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Star Wars Horoscope for Pisces

A typical Pisces, you have your head in the clouds. You're self-sacrificing and a bit too passive to stand up to the dark side. You become fairly pessimistic when put under pressure. You are a chameleon - wanting to change your scenery on occassion. Star wars character you are most like: Lando

What is Your Star Wars Horoscope?

DC, MAR-05

Well, the sickness continues... and I double posted the Marvel piece, so I'm editing over it rather than deleting it with the DC POV... meh (fuck I hate runny noses... amongst many, many other things).


DC

Another weak month for the distinguished competition, with 2 core titles not seeing their ways to the shelves, again made for easy pickings by the big dog on campus, Marvel, HOWEVER, they did nab the #1 spot and I for one think they will be very competitive through the summer and intot the fall... I'd expect a very different landscape come this time next year... but we'll see... -- gotta love cut 'n' paste!

Topping the charts this month is the 80-page $1 "give-away", DC Countdown To Infinite Crisis -- if you read DC and haven't read this, stop reading now and go do so. OK? Moving on, it's a fun read, and the set-up for the next 6~8 months at DC, I'd reckon. I'm definitely along for the ride, and apparently so are many others(sales were just below 200,000... I would've figured they'd be even higher given the low price point, but I guess few actually see this as a "collectible"... meh).

Coming in at #7 is the penultimate issue of Jim Lee's run on Superman. Just over 100,000 sold, which is awesome when compared to recent years(44+,39+,34+,83+ -- that 83 being the issue before Lee took over, when sales ballooned to 230+) ... where it goes post-Lee is the kicker... (I like me good art, but I'm more a story than art guy when you come right down to it, and the story here... only so-so...)

Teen Titans continues to rise... small increments, and continually "Crisis" influenced... but good signs none the less... this is the consistency benchmark for DC... and it's an awfully fun read!

JLA #112 continues the CSA-arc... a bit confusing at times, but Busiek can bring just about anything together... as the sales figures show ;-) 5 year: 67+, 61+, 61+, 77+/73+, 64+ ... good numbers, and at DC you gotta take into consideration re-order impact on old numbers... this title is doing fine.

Batman #638 hovers just below 60,000... expect re-orders through the roof! Read it if you don't know why :-) 5 Year: 40+,48+,135+(Jim Lee),83+,59+ ... not great, but acceptable... considering that Batman is the DC equivalent to Spidey/Wolvie... (Supes is in a league all of his own, imo -- ICON).

JLA Classified saw some post-Morrison drop-off(it happens wherever he goes), but is still strong at 50,000+, thanks in no small part to "current" happenings... due to the FKATJL follow-up that is the lead in this anthology of late, I've fallen behind a bit... it happens... meh.

Flash #220 sees a good sales bump... I'm a fan. 5 year: 26+,26+,28+,42+,46+ ... somebody's doing something right! I prefer the JLA'r's(???) in their solo titles over the team title, for the most part... the opposite is true with the Marvel counterpart(that being, New Avengers and/or X-Men)

Lex Luthor: Man Of Steel #1 debuts at #38 on the list with 46,000+ in sales... pretty damn good -- I need to get off(or is that on) my lazy kiester and read #2 already!!

JSA #72 hangs steady, as is the norm here... 5 year: 35+,40+,43+,42+,42+ ... I'm still getting acquainted with a lot of the characters(as is the case with most of the team-oriented titles in the DC-verse), but so far it's been a fun ride...

Legion #4 saw a bump, of sorts... can't be a bad thing is all I can say... great writer... good fun... 4 year(scattered...): 24+,23+,24+,41+ ... and it appears to have levelled already!

"Seven Soldiers" ... 2 debuts this month: Shining Knight with 41+ and Guardian, just under 40... the alpha bookend did 53+ last month, with re-orders bringing it close to 60... considering the obscurity going on, I'd say this is pretty damn impressive!

Action Comics #825 was, apparently, an anniversary issue of sorts... who knew? ... meh. I've read #826, and it's a great start for some "Crisis" related stuff, so I'd expect more upward momentum... I think? ... 5 year: 33+,34+,32+,66+,40+ -- not sure what was going on a year ago, but whatever "bump" happened, the difference v. the longer term past is still significant... LEGACY TITLE.

Detective #804 comes in at #51 on the list -- another title that is beginning to get pushed back on my reading list... I'd say this title is steady... 5 year: 43+,41+,39+,34+,39+ ... another LEGACY TITLE.

Some stuff I'm not reading(yet?) starts popping up from this point on, so I'll be bypassing a lot, if not all, of that...

Outsiders #22 -- lowest sales to date(I think)... but some interesting stuff going on, storyline wise... another title where I'm still getting to know many of the characters... but I enjoy it!

Adventures Of Superman #638 -- one too many core Supes titles, in my opinion, particularly when Supes/Bat(aka World's Finest for the 21st Century) is out there... when this one is good, at least one of the others is not, and vice-versa... Five year: 31+,33+,30+,66+(again, what was happening last year??),34+ ... meh -- looks like the old "1 story, 3+ titles" approach is coming back, at least in the short term... good call.

I read an issue of Robin recently, and was not impressed(it's like reading Gambit because you enjoy X-Men in general). The art sucked. The story was ok, but nothing special. If not for the "crisis" connection, it wouldn't have happened... yet. Won't be going back, outside of "crisis", anytime soon, I'd wager...

Flash x-over gives Wonder Woman a huge bump! Highest it's been in ages, I'd wager... 5 year: 25+,27+,25+,28+,30+ -- c'mon, it's Wonder Woman!! I just don't get why 3+ supes titles all warrant better numbers than this!! ... it's SHE-THOR!!! ... only better... right?

I've got an issue of Batgirl on my "crisis" read list... I fear it will be a similar experience to Robin...

I've read some Firestorm of late as well... meh. No big surprise sales have dipped below 20,000.

I've also read an issue or 2(I think it's 2) of Manhunter... better than I would've thought... I might just back-issue it at some point... abominable sales though... under 15,000... clearly DC and Marvel draw different "lines"... meh.

Last, and most definitely least, was an issue of Breach. Blech. That's what they should've named it. Dreadful. Just over 10,000 sold.

So there you have it. Likely so re-hashed opinions mixed in with some new stuff... whatevs... it was fun for me to do and if your bored it might be worthwhile for you to read...

Onto more cut 'n' paste:

Re-orders: GL-Rebirth #4, Seven Soliders #0, LOSH #3, GL-Rebirth #3, #1, Batman #637(watch out next month!), Flash #219, Outsiders #21(see, it is that good), Teen Titans #21, Space Ghost #4(still gotta get around to this one), Supes/Bat #17 and LOSH #2.

Big winners for DC are: Wonder Woman(lets hope it continues), LOSH, Nightwing(I really should be reading it) and Superman(I doubt it'll continue).

Big losers(of note): Catwoman(BM-curse), LOTDK(ditto), Robin(again), Manhunter(just isn't what folks are looking for, I guess), JLE(you can over-do it), B:GK(back to teh curse), Batgirl(see), Firestorm(I prefer my childhood memories), Adam Strange(that is strange), Plastic Man(still should be cancelled), Adventures of Supes & Action Comics(see prior comments), Hawkman(meh?) and Batman(see Superman ;-) ... or is this also the curse)

In the special 2 year comparison, Superman, LOSH, Flash, Robin, Nightwing, Action and Birds Of Prey all look strong while Batman, Aquaman, Green Arrow and Hawkman are looking week -- so the curse I speak of is more recent than historical... I guess... this actually brings some interesting thoughts to mind... but I'll save 'em for another time...

Not sure if this was available and I just missed it when looking at Marvel, but we have 3 and 4 year comparisons available too...

3 year: Up = Supes, Flash, LOSH, Batman ... Down = Hawkman, Green Arrow, Catwoman

4 year: Up = Supes, Flash, Batman, Birds Of Prey, Action, Robin, Wonder Woman, JSA ... Down = Green Arrow, Batgirl

I'm too lazy to think about 'em much though, right now... the day is coming though, where I'll rip on DC like I do on Marvel... unless they really shock the shite outta me...

It would look as if DC were in a free-for-all, but I think this is just housekeeping stuff mostly... I look forward to where DC takes things in the coming months... I just have this feeling they're gonna shake the industry up... which would definitely be a good thing!

Marvel, MAR-05

Hey There! FYI, I am sooooo fucking sick right now, it's not funny. Well, it probably is funny to some, but fuck you guys!! My brain is working on, at best, 1/3 capacity, so that means the only real mentality I can function with is as it relates to alcohol, silliness and comics... yep, that pretty much covers it.

That said, I started this idea a little while back, and had intended to do it monthly, but scratched that idea come month #2. So, for now, it's bi-monthly. Sure, I'll miss the odd one-shot, special issue, premiere or finale here or there, but I can live with that... can you?

As a pre-cursor, Marvel is flooding the market of late. March is typically the launching point of the summer comics season, and the big 2 took very different approaches. I actually prefer DC's approach, and I think it will pan out over time (though they'll likely always be #2... too many X-fan-boy's to sway the numbers, I'm afraid). Right now, DC is the better company, but Marvel has the better track record, historically. Meh.


Marvel

New Avengers had to cede the top spot to DC this month, with their stroke of pure marketing genious(more on that in the DC column, to come... eventually). Regardless, this title rocks. HARD. As with most titles that rock, the shipping consistency can be called into question(I'm not gonna get into it too much, but suffice it to say, it's silly as all get out), but this one is better than some in that regard, and since it's the current flagship of the empire, so to speak, I can live with a wee bit o' lateness, I guess. A spike upwards in sales from issue #3 the previous month, which had dipped, slightly(see, I can actually cover 2 months at once, if I like!). This may or may not be due to the expectant(and resultant) appearance of Wolvie within... a special "New" treat(this is all stolen and re-packaged rico-style) are the 5 year rolling numbers... 60,000+, 53,000+, 59,000+, 55,000+, 155,000+ -- that, my friends, is a GOOD thing!

The best the X-verse has to offer, of late, Astonishing X-Men, comes in at #4(all those who know me know of my antipathy for all things Ultimate... and soon All-Stars ... so here's all you are gonna here on it -- Ultimate Iron Man took slot #3 -- meh). The world of re-orders, second printings and variant covers is on it's way back in a big way(good or bad; discuss). Makes the analytics a bit difficult, but suffice it to say, this title is pretty steady, well in excess of 100,000... any doubters early on(issue #3 is the lowest selling to date at 129,000+) were converted into believers with the big reveal of issue #4... and it's been the smoothest of sailing(with the exception of the lateness... but I said I wouldn't harp on that) since... and with the news of Whedon/Cassaday signing on for a "Year 2", fan-boys rejoice everywhere!!

