So in my previous post about Roman Polanski's arrrest Kyle wanted to know who was defending him. How about an insane amount of directors whose work I love. Holy crap, seriously guys? Really?

We have learned the astonishing news of Roman Polanski's arrest by the Swiss police on September 26th, upon arrival in Zurich (Switzerland) while on his way to a film festival where he was due to receive an award for his career in filmmaking.

His arrest follows an American arrest warrant dating from 1978 against the filmmaker, in a case of morals.

Filmmakers in France, in Europe, in the United States and around the world are dismayed by this decision. It seems inadmissible to them that an international cultural event, paying homage to one of the greatest contemporary filmmakers, is used by the police to apprehend him.

Yeah, raping a 13 year old girl is a "case of morals." You know, I usually think liberal Hollywood gets a bad rap, but you guys are just making yourself look bad. As Kyle said in his comment, and I firmly believe as well, if this was some normal dude who raped a girl 30 years ago, plead guilty, fled the country, and was finally arrested, you guys would be on the streets cheering and screaming for his blood. This is absolutely ridiculous behavior from these folks who I normally respect and they should be ashamed of themselves. Am I wrong here?

I just wanted to let you all know there will be a panel on Sunday at Long Beach Comic Con featuring Dave Kellett (Sheldon), David Malki! (Wondermark), and Jeff Zugale.  Following this panel we will be having a Webcomic creator and fan gathering where creators will have the chance to promote their comic and meet fellow fans and creators.  Join us at 3 PM in Room C!  Did I mention the gathering part will be hosted by Phil and myself?  Yeah, so you definitely want to come! Tell your friends!  Tell your enemies! I honestly don't care, just tell everyone! Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

There are still a couple shows on deck that I'm really waiting for (30 Rock, Friday Night Lights) but I figured that now that the bulk of fall TV has started I should post my thoughts and we can start the TV chatter.? I currently am watching WAY too many TV shows right now, but I'm sure at least one will be canceled and I'll probably get tired of some as well.? Here's a quick rundown.

Monday

How I Met Your Mother - Pretty strong start.? Needs a bit more Marshal.
Heroes - I wish I knew how to quit you.

Tuesday

90210 - Yes, I am addicted to teen soap operas. I just can't help myself.
Melrose Place - Really started with a bang and I am a big fan of Stephanie Jacobsen (Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, Battlestar Galactica: Razor) so I'll keep watching.

Wednesday

Glee - I don't want to love this show, but I can't help myself.? It's funny, well written, the music is great, and Jane Lynch is a comedy genius.? My pick for best new show, which means it will probably be canceled.

Thursday

FlashForward - Okay, I was wrong, this is the best new show and is a great way to fill that Lost void in my heart, especially the one that will be there when it's gone for good.
SNL Weekend Update Thursday - A nice little dose of pretty much the best segment on the show.
Parks and Recreation - Off to a great start this season, hopefully it can build an audience.? Aubrey Plaza is awesome.
Community - Chevy Chase, I'm sorry I doubted your greatness, but hopefully you understand.
The Office - My old roommate Curtis thinks the show has lost all grip on reality.? I honestly don't care.
Fringe - Lots of crazy goings on, definitely has that X-Files vibe, which I think is a good thing.? Hopefully they'll keep the momentum going.
Vampire Diaries - Just might be my first drop of the season.? After three episodes the only thing that's kept me interested is Maureen from Freaks and Geeks.

Friday

Dollhouse - Sad to see that not even Jamie Bamber and Alexis Denisof guest appearances could help boost the ratings.? I'll stand by you, Joss.

Sunday

The Simpsons - Best season opener in years.? Seriously.? If they can't keep it up, they need to just hire Seth Rogen or something.
Mad Men - Still the best show on TV.? I'm loving the insane goings-on this season.
Entourage - My guilty pleasure.? I've really enjoyed Gary Cole this season.
Bored to Death - Actually, put this in a three way tie with Glee and FlashForward for best new show.? Schwartzman and Galifianakis are fantastic but it's Ted Danson who really steals the show.
Curb Your Enthusiasm - In just two episodes this season LD and crew have shown why this is the funniest show on television right now and possibly ever.? I can't imagine what will happen once the Seinfeld cast joins the mix.

