I’ve always liked Hallowe’en but I’ve never really gone all out for it. As a kid, I most often had the little gaudy vinyl suits with the plastic face mask, except the one year my mom made me an Emperor’s Royal Guard costume, which I loved (and don’t think there are any pictures of). I also remember my friend Mark and I going as Bob and Doug McKenenzie, likely because we’d just watched Strange Brew.
Later years I either ignored or scrambled some things together from what I’ve had in the closet for a costume. In high school and University I did the “Clark Kent” so very often, with the exception of that one year that I went as the Crow, smothering on the white makeup, wrapping myself up with black electrical tape, and wearing the all-black outfit. Then there was the Wolverine outfit (and hair) back in Y2K. I don’t think I’ve had a costume since.
But Aden has long been a champion of the dress-up game and has the Tickle Trunk of tailor-mades to prove it. With her enthusiasm and encouragement, I decided it was time to go all out. The original intent was to make a Blue Beetle costume (whom, if you will recall, is my favourite superhero) but I decided instead to make the lady happy and go as her favourite hero: Nightwing.
For those who don’t know Nightwing, he’s Dick Grayson, the very first Robin (as in “Batman and…”), all grown up and fighting crime on his own. For some reason still hard to explain, Nightwing has a huge female fanbase, and, yes, Aden is one of them. I knew I’d have to build the costume, as there would certainly not be one ready-made, and I honestly didn’t know where to begin. I tried enlisting some help, but time and life commitments were tight, leaving me mostly to fend for myself.
I realized at one point that I’d never be able to make a costume that looked decent or fit properly and tried to think of ways of getting a form fitting costume. Then I remembered the Blue Man Group and their blacklight performers. Unitards! I did some unitard research on-line and eventually wound up at the costume/dance store, Malabar. They had exactly what I needed, a full body unitard with hands and feet free, and no hood. There I also found the perfect face-fitting mask that I could use to trim to resemble Nightwing’s.
But still I needed gloves and boots. I recalled the last time I went camping that the man called Kev had these nifty neoprene aqua boots which I said at the time “look like good superhero boots”. A trip to Mountain Equipment Coop later and boots AND gloves were in posession. The costume was practically complete. All I needed was Nightwing’s “emblem” so to speak, the decoration that wraps around his shoulders in bright blue.
Aden and I took a trip to a fabric shop last week and found the perfect colour material, then spent some time trying to mimic the design. Eventually we had it and cut it out and it looked like it would be perfect, all that was left was sewing it on. Problem is, I can’t sew and Aden wasn’t keen either. But she’s a trooper and she tried, as I left the costume with her, but it was too hard to do without the body in place to stretch it out, leaving us a scrambling Friday night, the night of the big costume party, to put it together.
Some odd tugs and loose stitching and a few snippings away of material later and the Nightwing wardrobe was as ready for prime tme as it would ever be. It wasn’t perfect, but it did look good…
Comments were all positive, as I was one of very, very few people to brave the Charlie Browns-exposing spandex (to which Toast was heard to comment “You know, superheroes wear cups…”). In a little tit-for-tat (no pun intended), I got Aden to pull on the fishnet stalkings. Since Black Canary would be a little more involved than she was able to pull off this year, she did an absolutely stunning Zatanna. It may not be fandom’s favourite team-up, but we did look good.
more photos from the evening
30/10/2006
Bill Cosplay in Leotard Pt. 6
27/10/2006
It just don’t get better than this
Why I love my girlfriend:
(via a chat program): “well you have to eat and I have money”
Are there sweeter/sexier words in the English language? I think not.
26/10/2006
Stressbasket
More for me to clear out my own brainmatter than actual interesting blogging (believe me, I’d much rather be continuing my GI Joe theme week), I’m feeling tired and stressed and irritable. Thankfully Aden’s keeping me grounded, and I’m resisting flying off the handle most of the time at work.
Top of the list is my health and the fact that discovered what it was that was making me so tired with a visit to the doctorb last week. They pumped me up with some antibiotics which have been irritating my stomach all week and not easing up my crankiness. Everything’s fine, really quite minor in the scheme of things, just highly annoying. It’s hopefully gone away, and I’m feeling mostly better but I’m worried that the drugs didn’t get rid of it all yet. Another round of anti-biotics would not please me. I’ll find out some news tomorrow.
But as a result of my slowed metabolism and my messed up anti-bodies, I’m still feeling a little off, and havn’t been sleeping well. I’ve been yawning all week and need more rest, relaxation and sleep. As much as I love the bands playing tonight, I think I’m going to skip out on the Parkas and 6ixty8ights to have a tub, catch up on some reading and a few ZZZs. You all should go though, because they are awesome.
