Google Video Gets My Thumbs Up!

For this video alone, Google Video has shown its value to me.

'nuff said

CVS/pharmacy - Expect something extra annoying

I've had an increasingly negative view towards CVS pharmacies & drugstores. First off I hate the fact that they are just about everywhere around here. Aside from the occasional Rite Aid or Walgreens, the DC Metro landscape is littered with CVS stores. Heck, they are more abundant then Starbucks it seems. So basically they are the immediate "go to" option for health & hygene products, which frustrates me greatly.

One of things that has constantly bothered me about CVS, is the lack of consistency in their store layout. From the store to store, different kinds of products end up in different parts of the store. When you walk into other stores, usually you can automatically figure out where things are. Walmart or Target for example, it's an automatic process to find clothes or shampoo. All the stores are basically the same. Not with CVS. Just a couple weekends ago I'd bought some earplugs for my Lady to wear at the concert we were going to that evening. I found them next to eye care products in that particular store. However while we were on the road to the concert, my wife found out that she had in fact forgotten the earplugs. No problem, I'll just swing into one of the many CVS stores and pick up another pair. I roamed around forever trying to find those things, of course they weren't in the same spot or even paired with the same items. I finally asked an employee for help and he lead me to the far dark corner of the store in an area where the flurorescent light tube had blown out and showed me a little half shelf of ear products. This reveal was then paired with an "Yeah see their right here", like this was such an obvious location and I was idiot for missing it.

NUMBER TWO problem with CVS: Paying for items at a CVS is always painful. The lines are always slow, because their little card readers have to have the slowest network connection out of any retail establishment. It takes forever for them to process a purchase. Adding to this tension of a long wait is the nebulous rules regarding line formation. At some CVS stores there are 2 or 3 lines, one for each individual cashier while at others there is ONE big line sometimes stretching well back into the store. Now things really get tense when some tries to get around the system of the ONE big line by paying for their things at the Photo counter. I've seen more than one argurement erupt over that maneuver.

CVS just never operates like other places, it just boggles my mind and frustrates me because its come to the point we really don't have much of a choice around here.
They have such weird policies at CVS too. I bought a Starbucks gift card there for someone's birthday, and when I went to pay for it with my credit card I was told I had could only pay cash. I've bought gift cards and gift certificates for many years. I've NEVER been told I HAD to pay cash for the gift card. They are just so bizarre.

I don't have a clever finish for this entry. I could go on for days about other little experiences I've had at CVS but I've already eaten up plenty of time and page space as it is. I can't believe I'm the only one that feels like this towards this company's stores though. They suck to badly for me to be alone in feeling this way.

Lewis Black at UMBC

Lewis Black
Originally uploaded by lloydpier1.

Last Saturday the wife and I had a chance to see Lewis Black at the UMBC Fieldhouse. He was there as part of the campus Homecoming activities. Since I happen to be an alumn of the University of MD, Balt. County I got a little knocked off the ticket price. So hey, a half-price show is always a good thing in my book. I like Lewis, he's a funny guy and though I don't always agree with the guy but I find him intelligent, talented and funny as hell.

Of course, the evening this show takes place, it is raining like gangbusters. The rain really throws off time estimations for travel. Getting to Catonsville from our house shouldn't be more than a 40 min ride at the most. But because of the rain it was anyone's guess on when we'd get there.

Now I am fine driving in the rain. The delay doesn't come from some difficulty I have in driving on wet roads. It's not a biggie to me, I'll keep trucking on and just be sure to give some decent braking space between me and my fellow motorists. No the problem comes from the fact that nobody else is this burg can drive in the rain. I swear, even the slightest drizzle results in grid lock for the DC/MD/VA area. It boggles my mind and always frustrates me. Because there isn't a reason for the slow down! So the rain added about 20-30 minutes to the drive. All I was thinking, was that we wouldn't find parking and the place would be jammed.

