X Marks the Spot

 Well, that was a nice run for Twitter. 

As the saying goes, "All good things..." etc etc etc.

So the social media platform is still around.

But Twitter owner Elon Musk decided to rebrand the cite as "X".

Gone is the little blue bird of happiness, now replaced by a stylized "X".   

Despite this rebranding, Twitter is still called Twitter because someone didn't check to see if the copyright on calling something simply "X" was available. 

It was not but Elon Musk still changed the logo on the app to "X" and then he put up a giant metal "X" on top of Twitter HQ in San Francisco.  

Without clearing it with the city first. 

Seems cities frown on things being built on top of tall buildings without making sure the streets and sidewalks below are safe from falling debris. 

Elon Musk did not do that.  

Elon's fuckery does not end there.

The giant metal "X" lights up.

And it blinks! 

The apartment building across the street has a giant blinking X shining into people's homes. 

Elon Musk is a straight up a super villain.  

And an exceedingly dumb one.

"X" marks the spot where Twitter goes into bankruptcy and descends into irrelevance.  

UPDATED   7/31 11:00 PM 

It seems that earlier today the giant "X" on the top of Twitter HQ was dismantled. 

The Center for Countering Digital Hate, a nonprofit organization, accused Twitter of not removing Tweets that are “racist, homophobic, neo-Nazi, antisemitic or conspiracy content" since Elon Musk too over.  

The legal threat from Twitter accused the CCDH of publishing “inflammatory, outrageous, and false or misleading assertions”. Or to put it another way, "We are rubber, you are glue."

For more of this latest bullshit that Elon Musk is doing with Twitter, click this article.  

Slavery Bad

Welcome to my blog, I’m So Glad My Suffering Amuses You.

 

There’s not much in the way of what I might call core values when it comes to this blog.

 

I will write damn well what I want about what I damn well please. 

 

Or not write. I don’t get paid to do this so screw it if the well comes up dry for a day or two.

 

But recent events in the United States have compelled me to go on record on our position on a certain topic.

 

It seems this is something that I had no idea was up for debate but apparently it is.

 

So here goes.  It is the official position of I'm So Glad My Suffering Amuses You of the following:  

Slavery bad.

 

Now here we are in the 21st century where we quite frankly should have jet packs and vacation trips to the moon and I’m really ticked off that the future hasn’t delivered anything more than better ways to access porn but still…

Let me try that again.  

 

Here we are in the 21st century and I need to go on record about my position on the subject of slavery.

 

Slavery bad.

 

Now the reason the subject of slavery has to be debated is due to an education plan rolled out by (who else) Republicans in (where else) Florida that addresses black history and the issue of slavery.

 

Apparently this curriculum looks at “both sides” of slavery and concludes that the slaves got some good out of it.  They learned skills in agriculture and manufacturing and carpentry  and etc etc etc.

 

This assumes that the people yanked out of Africa against their will did not know how to grow food or how to build things or what all.

 

It seems without slavery, these poor people would have starved to death in their holes in the ground or something.

 

I will pause here while you bang your head against a wall or scream into a pillow.  

 

<taking a moment>

 

There. Feel better?

 

OK, so let’s reiterate.

 

Slavery bad. 

Let's imagine that there was sometime in the Antebellum South there was a SLAVE holder who was a remarkably benevolent and even progressive SLAVE holder. He made sure his SLAVES had decent cabins to live in with heat in the winter and roofs that did not leak when it rained. He made sure his SLAVES had sufficient and healthy food and if any SLAVE was sick or injured, that SLAVE would receive proper medical care. If is such a person existed, let's not deny the point I repeatedly emphasized that this person was a SLAVE holder and the these people were SLAVES. 

And forget out imaginary scenario of the benevolent overlord and understand the most likely case for SLAVES in America was a brutal existence of back breaking work in harsh conditions while enduring torture and rape.  

Whatever a SLAVE may have gotten out of their dreadful experience that was of any benefit, the life of SLAVE was filled with pain, suffering, torment and loss. 

