The Golden Globes ceremony is to be held on January 8, 2017

Best Motion Picture, Drama

“Hacksaw Ridge”

“Hell or High Water”

“Lion”

“Manchester by the Sea”

“Moonlight”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama

Amy Adams, “Arrival”

Jessica Chastain, “Miss Sloane”

Isabelle Huppert, “Elle”

Ruth Negga, “Loving”

Natalie Portman, “Jackie”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama

Casey Affleck, “Manchester By the Sea”

Joel Edgerton, “Loving”

Andrew Garfield, “Hacksaw Ridge”

Viggo Mortensen, “Captain Fantastic”

Denzel Washington, “Fences”

Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy

“20th Century Women”

“Deadpool”

“Florence Foster Jenkins”

“La La Land”

“Sing Street”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy

Annette Bening, “20th Century Women”

Lily Collins, “Rules Don’t Apply”

Hailee Steinfeld, “The Edge of Seventeen”

Emma Stone, “La La Land”

Meryl Streep, “Florence Foster Jenkins”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy

Colin Farrell, “The Lobster”

Ryan Gosling, “La La Land”

Hugh Grant, “Florence Foster Jenkins”

Jonah Hill, “War Dogs”

Ryan Reynolds, “Deadpool”

Best Motion Picture, Animated

“Kubo and the Two Strings”

“Moana”

“My Life as a Zucchini”

“Sing”

“Zootopia”

Best Motion Picture, Foreign Language

“Divines” (France)

“Elle” (France)

“Neruda” (Chile)

“The Salesman” (Iran / France)

“Toni Erdmann” (Germany)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture

Viola Davis, “Fences”

Naomie Harris, “Moonlight”

Nicole Kidman, “Lion”

Octavia Spencer, “Hidden Figures”

Michelle Williams, “Manchester by the Sea”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture

Mahershala Ali, “Moonlight”

Jeff Bridges, “Hell or High Water”

Simon Helberg, “Florence Foster Jenkins”

Dev Patel, “Lion”

Aaron Taylor-Johnson, “Nocturnal Animals”

Best Director, Motion Picture

Damien Chazelle, “La La Land”

Tom Ford, “Nocturnal Animals”

Mel Gibson, “Hacksaw Ridge”

Barry Jenkins, “Moonlight”

Kenneth Lonergan, “Manchester by the Sea”

Best Screenplay, Motion Picture

Damien Chazelle, “La La Land”

Tom Ford, “Nocturnal Animals”

Barry Jenkins, “Moonlight”

Kenneth Lonergan, “Manchester by the Sea”

Taylor Sheridan, “Hell or High Water”

Best Original Score, Motion Picture

Nicholas Britell, “Moonlight”

Justin Hurwitz, “La La Land”

Johann Johannsson, “Arrival”

Dustin O’Halloran and Hauschka, “Lion”

Hans Zimmer, Pharrell Williams and Benjamin Wallfisch, “Hidden Figures”

Best Original Song, Motion Picture

“Can’t Stop the Feeling!” — “Trolls”

“City of Stars” — “La La Land”

“Faith” — “Sing”

“Gold” — “Gold”

“How Far I’ll Go” — “Moana”

Best Television Series, Drama

“The Crown,” Netflix

“Game of Thrones,” HBO

“Stranger Things,” Netflix

“This Is Us,” NBC

“Westworld,” HBO

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, Drama

Caitriona Balfe, “Outlander”

Claire Foy, “The Crown”

Keri Russell, “The Americans”

Winona Ryder, “Stranger Things”

Evan Rachel Wood, “Westworld”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series, Drama

Rami Malek, “Mr. Robot”

Bob Odenkirk, “Better Call Saul”

Matthew Rhys, “The Americans”

Liev Schreiber, “Ray Donovan”

Billy Bob Thornton, “Goliath”

Best Television Series, Musical or Comedy

“Atlanta,” FX

“black-ish,” ABC

“Mozart in the Jungle,” Amazon

“Transparent,” Amazon

“Veep,” HBO

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, Musical or Comedy

Rachel Bloom, “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “Veep”

Sarah Jessica Parker, “Divorce”

Issa Rae, “Insecure”

Gina Rodriguez, “Jane the Virgin”

Tracee Ellis Ross, “black-ish”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series, Musical or Comedy

Anthony Anderson, “black-ish”

Gael García Bernal, “Mozart in the Jungle”

Donald Glover, “Atlanta”

Nick Nolte, “Graves”

Jeffrey Tambor, “Transparent”

Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

“American Crime,” ABC

“The Dresser,” Starz

“The Night Manager,” AMC

“The Night Of,” HBO

“The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story” FX

Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Felicity Huffman, “American Crime”

Riley Keough, “The Girlfriend Experience”

Sarah Paulson, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”

Charlotte Rampling, “London Spy”

Kerry Washington, “Confirmation”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Riz Ahmed, “The Night Of”

Bryan Cranston, “All the Way”

Tom Hiddleston, “The Night Manager”

John Turturro, “The Night Of”

Courtney B. Vance, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Olivia Colman, “The Night Manager”

Lena Headey, “Game Of Thrones”

Chrissy Metz, “This Is Us”

Mandy Moore, “This Is Us”

Thandie Newton, “Westworld”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Sterling K. Brown, “The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story”

Hugh Laurie, “The Night Manager”

John Lithgow, “The Crown”

Christian Slater, “Mr. Robot”

John Travolta, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”

Today, on National Comic Book Day, I finally got around to reading Marvel Comics’ Mockingbird #7.

