Random Access

Saturday – 05 January 2008
Yep. Lazy Day. And, to quote the Jonathan Coulton song: I Feel Fantastic.

This morning started, as any good Saturday should, with breakfast, coffee and cartoons. Both Legion and The Batman were repeats, but they were good episodes.

City of Heroes
I decided to give Defiant‘s alternate configuration a solid shakedown cruise for a bit this afternoon, so I fired up Windows and City of Heroes. Sweet Mother Mary… *genuflect* Not only did it play City, it played it better, smoother and a little faster than DS9. Even when I cranked up the graphics settings. Yeah, it was that good.

The Hand of Nefer-Tem was invited to join a group for a Level 44 mission. How could I say “No” to that?! The mission went well… even if it was a Council of Thorns mission. In the middle of it, a member of my supergroup asked to join a task force group. I figured,”Why not…?” When the mission was done, I quit the group and logged out.

I logged back in with Corvus Nox, as we were going to do Positron’s Task Force: The Rule of Three, which is geared for Level 10-15 characters. Nox is 17, so I was examplared down to 15, but I didn’t seem to lose access to any of my powers. Talk about an ass-kicker. I knew that the TF would be long; I’ve done a couple of TFs before and they ran a couple or three hours. This one took us over six hours to complete. About an hour or two into it, I noticed that I wasn’t gaining any experience for the missions. Then it dawned on me: Exemplars earn influence and prestige – “money”/credit for personal use or supergroup use, respectively – but they don’t earn experience. *sigh* It would have taken me a long way towards getting him to Level 20. Despite taking MUCH longer than I had planned, I had a good time. And I earned a few badges, as well.

After that, SaraRules and I kicked back with Steph and watched the end of Dante’s Peak. We then decided to start in on Season Three of Coupling. It was great. I will never think of Spider-Man in quite the same way. (Thanks, once again, to Tyranist for allowing us to borrow this.)

And that’s how I spent my summer vacation Saturday.

Namaste.

Friday – 04 January 2008
And the work week – the short work week – comes to an end. Thankfully. Today, I started off in the SLC office, planning on finishing up the task I was working on yesterday and heading down to AF. “The best laid plans of mice and men…” I didn’t get out of there until 3:00. Then, I was off to AF… for the first time I’ve been in that office in a shade over two weeks.

I left the AF office and hopped onto I-15 South for a weekend in Cedar City. The weather was far more cooperative than it had been the last to southbound trips. And there were road monkeys – of special note was the Dodge Ram 1500 driver who got on the road in Fillmore. He decided that I was NOT going to pass him. Under (almost) any circumstance:

• Did he drop down below the speed limit?
  By the time I got halfway past him, he’d speed up.
• Was he stuck behind someone and I passed them both?
  Come Hell or high water, he was going to make sure that he passed me again.

The Council for Better Driving would like to take this opportunity to remind readers of Rule #1.

I finally passed him – and stayed ahead of him for a while – a little north of Cedar City, but I slowed down again, due to some rather strong winds blowing out of the canyons. AHA! The opening he needed! He zipped around me… only to slow down as the winds buffeted his truck. (And the Highway Patrolman in front of him may have had a little to do with it, too.) Idiotstick.

I’ve been hanging out with SaraRules, Steph, Darrilyn and Vince (and Darrilyn’s younger brother and sister, who arrived a little later). I’m looking foward to a nice, relatively quiet and relaxing weekend.

Stray Toaster
As I noted last night, I installed City of Heroes on the Windows partition on Defiant. When I went to run it, it kept giving me an error during the loading process. Today, I tried a couple of diagnostic tools, but they wouldn’t tell me why it was erroring out.

So, I uninstalled City.
And reinstalled it.

Still no go.

Eventually, I had an epiphany: Check the device manager to see if there was a noticeable problem there. Nope. Everything was hunky-dory. On a whim, I decided to look up information on the troublesome .dll file that kept throwing the error. It was tied to the video chipset. Hmm… I checked the display driver.

It was one of Microsoft’s generic “This should work!” drivers.

I immediately went to the Intel site and looked for a newer, better driver. I found it rather quickly and easily – kudos for good site navigation! I installed the driver, rebooted and decided to try City again.