I was half right, I found a parking spot really quick, no problem there. But the Field House was packed! They oversold the show, so people including the two of us, had to sit on the floor or stand to see the show. Not very comfortable...it made my temper a little short especially when we had to sit through the first two warm-up acts both of which sucked.

When Lewis finally came on stage though things were good. He was hilarious, despite dealing with a bit of allergies. He did some of his regular stand-up and also did some relatibles about the area since he grew up in MD. All in all a good show.

And thankfully the ride home was better.

What Science Fiction Character Are You?

Hmmm I dunno if that test is accurate, what do you think?

I can now go back to New Orleans

Cafe Du Monde has reopened today in New Orleans. When in New Orleans the mornings spent at this cafe are my most contented moments in my travels. Sitting down at Cafe Du Monde on an autumn day enjoying a nice breeze, eating beignets with a cup of coffee, and listening to one of the street musicians playing jazz standards, it's just a great moment of bliss that everyone should experience once. Glad to see they are back in business.

Chocolate Day!!

Lord please give me strength. I've almost made it through the day and it's been so difficult. In my new office there is quite a community spirt, which is great. I mean we have celebrations for birthdays, showers for weddings and parents-to-be, and special office luncheons & activities. It's fantastic fun and really bring the different departments together.

Today's activity or theme is Chocolate Day. People throughout the office have brought in homemade and store bought chocolate candies, confections, cakes and assorted pastries. Every time I go into the break room to either check mail or get a diet soda I'm bombarded with the sight and heavenly smell of a conference table overflowing with chocolatety goodness. I mean there are things I haven't ever seen before sitting side by side with old friends like brownies or Krispy Kreme glazed devils food donuts.

I guess I'll have my big fun when we have Salad Day.

Infinite Crisis #1

Infinite Crisis #1
Originally uploaded by lloydpier1.

Wow! Last week offered up more big things from DC Comics. The summer mini-series have all peaked leading up to this fall's biggest comic book event Infinite Crisis. With the DC Universe's heroes split due to distrust and the villians now united under the new Society formed by Lex Luthor things are going from bad to worse on Earth.

Beyond the planet Earth things aren't going much better. The galaxy has erupted in war with more and more races & planets joining the battle. And on the mystical plane The Spectre is wreaking havoc
on the DC Universe's magical set.

Basically there is total chaos in
DC Comic land. And from this chaos the company plans on creating some new order, possibly cleaning up continuity mistakes made in past "clean-up" efforts. If anyone is qualified to handle this task, Geoff Johns is the writer with the skills to do it. He smoothly brought back Hal Jordan as the Green Lantern and he's shown repeatedly in his stints on other titles that he has a firm grasp on DC Comics complex history and large stable of characters. Phil Jimenez is also an excellent choice for an artist on this mini-series. A storyline such as this requires an artist who is able to competently draw numerous characters without sacrificing art quality or other details in the panel. Jimenez is part of an elite class of artists who is capable of doing a series such as this.

I'm not going to go into the very deep background surrounding this mini series which really goes back decades. Newsarama did an excellent job of that. I will give my personal views on the details of the story. It was tough seeing the Freedom Fighters basically killed off. I've had a soft spot for this group of heroes, because they always seemed so odd to me. They were never really strong enough to hold their own title that successfully, but they were cool to have on the fringes of the DCU.

The return of the Original Superman at the end of the book was a major fanboy moment. One I didn't even predict happening. His return, even if its temporary softens the blow of so many of my favored characters being murdered in the lead up to this issue and through this issue. Now if you are asking what does he mean original Superman? Who the heck are the Freedom Fighters? I can answer those questions in the comments, for those who will actually ask the questions.

In the meantime please check out the Newsarama article on the series events, its a good read. And is one of the more clear explanations of the entire lead up. A lot clearer then I could ever do, that is for sure.

Most of my comic book reviews so far have basically been a total lovefest for DC Comics. My tastes are more varied then that and I'll touch upon other publishers titles & characters as well in upcoming reviews. It's just lately DC Comics has been the most noteworthy.

