BeaverZone in 3-D

2012: The year of the Beaver

2012-01-01T10:12:00.000-05:00

I have created more than my share of blogs and social media accounts over the years. I have a few accounts that I still actually write on every now and then, but I know I there are accounts in my name that I forgotten about completely. There was a time when I managed to regularly write something, somewhere, on at least one of my journals, or blogs, or whatever we call them, but I haven't been doing that for a while now. I have no real need to ever actually post anything, but I do have a persistent nagging desire to get my thoughts and ideas out in front of people in one form or another, or at the very least, out of my head.

My primary goal for a few years now has been to build up awareness and interest in my comics blog. When I was inclined to really keep that site up, it did fairly well for me, and in my very loose and personal definition of what counts as success, I will count it as a success. I can't blame my health issues of this past summer for its decline, as I was already starting to lose momentum when that whole business happened. For a bunch of dumb semi-irrational reasons, My comics blog and related activities had become a sort of sore spot for my psyche, and it is hard to stay motivated when that happens. I may write about some of this in the future, but I have been kind of proud that I never wallowed or whined about it, so I need to do it in a way that doesn't wallow or whine.

If you don't already know this, I will explain something this once(and maybe repeatedly for all I know). My nickname in High School was Beav, or Beaver, in reference to the Jerry Mathers character, not in anyway a crude reference to genetalia. Obviously, I repeatedly go to the genetalia jokes, but that is a privilege of being nicknamed Beaver. The nickname was really only used by one group of my friends, and I really liked that I had a name and people knew me as that. It seemed wildly out of place for what I knew about me, and wasn't something I introduced myself as, generally. Later in life I was embarrassed by it, and even later, when reconnecting with people who called me that, I embraced it. I have no regrets with the nickname. I only use it still with a specific group of friends, but it feels like me, and I don't mind it at all.

In High School, while talking with several friends in the Library before school, We talked about making some sort of film, and decided it would be called BeaverZone in 3-D. It would be comedy sketches revolving around school. Later, my friends in the band I was in wrote a song with that title, unrelated to any specific ideas. It was funny and catchy and was about leave it to beaver.

I didn't like the title of this blog when I named it, and it looks less appropriate everytime I revisit it. I thought renaming it might take some of the stigma away. I am the biggest offender in the 'talk about stuff and never actually do it' category, so we'll see, but for anyone who happens to look, etc. I wanted to explain the name change. The page address itself is still the same, but as far as labeling is concerned, everything's coming up Milhouse's Beaver.

Talkinbout Comics is still Talkin Bout Comics, my other hope is that I will figure out what I want to do with that whole concept.

Happy New Year, folks

Since last we spoke

2011-09-05T07:25:00.003-04:00

Things could certainly be worse. Every issue I have is relatively minor compared to things that other people live with every day. I think I have handled my situation ok so far. There was a point at which I was not doing so well, and probably could have benefitted from not wallowing in self pity like I did, but I really think that was relatively brief in comparison to the whole span of my little health adventure.

Since things got weird for me around Memorial Day with whatever the 'brain event' I had turns out to be, I have had 4 MRI's a ct scan,multiple eeg's, a nuclear stress test, an ultrasound of my kidneys, a lumbar puncture, a lumbar headache, a week long hospital stay, an ambulance trip to the emergency room, a dozen visits to the cardiologist, neurologist and my general practitioner. I have had more blood taken in the past few months than in the entire rest of my life.

The hardest part for me was the uncertainty. Nothing that was going on seemed really immediately life threatening, but most of it had a sort of ominous' leading up to something big' sort of feeling to it, where maybe I would have a major stroke or a heart attack, or some major MS related event. It also felt like I would never get back to work. That became my primary focus and concern. I felt like every day I was out set me back a week with regard to my career and my work relationships. My wife assured me it wouldn't even seem like I had been gone.