Issue #26 of Wolverine comes in at #5 on the charts... a big up-swing again for the second of Millar's arcs(not quite the levels reached for #20, but impressive none the less) -- most of the re-order/variant/etc. stuff said for Astonishing can be applied here... and universally for that matter... I look forward to seeing when/how this will all be tied into continuity... yeah, I'm a continuity whore, haven't you heard? :-) 5 year numbers: 67+, 69+, 62+, 69+, 105+(and not below 80 since Millar came aboard...) -- on a side note, is Marvel over-doing it with Hydra of late?!?

Coming in at #8, #10, #13, #19 and #20 are issues 1~5 of "Age Of Apocalypse"... this is the whoring of Marvel's X-verse at it's finest. But, it was likely a smart strategy simply for maintaining the audience. Dragging this over 6 months would've seen bigger sales drops, I'm sure. And it's been fun... not overly mentally stimulating(we're talking Akira Yoshida here...), but a good ol' romp through a 'verse that was big news 10 years ago, and continues to cause ripples to this date... some big, some not so big... good stuff!

Secret War #4 comes in at #9(between the first 2 issues of AoA) ... a pure sucker job from Marvel. This comic was horrible. I look forward to the resolution, but the entirety of this series(and the Pulse cross-over issues) has been one long, dragged out, cash grab from teh Marvel-ites. Assholes.

At #12 is Uncanny #457. Deservingly? Probably not, but it's better than it's counter-part(meaning adjectiveless) and the Psylocke stuff is intriguing... will always sell well, so it's kind of pointless to analyze it to death. 96+, 95+, 85+, 86+, 86+ ... meh.

At #14 is X-Men #168. 93+, 104+, 95+, 117+, 83+ ... that's the story, in a nut shell.

At #18(ahead of issues 4 & 5 of the series) is the AoA One-Shot. Which, in my opinion, was better than any of the issues of the series to date. Should've been hyped better... still, 80+ for a non-core X-title is pretty decent in today's day and age of X-crapola...

X-Men: Phoenix - Endsong (what a title?!?) #4(of 5) dips below 80,000 for the first time. Again, hard to analyze due to the afore mentioned "things". 2 issues in February... I see a pattern... good mini's don't necessarily need to be monthly. A success. And an awesome read... and the art!

Amazing Spider-Man continues to decline... will the "New Avengers" continuity help? ... we'll see... JMS was a good thing(between he and the movies, this franchise was "saved"), but it seems like his time has come... 45+, 92+, 96+, 83+, 77+ ... oh, and the only character more confusing continuity wise than Wolvie is this guy!

"Avengers" is HOT right now, and Marvel knows it. Thus, we get "Young Avengers". I admit, I was hesitant. I need not have been. This title rocks. HARD. I absolutely love it. With all the "things", the #1 issue(from February) is boosted to what would've been a debut at #4 on the chart... #2 will likely get similar boosts down the road, but for now it clocks in at 76+... pretty damn good, considering this title is somewhat "Marvel Next"... but when you throw about names like Kang and Vision, you got me by the short-hairs!

X-Men: The End... "Volume 2" ... kicks off with 71+. Compared to 109+ for the first issue of Volume 1. I haven't read it yet. Time that we see the end of "The End". But Claremont see's things differently. Meh. Maybe marvel should just drop an X on everything. Iron X. The Incredible X. Captain X. The New X. Young X. OK, maybe not ;-)

MK: Spider-Man #12, the finale of Milar's one-year run, drops just below 60. It was a fun, if somewhat confusing, ride. Again, continuity raises it's ugly head. And yes, before you pundits hammer me, MK is in continuity. But for whatever reason, the creative teams have more flexibility in not explaining the how's... be interesting to see how the #'s role out for the new creative team... it is set in "New Avengers" continuity... but I wasn't that impressed with the first issue(it'll be on April's charts).

X-23 is another hot Marvel property. No wonder she's popping up all over the place. With sales hovering just below 55,000 on the last few issues, and a bump in the vicinity of 20,000 for #2(that's just mind-boggling, seriously). The story is so-so... I'm not invested in any of the characters, and it's basically an origin dragged out over 6 issues... but seeing as how corporate America is all about the bling... I wonder where she'll pop up next(rumor has it New X-Men, amongst other guest-appearances...)

X-Men/FF -- more Akira Yoshida fare. Just below 55,000 with one issue to go. It's really all about the merchandising :-)

Daredevil #71 stays below 50,000. But that's ok numbers for this title. DD will never be a Spidey or Wolvie... but he's still an A-list(if lower A) Marvel hero... and if the rumors that he is part of "New Avengers" ring true, it could see a numbers boost here down the road... it's all about 'Avengers', folks! Oh yes, the 5 year: 59+, 48+, not-published, 54+, 49+ ... I'm glad Bendis is moving on... just keep Mack off this title... I'm not a fan :-O

Black Panther is hot. Seriously. It's one of my fav Marvel reads of late. #2 dips below 50,000 -- but compare that to the previous incarnation: 19+, 19+, 17+ ... skip a year and "ta da!" -- READ IT!

Penultimate to Spectacular Spidey stays steady at 47+... re-launch is coming after a summer hiatus (not that we won't get our share o' Spidey though... so no worries). Those that haven't read #27 yet(the finale) are in for a tear-jerker... it's that good!! Five Year: 42+, 47+, 48+, 54+, 47+ ... it's all good. Late breaking news: PAD will be writing the follow up this fall -- I'm soooooo looking forward to that!

Fantastic Four #524. 48+, 44+, 53+, 50+, 46+ ... It's all good. This is the year of the 4. Watch sales take off after the film hits. I will never abandon the 4.

Cap #4 comes in at #40 on the list. Brubaker is a fav of mine. Still well ahead of last years numbers, but hopefully the decline has leveled off, as indicated. Five Year: 37+, not-published, 50+, 39+, 46+. Another title where scheduling could be causing some unnecessary decline... meh?

PAD on Hulk is not having the impact I predicted. A new day, I guess. I'm loving it... wasn't that keen on the most recent incarnations... Five Year: 32+, 42+, 56+, 46+, 43+ ... all I can do is have faith, I guess. This isn't bad, it just could be better.

Exiles is the reigning king of publishing on time(and often multiple issues per month). A big spike for the two issues in March thanks to all the AoA hoopla. The "4 Year"(as 5 is not quite there yet): 37+, 35+, 37+, 42+ ... 50 issues published in 3 years... a very enjoyable read, each and every issue. I'm a fan, can't ya tell!

Wolverine: Soultaker ... meh. Haven't read either of the first two issues yet. Not sure when I will. Wolvie sells, but that doesn't mean you need to churn it out endlessly...

Shanna #2 is still over 40,000 -- and considering it's a title that could've just as easily have been produced by any other comics company out there with very little re-packaging, we should all be happy with these numbers. A la Exiles, it's another fun read... should've left it as a MAX title though :-(

Though MAX isn't always great for sales. Punisher #18 is consistent just under 40,000... but this is almost always the case as a comic enters the back end of it's second year... unless it's a huge hit... don't be surprised if Punisher is re-launched, again, at some point within the next year... maybe back to MK? 4 Year(nothing doing 5 years ago): 49+, 42+, 47+, 38+ ... I've read the first issue of arc #4 and while somewhat confusing, it looks promising... only redeeming quality of arc #3 was Fury. Who is being used more, Hydra or Fury? Discuss.

Excalibur #11. Steady at 37+. I don't get it -- I'd expect this to be doing much better. I'm a big fan. It's the obvious pre-cursor to Marvel's big summer event, House Of M. I'm betting back-orders will go through the roof once the "event" gets rolling... but I've been wrong before.

Official Handbook: AoA -- best one since it started with X-Men at 39+ (37+ here). I could really care less though.

New X-Men #11 continues to decline... 35+. It's an ok read, nothing more. Surprised to hear it's got a spin-off coming up. Oh well, as long as the X is there... and the "Ultimate" isn't :-)

Pulse is bi-monthly, which works in it's favour, somewhat. I'm presuming the expectations just are not the same. 33+ is decent for this title. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of vision here though... with Cage in "New Avengers", you'd think they could either cover this stuff there, or synch 'em up in such a way as to boost sales here... whatever. I still need to back-issue Alias!?!

Doctor Spectrum finally gets around to a conclusion with 2 issues to wrap it up in March. Ho-hum, at best. No more, please.

Runaways #2 holds steady at 30,000. I wish people would realize this is much, much better than what they are reading in Milligan's X-Men right now. First, if you haven't read the first 18 issue run on this, you are a douchenozzle. Second, this has ties to X-Men, Spider-Man, New Warriors(yay!), Generation X, Weapon X, Power Pack and ... Darkhawk! ... plus, some super-baddy villian is hooked into all this somehow... should be top 40, not #70. For shame. The good news? Re-orders of #1 in the vicinity of 35% of the original order... that's HOTT.

Marvel Knights 4 drops below the ever-dreaded 30,000 mark. I haven't been reading it much of late. It will survive on the power of the upcoming film alone. How long, after that, is up to the consumers, I'd say.

New Thunderbolts is also under 30,000... at only 5 issues in(#6 appears to have levelled out). One word. Hawkeye. It would make all the difference. Nobody cares about the cast. Everybody loves Clint.

Stormbreaker #3 levels out nicely. Not astonishing numbers, but decent for what this is(I feel like I'm starting to repeat myself... I guess it's bound to happen, particularly on the lower teir books... meh).

Cable/Deadpool has leveled at 25,000+. Needs a booster shot. Next arc could be what we're looking for. And, of course, there is "House Of M". Everything after this, FYI, is dead in the water...

DD: Redemption. Meh. Under 25,000. Completely unnecessary. Yep, meh sounds about right. It'll have to be a very rainy day...

Marvel Team-Up #6. What The FUCK?!? ... Huge nose-dive for the wrap-up of the first arc. I've read the first issue of the next arc, and while I'm happy to see Marc Spector(or whatever he's calling himself these days... or hours...), I can't see an up-swing coming out of it... not looking good... too bad, yep.

X-Force: Shatterstar... shoot me now.

Rogue #9. While this arc is better than the first, the title is just superfluous(sp?). Glad to hear it's likely to be axed soon.

Arana is *this close* to dropping below 20,000. And it's only issue #3. And issue #2 launched in the same month. Experiment failed. Meh?

Gambit #8. I do not care.

Spellbinders #1. Yeah, Marvel is sure doing a great job of promoting these MarvelNext titles, don't ya think ;-)

District X manages to stay in the top 100 at #99. It was fun while it lasted. First arc was better than the second. Recent issues have bored me. They are gonna try and save/redeem/relaunch/whatever it within the scope of "House Of M"... we'll see, I guess...

FF: Foes #3... when does that movie come out again?

Cap/Falcon #13... one issue to go... haven't read this one yet. I'll probably wait til the finale is available. What a confusing ride by Priest.

Spider-Girl #84. How many other titles could get to 84 issues with these sales at Marvel? DeFalco has something on somebody ;-) And here is the five-year: 23+, 23+, 23+, 20+, 20+ ... so it has dropped in recent years, but it's a "universe" I think Marvel would just like to see stay in the public eye... it will soon dip below 20,000 again(unless something big is in the making... I did read about a spin-off of sorts...) -- is that the magic number? Meh???