I also need to call my hombre up in TBay before he goes under the knife on Halloween (yeah, spooky), which I will definitely do shortly.
The London trip is barrelling down on me and I’m freaking out because I’m in a rotten financial situation at the moment. Hotels are expensive and I need to pay for some accommodations which will be expensed upon my return. I’m hoping I have enough room on credit card to pay for the full thing (damn London is expensive… I’d been told, but I didn’t believe it) but I’m getting nervous since the Pound is very strong at the moment. Yes it’s only a temporary expense, but it’s going to hurt. I do have a payday between now and my departure, so that’s definitely going to help make sure I’m in the clear on it.
On top of that I’m looking for a new bit of luggage. I have no idea what I need and I have no idea how much to take with me. I’m not much of a traveller. The Winners down the street from me has a whole bunch of luggage on sale, so I can definitely pick something up, but I worry it won’t be big enough.
On the bright side, the lovely Canadian ex-pat Lizvang has set me up with some wonderful hostel accommodations which are suprisingly easy access to everywhere including work if necessary. The accommodations situation isn’t 100% resolved, but it’s just at the “needing confirmation” point, so hopefully soon.
I still havn’t heard back about my Space Ghost costume return (if you will recall they sent me a children’s medium instead of an adult) and I’m still missing 1 of my 2 boxes from a order that was send at the end of September. Will need to follow up about that too. AND I’m nervous that a benefits return didn’t make it to its intended destination, meaning I’ll need to get new receipts drawn up from my optomotrist and massage therapist, and it also means I won’t be getting that return back in time for the trip. Major sighing going on re: the postal system and on-line transactions.
Work is dishing out the stupid right now. I’m dealing with everything but it’s irking me off and getting progressively worse every day. I’m feeling curmudgeony this week. Could be the drugs.
I just did my credit card checks and got my on-line stuff set up and addresses changed so that’s all in its right place, but I don’t think I’m going to have enough money for the Scotland jaunt I was planning… but I still need to investigate. I think the flights from London to Glasgow are going to wind up being too much with the translation from GBP to CAD… it sucks not being rich. I’m not poor by any means, but I’m living just slightly oustide my means every month and I need to stop. I need to cease the debt spiral.
(I say that once a year, make an effort for a month or three, and then go through a purchasing frenzy which cocks up any of my good debt-payoff work).
The apartment isn’t a disaster but does need a tune up and a clean up. Sunday will be cleaning day, long overdue. Sometimes it seems like I don’t even live there though. I guess that’s part of settling in and time sharing between your place and your girlfriends.
Thor’s Comic Column is still on hiatus, but we have some big news, and it’s going to be cool. More control means more fun. But it’s going to be some work first, which I’m worrying I’m going to have no time for until at least I get back.
And yes, BOBTown party in December. Details to come after Rooms and I have a tete-a-tete, and then consult the party grandmaster Accordion Guy and the king of contacts, Photojunkie. I’m thinking Dec.9, but I need to find out if/when the work party is happening.
And finally, the Silver Snail costume bash is tomorrow night. My Nightwing costume is with Aden who’s stitching on the crest. It’s a bit of a rush job so it’s not going to be perfect, but it does actually look damn good, if I do say so myself. I’ll need to work on my gloves tonight, but once that’s done, it’s party time, and that’s two of my impendings out of the way.
I havn’t felt this weighted down since … last month with the moving debacle.
25/10/2006
Spirit versus Storm Shadow
I’ve been ragging on GI Joe a little bit the past two days, but it really is kitschy fun. Every now and again though, the show transcends its goofy surroundings for what Mr. Long Box calls “a F@*& YEAH! moment”, like this vingnette in which Spirit fights Storm Shadow in a cave for a piece of the Weather Dominator:
Air runs thin, and Spirit says to Storm Shadow that they must conserve or both die. It is agreed, and they both sit - wet - and meditate on their predicament.
Can Kool-Aid Man give us a clean “Oh Yeah”?
24/10/2006
sonic alert
Two of my favourite local bands and one I’ve never heard of will be joining forces for a Thursday night throwdown at the Silver Dollar Room on October 26.
The Parkas will be there laying heavy on their new tunes from an as yet untitled upcoming album. They’ll also have very limited quantity of “Black Paper Singles.” According to the band’s mailing list, “Black Paper Singles contain four previously unreleased Parkas songs sealed in black paper. Each one is different, and each one will contain two tracks from our new record, along with rarities, remixes, and live recordings. Pick one up at a show for only three bucks.”
