Iron Chef:
Don calls this my "What you're watching" blog, so I figured I should add some other things I like doing. For example, eating. For the past few months, whenever Suzanne and I have driven home from visiting my parents in a different part of town, we've seen the Iron Chef restaurant and wondered if it had any connection to the show and, either way, if it was any good. Finally, I decided to look up some reviews and learned that it does indeed have something tangentially to do with the show (the owners are fans and named it after Iron Chef for some attention) and it is indeed quite good.
I haven't had enough variety in Crab Rangoons to really think there's much difference between them, but Iron Chef's Crab & Shrimp Rangoon appetizer was pretty tasty. For my entree, I got the Butter Shrimp... it was sweeter and much lighter than you'd expect of a dish that includes Fried Shrimp in a butter sauce. I was surprised that I didn't really taste the butter, instead it was like a lighter sweet and sour sauce. I tasted a bit of my dad's Golden Duck (which was really good) and my wife's Orange Peel Beef (also surprisingly light given that it's fried beef in orange sauce), which is quite possibly what I'll get the next time I go there.
Dinner prices were about $12 an entree average, and the portions were very good, such that my dad had enough of the Golden Duck left over for lunch tomorrow, although both Suzanne and I polished off our entrees just fine.
Friday, January 30, 2004
Pixar Leaves Disney:
That hammering sound you hear is another nail in Disney's coffin. Congrats to Pixar for getting while the getting is good, and I'd be very surprised if they don't wind up with a really excellent deal elsewhere. At this point, I would categorize every single film they've made (short or feature length) as really good, with the majority of them falling into the excellent category.
That hammering sound you hear is another nail in Disney's coffin. Congrats to Pixar for getting while the getting is good, and I'd be very surprised if they don't wind up with a really excellent deal elsewhere. At this point, I would categorize every single film they've made (short or feature length) as really good, with the majority of them falling into the excellent category.
Monday, January 26, 2004
Web-buying:
So I just recently ordered a couple used items from Amazon and when I was looking around in my account, realized that you can go back and look at invoices from when you first started using them. Or at least, pretty close. And it turns out that I've been ordering from Amazon since 1998, at the very least, meaning that I've been using them for over 5 years. I still do, moreso now that I can buy stuff used (Last Boy Scout DVD for $8, including shipping - that's a good deal!) and now that I have a credit card that gives me a reward certificate to spend at Amazon when I use it, and I get more credits if I buy at Amazon.
I've also noticed that since I signed up for iTunes, I'm buying a lot more music. I mean, I used to buy a CD maybe every 3-4 months, now I'm buying the equivalent of a CD every month, only every track is one that I like. I'm a little bummed that I can't find all the music I want, like the Foo Fighters' "Darling Nikki" or most of the music that was in The Italian Job, but I'm hoping that as time goes by we'll see the selection increase as record companies give in to inevitability and realize that song-by-song, downloadable is a way that a lot of us want to buy music.
Oh, and I looove Netflix. Been using them for a year or two now and have no plans to stop. Even though some months I only watch one or two DVDs, most months I watch a half-dozen or more. Just signed up for Gamefly, a similar service that deals in PS2 games (actually, X-Box, Gamecube and Gameboy Advance too, but I only have PS2). I don't play PS2 all that often, but if I have a rotating pool of games to play around with, that may change.
No real point to all this, just random meandering on how cool I think shopping online has become. I think I did 95% of my Christmas shopping online this year and it was so much easier. Maybe it's ironic that I'm a big online shopper and yet I work in brick-and-mortar retail? I dunno, maybe so, but with comics retail there's still something to be said for that in-person experience or, as my friend Don was so fond of saying when we worked at Psycomic, "People want to touch the books."
So I just recently ordered a couple used items from Amazon and when I was looking around in my account, realized that you can go back and look at invoices from when you first started using them. Or at least, pretty close. And it turns out that I've been ordering from Amazon since 1998, at the very least, meaning that I've been using them for over 5 years. I still do, moreso now that I can buy stuff used (Last Boy Scout DVD for $8, including shipping - that's a good deal!) and now that I have a credit card that gives me a reward certificate to spend at Amazon when I use it, and I get more credits if I buy at Amazon.
I've also noticed that since I signed up for iTunes, I'm buying a lot more music. I mean, I used to buy a CD maybe every 3-4 months, now I'm buying the equivalent of a CD every month, only every track is one that I like. I'm a little bummed that I can't find all the music I want, like the Foo Fighters' "Darling Nikki" or most of the music that was in The Italian Job, but I'm hoping that as time goes by we'll see the selection increase as record companies give in to inevitability and realize that song-by-song, downloadable is a way that a lot of us want to buy music.