A lot of my anxiety came about from the fact that I had setbacks the first several times I thought I would be able to return to work. I would feel good, then something would happen (like the week-long headache that resulted from the Lumbar Puncture) and it would push my estimated return back by a week or two. It seemed that every test I had revealed nothing about what was going on with me initially, but uncovered a handful of unrelated conditions or problems that just loomed threateningly over me with the small crowd of issues I had already accumulated.

I still have issues. I am taking a ton of meds, tire easily, and have a lot of issues related to standing, stooping, leaning, etc. I am back at work and doing pretty well so far. I am optimistic, but don't feel I am really out of the woods. What is clear to me so far is that while we are treating a lot of symptoms, there are still some unchecked symptoms, and no real answers or understanding about what the root of all this is.

Foxhole Conversion

2011-07-14T15:07:00.007-04:00

My own mortality has never been a great motivator for me. I'm in no hurry to die, but suggesting that I could possibly prolong my life with certain behavior, or shorten it through some other behavior Has rarely made me want to start something I am not otherwise inclined to do, or stop something that I enjoy.
Everything starts on Memorial day weekend, this Year. My family was at my parents' house, I was sitting in the living room, chatting, and my voice sounded funny to me. I was slurring and didn't sound like myself as far as I could tell. I asked the room for confirmation on this and got it. I started to look for symptoms at that point. I felt like I was drooling slightly, on the opposite side of where I was slurring from, and the right side of my face had some numbness to it. I looked in the mirror and the didn't seem to be any loss of function. I thought that these seemed like stroke indicators, but that didn't seem like a real possibility to me, and I didn't feel BAD, just a little strange. Later I tried to drive somewhere and it was like I had never sat in the driver's seat before. I couldn't get a feel for where the car was on the road, and quickly switched out and had my Dad drive. I don't recall anyone suggesting that I should maybe go to the hospital or anything, or really seeming alarmed at what was going on. My inaction is all on me, but the lack of alarm made it easy for me to lean toward 'food allergy' rather than 'stroke' as the source of my symptoms.
Here's some background relevant to the situation. was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes a few years ago, and up to Memorial day I had never done more than a half-assed job of even trying to manage it, often not taking my medicine for months, and rarely even trying to eat right.I have had issues with depression and anxiety my whole life, and the combination of those, when at their worst, makes it easy to fall off the self-care wagon. I also genuinely have memory, or perhaps just focus issues that let me forget to do certain things (Insulin Shots) even at my most diligent.
Many years ago I lost a lot of weight. I had decided that I didn't care at all about my weight, and would no longer try to do anything about it, and then the next day I started Atkins and lost 130 pounds over the next year. It was awesome except for several things:
1. All anyone ever did during that time was make me talk about losing weight, tell me how good I looked, how they could do it, etc.
2. People were noticeably friendlier to me than they were when I was my normal fat self
3. Atkins is a difficult trick to set up in your body, and once you get the balance down, it can be frustrating to try and maintain, as every carb you take in seems to magically transform into 5 pounds, no matter the source or how insignificant it seems.
4. People treating thinner me differently did not help anything at all, it made me angry and depressed, and disinterested in taking care of myself.
I lost weight for a year, then kept most of it off for a short time, then spent years working to gain it all back(and developed type II diabetes in the process). I blame only me for this, Obviously Atkins can work wonders, but I am pretty sure now that any program that advocates portioning and eating sensibly in combination with even light regular exercise can produce results. The side effect of rigorous Carb counting will generally be some degree of calorie control, and that is pretty much where the magic happens.

