Celebrating Comics

The fourth installment of my monthly column "Nerding Out With Nick Dean" ran in the Sunday, Nov. 1st edition of The Post-Journal.



This month was a little different in that, instead of one long rant, I wrote a couple of proper articles to go along with my usual opinion piece.

The layout echoes The P-J's weekly "Focus On Entertainment" page which runs every Thursday -- something I kind of co-created with Family Editor Aimee Frederick. Three pieces instead of one long, segmented one.

The full text of the articles can be found here, here and here.

Re-Posting of a Removed Blog Post

I work full-time for The Post-Journal in Jamestown, N.Y.

Throughout my five-and-a-half years with the company, I've done most everything -- from obituaries and cops news to covering school boards, village and town government stuff, features and entertainment.

Just a few months ago, I took over the county government beat.

As a member of the editorial staff, I'm able to have a blog on our paper's website. I began blogging for the paper back when I was the features and entertainment reporter, posting mostly Q&A's with musicians and CD reviews.

Since taking over the county beat, my blog posts have been a mix of music recommendations and tongue-in-cheek political jokes.

Late last month, I updated my blog with a post entitled "The Chautauqua County Exec. Debate Drinking Game." The idea came out of my having attended several debates between our two candidates for county executive. At those debates, I heard many of the same points reiterated -- sometimes word-for-word.Of course, the repetition was understandable. I was one of the few people repeatedly in attendance. The purpose of the multiple debates so that different audiences could hear the candidates' platforms.

So anyway, I wrote a blog post. A lot of people found it funny, including my editors. There were, however, worries that such a lighthearted and jokey political post might make people question the seriousness of my actual news coverage... So they removed the post from the site.

NOTE - I'm not broken up about having the post removed from the site. I'm not fighting to get it put back up or lashing out in any way by re-posting it here. I don't think there are many people who know or care enough to come here. This blog's mostly a place where I re-post stuff I've written... and it's mostly for me as a result of that. So the reason I'm re-posting this here is simply because it's a piece of my writing that I'd like to have saved somewhere.

Originally posted at The Post-Journal's website on Monday, Oct. 26:

THE COUNTY EXEC. DEBATE DRINKING GAME

In my capacity as The Post-Journal's county reporter, I've had the privilege of hearing our current county executive debate his challenger a half-dozen different times now. And though the forums and formats have varied, many of the issues have remained the same -- which got me thinking.

I'm not sure how many others suffer from this, but when the cold weather arrives, I get the worst dry skin. I know I could moisturize better, but drinking more water each day also wouldn't hurt.

What's the recommended amount? Something like eight glasses a day? That's quite a bit more than I'm consciously consuming at present, so I figured why not let the county executive candidates' rhetoric serve as a reminder to take a sip of H20!

County Executive Greg Edwards and his Democratic Challenger, Chuck Cornell, will debate again at 7 p.m. tonight at the Robert H. Jackson Center. Also this week, there's a Thursday, Oct. 29 evening debate at the 1891 Fredonia Opera House. There's probably also another one coming up that I'm forgetting, but regardless... Join me this week in savoring a tasty beverage while pretending to listen to politicians argue.

THE RULES
NOTE - Remember, we're talking about water here. I wouldn't want anyone to accuse me of advocating irresponsible behavior. Besides, politics is serious business and, as such, shouldn't be mixed with liquor, wine or beer (unless, of course, there's a quality cheese platter involved).

So, to start, crack open a bottle of water when the moderator(s) start calling for everyone's attention. As they explain the rules of the night, get comfortable and wait for any (or likely all) of the following to happen:

• ~Whenever either candidate thanks the group hosting the debate or the moderator(s) running the event, that's a sip. Additionally, any compliments made about the venue or the audience, that's another sip. This will likely be the bulk of each candidate's opening statement.
  
  
• Whenever Greg Edwards uses the phrase "Key Component," that's a sip.
  
  
• Whenever Chuck Cornell tells a folksy story about his family, take a sip. Take additional sips for each family member mentioned -- with any reference to newborn Nicholas William Cornell counting for a double sip.
  
  
• If the Jamestown legislator brings up a separate issue before answering the question at hand, that's a drink. For every use of the phrases "an end to wait-and-see" or "dragging his heels," those are additional sips.
  
  
• Then will come Edwards' turn to speak. If he takes umbrage and explains that he "will endeavor to answer the question at hand," dismissing Cornell's criticisms, that's a drink. It's also an additional sip for each ten dollar word Edwards uses, such as "umbrage" or "endeavor."
  
  
• Whenever Edwards criticizes Cornell for being a politician and/or explains that he himself is not a politician, but an elected official doing the work of government... That's a sip.
  
