George Pérez
May 7th, 2022 § 0 comments § permalink
Rower
April 20th, 2022 § 0 comments § permalink
“Have you been in Five Guys, Callum?”
“Oh, at least.”
I suppose it is funnier that way, so I’ll give [Inside No. 9 writers Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton] a pass, as clever as their writing usually is. Plus, the use of the River Styx mythology in [latest series opener] “Merrily, Merrily” reminded me how each go on the rower could be my last. I had always imagined achieving a threshold S/M to cross over into dream-life, but maybe it’s more like the Flash outrunning the Black Racer. What happens when Charon can’t pay me? One thing’s for sure, if I can’t cough up the fare, it might very well be because Five Guys cleaned me out. Over $20 for a single burger, small fries and a drink?!
Batman
February 25th, 2022 § 0 comments § permalink
World could use his Superfriend
more than ever, but studio execs can’t seem to decide how to portray the god we’ll someday join in the sun, though can you blame them, the human race would probably react just as Snyder tried to depict, unsatisfactory box office and all. This was a look at the new one about the Dark Knight instead, but it was still directed by Christopher Nolan and starred Christian Bale, or at least for the first part before making way for the new team. (I’ve pre-dreamed before, but these days it’s hard not to have actual previews influence expectations or ruin imaginations.) We were in an elaborate underground facility and smug Bruce seemed deep in preparations, donning a high-tech wetsuit, to make an escape or fake his death, again. This was no ordinary movie-going experience, however; I could look past the marble-lined pool freely, like VR. And when he mounted a sportbike
, I was impressed how closely the first-person perspective replicated a real riding experience, walking it back before taking off.
more than ever, but studio execs can’t seem to decide how to portray the god we’ll someday join in the sun, though can you blame them, the human race would probably react just as Snyder tried to depict, unsatisfactory box office and all. This was a look at the new one about the Dark Knight instead, but it was still directed by Christopher Nolan and starred Christian Bale, or at least for the first part before making way for the new team. (I’ve pre-dreamed before, but these days it’s hard not to have actual previews influence expectations or ruin imaginations.) We were in an elaborate underground facility and smug Bruce seemed deep in preparations, donning a high-tech wetsuit, to make an escape or fake his death, again. This was no ordinary movie-going experience, however; I could look past the marble-lined pool freely, like VR. And when he mounted a sportbike, I was impressed how closely the first-person perspective replicated a real riding experience, walking it back before taking off.
Peacemaker
February 18th, 2022 § 0 comments § permalink
Honestly superhero-saturation has gotten to me, too, but I’ll always appreciate any irreverence it explores, not unlike Lynchian disruption, which face it, has always come from the DC side, unconvincing pastiches aside. Why after all, wouldn’t gods be free to say “fuck” or vaunt their sexual prowess?
Speaking of DC characters with potty mouths (but at least don’t all sound the same as James Gunn), I had a dream I was seated next to Dianne Guerrero
—I am unable to do more than that nowadays—whose hair was cut short, pixie-style. Our folding chairs were in a line and on my other side of me was a third wheel.
—I am unable to do more than that nowadays—whose hair was cut short, pixie-style. Our folding chairs were in a line and on my other side of me was a third wheel.
Deathstroke
January 4th, 2022 § 0 comments § permalink
Not sure Joe Manganiello was right for the alternate reality where Warner Bros. wasn’t prone to sabotage their own IP
and went ahead with Gareth Evans’ pitch for a Deathstroke solo project, but I sure dug that look in the Snyder cut where he also did nothing but stand around. Must’ve been the mohawk, the silver-foxed badassery, the, er, success with the ladies (?)
, because there I was cosplaying the character though my lack of familiarity with convention made me feel as awkward as I would at any other fancy-dress event. What’s worse, when monsters attacked, all I had to fight them off with were plastic swords, so I fled on the rooftops.
and went ahead with Gareth Evans’ pitch for a Deathstroke solo project, but I sure dug that look in the Snyder cut where he also did nothing but stand around. Must’ve been the mohawk, the silver-foxed badassery, the, er, success with the ladies (?), because there I was cosplaying the character though my lack of familiarity with convention made me feel as awkward as I would at any other fancy-dress event. What’s worse, when monsters attacked, all I had to fight them off with were plastic swords, so I fled on the rooftops.I Am Batman
November 2nd, 2021 § 0 comments § permalink
Following a harrowing hearing in front of the Supreme Court, I was returning home on a train dogged by two detectives who suspected me of being the masked vigilante. They tried outing me by watching my reaction to the last page of a nondescript graphic novel where the Bat symbol appears, but I didn’t flinch and kept up my identity hunching over as I walked. I could take them all, I thought, but decided to play it out until we arrived at a London station. There I would meet and greet my neighbor Madonna with a baby in pram, then tried ditching my pursuers by a dirt path into the park. A sting in my left leg as I mounted a knee-high mound alerted me that I had stepped into an ant hill, and though most of them seemed inert when I kicked it open, many had climbed onto me and left bites as far as my right forearm. However, as Batman, I was unfazed.
