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Post by The Captain on Jun 27, 2021 15:11:46 GMT -5
My pull list is at its lowest point ever, with just the following books on it:
Marvel Captain America (although there is just one issue remaining in Coates' run and nothing announced beyond that) Demon Days Marauders - have also added the upcoming Moon Knight ongoing and Darkhawk mini
The only other book on my pull list is Firefly from Boom! Studios.
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Post by The Captain on Jun 25, 2021 8:29:06 GMT -5
The Montreal Canadiens are on their way to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in nearly three decades (last there in 1993) after defeating the Las Vegas Golden Knights in 6 games (winning the final one in OT).
While not a Habs fan, it is nice to have one of the Orginal Six back in the Finals (as long as it isn't the StRangers or Maple Creeps). With the options on the other side being the Islanders (who took out my Pens) or the cheating Lightning, I will be rooting for Montreal to add another set of names to Lord Stanley's Cup in 2021.
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Post by The Captain on Jun 15, 2021 8:37:55 GMT -5
Fables will return to DC in May of 2022 with Issue #151, but first Bigby will crossover with Batman.Not sure how I feel about either of these. The original Fables was a tale of two tales. The first 75 issues were great, the last 75 were occasionally very good but rarely better than that, but it definitely limped to the finish line. I'll probably pick it up, but like the first time around, I'll trade wait it, since it always read far better as a binge rather than month-to-month. As for the crossover, I would much rather it be clearly identified as an "Elseworlds" kind of story, as I don't like to think of Fables existing within the mainstream DC heroes universe.
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Post by The Captain on Jun 10, 2021 10:31:02 GMT -5
Iron Man #9. by Christopher Cantwell & CAFU. No Tony or his allies in this issue. Korvac and his crew take a detour in deep space to search for someone. They find the Original Human Torch Jim Hammond in his new horrible body built by Tony from the last Invaders series. I love the character of Jim Hammond. Unfortunately modern writers can never just leave him alone. They deactivate him or have lose his powers or destroy him... I look at Jim as being in the same role at Marvel as Jay Garrick or Alan Scott at DC. An elder statesman type. So the only redeeming part of this issue is he got "restored" back to normal. Hopefully he stays this way for awhile. Yuck. I thankfully dropped this steaming turd of a series from my pull list, so this will be my last issue because I refuse to stick my LCS with something they ordered for me months ago. This book showed a lot of promise after the first couple of issues but quickly took a turn into Flaming Dumpsterville. This story with Korvac has dragged on way too long, and it isn't helped by the fact that Tony hasn't appeared in two straight issues now. Never a good sign when the titular character is absent from his own book. I rarely ever drop an ongoing mid-storyline, but this is the second time I've done it with an IM book (the first being the equally dreadful Superior Iron Man, which was more like the Inferior Iron Douche). Love the character, but they have made a ton of missteps with him in the past decade, which is odd considering Tony was one of the Big Three of the MCU.
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Post by The Captain on Jun 10, 2021 9:52:35 GMT -5
Daughters and I really enjoyed this. Tom Hiddleston is eminently watchable (my older girl likes him A LOT, as I imagine a lot of mid-teen girls do) and Owen Wilson, who I've always considered pretty lightweight, held his own.
My wife, OTOH, isn't sold on it, because she HATES time travel with a passion. She did feel justified, however, by the Miss Minutes video, which she felt absolutely summed up the problems with time travel stories. I think she'll give next week's episode a watch, but if this gets too screwy with timelines and jumping around, I bet she's out.
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Post by The Captain on Jun 10, 2021 8:15:56 GMT -5
Just found out, totally through happenstance, that the coal-fired electricity-generating plant that I had worked at and left at the end of last year is going to be shut down ASAP. The plant manager figured they had 4-5 years left, but economics and political pressure had other ideas.
Feel bad for my former plant mates, as some of them are nowhere near retirement age and will probably struggle to find anything like what they were doing (and earning) there, at least in this area.
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Post by The Captain on Jun 7, 2021 16:30:58 GMT -5
For all the folks going through rough times right now, I'm thinking about and praying for you all. We all go through seasons (I'm still in one with my parents, going on 18 months now), but eventually it will pass. Hang in there everyone, and if anyone needs to talk or vent in private, just PM me.
As for myself, I got my first Pfizer shot today around noon. Feel fine right now, but have to reschedule my second shot, which the hospital wanted to do on July 1. I'm supposed to be visiting family in Indiana that weekend and leaving Friday morning, and after losing my long Easter weekend holiday to the actual virus, I'm not getting screwed out of a five-day break.
