Labels: Two-headed cow

Labels: Cows Face North?

Ignoring her extreme right-wing politics, McCain made a VP choice a person A: who is under investigation for ethics violations, B: whose entire political history was as mayor of a town of less than 6,000 people and I believe less than two years as Governor of Alaska, and yet would be a heartbeat away from the Presidency, a major concern when one considers, despite his good health, that McCain is no spring chicken. Whereas I've long liked Biden and feel he could easily be the President, can the country honestly say the same for Sarah Palin if the worst happens?

Labels: Sarah Palin?

Nope, despite all the cable TV pundit worries, Hillary didn't go insane. What she did do is give the speech of her life. Next for her? If Obama gets in, how about the Supreme Court? Instead of one of fifty, she'd be one of nine. And no, again despite all the TV pundits, Bill didn't go insane, either. His speech was powerful and stirring and reminded you why he was such a strong President. But how come it took John Kerry to actually point out all of McCain's flip-flops?

Labels: Bill and being a Professional, Hillary

...or don't I remember so many of the "other" side attending past political conventions. There have always been protesters, but to have the Republicans out in force at the Dem convention seems fairly new. I'm sure the Dems will be at the GOP next week, but I have vague memories that the other party usually left you pretty much alone that week and then you left them alone during their week in the public eye. These days nobody can allow anyone to say anything without a contingent of shouters trying to obfuscate the message.

I have the TV set to MSNBC since they run the Dem Convention all day long. No, I'm not watching it all the time; I'm upstairs working 95% of the time, but when I take a break, get some more coffee so I don't go to sleep, or respond to LD's barking because she wants attention (meaning a cookie) I can catch 5 minutes of the TV where all anyone talks about is whether Hillary will suddenly go insane and not back her party's candidate. I used to watch CNN but ever since they mastered the art of shoe-horning in "We're the best voice in politics" every three seconds no matter what they are talking about, I changed the channel. At least MSNBC pretty much says the same thing only before and after commercials.

On another front, I'm tired of McCain endlessly bringing up his P.O.W. background in every possible context, applicable or not. His comment on the Tonight Show that for 5 years he had no home when asked about how many homes he has now, was ridiculous. Yes, he was incredibly brave. Yes,he showed impossible courage, more than I could ever muster, but he has not proven he deserves to be a President because of it. His views on the economy, on war and on choice are totally against what I am looking for in a leader. Whatever he used to be, today his policies are pure Bush, and his willingness to sink to the Swift-boat depths of lies and deceits prove, in fact, he's learned more from the past 7 years than he ever did while a P.O.W. One can still honor the man he was while deploring the man he's become.

Obama is not the second coming. He's just a really good politician. But the majority of what he's espousing is much of what I believe in. It's not a 100% match, but if he was 100% of what I wanted, he couldn't possibly be 100% of what someone else is looking for. But he is on the right side of many of the issues I think are important and that is good enough.

I personally can't wait for the conventions to be over and for the debates to begin. But instead of having the traditional one minute answers, how about asking some really hard questions and letting the candidates answer for several minutes so we can get past the sound bites and get into actual ideas.

Labels: McCain

One of my biggest guilty pleasures this summer has been "The Middleman," a TV show on ABC Family, a network that used to feature 24/7 back-to-back episodes of the religious 700 Club but now airs the quietly subversive and always hilarious Middleman show. Quietly subversive because it often deals with tossed out comments that would give older 700 Club viewers minor heart attacks, and hilarious, because, well, it is. From week to week you never know what you're going to get; from a pitch-perfect take off of the Avenger's TV show opening (during the pilot) to Mexican wrestlers and alien boy bands to God knows what else. I've seen all the episodes to date and have really enjoyed them.

So imagine my total shock when a little more than an hour ago I settled back to watch the latest episode, this one just happening to be about Dracula and his fetish for Ventriloquist dummies (Kirby says, don't ask, just buy it!) and while the Middleman and Dub Dub (watch it, you'll understand) are in a car, he starts quizzing her about vampire lore, to which Wendy Watson replies, "You do get it that I have reprints of Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan's entire run on Tomb of Dracula."

I literally fell off my couch. A big fang you... I mean, thank you to Middleman creator, Javier Grillo-Marxuach and writer Andy Reaser. I love your show and defintely hope to see it back for season 2. For those who haven't see it, check out the ABC Family Channel, or go to their website where they do show the past few week's worth. If you don't find this charmingly fun, perhaps you need some vampire puppet induced hysteria.

Labels: The Middleman

The following is a musical number by the Ross Sisters from the movie "Broadway Rhythm." It starts out fairly ordinary. You're going to wonder why I posted it here. But then, oh my God.

Labels: The Ross Sisters

This is going to sound wrong, but understand that yesterday evening I decided to eat some no fat jelly beans. They did something to my stomach that I'll not talk about here. So, feeling sick, I finally had time to read Mark Evanier's new book, Kirby. See, I told you it was going to sound wrong. Anyway, the book is wonderful, and though I knew Jack and his wonderful wife, Roz, personally since I was about 15 or 16, I learned an awful lot. If you're into comics, you have to be into Kirby, whether you realize it or not, so I strongly suggest picking up the book. Rather than put my own Amazon.com link, if you CLICK HERE you will be taken to Mark's site. Order it there and he'll get a few extra pennies as well. You'll be glad you did.