And I just loved it.

I had wanted to buy the Mockingbird series, but I missed number one at my comic shop and several issues had come out when I finally saw the fourth issue.  I grabbed it and snagged the previous three issues.

And they were so brilliant.

Each issue since has been better and better.  The comic is the most intriguing, original and fun series that I have read in years.

The story told in Bobbi Morse’s POV and it is so wonderful.  There are great comedic bits throughout the whole series and the imagery is perfect.

In Mockingbird #7, Bobbi and Hunter are on board a ship entering the Bermuda Triangle, hoping to find some information that would help Clint Barton in his murder trial (the Civil War II tie-in).  They wind up investigating a murder and discovering that the whole thing was connected to her background.

Chelsea Cain is the writer on the Mockingbird series.  She is a first time comic book writer but she has been a successful novelist for several years having written Sweetheart, Heartsick, and Evil at Heart.  She has brought a freshness to the comic that I have not seen much.  Her creativity is off-the-chart.  The first five issues is written in a “puzzle box” format, where you are able to read the issues in any order and get something new out of it.

The title page is another amazing new feature, using health reports, memos and other items to provide a lot of laughs.

Mockingbird has been my favorite Marvel Comic since I started reading it.  I have enjoyed many of the unlikely Marvel Comics (Moon Knight, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, Ms. Marvel, Hellcat) but Mockingbird is at the top of that list.

It is here, true believers!  Once again, the big blue bug of justice is stomping his heel of heroism across the rooftops of The City, searching for evil and all that it does.  Only through destiny can the nigh invulnerable super hero say to all…”Knock off all that evil!

The Tick is one of the pilots up for vote on Amazon Prime.  A live action super hero comedy that turns the genre on its ear.  Created by Ben Edlund, The Tick makes a triumphant return.

The Tick started as an independent comic book.  That led to a FOX animated series that ran for three years and brought us some of the best comedic episodes you could hope for.  Finally, the tragically short-lived live action The Tick, starring Patrick Warburton, was on FOX for its 8 episodes.

Then, word came that Amazon was working on a new version of the Tick.  English comedian Peter Serafinowicz was cast in the lead role, a role that would be a challenge because of the great work of Warburton, as well as voice actor Townsend Coleman.  However, I see a lot of promise in Serafinowicz.  He delivered several of the classic Tick lines with a great gusto (such as “You’re not going crazy! You’re going sane in a crazy world!”).

But even more.  The new version of The Tick is grittier.  More grounded.  More realistic.  That sounds wrong.  But, it works.  It works so great!

We get a new background for Arthur, the Tick’s sad sack sidekick.  He had always been portrayed as an accountant with a poor self-image who wished to be a hero.  Here, Arthur is a damaged young man who had a dark and sad background, and who has been suffering with mental illness since.

Arthur is played perfectly by Griffin Newman.  He embodied this new Arthur so well and I found myself really feeling for the young boy whose encounter with the Terror (Jackie Earle Hayley).  His hero’s journey is a key to this first episode, and, hopefully, for many more to come.

There were some good characters introduced as well.  Dot, Arthur’s sister, looks to be the most interesting version of this character that we have seen.  The Terror looked to be a pretty awesome big bad.  The Terror has been the singular obsession for Arthur, and the reason he has been as damaged as he is.

Wally Pfister helmed this pilot. Pfister was the cinematographer behind “The Dark Knight Trilogy,” and he does a wonderful job here.

I wasn’t sure what to think, but when the Tick ends up in Arthur’s apartment, everything felt familiar, and it also feels new.

Spoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooon!

Please go see The Tick at Amazon and vote for the pilot.  I want to watch years of The Tick!

This time of the year is nirvana for Geek culture as the annual San Diego Comic Con is well underway.  And the companies and creators save their most squeal-inducing reveals for this convention.  This is the highlights from the first two days of the EYG Hall of Fame member, San Diego Comic Con.

The Walking Dead

Showed a trailer for Season 7

In the trailer, we get our first look at the new character King Ezekiel (played by newcomer Khary Payton) and his pet tiger Shiva.

Marvel-Netflix

There was a ton of news coming from the Netflix-Marvel pairing including new trailers from Luke Cage (debuting on Netflix on Sept. 30), Iron Fist, and a teaser trailer of The Defenders.

They also confirmed that there would be a Daredevil season three on Netflix and they had Frank Castle himself, Jon Bernthal, stop by the Luke Cage panel as a surprise.

