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- Ecology (1)
- Entertainment (3)
- Fanily Stuff (1)
- Gadgets and gizmos (3)
- History (2)
- Random thoughts and questions (8)
- Technological advances (1)
- Uncategorized (4)
- 20. July 2008: A Music Icon retires.
- 20. July 2008: Does anyone else name places along the road?
- 20. July 2008: Some new driving terms...
- 20. July 2008: Pop Music. Is it getting better?
- 20. July 2008: Calculating Travel Time. How fast do you need to drive?
- 20. July 2008: Tennessee Trip report….
- 20. July 2008: A little thought on my reasons for this blog.
- 11. June 2008: Was that a rain drop I felt?
- 12. April 2008: Just some more driving observations...
- 8. April 2008: Serious and not so serious thoughts on comic books
A Music Icon retires.
20. July 2008 by admin.
In April of this year a long standing Rock Icon quietly announced his retirement. I, being a fan, did not even hear about it until weeks later. Recently I was browsing the web and I discovered several press notices about the announcement. It has been widely covered, but I would like to cover it myself because this particular person and some of his cohorts in music played a particular role in my life and even now I use different pieces of his music fondly as a ringtone when my wife calls me.
When I was a teenager I found myself without a band. Every teenager of the time had a favorite band, but at age 15 I did not. I liked the old Beatles stuff and I had a liking for Deep Purple and in later years many hard core rock bands were added. But my first “Band” had a performer that is still one of my favorites today. The problem was doubly perplexing for me when my parents moved me from a small Midwestern town to a much larger one. It seemed like “Who’s your favorite band?” was the first question from every teenager I met. This put me in a bad spot. Trying to make new friends without an answer to that question was rough. I desperately needed an answer.
Then one day a neighbor who had recognized my problem handed me a set of headphones connected to a record player. He handed me an a worn yellow album cover and he told me to read the lyrics while I listened.
I was amazed at what I heard. I listened intently to both sides of the album. I read and re-read the lyrics and my favorite band was chosen. The album I had been handed was called “A trick of the Tail” and it was made by a band called Genesis.
Unfortunately or fortunately it did not eliminate my problem. Now I had a favorite band, but nobody knew who they were. While pop radio was playing idiotic songs like “Saturday Night” by the bay City Rollers I was listening to “Ripples” and “Squank”. I was often confronted with “Genesis? Who is that?” I believe my choice was fortunate. It was fortunate for me, because it gave me something interesting to talk to them about. Telling them about the music gave me a communications link that often led to good friendships.
I got my respect in later years. When the band produced several songs that became popular. Genesis and Phil Collins has recieved numerous awards and been nominated for many others since then. Including a Grammy for “Land of Confusion”. I was further vidicated in my choice when the Band was inducted into the Rock and Role Hall of Fame last year.
I am justified more and more every day. Just two nights ago the current members of Genesis (Phil Collins, Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford)were awarded the MOJO award in London for Lifetime achievement.
Key to the Genesis band and one of my favorite performers was a musician of small stature with a big voice and a great mind for song writing. His name was Phil Collins. I am often surprised at how many people have no idea what a volume of work Phil Collins has produced. I am also surprised at how little many people know about his music history. Given that he has done nothing new in the last three or four years it is not surprising that his fan base is waining, but still he did so many popular pieces you would think people would know.
Promo picture from Testify
I won’t bore you with a long dissertation on the work of Phil Collins, but there are some highlights I would like to mention.
The Band Genesis was fully formed around 1974. It had lots of roots and basically began with some early efforts long before then. There is a good history of the band on a fan site at http://www.philcollinsfansite.com/genesis_history.html
Peter Gabriel left the band in 1975 to pursue a solo career. Phil stepped in to the lead singing role from being the drummer. There is a long story about how they searched and searched and could not find a replacement and then during a rehearsal they realized Phil was the right man.
Phil started his solo career while still being an active member of the band Genesis. his first solo album did really well and despite this he and the other members of the band kept Genesis going.
While Phil was making a great solo career the band Genesis also produced several Multi Million Dollar albums. Not bad for part time work.
