A Whole Lot of Everything

Marvel Madness Marches On........

18. Hyperion

vs.

2. Galactus

10. Proteus

vs.

7. Destroyer

He's Back at it Again

On College Gameday Final this week, Mark May resumed his role as the conductor on the Boise State hate train, we all knew it would happen eventually. As is tradition, both he and Lou Holtz revealed their top 5 at the end of the show. Mark did not have us in his, that's fine and acceptable, they are not in mine either. What is a little less exceptable is his reaction to Lou Holtz's placing of Boise State at number five.

Mark: You have Boise State at number five but no Oklahoma State in there?!?!?! That's just ridiculous!!

That's a good point Mark, I can't believe anyone could make such a stupid selection. Nobody else but Lou could be so dumb. Well, maybe somebody.

Mark May ladies and gentleman.

TV Reviews

Whitney

My feelings on this episode were pretty much the same as the first two. The jokes are okay, the characters just aren't that likable. The supporting cast is awful, just completely unlovable in my opinion. As I mentioned last week, I had low expectations for this show based on it appearing to be nothing but elaborations on jokes in Whitney's stand up routine, and that's exactly what this episode was. Whitney gives her boo the silent treatment due to a dispute then realizes that he loves it because now he doesn't have to listen to her anymore. Upon realizing this, Whitney pulls a 360 and decides never to shut up. Entertaining enough but nothing more than a stand-up joke dragged out for 22 minutes. Rating 6.5/10

The Office

While this week's episode of the Office was pretty entertaining, it did not match up to the first two episodes of the season. The plot revolves around the warehouse workers winning the lottery and walking out on their jobs and a depressed Daryll left behind after not being a part of the winnings. The jokes that are there are great, but depressed Daryll was a realllllllly slow moving story and dragged the episode out quite a bit. The good news is that Andy as branch manager is continuing to be great and that continued here. The bits with Erin, Jim, Dwight, and Kevin trying to manage warehouse duties for a day were great as well. Rating 7/10

The Big Bang Theory
This episode was okay, but really didn't do it for me overall. The character development was virtually non-existent and the plot was just way to predictable. The moments with Sheldon using his Dungeons and Dragons dice to make what he deemed to be insignificant decisions were outstanding though. Rating 5.5/10

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

A pretty classic episode of Sunny here. Sweet Dee gets audited for lying about a dependent child on her tax returns, while the guys try to wretch some decision-making power away for Frank in managing the bar. It winds up with a fake funeral and Charlie and Mac fighting over the need for a crucifix hanging from the bar wall. Nothing amazing here but all the expected laughs make a pretty viewing. Rating 8/10

Dolphins Watch

They had a bye, which was outstanding, because I didn't have to watch them play this week. Even without playing, they took one step closer to Andrew Luck as well, because Minnesota got their first win of the season, leaving one fewer team at the bottom of the league to compete for the top pick against.

Another week in the books and with Chad Henne now out for the season, finishing as the league's worst team isn't much of stretch.

You Win This One. No, I Insist, You Win This One

An emotional Hue Jackson tried to hand the game away in the last few minutes against Houston on Sunday, only to have Houston hand it back. Jackson responded by handing it away again, handing it back, and then having it handed back again at the end. I feel like I've seen way too much awful football this season and the end of this game is up near the top. With a five point lead and less than three minutes left, the Raiders came out and threw on both second and third down to ensure the clock didn't get too low, the decision makes even less sense knowing that they have perhaps the best back in the league in Darren McFadden. When Houston recovered the ball, they immediately gave up a huge sack. But the Raiders had too many men on the field. Houston then facemasked on the next play, then the Raiders gave up a 27 yard pass when 25 were needed for a first down. Then Oakland got a sack that counted, then they allowed a completion down to the four yard line. On the games last play, Schaub dropped to throw and found no one to throw too, luckily he had a WIDE open lane to run to the end zone. Schaub took about two steps forward, stopped and decided to look for a throw again, the gap closed. Schaub found no one again, saw another running lane, started into it, and threw an interception into double coverage instead. Some days it's just a shame both teams can't be declared losers.