Jon Bernthal and Jeph Loeb at SDCC.  Photo from comicbook.com

Marvel had more news though.  They confirmed that, in Agents of SHIELD season 4, we would see Ghost Rider.  This version of the Spirit of Vengeance would be played by Gabriel Luna (True Detective, Matador) and would be Robbie Reyes, the most recent version of the Ghost Rider.  They also unveiled the Ghost Rider’s car (the honors going to car enthusiast Clark Gregg).

photo: screenrant.com

DC Comics

Although we did not get much DC news on the first two days of SDCC (there should be a ton on Saturday when the WB panel takes place) there were some special nuggets.  First Wonder Woman’s first movie poster was released and it is spectacular.

The R-rated animated adaption of Batman; The Killing Joke debuted at SDCC.  The film is set for a special two-night Fathom Event release on July 25th and 26th in select theaters around the nation.

Injustice 2, the new video game featuring Wonder Woman and Blue Beetle, released a trailer for the game scheduled for release in 2017.

Other Television News

Rihanna was cast in Bates Motel’s fifth and final season as the iconic character Marion Crane.  Crane is the character that dies at Norman Bates’ hand in the shower scene in the original Alfred Hitchcock movie Psycho.  Marion was originally played by Janet Leigh.

Mr. Robot held a special panel at SDCC and they had to be very cautious with what they revealed.  Mr. Robot star Rami Malek did specifically call out season 2’s episode number 10 as a major episode that will make huge development plot-wise.

Friday night’s Preacher panel was two-hours long, which allowed the cast to do a live script reading for the penultimate episode of the AMC series, to be seen on July 24.

Not The Woods….

For horror fans, there was a surprise announcement from Lionsgate that the upcoming movie “The Woods” by Adam Wingard was, in reality, a secret sequel to The Blair Witch Project and would from now on be entitled “Blair Witch.”  This surprise caught everyone off guard as the film is due out September 16th.

Cosplay

Entertainment Tonight’s website has a great gallery of images from SDCC of the best cosplay outfits.  This includes cosplays of Harly Quinn from Suicide Squad, Rick from The Walking Dead (with zombie and Judith), and Vulture.

John Barrowman (Arrow) cosplayed at SDCC as Squirrel Girl among many others… while he was hosting the Eisner Awards.

Eisner Awards

The Eisner Awards were once again given out Friday night at SDCC.  The Eisner Awards are named after EYG Hall of Famer Will Eisner and are given to the best in comic books from the past year.  The list of winners can be found here.

 Toys

Hasbro revealed several new Marvel figures, including the first ever Kamala Khan, Ms. Marvel figure.  We also saw a Benedict Cumberbatch Dr. Strange.  There was also a replica Captain America shield.

 Screen Junkies

The Screen Junkies had several panels with great guests, but they also had several live movie fights judged by Kevin Smith and Max Landis.

I have always enjoyed the mysteries of true crime.  In particular, I have enjoyed the unsolved crimes.  I used to enjoy “Unsolved Mysteries” on NBC.  One of my favorite books was “The Dairy of Jack the Ripper.”  I loved the HBO series The Jinx and the movie documentary The Imposter.

I am fascinated by the mystery of the cases.  The mysterious deaths of Bob Crane, who played Col. Hogan on Hogan’s Heroes, and George Reeves, who played Superman, are intriguing.

The last few years have had a ton of these stories.  I am watching the History Channel’s series D.B. Cooper: Case Closed?  It was a two part, four hour total documentary focusing on the mystery of what happened to a man who stole $200,000 dollars in 1971, hijacked an airplane and jumped from the plane, never to be seen again.  It was a story that I had a passing knowledge of, but had never really deep desire to find out more.  This documentary was very compelling and grabbed my attention.

Of course, this year has been the year of O.J. Simpson.  With the brilliant People vs. O.J Simpson from FX’s American Crime Story and the remarkable documentary on ESPN called OJ: Made in America, this case has been brought the spotlight back into the world’s attention and refocused onto “The Juice” and the case of the double murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.

One of my favorite books is “Mindhunter” written by former FBI profiler John Douglas. Douglas would profile tons of cases and give an insight into the mind of these killers and rapists.  One of the most astounding things about Douglas was how much it took on him as an individual by putting himself into the mind of these sick and evil people.  It is also pretty impressive how these profilers can look at a crime scene and know so much about the perpetrator.

Jack the Ripper and The Zodiac Killer are personal “favorites” of mine.  I have always found serial killers to be fascinating, and these two are the top of the list, probably because they were never caught.  I have my own theories of who they were, and I have read several books on both of them.  They feel more like super villains than serial killers such as John Wayne Gacy or Ted Bundy.

I teach a lot of Edgar Allan Poe in my class.  His mysterious cause of death is one of the more interesting aspect of this famous author.  We do not know how he died.  Alcohol poisoning?  Rabies?  Brain Tumor?  Cooping?  Murdered?  There are so many possible solutions and we will never know.  That mystery makes me, as a writer, want to figure it out.

