What the Zuda?!

Zuda is an online division of DC Comics. They hold a competition every month. 10 entrants, 8 pages... To the winner -- Mastery of the Universe!!! MWAHAHAHA!

Actually, the prize is nothing so grandiose... although I've been waiting for my mandate to rule the universe for a while now. Getting slightly impatient. I guess the mail is slow.

The powers that be Zuda handpick competitors from all the submissions they receive. The winner gets a year contract to continue their comic on the Zuda site at a rate of 1 page /week (paid of course)... Total 60 pages of comic goodness. Not bad. They sometimes also pick Instant Winners from the submissions. we were not so lucky, although we did make it into the January Competition!!! Woohooo!

An over-written, slow, but good-looking little stab at moderate fame and fortune called, get this... Hold you're breath for the cheesy goodness... Legacy of the Wanderer. Hoo boy... And I'm the one who came up with that! Ah well... certainly not my favorite of my own work (Those who know me know that I hate everything I do anyway), but it was an attempt at something. Next one will be better. I promise.

It's not doing that well in the competition, but what the hey! Its in there. AND we're doing okay, even without any 'marketing'... This doesn't count as marketing does it? I mean a readership of between 0 and 10... really.

Stay tuned for more updates.. and other stuff.

Indiana Jones and the Middle of the Road

I saw the new Indy movie...

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of ** whew... take a breath** the Crystal Skull. That's a mouthful. Who comes up with these titles?

Some background - The first movie of the franchise, Raiders of the Lost Ark (note... no 'Indiana Jones and the' in the title), may well be at THE top of my all time favourite movies list... if I had such a list. The next two, while I don't think are quite as good, stayed true to the spirit of the genre and the character. This one... not so much.

Why? Hard to put my finger on it. The previous movies (especially Raiders) struck the right balance of pulp, b-movie, action, comedy, and slap-dashedness (add anything else you can think of to the list). The action sequences were perfectly interspersed with witty, tongue-firmly-in-cheek dialogue, so that you wouldn't get a crease in your butt from the edge of your seat... Maybe they were formulaic, but it was a formula that worked.

I think Kingdom missed the mark. Basically... it was too clean. Too 'polished'? I know... It sounds weird. Maybe all the CG did it. Maybe the subject matter (sorry, no spoilers). I know that the changes they made in the Indy character... I didn't like those at all. Yeah, yeah... he's supposed to be older and all that crap... I still don't buy it. Not in an archetype like Indiana Jones, especially one that draws on an established pulp tradition.

Honestly... the writing wasn't all that hot either. Most of the time, the wry wit that Indy is supposed to spout... fell right on its face. Barely a chuckle. The action sequences... TOO over-the-top. There's a fine line between suspension of disbelief and suspension of brain activity.

I think they (writers, producer, director) may have fallen into the trap of trying to please today's audience too much and of sticking to what made the Indy franchise too little. I know... some of you are saying... 'Today's audience rules! Who else should they make movies for, idiot?'

I say F&%$ today's audience. 85% of people are mediocre... Doesn't mean you cater to them. If you do that you end up with a country/planet run by the mediocre, for the medio... Oh... right.

What it comes down to is... Indiana Jones and the Kingdom...etc... is a thoroughly OK movie. Only I was expecting something more than just OK.

Tubin'

Ahhhh... What a wonderful way to waste time. For those of you who are into 'extreme' sports, or at least watching them.

Bah! Extreme. Whoever tagged that term should be shot into deep space with no life-support. Ruined a perfectly good word.

Anyway... some very cool stuff to watch at http://tubeguide.tv/. Easily seachable.... even more easily addictive. Sigh. Just what I need another excuse. Now I'm wasting time watching people doing stuff that I should be doing instead of wasting time watching people doing stuff I should be doing. Um... Well, you know what I mean -- Wow... That sentence could have kept right on going! Like looking into two mirrors facing each other. I think I may be at the nexus of the universe...

Don't know how often I'll be able to hit the surf this season. I've taken a pretty rigid stance when it comes to the oil industry/car industry/ pollution thing. That means getting to a surf spot is going to be nigh impossible without causing some psychic turmoil... unless I walk or something. Being this high and mighty is a real pain in the ass, But if you want to 'lord it' over everyone else, you've got to make some sacrifices ;)

Sigh... I can't wait until I turn into that hermit/mountain-man/ recluse living off the land in the wilderness. Then I won't have to worry about all this...