The Useless Critic 2.0

So, one of my favorite writers, Peter David, recently suffered a stroke . I had the chance to chat with him at the 2012 New York Comicon, and he's one of the nicest people. Even before that, I saw him give a mini-presentation at a con in the Buffalo area waaaaay back in the day (mid 90s). He'd created the show Space Cases for Nickelodeon, and he did a slide show--with actual slides. Yes, kids, they were once a thing. Anyway, there were some issues with the projector, and my dad helped him fix it. Cool story, I know. I guess what I'm trying to get at (way to bury the lead with your ramblings, Kurt) is that you can totally help him out by buying on of his books . He's quite the prolific author as well, so there's plenty to choose from. Check out his bio from Crazy 8 Press . I'd suggest his " Pulling Up Stakes " two-parter. It's a bit of a send up of the recent surge in vampiric media with an irreverent sense of humor. The first part is also $...

There are a few things I miss about Erie. Let me stress few . And one of those things happens to be the Books Galore bookstore, which I actually grew up more or less around. I went there from time to time, thinking it was some kind of massive comic book store, which it is, but it also offers some great and cheap reads. I remember being very impressed by their Keroauc collection, for example. They have books about everything....books galore, yes indeed. And that Spiderman out front, well. Let's just say it captivated me for the first five years of my life. Erie is a place that isn't teeming with indie stores, much less music or bookstores, which makes a place like Books Galore so awesome. Sure in bigger cities you can get lost and find like 12, but when you are in a semi-small town, a place like Books Galore is a beacon .  It also offers a selection of local authors (pretty rare) and sells games, in addition to books and comics. Make sure you check out their upstairs ...

So Hello Wednesday Evening. As the twilight falls onto Wednesday evening, I bet you are already thinking about Vampires because I wrote the word “Twilight.” This is by far the worst way to introduce Rashida Jones. I shall try again. I first encountered the name Rashida Jones from her work on “Boston Public.” As I mentioned in a post a long long time ago, I was quite the routine “Boston Public” fan. It is too bad I have not caught more of her work on “Parks and Recreation,” for that seems to be a favorite among people that I know. Of course I have seen her stuff on “The Office,” And she was the voice of reason in “The Social Network.” No, Brenda Song was not the voice of reason. It was Rashida Jones. Brenda Song just gave blow jobs. And in news that is more exciting than Brenda Song’s mouth, Rashida Jones the actress-comic book writer has sold her rights to her comic book “Frenemy of the State," which chronicles a socialite that gives earns some Respect from the CIA. This is going ...