The JackB

"When you're in jail, a good friend will be trying to bail you out. A best friend will be in the cell next to you saying, 'Damn, that was fun'." Groucho Marx

Archives for May 2011

Boys And Comic Books

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I remember having a conversation with my son where I explained that if you are really lucky your work isn’t considered a job- it is just something fun and rewarding that happens to pay the bills. He looked at me and asked if I could say that about myself. I gave him a wistful grin and said, “not yet.”

He looked at me and said that he had faith in me. I refused the urge to ruffle his hair and or scream and smiled instead. It was a genuine smile and he deserved it. And then I pulled him into a giant bear hug and told him that we never give up or stop fighting for our dreams.

It wasn’t false advertising on my part or anything that I don’t try to live up to. I am a dreamer but I am also an active participant in my life and I work hard to try to turn the dreams into my reality. So when I was asked to host a Green Lantern party for Mattel and MomSelect. there was a certain amount of synchronicity between the past, the present and the future.

That boy who lives inside me remembers reading comic books and arguing with his friends about what superheroes were the coolest and most powerful. I remember watching the cartoons and wondering why grownups weren’t smart enough to make live action adventure films. Funny thing is that eventually they did and we wound up with the Incredible Hulk Fighting Thor.

As you can see the special effects aren’t anything to write home about but there is a part of me that can’t help but smile because the memories of that time are special to me. And that is part of why I found myself hosting a room full of 1,098 ten year-olds. I sat next to my son and watched an animated version of the Green Lantern story and recited the pledge.

In brightest day, in blackest night,
No evil shall escape my sight
Let those who worship evil’s might,
Beware my power… Green Lantern’s light!
The Green Lantern Pledge

Some of the boys were familiar with Green Lantern, but not all. There were oohs and ahs and an assortment of comments about what kind of powers the ring gave him. It was sort of a surreal moment for me because I realized that as a father I liked Green Lantern because his powers were limited solely by the imagination of the ring holder. And it was something that was borne out by the actions of the boys. I say that because after the movie they received a variety of Green Lantern toys to play with. There were rings, action figures and a Colossal Cannon that couldn’t penetrate the amazing force field constructed by the father that used his jedi mind tricks upon the boys.

Don’t talk to me about integrating Star Wars into comic books because it is natural fit. That reminds me, if you haven’t had the Star Wars talk with your kids maybe you should.

 

Games, Toys and a Movie. What Could Be Better.

If you ask me what my favorite age is I will probably tell you that it is whatever age my children happen to be. But I have to qualify that again and say that there is something to be said for ten. Ten is old enough to do some more grown up type stuff but still young enough to not be embarrassed or upset at having dad hang out with you and your friends. While I wouldn’t say that I want to make a group of ten year-old my normal playmates I can say that it was fun talking about Green Lantern and other superheroes.

It was kind of funny to watch their eyes get wide when they realized that I knew as much or more about comic book characters and superheroes in general as they did.  But the best part bar none was seeing the huge smile on my son’s face because that truly was worth the price of admission.

BTW if you haven’t heard they made a new Green Lantern movie that isn’t subjected to the special effects of the seventies.

Just take a look at the trailer below.

Disclosure: I received compensation in the form of toys, the movie and the comic books but none of those compare to my son’s smile.

Bad Browser Issues Create Commenting Conundrum

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Saludos my friends and you know who you are. I have learned that we have been having a bit of a SNAFU with the commenting system and IE again. Apparently after I installed DISQUS it became impossible for those of you using Internet Explorer to comment.

Of course I didn’t learn about this until a few weeks into using the new system which probably explains why my comments suddenly dropped off. I have since taken steps to fix things and though they are not perfect, it should work for those of you who use IE.

The takeaway here is to remember that when you make layout/design changes you need to test them under multiple browsers otherwise you risk having a problem.

On a side note, I had been under the impression that there is a way to integrate CommentLuv into DISQUS but have recently learned that is incorrect. I am a big fan of CommentLuv and disappointed that it won’t work with DISQUS. So I am currently considering whether it is worth enough to scrap DISQUS or not.

Obviously I will keep you posted.

