A Couple of Things...

Hi there. Saw Iron Man Thursday night with Kerr and Edmond. It was great. Didn't quite have the punch of a Spider-Man or X-Men 2, but it was a really solid film that I wouldn't mind seeing a few more times. Might try to catch it at the show again while the big crowds are going to be there. Don't know what else to say -- the cast was great, the direction was sharp, the action was good, the dialog natural and entertaining. All things said elsewhere and in better words. Two moments of nerdishness were the fact they stayed so close to the comic book origin and the cameo at the end of the film. That was just awesome.


Anyway, apparently the whole point of the fifty cent DC Crisis/Countdown book from last week was to bring Barry Allen back. Which is a really bad move on DC's part. I hate all of this need to strip mine the past and rob earlier stories of their impact by bringing back characters creators remembered fondly as children but ultimately failing to provide any real reason for the character's return. Thankfully Marvel's handled Bucky so well and it wasn't really Captain Marvel back from the dead, so I'm not too angry about the whole thing. That said, I totally missed the whole Barry Allen thing. If anything I assumed the weird glowing figure was, like, Darkseid or something since it resembled his appearance just before "dying" in Countdown.

And another thing -- wasn't this supposed to be a wrap-up for Countdown before leading into Final Crisis. Seemed more like an extended ad made up of short, albeit occasionally interesting vignettes. I also could've sworn that the caption box belonged to Zoom once the lightning bolt showed up with the caption boxes, even if they wouldn't have made much sense that way. I don't know. Seems like a really bad idea to bring Barry Allen back. Wally West is a great character and fills the role of the Flash perfectly and entertainingly. Maybe they'll do great things with Barry Allen this time around, but as it stands there's absolutely no reason DC needs to or should bring Barry Allen back. None at all.

Now that that business is off my chest, I'm going to Quebec this weekend. If anything exciting happens I'll probably write about it here, but I'm expecting a fairly uneventful trip.

Hi there.

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. Things have been a little hectic. My grandmother is still in the hospital and I finally finished getting her things in order and out of her room, moving my stuff in afterwards. Had the carpets shampooed to get the trail around her bed cleared up. Moved my computer in and just got a wireless internet thing set up too. The set up is still a little shaky, but it's good for now.

I went to a seminar on depression last week. Didn't really find out anything new, but it was good hearing some of the symptoms read aloud and finding out that what I'm going through isn't unique to me, that's exclusive to me and all that. Been hanging out with the guys lately, having a good time. Sleeping well too. My hours were a little off for a while there, but they're pretty normal now.

Not much else to say besides the guys are all into Grand Theft Auto now. John and Edmond even bought 360s just so they could play the game. I watched Kerr and Sean playing an online multi-player match yesterday. They hopped in a car, Sean driving, and tried to get away from the police. A second later the car swerved out of control and into a tree. Turns out a cop shot Sean and he died at the wheel. It was pretty funny, you know, not being real and all. Equally funny was when Kerr dove out of a car and was immediately run over by Sean who was following him.

Can't think of much else to say. Things have been a little better lately though, after a good while of things being pretty awful. Hope it keeps up.

So, it was my birthday

I'd been feeling a little better over the past few days and looking forward to my birthday allowed the possibility of something great happening that would make me feel great. Didn't quite work out like I'd hoped -- got a few nice things, but mostly stuff I'd bought for myself. Went out for dinner with John, Edmond, and Kerr to Boston Pizza. Felt pretty crummy going in, but better afterwards. Still feeling down but better than I was. Birthday wasn't all that I was hoping it'd be, but I guess I've got to stop getting too excited about things since that usually results in me feeling down when it doesn't pan out. You think I'd know by now, but there you go.

Sorry for the depressing message. Here's a couple of pictures of cute animals to lighten things up.

What I've Been Up To Lately

I haven't been up to much this past week, but I've been keeping busy. Saw Cloverfield opening day. Went in the afternoon to beat the crowds during the evening shows. Worked out too -- I heard from a friend who tried to see it that night that it was sold out. Wasn't that bad. The weak dialogue was more obvious because it was supposed to be "real" and it felt very by-the-numbers, but it was fun seeing in theatres and had some good scares. Kept busy most days of the week. Did some writing, ate out with friends, had pizza one night, chinese the other. Been watching a lot of the sixth season of 24 on DVD with Kerr and Edmond. -- it got bad reviews but it's been fine. Went to London overnight on Thursday. Had a good time.

Don't really have much to say. Terribly sorry about that. Life's been fine lately, so there's not much to gripe about. There was this douche with a cell phone standing in front of me in line at Tim Horton's the other day. That was bloody annoying. He was shouting into his phone and standing his one leg bent and against the other, the tip of his shoe on the ground. It's hard to explain, but it added to the doucheiness. It wasn't as bad as being near someone on a bluetooth in an airport, but it's right up there.

Aside from that, things are fine, I suppose.

Hot and Heavy

I'm referring to the weather, sadly. In any case it's been extremely hot and humid lately. I made the mistake of walking home from Theatre Aquarius, where I'll be helping out for their upcoming August production of a period piece whose name escapes me, and I was so tired by the time I got home I thought I was going to pass out. I must have only been out in the actual sun for ten minutes or so, but I skin felt like it was roasting. I even started to get a headache, and my shirt was soaked. But aside from that it was fine, I guess.

More Infinite Crisis books out tomorrow. I gave a copy of the Countdown book to Edmond -- hopefully he'll enjoy it and want to read more. Anything to push comics on my friends so I'm not the lone comic-nerd in the group.

About the Other Day

Hi there.

Meanwhile, there isn't much to report on my front. I got together with John, Edmond, and Sean the other day. We went to "Time-Out" (possibly the worst name for a sports bar next to "3rd Quarter") and the guys drank while we played pool. I even played a round in between picking songs on the jukebox. The guys had a few beers at John's place before we arrived at T.O so by the time we left they were pretty loaded. We looked around John's basement a bit too -- I saw a bunch of his old toys from the 80s, he has a complete set of Superfriends that I'd love to take off his hands, but he's too stubborn to sell. I'd just take them, but he would actually notice they're gone.

Aside from that, I went to Sobey's. They still sell comics there so I got the latest issue of Peter David's Hulk, which is amazing. I'll definitely be getting the next issue. It's a real gem and recommended for anyone who comes across this blog (yeah, right).

Yesterday I went to the unveiling of the Ellen Fairclough stamp with my grandmother (yup, I'm super cool). There was a full buffet spread and the food was surprisingly good. And the dessert was incredible.