Lo and behold, it loaded on the first go. I logged in, to be sure that everything else was working properly. Not only did it work properly, the framerate was a bit faster – and smoother – than I get on DS9. I logged out, with a satisfied smile on my face: Paragon City (and the Rogue Isles) just became my Kandor.

I’m a happy camper.

Namaste.

Thursday – 03 January 2008
Not a bad day for an NBN Thursday. I woke up (more or less) when I had planned to. Getting out of bed was a different matter altogether. I got up after a bit of decided laziness and started the day.

Work was a bit busy. I was trying to track down some hardware information, but kept running into proverbial walls. After a few hours of what felt like spinning my wheels, I think I found a way to get what I needed. I’ll know for sure tomorrow morning.

After work, I came home and had a bite to eat – and watched a little bit of Rio Bravo – before meeting up with Chris and heading to a comic shop near his place to play dolls HeroClix. We played against a few other guys. We played 1000 points per side; which is one of the – if not THE – largest “small” game I’ve played in. I picked a force comprised mostly of the JLA, Teen Titans and one of the X-Men:

• Batman (Red Rain)
• Green Lantern (John Stewart)
• Dmitri Pushkin (Rocket Red)
• Cyborg
• Raven
• Bishop

Chris played with mostly X-Men, along with a different Batman and a paramedic. Healers are a GOOD thing in that game. We started off alright, but hit a string of craptacular dice rolls in the middle of the game. Fortunately, the Luck Lords of Ventura looked upon us fortunately in the waning turns of the game: Chris and I won. I had a lot of fun.

And now there’s Whose Line! (With Robin Williams, even!)

Stray Toasters

• I did it: Boot Camp.
• I did it again: City of Heroes on the Defiant.
• Four Root DNS Servers Go IPv6 on February 4th.
• Four words: LEGO. Indiana Jones. Game.
• Five words: LEGO. Batman and Robin Game.
• Two more words: Coming soon!
• By way of Wizard Entertainment: 2008 Preview – Notable Comic Anniversaries
• Guillermo Del Toro Ready to Unleash Frankenstein’s Monster

Quote of the Day
From a conversation with :

: 12:44 s’ok
spent an hour with my team giving an american civics lesson this morning
was kind of neat, actually
one of those rare moments that take me out of my privileged bubble
: 12:44 Cool.
: 12:45 funniest part of it all was one of my guys asking “but the woman…she is from the clinton caste, so shouldn’t she be next for president?”
i keep forgetting where i am
: 12:47 So, how did you ‘splain it?
: 12:49 i said anybody can be president…response was “but as long as i can remember, only clinton and bush castes have been leaders.”
ok, true
however, if you are over 35 and you were born in the USA, you can run
“but can you win? here anybody can run but only upper castes win”
yes…that’s partially true in USA too
“so this man…this black man…can win?”
: 12:50 HA!
: 12:50 yes, he just won in iowa
“so he is president?”
no, thsi is just the first caucus
“but if he wins many caucuses?”
yes, he can be the nominee, and then maybe be president
“but he is black.”
yes.
“wow.”
yes. wow.
: 12:50 If he wins many caucauses, does that make him Caucasian?
: 12:50 HAHAHA
now that is a quote of the day.
: 12:51 *bow* I do what I can.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 01 January 2008
Welcome to the new year.

I hope that everyone had a safe and enjoyable NYE celebration. Thank you to onlyaly and for hosting last night’s gathering. It was a fun time, as always. And, it’s always good to spend such evenings in the company of friends. (Did anyone happen to catch Dick Clark on TV last night? The nation’s perennial teenager is finally showing signs of age. Serious signs.)

Today is going to be spent hanging out and relaxing, as much as possible, because the nearest weekend is still four days away.

And with that…

Namaste.

Monday – 31 December 2007
I just upgraded to the latest and greatest version of WordPress…

…and managed to overwrite all of the theme and plugins settings that I had changed.

I have spent the past hour correcting that. Most of that time was trying to figure out what names I had given icon pictures in WordPress, as I had modified many of them from their LJ equivalents. Yay. But, it seems as though I’ve gotten most of them fixed. I’m sure that I’ll notice a couple of odd/missing settings down the road, but for the moment, I’m good.

Today will most likely be rather lazy.
Tonight, we shall ring in the New Year.