Yes, it’s completely worth it. The new tracks (and I have a copy of the studio recordings, remember) are flipping amazing. If they get this new album mastered and released this year, it’s going on my best-of list for certain.
Meanwhile The 6ixty8ights are dropping/have dropped their new album, “Pica Electric Armada”, so hopefully that’s available at the show too.
Friday Morning’s Regret opens up the night (I think), so it’ll be a surprise to see how they mesh with two of my current favourite bands, since I’ve never heard of them.
I would say expect a report Friday, but I’m notoriously tardy (’tarded) on my reviews right now… so who knows. It’s going to rock, I can guarantee you that, it’s just a matter of how hard.
GI Joey Jo Joe Shabidoo
Gung Ho and Shipwreck: Just a couple of Sea Men hanging out.
In a later episode they share a bobsled and talk about dating.
23/10/2006
The Forces of Freedom
For her birthday I gave Aden a couple of out-of-print box sets of the GI Joe cartoon on DVD. While that may sound kind of unromantic, you don’t know my girlfriend and exactly how big a GI Joe fan she is.
Yes, we’re geek and we’re proud.
Anyway, Aden and some of her friends were getting some business done yesterday leaving me some free time to loaf on the couch and take in a few episodes of the show, and, well… it’s pretty damn bizarre.
There’s obviously a few conceits that must be given to the GI Joe concept (like the fact that the characters, no matter what the situation, must be recognizable in their trademark[ed?] garb or the fact that either side of battle just randomly yells “Yo Joe!” or “COBRA!” and not just as a rallying cry or in celebration, but rather some unusual form of tourettes), but even beyond those there’s a complete lack of rationality or logic to much of it, a level of absurdity that teeters the line beetween kitchy and crappy.
The moment that made me laugh the hardest found Destro launching an attack on the White House using a weather control system called the Weather Dominator (no, we’re not at the silly part yet). The Joes, meanwhile, had developed some sort of mirror-like energy absorption thing that they could use to… I can’t even conceivably reiterate the contrived explanation that was given about what these things did… but anyway, this was their defence. Made of glass, Destro sent a deadly hailstorm of baseball-sized nuggets to rain down over Washington, and the hail was destroyine their little glass shields. So, seeing as their only defence against the Weather Dominator was getting decimate, what do the Joes do? Well, they do the obvious and they fire their gigantic laser cannons at the hail!
What?
Yes. Giant laser cannons vs tiny balls of ice.
It made my brain hurt.
There are many more examples of improbable Joeisms, but that one stands out as top of the dumb heap. And yet, I cackled away like the Wicked Witch of the East watching it.
17/10/2006
Various bits of random familiarity
The Borat movie is out soon, and if you’ve seen the trailers (or if you’re at all familiar with “Da Ali G Show”, or even “The Daily Show”-style of field reporting) then you know what to expect: unsuspecting people encountering a larger-than-life character provoking them or making them uncomfortable. Borat is a “foreign” character from Kazakhstan, and the set-up of the film has him acting as roving reporter, investigating American culture for his homeland’s education. The typical North American’s response (at least initially, and generically speaking) to broken-English speakers is that they’re non-threatening, confused, simplistic to a degree, meaning we’re willing to cut them a lot more slack, which comedian Sacha Baron Cohen uses to his full advantage. It’s both exploitative and provocative, and, depending on your tastes, funny.
Having been a fan of this style of “unsuspecting” comedy for some time, most specifically the Daily Show’s poker-faced delivery of outrageous statements to people expecting serious interviews, I’ve always wondered what it’s like from the other side. Even though I laugh, I still say, “those poor people”. Well a Borat “victim” tells her side. To be honest, I’m surprised at how lacking in bitterness it is. In fact, the writer seems almost disappointed in herself that she got “duped” by Cohen, but it’s fascinating to see how the process happens.
I can’t make comment until I see the film, but one statement artist Linda Stein makes in her article is “for the sake of a cheap laugh, he chooses to reinforce the stereotype of women as the inferior sex, at the expense of women”. To me, this doesn’t sound like Cohen’s comedy, if anything, he usually attempts to provoke the opposite response… to make the reinforcing of stereotypes the joke worth laughing at, not the stereotype itself. Methinks the Stein is a little sensitive on the subject, but then, after seeing the film I may be inclined to agree with her. I don’t know.
