ennui i see it

Jonah Hex... The Movie

2010-06-24T23:49:00.000-04:00

Hello? Is there anybody out there?

It was dark. A little too dark. I was worried about "accidentally" sitting on someone's lap as I found a seat. I didn't have to. The theater was empty. I had to look around to make sure. Nope, no one all the way in the back. No one on the floor making out (bummer). Just me. Alone.

I stretched out in a rather nice leather seat. Cinemark has upgraded since I was last here. I pop open a box of Reese's Pieces and look around again as the movie starts to see if anyone came in late. No. I feel strange. Slightly happy. This must be how Burgess Meredith felt when he was left all by himself to read every book he wanted.

I'm a big fan of Jonah Hex. He was created in 1972. DC comics liked to explore genres other than the standard superhero theme. Mike Grell's epic Warlord was their answer to Conan and other Sword and Sorcery tales. Adam Strange had a Sci Fi vibe. Jonah Hex was their answer to the Western.

He started as a player in All Star Western, moved on to be a featured player in Weird Western Tales and finally landed his own series. His first series lasted for 92 issues. Going from 1977 to 1985. After Crisis on Infinite Earths changed the DC status quo, he appeared as a space cowboy in a series called Hex. This lasted all of 18 issues and basically killed the character. He was resurrected in 1993 for a couple of western/horror miniseries and eventually given a new book in 2005 written by the amazingly talented Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray. Five years later the book is still going strong. Strong enough for a movie.

"Oh my god, he's finally about to talk about the fucking movie!?!?!"

Jonah Hex suffered from the same issues as Constantine. It was a good movie, if of B-ish quality, but it wasn't Jonah Hex.

It can best be described as Wild Wild West meets The Crow. It was like the writers were given some Jonah Hex comics to read and an issue of The Crow was somehow mixed in and they mistook it for another issue of Hex.

Really. If James O'Barr sees the movie, he should sue. It could have easy been another sequel to the Crow. It was better then Wicked Prayer. Edward Furlong? Really?

It starts out REALLY GOOD. You get a short origin sequence with John Malcovich as the evil villian and Josh Brolin as a younger Hex. It then cuts to an amazing animated scene that fleshes out the origin and does a decent job of sticking with the comic until they give him powers. Jonah Hex is a bad ass bounty hunter in the wild west. He's an amazing shot and a bad ass street fighter. He shouldn't have powers.

He was left for dead by Malcovich and saved by Indians (or native americans if you're a pc douche). Because he was so close to dead and brought back, he can now speak with the dead. If he touches a dead body they magically come back to life for a short time. Really. Fuck. This was lame and only used to push the plot twice. Totally unneeded and the worst part of the movie. In fact it's used so little that you almost forget about it.

Real quick, the indians that brought him back were part of "the crow" tribe and crows seem to follow him around. Really original.

Anyway... Malcovich fucked with his family. Turned really evil after the war. Is building a giant death machine a la Wild Wild West (this was SO MUCH BETTER then Wild Wild West).

Somewhere along the lines, Meagan Fox is a whore... plays a whore, who is love with Jonah Hex. He loves her but doesn't want to see her hurt. She's of course captured by Malcovich's Irish goon played wonderfully by Michael Fassbender. Overall she's just there for skin and really plays no real part in the movie.

Hex saves the day and lives happily ever after with Fox.

The actors were real good, Brolin and Malcovich in particular. It wasn't the best comic movie but it certainly wasn't the worst.

I liked it enough to want to pick up the blu-ray when I see it on sale for $12-$20 in a few months. It's worth a watch, maybe a rental. If it wasn't up against some really good competition in the theaters, it probably would have done better. They should have released it a month or two later.

2010-04-24T15:27:00.000-04:00

8.5yr old me in 2010...

2010-01-03T16:17:00.000-05:00

I'm drinking scotch and listening to Daniel Johnston. I should have got this out of my head before the scotch made it cloudy.

It's 2010. Wow. Ten years into the new millennium. I'm not impressed.
I wish I could go back to 1990 and have a little chat with the eight and a half year old me. I have a feeling it would end with both of us sobbing.

It's 2010 and we don't have the flying car. How does that happen? We're only now working on cars that run on electricity. Cars that go over 200mph are still uncommon. We've stopped using supersonic planes on a regular basis as well. We've canned the Condor do to fucking safety concerns.

It's 2010 and we've never made it to Mars. There's no aliens. We're still using the same shuttle design we had in the 80s(60s?). We've even shelved some shuttles again do to safety issues. Fuck safety. We can't make it further without taking some risks.

We're still in Iraq. Oh, we left for a bit, but it's so nice we decided to go back. Everyone goes for the waters.

Today's music is horrible, but I was listening to the Jets and MC Hammer in the 90s so I wouldn't know today's music sucks. Actually 8.5yr old me might like today's music. It almost seems to be aimed at the prepubescent.

TV is cleared now, but no holograms or 3D. VHS is dead. Video Discs became smaller and cheaper, but they're going away. Everything is moving towards streaming/digital.

We have the internet. What started out as an idea for knowledge and data sharing has become a mix of porn and socializing and pirates. I'm sure 8.5 me would be just as happy as 28.5 year old me with that.

