It's been a little over a year since we last started one of these threads and it's been about seven months since it was finally done in. I think we need to do it again.
The following rules were established by Kent at the start of the first 24-hour version, adapted from the original rules by EDE:
The rules:
1. The Basic Idea: Post to this thread, if no one posts after you for 24 hours, you win!
2. Posts that are not direct responses to one of the five preceding posts are ineligible to win. The topic can drift, but no complete non-sequitors. Posts that are responses to non-sequitors are also ineligible to win. Posts that are responses to responses to non-sequitors, and responses to those posts, etc., become eligible, however.
3. In the event that this thread is locked, there shall be no winner unless a new thread is started for the contest. Furthermore, any post that results in the banning of the poster shall also be ineligible to win.
4. So, more precisely, one wins if one makes a post, and then no one makes another post that's eligible to win for 24 hours.
...and you keep his blood in small jars in the fridge.
I reckon zombie films are a almost wish fulfilment for people who want to break free from the society they are trapped in, even if it means having an apocalyptic event to do so.
I got past vampires with the RPG and Zombies with similar games like All Flesh must be eaten and the board games.
As for movies, Nosferatu from 1920ish and Night of the Living Dead are up there as favs.
In the Flesh is a really good and different take on the Zombie thing.
Watching a series set after humanity has beaten back the victims of Partially Deceased Syndrome and how the recovering PDS suffers try to reintegrate into their home towns was fascinating.
In fact, I'm so over horror films in general. I can't even remember the last time I enjoyed a new one. And I have no inclination to watch the older ones that I like.
In fact, I'm so over horror films in general. I can't even remember the last time I enjoyed a new one. And I have no inclination to watch the older ones that I like.
I'm like that with a lot of things at the moment. I've not seen too many good films for a while and I've no inclination to dig out the old ones I've already seen.
Perhaps I'll dig out my emergency horror film: The Ghoul. It's like my emergency Christmas movies: Muppet Christmas carol or Scrooged.
Actually, I'm like that for music now too, so recommendations welcome. Unless you'd rather this thread died.
My favorite horror movie of all time is Suspiria. I think anyone who loves the medium of cinema itself should watch that movie.
Yeah, come to think of it, I might be able to get myself to watch that one again...
I was about to say that I rewatched Profondo Rosso, but that it hadn't grown on me too much. But actually, there are a number of scenes that pop up in my mind that were actually quite decent. The relationship between the two main characters is worth watching the movie for, even if nothing else appeals.
Probably my biggest disappointment in the Man of Steel movie was an appalling lack of super-breath; on the other hand, I'm pretty sure it wasn't featured in the 1978 Chris Reeve movie either.
One of my favorite moments in Crisis on Infinite Earths was when Supergirl figures out that the best way to beat the reforming stone status of the Anti-Monitor's fortress was to delay their reformation. She did it by using super-breath to scatter the pieces as far as she could. Her line? "Super breath may be one of my dumber powers, but it sure comes in handy now and then!" or something like that.
Super-breath was used very cleverly in the late-'80s Superboy TV series. In the first season, Clark and Lex Luthor were both college students. In one episode, Lex is being a jerk to someone and Clark surreptitiously blows him into a nearby fountain.
I like Superman stories so much better when they don't try to explain things scientifically. "He's Superman, dangit" is a good enough explanation for me.
Supergirl's death, though sad, was very well-written.
Originally Posted by Rockhopper Lad
I like Superman stories so much better when they don't try to explain things scientifically. "He's Superman, dangit" is a good enough explanation for me.
Originally Posted by Invisible Brainiac
That type of explanation also makes a lot more sense than "He's Batman, dangit! He just needs time to prepare!"
To add to this, instead of trying to use science to explain how a superhero's powers could work, I'd rather use my imagination to think of new applications of their powers.
hmmm...did anyone ever use super-breath to inhale something?
With the tact that almost brought us the Black Bomber, DC were going to take a look at counter culture. Bong Boy was to be part of the DC Explosion. That it turned into an implosion has been whispered as being due to Bong Boy's powers breaching the fourth wall. Issues of the Cancelled Comics Cavalcade containing Bong Boy were pulped due to their hallucinogenic properties.
But in a nice way....um...if that's at all possible...
Originally Posted by Fanfic Lady
I wonder whatever happened to the "temporary replacement" Psycho-Pirate, James Highwater?
I think everyone preferred the second one, so Highwater and all the others will stay in the Medusa Mask as long as no one mentions....oh, fickles... they're all coming back again...
Psycho-Pirate made an appearance in Infinity, Inc. where he sneaked in to Jade's apartment by introducing himself to Brainwave as "Mr. Hayden", which he was. Hank assumed he was Jennie-Lynn's father.
Originally Posted by Power Boy
has anyone besides Rocky ever killed a thread?
Rocky is a thread serial killer.
WalkWithCrowds killed the first thread. I've killed several, but I don't think all the others.
Coincidentally, I just read Hayden's first appearance (from Showcase 56) this very day in my Crisis on Multiple Earths: The Team-Ups Vol. One TPB, which includes all the early Earth-1/Earth-2 smaller character crossovers (including those early Barry/Jay meetings) and stories involving Earth-2 characters teaming up (including the Dr. Fate/Hourman featuring Hayden) that were aside from the annual JLA/JSA crossovers. Not a bad story!
I think cleome killed one thread I the last one I think.
I don't seeing Jade's adoptive parents at all. But I read she had a much happier life than Obsidian did.
I liked seeing Obsidian and boyfriend Damon. They seemed like such a happy couple.
I have nr read the Infinity Inc series. I started following JSA with the 2000 (I think?) Series that introduced Stargirl and the Kendra version of Hawkgirl.
When Thorn abandoned her short marriage to Alan Scott, she was pregnant with twins. He presumed she had died in a fire. She ran to Milwaukee and gave birth to a baby boy and girl, whom she gave up for adoption. The girl was adopted by Julian and Myrna Hayden and named Jennie-Lynn. They had a fairly normal middle-class life. The boy was adopted by Jim and Shirley Rice and named Todd. Jim was an abusive alcoholic. In their teens, the twins' powers manifested and they found each other and became Jade and Obsidian.
One of my favorite moments in Todd and Damon's relationship is a scene where Todd changes from his human form into Obsidian and Damon comments "That never fails to be hot!"
I remember that scene, it was when they were applying to adopt. They were turned down because of Todd's heoic lifestyle. But the interviewer was perfectly happy to endorse a gay couple as adoptive parents.
One of the greatest losses in the "New 52" was the Todd-Damon relationship. There are very few happy, healthy relationships and comics and even fewer happy, healthy same-gender relationships.
The other couple (this one an opposite-gender couple) I really miss is Jesse Chambers and Rick Tyler. They were also so happy together.
The Jesse and Rick marriage was great! When the latest version of the JSA split, Rick and Jesse were on separate teams so they could maintain lines of communication between the two factions. They still lived in the same house.
One of the greatest losses in the "New 52" was the Todd-Damon relationship. There are very few happy, healthy relationships and comics and even fewer happy, healthy same-gender relationships.
The other couple (this one an opposite-gender couple) I really miss is Jesse Chambers and Rick Tyler. They were also so happy together.
Me too Ibs!
At this point I am scared if they resurrect characters ... because you know Todd's just going to go evil and dismember Damon in the first five seconds.
Like Alan Scott's parter was killed immediately. A lot of big whup over this same sex relationship and then they neutered Alan Scott immediately.
Having Obsidian and partner try for adoption and not get it reads like a bit of a cop out to me, regardless of how well it was done. If Superman and Lois wanted to adopt a child with resulting gushing fanfare, I wonder if it would have gone the same way.
In the same way as having a gay Alan Scott only to kill off his partner almost immediately also reads like a cop out.
On one hand, both could have been used to lead into lots of other stories. Todd looks at his purpose as a hero and whether the monthly spandex fighting really solves anything, if he can't get a family. Alan may have used the death of his partner to give him the will to succeed in that man's memory. We could get to see other gay relationship form in the magazine from the beginning.
Peebz, my grandparents were about the same age as the JSAers, if not younger, and I'll be 45 this year. It could be their great-grandchildren at this point!
Roy Thomas created some of my favorite characters and wrote some of my favorite comics stories ever. His weakest point seemed to be in writing dialogue. His characters often seemed to have a stilted manner of speaking, there wasn't much variation from one character's "voice" to another, and the characters tended to use the same expressions, even if they were odd for the situation. The expression "waste" to me "kill" was very common. People also seemed to be "going great guns" a lot.
Thomas certainly had his faults, including the dialogue as Rocky mentioned, but he was a ground-breaking writer in a lot of ways. As much as I like a lot of his DC work in the 80s, my favorite stuff he did was for Marvel during the late 60s and early 70s. At that time, he was constantly reinventing the wheel in ways that I think a lot of readers now take for granted.
Looking back at a few Infinity Inc comics, the issues are verbose.
Which, in a way, means you're getting more writing for your money. But it does have a dated quality. Thomas likes to give everyone something to add. Which is nice. However, it means that panels are crowded by every member, all with a fragment of minutiae to add to the scene.
An example being the new Infinitors crashing a JSA meeting saying that they look short handed, when there are 15 of them sitting around the table.
But they are often great introductions for new readers. America vs the JSA told you absolutely everything you ever wanted to know about the group, all within a very interesting framing plot.
While the voice does get diluted across the cast, the quality of the actual plotting was always decent.
Yeah, the last three issues of Infinity just didn't measure up to the rest of the series. It was too Grim n' Gritty™. Like the Legion, JSA-related titles need to be positive and hopeful.
Issue #50, on the other hand, was awesome. It celebrated the Infinitors, the JSA, and comics in general. It was also on of the few issues that showed Miss America as, unambiguously, a member of the JSA. That was my favorite post-Crisis retcons.
Miss America has the potential to be one of the most awesome heroines of all time. But, of course, with her powers affecting things at the molecular level, there's always the danger of her ending up with goddess-level powers that would render both teammates and antagonists superfluous.
That's kind of what happened to her in the 2007 Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters series.
From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_America_(DC_Comics)
"In issue #6, Joan reveals that she never lost her powers, but used them to create the illusion that she had aged in order to retire and live a normal life with her husband. Now that Derek Trevor has died, she lets the illusion slip and resumes her youthful, heroic guise to aid Uncle Sam and his new team. "
"In the new 2007 Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters series, Red Bee mutated into an alien-insect creature and mind-controls Joan into absorbing Human Bomb's explosive energy and taking it into space. Joan then explodes, presumed to be dead. Unbeknownst to her allies, Joan manages to keep her consciousness alive, rebuilding a new, young body from extant space materials. Evolved into a new form of life, she discards her Miss America identity to claim her new moniker: Miss Cosmos."
"Following her recent return, Miss America appears to have become much more proficient with her powers, claiming that she would be able to transform an enemy's organs to glass or shrink them to microscopic size."
I really thought the Miss America JSA retcon made more sense than the Hippolyta retcon as it was pulled off. It may have become more established in the mainstream DCU, had Infinity not been cancelled. Young All-Stars was Roy's other big series at the time, which I also always thought never got the appreciation it deserved.
Yes. Even though Hippolyta would have been around during World War II, the retcon had her go back in time from the then-present to fill the role. On her way back, she apparently stopped off a few times to mentor Lyta Trevor, who was still the biological child of Helena Kosmatos (Young All-Star Fury) and the adopted child of Joan Dale Trevor (Miss America).
I remember as a child either taking Bayer chewable or St. Joseph chewable aspirin. I wondered why there was not an adult, not chewable version of St. Joseph as there was Bayer. I just checked out the St. Joseph Web site. They no longer market their low-dose aspirin for children. It is now primarily intended for adults on low-dose aspirin therapy.
Aspirin is not nearly as popular as it used to be in the US. Paracetamol is known as Acetaminophen here and is best known as the brand name Tylenol. Ibuprofen and Naproxen (brand name Aleve) are also popular.
I used to hide in one of the empty conference rooms to nap. Alas, now it's not possible! The good thing though, is my sleep quality has improved enough that I no longer feel sleepy in the middle of the day.
I decided a long time ago that I never wanted to have kids. So, one of the first conversations The Boyfriend and I had was about just that. I knew he had worked with kids, so I was a little afraid that he would want them. I asked and his response was "Oh, hell, no!" I sighed in relief.
Whew! Good for you and the Boyfriend. As for me, I'm 50-50 towards having kids and I want to have them later in life, like 40ish. Blaze is sure he wants two kids, and is OK with having them in our mid-30s.
I wish science were advanced enough to clone humans. Then we could clone ourselves and raise a little IB and a little Blaze. As it stands now, we might look for a surrogate and I can imagine myself being really picky.
We each have a dog. The Boyfriend also has a cat. We're talking about moving in together next year. One of the issues we have is that Hyvvie the Wonder Beagle does not like cats one bit. The plan is for The Boyfriend's current roommate to move into my condo and for me to move in with The Boyfriend. Kitty-cat will come to live with roommate and Hyvvie will go with me to The Boyfriend's house.
Rocky, I've been here two years longer than you but there's a lot of history I don't really get either! The LMB had quite a few years of existence before moving to LW
It really is amazing to me just how much they did in the three years before landing here. When I came to Legion World, the group had existed for five years and this site for two. I don't think I know of another online group that has held together so well for so long.
One reason for the longevity, I think, is that the LMB keeps gaining new members who really become part of the group too. That way, even if some tenured members become inactive, the group can continue on.
Of course it's the wealth of posts, friendliness of those existing members and the sheer variety of topics to get interested in, that make it so easy for newer folks.
Thanks for the cat compliments Ibby. I'll pass that on, ignoring the three half awake poses and the two "get on with it puny human" poses before this one.
I'm totally a cat person. I like the animal I take care of to know that it is superior in every way and has its every whim pandered to. Hang on... something's not right there...
In some ways, dogs are more work. They have to be walked. They can only be left alone for a relatively short time. On the other hand, dogs tend to be much less fussy about what they eat. Hyvvie eats what's put in front of him. He's particularly fond of vegetables. He likes broccoli. cauliflower, carrots, green beans and peas. He's also quite fond of edamame.
Since I've had kids, my need for pets just flew away. I'm not comparing my kids to pets, but I think pets were kind of a place-holder for me. My family has cats, which I used to love, but I have no attachment to them. Maybe I will again after empty nest?
I think my mom is using our dogs as surrogates. Now that my sister and I are grown, we're kind of flying the nest - we don't spend as much time with the family anymore. I like backpacking solo now, for example.
So she calls our dogs her babies (my dad does too), and I think her Facebook account now has more pics of the dogs than it does of me and my sister.
Normal, Illinois, is the home of Illinois State University, which was founded as a teachers' college, or as it then would have been called, a normal school.
