Computer Issues Part 2: Electric Boogaloo

Feb 212005
 

I’ve managed to get some audio on my Linux-running PC—I can rip CDs (into mp3 or Ogg Vorbis formats), play mp3s/Ogg Vorbis files, and burn data CDs (haven’t tried burning audio Cds yet), but it won’t play audio CDs. Hmph. As someone on another forum suggested, I’ll just treat audio as “working” and move onto something else… :-) (Plus, there’s a CD playing boom box right behind the computer)

Loonatics: Um… yeah.

Feb 192005
 

Check out the “new look” (or “extreme makeover” as some in the media have dubbed it) for Bugs, Daffy and the gang:

WB seeks revitalized cartoon franchise with new look for Bugs Bunny and friends

I know that either the network execs or kids nowadays don’t seem to go much for slapstick humor cartoons (which might explain the absence of, well, the Looney Tunes characters from the airwaves), but I’m not sure if this is the way to revive interest in the characters.

I wonder why, if they wanted “a fresh new take” on the old characters, they didn’t just revive and update the early 90′s show “Tiny Toon Adventures?” Especially since that show held to the slapstick humor roots of the Looney Tunes characters moreso (and was more popular) than its successor “make the LT characters ‘modern’/'updated’” fare like “Space Jam” and “Looney Tunes: Back In Action.”

Of course, they could have also just expanded on their already existing show featuring a few of the Looney Tunes as futuristic heroes, “Duck Dodgers”—maybe just showing futuristic versions of Bugs, Sylvester, and the others as coworkers of Daffy or something…

Meanwhile, on a more optimistic note, the new Krypto the Super-Dog cartoon is set to debut in a few months. While aimed at young children, it sounds more appealing than “Loonatics”—too bad I don’t have cable. :-)

Computer Issues

Feb 182005
 

Since I last posted, I finally got something I was long overdue for—a brand new PC! Custom-built, I opted to have Linux (Fedora Core 3) installed on it instead of Windows, to save a few dollars…

So far, I’ve had difficulty getting it online, at least until I installed a serial port card and an external serial modem yesterday (apparently the PC shop didn’t bother putting in serial ports when they built it). My main current difficulty is getting audio and the CD player to function properly; CDs won’t play at all—no progress bar or anything, just “drive error” error messages, and playback of sound files seems hit-and-miss (XMMS seems like the one program that’s actually worked so far, but the interface leaves something to be desired, and the program that *did* have a pleasant interface, Rhythmbox, doesn’t work at all)…

Still, at least I’m online (my main computer use, besides writing)—and that’s a lot better than on the old machine. Firefox, Thunderbird, quite nice… well, except for problems trying to find a decent newsgroup reader (Pan has zero instructions, in the program or [so far from Google searches] online on how to configure/use it, and Thunderbird’s newsgroup reader, while more intuitive/actually documented, doesn’t have regular expressions, though understand Thunderbird’s still fairly new…). Something like Newswatcher (from Mac) would be my ideal, I suppose…

As for Linux itself, it’s no Mac interface-wise, but still OK. Running GNOME, which seems nicer/more Maclike than KDE, KDE vs. GNOME flame wars online and KDE backers online apparently used to Windows’ way of doing things aside.

OK, done complaining. Back to trying to get this thing to fully work…

Humorous Take on the “Postcards From Buster” Flap

Feb 092005
 

Comic strip about the brouhaha

Heh…

Speaking of Cartoons Featuring Gay Characters…

Jan 292005
 

There’s this:

Bush administration official criticizes PBS cartoon “Postcards From Buster” for featuring two lesbian couples.

I’ve seen “Postcards From Buster”—a spinoff of PBS’ previous “Arthur” cartoon, starring Arthur’s rabbit best friend Buster and his father, as they travel the country and visit/comment on the customs and lifestyles of the various (live-action) people and places they see. An amusing enough show, but the last place I expected to see gay and lesbian couples shown, especially since children’s TV seems to be the “final frontier” in terms of where gays are seen on American television (especially with religious fundamentalists criticizing SpongeBob SquarePants).

