The comments, reviews and rantings are for entertainment only. If you are offended then someone else is getting entertained. Welcome to the internet. Have at it. This is where I sound off on what I read in comics this week, and occasionally ramble about other things.
I got a homework assingment from Lee Foster over on 96X: listen to this song and tell him what I think.
96X is the local alternative rock station. I like that song. Its very good, but does it belong on an alternative station? 96X is very much the radion station for me as right when I was coming on age this station challenged my ideas of rock and roll. Seattlle had just exploded and you had Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Pearl Jam blasting like anthems for us Gen-Xers. There were other bands like Hole and Sponge that caught my attention. The station changed as the genre changed. Ska came into vogue. Weezer kicked off a whole new wave of nerd rock. Alternative music has changed a lot over the years, but now we're looking at something that doesn't quite fit the mold. Alternative Country music. They played a track today on there "4:20 Buzz" that's along the same line.
Alternative rock came about when we looked at what was being sold to us as "our music" that was supposed to be youthful and fun and said "bullshit, this isn't us." It was pop garbage, and carefully constructed images and dudes in spandex wearing girly make-up with bug teased hair which was supposed to be what drove girls wild. We didn't care. We didn't want that. We tuned into the radio because that's where the weird, interesting music was. Music that was different than the recycled crap that was played over and over agian n the rock stations. We wanted different and alternative music gave it to us.
Now we're a couple decades down the road and another genre has turned to pop garbage: country music. Let me get this straight, we went from Hank Williams and Lorreta Lynn, to Travis Tritt and Reba McEntire, to Scotty McCreery and Tayler Swift? How the hell did that happen? So we have an uptick in what is known as Americana. Bands like the Avett Brothers, and Old Crow Medicine Show which utterly forsake the pop route in favor of soulful, poerful music that resonates. Lee told me yesterday, "There are people who love the Avett Brothers and people who just like the Avett Brothers, but nobody hates them." People are resonding to this music just like the Gen-Xers responded to the Seattle sound. They don't like what they are being told is country music so they're going with the alternative. This brings us back to our main thought, if Americana is alternative country music, shouldn't it be played on an "alternative" station even if that station made its bones in alternative rock? 96X seems to be a station in flux. Has been ever since they cut loose the Mike and Bob Show. They have to decide where they go from there. Do they want to fully embrace this alternative idea? At the very least, could they bring back "The Punk Show" on Sunday nights?
Allow me to share the mountain of self-importance that I currently possess. The local alternative station 96X does a little feature on weekdays, "The 4:20 Buzz", in which they feature new music and listeners respond if they want it in rotation or not. I drive a lot. I don't have a working CD player or any other music player in the car. Its radio or nothing so I have a definite interest in there being good music on the radio. I started calling in to vote, and honestly I did not think my one vote would matter all that much. The fellow that takes the calls, James Steele, took an interest in me after a referred to one song as "freaky strip club music". Things progressed from me just calling and spouting off about the song of the day to the two of us chatting about music, radio, the alternative format and everything. The station is 20 years old this year and I remember fondly being a college kid and having this station blow my mind. Last Tuesday I asked "Hey, why aren't you guys playing "Beast" by Nico Vega?" Most of you probably know this song from the BIOSHOCK INFINITE trailer. That song is freaking perfect for the format on the X and I didn't just want to push it because it was a song I liked, but because I really thought it would do well on the station. I mentioned it, and James made a note of it. I did figure that the note would get shuffled off, because this guy is busy and gets bombarded with "play this song blah blah blah..." all the time. Thursday night I get a message from him on Twitter. He listened to the song. Friday I get in the car to drive home. One song was ending on the X and sure enough the very next song was "Beast". I played it at horribly inappropriate volume, windows down, and head banging. I called James. He had gotten a message from the indy rep a while back about that song. I got him to listen. He contacted the rep and got an awesome version for the radio. Starts out slow and bit folk-sy and then kicks your teeth in. Even got a Tweet from Nico Vega. ":) xo nv" Sometimes, really cool stuff can happen when you just open your mouth.
Bangalottaguys? Its Sunday, April 17, 2011, I'm pretty damn pissed off, and this is the Side. Why am I angry? Because my town sucked just a little bit more this week and my pal got the raw end of the stick.
