Captain Harlock

I keep hearing Hillary Clinton say "I bring my 35 years of experience to Washington". What experience? What experience does she really have? Is she counting being first lady?

I always say that I'm that guy you see on the cover of Dog Owner magazine with his arm around the German Shepherd and the quote reads "Best Friends!". I love dogs! I'd love to get another one eventually. They really are man's best friend.

YEAH BABY!!

I said "hey who's that homeless guy on stage?".

I remember when she performed at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lille hammer, Norway. She hit this note with such clarity and so strongly that it made my jaw drop. She has such an incredible voice it's really difficult to describe. ". And for those who aren't familiar with her she provided hauntingly aural background throughout the film Titanic.

Truth be known, I hate being single. Especially on New Year's Eve. Last year when the ball dropped all the couples kissed and turned and went "Happy New... oh that's right. I have no one!". A friend of mine gave me some advice years ago that I'll never forget. He said "Robb, when you get married or move in with someone you make sure you get a couch with a pull out bed". When I asked why he said; "Because I guarantee you'll be sleeping on that couch at least once a month. And you're going to want to be comfortable". Thanks Scott!

That's the great thing about comics, if there's a way to bring someone back they usually will.

Yes, Captain America is back! Marvel editor Joe Quesada was on the Colbert Report last night and he said that Cap's long time side kick Bucky Barnes had taken up the mantel of Captain America. Issue #34 is on newstands now!

I had a 1980 VW Scirocco. I don't think I gave it a name but I did say "MOVE IT YOU PIECE OF S#$T" a lot to it.

One of my favorites, probably my favorite song that Eric's written for that matter, is from the second verse of If You Change Your Mind. I went through a bad break up (it was bad for me, I don't think she cared as much though) and I just kept listening to it over and over; Well I tried so hard to be the one that you were dreaming of But I guess it wasn't quite enough to make you fall in love So walk away leave me by myself And let me crawl back into my shell And be the me that I knew so well} Before I met you...

On the flipside here's a local band from my neck of the woods who had ZERO stage presence. Caution: Severe boredom may ensue. Watch at your own risk. How NOT to perform as a band.

Definitely Rod Stewart. Freddie Mercury had it. Robin Zander has boatloads of it!

Reid, I haven't read The Chase yet. But I'm really looking forward to it. He does crank out so many of them. Fortunately they're really fast paced so they hold my attention.

