmmm.

Art Lust

I really love the color, texture and moods of Robert Morgan's art. I particularly like Rust: Thirty-One & Tactile Surface: Terra Firma.

Spelling Bee

Curt and I saw The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee last night. What a riot. It's one of the most clever, funny and enjoyable musicals I've seen in a long time. In fact, the non-stop laughter was enough to make me want to see it again before it leaves San Francisco.

It's an elementary school spelling bee with all the characters played by adults. From the A-Type Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre who adds sign language to everything she does (including the "ooohs" and "aaaahs" in musical numbers) to the easily distracted Leaf Coneybear who has a licking fetish and likes to make his own clothes, to William Barfee with the magical spelling foot... I couldn't stop laughing.

That's not to say it was all stereotype and no substance. The characters were solidly real and the acting brilliant. And when you add audience participation: how could go wrong? I definitely recommend the show. Anyone want to come for a visit and give me an excuse to see it again?

Culturification

Last night I saw Theatre District in San Fransisco. While I may have been the only one in our group that enjoyed it, I thought it was cleverly written, funny and had interesting character relationships (which, in my opinion, is what the entire thing was about: relationships). I'm really glad I got to see this show (which no one else liked). Prior to the show I had dinner with Curt (who didn't like it), four of his friends (most of whom didn't like it, but one was the director and another his partner so, you know, they were like contractually obligated to like it) and the playwright, Richard Kramer, who's written for tv shows such as Thirty Something and My So Called Life. Going out on a limb: I'd guess that Richard liked the play. All in all, it was a fun evening and I was really moved by a great play. I'd recommend it to you, but... you wouldn't like it.

Brokendown Mountain

Ok. I need some help here. I finally saw Brokeback Mountain last night. You know the film that's won awards, received rave reviews, yadda, yadda, yadda? Yep, that's the one. Well, I gotta say... I'm not sure what all the hype is about. I mean, the characters were interesting and the acting was amazing, but the story itself seemed really slow and not overly interesting. Now I'm one for character stories and I don't shy away from romance stories, but this movie didn't hook me. While I was hoping for a movie that had an interesting storyline that happened to be about gay cowboys, the entire thing was obviously about the fact they were gay. From the first scene it was obviously about that fact. Ok. I can live with that, but then give me more. It was basically two hours of "we love each other, but can't be together." Or did I miss something? No, really. Did I miss something? Was I in the midst of a smack induced coma during the really amazing, award-winning parts of the film?

To give the movie credit, I've spent a fair amount of time thinking about the characters after it ended so there was certainly something there that grabbed me. I guess I should just remember that when seeing a movie that's been hyped up, it's never going to live up to the overinflated expectations I build up. Had I seen this movie before the reviews I may have enjoyed it more.

What'd you think? Am I the only one on the planet that was disappointed by the film?

A Morir

At the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington DC I saw an amazing short film: A Morir by Miguel Angel Rios. It was a four minute film featuring a multitude of spinning tops. They were filmed with three different camera angles and presented in a room with three screens: one in front of you and two on either side. The movement and sound of these tops spinning wildly was mesmerizing. The chaos of movement, collision and finally 'death' gave these objects tremendous life and character. At times it seemed the tops were violently angry and at other times gleefully content. The final teetering and falling of the last top seemed to hold tremendous depth of symbolism: a statement of the chaos of our own lives, a recognition of how the laws of this world govern us all.

Sydney Aquarium

A sign in the Sydney Aquarium above the crocodile tank: "If they fall doesn't kill you the crocodile will."

This aquarium was by far the best one I've visited. It is so well landscaped for viewing and well designed for smooth traffic flow. We walked through tunnels under sharks, stingrays, seals and more. We saw amazing water creatures from all around the world. The Great Barrier Reef Oceanarium was breathtaking with nearly 1.6 million liters of tank space which you could walk around seeing pockets of all sorts of sealife.

One of the things that really made the whole aquarium a great experience was the finishing details of signage, paint colors and a mood setting soundtrack perfectly suited to each area. This stop was well worth it on the last day of our trip.

Goldsworthy

Earlier this week I watched the documentary Rivers and Tides featuring the art and perspective of artist Andy Goldsworthy. His work is all nature based and created in nature. He has a strong connection to the earth and finds/organizes tremendous beauty there.

One of the pieces that really captured me was him spending hours merging bits of icicle into a spiral around a rock. This piece is similar to the one he made in the movie. That site (Smithsonian Magazine) has several other photos of his work as well.

A lot of his work has a lot of tension in it, working up to the line of collapse in a piece. He enjoys that risk and learning to work with the material to acheive his goal. His arches are a perfect example of finding that balance.

Goldworthy's book Time shows how he creates his work to interact with and be affected by nature: working to get a project done as the tide comes in to consume it, creating a work so that time will age certain portions to a darker finish than the rest, finishing an ice sculpture before the morning sun melts it away...

The range of his work is wide, but always involves organic shapes and frequently involves circles or squiggly lines. He has done several commissioned pieces in which case he brought elemental pieces into the space. I find his work amazing and the video was inspiring.

Flog Me Anyday

I sit here in the office just about to head out for the day and one of my coworkers puts on a Flogging Molly cd and now I don't want to leave. I've never heard the group (though I have heard of them). I love their music. Irish, wacky and fun. I ask you, who wouldn't love that? I mean really.

Afghanistan Kicks Iron Chef Booty

We went to dinner at The Helmand in San Francisco yesterday. It was our first venture in Afghan cuisine. I have to say I had an amazing dinner. Parts of the meal reminded me of Indian food and other parts reminded me of Greek. Overall, the menu was unlike anything I'd experienced before.

I started with Ahak: ravioli filled with leeks and scallions, with yogurt and mint-garlic sauce, topped with ground beef and mint. Each flavor seemed to find my taste buds one at a time before settling into this delicious combination.

My entree was Mourgh Challow: Chicken sauteed with spices and yellow split-peas, then sauteed with yogurt, cilantro and curry, served with challow rice. I can't even describe how amazing this was. The flavor of the dish was outrageous and combined with their seasoned challow rice, I honestly couldn't get enough. It was so good that I've have to force myself to try something else next time I'm there.

For dessert I had Bucklawa (otherwise known as baklava): pastry layered with a combination of chopped walnuts, almonds, and pistachios scented with cinnamon and cloves and served with a honeyed caramel sauce. It was far superior to any <insert derogatory tone>baklava I've ever had. In fact Curt had to pull me from my own little haven of bliss to let me know we were going to be late for our after dinner show.

The Zagat review of this restaurant commented, "who knew Afghans ate so well?" and I have to agree. This restaurant has become an instant favorite. In fact, I wouldn't mind finding my way back into the city today for round two. Hm...

Serenity

I saw Joss Whedon's new movie, Serenity, last night. It was really good. Better than the half an episode I saw of the short-lived tv series, Firefly, on which the movie was based. Some may say this is a sci-fi western. With the bank robberies, gun fighting and running from the law I'd say they were right. With the flawed, quirky characters and resistance to take epic moments seriously, Joss does me proud once again. See it I say. See it now.

I Think He Likes It

Regarding the recipe of the week: according to Curt, "this is the best thing I've eaten in at least 5 years." And after two helpings of leftovers from the boy who never eats leftovers, he was caught scraping out the bottom of the tupperware like a rabid dog.

Recipe for Bliss

I just have six words for you: Grilled Ribbons of Thai-Style Steak.

Cirque Eloize's Rain

Rain on stage. Water and crap right there on stage. Like wet stuff in an honest to God theatre. There's really only one response fitting for something like that:

Dude

Cellular Degradation

Looky, looky at my new toy. It's a cell phone that folds out into a qwerty keyboard. It's a phone, calendar, planner, to-do list, note keeper, e-mail device, camera, video camera... I'm pretty sure there's a ginsu knife feature, but I haven't quite found it yet. With this handy device and the bluetooth headset I also purchased, I'm ready to tackle the high-paced business world. If only the high-paced business world were ready for me.

Jingo

I've been listening to the audio book version of Jingo by Terry Pratchett read by Nigel Planner. The books is hysterical and brilliantly performed. I've also listened to Guards! Guards! and Feet of Clay and have come to thoroughly love Pratchett's dry, sarcastic humor. It's based in a fictitious old world setting with humans, trolls, werewolfs, etc. but is far from fanciful with it's rough edged existence and truly daft characters. Satirical British humor and some great mystery make Pratchett's Discworld series a lot of fun. Here are a few quotes from Jingo:

"One of the universal rules of happiness is: always be wary of any helpful item that weighs less than its operating manual."

"Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life."

"[...] Vimes's grin was as funny as the one that moves very fast towards drowning men. And has a fin on top."

"Sergeant Colon had had a broad education. He'd been to the School of My Dad Always Said, the College of It Stands To Reason, and was now a post-graduate student of the University of What Some Bloke In The Pub Told Me."

Drop Everything

Curt and I drove to Sonora to see The Full Monty on Friday night. This is a musical version based on the original movie. This version was set in Buffalo, NY as was evidenced by the gratuitous swearing and over-the-top penile humor. I really love that story, but didn't feel like the music was anything that really enhanced it. In fact, the music wasn't all that great in general. The appeal of the show was that it was more a strip show filled with jr. high comedy. And by "appeal" I of course mean the dumbing down of a tasteful storyline to appeal to middle class America. And not being one to disappoint, middle class America flocked to the auditorium fully prepared to hoot, holler and throw underwear at the stage. Despite the poor comparison to the film the musical is fun, just not the slice of art that I was hoping for.

