Our Big News........

will have to wait a little longer! Stay Tuned!

Comic Book Saturday ( Once again updated on Sunday! )

A short post this week due to I need to get some things done here around the house.

Just before our big meeting yesterday, my wife and I ran by the flea market for this weeks comics....which were......

New Avengers #18 ( 2 copies )
Exiles #79
Squadron Supreme #2

Since I do not have the time to go into this week's comics news, I will update later in the week.

However, I do have to say that Exiles is starting to grow on me. I really like that book.

Incognito

Wow....whats happening to our little blogging group. First Anduin and now.....me.

I will stepping back for a few days as I have some big things to take care of next week. I may step in and make a quick post here and there. Lets say its the biggest thing that ever happened to my wife and I. ( No Baby, if that is what you are thinking! )

Also, I just got back from taking my mother to our local Social Security office. Two months since my father's death and she is still having problems getting her benefits corrected. Grrrrrrrrr.

Anyway, thats the skinny on me. I will be back in a few days. Last time I did this though I was back the next day. LOL Who knows.

.....and a big shout out to Anduin from Anduins World. Hurry back soon. I already miss ya!!

Peace.

Funny Star Trek Clip

I found this on Google Video. Funny stuff!

Sunday Evening

I actually was going to post one massive post including the movie review, these little tidbits and my Easter message. Somehow, they just didn't seem to all fit together so I split them up. Anywho.......

Let's see whats happening today..........

Nanners is off this week because of Spring Break. She deserves a nice quiet week. The last two I think we spent on the road going to some destination or another. Last year at this time we were "leaving a lot of stories back in Las Vegas". I was going to be on vacation this week but decided to work so I can save my time for next year. Funny, I went into work and they still had me down as being off. You do not know how much I wanted to go back home and crawl back in bed.

Its not that Nanners and I do not have a lot to do this week. We have a very busy week planned but I have another post planned to discuss that.

We went to the huge pet adoption yesterday at Colonial Mall Bel Air. As much as we would like to adopt another dog right now, its just not a good time. More on that later.

Tonight's movie is Christmas with the Kranks. Should I run now?

I am planning to get back on the stick next week as far as my diet is concerned. I have really let things go since my fathers passing and now its time to start back. Nanners is planning on joining me at the gym which I am delighted about.

Gosh, I wish we were at Disney World. We love that place.

Tomorrow is a big day. Nanners and I are taking my mother on a very important appointment. I do not think anything will come out of it but it will be good for our peace of mind.

Lastly, our pet project and the one that we have been trying to work on for so many months...is dead. The Gun Show bit the dust offically today. I took its dead carcass and handed it over to The Grand Poobah in a solemn ceremony.

Its all yours. Make me proud.

Happy Easter!!!

I just wanted to start off by wishing everyone a Happy Easter. Nanners and I spent a very quiet day at home. She is off for spring break this week. This should give you one heck of a clue as far as her career. In celebration of today's holiday, I present you a weenie dog dressed as a rabbit. Enjoy!

The Earth's Mightiest Movie Review - "Sigh" - Brokeback Mountain

Well, I did it.

Nanners did not force me. I did it on my own. Although I did not go and seek it out, it was presented to me and I watched it without complaint.

Yes. You are right.

We rented Brokeback Mountain.

When I told a few people at work that I watched it, I got a lot of strange looks and laughs. The laughs I was expecting. The strange looks were understandable due of course to the content of the movie. The movie itself was nothing like I envisioned it to be. This shouldn't be surprising. Hollywood wore this horse out during its promotion. After the movie, I thought to myself that this was no more worse, except for about two scenes, that what you would see on television or other movies today. In fact, there was one scene in Pulp Fiction that I am sure everybody knows about that was more graphic sexually than Brokeback ever was. In fact, after the first "graphic" scene and one or two others, most of the love affair was implied and shown off screen.

Was it uncomfortable to watch? Yes. I think Ang Lee could have made his point by not showing their affair in one scene so graphically.

Funny, however, that I never heard any controversy over Anne Hathaway and Michelle Williams going topless in the movie. In fact, when Anne Hathaway bared her breasts, Nanners cried out, "NO...NOT THE GIRL FROM THE PRINCESS DIARIES!" LOL

The cinematography was beautiful. Kudos to Ledger and Gyllenhaal for maintaining their professionalism during the making of this and afterward during the Oscar push. Randy Quaid for FINALLY turning in a half decent performance. Finally, to Ang Lee. Not that he made a perfect movie, but having the great foresight to cast Linda Cardellini. Heck, if I knew that she alone was in it, I would have went to the theaters to watch it.

