Yet another very slow week,
Countdown
Spiderman
and
and
and
nothing else (do you like the build up for the word nothing.. Damn i love the drama the intrigue the fucking anxiousness).
Actually i was supposed to get The Flash but Diamond forgot to send them to my LCS. Seriously If i was a company that just filled this very small (lets admit it folks our hobby is not this huge thing anymore) niche market i would really try not to fuck up as much as i do. This is why competition is good. I am sure that if there were two distributors a good number of LCS's would jump ship (i truly am speaking out my ass here but i have a keyboard in front of me so that means i know what I am talking about). The amount of times that Diamond has Fucked up my stores shipment is amazing. I was also talking to a friend that gets his comics his comics from Midtown in NYC. This is one of the biggest comic shops in the country. One week Diamond seriously shorted them on Countdown. I mean if you cannot get your major accounts right how the fuck can the little guy expect to get things when they come out.
Oh Well
Talk to you later
TJ
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
My Next Major purchase
OK Folks being that this is my blog and i can talk about anything i fucking want i am going to talk about the next major purchase in my life.
I am jumping off the PC bandwagon folks. I am going to be getting an iMac once my refund check arrives. (the tax credits you get for having a kid are amazing).
Here is my dilemma. I could get a bright shiny new iMac with a 320 gb HD, 256mb ATI 2600 pro Video card, 1gb RAM (more on this later), and a 20" screen for5 $1499 plus tax and i think i will get the applecare as well. Or I can get a refurb 24" with the same configuration for the same price.
My buddy Dave and I were in a mall on Sunday looking at the two screens and he convinced me that there was no reason to buy the 24". I really just looked obnoxious. But the more i think about, i am an obnoxious type of guy. i love to have bigger (fuck man I'm Irish i need to compensate for small with all my major purchases)(in case that flew past your head yes this will be an extension of my penis). I can Upgrade the Ram (still more info to come) I can upgrade the HD with an external one but you cannot really upgrade the screen size on an imac unless you want to connect a second screen (which even for me would be bawdy and excessive).
So i ask all my readers which would you go with? Are there any mac users in my reading audience (Ali i know you are) that can give some advice. Also would any of you recommend any of the dummy books for switching from PC to OS X. I truly have no clue what i am doing.
Now to the teased RAM bit. Apple only puts in 1GB sticks in the machine. I really want at least 2GB and was going to have apple do this as I am all thumbs when i comes to this shit. So i was looking at their pricing and saw that they were charging $100 bucks for a 1GB stick. OK what ever if i want it i want it right.
Well after a little research i find that i can basically get a 4GB kit from reputable online sources for Roughly the same price. What the fuck does apple think i am a fucking moron. Who the hell would pay for them to put in a 1GB stick when you can get 400% more for the same cost.
Oh well if any of you have nay advise please let me know.
Talk to you later,
TJ
I am jumping off the PC bandwagon folks. I am going to be getting an iMac once my refund check arrives. (the tax credits you get for having a kid are amazing).
Here is my dilemma. I could get a bright shiny new iMac with a 320 gb HD, 256mb ATI 2600 pro Video card, 1gb RAM (more on this later), and a 20" screen for5 $1499 plus tax and i think i will get the applecare as well. Or I can get a refurb 24" with the same configuration for the same price.
My buddy Dave and I were in a mall on Sunday looking at the two screens and he convinced me that there was no reason to buy the 24". I really just looked obnoxious. But the more i think about, i am an obnoxious type of guy. i love to have bigger (fuck man I'm Irish i need to compensate for small with all my major purchases)(in case that flew past your head yes this will be an extension of my penis). I can Upgrade the Ram (still more info to come) I can upgrade the HD with an external one but you cannot really upgrade the screen size on an imac unless you want to connect a second screen (which even for me would be bawdy and excessive).
So i ask all my readers which would you go with? Are there any mac users in my reading audience (Ali i know you are) that can give some advice. Also would any of you recommend any of the dummy books for switching from PC to OS X. I truly have no clue what i am doing.
Now to the teased RAM bit. Apple only puts in 1GB sticks in the machine. I really want at least 2GB and was going to have apple do this as I am all thumbs when i comes to this shit. So i was looking at their pricing and saw that they were charging $100 bucks for a 1GB stick. OK what ever if i want it i want it right.
Well after a little research i find that i can basically get a 4GB kit from reputable online sources for Roughly the same price. What the fuck does apple think i am a fucking moron. Who the hell would pay for them to put in a 1GB stick when you can get 400% more for the same cost.
Oh well if any of you have nay advise please let me know.
Talk to you later,
TJ
Monday, March 17, 2008
All Star Batman & Robin #9
Today's review is All Star Batman and robin #9
In case you live under a fucking rock or don't read comics (why the fuck are you reading my blog) this book is written by Frank Miller and Drawn by Jim Lee
The art is amazing. Seriously i have a lot of anger towards Jim Lee. The man is never on time. He cannot do more then one book at a time. I mean holy fuck WildC.A.Ts #1 came out in November 2006 and we have yet to see #2. A sixteen month delay fucking blows and not the good type of blows that you pay $100 for in the meat packing district (i believe it is now known as Chelsea so the fucking yuppies will buy real estate and make all of NYC out of the price of any normal human being). This is the type of blows you get for putting you foot under the bathroom stall (unless you are in to that sort of thing). Where the fuck was I, oh yeah the art. The art in this book is amazingly good. Jim lee can draw a fucking book. Is it worth the wait? Probably not but i have waited and i am going to finish this book to the end.