California Dreaming - Day 4 (the rides)

Monday we drove from Laguna Beach to Valencia (north of Los Angeles) to spend the afternoon at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Curt hadn't been on a roller coaster in years and once our stomachs returned to us after The Viper we had a great time. We got soaked on the Roaring Rapids, began to dry out while experiencing the Psyclone, got wet again with the Log Jammer, ate some mediocre pretzels and italian ice, enjoyed the brand new Batman the Ride and ended the day by getting photos in one of those tiny little photo booths. By the way, two grown men trying to fit into one of those photo booths... quite the comedy routine.

California Dreaming - Day 3 (the art)

After returning from the beach we went to the Festival of Arts. While the community band playing Jr. High-esque tunes lowered the quality of the exhibit, the art itself was awesome. There were over 100 artists represented covering a wide range of mediums.

I loved some of the art like this reflection photo and several other pieces that begged to be stuffed in my pocket and snuck out the back exit...

Curt and I discovered we have the same taste in art which is bloody brilliant. None of that froo-froo scenic crap for us. We want substance! We want statement! We want lack of plaster breast molds that are passed off as art!

California Dreaming - Day 2 (the laughs)

In Laguna Beach our accomodations were much smaller, but tons more cute. We walked to a nice Californian cuisine restaurant for dinner with a friend of Curt's. Then we were off to see The Musical of Musicals, an hysterical musical that mimicks and mocks the big name musical theatre composers. Each composer-styled mini-musical had the time honored storyline: "You must pay the rent! I can't pay the rent! You must pay the rent! I can't pay the rent! I'll pay the rent!" How can you go wrong with such a meaty plot? It's a witty show that is most appreciated by those who are pretty familiar the musicals being mocked, but I found it a ton of laughs even when I knew I was missing some of the "in" jokes. It's a show I recommend seeing.

California Dreaming - Day 2 (the food)

Saturday we drove a few more hours to Laguna Beach. We ate at Nature's Grill & Juice Bar in Ventura along the way and had the best smoothies of our lives. The guacamole was amazing as were the entrees. It's the type of place I might drive out of my way to visit again. Tasty!

I Feel Like Cookie Monster

Being the sugar addict that I am and being in the midst of a major life change I've been heartly off the wagon for the last few weeks. As such sitting through Charlie and the Chocolate Factory this evening was probably not my brightest idea as of late. The up side? I haven't had a Toblerone in years and loved every post-movie, addictively purchased bite. Oh, and the movie rocked too. Definitely one to see again.

Prince William Sound Cruise

Last week, while in Anchorage, George and I took a six hour cruise through the Prince William Sound. The entire day was picture perfect: sunny, warm, calm seas, and clear skies. This was the last hoorah for George as he moved to Ohio this week and a near last hoorah for me as I leave this glorious state in a mere two weeks. There are tons of pictures to rub your noses in the fact that I got to experience such a gorgeous day on the water in an amazingly beautiful state.

Media Whore

I'm in the presence of greatness. Let's all take a moment for the appropriate reverent silence...

And to think I changed her nasty, disgusting diapers when she was little.

Nothing Simple About It

I realize I'm probably way behind the times, but have you seen the video to "Untitled" by the group Simple Plan? I just saw that video this weekend and was blown away. It's a good video in general, but the part that really slammed me was how they portrayed loved ones being affected by death. So amazingly accurate. Of course, if you're easily thrown into sobbing fits with scenarios of car accidents and death you may not want to see it (Valette, this means you).

A twang in my step?

Last night I saw the Bearfoot Bluegrass band in concert. I've never really cared for bluegrass, but heard amazing things about this band and had a free ticket so I figured it couldn't hurt. I was blown away. They were amazingly skills, animated and entertaining. In the end I'm rethinking my prejudice about bluegrass music all together.

The one snag in the evening was that I was sitting next to someone who smelled like human sausage.

Mind's Eye

In an effort to fill my mind with the rancid brainwashing of culturally jaded media... I've watched several movies lately. I haven't watched much in months so felt I needed to catch up. Not so sure that I had missed all that much.

Wicker Park - Aaccck. Gag me with a overly complicated, soap opera love triangle.
Motorcycle Diaries - Interesting, but a little too documentary and political-agenda for me.
Without a Paddle - Fun. Not amazing, but fun.
Dodgeball - Wow... the first 30 minutes were, um, memorable.
Robots - Very fun. The animation was superb and the characters were great.

Ecriture dans la rue

My French is nearly gone, but from what I can discern there's been a calligraphy group that has been doing 'writings in the street' for years in Paris. The link shows the 2001 endeavor. I find myself fascinated with this kind of art on the sidewalk. Such a temporary and non-glorious place for something so beautiful. I find the frivolity of it quite delightful.

// my personal research assistant: Bill //

Looky looky

I love this photo. Bill did some amazing photography there.

Heck Yes

I saw Napoleon Dynamite again last night with some friends. We laughed our asses off the entire movie. It was so freakin' good that we're going again tonight. What am I going to do afterwards? Whatever I want, gosh!

Mask of Light

For some reason I've been drawn towards the movie Bionicle: Mask of Light for sometime now. I was pretty sure it would suck, but I wanted to see it. For a movie made to promote a line of Lego toys, I was pretty impressed. The cgi was superb and the story was very interesting. Looking at pictures of the Lego characters, I assumed the movie would be a high tech story about robots with lasers who save the day or some such crap. Instead the creators actually made these characters and the story very organic. It was a sweet choice to help ground and give life to these figures. I'm pretty sure this review is already waaay too long for what most people would see as a throw away movie, but I was just so pleasantly surprised that I felt the urge to share. I've sated that urge. Time to move on.

An Evening with the Monks

Last night the Tibetan Monks from the Drepung Loseling Monastery came to town. I went with a few of my co-workers. It was... interesting. Since they were doing religious rituals, which isn't really a performing art, it wasn't as engaging as I had hoped. I had hoped they would do more of a performance oriented thing based on the Tibetan and buddist cultures. Several of the selections were the monks standing in a line, doing their weird chant and banging a few instruments together. There were some very animated and visually exciting rituals including a 15 foot snow lion costume and a very lively debate. Those were great to see. Also, their robes and costumes were brilliantly and beautifully colored.

An amusing association from the evening:
The Dance of the Rainbow Space Travelers - This makes me think of a tv show with the opening sequence, "...on it's mission to explore new worlds and new furniture arrangements. To boldly go where no queen has gone before."

A disturbing tidbit of knowledge from the evening:
The monks chant in multi-phonic tones, meaning one monk can produce two different tones when they sing. When they sing it sounds a lot like a didgeridoo. The disturbing part is that they practice to achieve this skill to the point that their throats bleed. They continue practicing until the bleeding stops and they are able to produce multiple tones. Listening to this freaky form of chanting made my throat hurt.

Confirmed

De-Lovely is breath-taking, even a second time. I wonder if a third time will be the same...

De-Lovely

I just had one of those completely moved, left speechless experiences at a movie. I saw De-Lovely, a movie about Cole Porter's life. It was utterly amazing. It was done as a musical with brilliant performances by Kevin Kline and Ashley Judd. Everything about the film was well executed and the fun, but melancholy story was just what I needed this evening. I sobbed for nearly 15 minutes toward the end of the film. Hella theraputic if you ask me. Since I get to see movies for free I plan to see this one again before the week is up. I don't know if it was one of those 'right place, right time' kind of things or if the movie was just that good. Either way, it blew me away. I'm so glad I saw this movie.

End of Summer

I'm totally in love with the new wallpaper I just downloaded from deviantART by Daniela.

Hypercube

Cube 2 was basically a remake of Cube, but with higher level math and lower level effects. I'm sure the producers were like, "let's just make the same exact film but with worse characters, much less interesting problem solving, and a pathetic ending. It's brilliant!"

Movie Mania

Yesterday I watched the documentary Festival Express. It was awesome. The musical performances were amazing to witness as was the entire event. I can't imagine the creative energy of a train full of top-notch musicians traveling the country together giving concerts. While I can't say that I would have wanted to experience the boozin' and trippin' that was going on, I would have loved to be a part of that kind of artistic vibe.

Last night I watched American Splendor. This was a dramatization/documentary of a writer who creates comics about his life. And quite a pathetic, grumpy, and cynical life it is. While I didn't like this guy as a person, there was something about the movie that really drew me in. I think it's his stubborn determination to be average or perhaps even worse than average. He's an outrageously negative person and portrays his life as such. I guess I can relate to the cynical, but humorous outlook. Before the movie I had given myself permission to turn it off if I didn't like it, but I never once considered it. It was a great movie that was well worth my time.

Fantastic Four

Superhero Hype provides a first look at the costumes for the upcoming Fantastic Four movie.

Super Size Me

Super Size Me rocked. It was funny, sometimes disgusting, and scary on the informative.

Nice Effects

As long as you aren't concerned with bothersome things like a solid plot, character development and continuity with previous stories... Alien vs. Predator was a great movie. There were kickass special effects, sweet visuals, gadgetry to drool over (which, um, the aliens actually did), and, well, more special effects. So yeah, it basically sucked, but it sucked with style.

Collateral

I just utilized my press pass to see the movie Collateral for free. I probably wouldn't have seen it if not for the rather attractive price. I wasn't expecting it to be all that great mostly because it starred the overdone and ever annoying Tom Cruise. Well, I was pleasantly surprised. I really enjoyed the film. The characters were very interesting and the story had a lot of interesting things to say about people and choices in life. In fact, the movie kinda seemed like an intellectual character movie (with murdering and gangsters thrown in for fun) until the last 30 minutes where it turned into high adrenaline action. That was a bit of an odd shift, but enjoyable nevertheless. It wasn't an earth shattering movie by any means, but it was two hours well spent.