When I was a child, I would watch the TV show In Search Of… which was narrated by Leonard Nemoy.  This was a great show that really inspired by curious nature.  These mysteries helped mold me into the person I am.  I am always fascinated by these unsolved mysteries and I love the opportunity to try and figure out what had happened.

Every year come this time, there are a list of “snubs” from the nominees for the Emmy Awards.  It is unavoidable considering we have so many new outlets providing us with content for television.  Netflix.  Amazon.  Hulu.  HBO. FX. Showtime.  BBC America.  There are a ton of networks on both cable and streaming sites that make narrowing a list of nominees down truly a daunting task.

HOWEVER….

There are some drastic picks that I believe should have received an Emmy nomination today when they were announced, and I am going to express them…just because.

Bates Motel

To me there is no bigger snub than this one.  Bates Motel has been quietly one of the best shows on television, bar none.  The show itself should have been nominated in Best Drama, but I could almost live without that… but Freddie Highmore, who plays Norman Bates, and the sublime Vera Farmiga as Norma Bates were breathtaking this season.  Especially with the shocking end to this season.  I would also throw into the consideration for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Nestor Carbonell as Sheriff Alex Romero.  The relationship between Norma and Alex was one of the biggest, most charming surprises of the season and led to some of the most tragic and heartbreaking moments of the series.

Krysten Ritter

Jessica Jones was a special series on Netflix.  It was more than a superhero show.  In fact, you could remove the superpowers of Jessica Jones and you could still have a tremendous show about a damaged woman trying to move on with her life after being a victim.  The superpowers were just a part of the story.  And Krysten Ritter played Jessica Jones’ suffering and her alcoholic PTSD to the tee.  Her relationship with Luke Cage was fun and uncensored.  There were so many things that Emmy voters look for in this series that the only thing that makes sense is that this is a comic book series and they do not get nominations from the stuck in the mud Emmy voters.

David Tennent

Case in point.  This is the second brilliant performance by an actor as a Marvel villain in a Netflix show that has been ignored by Emmy voters.  There was absolutely no excuse for Vincent D’Onofrio to be skipped over last year for his role as Wilson Fisk.  So many layers… and David Tennent is arguably even better.  Kilgrave was essentially a rapist, yet before the end of the season, you found yourself rooting for him, understanding the pain and the desires the Purple Man had.  Tennent was tremendous and deserved an Emmy nod.

The Punisher

I dare you to watch Daredevil Season 2 Episode 4 with Frank Castle confessing his sins to Daredevil at the cemetery and not get the feels.  Jon Bernthal made this character his own, despite the failure of several incarnations on the big screen.  He infused Frank Castle with so many emotions that you could feel for this mass murderer and relate to him.  He was so perfect as the character that the show suffered when he slipped into the background.  Bernthal suffered the fate of the Emmy’s superhero prejudice.

Christian Slater 

My supporting actor in a drama category would look very different than the one that the Emmys rolled out because I would have had to have included Christian Slater from Mr. Robot.  The basis behind the biggest mystery of the first season, “Who is Mr. Robot”, Slater was spot on for every moment.  Though it is great that Slater’s scene partner Rami Malek receive a nomination and the series got one too, Slater was so vital to bring this series to life that ignoring him was criminal.

Stephen Colbert

This is first time in years that Stephen Colbert was overlooked.  This is also the first year that Stephen Colbert is hosting CBS’ Late Show instead of the Colbert Report.  Coincidence?  Colbert has found his footing as David Letterman’s replacement and it seemed that he belonged on this list.

Lady Gaga

She did win the Golden Globe.  That just goes to show how little the Academy thinks of the Golden Globes.  Replacing divine diva Jessica Lange was a huge challenge, but Lady Gaga impressed people with her vampiric vamping and the drastic bloodlust (literally) from American Horror Story: Hotel.

The Walking Dead

Every year, The Walking Dead is ignored.  Now, I will freely admit that this past season of TWD was not near what the show has been.  There is nothing as criminal as ignoring Melissa McBride’s performance from the previous year as Carol made Lizzy look at the flowers.  However, there is no denying that the show is still one of the most popular shows on television and the continual ignoring of the show is wrong.  Carol really deserved it last year.

Orange is the New Black

The Netflix series is another one that has had up and down seasons, but this seasons penultimate episode featuring Poussey was one of the best hours of television this season.  Why would the Emmys ignore this heart wrenching episode with the great performance by fan favorite Samira Wiley?