Spidey/Torch #3. I'm gonna read the whole thing once it's done, cause it's Dan Slott! But the formula just isn't in demand. I read #1 and it rocks. I will re-read it in a few more months. Can't wait for She-Hulk, Season 2.

Spidey Unlimited #8. And you thought I didn't care about Gambit.

Spider-Man Team-Up Special. ?.

New Invaders #8. I'll read the last few issues when the final one(#9) comes out. Still dreadful.

Livewires #2. Below 15,000. Ugh. Regardless of whether it's a good read or not, what is Marvel thinking???

Mary Jane: Homecoming. 12,707. And for some reason, I'm still considering reading this... when you debut at #148, that is some scary shite.


What did I miss by skipping a month. This might not be a complete list, but amongst the missing would be the final 2 issues of the Avengers:EMH mini(Casey is just a fun read), the last She-Hulk(how did it do? ... I'll have to go check, later), Black Widow #6(same deal), Mystique #24(ditto), Alpha Flight #12(more o' the same), Jubilee #6(will it ever end!) ... that's all that comes to mind...


What didn't come out this month? DD: Father(I'm shocked, I tells ya!), Supreme Power(sales are dipping a bit, and I blame the lateness), Iron Man(fucking Ellis), Strange(bi-monthly is not a good idea), NYX(penultimate issue has FINALLY been re-solicited... I'll believe when I see it), X-Unlimted(meh, bi-monthly swap-out with Spidey... trash 'em both -- I'm overdosed on X), Nightcrawler(on hiatus, hopefully to never return).

All told, a strong month for Marvel. How it will hold up against the "Crisis" marketing machine that is DC through the summer is a story for another day.


Cut 'n' paste time...

The most impressive monthly titles this month would have to be (based on the stats):
Wolverine, Runaways(yay!), Captain America, New Avengers and anything AoA-related(including Exiles... see, that makes it a monthly reference ;-))

Those monthlies hurting(but not already axed -- for the sakes of this post, we're assuming Rogue has been axed) include: Arana, Excalibur(makes me sad), District X(again), New X-Men(again), MK4(again, can you see a pattern...) and, to a lesser extent, Cable/Deadpool(but still, again). X-Men continues to drag, considering where it should be... and we all know where I place the blame for that.

In the special 2 year comparison, we see Black Panther rise to the cream of the crop and Ultimate Spider-Man at teh bottom(see, Ultimate does suck, and I just proved it!).


Updating my "If I were in charge" list:

Definite Keepers(not necessarily in any particular order)
-New Avengers
-Astonishing X-Men
-Uncanny X-Men
-X-Men
-Amazing Spider-Man
-Wolverine
-Captain America
-Iron Man
-Young Avengers(New!)
-Daredevil
-Incredible Hulk
-Fantastic Four
-Punisher
-Exiles
-Supreme Power
-Black Panther(New!)
-Runaways(New!)

17 core titles... down 1 from last month(and 3 of 'em are "New"). I would include others, but until the proper retro-fits are in place, they are not worthy... of course, "House Of M" will throw this all up in the air, I'm sure... but that's comics!

A look ahead: "House Of M" is everywhere. For example -- Iron Man, FF, One-Shots, continuing mini, Mutopia X(aka District X), Captain Britain(teh original), New-X, Hulk, Spidey, Jessica Jones(the biggest ret-con EVAR), Cable & Deadpool(it's like we're not allowed to mention them seperate anymore?!?) -- that enough to get you salivating?!? ... then there is Ultimate apparently trying to sneak into the 616... fuckers. Arana, arc 2(how long can it really last?). Spidey keeps busy, as always. More hit and miss from the MK line. Punisher V. DD! Defenders!!! New Warriors!!!!! (it better live up...) and much, much more. Oh, I almost forgot... Tieri is back with Weapon X, baby!!!!!!!!!!

politics...

For those of you who might be interesting, I thought this was a pretty "forward-thinking" idea...

http://grahamsteele.blogspot.com

2 weeks...

2 weeks since my last update... and I ain't got much folks... meh meh meh

Here's something I took from another site that I liked:
http://www.progressiveboink.com/archive/sesamestreet.html

(if the link don't work, cut 'n' paste ya lazy silly's)

New TPB last night! Ricky, Julian and Bubbles... GODS.

Jays have been rockin' my world of late... this week, BoSox, Yanks and Baltimore... GO JAYS!!

Smallville finally returned with a pretty good ep... been cutting back, somewhat, on the TV viewing of late... reading instead(back into Teh DaVinci Code)... don't expect it to last with sweeps around the corner...

Nice weather lately = BASKETBALL SEASON. (Not to be confused with Duck season... or Wabbit season).

A third chance to watch the first ep of Revelations comes this week... probably won't watch it.

ASN is pissing me of with the ST:E fuck-ups...

Saturday night's are made for... getting sillified drunk? Bad hangover...

Legislature opens today... if it's on CPAC, I might watch(how lame is that...)

Time to do my taxes... or more appropriately, time for H&R Block to do my taxes :-) ... 3 years worth, baby!!

Alan took a Heart ATTACK!! ... omg (fictional, people...)

NBA playoffs next weekend... who will be the odd team out in the playoff race? I'd like to see all 3 of 'em out of there and replaced by Toronto and New York.

Now drama's are starting to do these cheezy re-cap shows... first DH, then LOST... meh.

See, I told you it would suck... TO THE EXTREME!!!







Poop.

TV, Part 10

Wow, am I feeling lazy today... fucking stiff neck ain't helping none... you could say "Sounds Like A Case Of The Monday's", but then I'd have to hit you... hard!

Anyway, here's a run-down... much briefer than usual... of last week's "viewings"... meh.

- 24 (this week coming is "the big one"...)
- Medium
- TAR (what an ending...)
- Blind Justice
- Scrubs (hopefully pairing up w/ "The Office" will be a boon)
- The Office (now on Tuesdays)
- SVU
- LOST (It's BACK!!)
- Alias
- Eyes (pretty good...)
- KOQ
- West Wing... X3 -- caught up now... missed on ep(where Santos wins the Cali primary)... finale coming this week and after that... Revelations?
- Survivor (and then there were 2...)
- Apprentice (wow... just wow)
- Numb3rs
- Tru Calling (probably shouldn't bother watching, but I can't help myself)
- This Is Wonderland... X2 -- WATCH!!
- "The 902" ... interesting...
- WWE HOF Induction Ceremonies: Piper > Hogan
- Simpsons
- L&O
- Desperate Housewives

That's 'er... want my opinions on 'em beyond that, they're likely out there somewhere... or ask, I'll likely share... meh

Next Week: Baseball is into full swing... TAR goes the evil route with a re-cap ep(but also an all new ep... six o' one...)... Antique Roadshow(Canadian Edition) hits Hali... last new LOST for a few more weeks :-( ... Wrestlemania aftermath... NBA season winds down... I get drunk, at least once... I still don't get caught up on Cold Case... "Angels In America" finally makes it Canadian debut... more meh

Oh, and add L&O:CI to the dropped list... I might watch the finale though (same for a lot o' dropped shows...)

Rico Out.

job offer...

Got a job offer this morning (finally).

Not one I had expected to here from, actually, as it has been about 9 weeks since I applied, on a lark at that...

And if I accept, it means moving again... and a lot further than I'd been looking of late (let's just say Toronto would be closer)...

So a lot of you are gonna say "If you want to stay closer to Pictou County, why the hell would you take a job that is further away than EVAR!" ... well, let me tell you why(though I haven't made my mind up yet... need to discuss it with some 'folks' first ;-)

First, the pay. $72,000/annum, AMERICAN! That is in the ball-park of 6 figures Canadian, which, for those incompetent folks amongst y'all, IS A LOT OF FUCKING MONEY!!!!!

Secondly, I'd be in a managerial position, something I've been wanting(needing?) for some time now... you can only go so far when at the bottom of your respective food-chain(or close enough as to not make a difference).

Third, the job is, pretty much, an exact match for what I'm best at. Marketing Analytics, Customer Segmentation, Consumer Profiling... it's all there... so I know I'll have no problems getting the job done (I'd hate to put the expense into another relocate and get canned 6-weeks in... so this is a huge plus for me... considering a lot of the jobs I've been tossing my name out for of late are not exactly my chosen career path... but you do what you gotta do...)

So, I'm looking for a little advice from y'all... what should I do? I'm leaning heavily towards taking the job... but I've got this little voice in the back o' me head saying "you will regret it..." -- not entirely sure why this voice is there, but, regardless, it is... oh my, decisions, decisions... help?

Flight Of The Phoenix

I heard rumblings this was a remake... as are sooooo many Hollywood productions of late, but as I have neither seen, or apparently heard of, the original, that is a moot point for yours truly...

I liked it. A bit hokey at times... the various characters seemed like tamed-down versions of those in Con-Air(which makes sense, since those guys were supposed to be whacked out crims while these guys are just whacked out riggers)... but the cast worked very well together... some recognizable faces, some not... and I was blown away by the fact that the albino-lookin' dude was Giovanni Ribisi!! Damn, that dude is awesome!!!

Anyways, solid plot -- I didn't see the twist coming til it was almost there... and the suspense leading up to the twist was good -- some of the SFX were amazing... Quaid is in fucking good shape for a dude of his years... chica from LOTR is HOTT... dude from 'House' was very different than his character there... I've heard this guy is an awesome, if somewhat unknown on this side of the ocean, talent... and thus far I have yet to be proven wrong...

If I were to bring forth one complaint, it would be the "bad guys"... completely unnecessary... with the exception of that dude flying back in slo-mo after being shot, they brought absolutely no redeeming qualities to the movie...

If your looking for an easily entertaining way to spend 2 hours, give or take, I recommend this... not gonna win any "awards", but who really gives a fuck, eh!

TV, Part 9

24 (Fox) -- I <3 Chloe. I also hate her, as she is the most annoying personality EVAR, but that is why I love her. Edgar needed to be treated as he was... will he hold a grudge? Probably not gonna be a plot-point of contention, so whatevs. Is Dina(sp?) dead??? Odds favour YES. But this is 24...

Boston Legal (ABC) -- last new ep before the hiatus for "Grey's Anatomy" (I won't be watching...). The new black lawyer chick came out of nowhere to a role with more airtime than most of the regular cast... wtf? Meh, she's hot and good, so it's ok, I guess. It's still the Spader/Shatner show anyways, the rest is just window dressing (and quite good window dressing at that). Glad the dude fought it... a lot of 'The Practice' in this ep... good version, so thumbs up :-)

Medium (NBC) -- meh. This one didn't do it for me. Still loving the show, but they need to get back to whatever it was in early eps that really had me... bring back the brother, he was hilarious! Less focus on the myraid complexities of her 'talents' and more on good stories/cases/drama would be my preference... listen up TV Gods!!

