Lets just dip a toe back in, shall we?

Summer. It always seems to be the time of year I get the Blog bug back. Despite that, I always have a ton of ideas, just never any traction on actually having the time to complete my posts. Hence my strange and sporadic posts. I usually get a tad overwhelmed with my grand ideas and then immediately get exhausted just thinking about the - ugh - effort I tend to simply forget about doing anything. So, I shall start off small and easy this time around.

It's been one of those wonderfully lazy Sundays, and while I was finishing up a crochet project I turned Pandora to the 80's New Wave station.  Ed was outside, doing something with tiny power tools and a metric fuck ton of video game cases. New Wave has always been one of my little secret passions, ever since I was 12 years old and obsessively watching VH1. The music was so good, so revolutionary and extremely catchy. I suppose that's why so many bands decided to cover New Wave songs. So, without further ado...

My Top Five New Wave Covers

1. New Order, Blue Monday covered by Orgy

2. Nena, 99 Luft Ballons covered by Goldfinger

3. Depeche Mode, Personal Jesus covered by Marilyn Manson

4. A-Ha, Take On Me covered by Reel Big Fish 

5. Joy Division, Shadow Play covered by The Killers

So, the irony here is that four of these five were done by bands in the 90's. Also, in thinking about which covers I like the best I noticed that ska bands seemed to cover New Wave pretty often. This by no means is an expert list, just my own opinion. 

Bonus Round: 

Dexys Midnight Runners, Come On Eileen covered by Save Ferris

(God, I loved Monique Powell.)

The Smiths, Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want covered by She and Him

The Reconciliation, Part One.

It's not often I get to really geek out (It's also not often I actually get to blog....), but when I do I try to make it good.

WARNING. This post contains spoilers for a buncha things, but mainly Iron Man 3. If you haven't seen it yet, for the love of God, get thee to a computer and Netflix that shit.

The Reconciliation, Part One: The Break-Up.


Almost exactly a year ago, Iron Man 3 came out. This was my penultimate movie, with expectations running amok as I was coming off my high from The Avengers, this was to be the grand finale in the Iron Man saga. We had a phenomenal cast lined up - the obvious, principal players - Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Don Cheadle, but we also had Guy Pierce and the amazing Ben Kingsley rounding out this final installment. The trailers and posters looked amazing, leaked pictures and the media frenzy was promising. I did myself a service and took the advice from River Song and stayed away from spoilers. I wanted this to be special.  I had taken the journey, all the way from the beginning - the opening night midnight showing all those years ago to now, wearing the very same "Mrs. Tony Stark" shirt I had made up for the first occasion. I was a different person, and a different fan, but my love for shellhead was stronger than ever.

The depths of my disappointment was vast. I sat there with Ed, as the credits rolled and tried so hard to smile and say it was perfect. But I couldn't. Because it wasn't. I was let down badly because I felt the movie trashed everything that was exceptional about the comics. The Extermis story line was terribly mishandled, and the epitome of Iron Man villainy - the Mandarin - was turned into a bumbling, lecherous failed actor. A shameful misuse of the amazing talent of Ben Kingsley as well. Iron Man 3 was a nice action movie, over the top, complete with cute kid sidekick and pretty girlfriend, but it was missing heart and soul - that Marvel polish and panache - that defines not only the Iron Man movies but most Marvel movies.  It was a betrayal on a Shakespearean scale. My trust was so broken, I shied away from comics and Marvel all together, weary and leery of anything bearing that red and white logo.

I broke up with Marvel.

It wasn't a fitful break, there was no screaming, crying, gnashing of teeth. No 2 AM texts, drunkenly tapped out in a fit of despair and alcoholism. No shame spiral after realizing what it was you actually texted to the ex. It was quiet, done with a shake of the head, and a firm walking out. It still hurt, but there just wasn't any passion or desire to still be in this quasi-love affair. I was failed, terribly so, and I felt it was best to step away.

In the intervening year I have been able to extrapolate some decency from the movie, find the good things, the silver lining. The ending, and not being snarky here, was well done as it exemplified something that has happened to Tony many, many times in the comics. Losing everything, and building from the ground up. Good. Many suits of armor. Also good (but bad too, since the collection was implemented fairly lamely). Lots of tech, also good but bad too, as we've seen Iron Man up against tech and prevail. Why can't we see our technological wonder up against something he's never seen before, something he hasn't prepared for and will have to use every shred of cognitive skill that brilliant brain of his holds to overcome? Like, say, magic or the supernatural or...something not of this world. Oh, right, because that would have been the realm of The Mandarin (or Doctor Doom, a girl can dream...), and we wouldn't want to follow those silly comic books because that just wouldn't be clever enough.

