Curiosity killed the cat, but for a while I was a suspect.

Fantatsic Four - Comic Stop Style!

2011-04-06T18:29:00.001-07:00

I am super proud to announce the newest addition to the Comic Stop Empire - Comic Stop 4 in the University District!

More details to come but the gist is this; we decided that it was time to bring the crazy world of the Comic Stop to the U District. With that goal in mind, George, Jim, Brian, and myself sharpened our battle axes and got ready for battle! Zanadu Comics was the prize we had in mind and we knew it would be a vicious battle. Much blood was spilled, (go ahead, I dare you to ask me to show you my battle scars!), but in the end we hoisted a flagon of mead over the lifeless body of the Zanadu employees and raised the Comic Stop flag! Huzzah! Victory is ours!!!!

Actually, Perry (the owner of Zanadu) called us and asked if we would be interested in purchasing the U District store and we are extremely happy to work with him and the Zanadu crew to make the transition of Zanadu to Comic Stop a smooth one. We will be keeping the current staff of John and Sean, so stop by and welcome them into the Comic Stop family.

We are going to have some amazing celebration news coming so stay tuned. Better yet, follow the Comic Stop on Twitter @comicstop!

And, just because I know this is what most of you thought when I said FF Comic Stop style! Your welcome!

It's been a while

2010-12-28T11:21:00.000-08:00

Yes, it has been a while since I last wrote but I make no excuses. Life happens and sometimes other things take priority. I won't say that I'm going to turn over a new leaf in the coming year but I plan on trying to be a more active blogger in 2011.

Bacon Love Fest '09 comes to The Comic Stop!

2009-05-01T13:46:00.001-07:00

I put this on The Comic Stop blog but figured I would do so here as well.

Last week I was speaking to Kristina, of Geeked fame, and the subject of bacon came up. (Don't ask) I mentioned to her that I had seen a news report about a "Bacon Festival" that was happening in Seattle that weekend. However, try as we might, we could find no info regarding the Super Secret Double Classified Bacon Festival.

And thus, sadness became the order of the day. (At least until the subject of Star Trek at the IMAX came up. Then the day was, once again, glorious!)

Now, like many of you, my love of bacon is boundless. I love it all. The smell. The taste. The sometimes crunchy and the sometimes chewy. The applewood smoked to the uncured. Simply put, I love the pure awesomeness that is all things BACON! I'm not ashamed (much) to admit that the thought of Diet Coke with Bacon isn't completely nauseating.

However, it also occurs to me that, like many of you, I tend to preform my "bacon love" in private. Many times having to awaken earlier than usual so that I might bake a rack of bacon and eat it all before the family wakes up and demandses to share my preciousssss. Nasty, nasty hobitses!! The baconses is mine! MINE!!!

*Ahem* Sorry.

I think it's time to come out of the bacon closet (wouldn't that actually be a hardwood smoker?) and embrace our fellow bacon lovers! To that end, I propose that The Comic Stop host Bacon Love Fest '09!

We'll keep things simple. Let's pick a Saturday and gather at the Lynnwood Comic Stop. Sometime in the next few weeks? Say, the 23rd? Around 6pm? Sounds good.

Everyone should bring a bacon dish or two (or three or four). Post here what you will be bringing so we don't get a bunch of the exact same dish. Not that duplicate dishes are a bad thing but I think we should strive for diversity in out Bacon Love Fest.

Not a cook you say? No problem! Just bring some strips of cooked bacon and we'll let you partake of the meaty goodness that others bring.

I will start by volunteering to bring some Bacon Candy, Cornflake Bacon Cookies, Caribbean Beef and Bacon Stuffed Plantains and the amazing Porkgasm! ---->

See you at Bacon Love Fest '09!

Watchmen - The Elseworlds Versions

2009-03-06T10:23:00.000-08:00

I'll write a review of Watchmen later this weekend but in the meantime, check out the Watchmen funnies.

Elseworlds Watchmen

And this would TOTALLY be the opening credits to the Quentin Tarintino version!

Saturday Morning Watchmen

(Thanks to Awesomed By Comics for finding it first)

7 Things About Me That You Probably Don't Know

2009-01-23T13:02:00.001-08:00

I figure that since I read her post on the subject, I have been tagged. So here we go:

The rules are as follows:

Link to your original tagger(s) and list these rules in your post.
Share seven facts about yourself in the post.
Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.
Let them know that they have been tagged.

1. I once ran interference on a jealous boyfriend while James Robinson, the guy who was sleeping with the boyfriend's girlfriend, made a quick escape. (I don't think James likes me telling that story anymore) :-)

2. I've spent several days in jail. (No, I won't tell you about it.)

3. I once pretended to be British for an entire summer just so I could get a girl to sleep with me and then after she did, I told her I really was not. (Yeah, I was a dick in college)

4. I own over 150 karaoke discs.

5. I've acted with both Cuba Gooding Jr and Sean Patrick Flanery as well as Sharon Case. (In fact, I'm pretty sure I can say I've seen them all nekid before!)

6. While I've never seen a live donkey show before, I have seen a piso show while in the Philippines. A piso is about the size of an American half dollar. At a piso show, the "performer" takes all the piso coins that have been thrown at her, stacks them up and then proceeds to become a human bank machine. Cha-ching! (I still breakout into a sweat when I have to roll coin at the shop)

7. My first wife, Kelly, is responsible for setting me up with my current wife, Nina. (Actually, she set me up with Nina's best friend who brought Nina along on the date but that's a whole other story. One that does NOT have anything to do with this inspirational poster.)

Unfortunately, I believe most everyone who I know that blogs has already been tagged so I can only tag Krista and Jeremy.

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: Nightmare Revisited

2008-11-08T15:06:00.000-08:00

A couple of years ago, Disney released a new soundtrack to The Nightmare Before Christmas. Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed in the 2006 Nightmare Before Christmas re-release. At the time, I felt the key selling point to that cd was the five songs that Marilyn Manson, Fall Out Boy, Fiona Apple, She Wants Revenge and Panic! At The Disco covered. Of those, the She Wants Revenge track was almost unlistenable and the Panic! At The Disco track as merely ok. What I really wished they had done was a whole album of remakes. The five songs was pretty cool and the Danny Elfman demo tracks were nice but really, only a die hard fan was going to find those interesting.

Which brings us to the just released Nightmare Revisited. Billed as "performances inspired by Danny Elfman's music from The Nightmare Before Christmas", the disc consists of 20 total tracks, two of which are the original opening and closing monologues to the film as done by Elfman and one duplicate song from the 2006 release, (Manson's This Is Halloween). For those of you with bad math skill's, that amounts to 17 new tracks.
I'll cut right to the chase. If you are a Nightmare fan, this collection is awesome and I highly recommend it. Even if you aren't a Nightmare fan, I still recommend it.Some really good music is here and a few real gems!

