Monday, September 10, 2012

I Don't EVEN Know Where to Begin

So, obviously, regular updates of the blog aren't going to happen. Between work being hectic at times and wanting to do nothing but crash once the kids are in bed, I haven't even thought of this thing since the end of June.

I'm going to get back into it, but I'm making no promises as to the frequency of posts, let alone a posting schedule. Hell, September is crazy busy for me. I'll be announcing for two marching band contests, I've got a beer fest to go to (hard life, I know), and a wedding to attend. That might not sound like a lot, but the only free time I ever get is every other weekend and that's not even guaranteed.

I'll TRY to post once a week, but like I said, I make no promises.

I'm just going to throw a bunch of stuff at you. Things I saw, things I liked, things I'm looking forward to, stuff like that.

MOVIES

First off, because it's fresh, is Red State. This is the most un-Kevin Smith Kevin Smith movie I've ever seen, and I've seen Gigli and Jersey Girl. It was a good movie, but man, it was hard to watch, and I wasn't expecting that. The violence is graphic and extremely believable, and that always makes it more difficult to watch. And there was one scene where this little girl, about 3 or 4 years old, the same age as my youngest son, and she was just howling, crying these little kid sobs because of what she had just seen. As a parent, it hit me hard. This wasn't a movie that I enjoyed watching, but I'm not upset that I spent the time to watch it. The acting was good, as was the story, although I'm not really sure it had much of a point. There was no happy ending here, there were no winners, and I don't think there were any good guys. Had I not known Kevin Smith wrote and directed it, I never would have guessed it.



MUSIC

I've got a new jam, homies. It's "Thrift Shop," by Macklemore. I don't know why I listened to this song the first time. Maybe a recommendation somewhere on Reddit? Whatever the reason, I love the song, and I immediately hit up Spotify and listened to all of his stuff that's available on there. This guy is awesome. This is the type of hip hop that I like. Give me more of this guy, Childish Gambino, and the Flobots.

















Now, even with all my new-found love for Macklemore, I can't forget my Scottish rock overlords Biffy Clyro. They dropped a new song, "Stingin' Belle," and the new album will be available for preorder on Sept. 17. If this new song is any indication, the new CD will be as good as if not better than Only Revolutions.



Bleu has a new song out! Here it is!



Seth Timbs and the Hot New Singles has (have?) a little EP out. The songs apparently aren't new, but that doesn't mean they aren't good and totally worth your $3.99.


honeyhoney has moved to Nashville. What are the chances I'll randomly run into Suzanne Santo, enthrall her with wit and chivalry, and we fall madly in love? Probably not all that great, right? Well, a guy can dream.


COMIC BOOKS

I might have mentioned it before, but I'm just getting back into collecting comics. I've never fully left the hobby, keeping up with titles through websites and message boards, but I've started rebuilding my collection in the past year or so. I now have roughly 1/5 the number of comics I had when I first sold them all (just shy of 1,200 as opposed to the 5,600 I used to have). With DC's revamp and Marvel's upcoming "revamp," I'm really streamlining my new purchases. I'm trying to get out of my old habit of sticking with a title in the hopes that it gets better even though I haven't enjoyed it for awhile. The main offenders of that little problem have been Avengers and New Avengers. I love Brian Michael Bendis' writing, but since AVX has begun, these two titles have been shit. Absolute shit. In truth, the whole crossover has been shit. There has been little to no continuity between the main series and the tie-ins. There have been some great moments, sure, but as a whole I'm extremely disappointed in it.

My hold box currently looks like this:

Batman
Anything having to do with Locke & Key
The Boys
Avengers Assemble
Avengers vs. X-Men (I know, I know)
Avengers
New Avengers
Amazing Spider-Man
Wolverine & the X-Men
X-Factor
Invincible Iron Man
Journey into Mystery
Uncanny X-Force
Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
The Shade
Dark Avengers
Spider-Men

The Boys is almost over, and The Shade and Spider-Men are ending this week and next week respectively. Locke & Key begins its final mini-series next month, I believe. Here's what's going to happen when Marvel NOW gets ramped up:

Dropping Avengers Assemble when Bendis leaves, and I'm sticking with Avengers and New Avengers until Bendis wraps them up. I'm sticking with Invincible Iron Man through its demise, and I'm dropping Journey into Mystery when Gillen leaves. I haven no idea if Uncanny X-Force is continuing or not. If it is, I'll stick with it as long as Remender stays on the book, but with him going on to Uncanny Avengers and Captain America, I don't see that happening.

I'm going to be adding All-New X-Men (crossing my fingers that Bendis will be awesome with a book that's new for him) to my pull list, and I'm going to give Uncanny Avengers a try. Truthfully, though, the preview artwork by Cassaday I've seen isn't all that great.

I'm excited about attending the Nashville Horror and Comic Festival next month. I've already got a stack of comics I'm going to get autographed.

TV

This is the best time of the year. New TV season, yay!!! Here's my tentative schedule:


Sunday
7:00 Simpsons
8:00 Dexter, Family Guy, Boardwalk Empire
9:00 666 Park Ave., Walking Dead, Homeland

Monday
7:00 How I Met Your Mother, Bones
8:00 Mob Doctor
9:00 Castle

Tuesday
7:00 Raising Hope
7:30 Ben and Kate
8:00 Happy Endings, Go On, New Girl, White Collar
8:30 The Mindy Project
9:00 Covert Affairs, Sons of Anarchy

Wednesday
7:00 Animal Practice
7:30 Suburgatory
8:00 Modern Family, Supernatural
9:00 Nashville, American Horror Story, Soup

Thursday
7:00 Last Resort, 30 Rock, Big Bang Theory
8:00 Office, Person of Interest
8:30 Parks and Recreation
9:00 Elementary, Archer
9:30 The League
11:00 Childrens Hospital

Friday
7:30 Community
8:00 Fringe

Saturday
8:00 Doctor Who

Right now I'm catching up on Parenthood. I'm almost done with the second season. For me, this is a show I have no desire to watch live or DVR, but I'm loving it on Netflix.

BEER

Right now I'm 24 beers away from getting my plate at The Flying Saucer. Eight more visits. My plan right now is to hit the mark a couple weeks before my birthday. That way, I'll be able to have my plate party and combine it with my birthday, the end of the world (the Mayans were right!) and the Winter Solstice. At least, that's the plan. It all hinges on actually being able to visit the Saucer when I'm supposed to.

This is my mostly complete beer list.

MISCELLANEOUS

I've been introduced to Reddit. No good will come of this.

My kids' old babysitter has a new side business up-and-running. They make covers for daycare sleep mats. They're kind of awesome. Order one now!

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