It took about 5-7 years after “I Spy,” the first primetime TV drama with an African-American in a starring role (Bill Cosby), debuted until Saturday morning cartoons began starring or featuring African-American characters (probably starting with Valerie in 1970′s “Josie and the Pussycats,” eventually followed by the “Jackson Five” cartoon and the 70′s classic “Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids”). Given it’s been about the same length of time since “Will and Grace” debuted (and is a show that airs in syndication in a late afternoon or early evening timeslot in many places—times kids are watching TV), maybe an openly gay or lesbian cartoon character on broadcast TV or basic cable isn’t as far off as I thought.

Finally, wonder if someone plans to upload this “censored” episode online somewhere or distributed it on DVD/VHS or something after it airs in New York City and Boston…

“Is SpongeBob Gay?”

Jan 272005
 

Today’s bit of stupidity: everyone’s favorite religious right group, “Focus On the Family,” is accusing SpongeBob Squarepants of “promoting homosexuality”:

BBC NEWS | Americas | US right attacks SpongeBob video

Uh-huh. Wonder what they’d make of an actual openly gay cartoon character if the Yellow One bugs them that much—soon as such a character (vs. characters like the Simpsons’ Smithers) actually comes along, I suppose (Showtime’s “Queer Duck” cartoon shorts notwithstanding). Wonder if they’re still planning on turning Chelsea Boys into a TV show…

And as long as I’m on the topic of animation, it looks like this year’s Oscar race for “best animated feature” is between “The Incredibles,” “Shrek 2,” and “SharkTale.” Don’t think “SharkTale” stands much of a chance—-this one’s clearly between the green ogre and the superheroes. Since I (still!) haven’t seen “Shrek 2″ yet, it’s hard for me to judge who should win this one.

The Super ‘Pod Shuffle, or “I Shall Call Him… Mini Mac”

Jan 132005
 

Two new product announcements from this year’s Macworld expo:

A flash memory-based iPod, with two models for $99 (for a 512 MB model) and $149 (for a 1 GB model). Sounds interesting; if/when I get a new computer (one that actually *comes* with USB ports, a feature lacking in the oh-so-illustrious Power Mac 7500 that I own—and I’m not about to spend $30 to add USB ports to this ancient thing, either…), I’d be interested in one of those, especially since it’s cheaper than even the iPod Mini. And speaking of “minis”…

Apple rolls out the “Mac Mini”, a stand-alone CPU the size of an external hard drive, on sale starting at $500. Nice to see Apple get back in the low-cost (well, lower cost than the $1000+ [or so] the comparable monitorless Power Mac CPUs go for) computer market, but wonder if it’ll sell well (the fact that the power supply’s on the outside makes me think of the ill-fated but cool-looking Cube). Still plan on buying a PC instead of a Mac (and, with luck, running Linux on it) as my next computer purchase (probably within the next month or two), but the Mac Mini did make me take notice…

A *Good*-Sounding Modern Batman Comic?

Jan 072005
 

As shocking as it might sound to those such as myself who figure the last decade’s worth of Batman comics are, on an intellectual level, aimed at either whoever’s emulating the stunts on MTV’s “Jackass” or whoever voted for Dubya out of “moral values” reasons (whichever group’s smarter ;-) ), here’s this bit of pleasant news: a classic 70′s Batman writer/artist team is getting back together to put out an all-new Batman miniseries, featuring a plot with the Joker running for governor of Gotham City’s state (a la the Simpsons’ Springfield, whichever state *that* would be for Batman’s hometown… though in Gotham’s case, I vote for New Jersey, judging from the stories/evidence…). The link above has two preview pages from the upcoming miniseries.

Nice to see DC putting out stories with the “real” Batman in ‘em again…

Will Eisner R.I.P.

Jan 062005
 

Pioneering comic writer/artist Will Eisner has passed away. While I admit I’ve not read a lot of his work (his most famous work being “The Spirit”), he’s garnered much praise among cartoonists in his career, including having a major cartooning award named after him. Mark Evanier has more to say about Mr. Eisner’s influence.

