Where have I been, you ask?

Sorry for the lack of updates lately, friends. I’ve been a bit busy lately. It’s November, which means National Novel Writing Month. It’s the holidays, which meant that I spent last week in Pittsburgh with Erin and her family. And it’s near the end of the semester, which means I’m busy as a teacher.

But I definitely want to give you guys some Christmas content, especially after Halloween being dedicated entirely to the Story Structure project. So starting Thursday, December 1, I’m going to try to get back to a regular schedule, with as much Christmas stuff as I can throw at you. Thanks for your patience, and have a great yuletide season.

2 in 1 Showcase Episode 247: Of Muppets and Kings

Blake and Erin spent the week in Pittsburgh for Thanksgiving, and this week they’ve got a trifecta of entertainment to talk about. From the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, they discuss the special exhibit Heroes and Villains: The Comic Book Art of Alex Ross. Then they shift gears to discuss the new Stephen King novel 11/22/63 and the online experience surrounding the new King miniseries Bag of Bones. And to cap it off, they delve into the movie event Blake has been waiting to see for 12 years: The Muppets. In the picks, Erin talks more about the Dresden Files and Blake doubles up with Wolverine and the X-Men #2 and Legend of Oz: The Wicked West #1. Contact us with comments, suggestions, or anything else at Showcase@CXPulp.com!

Music provided by Music Alley from Mevio.

Episode 247: Of Muppets and Kings

2 in 1 Showcase Episode 244: Holiday Movie Preview 2011

With Thanksgiving coming upon us, Blake and Erin talk about this year’s slate of Holiday movie releases! They delve into all of the big releases, lots of the little ones, and gush profusely over the Muppets! In the picks, it’s Animal Man #3 and Peanuts #0. Contact us with comments, suggestions, or anything else at Showcase@CXPulp.com!

Music provided by Music Alley from Mevio.

Episode 244: Holiday Movie Preview 2011

What I’m Watching in 2011

Okay, we’re over a month into the year, it’s time for me to begin my running tally of movies I’ve watched in 2011. Those of you who see this list when it’s first posted will notice a definite trend towards 2010 films. If you’ve read this post, that makes a lot more sense. At any rate, this is where I’m keeping my annual running tally of the movies I see this year, and my quick rating of them. And if I review a movie at any of the many websites where I turn out such content, I’ll throw up a link.