Reminder:  Slavery bad.  

__________________________

Wait a god damn minute! I gotta do what now? 

Fuck! 

<sigh>

It is the official position of I'm So Glad My Suffering Amuses You of the following:  

Holocaust bad.

It seems some motherfucker on Fox "News" suggested that Jews who survived the Holocaust gained useful skills and experience to benefit them afterwards. 

Jesus Christ on a damn stick! What the unholy hell is going on?

<taking a moment> 

OK, let's summarize:

• Slavery bad!
• Holocaust bad!
• Where the fuck is my jet pack?  

Damn! I really could use a moon vacation.   

Cinema Sunday: Logan's Run

This week, Cinema Sunday's "Journeys to Past & Future" looks ahead to the future to the end of the world.

Actually a bit beyond that. 

When the world ends, what happens next? 

Which brings us to the 1976 science fiction film Logan's Run.

It's the year 2274 and what's left of human civilization that survived the end of the world lives in a sealed city, a cluster of domes where life and resources are managed by computer. It's a virtual utopia where the population live without fear, free from want and to pursue whatever hedonistic pleasures the heart desires.  

The only obligation is the rite of "Carousel" which occurs when the citizens of the city reach the age of 30. These people are "renewed" and "ascend" to a higher....

They're all killed, all right? Turn 30 and die. Small price to pay for paradise, right? 

Logan 5 is a Sandman, an officer charged with maintaining order including rounding up "Runners", anyone who doesn't want to cooperate with "Carousel". Logan 5 and his partner Francis 7 are content to do their job. They believe in the promise of "Carousel" and their beloved utopian society.   

Then Logan 5 meets Jessica 6 who is a member of a secret group who help Runners in a quest to locate a place called "Sanctuary" where people are free to live out their natural lives.

There are some complications, contrivances and shenanigans to lead Logan 5 to go from hunter to hunted and join Jessica 6 on a quest for Sanctuary.  

Logan's run has begun with his best friend Francis 7 on their tail.   

There are various obstacles, dangers and traps that Logan and Jessica must evade as they make their way outside the sealed environs of the city and see the sun for the first time.   

What is left of the old human civilization has become an overgrown wilderness including what used to be Washington DC. It is here that Logan and Jessica encounter the Old Man which is weird to them since they've never seen anyone over 30 years old before. 

The Old Man has a lot of cats. 

Meanwhile, Francis shows up and despite the overwhelming evidence he has seen and experienced outside the sealed city that all he knew was a lie, he is still determined to kill Logan and Jessica for running from Carousel.    

In a knock down drag out fight with Logan, Francis is killed, still denying even in death everything he has learned.

Yep, Francis is a MAGA Republican. 

Logan's Run was released in 1976 and boy is it obvious with all the polyester, nylon and spandex outfits along with the hair styles and day-glo color palate.  

The characters lack depth, designed to facilitate the plot but lacking in any sense of empathy of why we should care about any of them. These under 30 whippersnappers give us few reasons to give a damn about any of them. The best performance of the movie is Peter Ustinov as the old man. 

Coming in 2nd are his cats.  

I supposed  buried in among the sci-fi action shenanigans is a thoughtful examination of the perils of ageism, an over reliance on technology and a creeping fascism that we're willing to tolerate as long as it doesn't impact our own good time.  

If nothing else, Logan's Run is a cinematic snapshot of the 1970's era in which it was made.  

Next week on Cinema Sunday: What is cute and pink and will make you feel and think and question the very meaning of existence?  

It's Barbie! 

Songs For Saturday Summer Road Trip: Men At Work, Nu Shooz and One Republic

The Songs For Saturday Summer Road Trip rolls on with an epic play list organized by music artists in alphabetical order.  

This week we pick up the play list with the letter "M" which is for Men At Work with "Overkill".  

