Ringo’s New Digs

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Mike Wieringo’s blog is a daily stop for me. Truth be told, I stop by his internet club house as much for his thoughts as his art [ok… maybe a bit more for his art… but just a bit]. Mike regularly posts up a daily sketch and his thoughts about it. You can never tell what will be Mike’s inspiration. Sometimes it’s a tv series, a movie or even something that he drew because no one would expect it from him. His rationale for the daily sketch is the icing on the cake. Drop by his newly redesigned and updated site, my guess is you’ll bookmark it and be back often.

Carrie Meet Jessica

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I don’t have a lot of music posts on the ZONE because most of what I listen to is older stuff. I’m especially fond of 70’s music, but my tastes run all over the board.

Today I’m linking to a popular video/song by Carrie Underwood. It’s called “Before He Cheats.” What’s surprising to me is how enjoyable I find the song. It’s not surprising because the song is country, it’s surprising because the song is about an obsessed, vengeful, hard-drinking, law-breaking woman who is not only out for revenge, but gets it. Kind of reminds me of Jessica Walter from “Play Misty for Me.” Still it is a catchy tune.

Lost in Space Found

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From time to time I enjoy surfing YouTube to see what gems I can find from my childhood. Today I present the season three opening to Lost in Space.

I can remember being in elementary school and Lost in Space was THE show to watch. The show might not hold up as well as I remember it, but I’d still take the Lost in Space  robot over R2D2 and C3PO!

 

Heroes More Than Ever!

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I’m always ready for Heroes. It’s my favorite comic con of the year due to it’s laid back atmosphere and the amount of talent that the show attracts. I didn’t think that it would be easy for Shelton to top last year’s guest list, but this year’s is mighty impressive! And I just found out that Dave [100 Bullets] Johnson, Rafael [Conan] Kayanan, and Andrew [Dusty Star] Robinson will be sharing table space alongside my best bud, “Big” John Beatty.

Yeah, I’m always ready for Heroes… and now more than ever!

A Better Criminal

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I’ve been digging Criminal by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips since the first issue. The second story arc [Criminal #6] has just started and it looks to be even better than the first! Since it has new characters and a new story, it’s the perfect jumping on point! Tracy Lawless is ex-military and AWOL. Already prone to violence, Lawless is after his brother’s killers and nothing is going to stop him from getting his revenge.
Brubaker and Phillips are responsible for one of the best comics published today and I can’t recommend it strongly enough to mature readers [due to the language and violence — you can probably tell that I edited out some language in one of the panels above].

Criminal #6 rates an A+

Captured by The Cloak

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My buddy, Bill Black, CCABW [Chief Cook and Bottle Washer] at AC Comics has decided to take the plunge and regularly produce movies based on his comic book characters. Bill has jumped in with both feet and fan reaction has been extremely positive. Bill is currently finishing production on The Blue Bulleteer: Captured by The Cloak.

Lost is Found

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This weekend my wife and I caught up on our “Lost” viewing… 5 episodes and the two hour season finale. It was a great way to end the season… some questions answered and new mysteries created. We’re excited about the show now that it’s found its way again. Too bad it’s such a long wait until it returns, but it is good news that they are now working towards a definite ending.

Rampage Melts the Iceman

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UFC 71 was an exciting card with more than a couple of upsets. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson kept his undefeated streak against Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell intact by scoring a first round TKO. Rampage was the aggressor throughout the round with both men willing to trade blows. Rampage landed a shot on the button and Chuck went down with Rampage right on him raining blows. The fight was stopped and rightly so. Rampage is the new UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. I was also looking forward to the fight between Karo Parisyan and Josh Burkman. I figured that Karo would win and he did fairly easily. Karo is a tough guy who irritates the crowd with his cockiness. I’d love to see him in a rematch against Diego Sanchez or perhaps even a title shot. The biggest surprise of the night was in the Houston Alexander / Keith Jardine fight. I figured Jardine would win fairly easily and that looked to be the case… for about 30 seconds. Jardine moved in and immediately rocked Alexander. The fight looked to be over quickly and it was, right after Alexander came back with a punch that stunned Jardine! Alexander then swarmed Jardine throwing punches from all angles and a knee to boot. Jardine was down and out.

