My Favourite Things: July 2013

Things are picking up now as Con season is in full swing and preparations for Dragon Con next month begin. If you follow me on Twitter, then all I will say is "expect cursing".
1) Dustin Hoffman Gets It

I love the Hoff. He's a great actor and from all the interviews I've seen he seems to be a genuinely good guy to boot. Enforcing this belief is a recent interview he did with the AFI about his time on the film Tootsie where he plays a man dressing as a woman.

Hoffman had a revelation while preparing for the role and he gained a little understanding as to just how hard women have it in this world. Things get a little emotional, so grab a tissue before watching.

No Milk Day: Hard Engines

After last week's rather disturbing video I'm happy to share this week's slightly less disturbing video where I embarrass myself slightly less. Good times.

Inter7s Charity Tournament

On Saturday last week I took part in a 7-a-side football tournament put on by Inter7s.com and the YBIG supporters group. It was the second football related charity event I took part in this year and I had a great time.

I tried getting a team of my own together for the tournament but alas, too many drop-outs meant I had to cancel the team. I was determined, however, to take part and so asked the organisers if any team needed a spare man. The lovely lads who managed the event, specifically Liam, sorted me out and I got assigned to the confusingly named team of "Drico Doesn't Know".

I didn't know just how lucky I was because those lads where absolutely brilliant. Amazing football players and sound blokes to boot. They made me feel welcome and we had a good laugh as I desperately tried to keep up with them (note: I'm not a good player). They were so good in fact that we only bloody won the thing!

Big thanks to everyone involved on the day. We raised loads of cash for two worthy causes and I got to pretend I was a football player, even if just for a little while.

Comics: 24th July 2013

Late again with my report but as always life just gets in the way of me writing this. I would like to take a moment before getting into the comics I bought this week by saying that I will never understand the pricing by my comic book store. I am convinced at this point that they're making it up as they go along and just plain guessing the cost as they type it into the till.

As always, I list these in the order of which I read them, to give you a slight image of my awkward mind.

- Hawkeye Annual #1
- Written by Matt Fraction
- Art by Javier Pulido

What is the point of annuals? I don't get it. This story is just another issue. There is little to nothing making it any different to a normal issue, except that there are few more pages and I got charged an extra two bucks.

So this "annual" issue is numbered 1? What? Guys, I'm not cool with this. I'm a fan of Hawkeye and Logic, and right now only one of you is playing ball.

On a slightly more relevant note, this is a really cool story with Kate on the west-coast and Madame Masque causing problems. I hope to see more of these two butting heads.

Cool little easter egg: the word "doomed" spelled out in Clint's cereal.

It's worth writing about how amazing Hollingsworth is once again on colours. He has a different colouring style for each artist he works with and they're always complimentary. Dude is worth every award he's winning right now.

Word-A-Week Vocabulary Vlog #49: Penultimate

Shout out to my Latin-peeps.

No Milk Day: Naughty Burger

I'm not gonna lie, I drew the short straw when I got the part in this video. This one was written by the very warped mind of Tom Hughes and I don't know if I should stop talking to him or not.

Enjoy a NSFW (and not safe for your brains) comedy video.

Weekend Justice #198: Son, Never Mind Them Brakes

I only make a brief cameo in this week's podcast but it's an appearance and therefore gets mentioned on this blog.

I'm joined by Widge, Jon, Leigh, Rox, Scott, Rob, and the debut of JJ on the show.

Such weirdness discussed is:

Beware the centaur poop. Plus, Aaron steals Jon's material.

DreamCon leads off the podcast. Mostly.

Living in a post-Sharknado world

Pacific Rim

Scott uses his mic to freak out Aaron (not a euphemism)

In praise of Sam Rockwell

The Following post mortem (no pun intended--SPOILERS)

THE AMAZING GODDAMN SAMSUNG STORY

Where Neil Gaiman isn't going

Leverage

No, really, this Wolverine movie'll be good this time!

