ALLIANCE of ONE

DAD'S X-MAS LIST 2011

2011-12-20T05:43:00.001-06:00

Christmas is for kids - we know that. Let's just say hypothetically that Dad is still a big kid too. Shouldn't he be able to write a list to Santa Claus? Seems only fair to me... I know December 25th is only like 4 or 5 days away, but there's still time to get me something! Below are listed a few of my major wants.

I did this same thing a couple of years ago (Dad's Christmas List! - Nov. 2009), and looking back I'd have to say that although those things on that list did not come to me that particular X-mas, many of said things (or things like them) did come to me within the following year (2010). Let's take a look at the results of that wish list:

I drive the exact car pictured in that post, only in a slightly different color. It has an awesome stereo, drives great, hauls lots of stuff and is surprisingly good on gas. Car - check.

Instead of vacationing in Puerto Vallarta, my wife and I instead spent a week in Cuba (a truly beautiful country which you can see photos of here,...... here, ...... and here. ). I imagine it was as fun and interesting as Mexico would have been, and might still be in the future. Vacation - check.

I've bought and sold hundreds of different comic books since that last post, so that was an easy one... same with toys. Comics and Action Figures - check and check.

Only thing missing is the Bass Guitar that I wanted. Turns out I don't really want that so much anymore. I have been playing guitar far more than bass in the last two years, and I actually sold my bass amp when I moved to BC. This leads to the #1 spot on the list this year. So, without further ado:

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#1 - Fender Stratocaster (or Strat copy)
For some reason, I never really liked the look of these guitars so much, or the lack of a humbucking pickup on the standard Stratocaster (used to be a hardcore metal guy), so I never bothered to really pick one up to try it out for any length of time. One came to my attention just recently at a great price and packaged deal, so I thought I'd finally give the legendary Strat a fair shot. Right off the bat, I was really impressed with the feel of the neck and the weight of the instrument... even impressed by the depths of tone possible from the single-coil pickups played through the teeny little practice amp that comes with it.

Now, I haven't owned an electric guitar in about 13 years or so... and my musical tastes now lean a little less towards heavy, crunching power chords and a lot more towards the soulful, melodic and transcendent. That might sound flaky, but it really just means I've gotten old...

I think at my current age, I'd look pretty stupid on stage with a Flying V- or Destroyer-type guitar. And getting back into it after so long, I think I should go with a tried and true classic...

#2 - A Boat
I am a prairie boy no longer... I now live on an island dotted with lakes and surrounded by the ocean and other smaller islands... water is everywhere, and I feel a driving need to get out onto it. I don't need anything fancy in terms of size or speed... in fact, I'd rather not have to get a new vehicle just to haul it around. A small aluminum fishing boat, or mayhaps a canoe might best serve my purposes... fishing, photography, exploration, whatever. I am a novice boater (Mrs. Puff, where are you now?), so I can't jump into something that would require a ton of maintenance or repairs. Just want to jump in and go, basically...

Oh, and if I could get it cheap, that would be great too.

#3 - Winnipeg
Yeah, that's right... I want the whole city of Winnipeg for X-Mas. ... No, I don't think so... I used to live there. If I could own a whole city, I'd pick a different one, I think. Nevertheless, I find myself often missing my hometown and I intend to go back there to visit someday soon. Very soon in fact. I won't make it there for this X-Mas obviously, but more than likely in the Spring of 2012 (before the Mayan Prophecy kills us all later in the year). Given the option, I would prefer to drive, but for practical reasons, it's more likely that we would fly there on our next visit.

I want to go hang out at all the places I used to hang out at, and hopefully hang out with all the people I used to hang out with at those places... Basically, I just want to hang out in Winnipeg... How cool is that? Pretty good X-Mas wish, dontcha think?

#4 - Mjolnir
"Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor." Well, I can tell you, I'm a pretty big fan and I've owned or read almost every issue of The Mighty Thor (not to mention games, cartoons, toys and action figures) so I think I'm pretty much the worthiest guy I know.

Who wouldn't want the powers of flight, weather control, dimensional travel, lightning bolts, super-strength and the means to smite thine enemy where they needst be smitten! Sign me up! I just hope I get instant hair extensions and a little winged cap when I pick it up...

I guess if, for some unforeseen reason, the real Mjolnir is not available, I'd settle for a cool-looking replica that I can wield... and secretly pretend I possess the power of Thor.

#5 - Comics and Action Figures
Last time, this was two entries. I won't waste your time this year. I just put this in here to remind you that I need more comics and more action figures. If I had a pile of comic books stacked to the moon, that still wouldn't be enough for me. Same goes for toys. Just look at previous blog posts to see what I mean. I will continue to amass more and more and more comics and action figures whether you like it or not. You can't stop me.

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(Quick disclaimer: none of the photos in this blog post were taken by me. I'm not making any money here, so relax. No need to sue me for stealing your photo - everyone's stealing mine too.)

If you are actually reading this and thinking of getting me anything on this list for Christmas, #5 would be your safest bet. A boat is way too hard to wrap and it's pretty hard to get to Asgard in the wintertime (what with the Odinsleep going on and all...)

Take care, and a Happy Holiday Season to all of you across the Universe -

May the Force be with you...

Captain America vs Pearl Jam

2011-10-28T02:23:00.001-05:00

Yes - movie time again. Not like you really need to read my reviews, because you've probably already seen these films anyway... I'm usually pretty late with the review and most of my friends have long since seen the movie I'm talking about.

But y'know... the fact of the matter is, you actually do need to read this. My opinion is just so incredibly valuable that you simply have to read what I thought about a movie in order to fully understand it and form your own opinion, right? (Yeah right...)
These particular reviews are pretty important to me, and I'll explain why as I get into them. Let's just say that I was rather anxious to see both movies, and if you know me personally, you'd understand why. If you don't know me personally, you'd probably be better off not knowing me at all... I'm a pretty strange cat.

That, plus I don't need any online stalkers - thanks anyway.

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CAPTAIN AMERICA:

The First Avenger

Just like Green Lantern, Captain America, at least to me, has always been a sort of 'second string' comic book hero. I never really cared much about him. Ease up, Cap fans... before y'all get fixin' to lynch me, hear me out. Yes, he truly was one of the first Marvel Comics characters to see the light of day, having been around since, what, the 30s? 40s? And yes, he is definitely a major player in the Marvel Universe and is involved in every major event - the Marvel Civil War, the Secret Wars, key member of the Avengers... yadda yadda... But he ain't no Spider-Man, or Hulk, or even Wolverine. In fact, for a superhero, he's not really all that 'super'. Dude got some skills, granted, but he can't shoot webs or fly or lift a 747. I have actually found most Captain America comics to be quite dull to read compared to the rest of the Marvel line. And his costume, even in the comics, has always looked pretty silly to me.

Still, being such a huge Marvel fan, he's always been around whether I liked it or not, and I know stuff about him even without really wanting to. I felt a little bit obligated to see this movie. Marvel has rarely let me down for movies before (ok, there's a few stinkers in their collection) and given the quality of the movie adaptation of Thor, it couldn't be all that bad. I knew it would be another lead-in to The Avengers, which by now I truly cannot wait to see. This movie is like the last piece of the puzzle that we need to set up the main event. I figured that Captain America:The First Avenger would be okay and I could suffer through it just because... but I actually really enjoyed it, even more so than the aforementioned film about the fellow with the ring and the green spandex.

The movie was exciting, to be sure, full of action and cool stunt and fx sequences - even though it did lack some of the superheroey pizazz of some of the previous Marvel movies. (Did I spell pizazz right, Stan?) The Red Skull, played by Hugo (Elrond) Weaving, was a pretty neat villain - kind of like a juiced-up Uber-Nazi, but supposedly even more evil than that square-moustached guy. Of course, little scrawny Steve Rogers, recently juiced-up as well on the super-secret Super Soldier Serum, is the only one who can stop the Red Skull from succeeding in his insidious plot to blow up everything. There's a lot of acrobatic fighting, plenty of gun play and bombs going off, and enough shield-slinging action to keep even the most die hard Cap fan satisfied.

And I have to admit that I kind of like how they reworked his costume. It actually doesn't look as dorky as I was dreading. The Red Skull looked rather cool and menacing as well. Overall, the acting was good, and I think Chris Evans did a great job in the title role. Captain America has always seemed pretty square to me; a real goody two-shoes. He still came off that way in the film, but at least we are given good reasons for it all. For one thing, it appears as though Cap remains a virgin until the end of the movie - the 90 Year-old Virgin!

All (lame) jokes aside, you`d like this movie if you`re a fan of comic book movies, Marvel Comics, or action films in general. Not quite as good as Thor, but had a lot going for it and I can say that it was much, much better than I was expecting. Truly enjoyable.

Bring on The Avengers!!

A-

ps - Since I threw out all those links to info on other Marvel Characters, it`s only fair that I do the same for Captain America, since it is his movie after all...

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PEARL JAM TWENTY

What can I say - I LOVE Pearl Jam. Every album, from Ten to Backspacer, is unique and awesome. I am listening to their music right now as I write this. I can't go more than 24 hours without listening to Pearl Jam or I get the shakes. I want the songs Corduroy and Given to Fly to be played at my funeral.

(Remember that, family. In case you're thinking of planning it out in advance, you should also have The Empire Strikes Back playing on a big screen somewhere, and there should be readings from various issues of The Mighty Thor, Uncanny X-Men and The Lord of the Rings. Oh yeah, and rather than being buried or cremated, I want to be frozen in carbonite and hung on the wall like Han Solo.)

Anyway, back to Pearl Jam... I knew before I watched it that I was going to LOVE this movie, and of course I did. In my totally biased opinion, I can say that this is the best 'rockumentary' made to date. PJ has always been a little bit of an enigma of a band; not very visible in the media overall, although they've had a bunch of huge hits over the years and a bit of controversy here and there... but it's their subtle masterpieces and humble determination that have always affected me. This movie sheds a good amount of light on the guys that I've heard literally a thousand different songs from in live and studio recordings and loved each and every one, but never really known much about as people. After seeing PJ20 (that's what the cool kids call it), I think I have even more respect for them. Sure, I guess no band is going to let a producer make a film about them and make them look anything but awesome, but I've seen a few rockumentaries (there's that word again) that can't cover up the fact that bands like Guns n' Roses and Motley Crue really are just a bunch of douchebags. All of the members of Pearl Jam just seem to me like a group of ordinary guys who like to play music and are really (really) good at it, and have managed to keep doing it their own way for twenty straight years without being gigantic in-your-face rock stars. With the talent they have, they could be, but they're even better because they are not.

OK, I'm getting pretty preachy about my favorite band, but if you ever want to know the reason why I like PJ so much, just sit down and listen to their music. I highly recommend the albums No Code, Vitalogy and the self-titled Pearl Jam. Or any album, or any song... or you could see this movie to get you started, I guess...

Pearl Jam Twenty is awesome. Pearl Jam is awesome. Cameron Crowe (the guy who made the movie) is awesome for making it. If you want to be awesome too, you'd better see this... then go out and get the entire PJ catalog. You want to be awesome, don't you?

A++

Yeah, you heard me... double plus for extra-extra-awesome.

...and since Captain America got one, Pearl Jam deserves a Wikipedia link too, as well as a link to their official website, pearljam.com.

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So I guess if this truly were some sort of competition between Captain America and Pearl Jam, there's a pretty clear winner. As talented as he is, Cap's just not rock star material...

May the Force be with you...

Missed the boat...

2011-10-26T05:17:00.000-05:00

So, I meant to give some 'web attention' to Victoria's Ultimate Toy and Hobby Show where I had a table last Sunday at the Pearkes Arena (Victoria BC, of course), selling comics toys and what have you. Anyway, turns out that I was so busy getting stuff together for the show that I didn't get the time to blog about it and show off some of the stuff that I had for sale (like I did for my last two excursions as Rebel Alliance Canada). Looking back at those previous posts, I must admit that they were pretty cheesy anyway, so you sure didn't miss anything.

