SKJAM!

A thought--perhaps a bank might secretly upgrade one/some of their ATMs with different antisupertheft gear, then if/when a superchump gets caught, publicize the heck out of it, and gloss over the fact that they haven't installed it on all their machines.

It's a litmus test, is all. It's meaningful in aggregate, mostly. However, it's interesting when a story veers to avoid passing. A case in point--Looking for Group, the webcomic. For most of the early run, there was only one plot-relevant female character, who was the protagonist's more or less love interest. Then the group hires a ship, which just so happens to have a woman as the captain. The two women are about to meet--next strip is the next day, in which we are informed that the two women took an instant dislike to each other for no reason that the men can fathom, and the punchline is essentially "wimmen is kuh-razy!" In fairness, about fifteen strips later, the women did exchange words in passing, and not about a man as such--the ship was being attacked and they discussed tactics. (And much later, more women with plot relevant roles were added to the cast, you can do that in a long-form story.) It does get suspicious when time after time, there's a perfectly valid logical reason the movie wouldn't pass, but we have to keep making those reasons up.

A couple of first-season episodes of Mannix. Drastically different from the rest of the series, as they retooled it due to low ratings. First season, Joe Mannix works for Intertec, a modern detective agency that's fully computerized and he's their only maverick. Second season on, he works alone and has a black secretary.

"Wounded Tiger" by T. Martin Bennett, which is a slightly fictionalized biography of Mitsuo Fuchida, the pilot who led the attack on Pearl Harbor. It's meant to be an inspirational book about the mercy and forgiveness of God as expressed through Christianity. http://www.skjam.com/2014/06/08/book-review-wounded-tiger/

Yep, he did several Dick Tracy serials, then there was a movie with a different actor as Tracy, and it bombed, so the producers hired Mr. Byrd for the remaining movies. When a Dick Tracy TV series was mooted, Ralph Byrd was a must-have for the role.

Peadar Gilmore was a member of the Irish rebellion who fought in the Easter Uprising. Like many Irish nationalists, he was unhappy with the treaty effectively splitting Ireland in two. "All Ireland should be Irish, or there is no true Ireland." He joined the anti-treaty organization which called itself the Irish Republican Army, or IRA. During the 1920s, Peadar also became interested in Communism, which seemed to hold some promise as a way for Ireland to mitigate its economic woes once the nation was truly free and united. Recently, the IRA has been purging its leftist membership, and Peadar was a victim of that. Lacking a firm direction, he was hired by Maranovski as an expert on demolitions and other terrorist actions. Peadar is known to officials as The Minstrel Boy because of his calling card, a broken harp string; he will often contrive to have the song playing just before a bomb detonates.

Further afield, you might try the anime series "Baccano!" as an idea mine.

And the next team, Sundog?

Several episodes of the "Dick Tracy" live action TV series with Ralph Byrd (approx 1950-1952). Sadly, he was in terrible health, and died at 43, also killing the show. It's very low-budget, and the writing is uneven. More on my blog.

Ayup. I've seen this attitude before. To put it another way, they're like the mayor in "Jaws": "If we warn people about the shark attacks, people will think we have a shark problem!"

"Jet Set" by William Stadiem, a book about the time period from 1958-1968 when traveling between the US and Europe by jet airplane was really glamorous and exciting. Read my review here: http://www.skjam.com/2014/05/30/book-review-jet-set/ Also, please check out my other entries for the month.

Ukranian sand art. The first bit is standard reality show filler, but once she starts using the shifting sand to tell a story....

Fame and work cred are different kinds of privilege that can intersect nicely with "straight white male" or mitigate lack of privilege in other areas. For example, consider the recent kerfuffle when a woman dared critique an upcoming Teen Titans cover. Part of the reason she got such a fierce defense when attacked by a male artist is because she isn't some random evil fake geek girl, but someone who actually has worked in the field and demonstrated that she knew what she was talking about. Work cred helps offset some of the lack of privilege she might otherwise have when talking about the comic book industry.

