tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37188432010-02-08T18:44:21.939-06:00A blog about comics, movies, cartoons, family, football, and whatever catches my attention.Brendanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08584620469528165451noreply@blogger.comBlogger4268125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3718843.post-17450697562114161422010-02-08T13:25:00.001-06:002010-02-08T18:44:22.147-06:00

Confirmed my bonus amount on Friday. Ordered the new computer on Saturday. The new iMac could be here by the end of the week. Everyone in our house is very excited.

Brendanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08584620469528165451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3718843.post-66614673174061553682010-02-07T16:00:00.000-06:002010-02-07T16:00:00.327-06:00

I'm playing my invisible game: "Slacker" - Zoe, making the best of a situation when the batteries ran down in her digital camera. (We never did figure out how you played "Slacker".)

Brendanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08584620469528165451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3718843.post-37451320999136484772010-02-05T16:52:00.000-06:002010-02-05T16:52:28.598-06:00

Why the Interwebs were created. So people could share this: And there is a lot to share. (via)

Brendanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08584620469528165451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3718843.post-81771061772518232252010-02-04T19:29:00.000-06:002010-02-04T19:29:00.203-06:00

Today parts of the Intertubes are all aflutter about the rumor that DC is seriously considering publishing some sequel or prequel books based on Alan Moore's and Dave Gibbon's monumental Watchmen novel. Most comic book fans shudder at the thought. It would be like making Citizen Kane 2. It's a sentiment that I share. However there are others who are arguing that new Watchmen-inspired material

Brendanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08584620469528165451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3718843.post-83683886417091199152010-02-03T13:11:00.000-06:002010-02-03T13:11:38.094-06:00

Raina Telgemeier is a fantastically talented artist best known for her work on the Baby-sitter Club comic adaptations. Her new book, out now, is called SMILE and is auto-biographical in nature. The book is a memoir of her teen years, which start our badly when she trips and seriously damages her two front teeth. I've been ready nothing but great things about the books leading up to its release,

Brendanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08584620469528165451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3718843.post-23159371595860598752010-02-03T12:58:00.000-06:002010-02-03T12:58:51.160-06:00

The battle we've all been waiting for. Faux comic cover by Matt Synowicz.

Brendanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08584620469528165451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3718843.post-53175792179116501822010-02-02T18:29:00.001-06:002010-02-02T18:49:02.636-06:00

It dawned on my over the weekend that 1989 was 20 years ago – TWENTY YEARS AGO – and it hardly feels much more than 10 years back. I still don’t think I’ve got my head wrapped around that yet. I think one sub-layer of the Jay Leno / Conan O'Brien fiasco – one that probably indicates which 'team' you gravitated to - is about Baby-Boomers not realizing that they are no longer the arbiters of

Brendanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08584620469528165451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3718843.post-34463933101449958192010-02-01T09:14:00.000-06:002010-02-01T09:14:03.626-06:00

I didn't get to read yesterday's Pearl Before Swine until this morning. It's not as funny as this one, but Pastis still works the pun for everything he can. I love it.

Brendanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08584620469528165451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3718843.post-74642583690737551552010-01-31T22:33:00.000-06:002010-01-31T22:33:35.121-06:00

Empire magazine asks it readers to vote what they thought were the worst movies ever. The magazine recently published the results of the voting, and while it seems to skew heavy towards films from the last 25 years, it certainly is a list of some horrible, horrible films. I was pretty proud of the fact that I had not seen any of the films (okay, I've seen parts of some of them) in Empire's 50

Brendanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08584620469528165451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3718843.post-74074025591422672672010-01-31T16:00:00.000-06:002010-01-31T16:00:00.348-06:00

"You, Mrs. Crosby, and Mrs. Rodriguez are like our middle-aged cheerleaders." - Ian, providing the perfect backhanded compliment for the energetic support some of the moms provided Ian and the rest of his fifth grade basketball team.

Brendanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08584620469528165451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3718843.post-62874249953351002822010-01-29T13:46:00.000-06:002010-01-29T13:46:14.645-06:00

Axe Cop is an online comic by Malachai and Ethan Nicolle. The comic stars Axe Cop, a police officer who vanquishes evil by using a fireman's axe to chop the bad guy's head off, and his partner, a half-man/half-avocado who used to be a half-man/half-dinosaur who used to be a cop who used a flute for a weapon. Yes, it's as crazy-cool as it seems. Best part. It's written by a 5 year-old boy.

Brendanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08584620469528165451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3718843.post-35297083504957434752010-01-28T13:18:00.002-06:002010-01-28T13:18:00.834-06:00

Zoe is building up a reputation for being the sweetest person on the planet and a teacher's dream student. All of her teachers over the last few years have remarked on how wonderfully agreeable Zoe is in class, and how  positive her outlook remains regardless of how badly things might be going. She's no pollyanna - she will let you know when she doesn't like what's going on - but she has a

Brendanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08584620469528165451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3718843.post-19090877138876215612010-01-28T10:02:00.001-06:002010-01-28T10:02:00.846-06:00

I've been waiting for this for quite some time. A number of years back, TCM showed all of the Bob Hope and Bing Crosby "Road to" movies on New Year's Day (or something like that). I watch a bunch of them and thought they were just the greatest.  Hope and Crosby were such fantastic entertainers and so genuinely liked performing together, that these "Road to" movies are like a guilty pleasure to

Brendanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08584620469528165451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3718843.post-61495708596825168972010-01-27T23:04:00.000-06:002010-01-27T23:04:22.577-06:00

The iPad looks fantastic. I certainly would love to get one. What I find most appealing is being able to have music and books together in one device. However I don't know how I'm going to get over the horrible name Apple chose for the device, especially after someone pulled this Mad TV skit out of the archives. Why couldn't they have called it iSlate or iTablet or Kindle-killer. Oh well.

Brendanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08584620469528165451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3718843.post-88396738347032219372010-01-27T16:56:00.000-06:002010-01-27T16:56:04.175-06:00

Joe Staton is one of the many artists who have contributed work for a charity art auction taking place this month. Based on his rendering of Dick Tracy, I would love to see a Dick Tracy comic handled by Staton. Then again, anything would be an improvement to the insufferable pencilings of Dick Locher.

Brendanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08584620469528165451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3718843.post-5407037042703099892010-01-26T17:22:00.001-06:002010-01-27T16:57:32.193-06:00

Maybe if I saw the movie I would think differently, but based on everything I’ve read and seen I’m just not that interested in James Cameron’s film Avatar. In fact, I was surprised it won the Golden Globe last week. I don’t recall gushing reviews over the film. Is it really that good? I don't understand all the buzz around this film. I was just thinking this over the weekend. Zoe will

Brendanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08584620469528165451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3718843.post-38039220278331416782010-01-25T12:55:00.001-06:002010-01-25T21:23:17.115-06:00

My dad’s crazy hectic schedule for his campaign to win the primary election in DuPage County for one of the open Circuit Court Judge positions has not left him a lot of time to talk or visit with me or my family. The election is on February 2 – just a week away. He is in the homestretch. Every waking moment is given to shaking hands, smiling, and rallying enough support to win the election.

Brendanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08584620469528165451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3718843.post-23078167967015666502010-01-24T16:00:00.000-06:002010-01-24T16:36:09.165-06:00

What is my 8th favorite color? - Zoe, coming up with the craziest questions for a game show that I have ever heard

Brendanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08584620469528165451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3718843.post-75735538619283362602010-01-22T19:21:00.000-06:002010-01-22T19:21:00.570-06:00

I'm totally digging Ted Naifeh's sketches of Batman and related characters. Not sure if he's trying to audition for DC in a plan for them to throw a Batman story his way, but I enjoy the perks of getting to see how he sees the character.

Brendanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08584620469528165451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3718843.post-43918703574116745002010-01-22T16:12:00.000-06:002010-01-22T16:12:43.161-06:00

Read a few quotes this week that struck a chord with me. The first one comes via the shitmydadsays twitter feed. "No, I'm not a pessimist. At some point the world shits on everybody. Pretending it ain't shit makes you an idiot, not an optimist." Besides finding this quote laugh-out-loud funny, I felt like I could relate to the message behind the quote. I am often tagged with the label of "

Brendanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08584620469528165451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3718843.post-70151374172678051842010-01-20T17:23:00.000-06:002010-01-20T17:23:00.918-06:00

A group of comic book artists launched a blog, Comic Twart, this week based around this basic premise: one member of the group will suggest a character to draw and then everyone else has to draw and post there artwork. There is a lot of great artistic talent involved and I'm kinda excited to see what sort of work we see over the next few weeks. The inaugural subject is Zorro. I found Chris

Brendanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08584620469528165451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3718843.post-19501019849875700622010-01-19T23:18:00.000-06:002010-01-19T23:18:13.032-06:00

Over the last few weeks there has been a lot of stories concerning NBC's bungled handling of their two night-time talk show hosts. Of everything I've read or seen, this Taiwanese CGI news cartoon does the best of summing everything up.

Brendanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08584620469528165451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3718843.post-29597926077786493782010-01-19T16:48:00.000-06:002010-01-19T16:48:58.562-06:00

Ian will argue that "every other 10-year old had a cell phone, so why can't he have one." And Heather and I will counter with "not every 10-year old has a cell phone." Then I find this chart and start mentally working up a new counter-argument to use. [via]

Brendanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08584620469528165451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3718843.post-42075479532106062592010-01-19T12:32:00.000-06:002010-01-19T12:32:58.834-06:00

Nothing ruins a good three-day weekend like a stomach virus that systematically works its way from family member to family member in our house. It started with Zoe Friday night and ended with Heather on Monday night. In between it hit Emma, Ian, and me. Oy! The Jack Kirby sure could draw. At this point I’ve read and seen enough of his work to know and appreciate the genius of Jack Kirby.

Brendanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08584620469528165451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3718843.post-44331810950143697472010-01-17T16:00:00.000-06:002010-01-17T19:57:26.289-06:00

"Why did He (God) even need dinosaurs?" Emma, asking the questions I don't even know how to come up with answers to.

Brendanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08584620469528165451noreply@blogger.com