Hi there.

Not much to say. Things have been fine. I've been keeping busy, getting together with friends, getting out most days, doing things around the house. I saw a really sharp bookcase in Staples the other day I'm thinking of getting and I had a really nice dinner last night with Kerr, Sean and Raf at an outdoor patio. The guys had a good time ripping on me until the food arrived. I'd have been miffed about it if some of the lines weren't actually funny.

I was planning on posting a Stick People Theatre cartoon due to the shortage of actual material in this post, but the host site isn't 100% at the moment. Sorry about that. Hopefully it'll either be working or I'll come up with something interesting to say next time. Terribly sorry about that.

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.

What is it with some people?

Does anyone else have this kind of problem? I have a good friend -- we've known each other since elementary school -- and the guy just crosses the line a lot. Not all the time, but he'll just say something so incendiary that it makes me want to cut off contact with the guy. First time was during an argument with another friend. Can't remember the details, but it ended with me telling him he screwed up. So this other guy, let's call him Sean (that being his name and all), comes in and tells me "my whole life is a screw up, and all I do is sit around on my fat ass". Now replace "screw" with an expletive my PG-13 mentality prevents me from posting here, and you'll understand why I felt like punching him in the face.

Actually, now that I think of it -- and since I'm loathe to go back and edit this post for fear I'll lose my train of thought -- the first time was when I was at a pub with a few of guys, and Sean. I went to use the men's room and Sean thought it would be funny to throw wet paper towels at me. And then he pinched me in front of the waitress. Not just a little pinch. The son of a bitch grabbed me. After the fact it occurred to me that we were there for four hours, so that might've had something to do with my foul mood, but it was an unpleasant experience all around.

The third time was on messenger. I add that Sean is stubborn. Pleasant, most of the time, and actually very funny (more on that in a bit), but very stubborn. So when I was trying to have a serious conversation with Sean about my depression, I was taken aback by his attitude that I "just do it", whatever that might be, however difficult that might be. I tried to explain that it doesn't work that way, that, a lot of time, I don't have the drive to do the things I most enjoy these days. And the conversation went as follows:

Sean: those are all just excuses.......millions of ppl with depression do things for themselves........... you just chose not to

Me: Sean. I'm so offended by what you just said. I don't dispute that I'm lazy, but my life has ground to a halt by very serious depression that I've only just begun to feel like I'm making any forward movement through. I find it terribly offensive that you'd attribute any lack of movement to my own choice.

Sean: maybe it was your lifestyle that led to the depression, in which case it kind of was your choice........... i dont think depression is something that should be prevelant in someone your age. you have it good.....you just gotta find better ways of dealing with problems

Me: I can't even have this conversation with you right now.

Sean: thats also the problem.....

Me: If you want to know what is the cause of my depression, I'll have a frank conversation with you, but not over messenger.

Sean: you always want help but dont want to listen


The conversation went on a little longer. And that was, as far as I was concerned, the third strike. Thing is, I have a small handful of friends, and despite their faults, I can't afford to lose one. So after not speaking to him for a week or so, it more or less returned to business as usual. Until tonight. I just find myself unable to deal with Sean's negative attitude. And the stupid thing is why I'm so frustrated now. We were talking. He told me about this female comedian -- and he uses the term loosely -- that he went to high school with and he hates, mostly because she has the nerve to refer to herself as a comedian when, and I can attest to this as well, she isn't particularly funny. So I told Sean, who, as noted, is actually quite naturally funny. An angry sort of funny, but funny all the same. And what did he choose to tell me after telling him he was funny and should try putting together an act? That he'd "pull my bowels out my mouth" next time he saw me.

Yup. That's right. But I rolled with it. He's an 'angry funny', after all. I even told him that was funny, questioning how that sort of thing would even work. His reply doesn't bear repeating, but I found it needlessly vulgar and mean-spirited, hardly the sort of thing you'd tell a friend during a pleasant conversation.

So that's where I'm at right now. This guy is a close friend, but he's an asshole. Do I keep hanging out with this guy and run the risk of having him say something like that again, or do I lose a friend. It's something I've been thinking about and figured I'd put into words. Maybe it'll help me sort through it. It's not the sort of thing that makes compelling reading, I suppose, but it's helpful for me. If you did read through it, hope you liked it, hope I didn't sound whiny (or at least, too whiny).

After the Finale...

So, the JLU series finale aired. It was pretty good. The animation was sharp as always and some of the returning characters were surprising, but I'd be lying if I said I was totally satisfied with it. I was hoping that some of the character that popped up during the this season -- The General, King Faraday, Deadman -- would return since their last appearances were so open-ended. Granted the finale didn't really call for them to show up again, but from a story stand-point their returns were called for since the odds of getting closure at this point is nil. Also the big bad, however shocking and fun his final fight against Superman was, came out of left field and deprived the expected all-out brawl between the Justice League and the Legion of Doom. I think the problem with this season was the handling of the Legion.

The whole idea of doing the LoD is so you can have them square off against the Justice League. Of course, not doing this is a nice twist, but having the Legion as anything but direct adversaries for the Justice League is pointless when you don't actually care about any members of the Legion. Most of them were background fodder anyway with no prior animated appearances to draw from, and the few new villains that did get a moment in the spotlight -- Dr. Polaris, Atomic Skull, the Key, Silver Banshee, Sonar - received no development as characters at all. They were basically one-dimensional bad guys with gimmicks. The few villains that did show up from older series -- Metallo, Giganta, Toyman, Sinestro -- were included in episodes so overloaded with material they weren't given any chances to do anything new and lost any uniqueness that made them so memorable to begin with. The one "new" villain (a brief, non-speaking role aside) to pique my interest was Atomic Skull, and that was only because of his natural sounding voice contrasting with the fact he's a huge guy with a flaming green skull for a head.

