April 30, 2014

Fantagraphics

Gambit is a Terrible Super Hero

A Defense of Cyclops

"Love and Rockets" is a comic strip that has been published for 30 years. That means that it's almost impossible to catch up. The publishers (Fantagraphics, you know, the store I'm standing in) FINALLY realized that this might be a problem, and came out with some new anthologies that collect major storylines over the last 30 years. Yay! Mexican-American Comics!

Flip Flip Ding Ding
New pinball in Georgetown

This "World Cup '94" game is the best.

There's a goalie and you try to score with your pinball. 

It's a simple, attainable goal. 

There's an assist spot, which holds your ball until you press the flipper. And there's a corner kick, which whips the ball towards your flipper just like a real corner kick.

Mean Girls 10th Anniversary
We Wear Pink on Wednesdays

It's stunning what percentage of current middle schools girls wore pink today. 
My rough estimate is 70%

Shake It: A Modern Polaroid Love Story

Billy Joel - Just The Locations

30 Rock Double Edged Sword

April 29, 2014

SIFF Trailer 2014 - Cinescape

Louis C.K. went on a twitter rant against new common core math questions.

He's right.

Billy Joel: Still Relevant!

Relive the Five Biggest Marvel Super Hero Brawls

A Desk Dalek.

From Doctor Who Club.

April 28, 2014

NBA Shootaround: Up In The Air

Marvel Announces Wolverine Will Die And Maybe It Will Even Count This Time

E.T. Cartridges Found In A New Mexico Landfill

The Extended Donald Sterling Tape

Your Complete Quotable Guide to Decades of Donald Sterling's Racism

You Can Do Anything SNL

Infinite Jest - Best Tennis Book Ever

The descriptions of tennis are so vivid.

He talks about how Lemon Pledge is the only sunscreen that will withstand a three-set sweat. And how you should call your rackets, "sticks". And how the ball is perfect potential energy. How youth players grow into their potential (or don't), and how potential is it's own kind of responsibility.

There's some other stuff in the book too. About Quebec separatists and a brother who punts for the Arizona Cardinals and some video disc that's killing people.

But I really like the tennis. 

We have been watching 30 Rock at lunch.
The last three seasons are uneven. 
I have been tasked with condensing three seasons of television into 6 weeks of lunch viewing. 
In doing this, I was surprised how much heart is contained in 30 Rock.
There are some major storylines and character growth mixed in with all the ridiculousness.
I'll be posting clips as we watch because I love 30 Rock.
>HIGH FIVING A MILLION ANGELS<

April 27, 2014

Iron Man 3

Barrel of Monkeys 

Mad Men Week #3 - A Nice Farm Upstate

Mad Men Power Rankings #703

Game of Thrones Precap

Game of Thrones Recap: Oh Baby!

A Tale of Three Game Winning Shots

April 26, 2014

The FC Barcelona Doom Metric

GQ - The True Fan's Guide To Getting Hooked On Soccer

Liverpool's Season Through an Everton Fan's Eyes

Liverpool and Everton are rivals.

Liverpool is miraculously close to winning the Premier League.

Sounders v Colorado Rapids

April 25, 2014

Why Are So Many Silicon Valley Companies Valued In The Billions?

30 for 30 Shorts

From Harlem With Love

The Pitchfork Guide to Festivals

The Clippers and the Chris Paul Paradox

"Boyhood" Trailer

The Little Big Things On A Basketball Court

April 24, 2014

There is a moment.
Every time I build Ikea furniture, there is a moment of disaster.
Perhaps THEY forgot to give me a screw, or the design is OBVIOUSLY flawed, or sometimes that F#$%ing Allen Wrench just isn't doing the job.
That moment lasts a split second.
Then I realize that I'm actually the dumb one.
Because there's the extra screw right there, or that peg fits magically into that hole, or I needed a screwdriver and the directions said so right there.
That moment makes me question so many things about myself.

This time the moment passed quickly.

I remained calm and level headed.
And now I have two chairs.

