Centralia. A Nice Place to Visit
Greetings! Here at On The Square Comics, we bring you the best in comic book entertainment. At least, that’s our very biased opinion. Thus far you have no doubt thrilled to the adventures of Lynch, as he struggles to simply be left alone to… to do … whatever it is he wishes to do.
But folks on Centralia VI just seem to be crawling out of the weeds to bother him and give him new problems with which to contend. And now the creators of Centralia are getting in on the act!
Normally, any production delays are the fault of our very talented and esteemed triple-threat artist, Jay “Fortissimo” Taylor. After all, the art takes longer to produce, and he does have three projects ongoing, two of which are already producing pages at a pretty good clip.
That was the case with issue 1 of Centralia, as we were just starting down the road of producing a comic book, and working through all the issues that come along with such a grand endeavor. We learned a lot, and thought that we might put these lessons to good use for issue 2.
So much for that.
The first two pages are ready to go, except for one problem. The “word monkey” (writer, to you non-artist folk) has been gumming up the works. That’s right, writer – Mike “Wordnik” Frangione – has, on both of the first two pages, failed to deliver the dialouge in a timely manner.
Calm down, calm down. Even though the words mess up a perfectly nice page, they are needed in order to get the story told. And Mike has been roundly thrashed for his tardiness. Except for his fingers, of course, as he needs them to type the words.
Anyway, soon, you will be able to peruse page 2 of Centralia 2, a marvelous page with plenty of action, and what is probably one of Jay’s most ambitious and eye-pleasing pages to date.
The folks at Centralia thank you for your support, and want to assure you that they are working feverishly to end the delays and get new pages to you in the weekly manner to which you are accustomed.
Once again, we thank you for your interest, and we hope that you’ve enjoyed the ride so far. We have lots of cool things in store!
Eurotrip 2011, Part 2: Under The Tuscan Sun
This installment of my travel journal covers Days 2–4 of my 2011 trip to Europe…
Picking up where we left off in Part 1, we finally arrived at our villa in the hills of Tuscany, which would serve as our base of operations for the next two weeks. There were 15-20 people sharing the sprawling villa, though we would separate into smaller groups for our excursions around Italy. Most of the rooms had already been claimed but I was able to secure a nice room on the far end of the villa with decent view.
View of a Tuscan sunset from my bedroom window
That night we all walked up to the only restaurant in the area for dinner, which also served as a meet and greet session since I had not previously met most of my villa mates. They were all very nice; it was a good group. Dinner was delicious, a spicy bacon pasta dish. I also had my first taste of Italian prosciutto that night, and it was amazing, nothing like the overly salty prosciutto we have in America. I ate a ton of it during our two weeks in Italy.
The restaurant/bus stop where we spent a lot of time
I left the restaurant early by myself to go to bed since I had been awake for a good 28 hours by this point. It was cold and windy during the walk back to the villa and I began to wonder if I had made a mistake by not packing a heavier jacket, but those worries would prove unfounded as the majority of the weather we experienced during the trip was beautiful, even into November. I got back to the villa grounds, which was surrounded by a wall with a gate that could only be opened by an electronic key. I had a key, but could not figure out where to use it because it was pitch black, so I wound up having to press the call button to the caretakers, an old couple who spoke no English. After a few minutes of back and forth talking and not understanding each other, they finally let me in and I went upstairs and collapsed in my bed.
I woke up the next morning at 3:45am and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I decided to catch a Tuscan sunrise.
Tuscany at dawn looking toward Florence in the distance
Later that morning we took a small, rickety bus down the hill into Florence, where we spent the entire day visiting the historic center and the area along the Arno river. The highlight of the day was our long climb to the top of Giottio’s Tower, affording us views like this:
View from the top of Giotto’s Campanile
Another view from the top of the tower
After the tower we walked along the Arno river, had lunch, and crossed the famous Ponte Vecchio, a medieval bridge with shops built along it.
Ponte Vecchio
After that we did some grocery shopping and headed back home for a dinner cooked by one of our villa mates. The next day we hopped on a train (the first of many during our stay) for Lucca, a walled, medieval city.
Lucca city wall
It took us a while to find the historic center, but we eventually did, and climbed a tower for some amazing views.
View from the top of the tower we climbed in Lucca
We visited a few cathedrals, including one where I gave money to a man who I thought was collecting for entry to the church only to realize later that he was just a beggar. Oh well, you live and learn. For dinner we made our way to the circular main plaza at the center of the city where I had a tasty lasagna dish, topping it off with a stop for gelato (we rarely went a day without getting gelato from somewhere).