Mother’s Day Weekend Reading

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If you haven’t made it by recently here is a snapshot of recent posts:

And as a bonus:

Blogging Tips- Build Your Community Around You

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Writing ToolsIf you want to understand me than you need to know that Casablanca is my favorite movie and that I sometimes get choked up watching certain scenes from The Natural. Sometimes a dog is your best friend and you miss them forever. I don’t always believe in happy endings and I sometimes like to write stories about people and places that might or might not have ever been.

I am someone who likes to wander amongst the people to see what lies just beyond the bend. There are communities out there that I dip my toes into because they offer posts and connections that resonate with me. I have learned many things from blogging. Sometimes I like to share my thoughts about why your blog sucks and why blogging is overrated. I am sentimental and like reading old posts that remind me of where I once was.

Every week I bless my children.  I often write about parenting and what I think of it. I wrote about being Smarter than A Rabbi.

Some of these posts contain more truth than people realize and some virtually none. I probably won’t tell you which is which. I like blurring the lines. The world isn’t black and white.

I am a Taurus. Sometimes I am the quiet bull who likes to sit in the sun but I haven’t a problem with lowering my horns and stomping all over those who I think deserve it. I am an active participant in my own life but I live and die a thousand lives inside my head.

This post can’t possibly tell you who I am and if it did I would be sad for I want to be more complex than that. But perhaps it can provide insight and understanding. I build my community around me. You aren’t obligated to read or comment. I am sometimes surprised that people enjoy my posts but I am more surprised by those who complain about them.  Sometimes I can be adversarial and argumentative but I try not to be. I build my community around me.

I will write whether people read, complain or comment. Some will complain that I am too prolific and others will be happy because there is new material. I build my community around me.

This is one of my favorite quotes. “No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

I build my community around me and I would love for you to join it.

A Jealous Man

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This is fiction based upon the prompt from the Red Dress Club.  Before I get to the prompt  let me share a thought. I was going to take this post here and edit it so that it could be used for the prompt but I didn’t like the way it worked. So I wrote the one below in 27 minutes which is probably why it is so damn rough. Anyway, here is the prompt and the post. Let me know what you think of it.

aah…jealousy. We all have it. We all feel it.And now we’d like you to write about it. We’ll leave it open: you can write about something or someone you envy, or a time when your jealousy got you in trouble, or maybe how it makes you feel to be envious. Whatever you want.

And it can be fiction or non-fiction. Word limit is 600.

I burn and ache for someone who has hidden her heart from me. I dance in the fire that we created reaching for fingers that were once intertwined among mine. But the hand that once held mine holds it no longer and the love that we shared is set adrift upon memories of what once was and hopes for what might yet be.

Amidst the burning and crackling of the flames I think that I see her standing in the distance. Smoke obscures my vision and sweat pours down my brow making it harder to see if it is really her.

I see her standing there with another man and I close my eyes. This cannot be. The smile that was once reserved for me is being flashed at another. Bedroom eyes that welcomed me with promises of steamy delight are focused upon him.

My jaw is clenched and my eyes have narrowed. It takes but a moment to size him up and determine that it would require minimal effort to rip off his arms and beat him silly. It might be difficult to kiss a man whose lips have been torn off and fed to the dogs.

Deep breaths are taken & I struggle to master the demons that have been unleashed inside of me. But it is hard because I wish to let go of the chains and let them quench their thirst for blood.

Yet the rational part of me says that the best thing to do is quench the flames. Ignore her. She isn’t someone who has to be the center of attention but you know that you are different. She wants your attention and your focus. Be rational and use your head. Ignore her.

Ignore her and you win. You know that it is not a contest, but you two are apart for a reason. Give yourself the time to focus on yourself and fix what needs fixing. Let her do the same and if the dreams are based on reality you’ll find each other maybe.

But it is hard to see 6’2 of stupid. You think graphically and can’t help but visualize things you shouldn’t think about. Go dark and go deep. Let her wonder what happened to you and not the other way around.

His hand is on the small of her back and they are standing far too close to each other. There are two choices now. Walk away or go take him apart. Walking away is harder and far less satisfying at least in the short term.

