I've been on a bit of a Justice League kick lately. Been playing JL Heroes on my PSP, and just read Matt Wagner's Trinity, (which is AWESOME by the way). I'm still trying to work my way through Infinite Crisis while avoiding all the spoilers I can, which is harder than you'd think since I live online so much.
I also recently finished watching the entire series of Justice League (aka Justice League Unlimited), and after watching all the episodes in only a few weeks, I can appreciate what a great show it is. Or was I guess, now that its finished its run.
It is, first of all, a cartoon that is in no way whatsoever for the kiddies. Unless you like your kiddies watching their favourite superheroes/villains beat the holy shit out of each other or die in every other frame, to say nothing of all of the gratuitous shots of Wonder Woman's cartoon cleavage. I'm 32 and I'm not even sure that I should have been watching it.
But the show was very faithful to the comics that inspired them, even though they had to take a few liberties. There were almost 70 years of continuity to deal with after all.
Anyway, I was kind of bummed after watching the final ep, because there really aren't a lot of good shows for the superhero geek out there. Well, there is Heroes. And Smallville. In particular this season's episode of Smallville 'Justice' which retold the JL origin story. Ok, I may expect too much. Either way, I was stoked to find out that I and people like me can look forward to more JL action in the future.
Turns out the chances are good that a Justice League movie is coming to a theater near me.
And if that doesn't happen, at least they'll be making new JL cartoons. Good casting choices too.
Labels: comics, smallville, superman
The following may be of interest to only the crazy hardcore scifi fans, of which I am one. And even though I sometimes claim to be a solipsist, I really can't be the only one can I?
Either way, I was talking to a friend earlier tonight who reminded me that I hadn't yet written about the fantastic news that the third season of Doctor Who will begin airing here in Canada on CBC sometime this coming June.
Meaning that this will NOT mark the second year in a row that the programmers at CBC have made Who fans wait an additional six months after their counterparts across the pond to catch the latest season of one of the best scifi shows ever. So maybe they're not the complete assholes I said they were after all.
More info thisaway.
Either way, I was talking to a friend earlier tonight who reminded me that I hadn't yet written about the fantastic news that the third season of Doctor Who will begin airing here in Canada on CBC sometime this coming June.
Meaning that this will NOT mark the second year in a row that the programmers at CBC have made Who fans wait an additional six months after their counterparts across the pond to catch the latest season of one of the best scifi shows ever. So maybe they're not the complete assholes I said they were after all.
More info thisaway.
Labels: doctor who
You know how sometimes it feels like you're moving through your life on a conveyor belt, not really paying attention to the progression of time as it passes you by? No? Well I feel like that sometimes.
I try to pay attention to the most important moments because I know that if/when I am an old fart I am going to look back and lament not relishing every moment with my daughter and Superwife.
But I think sometimes in my zeal to pay attention to my immediate family life, I overlook other things like self-improvement, personal development, my career. I have always tended to look at work as a necessary evil, something I would choose not to do with my time if I could afford that luxury. But I do still treat work as seriously as that attitude will allow, because I want to feel validated and that I am earning my way through my life.
I haven't been looking at my current job in any long term way, as I have up til now been on recurring short term contracts. But I just today got a spot of good news in that department: I signed a much better contract early this morning, one that will give me some security and a better chance of a permanent position.
So Trin can't call her Daddy a Temp any more. Well, she can, but it won't leave him with the feeling of career impotence that it used to.
I try to pay attention to the most important moments because I know that if/when I am an old fart I am going to look back and lament not relishing every moment with my daughter and Superwife.
But I think sometimes in my zeal to pay attention to my immediate family life, I overlook other things like self-improvement, personal development, my career. I have always tended to look at work as a necessary evil, something I would choose not to do with my time if I could afford that luxury. But I do still treat work as seriously as that attitude will allow, because I want to feel validated and that I am earning my way through my life.
I haven't been looking at my current job in any long term way, as I have up til now been on recurring short term contracts. But I just today got a spot of good news in that department: I signed a much better contract early this morning, one that will give me some security and a better chance of a permanent position.
So Trin can't call her Daddy a Temp any more. Well, she can, but it won't leave him with the feeling of career impotence that it used to.
