HAPPY NEW YEAR - 2009

May as well take out the new year with a bang. Plus I don't know that I will be up to 'officially' welcome in '09. As I get older I realize that I may be turning into that crazy old man who yells at the neighborhood kids to get off his lawn. And I really don't have that much of a problem with it.

The recent holiday season has also made me aware that I have very little tolerance for idiots, or as the man in the photo would say morans. By calling them idiots I am using my own classification system that pretty much refers to anyone that does something that pi$$es me off. I understand that not everyone can be 'on' 100% of the time and I will give a little leeway, but some things grant no forgiveness. One is illustrated by the photo. There are 4 words on that placard and he got one wrong. Frankly the first two are a given so technically he got 50% wrong, and I am surprised that brain is correct. If you are going to the trouble of using a sign to protest (or praise for that matter) MAKE SURE EVERYTHING IS SPELLED RIGHT!!!

Basically it all comes down to one thing, at least for me. Take other people into consideration. If you are driving try and follow the advice on the sign on the side of the road and keep your vehicle up to that speed. If you can't, or won't, you should take a different route that will allow you to sight see and meander at the pace you choose. At the very least stay in the right hand lane. Let's also try using a turn signal. If you are going to protest something, and by all means that is every persons right, don't make yourself look any more stupid than you already do. It doesn't help your argument if you can't spell. Most people have trouble listening to your cause if they are laughing at you.

Sorry for the rambling, but the holiday season always brings out my inner grinch and it wasn't helped this year by some situations at work. It is amazing how inept people can be promoted to a management position. It is equally amazing that said person once in the management position can somehow then seem to become even more inept. Enough said on that for the moment. Details may come in later posts

Hope everyone enjoys themselves and brings in '09 in whatever fashion they prefer

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Technically it is Christmas Eve, but I know I am not going to get a chance to post again before the weekend so here's wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!

Sitting down now and enjoying the annual tradition of watching as much of the 24 hour marathon on TBS of the best Christmas movie (and pretty high ranking movie in general) EVER - A Christmas Story. I will give this one to Parker since it was filmed in Cleveland and they have converted the house into a museum. I also discovered that the winning bid in an auction to spend Christmas Eve night in the house and 'relive' some of the scenes went for just over $5,000. I think the highlight would have been having Christmas dinner from Pearl of the Orient.

No rants this time around-just hope everyone enjoys the holiday and is able to spend time with friends and family.

No list either this time around, but the trivia lives on.

USELESS ON TOPIC TRIVIA: 2 since it is such a great movie
The movie studio wanted Jack Nicholson to play the part of the Dad, but the director lobbied (and obviously got) Darren McGavin, and I think the movie was all the better.

Grover Dill (the toadie to the bully), played by Yano Anaya, is also the paperboy from Better Off Dead. "Two Dollars!" He also played the young Michael Anthony in Van Halen's "Hot for Teacher" video

FINDS POSTSCRIPT

Forgot a couple of things in the previous post. First I should recognize my partner in crime for the excursion. Thanks go out to Kevin for making the journey with me and not openly laughing at my purchases. Also forgot to include my list(s). Going to try and include one with my posts and completely forgot until later in the night so I may as well put it up now. Lots of choices with this topic, but I will stick with a basic one that hasn't really changed that much over the years

FAVORITE COMIC BOOK ARTISTS (artists that have done monthly books)

George Perez
John Byrne (mainly his older stuff, but still a favorite)
Phil Jimenez
Paul Pelletier
Jim Aparo (R.I.P.)
Rags Morales
Pat Broderick
Paris Cullins
Paul Gulacy
Brian Bolland
Barry Kitson

I know I am forgetting several, but that list is getting too long

Latest Finds/Purchases

WOW!! 2 posts in one day-this almost doubles my previous blogging efforts. I figured what the hell, I am on a roll let's go ahead and put another one up. This wil be a little more brief and definately more to the point.

A couple of weeks ago I made a trip to a couple of Kansas City area comic stores. The trip served a double purpose. Obviously I was looking to fill in some holes in my collection, but I was also 'celebrating' the end of the semester and sucessfully making it through 3 more classes.

Visited a couple of stores I had been to before (Clint's, Be-Bop) one that had a name change (Be-Bop South formally 1,000,000 Comix) and one store I had never been to before (Pop Culture Comix). Overall it was a nice trip and I did manage to find a couple of books I was looking for and one I didn't realize that I needed/wanted, but went ahead and picked up anyway.

