After I got finished reading Batman: The Long Halloween I proclaimed that it was one of the best superhero books I had read all year - it's suspenseful, entertaining, the art is wonderful, and it gives you a real sense into how Batman goes about his work as the "world's greatest detective" (even though he doesn't necessarily live up to that title in this story). Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale are a terrific writer/artist team, and they've done some other wonderful work which I haven't reviewed but really loved (I HIGHLY recommend Superman for All Seasons, which covers the early years of Superman and was apparently some of the basis for the Smallville TV show which is one of my favorites - it's engaging, good-hearted and totally easy for the casual fan to follow). Anyway, back to Batman.
Let me digress for a minute. I was never a DC guy growing up. I mean, I loved the Christopher Reeve Superman movies (the first 2 at least), I loved the terribly wonderfully cheesy Super Friends cartoon with the DC characters, but actually reading DC comics on an ongoing basis was never interesting to me. I was always (and this really applied to almost everyone I knew who read comics growing up) a Marvel guy. Superman and Batman may have been some of the most amazing, iconic characters ever created, but I think they didn't feel cool to us - not nearly as cool as Spider-Man and certainly not as cool as the X-Men. If you wanted to read something that was cool and totally awesome in the early to mid 80's, it was definitely all about the X-Men. They were misfits, they were outlaws, and they battled frickin' giant sentinel robots! Spider-Man was also a character that a young kid could relate to. First off, while he does have super powers, he's not godlike like Superman or Thor (probably why Thor never held any interest for em - he was just too powerful and in his case he was an ACTUAL Norse God!). If a character has the ability to destroy a planet or something, there's not so much you can do with them. Spider-Man, by contrast, was an incredibly human character. He fought bad guys on a relatively modest scale, he was really funny, and seemed to live a much more real life than other characters. Plus Mary Jane was hot. Anyway, all of this is a long-winded way of saying that in recent years, as I have gotten into reading more DC Comics, I have had to play a lot of catch-up. I'm getting a sense of who the players are and what the dynamics are between the various characters. DC has been a around a lot longer, and they seem to have a lot more characters just sort of hanging around. Frankly, a lot of their characters are not that interesting to me. Elongated Man? The Question? Eh, not so much (except perhaps as Question is one of the bases for Rorschach. Still, there's a whole huge universe and it's been a major undertaking trying to catch up.
Back to my review. This is a great story, and I appreciate that Batman really is a detective and is trying to solve crimes. The takeaways on this story are that the art is wonderful - hyper-realistic and occasionally excessive, but portraying the true essence of each character. The writing is terrific, and as a huge Godfather fan I appreciate that the story is chock full of references to that movie. Very clever stuff. I highly recommend.
If my takeaway from The Long Halloween is that it's a great story, then Marvels is an absolute masterpiece. Here's what makes it so special. It takes events that have occurred through the history of the Marvel universe and retells those events from the eyes of a newspaper photographer, so you see and experience what he (and other regular people) were experiencing when these events happened - like, the first appearance of Captain America (who battles the Nazis), or the notoriety of the Fantastic Four, or the appearance (and societal backlash) against mutants like the X-Men. By itself, the story is brilliant. It was exhaustively researched and coordinated by Kurt Busiek to fit perfectly within the Marvel timeline. If that was enough, it would be fantastic. But it is taken to even higher levels of greatness by the artwork of Alex Ross.
Ahh, Alex Ross. Of all the comic artists I have seen, he is far and away my favorite, because his style is so unique and different in the comic books world. He is a painter, and his artwork has the appearance of being painted. See for yourself what I mean. His work is absolutely beautiful and iconic, particularly his work on Superman (and in Kingdom Come which I should talk about some time). Anyway, I definitely have an art-crush on him. I also wish he was illustrating actual books these days. I know he is busy doing covers for different books, but I'd love to see him do a whole book again.
The artwork is amazing and so incredibly life-like, you feel almost like you're reading about real events. The whole thing is an absolute wonder, full of hidden treasures. I've spoken in previous posts about my love for Astro City, and it's clear that the team of Busiek and Ross first developed the idea of telling stories about a universe full of superheroes from doing Marvels. It's a wonderful idea, and here in Marvels they give you a sense of the wonder and danger and conflicting attitudes you might have, living in a world where people exist who can do such extraordinary things.
This one gets my super-duper extra special good highest recommendation. A real treasure.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Gee, Joe, I feel really bad for you
The quote in this link from Conservative talk show host (and former Republican congressman) Joe Scarborough is one of the funniest things I've read in a long time. Um, should we feel bad for them?
On the other hand, the hateful, scary stuff people are yelling at McCain/Palin rallies reminds me a little too much of a lynch mob, or some third world country with coups, dictators and "militias" roaming the streets.
On the other hand, the hateful, scary stuff people are yelling at McCain/Palin rallies reminds me a little too much of a lynch mob, or some third world country with coups, dictators and "militias" roaming the streets.
Monday, October 06, 2008
Update
Good news on the technology front - I got an A/B splitter and it solved the problem with the new DVD player. $16.99 well spent at Radio Shack.
In other news, I'm probably not going to be posting as frequently because I'm taking a writing class and with 2 little kids at home and work as well, there's only so much time in the day for writing. I'll try to post stuff when I can.
In other news, I'm probably not going to be posting as frequently because I'm taking a writing class and with 2 little kids at home and work as well, there's only so much time in the day for writing. I'll try to post stuff when I can.
Thursday, October 02, 2008
I'm so surprised by this finding
Apparently, Tim Donaghy was the only bad actor. Well, whaddya know.
I think Obama will actually win big - you can blame me if it turns out differently
Maybe I am being unrealistic, but I think that recent weeks (the financial crisis in particular) have corrected reality to how I thought it was going to be, which is a big win for Obama in November. I actually don't think it's going to be that close. Here's some evidence.
My day in sales (an old story)
This is an old story about something that happened to me a long time ago, when I was out of work and in between jobs. Actually, it was in the Spring of 2003. Funny (at least to me) experience, so I want to write about it.
I'm a lawyer by profession, but was in between jobs back in 2003 and was considering whether maybe I should be looking at jobs outside the legal profession. I thought about what might be interesting areas to me, and because I think of myself as a reasonably creative guy, I considered jobs in advertising and marketing. So, I looked up job listings and found this one position in a city just outside of Boston. I don't want to give too much detail but I will say that there's a lively discussion here and here of the business and its pitfalls, and here's another very comprehensive overview of what I had gotten myself into. I'm just going to cover my own experience.
The first tip-off that this was going to be weird was that they responded to quickly to my resume. You know that old saying by Groucho Marx that he wouldn't want to be a member of any club that would let him in? That was the initial sense I got. But, I was desperate, and needed to work.
I went to the interview which was pretty weird. It was in this really bare-bones office with a bunch of boxes, and I had a really short interview with this guy that was the owner of the business. He was a young guy, who claimed to be educated at an Ivy League school. I remember sitting in the office beforehand, listening to the receptionist take call after call after call to set up interviews. I thought, "wow, that's a lot of interviews - pretty weird". Anyway, the interview was short, but long enough for me to figure out that this was a business, the foundation of which was door-to-door sales. Yikes. Not exactly what I went to college and law school for, but again, I was desperate.
I was told that I did well and they wanted me to come back for a "day of observation" so I could see what it was like to work as a part of this business. So, I came back two days later for what I was told would be a whole-day experience. Definitely an experience.
I arrived early in the morning as each "team" was getting ready to head out for a day of sales. I was in a car with a guy, let's call him Jock, who claimed to have formerly been a pitcher for a major league baseball team. I later saw his name somewhere on the web and it seems that he may have in fact had a cup of coffee in the bigs, but that was about it. One can only assume that had he done better, he would have been in this particular racket. Anyway, with me and Jock was another guy, let's call him Schlemiel. Schlemiel had already joined the company as a salesperson and was a few weeks in to his formal training. He was really not very good at it, which I'll get to later.
So we drove to a particular neighborhood in a town directly north of Boston, and our job was to canvas that area with booklets for a particular neighborhood car wash. We were to greet each house here by saying something along the lines of:
Salesperson: "Nothing serious here, folks, just going around the neighborhood for ------ car wash."
Homeowner: "ok."
Salesperson: "Do you have a car?"
Homeowner: "Sure."
Salesperson: "Do you like to keep it clean?"
Homeowner: "Sure, I guess."
Salesperson: "Well here, check it out."
At "check it out" the goal was to get the coupon book into the hands of the customer. Apparently at this point they're more likely to want to buy it since it actually seemed like a pretty good deal. Anyway, we walked around the neighborhood for a while, with Jock leading the way, and giving Schlemiel the chance to try, and he was TERRIBLE at it. He would get tongue-tied, and couldn't remember the script. After about 15 minutes I had memorized the script. I felt sort of out of place with these folks, and pretty shitty overall about my life at this point. I remember I used some word (don't remember what) and they characterized me as "Mr. Dictionary" or some other moniker denoting my usage of "big" words.
All the while, Jock was also quizzing me on these certain points tat I'm supposed to learn and remember for a quiz at the end of the day. If you check the links above, you'll see some of these key points, but I remember it being weird, like "what makes a successful person" and my answers were not correct, there were certain correct answers I was supposed to give them.
Anyway, we did this for pretty much the whole day until we had essentially canvassed the whole neighborhood trying to peddle these coupon books for the car wash. We sold a few of these books, but all the while I was walking around I was trying to do the math and come up with some scenario where selling these little books could possibly be profitable. I couldn't come up with one.
At the end of the day we all went back to the offices and this was a social gathering time. As each team came back to the office, there was this incredibly weird ritual where if someone sold a certain number of these booklets (say 5) they got to ring a little bell. If they sold a bigger number (maybe 10) they got to ring the bigger bell. Everyone yelled and cheered for them as this was happening. I looked around, not quite sure I was really experiencing what I seemed to be experiencing.
After the bell-ringing ceremony, there was some socializing where I got a chance to meet some of the other sales people. Everyone was REALLY friendly, but they all asked the same question:
Sales people: "So what do you like to do for fun?"
Me: "Well, I enjoy reading, creative writing, spending time with my wife, being active in my Synagogue, etc."
Well, as you can guess, I got these sort of quizzical looks. I think the answer they were looking for was more "I like to work hard, and play hard!!!" or something to that effect.
At the end of the night after I had taken my quiz, Jock came to me and told me that they had a good feeling about me and wanted to bring me in the the business. I really agonized about it for a little while (which in retrospect seems ridiculous) but at the time I was pretty desperate to be working. As I took the T home, I really had to think about it. It became more and more clear though that I felt like it was kind of a scam, and that I'd have to work too hard for not much money, and that, to be honest, it felt beneath me (I know it's a snobby thing to think, but I really didn't feel like I spent 4 years in college and 3 years in law school to be a door-to-door salesman). Additionally, it required having a car, and we only had one car, so that was a problem too.
Thankfully for me, the legal work picked up after that, I had some good temp work for a while and a few months later got a permanent position at a firm. I'll always look back fondly though at my day in sales. I wonder what Jock and Schlemiel are doing now? I hope he's gotten his script down by now.
I'm a lawyer by profession, but was in between jobs back in 2003 and was considering whether maybe I should be looking at jobs outside the legal profession. I thought about what might be interesting areas to me, and because I think of myself as a reasonably creative guy, I considered jobs in advertising and marketing. So, I looked up job listings and found this one position in a city just outside of Boston. I don't want to give too much detail but I will say that there's a lively discussion here and here of the business and its pitfalls, and here's another very comprehensive overview of what I had gotten myself into. I'm just going to cover my own experience.
