Tiger Woods CGI Reenactment

I'm all for celebrities having the privacy they desire. But seeing how whatever went on between Tiger and his wife destroyed public property and could have put other lives in danger if it didn't happen in the wee hours of the night, any claims by Woods of making this purely a family issue just ring hollow. The FHP backing off is an example of unfairly applying the law, whether it is because of the fame of the suspect/victim or the gender of those involved.



That's part of why I had no problem clicking on this YouTube video and having a bit of a laugh, despite not being able to understand a non-English word.

Schwapp Book Review: PACIFY ME

Those of you who have followed the blog since its launch might remember a review I did on a collection of shorts by comedian/writer/director/etc Chris Mancini. It was a very positive review. That experience led me to receive a review copy of his new book about impending doom and the aspects of fatherhood that take place after the doom has settled in. I've really wanted to get a review up on this weeks ago, but all of a sudden found myself having much less time to read than expected. So it is with apologies that I'm just getting to this now.

In reading this book, despite not having children or anticipating any news of some on the way, I immediately felt that I was smack dab in the middle of the audience it was targeted towards. There are so many references to genres I follow (sci-fi, comics, etc) that it I swear I could see the red dot of a laser sight right on my chest. The sex talk, jokes, jokes about sex and assorted other "guy talk" stuff casts a wider net that I just so happen to fall into, as well.

Mancini still manages to keep the focus on the many stages of fatherhood he's experienced thus far. All of the above references and angles I mentioned occur naturally within the course of relating his story to the reader. While there are a few times where you can clearly see an attempt to go for the funny, it never distracts from the topic at hand. In fact, there are relatively few times where you can see effort being made as much as you can just get the laugh.

But it is, also, a refreshingly open and honest book. Mancini talks about how the anxiety over having a child can stem from it being a lifestyle change that you're committed to for life. He shares how much time passed after his daughter's birth before he was struck with the love that many others describe manifesting the first moment you see your child.

I have to be honest: as Chris Mancini is a stand-up and comic writer, I really didn't expect the book to be this revelatory or sage; I just expected the funny. But I'll be damned if it didn't eventually sneak up on me that I was reading an actual practical handbook for new dads disguised as a humor book. Well, it actually says "a handbook for the freaked-out new dad" on the front cover, but that could have just been part of the gag...

Another bit of a confession: I had expected that the book would lose me a bit after it got out of the pre-birth anxiety chapters. My thinking was that us non-parents can definitely understand the panic of a child coming into your life, but not so much the day-to-day stuff that comes after their arrival. I don't know if I underestimated myself or the author, but everything from daycare selection to baby-proofing still managed to draw me in.

Now, I'd love to say that this would be a great Father's Day gift for a father that has actually seen his first child enter the world. Problem is: I'm not quite qualified to make that judgement. I strongly believe that that established dads will enjoy the book for its humor, wisdom and common sense as much as I enjoyed the opening chapters that dealt with how childless man tends to see parenthood. I didn't need Mancini to tell me that the panic about fatherhood is it being the ultimate commitment, but I sure enjoyed reading his take on it. So, I'd imagine, a father with several years under his belt will still enjoy all the parts warning about how hormonal the mother will be, even if they've been there and done that.

As often is said regarding many forms of entertainment: it's all in the execution. PACIFY ME is meant to entertain and advise. It does this job perfectly and would highly recommend it to a lot of guys out there, especially ones that are taking time out of their day to read a blog that mainly covers comic books and movies as, if you'll look down slowly, there's the red beam of a laser sight...

(blurry cell phone photos as an answer to a concern the author had regarding his book being displayed at book stores; indeed, it was out as part of a "Dads & Grads" display at Barnes & Noble a few weeks ago)

Web Comics Week: The Wang

Yesterday, I started off Web Comics Week with a look at Calamities of Nature. That strip came to my attention due to having advertised in the past. So, why abandon that method of picking strips to take a look at already?