VIVA LA RESISTANCE!!
Recently my favorite radio station changed formats, which is very annoying, but worse they got rid of my favorite radio show, The Mike and Bob Show. I've talked about the show on here before, mainly discussing the strange circumstances of their previous sidekick, Manny Fresh. This radio show has been around over ten years. They have a strong and loyal following. So why were they canceled?
All radio stations in the United States are affected by Arbitron ratings. The Arbitron company changed their radio rating system about a year ago. This new rating system has had a very negative impact on many talk shows and morning shows on music stations nationwide. Unfortunately, under this new system, the ratings for The Mike and Bob Show on 96X were much lower than the ratings during our music hours, and that is the only reason that I felt I had to make a change.
OK, now if low ratings are the case and the show is not acquiring and keeping listeners and sales for advertising on the show was down then there's a definite problem here, but something doesn't add up. The show has bounced back and forth between afternoons and mornings a few times. Most recently its been in the mornings which worked out better for the three dudes involved and their family lives. But here's another bit from the owner's massage:
Prior to the change in the rating measurement system, the Mike and Bob Show was very successful and popular. Under the new ratings system, this was no longer the case.
Hold the phone. The show was doing great, but the company that does ratings changed how they do things and now its not doing great? And this change has impacted radio talk shows nationwide showing lower ratings? So we're to take it that everyone across this great land is just tired of listening to radio talk shows, including in this area which has a talk show that is popular?
This honestly smelled like a conspiracy. It was time to do a little digging, and by little I mean it took about five minutes to uncover the problem. Four of those minutes was waiting for the computer to turn on and the internet to come on. I may have also gotten a snack.
Arbitron, the company that does these ratings has been sued repeatedly for putting out flawed data, with one case even handled by the Florida Attorney General. There was another one handled by the New Jersey Attorney General in which Arbitron had to pay up, big time. So there's a definite problem with the ratings system. I've always wondered how shows and music with such high ratings typically ended up being a lot of crap and for a while I just thought that this awful stuff just had a huge audience that I'm not a part of. Now, I'm starting to think otherwise.
PPM ratings are based on audience estimates and are the opinion of Arbitron and should not be relied on for precise accuracy or precise representativeness of a demographic or radio market.
Frakking wow.
So this company is making guesses and giving opinions and radio stations listen and make changes accordingly? I want that job! There'd be a lot more Warren Zevon songs on the radio I'll tell ya that!
So, should The Mike and Bob Show be back on the air? Probably, unless they just weren't selling any advertising which I really doubt considering how many remotes they did and appearances they made. And yes, I am biased. I called into that show regularly. I hang with Bob at Kings. He's a friend. All those guys were friends to their listeners. It was the longest running FM talk show in the area, and there's reason for that. It was a good show. It helped make a lot of people's commutes a lot more bearable. When word got around that the show was gone and, that took a bit because there was no announcement or send off, that station lost a lot of listeners. And yes it seems messed up that a show that's been around for over a decade didn't get a nice send off, but if they did and word had gotten around in advance then those listeners that Arbitron says don't exist would have rallied like the last stand in INDEPENDENCE DAY and made things very difficult for the station.
Honestly, I truly think the Dudes have a case against Arbitron. But things don't end there.
MUSIC!!
Typically this is the part where I include a video of a song I'm either really digging now or on occasion something that plays into what I was previously talking about. Well, there's a lot on my mind concerning music because not only did 96X remove their premier radio talk show, they changed their format. 96X kicked off in the early 90s. In this area there were only two choices in rock and roll stations, and they're both still around now. One plays classic rock, and other plays classic rock and newer stuff with a leaning towards hard rock and heavy metal. Thing is in the early 90s that's when Alternative Rock started coming to forefront and it was different from anything I had heard on the radio around here before.
It was this new, exciting sound that I really dug and it was a lot of unfamiliar territory. When I tuned into 96X then I knew I was likely going to be hearing music i had never heard before. The old, tired rock songs that I had heard all my life and probably knew all the words to weren't here. This had a new different energy. It was the energy of my generation and we were making music.
There was the Seattle music blow up and that had a lot of airplay, but fortunately it went beyond Nirvana and Pearl Jam. They also weren't afraid to pump out some punk rock besides the Ramones and the occasional Clash tune.