The first tip-off that this was going to be weird was that they responded to quickly to my resume. You know that old saying by Groucho Marx that he wouldn't want to be a member of any club that would let him in? That was the initial sense I got. But, I was desperate, and needed to work.
I went to the interview which was pretty weird. It was in this really bare-bones office with a bunch of boxes, and I had a really short interview with this guy that was the owner of the business. He was a young guy, who claimed to be educated at an Ivy League school. I remember sitting in the office beforehand, listening to the receptionist take call after call after call to set up interviews. I thought, "wow, that's a lot of interviews - pretty weird". Anyway, the interview was short, but long enough for me to figure out that this was a business, the foundation of which was door-to-door sales. Yikes. Not exactly what I went to college and law school for, but again, I was desperate.
I was told that I did well and they wanted me to come back for a "day of observation" so I could see what it was like to work as a part of this business. So, I came back two days later for what I was told would be a whole-day experience. Definitely an experience.
I arrived early in the morning as each "team" was getting ready to head out for a day of sales. I was in a car with a guy, let's call him Jock, who claimed to have formerly been a pitcher for a major league baseball team. I later saw his name somewhere on the web and it seems that he may have in fact had a cup of coffee in the bigs, but that was about it. One can only assume that had he done better, he would have been in this particular racket. Anyway, with me and Jock was another guy, let's call him Schlemiel. Schlemiel had already joined the company as a salesperson and was a few weeks in to his formal training. He was really not very good at it, which I'll get to later.
So we drove to a particular neighborhood in a town directly north of Boston, and our job was to canvas that area with booklets for a particular neighborhood car wash. We were to greet each house here by saying something along the lines of:
Salesperson: "Nothing serious here, folks, just going around the neighborhood for ------ car wash."
Homeowner: "ok."
Salesperson: "Do you have a car?"
Homeowner: "Sure."
Salesperson: "Do you like to keep it clean?"
Homeowner: "Sure, I guess."
Salesperson: "Well here, check it out."
At "check it out" the goal was to get the coupon book into the hands of the customer. Apparently at this point they're more likely to want to buy it since it actually seemed like a pretty good deal. Anyway, we walked around the neighborhood for a while, with Jock leading the way, and giving Schlemiel the chance to try, and he was TERRIBLE at it. He would get tongue-tied, and couldn't remember the script. After about 15 minutes I had memorized the script. I felt sort of out of place with these folks, and pretty shitty overall about my life at this point. I remember I used some word (don't remember what) and they characterized me as "Mr. Dictionary" or some other moniker denoting my usage of "big" words.
All the while, Jock was also quizzing me on these certain points tat I'm supposed to learn and remember for a quiz at the end of the day. If you check the links above, you'll see some of these key points, but I remember it being weird, like "what makes a successful person" and my answers were not correct, there were certain correct answers I was supposed to give them.
Anyway, we did this for pretty much the whole day until we had essentially canvassed the whole neighborhood trying to peddle these coupon books for the car wash. We sold a few of these books, but all the while I was walking around I was trying to do the math and come up with some scenario where selling these little books could possibly be profitable. I couldn't come up with one.
At the end of the day we all went back to the offices and this was a social gathering time. As each team came back to the office, there was this incredibly weird ritual where if someone sold a certain number of these booklets (say 5) they got to ring a little bell. If they sold a bigger number (maybe 10) they got to ring the bigger bell. Everyone yelled and cheered for them as this was happening. I looked around, not quite sure I was really experiencing what I seemed to be experiencing.
After the bell-ringing ceremony, there was some socializing where I got a chance to meet some of the other sales people. Everyone was REALLY friendly, but they all asked the same question:
Sales people: "So what do you like to do for fun?"
Me: "Well, I enjoy reading, creative writing, spending time with my wife, being active in my Synagogue, etc."
Well, as you can guess, I got these sort of quizzical looks. I think the answer they were looking for was more "I like to work hard, and play hard!!!" or something to that effect.
At the end of the night after I had taken my quiz, Jock came to me and told me that they had a good feeling about me and wanted to bring me in the the business. I really agonized about it for a little while (which in retrospect seems ridiculous) but at the time I was pretty desperate to be working. As I took the T home, I really had to think about it. It became more and more clear though that I felt like it was kind of a scam, and that I'd have to work too hard for not much money, and that, to be honest, it felt beneath me (I know it's a snobby thing to think, but I really didn't feel like I spent 4 years in college and 3 years in law school to be a door-to-door salesman). Additionally, it required having a car, and we only had one car, so that was a problem too.
Thankfully for me, the legal work picked up after that, I had some good temp work for a while and a few months later got a permanent position at a firm. I'll always look back fondly though at my day in sales. I wonder what Jock and Schlemiel are doing now? I hope he's gotten his script down by now.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Complaints about technology
For a change of pace, I'm going to go ahead and vent about technology issues for a little while.
So back in December our old VCR broke. We thought, "no problem, we can just buy a new one". Turns out (not so surprisingly) that no one makes VCR's anymore. So, we decided to buy a combo VCR/DVD player (even though we had an existing, perfectly good Toshiba DVD player) since that was the only way we could get a VCR. Why buy a VCR, you might ask? We have a bunch of videos for our kids to watch, and it didn't seem like it would be a problem. So, we bought a very nice LG DVR/VCR with a built-in digital tuner and 1080i upconverting. This worked for a while until it started having an incredibly annoying problem of refusing to recognize the existence of the discs you had to put inside it. Problematic, no?
So, I went about figuring out how I was supposed to get it back to LG to fix. They explained to me that all I need to do was send them the original receipt (ha!) and put the DVD player in the original box (ha ha!) and send it back to them along with $69 for labor. So, I spent a ton of time searching all over the place for the receipt (basically ransacked our house) and couldn't find it, but then I got in touch with Best Buy and they explained that they can just send me a duplicate receipt. So that was great, and then I sent it to the UPS store to have it wrapped up, and sent it off to LG.
In the interim I decided to hook up the old DVD player to the TV. Unfortunately I just couldn't get it to work. The configuration was different. Back when we used this old DVD player we had it connected through the VCR. Now it was different and for some reason I couldn't get it to work.
No matter - just a few weeks later I got back a box with what appeared to be a brand new DVD player. I realized that it actually was a brand new one. In fact, it was an upgrade over my previous one. Whereas my old one only had 1080i upconverting, this one had full 1080p upconverting. So, very exciting, everyone loves a free upgrade. Unfortunately, not so great. I hooked up the DVD player as I normally would (I have done this sort of thing several times before, and am reasonably good at figuring this stuff out), but it just wouldn't work. So, I called a friend of mine who is more tech-savvy than I am and asked for his help. He was stumped, until we eventually discovered that this new DVD player is not designed to work with our old TV (perfectly good CRT television, 9 years old). So, now we have 2 perfectly good DVD players, neither of which can work with our television set.
My friend suggested a number of possible options: (i) buy an A/B switcher box to go back and forth; (ii) buy a receiver and run everything through the receiver; or (iii) buy a new TV.
Now, I like options (ii) and (iii) because our current stereo is a boombox-style Aiwa stereo that I bought in 1994 when was in college and it has been a complete POS ever since I bought it (the tape deck hasn't worked in years, and the CD player doesn't work either, at this point it's just a large radio). I have been holding out on replacing it because I didn't want to replace it with another POS, I wanted to actually get a good stereo system. I also like the idea of getting an LCD flat-panel TV.
Mostly, I am annoyed and a little bitter. We actually have 3 DVD players in the house, if you count the one that is a part of our computer but that has weird problems whenever you try to watch a DVD. So, 3 DVD players in the house, and none of them work. No pithy conclusion, I'm just sort of frustrated.
So back in December our old VCR broke. We thought, "no problem, we can just buy a new one". Turns out (not so surprisingly) that no one makes VCR's anymore. So, we decided to buy a combo VCR/DVD player (even though we had an existing, perfectly good Toshiba DVD player) since that was the only way we could get a VCR. Why buy a VCR, you might ask? We have a bunch of videos for our kids to watch, and it didn't seem like it would be a problem. So, we bought a very nice LG DVR/VCR with a built-in digital tuner and 1080i upconverting. This worked for a while until it started having an incredibly annoying problem of refusing to recognize the existence of the discs you had to put inside it. Problematic, no?
So, I went about figuring out how I was supposed to get it back to LG to fix. They explained to me that all I need to do was send them the original receipt (ha!) and put the DVD player in the original box (ha ha!) and send it back to them along with $69 for labor. So, I spent a ton of time searching all over the place for the receipt (basically ransacked our house) and couldn't find it, but then I got in touch with Best Buy and they explained that they can just send me a duplicate receipt. So that was great, and then I sent it to the UPS store to have it wrapped up, and sent it off to LG.
In the interim I decided to hook up the old DVD player to the TV. Unfortunately I just couldn't get it to work. The configuration was different. Back when we used this old DVD player we had it connected through the VCR. Now it was different and for some reason I couldn't get it to work.
No matter - just a few weeks later I got back a box with what appeared to be a brand new DVD player. I realized that it actually was a brand new one. In fact, it was an upgrade over my previous one. Whereas my old one only had 1080i upconverting, this one had full 1080p upconverting. So, very exciting, everyone loves a free upgrade. Unfortunately, not so great. I hooked up the DVD player as I normally would (I have done this sort of thing several times before, and am reasonably good at figuring this stuff out), but it just wouldn't work. So, I called a friend of mine who is more tech-savvy than I am and asked for his help. He was stumped, until we eventually discovered that this new DVD player is not designed to work with our old TV (perfectly good CRT television, 9 years old). So, now we have 2 perfectly good DVD players, neither of which can work with our television set.
My friend suggested a number of possible options: (i) buy an A/B switcher box to go back and forth; (ii) buy a receiver and run everything through the receiver; or (iii) buy a new TV.
Now, I like options (ii) and (iii) because our current stereo is a boombox-style Aiwa stereo that I bought in 1994 when was in college and it has been a complete POS ever since I bought it (the tape deck hasn't worked in years, and the CD player doesn't work either, at this point it's just a large radio). I have been holding out on replacing it because I didn't want to replace it with another POS, I wanted to actually get a good stereo system. I also like the idea of getting an LCD flat-panel TV.
Mostly, I am annoyed and a little bitter. We actually have 3 DVD players in the house, if you count the one that is a part of our computer but that has weird problems whenever you try to watch a DVD. So, 3 DVD players in the house, and none of them work. No pithy conclusion, I'm just sort of frustrated.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Comic Book Reviews - Y:The Last Man, Ex Machina
I just finished reading the final book of Y:The Last Man and I am comfortable saying that reading the series is some of the most fun I have had reading anything, ever. Brian Vaughan writes mainstream action/adventure comics better than almost anyone I've read. His comics (both Y: The Last Man and Ex Machina) are compulsively readable. Once I've started a book I absolutely cannot put it down until I am finished. He draws you in that quickly. He's sort of like Stephen King in that way - being able to write mainstream, exciting, fun works.
I'm not sure if "Y" is supposed to be about bigger issues, I think maybe it is, but the chief fun of the series is finding out what's going to happen next. It's possible that Vaughan wanted the series to be at a "higher level" and in that regard I'm not sure it succeeds. I mean, I was definitely interested in finding out what was happening, and what caused all of the men to disappear, and I also was fascinated with what he had to say about a world where all of the men are gone, but don't be worried - it's not high-level reading. It's extremely accessible, but it may not necessarily be great literature. That being said, it's just about as much fun as you can have reading a comic book, and I think Vaughan should be writing in Hollywood. I hear they are going to make a movie of this eventually. I think that's great, as it's a terrific story. I just don't want them to use Shia Leboeuf. I find that kid annoying, and am not sure why Hollywood is so fascinated with him.
