The Marvel trinity

Many people put stock in trinities, whether it be religious, in film trilogies, or in this case, comics. DC probably has the best known comic trinity in Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. These three have been among their longest running, most popular, and most widely recognized characters. I should point out, this is not a direct reflection of sales. However, the average person knows who they are. Marvel considers itself to have a trinity as well, but it's certainly not as recognizable. At least not yet.

Probably the most recognizable Marvel characters are Spider-man, Wolverine, and the Hulk. Marvel considers its true trinity to be Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor. The core of the Avengers. But just like the Avengers titles struggles, a few years ago these three heroes were far from the most popular titles running. But between Marvel Studios and clever revamps of all 3 books (Iron Man twice!), they are building that image.

The books have been well received, and the Iron Man movies as well. I saw an argument on a form about Marvel's trinity the other day, and I would agree that Marvel's central heroes are not very well known. I feel like this is changing.

To avoid spoiling, I'll be vague, but there is a teaser for the new Thor movie out there that got me very excited. It then dawned on me what was happening. The movies leading up to 2012's Avengers movie are Thor and Captain America, along with the Iron Man movies and the Incredible Hulk. These movies set the stage for these characters to be more household names, for the wider world to have an idea of who they are. Marvel has cleverly made their play to create icons outside of comic fandom that DC cemented so long ago. And if they're not careful, DC could lose ground with their franchises.

While Batman continues to be healthy, Superman's film franchise has been neglected, and the comics excellent but scattered. Wonder Woman suffers from many problems that would need to be resolved prior to any film possibilities. The comics have been well written and fun, but in many ways have gained no ground. So Marvel's trinity may prove to be the one of choice by the casual fan, the comic movie fan. It's an impressive move on Marvel's part that should make DC wary.

Hadji Murad

I just finished Hadji Murad, by Tolstoy. This is the first anything I've finished by Tolstoy; currently I'm also reading Anna Karenina, and have made attempts to read The Death of Ivan Illyitch and The Kingdom of God Is Within You, but have never finished either for whatever reason.

Anyway, it was a very short and enjoyable read, and you can tell he put alot of research into the book. What is interesting is that very often he speaks about the various people of the Caucaus in a much more noble light than the Russians, who are often rude or caught up in the various issues of Russian aristocracy (which was essentially acting like they were French). It is sad as well, and I can't help but wonder whatever happened to Murad's family.

my prosciutto and me

I don't think my body likes prosciutto. Sure, it has an amazing flavor. The smell and the ribbon of fat, I could do without, but still. It really adds to the sandwich. Which is saying a lot, for one thin slice stacked on layers of meat and cheese.

But sadly, I don't think my stomach has managed to adapt that far with pork products, especially since I didn't eat any for roughly 8 years. I just feel funky after I eat it. Start to feel drowsy and lightheaded. So I reach for my trusty cup of hot tea and burn it away. I guess I'm just not ready for the awesomeness prosciutto is trying to bring.

Things I am reading

Sometimes I overwhelm myself by reading multiple things at the same time. I find this to be enjoyable and fun, as long as I don't think about it too much. The main reason I really overload myself is that I have so much material to read that I've gathered (some of which I was supposed to have read in college), and I feel as though to properly own up to my book collection, I should have read at least half of the books I own, if not having read all of them.

This would also justify new book purchases.

The books I read area also based on where I am at and what time of day it is.

Currently at the house I am reading:
Hadji Murad by Leo Tolstoy
Mushihi vol. 4 by Yuki Urushibara
The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis

On Wednesdays I read one issue each from the following Essential/Showcase volumes of comics:
Essential Doctor Strange vol. 1
Essential Howard the Duck vol. 1
Essential Spider-Woman vol. 1
Showcase Presents Green Lantern vol. 1

At work I read:
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Burmese Days by George Orwell

Philip K. Dick vs. Himself

Today I finally finished Philip K. Dick's awesome book, The Man in the High Castle. I loved the inclusion of the I Ching and the use of it throughout, though a Chinese concept rather than Japanese (the Japanese being a prominent influence in the book, adopted this from the Chinese). And though I've yet to verify the statement's authenticity (as it came from wikipedia), it may be the case that Philip K. Dick used it to write the book itself. Which creates a spiraling bit of metafiction with the book within a book, The Grasshopper Lies Heavy. I would give a description of the book, but I feel like many people might be put off by the concept, as I would have been, had I known it before purchasing the book soley on the name of the author.