For the letter "N", we have... can this be right? Nu Shooz? Really? Yeah, really. What can I say, I have a soft spot in my heart (or head) for Nu Shooz with "Point Of No Return".

  

For the letter "O", we've got One Republic with "Love Runs Out".

Next week, the Songs For Saturday Summer Road Trip takes us to letters P, Q and R.

Until next time, remember to be good to one another and to always keep the music alive and in alphabetical order.  

Your Friday Video Link: Gary Gulman and the Hazards of Pulp & Other Things

Your Friday Video Link today is from stand up comedian Gary Gulman. Today's set may be a bit dated (is the Kindle still a thing) but still very funny. 

Sinead O’Connor

Well, I didn't see this one coming.

Yesterday, Irish singer Sinead O’Connor died at the age of 56. 

O’Connor became a sensation in 1990 with her cover of Prince’s ballad “Nothing Compares 2 U,” a powerful performance that topped charts around the world.  

Back in the day when people bought CD's, I purchased her 1991 Grammy winning album “I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got”.

She was a lifelong non-conformist. She shaved her head to piss off record executives who wanted her to appear more conventionally glamorous.

During a 1992 performance on “Saturday Night Live,” O’Connor ripped up a photo of the Pope on live television in protest to sexual abuse in the Catholic church.

I was watching that episode and was kind of confused and wondered, "What was that all about? What did the Pope do?" 

Well, nothing which was, I guess, O'Connor's point.  

She converted to Islam in 2018 and told fans she had changed her name to Shuhada’ Davitt.

O’Connor was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at 23 and later told the BBC that she dealt with depression and suicidal thoughts.

She also endured personal loss with the death of her teenage son Lunny who took his own life a year ago. 

One of her last posts on social media was a reflection on life without her son.   

“Been living as undead night creature since. He was the love of my life, the lamp of my soul. We were one soul in two halves. He was the only person who ever loved me unconditionally. I am lost in the bardo without him.”

Sinead O'Connor was back in the music studio recently to record her version of the Outlander theme currently being used for the show's 7th season.

A Shínead, tá súil agam go bhfuair tú síocháin faoi dheireadh.

Sinead, I hope you have at last found peace.  

Comic Book Origins: Where Did the Lightning Bolt Come From?

Last week I posted about the origin of Batman and answered the gripping question of where the bat that flew through Bruce Wayne's window come from?

Today I will examine a question from the origin of the Flash.

Art by Carmine Infantino & Joe Kubert  

The combination of every chemical known on Earth and being fried by a lightning bolt:

a) burned Barry to a crisp, leaving an unrecognizable corpse.

b) afflicts Barry with cancer and he dies a slow painful death approximately 5 months later.

c) gives Barry super speed which he combines with his love of comic books to become the Flash! 

It's a comic book! Of course it's "c".  

But here's a question:  

Where did the lighting bolt come from? 

Well, it was this guy!

art by Carmine Infantino & Joe Giella 

Mopee was a magical imp who caused the "accident" that gave Barry Allen his super speed powers.  

By the way, DC super heroes having a magical imp to contend with pretty much a given.

• Superman had Mister Mxyzptlk.
• Batman had Bat-Mite! 
• Green Lantern had Myrwhydden!
• Aquaman had Qwsp!

So naturally the Flash had to get his own magical imp in the form of Mopee who caused the Flash to exist?

Mostly fans and creators have all kind of agreed to never speak of this again. 

But in Secret Origins Annual#1, writer Robert Loren Fleming postulated another answer to the question, "Where did the lightning come from?" 

Taking off from the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths#8 where the Flash is outrunning the Anti-Monitor's energy cannon to save the universe from destruction (or something), Barry runs so fast that his body breaks down from matter to energy and where does that energy go?  

Art by Carmine Infantino & Murphy Anderson  

Yep, the lightning bolt that strikes Barry Allen is...  Barry Allen. 

Which is kind of cool and poetic and probably doesn't count since Geoff Johns brought back Barry Allen about 15 years ago now.  