I have recently finished reading the fourth book of Ex Machina. If it's at all possible, I think that Ex Machina is an even better series than Y: The Last Man. The artwork is a little more sophisticated (but still totally accessible), the narrative is slightly more complex (he jumps around a lot more from one time period to another), and the series reaches more of those high-level issues that think Y is going for but doesn't quite achieve. Plus, it's really entertaining. How could you not love a series about an ex-superhero who becomes mayor of New York? You can see some similarity between Mitchell Hundred/The Great Machine, and Yorick Brown (the lead character from Y), but each is his own character and both are very compelling. Again, this series would make a fantastic series of movies. Again, hopefully not starring that Leboeuf kid.
I'm not sure if "Y" is supposed to be about bigger issues, I think maybe it is, but the chief fun of the series is finding out what's going to happen next. It's possible that Vaughan wanted the series to be at a "higher level" and in that regard I'm not sure it succeeds. I mean, I was definitely interested in finding out what was happening, and what caused all of the men to disappear, and I also was fascinated with what he had to say about a world where all of the men are gone, but don't be worried - it's not high-level reading. It's extremely accessible, but it may not necessarily be great literature. That being said, it's just about as much fun as you can have reading a comic book, and I think Vaughan should be writing in Hollywood. I hear they are going to make a movie of this eventually. I think that's great, as it's a terrific story. I just don't want them to use Shia Leboeuf. I find that kid annoying, and am not sure why Hollywood is so fascinated with him.
I have recently finished reading the fourth book of Ex Machina. If it's at all possible, I think that Ex Machina is an even better series than Y: The Last Man. The artwork is a little more sophisticated (but still totally accessible), the narrative is slightly more complex (he jumps around a lot more from one time period to another), and the series reaches more of those high-level issues that think Y is going for but doesn't quite achieve. Plus, it's really entertaining. How could you not love a series about an ex-superhero who becomes mayor of New York? You can see some similarity between Mitchell Hundred/The Great Machine, and Yorick Brown (the lead character from Y), but each is his own character and both are very compelling. Again, this series would make a fantastic series of movies. Again, hopefully not starring that Leboeuf kid.
When I said I was done posting on Sarah Palin, I lied
Sarah Palin is going on a field trip to the UN. The funniest part is the anonymous source saying that taking her to the UN will "improve her foreign policy credentials." Um, just because you visit the UN doesn't give you foreign policy credentials. Sometimes I go to lunch at Quincy Market and get Japanese, Thai or Greek food. Does this improve my foreign policy credentials?
Also, I have a new analogy for the seeming groundswell of support for Palin, and the culture of narcissism that wants us to see someone "just like us" in the White House. Did you ever see the Simpsons episode where Homer meets his long lost brother (voiced by Danny Devito) and he turns out to be this really successful executive at a car company? Homer's brother then decides to have Homer design a car for "regular people", since Homer is just a "regular guy". The car turns out to be a giant disaster and costs Homer's brother his job and destroys the company. Sarah Palin is Homer Simpson, fulfilling our desire to see someone "just like us" in charge.
Also, Jeff Jacoby had something in today's Globe where he implores us all to just leave poor Sarah Palin alone. He's one of my token favorite conservatives because I think he often makes good points, but I had to disagree with him on this one. I sent him an email (paraphrasing some other points I've previously made here), the text of which is below. I'll post if he responds.
Also, I have a new analogy for the seeming groundswell of support for Palin, and the culture of narcissism that wants us to see someone "just like us" in the White House. Did you ever see the Simpsons episode where Homer meets his long lost brother (voiced by Danny Devito) and he turns out to be this really successful executive at a car company? Homer's brother then decides to have Homer design a car for "regular people", since Homer is just a "regular guy". The car turns out to be a giant disaster and costs Homer's brother his job and destroys the company. Sarah Palin is Homer Simpson, fulfilling our desire to see someone "just like us" in charge.
Also, Jeff Jacoby had something in today's Globe where he implores us all to just leave poor Sarah Palin alone. He's one of my token favorite conservatives because I think he often makes good points, but I had to disagree with him on this one. I sent him an email (paraphrasing some other points I've previously made here), the text of which is below. I'll post if he responds.
"I agree with your column that some of the Palin coverage has been critical, but you cite mostly bloggers and commentators. However, I think you seriously understate the amount of vitriol, slander and outright lies that Barack Obama has faced from the right wing, including bloggers and other commentators. Besides, the McCain spin control team has made it seem like any inquiry into Sarah Palin's life is out of bounds - I'm pretty sure it's still the press' job to ask tough questions.
She is theoretically going to be a heartbeat away from the presidency, and access to her has been so incredibly stage-managed that you begin to wonder what they're afraid of (if she's so great, why not let her say something other than giving her canned stump speech?). That lack of access can only contribute to the air of speculation around her, and statements like Steve Schmidt's that the press is not being sufficiently "deferential" are pure idiocy. John McCain has never shied away from facing tough questions (and Obama and Biden have given plenty of press access) and his running mate shouldn't either.
One other thing you mentioned was about her family. I don't believe families should be discussed on the campaign, and they should be generally off limits. Barack Obama made a strong statement echoing this point. However, isn't it sort of hypocritical for the campaign to say that family is "off limits" with respect to Palin's daughter, when at the same time she shamelessly uses her two sons as campaign props? I mean, how many times are they going to tell us that her son is going to serve in Iraq, and how many times is she going to use her infant son as a prop to burnish her pro-life credentials? As a parent, I think she should be ashamed of herself for using her children in this way. I say, stop using the children you want to promote as campaign tools, and maybe people will leave your other children alone.
Besides, don't you think people's desire to have a president they can "relate to" is incredibly narcissistic and kind of silly? I mean, you don't choose a doctor or a contractor based on whether you can relate to them, do you? Then why use that standard for the presidency? I mean, we're talking about someone who is going to help run the whole country, not just redo your kitchen.
I will say, though, that I can "relate" to Sarah Palin in at least one way. I'm not qualified to be vice president, and neither is she."
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Two political thoughts
1. Recently Karl Rove publicly said he thought McCain had gone too far in some of his ads. Yikes! Having Karl Rove tell you you're gone too far is kind of like having Stalin tell you you're "not being nice."
2. Why do people want to vote for candidates that are "just like them?" People seem to want "relatability", which I think is really dumb and incredibly narcissistic. Only in politics do people ask for this. I mean, if you needed brain surgery, would you want the brain surgeon to be "like you", or would you want him to be highly competent and good at what he did? I don't want to "have a beer" with my doctor, I just want him to do the job correctly. Why do we ask less of our politicians than we do of our doctors? I don't want a politician who is just like me. I'm not qualified to be president! I want a politician who is much much smarter than me, since being president involves dealing with really big issues that I am in no way qualified to deal with.
Ultimately, this means that I wish someone more qualified than Obama was the Democratic nominee, but he does have time in both state (as a state legislator) and federal government, and he was a constitutional law professor, so I'm hoping some of that will come in handy. Still, I wish he had 4 or 8 more years in the Senate under his belt before he ran.
2. Why do people want to vote for candidates that are "just like them?" People seem to want "relatability", which I think is really dumb and incredibly narcissistic. Only in politics do people ask for this. I mean, if you needed brain surgery, would you want the brain surgeon to be "like you", or would you want him to be highly competent and good at what he did? I don't want to "have a beer" with my doctor, I just want him to do the job correctly. Why do we ask less of our politicians than we do of our doctors? I don't want a politician who is just like me. I'm not qualified to be president! I want a politician who is much much smarter than me, since being president involves dealing with really big issues that I am in no way qualified to deal with.
Ultimately, this means that I wish someone more qualified than Obama was the Democratic nominee, but he does have time in both state (as a state legislator) and federal government, and he was a constitutional law professor, so I'm hoping some of that will come in handy. Still, I wish he had 4 or 8 more years in the Senate under his belt before he ran.
Monday, September 15, 2008
David Foster Wallace
I was very sad to hear last night that David Foster Wallace killed himself recently. He was such a talented writer. All I ever read of his was A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, which is absolutely brilliant and I commend it to anyone looking for smart, thoughtful, clever essays. Particular, the titular essay and the one about the Illinois state fair are the sorts of things you can sit around reading hilarious passages to friends. Now, there is plenty of self-righteous snark that comes across in the essays, but it's damn funny, even if it seems kinda mean.
Anyway, I'm very sorry he's gone.
Maybe someday I will work up the courage to take on Infinite Jest (though maybe not, given the descriptions of the novel as "Pynchonesque" and given my limited enjoyment of Gravity's Rainbow by Pynchon - I'll have to write about the experience of reading that book some other time).
Anyway, I'm very sorry he's gone.
Maybe someday I will work up the courage to take on Infinite Jest (though maybe not, given the descriptions of the novel as "Pynchonesque" and given my limited enjoyment of Gravity's Rainbow by Pynchon - I'll have to write about the experience of reading that book some other time).
Comic Book Review - Fables
I recently started reading the Fables series and so far I have read the first two books in the chronological series, along with 1001 Nights of Snowfall, which is a prequel to the series. I feel like something of a broken record by saying this (i.e. giving positive reviews to popular series), but I'm really enjoying it. I enjoyed vol. 1 - Legends in Exile more than I enjoyed the second one, Animal Farm, but both are quite good. The author (Bill Willingham) has done a really terrific job of transporting all of these different fable characters into the modern world. In order to fully enjoy these stories, you don't have to know a lot about fairy tales and fables, but it helps to know the basics, and it is clear that the author has a strong background here. The stories themselves are extremely engaging, straightforward and fun (similar to Brian Vaughan's work). It's quite funny to think of Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk as this low-level loser, or that the Big Bad Wolf is now a detective. Anyway, as much as I enjoyed those stories, I have to say I think I enjoyed 1001 Nights of Snowfall even more. There, you learn the background stories of some of the characters that appear in Fables, and how they ended up in Fabletown (in New York). The stories have a magical, real fable-like sense to them (which the regular comic does not - it definitely takes place in our world), and the art (done by different artists for each story) is quite wonderful. The stories also have something of a "Harry Potter" feel to them, as it posits a magical world that has to be hidden from the mundanes/muggles. Anyway, I love the series, and hope to read more of it.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
My last post on Sarah Palin (hopefully)
I was at the physical therapist today and next door they are demolishing a building. All that's left is a wall in front, so that if you just look at it quickly for a moment you might still think there was a building there, but if you spend any time at all looking, you'll see it's clear that all that's left is the wall in front, and nothing behind it. That's what Sarah Palin is like. She's the "potemkin candidate". She's got catchy slogans and sound bites that sound good, but there appears to be nothing behind it. Only recently did she even agree to give an interview to a member of the press. If she's so great, what are they afraid of? She (and the attention surrounding her) also reminds me a little of Chauncey Gardiner. Everyone projects on to her what they want to see, but she's actually an empty shell.
The last thing I'll mention is about the media "hubbub" surrounding her and her kids. It's pretty tiresome to hear her and the McCain campaign complain about the treatment of her daughter's pregnancy, when the campaign is busy shamelessly using her son with down syndrome and her son going to Iraq as props to score points. As far as I'm concerned, she's opening her whole family up for scrutiny by politically using her own children in this way.