The Good: Marilyn Manson doing This Is Halloween, Korn's version of Kidnap The Sandy Claws and Shiny Toy Guns doing the Finale/Reprise are a few of my favorites. Like a good remake should, these and most of the new versions on this album retain the feeling of the original but add a little something new to the mix as well. Many times a remake will either push to far, sounding so different from the source material that it becomes un-listenable. Either that or it stays so close to the original that you think, "Why did you even bother. I'll just listen to the original."

Much like the 2006 release, Sally's Song is the standout on this disc. Amy Lee, of the band Evanescence, pours so much emotion into the song that it's almost heartbreaking. The music arrangement is outstanding, again, adding so much to the song without making it unrecognizable.

Danny Elfman reciting the original Closing monologue gives us a glimpse into what the future might have held for Jack and Sally along with a friendship between Jack and Santa.

Finally, the packaging. It's simple but very well done. The case features pictures of Jack, Sally, Zero and Lock, Shock and Barrel. The artwork isn't credited but I believe they are all production sketches by Tim Burton. If they aren't, they are at least done in the Tim Burton style.

The Bad: While I enjoyed the disc overall, there are a few tunes that took a while before I could appreciate them. Among those were the Overture by DeVotchKa, (something about polka and Nightmare Before Christmas doesn't seem to want to fit in my brain and yet upon repeated listens, it totally works for me now.) and Jack's Obsession done by Sparkelhorse, (It's a bit too whiny).

I really love the Marilyn Manson This is Halloween but I also really hate that this was a re-release from the 2006 album. I wish they would have given somebody else a crack at the song. Thankfully, this is the only song repeated from 2006 and you won't have to endure repeated listenings of She Wants Revenge doing a horrible version of Kidnap The Sandy Claws.

If you are an iTunes person, there is a bonus song by Tiger Army when you download the album. They do Oogie Boogie's Song. How is it? I wish I could tell you. I didn't find out about the bonus song till after I bought the cd. Grrrrr!
(Update. You can now download the song on it's own but it still peeves me that even if I downloaded the song I will always feel like my cd is incomplete. Damn my collectors sensibilities! DAMN YOU TO HELL!!!)

The song that upsets me most is Flyleaf doing What's This?. It isn't that they do a horrible version of the song. It's actually ok. My problem is the tone of the song. What should be the most joyous song on the album is reduced to a somewhat mournful sounding song. I appreciate the artistic choice the band made in trying to do something different but I just don't think it works. Part of the problem is the original is SO perfect in it's enthusiasm that any deviation from that energy it is going to come up lacking. Fall Out Boy did the 2006 version of the song and while I don't think that version is spectacular, it at least tried to capture the wonder and awe of discovering Christmas for the first time. Lacey Mosley, Flyleaf's lead singer, almost sounds bored in Flyleaf's rendition. "What's this? Oh. Christmas. *yawn*"

The Ugly: Rjd2's Christmas Eve Montage and Datarock doing To The Rescue. Remember Meco's Star Wars from the 70's? That's what these electronica version's remind me of.
*shudder*
(Don't even try and convince me that Meco Star Wars was good in a kitchy kind of way. It's a perfect example of why disco has a bad name)

The Bottom Line: It's good stuff. I recommend buying it from Amazon or downloading from iTunes.

Yikes! Still more Halloween at Disney pictures!

2008-11-07T16:35:00.001-08:00

I was chastised for not actually putting any of the Disney Halloween Party photos up, so here they are.

The whole clan on Paradise Pier

Jenna and the Princesses

A cool pumpkin Mickey light

The kids show no fear of what happens to candy pirates!

Cinderella's evil step mother and step sisters

Not actually a picture from the party but a favorite.

More Disneyland Halloween

2008-11-07T15:45:00.001-08:00

Continuing from yesterday's post, here is some more from my trip to Disneyland.

Woody's Roundup in Adventureland became Woody's Halloween Roundup. It was pretty cool. They had a guy there that was carving pumpkins that were pretty amazing. The day after I took the Sally picture, he had done a Jack Skellington that was really neat.
In all the years I've been going to Disneyland, I don't remember them ever having a petting zoo and with all that Disneyland has to offer, you would think the kids would find a petting zoo pretty lame but they LOVED it! Since it isn't something that Disney usually does, I thought it was kinda neat also.

Anthony just started potty training before we left and we were a bit concerned that he would balk at having to use a "strange" toilet. No such problem. I can't wait till he's dating and I can bring this one out. "Oh, isn't that sweet! Anthony, remember when you took a dump at Disneyland?"

They had a neat Día de los Muertos set up near Big Thunder Mountain. They did free facepainting for the kids. Anything free at Disneyland is worth noting!

The entryway for California Adventures became Candy Corn Acres and at various points in the day, Farmer Mickey and Farmer Minnie would come out for pictures.

Strangely, Anthony had no problems taking a picture with Jack Sparrow but would not go on Pirates of the Caribbean nor would he dress as a pirate for Halloween, which is what he had picked to be!

Finally, a picture of me with Anthony and his namesake, who's 40th we were there to celebrate.

Just some various pictures. (Yes, I was thinking the same thing about good ole' Tink. ;-)

I have tons of other pictures but really, I'm amazed you slogged through all these! I hope everyone had a great Halloween. We certainly did.

Halloween at Disneyland!

2008-11-06T18:47:00.000-08:00

The family and I went to California last week to help celebrate the 40th of one of my oldest and dearest friends The party was held at Disneyland but, of course, we didn't tell the kids that was where we were going! I love torturing my kids! :)
The ride from the airport to the hotel was not the most exciting trip in the world:

But then Jenna saw the signs for Disneyland:

Disneyland was great. It was decked out in Halloween stuff, (well, as deck out as Disneyland could be for a holiday like Halloween). Here are some pictures.

The weather was beautiful if not a bit on the hot side. The kids got a little soaked in Flick's Fun Park:

All the rides were great but my favorite has always been The Haunted Mansion. I got to see it done up with The Nightmare Before Christmas treatment last year and this year it was just as fun:

More pictures tomorrow.

"The Force Unleashed" indeed!

2008-09-19T14:02:00.000-07:00

The Emperor commands that you caption this photo!

The Greatest Green Lantern of them all! Wait. What? .... oh. Nevermind.

2008-09-04T13:23:00.000-07:00

I stole this from Random Happenstance. You'll never read Kingdom Come in the same light again!

It's a man, baby!

2008-08-17T12:41:00.000-07:00

I'm not a big fan of "reality" television. As a matter of fact, I downright hate it. But I am all for anything that helps promote tolerance and so I applaud the decision by America's Top Model to include a trans gender woman as one of the contestants. And for those that think a "he/she" hasn't got a chance with "real" women, I challenge you to pick her out.

Top row, from left to right: Nikeysha, Sheena. 2nd row: Marjorie, McKey. 3rd row: Samantha, ShaRaun, 4th row: Hannah, Isis, 5th row: Joslyn, Lauren, 6th row: Annaleigh, Clark, 7th row: Elina, Brittany.

Now, don't cheat and look it up on the net! See if you can figure it out and post here. I'll post who it is tomorrow. For the record, I did not choose the right woman.

