My friend Brian asked the following:

How do you think the new expansion clubs are going to affect the AFL over the next couple of seasons and beyond?

I think overall, it will be good to have more teams. However, I think they will reach a limit where expansion beyond that would be silly. It’s obvious that the sport is doing well outside of Victoria, it’s “homeland” so to speak. Some of those teams have even won championships and rather quickly (if comparing them to St. Kilda, at least). But if they continue to push too far, they could start seeing more failures.

I don’t know much about the Gold Coast, but got the impression it was more of a tourist like area. Will they have a real fan base? And there seems to be resistance to the West Sydney idea. All I can say is that I hope it works. Along with any future expansion. I just hope they don’t push it too far. Especially with talent.

They need an even amount of teams though. It will be odd seeing a team have a bye week. I don’t know what the reception was during the early 90′s before Fremantle joined the league when they had four seasons of 15 teams. I had lost touch with the AFL at that time (not that it was easy to follow before the internet anyway).

Not being able to follow it as closely as I would like, other then my fantasy team the last couple of years, I really don’t know how expansion will effect the league as a whole. But it seems the game is growing in popularity. It’s probably a good time to try. I hope they don’t expand the Finals (playoffs) though.

And what do you think of the new Gold Coast Suns identity?

I didn’t know they had released anything official until you posted this question. I was still under the assumption that they were going to be Gold Coast FC. SO glad they added a nickname. And one that is appropriate. It nothing fancy like some of the new team names. It’s not a “collective” name like the Port Adelaide Power. So I am very good with the name.

The logo looks typical of Australian professional teams. They could have come up with something much better (like their NRL counterparts the Gold Coast Titans). However, given the logo, the uniforms are pretty cool. I like the wave effect, though they could have possibly toned it down a bit. They aren’t as good as the Dockers or Crows, but still good nonetheless.

I was this weekend.

This is (obviously) the movie version of the graphic novel that I read and REVIEWED recently. I don’t want to rehash the synopsis, so I would recommend reading the review.

I wasn’t sure just what to expect from the movie. I had read a few comments along the way and some weren’t too thrilled with it. But I had a feeling that given such good material (complete with storyboards in a sense), that it would work well. And that’s what I got. I was impressed with the sets. They looked dead-on at most spots of what was in the book. Many of the scenes followed the same views and angles. I really liked that. (They almost had to or it would have been a travesty.)

And the characters really came off well. The best was Rorschach. He was played by Jackie Earle Haley. I have not seen him in anything other then “Bad News Bears” as Kelly Leek. Boy oh boy was he a marvel in casting! His performance was exactly what was needed. His voice was exactly what I heard in my head while reading the book/comic. To me, having the best character in the book come out so incredibly well on screen really helped any issues I might have had with the movie as a whole. (And there were many.) Some of the other choices were very good given their performances. Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Edward Blake / The Comedian and Patrick Wilson as Daniel Dreiberg / Nite Owl II really caught my attention.

But now for that movie as a whole. Well, it started off bad. The opening scenes. One of the coolest things about this book was the way it started. We have two cops trying to figure out a murder with every other frame the fight that led to the murder. The movie only shows the fight and the murder. There were other issues throughout that were changed. Many minor characters cut, too. Though many of them I can understand. And many bits of information needed for the viewer who might not have read the book weren’t there. The only thing that was changed, and I thought made better, was when Big Figure’s “heavies” are eliminated by Rorschach. It seems more logical and less clumsy.

Then there was the ending. Oh boy! They changed it and set it up so that a certain character is blamed for it. What the ……..?! Oh well. That’s Hollywood for you.

So my feelings are mixed about the movie. A lot of good and a lot of bad.

In some respects it was anti-climatic. My team was doing very well and the Bombers were missing key players due to injuries. But I still wondered if for some reason my team would all of a sudden have a bad week. Glad they didn’t!

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From our friend John:

What do you think the Blackhawks chances of a second (back to back) cup are?

I think they are very slim. That’s not to say that the Hawks aren’t a formidable team. They are and will be for the prolonged future. But they had to let so many character guys go, plus Niemi, due to the salary cap, that I think this hurts them in the short term. The new faces will have to get acquainted with each other and it will take some time to build that chemistry with the core of Toews, Kane, Keith, and Seabrook. So I don’t think they will repeat as Cup champs this coming season. However, I don’t doubt seeing them winning another 2-3 Cups in the next 7-8 years.