The day went pretty well, all considered, and my thanks again to Cherry Bomb Toys in Victoria BC for putting this awesome event together and giving me the chance to be part of it. There were vendors selling all sorts of great toys, games, comics, books and collectibles there, and they had a cool charity carnival going on as well. Attendence seemed pretty good to me, just about as good as at the last trade show I sold stuff at in Winnipeg.

Now, if only I wasn`t a such dumbass for staying out late drinking at Irish Times Pub the night before, thereby sleeping in and missing the first two hours of the show... but that`s another story. I dropped the ball again for not taking a single photograph when I was there. If only I could post photos of all the cool toys and stuff that I saw! There was everything from Sith to Smurfs and Jedi to G.I. for sale at at least one booth or another. I think that I myself brought a pretty good load of stuff to the show (over 1000 comics, 100+ loose toys, 50+ books and about a dozen carded figures) - but man-o-man - some of the other vendors there truly put me to shame... Let's not forget that, at least at this point in time, Rebel Alliance Canada is still an Alliance of One.

So, since I don't have any photos of said Toy Show, and I do so like to post photos on my blog, here are some random shots of other things. You may have seen them (or similar ones) here and there before, but hey, I gotta pick up the slack somehow. I can't blog once a month and then have nothing for y'all to look at. I'd be letting you down, and I'd be failing myself as a somewhat professional photomatographer.

So there you go...

Howard's New Ride

MVP - Most Valuable Predator

Lone Rebel

Yeah, not a whole lot here, but I am a busy guy. Sorry. Seen a lot of movies lately, so next time will probably be movie reviews. Hope thats OK. See ya.

May the Force be with you...

Green Lantern vs the Psychic Tire

2011-10-10T02:01:00.001-05:00

Hopefully, this will not be the only post this month. I'm just throwing this out there to get back into the swing of things. I have a lot more movie reviews on the way, and some news about the Victoria Toy and Hobby Show coming up this weekend...

But more on that later.

Chew on this one for a while...

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GREEN LANTERN

This movie turned out to be much better than I'd hoped. I enjoyed this at least as much as either of the Iron Man movies, almost as much as Superman Returns, and I definitely thought it was better than the last two Batman films. Still, Green Lantern is no Spider-man... but it's close. I'm not a fan of the GL comic book(s), but I've read a few trade paperbacks from the library and owned a few older issues. He's also appeared - usually as a background character - in many of the DC Comics I've read (which isn't really a lot).

As I've said before, I've always felt DC Comics kind of suck compared to Marvel Comics. For those of you who don`t quite get it,

Spiderman/Hulk/Thor/Iron Man/Captain America = Marvel Comics

and

Superman/Batman/Wonder Woman/Green Lantern/Flash = DC Comics

and

Marvel Comics > DC Comics

Following the above formula, we can thus assume that

Marvel Comics Movies > DC Comics Movies

This doesn't really 'ring' true for Green Lantern. (Get it? Ring? Ha-ha...) The story is pretty far-fetched of course, and pretty in-depth, but really no more so than Thor. Basically, he's an ordinary guy (Hal Jordan) who was given a mystical ring by a dying alien, with which he can create three-dimensional objects, limited only by his imagination. He also becomes part of an intergalactic peacekeeping force - the Green Lantern Corps, based on the planet Oa, in the center of the universe. With a lot of superhero movies, the whole origin story is usually the more tedious part of the film that we all suffer through in order to get to the really cool parts. In this case, I felt that Hal Jordan's visit to Oa and the unfolding backstory were all the coolest parts. Obviously, they spared no expense when it came to the visual effects in GL, and the settings and battle scenes are amazing.

Ryan Reynolds is well-cast as the title hero, and the supporting cast is all pretty good - at least as good as one could hope for in a film like this. Even though there are a few scenes that may be pretty scary for little ones, I found that this movie was a little more kid-friendly than most comic book adaptations, and it had a positive message with a likable hero. There's a good amount of Hollywood triteness and predictability to it... but if I can forgive Thor for these transgressions, I can certainly forgive Green Lantern.

This film is not for everybody. Not everyone is a comic book/superhero fan. No offense to those of you who aren't - you couldn't help being born that way. If you do enjoy comic book adventures, I think you'd find this film rewarding. Green Lantern may not be the best DC Comics character out there, but this is the best of the DC movies that they've put out in a long time.

***side note**

There is a character in the film, Sinestro, who, in the comics and animated features, ends up betraying the Green Lantern Corps and becoming the main antagonist of the story. I was fully expecting this to happen in this film, but I guess they're waiting for a sequel to pull this off. Not to offer any 'spoilers' or anything like that, but this really shouldn't come as that big of a surprise... I mean, the guy's name is 'Sinestro', and he looks like the Devil in a Green Lantern suit.... The traitor couldn't possibly be him, could it?? If they ever do make a sequel, I'll watch it anyway, even if I know what's going to happen.

Overall, I'd have to rate Green Lantern a worthy

A-

....I guess that means I'm not a DC Hater anymore...

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RUBBER

And now for something completely different...

Rubber has to qualify as being among the strangest movies I've ever seen. I found it listed on Netflix under 'Independent Films' and 'Black Comedy'. Why I started watching it, I couldn't tell you, but it was so weird and strangely compelling that I had to see it through to the end. It's all about a used tire that gains awareness in the Southwestern US desert and goes on a killing spree, apparently using its inherent psychokinetic powers to blow up people (and bunnies) that get in its way. There's not much more to it than that...

You probably won't recognize a single name in the credits (at least I didn't), but everyone in the film does a worthwhile (if not entirely convincing) job of bringing this pointless and bizarre story to life. It's all played for laughs in the end, but along the way, through insightful camera work and minimal dialogue, it actually almost humanizes our silent but deadly anti-hero. Rubber is not ROTFLOL funny, but it is definitely not the same-old same-old you're going to get from Hollywood. Funniest thing about it is the fact that they can actually get away with a 90 minute film about a killer tire...

B-

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May the Force be with you...

Miniature World!!

2011-09-13T02:39:00.000-05:00

I just realized that I had a whole folder full of great photos tucked away that I haven't shown here. (Ooooh... a whole folder...) I have already uploaded a handful of them to Flickr , and you might have noticed them at the right top corner on the blog; a slideshow of my pics on there. So, technically I'm not presenting them for the very first time here, but whatever. I went to Victoria this last weekend, and was reminded of the coolest thing I've seen in that city - Miniature World!

This is a must-see in Victoria if you're like me, and appreciate things like toys, models, dioramas and anything miniature that makes you feel gigantic... ("When I grow up, I want to be Godzilla!" I think I actually spoke those exact words one day long ago...)

Sadly, I did not get to go there on this trip... but here are some photos from my first (definitely not the last) visit a few months ago.

Obviously I can't take credit for how cool the exhibits are, and I will plead ignorance and innocence if I am infringing on any copyright or anything by posting photographs I took of other people's amazing work.

(BTW - You can click on the photos for a larger view.)

I have dabbled a bit myself in the construction of miniature 'gaming scale' scenery and buildings and what not, but compared to the displays in Miniature World, I need to go back to kindergarten.

In any case, if you love all the little things in life, you really do need to go to Miniature World in Victoria, British Columbia. Call me up if you want me to go with you.

May the Force be with you...

Crappy Newbie Cell Phone Pictures

2011-08-29T06:11:00.000-05:00

For a while back there I was stuck. Stuck out here on Vancouver Island, having recently moved here, all on my own, waiting for my family to get here, just started a new job, living in a rented place and generally being a stranger to everybody I happened upon here (hereupon?) on a daily basis. It was a pretty lonely period, but I thankfully was able to fill my days by indulging a few of my inner passions - exploration and documentation (ie: hiking and/or biking and photography).

As often as possible, I had my SLR camera gear (Pentax k200d w/ Sigma 24-60 f2.8 and Sigma 70-200 f2.8 lenses) with me and available to shoot at a moment's notice... and as a side note: Pentax SLR System rocks BTW... but every photographer must admit that there are times when you just can't have your full gear with you, like when you go to a movie... or a nightclub... or walk to the bus stop before work.

When you're a newbie in a new land, you can't look like a total dork and carry your photo gear all the time. On the first (or maybe 3rd) day after arrival in British Columbia, I got a cellphone. Not a fancy-ass Smartphone like all you upstart kids got, but an actual walk on the bus and annoy everybody-type phone. I have never cared for cellphones and never saw a need for one until now. I can send and recieve text messasges with it (which I am very slow at - I tend to want to use proper grammar, full words and proper punctuation - sorry), and it has a built-in camera. It has a mind-boggling 1.2 megapixels.

That explains the amazing technical quality of these also otherwise amazing photographs presented here... Born out of necessity in order to illustrate what I think I was trying to say about being on my own in a strange and exciting new place... they are what they are. I guess they're not extremely exciting, but they will, perhaps in time, hold some memories for me... Does that make me a selfish blogger?

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This is the very first photo I took with this mostrosity of an imitation of a camera. I must admit, it has a pretty good High Iso Mode (low light/high sensitivity). Pixellamazation is pretty crappy, but you get what I was going for... In case you're wondering, this was taken in the bar in Victoria right after the Canucks won a hard fought series in round one against the Chicago Blackhawks... and yes, I was very drunk.

This one was taken from the balcony of my brother's place, where he so kindly let me crash until noon to sleep off the hangover from the night before... Canucks game, bar, beer, etc...

This is a can of beer that I drank after feeling somewhat recovered from said hangover...

This is a bear with a santa hat that my daughter secretly put in my suitcase riding in a monster truck toy that I accquired from the Salvation Army store... It came to me under 'questionable' circumstances... let's leave it at that.

Here's a really terrible shot of a really cool city - Victoria B.C.

Here's a photo of a really f'n great mexican restaurant here in Courtenay - Tita's Mexican on 6th Street. Just go there - you'll see. 1.2 megapixels could never do proper justice to the amazing lamb enchilada...

Here's a shot of a stump. It's in the middle of the bush just off the train track that runs through town. A cool 'deep woods' locale to relax at. Weirdly, there is only one train track in town and it never gets used - ever. Coming from a place like Transcona, this is just strange - and wrong.

This is a shot of the spot where the Courtenay River meets the Strait of Georgia... or Comox Bay... or is it the Puntledge River, and/or the Salish Sea... or the Tsolum River... or... whatever. Back in Winnipeg, there are exactly two rivers that meet each other, and there is no sea, ocean, strait or nuthin' anywhere around. This is probably a pretty mundane view for the people that live here, but I thought it was cool enough to warrant an emergency cellphone picture.

Driftwood. It seems to be pretty common here.

Another stump.

Not sure what's going on here... looks like a trail of some sort...

In the window of the coolest toy store in Courtenay, Whale's Tale Toys. (Forgive me if I spelled that wrong.)

A church covered in some sort of ivy or some other plant-based material.

The train station that services the train that never runs on a track that is never used...

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Wow. those really are some crappy photos. What's most crappy is that I can't even think of anything worthwhike to say about most of them. Thank goodness I actually have an SLR and can capture the beauty of my surroundings in the way that I can be proud of. But of course, you won't see that here this time 'round. These photos are just crap.

Thanks for putting up with my crap.

May the Force be with you...

Full-color Visual Dump

2011-08-25T03:23:00.000-05:00

Obviously, it's time to kick this blog into full swing. I had a peek at the number of posts over the years (okay, so its been barely two), and I have far, far fewer posts this year than last... which was less than the previous year. This cannot stand!

Here we go - a quick and easy post - a few of the latest photos from the newest 'resident tourist' on Vancouver Island. What you see here is only perhaps a tenth of the images that I've shot, but I need to bleed some of the pressure of the backlog of pictures that I've shot here and want to share with you. A visual dump, if you will - in full color and in your face. I guess this sounds nasty, but it's actually quite nice to look at.

Let me stop right here and say something. I like to think of myself as being seriously into photography, and I seriously think I am pretty good at it, but I don't think any single one of us out there should take ourselves too seriously. I know the above 'joke' about 'dump in your face' didn't go right above your heads. C'mon, I mean, you wanna be hip, right? You all saw Team America:World Police and South Park:Bigger, Longer and Uncut - right? Anyway, it's a joke - calm down.

Hope you like mountains, trees and water... cuz I do. So here's some more. If you've seen any of these before, good for you - I will not apologize for double-posting my own images, since people all around the world are probably stealing them anyway...