I read that oatmeal is a good food for those looking to lose weight and build muscle. I detest plain oatmeal though. I need some flavor on it. If peanut butter isn't handy, I add honey, cinnamon, nutmeg or skim milk.
I read that oatmeal is a good food for those looking to lose weight and build muscle.
Porridge is the breakfast of choice for me during the week, except in summer when I'll switch to Kelloggs All-Bran.
I've read stories about mill workers with their lungs full of fibres. Every time I rush off for the train (ie always) I choke on All Bran fibres. How can it be a healthy breakfast if it's shortening my lifespan like a mill worker?
We have Cream of Wheat and Cream of Rice. Collectively, they and oatmeal can be referred to as porridge, but we're more likely to hear "hot cereal". They only time I ever heard "porridge" growing up was in Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
The circumstellar habitable zone, referring to the area in star-systems where planets might support liquid water, is colloquially called the "Goldilocks zone".
Seven years ago I used to weigh 200 pounds. Now I'm hovering between 140 to 160 pounds. At my lowest I was 140. Sigh, that weight can sure creep up on ya...
I think only Liberia and Myanmar, besides the USA, have not adopted the metric system? I may be wrong though.
I'm terrible at thinking in distances. Whenever someone says it takes X km to get somewhere, I need to ask them to say how much time it will take assuming normal traffic conditions. Only then can I really understand how far away it is.
You'd fit in fine in Texas, Ibby. People here always give distance in driving time. I'm pretty good with distance and direction, so I don't like it given in driving time myself.
I'm used to the heat. But I do prefer going to cooler climates for von. But, I'll still go to hot areas if there's something there I really want to visit - Uluru in Australia, skydiving in Dubai, ancient temples in Mexico, the Serengeti in Tanzania, pyramids in Egypt, Petra in Jordan, Tel Aviv in Israel, the Taj Mahal in India...
I've always heard that Houston is the most air-conditioned city in the world, but I don't know if that's true. I know it runs at my house from April to October.
Is that all day? Here in the Philippines we typically run the air-conditioning every night while we sleep. But even at summer's hottest, we don't run it during the day. That may be because it's usually windy.
Could be worse ... I could've shown off my lovely humanoid skin.
Would sir like the complimentary "Gosh! the healthy glow from Peebs skin has blinded those inferior, unhealthy, aliens forcing them to flee! We love you Power Boy!" option.
Or would Sir prefer the caustic...
"Ah! Power Boy! By your various highly contagious skin issues, you are clearly one of our people. Come, let us crush the humans beneath or three toed webbed feet!" selection?
Actually WalksWithCrowds (whatever happened to him?) won the very first one.
There have been a few times when I've killed a thread and nobody noticed.
Yeah, mine (and Peebz's) assessment was nowhere NEAR scientific!
As for WWC, he was one of those who burned brightly but only for a short period of time before disappearing altogether. (Teronna, anyone?) Oddly enough, his last-ever post appears to have been to a "Kill This" thread.
Rocky killed Threads V, VI, VIII and IX V was the first 24-hour version.
Quis killed IV, which was the last of the 7-day versions. (Seven DAYS!! I think that would be impossible now :p)
Haven't gone back and looked at the others yet.
"II" ended in a stalemate, having been locked after capping out at 2000 posts. That would also be my second-most-likely outcome to this particular incarnation.
Killing a thread is haaaaaaaaaaaard work! So, the thread he killed was Number 1, I guess?
III also did not have a winner.
So the full list of thread killers is:
I - walkwithcrowds (7-day version) II - none III - none IV - Quislet, Esq V - Rockhopper Lad (the first 24-hour version) VI - Rockhopper Lad VII - cleome VIII - Rockhopper Lad IX - Rockhopper Lad
I liked in the "Lord of the Oval" story where Peebz has to rein himself in because Rocky, at the time LMB Leader, has told him that their mission must have "minimal loss of life". At one point Peebz puts a guy to sleep instead of hitting him and says "Rocky would like that!" or something to that effect.
Peebz has come a long way since then, actually part of the point of him was to be rock nass ... and be an uber character not burdened to be gentle or plagued with guilt that he might hurt someone ... because he's so strong ... like Superman or Colossus ...
female uber characters never have that plot line! so I let Peebz be a bit more hedonistic ... like it was fun to eb so powerful ... but he grew up in LOTO. so now he's a bit different of a character, still able to kick as much butt as he wants but he keeps himself on an appropriate leash.
It might have been fun to play off their opposing viewpoints a bit more. Rocky tends to be more peaceful and diplomatic in his dealings, though certainly had his "bad nass" space cowboy moment in LOTO.
I think part of Peebz' growth was when he began to really see himself as a leader, and responsible for the LMB as a whole. Not just himself. He had to think about the broader consequences and the bigger picture.
While Rocky grew up as an Emperor and so was more used to politics and governance and having to discuss before acting.
Technically, Rocky's dad is the Emperor. He is heir apparent to the throne, so, yes, he was raised with the ideals of diplomacy and such. The Pyngwyn Colonies also tends to be a peaceful society, preferring to fight as a last resort.
I feel a bit silly for my lapse in memory. I must have browsed through dozens of articles when we were still writing the Novella, but I focused too much on learninout characters' powers so I could use them in my fight scenes.
I would like to see interest in the wiki revived. There are a lot of wonderful characters we've created who need their entries written. Ideally, the creator of the character should write the article.
I thought they had died away a while back, from what I'd read on those threads. If I'd known we still had a leader, I'd have asked for complimentary joining up gifts. Or complimentary go away and stop bothering us gifts. The gift bit is the important part.
I wouldn't want anyone to think I was vain and self centred though...no the clear display case for the statue Ibby, and that will be at least 18kt gold I trust...
My people do not come from the woods! Ex! Stop spreading rumours!
Where I'm from the locals gather together and determine the year's Village Idiot. It's a tough contest between corrupt councillors, inbred nepotism, educational abuse bordering on brainwashing and utter class subservience in doing the bidding of your betters*. Any combination of the above could see the candidate Idiot be favoured by a party (they are all completely interchangeable) and nominated for a seat.
In the middle ages, candidates were nominated for a ducking in the local pond. Many feel that democracy took completely the wrong turn in not maintaining this tradition.
Candidates don't so much stand as wander around bumping into things.
The successful candidate then has the task of deflecting attention from a nation is steep decline by use of amusing drooling, meaningless statements, drawing lines under things, learning lessons from other things, setting up enquiries into line drawing and not learning previous lessons, adultery and libel actions.
Parliament sits. Then restraints are added to make sure they don't wander off while their carers in the civil service get a well needed cup of tea.
The party whip is not, as often believed, a method by which the party ensures that policy is followed. It really is a large whip used to stop wayward Idiots from drifting into city traffic or falling for the most basic expenses scandal. Having Idiots influence the whip continues to prove disastrous.
While one member of Parliament is an Idiot, a group of them is known as a Shame of politicians.
*It turns out that this is a Mr Norman and Mrs Doreen Better who live in Empire's Fall Crescent in Shropshire. The Queen visits there once a month for scones and an update on what to tell the idiots to do to deflect attention from real decisions.
Cruela deVil appeared in a performance in the 2012 Olympics in London that featured characters from British children's literature. The other villains were much more iconic. I wondered if Cruela appeared because they couldn't get the rights to Jadis, the White Witch, from Narnia.
One Christmas when my nephews were younger, my mother bought them these little Pokemon speaking digital watches. When you pressed the button, the boy's voice would say "Eight forty-six P.M. Go, Pikachu!" I seem to recall that I "accidentally" stepped on one of them.
Same with me. Blaze is already an established LMBer, but besides a few issues of the Postboot Legion he hasn't read anything. He doesn't even read my LMB fics anymore.
Ibby, I notice you always refer to the 1994-2004 incarnation of the Legion as "Postboot" (with, one assumes, the original referred to as "Preboot"). I pretty much missed that era of the Legion, but I know I usually refer to at as "Reboot" era, which, of course, was followed by "Threeboot".
The Archie Legion threw me as I had picked up an issue where they were trapped in some 1950s analogue. So I thought it only referred to some lost part of the team in that setting.
I've been watching reruns of All in the Family a lot lately. Antenna TV has two episodes on every night, right after Bewitched. Going from Samantha Stephens to Archie Bunker is quite a transition.
Re thothkins, I think most would agree that the earlier issues (up to around 82) were the better part of the Postboot era. For Legionnaires, it would be up until issue 56 or so.
I'm eagerly waiting for the new season of Criminal Minds though.
Boston's CW affiliate, WLVI, derives its call letters from the Roman numerals for its channel number, 56.
Previously, it had been WKBG, which reflected its then-joint ownership by Kaiser Broadcasting and The Boston Globe. When the newspaper sold its shares to Kaiser, they went to the present callsign, which has endured through many changes in ownership.
Boston has another TV station with a callsign derived from Roman numerals: ABC affiliate WCVB stands for Channel V (5) Boston.
Ah, so that's Rocky's strategy! Spouting facts which other people would think uninteresting.
But I am not like other people!
I've read that the University of Illinois uses no less than four different classification systems. Dewey Decimal is the most common, but the next is the Library of Congress System.
I used to like Starburst Fruit Chews. Then they dropped my favorite flavor, lime. Now, I would never touch them. I figure I've spent 'way too much money on these teeth for any candy other than chocolate to go anywhere near them.
Nerds weren't originally sold under the Wonka brand. They were added later on.
The real-life Wonka brand is very interesting. It originated as a subsidiary of the Quaker Oats Company, which financed the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. It changed hands several times after that.
As I said before, the tension between Rocky and Peebz would have been interesting to pursue further in LOTO. Oh well, we can always write an "Untold Tale".
Jorj Zeddle was introduced well after the end of LOTO. Rocky hadn't dated anyone since he broke up with Lardy, except for a short fling with Hypno-Nips after Lash briefly turned him evil.
he was curious about humans, and had an odd protective attitude towards the legionnaires but, otherwise he just like the excitement of the adventures and these short lived creatures.
For decades, super-heroines have been clad in next to nothing, but, with very few exceptions (mostly in the Legion), male heroes have covered up completely. I like it when they decided to make Ultra Boy's outfit sleeveless. It's totally in keeping with Jo's personality that he'd want to show off those guns.
To be fair, Tasmia was the only blue person in the Legion and she showed lots of skin as well. Reep and Brainy didn't have to show off their orangeness or greenness as much.
Now, should Jorj Zeddle join the LMB or just be an ally? The Boyfriend does not wish to join LW. As for Jorj Zeddle, he is the Durlan ambassador to Legion World. Chameleon Ambassador doesn't work for me.
That could work. They both represent their worlds on LW, but Rocky was sent with specific instructions to join the LMB as well as represent the Pyngwyny. Jorj was sent a purely diplomatic mission. Yes, I think I like that.
Rocky's family, of course would have no issue. He can marry another male or someone of another species, but cannot marry someone without super-Powers of sone sort. I'm guessing there wouldn't be a problem from the Durlans (and I would hate to write that).
Yeah, and Rocky sprang that one on me without a heads-up! He told me it was something he did spontaneously to shake things up a bit. I honestly thought it was temporary and that they would get back together when Lardy regained his powers. But THEN the stuff with Tempest heated up, and Rocky's real-life BF/inspiration for Jorj started to enter the picture and probably subliminally influenced him to keep his character's options open.
However, I still think deep down Rocky didn't feel our characters were compatible for a longterm relationship, though he might never admit it. Personally, I'm a bit curious whether they'd still be together if not for those unexpected twists...
I remember the PM. I suppose, in a way, it's fitting that things ended in an unplanned manner because it certainly began that way. As Lardy was going through one of his most tumultuous periods, he and Rocky became very close friends. As I saw how well they were bonding, it occurred to me that maybe it could grow into a relationship. So, without ever PMing or planning anything behind the scenes, I had Lardy start to flirt a little and hint he was interested. And at the climax of Thyme Crime, I had Lardy declare his feelings. Without missing a beat, Rocky had his character reciprocate, all without any OOC discussion.
I am and was pretty proud of how all that came off on many levels. I'd long thought that maybe Lardy, as I've presented him, was probably bisexual, and actually having the opportunity to work with another poster to present this was a special moment for me as a storyteller. The way everything worked out organically to get them there was really nice.
It should be pointed out that at the time of the break-up Lardy had been possessed for a prolonged period by his ancestor/previous incarnation "Lardi" to get to the bottom of some threat. That ended when a mysterious assailant (who turned out to be the Red Bee) shot Lardi in the head, which both ended the possession and cost Lardy his powers for quite a while.
I'll admit that I had doubts as to how long they'd be together. I think I even spelled out my doubts in-character by having my character ask Rocky if the darkness within Lardy was something that might be too much for him. Certainly, my character was as dark as Rocky's was light. But any partner would have issues with one as messed up as Lardy was back then!
Lardy finally made peace with nearly all of his demons during "Lord of the Oval", and as I recall, he and Lardy made peace with each other as well.
Yes, I recall quite a few scenes in Lord of the Oval showing how Rocky and Lardy still saw each other as close friends, and still cared for each other at the end. They were very well-done.
During the whole "Lardi" thing, Rocky pretty much waited on the sidelines. I imagine he was unsure about things and then the power thing clinched it. They reconciled as good friends long ago.
As I've said before, there were a few moments in LOTO when I thought there might be something between Rocky and Peebz, but that never happened.
You still had some great moments there, though. You and Tempest. I, on the other hand, didn't really contribute as much until the end of Book 2 and the whole of Book 3.
I read LOTR for the first (and only) time after "Fellowship" came out at the movies, and I have to agree that they were a chore to read through. For example, it took FOREVER for the foursome of hobbits to get from the Shire to the Prancing Pony inn in the first book!!! Fans lamented the exclusion of Tom Bombadil, but I'm thankful that Peter Jackson didn't include all of that. I know the movies are long, but at least they are well-done and involving in their storytelling. So anytime I want to "re-read" LOTR, I just watch the films!
I agree, this is one case where I find the movies superior!
Tom Bombadil! My gosh. When he showed in the first book I dropped it like a hot potato. I just couldn't get past the long, impenetrable wall of text introducing him!
I'm glad to know I'm not the only one. Maybe I don't have the requisite attention span, but I just could never get into it, despite so many friends saying it was the best thing ever written.
I read them during exams years ago, just for a bit of prolonged escapism. They were fine. I've not read them again, but can't think of anything bad to say about them either.
I had a similar result when I tried to read one of Anthony Trollope's Barchester novels. He was being paid by the word and it showed. He spent about four pages describing the combs a minor character wore in her hair. It had no bearing on the novel whatsoever. I finally abandoned ship, even though I found the premise fascinating.
I rember the very first Wheel of Fortune episode. I was five years old. The solution to the first puzzle was "Burt Reynolds". Why I remember this, I couldn't tell you.
