PooZ and I have been in the same fantasy football league for three years running. Each year, after the draft, we both insist that we're going to meet in the championship game. It hasn't happened yet, though I held up my end of the bargain last year (and went on to win the whole damn thing).
Quarterbacks Adam: Jay Cutler, David Garrard PooZ: Drew Brees, Eli Manning Analysis: As a Bears fan, PooZ would probably if my guy (Cutler) had a great season, but he's definitely got the better group here. Brees has been a fantasy mainstay for me in recent years. He always puts up great numbers.
Running backs Adam: Matt Forte, Steve Slaton, Larry Johnson, Tim Hightower PooZ: Thomas Jones, LenDale White, TJ Duckett Analysis: Wait, who's the Bears fan here? How did I end up with Cutler and Forte? Still, my backs are WAY better than PooZ's. White is a backup (who does get a lot of short-yardage carries) and Duckett isn't on a roster anymore.
Wide Receivers Adam: Antonio Bryant, Braylon Edwards, Bernard Berrian, Mark Clayton, Kevin Curtis PooZ: Anthony Gonzalez, Chris Chambers, Justin Gage, Lance Moor, Percy Harvin Analysis: I actually like both of our groups. For me, Bryant put up great yardage numbers last year, but needs to find the end zone more. Also, I hate having to root for Edwards. PooZ's group, aside from Moore, didn't put up huge numbers last year, but they should all improve this year.
Kickers Adam: Neil Rackers PooZ: Robbie Gould Analysis: Who cares? They're kickers.
Defense/Special Teams Adam: San Diego, Washington PooZ: Chicago, Seattle Analysis: Both of PooZ's defenses scored more points than either of mine last year. Still, with Shawne Merriman back for the Chargers and Albert Haynesworth joining the Redskins, this will be closer than it seems. That said, PooZ does have the best defense/special teams combo in the league.
My prediction: same as every year. PooZ and I meet in the championship game, I win. One of these years it's gonna come true.
Last night, I attended my third show on the current leg Britney Spears’s “Circus” tour -- this time at TD Garden in Boston.
Having already taken more than 500 pictures of the tour, I decided to go video-heavy, and shot the entire concert. Now, my Nikon P80 is a phenomenal still camera, but it wasn’t exactly designed for video, but it held up pretty well (save for about one minute during “Breathe on Me” when it decided it wasn’t going to focus at all).
I had great seats again, and really enjoyed the concert (again). It wasn’t quite the same experience as being ringside, but it was the first time I was truly center stage for one of these shows, so that was pretty cool.
I’ve already posted all the videos to YouTube, in the same order as the concert, so check them out.
Breaking news from coach Rob Ambrose’s Facebook page, where he reports that former Rivals.com 3-star recruit Romale Tucker is suiting up for the Towson Tigers this season.
Tucker, out of Washington DC, was ranked the No. 27 strongside linebacker in the Class of 2007 and originally committed to Virginia. However, he changed his commitment to Syracuse. He joined the Orange in 2008, after a year at prep school, but did not play.
Tucker was moved from linebacker to defensive end, and was listed third on the depth chart, in spring practice, but left Syracuse over the summer.
Back when Tucker was in high school in D.C., he was recruited by a number of major programs. One of those was Illinois, where his recruiting contact was Mike Locksley -- a Towson alum who is currently the head coach at New Mexico. Locksley and Ambrose were teammates at Towson in the early 90s. Could that connection have helped Ambrose land Tucker? It’s hard to say for sure, but it is a possibility.
As for Tucker’s impact on Towson this season, it’s hard to project. He’s not even listed on the team’s roster online yet, so who knows where he is in picking up the system. If he stays at DE, he’ll join a group that also features Boston College transfer Brady Smith. Smith had four sacks in Towson’s spring game, but hasn’t played since 2007, after being kicked off the team last year due to an indecent assault conviction.
Tucker could also end up at linebacker, where Dante Blakey is the only returning starter.
Wherever Tucker ends up on the field, he’s another good get for Rob Ambrose, who seems to be hitting the ground running in his first year back at Towson.
I know I haven’t done a Friday Five since the first one back on July 31, but I’ve been keeping busy. Since then, I went to the Jordan Exhibit at the Basketball Hall of Fame, a Mets-Braves game (Mets lost, of course) and two Britney Spears concerts. That continues a summer that started back in May with a Britney Spears concert, continued with the 2009 NBA Finals and also included two baseball games in July. So what’s next? Well, let’s look at the schedule:
1. August 29 - Britney Spears at TD Garden
Yes, it’s another Britney concert. I don’t care that I’ve already seen her twice this week, I’m crazy excited about seeing her again.
2. Sept. 4 - Kelly Clarkson at Essex (VT) Fairgrounds
I haven’t seen Kelly Clarkson live since the duet concert with Reba McEntire last November, so this should be lots of fun. Plus, my buddy Phil is getting married two days later, also in Vermont, so I have an actual reason to be in the state besides Kelly.
3. Sept. 11 - Basketball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in Springfield, MA
Two words: Michael Jordan. I might actually be more excited about this than any of my Britney Spears concerts (note, I said “might”).
4. Sept. 27 - Britney Spears at Mandalay Bay
I haven’t been to Vegas in years (save for a brief stopover on my way to L.A. for the 2008 NBA Finals) but I don’t plan on doing much gambling. I do plan on seeing Britney Spears. Again. This is her last stop on The Circus Tour in the U.S., so it might be the last time I get to see her live for a few years. And, don’t forget, I’ve got an extra ticket.
5. Oct. 2 - Kelly Clarkson at Mohegan Sun
Yes, this will be the second time I see Kelly Clarkson on this tour and this will pretty much wrap up my personal summer concert tour (five Britney Spears shows, two Kelly Clarkson shows) unless I decide to see her in New York, New Jersey or Boston (all possibilities). It’ll also probably be the last major event I attend in person until NBA season starts.
OK, so here’s the deal. I went to see Britney Spears in New York on Monday and Tuesday, and I’m going again on Saturday in Boston. For each of those three concerts (and every Britney Spears concert I’ve ever been to) I had a single ticket.
However, I just booked my trip to Las Vegas for the U.S. finale of The Circus Starring Britney Spears, September 27 at Mandalay Bay, and I’ve got two (2) tickets for the show. The tickets are in the lower bowl (the 100 level), in the third row up from the floor. Like all my seats for this tour, these seats are no joke.