What I do know is statements like “maybe it’s his way of gaining power over the childhood sting of religious animosity or the feelings of inferiority from a woman’s beating him at Scrabble” are just catty, and stem from a base of hurt feelings rather than intellectual commentary.
Borat’s page on the MySpaces
Going to Teatown
Yes. Going to London. Flight is booked. Aden’s flight is booked. Now all I have to do is prepare for work and figure out living arrangements.
Essentially, I get one week free accommodations (paid by me but reimbursed by work) and one week Aden and I need to foot ourselves. London, well, it’s not cheap. Hotels start at 89 GBP per night. That about $200 Canadian. Ouch. So plan one has work checking into a corporate apartment for the two weeks I’m there. If it’s cheaper for two weeks in a corp apt than one week at a hotel, then I’ll be doing that and all will be good.
Elsewise, I’m going to need to spend a week in a hostel. I know Liz runs a hostel, which is mighty convenient, so I’ll contact her about location. If it works out to be conveninent enough, I’ll stay at the hostel for the week I’m working, that way Aden and I can stay in the hotel on the corporate bill for the week following. Hopefully it works out.
I’m excited to see Liz and Mar and to meet the people I’ve been communicating with in London for three years now. As well, I might have a couple days to make a jaunt up to see my ex-pat Glaswegian friend which would be very cool… just need to make it back to London on Sunday to meet Aden at Heath Row or where ever we land when we fly across the pond.
I’m not really concerned about what I do during week 2 with Aden. I just think it’ll be so fantastic to swing London with her no matter what we do.
“In Search of Sasquatch” - That Was A Kickass “In Search Of…”
Geekout time. I was indoctrinated into the world of RPGs (Role Playing Games) this past weekend, for my first-ever participatory engagement. I met Aden while she was on hiatus from playing , but she’s been gaming for years and recently stepped back into her various gaming worlds. I’ve joined her on a couple of ventures and realized that spectating is interesting but participating would be a lot more fun.
The dynamics aren’t too difficult to understand, especially given my City of Heroes background, although some of the intricacies are still escaping me. The game I joined in on Sunday was Feng Shui, the action hero role play. I was told if I wanted to participate I’d need to think of an action star or character I wanted to base my persona off of. After a belabouring couple of minutes I linked myself six degrees from John McClane to Chewbacca. The moment I hit upon Chewbacca I said to myself “Me am not Chewbacca”, which is the opening line of “In Me Own Words: The Autobiography of Bigfoot” by Graham Roumeau, and I knew I had it.
I turned to Aden and said, “I’ma be Bigfoot”. She laughed a dismissive laugh, then double checked my expression. She had mistaken my wry smirk for joking before realizing what it actually was: excitement. She let out a groan, and tried to talk me out of it, but I can be stubborn with my silly ideas, and I decided to go for it. Besides, Bigfoot is an action star. He was the bad, bad monster in Rob Zombie/Steve Niles/Richard Corbin’s “Bigfoot” comic book mini-series, he was the short-lived drummer for Tenacious D, he’s a close relative of the Abominable Snowman who appears in Jonathan Richman’s neighbourhood supermarket and he was an antagonist for Lee Majors in the Six Million Dollar Man. Witness:
Steve Austin encounters Bigfoot… and rips his frackin’ arm off! That bionic man is a jerk.
Steve (now sporting ’stache) and Sasquatch meet again, although I’m seriously wondering why the Bigfoot episodes also feature Time Travellers. Makes no sense.
This is the conclusion to that episode of the Bionic Woman where Sasquatch saves the day. The Bionic Woman is hot, but oh so useless.
My Bigfoot rules. He’s based off of “supernatural creatures” template, is pretty strong, incredibly tough, fierce looking (he has a “power” called “Brain Shredder” which essentially makes the bad guys crap their pantaloons), and a nervous stomach (his other “ability” is “nauseating chunks” which means he throws up some ugly stuff and everyone in radius gets sick around him… potent). He’s not very bright, but he’s learning English and human ways (thanks to the Hendersons and Steve Austin, he’s familiar with human nature in some respects) and he was at one point “cursed” with human appearance so he kind of looks like classic Hank McCoy (a bit of a mongoloid Alec Baldwin) when he’s not all big and hairy.
He’s fun.
Yes, we have no bananas
The quiet war against black Sigatoka, the disease that threatens to wipe out banana crop globally. Imagine a world without bananas… poor monkeys.
16/10/2006
Sleep derived
Had my first nightmare in a looong, long time last night. I’d like to say I never get nightmares, but that’s probably not true. I rarely get them, though, and to be honest, I can probably say I havn’t had a woken-up-with-a-start kind of dream since those “oh my god I’ve missed my exam” panic dreams you get in university around exam time.