1. How to Train Your Dragon (2010), B+
2. Infestation (2009), B+
3. Hot Tub Time Machine (2010), A
4. True Grit (2010), A+
5. Shutter Island (2010), B-
6. Robin Hood (2010), C
7. Easy A (2010), A-
8. Splice (2009), D-
9. Dinner For Schmucks (2010), B-
10. Buried (2010), B+
11. The Social Network (2010), A
12. Repo Men (2010), C
13. Logan’s Run (1976), B
14. Exam (2008), A
15. The Town (2010), A
16. Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole (2010), B
17. Fame (2009), B-
18. Back to the Future (1985), A+
19. Superman (1978), A+
20. Cop Out (2010), D
21. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (2010), C
22. All-Star Superman (2011), A
23. The Crucible (1996), A
24. Unknown (2011), C+
25. Legion (2010), C-
26. The Book of Eli (2010), C+
27. Mulholland Drive (2001), B
28. A Bug’s Life (1998), B
29. Battle: Los Angeles (2011), B
30. RED (2010), B+
31. Frozen (2010), B
32. Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown (2011), B+
33. A Beautiful Mind (2002), A
34. Machete (2010), D
35. Monsters (2010), C
36. Let Me In (2010), B
37. Limitless (2011), B+
38. Devil (2010), C+
39. 30 Days of Night: Dark Days (2010), C-
40. Scream (1996), A
41. Scream 2 (1997), B
42. Scream 3 (2000), B-
43. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), A+
44. Love and Other Drugs (2010), B+
45. Moon (2009), A
46. Fight Club (1999), B
47. Megamind (2010), B
48. Scream 4 (2011), B+
49. The Experiment (2010), B
50. It’s Kind of a Funny Story (2010), A-
51. The King’s Speech (2010), A
52. Lottery Ticket (2010), C
53. Mary Poppins (1964), A
54. Ghostbusters 2 (1989), B+
55. Wall•E (2008), A
56. The Other Guys (2010), D
57. Akira (1988), B
58. The Boys: The Sherman Brothers Story (2009), A
59. The Phantom Tollbooth (1970), A
60. The Last Unicorn (1982), B+
61. Chicken Little (2005), B
62. The Fighter (2010), B
63. Saw: The Final Chapter (2010), B-
64. Memento (2000), A
65. The Untouchables (1987), A
66. Thor (2011), A
67. Firebreather (2010), B-
68. Bookwars (2000), B-
69. Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy (2010), A
70. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011), C
71. Not the Messiah (He’s a Very Naughty Boy) (2010), B+
72. Die Hard (1988), A
73. The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993), B+
74. The Princess Bride (1987), A+
75. Holes (2003), B+
76. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), B+
77. Skyline (2010), D
78. The Last Airbender (2010), C-
79. The Last Starfighter (1984), A
80. Duck Soup (1933), A+
81. The Hangover Part II (2011), B
82. Piranha (2010), C+
83. UHF (1989), B
84. Spaceballs (1987), B
85. The Golem: How He Came Into the World (1920), B+
86. Labyrinth (1986), A
87. The Green Hornet (2011), D+
88. Series 7: The Contenders (2001), B+
89. 127 Hours (2010), B+
90. Saludos Amigos (1942), B
91. The Three Caballeros (1944), B+
92. X-Men: First Class (2011), A-
93. The Last Man on Earth (1964), B
94. The Vampire’s Night Orgy (1973), F
95. Chloe (2009), B
96. Nosferatu (1922), A
97. The Virginity Hit (2010), B
98. The Color of Magic (2008), B
99. Green Lantern: Emerald Knights (2011), B+
100. Vanishing on 7th Street (2010), C+
101. Green Lantern: First Flight (2009), A-
102. Rubber (2010), C+
103. Walt and El Grupo (2008), B
104. Super 8 (2011), A
105. Big Fish (2003), A+
106. Black Death (2010), B
107. Battle Royale (2001), B+
108. The Faculty (1998), B-
109. Green Lantern (2011), B-
110. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010), B-
111. Synecdoche, New York (2008), C
112. The Phantom of the Opera (1925), A
113. Fright Night (1985), B
114. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), A
115. The Fugitive (1993), A
116. Cars (2006), B+
117. Cars 2 (2011), B+
118. After.Life (2009), C
119. Zapped! (1982), D
120. James and the Giant Peach (1996), B
121. Young Frankenstein (1974), A
122. The Addams Family (1991), B+
123. The Great Muppet Caper (1981), B
124. A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner (2011), D
125. Dracula (1931), B
126. Death Note (2006), B
127. Tales From the Script (2009), B+
128. Unthinkable (2010), B+
129. The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford (2007), A-
130. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001), B
131. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), B-
132. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), B+
133. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), B+
134. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2008), B-
135. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009), B+
136. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (2010), A
137. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (2011), A
138. Frankenstein (1931), A
139. The Mummy (1932), B
140. Be Kind, Rewind (2008), B
141. 25th Hour (2002), B
142. The Incredibles (2004), A+
143. Zodiac (2007), A
144. Rec (2007), B+
145. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), A
146. Miller’s Tale (2011), B+
147. Freaks (1932), B
148. Red Riding Hood (2011), D
149. Battle Royale II (2003), C
150. Cowboys and Aliens (2011), C+
151. Ernest Goes to Camp (1987), B
152. Ernest Goes to Jail (1990), C+
153. The Beginning of the End (1957), F; MST3K Riff, B
154. Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966), F; MST3K Riff, B+
155. Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension (2011), A-
156. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993), A
157. Cat People (1942), B
158. Curse of the Cat People (1944), C-
159. Sucker Punch (2011), D
160. The Fly (1958), A
     
