Supergirl Tears

Okay - another couple of back to back scenes brought me to tears. If you watch the show, look out for emotional moments between mother and son.

And now I'm up to Bizzaro. I know what that term means from the comics of my youth, but not sure how they are going to do it here. I know when I saw 'the arm' and then the body, my first thought was the post-crisis storyline where someone created a Supergirl android to do their bidding. I really don't know how that's going to play into this, or if it will at all.

Oh yeah - I now know how to pronounce The Martian Manhunter's name. :-) My first exposure to him was in the big treasury sized Flash vs. Superman race. He shapeshifted as Superman and 'used his Martian science' to change some Gold Kryptonite into lead so it couldn't harm the real Superman, but that it also meant he could never change into Superman again.

Years went by without any 'exposure' to him until Injustice: Gods Among Us video game. That's where the 'red eyes' should have been a giveaway, since that comes into play in his supermove. I was trying to avoid spoilers, but I assume if you're reading these you've seen the show (or don't care - LOL).

Okay - Bizzarro over. Hey, I even sound like him/her. LOL I like the way Kara says, "she looks like me, but talks like Cookie Monster." And then the opposite stuff happened... Freeze vision and flame breath. :-) Straight out of the comic books, or at least the Superman comics. I don't remember there ever being a Bizzaro-Supergirl, but I think they did VERY well with this episode!

I'm beginning to see Maxwell Lord as Lex Luthor - evil billionaire genius. I'm sure that's not entirely coincidental...

Supergirl Emotions

Okay - last night I watched the Red Tornado episode of Supergirl. Was a cool one, since that's an android straight from the comic books.

But the episode after - WOW! Has brought tears to my eyes more than once! Very emotional episode. There's a scene where she has lost her powers but bluffs her way into getting a looter to give up his gun. All the while it's a split scene with her boss talking about regular people being heroes by doing heroic things.

Then Jimmy Olson is talking about his dad. He took a picture of him with his camera that was a gift from his dad - just before his dad went off to the gulf war. He didn't come back.

Then Supergirl finally gets her powers back in another emotional scene. When she flies off, the first thing she does is rescue a school bus full of kids from going off a fallen bridge as a result of an earthquake. I assume that's a call back to Superman The Movie. :-) Even if they didn't mean it that way it was cool. :-)

Okay - more WOW moments. I should have recognized the eyes, but I didn't. :-) No spoilers - just saying WOW. :-)

Supergirl

I've mentioned before that I love the Flash television show. I have also mentioned more recently that I'm okay with the details being different on shows and movies than what is/was in the books, including comic books. But, I must say that I have had some "wow" moments in this one. :-)

It's Sunday night and I'm up to episode three and James Olson (he prefers that over Jimmy) has a Superman Signal Watch. :-) And then it's mentioned that she was sent to Earth to protect Kal-El, not to be rescued by him. Her sister says, "one day you'll be rescuing him."

Now this gave me CHILLS! Supergirl dies in the Crisis storyline, and unless I'm mistaken she gives her life saving Superman. No, it's probably not referencing that, and it may not be referencing anything at all, but it still was a BIG wow moment. :-)

Okay - back to the show...

Oh - one more thing - she reminds me of Felicity when she's in her secret identity role. And her buddy in IT? Reminds me of Cisco on Flash. They are a 'team,' which is a working formula from Arrow and then used on Flash. No, I'm not making light of it, just pointing out that it appears to be a modern trope. :-)

Olson just told the bad guy, "I'm the closest thing Superman has to a best friend."

Episode Four has a couple of guest stars from Episode One. Her foster parents are played by Dean Cain and Helen Slater. Does that ring a bell with anyone? :-)

Also - Olson and Lucy Lane are 'together' and plan to go to Ojai for Thanksgiving. It's pronounced "oh-hi." That's the name of the town that Steve Austin is from. Not sure that's part of the plan or not, but it's cool that it's another call back to a childhood favorite of mine. :-)

The Weekend

No more than one post a day - that's my general rule - so I'm typing this SUNDAY NIGHT but won't post till Monday. :-)

It's been a long week... As I mentioned, a dear friend lost his son-in-law earlier this week. We went last night to a tractor pull in Huntingdon in support of the family. It was VERY emotional. Whew...

