My Hero: Keith Olbermann

I find most politics insipid, really I do. Despite some of the recent rants and posts here I honestly try to avoid political talk because three quarters of it is bad talking head spin for whatever political party the speaker is goose stepping with. VERY few of those talking heads actually BELIEVE in what they are saying to back it up by genuine fact (and not 90% opinion poll), let alone get PISSED about the point they are calling out on.

MSNBC's Keith Olbermann gets pissed. He genuinely seems to care about what he's covering to the point of sweating, allowing his blood pressure to rise, and spit genuine passionate venom at the people he gets pissed about. Are all of his opinions dead-on? Not to me, not 100%, but he does seem to do his best to back up what he's reporting with enough facts to make his point more convincing, and quite honestly more entertaining, than most any other serious reporter on the cable news channels today. Here he is, calling Rush Limbaugh out on some statements he made on his radio show about the recent Edwards smear, and especially the remarks made by Limbaugh about Mrs. Edwards:


He runs a Worst People Of The Day segment on his show that points out the three most irritating people that he's run across. This segment focuses on Walmart's treatment of Mrs. Shanks:


This one covers the resolution of the Shanks affair:


Like or hate his viewpoints at the very least he is entertaining, usually wherever he goes. Here he is explaining to PBS's Bill Moyers why he gets soo pissed on his program:


You can find a number of his rants on YouTube (which is obviously where all of these clips originate from), or you can track down his show COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN on MSNBC (honestly one of the VERY few reasons to watch the channel), and occasionally on your local NBC affiliate on weekends (check your local listings for time and placement). Personally I enjoy the YouTube segments the most (the recent clips of him telling his channel's co-hort Joe Scarborough to "Get a shovel" is great entertainment indeed!), but at the very least you have to appreciate his passion about his work. To have a soap box like that, to be passionate in your as-informed-as-possible beliefs and not afraid to speak out about them, THAT makes Keith Olbermann my hero.

WAKE UP

Heroes That I Miss: Space Ghost

Growing up with only 3 channels on the TV set, no VCR or net, left a young kid breathlessly awaiting Saturday morning cartoons the same way as most kids anxiously awaited Christmas morning. Every week there were mostly new spectacles to watch, and each show seemed cooler than the last. Of course that was the late sixties and the angry moms and government who thought that the excess violence on TV made their kids into raving maniacs (but the violence they all watched on the theater screen somehow allowed them to come through life okay), and not their lack of discipline and adherence to Dr. Spock (the baby doctor NOT the Vulcan), who told parents that hitting their child on the ass when they were bad made YOU an uncontrollable maniac (wonder if he blamed the violence the parent saw when watching 3 stooges- but I digress).

So, in the late sixties there were a few (VERY few mind you) years where Saturday
morning cartoons were COOL. Hanna-Barbera was spreading the word of justice to all
every kid in the forms of mostly mindless simpleton stories wrapped around cool
super heroic characters that we all came to love. There were “mainstream” comic book
characters then too, with every new season bringing on new recognizable characters, and even cooler new characters that Hanna Barbara could have and should have exploited further, but rarely if ever did.


One of my favorites from this time period was Space Ghost. More than an intergalactic superhero, this guy seemed all-powerful, able to fly through space, he had super strength, and an array of power blasters from his big red bracelets, mostly whenever he pressed one of the 3 big buttons on them and told us just what ray he was using. He could turn invisible, carried a force field with him at all times, and could communicate with the other members of his team by pressing the insignia on his chest long before anyone on Star Trek’s Next Generation ever could. All this and he carried a pair of kids and a monkey who just seemed to slow him down, get him into deeper trouble, and add humor relief in every episode. He was an intergalactic super policeman who could always handle the job, no matter how nutty the villain was (and there were quite a few nutters in his rogues gallery I assure you), and an incredible single parent to boot in a time when you KNEW that one parent households were tough.


Space Ghost’s kids Jan and Jace never got into deep trouble or even grounded for their stupidity (at least not what I remember) and it seemed that Space Ghost kept them with him to train them and guide them as much as put up with them, them and their crazy silly monkey Blip. The kids and the monkey were fodder to all us kids though, we all wanted to see Space Ghost in solo action- screw the kids.

The Space Ghost show also had another cartoon wedged in between it called DinoBoy, about a modern day kid jammed into a lost world of dinosaurs, lizard men, and Nethanderals, but that show was not nearly as cool as Space Ghost.

I’m by far not alone in my admiration of The Ghost, as many of my generation remember him fondly, over the years there was the occasional comic book appearance, or sketch at a con (I still had 2 of the Gold Key comics and the Big Little Book of Space Ghost myself- all of which go for mostly big bucks today, and believe me, they are all falling apart.

When Cartoon Network began re-running their older H-B cartoons we were all ecstatic (except my cable company at the time took their damn sweet time getting the Cartoon Network, and by the time they did those older HB shows were mostly stuck to the late, late hours of early morning- damn you Comcast!) and there seemed a renewed interest in all things Space Ghost, then disaster struck in the form of cartoon Network TOTALLY blowing their chance to rejuvenate this intergalactic policeman- they turned him into a talk show host.


Luckily Space Ghost From Coast to Coast was marginally funny or I would be completely pissed at how they literally cut off the head and shit down the throat of such a great character’s potential. I later came to understand that the Sad Sacks at Cartoon Network really had NO idea what to do with Space Ghost (apparently they were not the hardcore fans the rest of us were) and just allowed him, and most of his previous cast, to be bastardized and ridiculed (and don’t even get me started on the abortions that they did off of Jonny Quest and Bird-man; 2 other of my favorites from that period), Needless to say I still hold Cartoon Network in complete contempt to this day for fucking up, not only a first class merchandising opportunity, but the chance to graduate Space Ghost up into a more dramatic adult audience. They’ll run every inane Japanese anime drama they can get their claws into, but all the American cartoons have to either be for kids or stupidly immature Beavis and Butthead mentality (with NONE of that show’s quality I might add).

Just a year or two ago I witnessed a sad attempt at just that in the form of a mini-series from DC Comics (whose parent company also owns all of the HB characters) that was way too embarrassing for words. I read the first 2 issues and quickly stopped buying the series, complete with the knowledge that, just like the Cartoon Network, they too had NO idea of the true potential and possibilities this character and his cast could have. Frankly folks some things are MUCH better off left alone and sequestered to the nostalgic past.


There is now a DVD collection of all the Space Ghost shows available that (along with the original Bird-man and the Galaxy trio compilation) make for great mindless viewing on those odd times when you want to watch something cool and not have to think too much about it. I HIGHLY recommend you buying these collections, but at the same time remember that these are certainly NOT the talk show host you are probably used to by now. Granted the writing sucked, most of the plotting was so bad that I honestly believe there was a whole slew of writers spawned from them just because the viewers knew they could write better, and most of them did. But for the sheer spectacle and FUN of the shows and concepts themselves they are worth buying.


Space Ghost was created by Alex Toth, who designed most of the vast majority of the HB characters from that era, leaving an indelible mark upon those of us who got to watch his work as we were growing up, all the way from Space Angel to Josie and The Pussycats In Outer Space and beyond. Toth was truly one of the rarest of geniuses of animation, one who could take the sadly mundane and kiddish, and jazz it up to the ultimate in cool simplistic design. A man who never really realized how amazing he was, and what kind of mark he left on our generation, until he was close to his death, and then barely had time to understand and appreciate our thanks for his efforts. Saturday Mornings would have been completely different without his mark, and a whole lot less spectacular. Now if only these sad execs running these companies who can’t seem to wrap their brains around the sheer genius of Toth, could only try to make cartoons even half as good and fun. We’d happily put up with some lame writing if only we can watch some dramatic fun American based cartoons like Space Ghost again. The current cartoon watchers are missing out, or are thinking that only the Japanese can do great dramatic animation, especially if they haven’t seen cartoons like Space Ghost and Jonny Quest in their original forms.

