This is mesmerizing…
PARENTHOOD IS THE SEQUEL TO POLTERGEIST!
0
NBC’s Parenthood is a comedy-drama revolving around three generations of the Braverman family living in Berkely, California. However, most people don’t know that the show is really a sequel to 1982′s Poltergeist. The show picks up 30 years later, as the Freeling family, now called the Braverman’s, must deal with new demonic forces trying to tear their family apart.
All of the children from the movie are now adults with kids of their own. Craig T. Nelson reprises the role of Steven, now named Zeke, a man haunted by the decision to buy a house on an ancient Indian burial ground and has become an overbearing and over-protective father. His oldest son Adam (Robbie) and oldest daughter Sarah (Dana) both have children of their own, while his youngest Julia (Carol Anne), also a mother, has suppressed the memories of her disturbing childhood by becoming a corporate lawyer (which furthers the theory that Carol Anne’s soul was damaged in the movie). Julia now has a daughter of her own, and she is married to Joel, a stay-at-home dad whose job is to make sure their daughter never turns on the television. (more…)
“It should feel good to make meatballs.”
21
Today marks the anniversary of my grandmother’s death. To honor this, I’m reposting what I wrote about her passing last year. I’m grateful for the fact that this is the most popular piece I’ve written for this site.
◊ ◊ ◊
The thing about living a quarter of the world away from home is that every time I say goodbye to someone I love in the States, I have to remind myself that there’s a chance that this is the last time. It’s one of those emotional realities you have to subscribe to when you live like this.
My grandmother’s health has been deteriorating rapidly over the last few months, and my family has reached the point where a lot of difficult decisions have to be made. I’m getting the information in matter-of-fact pieces, which means – for better or for worse – I’m not living with the weight of what’s going on every minute of the day like my family is.
Last Friday my wife said that I should call my grandmother, and I confess I had been dragging my feet. I did so for a couple of reasons, the first being it was easier to deal with this situation because it was over there and talking to her on the phone would bring it here, and the second was because I knew that this phone call would be the last time I would talk with her. And believing you’re talking to someone for the last time is a hell of a lot different than knowing you’re talking to someone for the last time. (more…)
West Coast Wednesdays: West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #44
0
West Coast Avengers, Vol. 2, Issue 44 (May 1989)
WEST COAST CREDITS!
Writer: John Byrne
Penciler: John Byrne
Inker: Mike Machlan
WEST COAST SUMMARY!
The teams find Vision, but it turns out he’s been completely erased thanks to a joint effort by nearly all of the world’s security networks. Things aren’t looking good and it’s about to get a whole lot worse…
WEST COAST THOUGHTS!
Three issues in to Byrne’s run on West Coast Avengers, I’ve noticed that each issue opens with a splash page with a close up of one of the members (#42 was Wanda, #43 was Clint and #44 goes to a destroyed Vision). A nice touch.
It’s learned that the people who kidnapped Vision aren’t KGB, rather they’re a group of people from different world security networks who’ve come together to make sure that Vision can never be a threat to humanity again. They’ve not only tore him apart, but they’ve completely erased his memories. And thanks to their computer virus back at the West Coast Avengers’ compound, even Vision’s back-up files have been destroyed.
Just when you think it couldn’t get worse for Wanda’s husband, it turns out that Wasp had discovered Dr. Horton, the creator of the original Human Torch, locked up in the facility. As we know from the flashbacks that’s been running through this storyline, Vision’s body was originally that of the original Human Torch. However, when Horton enters the lab to see Vision spread out on the table, he makes a startling revelation: the body on the table isn’t his work.
Hawkeye is still wandering around the facility looking for answers and comes across Tigra going all feral on a bunch of workers. When she sees Hawkeye, it’s clear she doesn’t recognize him and attacks him too.
Of interest, we have a one page scene of a mysterious group of people at Absolom College in Texas, where they’re trying to decide on “a suitable subject.” You can tell that these people are evil because the scene is set in Texas. There’s a large monitor that ends up revealing over 40 heroes from the Marvel universe before coming to Scarlet Witch, who they agree is the best candidate. What makes this page so significant is that in one page Byrne manages to connect the West Coast Avengers with the greater Marvel universe – X-verse and all – in a way that’s never really been done before in the series. It’s a small touch, but an important one.
Anyway, the team packs up all the pieces of Vision and heads home. Pym points out that while the whole operation to kidnap and deprogram Vision is bad, because it had the approval of the government, there isn’t a whole lot they can do except register a complaint. So the team returns home with egg on their face, but not before Wanda uses her powers to nonchalantly destroy the entire facility, probably killing hundreds of government workers in the process. I hope they send her a bill for damages.