Last night I had a dream that Aden had died, not sure from what (car accident? disease? don’t know) but it was sudden and I couldn’t cope. I was freaking out and just couldn’t deal. I was distraught, and thinking of life without her seemed impossible. I tried to call my mother, but my fingers couldn’t make my phone work, and being on a cel phone at that time just didn’t seem right. I collapsed on my knees and cried, my heart feeling like it was fading away.
I woke up with the most awful empty feeling, only to find Aden asleep beside me. I grabbed onto her tight and mumbled a few expletives of joy and relief. She woke up a little puzzled asked me if I was okay. “Just a bad dream,” I said.
“About what?”
“You were gone.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“Not that kind of gone. Permanently gone.”
She turned, embraced me, kissed me on the forehead and said “I’m here, and not going anywhere, beloved.”
I smiled, squeezed her tight, kissed her back, and we fell back asleep in each other’s arms. Give me demons and monsters, psychos and savages… those kind of dreams I can handle…
13/10/2006
Dork #11
w/a: Evan Dorkin
“Evan Dorkin: 3 A.M. Genius” is one of many (many, many) four-panel strips in Dork #11. In this particular one, it’s 3:01 on the bedside clock and Dorkin bolts awake with a wildly enthusiastic look on his face. The startled but tired woman beside him asks, “W-What’s the matter?” “Nothing!” he replies, “I got a great idea for a gag! Go back to sleep!” In the next panel, Dorkin’s on the toilet, scribbling away on a notepad. “Oh boy! This is gonna be great!” It’s the next afternoon in the final panel, and Dorkin is examining his previous night’s inspiration. “What the hell was I thinking? This blows!” He tacks a notational asterisk on “This blows!” which reads at the bottom of the panel “I used it anyway. It’s on page fifteen or sixteen somewhere.”
Yeah. Maybe mildly chuckle inducing in a self-deprecating manner, but not very funny. And the referential “This Blows!” cartoon? Well, it may have been on page fifteen or sixteen or it may have been on pages 1 through 24, there’s really no telling. And the punch line of that strip exemplifies my problem with Dork #11, and that is Evan Dorkin has pretty much given up even trying. The whole issue is wall-to-wall one-panel or four-panel “gags”, and usually with such a plethora of comedy being thrown out, certainly a few are going to come up hit or miss, but instead this issue of Dork is Saturday Night Live, the Anthony Michael Hall year. Ouch.
Dorkin goes for the easiest of gags, which is gross-out/sex humour (“Hank Jenkins, Chronic Masturbator”; “Orgy Laffs”), obvious jokes (leper arm wrestling, “Krog, Closeted Gay Neaderthal”), playing off of clichés or puns (“Jesus Saves” – he’s a soccer goaltender; “Bad Hare Day” – the rabbits are looting), and even things that don’t make grade-school kids laugh (“Oh look! It’s snowing”, God has dandruff…; “Okay, but no tongue” says the princess to the frog”). That’s just 8 of nearly one hundred (or maybe more) really, truly sad gag from someone who used to be the most reliable comic-book humorists. Now, Dorkin is playing below even James Kolchaka’s level of baseline comedy (which may just land him a job writing the next Scary Movie). Not that I’m asking him to repeat himself, but a man who created Fisher Price Theatre, Milk & Cheese, and Eltingville surely has more in him than a random collection of barely chuckle-inducing, almost totally uninspired gags?
Short Rounds Vol. 9 - Last Week in Comics
Due to some issue or another, Thor’s Comic Column is on hiatus. Some reviews I did that were pending uploading would just go to waste, so for the next few weeks at least, you’ll find this little sidebar rather… comics heavy.
Blue Beetle #7 (DC) – Cully Hamner, the “regular” series artist finally returns while co-writer Keith Giffen takes a break, leaving scribe John Rogers solo to explain Jamie’s missing year. He does a competent job but utilizes a framing style that is distracting and, at times, a challenge to follow. On top of that, Rogers is intent of integrating the new Peacemaker into the series, and it’s an overt and unnatural fit into the story. Still, it’s a fun, classic all-ages book with some nice character moments and some solid art from Hamner (although I think I actually prefer fill-in and cover artist Duncan Rouleau’s work more).