In fact the internet is probably the only great invention we've had in the last 20 years. Everything else has become incrementally better. Or just prettier. The internet has been evolving. Streaming video. Internet gaming. iTunes. The Pirate Bay and torrents in general.

Blogging. Anyone can be heard.

And it's still a great portal for information. Recipes. Facts. Debunking. Temperature trends since they were recorded. It's all on the net. Rule 34.

Out of everything cool 28.5 year old me has, I think 8.5 year old me would agree with 28.5 year old me that the iPhone is the one that at least looks like it came from the future. No buttons, internet at your hands, games, music, movies. It's almost sad that that's the best we've got.

To do list...

2009-10-28T17:40:00.001-04:00

-~~Sell box and binder of old MTG cards on ebay.~~
-Start selling unwanted comics.
-Buy an Adam controller off atari2600 and swap bodies with the bad colecovision controller
-~~Hack bad colecovision and atari controllers together into one badass franken-troller.~~ Document the process.
Changed my mind. On Jan 7th an electronics store is having an amazing sale. I'm going to pick up real arcade components and put together a couple of controllers.
-Buy a cheap mac?
-~~Beat Batman Arkham Asylum.~~

Test...

2009-10-22T23:01:00.000-04:00

I'm testing new iPhone blogging software. It supports tags and links, but won't add pictures to blogger posts. Total fail.

I do like it's text editor though. Wish it had a landscape mode.

I'm getting pretty quick with my one finger typing. I'm not doing so bad on accuracy either. I usually get close enough that the autocorrect picks up what i meant.

I got a copy of Amazing Fantasy 15!!!!!!

2009-10-01T19:59:00.003-04:00

And it was SUPER cheap. I totally ripped off the old dude. I feel a little bad.

I was walking back from wawa and this little shop was still open.
There was a box of comics and there it was right in the middle.
I ask the guy how much and he asks me what I got on me. All I had was
my change from wawa, 17.50 He said that was fine as long as I promised him a favor. He didn't say
what it was yet, but an amazing fantasy 15 for under 20 bucks and it
could be a sexual favor.

The little store is on haddon ave in the heart of collingswood. Here's a pic. Check it out.

Search light casting...

2009-09-29T18:51:00.001-04:00

I'm listening to the Grateful Dead's Woodstock set. I put it on as I was leaving work, for the walk to the train and the ride.

It's amazing how relaxed the Dead make me. All the work crap just evaporated. I crank up the sound, shut everything out, and nothing else matters. I close my eyes and it's just me and a bunch of freaks groovin' to the music... and I couldn't be happier.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Comics

2009-09-26T17:07:00.001-04:00

My subscription is up on my database program. I have a lot of filing
to do when I update next month.

Dave Stevens: Pin-Up God

2009-09-23T20:20:00.012-04:00

Dave Stevens is one of my heroes. Without him, I may never have met the love of my life. He's best known for his pulp comic The Rocketeer. Besides being a fantastic adventure book that would not look out of place on the newsstands in the 50s, The Rocketeer is responsible for reintroducing Bettie Page to the world.

If any other artist used Bettie in their story, nothing would have come from it. It's Dave's amazing talent as a pin-up artist that brought her back. He captures her girl next door innocence. When people think of pin-up artists the first names that come to mind are Vargas and Petty, Dave deserves a spot right there next to them.

Others have followed Dave and tried their hand at Bettie pin-ups. Olivia De Berardin is and Jim Silke are both famous for their Bettie pics, but don't hold a candle to the master.

Thank you Mr. Stevens.

Test.

2009-09-20T23:51:00.000-04:00

I'm writing this from my iPhone with a new app. It seems to work well. It adds pictures and syncs with my YouTube account to upload videos. Can't seem to find a make link button, but the app was cheap. You do get what you pay for.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Beat.

2009-09-19T20:48:00.000-04:00

Todays fleamarket haul

2009-09-19T15:59:00.000-04:00

Cityscape

2009-09-18T18:39:00.000-04:00

2009-09-16T17:01:00.000-04:00

2009-07-08T09:58:00.001-04:00

2 flaming gay men at the station. Why can't it ever be lipstick lesbians?

Relaxin'

2009-06-18T18:20:00.000-04:00

Mini Vacation Day 0.5

2009-06-18T16:15:00.003-04:00

Woke up at 4:30am to a cat screaming outside the window.
Eventually it shut up, I rolled over and slept until 9ish.

Read some comics. The new Dead@17 series is great. The move to Image comics was the right thing to do. Josh Howard's art has never looked better. The story is merging his universes together. I can't wait for the next issue. Great start to the mini vacation.

Got washed and dressed and headed out to meet Mom and my brother for lunch at the Hollywood Diner. Had a chicken spinach salad with huge chunks of feta cheese. Amazing.

Drove across the street to Frankenstein comics. They didn't have what I was looking for, but I need to save money for Wizardworld anyway so, yay I guess.

Did some food and hh supply shopping I needed to get done. Bought a new toothbrush. I shouldn't be as excited about that as I am.

I picked up the new Ghostbusters Game for the xbox. It's fun. I love that the original guys are doing the voices and the writing. It feels just as fun as the movies and cartoon. Definite buy for anyone thinking about it.