Not only are Goofy and Pluto both dogs, but Pluto is apparently owned by a human-sized mouse. This apparent slavery seems to be justified in this wicked rodent's mind by Pluto's inability to walk upright or speak. Mickey Mouse is EVIL!!!
With the railroad tracks that already crisscross the United States, it would be so wonderful it passenger rail service would make a real comeback. I love traveling by train.
I only just noticed that if you put the costumes of TTL and IB side by side, you can kind of see the initials "T" and "Y" over the chesticular regions. Like an abbreviation for "Thank You."
They're tryin' to build a prison They're tryin' to build a prison
Following the rights movements You clamped on with your iron fists Drugs became conveniently Available for all the kids Following the rights movements You clamped on with your iron fists Drugs became conveniently Available for all the kids Ooh, I buy my crack, my smack, my bitch Right here in Hollywood
{Nearly two million Americans are incarcerated in the prison system Prison system of the U.S.}
They're tryin' to build a prison They're tryin' to build a prison They're tryin' to build a prison They're tryin' to build a prison For you and me to live in Another prison system Another prison system Another prison system For you and me
Minor drug offenders fill your prisons You don't even flinch All our taxes paying for your wars Against the new non rich Minor drug offenders fill your prisons You don't even flinch All our taxes paying for your wars Against the new non rich Ooh, I buy my crack, my smack, my bitch Right here in Hollywood
{The percentage of Americans in the prison system Prison system has doubled since 1985}
They're tryin' to build a prison They're tryin' to build a prison They're tryin' to build a prison They're tryin' to build a prison For you and me to live in Another prison system Another prison system Another prison system For you and me Who for? Who for? Who for? You and I They're tryin' to build a prison They're tryin' to build a prison They're tryin' to build a prison For you and me Oh baby you and me
Why? All research and successful drug policy shows That treatment should be increased Why? And law enforcement decreased While abolishing mandatory minimum sentences Why? All research and successful drug policy shows That treatment should be increased Why? And law enforcement decreased While abolishing mandatory minimum sentences
Utilizing drugs to pay for secret wars around the world Drugs are now your global policy Now you police the globe Ooh, I buy my crack, my smack, my bitch Right here in Hollywood
Drug money is used to rig elections And train brutal corporate sponsored Dictators around the world
They're tryin' to build a prison They're tryin' to build a prison They're tryin' to build a prison They're tryin' to build a prison For you and me to live in Another prison system Another prison system Another prison system For you and me Who for? Who for? Who for? You and I They're tryin' to build a prison They're tryin' to build a prison They're tryin' to build a prison For you and me Oh baby you and me
We have druggie candidates for the elections? I mean, I knew we had candidates who really really love sex and alcohol, but I didn't know about the drugs.
I went out of my way to make Lardy a bad leader during his last term and during his stint as Security Officer. It just served his self-destructive character arc so well that doing it any other way would have seemed untrue to him. I'm pretty proud of being willing to take Lardy down several pegs in service to his story. I don't know that anyone else ever dared have their character fail so miserably as a leader.
It does take a lot of courage to have your character go down a bad death. And it certainly makes it more realistic - in real life we have our ups and downs.
Living in a hot climate, I would love to have Rocky's ice powers. Of course, there are other LMBers with similar powers. We had a Polar Boy at one time, and of course, Frio. There was also Icefyre. I haven't heard from Polar Boy or Icefyre in a very long time. Frio, of course, was Caliente's comrade in arms.
I'm not of the explanation of Icefyre's powers. Polar Boy (like the one in the comics) and Frio were both Tharrians who could slow molecules down creating cold. Rocky, on the other hand, uses magic to create ice.
One of my favorites was Matlock's hot coffee vision (whatever happened to Matlock anyway?).
Of course, there were always some whose powers were kind of vague. What exactly was Lad Boy's power? Super-sexiness? He's another one I miss around here.
For others, I'm not sure if their LMB powers really are canon. I think I picked some up from other stories written around.
But Vee could shrink and grow stuff, Xben could teleport items about the size of a grain of sand, crymsun could turn things red, and Harbinger could do anything she wanted.
There's always a temptation to make the character more powerful. To defeat the Evil Emperor and his associates Blaine Fey and Tempus, Rocky absorbed all their powers. He technically, has pretty incredible powers inside him, but, use of such magic is considered in poor taste in his culture, so he simply does not use them.
That was one of my concerns at the start of Lord of the Oval. IB can turn invisible, fly, fire laser blasts, alter people's visual perception by creating convincing holograms and manipulating light rays, create blinding effects like what 5YL Color Kid did, traevel at light speed, turn into light (thus becoming intangible), and can split into seven identical beings.
I think I really went overboard with that one.
As an aside, it's cool how you developed Rocky's native culture so.
Super-culinary skills are the only superpowers really worth coveting.
I mean, with this crowd, the best variation would be the one where you cooked one meal of your own choosing, then could use your super-powers to custom-transform one plate's worth of food into whatever suited each respective diner's taste/requirements the best. Think of how invaluable this would be! You could throw the most popular dinner parties in the galaxy, even if your budget was minimal AND your kitchen totally sucked.
I would have the power to change whatever food I'm served into whatever meal I prefer. It would make it easy for friends to invite me over. Just toss me a donut or a week-old tomato and I'll turn it into almond-crusted salmon.
Sorry, I can't transform the donut you're going to eat.
As an aside, it's cool how you developed Rocky's native culture so.
That's been one of my favorite parts of the Rockhopper Lad character. We've established that although the Pyngwyn Colonies is the only nation-state on the planet Hyustyn, it covers only a very small part of its territory and has a population only in the low millions. It maintains a clan structure and an aristocracy. There is one religion, Pyngwypalia, and one language, Pyngwynyy.
I also recalled our conversation re having IB and Tim interact. Our latest tag team thread has them and Blaze investigating a mystery. Together! Would be nice to continue
I don't know if I ever actually addressed what the rest of the planet it, but I think I did establish that it was a very cold world and only a very small part of it was habitable--kind of like Greenland on Earth.
As for the tag team, I think I may have to post something.
Know Your Legion Worlders is my longest-running single game thread, while my Idol games are the longest-running series. But I agree it can be hard to think about questions about yourself.
Where Am I is one of my favorites as well. I never find geography boring.
Where Am I? was one of the first threads I saw on the board. Being shy* I thought "Well, there's no way I'm telling them that" as I totally missed the point
*meaning I don't want to be tracked down across the world by serial Martini drinkers. D'Oh!
The margarita was because there was at the time an awesome Mexican restaurant near me that had great margaritas. Alas, the owners decided they'd do better in another part of town, so they closed the location where they had been for 30 years and moved. The new place has higher prices and many longtime regulars have reported disappointment. It's a shame when someone has a good thing and then they spoil it.
Booze is terribly cheap here in the Philippines. You can get a (pretty good) local beer for less than a dollar - and that isn't even during happy hour.
Our cocktails are pretty cheap too! You can find pitchers of drinks for around 5 bucks.
When I was in grad school, one of my friends taught me how to drink beer on the cheap. Get the beer you like first, then switch to the cheap kind (the bar we would go to had $1 bottles of cheap Canadian beer). It worked.
I doubt the place I was in had ever seen a decent ale. That side of the evening was poor. There are so many places that have an embarrassing selection of drinks in this neck of the woods.
Some would argue that that's what I get for drinking in the woods...
At least you can get good beer in the woods over there. The only things you can get in the woods here are flowing rivers, awesome rock formations, mosquito bites, the occasional native guide, a few rare endemic species, and kidnapped*. (only in the far south)
Well, music's all very nice and everything, but what the heck ever happened to that Abin guy? This is normally just the moment at which he'd show up and command the thread to die.
I remember watching the Transformers movie. It had a lot of lesser-known characters, with many of the "popular" ones like Optimus Prime and Bumblebee being largley absent.
I've found some good jarred sauces, but I like it best when my mom is able to make sauce. I've followed her instructions (she really doesn't have a recipe) and was almost, but not quite as good, as hers.
With Fall getting closer, it will be time soon to start making pasta sauce and stocking the freezer. My recipe is the one from my Mom's Great Dinners From Life cookbook, but with modern modifications. I don't use bacon grease as the base, for instance. I also never salt sauce until it's almost ready to eat. Just a superstition of mine.
I'm so tired of the Food Cops, though. Pasta has long been one of my favorite go-to meals. Relatively inexpensive, easy to cook well, etc. But these days wheat flour is the Devil, so it's yet one more thing I have to be paranoid about eating. [grumble]
I know some people who are vegan. I know some who are total carnivores. I fall somewhere in between. I don't like beef and pork and don't eat them. I haven't in many years and would get sick if I tried.
I did have a friend ask recently if I abstained from those things for religious reasons. I told him that, as an Episcopalian, the only dietary restriction to which I'm bound is that I'm not allowed to eat my salad with my dinner fork.
A few years back I rented a room at a karaoke bar for my birthday. Three friends and I sang "Bohemian Rhapsody". That song is a lot of fun when you're a little tipsy.
A few years back I rented a room at a karaoke bar for my birthday. Three friends and I sang "Bohemian Rhapsody". That song is a lot of fun when you're a little tipsy.
My friends and I love belting out the Glee version of Don't Stop Believing.
Originally Posted by Fanfic Lady
Oh, to hell with the Food Cops. Life's too short anyway.
Not to mention, the Food Cops can't even get their rules straight! "You should eat six smaller meals a day!" "No, three big meals a day!" "It doesn't matter how many meals you eat, what matters is the total number of calories!" "No, don't eat anything after 6pm!"
it's "eat better". I thought it was "eat butter"... oh noes...
"Parkay."
(For anyone who doesn't get that reference, it refers to an American margarine advert from the 80s with a talking tub of margarine. Said tub was voiced by Michael Bell, who was, among many, many other animated characters' voice, that of Zan from Superfriends.)
Some of the most memorable commercials of the '70s and '80s were for margarine.
One I remember was for Promise. It had a woman standing in a sunflower field singing "There is a land of Promise: a land of sun and showers! And in that land, that land of Promise, we grow our golden sunflowers!"
Not to mention:
"You call it corn. We call it maize."
"Everything's better with Blue Bonnet on it."
And how could we forget "It's not nice to fool MOTHER NATURE!!!!"?
When I was growing up in South America, there was a popular brand of margarine called Klar. I remember one commercial for it with a really hammy child actress talking to an animated dollop of margarine.
It was. I always think of 'Kirk' (Belushi, i think? been a while since i saw it) pontificating his captain's log even as the sets are being taken down.
I was pretty surprised to see that Eddie Murphy and Will Ferrell both had stints on SNL. More by Eddie Murphy, whose recent movies have been pretty bad.
Lots of people have been on SNL at one time or another, some good, some not. Billy Crystal was probably my favorite of the non-original cast. But the late 80s-early 90s had some really good people too.
Billy Crystal used to be great, but these days the funniest thing about him is that face-lifts have left him looking like Speedee, the talking hamburger and original McDonalds mascot.
Neither do I. On the very rare occasions that I get a sandwich and fries at a fast food place (and if I do, it's Jack in the Box or Whataburger and then a chicken sandwich), I immediately realize why I generally avoid them.
A Philippine fastfood chain, Jollibee, recently made the headlines after a transition to a new IT system messed up its supply chain. Several popular items, including the Chicken Joy (fried chicken), weren't being distributed properly to stores.
I heard that another subsidiary, Chowking, also had similar problems.
The main reason Jollibee expanded into the USA is because so many Filipinos are there. A lot of us have fond memories of eating there every Sunday as a special treat.
The pronunciation of Edinburgh always confused me when I was a kid. I couldn't figure out where the last vowel sound came from for it to be ED-in-buh-ruh.
I'm terrible at pronouncing place names. I can spell them easily, but I often have to look up the proper pronunciation of names like "Kiribati", "Sao Tome and Principe" or "Ljubljana".
The pronunciation of Edinburgh always confused me when I was a kid. I couldn't figure out where the last vowel sound came from for it to be ED-in-buh-ruh.
Burgh is roughly like a borough found elsewhere in the UK, so think of it like that.
I saw a band called Garbage play in Albany in 1991. For a long time I thought I had seen them before they made it big, but Wikipedia has cured me of my delusions of grandeur.
Before Garbage, Shirley Manson was in Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie, who I saw live a few times. I think I first saw them on a lunch time-for-the-elderly show called Pebble Mill at One. That's what I remembered when I got taken to see them live anyway. One of my friends really liked them. Probably Manson in hindsight.
That reminds me of a scene from the Animaniacs spoof of the '90s Disney Pocahontas movie. John Smith (who resembles Mel Gibson) introduces himself and Dot replies "I'll bet you tell that to all the hotel clerks."
One of my favorite spoofs is Avenue Q. It's a musical with human and monster puppets, but the songs are very much adult ("The Internet is for Porn", "You Can Be As Loud As the Hell You Want When You're Making Love", "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist")
At one time idiot (0-25), imbecile (26-50), and moron (51-70) were current terms in psychology to describe persons of very low IQ. They are no longer used in use in that field.
At one time idiot (0-25), imbecile (26-50), and moron (51-70) were current terms in psychology to describe persons of very low IQ. They are no longer used in use in that field.
Oh. Then, technically, Gibson and Miller are morons, not idiots. I stand corrected.
The Episcopal Church of which I'm a member has a tradition of taking a parish portrait on Easter morning. This has been done since 1921. It's interesting to look at the clergy's vestments through the years. In the first few decades, they're dressed in cassock and surplice. Then, around the '70s, they switch to albs and stoles. In the '90s, as the parish became more High Church, copes were added.
In the first few decades, they're dressed in cassock and surplice. Then, around the '70s, they switch to albs and stoles. In the '90s, as the parish became more High Church, copes were added.
Cassock? I thought you said Cossack?!....backs out of the room slowly.
I would never think of making a burger or tuna salad without adding diced onion. White for the burger, red for the tuna.
Oh, and garlic ground into a butter-olive oil mixture (same as what I use for garlic bread) is the absolute best for scrambling eggs in. In fact, I'm gonna' go make some eggs right now, with a handful of chives and fresh parsley thrown in for good measure. Then I'll roll them up in a whole wheat tortilla. Bliss, Baby!
I'm gonna' miss my fresh herbs when the cold season hits.
Now I'm hungry. I think for breakfast, I'll have a cheese omelette with mushrooms, onions and bell peppers. Then I'll season it with basil, parsley, tarragon, chives, oregano and paprika.
I enjoy making beef tacos, sizzling gambas, chicken in peach sauce, and experimenting with different types of pasta. I think I should learn different kinds of soup, I've only ever made three kinds from scratch. Four if you count sukiyaki.
I followed a favorite Houston restaurant's recipeforshrimp etouffee last year (the place is called Treebeard's). I posted a puc on FB and a bunch of people got upset because the recipe didn't start with a roux.
Well, there is Manhattan Clam Chowder, which is unabashedly tomato-ful.