But, me being only one person, I only need one ticket. So, what to do with the other ticket. Well, that’s where you come in. I am going to give this ticket away to someone of my choosing. It could be one of my friends, it could be a family member, a co-worker, or someone completely random. All you have to do is e-mail me at britneycontest@me.com and tell me why I should give the ticket to you. Whoever makes the most convincing case gets the ticket.
A couple disclaimers:
-I’m not paying for you to get to Vegas. That’s up to you.
-I’m not getting you a room in Vegas. I do have a room at Mandalay Bay, and if you need to crash with me, I may consider it, but I’m checking out bright and early Monday morning to catch a flight back to Connecticut.
-Again, the winner of the ticket is entirely at my discretion.
So that’s it. If you’ve never seen Britney, and you want to see her, just let me know (britneycontest@me.com). If you’ve seen her 15 times, but just want to see her again, in her last U.S. show of this tour, well, you’re probably me, but let me know anyway (britneycontest@me.com).
At some point in advance of the concert, I’ll let the winner know, and I’ll post here who is seeing Britney with me. Until then, enjoy some of my past Britney experiences.
Yes, that's right, the title is "last" week, because I took so damn long to get around to writing this post (for those of you that don't know why, check the previous post, or AdamReisinger.com for details). OK, enough of the excuses, on to the review.
Amazing Spider-Man #603 - Marvel Comics
This issue reminded me a lot of #583. That one is better known as the Barack Obama issue, but the main story of the issue featured Peter Parker making birthday plans for Betty Brant and Betty finding out a lot about Peter's positive qualities in the process. This issue features The Chameleon putting himself into Peter's place and learning all about his life -- without finding out that he was Spider-Man.
Despite this issue having the feeling of "learning what we already knew", I really enjoyed it. There was some comedy and some sad moments mixed in too -- I loved the scene with "Peter" and MJ, in which The Chameleon realized that MJ wasn't Gwen (who he found a picture of at Peter's apartment) and MJ got all mad because she was tired of trying to live up to Gwen's memory. That really felt like a classic Spider-Man moment, before all the crap that's happened to the book in the past 20 years happened.
Of course, at the end of the issue (SPOILER ALERT), the real Peter claws out of The Chameleon's death chamber, and will probably get his revenge in #604 (or shortly after) while also dealing with what's been screwed up in his life (his weird relationship with his roommate for instance). I have to admit, I've been a very vocal critic of this series over the past couple years, but these past few issues are really moving in the right direction.
Couple other quick notes:
- Last week also marked the release of the "Spider-Man/Mary Jane: You Just Hit the Jackpot" trade paperback, which collects a bunch of classic Spidey/MJ stories (including the tail end of #42, her first full appearance). I've read all these issues before, but being an MJ fan, it was nice to have this collected in one volume.
- A few comic lists indicated that "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep #3" was due out last week, but apparently that was a mistake. It looks like it's coming in September.
- This week actually brought none of my regular purchases, so I get a much-needed week off from buying comics. Still, I did see that the "Jennifer's Body" hardcover was released, and since I'm so interested in that movie, I'm thinking about picking it up.
NEXT WEEK
Looks like I'm picking up Buffy #28, Invincible Iron Man #17 and Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #2.
Let me get this out of the way first: I adore Britney Spears. I’ve been a fan of hers since the first single, put up with the craziness she went through a few years back, and never stopped supporting her. So last night was, for me, the reward for all of that.
I had the privilege of sitting ringside for her concert at Madison Square Garden -- the same exact concert I’d seen from the 13th row the night before. There’s no comparison though. Sitting along one of the outside rings, so close that I was leaning against the stage for most of the show, there were moments when Britney was literally just inches away from me. It was definitely one of the coolest things I’ve ever experienced.
The energy in the arena is always electric for a Britney Spears concert, but it’s hard to explain just how amped up that is when you’re that close. You can see the expressions of everyone on stage. There was a moment when Britney was dancing about three feet in front of me and she smiled. I knew it was just part of the routine, but it looked like she was smiling right at me, and I practically melted (oh, on that note, when you’re that close to the stage, you can feel the heat from the stage lights -- so I did nearly melt, but I didn’t care).
During the opening acts (Kristinia DeBarge, One Call and Jordin Sparks), I kept tapping my foot on the floor -- not in time with the music, but in nervous anticipation of Britney’s arrival on stage. When the huge video board that surrounded the center ring rose, and Britney began to descend from the ceiling to perform “Circus”, I think I screamed louder than I ever have in my life -- and that includes the time I shredded my knee ligaments. I will readily admit to singing along to pretty much every song, and yelling “I love you Britney!” multiple times, including once where she was close enough that she might have been able to hear me.
Obviously, no Britney concert experience is complete for me without taking a ton of pictures, which I did. You can check out all 299 of them in a photo gallery. I also took video of “Do Somethin’” on my iPhone and “Womanizer” with my camera. Click the links to get some sense of what it’s like to see Britney Spears from the front row.
On that note, I have to say that no matter who your favorite artist is, you owe it to yourself to see that person (or group) perform while sitting/standing in the front row. I’ve been front row for a handful of concerts in my life, but this was the first time I’d been this close for Britney, and it really was an experience like no other.
In just six hours, I’ll be sitting ringside, watching Britney Spears live at Madison Square Garden (well, to be more accurate, in six hours, I’ll be watching a series of useless opening acts, then Britney Spears).
Last night’s show was incredible. Yes, for the most part it was the same show I saw back in May at Mohegan Sun, with a few updated costumes and dance routines, but that didn’t matter to me. The atmosphere at a Britney Spears live show is always electric, and I can’t wait to see it up close tonight.
I enjoyed last night’s show so much that I broke down and bought tickets for Saturday’s show in Boston. I would have also bought tickets for Wednesday’s show in New York, but I have to get back to work at some point.
For now, feel free to enjoy my pictures and YouTube videos from Monday’s show. I’m sure I’l have a ton more after Tuesday night.
Ok, so I'm sitting here at Madison Square Garden waiting for the Britney Spears concert to start and I figured I'd share some thoughts on New York:
- first off, for someone who lives in Manchester, CT, I'm getting a little too familiar with the NYC subway system. I even have a two-year old MetroCard I keep re-filling.
- Whenever I'm in NYC, even for a Britney concert, I end up listening to Biggie non-stop. Even now, I'm in the arena waiting for the concert to start with my headphones in, blasting "Long Kiss Goodnight."
