Dear Charlie Sheen: GO AWAY.

Whatever Charlie Sheen is trying to prove, appearing on at least four different TV shows as well as TMZ.com today and tomorrow, it's not doing anything except pissing me off. Between mentions on Twitter and Facebook and about a hundred blog posts on EW.com -- for once, Entertainment Weekly's abbreviation is apt, and would be even more on target if the magazine were renamed Entertainment World Weekly -- I'm completely sick of him and his story. Apparently he's passed a drug test, which would seem to discount my theory that he didn't spend nearly enough time in rehab. If he is clean, though, then I can't help but wonder if he may have some mental health-related issues. In either case, someone who truly cares about him (in other words, someone besides the porn stars and others clearly latching onto him for money or fame) needs to get him help.

And if he doesn't have those issues, then he's just acting like a complete jackass, and should be ashamed -- as should the TV "news" shows giving him their time. Charlie, take your porn stars/hookers/whatever and GO AWAY.

Where The Oscar Show Went Wrong

It's simple: if you want to be young and hip, it takes more than just hiring young stars to host. I adore James Franco and Anne Hathaway, and I think they had decent chemistry at times, but they were given just awful material to work with, as were the Oscar presenters.

A lot of people on my Twitter feed seemed to think Franco was high. I think they were confusing him with his "Pineapple Express" character. And he spent plenty of time posting videos to Twitter, which I think would be a problem if one is both trying to use a smartphone and host an awards show at the same time. Maybe he was too distracted by Twitter. I just think it was the terrible jokes and banter from the writers. (If Bruce Vilanch had a hand in this, as he often has had in past Oscar shows, perhaps it's time to consider retirement.)

One of the few jokes that worked, and I don't know if it was part of the script or an ad lib, came after Hathaway's little song-and-dance number. Because, he said, "you got to wear a tuxedo," Franco came onstage in drag. He followed that with: "The weird thing is I just got a text message from Charlie Sheen."

The whole reason for Oscar's being is for Hollywood to, metaphorically speaking, fellate itself. They're all there to congratulate each other and kiss each other's ass. There's no room for out there, edgy humor unless they're directing it at themselves (or close friends/coworkers, such as Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law). That's why the Sheen joke went over well:

Quick Review: The Eagle

No, this is not about one of the hundreds of leather bars named "The Eagle" in countless cities (although, strangely, not in Philadelphia, as we have the Bike Stop instead). This is about a movie. And not just any movie, but the one in which Channing Tatum had hot water scald his penis during filming. Now, I've found it difficult to pick out movies to see lately. Nothing really jumped out. One day I went to the theater and left without seeing anything. Another day I nearly broke down and saw "Yogi Bear" because someone told me it wasn't that bad. (Fortunately, it finally disappeared from my local multiplexes this weekend.) Finally, though, I broke down and bought a ticket to "The Eagle." And it wasn't that bad. Tatum, burned equipment and all, plays a young Roman officer in 140 AD who seeks to solve the mystery of what happened to his father's legion and its standard, the titular bird, both of which went missing in northern Britain 20 years before. After recovering from an injury that resulted in his being honorably discharged, he travels north, accompanied by a British slave (Jamie Bell), and into dangerous territory. Will the two bond during their journey? Will there be fighting and killing (as much as can be shown in a PG-13 movie)? Will there be plot twists? Well, sure. Will the Roman eagle be recovered? That would be telling. Will we see Channing Tatum's scorched member? No. But hey, you can't say he didn't suffer for his art. My grade: C-plus.

Quick Review (Oscar Edition): Winter's Bone

At the end of this post I'll rank the Oscar Best Picture nominees, now that I've seen them all. The one I had missed, "Winter's Bone," wasn't rereleased to theaters after its nomination, so I had to rent the DVD. (Not only is it the first time I've ever rented a DVD, although way back in the day I did rent VHS tapes, I got it for $1 from a Redbox machine. It would've cost $4.99 for On Demand rental from Comcast.)

