KPB Entry 2.5

4-23-06. 6:34 AM, local time.

Nikki requested more pictures of my brother, so here are most of the ones I have taken so far.

Cory about to put a cap in Charlie's @$$.

Charlie and our mom.

May playing with some kids.

May vamping it up in Sue's bug-eye sunglasses.

KPB Entry 2

4-22-06. 6:16 local time.

About an hour ago we wrapped up lunch with May and most of her immediate family (her dad skipped out since my dad was not going to be here).

The families.

The matriarchs.

Cory, one of my brother's freinds from high school who is now teaching English in Japan, is a P-I-M-P!

May and my mom.

May and I. She is one foot five inches shorter than I am and for some reason my brother gets a kick out of that. All I have to say about it is she is lucky I am a freindly god and the little villagers need not fear me. ;)

Sue, Kim, and May. Somehow I think it is appropriate that my brother's fiancee is the one with her tongue sticking out.

Korea Photo-Blogging Entry 1

Well, since I have internet access in my hotel room for the low, low price of $5 a day I am going to go ahead and try a little experiment in extemperaneous photo-blogging and off-the-cuff commentary from my adventures in the Land of Morning Calm. Here is the first entry:

4-22-06. 1pm local time.

Here's the hotel room.

Here's a shot out of the room window.

Here's another shot out my window.

Here is a shot looking down from my hotel room window into the courtyard where Charlie is getting married.

The Korean elf-shoes my mom has to wear with her hanbok. See, I haven't even been here 24 hours and already I am being a smart-arse. And I wonder why people don't like me.

A close-up of the stiching on the shoes.

Another view of the shoes and an example of why James will never be a product photographer.

Four Color Commentary - Books Shipped 4-19-2006

Sorry there is no actual commentary in the Four Color Commentary section this week however I have two things going on. First I have just not been able to write of late. Haven’t been in the mood and when I sit down to do it no words will come. C’est la vie. Second I am going to Korea for a week and some change to attend my brother’s wedding and do some touristy things. I wanted to get this list up before I headed out.

See you guys on the flip side!

• Annihilation: Nova #1 (of 4)
• Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, Writers
• Kev Walker, Penciller
• Rick Magyar, Inker

• Birds of Prey #93
• Gail Simone, Writer
• Paulo Siqueira, Penciller
• Robin Riggs, Inker

• Bite Club: Vampire Crime Unit #1 (of 5)
• Howard Chaykin & David Tischman, Writers
• David Hahn, Artist

• Captain America #17
• Ed Brubaker, Writer
• Mike Perkins, Artist

• Conan #27
• Kurt Busiek, Writer
• Timothy Truman, Artist

• Conan: Book of Thoth #2
• Kurt Busiek and Len Wein, Writers
• Kelley Jones, Artist

• Daredevil #84
• Ed Brubaker, Writer
• Michael Lark & Stefano Gaudiano, Artists

• Ex Machina Special #1 (of 2)
• Brian K. Vaughn, Writer
• Chris Sprouse, Penciller
• Karl Story, Inker

• Fury: Peacemaker #3 (of 6)
• Garth Ennis, Writer
• Darick Robertson, Penciller
• Jimmy Palmiotti, Inker

• JLA Classified #20
• Gail Simone, Writer
• Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Penciller
• Sean Phillips, Inker

• JSA Classified #11
• Stuart Moore, Writer
• Paul Gulacy, Penciller
• Jimmy Palmiotti, Inker

• Justice #5
• Jim Kruger & Alex Ross, Writers
• Doug Braithwaite & Alex Ross, Art

• Man-Bat #1 (of 5)
• Bruce Jones, Writer
• Mike Huddleston, Artist

• Nextwave #4
• Warren Ellis, Writer
• Stuart Immonen, Penciller
• Wade von Grawbadger, Inker

• Red Sonja #9
• Michael Avon Oeming, Writer
• Mel Rubi & Pablo Marcos, Artists

• Red Sonja/Claw #2 (of 4)
• John Laymn, Writer
• Andy Smith, Artist

• Rising Stars: Untouchable #3
• Fiona Avery, Writer
• Brent Anderson, Artist

• Sable & Fortune #4 (of 4)
• Brendan Cahill, Writer
• Laurenn McCubbin, Artist

• Sgt. Rock: The Prophecy #4 (of 6)
• Joe Kubert, Everything

• Spider-Woman: Origin #5 (of 5)
• Brian Michael Bendis & Brian Reed, Writers
• Jonathan Luna & Joshua Luna, Layouts

• Squadron Supreme #2
• J. Michael Straczynski, Writer
• Gary Frank, Artist

• Wolverine: Origins #1
• Daniel Way, Writer
• Steve Dillon, Artist

• X-Men #185
• Peter Milligan, Writer
• Salvador Larroca, Artist

TPB:

• Batman: Thrillkiller
• Howard Chaykin, Writer
• Dan Brereton, Artist

Four Color Commentary - Books Shipped 4-12-06

Albion #4 (of 6)
Alan Moore, Leah Moore & John Reppion, Writers
Shane Oakley, Penciller
George Freeman, Inker

Is it wrong that I am actually more excited about the two adds from Titan Books in this issue than I was the issue itself? I am certain most of this comes from the time that has passed between the publication of issues 3 and 4 of this series. I read a lot of comics on a monthly basis, not to mention real books, magazines, newspapers, and websites, so there are times where I have trouble keeping track of everything I have read in just a month. Of course when there is more than just a month between issues I really start to have trouble remembering where the story left off, therefore I spent most of the first pass through this issue trying to remember who was whom and the like. Once I get more caught up on my bagging and boarding project and come up with a better filing system for my comics I am going to start keeping limited series aside until the series is complete. This should help because right now I couldn’t be arsed to try and track down the first three issues of this series to reacquaint myself with the characters and goings on.


