john byrne is awesome! and captions

okay...

so, when i was a kid and first got into comics, there were LOTS of artists who were wowing me on a regular basis. mostly a dc boy at the start (i would embrace and immerse myself in marvel soon enough, don't worry...), i was drooling over the talents neal adams, jim aparo, dick dillin, mike grell, and, uh, let's not forget, nick cardy. over at marvel a at the time was this young guy who had this cool style who was working on iron fist and the odd issue of marvel team-up and, though i didn't buy all of them, i picked up a random issue here and there and kept my eye on this guy. his name was john byrne.
well, needless to say, his career exploded shortly after that and his first issue of the uncanny x-men was the first issue of x-men i bought. i loved his style, his storytelling, the acting, the drama, all of the crisp elements he brought to the story. (that he was working with one of the greatest comics writers at the time didn't hurt...!) john byrne fan for life!=me.

as i got into comics myself, i had the opportunity to meet john and gush all over him, and that's a story for another time. i have also watched him gradually extract himself from the comics industry and, while i am frustrated that we don't get to see his wonderful work on the characters that we all know and love--that i know HE knows and loves!--i can certainly understand and respect his choices and decisions not to be drawn into and manipulated by the machines that now churn out the sales-driven, corporately-conceived crossovers that litter our shelves each month. (look at me. i am so happy--and lucky--to be operating under that radar, working on super hero squad! and not having to be a part of alla that...)

so, okay, that's why john stays away from the big two...but how then, does a true-blooded, dyed-in-the-wool, card-carrying comics fan get his marvel on? or his dc, for that matter...?
he does commissions.

i don't surf around the net all that much (i'm so easily distracted that if i went anywhere, it'd be all day. really. it happens.) so i count on matt and craig and christian and rich and warren--and my nephew for silly stuff--to hook me up with articles, photos, movie trailers, you tube clips, news reports, etc. so that i know at least a little of what's going on out in the real world.
when matt sent me this the other day--under the subject title, "HOLY CRAP!!"--i was speechless.

still am.

this falls under the commissions category of "re-imagined covers".
this is the cover to fantastic four 134.









this is john's newest version.



you know how i love dragon man.
i can't stop saying awesome.
and meaning it.
i mean, the meaning of awesome. full of awe.
i am full of awe.
i can't stop looking at this.
john byrne is awesome!

to see more of john's awesomeness--and especially more of his commissions--head on over to his website at;
www.byrnerobotics.com and spend a day. you could. you will.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

over at another favorite website, ebaum's world--where i go to play a few favorite old-school on-line games--they present a series of random pictures each week that are either funny, curious, thought-provoking, or sexy called monday morning randomness. i grabbed a few images from there and put a couple captions on them and here they are. nothing fancy--add your own captions if you like...


...and burger king wins.








"curse you, steve jobs!"

















shouldn't they BOTH be in car seats?







3-D escher








take LITTLE bites!



okay, that's it for me!
have a great weekend, gang!
smell ya later!
todd

nothing

okay...

ha! after all the news i had for you yesterday, i got nothing today.

so here's some fun wordplay and a couple pictures i've had hanging around my desktop for the past week or so...

the following was forwarded to me several weeks ago by alison and contains a few new words and definitions that i found amusing. maybe you will too.




The Washington Post's Mensa Invitational once again invited readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition.


Here are the winners:

1. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.

2. Ignoranus : A person who's both stupid and an asshole.

3. Intaxicaton : Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.

4. Reintarnation : Coming back to life as a hillbilly.

5. Bozone ( n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.

6. Foreploy : Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid..

7. Giraffiti : Vandalism spray-painted very, very high

8. Sarchasm : The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.

9. Inoculatte : To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.

10. Osteopornosis : A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)

11. Karmageddon : It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.

12. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.

13. Glibido : All talk and no action.

14. Dopeler Effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.

15. Arachnoleptic Fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.

16. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.

17. Caterpallor ( n.): The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating.

The Washington Post has also published the winning submissions to its yearly contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings for common words.