- I have a love/hate relationship with walking in Manhattan. I love that I can walk around and get anywhere, but sometimes the sidewalks get a little too crowded for my tastes. Then I start imagining how cool it would be to have web shooters so I could just swing around the city (yes, I'm a huge dork).
- An MSG specific thought: I REALLY need to get here for a Knicks game this year (preferably against the LeBrons... I mean Cavs). This is a pretty damn cool arena for being as old as it is.
Ok, almost show time. I'll have a full write-up on AdamReisinger.com later, and I promise I will get around to the review of last weeks comics soon.
Last night, I went to the Mets game with PooZ, Cash and a bunch of other people and had a great time, despite another Mets loss (seriously, this team is an atrocity against the sport this season).
One really exciting moment came in the eighth inning, when Billy Wagner entered the game for the first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery last year. Even though he was entering in the 8th, with the Mets losing, they gave him the full closer treatment, complete with “Enter Sandman” blasting over the PA. It was easily the most excited I’ve been at a Mets game this season.
Now, understand, I was never a huge fan of Wagner’s when he was the team’s closer, but seeing him come all the way back from his injury was pretty cool. Plus, after the entrance, he went out and pitched a 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts, so he was easily the Mets best player on the day.
I don’t know how much more Wagner will pitch this season, or if he’ll even do it for the Mets (there are rumors they’re dangling him in a waiver trade, since they’ve already got a ton of money invested in Francisco Rodriguez and J.J. Putz), but I’ll definitely be rooting for him when he does.
Again, just a reminder, the Tuesday show I’ve been counting down to is actually the second of the two Britney Spears concerts at MSG that I’m attending. I’ll see her the first time at MSG on August 24th, from about the 13th row. But it’s the 25th that I’m really interested in, since I have ringside seats.
That Tuesday August 25 show will easily be the closest I’ve been to the stage at a Britney Spears concert, but it won’t be the closest I’ve been to Britney Spears. No, that would have been September of 1999.
Flashback 10 years ago, I was working at my school paper, and had tickets to a Britney concert in Baltimore. I told my editors I wanted to do a story on Britney, who was still climbing the charts to superstardom, but wasn’t there yet. They agreed, and let me do the story. Then, a few days before the concert, one of the people at the paper informed me that he had a contact at Jive Records, and got me into the Meet and Greet before the show.
I was so excited on the day of the show. I was supposed to actually get a five-minute interview with Britney, but due to a miscommunication with the label, that didn’t happen. Still, I got to meet her, and even hug her (again, a reminder, Britney and I are only separated by one year in age, so it’s not weird at all). She was amazingly sweet, and VERY attractive in person.
So that’s my “I met Britney” story. I doubt I’ll get to meet her again in NYC, but if I do, I’ll keep you posted.
So when I got home today, I had a happy present waiting for me: the J. Scott Campbell NYCC exclusive print, featuring Mary Jane Watson. I won this in an eBay auction more than a month ago, and it finally arrived today (worst... shipper... ever...).
I’ve seen this print plenty of times before online, but seeing it in person, I noticed something I’d never seen before. Look closely at the left headline above the masthead on the Daily Bugle sitting on MJ’s coffee table. It’s hard to see in the scaled print, so I took a close-up picture of it:
“Mid-Air Collision
Control Tower to Blame”
Now, this print debuted back in February at NYCC and was probably drawn well before that. But it was also used as the cover to Amazing Spider-Man #601, which came out on August 5. Three days later, there was a mid-air collision over the Hudson River, and the investigation is currently focusing on the control tower. That’s just creepy.
Wikipedia’s list of notable mid-air collisions only includes one other one in New York City, and that happened back in 1960, so it’s not like Campbell was referencing some kind of recent event when he was drawing this. It could have been a reference to Chesley Sullenberger’s famed Hudson River landing, but that happened three weeks before NYCC, and it’s likely the print was already done before that.
Only Campbell knows the true inspiration for using the headline (which, again, is a VERY minor part of the entire print), but its appearance on the cover of Amazing Spider-Man three days before an actual headline-making mid-air collision in New York City is just eerie.
PooZ's list of Nike Football Commercials was pretty solid, even though his #1 choice was a multi-sport commercial that featured Yankees closer Mariano Rivera (maybe PooZ is a closet Yankees fan).
In fact, the only one I think he really left out was this one:
That's probably my favorite Nike football commercial of all-time. It's amazing to see how many people they got in it. It's also amazing that the coach (Don Shula) was smart enough to know LaDainian Tomlinson (career passer rating: 154.4) should be throwing the final pass instead of Michael Vick (career passer rating: 75.7).
Also, as a follow-up on the Complex list that started this whole discussion, there are three Nike Basketball (again, no Jordan) commercials that I think they missed.
3. Fun Police
This isn't the best of the Fun Police commercials, but it's the only one I could find on YouTube. This whole series was great.
2. Roswell Rayguns
I still love this commercial, even if a team featuring Baron Davis, Vince Carter, Paul Pierce, Jerry Stackhouse and Jermaine O'Neal would probably miss the playoffs while also having the highest payroll in the NBA. Hell, Pierce and Carter are the only ones who are still relevant now, and Carter didn't even make the playoffs last year.
1. LeBrons - Numbers
Complex had the wrong "The LeBrons" commercial on its list. This one was the best of the series.
So, over on LeBron2010.info, I got to detail another Quentin Richardson trade. It’s the fourth time this offseason that Q’s been traded, which amazed me.
I wanted to look to see if this was some kind of record, but I couldn’t easily find that information. What I did find is that, technically, it’s the ninth time Richardson has been traded -- but four of them came before he was even in the league!
OK, so let’s go way back to October 9, 1997. The Knicks, Raptors and Blazers pulled off a three-team trade, in which the Knicks got a lottery-protected first-round pick from the Raptors. In that deal, Toronto got former first-round pick John Wallace. Toronto missed the playoffs in 1998, so it got to keep the pick, which it used on Antawn Jamison (who was quickly swapped for Vince Carter).
Now, in 1999, the Knicks got impatient with the Raptors, who were on their way to missing the playoffs again. New York traded the pick to the 76ers for the rights to Mirsad Turkcan, who played exactly 7 games for the Knicks (and 17 in his entire NBA career). By virtue of missing the playoffs again in ’99, the Raptors kept their pick and used it on Alek Radojevic, who played three games with Toronto, and a total of 15 in his NBA career (the next player drafted after Radojevic was Corey Maggette -- whoops).
