The rest is just gravy
Just a bunch of nonsense
So thanks to some red hot information from DC Women Kicking Ass, I am updating the Justice League from “Yes, Provisionally,” to “Yes Definitely.” Check out this picture to find out why.
See the woman in the lower right hand corner of the image? I do believe that’s Mera! I’m am very jonsed, especially because I know how much Geoff Johns loves her. Plus, that might be Black Canary above her. At any rate, the addition of three more superheroines makes this a must read for me.
It’s been a few weeks, and the dust has started to settle. Here are my thoughts about the big DC Comics announcement that they would be relaunching their universe with 52 new #1 issues — a total revamp of their superhero line. Like many, my knee-jerk reaction was, what? How could they do this? That’s it for me. This quickly turned into cautious optimism, even excitement about the bold new direction, and groundbreaking attempt to turn the superhero comic industry around.
Of course, not everything is a win, nor would I expect it to be. I certainly don’t buy and enjoy all the superhero titles that DC has coming out at the moment. And for every Batwoman, there are still numerous examples of how women and handled so shabbily in the world of superhero comics. (Don’t even get me started on the apparent fate of Mera in the Flashpoint event). Anyway, you can see the whole line-up of newly revamped titles coming out in September at Newsarama. I’m also going to list them all below, separated into five categories.
The “Yes, definitely” category – These are titles I will buy, and I expect to enjoy. Titles I’m really looking forward to for one reason or another.
Okay, this post is long enough. I will follow up with the rest of my categories tomorrow.
Two slip-ups in a months. Not bad. So, I should have posted this yesterday, but somehow the time got away from me. There are lots of songs from my childhood, but I’ve included two of my earliest memories of music. Having a sibling 15 years older than me meant that when I was still in shortpants, I had a sister who was listening to the Beatles. Beatles VI was released in 1965, when I was three years old. I don’t know when Mary got the album, but perhaps my earliest memory of a “rock ‘n roll” song was track two, Eight Days a Week. Boppy melody, gorgeous harmonies, this song would remain one of my favorite Beatles songs to this day, largely because of this early childhood memory.
But before even that song, I have a very vivid memory of the song Marianne. I had it on this strange album that was filled with Calypso-themed songs… songs from the islands or something. Harry Belafonte doing Lime in da Coconut and other nonsense. I don’t remember who performed this particular version of Marianne; reviewing tracks on YouTube I think it may have been Terry Gilkyson, but I’m including here a version by the Lennon Sisters and Dick Dale from the Lawrence Welk Show.
Okay, that’s more like it. There are tons of songs I listen to when I’m happy, but I will restrain myself to posting just two here. The first comes from one of my favorite artists, and lots of her songs make me happy. Her songs also make me laugh, make my cry, make me sad… She’s a true original, and her name, once and again, is Jane Siberry. This particular song isn’t the first song of hers I heard. It was from her third album (the second that I purchased). It was the first video of hers that I ever saw, and it’s a joyous, wacky video featuring Jane, the oddest family you’ve ever seen, and a very large cow. How can you not watch this video, and listen to this glorious song and not revel in its joy: Jane Siberry’s One More Colour.
Another song that I love to listen to when I’m happy comes from 80’s synth-pop band Book of Love. I just adore this song… it doesn’t matter that we sometimes affectionately called lead vocalist Susan Ottoviano, Miss Monotone, it’s a song full of joy and makes you want to dance. It’s also another song that I included on a mix tape that I made for my husband Scot when we first started dating, so I have a personal connection to it as well. Unfortunately, the only version I can find on YouTube is the 12″ version, which I enjoy, but not as much as I love the album version. Oh well, you’ll get the idea. Please enjoy Book of Love’s You Make Me Feel So Good.
I’ve already posted one song from my favorite album, but since it’s my favorite, I obviously don’t mind posting another. Day 1 featured my favorite song, Kate Bush’s Hounds of Love. That album is the title track from my favorite album, but another favorite song off that album is The Big Sky, which is today’s highlighted song. The Big Sky is such a raucous, joyous song, the type of song Kate Bush isn’t as well known for, and lyrically it’s both silly and profound. It’s got a pulsating, driving bass line, the layered drums that were so prevalent on Hounds of Love, and vocal gymnastics to die for. The video is tons of fun, an all-out celebration of things in the sky. It’s a great song to dance to, it’s a great song to blast at high volume, and Kate looks and sounds fabulous in the video. So please, enjoy, The Big Sky.