Stray Toasters

• I’m watching CSI: on Spike while SaraRules is reading I Am Legend. Then, this… commercial… came on. Funny thing: When I was growing up, we just called them “purses.” Watch the mini-video in the upper left corner. Comedy.
• The Ravens fired Brian Billick. Now the question becomes: “Who will replace him?” I talked it over with :
  

  : ravens just fired billick
  iiiiiiiiiinteresting
  Me: Yeah… I caught that around noon local.
  : how long has he been around now?
  superbowl was 2000…so at least 7?
  Me: 8yrs
  : ah well…merry new year to billick
  Me: indeed
  Any ideas on who they’ll get to replace him?
  I don’t think that any of the assts. were up for it
  : rex ryan seems to be the leading candidate, they seem to think he’ll be gone for another job if not
  Me: Maybe they’ll bring Jim Fassell back.
  : i just want someone who will give us at least one solid coach meltdown like dennis green
  or even a weenie white man one like jim mora
  PLAYOFFS?!?!
  what can i say, i love the trainwrecks
  Me: SaraRules: “Excellent.”
  : ahh she enjoys the trainwrecks too? winner in my book
  i have an audio of a college div1 football coach i should send you
  best meltdown ever

• And another thing: Spike just ran an ad for an arts & crafts cutter. Okay… first that “purse” commercial, and now this?! Now, is it just me or doesn’t Spike tout itself as “TV for guys?” If so, what’s up with this? Are they subtly changing their demographic?

I hope that everyone has a safe and happy New Year’s Eve and wish the best to you in 2008.

Namaste.

Sunday – 30 December 2007
An intermittently snowy day in the SL Valley.

Last night, SaraRules and I assembled (and played with) the Rokenbok Monorail that I’ve had, but never assembled, for… four-and-a-half years. We had more fun than should be allowed. I also discovered that my X-Men Minimates are the same size as the Rokenbok figures. (“X-Men Save the Factory” storyboards, here I come!)

This morning started lazily and slowly. As there was not a new shipment of comics this week, I figured that I would not get to partake in the weekly “coffee and comics in bed” ritual.

I was mistaken.

I had forgotten that Meliko had gotten me Ocean for Christmas. And that’s what I read. It was a great story. Science fiction (or “speculative fiction,” if that suits you better). Mystery. Intrigue. And action. All in one story. Correction: All in one well-told story. It made for a great way to start the day. Tyranist: If you haven’t read this, I think that it would be up your alley. While I read Ocean, SaraRules read the Justice mini-series (1, 2, 3).

After we finished reading, it was time for a late breakfast and football. Imagine my surprise to discover that the Steelers-Ravens game was going to air in this market. You could have, happily, bowled me over with the proverbial feather. It was the final game of the season and a division rivalry game… and they broke out the all-black uniforms. The game was good. Really good. “Ravens on top early” good. The team came to play some serious ball. Granted, a lot of starters were out, due to injuries, but their replacements did a great job. Troy Smith looked good in the QB spot. Second-year RB Cory Ross was all over the place. New-to-the-Ravens LB Nick Grieson did a great job of covering the ball on the defensive side of the game. To their credit, with many of the Steelers’ starters out due to injury and/or injury avoidance (as the Steelers made the playoffs), their second-stringers played well. But, in the end, the Ravens came away with the win.

Tonight, SaraRules and I went to visit Chris and Mary for dinner and a couple of movies: Dollman vs. Demonic Toys and The Ice Pirates. Both of these movies were “Cool World-Long Kiss Goodnight” Scale fodder, but they were also fun to watch… especially in the company of friends. A couple of odd bits of IMDb-supported trivia:

1. Tracy Scoggins and Tim Thomerson (both in Dollman vs. Demonic Toys) and Mary Crosby (from The Ice Pirates) were all in episodes of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. Scoggins was a regular cast member in the first season; Crosby and Thomerson were guest stars.
2. Crosby and Scoggins were also guest stars on episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

And now, we’re home, sipping hot chocolate and eating biscotti. Huzzah!

