goodbye, summer...

okay...

> sigh <

as labor day whisks by, heralding the end of another all-too-short summer (maybe i need to move someplace where summer is longer...or all year round...?), i'm looking back and wondering where it all went. i've had some awesome times this summer--vacationing on the outer banks with my family, going to the various conventions with my other family, hiking, movies, small adventures...but some health issues in the family and assorted other distractions have made my posts here both sparse and erratic. i apologize. hopefully as things begin to balance out now, the fall will bring some stability all around. my work schedule could use that...

that said, let's look back on the summer and allow me to review some of the stuff that went by too fast.
caviat: like anybody cares what i'm doing...

movies~
went to a lot of movies this summer, more than usual, i think, as dad, sharon and i hit the theaters just about every wednesday at dad's suggestion. we avoided the crowds most of the time by waiting until the second week but i did get to see just about all of the tentpole spectaculars and only missed one or two that i had been looking forward to.

i loved super 8, cowboys and aliens, and captain america! and i didn't have such high hopes for cap and was pretty vocal about it. but all three of these films got me going, spoke to that little boy in me and, for me anyway, brought back the concept of the cinematic adventure! i was on the edge of my seat at times and these three made me feel that indiana jones excitement again. loved 'em!

x-men: first class was~!
(cue craig saying i told ya so.)

i thought the final harry potter--harry potter and the deathly hallows part 2--was excellent, doing justice to those fabulous books and giving us the right amount of closure with both the characters and the story. i got misty that the whole thing is over. well done!

i enjoyed crazy, stupid love and thought they did a great job of reimagining the beginnings in rise of the planet of the apes. i saw thor and really dug it--when it first came out. (another movie that i didn't have high expectations for as, aside from walter's masterpiece of a run, i'm not much of a thor fan...) looking back though, what, three months, i can't really say that much of it was memorable--it didn't stay with me. how about you?

i had been looking forward to green lantern (though i was pulling for nathan fillion rather than ryan reynolds...) though now that i've seen it, good dodge nate. really disappointing. another example of throwing as much as you can at the screen and hoping it makes a movie. it didn't.

was dying to see horrible bosses and the change-up, but i missed them. (although with the change-up, my nephew says i didn't miss much...) dying to see the help...maybe this week.

tv~
well, summer is mostly guilty pleasure time for me and i've already copped to the fact that sharon got me watching that (damned!) bachelor/bachelorette when she first moved in and, i can't help it, i love it! and now we're watching the freakin' bachelor pad!! it's so bad, it's awesome!

also on the guilty pleasure list is america's got talent where we initially came for the parade of freaks that is audition weeks and stay to see if, once again, they'll eliminate anyone who has a truly unique talent to put through yet another singer. isn't that what american idol is for?
anyway...

also i dig wipeout.

the good stuff i've seen on tv have been actually outstanding and i am putting on the highly recommended list.

a year late, i know, but i just recently watched temple grandin on hbo, out last year and winner of a bunch of awards. not just one of the best movies of the summer--or even of last summer--but, again, in my opinion, ever. incredibly crafted this film is fantastically filmed, superbly directed, phenomenally acted (claire danes is magnetic), catherine o'hara, julia ormond, david strathairn...and the script is nothing short of perfect! got hbo? go find it and dvr it right now! don't? netflix has it. or your local movie rental place. see this movie!

also on hbo, the chilling and unnerving documentary something's wrong with aunt diane, the story of diane schuler, the woman who, in 2009, drove for two miles in the wrong direction on the taconic state parkway, eventually causing a head on collision with another vehicle, killing herself, 4 of the 5 children in her minivan, and all three occupants of the other car. my morbid curiosity? maybe. but also a fascinating investigation into a tragedy with so many questions still swirling around it.

craig lent us the bbc series sherlock--also highly recommended--and the third season of being human that sharon and i can't get enough of.


podcasts~
on the comic book front, there's where monsters dwell, comic book club, and augie de blieck's pipeline that i try to never miss.

on the comedy front, i love npr's wait wait don't tell me. but more than that i have recently fallen in love with--am obsessed with, actually--marc maron's WTF podcast, available on itunes and just about everywhere. if you dig comedy, marc is a stand-up who sits down with other stand-ups and talks about where they came from, how they do what they do, and, especially, why. it's funny, fascinating, and fearless--and i love it! go check it out--you'll be glad you did.

books~
haven't had a lot of time for reading lately and that's never good. i had been saving stephen king's collection of novella's full dark, no stars for the summer and, while i loved it--always love visiting with uncle stevie-- sadly, don't have many others on my done list. i've listened to a few; tina fey's bossypants, patton oswalt's zombie. spaceship. wasteland. jeremy wade's river monsters


we can save comics, comedy, and music for wednesday~!
go have a happy labor day!
smell ya later!
todd

here are a couple of pictures to look at...



the final full-color version of craig's pan mass challenge print!
go on over to craig's website at www.craigrousseau.com to find out how you can get one and help fight cancer!



one of my favs.



silly comic covers.