the defunct blog of tony z™

2009-01-01T23:51:00.004-05:00

Verily, thine milkshake tis not so divine

2005-09-09T22:59:00.003-04:00

I knoweth not from which this doth originate. However, I snaggethed it from yonder. I hadeth to, for tis hysterical, verily:
Yeah, I know, I massacred the Old English or whatever-the-hell...but, y'know, deal.

Sudoku

2005-09-09T20:37:00.000-04:00

AAUUGGGHH!!! Today a "friend" of mine at work introduced me to the most evil thing I've ever seen in my life. Sudoku. Wikipedia claims that in Japanese it means "single number in an alloted place!" HA! I say, it obviously means "evil, evil, EVIL!" It's far too addictive to be anything less!!
The object of the game (well, "puzzle" more accurately, but "game" sounds better in the phrase ... oh, get over it!) is to fill in the blanks so you have the digits 1-9 going across in each row, 1-9 going down each column, and 1-9 in each square. Talk about a brain exercise!!!
It's just so much fun, and I can't stop!!!
You can Google Sudoku and finds lots of info and places to play.
My favorite place to play in WebSudoku.com.
Okay, bye, I've got some...uh...important things to take care of.
Yeah...
important...

....

2005-09-08T21:51:00.000-04:00

Well, I guess I didn't have anything to say today.
Actually, I'm under the weather and forming coherent thoughts hasn't been something I'm up for today.
But I don't want to whine about it.

Although...I guess I just sorta did.

Oh well, get over it.

Teen Titans #27 - Come On...

2005-09-07T22:20:00.000-04:00

...You Know You Want To Vomit!

It's taken me a while to finally be able to get through this. It's hard to follow a story which relies on visual clues for things like which direction to read and who is speaking. But with this issue, the art affects your gag reflexes...so it's really hard.
And even if you aren't totally repulsed by Rob Liefeld's art, you absolutely cannot deny he's has no clue when it comes to sequential storytelling. Here are 3 examples (and I wasn't even looking for them, they just lept out. After looking, I found many, many more.):
On page 6, how exactly does Robin's batarang get through the chick's gun and into her hand? If it had knocked the gun out of her hand, wouldn't it have bounced off in some other direction? How did it maintain it's forward momentum?
On page 10, panel 4, a close-up of Robin shows Cyborg putting his hand on Robin's shoulder (it's even mentioned in the writing). It's quite obvious that Cy is standing to Robin's right. But in the next panel...Cy is on Robin's left...and he's not touching him!
On page 12, panel 2, we see Robin picking up a bowling ball. In panel 3, we see him holding the ball as if he's getting ready to throw it. In panel 4, he's sitting down...no ball in site. WTF!?
And I'm not picking on Rob's idea of what passes for human anatomy. I'm not saying a word about his obvious unawareness of what perspective is. I won't even start on how all his faces look exactly the same.
But can't he at least try doing some continuity from panel to panel!?

Okay, but as for the story...well, it was written by the incredible Gail Simone, so it probably is very good. But I'll never know for sure. It was hard to follow. I don't buy comics drawn by Rob Liefeld for a reason, they are unreadable. I really wanted to like this. And tried hard to give Rob a chance. But it's just bad. The art work is so distracting and all over the place, I kept being drawn away from the writing.
I know generally what's going on in the story...and it seems well written, but the art just took so much away from it. And I have absolutely no idea what happened at the end. On minute Kestrel is holding Raven, the next she seems to have disappeared, altho the written word indicates that he somehow has control over her...I don't know.

It was basically unreadable. Maybe Gail was on her game or maybe she was off, luckily no one's ever gonna know, she had the "get out of jail free" card -- art by Rob Liefeld.

Prices Gone Wild

2005-09-07T10:37:00.000-04:00

I love this!!!

You really need to visit T-Shirt Humor more often. They have some killer stuff.