Stray Toasters

• I talked with Adam today; all’s well with him and Chelsea.
• My uncle called me in the middle of the second quarter of the Steelers-Ravens game. Just to say “hi” and to commiserate over the fact that the game wasn’t playing in his area.
• Nintendo Wii Hacked
• There’s a new Monorail Metropolis Start Set. *adds to Covet List*
• The Red Balloon has become a dangerous store for me: They carry Rokenbok toys.
• Going to a Go-Go: Hip-Hop repays its debt to Chuck Brown
• 
• What in the Nine Hells has Joe Quesada turned Marvel Comics into!?
• Jon Favreau talks Iron Man
• Three weeks to L.A.

Namaste.

Saturday -29 December 2007
The day started with breakfast with SaraRules, her parents and one of her brothers at The Artist’s Palate Cafe. The food was good and the prices weren’t bad, either. It’s a small place on 2300 East, just south (and I mean “just south”) of the I-80 on-ramp… and it has local art (for sale) on the walls, too.

Next stop: Dr. Volt’s, to see if Dave had heard whether or not the shipment would arrive today. It didn’t; it won’t be in until Wednesday. From there, we swung over to the Parents-of-SaraRules’ place to hang out for a bit. Then home. SaraRules took a nap; I played City of Heroes. I was invited to join a team of mid-to-upper 30s… taking on low-level 40s villains: The Council, mostly. Over the course of three missions, I managed to hit Security Level 37. Between missions, I put the cards from the newer ‘Clix sets into binder sheets so that they aren’t scattered all over Hell and half of Georgia.

We’re off to run some errands and then meeting vikingsonya and for dinner at Outback.

Then, I think SaraRules and I will spend some time mucking around with Rokenbok and LEGO before heading off to breakfast.

Indeed.

Namaste.

Friday – 28 December 2007
Yet another lazy day about town. I have to say that the downtime has been nice.

I woke up and puttered around the apartment for a bit this morning and early afternoon, while SaraRules went to lunch with an old friend. I was nominally productive though: I hung the LEGO key rack she got me for Christmas.

After she got back, we headed out for a bit to get lunch (for me) at Go Sushi. I had their Teriyaki Rice Bowl Combination (with chicken). It was just the right mix of food:

• Miso soup
• Teriyaki chicken and vegetables over rice
• Gyoza (potstickers) and
• California roll (half order)

I had a couple of pieces of Ika nigiri and some green tea to wash it all down.

Next, over to Dr. Volt’s… only to find that the shipment that should have been in yesterday was delayed again and now most likely will not be in until next Wednesday. And that’s on top of the already scheduled-to-be late shipment that’s due next Friday. To console myself, I got a couple of boxes of ‘Clix and the hardcover edition of The Sandman: Preludes & Nocturnes, to replace the (signed) softcover edition I can’t find. *shakes fist* Although, I was able to find it with the last printing’s cover, so it matches the softcover copies of Dream Country and The Wake that I have. A few pieces of note from the plastic crack haul include:

• Granny Goodness (unique)
• Power Ring (super-rare)
• Toyman

Then, we popped over to see SaraRules’ parents for a bit. We’re having brunch with them tomorning. Now, all we need to do is figure out “where.”

Back home for a bit… and some time in Paragon City.

Stray Toaster
Just one thing, for the moment: Solid!
(Click on the picture… you have to see the larger version. Comedy.)

And now… off to Clitorati!

Namaste.

Thursday: Coda
SaraRules and I headed up to Ogden this afternoon. We were going to The Bookshelf… or, if was right, to where it used to be. The store was still there. But, they are in the middle of a “quitting the business” sale. This is a shame, as it is the overall best used book store that I have found, so far, in Utah. (There’s a much smaller, but decent, store in Cedar City called Braun Books.) We went… we looked around… we bought a few things. I may head back up there in a few weeks to see what’s left and if they’ve upped the discount on merchandise; they are currently selling things for 20-25% off and up to 50% on videos (VHS). All-in-all, it was worth the trip up there… and it was nice to get out of SLC for a bit, too.

We came back to town and after an unsuccessful trip to Dr. Volt’s – the new stuff isn’t coming in until tomorrow – we had dinner at Spaghetti Mama’s. Quite good and very filling. And, we got to see Kate, though only for a couple of minutes.

Next, we met , , , Jana and Chris for I Am Legend. It was good. I knew that it had been adapted from a book of the same name, but I had forgotten that it had also been adapted twice before as a movie: The Last Man on Earth and The Omega Man. Will Smith did a very good job. And they did a very believable job of rendering “The City that Never Sleeps” into a quiet, desolate and very lonely place. I definitely recommend the movie.