Annihilation: Super-Skrull #1 (of 4)
Javier Grillo-Marxuach, Writer
Greg Titus, Penciller

The Annihilation event is slowly growing on me. I was fully expecting to not like this issue since, as a general rule, the Skrulls just bug me, however I found myself really enjoying the book. I like how the Super-Skrull himself has been cast in the role of the old soldier, doubting himself at times and seemingly concerned more with his duty than the petty fights that characterize the Skrull empire. It is a pleasant change to read a story in which the Skrulls appear and they are not jester-like in their behavior, although the Baroness’ behavior was a bit clichéd and I thought something more interesting could have been done with her. Now I am genuinely excited about the next Annihilation book coming out.


Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis #41
Kurt Busiek, Writer
Butch Guice, Artist

Mmmm. Kurt add some more buckle to the swash he set up in the first issue of this number one-less relaunch. From his behavior in this issue I am beginning to suspect that the Dweller in the Depths may be a character we are all too familiar with, however we shall see. I enjoyed this issue immensily and hope that my LCS will have this added to my pull list for the next issue so I do not have to search all over creation. It appears as though this book is the first sleeper hit of OYL as I cannot find this book anywhere in Houston and had to go to two shops in College Station to put my grubby little paws on a copy.


Crisis Aftermath: The Battle for Bludhaven #1 (of 6)
Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti, Writers
Dan Jurgens & Jimmy Palmiotti, Artists

Gak! I am not sure what to say about this book except that I am a little irritated that I let the comicsblogoweb convince me that something by Gray and Palmiotti might be worth reading. There are WAY too many new characters introduced in this issue and quite frankly I am wondering how many cities in the DCU need to stand in for New Orleans. Although the more I think about it, the more I think Bludhaven is a mixed metaphor for Iraq and New Orleans. I think this is a series that I will continue to pick up because of pure bloody-mindedness, but I do not have high hopes for the series. That having been said I thought the Silent Majority was a funny character, but a bit chatty for a character with Silent in it’s name.


Exiles #79
Tony Bedard, Writer
Paul Pelletier, Penciller
Rick Magyar, Inker

Much like many of the other places on the World Tour the Exiles have been on recently, I am unfamiliar with the Future Imperfect world and so I came to the table without any preconceptions, except my general feeling of unease with the series. I was pleasantly surprised by this issue as I enjoyed it from beginning to almost end. I found the Maestro character interesting, not terribly surprising considering he is a Peter David creation, and I am intrigued enough by the world to consider picking up the Hulk: Future Imperfect miniseries if I can find it lurking in a dollar bin somewhere.


The Rest:

• Batman Year 100 #3 (of 4)
• Paul Pope, Wroter & Artist

• B.P.R.D. The Universal Machine #1
• Mike Mignola & Jon Arcudi, Writers
• Guy Davis, Arist

• DMZ #6
• Brian Wood, Writer
• Riccardo Burchielli & Brian Wood, Artists

• Fables #48
• Bill Willingham, Writer
• Mark Buckingham, Penciller
• Steve Leialona, Inker

• Green Arrow #61
• Judd Winick, Writer
• Scott McDaniel, Penciller
• Andy Owens, Inker

• Legends of the Dark Knight #203
• Christos N. Gage, Writer
• Ron Wagner, Penciller
• Bill Reinhold, Inker

• Loveless #6
• Brian Azarello, Writer
• Danijel Zezelj, Artist

• Nightwing #119
• Bruce Jones, Writer
• Joe Dodd, Penciller
• Bit, Inker

• Ultimate Extinction #4 (of 5)
• Warren Ellis, Writer
• Brandon Peterson, Artist

• Uncanny X-Men #472
• Chris Claremont & Chris Bachalo and a bunch of other people.

TPB:

• The Tourist
• Brian Wood, Writer
• Toby Cypress, Artist

Four Color Commentary - Books Shipped 4-5-06

Annihilation: Silver Surfer #1 (of 4)
Keith Giffen, Writer
Renato Arlem, Art

Well, here we are at the first Annihilation issue that is not a prologue and quite frankly the book did not really engender feelings one way or the other. So far I am definitely not passionate about the Annihilation event one way or the other. I did enjoy the exchange in which Silver Surfer and Gabriel Air Walker are trying to convince both themselves and the servants of Lord Annihilus that what they did as Heralds of Galactus was a necessary part of the natural processes of the Universe. This is, of course, to put them into contrast with the actions of Lord Annihilus, who they view as an infection from another plane or reality. As long as Giffen keeps me mildly interested in this story and they keep throwing some hot buttered Dell’Otto on the covers, I will continue to follow this event.


Archenemies #1 (of 4)
Drew Melbourne, Creator and Writer
Yvel Guichet, Penciller
Joe Rubestein, Inker

Initially I was not going to pick up this book until I read about the high-concept behind the comic and decided to give it a shot. Sadly I do not think this first issue lives up to the potential of the super-hero and super-villain end up as roommates concept. I don’t know if I am jaded or what, but the setups in this issue veer from the slightly confusing to far too pat and contrived. We shall see how this pans out, but I was expecting something along the lines of “Amercian Pie,” and I feel like I got served a bit of Rob Schneider.


Infinite Crisis Special: The OMAC Project #1
Greg Rucka, Writer
Jesus Saiz, Artist

Welcome to Checkmate #0! And if this is any indication of what Rucka is going to offer up in the upcoming series, then sign me up, because this one-shot really got me excited. My only problem with the story is that Dr. Waller acts like a thirteen year-old as she asserts herself over the remnants of Checkmate. The most interesting thing to come out of this issue, besides the hints about Fire’s background (a character that I only know from the recent Giffen/DeMatteis Justice League series), is the indication that Checkmate was more than just an American operation. I do not know if this has been hinted at before and I just missed it, but the fact that there is a motion before the U.N. Security Council regarding the organization is fascinating to me and makes me wonder how much Checkmate is going to play into the events in 52. I am pumped about the series and this is adding to my desire to see some 52 action already.


Moon Knight #1
Charlie Huston, Writer
David Finch, Penciller
Danny Miki, Inker

SPOILER ALERT!