Drooling over Voodoo Donuts

Mars, planet of needy bastards

J.J.'s imaginary workplaces

To listen to the podcast CLICK HERE or to download directly CLICK HERE.

Comics: 17th July 2013

- All New X-Men #14
- Written by Brian Michael Bendis
- Art by Stuart Immonen

The fun continues as Jean Grey once again messes up for something like the 12th time. The catchphrase for this comic should be someone shouting "Jean!" and then rolling their eyes. Admittedly the previous option of past-Cyclops shouting "but I'm not a jerk!" wasn't appealing either.

Bendis is writing lots of fun adventures here. Despite the pace being very slow, it's still a great read. Immonen sexy art doesn't hurt either. And I don't mean that he is drawing sexy people, I'm saying that his art arouses me. Yup, deal with that image.

Another part that I'm enjoying is the reverence that everyone gives the original team. It's nice to see these kids being treated the same way that Captain America gets treated. Like they're heroes.

50 Days Of DragonCon 2013 (Day 7) – The First Filler Episode

The 50 Days Of DragonCon podcast has been running for a few years now and is basically what the title suggests. Starting from 50 days before the con, the geeks of TheUniqueGeek.com (in particular Jon and Leigh) gather luminaries of each track to talk about what people can expect and stories about time past. It's fascinating and if you go to the con, you really should be listening to it.

This episode features the Drive-In of Doom team. Myself and JJ talk to the guys about our favourite memories and how I'm a guest at the con. Did I tell you I'm a guest at the con? Because I'm totally a guest at the con. It may come up a few times.

To listen to the podcast CLICK HERE or to download directly CLICK HERE.

My Mate John

I've mentioned on here previously that I once made regular trips to England to see a certain band play gigs in tiny venues. It was a hobby, of sorts. As a result of that hobby I built up some wonderful friends over the years. Close friends, who I don't get to see as much as I'd like to.

One such friend is John Murray (or Kneem, as he got nicknamed). A number of years ago, John got diagnosed with cancer. A rather nasty form of it too. We all got scared, he got even more cantankerous and there was a general intake of breath.

Amazingly it seemed like he beat the fucker. All the chemo and everything else that goes along with it seemed to work. He got slightly less cantankerous, started playing some music again like he used to, and there was a general sigh of relief.

Unfortunately, the cancer came back and this time it was personal (possibly, I don't know cancer's feelings but it seems to hate him at this point). While the going was good, however, he managed to get a little charity idea together. John wrote a song about his experience and decided to release it for a group of cancer charities.

Here it is:

And there is a free download available on Soundcloud here:

https://soundcloud.com/johnkneemofficial/treasure-every-beat-of-your

If you like the song and video, or if you’re just in a generous frame of mind, there are instructions in the text attached to the video (click “see more”) as to how to donate to the charities, or just visit one of John’s JustGiving pages:

Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation: http://www.justgiving.com/johnkneemRoyCastleFoundation

Yorkshire Cancer Centre: http://www.justgiving.com/johnkneemYorkshireCancerCentre

Poole Hospital Charity: http://www.justgiving.com/johnkneemPoole

MacMillan Cancer Support: http://www.justgiving.com/johnkneemMacmillanCancerSupport

Cancer Research UK: http://www.justgiving.com/johnkneemCancerResearchUK

 

John’s main message is DOWLOAD, DONATE, PASS IT ON AND KICK CANCER UP THE ARSE, so on John’s behalf, many thanks for watching and donating, and please, please pass it on.

Word-A-Week Vocabulary Vlog #48: Apposite

I Heart Graffiti: G.R.A.F.F.I.T.I.

This is part of an advertising campaign from a Dublin city rock station but it was a laugh nonetheless to see Stone Roses lead singer Ian Brown on the wall as I left work.

And a cookie to anyone who gets the reference in the title.