What are the Yankee’s chances for the title this year?

I think the only team they need to worry about is their division mate, the Tampa Bay Rays. Unless they play the Phillies in the series again and Lidge and company (the bullpen) start pitching like it’s 2008. Still think the Rays get the best of them though.

What will the record be of the 2010 Chicago Bears?

You’re asking me a football question, too?! I’m not sure. I would think it hinges on Jay Cutler’s performance. I don’t think they will win the division. Old Man River (Favre) will have the Vikings there. But maybe a wildcard spot is in order. I say they go 9-7 and beat out the McNabb-less Eagles for the last wildcard spot.

Penguins chances in 2010?

As I stated in the answers for Roger yesterday, I think the Pens are my favorites to win the Cup this coming season. The Capitals are still suspect on defense, and who’s going to play goalie for them? Plus they have not done enough in the playoffs to warrant being a real threat yet. The Devils may have Kovalchuk, but they will have to lose a few players once that happens. (According to CapGeek.Com they have less then $4 million in cap room and Kovie will certainly be looking at over $7 million.) And the Flyers are too erratic. Losing Gagne didn’t help either, but like I said before, nobody really improved themselves this summer. Not sure if Leighton and Boucher will carry the team between the pipes either. So again, like last year, I don’t think anyone in the East SHOULD beat the Pens.

There are teams in the West that can, but will they is the question. And this year I don’t think so. I figured Crosby and Malkin were good for a couple of Cups at least. Now, they aren’t looking to get rid of Malkin, but I think this coming season is the time to do it.

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And one question from my Dad:

Will the Lions win more than 4 games this season?

I think they just might. I have read a few things about all the upgrades they have put into the team. And if Stafford shows the same kind of tenacity, quick thinking, and passion that he did, especially like that game against the Browns last season, then I think they can win 6. He still has a long way to go, but he certainly is looking like the Lions finally got a hold of the right guy to play quarterback.

Who will be the participants and winners of the next World Series, Super Bowl, and Stanley Cup.

Wow! These are tough. Especially the Super Bowl. The season hasn’t started and I’m not what you would call a huge, knowledgeable fan. But I’ll take a crack at them.

World Series: I’m going out on a limb and saying it will be a repeat of 2008 – Philadelphia Phillies v. Tampa Bay Rays. Betting against the Yankees is probably dumb, but what the heck. I just think the Rays are better managed, and that’s saying something since the Yanks’ skipper Joe Girardi is a very good manager. The Twins may surprise, but I don’t think anyone in the AL can match the Yankees and Rays, and just think the Rays are going back to the Series. As for the Phillies, it’s a bit of a “homer” pick, but they are that good. Even with injuries they have paced themselves with the first place Braves and overtook the Giants for the wildcard lead (until all the injured guys came back and they quickly got swept in a four game series by the Astros of all teams!). If the bullpen can hold up, I think they return to the Series. Their starting pitching has been very good, even though the won-loss record doesn’t comply with that. As for the winner, I’m going with the Rays in seven.

Super Bowl: OK, going with an easy choice. I’ll take the Colts to go back to the big game, even though it’s not in Miami this year. Think they’ll beat up on the Cowboys who will surprise the Vikings and Saints in the playoffs. Yet another rematch I picked. This time of Super Bowl V. And like that one, I see the Colts winning.

Stanley Cup: This is going to be an interesting pick. This year’s free agent market has been crazy. There wasn’t a lot of big name players, but even so, what talent there was didn’t get signed up. There are still a lot of players without contracts. And the goalie free agent market was REALLY crazy! Guys like Evgeni Nabokov went to the KHL, and Jose Theodore and Antti Niemi are out of work! There were so many goalies available, and seeing how two unproven goalies led their teams to the Cup Finals, no one wanted to spend a lot of money. (A new CBA is needed soon as well, and that could have played a big part.)

In that, as my fellow co-worker and I were talking, no team dramatically improved themselves this year. The only team that might have come close is the Atlanta Thrashers who picked up three of the Blackhawks salary cap casualties, but given that Ilya Kovalchuk was on the opening night roster last year and was traded at the deadline this year, they still probably went backwards a half step. So the landscape looks much like it did last year. No clear cut team as the favorite.

OK, so the Blackhawks will be the favorites given they are the defending champs. But they tore down what they built up. (I will address this more later with John’s questions.)

