I finished most all I’m going to read for this week, so here are my last reaction reviews on this week’s books…
Amazing Spider-Man #592
Amazing Spider-Man
I can’t really gripe about anything here, nor can I say anything in this ish really excited me. I’ve been a big supporter on all ASM stuff since Brand New Day began, but this ish was just standard Spidey stock—and there ain’t nothing wrong with that.
Outsiders #17
Outsiders
Easily my favorite book coming out from DC right now, Peter Tomasi infuses tons of personality into a team of characters I didn’t care at all about till he took over, and Lee Garbett is just tops in my book—I love that guy’s art on anything and everything! Continue Reading “More of the quickest hits!”→
One of the greatest and most addicting things about working on the internet or running a blog is how immediately you can get tons of feedback. Programs like Google Analytics and WordPress Stats track all sorts of little things having to do with your site: From how many hits it’s getting and who’s linking your site to where in the world your visitors are coming from and which posts the interweb public seems most interested in. Once you start poring over the numbers and stats, it can easily become a massive fascination—even for folks like myself who aren’t really math-inclined. Continue Reading “Silly Search Engine Terms Jamboree!”→
Working atWizardgives me access to way more comics than I should be reading each week. Though I guess it is my job, so I really should be reading tons of comics, shouldn’t I?! Either way, I cannot really say no to a huge stack of books each week—especially the kind you can read for free. When it comes to actually purchasing books, I am much more discerning, but when I can flip through a stack of books and read whatever I want, I’ll pretty much give anything and everything a shot.
Most weeks, I read somewhere between 15 to 30 new comics. With Wizard‘s online reviews on hiatus, and me not really able to write full reviews of each book anyway due to time considerations, I thought I’d start a little section here that’ll essentially be “Two line comic book reviews.” Basically, I’ll just weigh in quickly on each issue I read, as often as I can. These reviews are by no means super detailed and are very much quantity over in-depth quality, so here’s your first hors d’oeuvres platter of quickie comic reviews from EnemyOfPeanuts.com. (The following are in random order, because I can’t be bothered by the alphabet today.) Continue Reading “The quickest hits, aka “Two Line Comic Book Reviews!””→
“Jim,
As excited as I am to see that you love this soundtrack, I must admit I’m a little heartbroken as well that you didn’t dig the flick more. I fucking LOVE that movie, man. LOVE IT.”
-Kiel Phegley
…I figured it was time to give the flick another watch. So I queued “Josie” up on my Netflix and gave it a re-watching last night. What follows is less a review and more a series of reactions and thoughts I had while watching, so, take it thusly. Continue Reading “A reassessment of “Josie””→
The above is a quote that adorns the packaging of the brew from the Flying Dog Brewery—one of my favorites in the States—and a statement I hope is true in my case.
Like many people who value their own opinions enough to plaster them all over the internet, I fancy myself a bit of a connoisseur—be it comics, movies, literature or TV, I generally like to think I have a discerning taste and approach my passion for my hobbies that way. This approach includes my passion for beers. Continue Reading “Enemy of peanuts; lover of beer.”→
In most conversations on the subject, however, I’ve found myself to be a pretty accepting fan in comparison to most. This is probably due to the fact that the prequels don’t really bother me. In my mind, the more Star Wars the merrier. Still, I know the prequels aren’t good, and my general lack of distaste for them has led me to question my feelings as a “true” Star Wars fan over the years.
But, the question I’ve never really asked myself, nor gotten a solid answer out of myself as I danced around it, is “Why?” Why don’t the prequels bug me? Why has a huge Star Wars fan like myself just chosen to say, “Ya know what? Jake Lloyd is pretty damn funny!” (“Now this is pod racing!” Hilarious, right?!) Last week’s Hurley and Miles-filled episode of “Lost”—Season Five’s 13th, entitled “Some Like it Hoth”—really got me thinking about my Star Wars fandom, in particular Hurley’s final say on “Return of the Jedi”…
"Face it. Ewoks suck, dude."
Hearing such hatred voiced toward my beloved Ewoks by a gentle giant like Hurley made me realize that those furry little bastards are where my un-embitter-able attitude towards Star Wars stems from—I love the Ewoks. Sure, they might have been better as a badass army of wookies, but I just find their goofiness charming and enjoyable.
Yub yub? Yub YES!
As a kid, my brother Dan and I were massive Star Wars fanatics and sought out places to buy all the old ’70s and ’80s toys to add to our collection of the new Star Wars merch that came out when the original trilogy went back to theaters with the special editions. Dan ended up collecting a ton of Ewok figures and so they became an integral part of each and every action figure battle in the Gibbons basement.
