Quiet Arrogance

50 Question Quiz.

2011-02-11T12:10:00.000-08:00

It's all Nattars' fault.

1. What time did you get up this morning?

9:30 am.

2. How do you like your steak?

Bllodd rare

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?

Green Hornet. Under protest. Deservedly so.

4. What is your favourite TV show?

Terriers and/or Farscape

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?

At the risk of sounding tritr, I like living in LA. If I had to choose, though, it would be overseas; maybe outside of London or Paris.

6. What did you have for breakfast?

Coffee & a bowl of Kashi Heart to Heart oat flakes & blueberries cereal with soy milk

7. What is your favourite cuisine?

Mexcian or sushi

8. What foods do you dislike?

Greek. Also tomatoes, chocolate, goat cheese, etc.

9. Favourite place to eat?

La Paz Mexican Restaurant just blocks from my apartment. Just ask Stevivor about it.

10. Favourite dressing?

Light Caesar

11. What kind of vehicle do you drive?

I don’t.

12. What are your favourite clothes?

Jeans and a t-shirt or a three-piece, bespoke suit, black with red dress shirt, white collar and cuffs, no tie

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance?

Australia, Montreal, Iceland, New Orleans, and just about everywhere else I haven’t been

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full?

Depends on the day

15. Where would you like to retire?

Northern California; Portland, Oregon; Vancouver, B.C.; or maybe somewhere in Australia

16. Favourite time of day?

1 to 3 am

17. Where were you born?

Torrance, California

18. What is your favourite sport to watch?

Hockey

19. Who do you think will not tag you back?

It’s not about reciprocity

20. Person you expect to tag you back first?

I expect nothing

21. Who are you most curious about their responses to this?

Oh, I’ll read ‘em all. I just wish the questions were more interesting

22. Bird watcher?

When it’s on a rotisserie, maybe

23. Are you a morning or night person?

NIGHTTIME!!!

24. Pets?

Not anymore

25. Any new and exciting news that you'd like to share?

Nothing I can speak publicly about, yet

26. What did you want to be when you were little?

A writer or Robin Hood

27. What is your best childhood memory?

An anonymous, beautiful blond woman reading me my recently purchased Schloumpf books in French on a train bound for Paris when I was 7

28. Are you a cat or a dog person?

Both, but I prefer to own cats

29. Are you married?

No.

30. Always wear your seat belt?

Yes.

31. Been in a car accident?

Several

32. Any pet peeves?

Nuisance noises; like tuneless whistling and humming, muttering, making sound effects. Eating while on the radio or on the phone (with me). Eating with your mouth open. Not using a proper apostrophe mark. Bad grammar. Talking on your cellphone while being served in a store or restaurant. General rudeness.

33. Favourite Pizza topping?

Olives.

34. Favourite Flower?

Don’t really have one, but if pressed I’d say Tulips or Pansies

35. Favouite Ice Cream?

Stephen Colbert’s Americone Dream from Ben and Jerry’s

36. Favourite fast food restaurant?

In-N-Out Burger

37. How many times did you fail your driving test?

2 (for both written and driving)

38. From whom did you get your last email?

My project manager with client revisions to my current job

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?

The Comic Bug J

40. Do anything spontaneous lately?

Nothing Major

41. Like your job?

Almost all the time

42. Broccoli?

Only al dente with a light dusting of butter

43. What was your favourite vacation?

Either spending 20 days skiing in Chile or a weeklong roadtrip from Los Angeles to Vancouver, B.C., and back

44. Last person you went out to dinner with?

My mate Patrick and his family; Morgan (wife), Jane (mother-in-law), and Raoul (father-in-law)

45. what are you listening to right now?

American Front: The Great War, Book 1 by Harry Turtledove

46. What is your favouite colour?

Orange and or green

47. How many tattoos do you have?

None

48. How many people are you tagging for this quiz?

Haven’t decided

49. What are you doing when you finish this quiz?

Going back to work

50. Coffee drinker?

2 cups a day

Thirty Days of Me - Day 4

2010-11-04T20:47:00.001-07:00

 Day 04- A habit that you wish you didn’t have

Smoking. Admittedly, it’s no better than those who smoke your run of the mill cigarettes, but I only smoke Djarum Bali Hai clove cigarettes. I can’t stand the taste of almost any other kind. It’s a nasty habit that I picked up over a decade ago when I was night-clubbing three or more evenings a week. I’ve tried several times to quit, but always seem to fall back on the bad habit.

Thirty Days of Me - Day 3

2010-11-03T20:26:00.000-07:00

 Day 03- A picture of you and your friends

A weekend rock-climbing trip to Joshua Tree National Park, circa 1995.

From left to to right: Rychard Cooper, Robyn Ryder, David McGregor, myself and Steve Gerdes.

Rychard is one of my best friends and one of the most influential people in my life in forging the man I grew into. We recently reconnected after a separation of about 14 years.

Robyn was my girlfriend at the time. At the time the picture was taken, we would have been together for roughly 5 years with about 2-2 1/2 to go.

David was Rychard's roommate and a good friend to both of us. His favorite phrase was "Okay, where's our next fun?"

Steve was a friend of Rychard's who had the patience and of a monk, the mechanical smarts of MacGyver and the slow laconic wit of Steven Wright.

Thirty Days of Me - Day 2

2010-11-02T18:53:00.000-07:00

Day 02- The meaning behind your Blog name
“Quiet Arrogance.” Long ago, in the distant past just after high school, I was given a book as a birthday gift from a female friend. She and I had known each other for years and years. The book itself was, I struggle to recollect, “The Collected Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” by Arthur Conan Doyle. I was always a big Holmes fan when I was younger, but I had not evidenced it since in the time I’d known my friend and she would have had no real way of knowing that.

I told her that I was indeed a huge Holmes fan and asked her how in the world she knew that. Her reply?

“I didn’t. There’s just something in him that reminds me of you. You both have that kind of… Quiet Arrogance.”

Needless to say, I liked that so much it has stuck in my head all this time.

Thirty Days of Me - Day 1

2010-11-01T19:47:00.000-07:00

  Day 01- A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself

I attended 4 different colleges over 10 years in pursuit of a college degree; El Camino Community College, Cerritos City College, UCLA, and Cal State Long Beach
I have had a comic book story I wrote published
I was friends and worked with Quentin Tarantino before before he made Reservoir Dogs
I have 2 degrees: an Associate Arts degree in Art and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design
I am fluent in Spanish
Over my life I have been a Hippie, a Goth, a Raver, a Jock, Nerd and Geek
I once had Korean BBQ with Jeffrey Donovan (Burn Notice)
I have served time in county jail
I have over 40,000 comic books in my collection
I partied all night with the band Sigue Sigue Sputnik
I have been on Television twice
I once rescued a streetwalker from an attack by her John
I bake pies
I’ve traveled to 3 continents, 17 countries, and 151 cities worldwide
My truck was rear-ended by Gary Coleman car on the freeway

Thirty Days of Me

2010-11-01T19:36:00.000-07:00

I got this from Rachel and a couple of other people have needled me to do it, so what the hell. The concept is simple - a post every day for thirty days containing the following:

Day 01- A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself
Day 02- The meaning behind your Blog name
Day 03- A picture of you and your friends
Day 04- A habit that you wish you didn’t have
Day 05- A picture of somewhere you’ve been to
Day 06- Favorite super hero and why
Day 07- A picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you
Day 08- Short term goals for this month and why
Day 09- Something you’re proud of in the past few days
Day 10- Songs you listen to when you are Happy, Sad, Bored, Hyped, Mad
Day 11- Another picture of you and your friends
Day 12- How you found out about Blogger and why you made one
Day 13- A letter to someone who has hurt you recently
Day 14- A picture of you and your family
Day 15- Put your iPod on shuffle: First 10 songs that play
Day 16- Another picture of yourself
Day 17- Someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why
Day 18- Plans/dreams/goals you have
Day 19- Nicknames you have; why do you have them
Day 20- Someone you see yourself marrying/being with in the future
Day 21- A picture of something that makes you happy
Day 22- What makes you different from everyone else
Day 23- Something you crave for a lot
Day 24- A letter to your parents
Day 25- What I would find in your bag
Day 26- What you think about your friends
Day 27- Why are you doing this 30 day challenge
Day 28- A picture of you last year and now, how have you changed since then?
Day 29- In this past month, what have you learned
Day 30- Your favorite song.

While I can say that I'll be honest, I can't sat that there won't be some obscure and enigmatic portions. Names withheld to protect the innocent (or the damned) and all that.

Alright, let's kick it off with Day 1.

Atomic Thoughts

2009-12-02T16:05:00.000-08:00

My father read an interview the other day about the first atomic bomb. It spurred him to write down some thought about my grandfather, his dad, who worked on the Manhattan Project. Rather than intrude on his prose, I'll let it speak for itself:

"The "bomb" had a great impact on our family and my youth. It was dropped on my eight birthday. and that was the day my Dad disappeared.

Dad was a "dollar-a-year" man working as the Chief Structural Engineer on the Manhattan Project. Some how the drop on a "civilian" target caused a major guilt trip resulting in a full mental breakdown. and he just disappeared. Everybody got involved including the FBI (remember, I'm seeing all this through eight year old eyes). After quite a long while, he was found pretty ragged at the "Grotto of Lourdes" at Notre Dame. He spent a month in the hospital before he recognized my mother, then more months of convalescing.

Dad owned a fairly good sized company in Detroit making parts for the auto industry. He went back to work but couldn't seem to be his old self.

So here's the big change...He sold most of the stock to his jr-partners, went to the upper peninsula of Michigan, bought an old hotel across from the ferry docks, then also bought a 23 cabin resort on a large lake. We, my mother, sister and myself moved from a nice Detroit suburb to a small cabin 300 miles North and 20 miles from the Canadian border.
No plumbing, no electricity, no gas. And Mom, God bless here (first violinist with the symphony) made the adjustment and we had a very happy "lil house on the prairie".

Chores were a constant (50 boats to be anchored every night, ice cut and delivered to all the cabins each day, fish cleaned for the fishermen, and on and on) but it was really a great way to grow up and learn. We were "sustenance" hunters and Dad and I shot a lot deer, rabbits and game birds. Fortunately we spent the down-state with all the comforts.But our resort didn't get electricity until two years after I graduated from college.

And Dad was happy. Not as gregarious as before but loved his family and our simply (also complicated) life. He was the best "shot" in the county and trolled out each evening to catch his nemesis big-mouth bass."

I Have a comic coming out!

2009-05-22T16:36:00.000-07:00

I have a story coming out in the soon-to-be-released ICONIC graphic novel from the Comicbook Artists Guild.

The concept of ICONIC is simple: new twists on old tales of classic literature and history. The heroes in ICONIC are folks you’re already familiar with: Sherlock Holmes, Robin Hood, St. George and the Dragon, and others. It’s 112 pages of fun and adventure targeted to comic book readers old and new.

My story is a reimagining of the tale of St. George and the Dragon. This time it’s all about a little boy named George versus the monster in his closet.

The book itself is a monumental effort by CAG, the first truly worldwide collaboration by its members. It’s debuting at the MOCCA Art Festival in NYC next month and will cost you a mere $10. More info on CAG and ICONIC can be found at http://comicartguild.com

X-Men Origins: Wolverine Review

2009-05-11T19:13:00.000-07:00

Wolverine Review

Right off the bat let me say that XMO: W is an average film. Maybe a little below average, but I honestly did not expect much from the flick. I’m not one of those comic book fans who is slavishly tied to canon that I feel any deviation from the source material is grounds for complete dismissal of a film. In fact, quite the opposite. There are a lot of story details from comics that would never work on screen, either with respect to audience or budget. Most source materials need to and should change to fit the medium. As such, when I judge a superhero movie, I try to judge it from the point of view of how well it worked as a movie, first and foremost.

What did I like about the film? Hugh Jackman and Liev Schrieber had excellent turns in their respective roles. It was fun seeing Wolverine in his own flick. I thought some of the scenes were really well done cinematically, especially some of the final fight scene, and very evocative of comic book artwork. Ryan Reynolds was great.

In particular, I would point out the credit sequence. There is more style and substance in that set of images than most of the film. If you pay attention to the faces of Jackman and Schrieber throughout the war scenes, you can actually see the gradual change in their characters through those events. Victor Creed shows more and more bloodlust as Jimmy Howlett becomes more alarmed at his brothers behavior. It was nicely and subtly done. Perhaps the only subtlety in the film.

Beyond that, I felt that, as one film critic said, “all the explosions go off when they are supposed to.”

My biggest problem with the film was the effects. I simply do not understand how a summer tent pole movie could have been released with the sorry excuse for CGI that was on display here. Others have enumerated many examples, so it’s not worth going into specifics. I will say, however, that I thought the diamond effect on Emma Frost looked particularly like a Sci-Fi Channel Saturday movie effect. Seriously? She looked more like an impersonation of the jewel-encrusted teeth in a gang bangers grill than her body turning to diamond.

Gambit was also a completely unnecessary addition. Fan service at it’s worst. It would have been far cleaner to replace that entire sequence with Wraith and Wolverine going in search of Fred Dukes and finding the island location from him than shoe-horning in another popular character. I would like to know who thought outfitting Gambit like a cross between Peter Doherty and Johnny Depp from Benny and Joon was a good idea. The fight scene was completely nonsensical (in an even more logic-impaired film). Plus, let’s face it; Taylor Kitsch cannot act.

I really don’t think that the Deadpool character was as poorly served as most of the fans out there are claiming. Take the key points of the character from the comics:
- Smart-ass mercenary
- Undergoes Weapon X procedure to get healing powers
- Ends up with horribly scarred skin and almost limitless healing factor
- Has a teleportation device

As we see Ryan Reynolds earlier in the film, he definitely has the merc with a mouth attitude. He definitely does undergo a government procedure that gives him the healing power. And his skin is most definitely messed up in the end.

As for the teleportation device, all we need to do is look at Spider-Man the movie to understand the thinking on this one. You’ll remember that they took Spidey’s web-shooters and made them an actual part of Peter Parkers biology; I submit that the same thought process is at work here. It’s easier to make it a mutant power solution, as established with the Wraith character, working within the framework of the script than to tack on a technological gimmick.

The “silent” Deadpool part didn’t even bother me that much. Stryker clearly telegraphs this move in the assault in Africa when tells Wade he’d, “Be the perfect soldier if you’d just shut your mouth.” It seems natural that a sadist like Stryker would do just that when he had his opportunity. It’s also not beyond me to think that in a follow-up film, this Deadpool characterization would be so glad to be able to speak again that he would never shut up. It’s motivation to be more of a merc with a mouth.

The only part of Deadpool’s origin that wasn’t addressed in the film is the fact that he underwent the process in an attempt to stop the cancer that was rapidly killing him. Honestly, that part is unnecessary for this film anyway and could easily be shown/referred to in a Deadpool spin-off.

That leaves the whole “Weapon XI” situation. Yes, I thought it was goofy, but not unnecessary. The script they wrote left them no choice, really, but I’ll get to that in a minute. I’m fully prepared to let the moviemakers have a mulligan on this aspect of Deadpool. Heresy, I know, but here’s my justification: the doctors tell Stryker that he is unstable before he unleashes him on Wolverine. In comics, or comic book movies, that’s your get out of jail free card. It’s the equivalent of showing a gun in the first act. With one line of dialogue, you can write out the eye beams and even the teleportation if they want.

This is after all Comic Book Logic we are talking about.

In a world where Jean Grey becomes the Phoenix, then dies in the Blue area of the moon, only to be found at the bottom of the Hudson Bay alive because that wasn’t her, just a manifestation of the Phoenix Force using her as a template, only to die and then come back again…

Or a world where Captain America’s sidekick Bucky was blown up stopping a bomber in the last days of WWII only to find out that he was fished out of the icy waters by Russian soldiers, brainwashed and given a cybernetic arm, then keep in cryogenic freeze only to be revived periodically through the years as the Winter Soldier to conduct covert assassinations for the Soviet government until finally regaining his memory in 2006…

Well, I hope you get my point. To argue that that doesn’t make any sense when healing factors and weather control does seems a bit silly to me. If they say those powers didn’t stick, I’ll go with it.

There are two traps that I feel the screenwriters fell into that really hurt this film: (1) feeling the need for a “Big Bad” or “Boss Level” villain and (2) attempting to make the story too tight and self-contained.

The writers undercut Sabretooth as a possibility for the epic villain for the final set piece. Being that Victor and Logan are brothers and we are shown not only them growing up together, but they also have three other fight scenes with each other throughout the film. To make the last fight scene, as big and very the top as these movies seem to need, there’s no way it could have been Sabretooth. Likewise, there’s no way that the moviemakers would introduce a new character that late into the film. By process of elimination, Deadpool would be the likely candidate. Unfortunately the screenwriters wrote themselves into a corner in that he needed to be something more threatening for Logan and Victor to take one.

You can almost see the pieces falling into place: he needs more powers, from the Taskforce X group, also captive mutants to steal them from (optic blast), now we need to write Cyclops into the script, Victor needs to track them down and kill them, he’ll come into conflict with Wolverine, they need Wolverine’s healing factor… and so on. The film has it’s own logic in cause and effect. It’s not a good or particularly elegant script, but I can at least understand the hows and whys of the thinking.