Shortly after the Raptors drafted Radojevic, the 76ers traded Toronto’s lottery protected pick to Atlanta for first-round pick Jumaine Jones, who became the first semi-useful player acquired for this pick. However, the Hawks didn’t hold on to the pick long, sending it to the Clippers along with another future first rounder in exchange for Lorenzen Wright.
So, if you’re following along, that’s four trades of this pick, resulting in acquisitions of Lorenzen Wright, Jumaine Jones, Mirsad Turkcan and John Wallace (or the worst front-court in NBA history).
The Clippers held on to the pick and drafted Richardson, who eventually left via free agency for Phoenix. After one year with the Suns, Richardson was traded (along with the rights to Nate Robinson) for Kurt Thomas (a functional player!) and the draft rights to Dijon Thompson, who has played exactly 16 NBA games.
Richardson spent four years with the Knicks -- one for each time he would eventually be traded this summer. The Knicks traded him to Memphis in exchange for Darko Milicic, one of the worst draft picks in NBA history. The Grizzlies traded him to the Clippers in exchange for Zach Randolph, who is a good player, but an awful person. The Clippers apparently weren’t interested in a second run with Q, so they sent him to the Timberwolves in exchange for Sebastian Telfair, Craig Smith and Mark Madsen. Then Minnesota sent him to Miami (talk about an upgrade in scenery!) for Mark Blount.
So, here’s the full list of players Q has been traded for, including the times his draft pick was traded:
That’s an entire NBA roster! Now, it’s obviously very front-court heavy, but the bigger problem is that it might be the worst roster ever constructed (aside from the 2002-03 Nuggets). But hey, at least Quentin Richardson can say he’s worth an entire NBA roster.
I continue to purchase comics at a prodigious rate (and they are actually getting better), while PooZ continues to hate the industry for what it did to Batman...
Amazing Spider-Man #602 - Marvel Comics Another week, another new creative team for Amazing Spider-Man, which results in a less-than-smooth transition from 601 to 602. Still, MJ is sort of around, hiding in the background of this issue, which features the return of The Chameleon. I always thought he was one of the lamer -- and more unbelievable -- Spider-Man villains, but this incarnation seems to be much darker than he's been before. Also, Barry Kitson's rendition of Mary Jane looks much better than she did in 600.
As for the story of the issue -- SPOILER ALERT -- Peter gets a job working for Mayor Jameson (since newspaper work is pretty much out) and the issue ends with him getting kidnapped and replaced by The Chameleon. Part of Chameleon's new darker persona involves some kind of killing chamber, and the issue ends on a cliff-hanger which is supposed to lead us to believe that Peter Parker/Spider-Man is dead. But let's be honest, that didn't happen. It's still his book, and they're not going to go down the path of Chameleon replacing Spider-Man long term and eventually becoming Peter Parker (can you say "clone saga"?). The cliff-hanger comes off more as a "how'd Spidey get out of this one", which I'm fine with, on some level.
Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man #1 - Marvel Comics The reboot of Ultimate Spider-Man suffers a bit from "rebootitis" (which, I think is a word I just made up). Basically, because the book is set six months after the events of Ultimatum, it has to spend the entire time re-introducing us to everyone. That said, it does that successfully. I'm glad the creators didn't bullshit around with "is Peter Parker alive" or "is Peter still Spider-Man", both of which were possibilities after the last issue of Requiem. I'm also glad the tone of the book didn't change that much. Ultimate Spider-Man was in a good place before Ultimatum, and it seems like Bendis has done what he could to keep it in that place. It seems like Peter and Gwen have started a relationship, which still weirds me out, because Gwen isn't really Gwen (and I don't want to get into all that).
Yes, there's a new mysterious hero (who is, in fact, darker than what we've seen from this book before) and Mysterio (another villain I've always struggled to take seriously) shows up and blasts Kingpin out of the window of a high-rise, possibly (but not likely) sending him to his death. So there are hints of the new tone Bendis promised, but they're offset nicely with familiarity.
Angel: Only Human #1 of 4 - IDW Publishing Yes, it's another Angel spin-off, as IDW continues to try and wring every penny out of this license. And normally I'd be upset about that, but this series features my two favorite Angel characters: Gunn and Illyria (yes, Wesley used to be my favorite, but as far as I'm concerned, he died in "Not Fade Away" and never came back -- I hated his comic "reincarnation" in After the Fall).
This story is designed to highlight the contrast between Gunn -- the most human of Angel's characters, who is still coping with his refound humanity after having spent The Fall as a vampire -- and Illyria -- the immortal demon who ended up with the human memories of her shell. So far, through one issue, it's done so pretty well. I loved the interactions between Gunn, Illyria and Fred's parents. David Messina continues to be one of the best Angel artists out there.
The writer on this series is Scott Lobdell, who hasn't done any Angel-specific stuff before (not a problem, since Angel himself doesn't appear in this book), but did do a run of Buffy back in the original Dark Horse days -- the Note From the Underground, Viva Las Buffy and Slayer Interrupted series, all of which were very well written. Between Lobdell and Messina, I ended up with a book I liked more than any recent issue of "Angel".
By now, you’ve heard the news that Michael Vick has signed with the Philadelphia Eagles, getting a chance to return to the NFL. Now, remember, Vick is still conditionally suspended, and Roger Goodell can fully reinstate him any time before Week 6, or decide to reverse his reinstatement.
Now, there are still people saying Michael Vick should never be allowed to play football again, that the league should ban him for life and he should have to spend the rest of his life flipping burgers at McDonalds or doing some other menial job. I completely disagree with that sentiment.
Michael Vick has served his time -- more time than Ray Lewis, Leonard Little or Donte’ Stallworth ever served for their crimes. As far as the American legal system is concerned, Vick has the right to earn a living in his chosen field, in this case, professional football.
Now, some people would argue that if Vick were a banker or stockbroker or had some kind of 9-5 job, he’d have a hard time finding a job coming off spending 19 months in prison. And that’s true. Of course, that was also the case in the NFL, where 27 teams publicly declared they had no interest in signing him. That’s basically 85% of his industry throwing out his application based solely on the question “have you been convicted of a felony.” I’d say that’s a pretty strong deterrent without the league also piling on and making that 100% without giving the individual teams the chance to decide.
To continue the 9-5 job analogy, if Vick was a banker, there would be no call for the banking industry to ban Vick from ever working in a bank again. People would let the market dictate his employment opportunities. If Vick were an actor or director who’d done something deplorable, the situation would probably be the same.