So I have my memorial day incident and don't go to a hospital. I was shaken up and uncertain enough to want to go to my primary care Doctor, so I started to fall back in line prior to that visit. I like my doctor a lot, but I am a terrible patient, and as I generally haven't followed her orders well or remembered to take medicine she prescribes, she has threatened to drop me in the past. She correctly realized that this tactic would work on me to some degree, but mostly it made me afraid of going to her office.
Starting right after my incident, I cut out most carbs from starches and sweets, and started taking my diabetes medicines as prescribed, again. I also started doing exercises with hand weights, and assumed I would start taking walks again, as that combination is my speed and produced results for me before. I did these things solely in anticipation of getting an appointment with my doctor weeks later. I wanted to be able to say, once again, 'Yes, I sure was a terrible patient, but look how good I am now', and have her forgive all my stupidity and welcome me back happily into the fold. Unfortunately, she knows my routine, and the A1c test will always show the reality of the situation, as it covers a much larger time span than that of my fair weather diligence.
She didn't chastise me, as this isn't personal to her, but she did let me know that although what I was doing was good, I would have to maintain it if it was to mean anything. My diabetes was not under control, and this could cause any number of difficulties for me if I didn't stay serious about it. She was concerned for my kidneys and also for my heart function, as she did an ekg and it showed some irregularity. Based on my symptoms, she continued with the assumption that I had a TIA or a stroke, or a 'brain event' of some sort over Memorial day. She gave me referrals for a Neurologist and a Cardiologist. Breaking from my form completely I actually scheduled both appointments and a follow up with her, but thanks to circumstances I only kept the Neurologist appointment.
My wife went with me to the neurologist appointment. She loves me and cares deeply about me, and the idea that I had a stroke was of real concern for her, as was the possibility of that not being the end of things. The neurologist was as sweet as could be, and did some tests and talked with me. The EEG showed no risidual from the event, but when she took my blood pressure it was 204 over 133, which prompted her to strongly suggest that I go straight across the street to the ER.
My wife is the primary advocate of my well-being. If you are in a relationship with someone that does not take on that role when needed, then god help you. I generally use her to determine what I should do in situations that require some inclination for selff -preservation, otherwise, my fear of inconvenience and the unknown will win out and I will often just ignore what I know I should do, in favor of letting whatever the issue is, just naturally go away.
My wife came out very strongly in support of my not fucking around with my health, and We went to the ER and told them my numbers, and my history.
They saw me immediately, and were glorious. One thing I have gotten out of all of this is that lady ER nurses are the new 'sexy nurse'. That is not meant as a slight in any way, and also shouldn't be taken as my actually sexualizing anyone during the times I was in the ER, but Smart, strong, funny, capable and caring are a pretty strong group of traits to have, and it's hard not to think of these women without a golden glow around them at this point. People who help others, and who take the fear out of scary processes are like super-heroes to me, and I encountered nearly a dozen of these types in the past week or two.
I was admitted to the hospital, and they had a bit of a hard time getting my bp down and keeping it there. I stayed for 6 days, and was on 5 different BP medicines before we got to a point consistent enough for me to leave. During this time, my wife was with me every day in the hospital, from mid morning to after 8pm. Her presence was invaluable to me. I could not get through this without her.
The morning after I was admitted, I passed out in a grand way, and my wife called 911. I did not appreciate this at the time, and my screaming that I was ok almost kept them from coming. Fortunately the got to our house quickly and convinced me that I should go to the ER with them. My great fear was that I would be admitted again. I went to the ER and they kept me off my meds and gave me fluids. I encountered a few more ER nurses that meet the description I wrote previously, and eventually I was released with some modifications to my meds. I still have a ways to go, as I don't think my body has found the right balance yet. Doing anything for more than a few minutes makes me tired, and I am still having fits of dizziness and near blackouts from time to time. I think that this has been enough of a shock to my system that I will continue to do what is best for myself. I know that the support and active encouragement I am getting from my family will go a long way toward making sure I do