And the winners are:

1. Coffee, n. The person upon whom one coughs.

2. Flabbergasted, adj. Appalled by discovering how much weight one has gained.

3. Abdicate, v. To give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.

4. Esplanade, v. To attempt an explanation while drunk.

5. Willy-nilly, adj. Impotent.

6. Negligent, adj. Absentmindedly answering the door when wearing only a nightgown.

7. Lymph, v. To walk with a lisp.

8. Gargoyle, n. Olive-flavored mouthwash.

9. Flatulence, n. Emergency vehicle that picks up someone who has been run over by a steamroller.

10. Balderdash, n. A rapidly receding hairline.

11. Testicle, n. A humorous question on an exam.

12. Rectitude, n. The formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.

13. Pokemon, n. A Rastafarian proctologist.

14. Oyster, n. A person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.

15. Frisbeetarianism, n. The belief that, after death, the soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.

16. Circumvent, n. An opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


the white queen by paolo rivera




a she-hulk model
does anybody do this...?
i have this model and a cool joker model, both unpainted, unassembled, that i bought years ago thinking, "yeah--i'll put them together and get out some paints and do it up right! how hard could it be?" do anybody do this--assemble and paint these things? with an airbrush? and fine attention to detail? 'cause they're sure not painting themselves...







happy wednesday!
smell ya later!
todd

back from the bar!

okay...

i'm back!
had a wonderful, WONDERFUL time at scott and abby's wedding and it was really great to see scott's friends that i did know--hey, chris and jose!!--meet a lot of both scott and abby's friends that i didn't know--jen and dave and chris' wife, julie...and, it seems, just about every girl abby went to college with! (that list would fill several pages!) (plus, apparently, they all sing!)

here's the terrific piece that scott's cohort and after school agent collaborator, chris zaccone, did for the happy couple which was used as guest table cards at the wedding! awesome job, chris!




the drive to bar harbor was a long one--mapquest predicted just under 8 hours (but then, they have to calculate your time going per posted speed limits and, well, we weren't doing that...) but it was a gorgeous ride through new england and up the coast and sharon and i were also entertained listening to the passage by justin cronin and read by ed hermann. it's great! VAMPIRES! but we haven't finished it yet, so don't tell me how it ends...
sharon is a lobster addict, even here in upstate ny, so it seems that we had some kinda lobster something for just about every meal while we were there. which was good! the wedding was beautiful, out on the patio of the bar harbor regency, and the evening was perfect for the happy couple.
sunday, sharon and i got up early to go out on a whale watch/puffin tour that was really spectacular! we saw several humpbacks, a fin whale or two, many, many atlantic white-sided dolphins and a harbor seal that shay spotted long before anyone else did! and lots and lots of sea birds; terns, gannets, and, of course, the puffins.
we also saw lots of seasick people--folks, if you're going on one of these things, don't forget the dramamine!
the only drawback was that bar harbor is such a spectacular town surrounded by such gorgeous landscapes and sea life that the president and his family decided to take a vacation there this weekend as well--and stayed at the same hotel that we were at and scott and abby had their ceremony. so there was security EVERYWHERE! for me though, it was less of a hassle and more exciting/interesting to see how it was all handled and, hey! we got to stay in the same hotel the president was in!

anyway--a wonderful time was had by all!
congratulations, scott and abby!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



while we were out, some reviews rolled in for casper and the spectrals #2
though i'm still disappointed that it took so very long to get here, i'm delighted that people are picking it up and, apparently, enjoying it! check this out...


http://thepullbox.com/2010/07/19/ardden-continues-to-bring-casper-alive-for-a-new-generation

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and for those of you who haven't picked up your copy of SUPER HERO SQUAD yet--out last week!--here's a little taste of that circus!








more tomorrow!
smell ya later!
todd

off to bar harbor and uriel's "brainpower!"

okay...

i got this from our pal and perhapa-buddy, uriel (a. duran) yesterday and just stopped laughing about a minute ago...

Todd,

Hi there! Do you remember the Choopie script you posted on your blog earlier this year?







awesome job, uriel!
love the pacing! love the style!
thanks so much!


(and for those of you who remember our other perhapa-pal, warren newsom's version of this little scene, here's a quick link to go back and compare the two!)

http://blog.perhapanauts.com/2010/02/warren-newsoms-awesome-brain-power-and.php

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

hey~!

ya wanna see something really funny...?!

check out craig in this interview with nerd caliber at the granite state comic con!

http://www.nerdcaliber.com/crousseau0510.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

i saw this picture and got to thinking...


so, there are a lot of crazy phobias in this world. people afraid of chickens. people afraid of frogs. people afraid of cotton. people afraid of pickles. true. i saw it on maury.
so, let's just say that your absolute, abject fear is dogs. all dogs. any dogs. terrified.
and let's just say that, since dogs are pretty much everywhere in our society these days, an accepted and integral part of just about every aspect of our culture, that you, as a certified cynophobic have taken to escaping into the underwater world of the oceans as the one place you can be at peace, the one place where you can truly relax, the one place you know that "they" can't get to you...
wouldn't this photo be, like, your worst nightmare?










alien chicks

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

under the heading, favorite quotes...