Barbra Streisand - Guilty Pleasures

2005-09-07T09:56:00.000-04:00

In 1980 Barbra Streisand teamed up with Barry Gibb for the album "Guilty." Which, arguably, was one of her best albums.
25 years later they try to strike lightning again with "Guilty Pleasures," coming Sept. 20.
From the few tracks I've heard, it's a step up from the sleep-inducing stuff Barbra's had on her last few albums. But I don't think it'll be nearly as big as the original. Partially because it's Barbra, which is a stigma that'll probably keep her off Top 40 radio. And partially because it sorta has a dated BeeGee's sound to it. It's not bad, just not very fresh.
That said I kinda like "Night of My Life." Who'da thunk that we'd ever hear Barbra sing anything even resembling a dance track again? It's no "Main Event" (and what could be?), but it's servicable...even if at the beginning it seems Barbra has forgotten this isn't a "Broadway Album." Could've done with out the BeeGee-esque backing vocals, though. I would like to see that lyrics. Can't quite figure out what roller coasters have to do with it.
If you have any interest, you can hear "Night of My Life, " "Stranger in a Strange Land" (the first single) and 3 other tracks at AOL Music. [If that link is outdated, try this one.]
I've also heard that there will be dance mixes of "Night of My Life." Something to look forward to.

Randomness...

2005-09-06T23:01:00.000-04:00

The 4400 (TV): Most definitely the best show you are not watching. I missed the first season/mini series when it first aired, although I remember seeing it advertised. On a whim, I picked up the DVD. It was fun and interesting! So I started DVRing the second season. It just kept getting better and better. The season finale rocked! I don't know when the third season starts...but it's too far away for my taste. Check it out!
Justice League Unlimited (TV): Thank goodness there's another season coming up (starting Sept. 17!)!! This past season just tore it up! Unfortunately, the season finale (Justice League who? This is Batman Beyond) was lame. I guess great for BB fans, but after the previous episode (which was all kinds of goodness) the "finale" was *pffft*. A really sour note to go out on...but they're not going out! And the Legion of Super Heroes make an appearance this season!! Check it out and especially here and here!
Crazy Frog presents Crazy Hits (CD): So one day, by chance, I hear "Axel F" on the radio. And for absolutely no reason that I can discern...I am head over heels in love with this song. It tears me up one side and down the other. I'm unreasonably obsessed with it!! I even want to get a new cell phone that plays real music, so my phone can ring "Axel F!" What the hell is wrong with me!!?
So anyway, I go to CDWow to buy the CD (based in the UK, but really about like buying a CD in a US store pricewise, and you get all the extra tracks that the lame US record labels leave out, grrrr). I'm so excited to get it with (I'm thinking) amped up versions of "Dallas" and "The Pink Panther." It arrives, I rip it open, throw it into the computer....
I wish I'd bought the remix single for "Axel F" instead.
As insanely supreme as the "Axel F" song is, is just about how extremely uninteresting the rest of the entire CD is. I was kinda bummed. Check it out!!!!!
DC Special: The Return of Donna Troy (Comics): There was nothing DC Comics could do to hype me up more for this than just announcing the title of the book. I was so down when they "killed-off" Donna a couple years ago. More so because it was such a lame-ass death thAn just the fact that they killed her. If she'd gotten a decent/heroic send off like Supergirl did in Crisis 20 years ago, I probably woulda handled it better.
Anyway, the first issue came out and I was all kinds of excited. Except for the coloring (which left more than a lot to be desired), it was an okay start to a story. Mostly set up and exposition with a not-very grab-ya-by-the-balls "cliffhanger" ending (the story just kinda stopped). But, it was Donna Troy and that was enough for me.
Then the second issue came out. O.M.G. The art and coloring were lush and beautiful. The Titans characters were all spot on. The new Wonder Girl never looked so pretty. It was just gorgeous to look at.
The third issue didn't do a whole lot for me. It was all right. But the art didn't seem at "tight" as it did in the second issue. I just want the fourth issue to come out, so I can sit and read the story in one swoop. And then Donna will be back full force in the DC Universe!! Check it out!

DING DING!

arrrgh! blogger is frustrating!!

2005-09-05T13:02:00.004-04:00

Blech.
I tried to put a black background behind the text (so you wouldn't have to try and read through the stars, kinda like you're doing right now). And it worked every single time in preview mode. But when I publish, it's just not there! I can't figure out why!!??
GRRRR!!!
I finally just took out all the code where I called for it, cuz I figured why have extra stuff there that is useless.
But why did it work in preview mode...I just wanna cry.

Okay, not really.

the dc comics universe. hmmm....

2005-09-05T01:07:00.000-04:00

I'll tell ya. Things have not been this exciting in the DCU (or comics in general) in a very long time. I can't wait for the next issue of just about anything! Not that I agree with the overall Marvelization of the DCU, but I guess we gotta give and take. (And don't get me started on the whole rift between Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. What a contrived bunch of bull!)

