WWTNT (What would the neighbors think?)

Don't drive angry. Its Wednesday, February 2, 2011, I'm trapped in a time loop reliving this day over and over, and this is The Side. I've made this same post over a hundred times now. I don't think I'll be able to get out of this loop until I manage to post it without typos. I may be stuck here a while.

Yes, it is Groundhog Day. I don't think the groundhog will be seeing the shadow as most of us are going to have a hard time even seeing the sun today. Oddly enough, we're supposed to figure out today how long winter will be lasting this year and its going to be the warmest day we've had in weeks.

OLD MAN NOZZ

The other day I was painting a fence and the rain caught me. It was already cold enough, so this was sign for me to go grab a late lunch and warm up. Being in Norfolk, I just had to head over to Dog-n-Burger. The place was pretty slow as i had missed the lunch rush. The guy in line behind me looked like a kindred fellow. As I waited for my food to be ready I noticed him reading through the same free magazine I was. Its a little magazine they carry there which covers art, food, and the local music scene. He was a fellow that appreciated such things but still made his living with sweat on his brow and dirty on his hands.

Food was ready. We ate and read in silence, listening to the hustle and bustle behind the counter and radio playing. Sure enough our peaceful lunch was disrupted by a distinctive "raw raw raw raw raw". Lady fucking Gaga. Our eyes rolled simultaneously. The conversation was engaged as we both just wanted nothing more than to enjoy our food without having to here her. We discussed our appreciation for talk radio as the music that is played on the FM stations is either horribly tired or just plain horrible.

I know Lady Gaga is a virtuoso level pianist. I also know that Justin Bieber can bang the living hell out of a drum kit. I wish they'd both just cut the shit and make music. Real music. Joey Fatone of nSync was asked once if he liked the music he sang. He said "no". When asked why he sang it, he merely looked at the person asking him and replied "Do you know how much money they pay me to sing this garbage?"

I heard once that the music that's out there when you're 23 is your music. This may be true for when I get knocked down, I get up again. Ain't never gonna keep me down. I don't know. One of my favorite songs is from that year, but I don't know if that year defines my musical taste.

I pondered that as I finished my lunch. I then went a block over to Local Heroes. This marks the first time in a half dozen visits to that store that SCOTT PILGRIM VERSUS THE WORLD was not playing on the flat screen. I marveled at this for a moment, and commented as much the to manager. He asked my thoughts on Scott Pilgrim, and I told him I wasn't a fan of the comic. He asked about my thoughts on the movie. I told him I didn't feel like seeing a movie based on a comic I didn't like. He shrugged.

"Maybe you're just too old, man."

He didn't say it in a mean way. He just stated the fact that this entire thing was geared towards people who are younger than me. This was sobering. My time as a young Generation X bastard-at-large is over. I should probably accept that my notion of cool and quality stuff is not shared by these young up-and-comers. Its probably what my father had to deal with when listening to "my" music.

The problem with that is "my" music is awesome. My dad dug a lot of the tunes I liked. This crap coming out now is just that. We're lucky as hear if he hear anything decent on the radio.

Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber don't make music. They sell music. Maybe when they make enough cash they can buy their artistic integrity back. And Scott Pilgrim is the story of a moron who would be much more interesting if he spent the entire comic series gagged, tied to a chair, and hit in the face with bricks.

Yes, I am too old.

Too old to put up with this shabby shit that's barely passable entertainment that the drones want to call "art".

FUNNY BOOK FLICKS!!

Henry Cavill has been cast as Superman in the next Superman film. I don't know anything about guy. I can't think of anything that I've seen that he's been in. Christopher Nolan is still attached to this, so I'm not looking forward to this. Zack Snyder will be directing it, and I liked 300, and haven't cared to see anything else he's done.

The response to this news has been predictable to a degree. There's a bunch of people ticked off that Tom Welling isn't playing the role. SMALLVILLE has been around for quite a while and still has a very loyal fanbase. With the show in its last season many of them were hoping that movie would be a transition of sorts with Welling finally playing a fully realized Superman. Hope now of them were holding their breath. Best they can hope for is a made for TV flick. And really, why do these people want a big theater release. They'll probably all download off the internet anyways. That's why that SCOTT PILGRIM movie flopped so badly. The fanbase loved it, but they aren't going to shell out the cash to actually go see it.

Then there's the group that's upset that Superman isn't being played by an American actor. I'm wondering where this mob has been fermenting. I can imagine them sitting in their basements pondering:

"OK, Batman isn't being played by an American. Well, that's alright because Christian Bale is a good actor. Oh, Spider-man isn't being played by an American now. Well, that last movie was complete shit, and anything would be better than that. Wait. Superman isn't being played by an American? THIS TIME THEY'VE GONE TOO FAR!!!! TO THE INTERNETZ!!!

I have heard the point made that is would be like James Bond being played by an American. Who cares at this point? If Cavill can effect a good American accent, then have at it.

The one I thought was really funny was one comment I saw: "Why was a BLACK man cast as Superman. There's no reason why Superman couldn't be BLACK." Silly man. Of course Superman can't be black. Its a Christopher Nolan movie. We all know the only black guy allowed to play a prominent role in a Christopher Nolan movie is Morgan Freeman. Do you want Morgan Freeman to play Superman? Well, do ya?

Snark aside, yes the iconic superheroes are mainly white guys on parade. There absolutely needs to be more diversity in the genre, and there's been a lot of strides in that direction. Honestly, I really do want to a black guy to be cast as Superman. The meltdown on this on the internet would be absolutely epic.

Ah well. In the glut of superhero movies I can afford to be choosey. I wish this guy the best since this is his big break and all. Still, its a Nolan flick. So most likely, I'm out.

MUSIC!!

That's it for this time around today. Stoopid time loop. Where's Rip Hunter when you need him? See y'all Wednesday over and over and over and over again.

Nozz World Tour!

Yeah, that's right. Its Sunday, January 30, 2011, I'm ready for the zombie apocalypse, and this is The Side. All and all, I don't sweat a zombie apocalypse. The shambling dead don't scare me but I don't fear what I can outthink, outfight and outrun. The preparedness comes from the mountain of bagged leaves I amassed yesterday. It would make a convincing barricade.

Its like this every year. I make some decent headway in keeping the yard up. The weather turn and the leaves get ahead of me. I finally get back to dealing with the yard. I finally get all the leaves up, and by then they're getting ready to fall again.

I love my house, but its time for a getaway. Off we go!

NERDOM 'ROUND THE WORLD

I've seen a lot of kids who think they've got what it takes to be a manga artist and say they're going to someday move to Japan to pursue their dream. The majority of these kids can't draw worth a damn and have no clue about what it takes to make it as an artist there. I used to think it was just a fad appeal and that it would blow over. Made me wonder why kids like these weren't watching Disney or Pixar flicks flicks and saying they wanted to move down to Florida to work for them. Now I know. The level of nerdom in Japan overshadows the nerdom of Florida exponentially.



I think the kiddies think that Disney may have the Magic Kingdom, but Japan is the Magic Nation. They can sit and draw all the live long day and stay in a place like this.

I'm just thankful my young cousin Jacob hasn't fallen into this. He probably hasn't because he and his parents are all sane, rational people. Japan: seems like a lovely place to visit, but I wouldn't want to draw there.

WORLD AT LARGE

There's some crazy stuff going on around the world. Well, there usually is, but this could get really ugly. If you don't know that there's major protests going on in Egypt and that their government is on verge of a likely collapse then you really need to pay more attention. There's other protests popping up in Jordan and Libya. Egypt has killed the internet for its citizens because it was allowing them to get word out about what was happening and letting them organize to easily.



