Bright Eyes (Live)

It's Good to Have the NFL Back

You've probably noticed that the sports-related posts around here have fallen off dramatically. That's because there just hasn't been that much interesting enough to me to be worth the effort. But now the NFL is back, so here's a quick summary of the first few days of free agency, mostly the ones with fantasy impact:

-DeAngelo Williams is staying with Carolina.

-Reggie Bush is going to Miami, and now that I've typed that sentence I have to post this:



-Kevin Kolb, displaced from Philadelphia by Michael Vick, is going to Arizona.

-Chad formerly Johnson has signed with the Patriots.

-Vince Young has signed with Philly, presumably to see if he can learn something from Vick.

-The Eagles also signed CB Nnamdi Asomugha, the best cornerback on the market.

-Brett Favre is still retired.

Avengers: SHIELD

Avengers: Hawkeye

Avengers: Black Widow

Avengers: Captain America

Avengers: Hulk

Game on?

According to ESPN, the NFLPA and the owners have reached an agreement that will end the lockout. There are still a few hurdles left, but according to the article these are considered formalities and shouldn't slow anything down. Assuming there aren't any issues, free agency will begin on Saturday.

Avengers: Thor

Avengers: Iron Man

Star Wars Deleted Scenes

Thoughts on Captain America

-I liked the movie a lot. I think most people will call it the best of the Marvel movies so far. It has to at least be a tie with Iron Man. It reminded me somewhat of Indiana Jones, mostly in tone and that it's a period piece. And also the Nazis.

-Chris Evans was excellent in the role. I had my doubts when he was cast, but I don't think anyone else would have done any better.

-The rest of the cast was great too. Hugo Weaving is excellent as the Red Skull. Tommy Lee Jones basically plays himself, or at least the character you usually see him play, but that's perfect for the part. Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter has much more to do than I would have expected and plays the role very well. She's also an absolute knockout in this movie, I expect you'll see her in a lot more films in the next year or two.

-The film is a little more violent than I would have expected. Nothing graphic, but a few places where it might take you off guard, like when a HYDRA soldier goes through a spinning propellor blade.

-There's a Wilhelm scream in the movie. I don't recall any of those in other Marvel movies.

-The score is very John Williams-ish, there's a sequence with a fight on a train that sounds a lot like a piece from Star Wars.

-Pre-serum Steve Rogers looks good in the movie, not as odd as in the trailers. The rest of the effects are pretty decent, but I think they outstripped their budget. There's a lot of scenes where it's pretty obvious that you're looking at green screen work.

-I still think the HYDRA costumes, and Cap's suit, look too future and not retro enough, but it looks okay on screen. I think they pushed the designs for HYDRA pretty hard because they were worried that the audience would think they were normal Nazis.

-The post-credit sequence is a teaser for Avengers. Definitely worth sticking around for, it got a round of applause at the showing I went to. It looks fantastic, but I'm honestly more excited to see Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark interact with Cap and Thor than any action pieces.

"Going Out of Business"

After watching Captain America last night I stopped in at the Borders across the street. I figured they might have some good deals since they're liquidating. Well, half the people in the Quad Cities must have had the same idea, there wasn't a place to park in the parking lot. I finally got in and it looked like it would have taken 30+ minutes to check out. That didn't look like fun, but I thought there must be some good deals if people were putting up with it. So I started looking around and the biggest discount? Twenty percent off. That almost makes them competitive with Amazon. Needles to say, I left without buying anything.

Car of the Week

On Father's Day, we went to Frankenmuth to celebrate...everyone's birthday. There are four June birthday's in the King family, so we get big discounts on the chicken dinners, yada yada yada. Woohoo!

As we were leaving the Bavarian parking lot, I noticed some humans checking out a vehicle as if they've never seen one before, let alone certainly not their way of transportation that afternoon.

So, when they were done gawking, I stolled over and tried to pretend it was just another ugly Bugatti. It didn't take long for me to also realize I'd never seen this type of car before, in fact, I had no idea what it was (that's not really saying much, I know Japanese about as good as cars). I looked at the emblem on the grill, but that was really no help. It looked like two M's inside each other. I really should have taken a picture. Not sure why I didn't. Maybe because I knew this was nothing in the ballpark of a Bugatti, and once you've seen one of those, everything else is just small potatoes.

But, I filed it in the back of my mind and hoped the M's had something of importance...or at least that I thought they were M's and could help me later. So, it's now later and I did a little search of auto's that start with the letter M...that I've never heard of and would sound foreign/expensive. I don't know the model, but it's in the Maybach family tree.

A 2011 Maybach ranges between $372,000 and $463,000 if you are shoping for a vehicle.

Comic Cover of the Week: Daredevil #1

SSC Tuatara

The Bugatti Veyron, the fastest road-legal car in the world, has been mentioned a few times on this blog, and even photographed by Ump:



Well, the Veyron is going to have some competition as Shelby Supercars (SSC) is making a car meant to take that record, the Tuatara:



That is one fantastic looking car. I don't know about you, but I think I have a guess as to the inspiration:

Dark Knight Rises

"You wouldn't like me when I'm angry."

I saw a crazy car yesterday at the gas station. Just as I was pulling up to the pump an older Chevy pulled in, probably an '85 or older Caprice Classic. It was rolling on at least 19" rims, maybe larger, but that wasn't the remarkable part. The top was yellow and the rest of the car was bright green. On the side there was an airbrushed scene featuring the Incredible Hulk. I should have taken a picture, but I was so in shock it didn't occur to me.

Comic Cover of the Week: Hellboy: The Fury #2

The Dark Knight Rises Teaser Poster

Via Big Hollywood.

Game of Thrones Theme

I haven't watched HBO's Game of Thrones yet, but this mashup of two different covers of the theme music is awesome:

Comic Cover of the Week: Red Skull #1