Harry Potter 7.2!

by Tom Racine on July 13, 2011 at 11:33 am

Here’s my take on the next 7 books from JK Rowling…if kid celebrity follows the same path fictionally as it does in real life…

I haven’t seen the movie yet, but by the accounts of people I respect, it looks like they hit it out of the park. That’s great…I was really satisfied with Book 7 when I read it.  I thought it wrapped everything up amazingly well, touched all the right emotional notes and just left you very happy at the end of such a long journey.  And I should add that the three major stars of the films seem to have turned out pretty darn good.  Daniel Radcliff in particular really seems to be taking this acting thing seriously.  Watch the clip below from the 2011 Tony Awards.  You’ll learn three things…the boy can sing, he does a GREAT job dancing, and he is really, really, really short.

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BookSmarts Redux – Baseball

by Tom Racine on March 1, 2011 at 11:27 pm

I am a sports fan.  Not a fanatic by any means…I just love sports. I love a good competition, I adore the Olympics, and I enjoy watching a good game. I don’t reschedule my life around a game, and my wife is not a sports widow on Sundays in the fall. I certainly had a great time this past Superbowl as my favorite team, the Green Bay Packers managed to cap a glorious season by taking the Lombardi Trophy home, so that was fun. (Once every 13 years, baby.)

As much fun as football is, I think my heart is in baseball. I was pretty good when I played…as a lefty, I was relegated to either right field or first base, so I chose first base and loved it. Always in the action, part of so many plays, and I just loved it when a lefty batter would come up and rip something down the line for me to attack. I was also fairly limber in my youth, so I got to do those cool stretches during double plays.  I played into high school, and then picked up softball for a number of years, playing at various levels from C to A league and had a blast.

This being the case, there’s nothing better after a Superbowl than hearing the phrase “pitchers and catchers reporting for spring training.”  I’m not much of an NBA fan…I follow the Suns as a good Phoenix boy should, but only vaguely, and as much as I WANT to like the NHL, I just can’t get into hockey.  And the NCAA Basketball March Madness doesn’t really get me either, other than the cool “Cinderella Stories” that happen every year. (I love a good underdog story.)  They’re all fun to follow vaguely on ESPN’s “Sportscenter,” but it’s not until opening day that I get interested in sports again in the new year.

Having grown up in New York and Arizona, my teams are the Mets and the Diamondbacks, both National League teams.  I like to say that I would rather root for a team of thieves and murderers, coached by Hitler and owned by Satan rather than root for the Yankees, so needless to say as far as American League teams go, I’m a Boston Red Sox fan by default.  My two favorite baseball moments are 1.) when the Diamondback won the World Series by beating the Yankees in an utterly improbable Game 7 9th Inning that will forever echo in my head, and 2.) when the Boston Red Sox came back from being 0-3 against the Yankees to win that Pennant 4-3, and then went on to win their first World Series since 1918 against the Cardinals that year.  I have a lot of Red Sox fan friends, so I happily joined in that celebration.

To that end, here are two BookSmarts that celebrate that amazing Red Sox win, in honor of Spring Training starting! You’ll notice a recurring theme.  Maybe it’s just fun to draw the devil. The first one is one of my favorite drawings, I must say.  Really came out like I saw it in my head.

Anyone else out there looking forward to a long summer of 162 billion games?

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BookSmarts – English Major Hell

by Tom Racine on February 22, 2011 at 11:25 pm

Way back in the mists of time, I faked my way through an English degree at Arizona State mostly because I retain what I read pretty well and I’m a good BS-er when it comes to writing essays. On the first day of a class, if the teacher announced the tests would be essay rather than multiple choice, I was the only one cheering. It just always seemed to me that I could express a novel or a play’s theme pretty easily in essay form, but if it was multiple choice, you really had to know all the annoying details of EVERYTHING. And me, I’m all about the ease, baby.

But, even though I basically coasted through as a Sun Devil, I still have my English Major pride. These ‘toons were originally me just ranting about things that would drive your average English major crazy. I’m no grammar nazi by any stretch of the imagination; I’m more of a “write how you talk” sort of guy; but I still observe the general rules. Even in the age of texts and twitter, I do my best to use proper punctuation and sentence structure.  And don’t get me started on the whole “how r u” crap that makes my stomach churn. <shudder>  So, I did a week of “English Major Hell,” or the various levels of what Hell might be for those of us with some sense of writing and style.

I decided to post these for a reason today. My daughter Katie is in Kindergarten and learning to read, and it’s really a magical time. Seeing her sound out words after having read to her for the past 5 years is just the coolest thing ever. Couldn’t be prouder, and so excited for the worlds that await her as we introduce more and more books to her. However, the reason I got to thinking about the “English Major Hell” series is because on a piece of her homework that came home, the teacher wrote a sentence for Katie to copy.  Here it is:

“I help people when their sick.”