The Homebrew Channel

I will seriously pay someone to install this thing onto my Wii. I have found a good chunk of tutorials on how to do it, but my history of technology makes me hesitant to try it myself. That being said, I need this. I really need to be able to play Super Mario RPG with my classic controller, using the keyboard to play an emulator on my computer is just not the same.

Fantasy Week in Review

I play in one league that uses two QB's and I decided to wait a long time before grabbing my second one so I could load up on WR's and RB's. A fine strategy I thought, especially when I ended up with Dwayne Bowe, Andre Johnson, Miles Austin, LeGarrette Blount, Beanie Wells, Frank Gore, and Darren McFadden on my team. The bad news: I'm stuck with Kevin Kolb. I figured that the old Houston gunslinger would hurl the ball at Fitz enough to get some big weeks, throw some picks sure, but I thought he could be at least Jay Cutler at least. I was wrong this guy just reeks of same Cardinal-QB, same-Cardinal numbers. I have Colt McCoy as a backup and it looks like I have to put my fate in the hands of a Browns gunslinger instead.

It could be worse though, I could have wasted a first round pick on Michael Vick or Chris Johnson. So far my plan to grab Gore, Johnson (Calvin or Andre), and McFadden in my first three rounds has looked very good. Now I just need the rest of my team to start paying dividends.

A Dog of a Day

Saturday afternoon featured a unique pattern I happened to pick up on. An undefeated day for teams that have dog mascots. Mississippi State, Louisiana Tech, and Georgia (Bulldogs), Northern Illinois, NC State, and Nevada (Wolfpack), and Arkansas State (Red Wolves) all picked up wins. Some were surprising, some weren't, but a unique pattern I thought worth mentioning nonetheless, especially since it relied on wins by NC State and Arkansas State. However the Bulldogs of Fresno State did get destroyed by Boise State on Friday night.

Comic Reviews

The Mighty Thor #6

The final showdown between Galactus and Odin. Sounds epic right? Well, it may have been a bit of a letdown in epicness but it was still a very well written story. The bigger part of the fight happened in earlier issues and surprisingly, the best characters of the issue (and story as a whole) were Volstagg and the pastor of a local church in Broxton. I don't know where this is heading for the Silver Surfer, as the book shows a huge change in his character's direction, but he has be varely used for so long that anything that will get him into comics more often seems like a positive. Copiel's art is absolutely brilliant as usual and as long as he is on this book, it will likely get a passing grade regardless of the writing. Rating 8/10

Kick-Ass 2 #4

This book is dark and scary in all the ways that the original story was goofy, fun, and overly violent. The villians (who I can't even name because of the PG-13ish nature of the blog) are the main focus of the story and we see the terrifying plan for revenge starting to come to fruition. This story feels completely different from the original but is great for all the same reasons anyway, because it is fearless in telling the story it wants to tell. Rating 10/10

Captain America & Bucky #622

This book has been well written, following the story of Bucky as Cap's young sidekick in World War II, and his evolution from young punk kid to warrior. The stories are fun and give you a lot of insight into the character, stuff we probably could've used a bit more before they killed him off. I have no idea where this book is going or when it will actually become relevant to current continuity but I'm enjoying the ride for now. Rating 8/10

Amazing Spider-Man #670

Everything I hated about the Spider-Island story up to last weeks review seemed a little bit better this week. There was an oustanding amount of depth to this issue and it started to finally tie together the events of all the characters we've seen in the tie-ins and main story. J. Jonah Jameson, Anti-Venom, Venom, Spidey, MJ, and even Hawkeye all feel like they actually belong in the story together finally, and I am suddenly optimistic for the blow-off. Rating 8.5/10

Annihilators: Earthfall #1

I picked up this book due to my love of most of the starring characters of this new cosmic super team and Abnett and Lanning have done a great job of restoring the cosmic universe in Marvel over the past few years. After this issue, I think maybe their time has passed and a new team should probably start getting ready for fictional space travel. I'm not sure why the Annihilators suddenly had to rush to earth, or why we can't some new villians that are not the church of universal truth. I hated pretty much every page of this. Rating 2.5/10

My Wife is Out of Town for Three Days

Yeah, it's pretty much like that. Honestly, I could use a few days to feel like a free man and I plan on making the most of them. Well, kind of, I still have to work tomorrow. For lunch: Coke, corn dogs, white cheddar popcorn, gummy worms, and some cookies. For dinner: more gummy worms and Coke and a stuffed crust pizza. The football has stayed on all day and I have spent my time watching it wrapped up on the couch with the quilt from the bed and an over-sized pillow. My wife is concerned that I'll put on 100 pounds while she is gone. I have assured her that I'll cap at 10.

