You can ape the ape. I know about that.

So, Rude Mechanicals and fans like: when you went to see JULIUS CAESAR* and the magnificent droidboy010101 came out as Pompey, was anybody else thinking of Peter Gabriel's "Shock the Monkey" music video?

I know Don was. Ironic that only he would have been able to understand why I nearly erupted in a creeped-out gigglefit.

Man, even with my deep-seated adoration for Peter Gabriel and that song in particular (guilty pleasure though it may be below his superior works), I have a soft spot for that video. Hey, it's about a guy being torn apart by his normal repressed civilized personality and a growing sinister alter ego, while images of a half-melted face are occasionally flashed. And he flips a coin. Twice.

Come on, man, it's all right there! What do you people want from me?



In movie news, let's say you're M. Night Shyamalan, former box office darling and now supposedly working his way to Ed Wood territory with HEY, WHA' HAPPEN'? or whatever it was called. You used to give so much of a damn what audiences and critics thought, that you abandoned your original plans for a trilogy after the failure of your sophomore effort, but now that neither you nor they give a shit anymore, what do you do?

I say he should do exactly what he's considering and finally make UNBREAKABLE 2 (and, ideally, 3 as well).

I haven't seen it since about six years ago, and after all the mixed opinions I've heard (just from the people who hate the "whattatweest!" alone), my own recollections and convictions have been weakened. In fact, it's hard to tell if whether IRON MAN and THE DARK KNIGHT will strengthen or hinder the film as viewed today.

But even if my feelings have changed and UNBREAKABLE really isn't perhaps still the greatest superhero movie ever made, I think finally going ahead and having David fight the "soldier villain" with a true and final confrontation with Mr. Glass would be the best goddamn thing Shyamalamadingdong could possibly do.

Well, once he's done with AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER, based on a Nickelodeon cartoon that has absolutely no right being as excellent as it is. Shit, gotta throw that whole series on the Netflix queue as well!



*What, you haven't seen the Rude Mechanicals' JULIUS CAESAR yet?!! The last two performances are this weekend at my old stomping grounds, DCAC, go go go go!

When is a Riddler costume not yet complete?

I'm only a couple elements shy of perfecting my Riddler costume.

First, I lack the proper purple gloves. Short of paying $80 or something for Heath Ledger Joker leather glove replicas that might not even fit my dainty hands (even some men's size Small gloves can be too bulky on me), I dunno what to do for good purple Riddler gloves. Really, I may just have to stick with this pair of black ladies' (the tag says "Large," but damn if they're small) leather gloves that fit me snugly like a second skin.

I guess I'm making up from the fact that I rarely shop for clothes, but damn if getting these costumes together isn't a costly little venture each time. Thankfully, I'm able to reuse certain elements of the costumes elsewhere, but I don't imagine I'd have any more use for purple gloves. Even fashion must be sacrificed in the name of budget now and again.

But the other thing I'm missing is the cane. The Riddler's just not the Riddler without a question-mark cane.

I bought this Victorian style cane, very in keeping with The Shade sensibilities, and it'll do in a pinch. But in a better world, that topper would be stretched out and curled into a patterned question mark. Not sure how the hell I'd pull that off. If there are any custom cane-topper makers out there, let me know. I'd also like to employ their services for a scarab-topped umbrella for my Blue-Beetle-by-way-of-John-Steed costume for next year.

Eh, the rest of the Riddler costume is near-perfect for what I'm trying to achieve, so I can deal. Still, I'll be keeping my eyes out before my photoshoot comes up on the 10th. Oh, did I say my photo shoot? I meant ours.

No Baltimore Comic Con for me this year

Sadly, I fear I'm gonna be missing Baltimore Comic Con this weekend. I was thinking of skipping out anyway as I really didn't want to go alone; I've learned that being solo at comic conventions can be an overwhelming, frustrating, and rather depressing experience. What started out as geek excitement soon gave way to a sense of hollowness and solitude. There's no one with whom I can geek out about the good stuff and snark over the bad stuff.

But the fact is, I just can't afford it anyway. Bad enough the Riddler costume, the NYC writing seminar, and the impending road trip are sapping my budget, but I just blew a goodly wad of dough at a liquor store yesterday. This place has an annual sale where most booze is sold at a dollar over cost! That's generally a $15 discount on everything, more or less! I got some Crown Royal, a Macallan 12 yr. scotch, Patron Reposado tequila (I came DAMN close to splurging $95 for a huuuuuuge bottle of the anejo, but I resisted, damn me, I resisted), and finally some now-legal real absinthe, which rather helped enhance the experience of LOST Season 2, let me tell you.

I essentially spent about as much money in that trip that I would buying back issues and commissioning Two-Face drawings from artists, so yeah, I think Baltimore is out. Besides, SPX is around the corner. And this year, that one will be far more deserving of my time, energy, and cash, ohhh yes.

Sorry, Baltimore. I guess Frank Cho and I won't be reprising our running theme of "Hefner! How are ya! I still owe you a drawing, don't I?" But then, we'll have plenty more years to do that one.

Dunno when I'll next be able to hit up a big convention. San Diego will almost certainly conflict with my Canadian tour (assuming I get in), as might Dragon*Con, which I'd never been to but probably should considering, like, ten of you peeps here on my f-list went. I felt decidedly left out. My nerd self needs the occasional convention experience. I just don't think I can do it alone anymore.