T-shirt #248 - Detroit Lions

T-shirt #248 - Detroit Lions

I am writing this as the Detroit Lions play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They are currently winning 21-17, but Stafford has thrown two interceptions.

I realized I did not have a Lions shirt, so I bought this one the other day.

This is a must win game as the Lions should have won last week against Pittsburgh, and they are in a tie for first in the NFC North with the Chicago Bears with the Green Bay Packers only one game back, though currently losing at home to the Minnesota Vikings.

The most important thing for me as a fan is for the Lions to win this game today. But the second most important thing is for them to win by 10 or more points.

You see, I pick games by the point spreads with a small group of friends, one of whom I have never met in person, and the group has never met each other in person. The common element is me as I know all of the core group of four, but there's a fifth guy who is a friend of one of the others, and he's the one I have not met in person.

The Bucs just took the lead on a heave of a pass by the rookie quarter back. Damn.

So far on the season, I am 74-82-7. I have won among our group four times but only once as a solo win. The leader, Jason, is 80-75-7, followed by my friend Dave Mandrick at 77-78-7, my friend Bill at 76-79-7, and I am tied with Bill's friend Jay.


Okay, so as I was saying, I pick by spreads. Here's my picks today. So far I am doing all right, though in the time it took my to write this, the Lions lost.

I hate missing that Thursday game.

On Tue, Nov 19, 2013 at 7:35 AM, Chris Tower <gmrstudios2@gmail.com> wrote:

2013 WEEK TWELVE SPREADS 1/2 Chris  Jason   Bill      Jay     Dave

Thursday game 

New Orleans [-8] at Atlanta - NEW ORLEANS :-(

SUNDAY 1 p.m. games

Tampa Bay at Detroit [-9] - DETROIT LIONS [I agree that this is a big number for Detroit but at home? I think they can]

Jacksonville at Houston [-10 1/2] - JACKSONVILLE [Another big number but I was tempted to go Texans to turn it around at home, but nah...]

Minnesota at Green Bay [-3 1/2] - GREEN BAY [I can see this going either way but at home I give Green Bay the edge]

San Diego at Kansas City [-5] - SAN DIEGO [I think the Chiefs win but this may come down to a field goal]

Carolina [-3 1/2] at Miami - PANTHERS [Though Miami surprised us last week the Panthers are too good for it to happen again this week]

Pittsburgh at Cleveland [-2] - STEELERS [Tough choice. I like the Browns at home and by only two? I almost went Browns]

Chicago at St. Louis [-1] - RAMS [yes, my sort of upset of the week. At home and favored because of what they did last week IN Indiana]

NY Jets at Baltimore [-4] - RAVENS [Jets just screw me over all the time]

4 p.m. games

Tennessee at Oakland [-1] - RAIDERS [I am tempted to go Titans but Oakland has been looking good and at home by one? yeah]

Indianapolis at Arizona [-2] - COLTS [Also tempted to go Cardinals as people undervalue them even though they are favored but after last week's beat down I expect the Colts to be pissed off]

Dallas at NY Giants [-2 1/2] - COWBOYS [They may not win but I am betting on this being close]

8 p.m. game

Denver [-3] at New England - BRONCOS [yeah, nuff said]

Monday game

San Francisco [-4 1/2] at Washington - 49ERS [This might surprise everyone with the Redskins keeping it close or even winning but I am not betting on it]

Here's my last message about our picks.

NFL Tallies 2013

I love this close season with our picks!! I also love that I recovered from two horrible weeks to have a winning week, especially because I changed my Monday night pick to Carolina at the last minute. I should listen to the gut. That's the lesson here. Though the gut failed me with KC, the Chargers, the Packers, the Jaguars, and most importantly THE LIONS. Terrible.

Crazy ending. Jay, Dave, and I tie for first with records of 7-5-3 for the week. Bill and Jason tie at 6-6-3 for second. Three of us gain one game on Jason and Bill and we are all close, the largest margin being six games.

In points, Bill, Jay, and Dave are all tied with 43 with Jason and me just behind at 42.

Some good games for Week 12, especially an easy pick for Thursday night!

Smoodles Doodles!

-cbt

NFL Tallies 2013

You have read my comments about playing fantasy sports before. I would also like to share my Week 11 update from our KUDL football league as I beat the top team last week, and I am proud. 