They Took Our Jorbs

Maybe I'm being a bit irreverant here but I have a long standing hatred with this country's pattern of idolizing anybody the minute they die. I understand that he was the visionary at the top of one of the most successful companies in the world but I have never owned a single Apple product and I don't plan to anytime soon, so his loss is particularly small to me. I have heard him mentioned as a hero and a modern day Einstein since he passed and I just don't agree on either account. Steve Jobs was a brilliant businessman and really understood how to create value for his customers. As a businessman at heart I greatly appreciate how brilliantly this man almost single handedly created a market for things like an iPod, then made it something most of the world views as a neccesity. However, being a good businessman does not make someone a hero, and makes computers more user friendly does not make you Einstein. Rest in peace Mr. Jobs, I mean you no disrespect, I just want everyone to keep this loss in perspective.

Jobs Has Company in the Afterlife

They say that celebrity deaths always seem to happen in threes, well Saturday, we got the second in the wave. This one was a bit more unexpected but due to Davis' age less surprising at the same time. Longtime Raiders owner Al Davis passed on Saturday from unknown causes. Davis was one of the founders of the modern day NFL, overseeing the merger with the AFL back in the sixties, and as a owner thought speed was more important than skill for a player. Under his management, the Raiders became a bit of a joke over the last ten years. I just hope that most NFL fans will try not to remember this Al Davis......

Instead of this one.......
You were truely one of the best but also truely one of the worst. The legacy he leaves will be determined by time but you can go ahead and count on his induction to Canton in the next five years.

College Football Top 25

25. Washington - The Huskies have enough defense to be tough in the PAC-12, where to this point, very little has been played.

24. USC - A week later, a close game against Arizona seems considerably worse.

23. Virginia Tech - The Hokies picked up a huge win over Miami to keep them squarely in the ACC title hunt. Logan Thomas, and the entire offense, looked great for the first time this year in what was probably the best game of the weekend.

22. Nebraska - I'll admit that the comeback against Ohio State showed a lot about the character of this team but it also showed a lot about the talent.....

21. Southern Miss. - The Golden Eagles offense is starting to throw up some jaw-dropping numbers, if the defense can keep that C-USA stink off of them this team could end up being special.

20. Michigan State - Defense good, offense bad. That is the general formula for success in the Big 10.

19. South Carolina - Conner Shaw may be the answer at QB for the Gamecocks, if he is this team can compete for a BCS bid.

18. Penn State - The defense has been lights out so far, if the offense can just be safe with the ball, it may not matter how bad they are at actually moving it.

17. West Virginia - The Holgorsen pinball numbers are starting to show....

16. Arizona State - Placing the Devils so high has me really uneasy but they have played to expectations so far and it looks as if they'll run away with the South division as UCLA may be their biggest South game left.

15. Arkansas - Big wins over Texas A&M and Auburn in consecutive weeks have helped a lot of people forget about the shallacking at the hands of the Tide.

14. Oregon - The Ducks are still rolling over everybody and are undeniably the country's best team with a loss on their record.

13. Houston - The Cougars actually played good defense on Saturday, holding a usually potent East Carolina team to just three points.

12. Illinois - Undefeated still but this team has only faced one team with a pulse. If Scheelhause has come as far as it looks from last year though, the Illini could legitimately contend in the Big 10.

11. Georgia Tech - The Yellow Jackets struggled for the first time this year against Maryland but since the Terps are actually the best team they have faced, that could be a bad sign.

10. Kansas State - The win over Missouri was their best on the season but ther is a lot of beef at the top of the Big 12 to deal with before anyone takes this team seriously.

9. Stanford - Impressive again, but again, it was Colorado. If we're talking about actual wins, the best team they've faced so far is Duke.

8. Michigan - The Wolverines are just relentless in the second half. If Denard Robinson was actually consistant throwing the ball this would be a national championship contender.

7. Clemson - The game wasn't that close but if the Tigers want to be elite, they need to blow teams like Boston College away. The injury to Boyd is scary too.