I did not seek this movie out. It was my wife's choice to rent this. So I supported her and watched it.

Now its my turn. Guess who I am going to drag to X-Men 3 - The Last Stand? =)

On a side note, there are 4 more movies left on The Butler Did It! 21 Movies That Makes Guys Drop The Remote. Will Brokeback make the list???

Comic Book Saturday

I just wanted to start out this post by saying I am relaxing here by drinking a bottle of the new Coke Blak. Let me say this and allow my words to ring out across the land.

It sucks.

Now to the comics.

Nanners and I had a very busy day today and it started out this morning at 9am by my weekly trip to the Ye Olde Flea Market. I was able to fill my loot sack with the following.....

New Avengers: The Illuminati #1
Exiles #78 (World Tour featuring the Squadron Supreme)
The Incredible Hulk #92 (Planet Hulk Variant Cover)

I had a couple of more issues in my hands but I had to put them back for lack of funds. Hulk #92 with the variant cover was a little expensive but I am a sucker for the variant covers. The way the entire comic industry is promoting them and the way the sales for them are successful it seems everyone else is as well. I also put back Annihilation: Super-Skrull just because that I am sure I will be able to pick that up maybe next week.

The more and more I read Exiles, the more issues I will likely buy. Marvel has about a zillion alternate Earths and the Exiles are currently on Earth #712 which is the designation of Earth-S or the Earth of the mainstream Squadron Supreme. This is not the rebooted Squadron Supreme of the Marvel Knights line. I have no idea what Earth designation number it is given and yes it does have one. Its going to be interesting to see how the addition of the Power Princess will effect the group dynamic. I like the way that Marvel is using its other alternate characters in this way.

The Illuminati issue was very interesting to read. Very little in the way of action other than one or two pages of a clash between Iron Man and the Sub-Mariner. Things are getting geared up for Marvel's Civil War. This weekends USA Today had a short blurb about it. Its going to be massive and the creators are promising many changes after the end of the series. One rumor is that the anti-superhero registration group will lose and several heroes will be heading to Canada rather than to reveal their true idenities. Will Thor return? The Heroes for Hire are returning. Will the New Avengers will be split apart?

Bottom line. I might need a second job.

Doctor Who - "Dalek"

(Spoilers)

In the world of science fiction, both in movies and on television, there are many icons that make a person automatically identify the show or movie that it or they appeared in. Darth Vader in Star Wars, Robby the Robot in Forbidden Planet, The Klingons in Star Trek and so on. However, one of the best and one of the oldest are the most evil creatures in the Doctor Who Universe, the Daleks.

The Daleks are science fiction icons that when most people in the United States see them, a person usually says, "...now where have I seen them before?"



A photograph of the original Daleks.

The Daleks were created by writer Terry Nation and debuted in the second ever Doctor Who episode appropriately entitled The Daleks. Nation came up with the basic premise of the Dalek, however it was a staffer at the BBC that actually came up for the phyiscal design of the actual prop, where he only got paid his normal fee for producing. Nation, since he actually came up with the idea for the monsters, owned the rights so any ideas for the Daleks in the show had to either be written by or signed off by him. Nation was and is a great science fiction writer. Nation later in life would develop the groundbreaking scifi series in Britain, Blake's Seven and later cross the pond to produce Macgyver for ABC.

When Doctor Who was revived in 2005, the estate of Terry Nation was contacted to contract the appearance of the Daleks in the new series. However, it took a long time before the BBC and Terry Nation's estate came to a agreement for the Daleks to appear. The script for Dalek was changed many times due to uncertainity of the BBC in acquiring the rights.

Dalek opens with the Doctor and Rose landing in a muesum of a meglamaniac in the very near future. One of his acquisitions is a Dalek. The very last one. The Doctor and the Dalek share infomation that their respective races were destroyed during what is called The Great Time War. Rose inadvertantly causes the Dalek to become rengergized and the Dalek proceeds to start killing everyone in the bunker. The Dalek would eventually destroy itself after absorbing Rose's DNA which starts to mutate the Dalek creature inside.

This is a great story but the pacing of the episode is way too fast. The Dalek is revealed almost five minutes in the story. There is hardly anytime to build any tension between any of the characters. The exchange between the Doctor and the Dalek is priceless. The entire scene drips of the series history. The Dalek is only slightly redesigned for the new series. I believe this was one of the sticking points of the battle between the estate of Terry Nation and the BBC. Rumor has it that the BBC wanted to do a radical new design while Nation's estate did not. You cannot have Doctor Who without the Daleks so the old design was basically modified.



