X-Men: First Class

I watched the latest X-Men film this weekend and must say I was impressed. I particularly enjoyed the portrayals of Professor X by James McAvoy and Magneto by Michael Fassbender. I felt engaged by the characters from the beginning and did not lose the sense of caring what happened to them through the end. There were a few cameo appearances, my favorite was Wolverine's, which were amusing. Warning to parents: Wolverine's appearance contains the only serious language incident in the film (F bomb). There are a few implied adult situations and the rest of the language is minor. I Liked the storyline and thought it contained enough surprises to keep even the most 'that was totally predictable' guy entertained. 
I usually prefer to keep my higher ratings for movies that really impress me to the core, but I liked X-Men: First Class a lot and recommend it to people of all ages and interests.  I give it an 8 out of 10. 

White Holes and other interesting tidbits

Up to this point, white holes have only existed in a sort of yin-yang, physics law, theory world and, of course, in the hearts of many a fellow nerd out there in cyber-space.  Well, look-out universe, sometimes nerds can be right!  [A lot of the times we're right but only sometimes are we given any credit.]

Jupiter is responsible for protecting Earth, and Mars, and tiny little Mercury (etc) from numerous objects that we really don't want hitting our atmosphere, oceans, land ... but it turns out that Jupiter may have also prevented Mars from getting bigger.  Well, I say, you take the good with the bad.

And because I just couldn't resist, here's a pretty picture or two (just follow the link for more pictures) of Europa and a couple of other of Jupiter's moons.  The post reports that ESA and NASA are currently planning a trip to Jupiter.  And while I would argue that anything has been decided (thank you, economy and short-sighted budget planners), I applaud the optimism.

Thank you and have a good night,

Comicpalooza in Houston, Texas

First of all, let me say a big "THANK YOU!!" to all the folks who stopped by and also those who bought a book.  I really, really appreciate your support.  For those who bought, or will buy later on Kindle or Nook, please let me know what you think!


Second, the review and the photos (what you've all been waiting for, really):


I really enjoyed the con.  I wasn't crazy about the layout; there were a lot of zigs and zags which "forced" people to create their own shortcuts.  Don't get me wrong, I like that people were paraded by me.  But the layout was confusing and I can imagine that it was frustrating for con-goers.  Other than that, the traffic was amazing.  H-town brings it when it comes to cons so if I have anything to do with it, and sometimes I do, I will be back again.


Here are a few of my favorite costumes and exhibits:

Also, can anyone tell me why the Ghostbuster genre is still popular?  I loved the movies ... and I know there were comic books and a cartoon series but some of these folks weren't alive when the movies came out so ... I'm just wondering.

Thanks for stopping by!