Used to frequently, and easily, defeat advanced techonologies when they enter the jungle.
Still, it goes back farther.
Growing up, the only copy of any Star Wars movie we owned was “Return of the Jedi.” I’d seen the whole trilogy by an early age, but “Return” was the only installment Dan and I had on hand to watch over and over and over again. It was this VHS shortcoming that led to my complete fascination with “Empire”—from all things Hoth to Han and Leia’s building romance—as I think I only saw it once before it went back to theaters. It was this same VHS shortcoming that led to my childhood home’s Ewok fetish.
I remember finally getting to see the Ewoks in all their glory on the big screen when the final special edition came out, only to receive the biggest let down of all three new releases. No, I wasn’t pissed about the awful song and dance put into the Jabba’s Palace scene (Though, I optimistic as I am as a SW fan, I can’t really argue that this was a good move). I was pissed about the removal of the ewok song! I don’t know how many times I lifted my voice into a “Yub yub! Dig’em Oh oh-oh Oh!” surrounded by a multitude of tiny plastic stormtroopers laid flat by my Han Solo led Ewok action figure offensive, only to find Lucas had decided that merry tune wasn’t worthy of his big galactic celebration. That was the true blasphemy for me. Forget an early look at Naboo, I wanted to see teddy bears using stormtrooper helmets as drums!
These guys know how to party!
I could make the argument that the Ewoks are a great “David and Goliath” metaphor for the Rebels fight against the Empire, and culminating their years of uneven warfare with an actual triumph using primitive means was a truly fitting end to Star Wars, but the truth is that Ewoks embody an element of the fantastic that I can’t help but love unconditionally. They are pure fantasy and it is that imagination and out-there-ness that really led me to fall in love with Star Wars. It was for that reason I ended up reading Tales of The Mos Eisley Cantina, Tales of Jabba’s Palace and countless other Star Wars novels—I wanted more crazy aliens and romantic space opera adventures. I wasn’t concerned with whether or not they led to believable tales. I wasn’t old enough to see or care about the flaws of having this terrifying Empire struck down by a forest full of booby traps. I just saw the fun in it.
Now, I can look at “Jedi” and see why people hate the Ewoks, but I can’t bring myself to do it. They make me laugh. When that one dies in the final battle and his brother in arms urges him onward only to realize he’s trying to spur on a little teddy corpse, I tear up. Perhaps it’s because being born in 1984 I never knew Star Wars without the goofiness of Ewoks. Whatever the reason, I think my full acceptance of Ewoks is why I can enjoy the prequels.
Again, I know the prequels are “bad” enough to make most people start thinking Ewoks are worthy of accolades, but Watto, Sebulba and young Anakin are characters that really do have, for lack of a better term, character. The argument that Lucas was dumbing things down for a new audience—or he had just gotten dumb—are both valid, but there is something visceral and true behind the appeal of podracing and the simple rivalry between an annoying little kid and a “particularly dangerous Dug.” It may not be good, or deep, or impressive storytelling but I can’t seem to hate it.
Maybe I should blame the Ewoks for my inability to fume over the prequels and maybe I should repent and confess an ever-burning hate for all additions made to Star Wars after 1980, but if every “Greedo Shot First” moment is still part of the deluge of Star Wars media that delivers pure awesomeness like Genndy Tartakovsky’s “Clone Wars,” then I’m just going to enjoy the infrequent successes and enjoy—as best I can—the other silliness. In the end, I’m not an “Empire” fan or a fan who signs off after Jabba’s Palace. I’m a Star Wars fan, through and through, for better or worse. And if that means I have to learn to love every monotone Jake Lloyd exclamation of “Whoppee,” so be it!
Apparently, peanuts are just as vital to man as bread and water...whatta world!
I recently spied this aisle display at a Duane Reade pharmacy on the Upper East Side in Manhattan. Yet another warning for any and all enemies of peanuts, it seems the death-nut is now equally as important as bread and water. With aisle arrangements putting my personal kryptonite on par with two essential edibles, it seems only too clear that my nemesis has gained more ground than even I’d like to admit. Time to get this webcomic going and start taking a modicum of revenge against the peanut-beast! Stay tuned, brothers in arms against the legume menace! Stay tuned!