Close your eyes and walk through Casablanca. It is your favorite movie. Picture Bogart as Rick. Dude starts out as the epitome of cool and than after she walks in he undergoes this transformation into someone who is angry and bitter.

And that ending, well in some ways it is heartbreaking but in others it is just the premier example of cool.

His other hand is on her hip and the image of the noble Rick evaporates in the mist and you hear Cee Lo Green singing and dangerous thoughts swirl through your head. The demons are howling and you take a step towards them.

All you need to do is cross the street and.

Links to Past TRDC posts:

The Best Video Game Ever

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The dark haired beauty is a younger sibling. Not unlike many others she has a love/hate relationship with her older brother. In her eyes there is no bigger hero than him and that includes me. That is not to say that she doesn’t love or respect me because she does. She knows that she is daddy’s girl and that is something that only she and I have. But I am not her brother. I am dad, a man that is 35 years older than she is and that distinction is huge to her. We have had more than a few conversations where she is surprised to hear me say that I did XYZ as a kid.

Doesn’t matter how many pictures she has seen of me as a boy- I am old in her eyes. I am ok with that. It took me a long time to reconcile the reality that my parents were once children too.

But her older brother is a different story. He is a kid in her eyes, albeit much bigger but still a kid. They go to the same school and have had some of the same teachers so I think that in some ways it is easier for her to relate to him. Not to mention that since she found out that I am older than her teachers it has made me even older in her eyes.

This relationship with her brother is something that I love to watch because there is an inherent sweetness in it and I understand it because I remember life with my sisters.  More importantly where my son is concerned I remember how annoying sisters can be and how unfair it is for them to try to do everything we do. But such is the way of younger siblings and if she stays true to form she will get to be as good or better as him at almost everything. He doesn’t like that but again he doesn’t understand that the reason she pushes herself so hard is because he is her hero.

Two years ago my son received a DS as a birthday gift from his grandparents. It was something that he had wanted desperately and I was happy that he received it.  However I was less happy that he didn’t want to share it with his sister. I didn’t want or need him to say that it was a gift for both of them because it wasn’t. It is his and always has been. Still I was hopeful that he give her a shot to play with it. And to a certain extent he did. It would be unfair and untrue to suggest that she never got to play with it.

Needless to say she didn’t just want more time on his. She also wanted one of her own. But I wasn’t about to give her one, she was five and I didn’t see a reason for it.  Besides we had a Wii and she had a few games there that were hers. And let us not forget the battles to limit video game play. I want my children to stay active- a sedentary lifestyle isn’t for us. I told them that I don’t mind them playing as long as there was balance. And then my too smart for  her own good daughter told me that her lack of a DS meant that things were unbalanced already. I told her to relax and that one day things would change.

And then it did…somewhat.

Last November I became a Nintendo Brand Ambassador. Since that time I have received a number of games for the Wii, a Nintendo 3DS and some games for that too. Not to mention that I got to participate in a fabulous trip to Nintendo headquarters in Seattle. And that my friends brings me to the tale of the best video game ever.

That 3DS I took home from Seattle is a family unit that we all share. Through my work as a Brand Ambassador we received Asphalt, Steel Diver and Nintendogs & Cats. To be candid I haven’t really played the Nintendogs game all that much but that is because my daughter has fallen in love with it.

The game allows the players to adopt pets that they care for and the dark haired beauty loves animals so this was perfect for her. She has spent her time on the 3DS training, feeding and grooming her dog. Did I mention that she had a huge Cheshire cat grin while doing so.

Anyway, she doesn’t really understand my relationship with Nintendo and has decided that her dad is awesome because he got her the best video game ever. It is good to be the hero. Speaking of heroes I should mention that my son and I have had several conversations about my relationship with Nintendo and whether he can tell his friends that I work for the company. I explained to him that I am not a direct employee and that I have been compensated with products. He thought that was pretty cool and then suggested that I should tell whomever I am working with that he would be even happier if they decided to pay me a million dollars.

I told him that I liked that idea too and then he suggested that the best way for me to sell it to them is to remind them that I’ll a lot of the million dollars and spend it on games. Maybe I should hire him as my chief negotiator. 😉

Disclosure: Just to be clear- I have received compensation from Nintendo but all opinions about the games and game systems are my own.