Oh, and I looove Netflix. Been using them for a year or two now and have no plans to stop. Even though some months I only watch one or two DVDs, most months I watch a half-dozen or more. Just signed up for Gamefly, a similar service that deals in PS2 games (actually, X-Box, Gamecube and Gameboy Advance too, but I only have PS2). I don't play PS2 all that often, but if I have a rotating pool of games to play around with, that may change.
No real point to all this, just random meandering on how cool I think shopping online has become. I think I did 95% of my Christmas shopping online this year and it was so much easier. Maybe it's ironic that I'm a big online shopper and yet I work in brick-and-mortar retail? I dunno, maybe so, but with comics retail there's still something to be said for that in-person experience or, as my friend Don was so fond of saying when we worked at Psycomic, "People want to touch the books."
Sunday, January 04, 2004
2004:
Well, another year down. This was a pretty good year for me. Though I'd like it if I had a job with more of a future and a little bit more money, it was kind of nice working a job where I felt like what I did made a difference, like I was good at what I did and I actually liked going to work. I don't know how long I can keep being assistant manager of a comic-book shop without feeling like I've wasted both my college degree and all my youth on a job with no future, but I'm hoping to hold out at least one more year.
No moves or surprise surgeries or anything like that this year, which was nice. We started in Austin, we stayed in Austin. In fact, the only really major upheaval was a positive one, because this is the year my daughter Katy was born. Everything you hear about "it will change your life" is absolutely 100% true. But not in the way you expect. My routine, dull as it is, remains pretty much the same. Reviews on the off-time, work, weekly gaming with friends, the occasional movie... but every single thing I do now, in the back of my head, I'm doing it as a father. There is not a moment that goes by that Katy isn't in my thoughts, and it's kind of amazing.
The other big moment that sticks out for me in 2003 is San Diego. It was a blast getting to hang out in person with Don again, and for that matter getting to reconnect with all the people that I know in and around comics. There are so many negative things about this industry, and so many people (including me, on some days) are cynical about the whole thing, saying that the industry needs to die for the comics medium to survive... but I can't help but remember how much fun I had at San Diego, and how much of that was down to the community that sprung up in this industry, and I still think the positives outweigh the negatives.
My predictions for 2004? I don't have any, really. I have hopes (I dearly hope someone else is President-elect after November), I have plans (alphabetical archives for The Fourth Rail, even if it kills me to do all the hand-coding), I have guaranteed moments of joy (Katy learning to walk, and *maybe* saying her first word?)... but no predictions.
Well, another year down. This was a pretty good year for me. Though I'd like it if I had a job with more of a future and a little bit more money, it was kind of nice working a job where I felt like what I did made a difference, like I was good at what I did and I actually liked going to work. I don't know how long I can keep being assistant manager of a comic-book shop without feeling like I've wasted both my college degree and all my youth on a job with no future, but I'm hoping to hold out at least one more year.
No moves or surprise surgeries or anything like that this year, which was nice. We started in Austin, we stayed in Austin. In fact, the only really major upheaval was a positive one, because this is the year my daughter Katy was born. Everything you hear about "it will change your life" is absolutely 100% true. But not in the way you expect. My routine, dull as it is, remains pretty much the same. Reviews on the off-time, work, weekly gaming with friends, the occasional movie... but every single thing I do now, in the back of my head, I'm doing it as a father. There is not a moment that goes by that Katy isn't in my thoughts, and it's kind of amazing.
The other big moment that sticks out for me in 2003 is San Diego. It was a blast getting to hang out in person with Don again, and for that matter getting to reconnect with all the people that I know in and around comics. There are so many negative things about this industry, and so many people (including me, on some days) are cynical about the whole thing, saying that the industry needs to die for the comics medium to survive... but I can't help but remember how much fun I had at San Diego, and how much of that was down to the community that sprung up in this industry, and I still think the positives outweigh the negatives.
My predictions for 2004? I don't have any, really. I have hopes (I dearly hope someone else is President-elect after November), I have plans (alphabetical archives for The Fourth Rail, even if it kills me to do all the hand-coding), I have guaranteed moments of joy (Katy learning to walk, and *maybe* saying her first word?)... but no predictions.
Finding Nemo DVD:
So my Christmas was really good, and most of my gifts were of the DVD variety. (Which was fine by me.) I've been spending some time recently watching some of them, although I'm not even remotely close to getting through them yet. I'll probably still be watching Christmas DVDs when my birthday rolls around in April. So far, I've watched the movie of Pirates of the Caribbean, the first disc (cartoons only) of the fantastic Golden Looney Tunes collection and, as the title of this post would indicate, Finding Nemo. In addition to rewatching the film, which *might* be my favorite Pixar movie ever, I just watched the "visual commentary" tonight.