The tension-filled "Winter's Bone" mostly held my interest well. I got up just once, to get a drink. (Being able to pause the movie just isn't possible in theaters, dammit!) 17-year-old Ree (Jennifer Lawrence, nominated for Best Actress) is taking care of her mother, younger brother and sister in severe poverty in a rural area. She has to set off on a desperate quest to find her missing father, out on bond after an arrest on meth-making charges; he signed over their house as part of his bail, and if he doesn't show up for court they'll lose the house. The search won't be easy; meth labs are a big business in these areas and those who may know her father's whereabouts, including his own brother (John Hawkes, also a nominee as Best Supporting Actor), keep warning her to keep her mouth shut. I kept waiting for some typical dialogue and action and overacting that we usually get from big-budget Hollywood films. It never came. This is a quiet but rather powerful story. My grade: B-plus.

So, now that I've seen all ten Best Picture nominees, here is how I'd rank them, although my hunch is that "The King's Speech" will actually win the Oscar:

1. Toy Story 3
2. The Social Network
3. Black Swan
4. Inception
5. Winter's Bone
6. The Kids Are All Right
7. 127 Hours
8. True Grit
9. The King's Speech
10. The Fighter

MixBlog 2-26-11

I've got a couple of movies to write about, and I want to see another if I get up early enough (it's 1:36 am now). But I've got a couple of thoughts first.

For one thing, this commercial (well, it's actually the full music video version) is a lie. Oh, Megan Mullally, how could you?



Okay, let me clarify. The original version, the light version, the Mediterranean Blend version, they're all fine. However, the other day I picked up a fat-free version which has only 5 calories per serving. It tastes awful! I think it tastes worse than old-fashioned margarine (which, granted, I haven't had in a long time). I'm almost suspicious that I got a bad batch or something, it's that bad. I've hardly used it and I think I'm just going to throw it away.

On a happier note, the 76ers have climbed all the way back to the .500 mark. Even though my interest in the NBA is so low, as I mentioned in my last post, I still want the Sixers to do well, so it's a nice thing. This is a testament to the job Doug Collins is doing as head coach. Too bad they didn't go after him a year earlier. Imagine how much more improved they'd be.

Oh, and guess which baseball team is a Mess off the field as well as on?

Hounded by a multimillion dollar lawsuit filed by the trustee trying to recover money for victims of the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme, the New York Mets acknowledged Friday that they received a loan in November to help cover expenses.

Makes sense. Because, after all...

My Relationship With Sports?

I'm in a weird place lately when it comes to sports. I've been thinking that I haven't done many sports-related posts lately. Actually, other than during the NFL playoffs, I've hardly blogged specifically on sports at all. I've had passing comments in my MixBlog posts, but very few posts on one sports-related topic. It's not like I've lost interest in sports. I'm still reading the sports section of the Daily News every day, I still read things online, I still put games on TV, etc. I'm just not blogging about sports. I'm not entirely sure why, but I have a theory or two.

Part of it is due to Twitter and Facebook...and, going back further, to message boards such as the one at Outsports and the old Usenet newsgroups. I've always found it easier to make a quick comment on a game or some team-related news (Twitter and Facebook are all about brief comments -- 140 characters or less in Twitter's case) than to do a long analytical post. Lately, that seems to be the case even more. For example, after the Super Bowl I've been thinking about the Eagles and their failures as an organization compared to the Steelers...and then Pittsburgh had to go and ruin things by losing to Green Bay. Although the points floating around in my head are still valid, I haven't been inspired enough to sit down and put it together.

(And, of course, the impending owners' lockout of the NFL players -- they have one week to miraculously settle their differences -- has a lot of personnel moves, through free agency -- on hold.)

The Flyers, on the other hand, are doing almost everything right. They're tops in the Eastern Conference and seem primed for another long playoff run. So maybe I'm just waiting for the postseason. This leads to another issue. I still find myself not watching hockey games from start to finish. Take tonight. The game began at 7 pm and I was still running through my Twitter and Facebook timelines until about 7:30 pm. Then I got away from the computer and started watching the game. When the first period ended, I watched

My Week In Comics 2-23-11

Imagine that: a post about my comic book purchases on the very same day I got them. I know it's a radical departure for me, but I only picked up two books today and I have a spare moment, so why not?

Action Comics 898: That wacky, greedy Larfleeze is back, and the Orange Lantern is after Luthor. It wasn't quite as wildly lunatic as the Larfleeze Christmas special; then again, it shouldn't be. Luthor is nearing the end of his quest to change all of the black energy spheres, thus somehow acquiring power. And, as Larfleeze learns (as did the Joker last issue), something terrible is going to happen when it does. The last-page reveal of the being controlling the Lois Lane robot pretty much explains why Superman will be back to deal with all of this in issue 900.

