I took the Disney/Marvel news in stride. It was a shocker, sure, but as a fan of comics, and a retailer of comics, I truly believed (and still do) that we're more likely to see positive ramifications rather than negative in the direct market, and any changes we do see probably won't roll downhill to us for at least two years.
I would have had the same reaction to Warner Brothers restructuring DC Comics. It's all corporate BS, about where the money goes, and I don't have enough money to invest in a decent HDTV, much less a giant conglomerate that makes dog food, missile guidance chips and comic books. So what do I care where the money's going?
But the announcement that gave me pause, that gave me that "oh shit" reaction everybody else had when they decided that a Disney-fied Marvel was gonna end their MAX line tomorrow and put Mickey Mouse in the Avengers, was the announcement that Paul Levitz was stepping down as President of DC Comics.
Others, notably Kurt Busiek and Brian Hibbs, have covered what exactly Paul Levitz has done for comics in the last three decades or so. Some (some might call them judgmental, sanctimonious assholes, but not me, I'm a diplomatic kinda guy) have taken this as a chance to get the knives out and vent anger at Levitz over perceived failures. Never mind that many of them are not even remotely his failures, and most of the failures Levitz had were being over-cautious, something that our always-on-the-brink-of-collapse industry could probably use a little more of, rather than less.
But the point is this: Paul Levitz is the best friend the direct market had at DC, with only Bob Wayne even remotely in the running. (And hopefully Bob will stay where he is, because Lord knows we're gonna need the advocates with the new status quo).
Disney buying Marvel? Eh. Time Warner restructuring DC to maximize movie/videogame/Slurpee synergy with its comics characters? Whatever. Motion comics? Seriously, have you seen those? They're about as much of a threat to comics as pogs were. The Kindle? Online comics shops? iTunes for comics? All manageable, worth keeping an eye on, but nothing that seems likely to utterly shake the direct market and the way comics are currently delivered.
Paul Levitz no longer at the head of DC?
Well honestly, that just scares the shit out of me.
Showing posts with label rant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rant. Show all posts
Friday, September 11, 2009
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
DOOM!
Is anybody else feeling like maybe the world is in a death spiral of doom and gloom?
In the past few weeks, several of my friends have lost their jobs. Great jobs, jobs that they loved, and jobs that they were great at and worked hard at. Meanwhile, the shitheels who got us into this mess are making huge bonuses and continue to run the government.
I know of several friends who are dealing with the insanity of our current health insurance "system" and yet it seems that actual reform is being tied up by a congress largely bought and paid for by the various health insurance lobbies.
And pretty much every day, someone is posting on the Internet about how the direct market, the industry that *I work in*, is either dead and/or dying.
Combine with all the usual human foibles and bullshit that shows up daily on the news, and I'm even finding it hard to laugh along with The Daily Show and The Colbert Report anymore. These days, it's more like dark humor about how fucked up the whole thing has gotten.
I would like for a lot of really good things to happen to the various people in my life, and a lot of very bad things to happen to the corrupt mother-fuckers who run our country (and the corporations who own them). Just putting that out there for the universe to process.
In the past few weeks, several of my friends have lost their jobs. Great jobs, jobs that they loved, and jobs that they were great at and worked hard at. Meanwhile, the shitheels who got us into this mess are making huge bonuses and continue to run the government.
I know of several friends who are dealing with the insanity of our current health insurance "system" and yet it seems that actual reform is being tied up by a congress largely bought and paid for by the various health insurance lobbies.
And pretty much every day, someone is posting on the Internet about how the direct market, the industry that *I work in*, is either dead and/or dying.
Combine with all the usual human foibles and bullshit that shows up daily on the news, and I'm even finding it hard to laugh along with The Daily Show and The Colbert Report anymore. These days, it's more like dark humor about how fucked up the whole thing has gotten.
I would like for a lot of really good things to happen to the various people in my life, and a lot of very bad things to happen to the corrupt mother-fuckers who run our country (and the corporations who own them). Just putting that out there for the universe to process.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Because I Am, Apparently, Stupid Enough to Argue With Neil Gaiman
Not really. Just Internet argue, and just sort of Devil's Advocate, because I get what he's saying, and honestly Gaiman doesn't read my blog and why would he care about my opinion anyway, but I've seen a lot of this kind of thing coming from authors in response to some of the crazier fans and... well, I should probably end this run-on sentence and start with what the hell I'm talking about.
Gaiman has a much-linked article on his blog called "Entitlement Issues" which addresses the notion of fans feeling like writers owe them the next book in their series in a timely fashion, or indeed that writers owe them anything, with the pithy quote "George R.R. Martin is not your bitch."
And he's absolutely right. 100%. Writers are people, their job is a tricky one, and if it ain't there, it ain't there. If you're bitching because Martin went on a week-long vacation instead of slaving away on the next Ice and Fire book, get a grip.
However... Gaiman makes a few points that I really disagree with. Here's the key one, and it's the one he closes with: "George R. R. Martin is not working for you."
Well, uh... yeah. He kinda is. I mean, no, I don't pay him directly, but I buy his books, which makes the publishers think, "Hey, we should give this guy more money for more books!" Now, I'm not his boss, I can't set his hours, etc., but if the message of the consumers is "We would like to read more of your epic fantasy series rather than this new story that has caught your writing fancy" than maybe, as a professional writer, he's better off seeing if that epic fantasy series is something he can write right now.
Because here's the thing: When you start a big epic series, especially one that is in large part predicated on "what happens next" and prophecy and other such dramatic elements that require later payoff for the setup to be as enjoyable, you are making a promise to your readers that you will finish it. And when you promise you'll deliver it more than once and fail to live up to that promise, it seems to me that rational readers are fair in saying, "Uh, does this mean that promise you made us at the beginning to tell us the end of the story might get reneged on too?"
There are plenty of great standalone novels. There are plenty of great novels in a series that are satisfying reads on their own, and if a next book comes, that's great but if it doesn't each book pretty much stands as a complete chapter.
The Song of Ice and Fire is not that series. It has been sold, from the outset, and written, from the outset, as one big story told in novel-sized chunks. Imagine if a four-year gap between seasons three and four of Lost... might it seem fair to gripe about that? There is reason to have legitimate concern, given the growing delay between books, that Martin has lost interest or worse, doesn't know how to wrap up the plot and character arcs he's built up. There is even reason, ghoulish though it might be, to worry that Martin might die before completing the series, given that writing books takes an awful long time in the best of circumstances and writers have, in the course of time, died with works unfinished.
Does this give fans the right to berate Martin if they see him in public having dinner with friends? No. Does it give them the right to badger him inecessantly online and start crazy petitions about not buying any other Martin work until he finishes Ice and Fire? Well, yeah, actually, although it does seem crazy and self-defeating.
But does it give fans the right to bitch about it, and have their concerns taken as valid, if only from their own personal point of view? To be disappointed in the lack of more stories that the author should be thrilled have connected so deeply with so many fans? Well, yeah. I think that's fair.
Authors want to write what they want to write, hey, that's cool. But fans want to vent, within reasonable limits, that their favorite author isn't writing their favorite book, and they feel a little pissed that they only have half the story with no end in sight? I think we can all be OK with that, too, right?
And if you don't want people asking for the next chapter in your epic story so that they can see how it all turns out, I can think of two easy ways to do that: 1) Write a bad epic story that nobody gives a shit about or 2) Don't start big epic series, write more self-contained novels.
Gaiman has a much-linked article on his blog called "Entitlement Issues" which addresses the notion of fans feeling like writers owe them the next book in their series in a timely fashion, or indeed that writers owe them anything, with the pithy quote "George R.R. Martin is not your bitch."
And he's absolutely right. 100%. Writers are people, their job is a tricky one, and if it ain't there, it ain't there. If you're bitching because Martin went on a week-long vacation instead of slaving away on the next Ice and Fire book, get a grip.
However... Gaiman makes a few points that I really disagree with. Here's the key one, and it's the one he closes with: "George R. R. Martin is not working for you."
Well, uh... yeah. He kinda is. I mean, no, I don't pay him directly, but I buy his books, which makes the publishers think, "Hey, we should give this guy more money for more books!" Now, I'm not his boss, I can't set his hours, etc., but if the message of the consumers is "We would like to read more of your epic fantasy series rather than this new story that has caught your writing fancy" than maybe, as a professional writer, he's better off seeing if that epic fantasy series is something he can write right now.