Damned hard to find around here, too. I saw it at a local bar called Cereveza last month. (Mentioned earlier in Cobie's beer thread, because it's just so cool.) Despite that hot, muggy summer weather, I pounced on it right away. Perfect! When the server came back to check on us, I begged him to put it on their regular menu and to not change a thing.
I was at Durgin-Park, a very old (and rather touristy) restaurant in Boston, that serves old-time New England food with a somewhat surly attitude, once when a nearby young man ordered clam chowder. When the waitress brought it to him, he looked at the creamy bowl and said "I thought it was the other kind." I always wondered if he did that on purpose to get a rise out of the waitress.
Of course "Manhattan clam chowder" is neither historically from Manhattan nor a chowder. Portuguese immigrants in Rhode Island modified the New England recipe and the scornful New Englanders called it the worst insult they could think of: they said that was how they did it in New York.
The interesting thing is when I moved to Houston, the people here were trying to explain Houston's rivalry with Dallas. I just smiled and said "It's like Boston and New York."
There is also a Rhode Island Clam Chowder, which is more both-based (brownish), not cream- or tomato-based.
I guess there are plenty of other local variants, but RI is the most likely to be found outside of its home turf (although not nearly as common as NE or M styles).
An ex-friend of mine called herself the Soup Queen, because we had different views on eating animals. Those differences had nothing to do with us no longer being friends -- we just drifted apart, as so many people do.
During my brief flirtation with Facebook a few years ago, I attempted to reconnect with a few people. It was just my luck that none of them were on Facebook.
Other than relatives, relatives of relatives, and friends of relatives, the farthest back I know anyone I've friended on Facebook are some folks I met when I was in middle school and high school.
I have so many acquaintances on Facebook that I've learned to become careful with privacy settings. Usually, when I post pictures (and some status updates) I make them visible only to family and close friends (including folk from LW)!
I'm occasionally tempted to create an FB just for the cats. But... nah. I can barely put any work into all the pages I'm already supposed to be working on. Forget it.
When I first joined FB in 2007, most of my friends on it were students, people who had recently been students, academics, and fellow librarians who, like me, were trying to learn about interacive Web applications.
Some of my FB friends can be quite annoying, with all their game requests, random messages, comments turning conversations towards themselves, updates that consist of nothing but hashtags...
They only games I play involve words or trivia. I usually have several Words With Friends and Scramble With Friends games going at once. I've played Words with (at various times) Dev-Em, Mattropolis, and Suddenly Seymour, though I have no games with a Legion Worlder going now.
I enjoy Sporcle because you have trivia games AND logic games, and even some math ones. What I like best is that trivia games also allow you to do some critical thinking. For example, there is a series of games asking you to name UN members who joined per decade. I can draw on my knowledge of history, plus some good guessing on which countries became independent first.
(Hint: a lot of African countries gained independence in the 60s!)
I love Sporcle! I've actually contributed four quizzes. They're mostly on pretty obscure topics. I do really well with the geography games. I'll admit it took me about ten tries before I got all the answers in the "Countries of the World" game. I'd always forget Sao Tome and Principe or Nauru or something.
"Up yours" is a firm way of telling someone that you dislike them.
Originally Posted by Rockhopper Lad
I love Sporcle! I've actually contributed four quizzes. They're mostly on pretty obscure topics. I do really well with the geography games. I'll admit it took me about ten tries before I got all the answers in the "Countries of the World" game. I'd always forget Sao Tome and Principe or Nauru or something.
I've just followed you, and I played your States game a couple of times
I love Geography! Easily my favorite category. It's because of Sporcle that I was able to learn all the world capitals and all the national flags.
Darn Legion... always doing flypasts. Hate this 30th century. Now, where was I...setting up quantum entanglement so my Kill This Thread post appears to Rocky on Pyngwyn...things were so much better in the old days...
Neither Rockhopper Lad nor The Boyfriend's character in LMB continuity, Jorj Zeddle, have hair. Rocky is a feathered Pyngwyn and Jorj is a hairless Durlan.
Brainiac 5 is probably my least favorite Legionnaire. His arrogance and panel-hogging kind of annoy me. On the other hand, people say the same thing about Cosmic Boy, who is one of my favorites. Of course, Rokk looked a whole lot better in something little and black.
I haven't read the first issue, but I have read LoSH #297. Though it wasn't right what he did, he was dealing with the destruction of his home and the death of his parents so he wasn't acting rationally.
I don't think that's a valid excuse. And what really bothers me about the things he did is that he was never made to take responsibility for his actions.
Even typing "Rokk put Lydda through a wall" sounds simply terrible, and unjustifiable.
I've always thought is was an action he took not out of any anger or malevolence towards her, but because he knew she would stop him confronting the people who had firebombed his family. It was what he would have done with say Ultra Boy in a similar situation. Using his powers to stun a colleague who could otherwise capture him. That's something I've seen on a few occasions in comics. Most recently on a reread of Crisis, when Harbinger blasts Alexander Luthor. It looks pretty nasty, but he's back up and running the next time we see him.
Lydda was still powered, so he knew he wasn't going to harm her for more than a few panels.
In #212 he was a complete tool. There's dialogue concerning Lydda putting herself in harm's way, but it's part of Rokk's "I'm a selfish git, and this relationship is all about my needs" speech.
I find it interesting -- and not a little unsettling -- that Jim Shooter seemed to identify so closely with Cosmic Boy, and then he had Cosmic Boy act in such horrible ways.
I'm with you both Rocky and Ibby. Since I tired of New52 (it took a year or more, I kept hoping it would improve) I've pretty much dropped comics. Most of what I purchased was from DC and because there is not a LSC here and I have to use a mail service, the few titles from other company are not worth it. So, just back issues for me too
It comforting/sad that I'm not alone in finding comics harder to stay into without DC. Having tried and dropped all of the opening DCNu titles, I took away the linchpin of habitual buying of the others. It's not as though I bought many before DCNu, due to quality. But the three or four were the ones I had bought for longest (across a few re-numberings).
I did get oodles of '80s back issues though, and a lot of them were great fun.
Like thotkins, I've been mostly splurging on back issues lately too. These new books just don't appeal to me. I feel like a bitter old man trapped in a youngster's body.
It's the whole mentality of "let's dumb ourselves down so new people aren't intimidated." I've seen that principle applied in many different places. The result is never satisfactory to anyone.
To paraphrase something a friend of mine once said years ago: "I don't ever want Bay to get his grubby hands on my beloved Dinobots." And, eventually, it happened.
I believe there are "advisors" somewhere intent on dragging our youth-oriented culture through degradation. See Bieber, Miley Cyrus, and DC Comics for examples.
(Why am I hearing my parents and grandparents voices?)
I used to like her songs, but they don't hold up after more than a few listens. For me, the true mark of a good artist is if I can listen to their songs indefinitely.
Ah, nice segue, Fanfie. I always enjoyed watching the Muppets. They were a lot more fun than Sesame Street. I did like Sesame Street too though, except for Elmo. For some reason he infuriated me.
Jem and the Holograms' head writer, Christy Marx, is my heroine. She was one of the first women to write scripts for animated action-adventure cartoons, like G.I. Joe and Spider-Man. She almost turned down Jem because she thought it was too girly for her.
I liked all the Holograms and the Pussycats equally. Josie was hilarious, and I was tickled pink when Josie and the Pussycats met Scooby Doo and the gang on the Scooby Doo Movies episode, The Haunted Showboat!
Jade's brother, Obsidian, was treated badly for years. Finally, he was romantically matched to Damon Matthews in Manhunter, which brings the character to happiness for the first time. Dumb ol' New 52, of course, ended that.
There can be only one...Sandman!* Poor old Hec didn't stand much of a chance there. If only he had taken on the mantle of the Red Torpedo. Then he and Lyta would have been safe.
I miss him and the rest of the JSA. I can't understand why DC would want to throw away almost 80 years of continuity.
Simply put, many new readers are either too lazy to look up older history or just don't care about it anyway so DC decided to alienate older fans to chase after that new demographic.
Funny thing is when I was a kid, you had to rely on reprints and what few print resources there were to learn about continuity, but we still managed. Now, you can call up the history of the DC Multiverse in ridiculous detail with a few keystrokes and clicks.
Admittedly, some parts of the old continuity had reached the point where disbelief could no longer be suspended. Particularly , the JSAers all having been born in the 1910s and having children apparently not born till about 1980, the Infinitors having joined the "sliding timeline" of their contemporaries.
That WAS odd, though I think they explained it decently well with the "trapped in Limbo fighting Ragnarok" thing. And there was another explanation, which I forgot. But Extant commented on them being too young for their age in Zero Hour.
It would have been a lot easier to suspend disbelief about them if they hadn't had kids.
The slowed aging of the JSA was explained primarily from absorbing chronal energies during a battle with Ian Karkull in 1941 (per an All-Star Squadron annual).
Now Hawkgirl was born no later than 1920, because she was at least 20 (if not older) in 1940. An early Infinity issue stated that Hector Hall, Carter and Shiera's son, was born in 1963. Having a baby at 43 was considered kind of risky in 1963, but was not unheard of, and certainly that Shiera's aging was slowed didn't hurt.
Fast forward to the JSA series a few years back. Discounting Hector's death and resurrection, he was still considered to have been a contemporary of the other Infinitors, who were all no more than 30. That would put Hector's birth around 1980, when his mother was about 60.
In those instances, I just naturally assumed that Hawkgirl had either been born later or had slowed her aging even more than she already had, Like Braal Janitor, I just accepted it.
I'm sure one of the reasons that they had poor ol' Hec die and come back so many times and had Hawkgirl stuck in the body of her grandniece Kendra was so no one would try to figure out how she could have had a baby at that age!
Jay Garrick (Speed Force), Alan Scott (Starheart) and Carter Hall (reincarnation) all had additional explanations for ther youth in that series. One thing I did not like were references to Wildcat being original JSAer, when he served as one very briefly in the '40s, several years after its founding.
I'm a Scorpio myself. So was my ex. So whenever she ranted about the bad parts of my personality, I would be like "I thought you said all Scorpios did that".
THE worst poster I know on another board is always yapping on and on about astrology and how it's totally really real, Maaaaaaannn. She's an astoundingly nasty, vicious piece of work even by internet standards. Proverbial ego the size of a planet, always making wild accusations and insults against other posters, threatening to sue people who disagree with her, etc.
I'm pretty sure that if I'd been a believer before meeting her, I would have dropped the whole thing afterward.
The '70s police dramedy Barney Miller was produced by 4D Productions and Columbia Pictures Television.
For some reason, I always associate the theme music of Barney Miller with a Peanuts collection titled "You're the Greatest, Charlie Brown." Something else else to do with the font and the way Charlie Brown walks.
Actually, I do watch the VH1 Top 20 Countdown every Saturday morning. I'm still such a pop music geek that I squeed with delight when Charli XCX's "Boom Clap" reached the #1 spot last weekend.
It's a very catchy song. I don't usually like these young female pop stars, but Boom Clap had a good beat and the lyrics were more profound then the average pop song nowadays.
I don't know why I feel the urge to stay current with pop culture even though I dislike most of it. Blame the internet, I guess, except that without the internet I'd never have met you lovely people.
Aw. I think the wonderful people of LW more than make up for the horrid parts of current pop culture.
As for me, I have no choice. These blasted songs are all they play on the radio now. I only listen to one show, the Morning Rush, and I only do it for the hosts. There are a handful of songs that will make me turn the radio off.
That's a wonderful suggestion, Fanfie. I have my own playlist on my iPod, actually. I only tune in to the radio in the mornings because the hosts are hilarious. But on my way home, the radio is always off.
With radio, I listen exclusively to our two public radio stations. One plays mostly news, the other classical music. Until a few years ago, it was a mixed format of classical music and news on one station. I liked that so much better. I had music when I wanted it and news when I wanted it. A couple years after the all-classical station started, they fired most of the local on-air talent and started playing a syndicated classical music service. It's pleasant, but not nearly as interesting.
I find that a lot of DJs on the radio now don't know much about music. Many discuss movies or celebrities or are just "entertaining", but they rarely talk about the music.
That's the problem with media saturation culture. People, not just DJs, but people in general, get to be so jaded that they're not passionate about anything. I'm very grateful to be part of an online community of passionate people.
I find that a lot of DJs on the radio now don't know much about music. Many discuss movies or celebrities or are just "entertaining", but they rarely talk about the music.
But I'm brutalized by bass And terrorized by treble I'm open to change my mood but I always get caught in the middle
And I get tired of DJs Why is it always what he plays...
I dip in and out of albums. I listen to things when I'm on my way places and not often at home. So albums are frequently split into journey sized chunks.
One thing stopping me is that (I think) you need an active Internet connection to keep using it. And because my phones are all archaic and I'm too lazy to shop for a new one...
Heck with the "Kill This Thread" protocol. You all have been posting too much since I was last here and I have to chime in to posts 3 pages ago!
Originally Posted by Rockhopper Lad
With radio, I listen exclusively to our two public radio stations. One plays mostly news, the other classical music.
Rocky and I are radio twins. In addition to news and classical music, our public radio stations play jazz on Friday and Saturday nights, which I also like.
I don't own many albums. It's rare that I will like more than 75% of songs on any given album.
I had quite a CD collection before I got on iTunes. When I started putting the CDs on my computer, I only copied the songs I liked...the ones that I cared about hearing again. I would guess that only about 10 percent of my CDs were copied complete.
Just to bring it full circle, here's the title track from Horn's most recent collaboration with Yes, 2011's Fly From Here, which is actually based on an old Buggles demo! Horn serves as producer and fellow Buggle Geoff Downes is back as keyboardist.
Wow. After all these decades, they've still got it.
Well, they've been pretty hit or miss since the 80s. Fly From Here was a strong comeback album, but this year's Heaven and Earth is pretty mediocre. I think they seriously need someone like Horn to keep them on track.
I loved the beach party movies that Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello made together in the '60s. My favorite was Muscle Beach Party. I think the scene where the bodybuilders flex for the countess was one of the first clues Li'l Rocky had that he was going to be gay.
I really enjoyed the 1994 Alec Baldwin film The Shadow. It didn't do well at the box office, but I've always thought it was underrated. I would like to see a Hawkman film, set in the Golden Age, handled in a similar way.
Actually, I would see a Hawkman movie working as a romance, playing up the reincarnated lovers angle, with Carter rescuing Shiera from Dr. Hastor, as in the origin story. I would keep it purely to the Golden Age story, with no mention of Thanagar.
It would be, and if it were set in the present, I'd think it a great idea; but I'd like to see it as close to the original Golden Age source material as possible.
Of course the likelihood of them ever making such a movie is rather slim.
The JLU toon did an interesting thing. Hawkgirl was from Thanagar, but the Shadow Thief and Hawkman both claimed that she was also the reincarnation of an Egyptian princess. How she got reincarnated on a different planet? Well, in her first life she was a Thanagarian who landed on Earth and then became a princess!
