Say what you like in the comments to this post: random thoughts, ideas, suggestions, questions, self-promotion, requests to be added to the blog-roll, whatever.
I have the camera to videoblog, but am having a lot of trouble figuring out how to use it. The microphone, in particular, is giving me a lot of trouble.
Sara and I are also thinking about adding a weekly post about commercials we love and hate.
Oh, and I like the idea of talking about commercials. I like doing that too, so I'll join in if you do it. I'll mention that YouTube is handy for something like this, since you can usually find the commercial you're talking about on there for people to watch.
Geoff, I'm curious; did you ever see Elephantmen 7 (Kelly/Bachalo) and what did you think?
Also, I see you have 33 1/3 on your roll and I've seen you comment over there as well - what do you think of the crop they're going with? Are you a fan of the series? What 5 albums would you pitch (regardless of their "one artist, one album" rule?
I guess I'm asking for a top 5 album list and since moler's been away (?), why not? Maybe 10 if people can't narrow down.
I just finished the 33 1/3 for Guided By Voices' "Bee Thousand." It was the first of the series that I've read, and it was excellent. Loving the album helps, of course.
I don't want to narrow it down, but I'll force myself to in the interests of time. I should add the usual music geek disclaimer that my list will change probably as soon as I finish typing it.
Five I'd like to see written about: 1) Rocket From The Crypt "Scream Dracula Scream" 2) Superchunk "Here's Where The Strings Come In" 3) Chavez "Gone Glimmering" 4) Screeching Weasel "Anthem For A New Tomorrow" 5) Dinosaur Jr. "You're Living All Over Me"
Not all of these are my favorite albums by the respective bands, but they are the ones I'd most like to read about, because they were either early in the band's career or "pivotal" in some way.
Marc: Elephantman 7: I love Bachalo's art, as always, but the story did not interest me in the least. I wish he could or would return to steampunk, or work with someone I like -- Matt Fraction for instance.
As for 33 1/3 -- that whole series is the brainchild of my superhero book editor David Barker (my poetry book and my superhero book and all the 33 1/3 books are published with the same company, Continuum). That said I do not have a big opinion on the series, the link is there because David is my friend, not because I have a lot to say about the series other than that it is great.
Yeah, lurker. i've been thinking about that. I live in India and one of the more upscale bookstores in my city has quite randomly started carrying some of the DC Absolute series. I'd never seen them before and thought they looked totally preposterous. but i still almost shelved out the extravagant import cost...
This leads to another question about the hardover's opposite, the .cbr file. some of my indian friends have gotten really into comics since they've been available online. in india they print a few monthlies pretty cheaply in a smaller format, roughly half the normal size, for about 30 cents (most of grant morrison's new x-men is available). the publisher prints sporadically, so you cant rely on them. the more canonical stuff is sometimes available in upmarket stores, but subject to crazy import tax. so for the first time, india has real access to comics.
these guys are voracious. they come to work with a whole series on dvd, preacher or lone wolf, pass them around, and talk it out. i give them recommendations, but it's amazing how quickly they've familiarized themselves (with help from blogs and wikipedia). the combination of superhero movies post-x-men and .cbr are creating a totally new, global south fanbase that have never gone, and will never go, to a comic book store. my friends wouldn't dream of buying absolute dark knight, but would probably pay something for downloads. more importantly, when they start creating their own they're going to think electronically
anyways, would you guys rather buy absolute dark knight oversize hardcover or a high res dvd with video interviews, audio commentary, etc etc? if you asked me 2 years ago i'd say the former, now i'm sold on the latter
So, I say this without having any real good reason and completely understanding why everyone hates them, but for all the bashing Buffy seasons 6 and 7 take, I really enjoy both of them and season 6 is actually my second favorite season.
Lurker: I like the big fancy books so that if I am completely obsessed with something I can get an ever nicer version of the same story. They also make nice gifts for people I like and want to read comics. For people I like less I give away my ratty original issues and get myself the hardcover. That said, I just about never buy them for myself.
Scott: that is really interesting.
Hadder: I did not like 6 because Willow went very evil very fast -- we needed much more time with evil Willow, the same kind of time we had with evil angel for it to make sense. Season seven just had a lot of annoying new characters (the new slayers) too much focus on Spike (who was much more fun in Angel 5), and an abstract bad guy that could only work through others and could not be touched, which is not such a good idea. Also those uber-vampires were very tough at first, and then suddenly not, without explanation, which sucked.
