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Watched Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles episode, "To the Lighthouse", tonight. Originally aired Friday, March 27th.
Due to a cable setting issue, my DVR recorded at the right time Friday night but the cable box didn't switch to the correct channel. (Long story short, I have Comcast digital cable and a separately bought Philips DVR/DVD recorder. To record something by the timer, I have to set both devices. The Comcast cable box sets up recording times by the onscreen programming guide. Works fine except for a couple of things. One being that if you try to change the channel prior to the cable boxes pre-set recording time is completed, it will ask if you wish to cancel your recording. Which would be fine except that, if you are recording something that you have set to record every week on the same day, it cancels the entire setting. Meaning, sometime prior to the following week you have to remember to go back in and re-set your cable box timer. This happened to me last week when Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles was running right up the start of the series finale of Battlestar Galactica. I had to cut away at the end of Sarah Connor to change the channel to Battlestar. I then forgot about it. Flash forward to last night and, sigh, no Sarah Connor episode recorded. Instead, ESPN.
So, I had to watch this episode on my computer screen via Zulu. Not the best way but sufficient so as not to fall behind. (This is the second episode of Sarah Connor this season that I've somehow failed to record. So I'll most likely be buying the official season two DVD set at some point unless I can manage to get these two episodes via reruns.)
This episode had some interesting moments. It was nice to see Charley again. The stuff with Derek and Cameron wasn't quite as interesting as the previews made it seem it would be. (Typical of such previews, emphasizing seemingly dramatic moments which when you actually watch the episode turn out not to be quite as significant.) And the scenes with "John Henry", Ellison, and "Catherine Weaver" provided some interesting steps forward in that particular sub-plot.
I really liked the first season of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and also the first half or so of the current, second, season. The show really bogged down for the episodes which focused on Sarah's searching for the source of the three dots, the mystery of what was going on at that warehouse out in the middle of nowhere, and her later kidnapping by the man from the warehouse. It's taken several episodes to get the show moving back in the right direction. Hopefully, we'll get an exciting season finale in a few weeks (and also that the ratings will be high enough for Fox to renew it for a third season).
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Watchmen #1-3 (1986)
Watchmen #1-3 [Grand Comics Database links: 1, 2, 3 ; Comic Book Database: 1, 2, 3]
(September 1986, October 1986, November 1986)
DC Comics
(Version read: Watchmen trade paperback edition (1987) [LibraryThing] [Amazon])
Credits:
Writer: Alan Moore
Penciller: Dave Gibbons
Inker: Dave Gibbons
Series Notes: Numbers 1-3 of a 12 issue limited series. Each issue has a primary story (#1: "At Midnight, All the Agents...", #2: "Absent Friends", #3: "The Judge of All the Earth") and a secondary, back up, text piece (all supposed excerpt chapters from the original "Nite Owl's" (Hollis Mason) book, Under the Hood).
Comments: As this is the first actual comics entry in my new blog, it will not be immediately apparent that I'm reading Watchmen out of my usual sequence. I intend on most of my comics reading for the near future to be a chronological reading through my entire collection, from the earliest newspaper comic strips that I have reprint collections of through to the present (the bulk of my collection pre-1970s is in various trade paperback and hardcover reprint collections, while most of my actual comics run from mid or late 1970s to a few years ago when I finally started to have to cut back a bit on my comics buying; for most of 1982 to 2004 I was picking up nearly all of the major DC and Marvel superhero comics).
Anyway, the reason I'm reading Watchmen first is because of the movie adaptation that's in theaters currently. Believe it or not, while the time frame I was most into reading comics was the 1980s and 90s, and I've always been a big DC fan (although I love Marvel comics, too), I never got around to reading Watchmen when it first came out. I didn't even buy it back then. Why? I don't know. I certainly heard a lot about it. But, I suppose because it didn't feature any of DC's usual characters, taking place in a universe/continuity of its own, I just never made it a priority. I finally picked up a copy of the 1987 trade paperback (ninth printing) a few years back pretty cheap. It's been sitting on my shelf up to this point, still unread.
