Jeez, Superman!

The Flash has one thing going for him! One! And you can't even let him have that! What are you compensating for??

Work. Is. Hell.

I haven't been posting very much lately, and the reason is work's been sucking more energy from me than Christopher Walken's reverse power plant in Batman Returns (the nerds will get the reference).

Quickie update -

* Movies I've seen consist of Harry Potter, The Simpsons Movie and Transformers. With HP they took my least favourite of the books and made it my favourite of the movies; The Simpsons Movie was hilarious, and The Transformers had its moments, but overall I found it pretty boring (I know, how could I dislike a movie that had both Transformers AND a Smashing Pumpkins song??).

* If you've read Ben's blog, then you know I've signed up for cable. What can I say, it was a moment of weakness! And given that I generally don't leave the house, I think this is a wise investment. Not to mention how well-informed we'll be with all the news channels for when the rapture comes!

*I was planning on holding out and reading Carol's copy, but I caved and bought my own edition of Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows. Finished reading it just the other night; there were quite a few moments where I exclaimed out loud and got watery-eyed. Over all, a good read, even if all the chapters of the kids camping in the woods drag on and on and on.

*My Superman DVDs arrived. The show's enjoyable, but a bit dry. I'm hoping it picks up a bit (though the guest stint by the Flash was great!). Oh, and I caved and bought Greg the Bunny, which turned out to be a dumb move, seeing as I'll be able to watch it on cable soon. But hey, at least now I own it for posterity!

*Apparently Dad and Hannah are working at the same bank now. Run, Hannah! Run while you still can! (I'm sure Dad will agree with me on this one).

*Finally, seeing as every time I say I'm considering buying something on my blog I end up getting it, I'm announcing here and now that I intend to buy a mega-mansion. Preferably a castle. That floats. In the clouds.

And I'm spent.

Michael Jackson's Thriller ...

... as performed by inmates in a Filipino prison.



And it all seems like a perfectly innocent and quite enjoyable Internet phenomenon, until evidence comes to light that the warden has the prisoners rehearsing 13 hours a day, until there's blood in their shoes, so as to get the entire thing exactly right. And no, I'm not joking. They covered it on Hack on Triple J this evening. Messed up, huh?

Behold, The Awesomest Kid Ever!

Why Is Talking Like David Brent So Addictive?

Minor Geeky Footnote

I forgot to mention in my 'Shared Universe' post how I like to think of Heroes as being the prologue to the X-Men film series, what with the X-movies being set in 'the not too distant future'. You can very easily see the progression from one to the other, with this ...

... eventually becoming this (dig the German!);

I'll refrain from mentioning how Robocop was also set in the "not too distant future", leading me to pontificate on the ways it, too, could fit into the same chronology (although Robocop versus Magneto would no doubt prove quite amusing).

Best. Thing. Ever.

After hearing about online radio stations you can programme yourself, I decided to take a look see. I found Yahoo!'s LaunchCast, an online radio station where you choose what artists you want to hear. It selects music from those groups, but then it also plays stuff you haven't listed, based on your genre/artist preferences. And it's free! You have to put up with some God awful ads every now and then, but it's soooooo worth it!

Now if only I could programme my own radio hosts. Oh, the tantalising possibilities!

POW! SCOOP! BAM!

Wes Anderson's latest film, rumored to be inspired by the adventures of a young Francis Ford Coppola and Jack Nicholson?

It goes without saying how much I'm looking forward to this one.

A Shared Universe

Comic geeks, for the most part, have this obsessive focus on continuity and the concept of the shared universe. If every single appearance of a character doesn’t fit together as a seamless, over-arcing whole, the average comic fan will stretch their imagination to its limits trying to explain any discrepancies. It was such a commonplace occurrence that Stan Lee started awarding fans a thing called a ‘No Prize’ (exactly what it’s described as being) if they could find an in-story reason as to why a character had acted strangely or shown up in a place where they shouldn’t have as a result of editorial oversight.

But ever since the first superhero team-ups, the concept that fans have gravitated toward the most is the concept of the shared universe; where Character A lives in the same time and place as Character X, their lives intersecting every so often. I’m by no means exempt from this; I’ve often scratched my head thinking of ways events in Batman Begins fall into the timeline of Superman Returns, or what Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man was up to during the Fantastic Four film, or why he never pays Daredevil’s Hell’s Kitchen a visit.