The writing (and i am writing about this issue only) was great. it seemed a little less edgier. Miller has finally shown that Batman has some sort of heart. He didn't write the Green Lantern as a Huge Vag like he did in previous issues. This time he was just a small teen vag.
The story for this issue centered mainly on robin. Batman and robin are interviewing Green lantern and Hal says somethings that offend Marv...oh shit I mean Batman... and Robin goes crazy on his ass, putting him inches to death. It is at this point that batman seems to realize that he has gone about things a little wrong. He then stops robin and begins to teach him that this is not how we should do things.
The one thing that made me ecstatic about this book was the omission of the word God Damn (i guess two words). Every other issue has batman calling himself "the God Damn Batman" repeatedly almost to the point that you think that Miller has forgotten to write any other word. The simple Leaving out of this phrase in this issue was a breath of fresh air and made me want to read it again.
I cannot recommend this book to everyone but if you are up to this issue then why not stick around for the last 3. i mean we will probably see them in 2012.
Talk to you later,
TJ
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
My Haul
This could quite possible be the smallest post in my short history
My Haul this week is
Spiderman
Countdown
yep thats it folks. i couldn't spend money even if i tried.
I am not currently buying trades because of the wildpig sale going on at the end of the month and i really didn't need anything else.
Oh well i will try to spend more money later
Talk to you later
TJ
My Haul this week is
Spiderman
Countdown
yep thats it folks. i couldn't spend money even if i tried.
I am not currently buying trades because of the wildpig sale going on at the end of the month and i really didn't need anything else.
Oh well i will try to spend more money later
Talk to you later
TJ
My problem with countdown
OK People. i know a lot of you have jumped off of countdown. i have convinced some to stay (kevin I'm looking at you big guy) and they are happy they did.
The writing has been fantastic. The story is really picking up and i believe editorial has listened to everyone and really changed the pace from "the spine of the DCU" to the 52 style "here are some b+ character that are very important to this story and we are just going to talk about them". OK fanboys don't get you superman undies in a bunch. i know Kyle Rayner, Darkseid, Ray Palmer, et al are not the b listers we saw in 52 but they are still not the cream of the crop characters. Hell Rayner is not even the third best GL. (i know i will take a beating for that one but my fucking forum name is gardnerisgod).
My problem lies withing the art (and sometimes editorials decision with it). I have liked not loved the art in almost every issue (except i think maybe 10(?) where i threw up in my mouth a little bit). What my problem is is that it seems to me that the artist have a grasp on most of the characters but there is always one that when i first see them i have to ask myself "who the fuck is that?".
I just finished issue 8 in the car at work this morning and jimmy olson looked fucking ridiculous. I am a fan of Magno's art for everyone else. That motherfucker can draw a mean Ray Palmer but holy fuck this guy is one of the main artist on this book and he still cannot grasp how to draw Olsen. When i saw the first panel with him in it i was thinking to myself " I am reading an old issue of the Newsboy legion and Olsen is 12". He truly looked like a pre pubescent little boy. I mean for Christ sake this guy is one of the Top photographers of a Major Newspaper. There is no way he just hit puberty last week.
And before any artist get mad at me i know ding group books like this are hard and especially if you are not the only artist. I don't expect everyone to look the same as each artist has their own style and That is something i love. Hell if each artist looked the same then we wouldn't go crazy looking for sketches and original pieces. But for fucks sake can you at least make the kid the right age.
Well that is my rant for now. Back later with my haul. (I've checked what i am getting already and that post should be very small.
TJ
The writing has been fantastic. The story is really picking up and i believe editorial has listened to everyone and really changed the pace from "the spine of the DCU" to the 52 style "here are some b+ character that are very important to this story and we are just going to talk about them". OK fanboys don't get you superman undies in a bunch. i know Kyle Rayner, Darkseid, Ray Palmer, et al are not the b listers we saw in 52 but they are still not the cream of the crop characters. Hell Rayner is not even the third best GL. (i know i will take a beating for that one but my fucking forum name is gardnerisgod).
My problem lies withing the art (and sometimes editorials decision with it). I have liked not loved the art in almost every issue (except i think maybe 10(?) where i threw up in my mouth a little bit). What my problem is is that it seems to me that the artist have a grasp on most of the characters but there is always one that when i first see them i have to ask myself "who the fuck is that?".
I just finished issue 8 in the car at work this morning and jimmy olson looked fucking ridiculous. I am a fan of Magno's art for everyone else. That motherfucker can draw a mean Ray Palmer but holy fuck this guy is one of the main artist on this book and he still cannot grasp how to draw Olsen. When i saw the first panel with him in it i was thinking to myself " I am reading an old issue of the Newsboy legion and Olsen is 12". He truly looked like a pre pubescent little boy. I mean for Christ sake this guy is one of the Top photographers of a Major Newspaper. There is no way he just hit puberty last week.
