Ye Olde Goode Timese

So I’m back in the beautiful city of Seattle, Washington after it suffered my absence for more than seven years. Though it may not be for the most pleasant of reasons, it’s still just great to see the extended family again. I have nothing but great and fun memories of this place shared with lots of cousins.It has really allowed me to appreciate more things in life. Whether I’m just walking and talking with my very awesomely talented actress of a cousin: Beibi or playing movie games with my very awesomely talented art prodigy of a cousin: Dhabih, one point becomes inevitably clear: Seattle weather still rules.

I mean seriously. In the off chance that I might actually decide to live in the US, I think I’ll be moving to Seattle. The other day I just went outside and started running for about an hour just because the weather was nice. So maybe the fact that there is no television where I’m staying had something to do with it too. But I like to think it was mainly for the weather. Now if we were to place the events of that day in relation to the rest of my life in a mathematical equation where:

x = the hour and a few minutes walked today
and
y = the sum total number of hours walked in the past 20 years of my life

we would get the following: x > y.

If the groundbreaking mathematical proof above does not convince you of the beauty that lies in the northwest, then I fear there is little hope for your retarded self.


...i won't kill you, but i don't have to save you

Comic Appeal

Recently, a fool that shall go unnamed has stated that comics are retarded and that he or she does not understand why it’s such a big deal. He or she even dared to say that comics are – and I quote – “lame as magazines”, saying that the limited appeal is the same. And the most amusing remark I’ve heard quite a few people use to put down comic books is that it’s just a dumb form of entertainment. How very wrong you all are. What IS a comic book really? And why the crap has it had such a bad rep for such a long time? Also, why are there so many freakin movies based on comic books recently? These are the questions I will try my best to answer and hope that my fellow comic enthusiasts from the Cornwell household can leave some feedback covering anything I might and will probably miss.

Comics, comics, comics. What is there to say about them? They’re awesome. That’s basically all there is to it. But seriously. What is a comic book? It’s pretty simple actually. A comic book is simply a medium used to tell a story. Same as novels, movies, songs, plays, and poems. That’s all they are. When a writer of any kind comes up with a story idea, the first thing that must be done is to decide what medium will take full advantage of the story. It just so happens that comic books and graphic novels are the best ones for stories that need to express a lot of imagery, symbolism, or graphical contrasts; which is what all of these stories are loaded with. And all of these mediums are entertainment, which is why that lame insult mentioned above is pointless. And what is entertainment? Nothing more than an escape from our reality into someone else’s, with hopes that you’ll come out of it having learned something new.

So why is it that comic books have had this stupid reputation of being just for kids and geeks and nerds? I honestly don’t know. Only reason I can think of is because people assume that comics only have to do with superheroes, and superheroes are just for kids. It’s pretty dumb actually. If you actually take the time, you’ll quickly find that stories in comics and graphic novels are as good, if not better than a lot of the novels that are on the bestseller list. There have actually been several of these comics that have been turned into full length prose novels. Batman’s No Man’s Land and Wolverine’s Weapon X are just 2 such stories. But then it makes me wonder. If the story of Harry Potter was kept EXACTLY the same, but released in the form of comics, would it have been as successful? Probably not, cause for some reason it’s seen as some lower art form. It would just be seen as some other comic book story Hollywood is trying to make money out of. But times they are a-changing, and the recent Hollywood explosion of comics has increased their readership, which is never a bad thing.

So why is it that there have been so many movies based on comic books as of late? And surprisingly a lot of them are very well done. Well there’s the obvious fact that it’s almost a guaranteed money-maker. And the fact that special effects are so accessible today really makes them a lot easier to make nowadays. But what I like to think is the biggest reason for this explosion is that the people who are making these movies today are the same people who actually grew up reading these comics. Which leads to these movies being made with the respect they deserve. Case in point: Sam Raimi, director of Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2. For his 6^th birthday, his parents got this artist to come into his arm and paint a picture of Spider-Man over his bed. He grew up, became a director, and eventually got to make Spider-Man, a character and universe he knew inside and out from having read all the comics as a kid. True, there’s been a couple of movies here and there that don’t quite live up to expectations, but even then, to me, it was just great to see them on the big screen.

...i'll tell you in another life, when we are both cats

Batman Truly Begins

So I was fortunate enough to attend the midnight screening of Batman Begins last night, and man what a truly awesome movie it is. If you like Batman, then you will like, if not LOVE this movie. And if you’re really cool, you might even catch the villain they show and say nothing about. But, if you don’t like Batman, then don’t ever speak to me again, cause obviously you suck and our friendship has no basis. I could not stop smiling as I watched before me the Batman I always imagined when I read the comics…especially his voice. That alone was worth the admission price for me. And MAN, helluva way to leave things open for a sequel. Everything about it was great, so it must be watched again and again and again. And then purchased on DVD. Although, I think a more adequate title would have been Batman Kicks Your Ass. Because that’s exactly what it does.

Anyway, what’s with some people’s constant need to cuss? When I was sitting in the theater waiting for the movie to start, that’s all I could hear around me. It really bothers me. And I don’t get it. Sure, I just said “ass” up there, but that’s not the kind of cussing I’m talking about. I’m basically talking about the f and s words. Words that, to me, are completely unnecessary in our language. I’ll admit that in movies, sometimes cussing can be very funny, like in Snatch for example. But seriously, is cussing really that crucial to communicating with each other? It seems like it’s more and more just a reason to fill in the blanks of a lacking vocabulary. Pretty freakin sad if you ask me. I think that’s all I have to say for now. Good day to all; and I hope you do yourselves a favor and go watch Batman Begins.

...if you were any thinner, you wouldn't exist

Whatever Happened to Chivalry

Rumor has it he’s already dead. But, last I heard he had to check himself into a clinic for the terminally ill. He is on the verge of death and trying hard to hold on to what little life he still has left. Maybe he’s just in a temporary coma.

By chivalry, I’m not just talking about the male’s role in it or the whole placing your coat over a puddle of mud for the lady to cross thing – though that would be very cool – no, I’m also speaking of people’s manners in general. It’s not easy to deny the fact that it has steadily worsened over the years amongst a large majority. Please understand I’m not saying I’ve got the perfectest manners or anything crazy like that. Alls I’m saying is that there has been more than one occasion where I do something that I consider to be common sense, only to cause a stir among my peers who seem to have a hard time believing my actions. This ranges from something as simple as holding the door for a stranger to my very strong and often contested belief against the imbibing of alcohol. And that saddens me greatly.

I remember this one time I was sitting in the cafeteria with several of my friends when I saw what looked like a receipt in the middle of the table. So I picked it up, perused it, tore it up, and threw it in the trash. Then when I returned they were all “What the hell?” And I was all “There was some guy’s credit card number on there.” And they were all “So why did you throw it away?” and I was all “why wouldn’t I throw it away?” Then I ripped out their hearts and weighed each one against a feather. Turns out they’re all going to hell.


...as long as i'm around you're only second best