There is a CD, Burn, Burn, Burn

I've been in a bit of an Our Lady Peace mood and I decided to pick up their new album, Burn, Burn, Burn. I heard some good pre-release press and was interested in seeing where exactly the band had landed after several years of spinning their wheels and producing yawn-worthy power pop.

Well, I can't say as it is a terrible album, but they certainly haven't left their current comfort zone. The first single, "All You Did Was Save My Life", is catchy, driving, and gets under your skin after a few listens but, so far, none of the other songs on the album have managed to equal that. I like some of them just fine, but I will find myself humming the new track from time to time. It does require a few more sit downs and listens before I give it my final verdict, but I'm not holding out hope for it making its way into the same category as their first four efforts which defined their sound and writing so expertly that anything since has seemed trite.

One of my favourite songs from the band, and one of my all-time favourite videos, is a track called "Thief".



Later!

mike

Sort of SDCC Related

In 2000 I made a Comikaze trip down to San Diego with my buddy Karl. It was the first time I ever attended the con, and I was going under the auspices of doing some coverage for FEARS Magazine, a web publication that I was writing for that was run by a very cool cat named Ed Flynn. Almost on a whim (I think we decided the same day we left on the trip), Karl and I rented a car, loaded up our stuff and drove 33 odd hours from Saskatoon to San Diego (with a few stops in-between for sustenance and one stop in Vegas which was more curiosity than anything else).

I have a lot of fond memories of that con. I met Chris Carter whose shows I have been loving for the last 15 years or so, and even got to ask him a question on the X-Files/Lone Gunmen panel that made all the news sites by the time I got home (I asked him about Millennium, what the future holds for the series and was he truly happy with the 'closure' they gave the character of Frank Black in the New Year X-Files episode, "Millennium"). I met Will Eisner and got to shake his hand and thank him for all of his excellent work over the years, not to mention getting my Spirit Archives Volume 1 autographed. I did some great video interviews including one with Jill Thompson that I especially enjoyed. Nobody has ever seen the video outside of me (although the text for which has been transcribed and published) which I may remedy in the future. I had a chance to talk to Jose Ladronn and Sylvain Despretz (who, when I asked him for a sketch, wanted to clarify that I actually knew who he was since he wasn't really a comic book guy), met Walt Simonson, Sergio Aragones, Bob Burden, Brian Azzarello, Stan Sakai, and Mike Mignola. It was good times.

Outside of the con, Karl and I hung around with friends Kaare Andrews (who was living in town while doing work for Wildstorm), Trevor McCarthy (who taught me how to talk like a New Yorker should I ever find myself in the City), and a retailer out of Edmonton named Kelly (whose last name I shamefully forget). Karl played pool with Howard Simpson, we crashed the Wizard party, and closed the show down with an extra day in SD, spending most of it on the beach to recharge before making the epic trek back home.

At the con I managed to snag a sketch by Duncan Fegredo which remains one of my most prized possessions. Shade the Changing Man was an important series for me during the Peter Milligan run and Fegredo did some of the most amazing painted covers for that book. I loved them all. It was one of the things I looked forward to every month. So, I stood in line and when it was my turn I asked Duncan to either draw me one of two characters: one whose identity escapes me at the moment, and the other was a Mad, Mod, Poet God. He chose the latter and I was ever so happy he did.

I always intended on framing some of the sketches I acquired at SDCC and I never got around to it until tonight when I finally set it up and hung it on the wall. Jen has been pushing to finally start putting up some art or posters or pictures or something to beautify the homestead a bit, so we put up one of my favourite Moonshadow posters and the Shade image, so far. I've attached images of them (taken with my shitty phone, I know) below so you can get an idea of what I'm talking about.



So, yeah, I just wanted to share that little tidbit. I'll be framing my Usagi Yojimbo, Scary Godmother, Sylvain Despretz rendition of Maximus from Gladiator and a Mike Mignola Hellboy sketch as soon as I get some matte boards for the frames. Until then, I'll have to enjoy ol' Shade for a while, which shouldn't be hard because the image gives me a lotta joy.

Take care!

mike

Music Quest

Canadian rock band, Our Lady Peace, just released their new album and it got me buzzing around iTunes checking out some older OLP material that I, for some reason, do not own. Not even in one of those 'less-than-legal' ways, either.

