Celebrating Papa Day

Today is special.

Today is "Papa Day".

Five years ago today, my dad-in-law -- a neat, fun inspiring man -- left this life. It sucked.

Sucks.

I remember him. Often.

And not just the last few weeks and months of his life -- those whirlwind, visceral memories of surprise phone calls and rushed road trips, of moves and the funeral and packing and selling that sometime threaten to take over all of the other memories.

I remember how Dad laughed, how easy-going he was, how patient he was in the middle of inconvenience, discomfort, and pain (we all found out after the fact that he was playing on the floor with the kids "with a horribly sore back" -- that it turned out was actually his spine cracked from the growth of a tumor).

I remember his sense of humor, the self-deprecating-but-not-insecure fun he had at his own expense.

I remember his generosity. That man would tip a waitress in need more than the cost of the meal. And not look back.

Later the day that dad passed, my then-seven-year-old daughter asked if we could remember the day, and celebrate it as "Poppa Day", with all of those good memories.

I promised her I would. And we do.

Tonight was about listening to fifties sock-hop music (could have been polka or Pavarotti, too), dancing around the open-windowed house like goofballs (because it doesn't matter what we look like or what people think of us), and eating horrible sugary baked treats like those he would buy the kids when he visited us.

Why?

Why do all of this stuff that could be called self-medicating, or superficial, or no longer needed?

Kind of like baskets and candy and trinkets at Easter or Christmas, this fun, light-hearted break from routine -- revolving around something more important -- gives all of us a chance to step back, laugh, tear up, be reflective, be goofy, and focus on an example and a legacy that's lasting and outside of ourselves.

At one point tonight, my youngest daughter (a toddler when we lost Dad) stopped eating her white-emblazoned chocolate cupcake, and just stared into space.

Thinking the sugar had won, I asked her what she was thinking about.

"I know Papa was a very good man," she said. And went back to eating her cupcake.

That's why we do Papa Day.

Aaron Eckhart On Working With Heath Ledger

Not much I could say to add to the awesome of this. Simple and inspiring.

 

Parenting and Accountability

People who know me know I'm pretty keen on personal accountability -- for myself, and for other people.

Those same folks know I don't have to know you to hold you accountable.

I'll be professional, I'll be constructive, but if you are doing something blatantly untoward in public, it's totally possible I'll chat with you about it. Society's arguably in a bit of a nosedive, and I'd argue societal character disorder is at least in part at play.

 My kids know this, too. Sometimes, that bites me.

Last night, I was helping my 4-year-old with something she really should be able to do on her own. I stopped what I was doing, briefly helped her, then went back to what I was doing.

"Daaaa-dy!"

"What, Hon?"

"You didn't do it right."

"Look, Sweetie, it's not my job to do this for you."

"Yeah, but it is your job to do the part you said you'd help me with right!"

(Dammit.)

She's totally right.

Note to self: Avoid transparent half-assery.

Elaine Frances Tirabassi (1946-2012)

AUDIO: Elaine Frances Tirabassi (1946-2012)

(Here's the text of the obituary, but please listen to the audio.)

ROUND ROCK, Texas — Elaine Frances Tirabassi (1946-2012), 65, went to be with Jesus Feb. 6, 2012, after a brief struggle with leukemia. She was surrounded by her family.

Born in Brighton, Mass., she was the daughter of the late Florence and Clifford Johnson.

Elaine was a model of wisdom, godly submission, discipline and sacrifice. She was a deeply dedicated and caring friend. Elaine was a loving spouse and helpmate for 40 years, before losing her husband, Victor Wallace Tirabassi, in 2009.

Elaine is survived by her children and their spouses Dan & Kate Tirabassi, Joanne & Adam Creighton, & Anthony Tirabassi; her six lovely grandchildren Kiera, Gianna, Isabella, Carina, Gavin, & Joshua; her siblings Bob Johnson, Marjorie Bollino, and Paul Johnson.

In lieu of flowers, the family is asking donations are made to: Campus Crusade for Christ International, Staff #: 0372883, 100 Lake Hart Drive, Orlando, FL 32832

Inspiration and creativity (within constraints)

This my be one of the more poignant, beautiful bits of independent / contest film work I've seen in some time. But I seem to be more sensitive to this theme lately.

The "Porcelain Unicorn" was written and directed by Keegan Wilcox, and was the grand-prize winner for the Philips Parallel Lines "Tell It Your Way" international competition.

What makes this film all the more startling to me is its beauty underneath the contest constraints -- while entires could be any genre, told in any way, they had to follow six specific lines of dialogue from the Parallel Lines films:

• "What is that??
• "It’s a unicorn"
• "Never seen one up close before"
• "Beautiful"
• "Get away, get away"
• "I’m sorry"

Add to that the constraints and successes that get me stoked about the Biz: Wilcox has a small, tight-knit production company in LA, and they put the film above together start-to-finish in under two weeks.

Out of more than 600 entries, films were narrowed down to 10 finalists by a judging panel from Ridley Scott Associates (RSA), British Academy of Film & Television Arts (BAFTA) and Philips (the electronics folks), based on creative and original storytelling, interesting use of the Parallel Lines dialogue, and technical achievement. The film was selected by contest marshal and director Sir Ridley Scott, because "it had a very strong narrative; a very complete story that was well told and executed."

