Bruno is a hot dog!
Happy Halloween from the four-legged member of our family, Bruno!
Day 304: Hot Diggity Dog
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Day 303: Supergirl
Supergirl
What a great time to be a comic-book fan. It feels like there’s a constant supply of movies and TV shows featuring superheroes. Whether it’s Daredevil on Netflix or Arrow on the CW, the Avengers or Batman on the big screen, this has to be the Golden Age of comic book superheroes on the screen.
We had a minor comic book character like Ant-Man headlining a big-budget summer blockbuster and it was terrific. And as long as there’s money to be made, the studios will continue making this type of entertainment.
My question is, when does the bubble burst?
There have been some flops (John Carter, anyone?), but that hasn’t stopped Hollywood from bankrolling comic book superheroes. This is a good thing because Supergirl made it to the small screen this week.
I never read the Supergirl comic book. Or saw the 80s adaptation. But the pilot for the show was terrific: fast-paced, comic-booky, family-friendly, action-packed, and with enough plot to make me want to continue watching. And I loved the cameos from Superman-related actors as well as the reimagined Jimmy “James” Olson.
My wife’s not a big comic book fan or sci-fi fan, but she enjoyed Supergirl as much as I did. I know it’s only the first episode, so we’ll see how the rest of the season plays out, but so far I’m impressed.
Day 301: Goal Update
The Galaxy’s Dos Santos and Gerrard.
Unfortunately, there will be no more goals scored by the LA Galaxy this season. The #RaceForSeis is over. Tonight’s knockout playoff game was a sloppy mess against the Seattle Sounders. The Galaxy battled back early twice, but couldn’t generate much offense after the Sounders scored the go-ahead goal in the second half.
We had tickets to the Western Conference Finals, hoping the Galaxy would shake off its late-season funk. They looked shaky and the hoopla surrounding Gerrard and Dos Santos was all for nothing.
One good bit of news today, though: I reached my reading goal!
Here’s my updated list of goals for the year, including my Quest to Blog Every Day in 2015:
- Write 100 reviews on Yelp.
Read 26 books and review them on Goodreads.- Break 100 on the golf course.
- Watch all of the AFI 100 Greatest American Films of All Time.
Play 10 new board games.
Day 300: The Walking (Maybe) Dead
The Walking Dead Season 6.
If you haven’t watched Episode 3 of Season 6 (“Thank You”) of The Walking Dead yet, skip this post.
*SPOILER ALERT*
My favorite character is dead. Maybe.
From pizza delivery kid to Rick’s right-hand man, I’ve rooted for Glenn since he appeared and loved how his character grew throughout the show. While Rick has slowly lost his humanity, Glenn has never lost his.
Nobody would have blamed Glenn for killing Nicholas in the woods, yet he gave the man a chance to redeem himself. It was this good deed that might have cost him his life.
It sure looked like Glenn was ripped apart by zombies after Nicholas offed himself. It was a terrible way to go as the horde of walkers closed in on them, Nicholas committed suicide, and his body fell into Glenn, causing them to tumble into the waiting zombies.
There are theories that Glenn isn’t dead, though. I haven’t read the comic books, so I’m not sure if that plays into this. One theory explains how he is actually underneath Nicholas, who is the one getting torn to pieces, while another theory points to the fact that actor Steven Yuen didn’t show up on the Talking Dead, the after-show where the actors who have been killed chat about their work on the series.
I’m open to believing that second theory. The first could be plausible, too, with some nifty camera work. I didn’t read anything about a dream sequence, but that might be another way to explain it since Nicholas was having those weird zone-outs prior to killing himself. Maybe Glenn woke up Nicholas before he put the gun to his head?
As I typed that last paragraph I realized dream sequence would be a pretty lame cop-out. The show is too smart for that. I hope.
Whatever the answer is, I expect most of the main characters to die eventually. It’s what makes the Walking Dead so great: nobody’s untouchable.
Note: I haven’t looked it up yet, but wasn’t the music in this episode reminiscent of the classic Romero movies? If the zombie apocalypse ever hits, you can bet the sound of synthesizers will be playing somewhere.
Day 299: Taste of Santa Barbara
The Habit’s Charburger, Santa Barbara Style (double charburger served on toasted sourdough with avocado).
When I was a student at UC Santa Barbara, In-N-Out had yet to invade the area. Thankfully, The Habit was around to take care of my hamburger cravings. So was Cal Taco, another fast-food joint that served a charburger that tasted like The Habit’s signature burger. I’m not sure which came first, but The Habit was the restaurant that went on to expand locally and then nationally.
The original Habit was located a few miles from UCSB and students and locals love eating there. The charburgers were consistently delicious and made for a filling lunch or dinner. Rumor has it that the original restaurant still serves its delicious chili as an off-menu item. I used to devour their chili cheese fries on a regular basis. Not surprisingly, I weighed more back then.
While I don’t think The Habit has taken the throne of best fast-food burger from In-N-Out, they’re up there. I definitely prefer them over Six Guys and other contenders for In-N-Out’s best burger crown.
It’s nice having more Habits pop up around Southern California, though, since I can now enjoy a taste of Santa Barbara closer to home.
Day 298: Weekend Wrap-Up
Lakers’ Julius Randle
Random thoughts on a fun weekend:
- Drafted my fantasy basketball team last night. The league I’m in started back in 2000, but we stopped for a few years. Like fantasy baseball, the hoops game doesn’t lend itself well to the weekly fantasy format. Football will always be king when it comes to make-believe teams.