The second trap that screenwriters fall into, and frankly I can’t understand the need for, is the compulsion to make everything fit neatly together. Emma Frost just happens to be Silverfox’s sister. Cyclops escapes into the waiting arms of Xavier. Silverfox has Tactile Mind Control to explain her ability to control Wolvie. Sabretooth and Wolverine are brothers. Silverfox gave Wolverine his name. I could go on. There’s simply no need to create some of these connections out of whole cloth just because you feel the need to have a deeper motivation for your characters. Life is not that tidy and these films don’t need to be either.

Sabretooth doesn’t need to be Wolverine’s brother for a motivation. It can be as simple as the fact that they are too similar. Most predators will fight for territory or pack status and that’s all the motivation you need for Sabretooth.

In the end, Wolverine suffers from the same problems that plague a lot of latter iterations of Superhero genre films: trying to pack too many characters and storylines into a small amount of time to the detriment of story and character development. Concentrating on good, solid storytelling rather than trying to make each additional film bigger and more bombastic than the last would better serve us as an audience.

Best/Worst of 2008 in Television

2008-12-22T18:36:00.001-08:00

I watch a lot of television. I’ve broken it down into 4 relatively arbitrary categories: Animated, Comedy, Drama and Sci Fi/Fantasy. I left Reality sows off the list because, really, no one cares. Some may argue with the categories, but, Hell, it’s my list, so screw ‘em.

The programs on this list represent shows that were new or ongoing in 2008. As a result, some of them are from the end of last season and some are from the Fall premieres this season. There were some programs that I discovered or were broadcast for the first time in America in 2008 (Primeval, Sarah Jane Adventures) but they were originally produced and/or run in 2007 in the U.K. I did not include them in my choices though they are on the complete list.

I didn’t always have enough to fill out a full 10 shows for each category, so some are a little light. In order from least bad to worst and in order from good to best, here are my top picks.

Animated
Worst of 2008:
3. The Simpsons – I haven’t laughed in 3 seasons now.
2. King of the Hill – This show hasn’t been funny since... Ever. Really.
1. Aqua Teen Hunger Force – What was seriously edgy, surrealist humor became pure random nonsense this season. It was like watching a 5-year old paint on the wall with crayons.

Best of 2008:
4. Batman: The Brave and The Bold – I thought I would hate this show, but something about it’s bubblegum sensibility really caught me up in it.
3. Robot Chicken – What needs to be said about this show that we haven’t all said before?
2. Family Guy – See Above.
1. The Venture Brothers – Bitingly good satire of all the Saturday morning cartoons we grew up on.

Comedy
Worst of 2008:
5. Testees – A lame attempt by FX to capitalize on the same sense of humor as “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.”
4. Gary Unmarried – I watched it because I like Jay Mohr, but this is stock-standard sitcom fare.
3. Big Bang Theory – Sorry to any who can stand this, but these are non-geeks writing what they think geeks are like, but with a laugh track.
2. Little Britain USA – The original Brit-version was hit or miss. This one is all miss. A combination of generic skits that could be set anywhere with skits that are broad American stereotypes but have no insight or wit. Watch “Tracey Takes On” to see how an English(wo)man really skewers Americans.
1. Kath and Kim – I turned this off after 10 minutes. The characters and writing were that abhorrent.

Best of 2008:
5. My Name Is Earl – Coming off of a rocky last season, they’ve found their legs again this Fall.
4. Chuck – In addition to being good fun, Adam Baldwin is always great to watch. This is the show you should watch instead of Big Bang Theory.
3. It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia – You either love it or hate it. It’s rude, crude, irreverent and offensive.
2. The Office – It is a well-written show. It’s not the U.K. Version, but it shouldn’t be a retread. Over the life of the show, they've made the format they're own and managed to grow the characters without losing the essence of the show.
1. How I Met Your Mother – Consistently well-written and it has NPH! Also, the writers for this show and Chuck write geeks better than the Big Bang Theory. Jokes carry over from episode to episode, so doesn't feel like a one-and-done sitcom. I really, really enjoy this show.

Drama
Worst of 2008:
5. The Unit – Wow, this show jumped the shark right at the beginning of the season and kept going. I'm still watching, but mostly out of morbid curiosity.
4. CSI: New York – Even Gary Sinise couldn’t prevent the writers from turning this show into CSI: Miami, Jr. I watched up to last season's finale but couldn't bring myself to watch it again this season.
3. Big Shots – An American attempt at remaking Manchild from the U.K. Instead of keeping the same half an hour format, they made it a full hour-long drama. It had a decent cast, but they lost all the fun of the original.
2. 24: Redemption – Well, that was a pointless 2 hours I can never get back. I'd go into detail, but someone reading this might not want a spoiler.
1. The Cleaner – Benjamin Bratt is really a stand-out in this show, unfortunately it is too preachy and the directing overly melodramatic. The premise wears thin after 2-3 episodes.

Best of 2008:
5. Generation Kill – An amazing HBO miniseries about an advanced Marine Recon unit during the invasion of Iraq. Watch it back to back with Band of Brothers.
4. Breaking Bad – I was blown away with Brian Cranston as the lead in this series. Two of the five top shows in this category are from FX Channel. That should tell you something.
3. Mad Men – Darren Star did an excellent job capturing the era of 1960’s Madison Avenue. A laconically paced show, it has more going on in the silence between dialogue than most films.
2. Sons of Anarchy – Imagine “Hamlet” meets the Hell’s Angels. It’s great to see Ron Perlman playing a role without makeup. There are so many great things I can say about this show, but really you need to track it down and watch.
1. The Wire – The best show on television. Ever. Over the life of the Wire, the show-runners have turned the spotlight on drugs, law enforcement, the education system, government at all levels, corruption and more. It is at times raw, depressing, occasionally upliftng, but always moving.

Honourable Mentions:
Boston Legal – David E. Kelly passed on “Life On Mars” just so that he could get one last 13 episode season for this show. It had some dips the past few seasons, but these last episodes were a tour de force of writing and acting. They all went out on a high and I’ll miss them. Denny Crane!

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation – I’ve no idea how the rest of the season will go, but the beginning of Fall 2008 has been some of the best shows in the past 2 seasons. They are really focusing on Grissom’s characterization (William Peterson) and how the entire cast relates to him and each other. Some quality television here..

In Plain Sight – This USA network program really surprised me. I thought I would hate it, but it’s surprisingly well-written. Mary McCormack plays a believable strong female lead with many, many faults. Her family drama can be tiring, but the stories revolving around her job as a Federal Marshall are good.

In Treatment – HBO’s adaptation of the critically acclaimed Israeli show Betipul, created by Hagai Levi. It’s about a psychotherapist, Dr. Paul Weston, and his weekly sessions with his patients, starring Gabriel Byrne. The shows broadcast once a day, five days a week. Each day was a different client and that client’s story would continue the next week at the same time. I found it arresting. I would save up and entire week’s worth of shows and watch them in a marathon.

Leverage – This show is too new to put on any best of list, but it is worth keeping an eye one. Timothy Hutton stars as an ex-insurance investigator who leads a crew of crooks and con-men who pull jobs to help out the little guy. Very light, tongue-in-cheek writing with some good action on the side.

The Mentalist – A Fall 2008 new procedural starring Simon Baker as an ex-TV mentalist (think Derren Brown) who now works with the police to help solve crimes. I’ll admit, the actual plots may not be the most original, but Simon Baker is so much fun to watch that it has shot to the top of my watch list. Even the supporting cast are great to see when they interact with him.

The Riches – Sadly, this show has been put on the chopping block. For anyone who is a fan of Eddie Izzard, this was the perfect opportunity to see him really stretch out in an ongoing series. He’s always been great in movie roles and cameos, but The Riches really let him grow. Smartly written as well. Every time I thought they had plotted themselves into a corner, they managed to pleasantly surprise me with a twist.

Sci Fi/Fantasy
Worst of 2008:
5. True Blood – I tried. I did a full 6 episodes, but I found it boring. Maybe it’s because Vampires are so labored at this point and this seemed another retread of an old idea but trying to make it weird enough to justify being an HBO program.
4. Smallville – It is so painful to watch this show now. Even the geekgasm I get from seeing live-action versions of my favorite DC characters cannot overcome the tortured dialogue, logic gaps and high school soap opera relationships.
3. Moonlight - Yet another ill-fated vampire drama. “What if he’s a vampire, but he’s also a Private Investigator? And he’s been around since the 50’s? Gold!” No, not really.
2. Flash Gordon – Oh My GOD! This was craaaaaaaaap.
1. Knight Rider – I have never, NEVER, turned off a new program before the halfway mark. I always try and give it the benefit of the doubt; maybe even 3 episodes before I give up on it. This season, I deleted 2 programs from my TIVO after only 10 Minutes; “Kath and Kim” and “Knight Rider.” It was bad. Not “So bad it’s good” bad. Just bad.

Best of 2008:
5. Life On Mars – I’ve heard so much negative blowback from pretty much everyone I know that they were going to do an American remake. I was surprised at how much I like this series, in spite of that. I’m lucky in that I have not seen the original series, so I have no bar against which to measure. I’m glad, actually, as it allows me to enjoy the program without the original influencing my own impressions.
4. Fringe – This show was slow to get started. At first the characterizations were sketchy, the scripts seemed to jump about and the whole endeavour came off like it didn’t know what it wanted to be. Since then, I think they’ve settled into a good groove. They’ve established an arc story, fleshed out the characters and put in some solid writing. It has enough of the weirdness to be a good successor to the “X-Files” and some thriller/action fromthe influence of “Alias.” I’m looking forward to the ongoing story.
3. Reaper – Ray Wise as The Devil. Let me say that again, “Ray Wise as The Devil.” Laura. Palmer’s. Dad. Is. The. Devil. Is there any more to say? Other than that it is a fresh, original idea, has a fun cast and witty writing? Cannot wait for its return this season.
2. Doctor Who – Well, who doesn’t love Who. David Tennant is a joy to watch, even though I cannot stand Donna Noble. At. All.
1. Battlestar Galactica – Consistently the best Sci Fi show on television. It has shown itself to have crossover appeal to people who do not normally watch Science Fiction, at least in my crowd. When my friends’ wives, who would normally be watching “Grey’s Anatomy,” started having BSG watching parties, I knew there was much, much more to this show.

The complete Television Watched List (in alphabetical order):
Animated:
- American Dad
- Aqua Teen Hunger Force
- Batman, The
- Batman: The Brave and The Bold
- Family Guy
- King of the Hill
- Legion of Super-Heroes
- Moral Orel
- Robot Chicken
- Simpsons, The
- South Park
- Spectacular Spider-Man, The
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars
- Venture Brothers, The

Comedy:
- 30 Rock
- Big Bang Theory
- Carpoolers
- Chocolate News
- Chuck
- Curb Your Enthusiasm
- Entourage
- Gary Unmarried
- How I Met Your Mother
- It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
- Kath and Kim
- Little Britain USA
- Miss Guided
- My Name Is Earl
- Office, The
- Reno 911
- Sarah Silverman Show, The
- Saturday Night Live
- Scrubs
- Testees
- Unhitched
- Welcome to the Captain

Drama:
- 24: Redemption
- Big Shots
- Boston Legal
- Breaking Bad
- Cleaner, The
- CSI
- CSI: New York
- Dirty Sexy Money
- Eli Stone
- Generation Kill
- Grey's Anatomy
- In Plain Sight
- In Treatment
- Las Vegas
- Law and Order
- Law and Order: Criminal Intent
- Law and Order: SVU
- Leverage
- Mad Men
- Mentalist, The
- Monk
- New Amsterdam
- October Road
- Psych
- Riches, The
- Shark
- Sons of Anarchy
- Unit, The
- Wire, The

Reality:
- 30 Days
- Amazing Race
- American Gladiators
- Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations
- Deadliest Catch
- Hell's Kitchen
- Intervention
- Kitchen Nightmares
- Mythbusters
- So You Think you Can Dance
- Survivor
- Survivorman

Sci Fi/Fantasy:
- Battlestar Galactica
- Doctor Who
- Eureka
- Flash Gordon
- Fringe
- Heroes
- Knight Rider
- Legend of the Seeker
- Life On Mars
- Lost
- Moonlight
- Primeval
- Reaper
- Robin Hood
- Sanctuary
- Sarah Jane Adventures, The
- Smallville
- Stargate: Atlantis
- Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
- Torchwood
- True Blood

Interview:
- Colbert Report, The
- Daily Show, The
- Real Time with Bill Mahar
- Showbiz Show with David Spade, The

Best/Worst of 2008 in Film

2008-12-22T18:12:00.001-08:00

I limited my Best/Worst list of movies only those pictures that were released in 2008 that I saw in theatres. DVDs or other means did not qualify. With that being the case, I only saw 18 movies that met those qualifications.

I have to say, out of the “Worst” list, I would only qualify 1 and 2 as being outright terrible movies, beginning to end. The other three aren’t that bad, just not all that good.

In order from least bad to worst, here are the bottom five.

Worst of 2008:
5. Wanted -
Once you get beyond the pretty action sequences, this is just a pretty car with no engine in it.

4. Harold and Kumar 2 Escape from Guantanamo Bay -
I was expecting more from this movie. Beyond NP, there’s very little to recommend it. You can lose the last half and nothing would be missing. They emphasized emotion over comedy.

3. Get Smart -
Honestly, just not that funny.

2. Mother of Tears -
Dario Argento’s latest. Complete dreck from beginning to end. Lots of of naked flesh though, so that’s a plus.

1. Righteous Kill -
Deniro and Pacino team together for the first time since Heat and it is the dumbest, most predictable script with some of the worst direction from beginning to end. There’s nothing redeeming about this film.

In order from good to best, here are the top five:

Best of 2008:
5. Tropic Thunder/Hellboy II: The Golden Army -
This is really a toss-up. I felt both of these needed to be included in the top five. I found Tropic Thunder to be a blisteringly funny take on the Hollywood business (although Stiller was a bit over the top at times). Hellboy is gorgeous and well-put together. It gets a bit schmaltsy at times, but an altogether solid selection.

4. In Bruges -
Beautiful cinematography, quirky story and wonderful performances. It’s both charming and dark in its comedy. If you really pay attention, the script actually has more philosophical depth to it than is apparent from a surface viewing.

3. The Dark Knight -
While I think this is a masterful film from Nolan to Bale to Eckhart and especially Ledger, but it gets too bogged down in its own philosophy at times. As a result, some of the dialogue gets heavy and overlong resulting in some serious navel-gazing. That’s why it ranks below Iron Man.

2. Iron Man -
This is how you make a comic book film. I have one or two VERY minor complaints, but overall a superbly put together film.

1. Frost/Nixon -
I am by no means a Ron Howard fan. That being said, this is the best film I’ve seen this year. It has the single best shot I’ve seen on film this year and it’s all do to Frank Langella’s acting.

The complete Movies I Watched List (in alphabetical order):
Appaloosa
The Bank Job
The Dark Knight
The Forbidden kingdom
Frost/Nixon
Get Smart
Hancock
Harold and Kumar 2 Escape from Guantanamo Bay
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
In Bruges
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Iron Man
Mother of Tears
Pineapple Express
Quantum of Solace
Righteous Kill
Tropic Thunder
Wanted

I'm keeping myself busy...

2008-11-13T08:26:00.001-08:00

Well.... Let's see...

- Designing 3-4 websites at work -- I'm a web designer now!

- Story editing a comic/film treatment for a friend

- Helping organize a collective of comics creators and put together an anthology book

- Working on an outline for a 6-8 page comic story for that anthology

- Laying out plans for recording my first podcast

- Getting excited about seeing Quantum of Solace Saturday afternoon.

- Marvelling at my lack of cynicism about an Obama presidency

What are YOU doin'? :)

Relief

2008-11-04T20:51:00.000-08:00

Tavis Smily just spoke on NBC Election Night coverage and quoted MLK. It bears repeating for everyone:

"Cowardice asks the question, 'Is it safe?' Expediency asks the question, 'Is it politic?' Vanity asks the question, 'Is it popular?' But, conscience asks the question, 'Is it right?' And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because one's conscience tells one that it is right. -Martin Luther King, Jr."

Hmm,,, Interesting

2008-10-15T14:34:00.001-07:00

"MySpace addicts are somewhat vain – focusing heavily on establishing and fine tuning their online personas by customization of their personal profiles

Facebook addicts focus more on engagement – interacting with applications, music and people both on and off the platform

Twitter addicts are most interested in fostering communication and exploration – sites that allow a user to understand what their contacts are doing, provide a platform for content discovery and encourage users to actively participate are the most likely places to find hardcore twitterers."

Source: http://ping.fm/Lis6o

Interesting Twitter facts

2008-10-15T11:26:00.001-07:00

"Twitter is a social media microblogging platform where users keep their "followers" up-to-date with what they are doing with short posts of just 140 characters or fewer. The service launched in 2006, but it has taken off like gangbusters this year.
According to Compete.com, Twitter more than quadrupled its users from November 2007 to June 2008. There are now more than 1.2 million Tweeters.

