I knew even before I got out of bed that the temperature had dipped down. My joints give me no rest when the barometric pressure keeps on changing, but this morning I felt fine. The temperature was around -12 Celcius and after watching 60 Minutes I headed out.

This was taken about 12.30 PM on the shady side of a mountain close to town and the snow does have that blue tinge by then.

Sometimes Loki reminds me of a monkey, wanting to climb higher and higher all the time.

Temperaturen har äntligen gått ner under noll-strecket och mina leder mår genast bättre. Idag blev det en tur med Loki så att han fick springa av sig…

… låtsas vara en bergsbestigare…

… och sedan skälla ut en massa andra hundar på en julmarknad.

Han måste ha varit ganska nöjd med det eftersom han knappt brydde sig när jag gick för att äta middag med vänner. Han orkade lyfta upp huvudet när jag tog på mig jackan, men sedan låg han bara där. Jag borde alltså kunna lämna honom hemma på dagtid också – emellanåt… D.v.s. den dag jag har en korg under brevinkastet – han har nämligen en viss förkärlek för att tugga sönder allt som kommer in den vägen…

Allt som allt har det varit en bra dag för att ladda batterierna.

Bara en bild på Loki då han upptäcker en ny del av världen.

Tuffingen blev alldeles konsternerad när vattnet porlade under gångbron. Första  året i en valps liv måste vara omtumlande -för att inte överdriva!

by J. Michael Straczynski (writer), Marko Djurdjevic (pencils & inks), Danny Miki & Allen Martinez (inks), Christina Strain (colors), and Joe  Sabino (letters)

The Story: Bill’s final fate is determined while Sif and the Warriors Three battle the doombots.

What’s Good: If you approach this book as just another 22-page issue of JMS’ run on Thor, it really is pretty solid and is consistent with the series’ quality as of late, at least as far as the writing is concerned.  It’s also got a couple of moments that’ll have you saying “hell yeah.”

Chief among these scenes is one involving a very angry and very naked Volstagg that is a perfect combination of comedy and pure awesome.  It is, of course, that same combination that defines the character himself.  The sequence is outrageously badass, but maintains Volstagg’s characteristic charm.  Oh, and Hogun and Fandral are absolutely on fire this month with the fat jokes.

Most readers are probably coming to this issue most concerned about the fate of Bill.  At first, it’s hard not to be a little disappointed.  That said, if you expected him to scream “I HAVE THE POWER,” turn into a god, and battle Doom, you’ll be sorely disappointed, but really, such an ending would be just a little stupid.

Instead, Bill’s ending is the best he can manage by just being Bill, and so Straczynski maintains the integrity of the character and his sub-plot.  Make no mistake, he is a hero and, ultimately, he is accepted as an Asgardian, but he does so without abandoning his humble roots or acquiring superhuman powers.  Bill’s tale has always been about being a mortal, a little guy in a world suddenly populated by the very large.  Bill’s fate is only so poignant because JMS retains this theme; Bill remains that little guy, but even so, he manages become a hero among the biggest of the bigs.

Meanwhile, JMS leaves us hanging regarding Kelda.  I think we all suspected she was more powerful than she let on, and now we’re going to see that in action.

What’s Not So Good: It’s hard not to be a little underwhelmed by this issue.  JMS’ run has had such an epic quality, that it’s hard not to expect his final issue to be grander.  What we get isn’t really any sort of massive flourish or cataclysmic ending.  Rather, we just get another solid JMS issue that simply lives up to the quality of his previous issues, no more and no less.   This final issue really has no feeling of closure and though the cover may say “finale,” that’s not what we’ve gotten.  That said, the issue also didn’t contain the sort of “hot potato” landmark shift in status quo that writers often leave off their runs with.  Ultimately, this feels like the last issue of a story arc, but certainly not the last issue of a run.

Finally, this may be the worst looking issue of Thor that Djurdjevic has drawn.  While the art is by no means unbearable, it’s weak by the standards Djurdjevic and Coipel have set for the series.  It reeks of an artist desperately trying to make a deadline.  The level of detail continually falters, with many of the more zoomed out shots and smaller panels suffering a great deal.  There are also a few panels where Donald Blake looks like a substantially younger version of himself.  Having three different inkers on the book also certainly didn’t help, making the book feel even messier with its details even more in question.  It makes the book feel sloppy, chaotic even.

Conclusion: It’s a strong issue of Thor, but it’s not the “finale” it claims itself to be.

Grade: B

-Alex Evans

It’s two weeks today that red will be meeting Sir, G, and Loki for the first time in Birmingham. I’m due to land at around 8am on the 11/12.

Mick even sent a text to remind me this morning, not that this doggy could forget.

So, how does the doggy feel about it all? Aprehensive, excited, hard, happy, a strange feeling of relief, in control (in terms of how red has felt over the last number of weeks) and remarkably humbled.

What does red expect?

This is quite a tough question to answer, normally I’d advoid acknowledging expectations as they’re quite difficult to manage. The same is true here, so at the moment this is what red is expecting -
Friendship
Tolerance
and a chance to develop or explore the e-connection W/we have made.