"I'm fairly sure that if they took all the porn off the Internet,
there'd only be one website left, and it would be called Bring Back The Porn."
--Dr. Perry Cox, Scrubs

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

okay...

there will be no post on monday, but you'll see one on tuesday as i am, right now, at this minute, as we speak, well...as i write and you read--although because i do say the words as i type, i AM actually speaking...--sharon and i are somewhere on I-95 heading toward bar harbor, maine to be at our great friend and perhapa-pal, SCOTT WEINSTEIN'S WEDDING!!!! amn--i can't believe it! although i guess i can 'cause that ABBY is a lovely girl...! CONGRATULATIONS, SCOTT and ABBY--can't wait to see you in person to say so! MAZEL TOV!!


everybody, have a wonderful weekend!
smell ya later!
todd

FCCR! the first class comic review!

okay...

so let's say that you're a couple of ambitious and enthusiastic young girls who want to let the world know that the next generation of comics book readers is alive and well and thriving in the UK! what do you do? well, if you're ellie and lily egleton you put together and put out a bi-monthly comic magazine called FIRST CLASS COMIC REVIEW and you use your exceptional talents and skills to contact and interview some of your favorite (or should that be 'favourite'...?) writers and artists in the industry, some of the top names in comics!
oh, and me...

about a month ago, i was delighted--and honored--to be contacted by these two young ladies and chosen to be their very first interview! their love of the super hero squad--and the figures--put us all on the same page immediately. they were very quick and professional when they sent their email interview and their questions were both fun and insightful and put me at ease instantly--though i was a bit anxious that we might have a problem somewhere along the way with the language barrier...

since then, we have been in regular contact as ellie has let me know how the publication of their first issue has been progressing and i am very pleased and excited to announce that first class comic review #1 is officially on the stands!

the girls, ellie, 14 and lily, 8, got the idea for FCCR when they realized that the UK didn't have a magazine that really covered the things that they were interested in; comics, manga, toys. and so, with some guidance from their dad, tim, and a little help from their friends, arun, abi, beth and kieran, they forged ahead to produce a full-color newsletter/magazine of their own--FCCR!



the first issue features an interview with marvel writer fred van lente and is available now! FCCR #1 also includes a sneak peek at fred's shadowland powerman as well as a manga and toy review!





the second issue features an interview with marvel super hero squad scribe, me!




check out more on FCCR--the first class comic review at;

http://firstclasscomicreview.moonfruit.com/



and here are some other links you might want to check out!


Hi Todd. We just made a lot of FCCR sites and these are the links.Thanks for putting them on yours, it should help us getting fans and hopeful readers of the magazine when it comes out!

http://twitter.com/FCCRMagazine

http://www.blogger.com/profile/03374502873638555655

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=525569716#!/group.php?gid=126702280690709&ref=mf

http://www.myspace.com/537454411

Thanks Again, it's been a real pleasure :)

Hi Todd,
Guess what hit comic book stores shelves today, FCCR #1! It's finally out and we are putting it on ebay shortly.
We are going to mail you a copy on monday :)
Thank-You for all your help,
Ellie and Lily

Hi Todd,
We are going to post you a copy of issue 1 tommorow!
We just set up our new site, here is the link if you could please put it on yours.

http://firstclasscomicreview.moonfruit.com/

Would you like us to put a link to your site too?
From,
Ellie


(as i told ellie, i wish i knew how to put up a link to other sites on the perhapa-blog...)


best of luck with the publication, girls!
and thank you for a wonderful interview!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


the other day i mentioned a poster i had when i was a kid that i have been looking all over for that featured a picture of a train wreck.
these are not it.








happy wednesday!
smell ya later!
todd

UFO!

okay...

rich sent this over to me friday afternoon and we haven't stopped talking about it--
here's the article and the link to the story if you'd care to read the comments that follow (that's what has fueled rich's and my conversation most of the time--we KNOW that the UFO is real...we just can't believe all these people are fighting about it...)

