OK, so far as I know, this'll be the last chance I'll have to blog until after Christmas... and I hope both my readers have an excellent and happy holiday, no matter what you observe (or don't observe)!
As I write this, there's less than half an hour to go on my current eBay auctions -- mostly JLU figures. It's probably a good thing I decided to not collect those, and sell them off, because while I was at Target today, I saw a bunch of additional releases -- which all seemed to have one repeat figure max, and two new figures, including some Green Lanterns, and more villains!
So, what toys am I collecting? Well, looks like it'll just be toys with Krypto... at least, for the time being.
In other news...
Just received a tape from Andy Mangels yesterday, meaning I'll have to squeeze in time over the weekend to do some transcriptions... dunno how I'll manage that, but I'll fit it in somewhere!
This past week has been a bit stressful at work, but not because of work per se... the husband of one of my co-workers is very sick, and details haven't been forthcoming. I really feel for my co-worker, as I was in a similar situation with my Barbara, and it didn't end well, as I'm sure most of you know. My best hopes and wishes go to them... and I hope things turn out well for them.
I've spent way too much money on Christmas shopping this year... again. It wouldn't be so bad if it was spread out over several paychecks, instead of a little on one, and a lot on the last one before Christmas! But oh, well, isn't Christmas all about giving?
Remember the link I gave you guys about Mr. Pop History earlier this week (or was it last week)? Check out this week's column... the additional info on 1970s cartoons based on TV shows was provided by yours truly!
I bought one item for me today with all my shopping... there's a band called the Fab Four, a Beatles tribute band, who's put out two Christmas CD's of holiday tunes done in the Beatles' style... I've heard a few tracks on the oldies station, and was lucky enough to find the first one they did used for three bucks! Woo-hoo! Too bad there's only a few days to play it before the holiday is over...
Well, that's about all I have for now... perhaps I'll have a bit of time to blog again on Christmas Eve!
Jon
Jon's Random Acts of Geekery is your five days a week destination for old-school geekery!
Friday, December 23, 2005
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
More About My Avengers
Since my posting (see below) on how I would tackle writing the Avengers, I found myself thinking more about it... and will probably do several more postings on this, despite the fact that nobody has left a single comment on the concept!
More about the Standby Avengers
One of the facets of Cap initiating the Standby/Reserve Avengers drive is, as I said before, to have some specialists available... but not just specialist singular... no, he'd be looking to create specialist sub-teams. Let's say that there's trouble in Atlantis... maybe Attuma (ok, brief interruption... just as a joke, I'd love to have Arnold Schwarzenegger play or voice a Marvel character, maybe in a cartoon... some underwater stuff would be going on, and somone would suggest to whoever Arnold was playing that maybe Attuma is behind it... to which he'd respond, "It's not Attuma!" Say it out loud in his accent... and if you don't get why I think it would be hilarious, you never saw Kindergarten Cop) is invading or something. The call comes to the Avengers for assistance, and Cap could call out a special reserve team comprised of members who can operate underwater well... like Namor (naturally), Stingray (assuming he's still alive), Nova (his helmet has that recycling air supply), Namorita, etc. Whatever the specific mission is, if there is a specialized team that would work well for it, Cap can call it up with the pressing of a button. Need a team to operate in a jungle environment? Call the Black Panther, Tigra, and so on. You get the idea. Same for outer space. No point in sending members who need special equipment they don't already possess when you have members who don't need it, right?
Rick Jones
Yeah, I haven't mentioned Rick previously. Since the cancellation of PAD's Captain Marvel, I don't believe Marvel is using Rick at all... and maybe they're not going to. I'd love to bring Rick into my Avengers book, although I don't have a real firm idea of what role he'd play. Maybe he'd be in charge of media relations... or perhaps he'd finally get his shot at being a super-hero himself! That's always been Rick's hope, from some of his earliest days (well, at least during the Kree-Skrull War, and even before that when he wanted Cap to take him on as the new Bucky). Rick's been accumulating collectibles for a while, as we've seen in Captain Marvel, and perhaps the day would come when Rick would realize that by using some of the cast-off stuff he's collected, he could become a super-hero himself! Dunno what his heroic identity name would be. I figure I'd use Rick in a story arc, and then if he worked well for me, keep him around.
Characterizations
Captain America -- He's the one guy who always knows what he's doing, and never has any doubts... at least, that's the impression everyone has, except for those who know him best. In reality, he does question himself, and has been known to ask those who he is closest to (like Iron Man and Thor) their opinions. When he's in command mode, nobody questions him... at least, not during combat situations. Hawkeye may question him after the fact, or even gripe a bit during things, but he knows Cap's got more on the ball than any three dozen guys. Cap doesn't spend much time in his Steve Rogers identity, even though most of the Avengers are aware of his real identity. He doesn't do much to unwind and relax, except for working out in the gym and training fellow Avengers, but Hawkeye would be trying to get him to loosen up a bit and do things just for fun. Cap's musical tastes are still locked into the 1940s, but he does listen to other music as well. We'll need to remember that, despite the cover dates of the comics starting with Avengers #4, he's been out of suspended animation for only about 10 years, so he missed out on the 50s through the 80s music scenes. He doesn't enjoy hard rock and roll, typically, but does enjoy folk music of the 60s, and some easier listening stuff (he particuarlly enjoys John Lennon's solo work, especially "Imagine").
Iron Man -- I have no idea if Marvel still portrays him as having no secret identity or not... but it doesn't matter. Shellhead is the top gadget guy in the Avengers, and tinkering on gadgets is his vocation and his hobby. Working out a way to get another .05% out of his repulsors is fun to Tony Stark, and we shouldn't forget about that. He doesn't tinker with items that are actively used -- for example, if Hawkeye's having problems with a trick arrow, Tony wouldn't mess with the one in Clint's quiver. But if, say, one of the Standby members was at the mansion, and happened to mention that their jetpack doesn't seem to get up to speed fast enough, if they have a few minutes, Iron Man would pop it open, make a few seemingly minor adjustments, and have it working better than ever. I wouldn't portray him as eager to mess with all the tech they find... but it's obvious he enjoys it, and he's definitely the go-to guy for gadget fixes. Iron Man's sense of humor tends to be more on the sophisticated side, but every now and then, he'll go for something a little lowbrow... especially if it would rattle the villain they're fighting.
Despite his long relationship with Captain America and Thor, I'd show him as having the best friendship with Jarvis. Jarvis has been in Stark's employ for a long time, and Tony trusts him implicitly. I might even go so far as to reveal that Jarvis was actually the first person to find out Tony was Iron Man, way back when -- because Tony would know he'd need someone at Avengers Mansion who could assist him if needed.
