Disregard: I've gone mad.

It's Sunday, September 26, 2010. I'm in a mood.

Or five.

Maybe six.

PLOTTING...

I'm plotting against my fellow man in what could be an attack of art and writing to shift the social paradigm to a slightly madder and much more acceptable level.

I've had it with the e-zombies tweeting and Facebook updating their boring mundane little lives into my pop culture peripheral.

If you want your life to be worthy content, then do something content worthy.

Have an adventure.

Have an original, interesting thought for Christssakes!

You are the star of your life story, so go be a star.

There is a conspiracy against you.

I'm the bastard behind it.

I will do things to screw with you for the sheer sake of making the world weird and less boring.

I'll spin utter nonsense into the plausible for expressed purpose of jarring your brain in different directions.

I am a memetic concussion.

You are riding the shockwaves of the mad thoughts that generate in my reptilian brain, filter through the alternate dimension that I created through my will, and ping off everything you see and hear.

The mountain of self importance I possess can crush politicians.

I am the Biochemical Nightmare Revolver.

Dodge my bullets.

I dare you.

HOPING...

I'm just about fed up with the radio. Mike and Bobby are entertaining, but I only get to hear about a half hour of them. The Political Battle Royale with Ham and Cheese has become a bit tiresome on talk radio. That's even with Stephen Colbert holding court in front of Congress.

I need a new album to come out, and I need it to be good. Yes, I know I'm an e-troglodyte and albums are nearly an outmoded thing being replaced by songs cherry-picked online and downloaded into easily lost devices.

I keep going back to that My Chemical Romance video with Grant Morrison in it and hope like hell its an insane concept album of the quality of "Welcome to the Black Parade", but trading in the the exploration of impending death for a mad musical battle in the spirit of SIX STRING SAMURAI. My mind has already filled in the pieces to the story of the Fabulous Killjoys.

I want this album to live up to the story I've created for it.

Screw "hope and change" promised by a pop star who would be king.

Gimme hope for some damn good rock-n-roll. The kind that begs you to find open roads with no speed limits and a car with a fuel tank of gas.

I hope for art.

MOCKING...

Nothing like celebrities to make me feel better about myself. It used to be the big names invoked envy among us poor folks who got work bust our butts to set our tables. Now look at them.

Paris Hilton isn't being allowed into countries, deemed as an "undesirable". That's hot!

Lindsey Lohan didn't pass GO! or collect $200. Apparently, she didn't need the 200 smackers or needed to roll doubles.

Debates rage over who is a bigger scumbag: Mel Gibson or Charlie Sheen. The winner? Sheen publicist.

Idolatry is dead.

WORKING...

"Why did you stop drawing?" was the question that got posed to me this week. Might have something to do with 40 hours or labor and topping it off with hours of Karate are getting to me. My hands are sore and occasionally shake a bit depending on what I've been doing. No that shaking bit is not a warning sign of some horrible neurological problem which should prompt you people to comment and tell me to go see someone about it. Its the result of working with power tools for hours at a time. You grind cement off a couple hundred tiles or sand a wood floor that's older than indoor plumbing into an acceptable appearance and your hands would shake too.

But I haven't been drawing, which should be obvious by know as this post makes it sound like I've gone off the deep end. That's what happens when I'm not drawing. I go nuts. So I might have to do a bit of sketching just to keep the boys in the white coats away. Then its back to the salt mines.

Although if this blog takes weird turns you now know what's up. That or I'm screwing with all of you. I'm in one of those moods which makes me want to start Facebook accounts and just torment any poor soul would tries to friend me there with impossible updates.

I'll drive them mad and call it "art". I wonder if that excuse still works on the authorities? "Yes officers I did make those updates. Why no, I never intended to start a riot with them. No, I didn't really run through downtown Norfolk naked and whack random people with lawn furnature."

Fun fact: Facebook can be used to obtain warrants for arrest. E-art is dangerous.

WATCHING...

The season premier of SUPERNATURAL was last night. This is the first season without the shows creator at the helm. I love this show, I truly do, but I just wasn't feeling it last night. Everyone played their parts. Parker Lewis joined the cast, and is looking good. Last I saw him, he had put on some weight. There's other new cast members.

The whole things just felt a bit too contrived. I completely bought into Dean in retirement. I was eager to find out how Sam, if it was Sam, returned. I'm OK with not having all my questions answered, but the new questions posed don't make me want to walk through the door to find out what's up. It felt like fan fiction. Eric Kripke left the show because he had told his five season long story. The Winchester Brothers stopped the apocalypse. Not a lot of places to go from there.

While the people who took the reigns are very capable, the premier left a lot to be desired. Foremost, what happened to Adam? He didn't even get mentioned. Ug. I really want this season to be good. It still could be, but its not off to a good start.

LISTENING...

Because if Batman played a musical instrument it would be a banjo!



That's it for today. I need to either drink a lot more or a lot less.

I'll let you know when I figure out.

Dracula on the One Dollar Bill

BAH! Its Wednesday, September 22, 2010 and I'm in a foul mood. Perhaps its due to my computer not working properly for some unknown reason. But these things are to be expected. It could be I had to work under a house yesterday and the dead rats that were my only company were poor conversationalists. But work is work. Or it could be that my head is still a bit achy from my daughter's first attempt to take me out by slamming my head in the refrigerator.

Yeah, that's probably it.

I figured I'd have a few more years before my children tried to kill me by any means other than frustrating me to death. Apparently I should have known better than to try to cross a three year old who really wants some juice.

COMIX!!

Got an early look at DRACULA: THE COMPANY OF MONSTERS #2 and this book knows how to take its sweet time. This is not the type of pacing I expect in a comic book. By now we should be up to our eyeballs in a serious body count with guts and gore all over the place. Nope. Honestly the creepiest part was Evan coming to the horrible realization that there's no way out for him. Conrad has him completely at his mercy with this veiled threat of something horrible. Every time Conrad appears I get this feeling that something really bad is going to happen.

And bad stuff does indeed happen. In issue 1 we found Dracula's. This issue we see him return in quite the messy manner. Evan is trying his best to maintain his decency despite being demanded to do indecent things. Again we have the type of pacing I expect in a classic horror film. Dracula's return is a nasty affair, but it a spike in the action as the rest of the issue we continue building up slowly to something horrible. And that something horrible may indeed be on the way as the team in Europe that found Dracula's remains makes another find, and something definitely finds them.