The contest film was inspired by Wilcox's grandfather’s war stories, and the "hero’s journey" of a Joseph Conrad novel.

As a reward for winning, besides being promoted six ways to Sunday by Philips, Wilcox will work for a week onsite at the Ridley Scott Associates offices.

Projects like these take a ton of talent people, so be sure to check the link to recognize those fine folks, and the runners up and People's Choice winner are good films, too.

Transformers versus westerns

I ran across this snippet of conversation I jotted down back when my oldest daughter had just turned 5, when she was looking at a few of my original generation toys:

DAUGHTER: "Who are the good guys?" 

DADDY: "The Autobots." 

DAUGHTER: "Are they white?" 

DADDY: "No. They're all colors." 

DAUGHTER: "Oh. Who are the bad guys?" 

DADDY: "Decepticons." 

DAUGHTER: "Who's the white one?" 

DADDY: "Megatron." 

DAUGHTER: "Is he good?" 

DADDY: "No, he's the leader of the bad ones." 

DAUGHTER: "Oh. Daddy?" 

DADDY: "Yes?" 

DAUGHTER: "I thought good guys were white." 

DADDY: "In Westerns, Honey. Not in Transformers." 

DAUGHTER: "Oh. Daddy?" 

DADDY: "yes?" 

DAUGHTER: "What are Westerns?"

(Can't wait until she's old enough to watch Fistful of Dollars ...)

Remembering Victor

Today marks the two-year anniversary of when we lost my Dad-in-Law, Victor Wallace Tirabassi.

He's been on my mind a lot lately, and sometimes in what I thought were "weird" associations.

The strangest (I thought) was the Johnny Cash song, "One Piece at a Time". I simply couldn't get it out of my head, and hearing it made me think of Dad, and wish so much that he was back with us.

"One Piece At A Time"

Well, I left Kentucky back in '49

An' went to Detroit workin' on a 'sembly line

The first year they had me puttin' wheels on cadillacs

Every day I'd watch them beauties roll by

And sometimes I'd hang my head and cry

'Cause I always wanted me one that was long and black.

One day I devised myself a plan

That should be the envy of most any man

I'd sneak it out of there in a lunchbox in my hand

Now gettin' caught meant gettin' fired

But I figured I'd have it all by the time I retired

I'd have me a car worth at least a hundred grand.

[CHORUS]

I'd get it one piece at a time

And it wouldn't cost me a dime

You'll know it's me when I come through your town

I'm gonna ride around in style

I'm gonna drive everybody wild

'Cause I'll have the only one there is a round.

So the very next day when I punched in

With my big lunchbox and with help from my friends

I left that day with a lunch box full of gears

Now, I never considered myself a thief

GM wouldn't miss just one little piece

Especially if I strung it out over several years.

The first day I got me a fuel pump

And the next day I got me an engine and a trunk

Then I got me a transmission and all of the chrome

The little things I could get in my big lunchbox

Like nuts, an' bolts, and all four shocks

But the big stuff we snuck out in my buddy's mobile home.

Now, up to now my plan went all right

'Til we tried to put it all together one night

And that's when we noticed that something was definitely wrong.

The transmission was a '53

And the motor turned out to be a '73

And when we tried to put in the bolts all the holes were gone.

So we drilled it out so that it would fit

And with a little bit of help with an Adapter kit

We had that engine runnin' just like a song

Now the headlight' was another sight

We had two on the left and one on the right

But when we pulled out the switch all three of 'em come on.

The back end looked kinda funny too

But we put it together and when we got through

Well, that's when we noticed that we only had one tail-fin

About that time my wife walked out

And I could see in her eyes that she had her doubts

But she opened the door and said "Honey, take me for a spin."

So we drove up town just to get the tags

And I headed her right on down main drag

I could hear everybody laughin' for blocks around

But up there at the court house they didn't laugh

'Cause to type it up it took the whole staff

And when they got through the title weighed sixty pounds.

[CHORUS]

I got it one piece at a time

And it didn't cost me a dime

You'll know it's me when I come through your town

I'm gonna ride around in style

I'm gonna drive everybody wild

'Cause I'll have the only one there is around.

[Spoken] Ugh! Yow, RED RYDER 

This is the COTTON MOUTH

In the PSYCHO-BILLY CADILLAC Come on

Huh, This is the COTTON MOUTH

And negatory on the cost of this mow-chine there RED RYDER

You might say I went right up to the factory

And picked it up, it's cheaper that way

Ugh! what model is it? 

Then I figured some of it out.

First, ignore the "stealing from the company" aspect of the song above -- that wasn't Vic.

I've talked before about Vic's generosity, his faith, and his inspiration.

I don't think I've said -- can say -- enough about his sense of humor, his patience, his dogged determinism in everything he did.

Vic was a man who could laugh at himself.

He was a carpenter who could be working a job and have him (or someone else) make a mistake, he'd get hurt, and he'd laugh it off (usually while yelling, "Fer crying out loud!").

There was an incident before my wife and I were married when we were all trying to jumpstart a dead car. My to-be brother-in-law in the driver's seat, Dad and I pushing the car, my fiancée nearby, and when that car kicked into life, Vic went down hard on the pavement, I jumped over him like an out-of-shape long jumper. Everyone but me laughing hysterically.

