Caught in a repetition? Not so much with how each day unfolds. I understand the basic "Get up, have breakfast, go to work..." blab blah blahsense, I'm speaking more about how we speak and act. The banal stuff. The same jokes we repeat until they're not funny anymore, but occasionally still are so we keep with them. The same greetings, the same little clever responses to the same questions people ask us day in and day out.
"How are you doing?"
- Oh, I'm here.
"What's going on?"
- Oh, y'know. Another day in paradise.
And if someone actually has the gall to say "Sounds like someone has a case of the Mondays" you have my permission to decapitate them with a shovel. But still, you get my meaning right? It's so easy to fall into a routine. Even when you think you're being witty or clever, you're still probably reciting bits that either someone else popularized via the old cathode-tube box or some movie or song, or you have that little piece of you, that little thing you invented all so long ago and that you keep on keeping on with it no matter how little a response it gets anymore because, let's face it, no one is really listening to you anyway after a while because they generally know what to expect by now it's so easy to fall into a bit of complacency.
Have you ever tried to get out?
Easy to fall into, hard to get out. Like a Tiger Pit in a rain storm. It's so easy to become set in your ways, even when you blatantly are trying not to. What you eat, how you dress, little habits like what order you do the morning three S's in and so on, and we're just talking simple every day things like that.
What about what you read, or watch, or listen to? See where I'm going now? I said I wanted this blog to be mostly about media and that didn't I? Weren't you paying attention?
Of course not, no one reads this bloody thing. But the point still remains. Everything becomes a routine at some point. Whether we snap ourselves out of it or not is up to us. And as simple as it sounds it really is a dedicated effort because we humans more than ever tend to get easily distracted. There's just so much stuff out there, it's overwhelming, and thus the idea of falling into a comfort zone becomes much more reliable proposition, and how our eyes, ears, and brains can become much more tuned to stuff a little on the generic side. Sure, sometimes something genuinely original, or most likely unique, will come our way and we'll embrace it, but for the most part is seems these kinds of ideas or creations get passed over for something more familiar. Something safer.
I've always wondered what happens when, how, or if a creator, a writer, a musician whatever realizes they too are in this zone. For I like many am just a common lay person, as uninspiring as the next person as I'm showing right now with such riveting prose, and I wonder how the minds of those that we look to for our entertainment and our catchy phrases. Thing is, like I said it's so hard to be original as is, I've noticed that a lot of these artists tend to just take somewhat familiar archetypes and genres and just perform the shit out of them. There's a lot to be said for something familiar yet FRESH. Execution is always key, though as I'm noticing you can always keep a good sized audience enthralled with just something just plain catchy.
To bring this to comic books, which again is really what I'm trying to talk about here, I think that's how you have an industry in the state that it is. That's how you get certain books selling at obscene quantities definitely not in proportion to the quality therein. But they're safe. They're familiar. We know the characters, we know what to expect. You know what you're getting with a Spider-Man book. Superman. Batman. Not even talking superheroes (though obviously that's where this diatribe is mostly going to make its point) look at something like the top selling Dark Horse book, Buffy. Or even FABLES from Vertigo. Sure, the storytelling might be new and working on a larger scale than we've seen in comics since maybe even the SANDMAN was in print, but it's still a book about characters we grew up reading about, or more apt being read to about as we were tucked in at night.
Why is there an X-FORCE book selling in the Top 20 considering the memories of the 90's it should be invoking? The Top 20 is your basic assortment of Batman, X-Men, Superman, Spider-Man etc titles, some of which may in fact have a quality score justifying its placement sure, but most likely not. "Run of the mill" I think is too strong a term here, but "Complacently average" I think does the trick. Why don't people even know FEAR AGENT exists? Why did a mini-series written by the front man for arguably the most popular band on the planet (THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY and MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE respectively) get outsold by something like 70+ books a month when it was rolling? Sure, you've got your SCOTT PILGRIM catching on like wildfire, but why does a book from the same company like WASTELAND struggle to find new readers?
And it's not like any of those books I just mentioned are terribly original, but they are unique in a medium lopsidedly dominated by one particular genre. But even books wholeheartedly in that genre tend to get overlooked simply because they lack familiarity. THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY doesn't have Spider-Man. THE ORDER didn't have Wolverine. GODLAND doesn't sport the Fantastic Four and so on. Instead of finding books like these, we just instead have a readership that buys what they buy, reads what they read, and bitches about half of all of it, yet continues to support it with their dollar.
Complacency.
I just don't get it, and yet I too tend to fall prey to it. I like teh punk rock. Apparently, I really like teh punk rock because it's a huge percentage of my 5000 songs on my iPod. But I catch myself enough I think to branch out and find new stuff. To find some Folk music Rocky Votolato style. To sample some random Metalcore like Bullet For My Valentine. To hear the odd instrumental sounds of Battles. But is it enough?
Well, is it? How much do you really care about your music? Your movies? Your comics? What do you plan to do about it, because I would genuinely like some new pursuits.
And while I think upon this, I believe it's time for some major Pwnage Warhawk style. Because I am a simple man, with simple needs, and a desire to blow things to fucking Valhalla and back with my trust Tank and Proximity Mines.
Cheers...
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
The Main Event...s
It's that time of year again. With warmth flowing a little more freely in the air, the first of the "summer" blockbusters is bearing down on us, and in comics apparently the Cylons... er, I mean Skulls are invading and someone is having a Crisis of sort. Possibly a mid-life one judging by the creative and editorial staffs involved in all of these things.
I kid because I love... mostly.
So yes, it's "Event" time again. You know, events. Those things that everyone time and time again, no matter how the previous one turns out they always end up coming back for more despite some claims to the contrary? (because, let's face it, with the ungodly amount of hype surrounding each and every one of these things, it's rare you're going to find someone not disappointed on some level). But y'know, as much as I've grown cynical about highly hyped books and kind of stopped caring about Big Two books in general, I understand where the excitement comes from, I really do. The main complaint with your more mainstream comic books, and more to the point your "Franchise" books is that they really for the most part run pretty stagnant. That's kind of how they have to run. These books need to be around for years and you can't really change them and the characters that run them too much. Status quo and all that. But the landscape around them, now that's something that you can fuck with, and it's not much but at least it's a change right?
And that's where I think all the excitement comes from. Sure, at the end of the day, I think most of us would admit that not necessarily much changes from the fallout of a big event. I'm not even being pessimistic here, I'm just being truthful. Short term, sure, you'll have some deaths to reconcile, or maybe you'll get a "Fifty-state Initiative" or something to tide fans over after the wake of something, but the main point of an event to generate excitement in the here and now and lay groundwork for the next one. Keep the fans on their feet and, again, at least try and keep the universe these characters share fresh because, like I said, if anything is going to change, that's really your best bet there.
Breaking down both of the ones we're now confronted with personally, Marvel's "Secret Invasion" and DC's "Final Crisis" I can say that I am filled with both "cautious optimism" for one and complete fucking "meh" for the other. Even though another staple of geek culture in the form of Battlestar Galactica has been running the tried and true "Who can you trust?" type storyline for a couple years now, I can say that I'm more interested in SI than FC by a mile right now. Mainly I think the reasoning for this is that by the very nature of this kind of "Body Snatchers" story, you're invoking a nice base of intrigue with an emphasis on the characters, which is key given when I just said about the status quo earlier. Important characters may not die in these things, but having them not being themselves for several years of storylines now is something that can be done, and occasionally be ballsy even though it is a cheap trick at the end of the day.