The Village

I just watched The Village by M. Night Shyamalan. Damn, that was good. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. The premise was very interesting, but the storytelling was simply brilliant. It was a perfect mix of character, emotion, fear, and the unknown. I'm still gobsmacked by the story. It's not like my questions weren't answered, but I just can't stop thinking about it.

I saw Signs for the first time on Sunday and was blown away by that one as well. I had no idea it would have so much emotion and depth. I cried and was moved by the lessons learned. Except for that unfortunate Unbreakable incident and a few early works, M. Night Shyamalan has proven to me that he's a very original writer/director who knows how to tell an interesting story. I would plan to see a movie based on the fact that his name was on it.

Hob-Nobbing

We cruised the art galleries last night as they all had openings and hors d'oeuvres. It was great though I felt like I should be saying snooty things while swishing around my drink in it's cup.

Identity

I just saw the movie Identity for the first time. It rocked. I completely loved the premise and the twists and the characters. Very good movie.

My Wife is an Actress

I just watched a great French movie, My Wife is an Actress. Brilliant dialogue and an amusing story.

Catwoman

I completely recommend seeing every movie expecting it to be absolutely horrible. That was the case when I went to see Catwoman yesterday. I saw it because there are very few movie options in my area, I wanted to see a movie, and I'm a sucker for superhero flicks. Going in with absolutely no hope for enjoyment made for a very enjoyable movie. Reviews all around the net are trashing this film, but I actually had a really good time. I thought the story was interesting and well told. Halle Berry was surprisingly good in her split personality role of Patience Phillips and Catwoman. In fact I enjoyed most of the characters in the film. I thought the concept of a lineage of catwoman based in Egyptian mythology set-up the film nicely and removed the need to be true to the original Catwoman stories. Patience is just another in a long line of Catwomen.

Sadly Catwoman's costume did actually live up to my pessimistic expectations. They had sort of a transition costume that would have worked perfectly throughout the movie. I wish they had left it at that. The holey pants, s&m top, and dorky cat mask just really didn't do it for me. Also, the filmakers relied on a lot of cgi to show our main character leaping around the city like a cat. That was obvious computer work and some of the transitions back to real photography were painful. The movie continued to get more hokey as the "villian" of the film is kinda turned into a super villian because of the skin care product she used... I hate when that happens.

So... while I enjoyed the movie, don't get your hopes up. There was a lot lacking in the film, but if you go in expecting crap you just might enjoy it as much as I did. In fact, this is a movie that I might actually choose to own. Rating: 3/5

Game Diva

Is it too much to ask that a game have both a good storyline and have interesting game play? Is it?

Final Fantasy X had damn gorgeous graphics and a very interesting storyline, but actually playing the game was completely boring. I'd only go through a little bit of game play, with only the few options given to me, and then there'd be a cut scene that was longer than my game play. It's not like I even had choices of where to go. Everything had to be done in the exact order and method the game pre-described. I basically felt like I was watching a movie that took an extra amount of effort to get through. Very disappointing first experience into this lauded series of games.

Soul Reaver 2 also felt like it would be a great movie, but I not only got bored waiting to play, but playing.

I really wanted to like both of these games. I played for longer than I was interested because I hoped for improvement. They both failed me miserably. <sigh>

Finding Neverland

Finding Neverland looks like it could be an amazing movie. Johnny Depp is an amazing actor and I find the premise very interesting.

Kness

Here are some great illustrations by Kness. I especially love gloomygloom and the image on june 14th in the blog. If only I could still understand French.

// my personal research assistant: clio //

A Bit of Comic Reading

Without my computer for the last week I've been doing a lot of reading. Here are a few worth mentioning:

Batman: The Killing Joke [DC]
Alan Moore is brilliant at making superheroes seem like regular people (well, people with major freaked out issues, but you know, normal). Even though it was written in 1988 I really enjoyed this prestige format book. Rating: 3.5/5

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Vol. 1 [America's Best Comics]
This was excellent. Another book written by Alan Moore which means this felt much less like the gaggle of superheroes that was the movie even though most of the characters were the same. Rating: 4.5/5

JLA: Riddle of the Beast [DC]
This is an alternate take on the Justice League of America which puts them into a fantasy story. The ties to the JLA are minimal which means this story holds up very well even without any prior understanding of the characters. The story is interesting, if a little rushed, and the painted chapters – each by a different artist – was a treat. Rating: 3/5

Darwin's Radio

Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear is an amazing bit of hard science fiction.

...Molecular biologist Kaye Lang, a specialist in retroviruses, believes that ancient diseases encoded in the DNA of humans can again come to life. But her theory soon becomes chilling reality. For Christopher Dicken--a virus "hunter" at the Epidemic Intelligence Service--has pursued an elusive flu-like disease that strikes down expectant mothers and their offspring. The shocking link: something that has slept in our genes for millions of years is waking up... (Del Rey Books)

The complexity and depth of the science in this book is awe-inspiring. Because of this there is a lot of intellectual information to wade through. I'm not a scientist, but felt that Bear did a good job at making the jumble of information accessible. In addition the characters are extremely well developed and likeable. The story is primarily about the science yet the character's stories become so wrapped up in the events that in the end it's all about them. It's been years since I've read a book that was this completely captivating. I've already reserved a copy of the sequel, Darwin's Children, at the local library. Rating: 5/5

The Chronicles of Riddick

The Chronicles of Riddick is the follow-up movie to Pitch Black. It begins 5 years after the events of the first film. "Riddick, now a hunted man, finds himself in the middle of two opposing forces in a major crusade." (IMDB)

Chronicles was only a sequel in the sense that it contained a few of the same characters from the first film. Beyond that it was a very different film. This wasn't at all a horror film and much more of an epic sci-fi movie with an entire race of bad guys, multiple worlds, intense techno gadgetry, and gorgeous outer space effects. It didn't try to recreate what worked from the first film, but rather tell a brand new story utilizing the character Riddick, played again by Vin Diesel. Because of that I think this sequel really worked. It had the ruthless, hard edged, risk-all core that is Riddick, but once again he ends up the hero he tries very hard not to be.

The movie brought back the three surviving characters from the first film. For fans of the first film it was awesome to see "Jack" again though she goes by Kyra now. I was sad that she wasn't played by the same actress from Pitch Black, though Alexa Davalos was great in the part. Vin Diesel was much better in this film and very convincing with the added depth that this story brought to the character. For the first time I actually felt that he might have more to offer that looking hot and acting tough (not that he didn't accomplish both in this film).

The Chronicles of Riddick was an excellent film for sci-fi fans but a big disappointment for fans of horror. I, personally, loved it. I felt the story was solid and was amazed at the brilliance of writer/director David Twohy. Rating: 5/5

Paul van Dyk: Crush

This is a very engaging little music video. It's as if the music, which is excellent, is simply the backdrop for a much more interesting story.

Shrek 2

Shrek 2 takes off where the first movie ended: Shrek and Fiona are beginning a new life together. Naturally this means that Shrek has to meet his in-laws. In addition to the usual discomforts in such a situation there are people who desperately want to see Shrek and Fiona split up. This "happily ever after" couple, along with friends new and old, have to face their first test of love in the hilarious, irreverent way we've come to know and love.

This creators of this sequel were brilliant. They didn't try to recreate the first movie at all. Instead they took the story and characters to the next natural step. In doing so they were able to bring in a lot of characters, settings, and scenarios that simply wouldn't have fit in the first film. What is great is that even with a very different story the sequel still has the same humor, pacing, and fun that made Shrek such a success. The story kept me interested and laughing throughout. I left feeling extremely satisfied and thoroughly amused. Rating: 5/5

Nemesis Game

K and I watched Nemesis Game last night. We had never heard of it, but came across it at the awesome video store down the road and decided to give it a try.

Nemesis Game is a mind-bending film filled with riddles, death, mystery, and philosophy. In it's simplest sense the film is about seeking answers and what happens when you've finally found them all. The search for answers leads Sarah Novak down a path that gets darker as it gets more compelling. The final answer seems more dangerous than it is worth, yet Sarah is so close to understanding it all. What would you do if you were offered the ability to finally make sense of the chaos of life?

The movie was written and directed by Jesse Warn. While this was Warn's first feature length film, the movie doesn't reflect that at all, but instead shows polish and an artistic approach to telling the story. Carly Pope was powerful in the lead role and showed a depth of complexity that was fascinating to watch. I would definitely love to see more of her work.