In many ways, though, Iron Man is kind of a cipher... he strikes people as being distant, which has more to do with wearing armor than anything else.
Thor -- The God of Thunder is a tricky character to write. He does tend towards arrogance (although not to the extent of Hercules), and he knows just how powerful he is compared to most of his fellow Avengers. However, we should always bear in mind why he's on the team... they are the closest peers he has on Earth, and his respect for his teammates is obvious. How do you earn Thor's respect? If Captain America says you are good enough for the Avengers, that will do it. But just because he respects you, that doesn't mean you're his friend. If you've battled alongside him, you can call him "Goldilocks" in jest... but not before. If someone besmirches the name of the Avengers, he's the first one to be chomping at the bit to smite them.
More later!
Jon
More about the Standby Avengers
One of the facets of Cap initiating the Standby/Reserve Avengers drive is, as I said before, to have some specialists available... but not just specialist singular... no, he'd be looking to create specialist sub-teams. Let's say that there's trouble in Atlantis... maybe Attuma (ok, brief interruption... just as a joke, I'd love to have Arnold Schwarzenegger play or voice a Marvel character, maybe in a cartoon... some underwater stuff would be going on, and somone would suggest to whoever Arnold was playing that maybe Attuma is behind it... to which he'd respond, "It's not Attuma!" Say it out loud in his accent... and if you don't get why I think it would be hilarious, you never saw Kindergarten Cop) is invading or something. The call comes to the Avengers for assistance, and Cap could call out a special reserve team comprised of members who can operate underwater well... like Namor (naturally), Stingray (assuming he's still alive), Nova (his helmet has that recycling air supply), Namorita, etc. Whatever the specific mission is, if there is a specialized team that would work well for it, Cap can call it up with the pressing of a button. Need a team to operate in a jungle environment? Call the Black Panther, Tigra, and so on. You get the idea. Same for outer space. No point in sending members who need special equipment they don't already possess when you have members who don't need it, right?
Rick Jones
Yeah, I haven't mentioned Rick previously. Since the cancellation of PAD's Captain Marvel, I don't believe Marvel is using Rick at all... and maybe they're not going to. I'd love to bring Rick into my Avengers book, although I don't have a real firm idea of what role he'd play. Maybe he'd be in charge of media relations... or perhaps he'd finally get his shot at being a super-hero himself! That's always been Rick's hope, from some of his earliest days (well, at least during the Kree-Skrull War, and even before that when he wanted Cap to take him on as the new Bucky). Rick's been accumulating collectibles for a while, as we've seen in Captain Marvel, and perhaps the day would come when Rick would realize that by using some of the cast-off stuff he's collected, he could become a super-hero himself! Dunno what his heroic identity name would be. I figure I'd use Rick in a story arc, and then if he worked well for me, keep him around.
Characterizations
Captain America -- He's the one guy who always knows what he's doing, and never has any doubts... at least, that's the impression everyone has, except for those who know him best. In reality, he does question himself, and has been known to ask those who he is closest to (like Iron Man and Thor) their opinions. When he's in command mode, nobody questions him... at least, not during combat situations. Hawkeye may question him after the fact, or even gripe a bit during things, but he knows Cap's got more on the ball than any three dozen guys. Cap doesn't spend much time in his Steve Rogers identity, even though most of the Avengers are aware of his real identity. He doesn't do much to unwind and relax, except for working out in the gym and training fellow Avengers, but Hawkeye would be trying to get him to loosen up a bit and do things just for fun. Cap's musical tastes are still locked into the 1940s, but he does listen to other music as well. We'll need to remember that, despite the cover dates of the comics starting with Avengers #4, he's been out of suspended animation for only about 10 years, so he missed out on the 50s through the 80s music scenes. He doesn't enjoy hard rock and roll, typically, but does enjoy folk music of the 60s, and some easier listening stuff (he particuarlly enjoys John Lennon's solo work, especially "Imagine").
Iron Man -- I have no idea if Marvel still portrays him as having no secret identity or not... but it doesn't matter. Shellhead is the top gadget guy in the Avengers, and tinkering on gadgets is his vocation and his hobby. Working out a way to get another .05% out of his repulsors is fun to Tony Stark, and we shouldn't forget about that. He doesn't tinker with items that are actively used -- for example, if Hawkeye's having problems with a trick arrow, Tony wouldn't mess with the one in Clint's quiver. But if, say, one of the Standby members was at the mansion, and happened to mention that their jetpack doesn't seem to get up to speed fast enough, if they have a few minutes, Iron Man would pop it open, make a few seemingly minor adjustments, and have it working better than ever. I wouldn't portray him as eager to mess with all the tech they find... but it's obvious he enjoys it, and he's definitely the go-to guy for gadget fixes. Iron Man's sense of humor tends to be more on the sophisticated side, but every now and then, he'll go for something a little lowbrow... especially if it would rattle the villain they're fighting.
Despite his long relationship with Captain America and Thor, I'd show him as having the best friendship with Jarvis. Jarvis has been in Stark's employ for a long time, and Tony trusts him implicitly. I might even go so far as to reveal that Jarvis was actually the first person to find out Tony was Iron Man, way back when -- because Tony would know he'd need someone at Avengers Mansion who could assist him if needed.
In many ways, though, Iron Man is kind of a cipher... he strikes people as being distant, which has more to do with wearing armor than anything else.
Thor -- The God of Thunder is a tricky character to write. He does tend towards arrogance (although not to the extent of Hercules), and he knows just how powerful he is compared to most of his fellow Avengers. However, we should always bear in mind why he's on the team... they are the closest peers he has on Earth, and his respect for his teammates is obvious. How do you earn Thor's respect? If Captain America says you are good enough for the Avengers, that will do it. But just because he respects you, that doesn't mean you're his friend. If you've battled alongside him, you can call him "Goldilocks" in jest... but not before. If someone besmirches the name of the Avengers, he's the first one to be chomping at the bit to smite them.
More later!
Jon
More About My Avengers
Since my posting (see below) on how I would tackle writing the Avengers, I found myself thinking more about it... and will probably do several more postings on this, despite the fact that nobody has left a single comment on the concept!