Crossing a line

2008-08-15T13:51:00.000-07:00

Anyone who has known me for a while knows that I can sometimes come off a bit, well, lewd. Generally, I've know a person for some time before showing this side of me and even then, I try not to cross certain lines and I do try, (No, really! I do!) not to offend. And while I think that some flirting or "dirty" talk is ok with some people who are not your wife or girlfriend, the following is NEVER acceptable.

EVER.

PERIOD.

This was brought to my attention via The Comic Stop's own Girl Friday on her blog Geeked, who in turn got it from John DiBello, the caretaker of Bully . I'm cutting and pasting from Kristina's blog. Read on.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Overheard at San Diego Comic-Con while I was having lunch on the balcony of the Convention Center on Sunday July 27: a bunch of guys looking at the digital photos on the camera of another, while he narrated: "These were the Ghostbusters girls. That one, I grabbed her ass, 'cause I wanted to see what her reaction was." This was only one example of several instances of harassment, stalking or assault that I saw at San Diego this time.

1. One of my friends was working at a con booth selling books. She was stalked by a man who came to her booth several times, pestering her to get together for a date that night. One of her co-workers chased him off the final time.

2. On Friday, just before the show closed, this same woman was closing up her tables when a group of four men came to her booth, started taking photographs of her, telling her she was the "prettiest girl at the con." They they entered the booth, started hugging and kissing her and taking photographs of themselves doing so. She was confused and scared, but they left quickly after doing that.

3. Another friend of mine, a woman running her own booth: on Friday a man came to her booth and openly criticized her drawing ability and sense of design. Reports from others in the same section of the floor confirmed he'd targeted several women with the same sort of abuse and criticism.

Quite simply, this behavior has got to stop at Comic-Con. It should never be a sort of place where anyone, man or woman, feels unsafe or attacked either verbally or physically in any shape or form. There are those, sadly, who get off on this sort of behavior and assault, whether it's to professional booth models, cosplayers or costumed women, or women who are just there to work. This is not acceptable behavior under any circumstance, no matter what you look like or how you're dressed, whether you are in a Princess Leia slave girl outfit or business casual for running your booth.

On Saturday, the day after the second event I described above, I pulled out my convention book to investigate what you can do and who you can speak to after such an occurrence. On page two of the book there is a large grey box outlining "Convention Policies," which contain rules against smoking, live animals, wheeled handcarts, recording at video presentations, drawing or aiming your replica weapon, and giving your badge to others. There is nothing about attendee-to-attendee personal behavior.

Page three of the book contains a "Where Is It?" guide to specific Comic-Con events and services. There's no general information room or desk listed, nor is there a contact location for security, so I go to the Guest Relations Desk. I speak to a volunteer manning the desk; she's sympathetic to the situation but who doesn't have a clear answer to my question: "What's Comic-Con's policy and method of dealing with complaints about harassment?" She directs me to the nearest security guard, who is also sympathetic listening to my reports, but short of the women wanting to report the incidents with the names of their harassers, there's little that can be done.

"I understand that," I tell them both, "but what I'm asking is more hypothetical and informational: if there is a set Comic-Con policy on harassment and physical and verbal abuse on Con attendees and exhibitors, and if so, what's the specific procedure by which someone should report it, and specifically where should they go?" But this wasn't a question either could answer.

So, according to published con policy, there is no tolerance for smoking, drawn weapons, personal pages or selling bootleg videos on the floor, and these rules are written down in black and white in the con booklet. There is not a word in the written rules about harassment or the like. I would like to see something like "Comic-Con has zero tolerance for harassment or violence against any of our attendees or exhibitors. Please report instances to a security guard or the Con Office in room XXX."

The first step to preventing such harassment is giving its victims the knowledge that they can safely and swiftly report such instances to someone in authority. Having no published guideline, and indeed being unable to give a clear answer to questions about it, gives harassment and violence one more rep-tape loophole to hide behind.

I enjoyed Comic-Con. I'm looking forward to coming back next year. So, in fact, are the two women whose experiences I've retold above. Aside from those instances, they had a good time at the show. But those instances of harassment shouldn't have happened at all, and that they did under no clear-cut instructions about what to do sadly invites the continuation of such behavior, or even worse.

I don't understand why there's no such written policy about what is not tolerated and what to do when this happens. Is there anyone at Comic-Con able to explain this? Does a similar written policy exist in the booklets for other conventions (SF, comics or otherwise) that could be used as a model? Can it be adapted or adapted, and enforced, for Comic-Con? As the leading event of the comics and pop culture world, Comic-Con should work to make everyone who attends feel comfortable and safe.

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I like the idea these guys had of disabling comments but I don't know how to turn them off. Feel free to comment here but, really, if you want to talk about it, you should very much be doing that--on your blogs, message boards, or with your friends. This is not okay.

Don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry.

2008-08-14T20:37:00.001-07:00

I had a guy come into the store earlier today with a few friends. He comes to the counter with a D&D Players Handbook, the latest adventure module , a set of "official" D&D dice and character sheets. I ring the purchase up and let him know that his total will be $79.54 to which he replies, "Oh, I didn't think you were going to charge that much."

Huh?

I think to myself, "What he must have meant was, he didn't think that everything would total out to be that much". I look at the prices on the items and start to read them out to him when he gives me THAT look. Like, "I'm not an idiot. I know what the prices on the back say." He says, "No, I know how much it says they are but I can get this stuff online for, like, 50% cheaper. Are you going to match that?"

WTF?! I can feel my anger rising by the millisecond.

"Hmm." (Uh oh) "Well, you see, I charge the retail price because I'm a retail store!" (Yellow Alert! Yellow Alert!) "If you would like to get them cheaper, then I understand, (Incoming! Incoming! DIVE!! DIVE!! DIVE!!) but I am not an online business. I have actual overhead costs. Like rent. And buying fixtures." (Oh god, here we go.) "And I'm not some damn mega chain that can afford to purchase a GAZILLION of something (Code: RED! Code: RED! This is not a drill!!!) so that they can sell it cheaper than the the little guy because they bought it in "bulk". (For the love of God, stop!) No, I'm a small business, in every sense, and when I tell you that every PENNY that I make is precious to me, it isn't because I'm some Scrooge-fucking-McDuck, it's because I'm not making that much off of this stuff in the first place and therefore EVERY PENNY IS PRECIOUS! Now, if you would like, the cost is $79.54."

The guy looks at me like I'm going to start swinging an ax at him at any moment, which, had I an ax, might have. His friends start laughing. Then he starts laughing. I'm still a bit pissed but feel my anger subsiding. However, I'm pretty sure they guy is either A.) going to yell at me, B.) Punch me, C.) Both yell at me and punch me or D.) Leave.

Instead, he opts for E.)

"That's cool man. I was just trying to save some green but I can see your point. I'm going to get some Magic packs too."

You could have knocked me over with a feather.

Both funny and really, really scary.

