Ramblefest Returns

Let’s make one thing perfectly clear right off the bat: I have nothing much to say really…I just need to get a lot of stuff off my chest and I figured this was the eaisest route to take. So, without further ado, let’s just start rambling on about everything that’s been going on in my life lately.

First off…I’m finally preparing to quit my job so that I can return to studying full-time. At least for a little while. Honestly this not only terrifies me to a great extent (mostly because I’m afraid that I won’t be able to handle studying again and I’ll actually miss the job!) but also makes me uneasy about life in general right now. It’s gotten to the point where I’m unsure of almost everything and second-guess even the most mundane decisions. Just imagine taking more than 5 minutes to decide what kind of shampoo to buy and you get a fair idea of my thought processes these days.

One of my most beloved cats — Icey — died of cancer two days ago. I actually took it a lot harder than I thought I would. No, that doesn’t mean weeping or whatnot…just an intense feeling of sadness and a need to be alone for a while. Of course the latter bit isn’t even THAT big a problem. Thanks to the insane timing of the job and my worrying need to sleep for longer and longer periods of time, I have little or no social life anymore anyway. And with said habits, I have very little to talk about as it is so I prefer to keep to myself as I hate to be a bore. (Yeah, yeah…I’m boring you with the violin music right now…deal with it! My blog, my rules!) Unfortunately that seems to lead to more troubles as the few people I did talk to seem to think I’m ignoring them on purpose and well…it’s a vicious cycle.

I just finished Mad Men Season 2. (I know…I’m jumping through topics faster than Palin trying to convince the world of her sincerity to Roe v Wade) Excellent series and I adore each and every single character. I mean, who saw the Pete-Peggy revelation coming? I thought that considering a whole season’s worth of storylines, that would just be swept under…but it really stood out. Very well done. Of course, that’s nothing compared to what happened an episode earlier with Joan. (I’m purposely being vague here…don’t wanna give away any spoilers) That scene was heart-breaking. Especially considering that it happened to someone with the strength and resolve of Joan. Scenes like that keep me coming back to this show…truly brilliant writing and cinematography. Kind of worried that Reiner will leave the show…I think he’s vital to the series brilliance…but we’ll see.

I have just gotten into Boyce Avenue. Now the band’s original stuff is bland, Lifehouse-lite crap. But their acoustic covers are excellent. Especially worth hearing are their covers of Rihanna’s Disturbia and Coldplay’s Viva La Vida. Excellent stuff and don’t be turned off by the poppy origins. Very, very good. Available on both itunes and youtube, btw.

I am, as of today, exactly 2 months behind on my comics reading. Kind of sad, I know. But hopefully I will catch up in the coming weeks. I’ve just been so busy with books and old trades/singles that I’ve had no time to read the new stuff. Hell…I just finished Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #2 last night so you can well imagine how long it could take for me to catch up at this point. But I’m working on it. Although, honestly, I’m sorely tempted to go trade-only. I’ve dropped a large number of books I used to read so I think I can manage it now. (Cost was always the concern previously).

Btw…as much as the allusions to a divine power annoy me…I am loving the new season of Eli Stone. Very well-written, funny and keeps me on my toes. Good stuff…definitely recommended.

That’s it for now…expect more rambles shortly. This is the mode I have shifted to for now since its more comfortable. Oh…and fret not…Butt-Shots will return soon. Not in the same format…but they will. Instead of weekly books…now I shall focus on random comics I read and happen to find Butt-Shots in. I think that shall make it much more interesting, don’t you?

Diary of a procrastinator

Ok…it’s been what…over a year now since I last updated this blog? My how time flies…

Yeah…not gonna cut it, is it? Ok, you want an explanation? How’s this:

I HAVE A LIFE!!! Yes, ladies and gentlemen…as hard as it may be to believe, I do still possess a modicum of a social existence and that coupled with my job and my numerous extraneous interests (Let’s see…at last count I was into collecting and reading comics and books, watching as many tv shows and movies as I possibly can, trying to figure out how I can fit watching Arsenal matches into my schedule now that I’m interested in the team again, and trying to stuff my ipod with as much stuff as my little heart desires – 160 GB is just as much a blessing as a curse.)

So anyway, the first thing to go was the blog…obviously. As much as I love writing, I just didn’t have any more time for it. I mean to correct that over the next couple of weeks and months and hopefully set up an all-purpose blog. Which of course means that you should expect less topic-based posts like the previous Cassie or Flash ones and more all-encompassing posts like those currently filed under ramblings. I will try to limit myself to one topic each post from now on. But sometimes you just gotta ramble, y’know?

