Sentential Links #199

One more to 200! Woo-hoo!

:: In the end, that’s the real problem with reboots; not only do they not really give the title a fresh start, they don’t really make it any more accessible. Within a year or two, the new continuity has its own backstory to wade through, and a few years after that, it’s just as convoluted and messy as the old one. (This is about comic book reboots and not cinematic ones, which I'm more well-versed about, but the concerns are still real.)

:: Today marks the Vernal Equinox, the date in which the amount of daytime and nighttime are equal, bringing to end the long dark winter nights, ushering longer sunlit days. It’s typically a time of celebration, but in the kingdom of Urland, the Equinox is a day of woe. Urland’s King Casiodorus long ago made a pact with Verminthrax Pejorative, the feared dragon that terrorizes his lands: The dragon will leave the kingdom in peace in exchange for a virgin sacrifice offered up twice a year on the Vernal and Autumnal Equinox. (Oddly, I wasn't that big a fan of the movie Dragonslayer when it came out, even though I was ten and it was full of wizards and dragons and young heroes and all that stuff. The book sounds interesting, so if I ever run across a copy, maybe I'll give it a look.)

:: Batman in the 70s wasn't quite the always-wins, prepared-for-anything, can-take-down-God-in-unarmed-combat dude he became post-Dark Knight Returns. Nope, Batman could be taken down by you or me (provided we were, like, not completely out of shape and sitting in front of our computers). (You know, that was what tipped me from being undecided about Dark Knight Returns into not liking it. I just can't believe that, unless he's filled his utility belt with Kyptonite, that Batman could last eight seconds against Superman. Batman is, for all his training and toys, just a guy, and I can't believe Superman couldn't kick his ass with a single punch.)

:: “American Idol” is like the Academy Awards this year – a plethora of nominees but only two real contenders. (Sheesh, don't get me started. I may not even bother watching the rest of this season. I already missed last week's show owing to a school function for The Daughter, and I didn't feel like I was missing anything. Thousands of people audition at all those stadiums, and the judges boil it all down to this group of crappy singers? And America votes Lilly off just before the final 12, when she was by far the most unique musician in the lot? Rubbish. I used to love me some American Idol, but my enthusiasm is seriously on the wane.)

:: I want more wood and brass in my life and less plastic. (I agree. And more light by burning flame!)

:: I’ve whined about this before and I’m sure I’ll whine about it again, but the business model the big box stores, and the littler box stores, have pinned their greedy hopes on is, basically, that every customer who comes into the store to spend one dollar ought to leave having spent two.

:: I've gone and bought a turntable. (Of course, I can't go this retro, as I don't have room for a turntable anywhere. But when I buy a new stereo, which will probably happen sometime later this year, it'll still have a CD player.)

:: How else do you date a cute girl while wearing THAT shirt. (Boy Howdy....)

All for this week. Tune in next week!