FOO FIGHTERS ROCKED DC

This is just seems to be my year for rock shows. A couple months ago I had the privilege of seeing my sister's band, Glitch. And last night I had the opportunity to see the Foo Fighters in Washington, DC at the Nightclub 9:30(or the 9:30 Club which is what everyone I know calls the place) This was a very short notice, secret, show for the fans that was announced only via e-mail. My wife with her nimble web browsing abilities swiftly surfed to the club's site at the magic hour and scored two of these golden tickets. My brother also got in, so we all met outside of the club and hung out before the show. Made for a good evening.

The Foo Fighters were in great form last night. Dave Grohl, for those who don't know, grew up in the DC Metro area so this was a really a special hometown concert for him. It was reflected in the way he and band played. They really were just having fun up on the stage, they totally abandoned the set list they'd been playing on their current "In Your Honor" tour with Weezer. Since they had more time then the alotted 120 minutes allowed them on tour they stretched back into the archives playing songs they haven't played live in years. Fantastic renditions of Monkeywrench, Everlong, My Hero, Best of You and just about any fan favorite song from their past and present albums.

It was one of the best rock shows I'd ever been to. This isn't one where they band just phoned it in, they genuinely enjoyed playing in the club as opposed to the large stadium venues they've been playing on their tour. Plus the 9:30 club has to be the best place to have a show. The sound system is incredible and the club staff was fantastic. It really made for a fantastic evening.

Going to a Sunday show made getting out of bed this morning for work a little tough and my hearing still hasn't completely returned...but it was soooo worth it! Here is my bro's recap of the evening, fills in many details that I left out

Fighting the Fat Man

Like many others in the USA, I've had to deal with weight gain issues. A couple years ago I got pretty hefty. Due to health issues with my wife, the two us decided to radically change the way we eat. So we've been on a kind of Southbeach kick for the past year or so. It's pretty easy to stick to after the initial strict six months I lost about two pants sizes. Through maintenance periods such as now, I've gained and lost here and there. But I've stayed down around my new weight range.

But like they say once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic. I think the same is true with eating, once a fat guy always a fat guy. Sure I might have gotten my weight down (I'm still hardly at a perfect weight) and I eat a lot better. Inside me though is still that fat guy whose voice has been getting louder and louder. The dude is getting cranky in there. Sweets and pastries are a weakness for me. I love the cakes, I love the donuts and I especially love a good Apple/Raisin fritter. The fritters are the toughest to resist for me, and wouldn't it just be the way that they are popping up everywhere. Grocery stores sell them, Krispy Kreme just started offering them, and so does Starbucks. I must mention, that a Krispy Kreme and Starbucks are right across the street from my office. Talk about temptation.

I keep telling myself it's not worth it, gotta be strong. But its feeling like a losing battle. I won't lie, I've eaten the fritters here and there. Fortunately Starbucks doesn't always stock them every day. Thank God... Doesn't make the fat man happy though.

Aardman Animations Warehouse Burns Down

Horrible news in the world of animation and entertainment today. Academy Award winning studio Aardman Animations, the creators of Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run and other stop-motion animation TV shows and short films have been dealt a terrible blow. Their warehouse, which contained practically the entire history of the animation group, has burned to the ground.

According to the reports all of the sets and props from their past features and shorts have been lost with the exception of their most recent Wallace & Gromit feature film.

See the CNN article in the heading link for details.

Thin Comic Book week

I'm trying to get into the habit of a comic book review each week. Wouldn't just be my luck that the second week in on this routine that I come up against a "thin week" basically a week where there wasn't much tickling my fancy or worth spending my dough on when I had plenty to read at home.

But then it hit me, what a great time to bring up all things I have to read here at home, specifically trade paperback comic series collections. All of the major publishers are finding a great deal of revenue in redistributing their comic series story arcs as tradepaper backs. Really its a win-win proposition. For the readers we get the whole story collected at a reduced cost compared to buying the series month to month. For the publishers the tradepaper backs are an easier sell to the major bookstore chains and online book sellers giving wider exposure for their products.

