So, how should I spend my money next, Dan?

Previously, my buddy Danimal had recommended the graphic novels/ comic collections "Identity Crisis" and "Hush." Both were excellent reads. So now I'm asking Dan, and any other comic readers out there, what should I read next?

I said kidley, diddle I?

Ok, another Star Trek line for a title. I've been quiet here lately. I'm still kinda in shock because I have to have a kidney removed. According to the doctor, it just one of those things that happen. I didnt' do anything to cause it. My surgery is scheduled for September the 7th, so don't be surprised if blog posting dry up a little after that.

The gauntlet has been picked up

My friend TMLSB challenged all his blogging buddies to answer the age old question "If money was not a concern, What would you be doing?" Having given this previous thought, I have decided to answer the challenge.

I would set aside 15-20 million dollars and contact Mike McLaughlin, former Busch Series racer and current Joe Gibbs Racing employee. You might be thinking, "Why him?" which is a legitimate question.

The simple reason why I would contact Mike McLaughlin is that I like him as a driver. He has a lot of talent and the cool nickname "Magic Shoes." Of course, I like a lot of drivers (although not all have cool nicknames), so there is also a bigger reason for me contacting Mr. McLaughlin. He got screwed (that's normally stronger language than I like to use in my blog, but if you can think of a better word for the situation, feel free to substitute it) in the Angela's Motorsports deal. Follow the link for the sordid details.

So, assuming Mike would take my call, then what? I'd offer Mike the chance for one last good ride. I figure with a budget of 15 million, we could set up a top flight one truck Craftsman Truck team. However, Mike knows obviously more about NASCAR than I do, so we'd have some discussions. I'd prefer to run Fords, but since Mike has connections at JGR, it might be best for our team to run Chevies. Of course, Mike has first pick of the drivers seat. Mike is currently "retired" from driving, but he has done some testing, so he may or not be interested. Either way, the rest of the team would be filled out through Mike's knowledge and connection. He'd pick out the crew chief and be in charge of hiring the shop guys, or he could hire a team manger who would handle all of that. It's really just his team, as a reward for having had to suffer through the other deal.

If Mike were not interested, then there's several other older drivers who got shuffled out in the search for young guns. Maybe Hut Stricklin would be interested. Chad Little could use his law degree to help me set up my racing team. Ward Burton and Ricky Craven would be on the short list, too. I think my favorite from a few years back Buckshot Jones would get a call, too. More likely, I'd concentrate on older Busch regulars who still are connected to racing (Curtis Markham, Tim Fedewa, Jason Keller, etc)

Unfortunately, I do have money concerns, so that won't ever happen. I'd probably have some humanitarian interests, too, but those would be quietly dispersed. But, it's fun to imagine sometimes.

A different sort of comic review

I read on Newsarama about a site called Wowio that had free comics availible for download, legally. Since, I like comics, and I like free, especially legally free, I decided to check it out.
I downloaded 3 comics on the first day, Deal with the Devil #1, Killer Stunts, Inc #1 and Scatterbrain #1. I started with Deal with the Devil, and I liked it. I went back to get the rest of the series and found out that you are limited to 5 books a day. That's not a big deal (it keeps people from just downloading the whole site whether they are interested or not) so I got #'s 2 and 3 and read them. The next day I got the next 2 and finished out Deal with the Devil. I liked it, though it was a little disturbing. Then I started in on Killer Stunts, Inc. It seems pretty good, so I'll get the rest of it. I tried to read Scatterbrain but I didn't care for the art and it was pretty slow. I may try it again, but it wasn't very promising. It was free though, so that's good. The only real bad points are that you had to provide a credit card number for identification, which some people have a problem with, and that the books are in PDF format, which mnakes the download pretty big. Each book has your name on the cover and is coded, so if you tried to defeat the copyright, they could track you down.
I'm still getting used to reading comics off of a computer screen, so after I try this a while, I'll let you all know how that's working.

I need a live band

Or maybe not.

My wife and I usually sit around moping, "Oh, I wish we had some folk to hang out with and some to do, oh woe is me" but we never actualy do anything about it. Last week, her boss invited us to come to her house for karaoke. At first we weren't going to go, not knowing how the boss might react, but we finally decided to go. We had a blast. I shot my voice singing Big and Rich's "Coming to your City" We stayed up way to late, but it was fun. Songs I sang :
That's How I got to Memphis
Hit Me With Your Best Shot
El Paso
Third Rate Romance
For the Good Times
Achy Breaky Heart (it's time for it to come back)
Ain't Misbehavin'
She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy
Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)
Black Water
Rock and Roll All Night
and probably a couple more that I forgot. Plus I sang along with everyone else.

Uh oh, Dear Readers

It's been about a month since I started my comic reviews, which mean that I'm now on the second issue of my monthly titles.