Hey Christopher, You have just been sent the following note from Baby Fish Mouth (Christopher) in the Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Football league named KUDL Football (70932)... Greetings KUDLers, Though many of the games from last week have playoff implications and good elements to feature, I have to lead this week with a big YIPPEE because my BABY FISH BEAT LOUNGING LEOPOLD!!!! My Baby Fish handed Lindsey's Leopold just her second loss of the season, and we clinched our PLAYOFF BERTH! Though I do not usually crib from the Yahoo recaps, it expresses our come from behind victory, so well. In short, going into Monday's game, Baby Fish were down 208-194. The Fish rallied and schooled to a 215-208 win. Yahoo: "Baby Fish Mouth (6-5, 2,420.00 points) stole one from Lounging Leopold (9-2, 2,564.00 points) 215.00 - 208.00 in a back-and-forth battle. They were led by Drew Brees who had 50.00 points. Baby Fish Mouth scored first and went into Sunday in front 26.50 - 0. They lost the handle after the early Sunday games and trailed 98.50 - 86.00. After the late Sunday games, the lead went back the other way 183.00 - 146.00. By the end of the Sunday night game, the lead flipped yet again and Lounging Leopold went up 208.00 - 194.00. Baby Fish Mouth finally took the matchup in a Mondaynight comeback, led by Brandon LaFell with 14.50 points. With this win, Baby Fish Mouth clinches a playoff berth. " First place doesn't change with this win. Leopold still regins supreme at 9-2. But Favre and Zissou (who both won) are breathing in her fur one game back at 8-3. My Baby Fish are solidly in fourth now at 6-5. Lightning lost this week to Favre, but Dave clinches a playoff spot in fifth place, just one game off Baby Fish at 5-6, and with the distinction of having beaten my Baby Fish two weeks ago. Other news from last week is Favre who logged the biggest margin of victory of the week with a 63 point win over Lightning. Though this victory does not win biggest margin for the season, which so far also goes to Favre for a 115 point win over Discount in Week Three. Mosquitoes are in sixth right now and can clinch a playoff spot this week despite playing Leopold. Seventh place Discount would need a win over my Baby Fish and Mosquitoes loss. Likewise, Foamy who plays Favre would be in the same position, though Foamy holds a tie break advantage having logged his second win of the season in a strong 275.5-218 win last week over Discount. Even with either Foamy or Discount winning, I think Mosquitoes are a virtual lock for the sixth spot. Playoffs start Dec. 3rd with six teams, five of which have clinched. Right now, Leopold and Favre would have first round byes with Baby Fish meeting Lightining and Zissou play Mosquitoes (assuming they clinch). But this could change. Zissou has a shot at second. If Leopold were to lose again (unlikely), things could get crazy. Lightning could flip with Baby Fish in the 4th and 5th slots, but this would do little to affect playoffs. As always, I hope you are all having as much fun as I am. New Orleans vs. Atlanta tonight. Make sure the players you active are active and VOTE MATCHUPS before the games are locked down. a KUDLy rapier of punster wit -tower Go to League --Fantasy Football Commissioner http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1

HUZZAH!

I wish the Lions had won. :-(

COUNTDOWN TO THE END OF THE BLOG YEAR - 117 shirts remaining

- chris tower - 1311.24 - 16:15

T-shirt #219: Brooks White Sleeveless with Star Trek shirt and patches

T-shirt #219: Brooks White Sleeveless with Star Trek shirt and patches

Damn weather. It's time to start wearing the warm shirts. Today's T-shirt is a sleeveless, moisture-wicking, athletic shirt made by my favorite shoe company: BROOKS (more on this subject in a minute). The shirt I am wearing over the top of the Brooks shirt is a very warm, chamois shirt made of plush, 100% cotton on which I had stitched (or has stitched for me; I do not sew) two United Federation of Planets patches and a very nice Starship Enterprise patch.

The patches on shirts thing goes back to my senior year of high school and early years of college. I like the look of the patches on the shirts, which convey an official feel, as if I am wearing a uniform or some gear issues by Star Fleet or whatever is featured on the patch. I have several different shirts with various patches. Look for more to be featured in weeks to come.

Eventually, I wore out the shirts on which the patches had been stitched (though one still bears elbow patches attempting to increase its longevity), and then for a long time, I did not have any shirts featuring geeky patches to wear. Once I hit my thirties, and was still single, I was a little hesitant about letting my geek freak flag fly, and so I did not put the patches on new shirts and return to wearing such geek-wear outside the house.

