I’ve waxed romantic about The Gong Show before, and it saddens me somewhat to see that someone thinks that magic can be recaptured. I suppose anything’s possible – Battlestar Galactica’s a critical success these days. But I doubt that Gong Show lightining strikes twice.
Apparently the BBC doesn’t employ any 13-year-old boy copy editors.
Walking on the Moon has been upgraded to WordPress 2.5.1. (And behind the scenes lots has changed.) Holler if you see weirdness.
If you’ve been trying to call us and not getting an answer or answering machine, try again. Our phones were down for a few days.
Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters #8, Palmiotti, Gray, Arlem. This ends the mini-series, and I can’t say I’m sorry to have it done. The best issues of this were very good, but overall the series suffered from a lack of focus. It’s like there were a bunch of storylines they wanted to tell and couldn’t pick one. And even that could have worked if they’d gotten the 8 issue pacing right. They clearly missed; this issue features several attempts at characterization gasped between moments of the climactic struggle on the deck of an invading alien armada. Now, if those attempts are a single sentence that sums up characters relationships that have been building, it can work. These were exposition-heavy soul-baring discussions, and they weren’t so believable.
Black Summer #6, Ellis & Ryp. This has paced itself out nicely. I suspect it will read even better collected, but for now all the pieces have fought their way to their positions for the climax, and though the threats are all clear, the outcome is in doubt. Even the colors seem less dim this issue. Very fun stuff.
A few weeks ago I got a nice note from a fellow named Jeff Barlow who’s still making Twin Tier Tier in Elmira run. I’d posted some pictures from there when I was in Elmira for my 20th high school reunion and it had seemed like the place was closed. Jeff pointed out that the location had closed, but the business was still going strong.
That’s good news. Twin Tier Tire was my first real job, and the first time someone who didn’t know me from school paid me to make a computer work for them. I also changed tires, and stacked tires, and did other stuff that;s good for one’s soul. It was a good place to work, and I’m glad they’re still around.
For those of you keeping score at home: a Federal Judge has restrained SMO from enforcing its category C & D jet ban, and Avweb has a short article on the ongoing flap.
Will Eisner’s The Spirit #16, Aragones, Evanier, Smith. This was a pretty good issue, a light-hearted procedural in a colorful setting. Now, a movie set as a site for actual satire has been done to death, but things are kept light and fun rather than any attempt at social commentary. The Spirit goes undercover and works out the details of a Hitchcockian murder. Nice action, good dialog, even the Spirit himself seems dead on. Nice issue. I guess I’m mostly down on this team for not getting the characterization of the supporting cast pitch-perfect, but this issue shows that they can make the main character and his world work well.
Badger Saves The World #5, Baron and Dose. The Badger’s return stumbles dazed across the finish line. Honestly there are more glimmers of Badger goodness in this issue than it deserves, including a two-panel exchange between Daisy and Ham that makes them live. I think Baron had begun to slip back into the characters’ skins. If this were an ongoing series, I’d be seeing signs of life, even after the unfortunate derailing of the artist last issue. Sigh.
Apparently the Santa Monica city council is continuing to try to block category C&D jets from using the airport. The FAA remains unamused.
I was at SMO today and saw some sizable jets depart. They didn’t have labels indicating their approach speeds, so I can’t be sure that they were illegal in the estimate of the Santa Monica city council.
BoingBoing calls my attention to this self-contained airport generator. This would be a fine thing to have at one’s beck and call.