Don’t believe me? Take the case of Roman Polanski. In 1977 he was charged with rape by use of drugs, perversion, sodomy, lewd and lascivious acts upon a child under 14 and furnishing a controlled substance to a minor. Eventually he pleaded guilty to engaging in unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, but he fled the country and never served his time. But there’s no “ban” on Roman Polanski preventing him from making movies. Hollywood didn’t get together and say “we won’t let him pursue his career”. It’s up to the individual studios, much like it was up to the individual teams of the NFL to decide to employ Michael Vick.
I’m not here to espouse the virtues of Michael Vick as a person (I think he’s a horrible person who’s made multiple horrible decisions throughout his life) or as a quarterback (he was pretty damn mediocre as a passer, electric as a runner, probably worse than 20-25 current starting quarterbacks in the league, but better than a few, and better than a large portion of backups). In fact, my buddy Nick has taken care of covering those aspects of this over at Nick’s 2 Cents. All I’m saying is there’s no good reason to ban Michael Vick from playing football. If Vick screws up again off the field, the market will take care of that. If Vick is no good on the field, the market will take care of that too (probably quicker than if he screws up off the field). But it’s time to let the man do what he’s spent his whole life doing, and that’s play football.
Sometimes when “Entertainment Weekly” arrives in my mailbox, I read it right away. Other times, I throw it on my end table, and don’t get around to it for a few days.
The August 7 issue, which arrived last Friday, represented the latter example, and it’s probably for the best, because my procrastination in reading it saved me from being angry last weekend. Why would an issue of a cheesy magazine, one step up from a gossip rag, make me angry?
Well, this issue was labeled as the “Vampire Issue” and in it, EW presented its list of the Top 20 vampires from movies/TV/books. Now, right away, I was a little surprised that Dracula wasn’t number 1 on the list (Lestat was), but it turns out they ranked multiple interpretations of Dracula. Christopher Lee’s Dracula was #2, Bela Lugosi’s Dracula was #3, and in al, there were four Draculas ranked (making up 20% of the entire list).
Now, once you get past Lestat and the top two Dracula’s the list turns to utter shit. Complete and total bullshit. Number 4 on the list is Edward Fucking “I Sparkle” Cullen. Angel, from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Angel” was number 7.
Now, understand, I’m a “Buffy” fan, so I’m inherently biased in this argument. But I’ve read Twilight, and that isn’t a vampire novel. It’s soft-core fantasy for pre-pubescent girls. And Edward isn’t a vampire. He’s a pussy.
Now, if you don’t care about “Buffy”, “Twilight” or fanboy-fueled arguments in general, then just stop reading right now, and come back tomorrow, when maybe I’ll write about Mike Vick or basketball or something non-vampire related. But for those that want me to back up my argument, here we go.
First off, I’m not arguing that Angel should be in the top five of vampires all-time -- in fact, I’m not sure where I’d rank him exactly -- but he should definitely be ahead of the Twilight Douche. Comparing the two, Angel was in his mid-20s when he was turned, while Edward seems to be 17-for-life. Angel was turned in the 1700s, plus spent 100 years in a demon dimension between seasons 2 and 3 of “Buffy”, so he’s been around for more than 350 years, while Edward is barely a century old.
Now, there are some similarities. Both Angel and Edward see themselves as monsters, but find their redemption in the form of a drastically underage female (I could get into a whole rant of how Bella is a shit-tastic role model for girls when compared to Buffy, but that’s an essay for another day). However, and this is a key point when ranking the characters as vampires, Angel was once the most feared vampire in the world, whereas Edward seems to be pretty fucking mediocre, power-wise. Angelus, Angel’s un-souled form, was a vicious, ruthless, merciless killer, who was bested only by restoring his human soul and making him feel remorse for his actions. He was a fucking badass and he knew it (and he didn’t sparkle. Vampires don’t sparkle. That’s just bullshit.).
Now, simply ranking the vampires by who would beat whom in a fight isn’t efficient, because it leaves out so many other elements that make a good character. But I’d argue that Angel has Edward beat across the board -- creepy stalking, redemptive quests, leadership and even self-sacrifice. For example, Angel leaves Sunnydale for L.A., knowing it’s best for both him and Buffy that they be apart. Edward does the same thing with Bella in New Moon, but then gets all broody and sad, and goes back, because he’s incapable of doing anything without his high school sweetheart (meanwhile, Angel manages to find a new love, help countless innocent people and save the world multiple times, while also turning back into Angelus for a brief period and wreaking awesome havoc).
With all that in mind, it’s also worth noting that Angel would in fact beat Edward in a straight-up fight. While Edward’s busy playing piano, Angel’s honing his fighting skills. In fact, in his spare time, it seems all Angel does is kick demon ass (oh, and ladies, if you still prefer your vampires with some kind of artistic skill, Angel is a world-class sketch artist -- it helps with his detective skills).
On some level, Edward is almost too neutered to be taken seriously as a vampire. He’s practically domesticated. Meanwhile, going back to the first season of “Buffy”, Angel seemed dangerous before we found out he was a vampire. When they did reveal he was a vampire, it was just that he was a vampire, but he was a mass-murdering vampire who’d been one of the most evil killers ever known (something multiple characters referenced over the course of “Buffy” and “Angel”). As the series went on and “Angel” eventually got his own series, his character background got even darker, which just made him cooler.
And from a longevity standpoint, Edward has been in four books, and is about to be in a fifth that’s really just a re-write of the first so Stephanie Meyer can get more money without coming up with an original idea. Meanwhile, Angel was a central figure in three seasons of “Buffy”, five seasons of his own TV series and has carried his own comic book series for three years now.
Also (and this is the last point, I swear) the 6-foot-2, 225 lb. hockey-playing David Boreanaz would DESTROY the 6-foot-1, 150 lb. Robert Pattinson. It wouldn’t even be a fair fight. In fact, I now wanna see Boreanaz beat up Pattinson. I think that’d be hilarious.
Look, I could go on and on, but the Internet has already spoken on this matter:
Yes, I know this is Buffy vs Edward, but I imagine if Angel were involved, the first time Edward creeped Buffy out, Angel would have snapped his neck without thinking twice. In fact, the more I think about this, the more Edward reminds me of James from the Season 3 Premiere of “Angel”, and even with a supernatural upgrade, James got pretty fucked up.
A few months back, Warner Bros. actually did something consumer friendly. The studio, which had been the main "neutral" studio (offering both HD-DVD and Blu-ray) before going Blu-ray exclusive, launched a site that allowed HD-DVD early adopters to "upgrade" their discs to Blu-ray. The cost was only $4.95 per disc and, amazingly, you didn't even have to give up your HD-DVD discs -- good for me, since I actually still have my HD-DVD player and it still works.