Panorama of main plaza in Lucca
That evening we returned to Florence too late to catch the bus so we had to take a cab (the last bus for the hills leaves around 6pm, so if you want to stay out later, you’re screwed). Once again, our driver had no idea how to get to our villa and got lost, so my uncle showed him a picture of the bus stop closest to our villa on his camera, which did the trick. Unfortunately, the driver forgot to return the camera and my uncle was unable to retrieve it from the cab company after numerous calls. Fortunately, he had his iPad to tide him over for taking pictures until he could purchase a new camera.
We eventually made it back to the villa and, after some socializing, I began packing for our three-day trip to Rome, which will be covered in Part 3. In the meantime, you can follow the links below for more pictures from this part of my trip.
Prometheus – Some Quick Thoughts
I haven’t posted here in a while so I thought I’d share a few thoughts about my most anticipated film of the year (yes, even more so than The Avengers or The Dark Knight).
Prometheus is a tale of two movies, beginning as a 2001-esque sci-fi film full of wonder that morphs into a somewhat by-the-numbers horror flick in the second half. The visual effects and cinematography are spectacular, and the 3D is among the best I’ve seen, but ultimately it feels like it’s missing something. There’s not much character development (in fact, Fassbender’s brilliantly played android is the most fully-realized character in the film), though this would not have been a problem if the film had continued along its philosophical path (such films have worked with minimal character development), but when it raises the stakes and becomes a horror film, the lack of character interaction or chemistry becomes a detriment.
Still, it’s better than a lot of the derivative drivel that passes for film entertainment these days, and at least it tries for something greater, even if it falls a bit short. Despite its flaws, its a treat to see Scott working in sci-fi again (for the first time since Blade Runner), and I enjoyed watching all of the little bits that tied into Alien. I still recommend it for its aforementioned qualities as well as some expertly crafted, thrilling sequences, but with the caveat that you may want to lower your expectations if you were expecting a genre-defining masterpiece. Lets say, 3.5 out of 5 stars, though it is possible that rating could go up after a second viewing, as the film does leave behind much to consider and discuss. And people are discussing it everywhere, so if that was Scott’s ultimate goal, you could consider the film a success.
Four MVP Awards, a Super-Bowl ring, records upon records, playoff appearances, division titles, and pride into a hidden football city. Just naming some of the things that FORMER Quarterback Peyton Manning brought to Indianapolis, and will now leave in the rear view mirror. The man who saved this franchise has been released today at the dawn of the NFL Free Agency, and days before the Colts would be required to pay him his $28 Million roster bonus. Manning went under the knife four times from May 2010 until September 2011 for his neck, including a neck fusion, which has been rumored to be one of the toughest to recover from. So naturally there were concerns about his health and if he would even be able to play again. I mean let’s think about this seriously, doctors have said that if Manning takes a hit too hard or in the wrong…
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Allen Iverson has been a controversial and polarizing figure for quite some time. He was known to be both phenomenally talented, and incessantly annoying. There is the Allen Iverson who played through numerous injuries, this in a sport where it is not commonplace to do so. This Allen Iverson, earned the respect of many as a tough player, despite being undersized. Then there is the Allen Iverson who has made controversial decisions in his career. These include the “we’re talking about practice” incident, to refusing to play when he was forced to come off the bench. I have heard varied opinions on this him, both as a player and a person. Despite being a controversial figure, his talent was undeniable in his prime. This man’s prime however has long passed, and at 37, Iverson is clearly not the player he once was. Even if he joins the Lakers the difference…
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This generation of actresses, has been riddled with talentless women, with nothing more than sex appeal. Too often, these women have been cast in roles where which requires certain amount of growth and development, when they simply do not have the range to complete the task. Prime examples of these talentless pretty faces are Megan Fox, Kristen Stewart, Blake Lively, and Michelle Rodriguez. Studios and directors do not seem to care about an actress’ talent, even at times, to the detriment of the movie/story itself. One actress in this generation who is not talentless, and has a different look than a lot of the other big names in Hollywood, is Emma Stone. When I first saw Emma in Superbad, I recognized that she was actually talented. Since then, I have enjoyed her in movies such as Easy A, Zombieland. and while I did not like this picture, Stone…
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The Alien franchise has certainly had both it’s highs and lows. It starred Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley, who in the original film was a warrant officer. The first two movies were both outstanding, the first being a suspense/horror movie, while the second being more of an action movie. The third, while somewhat strangely paced and not as good as the first two, was an ok capstone to the series. The fourth installment of the series, Alien Resurrection, was by far the worst of the series, and should have never been made.