Geek was not as cool in the 1980s or 1990s as it has become today. Geeks had to grow up and mainstream geek. Once comic books were not kid stuff any more, once Star Trek fandom was not fringe culture and open to ridicule, then being geeky became cool. Long before Big Bang Theory made the nerdy and geeky thing so popular, long before Comic Con was a massive popular culture event with a whole issue of Entertainment Weekly devoted to it, some of us were geeking it up, though somewhat in secret.

I addressed this "closet geek" thing in T-shirt #21 and shirts you will not see me wear in public. I also wrote about "the closet" back in T-shirt #166. In regards specifically to Star Trek geekiness and hiding that Trekkie (or Trekker but who are we kidding with the name game here?) rabid fan thing, You may recall that I devoted three of my first fifteen shirts to Star Trek (see list below).

I first addressed this issue about hiding my inner geek all the way back in

T-Shirt #4: Original Star Trek - Command - Gold.

This is another one of those times in which I am in favor of copying and re-presentation. Back in the first weeks of the blog, I had not figured out what I wanted the blog to be and how it would function, how I would present content. Check out how shirt it is! Of course, by T-shirt #13 I had figured out how to extend the content to mammoth proportions.

Monday, March 25, 2013

T-Shirt #4: Original Star Trek - Command - Gold

T-Shirt #4: Original Star Trek - Command - Gold

Star Trek! One of those Facebook ads that show up because the social web 2.0 knows I love Star Trek snared me. Now that I am married, I am a lot more comfortable showing my true geek self. Not that I was all that shy about it before I got married. But there was quite a bit of hiding my in the closet, so to speak. I think the "closet" comparison is somewhat apt, not to minimize the way the term is usually applied, which is far more serious. Now, I am more comfortable with who I am. Also , geek (or nerd, if you prefer) has become cool. I always loved these uniforms. Once the ad caught me in its trap, I sprung for the blue and red ones, too. Damn. "Now, would be a good time to beam me up, Scotty..." - 1303.25 9:25

Star Trek has been featured on the blog nine times now, counting today. The list via the Blogger links is worth re-presenting if you, dear reader, wish to perform some exploration. There's quite a variety of subjects here and have fun if you wish to visit or re-visit these. T-shirt #118 helped me write about the Trayvon Martin case and in T-shirt #131 I wrote about classic 1980s arcade games and the awesome Ready Player One.

T-Shirt #4: Original Star Trek - Command - Gold

T-shirt #11: Star Trek Science Officer

T-shirt #13: The Unlucky Red Shirt

T-shirt #39: The UFP symbol: United Federation of Planets

T-shirt #72: Science Blue STNG

T-shirt #81: Starship Enterprise Schematics

T-shirt #118: WWKD: What Would Kirk Do?

T-shirt #131: Starfleet Academy

The content on being geeky and in the geek closet would be enough content for one blog post. I am trying to limit my sometimes gargantuan content and keep things focused and limited.

However, last night I reviewed a production of "The War of the Worlds," the original radio drama from 1938, created by Orson Welles. The show was very good. Expect my review soon.

This show put me in mind of Jeff Wayne's impressive and ground-breaking, progressive rock adaptation of this HG Wells science fiction classic. I found the entire album on You Tube but can't seem to bring up the video here, so this is just the first cut. It's worth checking out. Narration was by Richard Burton.

No one would have believed that in the last years of the 19th century that human affairs where being watched from the timeless worlds of space. No one could have dreamed we were being scrutinized as someone with a microscope studies creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water. Few have even considered the possibility of life on other planets, and yet across the gulf of space, minds immeasurably superior to ours regarded this Earth with envious eyes and slowly and surely, they drew their plans against us.

War Of The Worlds (1978) - Jeff Wayne (Disc 1)

Who's ultra geeky now, huh?

- chris tower - 1310.26 - 16:21

POSTSCRIPT - I am a Brooks shoes guy. I always wear Brooks, and now with my foot problems, I need to stay in neutral cushion shoes; Brooks makes excellent neutral cushion shoes. But I decided to make a switch to Saucony as my outdoor shoes for this season. I tend to need to change shoes once a season (every three months). I decided to give Saucony a try as it had a Goretex shoe, which is water resistant, and I had a pair of Saucony many years ago which I dearly loved.

I was assured that Saucony had returned to excellence as I had not liked their shoes at all in recent years, and so I am giving them a try. So far so good.