That said -- they seem to be telling the same story over and over this past year:
How many alternate reality/time travel stories were there? Teen Titans did it. JSA did it. Superman/Batman did it.
How many "here's the where-fors and why-hows of this character"? The Return of Donna Troy. JSA Classified starring Power Girl. Golden Eagle in Hawkman.
How many returned-from-the-dead characters? Donna Troy. Jason Todd. Golden Eagle. Lilith.
How many big space wars? Adam Strange. Rann-Thanagar.
How many epic "we gotta keep the big powerful machine out of the hands of the bad guys" stories? Adam Strange (the Omega Beam). The Return of Donna Troy (Sun Eater machine).

Still, I'm enjoying almost all of it. I just hope that Infinite Crisis pays off. I'm afraid I'm getting myself too hyped up for it and will be let down.

I guess time will tell...

frickin' hypocrite

2005-04-02T00:32:00.000-05:00

george bush said:

I urge all those who honor Terri Schiavo to continue to work to build a culture of life, where all Americans are welcomed and valued and protected, especially those who live at the mercy of others.

which is a nice statement. but until he amends it to say: "unless they're fags" -- he's the world's largest hypocrite.

speaking of dollywood...lucky suckers!! grrrr

2005-04-02T00:24:00.000-05:00

yes, we were speaking of dollywood, if you'd been reading the comments...

my best friend is a major dolly parton fan. so, since dolly was at dollywood on friday, and he works nights, he went to dollywood.
there was a press conference/concert thing at 10:30am. they let the public into the thing until the seats were filled.
and -- everyone who attended got a 20-year platinum pass to dollywood and dolly's splash country.

y'gotta hate it if you weren't there.
i know i do.

i got a new printer...whoa

2005-03-27T13:25:00.000-05:00

so, i don't do a lot of printing. but you've got to have a printer just in case.
i had an hp 925c for the past 2 or 3 years. it's done me well. the banding in color pics was really only very slightly noticeable. definitely a damnshot better than anything i've seen a lexmark printer do. yikes!
anyway, in the past couple/few years i've replaced the ink cartridges maybe once. maybe not even that, i can't really remember. but the last couple times i printed i noticed that there was no yellow. and last night i printed some movie showtimes, and could barely read anything. so, it was time to go wal*mart and get me some ink.
so after the movie, i go to wally*world, grab the cartridges...60 bucks for one each of color and black! i was like, sheesh, i could probably buy a printer for that!! and then i thought, why don't i go look. so i did.
there were 2 inexpensive hp printers...one for $35 and one for $50. the main difference i could see between the 2 was that the $35 didn't come with black ink. and since the ink carts for these 2 printers were $18, it made more sense to spend the $15 more on the other printer. hell, i was still saving $10 over the ink carts in my hand!!!
so i spend $50 on an hp deskjet 3745. hooked it up last night. today i decided to test it, just so if it sucked, i wouldn't be surprised when i really "needed" it.
wow.
i was stunned. i'm not gonna say there aren't better printers out there, but this blew me away. serously. i don't see any noticeable banding at all! i printed a piece of art i did on the computer, and a screen cap from a dvd. they look amazing.
i gotta say, i'm very definitely happy with this baby!!
i love hp printers. now if only they could be bothered to make one with a freakin' straight paper path!!
grrrr.

miss congeniality 2

2005-03-27T13:17:00.000-05:00

well, i read some mixed reviews on this one. a lot of people saying it's kind of a waste of time.
i suppose that could be true if you're expecting some history lesson or a deeper meaning of life. but if you just want to sit back and be entertained for a couple hours, it's not bad. i laughed pretty good a couple times. especially the "do you have a euthanasia program?" that was funny.
i admit there was a huge, GLARING, unbelieveably gaping plot hole...but i figured, it's just a sit and laugh movie, not a work of art hanging in a museum.
it was funny, made me laugh, sandra bullock was fun. it might be better at a matinee, without paying full price. but i don't feel gyped that i saw an evening show.
definitely a better sequel that legally blonde 2.

the fucrucrs fckd up!