So the string of upsets continues. It started with Hughes losing his title to St. Pierre, Franklin losing to Sylvia, Sylvia [the heavyweight] losing to Couture, St. Pierre losing to Serra and tonight Liddell losing to Jackson. Jackson’s next fight is against Dan Henderson. My guess is that Jackson will hope to be the underdog!

Raf @ Heroes

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I just found out earlier this week that my buddy, Rafael Kayanan, will be a guest at this year’s Heroes Con. I first met Raf about 30 years ago! He was just a kid wanting break in comics. Since then he’s gone on a successful career in both the comic and film industry.

Raf’s not only an extremely talented artist [as in creating artwork], but also a highly accomplished martial artist [as in can kick some butt]. In the comic field he’s worked on everything from Conan to Star Wars. In the film industry he’s done everything from storyboards and conceptual art to serving as technical adviser and fight choreographer on major films. You just know he’s got some great stories.

Raf will be at a table next to Big John Beatty. You just know that this is going to be THE place to be. Hope to see you there!

Iceman vs Liddell

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Chuck Liddell, the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion has only lost three times in his career. He has avenged two of those losses and hopes to do it again this Saturday night when he takes on Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. The last time these two met, Jackson won fairly easily with a TKO in round 2. I wouldn’t be surprised if the fight ends in much the same manner as before… only this time with Liddell getting the victory!

Zombie Survival Guide

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Most ZONErs have a love for the zombie genre. We dig all things Romero. We can’t wait for each new issue of The Walking Dead. We knew about Zack Snyder [he directed the Dawn of the Dead re-make] way before 300. If you fall into this category [emphasis on gory], then you may want to check out The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead by Max Brooks.

I say you may want to check it out because, unlike his highly recommended World War Z, the Zombie Survival Guide is just that… a survival guide. Where World War Z focused on well written stories of survival in a world of zombies, the Survival Guide is what it claims to be… a manual. There’s no doubt that it’s a cool idea. Brooks should be commended for creating a fun handbook for zombie fanatics. The guide is a well thought out and entertaining… manual.

I think that fans of the genre are going to really enjoy the ZSG, but I don’t want to mislead anyone into thinking that it’s a prequel to Brook’s highly rated World War Z or even a novel about zombies. It’s survival guide… a manual.

The Zombie Survival Guide rates a C+.

Autos from Alex

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One of the cool things about the internet is that it allows people who would otherwise never meet to become “friends.” Let me give you an example.

Alex is from Belgium and regularly visits the StalloneZone and my blog here. Alex sent me a surprise “snail mail” package. In it were three autographed photos:

  1. Laura Harring is an actress who played in seven episodes of “The Shield” as well as a ton of other stuff
  2. DJ Caruso directed four episodes of “The Shield” as well as one of my favorite movies, “The Salton Sea” as well as many other tv shows and feature films
  3. Actor, singer and songwriter Kris Kristofferson co-starred with Sly in “Eye See You,” Mel Gibson in “Payback”
Alex sent these items to me out of pure kindness… all the way from Belgium. I’ve never met Alex, but only a friend would be so nice… thanks to the internet. And a bigger thanks to Alex!

John Rambo Trailer Premieres

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I seldom overlap StalloneZone and ZONE posts. This is just cool too not to:

Ain’t It Cool News scored 3 minutes and 29 seconds of premiere footage of “John Rambo.” Although it is amazing… it is exciting… it is NOT for all ages. Sly assembled the footage to show overseas distributors.

Click HERE or HERE to see it. Big props to Harry at Ain’t It Cool News for getting the ball rolling!

It’s a great time to be a Stallone fan! – Craig