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Here's a few parting thoughts for the day -

-My hit counter for Alliance of One is currently 3333. Bitchin'. That's a cool number, and I still can't believe that so many people have looked at my s**t. I'm sure most of them were Google Image searchers who've never actually bothered to read the actual blog, but still...

-I haven't photographed an action figure in about three months. That's significant to me, and it shows that I'm recovering well and am showing fewer signs of withdrawal. (Seriously, though, there's more than enough outdoors to look at on Van Isle to make me not want to stay inside and hunch over the table posing a bunch of little plastic men indoors.) Rest assured however, my brain waves will be resonating on that frequency soon... (Stay Tuned!)

-I am a lucky, lucky man. I am living in the place where I've wanted to live for the last ten years - a place where I feel I belong. I also have an amazing family that I love very dearly, and great friends that have made me feel welcome here in my island paradise. Thanks everyone!

May the Force be with you...

An Ignorant Canadian's Guide to Asian Cinema

2011-08-11T15:43:00.001-05:00

It's that time again... time for movie reviews. As a rule, I generally avoid the theatre, except for very special occasions (see :Thor Movie Review). I also don't care for very many mainstream movies anymore. I've just had enough of the same old recycled Hollywood crap.... OK, so maybe I still enjoy watching that crap once in awhile, but I don't like to pay $13 a pop to see the latest, greatest load of exploding mega-crap in the theatre, no matter whether it's in 3-D, Digital 3-D, Real D or any other type of D. Don't make me pay $3 extra just so I can experience gunfights, explosions and robots transforming into vehicles right in front of my face. More often than not, at the usual breakneck pace of today's "blockbusters", to me it's all just sensory overload - everything is simply too flashy, noisy, blurry and highly forgettable.

I like to hang back and listen to the buzz about new movies before seeing them, and I'll almost always wait for the DVD or (even better) Netflix. Even movies that I really want to see, like the final Harry Potter film, Green Lantern and Captain America, well... they kind of get put on the back burner. I guess you could say that movies are not priority for me right now. (I haven't seen any of the previously mentioned films yet, BTW.)

So what does the pickiest movie watcher in North America actually watch? Foreign movies are usually a good bet for me. It just seems to me that they are a lot less predictable and a good deal more enlightening - ie: you can actually see what the rest of the world is like outside of Hollywood's skewed perspective... Even though a lot of overseas film studios may try desperately to emulate the American movie styles and templates, there's a much better chance that you'll actually see something truly original. Don't get me wrong - I don't watch foreign movies because I'm some sort of hoity-toity movie connoisseur... I rarely (if ever) will watch a movie because it was nominated for or won some sort of Hollywood Pat-on-the-Back Award. (Seriously, who the f**k cares?) I just want to see something different... and I guess it makes me feel good to want to be different.

OK, so you're tired of listening to me rag on the American film industry... yeah, yeah - I know. Boo-hoo... poor rich American Studio execs.... whose ever going to stand up for them?

I've always gravitated towards Asian cinema, especially Japanese and Chinese. To me, Japan=Godzilla and China=Bruce Lee. Obviously there are a lot more things to be said and remembered about these two countries, but I would never have cared if it weren't for these two movie stars. (Anyone who tells me that Godzilla is not a star deserves a punch in the throat - Bruce Lee style.) It seems I have learned about Asian cultures through badly-dubbed kung-fu and giant monster movies. I have gained awareness of some of the crazy stuff that people have come up with on the other side of the planet. What kind of whacked-out Japanese dude came up with Mothra? What the hell was he smokin'? And who came up with the concept of wire stunts in martial arts movies? I dunno, but it sure looks cool! Of course there's a downside to those cultures too... let's not forget about Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, or Tibet and all that...

I believe someone once said that you can tell a lot about people by the movies they watch (or at least I'm saying it now). Well, go ahead and try to get in my head and try to figure me out...

Good luck with that!

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IP MAN

Ip who? What's an Ip? Actually, it's the guy's name... a real guy - the main character, portrayed by actor and martial arts master Donnie Yen. The real life Ip Man (or Yip Man) was the man who introduced Bruce Lee to martial arts, specifically the highly-defensive Wing Chun (or Snake/Crane) style, many fundamentals of which Lee later built upon when developing his own Jeet Kune Do (the Way of the Intercepting Fist). In any case, Donnie Yen is spectacular at this form of fighting. Combined with his screen presence, he makes for a very humble, likable hero who rises from oppression to defend the honor of his fellow countrymen.

The film takes place during the Japanese occupation of China in the 1930s. Ip Man is an established Wing Chun master, with his own school and students, and is well-known as a peaceful man who generally avoids conflict and does what is right, even defending local businesses from wandering thugs. When the Japanese arrive and take over, they bully the local populace and force them into servitude. To make matters worse, the Japanese general has a thing for trying to prove that Japanese Karate is superior to Chinese Kung Fu. Many fight scenes later, we inevitably get to see Ip Man whoop his ass big time, Snake/Crane-style. Of course this doesn't like, end the Sino-Japanese war or anything... but the movie still has a relatively happy ending after that.

Ip Man was a huge box office success worldwide, and lives up to all the things that the above poster says. Although it took me awhile to get around to seeing it, I was quite impressed with both the martial arts and the storyline in this film.

Y'all don't mess with the Ip Man.

A

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IP MAN 2
Of course, I had to see the sequel. Having fled his hometown of Foshan, Ip Man relocates to Hong Kong to open up a new martial arts school. There he faces opposition from the resident kung fu masters, several of whom he must duel in order to win the right to move his practice to the city. He gains a small but dedicated group of followers, but also forms a bitter rivalry with the head kung fu boss in town, who has ties with the British Army stationed in Hong Kong.

The main conflict in the movie comes when a western boxing champion comes to the city to try to beat all of the kung fu masters in an exhibition tournament. Ip Man's former rival now turned friend, having grown tired of the foreigners' insolence, fights the Brit boxer and dies in the ring (a la Apollo Creed). This leaves Ip Man as the last hope to once again defend the honor of his fellow Chinese citizens. Needless to say, we get to see him fight in the ring and defeat the champion soundly. It all plays out pretty much like Rocky III, complete with ringside pep talks, training sequences, a concerned but devoted wife and plenty of brutal beatings... only things missing are Mr. T and The Eye of the Tiger.

Just like the first movie, this really doesn't have anything to do with Bruce Lee, but at the very end of the film, a young student arrives at Ip Man's door wanting to learn kung fu, so he can "beat people up". Wonder who that's supposed to be?

I truly enjoyed this movie, almost as much as the first one. If Ip Man 2 weren't so derivative of the Rocky movies, I'd have rated it higher. Regardless, it's exciting and the kung fu is absolutely top-notch.

B+

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CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER

This film is not quite what I was expecting - with Chow Yun Fat in the lead role, you'd expect a great deal of kung fu action. There are only perhaps one or two fight scenes in the movie. Instead of being full of martial arts, Curse of the Golden Flower is more of an epic, historical piece - an almost Shakespearean drama centered around the Royal Court of Emperor Ping. The whole thing takes place in the Forbidden City as the Emperor arrives home from his latest conquests. Full of political intrigue, dark family secrets and covert love affairs, beautiful costumes, spectacular settings and mass battle scenes, this film keeps one watching with interest right until the very end. Although not as immersive as the Japanese masterpiece Kagemusha, it does provide a revealing look into the bizarre world of Chinese Imperial Court life. Although it's not the kung fu epic I was expecting, I recommend this movie to anyone who (like me) is fascinated with Oriental culture and history.

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MONGOL

Some of us may have seen Discovery or History Channel specials about Mongolia and it's unique culture, but I for one have never before seen a full-length feature on the subject. Mongol is the life story of history's most famous Mongol, Genghis Khan (known as Temujin in this film). We follow him from childhood as the son of the reigning Khan, and then to his later life as slave and fugitive... and through his rise to power as the supreme chieftain of the unified Mongol clans. This story couldn't be any more different than Curse of the Golden Flower, even though they are both grand historical Asian epics, and the Mongolian lifestyle contrasts sharply to the grandiose flare of the Chinese Imperial family.

Mongol is actually a Russian-made film, and is truly well-scripted and beautifully filmed on location in and around the Mongolian Steppes. There's lots of battle scenes and a cast of colorful characters.

B+

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YOJIMBO

Meanwhile, back in Feudal Japan... Yojimbo is a classic samurai film by the legendary Japanese filmmaker, Akira Kurosawa. Although not as highly regarded as Seven Samurai, like that film this one also served as an inspiration for classic Western (ie:Cowboy) movies of the 1960s. It's about a masterless samurai (or Ronin) who arrives in a village controlled by warring crime lords who run the local gambling outfits. Each of the two factions try to hire the protagonist as a bodyguard/enforcer to bully the other into submission. The samurai smartly plays both sides against each other, protecting the common people and fulfilling his own interests in the process. I can't really explain much more without telling the whole story, but let's just say that it's violent, exotic, exciting and funny all at the same time.

I am now a firm believer in the great works of Kurosawa, and after awhile, it becomes easy to see why all those American directors stole so many of his ideas...

A-

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GODZILLA'S REVENGE

I have include this film in this post for a few reasons - first of all, I am a huge Godzilla fan. If you don't believe me, go here. Secondly, I noticed that every movie mentioned so far has gotten a positive review. Thirdly, you just can't write an article about Asian Cinema without mentioning Godzilla.

So here it is - my first (and likely only) negative review of a Godzilla movie. (Yeah - I'm amazed too.) Most of Godzilla's Revenge (also known as All Monsters Attack in Japan) is either stock footage from other G films or unused material from earlier projects. It's all slapped together with a wraparound story about a little boy being chased by bad guys who bumps his head and dreams of going to Monster Island, where he meets Godzilla's son Minya (who shrinks to kid-size and speaks bad cartoony English). We get to see Godzilla fight a bunch of cheap-looking monsters, and somehow this allows the boy to deal with his own problems in the real world and save the day.

Of course, all this sounds pretty stupid, and it is. Not that other Godzilla movies aren't full of the same brand of stupidity, but this definitely clocks in as the worst movie in the entire franchise. I wasn't expecting amazing special effects or anything, but the monster suits are so pathetic in this one and the script is so lame that it's pretty obvious that Toho Studios put it together in a matter of weeks - if not days. Avoid this one. If you want to see a good (but still stupid) Godzilla movie, check out the far superior Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah - Giant Monsters All-Out Attack .

D-

(Lowest rating for a Godzilla movie ever - can't give it an F, since it's still Godzilla)

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I hope you feel a little more enlightened after reading this, and I hope you seek out some of these great Asian films. Subtitle haters beware!! All but one of these films is subtitled, and the one that is dubbed in English should be avoided anyway. I know a lot of folks don't like to read while watching a movie, but you read this, didn't you? What's the big deal?

Whatever type of movies you watch, enjoy -

May the Force be with you...

Seriously Angry Action Figures

2011-07-10T13:08:00.001-05:00

I know you've all been saying to yourselves: "All these nature photos are great, but when the hell is Andy gonna get back to talking about action figures?"

Ok, so not all of you are saying that... maybe a couple of you are... maybe no one is... Good thing I don't really listen to what people say about me, because life is just more fun that way. I have a whole bunch of figures that I've picked up in the last few months, and I want to present them here to you. You may have seen a couple of them pop up in my web comic, Everyday Heroes, but I feel that they need a proper formal introduction. There are of course more Marvel than DC heroes here, and there's even one non-super type in there... Keep in mind that I rarely buy figures in the stores or at full retail price, so none of these are exactly new. You won't find "the latest, greatest action figure reviews" on this blog. What you will find are a few random and ridiculous comments about toys owned by a man who is far too old to be playing with them. If you've read my blog or seen any of my Flickr photos before, you'll know that I treat them in a most unorthodox manner... mine may be the only blog out there where you'll find the Silver Surfer sharing a jug of moonshine with Cletus the Slack-jawed Yokel...

None (or at least very little) of that craziness here today, however. No-siree. This here's serious business. Let's get to it then, shall we?