CHINESE AIRPORT CLOSED AFTER FIERY UFO IS SPOTTED FLYING OVER CITY
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 2:58 AM on 10th July 2010
Comments (145)
Add to My Stories

A Chinese airport was closed after this mysterious object was spotted in the sky.
Arcing over Zhejiang's provincial capital Hangzhou, the UFO appeared to glow with an eerie white light and left a bright trail in its wake.
Xiaoshan Airport was closed after the UFO was detected at around 9 pm and dozens of flights had to be diverted.



The strange light appeared to glow as it swept through the night sky, to the alarm of local residents



Another photo from a different angle which shows a wide trail behind the object as it zips through the sky
Stunned witnesses reported seeing a comet-like fireball in the sky and a number of local residents took photos of the strange ball of light.
A local bus driver, giving his name only as Yu, said he had seen a strange glowing object in the sky late on Wednesday afternoon.
'The thing suddenly ran westwards fast, like it was escaping from something,' he said.
Inbound flights were diverted to nearby airports while outbound flights were delayed for three to four hours.
Some Chinese experts claimed that the strange sight was actually debris from a US intercontinental ballistic missile.
Chinese officials later said that they knew what the object had been but were unable to make it public because there was a 'military connection.'
An official statement is expected later today.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1293395/Chinese-airport-closed-UFO-spotted-city.html#ixzz0tHrUuULb

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and here are the
answers to your
five for friday!
+ 1
the other day i was watching a movie from the 80s that was supposed to be taking place in 60s that was directed by a guy who created a tv show in the 70s about growing up in the 50s...which has absolutely nothing to do with the following questions about the 50s.
not the decade--just the numbers.

1. number of varieties that heinz boasts.

57

2. top secret air base in nevada (where they allegedly keep the aliens).

area 51

3. new york's most famous--and infamous--disco club in the 70s.

studio 54

4. five-oh! where did this slang term come from and why?

the television series hawaii five-oh named thusly because hawaii was our 50th state

5. cop comedy from the early 60s. "car __, where are you?"

54

6. card game that involves the dealer firing the cards all over the room.

52 pick-up

bonus: can you name the movie from the 80s about the kid in the 60s?
and the creator of the show from the 70s about life in the 50s?

the movie from the 80s about the kid in the 60s was the flamingo kid (1984).
the director was the creator of happy days (and laverne and shirley and mork and mindy, etc.) was garry marshall, one of my heroes.
side note: incidentally, when the flamingo kid came out back in 84, someone slid the "o" to the far side of the lobby sign, making me think--and dream--for just a second that they had made a movie about the human torch...

happy monday!
smell ya later!
todd

oh, sh*t

okay...

my friend lois sent me these pics a week or so ago, each one deserving of the caption...














~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

when i was a kid, i had this poster, same caption, called "bridge out." it was a woodcut or lithograph or etching or something in that old-timey style and printed only in black on sepia-colored paper. it was a train crash, a locomotive, that had come up on a railroad bridge that wasn't ready for the weight. the engine had sorta nose-dived through the bridge and into the embutment. it didn't look like anyone had actually been hurt in the crash--i think i even remember the engineer looking out the window all confused--as some old-timey guys and looky-loos surveyed the scene. can't find the image anywhere on this great big magical internets, but it was cool and it hung in my room for years.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


and here are your
five for friday!
+ 1
the other day i was watching a movie from the 80s that was supposed to be taking place in 60s that was directed by a guy who created a tv show in the 70s about growing up in the 50s...which has absolutely nothing to do with the following questions about the 50s.
not the decade--just the numbers.

1. number of varieties that heinz boasts.

2. top secret air base in nevada (where they allegedly keep the aliens).

3. new york's most famous--and infamous--disco club in the 70s.

4. five-oh! where did this slang term come from and why?

5. cop comedy from the early 60s. "car __, where are you?"

6. card game that involves the dealer firing the cards all over the room.

bonus: can you name the movie from the 80s about the kid in the 60s?
and the creator of the show from the 70s about life in the 50s?

that's it!--i'm on a boat!
smell ya later!
todd

have you dreamt this man...?

okay...

my nephew, tyler, found this page on facebook and we immediately got talking about...

...this man.

EVER DREAM THIS MAN?
Every night throughout the world hundreds of people dream about this face





HISTORY

In January 2006 in New York, the patient of a well-known psychiatrist draws the face of a man that has been repeatedly appearing in her dreams. In more than one occasion that man has given her advice on her private life. The woman swears she has never met the man in her life.