And before any artist get mad at me i know ding group books like this are hard and especially if you are not the only artist. I don't expect everyone to look the same as each artist has their own style and That is something i love. Hell if each artist looked the same then we wouldn't go crazy looking for sketches and original pieces. But for fucks sake can you at least make the kid the right age.
Well that is my rant for now. Back later with my haul. (I've checked what i am getting already and that post should be very small.
TJ
Friday, March 7, 2008
RASL #1
Today's Review (hopefully first of a couple but lets not get ahead of ourselves) is RASL#1:
This book is written and drawn by Jeff Smith.
First the Art. Man do I love Jeff Smith's art. It has a simple style that is amazing. One of the things that i noticed in Bone and also somewhat in this is that his character images are a little simplistic (I'm sure that they are not easy to draw but they seem that way) but the contrast of these simple lines with the backgrounds that he draws is amazing. I have not read Shazam and the Monster Society of Evil (i heard there is some allegorical political stuff in there that really would not mesh with my ideals) but i am still thinking of picking it up just to look at his art.
The Writing is pretty good for a first issue. Not a lot of dialogue and it is mostly told in narration boxes. For some reason i am always drawn to books like this. It gives you a little info on the main character and it is enough to draw you in. The only complaint i have (and man is it minute) is i think a little more could have been offered to the reader. I was left wondering a little too much when i finished this story. for a first issue of a completely new story you really need to through the readers a bone on what kind of story you are going to tell.
The story is centered around an art thief named RASL i think ( i don't believe they ever actually come out and tell you that). He is talking about how all this thievery used to be hard before he tapped into the drift. The drift is kind of explained as a way to jump through inter dimensional worlds. (again a little more info would have been nice). We next see him on what looks like a normal world and entering a bar where he needs to combat how tired he is after the "Jump". While in the Bar he see something strange in the Juke Box that makes him realise he is not on the right dimension. After this a lizard creature comes in and begins to shoot at him. He runs and goes to a roof top where it is kind of explained that Drifting takes a lot out of you and there is no way you can do it twice in a day.
This book Just misses being perfect. I am looking forward to the next one and hopefully things will be explained.
Talk to you all later
TJ
Thursday, March 6, 2008
My Haul
Hi Everyone. Well after my huge apology and saying that i will be more active on the blog i go away for another three weeks. Truth be told i was on vacation for three weeks to spend time with my daughter. I found out the great thing about babies. they sleep a shitload and that means daddy can play a ton of Video games. I am now addicted to Call of Duty and Halo. Online play is quite amazing and addicting. More on this sleeping thing later first to the comics I bought this week.
I didn't get to go out the the shop last week so this is two weeks worth of shit.
Action Comics 862
All Star Batman 9
Batman 674
Detective Comics 842 (anyone think i will be sick of batman after this week is up)
Countdown 9 &8 (i was so tired when i was reading these that i almost read them out of order Fuck you DC with your backwards numbering)
Green lantern 28
Amazing Spiderman 552
The Boys 16
Well so my wife Was home with Katie for 12 weeks. My child likes to scream a lot and i was very stressed out about watching her. We were following this book called the happiest baby on the block that insisted that we needed to do these things called the 5 S's (Side, Swaddle, Sssh, Shake, Sucker punch oooops i mean Suck). The thing is Katie seemed to hate this but would calm down eventually and fall asleep. We thought it was because these 5 S's were working. So my wife had to put up with this like i said for twelve weeks. Oh have I mentioned that when My child is unhappy there is no crying just all out screaming like we were ripping her arm out by the socket. My wife was stressed and actually happy to get back to work.
No Comes my first day with her. I'm taking acre of her all morning and holding her and feeding her like any good papa would do well fast forward to noon and she is screaming bloody murder at me. I am hungry and decide I'm not putting up with this shit any longer I'm going to put her in the bed screaming and Have a Cigarette and make myself a Tuna Sandwich.
About half way through the Tuna Sandwich i sense something that i haven't sensed all morning. Quiet! Turns out she put herself to sleep. I am happy about this (after checking on her of course to make sure she is OK). She then proceeds to sleep for three hours. i tell my wife and she doesn't believe me. So that night instead of destroying our nerves we put Katie Down without any S's (well that is a lie we still swaddle her.... the moron doesn't realise her arms are at her sides and sometimes she will punch herself in her sleep and wake herself up. I mean c'mon Katie you act like such a baby oh wait!!!) So she resist for a little bit but me and my wife go into the living room and low and behold 5 minutes later the crying stops she is asleep and she actually sleeps for 10 hours through the night. It has been like this ever since.
So I am a happy father and Life was fantastic during those three weeks.
Talk to you all later in the day probably
TJ
I didn't get to go out the the shop last week so this is two weeks worth of shit.
Action Comics 862
All Star Batman 9
Batman 674
Detective Comics 842 (anyone think i will be sick of batman after this week is up)
Countdown 9 &8 (i was so tired when i was reading these that i almost read them out of order Fuck you DC with your backwards numbering)
Green lantern 28
Amazing Spiderman 552
The Boys 16
Well so my wife Was home with Katie for 12 weeks. My child likes to scream a lot and i was very stressed out about watching her. We were following this book called the happiest baby on the block that insisted that we needed to do these things called the 5 S's (Side, Swaddle, Sssh, Shake, Sucker punch oooops i mean Suck). The thing is Katie seemed to hate this but would calm down eventually and fall asleep. We thought it was because these 5 S's were working. So my wife had to put up with this like i said for twelve weeks. Oh have I mentioned that when My child is unhappy there is no crying just all out screaming like we were ripping her arm out by the socket. My wife was stressed and actually happy to get back to work.