Labels: everything else, work
Back when I was a very small, very introverted kid I was given an IQ test by a teacher who decided to take an interest. Probably because he couldn't ask my parents, who weren't taking much interest themselves, he just went ahead and had it done. After taking the test I was put into a gifted program at school and asked if I was interested in skipping a grade (I wasn't), but I was never told what my IQ had turned out to be.
It wasn't until many years later that I found my old IQ test amongst some papers at my Mom's house and I learned that I had scored a 150. Which, just for the record, is spectacularly high.
Now, I wouldn't presume to think that I might score similarly as an adult, not after the things I did to my body during my poorer-decision-making days. Upon reflection, I don't even know how I can think clearly these days at all. But I have occasionally been interested in re-taking the test, just to see how many points I've lost over the years. So tonight I took an online version of an IQ test, sponsored by CBC. I didn't get a 150, but I scored respectively enough that I'm posting the result.
After the life I've had, a 123 isn't too shabby at all. Anyone else want to share their results? Take the test here.
Labels: everything else
Along with the rest of the internet, I have recently been spending waaay too much time on facebook. If you use it, you know that its a lot more addictive than some of the recent web trends.
In case you don't know, facebook is a social site, similar to MySpace, but with a cleaner interface and better features. And the people I talk to on facebook I'm at least kind of friends with.
I was explaining my use of the site to a friend earlier tonight, and as I was telling him how great it was that I was re-connecting with people I had forgotten I even knew, it occurred to me that the appeal will likely get old when I realize why I fell out of touch with most of them in the 1st place. But that hasn't happened yet, and so I spend a lot of my free time on the site, going through people's pictures, reading their inane notes, writing my own, you know the deal.
But I really can justify anything: if I'm going to be a sheep, at least I'm choosing to be a part of a cleaner, hipper flock.
Here's a couple of links for some facebook add-ons that I'm finding alternatively useful and interesting right now:
In case you don't know, facebook is a social site, similar to MySpace, but with a cleaner interface and better features. And the people I talk to on facebook I'm at least kind of friends with.
I was explaining my use of the site to a friend earlier tonight, and as I was telling him how great it was that I was re-connecting with people I had forgotten I even knew, it occurred to me that the appeal will likely get old when I realize why I fell out of touch with most of them in the 1st place. But that hasn't happened yet, and so I spend a lot of my free time on the site, going through people's pictures, reading their inane notes, writing my own, you know the deal.
But I really can justify anything: if I'm going to be a sheep, at least I'm choosing to be a part of a cleaner, hipper flock.
Here's a couple of links for some facebook add-ons that I'm finding alternatively useful and interesting right now:
- flickurbook - bring flickr photosets into facebook
- friend mapper - get a google map of the locations of your facebook pals
- google personal homepage gadget - adds facebook status info, you guessed it, your Google Personalized Home Page
Labels: everything else
Remember those Budweiser adds from a few years ago? Whaaaaaaassup? The ones that stayed on the air so long that they were funny at first, you got bored with them, and they got funny again?
They're even funnier done Super Friends style, especially at 4:30 in the morning:
They're even funnier done Super Friends style, especially at 4:30 in the morning:
Funniest Monty Python skit. Ever.
I just don't get people that don't think Monty Python is funny, Superwife included. I mean how can you not laugh your ass off when you see this skit?
'Everybody else quite content to join in with myyyyy little scheme?'Christ-in-a-sidecar, that's funny.
In case the embedded video isn't showing up, look for it here.
Labels: funny
I've never had much of a problem with facing my own death. I accepted it as a matter of course from a very young age, probably as soon as I was able to understand the concept.
Don't get me wrong, I am not looking forward to dying or anything. I have a lot to live for: A loving wife, a wonderful daughter, a cool sister, a few other family members I can stand, some good friends. I've just accepted that it'll happen whether I worry about it or not. So I choose not to. No, its not my death I have a problem with. I do however hit a snag when trying to deal with the deaths of people I love.
More years ago than I would have believed until I counted them, I lost a great friend to cancer. His name was Jon Cooley, and my friendship with him was the closest I've ever been to any other guy, family definitely included. His death hit me profoundly, and, more than my own mortality ever could, it forced me to re-examine my life and how I was living it.
His birthday has just come and gone, and if not for his cancer, and assuming no other horror befell him, he would have been 33.