Everyone. Including Dad, who had just kissed asphalt.

Not much later, when my wife and I were first married, she had to make major adjustments to "my way" of doing physically demanding home repairs. I was all grit and muscle, and if I was powering through a hard project, I did not have time or focus to split on answering a question about what we might want to do next weekend.

Vic, though, always had time. He could be balanced, one-foot on a too-short step-ladder, straining to replace a light fixture, and anyone could ask him a question, and -- sweat pouring down his face -- he'd have a conversation. He'd laugh, he'd give advice, he'd help, he'd keep working, and he didn't get frustrated or mad at being "interrupted". He would ask for a wrench and laugh if you messed with him and gave him a hammer.

The other thing that strikes me about this Cash song is the factory worker side of things. Vic worked in steel and plastics factories for probably more than 20 years. He just worked, back-busting, brutal gigs, and never lost his sense of humor, his accessibility, his overall multifaceted good nature.

Sure, he wasn't perfect, but he -- by choice and by nature -- took all of that time and refined himself into a beautiful, hilarious, generous, much-loved man.

And anything along the lines of taking the patience and non-OCD focus over the course of years to build a mashup luxury car? That's just vintage Vic.

(Y'know, minus the stealing part.)

Here's to "Poppa Day" #2...

The real heroes and villain of Snow White

I watched Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs with my daughters (their first time) this weekend, and I was struck by a nearly two-decades old thought I realize I've probably never committed to paper.

And it's probably already been said -- but I haven't seen it.

Snow White may be the protagonist, but she isn't the hero. Neither is the prince, or the dwarfs.

And the queen isn't the real bad guy.

And because this isn't a grad-level academic paper, and I don't have 20 pages to faux fill, I'll get to it quickly.

The easy one first: The real heroes of Snow White are the animals.

The animals rescue Snow White from the forest when she's first lost. The animals judge her character as pure, and take immediately action to meet her needs for fellowship and physical comfort, leading her to the Dwarfs' cottage.

The animals sacrifice there free time, jump in, and help her clean her new-found home. It seems like a small thing, but as a modern analogy: I seem to be forced to move last-minute. A lot. And I have people who call themselves friends, and have never heeded a call for help (of any size); on the flip side, I have true friends who would help me move, I think even if they were in the middle of their own move.

Anyway, it is the animals -- again discerning true character -- who attack the wicked queen, disguised as an elderly hag, with no fear for "how that might look".

And failing that, it is the animals who immediately spring to action to forcibly gather the dwarfs to rescue Snow White.

They're the pure, action heroes of the film.

And the villain?

It's not the queen. She's so depraved and lost in her own narcissism and hatred and jealousy of the "not her" that she both knows exactly who she is, and (paradoxically) is blind to it (ever had an incompetent or sabotaging co-worker or boss? Life would be so much easier if they saw what you see, but there own character myopia likely deceives them into thinking someone else is the problem.)

No, the evil queen -- the "witch" -- isn't the villain.

The Huntsman who is the most reprehensible person in the film.

Who?

The Huntsman - that affable gent who is sent on a mission to kill Snow White.

"But ..." (I almost hear you say defensively) "... he doesn't kill her! He lets her go -- and he covers for her by tricking the queen with a pig's heart."

Sure, he doesn't kill her. Instead, he drives a young girl off into the deep woods, with no likelihood of surviving, were it not for story's artifice.

And, let's remember: he was sent to murder a young girl -- A charge he was set to execute until the last possible moment. And in his cowardice, he abandoned her to the wild, feigned compliance, and faded to obscurity.

Sure, from a relativistic perspective, that's maybe better than outright killing.

I don't know. I'm not a relativist.

What I see instead is someone compliant in a regime of witchcraft and murder, who didn't stand against the wrong, and fight for the right -- no matter the personal cost.

That wouldn't have made a great story (but maybe it would have made a great different one).

But this isn't a college paper, so (for me) it has a point, and an application.

"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."

Once I reached an age of understanding I've witnessed little injustices every day. I can't save the world, but if I don't try, if I don't say, "no" to unnecessary hostile exchanges, to office politics, to harassment of marginalized co-workers, of a waiter or a hotel clerk, if I don't defend the victim who protected himself from the bully (taking a policy cowardice route of "zero tolerance"), if I laugh at abhorrent jokes even if I'm secretly emotionally or physically ill about them, then I've failed.

And I've become the Huntsman, and the true villain in my own story.

TRON tributes

OK, so I dig the new TRON: Legacy movie and Daft Punk soundtrack.

So, I thought I'd check in on a few artists I follow, and see if they're doing anything TRON-inspired.

Turns out, yes -- so here are a few that I particularly liked:


Sam Flynn by *stanlydan on deviantART


CLU 2 by *stanlydan on deviantART


Gangsta-Tron Cover by ~mase0ne on deviantART


Tron - Buzz enters the Grid by ~iamclu on deviantART


Ghost Rider- TRON-ified by `diablo2003 on deviantART (this is my personal favorite out of all 5 of Marc Brooks TRON Marvel covers from last month -- I like this kind of synergy).

