Michael Hutchison: October 2007 Archives
"Hail, hail, Robonia...a country I didn't make uuuuuup!"Sorry, I just had to sing. I'm testing out our new Amazon assets plugin and this was the first thing I wanted to look for.
Look at it! It's beautiful! It makes me want to cry. Futurama. It's BACK!
Everybody order this right now, because when I sing the Bender song, you can't mute me. And I'm going to sing it and sing it until you buy one.
B-E-N-D-E-R, Bennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnder!
B-E-N-D-E-R, Bennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnder!
I said B!
E!
Nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
I'd like to assure you that this next one is NOT a scare video. It will not get you looking at it closely and then change to a shrieking zombie or anything like that. I hate being the victim of those and so I won't ever pass those on. No, this is a fun test of our mind's ability to see color.
Finally, this one has to be viewed full-size, so follow the link!
Minesweeper the movie? That's dumb. What's next? Live action Tetris? Maybe, Japanese Tetris?
Of course, that's not really Tetris. Tetris doesn't end with the loser submerged in pee.
Perhaps a live action Mario Brothers? And I mean a real Mario Brothers, not like that stupid movie.
There were some good comics in today's pull list.
Even in an era of overlong, write-for-the-trade, never-ending soap opera books, it's possible to get a self-contained story that puts them all to shame. In Birds of Prey #111, Tony Bedard tells a self-contained story about the Calculator and Oracle finally facing off, and it rocks! It's funny, it's intense, it's creepy, it's cute, you could enjoy it even if you never read BoP before and yet it moves the overall storyline forward. If Bedard keeps up this level of quality on a monthly basis, it will not only keep the Birds of Prey going but it will secure it a place as one of DC's best books. For now, it's definitely the best use for $3 you can get this week. ***Highly Recommended*** and kudos, Tony.
UPDATE: I've been informed that, sadly, Tony's three excellent single-issues were just fill-ins, so ignore what I said about the future prospects for BoP... but I have to say, DC would be wise to lure him to the gig permanently!
Worst of the week:
Justice League of America #14 - McDuffie's usually a good writer, as the animated JLU show proved, but this installment is weak. For one thing, it seems like something he could have written in a half hour, and it certainly didn't take me long to read it. $3 for five minutes' reading of the third of four chapters just isn't much bang for your buck. The book abounds with huge panels containing one word balloon. There's a two-page spread of the JLA in bondage that seems to exist only for cheesecake exploitation as well as a cheap way to use up two pages. (Speaking of exploitation: I hate to give DC Comics any more ideas given the amount of degradation in comics over the last few years, but I must say just from a plot perspective that it IS odd that supervillains trying to get Superman's goat wouldn't be raping their captives, especially when that's Dr. Light's thing and he's on the team. I mean, I'm GLAD we don't see that kind of thing in comic books... but it's one of those Austin Powers-y "Why don't they just shoot him?" things that one wonders about.) I'm guessing McDuffie had other work to get to and just slammed this out after breakfast. So little plot takes place in this installment that you could reasonably skip it and use the $3 to rent a three-hour movie instead. I also have to ask: is Superman really so easily played at this point in his life? He has been dealing with low-blows from Luthor for a decade or more in his time, and when Luthor is openly taunting him with images of the JLA members captured and beaten, is Superman really so weak and stupid that he can't think up a better response than giving Luthor exactly the reaction he was hoping for?
That said, the book does have some good dialogue. It's not a total waste or anything. But compared to the amount of content in other 22-page books this week, it seems a bit light.
Other books on my pull list this week:
Shadowpact #18 - At first I wasn't even buying this series, but after getting the first few issues cheap at a convention I was hooked. Bill Willingham has a knack for compelling characters. Unfortunately, it looks like he's left the book and I'm still feeling out his replacement. Plus, the cover gets dinged a point for using the "chalk outline" convention.
Metamorpho Year One #2 - I like the character but so far I haven't seen anything I haven't seen before, since I'm familiar with his origin and past adventures. Hopefully newer readers can appreciate it more than I can.
Death of the New Gods #1 - Do I need to announce spoilers when the title tells you ALL the New God characters will die? I love Mr. Miracle and Big Barda, so this just seems like Identity Crisis rehashed. Another of my faves, gone. I will be skipping the rest of the series.
