Yesterday when I was at work my Realtor, David, called to ask me to meet him for lunch today so that he could pick my brain about things like blogging and social networking.
He’s looking to “re-brand” his business and wants to make use of some of the advantages that the Web has to offer in that regard.
So I agreed to meet him at the Panera Bread near the comic shop, since I had to go there anyway, and because they have free WiFi, which would give me the option to bring along my laptop and show him a few things online.
Beyond just wanting to get my input, though, he asked me if I would like to be “part of the team” and do some consulting and even take on the blogging responsibilities.
We still have to hammer out some of the details. By which I mean I’m going to wail on his kneecaps with a hammer until he agrees to pay me what I want.
I kid, I kid. (Hides hammer behind his back.)
Oh, and for those of you who were wondering, David’s brother-in-law loved the Heroic Portrait I did.
Beyond that, not too much of interest has happened since my last proper post.
I did discover yesterday morning that I’ve developed a new super-power: making a candy bar totally disappear without actually eating it.
I’d gone to the machine in the break room, put my money in, made my selection, then reached in to grab my candy bar.
As I was picking it up, my fingers did their whole “Screw this” thing, and decided that they didn’t feel like holding onto it. Though there was only like an inch between my hand and the bottom of the dispensing area of the machine, apparently I somehow created a wormhole into which the candy bar fell, transporting it completely away from this plane of existence.
Seriously, the thing was just gone. I dug around, even pulling up the foam lining to find out if it had somehow fallen under it. Nope. Just gone.
I can’t help but wonder if there’s some way to apply this phenomenon to interstellar space travel, but I suspect that its application is limited to making me shell out another dollar to buy a replacement candy bar.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
New Baby, "Old" Footage
First of all, congratulations to Scott and Stacy, who welcomed Tristram Scott Hawks into the world this morning.
Now for the actual reason for this post. The people behind the Watchmen movie have put up a viral site based on the fictional right-wing newspaper featured in the comics, The New Frontiersman (here's hoping they do a Nova Express site to balance things out). Among the features are "declassified documents," "crime scene photos," and other little gewgaws, including this "1970" news report on 10 Years of Dr. Manhattan:
Now for the actual reason for this post. The people behind the Watchmen movie have put up a viral site based on the fictional right-wing newspaper featured in the comics, The New Frontiersman (here's hoping they do a Nova Express site to balance things out). Among the features are "declassified documents," "crime scene photos," and other little gewgaws, including this "1970" news report on 10 Years of Dr. Manhattan:
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Does This Excite You? Not Really, But The Monty Python Thing Is Cool
I didn’t get much sleep last night – seriously, if someone out there has a Voodoo fetish doll of me and is sticking it with pins when I’m trying to sleep, knock it the hell off – so the odds that I’ll post anything coherent or in any way meaningful are even worse than they are when I’m well-rested.
So, in lieu of an actual post, please to enjoy the following video clips.
Does this excite you? No, but it does make me laugh (and kind of skeeves me out):
(Found via a comment thread at Slacktivist)
Note how bored the guy playing the organ looks, and watch for the little blonde kid who clearly can’t believe what he’s seeing during the seemingly impromptu musical number.
Whenever I hear/read about “glorified bodies,” I always picture people who look like the not-quite finished clones of Hank and Dean on The Venture Bros:
Also, I don’t really view losing my junk and turning into a Ken doll as “glorified.”
BTW, in the Left Behind books it’s stated that everyone in a glorified body is set physically at the age of 32 or 33. Sure, that’s a plus if you’re 60, but what if you’re, say, 21?
Why I love Monty Python:
(Found via Mark Evanier’s blog)
And finally, you had to know that the final Bush-era episode of The Daily Show would have some great moments. Watch the full episode here.
So, in lieu of an actual post, please to enjoy the following video clips.
Does this excite you? No, but it does make me laugh (and kind of skeeves me out):
(Found via a comment thread at Slacktivist)
Note how bored the guy playing the organ looks, and watch for the little blonde kid who clearly can’t believe what he’s seeing during the seemingly impromptu musical number.