I've got about 2 hours before I head to see Sick of it All and three other hardcore bands in Philly. I haven't prepared for Wizard World yet, but that starts at noon tomorrow. That means lunches at Reading Terminal and Termini's(sp?) cannoli.

Expect pictures. Not of Sick of it All, because I know better than to bring a camera to a mosh pit.

Fuck You McAfee...

2009-06-09T19:15:00.001-04:00

I did it. I killed him.
He was an ass. Very much full of himself, McAfee, I'm glad your gone.

I finally got around to uninstalling McAfee. I only used it because Comcast gives you a free subscription for the life of your service. Like most of Comcast's services, the hidden costs hurt.

It took me an extra 10min easy to start my computer. Oh, everything was up and loaded, but McAfee's virus updates used all the system resources. It was a fucking hog. You couldn't do anything until it was done.

It also used up 150mb of memory. That's insane.

I installed avast home, which I've been using on other pcs for years, and laughed as I removed McAfee. I might have even gotten aroused.

My Favorite Game...

2009-06-01T23:49:00.002-04:00

My favorite game.
Good question.

Bioshock is an amazing game. The steam punk environment and objectivism themes are awesome, but it isn't my favorite. Close.

My favorite game of all time is Activision's 1984 classic H.E.R.O.
I originally played it on the Commodore 64. Now I play it more on the Atari2600 (no commodore).

Amazingly enough the gameplay is the same between the systems. The only difference is the graphics. You control Roderick Hero aka R. Hero. Miners are trapped and you need to save them. You don your helicopter backpack, dynamite and laser and head to the rescue. You need to dodge spiders and bats and blow up walls. Watch out for the magma and radioactive ore.

Too this day, I still haven't beat the game. I just installed a Commodore emulator on my psp, it's time to save the last miner and let R. Hero rest.

Retro Gaming...

2009-06-01T22:59:00.003-04:00

I've regressed. I've become a retro-gamer. It happened slowly. I decided to look for an Atari. At first it was a 4-switch Atari from Amy. No controllers, no ac adapter... just the base unit and a couple of games. Trolling craigslist, I found a boxed 6-switch with 12 complete in box(CIB) games. I picked up a rf-adapter from Radio Shack, hooked it up to my HDtv and it was like I had my first shot of heroin. It was amazing. I traveled back in time. I was 8 years old again, sitting in front of my tv in my footy pajamas bouncing up and down trying to get a high score. Dodging blocky bad guys, shooting aliens in Space Invaders, protecting cities in Missile Command, kicking ass and taking names.

I was hooked. I slowly amased more games, more controllers, more systems(for the most part at a yard sale you need to by the system to get the games). The HDtv has too nice a picture. I finally setup my office. Half the office became a game room. I need to replace the newer old tv with a much older one, but it's not bad for right now.

I picked up a Genesis and a Nintendo at various sales. My poor xbox360 has barely been played since I beat Bioshock(Ghostbusters comes out later this month, so I'll blow the dust off).

The games are just so much fun. Today's games seem to focus more on flash then substance. Brighter and more realistic graphics takes precedence over gameplay. A game can look amazing, but repetative shitty gameplay doesn't make for a classic.

Now to find a MIB copy of Legend of Zelda and Maniac Mansion.

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2009-05-24T10:55:00.000-04:00

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2009-05-24T09:34:00.000-04:00

You gotta love summer...

2009-05-18T18:44:00.000-04:00

Its as bright now as when I left for work.

The Chuck Palahniuk event ... or Why I bought a new camera.

2009-05-16T16:01:00.004-04:00

A week or two ago now, the author of Fight Club Chuck Palahniuk, did a reading at the Free Library of Philadelphia. It was insanely crowded. The line circled the whole block. Not just one or two sides, the WHOLE block. Had to be close to 2000 people there.

I was lucky enough to be able to leave work early. I made it into the auditorium. The auditorium was full. They filled every seat. They satallite rooms were said to be full. It was fucking great.

He read three new fairy tales in the style of Pygmy. They were great. He did an interview on stage with a local newsman as well.

No signing, but he had pre-signed books.

Anyway, here's my best picture from the show.

Yeah. It's time for a new camera.

I had a shitload of OT in my last paycheck. I've been looking into a point and shoot camera for awhile now. So I bought a Nikon s-630. Yay me! It comes in next week, I hope.

It's sooooooo, pretty. And small. I wanted small with a decent optical zoom and a decent optical image stabilization. It also had to take good indoor/lowlight pictures. This one fit the bill. Also a plus that it's a Nikon.

I thought it was cool...

2009-05-12T15:48:00.002-04:00

No one else seems as interested.

They asked me at work if it was possible to turn the copying feature off on the little MFPs (multi-function printers) I've been installing.

There is, but it's not a straight forward off switch.

They have FIH(foreign interface harness) ports on them to connect to copy tracking terminals(equitrac).

If you enable the ports with hp's FIH app, when you hit copy it waits to hear from the terminal and comes back saying it can't copy.

The scanning still works fine and now they don't have to worry about copies being made that they can't bill for.

It's cool things like this that I come up with that just get overlooked.

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2009-05-09T13:56:00.000-04:00

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2009-05-08T21:45:00.000-04:00

Box o controls

2009-05-07T23:09:00.001-04:00

Travel case with black 2600

2009-05-07T23:09:00.000-04:00

My non-mib 2600 games

2009-05-07T22:46:00.000-04:00

A good day so far... And X-Men Origins Rocked...