2008-08-12T14:51:00.001-07:00

This is a story that made me laugh (Hackers getting hacked) and also made me really scared to do anything on the net, (One seminar included a way to remotely turn off pacemakers regulating people's heartbeats). It's just crazy scary what we take for granted as being safe.

Send... More... Humans!!!

2008-08-12T14:03:00.000-07:00

I posted this over on The Comic Stop blog but figured I would post it here as well. I'm gonna be doing demos of both Humans!!! and Zombies!!! at the Lynnwood Comic Stop during our semi-monthly game night on the 23rd. I would also like to get a group together to play at the Redmond location sometime in the future, so if you are interested please let me know.

I'm back!

2008-08-09T18:30:00.000-07:00

Well, after a lengthy time away from the fun and exciting future world called The Internet, I'm back. Glad to see that all the porn is still here.

I've resisted writing reviews of comics to this point for several reasons, not the least of which has been my inability to write on a regular basis. However, now that the shop is back up and running with access to the world wide web, I figure now is as good a time as any to start. Since new comics won't be out till Wednesday and Saturday night seems a bit late to review the comics from this week, my initial foray into comics review will consist of a trade that came out a week or so ago.

World of Warcraft Book One Hardcover
W: Walt Simonson
A: Ludo Lullabi
I: Sandra Hope
Publisher: Wildstorm/DC Comics

Disclosure time. I've found myself becoming quite the WoW whore. I enjoy playing the game quite a bit. I've collected all the action figures thus far and I really enjoy playing the card game. (That is, when I get a chance to play.) But the one thing I find myself most attracted to is the extended mythology that the game has. It has a rich history that rivals that of any major franchise. (I'm looking at you Star Wars) In spite of that, I have avoided reading the comics based on World of Warcraft. Why? Quite simply, the art.

I'm not a big fan of the cartoony, manga style made popular by Joe Madureira. Obviously WoW artist Ludo Lullabi is. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery then Joe Mad must be blushing with the praise that is being heaped his way by Monsieur Lullabi.

When the issues contained in this volume were originally published, they each had two covers. One with art by Blizzard Entertainment art director Samwise Didier, whose style is also reminiscent of the Joe Mad style and the other from Wildstorm's Editorial Director Jim Lee, whose art is so completely the opposite of the Madureira style. It's his style that I wish was being aped here. For me, a sense of realism would have made this a much more enjoyable book. Instead, the art is such a distraction that I am never able to immerse myself in the story being told. To be fair, it isn't all Ludo's fault. The script by Walt Simonson is fun in a summer action movie kinda way but when it's all said and done, I kept wishing for more,... I don't know, substance? LotR-like?

Don't get me wrong, I think this is a fun book, for both Warcraft fans and non Warcraft fans alike. In fact, if you've ever enjoyed a sword and sorcery movie or Conan in any form, you're gonna enjoy this book. But keep in mind that the story really does seem like something I would have made up when I was a kid.

"Ok, Sean, you be the really powerful magic guy but you can't use all your magic powers yet 'cause something bad happened to you in the past and you gotta go on a quest to fix things. And Suzanne, you be the super cool fighter girl!

"But I don't want to be a fighter girl. I want to be a magic person too!"

"Ok, fine. You can be a cool fighter that can use magic and I'll be the King! But I don't remember I'm the king 'cause I got am-sneeze-ya."

"What's that?"

"It's when you can't remember 'nothin cause you sneezed so hard that it made your head hurt too bad"

"Ooohhhhh. I hate when that happens."

"I want to be a bear."

"You can't be a bear Sean! We're not playin' Zoo. We're playin' wizards and sword fighters!"

"Then I don't wanna play."

"Ok, fine. Then you can be a magic guy that can turn into a bear. And we'll all be captured by a bad monster guy and we gotta escape so's I can get back to my kingdom because there's a fake guy there pretending to be me! And you guys gotta help me because we're gonna fight pirates and mermaids and big trolls and..."

"I wanna have antlers like a deer"

"But, but you just said you want's ta be a bear!! Bears don't have horns!"

"Oh, I want to be an elf. Their pretty."

"Fine Susanne! You can be a cool magic, fighter elf girl!"

"Oh! Oh! Oh! I wanna be an elf to!"

"Sean! You can't be a elf! You're a, a, a bear guy!!! And bears don't have antlers! And elfs don't got no antlers and , and..."

"I'm gonna be a elf with antlers who can turn into a bear."

"Oh, that's cool Sean!"

"Thanks Susanne"

"Arghhhhh! That isn't how your suppose to play you guys!"

"How do you know? You got's am-sneeze-ya! You don't even remember nothin!"

Sorry. Went on a little bit of a tangent there, didn't I? :)

Anyway, Simonson's script is ok but the team of characters he has assembled is a bit bland. A human, a night elf and a blood elf. Out of 10 races that are playable in the game, he choose to use the 3 least visually appealing or, in other words, the 3 most human looking. I would have liked to have seen a more diverse mix of main characters. Instead of the blood elf I would have liked to see a Tauren or Undead charcter. Or even gone outside of the playable characters and made one of them an Ogre or a Naga.

This may not be a fair criticism, since the World of Warcraft has tons of pre-established history. This may be a case of Blizzard dictating which story they wanted told. I'm not sure. In any case, it's a pretty standard story. Amnesiac warrior is captured by slavers, he befriends the other captives, escapes and then turns out to be the king. Certainly not bad, but not great either. I hate to harp on the art but I really do feel that with more appealing art, the story would have been elevated a bit. (On a side note, the art team for the past two issues of the monthly, which take place right after this collection, has been by a different art team and, in my opinion, better.)

So, why should you pick up the hardbound edition of World of Warcraft? Well, at $19.99, it is cheaper that buying the seven issues collected here by a whopping $.94! Yeah, I know. Big deal. It also contains the zero issue that was, to my knowledge, only available when you bought the WoW action figures and even then it was just a mini comic. This is the first time it's been printed in a standard comic size, so that pretty cool. I also like the the overall design on the hardcover. The dust jacket has a matte finish which gives the Samwise art on the cover a nice pastel look. The book itself has a faux leather look with gold embossing. (Is that even a real word?) To round it all out, there are some character sketches on the inside pages as well as a forward from the VP of Creative Development at Blizzard. All in all, a pretty decent package for the price.

If you've thought about picking up the World of Warcraft monthly or if you're just looking for a fun, light read to finish out the summer with, then World of Warcraft Book One Hardcover is the book to get.

Anniversary Surprise

2008-07-12T09:54:00.000-07:00

I celebrated my 14 year anniversary last night (that's the Styrofoam anniversary, isn't it?) by surprising Nina with a night out. (Thank you Nick for taking closing duties at the shop for me)

Usually, neither Nina or I are all that concerned about anniversary's. It just seems a bit odd to celebrate being together for another year. It's like saying, "Hey! Look at that! I made it through another year without killing you!" or "Yay! Another year down! Just 36 more till everybody gives us gold!" I mean, really, didn't you intend to be with this person for the rest of your life when you asked them to marry you? If you're going to celebrate each year of being together it's like saying that you were actually hedging your bets the whole time. "Wow, another year down. I honestly wasn't expecting to make it this far. Good for us! Let's go out."