Because here's the thing: When you start a big epic series, especially one that is in large part predicated on "what happens next" and prophecy and other such dramatic elements that require later payoff for the setup to be as enjoyable, you are making a promise to your readers that you will finish it. And when you promise you'll deliver it more than once and fail to live up to that promise, it seems to me that rational readers are fair in saying, "Uh, does this mean that promise you made us at the beginning to tell us the end of the story might get reneged on too?"
There are plenty of great standalone novels. There are plenty of great novels in a series that are satisfying reads on their own, and if a next book comes, that's great but if it doesn't each book pretty much stands as a complete chapter.
The Song of Ice and Fire is not that series. It has been sold, from the outset, and written, from the outset, as one big story told in novel-sized chunks. Imagine if a four-year gap between seasons three and four of Lost... might it seem fair to gripe about that? There is reason to have legitimate concern, given the growing delay between books, that Martin has lost interest or worse, doesn't know how to wrap up the plot and character arcs he's built up. There is even reason, ghoulish though it might be, to worry that Martin might die before completing the series, given that writing books takes an awful long time in the best of circumstances and writers have, in the course of time, died with works unfinished.
Does this give fans the right to berate Martin if they see him in public having dinner with friends? No. Does it give them the right to badger him inecessantly online and start crazy petitions about not buying any other Martin work until he finishes Ice and Fire? Well, yeah, actually, although it does seem crazy and self-defeating.
But does it give fans the right to bitch about it, and have their concerns taken as valid, if only from their own personal point of view? To be disappointed in the lack of more stories that the author should be thrilled have connected so deeply with so many fans? Well, yeah. I think that's fair.
Authors want to write what they want to write, hey, that's cool. But fans want to vent, within reasonable limits, that their favorite author isn't writing their favorite book, and they feel a little pissed that they only have half the story with no end in sight? I think we can all be OK with that, too, right?
And if you don't want people asking for the next chapter in your epic story so that they can see how it all turns out, I can think of two easy ways to do that: 1) Write a bad epic story that nobody gives a shit about or 2) Don't start big epic series, write more self-contained novels.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Is TV Dying?
Inspired by Heather Massey's "Are Comic Books Dying?" post:
I don't know if you guys have noticed, but it seems to me like there are a whole lot of ways to watch television these days. You can buy it on your XBox, on iTunes, on-demand through your cable box, you can watch a lot of it (legally) for free on sites like Hulu or almost all of it (illegally) via Bit Torrent. And lots of folks are skipping past commercials using DVR, and lots of folks are not even watching episodes anymore, they're just "waiting for the DVDs."
These people are killing the industry, right? "Waiting for the DVDs" just tells the people making TV programs that you don't care about their shows, and if your favorite shows get canceled, it's all your fault. Also, Best Buy, that chain of specialty stores that sells DVDs and TVs, is almost certain to go out of business because their product mix is changing, and they're probably too dumb to adjust.
Ridiculous, right? Is there anyone out there who really believes that television (the medium, not the current industry as it stands) is going to go away? Does anyone really believe that the network/cable structure, despite undergoing huge upheavals in advertising streams, programming and other long-held business models, are going to vanish or go into bankruptcy in the next five years or so?
Then why is everyone so willing to believe it about comics? I've been a comics reader for 25 years, I've worked in comics retail for about 9 (1 in college, 8 more recently) and for as long as I've been keeping up with comics culture on the Internet, there have been people loudly predicting the death of: A) the direct market B) independent comics and C) the comics medium as a whole. That, btw, was about 15 years ago. The direct market is still here. The comics medium is sure as hell here. The independent comics? Weakened, but still here. Look at the graphic novel side of the independent comics scene and they're flourishing, especially compared to about 10 years ago.
There are many challenges. The increasingly visible $4 price point is a huge looming problem, yes. The difficulty in selling independent comics that aren't graphic novels (I refuse to call them "pamphlets" or "floppies" because unlike so many, I don't have an active disdain for that format) is a big problem as well. And what the future holds as far as digital comics is a big question mark as well.
But any halfway decent shop is already doing a fair amount of business in graphic novels, original and collected both. Any intelligent shop-owner is thinking every day about digital format, price increases and the diversity of the product and how their store can deal with the changes. This notion that the specialty market, or worse, the entire medium, is some kind of outmoded dinosaur ignores two important things:
1. Comic Book Store owners aren't, as a rule, entirely dim. Some may be, but anyone who has been able to keep their store open and profitable has probably already survived the harsher culling of the market in the '90s, or is well aware of the pitfalls of retailing at the very least, since they all probably existed when they opened their store.
2. Comic books, and the direct market, have been around for quite some time now, and every year, people are loudly predicting its death. Every year, they're wrong.
There seems to be an industry-wide inferiority complex combined with some strange sort of self-directed schadenfreude wherein everyone must constantly expect disaster. Price increases have happened before. Webcomics have been around for quite some time. Graphic novels have been around even longer. Digital comics, I'll grant you, are a newer wrinkle, but as has been pointed out (and ignored) ad infinitum, there is a big difference in mediums between comic books and music, where you can make a strong argument that digital distribution quickly and radically changed how the medium reached its customers, to the arguable detriment of the industry.
Jesus. How the fuck did I become the optimist in this particular room?
I don't know if you guys have noticed, but it seems to me like there are a whole lot of ways to watch television these days. You can buy it on your XBox, on iTunes, on-demand through your cable box, you can watch a lot of it (legally) for free on sites like Hulu or almost all of it (illegally) via Bit Torrent. And lots of folks are skipping past commercials using DVR, and lots of folks are not even watching episodes anymore, they're just "waiting for the DVDs."
These people are killing the industry, right? "Waiting for the DVDs" just tells the people making TV programs that you don't care about their shows, and if your favorite shows get canceled, it's all your fault. Also, Best Buy, that chain of specialty stores that sells DVDs and TVs, is almost certain to go out of business because their product mix is changing, and they're probably too dumb to adjust.
Ridiculous, right? Is there anyone out there who really believes that television (the medium, not the current industry as it stands) is going to go away? Does anyone really believe that the network/cable structure, despite undergoing huge upheavals in advertising streams, programming and other long-held business models, are going to vanish or go into bankruptcy in the next five years or so?
Then why is everyone so willing to believe it about comics? I've been a comics reader for 25 years, I've worked in comics retail for about 9 (1 in college, 8 more recently) and for as long as I've been keeping up with comics culture on the Internet, there have been people loudly predicting the death of: A) the direct market B) independent comics and C) the comics medium as a whole. That, btw, was about 15 years ago. The direct market is still here. The comics medium is sure as hell here. The independent comics? Weakened, but still here. Look at the graphic novel side of the independent comics scene and they're flourishing, especially compared to about 10 years ago.
There are many challenges. The increasingly visible $4 price point is a huge looming problem, yes. The difficulty in selling independent comics that aren't graphic novels (I refuse to call them "pamphlets" or "floppies" because unlike so many, I don't have an active disdain for that format) is a big problem as well. And what the future holds as far as digital comics is a big question mark as well.
But any halfway decent shop is already doing a fair amount of business in graphic novels, original and collected both. Any intelligent shop-owner is thinking every day about digital format, price increases and the diversity of the product and how their store can deal with the changes. This notion that the specialty market, or worse, the entire medium, is some kind of outmoded dinosaur ignores two important things:
1. Comic Book Store owners aren't, as a rule, entirely dim. Some may be, but anyone who has been able to keep their store open and profitable has probably already survived the harsher culling of the market in the '90s, or is well aware of the pitfalls of retailing at the very least, since they all probably existed when they opened their store.
2. Comic books, and the direct market, have been around for quite some time now, and every year, people are loudly predicting its death. Every year, they're wrong.
There seems to be an industry-wide inferiority complex combined with some strange sort of self-directed schadenfreude wherein everyone must constantly expect disaster. Price increases have happened before. Webcomics have been around for quite some time. Graphic novels have been around even longer. Digital comics, I'll grant you, are a newer wrinkle, but as has been pointed out (and ignored) ad infinitum, there is a big difference in mediums between comic books and music, where you can make a strong argument that digital distribution quickly and radically changed how the medium reached its customers, to the arguable detriment of the industry.