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Post by The Captain on Jun 6, 2021 20:48:42 GMT -5
I can go along with this, if only because they beat the Maple Leafs in the 1st Round. The only NHL fanbase I despise more than Toronto's is Philadelphia's, so the longer either of those teams go without getting to hoist Lord Stanley's Cup, I'm a happy man.
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Post by The Captain on Jun 6, 2021 20:27:44 GMT -5
(...) "Like the Swiss Army knife, the popular AR-15 rifle is a perfect combination of home defense weapon and homeland defense equipment. Good for both home and battle." Or, in other words, "it can kill people in all sorts of circumstances". The judge conveniently forgets that a tool whose function it is to kill human beings in vast numbers might not have its place in ordinary citizens' homes. [sarcasm] Otherwise, why stop at guns? Nerve gas can also be used both at home and on the battlefield! If we don't allow law-abiding people to have ready access to sarin and VX, only terrorists and tyrants will have it. [/sarcasm] That a judge would argue that the legal ramifications of the second amendment makes it unconstitutional to prevent people from buying assault weapons, I can understand. But that he'd actually think it's a good idea is just... well... "not wise" in my humble opinion. Something else that has been bothering me all day about this ruling is the argument that the AR-15 is good for "home defense". I'm curious who this judge thinks is going to be attacking the homes of these AR-15 owners. For one, how good is a gun like that going to be at 3:00 AM when a solitary burglar breaks in through the kitchen door? A responsible gun owner would have a gun like this locked in a gun safe and unloaded, so it wouldn't really be an option in the way that a handgun might be if kept in a night table drawer (however, where do these people live where they feel under constant threat to the point they need to keep a loaded gun just laying around). You're not really supposed to keep a loaded gun under your bed, in case one of your kids finds it in the middle of the day and blows his sibling's or friend's head off when he decides to play with it. Maybe this judge envisions a marauding band of Vikings sailing over the Atlantic or maybe an invading horde of Huns coming to the West Coast, necessitating a weapon that can mow down multiple armed intruders at a moment's notice to protect one's family and property? Maybe he's a big believer in an impending Zombie Apocalypse and figures if we can just shoot indiscriminately at the undead, we can pick off their heads just by dumb luck. Not really sure why an AR-15 is needed when a simple shotgun would suffice, as they've been proven to be effective against the Evil Dead by Ash on numerous occasions (or just a chainsaw hand, truth be told). Or perhaps, this judge is one of those "Americans need to be able to protect themselves against an oppressive government" kind of guys, to which I say "good forking luck". If the US government ever decided to openly attack its own citizenry, I don't care how many AR-15s the populace owns, the US military will have weapons far beyond AR-15s and in numbers these folks can't even begin to imagine. These weekend warriors that go to the gun range once in a while or take off with their buddies to camp to shoot empties off of fence posts would get mowed down in a hail of gunfire faster than they can scream "hey, wait, we're on your side..." Regardless, it's just a bad argument from the judge from the get-go.
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Post by The Captain on Jun 5, 2021 15:57:58 GMT -5
(...) "Like the Swiss Army knife, the popular AR-15 rifle is a perfect combination of home defense weapon and homeland defense equipment. Good for both home and battle." Oh good lord. There was a time when I would have been able to say I can't believe a sitting judge wrote that drivel, but after the past few years (at least) it seems like par for the course. If this judge believes that the AR-15 is good for "homeland defense", then it's time we eliminated the standing military (which isn't something the Founding Fathers wanted anyway) and told everyone who owns an AR-15 that they have all been registered in the new US Militia. They will be deployed at the pleasure of the Commander in Chief to all points globally whenever there is a conflict that threatens the safety or interests of the USA. Want to take bets on how fast these proud patriots get rid of those guns if they have to live by what the 2A actually intended?
