Last night I went with the family to the midnight showing of the new Batman movie. Just by chance it was opening in Oslo on my birthday. I have been looking forward to this movie all year. I am hesitant to admit that the flick did not live up to my expectations. I won’t write anything about it just yet. I think that I will just Continue reading “Batman: The Dark Knight Rises….. ehh.”
A dark night indeed
As long as I can remember I have had a special place in my heart for the comic book character known as Batman. More than any other fictional character, and if I am really honest, more than any real life person as well, Batman has helped to define my own personal and moral code. My mother, who is a fairly religious person, has lamented over the fact that I have never in my life asked myself “what would Jesus do”, but have on more than one occasion chosen a course of action based upon “what would Batman do”. With that said, as I sit here on my vacation Norway I have been thinking about the recent shooting in Colorado during the midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises” and the Norwegian shooter from last summer quite a bit.
Anyone familiar with the Batman mythos will know that Bruce Wayne’s (aka Batman) parents were senselessly murdered in front of him while on their way home from watching “The Mark of Zorro”. Their murder marks a critical turning point in the life of the young Bruce Wayne. I keep thinking Continue reading “A dark night indeed”
If I can’t be famous, I’ll be infamous!
The martial artist in me is conflicted by the recent turn of events in Colorado, and the anniversary the mass murder in Oslo, Norway. The Norwegian gunman had more than an hour to hunt down and attack his victims. More than an hour, which means that he had to stop and reload at multiple points. As a person that trains in self defense based arts, I can’t help but think about what I would do if faced by such a threat. Would my training make a difference? Would I freeze or rise to the challenge? Are the arts that I am studying really effective in real combat situation? In truth, I don’t have any answers. I would hope that be able to protect myself and my loved ones. Or at the very least make the son of a bitch regret picking me or mine as a target.
My father was gunned down when I was fourteen as he was closing down his candy shop for the evening. The murderer was never found. Even as a young man I often Continue reading “If I can’t be famous, I’ll be infamous!”
……does whatever a spider can!
It was a pretty good day for me. I had a couple of really productive meetings followed by an opportunity to reconnect with an old passion of mine that I have neglected for far too long, podcasting. Thanks to a good friend of mine I was asked to participate in a podcast about the new Spider-man movie with the guys over at NewYorkCine. I was brought in for my expertise on all things related to Spider-man and comic nerdism/geekdom. Plus I was one of the few people on the panel that actually loved the new Spider-man reboot more than the Sam Raimi versions.
Big up to my boy Thomas Edward Seymour for the invite. I had a blast. Here is to hoping they ask me back to help review the new Chris Nolan Batman flick, The Dark Knight Rises, later this month.
The Spider-man podcast with my commentary can be found here:
If your browser does not support the audio element. Please access the podcast at:
http://newyorkcine.podbean.com/2012/07/10/new-york-cine-not-so-amazing-spider-man-27/
You can check Continue reading “……does whatever a spider can!”
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Launch
So last night I get in late from teaching an evening class and my son meets me at the door in damn near a panic. He tells me they are finalizing the pre-order sales for “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
The 2011 NYC Comic Con
The NYC Comic-Con was in town so the kids and I engaged in our yearly ritual. They had been looking forward to it since we went last year. The wife tagged along again for her second year. She will never admit it but I think she is starting to enjoy the madness as well. The kids had a blast as usual.
I was shocked how many people that ran into at the event that I knew from academia and business. I guess being a nerd is no longer a bad thing. The photos from the weekend can be found below….. Continue reading “The 2011 NYC Comic Con”
Royal Wedding Blues…..call the Doctor.
While most of the world is talking about the British Royal wedding, I decided to spend my day unwrapping my new UK inspired purchase, the first four seasons of the new Doctor Who series. I can always tell when I am getting bored or depressed because I start looking for stuff to buy. I caught the DVD box sets on sale from Amazon for 100 bucks. I had been looking for these to come down in price for a while. I love the new series, but at the standard 70 bucks per season I wasn’t going to pull the trigger on them. The sale was offered to celebrate the royal wedding believe or not. So, all in all, I guess something positive for me came about as a result of the royal nuptials.
Summer movie season 2011 = Nerdgasm
The incredibly crappy year I have been having is about to take a turn for the better as the summer movie season of 2011 rolls around. In the next few months there are about five big budget comic themed movies set to drop. I have been a comic book aficionado since I was about three or four years old, which is about Continue reading “Summer movie season 2011 = Nerdgasm”
New Who coming soon
The new season of Doctor Who launches April 23 on the BBC and BBC America. I honestly can’t wait. I didn’t think that Matt Smith was going to be as good as he was on the show. And while I still miss David Continue reading “New Who coming soon”
They are not dolls! They are action figures damnit!!!
My wife continues to give me grief over the only things that I bought for myself at the 2010 NYC Comic Con. Contrary to her assessment, correct name for these items are “collectible action figures” and not “man dolls”. I have been wanting to try my hand at some advanced stop motion movies, so didn’t feel to bad about picking them up. My son and I did a basic lego Star Wars stop action a few years Continue reading “They are not dolls! They are action figures damnit!!!”