Wild for Wings

This morning, my son and I had a special outing. First, we hit the local GameSpot and Best Buy stores to spend a little of the cash we got for Christmas on some new games. Second, though, was a lunch stop to one of our favorite restaurants here in town - Buffalo Wild Wings.

It seems that on weekdays from 11am until 2pm, they have a special. All you can eat wings and buffalo chips (potato disks-like-fries) for $9.99 per person. So, we decided to go for some good eating. They started us out each with a dozen wings. Okay, no problem there. Usually when we go he and I split an order of 18 wings - nine apiece. So, eating three more was no issue. After the first round, we decided to get a bit more. They bring the additional ones out six at a time. So, we each got another six.

Well, I managed to get eaten my seventeenth wing before I was full. My twelve-year old son, who was so sure he could keep up, got full after his fifteenth. So much for the kid besting the old man (for now...).

It was a nice father-son bonding moment on our vacation.

Comics in December pt. 8

Batman and the Outsiders #3 - despite a misleading cover (four of the seven figures on the cover do not appear in the issue in action), this was a solid issue. Chuck Dixon, the writer, is shaping this book up nicely as a new must-read title. I've enjoyed the first three issues enough to permanently add it to my pull list.

Justice League of America #16 - this issue wasn't so hot for me. The lead tale, behind another midleading cover of sorts, was really a prelude to another upcoming mini-series. I was hoping for more meat with the Tangent Universe characters, but this issue was not it. The back-up tale was so-so; I didn't like the art much.

Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century #9 - another good, done-in-one read. This comic continues to expand nicely on the animated LSH universe from the cartoons. Great art too.

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

I am hoping that everyone has a safe, wonderful Christmas - whether you're home nestled all warm with your family or travelling across state/country to visit the ones you love.

For us, we've had two of our three Christmas celebrations so far.

The first was on Saturday. We drove 2 1/2 hours each way to visit my parents and brother for the day. While the visit was short, we did have time for two meals together, some exchanging of gifts, and a chance to just sit and talk.

The second was for our immediate household of three last night. After a wonderful dinner made by my wife, we went to the 9pm Christmas Vigil at the church. When we got home, it was time to open a few presents - that way our 12 year old wouldn't have us up at the crack of dawn to see what was under the tree. That was a lot of fun.

This afternoon, it is a short drive twenty minutes to my inlaws' house. There we'll do dinner and a few more presents.

So take time today and this holiday season to remember what is important to you. Spend that time with family and good friends.

Changing Plans

Well, our holiday plans shifted a bit last week due to some unexpected auto expenses and a vetinary experience with our youngest dog. Actually, it was the later that did it - we could not board her for a week after she had to spend four nights at the vet due to some intestinal issues. So, we're sticking closer to home for the holidays.

We turned our weekend trip to my parents' house into a day-trip yesterday. 2 1/2 hour drive each way (left 8am and home by 9pm) but we had a good time. It had been a number of months since we saw my folks. Did lunch, gift exchange, socializing and dinner. My in-laws came by to walk our dogs mid-day which helped make that period a little more bearable for the four-legged family members.

I ended up getting Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End on DVD as a gift along with some spending money. Most likely I'll use the later to pick up some CDs of music after Christmas.

Our trip to Atlanta next week has been put off, unfortunately. My in-laws will bring the gifts down to the neices and nephews there though.

Haven't Missed TV

With the Writers' Strike continuing and the usual holiday rerun-fest, I haven't turned on the TV in days. Sure, I taped Best Year Ever last Friday night and watched it Saturday, but that's about it. I even have the taped finale of America's Most Smartest Model sitting on the DVR since Sunday night - but I have yet to actually blip-blip-blip through it. I have to wonder - will this break really break me from regular TV watching again? We'll see.

Now, granted, Monday night we did spend a nice evening at my son's school. It was the annual holiday Choir and Band show. This is my son's first year in the band (he plays the French Horn). I have to admit that the 7th grade band sounded pretty good all together - especially since most of them are new to band and have only been playing for the past four months since school started. I found it to be a very enjoyable program.

Comics in December pt. 7

The Search for Ray Palmer: Superwoman/Batwoman - I had high hopes for this one-shot that would be taking the Challengers to a world where the genders were reverse (this world's "Superman" and "Batman" were women, this world's "Wonder Woman" was a man, etc.). It harkened back to a Superman comic from the late 70's when Mr. Mxyzptlk tried to confuse Superman by magically changing every he to a she and vice versa. Well, this one-shot really only had the gender changes going for it. Other than that, it was 22 pages of mostly yawns. I am so glad the Challengers will be finding Ray Palmer next week in Countdown.

Speaking of, Countdown to Final Crisis #19 - another so-so issue. Mostly it centered on the Pied Piper dragging around and talking to the Trickster's corpse. Sure, we get some of the goings-on at Paradise Island and some Jimmy Olsen stuff too, but mostly it was just so-so for me. Not very festive in a holiday mood.


Countdown: Arena #3 - the weekly slugfest continues. This issue we see the captives trying to organize against Monarch, again. We also see the short fight between the 'Starman' of three worlds, a medium fight between three 'Flash' and a nice knock-down fight between three 'Wonder Woman'. The mini series ends next week so I am looking for some kind of bigger pay-off. We'll see if I get a nice present for New Years or not.

Comics in December pt. 6

Finally, I'm caught up!

Captain Carrot and the Final Ark #3 - this issue concludes the mini-series and, it would appear, provides a final fate of the cast of the Zoo Crew. I admit, I was annoyed when I read the final pages of this comic for I felt that some favorite characters of mine were forever dumped on the trash-heap. However, I then read some comments by the creators on the DC Comics Message Boards. Scott Shaw and Bill Morrison did say that management wanted them to have a particular ending to the mini, but both creators feel optimistic that they can use this as a launching point should enough fans demand to see more of the Captain and his cohorts. And they seem eager to do more as well. But will it happen? If it doesn't, is this indeed the final 'arc'? I fear it might be. I hope that fear is proved wrong.


Booster Gold #5 - last month I was wowed by the possibility of what the final page of issue 4 showed. Could Booster stop Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) from being left wheel-chair-bound after the fateful attack by the Joker from a decade old story? I had hoped so. I really really had. But, like Booster, I got to learn the hard and fast rule - that not all past events can be altered. Some things are set in stone. To me, that's management speak for 'we aren't rocking the boat that much'. Still, I have to say this was a good issue in how it told that story and how Booster had to learn the hard way that not every thing in the past can be changed. But that begs the question: where is this series going to go if all Booster and company can do is fix time-glitches that aren't supposed to happen? It could get very dull very fast. I hope the creative team of Johns and Jurgens have some ideas on how to keep the franchise vital after the well-planned and engaging opening arc. The true test of any new title is can it keep the level up into the third, fourth or fifth story arcs. We'll see.