The New Daleks

Henry Van Statten was a great character. I wish he could have been made a recurring villain in the series. The character of Adam really did not have time to develop but joined the TARDIS crew nevertheless.

The entire episode borrowed heavily from the original episode from 1975 called Genesis of the Daleks. The bunker, the guards, the evil leader. Everything was there.

Another big reveal was the fact that the Dalek can now fly. Being a machine that rolled on the floor, all you had to do was find a flight of stairs and the Dalek was screwed. No longer. However, this was not the first time a Dalek could fly. The Seventh Doctor faced a Dalek who could transcend stairs in Rememberance of the Daleks. In the end, the Dalek creature who pilots the machine is shown and one cannot help to feel a sense of pity for the creature. The creature is reacting to the sunlight and stretches a slimy tentacle toward the sun.

Is this the end of the Daleks? Of course not. All you have to do is wait until the last episode. Oops! Sorry about that. The Daleks will be around as long as the Doctor is around. Lets hope that is for a long time.

"...and now he belongs to the ages."

These are very fitting words to sum of the life of a great man who was wounded on this date in 1865. Abraham Lincoln would die on April 15, 1865 but most people remember the date of April 14th as the date of one of most dreadful acts in American history. Instead of giving an overview of a story that has been told for over a hundred years I wanted to present a series of photographs that some people may not be familiar with to celebrate this infamous day.



This photograph is of the Brothers Booth. From left to right, you have John Wilkes ( sans mustache ), Edwin and Junius Jr. dressed in character from the play Julius Caesar. The Booth's have been recognized as the one of the first family dynasty of actors in the United States, comparable to the Baldwin family of today, although the Booth's reputation for acting prowess far outdistances the Baldwin family. Edwin would become of America's greatest gifts to the stage despite the stigma of what his brother did on April 14th. A little known fact about Edwin is that later in life he prevented a man from falling into a path of a train while the gentleman was standing on a platform waiting for that train. The man you ask. Abraham Lincoln's son Robert, who later served as Secretary of War under President Garfield.



A photograph of Robert Lincoln later in life.



The original playbill that announced Lincoln's visit to Ford's Theater on April 14th. Could this be the actual playbill that Booth read early in the day that spurred him to hasten his plan to assassinate Lincoln?





Next is a series of pictures showing the bedroom that Lincoln died. The photograph of the bed taken at the top was taken minutes after Lincoln's body was removed from the room. You can still see the bloodsoaked pillow and daylight as morning was breaking in a stunned Washington. After this photo was taken, much of the room and its contents were ransacked by army officers and goverment officials hoping to collect items as "souvneirs". The last two pictures are of the same room during present day. Much or all of the furniture is reproductions of the original items. As you enter Petersen House, which is a fine home in its own right, you walk straight down the hallway to get to this back room. As everybody as always seen portraits of this night, you remember that the room was always depicted of being crowded of goverment officials and Lincoln's family. As you can see in the photographs, three people make a crowd in this room. On top of that, the bed was pulled away from the wall while Lincoln was lying there which made the room even more cramped. That was the most striking thing I noticed about the room when I visited it. I was lucky to have seen the original death pillow as well that was enclosed in a glass case on the bed. It has since been removed. You could still see blood stains. A very moving sight.

Hopefully soon, I will pick up again with bios on the conspirators I haven't talked about yet, George Atzerodt and Mary and John Surratt.

The French Connection

Bonjour!! Allow me the pleasure of presenting you a photograph of the French village of Le Herie La Vievielle. This will be our base of operations during April 5 through April 20th of 2007. My mother in law has pretty much locked in on our dates of travel for next years trip. The village is about 6o miles southwest from the Belgium border. My wife's family is originally from the village and her great aunt still lives there. The population is only about 250 and I have been looking very hard at the picture but I have yet to see any golden arches. =( The village is not ideally located for a lot of travel but it should be fun nevertheless. We definately should be close for a day trip to the Magionot Line at the border. Here is a photograph of some of the works.



The only other major attraction we plan at this point to see is the Normandy coast. My wife and I are planning to break away from the group and spend a few days in London with my aunt and uncle who are coming with us on the trip.

Also on the subject of France, my mother in law and I took our first introductory French language class Wednesday night. It was very interesting and I enjoyed it very much. The only thing that was embarrassing was the fact that I forgot to turn on my trusty tape recorder. Doh! No biggie. The first night was mainly of sentence structure and word association. My mother in law's office at the university already has a pool going on as to how many classes I will take before I drop it. LOL. Don't worry. I have my operative already planted and he has put the right number in the pool.