Yesterday I picked up Wolverine Origins #5, 52 #14, Secret Six #3 and The Next #2.

I reviewed the first three here My first reviews and Secret Six was reviewed here Another set of reviews

Last week, I mentioned that I had subscribe to some comics. This was a test of sort. Subscribing to a comic is about 10 dollars cheaper over the course of a year. The drawback is that you get the books a couple of weeks later than they show up in the comic shop. The other issue was that the subscription didn't start for 6-8 weeks, so I couldn't pick up the book, for it might have been delivered. I'll keep a watch and see how this works out. I may keep the subscription, or just go back to picking them up at the comic shop. For the record, I've subscribed to Batman, Detective Comics, Superman, and Action Comics. I subscribed at DC Comics If I'm not completely satisfied, I may try a third party online subscription service, or just pick up stuff at my local comic shop.

Smooth as an android's bottom

So, I was trimmimg my goatee when the notion struck me to shave it off. Unfortunately, by the time I though better of it, all that was left was a sort of animated Ra's al Ghul, which doesn't quite work in the real world.



Oh well, hopefully it can be back in a couple of weeks. I may go with a full one, but I have trouble with the sideburns. I could go with a Dr. Benton Quest, but again, that's one that works better on the cartoons than in the real world, as far as I know.


In case you were wondering, the title of my post comes from Star Trek: Insurrection.

Oxford shirts, Door bells, and hippie's jackets

Things that have Buttons! Ok after that round of 25,000 Pyramid, we need to include Jenson Button, who won the Formula One race in Hungary this morning. It was the best F1 I've ever seen, though I admit I'm more of a NASCAR fan.

Speaking of open wheel, my thoughts go out to Cristiano Da Matta. Hitting a deer in an open wheel car is just spooky. Sounds like it will be rough going for the next few weeks.

This weekend was my family reunion. Last week was Juanita's family reunion. Read her comments about it. My comments for mine are about the same, just leave out the singing part.

Work is going to be wild next week. My boss is on vacation, so I'll have to buckle down and do his and my job next week. No big deal, I can handle it.

Time for Timer

I'm so hungry, I could eat a wagon. Err, no actually I just had leftovers for breakfast. It's actually time for the weekly review of Comic book day! I picked up 52 #13, Moon Knight #4 as part of my regular comics. Since I was having a light week, I picked up The Flash #'s 1 & 2. Then when I got home, I found my subscriptions had finally kicked in and Batman #655 had been mailed to me.

Moon Knight is a very dark, mature ongoing comic. It's one of only 2 Marvel Comics I pick up. I had a couple of Moon Knight comics when I was a kid, plus a guest appearance in Spiderman or two. But, this is a little different. It's a good different though, and this is a really good series.

The Flash is a relaunch of a popular DC super hero. This time around, we are following Bart Allen, who has ties to the previous 3 Flashes. There is commentary in these first 2 issues showing how he interacts with his predecessors. He's a reluctant hero, so there's a lot to be explored. I'm loooking forward to it.

Batman. What else needs to be said? My favorite comic book/animated character ever shines this month. I had waited since I started back to collecting to pick up Batman and Detective Comics, because they were in the middle of an ongoing arc and I missed the first few issues. I'll most likely pick up the trade. This was an excellent issue to restart. We begin with Batman fighting the Joker. Then, that all cleaned up, we find Bruce deciding to be more playboy, less Dark Knight. Then we find out that Batman's son (from a previous story called Son of the Demon) will play a role in this story arc. Throw in some Man-Bat goodness, and look like a fun ride.

Find out more about Moon Knight at Marvel and more about the rest at DC

It's all about me!

I spy this today on Jayski

Inta Juice and Randy Moss Sponsoring Haas, Green at Brickyard 400: One of the nation's fastest-growing smoothie and juice bar franchises is heading to the nation's most prestigious speedway. Inta Juice has signed an agreement to sponsor Haas CNC Racing and the #66 Inta Juice Chevy driven by Jeff Green in this weekend's Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Randy Moss, professional football player and Inta Juice executive, will grace the quarter panels of the #66 Inta Juice Chevrolet. This will mark the first time that the likeness of a NFL player has been on a Nextel Cup car. Inta Juice has launched aggressive growth goals that includes targeting nearly 100 total stores nationwide, either open or with franchise agreements in place, by the end of 2006. The company also plans to double in size by the end of 2008. Inta Juice is looking to grow their brand in front of the 250,000 fans that are expected to be at Sunday's race. More info on the company at intajuice.com.(Moore Consulting Group/GMR Marketing PR)(8-1-2006)

And who was pimping inta juice a while back? Me, that's who. Proving yet again, that I am out on the leading edge.