Hollywood Prospectus Summer Movie Preview

The Shot Doctor

“He understands that a big part of shooting is the shooter’s mind,” Kerr said, and a moment toward the end of Kerr’s career provided such an example. With Kerr playing reduced minutes in Portland as a 36-year-old during the 2001-02 campaign, he found himself struggling to stay loose for meaningful shooting opportunities. Kerr told Engelland about his problem and the shooting expert flew up and offered a solution: a 30-minute, seven-shot workout. Kerr and Engelland would sit alone on the bench in the Portland practice facility after everybody else had left. Engelland would ask Kerr to tell him what was going on with his kids or even leave him to read a newspaper. After a few minutes, Engelland would shout at Kerr to go, and the two would sprint off the bench and set Kerr up for a single 3-point attempt from the wing before returning to the bench. Repeat six more times and you’ve got the league’s most unlikely — and simultaneously most logical — shooting workout. A typical shooting coach, Kerr said, would have noted his struggles and told him to take 200 shots from a variety of spots to try to regain his physical rhythm. Instead, Engelland put himself in Kerr’s shoes to help refresh Kerr’s mental timing.

Awesome Photo Project Calls Out Slurs We're All Guilty of Using

NBA Playoffs Overnight: LAMARCUS!

Michael Pineda's Pine Tar

April 23, 2014

Is Stephen Colbert Secretly An Agent of Hydra?

This comic about a vintage diner looks good.

This Fan-Made Interactive GAME OF THRONES Map is Super Helpful, Awesome

April 22, 2014

NBA Playoffs 

Winners and Losers So Far

The first 72 hours of the NBA playoffs have been wild compared with last season’s early chalk-fest. We’ve had nine competitive games out of 10, crazy finishes, a GM giving an ECW-style promo, massive scoring totals, and lots of other fun stuff.

Here’s an early look at the winners and losers from three days of bleary-eyed hoop-watching.

The People's Platform

Do you use the Internet? Then you have to read Astra Taylor’s The People’s Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age, one of the most important books of the year. In it, Taylor (a writer, activist, and documentarian whose films include Zizek! and Examined Life) argues that the promised utopia of online culture is built upon a lie; in reality, the amorphous mass that we call the Internet is actually a place of great inequality, where the people’s interests are in hock to corporations and billionaires who just go by different names these days, whether it’s Google, Apple, or other Silicon Valley monoliths. Taylor is a clear-eyed writer and a provocative thinker, covering the shifting grounds of how the Internet changes and affects today’s culture, from journalism to music. It makes you very wary about having a Facebook page. I had the chance to talk to her about what we can do to create a sustainable Internet culture, and whether institutions like the library can survive.

25 Essential Graphic Novels from Flavorwire 

Some great books are on this list, though it doesn't mention extended series or any superheroes. I would add "Y: The Last Man", "Fables", "All-Star Superman", and "Batman: The Long Halloween".

New Movies on Netflix Streaming

Because there isn't enough to watch.

Short Term 12 was buried when I searched for it.

By the time I finally found it, I had added 37 other movies to my queue. 

What a great problem to have.

Smash Up Storage Solution

Most games give you a box that plans to hold the expansions.
I have two different expansions for Smash Up.
The left two columns come with the base game. 
The third column is Awesome Level 9000
The fourth column is the Science Fiction Double Feature
Both are great and add replay value to a game that's already really fun.
But they overcrowd the box.

See the cards on the left?
How they don't quite sit down int he box correctly?
It's probably because I decided to put them in sleeves, but now they don't sit low enough in the box.
So when the lid goes on, the cards get smushed.
The solution was to cut out the bottom of the plastic tray.

That way, the cards fit snuggly in the box, and there's room for all the expansions.
Great Success!
(I know my solution to this storage problem was literally: "BREAK THINGS!", but it worked.)

And I got outside today.

April 21, 2014

Young Women Are The Fastest Growing Demographic Buying Comics

Bill Barnwell tries to fix the first round of the NBA Playoffs

Article From An FSU Fan about the Jameis Winston case.

I wish I wasn't interested with speed.
It seems like it's one of the only ways to "keep score" with running.
The enjoyable parts are the solitude and the scenery.
Speed/pace are the parts I could really do without.

This was a beautiful run today, as the clouds parted after dinner and the Burke-Gilman trail was (relatively) empty.
I try to make these easy miles, which is supposed to be good for your joints and tendons. 
But I swear, short legs make me seem even slower than other people.

I've reached a point where other people passing me isn't a big deal. 
And the point for me really isn't to go fast. 
Especially when I'm on my fourth mile and this punk, who's just starting his run, blows by me with a smug "ON YOUR LEFT!" when we're the only two people on the trail.

I didn't realize the trail ends unceremoniously near the Fred Meyer in Ballard.
I assumed it would end in a beautiful park, or with some kind of plaque. 
Reaching the end of the trail would probably mean more if I had actually started at the beginning.
A good goal would be to (eventually) run on every part of the trail, even if I did it over several sessions. 