No pressure though, if I end up with three friends, I have gained the most valuable thing in the world.

Can anyone out there even remember how long it’s been since the original Mask film arrived in theatres? Well think of it this way. Jim Carrey was just starting to make a splash on the big screen and a little unknown actress named Cameron Diaz was cast as his love interest. The year was 1994.

Flash forward 11 painful years later and what are we left with. Probably the worst comic-book movie ever conceived and quite possibly the worst film I have seen in 5 years of covering the silver screen. It is that bad.

The sequel which bares little resemblance to the original finds Loki (Alan Cumming), creator of the Mask, banished to Earth to find his mask that has caused so much mischief. Loki’s father Odin (Bob Hoskins) is keeping a close eye on his disappointment of a son.

Meanwhile, cartoonist and would-be animator Tim Avery (Jamie Kennedy) is struggling to start a family with his eager wife, Tonya (Traylor Howard). Tim wants a big promotion at work before they have the baby Tonya has always wanted.

To make a long story short, Tim acquires the powers of the Mask and wows the big-wigs at work. After he scores big at work, Tim rushes home to make love to his wife but forgets to take off the mask. Thus we get “The Son of the Mask”.

Will Loki find Tim and his new son and finally regain his former glory and more importantly the mask? Will Tim ever find a happy ending?

Ok so the film has a plot, well, sort of.

What makes “Son of the Mask” so utterly painful to watch is how much it insults the audience that is watching this train wreck of a film. Every low-brow bathroom joke, bodily function and other things I don’t want to mention are passed off as rip-roaring comedy.

There is a sort of zany cartoon element to the child in the film who faces off against a “Mask-enhanced” dog for the father’s affection. But the whole scenario is so out of this world that it belongs in a cartoon. The scenario being played out in real-life and CGI just seems utterly wrong.

I can say for a fact there wasn’t anything I liked in this film. The acting was awful, the effects were in poor taste and nothing was funny.

I would suggest that if you have to relive the adventures of the Mask, stay home, lock the door, microwave some popcorn and rent the original. I shudder to think some people actually wanted to see this flick.

This is probably the worst film I have ever seen! And that includes all seven Deathstalker movies.

0 out of 5

So Says the Soothsayer.

Hope you enjoy this free offering for your media players S.E.T.I. Live in Leipzig. With thanks to the guys at LOKI Foundation.

…und ich bin nur bedingt zufrieden.

Chris Hemsworth kann ich mir schon mal schwer als Thor vorstellen. Er ist mir einfach viel zu jung und wirkt auch nicht so ernst wie Thor. Seh ich ähnlich kritisch wie den Typen der Gambit gespielt hat (und Gambit hat mir in Wolverine nicht gefallen) Aber immerhin wird er bei dem weiblichen Mainstream-Publikum punkten…

Tom Hiddleston als Loki find ich hingegen genial. Ich glaub der hat zwar bis jetzt nur TV-Rollen gehabt (zumindest hab ich ihn noch nie in einem Film gesehen) aber der hat schon dieses knöcherne und verschlagene Aussehen das ein Loki braucht.

Ja, ich glaube dass wir uns hier alle einig sein werden, dass Anthony Hopkins Verpflichtung als Odin den Film natürlich ungeheuer aufwertet und der Knüller schlechthin ist.

Natalie Portman als Jane Foster geht ebenfalls in Ordnung.

“Oh mein Gott! Ein Schwarzer spielt einen Weißen” Neee, Idris Elba als Heimdall ist fabelhaft gewählt. Seht euch mal seinen Blick an…

Na versoffen sieht Ray Stevenson schon aus, aber wird der Volstagg jetzt wirklich ausgestopft und 2/3 seines Gesichtes mit nem Bart verdeckt? Kann mir das gar nicht vorstellen.

Tadanobu Asano als Hogun. Gibts da was zu meckern? Glaub nicht…

Bei Stuart Townsend als Fandral habe ich halt wieder den Einwand dass er zu jung ist. Aber hier kann man wenigstens mit nem Bart noch was kaschieren…

NaJa, auch wenn mir Thor und seine Kumpels viel zu jung gecastet wurden, muss man sagen, dass es viel schlimmer hätte werden können.

I chewed my lip as we moved through the forest. My gaze was not on the path in front of me; rather it was on the treetops. I didn’t want to be caught off guard if any of the spiders decided to attack us.

A startled cry brought my attention downward. “Rowan,” Clara gasped, as I spun in my saddle.

One of the mygales had, as I’d feared, launched an attack. It had leapt down on Rowan, knocking him from his saddle. Another spider was already binding his ostrich in thick webbing. Rowan struggled against the spider that was attempting to do the same to him.

I summoned my staff, as the others did the same. The crystal at the end of Loki’s staff flared as he summoned light into it. He swept his arm outward and a blade of light cut through the spider that was attacking Rowan.

“Look out,” Muller shouted. I heard a muffled cry and then the sound of a body hitting the ground. When I turned, I found a third spider had attacked Loki, while a fourth made a meal of his ostrich.

… is what Loki did today. After walking the 2,5 km ski-trail, I didn’t put him on the leash soon enough – so when we got down to the parking lot he took off. Not far, but across an intersection to say Hi to our counsellor and her boyfriend. Why does things like this always happen when you’ve been bold enough to boast about something???

