#I watched the black clover movie last night and it was fucking peak

[glitterfish1272]

noelle + asta if he had more than 2 braincells

#HI GUYS ITS ME!!!!! #IM SORRY I’VE BEEN SO INACTIVE HERE #I’ve been much more active on twitter lately but uh. that might change soon for obvious reasons #I watched the black clover movie last night and it was fucking peak #THE ASTELLE!!! HOLY SHIT!!!! #I decided to post this here because I feel the world has a serious lack of astelle art #there are some artists that draw it frequently yes but #for being the mc x female lead it has a bafflingly low amount of fan art on here #so im here to provide you all with a little more #enjoy #black clover #black clover movie #astelle #asta x noelle #my art

[chadnevett]

Random Thoughts! (August 20, 2017)

On vacation. Michelle and Ryan left on Friday night after supper. My activities since then have been enjoyable and relaxing. I read outside on our patio (Friday night and, then, this morning before the sun got high enough to bother me -- I really do love getting up before the sun rises enough to bother me and read the paper). Listened to a couple of podcasts. Read a bunch of comics. Watched a bunch of wrestling (with more tonight!). And watched most of the bonus features on the Twin Peaks boxset (DVD edition). And drank a ton of coffee. I am currently struggling with writing about The Ultimates 2 and listening to some 2017 albums -- just finished Times Infinity Vol. 2 by the Dears (who I will have the pleasure of seeing live in November when they come to Windsor -- one of the last bands on my bucket list of musical acts to see live) and currently have Humanz by Gorillaz on (who I could see live in Detroit, I guess, but I don't really want to). But, here's some Random Thoughts for you...

* I'm not necessarily a big concert guy. I enjoy them well enough, but I'm also older and lazier and I enjoy sitting my ass down for a concert. I'm mature enough to know that sitting doesn't mean a lack of engagement or excitement. It just means I don't want to stand all fucking night when there's a perfectly good chair. Standing does not make the music better. I figure the Dears show will be a standing affair being in a bar -- but, I've also had some good sitting in a bar shows. But, there are a small list of musical acts that I'll go out of my way to see live. The ones I've seen that fall under this category: Sam Roberts Band (five times), the White Stripes (twice -- haven't seen Jack White in any other band or solo yet -- I'd go out of my way to see him solo), the Tragically Hip (twice), Hawksley Workman (twice) the Hives, Ryan Adams, Matthew Good, k-os, Danko Jones and Neil Young (twice). I've seen other bands live, but I think that covers the list of acts that are on my "buy their stuff when it comes out automatically" list. The Dears will soon join that list. The acts that I haven't yet seen that I would like to: Metallica (I could have on their latest tour, but various factors made it seem less ideal -- which was good, because I had a terrible cold that week and it would have been a miserable experience), Queens of the Stone Age (a possibility for their next tour, but money is always an issue -- and, honestly, one of the factors I mentioned is that I prefer not to go to Detroit concerts on weeknights... too much time/effort -- because I am old and lazy), Steven Page and/or Barenaked Ladies (I'd choose the former over the latter if forced to choose), Joel Plaskett, the Black Keys, Arkells, Bob Dylan (his latest trip through Detroit was part of some festival, so no), and... that's about it, I guess. I'd love to see almost any of the bands I've seen already again -- especially Hawksley Workman, the Hives, and Danko Jones. The musicans I've missed out on because of death is a third list that reminds me that maybe I should stop being so picky about conditions for seeing people: Lou Reed, Leonard Cohen, and Motorhead (the last two were ones that I remember playing in Detroit when I've lived in Windsor).

* The comics I read yesterday were mostly some things I'd put aside and let accumulate, like the most recent Sex Criminals arc (which reads so much better in a bigger chunk like that) and the last half-year of Stray Bullets: Sunshine & Roses. That last one... man, someone said it on Twitter a few weeks ago, but why is no one talking about Stray Bullets? Ever since it ended way back when, people kept bitching and moaning for it to come back and, then, it does, and it's FUCKING AMAZING. It's the best monthly comic I read (therefore: the best monthly comic out right now, because I clearly read only the best monthly comics). It's crazy and unpredictable and rooted in these flawed, fucked up characters... The current story fills in the gaps between the first arc and the second and it just keeps going (issue 27 is out in a week-and-a-half) and you'd think you'd just go "Enough already!" but it keeps getting better. It just keeps adding on and adding on and adding on and digging into this detail here and adding onto that and... it seems like it could go forever.

