andy

Wasn't there an UFO at the end of the Colby's...?

 

Other people told me this, but I haven't had the privilege to view the show myself.

Ha I remember this. Ten years before the X-Files Fallon Carrington was abducted by a UFO in a season cliffhanger of Dynasty II: The Colbys although nothing was ever made of it. 1980s prime time televison was a lot more bizarre than people give it credit.

Ah yes found it

Rolling Stones Undercover (of the night)

I never lived in a market where BBC America is a basic cable channel. I always thought it was a premium channel. I do watch the half hour BBC America news report on the local PBS channel as it usually gives more coverage to African news than the US nightly news shows although I find it not as informative about South American news as the Mexican news programs.

Having John get married to a woman who's perhaps a better magician but not as experienced who gets him back in the game might be an interesting concept. It could add a different dynamic to Hellblazer to have John team up with someone his equal and it could give a new perspective to all the usual demon and vampire jazz. It sounds a bit naff at first but in the right hands it could be something fresh.

I'm surprised it was never "leaked" onto the internet a-la "Shoot". Or perhaps it was and nobody cared.

I always see ads for technical schools but I'm never quite sure how useful they are for actually getting a job--better than nothing no doubt but unsure if they're worth the time and money.

I was just illustrating the point that Hellblazer has been around for a while and thusly it has certain elements that its readers expect. Like other long running comic/films/book serials it's in a position of damned if you do something different and damned if you remain the same.

I thought John Shirley did a good job of putting Constantine in different situations in Warlord while still keeping the character intact. But I know some people didn't like the idea of John Constantine in a more action-film type scenario.

It'll be interesting to see what the new editor and writer of Hellblazer do after Mina and Vankin. Should John go back to London and get drawn back into the old fun and games? Should they try a variation of the Azzarello route and turn Hellblazer into a different sort of genre book--romance or sci-fi perhaps? Start over with a complete recon?

There's actually a lot more a writer can do with Constatntine if he/she and the readership are willing to perhaps look at the character from different angles.

I hate any and all shows that are about celebrities. I don't CARE whom Lindsay Lohan is fucking, which venereal disease Paris Hilton gave to Billy Joel, or what Justin Timberlake thinks of Lance Bass being gay and that Cameron Diaz has old lady smell. But it's not that I don't have to watch them, I don't want ANYBODY to watch them.

 

All of you--PROMISE ME you'll stop watching the E channel, Extra, Up CLose, et al. And you'll get a cookie for your efforts.

Those shows are one of the reasons I cancelled my cable. Those programs along with the obsession VH-1 has for second rate comedians making snarky comments about pop culture in all those instant nostalgia show are all irritatingly addictive. All those shows are built for short attention spans and make it easily digestable when flicking through channels. I would usually watch a minute of each show, then flick through the channels again and watch another few minutes then repeat until I realized I just wasted several hours doing nothing.

I long ago gave up on shows such as A&E's Biography series to focus on anyone who wasn't born in the last few decades. I realize that lack of film footage has something to do with it but it always irritated me that with all the fascinating people who ever lived these shows always focus on current politicians and celebrities.

Maybe sometime down the line I'd love to write HB if I ever get established as a comic writer... One can only dream, but I'd be highly fearful to have you guys on the boards hate me if I write something you don't like. :lol:

What people getting angry on an internet message board. That's ridiculous. :wacko:

Good job. Perhaps YOU are the next writer of Hellblazer.

I would think that Hellblazer will be Vertigo's book to try out new talent. It certainly has been in the past with Ennis, Jenkins, Manco, etc. At this point it's pretty easy to write a stock John Constantine tale--just throw in some scenes of gory violence, heavy drinking, sarcastic jokes, woe is me type soliloquies, panto demons, a quickly forgotten love interest, and perhaps a few references to the past and then you can be a Hellblazer writer. If you're popular then you can move on to some more prestigious work at DC/Vertigo.

This might be a dumb question but how much schooling is required for these types of jobs. Are we talking four years at a computer tech school. I was stupid and went for an old style liberal arts type degree and now I'm a dinosaur with no real skills to speak of. I should try to get a job relevent to the 21st Century.

Matt Groening said that the first look at the new series will be at next year's San Diego Comic Con.

South Park tries to remain current, and that's not the easiest thing in the world to pull off. Just look at the last few years of the Simpsons...

The obvious problem with South Park's ability to quickly comment on current events is that those episodes seem somewhat stale after several years. I've been watching the shows from 1999 and frankly parts of them feel like eating leftovers. Although I guess the fart jokes will always be relevent.

