Shiny New!

I am so behind in my comics reading that I think I've actually gone back in time, and will probably find The Yellow Kid on my reading pile. But I did manage to read the above--and I'm still smiling.

It seems whenever I talk about Ed Brubaker, I start to gush, so take the gushing for granted. His work on Criminal is nothing short of Edgar worthy, and his recommendations for noir fiction have always been spot on for me. So of course he takes what could have been just another cheap, grab-the-headlines marketing ploy from Marvel (as if they would ever do that) and turned it into a simply great, entertaining read.

So Bucky is now the new Captain America, with Brubaker injecting a bit of the old Forties Cap into him--notably, the use of a gun. There is a great scene in the book involving the shield and gun that is the story's centrepiece, and sums up who this new Captain is. As well, the Red Skull's plan for destroying America is one of the most realistic I've seen in comics--or anywhere else, for that matter.

Since Brubaker took over this title, I have a difficult time calling it a super-hero book. It simply doesn't read like one. It's more of a military espionage story, with some amazing action scenes thrown in for good measure. It's rare to find intelligence and action integrated this well.

And that shiny suit? I want one. With a bottle of Windex, because you know the damned thing will show every fingerprint...

Back With Old Friends

I managed to finish that gaming contract a few days ago. Yay! I was working for EVE Online, writing content. It was very much a learning experience for me, and one I enjoyed. So now that that is over, I've gone back to my novel yet again.

Spent this afternoon re-writing Chapter Two, and it really did feel like meeting up with old friends again. I actually missed these characters. Still, being away from them for six weeks was good, since I did manage to come up with a better name for one of them, and was able to edit out quite a bit, to make it the piece stronger. One of my worst faults as a writer is that I tend to want to obsess and fix things all the time. I know you're supposed to just keep going, but I don't write that way. Never have. I always go over and over AND OVER until it just feels right.

I'm also experimenting with writing the whole thing in the present tense. This is something I see quite a bit in noir fiction. I like the immediacy of it, of the way it draws in the reader straight off. It also makes you focus more on dialogue, since you don't want to crawl too deep into description using the present tense. It forces me to keep going back to the characters to move the story along (as it should be).

So now it's onto Chapter Three, which involves me learning all about assault laws and lawyers. Fun times! But it is good to be with those losers again.

As well, Chapter Two was written to the New Pornographers, which I think is the best music imaginable for a fight scene. That, and ABBA.

Plague Days

Ugh. I was supposed to have a meeting with David of Jim Dandy Goodness today (we sit and sip absinthe in our special Crystal Room atop One London Place, and determine where the Internet will go in the next month--yep, we're the ones who figure all that out), but I woke up feeling like any of the following:

a)five miles of rough road
b)seven shades of shit
c)newly discovered eighth shade of shit

Oddly enough, David was also feeling the same. So we had to cancel the meeting, much to the relief of the ten geisha girls we usually have in. So if the Internet sucks in February, this is why.

So I'm flat on the couch, losing myself in:



in between playing this:



The geek equivalent of chicken soup, by way of Akihabara.

Why 'Mass Effect' Will Destroy Your Children

In my humble opinion, after much thought, I have come to the conclusion that Fox News is fucked. I have to hand it to Geoff, though--he did try.

Pixie Power!

Been listening to a lot of music lately. I mean, I always do-there's always music on in the house, since it's the first thing I turn on in the morning and the last thing I turn off at night, but every break from work I'm jamming my earbuds in and slowly dialing up the volume. It beats listening to people talk about turnover recipes, their RRSPs in light of the global toilet flushing of economic markets, or heroic retellings of being so drunk that the storyteller fell three times on Richmond Street. Hilarity.

Silversun Pickups has been a constant. I was wondering why I'm loving this band, and then it hits me--it's the Pixies. The song structure of LOUD/quiet/LOUD. The same structure Kurt Cobain admitting to using for most of his Nirvana songs. Now, it's Silversun's turn.

Throw in a bit of Smashing Pumpkins fuzz, a cute bass player, a really energetic drummer and keyboardist (!) and you're guaranteed Repeat on my MP3 player. New bands, take notice!

So what are you guys listening to? And please don't say Modest Mouse. Just...don't.

Awesome

I think this qualifies, don't you?

Tad's Shiny New Blog

Tad Williams--author, friend, and all round nice guy--has a brand new website. It really is quite beautiful. I"m fortunate enough to have been asked to write for it. If you get a chance, check it out. I'm in the 'Blogs' section, along with Deborah Beale, Mark Kreighbaum, and M.L. Heath.

Needless to say, I'm really honored by this. Nay, chuffed.

Aural Caffeine Coming Straight Up!

This song crawled into my head on Tuesday, wiggled around, then made itself to home. Then I began to think I had heard it before, but couldn't place where. Then it hit me.

Vulcan Ninja, my beloved wife/companion/gun shark, is undoubtedly London's greatest player of Burnout 3. In the hours she has raced through the game, giggling at her speed and rampant destruction, that song has blasted from the speakers. That's where I remember it from. For me, I'll always associate the song now with exploding cars, peals of laughter, and a hand dropping from a game controller to grab a glass of imported beer.

Terminate, My Love

Oh...ummm... I really liked The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

That's why I posted the above. I knew there was a reason, I just keep...getting distracted.