MARVEL TRON by *Enymy on deviantART (But check out the winners and runners-up -- especially David Murdoch's Magneto piece, or all of the Deviant Art-hosted entries).



Just a sampling of the awesome stuff you can do with figs and parts from Onell Designs. These may replace Stikfas for me (depends how they are to animate).

Good Friday and my dad-in-law

Today is Good Friday -- that day where Judeo Christians remember the day Jesus died.

Wait -- What?

So here's the deal:

For Christians, Jesus died on Friday. He rose from the dead on Sunday. So, it was in restrospect that the Friday he died was "good" -- It probably didn't feel that good at the time.

This year, it's also the first anniversary of my dad-in-law's death -- and it somehow feels right that for this first one, it's on Good Friday.

I've said before Victor Wallace Tirabassi was a "good man who made people better." I'm not so foolish as to elevate him to any version of pseudo sainthood, but he is a real-world inspiration whose example that has driven me forward as a husband, dad, and worker, in some ways as much as my own dad.

A year ago, when dad died, my oldest asked if we could make the anniversary of his death a holiday -- "Poppa Day" -- to celebrate all of the good memories.

Smart kid.

And this year, Poppa Day and Good Friday share a date.

Original Posts:

• Victor Wallace Tirabassi (1946-2009)
• Loss and Jesus

My daughter's perspective on my new job

My daughter gave me an excellent perspective check this week about my new toy job.

I'm in the process of traveling back and forth between Austin and North Carolina as we finalize our move back to Texas, so I was in NC last week visiting my girls and fixing home inspection stuff (and glad that I'm handy).

While driving for an errand with my oldest, she looked up from her book, and asked:

KIERA
Daddy?

ADAM
Yeah, Sweetie?

KIERA
How's work going?

ADAM
It's going great, Hon. I really, really like it.

KIERA
Are you working long hours?

ADAM
I am.

KIERA
Are you making as much money as you were before?

ADAM
No, but --

KIERA
That's OK. At least you're working for two companies you like Marvel and Disney and they have all those characters you like so much and you're getting to play with them and doing something you love and you're making a GAME and people buy games because they want to do something fun and your job is to work making it more MORE fun for them.

ADAM
Um ...

KIERA
So it's OK if you're working long hours and aren't making as much money and are in Texas away from us for a little while.

ADAM
(beat)
I love you, Sweetie.

KIERA
I know.

(Goes back to reading her book.)

Yeah, that worked.

AJC in ATX

I had the best of intentions (and still do) to do a post about the result of this decision, and its follow-on impacts.


But the short version is I'm working for Junction Point, making the Epic Mickey game for Nintendo's Wii console.


All of this means that I'm (a) working with Warren Spector, (b) working for Disney (and therefore Marvel), (c) making video games and other creative expressions. Friends and longtime readers* know what a head-exploding good thing all of this is for me.


And yes, I am now back in Austin, Texas, bouncing around from generous couch to generous couch (and sometimes even getting a bed), and bouncing back and forth between Austin and NC as I try to sell my house there, and take care of my family who's so awesomely sacrificing so I can pursue this crazy gig.


With all of this, I'm slow boating the "getting back into the Austin acting scene" (other than voice work), because new job plus crunch isn't conducive to me being out for a few days at a time for film shoots.


But I'm excited to get back into it here, because the acting landscape has changed surprisingly over the last two years, I'm jonesing to be back on a set, I'm burning the candle at both ends, and all this plus the whole not having a pot to piss in has made me ****ing raw and ready to do some daring stuff.


More soon(ish).


* Not the same thing.

Aaron Hallaway's new commercial

I like Aaron Hallaway. Talented guy (actor / writer / independent creative). Good friend.

He has a new commercial (he's about 43 seconds in) -- VeriSign's "Company Information" video:

Fede Alvarez and Ataque de Panico!

Man, I so love to see this kind of thing.

First, Neill Blomkamp with what was "Alive in Joburg" becoming District 9, then Timur Bekmambetov with "9" (which became, uh, 9), now another independent film maker, Federico "Fede" Alvarez -- who's been scrapping through at least 3 previous films since the turn of the century -- gets Hollywood attention for his short trailer, "Ataque de Panico!" (Panic Attack). And, in Hollywood, "attention" means "money".

So Alvarez is now getting recognition outside of his native Uruguay, $30 million, and -- probably most importantly -- a business relationship with caliber production studio Ghost House Pictures (Sam Raimi? Writer of Spiderman 3 (director of all 3)? Director for everything from Evil Dead to Darkman?)

Neat Cinderella story, and it’s so cool to see a guy who’s been working his tail off in film for at least the last 9 years pocket $30M – and better, build a business relationship with someone like Raimi.

Here's the music video version South American rock / punk band SNAKE, if that's more your thing.



And -- quick rant -- I hope I stop seeing Alvarez called an "unknown". Dude's been working hard for nearly a decade. He's unknown to some U.S. folks. But not for long.

Favorite comic book covers

As part of celebrating 70 years, Marvel is having a Favorite Covers Countdown.

I can only pick 5, which is nowhere near enough, so I'm listing my favorites here, instead. Oddly, they don't have every cover online, so I'm just listing the ones they do -- so you can look at them, and not realize how much of a geek I am digging into my collection (what, no Alien Legion? No Deathlok?).