6. Boise State - Something about Fresno State brings out the best in the Broncos and that lackluster performance against Nevada a week ago feels quite distant suddenly.

5. Wisconsin - Didn't play, didn't change my mind about them.

4. Oklahoma State - A lot of teams in the top five finish opponents early and let their quarterbacks enjoy the end of the game from the bench. However, few can let their QB waltz over to the bench BEFORE HALFTIME against a conference opponent. Weeden sat down in the second quarter with a 49-7 lead.

3. Alabama - Hard to drop a team two spots for finishing a shut out but facts are they whipped Vanderbilt and the teams ahead of them beat down on considerably better competition.

2. LSU - Another week, another whipping of a ranked team. The Tigers seem destined for really big things this year, and that trip to Tuscaloosa in November is looking like a "game of the century" atmosphere.

1. Oklahoma - A thrashing of the hated Longhorns is always a big win, regardless of whether or not they deserved their ranking, and moves the Sooners up two spots in my book.

Also considered - Rutgers, Lousiana- Lafyette, North Carolina, Wake Forest, SMU, Texas Tech, Baylor, Texas.

Closing Thoughts

I really wish that the Miller Lite "Man Up" commercials would just go away. I think that it is very bizzare that the entire idea behind the commercials is that it is un-manly to not be concerned about how much taste your lite beer has. In my opinion, you give up the right to point out a lack of manliness when you all start drinking lite beer in the first place. Lite is the word beers use for "diet."

More Marvel Madness

14. Chaos King

vs.

3. Bullseye

54. Demogoblin
vs.
59. The Fallen One

Marvel Madness Round 3

Marvel Madness Continues

12. Harry Osborn

vs.

5. Mr. Sinister

20. Lady Deathstrike
vs.
4. Juggernaut

The Blog is Back

I'll be perfectly honest here folks, I haven't blogged in a while because, well, I haven't cared about anything enough to write about it. I've been in a funk lately, my worst in quite a while. I haven't really cared about football, I haven't cared about comics, I haven't cared about life too much. I get up I go to work, I come home from work, and I'm ready to be done with day. Sure I could have kept blogging, but a heartless blog is a chore to write, and even less fun to read. I'm working my way back from this spell now I think, I don't know how long it will last, but today I'm motivated to write if for nothing else and I have a lot to dump from my mind.

Marvel Madness: The Sinister Sixty-Four

The tournament has marched on into the third round. I am trying to find a way to post a full bracket onto the blog, but there is no way to upload an Excel file to Blogger, and that is where I am keeping record. If anyone has any ideas how to go about this let me know so I can post a full bracket. Matchups will now be down to two a day and should be a lot more intriguing since most of the crap has cleared out and only villians that people actually like are really left.

8. General "Thunderbolt" Ross

vs.

9. Carnage

16. Dormammu

vs.

1. Thanos

Let the voting begin.......

Purchase of the Week I am Currently Super Stoked On

Sunday afternoon Ashley and I headed into the Spokane Valley Mall hoping to find a cheap replacement for her cell phone that had taken a trip through the washing machine. The good news, it was a success, we found a cheap "Go Phone" that works on her network for only ten dollars. Not pretty but it will suffice until her contract comes up for renewal.

The great news came afterward when I begged my way into the sports wear shop for my usual discouraging venture expecting to discover, once again, that being 3,500 miles from Miami means that there will be no Dolphins gear in site. However, the helpful attendant found out I was a Dolphins fan and took to feverently hunting down any Phin gear he could find in my shop. To my great surprise, there was actually quite a bit of it. I don't know how often you visit Pro Image, but you will likely come to a quick realization that virtually all clothing items will price themselves out of your consideration for purchase. This left me with only a few selections, most were hats, which I have plenty of already. I settled on a freezer stein. A panic buy, I know, but after all the merch trotted out in front of me and my usual struggle to find anything I had to buy something and this fit my budget.

I don't know how other people feel about freezer steins but my general feeling has always been that you pay a lot for a cup that takes some actual work to be useful, is hard to clean, and is really pretty ugly excluding the treasured team logo on the front. I instantly felt the dreaded buyer's regret that so commonly plagues me. Then I got home and used.