No Comes my first day with her. I'm taking acre of her all morning and holding her and feeding her like any good papa would do well fast forward to noon and she is screaming bloody murder at me. I am hungry and decide I'm not putting up with this shit any longer I'm going to put her in the bed screaming and Have a Cigarette and make myself a Tuna Sandwich.
About half way through the Tuna Sandwich i sense something that i haven't sensed all morning. Quiet! Turns out she put herself to sleep. I am happy about this (after checking on her of course to make sure she is OK). She then proceeds to sleep for three hours. i tell my wife and she doesn't believe me. So that night instead of destroying our nerves we put Katie Down without any S's (well that is a lie we still swaddle her.... the moron doesn't realise her arms are at her sides and sometimes she will punch herself in her sleep and wake herself up. I mean c'mon Katie you act like such a baby oh wait!!!) So she resist for a little bit but me and my wife go into the living room and low and behold 5 minutes later the crying stops she is asleep and she actually sleeps for 10 hours through the night. It has been like this ever since.
So I am a happy father and Life was fantastic during those three weeks.
Talk to you all later in the day probably
TJ
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
My Haul
OK People I have been very lax in getting things up here. I just have not had the time to read that much and i try not to review to many things because i do not want to spoil that much.
Anyway here is my pick up this week:
Countdown
Amazing Spiderman
Detective Comics
Spawn
Doktor Sleepless
The Boys
Those last two are anbelievably good comics. If you don't read indie books i would suggest you gave those two a try. if you only like capes books then pick up the boys for a whole new take on the genre. If you like science fiction then Doktor Sleepless is something that you will want to read and re read every month.
I also got my DCBS box yesterday and it was the biggest one yet.
The highlights out of this box for me is:
Thirteen Steps (one of my top five books in a while)
The Sword (this takes another top five spot)
and Comics Now Magazine (I mean come on there is a 20pg article on Crisis on infinite earths in it)
I plan on reading a lot more and peosting a lot more in the coming weeks because i will be off from work until the beginning of march. I know i will be spending a lot of time taking care of my daughter but there are naps thank god and i will try to pry my hands off of the XBox controller.
Talk to you later,
TJ
Anyway here is my pick up this week:
Countdown
Amazing Spiderman
Detective Comics
Spawn
Doktor Sleepless
The Boys
Those last two are anbelievably good comics. If you don't read indie books i would suggest you gave those two a try. if you only like capes books then pick up the boys for a whole new take on the genre. If you like science fiction then Doktor Sleepless is something that you will want to read and re read every month.
I also got my DCBS box yesterday and it was the biggest one yet.
The highlights out of this box for me is:
Thirteen Steps (one of my top five books in a while)
The Sword (this takes another top five spot)
and Comics Now Magazine (I mean come on there is a 20pg article on Crisis on infinite earths in it)
I plan on reading a lot more and peosting a lot more in the coming weeks because i will be off from work until the beginning of march. I know i will be spending a lot of time taking care of my daughter but there are naps thank god and i will try to pry my hands off of the XBox controller.
Talk to you later,
TJ
Friday, February 1, 2008
My Haul
Hey all This has been the week from hell:
What i got this week:
Countdown
Batman
Green Lantern
Superpowers
Action comics
Well this week started off with Me being sick on monday Tuesday i found out about Brother Mikes Death, Wednesday was the wake, Thursday the wife threw out her back so i had to go home early to take care of the kid, Today we had an ice storm and i fell at work but not good enough to go home and in the process spilt my starbucks all over myself. Yeah thank god this weeks over.
Oh But the best thing i have ever purchased came yesterday. XBox 360. I want to explain my laziness to all of you. I have been debating to get this system for a while now. I really didn't have the money but i am not responsible so that did not matter to me as long as i could hide the expense from the wife. After talking it over with a bunch of friends who have the system i was still slightly on the fence (but my fat ass was slowly falling towards the side of buying it). Well my birthday came and went i a got enough money to actually buy it and what threw me over the fence was my friend Joe explaining to me that you can turn the console off and on from the controller. Man what a useless fuck i am. It wasn't the great games, The graphics, The sound that sold the system to me but the fact that i didn't have to pick my fat ass off the couch in order to turn the system on. If that is not the epitome of laziness that i don't know what is.
Oh yeah if any of you want to join me on Live my gamertag is mrpalmer420.
Talk to you later
TJ
What i got this week:
Countdown
Batman
Green Lantern
Superpowers
Action comics
Well this week started off with Me being sick on monday Tuesday i found out about Brother Mikes Death, Wednesday was the wake, Thursday the wife threw out her back so i had to go home early to take care of the kid, Today we had an ice storm and i fell at work but not good enough to go home and in the process spilt my starbucks all over myself. Yeah thank god this weeks over.
