There have been a lot of changes to the DC Universe since it was rebooted last year with the new 52. One of the characters that has experienced the more drastic changes to its history is Superman. Superman is no longer married to Lois Lane, has quit the Daily Planet, and has become a social crusader. Very interesting so far.
But he wouldn't be a superhero without a love interest. Enter Wonder Woman. In their Justice League series, DC showcased the budding love of these two individuals. All the while Batman is watching. Click here.
WTF, why has Batman become a little creeper? Would it kill DC to make Batman a fun character again. He doesn't necessarily need to be the Adam West Batman, but does he have to be so serious all of the time. I love Batman as the dark brooding character, but it just seems over done now.
So I'm reading this book called The Alternative Hero. The story centers around Clive, a struggling music journalist who is trying to interview Lance Webster. Webster is the reclusive lead singer of the Thieving Magpies, Clive's favorite band, and whom just so happened has moved onto Clive's block. This sends Clive on a quest to find out find out why the Magpies broke up so suddenly. I'm just about half way through the book, so I don't know where it will take me, but I am really enjoying the ride.
One aspect of the novel that really has hooked me is the music references. The story takes place in the early to mid 2000s, however the height of popularity for the Thieving Magpies was the late 80s to mid 90s. This was during the height of the alternative music scene. I absolutely love this genre of music. At the beginning of each chapter, on the top of the opening page we are provided with a "suggested" song or album to listen to. What's cool is the songs or albums are relevant to the particular events of the chapter and to the over arching story.
For me, this small feature adds so much to the story telling process. If you are not familiar with this genre of music, the author is allowing you to hear exactly what music inspires the hero of the story, and how that particular piece of music is reflective of the character's emotional state. Clive lives and breaths music, so knowing the music that inspires him gives us the reader a greater connection to the character.
If you are a big fan of music, I would suggest you check out this book. The chapter I am about to begin suggests we listen to the album Voices of Animals and Men by The Young Knives. Below is a track off that album. Enjoy!
About
two weeks ago, a bomb was dropped in the entertainment world. Disney announced
that it was purchasing Lucasfilm, which includes Star Wars and Indiana Jones,
for $4 Billion dollars. That is billion with a B. But that wasn't all. Disney
proceeded to announce that production would begin on a new Star Wars trilogy,
amply titling the new film Episode 7. Since then, the Internet has been a buzz
on who would write the script, would any of the original actors return to their
iconic roles, and in what capacity would George Lucas serve?
Slowly
or quickly depending on whom you speak with, new information has begun to leak
out. I won't get into all of the details here, but if you are interested in a
good read, Paste Magazine and Superherohype.com have great articles on this
subject matter, which you can read here and here. It's been awhile since I have watched
any of the Star Wars films, so I decided to pop one into the old DVD play and
get reacquainted with an old friend.
Unfortunately
I watched Episode III, Revenge of the Sith. It's not that Revenge of the Sith
is a bad movie, it isn't. In fact it is the best out of the prequel trilogy.
Watching it just reminded me of how much of a missed opportunity the prequels
were.
Now
this isn't going to be a blog post bad mouthing the prequels. There are plenty
of those out there. What I mean with missed opportunity is the over use of CGI
graphics. One of the absolute best things about the original trilogy was the
sets and the models. For many months skill craftsman and carpenters built Jabba
the Hut's fortress, Yoda's home on Dagobah, or the Death Star. This created a
realism that had never before been seen in SciFi. And ultimately it added, in
my opinion, to the overall success of the series. The viewer was truly transported
to a galaxy far, far away.
(Looks so awesome and realistic.)
In
the prequels, the filmmakers completely abandoned this in favor of creating
everything through CGI. While they were able to create some never before seen
worlds, the SFX did not age well. As I watched Episode III, a major distraction
for me was all of the actors seemed to pop out from the background. That is
because everything was shot against a green screen. As CGI graphics advance,
the flaws of its predecessors become much more noticeable. The perfect examples
are the prequels.
(Is this even real?)
Now
if you are able to watch the original trilogy, without the CGI alterations, you
will see SFX that have aged gracefully. Are they perfect? Absolutely not. Yet
when you see the Millennium Falcon, not once do you doubt whether it is real or
not. That is because it is real. Someone actually built it. It physically
exists. When I watch the prequels everything looks cartoony, and I don't
believe that the ships, creatures, or worlds are real. In fact it becomes very
distracting to the story telling process.
What
my great hope is, with this new trilogy is that the film makers return to
classic style of movie making, and use some of the special effects techniques
that made the original trilogy so special. Real sets, the use of models, and for God sakes a puppet Yoda!!
Well, here we go. My final installment of my favorite moments from Community. I had it planned perfectly, I was going to post this blog the week of Oct. 19th to consign with the season 4 premiere, but NBC had to go all NBCy and screw up my plan. Thanks NBC!!! Yet at the same time, it fits perfectly with the legend of Community. Throughout the show's entire run, it has had limited to no promotion, pulled mid-season, then put back on, and a fan base that holds out hope that the new shows will actually make it to air.
Now without further a due, my favorite moments from season 3. Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps
One thing I have always loved about Community is that it rewards its fans who have stuck with them for their entire run. This episode is the perfect example. In season 1, Professor Slater said Beetlejuice, season 2 Britta said Beetlejuice, and finally in this episode, Annie says Beetlejuice. And sure enough Beetlejuice shows up. Much love. Not only that, Community keeps its tradition alive of awesome holiday episodes.
Remedial Chaos Theory
This episode is unbelievable. It brings into account string theory and shows seven separate timelines and what could of happened to our characters.Plus at the end of the episode we get an appearance of the evil Star Trek goatees. Always classic. This episode is a perfect example of how brilliant Community is.
