Random Bits...

I guess the Olympics are on the way. Kind of forgot about that except for the news stories of the protests against China. There was some gymnastics stuff on TV, and these girls are all trying to make the Olympics team. Must be tough - it's not like hockey or baseball where the win/loss is defined by a score your team actually achieved. These athletes entire dream/life is decided by someone else sitting behind a podium judging their efforts. What makes one person get a point five extra and a gold medal and another person not? I couldn't see myself putting that much work and effort into something that winds up being decided on the whim of someone else. And as a side note - how come there's so many girls here with guy names? Shawn, Randy, Alex...just noticed that - not that it means anything. Caught up on some comic book reading. As usual, Garth Ennis' Punisher is top drawer. He's got two issues left before his run on the title is over (sad, sad day) and he's going out with a bang. Interesting how he's found a way to be able to actually pull off two stories in one story arc. As we follow Frank on his latest mission against the Generals, there's also a storyline along side it of someone writing a book about the Punisher and Frank's defining moment at Valley Forge in Vietnam and we get to read excerpts from it in between Frank's current storyline. It's kind of a cool writing device that allows a lot more character depth and Garth is able to pull together all his previous stories all the way back to the Born title as he wraps up his run here. Can't wait to see how it finishes. Also comic related - at what point does a homage become a ripoff? The current Wolverine story arc has kicked off, called Old Man Logan. The basis of the story is pretty much a homage/ripoff of Clint Eastwood's classic western Unforgiven. It should be interesting, but it raises the point of homage or ripoff? Same as with Tarantino movies - they're all "homages" to previous, little seen, movies. It's been said that all stories have been told by this point, we're just telling them in different ways. I guess you can't get away from your influences, but if you're writing something new you have to be careful how you reference it. What happened to Angelina Jolie? She's always been hot (hey, I'm a guy), but seeing her in the promos for the upcoming movie Wanted, she doesn't look healthy. I mean, it's how thin she looks. On the movie poster, her arm looks like it's going to break from the weight of the gun she's holding, and I just saw a commercial for the movie on TV and even her face looks gaunt. Compared to how she looked in Mr. and Mrs. Smith, something happened. Hopefully it was just a temp phase or something and she starts eating again. I saw a small clip from her next movie The Changeling (directed by Clint Eastwood) online, and she looks better in that, so it must have been just a timing thing. As far as the Wanted movie goes, I'm not too psyched about it. Curving bullets? Really? I've read the comic it's based on, which was a fun read, but they appear to be going in a different direction with it. They've already greenlit a sequel and the first one hasn't even hit theatres yet. They must be expecting some good box office. Good luck with that.