That 70's Show (Fox) -- been a while... missed some eps... but you can do that with this show and not really loose your place -- unlike say 24 or LOST. Loved the redhead/blonde in-joking between Eric and Donna... I'm very curious how they're gonna move forward plot-wise next season... not that this show needs to be overly plot-focused... Bring back Eric's hot sister!!! (the original role portrayer, please).

TAR (CBS) -- buh-bye and good ridence(sp?) you misserable little fucknut. Gawd, his whiny/bitchy ways were so unwelcome by yours truly. The darlings of reality TV continue to shine... the previews for next week look sooooooo good (but that could just be talented editing).

Blind Justice (ABC) -- here's the ep I thought was gonna be on the previous week with the dead cop/dirty cop angle. Anybody else watching? (It came 3rd of 3 in it's timeslot against SVU(to be expected) and Judging Amy(wtf?)). Swap nights with the new "Eyes" drama... because I'm not sure I want to watch "Eyes", but I'd gladly sit through 3 hours of ABC Wednesday's if it was LOST/Alias/Blind Justice!!!!! Should've been the original set-up, but they feared the L&O/CSI 1-2 knockout (and with good reason, I guess...) -- fucking Gary Sinese. Get off my TV!!

Survivor (CBS) -- Well, my entertaining red-neck is gone. Had to happen. Why can't those fuckers pull off a win. Is the fireman that dominant? Is the hot blonde going topless to distract Bobby John and his boys... and maybe the chica too?!? If so, Survivor needs to move over to HBO (and I need to get HBO!).

Alias (ABC) -- another "Syd's Sister" ep. Meh. She's hot, but she's a clone. The Vaughn story is all that really kept me interested. And the smugness that is just about every character. They do think they are that damn good, don't they! Gotta love teh Abrams.

Apprentice (NBC) -- hottie gets the boot. Because she tried using her feminine wiles one too many times and Carolyn busted her chops for it. George and C must've really lobbied for the team leader to stick around, because I think Trump wanted to give her the boot (he know's she can't beat the other 'older' lady left, so he figures why bother keeping her around when you could keep young/brash/Trump-like and/or young/hot/Trump-wife-like). Black buddy (how bad is it I don't know the names yet :lol:) really stepped up to the plate and hit a home run this week... but I just don't see him having the necessary leadership skills, as presented this week. You can't always do it by yourself. Go read his bio on NBC -- IMPRESSIVE SHITE!!!

The Office (NBC) -- meh. Any other comedy did this well at making me laugh, I'd be singing it's praises. But I've seen this before. And it was funnier the first time around. Can't wait til they burn off the Brit-Com retreads and get to some original scripts... Yes, I'll be watching.

Numb3rs (CBS) -- finally saw the trains ep. AWESOME. Got one on tape somewhere still... will go looking for it later today I think. This show rocks (I considered going the hard-core math route at one time, so I can relate to a lot of the behind the scenes stuff here...)

Joey (NBC) -- who is the best new character? I nominate the landlord/neighbour... hott, cute, funny... and a total unknown(to me) before this show. Joey's agent is a close second, but she's more a "regular guest star" than a core cast memeber. We all knew the split was gonna happen, it was just a matter of when. Look for her and Joey to hook up(either one-shot 'innocent' or full-on regular) by the end of season 2... they're gonna try and pull a Ross/Rachel on us here, I'm betting... just keep it creative, k folks?

Desperate Housewives (ABC) -- It's BACK! Another excellent episode. All the regular pieces of the puzzle played their respective roles to perfection. Loved the hottest housewife stealing the port-o-john... and the neighbourhood slut/skank was spot on in this episode... her character is growing on me(freud?) -- loved Matt(he will always be Matt to me) and the cable/porn moment... in Canada, next week, the episode will be 90 minutes long (something to do with the Juno's airing that night on CTV... meh).


The O.C. (Fox) -- YES! Ryan fights. Marissa is there. The pRon surfaces. Everyone plays there role. This is classic OC (can I even say that yet? -- I think I can). Again, no new ep next week... but they've had quite a run of new eps now(didn't take the long March hiatus like many) -- pre-empted next week for the return of Tru Calling... I can live with that.



Criminal Intent, Cold Case, Las Vegas, West Wing -- maybe next week?

Coming Up: 2 hours of TAR and TC ... Office moves to Tuesdays(between Scrubs and SVU) ... LOST returns!! ... Eyes debuts ... lots o' Basketball on the go ... Baseball just around the corner ... The 902??? ... Wrestlemania! ... whatevs. Party On, Party People!

This Is Funny...

PROVINCIAL TAX COMMISSION
HEALTH SERVICES TAX DIVISION.

1973-74


Dear Sir(s),

The Liberal government of Canada is introducing a new tax. Up until this time you have not had to pay tax on your "pecker" because 80% of the time it is unemployed, 10% of the time it is hard up, and the other 10% of the time it is in the hole.

But times are changing. As of June 1st. This year a new tax will be in effect according to its size and category.

10 to 12 in. ----- luxury tax
8 to 10 in. ----- pole tax
6 to 8 in. ----- privledge tax
4 to 6 in. ----- nuisance tax

Please give your personal cheque for its size and category. Those under 4 in. will recieve a baby bonus award. Under no circumstances cann you ask for an extension. You may subtract $2.00 for each of your dependents who are nuts.

PLEASE SIGN AND RETURN THIS LETTER WITH YOUR PAYMENT.

THANK YOU

sign here ____________________



... I don't know about the rest of you(we tend to have an odd sense of humor 'round these parts), but when this was read to me last night, I laughed my ass off!! Then I read it myself and laughed even harder :-)

Hostage

Saw this movie this afternoon. IT WAS AWESOME!!!

I can't believe it's not doing better than it is... best action movie I've seen in ages... not a slow/boring moment worthy of mention... Willis at the top of his game as far as action flicks are concerned(not better than DieHard, but c'mon, the DieHard trilogy is Willis' at his very, very best)... just WOW!

The two kids taken 'Hostage' (although Jennifer was far from a child....) were quite good in their respective roles -- and Mars brought all new meanings to the word creepy. I couldn't believe this was the same dude who played Spacker Dave in Punisher.

A bit of nepotism with the Rumer role, but I can let that slide when a movie rocks this fucking hard. GO SEE THIS MOVIE, NOW!!

Thursday, Part Deux

Thursday is the new Friday.

Yep, went out and got drunk again. Let the good times roll.

Replaced Bushmill's with Jamieson's, my brother's place with my buddy's place, Sam's with Dooly's/"The Heather", my cel with my coat(and glasses/case inside) and random Stellarton abode X with random Stellarton abode Y... and met a shit-load of new folks(and some old -- hey Jay), again...

And then there is the memory loss. Nothing new, but always a bitch (though sometimes it's probably just as well). One thing I'll say for Jamieson's... NO HANGOVER!!

Had intended on hitting Sam's again, seeing as how it was my bro's b-day, but shite happens... sounds like a good time was had by all, again. Now the question is whether I'll be in any shape come tomorrow to make proper use of a Saturday -- I'm thinking I will be... but no promises ;-)

TV, part 8

has it been a week already? -- wow, time flies when you are doing absolutely nothing ;-)

The O.C. (Fox) -- 2 eps. The in-jokes remain strong. Seth still brings the funny. But I find more and more the 'kids' stories are just filler/shock-and-awe for me, and the lives of the adults (Sandy, Kirsten, Slut-Mom and the Old Dude, amongst numerous guest-stars and others...) are providing more "good tv" this season (last year, it was clearly all about the Fab 4 -- and Oliver?!?) ... anyway, as the in-jokes went in the most recent ep, things are "gettin' back to normal" in Orange County... at least until next week :-)

Medium (NBC) -- it's starting. The episodes are all beginning to run together in my mind. I know it was good, because this show is consistently good, but damn if I can remmember the details... anyone?

24 (Fox) -- I think I know what's going on here. Thursday's drinking (see the tres emo post below this one :ugh: ... what was I thinking! :lol: ) has fried my memory of TV this week... cause when the details of 24 are not flooding back, that is a bad sign!!! Oh yes, the "shoot out at the OK corral" episode... decent... I hope buddy lives... I'm awaiting the next big twist (do they dare take out the president?!?)

CSI (CBS) -- another run-of-the-mill episode for CSI ... which means it was good, but not great. Because they no longer have to try. America is brain-washed. Nick v. the over-zealous cop was a nice bonus... I'm liking Nick a lot more this season... and like Willows a lot less (but she's still HOTT).

TAR (CBS) -- I admit, I'd had a few drinks into me when watching this ep... but the best parts, again, revolved around our Survivor couple, Rob & Amber. The fact that he convinced other teams to bow out of a challenge simply because he couldn't(or choose not to) complete it, was HILARIOUS!! Damn, that one dude scarfed it away pretty damn fast... Rob, you are becoming soft -- but your Survivor scheming skills are working for ya... I <3 Boston Rawb! (I also <3 Amber... for her body).

Blind Justice (ABC) -- WATCH THIS SHOW! It is very good. Formulaic, somewhat, but still great TV. Is it better than Medium? ... not sure yet, but they are both better than Numb3rs, which is also very good. The new PD's are bringing much more to the table than the run-of-the-mill clones of seasons past...

Survivor (CBS) -- old buddy probably could've done more to save himself, but it's not like I was attached to him or anything(there have been way better 'old guy' cast-member over the years)... kinda sucked that tattoo-chick got the boot... they should've booted the red-neck(even though he does provide a lot of the entertainment with his back-woods language and characteristics)... but it was a good twist. And Survivor needs good twists to keep the show interesting. The only chick left on the team that is getting decimated is the strongest Survivor chick EVAR. I hope she finds a way to make it far after the eventual merge...

Alias (ABC) -- with no LOST on Wednesday's over the last few weeks (Mar 30 = return date), Alias is my Wednesday night JJ 0.5 fix... (Survivor is on Wednesday's for a few weeks, so the night isn't totally vacant of great TV) -- good character ep for Jack, but it's not exactly anything we didn't know he was capable of... and the mystery of Vaughn's dad continues... what did Syd and the gang do this week?? Huh, I'm betting it had them wind up in a European nightclub at some point or other (a stolen joke, I know).

Apprentice (NBC) -- bastards decide to drag things out just a bit further with a "re-cap" show... Surivor used to do this shite... but they smartened up(watch that come back to bight me in the ass) -- sure, they're were a few little nuggets worth seeing(but if I ever see that douche's audition tape again, I'm ending it... some things are not worth living for... :ugh:), but overall it was a way for NBC to extend their show through the end o' sweeps... meh.

King Of Queens (CBS) -- "Fish Don't Fry In The Kitchen" ... damn, this was some funny stuff. I love this show. Carrie's storyline was hokey, but still worked. She's better in storylines that interact with Doug... the Albanian joke ruled. Deacon in various stereo-typical black roles ruled. KOQ rules!!!

Simpsons (Fox) -- 30 minutes of funny (less commercials). Still the standard by which all other current(and future) prime-time animated programs are measured by. Bart's picture in the envelope was great. Homer in the bedroom window was perfect. Marge slamming the microwave door was spot-on! I love this show!