GREEN LANTERN #19-Got in on this title late and should have known better. Love most of what Johns writes, but was never a big Hal Jordan fan so I got the first arcs and then let this title fall under my radar. I was drawn back with the Sinestro Corps storyline and it prompted me to fill in the missing issues. Finding them was pretty easy except for this one book. I did find it at the first shop we stopped at, but passed due to the $10 price. At the last store it was still on the shelf for cover price. Needless to say I grabbed this pretty quickly.

FLASH #289-This was the one I didn't realize/plan on purchasing. I was thumbing through the backissue bins and stumbled across it. I had this book back in the day when it was new and loved it mainly due to the villains-Dr. Alchemy and Mr. Element. Oh yeah it also featured a Firestorm backup story by George Perez, of course this was before I was really into comics and recognized Perez for the master that he is. Seeing it in the bin it just spoke to me and I knew I would be taking it home with me. Especially for the paltry sum of $3.00. A small price to pay for Perez's first artwork for DC Comics! Just need to find out how many Firestorm's he did and amend my list.

AVENGERS #196-Another book on my NEED LIST. After several cons and no luck finding this one I had almost given up on it. I like searching out the first appearances of various characters that I like and this one belongs to the Taskmaster. Or at least that is what I thought. According to the cover it is "introducing the threacherous Taskmaster." A quick scan of the priceguides, however, show his first appearance in #195. This is probably one of those times when a character appears in the very last panel of a book setting up his big debut in the next issue. Oh well, I have his first cover appearance and even had I bought #195 first I would still be searching for this one, so one done one to go. This one also features pencil art by Perez (Wow are you starting to sense a pattern?) and, at least to me, was a steal at $4.00. Now just need to run across that debut panel.

Horror movies

I have already vented a little about this topic to some friends, but may as well start the blog off with it also. I realize that most horror movies are basically the same rehashed 'plot', and this may seem petty but it is my blog. Why is there a need to remake the 'classics'? First was Texas Chainsaw Massacre which was then followed up with Halloween. Now we are getting Friday the 13th with A Nightmare on Elm Street in the works. Are these necessary?!?!! Before anyone (yeah like anyone is actually going to read this) points it out, I know that there are others that belong on this list-including The Hills Have Eyes, Black Christmas, Prom Night and the upcoming My Bloody Valentine. And these are just the horror remakes I won't even get started on the endless parade of sequels and TV shows made into movies.

I don't know why this irritates me so much, but it probably has to do with my love of these movies. The 80's were the era that spawned many of these movies and despite the awefulness of some of them I still have a soft spot in my heart for them. My tastes have developed a little more-I really can't get into the current trend of the 'torture porn' style. I have watched several (honestly can't remember exactly which) of the Saw franchise as well as both Hostels and can honestly say that none of them evoked the same feelings. Maybe I am jaded a little from the added years.

First I am not one of those people who complain about the gratuitous violence. Personally I love my horror movies. I just wish Hollywood would leave well enough alone and take the time and effort to develop an original idea. I know that The Strangers didn't do that well at the box office, but to me this movie had the feel of the older horror movies. It didn't rely on excessive bloodshed and, at least to me, really took me back. Once again I realize that mentioning excessive bloodshed may seem out of place in a topic like this, but go back and rewatch the first, original, Halloween. This movie didn't have a lot of onscreen killings or bloodshed and yet is considered to be one of the fathers of the stalker/killer genre.

I think it all comes down the the fact that everything must be bigger/bloodier/more explosive than what came before it. I can understand, and even appreciate, this a little, but I don't think it works for this type of movie. Managed to keep this rant pretty calm for something that really grates on me, but no guarantees for future posts. I also acknowledge that nothing much was said in it. Give me time to build some confidence.

USELESS TRIVIA ON TOPIC: Jason Voorhees didn't get the hockey mask until Part III

A FAVORITE QUOTE ON TOPIC:
Jack: It's a full moon...
Jack, David: [remembering the warning they received] Beware the moon...
David: And stick to the road. [looking down to see they are off the road] Oops.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kp276DOPQw0 -trailer for Friday remake

FAVORITE HORROR MOVIES: (not necessarily in any order and by no means complete)

An American Werewolf in London
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Friday the 13th
Friday the 13th: the Final Chapter
In the Mouth of Madness
Fraility
Stir of Echoes
The Thing
Dawn of the Dead (original)another one I forgot for my list above
Evil Dead

WELCOME

Alright, I am going to try this blog thing again. Don't know how often I will update, and how much interest there will be by anyone but me. I guess it doesn't matter these things are supposed to be for the writer anyway, right? Oh well, keep it brief for the first one and lull everyone in with the false sense of security. I do welcome any comments, but keep in mind these are going to be MY rants and ravings so you may not like/agree with them. Also keep it family friendly. Thanks