Hooray For Me...I Guess

Sooooooooooooo...before I left the house on my comic book run today, I was perusing my Twitter feed and saw this from Logo...

The prize is a signed copy of Simon Doonan's book "Beautiful People," upon which the TV series is based. (Season 2 is currently running on Saturday nights.) I forwarded my address and then received their email with an affidavit PDF attached. I had to print it, fill in my name, address, etc. and sign it, scan it along with ID to prove my age, and email the scans back. All this for a book -- seems a bit much. I suppose the mighty Viacom (the corporate parent) has rules and regulations to follow.

It's nice to win something, although there are other prizes (cash jackpots, all-expenses-paid trips) that I'd enjoy more.

My Week In Comics 6-23-10

Finally got to buy more than one book for a change, after a couple of weeks buying nothing or just one. So that made it sort of a big week, and then there's...

Superman 700: Whenever a book hits a milestone number the publishers like to make a big deal of it. Issue 100, 200, sometimes a 50th book is a big deal. Of course, there are some asterisks involved. While this is issue 700 of "Superman," there aren't actually 700 issues of the same series, all with the title "Superman." Back in 1987 the original "Superman" series was re-titled "Adventures of Superman" starting with issue 424, while a new "Superman" series was introduced, and started with issue 1. But in 2006 that series was canceled, and "Adventures of Superman" was given its old "Superman" name back, starting with issue 650.

Anyway, this is issue 700 and in the wake of the just-ended "War of the Supermen," you'd expect a really special issue. And it is, in that it's got extra pages and three stories. But

Phillies: Nudity And Possible Bad News

Before we get to the bad news, a little bit of frivolity. The Fightins, one of the big Phillies blogs, has a screen capture of an image from a locker room interview with Jamie Moyer on NBC10 yesterday. Check out the lower left-hand corner of the image: it's a rear view of a naked Cole Hamels. At least I assume that those who saw it live or via TiVo or DVR have made an accurate identification, because it's not obvious just from that image.

I wonder if Heidi Hamels likes her husband's ass as much as Jennifer Utley likes Chase's?

Speaking of Chase Utley, he took himself out of tonight's game, a 7-3 loss at Cincinnati, before he batted in the 9th inning. He's going to have an MRI on his left thumb tomorrow. He apparently hurt it sliding into second base in the 4th inning. Just when he's started hitting well again, and the team has gotten on a bit of a roll, winning 5 of 6 since their little hiccup against Minnesota...whether he is out for a while or is just hampered and begins slumping again, either way it's not a good situation for the Phils.

Crazy Dream Of The Day

Now and then the dreams I have are so strange and/or vivid that they stay in my head long after I wake up. I've had dreams involving superheroes (duh -- comic books), I had one that ended with my mom pulling out a gun and taking a shot at me as I was going out the door of the house (she missed!), and one that featured sexual activity involving someone I know (well, I haven't seen him in years so maybe that should be "knew") that I will not discuss here. (Yet.) One such dream occurred this morning, as part of my fitful TWO HOURS' sleep (slept in late and very solidly yesterday morning, and that kept me up most of last night). Read all about it after the jump...

Quick Reviews: Killers, Splice

It's time to catch up with the movies. I'm not sure if these are still in the theaters at this point, so they may not be helpful if you're trying to pick a movie to see this weekend. Sorry. Regular readers know I sometimes procrastinate with these. And this is a case where these two different films arrive at the same grade for different reasons.

I had low expectations for "Killers." First, the female lead is Katherine Heigl, who followed up her success on TV's "Grey's Anatomy" and the big-screen "Knocked Up" with mediocrity like "27 Dresses" and "The Ugly Truth." Here she plays Jen, a careful, cautious, not remotely spontaneous woman who is on vacation in France with her parents (the fabulous Catherine O'Hara and the not-bad Tom Selleck), when she meets Spencer (Ashton Kutcher), who asks her to dinner. Unbeknownst to her, he's a contract killer for some secret government agency (right after they meet he blows up a boat. This is the second reason for my low expectations: I can't buy Ashton Kutcher as a super-spy/killing machine type. Anyway, they fall in love rather quickly, he proposes, she accepts, and he quits his contract-killer job. Cut to three years later, they're settled into a nice house and a normal life when his old life comes back to haunt him, and it puts the couple's lives in jeopardy. I enjoyed it more than I expected, especially seeing the people that actually are out to kill Spencer. My grade: B-minus.

Happy Birthdays!

There are two birthdays to celebrate today. First, let's wish a happy 31st birthday to Jai Rodriguez! During the first season of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," an episode aired in early 2004 in which the Fab Five took on the case of a stand-up comic with obsessive-compulsive disorder who wanted to propose to his girlfriend. At the end of the episode, as the Fab Five watched the video of the moment the man proposed, I was really smitten by Jai's reaction. I wrote the following on the Outsports Discussion Board thread for the show:

And the look of pure joy on Jai's face while watching Kevin struggle to put the ring on her finger (while the others were yelling "Put the damn ring on!!") was priceless. I am finding myself just melting for Jai. Is he the youngest of the Fab Five? He seems like the baby of the family. I just want to be his daddy and take care of him. :D

It's been six years since then, Jai, but the offer still stands. Although, financially, right now you'd have to be the one taking care of me. :o

As for the other birthday...