THE WANG is quite a funny comic. It has a diverse cast, as well as subject matter. Unlike the turn that Calamities took with changing to the old standard layout, WANG has at least kept to giving you something more akin to the double-sized Sunday newspaper version. And why not, since it is delivered weekly rather than 2-3 times a week?


But where it really breaks from standards is in the subjects and language used. Our protagonist, Eugene Wang, constantly has the short term romantic hook up between his mother and his ex-girlfriend thrown in his face. They have his friend, George L. Gedaladapus, tricks a dimwitted friend of Eugene's into bed and into handing him a check for a bogus pyramid scheme (that might be a redundant phrase, come to think of it). The language used tends to be a little blue from time to time and has no qualms about employing sexual humor.


In addition to going politically incorrect or with shock humor, they tackle the more "middle of the road stuff" (like what a dog on a walk is thinking) and politics (like addressing some of the voter suppression tactics used).


Unfortunately, since the online version only goes back to February 2008, I can't really compare and contrast how the strip started versus how it is today. It existed in some form before that date and, I'm gathering, previous strips were pulled down once they were printed in a collection. From the start of this iteration, though, Stan Yan (the creator) was in full stride.


Every strip has a laugh, even when it is really meant to set up for a larger joke. Maybe Yan is more keen on this due to his weekly schedule. Readers are probably even more concerned with having a payoff in each strip when they only get it on Mondays. But whatever the reason, it consistently works.


The cast is extremely well-balanced. While Eugene's ex-girlfriend might not be able to carry the strip with cutesy observations about a dog being walked, there is rarely a case of feeling the strip is lacking by the absence of a particular character. Quite the opposite, it works when it's Eugene & George, George & Sueann, Eugene Jr & Eugene Sr or any other combo that graced Yan's WebComicNation page. That page apparently does contain some old work with the character, but not the beginning of the version you'll see under THE WANG.

I'd head on over and catch up on the last year of strips. I don't think you'll regret the time spent.

Cheap Content: Triumph At SDCCI

Why Read Previews When You Can Read Caleb?

Over at Everyday Is Like Wednesday, Caleb is having a lot of fun at the expense of Marvel and DC solicits. I honestly think you're not missing much if you just look at his solicit coverage rather than the actual company ones posted at places like Newsarama.com and CBR.

Some of his best hits?

Titans:

Check out The Flash, who’s so fast that, instead of running at super-speed, he’s power-walking at super-speed!

God, this book looks and sounds terrible…

Booster Gold:

OMAC or not, this looks awesome. Hey, wait a minute....apparently Booster's messing with the timeline has not only lead to a present dominated by OMACs, but it's had drastic consequences for Martian Manhunter's foot wear as well. He's wearing red boots now! Red! Boots! Change back to blue, J'onn; those make you look like a whore!

The War That Time Forgot:

Army guys + Dinosaurs is a formula that’s pretty hard to improve upon, but adding the likes of Enemy Ace and Tomahawk sure does the trick. Why, the only way to screw something like this up would be to—Oh. Written by Bruce Jones, huh? Nevermind; DC beat me to the punchline.

The Invincible Iron Man:

I know the guy’s got a movie coming out and all, but two ongoing monthlies? (Three, if you count Marvel Adventures Iron Man). Isn’t that a little much? I mean, it’s not like the regular Iron Man monthly is selling that well…

And Jesus, check out the “Variant Cover by” credits. Is that a record for a comic from Marvel or DC in this century? It’s a hell of a lot of variants for a book from a publisher that isn’t Dynamite or Avatar…

Sky Doll:

Ready the pulpers! I think I see areola!

Ultimate X-Men:

A story ripped from the headlines! Will Colossus start taking super-steroids like his favorite baseball players in order to up his game? Man, who’s responsible for this after school special-sounding story? Oh, a TV writer, naturally. Damn you, WGA strike!

You really must check out Caleb's work. He has to have the league records for best blogging batting average and humorous home runs.