So where did the lightning bolt come from? It was just an unexpected thunder storm. Sometimes, shit just happens. 

Unless Mopee made it happen? 

NO! Let's not go there!  

Tuesday TV Touchbase: Justified - City Primeval PLUS Superman & Star Trek

About a year ago, I finally caught up on the acclaimed series Justified and reached it's series finale. As much as I knew I would miss Timothy Olyphant as Deputy US Marshal Raylan Givens, all good things must end and Justified's finale stuck the landing as well as one can hope for a series finale. 

Boyd Crowder was in his hell (prison) and all was right with the world as Givens finally shook off the penance of being consigned to the Marshal's office in Kentucky and made his way back to Miami, FL to co-parent his daughter.

Was there a reason for the good deputy's return?

Which brings us to Justified: City Primeval.  

Events have transpired to bring Givens (with his now 15 year old daughter Willa along for the ride) to Detroit where the US Marshals have put Givens on a task force with the Detroit police to find out whose been trying to kill Judge Guy, a hard ass African American judge. 

Givens and the cops quickly zero on the the dipshit who was trying to kill the judge. 

Only for the judge and his assistant to be murdered by an unrelated problem: the return of Clement Mansell AKA the Oklahoma Wild Man, a psychotic trigger happy thief and murderer who resolves his anger over a traffic incident with the judge with a gun. And he executes the aide for good measure. 

The Detroit police are pissed. 

1) They saved the judge from one nut case would be murderer only to have him killed by another nut case murderer. 

2) The judge's aide was one of their own, a CI planted to be near the judge as part of a corruption investigation.  

And Clement Mansell has secured the services of high powered defense attorney Carolyn Wilder who one thinks should have better things to do than represent such low life trash like Mansell but damned if she isn't in Givens' face telling him to stay away from Mansell. 

It's a directive that Mansell himself does not feel compelled to reciprocate as he sidles up to Willa as an "old friend of Raylan's". Givens extricates Mansell from Willa, takes him outside and beats the unholy crap out of this fucking psycho. 

OK, Mansell had that coming but I'm sure Carolyn Wilder will turn this around to make Givens pay for it.  

So this new series? Look, I have no problem seeing my real life man crush Timothy Olyphant slip back into the role of my fictional man crush Raylan Givens.  Olyphant's deputy marshall is as laconic and witty and insightful as ever, not missing a beat at returning to this role. 

But I think what's missing from Justified: City Primeval is why this is Raylan Givens' story. Unlike the original series with Givens' connections to Harlan from his youth that added color and depth to the proceedings, this new series is basically just a "police officer fish out of water" story that's been told before. 

Like it's predecessor, Justified: City Primeval is a brutally violent show. But has horrifying as these acts of murder are, Givens' lack of personal connection make them proverbial ducks in a shooting gallery. Which is why I guess Mansell makes his threat against Willa, to make this personal.  

I'm here for the long haul. It's Olyphant as Givens, who am I to say no? 

___________________________

Here's an interesting change of subject.

A few weeks after the season finale of Superman & Lois, we have new Superman to watch in the form of a new animated series, My Adventures With Superman.  

The series follows a very young trio of Daily Planet interns named Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen and Clark Kent as they face life in the big city of Metropolis and prove to Perry White they can be real journalists. 

Oh and there's that new super hero in town, Superman.  

Jack Quaid is the voice of Superman/Clark Kent and dang if it's not perfect casting. Whether it's as the eager new reporter or the awkward super hero still figuring out what he can do, Clark is just an earnest guy who just wants to help. And the sincerity in Jack Quaid's performance just sells that mission statement. 

My Adventures With Superman takes advantage of a lot of lore from Superman and DC Comics in general in it's world building for this new series.  

I'll have more on My Adventures With Superman in a later Tuesday TV Touchbase. 

Speaking of Jack Quaid...