Gotham City Sirens 20: At the end of last issue we found that Harley Quinn has decided to kill her old boyfriend, the Joker. In this issue, with narration coming from her serious, Dr. Harleen Quinzel side, she gets started on her plan. This story is effective in many ways, except neither of the other stars of this series make the slightest appearance, and it's completely devoid of the humor that was a selling point for the series. Maybe they should have done a Harley Quinn miniseries separately to tell this story.

My Week(s) In Comics 2-9-11, 2-16-11

I'm two weeks behind in this so I'm not going to write a lot about each of these. There are times when I feel like I'm not inspired enough and maybe I shouldn't bother writing about my weekly comic book haul. However, unlike many comics creators, publishers, fans, etc., I believe continuity is important. So, starting with the 9th:

Superman 708: Still not into this walking-across-America thing but developments here at least hint at a possible explanation for Superman's mental malaise. Plus he meets Wonder Woman for the first time (well, first time since her whole timeline was changed in her book so that she's not a famous hero and no one knows who she is).


DC Comics Presents: Superman - Sole Survivor 1: A reprint of four comic books in one issue, a couple of stories, from 1998 and 2001, that somehow I missed before. The second one was actually more interesting, telling the story of a scientist who, when his planet is about to explode, launches his only child into outer space to save his life. Krypton? No, in this story it's Earth.

Victorian Undead II -- 4 (of 5): Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula, part four. Unlike last issue, lots of action. No actual appearance by Dracula, though. Unfortunately, he's in Buckingham Palace.

As for the 16th...

Mysterious Mail

(I was going to make this a MixBlog but I don't really have any other topics right now, so...)

Last week in the mail I got an envelope with a Winston-Salem, North Carolina return address. When I opened it, I found a check from Hatfield Meats -- the makers of Phillies Franks -- in the amount of $5. Also enclosed was a sheet of paper with a few store coupons, and the message: "Thank you for choosing a Hatfield Quality Meats boneless ham...(blah blah blah about Hatfield)...attached is a $5 rebate..."

I may have bought some Phillies Franks in the past, but I can't recall ever buying a ham. I certainly didn't buy a ham and then send in some proof-of-purchase code to get a rebate. It's very strange.

I can't help but wonder why someone doesn't mysteriously send me a check for a lot more than five bucks. Or at least PayPal me...

Comcast Butchers A Classic

Earlier tonight I was watching part of a presentation by Comcast Sportsnet of Game 6 of the 1987 Stanley Cup Finals as a "Philly Sports Classic." Now, the other night their Philly Sports Classic was a lacrosse game. Seriously. The Wings won a championship way back when. Maybe it was their first. But a "classic"? Not really. However, Stanley Cup Game 6 in 1987? Absolutely classic. The Flyers, decimated by injuries. The Edmonton Oilers, at the peak of their Gretzky-led dynasty. The Edmonton papers published plans for their victory parade before Game 5, with the Oilers up 3-1, but the Flyers pulled out a win in Edmonton to bring the series back to the Spectrum, where their 3-2 win that night forced a seventh and deciding game in Edmonton.

The game found the Oilers dominating early and up 2-0, but again the Flyers fought back. Still down 2-1 with just under 8 minutes left, the Flyers got a power play and Brian Propp took advantage to tie the game, thrilling the sold-out building. Less than two minutes later, a weak Oilers clearing attempt sent the puck to the point. J.J. Daigneault fired it home and put the Flyers ahead 3-2, sending the crowd into a frenzy. Everyone who was there says the crowd was never louder in the entire history of the Spectrum than it was that night. The following video was taken from a prior rebroadcast of the game. Goosebumps guaranteed.




Unfortunately, instead of letting the video play through and capturing those two moments in their entirety, Comcast Sportsnet cut away and went to their studio so John Boruk, Rick Tocchet and Al Morganti could offer their commentary. Tocchet played in the game and Morganti covered it from the press box, so it makes sense to have them look back at the game. But not at two of the most crucial and exciting moments. This poor editing pretty much cut the drama at those moments. Thanks for nothing, Comcast Sportsnet.

