Special of the Day

What happens when they run out of the one entree because there is only one dog?  Damned if I know and obviously The Wormy Guy wasn't planning ahead.

Album Review: Black Sabbath – Master of Reality (1971)

Overview: 

Master of Reality combines the pace of Black Sabbath, with the heaviness of Paranoid.  It is absolutely the best of both worlds and is a fine ending to the first “act” of Sabbath’s career.  These first three albums were recorded in rapid succession, with Master of Reality coming out only about six months after Paranoid in the United States.  Sabbath took a bit of a break after this album to recharge their batteries as the extensive tour-record-tour regimen was starting to take its toll on them.

Tracks you may know: 

“Sweet Leaf”:  Starting out with Ozzy coughing into the microphone, “Sweet Leaf” takes a heavy, plodding approach, much like Black Sabbath or War Pigs before it. 

“Children of the Grave”:  A staple of the live set, this is one of Sabbath’s heaviest tracks, taking on war and politics and providing a galloping beat under Ozzy’s haunting lyrics.  Bill Ward’s drums here are exceptional as they follow and then build off the original beat.  Then, of course, we get Tony Iommi’s guitar solo followed by a crescendo that is perfect to close out a concert 

Tracks you should know:

“Lord of This World”:  Exceptional drumming from Bill Ward (are you seeing a pattern yet?) combined with a bluesy beat make this one of the standout tracks that you may be unaware of.  The way that Geezer Butler weaves his bass guitar around and through Iommi’s guitar is incredible.  There is never a plain, boring bass line (and this is even more evident when you see Sabbath live) as Geezer makes sure that his instrument is not lost in the shuffle.

“After Forever”:  Yet another reason for Christians to be pissed at the boys from Birmingham.  This was definitely a song that provided a different point of view in terms of organized religion (especially Christianity) and obviously failed to make the band any friends in the religious sector (which was a lot bigger back then than it seems to be now).  Kids ate this stuff up though as it was an anti-establishment, anti-authority song that asked you to question your beliefs and why you believe.

My personal favorite:

“Children of the Grave”:  See above; just as heavy and powerful when I first heard it in the late nineties as it was back in 1971. 

Album rating: 

This is a fitting finale to Sabbath’s first act.  Each album feels like there is growth and development from its predecessor.  It shouldn’t be a surprise that each of these albums is a “10” as they, in my opinion, are the pinnacle of Sabbath’s career. 

10/10

Introducing: Son of Sketch-A-Thon!

So, you missed the Sketch-A-Thon on May 4, 2013 because you were "busy" (and by busy I mean getting drunk with some guy dressed like a Jawa for Star Wars Day).  Do you have trouble looking in the mirror in the morning because of your guilt over missing the greatest fundraiser in the history of people drawing at folding tables at a mall (and because of what the Jawa did to you - but we won't get into that)?  You are in luck my slightly sad, slightly violated friends!  I bring you Son of Sketch-A-Thon!

This Sunday, May 19, 2013 is the Walk for Autism at Longbranch Park in Liverpool, NY.  The event goes from 9am-12pm and will include not only the walk, but also other individuals like myself who will be on hand to provide entertainment for the walkers as well as those that stop by to help out and donate.  

If you couldn't make it to the Sketch-A-Thon, or you just want to come out for more sketch-tastic fundraiser goodness, stop on down!

Below are the color sketch cards that are left.  They can be yours, all yours! 

If you have any questions, please contact me and I will get you the information you seek.

You can also go here for more information.

Hope to see you all there!

Hell’s Kitchen Episode Nine: The Ravioli King

*Please note that due to the fact that Hell's Kitchen is on Monday this week, you will be treated to the recap a day early (which also means there is no recap tomorrow).  Depending on Fox's summer TV schedule, the recaps may permanently move to Mondays, but we should know that within the next few weeks.

                Episode Eight of Hell’s Kitchen, despite being the annual “Steak Night”, was a little bland.  This episode, being a young Hispanic girls Quinceanera proves to be a little more exciting.  For those of you not up on your Hispanic culture, Quinceanera is basically a sweet sixteen party, it just celebrates the fifteenth birthday and the “transition into womanhood” instead.  This dinner service obviously comes with a bit of pressure then.  There is a bit of pomp and ceremony that goes into this particular party, and as we will see shortly, there’s a slave driver at the helm. 

