Consumption July

July 30th, 2009 Graig

Well, the blog’s not dead yet…
From July 20 - July 31.

COMIC - Teen Titans Spotlight #18 — Jellysubs!

DVD - Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog - Commentary! The Musical - Ginchy! I liked Fillion’s song best.

DVD - Ashes to Ashes S1 Episode 7 & 8 - Woah! Didn’t see that one coming.

DVD - The Newsroom S1 Episode 1 & 2 - Barely heard over the wails of a colicky 2-week old. Forgot all about the power of Sid Adelman’s column.

COMIC - Teen Titans Spolight #10 - Early Erik Larson art kinda crappy, but otherwise the John Ostrander script delving into both Aqualad and Mento’s minds was endearingly 80’s.

COMIC - Hawkworld #31 & 32 - Ostrander’s politicization of this comic, in an almost(!) fair and balanced manner is always surprising, even if much of the characterization and action is kind of cruddy.

MUSIC - Glissandro 70 - plinky, repetitious, and kinda funky.

MUSIC - Dears: No Cities Left - Went from my sell pile back into the collection. Forgot how sweeping they were

MUSIC - Hooverphonic: A New Sterephonic Sound Spectacular - Surprisingly still engaging, but to me so passe, I must pass

COMIC - Teen Titans Spotlight #16 & 17 - Thunder, Lightning and Magenta face off against a STAR Labs psychiatrist and each other. Decent, but left with a “who’s the mastermind” mystery.

COMIC - Teen Titans Spotlight #13 - JMS was writing comics this far back? And a pretty solid and surprising Cyborg vs. Two-Face…seriously, he actually makes it work.

COMIC - Deathklock vs. The Goon one-shot - I’ve not watched enough Metalocalypse, and I’ve been equally negligent in my reading The Goon, and this one-shot, while amusing, isn’t the best of both worlds… or if it is, it’s not going to speed up my catch-up process.

MOVIE - Doctor Strange (Animated DTV) - I’m so sick of origin stories

TV - Batman: The Brave and the Bold - Absolutely loving this show, light and captivating all-ages superheroic goodness.

TV - Doctor Who - Space double feature of Tennent Doctor extra-length episodes, one involving a dimensional warp, a double decker bus, and flying manta rays, the other sending the Doctor to the 1850’s and meeting a man who could possibly be his next incarnation. The latter was fab.

TV - Journey To The End Of The Universe - this Discovery channel documentary, taking actual photos mixed with CGI effects demonstrates the vastness of our solar system, galaxy and universe… it should humble you, make you feel small and insignificant, because you are. Beautiful, but pondering the enormity of the universe makes my brain hurt and my eyes well up.

COMIC - Hawkman #1 - 27 - a big diversion from Hawkworld, involving the idea of “avatars” and the making of Hawkman into a grim’n'gritty ’90’s character. Not as bad as it sounds, with some fairly good work from Bill Messner-Loebs and Steve Leiber, but still, avoids by and large the political bent of Ostrander’s Hawkworld.

COMIC - G.I. Joe #7 - this series is finally picking up, unfortunately regular artist Robert Atkins will return

COMIC - Phonogram: The Singles Club #4 - I laugh because I realize that I’m in the midst of a massive cd collection purge and very few albums featuring female vocalists remain. Heh. Huh?

COMIC - Captain Britain and the M.I.13 #15 - the end, but what a way to go out. This dracula arc = spledido!

MUSIC - Takako Minekawa: Fun 9 / Recubed ep - Fluffy blipped out Japanese laptop music, enjoyable but empty calories.

MUSIC - Various Artists: Random (02) - Remixes of Gary Numan tracks. I got a lot of mileage out of this and it still has some gas left in the tank but I really don’t want to burn it out.

DVD - X-Men 3: X-Men United - holy shit this is a bad movie. For about 20 minutes there’s the promise of something entertaining, then it goes off the bloody rails into mutant randomness without any regard for anything that came before it. Not as bad as Spider-Man 3 but worse than Wolverine: Origins.

