I often wish...

...that my "To Do" lists were more like some of these. (I like to believe Kat's are like that...)

This is one of those days I don't really have anything I feel I need to say (or nothing I feel I need to say that I suspect anyone wants to read... I mean, really, how long a continuous transliteration of a scream do I want to type anyhow?)

So in order to keep with my "can I post to the blog for a week straight?" challenge -- oh, yeah, that's what I'm doing, BTW, but I figured if I expounded upon that concept at great length I'd post once and that would be it... Let's see if I've gone and cursed myself now that I've said something...

Anyway, in order to keep up with the plan, I guess I'll just be sharing some random things that made me smile-to-laugh (somewhere along that continuum, anyway):

• A new webcomic (well, not new, but new to me) -- mostly for Jado, because he likeys the webcomics...
• The comic geniuses at the Reduced Shakespeare Company did a video for Sky1 TV (in the UK) and reduced the entirety of LOST (I think up to the last season). Enjoy. If you've never had the good fortune to see the RSC, well, local folks, they're playing the Kennedy Center for about 2-3 weeks starting next week I think. Go. You can thank me later.

Well, that's about it. They can't all be brilliant...

I'm counting this as Monday...

...for my purposes...

This is a cute quiz about TV/comic book villains. There doesn't seem to be a way to embed it here, so I'll simply tell you that I missed five (5). A tip: don't list the villain's sidekick (like Calamity Jan... no, that's not a typo). Good luck.

If you want to read about ACTUAL villains that make me so angry I think the vein is going to spring out of my forehead, we also have this.

Now I'm going to bed. Blech.

Why am I up this early on a Saturday?!

Why NYCC, of course! Saturday is likely to prove a BUSY day, since they announced last night that the Saturday and Weekend passes are already sold out (supposedly for the first time, but I thought the same thing happened last year...) Saturday is usually the "anchor day" around which they center a lot of the "name" guests. And finally, since we know we have to trek across the river and have dinner in NJ tonight with my family, it's going to be a long day... But before we get to the joys of Saturday, let's talk Friday...

* * *

As you may have already read, I was felled by a migraine last night, and MLW was kind enough to post a guest post for y'all. However, as she pointed out, I wanted to include slightly more detail than "JAM is nauseous," so...

Friday, Part 1:

The Con is for "professionals" (read: industry and retail) people only for the first half of the first day. So we knew we couldn't get in until 1 pm. So what do two people in New York City do when they have an entire half day to work with? Well, if those two people are MLW and myself, you sleep in, of course!

Whoops! MLW is giving me the "Come on, YOU're making us late!" look (I know it well, because I always am). I'll have to continue this later. (Yeah, yeah, I know... I tell a mean story...)

NYCC First Day

Well, Jonathan had grand plans to blog and link and go nuts. Instead he decided to have a migraine and almost puke on me over dinner.
Here's a giant bobble head instead.
-Jennifer

Bill Cosby was right...

...kids do say the darndest things and all that...

The following is an actual conversation between a dear friend of mine and her seven year old daughter...

7 year old [quite out of the blue]: My greatest fear is that I might lose someone close to me.

Her Mom [thoughtfully]: Aww... Mine too, sweetie. Mine too.

JAM [walking through the room thinks]: Wow, that's really insightful for such a young...

7 year old: My second is spiders.

* * *

In other news, coming soon, well, now, actually, the first in our multi-part series from this year's New York Comic Con (the 4th annual, but technically it has a complex history, so really it's the 4th annual under the present show organizers). We've come the past three years (thus missing the alleged riot in Year One), and every year I say I should blog about it. And every year it either takes me two months to get to it (when MLW finally uploads the photos) or I never even mention it.

So this year, I brought my laptop (I'm sure I've done that other years too) and MLW brought the stuff that connects the camera to it. And I'll be blogging about it every night. (I know, I know, you can hardly wait... or care...)

Today was the trip up, and with only minor problems with our girl Jane (that's the voice we use on the GPS) and a later start than I would have liked due to work not being able to not talk to me, it was largely an uneventful trip up. Even Delaware ("the delay state") wasn't a big deal. Granted I would have liked a longer nap, but it's also always nice to talk to MLW without there being any distracting TV's...

