Sunday, August 31, 2014


While out late last night, the area was hit with a flash thunderstorm. The pub I was sitting in got zapped with a mega lightning hit, causing a Krack-A-Thoom worthy sound effect and mega building shake. Sad to report no sign of resulting super powers thus far.

Saturday, August 30, 2014


No matter how deep one thinks their knowledge of geek pop-culture is, their always seems to be more wonderful treasures popping up from the eternity of history. Today I learned of the obscure Hanna Barbera series called The Herculoids. It stars a rock monster, some Shmoo's, a dragon, a dinosaur thing, and some cavemen. Old school Saturday morning cartoons are the bestest. I want to retire from doing everything else in life just to catch up on watching all of them.

Friday, August 29, 2014


Only one more sleep 'til another round of Saturday Morning Cartoons at the Mayfair Theatre! Be there for the third round of amazing cartoon worshiping festivities, starting at 10:00am!

Thursday, August 28, 2014


The gimmick of Boyhood is a fascinating one. A movie that Richard Linklater and cast and crew shot in piecemeal secret over twelve years, to capture the actual aging of the central character and family. As a pleasant surprise, the movie surpasses all hype, lives up to the gushing reviews, and is a mesmerizing simple years in the life tale of growing up. We have it tonight at 6:15pm for a final screening at the Mayfair Theatre.

Wednesday, August 27, 2014


When I was younger I had no interest in Woody Allen movies, and loved Adam Sandler movies. Now, I love Woody Allen movies, and have no interest in Adam Sandler movies. Is that a sign of maturity? Maybe I'm all grown up. If around Ottawa, be sure to catch Magic In The Moonlight, currently playing at the Mayfair Theatre.

Tuesday, August 26, 2014


I am fairly confident that Multiversity, the latest comic book genre super imagination overload super-hero epic, is going to be one of my favourite comic-book story-arc's ever made. Captain Carrot is one of the main characters!

Monday, August 25, 2014


The only time I venture away from Mayfair Theatre movie watching is when I have a free pass for something,or I use Visa points to attend a special event. Tonight, we watched the highly geek anticipated (or, I'm sure also geek besmirched on certain areas of the internets) season 8 premiere of Doctor Who. I love gatherings like this, if for no other reason that it proves that there is still a market for getting people off their couches and out of their basements to be entertained. This is even more fascinating, because this has already been on teevee. None-the-less, ticket buying Doctor Who fans still showed up in giant numbers. Take that home entertainment! Oh, the feature length premiere special was great. Looking forward to this season with Peter Capaldi filling the Doctor's shoes and TARDIS. I want his coat. Not sure if I could pull it off.

Sunday, August 24, 2014


Today I bought a whopping 50 boxes of cereal to feed our patrons at the upcoming Saturday Morning All-You-Can-Eat-Cereal Cartoon Party. Even though the purchases were split between a couple of different stores, no clerk had any curiosities towards why someone was buying so much sugary cereal. You think there would be some base confusion at someone purchasing a few dozen boxes of cereal, but evidently not. They are currently housed at the Mayfair, awaiting consumption from cartoon geeks next weekend. If they still gave out toys in cereal boxes, this would've been a junky toy gold mine.

Saturday, August 23, 2014


Saturday morning cartoons! I love Saturday morning cartoons, especially when I can partake in a slate of animation watching on an actual Saturday morning. Thanks to the Netflix-y world we live in, a morning of cartoons can be self programmed in this world where there's no such thing as actual Saturday morning cartoons anymore. Ultimate Spidey, Avengers, Super Hero Squad, Adventure Time, Regular Show, Phineas & Ferb...all kinds of great traditional 2-D cartoons to spend your morning watching. Now if someone could just put toys in my cereal box, the undertaking would be perfection.

Friday, August 22, 2014


You know why I love Ottawa? I have many reasons, but one is that there's always fun stuff going on. Half the time I'm missing doing a fun thing because I'm occupied doing a different fun thing. That is a pretty good problem to be saddled with. Tonight's fun thing was going to see Kids In The Hall alum Kevin McDonald perform stand-up and improv at the cozy Arts Court. I am happy to confirm that Kevin McDonald was years ago and still is a comic genius. Not only was it hands down one of the funniest performances I've ever seen in my life, it was also only $10 bucks! If Kevin McDonald rolls through your town on his experiment into the world of stand-up comedy, don't miss out.

