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Tony’s Column |
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Tony’s Column |
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May 30, 2008
Birthday
Hi Everyone, Well as I sit here contemplating what to write and watching the rain come down, I got to thinking. Most times rainy days would get me down but not today. Today is my birthday and I am in a good mood and I have been doing some reflecting. I got lots of greeting today on Face book (crack book as I like to call it) and I guess there is something that alerts people to when your birthday is. I have also received calls from family and friends today which is nice. I do have mixed feelings today, my grandmother passed away last weekend and they are going to be burying her tomorrow. My mom went down and I would have like to have been there for her. I find that I am looking at things in life a bit differently after all the stuff that has gone down in the last year (and still going on). I have found that sometimes you have to walk the path alone and you can only rely on oneself. I have met a lot of great people along the way and I hope to meet many more. To all of you thanks for taking the time to read this and tonight we ride. Well tonight I see Indiana Jones but then we ride. Till next Time. Tony
May 24, 2008
The Cost of Flying
Hi Everyone, I heard today that American Airlines is going to be charging $15-$20 per bag when you check in. This will either be a very good move on their part or the worst possible move. Without going crazy and raising ticket prices to match the rising cost of fuel, they have decided to start nickel and diming the public. Most flights now come with no extras (even the meals are now limited on flights). You can’t bring your own food and water, you now must purchase it once you pass security and the cost is more than it would cost you at 7-11, if you know what I mean. They even charge you on some flights for the headphones to listen to the programmed music. Hey, I don’t mind paying extra for the flight, which have also been going up to compensate for the fuel charges, but when you are now going to charge me to bring the stuff I need to bring for a trip, well that’s getting ridiculous. Hey if you want to charge me for an extra bag or 2 or if it’s overweight that’s fine but please to charge me for bring what I need with me is ridiculous. Let’s all hope the rest of the airlines don’t follow suit, it could be bad for all of us. Till Next Time. Tony
May 17, 2008
Stuck in the Middle
Hi Everyone, right now there seems to be lots of things split down the middle. People either love the new Spider-man series or the hate it, not many going with the middle ground. The new Speed Racer movie the critics hated it, yet all the customers that have seen the movie have thought it was great. Hillary or Obama, one day he’s winning big the next primary he’s lost his lead and she back in the race. NBA if your have the home court advantage your season could be done. Even with our justice system we have decided instead of doing something definite in the young offenders act we have now just decided to reverse the onus from the defense to the prosecution. The only thing lately that people can agree on is that Iron Man was a great movie and we should send aid to Asia for the disasters that have been happening there. I guess we are at the point right now to agree to disagree. I know some who will agree with that statement and those that will disagree. Till Next Time. Tony
May 10, 2008
Iron Man
Hi Everyone, If you haven’t seen Iron Man you are missing what could be the best origin movie that Marvel has done. The movie has updated the original origin (setting it in Afghanistan instead of Vietnam) but it keeps the same feeling and basic points. Gwynth Paltrow did a wonderful job as Pepper Potts, the addition of Happy Hogan, Jim Rhodes and the Villainous Obidah Stane was great. I would like to see Iron Man up against the Titanium Man next movie (maybe even the Crimson Dynamo). The Movie is not overly long (just over 2 hours), the humour is well placed and the action doesn’t seem choppy. I won’t put any spoilers in this but if you go and see the movie stay until the end of the credits, it will be worth it. Till Next time. Tony
May 3, 2008
Sagging Sales
Hi Everyone Comic sales in the 1st quarter of 2008 is Down yet the sale of TPB and Graphic Novels are up. One of the reasons for this could be the fact that there has been a lot of late titles coming out in the last year and people are starting to wait for the collections especially on miniseries. Another thing could be that by the time someone finds out that a series is good all the issues have been sold out and they have to turn to the trades to get the story. I have also said before that some of the old time comic fans who want to get back READING comics find that TPBs are better for them. There is no denying that the market is there and it is growing hopefully not at the expense of the periodical. Till Next. Time Tony
Apr 26, 2008
Playoffs
Hi Everyone, Well it’s been an exciting first round of the playoffs (hockey that is). The Ottawa Senators shocked everyone by going out in 4 straight games. The Devils had no firepower against the Rangers and eventually fell in 5 games. Colorado on the strength, yes the strength of Jose Theodore were able to take care of Minnesota in 6 games. My Beloved Canadiens where in a dog fight for most of the 7 game series against the Bruins but in the end decided to play like they should have all series and won 5-0 in game 7. Don Cherry said it was the ghosts of the old forum that showed up again and maybe he was right. Boston is a good team but for some reason this season (and most of the last 60 years) they have had trouble and bad luck against Montreal. Calgary has a chance to Join Montreal tonight, as being the only Canadian Teams left but they have to beat San Jose in San Jose tonight. They CANNOT play like they did last Tuesday and only take 10 shots and almost win a game. They have to play like they did Sunday in the 2-0 win at home. Also I am torn in another game 7 when Washington meets Philadelphia. Montreal would have a better time against Philadelphia but Washington/Pittsburgh would be a fantastic to watch. Of Course then the Canadiens would have to face Super pest (Shawn Avery) and the rest of the Rangers which would definitely be a tough series for them. Then again the Rangers also have some old Canadiens ghost haunting them, too. Now if someone can take care of the Red Wings….. Till Next Time. Tony
