He's Back!

Though eight years older than me, my husband shares a lot of my interests and experiences. A perfect example is the comedy of Gary Larson's 'Far Side'.

On his website Mr. Larson admits he dreaded the act of drawing (!), hence his 1995 retirement. Thank heaven making people gives him pleasure.

And hurray for digital drawing tools inspiring his comeback. Not all his jokes make sense to me. But sometimes I just burst out laughing.

Are you familiar with his work? Can you imagine returning to something after two-and-a-half decades on hiatus?

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Positive Sparks Monday - A Smile for the Day

To quote Annie of McGuffy’sReader, the bright spirited blog where she created Sparks Mondays, “I believe we are meant to be lights in this world. If we allow our light to shine, we can see where we are going. It is then that we can begin to truly see each other clearly. Together, we can light up the entire world!”

Today I’m departing from the idea of an uplifting quote, having decided to share a joke. I hope anyone reading forgives my artistic license and enjoys a laugh to brighten the day.

“Everybody looks cool under a black light. Except for me... because I was under the impression that the mustard stain came out.” – Mitch Hedberg

Rest in peace, Mr. Hedberg. I still miss you. And heroin, I hate you.

Photo Credit - Twitter

Are you familiar with the unique cadence and dry humor of Mitch Hedberg?

https://twitter.com/M_Hedberg

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The Geek Asylum Strikes Again

Someone shared this on Facebook’s Geek Asylum group page. I laughed so hard I startled the cat.

Do you get the pun? By the way, the last panel's censorship is my own.

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Feed Me!

I’m a big fan of the cartoon Simon’s Cat. The humor has so much truth in it (aside from the opposable thumbs, thank heaven!).

When a friend sent me the following image I just had to share. Below I’ll insert a video for those who perhaps haven’t seen the cartoon.

I Want One of These!

Do you have any decals on your car?

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Stereotyped Women a la 1989

I’m a big fan of many Tim Burton directed films. In particular, I like his collaborations with composer Danny Elfman, whom I just learned wrote not only the theme songs to “The Simpsons” and “Tales from the Crypt” but also “Desperate Housewives”. But I digress.

Last night I wanted to watch something light and fun. 1989’s “Batman” grabbed my attention while I perused my DVD collection. Perfect, I thought. Jack Nickolson’s Joker is unforgettable. (Nothing against the late, great Heath Ledger, of course.) And the visuals are stunning.

Alas, I had forgotten Vicki Vale. She probably showed as much dimension in the original 1948 comic book appearance. What a painful character to watch.

Vicki starts out as a strong concept, a prize-winning photo journalist. Yet she never once acts the part besides pulling out a camera once or twice. Throughout the film, which Tim Burton proclaims he mainly considers boring (!), Kim Basinger gets to do little besides shriek, faint, and follow Bruce Wayne around like a puppy. At the end she meekly gets into the car with Alfred as if she has zero interest in championing the world.

I guess she is too busy being some overshadowing dude’s girlfriend now and must attend his needs. To use an eightie’s valley girl euphemism, gag me with a spoon.

Audiences purportedly disliked that Vicki earned a tour of the bat cave. But honestly, what does it matter? It’s not like this namby-pamby smudge upon female characterizations will do anything with this information. This flick shows Ms. Basinger even more mincing than as Elizabeth in “9 1/2 Weeks”.

I have no idea what might have ended up on the cutting room floor, of course. Was some redeeming scene left out with final cuts? Maybe I should write a converse sort of fanfic for myself, just to get the bad taste out of my mouth. Or maybe not. I’ve got more interesting things to do.

If you’ve seen the movie, what did you think of this portrayal?

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J is for Judge Dredd - I Am the Law

I do not know how many of you are familiar with the British comic book “2000 AD”. In it, the future United States has become a nuclear ravaged dystopia where an unemployed and bored populace crowds in huge megacity apartment blocks. Some residents never leave them.

If they do, Judges are ready to serve up instantaneous street justice. Judge Joe Dredd is toughest of them all.

Delightful Kiwi actor Karl Urban blessed us in 2012 with a portrayal of the lawman that helped remove the bad taste leftover from the 1995 travesty. Sylvester Stallone might have done okay except for one glaring mistake. Ask any Judge Dredd geek and they’ll tell you that he never takes off his helmet in the story panels.

Never, ever. Dredd is the antithesis of that character Wilson Wilson Junior in the nineties era TV series “Home Improvement” who never showed his chin. Judge Dredd is all about the chin.

That wonderful, stern, craggy chin - almost a character in and of itself.

Unfortunately, the expense of having that weekly comic shipped became too costly. I have not tried to find any domestic periodical to replace it. Are there any comic book fans out there with a suggestion? I’d be interested to know.

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