As for Teh Final Crisis!... I don't think I could give less of a fuck if I tried. The build up has been, at the least, terrible. There's many other adjectives I could use to describe it, but that one sums it up rather nicely. I may not be the biggest fan of Invasion's main build titles, Brian Michael Bendis' Avengers titles. I think they're both kind of lacking in the plot department, and I think he gets too carried away with his dialogue for his own good these days, but at least he has done very well with developing characters that for the most part have been nothing but B and C listers since their creation. So far the main build book for FC, Countdown to Final Crisis, has... well, let me put it this way: I was only reading it off the shelf, and after seven issues of it, I couldn't even be bothered to do that anymore. That's right, a book so good I couldn't even fucking stomach reading it for free. Between this, the fact that the last Crisis event was a pretty solid blah-fest in the end, and for the most part I would say most (most, not all) of the DCU line is being ravaged by mediocrity as of now, the only reason I'll even read this mini will be just so I know what is happening, and because in Grant I trust. If anyone is going to turn this mess around, I guess it would be him...
So there all that is. Again, I'm not really expecting either of these to be the "be all" but that comes with the territory, because they're not going to be. If anything, I think that's kind of why I tend to get down on events. Sure, I've been burned before on them, but I've rectified that by simply deciding I'm just not actually going to buy them anymore. I'll read 'em yeah, but my money has so many better books to be buying. But that right there is my point.
All the hype, all the hyperbole, all the rampant fanboyism, it just turns me off if I don't actively avoid it. "This is going to be the greatest comic ever!!!" No, no it really probably isn't going to be Jocko. At all. But what it hopefully is going to be, and what I these kinds of books should be aiming for, is the equivalent of those Summer Blockbusters I mentioned way up in the header. Something that will stimulate the part of my brain that seeks just entertainment, that won't insult my intelligence but doesn't try to over-stimulate it, and that occasionally pulls a twist out of its ass that makes me give a kudos and maybe even generally has a ramification of some sort.
One can only hope... but that's it.
These things aren't going to set a new standard for quality and art in comics. They're not going to become "Watchmen's" and re-invent the wheel so to speak. And I'll still be able to point to the FABLES and EX MACHINA's and SCALPED's and CRIMINAL's and FELL's and on and on's of the industry as far superior products from a quality and "art" standpoint (And if anyone out there actually thinks these statements aren't true, well, then please don't ever try and talk to me without wearing some sort of head guard or protective cup) but that still doesn't mean they can't be enjoyable and deep down, I hope that does happen because frankly, I'm sick of shitty comics dominating charts. I really am. And if these are what are going to sell, then by god at least let them have some substance to them.
I guess I'll find out in about 11 hours if this little miracle actually occurs from the first issue in our Dopplegander Menagerie. Let's go Wonder Jew!
Cheers...
I kid because I love... mostly.
So yes, it's "Event" time again. You know, events. Those things that everyone time and time again, no matter how the previous one turns out they always end up coming back for more despite some claims to the contrary? (because, let's face it, with the ungodly amount of hype surrounding each and every one of these things, it's rare you're going to find someone not disappointed on some level). But y'know, as much as I've grown cynical about highly hyped books and kind of stopped caring about Big Two books in general, I understand where the excitement comes from, I really do. The main complaint with your more mainstream comic books, and more to the point your "Franchise" books is that they really for the most part run pretty stagnant. That's kind of how they have to run. These books need to be around for years and you can't really change them and the characters that run them too much. Status quo and all that. But the landscape around them, now that's something that you can fuck with, and it's not much but at least it's a change right?
And that's where I think all the excitement comes from. Sure, at the end of the day, I think most of us would admit that not necessarily much changes from the fallout of a big event. I'm not even being pessimistic here, I'm just being truthful. Short term, sure, you'll have some deaths to reconcile, or maybe you'll get a "Fifty-state Initiative" or something to tide fans over after the wake of something, but the main point of an event to generate excitement in the here and now and lay groundwork for the next one. Keep the fans on their feet and, again, at least try and keep the universe these characters share fresh because, like I said, if anything is going to change, that's really your best bet there.
Breaking down both of the ones we're now confronted with personally, Marvel's "Secret Invasion" and DC's "Final Crisis" I can say that I am filled with both "cautious optimism" for one and complete fucking "meh" for the other. Even though another staple of geek culture in the form of Battlestar Galactica has been running the tried and true "Who can you trust?" type storyline for a couple years now, I can say that I'm more interested in SI than FC by a mile right now. Mainly I think the reasoning for this is that by the very nature of this kind of "Body Snatchers" story, you're invoking a nice base of intrigue with an emphasis on the characters, which is key given when I just said about the status quo earlier. Important characters may not die in these things, but having them not being themselves for several years of storylines now is something that can be done, and occasionally be ballsy even though it is a cheap trick at the end of the day.
As for Teh Final Crisis!... I don't think I could give less of a fuck if I tried. The build up has been, at the least, terrible. There's many other adjectives I could use to describe it, but that one sums it up rather nicely. I may not be the biggest fan of Invasion's main build titles, Brian Michael Bendis' Avengers titles. I think they're both kind of lacking in the plot department, and I think he gets too carried away with his dialogue for his own good these days, but at least he has done very well with developing characters that for the most part have been nothing but B and C listers since their creation. So far the main build book for FC, Countdown to Final Crisis, has... well, let me put it this way: I was only reading it off the shelf, and after seven issues of it, I couldn't even be bothered to do that anymore. That's right, a book so good I couldn't even fucking stomach reading it for free. Between this, the fact that the last Crisis event was a pretty solid blah-fest in the end, and for the most part I would say most (most, not all) of the DCU line is being ravaged by mediocrity as of now, the only reason I'll even read this mini will be just so I know what is happening, and because in Grant I trust. If anyone is going to turn this mess around, I guess it would be him...
So there all that is. Again, I'm not really expecting either of these to be the "be all" but that comes with the territory, because they're not going to be. If anything, I think that's kind of why I tend to get down on events. Sure, I've been burned before on them, but I've rectified that by simply deciding I'm just not actually going to buy them anymore. I'll read 'em yeah, but my money has so many better books to be buying. But that right there is my point.
All the hype, all the hyperbole, all the rampant fanboyism, it just turns me off if I don't actively avoid it. "This is going to be the greatest comic ever!!!" No, no it really probably isn't going to be Jocko. At all. But what it hopefully is going to be, and what I these kinds of books should be aiming for, is the equivalent of those Summer Blockbusters I mentioned way up in the header. Something that will stimulate the part of my brain that seeks just entertainment, that won't insult my intelligence but doesn't try to over-stimulate it, and that occasionally pulls a twist out of its ass that makes me give a kudos and maybe even generally has a ramification of some sort.
One can only hope... but that's it.
