Update: More Random Junk

I swear, I'll be posting something bigger when I get a chance. Maybe it'll be an essay on adaptations, using the first season of True Blood. Maybe it'll be the character analysis of John Constantine and a discussion of massively authored narratives. Maybe it'll be the long-promised piece on the Book of Eli and biblical transmissions. Or maybe it'll be pictures of cats. I'll let you know. Hell, I'll tell you what: if anyone actually bothers to comment on what they'd like to see, I'll do that one first.
For now, here's some quick thoughts:

My fridge magnet's a grain elevator. I just read Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake for the second time. It was definitely worth a second read, as I'm picking up a lot of things I missed the first time round, and, after my research shift towards gaming, there's a bit more to digest in terms of the future games Atwood envisions. It's still as depressing as I remembered though, advancing my psychoanalytic theory of Atwood's works that I like to call "Margaret Atwood Needs a Hug."

Don't Mess With the Scottish. I also recently read the comic Uncle Scrooge: A Little Something Special," a compilation of several Scrooge stories. Long time readers know I have an abiding interest in Scrooge stories, so I enjoyed this a great deal. The best story of the bunch, hands down, is the one where ALL of Uncle Scrooge's villains team up to disrupt the anniversary of his 50th year in Duckburg by stealing his money, taking his number one dime, and kidnapping his nephews. The story's a wonderful celebration of everything that makes up Scrooge's character and his stories in general, but my favorite moment is the one panel reaction shot of Scrooge after the villains threaten to blow up the town:

(Okay, clearly I'm still having trouble with the 'image' thing. But if you click on it, you'll still get the idea.) That is a mad duck. That is a mad duck who WILL NOT take any more. Forget your Stallones and Swartzeneggers, when the things are bad, I want that duck on my side.

I'm looking at you, Rachel. I saw the Glee premiere yesterday. My roommate saw a minute, and commented that it was just an American Idol rip-off--I think that's a good insight into why so many resent the show, that it's a lesser creative endeavor for being a show where the characters sing songs other people made popular. I don't know if I agree with that line of thought though--it's no worse than, say, the way Modern Family rips off the generic family sitcom. At any rate, the episode itself wasn't very good. The writers seem to be confusing "quirky" with "largely unlikeable and alienating."

That's it for now.
Later Days.

Wednesday Comics: The Return?

I used to do a regular comic book feature, but it kind of fizzled out. My average reader didn't care, it wasn't bringing in the comic book crowd, and, what honestly affected my decision the most, they took a damn long time to write. So from the "picture is worth a 1000 words" school of cliches, here's a new feature: Wednesday Panel. One Wednesday, one comic strip panel. Boom.


From Uncle Scrooge Comics #54.

I don't know who is more worthy of ridicule here: the nephews, for their notion of what makes "swinging" music lyrics, or Uncle Scrooge, for having Johann Strauss as his go-to guy for popular music.

If you enjoy the new panel feature, and want to see it return every week, then give absolutely no sign, make no comments, and send no emails. That way, I'll know you'll like it as much as I do.

Later Days.