So, to pique your interest…here’s what I’m doing/reading/watching/listening to right now and will most likely be commenting on in the days to come: Nick Hornby’s Fever Pitch, Mohammed Hanif’s Case of Exploding Mangoes, The Wire, 30 Days, The Onion Movie,  Persepolis, the new R.E.M. and Reading Lolita in Tehran. So…lot’s to come in the pipeline.

Now…who wants to take bets on when the next update will be?

In Which I Talk About Everything Flash…

A lot has happened as far as the Flash is concerned. Some of it good, some…questionable at best. Either way, I’ve decided to compile all my thoughts on the matter in one place (been commenting on this on various blogs) and basically get all my thoughts online.

So, anyway, let’s begin with Flash #13, shall we?

A Meme!

It’s too hot to come up with new blog posts so I asked Kalinara to help me out! She (in cooperation with Ami Angelwings) has started a new interviewing meme with five questions…which I will now attempt to answer.

I haven’t done any meme except the lolcatz thing so cut me some slack here!

1. If you could be roommates with one superhero, who wouldn’t you choose and why?

Hmm…I would have to go with Spider-Man. I don’t think I could handle being around someone who is constantly crying and who is so bad with rent! (I don’t have a rich father like Harry Osborn

2. If you could pretend one comic book storyline never happened, which would you pick?

Ah…so many options…so hard to choose. But since I can pick anything…I would go with Crisis on Infinite Earths. I love that mini to death, but if it hadn’t happened there would be no Identity Crisis to lead into Infinite Crisis which would mean there would be no Countdown and (Thank God!) no potential really crappy upcoming crisis (Final Crisis I’ve heard its going to be called…yeah right) Basically I’m killing off everything that is killing off DC right now with one fell swoop. Yay me!

3. Could Ace the Batdog take Power Girl’s cat?

Never! From what I remember of Ace he was something of a pansy while Power Girl’s kitty (what was her name??!) was a little hellcat! From personal experience I always choose the hellcat over the pansy dog.

4. If you could assign any hero theme music, what would you choose?

Probably Revolution by Aimee Allen for Wonder Girl. Just in the hope that she’ll listen to the lyrics and realise how far she’s fallen.

5. Hammers or screwdrivers?

Hammers…easier to defend yourself with one of those than with a screwdriver

–

And here’s the meme! If you want in, just comment!
—

1. Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me.”

2. I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions. (They probably won’t be the same ones you see above!)

3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.

4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.

5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Well…that was fun. Hopefully the heat will die down enough for me to do an actual post soon. Damn it’s hot.

DC Comics Reviews!

Another text-only post I’m afraid. Don’t worry, the Legion posts will be image-intensive enough to make all these rambles worthwhile.

Green Lantern #20 – I loved the last panel. I don’t think I’ve ever been happier to have a character’s status quo be returned to ‘normal’ as I was when I read the word “divorce”. I thought it was a huge mistake when Johns decided to have Carol be married when Hal returned to life, but I accepted it because it seemed to make sense that Johns wanted to leave his own mark on the character. Of course, this was pre-OYL, since post-OYL has been nothing but a major reboot session brining Hal to almost exactly the same point he was at when Emerald Twilight hit. Of course, Carol’s freedom also adds a much-needed triangle element to the Cowgirl-Hal relationship and I can appreciate the soap-opera elements inherent in that. Btw, I commented on this here, but seriously…what’s with the “We must collect them all” schtick by the Zamarons? Are emotions truly the Pokemon of the DCU? And what emotion does the “green” represent anyway? I’m guessing courage and fearlessness…but I’m very rarely right on these things.

Countdown #51-48

So I read the Countdown. What did I discover? Quite simply…it sucks. I don’t really have a problem with the art (it isn’t exactly special, but its perfectly servicable) but everything else? Oy! Where to begin…First off…how the hell does the entire world not know that Batman is Bruce Wayne? I mean if Jimmy knows Jason is the Red Hood (and so does..Perry?!?!) and he knows that Dick is Nightwing…anyone with half a brain could figure out the next logical step. I’m sure this will be explained, but therein lies the major problem of this book: the pacing. 52 managed to side-step this issue by using “real-time” instead of sticking with DC-continuity time. Countdown works more like Action Comics Weekly, in that it showcases some stories of some characters which seems to have no resolution or any sort of direction and it all magically comes together in the end (I’m guessing with the last bit). Either way, bah…I’ll probably continue reading this for a couple more issues, but I don’t expect to get through the whole series.