Quick Review: Just Go With It

Oh, romantic comedies. Trying to find a way to make these things really great is either too difficult, or the studios aren't even trying. In "Just Go With It" Adam Sandler plays a plastic surgeon who wears a wedding ring and uses it in conjunction with made-up sob stories ("my wife beats me/cheats/is a prostitute") to pick up girls. Then circumstances conspire to have the ring in his pocket when he meets the apparent girl of his dreams (Brooklyn Decker). After they spend the night together she finds the ring and he says he's about to be divorced. She wants to hear it from the soon-to-be ex-wife. He persuades his office manager (Jennifer Aniston) to play his ex. Then her kids get involved in the story and, well, it's just one lie after another. Yet we're supposed to believe that two women would fall in love with this liar, even the one who knows that he's a liar? It wasn't a total loss. I kinda liked the two kids, and Nicole Kidman and Dave Matthews (as a married couple; she is an old college frenemy of Aniston's character, he claims to have invented the iPod) were fun. Maybe that's why I started out really hating it, but in the end I just...you know the rest... My grade: C-minus.

Shirtless Thugs?

On Friday afternoon, with the 69-degree temperature tying the record high for the date, I decided to get some fresh air and sunshine, and went downtown. I decided to head towards Boathouse Row (via the Schuylkill River Trails), because there are plenty of people there jogging, riding bikes or, like me, strolling. And I figured a few guys might not be wearing shirts. Sure enough, there were a few very nice sights. However, I also found a weird message spray-painted on this wall.

These pictures were taken on a rather steep path that leads up from the Schuylkill River Trail towards the pavilion and gazebo that both sit on the cliff at the back end of the Art Museum.

I find myself wondering about the meaning of the message. Was there a recent crime spree in the area and the crooks were bare-chested? Or is this a comment on the many joggers and bike riders on the trails along the river? Perhaps some of them have bad attitudes and yell at slower-moving pedestrians or parents pushing strollers? I know I had to be aware at times of someone coming up behind me quickly. If I had made a sudden move they might have run right into me.

Anyway, after the jump you'll find a few more pictures I took. (None are of shirtless men, thugs or otherwise.)

A Little Twitter Justice

So a guy I've been following for a while on Twitter posted a comment last night about (not his exact words) how some people tweet too much. This was interesting, considering how his tweets were at times among the most numerous, inane and annoying things on my timeline. Pot, kettle, black.

Then I figured out that he wasn't following me back. I was somehow under the impression that he was. There's a website called Friend or Follow where you can easily check to see who doesn't follow you back, and who you're not following back. There's another website where you can see who's unfollowed you, but he's never come up on that since I've started using Friend or Follow. So I guess I overlooked the fact that I started following this guy and he never followed back.

I know that people don't care to follow all of my previously posted Twitter etiquette rules...or any of them...and there are surely times when I can be an annoying Twitter presence. (Like yesterday, for example.) But one thing I can't stand is hypocrisy, and someone who breaks many of my Twitter rules but complains about others' tweeting habits, isn't someone I need to follow, especially if he's not following me back.

So I unfollowed him. Oh, sweet freedom.

I feel that, unless you're a celebrity of some sort (musician, athlete, news media), if I'm going to follow you and you're not really entertaining or informative, you should at least follow me back. Last night I began following back some people who've been following me -- for quite a while, in some cases -- but I hadn't previously reciprocated.

(As for you celebrities, I'd love it if you followed me back. A few actually do. James Franco just joined Twitter. I really want him to follow me back.)

Sports Illustrated Tries To Convert Me!

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I am here today to prove that Sports Illustrated magazine is a front for a secret ultra-right organization seeking to cure gays of their heterosexuality.

Here are the facts:

• In late December 2010 I used some USAirways Dividend Miles for a one-year subscription to Sports Illustrated.
• That subscription's expiration date was January 2011.
• In early January a wraparound attached to the magazine stated: "LAST ISSUE ALERT!" asking me to renew my subscription.
• I did not renew my subscription. See label:

• I have received a new issue of Sports Illustrated in my mailbox each week this month, which is February 2011, not January 2011.
• Today, I received this issue in my mailbox:

Burrell As "The Gimp" Again!