Here’s to hoping that HB doesn’t stop with the DVD releases at Space Ghost and Bird-man either, because there are a good amount of other REALLY cool cartoons from that period, like Frankenstein Jr and The Impossibles, Samson and Goliath, and Moby Dick and Mighty Mightor, along with a number of other great Heroes That I Miss.

Wake Up

WTF Friday: A Day Late And About 20 Bucks Short

A rough collection of small ramblings and rants from the previous week, that SHOULD have been brought to you on Friday:

* Went to see Babylon AD Friday morning and realized why all the missed Hollywood "opportunities" I've had might have been for the best. There MUST have been a pretty good movie in there somewhere, just don't ask me exactly where. Look, we have your gritty depressive sci-fi world, your bright and shiny futuristic sci-fi world, some action using snowmobiles, oh, and we'll try to make a religious statement here too. All I can say is that I sat through it, was liking it in parts, and then the whole movie just kind of shredded in a bad haze of "you know what would be REALLY cool here..." and ending with a "Oh yeah, this was all based on a book, here's the end of the story", then CLUNK an "epilogue" that left we saying "oh yeah, the lead character would really do THAT!". Is Vin Diesel in control of his scripts because this was kind of the way I felt after watching Riddick, only Riddick was a lot more fun over all (more cool shit to look at), with that family oriented Disney film brought up for the last scene. I kind of expected either a large explosion, or some animated talking forest creatures there at the end- oh well.

*So, back to my original point above, after watching Babylon AD and Clone Wars a week or 2 before, perhaps my not making a great Hollywood connection isn't all bad, and no wonder I'm a cynical bastard when it comes to that kind of shit. I've had enough "talk" with agents, and moguls (producers and the like), and seen enough clunky film making to DESERVE to be cynical- though one meeting of Hollyweird "talk" with an unbounced check at the end of it would probably change all that- HAH!

*I've been trying to add more comic oriented stuff here to the blog, and I've got 2-4entries started and will probably finish at least a couple of them this weekend, so if all the video and non comics stuff has been boring you of late hang in there, I'll catch up.

*This last week has been a bit of a low energy week for me, I ran through a torrent of work these last few months and have been steadily working this week for sure, but it seems like mostly low paying almost "catch up" type work. I'm still aching to get something a lot more creative going really really SOON.

*Lately I've been getting into political discussions that I really don't mean to do. After defending some big party political move I've been catching myself thinking "But that's all because they're running for office, once they get in it'll be the same ol' shit". Honestly politics normally bore the crap out of me and I try to avoid them, so I'll use short hand and say 1) Yes, Obama looked REALLY presidential, and Bidden gives off the aura of being a stand-up guy and there might be real "Change" happening here. 2)Hillary's speech (what I was able to sit through) seemed forced, fake, and too saccharin, but I hope she convinces enough women to look at their personal lives before voting for Palin and decide which of the 2 PRESIDENTIAL candidates could do the most to better their existence and vote that way, which I honestly think most intelligent women will do 3)McCain is a joke, comes off as a wiley snake, and for the last 2-4 years now- really ever since "The Straight-Talk Express" came to a screeching halt, has come off as a wishy-washy bastard- the crap about his houses is sad and funny at the same time and 4) the STUNT CASTING of Palin is interesting, like the republicans think women will just vote for a women. I LIKE Palin's economic record (what little one she has), but her anti-gay, anti-choice stance sickens me, PLUS the fact that she's a "slash and burn" politician who in the short time she's been politicking has left a trail of former candidates (mostly from her own party yet) cut off at the knees with their political throats slit and shit down- THAT might make her a GREAT vice president if she was doing all of that "justice seeking" because of her conscience and not for all the political gain she has aquired- THAT'S REALLY SCARY.

*I did win a small bet from my Republican friend that McCain didn't choose Lieberman as his VP- but I told him when we bet that McCain probably had as much choice in his VP as I did over the casting of the Watchmen movie. Again, Palin is a GREAT choice, but in the upcoming weeks I'm thinking the words "Republican ploy" and "backstabber" will follow her like her shadow. I told my buddy for her to be but a little footnote in history, of less importance than Dan Quayle, but then again I could be wrong.

*Now I'll be getting a lot of work done away from the TV for the next week because I've already heard all the republican rhetoric, and quit honestly I've been sick of this political crap for months, so I suppose I desperately need to STFU and find more important, much less depressing, much more fulfilling stuff to talk about!

*So maybe that's why I'm a bit depressed this morning, too much politics and not enough FUN!

*Is it me or are we looking at a horrible season of new TV? Very little "new" in there isn't it? I'll probably address that in a future post, but there's not a whole lot starting up this year (at least not this fall) that's catching my attention. But then, I'm still pissed that Chuck gets a second season and Journeyman never made it past a 13th episode.

*Speaking of Journeyman- have you been to Fancast.com? Awesome of them to set up free showings of some true fan favorite TV. Sure the broadcasting is a bit flawed, but the episodes are still watchable, and really perfect for small screen "browsing" while working on more important stuff- look them up if you like that kind of thing.

*Well, that's it for now- more soon- and thanks for reading my ramblings- hope your week went well.

LATER

Some Things Just Need To Be Repeated: I Have A Dream

Could not let the day pass without mentioning that it was 45 years ago that Dr. Martin Luther King gave his "I Have A Dream" speech in Washington DC. If you have not ever listened to the entire speech you should do so, and honestly do so often.

Not just powerful it its delivery, but most powerful in its words and intent. I would suggest that MKL day commemorate more that the life of the man who spoke this speech, but we should make it a point to listen, perform, inact and celebrate the meaning and heart of his I Have A Dream speech. THIS is America to me, and a thought SO worth remembering and celebrating:



WAKE UP!

RE Thinking Our Victorian Values

This article from New Scientist, Men from polygamous countries live longer than men from monogamous ones. Seems the secret to a longer life for men comes in the form of 2 or more wives. Here's the addy for the article, or simply check on the headline above:

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/being-human/dn14564-polygamy-is-the-key-to-a-long-life.html

This could easily kick me up into a rant about "Victorian Values" and the original reason for monogamy being a control device from the organized churches to keep people just happy enough to remain members of the church and populate society, but controlled enough to not have TOO much fun (most druid, wiccan, and pagan religions consider abundant sex- between consenting adults mind you-to be a step towards heaven and godliness), but I'll sum this up by making the following statement:

"Perhaps the secret to a long life IS mental happiness and contentment, however it might be found."

Just a thought.

WAKE UP

Wake Up Site Of The Week: Life Hackery

Just found this site and thought I'd share. This site literally "rethinks" usage for common shit in directions that you might not have thought of. What else to do with Olive Oil (the oil NOT the cartoon character), old CD gem cases, used coffee grounds, stuff like that. Perhaps too Martha Stewart for some, I find this kind of rethinking interesting. Any chance to "reuse" something, other than sticking it into a recycling bin, practically is a good thing, especially if it can save you a little jing down the line. Give it a browse (or not):

http://lifehackery.com

WAKE UP!

Rethinking: Media Spin

I caught this last night from YouTube, via Fark.com. Someone, apparently from the local Fox affiliate in Denver, wanted to interview (it seems he already tried it once) some protesters in Denver marching the day before the start of the 08 Democratic National Convention:



After a few hours of digestion (and a good night's sleep)I came to realize that I had seen all of this before. From the classic Kentucky Fried Movie via YouTube, I give you Rex Kramer: Danger Seeker:



He even kinda looks like the Fox reporter. Anyway, what I want to point out here is the ridiculous lengths the media (and Fox especially) will go to "make news".

That reporter had already tried to interview protesters earlier and had gotten the same results, yet here he goes again. Added to that is any viewer (not buying blindly into the Fox dogma) should be insulted at the "surprise" reception their cameras and reporter got, especially when I'm sure the camera was openly identified as was the microphone the reporter was carrying. They got exactly the response they expected and were "shocked" to have received it. Absolutely insulting.