Here's my anal shoe thing: I have to be in shoes all the time as I have orthotics. So, I have indoor shoes, regular outdoor shoes, and several old pairs for rainy days and work outside and such. Usually when I buy a new pair, I rotate: the current indoor shoes become the new outdoor shoes, and the new shoes become the new indoor shoes.

I bought the Brooks' Glycerins recently, so I decided to keep those as the indoor shoes and move the Saucony shoes to the outdoor shoe as soon as I give them an indoor test drive to make sure I am going to like them. Test drive is almost over, and I am nearly convinced that the Saucony shoes are keepers.

Just a little extra Brooks-related content. And my ultra-geek nature hits new heights (or lows, depending on your perspective).

T-shirt #191 - Centrals Society

T-shirt #191 - Centrals Society

Greetings. I am leaving on a jet plane for Hawaii later today.

The next ten blog posts may all be "hiatus" posts.

I am auto-scheduling at least three days of posts this morning.

I may update from Hawaii, and then, I may not.


I suspect that I will have many pictures, and time permitting, I suspect that there will be updates. But I promise nothing. It may all have to wait until I get back.

This shirt is hardly a unique design for which I cannot take complete credit. But it was my idea to create a shirt like this one (themed on so many other shirts of this style) for our Centrals tournaments and sell them at our 2000 tournament.

Aloha!!

- chris tower - 1309.28 - 6:04

T-shirt #110: Smallville Athletics

T-shirt #110: Smallville Athletics or Ten Reasons I loved Superman: The Man of Steel

I saw Superman: The Man of Steel on Sunday July 7th.

After seeing the film, I was contemplating buying a Superman shirt so I could write about the film until I remembered that though I may not own a traditional blue, red, and yellow shirt, I do have some more Superman-themed clothing, such as this fine garment in the same vein of the faux athletics style as featured in T-shirt #108 for the Powers Division. I claimed that I owned more of these, didn't I? I had not intended to post another one so soon, though.

My friend and fellow blogger Charles Skaggs lent Superman: The Man of Steel his "Charlesish" review of the film the day it came out. Find it at this link: DAMN GOOD MOVIES. I barely made it to Iron Man 3 before it left town. Still, I feel ahead of the game in catching the Superman film three weeks after its debut. Oh, for those days when I used to catch films on the day they came out!

Charles in his Charlesish-way ranks Superman: The Man of Steel fourth on his all time superhero movies list behind Superman (1978), The Dark Knight (2008), and The Avengers (2012). I cannot agree. Not only is the original Superman II (1981) film better than Superman (1978), but Superman: The Man of Steel is better than all five of the previous films (not counting pre-1970s fare) put together and well shaken (not stirred). (Yes, I like to mix pop culture metaphors.)

SPOILER ALERT!!
If you do not wish to learn things about the film, stop reading now.

TEN REASONS TO LOVE Superman: The Man of Steel

1. JOR-EL KICKS ASS! No wimpy Jor-El who stands by, arms at his side, as cold as the set looks, pleading the case of Krypton to some big floating heads. Yes, Brando was great. I doubted that Russell Crowe could be as good. Aided by a great script and a better dramatic sequence on the home planet, Crowe was better. We see Jor-El stand up for his principles. We see Jor-El escape Zod's coup before he is taken prisoner in the council chambers. Jor-El shows off how buff and athletic he is as he dives into the Genesis Chamber and takes the Codex. Then, back at his observatory home, he beats the crap out of Zod, humiliating the general, until the evil and quite psychotic Zod sucker stabs Jor-El. Though Jor-El dies, he has bought time for Lara to launch the rocket that will take Kal-El to earth. This whole sequence plays out MUCH BETTER than the original 1978 film with plenty of action; Jor-El is no slouch when it comes to combat (and neither is his son as we see later on).

2. KRYPTON IS COOL! Gone are the crusty, Styrofoam-looking, ice sculptures of the 1978 movie. And though the floating heads and Phantom Zone projector were the coolest part of Old Krypton, this upgrade re-envisions both beautifully as well as giving the planet a retro-fit and much needed face lift. Krypton is great because of its mix of technology and futuristic gizmos as well as beasts with ancient lineage, one of which Jor-El rides through a combat zone! The Kryptonian world and technology (mainly used by Zod and company) finally seem to get Krypton and Kryptonians right.