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D.C. Universe Classics -

Superman

You can't have a superhero collection without owning at least one Superman. He's the original; the oldest, the most easily recognizable, most iconic hero out there. Thing is, I really only want one Superman, so I searched high and low on Ebay to get the one version that I think looked the best. He is pretty cool-looking... pretty stern and serious, just like you'd expect from a guy who saves the world on an hourly basis. With a schedule as hectic as Supes must have, you ain't got time to f**k around. That's the beauty of owning a Superman figure, at least for me... his generally serious nature makes him the perfect straight man to balance out the more goofy characters like Sokka from Avatar:The Last Airbender, Howard the Duck, or Spider-man.

(Check out the last installment of Everyday Heroes to see what I mean...)

Anyway, this Superman figure is fully articulated and extremely well-sculpted... blah blah blah... I just think he'll look pretty funny wrestling farm animals and drinking margaritas with the Hulk...

...speaking of whom...

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Marvel Legends Series 1 -

The Incredible Hulk

Just like Superman and Spider-man, you just can't have a superhero collection without this guy. Also, just like the aforementioned comic book icons, there are quite a few versions of the Hulk to choose from. The one I ended up with isn't necessarily the best in my opinion, but I got him for a song. He looks pretty stereotypically 'Hulk-ish' - ripped purple pants, gigantic bulging green muscles and a permanent angry look on his face. Looking at him, you can almost hear the words "HULK SMASH!!" coming out of his mouth. The only thing I don't like about this particular version is the fact that his fingers can't make a fist... a Hulk with no fists? That's like a Spidey with no webs! Or the Punisher with no guns!!

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Marvel Legends -

Punisher

Okay, so I am not a big fan of this character... in fact, I think he's about the dumbest addition to the Marvel Universe ever. I mean, c'mon... a guy with a skull on his shirt that has absolutely no super powers and just shoots the bad guys with a bunch of military-grade rifles and machine guns? Not for me, thanks. Yeah, yeah, I know there's a huge Punisher fan base out there... he's got a tragic and complicated backstory and his comics are full of gritty realism.... but Marvel makes comic books people! It just doesn't work for me to have the Punisher interacting with the likes of the Mighty Thor or the Fantastic Four. What I personally enjoy is the goofy, non-realistic side of comic books. If I want to see a Vietnam Vet running around shooting people, I'll watch Rambo... actually I wouldn't, because those films are even stupider than any Punisher comic book out there.

So why do I own this figure, you ask? Well, I certainly got him cheap enough... I think I paid $5 for him at a trade show, and he came with everything you see in the above photo except for the handgun (glock?). Again, he's another one of those 'angry' action figures that might look funny sitting in Barbie's Dream Mansion. (You may remember that I have two young daughters who have a ton of girly toys... I swear that I don't personally own any Barbies or Barbie-related accessories.) Best part about the Punisher is the M-16 that he came with... I'm not any kind of a gun nut mind you, but there are a lot of comedic possibilities with weapons of any sort.

(*insert psychotic laughter here*)

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Marvel Legends Series 6 -

Wolverine

There are a billion versions of this guy too. This one is by far the coolest one - the legendary 'Brown Suit' Wolverine. He was originally packaged with a sort of 'dojo' backdrop, complete with Sensei. Of course, like most of my Marvel Legends collection, he was purchased loose (ie; unpackaged) and I didn't get any accessories with him. My Brown Wolverine has some wonky bends in his claws too - I guess that's why I got him so cheap... from Hong Kong no less. I guess he was a 'factory second' or something like that.

In any case, he's badass, and he sports a sneer nasty enough to rival the great Billy Idol. As a sidenote, I don't know what the odds are on this, but it seems that every single one of the figures in this particular batch are sculpted to look seriously pissed off. Come to think of it, I think the only figures that I own that are actually smiling are the Green Goblin (more of a maniacal grin, really) and Ghost Rider (who can't help looking that way... he has no lips, eyes, eyebrows or any other facial features whatsoever... he's all skull and teeth!)

Back to Wolverine... Of course, I'm going to have to pose him with the Hulk to re-create the endlessly re-created first meeting of these two... seems they just can't leave each other alone. True to form, Wolvie (Logan to his friends) is scaled a good bit shorter than many other ML figs. Put him next to the Hulkster and he looks absolutely tiny... but still nasty of course...

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Marvel Legends -

The Savage She-Hulk

If you thought all those dudes looked angry, get a load of She-Hulk. Although she's not nearly as gigantic as the better known He-Hulk, she's taller than most other superhero figs of the same 6" scale, male or female. She's got a crazy greenish-black rat's nest of hair and a face seething with unchecked rage. Her left hand is sculpted as though she's about ready to claw your eyes out with her long green fingernails... more like ready claw your entire face off...

There are of course multiple versions of everyone's favorite gamma glamour queen, but the the Savage She-Hulk is definitely more desirable. Here's why:

*Removeable dress - Hello!!!*

Well, that good enough reason for ya, Fanboy? With a bod like that, she's going to cause quite a stir in the world of Everyday Heroes.

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D.C. Universe Classics -

Aquaman

I have a special place in my heart for Aquaman... I mean, I've always found him a little bit lame, but I kind of feel sorry for him. I think it's the orange shirt, really. That and the fact that, although he's always been a Justice League alumni, he's not really in the same 'league' as the other DC heroes. Batman has the whole detective/gadget shtick down pat, Green Lantern can create physical manifestations of anything he can imagine, the Flash can run around the world in like 5 seconds, and Superman... well, Superman can do just about anything. Aquaman, on the other hand, can swim really fast and speak with fish. Given the fact that most Justice League adventures take place on dry land, well... he's just a little bit useless.

This photo isn't a great indication, but his figure sports a very stoic look on his face... almost as if he's about to snap... Maybe he's been overhearing all the trash-talk that the other heroes have been doing behind his back.

Oh, and I didn't get his awesome trident when I bought him. Personally, I think he looks better sporting the Punisher's M-16:

(Spidey had this comin'...)

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NECA Toys -

Classic Predator

Not a superhero, nor a supervillain; just a kickass huge scary-looking alien. You've got to love the Predators. These guys have taken on Ridley Scott's Aliens, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jesse 'The Body' Ventura, Carl Weathers, Danny Glover and even Adrian Brody. (For some reason, that last one doesn't sound all that impressive...) They've got infrared heat-vision, a personal cloaking device, poison darts, spears, guns, claws and just about any other doo-dad you can imagine. Each one of them is kind of like a seven foot tall Batman on acid.

Although I only have a passing interest in the Predator film franchise, you have to admit that the figure is a pretty cool one to have. I don't know if he came with any accessories or not. I only received what you see in the photo for my $6 (shipping included!). It's amazing what kind of deals you can get when you don't mind ordering from Asia and waiting two months for shipment...

I guess that this guy doesn't really qualify as an 'angry' action figure, but it is pretty hard to imagine that there's a big happy smile under that facemask.

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That about does it for now. I have been promising another episode of my web comic for at least two months now, and I'm just now finally getting around to doing it. Uh, hello? If you've been keeping up, you'd know that I just recently relocated my entire family to another province... kinda keeps ya busy, y'know?

I'll try to keep a little more up-to-date with this blog in the coming months, but please don't get on my case.

In the immortal words of Bill Bixby:

"Don't make me angry - you wouldn't like me when I'm angry."

Until we meet again,

May the Force be with you...

Ahhhh.... Nature...

2011-05-25T14:25:00.001-05:00

One thing, or rather three things that I find myself more willing and able to do since relocating to Vancouver Island is(are): hiking, biking and photographing. I think I've found myself in one of the best places in Canada to do any and all of those things. The scenery is breathtaking, and the trail networks are extensive and offer great hikes for everyone, from newcomers to the most experienced back country campers...

Sounds like a brochure, doesn't it? Well, the truth is that I feel like I'm living in one... and I've still only been reading the cover... There are so many recreational opportunities out here that I couldn't possibly find myself without a new place to explore. And there's so much damn nature everywhere!!

So... here's another glimpse of it...

Puntledge River, Courtenay BC

Funky Undergrowth, Morrison Creek Park, Courtenay BC

Beaufort Mtn. Range, seen from Courtenay Airpark

Morrison Creek

Bleeding Heart Tree...

The Forest Moon of Endor!

Endor meets Dagobah...

Comox Lake

The Comox Glacier

I'm hoping that you're enjoying these little glimpses of the most beautiful place on earth... I know that I'll never get tired of shooting these photos, and anytime I can't think of anything to blog about... I'll have a million photos as backup filler material...

Once again,

May the Force be with you...

THOR - movie review

2011-05-13T18:44:00.000-05:00

Normally I like to do more than one movie review at a time, but having been a fan of Marvel Comics, and specifically The Mighty Thor since I was a child, I thought this might deserve its own entry... plus its probably going to be pretty long, and I don't want y'all falling asleep on me...

THOR

I'll admit I was worried about how the movie studios would pull this off. Marvel Comics has built up such an incredibly rich backstory for this character that it seemed literally impossible to cover everything in one film. With comic books, they had the luxury of splitting the story into countless issues and adding and changing stuff wherever they saw fit; here they had to throw it all at us in one shot and hope for the best, as well as try to keep us entertained with action, humour and a hint of romance (as we expect in all Hollywood films). With THOR, they have succeeded - in spades.

Of course we all know by now that Thor (God of Thunder), Loki (God of Mischief), Odin (the All-Father), etc. are all figures from Norse (Viking) Mythology. Many of us know this simply because we've read the comic books, and are familiar with things like Mjolnir (Thor's Hammer), Bifrost (the Rainbow Bridge), Asgard (home of the Gods) and Jotunheim (home of the Frost Giants). Who says ya can't learn nuthin' from comic books? I think the movie did a fine job of covering these somewhat fantastical concepts without dumbing it down for the layman (ie; non-comic book fan). Going into this film as a self-professed comic book scholar, I was pleasantly surprised by their coverage of the extensive source material while still delivering a top-notch fantasy/action movie.

Marvel studios have built a rich screen mythology of its own with its big screen adaptation of comic book heroes and concepts. We all know about The Avengers, which they've been alluding to for years now. A few years back when I first heard about this, I was skeptical, but after witnessing the increasingly good quality of other Marvel films, I'm sure its going to be great. I love the fact that we get little cameos from iconic comic characters in every film so far - Nick Fury, Clint Barton (aka Hawkeye), Sam Stearns (the Leader, from the Incredible Hulk film and comics), the Black Widow (in Iron Man 2), etc. etc. etc.... One of the coolest things about watching comic book-based movies is these little references that only us 'real fans' would recognize. THOR is full of those as well.

Getting back to the actual film at hand, I think that the writers did a great job of working (or rather, re-working) all of the characters and concepts from the comic into the film without making it too cheesy. There's a few changes, like the absence of Donald Blake (more commonly known as the mortal identity of Thor), the fact that Jane Foster is a physicist instead of a nurse, and how the Asgardians were portrayed as a little more 'extraterrestrial' and a little less 'divine'... these are all just petty details... garnish if you will. The real entree here is the action, and we get lots of it, starting about 10 minutes into the film with a hammer-slinging, dimension-spanning, giant-smashing expedition to Jotunheim, and then of course much later as Thor and his fellow Asgardians find themselves battling the Destroyer (the indestructible construct of Odin, manipulated by the treacherous Loki). There's also a good helping of humor in the movie as well - mostly in the form of Thor getting whacked in the head as he walks among mortals and tries to cope with the loss of his powers... a little more slapstick than I was expecting, but it worked rather well for me...

One difference that was notable for me was the fact that the Thunder God only wore his trademark winged helmet for about 5 seconds in the film. Not a big deal, because it actually is pretty dorky-looking. Thor himself also spouted off a lot less of the "thees" and "thous" and other examples of the somewhat florid speech patterns that one sees in the comic books. I guess its enough of a stretch to get your average (non-comic geek) moviegoers to accept the Norse God of Thunder walking amongst us mere mortals - we don't want to scare them all away with a bunch of ridiculous sayings, like "I say thee, Nay!" and "by Odin's beard!" and whatnot. I'm happy that they got away with as much as they did...