22 Years and Super 8

2011-06-11T22:49:00.006-04:00

Today is my 22nd Wedding Anniversary. It was a good day, pretty stress free, and my wife and I celebrated the occasion today with dinner and a movie. We went to Outback and had a nice dinner just the two of us. The highlight for me of the meal was the Bleu Cheese and Pecan Chopped salad. The bleu Cheese Vinaigrette is insane. It is garlic-y and good, but not overpowering with the cheese.
After dinner we went to see Super 8. We had both heard decent things about it. We don't always want to see the same movies in theaters, but this was one she had some interest in, and it lined up with my tastes exactly.
Produced by Steven Spielberg and Directed by JJ Abrams, I had some preconceived notions going in. Combining the two produced a predictable result of good characterization, a child's eye perspective with a definite negative view of government and military with abusively loud sound, unrealistic explosions and an inexplicably high volume of lens flare. The acting was terrific. This movie lives or dies by its adolescent cast, and they all do their jobs splendidly. The real standouts in this are Elle Fanning, as Alice, giving the best performance of the movie, and the best performance of any movie I've seen in a long time. She was strong and believable, with real emotional range. Joel Courtney as Joe Lamb, the lead character was also perfect in my opinion.
The story follows a group of geeky friends who are working on a super 8 film for an upcoming film festival. After they witness a former teacher of theirs force the derailment of an air force train with mysterious content, the kids and their entire town are caught in the middle of a government containment that centers around the cargo the train was hauling. The movie gives you young heroes and touches on some of the issues in their lives enough to get you invested. There is humor and a bit of mystery to it in a very good way. The other thing, and my wife and I disagree on this point. They didn't give up the 'monster' right away. You never really see the creature, and this movie has a creature, until the very end. The movie is more about people and their interactions than it is about special effects. The movie was well done, and works on a number of levels. Other than the sound being distractingly loud, My wife and I both enjoyed this a lot.

The Road

2010-07-13T19:50:00.002-04:00

I'm getting old. I watched the movie The Road, starring Viggo Mortensen today. I spent much of the movie complaining out loud to the tv that the movie was too dark. I decided that from now on I want all night scenes in movies filmed in full daylight and left that way. They can just put a little caption some place on the screen that says how dark it is. There is no sense in paying actors to physically act if you aren't going to let them be seen... That said, it isn't really the darkest movie from a lighting standpoint, but my eyes aren't great so I had to squint a lot.

It's a fairly dark movie from a human or emotional standpoint, and that is really its strength. I really think Mortensen is absolutely a top tier actor in terms of ability. His character was real and believable in a more or less realistic seeming setting of bleak despair and hopelessness. The actor playing his son did very well also. I have no issues with the acting across the board. I think the movie was really well done and was moving and left me thinking.

A father and son are on the road to the coast. The boy was born shortly after the world was destroyed. Most animal life, all plant life, most people, etc. all dead in something that I assume is a nuclear holocaust, but I'm not super clear on that. I may not have been giving my full attention, or perhaps it wasn't explicitly said.

The movie really puts you inside the head of a parent trying to keep their child alive in a world where any other people you meet are just as likely to kill you before you get close to them, and eat you, as they are to say hello. Everyone is a survivalist, everyone is a scavenger. It's bleak, and that is conveyed really well.

The thing that breaks everything open and made me think, was the child. The child is the problem. Without the child things would certainly be easier on the parent. Without the child the Father probably wouldn't even try to keep himself alive, or perhaps he wouldn't even try to keep his humanity and his morality. The problem is that the boy offers a contrast, and offers a view of things that casts an ugly light on the father regarding the things he is doing to protect his son. This develops throughout the movie, and comes to a head near the end. The very end of the movie isn't exactly a twist ending, but it sort of acts like one in the way it makes you go back and re-evaluate certain things.

The movie is bleak and dark and a little slow. This isn't an action adventure movie really, it's a slow walk across a barren landscape with a child. It probably isn't for everyone, but I am glad I saw it. I have no desire to see it again.

Red Harvest - Dashiell Hammett

2010-07-13T12:06:00.004-04:00

I had never read anything by Dashiell Hamett before, despite my interest in his style of writing, and the fact that he and I were born in the same part of Southern Maryland. Trust me, St. Mary's County doesn't have all that many things cool things to cling to that aren't related to the military or the earliest days of Maryland history. Those are fine things, but being able to claim the guy that wrote the Maltese Falcon and defined a genre is way cooler in my mind.