He had numerous top ten songs and 7 number 1 hits in the US between 1984 and 1990.
In 1998 Phil stared in a movie called “Buster”. My opinion was that it was a decent movie.
He produced 5 soundtrack albums and one of these, in my opinion, he had some of his best work overlooked. Some of the lyrics in the songs on the Disney Tarzan soundtrack are heart wrenching. The song “You’ll be in my heart” not only was a smash hit, it got Phil an Oscar!
In 1996 The band Genesis broke up. Phil continued his solo career.
Phil did more than just the Genesis and solo work. He has a session listing for music and or producing more than 85 additional albums with other performers.
I was greatly disappointed last year that I could not attend any of the Genesis tour concerts. The band had done a tour after years of not playing together and I was unable to make the time to locate one of them.
~ For what it is worth Phil, there is one guy out here who will not forget you or your music.
Lee
If you want to hear Phil Collins at his best I recommend either the soundtrack to Disney’s Tarzan or the Album “Serious Hits Live” (One of the few live albums I have ever liked.)
Phil’s official website is http://www.philcollins.co.uk/index.htm
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Does anyone else name places along the road?
20. July 2008 by admin.
I have been wondering. Does anyone else name places along the road?
You see I pass a large Sycamore tree standing in the niddle of a field and I have named it “the Tree of persistance” since it seems to remain there in defiance of the farm around it.
I have named a lot on a curve in the highway “The Crying shame” because there is an abandoned trailer in the middle of waste high grass and because there is an early model Mustang Fastback hidden and rotting in that tall grass.
There is also a very tall gnarled and dead tree that seems to look as though it is pointing down a side road. I have named it “the old man”.
There are others, but I think you get the idea. Now, if you do this also, please let me know.
Lee
Posted in Random thoughts and questions | No Comments »
Some new driving terms…
20. July 2008 by admin.
I have been doing a lot of driving lately and i would like to pass along some new terms I am using.
The Pusher - That Semi that runs just in front of you at the same speed you are and forces the drivers ahead to speed up or be run over.
The Blocker - That big truck running slower than you, but blocking all the people behind you who would have been tail gating.
LGG - The little old lady who is a Local and lives on or near the highway. Generally referred to as a Grocery Granny because when she pulls out in front of you doing 10 miles an hour it is on Grocery Day.
The Snagie - The hot shot who wanted to pass you and got frustrated when you kept speeding up before each of the clear passing areas. He gets his name because in his anger after he actually does get past you he blows by the police officer doing 25 over the speed limit.
Lee
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Pop Music. Is it getting better?
20. July 2008 by admin.
Letting people have insight into your music preferences is a very strange thing. We all do it, but it is an insight into a person that can tell you a lot about them. I guess I’ll let my gaurd down here and give you some of my thoughts.
Is it just me or has the POP music industry gone completely over to the Girls? I have been noticing this trend lately and after checking some top one hundred video sites I have noticed that women have the vast majority of videos listed. I just checked the VH1 top 20 for this week and it is an even split. 10 women and 10 men.
Of course this could indicate that the majority of viewers want to see women.
And is it just me or is it getting better?
I am an old school rock fan. Seldom do I encounter a song outside of Pop Rock or hard rock that I have an appreciation for, but I did get hooked into country for brief time thanks to Cledus. Yes, I said Cledus T Judd. You see, he did a song about a new singer named Shania. Then I read something about it somewhere and then I saw his video “If Shania was mine” (click here to see it on Youtube) and that let to me needing to find out more about who this Shania was. Now I know that hard core country fans don’t consider her mainstream country and her style is a little off of the rock scene, but that’s what made her the most popular cross-over artist in recent history. She also did something else for country music. Her music got guys like me to open their eyes and ears to country music. I have listened to and liked several country music songs that I would never have known existed.