In other news, I have been trying to determine what Godzilla/Toho monster film to purchase next. I haven't finished the boxed set Norah gave me just yet (still have some of the Heisei era movies to go through, as well as the 3rd Godzilla release in the Millenium series), and I probably should do that first. However, the ones I've been considering are Frankenstein Conquers the World, the Rodan/War of the Gargantuas double set from Classic Media (who released the original Gojira package), or possible a Godzilla box set of the Classic Media series. There is also a 3 DVD set containing Tokyo S.O.S. (sequel to Mechagodzilla Against Godzilla), Son of Godzilla, and Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla. The relunctance is not actually in the older films, but the newer one. According to many reviews, the current release of Tokyo S.O.S. has a very poor video transfer (for whatever reason), making it difficult to enjoy the movie fully. After all, we're talking about a movie with lots of flying around from Mothra.

Decisions, decisions.

weird loan stuff

A while back I purchased a new bed. I ended up getting a loan for it through the store with a local lender. The interest rate wasn't so bad, so I didn't really worry about it too much. When it came time to pay the bill, the loan place didn't have my information on file at any of their stores. They said that perhaps the store never sent in the loan information, and to come back in a few weeks. When I came back, the info was still not there. Nothing.

Whenever I tried to contact the store around this time I'd never get anyone. So after talking with the main branch for the loan company (who by the way, are the most helpful people ever), they said they were going to have everything arranged, and I should receive one mail notice from them once my loan information is input.

At this point it's been months. I called today, still nothing. They suggested I go ahead and call the place, and find out what happened. I'm not sure myself. I thought I had a copy of the loan info as well, but I haven't seen it since that day. Not sure what happened, and I'm pretty sure I would have caught myself before I threw something like that away. I'm almost relunctant to call them. They seem to be alright that they haven't received money. I know I'm okay with a free bed. The loan people would understand. It's not like they've had to pay the store at this point, what with the loan never finalizing.

I don't know.

King Kong vs. Godzilla

So yesterday I downloaded and watching King Kong vs. Godzilla, in Japanese, with English subtitles. I haven't seen this particular one in years.

It was one of the ones we watched alot when I still lived at home, and I want to say my cousin Stephanie frequently watched it with us as well. We never one of those families with a whole series of VHS tapes of recording shows. So we just had the one Godzilla VHS that we had gotten from Fred's (the one time we went to Fred's) for 5 dollars.

I think at the time that we watched it then, we were a little disappointed that King Kong didn't look the "same" as we were used to from the original black and white film. I think we were also a little confused (and bored) by the jumps from the Japanese to the American additions, but didn't care. Monsters fighting would be happening any moment. Aaaany moment. Also we were always able to notice the shadow of the spears thrown during the giant octopus scene.

Anyway, I remembered most of the Japanese characters watching it this time around, and their awkwardness made more sense with the original dialogue. However, more things stood out this time. For whatever reason, the suit for the King Kong face closeups is different than the full body suit. Like, completely different. And seriously, this has to be the saddest looking Godzilla ever. He barely makes an appearance as far as I'm concerned. And while the wikipedia article on this movie states that it was one of the more popular suits (yay wikipedia), I'd say it's the most crumpled and squishy-headed looking one of the series.

I kind of get the impression that the people making this one didn't feel like putting a lot of effort into the minatures sets for whatever reason. I will say that the Godzilla rampaging through the city scenes were fairly decent, and that the actor in the King Kong suit does a good job of acting like an overgrown ape. Probably the more redeeming quality of this movie is actually the goofiness of the characters from the Pacific Pharmaceuticals company. Most of their actions are actually funny, and I'd swear I've seen charachatures of them in anime.

However, I think the worst part of the movie is actually the fight. Because it seems that King Kong's ultimate weakness is (DUM DUM DUM DUUUUUUM) ROCKS! I actually fell asleep around this time because I was a) tired, and b) bored of Godzilla kicking rocks onto King Kong. It was just ridiculous.

Anyway, I'm looking into acquiring for the near future the main movies that came before this in the series, which are Godzilla Raids Again, Rodan, Mothra, and Frankenstein Conquers the World. In the meantime, I can finally finish The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick.