Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Fave Albums of 2008

Glasvegas-Glasvegas
Flight of the Conchords-S/T
Duke Spirit-Neptune
M83-Saturdays=Youth
Orson-Culture Vultures
She & Him-Volume One
Sparks-Exotic Creatures of the Deep
Wolf Parade-At Mount Zoomer
Walkmen-You & Me
The Week that Was-S/T
Black Kids-Partie Traumatic
Dr.Dog-Fate
Fleet Foxes-S/T
Jakob Dylan-Seeing Things
Hold Steady-Stay Positive
Portishead-Third
Cut Copy-In Ghost Colours
Los Campesinos-We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed
Butch Walker-Sycamore Meadows
Oasis-Dig Out Your Soul
British Sea Power-Do You Like Rock Music
Okkervil River-The Stand-Ins
Sloan-Parallel Play
Blitzen Trapper-Furr
Justin Townes Earle-The Good Life
Raconteurs-Consolers of the Lonely
Gentleman Jesse-S/T
Last Shadow Puppets-The Age of Understatement
Futureheads-This is Not the World
Neon Neon-Stainless Style
Nada Surf-Lucky
School of Language-Sea From Shore
Goldfrapp-Seventh Tree
Hot Chip-Made in the Dark
Supergrass-Diamond Hoo Ha Man
Kills-Midnight Boom
Teenage Prayers-Everyone Thinks You're the Best
Drive By Truckers-Brighter Than Creation's Dark
Los Campesinos-Hold on Now Youngster
Robyn-Robyn
Vampire Weekend-Vampire Weekend
Elbow-The Seldom Seen Kid
James-Hey Ma!

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Fave TV Shows of 2008

Though this year was plagued by the writer's strike (thus turning alot of folks off of TV), I continued to get my share of the boob tube. Here are some of my faves for FY 2008:



1. The Shield (best cop drama to grace the TV screen..the finale blew my mind..worthy of a multitude of Emmy's)

2. Mad Men (my good friend Jon turned me on to this show and boy, was he right. This is some of the finest writing and acting I have seen in ages..guess it doesn't hurt that one of the main writers was an established writer on the Sopranos).

3. How I Met Your Mother (I've been following this show from the beginning and am so thankful that other folks have joined on..thus making its ratings grow. If you have kids or have gone through the ritual of marriage, then this show will make you smile)

4. Big Bang Theory (this in combination with How I met Your Mother is probably the best comedy block on TV currently).

5. South Park (this show never grows old...Trey and Matt always find some new way to tackle a social issue or just make you shit yourself! From the Imaginationland episodes to Cartman fighting a girl to the High School Musical parody...it doesn't get any better).

6. Battlestar Galactica (I was new to this series this year and it probably didn't help that I started mid way through the next to last season. I've chosen to Tivo alot of the episodes and am enamored by the storyline. My wife hates the space that they take up on the Tivo).

7. Robot Chicken (yes another animated (well..really it's stop motion) TV show. If you grew up in the 80's and 90's..then the parodies of old TV shows using toys is brilliant. I even got my wife to watch this show and she laughs..alot. Everywhere from GI Joe, to Transformers to Rainbow Brite..nothing is safe or sacred)

8. The Office (This show just keeps getting better each season. The Dwight/Angela sexual tension this season is just hilarious. It doesn't matter how many times I watch the repeats...the show is always funny...one of the best British imports that the US has embraced and 'made its own.')

9. 30 Rock (Tina Fey could do no wrong this year. The silliness that is this show is just plain silly. I love how Tracy Jordan and Kenneth play off of one another. It would be awesome to sit through one of the writer's meetings for an episode and just listen to all off the wall ideas that get thrown around..would probably make my head spin).

10. Smallville (If it wasn't for the great writing since the beginning of the Fall season, I doubt this would have made the list. If you are a comic book fan, then this show just makes you smile. I'll be interested to see where they go with the Doomsday story and how they end the series come May)

Honorable/Guilty Pleasures
Grey's Anatomy
Desparate Housewives
Dirty Sexy Money
Heroes

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Best Albums-Third Quarter 2008

Glasvegas-Glasvegas
Flight of the Conchords-S/T
Duke Spirit-Neptune
Jackie Greene-Giving up the Ghost
M83-Saturdays=Youth
Martina Topley Bird-The Blue God
Orson-Culture Vultures
Pepe Deluxe-Spare Time Machine
She & Him-Volume One
Sparks-Exotic Creatures of the Deep
Subways-All or Nothing
Switches-Lay Down the Law
Wolf Parade-At Mount Zoomer
Brian Wilson-That Lucky Old Sun
Primal Scream-Beautiful Future
Ron Sexsmith-Exit Strategy of the Soul
Spiritualized-Songs in A & E
Walkmen-You & Me
The Week that Was-S/T
Black Kids-Partie Traumatic
Dr.Dog-Fate
Paul Weller-22 Dreams
Fleet Foxes-S/T
Ladytron-Velocifero
Jakob Dylan-Seeing Things
Hold Steady-Stay Positive
Starling Electric-Clouded Staircase
Kings of Leon-Only By the Night
Dungen-4
Tricky-Knowle West Boy

Reissues:
Dennis Wilson-Pacific Ocean Blue
Billy Joel-The Stranger
The Replacements-Tim
The Replacements-Pleased to Meet Me
The Replacements-All Shook Down
The Replacements-Don't Tell a Soul
Robyn Hitchcock-Element of Light
Robyn Hitchcock-Fegmania!
The Coral-Singles Collection

Monday, June 16, 2008

Web Ditties-6/16/08

  • Creature Creator Stan Winston dies- Ain't It Cool News
  • Windows XP Era draws to a close- CNET
  • Google's Billion Dollar Blunder (interesting way of looking at this)- CNET
  • Will Firefox 3 set download record- CNET
  • William Hurt to join Glenn Close on 'Damages'- Ain't It Cool News

Friday, June 06, 2008

Web Ditties-6/5/08

  • Producers talk up the new season of Mad Men- E! Online
  • Rainn Wilson answers Office questions- E! Online
  • Scrubs the next Generation (I'm a huge fan, but not so sure about this idea. All I can say is that I hope that ABC gives more PR to Scrubs than NBC) - E! Online
  • Clint Eastwood has his say on Spike Lee (finally someone tells it like it is..I'm so tired of listening to Spike's racist rants...and seriously, who really goes to his movies) - The Guardian
  • Will Airlines start charging a Weight Fee? - CBS Chicago
  • Amazon.com goes down for 2 hours (amazing to see how much just a few minutes offline can cost this company)- CNET

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Web Ditties-5/31/08

  • Radiohead and Prince at Odds over Pulled YouTube 'Creep' Cover- Pitchfork
  • Teen Blames Drunk Driving Charge on Kiss with Drunk Boyfriend (Uhh, yeah. Another instance of a woman blaming her stupidity on a man)- Newsday
  • Google gives a preview of new Android phone- Times Online
  • Morrissey names new album 'Years of Refusal'- NME
  • One of the last isolated tribes discovered in Brazil- BBC
  • Was the alien video real or fake (more crazy folks around Boulder smoking the herb)- Rocky Mountain News



Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Web Ditties-5/27/08

  • Windows Chief talks Windows 7 (well, I wouldn't really say that he really said anything about Windows 7...I think he more or less said that he wouldn't mention any details about the OS..funny)- CNET
  • Is Apple considering a solar powered iPhone (appears that a patent has already been filed)- Times Online
  • Vancouver couple arrested for putting their child up for sale on Craigslist- National Post
  • Tarantino ready to start filming Inglorious Bastards (Tarantino and WWII...I wonder if they'll be any blood in this film??)- Ain't It Cool News
  • Oprah's ratings tumble 7% (and all the men and the 2% of women who can think for themselves say in unison...Amen) - NY Times
  • New Kobe video makes the rounds on the internet..hilarious



Saturday, May 10, 2008

Cobra Commander's Day Off

I remember seeing these videos on VH-1's "I Love the 80's". This answers the question..what happen to Cobra Commander after the supposed dissolution of Cobra:












Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Web Ditties-5/6/08

  • Rumors seem to point to Linked In purchase- Webware

  • Craig Ferguson to take over for Letterman??- Times Online

  • Lex Luthor to leave Smallville- E! Online

  • Family Guy creator signs $100 million dollar deal- Reuters

  • Pics of Dark Knight Villain Two-Face appear online (and are quickly pulled by the studio..good thing I grabbed it while I could).


Sunday, May 04, 2008

New Dark Knight Trailer

This is the new Dark Knight trailer that was released at the front of Iron Man this weekend. I have to say that I am really looking forward to seeing this..it's been awhile since this has been the case. Heath Ledger is a far cry from Jack Nicholson's version of the Joker..needless to say.

Friday, May 02, 2008

Jimmy Kimmel vs. Matt Damon

I saw a re-run of this a few weeks back and came across it on YouTube. This skit from Jimmy Kimmel live with Sarah Silverman and Matt Damon is hilarious. I still get a kick out of it no matter how many times I see it.




Jimmy Kimmel's response to that clip was pretty damn funny too.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

So You Think Laptop Encryption is Full-proof??

I am attending a technology conference this week and one of the speakers showed a very interesting video showing a study performed by some Princeton Univ. folks. This is very interesting and goes to show that even laptop encryption isn't full proof. Very interesting. I wonder why this hasn't gotten more press from the tech community??

Source: http://citp.princeton.edu/memory/

Abstract Contrary to popular assumption, DRAMs used in most modern computers retain their contents for seconds to minutes after power is lost, even at operating temperatures and even if removed from a motherboard. Although DRAMs become less reliable when they are not refreshed, they are not immediately erased, and their contents persist sufficiently for malicious (or forensic) acquisition of usable full-system memory images. We show that this phenomenon limits the ability of an operating system to protect cryptographic key material from an attacker with physical access. We use cold reboots to mount attacks on popular disk encryption systems — BitLocker, FileVault, dm-crypt, and TrueCrypt — using no special devices or materials. We experimentally characterize the extent and predictability of memory remanence and report that remanence times can be increased dramatically with simple techniques. We offer new algorithms for finding cryptographic keys in memory images and for correcting errors caused by bit decay. Though we discuss several strategies for partially mitigating these risks, we know of no simple remedy that would eliminate them.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Web Ditties-4/30/08

  • Blockbuster going the retail path (so after bidding on a dying Circuit City without having the money, they are going outside of their boundaries..interesting)- CNET
  • Apple going after low priced overseas iPod sales-Digital Music News
  • Wal-Mart forcing record companies to drop CD prices ($5 CD's...makes you wish Wal-Mart had pushed their influence a few years ago..)- Digital Music News
  • SEC goes after Google Board member (and ex Pixar CFO) for backdating-Digital Music News

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Web Ditties-4/24/08

  • Guillermo del Toro to direct 'The Hobbit' and sequel (so they did decide to break the Hobbit into two parts...it's called maximizing your profits..good ole' New Line..relying on these movies and the endless line Scary Movie sequels)- Yahoo!

  • Apple's Latest Chip Gamble- CNET

  • Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (sounds like it's a done deal to replace Conan..to be announced on May 11) - Fox News
  • New Dark Knight Poster released (see below):



Wednesday, April 23, 2008

New GI Joe Movie Pics

Though this doesn't come out to Summer 2009, pics are already starting to leak out on the net. I have to say that the only cool looking character is Snake Eyes. I sure hope this turns out good.













Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Web Ditties-4/22/08

  • Hot Wheels Celebrates 40th Anniversary-CNET
  • Masturbation may prevent Prostate Cancer (so what do the Catholics and Baptists think about it now??)- Yahoo!
  • Are Van Damme and Lundgren Planning a Universal Soldier Sequel (this is the funniest news of the day..yes, money must be tight) - Ain't It Cool
  • Family Guy creators sue 20th Century Fox- Hollywood Reporter
  • David Chase Doesn't have interest in doing future TV shows (like a college coach going to the NFL...they don't last long before scurrying back to TV) - Hollywood Reporter
  • Jimmy Fallon Still the Favorite to Replace Conan- Variety
  • Volvo working on 'the uncrashable car' - CNET
  • Mysterious red lights appear over Phoenix sky (someone's searching for Britney) - KTLA

Monday, April 21, 2008

2008 Best Albums..Thus Far

I finally got around to pulling a list of albums that have stood out thus far in 2008. Whether all of these will make the year end list is yet to be seen.
  • Vampire Weekend-Vampire Weekend
  • Elbow-The Seldom Seen Kid
  • Star Spangles-Dirty Bomb (yes, this was released in 2007, but they were dropped from their label and didn't have any kind of PR push)
  • Los Campesinos-Hold on Now Youngster
  • Robyn-Robyn
  • Gutter Twins-Saturnalia
  • Black Mountain-In the Future
  • Teenage Prayers-Everyone Thinks You're the Best
  • Drive By Truckers-Brighter Than Creation's Dark
  • Gnarls Barkley-The Odd Couple
  • Black Keys-Attack and Release
  • The Long Blondes-Couples
  • Jason Falkner-I'm OK You're OK (Yes, another 2007 release, but it has yet to be released in the US..still only an expensive Japanese release)
  • Gary Louris-Vagabonds
  • Jason Collett-Here's to Being Here
  • Supergrass-Diamond Hoo Ha Man
  • Kills-Midnight Boom
  • Charlatans-You Cross My Path
  • Raconteurs-Consolers of the Lonely
  • Neon Neon-Stainless Style
  • Nada Surf-Lucky
  • School of Language-Sea From Shore
  • Goldfrapp-Seventh Tree
  • Hot Chip-Made in the Dark
  • REM-Accelerate

Saturday, April 12, 2008

New Heath Ledger Joker Pics Released

I have to say that I'm really looking forward to the 'Dark Knight' this summer. This and the new Indiana Jones are likely gonna be the highlights of the summer movie season. Some new pics of Heath Ledger as the Joker have been showing up on the web the past 2 or 3 weeks, but naturally, Warner Bros. has been removing them very quickly. I assume that Warner Bros. gave in and just went with the flow considering they were released to an Australian newspaper. According to interviews with Michael Cane, he stated that "Jack (Nicholson) was like a really scary old, nasty uncle with a funny face,'' Caine said. ``Heath's like the most murderous psychopath you've ever seen on the screen." Rumors are also abound that Heath's performance may be nominated for an Oscar....wouldn't that be crazy.














Thursday, April 10, 2008

Please Visit your Local Optometrist


Web Ditties-4/10/08


  • Did Cheney Go Fishing with a Naked Woman? (it's either Photoshopped or someone was having fun...I just don't see what his spokeswoman is saying..LOL) - McClatchy
  • $100 cup of coffee...made of fresh cat droppings (suprisingly, with the amount of money people shell out for Starbucks, I doubt too many would balk at this..) -- Dailymail
  • Natalie Portman dating Devendra Banhart (yes, actresses are really attracted to hippies..this is proof..or else she's mistaking him for Chewbaca)-- NME
  • Opera browser previewed for Google Android (developers are also encouraged to work and modify the code)- Download.com
  • HP ships USB sticks with malware (what customer service!!) - CNET
  • Amazon feels sorry for those suckers that bought HD-DVD players - CNET
  • Australia in the process of installing a 5,500 mile internet connection- CNET
  • U2 enter studio and prep reissues for July - Billboard

Monday, April 07, 2008

Web Ditties-4/7/08

  • Amazon Accelerates Its Move to Digital - NY Times
  • Europe Takes Step Toward In-Flight Cellphones - NY Times
  • Phorm-The All-Seeing Parasite Cookie - NY Times
  • Jay-Z and Beyonce Tie the Knot- NME
  • Feist and Arcade Fire: Big Winners at Canada's Juno Awards - NME
  • Outlook for Scrubs is Bright - E!
  • Warning: Google is in Your Driveway - Smoking Gun
  • Inaccuracies Abound in Oliver Stone's 'W' - Hollywood Reporter
  • Qsonix-Manage Up to 25,000 CD's Around the House- CNet

Thursday, April 03, 2008

Web Ditties-4/3/08

  • Selling your vote for Dave Matthews tickets (switching from Clinton to Obama is as easy as free tickets to a has-been hippy's concert. Really, when was Dave last relevant..oh that's right, back when the other Clinton was in office.) - IndyStar
  • Jay-Z signs $150 million deal with Live Nation (bet this will help pay for that 'supposed' wedding to Beyonce this weekend..wonder how long it will be before Mrs. Z signs on too??) -- New York Times
  • Apple claims to be largest music retailer in US, surpassing Wal-Mart (I wonder if Wal-Mart will change their mind about all those non-explicit albums they require? Is the safety of the kids worth losing that top ranking...hmmm?)- Yahoo!!
  • NBC picks up Friday Night Lights and 30 Rock for Fall season- E!
  • The Office spin-off up in the air because of lack of premise (hmm..for starters, let's set the show in an office, with employees, and likely an silly, ignorant boss. Alright NBC, pay me my money.) -- E!
  • Sci-Fi picks up the Battlestar Galatica spin-off Caprica (Frak Yeah!!)- E!
  • James Van Der Beek to guest on How I Met Your Mother (guess Brit started something good. I'm not gonna complain considering this is the best sitcom out there. Please tell me again why this show has been hurting and trash like American Idol is so popular..once again I chalk it up to the stupidity that is 24 million Americans)- E!
  • Gough and Millar exit Smallville after 7 seasons (let's hope that season 8 doesn't outright suck now that we also know that Rosenbaum and Kreuk are not gonna be around much either)- Ain't It Cool

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Web Ditties-4/2/08

What happens when desparation sets in and the money dries up?



Yep, those are the members of New Kids on the Block (mid to late 30's versions). I wonder how difficult it was to convince them to record and tour again..10 bucks says says it was the price of gas and the late child support payments. Question is..are they gonna hop around like monkeys again? -Story at Yahoo!!


  • Nickelback lead singer convicted of DUI (MORON!! With the money that these guys have, couldn't these idiots afford to hire limos or call a cab? The guy didn't even have the nerve to show up at court...MORON)- NME
  • Scott Weiland out of Velvet Revolver..heads straight back to STP (pretty funny how he pokes fun at the 'illustrious Guitar Hero' (aka, Slash). Actually his suggestion for a replacement makes you scratch your head...) - NME
  • Mariah bests the King's record in the US music charts (more proof that America has no musical taste and are outright mindless drones (of course this has been obvious ever since the waste of TV space knows as American Idol was introduced)...remind me again why the hell folks find Idol to be entertaining???)- NME
  • The Office spin-off is given a green light- Ain't It Cool
  • Dion's Beijing Concert Canceled because of lack of permits (and the world thinks that the air pollution is bad in China..geez, a few of her songs will cause several more countries to drop out of the Olympics..blame the Satan herself)- Variety
  • NY Giants unveil design of Super Bowl ring (1.5 carats of diamond covered bling)-Yahoo!!

Monday, March 31, 2008

Web Ditties-3/31/08

Like most people, I have my daily ritual of looking around the net at things that interest me. I've decided that since I copy and paste a lot of stuff and IM folks, that maybe others might find some of this news interesting. I can't promise that I'll be consistent with these posts.

  • Sony BMG Sued For Using Pirated Software-Slashdot
  • 2008 Auto Show Sports Powerful New Sports Cars-Yahoo!
--I have to say that that Dodge Challenger and Nissan GT-R really caught my eye.












  • NBC greenlights Knight Rider for Fall slot (third times a charm??)-Ain't It Cool
  • Howard Shore to Score The Hobbit (whenever all the legalities are settled)-Ain't It Cool
  • Mos Def to Play Chuck Berry in 'Cadillac Records'-Hollywood Reporter
  • Liz Phair to reissue 'Exile in Guyville'-Pitchfork
  • Nelly almost recorded with the Boss (wasn't the Tim McGraw thing bad enough??)- NME
  • U2 sign 12-year Live Nation deal (Wow, never thought I'd see them following in Madonna's footsteps) - BBC News
  • Earth Hour Crashes to Earth (Did anyone really take this bullshit seriously?)- Herald Sun
  • Saudi Prince to Build Mile High 5 Billion pound Tower of Babel (Wow, on a good day you'll be able to see the Middle East, North Africa, and the Indian Ocean)- Daily Mail

Saturday, February 23, 2008

A Month of Crazy Changes

Wow..I had all the intentions in the world to begin blogging on a more regular basis, but life just throws curves. My wife and I have had our home on the market for over 3 months and were showing it regularly (at least 3 times a weekend). With the current status of the housing market, we were starting to lose hope. It drove my wife and I nuts to have to continually keep the house clean in order to be ready to show it on a moment's notice. At the end of January, we almost declined a sudden offer to show the house. Luckily, my wife called the realtor back and said that we could show the house. A couple from Louisiana had been transferred to Memphis and had to buy a house quickly. The low balled us starting out, but we continued to negotiate until we came to a good deal. Surprisingly we came out ahead on the sale even after realtor fees, etc.

Once we accepted the offer on a Wed. evening, we headed over to Jackson the very next day to look for a home. My wife had been scouting houses for the past 3 months, but many of the ones we liked already sold. Luckily we found a home that we had been looking at off and on. About 3 months ago, we would never had been able to afford this house. With builders hurting right now, they had been dropping the home price over the past few months. My wife and I made an offer (which we thought was very low) and were surprised to find out that the builder accepted it right off...guess I should have gone even lower.LOL. With a house sold and a house bought, we had to be out of our house in Memphis within 10 days. Needless to say, this was enough to drive any sane person absolutely crazy. With the help of my family, we were able to pack up multiple loads and get all of our crap to Jackson.

Within 5 days of moving into our new home, a series of tornados came barrelling through Jackson. My wife, child, dogs, and I hid in a pantry under the stairs. We had hail hit our home and cars (yes, our cars were outside because the garage was full of boxes and my wife '65 Mustang). I had about 3 grand worth of damage on my car and my wife had nearly 2 grand on hers. As most people know, the tornados tore apart Union University in Jackson, TN. This cuts close to my heart considering I went there for undergrad and continue to keep close contact with several of the teachers up there. We all need to continue to keep these folks in our prayers.

Well, that's a brief rundown of the past month. We still have a bunch of boxes scattered throughout the house. It might be frustrating, but Rome wasn't built in a day. It's hard to watch a 20 month old, travel, and unpack. It will get done, but might take a little while.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

The Mac Air-The RAZR laptop


It appears that the big news at the MacWorld conference on Tuesday was the introduction of the new ultra-thin Mac Air laptop. This good looking laptop should lead several hippies to miss a payment or two on their VW or Volvo's next month, or else hurt a few of their hemp dealers. Heck, this may even prevent a few of them from making it to the Super Tuesday polls in order to vote for Obama or Ron Paul.


I do think it was interesting how Steve Jobs opened up a large manila envelope to introduce the laptop. Hope no one decides to follow Steve's approach and attempt to ship one of these $1800 laptops in a freaking manila envelope! The problem that I see with this laptop is that it is likely gonna break very easily. Geez, for a laptop that is .76 inches thick..I'm thinking that these things aren't gonna hold up too easily.


Here's the link to the article: http://tinyurl.com/3xazs8


Currently listening to:


Radiohead

In Rainbows

Released on: 10-10-07

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Amazon Push to Compete with iTunes

Interesting article from the Financial Times was posted today ( http://tinyurl.com/34gaao ). Apparently Amazon is planning to make a huge push during the Super Bowl to promote its music downloading service. Amazon plans to offer up to a 1 billion free downloads and hopes to use Justin Timberlake to promote this service. Amazon has been in the download business for a little while now, but it hasn't really been able to compete with the 80% market share that iTunes has occupied for the past upteenth number of years. Amazon hopes to promote their downloads at a lower price ($0.89 vs. $0.99 for iTunes) and promote that their mp3's are DRM (digital rights management) free. DRM is what prevents iTunes users from using their downloaded songs on other devices (such as the Zune). I am a big proponent of mp3's that are DRM free (as you can see from my previous posts). Though many of the major record labels are starting to come around to the idea of DRM free downloads, they don't want to offer them via iTunes. They are attempting to venture to other download services, but is that really good for the consumer? We could argue this til we're blue in the face, but ultimately, I don't see iTunes hurting anytime soon. As the article states, it doesn't really matter if people go to other sites to download their music, it can only help out Apple and Steve Jobs. The more music that is offered, the more likely people will be to buy an iPod.

Just Ignore My Childhood


Back in junior high and high school, I was the rabid fan that would be at the comic book store on Wednesdays to go through the droves of new comic book releases. I even had the comic book store owner put aside a select number of 'essential' releases each week. Once college came along and the money crunch began, I left the comic book universe and focused my sights on music, dating, and other grown up necessities. I do miss having time to read the stories and admire the art of various comic book artists (Romita Jr., Quesada, McFarlane, Platt, Bagley, etc).


I haven't really followed comic books since 1997, but was blown away by the news from the Spiderman universe that was just issued a few weeks ago. Supposedly Aunt May was shot by a sniper's bullet and in order to save her life, Peter Parker makes a deal with the devil (Mephisto..in the Marvel universe). Peter Parker and Mary Jane agree to give up any memory of their marriage in order to save Aunt May's life. Pretty much the entire marriage of Peter and Mary Jane is no longer even a blip in the Marvel universe. So to boil it down, the past 25 years of the Spiderman universe never occurred. There is no Venom, no clone saga, no MJ miscarriage, etc. Once Peter and MJ agree to this, we see Peter go back to the early years where he's living with Aunt May and he doesn't even know MJ.


This mind-blowing storyline seems to betray the Spiderman fans out there. Doesn't Marvel want to have at least one or two characters that are married? I guess the writers just have run out of ideas and wanted to start with a blank slate. This turn of events makes it easier for them, but kinda rapes the stories of my childhood. Makes me wonder whether this signficant storyline will continue to run its course or if falling sales will result in all of this being just a memory in the huge Marvel universe. Here is a good link to a story describing what occurred:




Currently listening to:


Redwalls

The Redwalls

Released: 10-23-07