This is the kind of thing that makes DVDs worth buying. There are three voices on the commentary track itself, but using seamless branching technology, the film breaks off between 5-15 minutes at a time and shows little bits of behind-the-scenes, ranging from a video of Ellen Degeneres speaking whale to CG animators talking about a particular technique. The result is that you feel like you're taking part in an intelligent and thorough discussion of the making of the movie, even as you can compare what they're talking about to the finished product. It might be the best commentary I've ever seen.
Along with the Behind the Scenes featurette and the general quality of Pixar movies, it just reaffirms something for me: If everyone put the same amount of passion and hard work, and had as much fun and investment, in making their movies as Pixar does, there would be no bad movies. Also, I've decided that I would like to work at Pixar when I grow up. Shame I have absolutely no skills that would be applicable to such a job, huh? ;)
So my Christmas was really good, and most of my gifts were of the DVD variety. (Which was fine by me.) I've been spending some time recently watching some of them, although I'm not even remotely close to getting through them yet. I'll probably still be watching Christmas DVDs when my birthday rolls around in April. So far, I've watched the movie of Pirates of the Caribbean, the first disc (cartoons only) of the fantastic Golden Looney Tunes collection and, as the title of this post would indicate, Finding Nemo. In addition to rewatching the film, which *might* be my favorite Pixar movie ever, I just watched the "visual commentary" tonight.
This is the kind of thing that makes DVDs worth buying. There are three voices on the commentary track itself, but using seamless branching technology, the film breaks off between 5-15 minutes at a time and shows little bits of behind-the-scenes, ranging from a video of Ellen Degeneres speaking whale to CG animators talking about a particular technique. The result is that you feel like you're taking part in an intelligent and thorough discussion of the making of the movie, even as you can compare what they're talking about to the finished product. It might be the best commentary I've ever seen.
Along with the Behind the Scenes featurette and the general quality of Pixar movies, it just reaffirms something for me: If everyone put the same amount of passion and hard work, and had as much fun and investment, in making their movies as Pixar does, there would be no bad movies. Also, I've decided that I would like to work at Pixar when I grow up. Shame I have absolutely no skills that would be applicable to such a job, huh? ;)
Thursday, December 18, 2003
Celebrity Poker Showdown:
I am completely addicted to this show on Bravo, and owe a big debt to James Lucas Jones for mentioning it to me and sparking my interest. I'm actually shocked that I'm enjoying it this much. The players are mostly actors I really like, but I really don't know poker at all. I played a few games in high school and college at various parties and I suuuuucccked at it. Watching Celebrity Poker Showdown, though, I find myself wanting to get a game going with my buddies.
Fortunately, not enough to actually do it, because who can afford to lose that much money? At any rate, Celebrity Poker turns out to be a blast to watch, and a nice balm for the somewhat dead new TV season, especially during these lean months between sweeps.
I am completely addicted to this show on Bravo, and owe a big debt to James Lucas Jones for mentioning it to me and sparking my interest. I'm actually shocked that I'm enjoying it this much. The players are mostly actors I really like, but I really don't know poker at all. I played a few games in high school and college at various parties and I suuuuucccked at it. Watching Celebrity Poker Showdown, though, I find myself wanting to get a game going with my buddies.
Fortunately, not enough to actually do it, because who can afford to lose that much money? At any rate, Celebrity Poker turns out to be a blast to watch, and a nice balm for the somewhat dead new TV season, especially during these lean months between sweeps.
Monday, December 15, 2003
The New Place:
Well, after a couple weeks of being mostly static, thanks to a catastrophic computer crash and then moving Internet/phone/cable providers, Inside Joke Theatre is back online.
Cue crickets.
At any rate, this is the new address, and while I'm not crazy about having to put the ~ in the address, otherwise this is pretty much exactly what it used to be. A place for me to store random thoughts, updated whenever the mood strikes me, that I'm amazed anyone would actually read.
Well, after a couple weeks of being mostly static, thanks to a catastrophic computer crash and then moving Internet/phone/cable providers, Inside Joke Theatre is back online.
Cue crickets.
At any rate, this is the new address, and while I'm not crazy about having to put the ~ in the address, otherwise this is pretty much exactly what it used to be. A place for me to store random thoughts, updated whenever the mood strikes me, that I'm amazed anyone would actually read.
Wednesday, December 03, 2003
Ascending From Hell into Purgatory:
$200 dollars later (and there go my plans to buy a DVD burner for the computer), my computer is working again. Mostly. I had some frustration getting it to recognize the sound card, and the monitor is still reading as Generic Plug and Play, but everything is working, and the random lock-ups seem to be (knock on wood) gone.