?

So there you have it, my brief synopsis of what I'm watching.? Add in football and some wrestling (yeah, I'm still on that kick too) and that is pretty much my sad life.? What are you guys watching?? Feel free to chime in with your thoughts on new shows and the shows you can't stop watching.

If you are a big soda afficionado like me, then you know all about the awesomeness that is Mexican Coke.? The reason for its awesomeness?? Sugar.? Unlike our Coke, Mexican Coke uses pure cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup.? This gives it a distinct and magical taste.? While it's not something I would recommend for regular consumption, it is a very tasty treat.? The only problem is it's a little hard to come by and it's sort of expensive.? Folks in places like Southern California are at a bit of an advantage because many Mexican eateries offer it but sometimes charge up to $2.50 for a bottle.? Anyways, the whole reason for this post is that I was in Target the other day browsing through their food aisles, which seem to have greatly increased as of late to compete with Wal-Mart, and found several bottles of Mexican Coke in the foreign food section, hiding next to the Jarritos drinks.? They are $1.25 a bottle, which is cheaper than most places I've seen.? I'm not sure if they are available in other locations or maybe it's just a regional thing, but it's worth a look.? If you can't find Mexican Coke in your area, you can always order it online from the super awesome Soda Pop Stop.

Much is being said today about the arrest of Roman Polanski stemming from charges placed against him in 1978 when he plead guilty to having sex with a 13 year old girl that he drugged at a party.  I'm a little suprised by the amount of folks coming to his defense.  Yes, the woman no longer wants to press charges.  That isn't the issue here.  Polanski plead guilty to a crime and then fled the country.  Then there's the folks who are saying he deserves a break because he is a Holocaust survivor and his pregnant wife was tragically murdered.  I'm not going to deny that those are horrible things that I can't even imagine happening to me.  However, that doesn't excuse someone from the consequences of their actions and in this case they are pretty darn horrible actions.  I mean, I might have had some sympathy for the guy if he had actually faced a court of law, but he didn't.  HE FLED THE COUNTRY.

I don't usually get up on a high horse like this, but for some reason this case just really bothers me.  However, I am a huge fan of Polanski's work.  I have always stood firm on the belief of separating the art from the artist.  It is a very slippery slope when you start judging the personal lives of folks like that.  I know people who won't watch Polanski's movies but they'll watch Woody Allen movies.  Or a multitude of other folks who have commited horrible acts.  People, including actors, filmmakers, and the like, all do horrible things.  Once again, that's not the issue here.  I think it really is a matter of justice, plain and simple.  Maybe I'm wrong.  Feel free to post your comments on the issue.

If you are reading this post than we have successfully upgraded to the latest version of b2evolution.  If you're an author here and you're having some trouble with the menu bar or the back office be sure to hit refresh a couple times to clear your cache and everything should be okay.  If you're still having issues let me or Danny know.  All right then, carry on, nothing to see here.

My friend Amy made this to celebrate my success at the new job. Sorry about the sparse updates. I'm going to be updating our b2e install tonight sometime so there might be some hiccups.

If anyone has some things they would like me to post about or if you just want to speak your mind, feel free to comment. I haven't seen a movie in the theaters since G.I. Joe and I saw that for free. Things were super tough for awhile towards the end of the great unemployment stint. I did go to a test screening for Jason Reitman's Up in the Air, which was brilliant. I also saw a test screening of Zombieland, which I believe comes out next weekend. I highly recommend it.

In honor of Talk Like A Pirate Day you can download the first chapter of Telltale Games' new Tales of Monkey Island series for free by going here. You have to hurry though as it's only available until midnight tonight. Sorry Mac folks, it's only for PC. I've been looking forward to playing this game, which is also available on XBLA and on WiiWare, and this is a great way to give it a whirl!

I know this is a little late but I've been a tad busy. Henry Gibson was pretty awesome. While I dug him in Magnolia, The Blues Brothers, and a bunch of other stuff, I will remember him most fondly for his appearance in The 'Burbs, one of my favorite 80's comedies. Also Mary Travers died of Peter, Paul, and Mary fame. My only awareness of them though is from the reference made to them in an episode of Saved By the Bell. I guess that is kind of sad.