Two stand-outs that I'll discuss a bit today are vastly different from one another but very much equal in their quality and respect for the artists who came before them in their handling of the characters.

First among the trade paperbacks are the collections of the first issues in Dark Horse Comics Conan the Barbarian series. I will be the first to admit, I was never a big Conan fan. I never bashed the character, I respected Robert Howard's place as a pulp writer and Conan's stature as pop cult hero, but the character was never my thing. That has totally changed with the Dark Horse series, I haven't missed an issue since number one. Kurt Busiek has taken a great deal of care in retelling the original Robert Howard stories. Busiek's Conan more then just a muscle man with a sword, he's crafty and a quick learner as well as a warrior. The way Busiek has organized the stories we really see the character of Conan develop as he's exposed to more and more of the world including "civilization" in the larger cities of his world.

Cary Nord's line work married with the lush, painted coloring style of Dave Stewart really makes each of the stories a new classic. Busiek and Nord are both winners of last years Eisner Awards and anyone regardless of their knowledge of comic books will recognize the quality and attention they have given this character. They've really breathed life into this property. I can't recommend these trade paperbacks enough. Currently there are two volumes collecting the issues up to #14. Even if you aren't a Conan fan, they are worth a peek.

Dark Horse has always had a tradition of bringing new life to sleeping properties, The Terminator, Aliens and Predator all can give a nod to Dark Horse for reviving a level of interest in these properties. Dark Horse has also done a great job currently with their Star Wars license both in movie adaptions and original storylines.

My second recommendation for a collection of stories about another classic comic character, Scrooge McDuck. Okay take a moment, I know your head is spinning with that sharp turn to a totally different genre of comic books. The specific TPB that I'm referring to is The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck written & drawn by Don Rosa. This a collection of storylines from the early 1990's detailing the rise of Scrooge McDuck as he gained his fortune. Don Rosa's love for the character really comes through. He also does his homework fleshing out bits of hints from Scrooge's past that were touched upon by his creator the late Carl Barks. Don Rosa is a worthy successor to Barks. He provides a great level of detail to his artwork and offers a good amount of humor found both in the dialogue and in the sight gags he's drawn in.

Scrooge's rise also coincides with the maturing of America as a nation, something that is fun to read especially when done well. Rosa pays close attention to dress styles of the different periods, even those these fashions are being worn by ducks and dogs. I'm actually still in the middle of reading this book and so far I'm loving it. It's been years since I've read any Disney comics and now I'm already tempted to buy some more. If you are someone who enjoyed the old "Duck Tales" cartoon then these Scrooge books are worth your attention. Those adventures and storylines used in that cartoon found a great deal of their inspiration from these comics.

I have a soft spot for Disney comic books. I'm actually a bigger fan of many of the comic book stories then I am of the animated features. When I was a kid, the grand adventures of Uncle Scrooge, along with Donald, Huey, Dewey, & Louie were always fun reads. When I lived in Germany the German language paperback collections of the Disney comics were easy to find and pretty cheap to own. Reading those books helped me a great deal in learning the language.

Again I have to commend the publisher, in this case Gemstone who are based somewhat locally to me in Timonium, MD. They've done an excellent service in bringing these Disney stories both new and old together with high quality materials and printing processes. They've also continued to bring on talented artists who don't dumb down their artwork even though these are "kiddie comics".

There are so many more quality books out there and I'll fill you in on them as time goes on. If there are any specific characters or publishers you'd like me to cover please let me know. Or if there are any titles you think I should check out, I'm always open to recommendations.

My Day in the Toilet

Whatta week true believers, whatta week. It just seemed to blow by. Work has been busy and I barely seem to have the time I want when I get home.

Many highs and lows this week, as the title alludes this entry will be about my lowest point in the week. When my day was quite literally in the toilet.

