Wednesday, October 29, 2008

WORLD CHAMPIONS!


I can't believe I'm saying this. I can't believe I'm actually seeing this.

The Philadelphia Phillies are World Champions.

MY PHILLIES are World Champs.

The team I've rooted for my entire life. My first sports love. A Philly team pulled it off.

I'm excited and I don't even think it's sunk in yet.

It felt like everything was against us. The broadcasters. The nation. Major League Baseball. Mother Nature. Yet the Phils kept their cool and won the championship.

They did it for Moyer. They did it for Charlie. They did it for each other.

They did it for Philadelphia.

The Phillies mean a lot to me. Some of my best memories are from Phillies games. I've had amazing times at games with my friends. Some of my best moments with my dad are at Phils games. We rented out a box for my friend Kevin's bachelor party at a Phils game. The Phanatic sat on me and gave my sister Sabrina Dave Hollins' hat.

The last birthday gift my mom ever gave me was a Ryan Howard jersey.

Words fail to describe how this feels. I haven't seen a major championship in this city in my lifetime.

It's finally here.

Congrats to the 2008 World Champion Philadelphia Phillies.

And more importantly, thank you.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Of Mice and Batmen

The summer's super duper uber smash hit was the latest Batman film The Dark Knight. It was a fantastic film about a man trying to save the city he loves from chaos and anarchy. Well at least it appeared to be this, until movie critics taught me otherwise and showed me the error of my ways.

You see, The Dark Knight isn't so much about Batman vs. the Joker. No no no, it's about the War on Terror! If you don't see it you obviously are mentally disabled. I mean, isn't it obvious that Batman is the U.S. trying to cope with terrorism. I was completely stupid to assume this was a story about Batman. Completely stupid. NOTHING IS AS IT SEEMS! TAKE THE RED PILL! MATRIX MATRIX MATRIX!

But I digress.

Now seeing the light of what this film truly means, I could only imagine the depth to be found in the classic Adam West Batman film from the 1960s.

The following may shock you. If you want to continue taking your blue pill and not knowing THE TRUTH and do not want to delve further into the rabbit hole, DO NOT CONTINUE READING!!!!?!!!!!!????!!!!!!!!!!!

The 1960s Batman film is liberal propaganda for the 2004 presidential election.

Now you may be asking yourself, "How can this be?" Well that's simple dummy: Time Travel!

But that's also besides the point; let's look at the facts here on a character by character basis.

First and foremost comes President George W. Bush, who is represented as the Joker in this film.
The Joker, much like Bush, is at the bottom rung of his evil organization despite being the biggest name of the bunch. He is goofy, silly, incompetent, and has to fetch tea for a British guy (Tony Blair anyone?). He is at best a figurehead, laughing like an idiot and doing little else.

Dick Cheney represents the most obvious of the bunch as he is represented as the Penguin in this film.
Both Cheney and the Penguin are the brains of their respective operations. They command with a scowl and act almost exactly the same in every way. There are few, if any, differences between Dick Cheney and the Penguin.

Next up is an old favorite of mine: Donald "Rummy" Rumsfeld is portrayed as the Riddler in this film.
Both are maniacal, surly, and speak in riddles. Both the Riddler and Rummy love to waste military resources for silly tricks! And to boot, the Riddler looks a bit like a young Donald Rumsfeld! You go to war with the riddles you have, not the riddles you wish you had.

The final piece of the Bush Administration in this film is Condaleeza Rice, who is portrayed in the form of Catwoman. Now, before you mention it, yes, Condaleeza is black and movie Catwoman is white. HOWEVER, the role of Catwoman was handled by 3 different actresses, one of whom was Eartha Kitt!
There was some controversy as the writers expected Ms. Kitt to play Catwoman, but the producers went with the more recognizable Julie Newmar. Condy and Catwoman have much in common in the movie as both are enticing women that know how to pretend to be Russians. Plus, huge cockteases in both cases.

Also consider that the main plot for this film involves the alliance of villains actually dissolving the U.N., something the Bush Administration has longed to do for a while now.

Now, considering this is liberal propaganda, who are represented by the film's protagonists, Batman and Robin? None other than 2004's Democratic presidential candidates John Kerry and John Edwards!
Sure, they didn't taste victory like the dynamic duo, but they sure did try hard!

