Certain Now That I Am

Okay, weather’s awfully hot again. Meh. Pretty average week so far. August is done already! Here come the “ber” months. Part of me wants the year to be over, but well, what that means is I really wanna just regroup, relax, and just stop for a bit and re-examine my life. But, oh, I’ve no reason to complain, really. Things could be better, and I don’t have all the things I desire, but I’m very happy with what I have. I won’t bore you with details. At least for now. ;)

Anyway! Some nice things and people I’ve been getting kicks out of lately:

Chris Carrabba
I wasn’t really a Dashboard Confessional fan; I’m not familiar with other so-called “emo” bands. I thought their cover of REM’s “Nightswimming” was just okay. But I really like the 2004 song “Vindicated” and their new one, “Don’t Wait.” I dunno. His high, whiny and rough voice in those songs agrees with me. Acquired taste, I suppose; for me it sounds like a higher pitched, squeaky sounding Robert Smith. He knows how to play with words (I’m assuming he wrote the lyrics), judging from those two songs. I was a little surprised when I saw the vocalist in the “Don’t Wait” video, because I kinda expected someone scruffy, scrawny and scary. But no, the guy looks like a clean-cut skater boy, as evidenced by the picture above (from Yahoo Music). Huh.

Update: I just bought the new Dashboard CD--Dusk and Summer--and I love it. Oh, by the way, Carrabba isn't scrawny, but he is thin. Still, he's not skeletal or emaciated, like I thought he would be.

Monster House
Watched this last night with John. It’s a pre-Halloween treat. Cute, exciting and dark. It would’ve worked as a live-action, effects-heavy movie too. Watch it with your kids when it opens!

Evanescence
Saw the band’s latest music vid. Vocalist Amy Lee is very pretty and has a powerful voice. Her dark hair and hypnotic eyes make her look like a siren or a vampire, or any of those mythical creatures disguised as beautiful women. Good to see that she and the band are doing new stuff. I need to listen to their old stuff too, except maybe that old overplayed “Bring Me Back to Life” song.

Slingers
Benedict was in the area last Sunday and dropped off a box of comics (and woke me up!). It had old issues of mostly ‘90s stuff, like the Joe Kelly-written Deadpool run, obscure hero titles Slapstick and Slingers, some Heroes for Hire, and Werewolf by Paul Jenkins. I wonder where writer Joseph C. Harris is now; the thirteen issues of Slingers had potential and was occasionally fun. Some of its teen characters have re-appeared recently, like Ricochet (in Runaways and 198 Files… he wasn’t depowered!) and Prodigy (he was apprehended by government super-enforcer Iron Man in Civil War: Front Line). I hope they appear monthly again and become part of the Young Avengers, or something.

Shoreh Aghdashloo
Miss Aghdashloo (left, from Yahoo TV) was in 24 as a terrorist housewife, in The Lake House as a doctor, in X-Men 3 as a scientist, and in American Dreamz as a sweet and wealthy lady. She speaks the same way, with the same exotic accent, but she sounds wise every time. I have to see her in the movie where she got nominated for a best supporting actress Oscar, House of Sand and Fog. She's awesome (and I like saying her name). Hope she appears in more high-profile projects soon.

Civil War Tie-ins
Bendis was good in the last two self-contained New Avengers issues (the ones focusing on Luke Cage and Spider-Woman). More issues like these, please. Heroes for Hire #1 was okay (Interesting roster and concept but I’m just not into the art); so were the first two Civil War: X-Men issues (the art is good, but I wish the pace would pick up soon). X-Factor and She-Hulk give broader perspectives of the war, too. I’m glad the company-wide event is re-using old and underutilized characters, and that the company’s hero landscape is now radically changed, thanks to the controversial registration law.