When my parents renovated Moms family home back in the 60’s, they found this old shoe in the attic. It sat in a glass cabinet for years, but disappeared when my parents divorced in the late 70’s. When Mom died in 2004 and I was sorting through her belongings, I found it in a box with odds and ends that I’m sure hadn’t been opened during the preceding 30 years…

I also put it in a cabinet and when I moved last summer, it ended up in another box – until the other day when I came across it again.

Now I’ve shown it for my last remaining uncle and he’s sure it was made by my Grandpa for one of the girls in the family. They are  hand made with the heel fastened with wooden pegs and they were probably made some time during the late 1920’s. My Uncle is sure of that, since he remembered how the men were carrying gunny sacks with sawdust up the ladder to insulate the attic when the house was built in 1932. After that no one had any reason to get in there as there was barely room to crawl around on your stomach. The style was very common in all of Northern Sweden and is decidedly Sami in origin. They look very stiff and uncomfortable but in reality shoes like these were very soft and supple. Almost like walking barefoot, according to my Uncle.

Dark Avengers #3

A continuación, comenzamos con una serie de resúmenes de lo que hasta ahora ha sucedido con Dark Reign, la forma es sencilla, como es una saga que abarca varios títulos Marvel, iremos dando resúmenes generales de  varios de esos títulos, comenzando en este caso con Dark Avengers, a disfrutarlo:

Después del final de Secret Invasión, donde Norman Osborn se ve convertido en el nuevo héroe americano,  ha quedado a cargo de la nueva fuerza policial de la tierra, solo que ahora ya no será llamada SHIELD, sino HAMMER, para ello, contacta a Victoria Hand para que sea su asesora, además, Osborn se lanza en la búsqueda de los que serán los nuevos miembros de los Avengers, siendo  su primera opción nada menos que Bullseye, la siguiente opción es Carol Danvers, quien decide no seguir en un grupo que estará bajo las órdenes de Norman, ahí, Danvers se entera de que tanto Ares como Sentry han decidido unirse con Norman, Danvers se vá de la Avengers Tower mientras Norman dice: “Hay más Miss Marvel de donde vino esa”, dirigiéndose entonces a Moonstone, ofreciéndole el puesto y el nombre de Miss Marvel, obviamente Moonstone acepta.

El siguiente es Venom, quien como sabemos ahora está unido a Mac Gargan, el antiguo Scorpion, justo después de haberse comido a uno de los Skrulls capturados en la gran batalla final de la Secret Invasión, Norman le da una fórmula a Venom que lo hace ver mucho mas humano, mas presentable, si es que cabe el término, aquí si cabe el término, Mike Deodato, hace gala de  su ingenio y la pose en donde Venom adquiere su forma “presentable” es la misma  que aquella en donde Peter Parker se unía con el alien de Venom en el clásico Secret Wars, el siguiente miembro de los Dark Avengers es Daken Akihiro, el hijo de Wolverine, quien tiene prácticamente los mismos poderes que Logan, el último en integrar el equipo es Noh-varr quien tomará el lugar de Captain Marvel, una vez reunidos todos en la Avengers Tower, Osborn se da cuenta de que hace falta algo en el equipo, Ares le dice a Norman que lo que le hace falta al equipo es un símbolo, ya que tanto el Captain America o Iron Man representaban mas que simples hombres, son símbolos,  entonces es cuando Norman con ayuda del ser conocido como Ghost abren una de las puertas secretas de Stark, en donde están guardados varios diseños de armaduras de Iron Man, Osborn se convierte en Iron Patriot y hace su presentación pública de sus Avengers, cuya alineación queda como sigue: Ares, Sentry, Miss Marvel ( Moonstone), Wolverine (Daken Akihiro), Hawkeye (Bullseye), Captain Marvel (Noh-varr), Spider-Man (Venom) y Iron Patriot;  justo en eso, Doom que había sido llevado de regreso a Latveria como un gesto de buena voluntad de Norman después de su reunión con otros grandes villanazos de la tierra, se ve atacado por Morgan Le Fay, quien busca venganza por que según dice ella, Doom la ha utilizado para hacerse de conocimientos sobre magia y ocultismo.

Mientras Norman Osborn les presenta a sus Avengers a Victoria Hand, quien será la segunda al mando, Doctor Doom es atacado por Morgan Le Fay y una horda de seres demoníacos, Doom intenta oponer resistencia pero sucumbe ante el poder de la hechicera, y cuando ésta está a  punto de acabar con el, aparecen los Dark Avengers para salvar a Doom, y en un acto de suprema violencia, Sentry, por órden de Norman asesina a Morgan Le Fay, arrancándole literalmente la cabeza del cuerpo, y cuando los Dark Avengers creen que el peligro ha pasado, Sentry repentinamente explota, mostrándose Morgan de regreso, diciendo que ha utilizado sus poderes de viajar en el tiempo para volver justo exactamente después de morir, pero de un tiempo un poco mas atrás, Morgan usa sus poderes para convertir a Venom en un mostruo mas irracional del que ya es, atacando éste a Ares, tratando literalmente de tragárselo.