On a simple level, it’s part of the fun of comics, trying to work out the ways all the characters in a comic company’s stable fit together. That’s been one of the overwhelming joys of Heroes, and why it’s worked so well as a mainstream appropriation of comic book concepts; watching the many different ways the characters interact without knowing it before finally coming together keeps the audience coming back week after week.

But what drives this enjoyment? Is it that we wish for a sense of a greater community? That we feel so isolated from each other that any reminder of being part of a society is something we can’t help but respond to? And is that the reason why people respond to superhero stories in the first place?

In the end, is it just that we all want to live in a shared universe?

A Lifelong Dream Fulfilled

You can create your own Simpsons character at simpsonsmovie.com!

Now there's nothing left to do but sit back and wait for the replies of "That looks nothing like you!" to come rolling in.

Dear Christ

As if I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry didn't look offensive enough (not to mention creatively bankrupt, as it's all but a remake of Strange Bedfellows without actually, you know, copping to being a remake) take a look at the role that Rob Schneider has snagged for himself;

Yes, he's the stereotypically Asian guy, officiating the ceremony between the two male leads so they can take advantage of a tax break (because "gay" and "tax break" are two words that Washington so loves to put together. Oh to be gay and in America, where the government doesn't persecute you in the slightest!).

I thought we'd all learnt the lesson from Mickey Rooney's character in Breakfast in Tiffany's. I thought this shit wasn't acceptable anymore. I thought Chuck and Larry looked appalling to begin with, but add this to it and it seems to be nothing more than a celluloid hate crime.

Say what you will about comedians like Sarah Silverman, who go out of their way to be offensive, but at least her offensiveness has a point. She's adopting a persona to lampoon both bigoted attitudes and the people who think they're above having them. Her entire character - and it is a character - is to mock banal, middle-brow, hate-filled shit like this.

No doubt Chuck and Larry has some run-of-the-mill message of acceptance at the end of its nearly two-and-a-half-hour (!!!) running time, but that just doesn't wash. It's like Shallow Hal; you think spending an entire movie ripping an under-represented minority to shreds is okay if you turn around at the end, smirk and say "Just kidding! Fags/fatties/Asians are awesome! They're just like us!"? Bullshit! Peddle your bigotry-in-sheeps-clothing somewhere else!

On a slight tangent, Masi Oka (aka Hiro from Heroes) proves himself even more of a hero by coming down on this sorry excuse for a film. Let's all hope this is the role that finally wakes people up to the fact that Rob Schneider ISN'T FUNNY; he's an irrelevant dumbarse who's been costing on SNL goodwill for way, way too long.

So endeth the rant.

G-O-G-G-O

I JUST SAW THE GOGGOMOBILE GUY ON THE STREET!

Details to follow ...

(By the way, this is my landmark 100th post. What a way to celebrate!)

Stan Lee Action Figure

I don't care how stupid it is or how it looks nothing like him ... I HUNGER FOR IT!!

'Nuff said.

Seriously Considering ...

... getting Greg the Bunny on DVD.


It'd cost just over $20 to ship in from the states, and God knows I love it.

To see whether or not you'd like it, just clicky-clicky;

Currently Obsessed With:

- Tony Martin



He's hilarious, obsessed with film & TV, read comics as a kid, knows as much about sport as I do (ie, nothing) and does the unthinkable; actually makes Triple M worth listening to! Every day between 11 and 1 I switch on my iRiver at work and try not to guffaw as I go about my business.

-cable TV



It occured to me that I could most likely afford to pay for this myself, and given how much I enjoy it, it's quite a tantalising prospect. I'm currently weighing it up in my head at the moment as to whether or not I should sign up. My justification for it at the moment is; 1) thanks to tax cut, have extra money in my account 2) cost equivalent to renting a couple of movies every Friday night 3) if I do sit-ups while watching programmes, is tanatmount to a very cheap gym membership.

-YouTube

Currently vying with Wikipedia for my favourite way of wasting time on the Internet. The only place I've ever been able to find episodes of The Maxx! Huzzah!

That is all.

*generic updating-of-life-events title*

My personal blog isn't very personal. Rather than subject you all to yet another superhero cartoon post, I figured I'd offer some insight into what I've been doing the past few weeks.

