No blog today!

Well, not really, anyway. Yesterday, the kids, the girlfriend, and I went to Cat Tales and saw the lions, tigers, and so forth. Including a glum and uncredited bear:

That was a lot of fun! Then, we came home, and while I watched Chronicle and the Tom Baker/Dr. Who special on BBC America; the Youngest and I packed a ton of boxes for my upcoming move.


So many boxes...most of that is from my main bookshelf, which was overloaded well beyond usefulness, as there were books I haven't seen in ages there. Then, there's about two and a half boxes of VHS tapes: the Youngest boxed them up like a champ; although the Girlfriend is somewhat appalled that I even have a VCR anymore. But sometimes there's stuff that somehow still hasn't made it to DVD, let alone Blu-Ray. Like this one!

Yes, "the Only X-Men Animated Adventure Ever Created!" Except, um, all those others. It's still only on VHS, the old animated pilot, released in 1992: X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men. As usual, don't pay that price for a VHS copy, but if you can't hold out, as usual these days you can just watch it online, yes?

With a little luck, I should be back to work tomorrow. Unless my spine crimps up from moving this nonsense...
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Normal bloggerel...doggerel, recommencing, shortly-ish.

Long-time readers here may have noticed the relative dearth of new posts around here lately. It's not just that I've been working too much, though: afraid I've been without internet, and cable TV, for um, a month, month and a half? Two months, is that right? Huh. I had set up a batch of posts ahead of time, but between Christmas and work, I haven't had the money or the time (or both at the same time) to get set back up until now.

So, what did I do when I wasn't blogging?

Slept.

Played a lot of Gator Golf. Am currently about $40,000 in the hole to the Oldest. Skins game my ass.

The Oldest and I may have to crack and buy real putters, or at least ones that are meant for taller toddlers. The Youngest has a little golf set, but hates the clubs for some reason. I think he wanted me to throw them away at one point, and now he won't even let me get them down from the top of the cabinet. No idea why.

Started X-Men Legends II. Back when I wrote this, neither the Oldest nor I remembered where we are in the game, what we were doing, or what our goals were. So, it's like where I am in the X-Men comics now. Hey-oh!

Set up the new computer I got for Christmas...then couldn't really use for three weeks.

Watched a lot of movies, quite a few on VHS, since there's a batch I've never gotten around to (or may never get around to) replacing. Some of them:

Blade Runner (VHS Director's Cut) And re-read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which I absolutely recommend: the book has a lot of differences, but I can find something new in it every time I read it.

Shadow of the Vampire I had an unopened, used copy of it, and finally popped it open. And...it was all right. Maybe better if I had seen Nosferatu more recently than twenty years ago, or maybe it's not a strong enough premise for a whole movie.

Wu Tang Clan Not the rap group, but one of the pile of old kung-fu movies I've picked up on the cheap over the years. Not the best one ever, but it does have a novel plot.

Hard-Boiled, the Killer, Bullet in the Head, A Better Tomorrow I&II...I do enjoy the John Woo. I have Just Heroes, but have never been able to enjoy the crappy VHS copy since the subtitles are cut off the screen, an occasional hazard when picking these up. If you haven't seen Bullet in the Head, it's not one of Woo's best known, but it's like his Apocalypse Now, in the sense that it too is a Vietnam War piece and I believe it too was by all accounts, absolutely brutal to film. Still, it ends with a demolition derby-like shoot out, so there's that.

Peace Hotel, the Postman Fights Back, Full Contact, and Hong Kong 1941: I'm also a fan of Mr. Chow Yun-Fat. Full Contact is probably the closest to his traditional action roles, Postman is a kung-fu period piece, Hong Kong 1941 is set during wartime, and Peace Hotel I hadn't seen until now: it's almost like a spaghetti kung-fu western, I'd say. Standoffs and double-crosses. (There may be a longer post in this sometime, but Harrison Ford from Blade Runner and a gangster/killer Chow Yun-Fat, are two of the few unmade action figures left on my wish list, as far as movies go.)

Versus Yakuza mobsters versus zombies and an ancient evil. Pisses me off that I have a ream of old VHS I can still watch, but my DVD of this is skippy.

Star Trek, the Animated Series, the new movie, and any episodes I had lying around.

All of Justice League Unlimited; which I heartily endorse, unless you plan on reading any current DC comics, as they'll pale in comparison.

Finally watched the second X-Files movie, which wasn't bad, if you ignore that most of the case could've been solved with rudimentary detective work, like posting a couple guys outside when you storm the building, or following up on sales of the drug in the victims. Then again, that's not how the game is played there.

And we watched Pixar's Up about a bazillion times. You should too. You know how sometimes, you're watching a movie, and you think, "Oh, they could never do that," or "that would never work"? Yeah, you don't during Up.

Regular bloggerel doggerel commences now, and a new strip is up tomorrow morning.
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Resolute, FCBD, the Oldest's birthday, and anything else I think of now.

I don't think I'll switch to it, but I set up an alternate banner the other day after watching G.I. Joe: Resolute. While I didn't like it as much as some did, I thought it was pretty good. Of course, keep in mind I only occasionally watched the cartoon, and read the comic here and there until maybe #117 or so? So, I don't have the same level of attachment to the Joes that some fans might, and I'm a fan of Warren Ellis to boot. Ah, just watch the thing if you haven't already: it's free and good, what more do you want! Reasonably Intelligent Rambling has got it cued up for you right now, so check it out. (EDIT: A late addition, and slightly off topic, but I thought the strip was going to be about Resolute so I'm counting it: this week's strip from Ages 25 and Up is bloody great!)

I don't have a pile of Joe figures, though; and the DCIH pack I picked up a couple of weeks back was a bit disappointing, but five dollars for three isn't a bad deal if you can find it.

Yesterday was the Oldest's birthday, and the day before, Free Comic Book Day! As usual for the latter, the Comic Book Shop had a pretty good set-up, once again featuring the 501st Legion! Sadly, they haven't set up a similar celebration just for the Oldest, but somehow he'll survive...

Hope you got a good pile of comics yourselves!

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What's my favorite version of Captain America?

Good question. It kind of depends on when you ask, but I'm pretty partial to this one:

Right after this picture, the Youngest bounced that shield off two walls...A big thanks to the Oldest for the picture, and for being a great big brother:

Merry Christmas again, everyone! Read more!

Be Sure to Miss!

Guff. Running behind a little already this week, since yesterday I helped the Wife paint the bathroom. She had me do the taping, and said it would be 'totally easy.' Of course, it totally wasn't, and ate up a lot of time I would've spent blogging or taking pictures or, probably, watching the Venture Brothers and sleeping.

Later this week my parents and my sister and her family will be up here, and it's the Oldest Son's birthday; so who knows how timely any of this will be; but down the line we've got my favorite Legion of Super-Heroes origin, the political campaign and debate process with Thor and his friends, more Yellowjacket and the Wasp action/adventure/dysfunction, and maybe a little piece from the third-best run of Deadpool if something works out for that.

Pretty sure if the Youngest could talk, he'd ask why the 30th Century is so dated and out of style. From the back cover of The Best of DC Blue Ribbon Digest #57, by Pat Broderick: his signature's backwards, next to 'Bizzaro' (it's misspelled on the back cover, which is actually sort of fitting!) Cosmic Boy. Read more!

OK, one more.




This one wasn't even my idea, the wife and kids were big fans of the Gender Bender. The little one tried his best to climb into the ring himself, and I should've got a photo of that before I dragged him off it, kicking and screaming... Read more!