These things aren't going to set a new standard for quality and art in comics. They're not going to become "Watchmen's" and re-invent the wheel so to speak. And I'll still be able to point to the FABLES and EX MACHINA's and SCALPED's and CRIMINAL's and FELL's and on and on's of the industry as far superior products from a quality and "art" standpoint (And if anyone out there actually thinks these statements aren't true, well, then please don't ever try and talk to me without wearing some sort of head guard or protective cup) but that still doesn't mean they can't be enjoyable and deep down, I hope that does happen because frankly, I'm sick of shitty comics dominating charts. I really am. And if these are what are going to sell, then by god at least let them have some substance to them.
I guess I'll find out in about 11 hours if this little miracle actually occurs from the first issue in our Dopplegander Menagerie. Let's go Wonder Jew!
Cheers...
Thursday, February 14, 2008
"I'm a Cyclops." "And I'm a WOLVERINE!!!!..."
So I decided the other night I needed to get back into comic book postings. I've really failed for the most part over the past couple months in having any sort of life going on to post about, so that has left most of my Blog and Journal links empty for the better chunk of the past couple months. And, really, my base hatred of the political process, plus my general apathy to society as a whole has prompted me to not want to talk about anything involving those at fucking all. Besides, it's not like there's much to talk about. If I were to try and discuss the news and what is occurring in the world, well apparently I'd have to just post random snippets of whatever I deemed Newsworthy followed by 1000+ words on the harrowing ordeal of Britney Spears and how our culture is "teetering on the brink" alongside her... seriously, someone fake a fucking overdose and put the poor girl out of her misery...
...actually, fuck that, someone put a fucking overdose in my goddamn arm so I just don't have to be exposed to it anymore. Fucking A...
So back to comics it is. Hopefully my current enthusiasm for wanting to post about something will keep me coming back to drop off a descent sized "column" once every week or two. Really, it's not so much my desire to want to talk about the things, but more that I tend to just go weeks on end where I do nothing but work and get my "lavish" five hours of sleep a night until it gets to the point where I become curious exactly what kinds of pills Heath Ledger was mixing and where I can get some prescriptions... too soon?
Anyway, to start these things back up, I decided I wanted to talk about one of the more oddball "relationships" that I've seen actually getting a more and more decent amount of panel time in comics recently; the sort of almost "tumultuous but with a bunch of mutual respect" one between the uni-visioned leader of the X-Men, Cyclops, and the stubby little, claw-poppin Canuck Wolverine. The reason for this is sort of straight forward, mainly it being with this sort of "Renaissance" period the X-titles seems to be going through right now, so is their "relationship" becoming more defined, and better depicted making each character come out "in a better light" so to speak. Here, lemme kind of go back and describe more what I'm getting at...
When I first started comics, the first kinds of comics I ended up purchasing were X-Men comics. And back then, really the beginning of the heyday of the Million-plus sellers and the variant covers and all that exciting hubbabaloo, Marvel was trying to make something abundantly clear: Wolverine fucking ruled! Like, holy shit dude! He's like, got these big fucking claws, kills ninjas by the fucking busload, and can like, regenerate really fast and shit! And I'm not talking "he heals paper cuts in less than a week" or any of that bullshit, we're talking you can fucking puree his fucking body and he'll still like, form this giant puddle of fucking death ooze and eviscerate your face while he all knits himself together and smokes a dozen cigars like a more "Economy Sized" Clint Eastwood. Plus, he's banged more Asian Chicks than Genghis Khan, and probably started in the same time period too. How fucking awesome is that?!? If you don't think that's awesome, then you're a giant fag, or probably a Cyclops fan. Fuck that douche...
Yeah, it went something like that. You either mindlessly thought Wolverine was the shit (which most did), or you were one of the few that actually thought "Y'know, between his ability to pretty much claw down every last villain in sight, AND his constant efforts to keep trying and take Cyke's chick, this dude is pretty fucking annoying and douchey. Actually, fuck this dude, I'm with the Visored guy!" And thus the rift began... well, either that or you were like me and preferred characters like Colossus and Beast to begin with... or you were a Gambit fan and were equally ridiculed by all three factions... seriously, fuck that character.
But for years and years it went like that; most writers stood by and made Wolverine as badass as they could because, well, he fucking sold comics and that's all that mattered. Meanwhile Cyclops was left behind, pretty much neutered as a character because the most popular character, aka the only one that basically matters because HE SELLS FUCKING BOOKS! basically just always came in and fucked shit up with his claws. Who needs a leader when you can just write that up a hundred times and everyone eats it up by the pitchfork load?
Something is changing though and like I said before it's seemingly rolled in with the fact that just in general better writers seem to be handling the X-titles (whether or not better stories are being told, that's personal opinion). Going back to the early part of this decade is when I seemed to notice it, when Grant Morrison took over and started his NEW X-MEN run, but what I've noticed is that a lot of this run or writers has seemed to notice that *gasp* these two characters actually accommodate each other!! And, wait, what's this? Oh my god, they actually respect one another? Holy fuck! You know what that is people? Oh my, I think we actually have characterization running here! Okay okay, calm down. Let's not get too excited here, lets go deeper...
What really has made this more prevalent has definitely been Whedon's work on ASTONISHING X-MEN. If there is one thing that title has consistently done since its start, it's show that these two characters, previously always at odds, actually work well together even when they're still occasionally grinding at each other. Wolverine has slowly been working his way back from simply being "The Best at What He Does" to realizing that Mr. Summers isn't too shabby at what he does either considering he's pretty much the best leader this side of well, with Captain America gone he's pretty much the best leader you can find in the Marvel Universe. And it also helps that Logan has slowly been integrated better into the fold of what the X-MEN are. Back when he was just "The Man With No Name that occasionally lends a hand in fucking shit up" he's sort of integrated himself more in with the school. Not necessary in a teacher role, but he does seem now to do better with "mentoring". And with that, he's come a lot more to defer to Cyclops' leadership, just as Cyclops really has come to accept that a man like Logan, who can be that feral beast who will throw himself into any obstacle can be one of the most valuable tools at his disposal. Funny all that had to happen what the Hot Red Head had to "finally" stay dead.
This is the kind of stuff that has been going through my head to write about and I think I can see myself sticking with it at least twice a month. I know it's a little rough, but that's kind of the point, and it kind of goes well with my more "flying by the seat of my pants" approach I take with my AICN reviews. Any thoughts, critiques, suggestions for future "topics" and whatnot are all welcome, but I realize no one is reading this bloody thing and I'm just frivolously punching at the keyboard because I just kind of miss writing and like to make myself heard from time to time. Looking around, it's almost like that's what the Internet is for anymore. Ah well...
Cheers...
...actually, fuck that, someone put a fucking overdose in my goddamn arm so I just don't have to be exposed to it anymore. Fucking A...
So back to comics it is. Hopefully my current enthusiasm for wanting to post about something will keep me coming back to drop off a descent sized "column" once every week or two. Really, it's not so much my desire to want to talk about the things, but more that I tend to just go weeks on end where I do nothing but work and get my "lavish" five hours of sleep a night until it gets to the point where I become curious exactly what kinds of pills Heath Ledger was mixing and where I can get some prescriptions... too soon?