* Been doing a lot of work at home lately. Every night practically. Even if it's just 30-60 minutes, it just takes up so much mental space. It's nice to not worry about that right now. I've been struggling a bit the past two days with pushing that from my mind. It's working... slowly. I care about my job. Maybe too much. But, it is what it is. Over the past year, I've been really working on trying to leave work at work, at least mentally. Doing the overtime at home is okay, but I wish it didn't mean that work occupied my mind between when I leave and when I begin doing that extra work. That's the last space that I need to work on. Right now, it's hard to push away because of a couple of things that I'm waiting to hear about, so I've got some anxiety (good and bad). But, it's fading... Might come back tomorrow a bit more because then it's a possibility that I'll get called about either thing since they're both big enough to warrant calling me while I'm off (theoretically -- maybe my bosses don't see it that way). So... there we are. But, one thing I've learned is that putting it down in writing helps. Either like this or by making a list of some kind. Put it down in writing and it leaves your head. It's there in writing instead.

* Teen Titans Go! is my favourite superhero TV show/movie. Bar none. It's not even close at this point. That show is everything that I want from superhero fiction at this point. It does everything. It's wacky and meta and funny and serious... except not really. It doesn't take itself too seriously. It's about flawed people who are superheroes. As others have pointed out, it's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia for kids. On the whole, it is beyond anything I currently see in superhero comics. (It's also my counterargument to everyone who shits on DC in favour of Marvel in the TV/movie realm -- Marvel wishes any of its shit was half this good).

* Tonight is SummerSlam. For the second year in a row, my vacation lines up with SummerSlam weekend -- and Michelle and Ryan being gone to do something with her family. That means I will be ordering Pizza Hut tonight. It's what I order when I get to watch a WWE PPV alone. I don't know why. I just like ordering Pizza Hut for these things. I'm looking forward to the show. I have no idea if it will be good or not. WWE is so fucking unpredictable these days with quality. Shows that look great on paper flop; shows that look dull as shit turn out to be engaging and lively. I just hope I don't begin to nod off near the end. That's my big downfall these days: any time after 7:30, I may hit a half-hour period where my body decides it's time for bed and I have to fight against the urge. Once I fight through, I'm good -- but, man, that fight is a tough one some nights. Last night, I didn't really fight it when it hit during the main event of the NXT show, because I knew how good Roode/McIntyre would be and didn't consider it worth the effort (NXT shows are continually quite good, bar the NXT title matches for the past year or so... holy fuck do they need to get that sorted). There's nothing specific that I'm looking forward to -- or dreading. Just looking forward to taking the show in. And eating Pizza Hut. (Still not decided on what I'm getting. I love their Canadian, but it's tough, because I want to maximise what I get for the cheapest amount of money. They have a daily $10 medium/large pizza and Sunday is Triple Crown (pepperoni, green peppers and mushrooms), so I sometimes get a large one of those. They also have a $15 deal that I'll get: a two-topping Panlicious pizza (a square pizza with eight slices), eight boneless chicken bites, and breadsticks. I like that, because it's a nice bit of variety (and I dig the breadsticks). I might get that, because they have some new smokehouse pepperoni that I'm curious about... This is what I spend far too much time thinking about.)

* My Keurig coffee of choice is the Van Houtte Mexico blend. I've tried just about every dark roast you can get in k-cups and it's the best. My co-workers will sometimes hit me up for a k-cup here and there, and, if I have the Mexico stuff at the office, their eyes light up. It's the good shit.

* On the August Civic Holiday, Ryan's daycare was open, so Michelle and I had a day to ourselves. We watched Fire Walk with Me, had lunch together, and saw Dunkirk. After dropping Ryan off, though, we stopped at Starbucks, and I tried one of their clover coffees -- I got the most expensive one -- $6 for a venti. It was okay. Not worth six bucks, though. Maybe $3.50.

* We watched Twin Peaks a month or so back. We both liked it a lot. Not nearly as weird as I thought it would be based on what people said. But, I also like how I knew a few big details (the basic premise, the identity of the killer, the final scene of the first season, and the final scene of the second season -- maybe a couple of other bits and pieces there, but nothing major) and it didn't impact my enjoyment at all. I didn't feel spoiled, because it's very much a show about experiencing what's happening, not where it winds up. That leaves me fairly good about not seeing the current one and not worrying about learning plot details. Who cares? It doesn't really tell me a lot about what watching the show is like. The only way to know that is to see it. And, man, am I looking forward to when we can watch The Return. (Okay, if I really wanted, I could shell out the money for The Movie Network -- as that's where it airs in Canada -- or find a way to pirate it online, but, nah... We'll just wait for the DVD, because we're old and prefer to spend money on things that are more permanent, theoretically.)

* We both had the same complaint about Fire Walk with Me -- we wanted more of the FBI stuff. The Laura stuff was good, but it fell into the same problem that a lot of prequel stuff does: you know the overall plot and the experience isn't quite good enough to make it worthwhile again.