161. Peeping Tom (1960), B
162. Best Worst Movie (2009), A
163. Troll 2 (1990), F
164. Psycho (1960), A
165. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), A
166. Quarantine 2: Terminal (2011), B
167. Super (2010), B+
168. The Haunting (1963), B
169. Night of the Living Dead (1968), A
170. The Last House on the Left (1972), C-
171. Suicide Girls Must Die (2011), C-
172. Wait Until Dark (1967), A
173. The Exorcist (1973), A
174. Gamera (1965), C; MST3K Riff, A
175. Gamera Vs. Barugon (1966), D; MST3K Riff, B+
176. Gamera Vs. Gaos (1967), D; MST3K Riff, B
177. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), C+
178. Jaws (1975), A
179. Carrie (1976), B+
180. Suspiria (1977), D+
181. Gamera Vs. Guiron (1969), D; MST3K Riff, B+
182. Contagion (2011), C+
183. Halloween (1978), A
184. Alien (1979), A
185. The Shining (1980), C+
186. Friday the 13th (1980), B
187. The Evil Dead (1981), B+
188. The Thing (1982), A
189. Poltergeist (1982), B+
190. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), B
191. Return of the Living Dead (1985), C-
192. Misery (1990), A
193. Ringu (1998), B+
194. The Blair Witch Project (1999), B
195. Saw (2004), A
196. The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949), B+
197. The Creeping Terror (1964), F; MST3K riff, B+
198. Mad Monster Party (1967), B
199. Zombiemania (2008), B
200. Tower Heist (2011), B-
201. Scream: The Inside Story (2011), B
202. Still Screaming (2011), A
203. Your Highness (2011), D
204. Repo: The Genetic Opera (2008), B-
205. The Cannonball Run (1981), B
206. Batman: Year One (2011), A-
207. Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), A-
208. Up (2009), A+
209. The Muppets (2011), A
210. Good Luck Charlie: It’s Christmas (2011), B
211. Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964), F; Cinematic Titanic Riff, B
212. Christmas and A Christmas Carol (2009), D
213. Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny (1972), F; RiffTrax, A
214. The Great Gatsby (1974), A
215. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), B+
216. Tom and Huck (1995), Bl
217. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), A
218. Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas (1999), B
219. Joyeux Noel (Merry Christmas) (2005), A
220. Scrooged (1988), A-
221. The Magic Christmas Tree (1964), F; RiffTrax B+
222. It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002), B
223. The Lemon Drop Kid (1951), B
224. Miracle on 34th Street (1947), A+
225. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), A+
226. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989), A
227. A Christmas Story (1983), A
228. Love, Actually (2002), A
229. Source Code, (2011), B+
230. Paul, (2011), C+
231. Tron: Legacy (2010), B+
232. Attack the Block (2011), B+l
233. The Captains (2011), A
234. Gnomeo and Juliet (2011), B
235. Dylan Dog: Dead of Night (2011), C

Last Updated on January 1, 2012.

Time Travel Tuesdays: The Sensational Season

It’s another Time Travel Tuesday, gang, and we’re spinning the wheel of time back to December 18, 2004! This was the year that something particularly happened for my family not on Christmas, but on Thanksgiving, although I waited until that year’s Christmas column to discuss it in the column. It was a heck of a year…

December 18, 2004
The Sensational Season

Seven days. I can’t believe there’s just seven days left until Christmas. Seems like just yesterday we were carving up the Thanksgiving turkey (or even carving up the Jack-O-Lantern for Halloween). How is it that you spend so much time anticipating Christmas, and yet it finds a way to race up on you every single year?

And why is it that I feel it more this year, somehow?

Christmas is more than just a time of year, friends, it’s also a sensation. Sometimes you just feel things. When you go to the doctor, for instance, sometimes you know that, no matter how good you feel on your way in, somehow you’re going to wind up with a needle in your vein or a rubber glove poking around certain personal areas without even buying you dinner first.

Sometimes, the events around you can contribute to a mood. Let’s say one morning you wake up with a headache, find there’s a weird rash developing that you can only attribute to the new deodorant you’re trying, you’re down to your last three cornflakes in the bottom of the box, and on your way the car you smack your eye into the door frame. This is a day where you’d best just turn around and go back to bed, because you can sense it’ll be a bad one.

Then there are the days you can sense will be good. You make that last red light, there’s a message on your voice mail from somebody you really wanted to hear from, that guy three cubicles down who always tries to show you pictures of his Rottweiler is out sick — this will be a pleasant day.

Seasons are like that too. And I can feel this Christmas season more strongly than I have in a long time. I think it started on Thanksgiving. And I don’t mean that in the usual sense that I don’t consider the Christmas season as having begun until the Macy’s Parade is over and I’ve had my third slice of pumpkin pie. (Although that did happen again.)

