Appreciating the craft...

I've been re-reading Jonathan Hickman's Marvel work, specifically his runs on Fantastic Four/FF and S.H.I.E.L.D, and sweet jeebus, is it great stuff. I've said it before, but he is currently my favorite writer and in my humble opinion, the most brilliant and talented writer in comics currently. I've tried to turn all my friends on to his work, with much success.

Genius.

 He's a talent on the level of an Alan Moore, or Grant Morrison. But enough of the nut-hugging. I'm going to do some blogs on those aforementioned books, hopefully soon, while its fresh in my mind. School starts this week, so we'll see how much time I can allocate to blogging. I've also been working on some of my own stuff again, THANKFULLY. I hope to have some stuff done by the end of the year. That's a pretty reasonable goal. I'd like to get a table at C2E2 next year possibly.

Oh, and i'm holding off on buying a PS3/Xbox 360/Wii until I finish my first manuscript. Which means i'm going to continue to be five years behind in videogames. Eh.

I hope to make 2012  my most productive year yet. It's about damn time.

The Facebook/Twitter Awards

Social Media is the most potent and addicting drug out there right now. Besides crystal meth. It's inescapable. It's become so huge, for better or worse, it has changed the way business is conducted, it's made revolutions possible, and it's almost gotten me fired from my job. You gotta watch what you say. Seriously. Who knows what the true long term effects of facebook and twitter et. al. will be? I know one of the unintended consequences was probably the Arab Spring and Occupy movements. Online bullying is probably the worst thing to come out of all of it. AND OF COURSE, just dumb people in general on your feed. I know, you can block them, but the day I go on facebook and don't see a stupid or just inane status will be the day that I drink my own urine in disbelief. Why urine? I dunno, I guess I could just eat my shoes. Anyways, i'm getting off topic. Facebook is everything you love and hate about people, some of them your friends, some just know you exist. It can be great fun and a great tool to network, organize get-together's, and all kinds of stuff. It's very entertaining. I've collected my top favorite statuses of the year, from my friends, and some other things that either made me laugh or smacked my head. Failbook is good, but this is my take. Hopefully I don't piss too many people off. There's some Twitter stuff too. Haven't really done much on Google+ yet. So here we go, the first annual Ted Hood Facebook (and twitter) awards:

This is a wonderful status.

Jonel wins the award for best comeback.

This made me laugh.

This might be the most ignorant thing i've seen.

I take it back, this is the most ignorant thing i've seen.

Can't argue with that!

A perennial contender for status of the year.

Zack Ryder owned social media this year.

I have no idea what Jay is talking about here, but he is pumped.

That's pretty f***ing clever.

Those are the statuses that made 2011 a banner year for statuses. I hope everyone on here knows not to take this too seriously, and I probably have some dumbass statuses as well if you want to roast me back, but yeah, I genuinely love all you people and if I didn't i'd just defriend you. I'd be surprised if half of you are reading this, actually. These statuses brightened my day and/or made me laugh, and that is where Facebook totally wins. Even though I think Twitter is superior and Tumblr is more my style. 

There it is!

Currently Reading Episode 8 Megapost

HAPPY HOLIDAYS. Well obviously, by the title of this blog, you can tell what my favorite holiday is. Christmas is a solid 2nd though, and although it doesn't hold much meaning for me other than a great time to spend with family and to get some annual gifts, I still recognize it as a pretty dang O.K. holiday. A bit overrated, maybe. Infinite Christmas would be cool too, maybe there's some bizarro blog out there like that, or maybe I could start a sister blog called "Infinite Christmas." Hmmm. In other news, I'm on vacation right now so i'm going to do some serious blogging and writing. I have no excuses, no school, no work, no distractions.
Oh man, I can't believe the holidays have come so quickly. I haven't updated this thing with anything original in quite some time, and at some point, i'll probably have to cut down on the reading and start writing like a maniac. But that time wasn't during this semester. Oh no, my excuse is that I had no time, since I have two jobs and school. That excuse is kind of legit, but it's not acceptable anymore. Either way, before I get off on a tangent, I have started cutting down my summer reading queue. That's right, summer reading queue. I'm only going to to short reviews since I need to get some actual work done, and I don't think anyone out there actually cares for my reviews, it's more something I do for myself, but yeah. I finished these three graphic novels over the last month or so:

Black Hole by Charles Burns

I loved this. Charles Burns is a cartoonist with an impressive pedigree. He did designs for the short lived OK Soda, as well as for Believer magazine, just to name some of the projects he's been attached to. His art had been familiar to me because of the Believer covers, and I've seen Black Hole in like every graphic novel section of every Barnes and Noble and Borders (R.I.P.) that i've ever been to, I just never picked it up for whatever reason. Charles Burns was vaguely on my radar though, and I've finally gotten to this thanks to a friend who lent me this. Actually, all of the graphic novels in this post were lent to me by friends. Thank you, friends! Either way, I dug pretty much everything about this. The STD-analogue was interesting and the characters didn't really stand out, except for the really deformed ones. I think that was kind of the point though. It was creepy at times, haunting, and I did gag at one panel, honestly, so that's a minor achievement in of itself. Overall, really good and has a vibe that kinda reminds me of Dazed and Confused but really dark and serious, and a bit more existential. His art style is really clean and it adds to the creepiness of the hallucination scenes, and the deformities the characters who contract "the bug" are even weirder due to his clean art style. I'd compare it to Mike Allred's.  I feel like I should be listening to Led Zeppelin when I read this. RATING: pretty gnarly.

Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman

I really, really enjoyed this. I haven't read a lot of Neil Gaiman, honestly. Besides this, the only other work of his i've read is Eternals, also a Marvel comic. So I have much Neil Gaiman to catch up on. I have very much liked what i've read, so far. I know this book was criticized when it came out for not being "epic" enough, or something, but I thought it was a good little tale. Nothing too monumental or crazy, just solid characters and good storytelling. I've read that after 9/11, Gaiman wanted to do a project that didn't involve guns of explosions of any kind, and 1602 was the result. I like this interpretation of the Silver Age Marvel Heroes, the first wave created by Stan and Jack and Steve Ditko. He really gives mad respect to those guys and the universality of the characters they created. It totally works for me. It was fresh, even though i've been reading Marvel Comics since I could read. I dug that it was in England. The character of Matt Murdock/Daredevil worked so well in this world. It might be bare bones for some, but this, along with Alan Moore's earlier work, is great comic writing 101. I know there are a  gazillion parallel universes and alternate timelines in Marvel (and DC, for that matter) but this one is worth a gander. Andy Kubert's art doesn't hurt either. I'll have to pick up Sandman and his novels at some point. Hopefully relatively soon. Gaiman's pretty much the man. Bravo.

Drinking at the Movies by Julia Wertz

FUNNY SHIT. This had me cracking up like no other recent comic. Julia Wertz is fucking hilarious and has such a refreshing worldview, it was just a treat to read this one. I need to read more "indie" stuff and Drinking At The Movies is a good reason why. The humour really makes it, but there is really some more enlightening stuff in here that I think many in my generation could benefit from. Julia Wertz is a compelling protagonist and you really care about her by the end. She's like the female version me except way funnier. For serious. There are some good life lessons in here too. It's great stuff. I give it my highest recommendation. It would make a good Adult Swim type cartoon, IMO.

There it is!

Currently Reading: Episode 7

Amazon Link

I had to read this for my Geology class, and ironically, it has almost nothing to do with Geology.

This book is an in depth look at the psychology and physiology of people who have been in a disaster. There are interviews with survivors of 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, Vietnam, and many other horrific events. Amanda Ripley has done a tremendous amount of research into what happened to these people. It's very interesting information and it makes you think about what you'd do in a similar situation. We've all seen the news footage of 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and there aftermaths, but what most people don't see or read into is what happens before the ambulances and firefighters show up. What happens to people who are in these overwhelming situations? What are the effects of acute fear and panic? Why do some people crumble and others rise to the occasion? There are many questions answered. In this day and age, everyone should read this book. It's very savvy and timely. Great read.

Currently Reading: Episode 6

On The Road: The Original Scroll by Jack Kerouac

This might be my favorite book ever. I read the original my senior year of high school, and it was huge for me. Kerouac's style is so unique and brilliant, it's hard to do it justice in a review. All the praise for this book is well earned. This unedited, uncensored version is even better. There are 4 very insightful essays for the first 100 pages that dissect the creation of the original version, and how Kerouac had to modify it many times due to publishers being stingy, or because he couldn't use a person's real name in fear they might sue. It's really interesting. Then the scroll itself begins, and it is more or less a 300 page continuous paragraph. A glorious paragraph. Unfiltered Kerouac is just really inspiring and his mastery of depicting his world is pretty amazing. The way he describes everything, and he's mostly describing people drinking and being wild and looking for kicks, is poetic. His attention to the minor characters and details is what really makes him a special writer. One such character was some bum they met on the road, who claimed he was going to "Canady." This made me laugh. You get the sense that Kerouac is just absorbing so much. I can't do this book justice in a review, it's something you have to experience. It's just amazing. A great and true story. 

Of note, when I  started reading this during the summer, I somehow came to the knowledge that they are making a movie, which is coming out next year. Could be interesting.....the cast looks okay...Viggo Mortensen as Old Bull Lee is going to be fantastic, though. Hopefully it's good and it brings more attention to the book.I'll be seeing it. Here's the imdb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0337692/

When Wrestlers Make Music: Part 1

When wrestlers make music.....it's usually a bad thing. I'm going to run down the top 5 best and therefore worst forays into music by professional wrestlers, starting with Chris Jericho's metal band, Fozzy. Now, I believe Fozzy started as a cover band featuring members of Stuck Mojo. It seemed to start off as a semi-serious project for Jericho, but over the last couple years, they've released albums of original material....and it just ain't so hot. Jericho is one of my favorite wrestlers of all time, but I can't say i'm a fan of his singing. Fozzy has some decent musical chops, but they just...aren't that great. I'm sure they work hard, and they seem to be getting more buzz, but just listen to the track posted, and judge for yourself. Lyrics are not their strong suit, and that's a theme that we'll run into quite a bit......When wrestlers make music.

Rating: 3/5

The next twelve months are going to be quite interesting.

As you may know, i'm a HUGE MMA and Pro-Wrestling fan. They are both cut from the same cloth in my mind and there are many parallel threads. Going into next year, they both look to continue to evolve and get bigger, in different ways. Two of the biggest developments are as follows:

This is going to be insane. An entire channel dedicated to Vince McMahon's Empire? WWE 24/7? I've heard there's going to be a reality show starring WWE Legends, which is a terrible idea, but if it gets some broken down old men some paydays, i'm down. WWE needs to evolve next year otherwise UFC is going to continue to beat them in the PPV arena. That brings me to my second development, which everyone has heard by now :

As big as the WWE Network could be, UFC on FOX is even bigger. This is taking the sport to the next level and a guaranteed increase of eyeballs for the UFC. The most brilliant move for Dana White in what has been a banner year for them. This ensures they will get even bigger and do great business this year. Giving away a Heavyweight title fight on free T.V. doesn't hurt either. They could reach an over saturation point with too many events next year, but we'll have to wait and see. 

It's going to be an interesting year.