Thursday, August 21, 2014


Returned from the wilds of Moncton, where I was travelling solo'cause the girlfriend had to work. I was welcomed home with a third anniversary gift of the first volume of The Fox comics from Red Circle / Archie. Comics are my most favouritest gift for any anniversary, birthday, or Christmas gift getting occasion.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014


Visiting a friend in Moncton for a few days. No offense meant to the fine folks who live here...but there is nothing to do here. Nothing. If you are ever feeling bored in your home town, I have a feeling that in any situation on any day, your town has more happening than Moncton. They do have one near death multiplex, and one modern multiplex. So, my friend and I went to see Expendables 3 (not as good as part 2), and Lucy (which was all kinds of Luc Besson / Scarlett Johansson levels of action packed bizarre sci-fi awesome). And, in a strange merchandising twist, you can buy little Lego-y Transformers for $2 bucks at the candy bar. We don't have toys in cereal boxes anymore, but we do have toys to go along with your over-priced popcorn purchase? What a bizarre world we are in. None-the-less, we of course each bought one.

Tuesday, August 19, 2014


If you have a Buttercup tattoo, the talented Troy Little (writer and artist on the Powerpuff Girls comic) will draw you a picture of Buttercup. It's that easy!

Monday, August 18, 2014


Nick Bradshaw is not only the nicest guy in comics, he may be the nicest guy on the planet. I'm not just saying that because he drew a picture of Rocket Raccoon for me.

Sunday, August 17, 2014



I am a guest at DCAF (the Dartmouth Comic Arts Festival) on behalf of Zomkeys and Mirror Comics. It's a wonderful old fashioned one day comic convention with nothing but comic book related guests and fans. The event hearkens back to the days before hundreds of thousands of people flocked to San Diego, and comic con's were overrun with un-comic-y things like Twilight movies and booths devoted to selling normal non-Batmobile cars.

Saturday, August 16, 2014


The Dart Gallery is further proof (if any more was needed) that Halifax and the surrounding area is a great part of Canada. The gallery is showcasing some amazing and diverse art in celebration of The Simpsons 25th anniversary under the banner of Last Exit To Springfield. If you are anywhere near Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, don't miss out on this amazing tribute to arguably the greatest animated series in television history.

Friday, August 15, 2014


While exploring Nova Scotia we passed by a wonderful old timey movie theatre,which of course always garners my attention. The Al Whittle Theatre has been hosting live theatre and screening movies since 1911, beating my beloved Mayfair by a whopping 21 years! It does my heart good to see a small town community supporting a movie theatre.

Thursday, August 14, 2014


In my girlfriends parents basement, it the wilds of Dartmouth - Nova Scotia, we discovered a historical artifact of geekdom in the form of an Atari 2600. In an age of throw away technology and a world where cel phones seem to have a working lifespan of a few months, extra impressive was that that damn thing still works!

Recently at the Mayfair we screened a documentary that I really enjoyed called Video Games: The Movie. Amongst other video game related topics, it mentioned the E.T. video game that almost completely ruined the industry. It's notorious as maybe the worst video game ever made. It was slapped together in a very short period of time with little in the way of imagination or bother in trying to make the game any fun. Hence, it's frustrating, confusing, and you don't really know what's going on. As an extra added bonus, it's filled with glitches and stuff freezes all the time. They hoped to ride the coat-tails of the immensely powerful movie and merchandising phenomena. They failed. In the process they almost sunk the industry thanks to bad press and infuriated fans. A valuable lesson learned about treating your fan base with respect.

I played Tron and Ms Pac Man and some other ancient games that they had in their basement hiding video game library. They seemed like holodeck virtual reality joyrides in comparison. to the made ET game shamble. So, thank you Atari 2600, for allowing me to be able to identify with and feel sorry for all of those poor kids who had Christmas ruined thanks to the unprofessional video game assembly of a lil game called ET.