3. A NATURAL BIRTH: Comic book fans of all the different remediated Superman origins over the years (principally the 1980s work of John Byrne) are acquainted with the uber-sciencey, sexless, suited-up Kryptonians of Kal-El's homeworld. We all know that Kal-El is special because he was a natural birth, but here the creative team (Goyer, Nolan, and Snyder) actually SHOW the live birth with the wonderful Ayelet Zurer (Lara-El) screaming her head off as she gives birth because, apparently, for all their technology the Kryptonians did not solve the dilemma of painful, vaginal birth (or maybe Lara did not want to seek a solution). All in all, regardless of the reasoning, the sequence is VERY COOL.

4. CHILDHOOD TOLD IN FLASHBACK: Often in Superman movies (at least the first one) viewers have to sit through all the Krypton stuff followed by Clark Kent's growing up years in Smallville. Goyer, Nolan, and Snyder realize that most people know the story of the childhood in Kansas, and so after the Krypton sequence, Superman: The Man of Steel  jumps right into the action as Clark (Kal-El) is a grown man trying to figure out who he is and how he should help people. We are treated to a series of heroic deeds, in which Clark works anonymously and backs down from direct confrontation (such as in a bar scene in which a beer is dumped on his head). The key elements of his childhood are told via flashback mixed throughout the movie, culminating in how Jonathan Kent sacrifices himself to preserve Clark's secret identity and powers. This sequencing is possibly the smartest, wisest, and best choice for the film and one of the reasons it is so successful.

5. FLYING SAVED FOR RIGHT MOMENT: We watch Clark wander the world seeking his identity and his role, and most importantly, seeking the answer to the question:  "if I am from the stars, then where am I from?" There is sufficient build up to Clark finding answers in an 18,000 year old Kryptonian scout ship (future Fortress of Solitude), which runs the AI in the command key Jor-El placed in the capsule that brought Kal-El to earth. A hologram of his father gives him his suit, bearing the El crest. We learn that the El crest, which looks like an English "S," means "hope," which is very appropriate for the film's message. Donning the special suit, (which seems as indestructible as he is), Clark tests his last untried power: flight. The sequence provides the act one-act two climax that the film needs.

6. AMAZING BATTLES (NOT TOO MUCH CGI): When I walked out of the theater, I said the film was "fucking awesome." My wife, who kept confusing the film's title as "Batman," thought there were too many fight scenes. Ivan, Olivia, and I joked with Liesel that saying a superhero film has too many fight scenes or scenes of fighting that go on for too long is like going to a slasher film and complaining that too many people get killed. Though she may have a point that the film could have been five or ten minutes shorter with a little less battle (which could be added to the DVD releases), the CGI is not so completely crazy with spinning and bobbing cameras that you can ACTUALLY SEE WHAT IS GOING ON, unlike a lot of CGI fests.

7. CASTING: All around great casting. Laurence Fishburne as Perry White. Antje Traue as Faora (the comparable character from Superman II is Ursa), Christopher Meloni as Colonel Hardy, Richard Schiff as Dr. Emil Hamilton (who is a core character in the Superman mythology but may have already been killed off), and I already mentioned the Els, Jor and Lara. But the best two casting choices are Michael Shannon as General Zod and Henry Cavill as Clark Kent/Superman. Superb!

8. THE KENTS - SUPERMAN'S HEARTACHE: I was a bit leery of Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent, but he delivers an impeccable performance. And Diane Lane, who is a gifted actress, delivers a warm and beautiful version of Martha Kent. But most importantly, there are key scenes with Clark and his father leading up to Jonathan Kent sacrificing himself to a mammoth tornado so that his son can keep his super powers a secret. It's a brilliant scene and gives Clark the extra tragic past he needs to round out his character and make him less cardboard.

9. KILLING ZOD: Further rounding occurs for Clark Kent/Superman when he is faced with an impossible decision at the end of the film. Either he keeps to his "no killing" policy or he lets humans be killed by Zod's heat vision. In a nod to the classic Superman #22 by John Byrne, Kal-El chooses to snap Zod's neck and thus executing him.

10. "ON MY TERMS." The film ends with Clark assuming his bespectacled identity at the Daily Planet. Right before that final scene, he drops a crushed surveillance drone at the feet of the General Swanwick (Harry Lennix) and tells him and the whole human race that if he is to help, it "has to be on my terms." Excellent!

PS: Battlestar Galactica fans alert! Alessandro Juliana (Felix Gaeta) makes an appearance. This is also amusing since he played Dr. Emil Hamilton in Smallville, the TV show.