That was an interesting blend. I very much enjoyed Hawkman as he appeared in the JSA title about 10 or so years ago and his solo title. There was so much promise for him , Hawkgirl (Kendra), and Dr. Fate (Hector). TPTB at DC have really let so many great characters go for no good reason.
Of all the versions of the Hawkpeople, I like Tim Truman's 3-part Hawkworld mini-series the best. The monthly book which followed, less so. Truman had originally wanted the Hawkpeople to arrive on Earth during the Golden Age so that he and his collaborators could retell Golden Age stories with a modern spin. TPTB nixed that, insisting it be set in the present day, which led to the continuity fustercluck that has been the Hawkpeople's albatross ever since.
That's interesting. I had always thought it was supposed to be the arrival of the Silver Age versions due to the Thanagarian connections. I hadn't thought of it going all the way back to the Golden Age too.
The JLU toon did an interesting thing. Hawkgirl was from Thanagar, but the Shadow Thief and Hawkman both claimed that she was also the reincarnation of an Egyptian princess. How she got reincarnated on a different planet? Well, in her first life she was a Thanagarian who landed on Earth and then became a princess!
Hmm... I'm not sure if I realized they'd done it that way on the cartoon, but I always thought something like that would be a nice take on the Hawks, with one of them compelled by dreams to cross the distance between Thanagar and Earth to find the reincarnation of their long lost love...
That's interesting. I had always thought it was supposed to be the arrival of the Silver Age versions due to the Thanagarian connections. I hadn't thought of it going all the way back to the Golden Age too.
At the time (1989) the Silver Age was too recent to be re-interpreted yet, while the Golden Age was an underexplored potential (forgive the pun) gold mine.
The JLU toon did an interesting thing. Hawkgirl was from Thanagar, but the Shadow Thief and Hawkman both claimed that she was also the reincarnation of an Egyptian princess. How she got reincarnated on a different planet? Well, in her first life she was a Thanagarian who landed on Earth and then became a princess!
Hmm... I'm not sure if I realized they'd done it that way on the cartoon, but I always thought something like that would be a nice take on the Hawks, with one of them compelled by dreams to cross the distance between Thanagar and Earth to find the reincarnation of their long lost love...
Funnily enough, the origin had both Hawks landing on Earth from Thanagar. But in the modern day, Hawkman was born on Earth while Hawkgirl was born on Thanagar. Maybe you were ghostwriting this bit in your sleep!
I'm really fond of cartoon Hawkgirl. I remember there was a high-ranking female foe from Thanagar, too. Part of the army that was sent to take her away from Earth...?
The obsessive un-girling of S2's cartoon Legion was so damn irritating. Even our one glimpse of Thanagar was 100% male. Grrrr...
Yes, I remember her. She was part of the original occupying force, and appeared again as part of the group who tried to get revenge on her.
And I am with you on S2 of the toon. We rarely had more than one female Legionnaire featured in each episode. Sigh. At least Violet and Dream Girl (I think) had good episodes.
The Legion cartoon was cute, though it took a few too many liberties with the source material. That's pretty much been the problem with DC's adaptations for other media. It's never faithful enough to the comics for my tastes.
I didn't like Timber Wolf's lupine appearance very much. Even though it made Brainy more likeable (which is quite a task), I didn't like his being a little robot boy.
That sure is a scary villain name for a kids' cartoon.
Remember that The Flintstones was not intended to be a kids' cartoon, though by the sixth season when that episode aired, it had become less adult in content than original intended.
It's usually said that the Flintstones and the Rubbles are based on the Kramdens and the Nortons from The Honeymooners. I've never cared for The Honeymooners, but love The Flintstones.
Originally, Blondie was the focus. She was a flapper (it was the 1920s) and Dagwood was one of her many suitors. He came from a wealthy family who disapproved of Blondie, so when they married, he was disinherited and had to go work for Mr. Dithers.
It would be weirder if Alexander looked like Blondie and Cookie looked like Dagwood.
Originally, Alexander was always called "Baby Dumpling", which worked for a few years. He and Cookie aged at a somewhat normal rate for a while, but they've been teenagers since about the late '50s or early '60s.
Drake's Cakes are a popular brand of snack cakes in the Northeastern United States, with brands including Yodels, Ring Dings, Devil Dogs, and Yankee Doodles.
thanksgiving turkey isn't fried either. In fact, before I read that joke online I didn't think American cuisine had a much higher proportion of fried food than any other cuisine.
Oh, God, Paula Deen is such a waste of flesh. Even before she was outed as a racist, I couldn't stand her and her insanely unhealthy recipes. As my previous posts show, I'm not much for healthy eating (though I often exaggerate), but one has to draw the line somewhere!
With all the talk about butter (and Fanfie's reference to the classic Parkay commercial above), I'm reminded of all the great commercial of the '70s and '80s for margarine.
With all the talk about butter (and Fanfie's reference to the classic Parkay commercial above), I'm reminded of all the great commercial of the '70s and '80s for margarine.
I did a search on YouTube for 70s and 80s Klar margarine commercials, but couldn't find any. Klar was the main brand of margarine in the country where I grew up.
Over here we have Star Margarine, which advertisements show being mixed in rice. I have never done that myself. It just seems weird... I have fried rice recipes which use butter, but during the cooking process and not as the main "condiment".
Obsidian (real name Todd Rice) is one of my all-time favorite DC characters. I could always relate to him for some reason. I was so glad when he finally came out as gay. Of all the characters lost in the New 52 (blecch!), he may be the one I miss the most.
Damon Albarn is the lead singer of the English band Blur. The band has always had a creative tug of war between Albarn and guitarist Graham Coxon. Personally, I like Coxon a lot better as both a musician and a person. He also took a rare lead vocal on my favorite Blur song by far, "Coffee & TV".
Blur was also the code name they chose for the Flash analog of JMS and Gary Frank's take on Marvel's JLA analogs, the Squadron Supreme. His original code name was Whizzer, with all the jokes it implies.
Rocky, do you mean the cartoon movie? If so, I agree. My favorite of the classic Disney cartoon movies is Pinocchio (or at least the one that made the greatest impression on me -- the scene where the bad boy turns into a donkey traumatized me.)
Those two and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs are the best, with Bambi and Dumbo not far behind. A lot of Disney's stuff is very overrated. I for one have never understood the appeal of Mickey Mouse.
I think Mickey Mouse was cool when he had button eyes, and was feistier, more street-smart, and more child-like than when he later "grew up" into a boring suburbanite. The early years of the Mickey Mouse comic strip were awesome, in my opinion.
I did a search on YouTube for 70s and 80s Klar margarine commercials, but couldn't find any. Klar was the main brand of margarine in the country where I grew up.
In tonight's news: superhero plummets to his death. Identity revealed. The city's vegetable oil powered hero, A-Maizing Man, suffered a massive cholesterol induced heart attack in mid flight. Police identified the body as this station's own Klar-K Kent.
Every time I read "Dough Boy" I get an image of the giant marshmallow man from Ghostbusters. It makes reading about WWI much more entertaining, if not more accurate.
"The Germans machine gun fire was absorbed easily by the giant marshmallow men as they waddled their way across no man's land."
I liked the first Ghostbusters movie, but I absolutely loved the Real Ghostbusters cartoon back in the day. Especially the episode "Moaning Stones", where Winston becomes the avatar for one of his ancestors in order to fight an evil African god.
I can think of quite a few RPGs like that. Gah! I already used the mega-uber-final spell on the boss, and it's still alive! Wait, you mean it only makes it stronger and the only way I can beat it is by using that stupid item I picked up on Level 5 that I already tossed because it looked useless???
To be fair to Call of Cthulhu, it's really an exercise in futility anyway if you come anywhere near that sort of thing.
Where your dungeons and dragons groups kill the dragon and cart off unhealthy amounts of loot, the lone survivor of their Cthulhu counterpart group is found freezing to death in the snows babbling about the gruesome demise of his colleagues.
A lot of things like Cthulhu itself are back drops in the mythos of the game, rather than things that you actually get anywhere near. Unless you're a big Brian Lumley/ August Derleth fan I guess.
For ultimate futility, and for good lessons on teaching humility to anyone, there's Paranoia. A game so lethal you start off with several clones that can be whisked into action as soon as your previous character meets a pointless, yet often funny, demise.
No worries, BraJa. Outside of LW, I've known very few Legion fans. A few of my fellow comics-reading friends at least know who they are. I a friend of mine and his wife had triplets a few years back. They have three boys, though at one point, early in the pregnancy, they thought one of the babies was a girl. I suggested Garth, Rokk and Imra for manes.
I gained weight too when I was doing a lot of overtime. Too tired to exercise, too sleepy to care what I eat... And lack of sleep triggers more fat storage.
Hard for me to pick a fave. I preferred the females though. Power Girl, Huntress, Black Canary, Wonder Woman, and newer members Stargirl, Cyclone and Lightning. I also had soft spots for Miss America and Ma Hunkel.
As I've said before, Miss America's presence in the JSA was, to my mind, the best post-Crisis retcon. It brought a character with untapped potential to the fore, if briefly. The Hippolyta retcon didn't work so well for me.
It sort of brought back the original Huntress. While Helena is once again the daughter of Bruce Wayne and Selena Kyle, her story is quite different from the original.
I don't know if it's still on the market, but I remember a product called Crazy Foam when I was a kid. It was foam in an aerosol can kids could use for washing themselves. I remember it because it made me break out in hives.
I remember being at a restaurant where one is served "family style" with four others, talking about what to order, when we realized all five people at the table liked Brussels sprouts.
Many restaurants specializing in Filipino and Chinese cuisine serve things family style. Which can be good, can be good. Generally I find it bad, because I prefer to order without having to consider what other people want to eat.
Indian restaurants often served family-style as well. I went to a favorite place with a friend once who suggested that, for a change, we order our own stuff. I ordered a vindaloo curry, which I usually don't get because most of my friends don't like food that spicy. It was awesome! Eyes water, nose runs. Eight hours later, you can't sit down.
Spicy foods doesn't usually do that to me, but about five years ago I had a batch of extra-hot wings at Bombers' Burritos in Albany and that did me in (or rather my innards).
oh, I like that part. I wish more places do that. I generally don't like Italian chain restaurants, but I do like Bucca de Beppo for that (and that the food is good).
Family-style serving is a mixed bag for me. I do like that it promotes closeness. But it also tends to lead to overeating. Especially when the older relatives forcefeed the younger ones.
I did not like how Irona was portrayed in the 1980s Richie Rich animated cartoon. She became a shape-shifting super-hero, which she never was in the comics.
Honestly, Richie Rich, is the ultimate one-joke character. Oh, I get it. He has more money than he'll ever need. Isn't that hilarious?
Richie Rich's saving grace was a character named Mayda Munny. She was a schemer who was always trying to woo Richie, usually repelling him when her plans backfired. She was hilarious. Though featured regularly in the comics, she appeared (I think) in only one animated episode.
I did not like how Irona was portrayed in the 1980s Richie Rich animated cartoon. She became a shape-shifting super-hero, which she never was in the comics.
Richie Rich was definitely one of the weakest, most formulaic Hanna-Barbera TV cartoons. I guess they needed to produce a certain amount of shows to turn a profit, but it doesn't really excuse how mediocre some of those shows were.
When they were good, though, they were a cut above the rest of Saturday morning animation. Same with Ruby-Spears, the studio that their two head writers formed after they broke away from them.
Jolly old England. Blaze and I would put the UK at the top of your Europe wish list, except it is not part of Schengen. The additional visa can be quite a hassle
I love traditional British food. It's become pseudo-hip to knock it, and I've even heard British people do it, but I love it. Good-quality sausage rolls put me in ecstasy.
I don't know how traditional British food would be received by my culinary palette. I've been weaned on spicy Asian food my whole life so it would be a very strange experience.
It's funny, I grew up in Latin America, where food is often very spicy, but I've always leaned towards the blander foods. Just my contrary nature, I guess.
We didn't encounter any trouble there Fanfie, but of course we were discreet in public. The gay spas and bars we visited were a lot of fun and we met gay men from all over the world. I can't speak for the typical citizen though.
It doesn't actually cover that big an area, in terms of city blocks. Of course, not all establishments are located in the same area. It's kind of weird actually, you have bars on either side of the street while little stalls selling shirts and souvenirs are set up in the middle of the street.
Compared to the rest of Southeast Asia, Thailand is extremely sexually open of course. The Philippines and Timor-Leste are predominantly Catholic; Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei are majority Muslim; and I think Singapore still has some anti-homosexuality laws.
The traffic lights in most US states are lined up vertically, with the red light on top. In Texas, they are usually horizontal, with the red light at the left.
BraJa, when I moved to Houston 16 years ago, it took me the longest time to get used to horizontal traffic lights.
But then, I've never gotten used to people calling a shopping cart a "basket", when, of course, I naturally (thanks to growing up near Boston) call it a "carriage".
That might get you into trouble in some places, Ibby.
One thing I really miss about living in Boston is the public transit. You can get almost anywhere there by it. In Houston, getting by without a car is very difficult. I lived here without a car for over two years. It wasn't easy.
I also always thought that public transport was very well developed in most big cities in the USA. Certainly far better than the underdeveloped mass transport system here.
Public transit is well developed in cities in the Northeast, the West Coast and the Midwest (with the exception of Detroit). Most of the South (with the exception of Atlanta, which has great transit, and, to a lesser extent, Dallas) has public transit that is good for getting in and out of central business districts, but little else. Houston is working on improving it. We do have the METRORail light rail n line, which will soon be expanding to three lines, but there is a strong car culture here. Getting people to leave their cars at home (or at a transit station) is difficult. Just before I moved here, someone joked to me that Texans would drive to the bathroom if they could figure out how.
Thanks for the insight, Rocky! I love learning more about the diverse USA. I have only spent about 2 weeks on the Northeast and about 2 months in Los Angeles so I have very little in the way of actual observations.
Incidentally, I didn't really notice buses or trains in LA. Taxis were plentiful though. We had to drive a borrowed can to get around. As traffic rules are much more strictly enforced in LA, I remember being very tense and nervous
I live in the second largest metropolitan area of my state, about 20 minutes from downtown by car. Public bus routes stop about halfway. Without a car, there's no way I could get downtown...or to work, which is just 7 miles away.
Most Americans live in places where owning a car makes life easier. The few places where it doesn't are in places where public transit never went out of style, such as New York or Boston. In parts of those cities, car ownership can actually be a problem.
I live in a town that received a big influx of people around 30 years ago. As part of that, they spent quite a bit on some pretty good roads. These days, any changes are done as cheaply as possible.
Sadly, lack of foresight has meant that the roads and infrastructure over here have badly needed updating for years. Our train system is a dangerously crowded can of sardines. I'm glad Blaze doesn't take it anymore.