-3/5-
Justice League Of America #2 (DC) – Though still pretty much Red Tornado’s story, this issue is less focussed on Tornado and more about him. Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman are still stuck around the table playing Superhero Idol with random photographs but the intentions behind it is a little clearer… they’re not building just one team. Writer Brad Melzer appears to be doing some unique and interesting things with the concept of the Justice League, definitely closer to Justice League Unlimited than Morrison’s “big seven”. He’s already established a couple of key players no one would have expected with Vixen, Tornado and Black Lightning, and has already had some classic character moments between Arsenal, Black Canary and Hal Jordan. Bits and pieces of 52 are also coming into play and the action ball is set to roll for next issue. The art by Ed Benes and Sandra Hope is strong and appealing but gets looser closer to the final pages. A bit of a creeper, but enjoyable.
–3.5/5-
The Vault of Michael Allred #1 (AAA Pop Comics) – Definitely a “for fans only” look into the history of multitalented artist Michael Allred, as assembled by himself. It’s a vanity project, definitely, but it’s also a publicly available scrapbook of all the things Allred has kept both in and out of his portfolio over the years, from press clippings to sketches to abandoned project pages. Most of the press/magazine articles are printed in full but are digitized and tiny, needing a magnifying glass to avoid eye strain, but the key to the project is Allred’s commentary throughout that makes it like a bonus featurette on a DVD with a commentary track. Not essential and features a hefty price tag, but still a fascinating endeavour.
–3/5-
Wonderland #2 (Slave Labor) – Waiting months between issues did not make me happy, but the arrival of Wonderland #2 certainly did. The inspired and playful extension of the Disney version of Alice In Wonderland now collides head-on with Lewis Carroll’s original story as the Jabberwok is summoned, and in the frightful hubbub, the white rabbit and his maid Mary Ann are separated with perhaps disastrous consequences for both. Tommy Kovac has a grand story planned and he’s executing it with the confidence of a master, although threatening to overshadow his story is Sonny Liew’s stunning art. The book looks positively gorgeous, bridging the familiar Disney aesthetic with Liew’s own unique style.
–4.5/5-
52 Week 22 (DC) – The mystery of Supernova’s identity, well, remains a mystery, but Lex Luthor thinks he knows what’s what. Sometimes Lex’s obsessive paranoia makes him kinda dull. There’s a new Super Chief in town… I don’t really know how to comment on that. I don’t remember the old Super Chief but this new one’s making a distinct impression. Will Magnus has finally resurrected a couple of his Metal Men, but they’re not very long lived as a bad deal from his past comes back to hurt him. Some surprising and fun action and drama from the 52 crew. The rocky road they started on seems to be smoothing out nicely.
–3.5/5-
Mystery In Space #2 (DC) – This extra-sized book has an extra-sized price, containing two stories set sort-of in space but containing little mystery so far. The Captain Comet storyline continues with (no longer Captain) Comet pondering his new body, his capabilities and his shortcomings. The nagging question about his death still awaits answers but as he moves about Hardcore Station only more questions arise, as more death occurs around him. Starlin’s first story is engaging, and the close of this chapter finally adds some mystery meat to the story, but the dialogue and narration is unnatural and exposition heavy. The art by Shane Davis and Matt Banning (with colours by Jeromy Cox) is the saving factor. Meanwhile, story number two continues, as the Weird wanders about Hardcore Station pondering his navel. The initial convergence between the two stories in issue one provides some fuel to this tale, but overall it’s a disinteresting story about an uninteresting character.
–2.5/5-
Northwest Passage Vol.3
w/i: Scott Chantler
I am not a big fan of western or historical stories. I’ve enjoyed some that come along in television, novels, comics and film but neither are genres I search out to entertain me. Northwest Passage, however, has had me enthralled for three volumes now, the distance between each long, but the wait always worth it, the anticipation always exceeded.
Closing out the first storyline, this third volume opens with prisoners on either side of Fort Newcastle. Inside the Fort, there are few Englishmen who remain: a pastor, Charles Lord’s son, as well as his nephew. Montglave’s righ-hand man has been taken prisoner by Lord and his men, and is singing like a canary, regret, remorse and guilt looming over his head beside the spectre of death. Though horrendously outmatched Lord plots an attack on the fort while Montglave prepares to depart back to France with his pillaged spoils. Soon enough, war is waged, and there are many surprises on the battlefield. There’s no telling who will win or who will survive.
Scott Chantler’s first Northwest Passage story is riveting, full of action, yes, but also sharp characterization and interpersonal drama. The strife between Charles Lord and his half-native son, as well as Montglave’s manipulations in the mix is heart wrenching and good reading. Chantler’s cartooning is thorough in its detail though not busy or complicated, his characters are individual and yet highly simplistic. Stunning work to be sure.