The last thing I'll mention is about the media "hubbub" surrounding her and her kids. It's pretty tiresome to hear her and the McCain campaign complain about the treatment of her daughter's pregnancy, when the campaign is busy shamelessly using her son with down syndrome and her son going to Iraq as props to score points. As far as I'm concerned, she's opening her whole family up for scrutiny by politically using her own children in this way.
Why I think Obama will win
He's fine, I've got some issues with him, but demographic trends are going to help him win.
Thursday, September 04, 2008
More leftovers from Last Night's Republican Convention
I read that Mitt Romney (of whom I am not a fan) said that his party (the Republican Party) was the party of "big ideas, not big brother". Two questions:
1. What big ideas? How do Republicans propose to solve all of our major problems - invade some other country? Blame gays? Get us all to read the Bible more?
2. The "not big brother" part gets me - isn't this the same party that brought you warrantless wiretapping, Gitmo, thousands of FBI inquiries, the USA PATRIOT Act, and countless other actions that push us closer to being a police state?
1. What big ideas? How do Republicans propose to solve all of our major problems - invade some other country? Blame gays? Get us all to read the Bible more?
2. The "not big brother" part gets me - isn't this the same party that brought you warrantless wiretapping, Gitmo, thousands of FBI inquiries, the USA PATRIOT Act, and countless other actions that push us closer to being a police state?
At least Giuliani won't be President
I watched about 5 minutes of Giuliani talking yesterday and it was as much as I could handle. He somehow suggested that John McCain would both expand free trade and protect American jobs, and that Obama was going to somehow ship them all away. How exactly McCain will be both a protectionist and a free-trade guy is beyond me. I'm pro free-trade, having recently read The World is Flat by Tom Friedman I think that guy is spot-on when he talks about what America has to do to remain competitive in the world. Being protectionist is not one of those things. Anyway, Giuliani seemed to be suggesting that McCain would simultaneously do both, which is pretty much impossible. Additionally, he failed to mention that more American jobs have moved overseas during the presidency of George Bush than at any other time. But, who needs facts?
Additionally, he said McCain would shrink the size of government. Politicians are so full of crap when they make this claim. I read recently that during the past 25 years, the period of time when the size of the federal government was at its smallest as a percentage of GDP was during the presidency of Bill Clinton. But, again, who needs facts?
I don't care so much about the "experience" issue because I think that the only job that prepares you for being President is being President. That being said, it has been amusing watching conservative commentators tie themselves in knots (and making themselves seem really stupid) by making the argument that Palin has more relevant experience than Obama or Biden.
Also, read this. Funny and devastating critique of the McCain campaign's anger at the media.
Additionally, he said McCain would shrink the size of government. Politicians are so full of crap when they make this claim. I read recently that during the past 25 years, the period of time when the size of the federal government was at its smallest as a percentage of GDP was during the presidency of Bill Clinton. But, again, who needs facts?
I don't care so much about the "experience" issue because I think that the only job that prepares you for being President is being President. That being said, it has been amusing watching conservative commentators tie themselves in knots (and making themselves seem really stupid) by making the argument that Palin has more relevant experience than Obama or Biden.
Also, read this. Funny and devastating critique of the McCain campaign's anger at the media.
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Watch this weasel squirm
Does John McCain's spokesman Tucker Bounds say anything at all in this clip? He can't answer a pretty basic question about Governor Palin's "experience".
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Movie Review - Tropic Thunder
Just saw Tropic Thunder last night, and I absolutely loved it. Nothing ground-breaking to report in my review here (i.e., sentiments will probably echo general consensus), but I thought it was hugely entertaining, very funny and spot-on with its commentary about society and Hollywood.
As an aside, this is my first movie review posted here and I'm still trying to figure out whether I'll be including spoilers or be relatively spoiler-free, in how much detail I'll summarize the plot, and whether I'll include any kind of rating system (stars, thumbs up/thumbs down, etc.). I'm inclined to try to stay relatively spoiler-free, and to not include any rating system because I think those are arbitrary and silly. I'll tell you if I liked or didn't like something, and if so, why.
Anyway, Tropic Thunder opens with some very funny fake trailers that provide some pretty good exposition for the main characters of the story. I liked all of the main leads, but I was least enamored of Jack Black's character (a cross between Jack Black, Eddie Murphy and Chris Farley) - I think I'm just not a huge Jack Black fan. Hmmm, is that true? I do really like him in certain roles (High Fidelity, School of Rock). Well, I'll have to think about it. Anyway, the plot concerns the filming of a war movie that goes horrifically wrong, and the self-absorbed actors who get involved in the movie that turns into real life. All sorts of wacky hijinks ensue, which is not as relevant to me as the terrific performances in the movie. You don't really need to know much about the plot, except to know that it's full of action, suspense, and assloads of funnies. Let me mention briefly the "controversy" surrounding this movie. If you actually see the movie, you will understand completely that this controversy is much ado about nothing, and that the mentally disabled are not the target of this movie. Hollywood is the target, and their idealization of the mentally disabled as "awards material". Also, I can't speak to whether Robert Downey Jr. "blackface" performance is offensive to African-Americans (as I am not one), but I would say that while he definitely walks some fine lines (as the movie does generally), his character takes the embracing of his role very seriously, and is again I think a satire and criticism of how seriously actors take themselves, as opposed to being a straight-up attempt at crude blackface humor.
All that being said, the movie is fairly crude and there' s a lot of swearing (particularly from Tom Cruise's "Les Grossman" character), along with some intentionally ridiculous Hollywood violence. As an aside, I think there is some argument that the most offensive characterization in the movie is Cruise's portrayal as the Jewish movie producer. His character is cheesy, money-obsessed and something of a walking stereotype. He is also completely hilarious and I loved the performance. So, I have mixed feelings about it (I'm Jewish). I did not have mixed feelings about the movie generally, though, I totally loved it and thought is was a real ass kicker of a comedy, with terrific acting and very smart dialogue.
One other thing. Tropic Thunder owes a huge debt to Bowfinger, the underappreciated Steve Martin movie where he films an action movie around a paranoid action star (played by Eddie Murphy) who has no idea he is in the movie, with a team of people who also have no idea that their star has no idea that there is a movie being filmed. I'd highly recommend Bowfinger to anyone who enjoyed Tropic Thunder.
As an aside, this is my first movie review posted here and I'm still trying to figure out whether I'll be including spoilers or be relatively spoiler-free, in how much detail I'll summarize the plot, and whether I'll include any kind of rating system (stars, thumbs up/thumbs down, etc.). I'm inclined to try to stay relatively spoiler-free, and to not include any rating system because I think those are arbitrary and silly. I'll tell you if I liked or didn't like something, and if so, why.
Anyway, Tropic Thunder opens with some very funny fake trailers that provide some pretty good exposition for the main characters of the story. I liked all of the main leads, but I was least enamored of Jack Black's character (a cross between Jack Black, Eddie Murphy and Chris Farley) - I think I'm just not a huge Jack Black fan. Hmmm, is that true? I do really like him in certain roles (High Fidelity, School of Rock). Well, I'll have to think about it. Anyway, the plot concerns the filming of a war movie that goes horrifically wrong, and the self-absorbed actors who get involved in the movie that turns into real life. All sorts of wacky hijinks ensue, which is not as relevant to me as the terrific performances in the movie. You don't really need to know much about the plot, except to know that it's full of action, suspense, and assloads of funnies. Let me mention briefly the "controversy" surrounding this movie. If you actually see the movie, you will understand completely that this controversy is much ado about nothing, and that the mentally disabled are not the target of this movie. Hollywood is the target, and their idealization of the mentally disabled as "awards material". Also, I can't speak to whether Robert Downey Jr. "blackface" performance is offensive to African-Americans (as I am not one), but I would say that while he definitely walks some fine lines (as the movie does generally), his character takes the embracing of his role very seriously, and is again I think a satire and criticism of how seriously actors take themselves, as opposed to being a straight-up attempt at crude blackface humor.
All that being said, the movie is fairly crude and there' s a lot of swearing (particularly from Tom Cruise's "Les Grossman" character), along with some intentionally ridiculous Hollywood violence. As an aside, I think there is some argument that the most offensive characterization in the movie is Cruise's portrayal as the Jewish movie producer. His character is cheesy, money-obsessed and something of a walking stereotype. He is also completely hilarious and I loved the performance. So, I have mixed feelings about it (I'm Jewish). I did not have mixed feelings about the movie generally, though, I totally loved it and thought is was a real ass kicker of a comedy, with terrific acting and very smart dialogue.
One other thing. Tropic Thunder owes a huge debt to Bowfinger, the underappreciated Steve Martin movie where he films an action movie around a paranoid action star (played by Eddie Murphy) who has no idea he is in the movie, with a team of people who also have no idea that their star has no idea that there is a movie being filmed. I'd highly recommend Bowfinger to anyone who enjoyed Tropic Thunder.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Comic Book Reviews - Wanted, The Boys, A Contract with God
At first glance, you'd think that Will Eisner's A Contract With God did not belong with the other comics I'm going to review. You'll see why it fits in quite nicely, I'll get to that later.
Ka-pow!! I first have to go right into reviewing Wanted, which I just finished reading a few minutes ago. It completely knocked me on my ass, it was that good. Everything about it just completely blew me away. I hate to sound like some sort of adolescent reviewing this, but that's how it made me feel - like I was a pre-teen that just discovered something really illicit and awesome, that's what reading Wanted was like for me. I just started reading a few of the reviews on Amazon, and some of them hit the right points for me. Which are - if you like comics that resolve themselves with some sort of morality at the end, you'd best skip Wanted. As others have pointed out, this is a story about the bad guys, and the bad guys basically win here. The concept is fantastic here, that a society of super-villains are running the world and nobody knows it, and that there used to be superheroes but they're all gone, and that this lowly peon turns out to actually be the son of one of the greatest of all the super criminals, and capable of amazing feats. I know, it sounds like Fight Club, The Matrix and Star Wars all rolled into one, and I think that's probably fair. It also explains why I enjoyed it so much - not surprisingly, I love Star Wars, Fight Club and The Matrix. Imagine how much cooler Star Wars would have been if Vader got to Luke before Obi Wan did and convinced him to become a sith lord, and Luke was totally into it and the bad guys really and completely won out in the end? That's this story, except no light sabers. It's such an old and compelling idea - what you know as your life is not all that there is, there's this whole amazing world out there, and you are not just an ordinary person living an ordinary life, you are special, you are somebody, in this amazing world. A compelling idea, masterfully done here - with the added twist of a completely nihilistic world view, where the path to success is lined with wanton violence. This comic is violent and somewhat disturbing, and not for the faint of heart. It has my absolute recommendation. I'm very curious but also dreading seeing the movie adaptation, since I liked the comic so much and since I know that they changed the plot significantly for the movie.