Having said all that I should point out that I do not like much Rap. The Aerosmith/Run DMC “Walk this way” was pretty good. After that Rap went down hill. There was a few gimmic songs like “I like big butts” by Sir Mixalot and “Fight for your right to Party” by the Beastie boys. I’ll even throw a kudoo’s to Eminem. His movie “8 mile” was actually very good and I liked some of his music. But if I had to say yes or not to Rap the answer would be a resounding “No”. As a matter of fact I hate the majority of stuff they stick on MTV these days. That’s a shame. I use to like MTV in it’s early days. Maybe my age is changing my taste, but I don’t think so. I am still basically a rock fan, but now I keep an open ear and an open mind. For example, “our song” by Taylor Swift is wonderful. However I hate the video. Listening with you own imagination works a lot better. I like Rhianna’s “Shut up and Drive”, most of Fegies stuff and I have to give it to Christina agulera for “Candy Man”. It completely has the authentic feel of a 1940’s pop song but with a modern zing and of course a twist on the lyrics. (And no, I am not old enough to remember the forties. I just watch a lot of old War films.) Did you notice that these are all women?
I like a lot of old school rock like Aerosmith, Electric Light Orchastra, Boston, Blue Oyster Cult, Sheap trick and dozens of others, but my favorite musician/singer/writer is Phil Collins. Sadly a couple of weeks ago he announced his retirement. No more tours, no more recordings just writing a few songs. More on Phil in the next post to this section.
I guess the news has got me searching. That would explain my recent venture back into current pop music. Of course being a member of a generation that is not currently in it’s teens I generally don’t follow popular music that much. However, lately the “oldies” have been getting a little stale and I believe Phil’s recent announcment has caused me to wonder around searching for a new favorite performer or band.
I know in the past I just got sick of the new stuff. It seemed to all be gangster wanna be’s promoting violence etc. But in the last two years it seems that things have changed. Perhaps Pop music is getting better. I have actually found myself liking several new tunes lately. Kid Rocks take on “Sweet home Alabama” in his “All Summer Long” is one of the most interesting remakes I have ever heard. And all though I have never liked “boy bands” I have to admit that Summertime by the New Kids on the block is decent. Pocketful of Sunshine by Natasha Bedingfield is a great pick me up although I think the video lacks something. Nearly every popular song by Maroon 5 has an amazing distinct sound that I like. Currently I am a big fan of Nickleback. I really like the song “photogragh.” It takes me back to my high school days. I like Daughty a lot, but of his three most popular songs there is no stand out. They all three sound pretty much the same, like he made one really long song and chopped it into three peices.
Anyway, I am either desperate for new music or it is getting better. Perhaps I am just a little lost.
Maybe soon I’ll post my all time top 20 favorites.
…I just looked at Stephen Kings top twenty on Entertainment Weekly. He had Wild Wild West by the escape club as number 9 and Tube Snake boogy by ZZ Top as number one! Maybe I shouldn’t be that revealing.
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Calculating Travel Time. How fast do you need to drive?
20. July 2008 by admin.
Have you ever needed to know how fast you would have to drive in order to get from point A to point B in X amount of time? Well it’s something that most grade school of Junior high school children are taught. The problem is that none of us remember it. If you are like me you probably become extremely frustrated with not being able to remember simple calculations. After all, if you don’t use something a lot you forget about it. For that reason my blog section on Gizmo’s and gadgets is now going to contain peices on simply equations and everyday calculations. Gizmo’s for your mind.
In case I have not mentioned it, I am an I.T. Specialist currently contracted through a technology firm to a large company as a Network Administrator. Now I know this is off topic a little bit, but I mention it to explain why I spent time on this subject. I had three different routes of generally the same distance to drive in order to get to my new assignment. I started wondering about how fast i would have to drive to get there if I left at a certain time. I dug up that old formula and played around with it a little. Now given no outside influences like accidents, roaming deer or tornadoes I can calculate what speed I need to drive at.
Calculating Travel Time.
(Just naming this is a great exercise in communications caution. What if I had said “Calculating Time travel”? Whole different topic aye?)
I decided to start with this one because it is a real life useful example. My drive to work each day is approximately 60 miles and most of it is on a two lane highway. Fourteen miles of it is Interstate. Along the highway I have at least two sections of a mile or so where the speed limit drops to 40, so trying to figure exact driving time estimates would be rather cumbersome. After all, calculating deceleration and acceleration would be a pain. So for my estimates I am taking an average speed and using it.