Whenever I hear/read about “glorified bodies,” I always picture people who look like the not-quite finished clones of Hank and Dean on The Venture Bros:
Also, I don’t really view losing my junk and turning into a Ken doll as “glorified.”
BTW, in the Left Behind books it’s stated that everyone in a glorified body is set physically at the age of 32 or 33. Sure, that’s a plus if you’re 60, but what if you’re, say, 21?
Why I love Monty Python:
(Found via Mark Evanier’s blog)
And finally, you had to know that the final Bush-era episode of The Daily Show would have some great moments. Watch the full episode here.
It Pays To Be A Pessimist
I left home this morning operating on the assumption that my drive was going to suck.
After all, it had snowed yesterday, and there would undoubtedly be massive amounts of people streaming into DC from all over the area for the inauguration.
Turns out I was wrong. In fact, this morning's drive was one of the most pleasant, frustration-free commutes I've ever had.
So color me pleasantly surprised, in a way that I wouldn't have been if I'd not been expecting the worst.
(One could argue that if I'd been optimistic I would have been rewarded for my optimism by having things work out well. I wouldn't argue that, and, in fact, would ignore anyone who did.)
I'm guessing that everyone else had assumed that the drive was going to suck today as well and decided to stay home, thus making traffic extremely light.
After all, it had snowed yesterday, and there would undoubtedly be massive amounts of people streaming into DC from all over the area for the inauguration.
Turns out I was wrong. In fact, this morning's drive was one of the most pleasant, frustration-free commutes I've ever had.
So color me pleasantly surprised, in a way that I wouldn't have been if I'd not been expecting the worst.
(One could argue that if I'd been optimistic I would have been rewarded for my optimism by having things work out well. I wouldn't argue that, and, in fact, would ignore anyone who did.)
I'm guessing that everyone else had assumed that the drive was going to suck today as well and decided to stay home, thus making traffic extremely light.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Wasted Effort
I spent most of the day working on a picture that no one is going to see, or rather, one that will never be posted here in its entirety (my mom is one of my regular readers, after all), so really it was even more of a wasted effort than usual.
Still, while I'm not about to post the full picture - or go through the effort it would take to "clean up" the picture by drawing on some clothes - I was fairly proud of how well the boot turned out, so I figured I'd at least post that much:
That's actually about all that I can show you, actually.
So if I'm not going to post the result, why did I spend the day drawing a naughty (extremely naughty) picture? Well, why not?
Really, that's the only answer I have. I liked the original image, decided I would step just a little bit outside of my usual boundaries - I hardly ever draw nudes, and I've never drawn anyone that nude before - and just generally kill some time.
Not much went on today, as, having the day off, I followed the Sunday protocol of doing laundry and not much of anything else.
It snowed a bit, then started to melt right away, but not enough of it melted, so I'm sure that between the lingering snow - and the people who were traumatized by the fact that it had snowed - and inauguration traffic, my commute tomorrow will be lots of fun.
Still, while I'm not about to post the full picture - or go through the effort it would take to "clean up" the picture by drawing on some clothes - I was fairly proud of how well the boot turned out, so I figured I'd at least post that much:
That's actually about all that I can show you, actually.
So if I'm not going to post the result, why did I spend the day drawing a naughty (extremely naughty) picture? Well, why not?
Really, that's the only answer I have. I liked the original image, decided I would step just a little bit outside of my usual boundaries - I hardly ever draw nudes, and I've never drawn anyone that nude before - and just generally kill some time.
Not much went on today, as, having the day off, I followed the Sunday protocol of doing laundry and not much of anything else.
It snowed a bit, then started to melt right away, but not enough of it melted, so I'm sure that between the lingering snow - and the people who were traumatized by the fact that it had snowed - and inauguration traffic, my commute tomorrow will be lots of fun.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
The Saturday Do-Over
The thing I like about having a Monday off – apart from simply having a Monday off – is that it’s like having two Saturdays. It turns Sunday into a Saturday do-over.
Not that I really took advantage of my do-over, but that’s not the point.
As for what I actually did, I got up, sat around, killed multiple hours doing nothing in particular, and then realizing sometime around 2 PM that I hadn’t eaten anything but a banana all day and deciding that I should do something about that.