I also enjoyed reading The Boys , a series which is so cynical about superheroes that it's hard to take it at all seriously, which I assume is the point. I read both Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 recently, and found them to be outrageously funny, vulgar, violent and crude, with more explicit sex, sexual references and sexual imagery than I would think was possible in a comic book (you may have gotten this point already, but I'll drive it home even more - this one is really not for kids). Anyway, it's a scathing take down of the superhero archetype, as the "heroes" here are portrayed as being egocentric, sadistic, corrupt, venal, lascivious monsters that you'd never want to be around - ever. The superheroes are all pretty much controlled by a large multinational corporation. The actual "heroes" of the story are a group of CIA-backed operatives whose job it is to keep the superheroes in line, and impose "rough justice" on them as necessary. I guess the author is going for the "power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely" idea. Anyway, I think I enjoyed Vol. 1 more than Vol. 2 - I wasn't as keen on the story where the Batman/Iron Man analogue "Tek-Knight" can't stop having sex with everything (and I mean everything). At some point the writer (Garth Ennis) just sort of lost me because the superhero characters are so devoid of merit, there's very little reason to take any of this seriously. On the other hand, the "Boys" are reasonably sympathetic, particularly "Wee Hughie" (the character who looks just like Simon Pegg ), but even the Butcher character - it takes a skillful writer to make you like such a loathsome character, but realize that he's not nearly as loathsome as he initially appears. Anyway, if you're looking for a totally crude, clever, satirical sendup of the superhero genre, this is a highly entertaining read.
The last item I'm reviewing today is A Contract With God which I read a few days ago. I'll say up front that it is regarded as the first Graphic Novel, by the legendary writer Will Eisner - and I really didn't love it. It feels sort of blasphemous to say that, like saying you enjoy plays but don't like Shakespeare, or you enjoy novels but don't really like Don Quixote. There are four stories in this collection - A Contract With God, The street Singer, The Super and Cookalein. Of these four, by far my favorite is the titular story. It's maudlin and over-the-top, but I really was moved by it maybe because it concerns a a father losing a daughter, and I have two little girls. Additionally, I enjoyed the way that Eisner used the visual medium to make his text work together with the imagery (on a rainy day, he has water dripping down from the letters - it's very clever and effective). So, I really liked this story. Unfortunately, I didn't like the other stories in this collection as much. Maybe it was something about the artwork, or something about the characters (they're all pretty selfish, unlikable, dishonest people), or the subject matter. I found the rest of the stories over-the-top, and although I appreciated Eisner's very funny and cynical take on human nature, I thought the stories were almost predictably amoral (if such a thing is possible). Now, to be fair, I've been reading primarily superhero stuff, so maybe I'd be more into it at some other time. I'll give it a try again down the road.
Reading A Contract With God right before I read The Boys and Wanted, I found (surprisingly) the worldview is not that different. All three provide a pretty nihilistic, cynical worldview. Actually, notwithstanding the fact that it is the most vulgar and explicit of the three, The Boys is actually the most "moral" out of all of them, because The Boys exist to keep superheroes in line and make sure that, in a very weird way, that justice is done in the world.
Ka-pow!! I first have to go right into reviewing Wanted, which I just finished reading a few minutes ago. It completely knocked me on my ass, it was that good. Everything about it just completely blew me away. I hate to sound like some sort of adolescent reviewing this, but that's how it made me feel - like I was a pre-teen that just discovered something really illicit and awesome, that's what reading Wanted was like for me. I just started reading a few of the reviews on Amazon, and some of them hit the right points for me. Which are - if you like comics that resolve themselves with some sort of morality at the end, you'd best skip Wanted. As others have pointed out, this is a story about the bad guys, and the bad guys basically win here. The concept is fantastic here, that a society of super-villains are running the world and nobody knows it, and that there used to be superheroes but they're all gone, and that this lowly peon turns out to actually be the son of one of the greatest of all the super criminals, and capable of amazing feats. I know, it sounds like Fight Club, The Matrix and Star Wars all rolled into one, and I think that's probably fair. It also explains why I enjoyed it so much - not surprisingly, I love Star Wars, Fight Club and The Matrix. Imagine how much cooler Star Wars would have been if Vader got to Luke before Obi Wan did and convinced him to become a sith lord, and Luke was totally into it and the bad guys really and completely won out in the end? That's this story, except no light sabers. It's such an old and compelling idea - what you know as your life is not all that there is, there's this whole amazing world out there, and you are not just an ordinary person living an ordinary life, you are special, you are somebody, in this amazing world. A compelling idea, masterfully done here - with the added twist of a completely nihilistic world view, where the path to success is lined with wanton violence. This comic is violent and somewhat disturbing, and not for the faint of heart. It has my absolute recommendation. I'm very curious but also dreading seeing the movie adaptation, since I liked the comic so much and since I know that they changed the plot significantly for the movie.
I also enjoyed reading The Boys , a series which is so cynical about superheroes that it's hard to take it at all seriously, which I assume is the point. I read both Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 recently, and found them to be outrageously funny, vulgar, violent and crude, with more explicit sex, sexual references and sexual imagery than I would think was possible in a comic book (you may have gotten this point already, but I'll drive it home even more - this one is really not for kids). Anyway, it's a scathing take down of the superhero archetype, as the "heroes" here are portrayed as being egocentric, sadistic, corrupt, venal, lascivious monsters that you'd never want to be around - ever. The superheroes are all pretty much controlled by a large multinational corporation. The actual "heroes" of the story are a group of CIA-backed operatives whose job it is to keep the superheroes in line, and impose "rough justice" on them as necessary. I guess the author is going for the "power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely" idea. Anyway, I think I enjoyed Vol. 1 more than Vol. 2 - I wasn't as keen on the story where the Batman/Iron Man analogue "Tek-Knight" can't stop having sex with everything (and I mean everything). At some point the writer (Garth Ennis) just sort of lost me because the superhero characters are so devoid of merit, there's very little reason to take any of this seriously. On the other hand, the "Boys" are reasonably sympathetic, particularly "Wee Hughie" (the character who looks just like Simon Pegg ), but even the Butcher character - it takes a skillful writer to make you like such a loathsome character, but realize that he's not nearly as loathsome as he initially appears. Anyway, if you're looking for a totally crude, clever, satirical sendup of the superhero genre, this is a highly entertaining read.
The last item I'm reviewing today is A Contract With God which I read a few days ago. I'll say up front that it is regarded as the first Graphic Novel, by the legendary writer Will Eisner - and I really didn't love it. It feels sort of blasphemous to say that, like saying you enjoy plays but don't like Shakespeare, or you enjoy novels but don't really like Don Quixote. There are four stories in this collection - A Contract With God, The street Singer, The Super and Cookalein. Of these four, by far my favorite is the titular story. It's maudlin and over-the-top, but I really was moved by it maybe because it concerns a a father losing a daughter, and I have two little girls. Additionally, I enjoyed the way that Eisner used the visual medium to make his text work together with the imagery (on a rainy day, he has water dripping down from the letters - it's very clever and effective). So, I really liked this story. Unfortunately, I didn't like the other stories in this collection as much. Maybe it was something about the artwork, or something about the characters (they're all pretty selfish, unlikable, dishonest people), or the subject matter. I found the rest of the stories over-the-top, and although I appreciated Eisner's very funny and cynical take on human nature, I thought the stories were almost predictably amoral (if such a thing is possible). Now, to be fair, I've been reading primarily superhero stuff, so maybe I'd be more into it at some other time. I'll give it a try again down the road.
Reading A Contract With God right before I read The Boys and Wanted, I found (surprisingly) the worldview is not that different. All three provide a pretty nihilistic, cynical worldview. Actually, notwithstanding the fact that it is the most vulgar and explicit of the three, The Boys is actually the most "moral" out of all of them, because The Boys exist to keep superheroes in line and make sure that, in a very weird way, that justice is done in the world.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Wow, I feel old now
Michael Jackson just turned fifty today. Not quite sure what to do with that, but that makes me feel old.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Comic Book Reviews - Persepolis and American Born Chinese
It was not my intention to have this be the "ethnic coming of age" graphic novel review blog post, but you know, I guess it is. It was over a month ago that I read The Complete Persepolis and not to sound like a broken record or to state the obvious, but it was fantastic. As a general note, you'll find that my reviews are mostly positive. I'll try to go beyond just saying "it's great, I loved it" but will also say why, and maybe anything I wasn't so crazy about - but I'm not going to have very many negative reviews because I'm not that snarky of a reviewer, and I try to only read things I'll like (i.e., I'll try to avoid reviewing crap, by not reading it in the first place). In the event that I review something I didn't like so much (like The Surrogates), I'll let you know why.
Anyway, back to Persepolis. First off, I learned a ton about Iranian history from reading it, a lot of stuff I really didn't know about the revolution and what happened afterwards. Extremely informative. Secondly, this was extremely moving - there were definitely parts I read where I almost started crying, because the author does such a beautiful job conveying the difficulty of adolescence occurring in the midst of a harrowing political situation. I mean, being 13 is hard enough without having a war and political repression. I know - I remember. I felt like it dragged in a few places, and I wasn't quite as into the parts when she was living abroad as I was when she was younger and back at home, but those parts were wonderfully rendered as well. The author is a really astute observer of life, of adolescents and young adults, and at people posing at being something that they are not (whether it is pseudo intellectuals, anarchists, or whatever.). The artistic style is extremely accessible but a little incongruous with the heady subject matter - discussion of torture seems particularly unsettling in this very cute and charming "cartoony" style. Anyway, any quibbles I have are minor - I loved it, and give it my highest recommendation.
I felt pretty similarly after reading American Born Chinese, which was equally fantastic. It didn't make me cry quite in the same way that Persepolis did, but made me laugh out loud at certain points, and always kept me engaged. The author uses three different stories to tell this bigger story, and they all come together in a clever and thoughtful way, which really ties all of the themes of the narrative together. There's the fable of the Monkey King and his quest to be something more than a Monkey, and there's Jin Wang and his struggles to assimilate into a school where he is one of the only Asian students, and then there is Danny, whose cousin "Chin-kee" comes to visit every year and makes things difficult for him in a very embarrassing and humorous way. While some of the ideas in this book relate specifically to the experience of being Chinese in America, the way the book deals with feelings of loneliness, feeling out of place, not knowing how to communicate with the opposite sex, fumbling through adolescence - these are universal themes, beautifully drawn and told throughout the story. Plus, in the story, characters play with old-school Transformers like Optimus and Megatron, which forever endears this book to me. As with Persepolis, I can't recommend this strongly enough, particularly if you are either an adolescent, were at some point an adolescent, or like things that are awesome.
Anyway, back to Persepolis. First off, I learned a ton about Iranian history from reading it, a lot of stuff I really didn't know about the revolution and what happened afterwards. Extremely informative. Secondly, this was extremely moving - there were definitely parts I read where I almost started crying, because the author does such a beautiful job conveying the difficulty of adolescence occurring in the midst of a harrowing political situation. I mean, being 13 is hard enough without having a war and political repression. I know - I remember. I felt like it dragged in a few places, and I wasn't quite as into the parts when she was living abroad as I was when she was younger and back at home, but those parts were wonderfully rendered as well. The author is a really astute observer of life, of adolescents and young adults, and at people posing at being something that they are not (whether it is pseudo intellectuals, anarchists, or whatever.). The artistic style is extremely accessible but a little incongruous with the heady subject matter - discussion of torture seems particularly unsettling in this very cute and charming "cartoony" style. Anyway, any quibbles I have are minor - I loved it, and give it my highest recommendation.