Resulta que Morgan Le Fay ha usado sus conocimientos de viajes en el tiempo,  para ir conociendo los poderes de sus enemigos, y asi poder derrotarlos es por eso que cuando llega de regreso a la pelea con los Dark Avengers, sabe cuales son sus puntos débiles, y justo después de escapar del intento de ser tragado por un irracional Venom, Ares es convertido en piedra, mientras el resto del equipo sigue enfrentándose a las hordas demoniacas de Morgan, en eso, el nuevo Hawkeye, le mete una andanada de flechas que  acaban con Morgan Le Fay, otra vez, pero ella de nuevo regresa, lanzando un ataque aún mas fuerte, Iron Patriot se lleva Doom quien ha recuperado la conciencia, pero no la movilidad tratando de encontrar una respuesta para vencer a Morgan Le Fay,  Doom al principio se niega a darle acceso a Osborn sobre control del tiempo mediante un cubo temporal, pero al final accede, el plan es viajar en el tiempo para derrotar a Morgan antes de que ella viaje al presente a enfrentarlos, asi lo hacen, viajan en el tiempo para enfrentar a Morgan, Doom ya recuperado usa sus conocimientos en magia para mandar a Morgan Le Fay a la época de los Dinosaurios, ya que si la mataba, alteraría su propia línea de tiempo, mientras los Dark Avengers que realmente la pasaban mal,  quedan libres después de que Doom vence  Morgan, los demonios han desaparecido, así cuando los Dark Avengers vuelven a la Avengers Tower ven en tv que Clint Barton, ha aparecido en los medios acusando a Norman de ser un psicótico asesino, y diciendo que  tarde o temprano, la gente se dará cuenta de que poner a Osborn al mando es un error, ya que está usando a criminales haciéndose pasar como héroes y que necesita ser detenido, en esas están cuando  al llegar a la torre se encuentran con que ahí esta Sentry, quien supuestamente había muerto en la pelea con Morgan Le Fay

Ya en la torre Avenger,  los miembros del equipo han decidido tomarse un descanso, Ares regresa a su casa en la ciudad, concretamente en el Bronx, mientras Osborn trata de limpiar su  nombre y justificar sus acciones en una entrevista en televisión, Miss Marvel (Moonstone) tiene un encuentro sexual con Noh-varr y  la ciudad de Los Angeles se ve atacada por un ejercito de seres de debajo del mar, la entrevista con Norman es interrumpida, los Avengers deben hacerse cargo de la situación de inmediato…

Namor es mandado llamar para una reunión con The Cabal, asi se hace llamar la reunión secreta de villanos,  Norman le ordena literalmente a Namor que se haga cargo de la situación, ya que los atacantes de Los Angeles han sido identificados como Atlantes, Namor se niega rotundamente, mientras tanto, Noh-Varr ha desaparecido después de su encuentro con Miss Marvel,  lo que causa que el resto del equipo crea que Miss Marvel ha manipulado al nuevo Captain Marvel de alguna manera.

Entonces, Norman ordena a Sentry que se haga cargo de la situación en L.A., asi lo hace, atacando una base atlante en el fondo del mar, pero llevando a un prisionero con él, que termina siendo la merienda de Venom, quien al tragarse al ser, solo dice: “Sabe a Sushi”,  Norman entra al  lugar en donde están las armaduras de Iron man, cuando se desploma y  comienza  a decir: “No… yo estoy a cargo…Yo, no tú….. Yo…. Yo estoy a cargo…” y una voz  que curiosamente está enmarcada por globos de texto verdes le dice: “Oh Norman… Norman, Norman…. Deja de engañarte… Estoy aquí….Siempre estoy aquí”

Aquí es donde se cruza el cómic de Dark Avengers con  Uncanny X-Men, en el crossover Utopia, en donde Norman trata de apoderarse de los recursos y manipular a los mutantes que ahora viven en San Francisco, tiene lugar la  creación de unos Dark X-Men, que incluyen a Namor, White Queen, Mimic, Cloak, Dagger, Wolverine (Daken)  y Weapon Omega quienes enfrentan a unos rebeldes en San Francisco, esos rebeldes incluyen a Hellion, Avalanche, Lorelei, Sunspot, Adam X, Meld, los Dark X-men sofocan la revuelta rápidamente, al mismo tiempo, Cyclops se reúne con Norman Osborn en Alcatraz, Osborn trata de manipular a Cyclops, pero éste solo le dice a Norman que se rinda, Osborn se sorprende de las agallas de Cyclops, mientras  los capturados en la batalla son llevados ante Osborn, quien ha desarrollado una maquina llamada Omega Machine, en complicidad con  Dark Beast,  los Dark Avengers están algo celosos del equipo de Dark X-Men, lo que provoca ciertas fricciones entre ellos, en el complejo donde tienen detenidos a varios prisioneros, entre ellos Beast y Charles Xavier, quien contacta telepáticamente a Emma para pedir su ayuda, desafortunadamente, Emma tiene que seguir con el engaño con Osborn para no comprometerse….