Now begins the arduous process of putting all the programs and data back onto the system. Which includes rebuilding a long-standing address book from basically nothing. So if you are someone who has regular contact with me and you want me to have your email address or other contact info, it might not be a bad idea to email it to me again.
Also, we're moving ISPs in a day or two, so this site will no doubt move. Not exactly sure what the URL will be, but it should be on www.grandecom.net. Probably. If you're really curious and can't find it by searching on Inside Joke Theatre, drop me a line at randy@thefourthrail.com and I'll hook you up with the new address.
$200 dollars later (and there go my plans to buy a DVD burner for the computer), my computer is working again. Mostly. I had some frustration getting it to recognize the sound card, and the monitor is still reading as Generic Plug and Play, but everything is working, and the random lock-ups seem to be (knock on wood) gone.
Now begins the arduous process of putting all the programs and data back onto the system. Which includes rebuilding a long-standing address book from basically nothing. So if you are someone who has regular contact with me and you want me to have your email address or other contact info, it might not be a bad idea to email it to me again.
Also, we're moving ISPs in a day or two, so this site will no doubt move. Not exactly sure what the URL will be, but it should be on www.grandecom.net. Probably. If you're really curious and can't find it by searching on Inside Joke Theatre, drop me a line at randy@thefourthrail.com and I'll hook you up with the new address.
Sunday, November 30, 2003
Absolute Total Hell:
A little while back, I wrote about a condition in which my computer was randomly locking up. I thought it might be a virus, or a damaged hard drive, or something else. So, when Suzanne and I ordered our videocamera as an early X-Mas present to ourselves, I decided to upgrade: Got a 120 GB hard drive, planning to use it as the new base drive.
After a tortuously long attempt at installing said hard drive, which wasn't helped by a manual for another hard drive that turned out not to be my old one, we finally got the jumpers set right and the master/slave thing worked out and the whole thing up and running. Except: It still locked up at random moments.
Oh, how I miss the halcyon days when that was my computer's only problem.
Through a series of misadventures involving reinstalling Windows XP, changing display drivers and other such things, I eventually found myself with a computer that wasn't even remotely working. Desperate, I called Computer Nerdz here in Austin, they sent someone out, he gave me peace of mind by assuring me that he would have done the same types of things I was trying but much less peace of mind when he couldn't fix the computer any better than I could, at least not without a big huge tech support bill that I couldn't afford.
So it was decided that I would do a clean install of Windows XP on my old hard drive, use the new one as a slave. Except that now the computer was locking up every time I tried to load up Windows, such that it took over two hours just to get it started on the installation. I went to work, hoping Suzanne would be able to keep resetting until eventually the computer would fail to lock up and Windows XP would install.
It did, but then Suzanne ran a virus scan (understand, I'd had McAfee for as long as I'd had this computer) and found a virus. Which might also be the cause of the random lockups. Long story short, my computer is now practically useless. It has Windows XP on it, but it goes about 5-15 minutes between locking up. It has either: A) a virus B) bad memory C) a bad motherboard or D) all of the above. Frankly, I'm at a complete loss. And speaking of loss, somehow the computer managed to lose all of my saved email and my copious address book, neither of which was backed up as most of my data (which it *can* still find) was.
Now I'm working on my (much slower) laptop until I can figure out what to do. One thing's for sure... I'm looking much more seriously at getting a Mac the next time I buy a computer.
A little while back, I wrote about a condition in which my computer was randomly locking up. I thought it might be a virus, or a damaged hard drive, or something else. So, when Suzanne and I ordered our videocamera as an early X-Mas present to ourselves, I decided to upgrade: Got a 120 GB hard drive, planning to use it as the new base drive.
After a tortuously long attempt at installing said hard drive, which wasn't helped by a manual for another hard drive that turned out not to be my old one, we finally got the jumpers set right and the master/slave thing worked out and the whole thing up and running. Except: It still locked up at random moments.
Oh, how I miss the halcyon days when that was my computer's only problem.
Through a series of misadventures involving reinstalling Windows XP, changing display drivers and other such things, I eventually found myself with a computer that wasn't even remotely working. Desperate, I called Computer Nerdz here in Austin, they sent someone out, he gave me peace of mind by assuring me that he would have done the same types of things I was trying but much less peace of mind when he couldn't fix the computer any better than I could, at least not without a big huge tech support bill that I couldn't afford.
So it was decided that I would do a clean install of Windows XP on my old hard drive, use the new one as a slave. Except that now the computer was locking up every time I tried to load up Windows, such that it took over two hours just to get it started on the installation. I went to work, hoping Suzanne would be able to keep resetting until eventually the computer would fail to lock up and Windows XP would install.