Being based on riddles, this is a very cerebral movie. It's that's your thing, as it is mine, then I totally recommend seeing Nemesis Game. Rating: 4.5/5

This Week's Comics

Ultimate X-Men #46 [Marvel]
Wow. Very little actually happened in this issue. It was all relationship stuff and nothing that added much depth or carried the story forward. We did see our first ultimate version of a big name X-Men villian. Also we see the extreme effect that Hank's death is having on Ororo. Rating: 2/5

Soulfire #0 [Aspen]
I'm intrigued by this series, but still have no idea what it is about. This issue sets up a very basic premise for the world, but doesn't give much as to the story or even the characters. The art (and the script somewhat) felt more like a sketchbook for the series than actually telling a story. Still, the art was great and it's nice to get a glimps of the setting of this new series. Rating: 3/5

Supreme Power #10 [Max Comics]
This was the titty issue. There was definitely a lot of tit shown. Granted, they were beautfiful tits, but perhaps they didn't need to be shown quite so much. Having said that I thought this was a great issue. It introduced another character and starting bringing some of the characters together. This series has been slow to unfold, but that has really worked to it's advantage. I'm completely engaged and enjoying seeing this story unravel. Rating: 4/5

Secret War #2 [Marvel]
I'm enjoying the painted approach to this series by Gabriele Dell'otto. No my favorite style, but it is being well used. The story seems pretty slow considering that there are only 3 more issues to this series, but I'm mildly interested to know what's going to happen. I didn't care for Brian Michael Bendis' portrayal of Wolverine or the way he gave a large percentage of air time to Spider-Man. This issue definitely makes me want to know how the story ends, but it also kinda made me want to flip right to the end. Rating: 2.5/5

Witchblade #75 [Top Cow]
I decided to give this a try after abandoning it over 20 issues back. I love the premise of this series, but found that it became too complex and gimmicky to enjoy. This issue, while not horrible, didn't change my mind. There were at least 5 stories going on at the same time and none of them really hooked my interest. Writer David Wohl also never gave us much of one story before bouncing off to the next which made the writing feel disjointed and contrived. The various narratives and monologues felt stiff and somewhat over dramatic. The art, on the other hand was great. I was particularly pleased with the colors by Brian Buccellato: rich and excellent at conveying the various moods of the story. Rating: 2.5/5

Astonishing X-Men #1 [Marvel]
This new series kicks off with writer Joss Whedon (tv's Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and penciler John Cassaday (Planetary). While I'm a huge fan of Joss Whedon's I have to say that there wasn't anything amazing in this issue. It wasn't bad, but not the explosive beginning I was hoping for. Perhaps it will get better... Rating: 2.5/5

Van Helsing

I saw Van Helsing today. It was not at all what I had expected. The opening sequence which looked exactly like an old Frankenstein flick had me waiting for the punch line. I seriously thought that we were watching some hokey ad that was gonna end with Igor offering Frankenstein's monster a Starbuck's tall double-foam latte. Nope. Instead we have the beginnings of what turned out to be a very cliche film.

All the standard cheese elements were present: boy meets girl..., the bumbling sidekick who delivers one liners, the monster who is misunderstood, "No, go on without me. Save yourselves...", and on and on it went. We even had the comic relief moment when our main character finds himself in true gonad strife as the wheel of an moving carriage threatens to run over his privates. Now that's entertainment.

On the up side... Kate Beckinsale's hair was abso-freakin'-lutely gorgeous. I wanted to be a girl just so I could have her hair. Well, that and I loooove wearing leather corsets... =>

Besides Kate's hair (she wants me to call her Kate) all the costuming and sets where actually beautiful. The movie was very impressive visually. The special effects were fairly good though how they were used was often hokey. I really enjoyed Kate's acting, but wasn't terribly impressed with Hugh Jackman or Richard Roxburgh. The story wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. It felt like a recycled story from days gone by. Sad really. To be fair, I think this movie wasn't made for me. I have a definite angst about cliches. Those who love classic horror films may love this movie. It wasn't my thing and I left feeling very dissatisfied. I had really wanted to enjoy that movie.

Metroactive Movies has a more detailed description and review if you are interested.

Burt's Bees

I'm feeling a little silly cause I've known about Burt's Bees lip balm for years. I have friends that swear by the stuff. You would assume that I've tried the stuff. That's what I assumed. I don't know what I had presumed to conclude about it, but I've not been using the stuff. Yesterday I bought some because it reminded me of my friends and oh my frickin' word; it was pure bliss. I was honestly in shock at how awesome this stuff felt on my lips. I can't believe that I never tried this before. If you are also a Burt's Bees virgin I urge you to slip some in today.

Now, my Burt's Bees and me are going out on the town...

Falling Up: Crashings

Falling Up unleashed it's debut cd, Crashings, in February of this year on BEC Recordings. Though their sound incorporates rock, pop, punk, and metal styles it doesn't come across as thrown together. In fact, they have a very tight sound with solid, well-created arrangements. Rather than sounding like a rock band that just wants to play loud, the intensity of this collection comes from the band's passion for God. This makes way for the refreshing rise and fall of energy within each song. I found myself captivated throughout the entire cd. In fact, I was compelled to listen to it several times in a row which almost never happens for me.

The lyrics on this debut project are deeply worshipful and surprisingly poetic. The simple chorus of Falling in Love demonstrates the heart of this group:

All of my dreams and my passions are in your hands

Places conveys the complexity of their lives and faith:

Playing my heart so many times
There's always a weak hand holding mine
Saying the way that I have said "This is the way"
Every scene is still the same
Just with a different faceless name
Falling and breaking, cleaning I am holding on
So this is where my heart is, longs to be
Hurting you, needing you
This is where I always want to be
Suffering

Christianity Today has a brief article which sheds some light on how the band got started and on their philosophy.

I'm completely impressed with this debut effort. Contrary to their recent beginnings, Falling Up's lyrics show an incredible depth of faith while their music shows a well-seasoned polish. Rating: 5/5

Zelda's Back

If ever there were a good reason to cream one's pants, this would be it. Here's hoping that music gets a major upgrade before the game reaches completion...

// my personal research assistant: valette //

The Incredibles

I'm sooo gonna love this movie.

// my personal research assistant: valette //

Will & Grace: Seasons 1 & 2

Since the beginning of this year I've had the opportunity to watch seasons 1 & 2 of the NBC sitcom Will & Grace.

Series Description: Will (Eric McCormack) is a gay lawyer and Grace (Debra Messing) is a straight interior designer. More than friends, but less than lovers, the two share a disfunctional bond. Jack (Sean Hayes) is Will's flamboyantly gay and promiscuous friend who frequently changes careers, but never really works. Karen (Megan Mullally) is a snobby, critical, sex crazed lush who, although she is technically Grace's assistant, also never works. Not surprisingly, Jack and Karen are instant soul mates.

Although I have always loved the show I hadn't realized how few episodes I'd actually seen. Seeing how the show and the characters established themselves was quite a treat. I was amazed at how quickly the actors were able to solidify their roles and relationships.

What I hadn't remembered from the episodes I'd seen before was how brilliant the writing is. The creators David Kohan & Max Mutchnick established something uttering amazing. The humor fits perfectly into the character interactions and aren't relegated to recycled one-liners. The jokes are very intellectual in the sense that they reference and comment on a diverse array of culture and style.

The actors are equally brilliant in the show. They seem unafraid to commit completely to the zaniness of their characters. In addition to a cast of amazing actors, the ensemble works together with an amazing chemistry. I was truly in awe watching these performers give such a dynamic performance and succeed at making it look effortless.

The season 1 DVD set included an interview with the creators. Evidently the original idea for the show was to focus on Will & Grace's game-playing neighbors, Rob & Ellen. Will & Grace were just the freaky neighbors who were often talked about, but rarely seen. NBC liked the straight woman living with her gay best friend neighbors so much that they had the show recreated to make Will & Grace the focus. I can't thank NBC enough for this stroke of genius.

While I hear the show loses a bit of charm in the later seasons (it is currently in season 6), I'm completely committed to watching the rest of them once they hit DVD. Rating: 5/5

30 Days of Night: Return to Barrow #2

30 Days of Night: Return to Barrow #2 [IDW]
This issue brings together events from Dark DaysDark Days and the original 30 Days of Night. Using that amazing foundation, the story presses forward with Barrow preparing for another vampire invasion. Wayne Kitka takes the job of the new sheriff after his brother's mysterious death last winter. Wayne reads his brother's journals of the terrifying events leading to his death. Wayne must decide whether to stay and fight or to take his son and return to safety. With only a few days until the sun disappears, he's running out of time.

Wow. I'm really enjoying Steve Niles' approach to telling the story in this follow-up series. While I loved the overall story of the original 30 Days of Night series, I felt the storytelling lacked depth. The spin-off, Dark Days, showed an improvement in the depth and pacing of the writing. Return to Barrow is showing even more improvement in the storytelling approach and is bringing a lot more complexity to the series.

While I complained a bit about Ben Templesmith's art in the original series, I've since grown to love it. It is still difficult to decipher at times, but I've learned to trust that Templesmith's storytelling is less about exact illustration and more about creating a mood. In that respect he is a master artist. Templesmith is writing and drawing his own series, Singularity 7, to be released in July. Rating: 4.5/5

Comic Briefs

Ultimate Fantastic Four #5 [Marvel]
I've never been a big fan of the Fantastic Four. They just never interested me that much. I decided to try this new spin on the team because I've been very impressed with the Ultimate line so far and because my favorite writer, Brian Michael Bendis, was writing it. I've been completely impressed. For the first time I actually care about the characters and am interested in their story. This issue brings our newly powered threesome (they have yet to find Sue) to what was believably their first fight. This story arc ends next issue. Hopefully it's received enough interest for them to continue from there. Rating: 4/5

WildCats: Version 3.0 #20 [WildStorm]
This issue pull in a lot of loose threads from the series though I wouldn't say that it wrapped up any of these threads. I found the reference to so many different story lines (at least 5) difficult to follow. While I've read the entire series I felt the need to review so I fully understood what was going on. We've been on a rotation of artists recently with this series. Duncan Rouleau, who penciled this issue, shows some nice work though he tends to have a lot more rounded shapes in his work which make things a little too cute for the content of the story. Rating: 2.5/5

Tales of the Vampires #5 [Dark Horse]
I'm still undecided on this series. I love the Buffy universe in which this is set, but am not really enjoying the multiple short stories by random creative teams each issue. Of course, I've never been a fan of anthologies. Some have been very good and some merely okay. The story arc which Joss Whedon has been telling since the series began has been very interesting. It comes to a completion this issue so I wonder if Whedon will continue to contribute to the series. The story about Angel was fairly eventless. I'm tired of feeling sorry for Angel. It's time to move on. Rating: 2/5

Ultimate Six #7 [Marvel]
Issue #7 ends the mini-series which has been interesting, but not earth-shattering. The main deterrent for me has been that I find the classic Spider-Man villians to be laughable and uninteresting. Still, I love what Bendis is doing with Spider-Man and enjoyed the series from his perspective. This issue had some tense story-telling for a few pages at the beginning, but was mostly just a wrap-up issue. I'm a big fan of tying up loose ends, but don't really appreciate an entire issue of it. Rating: 2.5/5

Jeffrey

Through my Netflix subscription I checked out Jeffrey, a comedy about a gay man who is terrified by the threat of aids and therefore swears himself to celibacy. His resolve is put to the test when he meets the man of his dreams... who happens to be HIV positive.