Another picture of San Francisco Giants (and former Phillies) outfielder Pat Burrell wearing the infamous "gimp" outfit has surfaced, along with a second pic where he's not in that costume but still showing a lot of skin. The "gimp" gear is what he wore when strolling casually within camera range while Giants pitcher Brian Wilson was doing a TV interview last summer. Then another picture of Burrell in the outfit surfaced, from a party at his home a few years earlier. The pics below, said to be taken at Giants pitcher Barry Zito's mansion (yes, wealthy athletes seem to fancy themselves as modern-day Hugh Hefners) are from a site called Barstool Sports:

I have two wishes. One is a repeat of a previous wish: I need to be invited to parties hosted or attended by Pat Burrell. Two, whatever he does to get rid of his body hair, he should stop before I attend said parties.

How I Celebrated Valentine's Day

I made the photo that is in this post my new desktop wallpaper, replacing fake Jake. Although it's not nearly as revealing as fake Jake (and I still want to know whose body that really is), this photo of Darren Criss is from Out.com so it's 100 percent legitimate. I have to say I'm concerned about this little storyline in an upcoming "Glee" episode, though.

The fact that this is what I consider to be my celebration of Valentine's Day tells you all you need to know about my single life. I didn't even get to use my IHOP Buy One Entree/Get One Free offer. And I would've liked some pancakes, if only to preview Lady Gaga's next awards show outfit. (Don't know who came up with this joke first, but I saw it so many times on Twitter last night...)

And now, to finish off my night, I'm going to watch RuPaul's Drag Race, featuring a whole bunch more people who have more reason to celebrate Valentine's Day than I do. That, or this episode of "The Simpsons." (So...do you...like...stuff?)

Grammys And Gay Twitter Wars

A couple of Grammy comments before we get to...the War of the Gays on Twitter!

I am not a big fan of the Grammys. It's bad enough that this awards show is mostly full of performances instead of actual award presentations. Only ten Grammys were actually given out during the 3 hour, 30 minute show. And I don't know how they decide which ones (besides the obvious majors, Record/Song/Album of the Year, Best New Artist) make the cut. Besides the big four, we saw two Pop, two Country, one Rock and one Rap presented. The entire R&B genre, among others, was ignored. Of those 10 awards, all but one went to someone who performed on the show. (Fortunately, that one was given to Train for that awful "Hey, Soul Sister" thing.) And to have Arcade Fire perform both before and after winning Album of the Year just screams out, "FIX!!!"

(By the way, the Grammys need a host. The awkward ending of the show, with the one Arcade Fire member saying "we have to go perform another song...everyone leave to this song" or something really points out the need for a host, even a bad one.)

I don't respect the Grammys as an award or as an awards show. It's mostly performances. Had it not been for Lady Gaga, I probably wouldn't have watched at all. She was a lot less over-the-top in her performance, by Gaga standards, despite being inside an egg from the time she arrived at the show until the time the egg "hatched" on stage at the start of her performance of "Born This Way." So it was good, but not outrageously so -- like the song itself, although it is growing on me. It was a solid performance but I think she's been better.

Now, on to the War of the Gays!

Female Psychology

The things you find when looking at websites that are...well, let's just call them less than family-friendly...

So much to work with here. First, "wierd" questions? Misspellings do not inspire confidence. What questions would they be? "May I come to your place, give it a good housecleaning, then cook dinner for you and wash the dishes afterward?" or "Would you let me give you a foot rub while I listen to you talk about your feelings?" might work. But are they "wierd" enough? For that matter, I wonder if 312 people actually "liked" that, if indeed that's a legitimate Facebook button.

And who knew there was gender-specific psychology? Or that psychology has loopholes? This is ground-breaking! Now, all I need is to discover the "wierd" questions that expose the loophole in male psychology and I'll be all set for Valentine's Day.

Then again, the ad says "I've made over 27 girls want to f--- just by asking..." etc. It doesn't say he made them want to f--- him. Just sayin.'

New Madonna...I Mean, Gaga Anthem

There's been so much hype for Lady Gaga's new song "Born This Way," which finally hit the airwaves today. Inevitably, what always follows hype is backlash. From what I've been reading on Twitter and Facebook, there's a fair amount of it. It's mostly about how the song seems to be a copy of another song. Twitter's trending topics for Philadelphia (at left) point out the problem. Neither Gaga nor her song are top trends, but look who's there...