Countdown #whatever - I really loathe this title. I actually went to the extreme of canceling it from my pull list two months ago, but at Jimmy Jams the deal is that you commit to buying all the comics that have been ordered for you. In the case of this weekly comic, that means I'm buying another $36 worth of comics before I can stop. This series has been really, really bad. The installments are progressing at a snail's pace, with plots crossing over into other books without telling you which ones you need to read before what (like, be sure to read "Death of New Gods" before this week's Countdown where they tell you Barda is dead, or "Hey, why don't you all go buy Flash #13 - it might be important to next week's plot!"). This is a bad book and unlike 52 I don't care about a single character in it. I know it's all building to the next big supermajumbo crossover but I suddenly realized it's not worth $156 to watch Jason Todd, Donna Troy, Jimmy Olsen and Pied Piper as they all take a Lemmiwinks inactive adventure with the promise that it will someday lead somewhere.
Even in an era of overlong, write-for-the-trade, never-ending soap opera books, it's possible to get a self-contained story that puts them all to shame. In Birds of Prey #111, Tony Bedard tells a self-contained story about the Calculator and Oracle finally facing off, and it rocks! It's funny, it's intense, it's creepy, it's cute, you could enjoy it even if you never read BoP before and yet it moves the overall storyline forward. If Bedard keeps up this level of quality on a monthly basis, it will not only keep the Birds of Prey going but it will secure it a place as one of DC's best books. For now, it's definitely the best use for $3 you can get this week. ***Highly Recommended*** and kudos, Tony.
UPDATE: I've been informed that, sadly, Tony's three excellent single-issues were just fill-ins, so ignore what I said about the future prospects for BoP... but I have to say, DC would be wise to lure him to the gig permanently!
Worst of the week:
Justice League of America #14 - McDuffie's usually a good writer, as the animated JLU show proved, but this installment is weak. For one thing, it seems like something he could have written in a half hour, and it certainly didn't take me long to read it. $3 for five minutes' reading of the third of four chapters just isn't much bang for your buck. The book abounds with huge panels containing one word balloon. There's a two-page spread of the JLA in bondage that seems to exist only for cheesecake exploitation as well as a cheap way to use up two pages. (Speaking of exploitation: I hate to give DC Comics any more ideas given the amount of degradation in comics over the last few years, but I must say just from a plot perspective that it IS odd that supervillains trying to get Superman's goat wouldn't be raping their captives, especially when that's Dr. Light's thing and he's on the team. I mean, I'm GLAD we don't see that kind of thing in comic books... but it's one of those Austin Powers-y "Why don't they just shoot him?" things that one wonders about.) I'm guessing McDuffie had other work to get to and just slammed this out after breakfast. So little plot takes place in this installment that you could reasonably skip it and use the $3 to rent a three-hour movie instead. I also have to ask: is Superman really so easily played at this point in his life? He has been dealing with low-blows from Luthor for a decade or more in his time, and when Luthor is openly taunting him with images of the JLA members captured and beaten, is Superman really so weak and stupid that he can't think up a better response than giving Luthor exactly the reaction he was hoping for?
That said, the book does have some good dialogue. It's not a total waste or anything. But compared to the amount of content in other 22-page books this week, it seems a bit light.
Other books on my pull list this week:
Shadowpact #18 - At first I wasn't even buying this series, but after getting the first few issues cheap at a convention I was hooked. Bill Willingham has a knack for compelling characters. Unfortunately, it looks like he's left the book and I'm still feeling out his replacement. Plus, the cover gets dinged a point for using the "chalk outline" convention.
Metamorpho Year One #2 - I like the character but so far I haven't seen anything I haven't seen before, since I'm familiar with his origin and past adventures. Hopefully newer readers can appreciate it more than I can.
Death of the New Gods #1 - Do I need to announce spoilers when the title tells you ALL the New God characters will die? I love Mr. Miracle and Big Barda, so this just seems like Identity Crisis rehashed. Another of my faves, gone. I will be skipping the rest of the series.
Countdown #whatever - I really loathe this title. I actually went to the extreme of canceling it from my pull list two months ago, but at Jimmy Jams the deal is that you commit to buying all the comics that have been ordered for you. In the case of this weekly comic, that means I'm buying another $36 worth of comics before I can stop. This series has been really, really bad. The installments are progressing at a snail's pace, with plots crossing over into other books without telling you which ones you need to read before what (like, be sure to read "Death of New Gods" before this week's Countdown where they tell you Barda is dead, or "Hey, why don't you all go buy Flash #13 - it might be important to next week's plot!"). This is a bad book and unlike 52 I don't care about a single character in it. I know it's all building to the next big supermajumbo crossover but I suddenly realized it's not worth $156 to watch Jason Todd, Donna Troy, Jimmy Olsen and Pied Piper as they all take a Lemmiwinks inactive adventure with the promise that it will someday lead somewhere.