Add to that the "shock" that there were folks there protestiong who didn't like Obama- SHOCK upon SHOCK for folks to have their own personal opinions! Why, that is SO not supposed to happen in the world that Fox is spinning for their viewers. Now, let's watch the channel get 100% behind McCain and be "shocked" that there are Republicans (even blind to the facts, uneducated, dogma following Republicans) who DON'T like their candidate for President. Is there a more blatant example of Americans being told to goose step behind their party's choices? There are actually viewers in that Fox affiliate's district who blindly believe everything that was "staged" here as God's Honest Truth, and that Fox is "Fair and Balanced" news reporting.

Finally, with all the chants of "Fuck Fox News" in the background being repeated over and over again, whoever was running the editing board of the station should have killed the reporter's microphone as soon as they realized what was being chanted, BUT that would not have made good news, just responsible news. The FCC probably won't make mention of the curse word repeatedly going across the airwaves either, as most anyone dimwitted enough to be insulted by such language would not want Fox News to get into trouble, though if it was on ANY other "news channel" and they happened to have stumbled across it, complaints would be filed without hesitation.

That's only part of the media spin folks, but it is a blatant example of it. Most "Media News" has as much to do with reality as prime time "reality show" programming does.

WAKE UP!

RE Thinking Your Health: Do Your Testicles Feel Okay?

Found these inportant messages on YouTube via The Distorted View podcast and Just had to share...







FEEL UP!

It's Random WTF Friday!

Sorry folks, I haven't been ignoring you on purpose. I've been ranting and working, making notes and working, working and doing almost everything else except make an addition here. I ain't making excuses, just bustin' a sweat workin' on shit that's generating money, and definitely not enough time relaxing. I'm also not devoting nearly enough time for this blog.

Next week SHOULD be calmer, and as soon as I breach a couple more of these piddly art jobs, I'll toss more stuff up here- I DO still have TONS to show and talk over with you. To paraphrase an unedited Kirkman, "If there were 20 of me you'd REALLY come!"

BTW- I have to thank all of you who are stopping by and checking out this blog. I keep getting one or two personal emails a day commenting on this blog (even with no addition to it since Tuesday!), but I still have yet to have any of you readers leave an actual comment. Thanks for reading, but PLEASE leave your mark and let everyone else know what you think of my shit here.

Coming up! MORE Rants, MORE Heroes that I Miss, MORE Rethinking Science, a few more Cool Places To Eat, plus I'll be starting a new posting section to this blog called "Comics MY Way". I'll talk to all of you soon, I promise!

WAKE UP!

Wake Up site Of The Week: WalMart Watch

First off, There are a number of the "box chain stores" that are much bigger than they deserve to be, and the bigger they get, the power that they generate, the more muscle they love to shove around and the smaller and smaller us middle class little guys become.

I do not shop at Wal*Mart, no matter how low their prices, plus I cut up my Sam's Club card a few years ago as well. If you have not seen the documentary "Wal*Mart: The High Cost Of Low Prices" then you really need to. Wal*Mart has become notorious for their treatment of EVERYONE save their elite few at the top. Currently they seem to be trying their damnedest to demand that their employees vote republican because for some reason the democrats seem to want Wal*Mart to not only pay their fair share of taxes (which they do their damnedest NOT to do), but to also start treating their American employees a little better and fairly than the sweatshops they and their suppliers run in 3rd world countries. I mean, heaven forbid if folks working for them should actually earn anything close to a living wage and not have to (and be encouraged to) apply for Medicaid just to get medical attention.

If greedy bastards like this actually had a conscience there wouldn't be a need for a federal minimum wage and other laws to try to give the lower middle class anything close to a fighting chance at survival.

Please check out and bookmark the following site and check in from time to time and WAKE UP to Wal*Mart's sad overbearing muscling, outrageous greed, and finagling and TRY to be a concerned shopper. Those low, low prices you may love at the Wal*Mart all come with a price tag that we as Americans cannot afford, and we should all be offended by. You can get to the Wal*Mart watch site from the address below, or just check on the headline above.

WAKE UP!

http://walmartwatch.com

Clone Wars Movie Review

Hey, as a kid I was a HUGE Star Wars fan- if you’ve read the fourth issue of my old comic series you already know that. Star Wars to me is episodes 4-6, with 6 (Return of the Jedi) being the weakest of the 3. Episodes 1-3 as they stand are nice to look at, but SERIOUSLY they aren’t the prologue that ANYONE expected- BUT after allowing 4-6 to become iconic in most any young adult’s mind (as mind that had grown up since then), doing 1-3 was an IMPOSSIBLE act for most folks. Lucas would have been branded as a genius, no matter how many folks dissected 4-6, if he had left well enough alone and said- “Know what? I’m totally bored with that universe and I’m gonna let someone else go do 1-3- I got other things to do.” THAT Lucas would have remained a genius to me, and quite frankly he still could have done 1-3 and put another name on it, or better still found a few up and comers to do them with the same fire in their gut as he has when he was riding over eps 4 and 5. No such luck.

Episodes 1-3 were a mess. Quite honestly he should have come up with a totally different name for them, but no, he had a fat cow that could be milked and bled and that’s exactly what he did. The introduction of The Clone Wars in ep2 was clunky to say the LEAST, and I still have a rough time rationalizing it out. The stormtrooper clones were labeled as EVIL in eps 4-6, and now they’re running with the good guys? Just what does that say about the good guys? Shoddy plotting if you ask me, and VERY bad space opera- let alone becoming confusing for a smaller audience, I thought the rebels were a metaphor for the Americans breaking free of the colonies, instead its just a cluster fuck of mistakes and bad politics. Storm troopers should always be BAD, Jedis should always be good, or at least try to be, and Sith lords craving independence and being branded as evil is just plain UN-American if you ask me, and it’s a major cluster fuck on Lucas’ part to do things the way that they did. The basic lesson he’s putting out there now is “rebellion is bad, machines are bad, genetic manipulations are good, following orders from your superiors is mostly good, but if they get too much power they either become totally evil and politically screw you, or totally naïve and they are overrun by the politically evil”. All in all, some pretty lousy statements.


That being said, when the Cartoon Network started their Clone Wars cartoon I thought it was not only crappy, but way too short. The episodes were short situations, the art was too simplified, anime influenced and downright dull, and the storytelling and the writing a solid mess. Though my opinions of the artwork has shifted from crap to “stylized- I guess”, I have yet to take the time to sit and watch a number of these episodes in order just to see if they are remotely better than I think they are. I’m willing to be wrong, just not spend the time at the moment to find out.

Now we have another film, an example of new style of animation and a new series that I understand Lucas and crew have a huge number already done, in the can, and ready to go. My initial reaction that it was going to be shown on Cartoon Network (the basis of a good lot of other postings that I have yet to do) made me wary, but hey, I was under the understanding that this was a fresh take on the universe, with little if any main characters from parts 1-6 even showing up, and NOTHING to do with the first cartoon series (Boy, was I misinformed on those points completely!). I also read that Lucas was encouraging his animators to stay away from the cartoon series and aim for a more solid quality of animation, using Gerry Anderson’s Thunderbirds as an example of the style he was thinking of. Those points made me want to go see this “3 episode of the new series rammed together into a movie for theater” despite all the reviews and the fact that I had a buddy go see it opening day and warn me that it wasn’t all that good, I should have listened.

So you’ve got this clunky war, introduced in episodes 2 and 3, that really wasn’t making much sense, added to situations, characters, and basic body styles from this simplified anime abortion that was on Cartoon Network, mashed together into an animated style that was watchable for the most part, but VERY irritating in others- focusing on characters that were not only acted by other, dare I say it BETTER actors in real films, al mish-mashed into a clunky horrible story… MAN, this movie was a MESS!!



Highpoints for me was the animation style, and most of the visuals were first rate. Despite most of the reviews I thought the characters all flow rather smoothly and the animators should be happy with the movement that gave their characters. That is literally it for highpoints.