Even before I read the first issue this comic was causing problems for me. I picked up the Essential Moon Knight trade that came out some time ago and had not gotten around to reading past the first few pages. This is not due to any deficiencies in the stories or anything but more a function of my ever-shrinking free time. I could not decide whether I should go into the new series without any preconceptions about the Moon Knight character or get a good “historical” grounding of Doug Moench’s character in my head before I proceeded. I have had no previous experience with him in books that I can remember except for his appearance in the Marvel Knights series several years ago. I almost put off reading this book until I could get through the trade, however this weekend I finally decided to take the plunge and read the book. At first I was a little put off by the story. I wanted to jump right in and get going on the action. The first half of the book was promising. And then came the reveal that everything we were seeing was a memory and MK was actually a wheelchair-bound failure. What a frackin’ bummer. I finished the issue and was disappointed in it and decided it would only get three issues instead of my standard six to either sink or swim. Then I started flipping through the book again and I really got into it, in no small part because of Finch’s art. I started to come around and like the setup Huston gave us and now I am really eager to see what happens next.


Outsiders #35
Judd Winick, Writer
Matthew Clark, Penciller
Art Thibert, Inker

Month two of OYL and I am beginning to think that Judd may be serious about the Outsiders being the DCU’s resident bastards. They torture some no-good boot-licking lackey for information that they could have had had Anissa stuck to the game plan. Grace literally crushes this dude’s nuts! Like grapes! YOWCH! As ecstatic as I have been about the new Batman is not actually a dick zeitgeist that fills the other OYL books, I like that Dick, at least in this issue, is willing to do whatever it takes to get results.


Teen Titans #34
Geoff Johns, Writer
Tony Daniel, Penciller
Kevin Conrad and Art Thibert, Inkers

The first OYL Teen Titans, or rather The New Teen Titans, opens with a series of scenes rather reminiscent of Robocop. Not that this is a bad thing, I just find it amusing, much like Kid Devil’s exchange with Cyborg where they discuss the nomenclature of the team:

“We’re the Teen Titans.”
“No, you’re not.”
“We’re the “New” Teen Titans.”
“I was a New Teen Titan.”
“The New, New Teen Titans?”

Even if you’re not a comic fans that little bit of dialogue has to warm the cockles of your heart. Of course this happens at the end of a fight which falls squarely into the realm of bad comic clichés. After waking up Cyborg finds Ravager and Kid Devil in the kitchen and proceeds to whup-up on them before investigating the situation. What is it about superheroes always going off half-cocked? No wonder there is a treaty controlling their actions put in place during the 52 year. I like what this issue sets up and have high hopes for the series as OYL continues to unfold.


Thunderbolt Jaxon #3 (of 5)
Dave Gibbons, Writer
John Higgins, Artist

I am really digging this series and wish Wildstorm would spin off the entire Albion universe into a monthly series. Even if it was just an anthology series, I am really enjoying the re-invention that is going on here. My favorite moment of this issue is when Billy says, “I’ve been trying to tell you what I found out. That belt belonged to Thor. No, not that blond hippie out of comics. The real Thor. The Norse God.” I love it when there are not-so-subtle shots taken at other comics in a funny book. Above and beyond Gibbons’ having a little fun with Marvel, I am intrigued by the world he is creating for us and I hope to get to see more.


The Winter Men #4 (of 6)
Brett Lewis, Writer
John Paul Leon, Artist

Well, it has been so long since the last issue of this series came out, I forgot what I was reading about. Of course this might have been the perfect issue to come out with after a hiatus since the events of this issue do not seemed to be directly tied to the events of the previous issues, in fact this issue could just as easily have been a one-shot as it is basically a done-in-one buddy story featuring two former Soviet soldiers. They muck through a day in the life which involves far more Big Maks than can be healthy, a little extortion, and finally an execution that feels more like an after-thought than anything else. I enjoyed the issue, but I have to admit that this series is not panning out to be what I hoped it would be. Perhaps there is room for Lewis to go back and do a prequel series about the Soviet super-soldier program during the height of the Cold War.


X-Men Unlimited #14
“Dying Inside”
C.B. Cebulski, Writer
David Aja, Artist

“How to be an Artist”
Neil Kled, Writer
Mike Oeming, Artist

Before I get sidetracked, I really enjoyed this issue. I am sure that some of it comes from the fact that Colossus is my favorite X-Man and the first story also features Illyana, who very well may have been my first comic crush. What’s not to like there? Long blonde hair, sexy Russian accent, big-ass sword, and demonic legions at her command? Anyways, the reason I chose to review this issue to spend a little time kvetching about an opportunity which I think Marvel needs to seriously think about embracing. I am a big fan of the anthology series and wish more companies did then (hint, hint DC). I feel that these anthology series are excellent places to give untried talent a spin, particularly if you make them semimonthly and pump up the page count on them. What I would like to see Marvel do with this series is add another eleven pages and then use these additional eleven pages to have new writers take a spin with some of the characters.



The Rest:

• Batman & the Monster Men #6 (of 6)
• Matt Wagner, Story & Art

• Batman: Secrets #2 (of 5)
• Sam Keith, Writer & Artist

• Detective Comics #818
• James Robinson, Writer
• Leonard Kirk, Layouts
• Andy Clarke & Wayne Faucher, Finishes

• Ex Machina #19
• Brian K. Vaughn, Writer
• Tony Harris, Penciller
• Tom Feister, Inker

• Infinite Crisis #6 (of 7)
• Geoff Johns, Writer
• Phil Jimenez, Jerry Ordway, George Perez & Ivan Reis, Pencillers
• Andy Lanning, Jerry Ordway, George Perez, Ivan Reis, Oclair Albert, Marc Campos, Drew Geraci, Sean Parsons, Norm Rapmund & Art Thibert, Inks/Finishes

• JSA #84
• Paul Levitz, Writer
• Rags Morales & Luke Ross, Pencillers
• Dave Meikis, Inker

• Team Zero #5 (of 6)
• Chuck Dixon, Writer
• Doug Mahnke, Penciller
• Sandra Hope with Drew Geraci & Jerome Moore, Inks

• X-Men: The End Book 3 – Men & X-Men #4
• Chris Claremont, Writer
• Sean Chen, Penciller
• Sandu Florea, Inker

TPB:

V for Vendetta
Alan Moore, Writer
David Lloyd, Artist

After having seen the movie this week, I felt it was finally time for me to pick up this collection and see what it was all about. I loved the movie and I am expecting to love the series even more. Oh yeah, and Natalie, it’s okay to admit you love me.