It did, but then Suzanne ran a virus scan (understand, I'd had McAfee for as long as I'd had this computer) and found a virus. Which might also be the cause of the random lockups. Long story short, my computer is now practically useless. It has Windows XP on it, but it goes about 5-15 minutes between locking up. It has either: A) a virus B) bad memory C) a bad motherboard or D) all of the above. Frankly, I'm at a complete loss. And speaking of loss, somehow the computer managed to lose all of my saved email and my copious address book, neither of which was backed up as most of my data (which it *can* still find) was.
Now I'm working on my (much slower) laptop until I can figure out what to do. One thing's for sure... I'm looking much more seriously at getting a Mac the next time I buy a computer.
Monday, November 24, 2003
The Many Sins of ABC Chapter Six-Hundred and Twelve
Everything that is wrong with television is encapsulated in this story about ABC and Karen Sisco. They plan to change up a critically-acclaimed show by changing one of the very things that made it so interesting (they're going to ditch the hapless, Elmore Leonard style bad guys for something more "dangerous" i.e. "ripped from the headlines?"). I want to give them credit for not giving up on the show, but when the article ends with "We don't want to do anything without everyone being enthusiastic about it" it's hard not to be a bit cynical.
Really? Anything? Yeah, that's definitely the way to create edgy, must-watch television, by making sure that everyone is enthusiastic about every single thing you do.
Everything that is wrong with television is encapsulated in this story about ABC and Karen Sisco. They plan to change up a critically-acclaimed show by changing one of the very things that made it so interesting (they're going to ditch the hapless, Elmore Leonard style bad guys for something more "dangerous" i.e. "ripped from the headlines?"). I want to give them credit for not giving up on the show, but when the article ends with "We don't want to do anything without everyone being enthusiastic about it" it's hard not to be a bit cynical.
Really? Anything? Yeah, that's definitely the way to create edgy, must-watch television, by making sure that everyone is enthusiastic about every single thing you do.
Sunday, November 16, 2003
Karen Sisco:
So AICN is reporting that Karen Sisco has been yanked by ABC. Supposedly, they're going to "relaunch" in March in a new timeslot. Which will no doubt conflict with something else I'm watching.
The only good show to come out of the new season is now gone, 24 is hugely disappointing in Season Three, no new Shield until January... man, it's a good thing I don't have enough free time to watch much TV anyway.
Although I am still *loving* Alias. Wish it wasn't on ABC, given that they've killed so many good shows before their time. And the last two episodes of Angel (the Mexican wrestling episode and Wes's dad) have been pretty good, with my biggest complaint being that I still hate Spike and don't want him on the show.
So AICN is reporting that Karen Sisco has been yanked by ABC. Supposedly, they're going to "relaunch" in March in a new timeslot. Which will no doubt conflict with something else I'm watching.
The only good show to come out of the new season is now gone, 24 is hugely disappointing in Season Three, no new Shield until January... man, it's a good thing I don't have enough free time to watch much TV anyway.
Although I am still *loving* Alias. Wish it wasn't on ABC, given that they've killed so many good shows before their time. And the last two episodes of Angel (the Mexican wrestling episode and Wes's dad) have been pretty good, with my biggest complaint being that I still hate Spike and don't want him on the show.
Thursday, November 06, 2003
Las Vegas:
So I went to the Las Vegas Comicon and Diamond/Alliance Retailer summit last weekend. The Con was a bit of a bust, and I would have been pretty pissed if I'd spent my own money on the plane (as opposed to just blowing the cash for the hotel.) It was a good effort, but the organizers wanted to be too big too fast, and it felt very much like one of those "done in 10 minute" small Cons. Still, I got to see a lot of folks who I might not have seen if I went to just the retailer summit, including Bendis, Eric Shanower, Alex Robinson and Kristen Siebecker (of BOP fame), Chris Staros (of Top Shelf), and the Diamond/Alliance summit itself was really well done, even if you did have to walk an enormous distance to get from registration to the events themselves for no readily apparent reason.
Oh, and I got to see several of the water shows at the Bellagio, which were pretty impressive.
So I went to the Las Vegas Comicon and Diamond/Alliance Retailer summit last weekend. The Con was a bit of a bust, and I would have been pretty pissed if I'd spent my own money on the plane (as opposed to just blowing the cash for the hotel.) It was a good effort, but the organizers wanted to be too big too fast, and it felt very much like one of those "done in 10 minute" small Cons. Still, I got to see a lot of folks who I might not have seen if I went to just the retailer summit, including Bendis, Eric Shanower, Alex Robinson and Kristen Siebecker (of BOP fame), Chris Staros (of Top Shelf), and the Diamond/Alliance summit itself was really well done, even if you did have to walk an enormous distance to get from registration to the events themselves for no readily apparent reason.
Oh, and I got to see several of the water shows at the Bellagio, which were pretty impressive.