Anyway, to start these things back up, I decided I wanted to talk about one of the more oddball "relationships" that I've seen actually getting a more and more decent amount of panel time in comics recently; the sort of almost "tumultuous but with a bunch of mutual respect" one between the uni-visioned leader of the X-Men, Cyclops, and the stubby little, claw-poppin Canuck Wolverine. The reason for this is sort of straight forward, mainly it being with this sort of "Renaissance" period the X-titles seems to be going through right now, so is their "relationship" becoming more defined, and better depicted making each character come out "in a better light" so to speak. Here, lemme kind of go back and describe more what I'm getting at...
When I first started comics, the first kinds of comics I ended up purchasing were X-Men comics. And back then, really the beginning of the heyday of the Million-plus sellers and the variant covers and all that exciting hubbabaloo, Marvel was trying to make something abundantly clear: Wolverine fucking ruled! Like, holy shit dude! He's like, got these big fucking claws, kills ninjas by the fucking busload, and can like, regenerate really fast and shit! And I'm not talking "he heals paper cuts in less than a week" or any of that bullshit, we're talking you can fucking puree his fucking body and he'll still like, form this giant puddle of fucking death ooze and eviscerate your face while he all knits himself together and smokes a dozen cigars like a more "Economy Sized" Clint Eastwood. Plus, he's banged more Asian Chicks than Genghis Khan, and probably started in the same time period too. How fucking awesome is that?!? If you don't think that's awesome, then you're a giant fag, or probably a Cyclops fan. Fuck that douche...
Yeah, it went something like that. You either mindlessly thought Wolverine was the shit (which most did), or you were one of the few that actually thought "Y'know, between his ability to pretty much claw down every last villain in sight, AND his constant efforts to keep trying and take Cyke's chick, this dude is pretty fucking annoying and douchey. Actually, fuck this dude, I'm with the Visored guy!" And thus the rift began... well, either that or you were like me and preferred characters like Colossus and Beast to begin with... or you were a Gambit fan and were equally ridiculed by all three factions... seriously, fuck that character.
But for years and years it went like that; most writers stood by and made Wolverine as badass as they could because, well, he fucking sold comics and that's all that mattered. Meanwhile Cyclops was left behind, pretty much neutered as a character because the most popular character, aka the only one that basically matters because HE SELLS FUCKING BOOKS! basically just always came in and fucked shit up with his claws. Who needs a leader when you can just write that up a hundred times and everyone eats it up by the pitchfork load?
Something is changing though and like I said before it's seemingly rolled in with the fact that just in general better writers seem to be handling the X-titles (whether or not better stories are being told, that's personal opinion). Going back to the early part of this decade is when I seemed to notice it, when Grant Morrison took over and started his NEW X-MEN run, but what I've noticed is that a lot of this run or writers has seemed to notice that *gasp* these two characters actually accommodate each other!! And, wait, what's this? Oh my god, they actually respect one another? Holy fuck! You know what that is people? Oh my, I think we actually have characterization running here! Okay okay, calm down. Let's not get too excited here, lets go deeper...
What really has made this more prevalent has definitely been Whedon's work on ASTONISHING X-MEN. If there is one thing that title has consistently done since its start, it's show that these two characters, previously always at odds, actually work well together even when they're still occasionally grinding at each other. Wolverine has slowly been working his way back from simply being "The Best at What He Does" to realizing that Mr. Summers isn't too shabby at what he does either considering he's pretty much the best leader this side of well, with Captain America gone he's pretty much the best leader you can find in the Marvel Universe. And it also helps that Logan has slowly been integrated better into the fold of what the X-MEN are. Back when he was just "The Man With No Name that occasionally lends a hand in fucking shit up" he's sort of integrated himself more in with the school. Not necessary in a teacher role, but he does seem now to do better with "mentoring". And with that, he's come a lot more to defer to Cyclops' leadership, just as Cyclops really has come to accept that a man like Logan, who can be that feral beast who will throw himself into any obstacle can be one of the most valuable tools at his disposal. Funny all that had to happen what the Hot Red Head had to "finally" stay dead.
This is the kind of stuff that has been going through my head to write about and I think I can see myself sticking with it at least twice a month. I know it's a little rough, but that's kind of the point, and it kind of goes well with my more "flying by the seat of my pants" approach I take with my AICN reviews. Any thoughts, critiques, suggestions for future "topics" and whatnot are all welcome, but I realize no one is reading this bloody thing and I'm just frivolously punching at the keyboard because I just kind of miss writing and like to make myself heard from time to time. Looking around, it's almost like that's what the Internet is for anymore. Ah well...
Cheers...
Monday, January 7, 2008
My Return to Prose...
December is always about that time of the year where finally things start to die down. Last month or so whenever I last felt I had something to actually say (and fucking surprise surprise, I was kidding myself like I always do) I was talking about how the months from September to about now are always a media overload. And they are honestly despite how much I rambled on in there trying to make a topic out of it. In the past three months or so I've picked up probably $300 in Comic book volumes, gone through five video games, and doubled my Blu-Ray collection and so on. But now I've hit a lull. The games are all done until the Warhawk expansion comes out, I've read so many comics the past month that I'm just putting everything left on my stack on the back burner until the true lull hits, the January lull (especially with the writers strike on, natch). So now I'm taking the time and effort to get reacquainted with a long lost friend: the novel.
Already though, I'm reminded of why I left those sumbitches behind...
Honestly, until the new Michael Chabon and Warren Ellis novels came out earlier this year and sparked my interest back into the fold of just words on paper, I think it had been a good two years since I even tried to read a book, Gaiman's "Anansi Boys" and despite him even being probably my favorite writer of all time, I still couldn't do it. Now, back then I was just too much into the comics. There was so much material to be covered, so many writers up and coming, so many great artists to soak in. I was in a zone and just couldn't compromise between to literate mediums. In the time it took me to read a book, I could almost put down a whole series of TPBs.
And truthfully, I just find the medium of comic books to be superior for the way my brain functions.
Most of my novel reading back in the day, back when I was actually putting down about six, maybe seven HUNDRED pages of book down a week, I stuck mostly to the Sci-Fi and Fantasy stuff. Robert Jordan, the Battletech Universe and so on because, quite frankly, they were more plot based. See, the reason I typically forsake novels for comics is simply this: I have a lazy brain. Okay, really what it is is that I just like things more "efficient" I guess the term I want to go for here. Sure, it's a beautiful thing when an author can weave a scene with his (or her of course) plethora of nouns and adjectives and whatever they can pull out of their trusty thesauruses. Words are a powerful tool, we all know this. But so are lines on a page, and honestly, instead of reading for two or three pages about "the dangling growth over the bombed out apartment complex" and how "the sun shone a glimmer upon the shores like a sheet of gold" or whatever... y'know what motherfucker? I'd rather just see it and be done with it so I can just get to what the characters are saying and focus on that.
And that's the issue I'm running with today getting back into novels, simply because I don't really have the mindset for them, let alone even the real grasp of what I like, or even what I'm looking for (though that's not really true, just like with any of my hobbies, as long as its a good story with thoughtful execution I'm pretty much game. I soak up info like a sponge). But that's why comic books ensnared me into their world so easily back in my early college days, because I realized the stories were just as good as what I was getting in book form, but I could simply let my eyes do much more of the work by themselves instead of having to take in every single word on a page and having my imagination do most of the heavy lifting. Like I said before: "efficiency". With comics, the setting is already there for you, so really any words you're reading on the page are dedicated straight to the plot (or at least you would hope). For someone like me, and especially with my more "multi-tasking" commitment to my pursuits these days, comics are just the thing.
