So Much For The NBA Cares

The greed of pamperd athletes. I promise to be brief...


I was just watching the local news a few minutes ago. Lots of interesting stuff going on these days. But Arizona Cardinals getting their asses handed to them is nothing new. But the thing that pissed me off the most was the NBA.

Now I enjoy watching the NBA, especially the San Antonio Spurs. That's my team and beside my point. The thing about the NBA players is they're babies. Spoiled babies claiming this "NBA CARES" bullshit. I see the stupid look on Kobe's face as they continue to announce more delayed games. If your ass wasn't so fucking greedy you'd be playing with the balls that you love so much. Now this whole NBA cares bullshit is out of the bottle. You pussies wouldn't be out there if you weren't getting a paycheck. You NBA pussies can take your greed, take your fouls, and your NBA Cares bullshit, roll it all up into a ball, turn it sideways and stick it straight up your candy asses. Just like your greedy asses I wouldn't give a bucket of piss for your future.

Google+

A slow weekend, time to write

I really like Google+. The user engagement here is near instantaneous sometimes and the discussions are quite good (all trolling aside). It's unlike any social network I've used, but since my last long post, I've been pondering something.

Why can't Google+ replace my blog?

Technically, as it stands right now, it actually could. I don't write there very often, and when I do, not a lot of people visit. So I began asking myself, why can't Google+ just up and replace mine(or anyone else's) blog?

Style

Already I've been able to bold words, italicize them, and I can even strikethrough them if I so desire. The ability to add some kind of stylized formatting to a post is awesome, but there's a lot left to be desired.

Headers, colors, fonts, and sizes all can play into the reading experience. We've got the most elementary of tools at hand to try and organize text as we'd like,and while it works, it's not perfect.

Formatting

Similar to style, the ability to format a post is incredibly important. Yes, I can attach media to this (multiple pictures, URLs, videos, etc.), but because I can't put them where I want them to be, they're kind of like an afterthought in the grand scheme of the work.

Take something I've been working on the detailsfor for, a post titled Tater tots vs. french fries: An objective analysis. Because this is a media-heavy post, pictures really need to be where I want them for the text to not only flow and make sense, but be enhanced by the visual. Google+ doesn't let this happen.

Brand (or, ego)

While you could make the argument that your name (or identity, natch) is the best brand you have, I'd still like to have a personal brand that exists off of a social network, and I assume others do, too.

By limiting posts to here, your brand might never get kicked off the way you'd want.

It's not all doom and gloom, though...

Something powerful Google+ has is the lack of a barrier to entry. It's instant, immediate, and in real-time.You don't have to go anywhere else to read what's up.

I'd assume had I written that post up on my blog, pasted the link, and shared it, engagement would have been lower. Externals link, yuck. You mean I have to go someplace to read this? And comment on it?

So Google+ presents an interesting dilemma. Does it stand a chance to become the next blogging platform? Probably not, not with Google having Blogger and stuff.

But can it serve as a gateway for someone to increase their engaged audience, then say, ween them off of the teat of Google+ once you've proven you truly have something to say? Maybe.

When Google+ first came out, the Android Central writers had an impromptu Hangout/podcast, talking about Google+. Thet said in six months (right around the start of the new year), they'd have another one, to talk about if Google+ flourished or floundered, how it'd changed, and if it was here to stay.

Thinking about the future of Google+ and all it can be used for really gets me excited. The fact I can say all this to y'all, right here, makes me excited, too.

Swamp Thing #2 Review

Will Alec Holland accept his destiny?

I loved the first issue of Scott Snyder and Yanick Paquette's Swamp Thing. In fact, I reviewed the book a month ago and lavished it with praise, top to bottom. That's why it's kind of shocking, even to me, that I loved Swamp Thing #2 even more. Scott Snyder has somehow managed to make this series not only a continuation of everything that has come before in Swamp Thing, but also a completely accessible origin story for Alec Holland's tenure protecting The Green. Swamp Thing #2 is the issue that lays it all out, defining the legacy of the character and establishing the foundation for an epic struggle to preserve The Green against its darkest hour with Holland trapped in the middle.