I recently came across a short poem I wrote after Jon died and thought I'd share it to mark his birthday. Since writing it, I have always fantasized that it would be the dedication page to my first book. But since I pull out one of the stories I've started every few months, rewrite the first few chapters, hate what I've written and put it away again, the chances are very high that I myself will die of old age before I ever complete anything, let alone get anything published.
So here it is instead. Happy Birthday Jon. I miss you, man.
Don't get me wrong, I am not looking forward to dying or anything. I have a lot to live for: A loving wife, a wonderful daughter, a cool sister, a few other family members I can stand, some good friends. I've just accepted that it'll happen whether I worry about it or not. So I choose not to. No, its not my death I have a problem with. I do however hit a snag when trying to deal with the deaths of people I love.
More years ago than I would have believed until I counted them, I lost a great friend to cancer. His name was Jon Cooley, and my friendship with him was the closest I've ever been to any other guy, family definitely included. His death hit me profoundly, and, more than my own mortality ever could, it forced me to re-examine my life and how I was living it.
His birthday has just come and gone, and if not for his cancer, and assuming no other horror befell him, he would have been 33.
I recently came across a short poem I wrote after Jon died and thought I'd share it to mark his birthday. Since writing it, I have always fantasized that it would be the dedication page to my first book. But since I pull out one of the stories I've started every few months, rewrite the first few chapters, hate what I've written and put it away again, the chances are very high that I myself will die of old age before I ever complete anything, let alone get anything published.
So here it is instead. Happy Birthday Jon. I miss you, man.
Some stars burn too bright,
shining with such intensity that they cannot be sustained.
But long after their light has actually faded
they remain visible in our night sky,
lighting the way for all of us.
For Jon ~ July 18 2001
Labels: everything else
Dear Trinity,
In only four months you are going to be 2 years old already. Even though I am constantly struggling to be in the moment with you as much of the time as I can, I still cannot believe how fast you are growing up. When I wonder if it will always be like this, with the months and years sliding by at breakneck speed while I helplessly try to hang on to each moment with you I seriously have a hard time keeping from crying. Sometimes I win that battle, sometimes I don't. I honestly don't understand how people with their kids growing up around them manage to go through life without completely falling apart all the time. Maybe it gets easier?
This past month has scene a quantum leap in your vocabulary. Before now, you could string 2 or even three words together, mostly at random, and you would often imitate the words you heard coming from the people around you. Now, you are using short sentences, knowing the meaning of the content, and every word or phrase that you hear from us you parrot right back at us. My days of swearing are no longer numbered: They are over, unless I want you cussing like a tank-driver.
You have learned to sing a new song this month. 'Twinkle, Twinkle' sounds better coming from you than I've ever heard it, even if we sing the majority and you fill in the gaps we leave for you. And you are so proud of yourself when we finish singing a song or dancing a dance. You love being validated by us, and truth be told, its one of the highlights of my life too.
I took the opportunity to teach you a few gems this month that your Mom is pretty exasperated about. One of them is how to do a Silly Walk, after we watched an old Monty Python sketch about a guy applying for a permit for his ridiculous walk from The Ministry of Silly Walks. Really funny bit, by the way. In the skit, the applicant gets turned down, but I think yours would get approved right away.
You are getting to be quite the artist as well, pulling your Mom or I (or anyone else handy for that matter) down on the floor to colour with you. Colouring usually means you directing us to colour your favourite Sesame Street pal in between nibbles of red -violet.
We took you to see the indoor exhibit at The Butterfly Conservatory this past month, and as good a time as can be had in 40 degrees C and 100% humidity was had by all. You delighted to see the Butterflies flit about, but I think you might have been more interested in the other animals there, going so far as to point out and name the turtles for us. Watching you giggle as you tried to reach out and touch the butterflies as they flew by us was the highlight of that day.
And in spite of my prediction last month that February would be an exclusively indoor month we did manage to get you outside a few times, when it wasn't so cold. We got more than enough snow to make up for the poor showing that this winter had given Southern Ontario to this point. So even though your Mom and I experienced sore muscles and a strong desire to move to warmer climates from all the shovelling we had to do, we also got to help you build your first snowman. That made it all worth it.