- The new car has arrived! And has been arrived for just over a week now. It drives, to not put too fine a point on it, beautifully. I’ve been scratching my head trying to come up with places I can drive to on the weekend, but given my complete ignorance of local Victorian geography, I’ve come up dry. If I was still in Queensland I’d be nippin’ down the coast for a bit of theme park action, but alas, the best we have in amusement arenas in dear old Melbourne is the nearly-arsonated Luna Park.

- Moved offices at work. NIGHTMARE! All the normal work to do, plus all the stress of moving house. The new premises are quite nice, though they don’t feel very homey just yet. I miss working on Chapel Street.

- I got the new Pumpkins album today. Finally. Initial reaction to it is … mixed. I’m sure I’ll be whacking on about in a future post.

… that didn’t quite sound right.

- Broadband has ARRIVED. I’ve already developed an addiction to Tony Martin’s Get This podcasts. It’s all the good parts of the show without any of the shitty music or annoying ads. For anyone interested, you can find the comedy goldmine here.

That’s pretty much it right now. My life is quite mundane with the work, eat, sleep, repeat pattern. I’ll see if I can blow something up to make things a bit more exciting for all you blog readers.

(I’m just kidding, ASIO! Don’t red flag me!!!)

Rockin' Your Face With My Tasty Scoop!

Both Li-Kim and Ben have denied the validity of my previous Dr Who scoop, citing that the picture posted had already been in MX.

So then how's THIS for a scoop, eh???

Poster from The Golden Compass / Northern Lights film adaptation (you can find more posters here).

I'm really curious to see how this movie turns out. I've heard that, to make it more palatable to audiences, they've "de-emphasised" the religious themes. Given that the entire point of the His Dark Materials trilogy was the religious themes, I don't see how they can do it. It's like making The Lord of the Rings about a dispute over hedge-trimming between two neighbours, one a friendly little hobbit and the other an omnipotent dark lord.

Up, Up and Away!

With some birthday money burning up my bank account, I decided to indulge myself and bought seasons 1 and 2 of the Superman animated series from Amazon.com. It's now, quite literally, flying to me.

I was never a huge fan of Superman growing up. He always seemed a little bland to me. But as I've grown older I've developed an appreciation for the Big Blue Boy Scout. You need characters like that; that inspire hope and offer a feeling of safety.

My Justice League kick has given me a real taste for Bruce Timm-produced animated shows, so I figured this would be a good way of scratching the itch. I think I'm most looking forward to the three-part arc where the Man of Steel teams up with Batman.

So that's what I'll be doing with my week nights before bed. Exciting, I know!

Feel the Devestating Power of My Scoop, Bitch!

Kylie Minogue in the Doctor Who Christmas Special;

BAM!!!

Check Mate, Mr Chuah.

With All The Mushiness Out of the Way ...

... did anyone catch the Heroes finale last night? I sure did!

I'm sure, when I'm in more of a verbally diarrheic mood, I'll bore all of you with my views on it!

A Belated Blowing Out of the Candles

I haven't really felt much like blogging lately, but Sarah pointed something out to me this afternoon.

How could I possibly let her birthday go by without blogging about it???

So with deep apologies, allow me to say ...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SARAH!!!

It's hard to believe it's been eight years of knowing each other, but there you have it. It's difficult to find someone who'll stick it out with a guy like me, being as neurotic as I am. But she's managed to do it.

There are some friendships that come to define your life. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern had one. Matthau and Lemon. Margaret and David, Siskel and Ebert, Mulder and Scully. And let's certainly not forget, of course, Will and Grace.

Muhammad Ali said, "Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It's not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything.".

I can say, thanks to one person, I've truly learnt the meaning of friendship. And it's a friendship I'll always treasure.


Happy birthday, Dagg. May all your brightest wishes come true.

So ...

… how’d the party go, you might be asking.

Weelllll …

It started off nicely enough. A great deal of fun and what not. Until I got THE DRUNKEST I’VE EVER BEEN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE.

It … wasn’t pretty. From the very small, blurry patches I can remember.

So apologies to all those I might have insulted, upset or just generally befuddled. Thanks to Carol, for making sure I didn’t choke own my own vomit (oh, yes, folks … there was vomit). She’s a pip, that girl, a real pip!

I considered swearing off alcohol forevermore on Sunday. And Monday. And resolved to return to my pretty-much-never-drinks status. I certainly don’t plan on getting THAT wasted ever again. We’ll see if I stick to that, huh?