The only downside was that with a late start and with the traffic we ran into once we were in the City (which was nothing to report by NYC standards...) by the time we got to the hotel (the world-famous New Yorker) it was already too late to go to the "pre-show party" at the local Dave & Buster's. Ah, well, that's showbiz, I guess.

I did learn, as I was checking in, that the Westminster Kennel Club dog show is happening on Monday and Tuesday, and apparently the days before are made up of meetings, lectures, training sessions, etc. I suddenly realized half of the tiny bags I was seeing in the lobby were full of dogs. (As are many of the rooms. While the lobby seems to have been a no barking zone, I'm a tad concerned about the neighbors...) I met a nice woman from Dublin (by way of Florida apparently) who had some sort of terrier (I didn't hear which kind and there are like a million) and a couple from Nevada who had a... smooth-coated Chihuahua (?) -- all I know is the guy whipped out his cellphone faster than lightning and started showing me pictures of dogs and puppies. I admired politely, and hoped I don't sound too much like him when I talk about the O'Mazur Pride...

Anyway, then we hit the Tick-Tock diner for dinner (it was after 9...) and well, now we're back here in our tiny, tiny room (I'm sure in the 30's they were huge) and MLW is flipping channels to beat the band... Tomorrow is a slow start, because the con doesn't let in civilians (non-professionals) until the afternoon (the morning is just for industry people).

More to follow... (this time for real!)

So Cousin Zach...

...might have a future in opera...

We babysat for the second time in his life and well, I think it was... um... well, actually jury's still out on whether it was "better" or "worse." The first time, Zach screamed for half an hour and then MLW picked him up, he fell asleep, and stayed that way until his parents came to claim him (fun side note: the power went out about an hour later, so we had no choice but to literally watch him sleep after that...)

This time, he started crying three minutes after he realized his parents weren't in the room (they were at the Bon Jovi concert). By comparison, it was more crying than screaming (maybe his voice changed and he can't hit the high notes any more?) He continued for about and hour and a half, and then MLW picked him up and, you guessed it; he fell asleep.

I just wind up feeling like we're lousy babysitters... nothing we do seems to help. Toys, TV, reading to him, food... hell, I even enlisted Loki to help at one point (and he tried). Ah, well, maybe it's the separation anxiety phase he's in.

* * *

In other news, an awesome new Iron Man Trailer brought to my attention by MLW.

* * *

And a way overdue addition to the links over on the side. OriginalWeb's blog, which is updated far more frequently, and is much more amusing than mine. Also, more talk of squirrels on average...

* * *

And finally, some ret-con posts that have been sitting around waiting for me to finish them. So if you want to step back in time a couple of weeks, you can hear me yappin' about something and whining about something else. Also, stayed tuned, as we'll shortly be having more info on the whole "stuff stolen from luggage" story...

Watching the Super-Bowl (Ads)...

...(and the Super-Bowl, too) because, really what else is there to do on Super-Bowl Sunday...?

Publish something back in time?

We spent sometime yesterday at Cousin Zach's 1st birthday party (his actual birthday isn't until over a week from now, but he didn't seem to mind getting the presents early... another thing we have in common...) Pictures forthcoming, I presume...

Let's see, I think there's a bunch of stuff I've had lying around...

I could have told them this one...

* * *

Apparently, Iron Man fans have lots of time on their hands... 'Course, I understand the movie is making people pretty excited.

* * *

Think about the future, why don'tcha?

And while you're wondering how quickly technology insinuates itself into our lives, you might want to check out this year's Beloit College Mindset list. For those of you unfamiliar with that, here's the explanation page. (It's also very good if you need to feel old...)

* * *

Then there's this:

17

More to come, I imagine...

This is totally awesome!

The first "official" Iron Man trailer to hit the web. (I caution you, it took me five tries to get it to download correctly, but I think that has more to say about the network at work than it does about anything else...)

But it is WAY cool. Check it out.

My work here is done...

So I get the following email from a dear, feline ninja friend of mine. It is completely true as I understand it. No names have been changed to protect anyone. And it brings a ridiculously huge smile to my face every time I read it:

Date: Sat, 21 Jul 2007 21:37:27 -0700 (PDT)
From: Ninja El Gato
Subject: It's CLOBBERIN' TIME!
To: Jonathan Mazur

Good GRIEF, what have you DONE to my CHILDREN!
Fantastic 4 this, Fantastic 4 that, I spend my days as
Reid [sic] Richards to Sammi's Sue, with Quinn alternating
between Ben and Johnny Storm....  sometimes I get to
be the Thing, but Quinn usually claims that role.  A
few weeks ago they spent the day with the team emblem
on their chests, done with face paint.  I feel like an
underpaid actor. (But it's all good!  S calls our
family the Fantastic 4.)  It's all they ask for to
watch right now.  Although has asked for her own
Spider-Man costume...  Quinn's loathe to share, it's
still his favorite.

