http://www.fascinationplace.org Deniable plausibility Wed, 23 Jul 2008 05:39:21 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The smallest week in recent memory: Tangent: Superman's Reign #5 of 12, by Dan Jurgen, Jamal Ingle & Robin Riggs, and Ron Marz, Fernando Pasarin & Matt Banning (DC) Astro City: The Dark Age book 1 HC, by Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson & Alex Ross (DC/Wildstorm) The Perhapanauts #3, by Todd Dezago & ... http://www.fascinationplace.org/2008/07/21/this-weeks-haul-92/ Yesterday we did something rather eccentric: We rode VTA light rail from downtown Mountain View to Downtown Campbell, just 'cause. I've actually wanted to ride the light rail for a while, but haven't gotten around to it because, well, light rail in the valley doesn't really go places I want to ... http://www.fascinationplace.org/2008/07/20/mass-transit/ I didn't watch the Home Run Derby yesterday, though I do plan to watch the All-Star Game tonight, as I do every year. However, apparently Josh Hamilton put on quite a show at the Derby yesterday, and Joe Sheehan wrote an excellent article about it. "The House That Hamilton Knocked Down" - ... http://www.fascinationplace.org/2008/07/15/home-run-derby/ Action Comics #867, by Geoff Johns, Gary Frank & Jon Sibal (DC) Booster Gold #1,000,000, by Geoff Johns, Jeff Katz, Dan Jurgens & Norm Rapmund (DC) Justice Society of America #17, by Geoff Johns, Alex Ross, Fernando Pasarin & Prentis Rollins (DC) Guardians of the Galaxy #3, by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Paul ... http://www.fascinationplace.org/2008/07/14/this-weeks-haul-91/ I never went to see Ratatouille, since the premise didn't appeal to me and something about Brad Bird's approach to story construction puts me off (The Incredibles could have been a great film, but it's rather an unfocused hodge-podge), but tonight we resumed riding the Pixar bandwagon by going to ... http://www.fascinationplace.org/2008/07/12/wall-e/ Leftfield.org is down right now. Ceej is apparently going to swap out the machine tomorrow, as the old machine was apparently on its last legs and frying hard drives left and right. Hopefully she'll be able to retrieve all the old data - especially my e-mail. Leftfield being down ... http://www.fascinationplace.org/2008/07/09/minor-details/ Actually last week's haul, but since this week's haul is delayed 'til Thursday due to Independence Day, I figure I get a little bit of a grace period: Fables #74, by Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham & Steve Leialoha (DC/Vertigo) Legion of Super-Heroes #43, by Jim Shooter, Francis Manapul & Livesay (DC) Avengers/Invaders #3 ... http://www.fascinationplace.org/2008/07/08/this-weeks-haul-90/ So tonight Debbi and I are playing some Gin Rummy when we hear Blackjack let out a frightened yowl. We turn around and see him in the kitchen, low to the ground, looking totally freaked out. He's looking under the stove or fridge and crawling with his belly ... http://www.fascinationplace.org/2008/07/05/slightly-freaky/ Tuesday I took my bike in for its annual service. I have a Bianchi Eros (in "brilliant blue", not in their signature "weird green") which I bought back in 2002, and I have mixed feelings about it. Mostly I think I got a bad rear wheel when I ... http://www.fascinationplace.org/2008/07/03/bicycling-update/ I'm frightened to report that I popped an episode of Space: 1999 tonight into the VCR, specifically, "Dragon's Domain". Space: 1999 was a childhood favorite of mine, and I still had fond memories of it in young adulthood - but at that point memories are all they were, since I hadn't ... http://www.fascinationplace.org/2008/07/01/space-1999/ John Ostrander and Timothy Truman have brought back their creation GrimJack at the web site ComicMix, in a lengthy new series entitled The Manx Cat. GrimJack was one of the best comics of the late 80s, an inventive, no-punches-pulled pulp/adventure/noir strip with an anti-hero protagonist, set in the magical/science-fictional ... http://www.fascinationplace.org/2008/07/01/grimjack-at-comicmix/ I'm not feeling too typative (ha) lately. I've been pretty busy with hobbies and such over the past week. For instance, tinkering with my Magic decks, playing some Magic with Subrata on Sunday, watching Battlestar Galactica, reading Dan Harrington's two new books on poker cash games, finally finishing ... http://www.fascinationplace.org/2008/07/01/quiescence/ Final Crisis #2 of 7, by Grant Morrison & J.G. Jones (DC) Madame Xanadu #1, by Matt Wagner & Amy Reeder Hadley (DC/Vertigo) Hulk #4, by Jeph Loeb Ed McGuinness & Dexter Vines (Marvel) Fire and Brimstone #1 of 3 (?), by Richard Moore (Antarctic) The Clockwork Girl #4 of 4, by Sean O'Reilly, ... http://www.fascinationplace.org/2008/06/28/this-weeks-haul-89/ This will come as no surprise to anyone, but my favorite routine by the late George Carlin is his bit on baseball vs. football. http://www.fascinationplace.org/2008/06/23/george-carlin-on-baseball-vs-football/ The Brave and the Bold #14, by Mark Waid & Scott Kolins (DC) Ex Machina #37, by Brian K. Vaughan, Tony Harris & Jim Clark (DC/Wildstorm) Tangent: Superman's Reign #4 of 12, by Dan Jurgens, Jamal Ingle & Robin Riggs, and Ron Marz, Fernando Pasarin & Matt Banning (DC) Guardians of the Galaxy ... http://www.fascinationplace.org/2008/06/22/this-weeks-haul-88/ The Bay Area is suffering through another brutal heat wave. It arrived on Thursday today it only lessened slightly; rather than hitting the high 90s, it peaked at around 92 and stayed there. The only respite has been the occasional cloud that passes over, but it's still sweltering ... http://www.fascinationplace.org/2008/06/21/another-brutal-heat-wave/ There's a little controversy in the baseball blogosphere regarding the value of the statistic VORP. VORP is a sabermetric statistic which strives to provide a "single number" answer to the question "How good was this baseball player in this season?" Prompted by an article in the Washington Post, J.C. Bradbury, ... http://www.fascinationplace.org/2008/06/19/the-vorp-flap/ With Subrata busy being a new Dad, we haven't had gaming for a few weeks. So Monday I sent e-mail to the gang offering to host, and tonight Josh, Ziggy and Valerie came by for our first post-baby gaming session. We played a game of Antike which Josh ... http://www.fascinationplace.org/2008/06/18/wednesday-gaming/ Last November I had dinner with my friend Bruce, and he told me that he'd bought a 5-game package of Celtics tickets. He said his friends asked him, "What the heck did you go and do that for?" The Celtics have been a mediocre team for a long ... http://www.fascinationplace.org/2008/06/17/good-time-to-be-a-boston-sports-fan/ I'm really digging the webcomic Gunnerkrigg Court by Tom Siddell. Despite its dark mood, it's got a great blend of warmth and humor along with some imaginative storylines. It's the story of Antimony Carver, a girl who starts school at Gunnerkrigg Court, and the adventures she has. It has ... http://www.fascinationplace.org/2008/06/17/gunnerkrigg-court/