"Absolutely Nothing"

In an interesting and rare numerical coincidence that occurs just once (or twice for people not using a 24 hour clock) a century the time and date was 01:02:03 04/05/06. This means absolutely nothing, but I thought it was neat and worthy of sharing.

Also I hope this, combined with my record-breaking six posts last night, will get me off the hook until sometime next week as I am going on a short vacation starting tomorrow night.

For those of you that need something more to tide you over here is a fit of link-blogging for you:

1. How to get your songs off your iPod.
2. The town that PA forgot.
3. Bald Eagles 24-7
4. The Self-cooling beer can
5. Jack Black + Talking Motorcycle = Fox Didn’t Buy It
6. I haven’t even got the words
7. Buy me this. Do it now.
8. Or I would settle for this.
9. I am thinking about doing this.
10. The RIAA may actually be more evil than Tom DeLay.
11. While we’re on the subject of piracy here is a collection of links to freeware programs to replace some warez you may have in your inventory.
12. Have I mentioned that I like bagpipes and other folk music stuff? No? Well here is a link to Music in Scotland dot com. They have a lot of stuff I want.
13. Here is another link to bagpipe/folk music store, in this case Temple Records. I am really ticked that I missed there 10 CDs for the price of 5. I would have spent some STUPID money on here updating my Battlefield Band discography.
14. Here is a third place to fulfill my celtic music needs.

There, fourteen links for you to peruse while I am gone. Enjoy yourself.

Four Color Commentary - Marvel WTF?

I was cruising around Newsarama the other day and stumbled across this little item:

Ten Years Later: Onslaught Reborn

It’s a return that well, let’s be honest, you probably didn’t see coming.

In November, Jeph Loeb and Rob Liefeld will team for a five part, weekly, miniseries that returns to the Heroes Reborn universe, and brings along the villain who got the Heroes Reborn ball rolling.

First off it is time to stop the excessively lame plays on DC’s One Year Later event. Just stop, it has never been amusing and long ago went from yawn-inducting to irritating.

Now that’s out of the way we can cut to the chase here. Liefeld? Seriously who of you out there is buying his stuff? It is clear that someone has to be otherwise Marvel, the house of wise and well thought-out events, would not allow Liefeld any where near the offices. (I am still trying to figure out where he got the naked pictures of Warner Bros upper management with a goat that he parleyed into a two issue arc on Teen Titans last year.) From time to time I will complain about art in comics, but rarely do I find art so off-putting that I will purposely avoid a comic because of a particular artist. You have to be a no talent ass clown of heroic proportions before that will happen. Rob Liefeld is that heroic of a no talent ass clown. Take a look at the following examples I lifted from the Newsarama piece because I am too lazy to dig out the recent Teen Titans issues he did (shudder) or the one issue of Youngblood I have crapping up a longbox somewhere (shudder shudder):



Why does everyone look like they just licked a lemon? Even Iron Man, who is wearing a suit of armor, has a pinched scowl on his face. Then there is the three-hundred plus muscles that are in Cap’s shoulders. What, he is such the super-soldier that he has a case on his stomach and a six-pack on each shoulder?

Please Marvel, I beg of you, don’t follow through with this plan. Let me wake up tomorrow and find out this is Joey Q’s idea of an April Fools joke. That would be funny. In fact, if that’s the case let it stew for a couple of weeks, or at least until Beucoupkevin and The ISB have commented on it, and then reveal the plan is to actually ban Rob Liefeld from comics forever and ever.

EDIT.
Before I managed to do a final polish and get this posted Chris over at 2 Guys Buying Comics took at shot at this in his Fly On the Wall, Vol. 2: Marvel Writer’s Meeting. All I have to say is, DAMN YOU BRUBAKER! Someone should rub your nose in this book when it comes out. Maybe that will teach you to play with the Internet!

A Funny Thing Happened

I spent the weekend in Midlothian with my family celebrating my mom’s birthday by going shopping with her on Saturday and then taking her and my grandmother to dinner that night. Shopping turned in to something of a farce as we (read my mom) managed to get lost on the way to the mall and on the way home from the mall. In her defense the roads in the Metroplex are poorly marked and she had only been to this particular mall once before. However she managed to turn what should have been a hour drive into and two-hour expedition/tour of Collin county and then we managed to turn the wrong way when we came out of the mall and ended up heading north for fifteen to twenty minutes when we should have been headed south. Fun times. While we were shopping, or rather she was shopping and I was working on a mall headache (I get headaches when I am at the mall for more than about 90 minutes), she said something to the effect of, “Well, I need to get an outfit because of your and Charlie’s proclivities.” I was bewildered by this statement and uttered something truly intelligent like, “Huh?” She cleared things up, “Well, I am sure you and Charlie are going to want to go out to a night club or something while we are in Seoul.” At this point I almost choked on my drink. Now while my mom is not a teetotaler, she is a conservative Christian who has, on more than one occasion expressed the opinion that I drink too much, and would not approve of James in all his chick magnet glory dropping his nightclub game on the ladies AND drinking at the same time. (Ha! I typed that whole sentence without giggling once!)

Now there are probably one or two of you out there who are stuck on the whole, “…while we are in Seoul,” thing. For those of you who don’t know my brother (younger) is serving in the Army in Korea as a liaison between the South Korean Army and U.S. Army. While in Seoul he met his soul mate and they are getting married at the end of the month and my mom and I are going to the wedding and then staying on to do the tourist thing for a week. This trip has been the source of a couple of faux fights between my mom and I. At first I was not going to go because, quite frankly, the plane ticket alone is over $1000 and I can spend half of that on a bad-ass wedding gift for Charlie and May when they come back to the U.S. I had discussed this with Charlie when he told me the glorious news and he was cool with it, in fact he told me he didn’t really expect any of us to come to his wedding and that they were going to have a reception here in the States at some point. Then around Thanksgiving my mom gets on this kick where we all need to go. My dad and sister were both able to bow out because of school commitments which means she was brining more pressure to bear on me to go. When discussing this, my dad asked if I would go if he bought my plane ticket. I told him I would and my mom then popped out with the idea that it could be my Christmas present. My dad quashed that idea real quick and so it was set, I would be going to Korea with my mom. This is part of the reason I bought the new camera rather than waiting for the D30 to come out and I hope to take advantage of my brother’s high-speed connection to keep you guys updated on my Korea Odyssey and my attempts to either start World War Three (you think I’m kidding, but I am trying to convince my mom we need to go on the DMZ tour) or come home with a war bride (apparently there are fewer shipping charges if you buy them over there as opposed to ordering them via the mail.) Of course I am going to try for both. Wish me luck.