The comedic highlight of the movie was when the main character, played by Steven Weber, calls his parents for advice. I thought that I'd imagined the worst of embarassing sex talks one could have with one's parents. I was wrong. I have five words for you: phone sex with your parents. Horrifying to experience, but hysterical to watch.

This independent film is based on a stage play which gave the movie a great style which you don't normally see on the screen. There was a bit of awkward writing in the dialogue, but the story, jokes, and characters were well done. Steven Weber did well in the role of Jeffrey, except for the fact that it was hard to believe that he was gay when it came to the kissing scenes. He just looked so awkward with it. Michael T. Weiss, who played the hunky HIV positive love interest, was especially unconvincing at portraying a gay guy and, in general, at delivering his lines.

Fortunately the rest of the cast more than made up for this weakness. In fact, one of the main characters was played by Patrick Stewart who was 300% believable as a gay man. He gave a brilliant and consistent performance. The movie also had tons of cameos from top name actors (Nathan Lane, Sigourney Weaver, Olympia Dukakis...) who were were totally commited to the freaky characters they played.

I'm so glad that I took the chance to try this movie. It was surprisingly witty and a whole lot of fun. I definitely recommend it. 7/10

Scooby-Dooby-Doo!!

Valette and I saw Scooby Doo 2 this weekend. Damn, that was good. The beginning was a little odd, but once I got in the groove of the movie it was awesome. The actors were much more solid in their roles this time around, particularly Matthew Lillard who was absolutely brilliant. The jokes and scenarios were also far better than in the first movie. While the first movie tried to reinvent the Scooby gang for the modern day, the writers, producers, and director of the second film made a concerted effort to return Mystery Inc to its roots. To this end they included many of the villians that the gang has fought in the past plus tons of classic Scooby gags. Valette and I were busting up through the whole movie. In fact, we were still laughing after we were out of the theater. I'm glad to see that this franchise got better with it's second installment. While there may be some casting changes, it looks likely that we'll be seeing a Scooby 3 in 2006.

Lord of the Diva

K and I saw Lord of the Dance Monday night. Even though Michael Flatley wasn't present, his ego was there in full force. Seeing this live really made me realize how much this show is about Mr. Flatley and his high opinion of himself. I'm sure that he sees himself as the lord of the dance. It was amusing to see that the bravado Mr. Flately showed in the video was translated into set choreography for those who would try to fill his shoes. The whole "I'm too cool to dance right now so I'm just going to strut around and be better than the other dancers" is quite a unique bit of choreography. Thankfully Mr. Flatley decided that his wanna-bes didn't need to take off their shirts like he did in the video (I'm still scarred from that experience).

Besides the larger-than-life ego, the show was pretty enjoyable. Seeing the amazingly quick foot work and hearing the awesome music was wonderful. My favorite part was the dueling fiddles. Damn, that was impressive. The main male and female leads (the good guys) were awesome dancers. The lighting was also a treat. Now if only I didn't see it in a hockey stadium...

Drowned World

K and I watched Madonna: The Drowned World Tour 2001 last night. Damn. I've never seen so much show on one dvd. The two hour concert included a contortionist, naked men suspended from the ceiling by their feet, a fight sequence on wires, a mechanical bull, ballet dancing, hentai (cartoon porn), and seriously, there was a whole lot more.

While the show was very overwhelming, I was amazed at the level and diversity of art in the show. The most artistic dancing, lighting, video, sets, etc. It was an awesome display of so many different disciplines. Sadly, the music wasn't quite to the level of the rest of the show. All the dancing, acting, jumping, humping... made it difficult for Madonna to sing at her usual amazing level. Also, the show had some slight remixes of sounds that I didn't like. Mostly I really didn't like what they were doing with the background vocals. They really muddied up some of the songs and distracted from others. I do love where Madonna's voice has come to after so many years of singing. Her low, rich vocals are haunting.

Many of the songs in this concert were very dark, painful songs which I found both disturbing and appealing. Madonna definitely had some strong statements to make in this concert. One song features her singing Nobody's Perfect while being abused by a samurai. The samurai part fit much better than you'd imagine, but seeing her treated that way was horrible. She quickly followed up that song with her wire-work fight sequence where she fights back and eventually kills the abuser. Very powerful statement. The show had many such threads of deep, painful statements. For the courage to go there and the brilliance to very cleary convey those messages I have to applaud Madonna and her design crew.

Overall I'm very glad to have seen the video and all that it showcased. It wasn't the most enjoyable performance by Madonna, but on an artistic showcasing level it was brilliant.

Buffy Complete

I just finished watching the last season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Since I got started with the 7 season series about 4 years late, I'm pretty pleased to have finally finished it. I'm only a year behind. Not too bad.

What's funny about me watching this series is that I had absolutely no interest in it. In fact I had pre-judged it as a stupid show as I had deemed anyone who watched it. I recorded an episode for Beth and decided I'd watch it to see why she liked it (since she generally doesn't like trash). I wasn't blown away by the episode (from the first season), but I was intrigued so I started watching more. Pretty soon I was completely drawn into the lives of Buffy, Willow, and Xander. I quickly grew to love the quirky dialogue and the characters that didn't take themselves seriously. After season one I was really impressed with the excellent writers on the show and the larger storylines that weaved throughout the seasons. I really feel that the writers, via Joss Whedon's direction, demonstrated a higher quality of writing than I've ever seen on television.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a character show. Sure it's a character show about humor and the supernatural, but it's still completely about the characters and their relationships together. It's the awesome character development that hooked me on this series and held me through 7 seasons.

I had been curious to see how the final season ended. I was very impressed with the overall story that dominated the last season, but was left wanting when it came to actually saying goodbye. The last episode essentially frees Buffy from the immense burden of having to protect the entire world. A very good reason for saying that the show needed to end: she's not the slayer anymore. She's just one of many. What made me sad is that there were no sappy "you've meant so much to me" or "I'm sorry I've been a diva slayer" type of stuff between the characters. For being a show so much about it's characters, I had hoped that the last few scenes would give us more of a closure between them. There wasn't even a mourning for those characters that were killed in the final battle. I guess, as a faithful audience member, I wanted more of a chance to say goodbye and to grieve the show's passing.

Overall I have to say that Joss Whedon is an amazing writer, one of my favorites. I will definitely read/watch anything that's he's created or written. I guess that means that I now have to get caught up on my Angel episodes. Only two and a half seasons to go...

otnemeM

Kottke.org gives a fairly accurate representation of a mind-bending movie which I loved. Thanks Valette for sending me that link.

Pretty

Art in progress

Orgasometer

I've had my GameCube of platinum goodness for about a month now and I've already purchased a bunch of games and tried a few others. Here's a orgasmic review of the games I've been playing:

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem - Oh, oooh, oh yes... Oooooh yes, yes, yes!
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds - Oh yeah, bring it. Who's your daddy? Who's your daddy?
Mario Sunshine - That was it?
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time - Damn, yes! Whoo, wooo, wooooooo!
Enter the Matrix - Yeeeaah that's good! (No, it was good. Really. It's just... I expected more.)
Zelda: Windwaker - Mmmmm. That's nice. Yeah.
Beyond Good and Evil - Oh my god, oh my god, I've never... OhOhOooh my god!!
Luigi's Mansion - Aaaaaa-aaaah, oooh... that's so sweet.
Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc - No... it's okay. I love you no matter what...

Bloody Brilliant

More is brilliant, artistic, and definitely worth the academy award nomination it received. It's a big file, but is worth the download time.

Thanks Valette for insisting that I watch it.

Trailers

So what, do you ask, did I do with my work day? Only official, sanctioned work activities of course...

The Chronicles of Riddick looks like it might be reeeeeal good. In case you don't know, this is the sequel to Pitch Black and will again be starring Vin Diesel.

The The Passion of Christ could be very interesting as well. It's been a very controversial movie because it presents Jews as being partly responsible for Jesus death... Um, yeah, sounds about right. That's not to say that if any other race was there they wouldn't have done the same thing, but in this case the Jews did choose to send Jesus to the cross. Sorry. Truth hurts.

The Scooby Doo 2 trailer doesn't tell me much, but it's gotta be good.

While not overly original, Mindhunters looks very interesting.

Seeing the Timeline trailer in the theater didn't make me want to see it. The exclusive internet trailer, on the other hand, did.

Schism

I recently purchased some random independent comics hoping to stumble across something I really enjoyed. In this case I not only enjoyed, but was thrilled with the title Schism by Paul Lindsley and published by Summertime Books and Comics.