Low points for me was the clunky war “message” Lucas was putting out there, the “look” of the beards on any of the bearded characters gave them a wooden leveled look that irritated me, the story itself was horribly put together (making Episode 1 look cohesive instead of one video game attached to another), and the very THOUGHT that this production was remotely worth putting on the big screen as opposed to leaving it to be the gemstone it will undoubtedly become over at Cartoon Network.


Obviously the editors decided to not put in a whole lot of effort to make the story coherent. Princess Amidahla (sp) was tossed in halfway through the story, then given some action, and then arced scrappily into the main storyline as almost an afterthought to the story (“Let’s kill time by bringing in someone everyone knows!”). Then, after the main story was concluded we are left with no real conclusion to the characters. There was little if any actual character building, though I found the most interesting characters to be the cloned leader with blonde hair (whose name escapes me) and the new Padawan Egyptian/cat/girlie that will STILL need some serious work to be worth their time to ad to the story. Plus the female Sith lord (Ventress I think her name was) was actually worth looking at. The caricaturing of Yoda, Doku, and Samuel Jackson was a bit pleasing at the start, but actually distracting after awhile because they looked too odd from their originals. Anakin was too old and WAY too cooperative, and Amidahlia (sp, but you know who I mean) was too young and doe eyed, and WAY too milk-toasty for my tastes, as well as unnecessary in the first place.

In short- Hooray for the animation, as long as the character doesn’t wear a beard, BOO to the writers and merchandisers. BOO to whoever thought they should release this to the theaters (I will DEFINITELY be thinking TWICE before paying to see ANYTHING labeled “Star Wars” again!)- And finally SHAME ON YOU George Lucas for badly trying to milk a cow that has already been bled to death, oh that slaughterhouse where you’ll be chewing that cow into hamburger is called The Cartoon Network, we’ve all seen their meat grinders before! At least you’ve shown us all that Howard The Duck was no accident (I thought you just couldn’t wrap your head around the late Steve Gerber’s incredibly cynical satire), and in fact Episodes 4-5 were.

Now if you take that animation style and apply it to another universe, fire your writers and replace them with folks who know a little story structure, create a NEW soap opera and write it at a ground level general audience as opposed to middle scholars with no imaginations- I’m there! Oh, and the same goes for Indiana Jones as well- that “great” little plot for the last movie was SO silly it HAD to have come from you. My advice is that you retire and enjoy your empire before too many more folks realize how far you’ve fallen. It’s always sad for folks to see their idols destroyed, especially by their own stupidity.

WAKE UP!

Inside Comics: Kirkman's Video

Stupid me, I spent a whole day last week fretting about a video on the Comic Book Resources site apparently shot by and starting Robert Kirkman. The video was entitled a “Mission Statement” and seemed to cover a somewhat bold move on Kirkman’s part to stop working for “The Big 2" comics company and work solely on creator owned material, and that in his view, it was want he wanted to do “To Save Comics”. Here is the location of the video on the Comic Book Resources board so that you too can watch Kirkman talk about his ideas for “Saving Comics”. The video is 9 minutes and change so please take a second and go look, think about what he is saying, and then come back and keep reading- go now.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=17705

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On a side note- I apologize greatly if this seems a bit “Inside Baseball” to some, and if you’re REALLY not that interested in the state of today’s comic market I beg you to keep reading anyway, and go see the video, be informed and form your own opinions as to its’ message. There IS a point to all this beyond the points Kirkman raises in his video, and it DOES tie into the very foundation as to why I wanted to do this blog in the first place.

NOW, like I said before, stupid me, I spent a whole day drafting a response to this, calling friends, discussing it with colleagues, and carefully writing my opinions about the opinions expressed on the tape. It wasn’t some knee jerk reaction, but actually a well thought out response pointing out the obvious point flaws in what Kirkman was saying. I would post it here but frankly it expresses opinions best left to dissect and perhaps stretch across a number of blog entries. To paraphrase I remarked that my impression of Kirkman’s statement was that of a rich (mostly republican, but most any RICH) politician who claims that the US economy is still as strong as ever and we’re not in a recession, let alone a depression, and that it’s all nothing more than a little “bump” or temporary “perfect storm”. In other words, they were both too removed from the true reality of the situation that they stated what they BELIEVED as fact other than what really WAS fact. I stated that the REAL situation of those looking to break-in to comics, especially the truly creative ones, are usually chased off by the many trap falls one has to go through in the market (and I have been in the market now for over 2 decades so I have seen a lot of them). Other than that there were no personal attacks (though I had more than one friend suggest making them), it was my intention to inform, perhaps educate, and WAKE UP those who had watched Mr. Kirkman’s tape and decided that he really was, in fact, trying to save comics.


I had gone so far as to send my response to a colleague for evaluation and gotten a rewrite back from him that was better than I had written, more leaning towards my credibility in the market (so I didn’t come off as your typical no nothing who swears they know it all), and a point or two that, to me, reminded me as to why I should be so defensive to Mr. Kirkman in the first place. I made it a point for my response to not be a personal attack, and in fact ended the post (which originally ran past 3 pages) with 5 solid things that need to be done to REALLY “Save Comics”, because I LOVE comics as an art form, but I HATE the cliqued out political system that it operates in.

Again, silly me.

After getting back the rewrite I decided to dig deeper. To me, especially lately, I’ve learned that the only good solid opinion is a truly informed one. I despise “dogma” and blind half-ass fact filled opinions, and I like being as informed on as much of a subject as possible before I make an opinion (My only exception here being critiques of other entertainment pieces, then I generally try to run off of what I see as opposed to what I “know”- witness for example my upcoming review of Clone Wars which SHOULD be my next post). So anyway, I dug deeper, and BOY was I glad I did!!

Surprisingly, I found posted for all to hear, and THANK GOD for that btw, on the WORD BALLOON PODCAST, the COMPLETE soundtrack or the “Mission Statement” that Kirkman made. The statement actually runs over 12 minutes (as mentioned in the audio), and was SEVERELY edited down by the Comic Book Resources folks, who apparently weren’t interested in showing their readers the REAL point to all of this, but REALLY wanted Kirkman to come off as a super-intelligent nice guy, out to REALLY save comics.

The real “point” to the message, the true “Mission Statement” was a “Ha Ha, I’m now a FULL PARTNER with Image and am going to make more off of my stuff than I would from working for the Big 2, and everyone should join me!!” diatribe that in reality comes off egocentric and almost haughty. Sure, all the same points are expressed as from the CBR video, how AMAZING it is to hear the 2 versions one right after the other and how the entire intent was changed from its original recording. In my opinion, NIGHT AND DAY TO SAY THE LEAST.

This is a real “Wake Up” moment for me, and one I felt I HAD to share with all of you, an example of true “spin” in the media, even at the small hobby level, and quite honestly I find it offensive. This sad spin happens in the media all the time, and even more so as fewer and fewer folks get to push their own personal agendas and opinions onto people. That’s why blogs are SO important, even if the occasional fact is horrible skewed, or the blog spin is misleading, it’s almost always putting another opinion OUT THERE for folks to consider.

The older I get the more I realize that everything we THINK we know is wrong, and just because a lot of folks THINK they know something, it really doesn’t make that a fact (despite what the spinners and politicians want you to believe).

I welcome free discussion on these points. As of this posting CBR has yet to try to discourage any, outside of running an edited (softer) version of their buddy’s video, AND there IS a note that the video was "re-edited". I think they should be asked why 3 plus minutes of the tape were dropped and Kirkman’s entire intent of the video (at least to my mind) was alerted. PLUS I think CBR should be held accountable to start a healthy place for discussion on how comics can REALLY be saved as an art form, especially if they care enough to let one voice (no matter how big or who’s status has just been acquired) to have their say. This has renewed my opinion of just how off the mark “the comic elite” is to the TRUE problems that lie within our industry. Problems that as the topic arises, or I think of bringing it up, I will address in future postings here, but I assure you that my voice is but a small one, and my readership only a minute proportion of the amount that the Comic Book Resources board gets every day. I am easily discredited and ignored, so the comics market can rest easy that this small voice in the wilderness, thin informed opinion, will probably NEVER be considered.