See Me, Live, In July

I have a couple of live shows this month with my beloved improv group A Suggestive Biscuit. We haven't performed since April so I'm chomping at the bit, so to speak, to get on stage again.

The first show is next week, Thursday 18th of July in Fixx Coffeehouse on Dawson Street in Dublin. It's a full show full of stories and games all made up on the spot with some help from you the audience. Tickets are €5 on the door and the show starts at 8:30pm sharp. Facebook event thingy can be found HERE.

We've also been asked to perform as part of a big charity fundraiser the following week, Thursday 25th of July in Dicey Reilly's bar on Harcourt Street in Dublin. It's a big night full of stand-up comedians and other improv groups too so it should be great craic and it's all for Pieta House who are a wonderful organisation that help with the prevention of self-harm or suicide. Tickets are €10 euros and the show starts at 8pm. Their Facebook event page thingy is HERE.

Comics: 10th July 2013

- Hawkeye #12
- Written by Matt Fraction
- Art by Francesco Francavilla

The wonderfully personal story about a man who fights crime in tights continues. This issue follows Barney Barton (Clint's brother) as he comes up against some familiar bad guys while also giving us some flashbacks to his youth with the eponymous hero.

The level of earnest emotion in this issue is rather alarming. I got a bit upset, I'm not going to lie. Maybe troubled families are a soft spot for me but whatever the cause, it's fantastically written work. I've said it a million times, but once more isn't going to hurt. Matt Fraction is killing it on this comic. Killing it.

There is plenty more Hawkeye on the way too. The annual is out in two weeks and then the next issue is only 3 weeks after that. Huzzah!

No Milk Day: I Can't Eat

A couple months ago, myself and a few friends from the No Drama theatre group got together and decided that we wanted to try out some sketch comedy. Being fans of the genre and generally thinking we were funny fuckers, we thought the process would be easy. Alas, as always, filming is a complicated procedure so it has taken us a while to get to this point but I'm very proud to introduce the first of many videos from that experiment.

Comics: 3rd July 2013

What a week this has been. You'll find out over the next few days what has had me so busy but for now lets just say I've had a lot of projects that are coming to fruition and a lot of barbecues to attend. It's a tough life.

Here is a (very late) summary of the comics I bought this week.

- Satellite Sam #1
- Written by Matt Fraction
- Art by Howard Chaykin

Before Matt Fraction got into comics, he worked with a production company making films. If you follow him on Tumblr you'll quickly learn he has a deep love for classic Television and movies. This story sees Fraction stretch his wings a little and really write the sort of script that I personally haven't seen him do before.

To a certain extent, Fraction channels some Aaron Sorkin into the dialogue and frantic pace of this 1950s Sci-Fi TV show. Even if he isn't purposefully doing so, he's certainly capturing the wild atmosphere of a live broadcast to the same quality as the aforementioned writing god.

The story here is damn fine, and it definitely leaves me wanting more, so as first issues go it's pretty much spot on. There's certainly nothing like it on the comic stands right now that I can think of.

The Drive In Of DOOM! - Fantastic Four

It's the 4th of July and this month's comic-book-movie commentary is for Fantastic Four! Did you see what we did there? Sure, we could have done Captain America, but screw you. And it's Fantastic Four not The Fantastic Four, no matter how much more sense that makes.

There are good things and terrible things in this movie. The beautiful Chris Evans here is showing our general reaction to watching the film. Feel bad for him folks, we may have had to watch this suck-fest but he was listed lower in the cast than dead-eyed Jessica Alba. Ouch.

To listen CLICK HERE or to download directly CLICK HERE.

Word-A-Week Vocabulary Vlog #47: Opulent

I Heart Graffiti: Rain

I took these pictures a couple weeks ago but it's sadly appropriate for today. Another lovely piece by the Evolve Urban Art collective.

Camden Street has provided so much great work but alas I have now run out of graffiti posts for the time being. Unless I get lucky and find some new stuff soon.