Post One Hundred Thirty Four: Too much shit to do

So the wife is in New York. Left this morning. leaving me with the kids once again. At least this is a short trip: she'll be back on Tuesday.

Between now and then, I have too much shit to do. [For purposes of this post, I'm backing up to the beginning of the weekend.] My oldest daughter had two soccer games today, and one tomorrow. I have to go and exchange a Dallas Stars jersey I bought for my youngest daughter for a larger size. I really should get the kids to church in the morning. I have laundry that needs to be done. I should probably fix the mower and then mow the lawn, but that's probably not going to happen. Most pressingly, I have to coordinate four rooms in the house, picking up all of the knick-knack shit and disconnecting the electronics so that the painters we have hired can get their job done on Monday a.m. when they come in. I also have to pull together my outline for an expert witness deposition on Monday afternoon. (This will probably actually wait until Monday when I get into the office.)

Augh.

But there is a bright side. The kids are asleep and I'm watching Firefly on the Universal HD station in my Sanctum Santorum. I'm also drinking beers. I started working out at LA Fitness two days ago and I've got a good soreness going, having had two of my better workouts in a long time. In a week and a half, i go to Chicago for the first concert with Anthrax's new lead singer, Dan Nelson.

Overall, life is good.

Post One Hundred Thirty Three: No Texarkana for me

Whew. A case involving an anticipated two-week trial in Texarkana just settled this morning.

Thank God.

Don't get me wrong: we were ready for trial and had a pretty damn good defense strategy laid out. Were the odds of a defense verdict stacked against us? Yes, they were. But this firm has developed quite the reputation for being able to pull the metaphorical rabbit out of the hat come trial (e.g.).

No, my praise is simply due to the fact that I will not have to spend two weeks in Texarkana.

Post One Hundred Thirty Two: Iron Man

Wow.

I mean, really, what more can be said? The makers (particularly Favreau) and the stars (particularly Downey) nailed it. Up and down, left and right. Captured the character perfectly, and made it ridiculosly entertaining.

I have read that Iron Man is the best reviewed movie of 2008, so I'm not going to waste more space heaping more well-deserved praise on it. But I do have a couple of notes and addenda:

First off, Rhodey's comment "Next time, baby!" while looking at the Mark 2 armor was near-perfect.

Second, Jeff Bridges was great as Obadiah Stane: shaved head and full beard works for him. He should consider a permanent change.

Third, the tease at the end of the credits (which I have been made aware of; I, the idiot, didn't stay until the end) was genius. The "Avengers Initiative," indeed. Brilliant.

But on to the addenda. I have read that in addition to announcing "Iron Man 2" for April 30, 2010, Marvel's quarter financial report has noted that Matthew Vaughan's Thor will be released June 4, 2010 [HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!], "The First Avenger: Captain America" will debut May 6, 2011 and "The Avengers" hitting the silver screen July 2011. But back to Thor: I read on Wiki that Thor himself will cameo first in Iron Man 2.

Does anyone else realize just how brilliantly Marvel is handling these things now that they have their own studio? Teases, tie-ins, cameos, team-ups . . . DC only dreams of having things so good (not that this is going to affect my attending The Dark Knight on opening day).

Anyway, the Thor announcments have gotten me thinking. While I initially had some misgivings about the movie when I first heard about it, I'm really interested in how they're going to do it. From what I have read, the writer is focusing on the Asgardian world; gods, giants, etc. I think that will work in and of itself.

But then how to tie it into the Avengers movie? I think they have to blend the Marvel Universe with the Ultimates universe. At the end of the initial movie, Thor is punished by Odin for being too cocky/egotistical, and banished to Midgard (Earth). Just as was done in the Marvel Universe. However, instead of taking the whole Donald Blake alter ego storyline, have him perceived as the "delusional" superhuman as portrayed in the Ultimates. I think that could be pulled off pretty well.