FEW MINOR NEGATIVES



LOIS LANE: Nothing against Amy Adams, but she is not Lois.

Here I will quote Charles Skaggs: "Amy Adams was an interesting choice for Lois, especially since her previous Superman experience was portraying fat-sucking vampire Jodi Melville in the first season of Smallville.  Her introduction into the film is strong, with a great line about "comparing dicks" when she's confronted by self-important military officers.  It's a shame we don't get to see much of Lois being a reporter in the movie's second half, but there's an interesting dynamic to explore with her already being aware of Clark's dual identity" ("Man of Steel review, DAMN GOOD MOVIES, 2013).

My take? As delightful as Adams is, she is NOT Lois Lane any more than Margot Kidder or Kate Bosworth, as much as each of them is cool in her own right. It's an issue with physicality. THIS art image from John Byrne's Superman is LOIS LANE. This follows with the same reasoning as to why KIRSTEN DUNST is not MARY JANE WATSON. Dunst is just as talented as Adams. Neither is right for the role. I am a type casting Nazi when it comes to characters in superhero movies. Though, I must admit, I LOVED Erica Durance as Lois Lane and Krisin Kreuk as Lana Lang in Smallville even though they are physically speakign against type, so I am not a total Nazi. Still, Lois is a brunette. Period.

WHY CAN'T THEY LEAVE KRYPTON?

I just don't get it.

We are told that the Kryptonians colonized the galaxy (or a neighboring galaxy?) for 100,000 years, AND YET, with all their technology, all their advances, and with their planetary core collapsing, why can't they leave Krypton? This is never well explained. There are some vague and abstract statements like "everyone on Krypton is already dead" and something about their fates being tied to the planet, but there is no good reason why more of them (or all of them) could not evacuate the planet. The explanation seems to be: they didn't leave, so they cannot leave.

Um

yeah,

right.

WHAT'S WITH THE "RICH" ATMOSPHERE?? The comic books have NEVER mentioned that our atmosphere had ANYTHING to do with Superman's super powers. It was all due to the sun. He's a big solar battery. This element seems to be added so loss of special breathing apparatus can give the other Kryptonians instant powers that confuse them. SIGH.

WHERE'S THE SCOUT SHIP? During the big and long epic battle sequences as Kal-El is trying to stop the World Engine from terra-forming the planet and wiping out the human race, we see the 18,000 year old Kryptonian scout ship take off from its landing spot in the arctic and ... (unless I missed it) ...
DO NOTHING.

Huh?

NO APOLOGY FOR ALL THE DESTRUCTION: Given that Superman is trying to win the trust and approval of the human race, a little apology for all the destruction and likely the massive casualties in Metropolis as a result of the huge battle (though we do not see any, surely, they happened) would have been nice. It only takes a minute to be polite and considerate. It fits with Clark Kent's upbringing. Manners matter.
Not that Kal-El was at fault for the massive destruction, but certainly there would have been less of it had he not been FIGHTING OTHER KRYPTONIANS. Just sayin'.

NO JIMMY - NEXT FILM? I am cool with there being no Jimmy Olsen in this film BECAUSE that means that we could be treated to MORE JACK KIRBY THEMED MATERIAL for which his estate is not compensated at all. Project Cadmus? The Forever People? New Gods? The Fourth World? Prelude to Darkseid being the Big Bad in the Justice League movie?

This prospect could be summarized in two words: "fucking awesome."

Damn. I loved this film so much that I may have to go see the 3D IMAX show.

- chris tower - 1307.09 - 9:47

T-shirt #108: Powers Division

T-shirt #108: Police Athletics: Powers Division: Grilling and more

Here again in Blog Central, things are changing and always in flux. After two days (July 4th and 5th) of going completely nuts with long, drum solo, "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" -style, lengthy blog entries, I am trying to dial it back. Yesterday, I sketched out the next week's worth of blog entries (#s 108-113), but then things happened, such as grilling some steaks: change of plan.

This picture comes from yesterday about 19:30. Piper's friends from college are here to celebrate her birthday. Adding her boyfriend and Ivan's girlfriend to our group, I was grilling for eight people. Piper and Olivia were handling potatoes and zucchini indoors, so I was grilling on the deck, while listening to the Detroit Tigers pound the Cleveland Indians 9-4. Now, as I compose today's blog entry, I am watching Andy Murray play (and I hope beat) Novak Djokovic in a live TV broadcast from Wimbeldon. GO MURRAY!

