Bits'n pieces...
It’s been slow lately. Not too much to report, not too much to get excited about. Here are a few random things bouncing around my empty skull:
•The new Dr. Who series that was met pretty favorably in the UK last year has finally started airing here in the US. Thanks to my buddy Troy and the good folks at the Sci-Fi channel, I’ve managed to catch a few episodes, and so far, I’m highly impressed. I was never a huge fan of the old series, but I respected its place in genre fiction. But I’m definitely getting into this new version. It’s a shame the new Doctor left at the end of the first series… can anyone from overseas tell me if they second series has begun airing yet? And if so, how does the current Doctor measure up?
•I’m currently reading Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett, one of the volumes in the neverending Discworld series. I enjoy these books very much, although I find it actually takes me longer to get through them than it does comparable books. I think it’s because Pratchett doesn’t divide his books into chapters - he doesn’t provide you with a natural stopping place, and as I’m the sort who’ll say, “just let me finish this chapter,” when I’m getting ready to put a book down, not having those divisions leads to me putting the book down earlier than I would otherwise.
•I haven’t seen it yet, but I’m very interested in the new dark fantasy/horror flick Night Watch. This film is in Russian and subtitled, which doesn’t bother me at all. I’ve heard a lot of good things about it, and I find it very interesting that foreign language films are starting to break through into the mainstream American market. Just a few years ago, you could only catch artsy fare (which is all well and good, but that’s not the point). Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon seemed to make it “okay” in a lot of people’s eyes to enjoy a subtitled film. Personally, just give me a good story - as long as I can get subtitles to understand, I don’t care what language it’s in.
•DC Comics’ “One Year Later” experiment, in which every regular title in their “universe” is jumping forward a full year in their timeline, is really paying off. Between my Comixtreme reviews and those titles I get regularly, I’ve read most of the books and only been disappointed in a few. The new direction for Superman, Batman, Catwoman, Robin and Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis have placed all of these titles on my must-read list. A lot of the other ones are promising as well, including Outsiders, Manhunter and Firestorm: The Nuclear Man. It’s a great time to be a DC geek.
Blake’s Universal Rules of the Universe!
Rule #168: Every sport looks cooler with a spray of snow coming up behind you.
New This Week:
Today’s new additions to the Evertime Realms archives, friends, are my “Everything But Imaginary” columns Comics Aren’t For Kids Anymore… Unfortunately and Elastic Continuity, my “Think About It” columns Farewell to Chef and Eating Green at Big Red’s, my reviews of the film 16 Blocks and the book Small Steps, and the following reviews at Comixtreme.com: 100 Bullets #70 (Fair), Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #201 (Very Good), Birds of Prey #92 (Good), DMZ #5 (Good), ElfQuest: The Discovery #2 (Good), Red Sonja/Claw: The Devil’s Hands #1 (Very Good), Uncle Scrooge #351 (Very Good), PVP #24, Infinite Crisis Secret Files 2006 (Good), American Way #2 (Very Good), Catwoman #53 (Great), Hellblazer #218 (Good), Manhunter #20 (Very Good), Sgt. Rock: The Prophecy #3 (Very Good), Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #16 (Very Good), Testament #4 (A Qualified Good), Truth, Justin and the American Way #1 (Very Good), Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #666 (Very Good), She-Hulk Vol. 2 #6: I’m With Cupid (Good), Exiles #78 (Fair), Uncle Scrooge #352 (Good) and Superman/Shazam: First Thunder #4 (Great)! Enjoy.
•The new Dr. Who series that was met pretty favorably in the UK last year has finally started airing here in the US. Thanks to my buddy Troy and the good folks at the Sci-Fi channel, I’ve managed to catch a few episodes, and so far, I’m highly impressed. I was never a huge fan of the old series, but I respected its place in genre fiction. But I’m definitely getting into this new version. It’s a shame the new Doctor left at the end of the first series… can anyone from overseas tell me if they second series has begun airing yet? And if so, how does the current Doctor measure up?
•I’m currently reading Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett, one of the volumes in the neverending Discworld series. I enjoy these books very much, although I find it actually takes me longer to get through them than it does comparable books. I think it’s because Pratchett doesn’t divide his books into chapters - he doesn’t provide you with a natural stopping place, and as I’m the sort who’ll say, “just let me finish this chapter,” when I’m getting ready to put a book down, not having those divisions leads to me putting the book down earlier than I would otherwise.
•I haven’t seen it yet, but I’m very interested in the new dark fantasy/horror flick Night Watch. This film is in Russian and subtitled, which doesn’t bother me at all. I’ve heard a lot of good things about it, and I find it very interesting that foreign language films are starting to break through into the mainstream American market. Just a few years ago, you could only catch artsy fare (which is all well and good, but that’s not the point). Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon seemed to make it “okay” in a lot of people’s eyes to enjoy a subtitled film. Personally, just give me a good story - as long as I can get subtitles to understand, I don’t care what language it’s in.
•DC Comics’ “One Year Later” experiment, in which every regular title in their “universe” is jumping forward a full year in their timeline, is really paying off. Between my Comixtreme reviews and those titles I get regularly, I’ve read most of the books and only been disappointed in a few. The new direction for Superman, Batman, Catwoman, Robin and Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis have placed all of these titles on my must-read list. A lot of the other ones are promising as well, including Outsiders, Manhunter and Firestorm: The Nuclear Man. It’s a great time to be a DC geek.
Blake’s Universal Rules of the Universe!
Rule #168: Every sport looks cooler with a spray of snow coming up behind you.
New This Week:
Today’s new additions to the Evertime Realms archives, friends, are my “Everything But Imaginary” columns Comics Aren’t For Kids Anymore… Unfortunately and Elastic Continuity, my “Think About It” columns Farewell to Chef and Eating Green at Big Red’s, my reviews of the film 16 Blocks and the book Small Steps, and the following reviews at Comixtreme.com: 100 Bullets #70 (Fair), Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #201 (Very Good), Birds of Prey #92 (Good), DMZ #5 (Good), ElfQuest: The Discovery #2 (Good), Red Sonja/Claw: The Devil’s Hands #1 (Very Good), Uncle Scrooge #351 (Very Good), PVP #24, Infinite Crisis Secret Files 2006 (Good), American Way #2 (Very Good), Catwoman #53 (Great), Hellblazer #218 (Good), Manhunter #20 (Very Good), Sgt. Rock: The Prophecy #3 (Very Good), Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #16 (Very Good), Testament #4 (A Qualified Good), Truth, Justin and the American Way #1 (Very Good), Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #666 (Very Good), She-Hulk Vol. 2 #6: I’m With Cupid (Good), Exiles #78 (Fair), Uncle Scrooge #352 (Good) and Superman/Shazam: First Thunder #4 (Great)! Enjoy.