I felt pretty similarly after reading American Born Chinese, which was equally fantastic. It didn't make me cry quite in the same way that Persepolis did, but made me laugh out loud at certain points, and always kept me engaged. The author uses three different stories to tell this bigger story, and they all come together in a clever and thoughtful way, which really ties all of the themes of the narrative together. There's the fable of the Monkey King and his quest to be something more than a Monkey, and there's Jin Wang and his struggles to assimilate into a school where he is one of the only Asian students, and then there is Danny, whose cousin "Chin-kee" comes to visit every year and makes things difficult for him in a very embarrassing and humorous way. While some of the ideas in this book relate specifically to the experience of being Chinese in America, the way the book deals with feelings of loneliness, feeling out of place, not knowing how to communicate with the opposite sex, fumbling through adolescence - these are universal themes, beautifully drawn and told throughout the story. Plus, in the story, characters play with old-school Transformers like Optimus and Megatron, which forever endears this book to me. As with Persepolis, I can't recommend this strongly enough, particularly if you are either an adolescent, were at some point an adolescent, or like things that are awesome.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Reinforcing my decision not to see the Clone Wars
Pajiba (one of my new favorites) delivers the snark in this brutal review of the Clone Wars. George Lucas delivers a movie that is high on the suck-o-meter.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Comic Book Reviews - Y:The Last Man, The Surrogates, Astro City, The Authority Vol. 1
I have been reading so much stuff recently, the pace has been relentless. I've just felt this real drive to catch up on all this stuff that I used to love as a kid and had lost touch with for years. It's been fantastic. So, since there's so much, my reviews will be pretty short. On Friday, I read Volumes 2-8 of the Y: The Last Man series. I know, it sounds like I must have spent all day reading, but it wasn't quite that bad. I read on the way to work, and during lunch, and during the evening b/c LW was out. So, based on the fact that I read 7 volumes in 1 day, you can guess what I thought of it. The series is definitely as good as you have heard. It's compulsively readable - it's like cotton candy or popcorn or something totally addictive. You keep wanting more of it because it is so well plotted, and funny, and entertaining. The art is pretty realistic, straightforward (and extremely well done), and the pace is lightning quick, and as you can guess the writing is terrific. Who knew the death of every man on earth but one would be so much fun?
The next thing I read a few weeks ago, but that I want to discuss is The Surrogates. I wish I could recommend it as enthusiastically as other things I've read recently. If I used a "star" system like they do on Amazon, I'd give it three stars. Not bad, at least somewhat entertaining, but definitely not all I was hoping it would be. The main thing here to note is that the idea is really clever. Not to spoil much, but in the future, we will have "surrogate" bodies through which we can live our lives. The implications are interesting, and the author actually does a pretty good job discuss the impact on crime, career choices, etc., if you could essentially have an avatar live your life for you on the world. Sort of like treating the actual world like Second Life. Anyway, that's the setup, and the story itself concerns a "murder" mystery of a sort, and while it's a decent story, I didn't love it, for several reasons. First, i really didn't enjoy the artwork. It is minimalist to the point of sometimes just feeling like the sketches. It's like the artist made a general overview sketch at the beginning and showed it to the writer, just to get the overview of what the work should look like, but instead of going back and filling it in, the just stopped there. Now, I get that they were trying to go for some sort of minimalist moody noir vibe, but it really just didn't work for me. I'm not saying I need my art to be completely traditional, but it was a distraction for me here. Secondly, I didn't find the mystery particularly compelling. Eventually when you find out who the "bad guy" is, you're sort of like "oh. so what?" If you've got a mystery, the person committing the crime that you find out about at the end should be someone you've already met and someone in whom you have some kind of stake. Not to spoil too much, but that's just not the case here. I feel like in the hands of a more experienced writer, there could have been made a better story out of this good idea. Now, all that being said, it was the writer's first graphic novel and it is a terrific idea, and the author shows promise. Perhaps if he revisits the material some time in the future, he'll have some more compelling story ideas. Of course, I hear they're turning this into a movie, so what do I know.
I'm not going to go into detailed reviews of everything I've read, but let me just mention a few other things I've read recently. First is the Astro City series, which, not to overstate things, is really everything that a comic should aspire to be. If you're interesting in writing in the super hero genre, or interested in reading something in the super hero genre, and you want to read or emulate something that is entertaining, well written, moving (at times), skillfully rendered, and also happens to be (if such a thing is possible) a non-cynical, loving deconstruction (or perhaps a reconstruction) of the super hero genre, then Astro City is the series to read. I've read the first five books in the series - I have not yet had a chance to read The Dark Age because my library doesn't carry it yet. Just to describe it generally, because I feel like to go into too much detail would spoil the joy of discovering it for yourself, but Astro City posits a world where many super heroes and villains exist, and imagines what it would be like to actually live in such a world, whether you are someone commuting from one part of town to another, or you live in a neighborhood known to be populated by frustrated ex-super villains, or getting to see two major super heroes go on a date. Each story is like discovering a new treasure.
Next is The Authority Vol. 1, which is also a super hero comic but VERY different. Not to be completely cliche, but to describe this series as "hard-hitting" would be something of an understatement. These are superheroes who don't save cats from trees, they don't foil bank robberies, and don't worry about secret identities. Instead, they use all means at their disposal to stop evil and save the world. If it happens that 1,000 civilians have to die in order to save 10,000, so be it. The characters are extremely compelling, and while there are some fairly clear analogues to other series (Apollo and Midnighter = Superman and Batman, only gay), the series has its own, original, interesting vibe. The art is terrific as well, very wide screen, "cinematic" approach to the action. I'm looking forward to reading more.
The next thing I read a few weeks ago, but that I want to discuss is The Surrogates. I wish I could recommend it as enthusiastically as other things I've read recently. If I used a "star" system like they do on Amazon, I'd give it three stars. Not bad, at least somewhat entertaining, but definitely not all I was hoping it would be. The main thing here to note is that the idea is really clever. Not to spoil much, but in the future, we will have "surrogate" bodies through which we can live our lives. The implications are interesting, and the author actually does a pretty good job discuss the impact on crime, career choices, etc., if you could essentially have an avatar live your life for you on the world. Sort of like treating the actual world like Second Life. Anyway, that's the setup, and the story itself concerns a "murder" mystery of a sort, and while it's a decent story, I didn't love it, for several reasons. First, i really didn't enjoy the artwork. It is minimalist to the point of sometimes just feeling like the sketches. It's like the artist made a general overview sketch at the beginning and showed it to the writer, just to get the overview of what the work should look like, but instead of going back and filling it in, the just stopped there. Now, I get that they were trying to go for some sort of minimalist moody noir vibe, but it really just didn't work for me. I'm not saying I need my art to be completely traditional, but it was a distraction for me here. Secondly, I didn't find the mystery particularly compelling. Eventually when you find out who the "bad guy" is, you're sort of like "oh. so what?" If you've got a mystery, the person committing the crime that you find out about at the end should be someone you've already met and someone in whom you have some kind of stake. Not to spoil too much, but that's just not the case here. I feel like in the hands of a more experienced writer, there could have been made a better story out of this good idea. Now, all that being said, it was the writer's first graphic novel and it is a terrific idea, and the author shows promise. Perhaps if he revisits the material some time in the future, he'll have some more compelling story ideas. Of course, I hear they're turning this into a movie, so what do I know.
I'm not going to go into detailed reviews of everything I've read, but let me just mention a few other things I've read recently. First is the Astro City series, which, not to overstate things, is really everything that a comic should aspire to be. If you're interesting in writing in the super hero genre, or interested in reading something in the super hero genre, and you want to read or emulate something that is entertaining, well written, moving (at times), skillfully rendered, and also happens to be (if such a thing is possible) a non-cynical, loving deconstruction (or perhaps a reconstruction) of the super hero genre, then Astro City is the series to read. I've read the first five books in the series - I have not yet had a chance to read The Dark Age because my library doesn't carry it yet. Just to describe it generally, because I feel like to go into too much detail would spoil the joy of discovering it for yourself, but Astro City posits a world where many super heroes and villains exist, and imagines what it would be like to actually live in such a world, whether you are someone commuting from one part of town to another, or you live in a neighborhood known to be populated by frustrated ex-super villains, or getting to see two major super heroes go on a date. Each story is like discovering a new treasure.
Next is The Authority Vol. 1, which is also a super hero comic but VERY different. Not to be completely cliche, but to describe this series as "hard-hitting" would be something of an understatement. These are superheroes who don't save cats from trees, they don't foil bank robberies, and don't worry about secret identities. Instead, they use all means at their disposal to stop evil and save the world. If it happens that 1,000 civilians have to die in order to save 10,000, so be it. The characters are extremely compelling, and while there are some fairly clear analogues to other series (Apollo and Midnighter = Superman and Batman, only gay), the series has its own, original, interesting vibe. The art is terrific as well, very wide screen, "cinematic" approach to the action. I'm looking forward to reading more.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
My brief, informative, insightful book reviews - Review of Godland Vol. 1
I'm going to start posting reviews of books I read here, particularly comics that I read (since that seems to be most of what I'm reading these days). I may not catch everything I read here, but will try to get pretty much all of the comics have read recently and stuff going forward. Enjoy, true believers!
First up is Godland Volume 1 which I just read yesterday. Fantastic!! Ka-blow!! Cosmic and Celestial!! Yes, this is highly derivative of things like early Fantastic Four, Kirby's Fourth World series and the Celestials, but that is a GOOD thing. This book was a super quick read, and had that totally fun "cosmic" feel that you really don't seem to get much of these days in comics. By no means is it heavy duty reading a la Watchmen, but it was highly entertaining and readable, and even though it takes place now (as far as I can tell), it definitely has a "space age" vibe to it. The art is fun in an "almost realistic" depiction of humans (stylized, but not ridiculously so), and if full of bright imagery. So, I'd definitely recommend it as a fun read, and I look forward to reading more in the series.
First up is Godland Volume 1 which I just read yesterday. Fantastic!! Ka-blow!! Cosmic and Celestial!! Yes, this is highly derivative of things like early Fantastic Four, Kirby's Fourth World series and the Celestials, but that is a GOOD thing. This book was a super quick read, and had that totally fun "cosmic" feel that you really don't seem to get much of these days in comics. By no means is it heavy duty reading a la Watchmen, but it was highly entertaining and readable, and even though it takes place now (as far as I can tell), it definitely has a "space age" vibe to it. The art is fun in an "almost realistic" depiction of humans (stylized, but not ridiculously so), and if full of bright imagery. So, I'd definitely recommend it as a fun read, and I look forward to reading more in the series.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
My love affair with Star Wars is almost over
I love Star Wars. I love the original movies, and for years now I have been defending the prequel trilogy even though I am willing to concede some of the things people find problematic (wooden acting, overly complicated storytelling, comprehensive yet uninspiring CG, way too much stupid "kiddie" humor, plot and character motivation issues, racist or anti-semitic alien characters, etc.). Still, I have loved them because I have founds things in each movie that I really enjoyed, and because (I'm paraphrasing some movie, wish I could remember) I love them for who they want to be, and for who they almost are, etc. Also, I just love them because they are Star Wars and they get to keep me thinking about Star Wars a little bit longer. I would even argue that Episode III is close to or better than Return over the Jedi. Now, everyone knows that ROTJ is the weakest of the original trilogy, probably because by the time of the ROTJ Lucas had already started turning the Star Wars movies into "kiddie movies" (see Aint it Cool for a discussion of this, I can't say it any better than they did), but still, ROTJ has always had a special place in my heart b/c it was the first one I actually saw in the theater (being too young for the other ones). But I watched this sequence from The Empire Strikes Back, and it made me profoundly sad, as did the recent reviews for the "Clone Wars" movie. I'm unlikely to see that in the theater, though I'll probably still rent it when it comes out on DVD (just because of my "completist" tendencies).
