Category: 1

I find myself wondering whether the grope-tastic actions of the TSA constitutes an illegal search in violation of the 4th and 14th Amendment and leaves them open to be sued on that basis by passengers who feel that the current procedures are too intrusive.

The simple act of wanting to take an airplane does not make one a suspect, any more than just getting behind the wheel of a car means that police can automatically pull you over and make you take a sobriety test. I don’t see how just wanting to fly from NYC to LAX constitutes just cause for an intrusive device that effectively strips you naked on television for prying eyes. What happens the very first time that a TSA employee whose job it is to watch subjects passing through the denudeonator gets arrested for having–oh, I dunno–child pørņ on his home computer. How’s that going to go over with the public, I wonder?

And if you feel that a video strip-search is demeaning, your alternative is to receive the same kind of pat down that someone gets just before they’re handcuffed and told to lower their head so they don’t bang it on the cop car?

Millions of innocent air passengers are being treated like criminals every day. How is this not actionable?

PAD

Ages ago, when this season of my guilty pleasure, “Dancing With the Stars,” started up, I expressed irritation that all the media push was ignoring Jennifer Grey. “Nobody puts Baby in a corner,” I declared, and thus far since then I’ve been proven right. She has been the top score-getter practically every week. This evening she was declared to be in the top three for next week’s finals.

Unfortunately I’m starting to think that that’s as far as she’s going to make it. Why? Because the results of a recent poll published in “Hollywood Reporter” indicates that “Dancing” is the ninth most popular TV series on air with Republicans. And who else is still in the show despite dancing performances that are, at best, adequate, and paled in comparison to the magnificent Brandy, who was voted off this evening? Yup: Bristol Palin. There were looks of shock on everyone, particularly Grey’s dance partner, Derek Hough, who was literally slack-jawed, when Brandy was dumped while Bristol was still standing there.

DwtS has always been a popularity contest, but it’s particularly evident this year. It’s becoming abundantly clear that the GOP is lining up behind the daughter of professional candidate Sarah, perhaps in hopes that she’ll show up on the final episode. Mother has wisely kept as clear from daughter as possible, presumably so that if her daughter succeeds, it will be perceived as Bristol’s triumph alone. Should she indeed come out on top, and the odds seem for it (although I’d dearly love to be wrong) trust me: It won’t be perceived that way.

PAD

A lot of people have been asking me to discuss the most recent series of “Doctor Who,” and since it’s available on DVD so that anyone can see it, I figure now is as good a time as any. I’ll try to keep spoilers to a minimum.

Continue Reading “Cowboy Pete, That’s Who” →

You’re gonna love this

It turns out, for reasons that I can only guess at, that Running Press–the publisher of the Spider-Man Vault–has released it exclusively to…get this…Costco stores (so yes, Tom Galloway was right). Not that it’s on their website, because that would be too easy.

My guess is that they’re holding national bookstore distribution until there’s a movie to tie into (since I suspect that this was originally supposed to time out with the fourth Spider-Man film which, as we all know, got pushed back.) But they’re putting out some now on a limited basis, through Costco, presumably to tap into the Christmas season.

Isn’t publishing great?

I should put some of my author copies up on eBay. I could probably make a fortune.

PAD

But I would totally buy “Coon and Friends” action figures and plush toys.

PAD

I’d like to think that most people who hang out here do so because they’re interested in my work. Well, with the holidays coming up, I thought I’d suggest a few items that have my name on it that would make nifty gifts. In no particular order:

THE SPIDER-MAN VAULT: A coffee table book (co-authored by Bob Greenberger) telling the history of the wallcrawler, copiously illustrated and featuring reproductions of classic collectibles.

FABLE: THE BALVERINE ORDER: A novel tie-in to the popular video game. Familiarity with the game is not a requisite, but for those who are into it, it features a code for a weapon that can be used in-game.

WRITING FOR COMICS AND GRAPHIC NOVELS: A personal guide to writing in general and writing comics in specific.

MORE DIGRESSIONS: Considering so many people asked for so many years for a second collection of “But I Digress” columns, it’s kind of a shame that people STILL ask about it and then look surprised when I tell them it came out months ago.

BEN 10: ALIEN FORCE, Vol 8 and BEN 10: DOOM DIMENSION. The former is a recently released DVD of the popular Cartoon Network series that features my first episode for them, “In Charm’s Way.” The latter is a two-book original manga published by Del Rey.

FALLEN ANGEL OMNIBUS EDITIONS. For those who have been waiting a mere seven years for DC to finally get around to collecting all of the original “Fallen Angel” run, your wish was granted…except DC didn’t do it. Instead IDW has released all the original material, making it a nice companion to the previously published omnibus which features the first twenty issues of the IDW run.

DARK TOWER TRADE PAPERBACKS. The original collections of the “Dark Tower” comics, now available in trade paperback.

Also, in the interest of full disclosure, be sure to avoid:

Trade edition of Sir Apropos of Nothing People were asking me what the hëll this was ever since it first showed up on Amazon, and I was unable to get an answer from Pocket. Turns out it’s a print-on-demand edition of the original novel, and it’s just awful. It consists of the mass market edition printed at trade size with no adjustment in the typeface, meaning each page is about thirty percent border. It features an excerpt for the sequel advertised as “coming soon in hardcover” when it was published years ago. The real travesty is the cover, in which they removed the silver trim from the lettering, so the remaining typeface is basically a mass of unbordered blackness. My name is hard to read and the title is nearly impossible. A quick Amazon check seems to indicate that it’s been pulled, but if it shows up again, give it a wide berth. Instead go for an original edition or pick up the trade collection of the IDW limited series.

They’ve been showing old episodes of the 1970s “Celebrity Bowling.” Every single show is a nostalgia trip, many times with actors I haven’t thought about in ages. For many younger viewers, the names will be unknown or else you’ll be astounded at some of the people you’ll see. I mean, really, where else can you see Adam West teamed up with Roy Rogers? Interestingly, thus far the best bowler was Bob Newhart, who clearly knew what he was doing and could have beaten everyone else single-handedly.

So tune in Saturday morning at 8 AM and get a blast from the past, even if it’s not your past.

PAD