A couple weeks ago, I finally decided to take the plunge and pay for the upgrade. As it turned out, of my 19 HD-DVDs, eight of them were from Warner Bros. and eligible for the program. So, about two weeks after filling out the online form and sending in the HD-DVD covers (the proof of purchase you have to provide in lieu of the discs) I've got "Batman Begins", "The Departed", "300", "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix", "Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut", "Superman Returns", "We Are Marshall" and "The Ultimate Matrix Collection" on the way. It's worth noting at this point that "Batman Begins" was the very first HD-DVD I actually purchased -- and I got it at Circuit City. Now both HD-DVD and Circuit City are dead.
So which movies do I have stuck in HD-DVD limbo? Well, I already bought the Blu-ray version of "Serenity" in addition to the HD-DVD version, which leaves me with 10 Red Movies and one TV season:
- Blades of Glory I'm 50-50 on upgrading/replacing this disc. The movie is funny, but it's not "Anchorman" or "Old School".
- The Bourne Ultimatum This is actually an HD-DVD/DVD combo disc, so I can watch it even when my HD-DVD player eventually bites the dust. That said, at some point I'll take the plunge and buy the Bourne trilogy on Blu-ray.
- Clerks II I'm not even sure why I bought this movie.
- I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry I know why I bought this one: Jessica Biel. Fortunately, it's a combo disc, so I don't need to buy it again.
- King Kong This came free with the Xbox 360 HD-DVD player, and I also have it on DVD, so no need to upgrade.
- Knocked Up Another combo disc that will live on through its DVD side.
- Mission Impossible III Like "Bourne", this is one that I'll eventually get as part of a trilogy set.
- Shrek The Third Apparently I filled out my HD-DVD collection with the third installment in trilogies...
- Transformers I would have replaced this one already, but I expect that there'll be some kind of two-pack when the new one comes out.
- World Trade Center I probably should have just bought this on DVD, but this came out just after I got my HD-DVD drive, and I wanted to boost my collection. I'm not sure I'll ever re-buy this movie (I think I've only watched it once).
- Heroes Season One
This was the best season of "Heroes", and looks like it might be the only season ever worth re-watching. Eventually I'll spring for the Blu-ray set, but probably not until my HD-DVD player or Xbox 360 stops working.
Looking at that list, if Universal would just launch a similar program to Warner Bros, then I'd be pretty much all set. Given how long HD-DVD has been dead, though, it seems unlikely that will happen.
Yep, in just two weeks, I’ll be sitting ringside at Madison Square Garden for the second of back-to-back Britney Spears shows -- on the second leg of a tour I’ve already seen. Sure, some of the songs will be different from the show I saw in May, but there’s no way the shows on Aug. 24 and 25 will be any different from each other.
So why, two weeks before the concert am I considering buying additional Britney Spears tickets? Well, obviously, I have a serious problem. That said, let’s look at the shows I’m considering, and why I’m considering each one.
August 26 at Madison Square Garden
A couple weeks ago -- well after I’d purchased my tickets for the first two MSG shows -- they added a third date in New York. I’m really tempted to stay for this show too, especially since ringside seats are still available.
Best seat available: Ringside, Row 1, Seat 2
August 29 at TD Garden (Boston)
If I didn’t feel like staying in New York for another night -- which would also involve taking another day off from work and paying for another night at a hotel -- I could always go to this show in Boston, which would mean a simple drive to the former FleetCenter and back. Plus, I’ve never seen Britney in Boston, despite having lived in New England for most of my life.
Best seat available: Floor, In The Zone SRO
September 27 at Mandalay Bay (Las Vegas)
I already had the experience of seeing the last show on the first leg of the tour, and this is the last show on the tour altogether. Plus, Britney’s Live in Las Vegas DVD was amazing, so I’d love to see her in Vegas.
Best seat available: Floor, In The Zone SRO
Not that I’d ever do this, but if I bought that “best seat available” for all three of those shows, it would cost me close to $1,000. Even I’m not that insane. ... Maybe.
Well, it took 3 trips to the comic shop this week, but I finally got everything I wanted that came out on Wednesday. Here's the wrap-up on the two books I was missing when I did my earlier post.
Amazing Spider-Man #601- Marvel Comics
First off, I need to say I love both of this week's covers. The main cover is a J. Scott Campbell print from SDCC a couple years back, featuring Mary Jane, and it's just awesome. The second cover (pictured here) -- part of Marvel's 70th anniversary line -- is a full body image of Mary Jane, done by John Romita, Sr. Also awesome.
As for the issue itself, this is the kind of story I expected back when "Brand New Day" launched a couple years ago -- just because Peter and MJ weren't married didn't mean she had to completely disappear from the book. In the story, which takes place the day after Aunt May's wedding, Peter is supposed to meet MJ, but he can't remember where or when, and of course, his Spider-Man duties get in the way. In a twist on this classic Spider-Man scenario, Peter actually does remember the details of the date and shows up on time, only to get stood up by MJ, who overslept.
Also, we get official confirmation that MJ knows Peter is Spider-Man, which is one step closer to official confirmation that she remembers her pre-"One More Day" life. Remember, back when Peter was listing off all the people who knew his identity in the last issue, Mary Jane wasn't one of them.
Invincible Iron Man #16- Marvel Comics
Wow, can you believe this is Part 9 of the ongoing "World's Most Wanted" story? Like many reviewers out there, I'm starting to get the sense that this whole thing will read much better as a collected volume, rather than as individual issues that come out on a monthly basis.
That said, I enjoyed this issue. The dialogue between Tony and Madame Masque was written very well -- and it was interesting to see the psychological scars that Masque had developed due to her physical scars, and how she blames Tony for everything.
Still, I'd like to see the main story of this book move a little faster. Not too much, but enough that I don't have to go back and read the last issue every time a new one comes out.
Well, this is only a partial list, because my local comic book shop (Buried Under in Manchester) has been plagued by shipping delays this week. No Spider-Man or Iron Man yet, but here are my thoughts on the books I did get.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep #2 - BOOM! Studios This continues to be a very solid adaptation of Philip K. Dick's novel. Actually "adaptation" isn't really the right word, since it's a word-for-word reprinting. The artwork, done by Steven Dupre, is very well done, and really brings the book to life. Also, they're doing a good job dividing up the text in chunks that make sense, without destroying the narrative. I'm definitely going to stick with this.