Jesus. How the fuck did I become the optimist in this particular room?
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
What The Inauguration Means To Me
Talking Points Memo has asked folks to email them their thoughts on the inauguration and what it means to them. But rather than do that, I figured, "Hey, I have a blog! Why don't I write stuff there?"
I like to think myself a cynic, but compared to some of my friends (Hi, Nate!) I'm a starry-eyed optimist. And the truth is, Barack Obama really gets to that optimistic side of me. I teared up watching U2 singing at an over-produced concert in Washington, D.C., being broadcast on HBO.
And here's the thing: It's not what the inauguration means to me, really. It's what I think it means for my kids. For six years, ever since we knew Katy was coming, I've been watching as the world got worse and worse. As the Bush Administration made America less and less a country I wanted to be a part of, much less bequeath to my child in the future. It seemed like the American dream of leaving a country where my child could do better than I had was not going to be possible. Worse, it seemed like even a modified, scaled-down version of the dream, leaving America as good as it was when I was growing up, wasn't going to be possible.
Sunday night, as Katy was watching part of the pre-Inaugural celebration with me, and Martin Luther King III came out, she told me about Martin Luther King Jr., who they had been learning about in school. I got the five-year-old version of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks. And Katy gets it, better than I did at her age... they described it in kid terms, but she knows that he "fought with words, not fists" and she knows that Rosa Parks "got arrested because she wouldn't give up her seat to a white man," but as a five-year-old, the significance of these things doesn't quite sink in. But perhaps more importantly, when we talked about judging people based on who they are, not the color of their skin? She honestly had trouble comprehending what I was talking about. My kid's pretty smart, but this whole notion of judging someone based on their skin color? She doesn't get it. Racism is a completely foreign concept to her.
Now I know part of that is a childish innocence, but I also know that because of the powerful message that Barack Obama's inauguration sends out, that more and more kids are going to see that the racists are the minority. They're the crazy ones.
And that's what Barack Obama's inauguration means to me. When I was in the minority who didn't want George W. Bush as President in 2000, and even worse, in 2004, I started to feel like my country had gone completely insane. Suddenly the majority were the crazy ones. (In the spirit of unity that Obama is trying to encourage, I apologize for any offense this gives my Republican readers (Hi, Chris!), but in the spirit of honesty, voting for Bush in 2004, especially in hindsight, has got to be categorized at the least as foolish act, right?) But now, though there are plenty of crazies out there trying to recruit for their white supremacist movements, trying to enforce their religious beliefs on the whole world or just trying to make a buck by playing to our own worst natures, the majority is on the side of hope. The large majority has a favorable opinion of our new President, most have realistic expectations about what he can accomplish but also hope that he can accomplish unrealistic goals.
And for every annoyance, both minor (emailer tech issues) and major (Diamond deciding to try and strangle the indie comics market), that has occurred in the last few days, I can't help but find a smile on my face. Because for the first time in eight years, it feels like sanity, intelligence and hope has won out over insanity, ignorance and self-interest.
I like to think myself a cynic, but compared to some of my friends (Hi, Nate!) I'm a starry-eyed optimist. And the truth is, Barack Obama really gets to that optimistic side of me. I teared up watching U2 singing at an over-produced concert in Washington, D.C., being broadcast on HBO.
And here's the thing: It's not what the inauguration means to me, really. It's what I think it means for my kids. For six years, ever since we knew Katy was coming, I've been watching as the world got worse and worse. As the Bush Administration made America less and less a country I wanted to be a part of, much less bequeath to my child in the future. It seemed like the American dream of leaving a country where my child could do better than I had was not going to be possible. Worse, it seemed like even a modified, scaled-down version of the dream, leaving America as good as it was when I was growing up, wasn't going to be possible.
Sunday night, as Katy was watching part of the pre-Inaugural celebration with me, and Martin Luther King III came out, she told me about Martin Luther King Jr., who they had been learning about in school. I got the five-year-old version of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks. And Katy gets it, better than I did at her age... they described it in kid terms, but she knows that he "fought with words, not fists" and she knows that Rosa Parks "got arrested because she wouldn't give up her seat to a white man," but as a five-year-old, the significance of these things doesn't quite sink in. But perhaps more importantly, when we talked about judging people based on who they are, not the color of their skin? She honestly had trouble comprehending what I was talking about. My kid's pretty smart, but this whole notion of judging someone based on their skin color? She doesn't get it. Racism is a completely foreign concept to her.
Now I know part of that is a childish innocence, but I also know that because of the powerful message that Barack Obama's inauguration sends out, that more and more kids are going to see that the racists are the minority. They're the crazy ones.
And that's what Barack Obama's inauguration means to me. When I was in the minority who didn't want George W. Bush as President in 2000, and even worse, in 2004, I started to feel like my country had gone completely insane. Suddenly the majority were the crazy ones. (In the spirit of unity that Obama is trying to encourage, I apologize for any offense this gives my Republican readers (Hi, Chris!), but in the spirit of honesty, voting for Bush in 2004, especially in hindsight, has got to be categorized at the least as foolish act, right?) But now, though there are plenty of crazies out there trying to recruit for their white supremacist movements, trying to enforce their religious beliefs on the whole world or just trying to make a buck by playing to our own worst natures, the majority is on the side of hope. The large majority has a favorable opinion of our new President, most have realistic expectations about what he can accomplish but also hope that he can accomplish unrealistic goals.
And for every annoyance, both minor (emailer tech issues) and major (Diamond deciding to try and strangle the indie comics market), that has occurred in the last few days, I can't help but find a smile on my face. Because for the first time in eight years, it feels like sanity, intelligence and hope has won out over insanity, ignorance and self-interest.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Shrieking, Mocking Triumphant Laughter
Imagine Bill Hicks at his most manic, gleeful, "fuck you" laughter.
Some of you may recall me working myself into a bit of a froth over Bush's veto of the expansion of SCHIP, the child healthcare plan.
As annoying as that was, it also means I take special glee in this, from CNN:
House passes expansion of children's health program
See, Bush is on his way out, so he can't wave his magic veto wand at the bill again. Hell, he's so impotent at this point, he can't even fill up a press conference.
No, the bill that he (and other Republicans, including John McCain) shot down, the bill that provides expanded health care for American children? It's headed to President Obama's desk.
FOR HIM TO SIGN.
I hope it's the first in a long line of "Fuck Yous" that the Democrats have planned for Bush and his administration. Certainly the "Tomnibus" bill was a similar thing of beauty, as Harry Reid shows signs of a spine and cleverness that I was beginning to think the Democrats lacked, even when they're the majority party.
Some of you may recall me working myself into a bit of a froth over Bush's veto of the expansion of SCHIP, the child healthcare plan.
As annoying as that was, it also means I take special glee in this, from CNN:
House passes expansion of children's health program
See, Bush is on his way out, so he can't wave his magic veto wand at the bill again. Hell, he's so impotent at this point, he can't even fill up a press conference.
No, the bill that he (and other Republicans, including John McCain) shot down, the bill that provides expanded health care for American children? It's headed to President Obama's desk.
FOR HIM TO SIGN.
I hope it's the first in a long line of "Fuck Yous" that the Democrats have planned for Bush and his administration. Certainly the "Tomnibus" bill was a similar thing of beauty, as Harry Reid shows signs of a spine and cleverness that I was beginning to think the Democrats lacked, even when they're the majority party.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
24: It's Back And...
I'm bored. I gave up on 24 before the end of last season. At least, I think I did, as I have only vague memories of it, but I may have watched through to the end. Who knows... it was all so long ago, and had long past the point of stupid.
Understand, I loved 24 at the outset. I was willing to roll with the ridiculous amnesiac plot in the first season, I have a certain fondness for the Kim/Cougar second season bit (if only for the running gags, and for Johnny Drama as survivalist nut who's hard up for a date) and I thought the show picked up again in its fourth and/or fourth season (like I said, they all kind of blend together for me at this point). I didn't even mind the obvious right-wing wet dream that the show represented. Hell, West Wing was a liberal wet dream, so if I don't have any problem with that, I really shouldn't have a problem with 24.
