Saturday is Free Comic Book Day

Saturday is Free Comic Book Day in America, and perhaps in other parts of the world as well. We recently came across some Swedish Donald Duck comic books where the famed Walt Disney fowl is known as "Kalle Anka"(pictured center) and he is apparently extremely popular in Stockholm.

We also have some Donald Duck comics in Turkish where he is know as "Donald Amca" (pronounced Ahmcha, Donald Amca actually means Uncle Donald_ the Turkish word for duck is ordek).

Comic book stores, large and small, are participating in the event. At Acme Comics in Greensboro, NC, Thomas Boatwright ("Cemetery Blues") will be signing autographs as will Amanda Rachels "Clown Town the Book") and Chrissie Zullo ("Fables: Cinderella, Womantohology), among many others.

Other stores celebrating the occasion including Carol and John's Comic Book Shop in Cleveland, Ohio, which is the home of our favorite comic character Howard the Duck, Atlas Comic Books in Charlottesville, Va., and very popular Jay and Silent Bob's Comics in Red Bank, NJ (the store was started by filmmaker Kevin Smith of "Clerks" fame).

SIDEBAR: Since tomorrow is National Prayer Day in America and we love to make fun of radical preachers like the Rev. Johnny Robertson in Martinsville, Va., who has probably condemned thousands of people to burn in hell (we can't actually verify this officially), we thought we'd show irony and quote Jesus Christ, a person we respect even though we are human secularists here:

"If you want to be perfect, go sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven."


http://www.freecomicbookday.com

http://www.cnjcomics.com

http://www.jayandsilentbob.com

http://www.atlascomicbooks.com

http://www.acmecomics.com

The Frozen Four is Set- Everyone is Pretty Far From Tampa

We just quoted filmmaker and hockey fan Kevin Smith on our other blog "The Daily Vampire," since he is getting ready to 'retire' from film directing at the ripe old age of 41, perhaps he will have time to fly down to Tampa and take in the Frozen Four.

As one might expect this is the first time the Frozen Four will take place in Florida, and there is not one single university in Florida that has an official college hockey team, though perhaps some offer the sport at the club level as Virginia Tech does.

The team which appears most likely to win the Frozen Four is top seed Boston College. The Eagles' goal tender Parker Milner had a pair of shutouts at regionals in Worchester, Mass. Milner made 20 saves in Boston College's 2-0 win over Air Force. He then turned around and made 33 saves to help the Eagles defeat the defending NCAA championships Minn-Duluth 4-0.

The Eagles will now face the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers, a team that will be going to its first Frozen Four since 2005. The Gophers had impressive wins over both Boston University (by a score of 7-3) and North Dakota (by a score of 5-2) at regionals in St. Paul, Minn.

Two schools that most people have perhaps never heard of, except college hockey followers, complete the Frozen Four. Union (NY) beat Mass-Lowell 4-2. The Dutchmen are the rare successful athletic team which offer no scholarships. Sophomore goal tender Troy Grosenick helped guide the team to victory.

The Dutchmen will face the Ferris State Bulldogs (Grand Rapids, Mich.; pictured above) which got goals from Garrett Thompson and Andy Huff to defeat Cornell 2-1. The Big Red had upset Michigan 2-1 (OT) to advance to the quarter-finals.

Status Update- Beat the Clock

Today, we are starting Status Updates as our new blog series. Hopefully, it will last longer than the animated tv version of Kevin Smith's "Clerks" (there is also a more famous film version and a comic book version; we don't think there is a Clerks opera though!). Not that anyone cares, but I actually follow Smith on Twitter. I wonder if he actually still resides in New Jersey.

Here is our first Status Update:

"I really should NOT have slept an extra two hours this a.m. because I can never get them back."


I do blame to excessive zzzzzzzs on staying up too late and sinus mediation, but I know that sounds like whinning.

While putting this piece together, we were curious as to learn what was going on with the Boulder Atomic Clock in Boulder, Col., which has the most accurate time in the country.

According to the clock, which one can now find on the net, it was 15:28:30 eastern time, 13:30:50 in Colorado and it was 11:29:10 in Anchorage, Alaska, where perhaps one person looking at this entry actually resides!

Silly Photo to Fill Space- Let's Go to the Movies!

Today, we focus with a Silly Photo to Fill Space aimed at summer jobs and what could be better than working at a movie theatre and fixing popcorn?! (I actually did that job and lemme tell ya, popcorn burns hurt like h-e-double 'l').

Our feature city of the month is Trenton, NJ, where one can see the Zac Efron film "Charlie St. Cloud," which my friend Moviezzz has cited as an early Oscar contender on his blog http://www.talkingmoviezzz.blogspot.com (that is a joke and a big one at that!) at the Destina Theatre at Independence Plaza on South Broad Street.

As for historical cinemas in "Clerks" director Kevin Smith's home state, there is The Wellmont Theatre in Montclair, NJ, which will host Foreigner (uh-oh, I think "I Wanna Know What Love Is" is going to go off in my skull...yep, it just did!) on Aug. 26.

The web site Cinema Treasures, which is dedicated to movie theatres around the globe, is featuring the Capitol Theatre in Olympia, Wash., as its Cinema of the Week. The cinema in the Washington state capital will be showing the documentary "Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work" from Aug. 14-20. Call (360) 754-6670 for more info.

Lastly, we were delighted to see Cinema Tresures mention the Atlas Cinema in the Beyoglu district of Istanbul, Turkey. It may well be the hippest sinema (that's how cinema is spelled in Turkish) in the vast metropolis and they are (alas!) probably
showing "Charlie St. Cloud" too!