I was wrong.

God forgive me, I have errantly misjudged these creations for so long.

I waited about four hours and poured a Coke into the cup after it had proper time to freeze and do you know what I discovered? These steins get so cold that when I pour my soda into it, it will actually freeze my soda into a sort of Coke slush, and Coke slush is prehaps the greatest tasting thing in the world. These normally obscenely difficult beverage to create is now mine to behold whenever I want and that makes me more happy than any human has the right to be over a drink.

I am in a somewhat desperate need to find ways to enjoy my days off. I had previously had a tradition to fill my Slurpee jug up every week but that just isn't doing the job. My new tradition: Zip's for lunch. I have always been a Zip's fan but I have found the secret to making my meal great. I now bring a tupperware container with me, pump my own fry sauce into it (instead of paying for cups of it) and then take my meal home with ample amounts of sauce that I don't have to eat in a lonely, dirty fast food restaurant. Until now I have been sticking with the classic two Papa Joe's for lunch, next week I switch it up but I'm not sure what to. The Pizza Burger or the Boss?

College Football Madness (Or Lack Thereof)

Let's be honest here this college season has been quite a letdown so far. College football has surpassed pro football in my mind thanks to the chaos that it offers in the way of upsets and underdog stories that can't be seen in the pros. This season, the lack of that beloved chaos has me suddenly looking back at pro football on Sundays as the highlight of my sports week once again. So far what has been the biggest upset? Baylor over 2-2 TCU? Auburn over South Carolina? Illinois over Arizona State? These three games have to be near the top of the list and you may have noticed none of them really feel like a big upset. I look at the way the season is going and I feel like at least six teams will finish undefeated, and three teams (Boise State, Clemson, Wisconsin) won't even be challenged again in the regular season, with six more teams (Oregon, Stanford, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Alabama, LSU) that will only be challenged by each other. I could be wrong, I hope I'm wrong, but this season feels destined to be stale.

Now, on to the top 25, and after this past weekend I think there is some more clarity on who is the best in the nation.

Also Considered: Penn State, Auburn, Washington, Iowa, SMU, Rutgers. Baylor, Virginia Tech, North Carolina

25. Florida - If QB John Brantley is out for an extended amount of time, the Gators may see more games like Saturday's than the previous four games.

24. South Carolina - Outside of the QB position, this team has top five talent, at the QB position it has bottom five talent.

23. San Diego State - The loss against Michigan was not great but as the season goes on, a loss to the Wolverines is seemingly less and less reason to doubt a team.

22. West Virginia - The Big East title will go through Morgantown, the Mountaineers are clearly a notch above the rest of the conference.

21. Michigan State - The defense is conference contender worthy, the offense needs to catch up.

20. Nebraska - I was tempted to drop them out altogether after the egg they dropped against Wisconsin but realistically, the Badgers are just good enough that the Huskers shouldn't be punished for it.

19. USC - If the defense was half as good as the offense, this would still be a top 5 team. Unfortunately for Trojans fans, it isn't.

18. Arkansas - The Razorbacks looked great erasing a big halftime deficit this week against a Texas A&M team that looks to be proving me right when I picked them to be the nations biggest dissappointment. Also, looking back a week, the Alabama loss doesn't seem so bad.

17. Arizona State - This team has all the talent needed to win the PAC-12 South, when they learn how to handle that talent and stop making stupid mistakes, this team will be scary. Right now though, they haven't yet.

16. Oregon - It's hard to look better with a loss on your record than the Ducks do right now.

15. Houston - The schedule is a joke but the Cougars have done just enough to win every week, and the schedule doesn't look to be much harder going forward. This team could legitimately run the table.

14. Texas Tech - The Red Raiders really haven't proven a thing yet but unbeaten is unbeaten.

13. Kansas State - Beating Baylor hasn't done this much for a team's reputation in probably 50 years.

12. Illinois - The Zookers playing really good football so far, most of the teams have been bad, but the win over Arizona State two weeks ago shows this team has a will to win the Illini haven't shown over the past few years.

11. Texas - This week will really find out if this team is back or just the result of an easy schedule, the Sooners are up next.

10. Georgia Tech - The Yellow Jackets are just mercilessly running the ball down their opponents throats this year. The competition hasn't been top notch but the games haven't been even modestly close either.