It was pretty much a "screw the big hair and make up" we just want to rock mentality. And when things shifted in alternative music and there was something popping up that was weird and different but still pretty damn awesome you knew the X would probably being playing it, and usually about a year before any other station around here was playing it and calling it new music.
No joke, Chris and I were driving to Heroescon in Charlotte, NC and rocking out to "Superman" by Three Doors down when it was brand new. The following year we were driving to the same con and that song was being played on another radio station and being called "new music". Some of the more tired stations are still playing that damn song like its the newest, hottest thing out.
The station changed formats once before to top 40 and every listener cringed to hear boy bands and Brittany frakkin' Spears being played on the X. Predictably it went over like a fart in a submarine and the X returned to its roots. But now there's Arbitron ratings and they're saying that the listening audience is made up of twice as many dudes as ladies, and they're hoping to even that out a bit.
That's not going to work because there's other stations in the area actively courting female listeners to the Point that tuning into the stations markedly increases a person's estrogen levels. The new sound is coming off like a heavy dose of adult contemporary music has been infused but still keeping a little of the old stuff to help us transition. The only old out on there now is the Late Late Rock Show which features indie music and less featured stuff.
And even if the numbers are completely accurate (which at this point is extremely doubtful), so what if more guys listen than ladies? Is that a reason to try to blend in with what a bunch of other stations are doing? Yes, music shifts as different influences and vibes become prevalent. If you had said back in 1992 there'd be a popular punk rock bands featuring some violins and sometimes bagpipes people would have thought you were nuts. And yes, the alternative sound that came from Generation X in the infancy of the station is long gone, however that's now reason not to stand out from the homogeneous rabble on the radio.
Right now the music that spoke to my generation doesn't have home on the airwaves in my town. Most likely, it'll be back because if listeners want to here the type of stuff they're playing now they've already been following different stations that have been playing it for years. The X went from the leader to the led.
And with that I'm going to be listening to a lot more CDs in my car.
Alright, that's going to do it for today. I'm going to go be ticked off about things. See y'all, Wednesday.
Shame! Or possibly sham. Its Sunday, February 27, 2011, I've returned to you, and this is The Side. "Where was Friday's post?" you may ask. More computer trouble, but its been resolved. I thought about posting up some stuff on Saturday, but it would have been more rushed and half-assed than usual, so I figured I'd wait.
Alright, time for a shameless plug. I like video games, but I'm not super up on all the news and details. Lately, I'm playing more older games since they're cheaper to get a hold of and i don't have the latest systems. So if you're looking for some video game news and articles, go check out my buddy Joe. You'll be glad you did.
BEATIN'S!!
The UFC last night proved three things to me: you don't ever want to get punched my Mark Hunt, Michael Bisping is an asshole, and Jon Fitch can't catch a break.
The main event last night was disappointing and not because of the fight. After seeing Michael Bisping blatantly throw a completely illegal technique and then go on to win I was a bit soured. However, then out comes Jon Fitch to some sweet Johnny Cash music. Much has been made of him coming into this fight, mainly due to him adopting a new diet which is pretty much a vegetarian one. He's been a dominant fighter in the welterweight division. And now standing between him and title shot is the former champion BJ Penn.
Fitch might look like he should be in a van with a Great Dane and some other kids out solving mysteries, but he's the real deal. He battled a very tough Penn in a grappling war the first two rounds, and then beat the crap out of him in the third taking the fight to the a decision. The Judges chose poorly and the fight was declared a "majority draw" meaning two of the judge called the fight even on points while the third said Fitch won. Even Penn said that him getting a draw in that fight was an act of the gods and he thought he lost. Fitch was very disappointed but his attitude about it was outstanding.
His stance is that its not his job to decide who gets a title shot. He's there to do his job and that job is to fight. He's said that if he hasn't convinced Dana White, the UFC and fans that he should be the number one contender to the title then he hasn't been doing his job right.
No excuses. No whining. Hard work and dedication. That's what I like to see. Does Fitch deserve a title shot? Absolutely. Will he get one? Probably, since he's not going anywhere, looks better than ever in the ring, and is patient enough to do whatever it takes to achieve his goal.
DIRTY LOW-DOWN SHAME!!
