Bride of FrankenBlog ...

What up?

Well, things are looking a bit up from yesterday. Soon after I posted yesterday's blog, I had a kinf of revelatory lunch at Universal Citywalk. As the day at work was pretty slow and uneventful, I gave myself a little longer for lunch than usual, and drove over to Citywalk just for the heck of it. I walked into the entranceway and for some reason, The good ol' Back to the Future theme just pumped me up. I was like "yeah! I work in entertainment!" And since that point, I've felt much calmer somehow. Didn't hurt that today, via a generous gift at work, I received four FREE third-row seats to Lakers-Suns on NBA opening night, this coming Tuesday! Wow! I mean, not exactly how I was anticipating on spending Halloween, but there's no way I would pass up a chance to go to a game of this magnitude, with seats that should put me somewhere between Jack Nicholson and Charlie Sheen. Plus, I've been a Suns fan since '93 when I became a diehard fan during the Barkley era, so while I will probably tone down my fandom for fear of getting shot or p'wned by Jack, I will have to work my contain my years of Laker hatred and Suns fandom. This is gonna be awesome. This weekend is still kind of up in the air, but that is much easier to swallow now that I have this to look forward to on Tuesday.

Up until now, I've been to one Knicks exhibition game in Hartford, and a handful of Celtics games while at BU - the highlight of which was definitely a first-round Celtics-Pacers playoff game in which I got to see one of my heroes, Reggie Miller, perform up close and personal. But, the Celtics have been so crappy these last few years (okay, more like last 10 years ...), that the building formerly known as the Fleet Center lacked much excitement or buzz when the Celtics came to play. Going into Staples for a Laker game is like walking into enemy territory, but the buzz should be huge for opening night, especially if Kobe (hate him), is able to play.

I've hated the Lakers for years now. I was actually a fan growing up of the latter days of the showtime era, and always was a big Magic fan, and really rooted for him during his mid-90's comeback years. But then things quickly turned sour when the Kobe-Shaq era began. The Lakers time and again helped dash my hopes that Charles Barkley would make it to the finals, with the '99 playoffs being especially bitter - as Shaq, Kobe, and Glen Rice prevented Barkley and the Rockets from advancing to the Finals. Since then, my hatred for the Lakers has just multiplied as they became a dynasty - all the while being a totally unlikable bunch of whiners and egomaniacs, Kove worst of all. I've always hated Kobe and his Jordan-wannabe antics, and he doesn't impress me at all as a human being. The only thrill I've gotten from the Lakers' championship runs was that somehow, vets like Mitch Ritchmond managed to grab a championship ring through those Laker title wins.

But yeah, going to Staples, being there in the bigtime in the front row under the spotlights, on NBA opening night, Suns vs. Lakers ... well, it should be awesome.

Damn, I've got to get around to playing some basketball.

What else?

- I thought last night's SMALLVILLE was the best ep of the season to date. A cool, multi-layered story brought the spotlight on a young Lex Luthor, and I really enjoyed the flashbacks to his and Ollie Queen's time at "Excelsior" prep school (obviously a blend of Exeter and a nod to the Marvelous competition ... don't they know this is a DC show?). This was an especially geek-friendly episode, with nods to Gotham City, much talk about the Phantom Zone, a true team-up between Clark Kent and Oliver Queen, a bucnh of funny Lois-and-Clark moments, and even a character named Duncan Erlenmyer, which I can't confirm, but suspect is a little X-Files tribute on the part of the writing staff ... hmmm, I wonder? Anyways, Rosenbaum and Glover once again tore it up as the Luthors, and I just really enjoyed almost everything about this ep, with the exception of the somewhat underwhelming cliffhanger, which at first seemed to be about to reveal the presence of some bigtime supervillain, but ultimately just hinted at a return of the premiere's antagonist, Mariah, who I thought was pretty lame the first time around. Overall though, I had a blast with this latest ep.

My Grade: A -

QUICK COMICS THOUGHTS:

- Well, this week saw the much-anticipated release of film director Richard Donner's run s writer of the monthly SUPERMAN comic, along with DC uber-scribe Geoff Johns, and second-generation artist Andy Kubert. So, what did I think? Well, overall, I am intrigued. I thought Johns and Donner nailed the Clark-Lois dynamic, and the brief scenes with Lex Luthor seemed spot-on as well - luckily, this seemed to be the kickass Lex we're used to from the comics and not the much lamer Lex from the movies - but the jury is still out on that one ... However, it was very jarring to see Superman in a crystal fortress talking to a holographic Jor-El as in the films - to this point no such thing has been scene in the mainstream comics, so it makes me wonder how much normal DC continuity will be tossed aside in favor of the movie versions of characters. But, for those of you who don't know ... the main crux of this story is that a young boy crashes to earth in a ship, from Kypton, and Superman adopts the boy and raises him as the Kents did him. Definitely enjoying the intro to this plotline so far, and undoubtedly the comic felt suitably cinematic thanks to the widescreen pencils of Kubert, who was solid, but whose style, overall, felt a bit scratchy and rough for this type of story. A good start that leaves many questions yet to be answered - very curious for the next issue.

My Grade: B+

- Also got my hands on the long, long, loooong-anticipated SEVEN SOLDIERS #1, the concluding chapter to writer Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers mega-event that began waaaay back in March 2005! Back then, I was sure that the opening chapter, Seven Soldiers #0, was one of the best standalone comics I'd read in years - it was moving, exciting, thought-provoking, smart, suitably crazy, and filled with amazing artwork courtesy of JH Williams III. As the months went on, I really enjoyed most of the follow-up Seven Soldiers miniseries, which had their ups and downs, but together wove a complex and intricate tale that promised to build to one hell of a finale. And now, after several months of delays, here it is - a giant-sized epic finale to one of the best and most ambitious comics events ever attempted. But how did this much-anticipated ish turn out? Hmmm ... hard to say -- One thing is clear, Morrison is in full-on CRAZY mode here - there's a ton going on, and you'll be alternatively saying "huh?" and "wow!" as you read -- this is one overloaded, psychedelic, mind-tripping piece of graphic fiction. But wow, JH Williams was on fire here - he employs several art styles, one for each of the 7 soldiers, and his work is simply mind-blowing - some of the work here is just off the charts, and it's amazing how Williams mimics the art from each of the 7 miniseries that preceded the book, yet makes each chapter his own as well. As for the story, like I said, it's craziness and a bit incoherant at times. Enjoyable, but in that unique - hm, that was interesting, but I'm not sure what the hell happened - kind of way. I would have liked a more straightforward conclusion, but still, this is one that simply has to be read to be believed, even if it is perhaps an example of Morrison loosening his grip on reality just a bit too much.

My Grade: B+

Alright, I'm out. Happy Halloween weekend! CYA.