I came to this book in a really odd way. As odd as I think it is, I doubt I am the first or even thousandth person to want to read Red Harvest because it is linked in some way to the movie Yojimbo, featuring Toshiro Mifune and written and directed by Akira Kurosawa. I love Kurosawa and Mifune in general, and Yojimbo specifically holds a top spot in my all-time favorite movies. The story isn't as simple as that, though. I would not have made the connection if not for reading a review in which Yojimbo was mentioned as just a side note, and a link was posted to a wikipedia entry that mentioned Red Harvest as more or less source material for Kurosawa.

I read Red Harvest in a sort of frenzy. It is a slim book to begin with, and it reads like you expect noir detective stories to read. Everyone is flawed, everyone is a different level of dirty, and even the good guy is packed tight with vices and shortcomings. It draws you in quickly. A detective shows up in a town made of corruption and rackets. He has been hired for something by perhaps the least corrupt citizen of the town of Personville, referred to as Poisonville by most, and deserving of the name. His employer is killed while the detective is at the guy's house waiting for him. His initial employer, dead within the first few pages of the book, before we even see him, is the son of the man that owns and runs Poisonville, or he used to, and would like to again, but in order to keep the unions in check, he let in a criminal element that just won't quit, and so the town is choking under the weight of 4 or 5 different masters, each representing a different criminal element.

The detective eventually takes on the task of cleaning up the town. This is where the magic happens. This is the element that you see most clearly in Yojimbo, A Fistful of Dollars, and the Bruce Willis movie Last Man Standing. Our protagonist as antagonist, working all sides against the middle, stirring up the hornets nests until they devour themselves. As this is a detective noir piece, you have a Femme Fatale who is strong and vulnerable at the same time. She is both in control and at the mercy of others simultaneously. All of it makes for a really enjoyable story, and certainly makes me want to read more of his works.

Ranting - My need to write something outweighs my need for subject matter or direction.

2010-07-10T13:12:00.004-04:00

This isn't really a rant. I have been on the verge of a rant for a while now, but for whatever reason, I just keep stopping myself. It's sort of one of those things that I don't really want to have 'out there in the world' representing me. I don't have a problem with my opinion on things being known, but rants for me are often very very situational. Usually once I hear someone else's side of an issue, or have some time to cool off, I lose the emotional urgency that created the desire to rant in the first place.

I get that this a natural correction thing I have going on, and that I imagine most people have it. That is another trap I don't really want to get into, that somehow I am so special everything I think needs to be written down for the consumption of others, or is somehow different from what others think, or is of more value . By the time I get to thinking that, I pretty much run out of the need or desire to write anything down ever. I have a pretty crappy memory, though, and eventually I find myself opening up a new post and laying it all out again.

There have been a lot of ups and downs for me recently (not unlike the ups and downs that everyone alive goes through, except mine are relatively minor). This has created a lot of pretty intense emotion for me, and a lot of instances of wanting to scream from the rooftops about everything that I know is wrong with the world, but that the world is just too stupid to realize for itself.

So I guess this isn't a rant, as I said it probably wouldn't be. Maybe it's a warning... You are on notice ... 'all things I thing are stupid or wrong in the world'.

I tend to skew positive if I am able to. I know this makes people think I am simple, I know it takes away my ability to generally write scathing criticism, and paints me as a sort of Polyanna. I accept that for the most part because to me it is better than the alternative. I don't think I am particularly preachy, and I have no illusions about my ideas being better or more valid than anyone elses.

In conclusion... I am giving no conclusion. I am just letting this crap lay here until the birds and vermin eat it.

Gerbils

2010-07-07T21:38:00.004-04:00

When I was a kid I had a hamster. All I really remember from that experience is that it peed on me at one point. I liked having a hamster, but I recall it sort of smelled, and not a lot more about it than that. It probably is unfare to the hamster to suggest I had a bad experience with it or anything, but the end result is that I never really wanted to have rodents as pets. Two years ago at Thanksgiving we came into possession of a pair of gerbils. We had never had a lot of experience with them, but my brother was raising some. The pair we had were a boy and a girl, but they hadn't made any great strides toward having babies, so we weren't sure if it would happen.