The simple formula is: (Rate) x (Time) = Distance
So, If you travel 60 miles at 65 miles per hour how long will it take? Simple. Take the Distance (D) divide it by the Rate (R) to get the time.
In this first example our distance is 60 miles and our Rate is 65 MPH
(R) * (T) = (D)
65 * T = 60
T = 60/65
T = 0.923
Now to get the minutes multiply (T) by .60
0.923 * .60 = .5538
or basically 55 minutes.
Now let’s drive the same distance at a faster Rate.
Say 75 MPH
(R) * (T) = (D)
75 * T = 60
T = 60/75
T = 0.8
0.8 * .60 = .48
Basically 48 minutes.
Now let’s look at what happens if I drive 55 most of the way and average in a 65 MPH interstate run. Getting an average speed is not to difficult. So, I drive 14 miles on the interstate at 65 MPH and I drive 46 miles at 55 MPH. To get an average speed let’s take Interstate (I) times 65 MPH and add it to Highway (H) times 55 MPH.
We get the following: (14 * 65) + (46 * 55) = Total
Total = 910 + 2530
Total = 3440
Average Speed = 3440 / 60
Average Speed (Rate) = 57.33
Now let’s apply the formula to get the Time
57.33 * T = 60
T = 60/57.33
T = 1.0465724751439037153322867608582
1.0 * .60 (minutes) = 0.60
Basically 60 minutes.
Below are some shots of a spreadsheet layout I did for this. If you want a copy of the spreadsheet you can download it by clicking the link below. I do not guarantee it’s accuracy and I am not responsible or liable for any problems you encounter through its use.
Click this sentence to download the spreadsheet.
Spreadsheet screens:
Posted in Gadgets and gizmos | No Comments »
Tennessee Trip report….
20. July 2008 by admin.
(This is a cut down version of a several page report sent to my family. )
I learned a lot on this trip. I learned that I miss my childhood a lot more than I had ever thought. I also learned that recording the past and reminissing on it can get in the way of the present. Fortunately I was smart enough to make this realization while I was on the trip and resolved to not let my past or my longing for it interfere with the here and now. I also learned what a major strangle-hold McDonalds and Burger King have over my youngest children. I had to make a two Mcky D’s stop promise to get them to agree to eat anywhere else on the trip.
Sorry about the limited and poor pictures. We were going to record things on video but we forgot the camera! We had planned this trip for years and actually locked it into our calendar over a month before. Colleen and I were both giddy with anticipation that grew exponentially as the day approached.
We had two main goals on this trip. To see some of our family members and and to visit Rutledge Falls.
The Twins meet the Falls.
We drove down on Friday and spent the night shooting fireworks at the Normandy Dam, watching the Manchester Fireworks display, swimming at the hotel pool and basically relaxing.
Colleen and the boys eating at Davy Crockett.
Through the course of the Trip we managed to get the boys to eat at Davy Croketts, Jiffy Burger, Sonic, Jack in the box and a bad buffet that I won’t name here.
We spent most of Saturday visiting relatives in Winchester and McMinnville. This was something we enjoyed very much, and when asked it was actually Williams favorite part of the trip. Out of respect to our relatives I won’t post pictures of them on this blog without permission, so the pictures were only included in my family trip report.
We got lost several times. This was due both to the long time periods between visits there and the bad Google Maps we were using. Apparently The Google map we printed for driving to Winchester had US 41 and ALT US 41 mixed up. The illustration line was on the wrong one. Travellers beware.