FallCon was a lot of fun, and I brought back some absolutely amazing pictures of the Green Arrow and Black Canary, and I can't wait to offload them from my picture phone.
Unfortunately...that phone was in my pants pocket. And the pants went into the washer. So I won't get the pictures off my phone until I get a new phone, put the card in and offload them.
So...
Someday, you'll see some really cool pictures!
Unfortunately...that phone was in my pants pocket. And the pants went into the washer. So I won't get the pictures off my phone until I get a new phone, put the card in and offload them.
So...
Someday, you'll see some really cool pictures!
I fixed Monitor Duty tonight.
There was this thing in our config file. It was set to 0. It was supposed to be set to 1.
I set it to 1.
Archives are still not building; I will let you all know when they're enabled. Pity about that, since we now have archives going back to 2003.
We will be getting our pictures back in place, updating author information and such for some time. Pardon the dust, as they say.
There was this thing in our config file. It was set to 0. It was supposed to be set to 1.
I set it to 1.
Archives are still not building; I will let you all know when they're enabled. Pity about that, since we now have archives going back to 2003.
We will be getting our pictures back in place, updating author information and such for some time. Pardon the dust, as they say.
Background tasks weren't enabled. Now they are.
Will this make a difference? Let's find out.
A-one. A two-hooo. A-three.
Three.
Will this make a difference? Let's find out.
A-one. A two-hooo. A-three.
Three.
I cannot easily post new posts.
I cannot rebuild the blog.
Our sitehost, Powweb, doesn't know what it could be because they don't understand the blog software. And Movable Type, the makers of the blog software, don't know what it could be.
I thought maybe it was MonitorDuty.com that had the problem, because TheHutch.com has the same host and the same blog version, and all of the blogs on TheHutch were working fine. So I copied over all the entries and users from MD... and the same problems occur here.
I've re-installed so many times. I've gotten rid of all the plug-ins. I removed all of the large archive pages that may tax the rebuilding process. I'm seriously baffled.
What could it be? Does anyone have any ideas?
I cannot rebuild the blog.
Our sitehost, Powweb, doesn't know what it could be because they don't understand the blog software. And Movable Type, the makers of the blog software, don't know what it could be.
I thought maybe it was MonitorDuty.com that had the problem, because TheHutch.com has the same host and the same blog version, and all of the blogs on TheHutch were working fine. So I copied over all the entries and users from MD... and the same problems occur here.
I've re-installed so many times. I've gotten rid of all the plug-ins. I removed all of the large archive pages that may tax the rebuilding process. I'm seriously baffled.
What could it be? Does anyone have any ideas?
I've removed the monster archives that were slowing the site down.
The other day I was cuddling with my wife and I noted that her stomach was warm while her back was cold. "What are you, a McDLT?" I asked. She didn't get the reference at all.
<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/UTSdUOC8Kac"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/UTSdUOC8Kac" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>
How many people remember the McDLT, aside from me, Jason Alexander and all the workers at the dump who had to dispose of a double-size styrofoam container just to keep the lettuce and tomato cold for a few minutes before the heat exchange rendered the McDonald's burger taste sensation moot?
Just in case you thought it was impossible for any other up-and-coming actor to top that embarrassing ad, witness the very apathetic Jodie Foster as she tries to contain her depression that the dreaded four-armed Grimace has stolen all the drinking cups.
<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/p1DlNbXviQQ"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/p1DlNbXviQQ" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>
<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/UTSdUOC8Kac"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/UTSdUOC8Kac" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>
How many people remember the McDLT, aside from me, Jason Alexander and all the workers at the dump who had to dispose of a double-size styrofoam container just to keep the lettuce and tomato cold for a few minutes before the heat exchange rendered the McDonald's burger taste sensation moot?
Just in case you thought it was impossible for any other up-and-coming actor to top that embarrassing ad, witness the very apathetic Jodie Foster as she tries to contain her depression that the dreaded four-armed Grimace has stolen all the drinking cups.
<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/p1DlNbXviQQ"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/p1DlNbXviQQ" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>
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