Metal Monday

I’ll be honest, this last week was filled with service work in the queer community and gorging on comfort media. So there’s not a lot new here.¹

YouTube Obsession

Space Engineers video creator Splitsie is back at it with a (still ongoing) series Scrapyard Survival. This series has him on a desolate planet unable to build anything without first finding the blueprint somewhere. I find the gradual progression, Splitsie’s chill affect and the meandering nature of the game to be so soothing.

Watching

I’ll be honest, I have not been watching the news, I’ve attempted to be on a news-media blackout since last Wednesday. Mostly because the democratic party is back to their old coping tactics of blaming voters for their epic inability to present policies that look any different than the GOP or braindead liberal boomer failures like Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton.

The audacity to say that misogyny and racism were the largest factors in their loss is spitting in the face of everyone who tried -despite the establishment’s best efforts- to get Harris elected. I’m not political genius but I did grow up in rural fly-over states and no one cares about Dick Cheney endorsements. No one cares that Kamala Harris is a gun owner. No one cares about anything Trump says, or Israel or immigration. What they care about is what is effecting their pocketbook, they care about populist policies that effect their lives on the daily. Democrats have offered nothing to the vast swaths of rural America in decades.

I’m saying this because the democratic party just adopted the GOP’s rhetoric on immigration even though it did not matter. Same with Israel, it does not matter. So why align with the GOP on these issues when by doing so you are pandering to an audience you have no chance to steal. It’s DUMB.

Pushing clear messaging for Medicare for All would win them an election. Clear messaging on student debt forgiveness and immigration amnesty would win them elections.

Anyway, we’ll do this again in 4 years!

Reading

As I was reading through The Mask Omnibus I came upon the original comic I read back when I was far too young to read it. I had a realization: This comic is fundamental to what I enjoy about comics today.

Specifically, The Mask Strikes Back. This was the exact comic arc I read back in 1995 and reading it uncovered so many memories.

This is Walter. He is positioned as the unmovable object to combat the Mask’s unstoppable force. His motivations are entirely unknown until the last page and it is so worth the wait. His design is top tier and I love any frame that positions him among normal sized people.

This is the frame that has stuck with me. As a kid I really didn’t understand what was happening but I loved the look Walter, of an absolute gnarled fist of a man, in a crisp clean suit stabbing a dude with a blunt broom handle.

I remember having to have a talk with my 4th grade teacher because I would try to draw this frame in art class.

I don’t understand how this comic isn’t talked about more, or why there hasn’t been a gritty reboot of The Mask for like Netflix or something because the art and style is over the top and cool.

I could post almost any page and it would have crazy wild art. I highly recommend getting this from your library and taking 30 minuets to read it.

The story actually gave me Hellboy or Lobster Johnson vibes and after some digging it turns out the writer, John Arcudi, has written for Hellboy, B.P.R.D. and Lobster Johnson. It also gives me another reason to re-read Lobster Johnson. More on that next week.

Playing

I am full-on into a multiplayer grind in BLOPs 6. I wont bore you with tales of cool matches or anything but if you want to dip your toe into a COD, this a good one.

Listening

Listening to old episodes of the 372 Pages podcast always makes me feel better. I’ve spoken about them before, Mike Nelson (of MST3K fame) and Connor Lastowka (Writer/Producer RiffTrax) read books that are often considered bad but in a fun way. Highlights being Ready Player One, William Shatner’s Tek-War series and Dan Brown’s Digital Fortress.

For fun I’m posting the episode where they read a letter from me (I am definitely a super fan). Through a series of inside jokes and insane life choices, I came across two extra copies of Modelland by Tyra Banks and sent them into the show. So you have me to blame for the crazy episodes that follow.

Other Notables

** Hand-painted movie posters from Ghana

** “The pollsters have once again been exposed as little more than a glorified Rasputin class, soothsayers whispering into the ears of the elite in Washington and New York.”

** I’ve been on the internet to long to discern if this is just funny or if it’s sexual…

1  He says, then writes a surprisingly long post lol