DVD - G.I. Joe: Arise, Serpentor Arise - told in five parts, it’s at times utterly baffling, occasionally a little boring, and often sheer madcap hilarity.

DVD - Home Movies: Season 4 (disc 2) - it’s all too easy to forget just how funny this show is… the repartee is brilliant, and I don’t think I’ve seen the episode with Honkey Magoo before.

COMIC - Wednesday Comics #4 - The Streaky the Super-Cat panels were utterly hilarious, worth the price of admission alone. Newfound respect for Amanda Connor.

COMIC - L.E.G.I.O.N. #13, 29 - 69 - Artist Barry Kitson’s first major series, and he wound up co-plotting and even writing much of it, quite adeptly I should add. A few storylines were left dangling when he left to go draw Superman and the series just wasn’t the same after his departure.

COMIC - Detective Comics #855 - I’ve been a JH Williams III fan from the start, but this is just some absolutely insane artwork and still incredible graphic storytelling.

COMIC - The New Teen Titans Annual #2 - 5 - All written by Marv Wolfman, all beyond tedious reading. The Brother Blood origin in particular would be perfect for insomniacs.

MOVIE - G-Force - Harmless, unassuming, forgettable entertainment for kids.

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[...learned #200] blogs are dead

July 20th, 2009 Graig

This will be my last post for this iteration of the blog.
I would like to say that it will be the last geekent blog entry ever, but that’s most likely a lie as I’ll no doubt return someday, but for now, I’m done.

“365 things…” I knew would be a challenge, and one I thought simpler than it actually was. The fact was that within the first two week I was already finding myself falling behind on the “daily” activity of blogging five times a day, and within two months I was playing catch-up more often than not. I love the concept and I wish I had the wherewithal to stick it through, but I’m tired of thinking about it, putting pressure on myself to update, and, honestly, I’m a little bored with it. I’ve been blogging almost non-stop for over seven years… seven bloody years!

What I initially started the blog for was to help keep me writing, to keep my fingers and mind fresh, but it eventually became the center of my writing. I’ve barely written any prose, scripts, fiction, dialogue or any of the sort in years because I’m too busy updating the nuances of my life and my consumption. I mean, I’m writing all this for myself, and really, I’m the only one applying pressure to do it, and that pressure is misguided. I should be applying pressure on myself to get some books written, work on those comic projects that have been festering for so long, focus on writing good reviews again… that sort of thing.

The blog was always for me, it’s never been about an audience, but the fact that I don’t really have an audience (my wife, my mom, Joan, Toast, GAK… I can count my regular readers on two hands, and I’m sure the irregular readers can be counted on my toes) makes the decision so much easier. Who am I letting down? Love you guys but I’m going to try to make something more worthwhile than a record of what I ate in a year.

Nobody blogs anymore. When I started there was a community of bloggers that made this insular activity a social one. People, life and technologies have changed, and that blogospheric community disappeared, if not exactly dissolved. It moved on to Facebook and Twitter and left me behind. There are two or three people I knew from back when that I can point to that are still actively blogging, and doing so because they’ve made something of it. They engage an audience, they make money from it, it’s not just a time consuming recreation but a part of their professional life. My professional life shouldn’t make room for blogging and my recreational life has just gotten busier.

Blogs are dead, unless you’re sponsored, unless you’re clever and funny, focussed and willing to network. I frankly don’t have the time. I’m too busy blogging to network, too busy trying to maintain my own ideas and ideals to try and wrangle people to come and share in them. Let’s be frank though, I’m just not unique enough. My opinions on popular culture, well, they are better formed than most, but I’m perhaps not as informed as those who do this professionally, leading to the question of who am I to say these things? My opinions on life, well, I’m not Jon Stewart or Jerry Seinfeld, I’m not Henry Rollins or Rick Mercer. I don’t find enough humour or outrage in what goes on in my life or the world around me to make observations of interest to few other than myself, and I can tell my family and friends these things in person… what do I need a blog for. What I have to say, it’s personal, sort of, but it’s not unique.