That portrait lies forgotten on the psychiatrist's desk for a few days until one day another patient recognizes that face and says that the man has often visited him in his dreams. He also claims he has never seen that man in his waking life.

The psychiatrist decides to send the portrait to some of his colleagues that have patients with recurrent dreams. Within a few months, four patients recognize the man as a frequent presence in their own dreams. All the patients refer to him as THIS MAN.

From January 2006 until today, at least 2000 people have claimed they have seen this man in their dreams, in many cities all over the world: Los Angeles, Berlin, Sao Paulo, Tehran, Beijing, Rome, Barcelona, Stockholm, Paris, New Dehli, Moskow etc.

At the moment there is no ascertained relation or common trait among the people that have dreamed of seeing this man. Moreover, no living man has ever been recognized as resembling the man of the portrait by the people who have seen this man in their dreams.

The aim of this website is:
- to help those who have seen this man in their dreams and to foster communication among them;
- to understand who this man is and why he appears in an apparently pattern-less array of situations in the dreams of such diverse human subjects.


read more about this man--and this phenomena--at;

http://www.thisman.org/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

very hot here on the east coast and especially here in upstate ny with temps getting over 100 yesterday and more on the way.
i'm not complaining--these are the days i try to access when the winter months seem to go on and on. i am hoping to take advantage of this oppressive heat by getting out the smoker and smoking a turkey--the smoker needs to get--and stay--very hot. i've done a turkey and a duck before (the turkey was eh and took a long, long time to cook, the duck was smaller and turned out fairly well. i'm no chef, but i'll letcha know how it turns out.

alison sent me this this morning...

how hot is it?



that's a smart dog.

have a nice--and cool--day!
smell ya later!
todd

there ya go...

okay...

so i went hiking on saturday and we had my family here for a barbeque on sunday, i posted that quick 4th of july post, and then totally forgot that yesterday was monday. i guess because everyone else had the day off...

so here it is tuesday and we'll see how the day goes...

hiking on saturday was with a couple of friends--don and dennis--across the river by new paltz, lake minnewaska in the shawangunk mountains. i'd only been hiking once before this summer and that one let me know that my cardio needed a little work. (working on it...). this was a much smoother hike--although i can still feel it a little in my calves. gotta get in shape--the zombies could be here any minute...

sunday was the fourth and we had my father, my brother and my niece and nephew over for steaks, corn on the cob, potato salad, regular green salad, water melon and pie. usually i'm the pyromaniac who has some fireworks salted away for later in the evening, but this time jeff was really proud and excited to be the guy with the connection. unfortunately, things have been pretty rainless around here for the past two weeks and we had to agree that the grass was just too dry to have sparks raining down on it all over the place--the sun has been just burning the lawns up and in my backyard, which gets the sun all day long, is so dry it crunches like uncooked spaghetti under your feet. so maybe in a couple weeks...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AWESOME FACT OF THE DAY!!
courtesy of my friend lizzie savage...
today is the day marty mcfly arrived in the future from 1985!
that feels kinda...weird, doesn't it?
like, am i in the future now...?
check it out.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

gotta go and get to work, but i thought i'd mention my new favorite word--one i can't get out of my head and can't keep from just blurting out at the most inappropriate times like i have cryptozoological tourettes or something...i saw it mentioned as an upcoming movie on syfy's fall schedule and...well, i can wait to see it... *

it's called SHARKTOPUS!! and, really, if it's anything like dinocroc and supergator, well, i have paint i need to watch dry...

here's a taste of the superdinocrocagator and then some concept pics of, say it with me...SHARKTOPUS!
oboy.

http://video.syfy.com/movies_events/syfy_saturday#////movies_events/syfy_saturday/best_deaths/enjoy-the-sofa--dinocroc-vs-supergator/v1233254















~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and while searching for pics of the sharktopus, i found this cool picture that i like to call "oblivious".





~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


the answers to the
five for friday!

1. in what classic SNL skit did chris farley play a character named "drinking buddy"?

mike meyers' "middle-aged man"

2. what was the name of the movie based on the travis walton abduction case?

fire in the sky

3. what was the name of quick draw mcgraw's little burro buddy sidekick?

baba-looey



4. (yes, i know i've used this one before, but...)
what movie's poster touted the famous line, "just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water?

jaws 2

5. name the four members of the A-team?

hannibal, face, murdock, b.a. baracus


have a nice tuesday!
smell ya later!
todd