Some Hope For Those Of Us With Failing Memories

Although the benefits from this exciting discovery may still be years or even decades away, it still gives us old folks some reason to hope.

Blast From The Past

I don't know where this George Perez illustration came from, as it wasn't part of the classic 4-issue JLA/Avengers series that came out in the early 2000s (and for which I own several pieces of original artwork). But regardless of the origin of the piece, it's a beauty!

The Fringe Experience

One of the best shows we saw at Hamilton Fringe a couple years ago was Roller Derby Saved My Soul, a one-woman (on skates!) extravaganza featuring Nancy Kenny.  We subsequently bumped into Nancy at London Fringe through her friendship with PeterJ and got a chance to chat with her for a bit, and then I started following her on Twitter.  She just finished doing her show at Edmonton Fringe, and blogged about what it was like.  I found her description of the festival fascinating, and really wished Vicki and I could've gone to another Fringe festival this summer. Hopefully Nancy will bring RDSMS to London one of these years and I can promote the Hell out of it to all of you out there.

The Latest Addition

It's been awhile since I added a really key comic book to my collection, as I filled out most of the series runs that I was interested in years ago.  The first appearances of the Flash, Green Lantern, Justice League of America, Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four (all from the Silver Age) were all very cool acquisitions, no doubt about it.  This weekend, however, Vicki and I purchased a comic that I never really expected to own a copy of: All Star Comics # 3, from 1940, featuring the first appearance of the Justice Society of America, the Golden Age precursor to the JLA!

This copy was 'slabbed,' meaning it had been professionally graded and then sealed inside a hard plastic case (similar to what's done to expensive trading cards, which is where the practice started, I believe).  I took it out of the case, just as I always do with slabbed comics I buy, as I like to read these things, not seal them away.  The grading information at the side of the photo indicates that there had been some restoration done to this copy, bringing it up to "an apparent 6.0" which means it looks like a 6.0 (out of 10) but is actually lower since it's been restored.  It sure is pretty, though!

Let's Celebrate The Heroes, Instead

I don't mean 'heroes' like athletes who set records or movie stars who only pretend to be heroic on film.  I mean heroes like Antoinette Tuff, who prevented another American school shooting from being added to the already way, way too long list.

It seems like many of the deranged gunmen - it's never women - do what they do to become famous, regardless of who they have to kill to get there.  But it's the heroes in those situations whose names we should remember, not the villains: the first responders, the teachers who've died trying to shield their students with their bodies and the parents who've somehow managed to keep going through the motions after enduring the unthinkable.  So let's add Antoinette Tuff's name to our short- and long-term memories today.  She talked a would-be mass murderer down, not by leveling a gun at him but by relating to him as a human being.  She's worth remembering, and the courage and compassion she demonstrated is certainly worth celebrating.

5 Terrifying Statements In The Upcoming IPCC Climate Report

Read it and weep, especially for your children and their children and their children...

Ben Affleck As Batman? That Was... Unexpected

I absolutely loved Affleck in Argo, so I'm not a Ben-hater by any means.  He's just not who I would've imagined in the role of an older Batman going up against Henry Cavill's rookie Man of Steel in 2015.  I think I might be happier if he were directing (or even co-directing) this Superman Vs Batman fanboy-wetdream-on-film, but that's not looking likely.

I've got to hand it to Warner Brothers: it's definitely an interesting choice, and may be responsible for breaking the internet in half over the next day or two.

Novel Progress

Today I finished the fourth chapter of my fourth novel, and feel as if I'm getting some steam up on this project for the first time.  It's been a tough summer so far for writing, as I've suffered from a shortage of motivation and an abundance of distractions.  However, with the first act of the story now more-than-half done, I'm finally getting to the stuff that I've wanted to write since before I began putting it all into Word.

I think this is going to be my longest novel yet in terms of number of chapters, though I'm not sure how the word count will measure up.  The structure is all worked out in my head already and has been for months, so it's really just been all the many little details that have been percolating around up there lately.  As a lot more of the pieces have come together lately, I expect the pace to begin to pick up anytime now.

Vicki's given me feedback on each of the four chapters so far, and it's all been very positive.  We both think this is going to be quite the exciting story but of course it'll be many months yet before I'll know whether we're both smoking weed on that front or not.

The Day The Clown Cried

I love movie lore, so when I recently read a random reference to a never-released Jerry Lewis film from the 70s that I'd never heard of called The Day The Clown Cried, I was intrigued.  If you've seen the 1997, Oscar-winning Life Is Beautiful, then aspects of Lewis' stillborn project will sound familiar: set during the Holocaust, a clown has to entertain children in a concentration camp while they unknowingly wait to be executed.  Lewis has generally refused to talk about the film, but today I came across an Entertainment Week article about one time he didn't.  It's a fascinating read and really leaves you wondering just how achingly-bad the film probably is, though it sounds like we'll probably never know.  Not while the comedian is still alive, anyway.  (He's exactly five days older than my sole surviving aunt, interestingly enough.)

Some Small Amount Of Justice On The Henrietta Lacks Story

It's not much, but it's something: the gene mapping of Henrietta Lacks' DNA, which had previously been treated as essentially public domain data, despite the loss of privacy that conferred upon her descendents, will now be supervised by a six-member committee, two of whom are Lacks family members.

Dr Emma Who

Yes, that's a sonic screwdriver in her hand, which she just received on this, her 19th birthday!  Some kids dream of being given a 40 ouncer or case of beer on their 19th, but our girl was absolutely giddy at the sight of Doctor Who's second-favourite device (after the TARDIS).

The Perfect Teaser

This clip of Bryan Cranston reciting Percy Shelley's poem, "Ozymandias," as a teaser for the final season of Breaking Bad, is simply brilliant (much like the show itself):



If you've been watching the slow, fascinating progression of Walter White, like we have, then you'll fully appreciate just how appropriate a choice that was.

From The Desk Of Bill Murray

Or rather, his Twitterfeed...

"If you don'’t come home and immediately either take off your pants, or change into pajamas, then I’'m sorry but you’'re living life wrong."

The man speaks truth!

Solar Windows? I Like The Sound Of That!

A new breakthrough in solar technology may make it a reality in the near future, too!