Sunday morning we had planned on hitting the Falls. At breakfast we found out that Hanna Montana had recently visited the falls for a scene shot for a movie or something. We are not fans, but apparently she had been signing autographs there. After breakfast we headed straight for Rutledge
The boys loved the Falls. Once they got down the rock steps of the trail far enough to see how big it was I could hear lots of “oh wow!”. The water on the Falls was low, but it was still as wonderful as ever. We were not there five minutes and Chris was climbing it. Chris was at the top in no time. I warned him to stay back from the edge and to wait on William and I. I offered to go up with William but warned him not to get behind me. It was good advice. I don’t know how far up I was or how far I fell/slid, but it hurt! I am guessing that I was about twelve to fifteen feet up and slid a little more than half way down. I frantically tried to get a grasp or a hold in the first nanoseconds but then just went with Issac Newton and let gravity take me. My ring flew off as rocks scrapped my hand. Colleen said she saw me loose my footing and she turned away. She was sure she would turn back and see me mangled. Fortunately I was only bruised a little. I had stopped sliding before going over the edge. I fished around for a moment or two and found my ring. Living by the “Get Back on the Horse” rule I scaled the Falls again and helped William up it. 
That’s us on top of the main falls. 
Great shot of Colleen!
We took the Boys on a mini tour. Right down from the falls Colleen took a spill in the stream and banged up her shins good. I felt bad for her. She banged her legs worse than I had. One leg was bleeding and the other one had a big purple goose egg. After letting her soak her wounds in the cold stream for a while we continued on. I showed the boys where Brandi had gotten a black eye the time we had all stopped down there. My two oldest children Amber, Michael and my nephew Brent had been with us that day (we were on our way back from Florida and Brandi and Brent are my niece and nephew).
Section just before the bend. Falls in the background through the trees.
We took William and Christopher down to the fishing hole and the boys fed cracker crumbs to the fish that were abundant. Colleen decide to stay there and I then took them on down past the rock ledge where the springs ran in from the cracks between the trail boulders. We headed for the old swimming hole, but the water was too low. I told the boys that it was not deep enough for us to swim there that day and they turned to head back up the path.I confess that I felt a little melancholy over my remembered childhood. We had often gone down there and jumped from the rock overhangs above the stream when the water was higher. On one of my past trips with our older children we had followed the stream all the way to it’s origin. At it’s source the stream is just a gurgle of spring water coming out of the ground. It’s amazing how that little bubble of spring water gets added to and becomes this huge creek.We had some free time Monday morning before we had to head back, so we decided we would watch for a museum on the way home. After getting stuck in traffic on I-24 we eventually made it to the Stone River Battlefield site in
Keeping with our tradition of eating at new places we made our first visit to a fairly well known fast food restraunt that we had never been to before.
Eventually we made it to Hendersonville and the all important McDonalds. A regular stop for us on these trips and a promised stop we made to the twins to get them to eat at all the other restraunts.
Lee
Posted in Fanily Stuff | No Comments »
A little thought on my reasons for this blog.
20. July 2008 by admin.
I apologize to anyone who has committed to reading my blog. I have been neglectful in updating it lately. It seems that I am way too busy to sit around writing thoughts these days. I also have begun to question why I even have this site. I an sure I am not alone in questioning my compulsion to share, but it seems to me that if I really wanted the world to see this stuff I would have created a My space or Facebook page to do it. I guess, I don’t really want to share with “everyone”.
I will confess that I often eliminate topics and other writings on things of serious concern to me based on my need for some privacy of mind.
Perhaps some day I’ll join the throngs of others with meaningless My Space and Facebook trash. Until then, if you are reading this site you can consider yourself privileged to be reading something outside of the main public eye.
Lee
Posted in Random thoughts and questions | No Comments »
Was that a rain drop I felt?
11. June 2008 by admin.
In case you hadn’t heard, most of middle-eastern 
By early morning the road in front of our house “Windsor RD.” was running like a stream. For the first time since we moved here the field behind us started filling up.
An hour or so later there were calls for sand baggers at the local Harbor side health care facility. Chris and I grabbed some gloves and waded over to lend a hand with sand bags. We got the back of the buildings done enough to slow the water down but it was clear it was a losing battle. (Unknown to us my father was on a sand bagging crew in West Terre Haute doing essentially the same thing there). The water rose six to ten inches while we were working. I figured at best we were buying them time to get the elderly residents out before the place flooded. Chris was a real trooper and he clearly enjoyed the whole thing. 