Anyways here we are in the mall and my mom has just informed me that she plans on going out with Charlie and I at night. I did not have the heart to tell her then but I want at least one night out with Charlie without the ladies so we can pal around and whoop it up a bit. We shall see what comes of that.

We had dinner at Toshio’s a surprisingly good and hip little Japanese place in Duncanville which I highly recommend to anyone in the Metroplex. My mom was oddly squeamish about trying sushi. I never convinced her to try some, even the unagi, which is cooked. Oh well, I managed to get her and my grandmother to try green tea ice cream and red bean ice cream so there was at least one new experience on her 60th birthday.

Sunday I went to church with my mom and grandma. I usually do not go to church when I am visiting them because I like to sleep and I have some doctrinal issues with their church. After all they’re filthy Protestants who cannot bring themselves to see the universal truth that is Holy Mother Church. This Sunday was particularly auspicious day for me to attend as Brother Nick was teaching about predestination, or the belief that God has already chosen those of us that will be going to Heaven. In particular he chose to rely on readings from the letters in the New Testament rather than the gospels. If you read my review of “Misquoting Jesus” you know I am suspicious of literal interpretations of the Bible so when you are preaching a message that depends on a particular English word, I’m sorry but I am going to be a bit skeptical. On top of the textual issues inherent in the Bible to begin with he was teaching from the letters rather than the Gospels. These are not the words of God so much as the thoughts Paul, or one of his secretaries or followers or imitators, had on the faith. On top of these two source issues, I also believe that predestination flies in the face of the purpose of our creation. Man was created to enter in to a relationship with God of our own free will and worship and venerate him, otherwise we are nothing more than debased Angels, creatures who HAVE to acknowledge the glory of God. I am not theologically sound enough to defend my beliefs with scripture and the like, but suffice to say predestination doesn’t fit logically with my beliefs and the excuse that God knows what he is doing and doesn’t have to make sense to our mere mortal brains is a pile of hogwash. It is one thing to have to make a leap of faith and another thing to have clearly mutually exclusive doctrines.

After that we had lunch with my sister and her fiancée (yes, I am the only Wood without marriage prospects) and I putzed around in the yard playing with the new camera and my 4x Macro filter and taking pictures of some of my mom’s flowers. Here are a couple for you kids to enjoy:






The rest can be seen in the April Flowers album on my Webshots account. Clearly I need to learn a little more about the autofocus feature on my camera as I was having a real bear of a time getting it to focus on the item I wanted. I think it may have to do with the filter and I am going to have to be on manual focus when doing macro work with the filters.

Once I got home I had some work to take care of and then Scott and I went to dinner and then hit Downing Street for a couple of beers and a round of cigars. This is where the day got really weird. I kind of got picked up by a girl at the bar. She was already well into her cups and I am wondering what she was looking for. Nothing happened because I am happy where I am right now in the romance and sex department. Besides, she was REALLY drunk and I am too much of a gentleman to take advantage of someone while they are drunk and she ended up passing out before things could even head towards the monkey football arena.

Now the reason I told you the story about Becky (I forgot to mention her name was Becky) is that when I was talking with one of the ladies in the office on Monday it came up in conversation that I had been picked up at a bar the night before and I mentioned that this had NEVER happened to me before. The first words out of the young lady’s mouth were, “By a…?” The unstated part of her question being boy or girl.

I was a bit taken back by this question. As I think about it now I am not certain why as it is certainly a legitimate question, but suffice to say at the time I was flabbergasted. I told her that it was a girl type thing that did the picking up and then we talked a bit more, but I was stuck wondering if I came off as gay and if I do I certainly hope it is a rugged manly cowboy gay rather than effete New York intellectual gay. I don’t think I dress neatly enough as quite frankly, I am a somewhat disheveled kind of guy. I really should be a college professor. Of course as I was sharing this story with Mr. TunaCan he interjected at just the right moment and asked, “By a guy or a girl?”

As I am sitting here writing this entry I am starting to realize that I have not conveyed the humor I intended to with this story and that I am opening myself to one of those deep, dark moments of navel gazing as being gay is something I have been afraid of for a long time. The Lesbian (see here for historical reference) told me during the whole I’m[she]-gay-and-it’s-your-fault thing that he current girlfriend had a friend just like me who turned out to be gay. This statement pops up in my mind from time to time. It haunts me to a certain extent.

Now please realize that when this was said I was much younger and of the mindset that homosexuality was immoral and the like; basically followed the conservative Christian party line on homosexuality. I would like to think that I have grown. I have people I consider my friends who are gay and their sexuality is a non-issue for me whereas before I would have been uncomfortable around them. I no longer see homosexuality as a sin or immoral and I feel that they should be allowed to marry and adopt just like everyone else. Clearly there is more growing for me to do here as the suggestion that I might be gay had me thinking for most of the day on Monday. I should be comfortable enough in my own sexuality where this suggestion wouldn’t bother me and it actually bothers me that it bothered me. I am not certain what to do with this thing that has now devoured my funny post. Perhaps I am making a mountain out of a molehill and over analyzing myself and my reactions. Who knows.