Even if Kovalchuk eventually signs with the Devils, I still think that the Penguins, Capitals, and Flyers are the teams to beat in the East. I would even say that other then losing a great catalyst for the power play in Sergei Gonchar, the Pens are much the same. If they an still find a good percentage on the PP and Fleury puts on a performance like he did the two seasons prior to this last season, the Pens are THE team in the East, again.

In the West, it’s going to come down to the Red Wings, the Sharks, or the Blackhawks. Just given where they are today, I think the Hawks falter this coming season. So that leaves the Wings and Sharks. Both have questionable goaltending. The only difference is that the Wings are trending upward. The Sharks parted ways with one of the best goalies in the world, who has not lived up to that position in the playoffs (Nabokov), and now have to rely on Antero Niittymakii. Now, I like Nitty. I thought the Flyers gave up on him too soon (like they always give up on goalies). And playing in front of arguably the best team in the league could do wonders for his game. But we won’t know until April roles around. At least with the Red Wings they could see Jimmy Howard grow from his experiences last year and step up even further. Even with that though, I won’t go for yet another rematch in my choices here (Wings v. Pens Part 3!). I’ll say that the Pens win another Stanley Cup, beating the Sharks in the Finals.

What are your thoughts on the fact that 18% of Americans think that Obama is a Muslim?

I don’t know where people put their brains. There were how many people condemning Obama for going to a CHRISTIAN church with a PASTOR who was making racist comments before the election? Now there are a bunch of people that think he’s a Muslim? People believe what they want to believe.

It is like a scenario I came across with the guy that sits across from me at work. He listens to conservative radio programs most of the day. He told me about the second plane the Obamas used for the sole purpose of taking their dog on vacation. I later found out that there were quite a few humans traveling with the Obamas that necessitated (and probably quite excessively) another plane. I knew it was wrong when he told me, but that’s typical of people these days. When it comes to politics, they only hear what they want to hear.

What are your thoughts on the so-called “Ground Zero mosque”, which is, in fact, neither?

Yes, the so-called “mosque”. I am totally open about freedom of religion. (Not just the freedom of denomination of Christianity, which seems to be what many only believe in.) I know that your typical Muslim is not going to want to terrorize Americans. I don’t have a problem with whatever they are doing, but of course I don’t live in New York. I am sure even those that aren’t so anti-Muslim may have a problem with it.

In some respects I would think that the Muslim community might want to seek another spot just for the sake of avoiding problems.

What really bothers me with all this is the fact that a lot of people that get up in arms over the whole “This country was founded on the principles of Christianity” are not the church going types anyway. And again, just because a group of idiots decided to do this it doesn’t condemn the many millions (or more) that follow the religion are all like that.

Who will be President in 2013?

Good question. I would say that as things seem to be going right now, it probably will not be Obama though. I think many that weren’t one way or the other that voted for him will be leaning back to the right again in November 2012. Not sure who would then be the candidate that the Republicans would choose. It kind of scares me though. (And if our country heads down that path, I dearly hope and pray that it won’t be Sarah Palin, because she scares me more then the Republican party.)

What’s going to happen in the Supreme Court regarding gay marriage?

I hope they realize that the freedoms this country was built on should continue. I fear though, even with some conservatives (like the Governator in California) supporting it, that it will be again left to the states, not the courts, to decide, therefore California’s original voting will be upheld.

The story is set in an alternate history. In the late 1930′s, superheroes started popping up on the scene, though none of them had any actual superpowers (until Dr. Manhattan comes along). Eventually some of them start working for the government, and by 1977 they are outlawed (except those working for the government and Rorschach who is more of a vigilante). The story spans the fall of 1985, mostly in New York city. Richard Nixon is still in office (Gerald Ford still the VP), and the cold war is in full force, though the US has the upper hand. The police are investigating the murder of Edward Blake and Rorschach starts investigating as well behind the scenes. He discovers that Blake was the Comedian, one of the most popular superheroes. Soon other things point him in the direction that there is someone killing “masks”, meaning the superheroes, and the others get involved.

I was chatting with my brother-in-law David about “Watchmen” before starting it, and he mentioned that he’s not sure how he would have felt reading this when it first came out in 1986/87. It would have either been fascination or disgust. I am sure both would have applied to me, but surely confusion would have been by far the biggest emotion. It is a very, very complex story. It is steeped in political views, and I’m sure some of it went by me reading this at the age of 40. The characters and motives are such that I have read novels, good novels, that didn’t reach the depths of complexity that “Watchmen” did.