But really, the big reason why the Legion failed as a season-long arc was that there was no depth to it. Cadmus worked because you had real people with understandable motives who didn't think they were evil -- they felt they had legitimate reasons to fear and strike against the Justice League. The Legion on the other hand, know they're evil. They just about say as much in several episodes. And, unlike Cadmus with it's rich multi-episode endeavors, the Legion only shined in the season premiere that introduced the team and set up the promising premise of an anti-Justice League, the Warlord and Viking Prince episodes that furthered the story and set up the intriguing idea that Grodd was willing to sacrifice members of his team to keep the Secret Society a true secret, the Deadman episode, and then the two part finale. The two other Society appearances throughout the season were either too brief, as in "Grudge Match", or played for laughs, as in "Great Brain Robbery".

The entire season moved away from episode-to-episode developments of JLU's first and second seasons and instead spent either half of the season on separate mini-arcs with the SS. This shift ultimately contributed to the lack of character development through JLU's final thirteen episodes and brought the show back to the arguably less refined style of the original Justice League series. It's frustrating as a fan because I've seen how well they can handle a mature Justice League Unlimited and made the season less satisfying on the whole.

That said, the finale packed a punch indeed with a great many shocks and surprises in the forms of shocking returns and the deaths of several DCAU vets. I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it a great deal but the lack of any emotional connection to the characters coupled with the fact that the huge developments called for action over character meant there was little emotional resonance to the proceedings. J'onn's return was a nice touch -- I'd forgotten about him but remember hoping he'd come back during the season -- but Darkseid menacing the world again felt old hat at this point. I got charged up when the Daily Planet was destroyed, but Superman didn't even seem to care, much less worry about Lois Lane and company who were inside when it went down. I felt the same way when Hawkgirl got a spear thrown at her, only to have her shrug it off soon afterwards. What could have been a shocking, emotional moment became a throwaway bit.

So I enjoyed the finale. It was made all the more better watching it on Sean's 42" plasma screen with him, Kerr and Raf, JLU newbies all (and they actually started to like it too!) And with the finale so ends the DCAU proper. Sure there'll be things like the Superman DTV down the line, but I think this is a last real hurrah for these characters. It might not have been my favorite way of closing the curtains, but they still went out with style. Kudos all, and from someone who's been watching since that fateful Saturday in September 1992, thanks for the memories.

Oh Yeah...

I have a blog. How about that.

Uh... I had a birthday. Watched the series finale of JLU. Been keeping up with South Park, Veronica Mars, Two and a Half Men, and Everybody Hates Chris. Got Justice League season one and In Dream of Jeannie on DVD. Schools wrapping up. Made some money. Suddenly started recalling the entire score to Sweeney Todd (not a bad thing). A friend got a 42" Plasma screen TV, and I have a feeling my brother will too. Been going to Boston Pizza at least once a week -- like the pasta and salad deals. Haven't been up to too much else. Will try to check in soon, as long as I remember I have a blog.

Trinity Con

So, the TV preview was a bust. The main attraction was a pilot the guy from the market testing group claimed was a year or two years ago but was hopelessly cheesy and littered with bad acting, bad dialogue, bad editing, and that, quite frankly, looked at least a decade old. I attended the event with John and Sean, buddies from way back, and they believed the pilot, "Soulmates", to have been a soap opera (which would explain a lot), but I think it was just really, really, really bad primetime TV.

But on an entirely lighter and far more interesting note, I went to the Southfield, Michigan Trinity Con. It's mostly a gaming event for role-players and card game folks and all that, but the real attraction was that Dwayne McDuffie, prolific comic writer and story editor/writer on Justice League Unlimited, was there. I probably spent more time driving there and back than I did at the actual show, but it was worth it. I had a chance to chat with Mr. McDuffie and then attended a panel on JLU and the upcoming batch of episodes. I had an incredible time, and it was a real thrill to be able to talk to one of my favorite writers. He even remembered me from his message board and for the signed card he'd sent off from the San Diego Comic-con (another amazing thing I have to thank him for again).

Here's a couple of the interesting things I learned at the show, with all spoiler bits blotted out for you protection:

JLU's audience is 40 to 45 percent women, surprising because most action series are targeted toward boys while comedy-action series target girls. Shows like JLU are expected to pull in about a quarter female audience, so JLU is looked upon as a fluke.

Static Shock's Gameboy game is continually in flux. One week it's ready to ship, the next, it's being held up indefinitely. Additionally the next Static Shock DVD is unscheduled, despite the fact the first DVD outsold the first Teen Titans DVD volume released at the same time.

JLU producer James Tucker is hard at work prepping ***********. It'll be outside JLU continuity because *********** is on the team.

*********** will be appearing on JLU in a episode structured like the *********** that *********** used to appear in.

Bruce Timm is working on two original series right now.

Mr. McDuffie is working on a potential *********** series. Although other *********** characters will appear it won't be part of *********** continuity, and will have a more anime flavor.

Vague enough for you? Anyway, I had a great time. I found a few Suicide Squad and Hardware comics for sale from the only vendor selling comics at the show. I really, really enjoyed the Hardware issues and will keep an eye out for more in the future.

So, hopefully something equally interesting will happen in the next little while so I can tell all the people that frequent my blog about it. Until then...

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.