Siguiendo con el cruce en Utopia, los Dark X-men se encargan de Simon Trask y su banda de Bio Sentinels, cada dia de la semana van limpiando el desorden en San Francisco, pero entonces, cuando Dark Beast se propone drenar las energías  mutantes de Henry Mccoy para darle mas poder al Weapon Omega, mediante la Omega Machine aparece X-Force,  (Wolverine, Domino, Warpath, X-23, Arcángel) acompañados por Magik, quien ha sacado a todos los prisioneros de ahí, y se preparan para darle una paliza al Dark Beast, quien clama por la ayuda de Weapon Omega, en eso los Dark Avengers que se preparaban para salir hacia la costa este de los USA, son avisados del ataque, pero Norman ordena que sean los Dark X-Men quienes se hagan cargo de X-Force, cuando el enfrentamiento esta a punto de darse,  Emma Frost se encarga de Daken y Namor se encarga de Mimic, lo que deja claro que Emma y Namor siempre estuvieron del lado de Cyclops y no del lado de Norman,  Cloak y Dagger quienes ya tenian dudas de seguir con los Dark X-Men se unen a  X-Factor en la huída, en eso, Cyclops, quien está aliado con Nick Fury pone en Marcha el plan secreto,  emerge del Mar el complejo llamado Utopia, justo en la bahía de San Francisco,  como ha sucedido en las últimas semanas, Cyclops utiliza los medios, para informar que ya no serán perseguidos ni cazados y que el resto de la humanidad no debe temerles, pero ya no tolerarán mas abusos, Norman pierda la cordura y Ordena  que le lleven la cabeza de Namor, el corazón de Frost y que Cyclops sea testigo de todo eso….

Ares regresa a su casa en el Bronx y encuentra a su hijo Alexander, quien tambien es un dios, concretamente el Dios Phobos, sabemos que la relación entre ellos no es la ideal entre padre e hijo, Alexander dice que ha visto a Ares en la TV  y le pregunta si “el asunto de los mutantes” ha sido lo correcto” y Ares le dice que trabajar con Norman Osborn es lo correcto, Ares se va y en eso, llega al departamento EarthQuake, quien es parte de los Secret Warriors de Nick Fury, Alexander se va con ella, pero en eso, se descubre que Ares los está siguiendo a través de la ciudad, cuando llegan a la base “secreta” de los SW, Ares comienza a destrozar el lugar, Nick Fury le hace frente, tratando de hacerlo entrar en razón. Ares decide que si Alexander ha decidido unirse a Fury es por decisión propia, asi que lo deja  a cargo de Fury y se aleja del lugar. En la Torre Avenger, Lindy la esposa de Sentry  le dispara con un arma especial que al parecer le hace bastante daño.

Después de eso, los Dark Avengers se hacen cargo de Man-Thing, mientras dos chicas desaparecen literalmente en un pueblito llamado Dinosaur, en Colorado, una de ellas es hija del Secretario de estado, asi que los Dark Avengers deben hacerse cargo, para eso, mandan a Sentry de avanzada, pero al llegar, algo comienza a atacarlo, sus manos comienzan a incendiarse, mientras un tipo de sombrero lo contempla divertido, Sentry explota y los Dark Avengers llegan a ayudarle, cuando llegan al pueblo, las comunicaciones se pierden y Norman tiene un lapsus, cierra sus ojos y al abrirlos se lee una voz que le dice: “Y aquí esta….Norman Osborn…. Rey del mundo… me parece chistoso… por que no me parece que estés a cargo de nada…” la persona que habla es nada menos que Molecule Man, quien esta sentado en una especie de trono, pero no solo eso, está acompañado de Mephisto, Zarathos, Enchantress y el Beyonder…

Laurie from Dog Hair in my Coffee asked yesterday how I could let Loki and his dad off the leashes and let them run loose. Well… Where should I start?

First of all, I’ve almost always lived close to areas where it was/is possible to let a dog run loose. Around town we have places like the tiny lake I wrote about yesterday (close to Boulder Ridge I’ve mentioned a number of times) . There’s also dead-end roads leading to cottages,  the shooting range and sandpits – not to mention miles and mailes of prepared trails. During winter we have no less than 10 km of prepared trails that can be used both for skiing and walking – in the summertime oodles more.

Secondly, both Loki and his dad (Raikko) have been trained to be off leash from a young age. They are  both  fine walking WITH a leash, which is the way we do it in the morning and at lunch and I don’t always let him off in the evening, even if I’d like to. He sure is a lot easier to deal with after he’s had a chance to expend some energy on romping around.

Like now tonight. My BFF has a 12 week-old puppy (Zorro)  - a real tough little number . They played together for about an hour earlier this evening and Loki has barely moved since we got home.

Herding dogs are  - generally – easy to train. They want to keep track of their herd – and for the lack of sheep or reindeer to boss around – they’ll keep track of their master or mistress. That’s something to work with when training. I started Loki off the leash from our first walk together – and except for a few times when the walk has become longer than I had planned, I’ve never lost him even out of my sight. Raikko is a slightly different matter… He has some hunting instincts that has made him take off a few times, but he’s never been gone for more than maybe 10 minutes and that was when he was chasing after a moose…  Come to think of it -T- who was also his son would often do that – set off after some reindeer that he chased until he felt they were safely outside his territory and then come back, prancing with pride!