This year was different for my family. My Uncle Scott lives in Cincinnati (the one in Ohio of all places) and hasn’t been down to visit in a few years. He hasn’t been down for Thanksgiving in an even longer time. He’s my grandmother’s youngest, and even though he calls every year, it always clearly breaks her heart a little that he’s not there.

This year, he was.

Everyone managed to keep it a secret from my grandmother, and my Uncle Renee helped plot. Once Scott and his family were there, in her driveway, they called Renee (who was not at her house yet) on his cell phone to give the signal. Renee called her and told her to go look outside. She did and, by all reports, the last thing Renee heard was “Oh my God!” Click! Dial tooooone…

The rest of the family filtered in, and it was an incredible Thanksgiving. For the first time in years my grandmother had all five of her children and all 14 of her grandchildren together at the same time. Oh yeah, there were pictures. And there was tons of food as always, and even my Uncle Wally’s children (who have a reputation for being slightly more rambunctious than a head-on collision between a truck hauling propane and a charter bus full of trial lawyers) didn’t get yelled at to calm down as much as usual.

Things have been good since then. Positive. I’ve spent this last week involved in various activities leading up to the wedding of my friends Chase and Jenny (which happened last night as you’re reading this, tomorrow as I’m writing it), and even the insanity and befuddlement of planning a wedding has felt great, like we’re all ramping up to something. Chase and Jenny, of course, clearly are — but somehow I feel like we’re all along for the ride.

And maybe there are a few other things going on right now that feel really special, like things are really falling into place.

Oh, there are still headaches. Shopping can be a pain, traffic can be murder. Right now I’ve got a slip in my pocket from the post office saying I’ve got a package someone needs to sign for and would it be more convenient for me to reschedule a drop-off for a time of day where everybody in the universe is at work and unable to sign for it or to personally pick it up at the post office, which conveniently closes right before everybody in the universe gets off work and would be able to make an appearance?

But you’re used to the headaches, the stress, the aches and pains. I’m not used to the happiness, the joy, and the sense that there’s something amazing in the air. That may be the difference, I think. The uber-PC “Holidays” carry the stress. Christmas carries the magic.

Seven days left.

Wish I could make it last longer.

Blake M. Petit invites you all to his website to read “Toyetic” ONE WEEK FROM TODAY. Contact him with comments, suggestions or more wrapping paper at BlakeMPetit@gmail.com.

Thanksgiving Week With Erin

It’s incredible, really, how much things can change in a short period of time. When Erin and I first got together, I began the tradition of marking each of our visits with one another with a photoblog, first on my old LiveJournal, and now here. But thanks to Twitter, Facebook, and FourSquare, it seems likely that most of you actually followed along with us as the events happened. But Erin and I love having this sort of record of our time together, so I hope you’ll all indulge me as I talk about how we spent last week, the week of Thanksgiving, together.

Erin came in on Sunday and, as you may imagine, immediately wanted to see my sister Heather and her new baby, Maggie. Erin has of course been following the Keller family online, but she was anxious to see the baby in person. And really, who can blame her? The kid is damned cute. She’s already mastered the art of picking up her head and looking at you. She has not, however, gotten the hang of putting her head back down again. Fortunately, neither Erin nor I, nor Maggie’s parents, typically wear sharp objects, so there’s little danger of her hurting herself when her little head invariably flops down on whoever is lucky enough to be holding her at the moment. We went out for dinner with the family Sunday night, where Heather and Will joined Erin and I, plus my parents, as we sat down for a meal at a restaurant and proved that we were all perfectly damn happy watching the baby sleep in her car seat at the end of the table.

The next day, Erin and I went out for lunch at Izzo’s Illegal Burrito, a delicious little place I’ve been telling her about for some months, then caught a screening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. Erin was seeing the movie for the second time, but I was going in fresh. We both enjoyed the movie quite a bit. Afterwards, we did a little shopping and headed home. We weren’t looking for a busy night, since the next day was supposed to be packed. On Tuesday, we loaded up and drove across Lake Pontchartrain so Erin and I could do something we’ve been planning for quite some time — a tour of the Abita Brewing Company in Abita Springs, Louisiana. Erin loves this Louisiana-based beer, and in fact the only commercially-available beer I’ve ever found that I actually like is an Abita product (their seasonal Strawberry Harvest blend, which typically means I can only drink beer for a brief window between March and June). We had a great lunch at the Abita Brew Pub (their original facility, now a restaurant) before going to the factory, where we made a startling discovery. Erin claims that I didn’t read the website properly before we left home that morning, but my version of the story is a little different. I believe that we suffered a sudden, spontaneous power surge which briefly allowed our wireless router to actually pierce the internet veil of a parallel universe — one almost identical to our own but with one crucial difference: in this parallel universe, unlike our own, the Abita Brewing Company offers tours of its facility on Tuesdays. In our dimension, however, it does not. We decided to return on Friday.