2009-05-02T18:05:00.003-04:00

Yes. Overall a good Saturday thus far.

Slept in till 9.

Woke up and read comics I picked up yesterday from Wednesday. Really enjoying Dark Avengers. The first issue of Dynamite's Sherlock Holmes was also very well done. Bone creator Jeff Smith's sci-fi series RASL is also amazing. His cartoon-y art just works so well. Reminds me of Vaughn Bode.

Got washed and dressed and headed to Fat Jack's Jersey for Free Comic Day 09. Not bad. Not as good a selection as last year. This is the first time in 3 years there wasn't a free comic by Josh Howard. Blackest Night prologue and reprint of TMNT 1 was a fun surprise though. Missed the first issue of the Mercy Sparx ongoing, but was able to have the Philly shop hold a copy for me. Today was the last day of thier 50% off back issue sale too. Picked up a few issues of Runaways I needed for a run for a buck a pop and a Tim Sale art book.

Hit House of Fun up after the comic shop. It's wonderful having a vintage toy store next to your local comic shop, also helps that it's 5min from the apartment. Picked up Activision's RoboTank for the atari and a couple of genesis games. I picked up a genesis at a flea market last week. It came with a couple of games including sonic. I was a nintendo kid growing up, so far of the games I played on the genesis, that's a good thing.

After House of Fun I drove down to Loew's Cherry Hill and saw X-Men Origins: Wolverine. It was a 1:15 showing and the theater was empty. Everyone in the amazingly long line for a ticket was going to see Monsters vs Aliens.

Origins was great. I liked the cast of mutants. I loved Ryan Reynolds as Wade/Deadpool, only he didn't get enough screen time. I can see him doing his own movie somewhere down the line. Blob was good. Gambit needed a thicker cajun accent and WAY more screen time. He almost felt tacked on. The effects were wonderful. The storyline was good. I liked how they handled Wolverine's origin and his memory loss.

Overall a great addition to the X-Men franchise. MUCH better then X3. In the X-Men movie fanchise I'd rank it number 2. X2 was the best, but I liked this one better than 1 and 3.

Now I'm going to finish the evening by watching Troma's Poultrygeist written and directed by founder Llyodd Kaufman and then Disney's Peter Pan and a screener copy of Fanboys.

Somewhere between the movies, some vintage game playing and a wonderful home cooked dinner of tuna steak and sauted spinach in garlic and oil. Might serve it over pasta, might not.

Tomorrow I think I'm taking a drive up to Leesport, PA for the TooManyGames con. It's about 2 hours away, but I'm looking for some old atari games I can't seem to find anywhere including the bay. I'm also semi-interested in a sega cd. I'd like it to be model 1 though and not terribly expensive.

Early Morning Thoughts...

2009-04-29T06:46:00.002-04:00

Went to bed early, so I got up early (4ish). I stayed up instead of laying in bed until I was running late.

I can walk again. Gout is almost gone.

I noticed that it's almost chilly in every room in my apartment, except my bedroom. No idea why, but that's the way it works.

Mother Abigail found me on twitter. So apparently other fans of The Stand are also seeing similarities with the swine flu. I'm holding out for Randal Flagg. His group always seemed more fun.

Almost finished Stranger in a Strange Land. Great book. Everyone should read it. It's one of those books that makes you think, yet keeps you entertained. Next book on the list; the new Palahniuk book, Pygmy. Thinking of checking out some Rand, mostly because of the links to Bioshock, that and I like distopian futures.

Captain Trips?

2009-04-28T08:50:00.001-04:00

A couple of people on the train are sneezing. I'm wishing I never read the stand.

Is this the end of days?

Beware the walking dude.

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2009-04-26T15:14:00.000-04:00

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2009-04-25T08:59:00.000-04:00

Fleas for sale...

2009-04-25T07:21:00.000-04:00

I don't feel like moving.

Hard at work

2009-04-24T14:31:00.000-04:00

installing printers. 1/3

A pic from the Kepi Ghoulie / Kevin Seconds / Joe Jack Talcum show...

2009-04-23T18:56:00.002-04:00

From a couple months ago.
Kevin Seconds is playing the makeshift drums.
Kepi is on guitar and singing.
Dino is on bass.

The dancing chick is from the crowd.

Comcast can bite it...

2009-04-22T20:16:00.001-04:00

They shut my cable off while I was away, for some reason I still have internet.

Solution.

Pay the bill online. If they don't have it back on by the time South Park comes on, I'm going to be upset.

Asshats, what was it, 10 days late... oh... a month... hmmm... my bad.

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2009-04-22T20:16:00.000-04:00

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2009-04-22T14:39:00.000-04:00

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2009-04-19T14:52:00.000-04:00

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2009-04-19T01:11:00.000-04:00

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2009-04-19T01:07:00.001-04:00

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2009-04-18T20:05:00.000-04:00

53rd and 3rd standing on the street

2009-04-18T20:03:00.000-04:00

Only in NYC...

2009-04-18T02:58:00.001-04:00

Two people fucking in a crowded rooftop bar.
No foolin.

Trust Tommy to find some wild places.