For those of you who question my credentials, I invite you to read the Arrow Comics’ history over at http://www,arrowcomics.com, or better still read my 3-part miniseries on the state of modern comics entitled SPANK THE MONKEY ON THE COMIC MARKET and decide for yourself if I’m full of shit or not.

Finally, to punctuate my point and drive home my disgust in the media I give you the address where you can find the UNCUT (as least as far as I know) version of Kirkman’s Mission Statement, as well as a very insightful interview with Mr. Kirkman that follows. Listen to both the video and the podcast and PLEASE make up your own mind about the Mission Statement’s intent, and if you’re as angered as me please share your opinion wherever you can, and if I’m full of shit, or you think that way, please let me know- just make your opinion an INFORMED one:

http://wordballoon.com/

Look under the podcast "Kirkman Explains his Mission Statement".

Some might think this a small insignificant knit-picking point, but to me IF you're interested in "Saving Comics" I can't see how moving from one or two large corporations to a smaller one (even one of the better ones that allows you more creative freedom) will be saving anything more than your possibly expanding bank account- but then again I may be wrong. My real point here isn't the message as much as the intent and the spin of what's being made. If you've done good for yourself and you want to share your good fortune, please do, just don't allow it to sound like you're being a hero and stepping towards a loftier, higher goal other than your financial gain, especially when the art form is SO defiled and crippled when it comes to fostering real creativity.

Next time, my critique of The Clone Wars movie, probably, if nothing else really pisses me off before hand.

WAKE UP!!

RE Think: Disney World now Wal*Mart Smart?

This from the Daily Mail website via Fark.com: Employees at Disney World are having to protest in order to try to KEEP health care benefits that Disney wants to take away from them. The employees' contract ran out in February, and the employees of the park and its other establishments on site have been working on in good faith. A recent offer from the Disney Corp was SO off the mark and offensive to the employees they staged a costumed protest for all to see and know of their plight.

Disney's response was to call the cops on the protesters, so a large number of guests and fans had the opportunity to watch their favorite cartoon characters arrested, handcuffed, humiliated, and hauled in.

This because they are fighting for their jobs and quality of life. These folks were not making outrageous demands they seem to have only been fighting for descent health care from one of the richest corporations of the world.

Folks, this is a frighteningly strong trend springing up from a number of the larger corporations. they are intent on reducing their overhead at the expense of the workers' current quality of life. We all know that if the health care for their employees were to cost them more than it does now, they would only double, or triple that expense and pass it right on to the consumer. Forget about generating some sort of additional income to subsidize it, they're union busting on the highest level and figuring that their employees can get by off the state's Medicaid funding. Wal*Mart really set the standard for this, and watch as over the next few years if that decision doesn't come back to bite them on the ass. That is one of many reasons why I don't shop at a Wal*Fart.

Some states have even gone so far as to penalize and bill Wal*Mart for the coverage they've had to take on as their employees file for state aid in order to get by. I'm also sure that some states have played with making laws to force corporations to provide adequate health care to their full time employees, but big corps like Walk*Fart find ways of weaseling out from their restrictions (like not giving their employees more than 28 hours a week- thus avoiding the 32 hour a week health care enforcement.

Believe me when I tell you that I totally believe in a free economy, but there comes a time when large corporations wedge their way into a small town type area and literally begin running it like a dictatorship.

Corporations have no emotions, let alone a sense of decency or ethics anymore. Disney and Wal*Mart should both be ashamed of their treatment of folks trying to earn a living and a descent way of life in service to the parent company. These are only 2 examples of an ever growing problem. How much is enough? All cutting their bottom line like this does is make the CEO's bonus higher as THEIR performance looks better, at the cost of their employees, and the surrounding populace who now have to pay higher taxes in order to afford the strain on Medicare, welfare, and other public programs.

To read the above mentioned article just click on my posting headline above, or cut and paste this address into your browser:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1045159/Cinderella-Snow-White-Mickey-Mouse-arrested-police-clash-staff-Disneyland.html

WAKE-UP and remember Mickey Mouse could be sick at any moment, and we ALL might end up paying for it, but the CEO's are certainly not cutting their bonuses, their health coverage, or their salaries to help the bottom line.

Heroes I Miss: Ulysses Bloodstone

I love Curling. It's a sport few really take the time to understand and realize, but an amazing sport to try to describe to folks. The look on their face is totally priceless when you start talking about 20 pound stones with handles, shuffleboard on ice, and lots and lots of sweeping. The blank look on most American's faces when you tell them how great the sport is is totally priceless to me. I'll sit in front of the tube 9 times outta 10, especially when I have nothing else going on, and watch Curling over any other sport except Poker.

To me, Bloodstone is to comics, what Curling is to sports. All this complexity as far as set-up and execution, but perhaps one of the BEST attention getting characters that Marvel has totally shafted. Marvel looked at their property with the same blank stare that Americans give Curling and said "Big stone in his chest? An eternal human? A monster/demon hunter?? WTF??" So, being the great creative folks that they are, they killed him off, fucked with his skeleton, had his daughter pick up his mantle, turned him into a sadistic child beating bastard, and literally pissed on this great character that could have easily been one of their main staple characters right up there with Hulk, Wolverine, and Spider-man. There's that blank look again- let me explain...

Originally created by the talented Len Wein (who helped pulled the X-men from obscurity to popularity, then let Chris Clairmont take the writing credit) and Marv Wolfman (who helped reform The Teen Titans into the powerhouse property DC still makes hard jing and stumbles over today), Ulysses Bloodstone was created during the time when adventure characters like Conan and Thor were rolling hard in the Marvel Universe. Originally a barbarian from the Hyborian Age (Conan's era btw), this blonde dude walks into a glowing cave to see a big demon screwing with a large red stone. realizing the demon was evil our barbarian smashes the gem, causing it to explode and wipe out his village, but at the same time sending shards of the big red gem through the mantle to multiple different places in the world. All except for one important piece, and that one embeds itself into the barbarian's chest keeping him alive, eternal, extra healthy (complete with quick healing factor that includes growing back any lost limbs), and able to carry on the fight with the surviving demon, who has made it a goal to recollect all the gem pieces and finish what he started- which of course is the end of the world as we know it. SO, this barbarian survives on earth throughout time, fighting the evil demon dude (as well as amassing a fortune, tons of lives worth of experience, LOTS of little red gem shards that he keeps hidden, and a hard-on for revenge again this demon dude (who's name I'm not taking the time to type here correctly, but I really never took the time to try to pronounce it right when it was first out either- and knowing Marvel, they've probably spelt it a half dozen different ways by now anyway). this demon dude tries to kill Bloodstone many,many times and screw with him, find his stashes of gemstone shards, and what-not over the entire course of recorded history (which was all shrouded in legend and folktale, or just ignored and denied- Ulysses kept it on the serious down-low anyway), all the way up to modern day.

So to sum it all up, you had a totally skilled Highlander, with Wolverine's healing factor, running around throughout time and modern day, fighting a monster making demon as well as other baddies, all while trying to put a big, big gem back together again in order to reconstitute it, along with his personal shard, in order to end his life AND keep his arch nemesis from ending the world.


So Marvel was going to use Bloodstone as a lead in to Where Monsters Dwell (like they were, or had done with Kull in Creatures On The Loose), but they canned the title instead, leaving Bloodstone to gather a little dust before using him to kick off an anthology title they started called Marvel Presents. The first two installments (both written by Jack Warner) were in the first issue that were meant tot start a long running series, and yet they ended the story with the next issue in order to move on to other also shelved projects. What a waste. Pure and simple the character, if given a chance to catch on a grow, could have been a mixture of historical and modern day tales, all wrapped up in a single continuous mission. Just think of the fun and potential; Highlander, Angel, and New Amsterdam in ninja comic form, with a tight cast, a little imagination, so0me historical research, and some tenacity, this could have- no wait SHOULD HAVE been an incredible property for Marvel, and easily as iconic as Prince Valiant, or Highlander, but instead it's just scoffed at, rewritten and re-imagined by folks with MUCH less imagination, killed off, and downright defiled by "talent" that should have had a lot more respect for this character's potential. But then again, it would have meant keeping a tight sense of continuity, and that's something Marvel has repeatedly refused to do, about as much as most Americans refuse to understand Curling. It may be just way over their heads.


