If you're reading this late enough on Saturday night, or any time after Sunday the 10th of September, you can find the latest installment of my "Cover Stories" column at
this link!
Jon
Jon's Random Acts of Geekery is your five days a week destination for old-school geekery!
Saturday, September 09, 2006
Animated Flash Gordon on YouTube
Since I've been watching the DVD of this, I thought I'd share some animated Flash Gordon stuff on YouTube:
Wow, Spanish opening titles! Well, the person who posted it did so in Spanish, anyway.
Here's the closing credits:
This clip is from the first or second episode:
Hope you enjoyed 'em!
Jon
Wow, Spanish opening titles! Well, the person who posted it did so in Spanish, anyway.
Here's the closing credits:
This clip is from the first or second episode:
Hope you enjoyed 'em!
Jon
Saturday Afternoon Blogging!
Wow, I haven't blogged at all since Wednesday morning, eh? Well, let's see what I have for you in the way of catching up...
Work Stuff
Been a busy, busy work week -- I ended up the week just 3 hours and 15 minutes short of a 40 hour work week... and Monday was a holiday! Unfortunately, since I only get overtime for working more than 40 hours in a week, it'll only be paid at my hourly rate, but it'll still mean more money next payday (which will be Friday).
At least they've hired a new ad services assistant (who should be starting in two weeks), so things should get back to normal at the newspaper by the end of the month.
Costume Stuff
Anyone reading this remember seeing the pics of my Superman costume from last Halloween? Naturally, after all the time I put into making that, I'll be wearing it again for Halloween this year (and Krypto, of course, will be wearing his cape!)... but with one basic difference: I bought some better boots to go with it. Last year, I made these really crappy-looking shoe covers that I was not happy with, but this time around, thanks to buycostumes.com (which I recommend if you're looking to buy some boots for your superhero costume -- they've got the same price for the boots as anyone else, but offer a variety of shipping options, most of which are half what everyone else charges). The boots arrived today, and they do fit, so I'm happy! Around Halloween I'll post a new pic of me in the revised costume for your pleasure (whether it's your pleasure in admiring it, or your pleasure in making fun of it is up to you!).
Flash Gordon: The Complete Animated Series
The above item I've had for about a month now, but I just started watching it today (my wife Jessi and my sister-in-law Kristi are out and about, enjoying a girls' day out, which is why I've got time to blog right now). I'm into the second episode now, and I've got to say... some of it is better than I remembered (and I have fond memories of watching this when it originally aired on NBC way back when), while other parts... well... they're less than stellar, let me say.
For example: The animation has some of the hallmarks of Filmation's stuff -- eyes not quite lining up, mouths not in the right place, etc. -- that I can easily overlook, because that's almost the style of Filmation, you know?
But I nearly burst out laughing when Flash, Dale, Dr. Zarkov, and the lion man were running away from Ming's forces, and the sound effects were the same sound effect used for funny cartoons when, say, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo were scared by a ghost and started running in place for a few seconds before getting any traction!
The voice acting is great, though... I'd definitely recommend this DVD set! Four DVDs for $21 plus postage (on the Amazon link above) -- or buy something else with that and get the Super Saver shipping -- sounds like a great deal to me (and I got my copy for free!).
I'm sure that the DVD extras are all wonderful, too -- and that's not just because I helped work on the documentaries, but because Andy Mangels does a great job on that stuff (too bad he wasn't hired to do some of the Warners DVDs).
Essential Incredible Hulk
...Volume 1 and 2 are the latest books I've been re-reading (I'm about halfway through volume 2, at the point where Herb Trimpe started drawing the book). I've been enjoying Volume 2 more than Volume 1, to be honest...
...because Volume 1 really kind of shows that Stan Lee was making it all up as he went along -- plus, I think Marvel really missed out by not including some of the interim stories the Hulk guest-starred in between the end of the original Hulk comic and when the new series started in Tales to Astonish. But I digress.
As I said, I'm enjoying Volume 2 much more, and I suspect a lot of it is that when the Hulk got his own title again, there was more room to put more content into each month's story... I feel the TTA stories, being half a book, barely had enough time to recap what had happened before, introduce new elements, and then go into a cliffhanger! There's really a lot of repetition in these tales, plus some stuff occurs that's never really explained!
Take, for example, all the weapons that Bruce Banner creates that we never, ever see him creating (like the T-Gun that sent the Hulk to the future, where he fought the Executioner -- plus later Loki sends the Hulk to Asgard, and the Executioner remembers fighting the Hulk in the future, without mentioning it was in the future, despite the fact that, for him, it wouldn't have happened yet!). Also, given the serialized style of the stories (one tale leading directly into the next, with no available time between issues for other stuff to happen), there's all this movie footage shot of the Hulk that's being shown to characters all the time, none of which is based on anything that occurred in the stories themselves!