Thursday – 27 December 2007
Another lovely day in the valley. It’s a tropical 24°F outside, but there are partly cloudy skies, which means that the sun is putting in an appearance.

Last night, SaraRules and I watched Mirrormask. She liked it, overall, but thought that the story was a bit weak. She did like the visualizations, though.

Today, we’re still deciding what to do, but heading up to Ogden and making a pilgrimage to Mecca (known to the locals as “The Bookshelf”) may be on the docket. And there will also be a trip to Dr. Volt’s, as today is new comics day; the shipment is off by a day because of the holiday.

And tonight: I Am Legend.

Stray Toasters

• Benazir Bhutto killed in attack
• 
• Online games battle for top spot
• From the Whiskey Tango Foxtrot file: Jackson has ‘surgery’ after [being] hit by son
  

  Michael Jackson reportedly underwent emergency surgery after his young son accidentally punched him in the face. The Thriller hitmaker – who has undergone multiple cosmetic surgeries on his face in the past – was recently photographed in a Los Angeles bookstore wearing numerous bandages around his mouth. But sources tell Finditt.com the singer’s son, Prince Michael II, caused the injury: “He was whacked in the face accidentally by his younger son Prince Michael II while playing around and part of Jackson’s upper lip collapsed. “That mishap led a hysterical Jacko to make a beeline for the plastic surgeon for a bit of quickie repair work.”

• …and keeping it in the family, somewhat:

  

  (For those who don’t remember: Michael and Lisa Marie Presley were married for almost two years in the 90s)

And that’s a wrap for now.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 26 December 2007
Happy Boxing Day.

Last night, SaraRules and I went to see Aliens versus Predator – Requiem. I had not seen the first movie, so I was a little concerned about coming into this one at a bit of a loss. I had also heard that AvP was… a… less-than-stellar bit of cinema. Despite these items, I had a great time watching this movie. It was definitely a “check your brain at the door” kind of movie, but Ms. SaraRules said that it was “leaps and bounds better than the first one. By far.” The movie, while definitely sci-fi fare, had a bit of a horror movie bent. And it was fun. Additionally, it continued a nominal tradition that I had with and Don: Seeing a movie on Thanksgiving and/or Christmas Day(s).

This morning started lazily. Which, to be quite honest, is a great way to start the day after Christmas.

After observing the hygiene rituals and getting dressed, SaraRules and I headed down to The Bayou to have lunch with , onlyaly and others in celebration of ‘s birthday. I had a rather tasty jamabalya (the only thing I would have added was shrimp). I also had the Rogue Imperial Stout. (Don, if you’re reading this, you need to see if you can find a bottle somewhere in the Triad.) Holy Crap! It was good; filling, but good. I wish I hadn’t loaded up on soup, salad and jambalaya before drinking this. As it was, I was so full that I had to split the stout with . Then he, SaraRules and I shot a few games of pool.

Next was some shopping and an errand or two… and then back home.

City of Heroes: The Hand of Nefer-Tem
I tooled around Paragon City for a couple of hours as part of a pick-up team. We were in our mid-to-upper 30s. We fought The Council, a few members of the Carnival of Shadows and The Freakshow. The XP was good… even though I managed to die a couple of times.

Stray Toasters

• I am sitting here with a bowl of candy next to me because I’m craving something sweet… but not any particular type of candy. So, I’m going with “whatever strikes my fancy.”
• From Broken Frontier: Legend, Legion Reunited
• SaraRules + + = comedy
• offered up a couple of ‘Toaster-ready items
  • Damn Interesting: Raiders of the Lost Lake
  • Goth-o-Matic Poetry Generator
• 
• For : Lee Bermejo’s Joker Sketchbook

Namaste.

Tuesday – 25 December 2007
So the big man in the red suit with the magickal reindeer apparently showed up and dropped off goodies and whatnot. This year’s haul included:

• The Art of the Japanese Garden
• LEGO Key Rack
• Gift certificate to IKEA
• Gift certificate to Dr. Volt’s
• Metallic dice
• One World, Many Cultures CD
• Ocean graphic novel
• “Grow a Pirate” toy
• Little Flip Book of Crosswords
• Subscriptions to Esquire and GQ
• Green Lantern paperweight (…and it’s even John Stewart!)
• AoA Cyclops HeroClix
• The Superhero Handbook

There are still other goodies to open (they’re back at my place and there are couple of things that are in transit)… but this has already been great.