And of course there is the little known fact that the famous line, "Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb!" was originally, "Some days you just can't find weapons of mass destruction to justify your war!" It was changed because it was too direct and didn't fit the scene.

Dun na na na na na Kerry! Kerry! Kerry!

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Favorite Endings

Well call me bored, here's a "for the hell of it" post.


Here are a few of my favorite movie endings.

Unforgiven
My favorite western also has one of my favorite endings. William Munny finds that his friend Ned has been killed by Little Bill and decides to enact his grim revenge. The systematic method that Munny uses to take down 5 men in the bar outside which Ned's body has been posted as an example is brutal and fantastic. This man has spent the entire movie attempting to deny his history of alcoholism and violence (see how I avoided using the phrase history of violence! yay me!) and the murder of his closest friend has washed all that away. Between Eastwood's final interaction with Gene Hackman ("I'll see you in hell William Munny" "Yeah.") and Eastwood's warning to the town threatening to kill everyone in the town if they don't change, Unforgiven truly has one of the greatest endings.

Iron Man
Robert Downey Jr. plays a pitch perfect Tony Stark (so much so that he is better than any version I've ever read in the comics) and ends the movie on the perfect note. Instead of trying to fool everyone into thinking he's not Iron Man by saying that Iron Man is his bodyguard (S.H.I.E.L.D.'s suggestion and the cover used often in the comics), Stark just comes out and says he is Iron Man. Beautiful.

Batman Begins
Jim Gordon: Now, take this new guy. Armed robbery, double homicide. Got a taste for the theatrical. Like you. Leaves a calling card. [hands Batman a Joker playing card]
Batman: I'll look into it.
Perfectly sets up the Dark Knight and is freakin' cool!

The Empire Strikes Back
The original dark ending. Luke finds out his greatest foe is his father, Han's frozen in carbonite, and man, Luke lost his hand! Everything goes to hell for the rebellion in this movie and it is glorious.

How about you, the people who don't read this? What are some of your favorite movie endings? Comments section!

Thursday, September 4, 2008

LOSERS

According to Wikipedia, Sarah Palin and Rudy Guliani find the following people to be jokes for helping their communities:

Shame on these people for trying to make a difference and not being mayors!!! Guliani and Palin laugh at you and enjoy your tears!

Victory!


Did we win the Iraq war and no one tell me??? John McCain seems to think so...

Man, I need to keep on my news!

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Secret Agents Of Change


Hello folks. Steve here, it's only been...a while since I posted. No harm though, as this blog is essentially the same as talking to myself.

Anyway, election season is in full swing! Candidates are selected, as are their VP choices. The Democratic National Convention was last week in Colorado. Ted Kennedy arose and gave a great endorsement speech for Obama. I was going to post my leak of what Hillary Clinton was going to say in her speech but she beat me to the punch with something completely different...she wholeheartedly backed Barack Obama and gave him a ringing endorsement! And then Bill Clinton did it! Whaaaaa?

Obama chose Delaware Senator Joe Biden as his running mate. It was a solid move with a spoonful of controversy as Biden has a bit of a big mouth. Nonetheless, Obama chose wisely and was not turned into Christopher Lloyd by the Holy Grail.


Obama also accepted the nomination in front of over 80,000 people on a football field, which is, to quote a wise scholar, "bitchin!" A very solid DNC for the Democrats in which they remained on point, stayed relatively respectful to their opponents, and even let the Christmas Elf Dennis Kucinich speak!

Now the RNC is this week. Who has McCain chosen for his running mate? Duracell man Mitt Romney?
Nah...

How about Mike Huckabee? Or Tom Ridge? Or even your good buddy Joe Lieberman?

No, none of them? Who else is there McCain!?

Sarah Palin? The governor of Alaska? Kay...

Fair enough I suppose...

She has been governor for less than two years now and has some family stuff that Republicans LOVE to hear about but I could care less about.

But hey, apparently she's got a wicked tongue!