I agree with everything the negative commentators have said about what Lucas has done to the Star Wars story. The reason that sequence from TESB made me so sad was that I'm pretty sure that there's nothing in any of the prequels one tenth as good as that sequence (except for maybe the light saber duel at the end of TPM, that was pretty spectacular) because all in one sequence it had humor, excitement, real human drama and tension. Pauline Kael and other may have complained about the acting in the original SW when it came out, but it seems like the Royal Shakespeare Company in comparison to some of what is delivered in the prequel trilogy.
So, I'm willing to concede now that despite the fact that they all have good stuff in them, the prequels are generally disappointing, when taken as a whole. I'm still not willing to say that they completely suck. However, the stuff that's good is really good, but then it is overwhelmed by the stuff I hate (less so in Episode III, but general principle still applies). Examples:
Episode I:
Love: light saber duel at end, rescue mission of Queen Amidala and escape from Naboo
Hate: stupid "roger roger" droids, ridiculous Asian stereotype trade federation, jar jar, offensive middle eastern watto character, pod race, pod race, pod race (did I mention I hate the pod race?), clumsy wooden acting (I swear Natalie Portman and Ewan McGregor are good actors, I've seen it elsewhere), etc.
Episode II:
Love: the notion that the entire war/conflict is being engineered by one guy to create a climate of fear and create the need for draconian security measures, the sequence when Anakin goes searching for his mom, Obi Wan on the cloner planet and his interactions with Jango (genuine drama!), watching a group of jedi fight, the arena sequence (how can you not enjoy the tearing of the shirt to reveal Natalie Portman's midriff?)
Hate: Anakin and Amidala on Naboo ("I hate sand", frolicking in the fields, etc.), Obi Wan in a diner (WTF?!?), tedious political talk
Episode III:
Love: initial flight sequence, duel between Anakin and Obi Wan, duel between Yoda and Palpatine, sequence between Palpatine and Anakin at the theater, duel between Obi Wan and Greivous, the genuine drama when Anakin goes bad and helps Palpatine kill Mace Windu, subsequent slaughter of the Jedi
Hate: Any Anakin/Amidala interactions, Amidala generally (she became completely useless in this movie), the fact that she died "because she lost the will to live"? (Again, WTF?), the fact that you never quite believe or understand Anakin's transition from good guy to bad guy, or the fact that as Hayden Christiensen plays him, you never really think Anakin is all that good of a guy in the first place
So, anyway, I can only be sad when I think about what a different prequel trilogy might have been like, one that was more true to the spirit of the original films, and one that had better directors (Spielberg, Peter Jackson, Guillermo del Toro) at the helm.
I agree with everything the negative commentators have said about what Lucas has done to the Star Wars story. The reason that sequence from TESB made me so sad was that I'm pretty sure that there's nothing in any of the prequels one tenth as good as that sequence (except for maybe the light saber duel at the end of TPM, that was pretty spectacular) because all in one sequence it had humor, excitement, real human drama and tension. Pauline Kael and other may have complained about the acting in the original SW when it came out, but it seems like the Royal Shakespeare Company in comparison to some of what is delivered in the prequel trilogy.
So, I'm willing to concede now that despite the fact that they all have good stuff in them, the prequels are generally disappointing, when taken as a whole. I'm still not willing to say that they completely suck. However, the stuff that's good is really good, but then it is overwhelmed by the stuff I hate (less so in Episode III, but general principle still applies). Examples:
Episode I:
Love: light saber duel at end, rescue mission of Queen Amidala and escape from Naboo
Hate: stupid "roger roger" droids, ridiculous Asian stereotype trade federation, jar jar, offensive middle eastern watto character, pod race, pod race, pod race (did I mention I hate the pod race?), clumsy wooden acting (I swear Natalie Portman and Ewan McGregor are good actors, I've seen it elsewhere), etc.
Episode II:
Love: the notion that the entire war/conflict is being engineered by one guy to create a climate of fear and create the need for draconian security measures, the sequence when Anakin goes searching for his mom, Obi Wan on the cloner planet and his interactions with Jango (genuine drama!), watching a group of jedi fight, the arena sequence (how can you not enjoy the tearing of the shirt to reveal Natalie Portman's midriff?)
Hate: Anakin and Amidala on Naboo ("I hate sand", frolicking in the fields, etc.), Obi Wan in a diner (WTF?!?), tedious political talk
Episode III:
Love: initial flight sequence, duel between Anakin and Obi Wan, duel between Yoda and Palpatine, sequence between Palpatine and Anakin at the theater, duel between Obi Wan and Greivous, the genuine drama when Anakin goes bad and helps Palpatine kill Mace Windu, subsequent slaughter of the Jedi
Hate: Any Anakin/Amidala interactions, Amidala generally (she became completely useless in this movie), the fact that she died "because she lost the will to live"? (Again, WTF?), the fact that you never quite believe or understand Anakin's transition from good guy to bad guy, or the fact that as Hayden Christiensen plays him, you never really think Anakin is all that good of a guy in the first place
So, anyway, I can only be sad when I think about what a different prequel trilogy might have been like, one that was more true to the spirit of the original films, and one that had better directors (Spielberg, Peter Jackson, Guillermo del Toro) at the helm.
Babies of the species Dada-LW
LW and I were talking about Baby and how cute she is. I just had a "vacation" for a week and a half, and at the end of it I am much more bonded to the Baby than I was before. I'm not any more or less bonded to the Banana, but my hair is a little grayer as a result of her inscrutable toddler-ness. She really is 8 different kinds of wonderful, but she also makes me want to bang my head against the wall some times, or consider selling her on eBay. She's very cute, so I'd do well.
Anyway, LW took Baby to a luncheon at her work and everyone was oohing and aahing over her. Rightfully so, she's very cute. We were talking afterwards about how much we love her personality, and comparing the children (which of course good parenting probably says you're never supposed to do, but all parents do it). Anyway, the conclusion we've come to is that our kids personalities at this age are pretty much the same. They are super-similar physically. Baby's head is a little wider and more square-shaped than Banana's was at this age, but both at this age (almost 5 months) are highly alert, don't cry for no reason (only when there is a specific issue), very smiley and good with people, not super-heavy, have high muscle tone (i.e., if you hold them up they will essentially use their legs to stand up themselves) completely bald, and physically seem almost exactly the same.
So, they're both lovely babies, but both are (or were) lovely in a very specific way. I joked with LW that it's almost as if there was a particular breed of child (let's call her the Dada-LW breed), since both kids have these pretty specific personality traits. If we had a third child (really, no plans to do that), I suspect we would make another baby that fit the Dada-LW mold. I mean, if we had a really fat baby with a lot of hair that was fussy all the time and didn't hold themselves up on their feet, I'd have to ask the LW some hard questions!
Anyway, LW took Baby to a luncheon at her work and everyone was oohing and aahing over her. Rightfully so, she's very cute. We were talking afterwards about how much we love her personality, and comparing the children (which of course good parenting probably says you're never supposed to do, but all parents do it). Anyway, the conclusion we've come to is that our kids personalities at this age are pretty much the same. They are super-similar physically. Baby's head is a little wider and more square-shaped than Banana's was at this age, but both at this age (almost 5 months) are highly alert, don't cry for no reason (only when there is a specific issue), very smiley and good with people, not super-heavy, have high muscle tone (i.e., if you hold them up they will essentially use their legs to stand up themselves) completely bald, and physically seem almost exactly the same.
So, they're both lovely babies, but both are (or were) lovely in a very specific way. I joked with LW that it's almost as if there was a particular breed of child (let's call her the Dada-LW breed), since both kids have these pretty specific personality traits. If we had a third child (really, no plans to do that), I suspect we would make another baby that fit the Dada-LW mold. I mean, if we had a really fat baby with a lot of hair that was fussy all the time and didn't hold themselves up on their feet, I'd have to ask the LW some hard questions!
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
A few political observations
A few thoughts about recent political stuff:
John McCain: Here's my concern about McCain. Let's say he's elected, and becomes President of the United States. What if, all of a sudden, he realizes that there's some younger, prettier country that he'd rather be president of. Let's be honest, America's not so young anymore and not so pretty. Let's say he looks at Israel who needs a new president at some point, and says, "hey, Israeli women are hot, and the modern nation of Israel is younger than the US." Given his track record, this is a legitimate concern. America, we better get some botox if we want to make sure to keep McCain's attention!
Russia/Georgia: Russia is like the former abusive boyfriend that just won't let the girl move on. Back in the old days, they were in an abusive, codependent relationship, and Georgia went along with it because Russia had all of the power and Georgia didn't know any different. All of a sudden though, they break up, and she's trying to move on. She's got a new job, is making new friends, really trying to move on with her life, and Russia can't stand it. Russia's sort of impotent for a while though, and just nursing the bitterness. All of a sudden though, Russia's circumstances change and maybe Russia's got a new job, making some money, and he decides that he's going to show that Georgia Bitch who is in charge, and that if he can't have her, no one can. So, nothing is out of bounds at this point, even physical violence. Poor girl, she's stuck now, her new friends are showing that maybe they aren't as willing to go to bat for her as she thought they would be, they don't want to interfere in the relationship, and just like that, she's stuck again, only now it's worse because he has money and he is bitter and resentful at past slights.
Hilary: I can't stand her. She could make things better for Obama but she doesn't want to. I think she's willing to have the country undergo 4 more years of Republican president just so she can have another chance in 2012. What if a bunch more justices retire before then? There's venal, there's really really venal, and then there's the Clintons. They're in a class by themselves.
Obama: Seems kinda weak at the moment. I like the guy, but I'm afraid he's about to get swift-boated. Some studies have shown that negative campaigning works, and doesn't really have much of a negative impact on the person on whose behalf the ads are run. With that in mind, I'd like to see Obama really cut loose and run all sorts of vicious (and accurate) ads asking the question "who is John McCain" and doing whatever he needs to do to win. I don't want to see him be yet another idealistic Democratic loser.
John McCain: Here's my concern about McCain. Let's say he's elected, and becomes President of the United States. What if, all of a sudden, he realizes that there's some younger, prettier country that he'd rather be president of. Let's be honest, America's not so young anymore and not so pretty. Let's say he looks at Israel who needs a new president at some point, and says, "hey, Israeli women are hot, and the modern nation of Israel is younger than the US." Given his track record, this is a legitimate concern. America, we better get some botox if we want to make sure to keep McCain's attention!
Russia/Georgia: Russia is like the former abusive boyfriend that just won't let the girl move on. Back in the old days, they were in an abusive, codependent relationship, and Georgia went along with it because Russia had all of the power and Georgia didn't know any different. All of a sudden though, they break up, and she's trying to move on. She's got a new job, is making new friends, really trying to move on with her life, and Russia can't stand it. Russia's sort of impotent for a while though, and just nursing the bitterness. All of a sudden though, Russia's circumstances change and maybe Russia's got a new job, making some money, and he decides that he's going to show that Georgia Bitch who is in charge, and that if he can't have her, no one can. So, nothing is out of bounds at this point, even physical violence. Poor girl, she's stuck now, her new friends are showing that maybe they aren't as willing to go to bat for her as she thought they would be, they don't want to interfere in the relationship, and just like that, she's stuck again, only now it's worse because he has money and he is bitter and resentful at past slights.
Hilary: I can't stand her. She could make things better for Obama but she doesn't want to. I think she's willing to have the country undergo 4 more years of Republican president just so she can have another chance in 2012. What if a bunch more justices retire before then? There's venal, there's really really venal, and then there's the Clintons. They're in a class by themselves.