With me being knocked offline for a couple days I spent my mornings before work watching the morning news shows. I got to see some true stupidity. The big news was that blogger who got an interview with the Wisconsin Governor by posing as someone else. Pretty lame stuff considering the Governor said the exact same stuff in a press release a couple hours later. But this was apparently some kind of brilliant ploy against the Governor. What was the monumentally dumb part was they played a portion of the phone interview and the Governor said that since certain state senators are literally in hiding to avoid doing their jobs then he was going to stop the direct deposit of their pay and take the checks and lock them into the desks of the senators, so if those clowns want to get paid they better show up for work.
At this point the dim anchor woman said how horrible it was to even suggest that those state senators be locked to their desks. Not surprised she got confused as she does tend to get confused easily. Fortunately there a guy on the same show who is actually quite brilliant and pointed out her mistake. Unfortunately as he attempted to explain why the Governor is correct and the protesting unions are not the show conveniently ran out of time for that segment. Nice.
But yes, the bill is working its way through limiting the collective bargaining abilities of public unions in Wisconsin. Democrats were chanting "Shame" as it passed. Of course they're pissed. This directly affects them. See, this is about public unions. These unions are made up of people whose wages are paid by money from taxes. The heads of these unions donate money to politicians from union dues. Doesn't really matter what the rank and file union workers want, they don't have much say in the matter. Unions is Wisconsin donate a disproportional amount to Democrats over Republicans. The Democrats are pretty much in the Union's pocket as they know which side their bread is buttered on. So yeah, the Democrats are pissed because they couldn't stop this bill which would decrease the power of public unions. The whole reason this is going through is in an attempt to balance the state's budget. It doesn't cut anyone's pay or take away their pensions. All it does is put a check on the power of unions. The unions don't want it. The Democrats they gave money too couldn't stop it. So they're worried they won't be getting their hefty union donations come election season.
Yeah. That's a damn shame.
Its been such a crazy week with everything in politics. Protests are going on in a bunch of countries against their governments. Libya is completely nuts right now. I have to wonder if our Pop-Star-in-Chief isn't trying to get himself impeached with his declaring law "unconstitutional" and refusing to defend them. He was supposed to be the one with all this understanding of the world, and the world is going apeshit on his watch. Not his fault, mind you. There's nothing he can really do about it. But between that and his old lady giving him grief about her crusade as First Lady to fight obesity, I wouldn't be surprised if he's considering saying "Fuck this! I'm out of here, and going to go get myself a cheeseburger." So, he's doing a bunch of dumb stuff that Presidents can't do and hoping to get tossed.
Its just nuts. Fortunately, good old Virginia is trudging on fairly steadily. The only political uproar here is if our Governor will be on the Republican ticket as Vice President if he gets asked. Amazing how our budget is manageable and this being a right to work state. One hell of a coincidence.
Politics. It really is like a contact sport.
THE LATE MANNY FRESH
Manny Fresh is dead. That's the reports coming in via The Mike and Bob Show. Manny went out doing what he loved but also proved that masturbation and gun play are never a good combination.
But is there more to this story? Manny Fresh had his share of foes. They struck at him through Twitter, but Manny masterfully shut that down. Then came "Cupcake" who also approached Manny via the internet and attempted to lure him to his doom with the promise of weird sex while simultaneously trying to drive a wedge between Manny and the Dudes. Yet, still Manny persevered! But now it seems he has fallen, and while it appears to be accidental, I wouldn't rule out foul play. This could have been staged and Manny's body could have been left in the state that it was to try to shame his memory. However, it was Manny, so there's not much that could be done to shame that memory.
Could this secret cabal that was attempting to destroy Manny Fresh have finally succeeded? Is Peter Criss Mask somewhere out there oddly laughing at Manny's demise? Has Manny really been sent back through time and is being hunted by a metaphorical curse machine? Will be one day return to form Manny Fresh Inc and train Manny Freshes around the world?
Only time will tell.
COMIX!!!