Thing is I’ve kind of stopped using the internet for anything other than blogging. I don’t really read things on-line all that often anymore, I don’t visit any website with any regularity, and I don’t have any other blogs which I read with regularity. Having to maintain this blog has taken away my enthusiasm for what the internet has available. I spend my days at work on a computer and when I come home, I don’t really want to be on the computer anymore if I don’t have to be and I formatted this blog so that I’d have to be.

So, as I’ve rambled on for over 600 words, I find I’ve lost my train of thought, which is another reason I’m calling it quits. I have distractions, lovely little distractions aged 2 weeks and 7 years, not to mention a beautiful wife and a fantastic house, all of which make blogging seem unimportant in comparison. If I’m going to take time away from these wonderful things in my immediate life, not to mention the many great friends I have in my extended life who I don’t spend nearly enough time with, then I might as well be doing something worthwhile and meaningful with that time.

Yes, there was a time when this blog was worthwhile, when it was meaningful to me, and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t still have some meaning, but it doesn’t have the same purpose it once did for me and I’m only cheating myself to continue doing it out of some sense of misguided devotion.

“365 Things…” comes to a close with three up-to-date categories ending at 200 and two others shy of the mark by 47 and 38 posts, and I know I’d never catch up. In 200 days I’ve logged over 800 posts, which is kind of insane when you look at it, and I’m better for spending the next 165 days doing something, almost anything else.

I’ll still be on-line, over at Second Printing from time to time as I feel the need to ramble on about comics or comic-related things, and also at Thor’s Comic Column at Chud.com where I’ll still be reviewing comic books, and on Facebook, which I visit with more than monthly regularity now. Maybe I’ll even Twitter, but not likely, because the mere mention of “tweets” in the media sends me into wincing spasms. I’m also updating my Flickr account with pictures of my beautiful daughter and my family.

So, “365 Things…” is over. geekent is far from done, however, just done for now.

Tags: 200

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[...consumed all new #200] Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain

July 20th, 2009 Graig

After catching an episode of Anthony Bourdain’s foodie travelogue show No Reservations (”all new #142″), I found myself enjoying his rather prosaic narrative voiceover, riddled with surly good humor as well as an unbridled enthusiasm for new experiences, moreover new food sensations. His candor and cadence enticed me to return viewings of the show and upon learning he was the writer of the somewhat notorious Kitchen Confidential, I knew I wanted to read that book. The fact that I’ve been consuming pretty much nothing but semi-humorous autobiographies in the book department this year made it a perfect fit.

The book hasn’t let me down. Bourdain has an assertive way with words and an assured style that seeps humour, sarcasm, earnestness, affection, and bitterness all at different times. Bourdain recounts his first discovery of food as something more than just sustenance, but a sensory experience and how that led him into the business of working in kitchens, of learning the stations and the attitude needed to survive in an almost militaristic setting, not to mention absorbing the knowledge of flavours and textures and presentation, as well as the business end of things like an eager sponge.

The book is a record of Bourdain’s personal journey in dozens of kitchens throughout New York (and elsewhere from time to time), recounting the people he met, cooks, waiters, owners, patrons along the way that helped him grow as a chef, as a businessman and as an individual. The journey was an arduous one, the shenanigans they got up to with his co-workers, the drugs and alcohol, the highs and the copious lows as he made his way to being not just a chef, but a respected one.

The book doesn’t glorify the chef’s life, nor does it demonize it. Bourdain obviously has great affection for his profession, and yet takes no pains to sugar coat its tortured reality. The restaurant business is high-stakes and volatile, chefs and staff hopping from kitchen to kitchen as the opportunity presents itself, a chef’s loyalty reserved for those who earn it.