However, the movie came out and I've been torn about going out to see it. I really didn't want to see it prior to having read the comics. (I prefer to read or watch a piece in its original form/medium first, followed by the later adaptation. As such, I've been reading the Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Chronicles of Narnia books prior to seeing the movie versions.) To do this with Watchmen, that meant digging out the trade paperback and finally getting around to reading it.
So, that's where I am right now. I've been pretty busy, so I've only read the first three issues so far, roughly one per night before going to bed. I've been enjoying them well enough, so far. I mean, it's not knocking me over yet, but the characters are somewhat interesting. (I'm not going to go into the whole history of the project here. There are enough websites out there already where folks who don't know the history can catch themselves up. Suffice it say, the characters Moore created here are variations on the 1960s Charlton characters--Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, Peacemaker, The Question, etc.--which DC had just purchased the rights to. Moore had originally intended on using the Charlton characters but was asked by DC to modify his story idea to feature original characters instead because DC felt that Moore's story would hurt their chances to continue to use the Charlton characters they had just paid for in future publications.)
What I like most so far is probably the flashbacks to the 1940s and 1960s. In the 1940s, there was a team of superheroes called the "Minutemen". Some of these same characters, now retired, are seen also in the present day (1980s) scenes. Then, in the 1960s, we see a new group of superheroes (Captain Metropolis, Nite Owl (2), Ozymandias, Silk Spectre (2), Rorschach, and the Comedian.
As I said, the "present day" is the same as that of when the comics were originally released, the mid-1980s, so twenty years have passed since the 1960s flashbacks. Most of the heroes have either retired or been killed in the ensuing years. Rorschach and the Comedian are still active. The first issue of the series begins with the murder of the Comedian. Rorschach is convinced that someone is hunting down superheroes. His warnings largely fall upon deaf ears, at least at first.
The first three issues tend to jump from the investigation into the murder of the Comedian, showing us how the other current superheroes are now living their lives, and flashbacks to the aforementioned 1940s and 1960s time periods. Moore's characters are by no means idealized. They all have their own personal problems and hang-ups, some serious and some less so. Watchmen is definitely not a comic book (or "graphic novel") for younger children.
(September 1986, October 1986, November 1986)
DC Comics
(Version read: Watchmen trade paperback edition (1987) [LibraryThing] [Amazon])
Credits:
Writer: Alan Moore
Penciller: Dave Gibbons
Inker: Dave Gibbons
Series Notes: Numbers 1-3 of a 12 issue limited series. Each issue has a primary story (#1: "At Midnight, All the Agents...", #2: "Absent Friends", #3: "The Judge of All the Earth") and a secondary, back up, text piece (all supposed excerpt chapters from the original "Nite Owl's" (Hollis Mason) book, Under the Hood).
Comments: As this is the first actual comics entry in my new blog, it will not be immediately apparent that I'm reading Watchmen out of my usual sequence. I intend on most of my comics reading for the near future to be a chronological reading through my entire collection, from the earliest newspaper comic strips that I have reprint collections of through to the present (the bulk of my collection pre-1970s is in various trade paperback and hardcover reprint collections, while most of my actual comics run from mid or late 1970s to a few years ago when I finally started to have to cut back a bit on my comics buying; for most of 1982 to 2004 I was picking up nearly all of the major DC and Marvel superhero comics).
Anyway, the reason I'm reading Watchmen first is because of the movie adaptation that's in theaters currently. Believe it or not, while the time frame I was most into reading comics was the 1980s and 90s, and I've always been a big DC fan (although I love Marvel comics, too), I never got around to reading Watchmen when it first came out. I didn't even buy it back then. Why? I don't know. I certainly heard a lot about it. But, I suppose because it didn't feature any of DC's usual characters, taking place in a universe/continuity of its own, I just never made it a priority. I finally picked up a copy of the 1987 trade paperback (ninth printing) a few years back pretty cheap. It's been sitting on my shelf up to this point, still unread.