                The reward challenge this episode therefore revolves around creating a menu for the Quinceanera   This includes one hot and one cold appetizer, a pasta dish, a chicken dish and a steak dish.  The judges were the fifteen year old that was the recipient of the party, her mother, and the party planner which was either an aunt or a family friend (I can’t remember which) but she easily weighed as much as the other two judges combined, which made it even funnier (to me at least) when the chefs asked what they liked to eat and she piped up with things like “big piece of meat” and “steak” and possible something about hearty portions.  Regardless, there were specific instructions that were given by the judges such as “not too spicy” “medium-well to well done” steak (which, really?  Come on!) and the fact that cheese, cream and lemon were integral parts of the menu (they are the honoree’s favorites).  At this point, loud guy (in the “confessional” of course) states that he has no further questions for the judges and they should just let the chefs cook.  How out of touch with reality is this guy that he thinks that the people that will be judging the finished product don’t know what they are talking about.  Seriously.  Even if they asked for the dumbest dish in the world, something that is clearly beneath you to cook, you would cook it, right?  If they are the boss, then you cook for them.  His attitude bugs me big time.  Many of the other chefs are dumbasses, but he may just win out because of his level of disdain for everyone else.  

                The food that was made, from both kitchens, looked great.  Seriously, these chefs are very creative and despite their lack of ability to perform under pressure, they do seem to be able to create stunning dishes from the ground up when they have forty-five minutes to work on them (this is where this week’s title comes from as Old Guy claims to be the Ravioli King or some such nonsense because he finally made a dish that wasn’t beaten by an opponent on the red team).  Much like last episode when the steaks were all equally appealing, it comes down to specifics.  And again, this is where the guys trip over their own feet.  Don’t get me wrong, the girls didn’t run away with this challenge by any means, and yet again it came down to the final dish to determine a winner.  However, I am convinced that the guys could have at least won, if not outright dominated, if they had just listened to the judges and been able to translate that direction to their dishes.  The two most egregious errors were douchey hair grand champion (again) that decided to unload a half bottle of hot sauce into his cheese sauce for the fried mac and cheese hot appetizer.  The poor honoree nearly gagged on his dish when she took a bite, obviously not expecting that much spice when it was specifically stated that she would not eat spicy food.  The haircut from last episode didn’t work, he has officially fallen down and can’t get up.

                The second major screw-up of the challenge came from snooty stringbean two, who cooked his steak much rarer than the judges would have liked (which was fairly obvious by the big pool of blood on the plate under the steak).  This wasn’t a matter of not hearing the direction as much as it was the inability to judge how long it would take to properly cook the steak to the desired specifications (remember, they had forty-five minutes to complete the cooking, way more than enough time to cook a steak to well done).  He misjudged it, gave the judges an underdone steak (which I would have probably enjoyed more than a well done one by the way, but alas I wasn’t one of the judges) and subsequently lost another challenge for the boys.  The record so far in reward challenges is 7-1 in favor of the women.  I don’t think I have ever seen a more lopsided record in the history of this show, and the fact that the last two were there for the taking if the guys had just been a little more vigilant, must sting pretty bad. 

                As a reward, the women get to travel to Knott’s Berry Farm, an amusement park in California (and if you believe the claim on the sign, the very first amusement park in the United States).  The guys, meanwhile, get placed under the watchful eye of the party planner.  Let me tell you, if you think Ramsay is tough, this lady makes him look like Mr. Rogers in comparison. You can tell Ramsay knows that this will be a rough day for them as he leans on the table, almost head in hands as he delivers the news.  I don’t know, maybe this is to hide a smile as he can’t help but laugh at the idea of the guys tying pink bows on chairs, dressing dolls with pink tulle, or unwrapping pink candy by hand to fill up large jars (something like 200 Starbursts, I know your hands will start to hurt just thinking about it).   I get it, you only get one Quinceanera  but she is pushing these guys like a slave-driver.  I fully expected one of the guys to snap, but I have to give them credit, not only were they able to work through it and find humor in the situation, which kept them going, but they actually did a great job. 

