This book is the equivalent of that lamb kebab I ate one hot summer back when I was living in Montreal. Like the Pendergast series to date, I quite enjoyed Indian food - until that wretched kebab. It was bad. So bad that I couldn't eat Indian food against for years. And, I suspect, it'll…
June 25, 2014: Let’s kick off our Star Trek TOS re-watch with The Man Trap!
Hello and welcome to our Star Trek: The Original Series re-watch. Cookie Monster and I will be your co-hosts. We'll open the casual discussion on the show's first five episodes, then ask you to weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section. THE MAN TRAP Me: A rocky start for the Enterprise and its…
June 23, 2014: Top 10 Worst Supervillain Names!
10. Paste Pot Pete Look out! He's going to start shooting paste. Out of his pot. Oh, that Pete. 9. Crazy Quilt Not to be confused with The Master Duvet. Presumably, grandma helped him with his costume. 8. Rainbow Raider Guard your rainbows! As if those damn leprechauns weren't bad enough. 7. Polka Dot Man Winner of Mrs. Haversham's…
June 22, 2014: Top 10 Worst Superhero Names!
10. The Whizzer AKA "The Yellow Streak"? Does the W on his chest stand for "wee"? 9. Matter Eater Lad Look at him go to town on that chain link fence! Bombs, bullets, getaway cars - there is no limit to his amazing powers of consumption! Unless, of course, he gets full. 8. Aqualad Batman…
June 18, 2014: Join our Star Trek TOS re-watch!
Full disclosure: I haven't watched a full episode of Star Trek TOS since I was a kid. And, sure, we've come a long way since then and a lot of this old series will, no doubt, feel charmingly outdated by today's standards but, damn, if I don't feel a shiver of excitement every time I…
June 17, 2014: Back on the mean streets of Sesame!
Well look who it is. If it isn't our old friend Cookie Monster who, only last summer, announced he was through hosting our weekly Supermovie of the Week Club and done penning reviews of such big screen classics as The Dark Knight, Spiderman, and Abar: The First Black Superman. Well, what a difference a year…
June 8, 2014: My May Reads!
Capsule reviews of all the books I read in May...and there were more than a few: ME BEFORE YOU by Jojo Moyes An individual with no caregiving experience is hired to look after a wheelchair-bound quadriplegic who has all but given up on life. Eventually, the two overcome their mutual uncertainty to form a bond, experiencing…
June 5, 2014: What’s the deal with Archie Andrews?
Seriously? What the heck is going on here? Last time I read I checked in on the gang from Riverdale, these were the type of shenanigans they were getting into: And then, somewhere along the line, things took a darker turn for Archie Andrews (or, one could argue, a lighter turn for Frank Castle) and…
June 2, 2014: Our Book of the Month Club reconvenes to discuss Evening’s Empire by Paul McAuley!
"In the far future, a young man stands on a barren asteroid. His ship has been stolen, his family kidnapped or worse, and all he has on his side is a semi-intelligent spacesuit. The only member of the crew to escape, Hari has barely been off his ship before. It was his birthplace, his home…
May 10, 2014: My April Reads!
Capsule reviews of my April reads... CHEW (vol. 8: Family Recipes) by John Layman and Rob Guillory The eighth instalment in the ongoing series about detective Anthony Chu, a chibopath capable of receiving psychic impressions from whatever he tastes, be it inorganic matter or fresh(ly deceased) flesh and blood. It's been a wonderfully bizarre, over-the-top series but…
May 5, 2014: Our Book of the Month Club reconvenes! Let’s discuss The Rich and the Dead!
Time travel fiction is notoriously difficult to write, fraught as it is with complicated theoretical rules related to grandfather paradoxes and butterfly effects. It is, on the other hand, relatively simple to write if you merely pay lip service to said rules and then proceed to either ignore or violate them over the course of…
May 4, 2014: Recommended Reading!
Today, we went to the nearby Cookworks kitchenware shop where Akemi browsed while I offered the woman at the cash some book recommendations for her upcoming vacation (John Scalzi's Old Man's War and Jeannette Walls' The Glass Castle). Moments earlier, we had been at our local chain bookstore where Akemi hunted for a cookbook for dogs (cooking for dogs as…
May 2, 2014: Places you may want to avoid! Cast your vote for our July Book of the Month Club read!
I'm enjoying reading your comments on yesterday's entry (My Top 5 Never-Before-Visited Vacation Destinations!) both for the travel recommendations AND critiques. Don't be shy or fearful of offending. I'd love to learn about your those negative experiences as well. After all, not every city is for everyone. For instance, I've only been to New Orleans, San…
April 30, 2014: Conspicuous Consumption! Richie Rich sticks it to the little guy!
If I had to pick one comic book that I considered "the weirdest" growing up, it would have to be Richie Rich. The title character was described as "the poor little rich boy" but I never found anything remotely poor about him, either literally or figuratively. I suppose, one could make the argument that deep beneath…
April 28, 2014: A Trip Down Memory (Lois) Lane! Comicdom’s Most Dated – the awesome, the atrocious, and the quaintly antiquated!
"They sure don't make 'em like they used to" goes the old adage, and nowhere is this more evident than in the ever-evolving world of comic books. From Superman battling nazis to Spiderman meeting President Obama, comics have a rich tradition of embracing history and reflecting social and cultural norms. What was perfectly acceptable ten, maybe…