This just might be the best week of my life. New job, new place, a Chargers win, and now this. Angus is now available for purchase on DVD at the Warner Archive. I have no idea if our efforts had anything to do with this, but it's an amazing coincidence if they didn't. Thanks to everyone who wrote in. Props to Ryan for giving me the heads up.

We need just one more person for our Fantasy Football league. Did your team in your current league get destroyed this week? This is your chance for a fresh start! Scroll down for more details.

In other news, the job is going really great but it's taking up pretty much all my time. When I get home I pretty much just want to relax, eat, and watch TV. I'm finding it much more difficult to jam everything I want to do in before I have to go to bed. I guess that's how it is.

Holy crap you guys, Patrick Swayze died. It is a sad day indeed.

I had a few requests for this, including one from my brother who is the defending champion from last year's league, so I figured I would create a league. Since the season already started, the league won't start until Week 2 of the season. The live draft is scheduled for Wednesday at 7:30 PM Pacific. It is limited to 8 players. Consider the late start a second chance if you totally blew one of your other teams already!

Sign up here!
League ID: 959424
Password: wildcat

From ComingSoon.net:

Two surprise announcements followed an equally surprising live musical performance by Miley Cyrus at Disney's D23 Expo.

Disney Studios Chairman Dick Cook officially named Summer 2012 as the release date for Pixar's John Carter of Mars, claiming that the film will, indeed, be live-action with intense special effects.

Following the announcement, Johnny Depp appeared in full Jack Sparrow costume, taking the stage and announcing a Summer 2011 release date for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the new title for the fourth installment!

While I'm very excited for Pixar's John Carter of Mars I couldn't help but be even more pumped at the announcement of the new title. While there are many out there who would disagree, I really liked the darker tone that the the third movie took and I'm guessing we're going to see even more of that in this new installment. Also from all reports it appears Keira Knightly and Orlando Bloom are out of the picture so there's room for some new characters and fresh stories. Hopefully a director will be announced soon as that might give us a better idea of what is in store. I'm really beginning to wish I'd gotten tickets to the D23 Expo in Anaheim. It sounds like it's been pretty cool. Hopefully I can get some more info from Anthony, my man on the floor there.

I don't have much to say right now except work is pretty darn good, the new Beatles remasters are pretty magical, and I want The Beatles Rock Band more than anything right now. I'm being a good boy though.

Oh! Tomorrow marks the release of the 50th strip at Brax the Alien Rocker. I'll probably post about in again in case you all forget, but Phil and I are both pretty happy about it. We are actually going to have a table at the Los Angeles Comic Book and SciFi Convention on Sunday where we will be passing out free stickers and giving high fives. If that isn't enough to get you there, Larry Hama (creator of the G.I. Joe comic) will be there with several of the original G.I. Joe cartoon voice cast as well as Juliet Landau of Buffy and Ed Wood fame.

That is how long I was unemployed. It was pretty much the most stressful nine months and one week of my life. But somehow I squeaked by and found a great job. After applying for literally hundreds of jobs and only getting one interview, my friend Jeff was able to score me an interview at his company and now I am a Jr. Technical Support Analyst for a company that makes internet filtering appliances. So far it's going great. For all those of you who are looking for jobs, I highly highly recommend networking with your friends and family. In these difficult times, that seems to be the best method to get a job. Thanks again to everyone for all the support and encouragement!

Phil and I were browsing the clearance section at Wal-Mart the other day and were amused by this:

If you think the product name is funny, then check out the first warning message:

I really think they could have worded that a little better.

This pretty much made the eight year old inside of me squee with joy.

Props to Mrs. Moonfrye for doing it.

Note: You might want to turn your sound down a bit before viewing or your face might melt off from the Punky Power.

I am officially moved into my new place. While I'm not entirely unpacked yet, I did set up the essentials:

TV and Xbox

Couch and bookshelf

Desk and Compy (of course)

Now all I need is a job and everything will be super. Hopefully very soon!

If you live near me or know someone who does, feel free to respond or pass on this information!

