Mini Weekend Rant

This Saturday my little family decided to brave Tysons Corner Mall and do a little Christmas shopping. Even though "Black Friday" isn't until after Thanksgiving, the holiday rush is already on. The take no prisoners attitude is already the rule of engagement when entering the mall parking lots. This isn't an entry about our afternoon of shopping. Honestly it wasn't that bad despite the crowds. We bought a few gifts, I got a few ideas for things for the Lady and Little Man, all in all it was a good day.

Before we went to the mall, we stopped by the Starbucks to get a caffeine charge as some pre-game prep. I went in while the wife and kid waited in the car. Ordering the coffee was easy enough, we didn't want anything fancy. Just a couple large coffees...pardon me "venti" coffees...ech I still hate saying venti. So now with coffees in hand I turn to the prep station for cream and sugar. It's busy in the joint so I expect a wait. I hang back not wanting to totally breathe down the neck of the couple getting their coffee together. Since they are a couple they decide to basically dominate the station. I take this in stride... until they start sipping their coffee.

"Ugh great, not tasters," I think to myself.

The husband dumps a little of his coffee out into the trash and adds more cream & a dash of sugar, then proceeds to taste again... confirming my dread. It only gets worse when his wife does the same. They continue to do this dump and add, until they are satisfied. They didn't take as long as most tasters, but by the fact they were both doing this routine holding up the entire dance that keeps Starbucks moving just irritated me. I don't understand how any adult older then 20 doesn't know how they take their own coffee. Seriously, it's not that difficult of a formula. It's easy enough to judge the color of your coffee for creamer and how many packets of the sweetener of choice. I know how both the wife and I take our coffees, can have those coffees done in less then a minute and I'm outta that place. It's far from rocket science. Even with the range of strength that offer variations in taste, one's standard "formula" is usually acceptable despite strength of the brew.

On the weekends these tasters are more prevalent, and it's to be expected. The weekend is when everyone is out and about, so regular coffee drinkers have to deal with these casual java drinkers. Tasters really steam me when encountered early in the morning on a work day. When there is only a small window of time for me to grab coffee and get us all to work on time.

I can only hope some of these tasters read this blog. Make some coffee at home, work out that mix of sugar and cream before going out into the world.

MRR Comic Review - Fantastic Four: The End #1

It's been awhile since I've done a comic book review, but that doesn't mean the good Doctor hasn't been reading the funny books. One book that I read this week motivated me to dust off my reviewer hat. As a kid Marvel's "What if..." books were often fun for me to read. For those not familiar with the format, the book would often take situations like "What if Conan lived in Modern Times" or What if Captain America hadn't been Frozen after WW2" and presented a one issue story based on this alternative reality. I loved see these glimpses into stories that could have been or might be. And in away that's what Marvel has succeeded in giving us with their line of "The End" limited series. I thoroughly in enjoy Peter David & Dale Keown's Hulk: The End, and now Alan Davis has got me already locked into The End story for Marvel's first family.

The story is set a few decades into the future, where Earth has acheived a Utopian-level of society thanks to the inventions of Reed Richards. Humanity is now a spacefaring race that is finalizing its entry into the galactic community. In this issue we witness the final battle between Dr. Doom and the FF, get a glimpse of the Avengers of this future which includes Johnny Storm as one of the veteran members. We also get up to speed on the tragedies and joys that effected the team, which in this issue is anything but a team. Each member is off involved in their own interests and lives very much seperate from each other. This includes Sue and Reed, who are still married, but are not exactly together.

Alan Davis is a favorite artist and writer of mine. I enjoyed is work on Excalibur and Kilraven, seeing his vision of the future Marvel universe is a treat. Having a writer who has understanding of pacing and the ability to give us just enough information so that we are comfortable and up to speed in this new setting is refreshing. Though there are many talented writers in the biz. Not all of them have perfected the art of giving just enough detail, they often err on one side or the other.

This is an excellent read for any fan of Marvel superheroes and specifically the Fantastic Four. Great story so far and superb artwork from one of the best in the field.

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