I think the most striking thing here is the color and tone of this book. For the most part, it's not dark. Its bright and colorful and the very matter of fact in the storytelling. Usually with a horror comic its heavy on the ink. There's lots of shadows with very stylized art. Whenever I think horror comics, I think of Gene Colin's art on the old TOMB OF DRACULA comic Marvel did back in the 70s. This is a heavy departure from that and works well with the story. At face value, everything seems fine and dandy. However, as we venture into the wine cellar with Evan, we see that something terrible is taking place and its only a matter of time before its unleashed.

POP POLITICS!!

I knew this year was going to be absolutely ridiculous in the political arena, but I never thought I'd see this. That's right. The Democrats have given up trying to justify themselves. They know that they are about as popular as gout. They know nothing they've done to help the economy has helped. They know they have spent a ridiculous amount of money to the point that it'll be forever before we make a dent in the deficit. They've just thrown up their hands and said, "Yes, we are a bunch of assholes. No, we aren't going to change. But, the Republicans are still worse than us."

And our good old Pop Star-in-Chief is still banging away with his car in the ditch analogy despite that more and more people are realizing that its crap. If the Republicans did indeed drive the car that is America into a ditch, its the Democrats that dug the ditch and currently look like they're trying to bury the car.

This is insanity at the point I never thought I'd see. Sure, some folks say that both parties suck and one side is no better than the other. Still it was nice that the parties at least tried to give us the illusion that our country wasn't being run by a ginormous herd of schmucks. Its like they've just given up. They know that we, the filthy unwashed masses, are on to them putting their agendas ahead of what we want, and now that the genie is out of the bottle they don't know how to deal with it.

Trying to instigate class warfare by saying they're going after "the rich" with their tax hikes ain't cutting it. People right now just want to work and know they can keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. Those rich folks that're getting targeted are one's that can create jobs. So that's backfiring hard.

THIS ISN'T WHAT VOTING IS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT, DAMMIT! This is supposed to be sending in our best and brightest to represent us. Its not supposed to be about having to settle for the person we think is going to screw us over the least.

They can't admit that they are wrong in what they are doing and have done. Trying to show off their achievements isn't working out because more and more people don't like what they've done. So its down to blatant finger-pointing and trash talking the other side.

I was wrong.

This isn't a Political Sumo Tournament.

This is straight WWE, Jack!

Under two months to go before the election and I've got a fiver that says someone tries to hit Christine O'Donnell with a folding chair before its all over.

EXTREME MAKEOVER: CASH EDITION

One more thing about the economy and then I'll shut up until someone else does or says something else completely stupid. A graphic designer claims that the best way to stimulate the economy is to redesign our currency. I'm not sure if he's joking. I really hope that he's joking. Still, I looked at some of the designs and most of them are pretty lame. Besides which, we just had a redesign on our currency. Please note the when this happened that the economy didn't receive any kind of boost from it.



There is a definite shift in how we spend, and I'm not talking about amounts, I'm talking about methods. There's less cash in motion and a lot more debit and credit cards. This of course makes me think about BATMAN BEYOND because (all together now) its really all about Batman. On the TV show they referred to currency as 'credits'. One episode had a girl on it searching frantically for a card with credits still on it to keep her car from getting towed. It makes me wonder whether or not we're heading in a direction in which society runs solely on credit and what you earn goes to pay into that credit.

For now though cash is still king. As I told radio superstar and comic writer Bobby Fresh as he waited to the phone line to be freed up so he could purchase his comics at Kings, "You can be as famous as it gets, but money talks."

JOB INTERVIEW

Cruising through the internet I found an job listing.

"WANTED: Individual for freelance security position. Hand-to-hand combat training a plus."

So I contacted the party who placed the ad and they got back to me pretty promptly, which was nice. After a bit of online back and forth I got lined up with a phone interview. It was with a very well spoken Englishman who referred to himself as Mister Smith. I thought it should be Smyth as he was English and pondered whether or not he had baggage.

He informed me that company I'm being considered for is subsidized by a Fortune 500 company. I was surprised I was already being considered, but they said they had their computer specialist already do a bit of digging on me. He also told me my record was a bit spotty, but they had seen and hired much worse.

He asked about my previous security experience. I told them about working the door at South Beach Grill. I also told them about managing to work in downtown Suffolk and not dying. That last bit impressed them as they said experience in dealing with hostile urban areas would be very beneficial to the position.

He asked about my martial arts training. He then told me my 25 years of experience in Karate would be a good start.

He of course made sure to ask if I had a valid driver's license, which I do. I informed him that I did also have my own vehicle, and he told me that was all well and good, but vehicles would be provided for the job.

He then inquired if I had much acting experience. I told him I played a weed in my 6th grade school play. No lines, but I did my own stunts. I could hear a bit of disappointment over the phone, but he told me that the company could work with that.

It was all very nice and pleasant and I think I made a good impression. He told me that he'd be in touch once the board had made a decision as to my application. He did have one question that may or may not be a deal breaker: "Would you be willing to move to Gotham?"

MUSIC!!

And now the video which is destined to be requested repeated by my children, which I will let them watch despite their attempts to kill me.



That's the ball game for today. If there's no post on Friday then the computer finally went tango uniform, I'm stuck under a house with dead rats, and the twin three year olds got the better of me in hopes of the insurance money being spent on a new Nintendo DS.

Maybe all of the above.

Double the insanity, Double the fun!

That's right, its Sunday, September 12, 2010, and there's a hole in my sock. The hole in my sock is Darkseid shaped.

COMIX!!

"Motherland" concludes in BATTLEFIELDS #9 with Anna put in a position she's very uncomfortable with: being in charge of six untrained pilots. In World War II Russia was hoping to crush the Nazis by sheer numbers, but that meant a lot of deaths. Garth Ennis is at his best writing these war stories so I can really recommend this series. Captain Anna Kharkova is a tough and talented pilot with the weight of the war weighing heavy on her. She's already lost her best friend. However there is hope as she's fallen for her commanding officer, who is quite smitten with her as well, but if they want to be together they have to survive the war. Its a tough, smart story and beautifully illustrated.

In BATGIRL #14 we get a stand alone story. This is the second in a row on the book, and its obvious that they're kind of biding their time until the big Grant Morrison Bat-epic comes around the bend because this book is going to have to deal with that. In the meantime, Batgirl teams up with Supergirl to confirm what I've been saying for months: 3D is the work of Satan. OK, maybe not, but a weird science glitch brings a bunch of "Draculas" off the screen, and so a merry adventure insues as the girls must stop them. Its a fun, light read. I'm not completely stoked with how Miller wrote Supergirl. He made her a bit more naive than I felt she should be. Still, this book is packed with a bunch of fun little moments that left me satisfied with the read.