What did Sanity Clause bring you?

Monday: Coda
SaraRules and I have spent the evening at her parents’.  Dinner.  Drinks.  Stardust.

Our game plan for the night was to go to Midnight Mass.   But it’s been snowing and the roads are… nominally okay, but neither of us really wants to risk it.   (And, it’s cold outside.)  So, SaraRules and Logan are playing Guitar Hero (II & III, I think) while Meliko and I watch… and I’m nerding.  For the time being.  Then, we’re all calling it a night.

Tomorrow, is Christmas.   (Well, in about 5 minutes, actually…)  May the peace, joy and happiness of the day find you and your loved ones in good health, good spirits and good company.

Namaste.

Monday – 24 December 2007
Yet another reason that I appreciate :

: Are you fully armed, armored and supplied for the coming invasion tonight?
Me: Indeed
: Every year on this night the Zombie King Claus and his legion of undead come down from the north to feed.
Me: The entries are all fortified and braced.
: Or is it Klaus? hmm.

And to all, a good night…

Sunday – 23 December 2007
It’s Christmas Eve Eve.
I have two, maybe three, things left to pick up and then it’s all done.

Last night’s breakfast gathering was good. Pat and Brent were both there – I haven’t seen Pat in weeks and I haven’t seen Brent in months, so that was an added bonus. There’s been a bit of turnover at Cheers, too. New managers, new servers… even new menus. I gave out/mailed my Christmas cards this week; I gave

So far today, I have spent time running around the Rogue Isles with Perry. I joined his supergroup and then we spent time gathering beacons for the lair’s teleporter room. Three of them were fairly easy to locate. The last two were… arduous; the last one, in particular, cost me some XP debt. But, we got them. (By the way: , when I joined the supergroup, I changed the colors of Dhoruba’s outfit – black jacket, boots and pants, red t-shirt. He still has the mohawk, though. At least… for now.)

Four-Color Coverage
I haven’t done one of these in a few weeks… it’s time to get back on the horse:

• Green Lantern #25 and Green Lantern Corps #19 – These issues wrapped up the Sinestro Corps War and shed a little – very little – more light on the “Blackest Night” prophecy. It also introduced four other Corps – as we already have seen Green (GLs), Yellow (Sinestro Corps) and Violet (Star Sapphires) – who will apparently be integral to the advent of the prophecy.
• Justice League of America #15 and #16 – Issue #15 saw the climactic battle between the JLA and the Injustice League, starting with Firestorm taking on the IL… alone.
  

  Firestorm: I have to admit, this looks pretty bad. I just got out of the hospital, I’m outnumbered, you guys are the frickin’ Legion of Doom… but I do have an ace up my sleeve.
  Killer Frost: Shut up and die.
  Firestorm: In a minute. I’m talking here. I was trying to tell you about my ace. When I first snuck in here, I slipped Batman a ballpoint pen. I was about to turn it into a lockpick, when I noticed Luthor about to cut Superman’s throat.
  Batman: Don’t bother — with a ballpoint pen, I can pick the locks at Fort Knox.
  *begin smackdown*

  Another couple of gems can be found in the fight between Black Canary and Giganta:

  Giganta: Hey, Canary? Nice moves on Shadow Thief. Want to go a few rounds with me?
  Black Canary: You’re a little out of my weight class, Giganta. Although, if you went a little easier on the pastry, you could drop a few pounds. *uses her “Canary Cry,” focused on Giganta’s ears*
  *Giganta falls, unconscious*
  Black Canary: One other thing. If you have to wear a dress in battle? Get some underpants. Or at least learn to sit like a lady.

  …and in Batman’s ‘decision’ that Firestorm join the JLA…

  Black Lightning: Nice work today. If you ever need the League’s help on anything, just ask.
  Batman: I was thinking more along the lines of him joining the team.
  Firestorm: Oh. Uh, I’m honored, of course, but I really don’t have time right now to– *cut off by Batman*
  Batman: That wasn’t an offer, son. It’s the way it’s going to be. You’re too powerful to be out there unsupervised. *walks away*
  Black Lightning: And the Bat-God has spoken.