One last thing before I go. In case you didn't know, or I have changed my interests by the time you can understand this, your Daddy is a bit of a comics geek. In particular my favourite superhero has always been Superman (followed closely by Green Lantern, Spiderman, etc, but they're not important to this story). Your Mom got me a pair of Superman PJs for christmas this year and because you are familiar with the character from seeing my Superman comics and movies lying around the house, as well as your favourite Dora episode starring 'Supermap', you were already familiar with the character. So the first time I put on my PJs and walked into the room wearing them, your eyes lit up and you yelled 'SuperDad'. And upon seeing how pleased I was with your new name for me, you decided that it is the thing to say whenever you see me wearing them.
Superdad. What else is there to say?
See you next month,
Love Daddy
In only four months you are going to be 2 years old already. Even though I am constantly struggling to be in the moment with you as much of the time as I can, I still cannot believe how fast you are growing up. When I wonder if it will always be like this, with the months and years sliding by at breakneck speed while I helplessly try to hang on to each moment with you I seriously have a hard time keeping from crying. Sometimes I win that battle, sometimes I don't. I honestly don't understand how people with their kids growing up around them manage to go through life without completely falling apart all the time. Maybe it gets easier?
This past month has scene a quantum leap in your vocabulary. Before now, you could string 2 or even three words together, mostly at random, and you would often imitate the words you heard coming from the people around you. Now, you are using short sentences, knowing the meaning of the content, and every word or phrase that you hear from us you parrot right back at us. My days of swearing are no longer numbered: They are over, unless I want you cussing like a tank-driver.
You have learned to sing a new song this month. 'Twinkle, Twinkle' sounds better coming from you than I've ever heard it, even if we sing the majority and you fill in the gaps we leave for you. And you are so proud of yourself when we finish singing a song or dancing a dance. You love being validated by us, and truth be told, its one of the highlights of my life too.
I took the opportunity to teach you a few gems this month that your Mom is pretty exasperated about. One of them is how to do a Silly Walk, after we watched an old Monty Python sketch about a guy applying for a permit for his ridiculous walk from The Ministry of Silly Walks. Really funny bit, by the way. In the skit, the applicant gets turned down, but I think yours would get approved right away.
You are getting to be quite the artist as well, pulling your Mom or I (or anyone else handy for that matter) down on the floor to colour with you. Colouring usually means you directing us to colour your favourite Sesame Street pal in between nibbles of red -violet.
We took you to see the indoor exhibit at The Butterfly Conservatory this past month, and as good a time as can be had in 40 degrees C and 100% humidity was had by all. You delighted to see the Butterflies flit about, but I think you might have been more interested in the other animals there, going so far as to point out and name the turtles for us. Watching you giggle as you tried to reach out and touch the butterflies as they flew by us was the highlight of that day.
And in spite of my prediction last month that February would be an exclusively indoor month we did manage to get you outside a few times, when it wasn't so cold. We got more than enough snow to make up for the poor showing that this winter had given Southern Ontario to this point. So even though your Mom and I experienced sore muscles and a strong desire to move to warmer climates from all the shovelling we had to do, we also got to help you build your first snowman. That made it all worth it.
One last thing before I go. In case you didn't know, or I have changed my interests by the time you can understand this, your Daddy is a bit of a comics geek. In particular my favourite superhero has always been Superman (followed closely by Green Lantern, Spiderman, etc, but they're not important to this story). Your Mom got me a pair of Superman PJs for christmas this year and because you are familiar with the character from seeing my Superman comics and movies lying around the house, as well as your favourite Dora episode starring 'Supermap', you were already familiar with the character. So the first time I put on my PJs and walked into the room wearing them, your eyes lit up and you yelled 'SuperDad'. And upon seeing how pleased I was with your new name for me, you decided that it is the thing to say whenever you see me wearing them.
Superdad. What else is there to say?
See you next month,
Love Daddy
Labels: trinity
A woman walks into a bar and sits down, she notices a man sitting a couple seats down. She watches as he takes a shot, runs to the window, jumps out, flies around the building and then sits back down.
Astounded the woman asked how he did this.
He answered, "magic shot." She tells him to do it again to prove it.
He slams another shot and repeats his performance.
The man looks at her and says "go ahead give it a try." The woman orders a shot, slams it, runs and jumps out the window and falls to her death.
The bartender looks over at the man and says "You know Superman, you can be a real asshole when you're drunk."