The Star Trek: Strange New Worlds crossover with Star Trek: Lower Decks was originally supposed to drop July 27th. But after the episode was shown at San Diego Comic Con, Paramount+ did a surprise showing of the episode Saturday night. 

Andrea and I watched it and... WOW! 

There is so much to unpack into this funny as hell but also unexpectedly tender love letter to Star Trek, I can't begin to even...

Within minutes of finishing this episode, Andrea and I were both like "We can't wait to watch it again!" 

I think I will need to go into greater detail in a later post. 

But for now....

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!

We watched it again Sunday.

Until next time, remember to be good to one another and try to keep it down in there, would ya? I'm trying to watch TV over here.   

A Happy Ending... Or Is It?

 I would like to apologize for the sad tone of today's posts. 

Sorry for all the, you know, death and dark grappling with existential dread. 

Can we conclude today's posts with a happy ending?  

Let's wrap this up on a positive note with Lumalee from The Super Mario Bros. Movie.  

Or maybe not.  

Boston Market No More

There’s a Boston Market in Greensboro that was on our dining rotation for Andrea and myself once upon a time.  

 

I used to get plates there fairly regularly, usually with the meat loaf and their sweet potato casserole.

 

I’m not sure why we stopped. I think part of it had to do with out daughter Randie not having anything particular there she liked.

 

The last few times Andrea and I did eat there, I was rather unimpressed with prices too high for what we were getting. I could spend the same amount of money at Cracker Barrell for more food. There was also some small thing about the quality that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.  

 

Anyway, the lone Boston Market in Greensboro is now no more.  It closed last week on Tuesday.

 

The tale of the Boston Market’s demise is a disturbing one.

 

General Manager Musa Hunter reported food orders going unfulfilled; Hunter was forced to stock up at Sam's Club or drive nearly two hours to the next closest Boston Market location.

 

Paycheck for employees were late or in the wrong amount.   

 

Then Hunter got the call at 7:30 AM on Tuesday from a regional vice president that the store was closing.  That day.    

 

Boston Market's Regional Vice President issued a statement: "The decision to close down was not sudden. We continuously evaluate the performances of each location and make decisions to close or stay open accordingly. There were more stores closed this week. Not just Greensboro."

 

I would say it was not sudden and I might be paranoid but it seems to me that Boston Market corporate knew the Greensboro location was not long for this world but instead of taking immediate action, they let that location die a long slow lingering death of a thousand cuts.  

 

There is a phenomenon called quiet quitting where workers do the absolute least they can get away with before leaving their job. Apparently there is a counter phenomenon called quiet firing. It’s where management makes small incremental changes and cuts that inevitably forces employees to want to quit or actually welcome being fired.

 

It seems like Boston Market was pulling some kind of “quiet firing” on it’s Greensboro location.   

 

Musa Hunter said his customers kind of sensed this was coming. “It gets to the point where the customers are already kind of sensing it and saying are you guys going to be closing soon?”  

 

As I said at the start, I hadn’t eaten at Boston Market in a long time but it is a shame to not only see it close but to close like that, it’s staff and management not treated with any sense of respect. 

Arrivederci, Anthony Bennedetto

On Friday, painter Anthony Bennedetto died at the age of 96, a few weeks shy of his birthday. Bennedetto’s paintings have been exhibited in the Smithsonian and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

But perhaps you might better recognize Anthony Bennedetto by his more famous stage name as a singer, Tony Bennett.

Normally I might take this opportunity to rage against the dying of the light that yet again the wrong people keep dying. And that would seem to fit here as Tony Bennett was not only a gifted singer and a consummate professional but by all accounts a really good guy.  Yeah, it’s s shame Tony Bennett had to die while other less deserving people are still sucking up the air.

But death comes for all, whether good or not so good and Tony Bennett pack a lot of living into those years.  Even while battling Alzheimer’s, he still managed to record more music.  Tony’s music earned him 18 Grammy Awards over seven decades.  

After serving World War II, Bennett started his music career that spanned the worlds of pop and jazz and earned him acclaim through the 1960’s.