WAKE UP!

Cool Places To Eat: Java Joe's

In the little town of St Ignace Michigan, just on the north side of the Mackinaw Bridge, a little bit east on US2, along the coast of Lake Huron, is a unique little eatery you HAVE to visit named Java Joe's.

From the outside Joe's looks like a beach shack, one that you would expect on some southern ocean coast city, complete with tent seating in front and open air patio in back complete with tiki torches, ceramic parrots, and bright colors. Oh, that BIG tiki looking thing at the back of the patio? That's a heater on the nights when the wind off of Port Huron is especially nippy.



Inside Joe's front part is cramped, but wiggle in anyway. Tables and walls are plastered with pictures of customers who have attended to eat one of Joe's larger desserts (mostly Strawberry Sundays it looks like) with everyone smiling at the camera assuring you that they at least tried to east the whole thing. What space on Joe's walls that isn't taken up by pictures is shelves and shelves of ceramic teapots, all of which are for sale, and I swear that no 2 teapots in the place is exactly alike. I'm sure there are some- there have to be there's HUNDREDS of teapots here, but I didn't take the time to find out. I did notice that Joe's bathroom is also jammed with shelves filled with teapots, these the ones most out of season I suppose- it was filled with Xmas teapots when I was there.

You are seated and shown where the menu sits, usually wedged between the napkins and what nots on the table, and you open a four page newspaper with everything they have to offer in amazingly small print. When I was there I wasn't sure if I wanted a personal pizza, or breakfast, so I literally settled for both: I had a delicious pizza omelet, their menu is VAST, filled with about 5 times more items than a greasy spoon that small should handle, and from what I saw of my dish and the servings of others they give you plenty to eat. I walked out of there stuff and fulfilled.



Every time I'm in St Ignace I try to stop at Joe's. I proudly have one of their coffee cups here at home that I drink from from time to time, and I really want to go visit there some evening, just to see if the patio holds the party every night that I'm pretty sure it does. I was there for breakfast once and they were jammed, but constantly rotating customers in and out at a quick pace. The last time I was there (between lunch and dinner rushes I'm sure) they were about a third full. Service was nice- getting the food was a bit slower than most fast food places, but about on par with normal restaurants, which is okay because it gives you time to look over all the craziness in the place.

Here's their website complete with legend and a hint of the huge amount of stuff they offer: http://www.javajoescafe.com You can also click on the headline above for a link to their site.

Their sign out by the side of the road says it all- they offer a lot of different things to eat, a lot to look at while you're doing it, and a great greasy spoon style atmosphere that makes it a COOL place to eat. If you get to visit please tell them Spank the Monkey recommended it to you and watch their "what the hell are you talking about?" expression cross their face

Wake Up.

RE Thinking Kafka And History

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Science RE Thinking: Our Earth Is Growing

A few years ago comic book legend Neal Adams posted online a kind of science project of his, offering a theory (which he claims to have discovered, but really is is an old theory which Adams has resurrected and put a nice amount of time into explaining)about our earth that quite frankly makes perfect sense and explains a LOT to me, but I have yet to see anyone of any science renown embrace as THE explanation that Neal says it is.

The theory simply stated is that the Earth (as well as many, if not all, other planets are expanding, and that all the continents fit directly together if you shrink the earth down to a small(er) ball of crust. I like to explain it to folks like the old jiffy pop popcorn pans on a stove, only the earth is an entire sphere. Attached here for your looking over, is a small clip from Neal's film, a more fuller explanation can be found at his website www.nealadams.com, and it'll cost you 20 bucks for a month's free reign on all his materials and shorts. YouTube has a number of other clips from these films posted, but for the full story you'll need to fork over the 20...





Is he wrong? Personally I doubt it. Like I said, it makes perfect sense to me. It certainly would screw with most every one's perception of geology, astronomy, perhaps a little physics, but most of all religion (considering that most/some religions claim that the Earth is only 6-7 thousand years old- it seem to give God more importance that way...). To me it explains a LOT, especially when it comes to earthquakes, and if you looked at my earlier blogs it would also explain the force behind the Abiotic oil that pushes it to the surface of the Earth.

On a side note- what if the expanding Earth's middle is being filled with petroleum, and our pumping it out of the ground is actually GOOD for us as a species and in whatever way is keeping the planet from expanding, or at least slowing said expansion down. Are there REALLY more earthquakes happening over the last few decades, or are our equipment to record them just getting more sensitive?

On a further side note- I bring this to your attention because I think it means that we should RE think a LOT of what we take for granted and again, the explanation seems totally plausible to me, NOT because it's fostered by Neal Adams. I have a few Neal Adams stories (especially one personal one I witnessed first hand at a comic convention) that makes him one of my least favorite people (but he CAN draw and IS one of the few true comic MASTERS left on the face of this earth in my opinion), but I feel he gets a raw deal from his detractors on this theory and totally believe him to be spot on right about it.

As with everything I present here, I invite you to make up your own mind, just please do so with an open one, and feel free to comment,or discuss it here, and DEFINITELY see for yourself. I also firmly believe that most everything we blindly accept, or were "taught" in school (ANY school, including Sunday School) is totally bogus and mostly "spin" to make up believe some sheeple style viewpoint or another. In other words:

WAKE UP!

Wake Up Rant: "A Nation Of Whiners"?

I sleep with the radio on, or at least some noise going- which explains why it's so easy for me to fall asleep in front of the television- it helps me to wake up thinking, plus "Coast to Coast" is usually on my station of choice during the night and half listening to it has given me some pretty creative dreams. Anyway, this morning I awoke to the weekly mish-mash of reruns ("Best of"- HA!) of our local morning host (the ONLY local radio talk show that covers local "news")and it started my day with my blood boiling.

There was a call from this sheeple spouting rich republican dogma. I know it was "dogma" from my brief channel surfing of last Thursday's early evening cable news trying to find out why Detroit Mayor Kwami thought it was SO important to go to Canada and violate the judge's on his last, what 10 felony convictions, enough to bust him and have him spend the night in jail (ANYONE with that much of a stripper addiction- which I gather was his reasons for going to Windsor "on business"- always gets my attention), they took a call from someone who spouted almost the exact same thought as this sad woman, practically word for word.

"We're a nation of whiners" she said. "Those too stupid to get in over their heads with their mortgage should just shut up and work harder and not expect the government to give them a hand-out"- that was the basic gist of it. It's a new dogma chant going around- just listen to you local right wing, nut job, dogma maker radio idiot and listen- it'll be there. Those sheeple are worse than the sad sheeple that they're bitching about, and frankly they make me sick.

Now, I'm NOT disagreeing with what they're preaching, just the ways and reasons why they're doing it. They want to whine that everyone else is whining, and really if I'm not careful I'll be whining about them whining about the whiners in debt. It's SO easy to complain and whine, especially about the other person's faults, and yet not take the time to try to UNDERSTAND why they're in the position they're in, so let's take a second, WAKE UP, and THINK about the whiners and the whiners who want to whine about them.

