Chris

So Newspaperman is down on playing fantasy football. The Jon searched far and wide to try to peak Newspaerman's interest back in another fantasy sport The Jon has dominated. The best option was this video in a field of a lot of blond and er ... silicone participants. Hey you can always count on a token minority girl on such Web creations as Fantasysportsgirl. Seeing how TheBaseballStars are all minorities, the quasi/unkown/asian, latina host suffices.

Unfortunately, there were no videos of Manny Ramirez or Grady Sizemore to share. We all know Newspaperman's affliction with Grady (Newspaperman, this does not give you the right to walk around crying in your Superman Underoos), but apparently The Jon was all over Manny's Planters peanuts or something a couple of months ago before the season started.

But The Jon digresses ... let's talk baseball fools.

The worst fantasy decision ever

So last week the decision had to be made. The two options were Orlando Cabrera and JJ Hardy. The decision was to go with Cabrera because of his overall steady track record.

JJ Hardy only had 17 hits, 12 RBI and 6 homers this past week. It is only one of the best fantasy weeks in recent memory.

The Jon sucks.

C.C. Sabathia was traded ... what does this mean fantasywise?

A running joke among the minorities of this site was how we approached writing fantasy baseball on our archaic site last season. The biggest mistake was we approached the site like a newspaper since we are all journalists.

That meant we had a set schedule of content and we all had to write on the same topic. After a couple of months, we ran out of ideas and started to take obscure fantasy happenings and tried to put it in perspective. We actually would have wrote: C.C. Sabathia was traded ... what does this mean fantasywise?

Ugh.

Look, nothing is going to change for Sabathia.
He is moving from one hitter's park to another.
The National League myth of weaker hitting is just that.
He will continue to dominate.
He is an ace.
You should never bench him.
The End.

So at the beginning of your draft, you need power. Target second base.

We are one season away from saying that. The top two home run hitters are Chase Utley and Dan Uggla (OK so Uggla is tied with like six other hitters).

Second base as a power position makes The Jon uneasy. Life revolves around first basemen and outfielders dominating the homer category.

If Dan Uggla keeps this up, he could be mentioned as a top 10 pick next season.

Utley? The Jon was already arguing that he should have been a top 3 pick heading into this campaign (Obama as a tag!). The Jon became a believer last season when Utley was putting together the best season ever by a second baseman before his campaign (McCain as a tag!) ended when he got hit in the wrist with a ball.

Baseball is 120 years old. Chase Utley is making history. How often do you get to see that?

As for Uggla, he is just a glorified power hitter on a hot streak.
Prove The Jon wrong Uggla.
Please. Baseball could use another power source. And work on looking hard. This video doesn't cut it.

Eric Young ... this is you

So after a week of hearing Eric Young on Baseball Tonight cracking jokes and doing the whole "I'm a minority  ... and minorities laugh on TV" routine, The Jon has finally placed who Young reminds The Greatness of. Ummm ... Eric, you are the one stage right.

If you can't beat 'em

To follow in the spirit of the minority kick and Eric Young being exposed as Buckwheat, this week's musical selection is none other than Public Enemy's "Burn Hollywood, Burn."

The Jon and PoiDog geeked out when this video first came out. You had Ice Cube, the hottest rapper at the time fresh off his break with Jerry Heller, and the incomparable Big Daddy Kane.

The irony is Ice Cube and Flavor Flav aren't that different now from the movies shown on this video.
Oh well ... and of course, good luck this week fools.

It's not often you see Batman and Superman get this pummeled!

Via Joystiq

Chase is paying a visit to San Antonio this week, so Blake joins up with the back-up geeks, Mike and Kenny, to talk about the career of Mike Mignola and his most famous creation, Hellboy. The guys talk about their favorite Mignola comics, their favorite Hellboy stories, how they felt about the first movie, what they're expecting from the second, and Kenny even gives his thoughts on the new Hellboy: Science of Evil video game! In the picks, Mike likes the current Batman Confidential run, and Blake is caught by Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam! Next week, the guys take a hard look at Batman, the Joker, and The Dark Knight. E-mail us with your comments, "Ask Chase Anything" questions, or anything else at Showcase@comixtreme.com.