Announced Thursday morning, 7/14/16…

Full list of nominees:

Drama Series

The Americans

Better Call Saul

Downton Abbey

Game of Thrones

Homeland

House of Cards

Mr. Robot

Comedy Series

Black-ish

Master of None

Modern Family

Silicon Valley

Veep

Transparent

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Limited Series

American Crime

Fargo

The Night Manager

The People v O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story

Roots

Lead Actor in a Drama Series

Kyle Chandler, Bloodline

Rami Malek, Mr. Robot

Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul

Matthew Rhys, The Americans

Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan

Kevin Spacey, House of Cards

Lead Actress in a Drama Series

Claire Danes, Homeland

Viola Davis, How to Get Away With Murder

Taraji P Henson, Empire

Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black

Keri Russell, The Americans

Robin Wright, House of Cards

Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie

Bryan Cranston, All the Way

Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock

Idris Elba, Luther

Cuba Gooding Jr., The People v O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story

Tom Hiddleston, The Night Manager

Courtney B. Vance, The People v O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story

Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie

Kirsten Dunst, Fargo

Felicity Huffman, American Crime

Audra McDonald, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill

Sarah Paulson, The People v O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story

Lili Taylor, American Crime

Kerry Washington, Confirmation

Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

Anthony Anderson, Black-ish

Aziz Ansari, Master of None

Will Forte, Last Man on Earth

William H. Macy, Shameless

Thomas Middleditch, Silicon Valley

Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent

Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Ellie Kemper, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep

Laurie Metcalf, Getting On

Tracee Ellis Ross, Blackish

Amy Schumer, Inside Amy Schumer

Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie

Supporting Actor in a Comedy

Louie Anderson, Baskets

Keegan-Michael Key, Key & Peele

Andre Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Ty Burrell, Modern Family

Tituss Burgess, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Matt Walsh, Veep

Tony Hale, Veep

Supporting Actress in a Comedy

Niecy Nash, Getting On

Allison Janney, Mom

Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live

Judith Light, Transparent

Gaby Hoffmann, Transparent

Anna Chlumsky, Veep

Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Jonathan Banks, Better Call Saul

Ben Mendelsohn, Bloodline

Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones

Kit Harington, Game of Thrones

Michael Kelly, House of Cards

Jon Voight, Ray Donovan

Supporting Actress in a Drama Suppoeries

Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey

Lena Headey, Game of Thrones

Emilia Clarke, Game of Thrones

Maisie Williams, Game of Thrones

Maura Tierney, The Affair

Constance Zimmer, UnREAL

Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie

Jesse Plemons, Fargo

Bokeem Woodbine, Fargo

Hugh Laurie, The Night Manager

Sterling K. Brown, People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story

David Schwimmer, People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story

John Travolta, People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story

Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie

Melissa Leo, All the Way

Regina King, American Crime

Sarah Paulson, American Horror Story: Hotel

Kathy Bates, American Horror Story: Hotel

Jean Smart, Fargo

Olivia Colman, The Night Manager

Outstanding TV Movie

A Very Murray Christmas

All the Way

Confirmation

Luther

Sherlock: The Abominable Bride

Variety Talk Series

Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee

Jimmy Kimmel Live

Last Week Tonight With John Oliver

The Late Late Show With James Cordon

Real Time With Bill Maher

Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon

Variety Sketch Series

Documentary Now

Drunk History

Inside Amy Schumer

Key & Peele

Portlandia

Saturday Night Live

Reality-Competition Program

The Amazing Race

American Ninja Warrior

Dancing With the Stars

Project Runway

Top Chef

The Voice

Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition

Ryan Seacrest, American Idol

Tom Bergeron, Dancing With the Stars

Jane Lynch, Hollywood Game Night

Steve Harvey, Little Big Shots

Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn, Project Runway

RuPaul Charles, RuPaul’s Drag Race

http://bsccomment.com/2016/07/08/dallas-police-officers-killed-by-sniper.html

This is not the typical post that I would make at EYG.

But after that last few days of racial tension and divide in our country, I feel compelled to express my thoughts and worries about what has been happening.  I want to state right off that I am white, so I do not have any first hand knowledge of any of the bigotry or prejudice that African-Americans face on a daily basis.  I am also not a police officer, though my lifelong best friend is one.  Thankfully, he is an officer in a small town of just over 6,000 people where incidents like this are few and far between.

However, this kind of hatred and unfettered violence is possible anywhere, and that is the saddest of all statements.

This horrible week’s events started on Tuesday night, when police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana responded to a 9-1-1 call at a convenience store of a “black man brandishing a gun.”  There they found 37 year-old Alton Sterling in the parking lot selling CDs.  Known as the CD Man, Sterling was out front with permission of the store owner.  Videos of the incident were shot by bystanders, showing the police wrestling Sterling to the ground, with two officers pinning him down.  You hear someone shout “He’s got a gun” and then you hear shots fire, while Sterling was on the ground.  Police were seen on video removing something from Sterling’s pocket afterwards that looked to be a gun.

There was an immediate outrage in the community and online at the treatment of Sterling.  Quinyetta McMillon, the mother of one of Sterling’s children, said Wednesday,”The individuals involved in his murder took away a man with children who depended upon their daddy on a daily basis. … As this video has been shared across the world, you will see with your own eyes how he was handled unjustly and killed without regard for the lives that he helped raise.”

A CNN report indicated that the 9-1-1 call came from a homeless man who had been begging Sterling for money.  Reportedly, Sterling had shown the homeless man the gun as a way to discourage him from his consistent questions.

And the week was just starting.

The next day, at a traffic stop for a busted taillight outside of St. Paul, Minnesota, Philando Castile was shot and killed inside his car while his girlfriend and her four-year old daughter were there.  The was more to this story, and the world would see it live.  Castile’s girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, had her phone out and was live streaming the aftermath using Facebook Live.