Oh But the best thing i have ever purchased came yesterday. XBox 360. I want to explain my laziness to all of you. I have been debating to get this system for a while now. I really didn't have the money but i am not responsible so that did not matter to me as long as i could hide the expense from the wife. After talking it over with a bunch of friends who have the system i was still slightly on the fence (but my fat ass was slowly falling towards the side of buying it). Well my birthday came and went i a got enough money to actually buy it and what threw me over the fence was my friend Joe explaining to me that you can turn the console off and on from the controller. Man what a useless fuck i am. It wasn't the great games, The graphics, The sound that sold the system to me but the fact that i didn't have to pick my fat ass off the couch in order to turn the system on. If that is not the epitome of laziness that i don't know what is.
Oh yeah if any of you want to join me on Live my gamertag is mrpalmer420.
Talk to you later
TJ
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
RIP Brother Michael Dwyer
OK Everyone; For those of you looking for my normal vulgarity laced diatribe on why i can't stand the world, you should look away. This is going to be a very heartfelt post.
Many of you just know me as an avatar on a forum; some have met me face to face and all of you I consider friend. Let me give you a little glimpse into my past.
I went to High School at an all boys pseudo-prep school in Lincroft NJ named Christian Brothers Academy. The time I spent at this school I consider the best moments of my life. I have met friends there that I will consider my closest confidants till the day I die (Kevin I am looking at you, you big lug). It was also during these years that i met my best friend even though he didn't go to school there (Dave please take a bow). It was also during these years that I learned all the life lessons that made me for better or worse the man I am today. This school helped me learn the morals and ethics that i still use today and realise things about myself that no where else in this world has been able to teach me.
The two main influences on my life in this school were (and this may surprise even those closest to me as I keep a lot about myself very close to the vest) my sophomore English Teacher Sean Nunan and Brother Mike. Sean Nunan taught me to look outside the exterior of things and really see things for what they are. He taught me not to be afraid to search out the true meaning of things and also that things can mean different things to different people. But this post isn't about him it is about a larger then life individual named Brother Mike.
Brother Mike was the Assistant Principle of Student Affairs at the school while i was there (but i think that title has been changed to sound better because i always knew him as the Dean of Discipline.)
He was always the one you were sent to if you were found doing things that were not good for your image or the image of the school. When I say large then life I mean just that because Brother Mike was a towering individual. He was at least 6 foot something and had to weigh close to 400lbs, but this man seemed to float on air. There were a lot of jokes among students about how Brother Mike didn't have feet under his vestments because it seemed like he just glided to where ever he knew there was going to be trouble. If you were doing something that you ought not to be Brother Mike always seemed to be standing over your shoulder right at the conclusion even though he was no where to bee seen at the beginning.
He was also known for giving very flowery speeches and talking in a lot of metaphor. There was a time when a lot of my fellow classmates where letting their studies fall to the wayside and Brother Mike gave us a speech about how when we entered the academy we were flowers waiting to bloom but how he saw the flowers dieing around him. Over and Over again he would say "Do you remember the beautiful flowers". There was another funny story from the beginning of that semester when he first noticed the drop in grades and he ended his long speech with " There were 69 failures Gentleman ... 69 of them" And he repeated that over and over and being the sophomoric morons that we were all our class could do was crack up every time he would say the word 69.
During my Junior year i started to hang out with the wrong crowd more and more. I was acting like a moron. Getting deeper and deeper into a world that I had no business being in. After Lunch one day Brother Mike took me aside (more like pushed me to the side against a locker) and said to me "Mr. Tunnington.... I would watch the company that you 'hang' out with. People will begin to judge you against those people and i know you are better then that." For this man to take that special interest in me before i was even in deep trouble (at least in the schools eyes) was very moving to me. It was after this point that i began to hang out with the people that are my friends today and left the others behind. It took me awhile to completely rid myself of them but I eventually did and now I have stronger relationships because of it.
Brother Mike,
You may have died not knowing how influential you were to me (hell you were probably influential to every student that walked through those doors.) But I will miss you, big guy. Please know in death that you were loved and highly thought of. Without you I would be a completely different person.
My Prayers go out to your family and to you. May God take you into his arms.
I love you,
TJ
PS If any other readers have brother Mike stories (i really only know of one reader that would) please post them in the comments.
Many of you just know me as an avatar on a forum; some have met me face to face and all of you I consider friend. Let me give you a little glimpse into my past.
I went to High School at an all boys pseudo-prep school in Lincroft NJ named Christian Brothers Academy. The time I spent at this school I consider the best moments of my life. I have met friends there that I will consider my closest confidants till the day I die (Kevin I am looking at you, you big lug). It was also during these years that i met my best friend even though he didn't go to school there (Dave please take a bow). It was also during these years that I learned all the life lessons that made me for better or worse the man I am today. This school helped me learn the morals and ethics that i still use today and realise things about myself that no where else in this world has been able to teach me.
The two main influences on my life in this school were (and this may surprise even those closest to me as I keep a lot about myself very close to the vest) my sophomore English Teacher Sean Nunan and Brother Mike. Sean Nunan taught me to look outside the exterior of things and really see things for what they are. He taught me not to be afraid to search out the true meaning of things and also that things can mean different things to different people. But this post isn't about him it is about a larger then life individual named Brother Mike.
Brother Mike was the Assistant Principle of Student Affairs at the school while i was there (but i think that title has been changed to sound better because i always knew him as the Dean of Discipline.)