But after having tasted the world of prose again via those books I mentioned in the second paragraph up above I want to get back into them. Now the problem lies so much with just finding something more "streamlined". Something that's really more just about pushing the plot, stuff with biting dialogue or tight script. "Crooked Little Vein" was so perfect for that, it was a book about a man with a job to do, some scorching commentary on the culture around us, and hilarious spurts of conversation. Best of all, it was succinct (though possibly too much so since I think it ended rather abruptly... but that's another dissertation).
I looked around some of the threads on the Bendis Board and iFanboy forums and some such looking for something that might tickle my fancy, and I ended up picking up four novels from Borders last week. I grabbed a Jonathan Lethem book "Fortress of Solitude" because of how much I like his OMEGA THE UNKNOWN comic right now, and I got some stuff from Thomas Pynchon, Daniel Handler, and Dave Eggers too. I've started with the Lethem one and already I'm back to what I was trying to point out in all that mishmash of brain gibberish I call "writing" above there: There's just too much wordage, but really not enough do-age. It's not a bad book at all, but it's why I kind of abandoned the world of books way back when. I'm 150 pages in, and sure, things are developing, but really half the material in there is setting. But, given some of allusions and references and how they're developed in the story, it really had to be a book. This isn't a work that I could say "Man, just draw the damn settings and distill the plot into a comic script!" I honestly just can't get behind it though, and I'm thinking I'm going to have to abandon ship and get to something more in my "comfort zone". I'm flipping through the copy of "You Shall Know Our Velocity!" I picked up as well and I can tell the way it's laid out is definitely more where I need to be at.
Goddamn comic books, they really have rotted my brain...
Already though, I'm reminded of why I left those sumbitches behind...
Honestly, until the new Michael Chabon and Warren Ellis novels came out earlier this year and sparked my interest back into the fold of just words on paper, I think it had been a good two years since I even tried to read a book, Gaiman's "Anansi Boys" and despite him even being probably my favorite writer of all time, I still couldn't do it. Now, back then I was just too much into the comics. There was so much material to be covered, so many writers up and coming, so many great artists to soak in. I was in a zone and just couldn't compromise between to literate mediums. In the time it took me to read a book, I could almost put down a whole series of TPBs.
And truthfully, I just find the medium of comic books to be superior for the way my brain functions.
Most of my novel reading back in the day, back when I was actually putting down about six, maybe seven HUNDRED pages of book down a week, I stuck mostly to the Sci-Fi and Fantasy stuff. Robert Jordan, the Battletech Universe and so on because, quite frankly, they were more plot based. See, the reason I typically forsake novels for comics is simply this: I have a lazy brain. Okay, really what it is is that I just like things more "efficient" I guess the term I want to go for here. Sure, it's a beautiful thing when an author can weave a scene with his (or her of course) plethora of nouns and adjectives and whatever they can pull out of their trusty thesauruses. Words are a powerful tool, we all know this. But so are lines on a page, and honestly, instead of reading for two or three pages about "the dangling growth over the bombed out apartment complex" and how "the sun shone a glimmer upon the shores like a sheet of gold" or whatever... y'know what motherfucker? I'd rather just see it and be done with it so I can just get to what the characters are saying and focus on that.
And that's the issue I'm running with today getting back into novels, simply because I don't really have the mindset for them, let alone even the real grasp of what I like, or even what I'm looking for (though that's not really true, just like with any of my hobbies, as long as its a good story with thoughtful execution I'm pretty much game. I soak up info like a sponge). But that's why comic books ensnared me into their world so easily back in my early college days, because I realized the stories were just as good as what I was getting in book form, but I could simply let my eyes do much more of the work by themselves instead of having to take in every single word on a page and having my imagination do most of the heavy lifting. Like I said before: "efficiency". With comics, the setting is already there for you, so really any words you're reading on the page are dedicated straight to the plot (or at least you would hope). For someone like me, and especially with my more "multi-tasking" commitment to my pursuits these days, comics are just the thing.
But after having tasted the world of prose again via those books I mentioned in the second paragraph up above I want to get back into them. Now the problem lies so much with just finding something more "streamlined". Something that's really more just about pushing the plot, stuff with biting dialogue or tight script. "Crooked Little Vein" was so perfect for that, it was a book about a man with a job to do, some scorching commentary on the culture around us, and hilarious spurts of conversation. Best of all, it was succinct (though possibly too much so since I think it ended rather abruptly... but that's another dissertation).
I looked around some of the threads on the Bendis Board and iFanboy forums and some such looking for something that might tickle my fancy, and I ended up picking up four novels from Borders last week. I grabbed a Jonathan Lethem book "Fortress of Solitude" because of how much I like his OMEGA THE UNKNOWN comic right now, and I got some stuff from Thomas Pynchon, Daniel Handler, and Dave Eggers too. I've started with the Lethem one and already I'm back to what I was trying to point out in all that mishmash of brain gibberish I call "writing" above there: There's just too much wordage, but really not enough do-age. It's not a bad book at all, but it's why I kind of abandoned the world of books way back when. I'm 150 pages in, and sure, things are developing, but really half the material in there is setting. But, given some of allusions and references and how they're developed in the story, it really had to be a book. This isn't a work that I could say "Man, just draw the damn settings and distill the plot into a comic script!" I honestly just can't get behind it though, and I'm thinking I'm going to have to abandon ship and get to something more in my "comfort zone". I'm flipping through the copy of "You Shall Know Our Velocity!" I picked up as well and I can tell the way it's laid out is definitely more where I need to be at.
Goddamn comic books, they really have rotted my brain...
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Media Overload...
Supposedly Christmas time is "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" because of all the supposed "Holiday Cheer" and togetherness and all that happy horseshit, but everyone knows it's because of all the cool shit they get from their loved ones and, hell, typically themselves (I know that's how I roll). But honestly, what the hell really comes out at that time of year? Sure, some of the film studios hold out their biggest summer blockbusters for DVD release, and there's a decent rush for video games, but most of the time the more "geek-savy" stuff that everyone truly wants is already out there, it's just got a much more reasonable price tag on it.
More and more in the recent years though, it's looking like the early fall is where it's at. You've got mass releases of all the Television shows on DVD that you can handle, gaming companies are using it as a launching pad to get people amped for the Holiday Sales Season, it's by and far away the best time of the year for film (not movies, there is a difference here), and hell, even some of the bigger movie releases get popped out then instead of waiting for December.
Like, take this year for example. In the past six weeks alone I've purchased five seasons of television (Family Guy, Boston Legal, How I Met Your Mother, My Name is Earl, and Veronica Mars, natch) and there's gonna be a copy of Scrubs Season six in my mitts tomorrow even if I have to beat a senior citizen into a bloody pulp to do so... as if I needed an excuse to do that. Oh, and I've added Heroes and Jericho to my NetFlix queue as well, like I've had the time to actually watch them with all the stuff I've spent "real" money on. But that Fall rush, that giant swoop of releases by the Networks to get their product out there to be seen so that they can accumulate new viewers has already made this time of the year pretty daunting on the wallets of media whores like myself, and it gets worse.