We started the night by going downtown to the Ipanema Brazilian Grill. If you've been there before, you know that it's damn good food. If you've never been, do yourself a favor and go sometime. Yes, it's downtown so it's a bit on the expensive side expensive. ($40.00 a person for dinner but a bargain at $17.00 a person for lunch)

To quote Invader Zim, "You might as well resign yourself to your meaty fate!"

Had we not been on a time schedule I'm pretty sure I would still be there eating all the delicious Garlic Infused Fillet Mignon, Bacon Wrapped Turkey Breast, Parmesan Pork Loin and Roasted Cinnamon Pineapple that my stomach could handle. (And yes, my colon is not happy with me this morning. Not happy, AT ALL!) There was also Slow Roasted Sirloin, Beef Ribs, Pork Ribs, Bacon Wrapped Steak, Roasted Lamb, Brazilian Sausage Links, Garlic Fries with Sea Salt, Fried Plantains and a HUGE salad bar as well as other meaty goodness that I'm not remembering at the moment. Have I mentioned it's all-you-can-eat? I'm going back into a meat induced coma just thinking about it.

Now, I'm pretty sure Nina would have been happy to have just gone out to dinner at a restaurant she enjoys for our anniversary but I then busted out the chocolates! A hand picked box of See's fruit creme centers and chocolate covered cherries (Her favorites) as well as a tin of York chocolate mints and some limited edition Root Beer suckers from See's. (Is it obvious we aren't dieting in any way, shape or form at the moment?)

Finally, I sprung the big surprise on her. Tickets to see Eddie Izzard at the Paramount!

Nina and I have been big fans of Eddie's for many years but had never had the opportunity to see him live. We have all his stand up dvd's and enjoy watching him on The Riches. I knew that Nina would be thrilled with going and I was right. As I gave her the tickets and she looked to see who it was we were seeing, a smile spread across her face and just kept growing and growing. It literally stayed there the rest of the night.

Eddie was, as always, FABULOUS! He spent several minutes at the beginning of the show doing a very Seattle centered bit about "Chief Seattle" founding the city before amending it to Hendrix founding the city all with the help of his iPhone and Wikipedia. I can't do the bit justice but the man was on his game. We were laughing so hard.

All the material he did was new but a few bits were reminiscent of previous sketches. Which was fine, as it gave a familiarity to the show but you never felt like he was just a rehashing past glories.

It was also nice to see some Comic Stop patrons at the show. (Hi Matt. Hi Dawn.)

So, all in all, it was a great night out. I now have a day to recover before having to move the entire shop downstairs tomorrow. (I think my back just gave out writing that.) Anybody who wants to come by and help move stuff is welcome to. I'll have some free drinks and food for anybody who comes by. See ya in the new spot!

Demotivational Posters

2008-07-11T13:45:00.000-07:00

They are horrible. They are sexist. They are wrong on SO many levels. They made me laugh.

Chocolate Motherload Cake and Cheetos

2008-07-08T19:34:00.000-07:00

Folks, I warn you now. This isn't gonna be pretty.

I don't normally eat breakfast. I'm usually just not that hungry in the morning and by the time I do get hungry, I'm stuck at the shop. So my first, and only, meal of the day is usually dinner at 9:00 pm. Every now and then I will get so hungry during the day that I will put a "Back In 5 Minutes" sign in the door and run across the way for some pizza at Pizza Schmizza or downstairs for a Ruby Melt at Ruby's but that get's really expensive really fast so usually, I just don't eat.

Friday night after work, I decided I would stop by the market and get some food to keep at the store so that I could eat when I got hungry. Now, I could have gotten some apples, pears or some other fresh fruit which would be a good for me snack. Or I could go the fresh veggies route and get some carrots or celery with a little ranch dressing. That wouldn't be to bad. Or maybe something a little more substantial? I could get a loaf of bread and some peanut butter and jelly.

What did I get?

A 9 oz. bag of Cheetos.

Cause I was really craving some Cheetos at that moment and I thought, "That will be fine. I'll snack on a few Cheetos when I get hungry though out the week. A handful of Cheetos a day isn't terrible for me." And so I got a large bag of Cheetos. (Besides, who can resist Chester Cheetah? He's easily the coolest corporate logo created in the last 20 years!)

So, Saturday comes and I'm at the shop when I start to get hungry. I look at the bag of Cheetos and realize I'm really craving chocolate cake. Well folks, lucky for me there is a Claim Jumper restaurant right here at Redmond Town Center! And damned if they don't have chocolate cake there! So I throw the "Back In 5 Minutes" sign up in the door and run over and buy me a $10 slice o' chocolate cake! For those of you who have never been to Claim Jumper, here is said cake: Yes, you are counting right. That is six layers. To quote the Claim Jumper menu:

Chocolate Motherlode Cake
Super Moist Slice of our Six-Layer Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Chips, Fresh Walnuts and Chocolate Fudge Frosting 9.95

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Chocolate cake. *drool*

Sorry. So I get my six layer, chocolate fudge frosted, artery killing monster cake and proceed to eat it. I get about half way through it when I start thinking, "You know, this is a lot of sugar. I'm kinda craving something salty now." Well I am damn lucky that I have a bag of Cheetos sitting right here! So I crack open that bag of cheesy yumminess and mow though about half the bag before my brain says these exact words, "You know, that's a lot of salty deliciousness you've just had on top of all that chocolate mana from heaven you've consumed. Don't you think you should stop now and give it a rest?" To which my stomach said, "Shut the fuck up bitch!"

I then proceed to finish the cake and bag of Cheetos and top it all off with a 24 oz. can of Jolt Cola. (I told you this wasn't gonna be pretty.)

And now for the sad part. Just before I started writing this I caught myself thinking, "Man, I'd really like some chocolate cake."

SOMEBODY STOP ME BEFORE I EAT AGAIN!

An Apology to Qtilla and friend

2008-07-07T17:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon I received a visit at the store from the beautiful and talented Qtilla, of Seattle Umbrella Conspiracy and Spoilers SUC fame. It was the first time she had been able to make it by since the opening and I was glad that she made the time to come in. Not only had she come by but she had brought a friend with her, (who's name I do not know even though I have now met him twice) It was a super slow day and normally I would have been thrilled to have friends drop by and chat but unfortunately, as I said before, it was a slow day. So slow that I thought, "Hey. The guys in my guild on Warcraft have been bugging me to do a raid with them for months now. Let's see if I can swing it this evening."

I had, literally, just spent thirty minutes convincing them that I would be able to raid with them and we had just started the fore mentioned raid when Q walked in the door. Now, all I had to say to the two of them was, "I'm so glad you came by but unfortunately I just started something online that I can't get out of so if I seem distracted, I apologize." I would assume that being around geek culture as much as Q has been, she would understand. But I didn't say that. As a matter of fact, I don't think I said much of anything. Without going into the particulars of my weekend, I was a bit out of it Sunday regardless of playing on the computer or not. Not that I am using that as an excuse. Just stating a fact that I was a bit of a zombie anyway Sunday.

