The following entries are excerpted from http://archeon.livejournal.com/

Monday May 5th, 2008 11:40 am

hey kids, comics!

there's a list over on CBR posting the top 100 best comic runs as voted on by the readers and it's amazing, so many of my favorites are on this list and there's a lot of things that I now want to check out because of the write ups.

for the uninitiated a "comic run" is a number of consecutive issues written and drawn by the same creative team, though it more often is defined by the writer who often ends up working with a number of different artists while completing his "run" on a particular title.

Several of us had a discussion about this at the Pittsburgh Comicon after party, where we were tasked to name our two most favorite runs. My choices were James Robinson's Starman, and Gaiman's Sandman, both of which appear pretty high on the CBR list.

Although I've read a lot of the runs on that list and enjoyed them quite a lot, here are my absolute top favorites from the list:

96. Denny O’Neil and Denys Cowan’s The Question
91. Mike Grell’s Green Arrow
89. Mark Gruenwald’s Captain America
71. Chris Claremont and Paul Smith’s Uncanny X-Men (really all the early Claremont X-men books as I read over the course of several different artists, but this is what I remember most)
56. Geoff Johns’ Flash
48. Geoff Johns’ JSA
44. Keith Giffen and Tom and Mary Bierbaum’s Legion
39. Mark Waid’s 1st Flash Run
28. John Ostrander’s Suicide Squad
24. Garth Ennis’ Punisher
20. Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev’s Daredevil
13. Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra’s Y the Last Man
9. Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis’s Justice League
8. Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon’s Preacher
7. James Robinson’s Starman
4. Frank Miller and Klaus Janson on Daredevil
1. Neil Gaiman’s Sandman

BOLD = top 6



That's pretty much what I think of when I think of comics right there... those are the books I always remember and the ones that defined what I felt was great about comics as a medium.

The only run not on that list that I would add is: The Defenders which I read from Issue 97-152 which I think was mostly written by J M DeMatteis, though I can't be sure on that.
 
Current Mood: nostalgic

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Wednesday April 30th, 2008 9:22 am

things...

things that are cool:

Pittsburgh Comicon was a blast.
I met Aaron Douglas (BSG's Chief Tyrel) His hotel room was next to ours and Eric and I rode the elevator down to the lobby with him and got to ask him a question or two.
A fan of my work from my flickr stream (of all places?) came to the con to meet me and bought some prints. He said he wasn't a fan of comics really and came to the con just to see me.
Hanging with ericadams rabbitchild cajun mamoulian... much hilarity ensued.
Lackluster World Issue #5!
Penguins amazing playoff win streak.
Progress on a certain project.
Receiving a signed copy of Jade Tiger from jennreese in yesterday's mail. Thanks Jenn!


things that are not cool:

Being sick! After going YEARS without throwing up, last night I was puking my guts out for the second time in two months... wtf? One of the most miserable nights I've ever had, headache, muscle pain, and dreadful upset stomach. Better today but still have that sickness hangover, so work is a bit of a chore this morning.
Freezing office! We had the first mini-warm weather streak a week or so ago and they switched the buildings' heating system over to AC and of course it got cold again this week and there is no relief to be had. I was totally unprepared yesterday, but today I brought layers.
Because I was sick last night I couldn't do the Shattered Sun dailies in WoW, so I'm still 2-3 days from being exalted.
 
Current Mood: just this side of miserable

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Wednesday April 23rd, 2008 4:12 pm

travel log & misc updates.

Pittsburgh Comicon is this weekend!

hotels have been booked for Wizard World Philly and Origins! (I have extra space in Philly if someone wants to share)

Seems like I still have a lot to do to get ready, but other than print some new table signs and pack, I can't think of anything.

Been having a terrible time trying to get a model for the bantam cover... I have a shoot booked for this evening so fingers crossed that will happen without a hitch.

waiting on so many things out of my control at the moment that my whole life seems as if its on hold... lame!

guess that's all I've got at the moment.

bah!
 
Current Mood: bored

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Tuesday April 22nd, 2008 4:07 pm

greatest quote... ever!

HELHEIM: 'We Need To Let Metal And Odin Catch The Kids Before Jesus Does!' - Apr. 21, 2008

from here...

