New Comics: 10/21–11/04/09

10/21

DC
Air #14
Ex Machina #46
Final Crisis Aftermath Dance #6

MARVEL
Dark Avengers #10 $3.39
Invincible Iron Man #19 Regular Salvador Larroca Cover
Spider-Woman Vol 4 #2


10/28

DC
Ambush Bug Year None #7
Detective Comics #858 Regular JH Williams III Cover

MARVEL
New Avengers #58

OTHER
Ignition City #5 Wrap Cvr


11/04

MARVEL
Astonishing X-Men Vol 3 #32 Regular Phil Jimenez Cover
Captain America Reborn #4 Regular Bryan Hitch Cover
Immortal Weapons #4
Strange Tales Vol 5 #3

New Comics: 09/30–10/14/09

I don't know why I even keep writing these. I guess for when I finally can afford to pick up comics again.


09/30

MARVEL
Secret Warriors #8

OTHER
Terry Moores Echo #15


10/07

DC
Batman And Robin #5 Regular Frank Quitely Cover $2.54

MARVEL
Astonishing X-Men Vol 3 #31 Regular Phil Jimenez Cover $2.09
Criminal The Sinners #1 $2.45
Strange Tales Vol 5 #2 Regular Peter Bagge Green Hulk Cover $4.24


10/14

MARVEL
Uncanny X-Men #516


Hrmm. My pull for these three weeks adds up to fewer books than I buy some single weeks. And with the possible exception of SECRET WARRIORS (which I've only read the first 3 issues of and thought was okay but which everybody else says is the second coming of Comics Jesus) not a single one of these is not a top-tier book in my opinion.

The "No Bullshit" Pizza Philosophy

Pizza is CRUST plus RED SAUCE plus CHEESE plus no more than THREE of the following:

• Pepperoni
• Sausage
• Ham
• Bacon
• Bell Pepper
• Onion
• Mushroom

AND THAT'S IT. No buffalo chicken, no ranch dressing, no anchovies, no pineapples, no squid ink, no truffles, NO BULLSHIT.

That is all.

New Comics: 09/16/09 & 09/26/09

09/16/09

DC
Air #13
Batman And Robin #4 Regular Frank Quitely Cover
Ex Machina #45
Wednesday Comics #11

MARVEL
Captain America Reborn #3 Regular Bryan Hitch Cover
Dark Avengers #9
Invincible Iron Man #18

OTHER
Sword #19


09/23/09

DC
Detective Comics #857
Wednesday Comics #12

MARVEL
Immortal Weapons #3
New Avengers #57 Regular Stuart Immonen Cover
Spider-Woman Vol 4 #1 Alex Maleev Cover
Uncanny X-Men #515

OTHER
No Hero #7

A message to no one in particular

If I found myself being called a racist enough times that I felt the need to mention it specifically as a turn-off, I would think long and hard about my beliefs, and not rush to assume it's the whole rest of society that has the problem.

New Comics: 09/02/09 & 09/09/09

09/02

DC
Sweet Tooth #1
Wednesday Comics #9
Young Liars #18

MARVEL
Immortal Weapons #2
Incognito #6
Invincible Iron Man #17 (Dark Reign Tie-In)
Strange Tales Vol 5 #1

09/09

DC
Wednesday Comics #10

MARVEL
Dark Avengers Uncanny X-Men Exodus #1
Kick-Ass #7

Diet & Exercise: 08/31/09

I will edit this throughout the day with my food intake and exercise routine. Dunno how long I plan to keep this up. Maybe til I'm not fat anymore???

Trying to figure out how to link others to my Daily Plate account so I don't have to keep two written records of my eating.