Of course it's impossible to predict how cities will grow and what people's reactions will be. At one time, Boston (a city with great transit, by the way) had planned a large system of urban freeways. The people who would have been displaced by them, as well as those who wanted to preserve Boston's historic character. Ultimately, it was stopped.
Unfortunately, the Central Artery, which had already been built as an elevated freeway through the city, now did not have the bypasses it was originally designed to have. This brought more traffic snarls to an already congested city. The solution was to rebuild the artery underground. It was called "The Big Dig". Now, signed as Interstate 93, it runs under Central Boston.
That's a very interesting history lesson, Rocky. Thanks.
Development of train systems here is slowed down because of incompetence, red tape, allegations of corruption, and what some call the violence and disdain of the ruling classes towards everybody else.
In 2004, the morning after Dubya Bush was re-elected, I was driving to work, feeling miserable, and then the radio played Crowded House's "Don't Dream It's Over." That made me feel better.
I really liked Glee into the fifth seaon when they dragged out the previous academic year and then left McKinley High altogether. It wasn't the same show when it was about a bunch of college-age kids in New York. It should have stayed in Ohio and featured the new kids, in my opinion.
Grant Gustin, who plays Barry on the new Flash series, played Sebastian on Glee, a gay member of the Warblers, a rival glee club. He rather memorably referred to Blaine as "sex on a stick."
I always had a tough time against Giovanni, back when I almost exclusively relied on my Pikachu. Certainly taught me a good lesson about balance and teamwork.
In the LMB Universe, Rockhopper Lad's first love interest was Blaine Fey, known as Openly Gay Lad (originally Closeted Boy). He later had a short relationship with Lard Lad. Currently, he is seeing Jorj Zeddle, the Durlan ambassador to Legion World.
I agree there were fumbles, especially towards the end, although as much as I adore Legion of the Damned, Legion Lost, and Legion Worlds, I think the rot was already setting in as early as the Ra's al Ghul reveal.
Ra's hypertaxis plot was anti climacic. COMPUTO was worse. The Sensor mutation story was so poorly executed I wished it never happened, and failing to restore Kinetix annoyed me. Dream Crime was okay but Foundations was just terrible.
The weird thing is that most of my favorite Legionnaires weren't involved in the DnA era that heavily or at all
Cosmic Boy - still leader of the team Element Lad- dead Sun Boy - never a Legionnaire Colossal Boy - dead Lightning Lad - didn't return until late in the DnA run
I can see where your coming from, BraJa, but I think it should count for something that Garth is the one who makes the ultimate sacrifice to save the universe at the end of Legion Lost.
I can see where your coming from, BraJa, but I think it should count for something that Garth is the one who makes the ultimate sacrifice to save the universe at the end of Legion Lost.
I agree, Fanfie. The final lines of Legion Lost still bring a tear to my eyes:
"Because we weren't lost at all were we? Not where it counted. Inside"
As far as Top 3 goes, Legion Lost is definitely in my top 3.
Interestingly, many of my top 3 favorite Legionnaires mostly got shafted by DNA. Kinetix was terrorformed, poor Gates was kept in captivity for a year and then barely used, and Apparition got saddled with Cub. Violet was also rarely used.
Several of my favorites only became favorites because of DNA, though. Kid Quantum II, Chameleon, Wildfire, Umbra, Shikari, and the best example, Monstress. Even though they killed her off, they made her a very sympathetic character. And while her death was horrifying, they somehow made it count - she galvanized the rest of the team into action, and her death showed what a caring heart she had.
Other Legionnaires were already favorites, and I think DNA did okay with them. XS got a starring role in Damned; Saturn Girl, and Brainiac 5 were both in Lost and had some good moments afterwards.
Live Wire is an interesting case. I agree with Fanfie here -
Originally Posted by Fanfic Lady
I can see where your coming from, BraJa, but I think it should count for something that Garth is the one who makes the ultimate sacrifice to save the universe at the end of Legion Lost.
though he "died", his death was extremely well-done and was respectful to the character. His treatment upon his return was atrocious for such a big hero. I cheered when he was restored in Legion of 3 Worlds; finally, he gets a happy ending.
I'm ok with most versions of Jo, but found the Preboot versions boring. And I really wanted to punch the Threeboot one.I didn't like how the Postboot one pretty much two-timed Tinya and Sussa for a time, and how he was a jerk to Timber Wolf under DNA.
"Cocky" is very hard to get right, for me. Wildfire can also be described as "cocky". When "cocky" is baked up by intelligence, a knowledge of one's limits, and good teamwork, it is fine. But when "cocky" manifests itself as stupidity, extreme arrogance and macho posturing (I'm looking at you Threeboot Jo!!)... No thanks.
I wish it had been Threeboot Ultra Boy who had been offed in 3 Worlds instead of Dirk or Jan.
With the exception of Bouncing Boy, just about all the male Legionnaires have always been portrayed as muscular, but Jo was almost always portrayed as having one of the most heavily-muscled frames. That was always fine by me.
Under Coipel's pens, Jo, Mon, Thom and Cos were much more heavily muscled than Lyle, Garth, Brainy, Cham, Jan. I thought that was very realistic.
Maybe another reason I never took much to Jo, Thom or Mon is because I prefer lean and toned body types. In the Postboot, I found Garth to be the most attractive
I never thought much about who would make the best boyfriend of the lot, but then I was always fairly clueless in that area.
That reminds me of a girl I met in college who gave me offered to give me her phone number. I took it to be polite. I had absolutely no idea that it was because she was interested in me that way till I happened to think of it many years later. That's how clueless I was about dating and the like. I wasn't out yet, but apparently, she didn't know the wrong tree when she was barking up it.
I used to be very awkward about dating. I could read situations well, but I was terrible about how to react to them. I knew when girls (and guys!) were interested, but I didn't always handle it properly.
In the early 80s TV cartoon Thundarr the Barbarian, one of Thundarr's catchphrases was "Demon Dogs!", which he'd intone whenever he was shocked by something.
I agree with EDE. I think that what Thundarr lacked in quality of animation and voice acting, it more than made up for in quality of production design and writing. I'd say it holds up much better than other fantasy cartoons of its time, including both She-Ra and He-Man. Maybe even ThunderCats.
The creators of Scooby-Doo, Joe Ruby & Ken Spears, were Hanna-Barbera's go-to writers for several years. Then they formed their own studio, Ruby-Spears, and did many cartoon series for about a decade before DiC's business practices nearly destroyed the American animation market. Some Ruby-Spears series were better than others, but one of them was the aforementioned Thundarr. Another was the underrated Centurions.
I like Jem! a lot, especially the voice acting, but I think Christy Marx's greatest 80s achievements were the scripts she wrote for Spider-Man, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, and G.I. Joe.
I always wanted Firestar to do well, and thought she was underused. I do recall her as being a bit naive in her New Mutants appearances. She didn't do a huge amount when on the Avengers either. I was hoping she'd really push on form that.
He did a terrible job, in my opinion. And I think his lineup was too familiar for most of his run, mainly because Perez was particular about which characters he wanted to draw.
It wasn't that Perez found them easier to draw, it's that most of them were characters he had drawn during his first Avengers run in the 70s. It all felt very elitist to me, and is one of the many reasons I hate the Busiek/Perez Avengers run.
This reminds me of the Threeboot. It annoyed me that all the characters were Adventure-Era stalwarts. As if later-era characters weren't good enough to be part of this version of the team.
This may very much be a familiarity thing with the Avengers book. But if I had to pick an Avengers team, the Busiek/Perez one wouldn't be a million miles off what I'd have gone for. There's enough coming and going within the book to switch a few back and forth. Which they did a bit of themselves.
Yes, it's a big gun elite, and it doesn't necessarily pick up on many of the nuances and heritage over the years. Yes, it's a Morrison JLA style line up of big guns. There are undoubtedly just as many reasons why it's a pain for a lot of Avengers readers as seeing the big 7 again was a pain for a lot of JLA readers.
Agreed. The Big 7 need to be there to some degree (not necessarily all at the same time), but others can be a part too. But a JL without enough classic members just isn't the same (especially with too many new characters at once. JLDetroit, I'm looking at you).
The Avengers and the JLA are very different animals in my opinion.
When the JLA was created, four of the members had been around for 20-25 years, two were legacy heroes, and only one was a recent creation. Later joiners, as much as they may have been liked better than the Big 7, were always seen as secondary members, something underscored by the founders-vs.-newbies battle in JLA #200, which may be the best JLA issue ever published. That's why I think stuff like JLDetroit and JLI never quite gelled.
When the Avengers was created, none of the members had been around for even two years! Captain America didn't come back and join the team until issue #4! Then, in a bold stroke, the lineup was revamped as early as issue #16, with no founders remaining. The team was constantly reshuffled for the next three decades, before the reactionary soft reboot. That's why I think the Avengers works best as a fluid, amorphous entity that's bigger than any particular members.
Historically the "Big 7" were a pretty arbitrary group. DC really just threw together all the super-heroes they happened to be publishing in 1960, less Green Arrow who they apparently forgot about. If history had been just a little bit different, it's easy to imagine Robotman having ended up a founding member rather than Martian Manhunter, for example.
Yeah, but all except for J'onn were icons, either because of their longevity or the legacies they were carrying on.
The only icon in the Avengers was Captain America, until recently, when the Marvel movies cemented Iron Man, Black Widow, and Thor into icons. That's part of the reason Hawkeye came off the worst in the first Avengers movie.
The Hulk has some iconic status due to the old TV show, but he'd have been a flash in the pan if not for Peter David saving his book from cancellation in the late 80s and then much later by the casting of Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk in the Avengers movie.
I wouldn't say that Aquaman had any particular iconic status. As far as I can tell, his series was pretty much kept alive because he was created by Mort Weisinger. Any iconic status he has is largely because of his inclusion in the JLA and then (as a result) the Super Friends, rather than the other way around.
Similarly, I think a case can be made that Hawkman or Atom were roughly as iconic as Green Lantern.
Oddly enough, Aquaman, like the Hulk, was saved from oblivion by Peter David.
I disagree about Hawkman and Atom being roughly as iconic as Green Lantern. The Silver Age Atom's main precursor was not the Golden Age Atom, but rather Doll Man, who is best remembered for being beautifully drawn by Lou Fine, not for any particularly memorable stories. The Golden Age Hawkman was a bit too esoteric to be iconic, and the Silver Age Hawkman was a space-cop with wings; any iconography they have lies, in my opinion, in the wish-fulfillment aspect of their ability to fly. Whereas Green Lantern, in both the Golden Age and Silver Age versions, is the ultimate wish-fulfillment character, possessing a ring that can do (almost) anything, limited only by contrived and rather unimaginative weaknesses to either wood or the color yellow.
Green Lantern had certainly been more prominent in the Golden Age. Alan had his own title, which only five JSAers did, and that includes Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.
Yeah, I definitely think it's fair to say the "Big Five" of the Golden Age were Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern. And GL's golden age popularity was part of what explains why he was the second character to receive a Silver Age reboot. But I'm still not convinced that, had the JLA been put together a year earlier, he'd be thought of today as significantly more important character to the DCU than any of a number of other Golden Age characters that were rebooted for the Silver Age.
This makes me think of something Rocky made me aware of a couple years ago:
When the Post-Crisis JSA got its issue of Secret Origins, it was pretty much a straight retelling of the classic Paul Levitz/Joe Staton JSA origin special, except for one thing: with no Earth-2 Superman Post-Crisis, it was Alan Scott who got the most iconic scene in the story: smashing through a German aircraft at just the right time to save the day.
I actually read the retelling years before I read the original. In many ways, I liked the revised telling better. Having two fewer characters made the story tighter. Batman's part really was just left out completely. I also liked that the Valkyries were dressed like Valkyries and not refugees from a bad '70s porno.
I think even today, some readers would see Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash and Green Lantern as a "Big Five" within the "Big Seven".
If there are any readers just now coming in, they might even see Hawkgirl (because of the JLU Toon), Cyborg (because of Flashpoint), or Aquaman and Martian Manhunter as equally iconic.
"An icon (from Greek "image") is generally a flat panel painting depicting Jesus, Mary, Saints and Angels, which is venerated among Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and in certain Eastern Catholic Churches.
Comparable images from Western Christianity are generally not described as "icons", although "iconic" may be used to describe a static style of devotional image." --Wikipedia
I know there have been discussions on the use of icons in religion. Some feel that it encourages worship of the icon itself, but others say there's no issue as long as people are clear that the icon is only meant as a symbol.
There has been a resurgence of use of icons in the Western Church in the last 20 years or so. Many Episcopal parishes, for example, have Eastern-style icons in their buildings.
And just like that, we go from comics to religion by way of porn.
The early 70s song "Roundabout" was the biggest hit single for the progressive rock band Yes until the early 80s, when they topped it with "Owner of a Lonely Heart".
Jim Steinman, who wrote and produced "Total Eclipse of the Heart", also gave us other 80s chestnuts such as "Holding Out For a Hero" (also sung by Bonnie Tyler) and "Making Love Out of Nothing At All" (sung by Air Supply).
"Holding Out For a Hero" was used as a theme song for the TV show "Cover Up", best remembered for the death of its original lead actor, Jon Erik Hexum, who accidentally killed himself playing Russian Roulette with blanks. The series was created by Glan Larson of original BSG fame.
Glen A. Larson also created the IMO underrated "The Highwayman", with a great kitsch cast: failed Flash Gordon Sam J. Jones, Aussie flash-in-the-pan Jacko, and "V" arch-villainess Jane Badler. The 2-hour pilot was terrible, and had little to do with the excellent series that followed; I would go so far as to say that the pilot was probably what kept people from watching the series and led to its early cancellation.
I wish it would be released on DVD. It could easily be fit onto 2 discs. YouTube has nothing but a few short clips.
So I'm looking for a comic and I come across Avengers #1 by Busiek & Perez. There are forty odd heroes on the inside cover. Yet a selection committee gets to pick the worthy on the team, and determine that a certain number of founders being on it is always a good idea.
So, just giving Fickles a for mentioning the elitist thing on page #31. It was annoying when the JLA did it, and I see it's just as annoying here.
If we're talking selections, I read that the original plan for resolving the adult Legion vs. Sw6 Legion plot was that the youngsters would' be revealed as the real team; then the adult and Sw6 teams would be involved in some gigantic battle against some big bad guys with lots of random deaths. The deaths would be selected by pulling names from a hat.
So I'm looking for a comic and I come across Avengers #1 by Busiek & Perez. There are forty odd heroes on the inside cover. Yet a selection committee gets to pick the worthy on the team, and determine that a certain number of founders being on it is always a good idea.
So, just giving Fickles a for mentioning the elitist thing on page #31. It was annoying when the JLA did it, and I see it's just as annoying here.
Thanks, Thoth. I feel vindicated that history is being so unkind to that run.