Starting at the bottom, the sheeple financially in over their heads. Are these really stupid people? Middle class idiots who buy a house with an Adjustable Rate Mortgage, buy an suv to cart their family around, squeeze out puppies (sheeple kids), and when prices jack up and their ARM catches up to them end up penniless and in the street- are these folks horribly stupid? Honestly, I don't think they are. These folks ARE sheeple who have sucummed to the corporate hypnosis more than anything. We all have been programmed since we were born, since our eyes could follow the images on the TV, to buy, buy, and buy. We go to stores and buy stuff we really don't need, we get credit cards and run them up, we eat at unhealthy fast food restaurants, we buy big cars because it's cool, we buy a house on a weird mortgage because we can, and hey, we can be like everyone else and "flip" the house and make more money to buy more shit we don't need- we are part of the American consumer society, and we're really just following orders. Their programming works. This does not mean they're stupid, a lot of these folks went to college, have multiple jobs when they can, and drive the economy of not only our country, but of most of the world (though that's changing rapidly). They do these things not only because they're sold a sad bill of goods by the advertisers (also consumers making a living), or manufacturers (also consumers making a living), the media (also ...well, you get the idea), but because they're programmed to think in the "now" and not the "what if the shit hits the fan". They are TOLD to want, want, want, and buy, buy, buy, because they're told they DESERVE it. They Are Americans after all, and it's the American Way to strive for the American Dream and acquire as much as they can afford and hey, if you can afford it NOW you'll still be able to pay on it and afford more later. It's a cycle, better still a gerbil wheel that they are programmed to get on and run, and run and run. They never save, they're retirement will be provided by social security and the thankful corporate that they work for, heck even their 401-k is deducted from their check without them really seeing the money or given a chance to spend it. "Don't Worry, Be A Consumer".

I've seen that wheel. I've run that wheel, and have spent the last few years trying to jump off of that wheel as much as possible. I was lucky. My mortgage jumped early, I had my house reassessed (greatly DOWNWARD) a couple of years before everyone else's house came due, I saw my credit card interest leap right as I started to fight to buy it off. I WAS LUCKY, and I understand most of the spoon-fed hypnosis seen in the media, I've thought about it and realized that folks who fall prey to it are NOT stupid, just easily programmed. If YOU think about it for awhile you'll see it too. We were all taught that fable early with the Emperor and his new clothes. The threads on that suit are made from the "American Dream", and we're all told to comment on how great the King looks in it. Sometimes I feel like I'm that little kid pointing at the King's wiener and saying "but he's naked!". Many, MANY more folks need to be exactly like that little kid and "wake up" and speak up. Just remember that it's okay to point and laugh as long as you don't piss the king off- that could be bad.

In future blogs I hope to help you guys as much as I can to get off that gerbil wheel. I'm not perfect by any stretch, just a little monkey who probably doesn't know any better. I'm just sick of the constant shit I'm forced to live around. It's time to throw a little bit of that shit straight into the face of the sheeple on the other side of the bars. In my mind those people are worse off than the middle class sheeple. They've received more upper class programming. Staying with the above fabled analogy they're the tailors weaving the invisible threads for the Emperor and laughing as they tell the king just how cool he looks in them. They're already in on the joke and getting paid to further it and do their best to skip out of town before their deception is found out. They are MUCH more a part of the problem than they realize.

I honestly believe there's a small part of the upper middle class and upper class who still believe that America is not in a recession, or more than likely a depression. These are the whiners whining about the penniless whiners. They have NO idea how reality works, let alone how life really is here on earth. These are your politicians, your greedy corporate big-wigs, your right wing radio whack-a-dos who are working hard to tell anyone who'll listen to not panic, everything is just a minor adjustment, and that all of their problems lie in the perception of the regular folks and that they should all goose step in line and tell the Emperor how great his new threads look. Even when faced with reality they spin it in their direction, saying our economy is caught in a "perfect storm". That "perfect storm" is little more than "corporate greed" fed by politicians fed by that greed to give the corporations more power to screw, which gives them more money to contribute to more campaigns for folks who'll make laws favorable to their greed, which just turns the hurricane of America's destruction faster and faster.

Political spin just pisses me off, and I think it's time to start calling these folks on it. that's also going to be part of my blog service, every freakin' chance I get!

I got a pal of mine (sometimes I think he's on the same level as my cousin, Shock.) who toes the right-wing line. Most times I get to know what the new line of shit-n-spin from the right wing from our conversations. He honestly believes EVERY Muslim is out to overthrow the country, Bush is one of the greatest presidents of all time, abortion and being gay should be jailable offenses, and that the middle class is just whining when they talk about their situation. It took me YEARS to convince him that there was a war on the American middle class which was going to hurt us MUCH more than anyone in Iraq. Now, after losing his job, almost losing his house, losing his phone and cable, and almost having his power shut off, he ALMOST believes me- sometimes. I love the guy like a brother because when we start thinking alike I know it's time to educate -or still, RE-educate- myself on my position. I believe you should surround yourself with folks who challenge you mentally, plus it saves me from listening to the right-wing dogma and from going insane from time-to-time.

So, instead of whining, what's the solution? Should there be a "bail-out"? Nope, I don't think there should be, not because I think those folks are stupid for getting into their financial mess, but because it does nothing to FIX the problem. I think the government should be more in touch with the majority of the folks who vote for them. There should be legislation against the mortgage companies to freeze every one's mortgage at their lowest interest rate, and THEN make ARM mortgages totally illegal. Credit Card companies should be regulated and made to play fair, as should banks, and "Cash & Go" places that prey on the financially strapped. Oil companies should be made accountable, made to reinforce their refinery structure, allowed to drill on American soil (with STIFF penalties from the Environmental Protection Agency for screwing with any of the environment they drill in), and forced to pay an adequate profit margin to the consumer and not an outrageous one.

But I also believe we should restructure the tax structure and make politicians more responsible to the sheeple they are supposed to represent. There should be a constant threat of recall and in some cases term limits, or at least made to take a breather from being a "career politician" to actually have to taste "real life" every once in awhile.

But most of all I believe there should be a sense of ethics that include a restraining of sheer corporate greed, an education campaign (perhaps funded by a windfall profits tax) to the American public about how to be financially responsible, save for the future, rely upon themselves, THINK FOR THEMSELVES, spend wisely, and make it a good thing to know and help their neighbor whenever they can.

Everyone needs to shut up and DO SOMETHING POSITIVE, no matter how small, to make their home, neighborhood, town, county, state, and country a greater place, THEN worry about making the world a better place.

All of us need to STOP WHINING, START DOING, and most of all

WAKE UP.

-----------------

On a personal note- I apologize for the delays in getting more shit up here. I almost have a handle on my workload, so expect more on the way very quickly. Finally, if you're reading this please leave a comment and let me know what you think. Suggestions, comments, and criticisms are always welcome. Whining is not. I know you're out there because my hit count is rolling- I just want to encourage more discussion, no matter how nutty or pissy you think I am.

Swamped!

I've been swamped with wonderful, wonderful work ever since I got back from my R+R weekend, so it MIGHT be a day or 2 before you see more shit from me. Sorry, but hey, dem bills GOTS ta get paid!

I'll have something up here as soon as I can, or as soon as I get bored with the paying work. I have LOTS to show you!! If I'm still this busy tommorrow I'll put up a new science lesson off of YouTube (You Tube- always thought it was a bit silly, but I'm totally converted over to it now, a regular YouTube pod person I is!).

More soon, so go look at The Consumerist, or Fark.com, or You Tube, or get out and have a Double Cheeseburger @ McD's while they're still only a buck. Better still, why not leave me a comment here or at one of my other posts just so I know I ain't doing this for my own personal shits and giggles. Oh, and if YOU have some spare time then please spread the monkey-blog word!

Later.

Wake Up Site Of The Week: The Consumerist

Hey out there, just thought I'd share a site with you that you should have bookmarked and check in on from time to time:

http://www.consumerist.com

Taglined as "Shoppers Bite Back" this is a consumer reporting site that covers a wide range of topics, corporate fraud, consumer abuse, and in general consumer news that is constantly updated and lets you know that you aren't alone in being fucked over by big corporations and what some everyday consumers are doing to fight back.

Never a dull read recent articles cover such a wide range as McDonalds talking about knocking their double cheeseburger off the dollar menu, to Circuit City sending out an edict to their employees to destroy all copies of the latest issue of Mad Magazine because of a parody they ran of CC's newspaper ad (and don't get me started on Circuit City's practices, I could take up a week's worth of blogs on their practices and screws), to the average Joe's fight(s) with big corps like Comcast just to get a little dignity and "fair play".

