MORE SHORTS/PROJECTS

I actually wore shorts on Thursday, which was nice. Of course, I spend my days in a bathing suit so I guess it's not the biggest deal in the world. Yesterday it was in the low 80s and we sweltered in Chicago while seeing a show at Comedy Sportz (drama club field trip); today it's cooler with tomorrow and the next few days set to be even worse. There's even talk of snow. Not unprecedented around here (it snowed the day of my senior prom, which was early May) but still rare.

To completely change the subject, you can now hear two songs of Aimee Mann's upcoming album, @#%&*! Smilers, here. It comes out June 10 and I can't wait.

The season finale of Torchwood was fantastic and completely heartbreaking on a variety of levels. I'm curious as to where they'll go from here. I bet Martha Jones will be back.

Thanks to this week's return of Lost (hello again, smoke monster), Thursday night now features 2 great hours of TV, preceeded by a solid hour (My Name Is Earl is definitely the weakest link, even though Scrubs isn't as strong as it used to be). Oh, the 2 hours is The Office and 30 Rock and Lost. All had really really good episodes this week. And then to get new eps of Battlestar Galactica the next night? I love you, TV.

I was reading through the Summer Movie Preview issue of Entertainment Weekly and realized I had another project to undertake. We are about 3 1/2 weeks away from the opening of the new Indiana Jones movie and I still need to show the first three to my son. Got to get on that.

CONSTANTS

Thursday's episode of Lost was one of the best the series has produced so far and that's saying something. "The Constant" focused on Desmond once again - as he and Sayid flew on a helicopter out to the boat he suddenly became unstuck in time and his consciousness was toggling back and forth between 1996 and 2004 (still the present day of the series). It was sharply written and edited with great performances and cool ideas and it made me wish I could rewatch all three seasons of the show right now (of course, I still don't have Season 3 on DVD). Thank goodness the writer's strike is over and we can get 8 more episodes of this season.

Another TV show I love is almost over. I've been watching The Wire "On Demand," where they have each new episode of the season up the Monday before it airs on HBO. The other day I got around to watching the penultimate episode (and 9th of the fifth, final season), "Late Editions," and I felt sadness. Sadness not only for the fates of characters in the show but the fact that the show will soon be gone. I've said it before and I'll say it again - The Wire is one of the best TV shows ever. Ever. If you've never seen it, do yourself and favor and rent or buy Season 1 and dive in. You won't regret it.

Comics are another constant in my life, as I've been a reader for the last 27 years or so, give or take. I've gone through periods of high involvement and periods of keeping myself at a remove. Right now, I'm in a period of not caring that I love them and love super-heroes. Why? I think the energy of this guy might have helped me remember how much I do care. Why do I mention this, other than to tie in with my post title? I bought a big stack of 11 comics this past Wednesday.

I still had some of my Christmas (and Valentine's) cash and why not go ahead and use it up two months later? I bought the new Action Comics, the fifth part of the story with the Legion of Super-Heroes. I bought the 100th issue of Nexus and the first issue of Kick-Ass. I grabbed JSA Classified, which started a storyline about Wildcat written by my friend B. Clay Moore, and the last 5 issues of Justice Society of America, which I've missed reading. Criminal relaunched with a new #1 and there was a new Astro City Special about Beautie. It was a lot of good reading and I loved having a big stack like that. Of course, I can't afford to do that on a regular basis but that makes this week all the more sweet.

This week also saw the release of a new DC animated movie, Justice League: The New Frontier, which is based on the 2004 mini-series by Darwyn Cooke. The movie retains his cartoony, clean line style and does a good job encapsulating the story in a mere 75 minutes. Yes, there was a lot that was cut out but the story still worked. Grant had never read the comic but he really enjoyed the movie. There are a bunch of extras to get to, as I bought the 2-disc deluxe edition (which came with a Green Lantern figure).

OUT AND IN

Last week I actually got myself out into the world someplace other than work or a store. I decided that Valentine's Day would be a good one to get myself back into the open mic groove at Front Porch (it was also nice to have a night that wasn't freezing cold for it). It was the first time I played there this year and only my second time playing at all. I did "Dear Prospective Employer" (a love song of the desperate) and a slowed down version of "Let's Get Married Tonight" in which I whispered some of the choruses and seemed to go over well. It was also great seeing friends I hadn't seen in months and being a part of the community.

The next night I drove to a town about 45 miles away for a surprise birthday party for a friend. Tom is another musician and has been extremely generous to me ever since I started "The Year of 35." The party was in the top floor of an old building and was a cool space - old but big with a stage in front of windows looking over the county courthouse. A variety of people got up and jammed and I got in on the act too. I hopped up with my guitar and started playing music I've been working on; Graham joined on bongos and Tom eventually hopped up and played the fiddle with it. I liked the sound of the fiddle and think I'll pursue him playing it with me as I get the lyrics written and the song finished. We also played around with "Let's Get Married Tonight" - Tom on guitar and Graham on bass and Barry hopping up on drums partway through; "That's Okay" with Tom on fiddle; and "Dear Prospective Employer" with Tom on bass and Barry on drums. Lots of fun and Tom was definitely surprised.

On Saturday afternoon I went over to the comics shop for the semi-annual sale. I still had a bunch of cash leftover from Christmas plus some extra and thought it would be a good time to splurge. Of course, my usual intent is to take advantage of the sales but I tend to dither as to what I should buy and end up with nothing. This time I had a couple things in mind and then took a little time to decide what else I should get. I ended up with a combination of stuff I haven't read and stuff I read in singles format but no longer own and want to own. I got 4 trades for $53 and change, which is pretty good. I still have money left too!

Last week I managed to read 2 books - Inside Straight (a mosaic novel by many writers and edited by George R.R. Martin) and Like You'd Understand, Anyway (a story collection by Jim Shepard). The first is another in the "Wild Cards" series of which I read many books years and years ago but haven't read any of the more recent entries. That didn't matter as the book was very accessible with a wide variety of characters and a plot focusing on an American Idol-type show for super-heroes and political upheaval in the Egypt. I enjoyed it. The second book had a number of stories on men (or women) on futile quests...quests for yetis or an inland sea in Australia or love in outer space...as well as stories about modern alienation and more. Shepard is a strong writer and I definitely want to delve into his other work.

I'm also 50 pages into a new book but still have another 4 piled up from the library after that (and more on request).

I've watched a lot of TV shows on the DVR as well, though I'm still about a week behind. We did watch Lost, of course, which just gets more and more interesting. Yay for the writer's strike being over too!

There's more but we'll save it for another day and another post...