Star Wars Comic Books

I have a complete run of Marvel Star Wars comic books from 1977-1986. All 107 issues. With Episode II in theaters, I thought I'd find a price guide on the web and see what they were worth. This led me to a cool online price guide. Most of them are worth $25, the latter ones $18-$22. The first issue is $50, with the next few at $35. The final issue, because it's scarce is $70. So my entire run is worth over $2,000. Not too shabby for a bunch of comics I bought for 50 cents to a dollar 20 years ago. Crap. Now I feel old. At least I'm turning 30 in a month, not 40.

The Thing Itself

I find myself more and more fascinated by the form of the blog itself. What a weird form of self-expression this is. It's sort of like a journal, only it's not. Let me explain. When you write a journal, you typically sit down somewhere and write a bunch of stuff. Blogging isn't like that. At least not for me. I start writing, then I think about places and things to link to. I inevitably start surfing a bit while I'm writing. That leads me to different sites. Next thing I know, I have the urge to write about something else entirely. Or I simply spend an hour surfing and forget that I was even blogging in the first place. What I find strange and compelling about the blog is the way it compels you to explore the vastness of the internet. I realized something fundamental: I never really surfed the web before. I write about Robert Smigel cartoons on SNL, and I wind up at a web site where all these fans review every single sketch on the show (grades from A to F). I write about Cuba, and I wind up reading the South American Daily News. I write about 24, and I wind up reading everyone's responses to the ending on the FOX web site. Pretty cool stuff!!

Then there's the way you begin a dialogue between blogs. I read my brother's blog, and from there I find I am mentioned on the pages of a very wise 10-year-old genius. I wonder who the next person that I don't know who will link to my blog will be. I'm captivated by the thing itself.

Blogs rule. Why not start your own?

The West Wing

I agree with my brother that this episode pretty much sucked. I couldn't follow the supposed "clever" repartee between Sam and Toby. The fake governor of Florida is so clearly meant to be Dubya that it's insulting. Simon Donovan's death was pointless, stupid, and a cheap attempt at drama (re: melodrama). The only good thing about the episode was the character portrayed by Lily Tomlin, an executive assistant turned alpaca farmer, who got fired from the White House for hiring Charlie. The only time I was really engaged by the episode was when she was on screen. Afraid this show has really gone downhill. I see no competition for Six Feet Under at the Emmies.... 24 is entertaining, but I'll be pretty annoyed if it beats out a much better show. After last year's somewhat lackluster season of The Sopranos, I'm hoping it comes back roaring this year.... season premiere should be coming soon.

After 24 Hours...

24 has finally come to an end. I won't spoil it for those of you who haven't seen it yet. All I have to say is: Wow! I was very impressed with this episode. Everything wrapped up plausibly and neatly. I didn't even mind the way they set the show up for the next season. A great finale. Tomorrow is the West Wing season finale, which also looks to be a good one...

Six Feet Under Winds Down...

I thought Sunday's episode of Six Feet Under on HBO was the best hour of television I've seen this year. This season has launched this show to the forefront of my "must-watch" shows, of which there are really only two: it and 24. While I love 24, I agree with my brother that it has gotten quite silly. Somehow it manages to remain entertaining. At any rate, Six Feet Under really manages to be about something. Created by Alan Ball, the writer of American Beauty, Six Feet Under tells the story of a family who lives and runs a funeral home after the father (the former boss/funeral director) gets hit by a bus and dies. Last season was quite good, but I didn't really think the show was the best on TV (despite the fact it won the Emmy for Best Dramatic Series). This season, however, has simply been stellar, despite a few lackluster and one downright raunchy bizarre descent-into-weirdness episode. The show manages to create moments that are truly brilliant. The look on actor Freddy Rodriguez's face when he first sees the face of his dead father (which the funeral home has restored after a horrible accident where his face was crushed) is just amazing. Wonder at the fact such a change was possible, irrepressible joy that he sees the face of his father as it was in life, gratitude, sorrow. It is as though the director of the episode said, "Put a look on your face like you're witnessing a miracle."... and Rodriguez does it... perfectly. The big confrontation with Nate (you may have seen him on Sports Night) and Brenda (Rachel Griffiths, recently in The Rookie, who won the Emmy for Best Actress) is just so emotional, and so honest. It's just so different from any shouting match I've ever seen on TV between couples. It defies all cliches or meager efforts to describe it. And where Nate goes after he leaves Brenda... I just didn't see it coming, and it absolutely blew me away. The character of the mother, her desperation, desolation, her yearning to belong to something, to touch anyone... it is simply heartbreaking to watch. No way I could ever have predicted that Lisa would call Ruth and tell her about the baby (OK, OK, I realize this sounds like a soap opera, but you just have to see it...) Finally, I just love the scene where Claire goes to leave the photograph she has taken of herself with the guidance counselor and he is in his office crying... could go on and on at length about these scenes, but I fear it has little relevance to my casual blog reader. So all I'll say is... if you ever get a chance... and you liked American Beauty, watch this show! But it is a show that touches on loneliness and pain, much the same way American Beauty did, so if you're not in the mood to watch something with a lot of depressing (but powerful) scenes, turn the dial somewhere else. In my mind, this show and The Sopranos are the best two TV shows I've seen in the last 5 years. Now people tell me I should be watching Alias, but I've never gotten around to it. Maybe over the summer...

Judgment Prerelease

Well, I attended a prerelease in Nashville for the new set of Magic: the Gathering. As usual, the format was sealed deck with a starter of the main set (in this case, Odyssey) and 3 boosters of the new set (Judgment). Unfortunately, WotC decided for the first time with Torment and Judgment to bias expansions towards particular colors. Judgment contains many more green and white cards than other colors, in the same way that Torment contained many more black cards. This made for a rather stupid sealed deck event in which everyone was playing green and/or white. I went +5 -1 and won 2/3 of a box. I figured there wouldn't be much removal in the format, and that everyone would be playing G/W with very strong ground forces. So I decided to be a bit risky and go U/W/g, despite the fact I had Metamorphic Worm and Battlefield Scrounger (fat green creatures for double green and 3). I won my first two matches rather easily. Match 3 was extremely tough. I won a very long game in game 1. In game 2, the only question was could I hold off my opponent long enough to run the time out? My opponent played a Phantom Nishoba. I'd never seen this card before, but it is fairly ridiculous. 7/7 trampling spirit linked. I think I still would have lived through the time extension, but, to make things even simpler, I top decked Aether Burst, which secured me the game draw and the match win. Match 4 was amusing. My opponent played Genesis (a 4/4 that whenever it is in your graveyard, you may pay G2 during your upkeep to put any creature in your graveyard back in your hand) and Thriss (a 5/5 that has tap: target creature gets +5/+5). And yet, I was winning with a Beloved Chaplain (tiny little 1/1 protection from creatures), Cagemail (creature gets +2/+2 and can't attack) and Battle Screech (4 1/1 fliers for double white and 2). Who says you need good cards to win? Match 5 I lost to a ridiculous deck. In addition to a Chamber of Manipulation/Animal Boneyard combo, the guy had tons of fliers, including the 2/4 flying protection from creatures (I forget the name). I went down hard 0--2. All in all, it was a fun event and should garner me some nice juicy rating points.