But the new season takes an entertaining, dumb-but-fun action show with right-wing tendencies and turns it into a polemic about how useless the UN is, how right the U.S. is to unilaterally invade a country, how important torture is and how any senator questioning someone about using torture is clearly the bad guy in the room. It also saddles us with the same tropes of moles, overly convoluted sinister plots and various other credibility-straining plot and character developments, which would be OK if they were at least *new* credibility-straining plot and character developments. Worst of all, perhaps, is that after giving Tony Almeida (second best character on the show after Jack) a pointless bitch death in the prior season, they bring him back with a half-assed explanation and use him for either a dumb role (if he's what he appears to be in the first two episodes) or something we've seen plenty before (if in fact he's deep undercover).
I'd say more, but Alan Sepinwall pretty much nails it.
Life's too short, and there's too much good TV (Battlestar Galactica, Burn Notice, new 30 Rock/Office/Chuck) on the way in a few weeks to waste precious hours on this. I'll check back in if I hear it gets better, but I don't expect that to happen.
Understand, I loved 24 at the outset. I was willing to roll with the ridiculous amnesiac plot in the first season, I have a certain fondness for the Kim/Cougar second season bit (if only for the running gags, and for Johnny Drama as survivalist nut who's hard up for a date) and I thought the show picked up again in its fourth and/or fourth season (like I said, they all kind of blend together for me at this point). I didn't even mind the obvious right-wing wet dream that the show represented. Hell, West Wing was a liberal wet dream, so if I don't have any problem with that, I really shouldn't have a problem with 24.
But the new season takes an entertaining, dumb-but-fun action show with right-wing tendencies and turns it into a polemic about how useless the UN is, how right the U.S. is to unilaterally invade a country, how important torture is and how any senator questioning someone about using torture is clearly the bad guy in the room. It also saddles us with the same tropes of moles, overly convoluted sinister plots and various other credibility-straining plot and character developments, which would be OK if they were at least *new* credibility-straining plot and character developments. Worst of all, perhaps, is that after giving Tony Almeida (second best character on the show after Jack) a pointless bitch death in the prior season, they bring him back with a half-assed explanation and use him for either a dumb role (if he's what he appears to be in the first two episodes) or something we've seen plenty before (if in fact he's deep undercover).
I'd say more, but Alan Sepinwall pretty much nails it.
Life's too short, and there's too much good TV (Battlestar Galactica, Burn Notice, new 30 Rock/Office/Chuck) on the way in a few weeks to waste precious hours on this. I'll check back in if I hear it gets better, but I don't expect that to happen.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
New Year's Resolution #1: Freak Out Less
I think I make this one every year. But I'm starting early with this one, because Diamond has, with the help of UPS, managed to turn a Friday comics delivery day (already a recipe for reduced sales) into a following Monday comics delivery day (a recipe for apocalyptically bad sales).
Here's what generally happens. On a late release day, which happens seemingly every couple of months thanks to various holidays, and pushes comics to Thursday, we generally lose about a grand in sales. Where do they go? I don't know. But mostly it seems that folks who are more casual about their comics buying, or who might have picked up a few extra books, don't come in that week at all, opting for a "double helping" on the next Wednesday (which, due to budget realities, usually means more of a "helping and a half", and a bunch of add-on comics that might have sold don't sell) or they come in.
A Friday, when the next comics day is looming closer, is even worse. A Monday, when there's a new comic day two days later? I'm gonna guess that a large majority will go ahead and wait it out, and we've effectively lost a Wednesday. Worse, we get pick-up sales on those books on Thursday, Friday and the weekend. Those are now gone as well. Now it's not like we have nothing to sell... we'll still sell graphic novels, comics that had already come in, games, etc... but as with everything, the new is what drives things, and a bunch of books that would have sold on Friday may not sell at all. Crazy as it is, every day a new comic is late, it's value decreases.
Especially in a town where two other comics shops are chains, and thus get the benefit of early shipping, so they *will* have their books on Friday.
Diamond "regrets the error" but isn't offering anything to make up for this money loss, not even free shipping on the books that are now shipping out three days late.
Diamond and UPS are two of the most important parts of my business... I interact with each of them at least twice a week, and one of those times (the weekly comics drop) is literally life-and-death for the business. And if they screw up, as they do on a monthly basis (in small and sometimes big ways), my only recourse is... to get frustrated. Which earns me nothing, and hurts them not at all.
Thus the resolution to freak out less. I'm not going to let the fact that I probably just lost a couple grand in sales kill my enjoyment of my New Year's Eve party, and I'm going to try real hard not to worry about it all weekend.
But if all of you could spare a moment or two over the four-day weekend to mutter "Fucking Diamond" under your breath, you'll probably be syncing up with me at some point. ;)
Here's what generally happens. On a late release day, which happens seemingly every couple of months thanks to various holidays, and pushes comics to Thursday, we generally lose about a grand in sales. Where do they go? I don't know. But mostly it seems that folks who are more casual about their comics buying, or who might have picked up a few extra books, don't come in that week at all, opting for a "double helping" on the next Wednesday (which, due to budget realities, usually means more of a "helping and a half", and a bunch of add-on comics that might have sold don't sell) or they come in.
A Friday, when the next comics day is looming closer, is even worse. A Monday, when there's a new comic day two days later? I'm gonna guess that a large majority will go ahead and wait it out, and we've effectively lost a Wednesday. Worse, we get pick-up sales on those books on Thursday, Friday and the weekend. Those are now gone as well. Now it's not like we have nothing to sell... we'll still sell graphic novels, comics that had already come in, games, etc... but as with everything, the new is what drives things, and a bunch of books that would have sold on Friday may not sell at all. Crazy as it is, every day a new comic is late, it's value decreases.
Especially in a town where two other comics shops are chains, and thus get the benefit of early shipping, so they *will* have their books on Friday.
Diamond "regrets the error" but isn't offering anything to make up for this money loss, not even free shipping on the books that are now shipping out three days late.
Diamond and UPS are two of the most important parts of my business... I interact with each of them at least twice a week, and one of those times (the weekly comics drop) is literally life-and-death for the business. And if they screw up, as they do on a monthly basis (in small and sometimes big ways), my only recourse is... to get frustrated. Which earns me nothing, and hurts them not at all.
Thus the resolution to freak out less. I'm not going to let the fact that I probably just lost a couple grand in sales kill my enjoyment of my New Year's Eve party, and I'm going to try real hard not to worry about it all weekend.
But if all of you could spare a moment or two over the four-day weekend to mutter "Fucking Diamond" under your breath, you'll probably be syncing up with me at some point. ;)
Monday, December 29, 2008
This Headline
GOP reaction divided over controversial Obama song
Pretty much says everything you need to say about the modern GOP, doesn't it?
To their credit, *most* of them are smart enough to distance themselves from this, but a couple are actually trying to defend it as "political satire."
Oh, and the song originated with Rush Limbaugh. Shocker.
Pretty much says everything you need to say about the modern GOP, doesn't it?
To their credit, *most* of them are smart enough to distance themselves from this, but a couple are actually trying to defend it as "political satire."
Oh, and the song originated with Rush Limbaugh. Shocker.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Rick F*%^#ing Warren?
I'm on record as giving the President-Elect a chance to at least get into office before we start criticizing his policy decisions. But inauguration decisions, those seem like fair game.
And this... well, this makes me as angry as anything Sarah Palin ever said. I've been annoyed at the overly conciliatory tone the Democrats (and Obama) have taken with their foes in the media and the political arena, but I was willing to swallow my own sense of revenge in the name of moving forward in a positive direction.
But you sit a guy who is so vehemently anti-gay, so vehemently anti-choice, so much the embodiment of making yourself rich and famous off of the faith of others, and turning that faith into a weapon against those who disagree with you... well...
It's just a slap in the face. It is, at the very least, a dick move.
I still believe a President Obama is going to be better than a President McCain or *shudder* President Palin... but this is disappointing. Bordering on crushing.
On most days, I can accept that religion is for some people... I have a close friend who leads a congregation, and most of my family is in church of one kind or another. But there are also days when I wish that organized religion would completely vanish from the planet, never to be seen again. This has become one of those days.
And this... well, this makes me as angry as anything Sarah Palin ever said. I've been annoyed at the overly conciliatory tone the Democrats (and Obama) have taken with their foes in the media and the political arena, but I was willing to swallow my own sense of revenge in the name of moving forward in a positive direction.