  Throw in an appearance by Amanda Waller and Task Force X/Suicide Squad and you have a solid issue, chock full of goodies.

  Issue #16 brings a couple of characters from the Tangent Universe into the mainstream DCU. Again. Black Canary, Green Lantern and Red Arrow meet the TU’s Atom. And, as usually happens when heroes meet… there’s a fight.

• Justice Society of America #11 – The Kingdom Come Superman gets checked out by the JLA and JSA. The Flashes of both teams confirm that the multiverse has returned. And the JSA takes on a new member.
• The Mighty Avengers #6 – The end of the latest Ultron battle. Ares takes the fight to Ultron… in a rather unexpected manner… just as the Sentry comes unglued (again), and tries to take on Ultron himself. I’d love to tell you one of the great bits of dialogue between Reed Richards and an Avenger, but it would give away part of the battle’s climax. You lose.
• Superman #671 – This issue begins “The Insect Queen” storyline, featuring Lana Lang. I’m not sure if it’s leading up to what I think it is… but long-time Legion fans will recognize the name. There’s a reference to North Carolina in the book, but it’s a little “off.” (Kudos for the effort, though.) And what happens when your six-year-old Kryptonian foster son gets heartburn? Lois is about to find out.
• Superman/Batman #44 – During the filming of a Batman-Superman movie, Livewire shows up to hold one of the actors for ransom. Too bad the real World’s Finest team were nearby watching the production. Through an odd series of events, Superman (the real one) winds up getting tagged with a lot of Kryptonite shards, including a bit to the eye. Batman brings his favorite field medic, Alfred, to the Fortress of Solitude to patch Superman up:
  

  Alfred: You try scraping meteoric shrapnel from alien skin an a meat freezer.
  Batman: Rest easy, Clark. I brought you the steadiest hands I know. He’s pulled worse pieces of worse things out of me many times.
  Alfred: You might want to consider raising the heat from time to time, Master Clark. Possibly stock the pantry with some nibbles. Just because you want for no human comforts doesn’t mean your guests won’t. Oh, and you’ll live, by the by. *packs up his medical kit*
  Superman: Is he… angry with me?
  Batman: It’s just his way. Alfred–
  Alfred: I know you tend to heal faster and with more finality than my usual patient, Master Clark. But, do make an effort not to fire any lasers from that eye for a few days. The cornea took a thrashing.

  And, with that, the two decide to rid Earth of Kryptonite. All of it. Too bad there’s a LOT more of it than they thought.

• Tales of the Green Lantern Corps – Ion #1 – The passing of the proverbial – and literal – torch. This story sees Kyle Rayner, the GL formerly known as Ion, having a chat with Sodom Yat, the new host to the Ion entity. This issue provided a good look at Sodom Yat’s background as well as giving Kyle a chance to pass on a little bit of “I’ve been where you’re going” knowledge to Sodom. And, we find out what Kyle’s new role in the Corps will be.
• Wonder Woman #14 and #15 – These are the first issues of Gail Simone’s run on the title. And they are good. Very good. “I wish she’d been writing the book since the reboot” good. In fact, here’s Ms. Simone’s take on “who” and “what” Wonder Woman is:
  

  The book is about the best goddamned warrior planet Earth has ever known, and she happens to carry a mystical arsenal around just for the hell of it.If a writer can’t make that interesting and fun, they really shouldn’t be writing superheroes.

  There are layers upon layers of the character, and we’ll get to them all. But let’s just make it very clear that Diana is the premiere asskicker in the DCU, period. Batman and Superman have other things that make them special. Diana is the one who occasionally carries an axe if someone gives her lip.

  This is actually in my first issue, but the quote is, “When a giant robot attacks Metropolis, send Superman. An alien attack? Get Green Lantern. When a car is hijacked by an escaped loony, turn on the bat signal, by all means. But if an ARMY shows up on your doorstep, that’s when you call in Wonder Woman.

  Simple.

  Yep. That pretty much sums it up. And she’s right. AND… she’s writing it well. I look forward to reading more issues of this book.

Time to get “…right on to the friction of the day.”

Namaste.