Wednesday, August 13, 2014


I'll soon be on an airplane headed east to the wonderful land of Nova Scotia. I'm in that last minute phase of trying to make sure that I've remembered everything. One of the things we're doing out there is attending a wedding. I luckily just realized that I remembered to pack the suit, but not the shirt to go with it. I of course have comics to read on the trip, that's the most important thing.

While out there, the scheduling fates are also making it possible for me to be in attendance for the Dartmouth Comic Arts Festival. It's a good ole' fashioned one day actual comic book focused comic book convention. There will be all kinds of cool comic pro writers and artists folks there selling their comic book wares, and it's free to get in! I'm stopping to pick up some Zomkeys comics from my editor on the way to the airport. If you're in the Dartmouth / Halifax hood this weekend, do drop by and say hi.

Tuesday, August 12, 2014


Another sad day for cinema. Lauren Bacall: 1924 - 2014

Monday, August 11, 2014


Robin Williams: 1951 - 2014

Sunday, August 10, 2014


I love these lil Guardians of the Galaxy vinyl toys from Funko under their Mystery Minis banner. I am going to spend so much money to fill my home with various Guardians of the Galaxy things. Money well spent.

Saturday, August 09, 2014


My pals at Capital Geek Girls are hosting a Ladies Night at The Comic Book Shoppe tonight. If you are in Ottawa, a lady, and a geek, I think it would be a superbly fun way for you to spend a few hours this-evening.

Friday, August 08, 2014


Exciting news from my friends at Mirror Comics. Big Box Apocalypse will be included for distribution in the October edition of Previews magazine. For those not in the know of the behind the scenes goings on in the comic book industry, that means that the comic will be made available to thousands of comic book stores all across North America thanks to the Previews middle-man. It's a big step forward for this quickly evolving and exceedingly popular indie Canadian comic book company. Be sure to order a copy from your favourite comic book store come October.

Thursday, August 07, 2014


A new Adventurers comic from Kelly Tindall has hit the interwebs! Fans of high quality comic book-y things rejoice!

Wednesday, August 06, 2014


Dropped by the Comic Book Shoppe in celebration of the stores 15th anniversary. Took advantage of the big sales they were having and picked up a couple of back issues and some Guardians of the Galaxy toys. I had completely forgotten that the new work from Bryan Lee O'Malley was recently released. They had one more of the very pretty hardcover editions of the highly anticipated work from the creator of Scott Pilgrim, and I could not resist. Haven't read it yet, but I think this qualifies under the tag of- if I could only read one book this year, this one would be it.

Tuesday, August 05, 2014


In a very nifty comic anniversary event, Erik Larsen has done a mash-up with Jack Kirby, every good comic geek's artistic and imaginative hero. More impressive since the late great Kirby passed away some 20 years ago. None the less, the King of comics continues to have new work released, thanks to a lifetime of non-stop drawing. This specific piece was from an unused Captain America piece, and was originally a print to raise funds for the Kirby Museum. I have been reading Savage Dragon since day 1. By the time this issue comes out I'll have all 200 issues up on the shelf. Erik Larsen writing and drawing 200 consecutive issues is one of the most impressive feats in the history of the medium. As an added bonus, it just happens to be one of the most fun, biggest imagination, consistently entertaining books that one could want to read. Erik shows no signs of wanting to stop,I have a feeling that in 10 years or so there'll be a 300th issue of Savage Dragon, maybe with another Jack Kirby cover to help celebrate the event.

Monday, August 04, 2014


Every once in a while something that you are looking forward to not only lives up to anticipation, but smashes the hell out of it. I had high hopes for Guardians of the Galaxy movie, but also was a little weary that it might not come together. I love Batman, but I haven't really been all that fond of the last five Bat-movies. The Guardians of the Galaxy comics are some of my favourite books and characters in recent years. Rocket Raccoon is one of my favourite characters of all time, and one of my earliest love of comic books memories. So, even though I've been really impressed with Marvel's track record so far, this movie is the one that they could have rally let me down with if things went horribly wrong...or even if it ended up just an ok movie.