Episode 76: Mike Mignola and Hellboy

Inside this episode:

Lo sorprendente es que Will Smith renunció al papel de superhéroe por antonomasia, Superman, según ha desvelado en la promoción de esta película. Fue a la MTV, y el film al que se refería era Superman Return, de Bryan Singer. Menos mal que la cosa no fructificó, no por el color sino porque cuesta imaginarse a Smith como un apocado periodista del Planet.

En fin, habrá que ver qué puede aportar Hancock, al cine sobre todo porque en el cómic superhéroes canallas, mercenarios y con contratos publiciarios ya se han visto unos cuantos (os recomiendo la lectura de Fuerza-X y X-Statix, de Peter Milligan y Michael Allred). Sea lo que sea, seréis los primeros en enteraros de nuestra opinión.

Op/Ed by Kate Blake, Admin OSCK

OSCK would like to issue a challenge to the executives at Warner Brothers and DC Comics- follow your own advice and listen to Bruce Wayne from Superman/Batman #49 , don't give us another origins story- give us a rip roaring action film with Superman and Batman! This has not been done before. Let Chris Nolan helm the project- he has proven his worth with Batman Begins and all early indications are that the Dark Knight is even better. To make things even more interesting- how about going out on a limb and working with your comics team to develop an ALL NEW super nemesis for the two top Superheroes to take down together? James Bond is recast and revamped every so many years and continues to entertain us and leave us wanting more partially because they hold on to the core of what is Bond and what makes 007 great and then they update everything around him.

Christian Bale as Batman is a complex , modern warrior who we love to see on the big screen. I would really like to see him team up with Superman. The special effects budget would have to be huge- but it would be worth it! Smallville fans of course like Tom Welling and would love to see him tackle Supes but we are not married to the casting. I think it is time for Hollywood to find the next Christopher Reeve- tall , dark, handsome, athletic and please find a classically trained actor not a soap star. Reeve went to Julliard and had real training which came through in the nuances of the first two Superman movies. What do you think Superman, Smallville and Batman fans? Are you ready for a really top notch World's Finest and what would you like to see?

Here is one of my favorite World's Finest fan trailers by the wonderful video maker Ferd- features Bale and Welling in the key parts along with Erica Durance as Lois Lane and Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor. Any fan trailers or fan art you want to submit regarding a Supes/Bats team up- sign up on the OSCK forums and post in our art threads! Link in our blog roll on this page.

Thanks to OSCK member Baudyhallee for the comics scan

Come out a couple of years back and always wanted to read these. Going to read the first one soon and I'll post and tell what I think. Anyone else read these then comment and tell me what you thought ;).

Trinity 04

Por Kal_el 1984-tradu y Weeebaas- maqueta

Superman Annual V2 12

Por Kru-el - Tradumaquetas.

Spiderman...Not Getting any

Batman...Not Getting any

Hancock...Not Getting Any

The Hulk...Not Getting Any

Rogue...Not Getting Any

Suffice to say there are quite a few superheroes are not able to hit the skins. Despite having romantic interests, none of these super heroes are able to taker their relationships to the "next level." Superman has super sperm that would send a shot gun blast through any lady (he cannot control bodily functions like a heartbeat or an ejaculation). Batman studies zen buddhism before dawning a cape and therefore can't fornicate. Hancock becomes mortal and therefore not super if he spends too much time with his love Charlize Theron. The Hulk turns into a monster every time his heart rate gets above 160 or something...sex is a workout and he can't get excited, so no boinking. Rogue puts dudes in comas if she so much as kisses them. And Spiderman has radioactive sperm...that shit is worse than the HIV.

These are facts, but the question of why is still largely unanswered. Why is it that these superheroes cant score with the proverbial cheerleader?

My theory is this:

Romantic sex leads to more romantic attachment. And since these superheroes all have partners they "love"  without sex, involving sex would tip their relationships into a whole nother galaxy of seriousness. If a superhero were to fuck one of the leading ladies they would have to deal with all of the stuff that comes with greater romantic attachment. They would have to deal with the vulnerability, the pain, the potential loss, the frustration, the agony, the self-consciousness. They would be human because they would no longer be invincible. Their humanity would negate their superness. Therefore in order to hold onto some semblance of power...physical and emotional they cannot have sex.