2005-03-26T16:25:00.000-05:00

y'knew it was bound to happen.
ever hear about not cutting off your nose to spite your face?
well the fucrucrs (FUndamentalist Christian Right-wing Ultra Conservative Republicans) have done it now!
Ohio ban trips 2nd domestic violence case
part of ohio's "no fags're gettin' married in 'r state" constitutional amendment says the state cannot give legal status to unmarried couples. well...the domestic violence law does recognize unmarried couples -- oops! -- make that did, until the constitution underminded it.
so now 2 judges have said a guy hitting his live-in girlfriend can't be charged with the felony of domestic violence because that would be giving them legal status as an unmarried couple.
of course, now people are up in arms over these "activist" judges, who are basically just doing their jobs in upholding the laws of the constitution.
i don't know what the drama is. i mean, the people of ohio didn't just go all willy-nilly and vote "no fags" because it was the loving-christian thing to do. right? they had to have carefully read what they were voting on and made an informed decision. didn't they?

y'gotta love it!

must see tv

2005-03-23T22:14:00.000-05:00

my art gallery

2005-03-23T21:24:00.000-05:00

okay, so i've decided to start putting my art up in a gallery instead of here.

just bored with nothing to do but watch a "rerun" of american idol until chasing farrah comes on -- so i thought i'd mention it.

power girl

2005-03-15T08:47:00.000-05:00

this is my latest drawing. it features power girl. the most recent dc comics heroine without an origin. originally she was superman's cousin. then she found out she was really the granddaughter of arion, lord of atlantis. but it turns out that those were both lies. this summer her "true" origins will be revealed. we'll see.
anyway -- i did this drawing for the current art contest at the geoffjohns.com forum.

i did it all on the computer, fully digital. even the background images were just sniped off the net. and altho you can't tell, without comparing them closely with the originals, i even did work on those. so i'll take full credit. lol!

old pic i drew of wonder woman

2005-03-14T11:28:00.000-05:00

i was going through a box of old art supplies and found this pic:

really not sure how long ago i drew it. it couldn't have been in the last 3 years. and probably not in the last five. but i really don't know.
i do remember that it was based on a pic of the wrestler-chick chyna. but that's about all i can tell ya!!
and i don't think it's all that great. but i figure -- it exists, might as well share it.

what's the worst that could happen...

2005-03-12T11:29:00.000-05:00

art by roy williams from 1994

the more things change...

woot! woot!

2005-03-10T21:23:00.000-05:00

just some things that've gotten me jazzed up lately:

the lost dvd.

the desperate housewives dvd.

the lois and clark dvd.

the tabitha dvd -- which i already mentioned yesterday.

steve englehart, marshall rogers and terry austin reuniting on batman: dark detective.

the donna troy trade paperback -- scroll all the way to the bottom.

hmmm...there's probably more. i'll think about it and get back to ya. ;-)

bewildered...

2005-03-09T13:51:00.000-05:00

as much as the idea of the upcoming "bewitched" movie makes my stomach churn... there's been some cool news that takes the edge off:

the 1977 "bewitched" spin-off, "tabitha" starring lisa hartman is apparently going to be released on dvd this summer. i'm just so jazzed. i remember watching the show when it originally aired (hey, i'm old!). and i have been a huge fan of lisa hartman ever since. i even have all her albums and her cd!!

even if almost 30-years later the show turns out to be cheesy/bad, i'm still excited and i'm gonna love every minute of it!!!

tvshowsondvd.com

jason cook ... baked

2005-03-09T13:46:00.000-05:00

DES MOINES, Iowa Mar 8, 2005 — Soap opera star Jason Cook was arrested after he allegedly became argumentative with airport officials who found a pipe with marijuana debris in his luggage.

The "Days of Our Lives" actor was arrested Monday at the Des Moines International Airport about 6 a.m. Monday on charges of public intoxication and drug paraphernalia.

He was in Des Moines over the weekend for the 31st annual Variety Club telethon.

"Jason appeared to be intoxicated, showing signs as bloodshot watery eyes, argumentative behavior, inability to follow instructions and smelled strongly of an alcoholic beverage," a police report said.

Stan Reynolds, volunteer producer of the telethon, said he bailed Cook out of jail.

"I'm just sick to my stomach over this. I just love this young man. This is his fourth year coming here to help us, and he just works his tail off for the kids," Reynolds said.

The telethon raised $3.5 million for children's charities.

abcnews.com

i'm going to hell...

2005-03-07T22:11:00.000-05:00

one way or another, hell's gonna get me i guess.

i have no idea where this pic comes from, and it doesn't appear to be photoshopped...
i don't know. some people in this world just seem to have nothing better to do with their time than to find somebody towards whom to spew their hate.
it's really kinda sad.

repeats...arrrgh!

2005-03-06T22:34:00.000-05:00

i just noticed that "lost" is in repeats for at least the next couple weeks.
and no eps of "desperate housewives" on the horizon.
it's gonna be a long month.

at least we've got sami as stan on "days" that should prove interesting...