Season six had some of my all time favorite episodes and I liked that it seemed to be the darkest and lightest season. I can see your point about Willow to a certain extent, but I think with the death of Tara, it made sense for her to go crazy bad very quickly.
I have no real defense for season 7, except to say that Spike was always a favorite of mine, so I didn't mind that emphasis, but it brought back Faith in an extended role and more Eliza Dushku always means good for me!
I dearly love Willow as a character and I think making her go "evil" did irreparable damage to her, which season 7 confirmed where she was more or less forgotten about. I’m open to the suggestion that 90% of the suck was in the execution rather than concept.
For me season 6 and season 7 totally negated all the seasons that came before them, and that is why I hate Joss Whedon; he made be believe in this world and in these people so much for so long
i liked a lot about season 6. the one thing that i particularly liked was as the group dynamic started to fall apart, the characters also fell apart, showing how integral the group was to each individual. i thought buffy's return was handled pretty well... the money problems and finding a job. the evil trio were really funny. i agree evil willow was not the best. her descent into dark magic should have been more convincing. i think it could have been a really profound moment for the character that should have been more important in season 7, but they didn't take it far enough, probably because they had too much affection for the character to really grind her into the dirt. i agree 7 had far too many problems for me to get into... but anya's episode was good, faith was awesome, andrew was good comic relief & i love the actor who played caleb(even though this is not his best role...)
Madd hadder: I do not mean it did not make sense to have her go bad quickly -- what did not work was we barely got to know her bad before she was good again. We need to spend more time with Dark Willow before it is all fixed so we care, otherwise it feels like we are being jerked around. Again, compare to Angel.
VoE: yes, it was the excecution.
Jennifer: you are right about them loving Willow (and Allie) too much to really do what needed to be done, which is keep her evil for at least a little while. This is one of the big problems with season 7 -- of course you want to kill off some characters, but Whedon goes for 2 outside the core four, because he cannot bring himself to change that increasingly clicqeish, smug little group.
I have the camera to videoblog, but am having a lot of trouble figuring out how to use it. The microphone, in particular, is giving me a lot of trouble.
ReplyDeleteSara and I are also thinking about adding a weekly post about commercials we love and hate.
Self promotion: This week on my blog I reviewed the movies 300 and Tideland, along with some recent comics, and the latest issue of the Shojo Beat manga magazine. I also took some looks at the solicitations of comics coming out in June from Marvel, DC, and Image. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteOh, and I like the idea of talking about commercials. I like doing that too, so I'll join in if you do it. I'll mention that YouTube is handy for something like this, since you can usually find the commercial you're talking about on there for people to watch.
ReplyDeleteGeoff, I'm curious; did you ever see Elephantmen 7 (Kelly/Bachalo) and what did you think?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I see you have 33 1/3 on your roll and I've seen you comment over there as well - what do you think of the crop they're going with? Are you a fan of the series? What 5 albums would you pitch (regardless of their "one artist, one album" rule?
I guess I'm asking for a top 5 album list and since moler's been away (?), why not? Maybe 10 if people can't narrow down.
For Marc and everyone:
ReplyDeleteI just finished the 33 1/3 for Guided By Voices' "Bee Thousand." It was the first of the series that I've read, and it was excellent. Loving the album helps, of course.
I don't want to narrow it down, but I'll force myself to in the interests of time. I should add the usual music geek disclaimer that my list will change probably as soon as I finish typing it.
Five I'd like to see written about:
1) Rocket From The Crypt "Scream Dracula Scream"
2) Superchunk "Here's Where The Strings Come In"
3) Chavez "Gone Glimmering"
4) Screeching Weasel "Anthem For A New Tomorrow"
5) Dinosaur Jr. "You're Living All Over Me"
Not all of these are my favorite albums by the respective bands, but they are the ones I'd most like to read about, because they were either early in the band's career or "pivotal" in some way.
Matt: thanks
ReplyDeleteMarc: Elephantman 7: I love Bachalo's art, as always, but the story did not interest me in the least. I wish he could or would return to steampunk, or work with someone I like -- Matt Fraction for instance.
As for 33 1/3 -- that whole series is the brainchild of my superhero book editor David Barker (my poetry book and my superhero book and all the 33 1/3 books are published with the same company, Continuum). That said I do not have a big opinion on the series, the link is there because David is my friend, not because I have a lot to say about the series other than that it is great.