Of course, you can have sex without greater romantic attachment, but since the creators don't want these superheroes being perceived as sluts...that is not an option...so they just make it impossible for them to have sex in the first place.

Superman - Man of Style è il concorso per disegnatori e creativi lanciato da Project Rooftop. Obiettivo del contest: ridisegnare la tuta di Superman in occasione del suo 70esimo compleanno. Sono stati selezionati i finalisti del concorso: potete vedere gli altri stilosissimi Superman nella gallery che si trova dopo il Continua. Qual’è il vostro costume preferito?

Saya bukanlah superman, namun mental saya serasa menjadi super setelah melewati tempaan demi tempaan…sedangkan kebahagiaan ini hanyalah kecil dari besarnya kebahagiaan yang mungkin akan didapat jika kita selalu mawas diri dan bekerja sebaik-baiknya. Karena bukankah yang terpenting dari suatu kehidupan adalah dengan kita menjadi berguna bagi orang lain, orang yang memang membutuhkan kita. Paris Van Java…pun telah menjadi kebutuhan bagi Bandung, bahkan Jakarta.

I was going through some old titles for some stuff I'm doing on my other blog, The Daily Superman, and came across this cracking poster by Alex Saviuk and Frank Giacoia that I thought I'd share with you.

It's from DC Comics Presents #50, which saw Superman team up with Clark Kent. If you haven't read it before, there's a touching scene at the end in front of the graves of Ma and Pa Kent.

There's also this poster that features all the guest stars from the first 50 issues. Enjoy.

Source: Newsarama June 26,2008

Plans in Cleveland to celebrate the history of Superman have run into problems of Kryptonian proportions.

The Cleveland Free Times reports that efforts to restore the Glenville-neighborhood home of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel and possibly establish a museum are caught in the middle of a dispute between the president of the city’s convention and visitors bureau and the ousted chairman of the Superman Committee.

Earlier this week Michael Levin, former chairman of the committee overseeing the “Summer of Superman” festivities celebrating the 70th anniversary of Superman, sent out an email criticizing Positively Cleveland President Dennis Roche for replacing him with local realtor Richard Pace:

“I have it all set up to go,” says Levin. “I have all the money raised. But Dennis can’t make any money that way. Instead, they’re going to scam as much money as possible and screw it up. Watch, they’ll go to the Port Authority to get money to build the museum and Pace will design it. This doesn’t smell fishy, this smells like dead fish.”

The Free Times notes that Terry Stewart — president and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and former president of Marvel Entertainment — also is now involved, “negotiating with his former nemesis, DC Comics, for its blessing to host Superman events in town.”

Roche, who asserts he had no real influence on the appointment of Levin’s replacement, says, “We want this thing to grow. I don’t think a museum is achievable. But over the course of four or five years we could put together a large annual festival that draws people in from out of town to spend money in Cleveland.”

In other Superman history news- again thanks to Baudyhallee for the find!

Read this blogpost by Marc Tyler of Noblemania to learn about what happened to the other house where Superman was created- Joe  Shuster's house. Tyler is a Superman historian and his  post makes great reading.

Existe algo extremadamente tonto con respecto a este juego, la idea de enfrentar a super-héroes del estilo de Batman y Superman con los personajes de la serie de Mortal Kombat simplemente no suena en mi cabeza.

Sin embargo, el juego se encuentra en desarrollo y ya sabemos que los personajes de Mortal Kombat podran usar sus famosas Fatalities, mientras que los héroes (que nunca asesinan a nadie) tendran las denominadas brutalities, correspondientes a un fuerte golpe que no destruirá por completo al enemigo. Genial.

Recopilando imagenes de prestigiosas páginas cómo Gamespot, Joystiq, Xbox 360 Fanboy e IGN, Xbox Latino ha montado a sus servidores (o bueno, de WordPress) una galería actualizada de las imagenes, capturas de pantalla y arte del juego.