In no particular order:

• Alpha Flight #1 -- John Byrne sentimentality.
• Amazing Fantasy #15 -- First appearance of Spider-Man.
• Astonishing X-Men -- #3 (John Cassaday's leaping Wolverine, back in the yellows) and his #4 (return of Colossus).
• Avengers #503 -- The "Avengers Disassembled" cover, with Captain America sitting on the floor amidst Ant Man's helmet, Mjolnir (Thor's Hammer), Hawkeye's bow and arrows, the Scarlet Witch's headband, Iron Man's helmet, and the visions cape. Sad and weighty.
• Captain American -- #248, #250, #254 are John Byrne covers and Roger Stern arcs. Ish #248 was actually one of my first comics as a kid (and then I went back-catalog as an adult), #250 is the "Cap for President" cover that graces one of my favorite political Ts, and #254 is Baron Blood and Union Jack. Oh, and Mike Zeck's Annual #8, with Wolverine in his brown duds sparking off of Cap's shield.
• Captain America (2004 series) -- There are sooo many good Steve Epting covers here. I'm particular fond of the gravitas of Captain America at the graveyard in #4, the powerful S.H.I.E.L.D. cover of #9, both the bloody jersey and newspaper Epting variants of #25, and the Alex Ross variant of the not-yet-release issue #600.
• Daredevil -- #183, with Punisher unloading into Daredevil, shortly before Punisher crossovers became obnoxious. And there's David Mazzucchelli's excellent #228, which vividly shows Frank Miller's deconstruction of Matt Murdock, and his cover for #233, which is a powerful issue where Daredevil gets done with the Kingpin.
• Devil Dinosaur #1 -- Another of my first comics as a kid, and Jack Kirby owned me.
• Excalibur (first series) -- Wow, Alan Davis, Ron Lim, and Rick Leonard did some great, fun covers. I really dig Davis's #1 (team intro) and his wraparound #4 (first of the cross-time caper arc). Oh, and #23's riff on "Days of Future Past".
• Giant-Size X-Men -- First of the new team, and the long-time core members many of us remember as "the" X-Men.
• Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown #1 -- I can't remember who painted this cover, but it is gorgeous.
• Howard the Duck #1 -- I think this is a Frank Brunner cover, and it's got Howard, Red Sonja, and Spider-Man. Yes it does.
• Immortal Iron Fist #1 -- Dunno, but for me this David Aja cover just captures who Iron Fist is.
• The Incredibly Hulk #340, #345 -- I dig both McFarlane's Wolverine cover, and his gray Hulk smashing through the logotype.
• Iron Man -- For me, John Romita's cover of issue #126 is the Iron Man armor, and Bob Layton's gutsy alcoholic Tony Stark cover for issue #128 really sticks with me. I like Mark Bright's cover of #225, because even though I don't like the silver centurion armor, I'm oddly sentimental about those issues. Maybe because that was the height of my collecting before it went near-dormant for a few years (girls were prettier).
• Mighty Avengers #2 -- It's a Frank Cho female Ultron.
• New Avengers -- They're missing virtually all covers on Marvel.com, including some Frank Cho covers. Egregious.
• New Mutants -- All of the Bill Sienkiewicz covers (18-25). I would add his Daredevil graphic novel cover, but it's not listed.
• Secret Invasion #8 -- Can't remember the artist, but it's a great nod to New Avengers to Avengers proper.
• Secret Wars #5 -- Spidey's black costume!
• Spider-Man: Blue #2 and #3 -- Man, I love Tim Sale's 60s spy movie poster sexy vibe.
• Spider-Woman #1 -- Another of my first comics, with a cover by Joe Sinnott, so sentimental as hell. I just realized this is the only comic from my initial collection I haven't re-purchased.
• Stormbreaker: The Saga of Beta Ray Bill -- I'm a ridiculous Beta Ray Bill fan, and while this series ultimately let me down, the covers of #1 and #2 -- by Andrea Vito and showcasing the raw majesty of this character -- certainly did not.
• Thor (first series) -- Sooo many good covers, but none (none!) like Walt Simonson's #337 (intro of Beta Ray Bill) and #366 (Frog Thor). (I like the Olivier Coipel covers of the new series ok, too.)
• Uncanny X-Men -- Long ride here, but I remember Dave Cockrum's #100 (Charles Xavier standing), #101 (Phoenix), #109 (intro of Alpha Flight), and #112 (why Wolverine should never fight Magneto). And John Byrne's "The Day the X-Men Died" cover and death of Jean Grey (#114 and #136) are alternately very sad, simple and powerful, angsty covers, as opposed to his very dynamically powerful "Days of Future Past" covers in #141 and #142. Paul Smith's cover for #167 (death of Professor X) is a solid nod back to #136. Alan Davis's cover for #213 is what I always think of as Wolverine versus Sabertooth. I so dig Jim Lee's cover to #268, which is a powerful portrait of Captain America, Wolverine, and Black Widow.
• Web of Spider-Man -- The Mike Zeck covers for issues #31 and #32 of the "Kraven's Last Hunt" arc (some of my favorite writing from J. Dematties) really capture the essence of that twisted story.
• Wolverine #1 -- Frank Miller's beckoning cover paints a portrait of the deadly, off-kilter canuck.
• X-Men #1 -- I so like how this Jim Lee cover brought Magneto back as the terrifying force of nature he should be.
• X-Men: Magneto Testament #5 -- This Marko Dhurdjevic cover is heartbreaking, and is for me the best in the series.