While buzzing around I was reminded that Raine Maida, frontman for the band (and husband to Chantal Kreviazuk, for anyone who cares about that sort of thing), put out a solo album a couple of years ago (called The Hunters Lullaby) which I remember pretty much ignoring at the time it was released. In fact, he was even here playing at a local pub and I decided it wouldn't be worth my time to go see him without the whole OLP ensemble and anthemic rock music. I had yet to hear any of his solo material and just assumed I wouldn't care much for it. It is possible that someone might have told me he got all folky, or something.

So, looking at it in the online store I was also reminded that Jen had bought a song or two off of it and I remembered kind of liking the song she played for me. She just started playing it off of her laptop one afternoon and asked if I could guess who this artist was, which I did. "Who's This?", by the way, is a 'game' we 'lovingly' play in our household but the question is usually directed at Jen and not me.

Anyway, I got the title from her, downloaded it myself and I've been listening to it ever since. Here's the video I found for it off of the YouTube:



I'm just loving the song and I think the idea behind the video is kind of neat, too. Wandering around Toronto busking for War Child. Works for me. I do feel a little special needs for letting my snobbishness get in the way of discovering some cool new music, though. Everything in its time, I guess.

Well, I hope you enjoy the track as much as I do. I'm heading back into the iTunes store to search for more goodies. I found a Sloan song I didn't even know existed and some previously rare Chapterhouse stuff, so I'm kind of jazzed right now.

Take care!

mike

Happy Belated Birthday, Bob Burden!

I sort of missed this one a few days back but one of my very favourite funny book people, Bob Burden, just had a birthday and I wanted to give a proper Meanwhile... shout out to him. Anyone who has been buying/reading comics for the last few years should know about his wacky creation, the Flaming Carrot, and the crazy surrealist joy that his characters have brought to many a fan (this one included).

One of my favourite stories involving Bob came from an interview we did a few years back where he outlined what he would do if he was allowed to work on some Marvel heroes. This was a period where editor Axel Alonso was bringing in talent like Peter Milligan, Jim Mahfood, Mike Allred, and a number of names nobody could have predicted would work on a Marvel book. It had something to do with Iron Man and Dr. Doom, a beach and someone's vacation being ruined. It sounded like a winner in my book.

Anyway, Bob turned 57 on July 19th, so Happy Birthday, Bob!

Later!

mike

Who You Gonna Call?

First the game, now this. I'm in freakin' heaven these days!



I'll have some comments on the aforementioned game in the near(?) future as I am 3/4 of the way through as of this writing, and it's just too cool to not rave about it in a post sometime soon.

Until then, enjoy!

mike

Road Rage

There are few things that bother me like someone who is already breaking one or more traffic laws looking at you like you're an asshole if you're somehow making it difficult for them to break another.

This is why I want a rocket launcher mod to my Focus.

mike

Jon J Muth

I've been on a bit of a Muth kick of late (some of that has to do with the reasons why my mind has been blown, if you're curious) and I ran across these neat videos of Jon that I thought I would share...



...and this one is a bit of an EPK style promo discussing his latest Zen book...



That's all for now. Catch you later!

mike

I've Just Completely Blown My Mind

But I can't talk about why or how just yet.

mike

Clone Wars Decommissioned?

So, I'm on a bit of a Star Wars kick as a result of the tenth anniversary of the release of Episode I and I've been trying to get a look at the new Clone Wars: Decoded episodes and I've discovered that the show has disappeared from the airwaves. I'm not sure how long ago this happened, but neither CTV (who are supposed to have the broadcast rights) or our local Sci-Fi channel, Space: The Imagination Station, are showing it. I've searched the guide and there are plenty of Stargates, Star Treks and Starship Troopers, but, sadly, I must go without the Wars. In a desperate act, I even checked the more unconventional methods of acquiring shows that we do not get here, and it's not available in that format either.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to wait for the DVD release on this one.

