The start of summer...blockbusters

Get ready, because tomorrow is opening day for X-Men Origins: Wolverine. And if you/your guy is really nerdy, you already have your tickets for the midnight showing. This'll be the 4th film for the X-Men series (the first three were X-Men, X2 and X-Men: The Last Stand).

As the title suggests, this film focuses Wolverine and is a prequel to his time before X-Men. And whether you're into the X-Men or not, atleast you'll be able to stare at Hugh Jackman for 107 minutes. Not too shabby.

The movie made recent headlines because it was leaked last month onto the internet. Fox is saying it wasn't a complete, final version of the movie, which makes us think it might have been a marketing ploy. Really, the people who are going to be super-excited to download this film illegally off the internet are going to be the same people who want to see it in the theater with all the special effects.

Haven't seen the other movies and need a quick primer? You might want to try this or this or the good ol' wiki standby. If X-Men isn't your or your guy's thing, here's the schedule of summer movies so you can mark your calendars. Don't forget to sneak sour patch kids, twizzlers and sno-caps in your handbag before heading out!

Comic Con

If you're really into scrapbooking, you may look forward to your annual scrapbook convention (or monthly, or weekly-- google tells us there are a crazy number of scrapbooking conventions out there). If you like to get together and shop with the girls, Shecky's girls night out might be your thing. And if you're a comic book/graphic novel lover, Comic Con is your mecca. That's right, comic conventions. Is it nerdy? Well, of course. But it appears we are a nation of nerds, because Comic Con is wildy popular.

In fact, 126 THOUSAND people attended the International Comic Con in San Diego last year and the attendence list reads like some kind of crazy Hollywood smorgasboard: Tori Amos, Ludacris, Dakota Fanning, Will Smith, Keanu Reeves, Doogie Howser. This year's convention is coming up July 24th and the attendence is projected to be even higher.

So why is it so popular? Well, Comic Con brings together a love for comics, the chance to meet the creators behind said comics, a preview into the newest upcoming stuff (and in a way, it's very similar to wanting the latest gadget out there or atleast knowing about it) and dress-up. Yes, the dress-up factor might be one of the favorite aspects of this geek-fest. Admit it, you get excited when Halloween comes around and you're planning out your costume. This gives you an excuse to dress up at least twice a year.

Oh, and the other reason guys might look forward to it so much are the liberties some participants might take with their costumes. I mean, when you know there are going to be people at Comic Con who look like this:

or this

it's a collision of geekdom and hot girls... every guy's fantasy come true. Who can blame them? Now all we need is a convention where hot-muscley men bring us shoes to try on and feed us chocolate...

Comic Book vs. Graphic Novel Part 2

Alright, now that we've covered the comic book, what exactly is graphic novel? Here is the definition from Diamond Comics, one of the world's largest comics distributors:

Sometimes, multiple issues of a series are collected into one volume. It can be hardcover or softcover. Softcover editions are often called “trade paperbacks,” or just “trades,” regardless of size. A hardcover or a softcover can also be called a “graphic novel.”

When a story is published in the hardcover or soft cover format first (that is, without periodical serialization), it is referred to as a graphic novel and only a graphic novel.

So, basically, a graphic novel can either be looked at as the full season DVD collection of, say Season 1 of Lost, if we use the example from yesterday vs. buying just a single episode from somewhere like iTunes or Amazon. If you did this, it would be equivalent to buying a single comic book.

Now, the definition above also mentioned that a graphic novel can also be a stand alone story. These graphic novels are more equivalent to movies and in many ways, movies and a tv series represent the same differences found between graphic novels and comic books.

A movie is a stand alone story and is not serialized beforehand (for the most part, we won't talk about movies made from serialized things like tv shows and books, etc.). Anyway, a movie can have sequels, but these are also stand alone stories in the same way graphic novels can have sequels. The best examples of this type? Watchmen (By most people's opinions, one of the best of all time), The Spirit, Sin City, 300.


Graphic Novel pics on left, movie pics on right

Now, you might have noticed that most of the comic book characters and graphic novels mentioned here have been turned into movies. We will get to that in a later post :) But there you have it, the difference between comic books and graphic novels. Now go forth and spread our geeky knowledge!

Comic Book vs. Graphic Novel Part 1

Well, May is upon us. We were sweltering in 90 degree heat over the weekend, how about you? Anyway, the warm weather can only mean one thing, the summer blockbuster season is upon us. This, in turn, means, you and any men in your life whom you go see the movies with, will begin that interminable debate over what to see come movie night. You want to see the Proposal with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds, or Ghosts of Girlfriends Past with Jennifer Gardner and Matthew McShirt-Off-all-the-time. He wants to see Wolverine and Star Trek.

So, we thought it'd be good to take some time and discuss why these movies have such a pull to the men in our lives and since Wolverine kicks off this blockbuster extravaganza, we thought we'd start with comic books since superheroes have taken over the box office.

In order to understand the male love of these movies, we need to delve deep into the dark underbelly of their childhood. If you delve deep enough you will find their first encounter with a comic book.

Nowadays, there is a huge debate raging between comic books vs. graphic novels and what the difference is. Today, we thought we'd break down what a comic book is.

Here is what DC comics, one of the largest comic's producers (they brought you Superman, Batman and Wonderwoman, just to name a few), has to say on the subject:

Q. What are comics?
A. Variously referred to as comics, comic strips and comic books, the comics format as we know it today is a unique art form and literary medium that originated in the U.S. in the late 1800s. Its popularity exploded in the U.S. in 1938 with the hugely popular introduction of SUPERMAN. Ironically, it has become relatively more popular in many other countries around the world, where adults and children read it avidly. At its simplest, a comic is a series of words and pictures that is presented in a sequential manner to form a narrative.