That's the list for now. Too many covers aren't listed on Marvel for the vote, so I'm bummed to not be talking about some of my other favs.

But this is a good nod to people who have inspired be over the years.

Loss and Jesus

AUDIO: Victor Wallace Tirabassi: Loss and Jesus


This is a follow with some of my thoughts about my recent dad-in-law's death. For the original audio, please see Victor Wallace Tirabassi (1946-2009).

Victor Wallace Tirabassi (1946-2009)

AUDIO: Victor Wallace Tirabassi (1946-2009)

Here's the to-brief obituary, but please listen to the audio.

My dad-in-law, Victor Wallace Tirabassi (1946-2009) 63, went to be with Jesus April 2, 2009. He was surrounded by all of his kids, his wife, and his sister.
Born in Lynn, Mass., he was the son of Irene Tirabassi and the late Frederick Tirabassi.
Victor shined Christ, and was a model of generosity, hard work, holiness, and good humor. He was a U.S. Marine Corporal Vietnam Veteran, and 20-year Nucor Steel employee.
Victor is survived by his wife, Elaine Tirabassi (Johnson); his children and their spouses Dan & Kate Tirabassi, Joanne & Adam Creighton, & Anthony Tirabassi; his four lovely grandchildren Kiera, Gianna, Isabella & Carina; his siblings and their spouses Frederick & Pat Tirabassi, Maria & Steve Segars; and his mother, Irene Tirabassi.
His Funeral Service will be held on Monday at 11 a.m. in the Nardolillo Funeral Home in Cranston, RI, followed by Military Honors in RI Veterans Cemetery in Exeter, Rhode Island.
In lieu of flowers, the family is asking donations be made to:

Hope for the Hungry
In support of Randy Sperger
PO Box 786 Belton, TX 76513
254-939-0124

Vic wasn't my father-in-law -- he was my second Dad.
He said he'll greet us at heaven's gates.

Now, you have to do something.

Battle o' the Songz (Round 3)

If you're not up to speed with "Battle o' the Songz", go here, then here, first.

Due to the craziness surround GDC prep, this round actually took two weeks before we called it a wrap. And in honor of GDC, we're making our next battle video-game-themed -- which makes both chaining and theming required for the first time.

You ready to rock?

'Cause here's round 3 play-by-play!

Opening Round 3 strongly with Joey Scarbury's "Believe it or Not". Yeah, Real American Hero fare.

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Office mate Dan firing back with "Midlife Crisis" (Faith No More), and I counter with Blink-182's "What's My Age Again?", which is countered with Winger's "Seventeen". He loses points because the answer is "23".

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I answer with "Foolish Beat" from Debbie Gibson, who at 17 wrote, produced, & performed a Billboard Hot 100 number 1 hit.

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Chaining the title, Dan sends me the Go-Go's "We Got the Beat", and I bring the hammer down with "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" from Wham!. I am all that.

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In an anemic response, Dan sends me Finger Eleven's "Awake and Dreaming", but I give Gary Wright's "Dream Weaver". Classics have weight (Even before Wayne's World).

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Got "Mad World" from Gary Jules as a response to Gary Wright's "Dream Weaver". "Gary" and "dream" linkage - Not bad.

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Responding to "Mad World" from Gary Jules with "Mad Mad World" from Tom Cochrane. His world is more mad than Gary's. (It was that or Shaggy.)
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In one of our few highbrow response's, Dan uses the "Adjective Song" from the Connells in trade for "Mad Mad World". Extra points.

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I send back The Idoru's "Behind Words", which has weirdly similar lyrics to the Connells "Adjective Song".
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Getting The Velvet Underground's "All Tomorrow's Parties" in response to my "Behind Words" (The Idoru'); All Tomorrow's Parties is the sequel to William Gibson's "Idoru". Erm.
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Returning U2's "Party Girl" for Velvet Underground's "All Tomorrow's Parties". And then Dan bad-mouths U2. Yeah, he's a hater. And he loses points.

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Receiving Dan's "Solitary Man" Johnny Cash cover for U2's "Party Girl". Kind of the "anti-link", and I'm giving him extra Johnny points. (Heh. I said "Johnny points".)

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Sending Neil Diamond's "I Am ... I Said", another loneliness song from the guy who wrote the Johnny Cash covered "Solitary Man".

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Getting Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy" back for "I Am ... I Said". This is tenuous at best, and I would have given more points if the link was "Neil Diamond is too sexy".

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I return Hannah Montana's "Who Said" for Right Said Fred. Feeling dirty. Dan fires back Billy Ray Cyrus's "Achy Breaky Heart" in response to my Hannah Montana play. Wait, Hannah Montana's secret identity is Miley Cyrus?
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Thinking I'd already gone to the dark side, I volley Hillary Duff's "Break My Heart" to Cyrus's "Achy Breaky Heart". She's a contemporary of Hannah Montana, there's a title link, and it hs the same lyric line. Boo-ya.