But you sit a guy who is so vehemently anti-gay, so vehemently anti-choice, so much the embodiment of making yourself rich and famous off of the faith of others, and turning that faith into a weapon against those who disagree with you... well...
It's just a slap in the face. It is, at the very least, a dick move.
I still believe a President Obama is going to be better than a President McCain or *shudder* President Palin... but this is disappointing. Bordering on crushing.
On most days, I can accept that religion is for some people... I have a close friend who leads a congregation, and most of my family is in church of one kind or another. But there are also days when I wish that organized religion would completely vanish from the planet, never to be seen again. This has become one of those days.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
The Santa Thing
I know a lot of parents (and many of those who aren't parents, but want to tell people how they should raise their kids) have some unease about the whole Santa thing.
If you want to boil it down, Santa is really lying to your kids for an extended period of years, setting them up for disappointment when they discover that he's not real. But he's also an expression of the magic that's still in the world when you're a kid.
Myself, I have no such ambiguity. I didn't hesitate to start the Santa tradition with my daughter. Everyone is in such a hurry to get kids to grow up and start accepting reality these days, and while there's a certain amount of reality you've got to dose them with in order to keep them safe (the whole "distrust strangers" thing really introduces the notion of other people being unsafe, but unfortunately, a lot of other people *are), there's no need to rob them of a magical world. It's OK, even preferable, when you're a kid, to believe in fairie princesses and dragons and robots and aliens and Santa and the Easter Bunny and all that cool shit.
The trick is, if you *don't* believe this, and you tell your kid there's no Santa, then not only are you robbing your kid of Santa, you are potentially robbing other kids of it as well. Because there is *nothing* that kids who don't believe in Santa love more than spreading that disbelief to others. So while I understand folks who say "I don't want to lie to my children," I can't help but be a bit annoyed that they're making it more difficult for those of us who do want our kids to believe in Santa for a bit longer.
Of course, there are some who can't afford the presents, and have to tell their kids Santa isn't real to avoid disappointing them by having a Santa who can't deliver them the promised presents for being good. I've got sympathy there. But in general, I'm very pro-Santa.
If you want to boil it down, Santa is really lying to your kids for an extended period of years, setting them up for disappointment when they discover that he's not real. But he's also an expression of the magic that's still in the world when you're a kid.
Myself, I have no such ambiguity. I didn't hesitate to start the Santa tradition with my daughter. Everyone is in such a hurry to get kids to grow up and start accepting reality these days, and while there's a certain amount of reality you've got to dose them with in order to keep them safe (the whole "distrust strangers" thing really introduces the notion of other people being unsafe, but unfortunately, a lot of other people *are), there's no need to rob them of a magical world. It's OK, even preferable, when you're a kid, to believe in fairie princesses and dragons and robots and aliens and Santa and the Easter Bunny and all that cool shit.
The trick is, if you *don't* believe this, and you tell your kid there's no Santa, then not only are you robbing your kid of Santa, you are potentially robbing other kids of it as well. Because there is *nothing* that kids who don't believe in Santa love more than spreading that disbelief to others. So while I understand folks who say "I don't want to lie to my children," I can't help but be a bit annoyed that they're making it more difficult for those of us who do want our kids to believe in Santa for a bit longer.
Of course, there are some who can't afford the presents, and have to tell their kids Santa isn't real to avoid disappointing them by having a Santa who can't deliver them the promised presents for being good. I've got sympathy there. But in general, I'm very pro-Santa.
Friday, December 05, 2008
Why I Hate Congress (Even The Democratic One)
Barney Frank offers up this little nugget for President-Elect Obama. You know, the guy who has been putting together his administration faster and more effectively than we've seen in decades? The guy who has put together a pretty amazing cabinet thus far, who is getting kudos from a majority of the public in polls pretty much whenever he announces something?
"He's going to have to be more assertive than he's been," House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., told consumer advocates Thursday.
"At a time of great crisis with mortgage foreclosures and autos, he says we only have one president at a time," Frank said. "I'm afraid that overstates the number of presidents we have. He's got to remedy that situation."
Well, that's very glib, Congressman. But hey, isn't asking the guy not yet in power, who is trying to observe the Constitution, to "get more assertive" a bit hypocritical when you and your idiot cronies are the ones who gave Paulson a blank check to further fuck up the economy?
The speed with which the liberal blogosphere and the Democrats in Congress have turned on their new party leader, *before he's even in office*, is astounding. Are we *so* determined to put the Republicans back in office that we're going to undermine our leader a full month and a half before he's even sworn in? Even when pretty much every indicator is that he's on a pretty solid path?
Look, I get a little cautious needling and questioning around the edges. But there seems to be this huge panic that Obama isn't doing whatever they want him to do right this minute, even if he's *legally prevented from doing so.* I'm not a "My President, right or wrong" kind of guy. If Obama turns out not to be able to do this, then hey, yeah, call him on the carpet.
But at least let the guy get to standing up before you try to cut him off at the knees. We elected him to lead, let's see if he can lead, huh?
"He's going to have to be more assertive than he's been," House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., told consumer advocates Thursday.
"At a time of great crisis with mortgage foreclosures and autos, he says we only have one president at a time," Frank said. "I'm afraid that overstates the number of presidents we have. He's got to remedy that situation."
Well, that's very glib, Congressman. But hey, isn't asking the guy not yet in power, who is trying to observe the Constitution, to "get more assertive" a bit hypocritical when you and your idiot cronies are the ones who gave Paulson a blank check to further fuck up the economy?
The speed with which the liberal blogosphere and the Democrats in Congress have turned on their new party leader, *before he's even in office*, is astounding. Are we *so* determined to put the Republicans back in office that we're going to undermine our leader a full month and a half before he's even sworn in? Even when pretty much every indicator is that he's on a pretty solid path?
Look, I get a little cautious needling and questioning around the edges. But there seems to be this huge panic that Obama isn't doing whatever they want him to do right this minute, even if he's *legally prevented from doing so.* I'm not a "My President, right or wrong" kind of guy. If Obama turns out not to be able to do this, then hey, yeah, call him on the carpet.
But at least let the guy get to standing up before you try to cut him off at the knees. We elected him to lead, let's see if he can lead, huh?
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Can Someone Explain the Appeal of Joe Lieberman?
I wish I could say that I'm surprised that the Dems decided to keep Lieberman not only in the caucus, but at the head of the Homeland Security Commission, where he's been complicit in malfeasance in New Orleans, Iraq and elsewhere by not investigating any wrong-doing after Katrina, or by Blackwater, or indeed seemingly anything.
But if history has shown us anything, it's that the Democratic Congress and House of Representatives seems to have little to no balls at all. I mean, the Republicans may be the enemy of almost everything I stand for, but Jesus, at least they have the cojones to stand up and fight for what they believe. All too often, the Democrats have just knuckled under, calling it "compromise" and "bi-partisanship."
So in that spirit, let me just ask: What do we, the Democrats, gain by having Lieberman there? Was it so important to keep him in the caucus that they couldn't risk him getting mad and bolting after pulling his chairmanship? Is he so convincing a figure that his vote actually equals a half-dozen votes or more? Does he always bring the best potato salad to the Democratic/Connecticut for Lieberman two-party barbecues?
The talking points against this have been "We shouldn't be seeking revenge, it goes against the message." But this was never about revenge. Sure, some of us (OK, me) who have always disliked Lieberman's censorship happy, pro-Iraq War, right-leaning version of Democratic policy were incensed by his actions during the Presidential election. But... we won. His smears against Obama didn't work, and he was ultimately as helpful to John McCain winning the White House as he was to Al Gore in 2000.
But I've seen lots of arguments that we *shouldn't* strip him of his chairmanship, that we shouldn't kick him out of the caucus... can anyone tell me why? What exactly does he bring to the table? Is it just a matter of "We're showing that we can be the bigger person?," which is childish and naive political policy? Is "Because Joe might get mad at us?" really enough to make the Dems back down? And if so, just what is it going to take for Senate and House Dems to grow a pair? I don't want a replay of the last 8 years, where the Republicans controlled all three branches of government and still complained about being the minority party. The Dems won. They've got Executive and Legislative Branches all but sewn up. But if they're going to act like the Republicans and their allies (which Lieberman is, let's be honest) are still calling the shots, then what was the point of the election?