Her first speech as McCain's running mate was a doozy (they still say doozy right? is that too 1950s? Wait, I'm talking about the Republicans, NOTHING can be TOO 1950s...). She called out Barack Obama on a number of things, namely his inexperience (him being a Senator for two years but actually running for president for half of that, versus her who has been governor of a state that's got more in common with Canada than the U.S. for two years, was in some beauty paegants, and shot a moose!). See, Barack Obama's never shot a moose!

But I digress. And with that, some random thoughts to close out the entry:

- How must it feel to be McCain and having your mortality questioned at every turn? Every time people mention McCain, they state his age as a major factor, as if the looming spectre of death is haunting him with every step. Palin's nomination especially plays into this as said looming spectre could cause her to be President of the United States ::shudder::

- I swear I heard Cindy McCain say today that Palin is ready to be commander-in-chief because she governs the state closest to Russia, so she feels that pressure. Is this Israel with Russians starting skirmishes on the border? Are we being invaded and if so, why did no one tell me!? I swear this was said...and if it's not just a hallucination, this becomes the most numbing statement of the election thus far.

- Can the Republicans please stop making fun of Barack Obama's former job as a community organizer? I know they don't care about people in cities, but community organizers actually play an important and active role in cities. Blows my mind what issues get brought up by the GOP. Are they going to criticize the pieces of patriotic flair that Obama wears again? Ugh...

- I love how the Republicans are now calling themselves the agents of change. How can this be? Will you morph into another party upon election? Perhaps form a facist regime (enough with this voting nonsense!)? 2008 Republicans, Secret Agents of Change!

- I am fairly certain that James Carville spends his nights in a cave. The man looks like Gollum!

- With the looming spectre of death over McCain's head apparently, this election could quickly fall to VP candidate vs. Presidential candidate. Would it look anything like this?

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Wizard World Philly


Over the weekend I attended Wizard World Philly and had a blast. Let's recap:

Saturday:

- Started off with checking out artist alley. Picked up a kick ass print Phoenix print by Marvel Zombie cover artist Arthur Suydam and got it autographed by said artist. From there I proceeded to Powers artist Michael Avon Oeming, got a couple autographs, and got a great Iron Man sketch.


- I went to the Secret Invasion panel, which was decent. Saw the gorgeous cover for Secret Invasion # 6. I also jokingly asked for a Secret Invasion Nextwave tie-in, which Marvel Editor In Chief Joe Quesada took seriously and said that they would love the book back whenever Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen want to do it again. After the panel I had a long convo with Amazing Spider-Man and Avengers: The Initiative writer Dan Slott about how great Marcos Martin's art has been in ASM and he told me a good amount about what's planned for the future of ASM and The Initiative (best news being that Martin will return on art and John Romita Jr. will be one of the rotating artists on the book after his first arc with Slott). Slott also did an impression of a DC Final Crisis cover by putting two pieces of paper of most of his face, which was pretty funny considering the people filling the room were there for the Final Crisis panel.

-Went to the Cup O Joe panel later that day where it was announced that Marvel is officially doing a comic book adaptation of The Stand! If it's as good as the Dark Tower has been at Marvel I am in for quite a treat. Also got Joe Q to sign my sketch variant of Invincible Iron Man!


- Finished the day at the Chris Claremont retrospective, which was extremely interesting. He discussed his legendary X-Men run and his fantastic Dark Phoenix storyline, as well as how he did not want to resurrect Jean Grey.

Sunday:

- Attended Marvel's "Prize Or No Prize" panel, which was a blast. It was basically trivia for prizes. Kate was with me on this day and got to answer a question before me (twas Runaways oriented). The prizes built up through a 12 question endurance test, then I got my chance to win it all (including an advance copy of Secret Invasion # 3!). All I had to do was name 12 mutants depowered on MDay.

I answered 10 and choked...

HOW DID I FORGET THE BLOB!?!?!? And Rictor from X-Factor? COME ON!

- Final panel I went to was the Marvel: Your Universe panel. It was a fun discussion on Marvel books and what we like and dislike about them. Dan Slott told us a hilarious Spidey story from when he was 7 involving Spider-Man signing comics at a 7-11, Spidey coming up in the back of a pickup truck and Slott camping out and being amazed by all of this. Overall it was a really cool discussion and it was a nice ending to a great geeky weekend. Plus, I got a George W. Bush Skrull shirt, does it get much better than that?