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Dan "Control+Zs" my attempt to "Break My Heart" with Toni Braxton's "Un-Break My Heart". Brilliant!

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I end this round with Riddlin' Kids "Pick up the Pieces" (they're there to pick up the pieces from the floor of Toni Braxton's "Un-Break My Heart"; they're helpful like that).

(Now, on to video-game greatness.)

Battle o' the Songz (redux)

Not satisfied to call it quits after our latest high-brow culture battle, co-worker Dan and I continued our song battle at a reduced rate.

To recap: We trade song volleys back and forth, and they have to be linked by artist, lyrics, themes, or other meta-context. The greater the link, the more “points”.

Here's the round #2 blow-by-blow.

Dan opens and wows me with the Transformers theme remix from Vince DiCola. I keep my cool and fire back the safe-but-appropriate G.I. Joe animated movie theme song from Ford Kinder. Dan responds with Joe Satriani's "House Full of Bullets" (because "G.I. Joe's fire bullets"). And it is on.

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Finding the previous volley too easy, I fire off the Jimmy Hendrix riff "Red House" covered by Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and Eric Johnson. It's a sharp retort, but it softballs my office mate a bunch of options for response. He answers with The Streets's "Get Out of My House".

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I answer with U2's "Where the Streets have No Name", and he answers with Eddy Grant's "Electric Avenue" (because his street has a name). Not bad.

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I answer with Amy Grant's "Big Yellow Taxi" (boo-ya!), appropriately making it hard for Dan to respond. After taking a day to recover, he fires back with Vince Gill ("What the Cowgirls Do") in response to yesterday's Amy Grant song. (They're married.)

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I retaliate with Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive" ('cause he's a cowboy, and -- let's face it -- in his heyday he looked like a girl; keep your hate mail to yourself). Dan sends back Stone Temple Pilot's "Dead and Bloated".

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Seeing my opp to get Weird Al Yankovic in the mix, I lob over "Happy Birthday". Dan is appropriately non-plussed, and lobs back barely linked "Gangsta's Paradise" from Coolio. I fire back with LL Cool J's (the Original West Coast Gangster) "Mama Said Knock You Out. And I'm in high school again.

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In perhaps the best volley so far, Dan (springboarding off of "Ladies Love") plays "Laid" from James, and I blast back with the Rebecca St. James abstinence song, "Wait for Me" -- the I'm - not - getting - laid (yet) song. Poetry.

After regrouping, Dan sends REO Speedwagon's "I Can't Fight this Feeling", and while losing points for moving away from the sexual motif, he gets points for it being REO Speedwagon.

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I try to bring us closer to the gutter by firing back Blink 182's "Feeling This". Dan plays into it and answers with the Divinyls "I Touch Myself".

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I pole vault over the line with Harvey Danger's "Flagpole Sitta". Look, he went there. I just followed. And escalated.

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We call a mutual truce on the self-pleasuring theme, and after getting Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy", I counter with the Alanis Morissette cover of Seal's "Crazy". That's meta-funny. "Insane in the Brain" (Cypress Hill) is the response. I'll take that.

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I backhand with Public Enemy's "Get The F --- Outta Dodge" (read the lyrics of both if you don't get the link). Dan comes back with a solid "My Own Worst Enemy" from Lit (with a private enemy making a good comeback to a Public Enemy).

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I send back Something Corporate's "I Kissed a Drunk Girl" (they're Lit, for pete's sake; plus I think the girls in both songs are the same kind of person).

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Dan finishes with "Santana DVX" from The Lonely Island -- and we mutually call it a fitting enough response to "I Kissed a Drunk Girl" to close this song volley round.

(Oh, and you people who think this is "stupid"? Please stop Emailing me to tell me. You're obviously reading. You're stupid.)

Battle o' the Songz

Alright, in the midst of a company-wide working weekend, a coworker (Dan) and I were having a “Battle o’ the Songz”.

Basically, we traded song volleys back and forth, and they had to be linked by artist, lyrics, themes, or other meta-context. The greater the link, the more “points”.

We set up speakers, blasted songs at each other, and gave rough weightings to each volley.

If it feels a bit like an ad hoc game from Where I Met Your Mother .. I'm honored.

Anyway, below is the summary. It's arguably a bit of a aural Rorschach (or MMPI) test, so let me know what you think it says about me.

I counter the opening volley of Dana Dane ("Rollin’ wit’ Dane") with The Soup Dragons ("I'm Free"). Granted, it's a bit of a tenuous comeback, but I linked it by (A) “Free” and the “whatever I want” message in Dana Dane, and (B) DD says “lyrics” like 13 times, and The Soup Dragons song, uh, has lyrics.

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Piggy backing off of "Freedom" (and partying), my office mate lobs back DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince ("Parents Just Don't Understand"), with gives me an easy way to answer with Roxette ("Joyride"), because DJ and the Fresh Prince go on a joyride in their parents’ Porsche. He takes the driving theme to Sammy Hagar ("I Can't Drive 55")

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I blast back with the Rolling Stones version of "Route 66", one of the most covered driving songs ever (it was that or Depeche Mode's cover), and thereby chain the 3 previous car and joyride themes (you get points for continued chaining), "Route 66" also winds up in Cali, and I get the additional double digits link ("55" / "66"). Dan answers with Chicago "Saturday in the Park"), because the Hagar and Stones entries start in Chicago, and he wanted to break from the driving theme.

