It was the year of fire, The year of destruction, The year we took back what was ours. It was the year of rebirth, The year of great sadness, The year of pain, And a year of joy. It was a new age. It was the end of history. It was the year everything changed. The year is 2261. The place: Babylon 5. Happy New Year! A hearty welcome applause to the year 2261… er, I mean the years 1430 and 2009.
Continue readingMonthly Archives: December 2008
The ‘Tronians Are Back With Friends And Then Some
Check it out: June 2009 will see the release of the sequel to 2007’s Transformers, a movie about cute and cuddly giant robots. Apparently, its full title will be Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The Fallen? That’s a relatively recent addition to the Transformers mythology from 2003 Transformers: The War Within comic book from Dreamwave Productions, which takes place during the Cybertronian War a long, long time before their arrival on Earth. According to his wikipedia entry: One of the original thirteen Transformers created by Primus, the robot who would become the Fallen betrayed his creator by siding with Primus’s dark twin, the malevolent planet-eater, Unicron. In the final battle between Primus and Unicron, the Fallen fell victim to the same fate as his master, sucked through a black hole into another dimension. However, while Unicron emerged into another universe, the Fallen was not so fortunate, finding himself trapped in […]
Continue reading
Ye Olde Good Widow Village
Breathing a little mountain air is said to do one good. So we decided to saddle up and head uphill… so we can inhale lots and lots of mountain air. 4,000 or 6,000 cm³ per inhalation, I should hope. Soon after, we found ourselves at the little mountain village of Janda Baik because of a friend, who has a tract of land up here upon which he’s made a campsite with lots of trees, split-level terrain, a simple gazebo, an artificial creek and waterfalls cutting across the site… and a natural stream across the path from his land. It’s still a work in progress, so there are still lots to build. But it’s good enough for me. Irfan, of course, enjoyed himself and said he’d love to return. And when we return, we shall bring in tow: a tent, a couple of sleeping bags, a torchlight and some delicious consumables. […]
Continue readingAllie’s 5 Month Birthday
Yet another month has passed! On Monday, Allie was five months old. She is growing into her own little person, smiling and reaching out for a favorite toy, and able to spend more and more time amusing herself. She has a bedtime and a daily routine. She listens to short stories by Ambrose Bierce at nights and seems to enjoy watching football (American football) on TV (oh no!!!). She giggles and squeals and sings and is generally a good-humored baby. She is getting quite good at manipulating things with her hands, including picking up and sucking on the rubber ducky at bathtime. She finds it amusing to drop a succession of toys onto the floor when she sits in the stroller, and watch us pick them up and hand them back to her. In short, she is a total joy. And of course, pictures! * Mouse over the pictures for […]
Continue reading
They Come From The 31st Century
Every year since season 4 of Smallville, I used to check out the first few episodes to see if it grabbed me. But the novelty was gone, and even the inclusion of Kara Zor-El in season 7 wasn’t enough to sustain my attention. Season 8 however is a whole new ball game. I’ve not missed a single episode. Inclusion of new character Davis Bloom that eventually turns out to be Doomsday – which reads terribly as a concept on paper, but is pulled off adequately. A new job at the Daily Planet and a burgeoning romance with Lois – including humorous lively banter instead of the unbearable melodrama with Lana. More DC Comics characters as guest stars like Plastique and Maxima. And after the mid-season break, for the first time ever: the live action appearance of none other than the founding members of the Legion of Super-Heroes, flight rings and […]
Continue readingAn Array of Questions Concerning Youth
Is this young Remy LeBeau, the Ragin’ Cajun? [[image:weaponx01.jpg:Gambit:center:0]] Is this a young Victor Creed? [[image:weaponx02.jpg:Sabretooth:center:0]] Is this a young Fred Dukes? [[image:weaponx03.jpg:Blob:center:0]] Is this a young pre-cancer scarred Wade Wilson? [[image:weaponx04.jpg:Deadpool:center:0]] Is this a teenaged diamond-skinned Emma Frost? [[image:weaponx05.jpg:White Queen:center:0]] Is this a very young Ororo Munroe? [[image:weaponx06.jpg:Storm:center:0]] and finally, bringing it all together in his new movie out next May, is this a young, pre-Logan, pre-adamantium skeleton James Howlett himself? [[image:weaponx07.jpg:Weapon X:center:0]] Snikt.
Continue readingDecember Musings
Here we are, December again. There was snow on the ground last week, and it has since melted. However, as I write this entry, it has begun to snow again. Winter has arrived, even though it is not yet December 21st. This bums me out majorly… 🙁 The difference this year is that our lives are filled with happiness as Allie grows and grows. Every day she learns new things. Every day she seems a little bigger, a little stronger, and a little cuter. And even the bleakest, snowiest days don’t seem quite so bad. [[image:allie116a.jpg:Giggle giggle:center:0]] And before I forget, a belated Selamat Hari Raya Aidiladha to everyone! Parenthood is definitely one of the coolest things in the world. I never really understood it (only imagined it), but watching your child change daily, reading parenting books, trying out what the books say and seeing her react, it’s just amazing. […]
Continue readingDiedrich Bader Takes Over The Cowl
There is a new Batman animated series in town, and since I’m still not back from lunch and I agree with every word written by Shane about it, I’ll just hand over the microphone to him: [[image:braveandthebold01.jpg:Ollie and Bruce:right:0]]Sherman, set the wayback machine to circa 1985, and a 4 year old Shane is taken to a local department store. Now, it’s lost to the ages, but he must have been aware of Batman via The Superfriends, or the deal Shell had with giving away DC Superhero figures with a fill up (I think I had 2 of everyone). But this fateful day, Shane got his very first Batman comic. It was complimentary that day, and involved 2 stories I can barely remember. One had him facing a fake Wayne Manor, full of androids created by Hugo Strange. The other was the one that sticks more in my mind. Simple grunt […]
Continue reading