We were in a cool new wave bar off times square. Wish we stayed longer. The rest of the gang wasn't into it.

$7 pringles

2009-04-17T15:52:00.001-04:00

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2009-04-17T15:52:00.000-04:00

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2009-04-17T15:51:00.001-04:00

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2009-04-17T15:51:00.000-04:00

Folded tp. Class.

2009-04-17T15:49:00.000-04:00

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2009-04-17T13:11:00.000-04:00

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2009-04-17T13:10:00.000-04:00

Ma

2009-04-10T14:21:00.000-04:00

Ham pies

2009-04-10T14:04:00.000-04:00

Desk at work

2009-04-07T17:08:00.000-04:00

Trader Joe's Indian Fare Pav Bhaji...

2009-03-28T19:23:00.002-04:00

Yay, another food review from you friendly frog fatty.

Eventually I'll go through all the Trader Joe Indian Fare foods. I'm not sure if my stomach will survive, but it's a risk I'm willing to take.

This was very good. It's more of a paste than chunks of stuff, but you can taste the potatoes. The smell is wonderful; peppers and starch with a hint of ginger.

It's the most spicy of the Indian Fare food so far. If you look close, you can see the flakes of some kind of pepper. Not overly spicy, but close. Makes if feel a little more authentic.

This is another must try. I'll be buying it again.

I should come up with some kinda sign off. Hmm. Spoon?

No Doubt is charging how much?!?!?!?!?!?!?

2009-03-27T16:44:00.002-04:00

No Doubt regrouped for a summer tour this summer.

This was good news. I'd love to see No Doubt. I'm happy their back together. Tragic Kingdom is one of my favorite albums. It helps that I find Gwen Stefani unbelievably sexy. She was the best part of The Aviator playing Jean Harlow.

So I remember to check dates and ticket info today.

They're playing in AC at the Borgata on May 2nd. Sounds cool, but don't feel like making the drive. Might be cool to see them in a small theater like that. It's standing room only and the tickets cost $105. WTF. Really, $105 dollars. OK, that's out. Maybe it's the size of the Venue.

They're playing in Camden at the SB Center in June. The day after my birthday(June 10th, send cards). They have lawn seats for $12. I won't do that again. I saw Aerosmith on the lawn. You're better off sitting in your car. The $40 tickets are sold out. My fault for waiting I suppose. So I would be stuck with the $80 tickets.

I'm probably going to go to the Camden show, but is that what tickets normally cost?

I admit, I don't go to alot of shows, and the ones I goto are lesser known bands, but $105?

I think I spent $25 on Dead Milkmen and Pennywise tickets. Page and Plant may have been $40, but that was in the late 90s. I won tickets to Kiss and Marilyn Manson so I didn't have to pay for them. Would the Manson/Slayer tickets have been $80?

I saw Kepi Ghoulie, Kevin Seconds and Joe Jack Talcum in a room that held 50 people and it only cost $15. The Groovie Ghoules, 7 seconds and the Dead Milkmen were fairly big in thier day.

Since people like Kepi and Kevin put out their music through Indy labels now, do they make more money from Albums while No Doubt has to make money through tours because the label takes all the money from CD sales?

I'm sure I'll have fun seeing No Doubt, but money aside, I'm sure I enjoyed the Kepi, Kev, Joe show more than I will No Doubt. Three guys who loved what they're doing and really did it for the fans.

I spend HOW MUCH on comics in a year...

2009-03-20T15:52:00.001-04:00

I'd like to start saving money.

I figure the first way to do this is to keep track of how much I spend.

I've gone through some statements and made a record of how much I've spent on comics so far this year. I've already noticed that this is a problem. I've even dropped a couple of monthly titles. Scary stuff. I might as well take up heroin.

Click the link to find out the damages.

I have a small php script I go back to every time I want to make a table from a SQL db. It's probably the script I'm most proud of.

I focus on the pain...

2009-03-17T10:26:00.003-04:00

I'm not sure how, but some time over the weekend I pinched a nerve in my back.

I don't remember any point going, "Damn, my back, WTF!" but it started with a slow ache that turned into a sharp stabbing pain every time I move.

Oh well.

I get to lie on my couch for a day or two and catch up on movies. According to the doctor it could take anywhere from 10 to 90 days to heal completely. I should stand or lie down, no sitting. It's a good thing I don't work at a desk... oh wait... bummer.

I took off Monday and Tuesday(today). I'm going in tomorrow. It'll take more than crippling back pain to keep me from new comic day.

I'm also in the middle phase of a head cold. Stuffy nose, sneezing, itchy eyes. My mom just got over one and at least two of the guys I work with just got over one too. I guess it was my turn. At least I have it while my back hurts. Might as well deal with everything at once.

Monster Mania Con...

2009-03-15T23:45:00.006-04:00

First con of the year for me.

Usually it's New York, but skipped it this year. Combination of being broke and not having anyone great listed in the guest list.

I really just popped into Monster Mania. I wasn't planning on going. Again, no one that great and still on the broke side. Turns out my paycheck hit earlier than expected and Lloyd Kaufman signed on as a last minute guest.