Though he’s noted a hiatus on the series, Chantler promises to return, that the story isn’t quite yet finished, and I for one patiently await it.
4.5/5
Nightwing #125
w: Marv Wolfman
a: Dan Jurgens/Norm Rapmund
I was reading the classic Teen Titans story “the Judas Contract” a few weeks back, a storyarc within which Dick Grayson quits his role as Robin and adopts the persona of Nightwing. Marv Wolfman was in large part responsible for this transition and he was the chief navigator for Nightwing for many years to follow. It wasn’t even until Chuck Dixon took a crack at him when launching his own title over ten years ago that another writer made any impact on the character. It also seems that, since Dixon’s departure from the title, he was also the last to do so. Devin Grayson’s run was less than celebrated and Bruce Jones’ “One Year Later” run has been vehemently despised.
Add to that the fact that Dan DiDio stated that Nightwing was originally slated to be the “big death” in the Infinite Crisis and things havn’t been looking to bright for the original sidekick. And yet, Dick Grayson still survives, his title still runs and, look, there’s Marv Wolfman’s name above the logo. Things could be turning around.
Could be.
nb
yes, comments are now working… you need to enter in validation code each time (sorry Joany)
ROCK
(I’ve taken off the need to be a registered user, with the verification code in place, but it’s now kinda glitchy and there’s an error message when a comment is entered[turns out the archive settings were reset, is fixed now], but the comment is actually received)
12/10/2006
Blog Slow Down
It’s not quite like being on strike, but blogging just isn’t tingling my giblets like it once did. I go through phases, all us tried and true bloggers/journallers do, where we just don’t feel like anything we say really reaches anyone. Perhaps it’s because comments are still all wonked up (working on it) and i’m not getting any feedback or perhaps it’s just a general sense of malaise as the leaves turn, the weather shifts, and I get to bust my sweaters out. I like sweater weather, but for some reason I’m experience a dramatic case of the SADs, which I don’t think I do often but it’s getting to me this year.
Life is in chaos but not really. It’s now perhaps the absense of chaos that’s driving me batty. Settling into BOBTown is going slow, and the bugs in the beautiful place are starting to crawl out (metaphorically speaking, although my familiars, the spiders, have made themselves comfortable). Things like the wonky stovetop elements, the crappy washing machine and the seemingly impossible way of arranging the space are getting to me, as well, the loft in my bedroom seems to serve no purpose other than sweater storage at the moment.
Solidifying plans for a work-then-pleasure visit to London (UK), hopefully today, but you never know with these things. Aden’s going to be joining me for week 2, which should be a blast, but until it’s booked, I’m going to be a freako about it. I can’t help it. I get mildly stressed about these things.
I’m also having a bit of a challenge with my local post office, in that I can’t find it. A package was sent to me a few weeks back which apparently arrived on the 4th of October, with BOBTown as the destination and yet I received no notice of where to pick it up. While the sender puts a trace on the order, I’m trying to determine where exactly it would have wound up and quite frankly I have no idea. Even the semi-useful Postal Outlet finder on Canada Post’s website didn’t yield any fruit (after an hour of walking in the rain).
*Update* Just Found out that the package was returned because it was delivered accidentally one door over (having not yet met the neighbours, well, they didn’t know to pass it on).
A few posts back I mentioned Amazon.com was selling costumes… well, it turns out they don’t ship to Canada, not via Amazon anyway. But if you go direct to BuyCostumes.com’s website, they actually DO ship to Canada, and quickly might I add. The only pisser is I ordered a Space Ghost costume and they sent me a child’s medium instead of an adult medium. Even worse, they don’t even have Space Ghost children’s costumes available for sale, so how’d that mix-up happen??? Now I have to, on my dime, send it back, which is kind of annoying, plus I don’t have a Space Ghost costume now. Grrrr.
But it’s not like I’m going to Hallowe’en parties as Space Ghost. Nope. I’m going as Nightwing. I’ve already purchased my unitard from Malabar, I need to edit my mask, and I just bought my gloves and boots (note: MEC’s Swellies paddling boots make great superhero boots, and don’t let the pic fool you, the treds are black, not white or grey… neato). Now all I really need is the material for the chest/shoulder emblem and someone to sew it on for me (Joany???) and I’m all set. Oh, and some gauntlets. I can borrow my roomie’s arnise sticks so I can beat up bad guys… well, let’s just say I’m all set. If I’m lucky, I’ll be accompanied by Zatanna for the evening. Fishnets…*sigh*.