But if history has shown us anything, it's that the Democratic Congress and House of Representatives seems to have little to no balls at all. I mean, the Republicans may be the enemy of almost everything I stand for, but Jesus, at least they have the cojones to stand up and fight for what they believe. All too often, the Democrats have just knuckled under, calling it "compromise" and "bi-partisanship."
So in that spirit, let me just ask: What do we, the Democrats, gain by having Lieberman there? Was it so important to keep him in the caucus that they couldn't risk him getting mad and bolting after pulling his chairmanship? Is he so convincing a figure that his vote actually equals a half-dozen votes or more? Does he always bring the best potato salad to the Democratic/Connecticut for Lieberman two-party barbecues?
The talking points against this have been "We shouldn't be seeking revenge, it goes against the message." But this was never about revenge. Sure, some of us (OK, me) who have always disliked Lieberman's censorship happy, pro-Iraq War, right-leaning version of Democratic policy were incensed by his actions during the Presidential election. But... we won. His smears against Obama didn't work, and he was ultimately as helpful to John McCain winning the White House as he was to Al Gore in 2000.
But I've seen lots of arguments that we *shouldn't* strip him of his chairmanship, that we shouldn't kick him out of the caucus... can anyone tell me why? What exactly does he bring to the table? Is it just a matter of "We're showing that we can be the bigger person?," which is childish and naive political policy? Is "Because Joe might get mad at us?" really enough to make the Dems back down? And if so, just what is it going to take for Senate and House Dems to grow a pair? I don't want a replay of the last 8 years, where the Republicans controlled all three branches of government and still complained about being the minority party. The Dems won. They've got Executive and Legislative Branches all but sewn up. But if they're going to act like the Republicans and their allies (which Lieberman is, let's be honest) are still calling the shots, then what was the point of the election?
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
A Non-Political Aside About Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures
This post is aimed at the extremely niche readership that cares about D&D gaming. A lot. Too much, really. Everybody else should probably just wait for my next post praising Obama or bitching about Prop 8. ;)
Some minor waves went through the gaming community lately, when Wizards of the Coast announced that they were discontinuing the skirmish element of their miniatures line, changing up the packaging and, oh yeah, jacking up the price a bit.
But, judging based on their last random pack set, Demonweb, I say "Bring on the new, ungodly expensive but hopefully more focused set!"
One of the biggest requests we've gotten at my shop, since 4th edition? Dragonborn miniatures. They were the big new race in 4th edition, and there are tons of folks playing Dragonborn. Paladins, Warriors, Wizards, Clerics, everything. Do you know how many Dragonborn miniatures there were in the first 4th edition set, Against the Giants?
Two. And they were rare. Both were fighter types.
OK, so surely they'll rectify that in the next set, right? Well, behold the gallery.
There are two more. One is another frikkin' paladin, the other is a very specific, barely usable epic-looking dude with wings. And they are both rare.
You know what's uncommon, which means you'll get one every couple of packs? Well, there's a warforged, despite the fact that they haven't reintroduced the warforged yet (save in a Dragon article) and Eberron won't even be out until 2009. There's a fucking evil mushroom. Let me tell you, if I'm a consumer, every time I open a pack of expensive plastic miniatures and not only don't get the dragonborn warlock that I've been playing for several months, but I get another fucking evil mushroom? My head's gonna explode.
There are a ton of wildly specific, mostly unusable miniatures in this set. Another Girallon? Seriously? Who at WOTC has a hard-on for four-armed gorillas? Kruthik? Goddamn Kruthik? Who even uses Kruthik, except for those of us running the modules written by folks at WOTC who think people give two shits about the Kruthik? And I'd happily use little red glass beads to represent Kruthik if you'd give me a few options for your brand new showpiece race the Dragonborn instead.
As a last set for the current D&D miniatures model, this looks like an utter failure. Maybe I'm wrong, and after I open a few packs, I'll see the wisdom of having the same number of Slaad as the number of Dragonborn, or I'll want to create an amazing module populated by evil mushrooms, sarcophagi and Kruthik.
But I very much doubt it.
Some minor waves went through the gaming community lately, when Wizards of the Coast announced that they were discontinuing the skirmish element of their miniatures line, changing up the packaging and, oh yeah, jacking up the price a bit.
But, judging based on their last random pack set, Demonweb, I say "Bring on the new, ungodly expensive but hopefully more focused set!"
One of the biggest requests we've gotten at my shop, since 4th edition? Dragonborn miniatures. They were the big new race in 4th edition, and there are tons of folks playing Dragonborn. Paladins, Warriors, Wizards, Clerics, everything. Do you know how many Dragonborn miniatures there were in the first 4th edition set, Against the Giants?
Two. And they were rare. Both were fighter types.
OK, so surely they'll rectify that in the next set, right? Well, behold the gallery.
There are two more. One is another frikkin' paladin, the other is a very specific, barely usable epic-looking dude with wings. And they are both rare.
You know what's uncommon, which means you'll get one every couple of packs? Well, there's a warforged, despite the fact that they haven't reintroduced the warforged yet (save in a Dragon article) and Eberron won't even be out until 2009. There's a fucking evil mushroom. Let me tell you, if I'm a consumer, every time I open a pack of expensive plastic miniatures and not only don't get the dragonborn warlock that I've been playing for several months, but I get another fucking evil mushroom? My head's gonna explode.
There are a ton of wildly specific, mostly unusable miniatures in this set. Another Girallon? Seriously? Who at WOTC has a hard-on for four-armed gorillas? Kruthik? Goddamn Kruthik? Who even uses Kruthik, except for those of us running the modules written by folks at WOTC who think people give two shits about the Kruthik? And I'd happily use little red glass beads to represent Kruthik if you'd give me a few options for your brand new showpiece race the Dragonborn instead.
As a last set for the current D&D miniatures model, this looks like an utter failure. Maybe I'm wrong, and after I open a few packs, I'll see the wisdom of having the same number of Slaad as the number of Dragonborn, or I'll want to create an amazing module populated by evil mushrooms, sarcophagi and Kruthik.
But I very much doubt it.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
More on Prop 8
Governor Schwarzenegger, despite being a Republican, spoke out against Prop 8 and encouraged the gay community to continue fighting.
This makes me feel so much better about loving Total Recall, Predator and so many other '80s Schwarzenegger movies.
But here's the key thing that jumped out at me:
"Sherrie Derriko, a longtime Saddleback Church member and hair salon owner from Mission Viejo, said she was bothered that protesters had targeted houses of worship. As she drove by, she rolled down her window to offer some advice.
"Read the Bible. God made man and woman, and that's what a marriage is," she called from inside her SUV.
Derriko recounted the incident after attending services. "When we saw them out there, we thought, 'Why are they not over this? Do they think they're going to change anything, or are they just stirring up trouble at our church?'""
Are you f*&^cking kidding me? "Why aren't they over this?" Lady, they didn't get turned down for a loan or not get a job they interviewed for. The majority of the people in the state they live in told them that their lifestyle is illegal. Not just immoral, illegal. Would you give up after a couple of days if religion were banned?
And the complete smugness is so clear in the quote. "She called from inside her SUV." Tells them to "Read the Bible." This is the extent of deep thought the woman has given the issue.
I can imagine she heard some very un-Christian remarks directed at her in response.
This makes me feel so much better about loving Total Recall, Predator and so many other '80s Schwarzenegger movies.
But here's the key thing that jumped out at me:
"Sherrie Derriko, a longtime Saddleback Church member and hair salon owner from Mission Viejo, said she was bothered that protesters had targeted houses of worship. As she drove by, she rolled down her window to offer some advice.
"Read the Bible. God made man and woman, and that's what a marriage is," she called from inside her SUV.
Derriko recounted the incident after attending services. "When we saw them out there, we thought, 'Why are they not over this? Do they think they're going to change anything, or are they just stirring up trouble at our church?'""
Are you f*&^cking kidding me? "Why aren't they over this?" Lady, they didn't get turned down for a loan or not get a job they interviewed for. The majority of the people in the state they live in told them that their lifestyle is illegal. Not just immoral, illegal. Would you give up after a couple of days if religion were banned?
