McDreamy
Sometimes whatever muscle is in my right temple twitches so hard, so suddenly, that I think somebody/something is hitting me, so I flinch. It sucks.
I had some strange dreams yesterday, son. In the first one, I wasn’t with Katy and had never been, and had never been with anyone since high school. I figured I needed to get with somebody quick. I wasn’t gay, but for some reason I decided to propose to a guy at the post office. I bought the ring and everything. I went to go “pop the question” one day when he was on duty, but he had the day off! So I gave serious thought to just asking his co-worker who worked at the register to marry me. Ultimately, neither happened, because I turned around and saw a homeless girl sitting in the parking lot, crying. I decided to help her and took her home and cleaned her up and gave her food, etc. Turned out she was a superhero who had her memory wiped by an arch villian! Who knew!? It was the Black Canary.
Don’t ask me, it was just a dream!
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Subject changes in my blog are indicted by *****. I will try not to change the subject too much.
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When I talk about things in my blog it means I want to talk about them! Especially if you have differing views or opinions. Debate is good!
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The WGA strike is still happening. Apparently the WGA and the AMPTP (the suits) had a negotiation session last week where the AMPTP tried to negotiate that the writers would “continue to recieve nothing for residual internet downloads.” How that’s negotiating, I’m not sure. Anyway, the WGA (rightfully so) said “no, thanks,” and went back on strike.
In the past few weeks, a campaign has started up where people can send pencils to the “media moguls” to show their support for the writers. The idea is that the AMPTP’s offices will get flooded with pencils. Something similar was done after the announced cancellation of the TV show “Jericho,” when fans sent loads of peanuts to the exeutives and convinced them that the show was worth keeping (or at least giving a second chance).
To make it easy, UnitedHollywood.com has set up a PayPal script where, for a dollar, you can buy a 12-pack of pencils and they’ll ship it on your behalf. After they set this up, pencils by the truckload (seriously) were showing up at the AMPTP’s door.
What’s cool about this is that, after the negotiations broke down last week, some show runners started offering incentives for people to buy the pencils. Go here for a list of some of those incentives, including a phone call from Damon Lindelof and Carleton Cuse of Lost, a call from Michael Rosenbaum (Lex Luthor), etc!
I also think I read somewhere that the extra money will go toward a benefit fund for the less-thought-of crew members (like Key Grips) out of work.
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Like, totally whatever.
There is a lot of things that worry me about our society but one of the bigger ones is how we communicate. Without language we’re unable to think, and with poor language we can only think poorly. There are too many people who just don’t understand basic grammar and spelling. I see misspellings on billboards. I get ten emails a day from business students and professors that lack capitalization and punctuation. My own supervisors sign their emails with their names in all lowercase. I don’t get it. But I’m worried that the ease of the internet is causing our language to evolve into something lazy.
Part of our evolving language that needs to stop is the word “like.” During the bus ride to my car yesterday I listened to a conversation between two girls who used the word like 56 times. The bus ride was just under 8 minutes.
‘Like’ can be used in many situations, such as when you are comparing something (it’s like this other thing…) or when you enjoy something (I like steak). It should not be used in the place of “um,” or when you are trying to put emphasis on something you are about to say. I admit that I’ve used it incorrectly just as much as a lot of other people — most of us have — but if we’re not careful it’s only going to get worse.
You know that cloudy feeling in your brain when you’re struggling to put something into words? Maybe if we stopped inadvertently comparing things to things like it, we’d know what it is we’re talking about.
When I was in college I saw it used when students talked to their professors, in an attempt to sound smart by slowing down their speech and over-pronouncing certain words: “I just want to be, like, absolutely sure that I, like, know what it is I’m doing.” Unusually in such a situation the word immediately following ‘like’ is elongated. Example: “I really want to know, like, oooowhat it is I’m supposed to do.” People doing this think they are being articulate. I know this because I’ve done it a few times.
In social situations, I don’t think it’s used as much to articulate as it is to emphasize. “He was really rude,” doesn’t sound as dramatic as, “He was really, like, rude.” Maybe because the ‘like’ implies you aren’t sure if ‘rude’ is the correct word or not, so the person listening to your story imagines something that goes beyond words: this guy was beyond rude, so much so that there are no words for it. He was only like rude.
Sometimes people start their sentences like this: “So like…” and end with “…or whatever.”
When I was a kid people made fun of people who do this and they were called “valley girls.” I’m not sure if that was common knowledge or if that was just on Saved by the Bell, but anyway, now we’re all valley girls. Like, if you count how many times you say it, like, I bet you’ll be surprised. Let’s blame Bush:
To sum up: let’s speak with conviction. It’ll be hard to think about what we want to say before we actually say it, but I know we can do it.
Side note: this is part of “Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk,” which was written by Lost co-creator/producer Damon Lindelof. What you just saw is the first page. Check the rest of that shit out.
Kara Thrace is the Harbinger of Death
I watched the Battlestar Galactica movie over the weekend, and it was pretty good. I wish people took this show more seriously than they do. Stupid title.