Oh, and I’m still finishing up the send-outs for the 4-CD sampler. 50% delivered, 80% completed, and 100% behind schedule. A couple international deliveries will be made this week/next week. A couple more still to follow. *Different kind of sigh*
Anybuts, work goes busily and well (it’s taken me six hours to finish this post), and I must get back.
Comments now allow commenting, but there’s no space for a name, which is bizarro.
11/10/2006
Canadian cinema: not dead yet, perhaps getting better
I feel happy. I feel happy.
Bon Cop, Bad Cop, one of the year’s most enjoyable films, has just become the highest grossing Canadian-made film in Canada, edging out the long-time record holder, Porky’s.
Sure it’s only at about $12mil gross right now, but it’s a sign that at least a moderately budgeted light entertainment film can make money too. But I have to think that, as a primarily Quebecois financed and spearheaded film, and the fact that it made 9+ of its $12ish million in Quebec (where they have their own self-supporting/sustaining entertainment production center) that it’s not really *that* positive a sign for English Canadian films. We’ll see how that Trailer Park Boys movie does before we start celebrating too hard.
09/10/2006
uh… okay
Not sure what’s going on here yet, but everything should be back to normals soon. Comments work at least.
Okay, everything back to normal, except can’t get comments to work. *sighs*
06/10/2006
Amazong
Looks like Amazon is now entering the downloadables game as well, although they don’t have downloadable games, but they do have downloadable movies and tv shows.
The Amazon Unbox is live and you can download tv shows from a multitude of networks episode by episode. With this and downloadables from iTunes, I think It’s the future of television programming, where tv shows don’t succeed or fail based on broadcast viewership alone, but also by download popularity. The Unbox doesn’t really have a whole lot going for it yet in terms of number of shows available and number of episodes of those shows to download, and it’s layout is pretty choppy, but with a simple and intuitive redesign, an increase in titles and perhaps a drop in price from $1.99 per episode to $1, maybe they’ll really be starting something huge.
Of course, this is a US consumer thing only (for now… perhaps the other regional amazon sites will be doing something similar if it takes off?).
The downside, each video comes with restrictions, like the BBC ones state:
Usage: US customers only. Your rental videos can be stored on your PC for 30 days. Once you press play, you have 7 days to watch each video before it expires.
System Requirements: Requires Windows XP. See full system requirements
Noteables:
Mythbusters - one of the shows I miss the most not having cable
Dr. Who - no, not the new season (which starts on CBC Monday at 7 or 8) but rather various seasons of the legendary show (seasons #s: 26, 22, 21, 19, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 7, 6, 5, 1) Crazy.
Coupling - all four seasons
Classic Trek - download only the watchable episodes!
Classic Twilight Zone - what a twist!
Comedy Central Stand-up - a lot cheaper than buying the bare-bones dvd releases (although, they probably don’t have those episodes available for $1.99 download)
Wonder Showzen -dirty, dirty puppets
05/10/2006
Another “acting” gig
If you will recall, a few weeks ago I did a performance piece for the vlog website Wide Right. “Snappoh”, I mean, “Oh snap!”
Well Dave @ WIde Right wrangled me and the Pitcher into another one, but this time just using our extensive vocal talents. Actually, it’s me copping Kevin McDonald’s comedic choking technique from the infamous “kebab” sketch on Kids In The Hall and Amber sounding bored as a 911 emergency operator.
Take a look, be impressed, and enter the contest if you’re savvy enough.
Fetishistic
Amazon.com is now selling superhero costumes, including these $800 Batman, Hulk and Superman latex costumes.
But, oh frick!
Space Ghost. I’m so buying that one.
Harvey Birdman!
For Jeremy
V for Vendetta
Some more modestly priced costumes include
Captain America
Thor
Hulk
Spiderman
Iron Man
Mr. Fantastic
The Punisher
Daredevil
Wolverine
The Flash
Robin
South Park’s Satan
Speed Racer’s Racer X
and accessories like
Thor’s Hammer
and Cap’s shield and boot covers
Superhero boots black and red
Bizarro Superman mask
There are some ladies costumes, but they make me feel all funny in my lower regions for some reason.
Oh what the hell:
Batgirl and Classic Batgirl
Storm
Wonder Woman
Supergirl and Classic Supergirl
Electra
Purple jumpsuit Catwoman
There’s even stuff for the kids:
Martian Manhunter!!!!
Ghost Rider?
Hellboy (there’s no way my mom would’ve dressed me up as Hellboy…)… not to mention one for the adults too
Batman Beyond
This Baby Flash is absolutely adorable
Teen Titans’ Cyborg