Joshua is having dreams; nightmares really. In his dreams he sees demons; feels the evil within them. He watches as a demon attacks and possesses a man filled with light who serves the people. He senses a need to stop this event, but, in his dream-like state, is only able to watch. Joshua doesn't know that he was sent to this world to confront the demons and stop them from attacking an ancient tribe of elders. He is unable to remember who he is or what he was sent to do. Meanwhile elders are being killed and another one must sacrifice his life to help Joshua cross over into the spirit world and fulfill his calling.

This first issue reads very much like a dream in surreal tones and meanderings. Lindsley aptly conveys the confusion and complexity of what Joshua is experiencing while still giving enough information to let the reader know what is happening. Still, he doesn't give too much. In fact, after the first issue I find that I have more questions than answers. I don't really even know the world in which it will take place. This approach really intrigued me and is part of why I enjoyed the book so much. Probably the largest reason I enjoyed the book was the amazing art. I'm not talking about some nice comic drawings, but true art. The kind of stuff that you'd hang on your wall (if you were into dark imagery of demons and tortured souls that is). Each page was really a treat to look at.

Below are two of the inside pages. Go the the Schism page to see them at a larger size, to see additional pages from inside the book, and to see a gallery of Paul Lindsley's work. If you haven't read this book, I recommend purchasing a copy while you are at the Summertime Books site. Rating: 9/10

Finding Nemo

Plot:A father-son underwater adventure featuring Nemo, a boy clownfish, stolen from his coral reef home. His timid father must then search the ocean to find him.

Review: I saw this sometime ago and loved it. Pixar's animation has risen yet another level. The water and lighting alone was breathtaking. I also really enjoyed the story. I enjoyed that the story revolved around the father rather than the missing child. That seemed like a unique approach and certainly appealed to me as an adult. All the voice actors were great, but I especially enjoyed Ellen DeGeneres' performance as Dory. Dory, the ditzy sidekick with no short term memory, was the major appeal of the movie for me. Overall the movie was well written, well performed, and well executed. Hats off to Pixar. You guys rock.

Movie Trailers

Hellboy - I don't know much about this comic series, but the movie actually looks interesting. The look of the characters is pretty cartoony, but, given that expectation, I think I might enjoy it.

Shrek 2 - The premise of this sequel seems weak, but it does look like a fun movie.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - Wow. This story is probably my favorite book in the series and this trailer makes the movie look amazing. They definitely did their job with making me desperate to see it.

The Day After Tomorrow - This looks really intriguing. There isn't a lot of information given here, but I'm definitely interested in finding out more.

The Punisher - I've never been that captivated by this character, but I really like the look of this movie. It has potential.

The Princess Blade - This is another trailer that doesn't tell me much, but it looks like just another marital arts movie. Fortunately that's what I'm in the mood for.

The Incredibles - Pixar is at it again. That is reason enough for me to see this movie. Besides that, it looks like it could be funny.

Up, Up, and Away

Ok. I think this is getting a liiiiittle out of hand... Here's a list of upcoming comic based film projects:

Batman: Intimidation - Proposed release: 2005.
Batman will be played by Christian Bale.

Blade: Trinity - Proposed release: August 2004.
Story summary: When the Vampire Nation hatches a plan to frame Blade in a series of brutal killings, he must join forces with the Nightstalkers, a clan of human vampire hunters, in an extreme battle in which the trail of blood leads directly to the notorious vampire legend, Dracula. Blade will be played again by Wesley Snipes.

Catwoman - Promosed release: 2004.
Story summary: Patience Price, a woman wrongfully killed, manages to come back to settle the score as Catwoman. Continuity: Patience is but one in a line of several Catwomen. Catwoman will be played by Halle Berry.

Constantine - Proposed release: 2004.
Story summary: John Constantine, has been to Hell and back... Using his knowlege of the occult, he wages a war against the demons among us. With the help of a female police officer, Constantine finds himself face to face with the agents of darkness called the "First of the Fallen". Constantine will be played by Keanu Reeves.

Fantastic Four - Proposed release: summer 2005
Story summary: Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm are forever transformed after a freak accident while manning an experimental rocket into the Fantastic Four. Each is given extraordinary super-human powers.

Hellboy - Proposed release: April 2004
Story summary: Born in the flames of hell, and brought to our world in a pagan ritual, the fierce red hero, Hellboy was saved by his friend and mentor, the benevolent Dr. Broom. Raised in Broom's Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, Hellboy joins a team of heros. Together, they must come to terms with fantastic powers that prove to be both a blessing and a curse. In the process they discover that their abilities serve to benefit mankind but may also keep them forever isolated from the society that only they can protect. Hellboy will be played by Ron Perlman.

Iron Man - Proposed release: 2005
Story summary: When billionaire genius Tony Stark was gravely injured by an act of industrial sabotage, he saved his own life by designing a life-sustaining shell -- the hi-tech armor that is the invincible Iron Man.

Man-Thing - Proposed release: August 2004
Story summary: Marvel?s terrifying creature of the swamp, MAN-THING screams onto our screens in the new horror motion picture that presents a very different kind of character to the usual Marvel superhero. Based on the cult comic book series that was first published in 1971, the MAN-THING is a vengeful creature born from the evil and injustices perpetrated against both man and nature.

The Punisher - Proposed release: 2004
Story summary: The story of FBI undercover agent, Frank Castle, who until now has beat considerable odds. A former Special Forces operative, he is finally moving out of the field and into a desk job -- and a normal life with his wife and son. Then Castle's world is shaken to its core by a nightmare he has longed feared: his family is executed as a repercussion from his final undercover assignment. With unparalleled intensity, ferocious intelligence and fearless actions, Castle seeks to punish the murderers -- and finds the one thing he least expected: redemption. The Punisher will be played by Thomas Jane.

Spider-Man 2 - Proposed release: July 2004
Story summary: Two years have passed, and the mild-mannered Peter Parker faces new challenges as he struggles with "the gift and the curse," desperately trying to balance his dual identities as the web-slinging superhero Spider-Man and his life as a college student. Peter's life is about to become even more complicated as he encounters a formidable new foe -- Dr. Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina). Peter must use all the powers at his disposal to try to stop this diabolical madman in his octagonal tracks. Tobey Maguire will again play Spider-Man.

Son of the Mask - Proposed release: October 2004
Story summary: This is a sequel to The Mask starring Jim Carey. The main character will be played by Jamie Kennedy.

X-Men 3 - Proposed release: 2006

Potential/Unscheduled Movies:

Advanced Ticket Sales

Peter Jackson (Director of the Lord of the Rings triology) is working on an remake of King Kong and there are rumors of a possible Hobbit movie in the future...

It also looks like a 2nd X-Files movie may be in the works.

Finally, Tim Burton will be directing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, a new movie based on Roald Dahl's children's book Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Order of the Phoenix

I recently completed the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix audio book written by J.K. Rowling and read by Jim Dale.

I feel that this was the best written book in the Harry Potter series so far. Even though the book was quite long, there didn't feel like there was much extraneous story. Everything seemed focused on and relevant to the main thrust of the story.

Having said that, I did feel that the ending was a bit of a disappointment. After so much media hype about "someone" dying, the actual event was very bland. Likewise, with the set-up of Voldemort's return and the war that will inevitably ensue, it was odd that we didn't actually see Voldemort or his gang but for a few minutes. Of course, those issues are related more to publicity hype and expectation building than the actual book.

I was very impressed with the events that Rowling spun out in this story. She really took some bold moves with the chaos at Hogwarts and the dangers of working in the Order. I also loved the "screen time" given to some of the supporting characters, especially Ginny and Neville.

Jim Dale's delivery of this audio book was amazing. He continues to be on of my favorite actors for audio books. His voicing and emotion for each character were dead on, so much so that I could recognize a character's voice before knowing who was supposed to be speaking. Dale really brought the story to life in a way that makes me feel that the audio book enhanced the story rather than just being another medium for obtaining the story.

Overall it was a very enjoyable book which was very well written and wonderfully performed. 9/10

Pixar

Pixar has a number of it's short films available online. There even a few shorts which I've not seen before. I have to say that I'm totally impressed with the stuff that Pixar puts out. Not only is the animation amazing (and getting better with each production), but their stories are really tight. Besides, it looks like a damn fun place to work.

Wallace and Gromit

For those of you who know and love Wallace and Gromit, be of good cheer. A full-length Wallace and Gromit movie is currently in production!! Sci-Fi Wire has a brief news blurb about the project.

If you are new to these characters, here's a taste of what you've been missing.

Also, I had the chance to play a little bit of the new Wallace and Gromit game. It was a lot of fun. Something I definitely want to buy (once I break down and buy a system that'll play it, that is).

Barry Ween, Boy Genius

The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius series is written and illustrated by Judd Winnick and published by Oni Press. (Oni Press has been putting out some really great books in the few years they've been in existence. They are easily becoming one of my favorite publishers.)

Barry Ween is truly a genius. He is, in fact, the smartest person on the planet. He also happens to be 10 years old. Granted, he's a potty-mouthed, attitude heavy 10 year old, but a 10 year old nevertheless. His best friend Jeremy loves dick jokes... a lot. Jeremy is just an average kid and doesn't seem overly phased by Barry's brilliance. Jeremy does, however, enjoy playing with Barry's gadgets. More accurately, Jeremy likes breaking Barry's gadgets. This is frequently where the "adventure" comes into each story: Jeremy touches something he shouldn't and Barry has to clean up the mess.