Lest you think it's just for kids, a Time magazine article last month reports the largest age demographic is 35-to-44-year-olds, which make up more than 25 percent of users. And the 55+ demographics are growing, too. Interestingly, more than 57 percent of Tweeters are from California. "

Sources:
http://ping.fm/w0Iid
http://ping.fm/YTHqI
http://ping.fm/62ufW

Hey! That's my name! W00t!

2008-09-11T11:31:00.000-07:00

Those sneaky, sneaky spammers

2008-08-28T13:44:00.001-07:00

Bravo! This has to be one of the sneakier attempts to get me to click through on something. It's specific enough to actually apply to me, but just vague enough to be generic:

"Aug 28, 2008 12:39 PM

Subject: Whats up

Body: my my look how you've grown :) its been like seriously prob. 10 years since we've talked so you prob. dont even remember me.. but mike from our middle school gave me your myspace profile.. anyhow I've moved outta state since then but wanted to get in touch with you.. you look amazing btw.. anyhow I only check my myspace account like once a month so if you wanna chat hit me up on my msn messenger when you get a chance my msn email is jane82red@live.com"

Monday June 29, 2008

2008-06-30T09:10:00.001-07:00

It was a pretty full weekend all things considered. Nothing too exciting, but very domestic. I spent both nights doing some freelance work; providing a facelift for a godawful children's book that a failed wirter/director/PA is trying to get off the ground. The writing alone will set literacy back 50 years.

Saturday I completely regressed back to high school. I spent the day at the beach shooting photos, listening to some playlists I made on my iPod of 80's music and doing some bodysurfing. I think it's been more than 3 years since I've been in the ocean. Sad, really, considering I live so close and really like swimming.

Ran Into Phil which was funny though not unexpected. I don't know why I thought I might see him, just sometimes I get a feeling. We're still in that awkward getting a feel for each other stage but, to paraphrase him, "He's good people" and a bit inspirational to me.

Sunday had a bit of excitement. I came home after running errands most of the day to find a note under the mat that my [adopted] cat had been bleeding from the mouth and the neighbor was worried. His former owner had taken him into his apartment and reported that, although he had no visible wounds, it looked like he'd been attacked by a dog. According to Tony, Rhet [the cat] was covered in slobber and did have blood on and around his mouth.

Try as I might I couldn't and still can't find and wounds. After I got back from work last night I noticed that Rhet was uncharacteristically needy; he followed me around the apartment and would climb on my lap every chance he could. It was late anyway, so I just stopped what I was doing and decided to curl up in bed with him.

I notice this morning that he's moving a little slowly and favoring his back right leg a bit. That doesn't worry me as much as the fact that he seems to be drooling quite a bit [unusual for him] and hasn't touched his food this morning.

I'm starting to realize that though I grew up with a cat, I'm woefully unprepared to take care of one. I think I may have to figure out a way to get him to a vet for a checkup, at least for my piece of mind. Not, mind you, that I need this kind of expense right now. Ugh.

Good with Service People

2008-06-28T01:54:00.001-07:00

I'm constantly amazed at how easy it is to get to know people. To get behind their shields and have real conversations with people. Case in point, I just finished having a conversation with a guy at a place down the street. He's a 49 year old pensioner living in Bangkok, Thailand. I walked away with his name, U.S. and Thai contact numbers and we talked for over 2 hours.

I remember distinctly being on one of those drunk cruises in Cabo San Lucas and while my erstwhile partner in crime spent his time trying to get somewhere with two young women on the boat, I was in the back talking to an elderly couple on vacation from Colorado. We left the boat and while he had a case of blue balls, I had an invitation to stay anytime with them at their house in Colorado Springs, some phone numbers and a lasting impression that while my friend was a jackass, I reminded them of the way the wish their son could be.

Some of my friends came to saying something of the sort of, "Oh, Scott, he's good with service people." Really, it's just that I treat them like people; I ask about them, their families and how they are doing in their lives. It's amazing how far a simple act like this can get you. I've received everything from free food and drink to invitations to stay with them on vacation.

Now, I don't want to be disengenuous about this. I'm actually very interested and involved in the conversations that I have. I don't enter into anything with any ulterior motive beyond general curiosity. I love meeting new people and finding out about them and their experiences. It's the sense of the new and novel that compels me. But I find that in general the more open that you are, the more open they will be. I've learned so much about the world and about other cultures just from being open to spirited conversation from Taxis that it's crazy. Although I've forgotten most of it, I've learned phrases in Uzbekh, Armenian and Pakistani from cab drivers. I used to take phonetic notes on the back of business cards and napkins.

It seems to me that the world would be much better off if people were more open and understanding to these kind of interactions.

Of course, the bonus is that I get a lot of free shit, so that's not all that bad either, is it?

Miami Vice S1 Ep4:

2008-06-24T01:37:00.001-07:00

More shirtless Don Johnson than I can handle. Pointer Sisters "I'm So Excited" on the soundtrack!

Miami Vice S1 Ep5:

2008-06-24T01:36:00.001-07:00

Paul Michael Glaser (Starsky) directed. Best so far. Long stylish shots w/nothing but music. Solid Ruggiero/Surnow script

Miami Vice S1 Ep6:

2008-06-24T01:29:00.001-07:00

Ultimately a forgettable episode after Ep4-5 two parter. Dennis Farina guest spot is the only highlight.

Miami Vice S1 Ep7:

2008-06-24T01:26:00.001-07:00

Picks up the slack left from last ep. Crocket has to convince an abused wife to stay with a violent criminal [Bruce Willis] to keep the investigation alive. The freeze-frame at the end reinforces why the show was so good forit's time.

Passing

2008-05-02T18:29:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine passed away last month. I'd known Micheal about 10+ years now, but I'm not sure that I'd have called us close friends, but friends nonetheless. Micheal was a Mac professional from way back. He set up our first computers at the original design firm my brother and I worked for. He was always ready to help with his encyclopedic knowledge of the ins and outs of technology. Whether he was getting paid for it or not (and often he would argue against billing us because we were friends), he was never without a solution to a problem. He’d moved out to Texas years ago and we kept in contact sporadically. I found out back in June of last year that he had brain cancer and had had some surgery and chemo and it had gone into remission.

Then he called my brother and I on March 27 to tell us that his brain cancer had come back and the doctors gave him about a week. It was a strange conversation; evidently the tumor in his head was already affecting him because he went from laughing to crying to being perfectly normal in the space of seconds. His main concern was making sure that his 12-yr old autistic daughter would be taken care of as she was most likely going in to foster care. My brother and I made some inquiries here and there about legal trusts, but thankfully someone far more knowledgeable and capable stepped in and took care of it.

By April 4th, 8 days after he called me, he’d passed away. My brother is taking care of his online affairs [dismantling the websites he ran and such] and Micheal's wife wrote a heartfelt letter to circulate. In Honor of Micheal, I'm posting it:

"Ode to a Mac God

In late 2003, a mole that Michael had for some time on his left shoulder had turned ugly. Ugly enough that the doctors finally agreed that it didn’t look good. After waiting months the mole was removed and diagnosed as a stage 4 melanoma. In mid- April, 2004 a cut away surgery was done to remove what was believed to be the surrounding areas, root and lymph nodes.

The results were good. We were told no cancer cells were found in any of the tissue or nodes removed. No further treatment was necessary. The dermatologist monitored Michael closely for any signs of a melanoma showing up anywhere else. All was going well, and no signs of a melanoma showed up anywhere.

In May of 2007 Michael started having headaches and odd pains. We figured it was sinus problems since allergy season was in full swing for him. On May 31, 2007 Michael called me and told me he was feeling really bad, and was having some trouble remembering things. We figured it was just a bad sinus headache.

On June 1st I received a call from the Plano police department. Michael was at the bank and couldn’t remember who he was. He had gone in to report his cards lost, and to freeze his accounts. Thankfully an exceptional bank employee had enough information before the trouble started to be able to research bank records and names to get my contact information.

I went to the bank, which is across the street from my home. The paramedics were already there. They told me they believed he might have suffered a stroke, and thought he should go to the hospital. Michael didn’t want to go and they wouldn’t take him without his consent (the same people who thought he had a stroke said he was cognitive enough to make his own decisions). After convincing him to go, Sarah was dropped off at Grandma’s, and I went to take the insurance information to the hospital.

By the time I got to the hospital, they had already diagnosed a brain tumor. Surgery was scheduled for Monday. Once again everything looked good, and after radiation treatments Michael started a clinical trial for melanoma of the brain. Though the treatments left him tired and weak, he carried on the best he could spending the afternoons and weekends with Sarah and being an attentive dad.

In February, a PET scan showed no signs of any cancer and they started talking about doing gamma knife surgery to remove a small spot that had been on his lung. A CAT scan was done the end of February to determine placement of rods to be used for the surgery. On the scan they saw a few spots that looked odd on his brain and decided to do an MRI to check them out. Mid March the MRI was done.

Over the weekend Michael had said he wasn’t feeling well and his head and ear hurt. We thought, once again, “welcome to allergy season.” Monday, they called Michael and told him he needed to go back to the hospital. There he was told that the cancer was back and bigger than before. This time the prognosis wasn’t good even with surgery he might only get a few extra months. We were told he would have a few months.

After a lot of thought and it came down to he would rather have a few goods months than cut into his time with surgery that they couldn’t guarantee the out come of. There was a possibility since the tumor was bigger and deeper and had tripled in size in 3 weeks that he wouldn’t have any function afterwards, Michael opted not to have surgery and spend what he had left with his family. Things happened quickly from here.

Friday and Saturday all was good. Sunday Michael realized he was having trouble remembering things. Sunday night he was asking me to read e-mails to him.

Monday morning we went to the bank Michael was tired and weak and needed some help walking and balance was an issue. He wasn’t eating or drinking much. Monday night he needed a lot of help to get from bed to his chair and back again. He had stopped talking for the most part. Tuesday he slept most of the day and we had to struggle to get him to take his meds.

We realized we could not take care of him at home and started looking for a care facility. Wednesday we had his doctor come and look at him and we decided to have him re admitted to the hospital. He wasn’t responding much at all. He did look at the paramedics and smile but that was about it. That night they said he was in a comatose state.

Thursday his breathing was heavy. I went to visit at night and could tell he was struggling to hold on. True to his character he wasn’t going to stop fighting the battle until he knew his girls were going to be all right.

I told him that the girls knew he loved them and they loved him. I told him Sarah would be Ok she is a fighter. I told him it was all right to go every thing was taken care of and he was loved and would be missed. Shortly after that he started to shut down.

On April 4th 2008 Michael lost the battle he fought so hard to be the last year. He fought to be here for his girls he loved so very much and worried about them every day. He missed seeing his baby turn 13, and Emi walk the stage for high school graduation this year. In the end we lost a great father, friend and Mac God.

Michael we will miss you!!! Thanks for touching our lives.

Thanks of all the love and support. It is comforting to know how many lives he touched.

In addition to me, and his beautiful daughters, Emi and Sarah, Michael leaves behind his mother, Linda and two brothers, Dan and Patrick. Our youngest daughter Sarah has cerebral palsy and will always require some level of care. Michael's greatest concern was what would happen to Sarah if he weren't here to take care of her. A special needs trust has been set up for her to provide for her in the future. In honor of his last wish, the family is requesting donations be made to the "Sarah Marie Briney Special Needs Trust" in lieu of flowers.

Carleen Briney"

I is a writer

2008-02-18T10:55:00.001-08:00

Well, I got a pleasant surprise in my Inbox on Friday:

"Scott,

I'm pleased to announce that yours has been selected as a winning pitch for the CAG Classics Anthology. Competition was stiff, as we had a lot of submissions to pick through. But your story will go on to production.

Congratulations, and thanks for your effort."

That's right, I'm going to be published. Sure, the anthology won't be published until November, but I'm still proud as punch.

Elegy

2008-01-30T00:18:00.000-08:00

I wrote this piece three years agoon the anniversary of my mother's death. It was a tough time for me then. I'm in a much better place now and I can look back on this essay with a gladder eye. I celebrate my mother every time I repost this and, I hope, honor her.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
It was January 16th, 1997. I can’t really remember how it started. I know it was a phone call. I’m assuming after the fact that it was my brother, considering how close we are, but it could have been my father. The first thing that I do remember clearly is the waiting room for the ICU at Cedar Sinai Hospital. All we knew for certain at that point was that my mother had been in an accident and was in Intensive Care.

Mom was an Ohio transplant. She drove out from Toledo with her brother in the early 60’s after graduating from OSU. Uncle Jack was going to be an engineer and Jane was going to be a teacher. She became a wife, mother, substitute teacher, then teacher, vice-principal and principal. Then she became an alcoholic, Coke-addict and squatter. She ended up sober and an accredited Drug and Substance Abuse counselor. She had degrees in English, Teaching, Psychology, Drug and Alcohol Counseling, a Masters in Education and several other accreditations and certificates.

She was the closest person in my life. She taught me to read and with that my love for literature. She was the only person in the world that I could tell anything to. Later in life, after she’d gotten sober and was counseling, she would ask what I did the night before. I’d smile and say things like,”Oh, I went to a rave and did X.” She would just smile, shake her head and say,”Just be careful,” and then move on. She never judged me.

When we were finally allowed in to see her, she was lying on the bed, eyes-closed, skin clammy, with IV drips, respirators and everything else you could possibly imagine. She looked so small. She’d wasn’t a tall woman, very short in fact. But she had never looked that small.

The doctors explained to us that mom was in a coma, apparently brain-dead, and the machines were the only thing keeping her alive. There was a possibility that she might come out of the coma, but it was slim at best.

I remember the first time that she went through rehab. I was 17 at the time and used to work in this comic book store near my house. I was the night manager and had to close at night. I was like the Flash I was so fast at getting everything stocked and the doors shut tight. Because I had to make it across town time for family counseling in the Detox Unit. I went every night. I was the only one in my family that did. It was in the hospital there that my mother met the Cocaine dealer she ended up dating afterwards who got her hooked on that drug. She relapsed and became an even worse addict and alcoholic.

When she went back into a program, I told her flat out that she’d let me down last time. That I did not want to see her or talk to her until she had been a year sober. A little while later the envelopes started coming in the mail. Every time she went to a meeting and received a chip; 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, a Year; she mailed it to me. Even after four years of sobriety she never stopped doing that. I still have that old keychain I keep them on at home.

It was three years after her first rehab attempt that she ended up in the hospital. She’d had a seizure. As it was explained to her, her body was so starved for vitamins and nutrients that it had shut down. She was left with the choice of quitting and living or, if she continued to abuse, death.

It was a seizure like that one that had led to the car accident, the doctors thought. Her body was admitted paralyzed down the left side which evidenced some sort of attack. It had been one of those intense El Niño storms and they assumed that she’d had an attack at the wheel which caused her to go through the red light. Her car was smashed into by a Jeep Cherokee crossing with the green.

It was about five days after the accident that she opened her eyes. That was probably the worst part about the entire experience. You could be in the same room with her and you would put your hand in hers. She would squeeze. Her eyes would follow you. But those were just autonomic responses. Her eyes were reacting to the change in light when you stood above her. Her hand, to the sensation of touch. My mother was effectively brain-dead.

When I was just going into Junior High, my mother requested that I be tested for the GATE program [Gifted and Talented Education]. Our principal flatly refused because neither my brother nor my sister scored well enough to get in when they were tested. Mom fought for me and, as a result, I was tested and score in the highest percentile. She was there when I gave the keynote speech at our Junior High graduation.

All through high school my mother was a substitute teacher. I even had her for some of my classes. It’s a strange and wonderful experience to go to school and on campus at any one time is your brother, sister and mother. I got into trouble a lot. Not bad stuff, mostly just talking back and the like, but enough that the administration knew me. Our principal was good friends with my mom and every time he saw her would ask,”How’s your rebel son?”

She was with me every step of the way when I was growing up.

A little over a week after the accident the family had a meeting with hospital staff to explain the options available to us for my mother’s care. In their opinion, the hopes for any kind of recovery was miniscule. In addition, if by some slim chance she did come out of the coma, there was no possibility of recovery without some sort of brain damage. The recommendation of the hospital was to discontinue life support, but we had some time to think about it.

My sister did not take the news well. She drilled the doctors with questions, looking for any possible hope that there might be a complete recovery. Seeing my mother in that room, nurses having to wipe the drool from around the tube in her mouth, staring wide-eyed at the ceiling, eyes looking to the left or right depending on who was blocking the light, I couldn’t see that hope. I’d been in that room, talked to her, looked in those watery eyes and there was no spark there.

One of the things that she and I could always talk about was Star Trek. It's so incredibly trivial and dumb, but we both loved the show. The old ones and all of the new series. She loved Capt. Janeway and the Voyager series, but nothing replaced the original in her book. She gave me my love of fantasy and science fiction. One of the first books she gave me to read was a leather-bound version of the Hobbit by Tolkein. I was eight. She gave me the chronicles of Narnia, A Boy's King Arthur, Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s court, her copy of Edith Hamilton’s Mythology. I still have a set of tapes of the entire run of the original 60’s Star Trek that she taped herself, labeled in her handwriting.