Egypt is a dictatorship. The people are sick of it and want reform. Obviously the dictator doesn't want that, so now we have protests that are getting very violent. Tunisia just had its government ousted and it looks like Egypt will follow suite.

But there's a problem. Assholes and bastards have taken notice and the potential for a power grab. The Muslim Brotherhood, who are dedicated Jihadists, have joined up with the protesters. This is bad because the Muslim Brotherhood has some organization and that alone can supply some stability if and when the current government collapses. This is bad. That's not even bringing into play the violence that has erupted, the artifacts in museums that have been destroyed, or the massive jailbreak.

America is in a tight spot because we know the current dictator is an asshole, but we also know that there's bigger assholes poised to seize power when he's gone. If we go in to try to help to make sure those assholes don't seize power we end up looking like imperialists who don't care about the Egyptian people.

This is why killing the internet is so dangerous right now. The people who were getting the world out don't know how many people here in America are pulling for them. Yes, there needs to be serious government reform there. No, we don't want a bunch of jihadist pricks taking over. I can do post after post, and tweet after tweet showing my support for the people who are living under a government they cannot tolerate. I truly hope for the best for the Egyptian people, because what's going on right now over there is going to have an impact over here.

We get our oil from that region, which is completely stupid, but the idiot hippies won't let us use our own resources and the government like to appease the idiot hippies. Energy is vital to the economy. Since we can't use our own, we're stuck having to deal with those who do have it, and these protests are going on right in the middle of things. So yes, we in America are affected by this. And don't start posting comment about alternative energy sources and driving your stupid electric cars. We are nowhere near ready to transfer over away from fossil fuel based energy resources. The technology isn't there.

But even that is down the road a bit. Right now there are people taking to the streets against a dictatorship and they don't know how many people around the world are sending them hopes, well wishes, and prayers.

Keep that in mind the next time you hear people talking about net neutrality and having a "kill switch" for the internet. Information is power. The Egyptian government took that power from its people this week.

MUSIC!!

While not a huge Joan Jett fan, this song is awesome. Easily as awesome as Megumi Fugii.



Thus completes our Sunday world tour. My continued hopes and prayers go out to the people of Egypt and I hope things turn out alright there. See y'all Wednesday.

GORRAM SPELUNKING WIENER DOG!!

Bah and Cripes! Its Friday, January 28, 2011, I'm sore as all get out, and this is The Side. I work a lot. This week had me amazing my way into the upper level of a hundred year old house. It was tricky getting up and once there I had to be careful as it seemed the last person to do so misstepped his way right through the dining room ceiling. Not much was found up there, but one thing I came across was a letter from a lawfirm discussing a bill to whoever had lived there and mentioning "tough economic times". I figured the letter must be pretty recent and them I found a date on it. "June 6, 1995." Man, if they only knew.

Fortunately, I'm working steadily which lead me to be crawling under a house for the better part of a day yesterday, which is why I very sore today. I hate crawling under houses. Its not so much claustrophobia as it is know what tends to be under houses. I know there were mice and probably rats under there at some point. I dread the thought of disturbing a snake under one. There's no where to go. Crawling past the vents and pipes is very slow going. So while I was re-pinning insulation and heard something right next to me and quickly turned to see two glowing green eyes staring back at me I was understandably not pleased. Home owner had a wiener dog. Wiener dog found my access hole. Wiener dog decided to see what was going on under the house.

Wiender dog is damned lucky I didn't brain him the flashlight when he barked at me.

COMIX!!

Let's start this party with ACTION COMICS #897. I'm officially sick of David Finch doing the voers on this series. Pete Woods is an outstanding artist. He has absolutely shined on this series. Finch can stay on his series BATMAN: THE DOUCHE KNIGHT and everyone will be happy. That gripe aside, this issue was outstanding. Lex has a meeting with The Joker in Arkham Asylum continueing on his quest. This Joker presents himself much like "Gravedigger Joker", clever, manipulative, and capable of appearing rational. The level of manipulation here is absolutely amazing. There's a game inside a game inside a game. Luthor has to play Joker's game to get what he wants. Joker knows there's a bigger game afoot. Everyone is playing their part, but the only one not in on things is Lex. Robo-Lois has gone from scene stealing sidekick to pivotal player in this entire affair. This entire run by Cornell has been amazing. If the payoff at the end of this arc is lives up to how good the rest of story has been this going to be one of handlings of Lex Luthor that all others will be compared by.

Over in TEEN TITANS #91 J.T. Krul and Nicola Scott are really putting together a great run. Krul isn't falling into the familiar "writing Teen Titans" crap stories. There is no villain from from the past. Raven isn't in danger nor the center of the story. This is a new villain and the Titans are in this fight up to their necks. Robin and Ravager have a great scene. Krul continues to make Kid Flash cool stuff. He manages to give the character's past a definite nod without lingering too long. Solid storytelling with a lot of great action balanced by good character work. I'm really looking forward to the crossover with RED ROBIN coming up.

Scott Snyder and Jock continue to shine over on DETECTIVE COMICS #873. This book is feeling a lot like the Detective Comics I grew up with. Detective was the first series I ever collected on a regular basis. The stories were very noir even with using the superhero genre. This is much the same but more updated. What really stuck out for me was the story taking a sudden seemingly fantastic turn turn and then there being a completely logical explanation for it. The only slip up was Barbara Gordon saying that they gave Dick a coagulant to stop the threat of a stroke. That would increase the threat, she should have said blood thinner. I forgive this only because the nightmare scene that immediately preceded it was just too gloriously creepy.

Taking it on over to ZATANNA #9. Paul Dini and Cliff Chiang continue their tale of a puppet gone bad, or has he. It seems the puppet has a different story, and claims he's the victim in all this. Not a terribly convincing story considering at the end of last issue he had Zatanna tied to a bed and had a large knife in his little wooden hand. Still, Zatanna is determined to find out the truth. This issue is split between this story and one from Zatanna's younger years by Adam Beechen and Jamal Igle which was really cute. It was like Sabrina the Teenage Witch if she was training to fight crime one day. This story resonates quite a bit with me as young Zee gets her braces and I remember well getting used to mine and being turned into a walking drool machine when trying to speak as I got used to them. I'm also not quite a sure Speak and Spells worked quite that way, but I'm willing to just go with it.

Holy Hadrons! ATOMICA #4 was a really weird turn for the series. Up until now things have been light-hearted, fun adventures. This issue's story, "The Return of Dr. Astray" had things take a sinister turn. The Doctor in question is Dr. Ted Astray whom we are are told is an old colleague of Dr. Colluns. We get a glimpse of the horrible lab accident in which he died in a flashback. Now he's back thanks to an interdimensional wormhole thingie and he attacks Doctor Colluns and Atomica. the nasty twist comes when Astray reveals that he's working for some interdimensional big bad and whatever it is has some connection to Rose. Fortunately instead of angsting over what this connection could possibly be, Rose serves up a buffet of her "Atomic Power Punches" and sends the undead Doctor packing. Very odd twist to the series, but I guess it could lead to answers about our mysterious heroine.

MUSIC!!

While not a huge Billy Joel fan, he has done some great stuff, and this song is really good.



That's it for today. Everyone have a good weekend. Stay out of trouble. Wear your seatbelts. All the stuff. See y'all Sunday.

Answers on the Internet (Ask Nozz Day #1)

Its Wednesday, January 26, 2011, I have a wedgie, and this is The Side. I love my nieces and I love the Batman underwear that they got me as a bit of a joke for Christmas, but the danged things don't fit quite right. Ah well.

I put out the call for questions, turning it over to you guys to let me know what you wanted me to address. Response was pretty much nonexistent, but a couple of people did have questions, so here we go.