Anyway, at the least, I must have seemed distracted. At worst, I must have come off as rude. In any case, I owe an apology.

I am sorry.

I hope that my social stupidity doesn't prevent you from dropping by again when you are in the area. I hope that I didn't cause any kind of embarrassment to The Comic Stop family by being an idiot. I promise that next time you are here, I will not be such a moron. (Well, at least not so rude as to play games while you are here. The moron thing I'm just stuck with)

Becoming a better person by being a couch potato Part 1

2008-07-05T20:46:00.000-07:00

Part one in my new weekly series of putting the spotlight on films and shows that will entertain while making you *gasp* think! First up:

Mindwalk - A personal favorite of mine. I've watched this film several times and come away after each viewing with new thoughts and ideas. However, make no mistake. This is not a film for everyone. To call it “dialogue heavy” would be like calling the Grand Canyon a “big hole”. The statement would be accurate but would not convey the reality properly.
The film has no plot to speak of. (I know. I'm really selling it here, huh?) It's about two friends , one a poet and the other a failed presidential candidate, who get together while in Mont Saint-Michel, France. While walking around the island they come across a Norwegian scientist and the three of them have a conversation. That's pretty much it. But, oh, what a conversation! It's intelligent and thought provoking without being preachy and artificial. Like a real conversation, the topics of conversation jump around a bit. They range from politics to physics and then to poetry. Looking for mindless entertainment? Don't look here.

The major knock on this film is that nothing happens and that's true. At no point in the film does one of the characters suddenly stave off the invading alien horde that is about to conqueror France. Nor does the one friend profess his unrequited love to the other friend as he lays dying in a pool of blood after having been gunned down by the mafia. Neither does the Norwegian scientist turn out to be bent on world domination and only the two crafty Americans, who turned out to be not only a poet and a politician but ex Secret Service operatives as well, stop her. Nope. This is just two hours of people having a conversation that may or may not change the way they think about things. With luck, it will and with luck, it will do the same for you. I highly recommend tracking this film down.

Wall-E and Wanted

2008-07-02T13:36:00.001-07:00

I went and saw both Wall-E and Wanted over the past few days. (I've been on a regular movie going binge lately! Iron Man, Hulk, Kung Fu Panda and Speed Racer in the past 2 months after having gone to the movies only 3 times last year) The bottom line on both of these movies is...

Meh.

They are by no means bad movies but neither are they as good as they could have been.

Of the two, Wall-E is getting the better reviews from movie goers. Several people have come into the shop and said not only is it the best film that Pixar has ever done, it's the best film this year. To those people I ask, "Did we see the same movie?"

Wall-E is, more often than not, to heavy handed with its "go green" message. I applaud the sentiment but I really don't want to watch an animated version of An Inconvenient Truth. There is no subtlety in the movie. And, honestly, after blatantly ripping off Doc Hollywood with Cars I had a lot of problems watching Short Circuit's Johnny 5 starring as Wall-E. The same goes for H.A.L. as the ships navigator. Yeah, yeah. I know. They are suppose to be "homages". I say that the folks at Pixar are suppose to be more creative than that. I hope Pixar's next, Up, doesn't use Geri as the old guy. (Geri is the old man that has been seen in the Pixar short Geri's Game and as the toy repair guy in Toy Story 2)

I'm not saying that Wall-E was a bad movie. Quite the opposite! It's good. It's just not as great as it's being made out to be.

Wanted also falls into the "could have been great" category. As a fan of the book, I was eager to see the movie. I knew going into it that many of the particulars of the story had been changed and I was fine with that. So long as the overall social commentary was still there I thought it would be ok. And it is there, to some degree. It's just not as blatant as it was in the graphic novel. Which is too bad because while the movie was visually stunning,(And I'm not just talking about Angelina Jolie), it fails to actually say anything. It's ultimately a standard summer action movie, albeit with a little bit of a dark humor edge. Had the filmmakers embraced that dark humor whole heartedly, I think this could have been a really classic action film.

Either of these is a fine choice to see if you are looking for a movie this July 4th weekend but if you haven't already done it, go see The Incredible Hulk over either of them.

Animated Movie List Part 2... or not. Instead, SUPERMAN!

2008-06-11T16:20:00.000-07:00

Part of the problem with trying to write while at the shop is that sometimes those pesky customers come in and demand to give me money. (And really, who am I to deny them?)

It's been almost a week since I wrote about Yahoo's stupid movie list and, amazingly, I find that I just can't get the anger to rise like it was last week. Some fine suggestions were made in the comments and there are still several films that I would like to comment on but ultimately, or at least for today, I just find the subject not to my liking. Perhaps I will revisit it again soon but for now I will leave it be. Please feel free to continue to leave comments about films you think are worthy additions to a "best of" list.

New comics came in today and there was one in particular I would like to comment on.

Action Comics #866 - This is the start of yet another revamp of the Brainiac character. (Really? Again? Can't we pick a retcon and just leave it be?) But that's not what I want to comment on.

The artist on the book is Gary Frank. I generally don't care for his art. I don't hate it but there is something about his style that always makes me think, "Meh." Lately his art has looked, to me, like a cross between Frank Quietly and Paul Gulacy. That's not a pretty picture, so to speak. And the first few pages of this issue are typical Frank. Nothing great, nothing horrible. Just meh. But then, on page 13, he draws Clark Kent doing something that just made me smile. Not a "That's funny" smile but a "Thank you. You just made my day" smile. A joyous smile. A smile that makes me remember how good it feels to feel good. What was it that Mr. Frank drew that made me feel this way you ask?

He drew Clark Kent pushing his glasses up with his index finger.

*crickets*

I know. That doesn't sound very exciting. Or funny. Or important. Or uplifting. It doesn't sound like anything, does it? And yet, it was all those things because in that one moment, in the way that he drew it, he made the DC Comics Clark Kent into the Christopher Reeves Clark Kent. It wasn't that he drew his Clark Kent to look like Christopher Reeves. But at that point in the reading it was feeling like he was trying to evoke Reeves without actually doing his likeness.

Some who read this won't make a distinction between the the comic book Superman and the Christopher Reeves Superman but for a great many people Christopher Reeves IS Clark Kent/Superman. It was his portrayal of the character that turned so many of us into fans of not just Superman but into comic book fans. I can easily say that seeing Superman: The Movie for the first time was just as important to me as seeing Star Wars for the first time. Looking at Superman: The Movie today it is easy to forget how amazing it was to see Superman fly. And that's all we wanted from that movie! Hell, that was the whole ad campaign! "You will believe a man can fly." Ah, simpler times.