I see, thanks to Amazon, that I need two more volumes to make my collection of Essential Incredible Hulk complete...
I'm guessing those two volumes will feature at least some of the Hulk issues I remember buying and reading when I was a kid! Maybe I'll have to use those above links myself next weekend and order those for myself! (Then again, my birthday is coming up in two months -- I could ask for those, couldn't I? On the other hand, I do need a new food processor)
That's all for now!
Jon
Work Stuff
Been a busy, busy work week -- I ended up the week just 3 hours and 15 minutes short of a 40 hour work week... and Monday was a holiday! Unfortunately, since I only get overtime for working more than 40 hours in a week, it'll only be paid at my hourly rate, but it'll still mean more money next payday (which will be Friday).
At least they've hired a new ad services assistant (who should be starting in two weeks), so things should get back to normal at the newspaper by the end of the month.
Costume Stuff
Anyone reading this remember seeing the pics of my Superman costume from last Halloween? Naturally, after all the time I put into making that, I'll be wearing it again for Halloween this year (and Krypto, of course, will be wearing his cape!)... but with one basic difference: I bought some better boots to go with it. Last year, I made these really crappy-looking shoe covers that I was not happy with, but this time around, thanks to buycostumes.com (which I recommend if you're looking to buy some boots for your superhero costume -- they've got the same price for the boots as anyone else, but offer a variety of shipping options, most of which are half what everyone else charges). The boots arrived today, and they do fit, so I'm happy! Around Halloween I'll post a new pic of me in the revised costume for your pleasure (whether it's your pleasure in admiring it, or your pleasure in making fun of it is up to you!).
Flash Gordon: The Complete Animated Series
The above item I've had for about a month now, but I just started watching it today (my wife Jessi and my sister-in-law Kristi are out and about, enjoying a girls' day out, which is why I've got time to blog right now). I'm into the second episode now, and I've got to say... some of it is better than I remembered (and I have fond memories of watching this when it originally aired on NBC way back when), while other parts... well... they're less than stellar, let me say.
For example: The animation has some of the hallmarks of Filmation's stuff -- eyes not quite lining up, mouths not in the right place, etc. -- that I can easily overlook, because that's almost the style of Filmation, you know?
But I nearly burst out laughing when Flash, Dale, Dr. Zarkov, and the lion man were running away from Ming's forces, and the sound effects were the same sound effect used for funny cartoons when, say, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo were scared by a ghost and started running in place for a few seconds before getting any traction!
The voice acting is great, though... I'd definitely recommend this DVD set! Four DVDs for $21 plus postage (on the Amazon link above) -- or buy something else with that and get the Super Saver shipping -- sounds like a great deal to me (and I got my copy for free!).
I'm sure that the DVD extras are all wonderful, too -- and that's not just because I helped work on the documentaries, but because Andy Mangels does a great job on that stuff (too bad he wasn't hired to do some of the Warners DVDs).
Essential Incredible Hulk
...Volume 1 and 2 are the latest books I've been re-reading (I'm about halfway through volume 2, at the point where Herb Trimpe started drawing the book). I've been enjoying Volume 2 more than Volume 1, to be honest...
...because Volume 1 really kind of shows that Stan Lee was making it all up as he went along -- plus, I think Marvel really missed out by not including some of the interim stories the Hulk guest-starred in between the end of the original Hulk comic and when the new series started in Tales to Astonish. But I digress.
As I said, I'm enjoying Volume 2 much more, and I suspect a lot of it is that when the Hulk got his own title again, there was more room to put more content into each month's story... I feel the TTA stories, being half a book, barely had enough time to recap what had happened before, introduce new elements, and then go into a cliffhanger! There's really a lot of repetition in these tales, plus some stuff occurs that's never really explained!
Take, for example, all the weapons that Bruce Banner creates that we never, ever see him creating (like the T-Gun that sent the Hulk to the future, where he fought the Executioner -- plus later Loki sends the Hulk to Asgard, and the Executioner remembers fighting the Hulk in the future, without mentioning it was in the future, despite the fact that, for him, it wouldn't have happened yet!). Also, given the serialized style of the stories (one tale leading directly into the next, with no available time between issues for other stuff to happen), there's all this movie footage shot of the Hulk that's being shown to characters all the time, none of which is based on anything that occurred in the stories themselves!
I see, thanks to Amazon, that I need two more volumes to make my collection of Essential Incredible Hulk complete...
I'm guessing those two volumes will feature at least some of the Hulk issues I remember buying and reading when I was a kid! Maybe I'll have to use those above links myself next weekend and order those for myself! (Then again, my birthday is coming up in two months -- I could ask for those, couldn't I? On the other hand, I do need a new food processor)
That's all for now!