Understanding what’s happening in the back room, the scramble you may catch through the order-up window or a swinging door is revealed in it’s full damnable glory, as well as some personal beefs of the business and good practices as a patron (such as when to order the fish and why you shouldn’t eat your steak well done).

I’m an amateur foodie, and I feel embarrassed to even call myself such after reading about Bourdain’s love and adventurousness with food. Even though Bourdain’s prose is riddled with food and kitchen terminology which sometimes are explained and other times left alone, as if you know, this is a book accessible to anyone, not just chefs or foodies. It’s thoroughly engrossing, highly amusing, and on more than one occasion I found myself salivating at his rather loving descriptions of meals he’s prepped or eaten.

Tags: 200

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[...i ate #200] Skittles

July 20th, 2009 Graig

I stole JJ’s Skittles (not out of his hand, but from his candy jar while he was off at his dad’s) and ate ‘em all up. Bad, step-papa, bad. I’ll be paying for it with a mild tummy ache and adult onset diabetes in 20 years. Karma.
Yes, I tasted the rainbow and it made me a little sick to my stomach.

Tags: 200

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[...about me #162] 33 bands, masterlist:

July 19th, 2009 Graig

Since we’re coming to the end I thought I’d just drop this out there, incomplete though it is…

1 Modest Mouse X
2 The National X
3 TV on the Radio X
4 Futureheads X
5 De La Soul X
6 Blackalicious
7 Menomena X
8 Golden Dogs X
9 Parkas X
10 Matt Murphy X
11 Interpol X
12 Femme Generation
13 New Poronographers (?)
14 Novillero/Rod Slaughter X
15 Subtle
16 Radiohead
17 underworld
18 Ratatat X
19 Q-tip X
20 The Orb
21 !!! X
22 Danger Mouse X
23 Damon Albarn X
24 Godspeed, You Black Emperor X
25 Swell
26 Amon Tobin (?)
27 Stephin Merritt
28 Wordburglar
29
30
31
32
33

Tags: 162

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[...consumed all new #199] Wednesday Comics #2 (of 12)

July 19th, 2009 Graig

Now that we have a second issue we can see where these stories are going:

Batman - Azzarello and Rizzo have drummed up a pulp noir tale complete with murder, attempted murder, the upper class, mystery, and a femme fatale. Rizzo’s layout is superb, really nabbing the newspaper serial feel.

Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth - Ryan Sook’s art is absolutely stunning, a luscious tribute to Jack Kirby’s creation with an unfortunately tedious dime-novel prosaic narrative from Dave Gibbons.

Superman - Last issue, Superman battled an alien creature who shook the hero’s foundation with a simple question. Now Clark visits Gotham and his old pal Bruce looking for answers. John Acrudi’s story seems simple but poignant and Lee Bermejo expertly captures the facial nuances in his lavish, tangible art that the story’s emotional underpinning really needs.

Deadman - “The Dearly Departed Detective Part II”, as Deadman goes on the hunt to take down a serial killer using his unique abilities, he’s warned off by his benefactor. But her warning falls on deaf ears, as Boston Brand winds in a situation beyond his control. Dave Bullock and Vinton Heuck’s story started off choppy but has established itself nicely here, with Bullock’s “Animated” art allied with a heavy dose of ink, complimenting the story nicely with some playful panel arrangements.

Green Lantern - After last issues meandering opening as Ferris Aircraft employees gabbed away while bellying up to the bar, I thought perhaps Kurt Busiek didn’t understand how to use this new format to its maximum effect, but this issue’s strip, he seems to be more than aware of his medium and is putting together something very adventurous in construction. Joe Quenones’ New Frontier-inspired art is magnifique.

Metamorpho - It’s Neal Gaiman and Mike Allred, need I say more? Okay, there’s a sub-feature here, “A Message For YOU From The Metamorpho Fans Of America”… blue blazes, that’s a club I want to join.