Bits and Pieces
October 26th, 2021 § 0 comments § permalink
My habit of reaching for the phone upon waking and checking my latest messages, even with nothing more to them than the daily spam that’s swiped to the trash, seems to be affecting my recall of any richer narrative from the streaming service of my subconscious, but because there must be something to the lingering remnants, please indulge me tracking them here:
- I was from the future, and as in that Bradbury story “A Sound of Thunder”, time travelers like me and former co-worker Karina had to keep to a path of shiny stones on the grounds of a party held at a fancy home in the country
- A small white mouse presented itself as a pest, and as all I had was a plastic knife, I tried futilely stabbing it, then pressing it down with the blade, which only resulted in its body stretching unnaturally as it escaped, though each time it successfully did so, the poor thing appeared to be growing weaker
- A previously unknown actor at a nearby table in the restaurant had just landed the role of Batman and we were congratulating him, recommending he prepare to be mobbed outside. Our group had to make do with Mr. Robot Rami Malek who himself had been cast in a smaller production as Nightwing
- You would certainly hope it was the voice actor (who gives off a strong King vibe) or Pérez’s almost-as-old version revisited in the recent con episode, because I had the glorious girth from a more virile age underneath
- Squid Game! The Among Us part of it, however, not the Fall Guys—I was dressed in the green track suit but wandering the “back end” and avoiding detection by the guards with some slick moves like waiting before stepping out of the elevator; in my arms was a child, and though I was able to get the family back together, the game masters blew up our house but I would survive by having been standing in the door frame and keep up the fight
- The wife and son were in an SUV but it was a stick and she kept sliding back
- A Flex Mentallo-looking villain with electrical superpowers was beset by a more than a dozen regular people with lesser ones, including Rick Moranis, and the sheer number of little shocks had him on the run; even his last-resort Zangief spinning fists held them at bay only because the low-budget special effect required everyone else to stay still while he was sped up
- Fell asleep on the couch in front of the TV, which became a newer monitor mounted higher up and repeating a short speech by a topless redhead, but after so many plays 老婆 asked me to turn it off without noticing her, and stopping that one switched to another video with her cosplaying as Red Sonja
- Woke up to news about someone dressed as the Joker stabbing passengers on a Tokyo subway, then dreamt about Rashida Jones as a female version of the character, with plenty of charisma, and a first-person perspective from a squad of armed law-enforcement agents descending upon her from the air
- We were on our way out of a parking garage and the wife goes first, sliding down a passage to the lower levels, but lands on the concrete noticeably uncomfortably before getting up and continuing, while I was held up above by columns of sinewy shapes and a growing crowd of men, one of them a former co-worker I lost contact with and didn’t have time to catch up, though another fellow was causing trouble and prompted a gay slur
- My father was driving us in the car and insisted we could make the tight corner down the stairs, but I doubted it and worried about getting stuck
- Triggering my fear of heights as it did, I was fortunate enough to find myself already at the top of series of comically tall escalators and told Angie that we were at the highest point inside the vast marble-lined artificial cavern, though I could see others to the side taking people even further upward
- Juan, who helped clean up the office and did odd jobs in the warehouse, retrieved my spiral notebook, which had at least one page of handwritten passwords, and couldn’t tell me specifically where he found it, despite my attempt to explain the security risk (and maybe offload some of it on him); meanwhile, Amit, who led IT at a later employer, asked me to assist him with a login issue unbecoming of his position, though jeopardizing all our company data with the janitor likewise reflected poorly on my worthiness
Golgo 13
October 2nd, 2021 § 0 comments § permalink
Creator’s passing Sunday brought out the seeders for two live-action adaptations from the 70’s starring titular hitman model 高倉 健 in the first (notable, I think, mainly because it was filmed entirely in Iran), then streetfighter Sonny Chiba
, who had the better eyebrows but couldn’t drop the smirk. And speaking of which, who should appear in the latter’s Hong Kong scenes but The Eyebrow
himself!
, who had the better eyebrows but couldn’t drop the smirk. And speaking of which, who should appear in the latter’s Hong Kong scenes but The Eyebrow himself!Doom Patrol—Season 3
September 24th, 2021 § 0 comments § permalink
It truly is parallel universe stuff, isn’t it, having had 27 hour-ish-long episodes already of a Doom Patrol series; sure, there have been animated versions
, and evidence is ample that things have veered off course
, but this is still as close as an executive will ever again greenlight an adaptation of the 90’s Morrison run. And while it’s nowhere near a perfect one (the Big Bad Bureau of Normalcy cringingly on-the-nose), some of the liberties taken for the sake of script or budget actually improve upon weaknesses in the original, such as the deus ex resolution of the Decreator arc. There may be brilliant stories like “Aenigma Regis” and “And Men Shall Call Him–Hero!” that just aren’t possible in another medium, but the showrunners have proven themselves capable of creating poignant moments for the characters, so I’ll trust them to stick the denouement
. Meanwhile, why not bring in the man himself themself or a writing rival?
, and evidence is ample that things have veered off course, but this is still as close as an executive will ever again greenlight an adaptation of the 90’s Morrison run. And while it’s nowhere near a perfect one (the Big Bad Bureau of Normalcy cringingly on-the-nose), some of the liberties taken for the sake of script or budget actually improve upon weaknesses in the original, such as the deus ex resolution of the Decreator arc. There may be brilliant stories like “Aenigma Regis” and “And Men Shall Call Him–Hero!” that just aren’t possible in another medium, but the showrunners have proven themselves capable of creating poignant moments for the characters, so I’ll trust them to stick the denouement. Meanwhile, why not bring in the man Agalmatophilia
June 22nd, 2021 § 0 comments § permalink
and high-cost decorations don’t seem to be in the cards for me. Still, the likenesses capable today—sure to improve with 3-D printing technology—make me wonder if it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to preserve ourselves this way instead of on flat images. The Lego minifigures only go so far, then go too far
.
.