A Whole Lot Going On!
Had an article 50% done before I passed out. Woke up about 90 minutes before I had to work so I decided to let article lie until I got home. So of course what happens? I have to tweak my sports part of this blog MAJORLY now!!!
GOLD CUP
Way to upset the great Futbol tidings of the nation US Men! What kind of way to start a match vs Jamaica was that? All the congrats in the world to the Reggae Boyz who fought hard from the opening whistle and deserved the 2-1 win. When will the Americans play a game strong from start to finish?
And I will be rooting hard for the Jamaicans vs Mexico because, wow, second straight game they were gifted a game. Quarters vs Costa Rica. Semis vs a 10 MAN Panama team. El Tri couldn't get their act together and had a questionable late penalty shot to bail them out. I have no words...
Even though my team of heritage, Trinidad and Tobago, were ousted in the quarters on penalties by Panama, I am still proud of the Soca Warriors. Great showing!
NASCAR
Kyle Busch REALLY trying to prove wins cover up all. He has won 3 out of the last 4 races and is up to 33rd in the standings. Consistent finishes in the Top 15-20 over the next 7 races will get him in the Chase for sure.
I know that Jeff Gordon is currently 10th in points and 13th in the Chase standings but this Sunday is the Brickyard and I will say that he is in a must win situation. He knows Indy better than most drivers and I think that this is his BEST chance for a Chase clinching victory...
I won't lie. I totally was getting into some more unknown drivers' chances for making the Chase but it obvious that each race's Top 15 will consist of the same drivers. Hard road to travel for smaller teams. Sorry Trevor Bayne...
MLB
I been loving this Summer of Yankees Renaissance that has been happening. Lord knows I didn't see this before the season started.
Great series that I hope will be a World Series down the line this week: Pittsburgh vs Kansas City. A lot of talented youth. A lot of fun bigtime plays...
I look away to concentrate on Futbol for a few weeks and BOOM! Albert Pujols gets hot and now the Angels are ahead of the Astros by 2 games. Maybe I was wrong about that coach/GM thing. Because since the GM left, Los Angeles has been red hot!
MLS
Now we have three teams in the race to land Didier Drogba as it was revealed this week that Montreal has entered negotiations with the striker...
Really did not see FC Dallas' youth gelling so well so early but they are on top of the West. We'll get a sense of how good they actually are over the next 5 games as they have Portland, LA, and Real Salt Lake visiting and have to go to Chicago and Vancouver.
As much moaning as I do over my RedBulls erratic play to start the Summer, we had a 4-2 win over Chelsea Wednesday Night!!!
Wait a sec.... Mind you this comes 28 hours after a heartbreaking US Open Cup loss on penalties in Philly. The senior team may give me ulcers but I am loving the talented kids on the Academy team. This win was because of their heart!
MISC
Can we all now call this Brady Investigation a joke now?
Justin Gatlin has learned nothing. If Usain Bolt is hurt, and with all your yapping, you BETTER win gold at the World Championships now.
Gotta admit, seeing that comedian making it rain all over Seph Blatter at a FIFA Conference/Meeting was hilarious...
Thank you ESPN for making the Pan American Games unwatchable. With all your channels, could you help us viewers out with what is being shown when? Sigh....
Sports now out of the way, I going to drop some book reviews now to be finished on Saturday's Blog along with a couple of albums....
First up!
Korvac Saga #2 by Dan Abnett with art by Otto Schmidt - My Marvel reviews this blog will run along a similar theme as "the lack of stars" will run through all. The Guardians and Avengers clashing, the transformation which blows the lid off of everything, and finally the (not so) shocking last page to long time Guardians of the Galaxy fans will be old hat while newer fans will be running to us asking what the $#^$# just happened?!?!?!?!? Abnett has the melodrama down Folks....
Guardians of Knowhere by Brian Michael Bendis with art by Mike Deodato - Ok. So if Battleworld has no stars, how can Knowhere exist? Well Bendis sidesteps this one as the team has to face Angela and dysfunction in their own ranks. In typical NuGuardians fashion, yeah this doesn't go too well and I am still asking myself question 1 here...