Got yer message (oops, now I'm typing like Ben talks),
sorry I haven't called yet (and sorry to hear about
your voice, I hope you've reclaimed it!), finding
phone time remains a challenge.  

Sincerely,

Mr. Fantastic

I seriously cannot tell you how funny I found the first line.

Comic books... capturing children's imagination since 1939...

(Granted, some people think it's "corrupting the morals of youth," but I think we know that those people are idiots...)

So happy to be passing on the fun to future generations. And now waiting for JADO's and my cousin's kids to be old enough.

* * *

So much other stuff to report. Perhaps when I have more time...

Do you think if I chase myself...

...long enough, I can ever actually catch up?

So, lots and lots of stuff -- nothing super-exciting, but if I don't post I'll never be able to close all these open browser tabs! (Damn you Firefox for your tabbed browsing efficiency!)

SQ sent my this piece on the new Speed Racer movie.

In Japan, the Army is poised to attack... um... wild animals, apparently.

I don't even remember who sent me this article on the proposed Avengers movie (for the record, I can't imagine how that would work), but conceptually it's a neat idea.

More info and photos on our trip to Wizard World Philly coming shortly. Also, maybe some complaining about having to move my cube at work...

Two weeks behind...

...(at least) on seemingly everything. Hell, that may just be my epitaph... All I can say is, work is keeping me super-busy. Don't really know why, exactly... doesn't seem to be one thing I can point to, just seem to be busy all the time. (Truly, it's a struggle to get to the gym or read.) It's not "bad busy" but it doesn't leave time for much else.

Anyway, at the risk of giving up my lunch or getting further behind in my email, here's at least two weeks worth of bloggables at once...

So it turns out that French and Austrian scientists (who apparently decided, you know, that all the rest of our problems had already been solved) were studying animals, and learned that petting them reduced their stress as well as our own. So score one for, um, science?

My mom sent me this piece like back at the end of February (Did I say two weeks behind? Clearly I meant months. Make that three. Months.) -- some sort of in memoriam of Mr. Rogers. Utterly random, but worth reading, I thought (presuming, of course, you can since it's in the Bergen Record, which probably requires registration...)

Here's a really cool site (and when I say "really cool" I realize, OriginalWebb, that not everyone will agree with me...) that debunks or sets straight many comic book urban legends. Didn't know their WERE comic book urban legends? Me neither. But I found out I believed some of them, and so this site helped me learn the truth.

For local folks, I found the Virginia Renaissance Festival (we always hear about the Maryland one which starts around August and runs through late October, but never a VA one), which sounds interesting. Maybe we'll go if it doesn't get too hot... They do have a Pirate weekend... (Arr!)

And speaking of pirates (see what I did there?), I have YET ANOTHER bone to pick with my high school Guidance Department -- NO ONE ever told me "professional treasure hunter" was a viable job choice! How cool would that be?! Answer: pretty damn cool. And apparently profitable!

What else is up? Saw Spiderman 3... I'm sure at some point I'll have an interesting conversation with JADO about that. Um... I'm not sure that's there's any other news of excitement. Oh, other than the murder up on the next street. (MDFA's parents don't read this blog, right?)

Back to work now. Thanks for reading...

I don't want to spoil it...

...or otherwise prejudice people, so I'll just say this about Spiderman 3*...

• Bruce Campbell rules!
• The redhead works as a blonde
• Yes, there's a lot going on
• Toby Maguire (and for that matter, every other young actor in Hollywood) needs to learn if you're playing a superhero, people want to see the superhero, NOT the superhero with his mask off (or half off or three quarters off or whatever). It's getting weak, Toby.

Thank you. We now return you to your regularly scheduled work day...

*=What? No, I didn't leave the office for 3 hours with 3 coworkers to go see a movie across the street... That would be wrong. (Actually, no it wouldn't. It would be fun. Charging the customer for it would be wrong, and I'm not going to do that.)