Originally Posted by Invisible Brainiac
If we're talking selections, I read that the original plan for resolving the adult Legion vs. Sw6 Legion plot was that the youngsters would' be revealed as the real team; then the adult and Sw6 teams would be involved in some gigantic battle against some big bad guys with lots of random deaths. The deaths would be selected by pulling names from a hat.
I'm glad they didn't go through with that ridiculous plan.
I have never read an Avengers comic. Actually, I have only ever read a handful of Marvel comics ever. At about age eight, I decided I was a DC fan and always felt I'd be disloyal if I read a Marvel. Thirty-seven years later, here I am.
I'm of two minds about going back to pre-COIE continuity. Some of my favorite stories grew out of the world where the JSA and JLA coexisted. There were also some aspects of the pre-Crisis Earth-Two (such as Québec being an independent country) that just seem unnecessary.
It is hard to weigh the pros and cons. If we went all the way back to Pre-CoIE, we'd lose a lot of Post-CoIE stuff I liked, such as Young Justice, Angel Supergirl, and Wally Flash.
As much as I love pre-COIE DC, going back would mean we lose a lot of great stuff (Wally West as the Flash, DnA Legion, Young Justice, etc.). DC just needs to go back to the pre-Flashpoint DCU and make do with what they had. Yes DC, you fucked up big time with stuff like Identity Crisis and Cry for Justice, but now you need to move past that and give us good stuff again. Take the bad with the good and make the universe a better place again.
Oh goodie! A Fanfie story about Pre-Crisis and Post-Crisis Earths existing!
I'm all for rewinding and pretending Flashpoint never existed
Originally Posted by Rockhopper Lad
I have never read an Avengers comic. Actually, I have only ever read a handful of Marvel comics ever. At about age eight, I decided I was a DC fan and always felt I'd be disloyal if I read a Marvel. Thirty-seven years later, here I am.
Like Rocky, I decided from an early age that I preferred the more hopeful and upbeat DC Universe. Although modern comics don't stay true to the old DC, at least I have my memories
Actually, there have been ample rumors/hints that DC will be bringing back pre-Flashpoint DCU in some capacity, at least. While it's doubtful that it will be reinstated as THE DCU, there's at the very least going to be a major crossover involving it in spring/summer 2015. There's some speculation that there could even be some kind of merge/continuity correction reinstating certain aspects of it into a corrected DCnU. In any case the pre-Flashpoint DCU definitely still exists.
That's good news, Lardy! Although, I'd rather have it back whole and continue from there, rather than have a new merger and continuity shakeup again. Ah well. In any case, I'll keep myself updated on the news.
I don't like to play devil's advocate, but DC has a thirty-year history of botching its attempted continuity fixes, especially when it tries to mix and match bits of different continuities. And with the current regime having proved itself so incompetent in the past decade, I don't see any reason to be optimistic about these possible developments.
Anyway, does the continuity really matter at this point? As long as you've got the current regime in charge at DC, it's probably still not going to producing comics I want to read.
That's another valid warning, EDE. Although I agree with Rocky, it is nice to have just a little bit of hope. Just a little
So, random, I took a sick day today and slept most of the day away. I dreamed that Postboot Legion continuity had changed -
Legion membership was now in this order:
Cosmic Boy, Live Wire, Saturn Girl Apparition, Triad Leviathan, XS, Chameleon, Invisible Kid, Brainiac 5, Spark, Kinetix, Violet Andromeda, Element Lad and Gates
The last three were introduced to the Legion during RJ Brande's birthday party.
RJ Brande had a white dog called Krypto. In Gates' first appearance, he picked up the dog and said, "You ate the cake!" Gates opened his mouth wide, and Triad hit him on the head with a newspaper because she thought he was going to eat Krypto.
And then they got called into battle against some ships firing missiles, and then I woke up.
All kidding aside, I don't dream that much about comic books, but for some reason I have a recurring dream about discovering some great "lost" Mario Bava movie.
Not childhood, but late adolescence. I was a major horror buff in my late teens and early twenties, when I first discovered the movies of Mario Bava and Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci, and the writings of Clive Barker and Stephen King. Heady times, my friend, heady times.
... but for some reason I have a recurring dream about discovering some great "lost" Mario Bava movie.
Yeah, I get that one. But I only discover the cut American version and it's a dream of panic trying to put together the missing pieces for the European edit. It's old school editing too, and sharp objects and this type of movie, well...
It's so different today than it was 20 years ago to search for Italo-Gore movies. Today, we have Bava and Argento DVD boxed sets! Back then, though, one had to scour video store after video store just to find one movie, and, more often than not, it was a butchered version.
I saw a much wider range of movies back then. With everything so accessible it's a lot easier to get depth in specific areas now. That's not often a good thing.
I used to rent films based on the cover, particularly for horror movies. I barely notice the covers now.
Italian horror would have been part of that. I'm thinking of the covers to Demons & Demons II for example Profondo Rosso was definitely picked up by reading good things about it in movie magazines. Hard to do when you don't read far so as not to spoil it for yourself. That was one I was definitely watching out for. Partly so I could read the rest of the articles
Typing of pot luck, some of my (dad indulged) early comic buying was in rummage stores as much as the fairly few comic stores. Old bookstores with little comics sections or antique stores that had picked up comics and had just hidden them away in boxes. Big long boxes of well, who knew what?
I'm still a bit hardwired to go round rummage shops.
The more untidy a store is, the more fun I generally have. But these days, rummage shops have been overtaken by charity organisations that are run like well drilled military operations, and the fun (and variety) isn't really there.
Still, every now and again I'll find somewhere and I'll be completely lost for a few minutes in old boxes of comics and magazines. Usually, much to the amusement of whoever I'm with.
Oh and while I was looking up the cover of demons (again), how you would like to know more about an Argento/ Sandman/ Iggy Pop combo? You would? Then read on here
Among my other Facebook friends is Jimmy Keegan, drummer of Spock's Beard, but also notable for having been a voice actor as a child. Among his roles was Henry Bigg on The Littles, and numerous kids who learned that "knowing is half the battle" on G.I. Joe.
I have had some form of facial hair since I was about 19. I've had a goatee for18 years. I had a full beard a few times, but I like having a goatee better. The only time I've been clean-shaven in that whole period was in 2001, when I did drag for Halloween. Once was enough for that.
Tarantula was one of my favorites from the All-Star Squadron.
Firebrand was my favorite. In fact, one of my favorite scenes from CoIE isn't cosmic or action-packed, it's the scene in the 1940s where she discreetly uses her powers to light a stove, and another woman says to her, "For a rich society gal, you're a good egg."
Same here. It was so well-written and beautifully drawn, it was like a perfect little gem complimenting the big cosmic stuff. It was also one of the things that first got me interested in checking out back issues of All-Star Squadron.
I think at the time the All-Star Squadron title was published, it was very much thought of as the Earth-Two version of the Legion. It had a large membership and its adventures were set in a different era.
It only happened a few times during the run of the series, but I loved it when the entire membership of the squadron would be present. It was great to see all those obscure characters together.
I especially liked the group photo in All-Star Squadron #60, which had all the Squadron members together with the Golden Age versions of Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Robin, and (in his only appearance) Aquaman front and center. Later in the issue, when the effects of the Crisis "set in", the same photo appeared with the Freedom Fighters front and center. Interestingly, Green Arrow and Speedy were in both pictures. Their retcon out of existence hadn't been decided yet.
In one letter column or another, Roy Thomas said that deletion of GA and Speedy from 1940s continuity came later. It was firmly in place by the time he started Young All-Stars.
In COIE, the Earth-2 Green Arrow was shown as not being remembered by the world at large. The headlines reporting his death had "Green Arrow" in quotation marks.
I always thought they should've just combined them into one character, with a career in both the Golden and Modern Age. After all, the Golden Age GA and Speedy had time traveled and emerged decades in the future anyway. It wouldn't take that much fudging to say that the rescue of the Seven Soldiers occurred much earlier in JLA history.
That's great thinking, Eryk! I guess they thought the two Green Arrows were just too different (no goatee or attitude on the Earth-Two GA). Still, I like it.
I find it interesting how Green Arrow has changed so much over the years since the Golden Age. What other DC character outside of the Trinity holds such a distinction?
Other than Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, only Aquaman and Green Arrow were published from the Golden Age till the Silver Age, so I guess they would be the only ones who would qualify.
The Hawks were out of publication for over a decade. The Silver Age Hawks looked a lot like the Golden Age Hawks, but they had a completely different origin.
It always seems weird to me that there was only five years between the last Golden Age appearance of the Flash and the the debut of the Silver Age Flash.
Maybe even stranger is the fact that Johnny Quick was still being published in 1954, only two years before Barry Allen.
The Boyfriend and I sang that at karaoke once. I sang Chris (the guy) and he sang Kim--mostly because Chris has a bigger part and I'm the better singer. I'm a tenor and can hit high notes pretty well, but that song is pretty darn high!
One bit from Mystery Science Theatre 3000 that sticks in my mind is when the evil mad scientists invent the karaoke machine that only plays public domain songs ("The immortal 'Baa Baa Black Sheep'") and they test it with a hideously off-key version of "Ave Maria".
They also precede the revelation of their invention with this priceless exchange:
DR. FORRESTER: Now, Frank, what happens when you go to a karaoke bar and request "I Wanna Know What Love Is" by Foreigner?
Baa Baa Black Sheep was a 1970s series starring Robert Conrad, famous for being shirtless in his two earlier series Hawaiian Eye and The Wild Wild West.
I remember Baa Baa Black Sheep. It was retitled The Black Sheep Squadron in its second series. It was a fictionalized account of a real WWII squadron led by Major Gregory "Pappy" Boyington.
Robert was an early example of TV beefcake. Between his body type and the frequency he showed it in his earlier series, it was very much a harbinger of what was to come. It's a shame he apparently turned out to be a total jerkwad.
One of my cousins worked for a talent agency in the late 80s. Robert Conrad was one of their clients. She said he would pull pranks like telephoning the agency pretending to be the notoriously difficult Raymond Burr, who was also one of their clients.
Raymond Burr played Chief of Detectives Ed Backstrand on the Dragnet radio series and the original tv series.
The early episodes of Dragnet overlap in time with another Jack Webb/Raymond Burr radio series, Pat Novak for Hire. In it Webb stars as a boat owner in San Francisco who does odd jobs that usually end up involving a murder that Novak promptly gets blamed for and then has to solve before Burr's Inspector Hellman arrests him for it.
It's an interesting experience listening to Dragnet after listening to a lot of Pat Novak, however, as every time Sgt. Friday gets called into the Chief's office, you expect the Chief to start accusing him of whatever crime they are dealing with that week!
Wally Burr (no relation to Raymond) was one of the greatest voice directors in the history of animation.
He started at Hanna-Barbera in the early-mid 70s with the first season of Super-Friends, a show he would voice-direct off and on until the third-to-last season. In between, he also voice-directed above-average Hanna-Barbera series like Dynomutt, Captain Caveman, and Drak Pack.
In the early 80s, he started freelancing. The 1981 syndicated Spider-Man series was his first work outside of Hanna-Barbera. After 1982, he wouldn't work for Hanna-Barbera again because he had a falling-out with Joe Barbera. I don't know the specifics, but knowing Burr's perfectionism, I think it's likely that he tested the more expedient Barbera's patience one too many time.
The mid-80s was the Golden Age of Wally Burr voice-directed series: Transformers, G.I. Joe, Jem, Visionaries, among others. But once again his perfectionism did little to endear him to a lot of producers and voice actors. Maurice LaMarche (later The Brain) accused him of trying to get voice actors to parrot him. The Voice Actors Guild went so far as to limit the schedules for recording sessions so there wouldn't be overruns of the kind that Burr was responsible for.
I would argue that it was all worth it, and that the series Burr oversaw the voices for had some of the best voice acting of all time.
Meister Eckhart was an important medieval mystic and theologian, whose work was perhaps the highest development of negative theology during the Middle Ages.
In one of my attempts to speak Spanish, I referred to a gold-colored car as "oro". The people looked puzzled and then one man, realizing what I meant said "dorado".
Potted Potter made an interesting comment on the use Of the golden snitch in Quidditch. The snitch gives so many points that it does make the rest of the game relatively pointless.
El Dorado had a sizable role in my favorite Super Friends episode, "Darkseid's Golden Trap".
As I've said before, this is one of my favorite episodes as well. I always want to quote the "One bleen." line, but always figure no one will get what I'm talking about.
El Dorado had a sizable role in my favorite Super Friends episode, "Darkseid's Golden Trap".
As I've said before, this is one of my favorite episodes as well. I always want to quote the "One bleen." line, but always figure no one will get what I'm talking about.
LOL Thank God for places like Legion World, where we can share all this stuff, right?
Another one I really like is "The Royal Ruse", with the alien princess who's not quite what she seems. That's one of the few Super Friends episodes where the plot twist caught me completely off-guard.
Yeah, unfortunately, the grown-ups in charge of programming Saturday mornings have always seemed to think that kids want what's safe, predictable, and repetitive. Nothing could be further from the truth!
Super Friends had a slow start with the Wendy and Marvin season. It really didn't come into its own till Hanna-Barbera produced a second season four years later. Zan and Jayna may not have been the greatest super-heroes ever, but after Wendy and Marvin, our expectations were already low. Seriously, the Wonder Twins, along with better stories, more convincing villains, and "guest" heroes made the second season the one that set the tone for the rest of the series. It may not have been the best season, but without it, the other seasons would never have happened.
According to Wikipedia, Zan and Jayna were created by Super Friends writer Norman Maurer, who was Moe Howard's son-in-law, a good friend of Joe Kubert, and the father of Challenge of the Super Friends writer Jeffrey Scott (born Jeffrey Scott Maurer.)
I do like the backgrounds that Bridwell established for Marvin and Wendy, with Marvin being the son of the real Diana Prince and Wendy being the daughter of one of Batman's mentors.
That was very clever. He also proposed that Wendy was the Earth-One version of Wendi Harris Tyler, wife of Rex (Hourman I) and, as we learn later, mother of Rick (Hourman II).
I wish DC would hurry up and reprint the rest of the Bridwell/Fradon Super Friends stories so I can finally read the debut and origin of the Pre-Crisis Beatriz in its entirety.
Yeah, the same Beatriz. I think it was the Global Guardians thread in Gym'll's. Also I think EDE posted some pages of her Pre-Crisis origin. I'll go do a search and bump it up if I find it.
I remember she worked for/ran a Brazilian subsidiary of Wayne Enterprises. And in the SF comic, as I recall, Bats acted quite out-of-character and revealed his ID to her pretty early on.
When I first read the Legion in the late '70s, they were young adults, many of whom were wearing outfits showed lots of skin. I always said that Cosmic Boy's bustier costume helped me discover that I was gay.
