American Idol 2008 - Top 4 Performances

Well, that was simply a mixed bag mess! The singers got to chose from the music catalog of the Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame, meaning pretty much a wide open book of top selling and performing artists from the 50's through the early 80's. What they end up with was interesting indeed.

I'm putting Syesha and David Archuleta in a tie for top position this week. I thought one of each's songs were the top of a round with the other in second. Vocally, they gave pleasant performances.

David Cook, sadly, dropped to position three this week for me. First was choice on song one. "Hungry Like the Wolf"? Seriously? Oh boy. Next, "Baba O'Reilly" - good choice but hard to cut down nicely into a minute forty five performance. It was just uneven. I am sure the full-length version rocked nicely. But judging what I saw on the show, not so much.

Bottom of the list - Jason Castro. Honestly, I think he was seriously trying to get out this week. His Bob Marley "I Shot the Sheriff" was all over the place - like he and Bob had been sharing some smoke pre-show. Round two - his Bob Dylan "Mr. Tambourine Man" would have been okay - but he forgot the lyrics! You don't do that at this stage in the game. You just don't.

Based on all this, Jason should be out this week. Judging on the voting public, I honestly wouldn't put money on it being a good bet. This season has been so unpredictable. Tonight will tell the tale.

Pastime

I just finished the 18th book in Robert B. Parker's Spenser series. Written in 1991, Pastime is a bit different paced than the other books so far. Here, Spenser isn't hired for a case per se. Paul Giacomin, the young man whom Spenser saved from his parents back in Early Autumn enlists Spenser's aid to help him locate his mother who seems to have disappeared. Together they find her and learn about the trouble she is in with her new boyfriend.

This book focuses a bit on relationships between parents and children, both that of Patty and Paul Giacomin as well as local mob figures. We also learn a lot more about Spenser's past through his discussions with Susan. The book just has a different sort of pace to it.

For me, it was just an okay book. Not one of the best in the series by any stretch of the imagination. It just seemed to be one of those middle of the series books an author does - to try to tie up some loose plot threads and such. It just seemed like passing time to me.

Iron Man Scores!

Just got back from the Sunday afternoon showing at the local cineplex of Iron Man, I have to say that it rocked! I'd definitely put it in the upper part of my top 10 all-time super-hero flicks and, for me, certainly the best Marvel super-hero film to come down the pike in years.

First, the casting was 1000% perfect. Robert Downey Jr. is Tony Stark. He played the conflicted man trying to rectify his life superbly, and he should - he's been down that road in his own life. His charm and skills at doing both the drama and the humor were right on. Gwyneth Paltrow played Pepper Potts with the right balance of confidence and sensuality. Jeff Bridges as Obidah Stane had the right mix of swarm and wickedness. Terrence Howard was a good fit for James Rhodes, who I am certain will play even a bigger role in the eventual sequel. Jon Favreau not only did an awesome job as director, but in a Hitchcock-like nod does double-duty as Happy Hogan.

Next, the story - a perfect origin tale tweaked nicely for the Hollywood adaption. It had a nice balance of intrigue, action, realism, humor and morality lesson too. Everything critical was there, plus it set up some nice foundations for the franchise to come. The introduction of a certain government organization was nicely done too.

Finally, the special effects complimented the film and did not overpower it as they often have done in Marvel's film efforts. This was a story about the characters, not the ooooh-aaaaaah of the effects' wizards.

My whole family loved it. I knew my son would - he's into the whole Marvel Ultimate Alliance game so he gets the characters. And, of course, I loved it - even if most of my exposure to Iron Man growing up as a kid was as his role on the Avengers line-up. I'm pleased to have all those Iron Man books on DVD-ROM though so I can dig deeper into the character's history. Finally, my wife even liked it - and super-hero flicks are not always her favorites (she goes to see them to indulge me). Still, she and I are both huge Robert Downey Jr. fans - always have been - so we hope he can keep his life turned down the positive road so that the franchise can grow and prosper.

Free Comic Book Day 2008

I took my 12 year old son over to the local comic book shop this morning for Free Comic Book Day. This is an event held nationally, for a few years now, on the first Saturday in May to help promote public awareness of comic books. The publishers provide to the shops free books to hand out, a sampling of titles in their line. Folks can come in and get some free books and, hopefully, become more regular customers or buy more stuff at the shop on that visit.

That's how it's supposed to work.

That's not how it always works, at least from what I saw today.