[gallery]

Visita las otras galerías de Xbox Latino

[Jkrincon Out]

Cuatro días atras, Superman celebró 70 años desde su legendaria primera publicación. Hace un par de días, mientras me dedicaba a decepcionarme luchisticamente hablando, una noticia remeció el mundo de Bryan Singer. Todo porque el conocido escritor comiquero Mark Millar estaría planeando una película de Superman para el 2011, que mandaría al carajo todo lo que tiene que ver con The Man of Steel.

Todo porque en en una entrevista reciente, el creador de Wanted y fan acérrimo de Superman señaló que no solo ha tenido el sueño de reinventar al personaje de cara al siglo 21. Además, "contactó" a un director y un productor, para tener una nueva película del azuloso para el 2011. Es más, declara que la franquicia está en punto muerto después de que la última película perdió 200 millones, pero en dicha fecha planea reiniciar la historia del hombre de acero. Obviamente, nada está confirmado pero Millar esta lo suficientemente confiado como para hacer público todo esto.

Sin embargo, debido a la batahola que se armó por sus palabras, Millar aclaró en los foros de su sitio oficial que "un conocido director de acción americano escuchó acerca de mi amor por Superman, se aproximó y me preguntó si podíamos hacer un equipo junto a su productor para intentar concretar esto. Hemos hablado por varias semanas, y si esto llega a ocurrir, lo sabremos para Navidad. El tiene bastante influencia con Warner Bros. así que a cruzar los dedos. Pero esto no es nada más que un gran nombre agregandome a esto, para hacerme parte de esto".

Al día siguiente, Millar se mostró menos confiado y aclaro que el tema, en todo caso, no era una noticia. No existe una oferta de Warner Bros, ni de nadie. Es solo un director importante que tiene una idea. Después de tanto bullicio, el tema en el foro de MillarWorld fue borrado. No sé porque tengo la tincada que "el gran director" podría ser alguien como el vilipendiado Brett Ratner (No me extrañaría, al menos). A estas alturas, todo este tema suena solo a salida de madre.

Desde: NewsArama

The first claim I should make about this story is, readers need to go in emotionally open about it. Try to put yourself in the position of the characters; you’ll find it far more fulfilling, much like eating an Oreo in front of someone on a diet or having sex on your boss’ desk…….with his wife. Second, I am going to reveal the minimum amount possible regarding the story as that is how I read it, with minimal knowledge. Beyond that, I am going to have to at least reveal what I knew beforehand to make this a review worth reading. Otherwise this is just 6 paragraphs of me saying funny things and as hilarious as that is to read, I would have a hard time getting it put on the site.

The story begins with Elongated man, a hero long left out in the cold along with numerous other JLI\JLE members as writers are hard pressed to match the Giffen\De Matteis formula that worked so well in the eighties. The entire story is really about Elongated Man and his wife Sue, though the story is padded out beautifully with additional characters. This reads like a JSA story; it’s all about the past. Moreover it takes the past, spits on it, swipes at it with a rag and actually makes it sparkle a little bit. Ralph reminisces about his life with Sue, how they met and his feelings for her. As I read this, I took a moment to wish I had spent more time reading about them. Oh sure I read the JLI\JLE series but if Meltzer had written a series just about these two with this sort of emotional depth, I would not only read it but marry it also. Now I knew Sue was going to die; I had stumbled across that fact when IC first came out. Unavoidable as a TPB reader. To be honest it is a miracle I didn’t find out everything else that happens, but I was fortunate with this one. All the same it didn’t prepare me for the brutality of what happens to her, nor for Ralph's naked grief. If you have ever seen a person so totally destroyed they can’t even hold themselves up, be prepared to see it again.