Captain Marvel and the Carol Corps #2 by Kelly Sue DeConnick & Kelly Thompson with art by David Lopez - Ask too many questions and a house built of cards will collapse on itself. That's what the Corps find out here as EVERYTHING they even have known has clashed in chaotic fashion. What is it about the most loyal that makes them your worst enemies when disillusioned?
Captain Britain and the Mighty Defenders #1 by Al Ewing with art by Alan Davis - Speaking of disillusioned, wow we find out the bitter price for questioning Lord Doom Thy God here as the heroes of Yinsen City get a reality check in the worst way imaginable. Folks who are fans of Captain America and the Mighty Avengers, just keep track of this book as Ewing works his magic and Davis gets to draw some of Britain's finest heroes (and a thinly veiled anti-hero to boot!). Also I want a Thor Gavel! I couldn't lift Thor's Hammer but I'd love a shot at that one!
The Book of Death #1 by Robert Venditti with art by Robert Gill and Doug Braithwaite - Thank you Venditti for giving me nightmares and absolutely guaranteeing that I won't set foot in Ashlee, Wyoming. EVER! Now if that visual horror was in The Happening, I would have a better opinion of the movie. This follow up event to The Valiant already has me having to read the book with ALL the lights on, just in case any bugs want to sneak up on me.... DON'T ASK!!!
Like I said, this is part one for the week. Part Two: I get into the hip hop cover controversy; I do my shrinking review of Ant-Man; Album reviews on 12 Reasons To Die II by Ghostface and Adrian Younge and Two Weeks Notice by Mikal kHill and Tribe-One; Finally I have psuedo reviews/exclamations for more books including Cyborg, A-Force, Astro City, and Marvel Zombies.
I must go unconscious now. Thx for reading. Until Next Time Readers, I See You in the Stands, Fantasizing!
Part 2 Begins Now with....
LET'S GET LYRICAL!
Two Weeks Notice by Mikal kHill and Tribe-One - One of the things that anyone that truly knows me can tell you is that I listen to just about everything. If an artist does right by me, I'll continue to follow them until they stop making music. That being the case, Mikal and Tribe announced 3 weeks ago that they would be making an album AND briefly touring... all on, you got it, 2 weeks notice. Even for NerdCore artists, this is quite the undertaking but they TOTALLY pull this off. 10 tracks. First part, self-boasting; Second part, self loathing but around the third stage we get into a weird hip-hop-mythical vibe (a theme I'll touch on the next album also!) that makes the project pop! Simple yet catchy beats along with intricate lyrical wordplay makes this experiment a must listen for hip-hop heads.
Songs of Note: Nobody Knows, Party of Two, Ashes Will Never Sing Songs of Fire (yes that's the title! lol)
Album can be found at www.bandcamp.com/twoweeksnotice
(Also, TWO weeks guys? God. Nowadays, that's how long it takes me to clear my head to get a blog together! Great job!)
12 Reasons To Die II by Ghostface Killah and Adrian Younge - Unlike what some might think or say, Ghostface has lost nothing on his fastball. He can lyrically hold his own with most rappers. Curiously, his Tonk Starks persona has taken a quite dark/demonic turn with these 12 Reasons albums. Lies, betrayal, revenge, liven up DEMONIC BARGAINS and force me now to actually find a category for this album. I can't use HorrorCore...at least I don't think I can. I think that is still tied to metal... Anyway, those hip-hop fans who like their street raps extremely dark will love this album. I don't know offhand if this album will have a comic adaptation like the first but whoa. Just whoa. It feeds into the parts of you that crave the darkness and gives into primal emotion. Of course, he has frequent collaborator Raekwon join him here but drama lovers may be disappointed to know that RZA has a strong presence on the record also. Is it his best undertaking? Nope. But Ghostface is still quality folks and the Cain/Ghostface/Tony Starks legacy is a quite twisted one indeed.