Teen Titans - The current-ish Teen Titans roster squares off against the new Trident, only to have their butts handed to them and the older Titans coming to their rescue. Robin is embarassed. The story by Eddie Berganza is one of the least enticing in the Wednesday Comics roster, and Sean Galloway’s art, while colored with a pleasant anime style, doesn’t give much in the way of dynamic visuals or layout.

Strange Adventures - Paul Pope delivers the pulpiest of pulpy sci-fi tales as Adam Strange takes on a horde of invading monkeymen, only to have his beloved (and scantily clad) Alanna taken hostage. What a pickle. It’s terrifically entertaining and so visually curious.

Supergirl - It’s a delightfully light and fluffy tale from husband and wife duo of Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Connor as Supergirl chases Streaky the Super-cat and Krypto the Super-dog throughout Metropolis, wreaking havoc as they go.

Metal Men - Dan Didio writes (!) a retro-70’s set piece for Jose Luis Garcia Lopez and Kevin Knowlan to illustrate, as the Metal Men foil a bank robbery. It may not seem like much, but it just oozes that classic 70’s comic vibe and it’s quite a treat.

Wonder Woman - The murky visuals of Ben Caldwell’s plus the panel-cramped page of the first chapter made this second chapter an unfortunate skip. Caldwell looks to be attempting much bang for the buck with his page, but it’s a chore to read.

Sgt. Rock - The story by Adam Kubert is perfectly okay (Sarge has been caught by the enemy and is undergoing interrogation) but the nine-panel grid layout of the story, not unlike any normal comic book page, reveals an unfortunate lack of invention on legendary creator Joe Kubert’s part. Think outside the box.

The Flash/Iris West - Karl Kerschl and Brendan Fletcher’s double strip page tells one story using two styles. It’s wacky, it’s fun, and Kerschl is obviously having great fun with the format. The story involves an almost sit-com style set-up that involves time travel. Perhaps the best among them.

The Demon/Catwoman - Selena has just escaped from a dinner date with Jason Blood which was a pretense for scoping out his mansion, unaware that as she returns in full catsuit later that night, there are malevolent forces lying in wait for her. Walt Simonson doles out an unexpected team-up while Brian Stelfreeze bangs out a great looking page.

Hawkman - It’s freakin’ Kyle Baker writing and drawing Hawkman. How great is that. Pretty great, in fact, as Hawkman takes on a some hijackers aboard a passenger flight. “Your companions are dead. The rest of you will envy them before I’m done with you.” Hawkman = badass.

I give this an 11.5/15.

Tags: 199

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[...consumed all new #198] Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter #2 (of 3)

July 19th, 2009 Graig

The previous issue found our Thor-like skeletal-horseface hero making a solemn vow to end the terror and suffering, not to mention the cataclysmic planet-eating, of his purpleness-of-hunger, Galactus, once and for all. His heroically nobel deed aided an entire population off their homeworld and to new terrain, sparing them their bitter fate. But Stardust and the Silver Surfer, Galactus’ heralds, aren’t about to stand idly by and let this feather-helmeted freakshow interfere with their business, which leads to this issue’s showdown between the power cosmic of the Surfer versus Bill’s Stormbreaker hammer, while Stardust tracks the refugees to their new homeland and decrees them to once again be Galactus’ next victims. Writer Kieron Gillen’s first issue was entertaining, but this issue brings a host of devilish twists into play as Beta Ray Bill finds himself taking on a task that he has no hope in achieving, a somewhat twisted take on David and Goliath. Penciler Kano, with Alvaro Lopez on ink and Javier Rodriguez on colors, delivers a good looking book, high on intense, hard-hitting action while nicely establishing alien worlds, technologies and species. The book does cost $3.99, featuring two 22-page stories each issue, with the back-up reprinting Beta Ray Bill’s first appearances from Thor 337 - 339 by Walt Simonson. A good deal if you’ve not already read them a half dozen times.

