Last night, I had a fortune cookie that said, “Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.”
Which is nice and all, but what does that mean? It’s that sort of, I don’t know, redundant?
Month: June 2007
I just got a letter from the United States Copyright Office. (I get these a lot at work.) I’m guessing it’s been sitting in somebody’s out-box (or, more likely, a series of out-boxes) for quite a little while now. The letter is dated February 22, then that’s crossed out and May 9 is written in its place…and then that’s crossed out and June 11 is written in at the top in red.
I’m supposed to respond within 120 days — although luckily of the postmark, not the original date. (My math puts that at about 116 days ago.)
There’s a certain sexed-up visual atmosphere that’s endemic to superhero comics; the way their characters are drawn is supposed to be not just attractive but viscerally appealing, to provoke a kind of somatic response. That’s why Superman and Captain America are tall and ripplingly muscled, why Catwoman and Elektra are curvy and ripped, why all the heroes wear skintight outfits, and — ideally — part of why both men and women find them fun to look at. But stripping everything but quasipornographic lust-puppetry from superhero comics’ women characters actually gets that principle wrong. It’s a deliberate attempt to repulse half of their potential audience, and to sell “collectibles” to people who like the idea of repulsing that half. And it’s embarrassing to anyone who loves what’s left of the superhero genre.
Via Bookslut.
[Rise of the Silver] Surfer seems committed to leave anyone over the age of 9 out of the equation.
The nine-year-olds in the audience I saw it with did seem to thoroughly enjoy themselves. Me? Well, not so much.
Which is not to say there’s anything wrong, necessarily, with being a movie only nine-year-old boys are going to love. I’m just saying: I’m not a nine-year-old boy anymore.
This week’s questions:
- “‘Til the End of the World” by Dream City Film Club
We’ll set this bed on fire - “Blew Away” by Smashing Pumpkins
Don’t confuse my only life - “Anniversary Song” by Cowboy Junkies
And now every morning there’s a cup of coffee - “Atom Bomb” by Fluke
Baby got a poison gas - “Shake Ya Booty” by Public Enemy
Off the meat rack, got my money stacked - “Whatever You Want” by Vienna Teng
But she goes on curating your domestic museum - “Galveston Bay” by Bruce Springsteen
Two Texans lay dead on the ground - “Signal in the Sky” by the Apples in Stereo
If you have x-ray eyes please promise not to peek now - “Paragraph President” by Blackalicious
Government officials put taps on my mobile phones - “Rockin’ Robin” by Bobby Day, guessed by Kim
Every little bird in the tall oak tree
Last week’s answers. You’ll figure it out.
Good luck!