My Monday or Tuesday morning, I can't remember started with me waking up quite refreshed, taking a good long shower, shave, playing with the dogs. The usual routine. My wife has earlier hours than I do so she was gone for a couple hours by the time I was ready for work. In my current job I have to dress in business clothes, so it's the whole nine yards with slacks, button down shirt, tie, etc. Anyway I was particularly happy with the little ensemble I'd put together felt good and looked good, said good-bye to my dogs and walked down to the first level of my townhouse to leave for work.

WELL when I came off the bottom stair my foot hit water. My first floor foyer was a big puddle of water... Shock, dismay and then disgust were the emotions I felt when I realized the water was coming from the toilet in the powder room by our front door. Ugh!

Now I will keep the language clean, I try to keep my blog one that the whole family can read if they so please. I've saved all of you gentle readers the many expletives and curses that streamed through my mouth. As I grew later and later for work trying to mop up the incredible mess of brown colored water, soggy toilet paper and the worst of all doodie, doo doo and poo. All effects of my shower wore off as I was mired in this sewage. When I ran upstairs to grab more of my super absorbant towels, I heard a rush of water which made my blood run cold. I thought "Oh no...not more water!" I ran back to find that all the water in the bowl had rushed back down the drain as if were sucked out in some sort of super flush.

As great as that was I was still standing in a shallow pool of murky, nasty water. My towels cleaned it up well enough so that I was sure no more water would damage the house. After cleaning up a bit and getting dressed again I raced to work. On the way out I notice large puddles outside my house. Apparently there was quite a bit of the water just flowing out of the house from under the door...that must have been wild for the kids to see on the way to school.

That evening I did major scrub down of the area bleach, vinegar, Lysol all my weapons of choice were present in a hope of erasing the horrors that had been wrought that morning. After a bit of research and consulation, I've come to the conclusion that our main drain pipe for the house had a blockage. So with the water having no way to exit our house it took the next available exit point..specifically our first floor toilet.

Everything is fine now though, no repeat of the incident at all this week. I found a bio-enzyme pipe cleaner that I'll be using to maintain things... but ugh. I hope this never happens again. I have to give a "shout out" to the good people at Fuller Brush, I can't give them enough praise. Their super absorbant towels really did the trick. These things have come in handy for a lot of clean-ups but this was truely a test of their combined might...I must say they triumphed

Comic Book Review: Superman/Batman #22

This current story-arc in Superman/Batman has been very entertaining to me for a number of reasons. First and foremost I'm enjoying the style of both the writer Jeph Loeb and of Ed McGuinness's artwork. Mr. Loeb has brought introduced an interesting band of superheroes from an alternate dimension that closely resembles the Avengers. Seeing Batman and Superman go up against these creatively cloned Avengers has been great entertainment and I still haven't figured out the mystery of who is behind the crimes that the World's Finest Duo has been accused of. So we have great action, a mystery and the last component humor is supplied when the focus is put on Batzarro and Bizarro as these two twisted versions of the title heroes launch their own rescue mission with surprising results.

Ed McGuiness has a cartoony style of artwork, but it is never unrestrained or distractingly exaggerated. With excellent coloring and inking, the style of artwork also doesn't take away from the seriousness of some of the darker moments in the story. The DC Direct merchandising division has just released a series of figures with sculpts based off of McGuiness' work from the first story arc in this series. If I had the space and cash I'd buy them in a heartbeat.

But I digress... Superman/Batman is a great 21st century resumption of the World's Finest comics of yesteryear. Teaming up two of DC's most popular characters in adventures where both of their skills and abilities are tested is great fun to read. Jeph Loeb has been great at reflecting their relationship, personalities and realistically relays how these two very different heroes would work together. It's just a fun comic book, something not found too often in this time in the industry where there seems to be a trend toward seemier, more violent and realistic stories. For someone looking for lighter, action-filled, and more traditional superhero story I recommend this entire series so far. Definitely good back issues to look for at conventions and shops.