BOOK REVIEW - Misquoting Jesus

Misquoting Jesus
Bart D. Ehrman
242 pages
HarperCollins, 2005

I have not done too much writing about religion on the Opiate except to say that I believe religion, or rather faith, is one of the most glorious things about us as humans and has the power to change the world for good. Sadly we are too mired in our sectarian debates and us versus them attitudes to see past our differences and rise above mere humanity. I plan on an extended essay on what I believe, however I want to spend some time researching and meditating upon my beliefs before I put them out there for you people to tear down. One of the biggest problems I have with current Christian theology is that it takes the Bible as the inerrant word of God (and then promptly ignores the parts that are inconvenient to the personal prejudices of the person in question) rather than taking a slightly more critical view of the Bible in its current form. The idea of the Bible as something other than the inerrant word of God first arose in my mind during my RCIA classes (which, sadly, does not stand for the Roman Catholic Intelligence Agency, which I will tell anyone I can when discussing my conversion to Catholicism) where the origins of the Bible were discussed. At that time my concerns were centered around the books commonly referred to as the Apocrypha. What made the books included in the Bible more valid than those left out? What was in these books that were deemed unworthy of being in the Bible? Were there temporal forces at work in these decisions? As I read a little on the subject I quickly ran up against the problem which Ehrman tackles in this book, which is subtitled The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why.

This book begins with an excellent introduction to the field of textual criticism, which is the study of ancient manuscripts in the attempt to determine what the original text actually said. Erhman then gives the reader an overview of the development of the Bible in the western tradition. After this Erhman dedicates the final chapters of the book to tackling the different reasons the Bible was changed, which include theological and social motivations. Throughout the book he offers multiple examples where the extant texts do not agree and walks the reader through the process he used in each instance to determine what the “original” text would have said. All in all this is a fascinating book which is rife with examples of changes made to the text of the Bible, some of which go right to the heart of some of the earliest doctrinal debates within the Church, such as the divinity of Jesus. Erhman does nothing to attack Christianity in this book, though I am certain some people will see it as an attack, but rather approaches the subject as a detached academic who is passionate about the work rather than the answers themselves. For anyone who is interested in religion I cannot recommend this book enough and I think this is something that every Christian should read. Personally I am intrigued enough to pick up some of Erhman’s works on early Christianity.

Next Up: No God But God by Reza Aslan

Note: You may have noticed that my last four posts were all book reviews. This represents the last couple of weeks of reading and I am finally caught up on my book reviews. Yay!

BOOK REVIEW - The Pale Horseman

The Pale Horseman
Bernard Cornwell
349 pages
HarperCollins, 2006

This is the follow-up volume to Cornwell’s “The Last Kingdom” and a continuation of the story of Alfred the Great as told through the eyes of Uhtred. This novel covers the events of 877 and 878, two critical years for the kingdom of Wessex and the eventual rise of England as a united kingdom. After defeating the Danes and forcing them to the negotiating table Alfred hoped Wessex was secure against further Viking depredations from his north and east, however his hope was short-lived as in January of 878 the Danes under Guthrum fell on his winter court at Chippenham and broke his power. Alfred retreated to the marshes around Athelney with his family and a handful of loyal retainers. Here in the swamps he slowly regained his hope and began to reassert his power as king of the West Saxons (from whence the term Wessex comes.) Finally sometime after Easter he moves from the swamps to meet the Danish army in open battle at the Battle of Edington which turned out to be a decisive victory for Alfred’s smaller army.

I am amazed when I realize how short of a time the events of the book covered. I realize this sounds like Cornwell drags thing out, but it is more a function of how much happened in the critical months covered by the novel. As in the first novel in this series Cornwell gives us a protagonist who is difficult to like at times without engaging in a little cultural relativism, however this makes the novel feel a bit more real and enhances the alien feeing of that bygone era when men were men, women were women, and sheep were afraid. As I was reading the parts about Alfred’s travails in the marshes I could not help but begin drawing parallels between these stories and the story of Robert the Bruce. I do not know if this is true or apocryphal however I have read in a couple of places how after his defeat at the hands of the Comyns and the incarceration of his family he retreated to a cave. He was in particularly low spirits but as he sat in the cave he watched a spider spin a web. The spider would fail and immediately turn around and try again. The spider would fail again and, undaunted, begin to spin again. This sequence of events repeated several times before the spider finally completed its web. Watching the little creature renewed Robert’s determination and he left the cave and began to rally his supporters, eventually winning Scotland’s freedom from the English at the Battle of Bannockburn. Just an interesting parallel of dark times for two kings who managed to, against all odds, return from a devastating defeat to eventually win their kindgom’s freedom.

It should come as no surprise to you guys that I really, really enjoyed this book. The historical aspect is right up my alley and it manages to echo some of the great medieval romance stories without being schmaltzy and unrealistic. If historical fiction is your thing, then I cannot recommend this book enough and I can’t wait for the sequel “The Lords of the North” so much so that I am considering ordering it from Amazon UK since it comes out in the UK in June, three months before it will come out here.

Next Up: Misquoting Jesus by Bart D. Erhman

BOOK REVIEW - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
David Sedaris
257 pages
Little, Brown and Company, 2004

At the beginning of last year I finally embarked on a quest to read as much Sedaris as I could lay my grubby little paws on. I managed to read two of his books before I was distracted by something bright and shiny and my quest was derailed. This seems to happen to me a lot. I finally return to my quest with this book.

Once again Sedaris regales us with tales of his life and mixes in a couple of essays on other subjects, such as the Dutch incarnation of Santa Claus. Sedaris manages to bring a comic poignancy to his stories which in the hands of a less accomplished essayist would be devoid of either pathos or humor. The suffering of the young Sedaris comes through clearly, his status as a social outcast enhanced by his sexual orientation and his OCD. Perhaps it is his position as the ultimate outsider that allows him to comment so succinctly on the glorious pain of life and sometimes our inability to, despite the fact that we know better, change our behavior.

I enjoy reading the works of authors as they grow and for me the change was dramatic between the last Sedaris book I read, "Naked," and this one. Sedaris seems to have come to terms with life and he comes off as being less bitter about his youth and more bemused by it. This was a very pleasant change in tone and it made the book a joy to read from beginning to end. Again I recommend this book to everyone as I think Sedaris manages to illuminate us all by looking into himself, and that, to me, is an indication of greatness.

Next Up: The Pale Horseman by Bernard Cornwell.