I AM SO SLOW!!!

April 20, 2014

Saving Mr Banks

What a strange movie.
It's definitely not for kids.
And spends an extraordinary amount of time in turn of the century Australia. 

Legendary Dark City 

350 MORE CARDS!!!

Prepare To Have Your Mind Blown By A Baloon And A Minivan

Greg Popovich and Craig Sager Jr.

Popovich is a guy who people love.
This is why.

Stranger's Best New Places To Eat For Cheap

A History Of Harvest Moon
Gaming's Most Entertaining Farming Sim
Fun fact: I have purchased every Harvest Moon game (including the Rune Factoryseries) that has been released in the U.S. since the first game was released back in 1997.P

Second fun fact: I have never played any Harvest Moon game for more than ten hours in total, most less than five. P

I love the idea of the Harvest Moon series. I love the dating and marriage aspects. I love planting crops and building up a farm. I love the art direction. I love everything about the games, except playing them for any extended period of time. Maybe I don't have the patience, or I am just easily distracted. All I know is one day my children are going to get their hands on one hell of a collection. Maybe they'll actually play them.

New Hallmark Commercials
Ummm... These are amazing achievements in advertising.
Like did Don Draper make these?
"Proud Mom"

"Laugh or Cry"

"Mom's Date"

Mad Men Power Rankings Episode 702
This is my favorite show on television.

April 19, 2014

IKEA

We bought chairs, pillows, a lamp and cookies.
We needed the chairs so we could play Marvel: Legendary.
We even got the expansion today.
I still don't feel like I'm getting bored with it.

NBA Playoffs Shootaround Opening Statements

Steve McPherson: Tallying up the sad emojis of the Pacers this season — whether you date the beginning of their struggles to this karma-baiting picture or this worryingly gigantic dunk, which may have opened a portal through which whatever meager offense the Pacers once possessed passed and is now hurtling through space end over end like the bad guys from Superman II — has become its own sport. As an entire package, their Game 1 loss to the Hawks on their home floor may represent the nadir (or zenith, depending) of this pastime, but this single possession from the fourth quarter of that game is something else altogether.

Trailing by 20 points, David West sets a down screen for Paul George, who pops out to the top of the arc to receive a pass from George Hill. And then nothing happens.

Nothing.

Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer holds his arms straight out as if instructing his team that if they JUST DON’T DO ANYTHING, if they just DON’T MOVE, this will probably work out all right for them. Hill points near Kyle Korver’s right side, maybe to tell West to set a pick. This is a guess, because then George looks at West like, “Excuse me, sir? The thing? Can you do the thing?” and West looks back with HIS arms straight out as if to say, “Me? Which thing?” Hill points to Lance Stephenson like, “Hey maybe that guy wants the ball” and then George is like, “Fine, I’ll dribble into three defenders and turn it over. How’s that?” And then DeMarre Carroll is all, “COOKIES!”

The Pacers have never had the most elegant, intricate, or efficient offense, but this is the null set of offense. This is dark matter. This offensive possession is a glimpse into what holds everything else apart, a reminder that complete chaos is not frenetic, but a total thermodynamic equilibrium where nothing can happen. This is the 2013-14 Indiana Pacers. This is heat death.

Another Reason Why Boston Sports Are Insufferable

Blake Griffin Fouls Out Awesomely

Sounders at Murphy's

Ozzie's "mistake" was pretty bad.
But this year we seem to have a way of fighting through stuff like that.
They're a fun team to watch.
Now is a good time to get on board.
The bandwagon is going to be full as we approach the playoffs.

April 18, 2014

Wild Cub - Thunder Clatter

Amazon's Culture of Frugality

John Coltrane Performs A Love Supreme LIVE
John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme came out in 1964, an “album-long hymn of praise,” writes Rolling Stone, “transcendent music perfect for the high point of the civil rights movement” as well as Coltrane’s growing spiritual awakening after kicking his heroin habit. The record amazed critics and jazz fans alike and by 1970, it had sold over half-a-million copies. But lovers of Coltrane would only have only one chance to see him perform the full four-part suite live, and not in any stateside clubs but in Antibes, France on July 26, 1965, where he played two nights with his quartet.

April 17, 2014

Losing Yourself All Over Again

An Oral History of the 8 Mile Rap Battles

Carl Sagan's Daughter Writes About His Thoughts On Mortality

As I veered into a kind of mini existential crisis, my parents comforted me without deviating from their scientific worldview.

