- Knows the value of nutrition
- Never gives up (strong to the finish)
- American serviceman (Navy)
- Stands up to bullies
- Hard working
- Kind hearted/helps those in need
- Animal lover
- Believes in the value of boundaries (“That’s all I can stand. I can’t stands no more”)
- Understands that “No” means no
- Can use his pipe to make a steam whistle sound
- Smokes
- Mumbles
- Poorly educated/bad grammer
- Resorts to violence as a means of settling disputes
- Tattoos (hey we’ve all got them but tattoos=/=Ward Clever)
- Bizarre elephantiasis of the forearms
- Squints
- Bad posture
- Frequently travels
Is Popeye the Sailor a Good Father Figure?
The other day I was going through the cartoon t shirt category and came across this gem from Popeye the Sailor. I used to watch the Popeye and Friends show every Sunday morning and enjoyed it a lot. In many ways Popeye was kind of of the make role model I’d wished I’d had so this morning I wondered if Popeye would make a good father figure for young Dave.
Here are the points:
Pros:
Cons:
Looks like the pipe steam whistle thing puts him over the top. In general I think the personality traits of bravery and integrity would make him a good role model but his archetype is well past his time. These days we could never have a cartoon about a smoking mumbler who associated with prostitutes and brawls with street thugs. We wouldn’t want kids to know that such things ever existed in our country and they might have to deal with them one day.
the Infamous Dave Inman
The Bat-Mech suit from the Batman Vs Superman trailer is kick ass
I read an article recently about why the new Batman vs Superman trailer is worrisome and while I agreed with about 70% of the authors points his issue with the new Bat-Mech suit is completely out of place and shows how he is not a true Batman fan.
Readers of the Dark Knight Returns (the comic, not the movie) will recall that Batman did indeed have a suit of mechanized power armor that he did used to fight against none other than Superman. Seeing that suit in the trailer actually gave me a sense of reassurance that maybe there is hope for this movie.
Of course with the exception of the Dark Knight Returns and a couple of Justice League stories (the Tower of Babel for example) most of the Superman/Batman crossover has been dead boring. They are just not in each others league. Batman can’t actually compete against Superman should Supes opt to stand a ways off and burn of Batmans head with heat vision and Superman can’t compete with Batman either intellectually or in coolness. It’s like watching two guys missing the opposite arms try to arm wrestle.
That being said I do have hope for this film and will keep my fingers crossed.
The image above is a Batman hoodie that we just added to the Arkham Knight collection. I just like it a lot.
the Infamous Dave Inman
Why the first 19 seconds of the new Star Wars trailer are better than Episodes I-III combined.
Yesterday I talked about what bugged me about the new trailer but today I want to talk about what I loved in it. The opening pan shot with the speeder traveling past a wrecked X-Wing and Star Destroyer was freaking awesome but more importantly showed a major flaw in Lucas’s last three excretions Episodes I-III. (Universe image from our movie t shirt category)
One of the great missed opportunities in the prequel series was actually showing the consequences of a galaxy wide war between the Separatists and the Republic. You know, wrecked buildings from orbital bombardments, hungry refugees desperate for a crust of bread, the steady decline of the infrastructure as more and more resources are diverted into this all encompassing war. However instead life on Couruscant continues as always with everyone living in luxury and enjoying all the food and high brow culture the French aristocracy held onto prior to the Revolution. At no point does it even seem like anyone is remotely inconvenienced by all the robots and clones dying in space.
However by showing the probably result of 30 years of fighting between the Rebellion and the remnants of the Empire the trailer made it look very much like they are going to keep the next film as gritty as possible, something I relish. Remember when Luke met Han in the seediest bar in the universe or how the Rebellion had to freeze their gonads (or what passes for gonads on aliens) on Hoth due to lack or resources? It’s that sort of struggle that makes a movie great, not watching sperm ballet in a lavish box seat. Well done thus far.
the Infamous Dave Inman
Some thoughts on the new Star Wars trailer
I, like 99.999% of the nerd world, recently saw the new Star Wars trailer and am very excited. I like where they are going with the guy from Attack the Block and loved the Mark Hamil voice over. I have my fingers crossed rigidly in hopes of a reboot that washes out both the hatred I feel for Lucas for Episodes I-III and the hatred I feel for JJ Abrams for the last two Star Trek train wrecks.
However, like I did with the first one there always has to something that bugs me about it and as much as I hate to say it in this case it’s Harrison Ford. Don’t get me wrong. I love Han Solo and thought his inclusion in this film as a veteran rogue giving advice to a new group of swashbucklers would be awesome. However the instead opted to stick him in with only the wrinkles on his face showing any sign that time has passed. He is even dressed exactly the same (you would think that sometime in the past 20 years he might have picked up a hat or found his old Def Leppard t-shirt. 
Chewbacca looks exactly the same and has the same crossbow. Don’t Wookies get grey hair at some point? There was a lot of grey on Itchy from the Star Wars Holiday Special. Sorry Disney. Lucas created it so it is still canon. Happy Life Day! Chewie image courtesy of our collection of Star Wars t-shirts). It looks like they are going to stick Han Solo in like he’s been smuggling “spice” since the Emperor died.
But really the problem is that his cameo felt as forced and awkward as a catheter made from a firehose. It felt like going to a wild 6 keg frat party at college and have your uncle show up and hang out. You are glad to see him but he just seems really out of place and kind of hampers your enjoyment. It just felt odd. Also what was up with his line “Chewie…we’re home”? Wasn’t he a general in the rebellion at the end of Jedi? Also wasn’t he supposed to marry Princess Leia? Was that the best line they could think of for him? Maybe if they wanted to ramp up the cheese factor.
Anyway regardless I am very excited and will write more on it soon. Thanks
the Infamous Dave Inman