9. Michigan - They look ready to turn the corner right now but we've said that a lot in recent years. I'm still not sold on Denard Robinson's ability to actually throw the ball downfield against the better foes in the Big 10 but only time will tell.

8. Stanford - They look as good as hyped but the best team they have played so far is UCLA. It will take more than that to crack my top five. We'll revisit the Cardinal after USC, Oregon, or Arizona State line up on the other side of the ball.

7. Boise State - Ignore the records of the teams they have played so far and you will realize that the Broncos have played a decent schedule. Georgia, Tulsa, Toledo, and Nevada have played some the hardest schedules in the country this year. That being said, an atrocious kicking game, and some spotty reciever play have this team looking a step behind the rest of the big dogs in the national title race so far.

6. Oklahoma State - This team has so far showed touhgness that no other OSU team this century has shown. Playing through weather issues and fighting back against Texas A&M in a game that previous Cowboy teams would have lost control of. The Big 12 pecking order looks pretty set this season, and the Pokes are clearly the No. 2 right new.

5. Clemson - The Tigers have looked only truly dominant one time this season but that may be all it takes. Clemson embarassed the Hokies on Saturday in Lane Stadium no less and at this point the Tigers have already won their three toughest games of the year in consecutive weeks. The ACC Championship game is already within their grasp with only two conference games under their belt.

4. Oklahoma - The Sooners have dropped three spots in my rankings this season despite looking as good as advertised, but the schedule has been all about one game, and Florida State has since made that game seem a little less impressive since that one was played. The Sooners can change some minds this week against Texas.

3. Wisconsin

Yeah, that's pretty much what the last three quarters felt like on Saturday as the Badgers cornholed the Huskers. It is hard to find a loss on the regular season schedule for this squad.

2. LSU - They have played the hardest schedule in the country to this point and with Florida coming to Baton Rouge this Saturday, the year isn't getting any easier. The top two were a tough choice, but Tigers have been just slightly less dominant so far than...........

1. Alabama - It really burns me to have to make this vote, but after this week it's hard not to. The Tide have yet to be challenged, and have played three of their four toughest regular season tests already (Florida, Penn State, Arkansas). I got the chance to watch this team play on Saturday for the first time this year, and the defense and Trent Richardson are as good as advertised (sigh).

I think it is too early in the season to put up any official Heisman standings, simply because one bad game statistically puts a player outside of the top five at their position. However, I do think we have a very defined "watch list." These players are on mine.

Boise State QB Kellen Moore, Oregon RB LaMichael James, Alabama RB Trent Richardson, South Carolina RB Marcus Lattimore, LSU CB Tyran Mathieu, Oklahoma State QB Brandon Weeden, USC QB Matt Barkeley, USC WR Robert Woods, Oklahoma QB Landry Jones, Clemson QB Tajh Boyd, Stanford QB Andrew Luck, and Wisconsin RB Montee Ball

The Dolphins Report Card

The report card will not be presented this week because I didn't see most of the game. I will say this though, here is my new philosophy on the season.

The season is over, 0-4 is too deep for good teams, much less a team with the worst defense in the league. The Reggie Bush experiment is already a failure, and lets face it, every other team in the division is decent. At this point I'm thinking 2-14 should be enough for the top pick, a new coach, and some house cleaning on the defense. At this point I want Andrew Luck more than I want to see 5 wins instead of 2.

The Wide World of Video Games

I have never been much of a gamer but this past summer I set out on a mission to do something I spent a good chunk of my teenage years failing at. I wanted to get 100% complete on the PS2 Grand Theft Auto games. I completed GTA 3 and Vice City and was feeling very accomplished. I then figured I would give San Andreas a shot as well even I felt it was a big step below the other two, simply because it was too complex.

I was right, I got to about 6% and decided I wasn't really interested in going on, I never even reached the second map of the city. I spent a few days simply trying to get around the one you start with and really couldn't manage even that. Upon doing some research I realized that beating this game would've taken in excess of three hundred hours, and I was not interested in tying all of my free time until Christmas up into it. Goodbye San Andreas, you were a good idea, but you too deep for anyone who is at least attempting to have a life.

Now this game on the other hand.....