Ridley Scott’s Prometheus is said to be a prequel to these movies. The plot involves scientists finding a clue to the possible origins of mankind’s existence, which leads them to explore the universe for answers. This is due to finding alien dna fragments. Once landing on the planet which they are headed to, they fight for there lives. This film stars Naomi…
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Too much clout is given to what is written on social media outlets, i.e. facebook and twitter. That being said, we live in an age where social media has been integrated into almost every facet of life. Employers and companies are now checking the internet before hiring people, in order to investigate these social media sites. These days, anyone who needs to worry about their public image, must worry about what goes on the internet. A sports writer is an example of someone who needs to worry about their public image. So naturally tweeting a racist comment, if you are a well known sports writer, is an excellent idea. Jason Whitlock, who is a well known sports writer, did just that about Jeremy Lin.
Jason Whitlock is a moron, plain and simple. I have thought this for quite some time, beginning with his appearances on PTI. His arguments never sound…
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D posed a challenge to the new generation of action stars Hollywood has produced in recent years. I’ve decided to throw my hat into the ring because D can’t have all the fun. That being said there is a particular one of these “action” stars I feel needs my personal attention. This star is Shia LeBeouf, who it seems has made it his job to ruin everything I held in high regard as a child. We’ve got the Indiana Jones franchise of movies being destroyed by the last installment that Lucas and Spielberg just needed to make, the Wallstreet sequel that didn’t need to be, and of course the Transformers movies. I understand dealing this kind of damage to cinema is a team effort, but I feel there are three issues that need to be addressed.
The first issue to discuss is the paradox of Mr. LeBeouf. He is cast…
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Andy Blank
Mike Frangione
Depends on What the Meaning of the Word 'Blog' is 
It’s Not You, It’s Meme
What happened to all those great Facebook thingamajigs that expressed a profound sentiment in a really funny and original way? The memes that seemed to know what we were all thinking but didn’t have the courage (or creative expressionism) to say!
You know – the Gene Wilder one that was often used in mock wonder. Or the one that had six pictures on it and depicted the various humorous ways in which a job or hobby was seen by different people? Or – my personal fave – the Batman slapping Robin one? (Robin: It’s raining outside. Batman: I have a fucking window! Chortle! Comic genius!)
Some of them were amusing, sure, but after they’d been displayed and distributed about 40 times, it got a bit old.
Then — just like the turkey in Christmas Story — they are gone! All gone! No meme a la King! No meme sandwiches! Gone!
What happened? I can’t remember the last time I saw Gene Wilder. How am I supposed to cunningly express dismissive sarcasm as it pertains to the important events of the day?? Come on Gene, don’t leave me hanging!
I think I saw one of the six picture memes about a week or two ago. And I might have seen a Batman slapping Robin one just the other day. But – it’s been a while since these gems have made the Facebook rounds. At one time, it seemed that half of my Facebook feed was composed of one of these memes.
I don’t really miss the memes, mind you. Well, I suppose I miss them a little bit. I mean, there were a few that were clever and well done. One thing I do have to say about them is that, overall, (like Kim Kardashian) they got a lot of mileage and traction – for little to no reason, then crashed and burned. Hmmm – it’s interesting to note that the memes simpy went away when their 15 minutes of fame was up. Maybe Kim should consider that….
Back to the topic: I guess there’s something to be said for delivering a message or thought using only recycled pictures and a little bit of cleverness. Now I am left to wonder what form the next generation of memes will take.
I had thought that those “Still a better love story than Twilight” ones might have taken off. Or Grumpy Cat. But no – neither one of those have had the staying power of the Gene Wilder meme or the Batman slapping Robin meme. Aparently it takes more than just hating on everything to get staying power.
I’ve seen some Jean-Luc Picard action floating around Facebook. He might have the stuff. Even I didn’t know the extent of just how many JLP memes there are.
So I put it to you, meme-sters. Despite my better judgment, I don’t want to be meme free. Marshall all your creative memeosity. Dazzle me. I think you owe it to us to deliver the next generation (pun intended) of memes for our Facebook feeds. Frankly, things have gotten a little dull.