On to the big one this week: BATMAN AND ROBIN #14. The Black Glove and Professor Pyg are looking to take over Gotham by way of a viral narcotic and the only one who can stop him is... The Joker?

OK, great issue top to bottom, now here's where I go completely down the rabbit hole.

This entire series has had The Joker moving against the Black Glove. He turned on him in "R.I.P." and has been actively looking to take out Doctor Hurt. The big question is: why the hell would he want to do that? Juxtaposing this to everything else that has been going on with the Grant Morrison "The Once and Future batman" epic, I have answer. And that answer gets very clear in this issue.

"I'm not mad at all. I'm just differently sane."

Darkseid created the "hole in things" with his fall. The "hole in things" is Doctor Hurt/The Black Glove/the Hyper-Adapter from the Ancestor Box. Time has been used against Bruce Wayne to create the ultimate trap, a trap that is his life. Circumstances have been altered to destroy him. However, Wayne has been actively fighting this programming the area that would become Gotham City making it possible for Batman to be created. Take all this information and apply it to Alan Moore's "The Killing Joke".

"Sometimes I remember it differently."

Could it be possible that The Joker was the first to see the "hole in things"? What if the origin we were presented by Moore is accurate? Could it be that the Hyper-Adapter somehow caused his pregnant wife to be electrocuted? The Hyper-Adapter, in an effort to make Bruce Wayne's life a horrible tragedy, created Wayne's greatest adversary who time and again brought misery upon Wayne and those he cared about.

But could The Joker have somehow realized this? Could the real root of his insanity be not being able to cope with seeing the hole in things, and now that he's seeing a physical manifestation of it he's fully focused on avenging himself against it for destroying his life as well? As Bruce Wayne programmed Gotham City to turn him into Batman to fight the Hyper-Adapter, The Joker has developed a "super sanity" which has turned him into a vicious terrorist able to strike at it. Sensing the trap was starting to close, he became "The Clown at Midnight" strike at the Black Glove. Now he's become "The Gravedigger" masterminding the siege against Doctor Hurt's efforts.

While I don't have any complains against this book or story, I do have one against DC and their announcement of BATMAN INC which will feature Bruce Wayne and Dick Greyson both as Batman. We're in the middle of a story in which we saw last issue Dick Greyson getting shot in the back of the head. This death was foretold all the way back in BATMAN #666. Now with this announcement we see he's safe. That's dropping the ball, pure and simple. This is akin to when DC announced the IMPULSE comic while Waid was writing "Terminal Velocity". Would it have killed them to talk to the staff and ask if announcing this book and giving certain details might put a damper on the high suspense that is going on in the book? I honestly thought that Greyson was going to get bumped off, or was in serious danger of that happening. Well, I guess I don't have to worry about that now. Gee thanks.

DOUBLE DOUBLE!!

Years ago, my buddy was enjoying his vacation on a beach in Florida when a couple of girls came up to him. They seemed pretty nervous.

"Can we ask you a question?"

"Whatever it is, the answer is 'yes'." He replied with a big grin which comes from being on vacation, having two girls talking to you, and likely a bit of alcohol. At that point the girls start to flip out, surprising my friend a bit. "WAIT! What were you going to ask me?"

"Are you Joshua Jackson?"

No, I'm not friends with Joshua Jackson. However a guy who lived with that very same buddy was on an episode of Dawson's Creek (He got decked by Pacey for trying to mack on Joey. Yes I just said 'mack on'. Shut up.). Yes, my friend does indeed resemble Joshua Jackson a bit. I did have to explain who Joshua Jackson was after he got back from vacation as my buddy doesn't watch much TV. This works out pretty well for him. He doesn't get mistaken for Joshua Jackson probably because he's a bit bigger that the actor. I'm pretty sure the actor in question isn't a contractor who's over six feet tall. Its also nice to have double that's successful and doing cool things. Jackson has that awesome show FRINGE in which he gets to be a bad ass. It would suck to have a lame double.

I don't really have a double. I used to. I used to be the spitting image of Dave Grohl from the bands Nirvana and later the Foo Fighters. It was too the point that a friend saw a picture of Grohl and thought it was me and I was playing a prank on him. However its been years since those comparisons held much water. I did once get told I look like John Cusack, but that was by a girl who wanted me to buy her drinks at a bar. Which I did. Because I'm stupid. This is the point where I'm supposed to turn it over to you people, post a picture and ask you which celebrity I look like. That won't be happening because I don't come out well in pictures. I'm best film at a distance, with poor cameras, like the noble Bigfoot.

MUSIC!!

On of my students was reading a book before class. He said it was part of a trilogy. Being a nerd, I likes me some trilogies. He said each book in the trilogy has 'killer' in the title. And I said, "You mean to tell me someone wrote a trilogy about Jerry Lee Lewis!?"



That's it for Sunday. See you Wednesday. Unless my celebrity double takes over. He'll probably post more. He'll probably be on Facebook too.

I alright hate my celebrity double.

Whoever he is.

Nutty Numbers

That's right, it's Friday, September 10, 2010 and yet again there's no comic review. Labor Day got me all thrown off. I'll have plenty of nerdy goodness for you guys on Sunday, but until then enjoy some insanity.

CRAZY QURAN COOKING CULT!!

For those who have been under a rock this week an idiot is planning a Quran Burning in Florida. Some lunatic so-called preacher is aiming to stand up against Radical Muslims by burning their holy book. There is so much damn stupid here that my brain is actually spasming in my skull.

Let's start with the preacher and his church, congregation of about 50. These people are obviously idiots, and are planning to live up to every awful stereotype that ignorant jerkwits like to heap upon Christians. A book burning? Seriously? Not only does it make Christians look bad, but its counter productive in that all it will do is fire up the bad Muslims and alienate the ones that aren't batshit crazy. Our armed forces are fighting insurgents. Part of fighting an insurgency is to get the locals on your side. This isn't helping matters. Everyone from Generals, to the Pope, to the President have said this is a really bad idea.

When I agree with our Pop-Star-in-Chief then you know something is seriously wrong.

Next up is the asshole Muslims that have held demonstrations in other countries burning the American flag and chanting "Death to America". Screw you, you hypocrites. America has sent its forces out time and again to help Muslims around the world. Sit down and shut up.

Finally we have the media assholes who have turned a small group of ignorant scumwads into the center of a worldwide uproar. Yeah, Dove Outreach Ministries are a bunch of complete idiots, but you're the one who hoisted them as high as you could on a pedestal for the world to see because you wanted ratings. Guess you got what you wanted.