Neighbor got drunk and belligerent and didn't understand why I wouldn't let him into my apartment. Not helping my nerves one little bit.

"Blood Aces" by Doug J. Swanson, a biography of Benny Binion, a Texas gangster (and soon to be a pick for the Superdraft) who eventually wound up in Las Vegas and founded the World Series of Poker. http://www.skjam.com/2014/04/01/book-review-blood-aces/ By the by, could those of you who have Facebook or Twitter or other social media look through to see if there's any reviews you'd like to "like" or "share"?

Limestone Gumption by Bryan E. Robinson. Murder mystery set in a small Florida town far from the tourist areas. Guessed at least two major plot twists about 50 pages ahead of the protagonist. Others I did not. http://www.skjam.com/2014/03/10/book-review-limestone-gumption/

Have now turned in my final homework, and must now wait to see if my grades are good enough to get that Associate's degree from Rasmussen. So tired, and yet so wound up. considering seeing a movie tomorrow.

"The Rookie's Guide to Guns & Shooting: Handgun Edition" by Tom McHale. Exactly what it sounds like. And as long as it sticks to guns and shooting, it's pretty good. Everything else... See my full review at http://www.skjam.com/2014/03/07/book-review-the-rookies-guide-to-guns-shooting-handgun-edition/

In answer to Log-Man's inquiry about how many albums a band gets before the fans say "i like their old stuff better"? One. Or none and one year if they released singles.

Put up an old picture of me with a celebrity impersonation on my blog. http://www.skjam.com/2014/02/23/open-thread-my-doctor-visit/ Drop on by and share a story, maybe read a few reviews? SKJAM!

Not done yet, but am reading Neville Shute's In the Wet. It starts out being the story of an aging Episcopalian priest in Northern Australia in the 1950s, then abruptly shifts to the adventures of the Queen of England's pilot in the 1980s. What's striking is not the bits that Mr. Shute got wrong (he's got some political axes to grind) but that he correctly guessed that Elizabeth II would still be queen, Charles would still be the Prince of Wales, and he is married with two young boys. The racism in the book is weird...the hero's nickname, which he insists his friends call him, is the N-word. (He's mixed race.)

Doctor Erik Gottesen was a polymath in life but had a peculiar mental block that prevented him from creating any kind of vehicle, in particular sea-worthy ones. Rather than live with the shame of failure (even if only his fellow castaways knew) he built an ingenious device out of bamboo and vines that granted him a painless suicide. The island brought him back as a poltergeist, able to control any device...except vehicles. He is especially strong against devices whose owners share his sin of Pride.

Kill Devil (2004) A Battle Royale ripoff about teenagers given amnesia and plopped down on an island to kill each other. The idea is that all of them carry the "murder gene" and scientists are performing this experiment because reasons. Not very good at all (more details on my blo) but if you see it, be sure to check out the surreal alternate ending which explains some of the casting choices.

Murder by Sunlight by Barbara Graham, a mystery set in a small Tennessee town that's having a crime wave as the Fourth of July approaches. Including the title method of killing. Especially of interest to quilters, who can learn a mystery pattern. Full review of this and other books at http://www.skjam.com/

Finally getting around to Firefly--amazing how much of the dialogue I already know, but not in the order it was said. In anime, been watching Kill la Kill (Go Nagai tribute about a young woman seeking to avenge her murdered father with the help of her living uniform) and Samurai Flamenco (male model and closet superhero geek in a world without superpowered people decides to become a masked hero--fairly realistic until the end of the seventh episode, when things get weird. And then even weirder a few episodes later. We're pretty sure something fishy is going on, but what precisely is still a mystery.) eta: Just happened to get Chuushingura ("The Loyal 47 Ronin") (1962) from my Netflix queue, so watched and reviewed on my blog: http://www.skjam.com/