Saturday, May 24, 2008

CNN

I always was aware of CNN and its very personalities. It was a very nice network to have around. I need news, I turn on CNN. Simple, that MUST be what a 24 hour news network is for. I always considered myself someone who watched CNN and respected its existence. I did not get all the complaining about 24 hour news networks.

I've watched a lot of CNN since I started going to the gym. It is always on one of the TVs.

Now I realize where all the complaints come from.

Complaint 1: Redundancy!
- How many times and for how long can we talk about the same story with little to no relevance on the real world? One of the top stories today was that John McCain's wife released her tax information. BIG DEAL. I really need to know what that dastardly Senator's wife has been up to with her taxes all these years. They analyzed it! Wolf Blitzer guaranteed analysis of it! We don't need this! Who even wants this!?

Complaint 2: Lou Dobbs
- The biggest pompous idiot this side of Bill O'Reilly. Try watching him on subtitles while working out. He might be worse WITHOUT sound. Scary...

Complaint 3: Ah screw it...
- My brain has melted from Lou Dobbs...

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Batman Wins

You'd think the Mortal Kombat well would have run dry by now, right? They really haven't had anything really new or interesting to offer to the series since Mortal Kombat 2 (Liu Kang's a zombie now for god's sake...). Where is a franchise to go?

Apparently to the DC Universe!

Yes, I realize this doesn't make sense in the slightest. I agree that it doesn't.

And yet I'll probably still buy it so I can play as Batman.

The DC character better be able to do fatalities though! If Superman doesn't rip someone's spine out or Green Lantern smash someone to death with a giant green hammer, I'm out.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

OMG SMALL TOWN PA PEOPLE ARE UNEMPLOYED VIOLENT BIGOTS!?!?!? DAT STEREOTYPING!!!!!!!!

Barack Obama said small town Pennsylvanians were bitter about losing their jobs left and right and have embraced religion and guns as a result. People are apparently pissed about this. Have they ever been to small town Pennsylvania? I guess not...cause they sure do love Rambo Jesus out there.

Seriously though, hunting's pretty big in Pennsylvania.

Gotta love media overreaction in Presidential races!

Monday, April 14, 2008

Flyers '08: Blocking Out The Sun

I guess Suns would be more accurate. As many of you are aware, the NHL is in an overall slump as far as its popularity goes (guess it's time for Mighty Ducks 4!). What the NHL feels it needs it star power baby! We need Gretzky and Lemieux 2! The NHL thinks they have that in Sidney "Sid The Kid" Crosby and Alexander "The Great" Ovechkin. Both of these players are certainly large on talent and have the stats to back it up. The NHL wants them for marketing and they're all you'll hear about on ESPN (for the 5 minutes they devote to hockey each day...NBA loving bastards...). Naturally, my beloved Flyers get to play in the same damn division as Crosby and have to see him playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins 8 times a year and they get to play Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals in the first round of the playoffs!

The announcers focus on Crosby or Ovechkin is sickening. God forbid a Flyer touch a precious hair on either head of these rising stars! "The Flyers are bullies!" they scream. "The Flyers are little more than thugs!" Okay, I'll give you Steve Downie and Riley Cote but that's it! We have some real talent on this team. Mike Richards and Jeff Carter in particular. These guys don't put up the numbers of our young superstars, but they're both extremely talented and Richards is more than twice the leader that either Crosby or Ovechkin will ever be. Philadelphia will love these guys for their tough, solid play, but tough and solid isn't Sportscenter material. Flash and pomp are, and Ovechkin and Crosby (this is directed more towards Crosby) certainly have that.

Don't believe the overhype? Try watching Sportscenter and see how many times they mention the actual teams as opposed to Crosby and Ovechkin. It's an absurd discrepancy. Ovechkin did nothing for 3/4 of Friday night's game, but he gets one nice game winning goal and he is the Hero of the frickin Universe. Ovechkin was completely shut down on Sunday's game, yet he was the announcers could talk about. I guess I should thank them for talking about Mike Richards for two minutes today (who didn't score but had an amazing game as he was all over the ice and was a force to be reckoned with). Ovechkin's goal on Friday was one of the first things shown on Sportscenter on Friday night. Sunday's 2-0 Flyers shutout? Not even mentioned until the end of the hour long show.

