Weekly Recap - September 18th, 2010

Intro/Random:
Karoake Apocalypse at the Nomad was a blast. Lots of really good singers, great crowd, had fun hanging out with friends. And I sang Ball & Chain and did mostly OK, aside from forgetting to sing "Take Away This Ball and Chain" the last time and having to be prodded by the bass player.

I went to the Nomad twice last week, actually. On Tuesday, I grabbed an Ace Pear with friends and a Funky Monkey at Gordough's.

Also had a great dinner at Frank, followed by Last Starfighter in the park, on Wednesday.

Comics Retailing:
[sarcasm]And as we all know, after the year 2000, nobody ever sold comics again. So all this panic about "August-mageddon" on the comics website is *totally* rational and not at all stupid, half-assed analysis by folks without an actual realistic view of the market.[/sarcasm]

Games:
Rented Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions from Redbox on Tuesday. Played three levels (one Amazing, one Noir and one 2099) and so far... pretty impressed. Neil Patrick Harris makes a great Peter Parker, and it's fun to see more of the 2099 universe. Also, Noir is very much a riff on Batman: Arkham Asylum, complete with stealth and takedowns. Might have to put this on the buy list.

I will most definitely be playing this during Fantastic Arcade. Also? Twisted Pixel, the guys who made 'Splosion Man, have a new game and are Austin-based. I knew neither of these things, and I'm looking forward to interviewing them for the Leader.

TV/Movies:
Rewatched about half of the Star Trek movie on Netflix Instant and... I still don't get it. Yes, the cast is pretty good, yes it's flashy as hell and has some nice set-pieces. But... everyone is so damn smug, the villain is *terrible* (has Bana ever been good in anything?) and the plot is over-complicated and not super-interesting. I don't get the love for this movie.

Yeah, Cartoon Network, that countdown clock for Sym-Bionic Titan running for the entirety of Brave and the Bold's premiere isn't at all annoying. And on a related note, am I the only one who wishes Ross & Waid had never come up with Captain Marvel using his Shazam lightning as a weapon? It's getting really, really old. And was one of a few cliches in Saturday's Brave and the Bold opener, which was awesome in the details but disappointing in the actual story.

Other Links:
Man I wish I could be in Washington DC in October for The Daily Show's Rally for Sanity.

SMBC is hysterical.