The almost solid black boy gerbil we named Hunter, and the grey and white girl we called Eskimo. My daughters got to name them, I did not. Eventually, after a few unsuccessfull attempts, Hunter and Eskimo had a viable litter. It can take them some time to figure out how to get the parenting thing down, but they did, and 3 cute little babies survived and are still doing quite well. There were two boys and a girl. The solid black boy was named Angel, the one that sort of looked like his Mom, but with a white sort of mohawk stripe was Spike, and the girl was Buffy. In the picture above, that is Eskimo resting sweetly on her daughter Buffy. Buffy is a bit of a big girl.

In order to not have a million Gerbil babies we separated them by gender and the boys went to live in a giant aquarium at my youngest daughter's daycare, and the girls stayed with us. It was really nice that my daughter got to see the boys every day (she was just in daycare in the mornings) and she got to help with their care. The teachers let her go in by herself and pet and talk to the gerbils. It meant a lot to all of us, since we had become very attached to them, and the idea of leaving them at the mercy of a dozen screaming kids worried us. They handled it well, though, and were well protected and taken care of, and given shelter to hide in when they wanted it.

I was really surprised by what great pets Gerbils are. With the really excellent quality of fluff that is out now, their cages stay fresh and odorless for a long time with only a minor amount of cleanup between full cage cleanings. They are no trouble to pick up and handle. In pairs where thay have bonded, they are loving and social and don't fight other than minor little tiffs that are rare.

One of my favorite parts is how interactive they are, even though they are in a tank. They watch us just about as frequently as we watch them. They love to have things in their habitat to play with, and can shred toilet paper or paper towel tubes in minutes. I was a bit surprised by just how much joy we all get out of them, but we really do. I recommend them as a pet for anyone that likes to have animals around, but who doesn't want one that requires too much work, or can make a negative impact on your living environment.

Delicious Burgers... I made some

2010-07-05T00:14:00.003-04:00

Basic stuff, but really good. I bought 80/20 ground beef that was on sale in a value pack at the store yesterday. It was about 5 pounds, but I figured I could get two days out of it at least, so I seasoned it all and used about half of it at a time
In the 5 or so pounds I used the following:

2 packets Lipton Onion Soup Mix
a liberal amount of granulated garlic
a smaller amount of Chipotle Chili Powder
a slightly larger amount of regular old Chili Powder
Fresh ground black pepper
Soy Sauce
Worcestershire Sauce

Here is the inherent problem with me posting a recipe. I tend to eyeball all of the measurements unless I am doing something that requires a very specific ratio, etc. I didn't use a lot of soy, and the worcestershire sauce is just a number of drops really. The flavor is important, but I didn't want to change the consistency with too much liquid. The total yield for me was about 17 burgers from the 5 pounds of beef, so I imagine that makes them about 1/4 pound each prior to cooking. That wasn't intentional, but that's just what looked right on the tray I was using.

So yesterday and today we cooked those suckers up on the grill. We rock the cheeseburger... so there was that. They were delicious. I don't usually get the timing right on cooking fresh burgers on a grill, but yesterday's were perfect and todays were almost as good.

The Karate Kid (1984)

2010-07-04T10:10:00.007-04:00

In my continuing effort to teach my kids the classics, my daughters and I watched the Karate Kid last night on Netflix. Classic is a really subjective term and I use it pretty loosely. I don't think I would put Karate Kid on a general list of best films or anything, but it is a classic in that it was a big deal in its time, and for kids of a certain age in 1984, plus it contributed a few things to pop culture (wax on...wax off, and Pat Morita as Mr. Miyagi). For my purposes, it is a classic, or at least a 'foundation movie', and therefor my girls are going to have an opportunity to see it.