Anyway, short post today. I wish I posted more. But my “blog views” actually significantly decreased when I made my profile public. I know there is no way the two are correlated but I still have to shrug and say “it figures.”
Here’s a pretty good video about the writer’s strike (yup, still going on.)
Time for a comic of the day!
This one makes me laugh. I’ll give you a moment to take it all in (click to enlarge):
The fact that Superboy feels the need to sign his handwritten notes is hilarious to me. I read this alone, and I laughed out loud. Later in the comic he writes more notes and signs each one, “Superboy.” Also funny is his apparent inability to notice his lettering is too big so the letters taper in size the further down the poster board he goes. And the fact that it’s on poster board!
Supa-Hiros!
I’ve given up on Heroes a few times this season. But, Katy still turns it on and I inevitably find myself on the couch at least half-paying attention. Last season was only eh, but it had some promise so I had high hopes for this season. But it failed miserably. I stuck with it because the promise was still there, I think.
As the ratings slip and the spin-off gets canceled, it was nice to read that the show’s creator, Tim Kring, knows that his show is broken. In an article in Entertainment Weekly titled “Tim Kring to Fans: I’m Super Sorry,” he listed a few ways he’s going to be fixing the show. Among his plans: pick up the pace. Nothing is happening. Hiro is in Japan this week. Oh, but, wasn’t he in Japan 4 weeks ago? And look, he’s still in Japan next week.
Luckily, that’s another aspect Tim Kring admits was a mistake: Hiro was in Japan way too long. Wrap that shit up. (However, the ending of the Nov. 5th episode, when his childhood hero Takezo Kensai ended up being ~SPOILER ALERT~ the elusive and mysterious head of “the Company,” Adam… now, that was good shit.)
Also, he says he wants more “world saving” (which I agree… I mean, the show is titled Heroes). He also wants to undo the “newbies,” such as Alejandro and Maya (where are they, anyway?) and stop relying on the “young love” of Claire/West and Hiro/Japanese Princess.
All good stuff, and things I’ve been thinking in the back of my mind all along. What’s more: I’d start to make the super-powers a public phenomenon, something that is recognized by the media. Season 2 should focus on where these powers are coming from and the potential threat to humanity. Also, more should be at risk. I can’t help but feel like I’m watching a soap opera half the time.
They could take an idea from Lost in regards to Alejandro and Maya, at least: when Niki and Paolo were the two new hated characters in Season 3 of Lost, the writers gave them their own kick ass episode where they were killed at the end, showing just what they were up to behind the scenes the entire run of the show up until that point. Unfortunately, Heroes doesn’t have that kind of ability because everything was done in secret (even the huge nuclear explosion over New York that nobody seemed to notice.)
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Interesting: the elusive/mystery character in Heroes is “Adam.” The elusive/mystery character in Lost is “Jacob.” My name is Adam Jacob Czarnecki. And when the Battlestar Galactica finally makes it to Earth in Season Four, they’ll meet another elusive character known only as The Czar. Little do you know I’m behind all of this.
And little do you know I’m lying about Battlestar Galactica, but since Jeff, Logan, and Tom are the only ones who watch it besides me, I’m not worried because I know they’ll go with it.
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I am thinking about launching a new web site called LOLslaughter. You know LOLcats? Well I thought I might be able to get some kind of social activism thing going with that concept. It’s not really meant to be funny, but, I’m not really sure what it’s meant to be. Opinions, please. In the mean time, if you have any pictures of animal slaughter, send them to me. (BTW, don’t click on that link if you’re upset by animals being killed so you can eat ‘em up!)
Bye for now, suckers! Watch out for the Batman. Just because Superman is dead doesn’t mean Metropolis is up for grabs! (click to enlarge)
Cool, man.
I went to the comic store today at lunch because I have nothing better to do with my life, and in the window there was a poster saying that Javier Grillo-Marxuach is going to be there doing a signing this Saturday!
You may recognize his name, and if you do, it’s probably because you’ve subliminally absorbed it while watching the first ten minutes of any episode of Lost as the credits flash on the bottom of the screen. He is the Supervising Producer and has written quite a few episodes.
He wrote “Orientation” in season 2, which was the one that got me hooked with a great “holy crap this show is deeper than I thought” moment when they viewed the first Orientation film.
Anyway, I can’t go because I’ll be out of town. But you should! It’ll be cool! Tell him Adam says hi to JJ Abrams, and give him this note I wrote that asks him if he likes me and to circle yes or no (but you can have him write ’sorta’ if he wants).
Adam Goes to the Motor City Comic Con
I have a secret to tell. Today I played hooky from work for a number of reasons…
1.) I am exhausted.
2.) I have shit to do.
3.) The Motor City Comic Con is this weekend so… why not?
So today for a few hours I dorked myself up and drove to Novi to meet with fellow dorks. First, I got all dressed up…
…notice the unibow and the fact that I mysteriously am always carrying around comic books even though I wasn’t holding any when the picture was taken.