End of the day, these jerks are of the same ilk as the Westboro Baptist Church, the dolts who took part in Everybody Draw Muhammad Day, and that douchebag Imam who wants to built a Mosque right by ground zero. They're attention whores who are looking to count coup, and use the freedoms we enjoy here in America to hide behind. However that's the great thing about these freedoms that idiots like these expose themselves for what they are, and we as a sane society and shun them was the bunch of venomous bastards that they are.

Now the preacher is saying he's going to hold off on the burning and trying to parlay his 15 minutes of fame longer by getting into the middle of the Mosque debacle. How utterly shocking. Well, he can try to spin out of this all he likes. He's done. His little cult of ignorance is going to be buried under the weight of public opinion in a grave of obscurity, and I want to be the first to piss on it.

BY THE NUMBERS!!

There's a new feature that popped up recently here on Blogger and that's "Stats". This thing tells you how many pages views you have gotten. What posts got them. Where the traffic linked in from. And it also lets you know what countries the viewers are from.

It seems I've developed a following in Malaysia. They edged out the United Kingdom. I suppose I should talk about Doctor Who more.

It also tells me what my blog is being viewed on. I'm actually pretty amused that someone has used their Wii to few the blog and someone else used a Playstation 3. No one has used their XBox to which I fully blame Halo: Reach.

I have also determined that lately the majority of people are coming here due to one specific image that I posted, and surprisingly enough its not Christina Hendricks.



It seems POCOYO is very popular. I do wonder if any poor kid stumbles over here looking for a cute picture of their favorite cartoon, and is subsequently traumatized by my blog. Ah well, wouldn't be the first time I've traumatized some poor kid.

Now before you get creeped out that Blogger is giving out your personal info, rest assured its not. I don't know who specifically is reading. No names or specific location are given. I just know what country. I also know what time and it seems my readers are nightowls.

This feature also seems to be messing with me. One day it told me I had over a hundred page views, which is pretty awesome, but the following day it reported 93 page views the previous day and that I only had 1 page view that day. Very confusing, but likely an effort to screw with my head just to let me know to stop obsessing over it.

MUSIC!!

Detected this week's theme yet?



That's the ballgame for Friday. Enjoy you're weekend, and I'll see you on Sunday.

I'm gettin' around to the takin' names part.

How many people want to kick some ass? Its Wednesday, September 8, 2010, and today's a good day for getting my hands dirty.

YOUR SUV AIN'T $#!*

Getting out of bed last Sunday morning we were greeted by an unexpected sight upon opening the door to make sure the world was still there.



As I've documented previously, we on the NWA (Neighborhood Watch Association) have been considering getting a vehicle for which to patrol the Neighborhood and keep the ne'er-do-wells at bay. We have cast aside our plans of mounting a gun turret on a golf cart and just decided to to cut the pretenses.

Shock and awe, ladies and gentlemen.

That's right! We're going to cruise the streets, getting 12 miles to the gallon (Suck it, Al Gore!), and keeping the street safe! That and taking it on beer runs. We're still getting it prepped though. It needs a few touches. Probably need to paint a white star with a red, white, and blue streak behind it. That and we need a spiffy uniform and a code name for our driver.

Now you're probably wondering if we considered WWTNT (What would the neighbors think?), and frankly speaking as the outpost station of the NWA, we don't care. Folks talk about taking back their street from crime. We don't have crime on our street anymore. You know why?

We're all batshit crazy and armed. And we don't care who knows it. Word has spread since the last bunch of punks tried to break into the NWA HQ and ended up zip-tied in the garage at gunpoint. Of course it was spread mostly to the cops who wanted to come out and have a good laugh that the little idiots' expense, but that's beside the point.

The bad guys are on notice. Try to mess with our street and you'll be seeing this:



Right before we run your ass over.

BOSTON DAWNA KICKS ASS!!

Boston Dawna is retiring. For those who are big fans of the movie and comic book KICK ASS here's an example of someone doing the job and not being an idiot. There's a trend that gets a bit of press here and there. It was especially getting noticed when people suddenly figured out that there were movies based on comic books that come out every year. They're often called 'Reals', as in real life super heroes. We even had a local one, Death'shead Moth, who I'm pretty sure has hung it up.

This people dress up in outlandish costumes and patrol the streets to deter crime. Many do charity work and try to help the community. I do wonder what these people's reaction was to the KICK ASS. Considering the violence involved in the story hopefully many of them took a hint and retired.

Boston Dawna is the real deal. And when I say that I don't mean she has a ton of fancy gear or powers. She just has a knack for spotting crime and has over the years developed a working relationship with law enforcement and the community. She does what she does to help her community. She enjoys it. There really should be more people like her.

There are people who wish there really were superheroes. Well, people flying around with powers and bright costumes won't be happening, but looking at the example of the heroes we read about on Wednesdays we can maybe be inspired to do more than turn a blind eye when you know something is wrong. Its not sticking your nose into somebody else's business when that person's business is hurting others. If you know something it wrong, know not suspect, then grab that cell phone that you're using to text your friend and call somebody. Keep an eye out for your neighbor. If you see something weird going on, give them a call and ask if they're alright.

Looking out for others is better than turning a blind eye.

OUT AND ABOUT WITH NOZZ

I've spent year going all around the Hampton Roads area fixing and building stuff. I grew up here. I have a lot of memories of things being very, very different. I can remember when I-264 was just I-44 and it was toll road. I can remember when Pembroke Mall was really fun to go to with video arcade and the movie theater was the place to be. Things have changed as things tend to do, and being a creature of habit I don't visit my old haunts too often. However over the last week I've found myself in places I never thought I'd go to again.

First off was a church. This was not a church I had ever attended, but I was well acquainted with the roof. I had helped patch the vast rubber area on a nearly annual basis. I had coated the built up area a couple of times with various coatings. I had even replaced the shingles by the steeple. It was steeple that brought me back.

Its a giant fiberglass thing that sits atop a very steep shingle roof. Its in two sections. There's the tall section that reaches to the sky, and there's 'Brian's Box'. The Box rests on shingles and is anchored to the building with steal cables. The top section is anchored to the Box with metal rods, which is why we returned. Over time the the top section had become loose so the rods had to be replaced. So two of us had to get into Brian's Box and replace them. Not a lot of fun being in a giant fiberglass thing about 3 stories up and it's moving. Being inside of it when it shifts is plenty to get the heart rate up because its quite noisy. Still the mission was a success.

