I am a cynical, snarky bastard. It comes to me naturally. 99% of the time I don’t think about it or feel compelled to examine my psyche, but every once in awhile it comes up.

For those who haven’t heard Tim Tebow announced that he is going to pursue a career in professional baseball. This led to all kinds of responses from fans, the media, and professional athletes. Being a Baltimore guy the two responses that stood out the most to me were Adam Jones’ and Kevin Van Valkenburg’s. First Jones’ reply:

Now Van Valkenburg’s:

Writer: Greg Rucka
Artist:  Nicola Scott
Colors:  Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Letters: Jodi Wynne
Editor:  Mark Doyle
Associate Editor: Rebecca Taylor
Creator:  William Moulton Marston
Variant Covers: Scott & Fajardo Jr; Frank Cho
Price: $2.99
Publisher: DC Comics

The fallout from Steve’s crash onto Themyscira continues in Wonder Woman #4. While General Phillipus calls for caution and possibly war, especially once Areto demonstrates the kind of damage the weapons Steve and company were carrying can do, Castalia thinks otherwise. It’s a fantastic look at the ruling council of Themyscira and how balanced they are: none of them want a war but all are prepared to do what they must if it comes to that. Thankfully it doesn’t, yet, because though the soldiers unknowingly bear the sigil of Poseidon (long time enemy of Athena, patron of the Amazons). Hippolyta notices that the eagle has its…

Red Hood and The Outlaws #1
Writer: Scott Lobdell
Artist:  Dexter Soy
Colors:  Veronica Gandini
Letters: Taylor Esposito
Editor:  Alex Antone
Associate Editor: Brittany Holzherr
Creator: Don Newton; Doug Mahnke; Gerry Conway; Judd Winick
Variant Covers:  Giuseppe Camuncoli & Cam Smith & Dean White; Matteo Scalera & Moreno Dinisio
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $2.99

Jason confronts some harsh memories from his past that may be the key to unlocking the mystery of Black Mask’s rise and gets a bit more than he bargained for in Red Hood and The Outlaws #1. This issue lays the groundwork for a few things that are most definitely going to come back and bite Jason in the arse at a later date while also setting up Black Mask to be Jason’s Joker.  It also shows just how, if Bruce had been a different kind…

Want some adventure in your life? A little mystery? Some action, pirates and princess?

Then check out my audio play “Sinbad and the Pirate Princess” being released on CD and iTunes on August 12th!

Starring Caroline Munro and Martine Beswick of Bond fame, Mark Redfield and me!

Pre-order here: http://www.poeforevermore.com/news-7-13-16-Sinbad-Pre-Order.html and share the excitement with your friends and family! Plus, if you pre-order a CD, you’ll receive a poster as well!

Join us on the high seas as Sinbad and the crew take on bloodthirsty pirates, evil queens and a dark mystery!

SINBAD AND THE PIRATE PRINCESS
An audio-adventure in 4 chapters–
on CD and iTunes and other platforms.
Starring the voices of Caroline Munro, Martine Beswick and Mark Redfield.
And the voice talents of Mary Anne Perry, J.R. Lyston, Ron Burr, Eric Supensky, Belle Burr and Michael Butscher.
With the Music of Rimsky-Korsakov and Gustav Holst
Audio Engineers: Jay Chapin…

Marvel and Netflix came out swinging tonight at San Diego Comic Con, dropping not one, not two but four brand new trailers which, for the first time, linked all of The Defenders (and one Punisher) together.

Let’s take a look!

Luke Cage:

With Ol’ Dirty Bastard as a background we watch Luke take apart some fools in Harlem before being confronted by Cottonmouth, it’s awesome and tells you everything you need to know about our reluctant hero.

Iron Fist:

We’re introduced to Danny Rand in almost virtual silence, it’s haunting and emphasises just how alone Danny feels as he returns home, a changed man, to a changed world.

SDCC Sizzle Reel – New York’s Heroes

Matt, Jessica, Luke, Frank and their allies’ stories are shown together, fully interconnected, for the first time. We get a look back to what they’ve already faced and a look forward at…

As someone with a passing interest in the Harry Potter franchise (yes, I’ve seen all the movies. Yes, I liked them, but they’re just not as dear to my heart as other franchises are) I had heard about the newest installment: Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them and thought, ‘Huh, that’s cool?’

Well, the trailer is here and I have to say, now? I’m actually really, really interested in seeing this:

The cast is fantastic, the storyline (someone has accidentally let loose a bunch of magical creatures in New York) is interesting and there’s a joyfulness about the whole thing that appeals to me.

Looks like I’ll be looking for some beast myself this Thanksgiving!

Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them is out November 18, 2016 from Warner Brothers Studios.

Well, that escalated quickly…

Last night Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura continued his history of throwing at, hitting, and otherwise muckraking and causing benches clearing brawls by hitting Manny Machado in the back with a 99 MPH fastball. This was after throwing at him twice in the 2nd inning (causing Manny to yell some choice words at him after he hit a fly out).

This wasn’t the first altercation between Machado and Ventura. Ventura hit Machado (and Chris Davis) in September of 2015 (I have to think that Davis also being hit by Ventura had something to do with him entering the melee like a wayward rocket launched from the dugout once the fracas started).

Now, Machado is no stranger to making stupid decisions on the field, but in this case I cannot blame him for charging the mound. After throwing at him twice & hitting him the 3rd time…

Removal of DirecTV Dish and Cables

Belle

Once Ron was done trolling Leslie I had to put up the Clearstream Antenna which was remarkably easy. The biggest issue was keeping our five ‘helpers’ (aka the various dogs and cats we’ve accumulated) out of the way as I removed all the DirecTV hardware and the cables. It’s here that things got interesting as we realized we literally had cables in our house that were connected to nothing. Apparently every time we got an upgrade over the last 8 years, DirecTV never removed all the old cabling. And the cables are everywhere: the garage, the boiler  room, through to the third floor of our house. It’s ridiculous and frustrating, especially as DirecTV isn’t coming to get their dish or cables so I have to take those down as well.

Looks like I’ll be buying spray foam insulation and a brickwork repair…