However, the movie came out and I've been torn about going out to see it. I really didn't want to see it prior to having read the comics. (I prefer to read or watch a piece in its original form/medium first, followed by the later adaptation. As such, I've been reading the Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Chronicles of Narnia books prior to seeing the movie versions.) To do this with Watchmen, that meant digging out the trade paperback and finally getting around to reading it.
So, that's where I am right now. I've been pretty busy, so I've only read the first three issues so far, roughly one per night before going to bed. I've been enjoying them well enough, so far. I mean, it's not knocking me over yet, but the characters are somewhat interesting. (I'm not going to go into the whole history of the project here. There are enough websites out there already where folks who don't know the history can catch themselves up. Suffice it say, the characters Moore created here are variations on the 1960s Charlton characters--Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, Peacemaker, The Question, etc.--which DC had just purchased the rights to. Moore had originally intended on using the Charlton characters but was asked by DC to modify his story idea to feature original characters instead because DC felt that Moore's story would hurt their chances to continue to use the Charlton characters they had just paid for in future publications.)
What I like most so far is probably the flashbacks to the 1940s and 1960s. In the 1940s, there was a team of superheroes called the "Minutemen". Some of these same characters, now retired, are seen also in the present day (1980s) scenes. Then, in the 1960s, we see a new group of superheroes (Captain Metropolis, Nite Owl (2), Ozymandias, Silk Spectre (2), Rorschach, and the Comedian.
As I said, the "present day" is the same as that of when the comics were originally released, the mid-1980s, so twenty years have passed since the 1960s flashbacks. Most of the heroes have either retired or been killed in the ensuing years. Rorschach and the Comedian are still active. The first issue of the series begins with the murder of the Comedian. Rorschach is convinced that someone is hunting down superheroes. His warnings largely fall upon deaf ears, at least at first.
The first three issues tend to jump from the investigation into the murder of the Comedian, showing us how the other current superheroes are now living their lives, and flashbacks to the aforementioned 1940s and 1960s time periods. Moore's characters are by no means idealized. They all have their own personal problems and hang-ups, some serious and some less so. Watchmen is definitely not a comic book (or "graphic novel") for younger children.
Intro
First off, this is obviously my first post on this new blog I'm trying out. A little about me. I'm a long time comic book collector/fan, going back to when first started "collecting" comics at age ten in 1982 (if not even earlier). I also like to read science fiction, biographies, history, and books about sports and other forms of pop culture that I happen to have an interest in (vaudeville, old time radio, early/"classic" TV, etc.).
I have lived in Florida (born in Tampa, raised in Brandon; also Port Charlotte and Arcadia) and Georgia (four years up in the north part of the state in Cleveland, Georgia--wonderful mountain scenery up there!--and a year plus now in the Atlanta area).
I'm a librarian. I've been a high school media specialist, a college reference librarian, and, currently, a public library children's librarian.
The purpose of this blog is to keep a running journal of what I've been reading and/or viewing. Entries will probably vary in regards to length and detail. Some might simply be a set list of details (title, author/s, dates, etc.). Others might go into a bit more detail, discussing the plot, things I liked or didn't care for about the comic/book/TV show/whatever.
For the past few years I've had my own personal website over on Yahoo/GeoCities. For most of that time, it has served my purposes well enough. (Note: It was a paid web hosting service.) However, the past week has been very frustrating for me as I've had an incident where I could not (still can not as of the time of this writing) access my own Yahoo account (most likely due to unauthorized tampering by unknown parties, I presume), and Yahoo's customer service has been some of the worst I've ever experienced. Not the actual customer service reps, per se, but the way Yahoo handles these situations. You can call up and talk to their billing and ID verification departments, but the department that I really need to talk to that can resolve the situation is their "account security" department and they communicate via email (and, when requesting certain information from you, via fax).