Swamp Thing #2 picks up directly where issue #1 ended -- Swamp Thing has come to meet Alec Holland and explain why he is so important to The Green's cause. The vast majority of Swamp Thing #2 features Swampy giving a cliff notes-style history lesson about his life, the importance of The Green, the role of the Parliament of Trees and the imminent threat that is currently trying to track down and kill Holland.

I'll be honest, I was a little skeptical about how Snyder would pull together everything that came before with the character and still manage to create a book that felt easily accessible for new readers -- one of the major selling points of the New 52. Swamp Thing #2 proves he knows what he's doing. What we have here is a completely fresh origin story for Alec Holland's journey into the role of Swamp Thing which respects everything previously established from writers such as Wein, Moore, etc. Snyder has discovered a loophole in the Swamp Thing legacy for him to firmly plant his narrative roots.

One of this series' biggest selling points is, without a doubt, Yanick Paquette's incredible artwork. His pencils once again shines with Swamp Thing #2. Not only are panels incredibly detailed with lifelike figures, but his layouts once again blow the mind. It's the small touches like panels broken up by branches and blood streaks that really make this the complete artistic package. The only criticism I have against the art of Swamp Thing #2, and it's a minor one, is that some double-page spreads are so elaborate that it becomes hard to figure out which word balloon should come next.

In this writer's humble opinion, Swamp Thing #2 is the book of the week. Snyder has set the groundwork for one epic story. It also doesn't hurt that he has an artist like Yanick Paquette to draw all his beautifully creepy imagery, of which this issue is full of. Swamp Thing is a series that you need to be reading, no questions asked. And if you aren't yet, hightail it to your local comic shop and buy into this.

Penguin: Pain and Prejudice #1 Review

Get familiar with the upbringing of Oswald Copplepot.

One thing is for certain: Oswald Cobblepot had one hell of a troubled upbringing. Not only did his dear old dad drop him on his head seconds after he was born, but he was also forced to watch his parents get intimate as an infant and was constantly picked on in school growing up. Writer Gregg Hurwitz takes every available opportunity he gets to throw Cobblepot under the bus throughout the various flashbacks in this issue to help explain how he becomes the man we know him to be in Gotham, as well explain as why he takes on "the Penguin" moniker. Essentially, Hurwitz writes the Penguin as a cranky old Gus that rotted from the core because no one was around to give the man a hug growing up. For the record: it works. 

We've always known Penguin to be the type of businessman that will scorch the earth if he doesn't get what he wants. Hurwitz may get this across better than most writers who have tackled Penguin before him. The majority of Penguin: Pride and Prejudice #1 is spent with Penguin getting everything he desires with simple nods and snaps of the fingers. He's a bully that no one messes with, and God help you if you do. Not only does Hurwitz's approach to writing the character work well to establish him as one of the most feared men in Gotham, but it also makes the cliffhanger of this book more impactful when Penguin meets the real owner of Gotham City. There's definitely one man that the Penguin can't bully around. I bet you can guess who that is. 

Szymon Kudranski's artwork might be this issue's best aspect, however. Kudranski's reliance on establishing atmosphere through shadowplay perfectly complements a series of this nature. With the help of colorist John Kalisz, Kudranski's pencils are perfectly moody and travel down some dark paths in lockstep with the issue's script. 

I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting much from Penguin: Pain and Prejudice #1. But the book thoroughly surprised me. The rest of Batman's rogues could benefit from similar mini-series to establish their place in the world of Gotham for new readers. Gregg Hurwitz and Szymon Kudranski have a solid handle on the Penguin character and I'm excited to see where this leads. Most of all, I want to know what the deal is with the Penguin's Norman Bates-esque relationship with his mother. It's creepy, to say the least.