Angel #24 - IDW Publishing The ongoing Angel series, which started with After the Fall and is now continuing as "Angel: Aftermath", has struggled with story structure throughout. There was the "First Night" series, which slowed progress in the main story, and the last issue -- which I actually liked -- didn't advance Angel's story at all. Now, in this issue, we get a glimpse of what went on with Drusilla during the Fall. Look, I liked Drusilla as much as any character, but it was her interactions with other characters (particularly Spike, Angel and Darla) that made her great. An issue of Dru, by herself in a prison/asylum, isn't really great. And it moves SO slow. I will give penciller Franco Urru credit for doing such a good job drawing Drusilla (Juliet Landau has very unique facial features that make her hard to draw), but Landau herself didn't do much to bring this story to life (she co-wrote it with Brian Lynch). This issue probably needs the second half of the issue (#25, due out next month) to make a lot of sense. Right now, it just seems to be a lot of set-up, in a series that really could stand to push its main characters forward.
Fallen Angel Reborn #2 - IDW Publishing Peter David continues to do a phenomenal job writing Illyria's dialogue in this crossover story. This issue focuses more on the title character, while also giving enough background to satisfy new readers like me, who don't know much about the character or her world. Plus, Illyria has always been something of a mystery -- "Angel" only touched on her true past, while the "Angel" comics didn't do much to expand on that. So, with a very sparse slate to work with, David does a nice job filling in the blanks to meet his needs for this story. J.K. Woodward's art has been good so far too, really bringing Fallen Angel's home world to life.
Buffy #27 - Dark Horse Comics I have my full review of this issue on AdamReisinger.com, so check it out there. For my quick thoughts (if you're too lazy to click a link), I'll say I liked it. There's some solid story progress, and Jane Espenson did a good job writing Oz.
If I pick up Spider-Man and Iron Man later today, I'll try to post on them tomorrow.
NEXT WEEK The Gunn/Illyria spinoff "Angel: Only Human" debuts next week. We've also got Amazing Spider-Man #602, and hopefully I'll actually have #601 by then. Plus, Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #1 (the reboot of "Ultimate Spider-Man") is scheduled to hit stores. I'm praying it won't suck.
After a long hiatus, I’ve decided to star reviewing the issues of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8” again, in part because I’ve been doing mini-comic reviews on AdamNPooZ.com for the past few weeks. This week brings us issue #27, the second issue of the “Retreat” story arc.
COVER TWO As always, there are two covers to this issue -- the Jo Chen poster-style cover and the Georges Jeanty cover. Disappointingly, for a book called “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, neither cover features Buffy herself. Jeanty gets points here for at least putting Oz on the cover, since he is the primary focus of this issue. Also, I miss when Chen and Jeanty would work the logo into the artwork. I’m not sure if it was a mandate from Dark Horse, or just a creative choice, but over the last few issues, the logo has just been slapped on as an overlay.
THE WRITE STUFF
What I have to keep reminding myself is that these four-part stories are the equivalent of a single episode of Buffy. Remember, we’re on issue 27, and they’re still calling this Season 8. So, with that in mind, this issue actually includes some relatively big plot developments, with Twilight (the main villain of the season) trying to track down Buffy and the slayers, who teleported to Tibet. If you’ve forgotten what happened in the last issue, they’re hanging with Oz, trying to learn how to suppress their magic to stay off Twilight’s radar. I have to admit, I actually like where this story is going, mostly because it’s the first time it seems like the Twilight arc (not to be confused with the world’s shittiest movie/book series, “Twilight”) is moving toward some kind of resolution. Also, Jane Espenson does a great job writing Oz, so she was the right choice to handle this arc.
There’s also a lot of great dialogue about a “spike” in magical activity, and multiple characters respond to this information with just the question “Spike?” like they’re asking about the character. It’s a nice little shout-out from Espenson, since she can’t use Spike himself right now.
THE ART STUFF Jeanty’s style has grown on me, and I’ve gotten used to his character models for Buffy/Willow/Xander, etc, but there’s still something that bothers me, and it’s very noticeable in this issue. When he draws large/distant group scenes, he reverts to this faceless style that just looks weird. I understand that with five or six people in a panel, they can’t look photorealistic, but are eyes and mouths too much to ask? That nit-pick aside, Jeanty does a good job drawing Oz (who I recognized as Oz right away in the last issue -- something I couldn’t say about some of the other characters) and handles the werewolf action scenes very well. I also love the perspective he chose to use on the last image of the book. It’s hard to describe, so I won’t, but I’ll just say I like it (also, there are 16 characters in the shot, and all of them have some form of eyes and mouth, so he shows he can do it).
WHO IS TWILIGHT OK, this issue, again, doesn’t actually reveal that, but over the past few issues, we’ve been able to rule out Riley and Oz. And, let’s be honest, we can rule out Andrew too (I’m still convinced he’s working with Twilight in some way, but it’s obvious he’s not him).
In this issue, Twilight does reveal that he knows Buffy, at least more than just as an adversary. Plus, now that we know Riley is working for Twilight, we have to assume that Twilight is someone Riley would trust. Someone on some forum I read threw out the possibility of Graham, Riley’s former Initiative colleague, and that doesn’t seem too far fetched. I’m not willing to throw all my eggs in the Graham basket right now, but he’s as good a guess as we’ve got so far.
Last week, I introduced my Britney countdown and covered my most-played Britney songs, in advance of attending her show at Madison Square Garden, for which I have ringside seats.
This week, I figured I’d reflect back, on the very first Britney Spears show I attended, way back in 1999 (yes, Britney’s been around for 10 years -- doesn’t that make you feel old?).
When I was cleaning out my basement a few weeks ago, I came across the ticket stub for the first Britney concert I attended (lesson: I need to throw stuff out more often), at Pier Six in Baltimore on Sept. 4, 1999. The cost of the ticket? $25. By comparison, my cheaper seat for the two MSG shows later this month was $154.50 -- and that seat is actually two rows further back than the one from 1999.
Back in ’99, I actually got to “cover” the concert for my school paper, The Towerlight. I was supposed to even get a five-minute interview with Britney, but there was a lack of communication between the label and the people running the tour, so that didn’t happen. Still, I did get to meet her, which, for a college sophomore who hadn’t really met anyone famous before, was pretty cool. Hell, I’ve met tons of famous people since (and no, I’m not gonna name drop) but meeting Britney still ranks among my coolest celebrity encounters.