It got the name 'Brian's Box' because my buddy Brian was the main person who climbed in and out of it to jack it up and replace the shingles. And yes, it is true that you can fit two men in Brian's Box. One guy even got stuck in Brian's Box. Fortunately, nobody caught anything from Brian's Box.

It was weird being back there. The rubber roof had been replaced by a white membrane roof. There was metal around the top of the flat roof covering the top of an area I painted years ago. Like any place you visit after years of absence there's always differences, but enough familiarity to draw you back.

It was a lot more so on Sunday. The Church my family and I have been attending had moved to locations and to my surprise it was a place I knew very well and had not been to in nearly 20 years: my old high school. The place had been added onto a bit but not much. There was a new baseball field in the back, which isn't surprising since David Wright played there long before moving up to the majors. The benches that only the seniors were allowed to sit on had been moved and I'm wondering if senior privileges were still observed. The hallway where all the English classes were held had a plaque over it which read "Halterman Hallway". I remember having Mister Halterman for British Literature. Not the easiest class but Mister Halterman seemed like a good guy and graded on the curve (thank goodness).

That hallway was where I first started really writing. Yeah, I had one English teacher, Missus Warren, who was terrible but I figure she's been staked and beheaded by now. The others were actually really good. There was Halterman, who I mentioned. There was also Mister Conover who was cool with me reading comics and even asked me to bring him an X-MEN comic because he hadn't seen one in years and was curious how the series was going. He also played a hell of a bass guitar. Finally there was Mister Babb. He's the one who got me writing. He's the first one to really encourage me at it. So yeah, all this, his fault. We loved his class.

There were lots of things to bring me back. The class pictures were on the wall, including a small one of me which was a flattering enough photo. A bit of airbrushing and it being in black and white helped a lot. There was artwork framed and hanging in front of the school library, and I remember when two to those pieces were being worked on in my art class. My work wasn't on display. I wasn't that good back then. Ryan and Jen were.

This is of course the fond memories. High school sucked for me just like it did for everyone else. But fortunately its the few memories if the fun times that managed to hang on the longest.

MUSIC!!

And now a little story about family.



That's the whole nine yards for today. See y'all Friday. There just might be ten yards.

Comics for Crazies

I want the day that I die to be a good day.
I want my children to be extraordinary.
I want to know my job is done.
When the future opens itself to them,
And it shines bright just like the sun.

I want the day that I die to be a good day.
I want people to sit and drink to me,
But save the good scotch for my friends.
Let it be a day of celebration
That has nothing to do with my end.

I want the day that I die to be a good day.
I want my doodles to be worth millions.
I want my writings to be considered wise.
The ramblings and rantings of my mad self
Will be philosophy is the future's eyes.

I want the day that I die to be a good day.
My stories will all become legends.
Students will learn of them in school.
And when they go to make the movie
The fanboys wills scream like fools.

I want the day that I die to be a good day.
It'll be in spectacular fashion.
I'll go with tyrants at my feet.
One last hurrah, or sharp final words
To make my victory complete.

I want the day that I die to be a good day.
The start of something new so the bad can drift away.

It's Sunday, September 5, 2010 and we're back to business. Despite the fact that a butterflies wing beats in Africa can somehow knock out my internet connection, Hurricane Earl did absolutely nothing but water my lawn. So I do feel a little stupid for not posting up on Friday. But if I'm not doing something stupid then I'm probably asleep. Most likely drooling stupidly.

COMIX!!

R.E.B.E.L.S. #20 was my read of the week. "Sons of Brainiac" has been a lot of fun and this issue doesn't disappoint. Vril Dox calls on one for his former teammates to help stop his 'father', Brainiac, from taking over the planet Colu. Lobo is front and center doing what he does best: smarting off and taking on impossible opponents. While Lobo takes on an insanely powerful artificial intelligence created out of a neutron star, Vril and his estranged son take the fight to Brainiac in hopes to capturing him or at least getting him away from Colu.

This issue will probably get a little sales spike from Lobo's appearance. The character has a pretty rabid fanbase, even though his popularity since the 90s has waned a bit. Bedard again makes this story very continuity friendly. This storyline spins directly out the "War for New Krypton" story over in the Superman titles. Lobo has a red power ring which he received somewhere in all the "Blackest Night" chaos. At the same time this book stands perfectly on its own not requiring the reader to dig through a ton of back issues of other books just to keep up with what's going on. In fact a person could really jump into this issue without reading any of the previous ones. It tips its hat to continuity, but remains perfectly accessible to new readers.

On over to SECRET SIX #25 where we're getting the set up to a battle between two Secret Sixes. The team got split in over recent events in the story and while a good chunk of the team has left remaining members, Bane and Jeanette, reformed the team. Gail Simone pulls from the bad guys from her run on THE ALL-NEW ATOM as well as a couple of other notables to round out the team. The break away members from the original line-up seem to have gotten a sixth member and it looks like the two groups will be going head-to-head soon. This is a fun book despite all the horrible stuff that goes on in it. I love Giganta when Simone writes her, and am wondering if she still has her tongue piercing. I'm also wondering what is going to become of the team once the smoke clears on this on. The cast on this book has changed a bit since days of VILLAINS UNITED so I'm wondering who is going to be on the team after all this is over.

HELLBOY: THE STORM #3 brought that story to close, however it looks like its going to lead us directly into a new story "The Fury". The way this ended, I'm a bit surprised that they split the stories up like this since its obviously meant to go together. Mignola is tying together a lot of different myths in this one, but it works. The thing with Hellboy is that it reads better when its collected. While this issue was perfectly fine there's a lot of little things that are touched upon from earlier issues that make me wish i had those in front of me when I'm reading the book.

Finishing off with BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: SEASON EIGHT #36 which has me wondering why I'm still reading this book. While characters in the Buffy-verse are known to change and evolve over time there was a constant theme to show, and that was adventure horror. The book seems to venture off into weird science fiction and this issue is smack in the face example. Buffy and can fly now and has super powers. Angel is in the book and can fly and has similar powers. There's talk of them being chosen ones. They had sex and instead of Angel turning evil again they created a universe, which is probably the best advert for condoms I've ever seen. Spike shows up in his airship crewed by weird bug creatures. Yeesh. I like weird. Sometimes I like weird for the weird's sake. But all these things have been building up through the entire run of the comic and it doesn't feel like a payoff, but more of a whiskey tango foxtrot.

THE CRAZIES!!!