Having listened to the song a couple of times now, "Born This Way" is fairly blatant in its resemblance to "Express Yourself." I do like it, though. (Probably helps that I love Madonna's song.) I could grow to love it. But here's what I see as the problem: Gaga is trying too hard.

Suddenly it seems to be in vogue (hey, another Madonna reference) to write a song and declare in advance that it's an "anthem," particularly for the gay community. Recently we've had Katy Perry's "Firework" and Ke$ha's "We R Who We R" and Pink's "Raise Your Glass" and now "Born This Way." Am I forgetting any? These are all fine songs (well, except the Ke$ha one) by artists who have at least some talent (well, except Ke$ha). However, I think the best anthems are organic. They come by their status naturally, not by design.

I liked Gaga almost from the time of her first hit song, and really began to love her when I saw her speak at the National Equality March in Washington, DC in 2009 (see video below, in case you've forgotten), especially when she screamed at President Obama, "Are you listening?" And since then she's been one of the most outspoken and strongest celebrity advocates for LGBT issues. So, naturally, I should love her new song. I probably will at some point. I don't see it as a failure by any  means.

I just hope the rest of her new album isn't full of "anthems."

For Blog Post 667...

I decided I shouldn't be stuck on 666 posts for very long. So, since that last post featured songs in my iTunes with "devil" in the title, let's reverse course. Here are all the songs (not including Christmas music) with "angel" in the title...and one video following the list...

Angel - Dave Matthews Band
Angel - Eurythmics
Angel (Choir Version) - Eurythmics
Angel (Live) - Eurythmics
Angel - Gavin Friday
Angel (7" Mix) - Gavin Friday
Angel - Luscious Jackson
Angel - Madonna
Angel (Extended Dance Mix) - Madonna
Angel - Massive Attack
Angel - Sarah McLachlan
Angel (Radio Edit) - Jam & Spoon
An Angel Cries - Aretha Franklin
Angel Eyes - Lime
Angel Of Harlem - U2
Angel of Mine - Monica
Angel On My Shoulder (EDX's Belo Horizonte at Night Remix) - Kaskade With Tamra
An Angel Went Up In Flames - Gasband
Angels - Tori Amos
Angels And Demons - The Tourists
Angels Don't Fall In Love - The Bangles
Angels On The Balcony - Blondie
Blue Angel - Roy Orbison
Desert Angel - Stevie Nicks
Evil Angel - Rufus Wainwright
Fallen Angel (Perfecto Mix) - Traci Lords
Hear The Angels / C'mon - Da Juice
I'm No Angel - Dido
I've Got An Angel - Eurythmics
If God Will Send His Angels - U2
Looking For An Angel - Kylie Minogue
Sleeping With An Angel - Real McCoy
Talking To My Angel - Melissa Etheridge
There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart) - Eurythmics
There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart) (Live) - Eurythmics
Touched By An Angel - Gloria Estefan

One of my absolute favorite songs, one of the strangest videos: Eurythmics' "There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart)" -- enjoy!

For Blog Post 666...

I was just going to post the video of "Devil Inside" by INXS but decided to expand this a bit. So, in addition, you'll find a live version from a Wembley Stadium concert as well, plus a list of other songs in my iTunes library with "devil" in the title.







Devil's Haircut - Beck
The Devil's Right Hand - Steve Earle
Devil With A Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly - Mitch Ryder
Devil With The Blue Dress - Shorty Long
Devil Wouldn't Recognize You - Madonna
Sympathy For The Devil - The Rolling Stones
Sympathy For The Devil - Sandra Bernhard
(You're The) Devil In Disguise - Elvis Presley

Meanwhile, whether it's because of the Devil or just some generic devil, I still feel stuck in a real rut in many ways. Maybe warmer temperatures will help. By Sunday we may be pushing 50 degrees, and by next Thursday there's a chance of it even getting to 60.

My Week In Comics 2-2-11

Before getting to what I did buy, I want to ask for opinions on something that I haven't bought yet but was considering: DC Universe Online Legends 1 -- a tie-in to the new video game (or, to be precise, MMORPG -- massively multiplayer online role-playing game; to me it's MPTIGO -- more proof that I'm getting old). It's going to be a 26-issue series and I don't know if I want to commit to it, so I haven't picked up the first issue yet. If anyone's read it and wants to recommend (or warn me away from) it, feel free to comment.