And the complete smugness is so clear in the quote. "She called from inside her SUV." Tells them to "Read the Bible." This is the extent of deep thought the woman has given the issue.
I can imagine she heard some very un-Christian remarks directed at her in response.
Keith Olbermann on Prop 8
I know some don't like Keith Olbermann, folks I respect, like my dad. I know some absolutely despise him, folks I like, like Thom Zahler.
This special comment, offered not with the usual anger (which I love, quite honestly) but with a sincerity and a genuine hurt that maps almost exactly to how I feel about this puzzling, backwards anti-gay marriage, forgive me but there is no other word *bullshit*, is exactly why I like Olbermann.
Like Olbermann, I have no personal stake in this. I don't have any close gay friends that I can think of, just gay acquaintances. No one in my family, at least no one that I know of, is gay. I've never been to a gay wedding, I don't see any invitations in my future. On a personal level, this affects me not at all.
But on a basic human rights level, the notion that we should treat a group of human beings as other, just disgusts me. If you voted yes on Prop 8 or one of its compatriots, if you would vote yes on a ban on gay marriage, then part of you is a bigot, and you need to deal with that part. Really examine why this is so important, really examine how much of a difference there is between laws preventing gay marriage and the laws that, until the late '60s, prevented mixed race couples from marrying. The same arguments were used then, that allowing mixed race marriages would change the definition of marriage, would destroy the institution.
We've managed to simultaneously move the country forward one giant leap and yet stumble backward several important steps. And as happy as many of us are about President Obama, it's hard to celebrate when that election also came with this awful, dehumanizing price for so many.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
What Kind Of Day It Has Been
Today is the worst day I can remember in a while. Just really, really shitty and frustrating. And it's my blog, so I'm going to vent.
A little backstory: Our air conditioning at the store, which went out in August, was out for about a month while we tried to negotiate with the management company to get it fixed/replaced. Two different companies told us we needed to replace us, but the management company wanted bids, and they wound up going with a local company that decided to only replace the compressor. So instead of spending $8000, they spent $1500... and I had to pay a $1000 deductible. Which sucked. And we went a super-hot month in Texas with no A/C.
Cut to two weeks ago Friday, and Dave notices that the A/C isn't working. We think maybe we're just being paranoid, but it's definitely warm in the store. Finally, after putting in a call to the management company, we turn it off and back on and it starts working. OK, maybe just a quirk, but I get the number of the A/C repair guys so I can set up our new quarterly maintenance schedule with them anyway. But with everything else I've got going, including setting up for our comic book trivia event at the end of the month, it gets put off.
So cut to last Friday, and the air goes out again, around 3 in the afternoon. This time it doesn't come back. Fortunately, since we were through the bids and everything back in August, I'm able to get ahold of the management company and get something set up with their A/C company... for Monday.
One hot, annoying weekend later, the guys show up on Monday afternoon, find that there are burned-out connectors (no doubt one of the many problems that caused the other guys to suggest we replace the unit rather than just repair the compressor). They fix those, and then find that said connectors have burned out the new compressor. They've put a rush on it, hopefully it'll be in on Tuesday. Which I take to mean that it's probably going to be Wednesday at least.
Background over. Today is Wednesday, new comics day. I get up at 8 AM, as usual, and go to get the comics. No sweat there, the books are ready, they're all in the boxes (a few minor damages, but we let that go). However, it did decide, after months of no rain, to rain yesterday, and so the store, without A/C, is not only hot but humid, and so some of the comics are crinkly, and the general feel in the store is hot and gross.
We are much relieved when the air conditioning guys show up around 1 PM. They don't come in and say anything, they just go up on the roof and start working. That's fine, as long as they get the job done. Then I get a call from my night employee, who is sick. He can't come in, and everybody else is working day shift. I'm the owner, so now I'm working 8 AM - 11 PM. Rough, but hey, at least I'll have A/C.
Or not, as it again begins raining while I'm out picking up our games order. As I unpack the game order and realize that I accidentally doubled a couple of games, resulting in a quarter's supply of a game turning into an eternal-we'll probably never sell this many supply, we notice that the A/C guys are gone. Maybe they just didn't come in to tell us it was fixed? Nope. Flick the air on, nothing happens. They just left. Didn't come in to tell us what happened. Did they leave because they couldn't work in the rain? Did they find they needed some other parts? Are they playing a giant prank? We have no fucking idea, because they didn't bother to come in and tell us. Calls to the company go unanswered, mildly irritated voicemails are left.
Then our Diamond reorder shows up. This is our weekly restock of graphic novels and single issues we've sold out of. On occasion, they mis-pull one or two books, and we're out a book for an extra week or so. On this particular occasion, though the tracking numbers show two boxes, the boxes are marked (of three) and there are 69 items missing. It seems pretty clear that one of our boxes is either sitting at the Diamond warehouse or shipped out to another store. I call in to my Diamond rep, but it's close to 6 in New York, so I'm pretty sure I won't be hearing anything back until tomorrow at the earliest.
So... here I am. A/C doesn't work, we're missing inventory (and resulting sales), we're overstocked on some games we'll probably never sell, and I'm working a 15-hour day on four hours of sleep.
On a relative scale, it's all fairly minor... but it sure felt like a shitstorm of mega proportions to the folks who were here today.
A little backstory: Our air conditioning at the store, which went out in August, was out for about a month while we tried to negotiate with the management company to get it fixed/replaced. Two different companies told us we needed to replace us, but the management company wanted bids, and they wound up going with a local company that decided to only replace the compressor. So instead of spending $8000, they spent $1500... and I had to pay a $1000 deductible. Which sucked. And we went a super-hot month in Texas with no A/C.
Cut to two weeks ago Friday, and Dave notices that the A/C isn't working. We think maybe we're just being paranoid, but it's definitely warm in the store. Finally, after putting in a call to the management company, we turn it off and back on and it starts working. OK, maybe just a quirk, but I get the number of the A/C repair guys so I can set up our new quarterly maintenance schedule with them anyway. But with everything else I've got going, including setting up for our comic book trivia event at the end of the month, it gets put off.
So cut to last Friday, and the air goes out again, around 3 in the afternoon. This time it doesn't come back. Fortunately, since we were through the bids and everything back in August, I'm able to get ahold of the management company and get something set up with their A/C company... for Monday.
One hot, annoying weekend later, the guys show up on Monday afternoon, find that there are burned-out connectors (no doubt one of the many problems that caused the other guys to suggest we replace the unit rather than just repair the compressor). They fix those, and then find that said connectors have burned out the new compressor. They've put a rush on it, hopefully it'll be in on Tuesday. Which I take to mean that it's probably going to be Wednesday at least.
Background over. Today is Wednesday, new comics day. I get up at 8 AM, as usual, and go to get the comics. No sweat there, the books are ready, they're all in the boxes (a few minor damages, but we let that go). However, it did decide, after months of no rain, to rain yesterday, and so the store, without A/C, is not only hot but humid, and so some of the comics are crinkly, and the general feel in the store is hot and gross.
We are much relieved when the air conditioning guys show up around 1 PM. They don't come in and say anything, they just go up on the roof and start working. That's fine, as long as they get the job done. Then I get a call from my night employee, who is sick. He can't come in, and everybody else is working day shift. I'm the owner, so now I'm working 8 AM - 11 PM. Rough, but hey, at least I'll have A/C.
Or not, as it again begins raining while I'm out picking up our games order. As I unpack the game order and realize that I accidentally doubled a couple of games, resulting in a quarter's supply of a game turning into an eternal-we'll probably never sell this many supply, we notice that the A/C guys are gone. Maybe they just didn't come in to tell us it was fixed? Nope. Flick the air on, nothing happens. They just left. Didn't come in to tell us what happened. Did they leave because they couldn't work in the rain? Did they find they needed some other parts? Are they playing a giant prank? We have no fucking idea, because they didn't bother to come in and tell us. Calls to the company go unanswered, mildly irritated voicemails are left.
Then our Diamond reorder shows up. This is our weekly restock of graphic novels and single issues we've sold out of. On occasion, they mis-pull one or two books, and we're out a book for an extra week or so. On this particular occasion, though the tracking numbers show two boxes, the boxes are marked (of three) and there are 69 items missing. It seems pretty clear that one of our boxes is either sitting at the Diamond warehouse or shipped out to another store. I call in to my Diamond rep, but it's close to 6 in New York, so I'm pretty sure I won't be hearing anything back until tomorrow at the earliest.