One of my childhood favorites, I decided to give a whirl again to see if it held up. What I discovered was that it did but it certainly doesn't provide much a challenge to me anymore. I less than three days I did what I had never accomplished as a kid. I found all 100 puzzle pieces (which I had accomplished before), picked up all 1000 music notes, and then grabbed all 24 hollow honeycomb pieces. I had a blast but I wish it could have lasted longer.

Comics Corner

I have decided that ranting about football is not enough, there needs to more of a comic book presence in this blog. I'm going to try to review comics occasionally here, because I apparently need more things to criticize.

X-Men: Schism

This has been a highly hyped X-Crossover for the summer, it even got it's own prolouge series, and will lead to the end (relaunch? sigh) of the Uncanny X-Men series. For three and one half issues it felt like an X-Men story. A good one but not a special one. About half way through issue four we finally saw it become something special. I don't want to give a lot away but lets just say, how excited would you be if you FINALLY saw the Wolverine/Cyclops fight of mutual hatred that we had been waiting for since like 1982. I recommend you buy just this issue and enjoy the recap of the first three missable issues and soak up the greatness of this one. 9/10

Punisher 1-3

At the beginning of the summer, Marvel decided to give the Marvel Knights universe a kindof-sortof re-launch thing. It hasn't been huge but it has been enjoyable. The Punisher story has been great. It feels like a Punisher story, nothing cute, nothing fancy. Just a street crime story with realistic fight scenes and a very gritty, violent feel from beginning to end. My only complaint is the artwork is sometimes a bit tough to follow. Recommended 8.5/10

In the same relaunch effort we saw new Ghost Rider an Daredevil series, both have been decent, and I would recommend for fans of the characters but to avoid otherwise, at least until the series get going a bit more.

Fear Itself #6

Fear Itself was not a bad issue, but it dredged up some bad feelings of crossovers past, because nothing really happened. People hated on Secret Invasion and House of M because it felt like they both had about 4 issues in the middle that were not needed. Book Six of Fear Itself felt like that. It was well written and there was absolutely nothing wrong with the story, as matter of fact I loved the depth it added to the overall story. However, my feelings on big events like this is that if you're going to have a million crossover books, add some depth to story with them, instead of just making new poorly written vaguely related stories (I'm looking at you Fear Itself: Wolverine and Fearsome Four). Save the action for the main story. This book was greatly lacking in it. 7/10

Spider-Island: Amazing Spider-Man 666-669

This story really serves to prove how wrong Joe Quesada was about how One More Day was essential to make Spidey fun again. All Spidey needed was to not be stuck in terrible crossover stories like this anymore. Since one more day ended I can only think of one Spidey story I've enjoyed less than this so far. The story isn't awful but I really hate the artwork, and as a crossover it is an abject failure becuase all the associated mini's have been atrocious. The story focuses on a plot by the Jackal (strike 1) to give all of Manhattan spider powers. I like the concept but the writing has just fallen flat. 4.5/10

Summer Movie Season in Review

The summer blockbuster movie has now come to an end and this year had a lot to offer comic book fans. There was good and bad an I'd like to highlight the extremes of both.

Worst Movie of the Summer Award: Transformers - Dark of the Moon

Do you remember how excited everyone was for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen? Do you remember the how much everyone hated the movie? If you answered yes to both questions, you have seen Transformers: Dark of the Moon. The worst part of the movie is arguably not the movie itself, it is the way it almost blatantly slaps fans in the face by repeating everything they hated about the franchises last installment, almost as if it is telling them the other movie wasn't bad but just needed some tweaking.

The movie starts out exactly the same way. It has about an hour of punchline after useless punchline, trying as hard as it can to be edgy with vulgar langauge and sexual content as if it is daring parents to walk their children out of theatre. Just like the second movie, none of this ultimately has really any bearing on the movie plot. When Megan Fox, who fans had really turned on because of her lack of any discernable acting, left the franchise Michael Bay assured everyone he was more than capable of discovering a new no-name model with questionable acting skills to replace her.

The movie ends with a one hour or so battle to the center of Chicago, assisted by special military forces with the Transformers to reach the a building that will end the battle almost assuredly.

Now, read that sentence again and replace Chicago with Egypt and building with pyramid and you have Revenge of the Fallen.