On January 30th we decided as a family to take her off of life-support. They told us it might take anywhere from eight to twelve hours for her to pass away. We all went to the diner across the street from the hospital. We’d spent a lot of time there; you could see the window of the ICU room on the 8th floor where mom was from there. It was only an hour later when the ICU staff called us.

My father refused to see the body. He said he wanted to remember her in life, not death. My sister didn’t know what to do. My brother and I went in to see her. The room was empty except for her. They had pulled out all of the equipment. Her eyes were closed and her skin waxy and yellow, cold to the touch. He and I just held each other and cried. When we finally returned to the waiting room, I told my sister that she didn’t want to go in there. She never did.

We cremated my mother. The wake was held at the recovery house where she’d gotten sober and still helped out as a part-time counselor. Over 250 people came. My brother spoke and told the story about mom and me and the AA chips.

She passed away January 30th, 1997, only two weeks after being involved in a car accident. She would have been 71 this year.

I miss her every day.

I Am Legend

2007-12-19T13:41:00.001-08:00

Well, I saw "I Am Legend" last night.

While it wasn't great, it also wasn't wasn't bad. In brief, here's my review, for whatever that is worth. :)

Great effects. It is worth seeing on the big screen just for the first 20+ minutes in an abandoned New York. But I thought that they didn't need to go completely CGI for the vampires/creatures/whatever you want to call them.
Makeup effects would have been fine and given them more solidity and reality.

The product placement wasn't as bad as a Michael Bay film, but it was close. Some examples were so glaring and obvious they made me laugh out loud.

The direction was very good. I'm not one for getting caught up in thrillers, you can either predict what is going to happen or you are prepared for the eventual "scare." Generally directors fall back on the pop out and scare you rather than create an atmosphere of suspense. Francis Lawrence did it right. I was on the edge of my seat in some parts, half wanting to look away and the other part wanting to see what happens.

Will Smith was very good. One caveat here, I like Will. I've always thought that he was an enjoyable actor, but through his career I've also seen a lot of growth in his range and abilities. I was really sold on his emotion for some of the scenes that could have been smarmy and dopey if done badly.

Lastly, the script. There are some glaring holes in logic. A couple of lines of dialogue made me cringe. And the story gets rushed towards the last part and then kind of just... ends.

All in all, not a bad popcorn film, but, as a friend put it, "This film will never rise above it's genre."

2007-10-24T13:17:00.001-07:00

Okay, so I'm searching the web for examples of gym logos for reference for a client and I happen upon a poledancing fitness studio.

I know, I know, but I swear the search was random! :-)

I had to laugh at one of the most unfortunate bits of copywriting I've ever read:

"Having never worked in the adult industry, through alot of hard work and persistance, Jennifer taught herself to master the pole and now teaches others."

For Al

2007-10-13T01:43:00.000-07:00

I was already running a bath dressed in my robe and bedclothes when the heavens opened up. The rain was too tempting and I threw on my clothes and pea coat. I walked up to the top of the hill that looked down over LAX. I was listening to an audiobook by Neal Gaiman.

“We’re all making it up as we go along, aren’t we?”

I switched to opera. Nessum Dorma performed by Pavarotti. The waltz of ten ton machines on the tarmac. A thousand fireflies relfected in the asphalt. Raindrops spattering on my glasses diffuse the scene.

Planes take off intermittently. Lit from below until they disappear in the low cloud cover. JAL. Qantas. Korean Air. Tokyo. London. Santiago. Hobart? Southport? I cry at the sublime quality of the moment.

Thoughts flow through my head. A friend one year older. A strong voice silenced. The sky weeps for his grandfather.

“Weren’t we supposed to be married by now? Wasn’t that the deal long long ago?” A bittersweet text message to wake up to in the morning.

I have a sign on my refrigerator. It was a promotional card for the Los Angeles Times’ Oscar coverage. It says, “Who’s going home with the little guy?” I find it inordinately funny. She always makes me an inch shorter than I am when she tells people how tall I am.

The fridge is also covered with religious pamphlets and cards. I can’t help myself but to pick them up when I see them. And me an atheist. The best ones are in Spanish. They sound so much more fervent in Spanish. “Como tener vida eterna. Hay solamente un modo.”

I switch to latin music. “Me estoy acostumbrando a ti…”

The bath is full. I will turn off all the lights, lower myself in to the steaming water and leave the window open. As I relax I will listen to the pinprick percussion of tap tapping on the pane. Then I will sleep.

Robyn and I 09/30/7

2007-10-03T16:08:00.001-07:00

Robyn and I 09/30/7
Originally uploaded by scott_j_ludwig

Well, not our best photo, to be sure. But I was holding the camera phone, so it's a wonder either of us are even in frame.

Robyn 09/30/7

2007-10-03T03:51:00.001-07:00

Robyn 09/30/7
Originally uploaded by scott_j_ludwig

Robyn.

What might have been

2007-10-03T02:58:00.000-07:00

“You melt my heart. You always do.”

That was what she left on my voicemail Sunday afternoon, my cell phone tucked away in a locker while I was busy working out at the gym. It haunted me all day. It still does, truth be told.

It’s been over ten years since Robyn and I split up. We’d been together for seven and a half before that. Nearly eighteen years we’ve been in and out of each other’s lives.

We had lost touch with each other for many years but about two or more years ago I managed to track her down. She’d moved from Los Angeles north to Santa Cruz for school and after that somehow landed in Colorado. In the intervening time, she’s been a firefighter, scuba diving teacher, an ambulance dispatcher and driver, marine biologist at an aquarium, an EMT and she just got out of her mandatory basic training for the Air Force National Guard reserves to go to Nursing school. She's a remarkable woman.

We’ve been talking on and off by phone and email, but hadn’t seen each other. Neither of us could be sure how long it had been, but I’m pretty sure that I hadn’t seen Robyn in the flesh for more than five years. As it happened, she was in town visiting her father and we managed to eke out an hour or two for coffee before she hopped back in her car for the long drive back to Colorado.

When she picked me up in the morning, it was a strange experience. I never realized how much my mind’s eye had filled in the image behind the voice on the phone with the young woman that I had dated so, so long ago. I was struck with how much of a strong and mature woman she had become.

It was so easy to imagine the same carefree and flighty girl behind her giggle, but now she is infinitely more attractive. The surety of her manner and the experience in her eyes brought me up short.

We talked and talked. About her Basic Training, her father’s health, my father, our families and their quirks, her partner, my lack of one, whether either of us wants or will have children in the future, what our future plans are. We probably would have gone on most of the day if it hadn’t been for her self-imposed departure time. Standing at her car in front of my apartment, we had an awkward goodbye weighed down by unfulfilled possibilities.

I want to believe that we could be together and it would be as if no time had passed. The ten years would fall away and we could fall comfortably into a domestic bliss that, if I am honest with myself, I dearly crave. Looking at her sitting across the table from me, I could see that that would never be the case. We can't just ignore the decade between.

We’ve both been through too many experiences. I think for the better, and in ways that I believe make us more compatible than we had been before, not less. In my fondest dreams, I would love nothing better than to be with her and, I flatter myself, her with me.

Not so much has changed in our fundamental character that we have become strangers to each other. There is a comfort and connection between us that bonds us close together. It feels wrong not to acknowledge it.

But the distance between us is as vast as the differences between our lives. She has a full life in Colorado and I here in Los Angeles. She’s said flatly that she would not move back here, and I can understand that. I’ve thought before of how it might be to just pack it up and move out there, but I can’t.

Aside from practical financial reasons, my closest friends are here, and my father, and my brother. I couldn’t imagine leaving all of that for the possibility of… I don’t know what.

In parting, I said that if I were in Colorado, she’d be married with kids. I meant it. And later…

“You melt my heart. You always do.”

A History in Comics

2007-09-16T14:14:00.000-07:00

I recently had the opportunity to trade a Q and A with a friend in Tasmania about our respective likes and loves in comic books. The more I thought about the questions and my answers, the more I wanted to write about my connection to the genre and my history with it. Eventually, I’d like to write at length about what comics mean to me in terms of their influence on my development and personal philosophy, but that is an even longer essay that I just haven't had the time to tackle yet. The following is a somewhat rewritten version of my response to my pen pal. It serves as both a mini-biography and a list of recommendations for anyone looking to pick up what I think are some of the best comics out there.

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Comic books are, in a roundabout way, what inspired me to become a designer. I start drawing at an early age; mostly copying pictures from artists that I liked and then later creating my own work. My brother caught the bug from me and started drawing, too. He has always had an innate talent for art that I don’t have, but alternatively, I have always had a better facility with words (I hope). As a result, he went on to study illustration in college and I went on to complete confusion. I had a 10-year college career spent careening from one major to another. I studied Comparative Literature, Art History, Creative Writing, History, Modern Literature, a couple of film survey courses, Comparative Mythology, Drama Literature and even Fine Art with a specialization in Printmaking. I ended up with an Associates Degree in Fine Arts and Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Graphic Design. In the end, we both became Graphic Designers. Now we work together at the design firm he started in 1997.

With the exception of a brief period in the mid-nineties, I’ve never stopped buying comics. My first job was in a comic shop. I worked there throughout high school and ended up the Assistant Manager. The hook was sunk early and deep.

I still remember the first comic I picked up: Star Wars #8, Eight for Aduba-3, in 1977. It had a 6-foot tall, talking green rabbit on the cover brandishing two pistols like an old west gunfighter. The story was a rip-off of The Magnificent Seven, though I didn’t have the movie chops to it then. For the most part, what I read in those earlier years were a mixed bag of whatever my parents picked up or that which caught my juvenile eye. Looking back, it seems that DC must’ve dominated the spinner racks then because I remember burying my face in The Batman Family, Superman Family, Brave and the Bold and Weird War Tales.

When I took control of my purchases in the early eighties, I became a complete Marvel Zombie. I cut my teeth on the X-Men and for a while they were the be-all-end-all of comics. My first issue was Uncanny X-Men #132. That issue introduced the Hellfire Club and kicked off of the now famous Dark Phoenix saga. In their heyday, Chris Claremont and John Byrne defined what it meant to be comic creators for me.

My tastes quickly broadened to other Marvel Comics. I collected Moon Knight, Master of Kung-Fu, Captain America, Avengers (when George Perez was on the book) and Fantastic Four (when Byrne was writing and drawing them). My favorite was Power Man and Iron Fist. I never got into Spider-Man, though. The one DC exception was the New Teen Titans with Perez and Marv Wolfman. Honestly, at that time I thought most DC books were ridiculous and inane.

It wasn’t until Crisis on Infinite Earths that I finally came around to reading DC Comics again. After the series was over and they re-launched their Big Three, I got on board with them in a big way.

Mind you, I was also grabbing up independents this whole time as well. Just like about every comic book snob, I bought Cerebus. I even went along for the ride with Malibu Comics’ Ultraverse. Firearm was an excellent title and introduced me to the writing of James Robinson, but we’ll talk about him later. I was also really impressed with the pantheon of Dark Horse Comics’ Greatest World books. The whole concept was short-lived, but I saw a lot of potential there with The Machine, Ghost and Hero Zero. Even Barb Wire in her nascent form was a fun read.

Heck, I even bought into everything Image did when they debuted, much to my regret. Very few of those books turned out to have any longevity. I’m all in favor of creator owned works, but the reality was that many of the artists at that time could not craft a story. Rob Liefeld’s stories were abysmal, just like his art in my opinion. In the end, creations of his, like Supreme, did not get popular until people like Alan Moore took over the writing chores. Even Todd McFarlane came around to the idea of turning the scripting of Spawn over to better talented writers.

As time when on there was a gradual shift happening. I can’t say what really pushed me over the edge from Marvel to DC, but my increasing interest in Golden Age heroes was probably the driving force. Teams like Infinity Inc., the Justice Society of America, All-Star Squadron and Young All-Stars called to me more than the rough beast that the X-books had become. It was probably the Fallen Angels mini-series that finally made me drop them completely for a time.

Marvel is great for your “super-heroes in the real world,” but for the more fantastic and less gritty, stick with DC. More to the point though, it’s the mythology of the DC Universe that is so appealing. I was studying myths and folklore in school and it only served to deepen my understanding and affinity for iconic figures of Batman and Superman and the others. Marvel, on the other hand, has always worked better as a mirror to be held up to the real world, a fictional universe wherein metaphor can be used to reflect social and political issues.

I was a latecomer to Vertigo titles. The seed had already been planted with Alan Moore’s run on Swamp Thing and from there to John Constantine, Hellblazer, but it took me a while to get away from my fascination with capes and appreciate horror and mystery titles. As such, I didn’t read Sandman until it was available in trades but enjoyed it thoroughly. I still find Vertigo titles to be hit or miss propositions. When they hit, like Preacher or Y, the Last Man, they hit big. When they miss, though, they can be awful.

In the past few years I’ve been growing more and more interested in Pulp Heroes. Works by Moore, Howard Chaykin and Warren Ellis have pushed me to research more about early heroes, creators and the history of comics. Rediscovering great characters like Doc Savage, The Shadow, G-8, The Phantom and Operator No. 5 is like finding a long box of comics your dad had hidden away in the corner of the basement, all but forgotten.

One of my favorites is a pulp hero from the 30’s called The Green Lama. He’s a mystery man from the Depression era that battles crime while being a practicing Buddhist.

Nowadays I’m pretty balanced between the Big Two and random independents here and there. Comics are at their best right now. In my opinion, there has never been a time with a greater amount of talented writers and artists in the industry. It’s hard not to buy everything because I feel like I’ll be missing that next great issue.

I’ve been so inspired that I’m trying my own hand at writing again. I’ve been working on some comic book scripts. I even hooked up with a group in my area called the Comicbook Artists Guild. We’re the L.A. chapter of CAG and just published an anthology that we were selling at the San Diego Comic Con. My story pitch was not selected for the book, but maybe next time.

Here are my answers to the Q and A:

Favorite Comic Book Writer(s)?

James Robinson – My favorite writer. There are many great stories and storytellers out there, but Robinson has consistently been outstanding throughout his career. I distinctly remember reading an issue of Firearm in which the main character Alec Swan describes his home town of Pasadena, California. I believe it was issue #10. The imagery was so dead-on and evocative that I had to flip back and see who the author was. I’ve followed everything he’s done since. His body of work contains most of my favorite arcs and characters: JSA, Starman, Leave it to Chance, The Golden Age.

There are certain writers that I will buy anything they write:

Warren Ellis – I think Planetary was the first title with which I became familiar with his name. I’d read books from him before, but never really paid attention to the author. Nowadays I’m completely enthralled by everything he does. He has yet to write a story I haven’t liked.

Alan Moore – The man’s a genius, plain and simple. The sheer density of thought that goes into his work is astounding. I can read and re-read his books ad nauseam and still find new layers and meaning.

Neil Gaiman – I have to admit that, aside from Sandman, I haven’t liked his comic work as much as his prose. American Gods is brilliant book, in my opinion. Still, I’m always willing to give him the benefit of the doubt with each new project.

I have some old favorites that have a consistent “comic book” feel to their writing and have had some standout storylines:

Keith Giffen – I got hooked on his writing and art through the Legion of Super-Heroes. His sense of comic timing and obvious joy in what he does permeates his work. The Ambush Bug mini-series is still a standout and his work on Justice League with J.M. DeMatteis is pure fun.

Mark Waid – I respect his near encyclopedic knowledge of comics and specifically DC history. Kingdom Come was, of course, his magnum opus, but he also brings that love of the form and characters to all of his work.

Kurt Busiek – He has a good track record of stories, but it’s really his Astro City books that single him out for me. He was doing homage to existing Marvel and DC staples long before it became de rigueur.

And lastly, the relatively new kids on the block that are doing outstanding work:

Brian Micheal Bendis – Some people say he’s over-exposed and over-hyped, but I can’t get enough of his work. More than any other element of his style, it’s his naturalistic dialogue that makes the work so compelling.

Ed Brubaker – He has managed to take the staple characters that he has worked on so far and turn our expectations on their head. He has made me look at old, tired characters in a new way that makes them compelling and interesting reading. On top of that, his creator-owned works like Sleeper and Criminal are wonderful gritty, film noir crime dramas that are fun to read.

Mark Millar – He’s another guy who’s not afraid to mess with paradigms. If you haven’t read Wanted or The Ultimates Vol. 1 you should run right out and buy them.

Favorite Comic Book Artist(s)?

I like so many different styles of art that’s it’s really hard to pick. One thing I can’t stand is that generic “comic book” style, like Todd Grummet or Al Milgrom. Ugh.

With that in mind, here are some of my favorites:

Chris Sprouse - I love his clean, bright style and his work on Alan Moore’s Tom Strong books.

Stuart Immonen - I got hooked on his use of light and dark in the Legion 5 Years Later run. His new work on Warren Ellis’ Nextwave shows that he’s stretching as and artist and moving towards a less realistic, more animated style while blending design elements.