I've read several things written by Judd Winnick, but he really seems to be most at home in this series. Each page is filled with hysterical humor and effortlessly wonderful story. Barry could be likened somewhat to any number of cartoon boys with attitude (Dexter, Ren & Stimpy, Bart Simpson, etc.), but I find a lot more interest here. For one thing, it's a hell of a lot more funny. This is one of the few books that I actually laughed out loud throughout the reading. I really can't remember reading a funnier book. Beyond that it's got some great friendship moments and interesting commentary on the world of adults. Each story is filled with lots of action which makes this a nearly perfect book.

Winnick's art is also a major plus on this series. While this style wouldn't fit a more serious story, it's right on for this series. It's always clear what is happening and what the characters are feeling.

I've now read the first 3 volumes of this book and Winnick's strength on this title hasn't waned a bit. A 4th volume still awaits my eager attention. I'm hoping the Winnick has more Barry Ween in him yet. 10/10

Hopeless Savages

Hopeless Savages is written by Jen Van Meter, illustrated by Christine Norrie, and published by Oni Press.

Hopeless Savages is a story about a family where the norm is anti-establishment and rock star attire. To the family's great shame, the oldest son has rebelled against the family to be a prim and proper dot com executive. This trade paperback collects the four issue mini-series which revolves around the kidnapping of the parents, Dirk Hopeless and Nikki Savage, and the efforts the kids go through to return their wayward brother to the fold and then rescue their parents.

This story is a brilliant book. The characters are given tons on interest without taking a lot of time to know every detail of their lives. The writing is very punchy, sarcastic, and always funny. The art is nice to look at, perfect for conveying the quirky personalities of the family, and infused with humor.

Hopeless Savages: Ground Zero collects the 2nd mini-series utilizing these characters and Too Much Hopeless Savages is the latest series yet to be collected in a trade.

Hopeless Savages is a comedy with a good dose of action. It definitely ranks as one of the smartest, most entertaining comics I've read to date. 9/10

Revolution

I saw Matrix: Revolutions this weekend and was really impressed. I thought it was far better than the second movie. Firstly, Revolutions didn't have bullet-time photography every other scene (unlike Reloaded). There was much less gratuitous anything in the third movie and the story felt tighter. I enjoyed that the movie was less about Neo and more about Zion and it's fight for survival. We got to see more of the supporting characters which I really enjoyed. I particularly enjoyed seeing more of the main kid that idolizes Neo, more of Link's significant other (Zee?), and more of Seraph.

I just have to say that I was completely impressed with Ian Bliss, the actor who played Bane who was, in turn, possessed by Smith. He did an amazing imitation of Hugo Weaving playing Agent Smith. It was so convincing, in fact, that a friend I saw it with was convinced that Hugo Weaving was the one playing Bane. Each inflection and even physical gesture was so much Agent Smith that I was appalled that Neo and Trinity couldn't recognize him.

It really felt like each movie did a wonderful job of taking the Matrix to the next level rather than trying to repeat what was done before. As a trilogy it is very solid. When you add in the Animatrix, the game, and the comics it's, well... overwhelming really. I think it works, but it definitely feels like a bit much. I'm hoping they stop here before we all just get sick of the Matrix. I'm definitely feeling done.

Comics Worth Mentioning

Ultimate Spider-Man #49 [Marvel]
Damn, this was good. Brian Michael Bendis' writing was very clean. It flowed well, was believable, and was funny as ever. I continue to love the art by Mark Bagley. His art is not only fabulous to look at, but he is an awesome storyteller. Feelings and action and expression all comes across extraordinarily clear. My favorite part of this issue is when Spidey asks the Kingpin if he is hitting on him. The entire issue was riveting and a thoroughly enjoyable read. 10/10

Wolverine: The End #1 [Marvel]
I was very surprised at how interesting this was. The story has me very intrigued and I will definitely be picking up the next issue. This aged Wolverine is really well written by Jenkins with an interesting look at what he might be like if/when he gets physically old. The art in this book blew me away. Castellini grabbed my attention from the first page and held it to the end. 9/10

Supreme Power #4 [MAX]
This book continues to impress me. Straczynski has taken what was almost a throw-away team from the the past and given it a lot of promise. I'm very pleased that Straczynski is taking time to set up the characters and the potential team. While I'm not completely engaged with the characters yet, I am very interested in where this story is going and how it will get there. 7/10

Exiles #37 [Marvel]
This book has been disappointing as late, but this issue showed some positive strides. The main story itself wasn't amazing, but where it ended up was breathtaking. 7/10

Dark Days #5 [IDW]
Things are at a very interesting point for Stella. It definitely isn't where any of us expected her to be. While this series isn't the best thing I'm reading, I'm enjoying it. I do wish there was more depth to the characters or even the story for that matter. It kinda feels like I'm reading an abridged version of a much more complex story. So basically it's good, but could be even better. One more issue and it will be wrapped up. I look forward to reading it. 6/10

Powers #35 [Image]
Oh yeah. We're starting to see the goods after several issues of a very different direction for this series. I'm really enjoying the time Bendis and Oeming took to set up this arc. It could have been all summarized within one issue, but it would have lost something. I liked not knowing why I was reading about some prehistoric dude with powers, but knowing that it would pay off in the end. This issue really starts to connect with the present day in the series. It address questions I've had since the beginning of Powers and I'm stoked to see how it plays out. 8/10

OZ #1-3 [Caliber Press]
This is a story of the land of Oz which is dark and twisted. Most of the loved characters from L Frank Baum's books are to be found here, but they've been tainted by war and the struggle for survival. This series was written in the mid-nineties, but I just now picked it up. As I am a fan of all the Oz books, as well as a fan of gritty/imperfect stories, I really enjoyed these issues. I'm hoping to find some more of them so I can continue to follow this new adventure. 5/10

Strangers in Paradise: I Dream of You TPB [Abstract Studio]
Wow. I knew that this was a popular series, but it never really grabbed my attention. I came across this trade paperback really cheap and decided to finally read it. I'm amazed at the depth that Terry Moore has given to these characters. While there is humor and intrigue this is really completely and totally a character story. I found myself really caring about these people and wanting the best for them. The art is really well suited to the story. The characters are drawn with amazing expression and the panels are laid out perfectly to move the story along. Overall I'm totally impressed with Terry Moore and want to read more of his stuff. 10/10

Underworld 2

Yippee! A sequel is being crafted for the Underworld movie. This article gives a few brief insights into what to expect.

What I'm Reading

The Losers #5 (Vertigo)
This is my first look into this series and I was very intrigued. I want more.

Sleeper #10 (WildStorm)
This is the second issue I've read in this series and I wasn't impressed. The "let me tell you my origin story" segment seemed very contrived. Still, I really enjoyed Issue #1 and want to give this another try... maybe in consecutive order this time. heh

Planetary #17 (WildStorm)
This seemed a bit like a filler issue. It didn't seem crucial to anything, but I suppose that remains to be seen. I still really enjoy this series and am very thrilled that Warren Ellis has finally resumed it.

Case Files: Saw & Twitch #4 (Image)
The three timeline simultaneous storytelling is driving me crazy in the sense that it's building my suspense to almost unbearable levels. I actually love the approach and am impressed that Marc Andreyko is able to make it work so well. I also really like the gritty art by Scott Morse. It suits the story very well. The coloring by Jay Fotos brillliantly distinguishes the three timelines we are reading and perfectly portrays the mood of each. I love how each time segment loses a little bit of color distinction, depicting the Twitch's loss and the horrible turn of events. The color in the center timeline is nearly exploding with the stress and tension of the story. The colors in the last timeline are dark and lifeless just like Twitch's life at that point. Utterly brilliant.

Aspen #1 (Aspen)
This is the long-awaited premier publication of Michael Turner's new company Aspen. It features a short Fathom story, a Soulfire pin-up, Ekos sketches, and some interviews. I had been excited about it, but I had no idea how mind blowing it would be. In the Fathom story Turner's art is at an all time high, but it's actually the coloring by Peter Steigerwald that really blew me away. Very rich, luscious colors that make we want to linger on each page. The story, while short, definitely makes me think there is still more story to tell in the Fathom series.

Wildcats Version 3.0 #15 (WildStorm)
This issue felt like it was setting up a lot of stuff, rather than actually having much happen. Still, I was engaged and interested throughout. This is definitely growing to be one of my favorite series to read at the moment.

Inhumans #6 (Marvel)
While I'm pleased that McKeever is beginning to get away from the cliche culture conflicts, I can't say that the team's relationship struggles or even Jolen's schemes are doing anything for me either. While I really like the characters and loved the first two issues, I'm considering ditching this series. We'll see.

Meridian: Coming Home (CrossGen)
This is the 4th TPB collection of a series which I'm loving. Barbara Kesel is telling a very dynamic, well thought out, and consistent story. There doesn't feel like much that is filler or throw away here. Everything is pertinent to the story. The art by McNiven, Simmons, & Hollowell is beautiful to look at and is very strong storytelling. I now only have 3 issues to read before I catch up to when I started buying single issues.