Well, it's certainly been an interesting week for crazy people. We've got one nutty woman making a tape in which she threatens conservative radio talk show hosts. And in an even more spectacular display of lunacy a guy stormed the Discovery Channel building and took hostages. My world is completely topsy-turvy right now. Its supposed to be the Right Wing that are a bunch of militant nutters. The Left are supposed to be a bunch of tree-hugging pussies. What the hell is going on here?

As much as I love making fun of hardcore liberals, I can't use these two examples as ammunition. These are both cases in which the people involved are clearly off their nuts. We have two people, clearly kooks, that just glommed onto movements on the left. One got way too caught up in the media sparring between conservatives and liberals, which has gotten pretty passionate and ridiculous over the last decade, chose a side and got vicious over it. The other kook watched Al Gore's propaganda piece and made a one person crusade to save the planet and targeted the Discovery Channel in his quest. So yeah, both are loons which probably had a lot of people on the left facepalming.

There's a cult of politics in the air. People follow causes and political ideas with the same zeal as religions. And as we see insane religious zealotry from people who really shouldn't go off their medication, we're seeing this same kooky behavior for those following political or environmental causes. This is the sort of stuff that morons think the Tea Party do, but they really don't. People practically expect this sort of insane behavior now. There's been a few rumors floating about that the BP oil spill, that pipe line busting and the fire this week could possibly be the work of eco-terrorists. Now, this sound like conspiracy theory nonsense, but in a world were an guy straps a homemade bomb to himself and storms the Discovery Channel building because he's ticked off at Kate Plus 8 it almost sounds plausible.

Some people are hard line to the point of stupidity. A commentor on Yahoo about the Discovery Channel situation wrote it off as being "yet another right-wing, teabagger idiot". This person was so blind in his hatred of conservatives that he did not realize that the person involved was a lunatic environmentalist.

Really both sides need to work together to get things working again. The liberals need to realize that their economic ideas don't work at all, and the conservatives need to listen to the liberals about social and environmental issues just to keep things in perspective. Right now, one side has too much power and is trying to force an agenda on the population whether they like it or not. That's leading to a lot of anger. People are angry at policies being inflicted on them. Others are angry that people are angry at the policies.

We need balance. Until then. Keep an eye out for the Crazies.

WHAT A WOMAN WANTS

Driving home from the park it seems Missus Nozz had had enough.

"Have you seen the previews for that new Resident Evil movie? What is up with every other movie being 3D?" She snapped much to my surprise. "It used to be that every once in while there would be a movie in 3D, now its all the time. Why don't they just skip it?"

I wanted to chime in, but she didn't give me the chance.

"I want the stuff to just jump out of the TV! I want to swordfight something! Its been years since Star Trek: The Next Generation!"

"Not to mention Star Wars."

"EXACTLY!! And that was a long time ago! I want to fight a hologram!" She uttered in grim determination. "You want your flying car. I want holograms!"

Gotta say, didn't see that one comin'.

MUSIC!!

OK, no more music to torment people, but we'll still with some They Might Be Giants.



Alright, things are back on track. Off in the side links you'll find one to my Buzz which will let you check out a little super villain tourney that kicks off today. If you have Gmail you can get in on it as well.

See y'all Wednesday. Don't forget to build that little birdhouse in your soul.

The end is nigh!

Its Sunday, August 1, 2010. Welcome of August, you're all doomed. Due to that doom I have turned the comment moderation because Gucci Spam Bombs and the JPI virus are small potatos compared to what is coming.

THE BIG DOOM IS COMING!!!

What you are about to read may shock you, and for that I apologize. I want you all to know that there is hope, and the situation I am about too outline is not cause for utter despair. There have been a lot of seemingly unrelated news stories, that have a very unfortunate connection. The signs are all there.

We turn our attention first to Antarctica and the Icecube. The Icecube is a science station purposed for the finding of neutrinos, which are tiny particles that aren't easily found. What is of note is not the neutrinos, but what is considered background noise by the scientists, Cosmic Rays. More importantly, the pattern in which the Cosmic rays are hitting Earth. It seems that they are hitting the planet from one direction, but there's a distinct lack of Cosmic Rays from the other. Scientists have their theories as to what could be causing so many more Cosmic rays to come from one direction (they theorize a Supernova), but what they've failed to consider is why is there so much less activity from the other direction. What is stopping the cosmic rays?

We now turn our attention to the Straight of Hormuz where there was a mysterious impact with a Japanese oil tanker. The crew of the tanker have said that they don't know what caused the massive dent in the tanker. They claim they saw a flash of light and felt a big impact, but none of the people aboard that ship have any explanation as to what happened. One popular theory points to terrorism as attacks on ocean going vessels is nothing new to them, however there doesn't seem to be evidence of a conventional explosion.

Two seemingly unrelated stories, coming from half the world apart. But as we know, two weird instances are merely a coincidence. It takes three to truly make them a pattern. So what on Earth could possibly link Cosmic Ray patterns and the striking of a Japanese Oil tanker? For our answer, and the third piece of the puzzle, we turn to China.

This happened a few weeks ago, but well within the appropriate timeline for things to fall into place. A UFO was spotted over an airport in China. This is pretty wild in and of itself, but more so is that the fact that the Chinese Government is willing to have dialogues about the sightings. This is something totally new because it used to be they threw people who though they saw UFOs or tried talking about them into prison. So obviously, they're taking this seriously and likely have intelligence that we do not.

Those that observed the object claimed it had a 'lantern-like' appearance. But I ask you, gentle readers, does that image look like a lantern to you? Of course not. I posit that it is indeed something more foreboding. And in the interest of public service I have investigated this matter, and that included calling in some favors from sources I won't disclose, but they have shared with me a picture of the likely source of these phenomena.



I know its a little bit blurry, but you can make out Galactus in the picture which was taken from a really really good telescope. Seems the Mayans knew about Galactus and while we're not sure if their estimated date of his arrival is accurate its still going to be a bad day. Of course this has come to the attention of President which it seems that he's know for quite sometime. The Pop-Star-in-Chief explained that was the reason why he stopped caring about the economy and jobs. He figures if the world is going to get eaten then we might as well spend our remaining time "funemployed", and its no problem with the Government spending money that they don't have since we won't be around anyways.

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to be the fly in Obama's plans, because somebody has to save the world, and it might as well be me. That's right. I'm no quitter! I've already begun building my mighty satellite weapon which I'll be using to kick Galactus's big armored ass. After years of playing Space Invaders I'm ready for him.

Bring it on, you big sum'bitch!

However just in case you don't think I can take Galactus (which means you haven't been here long enough), here's some inspiration for planning your final moments before the planet gets nom'd.

