Oswald might've been a pussy, but he was a great shot.

Nine Inch Nails.

I just bought tickets to go see them at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California. I usually don't like to buy really expensive tickets because I just don't think it's worth it. The last show I spent an ungodly amount of money for a show was to see NIN back in late 2008. It was for the Lights In The Sky tour.



The previous time I had seen them was during their With_Teeth tour. In between the time they toured for that and when they came around next, they released 3 albums (4 if you include remix albums): Year Zero (Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D was the remix album released shortly after), Ghosts I-IV(a 2 discer full of instrumentals), and The Slip which was a free download from nin.com which can be found here [ http://theslip.nin.com/ ]. It was pretty exciting to see them play this material, but it was also the most impressive stage/light show I've ever witnessed. They interacted with the screens behind them...


Nine Inch Nails - Echoplex Live (Lights In The Sky, Multi-Cam) from Pier-Philippe de Chevigny Le Bla on Vimeo.

and in front of them...


Nine Inch Nails - Only (Lights In The Sky Tour, Multi-Cam) from Pier-Philippe de Chevigny Le Bla on Vimeo.

...and had images seem to circle around them while they were playing in between screens. The screens would raise and lower and the stage set up would change every 4 or 5 songs. It was incredibly unique and unlike anything I've ever seen.

Trent was using a screen on stage so he could have control of the images and what not on the screens.




Nine Inch Nails - The Great Destroyer (Lights In The Sky Tour, Multi-Cam) from Edgar Desrives on Vimeo.

Trent said that he had no intention of ever creating a tour as big as this again which is sad, but who can blame him? It must have been pains in many asses night after night pulling all that shit off. That being sad, going into a show that is guaranteed not to have as big a stage presence as before could be disconcerning to some, but this band has never let me down out of the 9 or 10 times I've seen them. That and they're touring with Jane's Addiction and Street Sweeper (Rage Against The Machine's Tom Morello's new project) which is a plus.



Nine Inch Nails - The Big Come Down (Lights In The Sky Tour, official footage) from Esther Derive on Vimeo.

"I blame rap lyrics. Damn you, Heavy D!"

Tonight the Watchmen is finally out. After all the red tape, and bullshit, we finally get to see it. It looks fantastic.

Lately, I've been catching up on Y: The Last Man. I'd never really gotten into it, and now I'm kicking my own ass because I waited so long to get into it.



The thing about Y: The Last Man is that I feel anyone who has even a passing interest in literature, history, a fascination with the apocalypse or science...I really feel this would be a great read for them. Most people view comics, in general, as a passe art form for the low brow, the nerds or losers who can't talk to girls or something. And thats fine, theres a lot of misconceptions this comic destroys easily. It's funny, brilliantly written, ahead of it's time, and I really think theres something here for everyone.

As Miles mentioned in his post previously, The Walking Dead, which is another comic thats miles ahead of the heard, is something amazing.

It takes places during the zombie apocalypse. It's the story of survivors who more often than not turn themselves into the actual monsters.

I've always been a fan of this comic as well, because even though it's in black and white...it kind of defies color, some how. That the lack of color some how makes it grittier, and makes the scenes more intense. It might be the best representation of the zombie genre I've ever seen, quite honestly. It's another one I highly, highly suggest picking up.

It was even the inspiration for the title for my other blog, Days Gone By.

But in all this comic revelry, I do have a spot of sad news. One of my all time favorite reads has come to an end. It came to an end a while ago, due in part, largely I assume, to the lack of readers. Out of all my friends I talk too, none of them have ever actually gotten into the series, and thats indicative of the franchise of it entirely.

The Exterminators was another comic that was light years ahead of itself. Let me make something clear, as far as comics go, thats actually pretty hard to do. But all the comics mentioned here today, the Watchmen, Y: The Last Man, The Walking Dead and the Exterminator; they are all light years ahead of their time.

But the Exterminators was always kind of the underdog because of it's content. While at times it doesn't even attempt to be subtle with the message it's trying to do, and it's overly bleak view of humanity sometimes get to be just a tad too much, I really feel that the mere fact that it deals with bugs is what did it end.