Mike Mignola – His style is so distinctive and cinematic. The fact that you can compare sets, characters and costumes from the Hellboy movie directly to the comic is a testament to his capacity for visual storytelling. Again, the heavy use of blacks and design elements attracts me.

Alex Ross – What can I say about Alex Ross that you wouldn’t just nod in agreement with? His paintings are lush and heroic. He gives these characters weight and reality in a way that I don’t think any comic book painter has before.

John Cassaday – The element that I like the most about his work is that every character actually looks like a different person. Too often I’ll read a book and the only way to tell the characters apart is the fact that they are wearing different uniforms. He does facial expressions well, which reminds me I should add:

Kevin Maguire - He’s probably the best facial expression artist in comics. As I said above, many times artists fail to properly distinguish between individual characters on the page, relying instead on costume or clothes to make the delineation. Not with Maguire. It’s also the clean clear style that appeals to me. Giffen/DeMatteis’ Justice League is some of his work standout work.

Frank Quitely - I love the way he draws these squat, brutish people but uses a really fine line quality similar to Art Adams. It’s like everyone in his books is descended from Charlie-27. The work he is currently doing on All-Star Superman with Grant Morrison is breathtaking.

Chris Bachalo - Some of the densest, most stylized artwork I’ve ever seen. There’s no one who has a look like his. Steampunk, his X-Men runs and The Witching Hour are some of his books that are worth tracking down.

J.H. Williams III - Stumbled upon his work when he was doing Chase at DC and became hooked. There’s something about his art that looks so film noir. His work on Alan Moore’s Promethea and currently on Warren Ellis’ Desolation Jones is great. I spoke to him for quite a while at the San Diego Comic Con and he was very forthcoming about his influences like Art Deco and other artistic movements. He always restless and tries to move in new directions with every project he does.

Favorite Comic Book Publisher(s)?

DC, for all the reasons I mentioned above. I think it’s just a much more fun universe to play in with fantastic cities like Star City, Opal City, Gotham, Metropolis, Keystone, etc. Whenever Marvel throws a completely fictional city or country into their universe it always feels awkward and forced.

Favorite Male Comic Book Character(s)?

I have to sheepishly admit that some of my favorite characters stem from a childhood fascination with heroes that I could in some way relate to. If they were blond, like Aquaman, or had the same name as me, like Cyclops/Scott Summers, they immediately became my favorite. Many fell away or grew to have more substance to recommend them to my mind, but still others remain in the top tier to this day solely because of that reasoning.

Jack Knight, The Starman – He’s a reluctant hero and collectibles geek who runs a junk store. He never wanted the job, but had to live up to the fact that there was no one else who could take it. He doesn’t react like a typical superhero would in stressful situations. He’s a normal guy with a cosmic rod who rises to the occasion. I think he has a lot in common with the James Bond from the early Ian Fleming books. The character has feet of clay and is not invulnerable and infallible. James Bond gets the crap kicked out of him a lot in those books. So does Jack.

The Question – I got hooked when Denny O’Neil was writing his series in the 80’s. He is more like a modern day pulp hero. When he wrote the series, O’Neil filed the book with lots of Zen philosophy. These two things alone are enough to make him one of my favorites. I don’t think he has been handled as well as he was then. Typically, DC has now killed him off.

Batman – It’s hard to say anything about the Dark Knight that hasn't been said or written too many times before. He’s the pinnacle of human achievement. He doesn’t rely on powers or gadgets. Granted he has all of his “wonderful toys,” but they are all just tools to help him in his mission, not the source of his abilities.

Green Arrow – Oliver Queen is right up there with Starman as my favorite character of all time. He’s a blond-haired bleeding heart liberal sporting a goatee with a bow and arrow and is not afraid of Batman. What’s not to love? This character is single-handedly responsible for me taking up archery in middle school. I’ll also lump in Speedy/Arsenal/Red Arrow with Ollie.

Hawkeye – Really, I just like him for all the same reasons as Green Arrow: he’s a blond loudmouth with a bow and arrow that is not afraid to stand up to Captain America. I have a thing for cocksure bowmen, what can I say? The last mini-series (2003) that he had, before Bendis killed him off, was a good crime thriller that portrayed him as less of a goofball and more of a serious player. It’s worth a read.

Aquaman – Arthur Curry is a difficult character to make interesting and as a result, hardly ever gets written correctly. Kurt Busiek was doing something interesting in his current run until he left the book. The best Aquaman story I have ever read is the Time and Tide miniseries from 1986. My irrational attachment to him is as simple as this: I’m blond and he was the first blond superhero I had ever seen. I’ve never gotten over it.

Iron Fist – Blond again. Are you sensing a theme? I have always like the martial arts characters, like Danny Rand and Shang Chi, etc. Also, the relationship between Danny Rand and Luke Cage was entertaining to read, like a super-powered Odd Couple. The new series Immortal Iron Fist by Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction is refreshing the character in an interesting way. It turns out he’s just one of many Iron Fists through the ages. It’s actually a mantle that is passed down from previous champions to those deemed worthy. It’s a pulp take on the character and a good read.

American Flagg – I’d never read anything quite like Howard Chaykin’s American Flagg when I was 13 years old. It was political and social critique all wrapped up in sex and violence. So much of that book and that character had me saying to friends, “Can you believe he did that?” Chaykin’s artwork was like nothing I’d seen before either. It’s still one of the most enjoyable runs to go back and read from when I was younger.

The Golden Age Atom – Well, he is only 5’1” tall. Me, I’m only 5’3”. Similar to Batman, he does not have any powers, just tenacity and dogged determination. In a lot of ways, he reminds me of myself and the way friends describe me. How can I not root for the pint-sized powerhouse?

Favorite Female Comic Book Character(s)?

Cameron Chase (Chase from DC) and Jessica Jones (Alias from Marvel) – Both are hard-as-nails private investigators with major character flaws. They have powers but no desire to use them. They drink, they smoke and they don’t put up with any crap. This “feet of clay” approach to their characters serves to make them more human and easier to relate to than your run of the mill top-heavy bombshell super heroine.

Manhunter – I’m referring to the newest person to wear the mantle from writer Marc Andreyko. Another flawed, realistic character, she’s a lawyer by day, struggling to quit smoking, divorced and a not-so-great mother, by her own admission. It’s really a good series and character. DC keeps trying to cancel it, but fan support is so intense that it keeps getting extensions.

Power Girl – There are two reasons why I like her. When she’s drawn correctly, she looks like a fitness instructor or even bodybuilder. Not the ripped, steroid kind, but more the kind that still looks like a woman only in shape with well-defined muscles. That’s the Kara that I like. To me, that’s the way any of these super-strong heroines, like Wonder Woman or Big Barda, should appear.

Catwoman – She’s the female Batman. She is an innately cool character due to the fact that she is just as intelligent and skilled as the Batman while at the same time being a Femme Fatale. The new Catwoman series is my favorite version of the character. Also, Catwoman: When in Rome by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale is worth a read.

Black Canary – She’s Marian to Green Arrow’s Robin Hood, but a Marian who can kick ass. I’ll admit it wasn’t until her characterization in the Birds of Prey series that she even registered on my radar as more than Ollie’s girlfriend. Although not a great fan of Gail Simone’s writing, she has done an excellent job of fleshing out the person that Dinah is and she has become an individual out of the shadow of her more well-known compatriots.

Promethea – She is such a cool Alan Moore concept: a character that is a living story. She can only appear when someone is actually channeling her artistically, through stories, poetry, picture, comics, etc. I also quite like the parallels with Captain Marvel and Moore’s early Miracle Man book in that the Promethea character manifests itself through a human avatar.

Favorite Comic Book Team(s)? [characters, not creators]

It’s all about the legacy, history and mythology of the team or universe for me. Naturally, nearly all of my favorite teams are from DC.

Legion of Super-Heroes – My first introduction to the LSH was Legion of Super-Heroes Annual #1, Monster in a Little Girl’s Mind! which was the beginning of the Great Darkness Saga storyline. I was hooked. There is something about the sprawling mass of characters and the possibilities of the universe that they inhabit that I find enthralling. Unfortunately, because of their many revamps over the past few years, DC has never truly recaptured my interest in the group. Rather than let the characters mature and grow, it seems that they gotten it into their heads that the LSH is first and foremost a teen book and is written as such. The most recent re-imagining of the team reminds me of Smallville in that respect.

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen – LOEG is the culmination of all my interests: one of my favorite writers; characters with literary, mythological and historical basis; and dense visual and narrative storytelling. I spent hours poring over printouts of Jess Nevins’ LOEG companion, comparing it panel by panel with the comics, before I bought the Absolute edition of the book. It’s too bad the movie was such a tragic rendition of a great idea.

Justice League (including the animated JLA and JLU) – I like the JLA and collect and read their adventures, but the animated versions quickly became my favorite rendition of the team. JLU especially excited me. There were so many cameos and walk-ons by obscure and unrecognized characters that it became a super-hero Where’s Waldo every episode. Tapping current comic book writers to adapt existing comic book storylines or create their own only served to help the series.

Teen Titans – Although I still enjoy the book, it’s really the New Teen Titans from the Perez/Wolfman era that I’m referring to here. To see the strength of that team just look to the introduction of characters like Raven, Starfire and Cyborg that remain key figures in the DCU today. Also, the characterization was some of the best I’ve seen. Too many times a book will fall into flat cardboard cut-outs of categories; the leader, the token girl, the strong guy, etc. With Wolfman’s writing the reader got a real sense of each of the team members as individuals.

Birds of Prey – I was late coming to this series. I have not been overly impressed by Gail Simone’s writing on other series (Her Teen Titans story Legacy with Rob Liefeld and her JLA: Classified, The Hypothetical Woman storyline were terrible and her run on The All-New Atom has been abysmal). In spite of that, I have warmed to this series. Writing this all women cast is where she really shines. That fact as well as including most of my favorite female heroines either as main cast or walk-on parts has made me a loyal reader.

Justice Society of America – I’m a big fan of the Golden Age heroes. All-Star Squadron and Young All-Stars were two of my favorite books. The JSA represents what is best about the DCU. It has legacy, history, and huge cast of characters and, in my opinion, is more of the flagship team of the DCU than the Justice League.

Favorite Story Arcs?

Starman (Entire Series) – It’s my favorite writer teamed with one of my favorite artists, Tony Harris, telling the story of my favorite character. If you read the entire series, you can see how it was conceived as a long-term story with a definite end. It charts Jack’s life from normal guy to reluctant hero to embracing his father’s legacy and, finally, passing on the mantle on to settle down in retirement with his fiancé. There are many twist and turns, some surprising, some not. I highly recommend it.

Astro City – If I had to pick one storyline out of the Astro City universe from Kurt Busiek, I guess I would go with the Local Heroes story arc. That series of stories has a Marvels feel to it. Each issue tells the story from the viewpoint of an “average Joe” looking in at and being affected by the gaudily dressed villains and vigilantes all around them. I’ve also been a big fan of Brent Anderson’s artwork since he did the 1986 series Strikeforce: Morituri.

Kingdom Come – This is Mark Waid’s magnum opus. It has everything in it. The series contains the generational aspect of DCU heroes, loss and rediscovery of the heroic ideal, alternate future/history (one of my favorite kinds of stories) and absolutely breath-taking artwork from Alex Ross. It really is a must-read for every comic fan.

Marvels – To start with, the artwork is also Alex Ross and he’s hitting homeruns here as well. I find the point of view very similar to Kingdom Come. In KC, Norman McKay represents average humanity as the observer/narrator whereas in Marvels, Phil Sheldon stands in that role. Retelling the Marvel Universe’s key moments through the lens of Sheldon was shifts the focus and restructures the reader’s understanding of the events. The design of the books themselves was inspired: Prestige format books with a wraparound acetate cover that had the series logo printed on it, allowing the Alex Ross artwork underneath to show through.

Promethea (Entire Series) – As with many of Alan Moore’s works, you can read and re-read this series and new layers of meaning. I’ll just quote liberally from Wikipedia here, as they say it much better than I could,”Promethea has been organized into five books. Books 1 and 2 mainly deal with Sophie Bangs becoming Promethea, while Books 3 and 4 show Promethea/Sophie working her way through all the Sephiroth of the Qabbalistic Tree of Life, passing beyond death and the Immateria before returning to earth for a confrontation with Stacia. In Book 5, Promethea brought on the Apocalypse, the end of the world - or the entire ABC universe, to be precise - not by destroying it physically, but by tenderly introducing its inhabitants to a new world of imagination, wonder, beauty, belief, and acceptance.” If that sounds interesting, it is. In addition, J.H. Williams tried many new and different designs and layouts for the pages to underscore the intent of the text. This is another highly recommended book.

Watchmen – Yet, another Alan Moore book. From the brutal beginning to the slightly dystopian ending, I thoroughly enjoyed this series. It’s a brutal look at the morality, or lack thereof, of the super-hero set. Unlike some fans, I like the fact the Moore wasn’t able to use the old Fawcett characters as he wanted but instead had to create analogues of each. It allows the story to stand on its own two feet without any connection to the DCU.

Planetary (Entire Series) – I thought this series from writer Warren Ellis and artist John Cassaday was intriguing when reading it bit by bit in individual issues. It was hard to see the over-arching concept because of the sporadic publishing schedule (only 27 issues from 1999 to today). However, when you sit down and read them from beginning to end, back to back, Ellis’ vision comes shining through. Many people have said that Studio 60 is Aaron Sorkin’s love letter to writing for TV. This series is a love letter to comic books and pop culture. Seriously, read it.

For traditional, in continuity story arcs, there are a few standouts:

X-Men: Dark Phoenix Saga – The first multiple part story I ever read in comics. I think it’s the apex of the Byrne/Claremont run on X-Men. Over the years the impact of the story has been diluted by the repeated alive/dead stories about Jean Grey, but at the time it was heart-wrenching.

X-Men: Days of Future Past – Following so closely on the feet of the Dark Phoenix saga, DOFP had a lot to live up to. For that time, the glimpse we get into the future was a tantalizing suggestion of what the Marvel Universe could become. Many of our favorite heroes are dead, Wolverine has grey in his hair, Scott and Jean have a daughter and she’s dating Reed and Susan’s son Franklin, Kitty is all grown up and Sentinels have taken over the U.S. Once again, it is a great story that has suffered from spin-offs, retelling and revamping over the years.

Legion of Super-Heroes: The Great Darkness Saga – Just like the Dark Phoenix saga, this was one of the first multiple issue cliffhangers that I read. Unlike emotional and personal story of Dark Phoenix, the Great Darkness Saga was set on a grander stage with higher stakes for those involved. The story spanned galaxies and used the entire 15 plus member roster of the Legion as well as their allies; the Legion of Substitute Heroes, the Wanderers, the Heroes of Lallor and just about every other character in the Legion universe. As a neophyte Legion-fan I was floored by the expanse of the Legion universe shown in this arc. It is worth reading just for the moment when Darkseid moves Daxam from its orbit around a red sun to orbit a yellow sun and thus creates an entire planet of Supermen.

DC: The New Frontier – Written and penciled by Darwyn Cooke, this Eisner award-winning mini-series took the entire DC universe and set it in the 1950’s against the backdrop of the Korean War and the growing Cold War. Cooke was scrupulous about introducing each of the characters in the same order and time of their first publication. It covered the breadth of the DCU from war comics to science fiction and the rise of the Silver Age mask and cape set. The artwork itself is refreshing in its obvious throwback to early forties and fifties comic strip style.

JSA: The Liberty File – I’m a sucker for What If, Elseworlds and alternate history storylines. There is something about seeing our heroes in a setting completely different from their average continuity that makes them new and interesting. In the Liberty File, writers Dan Jolley and Tony Harris take JSA masked men and put them right in the thick of World War II as agents of the O.S.S. Their costumes are more reflective of the time and the spy codenames are just plain cool. Instead of Hourman, Batman and Doctor Mid-Nite, we get the Clock, the Bat and the Owl. They face off against Axis villains like Jack the Grin, in lieu of the Joker. The series has the feel of a Casablanca or Night Train to Munich. Tony Harris’ artwork is equal to the task of capturing settings from Gotham City to North Africa to Vichy Paris.

The Golden Age – This JSA Elseworlds story is the one that started my fascination for heroes of the 30s and 40s. If it wasn’t for my love of James Robinson’s writing, I would never have picked this book up. I fell in love with the Golden Age characters. Reading Golden Age was like someone opening up a door to all of these wonderful, unused characters from Charlton, Quality and Fawcett comics that DC had in their stable. Set in post-World War II United States, the story follows the masked men dealing with their uselessness after the war. It is similar in form to the sense of a loss of mission that a soldier returning home might experience. Of course there is a sinister plot at work that culminates in a grand operatic battle on the doorstep of the White House. It’s one of the books that I go back and reread at least once a year.