I'm going to start this off on a serious note. This week we lost a really great talent. Dwayne McDuffie passed away due to complications from a surgery. You're probably familiar with is work. He's been a writer in comics for many years. He's done a lot of work with the DC animated properties. I even scripted the Justice League Heroes video game for PS2. McDuffie was a writer that you could trust to deliver. He didn't get the recognition that some of the writing "superstars" get, but when he's mentioned you're not going to hear much of anything bad about his work. And this is good. This is a fellow who will live on through the amazing body of work that he produced in his life. The day that he passed the animated feature ALL-STAR SUPERMAN that he wrote was released. I wasn't planning of purchasing it, but I am now. Not so much as a tribute, but as a fan who now has a greater appreciation to a talent that was taken from us to soon.
On to some actual reviews, and this week's book were really great. Starting the ball rolling with DETECTIVE COMICS #874. Earlier in the Snyder run the book was split with half of it following Dick Grayson and the other half following Jim Gordon. That format got dropped to complete the Grayson story, and now that its wrapped we pick up right where we left off with Jim Gordon and his son. When I was picking up my comic the guys were discussing Luke Cage and how that fella eats a lot. It seems that there's a lot of appearances with Luke Cage eating. So its funny that the first issue I read this week opens with a diner scene. Its brilliant. Its so tense that it palatable. Brilliantly written and the artwork by Francesco Francavilla is incredible. Grayson is indeed here and dealing with the after effects of his battle with The Dealer. Fortunately he has Red Robin to back him up. I always liked reading these two teamed up. It does seem weird that in the field Tim is referred to as "Red Robin". It just doesn't sound right, but that's just how it is now. Great issue front to back.
Moving on to another Red Robin appearance over in TEEN TITANS #92. Georges Jeanty pencils this issue, and i like his work, but I was really amped to get my Nicola Scott fix. After a few deep cleansing breaths I dove in. With everything going on with Calculator the story was mainly about the team preferring to have Tim with them than Damien. I understand it since a lot of the team has a long history with Tim. These are his best friends. It makes sense that he's with them now that his quest to find Bruce has been completed. However, I prefer the team with Damien on it. J.T. Krul really made that dynamic work and I was eager to see how this was going to play out in the long term. Looks like we'll never know. Something that was bugging me was the deal with Kid Eternity. He got snatched like a year ago and it seemed like nobody noticed. Well, they certainly noticed now.
Over in ACTION COMICS #898 Hairless Lex Luthor takes on his old Orange Lantern ally Larfleeze. Paul Cornell and Pete Woods are nearing the end of this story which has just been completely stellar. Just when you start to really pull for Lex Cornell reminds us of what a complete bastard that he is. The end of this issue has a huge reveal about Robo-Lois which had me smacking my forehead and wondering how I couldn't have seen that one coming. We knew she had an agenda separate from Lex's and that she was working for someone else. Now we know who and this has me itching to see the next issue.
ATOMICA #5 turned things from a light-hearted romp to a nasty chain of events. After talking with a counselor about her Amnesia, Rose discovers that Professor Colluns is missing! The hunt for the good Professor leads out plucky heroine straight to one Dr. Astray. Ted Astray is still a nasty opponent and fairly creepy, but the creepiness gets upped with his parting warning "Beware the Metavore!" I don't know what a Metavore is, but I'm damn sure bewaring it. I have to wonder if this has a connection with Atomica's past and if this is the "big bad" that Astray is working for. Hopefully we'll get more answers next issue.
MUSIC!!
I'm a general fan of there domestic policies concerning boggy marshes.
That's the whole nine yards for today. I'm ready to go back to bed or start a coffee IV. Money's on the latter. See y'all Wednesday.
Sweet car-honkin cripes! Its Wednesday, December 15, 2010, parts of me are currently frozen, and this is The Side. It is frakkin' cold out there. This of course doesn't surprise me since in recent months the caterpillars have been exceptionally fuzzy and certain spiders have been quite large. The future is easy to predict when you know what to look for.
We're in for another winter that'll have us all yelling, "where's all mah Global warming at?!"
BOOZE TIME!!
Tis the season for good times, like Christmas parties. Many of those parties will indeed involve booze. So if you're going to drink, be responsible about it. Mike and Bob had a couple of officers in the studio to get local legend and internet avenger Manny Fresh hammered so we can see the effects of boozin' it up and see what kinds of tests they administer. This was in between Manny attempting to drunk call and drunk text girls at about eight in the morning requesting weird sex. Good ol Manny, always keepin' it classy.