I'm sure that didn't even register. It does, though, remind me of when a friend asked me what it was about women that I wasn't attracted to. I could only reply "they're not men."
Speaking of gay relationships, I met a bunch of gay Chinese-Malaysians while traveling. Their situations are much the same as those of many gay Chinese-Filipinos (and indeed of many gay Filipinos in general). Communities are small and tight-knit and familial pressure is plentiful, hence the need for discretion. The guys I met are not out at all except to a small circle of friends.
What's tough for me is that I can't openly celebrate my relationship with Blaze. And of course, dodging questions about my relationship status, why I'm often unavailable for gatherings, my plans etc. Other than that, I don't really have to act differently. My words, actions, look and style of dress are generally compatible with society's limited perception of how a straight man should be.
The world is changing. Ten years ago, only one US state, Massachusetts, recognized same-sex marriage. It's now available in 32 states, with more expected soon. It's even legal in places like Idaho and Utah (though, alas, mot yet in Texas). Marriage equality is not the only issue that affects LGBT people by a long shot, but it's certainly an important one.
One of the comments I used to make about the Florida town where I lived as a teenager was that the only culture was in the yogurt case at the Winn-Dixie.
The backpacker I met also commented that American culture is self-contained, in the sense that most Americans consume American shows and products and songs. Contrast with Southeast Asia, where people tend to watch shows from Korea, learn to cook dishes from Japan, study English or European languages...
But I told him that in my opinion, Americans ate becoming more open-mined about the world now. Certainly, the fine folk here on LW prove my point
Physically, the United States in fairly isolated, with land borders only with Canada (whose dominant culture is very similar to U.S. culture) and Mexico (whose culture is familiar to most U.S. folks on at least some level). Add to that the American ideals of "rugged individualism" (blecch!) and (worse yet) American exceptionalism and you get a very inward-looking nation.
Individualism is in stark contrast to the importance of community in most Asian nations. Extended families live close together; inheritance is very important and children are expected to continue the family line and name. And Asians very much care what other people in the community think about them. This "saving face" often leads one to do impractical things like throw extravagant feasts during festivals just so you fit in and contribute.
One of the great things about the Internet is that is has facilitated communication among people in different parts of the world so they can learn from one another. Americans certainly can get a dose of the importance of community and mutual dependence over the idealized "lone cowboy".
At the same time, Asians can learn that duty to family must not necessarily always be put ahead of duty to oneself. I know more and more peers who are fighting familial pressure to take over the family business or go into "safe" and approved fields like business or engineering. Many are starting their own businesses or working abroad for experience.
It seems like there needs to be a balance. It's also important to remember that there is no "one size fits all" model. Some people are by nature loners while other people have much more of a need for integration into a broader community. I don't think there's anything wrong with either way, except when it get set up as an ideal for everyone to follow.
I like that in most of the world, the game American call "soccer" is called "football". American football involves relatively little foot-to-ball contact. I also find American football incredibly tedious.
I do like seeing my non-American footy. Whether it's out in some fresh air, supporting a local club or meeting up with friends for some further afield matches. It's a combination of the event, the social side and the tactics and variables in any game.
I did see the padded shouldered American version in highlights packages when I was younger. A full game can be pretty dull. Particularly the end, when the clock can run down, where in Soccer every last second counts.
My college had a large number of local frats and sororities. During my senior year, they all had to affiliate with national organizations.
I was on the editorial board of the college newspaper that year. Three-fifths of the editorial board approved an editorial calling for the end of Greek-letter organizations altogether. I was one of the two dissenters. I said it would be "throwing out the baby with the bath water."
They asked the board to meet with the frat and sorority members to discuss it. Two of the three editors who voted for it chickened out, so only one person who voted for the editorial to run was present to face a mob of angry frat boys with us two dissenters.
The swing vote was this guy who was going to pledge a frat and then decided no to, so he decided after our initial conversation that he would vote for the editorial. He was kind of flighty.
Loretta Lynn used to do commercials for Crisco vegetable shortening ("Crisco'll do you proud every time!"). Most of them mention that using Crisco in one's pie crust will make it flaky. Since then, I'll describe a flaky person as "flaky as a Crisco crust" or "flaky as Loretta Lynn's pie crust".
My grandmother was a great cook, but when she made apple pie, the crust was always soggy. My mother has always made a good pie crust, but my dad always preferred his mother's soggy version.
The computer keyboard used in France is slightly different from the one used in English-speaking countries. Among other things, the Q and the A are reversed. I was an in internet café once e-mailing my friend about what a great time I was having in Pqris.
Daddies don't overrule mommies. When I was a kid, if my mother said "go ask your father", he'd say "go ask your mother." They don't overrule. They just cancel each other out.
It's one almighty cluster-paradox. That's where the Gods that dwell beyond space and time come in. They're not out there because they're dark or evil. They're out there because they hate the clutter. And nothing causes clutter like a paradox.
So they possess agents to rectify the problem before it occurs, putting everything back where it was. As one of their agents, I'd just like to take the opportunity to say..quit doing it EDE!
The 1953 movie Calamity Jane starring Doris Day featured the song "Secret Love". The 1995 documentary The Celluloid Closet had the same song, sung by K.D. Lang (whose name, by the way, I refuse to write in all lower-case letters, but that's an issue for a different post), sung over the closing credits.
Have you ever seen A penguin come to tea? When you look at me A penguin you will see! PENGUINS ATTENTION! PENGUINS BEGIN!
In between each chorus, add one of the following by calling out the following commands with actions. Each time you call out a new command, you add it to the existing motions.
Right Flipper (Flap right arm) Left Flipper (Flap left arm) Right Foot (Kick right foot) Left Foot (Kick left foot) Bob your head (bob your head...) Turn in a circle (turn in a circle) Stick out your tongue (stick out your tongue and sing song)
At the end... it's PENGUINS ATTENTION! PENGUINS DISMISSED!
When I was in elementary school, I had to bring four different sheets of pad papers. The one whole, the one-half crosswise, the one-half lengthwise, and the one-fourth.
You were lucky! When I were a lad, we had to bring in 10 different formats. All on giant slate tablets that we had to spend all night chipping out from the quarry face, and then spend the early hours drawing lines on with chalk. Only then could we dare show our faces at school, which was also a mine where we 6 year olds multitaksed, learning and mining on our 26 hour a day shift, with only the gas deranged mining canary as our teacher. Now, that was an educahshun.
I do love sushi. It's funny how when I was a kid (in real life this time. ), it was thought of as so exotic and such a novelty. Now, it's just something to have for a dinner out.
Having said that, I'm glad I have done the traveling I have. I've been to 29 of the 50 US states (plus the District of Columbia) and five other countries.
I don't know if I'd say I'm addicted. I don't get to do it enough to be addicted. The country I have already visited to which I would most like to make a return trip is the UK. There are so many places I've read about since I was a child that I would like to see in person.
I would say travel is addictive because I can never seem to get enough. As soon as I return home from a trip, I start planning the next one. It may be months away, but I still plan.
Alas, the realities of travel... The high costs of airfare are what keep me in Asia, too.
And so are the hassles of applying for visas. To get a visa to France, for example, I will need to allot one vacation leave day just to visit the embassy.
I've never really cared for traveling or vacations. To me, the ideal way to relax during a break is just sleep in late and see where my days go from there. The lack of plans or structure is perfect for me.
I've never really cared for traveling or vacations. To me, the ideal way to relax during a break is just sleep in late and see where my days go from there. The lack of plans or structure is perfect for me.
Solo, Indonesia is also known as Surakarta. It is said to be one of the bastions of traditional Indonesian culture, although Yogyakarta is much more well-known. The latter city is very near the magnificent temples (and UNESCO World Heritage sites) of Borobudur and Prambanan.
Marilyn Munster was my favorite character on The Munsters, because she was so unlike the rest of the family, she was like the black sheep (or should that be white sheep?)
I was reading that originally Marilyn's surname was to be Mundane. It's established that she is actually Lily's niece, so, unless Lily's sister also married someone named Munster, it make no sense for her name to be Marilyn Munster, but she is consistently called that.
I suppose since Herman was adopted, it might make sense if the "plainness" of Marilyn was explained by her mother marrying into the same (presumably non-monstrous) family that adopted Herman.
In an early Facts of Life episodes, one of the girls tries pot, gets stoned and writes a book report on Moby Dick saying that Moby wasn't a whale, but rather a giant marshmallow sundae.
My cousin shared what seemed like a fake article. A dad caught his son with ecstasy, and force-fed him the whole back. The son almost died, but the dad was not remorseful at all. I call BS on that.
I think dealing openly with drug abuse is one of the marks of the transition from the Silver Age of comics to the Bronze Age. In 1969, Brin's addiction is to "lotus fruit", a fictional fruit with a name that is a reference to The Odyssey. Just two years later, Roy Harper is caught shooting heroin.
The border between the Silver Age and the Bronze is probably the most debated. At least for DC, the Golden Age is usually from Action #1 (first appearance of Superman) to All-Star #57 (last appearance of the JSA). Showcase #4 (first appearance of Barry Allen) is almost always cited as the start of the Silver Age. The Crisis on Infinite Earths is the end of the Bronze age and the beginning of whatever comes after it.
I think dealing openly with drug abuse is one of the marks of the transition from the Silver Age of comics to the Bronze Age...
There were pre code comics that mentioned drugs. If anything the code got in the way.
{quote=Rockhopper Lad...a book report on Moby Dick saying that Moby wasn't a whale, but rather a giant marshmallow sundae.[/quote]
"Call me Ishmael," is supposed to be one of the best openings. But my edition had several pages explaining whaling before that. I think they were by Melville too. Don;t talk to me about prefaces. They be opening lines they be, ahaaaaarrrrgh!
The border between the Silver Age and the Bronze is probably the most debated. At least for DC, the Golden Age is usually from Action #1 (first appearance of Superman) to All-Star #57 (last appearance of the JSA). Showcase #4 (first appearance of Barry Allen) is almost always cited as the start of the Silver Age. The Crisis on Infinite Earths is the end of the Bronze age and the beginning of whatever comes after it.
I personally consider the end of the Bronze Age to be the launch of New Teen Titans, the first Marvel-challenging success that DC had had in many years (and, tellingly, from a creative team made up of ex-Marvel creators.)
They did seem less cohesive in terms of camaraderie. In End of an Era, the Time Trapper said the peak of the team's camaraderie was just before Ferro Lad's death. I tend to agree.
There's no rule against asking questions in this thread; however, since the alleged point of each post in this thread is to be the last, asking a question does reduce the chances of that post killing the thread.
There's the traditional Russian way of stabbing the thread with a polonium filled umbrella. The trouble is that, this being a comics forum, there's every chance the thread would instead grow, mutating to take over the internet.
But what does it say about us, if the thread isn't killed?
That we followed the Legion code to the letter, by not killing it (while subsequently starving to death because Ral Benem said plants have feelings too)?
Or that when given a mission to kill the thread, we let personal attempts to be the thread killer get in the way of ensuring that it was actually done? Do we want to be like one of those comics where the heroes get in each other's way? Do we want to me ...The Avengers or the bwah ha ha Justice League!
Surely not, for we are Legion! I'm not going to say that we should honor that and stop the thread right here, only to get an agree/disagree post. Instead, I say we get within a certain number of posts from the finish line and nominate a thread killer. It would be based on their contributions to the thread. Years from now, people will look back on the list of mighty Thread Killers, and know they had the respect of their peers as well as keeping LW safe from Threads That Would Destroy Us All!
So, take a couple of days to think the post over and get back to me by PM.
Yeah, my inner slothness couldn't be bothered to check it out
Now, I'm too worried about what the Oval is to check. I'm sure it's not cricket...
Besides, just because you're already a Thread Killer, doesn't mean that other can't come along, utterly devalue it and set up a new tradition. What could possibly be the problem there?
I'll need to have a peek at those threads. It's a big bit of LW history that I've not spent much time with.
Mind you, the first line I saw was "Cobalt was the children's Godfather ...". Now, I'm sorry but I just don't agree with involving children in organised crime.
Thothy, you wouldn't believe the oddness that used to happen here. I came along toward the end of that time. They refer to me and the folks who joined about the same time (particularly Fanfie, Cali, Tamper, Joeboy and me) as the "All-New, All-Different LMB".
I was younger when I joined than you were. Plus, Cobie once said that being the Youngest Ever is part of my LMB story so there's some comic book magic going on to keep me the youngest
If I didn't know better, I would say that Rocky is the only one who does not want this thread to die!
Mind you with nuggets like ....
Originally Posted by Rockhopper Lad
They refer to me and the folks who joined about the same time (particularly Fanfie, Cali, Tamper, Joeboy and me) as the "All-New, All-Different LMB".
... I'm not terribly bothered. That's really nifty keen.
Although it's clear that Rocky wants to hoard Thread Killer status as much as possible and not let others get it. Don;t be terribly surprised if Peter Jackson's ext film about treasure hoarding entities is set at the pole and is penguin shaped.
We need to start working on the LMB Wiki again. A lot of LMBers still don't have articles.
I hadn't been in there since just after I joined. Thanks for that Rocky. After a Pyngwyn Page, the leadership elections page came up. According to that Rocky is current leader. Perhaps that's why he's thread killer. Is it the LW leaders sworn duty to protect the other residents from Threads That Seep Between The Stars?
It would be nice to see those sort of things back. They are lovely traditions to have.
Also, this means that someone has to get Power Boy to post here to kill the thread, as is his right as leader I suggest waiting a day or two to see if he turns up. This post should work fine as a flag, so no need to post while we wait for him.
Hopefully, there's an appetite for a new election. Hmmm. appetite, that tells me it's dinner time...
Since it might be a while before Power Boy returns, someone else will just have to assume that mantle of thread killer on a one off basis. Since I know you guys must be really, really busy, you can divert your time to other threads and not worry about thread killing any longer.
As a Spaceopoly moderator, I volunteer to take on that duty. Thanks, thoth, but I wouldn't want to hassle you. After all, this heinous thread is in the forum where I have guard duty!
The thing I find most amazing about those early Hanna-Barbera cartoons is that almost all the voices were done by only two voice actors: Daws Butler and Don Messick.
Baseball star Yogi Berra sued Hanna-Barbera for defamation in their use of "Yogi Bear". After Berra withdrew his suit, sources reported that he was indeed the inspiration for the name.
Because he's a founder, and founders are panel hogs! It's in the official rules (which are, of course, made to be broken, but tell that to your average hack comic book writer.)
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and 
and :InfiniteMan: all did. Now they're arguing over its definition!
LOL That's a good one, Rocky.
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When the server came back to check on us, I begged him to put it on their regular menu and to not change a thing.
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Sacrilege! There are lots of albums that I can listen to all the way through.![[Linked Image]](http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120321020609/spongebob/images/8/80/Tattletale_Strangler_2.jpg)
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