BTW. The one thing I’ve never tried is obedience training in class. My uncle and cousin who were both reindeer herders taught me how to deal with dogs and since they both had well-behaved dogs, I figured that was enough. For dogowners who live in cities I’m sure it may be the saving grace – but living as I do I think I can spend my money on other things.

My arm is beginning to ache, so I’d better quit abusing it. And yes – it did remind me of a scaly lizard when the cast came off!

This page is strictly dedicated to making it easier for you to filter through my crap, to get to the kernels of truth and inspiration.

So basically I have everything in groups of what they are with subgroups, and eventually subgroups of the subgroups until it’s an endless clicking off buttons to find that one small truth that is actually a lie. If you are wondering why I would do this as my first page, well it’s simply because I don’t trust you average humans to actually be able to work the computer and use the buttons on the right side of your screen. So here it is:

My Introduction!

Who am I?

Conversations

Daily Definition

Ideas

Music

Politics (yes i know, one of the things never to bring up)

Religion (Yep, the 2nd one too)

Thoughts (Oh dear deity, that I worship or possibly do so in the future, or have in the past, Forgive me for this one)

All in all this site is going to be under construction for quite sometime, but I will do my best at keeping this up to date, and full of interesting little tid bits. After all, If I don’t who the hell will?

-LokiVash-

Primeira produção cinematográfica do Canal Brasil, o documentário Loki – Arnaldo Baptista nos mostra em 120 minutos a vida e a obra do eterno mutante. Considerado gênio por uns e insano por outros, Arnaldo era a cabeça criativa dessa que é, até hoje, a mais importante banda de rock do país. Foi da cabeça desse compositor, cantor, baixista e pianista que vieram as idéias e arranjos mais revolucionários da música brasileira, como em Panis et circensis, Top top, ou a clássica Balada do louco. O longa conta com depoimentos de companheiros de música, esposas – exceto Rita Lee, que se nega a falar no ex – familiares e fãs como Tom Zé, Lobão, Sean Lennon, Devendra Banhart e até mesmo Kurt Cobain. Mostra imagens raras da época dos grandes festivais, como uma participação dos Mutantes ainda adolescentes em um programa de TV e da turnê de reencontro da banda em Londres, três anos atrás, com Zélia Duncan nos vocais. A narrativa é costurada por uma entrevista dada pelo músico enquanto pinta um grande e emblemático quadro em sua casa, em Juiz de Fora (MG). Tudo é contado sem pudor – drogas, depressão e a tentativa de suicídio não são acobertadas. O filme só peca na qualidade da imagem: um artista tão preciosista merecia uma direção de fotografia mais primorosa. Loki conquistou o prêmio de Melhor Documentário – Júri Popular no Festival do Rio e na Mostra de Cinema Internacional de São Paulo no ano de 2008. Como grande fã dos Mutantes, arrisco-me a definir o filme em uma palavra: catártico.

Loki – Arnaldo Baptista – 2009

Dirigido por Paulo Henrique Fontenelle

Brasil

90 min

Review publicado na revista Noize #25

Mais em: http://www.noize.com.br/

ใกล้ความจริงเรื่อยๆ กับโปรเจกต์หนัังสุดยอดแห่งเทพสายฟ้า Thor ที่ดูๆ แล้ว น่าจะไปได้สวย ถ้าคนรู้จักกันเยอะ ซึ่งคราวนี้แหละครับ กำหนดการอันแ่น่นอนก็บอกมาแล้ว ว่าการเปิดกล้องนั้นจะเปิดเมื่อไหร่ แต่ทางนักแสดงนั้น ยังมีการยืนยันไม่ครบทุกคน อันนี้ก็ต้ิองดูต่อไป เอาล่ะครับ มาเข้าเรื่องกันเลย 

ทาง Production Weekly ได้รายงานมาว่า ช็อตแรก จะเริ่้มถ่ายทำ และตั้งหลักปักฐานกันที่ ลอส แองเจลีส เริ่มเปิดกล้องในกลางเดือนมกราปีหน้า(2010) และหลังจาก ถ่ายทำที่สถานที่นั้นเสร็จ จะย้านกองไปที่ ซานต้า ฟี ใน นิว เม็กซิโก ในช่วงเดือนมีนา จนถึงปลายเดือนเมษา

โดยในช่วงเดือนมีนานั้น จะเป็นกำหนดการเปิดกล้องอีกเรื่องของซูเปอร์ฮีโร่ในค่ายมาร์เวลเช่นกัน นั่นก็คือ Spider-Man 4 ไอ้แมงมุม 4 (เปลี่ยนชื่อไทยเถอะ) นั่นเองครับ ส่วนปลายเดือนเมษานั้น ก็ฺจะมีกำหนดการเปิดตัว และเข้าโรงฉาย ในวันที่ 29 เมษา ของไทย นั่นก็คือเรื่อง Iron Man 2 มหาประลัย คนเกราะเหล็ก [(ชื่อภาคแรก แต่ไม่แน่ใจว่าภาคสองจะเปลี่ยนรึเปล่า)(เท่ห์ ใช้ได้)]