The amazing thing about the show was how sparse it was compared to her current ones. The opening acts (Boyz N Girlz United, P.Y.T. and Michael Fredo) were nobodies who amounted to nothing. The set was basically just a two-level stage, and there weren’t any full costume changes. The entire concert consisted of 11 songs, only seven of which were actually from the “Baby One More Time” album. It was nothing like what I’ve come to expect from a Britney Spears show (for comparison, check out my videos from her show at Mohegan Sun in May, and look at the overall production... it’s insanely over-the-top).
I’ve actually got about three rolls worth of pictures from the concert that I also came across, and eventually I plan on getting them all scanned in (stupid pre-digital era). For now, you’ll just have to deal with the handful I posted over to the left. Enjoy.
OK, so it's not "this" week anymore, but I figure I should get around to this before the next batch of comics actually comes out.
Ultimatum #5 - Marvel Comics As I mentioned on the podcast, I wasn't a big fan of this story arc in general -- I don't see why Marvel felt the need to reboot their decade-old "Ultimate" universe already, nor why they needed to do it with a massive event that killed off millions of people (including tons of major characters). As the conclusion to this story, this was a solid issue, but it didn't do anything to save the story. In fact, the final page of the issue, in which it's revealed that Magneto may have been manipulated into doing what he did, kind of ruined it for me. I have a hard time believing someone as smart and powerful as Magneto, even as emotional as he can get, would be tricked into doing something.
Also, it's worth noting that after the end of the issue, there's a page that lists all the characters killed off in "Ultimatum". I'm not going to re-print it here, but let's just say if you kill off so many people that you have to dedicate a page to listing them, clearly you've made a bad creative decision.
Ultimatum: Spider-Man Requiem #2 - Marvel Comics Spider-Man went missing early in the "Ultimatum" series, but they still had to print issues of "Ultimate Spider-Man", so the creators of that book did they best they could without affecting the continuity of the larger arc (though I would have been fine if they had chosen to just ignore the larger arc entirely). The second issue of this two-part series follows the same format as the first. There are scenes set at the Daily Bugle, wrapped around a flashback Spider-Man story. The flashback story is pretty cool itself (an encounter with The Hulk), but it's the Bugle scenes that sell the issue. At the end of Ultimate Spider-Man (going back to issues #132 and #133), J. Jonah Jameson personally witnessed Spider-Man's heroism. Now, he's reconsidering his entire stance on Spider-Man, and the writing (done by Brian Michael Bendis) is some of the best ever on Spider-Man. Plus, at the end of the issue, the Ultimates (the Ultimate universe's version of the Avengers) find Spider-Man, and we see him open his eyes. Of course, given that they're already soliciting the next batch of issues, savvy readers knew they weren't killing Spider-Man, but it was nice to get that confirmation in this issue. Bendis and artists Mark Bagley and Stuart Immonen deserve credit for putting out two solid issues while dealing with the larger crap going on at Marvel.
NEXT WEEK: Which is actually tomorrow, there's a pretty full slate. Preliminarily, it looks like I'll be picking up Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep #2, Buffy #27, Angel #24, Fallen Angel Reborn #2, Amazing Spider-Man #601 and Invincible Iron Man #16. PooZ will continue to wish DC hadn't fucked up Batman.
I’m still working on the latest issue of “The Covington Curse” -- another two-parter that I’m condensing to one issue -- but in the meantime, I figured I’d post some things about the series. This isn’t really an FAQ, but this does answer some questions people have asked me about the stories/characters/etc.
First off, the name. Yes, it was originally, “Internal Damnation”, but I’ve since changed it. I was never a big fan of the name, which PooZ and I came up with about three years ago, when I first came up with the idea for the series. In the time since then, the name has since been used for something else, so I decided to change it. I’m still not happy with the name, but, honestly, the name isn’t a big deal.
As for how I came up with the idea, well, I wish I could say it was the result of grand planning, but really, it just sort of came to me one day, and I started spitballing stuff to develop the characters as I wrote. It wasn’t until I was about five or six issues in that I really sat down and started fleshing out the whole curse, the story behind it, and the backgrounds for all the characters. Now I’ve got full character stories written for each of the four main characters (yes, there are four, including someone you won’t meet for a couple more issues) as well as a complete timeline so I can keep events straight.
Right now, the three main characters of the series are Jackson Jennings, Kristen Meadows and Carolyn Nicols (and, yes, I frequently have to remind myself that Meadows’s first name is “Kristen” and not “Kristin”, and that Carolyn’s last name is spelled “Nicols” and not “Nichols”). Jackson, as of the time of these early issues (which are taking place in the summer of 2008), is just short of his 25th birthday. Meadows is 24 and Carolyn is 23. All three of them attended college briefly (Jackson and Meadows went to USC, Carolyn went to Miami) but none of them got anywhere close to finishing.
As for Jackson’s background -- and relation to the curse -- he was born and raised in California. His mother was Gwendolyn Jennings, though she’d been born Anna Covington. She was given up for adoption at birth, hoping to break the Covington Curse. Unfortunately, her subsequent adoption and name change didn’t break the curse, and she died giving birth to Jackson. Jackson’s father, Jeremy, died one month after his 18th birthday -- the birthday that triggered the curse in Jackson.
I’ve made mention of Jackson’s football background a few times. He was a top high school player (I’ve never made specific reference to how good he was, but I’d imagine he was one of the top 25 recruits in the nation) and signed with USC to play wide receiver. The curse kicked in just before his college debut, and he suffered severe injuries to both knees in his first college game (think Wendell Davis crossed with Shaun Livingston). Jackson’s football background will come into play more in the second “season”.
I’d go into the backgrounds of Meadows and Carolyn more here, but I want to let them develop in the issues. As for the “season” structure of the issues, you have to remember, this was originally planned as a comic book, so each year would have 13 issues (12 regular issues, plus an “annual”). I’d written all of Year 1, and about half of Year 2, before I stopped. In both cases, the year ended with a four-part series, which I plan on releasing as one story on this site. As for Year 3, if I ever get to it, I had the idea for the main story arc, but hadn’t really broken it down to individual issues, so if I get to that point, Year 3 will be one long story (though some chapters will have a stand-alone feel to them).
OK, enough exposition for now. I hope to have the next issue -- Kissing Daylight -- done for you by this time next week. Also, if PooZ gets me more character sketches (he is working on them), you’ll actually get to see what I envisioned these characters looking like.