That's it... 11 shows (1 less than last week, but there were 2 eps of OC) ... 30 minutes less of overall TV... baby-steps... I've dropped the new L&O without watching an ep... and the following shows(in order) are "on the cusp" : Criminal Intent, Cold Case, Numb3rs, Las Vegas, West Wing, That 70's Show -- but one at a time, folks... so the further down the list shows are probably quite safe at this time... only thing that's keeping me on CI right now is the likely return of Detective Logan(from the original L&O) as a cast-regular next season... otherwise, it'd already be shelved.

New Shows premiering this week include: Life On A Stick (Fox, Wednesday's: I might watch... and see...), The Office (NBC, Thursday's: Can't Wait!), Grey's Anatomy (ABC, Sunday's: not my thing, even though there are hott chicas...) , The Bachelor (ABC, Monday's: :ugh: -- though it is a quasi-celeb I somewhat recognize... nah, screw that shite)

Rico Out. (why I use that, when I no longer watch AI, or anything Seacrest related, is a mystery...)

Thursday

Fun.

Life is about fun(ok, it's about a lot of other things too... but for me, there are few that rank above fun). Thursday(and early Friday) was fun. Very fun.

Often I think people spend way too much time stressing out over shit, pissing/moaning about little things and generally not enjoying life as much as they should. And I am often just as guilty as the rest of y'all in this regards. That is where 'fun' comes in. You can never have enough fun... sure, you can't sacrifice everything in the name of fun, but I think we as a society tend to swing too far in the other direction, more often than not.

So what was so fun about Thursday. Everything. Well, maybe not everything, but a lot of things. Starting with the date. March 17th. "St. Paddy's" Day! The bestest holiday EVAR ;-)

Just the concept of a holiday that is primarily about getting shit-faced AND having fun... brilliant. So I decided, as I am often prone to do, to participate fully. This meant I had to resolve the 5 W's, in some manner: Who to have fun with, What to drink while having fun, Where to have said fun, When to start(that was the easiest one) and ... ok, I only needed to answre 4 W's I guess ;-)

When was ASAP.

Where was:
A) Home,
B) Elsewhere

Home is fine for getting started. But home, for me, is often not enough(you'll understand why if you know my home situation... respect is required... which limits the sort of 'fun' I was going for ;-)) Don't get me wrong, I love "home" -- but it's not exactly "my" home, if you catch my drift... anyways, moving on...

Elsewhere, in this case, wound up being my brother's new place. And later on, a local bar(surprise, surprise) ... and(eventually) back to my brother's new place... and it was a fucking blast!!!

What to drink? Seeing as how it is an Irish holiday, Irish Whiskey seemed appropriate. Bushmill's "Black Bush"(insert lewd joke here) was the poison du jour. With some cheap 6% Molson Dry Ice for good measure(I don't think I'll be going back to those any time soon... my palette is maturing... or something). And I got drunk. But not an overly bad drunk(which has happened on occasion in the past... but less and less as i've "matured" -- yeah right, like i've matured much). I'm sure I had some other drinks throughout the evenings festivities, but damned if I can recall 'em all :-P (I'm a wee bit notorious for the "I don't remember" mindset, the day after... meh).

So that's 3 of the 4 W's(in this case) -- leaving the grand-daddy of 'em all:

Who to have 'fun' with?

Seeing as how it was my brother's place, that answer is kind of obvious, at first glance. But he had other plans going on that night as well, so relying on him to provide entertainment(as I suck at bringing the entertainment... but that's a story for another time) was no guarantee... but, fortunately, a bit of a crew were on hand(my brother's "boys"), and some new folks(to me anyway) were introduced into the fray(hello, ladies :high five:), and others joined into the mix as the night progressed(I probably don't remember half the folks who were at the bar, but remembering isn't necessarily always the priority)... and(I believe) a good time was had by all! And that is what it is all about, as "good time" and "fun" are synonomous(sp?), right?

Anyways, it's probably a tad ridiculous for me to be going on(and on, and on) about this, but I really did have a LOT of fun(Did you?). So much so that I wanted to go out and do it all over again the next night, and the next night, and so on... BUT...

... this old man's(sad, i know) system couldn't handle it... slept more than was awake since the evenings festivities came to an end in the wee hours of Friday morning... I remember a time when the party started Wednesday and went through the weekend... and sometimes longer... and I was there for all of it... now, one night usually requires one or more of recovery... and here i am, a few days later and ready to roll again... but it's Sunday, and shit happens... but I soooo look forward to the next time, and the time after that...

Because, DAMN! That was FUN!


(getting the cel back in one piece, no worse for wear, was a definite bonus too... that would've dampered things a wee bit... but all's well...)

upcoming movies...

Lots of good one's comin' down the pipe -- but I need's a job so I can afford's to go ;-)

Some will be left for rentals(purchases?), I'm sure... but here are some cool trailers(and probably some not so cool... meh):

(Note: you will have to cut/paste the url into your browser... I'm trying to cut back on my hotlinking... k?


www.apple.com/trailers/wb/house_of_wax/
(Elisha is teh Canuck HOTTNESS!)

www.apple.com/trailers/fox_searchlight/roll_bounce/
(this made me grin... I just wish it wasn't staring BowWow :ugh:)

www.apple.com/trailers/fox/fever_pitch/
(perfect mix of cheesy/hokey... date flick?)

www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/zathura/
(thank god they said 'from the author of jumanji' a the end of this, because all i could think while watching it was 'i've already seen jumanji' ... lol -- good to bring a neice/nephew/little cousin to, if you have someone like that in your life, i guess...)

www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/waroftheworlds/
(I am rick's inner-geek... ah, who am I kidding, I'm just a plain ol' geek-o-saurus -- see, that is geeky just saying that... silly rick)

www.apple.com/trailers/dreamworks/red_eye/
(this... I'm not sure what to make of this... but I'm very intrigued... and a wee bit scared? ... which is always a welcome thing when it comes to thrillers... so I want to see more...)

www.apple.com/trailers/dreamworks/the_island/
(I'd watch for the cast alone... but on top of that, this looks FUCKING AWESOME!! ... this folks, this is movie making... wow)

www.apple.com/trailers/mgm/the_pink_panther/
(this is gonna be some funny shite -- yeah, it's a remake... and I should see the original... but I'll take a good remake over most sequels any day...)

www.apple.com/trailers/fox/fantastic_four/
(geek-boys, unite -- if you can't handle my geek-dom, you can kiss my rosy-red a$$ -- or as a buddy of mine is fond of saying -- take a long lingering lick of the end of my... well, you know ;-) -- vulgar? yes -- live with it... the FF rock)

www.apple.com/trailers/miramax/sin_city/
(cool)

http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony/layer_cake.html
(it is just business... but i'd rather watch it than live it... i think...)

www.apple.com/trailers/lions_gate/house_of_d/
(I know Williams can come off as a douche at times, but he can act! -- been a while since I've seen Duchovny... and his wife... this looks good -- "I'm not retarded anymore!")

www.apple.com/trailers/mgm/into_the_blue/
(Alba is everywhere!! -- 2005, the year of the alba)

www.apple.com/trailers/universal/kicking_and_screaming-tlr2.html
(Farrell > ALL! ... although this is more Elf than Anchorman... meh)

www.apple.com/trailers/mgm/the_amityville_horror/
(I <3 Ryan Reynolds... and no, I'm not gay... not that there is anything wrong with that ;-))

www.apple.com/trailers/fineline/theyearoftheyao/
(OMFG! ... Shaq movie flop flashbacks... although 'documentary' is better than 'acting' for these dudes, at least... :sigh:)

www.apple.com/trailers/independent/dallas_362-red.html
("Mary, there is a needle in my head", "What the hell are you doing; you are an adult" ... I could watch movies like this 24/7 til the end of fuckin' time)

www.apple.com/trailers/lions_gate/crash/
(what a cast... but couldn't they come up with a better title?)

www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/stealth/
(you can try in 2005, i guess, but you cannot top "Top Gun", ever -- don't kid yourself... I get a bad(read: sucks) vibe from this trailer... meh)

www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/the_cave/
(similar to stealth... although you pick the movie(s) it is playing on... it might surprise me, but I'll be going in with low expectations... oh, and worst tag EVAR.)

www.apple.com/trailers/touchstone/hitchhikersguidetothegalaxy/
(thought I'd end on a positive... again, yes! I AM A GEEK who hides amongst non-geeks and other geeks alike... and proud of it ;-) -- if you cannot appreciate that, and this, and the rest... well, that's just a shame... :-( )

no catchy title here...

Hey. Bored? Me too!

TJNR is down (again), and I've surfed everywhere I can be bothered surfing (I need to learn how to really surf!) -- I don't feel like reading anything(well, maybe the newspaper) or watching TV(except to surf -- wow! ... you can utilize surf anywhere!!) -- too lazy to actually go anywhere or do anything out of the norm... so other than eating and/or drinking(did that last night...), posting here is all I gots (insert cry-baby emoticon here).

Seen a couple movies of late that we're hyped a lot... which isn't usually a good thing. I <3 Huckabee's and Garden State. Both were entertaining, at times, but neither was the masterpiece others had made it out to be. I found myself wishing Garden State would hurry up and end once I got bored of the "make fun o' folks from Jersey" concept (you could easily replace 'Jersey' with 'Pictou', but I digress). Lots of good actors, and I get the message they're trying to send, but a tad boring at times... meh. I preferred the Huckabee's movie just because I was more intrigued by the concept/mystery of it. Another great ensemble (Hoffman rocked), but a tad ridiculous at times and I'm not the biggest fan of being left with the 'decide for yourself' ending style... another meh. They didn't suck... they just didn't rock.

Another VERY hyped movie I hope to see soon is 'The Incredibles'. And it will inevitably not live up to the hype(though I'm always open to pleasant surprises). My comic book bias will likely play a role here. But I still wanna see it(I am easily influenced by the media, even though I rant about their influence -- I can also laugh at myself from time to time, so it's all good). Cartoon movies are becoming more and more the norm of late, mostly due to the huge box-office success of many of them. They hit the perfect audience for selling tickets... kids! Kid's cannot go alone, so each kid is gonna bring at least 1 additional ticket buyer with them. I don't see many of 'em in theatres myself, rather waiting for the DVD release. I did see Shrek 2 in the theater, but it is a special case. Maybe I should stop watching anything but cartoons/animation? Between Teletoon, YTV and a few other networks, I could feasibly spend my entire day watching drawings brought to life... I kind of feel like going and watching South Park right now. I <3 Cartman. "Screw You Guys. I'm Going Home." -- EVERYTHING HE SAYS IS FUNNY!!

If you haven't read Colin Cook's new magazine yet -- Go READ it NOW!!! It is very funny... if you don't know what I'm talking about... ask!

My feet are, again, cold.

It would really, REALLY suck to be blind. Watch Blind Justice. It's good. But damn, that would suck.