I take nothing to chance.

New Orleans: The Current Perspective?

New Orleans - The Facts?

A very interesting read.

Does anyone else agree, however?

"....to my Dearest....."

Happy Anniversary to the Greatest Woman in the World!

Monday Evening

What's up y'all?? Not much here. I have been very busy over the past few days and it doesnt look like its going to get any better for a while. I just wanted to jot down some of the things going on around the Igloo.

Nanners and I watched The West Wing last night. (SPOILERS) I think everybody knew that Santos was going to win the Presidency but how it was going to play out was anyones guess. It was kinda funny that it came down to Nevada. I wonder if an election could happen in quite that same way. Of course, the big story was Leo's death. The debate that Santos' had with the DNC chairman was interesting. I wonder how many times constitutional scholars have debated on the scenario they were discussing. As much as I knew it wasn't going to happen, I really was hoping deep down that Vinick would come out on top. It would have been really surprising to have seen that happen being how liberal Hollywood is. I think it came out kinda self serving. A Vinick Administration could have been interesting to watch if the show would have been renewed. Leo's funeral is next week then the inauguration, I believe.

For me to say that work has been interesting over the last two days would be a understatement. I really wish I could elaborate on it.

I have only three weeks to until my Hilton Honors points run out and we cannot find a place at the beach. I have been trying to convince Nanners to take a trip to Atlanta for a weekend but so far no luck.

A big congratulations to The Latin Lover and his lovely wife, Anduin on their anniversary. If I am not mistaken, I think Anduin said they have been married 200 years but I may have misread that. ;-)

My French class starts Wednesday night. Wednesday happens to be our anniversary also. I get to spend the evening with my mother in law. Poetic Justice?

I wanted to do a blogcast today but I just barely can find time to fit everything I NEED to do in the day. In fact, Nanners just went to bed. ZZZZZZZZZZ.

Last but not least, stay tuned to this space because pretty soon you may hear the sound of hammering in West Mobile. More on that as it develops....... =)

Brush with Greatness

.....just a quick Saturday post. My wife and I were dining at O'Charleys this afternoon when we had a brush with greatness. While reading over the wine and dessert choices, the waiter came up to our table and asked us what we would like to drink. When we looked up, we stared right into the face of ...you guessed it!.....



Elijah Wood!!

ok...so it wasn't him, but the waiter could have been his twin brother. We did for a moment think that life for him had gotten a little rough since his rise to megastardom from The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Anyway, we laughed and smirked all through our lunch until we left. As I was leaving, I did notice, however, that he did have rather large feet.



On a separate note, we noticed that a large number of women were waiting in line for take out orders. I believe this has to do with O'Charleys new take out program "O' to Go". ;-)

"Hmmmmmm......."

Maybe its just me, but.......




....nahhh, they do not look alike.

Comic Book Wednesday

I tried a different tactic this week for my weekly comic fix. The flea market comic booth opens for an hour or two on Wednesday afternoons to receive their weekly shipment. I called at noon to make sure the guy was open and I would be stopping by. He didn't sound too pleased but said he would wait for me anyway.

I was lucky that we didn't have anything come up that kept me at work late so I was able to stop by the flea market about 1245pm. I must admit that I really didn't like going when there was no one there. Despite that, I was able to pick up what I needed. The owner was kinda cool toward me and I certainly felt like I was interfering with something. Anyway, I was able to pick up a few things.

Young Avengers #11
Infinite Crisis #6 (Both the Lee and Perez covers)
Annihilation: Silver Surfer #1 (Awesome Cover!)

I am nursing a migraine right now so thats it for today. I am looking around this room and I really need to clean it up. My bookcases need organizing and I need to break down my PS2 for Ender so he can sell it for me. However, I need to move a file cabinet to get to the wires so I am afraid that will wait until my off day Friday.

...no rest for the weary.

BTW, I am including a link to one of my favorite comic writers, Jim Starlin. He is the father of the "Cosmic Marvel Universe" and well known for killing Robin in the Batman: A Death in the Family . I am not a huge fan of his artwork but his stories of cosmic intrigue are second to none. He has combined with George Perez for some of comics greatest moments.

Comixfan Forums - THE COSMIC TREK OF JIM STARLIN

If you a comic fan, enjoy!

"...in the words of the immortal Yosemite Sam........"

NBC 15 - David Glenn's Weather Blog...Dr. William Gray's 2006 Hurricane Forecast

".....say yer prayers!"