More about the Standby Avengers
One of the facets of Cap initiating the Standby/Reserve Avengers drive is, as I said before, to have some specialists available... but not just specialist singular... no, he'd be looking to create specialist sub-teams. Let's say that there's trouble in Atlantis... maybe Attuma (ok, brief interruption... just as a joke, I'd love to have Arnold Schwarzenegger play or voice a Marvel character, maybe in a cartoon... some underwater stuff would be going on, and somone would suggest to whoever Arnold was playing that maybe Attuma is behind it... to which he'd respond, "It's not Attuma!" Say it out loud in his accent... and if you don't get why I think it would be hilarious, you never saw Kindergarten Cop) is invading or something. The call comes to the Avengers for assistance, and Cap could call out a special reserve team comprised of members who can operate underwater well... like Namor (naturally), Stingray (assuming he's still alive), Nova (his helmet has that recycling air supply), Namorita, etc. Whatever the specific mission is, if there is a specialized team that would work well for it, Cap can call it up with the pressing of a button. Need a team to operate in a jungle environment? Call the Black Panther, Tigra, and so on. You get the idea. Same for outer space. No point in sending members who need special equipment they don't already possess when you have members who don't need it, right?
Rick Jones
Yeah, I haven't mentioned Rick previously. Since the cancellation of PAD's Captain Marvel, I don't believe Marvel is using Rick at all... and maybe they're not going to. I'd love to bring Rick into my Avengers book, although I don't have a real firm idea of what role he'd play. Maybe he'd be in charge of media relations... or perhaps he'd finally get his shot at being a super-hero himself! That's always been Rick's hope, from some of his earliest days (well, at least during the Kree-Skrull War, and even before that when he wanted Cap to take him on as the new Bucky). Rick's been accumulating collectibles for a while, as we've seen in Captain Marvel, and perhaps the day would come when Rick would realize that by using some of the cast-off stuff he's collected, he could become a super-hero himself! Dunno what his heroic identity name would be. I figure I'd use Rick in a story arc, and then if he worked well for me, keep him around.
Characterizations
Captain America -- He's the one guy who always knows what he's doing, and never has any doubts... at least, that's the impression everyone has, except for those who know him best. In reality, he does question himself, and has been known to ask those who he is closest to (like Iron Man and Thor) their opinions. When he's in command mode, nobody questions him... at least, not during combat situations. Hawkeye may question him after the fact, or even gripe a bit during things, but he knows Cap's got more on the ball than any three dozen guys. Cap doesn't spend much time in his Steve Rogers identity, even though most of the Avengers are aware of his real identity. He doesn't do much to unwind and relax, except for working out in the gym and training fellow Avengers, but Hawkeye would be trying to get him to loosen up a bit and do things just for fun. Cap's musical tastes are still locked into the 1940s, but he does listen to other music as well. We'll need to remember that, despite the cover dates of the comics starting with Avengers #4, he's been out of suspended animation for only about 10 years, so he missed out on the 50s through the 80s music scenes. He doesn't enjoy hard rock and roll, typically, but does enjoy folk music of the 60s, and some easier listening stuff (he particuarlly enjoys John Lennon's solo work, especially "Imagine").
Iron Man -- I have no idea if Marvel still portrays him as having no secret identity or not... but it doesn't matter. Shellhead is the top gadget guy in the Avengers, and tinkering on gadgets is his vocation and his hobby. Working out a way to get another .05% out of his repulsors is fun to Tony Stark, and we shouldn't forget about that. He doesn't tinker with items that are actively used -- for example, if Hawkeye's having problems with a trick arrow, Tony wouldn't mess with the one in Clint's quiver. But if, say, one of the Standby members was at the mansion, and happened to mention that their jetpack doesn't seem to get up to speed fast enough, if they have a few minutes, Iron Man would pop it open, make a few seemingly minor adjustments, and have it working better than ever. I wouldn't portray him as eager to mess with all the tech they find... but it's obvious he enjoys it, and he's definitely the go-to guy for gadget fixes. Iron Man's sense of humor tends to be more on the sophisticated side, but every now and then, he'll go for something a little lowbrow... especially if it would rattle the villain they're fighting.
Despite his long relationship with Captain America and Thor, I'd show him as having the best friendship with Jarvis. Jarvis has been in Stark's employ for a long time, and Tony trusts him implicitly. I might even go so far as to reveal that Jarvis was actually the first person to find out Tony was Iron Man, way back when -- because Tony would know he'd need someone at Avengers Mansion who could assist him if needed.
In many ways, though, Iron Man is kind of a cipher... he strikes people as being distant, which has more to do with wearing armor than anything else.
Thor -- The God of Thunder is a tricky character to write. He does tend towards arrogance (although not to the extent of Hercules), and he knows just how powerful he is compared to most of his fellow Avengers. However, we should always bear in mind why he's on the team... they are the closest peers he has on Earth, and his respect for his teammates is obvious. How do you earn Thor's respect? If Captain America says you are good enough for the Avengers, that will do it. But just because he respects you, that doesn't mean you're his friend. If you've battled alongside him, you can call him "Goldilocks" in jest... but not before. If someone besmirches the name of the Avengers, he's the first one to be chomping at the bit to smite them.
More later!
Jon
More about the Standby Avengers
One of the facets of Cap initiating the Standby/Reserve Avengers drive is, as I said before, to have some specialists available... but not just specialist singular... no, he'd be looking to create specialist sub-teams. Let's say that there's trouble in Atlantis... maybe Attuma (ok, brief interruption... just as a joke, I'd love to have Arnold Schwarzenegger play or voice a Marvel character, maybe in a cartoon... some underwater stuff would be going on, and somone would suggest to whoever Arnold was playing that maybe Attuma is behind it... to which he'd respond, "It's not Attuma!" Say it out loud in his accent... and if you don't get why I think it would be hilarious, you never saw Kindergarten Cop) is invading or something. The call comes to the Avengers for assistance, and Cap could call out a special reserve team comprised of members who can operate underwater well... like Namor (naturally), Stingray (assuming he's still alive), Nova (his helmet has that recycling air supply), Namorita, etc. Whatever the specific mission is, if there is a specialized team that would work well for it, Cap can call it up with the pressing of a button. Need a team to operate in a jungle environment? Call the Black Panther, Tigra, and so on. You get the idea. Same for outer space. No point in sending members who need special equipment they don't already possess when you have members who don't need it, right?
Rick Jones
Yeah, I haven't mentioned Rick previously. Since the cancellation of PAD's Captain Marvel, I don't believe Marvel is using Rick at all... and maybe they're not going to. I'd love to bring Rick into my Avengers book, although I don't have a real firm idea of what role he'd play. Maybe he'd be in charge of media relations... or perhaps he'd finally get his shot at being a super-hero himself! That's always been Rick's hope, from some of his earliest days (well, at least during the Kree-Skrull War, and even before that when he wanted Cap to take him on as the new Bucky). Rick's been accumulating collectibles for a while, as we've seen in Captain Marvel, and perhaps the day would come when Rick would realize that by using some of the cast-off stuff he's collected, he could become a super-hero himself! Dunno what his heroic identity name would be. I figure I'd use Rick in a story arc, and then if he worked well for me, keep him around.