ASK NOZZ!!

People have questions. I have answers.

jodie dragonfly - packed like a grand national winner?

The Grand Nation is a horse race in England. This joke comes from the British comedy THE BLACK ADDER GOES FORTH episode "Private Plane"



Yes, that is Rowan Atkinson, Hugh Laurie, and Stephan Fry all on the same TV show.

Rob Gordon - Q: Why is the link to Duck and Cover Studios broken.

My partner Chris maintained the site and had it set so that everything would renew automatically in with the company he paid for the domain name and such. Well, for some reason it got changed to not renew automatically, and we were so busy with trying to make ends meet with work, keeping food on the table, and roofs over our heads that the site expired and we didn't even see a notice to pay to keep it up. So it went poof and we didn't even know it because we weren't doing out weekly updates. Currently we're lying low with or comic ventures as we're needing to prioritize paying work.

WORLD AT LARGE

A lot is going on on the other side of the world. There was the recent overthrow of the government in Tunisia. Most recently there were massive protests in Egypt. One thing that it really key to those recent protests was the people's ability to use social media to organize. Social media, especially Facebook, takes it on the chin from me fairly regularly. This isn't one of those times.

Our government has its flaws certainly, but they allow us to speak our minds. If our representatives don't listen to us and abuse the power we allow them then they get voted out of office. Currently there's a lot of people feeling very disenfranchised by the government. They don't feel they're being listened to. That's why you have the Tea Party. They hold rallies and support candidates and ultimately they are about the people being heard by the government. Despite the lies spread about them they are a very diverse group of people, and they are very successful in getting their message out.

But that's America. We have the right to all get together peacefully and speak our minds. A lot of countries don't have that. So it really is amazing that there's these online social media sites that these people can access to get word out about their movements. The truth can get out without the spin that their governments or their media puts on things. Some of it is hard to watch. A few years ago someone caught a mob stoning woman to death and got a video out their their camera phone. Its a nasty slap of reality to know that things like that go on, and happens legally in some places.

I've seen social media used to try to tear people down. Cyber bullying, Everybody Draw Muhammad Day, and just about about every forum out there is going to have someone looking to just be a complete prick. But the internet is about more than that. Its information. It's giving people a global voice for which they can share their perspectives and points of view. Its allowing them to find people who share their concerns about the world and get organized to maybe make the world better.

The internet boils down to two things: information and freedom to spread it. Both things are important to remember. Egypt's government blocked access Twitter during the protests. Keep that in mind the next time you hear legislators talking about regulating the internet.

MUSIC!!

I do get kinda annoyed when I want to find a certain song, but all I can find is live versions. Still, sometimes its worth it to snag the live version.



Alright, time to go do something horrible. I would have done something horrible here like tell everyone who reads FANTASTIC FOUR that the Human Torch gets killed in today's issue, but the Associated press beat me to it.

Movies, Music, Mayhem... and Math?

Its Sunday, January 23, 2011, I'm scared of Natalie Portman, and this is The Side. Its cold outside, but onward we go. I've got my money in for the NWA's Superbowl pool. This years party should be a blast. I really don' care much about football, but there will be food there, so GO TEAM!

On to stuff.

BAT-FLICK COMETH!!

The next Batman movie from Christopher Nolan is getting all set to go. The big news this week is the villain casting. Anne Hathaway has been cast as Selina Kyle (better known as Catwoman), and Tom Hardy has been cast as Bane. I don't have any real problem with either actor in these roles, although despite having a large portion of my brain dedicated at all times to things Batman, I doubt I will go see the movie. I like BATMAN BEGINS. I loathed THE DARK KNIGHT. I am going to have get won over in a big way to go see this next movie.

Let's look at this news, starting with the casting of Bane. You could actually make a decent case for Nolan "white washing" the villains in his films. Ra's Al Ghul originally hails from the Arabian peninsula, yet in the movie he was played by Irishman Liam Neeson. Well, no one had a problem with that be cause its Liam Neeson and he's just awesome. Now we have Bane, who is from South America. Tom Hardy is British. Now, if this was years and more years ago I'd be on my high horse yelling about movies staying true to the comics and so on, but now I don't really care anymore. Its an adaption. Things are going to get changed. Fans should stop griping about the changes that are made and just be happy that they are getting a Batman movie and hope its enjoyable. But still, this is kind of weird in casting. They didn't cast a Hispanic or Latino for the role? Really? I'm not saying that Hardy won't do great in the role, but this is pretty weird.

But let's move on to Hathaway. She broke out onto the scene with those THE PRINCESS DIARIES movies. She's done quite a bit of work in various roles. She's quite pretty and has definite acting chops. The role of Selina Kyle is perfect for her and where she is in her career right now. If she does well in this role, and i have no doubt that she will, she'll have expanded her fanbase out even further and demonstrated how broad her range really is. Before Heath Ledger was cast as The Joker in the last bat-flick he was best known as a former teen heart throb and then as a gay cowboy. Then he creeped everyone right the hell out with his portrayal of The Joker. He demonstrated his range and if he were alive today he'd be considered one of the top actors working. This role could be what really cements Hathaway as a great actress, as weird as that may sound. She's tackled all these different genres so remarkably well. Now its time to conquer another.

DATE NIGHT WITH NOZZ!

Actually got to go out with the Missus without the kids. Hootie Nozz (who still hasn't become a cyborg) watched the little terrors and even sprung for our night out as a late Christmas gift. We got out the door a bit late to make dinner at the Winchester (no the actual name of the place, that's the Red Dog Pub, but its our Winchester) so we agreed on grabbing a bit at one of the restaurants in the mall where we were going to movies.

I'm in line for tickets while the Missus was ordering our food at Johnny Rocket's. Took a bit to get the tickets as even though it was Friday night there was only one person behind the ticket counter. Ordering for me is easy: bacon cheeseburger plain and cherry Coke. So I get the tickets and plant myself over at the restaurant. It was the waitress's first night.

The Cokes were not Cherry. But they got changed fairly quickly.

We were waiting for our burgers knowing that we had just enough time to eat and get over to the theater. Well the burgers come out with everything on them. So, those got taken back. We're down to five minutes until the movie starts. I hate being late for movies.

The burgers come out along with check, which was knocked down quite a bit in price to make up for the mix-ups, so I'm not complaining, but the movie was going to star in a minute. The manager brought us a couple of foil thing-a-ma-doodles to wrap them up in and into the Missus's purse they went.

Why do women carry large purses? For smuggling cheeseburgers.

The Missus headed into the theater to find us seats. I grabbed a soda from the concessions stand for us to share and spotted an old buddy from high school. So i was temporarily torn between saying "hi" to my old buddy or getting into the movie. Sorry Leigh.

We watched THE BLACK SWAN which was the best movie I've watched in a long time. Excellent film. Natalie Portman was incredible. The scary thing is that I actually managed to keep up with what was hallucinations and what wasn't. It legitimately creeped me right the hell out. If you're on the fence about seeing it, and really want your head knocked sideways, go. The closest thing I've seen to this is PERFECT BLUE, which I love. So, five stars from me.

There was a bit of a break for me as I was overcame by Cherry Coke and that seemed to overcome the urinal, and flooding ensued. Its not a date night without flooding.

POLITICAL MATH

Paul Krugman did an piece about the healthcare debate and the move to repeal it, and basically a bunch of one-sided claptrap that included this lovely chart.



Thank goodness it wasn't a piece about education because that might be really embarrassing. Math has shown that Mister Paul Krugman is not smarter than a 5th grader.

MUSIC!!