Monster Mania takes place, several times a year, at the Crown Plaza (formerly Hilton) hotel in Cherry Hill. It's literally right down the street from me. Sometimes they have amazing guests, other times not so much. I've met such horror classics as Bruce Campbell(Evil Dead/Army of Darkness), Jeffrey Combs(Re-Animator/Frightners), Malcom McDowell(Clockwork Orange/Caligula/Cat People/Time After Time/Heros), John Saxon(Nightmare on Elm Street/Enter the Dragon) and some lesser known stars such as Hal Delrich(Scotty in the Evil Dead), Tom Sullivan(art director on evil dead), The Chiodo Brothers(writers/directors/creators of Killer Klowns from Outer Space).

Lloyd Kaufman is one of my idols. He was suppose to be at several past shows, but never made it do to last minute scheduling issues. He's the creator of the Toxic Avenger. He's the founder of Troma Studios, the most successful independant movie company of all time. Troma is the big daddy of B movies. You look through my DVD collection and you'll see a whole shelf devoted to them. From such greats as the Toxic Avenger, Surf Nazis Must Die, Tromeo and Juliet, Class of Nukem High... to not so greats like Girl School screamers and Sucker the Vampire.

Billy Bob Thorton, Kevin Costner and Marisa Tomei all got thier starts in Troma movies.

Lloyd was fantastic. He's part comedian, part buisness man, part geek. He understands it's the fans that makes his company successful and loves us more than we love him.

Thank you Mr. Kaufman.

PS: He had a NYU film student following him around for a documentry. It'll probably be included as a special feature on some upcoming Troma DVD. I brought some Marvel Toxic Avenger comics and a couple of Indy Troma books to get signed. Lloyd showed them to the camera and did a little talk about Marvel and Troma's comic history. My comics are stars. Cool.

Feed Update...

2009-03-13T09:51:00.003-04:00

That was fast.
It seems to be a global problem. Not just me.
Bummer.

Feed Test

2009-03-13T09:45:00.000-04:00

My feeds stopped working. That's not so good.

urm...

2009-03-12T23:20:00.003-04:00

I had something I wanted to post, but I got distracted.
Bummer.

I remember it being fairly entertaining as well.

We would have all rejoiced.

I would have gotten it down too, if not for vidoop and it's stupid picture login.

I was trying to edit my twitterfeed and for some reason it wouldn't recognize my browser as being the one I used to create it. By trying to simplify things vidoop really fucked things up. I also couldn't reset my password because the forms page wouldn't work in firefox. Didn't give any indications that it wasn't going to work, it just never sent the email. It was pure luck that I happened to try it in IE.

Grumble...

2009-03-11T17:35:00.001-04:00

I fuckin' hate IE.
Things look fine in firefox, IE seems to think the sidebar needs to be under everything else.

Changes...

2009-03-11T17:29:00.002-04:00

Working on making things flow a little better.
Finally got rid of the profile and links.
Working on making colors match accross pages as best as I can.
The colors on the main switchboard are really bright. Never realized that. I've tried muting them a little here. Just knocked them down a notch or two.

I usually like working on the site, but I feel just really down today.

Don't know why.

Oh well.

Kat von D was in Philly...

2009-03-09T08:25:00.005-04:00

I missed a Kat von D signing at Borders in Philly by going to NY to the Gaiman signing.

My head tells me I made the right choice. My pants tell me different.

more pics

I'm in line...

2009-03-07T11:11:00.001-05:00

2 hours early. 3.5 hour train ride.
The line isn't bad at all, unless there's a lot inside.

Grabbed a huge snickers bar from penn station. Brought a quart of water with me. Should be all set.

Passed a halel truck on the way to books of wonder. Will stop there afterward. Almost half done starship troopers. Highly recommend it. Glad I picked up the running man as well. Didn't know it was a stephen king book. I'll watch the movie when I finish it.

At first when I realized how cheap the train was I was upset I didn't go to to the ny comicon. Now I realize I'd have to leave my house at 5 to make it just an hour earlier. Never would have happened.

The wait begins.

On the way to NY...

2009-03-07T09:20:00.001-05:00

Going to a Neil Gaiman/Charles Vess signing at world of wonder books.

The first time I ever went to NY was for a Neil Gaimen signing.

I decided to take NJTransit so its a 3-4 hour trip. Luckly I've made all my connections so far. It's so cheap to get to NY if you don't mind doubling your travel time. The trains are very nice too. Especially the NJTransit trains, big comfy seats. Just left Trenton for NY Penn. Once I hit Penn I take the NY subway. Then a brisk walk through downtown to the store. Hopefully I gave myself enough time to not be so far back in line at the signing.

Alyssa from Fat Jack's is going to be in NY and might stop by the signing. That would be awesome. I'm finally able to speak with her without stuttering... too badly.

I love NY. I would love to work there.

Oh well. I picked up the books: The Running Man and Starship Troopers for the trip and I'm a third of the way through Troopers. It's very much different from the movie, so far so good.

2009-03-03T19:03:00.001-05:00

We are the pure and chosen few, and all the rest are damned.

There's room enough in hell for you--we don't want heaven crammed.

Who Watches the Watchmen?

2009-03-03T10:35:00.002-05:00

A movie based on Watchmen has been in production for over 20 years.
It has long been considered unfilmable, but this Friday it finally comes out.

Who is going to go see it?

In the geek subculture Watchmen is heralded as "The GREATEST graphic novel of all time" and it is, but the normal world...