Wednesday was a big day for us, thanks to some smart thinking by my buddy Jason. He and his wife Andrea asked us to accompany them on the New Orleans Cocktail Tour, a great afternoon featured by Gray Line tours. This is a walking tour of the French Quarter, where the guide takes you to several notable bars and restaurants and tells you the history of the building and the company, as well as some of their signature drinks. He also stops at various places along the way, giving you more great information. What makes the tour even better is the fact that there are so many places in New Orleans that are a part of it — the tour is pretty much never the same four stops twice, making it the sort of thing you can do over and over again and not get bored. Our little group visited the following spots:

Muriel’s French Quarter, a lovely restaurant that we’ve sworn to come to some time for lunch. The place is gorgeous and has a really interesting history, including one of New Orleans’ legendary ghosts. It also has two really good drinks, the Pimm’s Cup and the Fleur De Lis:

Next was the Court of Two Sisters…

…another fantastic establishment which supposedly features a famous brunch buffet that Erin and I, again, have sworn to partake of in the future. Here, I tasted a traditional Mint Julep, while Erin got (what I think we both agreed was) the best drink on the tour, the Bayou Blast:

Next was Arnaud’s, the sort of restaurant I’d love to visit, but I wouldn’t want to spend the money on. It’s a bit more highbrow than my usual fare. It does, however, have a more reasonably-priced adjoining restaurant, Remoulade’s, which is where the four of his had dinner after the tour ended. And the food was great.

We had drinks at their bar, the French 75. Our drinks included, appropriately, the French 75 and the New Orleans standard Sazerac:

I was still feeling the Sazerac when we made our last stop at the Bombay Club, a great Martini Bar that featured a live jazz band and an array of dessert-based martinis.

I didn’t want to drink anymore, but I tasted both of Erin’s Martinis, and I approved of both the German Chocolate and the Mistress (a non-cream based sweet with a Hershey’s Kiss at the bottom):

With the tour over, we walked back to Remoulade’s for dinner then continued walking New Orleans for a while, Jason showing Erin places she missed and eventually taking us back to a place he’d gone to on a previous tour, Tony Seville’s Pirate Alley Cafe:

This quaint little place was right next door to St. Louis Cathedral and embraced its Pirate theme wholeheartedly. I got Erin the book our tour guide had written about New Orleans bars, History With a Twist, Lemon and Lime, and Jason treated her to her first drink of real (and, may I add, totally legal in Louisiana) Absinthe:

I tasted this one too, and may I say, Oh my GOD, what the HELL are you people thinking sweet mother of God I understand now why this drink was illegal until three years ago! In other words, it was kind of strong.

Thursday, of course, was Thanksgiving. We watched the parade together, while Erin sweetly allowed me to catch up on the NaNoWriMo writing I didn’t get to do the previous day, and then it was off to spend the day with family. As always, we spent the afternoon with the Petit clan, including my father’s brothers and sisters and their children, then in the evening we went on to my mother’s family, the Faucheux clan. In both cases, most of the photo opportunities mainly involved passing around my niece like a hot potato nobody wanted to get rid of…

Perhaps the crowning achievement of the night, photographically, was getting my grandmother, mother, sister and niece together for a picture of four generations of Faucheux women:

Friday was take two on our effort to visit the Abita Brewery. This time, my internet browser was functioning properly and we got there on a day which actually did feature a tour. Or, as my cousin Jennifer remarked, “an excuse to drink free beer.” When you arrive for the tour, which is free, you’re escorted to the bar, where you can taste Abita’s regular brews for free. Again, not being much of a beer drinker, I opted for their fantastic root beer.