Thor กำกับโดย เคนเนธ บรานาห์ แสดงนำโดย คริส เฮ็มส์วอร์ธ เป็น ธอร์ ,ทอม ฮิดเดิลสตัน เป็น โลกิ ,นาตาลี พอร์ตแมน เป็น เจน ฟอสเตอร์, แอนโธนี่ ฮ็อพกิ้นส์ เป็น เทพโอดิน ,ไจมี่ อเล็กซานเดอร์ เป็น เลดี้ ซิฟ ,โคล์ม ฟีออร์ เป็น ตัวร้ายไร้นาม ส่วนนอกเหนือจากนี้ ยังไม่ยืนยันน่ะครับ

Thor มีกำหนดฉาย (สหรัฐ) 20 พฤษภาคม 2011 ครับ

Bad Luck: Horse or Driver?

Be Afraid For the Third Time This Year! Because there are 7 days in a week, there is at least one Friday the 13th each year. Sometimes there are two and occasionally, there are three. This year must be unlucky because there have been three after today is over. It looks like to me, though I haven’t researched it fully, that whenever there are three it often happens in February, March and November, but not always. The next time the trio of malaise shows up will be in 2012, then 2015 and then again in 2026.

According to the founder of the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute, “It’s beenestimated that $800 or $900 is lost in business on this day because people will not fly or do business they would normally do. ” Some people are apparently so fearful that they won’t even get out of bed. I guess it’s Friday 13th for me every day because I never want to get out of bed. People won’t buy a house or even buy stocks. They claim that Friday 13th phobia affects some 20 million Americans. They’ll probably get a bailout from the “stimulus bill.” How do you know if you have the phobia? Symptoms are described as ranging from mild panic attacks to huge panic attacks that render the victim pretty useless to the point that they don’t go to work. If I had a job, I wonder if that would qualify as an excused sick day from work. An English psychologist interviewed about 2100 people in 2003 and found that about one fourth associated the number 13 with bad luck. Apparently, people who think of themselves as unlucky are most likely to believe in superstitions.

Deceptive Loki

Apparently, this obsession with the number 13 goes back a ways, as most of these type of things seem to do. This one is blamed on the Norseman that involves a story of 12 gods having a party at Valhalla. Presumably they aren’t talking about the golf course in Louisville. In walked an uninvited guest…a party crasher named Loki. Loki went and got Hoder, the blind god of darkness to fire a mistletow dipped arrow at Balder the Beautiful, the joy and gladness god. I suppose that mistletoe isn’t too good for you because Balder died. With the god of joy and gladness gone, the earth turned dark. Everyone was sad and it has been associated as a bad, unlucky day ever since.

They also try to drag Christianity into it by pointing out that Judas was the 13th person to show up at the Last Supper and then was the one who betrayed Jesus of Nazareth. If that’s not enough, then there is the Roman story of how 12 witches who routinely would gather together with the 13th who showed up being considered the devil.

A mathematician blames it all on the number 13 suffering the fate of following 12. This guy says that numerologists consider 12 a complete number as there are 12 months in a year, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 tribes of Israel, 12 apostles of Jesus and 12 signs of the zodiac. If you exceed 12 by one, then you get a little beyond completeness and “the number becomes restless and squirmy, which suggests that numbers are alive. This fear of the number 13 has worked its way into modern culture as the claim is that 80% of all high rises lack a 13th floor.

Was I Cursed on 13th Floor at Jester Hall?

What does that mean for me? I lived on the 13th floor of Jester Hall at the University of Texas. I was a cursed freshman and didn’t know it.

Many airports apparently do not have a gate 13, Hospitals and hotels often do not have a room 13, in Florence, Italy houses between 12 and 14 get an address of 12 and a half instead of 13. French socialites are known as quatorziens or fourteeners so as to make sure they have 14 dinner guests. Wonder what happens if someone gets sick? Do they cancel the party?

Apollo 13 Doomed by 13?

Want proof of the evils of the number 13? Why just look at Apollo 13, the ill fated trip to the moon. It departed on April 11, 1970 at 1:13 pm Houston time. Never mind they launched on east coast time. Anyway, 1:13 pm is 13:13 in 24 hour clock time. April 11, 1970 can also be written as 4/11/70. Four plus One plus One plus Seven plus Zero equals 13. Or you can say 4+11+70 + 85 and 8+5 =13. Their last television broadcast was on April 13. They entered the moon’s gravitational field on April 13 and were scheduled to land on the moon on April 13. The failure of the number 2 oxygen tank occurred on Apirl 13th at 3:08:53.555 UTC which in the eastern time zone would be 9:08:53:555. 9+8+53+555=625 and 6+2+5 =13. If the explosion that caused the damage had occured on earth, it was supposedly estimated to cost $13 million to repair the damage. Seems like someone had a lot of time on their hands.