BREAKFAST

• Roasted in-shell peanuts (3 servings: 480 cal/36g fat/21g carbs/21g protein)
• Large eggs (2: 140 cal/9g fat/2g carbs/12g protein)
  
• Butter (1 tbsp: 100 cal/11g fat)
  
• Instant oatmeal (100 cal/2g fat/19g carbs/4g protein)
• 2% milk (122 cal/5g fat/11g carbs/8g protein)
• Honey (60 cal/17g carbs)

LUNCH

• Turkey breast (2 servings: 120 cal/1g fat/8g carbs/18g protein)
  
• Hoagie roll (200 cal/2g fat/37g carbs/6g protein)
• Spicy brown mustard (2 tsp: 10 cal)
• White grapes (30: 102 cal/27g carbs)

DINNER

• Chunk light tuna in water (1 can: 110 cal/2g fat/26g protein)
  
• Dill relish
• Spicy brown mustard (1 tsp: 5 cal)
• Granny Smith apple (80 cal/22g carbs)
• Hard-boiled eggs (3: 210 cal/14g fat/3g carbs/18g protein)

WORKOUT (10 A.M.)

• Warm up: 10 minutes on elliptical machine (~150 cal burned)
  
• Squats: 5x50 lbs, 5x60 lbs, 5x70 lbs, 5x80 lbs, 5x90lbs
• Benchpress: 5x75 lbs, 5x85 lbs, 5x95 lbs, 5x105 lbs, 5x115 lbs
• Pull-ups: machine-assisted, 4@160 lbs assistance, 4@150 lbs assistance
• Cool down: 12 minutes on elliptical machine (~190 cal burned)
  

NOTES

• 4 a.m.: Couldn't sleep anymore b/c I've got brain problems. Starving so I ate peanuts.
• 6 a.m.: The average person isn't even awake yet and I've already eaten 150% of my RDA of sodium. Peanuts for breakfast: not the smartest idea I've ever had.
• Honey and cinnamon make instant oatmeal edible. 
• 11 a.m.: I do squats in a hack machine b/c I'm afraid to try a real barbell squat. One day, one day. My posted weights don't account for the sled as I have no idea what it weighs.

New Comics: 08/19/09 & 08/26/09

08/19

DC
Air #12 $2.54
Ex Machina #44
Wednesday Comics #7

OTHER
Doktor Sleepless #13


08/26

DC
Batman And Robin #3
Detective Comics #856
Wednesday Comics #8

MARVEL
Dark Avengers #8
New Avengers #56
Spin Angels #1

New Comics: 08/12/09

DC
Wednesday Comics #6

MARVEL
Scourge Of The Gods The Fall #2
Uncanny X-Men #514

Seven Pounds

[Spoilers within, as always.]

I watched Seven Pounds while catching up on last year's fare. I was having trouble finding much bad to say about the movie, at least compared to the general population of movie reviewers (Metacritic score: 36). It's competently directed, expertly acted, and meticulously edited to reveal just the right amount of story to build and maintain viewer interest. I'm making it sound like the movie came off an assembly line. More on that later, I suppose.

Will Smith stars as a former aeronautics engineer who caused a car crash that killed seven people. (By the way, I love that texting while driving was the cause of the accident that precipitated the events of the movie.) He resolves to atone by killing himself after saving the lives of one person for each he killed. (His suicide is part of the plan to save two of these people, played by Rosario Dawson and Woody Harrelson, who get his heart and corneas respectively.) Smith impersonates his brother, an IRS agent, to gain access to information on candidates for his "gifts" (his word).

But here's what I don't get: the man was rich. Or at least very comfortable. He had a home on the beach, a vintage sports car, had just bought his fiance a giant diamond ring on the night of the accident. He could have done far more good for far more people by giving away his money to Habitat for Humanity, or Doctors Without Borders, or any number of charities. I guess a movie about a man who saves the lives of potentially thousands of strangers isn't as marketable as a movie about a man who saves the lives of Rosario Dawson and Woody Harrelson.

Your moment of cynicism: I would like to see a sequel that's all about the Latina mother and her kids getting kicked out of Smith's beach house when it turns out she can't afford the property taxes.

Seven Pounds reaches new heights of manipulative sentimentality. It is so perfectly formulated to tug just the right heartstrings, and that, I think, is some kind of achievement, even if it doesn't necessarily make for great art.