| Speed suits |
[Nov. 27th, 2009|10:10 pm] |
Want it for Christmas. |
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| Disney ate Marvel |
[Sep. 1st, 2009|10:47 am] |
As everyone is well aware (hell even Conan O'Brien mentioned it), Marvel just got itself ate by the Walt Disney Corp.
Now I know there's been some gnashing of teeth of this by fans of Marvel who fear for the safety of their Max titles. I don't think Disney is going to mess around with Marvel that much (I do think Joe Quesada might be out of a job, though). I personally think this will be good for Marvel.
Allow me to explain:
1) Marvel will no longer advertise in continuity--
Remember back when Spider-man 3 came out and Pete was suddenly back into the black costume for no real reason? Marvel does that type of thing all the time. Well good news, now that Marvel is owned by major corporate money it can, at long last, stop whoring out it's continuity to sell movie tickets.
2) Disney needs a male property--
As Paul Dini said on his blog (here:):
"It seems to me that Disney is less interested in the comiics[sic] than they are with having perennial boys properties. Disney has princesses, fairies and bunnies for the little girls, but outside of the Pirates franchise, nothing for boys. Buying Spidey, Hulk et al insures they will always have a stake in the 8 to 20 year old crowd, to say nothing of eventual creative control of Marvel's movie and TV properties."
3) Your Max titles are safe--
Disney also owns Touchstone Pictures. They produced Mel Gibson's blood soaked tale "Apocalypto." Disney has no problem with violent media. Seeing as Disney bought Marvel to appeal to that older male market, I think it's safe to say things you will be able to keep your cussing and your carnage.
4) Marvel Studios has legendary animated backing--
Buena Vista bitches! Disney can now make Marvel cartoons suck less. Good bye Spider-man Unlimited. Good bye Wolverine and the X-men. They have the means to make a successful animated show. The Disney animation studio is now united with the Marvel creative machine, by which I mean, Marvel ideas meets Disney animation standards.
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Though it's not going to be all roses. Here's some of the bad things you have to look forward to.
1) Zack and Cody, Jonas bros. and Miley Cyrus the comic book--
Which will sit, unloved, in your local comic book store kids self until the last judgment. Is that any worse then having Tim Gunn appear in a comic wearing Iron Man armor? No, not really (nothing against Tim Gunn, just comics aren't his media).
2) Ultimately less shocking stories--
Captain America will probably be the last big death you'll see for a while.
3) Editor in Chief of Marvel likely not of us--
Disney probably won't have any faith in someone who knows the media being in charge. There's a chance it could end up being some douchie corporate stooge. Though, DC is owned by Time Warner and that is not the case.
---JWMC |
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| Behold Thy Enemy |
[Jul. 26th, 2009|09:01 am] |
GROUNDHOG!!
He's been undermining my granite front stairs; digging his nefarious tunnels and sunning his filthy ass in my fathers morning coffee spot. Thus far, my recently injured father has been unable to destroy the beast as his healing leg makes him even less agile then he was before.
We have faced a scourge of rodents in recent years. Our yard hath been mostly dogless for five years now since the death of Gizmo Goferbane. however, after labor day all that changes. On July 17th a puppy was born in Connecticut that will herald a new era for our yard.
Rodents of the Casavant Estate, your free-ride is over...
...as soon as she's housebroken. |
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| 233rd Fourth of July |
[Jul. 3rd, 2009|01:40 pm] |
Every year it's the same thing.
You get a day off, friends come by, you grill, and drink. Perhaps, you may wave an American flag or have paper plates and napkins with the flag on it. People then will celebrate the birth of the nation by sending explosives into the sky and making all the pretty colors to the sounds of the Star Spangled Banner.
( Read more... ) |
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| Sang et la Révolution Iranien de MMIX (cinq) |
[Jun. 26th, 2009|10:46 pm] |
Today's news: There isn't much to report as the clampdown on Iran is getting really harsh. Green balloons were unleashed into the skies above Tehran in protest. Obama praises Mousavi with Chancellor Merkel. There are fears that maybe there will be mass executions. Rumors are also going around that Mousavi had given in, however, it was found out that the account spreading that information was actually a compromised Twitter account. Some assume government agents are hijacking known users' to spread mis-information.
Also noteworthy:
Young statistician cracks the election fraud:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/06/25/statistics_wizard_from_winchester_makes_a_splash_in_iran_election/
Interesting update on NPR today, you can listen to the audio at the link: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2009/06/former_revolutionary_guard_mem.html?ft=1&f=103943429
"According to Mohsen Sazegara:
'Right after the election, 11 o'clock at night, was a military coup because they went to (presidential candidate Mir Hossein) Mousavi's headquarters -- five persons from the Revolutionary Guard -- and told him that, 'Yes, the leader says that this is true, you have won the election, you are the elected president, but you can't be the president. (Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad should remain in the position.'
