Pumpkin Seeds: Comic Book Roundup

1. These days, most comic books are written in story arcs of 3-6 issues; more for limited series. At best, this means fuller stories with more complex plotting and deeper characterization. At worst, it's filler and fluff. Typically, it's the worst that dominates the bookshelves and sales charts. 2. There are way too many X-Men-related titles coming out every month and the Reloaded stunt seems to have killed the only one - New Mutants - I was interested in. 3. Ultimate Fantastic Four: Like most things from the House of Ideas, I love the concept of their Ultimate line but have little…

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Pumpkin Seeds: Random Edition

1. I don't particularly lke Jay Leno, but this was funny and on point: I love that the Department of Homeland Security always tells Americans if you don't fly commercial airlines, "the terrorists have won." If you don't hold the Super Bowl or the World Series, "the terrorists have won." If you don't get out to the mall and do your Christmas shopping, "the terrorists have won." Comes time for the election, "Oh, let the terrorists have that one." 2. Taylor Mali offers the best explanation of the whole NPS/ClearChannel hubbub over in his journal and, if what he says…

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So Dubya and company are now looking into a way to postpone the Presidential election in case there's a terrorist attack the day before or day of that might sway those on the fence against him like he believes happened in Spain create the need for an unprecedented delay. And the comparison to the 9/11 delay of NYC's mayoral Democratic primary is way off base. Most reports I've read on this don't bother to fully identify the guy putting forth the proposal, DeForest Soaries Jr., chairman of the Election Assistance Commission, or even point out the origin of his Commission:…

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Franklin Delano Roosevelt State Park turned out to be a perfect place for an extended family picnic and Saturday's weather couldn't have been better for it. Considering I haven't been to the gym in over a month now, I should have known better than to jump into a game of two-hand touch without stretching at all. Especially after an hour of rowing a boat had started blisters on my thumbs and tightened up my shoulders. But it was Saturday evening, we were leaving soon, and given the company, it felt too much like a Fresh Air Fund moment to skip.…

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Pumpkin Seeds: Anti-Corporate America Edition

1. In a bizarre turn of events in the Yummy Sandwich saga, I bumped into its President/Owner, Avi, on Tuesday afternoon as I was heading out for lunch and a walk in the park. He was standing out in front of my office building, wearing a Yummy Sandwich t-shirt, and stopped me, asking my name with a gleam in his eye. It took a second for my brain to process everything as I answered, "Guy. Why? Are you kidnapping me?" He laughed and we talked and he apologized for the infamous Powerpoint presentation, "We’re a new company and we’re making…

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eBay is evil! Like the internet that shelters it, it is one of the roots of all evil and people with addictive or competitive personalities should stay far, far away from it. People like me, for example. It all started so innocently this morning, when I found myself searching the internet for my favorite Yankee ever, Graig Nettles. I'm not even sure why but perhaps it was destiny? I came across an interesting site, Baseball Almanac, that had some great stats for him as well as links to other sites. One of the featured Google Ads linked over to the…

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