Comic Review: A DC Universe Christmas

Dec 202004
 

I’ve just finished reading “A DC Universe Christmas,” a trade paperback published in 2000 by DC Comics that compiles various old holiday-themed comic book stories. A summary of each one is as follows:

  • Batman in “Wanted: Santa Claus — Dead or Alive!” . Originally published in “Super-Star Holiday Special” (a.k.a. issue #21 of the series “DC Special”), cover-dated Spring 1980. Ah, yes, a story featuring the *real* Batman—and not the inhuman impostor running around in DC’s current Bat-comics. Bats here is investigating some sort of planned heist involving a department store Santa Claus. Artwork here’s by Frank Miller (who goes on to transform Batman 5-6 years later with “The Dark Knight Returns”), and the story’s written by 70′s Batman scribe Denny O’Neil. One odd point: Batman, needing to be undercover at a homeless shelter, disguises himself as an elderly African-American man. (Shrug)

  • The Flash in “Present Tense”. Originally published in “DC Universe Holiday Bash” #1, cover-dated 1997. I already have this comic somewhere, but nice to see the Flash story reprinted here. Basically, it’s Flash (Wally West) trying to figure out what to get for his wife Linda for Christmas, having gotten the wrong gift and not discovering this until Christmas Eve. Nice to see a story with Linda in it that didn’t involve her being kidnapped across space/time/dimensions/whatever for 12 issues at a time. One-panel appearance (at the end of the tale) by gay reformed-supervillain-turned-ally the Pied Piper (and apparently with his boyfriend of the time the story came out).
  • Wonder Woman in “The Story of Fir Balsam”. Originally published in “Sensation Comics” #14, cover-dated February 1943. A Golden Age tale written by Wonder Woman’s creator, psychiatrist William Moulton Marston, and drawn by her original artist, H.G. Peter. Here, Wonder Woman attempts to capture escaped Nazi prisoners who wind up kidnapping two lost children. A sign of its times, and its writer’s tastes—it includes the Wonder Woman-in-bondage bit Marston seemed, erm, fond of including in all his stories (in this one, Wonder Woman gets tied to a tree).
  • Superman in “The Gift”. Originally published in “DCU Holiday Bash II”, cover-dated 1998. A word-balloon-less story with Superman flying back to the Kent farm in Smallville (his cape in tatters after yet another battle with Luthor), to find he’s received an unique gift. Cute, but I’m reminded of the line in “Sergio Aragones Destroys DC” from the mid-90′s about Superman “ditching his old invulnerable cloth [his cape and costume were once made out of] and buying all his clothes from K-Mart’s blue-light specials”… :-)
  • The Teen Titans in “A Swingin’ Christmas Carol!”. Originally published in “Teen Titans” (first series) #13, cover-dated Jan.-Feb. 1968. A typical Bob Haney-written Titans tale, complete with his painful attempts at “groovy”, hip dialogue for the teens, but OK I suppose. Here, the super-teens wind up getting caught in events that play out to the Dickens tale inferred in the story’s title.
  • Darkseid in “Present Tense”. Originally published in “DCU Holiday Bash II”, cover-dated 1998. Ty “the Batman Animated Series’ comics” Templeton presents this brief tale of Santa Claus making a delivery to, of all places, Apokolips, home of “ultimate evil” DC Comics master villain Darkseid. Amusing tale, though don’t see why St. Nick would deliver gifts to someone who wasn’t Christian (even a lapsed Christian) and didn’t celebrate the holiday… :-)
  • Captain Marvel in “Billy Batson’s Xmas!”. Originally published in “Captain Marvel Adventures” #69, cover-dated Feb. 1947. A Golden Age Capt. Marvel tale, involving Billy getting a fired department store Santa his job back and preparing for the holidays. Cute tale, though wonder if Billy’s secret identity was supposed to be, well, secret or not in the Golden Age stories (judging from a few panels where he says the magic word that turn him into Cap, “Shazam!”).
  • Robin in “Alone for the Holidays”. Originally published in “DCU Holiday Bash III”, cover-dated Jan. 1999. Robin (Tim Drake), feeling lonely on Christmas Eve, gets a pleasant surprise when he pays ex-Batgirl Barbara Gordon a visit. OK story, even though I’m not completely familiar with all of Tim’s supporting characters. Also would’ve been nice to see Bats himself show up in the final panels, though I suppose this tale’s published in the current era of Bats as an arrogant, inhuman rhymes-with-wick… but I digress…