                Oh dinner service, how you trouble these chefs so.  This episode, the head table (which included the three judges and their family) was split between the red and blue kitchens (meaning that all of the appetizers and entrees had to go out together between the two kitchens) with the rest of the dining room being split between red and blue as it usually is.  The two kitchens still needed to be relatively coordinated though as there was a special dance that needed to take place after all of the appetizers were served.  Everyone needed to be on their game in order to accomplish this.  The blue team started slow but bounced back with a purpose as the two guys on the appetizer station (two guys that haven’t distinguished themselves up to this point so I don’t even have clever names for them yet) killed it.  The red team…not so much.  Between the whiny girl that was up for elimination last week and fat black girl, they couldn’t pull their heads out of their asses.  It all came down to tuna.  They couldn’t get it seared correctly (it was ice cold in the middle) and when they did, slicing it turned it into a giant mess.  There were still two tables that needed to be served appetizers before the dance could start, and everyone else had finished theirs.  This, of course, prompted the party planner to inquire on the whereabouts of the missing food (which I am sure is just what Ramsay wanted to see at that point) and the eventual completion of the appetizers.

                Entrees were a mess for everyone.  It was not the total catastrophe that other dinner services in the past had been, but at this stage of the game, being unable to cook a steak, or sending up practically raw pasta is something that just shouldn’t happen.  Because of the continued ineptitude of the kitchens, no winner is declared, even though the guys finish well ahead of their counterparts in the red kitchen.  It’s quality over speed this time though, and there was no quality to be had anywhere.  The guys put up loud guy and douchey hair grand champion, while the girls put up whiny girl that got put up last episode and mixed up Cyndi (seriously, that’s how she spells her name, give me a break) because she fucked up the steak order for the last table.  Personally I would have put up fat black girl again, she’s loud, she never takes responsibility and acts sooooo surprised when someone calls her out on something  (and she keeps talking about her hoo-ha). 

                Ramsay sends whiny girl that got put up last episode home after more impassioned pleas where mixed up Cyndi makes sure Ramsay knows that she “gives a big shit” about this competition.  I know what she was trying to say, it doesn’t make it any less funny though.  But wait, there’s more!  Ramsay exclaims how disappointed he was with the dinner service that night and says that he is “not done yet”.  To be continued….

                So what’s it going to be tonight?  Will Ramsay send multiple people home?  Will he flip flop chefs on to different teams for the first time this season?  Will he have an aneurysm when he has to step into the kitchen and help out because the chefs are royally screwing things up in what appears to be a fairly important dinner service (or so the producers want us to believe)?  Find out tonight on Hell’s Kitchen, and come back next week for more fun with yelling!

*Edit* Big thanks to Nik for digging up the proper spelling of Quinceanera for me.

Chihuahua Rationale

It's true, there's not much difference between the two, or any small dog for that matter, at least to the point of making one infinitely preferable to another.  That being said, I have always had an affection for wiener dogs.  

Visa

Visa was actually in the running for the name of our dog.  We settled on Cash, pretty much for the same reason. 

Comic Review: I Love Trouble #5

                Whoever said that monkeys sell comics (was it Mort Weisinger?  I think it was…) was spot on.  Guess what was on the cover of I Love Trouble #5?  A monkey!

 Cover:

                First of all, the monkey earns some brownie points off the bat.  The fact that the art style by Mark A. Robinson seems to be a slight cross between Frank Cho and Humberto Ramos (leaning far closer to Ramos) means that it creates a visually appealing cover that draws interest.  The coloring tones everything down a bit too much for my taste (and it doesn’t help that the paper has a matte finish and is surrounded by glossy covers on the racks).  The subject matter is closely related to the story of the comic, making this a quasi-narrative cover, which in my book gets it extra bonus points.  I like the logo as well, but it all is just way too blue.

5/10 +1 for the Monkey – This is a slightly effective cover that would have been better served with a little brighter coloring.