This video was eerie and heartbreaking as Reynolds, who was at first clearly in shock, narrated the event as her boyfriend died in the seat beside her.  She said that the officer had told them to put their hands in the air, that he had asked for license and registration and that the officer shot Castile as he reached for his license from his wallet.  According to Reynolds, Castile had told the officer that he had a hand gun, and she had said that he had a license to carry.

The video continued dramatically as the police had her exit the car and kneel on the ground.  She said that she had done nothing wrong and asked why she was being arrested.  She was being detained, was the response.  The phone had fallen to the ground, and all that was seen now was a shot of the sky, but sound was still recording.  Someone turned it upside down and it stayed that way until the little girl, along with another police officer, picked it up.  Reynolds must have been given the phone back because she finished posting the video to Facebook while in the back of a police car.

Two police shootings of African American men who seem on these videos to have been unnecessary and excessive was sure to set off race relations that always are right beneath the surface in our land.  As people across the country expressed their grief and concerns over these deaths, the week was not yet over.

Thursday night in Dallas, Texas, at a peace protest of the shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, a protest that many Dallas police officers took part in, a lone suspected sniper began shooting, targeting police officers.  In the end, 12 officers were shot and five were killed.  There were also a few innocent protesters who were shot.

Gunman suspect Micah Xavier Johnson was killed when, after a tense standoff, the police dispatched a robot with a bomb with hopes of ending the night without any further loss of life.

Although at first, police believed that there were at least two gunmen, now they suspect that Johnson worked alone, with him being described as a “loner” who was angry about the two shootings.  Hostage negotiators said that, during the standoff, Johnson had said that ‘he wanted to kill white people, especially police officers.”

At this point, I was just grateful that nothing else seemed to happen on Friday.

President Barack Obama called the attack “vicious, calculated and despicable attack on law enforcement” and the President cut his trip to Europe short to return to the US.  He is scheduled to go to Dallas next week.

After eight years of a presidency of the first ever African American, it is clear that the racial divide that has strangled this country is still in place.  It made comments that indicated that racism was over since we elected Obama president look even more asinine than they were at the time.

There seems to be little defense of the two shootings this week.  Both African American men did not appear to be doing anything that made one think that they needed to be shot.  It is hard to imagine that either shooting was motivated by anything else but the racial stereotype that a black man with a gun is dangerous and violent.

However, there is also a preconceived notion that paints a wide picture that all cops are racist and out to get African Americans.  Reynolds made an emotional statement to the media after she was released, indicating that the police were attempting to “assassinate” black people.  She even said that her daughter had come to her and said that the police were “bad guys.”

Blanket statements simple do not work and show how much ignorance we have as a nation.

Are there police officers who are racist and who target African American people.  Of course.  There have been plenty of examples of this over the decades.  Does that mean that every man or woman who wears the shield is a racist.  Of course NOT.

Are there African American men who react with violence and who are dangerous people.  Yes, of course.  Does that mean that every black man is dangerous?  NO!

At some point, we need to get past the hatred and the racism that has swept this nation for far too long.  We need to stop thinking that just because one person of a certain group (or even several people of that said group) does something wrong, that all of “them” will do so as well.  Just because the men who brought down the Twin Towers were Muslim, not all Muslims are evil terrorists.  Yet, how many people in America see someone of Muslim descent and immediately think “terrorist?”  Honestly, if you are on an airplane and there is a passenger with a turban, do you think that he/she is a danger to that plane?

The African American community has been targeted by some police officers.  There is no doubt that that has happened.  There are too many African Americans who have stories about being pulled over and detained for no apparent reason to believe otherwise.  From Rodney King to Sterling Castile, there are sadly way too many cases to debate.

Yet, does this mean that every police officer is out to get the African American community?  That every cop who sees a black man driving a nice car immediately thinks that something criminal is going on?  It is a ridiculous idea.  I know there are good people in law enforcement.  My friend certainly is one.

It is far past time that we as a nation look hard at our prejudices and our misguided thoughts, on both sides of this issue, and decide that enough hatred has gone on.  Wouldn’t it be a better world if we could get past our illogical thoughts and treat people as human beings… not just as a manifestation of our own fears and ignorance.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” 

Wise words.  It is time to start following them.

Sources

http://abcnews.go.com/US/dallas-ambush-shooting-planned-thought-suspects-police-learned/story?id=40422456

http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/07/us/baton-rouge-alton-sterling-shooting/

http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/07/us/falcon-heights-shooting-minnesota/

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2016/07/08/obama-dallas-police-shootings-were-vicious-calculated-and-despicable/86842484/

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/martinluth101472.html

bonhamjournal.com

www.bbc.com

Okay, it is well known that I absolutely loved the ABC’s Lost.  It is my favorite television program ever on air and when it ended, I found a hole in my heart which LOST once occupied.