Video games are starting to monopolize this time of year too it seems. I remember a time back around when I got my PSone that seriously, there was like four games a year worth looking into, and they all came out about quarterly. You had your big X-Mas game, your "Back to School" game, and then something in the Spring and Summer to gather your friends around (or just spend 100 hours on yourself if you had no friends like me. Good motherfucking times). But now they've all migrated to that area from about the last week of August until dreaded Black Friday, and hell, typically the giant gaming Blockbusters; the Halo's, Grand Theft Auto's, and so on of the industry usually slate themselves right around late September for their releases anyway. I think it's rare to see anything relatively huge come out in the actual month of December. This year I think the highest profile games we're seeing that month are Mass Effect and Burnout Paradise, not exactly the kind of games that shatter records.
In the past three weeks alone I've headed down the Waterfront (one of our entertainment hubs here in the Burgh, and the only place I'll go see a movie) and have seen Eastern Promises, Gone Baby Gone, The Darjeeling Limited, Michael Clayton, and The Assassination of Jesse James. Now, yeah, I'm a huge bit of a movie guy, but usually I only average about one movie a week seen at the theater, and I can tell you half of that average is because of this stretch we're in now. In just three weeks I've seen five movies plus right now there's still Dan In Real Life, Lars and the Real Girl, and Things We Lost in the Fire playing at this moment that I have to see, nevermind American Gangster coming at week's end. Yeah, Die Hard 4 was a great action romp, yeah, Transformers had some good FX, yeah, Pirates had Johnny Depp, but come on, you can have a eight month long summer and the movies out then still can't hold a match to what I've seen in the past six weeks.
Oh, and added on to ALL of that, lets not forget that I've received $175 worth of Comic book Omnibuses and Absolutes deliver to my doorstep in the past three weeks.
Now, why the long diatribe on all that Materialism above? Because it's too fucking much in too fucking short a span, that's why.
You know how hard it is to try and digest all that? In the month of October I have soaked up, no shit and no fucking less than 18 hours of movies (in theater), 50 hours of TV on DVD, a dozen hours of new programming, and spent at least 30 hours of my time trying to get through Folklore and Ratchet & Clank for my PS3. That's almost a week out of a month just trying to get caught up on geekiness of all types, and I've got about the same over in all those categories to go still.
And look, yes, I know I'm a special kind of media whore. I love my stories. I appreciate craft. I thrive to be entertained and seek a distraction. I like to look for revelation in all these different types of art. And I have all sorts of extra time because you couldn't pay women to go out with me (yes, I've fucking tried, don't you judge me. It's a harrowing experience there in the real world trying to "meet someone". I'd just as soon shove two pencils in my eyes and headbutt the bar as I would propping it up praying some desperate piece of girlishness that actually looks to have the ability to think and speak at the same time walk in... fucking blah!) but for fuck's sakes it's not like there's not ten whole other months in the year that could be used for this nonsense isn't there?
Yes, I understand the marketing behind this. Yes, you want a lead in for your fall tv programming. Yes, you want to build some Oscar buzz for your more "art house" flicks, yes, you want to sell systems to go with your software. But why am I, self-proclaimed Media Whore and top loser at life typically sitting around from January to May just rewatching seasons of Deadwood, or rereading runs of comics, or playing through Devil May Cry 3 for the hundredth time and trying to calmly wait for something new to come zooming by my face?
Marketing is great, I mean, there's so many predictable and tasteless people out there that yeah, it's easy to market to them at their own special times, but come now, why take the risk of starving your consumer base to the point where they move elsewhere? In fact, it's a great way to get them hooked more steadily. I remember back when I got my PS2, and much like this newest system release there was really dick all to play for the first year it got to the point that I was willing to try any damn thing. And lo and behold, come mid-summer of 2001 a little game called Devil May Cry came out, and me without having pretty much any knowledge of the thing and sick of cranking out Final Fantasy VII in 25 hours or less took a chance on it and it became one of my favorite game series of all time.
Whatever, it's just the way things work these days I guess. I'm hoping that the tide is slowly changing. It looks like next year a lot of the bigger video games are coming in the Spring instead like Metal Gear and Grand Theft Auto, and now that TV series like Battlestar Galactica and Lost have shifted their programming schedules the DVD sets are following them to the late end of winter it seems.
But enough of that talk, it's time to try and kill a disc of Veronica Mars before I go to sleep despite it already being 6fuckingAM.
Only I could turn all this fun stuff into a goddamned chore.
Cheers...
More and more in the recent years though, it's looking like the early fall is where it's at. You've got mass releases of all the Television shows on DVD that you can handle, gaming companies are using it as a launching pad to get people amped for the Holiday Sales Season, it's by and far away the best time of the year for film (not movies, there is a difference here), and hell, even some of the bigger movie releases get popped out then instead of waiting for December.
Like, take this year for example. In the past six weeks alone I've purchased five seasons of television (Family Guy, Boston Legal, How I Met Your Mother, My Name is Earl, and Veronica Mars, natch) and there's gonna be a copy of Scrubs Season six in my mitts tomorrow even if I have to beat a senior citizen into a bloody pulp to do so... as if I needed an excuse to do that. Oh, and I've added Heroes and Jericho to my NetFlix queue as well, like I've had the time to actually watch them with all the stuff I've spent "real" money on. But that Fall rush, that giant swoop of releases by the Networks to get their product out there to be seen so that they can accumulate new viewers has already made this time of the year pretty daunting on the wallets of media whores like myself, and it gets worse.
Video games are starting to monopolize this time of year too it seems. I remember a time back around when I got my PSone that seriously, there was like four games a year worth looking into, and they all came out about quarterly. You had your big X-Mas game, your "Back to School" game, and then something in the Spring and Summer to gather your friends around (or just spend 100 hours on yourself if you had no friends like me. Good motherfucking times). But now they've all migrated to that area from about the last week of August until dreaded Black Friday, and hell, typically the giant gaming Blockbusters; the Halo's, Grand Theft Auto's, and so on of the industry usually slate themselves right around late September for their releases anyway. I think it's rare to see anything relatively huge come out in the actual month of December. This year I think the highest profile games we're seeing that month are Mass Effect and Burnout Paradise, not exactly the kind of games that shatter records.
In the past three weeks alone I've headed down the Waterfront (one of our entertainment hubs here in the Burgh, and the only place I'll go see a movie) and have seen Eastern Promises, Gone Baby Gone, The Darjeeling Limited, Michael Clayton, and The Assassination of Jesse James. Now, yeah, I'm a huge bit of a movie guy, but usually I only average about one movie a week seen at the theater, and I can tell you half of that average is because of this stretch we're in now. In just three weeks I've seen five movies plus right now there's still Dan In Real Life, Lars and the Real Girl, and Things We Lost in the Fire playing at this moment that I have to see, nevermind American Gangster coming at week's end. Yeah, Die Hard 4 was a great action romp, yeah, Transformers had some good FX, yeah, Pirates had Johnny Depp, but come on, you can have a eight month long summer and the movies out then still can't hold a match to what I've seen in the past six weeks.
Oh, and added on to ALL of that, lets not forget that I've received $175 worth of Comic book Omnibuses and Absolutes deliver to my doorstep in the past three weeks.