The other problem is that the NHL watches the Flyers so much more closely than any other team in the league. Most of that is their historic reputation as a big, bruising team. It's the true that the Flyers have always been tough, and the current team certainly is too, but they don't need to be called for EVERY LITTLE THING THEY DO AGAINST THE PENGUINS AND CAPITALS. This is especially the case for Pittsburgh where Crosby takes more dives than a mob sponsored boxer. But hey, he's got a cool nickname as Sid the Kid and he can score, why should the Flyers, with one of the largest and most loyal fanbases in the NHL, get in the way of that?

It ain't easy bein' Orange and Black.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Evil Empire Wastes Time, Money For Publicity

The New Yorks Yankees and the Boston Red Sox are not known for getting along, some in fact may say that they have a bit of a rivalry. The Yankees also happen to be building a new stadium (which is going to look just like the old stadium...with more luxury boxes and higher ticket prices!!! Yay profit!). So one may suspect a Red Sox fan of some tomfoolery or mischief...

So a construction worker Red Sox fan planted a David Ortiz in the foundation of the new stadium hoping to curse the Yankees.


Big deal right? Somewhat amusing, doesn't make a difference in anyone's lives and people can get a good laugh out of it at worst, right?

Nope.

The Yankees drilled for five hours to locate the shirt through 2 feet of concrete! Wow, that's really a good use of time and money. Is a baseball jersey going to weaken the structure or something?

I really hope the article is joking about this part too:

Trost said the Yankees had discussed possible criminal charges against Castignoli with the district attorney's office.

"We will take appropriate action since fortunately we do know the name of the individual," he said.

A spokesman for Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson said Sunday he did not know whether any criminal charges might apply.

Criminal charges? Appropriate action? For what is little more than a prank? Please. Why are people so stupid?

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Tyler Durden Cheese Snacks

So Cheetos has a new ad campaign where Chester Cheetah suggests mischief to people. It's oddly reminiscent of Fight Club and visions of Tyler Durden and Project Mayhem. Is this really the image that Cheetos want?



Yay schizophrenia and cheese doodles!

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Just Look At My Record!



Watch the scene at the 3:20 mark and just imagine Captain America as Hilary Clinton and the Avengers as the media/other candidates.

"What gives you the right to be a part-time Avenger?"
"My entire life gives me the right mister! Just look at my record!"

It's practically in Hilary's voice even...

Ralph Nader still has money to blow

Consumer advocate and no chance in hell for last the last 2 elections Presidential candidate Ralph Nader is back again to gain 2 or 3 % of the vote in various states! Yay for hopeless third party candidates!

Monday, February 4, 2008

Giant Disappointment

Eli Manning...Super Bowl Champion and MVP? Really? I feel pretty sick today. What a week for New York. It's not a good day to be a Philly fan.

SIGH.

So Eagles front office, about getting those extra weapons on offense...

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Rudy Guliani: Victorious!

Somehow, someway, I have been leaked Rudy Guliani's victory speech that he has prepared for his "inevitable" primary victory in Florida, where he has almost exclusively campaigned to this point! Let's see what America's Mayor has to say:

You know, my favorite Beatles song was always "Happiness Is A Warm Gun". I think that song best describes how I'm feeling today, as Florida is quite warm and shaped like a gun.

I have a great deal of warm lead in my chest right now from the people of Florida. We won this primary through good old fashioned moxsy and gumption! Through sheer force of will I have taken Florida and soon I will take the world!

So to Mitt Romney, up yours! To John McCain, screw you! To Mike Huckabee, eff off! And Fred Thompson can just go die! I win! Just like in Highlander, there can be only one, and it will be Guliani!

::Then it says that Guliani is to stick his arms in the air, kinda like Nixon, and be carried off by the crowd chanting "Rude-ee, Rude-ee, Rude-ee!" like in his favorite movie::

Monday, January 28, 2008

State O Tha Union

Here we are, the last of George W. Bush's State of the Union addresses. Has it already been eight years? Man, does the time fly when things are shitty!

I'm watching the address as I write this and I think I'm seeing how truly silly this speech has become. Well, not so much the speech, but the television coverage of the speech. I really should have prepared a drinking game for this.