I was at Cinemark waiting for a movie when, on the pre-show, they advertised a new show on TBS.  It was called Wrecked and it was clearly a spoof of LOST.  An airplane crashed on a deserted island and a group of survivors struggled to live.  However, the preview made this look like a comedy in the vein of Police Squad! or Airplane.

I was not opposed to this idea, being a fan of parody (in particular Weird Al) so I wanted to give this show a chance.

I have now watched four episodes of Wrecked and I have to say that this is really a stupid show.  The story lines have dealt with such things as one character not being able to poop in the jungle, as well as exact concepts from Lost, such as an unopenable suitcase, a satellite phone, food being washed out by the wave and taken by another castaway.

Many of the characters are meant to be replicas of the characters on LOST, including the good looking, studly Brit who died in episode one (much like Jack Shepherd was supposed to do).

This is not a show that is flattering to LOST.  It is so stupid that it is hard to watch at times.  None of the characters are enjoyable.  They are unlikable and not in the awesome way the LOST characters were.

This one might be off the watch list now.

Mockingbird, aka Bobbi Morse, is one of my newest most favorite comics published by Marvel Comics.

I just picked up the first four issues of the series at Comic World this past Wednesday.  I was unaware it was being published and had missed out on #1.  I have always liked Bobbi, from the days of her marriage to Hawkeye to the newest version of her on ABC in Agents of SHIELD.

So I definitely wanted to give this a try.  Issue #4 came out this past Wednesday, and I had to pick up all four books.

How marvelous they were.

Written by Chelsea Cain, art by Kate Niemczyk and inking by Sean Parsons, Mockingbird present our heroine in a new way.  She is smart.  She is funny.  She is sarcastic.  She is very much like the character from Agents of SHIELD.

And I loved it.

In fact, number one was a very intriguing issue.  The story really did not make much sense.  Bobbi was required to come into SHIELD for a weekly medical exam, but we were not sure why or what was going on.  We saw her arrive several times in several different outfits and we saw some really strange things.

In the letters page, Chelsea referred to the issue as a “puzzle box.”  The next four issues will come out and you will start to understand what you read in issue one.  It was a clever way of writing and really helped to engage me as a reader.

We also met Lance Hunter, another character from the TV show, and the chemistry on the page was as sharp as it is on screen.  Issue four saw the appearance of Clint Barton and it reminds us how great Bobbi and Clint were together all those years ago.  I don’t know which one of the men I like with Bobbi better.  But either one is not needed.  Bobbi is special by herself.

I loved this series and issue five is supposed to reveal the remaining parts of the puzzle box.  I cannot wait.

Originally published May 11, 2014

Originally published December 26, 2014

The ESPN documentary on the life and times of OJ Simpsons is more than just the story of football star.

I had missed the original play of the first part of OJ: Made in America, shown on ABC this past weekend, but I have caught the replay on ESPN tonight, prior to part two.

It was remarkably compelling.

There was so much more than just the story of OJ Simpson.  This was a story about race relations.  The story about white vs. black.  The story about how a celebrity reached for what he wanted, and how that celebrity fell beneath the weight of that star.

The documentary started off with an image of an imprisoned OJ talking about his daily routines.  This was a stark reminder of how far the mighty football star who initially exceeded the barriers of race. As OJ said, “I’m not black, I’m OJ.”  He became a hero to all.

This first part of the five part documentary was great.  I am very exciting about the remainder of this series.

Francis Joseph O’Meara.  My friend.  Figuratively, my brother.

Frank was born on April 2, 1969.  I always joked with him about his birth date being a day after April Fool’s Day, and that he was the “fallout” from it, left over foolishness, as it were.  He would laugh every time I made that crack.  There was no one like Frank.

Last year, Frank was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme, one of the most aggressive tumors that originates in the brain.  Frank spent the next year and a half fighting this tumor, and embracing everything in his life that he loved.  Today, the fight has come to an end as Frank’s wife Melissa informed us that he passed away peacefully.

Cancer truly does suck.

Frank was the greatest guy there was.  Anyone who got to know Frank would agree with me.  He was always thinking about other people.  In fact, he would think about others, many times, to the detriment of himself.  I remember when my friend Darin and I were planning on going down to see Frank who was in the University of Iowa Hospital at the time and we were texting with Mel to make sure Frank was up for visitors.  Frank said it was fine for us to come if we wanted to drive through the sloppy and rainy weather.  He didn’t want to put us out.  We went, of course, but it was an example of how Frank, who had every right to be selfish during this painful time, facing this terrible cancer, was still more concerned about us than himself.  Maybe Frank did not understand that we had come to see him more for ourselves than for him.

Now, my first memory of Frank was not a positive one.  I had accidentally run over one of my little kittens while I was on my bicycle.  I was in seventh grade, and it was very upsetting and it was tough on me.  However, the word got back to school, and it became something that people teased me about.  I can remember Frank sitting at a table in the school library (the same school where I now work), laughing about it with two other students.  Ironically, I have no idea who the other two were, but I remembered it was Frank.  I didn’t trust Frank for a while because of that.  That changed though.  Big time.

