Shooflypie

I didn't buy as many books this week, though I do have a bunch still in my file at the shop. I wanted to save some bucks for new music and those $3.99 books eat the budget quickly. Still, I was happy with the few I picked up... Action Comics #897 - Each issue of this storyline has seen Lex Luthor matching wits against another DC villain and this time around he willingly goes to Arkham Asylum to question The Joker about the black spheres. Paul Cornell does a great job writing Joker with a mixture of craziness and shrewdness and the interaction between the two is fantastic. He also uses their exchange to deepen the mystery at hand and call into question the actions of the Lois Lane robot. The tag at the end leads us to next issue's villain, Larfleeze. I'll be back. Detective Comics #873 - This is my third week in a row reading this book and the third part of the opening storyline, "The Black Mirror." It is a satisfyingly creepy conclusion and resolves some of Dick

Hard to believe it's the end of January already. My focus hasn't quite been what I wanted it to be starting out the year but there's still time. Today is definitely a day of getting things done. There's talk that we could get a lot of snow mid-week, so we'll see if there are any delays or cancellations. For now, let's see what pops up on iTunes today... 1. All the Wine/The National (3) 2. Even Heroes Have To Die/Ted Leo & The Pharmacists (12) 3. Wonderful Savior/Mavis Staples (5) 4. Lousy Penpal/Portastatic (1) 5. Your Head Is On Fire/Broken Bells (5) 6. Burn Last Sunday/Superchunk (10) 7. Girl/The Beatles (1) 8. Soldiers Get Strange/Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit (2) 9. Get Up Get Out/The Rosebuds (1) 10. The Perfect Space/The Avett Brothers (3)

I had this week's comics read by Sunday afternoon but my school work has prevented me from posting about them...until now! Legion of Super-Heroes #9 - This issue had some of the cast split into pairs - Brainy and Cham on Durla; Timber Wolf and Tyroc protecting the UP Council; and Tellus trying to meld with a comatose Dawnstar (in a lovely painted sequence). There is nothing vital here but still plenty interesting to a fan of the Legion. Like me. Detective Comics #872 - Second week in a row that I've read this comic, which catches me up to its current publishing special. I like how a moment in the lead story is the starting point for the back-up. Mirror House gets a bit more creepy and things get more dire for Dick (the Batman of this series). Cool updating on the old undercover Batman staple, though that leads to some of the complications. This is a book to stick with. Knight & Squire #4 - We get more character work than British themes in this issue and it works very wel

I only have one thing I need to say today - Go Bears! 1. Lust/The Raveonettes (3) 2. Swedes In Stockholm (Acoustic)/Tokyo Police Club (3) 3. My Sweet Lord/Yim Yames (4) 4. Slapped Actress/The Hold Steady (3) 5. All the Time/Tom Waits (3) 6. Don't Come Back/Mary Weiss (3) 7. Frankenstein/Tokyo Police Club (11) 8. Marie Provost/Nick Lowe (2) 9. Hold Your Ipod To My Heart/Tom Adamson (3) 10. Working Part Time/The Henry Clay People (2)

I'm still behind the times on some books, though I am current with others. I'm trying to figure out what my pull list will consist of, so I expect a few more weeks of the same sort of mixture. I want to leave some room for flexibility as well. Anyway, here's what I read this week... Secret Six #29 - This is the second part to a story that started in last week's Action Comics . While I was interested in how the story evolved, I was drawn in by the characters. Bane's demeanor is very menacing yet calm and I'd forgotten how much Deadshot's humor works in the hands of a good writer - and Gail Simone definitely qualifies. I've been interested in this title since its inception and maybe this crossover is the impetus I need to give it a go. We'll see. Detective Comics #871 - This comic came out the day before Thanksgiving, I believe. and I've just now been able to get a copy. The cover is very striking and signals two things you get inside - moody art

This week has been a busier one with my college classes starting up. I need to get into a rhythm that allows me to post once or twice during the week and not only on weekends. This weekend is a big one in the NFL and I'll be rooting on my Bears in a few hours. Tonight are the Golden Globes, which my wife and I usually watch. Okay, let's start some songs... 1. Better Things/Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings (10) 2. I'll Be Yr Bird/M. Ward (1) 3. Jeez Louise/Grandaddy (2) 4. The Gymnast, High Above the Ground/The Decemberists (4) 5. Our Time Has Passed/Pernice Brothers (3) 6. 30 Xtra/Superchunk (8) 7. Genesis 3:23/The Mountain Goats (2) 8. Roscoe/Midlake (1) 9. Sweet Potato/Imperial Teen (1) 10. Don't Know Why (You Stay)/The Essex Green (3)