Does anybody actually still watch AI? I didn't think so.

I fully expect to have a job lined up within the month. And if I don't, I'm leaning very heavily towards gettin' the hell out o' dodge, once again. So y'all better come through for me, places that I think I'd like to work for...

Politics are funny. But they shouldn't be. And that is sad. Using 'But' and 'And' to begin sentences is not considered 'good' english. Neither is putting 2 and's next to each other... or over-using quotes... or over-using any punctuation... or starting with 'neither' or using digits or improper usage of capitalization(or lack there-of)... but this is the internets, and therefore(and hencewith?) all that don't matter none! ;-) (I dare someone to put emoticons in an english-lit essay in school).

Heard any funny jokes lately? I have, but I keep them to myself for the most part since my delivery is so sad as to destroy the humor in the joke... even for myself!

Any wrasslin' fans out there?? -- WrestleMania, the grand-daddy of WWE events is just around the corner... I barely watch wrestling anymore, but I'd like to see this... if you are gonna see anything, this is what you'd see. RAW is going back to USA I've heard... I'm sure it'll still be on TSN up here though...

Does anybody else use notes/lists/post-its/calendars/etc to make sure they don't forget stuff... cause, I swear, without that stuff, I'd be sooooo fucked! ... or would I??

As I re-read each line I type, I think to myself "gawd, that sounds ridiculous"... then I continue typing.

...


( 0 ) ( 0 )


... here's looking at ya! (or here's something I like to look at.. take yer pick ;-))

Rico OUT.

TV, part 7

even fewer this week than last (only 12 shows!)

24(Fox) -- keeps on rockin'! Who would've thought Jack and Paul Raines would be teaming up so well after just an hour or so ago Jack was torturing poor Paulie?!? ... that's the world of 24 for ya! Michelle is back, although not nearly in as dramatic fashion as Tony... who will be next? Nice seeing the ol' DA from 'The Practice' pop up here... if these are the lengths corporations will go to to protect themselves, that's a scary thought (I see Enron as the target of the joke on this one...) -- with LOST on a 6 week hiatus, 24 moves up into the #1 slot.

CSI(CBS) -- unless I've just finished watching it moments ago, all PD's seem to overlap with one another... I'm sure it was good, as CSI is one of the best, but I don't remember much. Some character development(romantically?) between Willows and Warick I think... oh yes, it was the Chubby Chasers ep... some good double-entendre's... predictable though... not the best CSI, but still better than the best EVAR of CSI:Miami or CSI:NY.

TAR(CBS) -- lovin' it. Best reality TV... only things that come close are Survivor and Apprentice(see below for more on these 2). Rob & Amber prove they're here to win... the apparently not so bright team of War Vet and Ex-Beauty Pageant contestant manage to do quite well this week... one of only 2 all chica teams bites the bullet -- what is with the high levels of empathy between the loosing team and the team that just eliminated them this season? Two weeks running, the tears continue to flow...

Alias(ABC) -- now this, this is classic Alias. Sneaking around Sloane's house while on false pretenses, busting in on a situation that is not all it seems, plotting by lead characters behind other characters backs(but we're in on it, to an extent) and family-based mysteries(Vaughn) -- keep it up JJ!

Blind Justice(ABC) -- series premiere. I really liked it. They're gonna have to work hard not to have the 'stunt' over-ride the show, but I think they're up to it. A decent cast, an awesome lead, and uber-hottie Rena Sofer as the somewhat jaded wife make this a show I'll be watching... unless it goes way south.

Survivor(CBS) -- Fireman dude is this season's Rupert -- dominating the challenges!! I like the strong chicks on the loosing team... poor Bobby John is feeling a bit inadequate of late... as are all the loosing boys... I hope they start winning soon or the entire team will have absolutely no chance...

Apprentice(NBC) -- cool episode. Saw a lot of potential in certain characters that I didn't see before; and more potential in some of my favs. Then there was John. We all knew he wasn't gonna win, but I thought he'd last a bit longer than this. The chain was GAYY. He deserved to be booted just for that. Chew-Boy made the right call bringing his buddy to the room... otherwise it would've been his ass. Erin(the brunette lawyer) is HOTT!

SVU(NBC) -- Martin Short guest-stars. And he is one evil mother-fucker. Go watch it. Creepy as fuck. Best L&O show, and best season of SVU EVAR! Poor, poor Stabler...

This Is Wonderland(CBC) -- ADD lawyer sure loves his hookers... Alice is still HOTT. They need to tone the mental health cases down a bit... I'm over-dosin' on 'em. The unstable wife who forgot she was married now wants to live in polygamy with her old hubbie and new hubbie -- HILARIOUS!! The ADD kid(what' with this show and ADD) who's Mom is a pot-head(and also digs the 'shrooms) and Dad is a gambling addict made me laugh-out-loud... especially when mentally unstable lawyer started laughing along with him...

Without A Trace(CBS) -- good ep. Poppy's on-screen boyfriends turn to take the limelight, and of course he's up to it(this guy has headlined his share of good programs in the past... I always thought he was under-utilized here). Great guest-starring appearance by the buddy who's trying to relive his mistakes with his dead son through another boy(this dude can be seen everywhere it seems). Just another all around great episode. And the secret is out... Jack knows!

Simpsons(Fox) -- another Patty/Selma ep? Wasn't the gay ep just the other week?? Anyway, this time one of 'em(the non-gay, I think) hits menopause... and decides to adopt -- The Simpson's Are Going To Japan! ... decent episode, but so are those from Season 4.

Boston Legal(ABC) -- cyrogenics. Denny doesn't get it. Denny is a red-neck in a business suit. Denny is GOD. Good guest-star appearance by Chi McBride, reprising his 'principal' role from Boston Public. A number of shots at Fox and Fox News... Joe Billionaire... Who's Your Pappa... funny shite.

And, that's it. I got an episode of The O.C. I gotta get caught up on(you know, the one with the SW3 trailer during the commercials), and a bunch of PD stuff on tape... but more and more of my time is being swayed away from the idiot box and towards the internets... which is no better, but also no worse, I guess... meh.

DC, JAN-05

I covered off Marvel's January solicits last week, so here's the other big-bad-guy...

DC

A weak month for the distinguished competition, with 3 core titles not seeing their ways to the shelves made for easy pickings by the big dog on campus, Marvel. Let's see how they did anyways... (I will only cover that stuff I read -- although very brief mention of the rest might get tossed in...)

Teen Titans #20 -- DC's top performer, coming in at #14 on the charts... a bit of an upsurge in sales to around the 65,000 mark, thanks to an I-C tie-in apparently, and recent re-sales have proven strong... this title is showing some staying power.

JLA #110 -- right behind Titans at #15... 64,000+ issues sold... a new writer has helped a bit... a solid title all around.

JLA: Classified #3 -- still dropping, but this title will be switching creative teams very frequently(with a new one coming on next issue), so I would expect some up and downs... Morrison's run wasn't as strong as expected, I'd wager.

Batman #636 -- under 60,000 units. A year ago this was clocking in at around 90,000. Though Jim Lee likely had something to do with that. A title in need of some help... soon!

Flash #217~218 -- first an up-swing of about 6,000 issues(although with re-sales, it about comes even...), then a settling back to it's normal levels... slightly over 40,000 (a big drop from the previous DC title, Batman, at close to 60,000). This title seems to be catching on with folks though... I see good things if they keep up the quality of late...

JSA #69 -- steady. I-C helped some... a good writer should keep it solid. I'm a pretty big fan of this title -- and of all the team titles...

Legion Of Super-Heroes #2 -- typical issue 2 drop-off... (or so they say). Still leaps and bounds ahead of the previous incarnation, in no small part due to the writer -- Waid is a legend.

Detective Comics #802 -- quickly dropping, though still 5,000 issues above it's previous standard... not sure if the year long "pre" story concept their going with will actually be good for sales... but this title is one of two "will always see print" books, so they can afford to play with it as they please...

Outsiders #19 -- drops below 40,000 for the first time. I'm a fan, but it needs to do something to ensure it doesn't go too low, too fast...

Adventures Of Superman #636 -- another 5,000 issue bump thanks to I-C. Before this, a continual spiral had been in place... will it return to that next month, or does this bring the turning of the corner, so to speak?

Nightwing #101~102 -- not reading this yet. Next on my list.

Action Comics #823 -- the other 'safe' title. Sales have been spiraling(Austen is not a boon for comics sales... I figure he gets jobs because he is consistent in getting the job done... it's just not done well...)

Next is a whole bunch of stuff I'm not reading... then we get:

Wonder Woman #212 -- the third in DC's holy-trinity(supposedly) gets very little respect in terms of sales. 25,000 issues is close to cancellation levels for most titles... it has leveled out at least, but this title needs to see a boost, purely out of respect to DC's premiere super-female...

Superman: Strength #1 -- 25,000 issues... not great, but it is prestige format ($5.95 American), so acceptable. I haven't read it yet... it's "on my list". That was DC's top monthly premiere of the month, FYI.

So, there you have it. DC out-publishes Marvel, but does not out-perform (although they're quite competitive, and often take the lead in the top 10 when all guns are firing). Unlike at Marvel, I don't read 90%+ of what DC puts out... I avoid the Vertigo, Wildstorm and Kids labels... and only pick up around half(or less) of the rest...

One area where DC puts Marvel to shame is re-orders. Green Lantern: Rebirth is cleaning up here, as are Legion Of Super-Heroes, Superman/Batman, Teen Titans, Space Ghost(I'm gonna back-issue this some day), Batman, JLA: Classified, Superman, Adam Strange(ditto for this), Identity Crisis and many, many more...

Big winners for DC are: Legion Of Super-Heroes(Waid rules!), Flash, Nightwing(that's why it's next on my list...), Adventures of Superman(I-C) and Robin(also on my list).

Big losers(of note): Plastic Man(should be cancelled), JLE(ditto, but I think it's a mini), Hawkman(pity...), Firestorm(just can't hack it in today's market I guess), Batman and Wonder Woman

So, what would I do at DC. Not much, actually. They've got some exciting projects coming up and their big titles are doing well. Ship Jim Lee over to Wonder Woman after his run on Supes. Try and maintain consistency on the top sellers (currently that's GL:Rebirth, Superman/Batman and Superman). Keep up the good work on the various team titles. The Bat-verse could maybe use some stream-lining. Maybe a bit more inter-connectivity between some solo and team titles (as some of the solo titles need the sales boost). Overall though, DC seems to be a bit more on the ball, going forward, than Marvel. So Marvel had best look out.

The only other title I'll consider worth mentioning, which is outside the Marvel/DC spectrum, is Conan, as published by DarkHorse. I don't read this, but maybe I should... or maybe I'll wait for the TPB. I'm anti-Image til the day I die... and most of the licensing and/or self-published stuff out there ain't for me...

So there you have it. Thoughts?

My brother is moving out...

Now maybe I don't have to go ;-)

Nah, I gots to get out too... just gotta have all my ducks in a row first...