Hello! No, I am not lying, this stuff is free. What is the catch, you ask? Well, you have to pick it up by Saturday afternoon the 29th at the absolute latest, preferably earlier at my apartment in La Palma and there is ONE (1) flight of stairs. Okay, still with me? Here are the goods:

This is a great kitchen table with four (4) matching chairs. It also comes with secret drawers on each side, ideal for napkins or other things you don't want your guests to see. There is also an optional fifth non-matching chair but you don't have to take it. You might hurt its feelings though if you don't.

This microwave will cook your food and can also serve as a clock and a timer. It spins food around too! Sorry, the Tabasco sauce and paper towel tube are not included.

This giant TV is broken. I don't know how to fix it. It is pretty old. If you think you can fix it or want some giant thing to really tie the room together and maybe put your xbox on, it's yours. However, it is really heavy and will require probably three people to get it down the stairs. And there are no give backs. You have been warned. HOWEVER, if you agree to take the TV, I will give you priority access to the microwave and/or table and I will give you some stickers from our webcomic, Brax the Alien Rocker (http://braxcomics.com). Also I will give you a high five. This TV has an amazing two (2) RCA inputs!

So like I said, any of these can be yours for no cost (0) if you are willing to come pick them up by Saturday afternoon at the latest. People who can pick them up the earliest will be given priority. If you want the TV, you get absolute super double secret priority.

Feel free to comment if you are interested and I will get back to you, or email me at brendoman AT gmail DOT com and I will get back to you ASAP.

Thank you!

I forgot to mention this when I first heard the news:

Looks like our Smiles is all grown up. Congrats are in order. Also, I expect an invitation.

This really doesn't have anything to do with anything, just something I have noticed over time and heard from the mouths of a lot of people I thought were better than that. I'm talking about folks who call any Mexican or Latin American they come in contact with an illegal. I'm not crazy thinking that's screwed up, right? I mean, I've heard people say things like that immediately followed by the "but I'm not racist" caveat. Except you are. Sorry. You see a person who might not speak your language and looks different than you and you are judging them based on that. Unless you checked that person's papers, I think you're making a pretty snap judgment. Sorry, I don't know where this came from, but I hear it quite a bit in my neck of the woods and I thought I would address it.

So I'll start with the awesome news that tomorrow I'm signing the lease on a new apartment and hopefully sometime next week I should get the official word that I indeed will be employed. A background check is currently being run and I don't have any priors as far as I know so I think I'm good. As the saying goes, when it rains it pours.

Tonight I met up with Phil and Janelle and many old friends to see Cold War Kids play in Long Beach. It was a reunion of sorts as Matt Death also played and in case you didn't know they feature many former members of a band I am very fond of called Havalina, a staple of my early college years. Phil used to do sound for them and even appeared doing hand claps on their album America. Phil was also a member of a band called Thee Spivies and tonight we were joined by two other members of that band, Clark and Ivan. Seeing so many people from such a fond part of my past really brought me a lot of happiness tonight and to wrap it all up was a phenomenal performance from Cold War Kids, the biggest success of all our friends' bands. It was a great time and a great way to celebrate all the good stuff happening. Here's to even more memories in the future...

Two things that were brought to my attention today are PETA's "Save The Whales" campaign, detailed here and the ThinkB4YouSpeak campaign. Les puts it better than I can about how the whole insulting people to try and get them to stop insulting people probably won't work. Not to mention the people they are really trying to change are pretty much not going to respond to any kind of "Hey, don't do that kids!" kind of message. The vast majority of gamers I know don't use those kind of words. So yeah, we're going to be insulted when you generalize us and then insult us in your advertising. Go ahead and make fun of jocks and cheerleaders all you want though.

As far as the Save The Whales thing goes, I shouldn't be surprised by something like this coming from PETA. For a group who claims they are so progressive and accepting and whatever, they sure do like to insult other people. Then they get mad when others insult them. The vicious cycle continues. But hey, what do I know, I'm a lazy gamer whale who has no friends according to these people.

Oh man, I wish I had some money right now. Paul Reubens has announced that he will be bringing back The Pee-Wee Herman Show for a one month engagement to the Music Box at the Fonda in Los Angeles. Thankfully since it's a month I'll probably be able to get tickets some time. According to this article all the original characters will be in the show but it doesn't specify what (if any) original actors will be joining Pee-Wee.