December 2011
10 posts
Today Was a Good Day
Actually, a lot of it was annoying, frustrating and exhausting, but my buddy was offered a job today after a year-and-a-half without one, I’ve got a cocktail and cheese in front of me, and homemade meatballs are reheating on the stove.
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Wu Lyf - Go Tell Fire to the Mountain (2011)
This band created a good deal of buzz in 2011, though one review I read from a friend whose opinion I trust said it was all kind of the same thing. Having listened to the album now, I agree that the range is pretty narrow here. As far as what it sounds like, it took me a moment to put it together, and the best I can come up with is that it’s sort of a more inspirational and epic-sounding, if...
End of Year Thoughts, Part One
Caveat: More than once, I’ve started something with a Part One and never come up with a Part Two.
Although in many ways 2011 was a kind of shitty year, with very tight finances, no raise at work, some health issues, and still no girlfriend despite seeming to connect with at least two women who turned out to already be involved, I choose for once to focus on the positives. And oh yeah, my...
Flashmob Fridays Takes on Criminal: The Last of...
My compatriots at Flashmob Fridays have written some of their best stuff yet, this time on Ed Brubaker’s and Sean Phillips’ latest Criminal collection, Last of the Innocent. I got so busy at work and with holiday stuff I never got a review done until yesterday, so you’ll see that and some other latecomers in the “Wrap-Up Show” this week.
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American Horror Story - Season One Finale
And so the big water cooler show (at least in my office) ends with its weakest episode. I have genuinely enjoyed the season, despite worrying the past few weeks where things were headed, but the Violet shocker and the possible Antichrist birth and the prospect of who would care for the remaining baby were enough to keep me very intrigued for this episode. But…it just didn’t work for...
5 tags
The Tree of Life (2011)
Starring Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Jessica Chastain, Hunter McCracken
Written & Directed by Terrence Malick
The myth of Malick as the reclusive, painstaking genius who has only directed five films in about 40 years will get a bit of revision in the next year or two, as he has three films in production. More importantly, even when he is not directing, the man has had an active career as producer...
2 tags
The Rolling Stones - Some Girls (2011 Deluxe...
I’m not sure I even know anybody else who would call themselves a Stones fan, who loves a chunk of their music or admires that they’re still grinding along. For me, I grew up in the ’70s and ’80s with The Stones as my symbol of rock & roll danger and excess. My first album of theirs was Emotional Rescue, which came out right after this one, in 1980, but my second one...
Flashmob Fridays Takes on Box Brown's The...
Forgot to mention that last Friday was another edition of Flashmob Fridays, where several critics tackle a comic or graphic novel foisted upon them earlier in the week by Alan David Doane, the Charlie to our Angels, the explosive tape recorder to our Impossible Missions Force…you get the idea. This time out, it’s Box Brown’s altcomix one-shot, The Survivalist. As I always have to...
the long nightmare is over
Xmas came early yesterday, when the FedEx man brought me a Mac Airbook, a gift from my dad when I practically begged for a laptop. He’s a good guy, and obviously generous. I haven’t been posting much here, or doing much writing at all, as my six (seven?) year old Mac was failing, or at least the graphics processor was, which affects pretty much everything. Freezing up, refusing to open...
4 tags
Flashmob Fridays Returns
Long ago, in 2010, my buddy Alan and the rest of our Trouble With Comics cohorts did a feature called Flashmob Fridays, where someone called out a comic earlier in the week and then everyone had to have reviews of it turned in by Thursday night. It was fun to do and fun to read the different takes. Now it has returned. This time out, Daredevil #6 by Mark Waid and Marcos Martin. Enjoy!
