[Updated to take advantage of my nifty new YouTube Video plugin.]

A “Special Commentary” from MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann, in regard to the FOX News ambush of President Clinton, The Bush Administration, and September 11th.

iTunes has had an update that was released yesterday. Hopefully, with this update, my computer will stop shooting pea soup out of the headphone jack.

Tom Breevort needs a hug. Really.

If you know anything about comics, you’ll know the name ‘Breevort.’ It used to mean, “Hey, these comics won’t totally suck!” Now, it’s a big banner for, “Hey, fanboys! You whine too much! Shove it!”

Tom Breevort is an editor for Marvel Comics, dealing with books like New Avengers, Fantastic Four, and Civil War. He’s also the guy who, when questioned about the delays on Civil War, basically told fans that they should forget about a monthly schedule and expect things to go to more “book publishing” standards… when it’s ready, it’ll ship.

I know what some of you are saying; “eD!, c’mon, this is a topic that’s how many months old? Couldn’t you comment on something recent? Or, I dunno, do those comic reviews you keep saying you’re gonna do but never do?”

First, yes, you’d be right that I’m harping on an old subject. And those comic reviews should be coming… the pile is overwhelming… but those have something to do with other things I’m not gonna announce yet. However, I wouldn’t have talked about this topic if Brevoort hadn’t had this to say on his blog yesterday, in regard to the move of 52 editor Steve Wacker from DC to Marvel and the people crying ‘foul’ over it:

Frankly, I’m appalled at some of the things that are being posted about this situation, and this editor. Derogatory, insulting, know-nothing posts that really all translate back to one simple idea: “I’m afraid I won’t be able to have the comic book I want when I want it.” I lived this firsthand a few weeks back, when we announced that CIVIL WAR #4 was going to be delayed. There were something like a dozen pages of posts, all rallying support for the beleaguered retailers, and all those new readers who’d come into reading comics with CIVIL WAR and who would now be hopelessly lost forever because the book would now be late. And all of those posts really said the same thing as well: “I’m afraid I won’t be able to have the comic book I want when I want it.”

“I’m afraid I won’t be able to have the comic book I want when I want it.” Let it sink in, go through your pores, and bounce around your brain for a second.

Here’s my problem with his statement, and his attitude in general: I work retail. I get a customer coming in for something the company advertised on Sunday morning, and I’m out of it… or, worse yet, it didn’t show up at all in the order. Do I (a) apologize, even though the delay of the product is out of my control, listen to the customer complain that I advertised something that I shouldn’t have, take the abuse in the name of the company that pays me, give them a raincheck, and move on with my day, or (b) tell the customer “Sucks to be you, pal. We’ll have it when we have it… learn to deal. My job’s not about you.”

Of course, being a damn fine salesman, I use “a.” Brevoort, who seems to be a good editor but lacking a bit on the PR side, constantly uses “b.” “You’ll get ‘em when they’re out, and they won’t be out until they’re good and ready!” is his basic tactic.

And, you wanna know something? I’d be totally cool with Marvel or DC saying, “Hey, we’re releasing our stuff entirely in trade paperback form now; we’ve done away with the monthly model, and are just presenting the stories for you all at once.” I wouldn’t necessarily buy as much stuff as I do now, and I would personally hate the change, but, hey, you announced it, you gave us all warning, and I’m going on along my merry way.

But, and here’s where Brevoort’s comments fall apart, they don’t do that. Every Monday, Diamond Comic Distributors, the guys who put all the books in the stores every week, publish a list of what is coming out for the next two weeks. Go ahead, check it out. And, every month, comic companies give you an advance preview of what’s going to ship a few months down the line.

So, much like the situation with the ad item I mentioned before, customers are told a product would go on sale a certain day. They expect their local retail outlet to have the item that is advertised for that day in stock when the day comes. It’s not a case of, “Aw, shucks, I want my next issue now,” but one of, “Hey, wait, I was told it would be here! What gives?!”

And, the major difference between the situation with the ad item and the situation with late-shipping comics? While I cannot personally prevent a misship on an ad item, Brevoort is directly responsible for the product. Basically, not only is Brevoort wrong about the concept of “you’ll get it when you get it,” it’s his fault, too. But, hey, keep on blaming fans for wanting stuff when they’re told it’s gonna be there… it’s cool.

Oh, and about the Stephen Wacker leaving DC thing: 52 will go on fine without him. Marvel, quite frankly, needs someone who is as good as Wacker is at dealing with the fans on their side more than DC does at this point. And, from everything I’ve seen, he’s a great editor who knows how to get his people to put out a solid book, week after week. So, if you’re at Newsarama today, go to the thread where they’re calling him “unprofessional” and leave a little note wishing him luck.

With Brevoort around, he may need it.

According to my Google Calendar, today is the 8th Birthday of Google as a search engine. Given that I am a slut first to Apple, then to Google, I figured it deserved some mention.

Keep on not being evil, boys. Congratulations.

While Superman Returns didn’t do so hot in the domestic Box Office, getting only about $198 million on 4,065 screens, it’s still breaking records in IMAX theatres, where it has done $22.7 million on 92 screens.

That’s about $49,000 per screen regular release, and about $239,000 per IMAX release. And while, now at week thirteen, you can’t find Superman Returns in any theatre, it’s still playing in IMAX.

Seriously. And you should go see it.

Now, you may not have liked Superman Returns. You may think to yourself, ‘Why would I wanna pay $15 a pop to go see a movie I didn’t like again?’

Why? Because there is at least one sequence in the movie that everyone enjoyed: the plane rescue. And, in 3-D, it’s cooler than Mr. T and MC Hammer ice skating.

So, click over here to order tickets to Superman Returns: An IMAX Experience. You’ll thank me later.