- The fantasy basketball draft itself was a lot of fun, as always. The core group of the league has been together for years, so it’s basically an annual family reunion: we eat, eat, and eat again while drafting our teams.
- I didn’t draft a Laker, but I’m already considering working a trade for Julius Randle. Funny that I ended up with Draymond Green, the guy Randle claimed, “can’t guard me.”
- After the draft we played poker, which is something I haven’t done in a while. I miss it, but the games are tougher to put together nowadays. My buddy and I got involved in the first big hand of the night and our analysis of how we played it became the running joke of the night.
- On the TV while we were playing poker was the replay of Gennady Golovkin’s last win. Poker and prizefighting: the perfect guys’ night out while staying in.
- I need Carson Palmer to play well for both of my fantasy football teams to win. This is the kind of season I’ve had: I chose Palmer over Andrew Luck and Drew Brees in both of my leagues.
- The Raiders went on the road and beat the Chargers! It’s been awhile since I’ve been able to say this. With three victories, my favorite NFL team has already equaled its win total from last season. Wow.
- Manny Pacquiao announced that his next fight would be his last. No matter who he fights, I think it’s safe to say that he’ll do better pay-per-view business than the Mayweather-Berto dud.
Day 297: Hold Em
Fantasy basketball draft followed by a poker game. Life is good. (Unfortunately, my poker chips aren’t really worth $25 each.)
Day 296: Avatar
Ruel slays the dragon.
I wanted to give a shout-out to Derek of iheartprintandplay.com, the artist responsible for my avatar shown above. It’s how I’m identified at islaythedragon.com, where I write a weekly board game news column, and I’m starting to use it throughout my social media profiles.
My wife got a kick out of the image and I loved how it incorporated my lifelong love of Star Wars and my recent obsession with bow ties.
Check out Derek’s website for a lot of cool print-and-play downloads for your role-playing and board-gaming needs. You can also find him on Twitter and Facebook.
Thanks again, Derek!
Day 295: Expectations
I was talking to a few of my buddies last night about the Star Wars movie when I realized that the only way The Force Awakens is going to live up to the hype is if it blows everybody away.
I contained my excitement before giving in to it when the trailer was released, but after a few days I’m back to I’ll-believe-it-when-I-see-it mode. What pulled me back?
I recalled the anticipation for Episode I was just as high (or at least as high as it could be in a pre-social-media world). People were going to the movie theaters, buying tickets for the main feature, and leaving after the Star Wars trailer.
Thankfully, now we can avoid paying admission to see a two-minute clip, instead watching it endlessly on youtube in the comfort of our own homes. The Force Awakens trailer is perfect in that it gives us just enough to quell our Star Wars cravings without giving too much away. We’re introduced to the main characters, our nostalgia is sated with the appearances of the Millennium Falcon, Han, Leia, and Chewie, and it’s all beautifully tied together with the always brilliant score from John Williams.
The other day I mentioned how I hope director J.J. Abrams and writer Lawrence Kasdan don’t rehash too much in order to satisfy the audience’s appetite for the original trilogy. In the poster and the trailer we get glimpses of a Death-Star-like orb and a long trench in the snow.
As much as I hated all of the CGI in the prequel trilogy, this was Lucas at his best: pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with special effects. After the prequels were released it seemed as if the entire movie industry’s special effects departments had grown by leaps and bounds. The biggest benefactors were all of the my favorite superheroes that could finally get on the big screen, thanks to CGI.
Ultimately it was the weak stories of the prequel that doomed them. No amount of political intrigue, midichlorians, or tragic love story was going to get the audience to enjoy what amounted to a special effects show.
Abrams has said that he wants to capture that sense of awe from the original trilogy. He’s using more practical effects and less CGI. Sure, he’ll still have his trademark lens flares, but that’s fine with me.
This is my (guarded) hope with The Force Awakens: that Abrams lives up to half of what he’s said and shown so far. I can’t expect him to pull an Empire Strikes Back right out of the gate, can I?
Something that my buddies reminded me about was how much we all loved Abrams’ Star Trek movies. He’s used to dealing with unrealistic expectations from a diehard fanbase. Since I’ve already enjoyed the Star Wars teasers and trailer more than the prequel trilogy, though, I’d say he’s halfway home to meeting those crazy expectations.
Day 294: DungeonQuest
Just a few turns and I’m almost finished. Dungeonquest is brutal.
I didn’t do anything special for Back to the Future Day, but my gaming group did do a little time traveling tonight. We split into two groups and my table did some space colonization in Tiny Epic Galaxies before we went back to the time of dungeons and dragons in DungeonQuest.
When I was in junior high I played D&D, but I grew out of it as I entered high school. DungeonQuest isn’t a role-playing game, but it has all of the fun aspects of D&D: different characters with special abilities, monsters to be fought, and treasure to be gained.
And, of course, a big ol’ nasty dragon to wipe out you and your fellow adventurers.
I quickly learned that DungeonQuest is a brutal game. Getting to the dragon was hard enough and the various monsters, traps, and what-not could easily take you out. My first action resulted in my near-death and the other two players bit the dust within a few turns. We used a house rule that regenerated our characters and extended the game, but there was more death to come.
It was a lot of fun strolling through a dungeon again. And as long as the house rules permit multiple lives, I’m happy to do it again.