Vankin told me the series would "run forever". If the sales figures are good enough for the bean counters at DC to keep the book afloat, then I suppose there could still be more years left in the title.

I'm wondering who the next editor and writer will be and what kind of plans they'll have for the character.

Is Brett Favre coming back after that horrible season he had last year? If so then the Packers season can pretty much be written off.

Speaking of QBs who've peaked, I still think Tom Brady and co. have enough talent to get a Wild Card playoff berth.

Denver I think will have been last year's "flash in the pan".

New Orleans might be the underdog team that does much better than anyone reasonable expected.

Deckchair Trapped Testicles

A Croatian man got a nasty surprise when he tried to get out of his deck chair and found his testicles had got stuck.

Mario Visnjic had gone swimming naked in the sea at the Valalta beach in western Croatia, reports 24sata.

His testicles had shrunk while in the cool sea and slipped through the wooden slats when he sat back down on his wooden deckchair.

But as he lay in the sun they expanded back to normal size and got stuck between the slats.

He was eventually freed after he called beach maintenance services on his mobile phone and they sent a member of staff to cut the deck chair in half.

"Sundays Are Different" is a good one as it's written in a fairly obtuse manner which can lead to various interpatations.

Another strange one-parter is #119 "Undertow" by Paul Jenkins. That one might elicit some different responses.

"Telling Tales" the last Hellblazer story from Warren Ellis and the latest "comedy" issue in HB is a good one although I'm not sure how much discussion it would generate.

I too have a soft spot in my heart for the Eddie Campbell four parter but I don't think that one fits in the perimteters of Ade's rules.

Also, I just got a phonecall from a mate who told me he accomplished his lifelong dream, and shagged an irish girl last night.

Since you mentioned Irish girls, San Diego has been inundated by Irish college students who are here for the summer. I've become somewhat smitten with one Trinity student I work with. Too bad I'll never see her again after today. If only I was younger and had more 'game'. Though she doesn't seem like the type who'd jump in bed with someone she hardly knows which is probably why I like her. I can think of worse fates than living in Ireland with a girl 10 years my junior and fullfilling my lifelong dream of being a 'potato-man'.

[And with the following story, this thread comes back to its origins.]

 

Fries are French again on Capitol Hill

GOP had led 2003 push in House cafeteria to rename them ‘Freedom Fries’

That story reminded me of this one for whatever reason

Iran Says 'No' to Multiculuralism

theRAN, Iran — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has ordered government and cultural bodies to use modified Persian words to replace foreign words that have crept into the language, such as "pizzas" which will now be known as "elastic loaves," state media reported Saturday.

The presidential decree, issued earlier this week, orders all governmental agencies, newspapers and publications to use words deemed more appropriate by the official language watchdog, the Farhangestan Zaban e Farsi, or Persian Academy, the Irna official news agency reported.

The academy has introduced more than 2,000 words as alternatives for some of the foreign words that have become commonly used in Iran, mostly from Western languages. The government is less sensitive about Arabic words, because the Koran is written in Arabic.

Among other changes, a "chat" will become a "short talk" and a "cabin" will be renamed a "small room," according to official Web site of the academy.

Don't get me wrong I think Futurama was a great series and will be interested to see what the new shows will be like in a little over a year from now. I also think that The Simpsons at its peak is pretty much the greatest sit-com in television history. It's just that both shows had numerous writers which in the long run is probably a good thing and neither became the mouthpiece of Matt Groening.

South Park has and will always be the mouthpiece for Matt Stone and Tre Parker which probably limits the shows appeal to those on similar wavelenths. I'm actually surprised that they are still doing the show and even more surprised that it's still funny.

There's no way this film won't kick two shades of ass.

Matt and Tre who created and write every episode of South Park are smart people who deal with stupid humor and make it clever.

Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane is also smart but not as smart as he thinks he is. He can be funny once he realizes that a stream of pop culture references does not make one clever.

Kevin Smith is also a smart guy who also deals with puerile humor who frankly can be more clever than the simple sex jokes that permeate most of his films.

From what I can tell both The Simpsons and Futurama are written by committee and as far as I can tell each script goes through numerous re-writes for better or worse.

I would LOVE to see a Cowboy/Chargers Super Bowl. I'm not going to hold my breath as new S.D. QB Philip Rivers is too much of an question mark as is the Drew Bledsoe/T.O. match-up.

Still I suppose it's as good a prediction as any other. I mean how many people picked a Seahawks/Steelers Super Bowl at this time last year?

I would love to see Lou's spreadsheet itemizing all his action figures.

BTW, I have a few more of those Hellblazer: Subterranean postcards I can send out to anyone who wants one. I just need an address.