Jon
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Wednesday Morning Update
Wow, been a few days since I last posted, eh? What will I talk about (quickly)?
Why Windows PCs Annoy Me
Among other things (I could go on and on), it's how frustrating it can be to update things. Lemme 'splain... a while back, I acquired a few used PCs for free, hoping that I could cobble together something which I could use to play Roller Coaster Tycoon again (the only video game I really enjoy, and one that doesn't have a Mac version, sadly). Well, of the three I got, I found which one was the best, and started working with it... it was loaded with Windows 95, and so I upgraded it to Windows 98... which all worked fine, until I tried to set the colors and resolution to something appropriate for RCT... and found that the graphics card driver was lost, and so I was limited to 16 colors, and very low resolution.
Trying to find a driver for the graphics card has proven impossible, and it's not helped that the PC was made by a Korean company that no longer maintains an English-language website (plus, I haven't been able to get into the guts of the thing to see specifics on the graphics/video card anyway). My brother Jeff may have an old video card he'll give me this weekend, but of course that just means I'll have to continue disassembling the thing to have access to where that card is, and hope that it'll all work!
Sheesh.
I've spent several nights working on this thing, and still haven't actually played the game at all!
House Premieres!
Long-time readers of this blog know that Jessi and I are big fans of House on Fox. The season premiered last night (thank goodness, since the shows that were new during the summer are all over with new eps until December or January), and it was a most enjoyable episode! The status quo has been changed forever... or has it? House went through a treatment that's left him with full usage of his leg, but he's still experiencing some occasional pain... and is back to using Vicodin again (given that he stole a prescription pad from his buddy, and the previews for next week show him taking some). I do hope this all isn't just further delusions carrying over from the season closer!
Oh, and Cameron's got a new hairstyle, which I like (although Jessi doesn't care for her bangs).
Car Insurance is a Huge Scam
My biggest monthly expense regarding my car is insurance. The car was paid off years ago, and gas isn't really that much... well, okay, it's still expensive, but at least when I put gas in my car, I know it'll make it go until I have to fill it up again.
Insurance? When I pay my monthly premium of $XX.XX, I don't actually receive anything but a promise. I pay rent, I get a place to live for another month. I don't get anything beyond that month I paid rent for, but I do get a roof over my head (among other things). Car insurance is just a promise from the insurance company that if something happens (and mind you, I have a perfect driving record), they'll pay for it... and then raise my rates some more if it's determined it's my fault. Of course, insurance is mandatory by law, and I suspect the insurance companies take advantage of that to charge higher rates than they might otherwise be able to get away with.
I still think it's a big scam, though.
Cover Stories
Was working on some new columns... including the next installment of "Comics They Never Made" featuring the ficticious Charlton title, "Drive-In Movie Classics" (I really need to finish that installment soon, like tonight). The wonderful fanzine (well, it's really more of a prozine) Charlton Spotlight will be featuring one of the covers that's already been posted in its next issue, along with the links to the first and second installments over at World Famous Comics, so perhaps there'll be a few new readers of that column in the coming months... and since each column ends with a link to this blog, I may get a few more readers! Woo-hoo!
Work Stuff
Busy at work these days... as has been the case lately! This week, as I've said before, I'm covering the Ad Services position from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., after which I'm free to actually build and design ads. Well, if there's stuff that needs catching up on during that 9-5 shift, I help out there as well. But it's still a busy week, and since Monday was a holiday, I won't get paid overtime for an hours over 8 I work each day (since I only get overtime for working more than 40 hours in a week).
Today is my first attendance at the Employee Advisory Committee... and we'll see how that goes!
Dog Stuff
The dogs are going to Doggie Daycare today... not because we necessarily wanted them to, but because our friend Kathy is taking her boxer, Jaeger, there today, and she offered to pay for us if we brought ours over, as well (to ensure he'll have some friends there). So I'll be leaving for work a little early (like I had to do yesterday, too, although that was to drop off cardboard recycling on the other side of Lacey, since there's no public cardboard recycling bins nearby, so far as I've been able to tell).
Th-th-th-th-that's all, folks! (for now, anyway)
Jon
Why Windows PCs Annoy Me
Among other things (I could go on and on), it's how frustrating it can be to update things. Lemme 'splain... a while back, I acquired a few used PCs for free, hoping that I could cobble together something which I could use to play Roller Coaster Tycoon again (the only video game I really enjoy, and one that doesn't have a Mac version, sadly). Well, of the three I got, I found which one was the best, and started working with it... it was loaded with Windows 95, and so I upgraded it to Windows 98... which all worked fine, until I tried to set the colors and resolution to something appropriate for RCT... and found that the graphics card driver was lost, and so I was limited to 16 colors, and very low resolution.