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Post by The Captain on Jun 5, 2021 8:13:16 GMT -5
Going to the amusement park today! It's our school picnic day, so my wife and I are taking our girls and their friends down for the event. Haven't been since 2019 (obviously), so we're all looking forward to getting out and celebrating the end of school. @bert , not sure if you've mentioned it, but have you ever been to Kennywood here in Pittsburgh?
yes, I have
about 5 years ago - before they removed the log flume for Steel Curtain, so haven't been back to ride that.
although, honestly, I'm very upset they removed Kangaroo, Paratrooper, and Bayurn Kurve from the park last year - all classic (and two irreplaceable), and they've also removed Volcano (Huss Enterprise), and sounds like Black Widow hasn't been run in multiple years at this point. So to me the park sounds like it's lost much of it's "Old Kennywood" charm.
tho I DO love Jackrabbit, Racer, and Thunderbolt. Phantom was ok, and Noah's ark was quite enjoyable. I liked the ride that was Garfield's Nightmare (now redone into the Old Mill again).
all that said, my friends who run TPR (Theme Park Review) are at the park today doing filming on the coasters. . So you might see Robb & Elissa out today.
The last time we were at the park, in 2019, all of those classic rides were still there. They turned the areas where the Kangaroo and Paratrooper were into green spaces, while I think they took out the Bayern Kurve for either a smoking area or some carnival games (not sure, as I can never remember on which side of Music Express it used to be). The Volcano came after I was really riding much, and you're right about the Black Widow, which I can't ever remember running. A friend of mine from church is the Media Relations guy for the park, so I will ask him what, if any, plans they have for those classic rides are; I'm wondering if they might be moved out to their sister park, Idlewild, or if they are relocating them within Kennywood. Rode the revived Old Mill with my wife and it was cheesy fun. We also rode the three wooden coasters, but nothing else, as Noah's Ark was closed and I don't handle rides that swing either back-and-forth or circularly very well any more. Primarily went to serve as ride/chaperone for our girls and their friends. They are doing this "Bites & Pints" event, a food and drink festival, every weekend in June. It's a extra charge, but my wife surprised me with a pass for it for our anniversaries (21 years since our first date was this past Thursday, and our 19th wedding anniversary is on the 15th). We spent a few hours walking around eating and drinking, then people watching when we sat down. It was a really fun way to wind out the clock while our girls got their time with their friends. It's not the Kennywood where I spent my 6th birthday, nor is it the Kennywood of my school picnics in the late 80s and early 90s, but it's still a nice park.
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Post by The Captain on Jun 4, 2021 8:54:03 GMT -5
Going to the amusement park today! It's our school picnic day, so my wife and I are taking our girls and their friends down for the event. Haven't been since 2019 (obviously), so we're all looking forward to getting out and celebrating the end of school.
@bert, not sure if you've mentioned it, but have you ever been to Kennywood here in Pittsburgh?
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Post by The Captain on Jun 3, 2021 18:33:19 GMT -5
One of our semi-local shops, Laughing Ogre in Columbus (I'm slightly closer to Dayton-35 minutes-than Columbus-45 minutes-so I consider the Dayton stories local and the Columbus semi-local as I don't get to Columbus as often) is nominated for this year's Eisner for best retailer, and each nominee is asked to submit a video so the board to consider. This is their video, which is shot by Richard Katterjohn one of my circle of con friends. He also does some of the design for the video. It's a pretty amazing shop-it even has a logo designed by Stan Sakai, and Jeff Smith is a pretty frequent visitor and supporter of the shop. It's been a fair bit since I've been there, but I need to make a point to visit next time I am in Columbus (I have to see a hernia specialist at the OSU hospital in mid-June, so that will likely be my next trip and when I will try to to visit. It's an amazing store witha huge selection, and not just the regular Diamond offerings to, as you'll see in their video... (there's a little glitch at the beginning but it clears up after that) -M I have been to Laughing Ogre many a time on my travels back and forth from the Piqua/Troy, OH area to visit family. It's been a few years (usually go to Bookery Fantasy and Bell Book and Comic Can these days), but I can confirm that they are a quality shop.
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Post by The Captain on Jun 3, 2021 16:33:16 GMT -5
I am all over this.
Loved Kirby Howell-Baptiste on The Good Place (just finished watching it for the second time this past weekend, first time with my daughters), and Jenna Coleman is one of my more-liked Companions from Doctor Who.
Also like David Thewlis, Stephen Fry, Joely Richardson, and Patton Oswalt, so this will be a must-watch for me regardless of who else they announce for the cast.
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Post by The Captain on Jun 3, 2021 16:07:45 GMT -5
Got out over the weekend to one of my semi-regular haunts and picked up these two books, continuing my focus on these that started with the outdoor show a couple of weeks ago. I talked to the owner of the shop about the series and will be following up with him to see if he has the rest of the books I don't own in his storage area. Then on my visit to my LCS yesterday, I got these as well: And these:
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