* Currently rereading Raymond Chandler's work. I began with the two short story collections I have (Trouble is My Business and The Simple Art of Murder) and am currently up to The Long Goodbye in the novels. After I finish the novels, I'm going back to my copy of his complete short stories and will read all of the ones that weren't in the two collections (I got the two collections before I got the complete hardcover). You can really see him progress as a writer in the novels. The Big Sleep is definitely the worst-written one thus far. With each book, the prose gets better -- and there's an increasing focus on the non-plot details. It becomes more and more about how Marlowe suffers and deals with the worst fucking people and his increasing impatience with these pieces of shit. Every novel, I go "This is his best novel!" I love how his first post-Hollywood novel The Little Sister is just so fucking bitter. He took all of his feelings about that period of his life and put them on the page. One of the things I plan to do this week is watch The Big Sleep and The Long Goodbye. (If I can find the time -- or more accurately, choose to spend my time doing it, I'm also planning to watch all of Christopher Nolan's movies in a row...) James Ellroy has often said how little he likes Chandler's writing, but Ellroy writes such complementary work to Chandler's novels. More explicit, sure, and from the other side (the cops), but they work in concert quite well, exploring the same location in a similar period. And they don't contradict one another much (at least from what I remember).

* Okay, for superhero comics, what I'm digging these days: obviously The Mighty Thor. After that, what I think I'm enjoying most is The Infamous Iron Man by Bendis and Maleev. They did a scene with Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm a couple of issues ago that was fantastic. It's a very atmospheric book. Very relaxed. I have to remind myself to slow down with it. Wicked and Divine is good; as is Uber (the most recent issue was a technical bit of genius). Joe Casey is back doing a couple of books for Lion Forge's Catalyst Prime line -- Accell has had three issues and veers wildly between the best and worst of Casey's superhero work (with art that is not at all my taste) and The Incidentals starts this week. I dig Bendis's other work and... I mean, Ellis is doing The Wild Storm, which is good. I'm not sure I'm reading anything else superhero-related at this point. Oh, I really liked the first issue of Mister Miracle. More than I expected. It's the second thing by Tom King I'm reading. I got the trade of Omega Men when it came out and it was Fine. Not at all as good as everyone made it seem, but... Maybe it was built up too much. Maybe I should revisit it again. I'm waiting for Vision to be released in one chunk. And Batman... maybe someday, but... Finch... But, I figured I'd jump on board Mister Miracle as it looked like it would be my kind of thing. So far, it is.

* I had backed a Kickstarter for the Nexus Compendium and that fell through, kind of, for a variety of personal reasons for the Rudes. But, to make good, they offered a few options, one of which was the equivalent of my pledge at their store online with a discount code. So I got the two Nexus trades there (Space Opera and the ones collecting the Dark Horse Presents stuff). Then I looked online and realised that, if I got volumes seven and eight of the Nexus Omnibus, I'd have the complete series, basically. So I got them for this vacation. Looking forward to reading through those comics. The other book I'd gotten and saved for vacation was the seventh Powers deluxe hardcover, which covers "The Bureau Saga." It was good. Read it yesterday afternoon. It had been so long since the sixth volume that I honestly forgot what I had happened aside from they'd be working for the FBI now. Duh. That will be a fun series to reread some day.

* Preacher season two is really good. I've made peace with how much it deviates from the comic, I think. The two are pretty much unrelated at this point aside from some of the broad details. Which is fine. I'd rather see something that draws upon the comic but does it's own thing. I struggled with some of their choices at first (mostly the stuff with Jesse and his dad, because that was a dramatic change that seemed to fundamentally change the character in ways that I wasn't sure I liked). I do like not knowing where it's going. At this point, anything that matches the comic is the big surprise rather than points of depature. The stuff in hell is really great, in particular.

* The latest issue of Heavy Metal has no Grant Morrison comics. Only four more issues left. What a fucking waste this subscription has been. Two issues never received. My one attempt to get one of them resulted in them sending me an issue I already had -- TWICE (they sent it, I complained that they sent the wrong one and they sent it again -- three fucking copies of this one issue, man). I had high hopes for his tenure on the magazine, but it's been a bust. Okay, that's harsh. I've enjoyed some stuff in it. Even a Morrison strip ("Mythopia" is worth writing about). The "Zentropa" stuff by John Mahoney always makes me stop and look. The odd thing here and there, but... The most recent issue is full of strips inspired by songs by metal acts that I don't enjoy. FUN.

* I'm boring. Enjoy your Sunday.

#random thoughts #comics #music #books #tv #raymond chandler #the dears #teen titans go #david lapham #Brian Michael Bendis #wrestling #i am boring