Monday, January 21, 2008
Just A Quiet Weekend...
...It's good to have one once in a while.
Between tons of work and the insta-parents schedule madness (wonderful madness, don't get me wrong) of my son's recent winter visit, we've both been feeling like the needles on our tanks were hovering just above a flatline 'E' lately.
Fortunately, the stars aligned for us this weekend and we had *almost* the whole thing to ourselves. What did we do? Pretty much just stayed home, and loved every minute of it.
We're both still young and we love the things that Seattle offers in terms of culture and entertainment; on any given night we can find at least a few interesting things to do. However, there's something to be said for just kicking back, turning the heater to 'toasty' and puttering around the house without anywhere to go or any schedule to be adhered to.
We played some games, fired up the hot sandwich maker (salami and peppered turkey with olive tapenade on sourdough... KICK ASS), and did a little spring cleaning.
I wish we had more weekends like this one.
In other news....
Been catching up on my comics lately.
>Invincible is still great, but so much stuff has happened in that storyline that I'm not sure if it's approachable to newcomers anymore. Still, it's probably the one I most look forward to every month.
>Simon Dark from DC has me interested, but I'm not sure it's leading anywhere. The title character has a visually striking design and I'm somewhat a fan of Scott Hampton's art, but the plot is taking a little too long to get started. I'm giving it a few more issues before I decide if I'm sticking around.
>The Goon used to be fantastic, but it's gotten very soft after finding success. I buy it more out of habit now than genuine interest... I may cut this one loose soon, though I heard the recent standalone graphic novel was strong. I'll have to take a peek.
>Ghost Rider has always been on of my favorite Marvel characters, but the latest incarnation completely sucks. The art's bad and the writing's even worse... The book is starting a new arc next issue, and I hope to god it's better than the current one.
>The Terror from "hyper-explicit" Max Comics has me intrigued. The intro story tripped a bit, but the concept is good: a cursed warrior survives hundreds of years by stealing fresh body parts every time one of his old ones wears out. Don't understand why nobody reacts to his rotten skull of a face, though...
>Boneyard is still one of my guilty pleasures. I haven't been following it in the last few months so I'm lost as to what the hell's going on, but I like the characters and the writing's good. Richard Moore strikes good tones with "relationship-lite" and I call myself a fan, though his inking could use some work. Shhhhh... don't tell him.
>Strange Cases is fun, but I'm hoping it gets a little heavier. So far it's been "creature of the week" action with a motley crew of monster busters, but the action isn't quite intense enough and it doesn't quite make me laugh, either. It seems to be stuck in some limbo middle ground that doesn't satisify. Hopefully this one will pick a side soon and stay on it.
Your recommendations? Drop me a line.
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Funny, but it looks like our circumstances have reversed. I had the quietest weekends at yuletide, now nobody wants to give me a break.
I did get to finish book 2 of Bartimaeus Trilogy yesterday though. Good book. Now on book 3, which is even better.
I'd still recommend Fables and Death Note.