They announced that another load of sand would be dropped out front and that efforts to keep the drive area clear for loading would happen when it arrived. Chris and I headed back at that time. Below is the work crew still bagging around a generator as we left.
The water was rising. Through the center of the neighborhood, and also North West of us the water was waste to chest deep and still rising. In some places, like the intersection of 10th and Windsor Road it was like a heavy river with a strong current. We had heard that part of the levy for Honey Creek had broken but there were not many details.I did not get any pictures of William. I decided loosing my phone in the water was not a good idea. William and I returned to help with the sand bagging out front, but after waiting a long time the sand truck had still not appeared. We did get to chase a very large fish through the front drive of the Healthcare facility. People were starting to bring in boats and the rushing water was getting worse everywhere. William and I headed back. The water was following the ground and flowing South to North through our area. Most of it was coming from Honey Creek and heading straight north where it rushed over the banks into Thompson’s Ditch. The Ditch of course was filling up fast. So was the ditch behind our house.
At some point during the day I decided to put some chairs out in the yard and make lite of a stressful situation. A well placed fishing pole, tackle box and a No Fishing sign with a big X over it got a lot of laughs from neighbors and people wading down the street.
Chris got some casting practice in.
We replaced ourselves with some scarecrows.
Through out the morning Colleen and I made lots of phone calls to make sure everyone else was safe and doing well. We had a hard time contacting Michael. Apparently he had left his phone somewhere.
I got a little worried as things began to get worse. I battened down the hatches and took a hike Northwest along Windsor to
It wasn’t too much longer and Windsor river was clearly getting larger.
Before I had gotten home someone from EMS or Civil Defense or something had knocked on the door and told Colleen and the kids to move to shelter at
Eventually our little troop of refugees made it to South
Lee
Posted in History, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Just some more driving observations…
12. April 2008 by admin.
I believe the Midwest opossum population gathered together in a massive suicide pact the other night. Shortly after a rain storm blew through I noticed at least four members of this mammalian group lying in distorted and mangled positions along a five mile stretch of highway. On the chance that this was a natural phenomena and not a political statement or movement I did some checking on something else I noticed.
It seems that there was a strong odor of earthworms in the air that morning. Now maybe other people don’t notice this, but sometimes after a storm you can actually smell the earthworms that have emerged in large numbers. At least I think I do. So, what did I do? I checked the web. Believe it or not there are actually people out there doing studies on opossum diet. Turns out that earthworms are 9% of an opossums diet.
This is good news for many reasons. First, the connection my brain made was probably correct and second, I feel pretty strongly that a large amount of government money and peoples lives should be spent studying a giant rat that pretty much does not benefit anybody or anything. I mean, why feed the poor or study cancer when there are opossums out there not getting a balanced diet.
“Correct opossum diet is essential for …”
“A hazard in the opossum’s life is that they eat … ”
Seriously, I apologize to the opossum lovers of the world. Perhaps I am just having a bad day. I really believe that we need information concerning everything, but on occasion it seems like our priorities are a little askew. However, to make up for it, here are some opossum info and picture links…
(Although I can’t imagine why anyone would want to look at these things.)
http://www.hiltonpond.org/ThisWeek030608.html
http://www.junglewalk.com/shop/Products/Opossum-Poster-12046.htm
http://www.hsus.org/wildlife/a_closer_look_at_wildlife/opossums.html
Posted in Random thoughts and questions | No Comments »
Serious and not so serious thoughts on comic books
8. April 2008 by admin.
I’d like to begin this post by proclaiming simply that I am not a “comic geek”. I have nothing against comic geeks, I just don’t want to be labled incorectly as one.
Now, let me share with you some thoughts related to comic books. You see, I am a fan of Iron Man, or at least I was as a youth. The new movie coming out next month has caused me more than once to ponder on why this particular character is at the top of my list. Afterall, Tony Stark, A.K.A. Iron Man was a womenizing alchoholic. Not much of a roll model for young people. However, if you read my recent post on people I admire from history you will no doubt get some insight as to my super hero choice.