I did some more nothing in particular before finally showering, dressing, and heading out into the world to pick up a couple of things I’d forgotten yesterday, get some cash from an ATM – at a Giant that actually does have a Chevy Chase ATM inside – and pick up some food from McDonald’s.
And that’s pretty much all I’ve done with my Saturday do-over.
The Future Is Now Department:
As mentioned in an earlier post, this week I watched the new episode of Smallville, even though it’s been nearly two years since I stopped watching the show.
There were two reasons I wanted to see this particular episode.
The first was that it featured the appearance of Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, and Lightning Lad of the Legion of Super-Heroes.
The second was that the episode was written by comic book writer Geoff Johns.
Johns is something of a polarizing figure in comics; people tend to either worship him or despise him.
I don’t fall into either extreme, but in general I do enjoy his work.
As for the episode itself, it was clear that Johns was hampered by the requirements of writing a standard episode – even if it was a “special” episode – of Smallville, so it contained a lot of the aspects of the show that led me to stop watching it.
That being said, the Legion elements were entertaining, though I have to say that I didn’t much care for the person they got to play Lightning Lad, or the manner in which he was characterized. Of course, the characterization seemed to be tied inextricably to the actor playing him. A review at i09.com described it as the “Ron Weasley-ing” of the character, which is a pretty apt description.
Some people complained about the acting skills of the girl playing Saturn Girl, but on Smallville it’s kind of difficult to take note of particular instances of bad acting, especially when Kristin Kreuk is around.
I did like Cosmic Boy – both in terms of the actor and the characterization. He was exactly the sort of humorless dick that he should be (and that Lightning Lad should have been as well), and was clearly established as the Legion’s resident historian.
Some of the little inside jokes were entertaining, such as Lightning Lad asking Clark, “Where’s your cape?” and then later remarking on there being “no flights, no tights,” which is a standing – and, on a show about Superman, ridiculous – rule of production on the show.
The reference to a “Levitz Institute” in the 31st Century was also a nice touch.
As for the story itself…meh. Like I said, standard Smallville fare.
I was surprised, given that the show featured an appearance by a character who wields an axe that can cut through anything, that no one got decapitated.
In pretty much any given comic by Johns there’s at least a 75% chance that someone will get decapitated (which is part of the reason so many people despise him; his stories are often extremely violent).
There was a set-up for additional appearances by the Legion in the, umm, future, so we’ll see if they make another appearance in the 21st Century, or if Clark makes a trip to the 31st.
The close-up shots of the Legion Flight Rings were pretty cool, but given Smallville’s history of blatant product placement, I suspect that at some point DC Direct will be producing a line of Legion Flight Ring replicas.
Not that I view that as a bad thing, though the irritating thing about the DC Direct replicas of jewelry or other equipment is that they come with a disclaimer stating that they’re not designed to be worn. If you’re a big enough nerd to want to buy a replica Flight Ring, then you’re damn sure going to be a big enough nerd to want to wear the thing.
(Personally, I’m not quite a big enough nerd to want to shell out money for a Legion Flight Ring replica.)
In addition to the Legion appearance on Smallville, a character from the future made an appearance on another show based on DC Comics characters. Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth, teamed up with Batman on this week’s Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
I’ve been waiting for this ever since I saw Kamandi appear in the opening title sequence on the first episode.
However, I was a bit disappointed. The format of the show tends to follow a pattern of starting off the show in the midst of things, with Batman teamed up with one particular character, and then quickly wrapping up the action, followed by a longer story in which Batman teams up with yet another character.
I was hoping that the Kamandi team-up would be the main story, but alas, it was only the shorter opening sequence.
Still, what we did get to see was pretty cool.
Much cooler than the Legion’s appearance on Smallville.
Not that I really took advantage of my do-over, but that’s not the point.
As for what I actually did, I got up, sat around, killed multiple hours doing nothing in particular, and then realizing sometime around 2 PM that I hadn’t eaten anything but a banana all day and deciding that I should do something about that.
I did some more nothing in particular before finally showering, dressing, and heading out into the world to pick up a couple of things I’d forgotten yesterday, get some cash from an ATM – at a Giant that actually does have a Chevy Chase ATM inside – and pick up some food from McDonald’s.