Overall, this is a great film. To me, this ranks up there with the best of the Marvel Comics movies, like Spider-man and even enters into the greatness of Lord of the Rings and (dare I say) Star Wars territory... This film makes me really wish I hadn't sold off 80% of my collection of The Mighty Thor comics. I did so just before the movie came out, just in case it sucked and no one wanted them after it came out. Turns out I made a huge mistake! With the apparent success of the film, I'm sure I could have doubled my money at this point! Damn! Curse thee, Marvel Studios!! I'll hold no grudges, however... it really is a great film.

As impressed as I was with it, I can do no less than give THOR a resounding A+

Choke on that, non-believers!!

...but anyway,

May the Force be with you...

Vancouver Island Newbie

2011-05-09T02:20:00.001-05:00

To anyone that actually keeps up with my blog, I'd like to say two things:
1) Thank you - it still amazes me that anyone reads this!
2) I am truly sorry for the delay in posts, and the somewhat random nature of the posts - you may be looking for web comics, or movie reviews, or photography, or comics, or whatever... I seem to jump around a lot in my subject material. Sorry it has been so long since my last post - again. Not like you care...

Anyway, in case I haven't bragged enough about moving, I may as well tell you one more time - my life has taken a major left turn. I accepted a job within my company that has taken me from my hometown of Winnipeg to the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island.

Vancouver Island!! The coolest island in Canada!! And I'm livin' there!! (Sorry Newfoundland... I'm sure it's cool there too, but I've never been there.) The scenery here is AMAZING (mountains, ocean, yadda, yadda) and the people are awesome!! I couldn't be happier!!

That doesn't mean that I was unhappy in Winnipeg. Far from it! I've only been here for a few weeks, and I find myself missing home just about every day. Part of me really misses the traffic... the cold... the attitude - c'mon Winnipeggers, you know what I mean, right?

Anyway, I wanted to post some photos from my new home. The following were taken in and around Victoria, Courtenay, Comox and Vancouver Island in general. More will follow these, in time of course - give me a break, willya!?! I just got here!!

The Harbour (but not the Inner Harbour), Victoria

I know these grow all over Canada, but I just like this picture... and I thought my wife might like it too...

Buckley Bay

Tallest tree for miles around - Buckley Bay

Union Bay B.C. (I think - this was snapped out the window of a moving vehicle)

Puntledge Park, Courtenay B.C.

Courtenay B.C.

I told you it was beautiful here!! My sparse selection of photos taken at this point are not really representitive of the true beauty of Vancouver Island. Like I said, there are many more to follow. One thing that is definitely different about my life here is the amount of exercise that I get on a daily basis. There are so many hills!! Or at least way more than a prairie boy like me is used to...

Overall, I'd say I'm adjusting pretty well. I haven't fallen off a mountain, been attacked by a bear or been in an earthquake, so I'm good. I'm thinking of changing the name of this blog to "Prairie Boy in Mountain Town" or something like that..... but then what the hell would action figures and comics have to do with that?

Oh well. See you next time,

May the Force be with you...

Parting Shots - Part 1

2011-04-05T16:44:00.000-05:00

So.... we're doing it. The Bailer Bunch are moving to B.C. No longer will we be able to call ourselves 'Winnipeggers' (I'm not sure if there's a double G in that).

"I'm leaving - on a jet plane. / Don't know when I'll be back again..."

Kind of a sad song, isn't it? Well, that's the song that's been running through my head in the last little while. Man, that John Denver really knows how to capture the mood. It's all true. I am leaving, and I really don't know when I'll be back again...but I guess it's not going to be all that long. I'm sure that we'll make many trips back this way in the future. I just don't know exactly when.

I'd prefer to come back on summer holidays, when my ears won't fall off from exposure if I forget my toque. No thanks. I don't want to come back in mosquito season, either. That sucks. And let's not forget that spring melting period when all the snowbanks on the side of the road turn to grey and brown from all the sand they put on the roads in the winter, and that muddy/sandy slush-like matter seems to be everywhere... If you're from, or have ever been to Winnipeg you probably know what I mean. (I imagine it gets like that in other prairie cities too.)

I never would have imagined this in million years, but I guess someday I'll find myself saying:

"Hop in the car, kids! This summer - we're goin' to WINNIPEG!! WHOO-HOO!!!"

Again, if you're from Winnipeg, you'd get the sarcasm. Sometimes it seems like this is the biggest city in Canada where nothing ever happens.

But I'm not posting this to rag on my hometown. The cold, the bugs, the lack of landscape - I'm actually going to miss all that stuff someday. I'm sure that if I ever get attacked by a mountain lion while hiking in BC, right in the middle of it, I'll be thinking that Manitoba mosquitoes weren't so bad after all.

Anyway, the whole point of this article was to post some images that I've shot around Winnipeg in the last few years. I have a trillion more, but I just want to put them out there to show you all that I actually do appreciate this city. There's an amazing amount of beauty here. Sure, I've got a few complaints (as anyone would about the city they live in), but there's a uniqueness about Winnipeg that I have not encountered anywhere else that I've been. It's hard to put a finger on it. I think it has something to do with being right in the middle of Canada; the 'Crossroads of the Nation' effect; a state of Limbo, if you will. Literally and/or figuratively, we'll all be passing through there someday.

Just make sure you bring a pair of mitts and some bug spray..

Until next time:

May the Force be with you...

Top 10 Things I'll Miss About Winnipeg

2011-03-31T14:49:00.000-05:00

This time around, I have a really good reason for the long gap between posts. You may have heard from this blog or perhaps Facebook that I was hoping to move to British Columbia. Well, that is now the case. I have accepted a job in Courtenay, BC on Vancouver Island. I will be on a plane to get there on April 23rd. My wife and kids will follow in mid-June, once our house is sold and we have a new place in Courtenay. Obviously, lots of details have to be taken care of, and my time is limited; thus the delay in blogs.

I would love to list all the reasons we have for wanting to move there, but we'll have to do that later. I think first I'd like to say a few things about where we come from, and why it'll be so hard to leave. I'm sure I've left a thousand things off of this list, but here goes:

Top 10 things I'll miss about Winnipeg

1 - Friends, Family and Co-Workers
I think this goes without saying, but it needs to be said. Less contact with those back home is obviously going to be the worst part about moving. I have a bzillion memories of growing up and living in Winnipeg (specifically Transcona), but the best things about those memories are the people in them, not the places or things involved. Winnipeggers are the most genuinely friendly people in the world (even if a little cynical at times). I sincerely will miss you all! I expect each and every one of you to come out and visit!!

2 - The Hi Neighbour Festival

Perhaps not a particularly unique event to the eyes of an outsider, Transcona's summer street festival is a great place to take the kids - full of rides, games, music, mini donuts and all. Of course, the reason I'll miss this so much is because I remember being a kid there, and I've taken my own kids to the Hi Neighbour too. Hopefully they had as much fun as I did when I was little. The festival has its own mascot, Hi Neighbour Sam, who has recently been liberated from his enslavement at the hands of the sinister Canadian Tire corporation. Oh, and you usually do see your neighbours at the festival... and say hi...

3 - The Manitoba Museum
A few years back, Winnipeg's premier museum underwent a name change, dropping its former, diabolically sexist moniker, 'The Museum of Man and Nature'. (Try to imagine the talk radio broadcasts around this time.) It has always been a top quality museum, but since the name change we began to see a great deal of new exhibits, upgrades and improvements. The relatively recent Parklands Gallery is pretty slick and really caters to the 'family outing' crowd, but I'd still have to say that my favorite part is still the Nonsuch Gallery. Pretty neat to walk onto a full-size ship in the middle of Downtown Winnipeg.... which leads us to:

4 - Downtown Winnipeg
When I was a kid, it was considered safe for two 9 year-olds to take the bus by themselves all the way from the extreme east end of the city all the way downtown (about a 40 minute ride). If you live in Winnipeg, or have checked the statistics on criminal activity here lately, this would seem like a really bad idea nowadays. Downtown used to be full of awesome comic stores, movie theatres, book stores, music dealers, a library, a museum, enclosed skywalks, toy stores, food courts, and everything else a pre-teen kid would be interested in. I guess most of that stuff is still around, but ever since they closed the legendary Metropolitan Theatre and Eaton's, things have changed a lot - for the worst, in my opinion. There are way less theatres (I believe it's down to two now, as opposed to nine or ten when I was a kid), less comic stores (understandable with the comic book market crash of the 90's) and food courts are now full of drug dealers and street gangs. (Let's hope that's something that fewer pre-teen kids are interested in). With all this, there's no way in hell I'd let my kids go downtown without parents until they're at least 15, and even then, I'll need to know explicitly who they're with and where they're going. In a way, I guess I already miss downtown Winnipeg...

5 - Manitoba Beaches
Although it's pretty much a given that you have to drive at least an hour from Winnipeg to get to see any type of landscape at all, living at the low spot of the Canadian Prairies does have the advantage of having lots of of sandy beaches. Grand Beach is usually considered the best one in Manitoba, but it's also the most crowded. Summers here can be blistering hot sometimes, and a drive to the beach is always a great day trip. There's usually good camping around the lakes too, so an overnight stay is also fun. Just don't get busted with open liquor, eh?

6 - The Music Scene
I have played onstage in a few bands in my day, most notably Homesick, Mikado, and Force of Habit. You may not have heard of any of these, but the beauty of the Winnipeg music scene is the sheer number and variety of bands that can be seen at any of the clubs on any given night of the week. From my experience, some of the best places for a band to play are the Pyramid, the West End Cultural Centre, the Royal Albert (watch out for weirdos!), Ozzie's, the Zoo and the Central (in Transcona). There's also a really great network of extremely talented players in this town, and I've had the pleasure of meeting a great number of them; having either shared the playbill with or photographed them in the past. It's been a really cool experience to rub shoulders with the likes of Propagandhi, The Hummers and The Watchmen. I may or may not continue my music career in British Columbia, but I'll never forget all the great times and great concerts I've seen or played in here. BTW, some great current Winnipeg bands to keep an eye on are In Circles, Psychotic Gardening, and ASADO. I think that's enough name-dropping for now.

7 - SOCIALS!!
This is something that is pretty unique to Manitoba. I suppose there could be similar events held elsewhere under a different name, but this is basically a pre-wedding cash grab or sports team fundraising event disguised as a kick-ass party. I haven't attended one in a long time, but here are a few things that you'll always see or hear at a Manitoba Social:
-Underagers sneaking drink tickets
-Old Time Rock and Roll by Bob Seger
-FREE rye bread, kolbassa, pickles and Old Dutch brand rippled potato chips
-Grandpa getting loaded and Grandma leaving early
-Mony Mony by Billy Idol ("Hey mother****er, get laid, get ****ed!")
-Cheap liquor
-Silent auctions/prize draws for the "extra large bottle of perfume"
-You Shook Me All Night Long by AC/DC
-Drunken fist fights in the parking lot
Ahhh...the memories....

8 - Festival Du Voyageur
Winnipeg has a very large and prominent Francophone community, and for a week or so every February, all of Winnipeg gets to go walk around outside in the freezing cold and look at ice sculptures, eat pea soup and maple sugar, explore a fort and take a toboggan ride or two, all while learning about the history of the Voyageurs and indeed the history of Winnipeg itself. Although I have recently been put off by the large crowds, high prices and less than ideal weather, this is an experience you definitely wouldn't want to miss if you find yourself in Winnipeg in the middle of one of it's coldest months. Winter carnivals are a great way to stave off cabin fever and the subsequent cannibalism which can sometimes follow...

9 - Everything is cheaper in Winnipeg
I don't know what it is, but people from Winnipeg love a deal. Instead of bragging about how much something we own is worth, we brag about how much we saved. Moving to BC probably seems like a really stupid move to my fellow Manitobans, and I can't count on both hands how many people in the last week alone have repeated the same joke to me about how the letters BC stand for "bring cash". That being said, prices have been steadily going up and up here anyway, and I've never been one to count my pennies in the checkout line. (That's right Grandmas! I'm talkin' to you!!) Still, I agree it would be nice to continue to pay less for everything - from beer, gasoline, taxes, food, clothing, insurance, utilities, you name it. I don't consider myself cheap (I know a lot of people who are way worse), but I suppose I'll probably complain a lot about the prices after the move, and curse all the 'rich bastards' who can actually afford whatever they want...