BOOK REVIEW - Ugly Americans

Ugly Americans
Ben Mezrich
271 pages
HarperCollins, 2004

Five-hundred million. That’s a five with eight zeroes after it. Here, like this: 500,000,000. Five-hundred million. Contemplate that number for a moment. Okay, now just keep it in mind as it will be important later.

Ben Mezrich follows up his entertaining account of the Ivy League card-counting team which took Vegas for a ton of cash with an account of the Ivy League twentysomethings that took the Nikkei and other commodities exchanges in the East for quite a load of cash. Specifically “Ugly Americans” is the slightly fictionalized account of John Malcolm, a Princeton football player who ended up going to work as a commodities trader in Osaka and a few years later left Japan after having made his company $500 million in one day, netting himself a cool $21 million as his commission on the deal. In his short career in Japan Malcolm rubbed elbows with the likes of Nick Leeson, whose actions in the very same markets Malcolm was working earned him a stay in the pokey and destroyed Barings Bank, a 223 year-old British institution.

Like in "Bringing Down the House," Mezrich has infused his story with an energy that turned this book into a compulsive page-turner. I literally could not put it down and ended up reading it in the span of a Sunday afternoon. There are aspects of the financial transactions that drive the book that will escape the casual reader (I say this because I am still not clear on what derivative trading is exactly, and I have worked with commodity traders in the past) but it doesn’t matter as Mezrich breathes life into Malcolm’s Japan, a world which very few of us will ever be privileged enough to see. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone.

Next Up: Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris.

Four Color Commentary - Books Shipped 3-29-06

All-Star Superman #3
Grant Morrison, Writer
Frank Quitely, Penciller
Jamie Grant, Digital Inks & Colors

When this series first started I have to admit that I did not engage in the orgy of All-Star Superman love the rest of the comics blogosphere got caught up in. It is not that I was taking a wait and see attitude like I usually do with new series. I thought the first issue sucked and I was wondering what Morrison was doing. The next two issues have been a complete turn around for me. I loved reading this comic. Above and beyond the things Morrison is bringing to the story (The Dino-Czar? Subterranosauri?) I am really enjoying how Superman’s world already exists and we are just picking things up in media res. Morrison is operating under the assumption that any potential readers have enough knowledge of the Superman mythos to be familiar with the major players in the stories and thus we have not had to go through the tedium of being reintroduced to characters and relationships that are already old hat. I believe Morrison is doing an excellent job of reimagining Superman by stripping the stories back down to their core. Back when the All-Star Superman and All-Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder were announced I was one of the multitudes who decryed it as a Ultimate DC, and I still believe that. However in the case of All-Star Superman the creative team has taken a long, hard look at the mistakes made in the Ultimate line at Marvel and applied those lessons to this book. If you’re not reading this book then you are missing out on some of the best superheroic/sci fi action out there today.


Blue Beetle #1
Keith Giffen & John Rogers, Writers
Cully Hamner, Artist

I enjoyed this comic at first blush. The requisite world building is handled well and there are a couple of lines I really like. My favorite of these being his father’s line, “Nothing wrong with being just a kid for just a little longer…” Amen to that. Beyond that though there were a couple of problems with this book. The first is that we already saw Jaime become the Blue Beetle once, so showing us this again, and telling it differently, seems a bit stupid. The other problem I have, and I have discussed this in other FCC entries, is the fact that once again we are launched into a story where one hero fights the other hero in order to provide an action sequence. For once I will give the author the benefit of the doubt on this one since the other hero in question is Guy Gardner and the fact that this is happening in the midst of the Infinite Crisis and so the heroes are a bit more on edge. Or maybe Superboy punched something. Who knows.


Captain America 65th Anniversary Special
Ed Brubaker, Writer
Javier Pulido, Marcos Martin, Mike Perkins & Frank d’Armata, Artists

For a 65th Anniversary Special this was particularly devoid of retrospectives or the smattering of stories from Cap’s long history that one might expect. I am still not certain if this is a good thing or a bad thing as sometimes the old stories you would expect to see in an anniversary special are neat, but sometimes they are a stinky, stinky poo. In this case I got something I was not expecting and I was pleasantly surprised with what Ed Brubaker offered up. Although I keep pointing out missteps (here and here) I am a really big fan of Brubaker’s current run on the title so a (not so) little story set in WWII guest-starring Nick Fury and his Howling Commandos penned by Brubaker is almost an early birthday gift for me (October 4th, for the curious, start shopping now.) Then to use the story as a tie-in to the previous arc AND a set up for a future arc was just the icing on the cake. While my inner Cap fanboy was thrilled with this, it also left a bad taste in my mouth as this is the exact sort of action that I have been bellyaching about Dynamite and DC doing. What Marvel has done here is double the number of CA books I have to buy to keep up with what is going on. Admittedly this is just for one month, but the principle is the same.


Green Lantern
Geoff Johns, Writer
Ivan Reis, Penciller
Marc Campos, Inker

Somebody (over at Savage Critics I think) suggested that Johns had been marking time on this series until he could do a real story line with the OYL event and I couldn’t agree more. This book has been lurking on the edges of being dropped from my pull list since about issue 4, however since I am a big fan of Johns’ writing (for the most part) I kept clinging to it as I thought it had to get better. I was right. As much as I am enjoying the OYL Batman (does anyone else think about the Scatman John song when they say Batman or is it just me?) this is the first OYL book that has made me REALLY curious about what is going to happen in 52. Some of the tidbits Johns offers up as appetizers are exactly what I needed to get pumped about 52. Hal was a POW? There was a war? The Freedom of Power Treaty? I want to know what happened and I want to know NOW. Besides that the comic was better than the average relaunch issue, which the OYL books are meant to be. Several of the non-IC related elements in this book popped for me, including the formation of the Sinestro Corps complete with yellow power rings (how is that going to work since we learned that the Green Lantern rings are not really susceptible to yellow in the Green Lantern Corps Recharge! Series.) The thing that really stuck with me through this issue is why DC could not have waited to relaunch the whole Green Lantern series until this issue rather than serving up some barely passable material for the previous nine months.