Apr 19, 2008
I Want My American TV
Hi Everyone, Hold on a second the CRTC may want to deregulate what channels we can get. This could mean you could actually watch a Show like Rome on the originating station in the States and not have to get movie central or wait for 6 months for either the History channel or Showcase to run it. Well here are what I think the good and bad points of this is. The good: with shows that are shown on HBO and Showtime you get all the ads at the end of the show. So in a 52 minute showing of the L Word you would get the show followed by 8 (or sometimes 10) minutes of ads. When you watch it here it usually runs until 10 minutes after the hour because of all the commercials that are added in throughout the show(right now I believe it is 12-14 minutes of commercials per hour show in Canada). One of the negatives would be that most people would have that America is better attitude and some really good Canadian shows could get lost in the shuffle. I don’t think people would mind or even consider getting these channels if some of the shows were readily available here. I don’t mean showing them on a digital specialty channel like Movie central but on Bravo or Showcase. We tend to get “hosed” on animation. Most times it doesn’t air until 6-9 months later on Cartoon Network or Family channel. We still haven’t seen the remaining Kim Possible episodes from the final season. Especially now with torrents, YouTube and some of the other ways of getting shows people seem to want to turn away from “traditional” TV. I don’t know about you but I prefer to tape (yes I don’t have TIVO or PVR) and fast forward through the commercials or just watch them on DVD. Maybe this will cause the Canadian Companies to come up with more shows. Sure they won’t have the have huge budget of the American Show but shows like Corner Gas or Trailer Park Boys have proven you don’t need a big budget to have a good show. Till Next Time. Tony
Apr 12, 2008
Plus ca change, Plus c'est la meme chose (with apologizes to Rush)
Hi Everybody, 38 years ago a change in comic stores started to happen. We started to go from a returnable business to a non returnable system for comics. Now the book companies are thinking about going in this direction. They had also tried to do it at the same time as the comic industry but bookstores threaten to cut orders so the publishers backed off. The publishers have something now that they didn’t have then, online sales. Now if a store says they won’t order many books the publisher can say that’s ok we can make it available on our online site. If a store says give us an extra 10% discount and we will give you front of the store display (or prime display) the publisher can decline. You see they have had at least 10 years to get the bugs out of their online system, they now have all their properties with the website on them, and people are now used to selling on the internet. They also don’t have to worry about things like credits on next orders, processing all the strip covers. They already have a non returnable policy on most hardcovers and they can go from this model and shift it to paperbacks with ease. Comics tried to by pass the distributor end once and it didn’t work out well for one major publisher. They didn’t realize how much went into it. The publishers of books however do know what the deal is and have spent years preparing for it. If this works for Harper Collins and other publishers follow suit, I wonder how long it will be before the comic publisher’s try it again. Then again for 20 years the comic publishers have had it good not having to worry about extra stock but there’s no accounting for greed. Till Next Time. Tony.
Apr 5, 2008
A Crazy World
Hi Everyone, Well I’m not sure how to put this but there is some crazy stuff going on out in the world right now. We have grade three students getting handcuffs, duct tape, and a knife in a plot to get revenge on their teacher because she scolded one of them. We have a teacher who is on suspension because a story of what she had done to a student got misconstrued. She wanted to teach the student boundaries, so she put a taped box around his desk and told him not to leave it. When it got to the principal, they were told she had taped up the student. Even though the situation has been cleared up the teacher is still on administrative leave. There are kids who have just been arrested for having a “Death Note” notebook like the one in the popular manga/anime. The names of faculty and students and how they will die are in it and the authorities are treating it as a terrorist crime. In our city, a fifteen year old is one of 3 people charged in a triple homicide and in a fatal car accident involving a stolen vehicle, 4 of the 5 people in the vehicle were under 18 years of age. Is it me or are these becoming more common place. Is it the fact that kids know their rights better than some adults, they are using it to their full advantage. We spend more time worrying about what some Politician has said 17 years ago and lip service to whether or not the youth crime act should have more teeth. The Criminals have figured this out and are recruiting kids to do their dirty work, the cops have figured it out because they keep picking up and releasing the same kids over and over. The only people that haven’t figured it out is our elected officials. They will figure it out when it them on the other end of some crime but I’m not going to hold my breath waiting. Till Next Time. Tony |
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