10 - It's my home
I grew up here. I have family and tons of great friends here. Many of my relatives are buried here. Since I learned that our move was a certainty, I'm filled with a certain sadness every time I pass by a place that I remember from growing up. Over here is my old elementary school; over there is where I drank my first sip of Jack Daniels; that's the house where my best friend used to live; that's where I lost my virginity (finally); etc., etc... you get what I'm saying. On my first visit back to Winnipeg, I'm going to go to all these places again, and I'm going to call up all the people I used to hang out with - well, at least all the ones who'll still hang out with me... I wouldn't be who I am if it weren't for Winnipeg (and again, specifically Transcona), and I'll never forget my roots.

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That's it for the list, but there's obviously going to be things I forgot to mention. In keeping with the traditional format of the 'Top 10', some things had to be sacrificed. No one ever makes 'Top 14' lists...

As a quick side note, I am currently in the process of liquidating many of my non-essential belongings, including camera gear, comics, action figures, books, movies, Cd's, furniture and more. Keep an eye out for my Ebay store and Kijiji listings to get a great deal, Winnipeggers!

Though this is not the end of my blog, it is sadly the end of an era. If you know me personally and want to know more about the move and want to catch up before I go, please feel free to drop me a line at andonator2000@yahoo.ca . I can't promise that I'll have a lot of time, but I will do my absolute best to get in touch with everyone I can. As I said, I'm going to miss you all when I'm gone.

May the Force be with you...

Fist of the Samurai Schmuck

2011-03-22T14:10:00.000-05:00

Once again, it's been what seems like an eternity between posts for me, but I don't like to put anything out there if I don't really have anything worthy to say. This time around, I'm going to pump out some quick movie reviews to hopefully get things going on this blog again, mostly just to let you know that I'm still here and I'm not dead or anything.

I've told you before that I am an avid Netflix watcher, and all but one of these films were viewed on there. I think I like the ability to instantly watch some obscure movie that I've always wanted to see but never wanted to pay for. Yes, I guess I am paying for it with my monthly subscription fee, but I can always turn off a movie that I don't like and start watching something else. There's enough stuff on there that I feel I could never be stuck without something worth watching.

(Once again, Netflix Execs can contact me and send payment for my advertising services at any time...)

Here are some notable films I've seen recently, good and bad:

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Kagemusha

Excellent film! I was impressed by Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai, generally regarded as one of the best movies ever made, but I was equally blown away by Kagemusha, which was made some 26 years later with a much bigger budget. Now I am not by nature an 'artsy-fartsy' film fan, as a lot of fans of Kurosawa seem to be, but something is very cool about watching his movies... like I'm learning something about Japanese culture and history and being entertained at the same time. And who doesn't like watching movies about Samurai?

This film is about a thief who impersonates the Warlord Shingen after his death in order to keep his passing secret. He does it so well and resembles him so strongly that he manages to fool the enemy as well as members of his own household, who are utterly convinced that the imposter is truly Lord Shingen. I guess you could say it's kind of like the same story as Garfield:A Tale of Two Kitties, but there's no talking animals and no happy ending where Garfield and Odie go home with Jennifer Love Hewitt. In fact, it's sort of tragic and not really happy at all...

Visually, this is a very compelling movie - the sets and landscapes are all beautiful, the costumes are elaborate and the battle scenes are epic and realistic. Kagemusha has the same slow and steady pacing that you'd expect from Akira Kurosawa, but I think this really allows one to feel immersed in the setting and fully absorb the weight of the situations presented in the story. Although I don't think I could accurately describe it to someone who's never seen this type of film before, I highly recommend it to anyone who actually likes to think while they're watching movies. It makes you feel smart for having watched it. There, I said it.

A+

Fist of the North Star

This actually made me feel dumber for having seen it. I honestly don't know what to say about this..... Wow. This is one of the weirdest and stupidest movies I've seen in a long time... The film is set in a post-apocalyptic (ie: Road Warrior -like) world where only the greatest martial artists and the most desperate peasants survive, and only one man can rise against the oppressive regime of the ruling Southern Cross Kung Fu school. So... basically, civilization as we know it depends solely on the 'Fist of the North Star', a guy who looks like the lead singer of a crappy 80's glam-metal band that can make people's heads and inner organs explode just by punching them rapidly and repeatedly in certain deadly pressure points. That's the jist of it. Yeah, there's some other stuff about avenging the dead father and fulfilling the one's destiny, yadda yadda... standard fantasy stuff.... whatever.

This straight-to-video monstrosity is based on what I'm told is a far superior manga epic by the same name. Maybe it's the live action aspect of it that doesn't translate so well... Perhaps it could be the poor acting by the lead characters, who seem to have been cast mostly for their martial arts prowess (Christopher Penn as an evil henchman is by far the best actor in this film, but his kung fu just isn't there...)... Maybe it's the low-budget, ridiculous-looking gore you see throughout the film.... Whatever. Who cares. It sucks. It sucks bad enough to be funny, but it's not funny enough to keep you watching it. I think I only made it about 3/4 of the way through this, so I guess this really isn't a qualified review. I suppose something drastic could have happened in the last 20 minutes to redeem the rest of this Hollywood hack job, but I wasn't about to stick around to find out. I guess you could put this on for a laugh if you're a sucker for terrible movies, but for God's sake, please don't pay for it!

D-

Dinner For Schmucks

Yes, it's as funny as you would expect. Steve Carrell and Paul Rudd are great together as usual, and Zach Galfiankis puts in a worthy cameo too. There's way too much crazy stuff in here to talk about, but let's just say that I almost wet myself several times. Being a fan of dioramas and miniature scenery, I'd have to say that one of my favorite things about the movie was Barry(Steve Carrell)'s dead mouse creations. Call me a schmuck if you will, but this is basically the same type of thing that I love to do with toys and action figures instead of mice...

Dinner For Schmucks follows a typical comedy movie template - ie: nice guy does something unusual or not so nice to get ahead in life with hilarious results, girlfriend leaves and/or everyone hates him, makes a big speech/heartfelt apology and everything turns out fine for the protagonist, and all the jerks get their comeuppance in the end. Oh well - we see comedies to laugh, not for the original or realistic plots. This film is full of funny people doing what they do best. Not the best comedy I've seen all year, but it's definitely worth a viewing.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians:

The Lightning Thief

I won't say much about this other than to give it the distinction of being a blatant American Harry Potter rip-off. The special effects are neat, and the Greek Mythology aspect is interesting, but the whole thing goes through the motions methodically, predictably and flat. Cool CGI monsters aside, it's all a bunch of blah-blah-blah epic world-saving magic sword/magic amulet/magic map/treasure hunt whatever. Seen it all before, just in different combinations and dressed up in different backgrounds and settings.

"You're a wizard, Harry!"

...no wait...

"You're a Demigod, Percy!"

C

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As you can see, I don't like everything, and I don't hate everything either. I have a big backlog of movies I want to review, but so little time to do it. Don't be surprised if it's another month between movie reviews - if in fact that is what you tuned in for.

BTW, if you came here looking for zany superhero antics, Everyday Heroes #5 is on the way and will follow shortly. Don't worry - this time around it won't be nearly as long as the last one...

Take care for now.

May the Force be with you...

SUPERHERO SUPERPARTY!!

2011-03-02T14:01:00.000-06:00

After a month-long absence, you'd think I'd ease back into the blog with a few quick movie reviews, or some shameless self-promotion for my Ebay store...

Not this time, True Believers!

Here it is, in all it's glory! The long-awaited, super-mega-ultra-colossal 4th issue of

Everyday Heroes!!!

BTW, it's a long one, so grab yourself a drink, sit back, get comfy and enjoy this finely-crafted crowning opus of all web comics everywhere!

(Seriously, I hope you like it.)

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(click on the pages to view larger)

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I sure am glad I finally got that done! Now I can get back to reality for awhile and actually live a normal life.... I hope my family will still talk to me!

Until next time:

May the Force be with you...

Sex, Ducks & Rock n' Roll

2011-01-28T13:42:00.000-06:00

Now, of course, I am an action figure nut. No, I'm not that guy who has his entire collection carefully preserved to be MOC (mint on card, to the layman). I am something much worse. I actually still play with my toys, and you all should too.

For what are action figures without a little action? If we've learned anything from the trilogy of Toy Story films, it's that toys only want to be played with. Imagine the hellish life Buzz Lightyear would've had if Andy had left him in his original box...

Well, this Andy could never do that. My toys need to stretch their legs, to be free to go on adventures and live their lives... as dictated by me of course.

My vision for my toys is a wee bit different from that of the aforementioned Andy of the films. I like to explore the things that I think toys would really be doing if no one was looking... the seedier, uglier side of toy life. Check out some of these older posts to see what I'm talking about:

Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Jerk

Trashed!

Nunchuks and Cactus Juice

The Flying Circus of Evil

...and of course there's more on the way. In upcoming installments of Everyday Heroes, you will witness:

UNLIKELY ROMANCES!!

EVIL POOL PARTIES!!

ILLICIT DRUG USE!!

MALE BONDING!!

TORTURE AND HUMILIATION!!

...and MORE!!!

So stay tuned, will ya? The fun is just beginning!

Until then:

May the Force be with you...

The Comic Book Bucket List : Part II

2011-01-24T15:39:00.000-06:00

Here's the deal: you've been told by your doctor that you have 6 months to live. As many would, you decide to take a trip around the world. You're going to need something to read on the plane. It's going to be a long flight, so you'll need to bring a lot of comics.

I just so happen to have a few new ones in my Ebay store that are of suitable quality for the final voyage....

MAGNUS

ROBOT FIGHTER

4000 A.D.

An undeniable classic sci-fi comic series from the late 60's/early 70's. It's set far in the future and played out in the Buck Rogers/Flash Gordon style. Features a handsome muscley-man in wrestling shorts punching evil robots and saving the world. Campy and cool.

Magnus Robot Fighter #23

DAREDEVIL #43

"You-know-who" being Captain America of course. This is a classic early D.D. issue with an action-packed guest appearance and unlikely showdown between these two Silver Age Heroes. The year is 1968 - this is what all the coolest hippies were reading.

Daredevil #43

CAPTAIN SAVAGE

and his

Leatherneck Raiders

On the other side of the coin, this is what Marvel hoped that all the soldiers would be reading on the transport as they were shipped off to the 'Nam. I think they're supposed to be fighting the Japanese in WWII, but they never mention those details anywhere in this issue that I can recall. I especially love the cover of this one, featuring the Good Captain busting down the door with all guns blazing... What's really amazing is that with all the gunfire going off all over, almost no one ever gets killed. Kind of like all the Marvel Westerns that were out at the time....

Captain Savage #6

Uncanny X-Men

After enduring the flood of mutant-related comics to burst out of Marvel since the 80's, I think I'm feeling a little X-ed out. (X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, Astonishing X-Men, The New Mutants, X-Factor, X-Force, x-cetera, x-cetera...) I mean, it's a cool concept and all, but it's all been done to death. This particular issue (#175) is from right about where I started collecting X-Men. These are mutants in their prime, before the animated series came out and wrecked everything. Of course, I still feel that the John Byrne run of X-Men is the best, but #175 (a few years later) is nevertheless a good one. All of the coolest team members are in it: brown-suited Wolverine, mohawk Storm, Uber-German Nightcrawler, Lockheed the Dragon...what more could you want? Great art and a great double-length story inside.

X-Men #175

FANTASTIC FOUR

You simply cannot say goodbye to this world without reading at least a few issues of F.F. My rule of thumb when it comes to this series is; anything numbered under 100 is absolutely to die for, 100-200 are awesome, 200-300 are a great read, and anything over 300 is pure crap. The most desirable Fantastic Four comics for most collectors are of course the earliest ones, and the Galactus/Silver Surfer issues (#48-50) are of extremely high value as well. I believe that DC's Justice League may have predated F.F., but when it hit the shelves it blew the market wide open for superhero teams. I chose this particular issue to show because of the cover. There's just something amusing about the Thing in his trenchcoat...