Pete Yorn covering the Buzzcocks. That sounds kinda dirty.



That's it for Sunday. Remember: "Ask Nozz Day" is Wednesday, so send me any questions you might have that you'd like me to answer. Hit me up here, my Buzz, my Twitter, or e-mail me at martynozz@yahoo.com See y'all then.

Funny Pheasant Page Plucking

As many as have that chicken! They shall not forget that they have a tentacle up their backside. Its Friday, January 21, 2011, I'm writing this entire week off, and this is The Side. There comes a time when you have to realize that making your week awesome and productive is just a lost cause, so you just have to "screw it" and endeavor to do better next time around. Which is pretty much the source of that opening couple of lines.

Back in good ol' Philosophy 101 I sat next to my pal, Beast. Beast and I lived together, bowled together, and narrowly managed to not fail classes together. While we were quite handy in many things, that class wasn't one of them. We did alright, and the professor was awesome, but sometimes we'd get those quizzes and did not have a clue was to what the answer might be. On one such occasion, Beast just said the hell with it. There was no turning in a blank paper here. If you were going to give a wrong answer, you might as go down in glorious flames. Hence the "As many as have that chicken." which if I remember correctly actually earned partial credit for pure entertainment value.

CONVERSATIONS WITH PEOPLE

I went into a 7-11 very hungry and thirsty. I grabbed a Snickers bar and tasty ginger ale. I approach the counter with no one in line eager to pay up so I can enjoy my snack. The woman at behind the counter turns to me and asks very insistently, "Have you ever plucked a chicken?"

This query demanded an answer not just due to the content, but for the fact that she barked this command at me giving the impression that if I did not immediately she would pelt me with a Toquito. So answer I did.

"I am not the pheasant plucker. I am the pheasant plucker's son. And I'll keep on plucking pheasants until the pheasant plucking's done."

She was noticeably taken aback by my response.

"Well, I don't know why you brought that up." She said with as much indignity as can be mustered by a moron.

"Lady, I just wanted to pay for my candy bar and tasty ginger ale, and you demanded to know if I ever plucked a chicken. Consider yourself lucky that's all I came back with. Now, can we get on with my purchase before I lose any more brain cells?"

I really wish there was another convenience store near that job.

COMIX!!

Let's go first with SUPERGIRL #60 which begins the run for Nick Spencer and James Peaty writing the book and Bernard Chang handling the art. I made the mistake of thinking it was Cliff Chang that was going to be handling the art. Whoops. I went in a bit put off because it was another event cover, and this one was done by Amy Reeder, whom I really like. But then I get into the book which has a new artist on it and I feel lied to by the first impression of the book. I'm really back and forth on the debate about having a different cover artist on a title as opposed to the person who actually did the art in the book. This one went in the con column. As for the art in the book, Bernard Chang is a perfectly serviceable artist, but I'm really, really, really missing Jamal Igle right now. However, the writing on this one is top notch. There's so much going on here. The Daily Planet staff continues to be an interesting part of the book. Supergirl gets in some serious trouble all thanks to a new baddie who is absolutely fascinating. While we had last week with RED ROBIN the notion of what sci-fi cyberspace was thought to be back in the 80s, here we have a villain who is firmly rooted in the current information age, with a solid knowledge of how it works and how to weaponize it. I've been very critical of online applications that allow users to give out information about other people. Here's exactly what I've warned of as applied to the DCU. There's some smart writing going on here, and while the art didn't really suit my taste, I'm fully on board with this story.

Over in TINY TITANS #36 Terra leads some friends on an expedition to the center of the Earth. This issue stands out as being the only time I know of that the entire comic was one story with no little side gag pages. Its good times and we get to see more Kid Devil and Hot Spot. I love Kid Devil in this book. The character got unceremoniously depowered and bumped off in the regular Teen Titans book, which sucks, but at least we got a cute version still doing fun stuff here. Art Baltazar and Franco know what works with this book and stick to it. Its light and fun with little nods to the main DCU continuity but without all the baggage that comes along with it.

MUSIC!!

Because I mentioned beast earlier, I had to throw in our theme song, which we spend many a time singing along with at the top of our lungs, much to the chagrin of everyone in Harrisonburg, VA.



Alright, we made to the foxtrot once again. Remember, next Wednesday is "Ask Nozz Day" so send me some questions to answer. Have a good one and I'll see y'all Sunday.

E-tardation

Whiskey day again. Its Wednesday, January 20, 2011, I'm still not sure how I got this far in the week, and this is The Side. Pretty much everything is a blur at this point. I'm not sure when I acquired the mental capacity of a tazered deer, but here we are. I've been working out, because I'm old and trying not to look it. Work has been weird. So I've hit one of those times when my days start running together.

I need jarring out of this. That's where you people come in.

Next Wednesday will be "Ask Nozz Day" where I'll be answering any questions I receive this week. So leave me a comment with whatever you want me to weigh in on and I'll try my best to give you a coherent answer.

TEH UNTERNET!!

Computers just weird me out sometimes. Probably because I can't use them worth a damn. I changed the template on here because the old one kept cropping the videos I'd put up and I could make it stop. My pal Joe suggested I look at the coding to see if there was a conflict between the HTML of the Youtube videos and the CSS coding used by the templates, which sounded like it would work great, much better than my cunning ploy of yelling "STOP CROPPING THE VIDEOS" at the monitor. The sad thing is I know its not the monitor's fault, and I feel bad for yelling at the monitor, but that's what's right in front of me so something's got to get yelled at. That and I would know conflicting code if Mike from Alpha Geek came over, found the code, showed it to me and said "that's the conflicting code".

But really it is all about code on here. All the fancy interfacing in the world means nothing if you don't have have proper coding. My Playstation controller doesn't change, but different games handle differently even with the exact same controller.

And this brings me to the latest storyline in RED ROBIN. The concept of the Unternet is that its an internet for eeeeevil people. But we see that its more like the new DC Universe Online game but it makes you eeeeeeviler. At least that's the theory as we don't know if the new DC game will actually make you eeeeevil and if it does, does it make you eeeeeviler than the Unternet. But interfacing this thing in the comic is kooky. People using it seem to fall into some sort of trance while they are in there. This brings us back to the Tron frame of thought that people can somehow enter a computer based world physically and/or mentally. Kinda irks me that we've come so far with computers since the original Tron movie came out, but this notion persists.

I'm looking at how things are set up now with social media. Someone can post something on Tumblr, which automatically reposts on Twitter, which automatically reposts on Google Buzz. That's just the tip of things. One post can infect multiple social media outlets and all the followers on each individual one could see it. And these posts swirl around the e-ether until they finally land on someone's Facebook page with is the final resting spot ultimately for all such things. This is due to Darkseid being defeated by Batman and Superman and in FINAL CRISIS and falling backwards in time again to Harvard university in which he lands in Mark Zuckerberg, which you can actually see in the deleted scenes of that "The Social Network" movie, but only on the DVD/Blu-Ray 3D combo pack after you access the downloadable content from online. Don't worry, it only sounds like the Anti-Life Equation.

MUSIC!!

Something a bit different as the song isn't really my style. Its "Don't" by Jesse Rubin which is a nice enough song. However the video is Allison Holker and Jakob Karr, and they are improving this entire thing. Behold, I give you art.



Alright, that's a wrap for today. As you can also see I changed the template for the blog. Let know what you think as well as sound off on your questions for "Ask Nozz Day".

You is dead to meh, Bobby Fresh!!

I love it when a plan comes together. Its Sunday, January 16, 2011, I watched The A-TEAM movie the other night, and this is The Side. The movie was great. For those who haven't seen it, the team is trying to recover stolen plates so that people can't print unbacked US currency since that could destroy the entire economy. Makes me wonder if they're going to take down the Federal Reserve in the sequel.