He was always the one you were sent to if you were found doing things that were not good for your image or the image of the school. When I say large then life I mean just that because Brother Mike was a towering individual. He was at least 6 foot something and had to weigh close to 400lbs, but this man seemed to float on air. There were a lot of jokes among students about how Brother Mike didn't have feet under his vestments because it seemed like he just glided to where ever he knew there was going to be trouble. If you were doing something that you ought not to be Brother Mike always seemed to be standing over your shoulder right at the conclusion even though he was no where to bee seen at the beginning.
He was also known for giving very flowery speeches and talking in a lot of metaphor. There was a time when a lot of my fellow classmates where letting their studies fall to the wayside and Brother Mike gave us a speech about how when we entered the academy we were flowers waiting to bloom but how he saw the flowers dieing around him. Over and Over again he would say "Do you remember the beautiful flowers". There was another funny story from the beginning of that semester when he first noticed the drop in grades and he ended his long speech with " There were 69 failures Gentleman ... 69 of them" And he repeated that over and over and being the sophomoric morons that we were all our class could do was crack up every time he would say the word 69.
During my Junior year i started to hang out with the wrong crowd more and more. I was acting like a moron. Getting deeper and deeper into a world that I had no business being in. After Lunch one day Brother Mike took me aside (more like pushed me to the side against a locker) and said to me "Mr. Tunnington.... I would watch the company that you 'hang' out with. People will begin to judge you against those people and i know you are better then that." For this man to take that special interest in me before i was even in deep trouble (at least in the schools eyes) was very moving to me. It was after this point that i began to hang out with the people that are my friends today and left the others behind. It took me awhile to completely rid myself of them but I eventually did and now I have stronger relationships because of it.
Brother Mike,
You may have died not knowing how influential you were to me (hell you were probably influential to every student that walked through those doors.) But I will miss you, big guy. Please know in death that you were loved and highly thought of. Without you I would be a completely different person.
My Prayers go out to your family and to you. May God take you into his arms.
I love you,
TJ
PS If any other readers have brother Mike stories (i really only know of one reader that would) please post them in the comments.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
My Haul
Well this is my haul this week (if you can call it that)
Countdown
Amazing spiderman
I was amazed that i only had two issue waiting for me. I would of loved to shop around as these are the weeks that i usually like to buy some trades but thanks to my limited lunch i could only get what was in my box. So not only is my work hurting me but it is now hurting the economy.
Lets look at it like this. If i had a full hour i probably would have picked up two trades that i want. For examples sake that is $40. Now lets say my LCS owner goes to a poker table (he is a bit of a gambler) with that $40 and parlays it to $1000. Now he takes that $1000 and decides to put that in a savings account for his daughter for College. His daughter now takes that money and uses it on a medical degree. With that medical degree she then finds the cure for cancer. My work is in essence stopping the cure for cancer.
(on the other hand what if he loses that $40 to a crackhead at the table who then needs more so he holds up a liquor store. During the hold up he shoots the owner of the store. i guess you can say my work has stopped a murder)
Fuck it it is my blog, My work is Pro Cancer (fitting that i work for a tobacco company).
TJ
Countdown
Amazing spiderman
I was amazed that i only had two issue waiting for me. I would of loved to shop around as these are the weeks that i usually like to buy some trades but thanks to my limited lunch i could only get what was in my box. So not only is my work hurting me but it is now hurting the economy.
Lets look at it like this. If i had a full hour i probably would have picked up two trades that i want. For examples sake that is $40. Now lets say my LCS owner goes to a poker table (he is a bit of a gambler) with that $40 and parlays it to $1000. Now he takes that $1000 and decides to put that in a savings account for his daughter for College. His daughter now takes that money and uses it on a medical degree. With that medical degree she then finds the cure for cancer. My work is in essence stopping the cure for cancer.
(on the other hand what if he loses that $40 to a crackhead at the table who then needs more so he holds up a liquor store. During the hold up he shoots the owner of the store. i guess you can say my work has stopped a murder)
Fuck it it is my blog, My work is Pro Cancer (fitting that i work for a tobacco company).
TJ
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
My new obsession
OK everyone i have a new TV obsession.
Those that know me know i am a reality TV Junkie. I have switched to a brand new obsession on my TV viewing habits.
GHOST SHOWS
Damn have been missing out on these fucking things. I started with the premier of a new show on A&E "Paranormal state". This show follows around the PRS which is a group out of Penn St. The leader of this group is a little weird but he seems on top of his game when it comes to this shit. They get cases and go to peoples houses and conduct what they call "dead time". The frequently enlist the help of other "professionals" such as Medium Chip Coffey and the freaky ass woman that was the demonologist that investigated the Amyttiville horror (i know i am spelling that wrong but i truly do not give a fuck). They also bring in psychologist and counselors for the families as relief for them but also to see if they are the real deal. The thing i really like about this show is the fact that they show them researching the house and the area and give you a little history of the things that went on there that can be causing these activities. The thing that is the negative is that this show and group seem to go into things already with the preconceived notion that the place is "haunted".