Characterizations
Captain America -- He's the one guy who always knows what he's doing, and never has any doubts... at least, that's the impression everyone has, except for those who know him best. In reality, he does question himself, and has been known to ask those who he is closest to (like Iron Man and Thor) their opinions. When he's in command mode, nobody questions him... at least, not during combat situations. Hawkeye may question him after the fact, or even gripe a bit during things, but he knows Cap's got more on the ball than any three dozen guys. Cap doesn't spend much time in his Steve Rogers identity, even though most of the Avengers are aware of his real identity. He doesn't do much to unwind and relax, except for working out in the gym and training fellow Avengers, but Hawkeye would be trying to get him to loosen up a bit and do things just for fun. Cap's musical tastes are still locked into the 1940s, but he does listen to other music as well. We'll need to remember that, despite the cover dates of the comics starting with Avengers #4, he's been out of suspended animation for only about 10 years, so he missed out on the 50s through the 80s music scenes. He doesn't enjoy hard rock and roll, typically, but does enjoy folk music of the 60s, and some easier listening stuff (he particuarlly enjoys John Lennon's solo work, especially "Imagine").
Iron Man -- I have no idea if Marvel still portrays him as having no secret identity or not... but it doesn't matter. Shellhead is the top gadget guy in the Avengers, and tinkering on gadgets is his vocation and his hobby. Working out a way to get another .05% out of his repulsors is fun to Tony Stark, and we shouldn't forget about that. He doesn't tinker with items that are actively used -- for example, if Hawkeye's having problems with a trick arrow, Tony wouldn't mess with the one in Clint's quiver. But if, say, one of the Standby members was at the mansion, and happened to mention that their jetpack doesn't seem to get up to speed fast enough, if they have a few minutes, Iron Man would pop it open, make a few seemingly minor adjustments, and have it working better than ever. I wouldn't portray him as eager to mess with all the tech they find... but it's obvious he enjoys it, and he's definitely the go-to guy for gadget fixes. Iron Man's sense of humor tends to be more on the sophisticated side, but every now and then, he'll go for something a little lowbrow... especially if it would rattle the villain they're fighting.
Despite his long relationship with Captain America and Thor, I'd show him as having the best friendship with Jarvis. Jarvis has been in Stark's employ for a long time, and Tony trusts him implicitly. I might even go so far as to reveal that Jarvis was actually the first person to find out Tony was Iron Man, way back when -- because Tony would know he'd need someone at Avengers Mansion who could assist him if needed.
In many ways, though, Iron Man is kind of a cipher... he strikes people as being distant, which has more to do with wearing armor than anything else.
Thor -- The God of Thunder is a tricky character to write. He does tend towards arrogance (although not to the extent of Hercules), and he knows just how powerful he is compared to most of his fellow Avengers. However, we should always bear in mind why he's on the team... they are the closest peers he has on Earth, and his respect for his teammates is obvious. How do you earn Thor's respect? If Captain America says you are good enough for the Avengers, that will do it. But just because he respects you, that doesn't mean you're his friend. If you've battled alongside him, you can call him "Goldilocks" in jest... but not before. If someone besmirches the name of the Avengers, he's the first one to be chomping at the bit to smite them.
More later!
Jon
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Ohmigosh... Comics Content!
Yeah, I'm going to talk comics in this entry... which I've rarely done in the past few weeks...
My Avengers
I've probably mentioned that I haven't been buying any of Marvel's Avengers comics in some time... actually, shortly after Busiek left the revived book is when I stopped. Kurt's run was, in my humble opinion, the last great run of the book (although towards the end, I felt even he was running out of steam). He really got the book right, I feel... and I fear sometimes we won't see the book "right" again.
But regardless of that... here's how I see the Avengers, and how the book should be.
The Team
As many others before me have said, you can't have the Avengers without Captain America. It just doesn't feel like the team! (kind of like if you had the Defenders without the Hulk, if you will) Cap should always be front and center in any Avengers grouping, acting as team spokesman and, yes, as team leader. The guy's the best strategist in the Marvel Universe, and is probably the only super-hero whom the public almost universally admires and believes.
Who else would be on the team? I think a seven-member roster works best, although if I were to write the book, I'd keep the teams going on missions to no more than five or six, unless it's a major threat. There's always been lip service paid to the idea of one Avenger remaining on monitor duty at all times, but the only time it's been a factor is when the writer wanted a character to bail from monitor duty (the Beast has done this a time or two, to help out the X-Men). Having a seven-member team with rotating monitor duty so that five or six are available to go on missions works for me... heck, you could have one on monitor duty, and one member absent entirely from the issue because they're busy with events in their own book!
So, aside from Cap... who's on the team? Well, I've always been a fan of the classic line-up from the Englehart era, so I'd put Thor and Iron Man there -- but those two would likely be the ones most often absent due to their own activities. These two members provide the tech know-how and sheer power the team needs.
That's three... I need four more, right? In the past, the Vision would've been one of my members, as well as the Scarlet Witch, but both characters have been messed up way too much to deal with, so they're out.
Goliath and the Wasp. Yes, I said it. Sure, Hank and Tony both provide science know-how, but I'd want to focus Hank's expertise on biology, and Tony on tech. Yeah, I know, Hank built Ultron, but his field is supposed to be biochemistry, and that's where he should be. The Wasp would be there because 1) She's a fun character, 2) It works well to have her and Hank play off each other, and 3) We need women on the team!
Two more members? Well, let's throw in Songbird. Why? Partly because in AVENGERS FOREVER, she was included in the group, so at some point in the future, she's supposed to be on the team, and this would get her in there. Captain Marvel (or whatever Genis is calling himself these days) is also supposed to be a future member, but I'd save him for a time (although more on that below).
Last member? Hawkeye. But isn't he dead? Or has he come back to life yet? In the afore-mentioned AVENGERS FOREVER, there was no reaction from Songbird or Captain Marvel about him being alive -- no, "But you're dead in my era!" thoughts or anything. To me, this indicates that his death isn't permanent. And besides, if DC can bring Green Arrow back from the dead, Marvel can bring back Hawkeye (although I'd prefer it if we could find a way to show that Hawkeye didn't really die in the first place -- perhaps he was just so greviously wounded it took him some time to be treated for his wounds... maybe even suffered from amnesia or something).
So, that's my core group, right? But there are a lot of other super-heroes I'd love to use on the team... so how do I use them?
Well, there's the hoary Reserve Avengers thing I could use... but I almost think it would be better to rename the status Standby Avengers. If you're a Standby Avenger, that means you'd be available at any time to get the call to go on active duty, whether it means supplementing the main team, or even forming a temporary team with one of the active Avengers on a one-time basis. I'd have Cap making contact with former Avengers and potential new members for this new status, and recruiting new members this way... with the understanding being that if an active member has to drop out of active membership, a Standby would be called to take their place.