I got suckered and suckered hard in other news. Mike and Bob were discussing best sidekicks on their radio show with the new Green Hornet movie coming out this weekend. I'm driving down the road and the first one that popped into my head was Kid Flash because when I was a kid, if I was going to be a superhero sidekick, that's the one I wanted to be. So i call, and actually made it through and on the air. I give my answer for quality sidekick as Kid Flash, to which Bobby responded with a "Flash sucks" which is really a legitimate analysis considering the current writing and direction of the character, but in the heat of the moment I responded with a "Get bent" and descended into a squabble as to defending the character based, stupidly enough, on his power set as opposed to the character himself.

I am truly ashamed of my inner fanboydom, and for that shame coming out into the open, I blame Bobby Fresh. He is my Tully Blanchard.

So now I must redeem myself, so let's do this thing.

SIDEKICKS: THE TOP 10!!

The ones I dig and why they are awesome.

10: Tonto. The Lone Ranger was pretty cool to me as a kid and Tonto was awesome. He always had some special skill of trick up his sleeve.

9: Rusty the Boy Robot. "Comin' atcha!" The original graphic novel was weird stuff, but cartoon series was a hoot and half.

8: Little John. I've liked the character in almost every incarnation I've seen, especially the Phil Harris voiced bear. A big guy who is good with a staff? I want him on my team.

7: Kato. When you're martial arts kid growing up Bruce Lee is the man. Watching him as Kato on the old TV series was awesome.

6: Wonder Girl. The only reason that I don't rate her higher is that she doesn't work often enough with Wonder Woman. She's more of a hero in her own right, but still kind off maintains a sidekick status.

5: Robin (Dick Greyson) There's no denying how awesome Dick Greyson is. He was the first of the superhero sidekicks. Its almost impossible to think about Batman without having Robin to back him up.

4: The Squire. Beryl Hutchinson rules. She is a lot of fun with a ton of heart. Comics are markedly better whenever and wherever she turns up.

3: Robin (Tim Drake). Rating him over Dick? That's right. He did complement Batman better with his computer skills. A solid detective in his own right he was also very dangerous in a fight.

2: Kid Flash (Wally West). Ah yes, the character that was at the root of the argument. Wally was the first sidekick to fully take on the role of his mentor. We watched him grow into the role as well. His back story as Kid Flash was a tale of faith being rewarded. He'll always be my favorite superhero sidekick.

But wait, that was only the number 2 position! What about the number 1 spot? That's right, its occupied by a classic character who doesn't need spandex to stop crime.

1: Doctor John Watson. This Afghan War veteran was always ready to aid Sherlock Holmes when the goings got rough. An able bodied student of Holmes's method, he had no problem jumping into the thick of things to help solve a case.

MUSIC!!

Bobby Fresh likes Lady Gaga, so in honor of that, I won't be playing any Lady Gaga. Ever.



So TAKE THAT, Bobby Fresh! I know you'll lose sleep over this scathing post and my refusal to ever put Lady Gaga music on here! Vengeance is mine! And with that, I'll be listening to him again on Monday on 96X, and seeing him at Comic Kings at their new location soon. As for the rest of you, see y'all Wednesday.

Unwinding with Nozz

Gooooooz fra ba! Its Friday, January 14, 2011, I'm decompressing, and this is The Side. You might be saying, "But Uncy Nozz, what about that horrible old bastard we all know who is currently pissed off at the world?" He's still here, but in a better mood. The general public has come to grips with the fact that last weeks shooting was the horrible act of one disturbed guy despite attempts to make it look like the fault of conservatives. It makes me feel better about people and the internet. The spin didn't work because of what this nutter had put online, and people who knew this guy backed it. Often the truth loses to the spin, but not this time.

There's been other things making me feel better too.

MY TOWN IS AWESOME

A little girl's microphone cut out while she was singing the National Anthem at a local hockey game. Potentially very embarrassing for her. Fortunately, we know our anthem well in this town.

COMIX!!

This has been a confusing week for many. The DC Covers look great, but they are making it a bit tricky to get books pulled. Still, I think i got about everything.

Let's lead off with BATGIRL #17. This book has really hit its stride and is a lot of fun to read. Sheph teams up with Damien, the kids we all hate and love to hate, to stop some kidnappers. There's a long history of Batgirls and Robins teaming up, but this is certainly a new dynamic. They can barely tolerate each other, but they work so well together. This is a great little stand alone issue, so if you're someone who digs current Batman stuffs, but haven't given this title a shot, grab it and say Damien made you do it. You can thank the pair of us later.

Sticking in the Bat-zone for now, we've got BATMAN AND ROBIN #19 and while this is a really solid story from Paul Cornell it has gotten a lot less fun with each issue. A lot is made of the impact Bruce Wayne has made in the lives of those around him and that impact is considered questionable. There's a nice twist on the character of Absence as she proves to be a lot more interesting than your typical Gotham nutter. What I don't like is how behind the eightball Dick and Damien seem to be the entirety of the story. It seems like they've spent the majority of this story being held hostage. Similarly Cornell's KNIGHT AND SQUIRE #4 was also a lot less fun than previously. That Shrike kid really rubbed me the wrong way to the point that I couldn't enjoy this comic and all the stuff going on with Cyril dealing with his armor and his past for the fact that I really hate that kid. Why he didn't get his ass kicked after his outburst is beyond me.

RED ROBIN #19 is a bit weird. For a while we've known about something called the "Unternet". Morrison introduced the idea in FINAL CRISIS as an evil internet that super villains use. Tim Drake has been looking to bust it up, but we finally see what the Unternet actually is and it seems to be DC's new online game if the villains all won. Their consciousnesses all plug into it and it somehow makes you more evil. Not what I was expecting, and pretty weird but despite it being an off kilter concept Fabian Nicieza navigates us through it pretty painlessly. Its not a bad concept, and I can see it getting used in interesting ways later in this and other series.

BIRDS OF PREY #8 continues the "Death of Oracle" storyline, but surprisingly we haven't found her back at the dawn of time yet. Ah well. The Calculator is looking to do away with oracle once and for all... again. We have a big fight in strip club. Batman is there, but doesn't steal the book, which is nice. This story seems to be setting the stage for the role oracle and the Birds will be playing with the Batman Incorporated storyline. That's not me saying that you have to pick up this book to keep up with what's going on with the bat-titles. Franky, you should be picking up this book because Gail Simone kicks ass on it.

Speaking of Gail Simone, SECRET SIX #29 wraps up the crossover from ACTION COMICS in which everybody dies horribly in an explosion. Or at least Ragdoll hopes everybody dies horribly in an explosion. Glad to see that Robo-Lois can take a lickin' and keep on tickin'. That sounds dirtier than it actually is considering Lex's relationship with Robo-Lois. It seemed at the beginning of this book that the Six were taking a bit of a backseat in their own book as the Lex Luthor/Vandal Savage feud continued, but by the end of it our favorite dysfunctional villains are back at center stage as we learn more about Scandal's relationship with her father.

R.E.B.E.L.S. #24 is a build up issue. We get a bit of quality time with Adam Strange at home with his family. Vril Dox has a date with Blackfire. Captain Comet is ticked that Starfire is using him for sex because he's really likes her. But before you write this issue off as skippable Starro the Conqueror is back and looking to regain his previous power. Tall order when your first target is Lobo. I've said repeatedly that this title is rock solid and really should be getting more reader-love. This issue is a solid jump on point, so if you haven't checked it out yet and dig space heroes doing space hero-y things check it.