I Hate My Computer:
For a while now, my computer has been locking up in miduse. Locks up, won't respond to anything from the keyboard (not even control-alt-delete) and has to be rebooted using the reset button. Which, at least twice, has wiped out information on programs I was running at the time, most notably erasing the contents of my Inbox twice. Pretty annoying, especially this last time, when I had about a dozen messages saved that I needed and hadn't responded to yet.
So the long and short of it is... if you emailed me in the past four or five days and didn't get a response, I might have lost the email, so send it again. And if anyone out there has any ideas how to fix this (I'm running Windows XP, updated regularly, and I have McAfee anti-virus software, also updated regularly, but I'm beginning to suspect it's a virus) I'd appreciate a hint or two.
For a while now, my computer has been locking up in miduse. Locks up, won't respond to anything from the keyboard (not even control-alt-delete) and has to be rebooted using the reset button. Which, at least twice, has wiped out information on programs I was running at the time, most notably erasing the contents of my Inbox twice. Pretty annoying, especially this last time, when I had about a dozen messages saved that I needed and hadn't responded to yet.
So the long and short of it is... if you emailed me in the past four or five days and didn't get a response, I might have lost the email, so send it again. And if anyone out there has any ideas how to fix this (I'm running Windows XP, updated regularly, and I have McAfee anti-virus software, also updated regularly, but I'm beginning to suspect it's a virus) I'd appreciate a hint or two.
Wednesday, October 29, 2003
Just a little housecleaning...
Huh, been a while since I updated, huh? Well, it's either this or Fourth Rail, and I think most folks would rather I put the time into doing reviews.
To update, though... downloaded iTunes for Windows last week, and I *love* it. I've converted all my MP3s into AAC, which saved me quite a bit of space, and have already bought half a dozen tunes in two weeks (most of them from bands I'd never even heard of before). It's not likely to replace CDs for me, because I still want albums, and if I'm going to buy them, I'd rather have hardcopy as well, but it's really cool. And it has me wanting an iPod, even though I really don't need one. Now if I had a car stereo that took an audio input, I'd be much more anxious to get one, but every report I've read indicates that the iPod FM tuners don't work so well for car audio, and that's mostly what I'd want to use it for.
TV... really enjoying Karen Sisco, and otherwise the new season is a complete waste. The stuff I'd been enjoying is still great (I'm *loving* Alias and it's never status-quo status quo, and Nip/Tuck ended very well), good (Smallville is fun, although I could turn it off in a second and never miss it, which I couldn't say for Buffy or Angel at heart) or worrisome (I can't stand that Angel has become Angel & Spike, since I liked Spike as a villain and have hated the character (but not the actor, I should note) for about three seasons of Buffy). Looking forward to 24 (it's beckoning from the Tivo now, but I have made a pact with some friends to only watch it on Friday nights when we're together for gaming) and The Shield (January?! Ah, the downside of 13 episode seasons).
Movies... Saw Kill Bill and enjoyed it. Enjoyed it even more on second viewing. It sits below Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs and True Romance in my personal ranking of Tarantino, but if volume two can deliver, I think it will rest just above Jackie Brown. And who knows... for sheer re-watchability, it may exceed Reservoir Dogs as well.
DVDs... Let's see. Caught Dark Blue the other night, which was solid but not exceptional. Before that, I saw Confidence (which I *loved*), Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (Lukewarm, and I was disappointed), Bend It Like Beckham (as much fun as everyone said it was), Identity (predictable, but a good way to kill a couple hours), The Italian Job (fun popcorn heist movie, went on my Amazon wish list), Fast Times at Ridgemont High (I think you had to see it when you were in high school to really dig it) and Undercover Brother (stupid but fun).
Music... Just bought Office Space soundtrack and the latest Smash Mouth used (and cheap) from Amazon. My iTunes purchases have been Fountains of Wayne, Beck, Big Audio Dynamite II, Sinead O'Connor (thanks to Alias), Kinky (thanks to Karen Sisco and Nip/Tuck) and The Forces of Evil. Looking forward (probably at Christmas) to the new Barenaked Ladies, the 70's Punk compliation No Thanks!, The Best of R.E.M. and the Alias soundtrack (which I hope has pop songs as well as score type stuff).
Gaming... Just restarted our Spycraft game (I love that system), and the first session went well, if a little long on the "gearing up" phase of things. And still running the Champions game on occasional Sundays, somewhere between 1-2 times a month.
Wow. I bet nobody reading this actually cared about all of that stuff. Wonder if anyone but me cares about any of it?
Huh, been a while since I updated, huh? Well, it's either this or Fourth Rail, and I think most folks would rather I put the time into doing reviews.