As for what I did buy...

Superboy 4: Someone named Psionic Lad has arrived from the year 2216 asking for Superboy's help in training to become a superhero so he can return to his time and save the world from an evil despot. But Lesson One should probably be on the order of "things aren't always as they appear to be."

Gotham City Sirens 19: The confrontation between Zatanna and Talia over allowing Catwoman to keep her memories of Batman's secret identity lead to a change of address and an important decision by Harley Quinn: to kill...well, that would be telling.

Superman 80-Page Giant 2011 1 (of 1): A one-shot that contains seven tales starring various supporting characters. The man himself is in a couple of them, so the title isn't totally misleading, but they really should have given it this title...

Quick Review: The Roommate

While the plot of "The Roommate" is mildly reminiscent of 1992's "Single White Female" -- both feature two female roommates, one of whom becomes obsessed with the other -- "The Roommate" is not so horrifying as inept. At the start we're introduced to Sara (Minka Kelly) arriving at college for the start of her freshman year and being assigned to a dorm. After some partying with friends, she returns to her room that night and we meet Rebecca (Leighton Meester). The film immediately telegraphs the fact that Rebecca is going to be trouble, removing all suspense as she becomes close to Sara while alienating (and, eventually, doing much worse to) Sara's other friends, including her new boyfriend (Cam Gigandet) -- not to mention a stray cat that the roommates adopt early on. You know that the poor cat's not going to last long. As Rebecca lures the cat to its doom, I just laughed at how obvious a plot device it was. And then there was Billy Zane as a sleazy professor...again, obvious from the beginning. Two things: one, clearly I don't watch "Gossip Girl," nor do I date Derek Jeter, because I spent the whole film thinking Leighton Meester was Sara. Two, the new year in movies is off to a bad start: of four movies I've seen, only one earned a grade higher than this one...My grade: D

Anniversary Weekend

While waiting for the Super Bowl, here are a few brief thoughts on a events being remembered from the recent and distant past.

One year ago yesterday was the anniversary of the car crash that took the life of Brendan Burke. Here's a fine article that talks about his legacy -- what his coming out, followed by his tragic death, means for gay hockey players and leagues, as well as the eventual coming out by someone in the NHL.

Also one year ago yesterday, Snowmageddon. 28.5 inches of snow officially here. And a few days later, another foot-plus, which would be the third storm that dumped a foot or more on us. But I think this winter has been worse. Because of the couple of large storms and a number of smaller ones, our snowfall total was actually running ahead of last year's total at this time (although now we're behind again, since we didn't have another abominable snowfall in the last couple of days). And the cold has been relentless. At least today and tomorrow the highs will be in the 40s, giving us a little break.

And it seems that 100 years ago today, Ronald Reagan was born, and there's a lot of talk about his presidency as a result. Unfortunately, his policies live on, repackaged and twisted into even more despicable form by the current GOP. For me, June 5th, the day in 2004 when Reagan finally died, is the day to commemorate.

My Super Bowl XLV Prediction

I've really been going back and forth about which team I think will win the Super Bowl. Cases can be made for both the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers. And considering that I was 2-6 in the playoffs before somehow correctly calling both conference final results, it's not like I'm confident whichever way I go. I don't even have much of a rooting interest one way or the other. I sort of lean towards wanting Green Bay to win because the Steelers have won it all more recently and because of Ben Roethlisberger's douchebag behavior towards women that got him suspended for the beginning of the season. But it's not like I have any real hate for Pittsburgh. They're not the Dallas Cowboys or anything.

Speaking of the team from Texas that sucks, it is sooooooooooo freakin' great that SB45 is being played at that monstrosity of a stadium in Arlington where the Cowboys now call home, and they didn't even sniff the playoffs this year. Put a stroke on the tally sheet under the "Yes, there is a God" column.

Anyway, who to pick? The Steelers can run the ball, the Packers can air it out (and Aaron Rodgers is on something of a roll), both teams are strong defensively, injuries have taken more of a toll on the Steelers...but the one thing that seems to stand out in my mind is that the Steelers have a lot more playoff and Super Bowl experience than the Packers. So...Steelers 23, Packers 21.