It doesn't have the name recognition of a Batman or a Spider-man. It's not going to have the built in audience those movies have.

Warner Brothers seems to understand this and is doing a fantastic job promoting. But will it be enough?

We should see Spider-Man numbers with Watchmen. Early reviewers have loved it, but they've all been geeks. It's suppose to have a very hard R rating. Nothing has been held back. This will keep kids from seeing it. It's going to be tough.

I have faith in Zack Snyder (aside: I did a imdb search to verify spelling and see he's attached to a cobalt 60 movie, WOW). Dave Gibbons, non insane co-creator, has been an advisor since the beginning. This has the makings of a geek's wet dream. I plan on buying a blu-ray player when it comes out on disc. I WANT TO SEE THIS MOVIE.

Anyway... I'm thinking of writing some Watchmen history all this week to keep me geeked up for the movie. Keep your eyes open and try and check out the movie this weekend.

Trader Joe's Masala Simmer Sauce

2009-02-28T23:06:00.003-05:00

It comes in a little jar, like tomato gravy(sauce). Add the simmer sauce, half as much water, some chicken, veggies(trader joe's harvest hodgepodge) and 20min later you have a meal.

It's quick and easy and tastes pretty good. It's a good alternative to take out masala.

Is it perfect, no.

It's a little bland. I happened to have some garam masala in the cupboard that I sprinkled over top to add a little traditional spice.

The chicken came out very tender. It melted in the mouth. You could taste the peppers in the sauce. Added a bit of a sweet taste. Tasted similar to chicken cacciatore but with an indian flare, which is pretty much what chicken masala should taste like.

It's a try.

Trader Joe's Indian Fare Dal Makhani...

2009-02-25T20:05:00.005-05:00

Dal Makhani is a traditional delicacy from Kashmir, the Nothern hilly province of India. Dal Makhani is a true labor of love. Black lentils and red kidney beans are soaked overnight in and then slowly cooked over low heat with tomatoes, ginger and garlic for hours until the spices are fully immersed, bursting with aromas. -Quoted from the back of the box. (read with an indian accent)

I had to quote the box because I couldn't think of anything to say.

It's not bad and it's not good. It's meh. Yes, meh, sums it up perfectly. It was a lot thinner then I expected. I've had yellow dal from a couple different restaurants and really enjoy it. I expected this to be similar. It isn't. It's a totally different dish. The lentils had a decent consistency and the sauce was ok, it was just really bland. There were hints of spices, but I couldn't pick out any one flavor. It was like they picked out the perfect combination to be meh. It had slight hint of tomato, but very slight. It smelled really good.

This is probably something you'd find on a buffet, toned down for American pallets.

I'm going to quote from Douglas Adams again, it was mostly harmless.

It's a skip. Stick to the punjab brinjal aka the eggplant stuff.

Who's there?

2009-02-24T11:05:00.001-05:00

Who's on first?

2009-02-23T14:40:00.000-05:00

Eye

2009-02-22T19:54:00.000-05:00

Night church

2009-02-20T18:39:00.000-05:00

Dad

2009-02-14T19:06:00.000-05:00

Lighthouse

2009-02-14T14:45:00.000-05:00

Random pic...

2009-02-09T20:41:00.000-05:00

Trader Joe's Indian Fare Punjab Eggplant...

2009-02-08T12:48:00.002-05:00

Last Trader Joe review for awhile.

I make brinjal bartha myself. I like it when I make it, it's a fairly easy recipe and it's not terribly expensive. During summer/fall the Collingswood farmer's market sets up a stand at the train station on Wendsday nights. You can get a beautiful eggplant for a buck. Anyway I'm getting off point.

This was the best of the Indian Fare food that I've tried. It seems to be a perfect version of brinjal bartha. The spices are absolutly perfect. This was the only dish that was actually a little spicy, not overpoweringly so, but just right.

You could taste the roasted eggplant. The onions where nice and soft and again, just added a subtle taste to the whole dish.

I'll still make my own when eggplant is available, but for a quick lunch or dinner or for when eggplant is unavailable it's a great alternative. Like the other Indian Fare dishs, there's enough for two and it's two bucks. It takes five minutes to cook, minus the rice (20min).

This was better than some Indian buffets I've had.

VCS Developer...?

2009-02-04T07:47:00.001-05:00

I've been thinking about taking my atari hobby(obsession?) To the next step, homebrewing my own games.

I've been looking into it. It's notoriously difficult. It's pure assembly programming and you have to control the tv scanlines completly through programming.

So far from my little experience with assembly, I've learned a lot about how chips hardware and computers in general work. It's awseome and answers a lot of questions I've had.

I'm still so far away from creating even the simplest game with dots for characters and a black playing field, but some day.

There's people outhere who'll burn your code onto an eprom and make a cart for you.

I have my idea for a game. I'm pretty sure its possible. You have to take size and memory limits into account. If I have to learn bankswitching it could be years before it gets done.

My plans are to get a game. Have like 20 copies made. Sell it on some atari homebrew forums. Cover my costs and buy my own eprom burner and eraser and do it myself from there on out.

I'm such a fucking geek.

Atari VCS FTW!!!

Trader Joe's Indian Fare Carrot, Lentil and Onion Soup...