Alan Moore

The artwork was very impressive as well. Maybe not visually stunning, but intricate, detailed, complex. Each panel had a lot of visual information for the reader, and I am sure it would take a few times of reading through it to catch it all and it’s significance. What was really cool is seeing past events flow seamlessly with the present of the story, even having it alternate from panel to panel, as well as the story within the story, a pirate comic with it’s author tied to the overall story.

Dave Gibbons

Along with this, each “chapter”, which was each of the twelve issues originally released, except for the last one, had excepts of written material by the characters, providing more background information on the overall story. It was just amazing the levels of complexity a bunch of “comic books” would have.

But what was the best thing about this story? The STORY! OK, the characters, too. It was a great story, and the characters were very interesting. Some of them were down right great! Rorschach has to be one of the best characters I have ever read. And I am sure that through my days of reading beyond, he still will be.

I can’t imagine reading this when it first came out. My 16-17 year old mind would have been blown. I might never gone back to it to re-read, being scared of what it would mean. I also can see why this helped propel the comic book industry into other heights. This is not for the stereotypical comic reader. This is heady stuff, even beyond some of the deep comics out there (or so I assume).

I was totally fascinated with this story, and now fear reading others and not finding anything that will be on the same level.

Should be a good game.

The rules are, you can ask me anything, and I have to answer it. (Maybe even correctly and truthfully …….. ha-ha-ha!)

Just post your questions in the comments of this post.

Turning Amazon.Com and School Library Journal, here’s a rundown:

A prophecy tells that only a child born of the lifeless Half World can reunite the three worlds of Flesh, Spirit, and the Half World that have been split asunder. Enter Melanie Tamaki, fleeing from some school bullies. She arrives home to find that her mother, bedridden when she left for school, is mysteriously gone. Melanie receives a creepy phone call from someone demanding that she go to the “Half World” or else her mother will be hurt. She turns to elderly Mrs. Wei for help and, from her, hears of the prophecy. Mrs. Wei feeds her and gives her a pendant of a jade rat. So fortified, Melanie sets off on her quest. Her mother has collected the artwork of Escher and Bosch and, upon arrival in Half World, Melanie begins to understand why. In this world literally bereft of color every being is grotesque, most barely recognizable as human at all. Cast among these horrors, Melanie must remain hidden until she can rescue her mother and somehow save the three realms.

I highlighted that Tamaki illustrated the images within the book, but there are not many. Her name appears on the cover of the book and given this notice I expected more of them. It was disappointing not to see more if it was marketed that way. Though without multiple images it obviously leaves more room for the reader’s imagination.

It seems like many are trying to compare the work of others to Neil Gaiman. This book came with blurs or reviews saying as such. Yeah, sure, there can be comparisons. But I think, like the previous book I read with the same Gaiman fawning, this seems more original to me then Gaiman-like. One comparison could be that Melanie is like Richard from Gaiman’s “Neverwhere”; the hero of the story, but hardly hero material. She is an overweight, self-doubting, picked on book geek who is not doing well at school. However, beyond that I think Goto carved her own path.

Hiromi Goto and Jillian Tamaki

Half World is more surreal then I expected. I like that, too. I usually have issues when things get too surreal. Goto’s touches were very good. It brought on an aura of wonder and weirdness. And her development of the “evil” force behind her mission, Mr. Glueskin, was quite good. He was pompous, a genius, a scatterbrain, and an absolute horror who didn’t look it all at the same time. The descriptions of him though at times were off-putting. (It didn’t help reading at lunch.) It was subtle at times, but turning if over in my brain made me feel uncomfortable at times.

Melanie’s character development seemed to me after finishing the book as rather bland. But looking back it had a healthy dose of realism attached. It comes away as a “coming-of-age” story, but there is still the base personality remaining. It took a couple of days but I see the skill in what appeared as something else at first.

Another plus was it’s speed. Some authors, even if marketed to the YA crowd, could have turned this into a 500 page door stopper (or worse yet, a trilogy!). Goto doesn’t take Melanie on endless rounding around and mini-adventures while trying to complete the main goal. It was refreshing.

The funny thing though is that even with the writing skill on display, the book just didn’t pop. Maybe it was too subtle for it’s own good. But that’s not to say that it wasn’t a great read. Just one that won’t make the great waves that others might, even if far less flawed.