So... here I am. A/C doesn't work, we're missing inventory (and resulting sales), we're overstocked on some games we'll probably never sell, and I'm working a 15-hour day on four hours of sleep.
On a relative scale, it's all fairly minor... but it sure felt like a shitstorm of mega proportions to the folks who were here today.
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Clone Wars Second Episode
Yeah, I think I'm done.
They were working some kind of "horror in space" thing with Plo Koon and the clones in a fading life pod, and things out there trying to get at them. When the other dead life pod turned up, it could have been a cool moment as well. But then what's hunting them? Frickin' joke droids again! Sucking any of the tension out of the situation.
In addition, the big thematic story is Plo Koon telling the clones that they're not expendable and someone is coming for them, but neither Ah Soka or Anakin ever express even a word of concern for the clones. They're always talking about Master Plo Koon and how important it is to rescue him.
Also... boring space fights, boring starship chase, misuse of characters made cool in previous cartoon and comic book appearances.
This is Lucas brand Star Wars... and that's really the last thing I want at this point.
They were working some kind of "horror in space" thing with Plo Koon and the clones in a fading life pod, and things out there trying to get at them. When the other dead life pod turned up, it could have been a cool moment as well. But then what's hunting them? Frickin' joke droids again! Sucking any of the tension out of the situation.
In addition, the big thematic story is Plo Koon telling the clones that they're not expendable and someone is coming for them, but neither Ah Soka or Anakin ever express even a word of concern for the clones. They're always talking about Master Plo Koon and how important it is to rescue him.
Also... boring space fights, boring starship chase, misuse of characters made cool in previous cartoon and comic book appearances.
This is Lucas brand Star Wars... and that's really the last thing I want at this point.
Fake liveblogging The Clone Wars
Kinda like what I did with Heroes here. When I'm watching a show and it inspires me to snark at it more than enjoy it, that's a good sign I won't be watching it for long.
The Clone Wars inspired snark about a minute in. As with Heroes Season Three, I watched the first episode and started writing down increasingly sarcastic observations. I was going to Twitter them, but didn't want to spoil anyone who was going to watch the show. So here they are, if you're interested.
Every time I see the goofy droids, I cringe. Every time they talk, I cringe even more.
Aussie accented Clone Troopers - not so cool
Yoda - always cool. Smart enough to know he's headed for another trap, confident enough to not give a damn.
This animation blows. Asaj Ventress looks pretty much like a shitty Rock Band character.
Is this a Doctor Seuss planet? What's up with the purple spiky foliage?
I mean, it's good that Paul Hogan is getting some voice-over work, but... jeez, the Clone Troopers sound goofy.
Do you think the clones assigned to Yoda ever want to say "Jesus, can you just learn proper grammar and sentence structure already? How old are you, and you haven't mastered fucking English?"
Oh God, more droid schtick. Nasally voice, totally ineffective... they're a personification of every bad storytelling and humor instinct George Lucas has. Seriously, worse than Jar Jar.
You know how to suck any dramatic tension out of a fight? Make the opponents completely and totally ineffective. Does *anyone* think the comedy 'bots pose a threat to anyone?
Ah, there we go... Super Battle Droids. They're cooler, mostly because they don't talk.
Can't help but think how much cooler Yoda and the clones were in the Tartakovsky series.
Never mind. They talk. But they don't joke. So Super Battle Droids still slightly better than joke 'bots.
Damn it, they joke too. Just as badly.
In Tartakovsky's cartoons, Yoda uses the force to slam droid ships together and force them back off the planet. In the new cartoon, he lifts one battle droid and uses it to shoot all the others. That lack of scale, lack of imagination and love of slapstick says everything about why these new Clone Wars cartoons *suck* compared to the earlier ones.
And in this scene, Yoda teaches the clones... how to love.
Jedi faces off brigade of tanks and droids... better use of scale.
Admittedly, Yoda's action sequence here is pretty cool.
Count Dooku looks like something out of Rankin-Bass.
Yoda punks out Ventress. OK, I like that.
Wow, they set up a base on a random planet! How epic! How exciting! It's just like when they blew up the Death Star, or Han got taken by a bounty hunter! Christ. The stakes aren't even as exciting as Ewoks beating up Stormtroopers.
Overall: Bleh. I'll give it a couple more episodes, but I think my initial plan to avoid was probably the right one. Glad I didn't pay to see the first three episodes in the theater.
The Clone Wars inspired snark about a minute in. As with Heroes Season Three, I watched the first episode and started writing down increasingly sarcastic observations. I was going to Twitter them, but didn't want to spoil anyone who was going to watch the show. So here they are, if you're interested.
Every time I see the goofy droids, I cringe. Every time they talk, I cringe even more.
Aussie accented Clone Troopers - not so cool
Yoda - always cool. Smart enough to know he's headed for another trap, confident enough to not give a damn.
This animation blows. Asaj Ventress looks pretty much like a shitty Rock Band character.
Is this a Doctor Seuss planet? What's up with the purple spiky foliage?
I mean, it's good that Paul Hogan is getting some voice-over work, but... jeez, the Clone Troopers sound goofy.
Do you think the clones assigned to Yoda ever want to say "Jesus, can you just learn proper grammar and sentence structure already? How old are you, and you haven't mastered fucking English?"
Oh God, more droid schtick. Nasally voice, totally ineffective... they're a personification of every bad storytelling and humor instinct George Lucas has. Seriously, worse than Jar Jar.
You know how to suck any dramatic tension out of a fight? Make the opponents completely and totally ineffective. Does *anyone* think the comedy 'bots pose a threat to anyone?
Ah, there we go... Super Battle Droids. They're cooler, mostly because they don't talk.
Can't help but think how much cooler Yoda and the clones were in the Tartakovsky series.
Never mind. They talk. But they don't joke. So Super Battle Droids still slightly better than joke 'bots.
Damn it, they joke too. Just as badly.
In Tartakovsky's cartoons, Yoda uses the force to slam droid ships together and force them back off the planet. In the new cartoon, he lifts one battle droid and uses it to shoot all the others. That lack of scale, lack of imagination and love of slapstick says everything about why these new Clone Wars cartoons *suck* compared to the earlier ones.
And in this scene, Yoda teaches the clones... how to love.
Jedi faces off brigade of tanks and droids... better use of scale.
Admittedly, Yoda's action sequence here is pretty cool.
Count Dooku looks like something out of Rankin-Bass.
Yoda punks out Ventress. OK, I like that.
Wow, they set up a base on a random planet! How epic! How exciting! It's just like when they blew up the Death Star, or Han got taken by a bounty hunter! Christ. The stakes aren't even as exciting as Ewoks beating up Stormtroopers.
Overall: Bleh. I'll give it a couple more episodes, but I think my initial plan to avoid was probably the right one. Glad I didn't pay to see the first three episodes in the theater.
How To Scare the Crap Out of Randy
Army Combat Unit to deploy within the U.S.
What. The. Fuck.
Posse Comitatus, anyone? We don't *do* this shit here. You don't put over 4,000 members of your military, who are *trained* to *kill people*, into a domestic law enforcement role. The DOD can say all they want that they're a response unit for hurricane relief, but... what are they going to do? Shoot at the hurricane? This isn't a civil engineer brigade, this is a combat-trained and tested brigade that has seen action in Iraq.
Seriously, this is one of those "We should have known we were in for a totalitarian regime when they started up with the domestic combat units" kind of things.
Can anyone remember the last time our government did something that didn't scare you or piss you off, or both?
What. The. Fuck.
Posse Comitatus, anyone? We don't *do* this shit here. You don't put over 4,000 members of your military, who are *trained* to *kill people*, into a domestic law enforcement role. The DOD can say all they want that they're a response unit for hurricane relief, but... what are they going to do? Shoot at the hurricane? This isn't a civil engineer brigade, this is a combat-trained and tested brigade that has seen action in Iraq.
Seriously, this is one of those "We should have known we were in for a totalitarian regime when they started up with the domestic combat units" kind of things.
Can anyone remember the last time our government did something that didn't scare you or piss you off, or both?
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