Mo' Money, Mo' Money!

First came this, now comes this:

You elected to receive a cash payment in the In re Expedia Hotel Taxes and Fees Class Action Settlement. The attached settlement check represents the Settlement Benefit you are entitled to receive as an eligible Class Member under the terms of the Court approved Settlement...

Another $24.42 in my pocket! Woo-hoo! And, believe it or not, there's another one of these things I'm a part of, regarding fees charged to credit cards based on foreign transactions, that could get me another $36.00 or so, but there have been appeals filed challenging the court's approval of the settlement, so it's all on hold. (This one I'm aware of because I actually filled out a more detailed claim rather than accept the $25.00 "easy refund.") I guess I'm more litigious than I knew!

P.S. The dollar sign comes from the website of the "Arkansas Out of School Network" -- kind of looks like a Rainbow Dollar, doesn't it? Hmmm...

My Summer Listening (And Maybe Yours) Part 2

Mmmmmm...deep-fried Oreos: another great idea for summer!

And now, the dramatic conclusion of "Joe's Big-Ass Crazy Summer Playlist!" (Here's Part 1, in case you've forgotten...)

Who's That Girl - Madonna (1987) There are lots of Madonna songs that would feel right for this list, but this was actually a hit during the summer, it has that pop candy feel, and July 11, 1987 was the first time I saw Madonna in concert, as the "Who's That Girl" tour hit the Vet. What vexed me, though, is that when the tour was announced I had read that Bronski Beat was going to be her opening act, but was replaced by Level 42, since the singer who took over when Jimmy Somerville left Bronski Beat took a powder as well.


My Arms Keep Missing You - Rick Astley  (1987) This is a stretch in that it wasn't released in the U.S. or during the summer, and has no summer-type lyrics. It was the B-side of "When I Fall In Love" (cover of the Nat King Cole song), which was released at the end of 1987 in the UK and was trying to be the "Christmas No. 1" -- it's really a big thing over there. The B-side became a dance hit in Europe, and eventually got radio airplay here the following year. The thing that ties it to summer for me is the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul (which actually didn't begin until September 17). I had this little portable hand-held TV and I would watch the late-night coverage while in bed -- thanks to the time difference a lot of late-night stuff was live -- and listen to music (either a radio or a cassette with my then-favorites, taped from the radio or from my 45s or 12-inch remix singles). This was one that I loved at that time, and eventually bought the 12-inch import (for $7.49 -- I think U.S. 12-inch singles were $2.99 or $3.99 at the time).  Here's a link to listen -- and no, this is not an attempt at RickRolling.

My Summer Listening Pleasure (And Maybe Yours) Part 1

I love disclaimers. In the case of the big 58-song summer playlist I've created, there are a few of them. These songs fall into at least one of these categories, sometimes more, sometimes all: they were released during the summer, they were popular during the summer, the song title and/or lyrics refer to summer, sun, heat, etc. If they don't fit these categories -- and this is a pretty big disclaimer -- to me they either sound like a summer-type song or I identify them with summer in my mind for some reason, which will be explained.

Also, the list only includes songs that are in my iTunes library. There may be other songs that are truly summer songs, but if I don't own them I didn't include them. (It's also possible that some songs not on the list but should be are in my iTunes but I somehow neglected to find it.) I am open to any and all suggestions to add to the list, but if it's not obvious from the song title why it should be included I hope you'll enlighten me as to why it's a summer song.

I'm listing them in order of the year of release (according to Wikipedia or whatever other sources I could find). Using the versions I have (a couple of extended mixes included) it's over 4 hours, 15 minutes of music, and Part One begins after the jump:

Whatever Happened To Kevin Seal?

The things you learn when reading Wikipedia. I was checking some things for my summer playlist (coming very soon to a blog near you) and found this humorous note:

Kevin Seal once introduced Sinéad O'Connor's music video of "Nothing Compares 2 U" (which was also composed by Prince) "for all those who missed her version of 'Batdance.'"

(Note: "Batdance," though it's actually so weird that I love it, is not on the summer playlist.)

Now, I don't remember seeing him say that, but I actually do remember Kevin Seal from his MTV days. This is all it says on Wikipedia about him:

Kevin Seal was an MTV VJ in the late 1980s, the host of the pilot of Club MTV (according to an MTV special) and one of the hosts of the influential alternative-music program 120 Minutes, which debuted in 1986. After leaving the program, he hosted MTV's Headbangers Ball from 1987 to 1988 and Kevin Seal: Sporting Fool in 1990. Since leaving MTV, he made occasional TV and movie appearances. In 2000, he was cast as voice talent for both the lead character and primary antagonist in the Cartoon Network series Sheep in the Big City.

So, seeing his name made me wonder where he went.