Later.

mike

Human Target

I apologize again for not being very frequent with the posting, but you know how it is. I did want to pop on and mention that there are some promo videos for the new Human Target series that will be debuting next January on Fox. I remember watching the original Rick Springfield version of the show from 15+ years back, although I had forgotten that it was developed by Bilson and DeMeo, known for their much admired Flash series on CBS. That series lasted all of seven episodes, I think, and disappeared. You can't even find Torrents of those online, although I did manage to find a video on YouTube which I'll post below.



And the old one...



I'm honestly surprised that it took so long to get this concept back on the small screen. Saddened as I am that Terminator will not be returning next year, I'll be looking forward to seeing some Human Target action.

Later!

mike

Wars, Trek...What's the Difference?

I'd heard that Abrams tried to Star Wars up the new Trek film, but I never realized quite how much until I saw this video...

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Cheers!

mike

Munro

For lack of something better and mine, here's something brilliant and someone else's.



Cheers!

mike

Happy Belated Birthday, Jean Giraud!

Jean 'Moebius' Giraud turned 71 years young on May 8th. I've loved this guys work for so many years and do not have nearly enough of it in my collection. I'll have to remedy that sometime soon.

Raise a glass for Jean.

Cheers!

mike

Comics Cavalcade

I had my first trip to a comic store yesterday in a while (not counting FCBD) and I am pretty excited about reading some new books this week. I doubt I'll have a review ready for Sunday, though, seeing as I work tomorrow, I'm on call today for this project I'm working on with Jen for her work, and I have a sickly daughter home with the flu. Still, the fact that I made to to my LCS at all this week is a triumph for me and I'm looking forward to reading both Angel and Angel: Blood and Trenches, Hellblazer, Agents of Atlas and Cerebus Archives.

Cheers!

mike

Two Things

Over the last few days, I've only experienced or been a part of two things that are worth mentioning: Free Comic Book Day and the second season finale to Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

I've been taking my kids along with me to Free Comic Book Day since they were just wee ones, but starting a couple of years ago, they became more involved in the process. Going was no longer just for me to get my stash and they get a free comic book or two, they want their own stashes now and are willing to put out to get it.

We have two stores in town that we frequent. One of them, Eighth Street Books and Comics, gives out one comic book to each person who shows up. The other, Amazing Stories, gives you every free comic book if you spend $5 at their store. As a result, our routine has been to hit Amazing Stories first and get one of everything, then hit 8th Street for anything we might have missed.

I was really impressed to see Kate and Simon spending $5 and grabbing a whole stackload of comics this year (Emma didn't have $5, but grabbed a copy of Love and Capes). They had some trouble finding anything to spend $5 on, but once that hurdle was overcome, they did just fine. It was also nice to see them devour the ones they expected to enjoy, then read some that they knew nothing about and really enjoy those, as well. Simon basically wanted the Wolverine and Sonic books but came away wanting to read more Sardine. I consider that a plus. Kate and Emma are also converts to Love and Capes, now, and I think Emma spent an hour or more reading the free L&C content on the web just to fill her craving. We'll probably hunt down back issues or collections in the near future.

As for Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, I finally watched the last three episodes of season 2 and they were some of the best of the series. Actually, I'd go so far as to say the last 5 episodes of that season were what I would show to any Doubting Thomas' who have been poo-pooing the show for the last two seasons. It's a crying shame that they won't be able to continue from where they left off, but if they had to end it where they did, I'm satisfied with that. All the characters storylines were addressed, secrets were revealed, homages to the films were made, we got to see some of Cameron's endo-skeleton and someone FINALLY says the word "Terminator"! 31 episodes of the series so far and I don't think Terminator is said once until the last 10 minutes of ep. 31.

An early complaint of mine for the show was that it lacked some signature Terminator things to really feel like the audience (meaning me) was watching James Cameron's world (or a reasonable hand-drawn facsimile). Not seeing enough of the Terminator itself was one, but I understood the budget constraints of a television program. Not hearing the aforementioned word, Terminator, bugged the shit out of me, and that was probably some kind of licensing thing with the owners of the property since it has been licensed to different people over the years (I'll bet the movie guys get to say it all the time). The music irked me because I knew Bear McCreary was a brilliant composer, but without any Brad Fiedel call-outs, it just isn't Terminator. I heard that was a rights issue and it looked like they ironed some of that out because the music rocked in season 2.

