Superboy

If you read comics and have been following Infinite Crisis, only read the following after reading #6. Otherwise, you might be upset with the spoilers.

I've loved Superman for as long as I can remember. Even more, I've loved Superboy. Each represents the ideal of doing what's right because it's the right thing to do, not for personal gain. I got hooked into Superboy right before his book started featuring the Legion of Super-Heroes (LSH), I think #197. While I missed Superboy in his own stories, I liked the sci-fi aspects of LSH a great deal (set 1000 years in the future, lots of advanced technology). Superboy went into oblivion in the '80's with the story, Crisis on Infinite Earths. Very sad, but it helped in simplifying the DC Universe in the name of continuity (a move I don't necessarily agree with; it's comics after all, not real life. Give me great stories any time).

After the death of Superman in '92, four new Supermen appeared to take over for Superman. One of these four was a revamped Superboy, hip and cool for the times. While he did not serve the same inspiration to me as the original Superboy (I'm 20 years older at this point), he was a fun character trying to do the best he could. Arrogant and cocky, yes, but far from perfect. The last storyline in his book was by far the weakest, and it was not a great sendoff for the character. But this Superboy didn't stay gone for long; he was in Young Justice, and then moved to Teen Titans after the much-lamented demise of Young Justice.

In 1995, the original Superboy that disappeared in Crisis on Infinite Earths reappeared in the Infinite Crisis series. And it was not a good thing. At all. Having been locked away in an area untouched by the original Crisis, he became psychotic from the isolation. And he started killing people because they were "wrong" and "didn't understand".


Finally, in Inifinite Crisis #6, there is a battle between the two Superboys which results in the death of not one Superboy but two. (In the comic world, even seeing a body is no indication of the permanence of death.)

The deaths of both of these characters saddens me. The newer Superboy was finally growing into a truly Super Man despite all the obstacles he faced. Still arrogant--though greatly tempered with heartache and several mistakes--he was becoming who he originally thought he deserved to be and who he realized ultimately he was not worthy to be. Very sad. Also sad is the fate of the Superboy I grew up with. To become a psychotic murderer after being such a paragon of virtue and upholder of what is right really does the character a great disservice. The loss of everything you knew and everyone you loved and years of isolation could be enough to send the strongest of people over the edge, so it's perfectly conceivable he could turn. But it's a very sad fate for a such a well-loved character.

Update 05/10—Spoiler: The old Superboy was not killed. He'll be around for quite a while to wreak more havoc. But what they've done to his character is a different kind of death. :::sigh:::

hmmm (name that tune!)

so, logging in tonight to post about something, I discovered that my last two entries never appeared on my blog. Note that I used blogger's mail-in capability to post them. I've never had trouble with mailing in posts before. Oh wait, that's a lie, there was a time when two or three posts just completely disappeared.

At least the posts were in my list, and I just needed to publish. It is annoying when things don't just work.

Frustration

I'm on dial-up. It's only $10 a month. Since Christmas, however, I've
been having horrible connection speeds and dropped calls. DSL has come
down enough that I can consider getting it now. I know I'll be happier
with high speed; it'll make everything so much easier.

But I hate two aspects of it. Generally, my ISP has been pretty darn
good. There's only one incident where I was truly not happy with their
response, but other than that, they've really worked hard at being
helpful. Their support staff are actually intelligent and try to solve
your problem without inherently treating you like an imbecile. Just for
the record, the company is Everyone's Internet. For someone to do so
much right, I hate to abandon them.

The other part is going with AT&T. I've really grown to despise them
(even as SBC, I wasn't overly fond of them). Their arrogance is exceeded
only by Micro$oft as far as I can tell and in my experience. And their
customer service is about the same, too. To sign up with them makes me
feel like I'm making a deal with the devil.

Grrr!

Checking In -- Checking Out

Sending this by email, and I have no way of knowing when I last posted. I think it was last Sunday (Yay Easter!), but I've slept since then.

I'm downloading some music from grassrootsmusic.com, a very slow and tedious process when your best connection speed is 28.8. Twice in the past week I went to the at&t site to get information about their DSL, and twice I received a message that the site was down for "maintenance". At 9 pm on a week night. Right, "maintenance". Is that a sign of what I can expect from them should I sign up for this service?