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So..... are you going to wait until that final 6-month around the world trip, or are you going to get ahead of the game and read these comics now..... BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!?!?

Whatever you decide,

May the Force be with you...

EVERYDAY HEROES #3 - The Flying Circus of Evil

2011-01-19T22:34:00.000-06:00

Before I present to you the long-awaited (yeah, right...) third issue of Everyday Heroes, let me explain a few things. First off, the action does not take place within the structure of what you know as the Marvel or D.C. Universe. I'll borrow some details here and there, but I'm just working off of what I know about these characters, and which ones look funny together. There's no real framework for stories at all - it's all pretty ad lib. Let's just say it's all happening within the universe of the mind of a man who is far too old to be playing with toys.

Secondly, the pictures are all shot first (all off the top of my head), before any writing is done and certain 'story threads' may or may not be completely resolved.....and there will probably be numerous 'continuity errors'. No, you don't get a prize for pointing them out.

Thirdly, these are toys, people. Don't get all pissed at me if I ridicule your favorite heroes. Wake up! They're not real anyway!

Anyway - hope you like it.

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(Click on the images to view larger)

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BACK ISSUES:

Everyday Heroes #1

Everyday Heroes #2

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Thank you once again for reading (and it's OK if you just look at the pictures).

May the Force be with you...

Git R Done!

2011-01-05T15:52:00.000-06:00

Okay - tons of stuff to blog about today...bear with me.

First off, my hit counter just went over 1900, and that feels good. Less than 100 to close out the second millenium of posts! (I know it's not proper use of the word, but I love the word millenium - sounds so epic). Thanks again for reading! Normally, I get the most hits from Canada (being my Home and Native Land, eh) but this last month or so has seen far more views from the US. Thanks guys! I just want to say that, even though Americans sometimes get a bad rap on the world stage, I haven't met a single one that I didn't like, and I've been to your country about a bzillion times...I have seen a few on TV that I didn't like though.... Also a special shout out to all the people in other countries who visited. Some noteable ones include Russia, Denmark, Brazil, Netherlands, France and Slovenia. I wish I could say thank you in all your native languages, but that involves a lot of research for which I have no time. Thanks anyway! Unless, of course, you're just phishing or trying to spam me or steal my identity or something....in that case, please don't come back.

Just like everyone else, I found myself extremely busy over the Holidays, and thus haven't had a lot of free time to blog. Regardless, all of the family get-togethers and general good cheer all around me were well worth it. As a special side note to my relatives who came to spend their Holidays here in cold-ass Winnipeg, thanks again. Great seeing y'all! Shaken off that frostbite yet?

So let's take care of business. I want to talk about my toys, my comics and the movies I've seen. Since there's so much in every department, I'm going to skim over some highlights and try to cover as much as possible in one post. Here goes:

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Action Figures

I've got a lot of material for the next installment of Everyday Heroes, but I need a little time to actually put together the layout of the comic. I've already introduced some of the new cast members in my last post, but as a special sneak preview, here's some stuff you can expect to see in upcoming issues:

A new gang in town

Trouble in Springfield

A new Axis of Evil

A Silver Age Reunion

Sokka and Momo in Rehab

I'd show you more of what I'm working on, but that would ruin the suspense. (Trust me, it gets even stupider from here on in...)

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Comics

I've picked up over 200 new books in the last two months, and I've put a few of them up on EBay, but mostly I just want to show off some of my favorites.... such as:

Shogun Warriors #1

Not really a landmark series or a particularly valuable comic (although my copy of #1 is worth a few bucks in its condition), but Shogun Warriors is a comic that I grew up with. Remember those bagged 3-Paks of comics they sold in the 70s? No? Well, I do. That's right, I'm old. This comic was released in one of those but I can't remember what else came in the bag. I do remember that Marvel also packaged the first 3 issues of Star Wars in one of those 3-Paks.... and I think Micronauts too. Anyway, I have a few issues of Shogun Warriors, and I've always loved the series. It features great Herb Trimpe art and has giant robots and monsters in it. Its all good.

Devil Dinosaur #1

Roaring forth from the kooky 70s era of Jack Kirby classics comes Devil Dinosaur - an epic tale of hairy ape-men, raging dinos and alien invaders all struggling for power in a prehistoric world where science and simple logic haven't been invented yet. Pretty silly, but very cool if you can shut your brain off for a while. Not a very long running series (I think it only hit 9 issues or so), but it contains some of Kirby's best art since his Silver Age runs of Fantastic Four and Thor. I remember reading this way back when I was a wee lad - I still get tears in my eyes when I read Devil Dinosaur.

The Tomb of Dracula #16

I have a whole bunch of issues of this series, having only recently discovered it. This particular one has a very cool cover and a neat little story inside. I've always found Dracula to be a cheesy character, and he doesn't get much cheesier than this. Although the art in the series is good, I think it's the writing that really stands out in T.O.D. Sometimes its a little wordy, but this comic reads like no other Marvel title from its time. It doesn't have the rapid pacing of a superhero book, but its laid out like a true horror comic should be - full of great suspense and shocking revelations. Good build of the characters too - even if they all die before the end of the issue. Tomb of Dracula comics are hard to find and are of relatively high value. That being said, I have a whole bunch more issues in the FN to NM range that will be up for sale in upcoming months.

Daredevil #39

This one is up for auction RIGHT NOW! (Or at least until Sun. January 9th 2011 if you're reading this late.) I love the art in these old Daredevil issues - big panels full of colorful action. D.D. kicks ass in this one. I have about a half dozen Silver Age issues that are going to be listed on EBay very soon. #39 is a great example of the conditions that they are in - nice bright cover with little to no flaws and crisp clean pages - nothing below the FN (6.0) range. Keep an eye on my EBay store if you're interested in owning any of them.

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Movies

Despicable Me

Got this for X-Mas, and it turned out to be a little better than I expected. I love Steve Carell's accent in the movie, and Jason Siegel does a pretty good job of the voice over too. Also very touching with Gru's interaction with the three little girls and their bonding by the end. My kids loved it and it made them laugh a lot - good job Universal!

A-

Fubar

Caught this one on Netflix. I'd seen it when it first hit the video store in 2002, but by this time I'd forgotten just how funny it is. I swear I knew two guys exactly like Dean & Terry back in the day, and I even see a little bit of my teen/early 20s self in them, all of which makes it all the more hilarious. If you ever grew up as a 'banger' in Western Canada, you'd relate to this film....and you've probably already seen it and loved it. The whole 'mockumentary' format really works here. I can't wait to see the sequel!

Gremlins

Yeah, we've all seen it. I saw it for the first time in the theatre in 1984 and loved it, but grew a little tired of it by the time I'd hit my twenties. It's got all of the expected Spielbergian cuteness, sappiness, product placement, morality lessons and 'kids vs adults' dynamics to it, but it also has a surprising amount of colorful language, violence and goriness for its era and rating. I guess it just goes to show what Hollywood's top filmaker could get away with at the top of his game in the 80s... Just like Back to the Future and The Goonies, Gremlins presents us with a whole bunch of exaggerated one-dimensional characters in the adult roles while playing out all the younger characters as the diverse and intelligent ones in the story. All that aside, Gremlins is still quite a funny and imaginative film.... and we've got it on Blu-Ray, so I have to like it or I'll feel like I wasted the extra money.

...And there aren't too many other movies where you get to see a bunch of puppets smoking and drinking and flopping around like idiots... that is until we get to see The Muppets Take Las Vegas.

B+

Great movie! Worthy of all the awards. Like all Pixar films, it's sad and heartwarming while being exciting and funny all at once. Dug the dog steals the show throughout, and Kevin the bird looks hilarious. Good use of the digital scenery and great detail in the animation. This is a wonderful film for both young and old alike. It really does make you feel good by the time its over. Just a shade less sad than Toy Story 3, but just as funny and entertaining.

A+

(You may have noticed that I don't give a lot of negative reviews for movies on my blog. This is mainly because I'm so picky with movies and have so little time to write about them that only the really noteworthy stuff gets through. I highly recommend you read My Year in Movies if you want to get a more objective opinion on a more diverse selection of movies than you'll find here. That blog belongs to friend of mine who knows a lot more about movies and filmmaking than I do.)

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Okay, I guess that'll do it for today. I think I covered a grat deal of material in just one post. I'll consider it an honor if you've actually read this far... I'm impressed by your stamina. Stay tuned for more soon!!

May the Force be with you...

The Legends Return!

2010-12-29T14:46:00.001-06:00

First off, I hope everyone is having (or has had) a great Holiday season! Mine was very good - got to spend lots of time with family and friends and of course my traditional X-Mas bottle of Drambuie .... (mmm...sweet golden liquor...). Warmest wishes to everyone who helped make this a great winter holiday (you'll note I'm being non-denominational here), May the Force be with you, one and all..

And now back to the expected nerdy weirdness...

I've accquired a few new action figures lately, as well as having parted with a few old favorites. Power Man is gone, as well as Kingpin, both casualties of the recent Central Canada Comic Con this last October. (You've read all about that here already, right?) Theirs was an acceptable loss, since each went for a good price, and I brought home this awesome replacement:

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Marvel Legends

Elektra / Ronin

Two-Pack

I've never really followed the stories of these two characters, and I don't really know much about them, but I'll share what little info I've got on them. Of course, I could link you to their respective Wikipedia pages or their entries on Marvel.com, but nothing is more fun than reading a review by someone who doesn't know jack, am I right?

- Elektra is a former love interest of Daredevil. Where their relationship stands at this point, I don't know or care.

- Elektra first appeared in Daredevil #168, was killed by Bullseye in Daredevil #181. Since then, I'm sure that Marvel's writers and artists have resurrected/re-killed/re-resurrected her a bunch of times. (Comics do that a lot, eh?)

- Ronin is actually a bunch of characters who all apparently look the same and kill people with swords & nunchuks. This version is alias Clint Barton, better known as Hawkeye (the archer, longtime Avenger). Although I haven't been current with Marvel books lately, I've read that Ronin was at one time a deaf girl and also one of Moon Knight's multiple personalities.

Like I said, I'm not really a fan of these characters, but I couldn't pass up this deal. I wanted the Elektra figure so I could have another female in my collection. She's way better than the mostly non-poseable Wonder Woman that I have, and comes with all the cool stuff you see in the package above. I like that she can hold a sword as well as her trademark sais, but why they gave her an extra head with a different hairstyle is beyond me. Ronin is a pretty cool-looking figure too, complete with a katana and a pair of nunchuks (which I can't seem to remove from his left hand without breaking his arm). He's pretty much your standard ninja, and I definitely needed to get one of those.

These two were purchased new in the package, which is rare for a cheap-ass like me. As you've already seen in Everyday Heroes, there's a boatload of comedic potential with these two, and I'm very happy with them.

So, as a note to Power Man and the Kingpin:

So long, suckas!!

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Marvel Legends

Ghost Rider

(Series 7)

This guy was on my list of 'Holy Grail' action figures - the most desireable and hardest to find characters; a list that also includes The Juggernaut (Ser. 6), Tigra, Savage She-Hulk, Vindicator, Brown Suit Wolverine and The Silver Surfer (see below). There have been a few Ghost Rider figures in the ML line, but this is the one I wanted most. I mean, check out those flames!!

The sculpt of this figure is amazing if you ask me... I love the detail of the skull and neck, and the realistic-looking leather riding outfit. His motorcycle looks pretty good and stands well on the shelf. You can remove the front shield portion of the bike so it looks more like a bad-ass chopper. I bought this figure mint in the package from a seller on Ebay, and though I considered keeping it this way to retain its value, I think I lasted a whole 5 minutes before I ripped the box open. Ghost Rider is just way too cool to be stuck in the package.

Here's some facts about the character:

-Real name: Johnny Blaze - motorcycle stuntman. First appeared in Marvel Spotlight #5 (1972).

-Made a deal with the Devil to save the life of his adopted father who was dying from cancer. He ended up dying in a motorcycle accident immediately after he was declared cancer-free, and Johnny was still indebted to Satan. (Just goes to show ya....)

-Transforms to the Ghost Rider when evil is present.

-Fights for the innocent and punishes the wicked.