Now, why the long diatribe on all that Materialism above? Because it's too fucking much in too fucking short a span, that's why.
You know how hard it is to try and digest all that? In the month of October I have soaked up, no shit and no fucking less than 18 hours of movies (in theater), 50 hours of TV on DVD, a dozen hours of new programming, and spent at least 30 hours of my time trying to get through Folklore and Ratchet & Clank for my PS3. That's almost a week out of a month just trying to get caught up on geekiness of all types, and I've got about the same over in all those categories to go still.
And look, yes, I know I'm a special kind of media whore. I love my stories. I appreciate craft. I thrive to be entertained and seek a distraction. I like to look for revelation in all these different types of art. And I have all sorts of extra time because you couldn't pay women to go out with me (yes, I've fucking tried, don't you judge me. It's a harrowing experience there in the real world trying to "meet someone". I'd just as soon shove two pencils in my eyes and headbutt the bar as I would propping it up praying some desperate piece of girlishness that actually looks to have the ability to think and speak at the same time walk in... fucking blah!) but for fuck's sakes it's not like there's not ten whole other months in the year that could be used for this nonsense isn't there?
Yes, I understand the marketing behind this. Yes, you want a lead in for your fall tv programming. Yes, you want to build some Oscar buzz for your more "art house" flicks, yes, you want to sell systems to go with your software. But why am I, self-proclaimed Media Whore and top loser at life typically sitting around from January to May just rewatching seasons of Deadwood, or rereading runs of comics, or playing through Devil May Cry 3 for the hundredth time and trying to calmly wait for something new to come zooming by my face?
Marketing is great, I mean, there's so many predictable and tasteless people out there that yeah, it's easy to market to them at their own special times, but come now, why take the risk of starving your consumer base to the point where they move elsewhere? In fact, it's a great way to get them hooked more steadily. I remember back when I got my PS2, and much like this newest system release there was really dick all to play for the first year it got to the point that I was willing to try any damn thing. And lo and behold, come mid-summer of 2001 a little game called Devil May Cry came out, and me without having pretty much any knowledge of the thing and sick of cranking out Final Fantasy VII in 25 hours or less took a chance on it and it became one of my favorite game series of all time.
Whatever, it's just the way things work these days I guess. I'm hoping that the tide is slowly changing. It looks like next year a lot of the bigger video games are coming in the Spring instead like Metal Gear and Grand Theft Auto, and now that TV series like Battlestar Galactica and Lost have shifted their programming schedules the DVD sets are following them to the late end of winter it seems.
But enough of that talk, it's time to try and kill a disc of Veronica Mars before I go to sleep despite it already being 6fuckingAM.
Only I could turn all this fun stuff into a goddamned chore.
Cheers...
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Now it's officially Hockey Season!!!
Or at least it will be when the Pens finally play their first game on Friday night. I ever took off Saturday so I could at least watch the home opener. Why don't I have tickets to the home opener you ask? Because all the bandwagoning fucks (i.e. the people who couldn't be bothered to go to a game back pre-strike when the team was on the ropes thereby making it a huge possibility that the team almost moved but are going fucking now that we're a Cup contender) have bought them all out and the prices have gone astronomical. Seriously, I was looking at $70 easy just to sit up in the E section, and that sir is almost as moronic as a Fox Newscaster.
But fine, whatever, the season's here and it's time to celebrate. I'm off to a good start in Fantasy Hockey already with four goals out of just five starters tonight and the anticipation for the rest of the season is bloody well killing me. I've already sworn whole and true that I'm going to the Ice Bowl on New Year's Day if it kills me... or, y'know, several dozen people in the immediate vicinity of me.
Anyway, as for any predictions on my part, me being the little hockey guru that I am, fine, here we go. Here's my calls per Conference for the playoff seedings:
Eastern Conference
1 Ottawa Senators
2 Pittsburgh Penguins
3 Tampa Bay Lighting
4 New York Rangers
5 Buffalo Sabres
6 New Jersey Devils
7 Florida Panthers
8 Atlanta Thrashers
Yes, I know, I didn't take the homer approach and put my team first. I simply couldn't do it. Much as I hate those fucks that play for Ottawa (I hope Chris Neil takes a stray blade to the throat and bleeds out on the ice this year. Fuck, I'll YouTube that seven times the day it happens) the only real competition they'll have in that Division is Buffalo who isn't what they used to be to be able to take that title. And the Pens probably have the hardest Division in the league what with the Rangers beefing up, NJ still having one of the five best goalies of all time in net, and the Flyers making some decent upgrades, but not enough to hit the playoffs.
Sadly, I also have my Pens losing in the Conference Finals. They're just not there yet. Next year though, next year.
As for the West, I figure something like this:
Western Conference:
1 Detroit Red Wings
2 Vancouver Canucks
3 Anaheim (Mighty) Ducks
4 San Jose Sharks
5 Calgary Flames
6 Colorado Avalanche
7 Nashville Predators
8 Minnesota Wild
I hate to put the Wings at the top of that Conference, but that Division is too much of a fucking cake-walk outside of the Preds who aren't even all that and probably won't even be around within two years. Ducks are going to struggle early on but once everyone is healthy, and yes, Selanne comes back (I just don't see him not going for one more) they'll right the ship. The rest is a toss up but I'm confident it'll look something like that. Watch out for the Flames and Avs, they've got a lot of pinache going their way. They could upset a lot of teams.
As for Dallas? Stick a fork in them, they're done. Modano has never been all that and now he's past time, and having really only Zubov and Turco isn't going to make the team. That's all she wrote there.
And as for the Cup? Well, I know it's a long shot for this to happen, but I seriously, honestly and truly have Anaheim taking down Ottawa again to be the first repeat Cup in, what, six years now I think. Fuck it, I'll live with that. Hate the franchise but like the way the team is put together. Have Pronger will travel.
But yeah, that's all I got. Hopefully I can score me another jersey for X-Mas from my dear old mom. I want a Fleury jersey because, a) he's the 2nd best player on the team (yeah, you heard me) and b) I think he's in for the long haul. Once we start losing players to big contracts I think him and Sid will the two big names standing for us for a huuuuuge run the next decade or so. At least that's what I hope.
FUCKING HOCKEY SEASON GODDAMMIT!!! WOOOOO!!!!!
Cheers...
But fine, whatever, the season's here and it's time to celebrate. I'm off to a good start in Fantasy Hockey already with four goals out of just five starters tonight and the anticipation for the rest of the season is bloody well killing me. I've already sworn whole and true that I'm going to the Ice Bowl on New Year's Day if it kills me... or, y'know, several dozen people in the immediate vicinity of me.
Anyway, as for any predictions on my part, me being the little hockey guru that I am, fine, here we go. Here's my calls per Conference for the playoff seedings:
Eastern Conference
1 Ottawa Senators
2 Pittsburgh Penguins
3 Tampa Bay Lighting
4 New York Rangers
5 Buffalo Sabres
6 New Jersey Devils
7 Florida Panthers
8 Atlanta Thrashers
Yes, I know, I didn't take the homer approach and put my team first. I simply couldn't do it. Much as I hate those fucks that play for Ottawa (I hope Chris Neil takes a stray blade to the throat and bleeds out on the ice this year. Fuck, I'll YouTube that seven times the day it happens) the only real competition they'll have in that Division is Buffalo who isn't what they used to be to be able to take that title. And the Pens probably have the hardest Division in the league what with the Rangers beefing up, NJ still having one of the five best goalies of all time in net, and the Flyers making some decent upgrades, but not enough to hit the playoffs.