Yeah....it was...good and stuff. I can really...y'know...get behind a show like this...

Sarah Night!

What to watch, what to watch tonight--on this, the night of Sarahs!

On BBC Kids, we have the Sarah Jane Adventures, the kids show starring the companion of the Third and Fourth Doctor. On A-Channel, we have the Sarah Connor Chronicles, a spin off of the Terminator series. Which one will win my heart? A single, unmarried mother with a penchant for guns OR a woman in her sixties with a robotic dog?

Oh, I've also reviewed 3:10 to Yuma over here. K-pow!

Listening To A Bitter, Lovely Woman

So it's Friday night. Outside, people are getting drunk after watching the Knights play, Richmond Row is packed with jostling scenesters high on youth and invulnerability, Vulcan Ninja is carousing in Montreal, and I'm here, listening to a bitter, lovely woman, cleaning a budgie cage.

You?

Bachelor Party!

As Vulcan Ninja heads to Montreal for three days of wine, sabre duels and adultery, I'm left manning the Fortress of General Apathy. Me, that is...and the boys. So it's gonna be a PAR-tay!.

Well, kinda. Still working on the deadline, in between watching the final two episodes of Torchwood (Gwen is adorable. There. That's my Captain Obvious statement of the day.), trying to finish Memories of Ice
( a deep, wonderful fantasy that is really getting too big for my cranium--I'm bleeding mythology out of my ears), and keeping the boys amused. Which is a far bigger job than it sounds.

George has now discovered the joy of combat, so we've fallen into a Closeau/Cato relationship. If I walk upstairs, he tackles me from behind. We then battle, I walk away bloodied, while he runs to plan his next attack. Let me say this: it's non-stop. I may start collecting the blood to donate to the Red Cross.

On top of all this excitement, I also have to answer a very deep question--like why in hell I bought the first issue of 'Red Hulk' when I know it's just another cheap marketing stunt? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, and I'll buy the mini-series.

And because it's Thursday, here's the song currently lodged in my head. Must keep up traditions! Even if I prefer the Go-Gos version!

Dear God, It's Three A.M.

And I'm still up.

Interesting day. Went down to the library, and found myself fascinated by the old men playing chess. I just stood and watched: men with uncombed gray hair, in stained winter jackets, playing superb chess. I thought that no matter what happens, civilization will endure if two people somewhere are playing this wonderful game.

Worked on a deadline, writing dialogue that I'm sure will be edited out, but made me laugh out loud. After that, I played more Warcraft, kicking my Honor up to nearly a thousand. I fought an hour long battle in Warsong Gulch, only to taste failure. A similar battle in Arathi Basin also brought the bitter sting of tears.

Now it's late. I'm trying to finish a Joyce Carol Oates story, which is surprisingly dark and amazing. Billy Idol is playing from the speakers, deep as I am in the womb of music that I adored when a smile, a tight sweater, and a promise of a dance at the Friday night high school dance was the best thing in the entire galaxy.

God, I'm going to be hungover in the morning....

Klinky Klink! Warrrrrrriors.....

Whoever thought 'The Warriors' would become a source of teary eyed nostalgia? Even...quaint?

I sat down with this gem from the late Seventies, fully remembering how controversial it was back when Devo was considered unlistenable. Like 'Top Hat', it was of its time but depicts a reality that never was, but damnit! should be. Who wouldn't want to be a Warrior? Or even a Fury, with the dance-around-the-trademark-Yankees outfits? Who wouldn't want to spend the night running with a trashy brunette to get back to Stillwell Avenue way out in Coney?

I am now on a quest to find the video game. Time, common sense, and reality may have taken the Warriors from me, but I'm still gonna run with Swan and Mercy. And when I hear those bottles clinking, I'm gonna represent. Word.

Wait, wrong decade...

Bringing Back The Thursday Aural Caffeine

A good way to start the year--classic Jam. I dug out an old B-sides of theirs today, and had forgotten how much I love this song. I have another live version of this on this old rare recording item called a 'long playing record' that has been shown to burn speakers to molten plastic and wiring. This version isn't quite that good, but it comes close.

Remember!

...if someone says your city is a shithole, with bad air, no doctors, facing a future that can be summed up in two choices: a)Ghost Town and/or b) Canada's Largest Consumer of Ostomy Bags, then stand up and infer that since you didn't pay for that report, that's why they said all those nasty things. This is what we call 'political savvy' here in the Forest City.

You can also apply this wisdom in other areas. If, for example, you don't get kissed when you stand under the mistletoe, proclaim everyone who did is a whore. Oh, and that they like sheep, but not in a good way.

I love London. It's a great city once the lobotomy scars heal.

2008

I rang in the New Year playing Dragon Quest VIII, fighting easily the most irritating monster I'll encounter all year. I'm not sure who the designers were trying to please with this creation, but surely the market must be small for gamers who like Soupy Sales. Then again, this is the game where you fight shishkabobbed red and green peppers and blue eyeballs in boots, so who am I to judge?

A gray start to the New Year. The squirrels were even looking depressed in the backyard, slumped on fenceposts, staring at my feeder, as if contemplating a diet change. I stayed up until three thirty, watching BBC News with the sound off, Marmalade in my lap. Two old men on a tattered couch.

I have no deep message, since I think Neil said it best.