Scientific American Q&A's "movement researcher" and bona fide Batfan E. Paul Zehr on why Batman could exist (he already does, duh!): The difficulty for Batman is he's going to be trying to sleep during the day . He's going to be really tired, actually, unless he can shift himself over to just being up at night. If he were just a nocturnal guy, he would actually be a lot healthier and have a lot better sleep than if he were doing what he does now, which is getting some light here and there. That's [...]
Finished Mortal Causes last weekend. I had to wait a long time to get it. Previously, when I've requested Ian Rankin books from the VPL, I've always been the only person requesting the book and been able to pick it up within days. Not this time. I was sixth on the wait list. INCONCEIVABLE! Somehow, since the beginning of the year, when I began my mission to read the Inspector Rebus books in sequence, the series has become more popular--at least in Vancouver. I'm inclined to shoulder the responsibility for that, since I talk [...]
Geography has never been one of my strong points (nor the days of the week, see previous post), so I'm having a hard time figuring how Saskatchewan managed to score a seat at the Pacific NorthWest Economic Region . Did someone confuse potash for salmon? Though I guess if Idaho and Montana are in, why not the Ess-Kay? Of course, our dear friends Alberta sponsored our admission (does this mean we can call them in the middle of the when we relapse and spend the night downing Great Western Light with Manitoba?), and that means they're gonna expect little [...]
Because even Olde Vancouver could use a little dose of New Regina on a Monday night, my favourite pack of Rider Priders is in town tonight for a little dose-do at the Media Club . Why you should care: Sylvie is a beautiful band made up a beautiful people who make beautiful music. Their 2005 album, An Electric Trace was called "stunningly awesome" by no less authority than the Regina Leader-Post . With every new album, this band has improved by leaps and bounds, and every time I see them, I like them more. I haven't [...]
At midnight it begins. The Dark Knight . In theatres. At IMAX, if I want to go all the way to Richmond, which I kinda do and I kinda don't. Do: Want to see TDK in IMAX. Don't: Want to go to Richmond. There are worse fates, I suppose. And besides, the real issue is going to be magically avoiding line-ups. Waiting until next weekend = magic. Sigh. Christian Bale is vehemently anti-Boy Wonder , which is silly. If there was ever a Batman who needed the kind of brightening up that comes from spending your [...]
Robin never gave him sass like this! mp3: " Wild As Them " by Liz Durrett mp3: " All Of Them All " by Liz Durrett
Margaret Wente should know better. In her first of four columns on (or against) Harm Reduction for the Globe & Mail , she seems to place all the responsibility of Vancouver's out of control drug problem at InSite 's doorstep. Never mind that the Supervised Injection Site was never intended to solve addiction, let alone heal an afflicted city. Even the experts Wente so enthusiastically quotes don't seem to support her conclusions as boisterously as she purports them. "Safe injection is a misnomer," says Milan Khara, another veteran addictions doctor. "Insite is [...]
Requiem for a cheeky Batman , from Variety You should, of course, read Will Brooker 's book , Batman Unmasked: Analyzing a Cultural Icon , which deals unflinchingly with the Wertham questions and embraces all aspects of Batman over the years. Not that long ago, the most talented man in the history of show biz, Jim Steinman (songwriter for Meat Loaf, Bonnie Tyler, Celine Dion, etc.), set out to write a Batman musical to be produced with Tim Burton. Sadly, Broadway wasn't [...]
This past weekend, my friendly neighbourhood comic shop, RX Comics (they of the sadly underused and underupdated website), was having a TITANO sale on back issues, and now that I'm a collector of fine comics with gaps in my fine collection to fill, I had to check it out. I'm currently building a store of early-80s Legion of Super-Heroes issues, with a focus on those with art by Keith Giffen . I snagged a few primo pre-300 issues, including Legion of Super-Heroes #290, which is the first episode in "The Great [...]
Wade over at Signal Response has more or less declared this to be Batman Week. In case you haven't spent 15 minutes in my company for the last year, or have been living under a rock, or just have other things going on in your life, the new Batman movie comes out on Friday. (Is that the real reason I changed my work schedule from Tues-Fri to Mon-Thurs??? I'll never tell.) In for a penny , as they say... " He cuts through the film sort of like the shark in [...]
If I'm not thinking about Batman (which is rare), I'm thinking about the future. And you can't think about the future without thinking about the past. I spoke on the phone with one of my oldest friends, JW, a couple of weeks ago. He was blowing through town on his way from Japan to Saskatoon, where another old friend was getting married. JW is set to be back in Vancouver any day now, and hopefully I'll get to meet his family. His new family. Not the people he grew up with, those familiar faces in memories [...]
Oh, Batman. For the World's Greatest Detective , you've sure swallowed a load of shit. Comic Book Resources has another interview up with Christian Bale where the actor talks about how the movies he makes with Chris Nolan are true to Batman "creator" Bob Kane's vision. "I feel like we've kind of gone back to its roots, when I've spoken with friends of Bob Kane, relatives, they've said, 'No, he meant this to be a very dark character.' He always viewed what Adam West did so well [positively], but he was spoofing [...]
Yesterday was fun. Me and The Neph got an early start (early for a Sunday) and hit the local mini-Comic Convention at Heritage Hall on Main St. I'm starting to get a handle on these events now, being a veteran of two local mini-cons, and one giant con in Seattle. Usually, I just wander around. But this time I decided to actually check out the miles and miles of longboxes, following The Neph's lead. He was looking for back issues of The Darkness , which I think is a tie-in to a video [...]
Sad news...for Vancouver newspaper fans, at least. Frances Bula, formerly of the Sun , has moved on to other things in her life. Don't ask me what, for I do not know. But I'm sure going to miss her blog, City States . During my last five years in Regina, I was borderline obsessed with municipal politics, and City States helped get me up to speed in the who's who and why should I care of Vancouver. Bula's blog complemented her reporting perfecting. The [...]
It's either a really long weekend or not a long weekend at all. mp3: " Canadian Dreamz " by Andrew Vincent mp3: " Degrassi Jr. High Theme " by Andrew Vincent
I got my teeth cleaned today. It was pretty cool. I got to ride in an elevator the seventh floor of a building. When I was a kid, I imagined that I would be riding elevators all the time in my adult life. Not so. So that was the best part of my dental appointment. The other best part was reading a travel magazine in the waiting room. There was a feature on Antarctic cruises. I have a very short list of places on this planet I would like to go and visit, and Antarctica is on [...]
The other day I was in a coffee shop, getting the one cup of coffee I drink per day. Sometimes I drink more than one cup, but man do I feel it. Not like the old days when I was downing five, six, seven, eight cups a day. Was I irritable? Was I ever! Anyway, while I was waiting for my Americano, the coffee shop was playing "Emotional Weather Report" by Tom Waits from his fake live album , Nighthawks at the Diner . What a song! What an album! I hadn't heard [...]
Okay, I know I said I was done with The Dark Knight previews, but I AM WEAK! Here's a docu-news piece on Bruce Wayne (via io9 , which is quickly becoming the online place to be for nerds).
A Bulldozer With A Wrecking Ball Attached
Bison - Quill
Neutral Milk Hotel- Aeroplane Over the Sea
Shinichi Osawa – Big Beach Mix 2012