Long story short, at the time that I am writing this I have been without access to my own email account for five days and don't really know just when this situation will be rectified. If this was purely a free email account, that'd be one thing. But I'm a paying subscriber to their web hosting service and therefore I believe that I deserve speedier and more helpful service than I have been receiving.
So, I have decided that even once this current situation has been resolved, Yahoo will be getting no more of my money. Therefore, I am trying out new things. A Gmail account, this blog, etc.
One of the pages I had been keeping on my Yahoo website was a comics reading blog, complete with a sidebar index link by title (so that one could browse which titles and issues I'd already read and commented on and click on the links, bringing them right to that particular entry). I also had a "Star Trek Chronological Reading" page (which is probably self explanatory; my attempt to read/watch all of the various Star Trek novels, short stories, TV episodes, movies, etc. in their proper chronological order, or something close to it. Both of those pages fell way off of my radar the past year or so, though, as I switched jobs, moved, and had other things going on. I'm hoping that the "labels" system will allow me to move these projects over here.
Well, that's all I'll write for now. Thanks for taking the time to read this blog and, if you like, please feel free to post comments if something sparks your interest enough to wish to do so.
Regards,
David Young
("YoungTrek")
P.S.: Blog address would have been "YoungTrek" but it seems that someone else already has that address here at blogger. So, I went with the abbreviated, "YTrek".
I have lived in Florida (born in Tampa, raised in Brandon; also Port Charlotte and Arcadia) and Georgia (four years up in the north part of the state in Cleveland, Georgia--wonderful mountain scenery up there!--and a year plus now in the Atlanta area).
I'm a librarian. I've been a high school media specialist, a college reference librarian, and, currently, a public library children's librarian.
The purpose of this blog is to keep a running journal of what I've been reading and/or viewing. Entries will probably vary in regards to length and detail. Some might simply be a set list of details (title, author/s, dates, etc.). Others might go into a bit more detail, discussing the plot, things I liked or didn't care for about the comic/book/TV show/whatever.
For the past few years I've had my own personal website over on Yahoo/GeoCities. For most of that time, it has served my purposes well enough. (Note: It was a paid web hosting service.) However, the past week has been very frustrating for me as I've had an incident where I could not (still can not as of the time of this writing) access my own Yahoo account (most likely due to unauthorized tampering by unknown parties, I presume), and Yahoo's customer service has been some of the worst I've ever experienced. Not the actual customer service reps, per se, but the way Yahoo handles these situations. You can call up and talk to their billing and ID verification departments, but the department that I really need to talk to that can resolve the situation is their "account security" department and they communicate via email (and, when requesting certain information from you, via fax).
Long story short, at the time that I am writing this I have been without access to my own email account for five days and don't really know just when this situation will be rectified. If this was purely a free email account, that'd be one thing. But I'm a paying subscriber to their web hosting service and therefore I believe that I deserve speedier and more helpful service than I have been receiving.
So, I have decided that even once this current situation has been resolved, Yahoo will be getting no more of my money. Therefore, I am trying out new things. A Gmail account, this blog, etc.
One of the pages I had been keeping on my Yahoo website was a comics reading blog, complete with a sidebar index link by title (so that one could browse which titles and issues I'd already read and commented on and click on the links, bringing them right to that particular entry). I also had a "Star Trek Chronological Reading" page (which is probably self explanatory; my attempt to read/watch all of the various Star Trek novels, short stories, TV episodes, movies, etc. in their proper chronological order, or something close to it. Both of those pages fell way off of my radar the past year or so, though, as I switched jobs, moved, and had other things going on. I'm hoping that the "labels" system will allow me to move these projects over here.
Well, that's all I'll write for now. Thanks for taking the time to read this blog and, if you like, please feel free to post comments if something sparks your interest enough to wish to do so.
Regards,
David Young
("YoungTrek")
P.S.: Blog address would have been "YoungTrek" but it seems that someone else already has that address here at blogger. So, I went with the abbreviated, "YTrek".
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