Yesterday morning we sang at the Fall Fest at the Farmer Market in Dyersburg. Vanessa's mom and dad came out! :-) There were some pictures taken, but I don't have one handy - sorry!

Today we sang at Woodville Baptist in Ripley for their Homecoming. WOW! A GREAT service all around! Great preaching - great lunch - then a great service in song! They really made us feel welcome and we got them singing along on part of it too. :-) It was also emotional, especially for Vanessa, but she made it through fine!

Afterwards we went to Crockett Mills and stood in line for over two hours for visitation for Drew. Yes, it was worth waiting that long to show our respect but also to show our support for the family. They are very dear to us and they need your prayers now and in the weeks and months to come.

Hug your kids and tell your spouse you love them. No, RIGHT NOW! Do it! We are not promised tomorrow - heck we're not even promised TODAY. Make your love known, and don't forget how you would feel if they were suddenly gone.

For what it's worth, the reason I got back into music so thickly was because I lost my dad in May a few years ago then ALMOST lost Kyle the following New Year's. After that I decided if there's something I want to do I do my best to do it. If there's something we want, we do our best to get it. You have to live today because we may not be here tomorrow...

Bless you! Thanks for reading! Thanks for being my friend or family member, or those of you that are not blood but are still family nonetheless.

Atom - Black Lightning - Firestorm - Flash television series

DC Comics Presents 15 - Atom - Wasn't a Ray Palmer fan growing up, but I did read him in team ups. Can't remember if I had this issue when I was a kid and the story does NOT ring any sort of bell...

I have been enjoying Ray's exploits on Legends of Tomorrow though - that is until I was down to watching the LAST episode of Season One when Hulu took it out of their lineup. :-( Hoping Netflix picks it (and Heroes Reborn) up.

Anyway, a good issue! Batman makes a cameo as well and Superman calls him 'chum,' then says 'chum' again later to Ray. Reminded me of Adam West.

I still remembered that the JLA satellite was 22,300 miles above the earth. I also remembered the teleportation technology and even when I was a kid I wondered how and when that was developed. Now, as an adult, I recognize it as a story element or plot device and can hand wave it just fine.

16 - Black Lightning - not one I remember reading - also, though the outside is in GREAT shape, several of the interior pages are 'bad' - not really faded, more like a bad printing job. I was able to see them okay, and I'm more concerned about having all the issues than having them in mint condition, but it's still a bit of a let down.

This was another character I don't think I ever read any stories of, so I knew nothing of his back story or anything. I did enjoy it though, and it was a good little team up. You might say it was a Black Lightning story that brought Superman in, rather than the other way around.

17 - Firestorm - WOW - another great issue! So much in this that has to do with the Flash television show...

When I was a kid, I remember Firestorm, but that's it. I didn't remember the secret identity or his powers or anything. Then when Flash Season One came on and "Ronnie Raymond" was mentioned it meant NOTHING to me. Then when they finally showed him and this 'device' that is used to help them meld into Firestorm, again it meant nothing. Now I see it's part of the design of his costume.

And of course you can't think of Flash and "Dr. Wells" without thinking of STAR Labs. This is also from the comics, and has been a part of Superman stories from way back. No Dr. Wells, not that I remember at least, but STAR Labs has always been there, so it was cool when that's where they took Barry Allen in the show.

Killer Frost was the villain in this issue, but it was NOT Caitlin Snow like in Flash. By the way, my FIRST introduction to Killer Frost was in the iPad game Injustice. I looked her up on wikipedia and found out her identity is Caitlin Snow and "ding ding."

This also brings me to another point... Being a comic book fan from an early age and being a reader, I've always compared movies and television to the source material (Stephen King, etc.) but as I've gotten older I've realized that it's a different media. Generally speaking, I enjoy books more than movies, but when it comes to comics I've developed a more open mindset.