Story:

                I’m at a loss here.  I like the story by Kel Symons, and I especially like the pacing within the story, but I really don’t know what it’s about.  I get little snippets here and there that the main character Felicia is an assassin, with teleportation powers, maybe, it looks like teleportation is part of her powers at least.  She was presumed to be dead as the result of a plane crash and since then has been laying low (aside from the whole assassin thing).  I’m not sure how she got the powers, or even why at this point.  Plus there are other people with powers, some guy that can allow you to see what he has seen for example, but I’m not sure about the significance or prevalence of these powers in the grand scheme of things.  She used to kill without a conscience until a little kid saw her kill his mother, now she goes to therapy to deal with her demons (that seem to have manifested themselves in the form of a monkey – hence the cover).  She has been dicked around for most of her time since coming back from the dead, with her ex-boyfriend now banging her sister, even though he is kind of back together with her…

                Did you catch all that?  No?  Don’t worry, I only half got it myself.

                The highlight of the issue is the dialogue.  Symons has a great ability to not only highlight the relationship between the main character and her psychiatrist (with a little extra thrown in by the monkey, probably representing her subconscious and the things she wish she could say) but also the relationship between two siblings, highlighting the feelings that might take place upon seeing someone you loved come back from the dead, and then realizing that maybe you were better off with them being actually dead the whole time. 

Symons does a great job of establishing the relationships of the people, but he fails at establishing the story in an issue by issue basis.  Like I outlined above, there is a lot to go over and not a lot of clues as to how any of it fits together.  Even in the context of the issue itself, it’s hard to see where things are going.  For example, Felicia, after finishing her session with the psychologist, appears to ask the receptionist Gayle (who we are just meeting for the first time if you are new to the comic) to go out to a bar with her.  Never mind that it’s 11am (I don’t judge) but are these two friends?  Did they strike up a relationship based on Felicia’s time spent at the psychologist?  I get it that Felicia opened up more to Gayle in the bar than she did to the psychologist, that’s a nice touch, but in the rush to make the point, it feels like the writer forgot to connect points A and B first.  Plus, what is Felicia’s connection to the strange guy with the “do you see what I see” power?  Do they work together?  If not, why would a trained assassin let such a shady-looking guy get so close?

4/10 – There are many positives to the writing here in terms of the dialogue and just that subtle message about the nature of therapy, however the fact that nothing is really established, and connections are not clarified makes me feel kind of lost.

Art:

                As stated above, the art by Robinson has a very Ramos-esque quality to it, which is nice without being a total ripoff.  I love the fact that the art pulls back, so that the characters are tiny, especially in those scenes where dialogue is key and the writer requires a bit more room.  Instead of trying to make everything fit, Robinson picks his moments and lets the dialogue do the work in these quieter scenes.  The marriage of dialogue and art is perfect. 

Trying to squeeze a fully detailed office scene into here while leaving room for dialogue would have been as much a pain to do as it would have been to read.  Sometimes simple is better.

                There are a few instances where it’s not 100% clear what is going on, which generally seems to coincide with the text being a bit unclear as well. 

This portion being the critical offender

                I’m sure that I’ve said it before, but I prefer art like this, that’s a bit more abstract, a bit more cartoony than you would traditionally find in comic books.  That’s one of my favorite things about comic books post-1990.  Before that, most artists were trying to draw like John Buscema, Bernie Wrightson or Joe Kubert (to name a few, my list could go on for pages).  After the comics explosion of the 1990s, it seemed like any and every style was incorporated at the Big Two, which in turn made them accepted throughout the comics community as they gained that mainstream exposure.  I like this art, even if the proportions aren’t always right, or the backgrounds are not generally drawn using a ruler.  It should also be noted that the coloring by Paul Little is some of the best I have seen.  It’s lush and highly detailed, yet complements the line art exceptionally well instead of drawing attention away from it. 

It's all very well done, but that damn monkey is my favorite part, hands down. 

7/10 – The pacing and storytelling are both very well executed in many areas and page composition is well done throughout the book. 

Overall:  6/10 – This may be one in which you wait for the trade to come out to pick it up, but I would suggest picking it up one way or another.