But heading into the 1970’s, Bennett’s style of music fell out of fashion which led to a dark period of dejection that led Bennett down a path of drug abuse.

But Bennett fought back against his drug habit and kicked it cold and kick started his career in an unexpected place, on MTV.   Bennett’s 1994 “Unplugged” special for MTV earned him another grammy and a new audience who enthusiastically embraced his music once more.

Tony Bennett with Lady Gaga 

Bennett was also a civil rights activist. He joined actor Harry Belafonte for Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1965 march from Selma, Alabama. This was a a career risk at a time when Bennett’s audience was predominantly white.

It is a shame we’ve lost Tony Bennett and his time is at an end. But he did something with that time and what a time it was.

Arrivederci, Anthony Bennedetto! 

Fly us to the moon one more time, Tony.  

I'm Feeling A Bit Depressed Right Now

 

OK, so there are two more posts following this one today. 

One is about the death of a great man and legendary performer.

The other is about the death of a local restaurant.  

Yeah, it's kind of a broody day here at I'm So Glad My Suffering Amuses You. 

Death Deathy Deathness of Death!   

And that was before what happened yesterday.

Andrea and I went to the movies. 

I came back... depressed.

I'm questioning the meaning of life.

I'm debating the whole point of existence. 

I'm grappling with mortality. 

I'm feeling...

...

I don't know exactly what I'm feeling!

All I know it's dark in here! 

No, we didn't see Oppenheimer. 

We saw Barbie. 

<sigh!>

OK, it'll take some time to process this. 

I'll have a Cinema Sunday post on Barbie on August 7th.

It will take me that long to process this.   

"Who am I?
What is the purpose of my life?
What is the meaning of life?
What is the point of existence? 
Is there a God?
Are we alone screaming in a dark and endless void?"

I really did not need this from Barbie!  

Cinema Sunday: The Sting

After three weeks and four movies, this week Cinema Sunday's "Journeys to Past & Future" looks back to the past to the year 1936 during the Great Depression.  

The Sting is a 1973 American caper film about a complicated plot by two professional grifters (Paul Newman and Robert Redford) to con a mob boss (Robert Shaw).

The "sting" is the moment when a con artist finishes the "play" and takes the mark's money. If a con is successful, the mark does not realize he has been cheated until the con men are long gone, if at all. 

In Joliet, Illinois,  Johnny Hooker cons $11,000 in cash from an unsuspecting victim with the help of his Luther Coleman. 

Unfortunately, Hook's mark was a numbers racket courier for vicious crime boss Doyle Lonnegan who ain't about to let the theft of even a measly $11,000 go unanswered. 

Lonnegan's men murder both the courier and Luther, and Hooker flees for his life to Chicago.

Hooker finds Gondorff, a once-great con man now hiding from the FBI, and asks for his help in taking on Lonnegan. Gondorff reluctantly agrees to help. 

Lonnegan is coming to Chicago but the long con begins before he's in the city limits.  Going by the name of Shaw, Gondorff cons his way into a high stakes poker game on Lonnegan's train.  "Shaw" is an irritating fucker who gets under Lonnegan's skin even before he takes him for $15,000.  

Lonnegan doesn't know what Hooker looks like it's his turn to prime the pump for the con. Identifying himself as "Kelly", a disgruntled employee of Shaw's, he reveals to Lonnegan to the extent of Shaw's criminal operations and his desire to take the asshole down. 

So here's the deal, sparky: Gondorff and his extended crew has created a phony off-track betting parlor that "Shaw" owns and operates.  "Kelly" tells Lonnegan he has a contact in the Chicago Western Union who feeds him the results of horse races before they are known in the parlor. "Kelly" doesn't have enough dough to place bets big enough to really hurt "Shaw" and put him out of business. 

Which is where Lonnegan comes in.  