Some how it's more palpable to death with human beings being dead and eating other humans as opposed to bugs eating us. Ironically, dead humans don't each other in real life, but bugs do.

Reading the final note to the audience from the author, you get a sense that it was heart breaking for him to end something he felt this passionate about, and I'm sorry as hell to see it go.

I've not even started it yet, and I've had it for about two months because I just...don't want it to be truly over yet.

Bug Brothers Forever.




Other than that, theres not much going on. I need some new books to read, so please feel free to suggest anything to me. Same with comic book titles.

As far as movies are concerned, I'm really excited about "I Love You, Man" coming out. It looks hilarious, and in keeping with todays theme of comics, it even has the Hulk in it. YES!

I like to dissect girls. Did you know I'm utterly insane?

Wondercon came and went. Every year around this time I get somewhat excited about the event that is such. The costumes, the stench of BO, the shoulder to shoulder crowds, a place where my nerdiness pales in comparison, and cheap graphic novels. Sure, it's no comic-con, but what would I know? I've never been, but would love to go. From what I gather though, Wondercon is comic-con's sister who is not as hot nor as popular.

It runs for three days (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday). I went on Saturday when the majority of the stuff was going on that I wanted to witness. Sure Friday had a panel with Will Arnett, but Saturday was filled with more shit that I cared about. The day started out with a nice little wait before the Watchmen panel. The guests included director Zack Snyder, cast members Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Patrick Wilson, and artist Dave Gibbons. Zack Snyder came out and discussed some obstacles on making The Watchmen and then showed us the opening 15 (roughly) minutes, including the opening title sequence which is phenomenal. Directly after the opening footage, it cut to the scene with Jackie Earle Haley in the food line in prison which gave me goosebumps. If you have yet to read the book, I won't say what happens, but it's fucking badass. After the footage, the cast members were brought out and handled some questions during a brief Q+A. A hilarious moment I thought I'd share took place when a fan asked if there was a scene that they were either dreading or one they were looking forward to shooting and Jeffrey Dean Morgan quickly answered he couldn't wait to get to shoot the rape sequence. Didn't miss a beat. It was rad.





After that panel, which was the one I was most excited for, we walked around the floor and looked at all the booths to see what they had to offer. We accidently got sucked into the autograph line for Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher. Fuck. I knew the movie "stars" there charged for their photos and/or autographs, but Mark was fucking charging $100 for a signature. I don't know what shocked me more, if it was what he charged or how many people were in line to get said signature. After we made our rounds and caught site of Adam West, Honky Tonk Man, and various other washed up movie stars, Kim and I went to give blood. It was either that or go check out the new Star Trek trailer and/or footage. I don't really care about that, although I will probably end up check it out, we chose to give blood.



When we went to line up for the Terminator: Salvation and we accidentally caught the Up panel. Pixar's latest outing looks pretty awesome. They were pretty tight lipped about the plot and what not, but they did show us a few clips which funny and made me all the more excited for it.



About an hour later, the panel for Termaniator: Salvation began. Let me begin by saying that I am a huge fan of the first two Terminator films and thought the third one was a lot of fun and worth watching. I've held the same mindset for Terminator: Salvation for a while now, but after seeing the new trailer which will be released Friday in front of The Watchmen, it's hard not to be excited.





McG was very excited and seemed to have the fans in mind while making this as did some of the cast, but we'll see. McG began the panel with him calling Christian Bale and holding the phone up to the mic. He left a message saying that we're all excited that he is in the film, but Bale is dead to McG because he didn't come to Wondercon. Anyway, the trailer started up after McG said something along the lines of it "blasting our balls up our asses" which sounded good to me. I'm not going to go into detail about the trailer itself as it will be seen by many of you on Friday, but I will say it made excellent use of Nine Inch Nails' "The Day The World Went Away". It looked pretty fucking cool. I really like the idea of a company using people and them not knowing they're machines which was the direction this shit was headed. We took off mid-panel in order to get a ride and not BART (bay area rapid transit for those not living the bay area). I usually don't spend much when I go to these conventions, but I ended up with the first 3 hardcover books of The Walking Dead which I've started and already am in love with, the first Dark Tower graphic novel, and a Day of the Dead shirt. Overall, an awesome way to spend my Saturday.