'and then they started to invent those fake numbers in Ministry of Interior. And right after that they started to arrest the people, to disconnect the country, to dismiss the reporters, and that is the reason that we call it a military coup.'"
( Read more... ) |
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| Sang et la Révolution Iranien de MMIX (quatre) |
[Jun. 25th, 2009|11:28 pm] |
When I return from vacation, my internet is suddenly getting stupid. It's decided to be selective as to what websites I can see and which ones I cannot.
The streets of Tehran are quiet. Tweets, infrequent. However, things are becoming clear that protests are muted but still ongoing.
( Read more... ) |
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| Sang et la Révolution Iranien de MMIX (deux) |
[Jun. 20th, 2009|02:11 pm] |
Follow here: http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23IranElection
Violent videos are being released via Twitter today supposedly of confrontations with police and Protesters. Though we cannot confirm their authenticity, they are still powerful images (I have put them below the cut). Since many of this cannot be confirmed these are simply reports of things I've been hearing:
The suicide attack near Ayatollah's shrine cannot be confirmed as no images have been released.
Reports are claiming defeated candidate Mousavi is "ready to die" and calls for a nation-wide strike if he is arrested or killed. Some reports say generals are defecting to the side of the reformist mullahs.
There's also reports of wide-spread live ammo use; as well as reports of injured protesters being kidnapped from hospitals by secret police. Apparently, the injured are banging on the doors of embassies now; some (apparently the Canadian embassy) are keeping their doors closed.
Obama is being criticized for not speaking out against the Iranian regime; apparently he's do to hold a press conference tonight on the issue. However, I am concerned that it will help galvanize Ahmadinijad supporters against the green protesters.
UPDATE: Obama weighs in:
"Statement from the President on Iran
The Iranian government must understand that the world is watching. We mourn each and every innocent life that is lost. We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people. The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights.
As I said in Cairo, suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. The Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions of their own government. If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect the dignity of its own people and govern through consent, not coercion.
Martin Luther King once said - "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." I believe that. The international community believes that. And right now, we are bearing witness to the Iranian peoples’ belief in that truth, and we will continue to bear witness."
( Read more... ) |
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| Sang et la Révolution Iranien de MMIX |
[Jun. 17th, 2009|08:33 pm] |
Tehran dispatch: "The revolution had begun.
Posted by Bryan Bender June 17, 2009 04:14 PM
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2009/06/tehran_dispatch.html
(J. Shams has been providing on-the-ground updates to the Globe's Washington Bureau since Iran's disputed presidential election last week. He filed this report after covering a mass protest on one of the Iranian capital's main thoroughfares. For his safety his full name has been ommitted.)
By J. Shams
Globe Correspondent
TEHRAN _ "The noise of the crowd was the first thing to hit me. I had been among demonstrators before, but I had never actually heard an angry crowd before.
The noise was powerful and full of fury. As I approached the street, I distinguished what they were chanting: "mikosham, mikosham, aanke baradaram kosht: I shall kill, I shall kill, he who killed my brother."
My wife, who was among the crowd, had told me that several people had been killed by riot police. I quickened my pace and approached the street. As if in sync, hands bearing stones and bricks were pumping into the air. "I shall kill, I shall kill..." I burst into tears.
The next thing I noticed surprised me: the crowd did not consist of young men, but housewives, seniors, businessmen wearing suits, even children. There was blood on many of them. They were walking downhill towards the Interior Ministry, determined and in force. The wave that had taken over Iran and partied in the streets into the morning for the last few weeks was now an army on the move. As I stood in place trying to figure out what I was seeing, I noticed shopkeepers shutting down and joining the flock. People were also chanting on the sidelines, "down with the dictator," referring to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, while the crowd chanted "join us proud Iranians, join us, join us." The crowd was growing by the moment.
I had walked with them for a few minutes when I saw the riot police in the distance. The crowd had managed to catch one of them and stones were raining down on him, and his head was beaten out of shape. His motorcycle was in flames in the middle of the road. As I passed the burning motorcycle, I noticed two more stacked on one another approximately 100 meters away, also burning. Bloodstains on the asphalt were abundant. I turned around and ran to my car to catch up at the Interior Ministry.
All of the routes to the ministry had been blockaded. Riot police were pouring in, armed with batons, rubber bullets, and tear gas canisters. I couldn’t drive any closer than half a mile from the Interior Ministry. Black smoke was rising from the approximate location of the Ministry. I had picked up my wife and a few friends we had by then, and we parked in an alley and set off towards the Ministry. Walking among the flocks of people, I noticed how quiet they were, and the fear that had covered everyone like a blanket. We walked past a police blockade; apparently pedestrians were free to move but cars were being kept out of the square.
We had been walking for approximately twenty minutes when we saw a flock of people running towards us. The noise of the revving motors of the riot police filled the street, and a group of maybe twenty of them could be seen in the distance approaching quickly. Batons raised and dropped, raised and dropped. We turned around and ran with the crowd. My wife turned into an alley, to distance herself from the incoming motorcycles. I screamed don’t go that way, as I assumed that we’d be safer if we didn’t break off from the flock. She kept running, and I ran after her.