Digital Estate Planning
Any child of the 80s who had an NES will get a warm fuzzy feeling watching this episode. In order to get his inheritance Pierce must beat a video game his father created. Pierce's father created this obstacle in order to shame Pierce. Yet again, this episode showcases the writers ability to show how the best in their characters.
The First Chang Dynasty
Chang. What more can you say. He is crazy and he adds some much to the show. Whether it is forcing Troy and Pierce to accompany him to the Valentine's Day dance in elegant ladies pant's suits, playing the keyitar, or creating the Changlorious bastards. This episode might be his best, he becomes the emperor of Greendale. It jumps the shark a little bit, but we the viewer are very glad they have done so.
Digital Exploration of Interior Design Part 1 & Pillows and Blankets Part 2
These two episodes are the perfect example of why Community is one of the GREATEST SHOWS EVER!!! The first time I watched these episodes, I laughed so hard, I cried for about 10mins straight, and as a result I wrote a blog about it here. Please do yourself a favor and watch these episodes. I need more people to talk to about it.
Today, I read this article on a buddy's Facebook page, and I am still giggling like a little school girl. Apparently whenever the movie Roadhouse is on television, Bill Murray and his brothers call Mitch Glazer husband to Kelly Lynch, star of Roadhouse. They call to inform him that: "Kelly’s having sex with Patrick Swayze right now. They’re doing it. He’s throwing her against the rocks". (In Roadhouse there is an intense sex scene with Lynch and co-star Patrick Swayze.)
Apparently the Murray brothers do this every single time Roadhouse is on television. And apparently Roadhouse is on TV ALOT. And yet they never miss an occasion, much to Lynch's dismay. Later in the article Lynch mention's that "Bill even called from Russia once to let them know". I do not know what I find funnier, the shear commitment they have made to calling every single time, or the fact at some point the Murray brothers sat down, talked about this and then decided to do this.
Point is, Bill Murray was and is a total badass. In Stripes he volunteers to be the Big Toe, in Groundhog's Day he showed us that getting lost in time could be fun. But the ultimate, he is the one, the only, PETER VENKMAN in Ghostbusters. (In all honesty though, Egon is and always will be my favorite.) So in short, I want to hang out with Bill Murray.
The past few nights, I have found myself remembering my dreams. This is pretty unusual for me, because I am a very heavy sleeper. Once my head hits the pillow, I am out like a light. So the remembering of my dreams have been a pretty interesting experience for me thus far. The best way for me to describe it, is I know that I am asleep and dreaming, yet I still enter the dream. I then remember what occurs.
My dreams unfortunately are nothing psychedelic or surrealist in nature. I'm not flying, encountering monsters, or seeing artists shapes and colours. In fact most of my dreams are pretty ordinary in nature. I speaking to someone I know, or I am participating in daily routines. But if there is one thing that maybe unusual in them is heightened the emotional state of the person or persons I am interacting with.
For example, one dream I had the other night was with my next door neighbor. He is in his mid-90s and is in ill health. I have known this individual my entire life, and I cannot remember a time I have seen him very angry. But in my dream, he is beyond furious. He is shouting and screaming about his health and how he is very upset he cannot do the things you used to be able to do. He ends up breaking a window in a door at his home. Which is really interesting because when I was about five, I broke a window in a door at his house.
I wonder if humans are able to sense the emotional state of others around them, and if when we are asleep we enter into a hyper-awareness. There's a few more dreams that I have had, that are similar to this situation, but I do not remember them. It is like as soon as I awake in the morning, the dreams are as clear as day. But as my day progresses, I completely forget them.
Maybe down the road I should invest in a "dream" journal and record them? There might be some type of story located in these dreams that I should write down.
I did my radio show this morning on WXAV 88.3FM Chicago and www.wxav.com. (The name of the show is The Rockology.) The theme was great new music from 2012. So far this year has been pretty awesome with new releases. New Murder By Death, Mumford & Sons, and Local H have not disappointed. Here is a listing of some of the tunes I have been digging thus far.
1. Local H: Cold Manor, off of the new album: Hallelujah! I'm a Bum. Just a hard rocking romper stomper of an album. Here is my favorite track of the album. Performed live in NY earlier in the year. The album does a really cool "Abbey Road" style of songs blending into one another.
2. The XX: Reunion, off of the new album: Coexit
This is a very dark, malonic album. It gradually builds upon itself as the album progresses. I especially love the Jamaican drums on the song. It really adds a nice little flare to the song. Here is a great performance of the song at the equally great KEXP in Seattle
3. Green Day: Stay the Night, off of the new album: !Uno!
This is just a fun song. It reminds of mid-90s Green Day. The days of Dookie or Nimrod. In fact I really don't know why I like this album so much, but I really do. It's just a fund album and sometimes it is important to listen to just fun music.
4. Murder By Death: I Came Around, off of the album: Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon
My mind was literally blown after I finished hearing this song for the first time. It is so good. Then I heard the album, and I was equally impressed. If this album does not blow up Murder By Death, I do not know what will. It seems like they have been a band that is always on the verge of becoming very well known.
5. Bruce Springsteen: Easy Money, off of the new album: Wrecking Ball
I'll be the first to admit that I wasn't the biggest fan of the Boss until only a few years ago. (The album that hooked me was called Magic) But the more I dive into his catalog, the more I find myself enjoying it. This year he released a fantastic solo album. Especially love the use of the fiddle in this song.
6. Mumford & Sons: I Will Wait, off of the new album: Babel
Epic. That is the only way I can describe this song. If this album is half as good as this song, Mumford & Sons just became a very important band.