For instance, I could drink every time that the Republicans rise to clap and cheer and the Democrats just sit there. I could take a drink every time the camera switches to a prominent Democrat like Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama and find them scowling and/or bored (especially in the case of Senator Clinton.

I could take a drink every time I see Dick Cheney smirk and Nancy Pelosi grimace (how often these two thing s happen together is fairly amazing). Seeing these two sit next to each other in back of President Bush is hilarious in and of itself.

Observations:

- Seeing Ted Kennedy and Barack Obama sit next to each other is also pretty funny. Who wants to see these two crazy kids get together and be running mates? I sure do! I can think of only a few more awkward pairings than that (Ron Paul and Dick Cheney come to mind).

- Hilary Clinton looks like she wants to kill herself sitting there.

- Did Bush really bring up Colombia? Has someone been watching Clear And Present Danger?

- Dubya really should have shown up in a cowboy hat. Or maybe a spacesuit. It's his last SOTU, he might as well.

- Dick Cheney's making a face akin to a common gorilla.

- It feels like Bush is the principal of a high school scolding his students for doing lousy work and not doing what he tells them to.

- How does somebody get one of those great seats way up high in back of the President? That has to be the best seat in the house. You can take a nap there and still say you attended. I bet someone up there has a Nintendo DS.

Finally, does Congress really need to applaud after every bullet point the President makes? Jesus Christ this is boring, I could be watching Arrested Development instead. Let the great experiment begin!

Monday, January 14, 2008

Sigh

Today is a very sad day in the history of Steve.

Today I rooted for the New York Giants.

Yes, they were the lesser of two evils. I am extremely glad that Terrell Owens and Tony Romo are not advancing in the playoffs. I am glad that the Cowboys fans will be crawling back into the woodwork for a brief time. I am especially glad that T.O. cried.

But damnit, I rooted for Eli Manning today. And for that I feel dirty.

To the Eagles: I'm sorry baby, I'll try not to do it again. Please don't cry Donovan, it ain't like I had a choice!

SIGH...

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Vote now!

Two new polls below folks, be sure to vote! It's your right as an (supposed) American!

Comeback Kid?

It's pretty amazing how Hilary Clinton was nearly the unanimous favorite for the Democratic nod among pundits before losing to Obama and Edwards in Iowa, yet her win in New Hampshire makes her a "comeback kid". It's almost like watching the Eagles/Patriots Superbowl. The Patriots were the clear favorite amongst NFL experts going into the game. The Eagles surprised people and took an early lead and looked good but when New England comes back people start yelling, "Yeah! No one respected them! That Tom Brady's a comeback kid!" No, they were the team predicted to win that has taken the expert predicted lead. Hilary's no comeback kid, she's still the favorite. I'm also still rooting for the underdog.

Monday, January 7, 2008

Campaign Trail Woes

Hey people who don't read this, I'm back! Not sure why I haven't posted in a month or so, so don't ask.

The presidential election of 2008 is starting to get pretty crazy (but not Pat Robertson crazy) and entertaining. Hilary Clinton hates Barack Obama, Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee hate each other, everyone hates Hilary Clinton, Rudy Guliani wants to let people know that he was, in fact, the mayor of New York on September 11, 2001 in case they didn't know (they did), John Edwards and John McCain just wants to let everyone know that they're still here, and poor Bill Richardson just wants some love. Oh and Ron Paul's somewhere doing something that about 10% or less of people find astonishing for some reason.

After the Iowa caucuses, where front runners are decided in what I believe is some sort of harvest, Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee came out as the leaders in their respective parties, putting Hilary Clinton and Mitt Romney into panic mode.

Hilary's gotten to the point where she's looking extremely run down and discussing it in public.

Romney, on the other, much more red hand, has decided to just flat out start insulting Huckabee.

John McCain is finding New Hampshire to probably make or break his campaign.

My favorite strategy happens to be Rudy Guliani's "hang out in Florida and then strike!" strategy. Nah, there's no way he's just vacationing and pretending to work right? America's Mayor? No way would be do that!

I'm still waiting for my Dean scream people, don't let me down. This means you Mrs. Clinton.