Tags: 198

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[...consumed all new #197] The Brave and the Bold #25

July 19th, 2009 Graig

The Milestone characters’ transition into the DC Universe proper hasn’t exactly been a graceful one. Static’s emerging in the pages of Terror Titans mini-series provided little value to the character and only marginally more to the series, while the Shadow Cabinet’s higher-profile arrival in the pages of Milestone founder Dwayne McDuffie’s Justice League of America run seemed just as coherent as the rest of his run (which was marred by editorial edicts and continuity kerfuffles). But the Milestone characters get their spotlight in DC’s team-up book, The Brave and the Bold, currently in middle of a run of three stand-alone issues. Last issue saw the pairing of Static and Black Lightning, whilst next issue reintroduces Xombi as he meets the Spectre (written by Xombi creator John Rozum, sweet).

This issue find Hardware reluctantly teaming up with the Blue Beetle as they strive to stop an Intergang armaments exchange to The System in Northern Mexico. Hardware has a connection to the buyers from back in Dakota, so he he has a vested interest in ensuring that the transfer doesn’t happen. Beetle, still a bit young, still a bit inexperienced, seems to only be getting in his way, but must prove to the grizzled armored fighter that he can more than hold his own.

Writer Adam Beechen works hard to bring Hardware’s story, now well over a decade since last published, back into the fore, and with middling results. At this stage, most Milestone readers will be hard-pressed to recall where Hardware’s story left off, or really remember the man’s personality, his convictions, and so it’s really tough to say whether Beechen gets it right. His Blue Beetle, on the other hand, is still relatively fresh off cancellation (now appearing as a back-up feature in Booster Gold) and he’s not exactly on-character either, a bit more hip-hop than he usually is.

Roger Robinson and Hilary Barta handle the art chores decently enough, nothing spectacular, but fully serviceable in telling the story. The story itself is of the done-in-one-but-leaving-room-for-more sort, a real 70’s-style team-up story, and it is enjoyable, if far from enthralling. But these days, $3 - $4 a comic, you really do need that little something more.

Tags: 197

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[...consumed all new #196] The Brave and the Bold

July 19th, 2009 Graig

I had yet to see an episode of the new Batman team-up cartoon, The Brave and the Bold, save for a few curious glances on youtube, but I have to say I really, really like what I saw. Finally here’s a younger-audience superhero adventure cartoon that doesn’t isolate an older audience, though some of the grandiose dialogue and cheeky repartee may not sit well with people who like their superheroes dark. TBATB takes Batman and brightens him up, no longer the dark knight, but not quite to Adam West levels either.

Each show starts with a 1 minute bumper team up (this episode was Batman and the Question) with the main episode story containing a different pairing. Here we had a triple threat, with Batman meeting up with a depressed Aquaman and the duo accidentally getting tagged by a Zeta beam and transported to the planet Rann. There they meet it’s Earthly champion, Adam Strange, the sole protector of their otherwise docile and technically advanced civilization. The lizard-like aliens, the Gordanians have invaded and it’s up to the three heros to overthrow the wanna-be rulers.

It’s a rip-snorting fun time, with vibrant, blocky animation that finally breaks from the Bruce Timm mold, and, what I love most, lots of b-list (and lower) superheroes (yay). I watched this with my wife, but think watching it with my step-son would be even more fun.

Tags: 196

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[...consumed anew #195] Muppets On-Line

July 19th, 2009 Graig

The Muppets re-do some classical compositions for the web…

Tags: 195

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[...learned #199] Asus EEE Keyboard

July 19th, 2009 Graig

Want!

It’s a keyboard with a built-in computer that also has a wireless connection that hooks into the TV to use it as a monitor. Estimated price is around $500-600 US, so I’ll likely get one when it’s about half that.