FICTION NOT STRANGE ENOUGH

OK, see what I did up there? I took real life facts and news stories and twisted it into a weirdo jumping off point for a big space action adventure story. This brings us to the crap currently going on in SUPERMAN. In SUPERMAN or hero is currently dealing with societal problems. Now this is being rationalized a number of different ways. Superman fought more human foes and societal corruption back in late 30s and into the 40s when he was introduced. There's thoughts that Superman needs to be taken "down to Earth" so he can better relate to people. There is also the notion that the character needs more realism. These are all crap, and its making for really boring storytelling.

I went and used that nasty word "realism" again. Now, there's got to be a bit of realism in comics. And no I'm not referring to the fanboy definition of terrible shit happening to characters to make it 'real'. I'm talking about human truth. I'm talking about facts. Every good work of fiction has a bit of truth in it. Its how we as readers can connect with even the most fantastic of stories. But we don't want to beat a reader over the head with realism.

If you pound them with too many facts that don't add crucial elements to the story then it can read like a textbook. It'll cease to be entertaining. Same thing if you hammer the reader repeatedly with vows of society. It ends up depressing and not fun to read. Sure it will draw attention to a problem, but with you go on too long all you're doing is lecturing. Greg Rucka delt with the subject of child slavery in his novel "Walking Dead". The issue was handled with a grave seriousness and gave some chilling cold hard facts. These facts added to the drama and urgency of the story. Once again, Rucka got it right.

In comics, specifically superhero comics, there is room for social commentary, but writers can't forget that these are escapist soap operas. Having an issue or two in which superheroes deal with a real world problem like drug abuse or suicide can be a very good and powerful thing, but taking Superman on a year long walking tour of misery is going to do nothing but make readers looking for a good time to look elsewhere.

MUSIC!

Concluding our week on mining Pickle's Pantry Parlour we are going live. Enjoy.



Alright, that's it for today. See you Wednesday and DFTBA.

Costner as Holmes in a Speedo for a Fraction of a Second

It's Sunday, June 27, 2010 and Fedor lost last night. Please send me money because I need money to pay the bookie. If you don't send me money this may be my last blog post for a while. Hard to type with broken fingers.

FRACTION OF A SECOND BEHIND

This video from Hypnos Rêveur got me thinking, which it was supposed to, so Hypnos wins. Thanks a lot, buddy. I was trying to shut my brain off.

Freshman year of college I got stuck in a class that was supposed to make me ponder stuff. We ready different works by different philosophers and the like to try to expose us to different worldviews and broaden or thought processes. It was an alright class. I got a C. The highlight was we watched a video about a bunch of 'New Age' malarkey and immediately following the video I declared the people on it to be "the biggest bunch of Fruit Loops I'd ever seen in my life". Now before the New Agers jump down my throat, there was one broad who put quartz crystals in her cats drinking water to make the cat healthier. She was the sanest one of the bunch. The real loon was the guy who had a psychic rapport with dolphin and they supposedly spoke through him. Although he could in fact be the brightest of the bunch since he figured out a way to make money by having morons sit in an audience and watch him sit in a chair, roll his eyes up in his head, and squeak. Wish I could make bank by impersonating Flipper.

Lunacy aside, on the first day of that class the question proposed to the class, which had a bunch of eighteen year olds hemming and hawing and going bonkers for over an hour was "What is real?" Well the answer is simple: its everything that exists in space and the events that occur in time. However, when you put about twenty eighteen year olds in room and ask that question they can't get at it.

And that is due to a fraction of a second.

There's a lag time between reality and perception of reality. Fortunately its not a very long one. Otherwise I'd get punched in the face before it even registered that the fist was moving. I'd also hit the floor before I processed that I was falling. Brief as it is it can keep people from seeing the truth, because what is does not quite fit in folk's own little reality. They can't understand why anyone could possibly disagree with what they "know" to be true. Visit any internet forum for an example.

So what exists in that split second between reality and perception? Is it the area between sleeping and waking? Is it a world of machines that use people as batteries?

My money is on leprechauns.

THE POSTMAN SAVES THE DAY!

Over a week ago TMZ caught up with Kevin Costner at an airport and asked him what he thought about the BP oil spill in the gulf. His answer was a bit surprising. Seems he was on his way to see what he could do about things. This was far from being a case of a bleeding heart celebrity heading to a disaster area clean off birds and have a candid photo opportunity. Big Kev had a plan, some sweet gear, and was ready to help. Makes me want to go buy a copy of WATERWORLD strictly on principle, especially since a small version of the machine makes an appearance in the movie. And it is nice to see some real action in the clean up effort. A lot of people have asked "what are we gonna do?" Kevin Costner knows and is doing it. The first barges with the equipment are being prepped and ready to go.

Thank you, Kevin Costner.

REVISITING BAKER STREET

I gave SHERLOCK HOLMES another go around last night. This time I was armed with caffeine, sugar, and art supplies as drawing helps keep me away sometimes. My main criticism of the movie still stands. Robert Downey Jr mumbling in a faux British accent does not work for me and he can be saying the cleverest things ever put on screen but it won't matter if I can't understand a word he is saying. However, I did succeed in making it through the movie this time around and in doing so have found it redeemed.

The only thing that did not work for me is Downey. I'm not saying that it was a bad performance, because it wasn't. I'm not saying that his and Guy Richie's take on Sherlock Holmes is not an interesting or valid one, because it was both. I just didn't really care for it.

Aside from Downey there was plenty to like about the movie. The story was interesting. The scenery was had a gray beauty to it. Jude Law was awesome as Watson. The use of Moriarty was brilliant and incredibly well done with respect to the source material. Moriarty was like The Octopus in THE SPIRIT, always there and with his fingers into thing, but you don't actually see him directly, and often you don't he was involved until after the fact. I'm referring to the comics of course, not that movie from a couple years back.

And this brings me around to SCOTT PILGRIM. I found myself enjoying SHERLOCK HOLMES despite the main character. My biggest gripe about the impending SCOTT PILGRIM movie is that after reading the books I can't stand the main character who is a moron. Can I enjoy the SCOTT PILGRIM VERSUS THE WORLD movie because of my new found ability to get past not liking the title character? Probably not. In the case of SHERLOCK HOLMES I could get caught up in the case. There was interesting things afoot and it was at its heart a detective story. SCOTT PILGRIM is a love story about two characters I don't like. I doubt I'll be able to overcome that.

THE TALK OF THE TOWN!!

A little number to go out to one Denis Labelle, who freaking well better do a Dean martin type cover of this song. Because he said so, and I plan to hold him to it.