Once everybody was checked in — and I do mean everbody, this tour was packed — we were shown an informative video about how beer is made before the tour began. Now I want to reiterate, I really did have fun, so the snarkiness inherent in my description of the tour should not be misinterpreted as a warning not to attend. Basically, all that happens on the tour is that you’re taken into a room full of vats of various liquids that are on their way to turning into beer. Then, the guide tells you how beer is made, which of course was also explained to you in the video you just watched. You then return to the bar for more samples. Fun? Yes. But in terms of expediency, the guide could simply have said, “Remember that video you just watched? This is where we do that stuff.”

The tour over, we returned to New Orleans for dinner at Star Steak and Lobster house, a fantastic little place Erin found on Restaurants.com, and a little more shopping, before heading home. Saturday again featured family/Maggie time, as we watched the little one while Heather and Will had lunch. It was during this time that I took the greatest photograph I, or anybody else, has ever taken:

It’s the face Maggie is making, I think. I mean, look at that face. Every time I see this picture I start giggling. Is it just because I’m a new uncle? Because if that’s the case, I’m okay with that. Seriously, guys, I totally recommend becoming an uncle, provided that your niece is as cute as mine, which I’m sorry to tell you probably isn’t possible.

Oh, and just in case you think Uncle Blake didn’t sneak in some time holding Maggie…

After lunch, we met up again with Jason and Andrea, as well as Mike and Nicole, Daniel and Lauren, and a last-minute addition (as he just got in from working offshore that afternoon) Kenny for a screening of Disney’s Tangled. The general consensus was that the movie was pretty good. If you want more details, may I recommend that you check out the review we recorded of this film and Harry Potter for the 2 in 1 Showcase Podcast?

After the film, we all headed out to Christmas in the Oaks at New Orleans City Park. You may recall that Erin and I went there back in January, shortly after New Year’s, which gives us the distinct pleasure of having attended the event twice in 2010, neither of which was in December. If you don’t know what this event is, it’s the NOLA version of the grand outdoor Christmas Lighting display. The lights take up a large section of the park, although sadly, still not as large a section as it did before Hurricane Katrina. Still, we all had a great time, especially Kenny, who in this photograph looks like he’s standing in the front because he’s hired all of us to be his top-secret squad of Ninja Assassins. This is silly, of course, as I am the only certified Ninja in the group.

From left: Andrea, Jason, Me, Erin, Kenny, Mike, Nicole, Lauren, and Daniel. That big red thing in the background is a tree made of Poinsetta flowers. Not pictured: a large mound of stray cats who nibbled on the tree and had to be carted off with a rake.

 

On Sunday, as sadly happens, Erin went home and I went back to missing her. I think sometimes that the rarity of our time together makes it more precious, and I think that’s fair. But I’m still looking forward to the day (the approaching day, I should add) where our time together isn’t limited to short trips, and instead becomes a way of life. I love you, sweetheart.

Kenny, I just think you’re nice.

These are, of course, only a few of the pictures we took last week. If you want to see the rest of them, they’re all uploaded to my Flickr album: Thanksgiving Week 2010.

Happy Thanksgiving!

A quick, simple message for you today, my friends. Go out today, eat too much food, be with the people you love, and take a few minutes to think about everything in your life that really matters. I’ll be with Erin and the rest of my family, and that in mind, there’s little else that matters.

I do often feel negligent on this blog when it comes to Thanksgiving. It’s easy to come up with lots of movies, books, comics and more to review at Halloween and Christmas. There’s considerably less available for a “Thanksgiving Party.” But if you really want a quick review fix, I’ve popped a couple of Thankgiving comic book reviews over at the Back Issue Bin this week:

• JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice (2002)
• JSA #54 (2003)
• JSA Classified #32 (2007)
• PVP #21 (2005)

Hmm. Evidently there’s a rule about Thanksgiving comics only being identified by initial. Who knew?

Classic EBI #139: Giving Thanks For Comics

Hey, friends. No new Everything But Imaginary today, as I’m giving this week to Erin, but I had enough time to post this classic EBI from Thanksgivings past. Originally presented on November 23, 2005, this was a look at what I was grateful for in the first post-Katrina Thanksgiving. Boy, things have changed — Alias Enterprises is no more, Dan Slott‘s Thing comic didn’t make it past ten issues… but hey, there’s still stuff worth being thankful for.