To be honest, it was some of the funniest radio I've heard in a long time, but it also managed to be pretty educational as well.
So, from a former bar doorman and lush, drive safe and drink smart. I want to guys around next year.
THE NAME GAME
Looking at the word itself Celebrities are supposed to be people who are celebrities. However, in the age of information in which privacy is as valuable a commodity as any, celebrities are often looked at with a microscope by the masses waiting for them to do something scandal worthy. It makes me wonder how much clout do these people actually have away their fields. Obviously a big name musician has some pull with record companies. Big name actors get better treatment in Hollywood. However, its the public that makes these people big names. Now, some of them are prepackaged garbage like Justin Bieber and folks just fall for it. Others have some talent so people pay attention.
Currently, there's a list of celebrities who are trying to keep a woman from getting stoned in Iran. For those of you reading this who are outraged that these celebrities have come out against marijuana, I would like to congratulate you on being temporarily coherent enough to navigate the internet. And no this has nothing to do with marijuana, it has to do with a court deciding that a widow should have rocks thrown at her until she is dead. Obviously, this is a bad thing, however I don't think this list will carry much weight. Call me crazy, but I doubt the court system in Iran care too much about what Robert Redford thinks.
Still, its good that these celebrities have seen something that they feel is wrong and have decided to come out against it. In the world of celebrities, what you say and do has consequences. Say the wrong thing, and you risk ticking off your fan base, and next thing you know you used to be a celebrity.
Names have weight. Attaching your name to something has meaning. Even if you're just a guy with a blog. Celebrities often have their pet charity that they like to contribute to and draw attention to. Me? I shaved my head for charity and raised about $300 to help fight pediatric cancer. Its a modest sum, but I was happy to do it. That was before I got on Twitter and Google Buzz and also at a time when this blog had about five followers. I'm wondering if I do it again will the result be different now that my name out there more.
I'm not a celebrity by any stretch of the imagination. Not much to be celebrated here. But names have weight, and I'm wondering how much mine weights and what good I could with it.
CONVERSATIONS WITH PEOPLE
Recently, my cousin related to me the instance that he first saw an openly gay person in real life. It was at a party, and outside one complete with a bonfire. Everything is hunky-dory and them a guy shows up completely in drag. This was a first for my cousin on multiple levels. The obligatory hushed comments were made, but everybody was having a good time except it seems for one guy who really liked to hate on some gays. He insulted the guy dressed as a chick very loudly and very openly culminating in him calling the guy a "fucking faggot".
Now of course such things are considered hate speech and this guy should have had the masses decry his outburst. We are a civilized society after all should be celebrating diversity and all that other hippy crap. So that drag queen did what any other drag queen should do in a situation such as this. He took off his heels told somebody to "hold my shoes" went over to that guy and bap bap bap BAP. Then he thanked the person for holding his shoes and the party continued.
Unfortunately, this took place before such things as camera phones and YouTube, but it doesn't matter because there's no way to spin getting your ass beat down by a drag queen. That kind of event is spread by word of mouth, much like the epic tales were told before the advent of written language.
I stood there listening to my cousin relate this event and thought to myself, "Well I'll be damned. It really does get better."
MUSIC!!
Harmonica and cow bell? Hold on to your hats, folks!
Alrighty, pee on the fire and call in the dogs, I'm hangin' it up for today. I'm going to go put on about twenty pounds of clothes. Stay warm, people!
Look out, now! It's Wednesday, September 29, 2010, and its a swamp out there. The dry weather had stayed a bit too long. I wasn't walking through my lawn, I was walking on top of it. It was nice for our annual Beach Workout, but I'm glad to see the rain. I just hope it stops in time for our karate demo at the church on Saturday.
The beach workout was good. Got sandy, got wet, got tired. All of these in a good way. The waves were a bit choppy and there was a pretty strong rip current. Perfect for training. There are pictures. Too many of them feature me with my shirt off. You won't be seeing them. You're welcome.
HE LIVES!! For now...
Manny Fresh has survived the weekend. The alleged e-girl did not show up. "Cupcake" though has still struck a blow against Manny, in that she seems to be trying to drive a wedge between Manny and the rest of the Mike and Bob Show. It got to the point to their producer, Chaps, getting angry with Manny. She claims she did not appreciate the jokes that were made about the entire situation. Either she's never heard the show before or this is a strike to try to facilitate the destruction of Manny Fresh.