We got to the shop at 10:50am. The shop doesn't open until 11. Already there were a half dozen folks lined up waiting. A shop person came about 11am, opened up and was disgruntled to find nothing was set up (he hates to have to do things, it appears). So, he had to get help clearing a spot in the store so they could unpack the free books. When all were out, he told folks to go ahead.

That's when the feeding frenzy happened. It was like vultures at a fresh road kill, or women at a half price shoe sale. A dozen folks, mostly adults mind you and many way older than me, were in there taking one copy of everything. Everything! Thirty plus items at least. In some instances, it was a father and son, or a husband and wife - didn't matter. Each one grabbed one of everything. It was free, they wanted it - end of story!

Sad.

I had told my son before we even got to the shop that the polite thing to do would be to get a couple items apiece and that's all. That allows others to get things too. He got some kid friendly comics with Sonic and the Transformers, plus an Iron Man HeroClix figure. I picked up a copy of Love and Capes, X-Men and Tiny Titans, and also the HeroClix figure.

I wouldn't be surprised at all if the shop was completely stripped of Free Comic Book Day books by 11:30am - given how things went in those first fifteen minutes. And, very likely, half of that stuff will likely end up on eBay where someone will try to make some money off of free stuff. It all reminded me of the negative side of the big comic-cons, where folks are there just to get whatever free items they can get their hands on. It really gives comic book fans a bad image.

Stardust

Last night I finished up the seventeenth book in Robert B. Parker's Spenser series. Written in 1990, Stardust has the Boston private detective hired by a Hollywood studio that shoots a show in Boston. It seems their star Jill Joyce has been receiving harrassing phone calls and threats from an unknown source. Spenser is hired to protect her. This turns out to be much more difficult than it sounds, especially when the stakes jump up with a murder on the set.

What I enjoyed about this book is that Parker spends a lot of energy to flesh out even the most minor of characters. From a small town police chief and some folks who are down-trodden to a local rich man and a California drug lord, he does a great job creating some new characters for whom Spenser interacts.

And then there is Jill Joyce herself. An awesome job by Parker to create a character readers will love to hate. She is so tightly-wound and frustrating that the reader wants to strangle her sometimes. In the end, though, you do care about her and what happens to her. I have a feeling she'll pop up again - as often characters from previous Spenser books do.

Comics of the Week (4/30/08)

First, a disclaimer: my comic shop gets shorted one book in order almost every week. This week it was DC Universe Zero, one of the big talked about titles of the week. I'm avoiding the spoilers so I can read it fresh next week. Just an FYI.

Teen Titans Go! #54 - another fun, done-in-one. This is the second to last issue of the book and it brings in the new Wonder Girl (Cassie) to the animated Titans universe. Todd Nauck's art is perfect, as always. I'll miss this book when it ends.

Teen Titans #58 - back in the main DCU, we get a spotlight issue on Miss Martian. Now, I had been kind of put off by the new creative team when they first started, but this issue kicked into gear nicely. I enjoyed it a lot and appreciate the focus on the characters who aren't seen elsewhere. Getting better each issue.


Green Lantern #30 - we get part 2 of the "Secret Origin" storyline. While this is a basic retelling of Hal's early days, we get some nice editions by Geoff Johns too. Stuff like what Abin Sur was doing when he came to Earth, why he was in a space ship, etc. The last page was sort of interesting too - tying a later foe into the mix early on. Need to check my Showcase Presents for the classic GL tales to see if this is a continuity adjustment or not. Solid book with some really nice art.

American Idol 2008 - Top 5 Results

Well, the buzz on the Internet after Tuesday's show and Paula's blunder midway through (she blabbering on about Jason's two performances when the group each had only performed their first song) was that Idol was clearly scripted and that Jason was being thrown under the bus by the producers. Outraged fans did heavy voting for Jason in response. The next morning, Paula was on Ryan's radio show in hopes to damage control. On last night's show, again more damage control to explain the apparent confusion and to insure all that Paula was loved by the show.

Uh huh. Right.

Anyway, as a result, Jason is the first one safe. Nice way to avoid the controversy, Idol. The two Davids, clearly the vote frontrunners, are also safe. And given that many, myself included, thought Archuleta's performances weren't up to par, clearly these two have a wide enough lead on the others that one so-so night does not matter.

That puts the ladies in the bottom 2. Syesha remains strong. Brooke looks like she's going to vomit. The results come in after Brooke's tears have begun, and she is going home. She knew it. I think she's been ready now for a few weeks. The pressure has just been too much for her.

I hope she is able to put out an album ala Carole King or Carly Simon, something piano supported and melodic. I think she'll do best in that market - an adult contemporary market.