The other show that i love is "ghost hunters on Sci Fi network. This show follows and organization called TAPS as they too investigate the paranormal. This group seems a little more sophisticated then the last group with the technology they use. Although they do not go into the history of buildings a land what i do love about this show is the fact that they go into the investigation trying to disprove the paranormal. Grant (one of the founders of the organization) summed it up best when he said that if you go into a place trying to prove it then anything you find can be linked to that but if you go into it trying to disprove then you logically try to put reasons behind some of the occurrences and if you have no explanation then it must be something different.
Paranormal is on A&E on Monday nights and Ghost hunters is on Wednesdays (I think. To tell you the truth when you have a fucking tivo you never really know when the fuck things are on. the magic tivo elves magically deliver my shows to my hard drive .)
Talk to you all later
TJ
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
My Haul
OK This week was a relatively light week
Countdown
Amazing spiderman
Spawn
Flash
Since it was light and my LCS was painfully slow (sometime i really feel bad for the guy because he is that nice of a guy) I picked up Justice league A New Beginning.
This is the trade that collect the first seven issues of the Giffen DeMatteis (bwahaha era) Justice league. This trade was 12.95. DC has decided to put this in Hardcover format for release later this year for the fantastic price of 24.95. Come on people are you that hard up for a fucking hardcover. Seriously, Double the price for a new dust jacket. What kind of asshole does DC think we are.
Oh well i will get back to my nothing day of work while i think about all the trouble i will have with my iPod later tonight.
TJ
Countdown
Amazing spiderman
Spawn
Flash
Since it was light and my LCS was painfully slow (sometime i really feel bad for the guy because he is that nice of a guy) I picked up Justice league A New Beginning.
This is the trade that collect the first seven issues of the Giffen DeMatteis (bwahaha era) Justice league. This trade was 12.95. DC has decided to put this in Hardcover format for release later this year for the fantastic price of 24.95. Come on people are you that hard up for a fucking hardcover. Seriously, Double the price for a new dust jacket. What kind of asshole does DC think we are.
Oh well i will get back to my nothing day of work while i think about all the trouble i will have with my iPod later tonight.
TJ
Rant about my iPod Touch and iTunes
OK people here is another rant about something that i do not know if anyone cares about but like i said before this is my fucking blog so if you do not care then "this is not the post you are looking for" (if you got that reference you are just as big a geek as me.
Yesterday was the big Mac World San Fran. This is where Steve Jobs makes his Keynote address and introduces all the new things going on at apple at the moment. The main thing that i was wanting to hear was the fact that they will be including the iPhone apps to the interface of the Touch. Well i got that but for $20.00. I am going to complain a little bit about that but please note that even though i am I will still be getting them. Come on Steve, $20.00 fucking dollars. I just paid $400 for this fucking thing and the goddamn update is $20.00. New ones that come into the store are going to have these fuckers right on them and i also just read (on www.macrumors.com) that existing ones in stores will be discounted $20.00 to account for the cost of the fucking upgrade. Why are you charging me if you are letting people buy it now for basically nothing. Fuck that pisses me off. Oh well i will pony up because this is what i wanted.(The mail app in particular is sweet so I've been told (more on that later).
So i get home from work yesterday with the intention of starting the whole process. I sometimes forget that i have a child and new responsibilities. Usually on days like this (read before Katie) i would plop in front of my laptop ignore the world including my wife's nagging and go to town downloading and updating. As soon as I walk into the house i am greeted by a fantastically horrible sound (it was the sound of reality crashing into my fucking face) of my baby screaming. To digress a little, much like her father, my little girl does nothing in moderation. there is never just a little whimper. It is always full out screaming like i was beating her with a bat. Seriously we have a cop that lives upstairs from us in our apartment complex and i am surprised that he hasn't called DYFS yet on us because it really does sound like we are doing horrible things to her. But anyway back to my day. So my wife hands me Katie and says "Do you want to change her" like it would be the highlight of my day (and it usually is because with a breastfed baby the most daughter/father time i get right now is on the changing table). So i put her on the table and start to clean her up and then she gets this big fucking smile on her face and shoots shit right into my fucking hand. I had a hand full of piss and shit and she is happier then i have ever seen her. It is quite an amazing sight. If there was a Olympic event for projectile shitting she would hold the World Record. I mean there are times when she can clear at least 6-8 inches with a stream of shit, I find it hilarious my wife not so much. Well back on topic.
So after the fun of changing my daughter i get started on the computer. I will time line this for you as i find it easier to type (and this is all about me):
5:30 Startup computer and load iTunes.
5:37 Wife comes out of the bedroom and states "You know i wanted to use the computer to email some people"
5:38 log off and give wife the computer. Go get Dinner.
6:15 Eat Dinner and make pouty faces until wife gives up the computer.
6:30 re open up iTunes and start the 7.6 update.
6:55 After 25 minutes realize that nothing is happening so i decide to stop that download and update the firmware on the ipod
7:15 iPod updates but the fucker states it encountered a problem and now needs to be restored.
8:00 after numerous cigarettes and much cursing i realize there is no way of getting around the restore and all my music will be wiped out and need to be resynced.
8:20 try again to update itunes before i resync
9:00 i give the fucking thing 40 motherfucking minutes and nothing.