What gets addressed here is some of the weaknesses of the old stories. When the JLA got possessed or their identities were found out, what happened to that knowledge? The book deals with it in the right way I feel. It’s also an appropriate choice of characters for the darker side of this story. Green Arrow, Black Canary, Carter and even Zee to a certain extent could all be considered far more black ops than JLA. They have proven their worth in the past, but also shown they are prepared to be brutal to get the job done. The surprise is the other inclusions, most notably the Atom and Barry Allen. Could they really be a party to this sort of behaviour? You bet, and the story doesn’t hold back in explaining why. We also get to see how organised the heroes are when a crisis of this sort strikes, but not in the way you think. Yes, the security systems of the heroes are impressive and the way they mobilise is equally interesting. However, what the heroes don’t do speaks volumes. Iconic heroes like Superman and Batman are….selective in what they discover. So long as the job gets done, the dirty work can be pushed to the background. Laced throughout the story is betrayal which is presented in spades. It really makes you think about the characters and how they have been forced to tarnish the very ideals they are attempting to safeguard.

The battle between the heroes and Deathstroke is very satisfying. Some of the best the DC universe has to offer go up against a foe we rarely get to see anymore, which is a shame given the way Meltzer handles him. On top of this a small army of heroes spread out looking for clues to the crime and get nowhere. There is an obvious sense of panic here, and it’s orchestrated well, illustrating people on the brink, trying to maintain the aura of calm.

Where the story really stands out though is in the human tragedy of it all. I am a big fan of titanic battles, of seeing Superman (who I readily admit I don’t actually like) get hit and not miss a bit. It gives a child-like giddy thrill which is quite satisfying. This story provides this but in minimal amounts. Instead, a soap opera style story unfolds and for once, I’m not flicking to the soccer. The intensity and focus does fluctuate though. The Firestorm situation is weak compared to, say, the Atom and his ex-wife. Something I never saw coming and was pleasantly surprised. The most shocking, most poignant and most memorable part of the entire story has to be Batman and Robin racing back to Tim's apartment. The fear is palpable and all over Batman's face, a single panel that will stick with me for some time I am sure. It is just one of the brilliant moments featured in this story which makes the heroes seem really vulnerable. Not vulnerable against some vast enemy or some unconquerable evil, but against their own fears and insecurities. The bonds between them get so stretched you think they might snap. Of course they don’t, but for a second there…

[VIA COMICSBULLETIN]

Where is the man who can clamber to heaven? Only the gods live for ever with glorious Shamash, but as for us men, our days are numbered, our occupations are a breath of wind.

In other words, human life is impermanent and what we work to build is impermanent.

So what should we do with ourselves?

Gilgamesh takes a stab at an answer: In spite of impermanence, live life with a large, ambitious goal, such as fighting the forest monster Humbaba. Take risks, and if you fail, at least for awhile your name will endure on the lips of others:

[I]f I fail I leave behind me a name that endures; men will say of me, 'Gilgamesh has fallen in fight with ferocious Humbaba.'

Gilgamesh's answer recalls the philosopher Hanna Arendt's observation, in her book The Human Condition (1958), that the pre-socratic Greeks too saw immortality in these terms:

The task and potential greatness of mortals lie in their ability to produce things---works and deeds and words---which would deserve to be and, at least to a degree, are at home in everlastingness, so that through them mortals could find their place in a cosmos where everything is immortal except themselves. (19)

In short, one solution to the problem of mortality is to plug oneself into the divine, or the eternal circle of nature, by building a pyramid or writing lasting sonnets, as Shakespeare has done, or conquering an archetypal monster, such as Humbaba, as Gilgamesh and Enkidu set out to do. 

Arendt continues:

The distinction between man and animal runs right through the human species itself: only the best (aristoi), who constantly prove themselves to be the best (aristeuein, a verb for which there is no equivelent in any other language) and who 'prefer immortal fame to mortal things,' are really human; the others, content with whatever pleasures nature will yield them, live and die like animals. (19)

I hear in this position, apparently shared by Gilgamesh and the pre-socratic Greeks, Nietzsche's Apollonian Ubermensch ("Superman"), who embraces eternal recurrence because he has actually done something with his time on earth---he has been a creator, taken risks, and has no regrets, and would live life the same way over again. Here's Nietzsche (quoted in Pessimism, 2006, pg. 188 by Joshua Dienstag):

My new way to 'yes.' My new version of pessimism as a voluntary quest for fearful and questionable aspects of beings. . . . A pessimist such as that could in that way lead to a Dionysian yes-saying to the world as it is; as a wish for its absolute return and eternity . . .