Gristle Can Cure What Ails You

Now, Friday seems to get suckered into this by going back to Christianity and pointing out that Jesus died on a Friday. What they fail to mention is that Christians ironically call this “Good Friday.” Supposedly, some biblical scholars claim that Cain killed Able on Friday the 13th and that Adam was tempted by Eve on a Friday. How they can know this is beyond me.

If you find yourself believing in all of this and have a fear of Friday 13th, then you should consider yourself a

Burn'em if you Got'em

triskaidekaphobe. But, there is hope for you. Modern psychology says that all you need to do is focus your mind on pleasant thoughts. You haven’t lost your mind, you’ve just lost control of your mind. You should realize that you have the ability to create your own luck and its up to you to decide if that is good or bad.

I don’t like those ideas. Since most of this is folklore, I like the old remedies. One is to climb a mountain or the top of a skyscraper…kinda like King Kong. Once you get there, burn all of the socks you own that have holes in them. What if you don’t have any holey socks. Then you can stand on your head and eat a piece of gristle. If you can’t stand on your head, don’t know what gristle is and don’t have holes in your socks, then I guess you’re just out of luck.

Odd & The Frost Giants is a Neil Gaiman kids book about Norse mythology. It’s about a boy named Odd with an infuriating smile who helps out some gods. It’s very short, but told in that Neil Gaiman way that makes it seem like the story’s always existed and he’s just putting it down in new words. The thing I found the most interesting about it is how Thor Loki and Odin are portrayed compared with how he wrote them back in Sandman. These are (as befitting the kids story nature of the book) muppet versions of the gods. In any case, it was a cute little read.

Loki Laufeyson, o deus das trapaças. A serpente que vive no meio dos deuses…

Após ter seu pai morto em combate por Odin, ele é adotado pelo próprio pai dos deuses nórdicos. Porém, mesmo convivendo entre a realeza de Asgard, Loki nutre em seu coração o mais genuíno desejo por vingança. Um personagem dúbio, que não dá um passo sem planejá-lo muito bem, astuto, vil, egoísta, determinado… Que personagem interessante, não?

Laufeyson sempre chamou a minha atenção. Finalmente decidi dar asas à imaginação e iniciei uma série de contos com este personagem mitológico. “Laufeyson” é uma série que escrevo para o Universo Nova Frequencia contando a saga deste renegado entre os deuses, em busca de seus três filhos: Fenris, o lobo; Jormungand, a serpente; e Hela, a deusa da morte.

No início da série você descobre que Odin prendeu Loki sob acusação de traição e baniu os filhos deste para o mundo mortal. Séculos depois, Loki consegue misteriosamente escapar e inicia a busca pelos três, com o intuito de reunir forças para atacar o reino dos deuses e ter sua vingança.

Para escrever este conto, li algumas lendas nórdicas e somei mais ficção ainda sobre tudo. Não é uma descrição ao pé da letra das lendas e nem uma fanfic de qualquer versão mostrada antes na mídia. Me senti livre para usar o que quis e descartar o que não me pareceu útil no momento. Até o momento, produzi três capítulos da série. Gosta de mitologia? Gosta de histórias mágicas (e cruéis)? Então não perca tempo. Clique nas capas abaixo e leia a aventura do filho de Laufey. Julgue por si mesmo o que é o bem e o que é o mal.

I’ve been interested in Gnostic thought for a bit and liked the idea that Jehovah, the God of the Christians, Jews and Muslims was at best a blind fool and at worst a malicious entity, spoiling things for the good God (or Gods, as the Pleroma was generally seen as having many facets or emanations).

After all, if God is supposed to be perfect and all powerful, he has made a rather inexplicable series of cock-ups, both in the creation of life that, in its higher versions can only exist by destroying other life, and in the peculiarity of the rules he is alleged to have handed down to his followers at various times.

Having come to heathenry, the explanation of why the world is not perfect is clear, it was formed from pre-existing material by deities who were powerful but not all-powerful and who were positive, but not perfect. Life is hard, and it’s hard for everyone, including the Gods, who suffer loss, sorrow, old age (when Idun and her fruit are missing) and death.

The main achievement of Jehovah has not been to maintain the world, at a time when most of the power brokers are still his nominal followers we are as close as we ever have been of causing the utter destruction of our habitat and the mass extinction of life forms which we will be lucky to escape ourselves – in a word, Ragnarok.

Nor have his varying rules and instructions particularly helped to improve the moral fibre of his followers. His disciples are generally very good at hypocrisy, but most people do not see that as much of a plus.Otherwise there has not been much to show for his rules and regulations that cannot be more justifiably attributed to secular social development.

In fact the most striking achievement of Jehovist monotheism has been the rather effective oppression of heathens and pagans of all types. Having read the Bible from cover to cover twice, the cruelty, poor sense of humour, self importance and lack of respect for other Gods that Jehovah shows reminds me of nothing more than Loki, mouthing off as he did in Lokasenna.

A short excerpt from the 10 commandments makes the point rather well:

4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me,

Yes, I’m sure Loki was jealous, when he looked around after causing Balder’s death and realised that the others all thought he was scum. Tied down, abandoned by all but his wife, I’m sure jealousy of the real Gods was a very powerful motivating factor behind his drive to exterminate heathenry. It’s a shame for him that it didn’t quite work.