Justice Society of America #6

Damn my inner-Legion fanboy! While it was fun for a while being ahead of the actual storyline (I swear…I knew Triplicate Girl was going to become Duo Damsel at the hands of Computo two pages before it actually happened…and no I did not flip through it) and then I knew it was Princess Projectra (yeah, I failed to take into account that this was the Legion of the baxter-era series where she was Sensor Girl.) and don’t even get me started on my theories for the Legion of Three Worlds (the way to reconcile the various legions, natch – Pre-ZH Legion, Post-ZH Legion and of course the current Legion) Of course it was nice of them to acknowledge that Thom went to Earth-22 before coming here. Although…and I’m not 100% on this…since when has Thom been schizo? I remember something about hospitals in his origin story, but IIRC, that was because the doctors were trying to figure out what gave him his powers, not cure him of being crazy. It just strikes me as a horrendously stupid retcon because Johns wants a crazy Legionnaire around. Also, I’ll probably make a whole post about this, but what the hell was up with Liberty Belle playing matchmaker? I know marriage makes you go nuts, but c’mon! This is Jesse Quick! She would never be trying to set Wonder Woman (WONDER WOMAN!!) up with guys on blind dates. I was seriously disturbed by those two pages. Overall though…interesting storyline, but the ending is where everything will be decided for good or ill.

Action Comics #850

I liked this. It was nice, sweet without being sappy, and I like the Legion Supergirl a lot more than the whiny little biatch everywhere else (although this issue is the first time I’ve felt sorry for the bad side of her) Nice issue and definitely makes me think Busiek should be writing both books.

A Post of Things To Come…

I was supposed to have a post done today but sleep got in the way (damn you sleep!!) and instead I shall just present a rough outline of what you can expect from this blog over the next couple of days.

First off, a lot less TV! I will probably have posts on seasons 1-3 of The Office (US edition!) and I do plan on doing a regular ’round-up’ for The 4400, and season 4 of Entourage (probably a moratorium for Studio 60 too once it finishes in 4 weeks) but apart from that there will be no more talk of TV. Instead, I shall be doing a bit more cat-blogging (you have been warned!!) and I shall most likely do something I’ve wanted to do since I started this blog: A Legion of Super-Heroes Week!! Basically that entire week will focus on my favourite LSH storylines, what I think about the current books, my favourite characters and probably a review of the new animated series and various other Legion junk I find around the web. This will probably be starting soon…and who knows…based on how much I have to say it could exceed a week.

I also plan on doing some more posts on Death (there’s a finally being made…squee!!) and various books I am currently in the process of reading. Now the bad news, unfortunately I just don’t have the time to regularly blog anymore. I have started studying again and the job and the broken pieces of my social life all need some time and blogging must take a back seat to all of them. I will probably continue in a semi-daily capacity (I’m thinking a post every 2-3 days would work) but I don’t see myself maintaining the daily grind for that much longer (despite how much fun it has been).

I think that’s it for now. Hopefully the new fall pilots will get leaked soon and I can finally decide what I will be definitely watching…but otherwise, meh.

Anyway…hopefully tomorrow I’ll return with something more substantial.

Veronica Mars – The Bitch Is Back

 Damn…this is why I hate pictures that don’t take up the whole width of the page…now I have to come up some form of an intro before I start the spoiler-heavy actual review. Very annoying. So, uh…interesting how this blog started out as a place for me to vent on, evolved into a comic blog, became a music/personal angst thing, then back to comics, and now apparently we’re going through a TV phase. I don’t expect to completely leave comics behind (as is obvious from yesterday’s Cassie Sandsmark post) but I think this is more in keeping with my current free-time. I am probably going to start more books soon though (the best thing about summer? Very little TV to watch) and then I wouldn’t be surprised if this blog starts to evolve into a book review place…not to mention I’m reading Chariot of the Gods? right now and it has really made me renew my deeply buried belief in aliens manipulating humanity during its infancy. So…maybe something on that soon? Anyway, yay…on to the review…

Geoff Johns ruined Wonder Girl!

Now that I’m actually writing this down, I actually feel kind of scared, because I’ve been talking about this post for so long that at this point anything less than excellent would be a letdown, right? Unfortunately, I don’t do excellent…I do passable and so you will have to settle for that and hope that it works.

Lost – Through The Looking Glass

 

Uh…wow?

Heroes – How To Stop An Exploding Man

Awful. Awful finale. Conclusive ending my $#!@. I would say the worst one this year…but well…no one can beat out Grey’s on that one.