- Was once a member of the ill-fated (and rapidly cancelled) super-team known as The Champions, which also included the Black Widow, Iceman, the Angel and Hercules.

-Was (horribly) portrayed in the (half-assed) 2007 film by Nicolas Cage. I've just read that there is a sequel scheduled for release in 2012, for reasons that are beyond my understanding...

- Has often worked with Marvel heavyweights like Spider-Man and the Thing (Marvel Team-Up and Marvel Two-In-One, respectively).

There's lots more history and stories about him, but basically, he's a flaming skeleton on a motorcycle - and that's about all you really need to know.

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Marvel Legends

Silver Surfer

(Series 5)

w/Howard the Duck

What these two guys are doing together, I don't know. One is the cosmically-powered sentinel of the spaceways and a former herald of Galactus; the other is a three foot anthropomorphic waterfowl. As far as I can recall, the Silver Surfer and Howard never appeared together. The toymakers decided to package them together for some reason, but the Silver Surfer packaged without Howard the Duck (and otherwise exactly the same) is actually worth a lot more. I really only wanted SS anyway, but when I ordered him loose, he still came with the Duck.

- Silver Surfer first appeared in Fantastic Four #48 (1966) and has been going strong in Marvel Comics ever since, having had at least 3 ongoing self-titled series. Often teams up with the Fantastic Four and the Avengers, and was once a member of the Defenders along with Namor the Sub-Mariner, the Hulk and Dr. Strange.

- Howard the Duck first appeared in Adventure into Fear #19 (1973), alongside the Man-Thing. Howard himself is not at all fearsome in any way, but he can sometimes be dreadfully un-funny.

- The Silver Surfer has battled Thor, the Hulk, Spider-Man and many other Marvel characters, but is for the most part a good guy - just misunderstood.

- Howard the Duck has battled no one in particular. I don't think I've ever seen him throw a punch. Most of his comics are concerned with political and societal disapproval, and there's not a lot of action.

- The Silver Surfer travels the universe on his Cosmic Surfboard.

- Howard the Duck lives in Cleaveland.

As you can see, these two are as different as night and day, and have no business being together. I guess that they really wanted to make a Howard the Duck Marvel Legends figure and couldn't really sell him on his own. I think he would have been better suited as a sidekick for the Man-Thing, since they've at least been in comics together. Either that, or they should've packaged him with a figure of Beverly Switzer, his longtime human female companion. His actual figure is a bit disappointing too - his feet aren't very stable and he falls over all the time. His beak is stuck wide open, and he doesn't come with his trademark cigar (but then again, you don't see a lot of toys with tobacco-related accessories). Actually, since he's in the proper scale, Howard the Duck looks kind of cool next to the other Marvel Legends figures that I have, and I have to admit that he does look pretty funny riding Ghost Rider's bike.

The Silver Surfer rocks. He comes with a cool stand and his feet are actually magnetized so he sticks to the metal on his board. He's well sculpted and painted, but I wish he had poseable fingers like some of the later figures, such as Spider-Man, Power Man and Moon Knight. Still, he's pretty awesome.

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I'm sure you'll see all of these figures in on this blog in the near future. I've also just recently got a 6" Superman figure as well, but since he's just a lowly DC character and not from the Marvel Legends line, he's not worthy of being in this blog entry. (Calm down DC fans, I'm only kidding...)

Happy New Year, and

May the Force be with you...

Stumblin' Through the Flix

2010-12-22T01:16:00.000-06:00

If you were hoping for some more zany action figure comic strips this time around, sorry to disappoint you. I do have a life, you know... As much as I love doing stuff like that, it is somewhat time-consuming, and time is a valuable commodity for me, especially during this holiday season. I don't want my blog to become a barren wasteland (though it might already be so intellectually), so I've got to write something. Movie reviews are always a good filler...

My wife just recently set us up with Netflix to play through our Nintendo Wii, and while I don't want to endorse either of these companies too heavily since they're not paying me anything (yet), I have to say that I'm more than happy with it so far. I don't see a lot of newer stuff on there - certainly not as much as you'd see in the local video store - but while browsing, I've stumbled upon a whole boatload of great movies and TV shows that I probably wouldn't see otherwise, unless I was specifically looking for them, which I wouldn't if I had to pay minimum $3 a pop to see them on DVD.

Here are a few of the movies I've seen on Netflix lately. I've also watched a lot of television shows (mostly cartoons), but talking about those would fill another blog post entitrely...

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SEVEN SAMURAI

A lot of people have obviously reviewed this film before me - this is considered by many to be one of the greatest films ever made. Not my #1 favorite film ever, but it definitely ranks up there among my Top Ten. I just saw it for the first time recently and I'm scolding myself for waiting so long to see it. In case you didn't know, Seven Samurai is also known for being the inspiration for The Magnificent Seven, which is considered to be one of the best Western films of all time. (Unfortunately however, Mag. Seven in turn was the inspiration for Battle Beyond the Stars, arguably one of the worst Science Fiction movies ever made....).

Released way back in 1954, it's a classic storyline, and a great period piece. Seven Samurai also happens to have been produced by Toho Studios, the company that also brought us Gojira (better known to North American audiences as Godzilla, King of the Monsters) that very same year. What I noticed right away was that several of the actors involved in S.S. also appear in the latter as well, and keep re-appearing in many more (awesome) Godzilla films.

I realize that the above picture actually only shows six Samurai, but trust me - there are seven, even though the first guy gets killed relatively early on. The film tells the story of the poor peasants of a small village in feudal Japan who go to the city to seek out the assistance of Samurai to protect them from constant harassment by marauding bandits. Along the way, we meet a whole slew of interesting characters; far too many to mention here. Let's just say its a great 'ensemble cast' all working towards a common goal, a technique later emulated in countless other films to this very day, such as The Dirty Dozen, Magnificent Seven, Armageddon, Oceans Eleven (and Twelve and Thirteen), A Bug's Life, Star Wars, etc, etc....

I can't say enough about this movie. I am by no means a professional movie reviewer, but I think any film critic would agree that Seven Samurai remains to this day one of the greatest and certainly most influential films ever made. Do yourself a favor; turn off that stupid vampire sequel and watch a real movie.

A+

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MEGASHARK vs GIANT OCTOPUS

OK, so this one is definitely not one of the greatest film ever made. This would perhaps be somewhere near the other end of the spectrum. That being said, I am a giant monster (or Kaiju) movie lover as well as a fan of campy films, so this is right up my alley.

As an intentionally 'so bad its funny' movie, it totally succeeds. The actors appear to be taking it all so seriously, even when spewing out the ridiculous, pseudo-scientific dialogue. The effects are intentionally horrible (the shark eating the Golden Gate Bridge shot is about as realistic-looking as it gets), and the plot makes little to no sense. A lot of shots are recycled over and over in the movie and the sets look like they were all filmed in the same room, just re-arranged. Megashark vs Giant Octopus also stars Deborah "Debbie" Gibson in the lead role. I was never a fan of her music, but I think she did pretty well for this movie. It must be hard to prove yourself as an actor in a film where your acting is supposed to be terrible. Oh, and Lorenzo Lamas. Let's not forget him...

On the flip side, as a giant monster film....... it's waaaayyyy disappointing. There's far too few scenes of the two title creatures, and what there is is hard to make out and mostly looks like two ugly puppets flopping around in the dark, or the lowest of low-grade CGI work... Sure, old Kaiju movies like Godzilla and Gamera look fake too, but at least we get to see a lot more of the monsters. I was expecting just a tad more in this department from MSvsGO.

Megashark vs Giant Octopus was the first movie we watched when we got Netflix. I was just that excited to see it. Overall, I guess it's sort of funny, but not 'monstery' enough for my liking.

C+

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KUNG FU HUSTLE

Now this - this is funny. It's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon meets Looney Tunes. There's a lot of truly amazing martial arts going on here, backed up by some really cool effects, extreme acting and crazy jokes. The action is completely over the top and super-fun. And did I mention that it's funny? ...It's like almost "s**t your pants" funny.

The storyline is pretty far-fetched but cool, all about Kung Fu masters and gangsters in 1940's China. Written and directed by Stephen Chow, this is sort of a follow-up to the hugely successful Shaolin Soccer, which is also "s**t your pants" funny. Personally, I preferred this one, mostly because of the Landlady (pictured above). She's got to be the best charater in this film by far. Since I highly recommend this movie and don't want to give anything away to those who haven't seen it, let's just say that she steals the show. Look at her picture again - you don't f**k with that lady...

The movie loses a bit of steam around the end, but that's only because you were so blown away with awesomeness earlier in the film that the awesome ending loses impact.

I love this movie! If only there were more like it!! It's no Seven Samurai, but it's the second-best movie I've seen on Netflix so far. BTW, Kung Fu Hustle is subtitled, so if you don't like to read while you watch movies or don't like foreign movies at all, then too bad - it's your loss.

Dirty pants aside, it deserves a solid A

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So that's all I got for ya today. Take care and Happy Holidays!!

...and as always,

May the Force be with you...

Nunchuks and Cactus Juice

2010-12-14T21:45:00.000-06:00

Been a while... seems like every other post I'm saying that. I've got a lot on my plate right now, and a lot of stuff in the works for this blog, but without further ado, here is this week's installment of my web comic. Hope that you like it. Any questions can be directed to me via email. Any complaints will be directed to my Spam folder.

Enjoy!!

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(click on the pages to view larger)

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May the Force be with you...

Trashed!

2010-12-03T01:11:00.000-06:00

So I promised you some new action figure stuff this week, and here it is. I had the day off from work today, so I spent it alone at home with my camera, my laptop and my superheroes.... and this is how all that ended up. It's a bit wordy, but I was having fun with it. If you don't like it, at least the entire day wasn't wasted - I still got all of the laundry and the dishes done and all of the garbage taken out....so there.

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( click on pages to view larger )

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In case you were wondering, I shoot everything on a Pentax k200d, with a Tamron 90mm f2.5 manual focus lens. It's all then edited with Adobe Photoshop 7 and Comic Life. (I really need to upgrade my Photoshop, BTW) Focus is a little loose on some shots, but I actually think it enhances the mood. It's all shot hand-held at ISO 1600 in Aperture Priority (Av) Mode. Although I make it sound complicated, it's really a matter of tweaking a button, framing the shot and releasing the shutter when the focus indicator beeps....

So what if you don't know much about photography, and you weren't wondering... Well in that case, just consider this to be free lesson #2 in my series on action figure photography. You can view free lesson #1 here. I like to think of my blog as being both entertaining and educational. Don't say I never do anything for you.

Even though this blog rarely ever has anything to do with Star Wars; until we meet again,

May the Force be with you...

Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Jerk

2010-12-01T00:47:00.001-06:00

So I mentioned before that I had just recently gotten a program called Comic Life that makes comics from photos yadda, yadda... Here's something I whipped up using photos from about a year ago or so....again, I apologize for recycling the same photos and jokes over and over...like I said last time, new stuff is on the way.

All of the photos (and comics) are from me - by me - property of me, Andy Bailer, using my toys, that I own, my camera and software that I paid for....I'm not trying to make money off the backs of Marvel Comics, Disney, Microsoft, Lucasfilm, DC Comics, Nickelodeon, Hasbro, DOW Chemical, Coca-Cola or any other megacorp that actually owns the rights to the likenesses of the action figures and/or characters in my photos and/or comics.

The depictions and portrayals of said character or characters expressed in this blog in no way represent the actual actions or opinions of that character or characters as intended by their parent corporation(s).
That is to say... Marvel might flip out and sue me if I try to ruin the reputation of, say...Spider-Man....who just so happens to be the focus of my 2nd ever comic via Comic Life.

Hope you like it! This is what I think your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man might do with his free time - when he and the other heroes are not fighting crime. If you ever wonder what happens to the Avengers on their days off, this is the comic for you. This is:

(click on the image to see it somewhat larger)

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If you like my photos and/or comics, feel free to link to them and pass them around. Just make sure you mention my name (Andy Bailer) and remember that I will be expecting a gigantic cheque in the mail if they become an overnight success. When I hit the Bigtime, I'll remember y'all - don't worry.

May the Force be with you...