I also hear in Gilgamesh's call for quest in the face of human impermanence the restlessness of Alfred Lord Tennyson's Ulysses, who is not content to sit around his palace, even in old age, but is determined to launch forth into new adventures:

It little profits an idle king,

By this still hearth, among these barren crags,

Matched with an aged wife, I mete and dole

Unequal laws unto a savage race,

That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.

 

I cannot rest from travel: I will drink

Life to the lees . . .

 

Death closes all: but something ere the end,

Some work of noble note, may yet be done,

Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.

Like Gilgamesh, who is not content to hang around the city of Uruk with Enkidu, but must seek out a risky new adventure that will test the extremities of his being, so Tennyson's Ulysses must move.

I also think of Charles Darwin, whose father discouraged his world travel. But Darwin did not heed his father's safe and sensible advice, but took great risks with his life out on the edge of discovery, and brought something new, and apparently permanent, into the world: his great book, The Origin of Species.

In this sense, Gilgamesh and Enkidu are also Nietzschean heroes initiating, as it were, the beginnings of World Literature with a quest after Humbaba, and having a kind of immortality by the preservation of their names and story.

But they still died.

I did a drawing for you today :D But I can't show it to you, maybe tomorrow? ;D It's pretty shitty, cause it was done in paint xD But I quite like it xD

Alejandro. Thank you for yesterday :* You made me feel horny ;D Maybe I'm stupid but you really did, what you wrote just made me desire you so much! Seriously, when I went to bed, I couldn't sleep for a long time, cause I was thinking of you. I love you! Fuck, be here just for a moment, I want to touch you and feel you and taste you and kiss you and hug you and lick you and bite you and I want you to fuck me :* Pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! I love you so much...

I'm so sorry... I wish we could talk, but I guess today it's just impossible... Fucking internet... I have no idea why it works here and doesn't work at my computer, fuck it's the same internet... ;(

That drawing is kinda dirty :D Maybe not the first version, but I tried to draw rest of the drawing and haha... it gets really dirty :D:D Ok never mind, I'll show you tomorrow :D

Sorry for this stupid post, I just wanted you to know that we can't talk today :(

I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU more each day :*:*:*:*:*:*:**:*:*:**:*::*:*:*:*:*:*:*:**:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

 New Balance truly is the footwear of champions.

Smallville 7.20 Arctic (2007)

Edward Teague runs to South America after his run-in with Clark and Lex but Kara intercepts his flight, extracts the location of the device that controls The Traveler… and kills him. Clark tries to convince her that she has changed since travelling back to Krypton but she flies off and starts to assist Lex and the device.

2/10

This has been an awful season, largely dull, largely incompetently written and, again, sometimes astonishingly violent and horrible. Appropriately, this is an awful episode to close things out. I had already called the Kara plot twist but it didn't stop it being lazily resolved. Lex finally steps foot in the Fortress of Solitude and while the events are predictably monumental, it's delivered without impact or, bizarrely, crescendo. The scenes between Lex and Clark have always been the crux of Smallville and that dynamic has been lost this season. Considering we've waited seven years for these scenes, it's a big disappointment. What's even more disappointing is our knowledge of how Smallville consistently treats its season cliffhangers and so we can be sure that these events will be given short change in the first one or two episodes next season. I'm not sure if I'll bother watching.

This Smallville episode contains extremely unpleasant scenes, extreme violence, extreme fantasy violence, extremely dangerous imitable behaviour.

Smallville 7.19 Quest (2007)

Lex is attacked, again, by the bank manager from Zurich, this time at Luthor Mansion. The assailant incapacitates Lex and gruesomely carves Kryptonian symbols into his chest.

2/10

This is boring and horrible. The only interest comes from Clark being explicitly asked why he hasn’t destroyed Lex. He doesn't offer an answer (the questioner doesn't deserve it) but Welling sells the moment and the script tackles the topic near the end of the episode. Director Kenneth Biller cannot disguise the thinness of the script (though it's not particularly bad) but, together with the make-up department, makes a couple of scenes far more gruesome and horrible than they needed to be.

This Smallville episode contains extremely gruesome and unpleasant scenes, extremely unpleasant violence, violence and sensuality.