To update, though... downloaded iTunes for Windows last week, and I *love* it. I've converted all my MP3s into AAC, which saved me quite a bit of space, and have already bought half a dozen tunes in two weeks (most of them from bands I'd never even heard of before). It's not likely to replace CDs for me, because I still want albums, and if I'm going to buy them, I'd rather have hardcopy as well, but it's really cool. And it has me wanting an iPod, even though I really don't need one. Now if I had a car stereo that took an audio input, I'd be much more anxious to get one, but every report I've read indicates that the iPod FM tuners don't work so well for car audio, and that's mostly what I'd want to use it for.
TV... really enjoying Karen Sisco, and otherwise the new season is a complete waste. The stuff I'd been enjoying is still great (I'm *loving* Alias and it's never status-quo status quo, and Nip/Tuck ended very well), good (Smallville is fun, although I could turn it off in a second and never miss it, which I couldn't say for Buffy or Angel at heart) or worrisome (I can't stand that Angel has become Angel & Spike, since I liked Spike as a villain and have hated the character (but not the actor, I should note) for about three seasons of Buffy). Looking forward to 24 (it's beckoning from the Tivo now, but I have made a pact with some friends to only watch it on Friday nights when we're together for gaming) and The Shield (January?! Ah, the downside of 13 episode seasons).
Movies... Saw Kill Bill and enjoyed it. Enjoyed it even more on second viewing. It sits below Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs and True Romance in my personal ranking of Tarantino, but if volume two can deliver, I think it will rest just above Jackie Brown. And who knows... for sheer re-watchability, it may exceed Reservoir Dogs as well.
DVDs... Let's see. Caught Dark Blue the other night, which was solid but not exceptional. Before that, I saw Confidence (which I *loved*), Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (Lukewarm, and I was disappointed), Bend It Like Beckham (as much fun as everyone said it was), Identity (predictable, but a good way to kill a couple hours), The Italian Job (fun popcorn heist movie, went on my Amazon wish list), Fast Times at Ridgemont High (I think you had to see it when you were in high school to really dig it) and Undercover Brother (stupid but fun).
Music... Just bought Office Space soundtrack and the latest Smash Mouth used (and cheap) from Amazon. My iTunes purchases have been Fountains of Wayne, Beck, Big Audio Dynamite II, Sinead O'Connor (thanks to Alias), Kinky (thanks to Karen Sisco and Nip/Tuck) and The Forces of Evil. Looking forward (probably at Christmas) to the new Barenaked Ladies, the 70's Punk compliation No Thanks!, The Best of R.E.M. and the Alias soundtrack (which I hope has pop songs as well as score type stuff).
Gaming... Just restarted our Spycraft game (I love that system), and the first session went well, if a little long on the "gearing up" phase of things. And still running the Champions game on occasional Sundays, somewhere between 1-2 times a month.
Wow. I bet nobody reading this actually cared about all of that stuff. Wonder if anyone but me cares about any of it?
Wednesday, September 24, 2003
Movies:
In the past few weeks, I've been to one movie in the theatre (Once Upon a Time in Mexico, which I quite enjoyed, although Desperado remains my favorite of the trilogy) and seen lots more on DVD. I watched Chicago last night, and while I expected to like it, I was surprised by just how much I enjoyed it. So much, in fact, that it graduated from Netflix rental to a place on my Amazon wish list, because I can definitely see re-watching it several times. Not as re-watchable to me, but also entertaining, was Catch Me If You Can, and I'm looking forward to diving into Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (the third in my recent rentals) soon.
In the past few weeks, I've been to one movie in the theatre (Once Upon a Time in Mexico, which I quite enjoyed, although Desperado remains my favorite of the trilogy) and seen lots more on DVD. I watched Chicago last night, and while I expected to like it, I was surprised by just how much I enjoyed it. So much, in fact, that it graduated from Netflix rental to a place on my Amazon wish list, because I can definitely see re-watching it several times. Not as re-watchable to me, but also entertaining, was Catch Me If You Can, and I'm looking forward to diving into Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (the third in my recent rentals) soon.
Monday, September 15, 2003
Comic Book Idol - Round Five:
The final entries in Comic Book Idol, a three-page sequential sequence plotted by J. Torres, are in, and wow... they look really good. Both Hickman and Scherberger did a great job, and if there's any justice, we'll see both of them (as well as L. Frank Weber, and maybe some of the other contenders) doing work in comics soon. I'm honestly not sure who I'll wind up voting for.
The final entries in Comic Book Idol, a three-page sequential sequence plotted by J. Torres, are in, and wow... they look really good. Both Hickman and Scherberger did a great job, and if there's any justice, we'll see both of them (as well as L. Frank Weber, and maybe some of the other contenders) doing work in comics soon. I'm honestly not sure who I'll wind up voting for.