Intel Atom 1.6 GHZ processor
16 GB drive
Windows XP operating system (no vista, yay)
1.5 hr battery life (boo)

Tags: 199

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[...consumed all new #194] The Invincible Iron Man

July 19th, 2009 Graig

Marvel has produced a few direct-to-video animated features over the years, featuring some pretty great animation that’s above and beyond what’s normally seen on Saturday morning fare, but not quite up to snuff with a theatrical release. Their target, unlike most cartoons, are for a teen-plus audience, meaning the action is more intense and some of the themes are a bit more mature.

The Invincible Iron Man predated the Jon Favreau directed blockbuster by about 9-months, which is rather unfortunate as the animated feature covers a lot of the familiar ground that the live-action film did, only in a slight variation. The telling and retelling of origin stories is one of the most annoying aspects of translating superheroes to other media, and it shows a decided lack of creativity and inventiveness on the part of the producers of these various productions in doing so.

In the animated feature, Tony Stark squares off against the Mandarin, or rather his demonic henchmen, after Stark Industries helps resurrect a buried temple which unleashes ancient malevolent Chinese forces. There’s subplots involving an anti-Mandarin cult, a love story, and corporate intrigue at Stark Industries, together with the Rhodey/Tony bromance and the tedious Iron Man origin. They pack in a lot, and it looks good, but it feels too familiar, and, if anything, the animation doesn’t take advantage of it’s limitless storytelling and action possibilities, thus the fight sequences are kind of bland.

Unlike DC Comics’ direct-to-video features, Marvel’s productions keep costs down by hiring workhorse voice actors (familiar to most Saturday morning watchers, or viewers of dubbed Anime) instead of celebrity voice talent. One’s not preferable to the other as long as they both work, which they do (in fact, sometimes the “spot the celebrity” can be distracting).

Tags: 194

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[...about me #161] lyrics

July 19th, 2009 Graig

I have a horrendous time remembering lyrics to songs, even songs I’ve heard hundreds of times or made pains to learn the lyrics to I can’t remember. Then again I also have a hard time remembering how songs progress musically, making singing or humming tunes challenging. As much as I love music, my brain, I think, isn’t wired for it.

I do want to learn some songs to sing to LL though, so I’ll need to find a repertoire. I don’t think rapping “Bitties in the BK Lounge” is something she’ll want to hear when she’s 2 or 3 and trying to fall asleep.

Tags: 161

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[...learned #198] classicaLL

July 19th, 2009 Graig

The mobile and vibrating lounge chair Joany gave us for LL both play 8-bit versions of classical and kids music, and while LL kind of responds to them, she enjoys even more real classical music. Aden has kicking around some Baby Mozart and Baby Bach DVDs which she likes, but I’ve been putting on the Galaxy Classique Populare channel on the Rogers cable box and she just loves it. As well, I’ve been playing some Sousa marches for her which she seems to intently listen to.

She also likes it when I sing to her though, which just shows she doesn’t quite have a discerning musical ear just yet. I tend to sing in falsetto (ala Barry Gibb) or in hums or quiet doo-wop chants I make up as I go.

Tags: 198

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[...about me #160/learned #197] walking tall

July 19th, 2009 Graig

In conversation at dinner last night my mother-in-law noted that my wife and her brother both bypassed the crawling stage and started walking. Aden noted that JJ did the same. I didn’t actually know about myself, so later that evening I called my mother and asked her and she stated that both my sister and I had “strong legs” and started walking at around 7 to 8 months.

Crawling at 8 - 12 months is normal, with walking to follow at around the year-old mark, but it’s obviously not uncommon for babies just to go for it first thing. In other words, I have some time to babyproof the house.

Tags: 160, 197

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[...learned #196] colic

July 19th, 2009 Graig

I’ve never understood what exactly makes for a “colicky baby”, except that they cry a lot. Well, apparently that’s all it is… an otherwise normally growing child between newborn and 3 months that just, well, cries a lot, mainly in the evening, and is only temporarily soothed. This more frequently occurs in bottle-fed babies, but breastfed babies can be colicky too.