Everything But Imaginary #139: Giving Thanks For Comics

Tomorrow, my friends, is Thanksgiving, and as such I wound imagine most of us will not spend our day sitting in front of our computers. I know I certainly won’t. Sure, I’ll be on briefly in the morning working on my book for National Novel Writing Month (word count waits for no holiday), but the rest of the day I’m going to be with my family, enjoying their company, celebrating the fact that we’re all together and safe (especially after the nasty hurricane season we just went through), and eating gargantuan amounts of turkey, ham, various potato-based side dishes and pumpkin pie. And it will be good.

The day is intended, of course, to give thanks. I’m thankful for my family and friends, for everyone in my life that’s important to me, for the fact that I’ve entered quite a productive period as a writer, and for a lot of other things that people reading a comic book column don’t particularly care about. But there are things out there in the realm of comic books that I’m quite thankful for. Now normally, if I’m going to do a holiday column, I like to talk about comic book tales that took place on that holiday – Christmas and Halloween are notoriously easy for this project. Thanksgiving is more difficult. The only Thanksgiving comic I’ve read in years was JSA #54, a celebration with the Justice Society and the Justice League, and while this was a decent enough comic, it was quickly overshadowed by JSA #55, which was one of the best Christmas stories I’ve ever read in a comic book. (Geoff Johns must have been on a real holiday kick that year.)

So rather than trying to dig up some Thanksgiving stories to shine a spotlight on, I’m instead going to take this column to go over some of the things in the world of comic books that I am, at present, particularly thankful for. Great trends, great stories, great comics, great creators. It’s easy to find things to complain about – and don’t worry, I’ll no doubt get around to that around the first of the year – but today I want to go over some of the things about comic books that make me smile.

I’m thankful for the way DC Comics and a lot of the smaller publishers stepped up to help comic shops here in the Gulf South after Hurricane Katrina. DC offered shops in badly impacted areas their products free of charge for a period of time. Many other publishers and individual creators started working on benefit books or auctions to help aid the Red Cross and other relief organizations. As disappointed as I was that some of the other giants in the industry didn’t do more to help out, I was extremely proud of what DC and everyone who worked on a benefit did.

I’m thankful for Alias Enterprises. In a comic book industry that often seems too focused on drawing the dollars out of those same readers that have been around for years, Alias seems to be making a real effort to reach out not just to new readers, but to younger readers. They’re creating comics for all ages like Lullaby and The Imaginaries, bringing back great comics like Opposite Forces and Tellos that have really wide appeal, and even tapping into an often ignored Christian readership with ArmorQuest and David. Even if Alias isn’t necessarily putting out anything for you, you’ve got to appreciate its efforts to reach out.

I’m thankful that more and more classic comics are finding their way back into print. In addition to Marvel’s Masterworks and Essentials comics and DC’s Archives, this year DC began their Showcase Presents series and the Dark Horse Archives began reprints old Gold Key comics including Doctor Solar: Man of the Atom and Magnus: Robot Fighter, as well Steve Rude’s Nexus. And let’s not forget the reprints of the old Little Lulu comics, the Complete Peanuts series (which was joined this year by Complete Dennis the Menace). There are even reprints in the works for old Harvey Comics like Hot Stuff. There’s a reason classic comics become classics, and putting out old material in new editions is the best way to keep them alive. In the future, here’s hoping somebody starts doing archival editions of great stuff like Tales From the Crypt, more of the Archie superheroes like The Comet, Charlton classics like Blue Beetle and Captain Atom and old kids comics like Richie Rich or Casper.

I’m thankful for how Infinite Crisis is shaping up, again, by bringing back those elements from the past that made the DC heroes such icons in the first place. I’m thankful that the writers across the line took their time and set things up instead of just rushing into the story headfirst. I’m glad that, for once, we’re really getting a story about a universe, about an entire world of heroes that legitimately impacts each and every title, and I’m increasingly hopeful that the new DCU that emerges from the other side will be better and brighter.

I’m thankful that Fables, my favorite comic each and every month, hasn’t lost a single step even since Bill Willingham whipped out the identity of the Adversary. In fact, I’m thankful for all of my favorite comics, including (such diverse titles as) JSA, Uncle Scrooge and PVP. I’m thankful for surprises – books that weren’t even on my radar that turned out to be great, such as Young Avengers and Son of Vulcan. If there’s anything better than finding a comic you had no intention of reading and turning out to love it, I don’t know what it is.