Labels: Kirby

Scientists say they are a step closer to developing materials that could render people and objects invisible. READ MORE.

To continue with my link recommendations:

Steve Grant: Steve's Permanent Damage column for CBR is an incisive and often controversial discourse not only of comics but politics, art, popular culture and more. A definite recommendation.

Gillian Horvath: Gillian is a friend as well as a TV writer working on shows such as Xena, Highlander, Forever Knight, Dante's Cove and more. Her blog is as friendly and welcoming as she is and fun to read. And by the way, she pronounces her name with a hard G as in game and go and not with a J-sound.

Geoff Johns: Geoff (pronounced with a soft G) is arguably the best super-hero writer working today with an eye toward understanding the root of characters and then finding a way to impart fresh thoughts into them. Geoff is also one of the nice people. This site is not only Geoff's but several other writers as well and mostly contains discussions of comics by many of his fans.

Ken Levine: Ken is an Emmy award winning TV writer of many great comedy shows and his blog is hilarious to read. I don't know Ken but I won't miss his daily blogging.

Dwayne McDuffie: I believe Dwayne just won some big newcomer award in writing. Not bad for someone who has been doing this professionally for 20 years. I've been a fan of Dwayne's since Marvel's "Damage Control" and he's only gotten better since.

Clifford Meth: Clifford is a writer of dark fiction as well as someone whose tireless charity work for various comics professionals have earned him high, high marks in my book. His blog is called "Everyone's Wrong And I'm Right" and that just about sums it up perfectly.

Elayne Riggs: Elayne writes about comics and lots, lots more. Elayne also blogs over at ComicMix. Check them both out.

Alex Ross: If you're reading this blog you know who Alex Ross is. But just in case he single-handedly changed the face of fully painted comic heroes. His work has also graces the cover of TV Guide.

Scott Sava: Scott is not only a friend but a brilliant 3-D artist who works tirelessly to create the best in all ages comics. Check out his blog for his stories and his way crazy blog interface.

Mark Verheiden: A great comics writer and a great TV and movie writer. His blog is filled with inside info and much more.

And finally, but most importantly:

Noel Wolfman: Noel is my wife but that has nothing to do with why I'm mentioning her two websites/blogs. Her big website, clothdollpatterns.com is the biggest and best website for those who are into crafts and like to put together cloth dolls. She features literally thousands of patterns for sale. Noel also has a blog, Wolfmanor Wisdom and Whimsies where she gives craft advice, provides easy to follow how-to-dos and much, much more. If you're into crafts or know someone who is, forward them Noel's info.

And that, as they say, is it. Now check out those sites but keep coming back here.

Labels: Links

I mentioned that some of you should take a look at some of the folk I link to. Over the next few blogs I'll tell you who these people are and then you can check them out for yourself.

Jerry Bingham: Jerry's a wonderful artist whose western and civil war paintings will surprise many who primarily know his comic book work. This site is a gallery of his work.
Gene Colan: I've worked with Gene on an off since the early 1970s. His brilliant artistry on Tomb of Dracula remains state of the art 30 years later. Check out his site to see what he's up to now.
Gerry Conway: Gerry began writing comics when he was still a teenager and created many, many characters (Punisher, etc.). Gerry moved from comics into film and television. Gerry's site is about all the things that interest him, and probably you.
Peter David: Peter writes everything, from comics, to novels to TV and more and his blog is not only about what he's working on but his opinions on everything from TV to politics.
Nicole Dubuc: Nicole began as a child actress but is now a much in-demand animation writer and story-editor. Nicole's site is about her thoughts, her work and more.
Harlan Ellison: Anything I say about Harlan might infuriate him, including that under his truly gruff exterior is a truly caring heart. So I'll say nothing.
Jane Espenson: I don't know Jane but I've loved her writing and she blogs about many things but mostly writing craft. If you're ionto writing it's well worth reading.
Mark Evanier: If it can be typed Mark's probably written it. His site goes from the silly (the best tomato bisque soup) to the serious (political maneuvering). A must read.

More next time.

Labels: Links

Just wanted to point out that to the right of this page are a list of links to other websites that I like, both from friends of mine as well as from people I don't know at all but like what they've got to say. After you check out all the pages on THIS site, why not check them out, too. You might enjoy.

Labels: Links

John McCain's latest series of ads point out the reason why he should not only not be elected this November, but why the Republicans should find a way not to even nominate him during their convention next month. McCain's ludicrous video ads degrade the electoral process and instead of talking about issues during this most crucial election, he simply mocks Obama with trash. McCain had originally promised to conduct a real and honest campaign about what was important and not make personal attacks. His tactics show he thinks of us with the same contempt that he is showing Obama. Grow up already.

Labels: McCain