High priced hard-cover trades:
ReplyDeletePlease stop or more please?
Yeah, lurker. i've been thinking about that. I live in India and one of the more upscale bookstores in my city has quite randomly started carrying some of the DC Absolute series. I'd never seen them before and thought they looked totally preposterous. but i still almost shelved out the extravagant import cost...
ReplyDeleteThis leads to another question about the hardover's opposite, the .cbr file. some of my indian friends have gotten really into comics since they've been available online. in india they print a few monthlies pretty cheaply in a smaller format, roughly half the normal size, for about 30 cents (most of grant morrison's new x-men is available). the publisher prints sporadically, so you cant rely on them. the more canonical stuff is sometimes available in upmarket stores, but subject to crazy import tax. so for the first time, india has real access to comics.
these guys are voracious. they come to work with a whole series on dvd, preacher or lone wolf, pass them around, and talk it out. i give them recommendations, but it's amazing how quickly they've familiarized themselves (with help from blogs and wikipedia). the combination of superhero movies post-x-men and .cbr are creating a totally new, global south fanbase that have never gone, and will never go, to a comic book store. my friends wouldn't dream of buying absolute dark knight, but would probably pay something for downloads. more importantly, when they start creating their own they're going to think electronically
anyways, would you guys rather buy absolute dark knight oversize hardcover or a high res dvd with video interviews, audio commentary, etc etc? if you asked me 2 years ago i'd say the former, now i'm sold on the latter
So, I say this without having any real good reason and completely understanding why everyone hates them, but for all the bashing Buffy seasons 6 and 7 take, I really enjoy both of them and season 6 is actually my second favorite season.
ReplyDeleteLurker: I like the big fancy books so that if I am completely obsessed with something I can get an ever nicer version of the same story. They also make nice gifts for people I like and want to read comics. For people I like less I give away my ratty original issues and get myself the hardcover. That said, I just about never buy them for myself.
ReplyDeleteScott: that is really interesting.
Hadder: I did not like 6 because Willow went very evil very fast -- we needed much more time with evil Willow, the same kind of time we had with evil angel for it to make sense. Season seven just had a lot of annoying new characters (the new slayers) too much focus on Spike (who was much more fun in Angel 5), and an abstract bad guy that could only work through others and could not be touched, which is not such a good idea. Also those uber-vampires were very tough at first, and then suddenly not, without explanation, which sucked.
Season six had some of my all time favorite episodes and I liked that it seemed to be the darkest and lightest season. I can see your point about Willow to a certain extent, but I think with the death of Tara, it made sense for her to go crazy bad very quickly.
ReplyDeleteI have no real defense for season 7, except to say that Spike was always a favorite of mine, so I didn't mind that emphasis, but it brought back Faith in an extended role and more Eliza Dushku always means good for me!
I dearly love Willow as a character and I think making her go "evil" did irreparable damage to her, which season 7 confirmed where she was more or less forgotten about. I’m open to the suggestion that 90% of the suck was in the execution rather than concept.
ReplyDeleteFor me season 6 and season 7 totally negated all the seasons that came before them, and that is why I hate Joss Whedon; he made be believe in this world and in these people so much for so long
i liked a lot about season 6.
ReplyDeletethe one thing that i particularly liked was as the group dynamic started to fall apart, the characters also fell apart, showing how integral the group was to each individual.
i thought buffy's return was handled pretty well... the money problems and finding a job.
the evil trio were really funny.
i agree evil willow was not the best. her descent into dark magic should have been more convincing. i think it could have been a really profound moment for the character that should have been more important in season 7, but they didn't take it far enough, probably because they had too much affection for the character to really grind her into the dirt.
i agree 7 had far too many problems for me to get into... but anya's episode was good, faith was awesome, andrew was good comic relief & i love the actor who played caleb(even though this is not his best role...)
Madd hadder: I do not mean it did not make sense to have her go bad quickly -- what did not work was we barely got to know her bad before she was good again. We need to spend more time with Dark Willow before it is all fixed so we care, otherwise it feels like we are being jerked around. Again, compare to Angel.
ReplyDeleteVoE: yes, it was the excecution.
Jennifer: you are right about them loving Willow (and Allie) too much to really do what needed to be done, which is keep her evil for at least a little while. This is one of the big problems with season 7 -- of course you want to kill off some characters, but Whedon goes for 2 outside the core four, because he cannot bring himself to change that increasingly clicqeish, smug little group.