Sigh. Her TEACHER wrote this. Has this ALWAYS been a problem? It just seems I see it more and more these days, like the basics are going out the window. That’s probably a bit of “old man on the lawn shaking his fist,” but honestly, it kills me. I don’t think it’s too much to ask for people to be able to figure out the whole “there” “their” “they’re” thing.  Or “it’s” and “its.” (It doesn’t help that my iPhone ALWAYS writes “it’s” no matter the situation. That’s a new level of English Major Hell should I decide to revisit there.)

Anyway, if you have a love of literature and writing, I hope these send a shiver through your spine, too.

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BookSmarts Star Wars

by Tom Racine on February 15, 2011 at 11:44 pm

So, that seminal moment in a geek’s life happened recently. My five year old daughter, Katie, finally watched the original “Star Wars” trilogy.  (I shouldn’t have to say “original” since there were only three movies, right? Right?)  We waited until she was five so she could both handle some of the imagery and really “get it” as a concept. (Funny how with our first child, we waited until she was five to unveil it all…but of course, 2 1/2 year old Carly watched all three, too.  Parenting is weird and amorphous.  What can I say?)

I’ve done my best not to force Katie down any sort of geeky comic book road, but I’m happy to say she seems to love the comics, animation, movies of my youth, while happily dressing as a princess and having tea, too.  The girl asked for lightsabers for Christmas, fer goodness sake. How proud was I? She ate up the Star Wars movies, falling hard for Luke. (Her mother is a Han guy, so that’s good…no fights.)  My favorite moment was during the first movie, where Darth Vader and Tarkin are sitting around that big conference table with the other Empire guys talking about how cool their station is and how Vader is an idiot to be believe in the Force. Katie, sitting in my lap, looked up and asked “are those the bad guys?”  I answered that yes, they were. She thought about it for a minute and then said “I think all those men at that table made a bad decision in their lives.”  See…Star Wars instills a strong moral foundation!

She also doesn’t like the third movie as much.  Not for it’s awkward story problems or the stupid Ewoks that piss Daddy off. No…she doesn’t like that Darth Vader makes the RIGHT choice, becomes a good guy and saves Luke…but then dies.  She didn’t think that was fair. Tell that to the people of Alderaan, Katie! What about them? Huh?

Anyway…here are three Star Wars themed strips.  This first one was inspired when the re-releases came out, and many people in New York were in line wearing full Stormtrooper outfits and the like.

Next was a fun little thing I remember doing with a bunch of the boys who had Sherpa comics. It was the release of “Phantom Menace,” I believe, and we were all to use the punchline “Man, Lucas can’t get ANYTHING right” somewhere. I forget who’s idea this was, but it was a fun challenge. The list of comics that participated was below.  Here’s my take:

Finally, here’s one of my favorites.  I can go off on a rant about George Lucas with the best of ‘em, but I thought this sort of summed it up nicely.

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Tall Tale Radio Update – Valentine's Day

by Tom Racine on February 13, 2011 at 9:33 pm

Hey, folks! Just a note to let you know what’s going on here at the Tall Tale Radio studios. (Gosh, that sounds so much better than “my kitchen table,” or “day job desk.”) February’s been a tough technical month.  I was in the middle of recording the great and wonderful Kris Straub of “Starslip Crisis” a week ago when my work internet decided it was time to take a trip down memory lane when it wasn’t a T1 line, but relived the halcyon days of its youth as a dial up modem. So…that didn’t work out. (Too bad, too…we were having a great conversation.  Rescheduled for the near future!)  Work internet was finally fixed by the IT boys in corporate last week, but I was unable to get anything recorded. And next Thursday is my birthday, so I’m taking the day off. (I don’t want my mid-life crisis sobs to be picked up by the microphone.)

But I’ll be back soon. Kris Straub will be re-joining me, Rina Piccolo is scheduled for March, and more surprises await.  I’ll try to blog and put up some BookSmarts from time to time to amuse you and keep you coming back!

Speaking of which, here’s one of my favorites from way back.  Ever read about the actual St. Valentine? Find out what happened to him, and this comic writes itself. Luckily for me, my wife and I decided LONG ago that we think it’s ludicrous to spend five times what you normally would on flowers or candy, and not waste valuable time trying to get a reservation at overpriced restaurants. So, Valentine’s Day hasn’t been much of a factor in my life…until now.  You see…I have a 5 year old little girl who has recently learned how to cut hearts out of construction paper, so Valentine’s Day has a whole new meaning to me. Without getting all that mushy on you, seeing the world through your child’s eyes makes everything new and beautiful again.

Unless, of course, you’re St. Valentine.

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