So I'm reading the book and that little nod to Christopher Reeves comes up and I get all warm and fuzzy and I'm smiling like an idiot when, two pages later, Mr. Frank makes me into a kid again. I mean, I feel JUST LIKE a little kid again. I wish I could describe the feeling. I was almost teary eyed because it felt SO FUCKING GOOD! There he is, in a full page panel. Christopher Reeves as Superman. Gary Frank has captured him magnificently.

And suddenly, just like that, I'm a Gary Frank fan.

Yahoo users are Morons!

2008-06-05T12:58:00.000-07:00

Yahoo just announced it's 30 top rated animated movies as voted by it's users. Really? Over The Hedge? One of the best animated films ever? The Simpsons Movie? Horton Hears a Fucking Who?!? These are the best that Yahoo users could come up with? Here is the list:

30. Bambi
29. Jungle Book
28. Sleeping Beauty
27. Over The Hedge
26. The Simpsons Movie
25. Ice Age 2
24. Ice Age
23. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
22. Howl's Moving Castle
21. Mulan
20. Peter Pan
19. Horton Hears A Who
18. Lady And The Tramp
17. The Nightmare Before Christmas
16. Princess Mononoke
15. Cinderella
14. The Little Mermaid
13. Enchanted
12. Shrek 2
11. Cars
10. Monsters Inc.
9. Spirited Away
8. Aladdin
7. Beauty And The Beast
6. Toy Story
5. Ratatouille
4. Shrek
3. The Incredibles
2. The Lion King
1. Finding Nemo

I'm not even going to go off on the actual ranking of the films. Suffice to say, I'm not impressed. (Finding Nemo is better than Toy Story by 5 spots? Maybe. The Incredibles is better than Toy Story? WTF?)

I realize that movies are subjective and that one persons favorite may not be another persons. However, I also realize that when you make a list of the best "animated" films a prerequisite should be that the movie BE ANIMATED! Including a movie like Enchanted, with it's whole 10 minutes of animation, and not including The Iron Giant (Easily a top ten best animated film EVER) makes your list instantly laughable. Besides, if you are going to go with the animation/live action hybrid, Who Framed Roger Rabbit is the better movie by far.

Shrek 2 and Ice Age 2 rate in the top 25 but the superior Toy Story 2 doesn't even make the list at all?

According to Yahoo users, Ice Age 2 is better than Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, Horton Hears A Who is superior to Akira and put down that copy of Fantasia you were thinking of renting 'cause it's no Over The Hedge.

Please don't get me wrong. I thought Ice Age 2 was a decent movie. I've watched it a few times. There are moment in Over The Hedge that I laughed out loud. I'm not trying to demean those movies but they also do not rate mention in a list of the best animated films ever made. Oh, I'm sorry. This isn't a list of the 30 best animated films of all time. It's a list of the 30 top rated animated films by Yahoo users. Well. This just shows what complete morons must be using Yahoo.

I can't say that I've seen Horton Hears A Who yet but I feel confident in saying there is NO WAY that it's a better or more enjoyable movie than Bambi, Peter Pan or Snow White, all of which were rated lower than Horton. And don't think that I'm some Disney purist guy either. Mulan, Lady and the Tramp and Cars don't deserve to be on this list either. There have been better and/or more enjoyable films from Disney in recent years than those. Lilo and Stitch comes to mind.

I mean, if were gonna rate a film purely on it's enjoyment level and not on it's technical and/or historical merits then The Land Before Time should be on the list. No, it isn't a great movie but tell me it isn't more fun to watch than Howl's Moving Castle. You can't. Where is Wallace and Gromit? Or even Chicken Run for that matter.

So, instead of complaining too much about the list, (I know. Too late), I've made my own. My criteria for the list is also a bit different as I have included direct to DVD/Video releases. My basis for inclusion were 1.) Enjoyment level 2.) Production Value and 3.) Historical value. They are also in no particular order. Just 30 great animated films. I won't have time to list them all today but I will unveil a few each day. Or maybe I'll do all the rest tomorrow. Who knows. :)

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - Even if this were not the first major studio full length animated feature it would have made the list. Beautiful animation, a strong story and wonderful music make this a must have for any DVD collection.

Lilo and Stitch - It's funny. Had the film not been set in Hawaii but instead in, say, Detroit and been colored in a non-pastel pallet, this would have been Disney's first, (and probably only), goth film for the whole family. Lilo is Lenore growing up in Hawaii. She's odd and just a little bit damaged but still so very real. Add to the mix the total anti establishment hero Stitch and you have an animated film that is sweet, sad, funny and uplifting without being schmaltzy or calculating. Easily Disney's best non-Pixar film of the past decade.

The Nightmare Before Christmas - Like I really need to justify this one. 15 years later and there is still nothing like it.

Monsters Inc - Disney/Pixars second "buddy movie". In many ways I like this movie better than Toy Story. It's more flat out funny even if Toy Story has a bigger emotional punch. However, the ending to Monsters Inc is just perfect. I still tear up every time I watch it.

Toy Story - The movie that killed traditional animation. For that, we should hate it but it's SO good that we just can't. A perfect voice cast makes this one still watchable even if the CG animation is starting to show some wear. Still, even from a purely historical context, this is the movie that showed the rest of the world that CG was the future and hand drawn animated features were to be a thing of the past.

The Lion King - Again, this one really speaks for itself. Or rather, sings for itself. The movie isn't really the greatest one to watch but, oh!, those songs. Just try and not hum Hakuna Matata for the rest of the day.

The Iron Giant - So full of great characterization that you almost forget these are just drawings on paper. And isn't that what great animation is all about? Anybody who doesn't laugh out loud at the squirrel scene or shed a tear at the end is just not human.

There's my first seven. More tomorrow.

I'm a bad geek and an even worse person.

2008-05-31T19:19:00.000-07:00

Let's get a few facts out there before we continue. I haven't watched Battlestar Galactica or Lost since their first seasons. I haven't seen the new Indiana Jones movie nor do I have any intention of doing so. I do not care about the next installments of GTA, HALO, Mario or, for that matter, any video game. Indeed, I scarcely play video games at all. (Not unless it requires me plugging in a fake guitar or drum set)

I think The Transformers, GI Joe and Thundercats are lame and I think that computer animation is overrated.

Joss Weadon is NOT the greatest thing to happen to Sci Fi/Fantasy in 20 years and Firefly was canceled because it was A BAD SHOW!

And if one more person tells me I don't like Family Guy cause I don't "get it", I'm going to slap them back to tomorrow! WHAT THE FUCK IS TO "GET"? I don't like Family Guy cause it's a poorly animated, badly written, atrociously voice-acted bloody stool sample of a show!!! Not because it's written so well that the jokes go over my head!

*ahem*

Sorry. Started going on a bit of a rant there. Anyway. All of that is to say that while I may not watch certain pop culture things or even like certain pop culture things, it doesn't mean that I'm not knowledgeable about them. Just because I haven't watched Lost for the past two years doesn't mean I don't know what's going on in the show. Just because I think Family Guy is crap doesn't mean I don't know who the characters are. Well, for the most part. I like to think that my geek level is as high or higher than most.