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1 – Although I love nearly everything that Alan Moore has done, LOEG is by far my favorite or his works. Every panel is so densely packed with literary and historical minutiae. I mentioned earlier going panel by panel with Jess Nevins’ Annotation of the League. That’s how much I love the series. It so fascinated me the way Moore could put the works of Jules Verne, H.G. Wells and Edgar Allan Poe on the page together and make them seem seamless. Also, he even went so far as to make sure that all of the characters’ relative ages were correct in regards to their original publication dates or stated ages from the source material. This is the reason that Inspector Dupin is so aged in book one when Allan and Mina travel to Paris in search of Dr. Jekyll. Outside research on this series introduced me to the works of Philip José Farmer and the Wold Newton family, Steampunk and a whole universe of pulp characters. When the series was coming out, I was watching a show on Sci-Fi Channel entitled The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne which had the same intentions, if not the same attention to detail as Moore. Although still a good read, I did not find Volume 2 as interesting as Volume 1. This is mostly due to the fact that it was more a retelling of H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds than an original tale.

Here are a couple of others story arcs that deserve honorary mention:

Alias (Entire Series) - Not related to the TV series. It’s a mature-themed look at the Marvel Universe from the perspective of a female private investigator with connections to the superhero subculture. She’s messed up in the head, a drunk and promiscuous but by the end of the book, she gets her act together. Good Brian Bendis writing.

Dark Knight Returns – A seminal work in the history of comics and the oeuvre of Frank Miller. Though I still like the story, it didn’t stand up to a re-reading recently. Sadly, DK2 was not nearly the follow-up it should have been.

The Sandman – I truly believe that there would be no Vertigo imprint if not for this series. Though you can find the trades in most comic stores, I would recommend picking up the new series of Absolute collections that DC is putting out. They have re-colored the artwork and included quite a bit of additional information.

Rising Stars - Only the first book is worth it, in my opinion. I find most of the comic work of J.M. Stracyznski starts with a great concept, but the idea runs out long before he stops writing issues. The series should have ended after we find out the identity of the killer. Where it went was dull and tedious to get through as a reader.

That’s it. More fun to write than for you to read, I’m sure.

Labor Day fun

2007-09-04T16:07:00.000-07:00

This is what my brother did for fun on Labor Day. That is him on the bike in red:

http://www.group22.com/Employees/stephen/motoVid/

If Brett Ratner got a hold of the JLA movie

2007-08-31T15:28:00.000-07:00

I can see his vision:

"These guys are boring. We need more pathos! I've done a little research and here's what I've got: Forget Bruce Wayne/Christian Bale. Too dark and moody. Bale wants too much on the backend. Besides, he's Nolan's bitch. Let's use this Azrael guy when he wore the batsuit. That psychopath angle is great for building tension.

"And Wonder Woman? After Joss cocked it up trying to pick somebody to fill Linda Carter's boots, I say we throw all that out the window and go with this Artemis chick instead. She wore the outfit for a while, right? Besides, she hates men so we get more CONFLICT!

"Throw the Aquaguy out, nobody cares about that dude. Green Lantern should be that Kyle Rayner guy. (Rainee? Ranier? Sounds French. You know I just finished a film set in Paris, right?). He's supposed to be some kind of artist guy so we can play him all sensitive and get the little girls to slide off their chairs.

"Finally, and this is brilliant of me, I have to say, forget Clark Kent and Barry whatsisface Flash. Regular old Superman skews too 'Norman Rockwell.' And nobody cares about a cop scientists; CSI has done that crap to death. I'm thinking we go with Kon-el, Superboy, and the Bart Allen Flash!

"We can get that teen buddy action going like I had in X-Men 3 between Iceman and Pyro! Then set up Batman and Wonder Woman as their parental units and Greenie as a big brother that they always play practical jokes on. It's like a twisted nuclear family! This is going to be box-office Boffo!"

~ groan ~

When a survey raises more questions than answers

2007-08-30T02:48:00.000-07:00

An acquaintance of mine posted a survey to MySpace recently. Normally I pass over most surveys as they are trivial and mostly nonsense (to be perfectly honest, it depends on my mood), but her introduction caught my imagination:

“I would like to explain that I developed this survey because I am tired of the typical Surveys that ask questions like ‘Have you ever gotten drunk before?’ or ‘When is the last time you kissed someone?’ I have failed to see a MySpace survey that is in the slightest bit adult. The ones that are not totally childish seem to be geared towards people tooting their own horns or trying to sound witty.

“I want to know how many of my friends are in the same boat as me. I did not make this survey easy. In fact, you will probably be offended by most of the questions. I am curious about how people are living. In the Real sense.

“Please repost this. If you are so shy that you could not possibly be real to your ‘MySpace’ friends then and only then send to me only. I look forward to your answers:)”

I glanced over the questions and thought it would be interesting to fill out taking the time to really think about what she was asking. As I was going through it, an interesting thought came to me. Being that she was the person who formulated the content of the survey in the first place, one could assume from the questions that this is a very bitter, unhappy woman. It seeps through in the words and phrases that she chooses, e.g. “Do you feel that you are just Surviving every day” and “What makes you want to wake up in the morning and Not want to kill people.”

Either that, or she wrote this survey with intent. That is to say, many of the questions are rather pointed about the behavior of others and, to me, carry the air of someone who already assumes something about the respondent and wants to be proven right.

Her open reply to everyone who took the survey fairly confirms the second assertion for me: “I just want to say ‘Thanks’ to everyone that filled this out. I felt like I cleaned house a little bit with this moody survey.”

She did, in fact, fill out her own survey and I have to admit that many of her responses don’t sound genuine to me. Then again I haven’t been around her much in the past two years so how am I to know for sure. I find it difficult to believe that someone who says that they are, “too hippy-like and happy to be miserable” replies to the question, “Is getting drunk the only way that you have fun at clubs?” with “Well, considering I have been on a steady diet of Tequila and Cigarettes... Pretty much.” There’s a cognitive dissonance going on there that I’m not sure she’s aware of.

Here is the survey and my answers:

1. Are you Miserable?
Not in the least. Are there things I might like to change about my life? Sure. But that’s human nature. For myself, I live comfortably, if close to the bone, but generally I am content.

2. Do you feel that you are just Surviving every day?
Not at all. If you aren’t working towards something, whether it be as simple as redecorating your home to writing your ‘War and Peace’, then you are just stagnant. I have my personal projects and aspirations that I work towards bit by bit, day by day.

3. Does anything make you happy?
Many little things every day make me happy. I enjoy spending evenings and afternoons writing, when I can. Discourse with friends that I have made all over the world from Tasmania to the U.K. I’m happy getting out and walking everyday to and from work and for errands. It allows me to see people on the street and say hi instead of breezily passing them entombed in a car.

4. Are you o.k. to be alone?
I get uncomfortable and annoyed if I don’t get enough time alone in a day. I enjoy the company of others but I value time alone to collect my thoughts or take in a book or write.

5. Name three things you hate about yourself?
I am easily distracted. I would really love to lose that last ten pounds I have in mind (I’ve already managed to drop 20). It would be nice to give up smoking as well.

6. Name three things that you like about yourself?
I am very good at working out solutions to problems. I am very loyal to those that I care about. I am an autodidact.

7. Do you complain.... all the time?
Not anymore. I used to all the time. I’ve realized that most of those things that I complained about fell into one of two categories: Things that did not affect me/weren’t my responsibility or things that I could actually change if I just shut up and did something about it. When something like that comes up I ask myself “Does this affect me? Is this worth getting upset about?” Most of the time it’s not worth getting upset about and a waste of time for both me and whomever I’m whining to.

8. Is getting drunk the only way that you have fun at clubs?
I don’t find clubs to be fun anymore. It got to the point that I did have to be drunk to have fun there. Although I have some fond memories and I know that there are things that I miss, I find the club scene saddening.

9. How many close friends do you have? And who are they?
This is a loaded question. I wouldn’t quantify or make a qualitative judgment on my friends. My brother is certainly the closest friend that I have, mostly because of our familial relationship. Beyond that, there are friends that I have known for 32 years all the way to something like 10 years or less. I’m still in contact with all of them and they are very dear to me. There are others that I’ve only known a year or more that value their opinions and friendship. So, I’ll sidestep making a list and leave it to them to know of whom I’m speaking.

10. Do you trust anyone?
Yes. There is a small group of people that I would trust with my life. They’ve always been there for me. Surprisingly, some of them are outside of the group of “close friends” I referred to above.

11. Is there something that you have said in the last week that you regret?
No, not really. While everyone is prone to the occasional faux pas, I try to choose my words, inflection and tone carefully. Better to be silent and thought a wise man than speak and prove yourself a fool.

12. Have you cried this week? If yes, Why?
Yes while watching a documentary on alcoholism and intervention. It made me think of my late mother.

13. Does anything bring you joy?
Didn’t we already cover this with “Does anything make you happy?” I’ll assume that something “making me happy” means something that I enjoy doing. I’ll define something “bringing me joy” as anything that I find uplifting for my soul. It’s the smallest things that force me to smile. Just last Sunday I was at the Laundromat and there was a father with his wheelchair-bound teenage daughter and he was making her giggle and hide her face in her book because he was tickling her. My niece’s giggle. Giving directions to someone on the street who is lost. The authenticity and humanity of these moments fill me with joy.

14. Do you use sex as a tool?
You far overrate my attractiveness if you think I even have the opportunity to use sex as anything, much less a tool. I have always viewed sex as fun. Whether it’s in a romantic relationship or just between friends, sex should be relaxing and sensual. The only goal should be enjoying each other with no ulterior motives.

15. Does it make you happy when others are in pain?
Quite the opposite in fact. I try to take on or take away others’ pain if I can. I can help in any way I try to although I find that I’m somewhat ham-handed at knowing what to do I many cases.

16. Have you ever consciously hurt another human being? Why?
Not that I can remember. I don’t even recall ever having thrown a punch in my lifetime. (Fights with my brother don’t count). ☺

17. Do you find yourself repeating relationships? i.e. Dating or befriending the same kinds of people over and over.
The women that I have been attracted to and dated have all been pretty distinctive from each other. I have made the same mistakes in past relationships, but as I haven’t been serious with anyone in over 10 years I’d like to think that I’m over those immature foibles. As for friends, I can see some common threads. The same traits can actually bind us closer together or, in many cases, ended up driving us apart.

18. What sort of self-destructive behavior do you have?
I have a strong tendency to always being the contrarian. I like to do the opposite of what I’m told or expected to do. Putting myself in the position of being the Black Sheep in my family did nothing but mess up my life for the longest time and leave me with a smoking addiction, two D.U.I.s and a jail record.

19. What are your short-term goals?
Uh, finish this quiz? Okay, seriously. I want to finish two stories that I’m working on. I’d like to lose those extra 10 lbs. I mentioned before. I’d also like to read ‘Screenplay’ by Syd Field (at Mikey’s insistence) and get back to drawing and maybe painting.

20. What are your long-term goals?
Publish my graphic novel. Write a prose novel and have it published. To own a home, invest in a Roth IRA and settle down in a long-term relationship (not necessarily marriage).

21. What makes you want to wake up in the morning and Not want to kill people?
I don’t generally want to kill people. If they are vile or just plain stupid, I just feel sorry for them. I try to treat every morning as if something unexpected, strange and new might happen. Sometimes it actually does.

22. Name something that made you smile today?
Joking around with Mikey.

23. Are you constantly running away from your problems?
No. I like to face my problems, put them in a headlock, wrestle them to the ground and then rub their face in the dirt.

24. When was the last time you did something selfless?
I open doors for people, pick up things they drop or help them out every day. I guess the last big selfless thing I did was to ship some comic books to a friend in Tasmania that I’ve never actually met in person for his birthday.

25. When was the last time that you told the person closest to you that you love them?
Saturday two weeks ago. And then I poked his nose and said “Boop.” You had to be there.

26. Do you feel in touch with your emotions?
I’m so much in touch with my emotions they’ve filed a complaint with ACS.

27. Are you socially inept?
I think I’m pretty deft socially, when I’m not drinking that is. I can get along with just about anyone. If I don’t get along with someone it’s because I just don’t like that person and don’t consider it worth my time or effort. Of course, I may just be daft socially and completely oblivious to it. Other people can answer this about me better than I can myself.

28. Do you hurt the ones you love the most?
Only through carelessness and ignorance if I do. Never on purpose. What would be the point of that?

29. Do you find yourself making excuses for your poor behavior all the time?
No. I’ve got a lot of poor behavior in my past that I could certainly try to excuse away, but since I was 15 years old and first read ‘The Stranger’ by Albert Camus I’ve always believed that you have to take responsibility for your own actions, good or bad. To my memory, I’ve never excused away poor behavior, just apologized for it.

30. If one thing could make you happy what would it be?
To be in love.

31. If you were stranded on an island and you could pick one person to be there with you... Who would it be?
My best friend Patrick. We can have a great time hanging out talking or just sitting in the same room quietly doing our own thing without interacting.

32. Do you feel rejected? If yes, by whom?
Oh geez, how long can I make this list? How about the girl who turned me down by saying, “You’re nice guy. I don’t date nice guys.” Or “I don’t think of you that way,” Or “I’m a lesbian, but if I were straight…” Or the girl I went out with a couple of times and then introduced me to her new boyfriend at a club the next week. Or the one who was talking with me at the bar and then leaned across me to hit on the stranger on the stool behind me. Or the one I took out on a second date to a club and spent the entire night making out with some guy she just met and then begged a ride home from me. I could go on.

33. Are you so consumed by your own issues/depression that you don't see the people around you?
I am acutely aware of the people around me. I try to evaluate what I say and to whom and gauge other’s moods and emotions. In general, I try to practice pro-social behavior whenever possible.

34. Do you feel the world owes you?
I get out of life what I put in to it. If I don’t put in the hard work, then there’s no reward to reap. It’s the Puritan work ethic and Catholic guilt at work there. People who feel entitled have an over-inflated sense of self-worth.

35. Do you depend on others for monetary or emotional support?
I lean on my friends and family at times and I have a therapist that I see once a week. I guess you could say that’s my emotional support, but I think everyone needs that. No one can or should exist in an emotional vacuum. Financially, I pay my own way. I hate to beg, borrow or steal. I’d rather go without than ask for any fiduciary help.

36. How would you change your life, if you could?
I would spend less time at work and have a studio area that I can use for writing and artwork.

37. Is winning the lotto the only way for you to get rich quick?
Or an inheritance.

38. Can you envision yourself as an elderly person? If so, how would your life be?
Yes, I don’t think it’s much of a stretch. Judging by my dad, I’ll still be active and youthful-looking at 70. Of course, judging from my grandfathers, I could just as easily die in my forties from a heart attack or cancer. It’s a crapshoot.

39. Do you find yourself constantly blaming others for your faults?
My faults are mine to own and work on fixing. You have to take responsibility for yourself before you can do that. If you blame others for your fault, you cede power over to them for your life and that idea is anathema to me.

40. Do you have challenges with yourself that you fail to do anything about?
Not sure what you mean by this.

41. Can you imagine your spawn?
Like the guy with the big red cape, hood and all those chains? He’d be a short one, probably blond. That’d also describe my kid, too, if I ever had one, but I don’t really plan on that ever happening.

42. Who is the last person that broke your heart?
The latest, though not greatest, heartbreak would be the woman who I went out with a couple of times and then introduced me to her new boyfriend at a club the next week. I really thought there might have been something good there.

So, there you go. Feel free to steal this one and answer it yourself, if you're so inclined.

8 Ways To Drive A Graphic Designer Mad.

2007-08-25T23:35:00.000-07:00

Gakked from http://groy82.blogspot.com/2007/03/8-ways-to-drive-graphic-designer-mad.html

8 Ways To Drive A Graphic Designer Mad.

As everyone knows, graphic designers are the reason there are so many wars in this world. They get inside our heads with their subliminal advertising, force us against our will to spend money on the worst pieces of shit, and eventually, drive us to depression and random acts of violence. And of course, most of them are communists.

So to do my part to save the world from them, I made a list of things you can do when working with a graphic designer, to assure that they have a burnout and leave this business FOREVER.

1-Microsoft Office
When you have to send a graphic designer a document, make sure it's made with a program from Microsoft Office. PC version if possible. If you have to send pictures, you'll have more success in driving them mad if, instead of just sending a jpeg or a raw camera file, you embed the pictures inside a Microsoft Office document like Word or Powerpoint. Don't forget to lower the resolution to 72 dpi so that they'll have to contact you again for a higher quality version. When you send them the "higher" version, make sure the size is at least 50% smaller. And if you're using email to send the pictures, forget the attachment once in a while.

2-Fonts
If the graphic designer chooses Helvetica for a font, ask for Arial. If he chooses Arial, ask for Comic Sans. If he chooses Comic Sans, he's already half-insane, so your job's half done.

3-More is better
Let's say you want a newsletter designed. Graphic designers will always try to leave white space everywhere. Large margins, the leading and kerning of text, etc. They will tell you that they do this because it's easier to read, and leads to a more clean, professional look. But do not believe those lies. The reason they do this is to make the document bigger, with more pages, so that it costs you more at the print shop. Why do they do it? Because graphic designers hate you. They also eat babies. Uncooked, raw baby meat.

So make sure you ask them to put smaller margins and really, really small text. Many different fonts are also suggested (bonus if you ask for Comic Sans, Arial or Sand). Ask for clipart. Ask for many pictures (if you don't know how to send them, refer to #1). They will try to argument, and defend their choices but don't worry, in the end the client is always right and they will bow to your many requests.