What I've Been Reading

Runaways #7 [Marvel]
This was the first issues I've read of this series. It was surprisingly good. I'm interested in reading more.
New X-Men #148 [Marvel]
This series has potential, but it just keeps leaving me wanting. Every issue I keep wondering why I'm buying it. The answer is that I love the X-Men and am desperate for more X-Men stories. The Ultimate X-Men series rocks, but I want more dammit!
Sleeper #1 [Wildstorm]
I picked this up this week because I read a review that made it sound very interesting. I really enjoyed it. We'll see if it continues to intrigue me.
Exiles #36 [Marvel]
This series has been sooooo disappointing as of late. What went wrong!? This used to be one of my favorite series and now I'm considering dropping it. Breaking up is hard to do...
Meridian #39 [CrossGen]
This was... odd. I really like this series, but this issue left me wondering if I've been deluding myself all this time.
Ultimate Spider-Man #48 [Marvel]
Very good issue. Peter is pissed and for good reason. Still, no one takes his anger seriously. I freakin' loved it when Aunt May told off J. Jonah Jameson. Oh yeah.
Alias #22 [MAX]
I haven't read this series since issue 7, but something about it now ending made me want to try this. It was a very interesting issue. I might try to find trades of the stuff I've missed.
Mek #1-3 [Homage]
Wow... um... yeah. I totally love the world that Warren Ellis has created. The art is wonderful. But... the story was really lacking. I continually felt like I was missing something. I felt like there was a "moral to the story" at the end, but I couldn't figure it out. sigh

Currently Working On:
Spartan: Warrior Spirit #1-4 [Image]
I picked up this mini-series on a whim because it features a character from the WildCATS team. To my surprise it was written by Kurt Busiek, one of my favorite comic writers. I've only read the first issue so far, but it was really good. I love when whims pay off.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (audio CD)
OMG. I'm totally drawn into this from the very beginning. I'm on the 3rd CD of 23 and I'm already loving it. I can't wait to listen to more!
The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron
I've been studying this sort of 12-step program to "discovering and recovering your creative self" with my wife and another friend. It's really been amazing and truly life changing. I totally recommend it. We are finishing up the last chapter this week. I'm sad that it's almost over...

Salesman Bob

Check out this font disk. It comes with 516 good quality fonts for $40. The fonts come in truetype and postscript for both Mac and Windows. It seemed too good to believe, but my morning workplace bought one and it really is as good as it sounds. Here are a couple samples. They even have a pdf catalog you can download which shows you all 516 fonts. As soon as I get the money I'm buying a CD for my freelance design business.

Punish Me Big Boy

The movie The Punisher, based on Marvel's comic character of the same name, is scheduled to be released in the summer of 2004. The Punisher will be played by Thomas Jane (more about him in another post). While I'm not a fan of the comic, the trailer makes this movie look interesting. Of course the trailer only gives the main character's motivation. I still have no idea what the movie is about.

Catwoman

For those of you who don't know, a Catwoman movie starring Halle Berry is currently in production to be released next year. A picture of Catwoman's costume for the movie was just released. Damn that's ugly. Okay, the pants and bra thing look kinda cool, but the mask... what is up with that? The gloves are odd as well. It's like they are mixing S&M, clubing, and tribal attire with a bonafide comic book costume. It's a freaky mix and I don't think it works. Huntress' going-to-a-dance-club look worked awesomely in the short-lived Birds of Prey series this last year, why not go with something like that? I could handle this costume if it weren't for the mask, but it still seems a bit much. The outfit screams dominatrix rather than slinky, sexy kitten. Perhaps this new Catwoman runs an S&M brothel on the side? Whatever.

Underworld

Hell yeah. The moment I saw the first preview for the movie Underworld I became obsessed with it. Generally this means that I will hate the movie because there is no way it can live up to that kind of expectation. To my good fortune, the movie not only lived up to my expectations, but exceeded them.

Synopsis:
Selene (Kate Beckinsale) is a warrior vampire. She, along with her kind, are at war with lycanthropes (werewolves). The lycans are after a human, Michael Corvin, and Selene needs to find out why. What she finds unravels everything she knows about her world and her cause.

Review:
Kate Beckinsale kicks ass in this role both literally and figuratively. I never once doubted that she was a vampire who was seasoned in battle. She also brought a solidity and depth to the character that went far beyond a simple action hero. I totally want to see her in more roles like this.

The costuming was inspiring as was the overall look of the film. I was sitting in awe throughout the movie by the amazing visual imagery. Though the basic plot concept is nothing new, the story played out wonderfully and felt original. The directing and filmography avoided many hollywood cliches, for which I am eternally grateful. It brought a freshness and uniqueness to the film.

Underworld was one of those movies that had me leaving the theatre feeling all powerful and invulnerable. From the driving music to the pvc body suits it was a rush and an experience I plan to repeat when it comes out on DVD.

On a side note, did anyone else notice something odd about the way Kraven (Shane Brolly) spoke? It was like he was working really hard to do an American accent, but was not quite comfortable with it. Every once in awhile I could hear an Irish accent slip into a few random words (since Brolly is from Northern Ireland, I'm assuming that he has an Irish accent). I felt it really muddied what was otherwise a good performance.

Blood & Water

I recently read the 5 issue mini-series Blood & Water by Judd Winick and Tomm Coker published by DC/Vertigo earlier this year. The main character is Adam Heller who has major health problems and has been told he's gonna die. His two best friends offer to make him a vampire so he can live forever.

What I enjoyed most about the story is the unique perspective on vampires and the strong focus on the characters. The relationships really drive the story which is cynical, humorous and intriguing. Coker displays excellent storytelling with the art and is able to give the characters tons of personality. I'm particularly impressed with the subtleties and accuracy he achieves with facial expressions. I also really enjoyed the muted, moody coloring by Jason Wright. He makes the non-glossy inside pages work beautifully. Whether the non-glossy pages were an artistic choice or a financial one I'm very pleased with the results.

Overall I enjoyed the pacing of the story. I did feel that the big revelations toward the end of the series seemed a little underdeveloped, but definitely interesting. I also felt the big crisis was resolved too easily. Basically the story was strong in characterization and weak with the big story elements. Still, as the series ended I was totally ready for more. I'm hoping the creators have more Blood & Water planned for the future. Rating: 4/5

WildCATS Version 3.0

A couple of years ago I read a few of the WildC.A.T.S. comics and enjoyed them. They began to get a bit annoying so I stopped buying them. I've been interested in checking out the new run WildCATS version 3.0, but was leary. Well, the awesome cover on issue #13 hooked me. I bought it and really enjoyed it, though I wasn't 100% sure of some stuff going on. I definitely felt like I stepped into the middle of an ongoing story. So... I bought 9-12. Wow. I'm totally sucked in. The characters are set-up awesomely. I love what they are doing with Grifter right now. The stories are very interested and just dark enough to suit my tastes. There's no happy-go-luck Justice League here. In fact, the superhero aspect of the story takes a back seat to the characters and the story, which is awesome. Kudos to Joe Casey for some great writing. I've also really been impressed with the art. Dustin Nguyen gives us beautiful scenes that are visual interesting and really help move the story along. And the colors by Randy Mayor are to drool over. All in all, I'm impressed with this creative team and really amazed at how much this team has been changed for the better in the new run. I just ordered the first trade of the new run and I can't wait to read it.

Jackass

I watched Jackass the Movie last night. I couldn't stop laughing through the entire thing. It was so disgusting and so damn funny. I was literally nauseous when the movie was over.

Matrix Comics

If the three movies, the nine short animations, and the video game just weren't quite enough for you, now you can add some 30 online comics to the list.

There are some genuinely brilliant comics in this lot that give even more insight into this cult-like dogma we call The Matrix.

Courtney Crumrin

I just finished reading the four issue mini-series, Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things written and illustrated by Ted Naifeh. I totally loved it. It's about an attitude heavy little girl in a world of beasties, crawlies, and all sorts of magical happenings. It's kind of a fairy tale world from a generation x perspective. The story, however, is less fanciful and more jaded than even your modern day fairy tale. The art is breathtaking. It is dramatic, dark, and impeccably polished. Naifeh portrays this gothic, mystical world in perfect detail. Character expressions and attitudes come across clearly. This art not only works in black and white, it really thrives in it. The colored covers tell me that this could work in color, but I'd almost hate to see it. This is an artist/writer who does both incredibly well. It was artfully done in all respects.

Naifeh wrote a follow-up mini-series, Courtney Crumrin and the Coven of Mystics. The trade paperback comes out in September. I can't wait to read that as well.

Rating: 5/5

Men are from whatever

So I finally decided that I needed to experience the famed book, Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus. I got an audio book version and was listening to it yesterday. There seem to be some good insights there, but I simply couldn't get through it. Framing these concepts in the context of people from different planets is brilliant in establishing the point that men and women are fundamentally different. Unfortunately this approach quickly had me feeling talked down to like I was a child. Still I persisted...

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Watchmen

Recently I picked up the first issue of the widely acclaimed comic Watchmen by Alan Moore. This is the comic series that is said to have transformed comics and as such it is recognized as a masterpiece of the genre. I hadn't read it and wanted to see what everyone was talking about. I have to say that I was anti-impressed with the first issue. I didn't understand the hype. The story was confusing and the characters didn't seem overly interesting. Because Watchmen is a comic classic, required reading really, I checked out the entire thing from the library. I was determined to read it no matter how painful.

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30 Days of Night & Dark Days #1

I just read the comic Dark Days #1 by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith. This will be a 6 issue mini-series sequeling 30 Days of Night. 30 Days of Night was a story about people who were trapped in Barrow, Alaska by a group of vampires during a month long period without any sun. That story was basically about a small group of humans trying to survive.

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Fallen Angel

I just read issue 1 of the new comic series Fallen Angel by Peter David. Here's my review:

This is a series about... who knows. It was unfortunately ambiguous. The main character is called Fallen Angel by some, but her real name is Lee. She wears a hooded cloak and looks all mysterious and crap. Lee is tasked to find a woman's son who is supposedly somewhere in this dark and scary town.

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