“You are alive right this second. That is an amazing thing,” they told me. When you consider the nearly infinite number of forks in the road that lead to any single person being born, they said, you must be grateful that you’re you at this very second. Think of the enormous number of potential alternate universes where, for example, your great-great-grandparents never meet and you never come to be. Moreover, you have the pleasure of living on a planet where you have evolved to breathe the air, drink the water, and love the warmth of the closest star. You’re connected to the generations through DNA — and, even farther back, to the universe, because every cell in your body was cooked in the hearts of stars.

Matt Fraction on Sex Criminals

The first trade paperback comes out this week.

"The Goal Is To Understand Your True Self Before Launching An Action Plan..."

What TableTop Means To Me

NBA Ownership:

The World's Most Exclusive Club

April 16, 2014

It's Adventure Time!

The bizarre magic of the world’s greatest kid’s—is it for kids?—television show.

Adventure Time is a smash hit cartoon aimed primarily at kids age six to eleven. It’s also a deeply serious work of moral philosophy, a rip-roaring comic masterpiece, and a meditation on gender politics and love in the modern world. It is rich with moments of tenderness and confusion, and real terror and grief even; moments sometimes more resonant and elementally powerful than you experience in a good novel, though much of Adventure Time’s emotional force is visually evoked—conveyed through a language of seeing and feeling rather than words.

Why I Fixed Fights

I fixed a lot of fights over the years. In two I didn't fix but should have, people paid heavily for my carelessness. Even though I set up Mitch "Blood" Green and Leon Spinks cushion-soft in their comeback fights, I managed to get one embarrassed and the other nearly killed. There had been opportunities for them, deals that came undone when they lost. It wasn't as if the winners benefited in any tangible way either. At best their victories brought them smallish short-term bragging rights. Among boxing insiders they were objects of scorn for having won, as incompetent at their jobs as Green, Spinks, and I were at ours.

Errors in the Jameis Winston Case

Tallahassee, Fla. — Early on the morning of Dec. 7, 2012, a freshman at Florida State University reported that she had been raped by a stranger somewhere off campus after a night of drinking at a popular Tallahassee bar called Potbelly’s.

For nearly a year, the events of that evening remained a well-kept secret until the woman’s allegations burst into the open, roiling the university and threatening a prized asset: Jameis Winston, one of the marquee names of college football.

Revised SAT Won't Include Obscure Vocabulary Words

How One Mario Kart Track Has Changed in 22 Years

Seattle Mariners Call Up Nick Franklin

April 15, 2014

Small Black 
Free At Dawn

Phantogram
Celebrating Nothing

Amy Schumer's West Wing Homage
"The Foodroom"

In a related story, I finally finished Season Two of the Newsroom. It was fine, but the show is much more interesting to me when it talks about the specifics of these character's lives. When the show preaches about journalistic integrity regarding real-world news stories, I'm suddenly bored.  

A Deep Dive on the Friday Night Lights Finale with Jason Katims

April 14, 2014

Marvel Legendary

This game is amazing.

I'm of two minds about pranks. But as long as everyone involved is laughing, it's really none of my business. This minor league team pulled off a MONTH LONG prank where they convinced a guy that a pitcher was deaf. 

Interesting piece about Givers, Takers, and Matchers

April 13, 2014

Bill Simmons' NBA Mailbag

Children of "Men"

Megan Draper as Sharon Tate

58 Things To Remember About the Mad Men Season 6 Finale

Where were Iron Man and Hawkeye during The Winter Soldier?

Cap 2 Is The Movie Marvel Needed To Make

Letterman's Last Great Moment

Team MMA is Somehow A Real Thing

April 12, 2014

Comedy Central - Review

Highly recommended.
It's so high concept, I didn't get it at first.
The guy on the show is actor Andy Daly.
But he plays Forrest McNeil.
McNeil has a TV show called "Review", where people write in and ask him to review life experiences. 
He also has a family and people who work with him on the show.
But he's tied to the idea that whatever people ask him to review, he has to do it. 
And the consequences of his review carry over from show to show.
Everyone appearing on camera is part of the Comedy Central show. 
So it's not super awkward or uncomfortable.
...
...
Anyway, it's unlike anything else I've seen.
And it made me laugh hard.


Sounders v Dallas

YAY!!
We went to Murphy's again.
It's a good pub to watch a soccer match.