Frank became one of my closest, dearest friends. Along with Darin, the three of us had a special bond that could not be broken apart by distance or time.  We certainly did not see each other near as much as we would have liked, with Frank living in Lone Tree and Darin and me in Maquoketa.  Our lives got busy.  Our jobs and our families took more and more time from us, but when we would be together, we would still feel that connection.

We really piled on Frank unmercifully.  We teased him about so many things, and he always took it with such dignity and good humor.  I certainly wouldn’t have been as good natured about it as Frank was.  From his old stars and stripes shirt to the stuff we did while role playing, Frank was the lightning rod.

When Frank was being the dungeon master and we were playing Dungeons and Dragons, we had a running joke that we would always go north.  No matter what, we said that we would “go north” and it irritated Frank on more than one occasion.  There was even one time when Frank had said that he had had enough and was going to leave.  He stood up and was ready to storm from Darin’s father’s basement, where we played.  It took Darin to, quite literally, tackle Frank to keep him from leaving.  Eventually, Frank joined in on the gag, and we continued to “go north” from then on.

Then there was the time when I was running a Champions game and I called Frank up and told him that I had a cool idea and I was wondering if he would be interested in doing it, but he had to tell me yes before I told him what it was.  Frank, of course, said yes.  I knew he would.  I set him up as a traitor inside the RP group.  I gave Frank a mission to accomplish and if he killed the other two (Darin and Marc) characters, then all the better.  Frank did a great job, though the failed roll (Frank was very unlucky when it came to dice rolls) kept him from killing either of the characters.   Frank’s character did escape though. The shock of Darin and Marc on Frank’s betrayal was awesome, but Frank had to face the consequences later as it took a while for any of Frank’s characters to be trusted again.  Again, Frank handled that with the utmost class and respect.  He always did.

Then there was the infamous “Frankie did it.”  Unfortunately, I missed this event, since I lived out on a farm miles from Maquoketa.  I missed a lot of the stuff that happened.  This was at Darin’s father’s house.  Our friend Rick had picked up a magnifying glass and had determined that it was made of plastic.  “It had to be plastic” Rick had said.  And before you knew it, Rick was dropping the glass.  Well, it wasn’t plastic.  And it broke.  “Frankie did it” became the rallying cry, even though everyone knew that Frankie didn’t do it.  The more outlandish the “Frankie did it” was, the better.  Heck, once, even Darin’s father Lyle got into the act.  Lyle had dropped a dish and broke it, and when Darin came in to see him, Lyle said “Frankie did it” …and Frankie wasn’t even there.

Frank was our go to guy for technical issues.  If we needed to know something about the computer or the video game console or anything tech, we called Frank.  In fact, Frank helped me big time.  My first book, Pete and Devin, may never have come to fruition without Frank.  I had typed the book up and had the only copy on an old floppy disc, but it had been damaged and I couldn’t get it to pull up.  So, of course, I recruited Frank as my savior.  He was able to save the copy of he book, putting it on a much more reliable disc.  Frank had only one request and that was to have the book dedicated to him.  I gladly did so, listing the help in the acknowledgement section at the beginning of Pete and Devin.  He was a life saver.

Then, there was the spring break trip to Atlanta.  I used to bring this up all the time, but it had become something that Frank was tired of hearing about and he was becoming irritated by it.  Out of respect, I told Frank that I would stop telling that story, no matter how funny it was, and I think I, for the most part, have kept that promise.  So I will not go into it here either.

Frank met Melissa and their lives were changed.  Frank became a surrogate father to Mel’s two boys, Mike and Kyle, and he showed them so much love and caring.  He couldn’t have loved those boys any more had they been his own.  Mike recently married a young woman who already had a couple of children, and I know that Mike will be able to look back on Frank and know how to be a father to those kids.  He had a great role model.

And Mel.  She was Frank’s soulmate.  They were so perfect for one another, and I was proud to stand up as a groomsman at their wedding.  I know these last few weeks have been horrible for Mel, as she had to deal with her friend and her love’s final days.  When we visited, you could see the weight on her shoulders and I am sure that she will look back on this time as some of the worst of her life.  But all I can think is that I am so grateful to her.  For her strength and for her determination and for her love.  I am so grateful that Frank had her during these last days of his life.  I hate to think what might have happened to Frank had this wonderful woman had not been in the picture.  No matter what happened, Frank knew that he would not be alone.  He knew that he was loved.  I am so sorry for the pain and the suffering that you had to go through Melissa, but I cannot thank you enough for going through it.  You are an angel.

I don’t know if there is any sort of afterlife, but if there is, Frank will have a place there.  He was one of the gentlest, kindest men I have ever had the great pleasure of knowing.  I have always been better at writing my feelings than expressing them verbally (hence this writing), but I did have the chance to tell Frank that I loved him.  This world will be a lesser place now that Frank is no longer a part of it.  I will hold my dear memories of Frank close to my heart for as long as I get to remain in this land of the living, and I will take comfort in the knowledge that I was a richer person from having him as my friend.

Rest in peace, my brother.  I love you.