Obama: Seems kinda weak at the moment. I like the guy, but I'm afraid he's about to get swift-boated. Some studies have shown that negative campaigning works, and doesn't really have much of a negative impact on the person on whose behalf the ads are run. With that in mind, I'd like to see Obama really cut loose and run all sorts of vicious (and accurate) ads asking the question "who is John McCain" and doing whatever he needs to do to win. I don't want to see him be yet another idealistic Democratic loser.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Changes to my list
I've been listening to the live album HAARP by Muse recently, and I totally love it so it is getting added to my Top 40 Albums, so something is going to have to come off of the list. I think it'll be "When I woke" by Rusted Root. I really enjoyed that album a lot in the mid 90's but it doesn't really speak to me anymore.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Top 40 albums, take two
I've thought it over and realize that I should just have some guidelines:
1. 1 album per band (hard to do w/r to my favorite bands but I'll give it a go)
2. No "Greatest Hits" albums
3. Live albums are ok if they are really good and distinct as live albums (you'll see my example below)
4. Soundtracks are ok (but I don't think I can have more than 1 on my list, absent special circumstances)
So, I want to further define what the list means. It is the 40 albums most important to me. Not necessarily the 40 most "important" albums I own ( as in important in a global sense), but the albums that have been most important to me historically. This means that an album may be less important to me now, but if it was at some point really important to me or I really really loved it, it at least merits consideration. Also, when choosing the one album from a certain band to include, I will include my favorite one, not necessarily the one I think might generally be considered the "best". Ok, here goes:
Nevermind - Nirvana
OK Computer - Radiohead
The Process of Belief - Bad Religion
Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys
Paul's Boutique - The Beastie Boys
Abbey Road - The Beatles
Odelay - Beck
London Calling - The Clash
Take Five - Dave Brubeck
Under the Table and Dreaming - Dave Matthews Band
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots - The Flaming Lips
Welcome Interstate Managers - Fountains of Wayne
Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand
American Idiot - Green Day
Appetite for Destruction - Guns N' Roses
Lost and Gone Forever - Guster
Turn on the Bright Lights - Interpol
Utonian Automatic - Isotope 217
Nothing's Shocking - Jane's Addiction
Blue Train - John Coltrane
Houses of The Holy - Led Zeppelin
What's Goin' On - Marvin Gaye
Bitches Brew - Miles Davis
Double Nickels on the Dime - The Minutemen
Signals, Calls & Marches - Mission of Burma
Slanted & Enchanted - Pavement
Vs. - Pearl Jam
Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd
Surfer Rosa - The Pixies
It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back - Public Enemy
Pulp Fiction - Soundtrack
Document - REM
Californication - Red Hot Chili Peppers
When I Woke - Rusted Root
Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness - Smashing Pumpkins
Superunknown - Soundgarden
Stop Making Sense - Talking Heads
Joshua Tree - U2
White Blood Cells - The White Stripes
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco
So, now I've gotten it to 40. My next task will be to think about whether I can put it into some order, or maybe even say something about each album.
1. 1 album per band (hard to do w/r to my favorite bands but I'll give it a go)
2. No "Greatest Hits" albums
3. Live albums are ok if they are really good and distinct as live albums (you'll see my example below)
4. Soundtracks are ok (but I don't think I can have more than 1 on my list, absent special circumstances)
So, I want to further define what the list means. It is the 40 albums most important to me. Not necessarily the 40 most "important" albums I own ( as in important in a global sense), but the albums that have been most important to me historically. This means that an album may be less important to me now, but if it was at some point really important to me or I really really loved it, it at least merits consideration. Also, when choosing the one album from a certain band to include, I will include my favorite one, not necessarily the one I think might generally be considered the "best". Ok, here goes:
Nevermind - Nirvana
OK Computer - Radiohead
The Process of Belief - Bad Religion
Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys
Paul's Boutique - The Beastie Boys
Abbey Road - The Beatles
Odelay - Beck
London Calling - The Clash
Take Five - Dave Brubeck
Under the Table and Dreaming - Dave Matthews Band
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots - The Flaming Lips
Welcome Interstate Managers - Fountains of Wayne
Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand
American Idiot - Green Day
Appetite for Destruction - Guns N' Roses
Lost and Gone Forever - Guster
Turn on the Bright Lights - Interpol
Utonian Automatic - Isotope 217
Nothing's Shocking - Jane's Addiction
Blue Train - John Coltrane
Houses of The Holy - Led Zeppelin
What's Goin' On - Marvin Gaye
Bitches Brew - Miles Davis
Double Nickels on the Dime - The Minutemen
Signals, Calls & Marches - Mission of Burma
Slanted & Enchanted - Pavement
Vs. - Pearl Jam
Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd
Surfer Rosa - The Pixies
It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back - Public Enemy
Pulp Fiction - Soundtrack
Document - REM
Californication - Red Hot Chili Peppers
When I Woke - Rusted Root
Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness - Smashing Pumpkins
Superunknown - Soundgarden
Stop Making Sense - Talking Heads
Joshua Tree - U2
White Blood Cells - The White Stripes
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco
So, now I've gotten it to 40. My next task will be to think about whether I can put it into some order, or maybe even say something about each album.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
my non-sleeping daughter, Eliot Spitzer, Top 40 albums
I think the Banana might finally be asleep. She should be, it's been almost 1.5 hours since I last went into her room, and more than 2 hours since I first attempted to put her down for bed. She just started sleeping in a "big girl" bed a few nights ago, and is having adjustment trouble. As for me, I have had a pretty miserable time this evening. I told her after the second time I came back that that was it and I wasn't coming back in, and I meant it. Still, listening to her call to us makes my head want to explode. Am I being heartless? I don't think so - I just think that she needs to learn how to fall asleep on her own. She finally seems to have stopped crying - hopefully not emptionally scarring her too much. She fell asleep eventually, but I still feel a little like I'm made of glass at the moment.
On the Eliot Spitzer thing, not too much to say other than to observe that he is another loathsome hypocritical political sleaze. I'm not sure which part I think is the worst - the hypocrisy (crimefighter hoisted on his own petard, much to the schaudenfreude of corporate types everywhere), the stupidity (thinking that as the f$%^ing GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK he would be able to get away with visiting prostitutes on a regular basis and funneling $ all over the place), or (not to sound too old-fashioned) the criminality and immorality of the whole thing. I think I liked him a few years back, now not so much.
I was talking with a work friend/colleague recently about Top 40 albums lists. Not sure why 40, but it was an interesting discussion because it made me realize I have over the past few years been thinking about favorite songs, not favorite albums. I'm going to try to rectify that though, by coming up with a list of my own Top 40. Actually putting them in order seems like it might be a huge challenge, so we'll see how that goes. In the interim, here goes (in no particular order, except slightly alphabetical):
Nevermind - Nirvana
OK Computer - Radiohead
Kid A - Radiohead
The Process of Belief - Bad Religion
Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys
Paul's Boutique - The Beastie Boys
Check Your Head - The Beastie Boys
Abbey Road - The Beatles
Sgt. Peppers - The Beatles
Odelay - Beck
London Calling - The Clash
Take Five - Dave Brubeck
Under the Table and Dreaming - Dave Matthews Band
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots - The Flaming Lips
Welcome Interstate Managers - Fountains of Wayne
Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand
American Idiot - Green Day
Appetite for Destruction - Guns N' Roses
Lost and Gone Forever - Guster
Turn on the Bright Lights - Interpol
Utonian Automatic - Isotope 217
Nothing's Shocking - Jane's Addiction
Blue Train - John Coltrane
My Favrite Things - John Coltrane
The College Dropout - Kanye West
Houses of The Holy - Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin II - Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin I - Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin III - Led Zeppelin
The Sidewinder - Lee Morgan
Frances the Mute - The Mars Volta
What's Goin' On - Marvin Gaye
Bitches Brew - Miles Davis
Kind of Blue - Miles Davis
On the Corner - Miles Davis
Double Nickels on the Dime - The Minutemen
Signals, Calls & Marches - Mission of Burma
Slanted & Enchanted - Pavement
Vs. - Pearl Jam
Ten - Pearl Jam
Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd
Surfer Rosa - The Pixies
It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back - Public Enemy
Pulp Fiction Soundtrack
Document - REM
Automatic for the People - REM
Californication - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Blood Sugar Sex Magik - Red Hot Chili Peppers
When I Woke - Rusted Root
Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness - Smashing Pumpkins
Superunknown - Soundgarden
Stop Making Sense - Talking Heads
Joshua Tree - U2
White Blood Cells - The White Stripes
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco
Being There - Wilco
Blues & Roots - Charles Mingus
OK, that's actually 57 albums. I'll narrow it down at a later date.
On the Eliot Spitzer thing, not too much to say other than to observe that he is another loathsome hypocritical political sleaze. I'm not sure which part I think is the worst - the hypocrisy (crimefighter hoisted on his own petard, much to the schaudenfreude of corporate types everywhere), the stupidity (thinking that as the f$%^ing GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK he would be able to get away with visiting prostitutes on a regular basis and funneling $ all over the place), or (not to sound too old-fashioned) the criminality and immorality of the whole thing. I think I liked him a few years back, now not so much.
I was talking with a work friend/colleague recently about Top 40 albums lists. Not sure why 40, but it was an interesting discussion because it made me realize I have over the past few years been thinking about favorite songs, not favorite albums. I'm going to try to rectify that though, by coming up with a list of my own Top 40. Actually putting them in order seems like it might be a huge challenge, so we'll see how that goes. In the interim, here goes (in no particular order, except slightly alphabetical):
Nevermind - Nirvana
OK Computer - Radiohead
Kid A - Radiohead
The Process of Belief - Bad Religion
Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys
Paul's Boutique - The Beastie Boys
Check Your Head - The Beastie Boys
Abbey Road - The Beatles
Sgt. Peppers - The Beatles
Odelay - Beck
London Calling - The Clash
Take Five - Dave Brubeck
Under the Table and Dreaming - Dave Matthews Band
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots - The Flaming Lips
Welcome Interstate Managers - Fountains of Wayne
Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand
American Idiot - Green Day
Appetite for Destruction - Guns N' Roses
Lost and Gone Forever - Guster
Turn on the Bright Lights - Interpol
Utonian Automatic - Isotope 217
Nothing's Shocking - Jane's Addiction
Blue Train - John Coltrane
My Favrite Things - John Coltrane
The College Dropout - Kanye West
Houses of The Holy - Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin II - Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin I - Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin III - Led Zeppelin
The Sidewinder - Lee Morgan
Frances the Mute - The Mars Volta
What's Goin' On - Marvin Gaye
Bitches Brew - Miles Davis
Kind of Blue - Miles Davis
On the Corner - Miles Davis
Double Nickels on the Dime - The Minutemen
Signals, Calls & Marches - Mission of Burma
Slanted & Enchanted - Pavement
Vs. - Pearl Jam
Ten - Pearl Jam
Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd
Surfer Rosa - The Pixies
It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back - Public Enemy
Pulp Fiction Soundtrack
Document - REM
Automatic for the People - REM
Californication - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Blood Sugar Sex Magik - Red Hot Chili Peppers
When I Woke - Rusted Root
Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness - Smashing Pumpkins
Superunknown - Soundgarden
Stop Making Sense - Talking Heads
Joshua Tree - U2
White Blood Cells - The White Stripes
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco
Being There - Wilco
Blues & Roots - Charles Mingus
OK, that's actually 57 albums. I'll narrow it down at a later date.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
New posting again and again
I keep saying that I'll be better about posting. This time I will (maybe). Banana is going to be a big sister soon, and I want to keep a better record of my life as a dad. We'll see....
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