Then we went everywhere else in the neighborhood looking for the Manny Pacquaio fight. (Moon Temple, Iron Bull, and when they didn't have it, we stopped by Molly Moons)

Masters

After devouring our waffle cones, my brother asked if I would watch the Masters. As a new golf fan, of course I was going to watch it. And the Tiger Woods video game gave me and appreciation for the difficulty of Augusta National.
I still hate Jim Nantz talking about this golf tournament like it's the Second Coming.
But I appreciate the difficulty of playing good golf on this course.

At the volunteer meeting today, 
they have a new "Volunteer Compendium"

April 11, 2014

Blade Trinity

The fights were pretty cool.
There was some story about Dracula or something.
But mostly the fights were pretty cool.

Trouble with the Curve

The exact opposite of Moneyball.
The science/advanced metrics guy is Matthew Lillard.
He uses computers to track all of the prospects at bats.
But his computer must be poop, because he has no idea that the kid can only hit fastballs.
So Amy Adams finds a kid at her motel that throws a "pure" curveball.
And brings him to practice to show up the prospect.
Please don't watch this movie.
It's pretty bad.

Gilmore Girls - Lorelai and Max
I forgot how much I love this show.

This came on ABC Family today.
It's a small town show with whip-smart dialogue and tons of heart. 

Is that Alanis?

Iron Man 2

This movie is fun.
I don't think it advances major plot lines.
Sam Rockwell crushes it as the smarmy industrialist rival Justin Hammer.
And there's Don Cheadle, Gary Shandling, and John Slattery

Iron Man 3

Don't think about it too much.
Just enjoy the ride.

This is who I've been taking care of this week:

April 10, 2014

The Heat

Mortal Instruments: City of Bone

Another casualty of the fast forward button on the DVR.
It's something about angels, the Holy Grail (which Indy already put safely in a warehouse, and purifying bloodlines. 
There's some kind of portal. 
And every angel gets goofy looking tattoos.
I didn't get it at all.
That would make me feel old, except I don't hear any kids talking about this book series either.

The Heartbreak Kid

Awkward, cringe-inducing comedy can be hard to watch. 
It's got the same sensibility as Meet the Parents.
If you want to watch MORE bad things happen to Ben Stiller, this is your jam.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Marvel: Assembling A Universe




2084
Addictive browser game that totally rips off Threes.
I created a strategy (through MUCH playtesting) where I never hit the up button. It keeps the twos on the top of the board, making it easier to match them to create larger numbers.

April 9, 2014

Colbert on Common Core

The Colbert Report

Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Indecision Political Humor,Video Archive

Rock of Ages

Wow.
What a turd.
It's terrible 80's glam rock karaoke.
It's a two hour episode of Glee: The Senior Class.
Avoid at all costs.

Revolutionary Road

I know it looks like it's going to be about 1950's suburban white malaise and ennui. 
And it is.
But it's really much better than that.
It works in some of the same ways Mad Men works. 
It's using that era and those people to get at something deeper.
And those two lead actors are pretty good.

The Watch

It's a hard R, to be sure.
And it's not Oscar worthy.
But it's pretty funny.

Premium Rush

The best New York, bike messenger, movie you'll ever see.

Bad Boys 2

This s#!& just got real.

Android Netrunner: The Card Game

It's a two player, asymmetrical, deck building game set in a distopian, hacker-centric future.

April 8, 2014

I'm housesitting this week. 
So I'm watching EVERY movie on cable.

The Great Gatsby

Removed from the media hype surrounding its' release, it's an easy to follow, stylish adaptation that made me want to leaf through the book again.

Red Eye

Directed by Wes Craven, it's a throwback to a type of thriller that did not rely on gore and blood. It's definitely an homage to Hitchcock. It's a tight 85 minutes and it's well worth your time.

Identity Thief

It was funny enough and your enjoyment will depend on how you feel about Melissa McCarthy (I love Sookie, so I had a great time). But it spent quite a bit of time trying to humanize and add depth to these ridiculous characters. Which worked, but made it a different movie than I was expecting.

The Internship

You know these two guys.
The story shines an extremely positive light on Google.
Technology is really about bringing people the information they need to do what they love. 

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

I mostly fast forwarded through this one.
When I saw one of the production companies was from Abu Dhabi, my concerns were validated.

Smash Up: Science Fiction Double Feature Expansion

The new factions (Cyborg Apes, Shapeshifters, Time Travelers, and Secret Agents) are awesome.
My buddy kicked my butt with them today.