(Mostly) Off-topic:

I've been thinking about music a little more than usual, but unfortunately, it's about music I no longer have. Moreover, it's music I no longer have and am not about to pay for again; songs I had on tape or CD's that I've lost or had stolen over the course of years. It started when the Oldest liked the Talking Heads' "Take me to the River," and the Youngest loved "Psycho Killer" (the 'fa-fa-fa-fa" bit cracks him up) and I remembered I lost my old Stop Making Sense CD. The Sand in the Vaseline set doesn't have "Life During Wartime" on it? Did we lose said war? (No "Slippery People" either, and both were story titles in old Captain America issues by Mark Gruenwald.)

And that opened the floodgates: old Police stuff? Completely gone. The Deftones, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Anthrax (I went through a metal period...), David Bowie, the Breeders, Prince, Morphine, I think even the first They Might Be Giants album; those and dozens more not on my hard drive and hence nowhere.

Yes, I know I could use iTunes or some other silly thing to download anything I miss, but currently I'm standing by my guns; since I already paid for those damn songs once at least. I sure as hell don't need to pay for something like Bush twice, that's for damn certain. (I do appreciate "Glyercine" a lot more since Homer reworked it...I guess that episode wasn't popular, but I loved it.) Also, I don't want to rack up a huge bill...ala another Simpsons episode.

More unrelated nonsense after the break!


I'm a fairly healthy chap: I bike a lot, walk my dog, get a good night's sleep. (When I'm not immersed in a game or toiling away to bring you bloggy goodness.) But I also have, at best, a nodding familiarity with 'nutrition.' (Yeah, nodding at it as it leaves...) So, I've been trying to take advantage of the finally pleasant weather, and get more exercise; including getting back to the weights and sit-ups and whatnot.

So, I got the bright idea from some half-remembered tidbit from a magazine; that Britney Spears, when she's in shape, does 200 sit-ups a day. Well, I figured if she could do it...and maybe I couldn't do it all in one sitting, but if I did 200 sit-ups at some point during the day...currently, my abs might not be a six-pack, but that doesn't matter since I can't stand upright.

Maybe I should just, I dunno, eat a vegetable or something. By the way, don't you love supposedly helpful hints, for losing weight or saving cash or magically improving the marginal quality of your life, that you're already doing? Like when you hear someone say, like it's a state secret, that you can shave unwanted flab by taking the stairs instead of the elevator? Hey, great plan! I've been taking the stairs for years, but now that you've told me, I'm sure the flub will just melt off now!

Financial planning advice is in the same vein for me: ride a bike instead of paying for gas, make your own coffee instead of buying lattes, don't eat out? Hey, I do all that, and I still don't have enough cash for all the comics I want. It's just the kind of advice people parrot when they want to feel smart or empowered; or the crumbs of actual help those without financial problems deign to give those who do; and it's not really enough of either.

So whenever I get crappy advice like that, I feel like Joel, Crow, and Servo in the Mystery Science Theatre 3000 movie, as they try to get tech support for their Interocitor.

As alluded to above, I am in the middle of a game: Ghosts 'n Goblins, on the Capcom Classics Collection for PS2. I'm old enough to have played it in the arcades, but had never made it as far as I did yesterday, finishing level 5...only to be told I had to have the useless goddamn shield as a weapon and sent back to the start of four.

Per my long-standing attempt to eschew profanity here, I can not adequately describe how that made me feel. I also can't save on this game, so my PS2 is still on, as I sit here at work mentally berating myself for not calling in sick...


Read more!

How to get killed:

Step 1: If you're not a member of the Challengers of the Unknown, force your way onto one of their missions. For best results, try and make it a mission into space!

Step 2: Betray the Challs, and earth, to the first alien monster you see.

Step 3: Repeat when...oh, never mind.

Don't worry, you will be remembered!

This was from a flashback issue from the late 90's version of the Challs: Challengers of the Unknown #16, "Today is a long time coming" Written by Steven Grant, art by Mike Zeck (pictured) and John Paul Leon (the framing sequences), inks by Denis Rodier (pictured) and Bill Reinhold (framing). This series was mostly new, X-Files styled Challengers, with occasional appearances by and stories from the originals. The old-school Challengers appearances were set around the times they were originally published, the late fifties and on. That setup seems like the way to go with the characters, even if no one wants to accept that Rocky, Red, Ace, Prof, and June would all be a little long in the tooth in that case.

I don't have all the issues of the 90's version, but I'm wondering if the underlying conspiracy of the book was ever resolved; or like X-Files, it was strung on for too long to be wrapped up. I also want to reread the Howard Chaykin "reimagining" now, too. Read more!