The movie comes off as fairly dated, but not in a crippling way. Most of its failings are in that it is sort of a dumb movie with no shortage or corniness and good acceptible racism and stereotyping. What racist edge there is is certainly not shown as a positive thing, but from a stereotyping standpoint, the movie is all about the magical asian from the mysterious east. Even this isn't really offensive in my opinion, but it does contribute to some of the dumb elements of the movie. Asian stereotyping isn't the only stereotyping, you get a little bit of it in Daniel and his Mom, with the standard Jersey Italian schtick. I'm not really criticisng this stuff, but as I said, these elements give the movie a bit of a dated and corny feeling to it. They also give it the ability to show where the stereotypes are broken by some of the characters.

The Miyagi character at least has some complexity and humanity to him. He provides humor with his mannerism and his wisdom in dealing with Daniel. He is a little to much of a 'Magic Asian' for my tastes. I like his Obi Wan elements better than his magic healing hand rub, but I guess it provides another exotic element.

The movie does seem like a lot of cliches sewn together, but it was still fun to watch. I have some degree of nostalgia for it, even though I don't think it's all that great. I think despite it's datedness, it still works as a decent movie for older kids. My 16 year old liked it just fine, but I think it was more on my 10 year old's level, and even she saw some of the silliness in it.

True Blood

2010-07-01T15:17:00.005-04:00

I have just started watching Season three of True Blood. I am three episodes in, and I think that makes now as good a time as any to declare my love for this show again. Like so many shows that I have loved, and as seems to be the general inclination of the geek population I identify most closely with, this is another show where the characters set up as the primary focus are not at all the ones I watch the show for. I think this show, despite I guess it's sort of being kind of like a soap opera... sort of, Really is built as an ensemble, and does not try to rest the weight of the shows success or failure on the backs of Sookie and Bill, the mind reading waitress and civil war era vampire that are central to the narrative.

I have not read any of the Charlaine Harris novels that this show is based on. My oldest, who reads every other vampire related bit of fiction out there today refuses to read them herself, because she loves the show so much, so I am SOL with regard to any insight as to how things were originally written or even if any of the characters I am so fond of are written similarly in their original form. It doesn't matter to me, but I am curious about it anyway, because the show is done so well. I think it sort of deserves the 'Soap' label that I mentioned earlier, but honestly I think it is much better written over all than even most night time soaps. This is another distinction I just don't care about in the long run, but I am trying to look at the thing over all.

Sookie and Bill are ok, but Sookie's brother Jason, an ignorant sex machine who despite his ignorance sometimes figures out when things ' 'ain't right', and generally has a good, although simple, heart, is a way more intriguing character. Eric Northman, the vampire 'Sherriff' of the area who is hell bent on having sookie as his own, is way more appealing and intriguing than Bill who comes off pretty cardboard and just barely interesting, even when you are pulling for him.

That being said, the crowd that gathers at the local restaurant and bar is about 100 times more compelling to me than even Eric and Jason. I'm not going to go through a whole cast list or anything, but the characters in this are diverse on a pretty huge scale. You have simpletons both good and bad. You have people with all sorts of motivations and world views, and everyone feels like a distinct and living character. I am surprised it is as well done as it is, but I should stop feeling like that.

Season three introduces Werewolves in a big way. It introduces a new vampire walking among the folks of Bon Temps Louisiana, and gives us big doses of character history for Eric and Bill separately that we hadn't seen before. Tara is already in trouble. Lafayette is already over his head, and there is a lot of political intrigue going on between MS and LA vampires. That, plus the continuing saga of detective Andy, and Jason deciding he wants to be a police officer, make this a season worth watching so far.

This is the story of a blog

2010-07-01T11:12:00.000-04:00

Perhaps I will prove myself wrong. Maybe there isn't more to life than comics. For the time being, as I test my hypothesis, I will do so here. My issue isn't with having what I decide to write posted somewhere, it is with cluttering my comics blog with non-comics posts.