But apparently, I'm not enough of a geek for one consumer. This is a conversation from just a few hours ago. The guy I'm talking to is at least 30, has a severe lisp, is at least 250 pounds overweight, walking with a walking stick and has his mother with him. I have tried to preserve the conversation as verbatim as possible.

Me: Hi. What can I help you with?
Him: I highly doubt that YOU will be able to help me with anything but I shall ask anyway in the event that the stars have, indeed, aligned today. Do you have any copies of the issue wherein Captain Marvel is fighting his arch foe?
Me: *pause* Uhm... (Trying very hard not to laugh) Are we talking about the Marvel Comics Captain Marvel or...
Him: No! No, no. No. If I was speaking of the Marvel Comics Captain Marvel I would have asked for Captain Mar-Vell. That is why I asked if you had any issues with Captain "Marvel". Marvel. Not Mar Vel. Surely I do not have to....
Me: (On the verge of laughter) So, you're interested in Shazam?
Him: NO! If I were interested in "Shazam" as you so stupidly put it then I would have asked for Shazam! It is precisely as I feared, you are another comic shop that only pretends to be knowledgeable about comics but you are not! You are a comic book charlatan!
At this point I burst out laughing so hard that I can't breath. Tears are streaming down my face. I am trying very hard to apologize for my behavior but I'm just waving like a madman.
Him: Come mother! This is no place for us!

And with that, he storms out of the store. His mother follows and shoots me a look, well, if looks could kill, I'd be a dead man now. As she leaves she says the only thing I heard her say while in the store, "You,... STUPID!"

And the best part, the store is full of people. I mean, like 10 or so people! And ever single one of them is laughing. Jesus, I'm laugh as I write this and it's been almost 3 hours! I know I shouldn't laugh at the guy but man, he was SO over the top! And the sad thing was that he was so very earnest. Goddamn, I love people!

People are AWESOME!

2008-05-16T15:04:00.000-07:00

I love people. No, I really do. Quit laughing.

I just had an experience with a guy that I now dub "Punisher Guy". Punisher Guy came into the shop a few weeks ago, gushing about how great it was to have a comic shop in Redmond, how cool we are and how he would be such an amazing and loyal customer. Then he looks at me and asks, "So, where is all the cool Punisher stuff?"

Suppressing the urge to tell him there is no such thing, I tell him that we have trade paperbacks that feature the Punisher and there are currently two, count'em, TWO monthly Punisher books being produced. He says he knows about those, he's looking for the "cool Punisher stuff."

Now, let me give you a visual on, as I like to call him since about 2 seconds ago, P.G. He looks to be in his late 30's, about 5' 7" and he's gotta be pushing 275 around his donut storage unit. He's rocking the braided goatee with a mohawk look and he's in full utilikilt mode. Do I even have to say it? Of course he's wearing a Punisher skull t-shirt! Think Comic Book Guy meets Travis Bickel

I swear to God, my first thought is that P.G.'s idea of "cool Punisher stuff" is an unregistered hand gun with the serial numbers rubbed off and the first thing he's gonna do with his "cool Punisher stuff" is blow my ass away for pedaling comic book smut.

Anyway, I tell him I only have the comics at the moment and he mumbles something about how I need to get more Punisher stuff in the shop. He looks around for a little while and finally begins to make his way back up front when suddenly thiscatches P.G.'s attention.

"What is this," he asks. He says it in such a way that I can't quite tell if he's awestruck by the greatness of it or he's in such terror that he's going into shock.

"That's a Punisher Bearz. I forgot I had that cause they just came in."

"This is... just..."

Awesome? Cool? Something you need to have? Exactly what you meant when you said "cool Punisher stuff"?

"Just... WRONG. No way! There is no way that they should have this out there. This is an insult to the character. It's wrong!!"

An insult to the character? Is that really what I just heard? Uh oh.

"I mean, really, you shouldn't even have this. This is NOT ok. This in NOT The Punisher!!!"

My first instinct is to say, "Well, if you bought it, you could then throw it away. Thus ridding the world of it's wrongness." Thankfully, I think better of it and come up with this gem, "Well, Marvel licensing must not have had a problem with it." Yeah, that's SO much better.

"What the fuck does Marvel licensing know? They don't care about the character! They only care about money. The Punisher would kill those guys for being greedy corporate bastards! Seriously. This bear thing shouldn't be shown to anybody." And with that, P.G. sets the Punisher Bearz down and walks out of the shop, never to be seen again.

At least, not till today.

P.G. walks in wearing pretty much the same outfit he had on last time except this time he's sporting a t-shirt with the cover to Amazing Spider-Man #129. Since the last time P.G. was in, I had moved the offending Bearz line to a different spot in the store so when he came in he didn't see the Bearz. In it's place were the Marvel Heroes Mighty Muggs, seen here:

"Dude! These are so...."

Wait for it.

Wait for it.

"Awesome! They better make a Punisher one!"

I'll say it again, I love people.

Just one more reason that Isabella Rossellini is cooler than you'll ever be!

2008-05-16T10:26:00.000-07:00

Isabella Rossellini dresses up as various insects and has sex. (Honestly, it's ok for the kids to watch) Click here.

Two Face spoiler picture

2008-05-08T11:10:00.000-07:00

Wow.

Why So Similar?

2008-05-02T15:23:00.000-07:00

My friend DarthJer turned me onto this. Somebody has put the trailer for the 1989 Batman movie next to The Dark Knight trailer and the results are pretty amazing. See for yourself.

Why So Similar?

Making myself write

2008-04-12T13:14:00.000-07:00

I have always been enamored with the idea of keeping a journal. I have notebooks that from 20+ years ago that have musings and observations on my life that I dust off every now and then. The problem for me has always been consistency. At the best of times, I've only ever managed to maintain writing for a few weeks before I just stopped. And then several months to years would pass before I would start up again.Same thing with blogging. I started a myspace account a few years ago and maintained posting a couple of times a week for a few months but then just stopped. I opened this account on blogger some months ago (Thanks technogreek!) with the intention of doing a weekly posting but never even got one single post off.

All of which brings us to now.

I figure that part of my problem in the past has been trying to write about all the minutia of my life. Really, who cares? Based on the responses to postings I've done in the past, nobody. That is to say, nobody responded. However, when I would make postings on things that I had interest in, (films, comics, art, music, porn. You know, your basic "classic" topics.), it would generate some kind of response. Not always positive but a response none the less.

With that in mind, I'm going to try and maintain a weekly posting about the things in my life that have been of interest to me. Maybe it will be a card game that caught my attention or a dvd that I bought that was particularly good or excruciatingly bad. Perhaps I'll write a listing of the best comics to come out in the week or maybe it won't be anything more than a lazy top ten list. In any case, I am determined to write at least once a week.
If your reading this, I hope you'll come back and join me. But remember, as my quote says, I'm just another guy on the web who thinks he has something to share with the world. I hope you'll find it of interest.