This idea also opens up some interesting possibilities -- like I said, Cap's a strategist, and he could determine not only how to best use his active team, but also when he might need a specialist. Need someone who can go really, really fast for a specific mission? Call Quicksilver and see if he's available. If he's not, contact Nova.
Yeah, Nova. It's been shown that he wants to be an Avenger, and I'd probably use him in the first Standby storyline that came up. And I like Nova, even if I don't always like how he's been used.
The Stories
Naturally, the first story would have to be an "Old Order Changeth" kind of thing, but we need something going on other than changing the membership. Cap would learn about something that's going to be coming up in the near future, and he would of course know he'll need to re-align the whole team in order to prepare for it. Maybe it's a future planned invasion by Kang, utilizing an army of alien races from all over the Marvel Universe, because he's sick and tired of the Avengers always beating him, and it's about time he finished them off once and for all. So Cap finds out this is coming up several years in advance, and starts preparing for it. Whatever it is, it's got to be something huger than big. Maybe Cap finds out because the Tomorrow Man has come back to fight the Avengers, and he lets slip something about knowing Kang was going to conquer this era in a few years, and that he wants to take over first... whatever.
From there, we use Cap recruiting a major Avengers army, and cataloging abilities, powers and skills while we have other cool stuff happening. We can see how the Avengers' working relationship with other groups, like the Fantastic Four and SHIELD, actually work, but not get bogged down in detail there. Establish additional Avengers bases all over the world -- not necessarily full-fledged mansions, mind you, but smaller bases that have medical facilities, dorms, meeting rooms, labs, and so forth -- none of these would be as deluxe as Avengers Mansion, but would provide a "home away from home" for an away team to use as a base of operations. No matter how fast the Quinjets are, it's still a big planet, and the days are gone when we can just accept that Quicksilver can run all over the world several times a day, or that the Torch can fly cross-country in a few hours. These Avengers Outposts would be part of Cap's plans to prepare for this Big Event.
While things are under way for the big deal that Cap's reworking the group, there should be other big things, too... like a new Masters of Evil that would be a major kick-ass group. Perhaps Zemo or some other master villain, upon hearing what the Avengers are doing, want to do the same thing for the villains (even if they don't know why the Avengers are recruiting). What happens when all over the country, different locations are attacked by groups of seven or eight villains, each group different, all claiming to be the Masters of Evil?
Lastly, the Avengers has always been one of two books that really lets us explore the Marvel Universe (the FF is the other one). How long has it been since we've seen the latest in Atlantis? What are the Skrulls up to, or the Kree? What's the latest in the Savage Land? Those are just examples -- the Avengers should never be confined to New York City issue after issue after issue, you know? There are lots of super-heroes there, we shouldn't be portraying things as "Oh no, the Avengers are in California -- New York is unprotected! We only have the Fantastic Four, Dr. Strange, Daredevil, Spider-Man, SHIELD, etc. to protect us!" Heck, if the Avengers were going to be away from NYC for an extended period, why, Cap would simply call up some Standby members to form a temporary seven person team to cover for their absence!
Another part of the stories would be the training sessions -- they wouldn't necessarily be a main focus of a story, but there'd be at least a reference in each issue as we start things up. Even standby members get training, because Cap needs to know who would be the best Field Leaders in case he needs to send out different groups. This would let us have a lot of cameos of the standby members as they're coming or going from training sessions.
The Bottom Line
The whole idea here is to make the Avengers exciting again... not "kewl" or "rad" or whatever, but exciting! Make it a book that you finish reading the new issue and can hardly wait until the next one comes out... that people talk about on their blogs and review sites... and make it fun to read, too! Just because the Avengers are the super-hero elite of the MU, they are human (or humanoid, anyway)... there should be humor, natural humor. When not in combat, even Captain America could make a joke or two.
So, would I take on the assignment to write the Avengers, using these ideas? Well, yeah, of course -- but not until I could plot out several years' worth of ideas, knowing what I wanted to accomplish at each point as I built up to the Big Event -- and planning what to do beyond that. Once I had a solid foundation to begin my run with, then I'd be willing to start.
Jon
My Avengers
I've probably mentioned that I haven't been buying any of Marvel's Avengers comics in some time... actually, shortly after Busiek left the revived book is when I stopped. Kurt's run was, in my humble opinion, the last great run of the book (although towards the end, I felt even he was running out of steam). He really got the book right, I feel... and I fear sometimes we won't see the book "right" again.
But regardless of that... here's how I see the Avengers, and how the book should be.
The Team
As many others before me have said, you can't have the Avengers without Captain America. It just doesn't feel like the team! (kind of like if you had the Defenders without the Hulk, if you will) Cap should always be front and center in any Avengers grouping, acting as team spokesman and, yes, as team leader. The guy's the best strategist in the Marvel Universe, and is probably the only super-hero whom the public almost universally admires and believes.
Who else would be on the team? I think a seven-member roster works best, although if I were to write the book, I'd keep the teams going on missions to no more than five or six, unless it's a major threat. There's always been lip service paid to the idea of one Avenger remaining on monitor duty at all times, but the only time it's been a factor is when the writer wanted a character to bail from monitor duty (the Beast has done this a time or two, to help out the X-Men). Having a seven-member team with rotating monitor duty so that five or six are available to go on missions works for me... heck, you could have one on monitor duty, and one member absent entirely from the issue because they're busy with events in their own book!
So, aside from Cap... who's on the team? Well, I've always been a fan of the classic line-up from the Englehart era, so I'd put Thor and Iron Man there -- but those two would likely be the ones most often absent due to their own activities. These two members provide the tech know-how and sheer power the team needs.
That's three... I need four more, right? In the past, the Vision would've been one of my members, as well as the Scarlet Witch, but both characters have been messed up way too much to deal with, so they're out.
Goliath and the Wasp. Yes, I said it. Sure, Hank and Tony both provide science know-how, but I'd want to focus Hank's expertise on biology, and Tony on tech. Yeah, I know, Hank built Ultron, but his field is supposed to be biochemistry, and that's where he should be. The Wasp would be there because 1) She's a fun character, 2) It works well to have her and Hank play off each other, and 3) We need women on the team!
Two more members? Well, let's throw in Songbird. Why? Partly because in AVENGERS FOREVER, she was included in the group, so at some point in the future, she's supposed to be on the team, and this would get her in there. Captain Marvel (or whatever Genis is calling himself these days) is also supposed to be a future member, but I'd save him for a time (although more on that below).