Wrapping things up with WONDER GIRL #1 FROM J.T. Krul and Adriana Melo. I've been a fan of the character since her days in YOUNG JUSTICE. Krul is looking to give the TEEN TITANS book a boost and this issue put a nice spotlight and Cassie as well as features new hero Solstice. They're up against Lady Zand who I haven't seen in a book for quite a while, but really doesn't like Wonder Girl. They do have a history going all the way back to YOUNG JUSTICE so its nice to see the nod to that great title. It also sets Lady Zand up as Wonder Girl villain which she's been lacking a bit in the rogues department so that's cool. I wasn't terribly sure about how the relatioship between Cassie and her mother was depicted, but we haven't seen much of her mother in quite a while and with everything Cassie has been going through its almost seemed like her mother as a forgotten character. Fortunately, she's back and her reaction to the life that her daughter has chosen for herself comes across believably. So, high marks from me on this book.

MUSIC!!

Some bands suck live. Fortunately Jimmy Eat World isn't one of them.



On to the weekend where fun and adventure are waiting. No really. It is. See y'all Sunday.

The Cape Versus Al Bundy!!

Where's my remote! It's Wednesday, January 12, 2010, I've been watching a lot of TV again, and this is The Side. It's been nice to zone out on with the tube with all the stuff going on in the world. The events surrounding Arizona shooting is going as expected. Fortunately Congresswoman Giffords continues to improve. More stuff keeps coming out showing the shooter Jared Loughner is crazier than fuck all. And then there's the complete assholes wanting to use this as a political hammer to bash Sarah Palin, the Tea Party, and basically anyone who ever had a conservative thought in their head, all the while telling them that they need to tone down their rhetoric.

They've gotten around to the "we need more gun laws" bit. Took all of two hours. Loughner got his gun legally. How could he do that if he was obviously a raving nutball? Don't they do background checks? Of course they do. The problem was this guy had nothing in his background officially to send up a red flag. It sucks, but the answer is catching these guys early. When it seems like someone's off kilter those around him should be contacting authorities instead of just waiting and hoping not to be around when he finally snaps.

Some people think the answer is just make it so nobody has guns, but then only the criminals would. I don't personally own a gun, but I'm all for gun rights. Because sooner or later that zombie apocalypse is gonna hit, and its going to be those pesky hippies that go first. All their pompous tree hugging peacenik crap don't mean squat when the shambling dead are looking to get their nom noms on. Me and the rest of the NWA will be over at HQ, well armed and well stocked with beer.

TELEVISION

Digital television is still lame in comparison to the old analog signal, but to make up for that my television continues to grow new stations at random. Its very weird because there's channels that sometimes come in, but often go to a weird gray screen and lock up the TV for a few moments. Recently its grown a "Live Well" channel which I haven't found much of interest on, but it looks like there's some health shows on. The other new addition is "Antenna TV", and its awesome.

Essentually its a poor man's TV Land showing old TV shows. That including MARRIED WITH CHILDREN every weeknight. Its amazing seeing Ed O'Neil in the show's first season from 1987, especially since he's still doing very well now. There's phones with chords. Oprah is still there, but I'm not sure if its skinny or fat Oprah. David Faustino is just a kid. Christina Applegate isn't quite a full fledged babe yet. And yes, the show is still hilarious.

I did check out a show that I knew about but never watched: Maude. Yep, Deadpool's fixation in all her glory. The episode I caught was just crazy. A guy was choking and the solution from a character who I assume is supposed to know something about medicine quickly instructs another character to get a slice of bread and has the choking victim eat it. That somehow saved him! Bread is magic! And at the crux of the story was an unplanned and unwanted pregnancy in which a young, wise-beyond-her-year character let us know that an abortion is a wonderful, empowering thing. That was pretty stunning. The glowing praise for an abortion. I think I've seen all I need of Maude.

And on the weekend they show the boys. Moe, Larry, Curly, and on occasion Shemp. The Missus before last weekend had never watched The Three Stooges. She's got a weird bias against black and white TV and movies. I'm working on that, and this was a huge step because she loved the Three Stooges.

However she was less than thrilled with our daughter walking around the house saying "Nyuk nyuk nyuk."

NEW SHOW: THE CAPE!!

NBC has rolled out its newest show, THE CAPE. Its about a policeman who is framed for crimes he didn't commit and is thought to have been killed, but is really working to getting his life back and stop those who framed him. To do this he become a mysterious superhero to hide his identity and keep his family safe. Its a fun show, as long as you don't take it too seriously. The special effects are nice. The acting is earnest to the point of almost being campy. Its unapologizing in how weird and far-fetched it is. Its one of those shows that if your are going to enjoy then you're just going to have to go with.

The emotional center of the show is the relationship between our hero Vince Faraday and his son Trip. I felt genuinely bad for the kid. Vince's entire motivation isn't so much revenge as his desire to get his life back so he can be with his wife and son again. The writers aren't overly heavy-handed about it, which is good as this show is meant to be fun.

The weirdness is in the details. The villain is a Lex Luthor type who runs a giant company and has privatized the police force. He also sets himself up with a super villain alter ego known as "Chess". The other villains we meet, Scales and Kain, and similarly over the top. Vince gets is training to be the Cape from bank robbers who who are carnies. His fight training comes at the hands of a really ornery midget, who I like because midgets kicking ass is surprisingly awesome. Vince learns the tricks and techniques of magic and escape artistry surprisingly quick. Then there's the Oracle proxy known as Orwell played by Summer Glau who has made the transition from cute teenager to hottie. All these oddball twists we're expected to buy into wholesale, and its pretty painless to do.

I think the main thing going for this show is our hero is ultimately pretty relate-able. He's a family man going to extraordinary means to get his family back. He gets his butt handed to him quite a bit. They showed two episodes back to back the other night and poor Vince got pretty banged up in both.

Bottom line is the show is alright. Its fun. The fight scenes could use a bit of work from my perspective, but I like to get good looks at technique. So I can say give it a look. I'll likely be following this for a while.

MUSIC!!

This tune was playing when I dropped into Local Heroes the other day.



Rat-a-tat-tat, we're done just like that! See y'all on the Foxtrot!

Reconsidering Lara Croft

It's Sunday, January 9, 2011, there's something sour in the air, and this is The Side. Up until yesterday afternoon this post was going to be positive, light and have nothing to do with Batman. This being a nice change of pace. Well, it still has nothing to do with Batman, but after yesterday afternoon it certainly isn't light.

POLITICS

Yesterday, a lot of things got really out of hand. A 22 year old opened fire at Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords shooting her through the head and killing five others including a federal judge and a child. Currently there's a lot of people really upset with the government of this country, but this obviously is a horrible act by a very disturbed person. I followed this story quite a bit, but I did make the mistake of drifting down and reading the comments section on of the story on Yahoo. If you are ever feeling suicidal and need that extra push to take the next step in ending your own life, you really should read the comments section of anything remotely political on Yahoo. It makes it very easy to give up all hope for humanity .

Nearly immediately Sarah Palin and the Tea Party were blamed due to a graphic listing districts where the group hopes to get different people in elected positions and it uses gun target graphics to illustrate the areas. This is not the first time anyone has used such graphic in illustrations obviously, but still the image was taken down because considering the events of yesterday it was in poor taste to leave it up. Of course many didn't even need to know about the graphic to blame Palin and the tea party since they blame nearly anything that goes wrong in the country on them anyways.