I’m thankful that Marvel had the good sense to give She-Hulk another go. It’s by far the best comic on their roster – one that has a sense of humor about itself and the world it inhabits, and its gentle self-deprecation blends perfectly with classic superhero stories. I’m glad Marvel is recognizing the talent they’ve got in Dan Slott, giving him the fantastic GLA miniseries from earlier this year (and the upcoming GLX one-shot), and I’m really, really happy that they’ve put him at the helm of the new title for my favorite Marvel character, The Thing.

I’m thankful that the big publishers are starting to take chances on genres other than superheroes again. DC is making a big push to resurrect the western with Loveless and the excellent Jonah Hex, and Marvel is dipping their toes in that same water with The Dark Tower, although in that case they are no doubt more motivated by the appeal of having Stephen King write a comic for them. And speaking of which, I’m really grateful that somebody finally got him to dip his pen into a comic book inkwell. As I said before, though, I just hope Marvel really takes advantage of all the potential having him writing a comic book can represent.

And finally, most of all, I’m thankful for this dandy little site called Comixtreme.com CXPulp.com. I love having this outlet to talk about comics, to espouse my feelings, to think about and analyze the trends and direction of the industry, and I’m thankful that I’ve got swell folks like you out there who read along and talk it up with me. It’s the most fun you can have talking about comic books – all right here.

So have a great Thanksgiving, folks – have an extra slice of pumpkin pie for me, and be sure to come back next week when I announce the categories in the Third Annual Everything But Imaginary Awards! See you then!

FAVORITE OF THE WEEK: November 16, 2005

That’s right, it’s finally back! I’ve missed having this feature here in Everything But Imaginary every week, and I’ve finally gotten my comic source stabilized enough to start dishing on the great comics every week again. And for my money, the best comic that came out last Wednesday was the first issue of the new Thing series by Dan Slott and Andrea DiVito. As I’ve often told you guys, the Thing is my favorite character in Marvel comics, and as far as I’m concerned, the best hero to ever sprout from the collected imagination of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. His new first issue was a lot of fun, lighthearted but not as over-the-top as She-Hulk… it really felt like a classic superhero tale. Here’s hoping he enjoys a nice long run.

Blake M. Petit is the author of the superhero comedy novel, Other People’s Heroes, the suspense novel The Beginner and the Christmas-themed eBook A Long November. He’s also the co-host, with whoever the hell is available that week, of the 2 in 1 Showcase Podcast and the weekly audio fiction podcast Blake M. Petit’s Evercast. E-mail him at BlakeMPetit@gmail.com and visit him on the web at Evertime Realms. Read past columns at the Everything But Imaginary Archive Page.

Erin is here!

Erin is here to spend Thanksgiving week with my family and me. As such, updates will be sparse. Live with it.

The first thing she did when she got here? Obviously, she had to meet Maggie…

Maggie, of course, met with her expectations.

A Thanksgiving Observation

After spending much of the day traveling to various shopping institutions with my friends, it occurs to me that there clearly is an insidious plot to eradicate the holiday of Thanksgiving. Halloween is a remarkably profitable holiday for the retail industry. The only holiday more profitable is Christmas. Thanksgiving, in-between, is rather mild by comparison. There’s a big food expenditure, but it’s typically just for the one day instead of the whole season. Very few people go all-out with the decorations. And while Halloween and Christmas both deluge us with media properties, for Thanksgiving there is exactly one classic movie (Planes, Trains and Automobiles), one classic TV special (A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving) and one classic song (The Thanksgiving Song by Adam Sandler).*

I have come to the inarguable conclusion that cartoonist Dan Long, in his comic strip Edmund Finney’s Quest to Find the Meaning of Life, is absolutely right. The turkeys are trying to eliminate Thanksgiving.

Don’t let this happen, friends. Don’t give in to the turkeys.

*Please note, before you start listing other Thanksgiving movies, TV specials, and songs, that I said classics. I too enjoy Garfield’s Thanksgiving and I eagerly await the insidious Dr. Steve’s annual Thanksgiving song every November at www.DoctorFloyd.com. But these aren’t classics. And I’m sure someone, at some point, has made another Thanksgiving movie, but damned if I know what it is.