Queen & Country #29
Greg Rucka, Writer
Chris Samnee, Artist

So those of you who have not read “A Gentleman’s Game” are going to be a bit confused by what is going on here, although if you’re a fan of the series and you haven’t read the novel, you probably deserve the discomfort and the spoiler in the comic. That’s right, one of the major “twists” in “A Gentleman’s Game” is revealed by this comic, titled Red Panda: Prologue. I am so happy to be getting the adventures of Tara Chace in funny-book form once again. While I really enjoyed the novels and think they actually may work better from a bang-for-my-buck perspective, there is something about the comics that just feels right. Kind of like being home. This issue is the prologue issue for Operation Red Panda, which will take Tara and Minder 2 to Iraq to assassinate a member of the government who is passing information to the insurgency. I don’t like the fact that some of this mission was discussed in the first chapter of “Private Wars” even though Rucka did not give away too much of the story. I was kind of hoping that the comic series would pick up after the novels. Oh well, regardless of what I was hoping for I have Queen & Country comics to read again, and that makes me a happy monkey.


Star Wars: The Return of Tag & Bink Special Edition #1 (of 2)
Kevin Rubio, Writer
Lucas Marangon, Artist

So the joke is that every time there are two characters in the Star Wars movies where you do not see their faces it is actually the Rebel Alliance operatives Tag and Bink. For what, quite frankly, seems to be a setup that would be funny once and then quickly move into the realm of really, really lame, this joke works, or rather serves as a good vehicle for Kevin Rubio (of Troops fame for the uninitiated) to take pot-shots at the rest of the Star Wars universe. A couple of my favorites being:

(Anonymity, the secret power of all mid-level bureaucrats.)

And:

(This makes me think of the Wierd Al send up of "I Think We're Alone Now" titled "I Think I'm A Clone Now.")

Another one of the things I really liked about this comic was the cameos.. I am sure some of this comes from having spent way too much time as a young anime fan watching episodes of the Dirty Pair, which was lousy with cameos, and trying to spot all of them. Here are the ones I saw in this issue:

• Astro Boy/Kips Big Boy on page two.
• Arthur Dent on page nine
• Cylons on page eighteen
• Yogi and Boo-Boo on page twenty-two

I am looking forward to the next issue, Star Wars: Tag & Bink Episode I: Revenge of the Clone Menace, however I am glad this is a two issue affair.


Superman/Batman
Jeph Loeb, Writer
Ed McGuinness, Penciller
Dexter Vines, Inker

Are you kidding me? This issue is something on the order of six months late and this is what they serve up? Please. Now, before I come off sounding insensitive, I totally understand Jeph Loeb’s situation, or at least as much as someone who has never lost a son can, and my complaint is not with Jeph. Rather my complaint is with DC. I seem to remember a day where delays in writing/art were met with the fill-in issue. I realize this breaks up things and causes some problems when you want to publish the trade in story-arc form, however since we know you are not going to kill Superman or Batman in this book and, quite frankly, are probably not going to be doing much in the way of enhancing either mythology, a couple of done-in-ones or a fill-in story arc would have been nice. Hell, you don’t even have to use Superman and Batman, you could do it with Superboy and Robin (take your pick on which Boy Wonder you want to use.) As for this arc, I totally don’t get it. The Maximums really feel like a CRAPPY knock off of the Avengers (and Loeb’s handling of them makes me worry about his upcoming run on the Ultimates) and using the Joker is all powerful reasoning for this is a bit beyond the pale for me on this one. I am going to stick with this book, but at this point it is only to finish this incomprehensible arc and then get to the Sam Loeb tribute issue (which I think is a really classy move on the part of DC and all the creators involved.)


X-Men: Deadly Genesis #5 (of 6)
Ed Brubaker, Writer
Trevor Hairsine, Layouts
Scott Hanna, Finishes

You know, as much I as have enjoyed almost everything Ed Brubaker has offered up, this series is only eliciting a resounding yawn from me and I have enjoyed the backup stories more than the main plot. That does not hold true for this issue where we learn Emma Frost’s secret origin as a stripper (surprise, surprise). Beyond that the most notable things to come out of this issue were the fact that Kid Vulcan (soon to be of the Young Avengers) is the most powerful Summers brother (have you seen Cyclops or Havoc bring down a Sentinel single-handedly?) and Professor X no longer has powers but he can walk. Oh yeah, that irritating Squadron Supreme ad popped up in the middle of the story in this issue. Knock it off Marvel! Seriously.


Usagi Yojimbo #92
Stan Sakai, Everything

I love me some UY. If you read this and you like comics at all you need to be buying Usagi Yojimbo. Stan mixes it up a little by throwing this done in one story of a street performer/thief and her sidekick mixing it up with Usagi, Tomoe, and the local underworld after the street performer’s sidekick steals the Lotus Scroll, an artifact housed in the local temple. Usagi immediately suspects the street performer, Kitsune, when he sees she is in town as they have a history together and he knows she is actually a thief. The “mystery” of the stolen scroll is neatly tied up by the end of the book with the scroll being returned to the temple and Kistune opting, at the not too subtle urging of Usagi, to forego any reward for its return. The one thing that bothered me about this issue is that in the beginning of the issue Usagi immediately suspects Kitsune of stealing the scroll however at the end of the issue when Tomoe’s purse suddenly comes up missing he does not bat an eyelash. Even though Tomoe posits that she must have left it at the inn where she and Usagi had dinner, I think Usagi would have been astute enough to suspect Kitsune. This is the sort of misstep that Stan rarely makes and it did not detract from my enjoyment of the issue, just left me a little baffled. Like I said, if you like comics at all and are not reading this book then you need to have your head examined.


The rest:

• Batman: Journey into Knight #8
• Andrew Helfer, Writer
• Tan Eng Huat, Artist

• JLA Classified #19
• Gail Simone, Writer
• Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Penciller
• Sean Phillips, Inker

• Legends of the Dark Knight #202
• Christos N. Gage, Writer
• Ron Wagner, Penciller
• Bill Reinholsd, Inker

• Rising Stars: Untouchable #2
• Fiona Avery, Writer
• Brent Anderson, Artist

• Uncanny X-Men #471
• Chris Claremont, Writer
• Billy Tan, Penciller
• Sibal & Tan, Inkers