Feeling the Funk

I do not know what the problem is but I have had a serious case of bloggers block over the last few weeks. I have posted a few things but everything has seemed forced. I dont know why. I have had a lot of things going on away from the old computer so I hope that is simply the reason.

Well, if you fall off the bike, you just have to drag yourself back up and continue on....so that being said, here is the Tuesday update........


My allergies are killing me. I haven't had it this worse in a LONG time. However, this time its my eyes that are giving me problems. My friends at work tell me that I look like I have been crying all day. I can't take any medicine that works for me because I get so drowsy from it. Tavist and getting up at 3am doesn't cut it. What I need is a good south Alabama soaking in the form of a all day rain event. Only then will I start to feel better.

Ender and his wife Tater, Jason, the Mayor of Hollinger's Island and his wife, Mitzi and Nanners and I made a trip across the bay Friday and had a lovely dinner at Lambert's in Foley, Alabama. If you have never been to Lambert's, its a themed restaurant based out of Missouri that serves food in a festive setting. Their fare is stick to your ribs food. However, they are known for two things. First, the pass arounds. Along with your food, they come by every few minutes and bring you unlimited helpings of black eyed peas. fried potatoes and onions, and macaroni and tomatoes. Be warned. A waitress with a gimmicked bottle of katsup or a pot containing a stuffed possum that will be stuck in your face when you are least expect it. However, what they are famous for are their "throwed rolls". They bake these HUGE dinner rolls and bring them out to the dining room for the customers. There is one catch. You have to catch them. They have a person who yells out FRESH ROLLS!! and then everybody who wants them raises their hands. Those who do not want rolls usually takes cover. Most of the time the rolls make it to their target. Sometimes they do not. You do the math. We had a great time and enjoyed lots of great conversation and rolls. Oh, and we moved tables three times. Lambert's, by the way, was featured on The Travel Channels' Top Ten Places to Pig Out. The original Lambert's in Missouri came in as number one!

Our living room is full of odds and ends to be taken to our new storage unit sometime this week. My allergies have been holding me back from doing much outside. Nanners bought some flowers this past weekend and I usually water them for her when I come in and I almost die when I do it. Thats how bad I have it.

I am half done with testing at work this week. I finished some up today under the watchful eye of The Butler Did It. Now I am not a betting man but I am almost positive that he was working on his next movie reviews. I passed all my tests, by the way!!!

I want to give a big shoutout to Leigh of ....tell me I am Beautiful. She playfully chastized me today over my banner. So guess who is going to make a new one for me!!!!

Ender still has the premiere episode of The Gun Show that is still in the editing stage. For our first podcast, it was a hit and miss show but the unedited product sounded pretty funny. Our next one will be a lot better because we will be more prepared.

The Verbal Assassin has been on a tear as of late. CAN ANYONE STOP THIS MAN!?!

and lastly.....something will happen early Wednesday morning that will not ever happen again.....at 1:02:03 on 4/5/06 to be precise.

Thanks to Percy Pringle for that interesting bit of trivia. He is such a interesting man to read about..in between body slams.

Comic Book Saturday ( Updated on Sunday, no less...)

I have decided to post all the comics news on Saturdays now so here we go.......

My wife made the trip with me today to the flea market for Comic Book Saturday and I wish the news was all that good......

We arrived about 930am and the weather was already hot which means good crowds for the flea market. Nanners and I slowly took in all the deals and items that were being displayed until we made it around to the comic booth. I started looking to see what was out this week....and I began to slowly panic. There were 2 comics in particular I was looking for and I did not see either of them. I spoke with the younger gentleman at the booth and he said that they should have had the ones I was wanting. When the owner stepped in, he told me ...in a nice way.....that if I had a pull list with them, then maybe I would have the comics I wanted. I got close to him and said "well, I had one about 2 years ago with you and I STILL didn't get what I wanted. He looked surprised and then went through all of what he does to make sure everyone gets what they wanted. I kinda smiled when he said this because this is how it works......a customer comes in. Customer wants said comic. Said comic is not available. Owner then looks for comic in the bins. When said owner does not find said comic, he mysteriously finds one.....in another persons pull bin. So two questions were answered this fine day. However, today I received only one of what I wanted. Today's haul.......

Fantastic Four #536....I am very lucky to get this one, it's sold out nationwide.
Wizard Magazine #175
House of M #1 ( Variant Cover )

The comic I was unable to get my grubby little hands on was the New Avengers Special: The Illuminati. I am going to try and get this one on the Internet at mycomicshop.com. This one is another that was in demand this week. Marvel is having a great year so far both creatively and financially.