After more than a month of typical hemming and hawing, I've decided to keep buying comics in single issues and trades for 2011. Each week I'll post some quick thoughts about what single issues I bought; trades will be covered in separate posts. Adventure Comics #522 - This is the second of two issues bridging the series from a look past at the team's early days and a new story arc focusing on the Legion Academy. Still, the book gives us a look at Mon-El's first outing as the new Green Lantern while folding in some plot points of the titular Legion title, notably the first inklings of a new Legion of Super-Villains team. Paul Levitz is really settling back into writing the team and the art by Geraldo Borges is solid. I do find it ironic that in the first week of comics from the new holding-the-line-at-$2.99-with-only-20-pages-of-story-and-no-backups DC...we get a 5 page preview of the upcoming comic tie-in to the big DC video game. Anyway, I'll be reading this book f

This is the first book in the celebrated trilogy by Suzanne Collins and the first book I read on my new Nook Color. I'd been vaguely aware of this series but it wasn't until the release of the third book this fall and a conversation in Indianapolis with Trevor before seeing The National that I made the decision to read it. I'm very glad I did. The Hunger Games takes place in a future where America is no more - in its place is something called Panem, which is dominated by the Capitol. The Capitol rules over 12 Districts and once a year uses the Hunger Games as a way of reminding the districts of that dominance. During the Games, each District sends one boy and one girl to compete in a match for the death. The winning child brings fame and fortune back home with them. It is a completely barbaric system that everyone had to go along with. We are introduced to Katniss Everdeen. She is the older of two daughters who live with their mother (their father died in a coal mining acc

I had plans to post every day this week and it obviously didn't happen. This week college starts up again. I have 2 classes this semester as opposed to the 1 I had in the fall, so we'll see how many posts I get done each week. Yesterday I watched both NFL playoffs games and I'll do the same today. For now, though, let's get to the music... 1. Drop Me Off/Pela (3) 2. Hands Up Baby/Camera Obscura (1) 3. The Bed/St. Vincent (4) 4. Vivian/Delta Spirit (10) 5. Low Branches/Superchunk (6) 6. Revenge/Spoon (2) 7. Star-Spangled Man/Luna (3) 8. House of Lies/The Broken West (3) 9. Got To Get You Into My Life/The Beatles (3) 10. The Ghost Inside/Broken Bells (6)

Every Sunday morning I get up, open iTunes, and enter shuffle mode. The first ten songs that come up (not counting my wife's music - the stuff we share is fair game) are what constitute the Sunday Shuffle. There are still unplayed songs from our hard drive getting zapped early last year, so don't mind the songs with a "1." My Sundays don't feel complete without this feature or watching Sports Reporters . So, let's get to the first shuffle of 2011... 1. Little Red Corvette/Prince (1) 2. I Can See Your Future/Belle and Sebastian (10) 3. Fiery Crash/Andrew Bird (1) 4. His Majesty Rides/Josh Rouse (2) 5. And It Spread/The Avett Brothers (4) 6. A Valley Son (Sparing)/Grandaddy (2) 7. Kiss On My List/Hall & Oates (1) 8. The Smartest Man Alive/The Broken West (2) 9. Song For Marion Brown/Superchunk (14) 10. One Tree Hill/U2 (1)

Ever since I deleted my original Shooflypie blog, I've been trying to find a way to get back to it. I've not been able to use that original URL again and I've gone with Another Piece of Shooflypie and Shooflypie Season 3 . If you want to dig into my archives, those would be the places to go. Neither of those felt quite right to me in the name, however. So, I've decided to bring back my original name while shifting my URL to my own name, which effectively marries my presences on social sites and my original e-mail address to my blog name and other e-mail address. It feels good. You might wonder if anything will be different as I go forward. The answer is probably not. I do want to write more often and in more depth but I have 2 reading-intensive classes starting on Jan. 10 and they probably won't leave a lot of time. I'm not giving up at all, just being realistic. I can promise that the Sunday Shuffle will continue - it's such a part of my Sundays now that I