My Current Song Obsession

I tweeted the other day that there are two versions of this Taio Cruz song. One features a rap by Travie McCoy. Some Googling revealed that it's the US version. The international version has no McCoy rap. Instead, it's performed as a duet with Kylie Minogue. I'll repeat the question I posed in that tweet: "Which do you think I like more? Hint: I'm gay."

In the three days since I downloaded this, I've listened to it in iTunes 86 times. That doesn't count the many times I played it in Windows Media Player before I moved it into my iTunes library. Nor does it count the times I replayed the video before I downloaded it. (Doesn't YouTube have a repeat function? I couldn't find it if it did. I kept having to click to play it again.)  And I haven't even added it from iTunes onto my iPod yet.

Philly Before I Was Born

What a cool piece of old film, produced by local station WPTZ, which was (as I learned via Wikipedia) the precursor to KYW-TV here. Shots of Philadelphia (downtown, Connie Mack Stadium and more) and surrounding areas from the mid-1950s. Is there any chance you'll hear the phrase "our equally industrious, equally prosperous neighbor Camden, New Jersey" again?



Found this through Twitter. The link to it was retweeted into my timeline by the photographer behind the excellent Picture Philly site -- a photo a day of Philadelphia.

Holy Crap! (No Pun Intended)

I don't know what is stranger about this 1973 musical version of "The Lord's Prayer" by one Sister Janet Mead:

• That it was certified as a gold record back when singles had to sell a million copies instead of the 500,000 it takes now
• That it went to #4 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart
• That she's Australian
• That, listening to it just now, I remembered it instantly (reminds me of the Good Friday Birthday Incident of 1973; see #11 here), and even now I'd consider downloading it and putting it on my iPod

Bizarro World Headline Of The Day

 

The details are here, if you're that interested. I'm really not interested much. Unless, of course, he does it in drag.

My 2011 Movie Grades

Once again I'm creating a post to keep track of the grades I assign to movies released this year...

A: Drive
A-: Bridesmaids, Kung Fu Panda 2, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Descendants
B+: Rango, The Adjustment Bureau, Cedar Rapids, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Crazy, Stupid, Love., Captain America: The First Avenger, Friends with Benefits, Our Idiot Brother, The Muppets, Puss In Boots
B: No Strings Attached, Paul, The Lincoln Lawyer, Hanna, Thor, Everything Must Go, X-Men: First Class, Super 8, Bad Teacher, Horrible Bosses, 50/50, The Ides of March, Young Adult
B-: Hall Pass, Limitless, Moneyball, Tower Heist, J. Edgar
C+: The Eagle, Source Code, Scream 4, Green Lantern, The Change-Up, What's Your Number. A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1, Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows
C: Something Borrowed, Contagion
C-: I Am Number Four, Gnomeo & Juliet, Battle: Los Angeles, Your Highness, Abduction
D+: Take Me Home Tonight, Paranormal Activity 3, New Year's Eve
D: The Green Hornet, The Roommate
D-: The Dilemma

Not-So-Quick Review: The Dilemma

Yeah, not so quick. There's some writing going on here...

Remember the controversy over the initial trailer for "The Dilemma," the Ron Howard film starring Vince Vaughn and Kevin James? It had the joke in which Vaughn's character, Ronny, says that "Electric cars are gay. I mean, not homosexual gay, but my-parents-are-chaperoning-the-dance gay." After GLAAD (the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, in case you don't know) complained, the studio removed the joke from the trailer but deferred to director Howard, who wouldn't remove it from the film itself because of artistic integrity or something. I wasn't thrilled by that, though I can understand someone not wanting to be harassed into making changes they feel aren't warranted. But Vaughn made some comments in response to the uproar that really turned me off, and I decided that I did not want to pay money to see this movie.

Still, I was a little curious. So when I went to see "The King's English" last week, I "multiplexed." That's the term I use for "sneaking into another theater to see a second movie without paying." It's something I've only done a couple of times, and once it was just to re-watch the end of another movie I had already seen (and paid for). But Hollywood owed me one for over two years: "The Spirit" was such complete garbage that I walked out more than halfway through. With "The Dilemma," I collected.

Well, I collected in that I stayed throughout the entire film. But it wasn't easy.

The film's premise is that Ronny and his best friend Nick (James) are partners in an auto design firm who get a meeting with GM to make a pitch for an electric car that seems like a muscle car. Hence the "electric cars are gay" joke --