While living in a peanut-filled world, it’s necessary for the legume-intolerant to travel through life with their guard constantly up. After 24 long years on this planet—a world infested with enemy food stuffs around every corner—it’s a lesson I should never forget to heed as I preach it on the interwebs. Sadly, I was duped into dropping my guard this weekend by a little restaurant called Golden China. With their advertised aversion to MSG and a promise their food is cooked in nothing but 100 percent pure vegetable oil, I felt safer than I normally do when venturing into the domain of Asian entrees—it seemed they understood the benefit of proper food preparation. My sesame chicken was flawless, arranged nicely in its take-out container so I could plainly see it hadn’t been infected with legumes. And I grew even more comforted.
Even more vulnerable.
And so, Golden China got the last laugh.
After comforting me with their careful cooking promises and a well-displayed dinner, I felt no qualms about partaking in some eggroll (free with the coupon they supplied me in their take-out menu). Inspection of the eggroll led me to believe it was filled with nothing but cabbage. Alas, it was filled with more deadly fare! After two quick bites, I knew something was amiss. Be it a hidden peanut in the roll or a tainted instrument used in its preparation, the appetizer packed a wallop that landed me in the emergency room.
An iPhone picture made comical warning by my girlfriend Jessi as antihistamines led me to hospital bed dozing.
The moral of this story: Stay vigilant. Or, never trust an eggroll—who knows what it hides inside under its friendly fried exterior?!
In an effort for a little expansion of my voice across the interwebs, I’ve brought over some of my best posts from The Loudest Monkey. All the great marginalia, linkage and numerous reviews are still over there, so for the full, expansive and awe-inspiring blog experience of The Loudest Monkey head over to http://monkey.wizarduniverse.com/. But if you want a taste of Loudest Monkey here at Enemy Of Peanuts, click on the “Loudest Monkey Business” tab under categories or just click here for those highlights.
I can’t remember if my sister suggested we go see it or if a lingering crush on Rachael Leigh Cook prompted me to pursue it, but when “Josie And The Pussycats” came out back in 2001 I took my sister to go see it in theaters for a little brother/sister bonding time. I was in high school and my younger sister Lexie was in fifth grade, so it seemed like a good movie to go see where I could ogle a trio of attractive actresses stepping into the roles I’d watched hours of back when Cartoon Network played loads of old animation—and if it was a Hanna-Barbera cartoon, odds are I watched an unhealthy amount of it—and still clock in some quality time with my sister. The outing was a success, even if the two of us agreed the movie was just so-so, but the main thing we both commented on walking out of the theater was how much we loved the soundtrack.
Inspired, we drove straight from the theater to Best Buy and purchased the 13 track CD.
Meow!
Following the purchase, we drove around in my black GMC Jimmy rocking out like there was no tomorrow through the streets of Chicago’s North Suburbs on that rainy Sunday afternoon.
It wasn’t until a few weeks—or maybe years—later that I decided to investigate and figure out who was responsible for the music on this guilty pleasure. What I discovered is that the talent that put together this album almost justifies it as a shameless love. The voice of Josie is Letters To Cleo singer Kay Hanley, majority of the songs are written by Fountains of Wayne‘s Adam Schlesinger (who performs on the album, as well) and Matthew Sweet is in the mix contributing and performing too! Now that’s an all star pop lineup for a poppy soundtrack from a movie that’s plot focuses mainly on how record companies at the time were constantly assembling hot, new cookie-cutter bands or molding actual bands into marketable machines. The soundtrack takes the semi-satirical drive behind the movie (the big record labels are actually evil empires that pick bands, shape their image and then insert subliminal marketing messages into their songs a la Zack Morris) to deliver catchy pop hits that act as a spoof of the genre itself. The big song on the album, “3 Small Words,” will stand as part of my evidence here, so check it out…
Gotta love that numerical chorus, right?!
It took 6 whole hours
And 5 long days For all your lies to come undone
And those three small words
Were way too late
‘Cause you can’t see that I’m the one
Also, the soundtrack features two hilarious songs from the movie’s boy band spoof Dujour (featuring Donald Faison, Breckin Meyer and Seth Green) written by none other than mutha-lovin’ Babyface!
So, maybe I should be a bit ashamed of how much I still enjoy rocking out to this soundtrack, but I’m not. Hey, sometimes you just have to submit to the pop!
Side note #1: Josie’s love interest in the movie, Alan, sports a soul patch and led me to try the same…not my best facial hair decision.
Side note #2: Years later in college, my love of this soundtrack led to the idea that I should form an all male cover band called Jimmy and the Tom Cats that would play only songs from this album. None of my friends could be convinced this was a thought even remotely resembling a good idea, and thus Jimmy and the Tom Cats never came to be.