VIRTUAL GETAWAY

I don't care much for all the talk of augmented reality and the thoughts on what could be the future of gaming. However, the question was posed to me about what I thought about "inhabiting" a virtual world, and its not for me. There's only so much escapism I can handle. But if I had to pick a location in a video that I was going to live in I do have some ideas. I thought about doing this as a Top 10 list, but really there's not enough video game places I'd care to live in.

1: BULLWORTH from the game BULLY. Nice place. Has a comic shop and a boxing gym. There's a carnival nearby. The movie theater looks cool. I could settle in just fine.

2: WAHU ISLAND which we see in WII FIT and WII RESORT. Looks like a fun little vacation spot, just as long as that volcano doesn't erupt.

3: BALAMB from FINAL FANTASY VII. Seems like a nice town and its by the beach and the train station. That and hunting T-Rexasaurs in the woods sounds fun and challenging.

So that's it for me for today, so now it's over to you!

POP QUIZ!

Battle of the eco-warriors! UFC rules. Who would win: Kevin Costner or Al Gore?

If you could live in any location in a video game, where would it be?

What's your favorite movie with a character you don't like?

Remember to comment about the new format. Also, got a new installment of Tales of Night Life up. I know its been a while since I posted a chapter, but hopefully I'll get things back to a more regular basis. See y'all Wednesday.

I'm back. Hide, f*ckers.

I, in an amazing feat of perseverance and intestinal fortitude, have survived another week in Tokepa, Kansas as well as made the trips there and back via Delta Airlines. Next time I'm flying Southwest as even though I may be stuck flying which I absolutely hate I do enjoy a good barrel roll which should break up the monotony of things nicely.

Over the previous week I spent my time plotting revenge upon people. You know who you are. And if you're not sure you're on the list, please enjoy the next few weeks of paranoia and uncertainty. I find it adds a certain zest to life.

I have received over three dozen e-mails in my absence. Most of them are now deleted.

I read Sky Magazine. Repeatedly. That is until I bought a copy of Men's Journal. Which was only nominally more entertaining. I read about Millennials, Brussels, Robert Downey Jr. doing Wing Chun, and kids in San Francisco getting in trouble in school for wearing clothes with the American Flag on Cinco de Mayo. I'll likely be blogging all of these late except for the last one be cause I can handle it here in the few lines.

San Francisco: you, as a city, suck. You take every liberal notion and extrapolate it to awe inspiring stupidity. I hope that Arizona state government adopts a new law to ship every illegal immigrant they round up to you since you're so in love with them. Viva la Raza.

I'll be launching my next Tourney on Google Buzz tonight if all goes well. The subject will be Ladies of Science Fiction and Fantasy.

I've discovered I have four new followers on my blog, which affirms my suspicion that people like me better when I'm gone. Or when the Japanese Pr0n Invasion Virus appears.

Finally, one of my oldest friends posted in the comments here. I swear to God Tim, I thought you were dead. Or in Canada.

7-11 is our last hope!

Everyone thinks it's so great that the CERN LHC managed to work without destroying the world. Yes, the machine that's 17 miles long managed to overcome potential temporal sabotage and the concept that the particles they were trying to see may only be perceivable in a parallel universe in which they are not perceived. Scientists were saved from brown trousering themselves upon discovering that the ten billion dollar machine did not create a black hole that whole suck the planet into it thus making it impossible for them to watch THE BIG BANG THEORY on CBS and, oh yeah, killing us all.

So it's a good day if you care about sub-atomic particles.

Or is it?

It is theorized that black holes also serve as worm holes into parallel dimensions. Y'know, like that Jet Li movie where he fought himself. It ruled. Anyways, creating such things always has ramifications.



We are already at risk from invasion from parallel dimensions. Fortunately, we are prepared. An ad campaign, spear-headed by Al Gore, has made our planet seem like it is doomed and polluted and horrible and stinky hot. This is all to try to fool possible inter-dimensional raiders into thinking we have nothing to offer. In the event that invasion become imminent we will be hiding Olivia Wilde, Christina Hendricks, and Dichen Lachman in an undisclosed location so as not to tempt them further. We are prepared to offer them Lindsey Lohan as a trojan horse. She is really a biological weapon. She volunteered for this after making MEAN GIRLS, forsaking a promising career for the good of mankind.

Be grateful to Lindsey Lohan.

We also have a network of machines ready to repel the invaders. You ever wonder why those convenience stores that are open 24/7 everyday have locks on the doors? Those 'locks' really activate the stores hidden engines which transforms the stores into large combat capable robots. That's why the employees are often so rude. They are all highly trained combat robot pilots. They are instructed not stay in deep cover, so when they are robbed, they are supposed to not resist so that they don't blow their cover.

If you knew how much surveillance footage of supposed convenience store employees killing would be thieves with their bare hands have been destroyed by the government, you're heads would spin. That's the reason YouTube keeps going down. The Government has to remove such videos once they are leaked and then find everyone who did see them and wipe their minds. So if you haven't seen such a video on YouTube, then the odds are you have.

Sleep well, citizens. The secret protectors of the world are well prepared for the Horror's CERN may be unleashing upon us.

Where's my meds?

It's one of those days where my skull is bouncing in about a dozen different directions. Part of me wants to be depressed that my Government seems to currently be composed of a bunch of elitist pricks. Part of is content knowing America has a tendency of dealing with elitist pricks when they act up. Part of me worries a bit about speaking out decrying the Government because it seems the only jobs they're interested in creating are in the IRS.

Part of me is chilling in my own little world. That's not the world where I'm a super successful writer/artist/warrior who is undefeated in the UFC but still manages to put out his webcomic which is widely praised and generates obscene amounts of cash, all the while fending off offers from Hollywood and every major comic book company to work for them. Nope. This is the world that contains my stories and tends to generate plotlines faster than I can sit down and write them. It's a hectic place that has some concrete parts to it, but the areas around those clear areas are murky and formless and just begging for me to shape it.

Part of me is enjoying my current soreness. Comes from honest and productive labor.

Part of me is ready to scream that there's no good television, but really that depends on what night of the week it is since SUPERNATURAL is back on doing new episodes.

Part of me is actively processing new ways to hurt and injure people in hand-to-hand combat. My bunkai data processor is always running deep within my head meats.

Part of me wonders if this is normal processes. Have I finally just snapped? Am I well rounded or schizophrenic? My mind is pinballing out of control! What could possibly provide me with the calming yet compelling target to focus on?!

Oh wait.

New issue of POWER GIRL came out this week.

Nevermind.

I'm good.

Thanks.