Although many people regard comics as purely humorous or think theyâre meant only for younger readers, this is far from the truth. Today's comics span a wide range of styles and genres÷you only need to browse through our Comics and Graphic Novels to see the incredible variety that just this one company has to offer.

For an entertaining overview of the comics medium, history, and so on, we recommend that you check out Scott McCloud's two books, UNDERSTANDING COMICS and REINVENTING COMICS, which are fascinating looks at the medium told in comics format.
(http://www.dccomics.com/new_to_comics/index.html)

Now, there is a whole culture of comics that we will go into later on in the week, but if you feel the need to approach a guy on the subject, you need to get the basics down first. Mainly, the difference between a comic book and a graphic novel.

For right now, think of a comic book as a television series like Lost. Every week there's a new episode and it's completely serialized, meaning, if you want to understand the next one you had better watched all the previous ones leading up to it. And that's what comic books are. Every book or magazine is a new episode in the series.

Most popular comics companies? DC and Marvel. The characters within each are often referred to living in the DC or Marvel Universe. Examples of the most popular DC characters were named earlier. Some of Marvels: X-Men, Ironman, Hulk and Spiderman.

And if you really want to see how confusing the comics world can get, check this out (and it's only for the world of Spiderman):
http://www.marvel.com/universe3zx/utility/network.htm

And there you have it. Your comic book basics. Now remember what you've learned today because you'll need it tomorrow when we go into graphic novels...

Grill vs. Grillz vs. Grille

Now that you are thoroughly schooled in the art of grilling, where grilling refers to cooking, we thought we should take a look at some of the other grills out there. It's interesting, but it seems that most things containing the name "grill" are loved by mostly men.

Men hate to cook but love to grill. Let's look at our next "grill".

This type of Grille we're talking about appears on your car and we all know how men feel about cars. Look no further than Ludacris and his song "Southern Hospitality"

Ah
Cadillac grilles
Cadillac bills
Check out the oil
My Cadillac spills

Need I say more? The grille on the car has always been a big deal, even back in the muscle car days. Observe:



Next, of course, are grillz. Now, granted, girls get grillz, however, it's mostly men who choose to dress up their teeth with bling.


Sexy I'll take item No. FKG-S106

Finally, we look at the verb form of being "grilled". Again, usually it's a male police officer, except on Law and Order, doing the "grilling" of a certain suspect.



So, you tell us, what is it about the word "grill"?! Do men have some sort of monopoly on the word? I mean, seriously? Seriously. We need to do something about this ladies. We need to give the word "grill" new meaning. Do whatever you have to do.

Decorate your teeth.



Pose in front of your car grille. Um, you don't have to do it like this but, you know.



Go out and "grill" a guy.



Oh yeah, the new Grills will be all about Girrrrllllzzzzz!

Man Meat

Who needs the fancy fru-fru stuff like grilled pineapple? We're talking meat! (okay, in case you really were jonesing for that pineapple...look here.)

Your bbq staples are obviously hot dogs, brats, burgers, ribs (if you're an overachiever-- and if you're REALLY an overachiever, you might want to look here.) and steaks. As All-American as Budweiser. Oh, wait....

But what if you're looking to wow (or at least make an impression) your guy with some new meat? Here are our suggestions:

Ostrich burgers. They're super lean yet still "red" meat. Also available cooked at your local Fuddruckers, but what fun is that?

Bison steaks and burgers- Throw an Oregon Trail themed bbq with bison steaks and burgers as the main feature. Just remember, always accept help from the Indians as guides.

Do like the Hawaiians do and get your SPAM on.

Spam is everywhere in Hawaii. They grill it, eat spam and eggs, put it in sushi, on top of pizza... Not convinced it's for you? Maybe a trip to the Spam museum in Austin, Minnesota will help ease your uncertainty. Or you could just visit the Spam cyberworld.

That's all for today! Check back tomorrow for our look at grills....and grillz.

Fake it till you make it

Okay, so maybe you live in an apartment complex that's not so grill friendly, and grilling on your balcony is frowned upon. Or illegal. Maybe the thought of having to get a grill, lug back a dusty bag of charcoal (black marks are NOT attractive on your clothes, ew) , lighter fluid and hope your limited boy scouting skills will actually get a fire going is just too much hassle. What's a girl to do? Never fear, we have a solution for you...get a Foreman!

Seriously, the staple college cooking appliance has come along way since the days of manual-labor intensive cleaning and scrubbing of the machine. The grill trays are now removable and dishwasherable. You can throw frozen foods on there and they turn out great. And that crazy George and his crew are getting even wackier by making interchangable trays so you can not only grill, but also make pancakes and bake pizzas.

We swear we don't own stock in foreman grills. But if you're intimidated or limited by grilling equipment, we say that the foreman is a good compromise. But beware- the foreman grills are not completely innocuous. Remember when Michael Scott accidentally grilled his foot because he keeps it at the foot of his bed in order to wake up to the smell of sizzling bacon?

A good way to prevent this is to get a foreman that's too big for the foot of your bed. In fact, there are foremans out there that look like REAL grills. And for you ballers out there, here's one that you can even plug your ipod into, so you can get your jam on while you grill.

It probably looks bigger in real life.

Tomorrow, we explore fun things to grill. Hint: It's not your foot. Sorry, Michael!