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I counter with Soundgarden's "4th of July", with a lyrical link from Chicago's "You'd think it was the Fourth of July" to Soundgarden's "I thought it was the 4th of July".

Heating things up (sorry), Dan volley's back wtih DJ AL-B's mashup of Audioslave Vs. Busta Rhymes ("Woo Haa I Got The Gasoline"), with Chris Cornell (in both Audioslave and Soundgarden) as the link.

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Temple of the Dog seemed like an obvious retort, but I responded instead with my college thesis theme song from Mc 900 Ft. Jesus: "The City Sleeps", and definitely felt like I was winning the Battle (“Gasoline” in the title of theprevious song dovetail with the lyrics in the pyro song: “clutching the tools of my trade in my hand / an old box of matches and a gasoline can”).

In response, I get Guster ("Jesus on the Radio"),which links “Jesus” and has the nice meta link of Mc 900 Ft. Jesus (kind of) playing on my "radio" (it was an MP3, but whatever; he gets style points).

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In a bit of a lackluster return, I spin up eighties darling Dead or Alive's "Spin Me Round", since the Guster tune says “go around” several times.

Honestly, Dan's response metaphorically jump-kicks me (Kosheen / "Damage" -- from the Dead or Alive video f****** movie!). It's brilliant, becasue “Dead or Alive” the band links to “Dead or Alive” the movie, which is a VIDEO GAME movie, and Dan's real (and my toy) job is in video games.

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Gathering myself, I see an opportunity (and a willingness to stay stuck in the 80s) and lash back with Culture Club's "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?"

Link #1: DOA → (The Movie) → "Damage" / Kosheen (lyrics “I know I hurt you" / I didn't mean to”) → "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?" (title from Culture Club).

Link #2: DOA → (The Game) → Crying Game (The movie) → Boy George (the artist, who was in ...) → Culture Club, the band, who sung) / Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?

(There's seriously still a flow chart in my office.)

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(We ended the day calling it a draw. Grudgingly, but a draw.)

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(Starting Sunday.)

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My opening volley was Johnny Cash's cover of "Personal Jesus" from Depeche Mode (Since it was Sunday.), and Dan followed up with exactly what I would have -- Nine Inch Nails "Hurt" (which Johnny Cash also later covered).

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I follow up with the band - unknown - to - Dan - but - blasted - on -a - regular - basis - at - several - guys - I - accused - of - stealing - my - girls tune, "Under" from Filter, because it was another drug song, and from a band made up of sometime NIN touring and album members (oh, and the song I usually blasted was "Hey Man Nice Shot").

He was less impressed that I was with my response, and volleyed with Huey Lewis and the News ("I Want a New Drug"), which both maintained the chain, and lifted us (a bit) out of the somber.

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I had been waiting for two days to aurally assault Dan with some NKotB, and Huey let me leverage New Kids on the Block ("I Wanna Be Loved By You") via “New(s)” / “New”, the same insecure love vibe, and I’m sure Jordan did drugs.

Not missing a beat, Dan spun out Marky Mark's "Good Vibrations" for the Wahlberg-to-Wahlberg equal assault. At least he's a good actor. (Really good, IMHO.)

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I bounced back with Bob Marley ("Positive Vibration"). Duh -- “positive”; “vibration”; dancing; drugs; and I loves me some Marley. This also felt like the first legitimate volley return of the day.

Sliding deeper into the drugs connection, Dan sends over Sublime's "Smoke Two Joints" (Marley / Rastafari / Marijuana).

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This let me fire back another entry I wasn't sure I was going to get to leverage -- the odd LazyBoy "Underwear Goes Inside The Pants", partly because I wanted to see if I could get a quirky response into our battle, and partly to softball 6-8 launching points so we could get away from drugs.

I'm sure just to screw with me, Dan hits me with Electric Six (which I like) and "Down at McDonaldz" (which I don't, but at least it links LazyBoy's “I’m pretty sure even McDonalds has a ‘underwear goes inside the pants’ policy”).

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I end the day with Phantom Planet's "Leader", linking the two songs via cult leadership vibe (dude in “Down at McDonaldz” sounds like a cultee). I almost went with a song about Marilyn Manson, or from the Marilyn Manson Band, which would have been creepy clever. And cults are better than drugs (??).

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We kind of fizzled at this point (late on a Sunday night on a working weekend), and Dan said he didn't buy the cult angle, but if he did, he would have responded with Guster's "Red Oyster Cult".

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(So ends the day. And the initial battle.)

And now we've turned this "Battle o' the Songz" into an ongoing thing. As part of keeping our heads clear (and improving company morale and culture by creating a lighthearted betting pool rivalry), once or twice a day (we figure we couldn't keep up the previous pace and still justify our paychecks) we crank the speakers and fire off tunes at each other.

Where are we now? Obcure 80s cartoon themes (Vince DiCola and Frank Kinder, you are masterful).

Rock on.