  
• If either candidate goes over their allotted time to the point that you feel bad for the moderator, that's a sip. If either candidate purposefully talks over the moderator while making a heated reply to his opponent, that's a double sip.
  
  
• If Cornell mentions his four-point plan to economic turnaround (small business startups, infrastructure development, lakes and waterways, and the county's poor housing stock) that's a sip -- and an additional sip if they're mentioned in that order.
  
  
• If Edwards mentions the former insurance department, consolidations in the Youth Bureau or savings by the Office for the Aging, that's a sip -- and an additional sip if they're mentioned in that order.
  
  
• Whenever either candidate starts their rebuttal by saying they agree with their opponent, but then goes on to criticize and question what was just said... you guessed it, that's a sip.
  

SOME MORE THOUGHTS
I fear I'm missing a couple of things which should qualify for a sip, so feel free to improvise or leave your own additions in the comments section.

Additionally, if you're attending a debate with a friend, try competitive play. you and your friend each pick a candidate and only take a sip when your candidate does or says something drink-worthy. The person who takes the least number of sips WINS!

Also, on second thought, I think a tasty Southern Tier craft brew would be a better beverage choice than water. What's the Robert H. Jackson Center's stance on carting in a keg of Harvest or Phin & Matt's Ale? Probably not good. Ah well, if you're packing a flask tonight, hook a writer up with a smal nip. Didn't these sorts of things used to feature extensive open bars back in the day? I swear Hunter S. Thompson once wrote that free booze was the only reason reporters ever turned out to events.

A VIDEO PREVIEW OF TONIGHT'S DEBATE

Geek Monthly - November

Well, I've yet to see a copy of October's issue... But I just got my digital version of GEEK for the month of November.

And it looks like my lady will have a reason to check out the issue for something other than my articles for once. She likes Twilight:



I've got to interviews in the issue: Converge and Atlas Sound. I'll be posting those pages as jpgs soon.

Nerding For Neil

The third installment of my monthly column "Nerding Out With Nick Dean" ran in Sunday's edition of The Post-Journal.



The column's a full-page forum where I get to rant about comic books, movies and whatever else I want. So far it's been pretty fun to write, as it's comprised mostly of references to my teenage years and my just generally being lame.

And no, I didn't make it to Neil Gaiman's reading this past Sunday.

My interview with Mastodon

The new issue of GEEK Monthly has been on the stands for a while.

Ana Faris is on the cover and my interview with Mastodon is in the music section.

It's an interesting piece that's more about Russia, Rasputin and concept albums than general heavy metal blathering.

Now if October's issue would only arrive!

Spider-Man: Enter the Gauntlet

The website IGN Comics had a pretty neat Spider-Man feature they unveiled piece-by-piece last week.

As I've demonstrated ad nauseum, I'm a pretty big Batman fan. However, one other character I was big into as a kid and teenager was Spider-Man.

Contrasts are always made between Batman and Superman, the dark and light. But I never really got into Superman comics. For me, Spider-Man was my pick for big-city superhero who stops crime in the daytime.

Maybe it's just got something more to do with my preference for characters who seem more grounded and self-made than those born with powers. But I digress... That's a discussion for another day.

Anyway, I collected Amazing Spider-Man regularly back around issue 275 through 300 or so. Then, as is typical of youthful interests, I quit collecting when my latter-age teen attention was focused elsewhere.

Having made Chautauqua Comics a weekly stop in recent months, issues of Amazing Spider-Man started finding their way into my pull file -- beginning with issue 600, which seemed a pretty good place to jump back into the series.

Check out the IGN story. Interesting stuff happening in Peter Parker's world. A lot's happened with the ongoing plot over the years, but quite a bit's still the same.

There have been more than a few others that have escaped posting...

Recent Reading

Two things that made me laugh today

This and this.


And then there was this, which didn't make me laugh so much as scoff in disbelief.

Trailer for Up In The Air

This makes beautiful sense at 2 a.m. on a weeknight:

The Post-Journal Lies!

Second installment of "Nerding Out"

This past Sunday's edition of The Post-Journal featured my second installment of "Nerding Out With Nick Dean," a monthly column about comics... and stuff.



For the first column, click HERE!

I should really write about the comics I read... instead of just posting pictures of them

Big Day For Comic Book News

The internet's been all abuzz today with the news about Disney buying Marvel.

However, also in comic book news, Wikipedia updated today with the information that my co-worker Aaron Hall and I will be directing the "X-Men: Origins" offshoot about Deadpool, starring Ryan Reynolds.



Really, it was announced today. Of course, we announced it and then promptly saw to it that Wikipedia reflect our announcement.

Stupid anniversary issue sucked me in