This may take a while. And I may make a few enemies along the way... See, I was always one of those people who absolutely HATED reading. I could write very well and this would confound every English teacher I've ever had. "Oh you must love to read". And when I said that I didn't they always said "how's that possible?". Well I can't explain it either. The thing was that they always tried pushing the "classics" on me. And I no matter how much I said that I didn't like them they kept on pushing. In one English class we were forced to read Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton (and I say "forced" because there's no way on God's green Earth that I'd ever read it by choice). I was quite literally bored to tears! When the teacher went around the class she asked me to give my impressions of it I stood up, looked her square in the eye and said "This book sucks and I'll tell you why right now!!". Needless to say my candor was not appreciated. One of the things that always bothered me was that many books just don't move fast enough. I often found myself literally screaming "GET TO THE POINT!". Some writers are so in love with the sound of their own voices and forget about the audience. The other thing is that books were passive. I've often used the term that books aren't what I call a "living medium". While things like video games and music unfolded in "real time". I can push a button and something happens. I push another button and something else happens. You have a hand in the outcome. Music especially so. I can pay and I can see what Paul McCartney does. I can sit in a theater and watch what an actor does. But I can't watch John Grisham write a book. The other thing was it was hard for me to relate to writers. I literally gave no thought as to who wrote books. All I knew was that they were all either old men, dead, or both! A perception that I still tend to have to this day. See, I had always been into adventure films, Bond and super heroes. But nobody ever thought to think along those lines. It was always about what THEY thought I should like. Or what I was supposed to like according to the guidelines of the New Haven Board of Education. No teacher or anyone else had ever said "Have you ever read Lord Of The Rings?" or "You like Bond, there's a guy named Robert Ludlum you might like". It was always "No, no, no... more Dickens, more Shakespeare, more Arthur Miller. If it's not self indulgent and tedious you're not learning anything". That's where the clash always was. I wanted to be ENTERTAINED first and foremost. And what academia deemed worthwhile simply wasn't. I had one teacher that when ask "what was the best thing you've ever read" I told him it was X-Men the Dark Phoenix Saga. When he pressed me to change my answer I told him "You asked what was the best THING I had ever read and I answered, now the answer isn't good enough, no I'm not changing it". I asked him if he wanted to read it and if he then still thought it wasn't serious story telling I'd change my answer he said he wasn't going to "waste" his time. I told him I wasn't changing my answer. To me THAT is narrow minded. One thing I've always said is that if the public schools hadn't bored the life out of me I wouldn't have discovered comics or Japanese anime. Anime especially was something I took to quite readily and quickly. Cowboy Bebop, Lupin the 3rd, and especially Captain Harlock all really resonated on a level that the alleged "classics" couldn't. And later on many video games had deeper plots than most books I had read in school. Pound for pound, the greatest story that I had ever come across was from the video game Metal Gear Solid. Ask me what I read in tenth grade English (after Ethan Frome I stopped paying attention) and I honestly can't remember. But I can recall just about every detail from Metal Gear Solid and it's sequels and tell you what the underlying themes were. Some may scoff at such a notion, but you have to ask what did Metal Gear Solid do right that so many English teachers over the years do utterly wrong? Now I'd hate for anyone to think that I'm "anti-reading". That's not really the case. I actually do like the work of Clive Cussler. No surprise, it's what I enjoy. Daring adventures, narrow escapes, thrilling chases, etc. And it was recommended by a neighbor. But because of my experiences it's a constant struggle. I always feel like it's homework and not something I should be enjoying. Will it ever change? Who knows. But I'm trying and I think that's at least a start.

YEAH BABY!!!

If any of you are interested Comedy Central is running Lewis Black: Red, White, and Screwed tonight at 9pm. He offers quite a bit of commentary on the current administration. Yeah most of the naughty words will be bleeped out but you'll still get the meaning. Here's a clip; Lewis Black: Red, White, and Screwed.

I'm trying to read Stephen Colbert's "I Am America (And So Can You)!". It's a bit slow going because of all the footnotes but it's pretty funny.

YEAH BABY!!!

It's not easy Annie. The hordes of women screaming outside my window. The throngs of girls chasing me down the street. The countless... wait a minute... come to think of it when I was in my band we didn't have any groupies. All I kept hearing was "You don't look like a guitar player". Oh never mind then.

Transformers That's it. I only saw one movie last year.

I've recently read The Holcroft Covenenant by Robert Ludlum. And now I'm working on Inca Gold by Clive Cussler. I've always had a hard time reading for my own enjoyment. Teachers always tried to hammer home "it's such an important experience" and I always said "what about if I just want to be entertained?". They never had a comeback for that one. Nobody ever recommended anything I might like. Only what THEY thought I should like. And that always led to problems.

I know, I know, wrong section. But It just doesn't get any better than this! Paul McCartney - Maybe I\'m Amazed

Get more sleep if that's possible.

I'm surprised nobody brought this up... but so much for being a vegetarian.

One of the things is that in many parts of the country there hasn't been a whole lot of exposure. Like you said the games weren't on television for ages. The NHL has only been in the Southern states for a maybe about a decade and a half now. Before that the only team in the South was the Atlanta Flames and they moved to Calgary by the 1982 season if I'm correct. Another problem is that hockey is an expensive sport. I wanted to play as a kid but being from a big family I couldn't afford equipment and league sign up fees were costly as well. Couple that with that most practices occurred in the early A.M. hours and it makes it difficult for someone who might want to play the game to actually be able to do so. Compare that with basketball. Every high school has a gym, courts are all over the city and somebody always has a ball. The best way to sell the game is in person. There really is nothing like seeing a game at an arena. And I think now with HD television hockey (which we agree that hockey looks fabulous on) I think the sport can position itself to grow in the 21st century.