4-Logos
If you have to send a graphic designer a logo for a particular project, let's say of a sponsor or partner, be sure to have it really really small and in a low-res gif or jpeg format. Again, bonus points if you insert it in a Word document before sending it. Now you might think that would be enough but if you really want to be successful in lowering the mental stability of a graphic designer, do your best to send a version of the logo over a hard to cut-out background. Black or white backgrounds should be avoided, as they are easy to cutout with the darken or lighten layer style in Photoshop. Once the graphic designer is done working on that bitmap logo, tell him you need it to be bigger.

If you need a custom made logo, make your own sketches on a napkin. Or better yet, make your 9-year-old kid draw it. Your sketch shouldn't take more than 5 minutes to make. You don't want to make something that's detailed and easy to understand, because the less the designer understands what you want, the more you can make him change things afterwards. Never accept the first logo. Never accept the 9th, make him do many changes, colors, fonts & clip art. Ask him to add a picture in the logo. Bevels. Gradients. Comic Sans. And when he's at his 10th attempt, tell him that you like the 2nd one the most. I know, it's mean but remember: graphic designers are the cause of breast cancer among middle-aged women.

5-Choosing your words
When describing what you want in a design, make sure to use terms that don't really mean anything. Terms like "jazz it up a bit" or "can you make it more webbish?". "I would like the design to be beautiful" or "I prefer nice graphics, graphics that, you know, when you look at them you go: Those are nice graphics." are other options. Don't feel bad about it; you've got the right. In fact, it's your duty because we all know that on full moons, graphic designers shape shift into werewolves.

6-Colors
The best way for you to pick colors (because you don't want to let the graphic designer choose) is to write random colors on pieces of paper, put them in a hat and choose. The graphic designer will suggest to stay with 2-3 main colors at the most, but no. Choose as many as you like, and make sure to do the hat thing in front of him. While doing it, sing a very annoying song.

7-Deadlines
When it's your turn to approve the design, take your time. There is no rush. Take two days. Take six. Just as long as when the deadline of the project approaches, you get back to the designer with more corrections and changes that he has time to make. After all, graphic designers are responsible for the 911 attacks.

8-Finish him
After you've applied this list on your victim, it is part of human nature (although some would argue weather they're human or not) to get a bit insecure. As he realizes that he just can't satisfy your needs, the graphic designer will most likely abandon all hopes of winning an argument and will just do whatever you tell him to do, without question. You want that in purple? Purple it is. Six different fonts? Sure!

You would think that at this point you have won, but don't forget the goal of this: he has to quit this business. So be ready for the final blow: When making final decisions on colors, shapes, fonts, etc, tell him that you are disappointed by his lack of initiative. Tell him that after all, he is the designer and that he should be the one to put his expertise and talent at work, not you. That you were expecting more output and advice about design from him.

Tell him you've had enough with his lack of creativity and that you would rather do your own layouts on Publisher instead of paying for his services. And there you go. You should have graphic designer all tucked into a straight jacket in no time!

Sitting as a child in the cathode light

2007-08-22T14:52:00.000-07:00

I want one!

2007-08-21T18:07:00.000-07:00

MyCuppa
Mugs to help you mix your favourite brew to just-how-you-like-it by matching the colour guide on the inside. Available in Tea or Coffee styles.
design by SUCK UK

A real post coming soon. I promise,

5 Questions. 5 Answers.

2007-08-08T02:07:00.000-07:00

A little more than a week ago, my mate Al tasked me with answering his “5 Questions.” As he put it:

"The rules dictate that I tag a few more so... eeny meeny.. I pick Blanco, Scott and Squeezy and set five random questions for you to answer. Pookie, you didn't think I'd forget you huh? Jump on board poppet ;)"

As is typical for me, I could not let it stand with a couple of dashed off answers, instead spending too much time in reminiscences and contemplation for thoughtful and deep answers. Well, at least I think I did. I’m happy with them. Without further ado, here they are.

1. What’s your signature dish when cooking?

Actually, I’m a pretty crap cook, but I am a mean baker. For most family occasions, I am the appointed pie-maker. Though I am known best for my pumpkin pie [the secret is Allspice], it’s not my favorite pie to make.

Glazed Strawberry-Raspberry Pie

Crust:
3 cups all-purpose flour, preferably unbleached
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
1/2 cup or more ice water (or not, I’ll explain later)

With knives or fingertips, cut batter into dry ingredients as quickly as possible until mix resembles coarse bread crumbs.
NOTE: I prefer to make a spicier crust. To achieve this, add about 1/2 a teaspoon or more of freshly grated nutmeg or ground cinnamon, cloves, or ginger to the mixture.
Sprinkle 1/2 cup of ice water over mixture and combine with fork or fingers just until dough holds together.
If dough seems too crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time.
NOTE: I deviate here. I was advised once by my father’s girlfriend’s mother, a blessedly wonderful baker, that more water leads to harder crusts whereas less water makes the crust lighter and fluffier.
Turn half of the mixture onto a sheet of waxed paper, gather into a ball, and press into a flat disk about 5” in diameter.
Bring the paper around to enclose the dough and refrigerate for about 15 minutes to relax the dough
Remove from the refrigerator and place in the middle of waxed paper about 12” square.
Cover with a second waxed paper sheet.
Allow to soften for about 5 minutes.
Roll dough from center towards the edges, reducing pressure as you near the edges, to form a circle about 1/8” thick (Use an empty pie pan as a guide; the dough should be 1-2” larger than the top of the pan).
Discard the top layer of waxed paper. Invert dough into pan and peel away waxed paper.
Beginning at the center of pan, work toward edges and up sides, pressing dough lightly into pan with fingertips.
Cut the edge of pastry so that it hangs about 1” past the outer edge of pan.
Roll overlap back over itself so that it is even with the edge of pan.
Chill in refrigerator or freezer for about 30 minutes before baking or filling.

PRE-BAKING

Brush the inside of the chilled, uncooked crust with lightly beaten egg white to seal the pastry against softening from the filling.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
Cut a sheet of baking parchment or foil 2” larger than the diameter of the pie.
Press the sheet into the pastry shell and fill with pie weights, dry beans or rice (I prefer rice because its provides a flat, even filling).
Bake until the rim feels set to the touch, about 7-10 minutes.
Remove and carefully lift sheet and filling from crust.
Prick bottom and sides of crust in several places with a fork.
Return to oven and check crust several times during baking, pricking with fork if crust puffs up.
Cook until crust is golden brown, about 15 minutes longer.
Position strips of foil around the edge of crusts, if it begins to get too brown.

Filling: 3 cups strawberries
2 cups raspberries
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch

Place 2 1/2 cups of berries in a large heavy pan and mash with the back of a wooden spoon
Sprinkle with the lemon juice and stir in the cornstarch and sugar.
Place over medium-low heat and cook, stirring constantly until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens (about 8 minutes, give or take).
Remove from heat and cool to lukewarm.
Slice remaining strawberries and fold them and the remaining raspberries into the cooled berry mixture.
Spoon into the cooled pie shell.
Serve at room temperature.
NOTE: It is best when served with unsweetened hand-whipped whipping cream.

Makes on 9 inch pie.

2. If you had a time machine, but only the ability to jump forward or back 5 times, where would you go in time and why?

01. 1960 Las Vegas, NV during the heyday of the Rat Pack and the filming of the original Ocean’s Eleven. I have a love affair with the Rat Pack and this period of American history. It was a heady mix of entertainment, politics, organized crime and Cold War intrigue. Growing up, I watched nearly all of the Rat Pack movies; Robin and the Seven Hoods, Ocean’s Eleven, 4 for Texas as well as many of their solo efforts.

At that time in Las Vegas, you could go to any of their individual shows and most likely the rest of the crew would show up. The marquees of the hotels at which they were performing as individuals might read “DEAN MARTIN - MAYBE FRANK - MAYBE SAMMY.” They ran the Strip and were instrumental in making Vegas the destination that it is today. Besides, I’ve always thought I’d look sharp in a cerulean blue shark-skin suit with a thin black tie.

02. 1927 Berlin, Germany; Paris France and New York, NY, USA. The world was in a flux of creative energy and economic wealth. In Berlin, the Weimar Republic led to a flourishing of art, music and film. Fritz Lang produced Metropolis in 1927. Two years later, Alfred Doblin published Berlin Alexanderplatz. The Bauhaus movement was in full swing and such luminaries as Carl Jung and painter George Grosz dominated the cultural scene.

Meanwhile, Paris was seeing the rise of the Lost Generation. Writers such as Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, John Dos Passos, and T. S. Eliot were inhabiting the Left Bank and producing their seminal works of fiction.

Which leads me to New York and the famous, perhaps infamous Algonquin Round Table. Can you imagine being able to sit at a table in conversation with Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley and Harpo Marx?

03. Roughly from 461 to 429 BC, the “Age of Pericles.” This period in Ancient Greece lasted roughly from the end of the Persian Wars in 448 BCE to either the death of Pericles 429 BCE or the end of the Peloponnesian War in 404 BCE. Pericles fostered arts and literature and gave to Athens a splendor which would never return throughout its history. He executed a large number of public works projects and improved the life of the citizens creating the Athenian Golden Age.

To see a society crawl out of the depths of war and rebuild itself into a shining achievement of civilization that would cast a shadow down to our modern day would be a sight to behold. Also, to meet an historical figure of such stature and legend as Pericles would be life-changing.

04. June, 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. Lou Rawls, The Animals, Simon and Garfunkel, Steve Miller Band, Moby Grape, Hugh Masekela, The Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, Ravi Shankar, Buffalo Springfield, The Who, The Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, The Mamas & The Papas; need I say more? I spent most of my twenties around new and old hippies and I’ve often regretted not having been born early enough to experience the Summer of Love.

05. 1721. To have sailed the Pirate Round at least once in my lifetime would be an enchanting idea. Specifically, in 1721, John Taylor and Oliver La Buse reaped the greatest prize in the history of the Pirate Round with the plunder of the Portuguese East Indiaman Nossa Senhora Do Cabo at Réunion, netting diamonds and other treasures worth a total of about £800,000. I’m sure the celebration that evening was out of control.

3. What’s the most attractive feature, physical or otherwise in a person?

Well, though the question says “person”, I am going to take that to mean someone you are attracted to which, being straight would mean a woman. I’ll admit to my head being turned by an impressive chest or shapely bum, but I think those are just deeply ingrained responses that are innate to our species.

The things that I find enduringly attractive though are features that make a person unique. I’m a bit weird in my preferences, from what I’ve been able to glean from other people. For one thing, I’m absolutely entranced by women with short hair. The shorter, the better. Bald women especially are insanely attractive to me.

Also, I love it when a woman has that distinctive aquiline bump in the bridge of their nose. There is something so antithetical in it to the generic pug nose that the media glorifies. The Roman nose actually serves to make a woman stand out from the crowd rather than blending in to a blurred canvas of blond-haired, blue-eyed monotony.

Lastly, I have a fascination for a woman’s thigh. I suppose it might border on fetishistic. I like a well-developed, muscular thigh; the kind that you might find on a female athlete. Perhaps it’s because I’ve dated collegiate swimmers, softball and soccer (football) players that I’ve been impressed with this preference. Perhaps it is that, in addition to being attractive, this feature evokes a sense of strength and solidity of character.

4. When at high school, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a writer. Growing up, I was always was always told that my brother was going to grow up to be the artist in the family and I was going to be the writer. It’s a myth that continues to this day. I’ve always had a facility with words and a natural affinity to books and reading so I suppose it was an easy supposition to make. Throughout high school I wrote for, edited and published an underground newspaper with a friend. Because we did all the work ourselves on a Mac, I developed skills with layout and design as well as writing. As it is, I ended up falling into a career in Graphic Design working with my brother. Now, though, I am back to pursuing writing.

This year I joined a group of comic book creators, I am a member of the Comicbook Artists Guild and have been working on several story pitches for comics and graphic novels as well as pursuing more personal writings like this blog. I guess it might still happen. Only time will tell.

5. Where in the world are your 5 all time favourite places and what makes them so special?

01. Lucerne, Switzerland. In 1988 I went on a senior school trip through Europe and one of the stops was in Lucerne. I almost immediately fell in love with the city, the scenery and the pace of life. One of the days that we were there a group of us rented a couple of paddle boats to peddle out to the middle of Lake Lucerne. Before setting off from the dock, we bought some cheese, a round of bread and a bottle of red wine. When we were far enough from shore, we threw our legs over the sides of our two boats, linking them together, and had a picnic lunch as we drifted lazily in circles. It’s a moment of tranquility that stays with me even now some 20 years later.
Part of it may also be due to the looming presence of Mt.Pilatus. I had heard that Mt. Pilatus was supposedly the home of the nine Muses of Greek myth. Though I later found that Mt. Helicon in Greece holds that title, the romantic notion of those legendary women peering down from on high still persists in my imagination.

02. Santiago and Pucon, Chile. In 2000 I spent a month traveling through Chile on a summer ski/snowboarding trip. Since I speak Spanish, getting around and communicating was not a problem. I found that by my second week in Chile I stopped speaking English almost entirely. The trip itself was a guided 10 day affair, but I had befriended our guides. After the last day asked if I could stow some of my gear at their apartment in Santiago and continue exploring the country. I crashed on their floor and passed a few days exploring the city.

Then I hopped a 14 hour bus southbound to Pucon. Pucon is a sleepy little resort town that is dominated by an active volcano close by. The volcano actually has a ski resort on its slopes. There’s nothing quite like slaloming downhill while the crater above you is puffing out steam. For this leg of the trip I was accompanied by Brenda, the girlfriend of our guide Aaron. He had to take the next tour group out, so she was alone in Santiago. Brenda and I got along famously and, if she hadn’t been with Aaron and I didn’t like him so much, I could have easily fallen head over heels for her. One of my fondest memories is of the two of us eating lunch and having a beer at a sidewalk café and practicing our Spanish with each other.

03. Vancouver, BC, Canada. In 1994, I decided on a whim to take a road trip from Los Angeles to Vancouver for a week. This trip was seminal in my life. So many good times, so many great stories came out of this trip. I can’t even begin to recount them. Suffice to say that, though I am a skeptic with most things mystical and spiritual, too many a lucky happenstance and improbable thing happened to completely ignore. In addition to being absolutely gorgeous, there is a mood and a feeling to the city that invites you to settle down. All those things combined lead me to believe that there is something inexpressively important about Vancouver for me.

04. Paris, France. Ah, the City of Lights. I’ve visited Paris four times in my lifetime and each time has been special for me. The last trip was the Fall of 2003. I feel completely at home there, despite not being able to speak the language. I never experienced the fabled rudeness and dismissive attitude for which the French accused. Quite the opposite in fact. Several times I was mistaken for a native and had to embarrassingly stumble through my memorized phrase, “Je ne parle pas francais.” There is a sensuous quality to the city that speaks to my artistic side.

05. Las Vegas, NV. I love Las Vegas. I don’t think I could ever live there, but it is a great getaway. Unlike most, I revel in the utter plasticity and artificiality of the town. Vegas is whatever you want it to be. It’s always in a state of flux. My friends say that there is a definite “Vegas Scott” that comes out whenever I touch ground at the airport. I stand a little taller, lift my chin a little higher and square my shoulders more. I always dress my best when I’m there. In Las Vegas, everyone is a celebrity. If you carry yourself well and treat the locals decently, you can get and get away with almost anything. It’s delightfully dirty to wallow in sin for a weekend and not have to worry. Get a massage. Drink top shelf liquor. Visit a strip club. Eat in a fine restaurant. I like a little spoiling once in a while. I NEED a little spoiling once in a while. Plus the fact that it runs 24 hours a day is a bonus for a night owl like me.

HONOURABLE MENTION: Tehachapi, CA. I could not make a list like this and not include my best mate Patrick’s cabin. He and his wife own this little cabin in the mountains 2 hours outside of Los Angeles at a bout 12,000 feet. I often take weekends off to trek out there with them and just relax. For all intents and purposes, they have no phone, no Cable of Satellite television and very few distractions. We stay up late, sleep in and lounge around. Most of the time we’ll make some cocktails and play cards or backgammon on the deck. In the evenings we cook dinner and will watch a movie or two on DVD. We walk their dogs through the neighborhood and have a cigar or two. Every Winter I head up there with the two of them and his mother-in-law (a fantastic woman in and of herself who has become a good friend). We usually leave the day after Christmas and do not return until after New Years Day. In direct contrast to the jet-set activities of a Las Vegas trip, going up to the cabin is like stepping into a Norman Rockwell painting. It helps me unwind and get my head together. They even refer to the guest bedroom as “Scott’s Room.”

I hope you enjoyed that, Al. I would inflict this on another group of people, but I’m afraid that I don’t have the readership (yet!) to make it worth while. I’m toying with the idea of posting this as a MySpace blog as well, but I rather like the idea of keeping the two trains of thought on different tracks.

San Diego Comic Con Pics

2007-07-31T21:15:00.000-07:00

Defining yourself

2007-07-25T03:21:00.001-07:00

Slowly building out my profile. Interesting process this, really examining yourself and your interests/favorites/etc. I find the older I get, the more sharply defined they get. I can more specifically tell you what my favorites books were from my high school years now than I could have, say, 5 years ago.