This shirt is one of those fictional creations for what would be available to the characters if the Powers Police Division actually existed and provided employees who work out with Athletics shirts. I am rather fond of these faux Athletics Division type shirts, so expect to see others. However, I am not as crazy about this comic or this shirt, so it's perfect for grilling. I don't care if it gets soiled.


Powers is a fine comic by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming published as part of Marvel Comics' Icon imprint after leaving Image Comics. It was launched in 2000 and has published around 70 issues so far. I bought some of the collected editions and enjoyed the "Who Killed Retro Girl" storyline and some of the other stories. But it's just not one of my most highly rated comic books even though many others love it.

The dinner was very successful. After grilling these round steaks, which do look a little pale, I grilled chicken drumsticks. The grill did well with fewer flare ups than in the past, though as you can see I have the water bottle handy. Also, in this shot (above), you can see the "Official Tower Grilling Table" given to me by my Dad, the Big Guy. There are grilling implements on the table and on the deck below is the box in which I keep them and the corner of a Frisbee that I use to keep them covered and dry. This is only my second time grilling this year. I am not as proficient as my father, but I did manage to grill without burning anything to a crisp.


After dinner and cleaning up, Liesel and I watched Identity (2003)  with John Cusak, Ray Liotta, Amanda Peet, and more. It's a good twist on the slasher type film and was a good and relatively short end to the day.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

Closing today with various random thoughts.

A friend of Liesel's brought us yummy pumpkin bread yesterday in exchange for a gift. Piper also made yummy cookies in the middle of the night. Luckily, we are running our bedroom fans on high for plenty of white noise.

I find that I am noticing other people's T-shirts more and more as I am out shopping. On two different occasions yesterday, I was tempted to ask strangers if I could ask them about their T-shirts and maybe take a picture. One kid had a "Sub Rosa" T-shirt. Was this for a game? A brand? Or was it for the concept itself ("under the rose")?

I realized after finishing yesterday's set of lists that I had not provided a list of comics I would recommend and have enjoyed recently. But then, I probably write about comic books too much, and you are all sick of hearing about them. When I was in Fanfare yesterday, I sung the praises of Green Arrow (which I have sung here), Captain America (ditto), and others that I have not praised here or not praised at length, such as Hawkeye, Daredevil, Aquaman, Iron Man, and Thor. The Matt Fraction and Aja Hawkeye is freaking brilliant, especially the most recent "Pizza Dog" story. As a new dog person, I loved that story especially. I also noted to the employees that I was distracting from work with chat that I had just caught up on Detective Comics recently and found it to be much better than I expected.

As of right now, I have T-shirts 108 (today) through #115 (next Sunday) planned and drafted. I am tempted to make a "Coming Soon on 365 T-shirts" list, but since I keep changing my mind (as I did by inserting today's shirt) and I think that the unexpected nature of the blog is better, I will refrain.

But you tell me. I am always whoring myself out for comments and attention.

Previews or no previews?

Another hesitation I have for previews is that I have had an entry in the works for about 20 days, and I keep pushing it back. It's currently scheduled for #114, if I do not push it back again. I have mentioned that it is upcoming twice already if you need further hints as to its identity.

My page views are on the rise. I peaked at near fifty views twice last week. Granted several of these views are blog-rating bots, but still, they are views. I know that most of my readers come from Facebook and Twitter, and yet my top traffic sources are blogsrating, vampirestat.com, and google.


I really want Murray to win Wimbeldon.

I want to see the Tigers sweep the Indians. I am ecstatic that after some recent losing struggles, the Tigers have exploded for 40 runs during the recent five-game winning streak. I hope I did not just jinx them with these hopes.

I just finished reading the first issue of Comic Book Creator magazine with great articles about Jack Kirby (which I have mentioned before), Alex Ross, Kurt Busiek, and an interview with the legendary Dennis O'Neill and Neal Adams. I think I may subscribe.

I want to see the Superman movie. That may have to happen today.

I may grill again today. I had a beer and a mixed bourbon drink yesterday. Today may need to be whisky, single malt, straight. My wife bought me a nifty Robert Burns branded whisky (though a blend) for Father's Day. It is very yummy. I do not discriminate against blends. It is pictured here from the day I chose to sample it for the first time: June 30th, 2013 (two days after I received it).

This is my wish for all of you as well: drink scotch, single-malt whisky.

- chris tower - 1307.07 - 10:29