Anyway, these thoughts had me thinking of comic books in general. I currently do not read them, nor do I collect, but as a younger person I did both. I am pretty sure that if you did some surveying you would find that a fairly large percentage of males born after 1960 have done both. As a matter of fact I am going to pause writing for a moment and do some googling on the subject. - pause - I am back. I had a hard time finding any numbers and I did not want to stray to far from my current thoughts. I did find that most people refer to comics written after 1961 as the “Marvel age” and indeed most of my comic book heros where from the pages of Marvel produced comics.
Getting back on track I would like to mention a few of my childhood comic hereos. There were several that I would have to say had an appeal for me because of their simplistic philosophy. I am pretty sure I admired these charachters because they had a basic motto they lived by and it was never clouded by social concerns. Two that come to mind are “The thing” from the Fantastic four and Wolverine from the X-men comic. Basically the answer to everything for these two was simply “It’s clobbering time” and “Just show me where to slash” respectedly. Of course, the world and life concerns are far more involved and complicated, but it would be nice to boil everything down to this level of simplicity.
As a young child I wanted to be Batman. I know this because all through grade school my mother kept a small book and one of the questions I was asked each year was “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Several years the answer was Batman. As I got older Batman was replaced with Iron Man. Now if you think about it, what do these two have in common? They both created themselves. Neither of them were dipped in toxic waste, bitten by a radio active spider or born with superhuman abilities. They are both from planet earth and ordinary people who use their intelligence and wealth to create gizmos and gadgets that make them superhuman.
Promotional picture released for the movie.
Tony Stark does have some redeaming qualities. He was basically a bad person who changed his life and decided to do good for others. Even before the movie project Iron Man / Tony Stark was getting press again. According to the Wikipedia page on the Iron Man comic book http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Man ”Forbes has ranked Iron Man among the wealthiest fictional characters on their annual ranking.[1] BusinessWeek has also ranked Iron Man as one of the top ten most intelligent fictional characters in American comics.[2]“
Note: I found the whole Forbes magazine thing a bit odd and possibly made up, so I did some checking. It’s real. If you search for the Forbes 15 wealthiest Fictional charaters be sure to note the date of the publishing. The 2005 list does not have Tony Stark on it, the 2006 list has him in 8th place just behind Bruce Wayne and the 2007 list has him at 10th place. Apparently both he and Bruce made some bad investments last year.
Also Note: If you are wondering about the BusinessWeek article it’s real also. It is actually called “Smartest superheros”. Bruce Wayne is third and Tony Stark is 4th.
I don’t know if Iron Man is going to be a great movie or not. I am hoping it is. Robert Downing Jr. seemed like a strange choice for the role, but after seeing his “Tony Stark” in the trailers I think he may have been absolutely the right pick. If you want to see anything about the movie, watch trailers or download desktops go to http://ironmanmovie.marvel.com/
Something else that came to mind while contemplating this subject was an incident that occurred with my oldest son when he was in grade school. He was basically chastised for reading X-men comics. When I asked him about it he said that the teacher had ranted and raved about how all they do is promote violence. I offered to speak to her on his behalf, but he said it would not help anything. He had resigned himself to reading them at home and letting the subject drop. Had I had the opportunity I would have pointed out several things to his teacher. First off my son was exceptionally intelligent and that many of the words used in the comic were well above the reading level often seen in the newspaper. I would have also pointed out that this particular comic series had a moral message. That message was anti prejudice.
If you are interested in the debate over the value of comic book content you might want to start with a little history. If you go to http://www.bookforum.com/inprint/014_05/2045 you will find a very well written ecerpted article entitled “the ten-cent plague” written by David Hajdu. I don’t know anything about the author but the excerpt covers the history and the “almost demise” of comic books. We all read novels about overzealous good-doers who hold book burnings, but we generally take that as an imaginary metaphore. In the case of comic books the book burnings actually occurred.
Another interesting read is located at http://www.crimeboss.com/history03-1.html It is an article by Amy Kiste Nyberg and it covers the Senate investagation in 1954 on the relationship of comic books and teen delinquincy. Basically they found none. however it did prompt explathe creation of the self governing comic code.
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