The downside of this, I would think, might be that ossification of personality that happens as people grow older. Lord, I hope that is not what is happening here. I'd like to keep a certain elasticity in my outlook on life.

Farewell, My Lovely (1975) and Chinatown (1974)

2007-07-24T00:04:00.000-07:00

[img]http://www.group22.com/employees/scott/coolshite/images/ChinatownPoster
.jpg[/img][img]http://www.group22.com/employees/scott/coolshite/images/Marqu
ee.jpg[/img]

This weekend I went to see a double feature of
[url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072973/]Farewell, My Lovely[/url] (1975)
and [url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071315/]Chinatown[/url] (1974).

Chinatown was up first. This is about the fifth time I've seen it and third
time on the big screen. I love this film. Set in the 50's, it is a film noir
story starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway and directed by Roman
Polanski, his last film in America. Robert Towne won an Oscar for Best
Original Screenplay for his script.

"Los Angeles detective Jake Gittes is hired by a woman claiming to be a Mrs.
Mulwray to spy on her husband. Shortly after Gittes is hired, the real Mrs.
Mulwray appears in his office threatening to sue if he doesn't drop the case
immediately. Gittes pursues the case anyway, slowly uncovering a vast
conspiracy centering on water management, state and municipal corruption,
land use and real estate, and involving at least one murder." [www.imdb.com]

The location shots and cinematography are beautiful. It really gives you the
sense and feel of Los Angeles in the 30's. It's sad to see the locations and
realize that only thirty years later many of them are not there anymore.

The script is tight and spare. There is not a lot of wasted dialogue. Towne
leaves it up to the audience to connect the dots. With Polanski direction,
the viewer is able to piece together many of the plot twists just slightly
ahead of Gittes.

Once you get over the shock of seeing a slim and young Jack Nicholson [not
quite as shocking as his age in The Raven, but even so...], he is truly
delightful to watch. The dialogue is snappy and Nicholson plays it with just
the right amount of sarcastic anti-establishmentarianism.

I am not particularly fond of Faye Dunaway's portrayal, but John Huston as
Noah Cross, her character's father, more than makes up for it. The sense of
power and authority he radiates every time he's on screen just about
squeezes every other actor out of frame. I could eat it up with a spoon.

Five stars. Highly recommended.

Unfortunately, seeing Chinatown first just served to point out all the flaws
in Farewell, My Lovely.

The movie is based on the Raymond Chandler book of the same name and is considered to be the movie version most faithful to the text. However, the story is obviously cut to fit the 95 minute running time and feels rushed. Having not read the original novel, I can’t say for sure that all of the twists and turns of the plot were as telegraphed as the movie, but I suspect not. The dialogue wasn’t bad, for noir-style dialogue. Very reminiscent of the snappy back and forth you’ll find in Sin City, but like most hard-boiled crime fiction dialogue, it just falls onto the floor and lays there like a dead fish if you don’t have the proper delivery.
Robert Mitchum is perfectly suited for the lead role of Philip Marlowe. All he really needs to do is wander around the movie looking tired and down and out. Really, no one does the basset hound look like “Mitch.” Everyone else must have taken their cue from him, though. I can’t point to a single member of the cast that made the slightest impression on me. Jack O’Halloran had less emotional range playing the hulking ex-con Moose Malloy than Richard Kiel as Jaws in Moonraker. Don’t even get me started on Harry Dean Stanton as the quick to anger corrupt police detective.
The entire film looks to be shot on the back lot of the studio. There are a couple of location shots, but as soon as a character steps inside, we’re back on a set. It looks as if everything was filmed with one static camera. One character will say their dialogue and then it cuts to a shot of the other actors reaction.
It’s not that I didn’t enjoy the film. To me it’s just light entertainment and fun to watch Mitchum [the only enjoyable part of the film]. Basically, it has more in common with a made-for-TV movie that a feature film.

Three stars. For Robert Mitchum fans only.

300

2007-07-24T00:01:00.000-07:00

If you don't want spoilers, don't read this blog. :)

I saw this movie twice just to feel like I formed an adequate critical opinion of it, outside of the hype. I'll admit, the first time I saw it I didn't like it very much. The more I described it to friends and family I didn't have many bad things to say about it, but still had a bad taste in my mouth. Maybe it was the fact that I saw it late at night after a long day's work, big dinner and two Gin and tonics. In any case, by the time the final battle sequence started I was tapping the armrest and heaving big sighs waiting for the credits to roll.

I determined that I had to see 300 again in completely different circumstances to see if that might change my opinion. So the following Saturday I went to an afternoon showing by myself. First off, let me that there were no less that four children under the age of 10 around me with their families. Now, I am far, far, far from prudish, but seriously, what is wrong with these parents that they would bring young children to see this film? From the writhing Oracle covered in a sheen of sweat on her naked body to sex scene with King Leonidas taking his queen doggystyle to the massive amounts of dismemberments and decapitations, this is not a movie for young children. Sorry, but it's true.

I'm a fan of Frank Miller's work and own pretty much everything he's written for comics, so I read the original series of 300 comics. I remember at the time that I thought the art and coloring were beautiful, but I wasn't overly fond of the story. The movie did an excellent job of capturing Miller's artwork on the screen and even better did justice to Lynn Varley's palette from the source material.

I have to go with the majority in agreeing that the visual effects were just about the best I've seen. The green screen effects were almost seamless with the actors and sets. Almost. There are a couple of scenes that the compositing is obvious, but they are so few and so minor if you aren't looking very closely, you wouldn't notice.

I wish the makeup effects were up to the same level. While they did capture Miller's character designs from the comics near perfectly, to me they looked blatantly like rubber prosthesis. This s not something I would really hold against the filmmakers; I was caught up enough in the story to suspend disbelief for the sake of the story. I was only mildly let down.

Overall, I felt 300 was well-acted, but truth to tell, it's not a script that is filled with much emotional depth. Like much of his work, including the noir Sin City books and movie, Miller's writing is crisp and staccato. He writes manly scripts for manly men. This leads me to the one line in the script that I cannot for the life of me get over.

The story goes that Frank Miller spent years researching the Spartans and the battle at the Hot Gates in preparation for writing and drawing 300. I guess that's why it gets to me that in the scene where he is parlaying with the messenger from the Persians, King Leonidas refers to the other Greeks dismissively as "Philosophers and boy-lovers."

I know that I'm the only one I've spoken to that this line bothers, but I just can't get over it. It's such a blatant revisionist line put in there just to support the supposition that the Spartans are real men. They were flagrant pederasts. You could easily have taken out that comment and have Leonidas refer to the other Greeks as philosophers and farmers or some other non-militaristic profession. He says basically the same thing when his troop encounters the Athenians during the march to the coast. Aside from being an unnecessarily offensive line, it's an outright lie about Spartan society. It's a minor thing, but it bugs me.

When the movie opens and we hear the voice over my first thought was, "Oh no…" I'm not a fan of the voice over. Usually they are not done well and are generally used to cover up gaps in the narrative that should have been evident in the film if it was well-made. In this case, however, I thought they did an excellent job bringing it back to the storyteller addressing the Spartan troop. It managed to get a lot of exposition out of the way and while at the same time feeling like an organic part of the movie.

All that being said, what I feel the movie suffers from is an emphasis of style over substance that at times threatens to overwhelm the film. Zach Snyder seems to have fallen in love with altering the film speed. It's like the abuse of the crash zoom in Ghost Rider.

If you took out all of the slo-mo sequences in this film, maybe it would only run 60 minutes. When used effectively, slo-mo can emphasize the emotional underpinning of a scene. There were moments when Snyder used this technique masterfully. In particular, there is one of the last scenes in the film wherein the storyteller stands in the field of wheat and informs the queen of the death of King Leonidas. It's a beautiful scene as the soldier turns and walks away and the queen looks down at her son. It captures so many emotions at once; her sorrow, a feeling of hope as she looks on the boy, melancholy of seeing her husband reflected in their son, the sense of duty as the soldier turn, his mission done, to return to his troops.

Now contrast this with an earlier scene when the queen is following her on through the marketplace. After he turns to run away, the scenes kicks in to slow motion as she passes through a series of blankets hung out to dry, emerging to find the older senator waiting for her at the fountain. There is reason for this scene to be slowed. That is not the only scene that suffers from this abuse, but certainly, to me, the most egregious. Snyder falls on this film-making trope far too often and I think the film suffers for it.

Then there is the stylistic choice to frame all of the action with running the film at half n speed, then jumping to one and a half speed, then back to half speed. This is effective once or twice, specifically when King Leonidas kicks the Persian messenger down the well and in the first battle sequence when the Spartans break out of their shell and charge into battle. Once again, though, Snyder overuses the technique to the point that, although beautifully choreographed and rendered, the fight scenes become tedious.

There is one specific scene that I think should be re-cut to make it more effective. In the final confrontation with Xerxes, the voice over kicks in and describes him dropping his shield, then his helm and as we see King Leonidas doing exactly that. Then we are treated to a glimpse into his head with a montage of images of Sparta, his soldiers, his queen, all the things that help him make his decision to throw the spear at Xerxes. This is an obvious call back to the messenger scene at the beginning of the film which has the same kind of montage preceding his decision to kill the messenger and defy the invading Persians. Then he announces the attack and hurls his spear, wounding Xerxes. The narration cuts back in to explain that he dropped his shield and helm to help his throw.

The problem with this scene is that the gap between the first voiceover and then the payoff is too long. If the montage was moved in front of the king dropping his shield and helm, the audience would be lead to believe that rather than make the same decision he had at the beginning of the film, he had decided finally to submit. Then the call for attack, the throw and the narration would have more impact because the audience would be completely duped into thinking the opposite.

Okay, so aside from my rant about the audience, here's what I thought of 300. It's okay. Not the best film I've seen, but not close to a bad film. Zach Snyder did a good job, but I think he still reflects too much of his music video roots by depending on camera effects to fabricate emotion. Would I own the DVD? Yes, absolutely.

Notes from the Bus Stop

2007-07-24T00:00:00.000-07:00

As I walked up to the corner of Rosecrans Avenue and Aviation Boulevard, I saw one of those hired sign-wavers. You know the ones; they're hired by quick-stop lube and oil places or crass realtors to stand on the side of the street and flip and turn some ridiculous sign advertising deals, Deals, DEALS! This one carried a key-shaped sign that read "The Key to Fine Living!" for a new condo complex just down the street.

He was a big one. A Chunky boy. Two bucks fifty at least. Maybe more like 300. So I made eye contact and nod my hello as is my habit when I'm walking. As usual, I had my headphones on and this generally limits the interaction to a nod and a smile. As luck would have it, that wasn't the end of it. Bad luck, that is.

"Hey, buddy!" he called out as I tried to scoot by on the sidewalk.

I popped out one of my earphones.

"Yes?"

Then he launched into this spiel.

"I'm trying to get a new law passed. I'm starting a petition –"

He started shuffling with the sign and I saw some folded pages behind it. I cringed thinking that I'm about to be asked to sign on to some list. Then I saw that he had a sizeable hardback book that he's holding and reading while working.

"Yeah, I want to make it so the government will start a program that'll get guys to workout. You know, get exercise. At the gym or whatever. So everybody can look like that –"

He points to a copy of Muscle and Fitness magazine lying on the grass nearby. The bodybuilder on the cover is in ridiculously good shape. Six pack abs and zero percent body fat.

"It'll all be taken care of. People will come and pick you up, drive you to the gym. There'll be trainers and people to work out wit with you. Then they'll drive you home after it's done. And the whole thing will be subsidized by the government.

"I mean, who wouldn't want to look like that. Who wouldn't want to be able to walk around all the time with their shirt off? You'd look good and feel good about yourself. And healthy. Women would be more attracted to you and you'd probably get laid more!"

I just smiled a big smile as I took a step back.

"Sounds like a great idea. Good luck with that!"

With another smile and a wave I continued walking to the bus stop and he went back to flipping the sign.

My Top 5 Favorite Pirates

2007-07-23T23:58:00.000-07:00

5. Patrick McGoohan as Dr. Syn, The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh, from the "Disneyland" TV-Series, circa 1963. Though not technically a pirate, he was still a smuggler and an anti-establishmentarian. I remember a lot of long boats and tri-corner hats. Plus the sackcloth hood that he wore scared the crap out of me as a kid.

4. Errol Flynn as Dr. Peter Blood in 1935's "Captain Blood." Does it get better than Flynn and Basil Rathbone dueling on the deck of a tall ship?

3. Captain Thomas Bartholomew Red played by Walter Matthau in Roman Polanski's 1986 film "Pirates." I always come back to the final scene of Matthau sitting on his pirate throne precariously balanced in a long boat as it is rowed into the sunset by Frog, his young French companion.

2. Long John Silver played by Robert Newton in "Treasure Island" (1950), the sequel "Long John Silver" (1954) and the TV series "The Adventures of Long John Silver" (1955-1959).

1. My favorite: Tommy Lee Jones as Captain Bully Hayes from 1983's "Nate and Hayes." This is my favorite swashbuckler/pirate movie. If you want to see how to properly do a high-seas romantic triangle, this is it. Miles O'Keefe as the straight-laced, missionary turned swashbuckler is the perfect foil to Jones' rogue captain. All this and it was shot in and around Fiji and New Zealand so the settings are beautiful and exotic.

Honorable mention goes to Jesse Jane as First-Mate Jules in "Pirates" (2005) from Digital Playground. To be honest, though, I can't really remember much of dialogue... Or the plot...

People are fake.

2007-07-23T23:56:00.000-07:00

Today has NOT been a good day. Actually, it hasn't been a great week to tell you the truth, but today has left me feeling... Well, I'm not sure how I feel. Numb. More than a little pissed off. Depressed. Betrayed. God, that sounds so histrionic.

There's this woman that I worked with. I've known her for about 3 years now as a co-worker. She's smart, sardonic, artsy, left wing, etc. I have a lot of respect for her and really like her [Not that way. She's married]. I've always considered her a friend. She's the only person in the Studio that I bought a Christmas present for. I've also picked up little things over time that I thought she might like, as I do with many of my friends.

However, I've noticed over the past few months that she's become more distant, almost resentful. There hasn't been anything I could point to and say, "This is when it started." She just puts in her earphones and when I do try and talk to her gives me this look as if to say why are you bothering me. She also spends a lot of time away from her desk, which is next to mine, talking to people on the other side of the Studio.

Personally, I chalked it up to the way people's natures wax and wane. I've occasionally asked other friends in the Studio if she's mad at me for something and they've all said not that they know of. She's certainly never said anything to me about it.

I am friendly with my co-workers. If I've got nothing to do I'll ask anyone if they need help on anything. I regularly take out the trash if it's full. I'll ask how they want this file prepared, where they want another file saved, if they prefer something done a certain way that makes it easier for them. I'm no angel, of course, but I make an effort to smooth the pavement for everyone.

Well, last week, on Wednesday, we're at lunch and I'm sitting next to her. I turned to her and said, "Hey, thanks a lot for doing that capabilities page yesterday." [Don't worry about what that means, it's not central to the plot.]

She sarcastically says, "Yeah, right."

So I say, "No, no, I'm serious. Thanks."

She replies, turning away dismissively, "Uh huh."

I had just had it. I said, "Fine, I'll never thank you for anything again, then."

Not the most adult approach, I'll admit, but I was fed up. I talked with my brother/boss about it later in the evening and he tells me that she has confided in him that, "Sometimes Scott says stuff that pisses me off."

What stuff? No idea. She didn't tell him. Nor has she ever said anything to me about it.

I have no idea what to do with this information. I can't stop saying whatever it is because I have no idea WHAT it is. I can't modify my behavior to be more amenable because I don't know what causes the friction in the first place. So, in the face of a complete lack of knowledge, I figured I would just reserve any conversation with her to work-related items, as necessary.

As a result, I've only had two occasions to talk to her since then, both of which included our project manager. So now she has decided that I'm not talking to her at all, I'm only talking to and through our project manager and that I'm being petty and hurting the workflow. She complained to our project manager and asked my brother/boss to have a talk with me. Seriously.

Stephen [brother] and I had a talk about it and I expressed my frustration at the whole situation. She gets upset at things that I've said, but doesn't tell anyone what those things are [work-related or personal?] and now complains that I'm not talking to her at all. In the midst of this, Stephen told me she said that I say things that hurt her feelings. Also that she's been resentful of me for a long time now. So much so that when I ask if she needs help on anything she says "No" automatically just out of spite.

And I had no idea.

This person who I thought was a good friend, who I have a heck of a lot of respect for, can't stand me. It completely pulled the rug out from underneath me.

I'm running it over in my mind to figure out what I've done or said that made the train go so far off the rails. How could I have been so blind to her anger, or is she just a really, really good actress.

Poor Stephen, all he wants is for us all to get along and for the Studio to be a pleasant place to work. But honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about her going forward. Not very kindly right now. I've got this knot of negative emotions sitting in my gut like a rock.

Meh. People suck.