And that’s pretty much all I’ve done with my Saturday do-over.
The Future Is Now Department:
As mentioned in an earlier post, this week I watched the new episode of Smallville, even though it’s been nearly two years since I stopped watching the show.
There were two reasons I wanted to see this particular episode.
The first was that it featured the appearance of Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, and Lightning Lad of the Legion of Super-Heroes.
The second was that the episode was written by comic book writer Geoff Johns.
Johns is something of a polarizing figure in comics; people tend to either worship him or despise him.
I don’t fall into either extreme, but in general I do enjoy his work.
As for the episode itself, it was clear that Johns was hampered by the requirements of writing a standard episode – even if it was a “special” episode – of Smallville, so it contained a lot of the aspects of the show that led me to stop watching it.
That being said, the Legion elements were entertaining, though I have to say that I didn’t much care for the person they got to play Lightning Lad, or the manner in which he was characterized. Of course, the characterization seemed to be tied inextricably to the actor playing him. A review at i09.com described it as the “Ron Weasley-ing” of the character, which is a pretty apt description.
Some people complained about the acting skills of the girl playing Saturn Girl, but on Smallville it’s kind of difficult to take note of particular instances of bad acting, especially when Kristin Kreuk is around.
I did like Cosmic Boy – both in terms of the actor and the characterization. He was exactly the sort of humorless dick that he should be (and that Lightning Lad should have been as well), and was clearly established as the Legion’s resident historian.
Some of the little inside jokes were entertaining, such as Lightning Lad asking Clark, “Where’s your cape?” and then later remarking on there being “no flights, no tights,” which is a standing – and, on a show about Superman, ridiculous – rule of production on the show.
The reference to a “Levitz Institute” in the 31st Century was also a nice touch.
As for the story itself…meh. Like I said, standard Smallville fare.
I was surprised, given that the show featured an appearance by a character who wields an axe that can cut through anything, that no one got decapitated.
In pretty much any given comic by Johns there’s at least a 75% chance that someone will get decapitated (which is part of the reason so many people despise him; his stories are often extremely violent).
There was a set-up for additional appearances by the Legion in the, umm, future, so we’ll see if they make another appearance in the 21st Century, or if Clark makes a trip to the 31st.
The close-up shots of the Legion Flight Rings were pretty cool, but given Smallville’s history of blatant product placement, I suspect that at some point DC Direct will be producing a line of Legion Flight Ring replicas.
Not that I view that as a bad thing, though the irritating thing about the DC Direct replicas of jewelry or other equipment is that they come with a disclaimer stating that they’re not designed to be worn. If you’re a big enough nerd to want to buy a replica Flight Ring, then you’re damn sure going to be a big enough nerd to want to wear the thing.
(Personally, I’m not quite a big enough nerd to want to shell out money for a Legion Flight Ring replica.)
In addition to the Legion appearance on Smallville, a character from the future made an appearance on another show based on DC Comics characters. Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth, teamed up with Batman on this week’s Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
I’ve been waiting for this ever since I saw Kamandi appear in the opening title sequence on the first episode.
However, I was a bit disappointed. The format of the show tends to follow a pattern of starting off the show in the midst of things, with Batman teamed up with one particular character, and then quickly wrapping up the action, followed by a longer story in which Batman teams up with yet another character.
I was hoping that the Kamandi team-up would be the main story, but alas, it was only the shorter opening sequence.
Still, what we did get to see was pretty cool.
Much cooler than the Legion’s appearance on Smallville.
Ah, Vindication
Quite some time ago, I made this post in which I asserted that the image being used for an online dating service ad that supposedly depicted one of their available single members located in Leesburg was, in fact, adult model Sydney Moon.
I recognized her, and the specific picture, but I couldn't find the original picture that was used to fully prove my assertion.
That's no longer the case.
Here we see the original picture of Sydney:
Of course, this doesn't matter to anyone but me, but this is my blog, so...
I recognized her, and the specific picture, but I couldn't find the original picture that was used to fully prove my assertion.
That's no longer the case.
Here we see the original picture of Sydney:
Of course, this doesn't matter to anyone but me, but this is my blog, so...
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