Lonnegan wants some proof of what "Kelly" is selling so there's a lot of hustling and finagling to show off a bustling gambling parlor and the Western Union office where "Kelly" gets is inside scoop.  

Meanwhile the heat is still on for Hooker.

1) Cop from Joliet is looking to bust him.

2) Lonnegan's got hired killers looking for Hooker. 

3) The damn FBI enters the picture, wanting Hooker to roll over on Gondorff so the feds can finally  bust him. 

4) Hooker as "Kelly" is dancing as fast as he can to keep Lonnegan on the hook for the long con.

Hooker is under a lot of pressure.  

As to what happens next, well...

You just need to watch the damn movie.

The Sting is a fun ride as characters duck and weave around the truth, shifting identities and making complex plans. 

I will spoil this much: Lonnegan gets fucked. That's not a really big surprise but the fun is watching this multi-facteted long con unfold. 

Robert Redford is absolutely charming as Hooker, free wheeling and living too close the edge. Paul Newman as Gondorff is essentially Hooker but older, a bit worn down but damn if he can't resist one last con. 

If you like a comic crime caper where the criminals are the heroes, The Sting is absolutely perfect. 

Next week, Cinema Sunday moves back to the future with a  movie that presents the end of the world and answers the question, "What happens next?"  

Songs For Saturday Summer Road Trip: Elton John, Carole King and Led Zeppelin

The sun is still hot and high in the summer sky and the ride goes on with the Songs For Saturday Summer Road Trip with a play list organized by music artists in alphabetical order.  

For the letter "J", let's go with Elton John who teamed up with Kiki Dee for this 1970's classic, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart".  

For the letter "K", we turn to singer and songwriter Carole King whose 1970's ballad "Where You Lead" was reconfigured as the theme song for Gilmore Girls.

\



If you think the tempo for today's Songs For Saturday has been too mellow with 1970's pop tunes and ballads, let's change up the tempo with the letter "L" which stands for Led Zeppelin. Let's blow the roof off of today's post with  "Rock and Roll".   

Next week, the Songs For Saturday Summer Road Trip takes us to letters M, N and O.

Until next time, remember to be good to one another and to always keep the music alive and in alphabetical order.  

Your Friday Video Link: The Wish

Today, Your Friday Video Link is an entire movie.

Don't roll your eyes like that. I know you have a limited attention span.

Look, it's the poignant but uplifting story of a dying person with just one wish.

And the movie is ONLY FIVE SECONDS LONG! 

What the hell do you mean that took too long?  

Dave-El's Spinner Rack: Superman Lost

Today, the ol' Spinner Rack takes a look at the latest issues of Superman Lost by written by Christopher Priest with art by penciller Carlo Pagulayan, inker Jason Paz and colorist Jeremy Cox.   

Superman Lost recounts what happens after Superman is transported through a wormhole to spend 20 years lost in the vast infinite expanse of outer space, the trials and tribulations he experiences in his encounters with alien worlds and the trauma Clark Kent experiences upon his return to Earth where only one day has passed since his disappearance.  

In the present day sequences, Clark is having trouble acclimating back to "normal life". Having spent so much time in the void of space needing to conserve oxygen, Lois has to remind Clark to breathe. Clark Kent actually tries to go back to work at the Daily Planet but he's not really there, barely aware of everyone around him.  

Clark's head is still where he spent the last 20 years.  

After the premise is established in the first 2 issues, issues #s 3 and 4 are kind of aimless as Superman is flitting about space with a desperate urgency to get back home. He has acquired a couple of tools from the alien planet Tapestry he encountered in issue #2: 

• an all white suit that helps Superman maintain energy levels to fuel his super powers as he moves from one star system to another. 
• an AI assistant called Marquis which is Superman's only companion.  Marquis keeps doing the math Superman keeps asking it to do to calculate how much further Superman is away from home and it keeps telling him he is impossibly far from home. 

Side bar bitch session: the caption boxes for Marquis are virtually impossible to read with small red print on pale color backgrounds.  I am really getting tired of modern comics trying too hard with clever tricks for lettering that make it damn hard to read. 