And now I've got one more place to visit when I wanna get trashed... which is always nice to know... until I wear out my welcome, that is (I give it 2 visits...)

All 7 will be here next weekend... and in a month or so, for the summer... well, except the one who just got a place... but he's working here so he'll be around all the time...

7 people 18+ under one roof = RIDICULOUS!!

Where should I go next??

I'm thinking Argentina... put I need a hoochie-mama before that's gonna happen!

lost hope...

A Star Wars III parody for y'all... it has it's moments... but littered with a lot o' cheese around them moments... at least jar jar get's whacked!

(For those of you who ain't figuring it out, the link is the title...)

cease and decist...

Got my first cease & decist (or however you spell/say that), sort of, this morning. Somebody named "Bubba" asked me to remove 2 pics from here... I have no idea who "Bubba" is, or what, for that matter (male/female, other?, marsupial??...) "Bubba" is... meh.

So, I took 'em down. Why? Because he/she/it asked. Not like I was attached to 'em or anything. Although I think I'll require a reason next time... just to satiate my curiousity... otherwise random asshats will start following suit... and the internets are just loaded with random asshats(yeah, I mean you.)

I'm bored.

Bye.

random pic, part 104

This babe is smokin'!!! For those unawares, this is Molly Sims... supermodel/actress... currently seen on "Las Vegas" as Big Ed Deline's daughter... and dating Danny from "Without A Trace" ... "Las Vegas" might just be the greatest hour of entertainment I partake of on a weekly basis... Is this how everyone dresses out at the cottage for the long weekend??

random pic, part 103

Another chica from TJNR -- and her 'boys'. They look like a fun crowd... but a wee bit intimidating I'd bet too!

random pic, part 102

True Story :-0

random pic, part 101

All I remember from this movie is that Alec Baldwin can scare the ever-loving shit out of me...

random pic, part 100

Are we at 100 already? Wow, how time flies... because of margin issues(tech, even if it is relatively low, talk time), I've removed the 's' from 'pics' in the titles for the 'random pics'(now 'random pic') -- so what do we have for pic #100 you ask? Some of my newest friends... of the cam-whore variety... does everyone get that dolled up like this to surf the 'net?? Not that I'm complaining mind you... the 'view' is quite nice from this side of the computer ;-)

random pics, part 99

She looks so nice, I posted it twice!! (Canadian chicks rule! And rock!!)

random pics, part 98

Excuse me Scarlett... will you marry me??

random pics, part 97

Any idea who this is? Anyone?? Here is a hint: little girl from a big-budget Kevin Costner "flip"flop... anyways... she's purdy.

random pics, part 96

You know when people say "aww, isn't that cute" and you think to yourself "not really, but whatever" ... well, this is cute... so stop over-using 'cute' people... your degrading the impact it has when it's truly appropriate!

random pics, part 95

OH MY DEAR LORD!!

I so enjoy nudity that isn't really nudity... say YES to crack!!! :-P

random pics, part 94

That's quite the pair of ..... socks Shania's got going on there ;-)

random pics, part 93

Pretty soon recording producers will be present in the delivery room to hand out recording contracts...

random pics, part 92

See! Proof positive that snakes are evil incarnate :-)

random pics, part 91

funny, I don't remember this part when I saw this as a child...

random pics, part 90

I just love the uxn logo's... this one is an homage to the 10 year anniversary of AoA

random pics, part 89

Careful there X-tina... your about to pull a 'Reid'...

random pics, part 88

how cute is she... MINE! j/k ... ;-)

random pics, part 87

How the mighty have fallen...

random pics, part 86

HOTT!

random pics, part 85

Yet another Canadian goddess... and she looks cold... I suppose I could offer to warm her up ;-)

random pics, part 84

This is just too fucking cool...

random pics, part 83

Poster for the last(?) all-new Star Wars movie...

random pics, part 82

The jacket cover art for the new HP ... in stores this summer...

random pics, part 81

Look at all the purdy super-heroes... :-)

random pics, part 80

This had better damn well live up to the hype...

random pics, part 79

New Avengers rocks so hard!!

random pics, part 78

Cover of the much delayed Wha... Huh! re-visit by Marvel... c'mon BMB -- get this on the stands already :argh:

random pics, part 77

... but then pics like this make me change my mind again!

random pics, part 76

A Canuck! Often I think the parents are hotter than the sexed-up kids on The OC... this is one of those times ;-)

random thoughts, part 7

Gonna be a short one this time... too many things on the go (nothing vitally important, mind you, but I'm just not willing to commit the time here rather than elsewhere at the moment)

Random Thoughts

- I need to get out more. And get drunk more. Because getting out and getting drunk are things I really enjoy!
- Sweeps are over. Thank God. Sometimes it feels like I'll never keep up to all the shows I watch. Then March comes.
- Am I a little fru-fru for being a GH fan. Probably. Live with it.
- 359 days til I'm 30. Am I counting? No.
- 1 week til my parents 30th annivesary(and my grand-mother's 79th birthday). What to do, what to do???
- Did I mention I need to get out more? And get drunk more?? Well, if I didn't, I do. And if I did -- well, I still do.
- Web Cams rock!!
- Reading comics is just as literarily(is that a word?!? -- if not, copywrite, me, 2005) stimulating as any other medium. Discuss. I can argue ANYTHING.
- March is also 'try out your new shows' month. First up: Trial By Jury and Blind Justice. Both look like they've got potential...
- I'm posting in a lot of places lately... so this place ain't gonna get the treatment it really deserves... bitch 'n' moan about it; you might have enough influence to sway me... or not.
- loosing power sucks. Every FUCKING time.
- politics... should I or shouldn't I??
- exercise... should I or shouldn't I??
- fart... should I or ... ah, who'm I kiddin' -- ahhhh, that's better!

That's it for now. I'm thinking of doing up some more pics(there are just so many) soon... amongst other things... stay tuned.

Rico Out.

for AD fans...

It is a funny show... for whatever reason I don't watch it very often... maybe I'll get it on DVD some day...

http://www.never-nude.com/

TV, part 6

straight to the goods...

Enterprise (UPN, via SPACE) -- for some DUMB reason, ASN didn't show the new ep this week... what a bunch of dumbs. So I had to wait til Sunday to catch it on SPACE. That meant two whole days of avoiding online spoilers, dammit! As expected, it was worth the wait. Section 31 rocks! Klingon foreheads are no longer a mystery... and teh resolution was pretty decent, I might add. Last new Enterprise of sweeps (as was the case with most shows this week). Some rich mofo's have put a sizeable chunk of change into that grassroots organization trying to save Enterprise... something might come of it yet. And I don't think (read: hope) we've seen the last of Section 31 this season... yippee!

Medium (NBC) -- is everyone in her family gonna wind up having a gift? This week, it's eldest daughter's turn. A good episode, but I prefer the kids as amusing background fodder to front-and-center of the action... other than that, more of the excellence I've come to expect from this great new show.

24 (Fox) -- never fails to impress. Black dude from CTU can provide the muscle when necessary... crack! Thankfully the CTU head's daughter storyline was going somewhere... opening the door for Tony to slip back into the easy chair (easy being a horrible choice of words). Nuculear meltdown has been averted... so what next? I, for one (and Mom for another) can't wait to find out. Love 24.

Scrubs (NBC) -- if Ally McBeal was a 'dramedy', does that make this show a coma? It fits with the medical motif at least :-) All I really know is this show is FUNNY. Dr. Cox jumping up and down in the parking lot was comic gold. Heather Graham's return was a nice touch. Turk and Carla are headed for a rougher than usual patch it seems. WHY ARE PEOPLE NOT WATCHING?!? :frustrated:

Smallville (WB, via ASN) -- well, ASN gets this one right at least. Recently returned to the Kent family farm Lois, has her sister arrive on the scene... and she brings trouble with her. What's with all the LL names in Superman lore anyways?? This was an ok episode... I love Lionel Luther... and the twist with Lana at the end was unexpected...

LOST (ABC) -- OH MY FUCKING GOD, THIS SHOW IS SOOOOO FUCKING AWESOME!!! Hurley finally gets his flashback episode, and it is a doozy. Last new ep for 6 weeks... :ugh: Other than that, all I've got to say is this: 4 8 15 16 23 42

King Of Queens (CBS) -- more Doug & Carrie antics... this time it's another scheme by Doug (don't all episodes start with that premise :-)) that he thinks is foolproof -- to get Carrie to stop being such a negative nancy around the house, he bribes construction workers down the road to make cat-calls and suggestive comments to his wife... eventually, as always, it backfires. They know the formula that works and they stick with it. Best comedy on CBS.

Amazing Race (CBS) -- 2 hour premiere. I could go on for ever, and have elsewhere, so rather than repeat myself all-together, I'll keep it brief. Wish the hillbillies had lasted longer. I'm rooting for Rob & Amber to go to the end, but maybe not to win. Great mix of teams this year. Clearly the Iraq War vet is gonna be a fan favourite, as he should be. I hope the team with the dude who kept saying 'suck it up' to his girlfriend is the next to get the boot.

Alias (ABC) -- continuation of the Sark/Julia ep from last week. Lots of action, intrigue and suspense in the typical Alias style. I love this show, but I don't think it's ever gonna fully catch on with the viewing audience (really, what else can they do but put it on post-LOST). Sark and Julia basically switch places from beginning of arc to end in this ep. And Sloane lets Jack know he's not sure he can be trusted anymore... coming from Sloane, that's quite a statement. I love Jack's use of ruthlessness to whatever ends/means necessary. I hope this show survives another season... I think it will.

Survivor (CBS) -- team 'hard-body' looses again. Some of the players are really impressing me this season, from both teams. And of course, others are as pathetic as any season. One of the physically stronger males takes the walk of shame this week... partially due to an injury, possibly due to strategy(I believe). My early pick to win it all is the tall, skinny dude from team 'not-hard-body'. Or the last chick standing in the water challenge. And get the tattoo chick some clothes... nipples, nipples everywhere! Nice to see the respect from Bobby Joe (or whatever his name is) for the fireman... it'll probably come back to burn him :-P

Apprentice (NBC) -- I just cannot see a man winning this season. The only ones I was giving much of a chance to have all screwed up in one way or another already, and don't look to be capable of recovering from their 'issues'. I'm guessing either sexy-brunette from team Magna or perky-blonde from team NetWorth will take the job this time around. All the chicks have a chance still, really. And maybe, just maybe the black dude. But he's no Kwame. He's not even season 2 black dude!! (who was probably better than Kwame, but I couldn't remember his name so I did it this way cause it sounds better).

West Wing (NBC) -- sneaky democrats get a bill through. Kids want the voting age abolished. Bartlett bickers with an old colleauge. Canada and America almost go to war. This is the stuff of WW legend... who will be the next president?

Law & Order (NBC) -- chef Rocco commits murder?!? Well, not Rocco, but a character with a lot of similar character traits. Another solid episode. Jury tampering was focused on here... I wonder if that was meant as a lead in of sorts to the new L&O Branded show... Trial By Jury. Or maybe just coincidence. If LOST has taught me anything, never believe anything is just a coincidence...