  • The Legion of Super-Heroes in “Star Light, Star Bright… Farthest Star I See Tonight!” Originally published in “Super-Star Holiday Special” (a.k.a. issue #21 of the series “DC Special”). Noted early 80′s Legion scribe Paul Levitz brings us this Christmastime tale of everyone’s favorite 30th century-dwelling super-teens. Superboy, on a yuletide visit, asks the others if they’re up to trying to find the star of Bethlehem… which they take him up on, but wind up getting involved in an adventure that (of course) shows an example of true Christmas spirit. Entertaining story, with nice artwork from Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez. Guessing judging from Superboy’s remarks in one panel, that the Kents don’t have an artificial Christmas tree, though they do have one in a Superboy story I have from a few years after this Legion story was originally published… though in the latter story, Superboy’s native time-era had already moved from taking place in the fifties (at the time this Legion story was published) to taking place in the aluminum Christmas-tree-laden sixties, which might’ve influenced things. Either that, or Ma Kent got tired of cleaning up pine needles every year…
  • Green Lantern and Green Arrow in “The Present”. Originally published in “DCU Holiday Bash II”, cover-dated 1998. This one features the short-lived Connor Hawke Green Arrow (Oliver North’s born-out-of-wedlock kid) and 90′s newcomer GL Kyle Rayner—the latter the reason I skipped reading this tale, since he’s one of my least-favorite comic characters. I’ve got a Christmas gift I’d like to give that loser… ;-)
  • The House of Mystery in “Night Prowler!”. Originally published in “The House of Mystery” #191, cover-dated Mar.-Apr. 1971. A short tale of mistaken identity published in DC’s old horror/thriller anthology series.
  • Batman, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy in “The Harley and the Ivy”. Originally published in “The Batman Adventures Holiday Special,” cover-dated Jan. 1995. A very entertaining story (that got turned into an episode for the TV show… or maybe vice-versa?) involving villains Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy deciding to go on a “shopping spree”… at Bruce Wayne’s expense. Bruce’s facial expressions in this story are particularly amusing.
  • The Sandman in “Santa Fronts for the Mob”. Originally published in “Adventure Comics” #82, cover-dated Jan. 1943. A Jack Kirby-Joe Simon tale of the Sandman and his sidekick “Sandy the Golden Boy” (what a name!) trying to figure out the reason for, well, the title of the story.
  • Bat Lash in “An Eye for Detail”. Originally published in “DCU Holiday Bash III”, cover-dated Jan. 1999. A brief story involving DC’s old Western comic character, Bat Lash (no relation to Bat*man*).
  • Enemy Ace in “Silent Night”. Originally published in “Christmas With the Superheroes 2″, cover-dated 1988. John Byrne wrote this silent tale about DC’s old World War One character, Enemy Ace. (Between that and Bat Lash, must’ve been trademark renewal time at DC when these two characters got written for these tales…)
  • Impulse in “No, Bart, There is No Santa Claus”. Originally published in “DCU Holiday Bash III,” cover-dated Jan. 1999. A tale about the impulsive super-speed powered teenage hero Impulse, whose also-super-speed powered mentor Max Mercury tries to show that Santa doesn’t, and can’t, exist (despite being a world filled with all manner of heroes, concepts and powers way more ludicrous than the idea of flying reindeer and a gift-granting elderly man in a red suit, apparently…). Still, an amusing tale, particularly the latter half.
  • Superman in “Superman’s Christmas Adventure”. Originally published in “Superman’s Christmas Adventure,” cover-dated 1940. A Golden Age Superman story, written by Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel, involving Superman trying to stop two malevolent men from wrecking Santa’s workshop at the North Pole. Interesting tale, particularly for profuse use of the abbreviation “Xmas” instead of “Christmas”—wonder when said abbreviation came into popular use…

Since this volume came out, DC’s also published a few followup holiday-themed books, though I’ve not read those; I’m surprised the library even had *this* copy.

Page 141 of 148 1 2 … 139 140 141 142 143 … 147 148