So check them out, bookmark them, recommend others to do the same. Consider it all part of your ongoing education in the continuing war against the middle class (a war we are all LOSING by the way), and another handy hint from this little monkey who just wants everyone to WAKE UP!

You're welcome.

Heroes I Miss: Golden Age Superman

Somewhere, Comic Relief I think, I got a bound collection of Superman Sunday comic strips, and I soaked that puppy up like it was nothing- a pure joy to read and experience! I'd never read much of the Golden Age Superman before, except for a few reprints, perhaps an early Archive and the modern bastardizations we get today (Those don't count because to me they ain't real- all MY superheroes died out somewhere in the 90's to be replaced by sad, cheap zombified immitations).

I'm talking about the "Faster that a speeding bullet, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound" Superman, not the evolved, mutated, "only magic and kryptonite can stop me" guy. Give me the weaker, more vulnerable Superman, the guy who would stop a nuclear bomb from blowing up, not just to save others as much as to save his own ass. Today's Superman pales in comparison- he's way too powerful, almost godlike, compared to this Dude. This guy has a reason to be Clark Kent (so he can rest and not be mobbed in public), a reason to be a reporter (to catch news and save those he can hop to right away), and a chick he's actually got a chance with. Here, in these Sundays Lois is a fiery redhead and Supes is constantly joking with her. screwing with her head even, and constantly convincing her that Clark is a HORRIBLE milquetoast of a guy, and yet he almost always beats her to the deadline and has a GREAT nose for news.

Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster knew what they were doing when they created him. A powerful figure, and yet not TOO powerful. He can lift a car over his head stop crime, and yet still have time to investigate that lumberjack murder mystery. One of the Sunday's cliffhangers had a giant tree falling on him- was he dead? Of course not, but he did sink into the ground! Today's Superman would have backhanded the tree away from him, or burned it to a crisp with his heat ray, but not this guy- WHOMPH! Uh Oh! He's been crushed until next week, when he jumps out of the ground, tree lifted high over his head WITH BOTH HANDS. These stories, all credited, and mostly done by Siegel and Shuster really drove home for me the sheer talent (yes, here I say it again- "genius") this pair had. There was no need to make Superman all powerful- I'm willing to wager that they knew what would happen if they had done just that, especially with Siegel creating The Specter a few years later, and it's a sad trap that the current Superman suffers from today.




There was more tension, more humanity, and these stories were tighter and more fun than I ever imagined they would be, but then again, this was the Superman who spawned the cartoons and movie serials, not to mention the TV show that lasted many. many seasons of George Reeves springing off a trampoline, just barely out of camera range to "Whoosh" off as fast as he could.

There's a lot to be said for limited, and yet powerful power. It keeps the character much more likable, much more vulnerable, and frankly Supes had a great sense of humor and FUN in these days- not too somber- no angst in sight- just loving life on this little mud ball called Earth and helping out his adopted home world as best as he could.

Truly classic stuff, and a character and attitude I sorely miss in today's comics. He even takes the corniness out of the cliche's somehow- the "This looks like a job for Superman" and the "Up, UP and AWAY!!" seem much more believable and sincere and why not? He was a super-MAN after all.




Look them up when you get a chance. The Sundays collection was printed by Kitchen Sink and will probably be out of print soon, if it's not already- and there seems to have been only one volume that I could find of them as well, which is a tragedy considering how much fun they were to read. There was another volume of dailies that I'll probably buy as soon as I can afford it. If it's half as entertaining as this volume it will be well worth it.

I'm trying to keep some of these blog posts a bit light on purpose. There's PLENTY for me to bitch about in today's comics, but I think sometimes you never really know what you might have missed if you don't take the time to experience it yourself. There's a reason these characters are timeless and such a deep part of our culture. The Golden Age Superman was not only a bookmark icon to comics (really starting the whole super-hero genre), but he was an icon of our American culture and way of life- a true example of the golden age "American Way" that is SO missing from comics, our culture, and our way of life today.

In future posts I plan on featuring more comic characters that I miss. If you have some favorites please let me know.

WAKE UP!

Superman copyright c)1943 DC Comics / Spank The Monkey copyright c) 2008 Randy Zimmerman

My Hero: Bill Hicks- Outlaw Comedian

I was never aware of Bill Hicks until long after he was dead. Once I was "On the Road" with my comix I had a few folks at Comic conventions ask if I was a fan and I had no idea what they were talking about. Then a friend in my own hometown (DVD Scott) showed me some of his work, downloaded a large number of his performances to listen to, and even lent me his copy of Hick's biography (which I need to replace because it is not only twice as dogeared as when he lent it to me, but it also carries a nice coffee stain (I am a coffee fiend if you didn't already know).

Bill Hicks decided, somewhere around the first Bush's presidency, that his time on stage was too important to spend repeating the same lame jokes he had written over and over and decided to try to make his audiences THINK and laugh at the same time.

A genius idea way ahead of his time Bill Hicks literally paved the way for such acts as Dennis Miller (who was just cutting his teeth on SNL when Bill was running the nightclub trenches), Bill Mahr (who freely admits that ho would not be nearly as popular if Hicks had not paved the way) Denis Leary (whose entire shtick on cancer is practically a direct lift for Hicks, who had done it just as vicious but not quite as hyper many years before), and a number of other comedians who cover more political content. Bill Hicks was the bridge between Lenny Bruce and modern political comedy. Hicks was practically ignored here in the states through much of his life, but was a HUGE hit in Canada and England. He was just "breaking" here in the states when he died of cancer, having barely a half dozen of his performances on film.

His comedy and thoughts are just as viable today as when he first spoke them. His thinking was sensible, his opinions so well thought out as to easily point out the absurdities in them. Bill was a rare genius, quick witted, as "hardcore" as comedians can get, perhaps too rough for his time, yet SO poignant for today.

You Tube has a number of his spots online, and if you've a lazy afternoon you should watch them all. Though he had a set routine most of the time it was usually his off the cuff rants that were more amazing (if you're fortunate enough to catch his appearance late in his career in Chicago he rips up a few hecklers and non-thinkers to classic proportions- just amazing). Take it from this monkey, you won't be sorry you went.

His biography is entitled American Scream, written by Cynthia True, and I'm sure it's available from Amazon (probably where I'll be getting that replacement book for Scott-bet he forgot he even gave it to me- ha!

For those too lazy, but still curious, I leave you today with his closing for a One Night Stand show recorded in London pretty far along in his career. Comedy Central still shows this one or two times a year (much to their credit- but then again I think they should take at least one weekend out once a year and play nothing but old stand up routines from comedians like Hicks and Bruce who were way too important to be forgotten), and again You Tube has a number of clips from this amazing comedian who thought it was important to try to wake people up.

Enjoy, and WAKE UP!

Weekend Wailings and Watchmen

I'm outta here for a little R & R for the weekend, but I thought I'd leave you this clip from You Tube and Comics Britannia featuring one Alan Moore talking about his Watchmen. Insightful stuff if you haven't seen it already. The rest of the interview is available under "Alan Moore" on You Tube and it's well worth your time to look.

If you've never read the Watchmen please do so, It's one of the few works in comics that I can totally geek about and is an amazing read whether you're into superheroes or not. A VERY important work, covering VERY important themes that are twice as relevant today than they were when they were done.

The visuals for the upcoming movie look incredible- but like the actual graphic novel the whole point and intensity of the work hinges on both art and story working together at the peak of their possibilities. I'm hoping the movie is even half as good as the comic.

I'm posting this to show you how comics CAN be relevant- AND imaginative. Like all good art comics can effect you on a lot of different levels and yet still have that spark of wonder and imagination that is so missing from a good portion (vast majority actually) of comics today.

This clip also shows you how a writer can THINK and approach his work. You have to appreciate genius for what it is:

WAKE UP!