Sadly, I also have my Pens losing in the Conference Finals. They're just not there yet. Next year though, next year.
As for the West, I figure something like this:
Western Conference:
1 Detroit Red Wings
2 Vancouver Canucks
3 Anaheim (Mighty) Ducks
4 San Jose Sharks
5 Calgary Flames
6 Colorado Avalanche
7 Nashville Predators
8 Minnesota Wild
I hate to put the Wings at the top of that Conference, but that Division is too much of a fucking cake-walk outside of the Preds who aren't even all that and probably won't even be around within two years. Ducks are going to struggle early on but once everyone is healthy, and yes, Selanne comes back (I just don't see him not going for one more) they'll right the ship. The rest is a toss up but I'm confident it'll look something like that. Watch out for the Flames and Avs, they've got a lot of pinache going their way. They could upset a lot of teams.
As for Dallas? Stick a fork in them, they're done. Modano has never been all that and now he's past time, and having really only Zubov and Turco isn't going to make the team. That's all she wrote there.
And as for the Cup? Well, I know it's a long shot for this to happen, but I seriously, honestly and truly have Anaheim taking down Ottawa again to be the first repeat Cup in, what, six years now I think. Fuck it, I'll live with that. Hate the franchise but like the way the team is put together. Have Pronger will travel.
But yeah, that's all I got. Hopefully I can score me another jersey for X-Mas from my dear old mom. I want a Fleury jersey because, a) he's the 2nd best player on the team (yeah, you heard me) and b) I think he's in for the long haul. Once we start losing players to big contracts I think him and Sid will the two big names standing for us for a huuuuuge run the next decade or so. At least that's what I hope.
FUCKING HOCKEY SEASON GODDAMMIT!!! WOOOOO!!!!!
Cheers...
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Myanmarmageddon...
Simply put, I personally have to believe that the events currently going on in Myanmar are easily some of the most inspiring events I have ever witnessed in my twenty-six years on this planet though, sadly, it looks like they're degenerating into some of the most tragic. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, some linkage:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jnzM3FXBGZw5zPlnoYD4fwP8xaHw
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/27/world/asia/27cnd-myanmar.html?ex=1206504000&en=0fd748e210f6ab6c&ei=5087&excamp=GGGNmyanmarprotest
http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9868041
This is purely and truly the epitome of what everyone refers to as the "indomitable Human Spirit" and it has been an absolutely bittersweet effort on my part to sit behind this same keyboard as I have for the past four days, eating up all the info I can on something so beautiful develop into sheer horror. This is the kind of resolve that I wish minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour, day-after-day that more people in this country, hell, in this world could exhibit on their own; the resolve, the desire to stand up and call bullshit on what is obviously wrong with their so called government, and do it with such poise and acceptance of their fate despite the precedent set before them the last time a protest like this occurred. And it sickens me that face-to-face with an assemblage of peaceful non-compliance in the face of real terror the first response of these so called human beings in charge of this nation are to act like wild beasts who find themselves a harmless rabbit to tear asunder.
"People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people."
I know that's the cheap and easy quote for me to go for given that I'm a huge dork and it's an easy quotable from one of my favorite Graphic Novels turned Feature Film (that's V for Vendetta by the way), but it's also a statement that so succinctly sums up how societies all across the globe should approach every day life. And yes, I know that that despite how many problems we might each and all personally have with our respective governments chances are things are not as bleak and extreme as they are for those poor souls in areas such as Myanmar here, or god help me the majority of the African continent, but the point is the minute you give up even the slightest bit to people who should by and large be working for we the people they will continue to take and take and take until there is nothing left for you, for your family, for your children and your children's children.
These people have had enough and they're "fighting" back. Standing in the face of a tyranny that has slapped them in the face and pushed them to the ground for decades, they're standing back up and getting ready to take a full swing on the chin for what they believe is right. The best we can do as a country in the good old USofA is talk about how funnily tragic it is that Britney Spears is a little chubbier now and embarrassed herself at an award show that was addressing noises that I can't even bring myself to recognize as music anyways. It's fucking horrifying it is, and shameful. And yet the best I can do is sit behind this goddamn keyboard slamming away with my digits and refreshing a tab to the right to see if the body count has risen any in the past hour, or to reflect in horror what can only be happening to the 200 that were taken into "custody". Who's the hypocrite here?
This is me. This is who I am. I pretend I hate, but it's only because I probably care too damn much and realize that no good ever comes from that. But I'll be bloody well damned if I'm not going to at least have my say, insipid as it may be...
Cheers...
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jnzM3FXBGZw5zPlnoYD4fwP8xaHw
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/27/world/asia/27cnd-myanmar.html?ex=1206504000&en=0fd748e210f6ab6c&ei=5087&excamp=GGGNmyanmarprotest
http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9868041
This is purely and truly the epitome of what everyone refers to as the "indomitable Human Spirit" and it has been an absolutely bittersweet effort on my part to sit behind this same keyboard as I have for the past four days, eating up all the info I can on something so beautiful develop into sheer horror. This is the kind of resolve that I wish minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour, day-after-day that more people in this country, hell, in this world could exhibit on their own; the resolve, the desire to stand up and call bullshit on what is obviously wrong with their so called government, and do it with such poise and acceptance of their fate despite the precedent set before them the last time a protest like this occurred. And it sickens me that face-to-face with an assemblage of peaceful non-compliance in the face of real terror the first response of these so called human beings in charge of this nation are to act like wild beasts who find themselves a harmless rabbit to tear asunder.
"People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people."
I know that's the cheap and easy quote for me to go for given that I'm a huge dork and it's an easy quotable from one of my favorite Graphic Novels turned Feature Film (that's V for Vendetta by the way), but it's also a statement that so succinctly sums up how societies all across the globe should approach every day life. And yes, I know that that despite how many problems we might each and all personally have with our respective governments chances are things are not as bleak and extreme as they are for those poor souls in areas such as Myanmar here, or god help me the majority of the African continent, but the point is the minute you give up even the slightest bit to people who should by and large be working for we the people they will continue to take and take and take until there is nothing left for you, for your family, for your children and your children's children.
These people have had enough and they're "fighting" back. Standing in the face of a tyranny that has slapped them in the face and pushed them to the ground for decades, they're standing back up and getting ready to take a full swing on the chin for what they believe is right. The best we can do as a country in the good old USofA is talk about how funnily tragic it is that Britney Spears is a little chubbier now and embarrassed herself at an award show that was addressing noises that I can't even bring myself to recognize as music anyways. It's fucking horrifying it is, and shameful. And yet the best I can do is sit behind this goddamn keyboard slamming away with my digits and refreshing a tab to the right to see if the body count has risen any in the past hour, or to reflect in horror what can only be happening to the 200 that were taken into "custody". Who's the hypocrite here?
This is me. This is who I am. I pretend I hate, but it's only because I probably care too damn much and realize that no good ever comes from that. But I'll be bloody well damned if I'm not going to at least have my say, insipid as it may be...
Cheers...
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