Last member? Hawkeye. But isn't he dead? Or has he come back to life yet? In the afore-mentioned AVENGERS FOREVER, there was no reaction from Songbird or Captain Marvel about him being alive -- no, "But you're dead in my era!" thoughts or anything. To me, this indicates that his death isn't permanent. And besides, if DC can bring Green Arrow back from the dead, Marvel can bring back Hawkeye (although I'd prefer it if we could find a way to show that Hawkeye didn't really die in the first place -- perhaps he was just so greviously wounded it took him some time to be treated for his wounds... maybe even suffered from amnesia or something).
So, that's my core group, right? But there are a lot of other super-heroes I'd love to use on the team... so how do I use them?
Well, there's the hoary Reserve Avengers thing I could use... but I almost think it would be better to rename the status Standby Avengers. If you're a Standby Avenger, that means you'd be available at any time to get the call to go on active duty, whether it means supplementing the main team, or even forming a temporary team with one of the active Avengers on a one-time basis. I'd have Cap making contact with former Avengers and potential new members for this new status, and recruiting new members this way... with the understanding being that if an active member has to drop out of active membership, a Standby would be called to take their place.
This idea also opens up some interesting possibilities -- like I said, Cap's a strategist, and he could determine not only how to best use his active team, but also when he might need a specialist. Need someone who can go really, really fast for a specific mission? Call Quicksilver and see if he's available. If he's not, contact Nova.
Yeah, Nova. It's been shown that he wants to be an Avenger, and I'd probably use him in the first Standby storyline that came up. And I like Nova, even if I don't always like how he's been used.
The Stories
Naturally, the first story would have to be an "Old Order Changeth" kind of thing, but we need something going on other than changing the membership. Cap would learn about something that's going to be coming up in the near future, and he would of course know he'll need to re-align the whole team in order to prepare for it. Maybe it's a future planned invasion by Kang, utilizing an army of alien races from all over the Marvel Universe, because he's sick and tired of the Avengers always beating him, and it's about time he finished them off once and for all. So Cap finds out this is coming up several years in advance, and starts preparing for it. Whatever it is, it's got to be something huger than big. Maybe Cap finds out because the Tomorrow Man has come back to fight the Avengers, and he lets slip something about knowing Kang was going to conquer this era in a few years, and that he wants to take over first... whatever.
From there, we use Cap recruiting a major Avengers army, and cataloging abilities, powers and skills while we have other cool stuff happening. We can see how the Avengers' working relationship with other groups, like the Fantastic Four and SHIELD, actually work, but not get bogged down in detail there. Establish additional Avengers bases all over the world -- not necessarily full-fledged mansions, mind you, but smaller bases that have medical facilities, dorms, meeting rooms, labs, and so forth -- none of these would be as deluxe as Avengers Mansion, but would provide a "home away from home" for an away team to use as a base of operations. No matter how fast the Quinjets are, it's still a big planet, and the days are gone when we can just accept that Quicksilver can run all over the world several times a day, or that the Torch can fly cross-country in a few hours. These Avengers Outposts would be part of Cap's plans to prepare for this Big Event.
While things are under way for the big deal that Cap's reworking the group, there should be other big things, too... like a new Masters of Evil that would be a major kick-ass group. Perhaps Zemo or some other master villain, upon hearing what the Avengers are doing, want to do the same thing for the villains (even if they don't know why the Avengers are recruiting). What happens when all over the country, different locations are attacked by groups of seven or eight villains, each group different, all claiming to be the Masters of Evil?
Lastly, the Avengers has always been one of two books that really lets us explore the Marvel Universe (the FF is the other one). How long has it been since we've seen the latest in Atlantis? What are the Skrulls up to, or the Kree? What's the latest in the Savage Land? Those are just examples -- the Avengers should never be confined to New York City issue after issue after issue, you know? There are lots of super-heroes there, we shouldn't be portraying things as "Oh no, the Avengers are in California -- New York is unprotected! We only have the Fantastic Four, Dr. Strange, Daredevil, Spider-Man, SHIELD, etc. to protect us!" Heck, if the Avengers were going to be away from NYC for an extended period, why, Cap would simply call up some Standby members to form a temporary seven person team to cover for their absence!
Another part of the stories would be the training sessions -- they wouldn't necessarily be a main focus of a story, but there'd be at least a reference in each issue as we start things up. Even standby members get training, because Cap needs to know who would be the best Field Leaders in case he needs to send out different groups. This would let us have a lot of cameos of the standby members as they're coming or going from training sessions.
The Bottom Line
The whole idea here is to make the Avengers exciting again... not "kewl" or "rad" or whatever, but exciting! Make it a book that you finish reading the new issue and can hardly wait until the next one comes out... that people talk about on their blogs and review sites... and make it fun to read, too! Just because the Avengers are the super-hero elite of the MU, they are human (or humanoid, anyway)... there should be humor, natural humor. When not in combat, even Captain America could make a joke or two.
So, would I take on the assignment to write the Avengers, using these ideas? Well, yeah, of course -- but not until I could plot out several years' worth of ideas, knowing what I wanted to accomplish at each point as I built up to the Big Event -- and planning what to do beyond that. Once I had a solid foundation to begin my run with, then I'd be willing to start.
Jon
Monday, December 19, 2005
Monday Night Blogging
A number of random things to talk about tonight...
Recently Read: Squadron Supreme
Well, that should be recently re-read, at any rate... this may be my third time through the TPB reprinting the Mark Gruenwald-written miniseries, and I'm amazed every time at what I missed on previous readings. No, I won't go into details on what I caught this time... but I do find myself wishing that the follow-up graphic novel had been included in the TPB.
Anyway... it's a great story, and one that certainly deserved reprinting (the copy I have is the third printing, believe it or not). I don't know if previous prints included the Alex Ross cover or not... but this one does.
I never had all the issues of the original mini-series... it came out while I was in the Navy, when I was home-ported out of Guam, and it was rare I could get all the comics each month that were coming out, having to get them at the newsstands or Stars & Stripes bookstores. As such, until I bought this TPB, I'd never read the whole story before.
Of course, I'm familiar with the backstory of the SS... Marvel's JLA analogues, and so forth, and I've always liked them as far back as I can recall. Reading this TPB, however, I'm once again reminded that I'm not able to identify who the inspiration of the villains were... and I am assuming they were inspired by DC villains. Master Mayhem, aka Emil Burbank, seems to be based on Lex Luthor, for example, and Minx on Catwoman. Others, though, stymie me... like Remnant and Pinball. I did a search to see if there were annotations on the web, but was unsuccessful.