And by the end of it, I loved it. From top to bottom it was/is one of my favourite shows on television and I'm sad to hear that it likely will not be coming back. I will mourn it, I will buy the DVDs when it comes out, I may even go to see the Christian Bale movie but I've invested enough time and energy into these actors and characters that it won't be the same.

So raise a glass to Terminator: TSCC. We knew you for so short a time, but all good things must come to an end, I guess.

Cheers!

mike

Much More Music

A friend had me comparing Bill Withers' "Use Me" with a Fiona Apple version and it got me surfing YouTube which led to some Beatles music and a few covers. I was most impressed with this version of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band [Reprise]" by the Stereophonics and I thought I would post it here in lieu of any real content.



That's one of the best Beatles covers I've heard since this one...



Cheers!

mike

The Night Starts Here

I'm not sure if this video really fits the song, but I applaud and support Stars in all their endeavours, so...



Regardless of how weak the video may be, the song still rocks.

Later!

mike

Re-reading Old Copies of The New Mutants

Digging through some longboxes I ran across the handful of issues in my collection of The New Mutants. I sold of the bulk of the series that I owned to a local comic shop back when the Liefeld issues were still considered blisteringly hot and bought a serious crapload of other books in their place. I've never regretted the decision since so many holes in other collections were plugged as a result, and a great number of new comics were discovered.

Actually, I take back that no regrets comment, because I do regret never quite finishing up my Epic Akira set when I had the chance and the trade credit to do so.

But I digress.

The issues I was looking at were the later ones, somewhere in the high 60s, written by Louise Simonson and the art would have been by Bret Blevins, a penciller I learned to appreciate much later in life. There was also an issue in there (#62, I believe) by the inimitable Jon J Muth. A book which I now treasure more than I did when I was younger and was not such a fan of his work.

Looking at them all again, it reminded me that, while I was often intrigued by the characters and the whole younger X-Men deal, I never really read the book regularly, and never really got to know the characters very well. I certainly was not there in the beginning. I only started paying any real attention to them when Sienkewicz came on as artist, and only collected them on a monthly basis while Guice was doing the art and inked by Kyle Baker. I wavered again for the next 3 or 4 years of the book and picked it up again with #86, which had Rusty on the cover being attacked by the vulture. The first Liefeld cover.

Since the first series only ran 100 issues, I figured it couldn't hurt to take a trip down memory lane and read them all over again, for the first time.

So far, it feels like Claremont is trying much too hard to be young and relevant, and out of the 4 issues and the graphic novel that I have read so far, he has managed three stories that reek of cliché; the origin story, the teen horror flick and a child abuse story. It's also taking some getting used to reading the Claremont style, with just about every panel describing the character, their powers and their motivations in captions, followed by action scenes which he also describes in word or thought balloons.

Bob McLeod's art is serviceable, but nothing spectacular. It's interesting to look back on, but when you consider the work being done 20 issues after these still hold up as striking and contemporary (from a strictly visual standpoint), I can't get too excited by Bob's work, here.

Anyway, I just thought I would post about it. I'll probably post again when I hit those Sienkewicz issues, or possibly even the Leialoha issues in the teens. We'll see.

Cheers!

mike

Clone Wars Review With Dave Filoni

While surfing the Star Wars site I ran across this interview with director, Dave Filoni. I've read a number of interviews regarding the show, and seen a few featurettes on the DVD and online, but this was one of the more informative pieces on season 1 I've seen in a while.

Now, if only someone could get an answer as to why Ahmed Best is no longer voicing Jar Jar, I would be a happy Clone Wars fan.

Cheers!

mike

This Post Is Mostly Filler

There's a bunch going on right now so I'm kind of lackluster in the posting department, but I didn't want to lag too far behind so I figured I would post this video I found after I finished reading Cerebus a little while ago. Once I closed the final page on #300 (which I intended to post about but, as usual, have yet to do so) I immediately went scouring around for commentary and extras online. I also dug up my Following Cerebus issues and started reading those through for the first time (I was holding off until I completed Dave's magnum opus).

Anyway, these guys have put together (or are in the process of putting together) an animated Cerebus film or short and it's mildly interesting to watch. A little strange, though, since the Cerebus depicted is from the earlier issues in the run.



Hopefully I'll have something more significant for next time.

Cheers!

mike