When I was a kid, Superman The Movie with Christopher Reeve came out. It was a new telling of the Superman story. Fine. It wasn't completely true to the comic book, but I didn't care. Years later Flash come on television. The elements are there, but the back story and history, etc. are different. DIFFERENT - not 'wrong,' just a new telling. It's still Barry Allen - there's still an Iris West (though I was SHOCKED early on when they weren't together) - there's still a Captain Cold (one of my favorite villains, especially through Legends of Tomorrow) - etc.

I'm excited to see what Season Three: Flashpoint brings to the table. :-) The whole Earth 2 thing was VERY cool. Again, from the books, but not exactly. I'm sure Flashpoint won't be reproduced 100%, but that's okay! We've already seen the scene where Barry tries to 'recreate the circumstances of getting his powers,' so that's NOT needed. It leaves things WIDE OPEN though, and it's exciting!

Whew - that's enough ramble for one post... LOL

DC Comics Presents continues

I came home from work last night with a pretty good headache, so I decided to just lie down and do some light reading. I pulled out the next few issues of DC Comics Presents.

11 - Hawkman - I actually had read this one since my last post. I skimmed it again so I could remind myself what it was about. I actually remembered Russell Bragg's discussion of it. Hawkman was never one of my favorites, but the story was okay. I realized that some of these 70's stories just don't hold up today. :-) But it still brings back memories and it's a piece of my childhood, so I'm glad I collected them!

One of the more cool things in this story is the winner of a contest was written in. I'm pretty sure it's his likeness and name and one of the last things he says is, "if only my friends could see me now." :-)


12 - Mister Miracle - another hero I not only didn't follow, I don't think I've ever read anything with him in it! I also don't remember having this issue as a kid, so it must have been one that I picked up recently in my goal of a series run.

The story was okay. It was a typical team up in the vein of the old World's Finest, etc. with Batman. Not the same powers, but the way one was trying to protect the other, etc.


13 - Legion of Super-Heroes - I do remember this one as a kid, and there's a particular panel that really calls out to my love of time travel. As I was reading this I remembered the panel before it got there. There's a scene where it's in our future, but the Legion's past. Superman sees this battle in space and attempts to intervene. The Legion warned him that it was ancient history to them, but Superman steps in anyway and the panel reads (paraphrasing here) that even Superman can't stop history.

This turns out to be a lead up to the next story. I enjoy it when they do those multi issue story arcs, especially when it involves a different team up. Pete Ross makes an appearance part way through and then at the end he vows to get even!

One other thing - I read Superbly and The Legion of Super-Heroes when I was a kid. It wasn't my favorite, but it was more Superman... In a sense. :-)


14 - Superboy - well, kinda. :-) It's really Pete Ross using Superboy's body to get even with the Man of Steel. Again, there's some time travel involved and some personality switcharoo. All in all an enjoyable story - still reminiscent of the 70's, but that's okay. :-) Again, I'm glad I have these issues and it's been fun reading them again! I will say that it doesn't take nearly as long for me to read them now as it did way back then. :-)

Sad News - and more reading

First, the sad part... Vanessa's best friend on the Tigrett Fire Department lost his son-in-law just about an hour ago. There was an accident yesterday and the shop he was welding in 'exploded' and he was badly burned. 26 hours or so later he passed away. A sad, sad day. He was only 29 and leaves behind a wonderful wife, two daughters and in-laws that love him very much. This is a small community so things like this hit a little harder.

If you pray, your prayers are coveted. Right now the family needs peace.

I was going to post on DC Comics Presents, but I'll do that tomorrow...

R.I.P Drew...

Need a cache today...

Good morning! Well, it is morning for me - about to head to work...