Trying to find a driver for the graphics card has proven impossible, and it's not helped that the PC was made by a Korean company that no longer maintains an English-language website (plus, I haven't been able to get into the guts of the thing to see specifics on the graphics/video card anyway). My brother Jeff may have an old video card he'll give me this weekend, but of course that just means I'll have to continue disassembling the thing to have access to where that card is, and hope that it'll all work!
Sheesh.
I've spent several nights working on this thing, and still haven't actually played the game at all!
House Premieres!
Long-time readers of this blog know that Jessi and I are big fans of House on Fox. The season premiered last night (thank goodness, since the shows that were new during the summer are all over with new eps until December or January), and it was a most enjoyable episode! The status quo has been changed forever... or has it? House went through a treatment that's left him with full usage of his leg, but he's still experiencing some occasional pain... and is back to using Vicodin again (given that he stole a prescription pad from his buddy, and the previews for next week show him taking some). I do hope this all isn't just further delusions carrying over from the season closer!
Oh, and Cameron's got a new hairstyle, which I like (although Jessi doesn't care for her bangs).
Car Insurance is a Huge Scam
My biggest monthly expense regarding my car is insurance. The car was paid off years ago, and gas isn't really that much... well, okay, it's still expensive, but at least when I put gas in my car, I know it'll make it go until I have to fill it up again.
Insurance? When I pay my monthly premium of $XX.XX, I don't actually receive anything but a promise. I pay rent, I get a place to live for another month. I don't get anything beyond that month I paid rent for, but I do get a roof over my head (among other things). Car insurance is just a promise from the insurance company that if something happens (and mind you, I have a perfect driving record), they'll pay for it... and then raise my rates some more if it's determined it's my fault. Of course, insurance is mandatory by law, and I suspect the insurance companies take advantage of that to charge higher rates than they might otherwise be able to get away with.
I still think it's a big scam, though.
Cover Stories
Was working on some new columns... including the next installment of "Comics They Never Made" featuring the ficticious Charlton title, "Drive-In Movie Classics" (I really need to finish that installment soon, like tonight). The wonderful fanzine (well, it's really more of a prozine) Charlton Spotlight will be featuring one of the covers that's already been posted in its next issue, along with the links to the first and second installments over at World Famous Comics, so perhaps there'll be a few new readers of that column in the coming months... and since each column ends with a link to this blog, I may get a few more readers! Woo-hoo!
Work Stuff
Busy at work these days... as has been the case lately! This week, as I've said before, I'm covering the Ad Services position from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., after which I'm free to actually build and design ads. Well, if there's stuff that needs catching up on during that 9-5 shift, I help out there as well. But it's still a busy week, and since Monday was a holiday, I won't get paid overtime for an hours over 8 I work each day (since I only get overtime for working more than 40 hours in a week).
Today is my first attendance at the Employee Advisory Committee... and we'll see how that goes!
Dog Stuff
The dogs are going to Doggie Daycare today... not because we necessarily wanted them to, but because our friend Kathy is taking her boxer, Jaeger, there today, and she offered to pay for us if we brought ours over, as well (to ensure he'll have some friends there). So I'll be leaving for work a little early (like I had to do yesterday, too, although that was to drop off cardboard recycling on the other side of Lacey, since there's no public cardboard recycling bins nearby, so far as I've been able to tell).
Th-th-th-th-that's all, folks! (for now, anyway)
Jon
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Sunday Night Report...
Ack, this will now be an even shorter entry than I was originally writing, because I clicked the wrong thing in Netscape and wiped out what I'd written before!
Saturday -- had a barbeque with our friends Paul and Bridget. I made teriyaki chicken kebabs, which went over very well!
Sunday -- had a barbeque with the family, plus our friend Kathy and next-door neighbor Jessica (fortunately, my niece Jessica didn't come over, or else it could've been confusing with three Jessicas!).
And now... I've got to work on some new Cover Stories columns for World Famous Comics -- and why not check out this week's edition here -- it's another edition of "Comics They Never Made!"
More tomorrow, I'm sure -- maybe even more details from this weekend!
Jon
Saturday -- had a barbeque with our friends Paul and Bridget. I made teriyaki chicken kebabs, which went over very well!
Sunday -- had a barbeque with the family, plus our friend Kathy and next-door neighbor Jessica (fortunately, my niece Jessica didn't come over, or else it could've been confusing with three Jessicas!).
And now... I've got to work on some new Cover Stories columns for World Famous Comics -- and why not check out this week's edition here -- it's another edition of "Comics They Never Made!"
More tomorrow, I'm sure -- maybe even more details from this weekend!
Jon
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