Superman hitches a ride with some space dolphins to cover more distance but gets caught up in some conflict that Superman doesn't fully understand and the space dolphins fly off and in a moment of frustration, he shatters Marquis. 

Too far from Earth and without the AI for guidance, Superman has no choice but to return to Tapestry.   

8 year have passed since Superman was hurled through the wormhole. Clark Kent makes himself at home in a facsimile of the Kent farm he built in a section of Tapestry called "Kansas" while occasionally venturing out to the nearby city of "New-Ark" to continue being a superhero. 

The planet Tapestry is an Earth like planet where writer Christopher Priest leans hard into some very obvious political allegory.  The planet has been devastated by climate disasters but most of the inhabitants have established an near utopia underground but the citizens of New-Ark opt to live in their dystopia rather than concede than climate change wrecked their planet. 

OK, we get it, Priest. 

Back in the present, Lois is struggling with how to help Clark heal and adjust back to life on Earth. She reluctantly turns to Wonder Woman for help. 

Back in the past while Clark is continuing his existence on the recreation of the Kent family farm, Superman has an unexpected encounter with a Green Lantern. The power rings of Green Lanterns are capable of intergalactic travel and Clark has a way to get home.

Except...

The young woman named "Hope" has only recently come into possession of the ring after it was bequeath to her by the now deceased previous Green Lantern. Like Clark, Hope is far from her planet and uncertain how to get back to her home, let alone Clark's. She hasn't mastered the use of the ring or figured out how to communicate with it.   

Clark's alien friend Szhemi has doped out a way to get him back to Earth.   

Hope seems perfectly happy on the farm with Clark. And in a dark and shocking twist, she will kill to keep things the way they are.   

Well... shit! 

The last sequence in issue #5 is in the present where Lois uses Diana's magic lasso to show Clark the truth that he is home and safe. As Clark collapses in Lois' arms, maybe he is finally coming to terms with the trauma of his prolonged absence. 

We're half way through this series and we have more to explore about what Clark endured. What happened when he found Szhemi had been murdered? What did he do when he finds out Hope is the one who did it?  Will Clark be able to stop the divided planet of Tapestry from falling into total destruction? 

What sacrifices did Superman have to make to finally make it home? 

There have been a couple of issues where it felt like the series lost its focus for a bit but Superman Lost remains a compelling read with gorgeous art. 

Comic Book Origins: Where Did the Bat Come From?

 Anyone who is familiar with the holy writ of comic book mythology knows the tale of Bruce Wayne, orphaned by his parents being murdered in front of him, he grows up to train his mind and body to be the best at everything and to use those skills to fight crime. 

But exactly how to fight crime is the big question. 

And the answer presents itself:

"I shall become a bat!" 

But...

Where did the bat come from? 

Kerry Callen  provides an answer.  

So it's Superman's fault, eh? 

Actually, the question of where did the bat come from has provided some fodder for Bruce Wayne's back story in the comics and movies.  For instance, there is the story of Bruce as a child falling into a hole on the grounds of Wayne Manor into a cave full of bats.  Dad Thomas rescued his young son who was understandably scared of a big dark hole filled with bats. 

So even before that fateful night, there were bats flitting around Wayne Manor. Bruce Wayne may have taken it as an omen that a bat flew through the window but poor Alfred has been cleaning up bats for years. 

Bruce: "Alfred, a bat flew through my window!" 

Alfred: "Yes sir! It is quite the problem here at the manor!" 

Bruce: "I will take it as an omen!"

Alfred: "It's a bloody rare night that a bat doesn't fly through a god damn window around here..."

Bruce: "I SHALL BECOME A BAT!!" 

Alfred: "Permit me sir to go fetch my bat clean up supplies and... Wait! Who shall become a what now, sir?" 

Next week: I'll examine the origin of the Flash and answer the question: "Where did the lightning bolt come from?"