Or send me hate mail. I’m cool either way.

[Note: This review was updated here. Ignore this one; it's just plain silly.]

It was at the priemere of Lady In The Water, the last M. Night Shamalamadingdong flop, that Joel Siegel responded to the formerly-awesome director’s worries that critics wouldn’t like his latest movie with a sickening “You don’t have to worry about me; you know I’ll love it.” This was the beginning of the decline in the pseudo-credibility of the Good Morning America movie critic.

I mention this story because it’ll help you understand the concern I had when I decided to review the new “Weird Al” Yankovic album, Straight Outta Lynwood. I didn’t think I could remain impartial, given my absolute love of all things Yankovic.

In the interest of full disclosure, the first CD I ever bought was Alapalooza. (Incidentally, the second album I ever bought was Off The Deep End.) I own every CD he’s ever made (outside of most of the cheesy compilation albums), know the lyrics to 98% of his songs, and the second concert I ever went to was his. (Trivia: The first concert I went to was a mesh of Looney Tunes cartoons played on a big screen with live classical music playing with it. If there’s one thing I’d be more concerned that I couldn’t be impartial about than Al, it’s Bugs Bunny.)

So, I was worried. I didn’t wanna blow what little (and I do mean “little“) credibility I had by an overly-gushing review of Al’s latest CD. That being said, after listening to the album, I don’t think I had much to worry about.

Straight Outta Lynwood
“Weird Al” Yankovic
Volcano Records

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[Edit: Yeah, sorry, forgot to take the post outta 'Draft' mode on Saturday, so this is late. M'bad.]

Welcome to the third installment of the formerly-weekly series, Pimp Yo ‘Pod! Today, we’ll be talking about the new iPods that were announced September 12th: the second-generation Nanos, a few updates on the iPod with Video, and a whole new look for the Shuffle.

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A quick message from Brandon ‘J. Is For Jolly’ Mendelson:

Hi Folks,

Today at 3pm EST, I will be live on Los Angeles’s NBC Radio affiliate. I’ll be talking about MySpace, but I have a feeling this may be a bit of an ambush as I am the only anti-MySpace person, and the DJ is friends with the pro-MySpace guy. So…

I strongly encourage you to call (909) 888 - 5222 after 3:10pm, preferably on your cell phones so they don’t see a bunch of 315’s show up. Tell them you’re fans of The Brandon Show.com, and why you hate MySpace.

So, call.  Keep him from getting mauled, so I can keep getting money from him.

Man, this is fantastic.

From MacRumors.com:

The New York Post reports that Wal-Mart is warning Hollywood studios against partnering with Apple’s iTunes Store for movie distribution.

According to studio executives, “Wal-Mart has overtly threatened to retaliate if [studios] go into business with Apple.”

While Apple has only signed one movie studio (Disney) to the iTunes store, the early success has caught the attention of other studios. One executive is quoted as saying “We all want to be in the Apple business”.

Wal-Mart is throwing their weight around, trying to stifle competition?

God, I hope this causes an anti-trust lawsuit. That’d be so awesome.

‘Cause I hate Wal-Mart.

In late August, on the last day of my semi-vacation, I went with my Father to Six Flags Great Adventure in scenic Jackson, New Jersey. After enduring the longest lines of the day (the ones for parking and ticket purchasing, naturally), we went through the metal detectors (which just scream “family fun”) and got busy hittin’ the rides.

Now, I’m not a big roller-coaster guy; in fact, the only coaster I’ve really gone on was Batman: The Ride, simply because I felt the need to support The Dark Knight in any endevor he may try… outside of the Batman and Robin ride. Won’t do it. Not because I’m “scared,” oh no… because I will try until my dying day to forget that movie ever happened. That having been said, I decided that the one ride I was going to do… no, that I had to do… was Superman: Ultimate Flight. As anyone who has read this site before knows, if it has the ‘S’ on it, it’s as good as mine. However, a two-hour wait was promised to get to the front of the line, so my Dad and I optioned to go do some other stuff first and leave that for the end of the day.

So, first, we hit up a ride with almost no line at all: Houdini’s Great Escape, which was an O.K. ride, but nothing worth going to go into great detail about here. A ride worth hyping, however, is SpongeBob SquarePants 3-D, which is one of the best video rides I’ve been on since I rode Star Tours almost twenty years ago. Even the part where they tell you the rules of the ride is an entertaining cartoon… how can you go wrong with that?!

After that, we decided it was time to hit up some $8 cheesesteaks. After consuming $28 worth of food (two cheesesteaks, a cup o’ fries, and two sodas, for the record), and doing some other things, we went back to Superman to go find out how cool it would be.

Once we got through the line (on which, we were subjected to profanity-laced music, again screaming “Family Theme Park”), we had to wait another 15-20 minutes or so for them to clear out the line of idiots who thought that the exit ramp was actually the enterance.  How’d they clear ‘em out?  By letting them on the ride, ahead of those of us with enough brain cells to read.  That made us feel all warm and fuzzy inside, lemme tell ya.

However, once we got through the line, and the ride started, it was about the most fun I’ve had doing something that didn’t involve breakdancing midgets.  It was fantastic, and I can’t wait for when my friends and I go back to interview a zombie at Fright Fest, when we’ll ride it again.

The best part of the ride, though?  The part that (hopefully) won’t be there when we come back?

Yep.  Taken with my phone while on the ride, right below us on the landing area was an open wrapper for a Trojan “Twisted Pleasure” condom.  How that was used on a ride like this, I’ll never know, but the green wrapper is pretty evocitive of Kryptonite, don’cha think?

$8 sandwiches, 2 hour lines, and Kryptonite condoms… if that doesn’t just shout “Theme Park,” I don’t know what does.