That, there is the crux of my issues with Iron Man 3. The loss of The Mandarin was a heavy blow as I was really super psyched as I followed the tantalizing hints and clues laid out in the first two movies. I could happily accept The Mandarin as the head of a terrorist organization - it was perfect, really. But was left bitter, disappointed and distrustful of Marvel.

Fast forward to this past weekend.

About a month ago, I made Ed take me to see Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel. I got guilty about it and decided to take Ed out to see Captain America: The Winter Solider, as he'd been dying to see it for over a month now. I had felt guilty because I was willfully ignoring the existence of a new Marvel movie, as I had done with Thor 2. Ignoring Cap was harder though, as he is Ed's main squeeze. It was a great movie, in all honesty, still working hard to tie in those threads from other Marvel movies but maintaining an identity. Also introducing The Falcon, yes! It was nice, it felt good. But my instincts were screaming to not fall into a trap, I would get hurt again.

So, instead of being cautious, I decided that instead of waiting for Netflix, we were going to pick up Thor 2 right after the movie, because I was just in that mood.

Suddenly, and in spite of everything, the game was suddenly changed because of that one Blu-Ray disc.

Continued in Part 2....

Edit:
I'm not going to expostulate further on why I thought Iron Man 3 was terrible. However, here are some articles that articulate my thoughts fairly well:
10 Reasons To Hare Iron Man 3
4 Reasons Why Iron Man 3 Was A Horrible Start to Marvel's Phase 2  (a "normal" movie-goer perspective)
Iron Man 3 Just Isn't Just Bad, It's Downright Insulting

blogs are sooooo....last year.

lol. What Blog? Haven't posted in about a year. Get over it. I'm listening to Queen and all is well in the world.
 :::

Well, really, it's better than just well. This year has been pretty bombastic for me, thus far; my fiancee lost his job back in November, so that was alllll kinds of fun. He's got a new one, so we're getting through. My own career has been moving right along - no promotions or anything, but the usual "here's more responsibilities with no extra pay". But, truthfully, the opportunities that were presented to me can only help me rather than hinder. So, sally forth, I say! Sadly, my geeky nuptials have been postponed, which is fiiiine by me as I have no idea what I am doing when it comes to planning a wedding and flat out refuse to waste money on a Bridal Magazine or time reading froofy wedding blogs and web sites.
::

In the realm of geek, this year has been FANDIDDLYTASTIC. Firstly and foremost, we've got THE AVENGERS. I saw it twice and each time was as good as the first. My fiancee and I basically popped out of our seats when we saw the end (you know what I am talking about). And of course, the very tail end of the movie has given birth to such hilarity as this:

                                                                                                 via::Meme Generator

Personally, I don't know what the hell Shawarma is, but the pictures of it I found on Google don't look too appetizing. Of course, this is coming from someone who believes heart attack bacon cheeseburger rolls are an epicurean delight. 

Anyway, we also had Hunger Games in March, which was pretty amazeballs and Game of Thrones in April. THEN came Diablo III, which I refuse to play because Blizzard trapped me into one vicious addition cycle and I won't fall for it again. NO, I WON'T. Well, that and my computer can't handle it, so tra la la la.

Speaking of video games, I have been playing lots of Skyrim. Nupe, still haven't beaten it, and I am still at like...level 25. Why? Because I keep 'sploring things. Lots of things. I won't do a review on it, since it's already been beaten into the dust. I will comment on this though:  MOUNTED COMBAT. Finally? Yes, I think so.

I haven't tried it yet, but it's about fucking time. For me, the length of time to get off the damn horse to go beat on things was too long. Then, for whatever asinine reason, my horse starts getting in on the action (truthfully, it's kinda funny when your horse gets the kill shot in on a dragon.). And then usually dies. Which is doubly enraging because I have Frost, the named horse you get from this quest. Riften makes me do bad things. I hate when my Frost dies. Because that means reloading, and since I have lost brain cells from copious alcohol consumption, I don't remember to save. 

Anyway, I am looking forward to firing up my Sexy Box to try this bitch out. And Oh, Yes, I have a very Sexy Box indeed:  

My Fiancee actually built this beast from spare parts, and bought a Ruby Red Crystal case from Llamma's and also put in a red LED Whisper Fan and Red LED Kit from Ghost Case. Sweet, huh? Most girls want ruby rings or bracelets. I get Ruby XBox 360 Mods. THAT GLOW. Dalek not included. :P

So, there you have it. My Blog has been resurrected for the third time. Lets see if I made another post.