The Work Day
It was a decent day at work. Since we have someone out on vacation, I came into work at 10 (which is, admittedly, only about a half hour earlier than I usually get there). There was a minimal amount of work to begin with, but we managed to stay busy most of the day, and I got in 8 hours and 15 minutes today, which is good. Nothing really of interest to mention, except that the Dining Guide rebuild that I did last week went live.
eBay Auctions
All the items I've sold have been paid for, save for one... and that one is in a dispute status now. Bizarrely, it was the item that sold for the lowest price that I'm having a problem geting paid for! There was one item -- the TwoMorrows Miracleman book -- that was won by someone with a low rating, but that person paid in plenty of time, and there's nothing waiting to be shipped.
I did spend a bit of time last night, as I think I mentioned, offering Express Mail shipping for anyone who wanted to buy for Christmas presents... but as of the last time I checked, only one item up right now has a bid. Of course, anything can happen, right?
Currently Reading
Just tonight, I started my latest re-reading of the Kree-Skrull War... just a few pages into it so far. After I read that, it's probably going to be time to go to the Essentials -- maybe Avengers, maybe FF... or maybe Cap or Iron Man or Hulk!
And that's about it for now...
Jon
Recently Read: Squadron Supreme
Well, that should be recently re-read, at any rate... this may be my third time through the TPB reprinting the Mark Gruenwald-written miniseries, and I'm amazed every time at what I missed on previous readings. No, I won't go into details on what I caught this time... but I do find myself wishing that the follow-up graphic novel had been included in the TPB.
Anyway... it's a great story, and one that certainly deserved reprinting (the copy I have is the third printing, believe it or not). I don't know if previous prints included the Alex Ross cover or not... but this one does.
I never had all the issues of the original mini-series... it came out while I was in the Navy, when I was home-ported out of Guam, and it was rare I could get all the comics each month that were coming out, having to get them at the newsstands or Stars & Stripes bookstores. As such, until I bought this TPB, I'd never read the whole story before.
Of course, I'm familiar with the backstory of the SS... Marvel's JLA analogues, and so forth, and I've always liked them as far back as I can recall. Reading this TPB, however, I'm once again reminded that I'm not able to identify who the inspiration of the villains were... and I am assuming they were inspired by DC villains. Master Mayhem, aka Emil Burbank, seems to be based on Lex Luthor, for example, and Minx on Catwoman. Others, though, stymie me... like Remnant and Pinball. I did a search to see if there were annotations on the web, but was unsuccessful.
The Work Day
It was a decent day at work. Since we have someone out on vacation, I came into work at 10 (which is, admittedly, only about a half hour earlier than I usually get there). There was a minimal amount of work to begin with, but we managed to stay busy most of the day, and I got in 8 hours and 15 minutes today, which is good. Nothing really of interest to mention, except that the Dining Guide rebuild that I did last week went live.
eBay Auctions
All the items I've sold have been paid for, save for one... and that one is in a dispute status now. Bizarrely, it was the item that sold for the lowest price that I'm having a problem geting paid for! There was one item -- the TwoMorrows Miracleman book -- that was won by someone with a low rating, but that person paid in plenty of time, and there's nothing waiting to be shipped.
I did spend a bit of time last night, as I think I mentioned, offering Express Mail shipping for anyone who wanted to buy for Christmas presents... but as of the last time I checked, only one item up right now has a bid. Of course, anything can happen, right?
Currently Reading
Just tonight, I started my latest re-reading of the Kree-Skrull War... just a few pages into it so far. After I read that, it's probably going to be time to go to the Essentials -- maybe Avengers, maybe FF... or maybe Cap or Iron Man or Hulk!
And that's about it for now...
Jon
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Sunday Night?!?!?
Wow... it is certainly bizarre to me that so much time has passed between postings this past week or two... considering how much I used to put into this. Hopefully, by the end of the year, I'll get things moving here again (and maybe get some of the regular readers of this blog who may have stopped checking in to check daily again).
Saturday
Of course, Saturday began with our Weight Watchers meeting... I had a slight gain this past week, and I expect this coming Saturday will be more of the same. But as Jessi's been saying this weekend, "It's not what you eat between Thanksgiving and Christmas, it's what you eat between Christmas and Thanksgiving." I blame the holiday luncheon at work on Thursday for the slight game.
After the meeting, we ran home, and changed clothes to walk the dogs. It was a very, very cold morning (heck, it's been freezing around here lately!), so we bundled up as much as possible before taking the dogs out. After that, we went home and had breakfast, and then, I packaged up a few items that had been paid for in my eBay sales so I could run 'em to the post office (which appeared to be a big mistake, but more on that shortly). Jessi wanted to make a run to Value Village to look for shirts, so I figured I could drop her off there and she could shop while I was at the post office.
I was hoping everything I was shipping would be going Priority Mail, because then I could've used the automated postage center, but alas, there were a few Media Mail shipments (the APC doesn't do media mail). As it was, there were six or seven people waiting for the APC. So I stepped into the post office, and took a ticket (they do a number system, like at a deli, so there's no line to stand in)... I was number 84. I looked up at the sign, and it said they were on number 40.
I called Jessi and let her know it could be a while before I was finished there... but as it was, I ended up getting out of there in about half an hour! At least a fourth of the people who were ahead of me apparently got tired of waiting and left, so those numbers got skipped... and those who stayed didn't waste a lot of time debating the method of shipment (heck, by this point, you've got to ship Priority Mail to get it where it's going before Christmas... and after Tuesday, you'll have to go with Express Mail!).
So, I met Jessi back at Value Village (we didn't buy a thing there), and walked over to the Dollar Tree (didn't buy anything there, either), then I went into Fred Meyer to pick up a few necessities, and went home so we could start getting ready. You see, we had planned to drive down to Chehalis to meet up with one of Jessi's former co-workers and her husband and child for dinner. Jessi wanted to go early, because there are outlet malls and the like around there, and figured we might get some Christmas shopping done!
Now, we're both kind of dressed up, casual but dressy, if that makes any sense. Jessi was wearing a white sweater, and when we were window shopping at this one strip mall, we walked into a Fashion Bug store, where Jessi looked at a few new sweaters (they had a sale... buy one, get one for $1). She decided she didn't want to spend the money for that now, so we left, and went to the next store. Well, two stores later, we find this place that's offering some free samples of these various dips and jellies... and Jessi tried this grape jelly... and spilled a very tiny bit of it on her sweater. Of course, this meant that she could not wear this sweater to meet her friend, so it was back to Fashion Bug to buy two sweaters anyway.
We killed a bit more time after that, and then met up with her friend and their house. We went to dinner with them to Applebee's -- which I think I've mentioned before that they have a Weight Watchers section on their menu. However, since Saturday is our flex point day, we both decided to order off the regular menu. The Philly cheese steak sounded really good to me, so I ordered that, while Jessi had a grilled club house sandwich.