I wanted to quickly...

...acknowledge both the premiere of Spiderman 3 and the fact that tomorrow (May 5) in addition to being Cinco de Mayo is also Free Comic Book Day! I know I've already mentioned that it's Spiderman week in New York.

So I figured I'd give you this link to Marvel's page summarizing the history of the conflict between Spiderman and the Green Goblin and also the link to the current Rotten Tomatoes on the new film (because I know if one film is dependent on good reviews for success, it's this one...)

So get out there, get some free comics, and see Spidey numero tres, because Hollywood needs the money...

Turns out...

...Kryptonite is our Kryptonite...

Who knew?

Oh. Yeah, that's right...

True Story...

So the CEO of my company (who works right down the hall from my cube) comes by just as I'm about to step away for a second. This is not uncommon, as my cube is across the hall from three (count 'em, three...) Vice Presidents' offices. But he's not making direct eye contact, so I'm not sure if it's me he's talking to when he suddenly says, "So have you heard about this latest travesty?" And I glance to my left, not seeing anyone more important than myself that the comment could have been directed at. And I look past him, to see if there was someone right behind him that he might have been addressing; nope. So, concluding that he must be talking to me, I said, "Uhhhh...." (or words of a similar bend, displaying my mental acuity and speed of cognition).

To which he replies, "I really want to know who even thinks of this stuff?" And at this point, I'm beginning to get concerned, because it's not like some of my projects haven't had their little problems, and it's not that big a company that the CEO couldn't know this or have been called by an irate client. And I believe my follow up was, "Um, I'm sorry, I'm not sure..."

To which, he finally replies, somewhat vexed, "Did you hear that they are making a Spiderman MUSICAL?" (Cue, JAM mentally yelling "Whew!" and figuratively wiping his brow...)

"Heh. Oh, yeah, Paul, I think I did read something about that... It didn't work for Superman, either."

"Unbelievable."

"Say, Paul, we are going to get the afternoon of May 3rd off, right? To see Spiderman 3?"

Now it was his turn to look uncomfortable....

For those of you who demanded it!

Apparently they're going ahead with that Green Arrow in Prison Movie... according to Wizard. Put me down for a "Wha....?"

Mark your calendars...

Just saw this article from the AP saying that Spiderman 3 was going to be premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in Queens, NY (see, Peter Parker is from Queens... get it?) And apparently this event kicks off a week long Spiderman Week in NYC event. Kudos to Marvel for pulling this one off (though don't think it means I've forgotten about that Captain America thing...)

* * *

Incidentally, for those who asked, I'm waiting for MLW to get the photos of the plumbing episode and the NYCC uploaded to her Fliker site, before I begin those particular photo essays...

SHA....ker of salt

Both IMDB and Wizard Magazine are repeating a story from the NY Daily News (you gotta scroll down a bit) saying that the studios are considering Jake Gyllenhaal for the lead in a new franchise based on DC's Captain Marvel (who says "SHAZAM!" to transform... but the character names are often confused due to the long, storied, and confusing history of the character).

These things tend to have absolutely no substance when examined (witness the number of people "cast" as Wonder Woman, the new Superman, etc., etc.) but since SQ was nice enough to bring it to my attention, I figured I'd share.

And now back to work....

'Nuff said?

New Fantastic Four TV Commercial/Trailer.

New news on the (upcoming) Iron Man movie.

And as some of you may have seen during HEROES at some point (I'm so far behind it's not funny...) the 7+ minutes from Spiderman 3!

I had thought about giving you a rant on the whole Death of Captain America thing, but then I figured, why bother when this guy has more or less summed up my thoughts, and regardless of those thoughts, Marvel (Make Mine Money!) will continue to capitalize on it. (It's what they do now.)

Photo posts still coming soon...

Plumbing and Comics

WAY too much going on these past few weeks with no particular sign of an ebb any time soon. The Readers' Digest version (with promise of more later)...

On plumbing/home repairs -- I think it's covered very simply by Mazur's 15th Law: Nothing Can Ever Be Simple... But it's nice to have hot water again.

On the NY Comic Con -- Wow. Just wow. Oh, also, NYC is freakin' expensive. And cold. Very, very cold. Also, Gary Coleman is an angry, angry little man...

More on both (with photos!) to follow.