9:15 Decide to try to download through apple.com and that seems to be working. (well at least it is giving me updates on what it is doing) I like when status bars are telling me what is going on for all i know though it is saying "Steve Jobs is masturbating to a picture of a 12 year old Brittany spears" but it is nice to see things change on the screen
10:15 I realize that this must be a huge fucker because shit is still going on
11:00 it get really close to the end of the progress bar and a message pops up saying "iTunes is now raping your mother" what no i mean "iTunes has not installed correctly CD's put into drive will not import correctly. To be able to do this please re install itunes" I am thinking I really do not need to import anything now so i will handle this later. All i want to do now is start the resync and go to bed (by the way my sync takes hours becasue i have a lot music and I am a phish and Grateful Dead fan so a lot of it is 20-30 minute jams)
11:15 it finishes and prompts me to restart my computer.
11:30 computer restarted and a new message pops up "iTunes is now done with you mother and is getting it on with your father" Which means "iTunes not installed correctly please reinstall"
12:00AM after much more cursing i try again
1:00AM nothing is going on
2:00AM i say Fuck it and go to bed.
Now I am at work with no podcast, no music, no new apps to play with. I have to listen to the droning voices of all the motherfuckers around me. Fuck Well i will try again tonight
Talk to you later
TJ
Yesterday was the big Mac World San Fran. This is where Steve Jobs makes his Keynote address and introduces all the new things going on at apple at the moment. The main thing that i was wanting to hear was the fact that they will be including the iPhone apps to the interface of the Touch. Well i got that but for $20.00. I am going to complain a little bit about that but please note that even though i am I will still be getting them. Come on Steve, $20.00 fucking dollars. I just paid $400 for this fucking thing and the goddamn update is $20.00. New ones that come into the store are going to have these fuckers right on them and i also just read (on www.macrumors.com) that existing ones in stores will be discounted $20.00 to account for the cost of the fucking upgrade. Why are you charging me if you are letting people buy it now for basically nothing. Fuck that pisses me off. Oh well i will pony up because this is what i wanted.(The mail app in particular is sweet so I've been told (more on that later).
So i get home from work yesterday with the intention of starting the whole process. I sometimes forget that i have a child and new responsibilities. Usually on days like this (read before Katie) i would plop in front of my laptop ignore the world including my wife's nagging and go to town downloading and updating. As soon as I walk into the house i am greeted by a fantastically horrible sound (it was the sound of reality crashing into my fucking face) of my baby screaming. To digress a little, much like her father, my little girl does nothing in moderation. there is never just a little whimper. It is always full out screaming like i was beating her with a bat. Seriously we have a cop that lives upstairs from us in our apartment complex and i am surprised that he hasn't called DYFS yet on us because it really does sound like we are doing horrible things to her. But anyway back to my day. So my wife hands me Katie and says "Do you want to change her" like it would be the highlight of my day (and it usually is because with a breastfed baby the most daughter/father time i get right now is on the changing table). So i put her on the table and start to clean her up and then she gets this big fucking smile on her face and shoots shit right into my fucking hand. I had a hand full of piss and shit and she is happier then i have ever seen her. It is quite an amazing sight. If there was a Olympic event for projectile shitting she would hold the World Record. I mean there are times when she can clear at least 6-8 inches with a stream of shit, I find it hilarious my wife not so much. Well back on topic.
So after the fun of changing my daughter i get started on the computer. I will time line this for you as i find it easier to type (and this is all about me):
5:30 Startup computer and load iTunes.
5:37 Wife comes out of the bedroom and states "You know i wanted to use the computer to email some people"
5:38 log off and give wife the computer. Go get Dinner.
6:15 Eat Dinner and make pouty faces until wife gives up the computer.
6:30 re open up iTunes and start the 7.6 update.
6:55 After 25 minutes realize that nothing is happening so i decide to stop that download and update the firmware on the ipod
7:15 iPod updates but the fucker states it encountered a problem and now needs to be restored.
8:00 after numerous cigarettes and much cursing i realize there is no way of getting around the restore and all my music will be wiped out and need to be resynced.
8:20 try again to update itunes before i resync
9:00 i give the fucking thing 40 motherfucking minutes and nothing.
9:15 Decide to try to download through apple.com and that seems to be working. (well at least it is giving me updates on what it is doing) I like when status bars are telling me what is going on for all i know though it is saying "Steve Jobs is masturbating to a picture of a 12 year old Brittany spears" but it is nice to see things change on the screen
10:15 I realize that this must be a huge fucker because shit is still going on
11:00 it get really close to the end of the progress bar and a message pops up saying "iTunes is now raping your mother" what no i mean "iTunes has not installed correctly CD's put into drive will not import correctly. To be able to do this please re install itunes" I am thinking I really do not need to import anything now so i will handle this later. All i want to do now is start the resync and go to bed (by the way my sync takes hours becasue i have a lot music and I am a phish and Grateful Dead fan so a lot of it is 20-30 minute jams)
11:15 it finishes and prompts me to restart my computer.
11:30 computer restarted and a new message pops up "iTunes is now done with you mother and is getting it on with your father" Which means "iTunes not installed correctly please reinstall"
12:00AM after much more cursing i try again
1:00AM nothing is going on
2:00AM i say Fuck it and go to bed.
Now I am at work with no podcast, no music, no new apps to play with. I have to listen to the droning voices of all the motherfuckers around me. Fuck Well i will try again tonight
Talk to you later
TJ
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