pansy

pupdate

Three days after dropping her off at the shelter, we can't stop thinking about her. At the very least we're going to foster her, but the shelter keeps her for 4 days, which means we can't get her until friday. Best case scenario someone beats us to her, worst case we have a crowded house. The boys will be stressed as hell, but I hope they get used to her.

Prepare for your stomache to turn:

We've been calling a lot of animals shelters and clinics near where we found her to see if anyone has reported her missing (she knows how to sit and is fixed after all), but we were informed thanks to the housing crunch a lot of (horrific awful) families are abandoning pets. In the desert. Where they will surely die.

People don't realize that domesticated dogs rarely stand a chance in the wild. The most likely thing they'll eat will be feces, which spreads parasites that will eventually kill them. Or, like her (we're not married to the name "Penny"), almost get hit by traffic when they discover the highway.

People really disappoint me sometimes.

Okay, okay. People disappoint me often.

earthquake day

We had a tiny shaker in L.A. If you want to know what it felt like, here's the exchange I had in the front yard with friend Tamsin:

ME: Wow, that big truck is shaking the ground.
TAMSIN: I don't think that's the truck.

We walked inside.

It wasn't until 30 minutes later, when I tried calling Boy on his cell, that we had this exchange:

ME: I've tried calling him twice and it says, "all circuits are busy."
TAMSIN: Both times?
ME: Y'know, I bet we were on the edge of a bigger one...

Sure enough, Chino Hills, where we were at a demolition derby two weeks ago. Of course local news and CNN are sensationalizing everything. It just makes me realize we should probably strap down the 70 gallon fishtank in the dining room...

Sidebar: Don't you think Rachel McAdams would be the best Lois Lane and/or Catwoman in a new Superman or Batman movie?

review: bridge to terabithia

strays

This week has been perhaps the most heartbreaking in recent memory. Highlighted only by a day-trip to Comicon, just about everything else going on reduced either of us to tears at one point or another.

We lost our houseguest under less-than-desirable circumstances, and last night Boy found a stray dog on the highway. After repeated near-misses with oncoming traffic, he brought her home. She was/is an absolute sweetheart, but is too big for us to take of with the two smaller dogs in the house. Not impossible mind you, but also not ideal.

Today we took her to the LA Humane Society. There were no missing pet reports regarding her description and she wasn't microchipped (CHIP YOUR DOGS, PEOPLE!) While being a large and clean facility, it was heartbreaking after only one night of caring for her, reducing us both to tears. We're listed as a "last resort," but I can only hope that a nice family comes to her rescue.

I keep telling myself that we've done all we can for her, and that's we've also rescued two other dogs from the facility, giving them a great home and wonderful companionship, but sometimes you just want to do more than you're able to. All you can do is try.

We named her Lucky Penny. Hopefully someone will pick her up.

The adoption link

forest force five

forest force five

forest force five

the horror, oh, the horror

Work has been non-stop for the past 4 days. Deadlines, changes, tweaks, all managable, but nothing compares to the indignity I had to suffer at the video store, all in the name of "work."

I hate to rent Batman & Robin, Little Nicky, and Van Helsing.

Lady Clerk judged me, and I don't blame her.

review: the dark knight (times two)

reviews: wall-e & hellboy 2: the golden army

forest force five

forest force five

A little idea expanded upon to save my sanity.

trademark. copyright. me. all that jazz.

Here, have some wallpaper:

the happening

I usually work with my office door open facing the backyard. Almost every day, I pull out a little vine tendril that's creeped in the door jam. I did the same thing today, only to find that the vine had wrapped around the mini-blind cord several times over.

The invasion has begun.

comicon

Yes, I am going to Comicon. No, I don't have a table (maybe next year?). Taking the train down thursday, and probably just staying for the day. Comicon has turned into a full fledged zoo, and the only way I'm staying there for a full weekend is if I have a table to seek refuge behind.

After last year's took-forever Paramount panel, I had decided on no panels at all this year...but the Doctor Who/Torchwood panels are back to to back on Thursday...we'll see.

One of the silly perks/oddities of my life is that I often get to meet people on shows and movies that I love, and since most panels are blogged about the next day, its sorta like "why go through the hassle of waiting for hours to get into a room?" But seeing as I've never been to Europe and know no one at the BBC, Who/Torchwood just might be worth it,

semi-daily doodle

review: the dark knight

semi-daily doodle

comics snobbery

In which I voice my opinions about recent comic developments:

Astonishing X-Men
After a somewhat incoherent finish by Joss Whedon, Warren Ellis's continuation of the title proves to be a major winner. I could take or leave Simone Bianchi's art (his covers are great, his interior art a mixed-bag).

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
What went wrong? Seriously? From the unfunny Japan/Dracula storyline to Buffy's sexual schizophrenia, the book has "nuked the fridge."It was noted at dinner last night that Buffy was at its best when it was a modestly budgeted underdog on a No. 4 network (seasons 1-3 on the WB).

Batman R.I.P.
I'll take Paul Dini's Detective over Grant Morrison's Batman any day of the week, and if the rumors about the villain are true, then I'll call it a travesty. I could really care less about anything  happening in DC lately, because its massive crossovers and multigenerational multi-verse continuity makes me an outsider ... and I'm not a DC outsider.

Johnny DC
From Tiny Titans to Mike Kunkel's new Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam!, this line is a winner. I only wish Superfriends was a better use of the petite JLA.

Secret Invasion
Fantastic. It makes me excited about going to the comics book store.

Fantastic Four
Delightfully self-contained, just like Astonishing X-Men.

mad money

Six days ago, work began pouring in at an alarming rate, and has yet to cease. We're late to bed, early to rise, and in a constant state of revisions. Today, for a moment, there was a break in the madness, and I decided to treat myself.

I made a run down to Amoeba to get the new BluRay release of Mad Men (my favorite show of the last year that unfortunately won the Best Drama Golden Globe during the ceremony-free writer's strike).


I love how inconsistent Amoeba is. Knowing that a new Complete Series release of Batman: The Animated Series was coming out with new material, I traded in my 4 volumes and was surprised to get $40 in store credit. I go to the BluRay section, and see that Mad Men is $45.99. You might think that "paying" $45.99 for a Blu Ray series is a steal, but the joy of Amoeba is the schizophrenic pricing - dig through the stacks, and for no reason at all, you'll find variations in price.

I got a brand new, unopened copy for $35.99. With tax, they essentially paid me $2 to buy it. And it is gorgeous. It's a crime that we have Bravo HD (which has no HD programming at the moment), but not AMC (which is horrible compressed, almost akin to watching YouTube on the big screen).

I know its weird that I'm posting emphatically that I got a deal on a great dvd purchase, but you just don't know how trying the past 6 days have been, and I'm happy that the universe found a way to repay me (before the checks arrive in the mail).

PS: How amazing is Doctor Who? How crazy is that cliffhanger? Saturday can't get here fast enough!