From Star Lord's musical themed introduction, to the moment I heard Rocket's voice,through every argument and fight scene and laugh out loud joke, I just completely fell in love with this movie. This movie filled with obscure to the mainstream Marvel misfits gets everything right that so much of Hollywood gets wrong. Unlike the fumbling of Superman that Warner Bros has pulled off, a movie that takes a beloved character and makes the mythology depressing and cold and brutally violent.

If I had had a camera on my face throughout this movie I would have looked like a madman. I'm sure that I had a look of joy and wonder on my face throughout, mixed in with being choked up at the actions of our roguish hero or the interaction of a Raccoon and his best friend tree monster. A 10 year old kid will leave Guardians of the Galaxy and want to buy the action figure, a lunchbox, watch a cartoon with these characters in it, read the comic, and then come back and see the movie again. I want to do all of those things too.

Sunday, August 03, 2014


People always seem to complain about the state of quality in modern movies. I counter that just because you've bought tickets to all four Transformers movies, doesn't mean that nobody is making good movies anymore. It just means that you likely aren't making the effort to seek out the great movies that don't make it to the multiplex.

Snowpiercer completely lives up to all the hype that you've heard about it. Or, if you haven't heard the hype, this new post apocalyptic environment sci-fi epic has been garnering spectacular praise from critics and fan-boys alike. I think that once it is all said and done, it will deservedly stand shoulder to shoulder with cult sci-fi classics the like of Blade Runner and Mad Max.

Catch Snowpiercer the next five nights at the Mayfair Theatre. If you aren't local to Ottawa and can't watch it with us, be sure to catch it in anyway you can. Big screen is always ideal, but be sure to support via VOD or watch it when it hits Netflix or buy the blu ray. These people deserve our money so they can make more awesome movies.

Saturday, August 02, 2014


Our screening of Sharknado was one of the greatest nights in the the history of the Mayfair. I'm not even kidding or being sarcastic, Sharknado garnered a near sell-out audience and was a pure B-movie crowd pleaser. It got a standing ovation once the Sharknado had been defeated and the credits rolled. I have a feeling that everyone there left feeling that they had not watched a bad movie, but had experienced a great night out at the movies. I genuinely really liked this movie, and not in a hipster reverse psychology kinda way. I thought that the folks involved in making this B-grade (or maybe more like a C or D grade) Monster movie all did a really great job in offering up a really nice bit of entertainment with the budget, tools and talent that they had on hand.

Not so surprisingly, the cult phenomena that was Sharknado has spun into a sequel, which we premiere tonight at the Mayfair. I haven't seen the film yet, so I cannot comment on its quality, but I am confident to proclaim that a good time will be had by all. I think my favourite thing about this sort of movie event, is it is further proof that watching a movie in a theatre with a crowd is always better then watching it at home.

Sharknado 2: The Second One - Saturday August 2nd at 9:00pm - Mayfair Theatre - One Night Only!

Friday, August 01, 2014


We have an amazing venue in Ottawa called House of Targ, our neighbours right across the street from us at the Mayfair Theatre. There you can catch some great live rock n roll, and if that weren't awesome enough, they also serve delicious perogies, and the place is packed with vintage pinball and arcade games.

Got a dose of Targ last night. Where, amongst other great games like Tetris and Galaga, and pinball with themes like Star Wars and Doctor Who, also played some Double Dragon. It gave me flashback memories of playing the same game in my junior high years, when we would sneak off of school grounds to go to the arcade during lunch hour. I remember standing in a mass around the arcade game as a bunch of kids looked on in awe and wonder as a couple of expert level video game playing kids approached the finale of the game. I think a lot of kids were late for school that afternoon, because witnessing the outcome of Double Dragon was much more important.

-- Quarter Century Late Spoiler Alert! -- I think that us kids couldn't have been more shocked if a Sasquatch walked into the room when the two battling Double Dragon lead heroes were forced to turn on each other after kicking and punching the final big bad boss to death. There was an audible gasp in the room that I'm sure that was more dramatic then any sound a kid let out while watching an actual piece of human history like the moon landing. That was the kinda thing that kept kids attention before Netflix and the internet.