I was listening to this on my way to work and called the show to voice my concerns. I'm not a regular caller. I've called a few times. I'm spoken to Bob fresh more at the comic shop than I have on the air. I explained my theory and how I thought this woman was a plant in part of a conspiracy to destroy Manny.
Mike Powers has thought the exact same thing for about a month.
All of this girl's Facebook friends are Manny's friends. A bit odd for someone living in an entirely different state. She's told him everything he wants to hear, but now that he's on the hook, she's trying to turn him against the show.
These are dangerous times for Manny Fresh.
TV: NO ORDINARY FAMILY
ABC rolled out the one new show that I've been waiting for last night: NO ORDINARY FAMILY. The show stars Michael Chiklis (THE SHIELD, FANTASTIC FOUR) and Julie Benz (BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, ANGEL) as parents of a family that's coming apart, but an accident brings them together by way of giving them super powers.
This show was absolutely amazing.
Chiklis plays Jim, a police sketch artist who is passionate about two things, helping people and his family. Unfortunately his family has grown apart. His wife Stephanie is a successful scientist who does important research which keeps her very busy. The son and daughter are teenagers, so their interest in doing stuff with their folks is minimum. The daughter is more interesting in texting. The son is a bit of a slacker who prefers playing video games. It is revealed though that it son, JJ, has a learning disability and his frustration with it has led to his slacking in school. Interesting twist.
The show wastes no time getting to the accident in the Amazon jungle that gives them their powers, and still manages to give us a definite feel for for what's going on with these people. It was very well done. Chiklis and Benz gain super strength and super speed respectively. Later their daughter, who seems obsessive about texting gains telepathy, which is fitting. While her parents really dig their powers, Daphne is less than thrilled about hers.
Jim tells his his best friend and they experiment with his new abilities as well as plan for Jim to use his powers to fight crime. This was an absolute joy to watch. They looked like they were having an absolute blast and that enthusiasm was contagious.
There was a bit of action too as Jim tries to stop a thief who had no problem putting a bullet into anyone who tried to stop them. Jim's final confrontation with him led to a revelation that I never saw coming and led to one of the most awesome fights I've seen on television. I was completely slacked jawed and pinging off the walls watching it.
So I'm all in for this one. Great show. Great cast. Well written. Awesome special effects. This show is a big winner.
NOM NOM NOM!!!
There are superhero snack cakes coming to the shelves at convenience stores near you. Superheroes and Hostess have a long relationship as it was the one page mini comics featuring superheroes foiling crimes by use of snack cakes which led to me long battled addiction to Twinkies. For some reason admitting you have an addiction to Twinkies doesn't get you a lot of credit in AA meatings. I'm still convinces that the creamy filling is infused with cocaine.
Small problems though.
The Flash cakes have red dye in the frosting. That's bad for kids. Sooooooo, you shouldn't be letting your kids eat them. Not that these things are healthy in any way shape or form.
And then there's the Green Lantern "Glo-Balls." I wouldn't eat them anyways because I hate coconut. However, Missus Nozz put it best, "I didn't need to know Green Lantern's balls glow, and I certainly wouldn't want to eat one."
Yes my mind goes off to weird places. If you're surprised by that then you obviously haven't been reading this blog very long. I watched this video:
Which was relevant to me because I had just seen my former boss who was doing some stuff for the annual Church Bazaar. And of course he was doing thing "chronologically". This is his favorite made up word in that he says it when he means "systematically". To do something not "chronologically" would involve a time machine. And even then the things he did do would still be in chronological order to him, if not for the rest of us.
You ever try to explain subjective chronological order to a bunch of roofers at 7:30 in the morning? Its a load of fun, let me tell you.
When you try to us big words to make yourself look smart without knowing what they mean: you loose.
And when you try to make a point on the internet and spell "loose" instead of "lose" then English had better not be your first language because then you have no reason for being unable to use mono-syllabic words aside from being a moron.
MUSIC!!
They were on Austin City Limits last weekend, so you're getting a big dose of the Avett Brothers this week. You're welcome.
That's the ball game for today. See Y'all Friday. I'm going to go enjoy the rain.