Monday, September 08, 2003
Comic Book Idol - Round Four:
Well, with L. Frank Weber eliminated (and Flores remains in?), my enthusiasm for the contest has dampened considerably, as I thought Weber was easily the best of the bunch. I even voted for him instead of Hickman, who was probably my favorite cover of the last round, because I thought Hickman relied a little too much on his beautiful color work and because it looked like he was going to make it through OK without my vote. This week is a bit disappointing, actually... none of the pieces really blow me away. Even Scherberger, who I really like, has some inconsistency and the "raccoon eyes," which I could have written off as a stylistic quirk for Queen & Country, indicating black marks for cover work, have gotten a bit annoying. Still, I'd vote for Scherberger if it wasn't for Hickman. His work has a couple minor flaws, and again it feels like his work relies as much on a great color sense as it does on actual pencilling/inking (or painting, as it were) skills, but it's a strong piece. I could easily see Hickman on a Vertigo book with this style, or doing something really different with some of the Marvel and DC characters. Hell, if this were the art style on Iron Man, and he were matched with a good enough writer, I think I'd be pretty interested.
Well, with L. Frank Weber eliminated (and Flores remains in?), my enthusiasm for the contest has dampened considerably, as I thought Weber was easily the best of the bunch. I even voted for him instead of Hickman, who was probably my favorite cover of the last round, because I thought Hickman relied a little too much on his beautiful color work and because it looked like he was going to make it through OK without my vote. This week is a bit disappointing, actually... none of the pieces really blow me away. Even Scherberger, who I really like, has some inconsistency and the "raccoon eyes," which I could have written off as a stylistic quirk for Queen & Country, indicating black marks for cover work, have gotten a bit annoying. Still, I'd vote for Scherberger if it wasn't for Hickman. His work has a couple minor flaws, and again it feels like his work relies as much on a great color sense as it does on actual pencilling/inking (or painting, as it were) skills, but it's a strong piece. I could easily see Hickman on a Vertigo book with this style, or doing something really different with some of the Marvel and DC characters. Hell, if this were the art style on Iron Man, and he were matched with a good enough writer, I think I'd be pretty interested.
Monday, September 01, 2003
Comic Book Idol - Round Three:
I had an easy time voting last week, because there were really only two pieces that impressed me in the Queen & Country round, but I'm going to have a lot tougher time voting for Comic Book Idol this time out. All six entries are now up, and I'm leaning toward Jonathan Hickman as my favorite, but L. Frank Weber and Patrick Scherberger have done it again as well, and while Martin Redmond's cover looks a little too busy for me, I really do love his style.
I had an easy time voting last week, because there were really only two pieces that impressed me in the Queen & Country round, but I'm going to have a lot tougher time voting for Comic Book Idol this time out. All six entries are now up, and I'm leaning toward Jonathan Hickman as my favorite, but L. Frank Weber and Patrick Scherberger have done it again as well, and while Martin Redmond's cover looks a little too busy for me, I really do love his style.
Sunday, August 31, 2003
Same Difference and Other Stories:
There's never enough time to review everything I want to. Right now, I've got stacks of comics and graphic novels to review on The Fourth Rail, and sometimes in order to keep going, I have to let something slip by that I just don't have time to review. Same Difference and Other Stories, by Derek Kim, is one of those things. I picked this up after getting recommendations from Chris Butcher at Previewsreview and my friend Dave, and I loved it. I agree with pretty much everything in Greg McElhatton's review, which was posted on Friday.
There's never enough time to review everything I want to. Right now, I've got stacks of comics and graphic novels to review on The Fourth Rail, and sometimes in order to keep going, I have to let something slip by that I just don't have time to review. Same Difference and Other Stories, by Derek Kim, is one of those things. I picked this up after getting recommendations from Chris Butcher at Previewsreview and my friend Dave, and I loved it. I agree with pretty much everything in Greg McElhatton's review, which was posted on Friday.
Tuesday, August 26, 2003
SoBig... SoGoddamBig...
I'm not certain, because I haven't really been counting every time, but I think I'm receiving in the neighborhood of a 1,000 messages a day courtesy of our good friend the SoBig virus. Even with spam-killing filters, this thing is an enormous pain in the ass. It is my hope that they will catch whoever created this pox on our modern society and send them to (in the parlance of Mike Judge's Office Space) "federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison."
I'm not certain, because I haven't really been counting every time, but I think I'm receiving in the neighborhood of a 1,000 messages a day courtesy of our good friend the SoBig virus. Even with spam-killing filters, this thing is an enormous pain in the ass. It is my hope that they will catch whoever created this pox on our modern society and send them to (in the parlance of Mike Judge's Office Space) "federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison."
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