2009-02-03T20:35:00.002-05:00

Wow. Just, WOW.

This was as good as the Palak Paneer wasn't. The spices are amazing without being spicy or overpowering. It's a good warm mix of ginger and cumin, I think. An excellent garam masala flavor. Apples and carrots add a slight sweetness.

At first I thought it was chunky, but no... those chuncks were Kofta.

A definite try. I'll be buying again. Only issue is that I want more and don't have any.

Trader Joe's Indian Fare Palak Paneer...

2009-02-02T19:56:00.003-05:00

To paraphrase the great Douglas Adams, It's almost, but not entirely, unlike palak paneer. It's not bad, it's just not particularly good. Bland. Very bland, the paneer wasn't bad, but the saag wasn't good. Don't give this to someone who has never had indian food. It smells good, which is strange since the only spice I could taste was salt, and it wasn't overly salty.

Anyone with kids probably won't eat this because it looks exactly like...

I recommend you put the $2.19 towards another jar of thai red curry or a some trader joe's salsa, which is, as they say, the shit.

New Recipe...

2009-02-01T00:13:00.001-05:00

WOW... This was really good.

A new recipe brought to us by your friendly neighborhood Krunchyfrog and made possible by the good people at Trader Joe's.

Pick up your favorite "meat" product. I happen to have chicken thawed that I had to cook. I image salmon would be fantastic and your favorite firm fake meat should be good as well.

Pick up "Trader Joe's Harvest Hodgepodge" from the frozen vege section. This is basically a frozen stir fry mix.

Finally grab some Thai Red Curry sauce and your favorite non instant rice.

Start the rice in the microwave. 2 cups of water to 1 cup of rice. Add a tablespoon of butter or oil if you like and a pinch or two of salt. Cook in a sealed microwave safe container for 5 min on high then 15 min on medium power.

While cooking the rice, cook the meat. One it's near done, add the veggie, when that's done add the Thai sauce. You should be done maybe 5 min after the rice depending on your "meat."

It's really good. Not spicy at all so if you like heat use some chilli paste or hot sauce.

Quick, cheap, and really good. The sauce really is comparable to quicky Thai restaurants.

And it might be a chick drink, but I mixed some Absolute Mandarin with my peach tea, MMMM.

Gray skies are gonna clear up...

2009-01-26T09:10:00.000-05:00

I'm in a good mood today.

No idea why.

Being in a good mood puts two thoughts in my head.

1. Who's going to fuck it up?

It's bound to happen. I have a three way tie between 2 of the help desk people and my boss. Even money it's one of them.

2. Sometimes I feel that waking up with a really good mood is just natures way of setting you up for a cosmic joke.

Maybe I only feel good, because something astronomically bad is getting ready to swoop in a fuck me up the ass.

Call it Job Syndrome. (at least I think Job was the one good took everything away from him to prove he still had faith, god is such an asshat.)

2009-01-21T08:16:00.001-05:00

I'm an old soul trapped in a young body, reading my books about electric kool-aid and motorcycle clubs. I need to find my way back to the now if I'm going to keep going on.

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2009-01-12T16:28:00.001-05:00

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2008-12-26T22:46:00.000-05:00

Drinking

2008-12-09T20:32:00.002-05:00

Alcohol does strang things to me.

I get sleepy. I lie down. I sleep for an hour, then I'm up the rest of the night.

We had our office christmas party. It was fun. I again talked to only the people I know. There were a couple of people I wanted to talk to, but even with alcohol I couldn't get up the nerve.

I'm on the train now. I felt buzzed a little while ago. Like I almost couldn't walk, but I feel fine now. I don't know if I drank out of the buzzed stage or if just stopped drinking early enough.

I really don't want to go in tomorrow.

Work has just been so stressful lately. Today had a real laid back attitude though. I got a little done. Really needed today and the party.

CENSORED (no more drunk posting)

Sam looks knocked. It's hard to ask her or Amy that though. She just, last year, got married. It's possible she's preggo or should just could have put on married weight.

My stop. Later.

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2008-12-09T12:20:00.000-05:00

Starr Won...

2008-12-07T20:54:00.000-05:00

YAY!!!!

No I can focus on what really matters... Dexter.

Best show on television right now.

Starr's and Rainbow's...

2008-12-07T20:31:00.002-05:00

Well I never thought I'd be writing about a reality show, but damn The Amazing Race's Starr is a twelve and a half.

She's a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader, I'd post a pic, but I have yet to find one that looks as good as she does on the show. I'm not entirely sure why that is.

It could be that she just looks better stressed out. She gets this pouty look on her face. All cute and worried and you just want to console her.

I never thought I'd be into a reality show. I don't watch them. I'm proud I don't watch them.

I blame my mother. Like a good dago boy I go home for Sunday dinner every week. My mom watches "the Race" before Cold Case. Cold Case is a great show based out of Philly, basically CSI Philly. Being the good son I am, I watch "the Race" with her. It's actually been very entertaining and I'm routing for Starr and her gay brother. I'm not sure if her brother is gay, but he sings in an off Broadway musical so I figure it's a good guess.

Anyway... Good luck Starr. I hope you win. Me and my penis wish you luck.

My cube wall

2008-12-04T18:53:00.000-05:00

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2008-11-30T15:11:00.000-05:00