When they return to the compound, Wanda sees that the governess watching her children had activated the panic button. She runs over to her bungalow to find Miss Bach in a state of panic as she confesses that the twins had just vanished at the blink of an eye while giving them a bath. Wanda barges into the bathroom to find the twins sitting in the bathtub as if nothing had happened. Wanda doesn’t appreciate Bach’s “sick sense of humor” and terminates her employment immediately, because the daughter of Magneto and the wife of an android couldn’t possibly imagine that maybe something is amiss with her children.
The issue’s fight scene comes in the form of a reactivated Vision, who looks more like a product of Skynet than the lovable guy we’ve come to know over the years. He knocks Pym out and gives the rest of the team a run for their money until Pym wakes up and deactivates him. This is a by-the-numbers kind of fight.
The issue ends with the team discovering that the government has now sent them a new member as a way to avoid future interventions, and it is none other than U.S. Agent! Because Captain America would be too good for this team!
WEST BOAST OR ROAST?
Boast. Another good issue with lots of mysteries being introduced.
WEST COAST SCENE (OF THE WEEK)!
Are you Sarah Connor?
Previously on West Coast Wednesdays…
West Coast Avengers Vol. 1, #1
West Coast Avengers Vol. 1, #2
West Coast Avengers Vol. 1, #3
West Coast Avengers Vol. 1, #4
The Vision and Scarlet Witch #1
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #2
The Vision and Scarlet Witch #2
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #3
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #4
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #5
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #6
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #7
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #8
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #9
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #10
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #11
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #12
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #13
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #14
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #15
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #16
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #17
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #18
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #19
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #20
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #21
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #22
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #23
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #24
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #25
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #26
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #27
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #28
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #29
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #30
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #31
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #32
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #33
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #34
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #35
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #36
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #37
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #38
West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #39
Writing from my office for the first time…
2I’m sitting at my desk in my office. By office, I mean my own room in my own home where I can do things writers do when no one is looking.
This is the first time in my life where I’ve had such a room. This isn’t to say I didn’t have an “office” before, but those rooms tended to moonlight as bedrooms on the side. For the last four years of my life, my office space (and I’m using the term loosely here) had consisted of the couch in our living room with a little fold-out desk that hung over the side of the couch like one of those hospital trays you see on deathbeds. When I wasn’t using that, my office space usually amounted to any table I could find – preferably one in a corner – at the local Starbucks.
As I’m writing this, I can hear workers making noise downstairs as they finish the millions of tiny details needed in order for this home to be considered complete. One day in the near future, when I’m using this very office, I expect it to be a little quieter. There is a door that is open, but I know that I could lock it if I wanted to…you know, if I was busy hiding a dead body like in a movie. Through the doorway, I can see our library resting comfortably in the next room. I’m ten paces shy of a thousand different universes made of trees and this makes me so happy it’s crazy. I also have a lovely window that’ll be open behind me when the sun starts doing its job better (I think it’s a little intimidated by all the attention Super Moon has been getting). Soon, I’ll be putting up a white board over the desk and unpacking all of my toys that my wife wishes I’d burn already.
I don’t know what I’m going to create in this office. I do know I’ll be writing lots and lots of stories and working on the thousands of projects I keep foolishly committing to. I have a book that I’m waiting for a publisher to approve – and honestly, if that happens, I’ll be just as surprised as anyone. There’s a novel that’s been begging to be finished for a long time. There are television show pitches that have been trying the patience of a network for the last six months. I have notes for over a dozen short stories, and that’s not counting the ones taking up headspace at the moment. Plus, haikus, recipes and other things that cannot be mentioned in the sunlight.
This is the first thing I’ve written in this room, my office.
I’m ready to get started now.
WHO?
Drunk Hulk started on Twitter in October 2009 and has since become an internet sensation with over 131,000 followers. He has been featured in various print and online publications like TIME, Huffington Post, NPR, MTV and more.
Both BuzzFeed and Paste Magazine listed Drunk Hulk as one of the best Twitter feeds of 2011.
The creator behind Drunk Hulk is Christian A. Dumais, an American writer and university lecturer living in Wrocław, Poland.
BOOKS
“I absolutely loved this book. EMPTY ROOMS LONELY COUNTRIES is bittersweet and touching, with some really funny bits . . . There are moments of sagacity and wisdom like I’ve rarely seen before, but it’s oh so sad – heartbreakingly, hauntingly, beautifully so . . . easily one of the my top ten favorite books of all time.” - TAMPA BOOK BUZZ
“[COVER STORIES] hints at the future of the short story." - NEW MYSTICS REVIEWS
Popular Posts
-
Jan 1821 Comments
-
Sep 2817 Comments
-
Oct 612 Comments
-
Apr 59 Comments
-
Nov 219 Comments
Recent Comments