This Is Wonderland (CBC) -- the darling of my viewing line-up. The dramedy to Scrub's coma... and the best dramedy on the air now (and maybe ever?). Great Jew/Palestinian storyline this week, as well as a man with 'apocalyptic visions', a guy who believes hypoglycemia makes his back hurt (he's very, VERY insane), an old lady who can't even remember which man is her real husband and the regular cast o' characters to fill it all out... you must watch this show... you won't regret it.

Law & Order: SVU (NBC) -- Stabler gets pushed closer and closer to the edge every week. This week, it's a particularly hard nut to crack from Stabler's past. An interesting approach with most of the episode taking place over the 24 hour holding period as Stabler et al try to get a confession out of this fella... but it ain't happening. Smart as a whip Stabler pieces it together anyway and he and Olivia save the day... but Stabler's nerves are shot. He goes postal on his locker to end the episode... this all has to be leading somewhere... and I'm a bit scared as to where that might be.

The Simpsons (Fox) -- Gnooooooooooooooome. Grampa Simpson rules. Another fine episode. Mayhaps not greatly original or overly hysterical, but it had it's moments (Homer working at a WalMart clones, Bart living with Wolves... and of course, The Simpsons quartet! I will never stop watching the Simpsons. They are the legacy of Fox.


That's it. Yep, a short week compared to many. It would be nice if I could keep the numbers down, but it's unlikely to stick. I got about 8~10 hours of stuff on tape(I think), including the first 2 episodes of L&O: TBJ... TV Guide comes tomorrow, so I'll figure out my viewing week then. 24 is tommorow. Au revoir.

Marvel, JAN-05

Something new I'm trying... based off something I've read elsewhere, but with my own particular flair, of cousre ;-)

Basically, I'm gonna look at the 'Big 2' in comics (Marvel & DC for the still un-initiated) from a statisticians perspective (cuz that's what I do!) ... there won't be title reviews here, per se (but anything is always possible) ... more my thoughts on how good/bad things have done, are doing, will do... maybe my thoughts on why... and maybe some ideas on how they could improve... who knows... to be honest, I just start typing and go with da flow...

Marvel

New Avengers #2 is the top selling comic of the month. As it was last month. Thusly, I believe this to be proof to all the nay-sayers that 'Disassembled' worked. When you consider that during the pre-Disassembled time frame, 'Avengers' typically pulled down 50,000~60,000 in sales and this past month saw 150,000+ (the #1 debut last month was well into the 200,000's), there really is no arguing the point.

X-Men: Phoenix - Endsong #1 launched at over 100,000 sales... this is very good. And seeing as how the storyline is better than most X-stuff currently being published (Astonishing still rocks), the numbers are deserving.

Uncanny X-Men #454 - the 'flag ship' of the X line, supposedly, continues to droop in sales... clocking in just over 87,000 -- the 4th consecutive month of decline. Year over year it's roughly holding it's own, which is a sad statement in and of itself. This is a title that should be doing better. It wasn't that long ago this title ranked #1 or #2 (flip-floping with adjectiveless 'X-Men') every month. I hate to say it, but Claremont has to go.

X-Men #166 -- first issue of Milligan's run and the sales continue to decline... haven't had an up-blip worth mentioning since 'Reload'. And if this issue is any sign, Milligan ain't the solution. If you've seen my comments elsewhere, you know what my thoughts are... 2 words: Garth Ennis.

Amazing Spider-Man #516 -- drops below 80,000 sales for the first time in ages. Is JMS loosing his magic touch?

Wolverine #24 -- drops below 80,000 as well, but still up by 10,000~15,000 over Rucka's run.

Wolverine: The End #6 -- finishes at just under 75,000... finally. But this is a pretty good run for an X-mini, especially considering the delays.

X-23 #2 -- drops below 60,000. But that is still great for this MarvelNext launch.

Marvel Knights Spider-Man #10 -- just over 60,000 ... falling every month, but still respectable.

X-Men / Fantastic Four #2 -- just over 60,000 compared to near 75,000 for #1. Not entirely unexpected. If it can level out, it'll be fine.

Captain America #2 -- just over 50,000 sales. Down a lot from the re-launched #1. Title was mired in the 35,000~40,000 range for quite some time.

Spectacular Spider-Man #24 -- Steady just under 50,000. Plan is to re-launch soon for a sales boost.

Daredevil #69 -- drops below 50,000 for the first time in a while. Bendis' run is coming to an end, and it's probably the right time. Hopefully they do something high profile with him post-Bendis.

Incredible Hulk #77 -- not a huge jump, but a jump none the less for Peter David's return. Close to 50,000 sales. Title was bleeding readers before this.

Fantastic Four #522 -- Waid is almost done. As with Bendis on DD, it's time. And word is JMS is coming on board here.

New X-Men #9 -- below 40,000. Worse, the count is now less than half that of the #1 re-launch of New Mutants. Expect it to continue to plummet.

Punisher #16 -- drops below 40,000 for the first time. But still quite respectable.

Pulse #7 -- lowest #'s yet; under 35,000. I don't see this one lasting much beyond 12 issues, if that.

Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes #6 -- approx. 32,000. Nice #'s for this type of mini.

Exiles #58 -- nothing wild here, other than a continual, gradual decline. Still over 30,000 though, so no real worries yet.

New Thunderbolts #4 -- leveling out over 30,000. That's acceptable.

Stormbreaker #1 -- over 30,000 for a Thor-related launch. That's good.

Marvel Knights 4 #14. Another title that is in the range of half it's original launch at just over 30,000. It will hold on if only for the FF movie launch, but this title is in trouble.

Spider-Man/Human Torch #1 -- 30,000 plus. For this, that's fine.

Fantastic Four: Foes #1 -- same as above. And the FF rule aplies.

Arana #1 -- just under 30,000. Considering it was over 60,000 the first run, this is bad.

Marvel Team-Up #4 -- leveling out, but low #'s at just over 27,000. We'll see.

Nightcrawler #5 -- dying, and fast.

Cable/Deadpool #11 -- just over 25,000. A 'good' relaunch of X-Force(maybe not with that name) is needed for this segment of X-characters imo. But I love all things Deadpool.

Rogue #7 -- under 25,000! Somebody, just let it die.

Gambit #6 -- 23,500... ugh.

She-Hulk #11 -- pen-ultimate steady at around 23,000... not great numbers, but Shulkie isn't exactly A-list these days... and Slott is the next big thing, trust me (think Vaughn a year or two ago...)

Black Widow #5 -- pen-ultimate issue. 22,500. Meh. Acceptable, I guess.

District X #10 -- down every month. A lot. I know it's the 'MKX' book... but that's not enough.

Mystique #23 -- pen-ultimate issue. Always steady, but just not a big enough winner at under 22,000 (pretty much the cut-off line).

Captain America & The Falcon #11 -- 3 issues to go. good thing.

Madrox #5 -- final issue. 21,300. Did as expected, with great critical praise.

Bullseye: Greatest Hits #5 -- final issue. Just under 21,300. Decent considering it's Bullseye.

Spider-Girl #82 -- 20,000. As per usual. This title is apparently kryptonite to Marvel's axe department's Superman. Steady.

New Invaders #6 -- under 20,000. Dreadful. 3 issues left.

Spider-Man Unlimited #7 -- under 20,000 for the first time. Unnecessary title. Thankfully its only bi-monthly. X-Men Unlimited fills the alternate months. It's not much better.

Alpha Flight #11 -- pen-ultimate issue. Canada gets no respect.

Thor: Son of Asgard #12 -- that's all she wrote. Thankfully.

Tomb Of Dracula #4 -- final issue. Brutal.

Jubilee #5 -- penultimate issue. Sooooo disappointing. Marvel Age is a poorly thought out concept. Poor jubes.


So, that's it for January at Marvel. Amongst those titles that didn't see print were: Astonishing X-Men, Secret War, Daredevil: Father, Supreme Power, Iron Man, Excalibur, Strange, X-Force, NYX, Doctor Spectrum and X-Men Unlimited. All decent titles with varying degrees of lateness imo...

The most impressive monthly titles this month would have to be (based on the stats): Captain America, Wolverine, New Avengers and Incredible Hulk -- with New X-Men getting a minor compliment (and very minor at that... almost not worth mentioning... but watch me go on...) -- and, of course, the debut of X-Men: Phoenix - Endsong did very well, but it is a mini, so it doesn't get inclusion above.

Those monthlies hurting(but not already axed) include: Rogue, District X, New X-Men(see, it's on both lists... go figure), Marvel Knights 4 and Cable/Deadpool. Also of concern are X-men and Punisher. Spider-Man Unlimited would be on the list too if it weren't a bi-monthly.

If it were my call, I would keep the following as monthlies and ditch everything else(mini's exempted -- but reign in some o' the crap-fest there too).

-New Avengers (brand leader -- it's perfect as Bendis has envisioned it thus far)
-Uncanny X-Men (this title should never be re-numbered... please...)
-X-Men (along with Uncanny, needs, unfortunately, another relaunch of sorts... you can re-number this one if ya like, but leave Uncanny's #ing alone -- it would be an unfortunate fiasco if the did it... anyways, back to teh solution -- I recommend a cross-title 1 year(or more) run by Garth Ennis... under the MAX banner... can you imagine!)
-Amazing Spider-Man (this needs to be the premiere Spidey title... always! -- maybe JMS needs to move aside here...)
-Wolverine (keep him off the X-teams, and this title will prosper... the X-teams don't need him, that much, if they're handled properly)
-Marvel Knights Spider-Man (steady as she goes...)
-Captain America (all's good on this front -- Brubaker was/is the perfect choice for Cap)
-Daredevil (a new writer; a new direction)
-Incredible Hulk (give PAD a chance...)
-Fantastic Four (let's see what JMS can do)
-New X-Men (drop the Marvel Age rules... make this more core... letting the other 2 titles, or at least one of them, which in that case would be adjectiveless, flip over to MK or MAX ... and this title picks up some of the slack)
-Punisher (new writer after Ennis' next arc to keep the freshness alive -- and keep it MAX)
-Exiles (needs new direction; give it that, and continue to tighten the continuity as they have started of late and this title is a keeper ... maybe another that could go MK or MAX?)
-New Thunderbolts (bring back Hawkeye)

and, of course (but shipping timely, dammit!)

-Astonishing X-Men
-Supreme Power
-Iron Man
-Excalibur (these 4 titles are perfect as they are)

There you have it... 18 core titles... with room to add here and there as needed... 7 of which are primarly X-related, 2 pure Spideys and the other 9 core MU... likely a third Spidey will be added to the mix(though make sure the other 2 are taken care of properly first) and one or two more X-books(teams are preferable to solos)... plus Thor down the road... and maybe Defenders... but a max of 24 core monthlies should be maintained... go beyond that and the market flooding issue takes hold... 12 issue maxi series are a better approach that launching new-ongoings...

Coming Soon: DC!