LL isn’t a full-bore colicky baby, as stated previously, she cries when she’s gassy, hungry, poopy or exposed. But she often is only consolable through feeding (and I don’t really want to set any sort of food-as-comfort precident) or some strange movement (she likes the sensation of being walked up and down the stairs, which is hard to simulate otherwise without walking up and down the stairs, which can be tiring, and perhaps a little dangerous holding a baby).

Tags: 196

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[...learned #195] weight up

July 19th, 2009 Graig

LL was weighed at the doctorbs office on Friday, coming in at a husky 7lbs, 4oz. I really think I should start going metric with height and weight with the kid, since it is the Canadian way after all, and she’s yet another generation removed from the Imperial system… but I digress.

Newborns typically lose weight during their first week and then get back up to their birth weight at around two weeks old, usually gaining about two-thirds of an ounce each day.

LL was born 7lbs exact, left the hospital at 6lbs 9oz, was weighed at the doctor’s three days later at 6lbs 10oz, and a week later was 7lbs 4oz. She does well, this little girl.

Tags: 195

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[...consumed anew #153] Kill Bill Vol.2

July 19th, 2009 Graig

I’ve seen Vol. 1 about a half dozen times, but Vol. 2 only once, to the point that I’ve forgotten the rhythm of the film. I only watched about 20 minutes of Vol.2 on television at 2am, which, by the way, is not the way to watch it, pan-and-scan and broken up for commercials, but it was feeding time for the baby and bedtime for me which is the only reason I didn’t continue to watch. I forget completely how the Bride escapes from her coffin and takes revenge on Budd and I would love to see the masterfully shot trailer home sword fight with Elle Driver again.

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[...consumed anew #152] A Night At The Roxbury

July 19th, 2009 Graig

With the exception of Stuart Saves His Family, I’ve seen all the Saturday Night Live spin-off movies, and while none of them can be considered good movies (nope, not even Wayne’s World or The Blues Brothers), they are in a strange generic way, enjoyable. A Night At The Roxbury was the first of three SNL movies from the late 90’s era of the show (followed by Superstar and The Ladies Man), and while I enjoyed it mildly at the time of its release, it’s not been something I needed to watch again. Alas, awake late with the little one, it was really the only thing on that I could kill 40 minutes with.
It’s weird seeing Will Ferrell in a movie from before he was “Will Ferrell”. He’s completely reigned in throughout the film, and while he inhabits the character he plays with the same dedication he always has, he’s the more demure of the Roxbury boys (Chris Kattan playing the more energetic and volatile brother) which I think makes the film less entertaining then it could have been. Not that there was really a lot of mileage in the Roxbury boys to begin with.

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[...consumed all new #193] Hotbox

July 19th, 2009 Graig

Canadian sketch comedy has long had two levels: pandering populist crap and the irreverent cutting-edge, only rarely, such as with Rick Mercer, have the twain met. For every Kids in the Hall there’s a Smith & Smith, for Codco an Air Farce. We do have a history of some great, if underexposed sketch comedy - SCTV, Four on the Floor, The Vacant Lot, Radio Free Vestibule, Corky and the Juicepigs - but we also have our weak teas - our Wayne and Shuster, our Comedy Inc., our Bizarre, the latter of which seem to enjoy some unfortunate longevity. So when a new Canadian-bred sketch comedy show pops up, one has to cast a wary eye towards it.

Hotbox is the brainchild of Pat Thornton, a sketch comedy show more in the vein of Tim and Eric than Mad TV, dispensing with the studio audience and going full bore production sketches, with some keen retro-styled animation for the title sequence and acting as bumpers before commercial breaks. The humor is generally irreverent, often oblique, dark, or nonsensical, but, most importantly, nine times out of ten, it’s funny. Thornton enlists a slew of recognizable faces (if you know Canadian comedy at all, at least) for the show, plus animators and puppets. The production values are great… we’ve gotten far away from any “Canadian” aesthetic. Like most Comedy Network shows, Hotbox is watchable on-line

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