Some of you know that I have a personal goal (not extremely high on the priority list, but a goal nonetheless) to find a geocache on every calendar day of the year. It all started when I saw a "challenge" cache where you could only log it if you have a find each day. That prompted me to set a goal. :-)

Anyway, September must have been a popular month in the past for caching because Bashful (Vanessa) and I had all but about 4 days. Two earlier in the month (which I got) - one today - and another later in the month. So I was looking on the website at the stuff in Dyersburg that might be an interesting one to find - plus large enough to leave the travel bug in my pocket - when I noticed that one out by Spring Hill Baptist Church has several logs with pictures. In most of them? KIDS! Yep!

I've never been an elitist, but at the same time geocaching in the early days had a certain charm. You had to be somewhat tech savvy to navigate the website, input the coordinates to your handheld GPS, then use that monochrome screen to search, then log the find on the website when you got back to a computer.

Nowadays there's a smartphone app that lets you see 'what's around me' at any given time - no pre-planning necessary. Now don't get me wrong, I don't think that's a BAD thing, just doesn't have the charm. :-) Think of letter writing in the old days - licking a stamp - waiting DAYS for your friend to get the letter then write you back. Now you just pull out your phone and zap a text. Not inherently BAD, just loses the CHARM.

But I have also said that if this opens the hobby up to more people then it's for the best. Well after seeing the pics of the KIDS involved I think it's time for me to put up the curmudgeon hat and stop telling kids to 'get off my geo-lawn.' :-) Seriously though, I've never said that, but it did make me feel good to see those pics. :-)

Have a great day everyone!!!

two more videos - more to come

I see it's been over two weeks since I posted. Sorry for being out of touch...

I also realized YESTERDAY while looking at my Photos app that I did NOT do a 12 of 12 this month... Maybe I should set a calendar alert? :-)

Okay - that's done - LOL

I uploaded TWO videos last night - the first is my cover of He Stopped Loving Her Today backed by the wonderful Grinders Switch Ensemble on the radio show!

He Stopped Loving Her Today (cover)

The next one is kind of interesting... A couple of weeks ago I sat in on lead guitar in Henderson. Vanessa attached her GoPro to my guitar strap and she recorded off and on as the show continued. It's a three hour gig, but the following video is only about 18 minutes.

You see the guitar neck and my fingers on the frets, of course, but you also see some dancers, the microphone stand, the other musicians as I move around the stage, etc. Hope you enjoy!

Go Pro Guitar



After work today we have a private gig. Vanessa and I are playing for a reception for Dyersburg State. Saturday morning we are singing at the Farmers Market from 8-10. Our friend Ken Jones will be sitting in with us this afternoon for a bit and for a few songs Saturday.

Sunday we will be at Woodville Baptist in Ripley for their homecoming service. We are looking forward to visiting for preaching, then having a good lunch, then bringing the song service.



Hope to see YOU soon!

Issue 10, Stranger Things and the weekend plans

Went home last night and did some 'yard work' - actually I was cleaning out the carport, but it was outside. :-) It was a good temperature to work outside!

I did take a break at one point and decided to read DC Comics Presents Issue 10 - one that I've been anxious to get to!



Yes, I've had this issue since it came out in the late 70's, and it was a favorite then and did not disappoint this time either! Most of you know I'm a sucker for Time Travel? Well this one has that, PLUS a promise of a tie-in with next issue!

I remember back in the day, how in the world is Superman going to be able to team up with someone in World War II !?!? Well time travel is the answer. I received a similar 'pleasant surprise' when none other than Jonah Hex shows up in an episode of Legends of Tomorrow!

Also - a special shout out to Russell Bragg! He mentioned this blog on his latest DC Comics Presents Show (podcast) which you can find at https://braggaboutcomics.com

I finished Stranger Things last night - WOW! What a great show! If you're a child of the 80's you'll enjoy the premise as well as the writing, acting and the film style! No spoilers here, just a logo... :-)



As for the weekend - tonight Vanessa and I are singing at Bolivar's Music on the Square at 7 pm. Tomorrow night I'll be playing lead guitar and singing at Henderson Family Dance - the place I used to play bass for. Sunday we have a cookout with Vanessa's side of the family.