Sunday, October 30, 2005

A game I really like...

So crosswords are my bane. Reeeeally really hate 'em. Hate 'em.

Play this instead:

Sudoku

BOOM

Ever feel like you're on a freight train headed towards a gas truck parked across the tracks?

That's how I feel right now.

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Took a nap

I have my brain back.

Playing with some MySQL, playing with some PHP.

Got waaaay too many ideas for a comic script I'm cooking up.

I'm going to bed early tonight, and I'm going to wake up happy.

I promise.

Monday, October 24, 2005

CURRENT MOOD:

Current mood: mischievous YOU ARE GOING TO DIE

Real estate warning signs

Tom Barrack's selling all of his US real estate.

'Cause there's a bubble.

Duh.

But here's one little gem that stood out. I love being proven right. One of my biggest soapboxes about real estate lately has been the practice of housing construction "futures."

Check this out:
"The slump will show up first in speculative hot spots like Miami and Las Vegas, he says, where condo developers are preselling their projects for what looks like big profits. When they actually build the units over the next year or two, he predicts, they will end up spending more then the units are now selling for.
At that point, says Barrack, the developers will try to raise prices. "But most of these buyers are speculators," he says. "They will either sue the developers to get the original price or take their deposits back and walk away." The developers will then put the units back on the market, and the glut of vacant condos will drive prices down. "It's the busted deals caused by construction costs that will cause the turn in the market," he says. "

And it's not just condos. Out here in Cali (as we Californians never call it. I think.) housing developments have waiting lists years before ground is broken. Houses are "flipped" before the house is even built. That is, a speculator puts a deposit on a lot, waits a bit, and then sells the rights to the lot to the next dummy.

Risky stuff. The real estate market is quickly going to degrade into a roller derby: lots of flying elbows, kicking, and hairpulling. And lots of bodies flying into the stands.

Tom Barrack sells his US RE holdings

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Quick reviews

So, how did I like my new pile of comics?
Some disappointments, and some surprising surprises.

Biggest disappointment: Walking Dead #22 - SPOILER - No one dies from zombie attacks this issue. And no one kills any zombies this issue. Unforgivable. Un-freakin'-forgivable. It was like a Romero movie without garden tools.

Other disappointments: Y the Last Man #37 and Ex Machina #14 and #15. Quick disclaimer, I've loved both series up until now. Y is undeniably a very powerful book. Ex Machina is a great departure from the traditional super hero story devices. But I'm developing a problem with Brian K. Vaughn, and it's showing up in both of these books.

Explanation: It almost feels like he's buying into his own hype, and the media frenzy has driven him to try to outdo himself. It seems like both of these series are trying to "push the envelope" of edginess. It feels topical. Yeah, I get it, you're trying to explore tough issues. But particularly with Ex Machina, the topicality gets in the way of the storytelling.

Another sticking point on this issue of topicality. It's not enough just to raise controversial opinions, you have to explore them. You don't have to resolve them, but at least take some decent stabs at it. And Ex Machina tends to fall short on this as well. For example, a few issues back, the story touched on a publicly funded art museum which was showing a racially insensitive painting. The public was outraged, the artist unyielding. Mayor Hundred is faced with a dilemma: side with the public, or defend the artist's First Amendment rights. But instead of Hundred making a call and facing the consequences, the artist voluntarily sneaks into the museum and destroys the painting. No consequences, crisis averted, no solutions offered, on to the next controversy. This isn't the only example.

Grrrrrr. That said, the books are still pretty good. They are important, in that we need more books like them, taking some serious risks. But edginess for edginess' sake is not sustainable.

Now the good stuff.

Invincible #26 - The only "true" superhero book I'm reading. Light antics with punching and aliens. Just fun.

The Amazing Joy Buzzards Vol 2 #1 - More fun stuff, kind of a Mike Allred pop sensibility meets the Gorillaz. And the Beatles films. And Speed Racer. And Hanna Barbara mystery cartoons. No attempts at edginess here, just fun, goofy storytelling. The coolness lies in the seeming lack of effort at being cool. I'm waiting for the animated series.

Best stuff last.

Warren Ellis kicks my trash. I HATE WARREN ELLIS. I hate him more than Neil Gaiman, less than Alan Moore. Curse that Alan Moore. But back to Ellis. Hate'im.

Fell #2 is a nightmare. It's bad juju all around. The story is a gruesome headline, the characters caged animals. Ben Templesmith's art is bleak, and the pages are dense with information. There are no "unused" panels. The story's not for little kids or faint-hearted senior citizens. Ellis' writing is the showstopper here: solid characterization, punchy dialogue, efficient visuals. The decreased page length of the book is actually an asset, i.e. no useless splash pages, etc. If you have $2.00 and you're a grown-up buy the stupid book.

Jack Cross #2. Issue #1 didn't wow me. Some of the art didn't do it for me, although I liked the "24"-ish any-means-necessary tactics of the protagonist. Issue #2 is really engaging me though. The interrogation was cool. Explosions are cool. The car chase and shootout were cool. Ellis' plot is not a far stretch from plausible. I'm liking the book much more after this issue. Still not in love with the art though.

So that's my review of my pile of comics.

Wordy wordy wordy.

In summary: Read Warren Ellis, consider Brian K. Vaughn, and wait for Robert Kirkman to start killing zombies again.

Saturday, October 22, 2005

Speaking of comics

No, not really. Just a random observation.

Costco bread tastes like styrofoam.

Just don't do it. Don't buy that Soylent-Green-esque food substitute. It is not bread. It is baked evil.

This has been a Public Service Announcement.

Evil.

COMIC BOOK SHOP DAY!

Hit my local store, and brought the family.

I'm a little ashamed to say it, but I could feel my eyes light up when I saw that the new issue of Walking Dead arrived. Yay!

Grabbed that and some Invincible, Joy Buzzards, Y the Last Man, Fell, Jack Cross, and Ex Machina. Read Fell already.

Kate got an issue of Thunderbolts from the 25-cent bin. She was super-super pumped. She's sitting quietly on the floor right now, "reading" it intently. The kid has trouble with English, but she's already building the visual vocabulary necessary to read comics. It's coming to her very naturally.

Speaking of visual vocabulary for kids, this book is a great one. I grew up with it. It's a children's book, but it's a deceptively marketed comic book. And it's beautiful.

The Snowman

Someday I'll write a whole big column about why this book is the bee's knees.

I have warm fuzzies.

Got home, and took Kate for a walk for an hour or so, looked at turtles and ducks.

Now wifey and I are gonna watch Batman Begins.

I really, really like Saturdays.

Thursday, October 20, 2005

I am... a fanboy.

I can't get over how valuable this site is. And how young it is. And how popular it is.

Visit Warren Ellis' site, go to the Starting Out section, and dig up the thread titled: Comic Creator Audio / Video Interviews.

Then, sit and geek out for several hours.

The Engine

More zombies, please.

Sometimes the Onion is amusing:

Zombie Preparations

Monday, October 17, 2005

'Cause everyone keeps asking for this...

This was Mrs. Badger and I before we got married.

If only I still looked like this.

If only.

Saturday, October 15, 2005

Pendulum Baby

My kid likes oscillation:












Yeah. I know.

Friday, October 14, 2005

AWOL

I've been away. Been traveling a lot. Back to work now.

Feel very much like a fish out of water.

I know I should be getting my life back to normal, but I've been avoiding my regular routine.

Not sure what I want to be doing now.

I want to be doing something other than what I'm doing at the moment. Perpetually. Unceasingly.