I haven't heard Helheim, but now I have to look them up and give it a listen...
 
Current Mood: amused for the glory of Odin!
Current Music: Avantasia - Reach Out for the Light

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Tuesday April 22nd, 2008 12:07 am

well that was unexpected...

so tonight I watched Bridge to Terabithia

little did I know that I'd spend the last hour crying my eyes out...

seriously, actual tears running down my cheek.

what a beautiful movie about friendship and imagination.

oh and wtf? this is the second movie I've seen in the last 24 hours that was totally marketed in the wrong way. I can't believe they were selling Terabithia as a children's movie...
 
Current Mood: weepy

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Monday April 21st, 2008 3:52 pm

what am I missing?

trying to come up with a list of Asian/wuxia/action movies that have gotten a US theatrical release...

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
Hero
House of Flying Daggers
Iron Monkey
Curse of the Golden Flower
Fearless

There's one I can see in my head, but I just can't seem to figure out if it's one of the above or if I'm missing one...
 
Current Mood: puzzled

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Friday April 18th, 2008 5:35 pm

Todd’s indulgence

Todd, a member of the lunch crew, has on occasion been known to enjoy a bag of Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies. This cracks me up every time I see it, because I can’t help but be reminded of that old marketing campaign.

You remember the one…

A bored and somewhat lonely house wife, just looking for a break from her hectic day of being, maid, mother, cook and wife finally gets the house to herself for 20 minutes. She begins all the preparations for her masturbation ritual. Nice hot bubble bath, scented candles, the latest Daniel Steele novel… all she needs is that one final piece, the key to escape, a chocolate cookie so sinfully delicious that it awakens those long hidden passions that allow her the freedom of her indulgence and give her the courage to slip her fingers beneath the sudsy waters for that bit of physical touch she never gets from her husband.

Only, some bastard ate all the Milano cookies. Now, lost and aching for release, she’s left trying to identify who could be so cruel by imagining each of the other members of her household indulging their own passions with her Milano cookies.

Or at least that’s how I remember it anyway.

So yeah, I see Todd with those cookies and I can’t help but picture Todd in a bubble bath having stolen this poor woman’s cookies and denying her a moment of joy, and while part of me screams “You bastard!” The other part of me laughs hysterically for having dreamed up this whole scenario in the first place.
 
Current Mood: amused

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Friday April 18th, 2008 2:22 pm

get ready for the brimstone...

Last night, as I was purchasing the new CD from The Sword, I'm surfing around iTunes and I find Avantasia

Holy hell, how did I miss this until now?

So far, I just bought The Metal Opera, Pts. 1 & 2, but even after just one listen, I know I'll be getting the rest of the catalog.



It's kind of like if Savatage (or Trans Siberian Orchestra) had Bruce Dickinson for a singer, and let HammerFall write the choruses to the songs.

There's a really great over-view of the Avantasia project on Wikipedia. Including this gem of information...

"The most complex piece is the first song of Part II, "The Seven Angels", featuring seven of the eleven singers. The song is over 14 minutes long and contains a classical "stanza/refrain" part, two guitar solos, choirs, a passage with piano accompaniment, and an epic finale. It also plays an important part in the plot, as it serves as summation of the first part, and has caused discussion due to the inclusion of lyrics not printed in the booklet."

If that doesn't pique your interest, there's no hope for you.

here's the plot summary for the Metal Opera...
 
Current Mood: carried away
Current Music: The Sword - The Frost-Giant's Daughter

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Friday April 18th, 2008 10:32 am

ocho-jerko

Dear Chad Johnson,

As if we Bengals fans have not suffered enough for our devotion... now we have to listen to you being a jerk.

Unless you're willing to renegotiate your OVERLY generous contract, there is no financially viable way to trade you.

Please shut the fuck up and act like a professional.

Sincerely,
-archeon
 
Current Mood: annoyed

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Thursday April 17th, 2008 3:19 pm

flightless birds take up janitorial duties...

sweep Ottawa from playoffs!



Last night's game was awesome, but now we have to wait to see who the opponent is for round two... looking like it's going to be the Rangers, but still, you never know what can happen.
 
Current Mood: Let's Go Pens!

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