I don't know where the Transformers franchise goes from here without Michael Bay but whether it relaunches, ends, or just moves on, it will be for the better.
Best Movie of the Summer: Thor

Thor was a movie I entered with a lot of doubts, a strange directing choice, an even stranger choice to play Heimdall, and some pretty hokey looking previews. I was very happy to be wrong and at this point it looks like Marvel Studios quite simply doesn't make bad movies because they know their characters to well to make the movies poorly. Thor moves from drama to action movie over and over again over a two hour span without anything feeling forced, haphazard, or uneccesary. The acting is superb and Tom Hiddleston plays a villianous Loki so perfectly it seemed to me Ledgeresque. All this for a super hero that honestly, is no where near the top of the Marvel brands totem pole. This movie started what was a very good summer for the Marvel brand as Captain America and X-Men First Class both exceeded fan expectations as well.

Baseball? In My Blog?

Yeah, baseball. In my blog. Try as I might to hate on Major League Baseball, every fall I inevitably end up following the playoffs. This year, I was greatly aided by the brilliantly painful collapse of my hated Boston Red Sox. Sadly, the Rays didn't do anything with their opportunity, but I am still more interested in the postseason than usual, as the Yankees are the only team in that I really dislike.

TV Reviews Too?

Yeah, those too. I told you I had a lot I felt like writing about, so here goes my feeling on the fresh new television season as well.

The Playboy Club Gets an Early Ax

I have never watched this show, and it appears that I never will (not that I planned too) because two episoded in, NBC has given it the boot already. I for one am glad to see to go anyways, because it is part of a trend that I have really come to resent this fall. It is essentially the headline of the new set of shows whose only real appeal is that it is vintage and sexy. Really, it is a trend created for hipster teenage boys, and the ratings seem to reflect no one else is watching. This is the first to go and I hope that Pan-Am and the new Charlie's Angels follow soon.

Whitney

Whitney is a show that I really entered into watching this fall with pretty low hopes, mostly because the commercials were nothing but Whitney elaborating on or just re-telling jokes I had already seen on her stand-up DVD. That doesn't inspire high hopes. However, I gave it a whirl, because I think Whitney Cummings is hilarious. So far my feelings are mixed, the show is funny, but Whitney's boyfriend co-star of the show is just dreadfully unlikable. I want to enjoy the show a lot more, hopefully the season ends with a break-up and re-cast of her significant other. Rating through two episodes 6/10

Big Bang Theory

This show just keeps getting better every year and I can't wait to see what happens from here. There has been great jokes, great characters moments for almost everyone on the show already, and some very significant character growth and plot advancement in only two episodes, something rarely seen on a comedy show. This is quickly becoming my favorite show on television. Rating so far 9.5/10

The Office

The Office is another show I entered the season with pretty low expectations for. I am one of the believers that the show needed Steve Carrell to work and would flop without out him. I was wrong, dead wrong. If anything, he was holding it back, the other characters are greater, and the presence of Michael Scott had been holding them back. Andy as the new Branch Manager has been outstanding and Kevin has left me in stitches every episode. Jim, Dwight, and Pam are still having great Jim, Dwight, and Pam moments, and Erin is becoming a delight to watch each week too. Rating so far 10/10

It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia

This show has been a mixed bag so far, I loved the first episode, and didn't much care for the second one of the season. That is pretty much how this show works though, the way the show is written, it simply cannot be good every week. Rating so far 7.5/10

Family Guy
Family Guy so far this season is, well, Family Guy. Ever since the show revived it has been incredibly hit or miss for me. When the show is just the show and is random, quirky, weird, and fearless, it's hilarious. When the show tries to make political statements, focus on making show tunes moments, or just tries to use some directing gimmick (like the murder mystery) episode it is just awful. Last week it was a hybrid of the two, with a lot of the show following Brian's experiment with mushrooms and was okay, the first episode was great. Rating so far 7.5/10

Arrested Development

Yeah, I know the show was cancelled ages ago but this week it was announced that a short 10ish episode season would be recorded along with a movie to be aired in 2013. I quite simply can. not. wait. This probably the most underappreciated comedy of all time and is quite deserving of a second chance. News rating 20/10

Thats finally all folks. Don't forget tovote in the Marvel Madness tournament.