Something horrible happens, including the death of a child, and people still divide up on political lines ready to fight the other side. Its amazing what assholes people have become. I understand that people are upset and angry and they want a target for that anger. I did a bit a digging. Congresswoman Giffords is an admitted Blue Dog Democrat, meaning she's not very liberal. She recently voted against Nancy Pelosi. Then some other little bits popped up about the shooter. This guy is completely off his rocker. Seems he's been like this for a long time having weird outbursts in high school, posting nutty stuff online, getting rejected by the military, and leaving college. He listed "Mein Kampf" and "The Communist Manifesto" among his favorite books. An acquaintance of his describes him as very liberal. That doesn't add up because why would a liberal try to murder a Democratic Congresswoman.

The answer is very simple: he's got serious mental problems. He's not a Republican, a Democrat, a Conservative, or a Liberal. He someone who really needed to be under the care of doctors.

Will this horrible event spur people on to try to be more civil in the exchange of political ideas and maybe try to tone the venom out there down? Probably not. This isn't the fault of anyone except the shooter, but with someone with the mental problems he obviously has in an environment as abrasive as the political theater in Arizona its no surprise someone snapped and tried to murder a government official.

Bottom line: that guy is an asshole who'll be locked away thank goodness. Everyone out there turning this into an excuse to wave your napalm and pitchforks at the other side of the political aisle, screw you. You're part of the problem.

MODEL CITIZEN!!

For pretty much anybody over the age of eight who has even heard of video games, you've probably heard of Lara Croft, the star of the TOMB RAIDER series of games. The franchise is quite successful and have spawned a couple of movies starring Angelina Jolie. The character of Lara Croft is basically popular for two things, well really four things, two pistols and two giant boobs. Croft's bust size is what most people remember from the franchise. It was to the point that in the movies they actually used CGI to enhance the size of Jolie's breasts thus making a scene where she is running look like there were two strange, round life forms struggling to free themselves from the confines of her shirt. Yes, I have seen both of the movies, mainly due to the Missus being a fan of Angelina Jolie when she's going about the business of kicking people about the ass region. I do think I have one of the video games.

Hang on, let me check.

Sure enough! TOMB RAIDER III for the Playstation. I'm not sure how this got into the house or why. I vaguely remember playing this for about half an hour, maybe and then never touching it again. How did this get into the house? It's a used copy. I know I didn't buy it. OK, this is weird. Moving on.

Here's some big news, Lara Croft is getting a make over. This is an effort to transform her from a two-dimensional game hero to an actual character. The visual look has been revamped. Here proportions are less back straining. She's still depicted as beautiful, but not as an over-the-top sex symbol. The developers are rebooting the series as into what they are calling survival-adventure. The familiar elements of the previous games are there, but they say that they want this character to look a bit more vulnerable. If some rough stuff happens in the game, she will get messed up a bit and dirty.

My friend Michael when discussing the way Greg Rucka writes women said they are allowed to get beaten up, because they will get up, dust themselves off and then hand you your ass. It looks like that mindset is what was in mind with this reboot. Lara croft has never been depicted as dainty or needing to be rescued. However, unless you died in the game you never saw her hurt. You never got to see her strength of character because it never really got tested. Looks like that's going to change.

I've discussed before good feminism versus bad feminism. Bad feminism puts down or demonizes men, places women on a pedestal based solely on gender, and only serves as a wedge driven right into the divide between the sexes. Good feminism embraces women as capable and yet still feminine. Characters like Wonder Woman or Buffy Summers are beautiful, intelligent and just a capable as any guy without making a point of it. Its just accepted that they can handle whatever situation they find themselves in, so when they do need help, its not some damsel in distress situation. They do what they do without having to put a man down to do it.

If you had asked me a month ago if I would put Lara Croft in the same category as Wonder Woman or Buffy Summers, I probably would have laughed. Now the jury is officially out. This new step in the franchise is set to make us seriously reconsider the character, and its a step in a very good direction. Whether it succeeds or not, the game developers have realized that there has to be more to great heroine than looking tough and having a great set of bombs. There's actually being tough, being able to actually connect with players on an emotional level above 'horndog', and still being beautiful.

MUSIC!!

Coo coo ca-choo.


That wraps things up for today. Got another Buzz Tourney starting today so if you're interested you can hit the link on the sidebar. Stay safe and see you on Wednesday.

Mister Wayne signs my checks.

HACK! Its Friday, January 7, 2011, my sinuses are out to get me, and this is The Side. I've pretty much only managed to get through the week by alternately dosing myself with NyQuil and DayQuil. It works, but between six and seven in the morning when I'm usually online I'm a coughing, hacking mess. Ah well, welcome to winter.

There's no comic reviews today because there were no comics waiting for me at the shop. It was a pretty light week all the way around, but nothing I follow came out, so my pull bag was empty. This of course left me with the option of reading something new, but instead I opted to save my money for other things.

I did visit a different comic shop besides Comic Kings because I found myself in the area. I had missed last month's issue of TEEN TITANS and was hoping to find a copy. I did indeed find it, in a bag with a sticker pricing it $9.95. I asked the guy working there what was up with that.

"Well, those are my last few copies."

"Yeah, but this comic came out last month."

"But, that's the alternate cover."

"This isn't 1991. Anyone paying that for a single issue that's a month old is a moron." And then I left remembering why I don't shop there. So, no comics for me this week.

Also, Batman Incorporated has announced its new Employee of the Month. I didn't make the cut this time around, but was pleased to see that the title went to Richard this time around for his stellar work here.

NEW BAT ORDER!!

Its no secret that I love the direction Grant Morrison has taken Batman and the new title BATMAN INCORPORATED. I do think its awesome that he comes off of a story that deals with really well done character exploration and development that generated an amazing amount of discussion among fans, and is following it up with another story that is generating buzz and fan response. The response this time is interesting in that there has been a bit of debate as to what is Bruce Wayne mirroring with his new initiative: big government or big corporate. So let's look at the thoughts of how Batman Incorporated works.

This is not Bruce Wayne governing anything. This is all business. In this case, it is the business of fighting crime. Businesses offer services to consumers, and that is their service, crime fighting. Consumers don't pay with money, instead their show of support is enough. Bruce is using the tools of business to further this project.

Branding is chief among these. He is putting forth the idea of Batman as an intellectual property. He doesn't have billboards. Instead he has Bat-signals shining in the clouds. This puts the thought of Batman into the minds of the people. It works in growing support from people and hopefully making them feel safer. It also functions to put criminals on notice. Batman may not always being doing business, but he's always open.

He is also using franchising. Bruce is personally headhunting talented assets who already have a firm foothold in their local markets and offering them a satellite franchise of the larger Batman Inc. The local assets of course have the right to refuse, but Wayne is offering them funding, training, and equipment that can improve the business of crime fighting. You can't buy or bully your way into Batman Inc. You have to be selected. You have to follow the company's specific rules.


This brings us to the current controversy concerning the French asset for Batman Inc.: Nightrunner. I completely skipped the issues in which the character was introduced because they were written by David Hine, and the last thing by Hine that I read was that awful story with the impostor Jokers and Batmen. He's not a very bad writer, but given the choice between reading something of his or something else, I'll likely go elsewhere. Now with the controversy I'm looking to grab those issues.

The controversy in question stems from the character of Nightrunner being a French-Algerian Muslim. This is a minority in France that is responsible for a lot of the crime going on there now. I'm not saying all the French-Algerian Muslims are criminals, but there's some nasty shit going on over there now. The protests have been dismissed as conservative hate speech, which is stupid, because all conservative don't believe what the protesters believe. Having a character from this background being chosen to be the local representative of Batman Inc. is important. One of the criticisms Muslims face is they're reluctance to denounce the deplorable actions of other Muslims. The Muslims who aren't completely nuts do in fact denounce the crazy ones, but you never see this covered in the mainstream media. There's often cases of intimidation involved. If you're part of a community and members of that community are doing something that is wrong its hard to be that voice saying "Hey, I know these people are our family and friends, but they shouldn't be doing what they're doing". So here we have a character that is from this community and is standing up against what is going on. If done properly this character could be the source of inspiration to draw that line in the sand. I don't defend assholes like Fred Phelps just because I'm a Christian and he claims to be one. Decent Muslim folk do need to all denounce those who are doing horrible things in the name of their religion. Will this character inspire such a thing? Unfortunately, I doubt it.