Songs of Note: King of New York, Death's Invitation, Life's A Rebirth
Album can be found at iTunes, Amazon, and all the usual places....
Let's Get Serious!
By now everyone has heard about the Marvel Hip Hop Variant Covers and the uproar coming from various places. This indicative of three problems inherent with the Marvel Comic Machine at the moment:
1) This is another cash grab. Seriously who is going to buy ALL these variants within 1-2 months time? But obviously there is a market of fans for this. I love the images of the cherished albums but in that lies the second problem...
2) My thanks to Joseph Illidge and David Brothers who highlighted that while the covers are dope, they are largely all being done sans black artists and that led to a further examination (again) of the Marvel lineup of writers and artists for post Secret Wars and found it majorly lacking color. Sorry House of Ideas. No protection or excuses for this one, especially when DC has started to make strides again in that part of diversity AND we black fans can see other companies employing more and more minority talents.
3) Finally, I know Tom Breevort means well and I know that hip-hop's main buyers for YEARS was Suburban Middle Americans but you can't say essentially that hip-hop isn't a black thing. Not outloud. Not on Twitter. Not on TV. Not anywhere. You want to get the ire of black nerds up? Well.... Yeah job accomplished...
A well meaning tribute cash grab that leads to discussions that hopefully leads to the door opening for more opportunities at the House of Ideas....
SHRINKING REVIEW
I really liked Ant-Man even with the flaws. To me, this could be for the next phase what Iron Man was to the first. Paul Rudd is great as hard luck (ex-)criminal turned hero Scott Lang. Rudd captured Lang's torment between doing right by his daughter and always ending up doing the wrong thing well. He and Michael Douglas as Hank Pym had a great teacher/student dynamic. Evangeline Lilly was good as Hope Van Dyne. Michael Pena steals every scene he's in as Scott Lang's sidekick Luis. Rapid fire jokes, deadpan comedy, and his charm help to paint over some of the failings of the movie.
Most notably about this is I really wanted to see Janet Van Dyne aka The Wasp. I know that the movie alludes to Hope being her in the future but as a longtime Avengers fan, I really, REALLY wanted to see that. Also, if there was film on Henry in action as Ant-Man, and he's been operating in the suit for years, we only hearing about this now? Isn't the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the social media age? Stretching belief here a little....and I have to wonder also how a complete Edgar Wright version would have turned out. (Sorry Peyton Reed!)
However, this was a good movie and I definitely give it my support.
QUICK PLUGS!
Greg Pak. Asian-American Cowboy. Magic. Bonus Adam WarRock theme song!
http://boingboing.net/2015/07/17/kingsway-west-comic.html
Bag of Tricks Cat ft Mega Ran and Brandon Michael "Dream Girl"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kup14i3oJXQ
Don't say I didn't point you to good music...lol
A COUPLE MORE COMIC REVIEWS/THOUGHTS (Argh! I have to wait another day on Cyborg!!!!)
A-Force #2 by Marguerite Bennett and G. Willow Wilson with art by Jorge Molina - Well this situation turned sour REALLY fast. Dissension in the ranks, a member gone, weird inter-spatial portals and oh yeah, a freaking Sentinel landing in the midst of the city!!! All in a day's work? As She-Hulk discovers, heavy is the head on which the crown rests....
Years of Future Past #3 by Marguerite Bennett with art by Mike Norton - A Bennett two-fer as she delves into another dystopian future featuring everyone's favorite mutants. Heck, the series won me over last issue with a kaiju sized Lockheed. Yes. I did actually say that X-Men Fans. And I will always love a kick-a$$ Storm in ANY era.
Astro City #25 by Kurt Busiek with art by Jesus Merino (interiors) and Alex Ross (cover) - Who knew a character named Hummingbird could have such a rich history. Yet be so detailed within a single issue. Gods, teen problems, legacy, and curses abound here folks!
OK part 2 done and I still have a part 3 to drop involving Cyborg, Gods and Monsters and a little trailer analysis...
Thx For Reading! Until Next Time, Keep Fantasizing!
0 comments:
Post a Comment