A group of motorcycles turned into the street, beating the people left and right. I picked up my pace and ducked under a banner remaining from the elections. I turned and saw that my wife had fallen behind. A riot police motorcycle reached me and aimed for my legs with his baton. I jumped out of his path and sprinted down the street. Running with all my might, I reached the end of the alley and turned into the sidewalk on the main street; and found myself in the middle of a group of both riot police and so-called "Basijis" who were lashing out at whomever they could reach.
The Basij are the remnants of the voluntary forces that assisted the army during the Iran – Iraq war. Following the war, they maintained their organization and are known by all Iranians by their attire of white untucked shirt, long beard, and gray pants. Their unofficial role allows them to skirt the limits of the law, and they are usually responsible for the dirty work that officials prefer to avoid.
By means of luck or agility, I was able to avoid most of their blows, but was hit in the face by a chain-wielding Basiji. I realized that if I continued running in the same direction, I’ll be beaten by every single weapon being swung on the sidewalk, so I changed course and sprinted towards the street.
Once in the street, I was one of the many others fleeing the officers, and relatively safe. A truck passed filled with young men waving a green flag. I turned back into the alley, now relatively calm, looking for my wife. A boy in the street said that she got away without being harmed, as the men had shielded the women and the weaker ones with their bodies. I found her amongst a crowd shortly later and we managed to get back to our car without other incidents.
The city had been laid to ruin. Motorcycles and garbage dumpsters were burning at every corner. In Kuye Daneshgah Avenue, where the main dormitory of Tehran University is located, a bank had been set on fire. Most of the windows of the cars that passed us had been shattered.
At Parkway, which is a main intersection in Tehran, people had blocked the main routes to the intersection and were tearing down everything they could, from guardrails to billboards. The people lit fires on both sides of a pedestrian bridge over the highway and were flinging stones at a group of riot police that were stuck on the bridge. Tear gas was everywhere, and battles were going on between police and civilians at every corner.
In the early hours of the next morning we were on our way home when we saw that the road was blocked by a group of demonstrators -- women and men and children you’d see everyday walking down the street -- chanting “down with the dictator."
We stepped out of the car and joined them. A dumpster burst into flames next to me. The revolution had begun."
( Read more... ) |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 29th, 2009|11:54 am] |
A note for people who use history for political means: If you weren't alive then, you can't use it.
For example, I'm tired of 15-year-old saying Europe doesn't have right to complain about the USA because we saved them from the Nazis. Try something current, the fall of communism for instance. |
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| Swine Flu: Columbian Exchange Continued? |
[Apr. 29th, 2009|05:08 pm] |
"Don't panic."
The motto of the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" has severed me well over the years. It makes you stop and assess the situation, instead of running down into the bomb shelter and pray for a quick death.
( Read more... ) |
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| Dear Foxnews |
[Apr. 22nd, 2009|09:45 am] |
How is this:
Different from this:
or this:
from this:
?
Oh wait...when Republicans shake hands and get gifts from Marxists it's alright but when Democrats do it, it's wrong.
I could get on a soap box and talk about how biased news hurts political dialogue but then I just open the BBC and pretend like my country isn't about to kill itself. |
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| Paris liberation made 'whites only' |
[Apr. 6th, 2009|05:12 pm] |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7984436.stm
By Mike Thomson
Presenter, Document, BBC Radio 4
Many who fought Nazi Germany during World War II did so to defeat the vicious racism that left millions of Jews dead.
Yet the BBC's Document programme has seen evidence that black colonial soldiers - who made up around two-thirds of Free French forces - were deliberately removed from the unit that led the Allied advance into the French capital.
By the time France fell in June 1940, 17,000 of its black, mainly West African colonial troops, known as the Tirailleurs Senegalais, lay dead.
Many of them were simply shot where they stood soon after surrendering to German troops who often regarded them as sub-human savages.
Their chance for revenge came in August 1944 as Allied troops prepared to retake Paris. But despite their overwhelming numbers, they were not to get it.
( Read more... ) |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 6th, 2009|01:19 pm] |
"Even now, for all we can tell, the coming terror may be crouching for its spring and the fall of humanity be at hand. In the case of every other predominant animal the world has ever seen...the hour of its complete ascendancy has been the eve of its entire overthrow."
--H.G. Wells The Extinction of Man, 1894 |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 13th, 2009|07:06 pm] |
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Any war that requires the suspension of reason as a necessity for support is a bad war. - Norman Mailer |
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| La Dame de Beauté |
[Mar. 9th, 2009|09:20 pm] |
The above painting is the “Virgin and Child Surrounded by Angels” (1450) by Jean Fouquet. This picture combines not only important elements of early Renaissance painting; but is also distinctly French in its content; for the woman who modeled the Madonna is Agnès Sorel, the mistress of King Charles VII of France.
( Read more... ) |
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