Tactically speaking, its a good idea to have someone from that community who has been properly vetted working for Batman Inc. He'll know the people, the lay of the land, and have an idea as to how things tend to operate when stuff goes nasty. Protesters claim that Nightrunner is an "outsider", but really he's an insider working to stop the violence.

Bringing Nightrunner under the Batman brand is a definite risk. However, risks can bring rewards. So we will have to wait and see if this is good business.

MUSIC!!

Morrison is taking time off from writing comics to kill bands. Paramour is next.



That's the ball game for today. See y'all Sunday.

The World According to Nozz

Open wide and say "ah". Its Wednesday, January 4, 2011, I got the date right on the first try, and this is The Side. Last year saw the exponential growth of the amount of people who follow this blog. Rest assured I value every page view, even the ones that just show up for a the pictures of Pocoyo.

That's honestly the main reason most people come here. I checked.

But, with such a wide array of people here from so many backgrounds I find that really I have to be careful. Its risky enough putting things online that family or potential employers could see. The internet is a wonderful place for sharing ideas, but it can leave a person very open and exposed. Generally online its pretty much safe to stick to the same rules as having a polite conversation so that you don't offend anybody.

So with that in mind, hide the kids and grab your ankles. Its time to light this candle.

RELIGION!!

I sit in an odd seat. I was raised believing in God. Went to church regularly. I am a Christian, albeit not a terribly good one because I swear a lot and enjoy doing horrible things. I'm also a hard science guy. While my skills at crunching numbers, memorizing theorems, and running equations have atrophied quite a bit, I still try to keep up a bit. So here I sit in a lonely spot of a guy who has made studies into the universe and its origins and how the work around me works and functions, and a firm belief in a divine creator. Typically, its not a problem, but it sticks me in a nasty position on Creationism versus Evolution.

Creationism just doesn't add up. That's just population wise. I'm not even getting into the kooky stuff about where blacks and asians supposedly come from or that dinosaurs are some conspiracy myth. Most Christians and Creationists don't subscribe to that garbage. The biggest bone of contention seems to be if God made us in his image then there's no need for us to evolve, that and the whole monkey thing.

Scientists don't believe we evolved from monkeys. It was a whole other species that happened to have a little in common with monkeys. Any creationist who does believe that scientists believe we evolved from monkeys really should have stayed awake in class.

But that bigger bone of contention is one that I'm baffled is even a problem. If God made us in him image then why do we all look different? Its a body. Its the most amazing bio-mechanical machine on the plant. Work it hard, and it becomes stronger. It repairs damage to itself. It can be trained to do amazing things. However, our bodies are not who we are. What is more important than the body? The mind and soul.

Here's a thought. God did indeed create us in his image, and it was the important stuff that he replicated. It was the ability to think and feel. It was the flame inside all of us that is our selves. He took that in put it in a machine that could house it and allow it to thrive. This machine has many different aspects, but it is one thing above all others: adaptable.

Its not God versus Science. Science is our way of understanding the miracle. The more I learn from science the more amazing I think God's creations are.

And for any militant atheitists who read this and start thinking "HA, I knew Chrisitians were all stupid", shaddup, you douchey pricks. Unlike you assholes who just got done with your annual fuming and bitching every time you see a Christmas tree, I'm not out to attempt to crush anyone's spiritual journey. I'm hoping to give them a different perspective.

Behold: Theologian Nozz! You are free to throw Bibles at me now.

POLITICS!!

Political leanings are pretty flat. You lean one way or another depending points of view on various topics. And its easy when you have something that's measured on a flat scale to confuse the two sides, those being liberal and conservative, with good and evil. It reality these things aren't good or evil. They're merely points of view, and both of which have their place.

Conservatives (the real ones, not the ones who spend buckets of money) should be running things with the regular business of the country. The federal government is there to do what regular citizens can't, like pave roads, protect our borders, and maintain our military. They typically like to keep taxes low and create an economic environment in which individuals can succeed and thrive. We've had the federal government overstep its bounds to the point that people are expecting the government to take care of them. This isn't good for anybody, as we can see by the state of things now.

Liberals do have their place. They are very good about whining about things. We need them around. They can't run much of anything bigger than a soup kitchen effectively, but they do draw attention to social problems and concerns that we should be aware of. The problem is while they're great for drawing interest and awareness to issues that do warrant it is good, their methods of addressing these things tends to be bad. Throwing money at problems doesn't really help in the long run. You can't find a problem and expect it to get fixed just because you turn it over to the government and think they'll have the funds and power to handle it.

Really, we should have conservatives running the day to day business of the country, and keeping an objective ear open to the liberals. When they whine about whatever cause they have that week it should be discussed and if necessary addressed. There's plenty of things that people can handle themselves without the federal government stepping in.

Let's take the environment for example. The environment is important. However, all the fret and worry about the climate and the global warming nutters aren't. Is this a problem that's going to fixed by the government? Nope. What they can do is apply more ecologically friendly business practices in their own day to day running. They can also do things like offer tax incentives to companies that explore cleaner energy options. If you make it advantageous for people to do something they will usually do it. That and it might actually do some good, because those moron hippies buying Priuses to save the planet is a freaking qualification to ride a short bus if I ever saw one.

Its pretty easy. Government has its place, and it should stay in its place. The country wasn't made great by the government. It was made great by the people. However people can tear a government and a country down. That tends to happen when they figure they can vote for free stuff for themselves. There were a lot of people out there that voted for our Pop Star-in-Chief, because they thought he was going to provide for them. Look how that turned out.

I am The Nozz, and I approved that message.

TO INFINITY AND BEYOND!!

As far as space sci-fi goes, Joss Whedon got it right. You know what you don't see in FIREFLY or the movie SERENITY? Aliens. Its just us. Humans. Going out to explore and settle the universe. There's no advanced alien civilization helping us along. There's no one out there waiting for us. There's something called Fermi's Paradox which put bluntly is if there's all this room out there in space and there must be intelligent life out there somewhere, then where the hell are they?

Let's look at the factors involved in there being intelligent life out in the universe. The need a planet capable of sustaining life of some sort. That's tough enough. On top of that you need enough time for that life form to develop that skills and technology necessary to space travel. That's a big toughie. Earth has already had at least one extinction event. One of the main reasons we don't have more it we've got the gas giant planets in the right spots to catch a good chunk of the nasty planet killers flying around out there.

So you can have an alien civilization on the verge of getting something good going. They may have developed tool, simple machines, domesticated animals, and gotten a good handle on agriculture then WHAM an asteroid hits the planet and wipes everything out. Its not like this process takes place in a matter of years. It takes millennia.



We can't look to the skies and wait for beings to usher us into an age of space travel. They aren't going to show us the stars. There's a pretty good chance that they're out there looking to the skies as well and waiting on us. You see, its not that I don't think that there's life out there on other planets. I just think that we're better than them.

Space Nozz is coming to find the blue women before Captain Kirk bangs them all.

MUSIC!!

I pondered what song would be fitting with my post, and it didn't take a whole lot of pondering.



That's it for today. If I haven't offended you all horribly with this, come on back Friday. I'll be sure to try harder.