The Philly cheese steak was not worth the points... I should've gone for the Asian chicken roll-up that I'd originally considered. I make better cheese steak sandwiches using Steak-ummm... well, at least, I used to, anyway.
No dessert for either of us, or Jessi's friends. It was a good evening overall, and we headed back home and I checked on the status of my auctions before going to bed.
Sunday
Our friends who walk their dogs with us on the weekends were all headed out of town today, so we didn't take our dogs for a walk -- probably just as well, as we were meeting my brother Jeff and his wife, Kristi, for lunch up in Des Moines. So, we got up, had breakfast, got ready, and headed up north. Jessi met their dogs, Riker and the Tucker (Riker's a German Shepherd, I forget what Tucker is -- and I could have 'em mixed up, for all I know). For lunch, I was hoping for Subway -- it's fairly cheap, and it's also healthy and tasty -- but nobody wanted that, and we ended up going to Applebee's again -- this time, the one near Southcenter, in Seattle. Well, Tukwila, technically. This time, I had the Asian chicken roll-up, and Jessi had a grilled chicken sandwich. Yeah, we kind of over-flexed this weekend, I think, and I'd imagine we'll both show a gain on Saturday morning.
After lunch, we did some window shopping at Southcenter (okay, now it's Westfield Southcenter, but nobody calls it that), and then came back home... where I made up a big batch of chicken strips for this week (I may be working late a few nights, so wanted to be sure Jessi had something quick and easy ready for dinner if she got too hungry to wait for me to get home first), and used the last of our pumpkin to make a crustless pumpkin pie.
I also updated all my auctions, relisted what hadn't sold on Friday, and put up a few more items -- offering Express Mail shipping on all of them, to help people buy stuff for Christmas gifts!
Then, after Jessi went to bed, I checked my nightly websites, and wrote this up!
Jon
Saturday
Of course, Saturday began with our Weight Watchers meeting... I had a slight gain this past week, and I expect this coming Saturday will be more of the same. But as Jessi's been saying this weekend, "It's not what you eat between Thanksgiving and Christmas, it's what you eat between Christmas and Thanksgiving." I blame the holiday luncheon at work on Thursday for the slight game.
After the meeting, we ran home, and changed clothes to walk the dogs. It was a very, very cold morning (heck, it's been freezing around here lately!), so we bundled up as much as possible before taking the dogs out. After that, we went home and had breakfast, and then, I packaged up a few items that had been paid for in my eBay sales so I could run 'em to the post office (which appeared to be a big mistake, but more on that shortly). Jessi wanted to make a run to Value Village to look for shirts, so I figured I could drop her off there and she could shop while I was at the post office.
I was hoping everything I was shipping would be going Priority Mail, because then I could've used the automated postage center, but alas, there were a few Media Mail shipments (the APC doesn't do media mail). As it was, there were six or seven people waiting for the APC. So I stepped into the post office, and took a ticket (they do a number system, like at a deli, so there's no line to stand in)... I was number 84. I looked up at the sign, and it said they were on number 40.
I called Jessi and let her know it could be a while before I was finished there... but as it was, I ended up getting out of there in about half an hour! At least a fourth of the people who were ahead of me apparently got tired of waiting and left, so those numbers got skipped... and those who stayed didn't waste a lot of time debating the method of shipment (heck, by this point, you've got to ship Priority Mail to get it where it's going before Christmas... and after Tuesday, you'll have to go with Express Mail!).
So, I met Jessi back at Value Village (we didn't buy a thing there), and walked over to the Dollar Tree (didn't buy anything there, either), then I went into Fred Meyer to pick up a few necessities, and went home so we could start getting ready. You see, we had planned to drive down to Chehalis to meet up with one of Jessi's former co-workers and her husband and child for dinner. Jessi wanted to go early, because there are outlet malls and the like around there, and figured we might get some Christmas shopping done!
Now, we're both kind of dressed up, casual but dressy, if that makes any sense. Jessi was wearing a white sweater, and when we were window shopping at this one strip mall, we walked into a Fashion Bug store, where Jessi looked at a few new sweaters (they had a sale... buy one, get one for $1). She decided she didn't want to spend the money for that now, so we left, and went to the next store. Well, two stores later, we find this place that's offering some free samples of these various dips and jellies... and Jessi tried this grape jelly... and spilled a very tiny bit of it on her sweater. Of course, this meant that she could not wear this sweater to meet her friend, so it was back to Fashion Bug to buy two sweaters anyway.
We killed a bit more time after that, and then met up with her friend and their house. We went to dinner with them to Applebee's -- which I think I've mentioned before that they have a Weight Watchers section on their menu. However, since Saturday is our flex point day, we both decided to order off the regular menu. The Philly cheese steak sounded really good to me, so I ordered that, while Jessi had a grilled club house sandwich.
The Philly cheese steak was not worth the points... I should've gone for the Asian chicken roll-up that I'd originally considered. I make better cheese steak sandwiches using Steak-ummm... well, at least, I used to, anyway.
No dessert for either of us, or Jessi's friends. It was a good evening overall, and we headed back home and I checked on the status of my auctions before going to bed.
Sunday
Our friends who walk their dogs with us on the weekends were all headed out of town today, so we didn't take our dogs for a walk -- probably just as well, as we were meeting my brother Jeff and his wife, Kristi, for lunch up in Des Moines. So, we got up, had breakfast, got ready, and headed up north. Jessi met their dogs, Riker and the Tucker (Riker's a German Shepherd, I forget what Tucker is -- and I could have 'em mixed up, for all I know). For lunch, I was hoping for Subway -- it's fairly cheap, and it's also healthy and tasty -- but nobody wanted that, and we ended up going to Applebee's again -- this time, the one near Southcenter, in Seattle. Well, Tukwila, technically. This time, I had the Asian chicken roll-up, and Jessi had a grilled chicken sandwich. Yeah, we kind of over-flexed this weekend, I think, and I'd imagine we'll both show a gain on Saturday morning.
After lunch, we did some window shopping at Southcenter (okay, now it's Westfield Southcenter, but nobody calls it that), and then came back home... where I made up a big batch of chicken strips for this week (I may be working late a few nights, so wanted to be sure Jessi had something quick and easy ready for dinner if she got too hungry to wait for me to get home first), and used the last of our pumpkin to make a crustless pumpkin pie.
I also updated all my auctions, relisted what hadn't sold on Friday, and put up a few more items -- offering Express Mail shipping on all of them, to help people buy stuff for Christmas gifts!
Then, after Jessi went to bed, I checked my nightly websites, and wrote this up!
Jon
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