I have not been to many conventions before. I went to two in high school but those were strictly Star Trek conventions. I didn’t really understand much of what it was all about, and still don’t. But I remember it was cool to meet the people you watch on TV. Before that, I ran into some Klingons and Romulans at King’s Dominion in Virginia.
Yup, always a dork.
Anyway, I went for a couple of reasons. The first was because I wanted to complete my Supergirl collection (which may sound homosexual but they were written by one of my favorite authors), see what other deals they may have, and meet some of my favorite characters who were going to be there from Star Trek.
Lots of folks were there to sign autographs and take photos with the fans, but they charge $20 to do it! There must have been about 50 guests sitting at booths for meet and greats. Most of them I didn’t know and never heard of… comic book writers, inkers, etc. Even a porn star or two. But, I headed for three in particular.
This guy’s name is Domic Keating. He played Malcom Read on Star Trek: Enterprise. That look on his face pretty much sums up what he was like to meet in person. When I walked up to him and introduced myself and asked “do you mind if I get a picture with you?” his response was “Here’s the thing, mate, (he’s English) … I’ll do a photo with you if you buy a photo.” It sounds ruder here than it was. Anyway I got caught up in the moment and did it.
The autographed photo has less sentimental value than the photo I took (which was blurry because some old guy couldn’t hold the camera steady.) Like I said, I bought it for the other photo.
Next, and here’s honestly my main motivation for going… was Connor Trineer. I swear to god if I had a vagina, I would probably have not been able to do this, because my heart was already pounding so hard even though I have a penis. I am not homosexual but I was giggling like a school girl.
*swoons*
There you go ladies… how’d ya like to be the action in the middle of THAT?
Honestly what made me so nervous was because he seriously was the best character on Enterprise. And they killed his character off in the last episode in what was supposed to be some heroic act of self-sacrifice, but really ended up being some poorly written piece of crap. So… they resurrected his character in the Star Trek novels. Turns out what we saw on screen wasn’t him actually dying, but faking his own death to go undercover for a secret organization on a mission to save the universe. (What else?) I just finished reading the book and it did his character more justice than the show ever did. So, if I walked away with nothing else, I was determined to walk away with this…
He was the nicest guy I met there and actually asked me about the book. He looked at it when I gave it to him and said, “Wait… is this the one where they bring me back?” And I said, “Yup, they resurrected your character.” And he said, “I heard about this back home! Apparently I went on some undercover mission and had to fake my death. Is it any good?” And I said, “Uh-huh,” and he’s all like, “I’ll have to read it,” and I’m all like, “Yeah, it’s really good.” That’s it.
Throughout the whole thing I kept waiting for Johnathan Frakes to show up (he played “Number One” in Star Trek: The Next Generation.) It would have been cool to meet him but apparently he was all big-bad-celebrity and didn’t show up by the time I decided to leave. So instead I went up and gave my money to this guy…
…Robert Picardo, who played “The Doctor,” on Star Trek: Voyager. Of course no photo op is free so I had to purchase this photo for him to sign:
…which I didn’t mind at all because it’s such a great photo. It’s the cast of Star Trek: Voyager which was, like, a staple of my high school years. He’s the guy on the far left. When he was autographing the photo he said, “You know why I’m smiling in this photo, right, Adam? I made a dirty joke.” And me, not getting what was happening, said, “Huh?”, and he said something about “Roxanne” (the girl leaning against him) being real close to his cock and balls. He said the guy in the right of the picture (Ethan Phillips) was giving him a jealous look. Cooincidentally, Ethan Phillips was seated RIGHT FRIGGIN NEXT TO HIM, but by that point I had ran out of money and didn’t feel like approaching him because he was being wierd and shouting out random things.
Surprisingly there was not a line to meet any of these people and most of the time they appeared to just be sitting there.
I also got to shake hands and meet Fat Momma, Major Victory, and Feedback from the show Who Wants to Be a Superhero? that aired last summer. I met Seka the porn star (who I had not heard of), Peter Mayhew (Chewbocca from Star Wars), and got to shake hands with Grace Lee Whitney again. She was on the original series of Star Trek and I got a photo with her years and years ago (when I went to a convention in 8th grade), but the photo didn’t turn out. I would have gotten another photo but of course she was charging for them.
Back in 8th grade I don’t remember having to pay her for an autograph. Times must have changed.
I took advantage of a half-off sale and bought some other comics including Watchmen, The Walking Dead, and Origin (where Wolverine’s past is finally revealed.) I also talked one of the vendors into giving me the following with a little discount:
I’m sure I probably shouldn’t have taken them out of their packaging but oh well. They have more value to me prominently displayed than they do in a box. Of course, these are the main characters from Lost.
Anyway, it was a fun experience, if not expensive, and one that I’ll definately go to again next year, assuming they have some more awesome guests and give me more time to save my money.
What’s that you say? You thought I didn’t have any money and was broke to begin with? Well, you’d be right. So I’d like to put up one more photo…
…big thanks to DISCOVER, who made it all possible. I have $1.54 in my bank account now, but a credit card with a 0% APR that’s getting hungrier by the minute.
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