I haven't watched any movies this week. I started Bringing Up Baby a couple of weeks ago, but I haven't gotten back to watching the last 45 minutes or so. Silly, ain't it? (That's in the living room DVD player.) I started watching A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Pretty funny so far, but not quite the movie I was expecting. I still have 20-30 minutes left on it; I turned it off to watch Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1, and Cops. I only intended to watch Stargate Atlantis, but then the other shows came on, and there I was enthralled.

I am excited that The Tick cartoon series is finally coming out on DVD this fall. Maybe I can afford it by then. June 20 is super Tuesday, though, so called due to the number of Superman-related DVD sets (7? 8? 9?) being released that day in time for the release of Superman Returns (I'm stoked!). Unfortunately, I can't afford to get everything coming out that day, but perhaps a couple of the sets won't be exorbitantly-priced. I hope this, anyway.

I finished White, the third in Ted Dekker's The Circle Trilogy. I'm just totally blown away. Wow! It really changes the way I look at God (a positive change, mind you), and I have a much better appreciation of how God sees us. The Great Romance indeed. Now I'm working on Thr3e (thanks, Se7en). This is currently being made into a movie, and I'm kind of excited about it, as the book is excellent so far.

Last Friday

Last (Good) Friday, I had the day off. I decided that would be a good day to get together with friends of mine for lunch at my favorite restaurant, Chuy's.

Not everyone I asked could be there, which was fine, though they were missed. Everyone was so excited that I put this little shindig together and thanked me profusely. While I appreciate the gratitude, all I did was call a few people. Really, there was no planning on my part.

But I enjoyed it all just the same: Great food, great company.

Duke Lacrosse & Geraldo

Geraldo is not the epitome of hard journalism except in comparison to so much else that passes for journalism. Usually, he seems fairly balanced in his reporting. However, tonight he really stepped over the line, IMO.

Talking about the two Duke lacrosse players who were arrested in this land of supposed innocent until proven guilty, he said something to the effect of "these two rich punks who thought they could get away with rape." Now, that's not exactly what he said, but it captures the thought close enough. Does this sound even remotely unbiased? These two players have already been tried, convicted, and crucified by Geraldo (and certain other groups as well).

This is WRONG.

Yes, if the woman in this case was raped, those responsible MUST be brought to justice, no question about it. To pick these guys because they're rich (or white) just so we can have some sense of "getting them" is wrong. And hey, if the DNA evidence indicates it's NOT these players arrested, what purpose is served in continuing to go after them? Only the community that has already convicted them will not be appeased by ANY evidence contrary to what they want to believe.

My supposition in the previous paragraph, "if the woman in this case was raped" is NOT the typical "she was asking for it" or "deserved it". Rape is a horrible crime. My only reservations here are that the circumstances are questionable: potential video showing her messed up before the party even took place, potential alibis for the players in question, the circumstances in which the woman was found (most importantly, drunk). I don't think it's possible to definitively say what happened, at least not right now. Is it possible we can put aside racism as motive and study the facts of the case to pursue true justice?

I doubt it.

Good Morning

Easter Sunday morning. What a blessed thought. Jesus is not in the grave. Death could not conquer Him; our sin did not permanently engulf Him. Because He is restored to His Father, we can be restored to our heavenly Father.

Amen!

It Happened Last Night

Last night, we had a cookout and a movie night with our singles' group.
It was much fun. We sat outside under the stars -- all two of them (we
are in Houston, after all, which isn't the Lone Star so what gives with
that?) -- and watched the movie projected on a white king-sized sheet
strung between the trees. I enjoyed that so much.

I was kind of nervous about it because I was responsible for bringing
the movies. I know that I have a totally warped sense of humor, and that
my likes are not everyone else's likes. But I do try to cognizant of
that and provide what I consider all would at least appreciate if not
enjoy. I usually do a pretty good job but don't have a perfect track record.

I had brought several movies (around 10), but I ultimately gave the
viewers two choices: The Philadelphia Story (1940), or It Happened Last
Night (1934). Both of these movies are fantastic and hilarious, or at
least I think so. I highly recommend both of them. The group picked It
Happened Last Night, and we popped it in.

Fortunately, it seems to have a been a hit. I watched it again with the
commentary this afternoon, and I still love this movie.

What a Day

Man, this day started out quite on an up note. I woke up not groggy and got to work early.

Then it went downhill. All three elevators were out. Our office is on the 9th floor. Yowsers. And on top of that, the A/C was out. It started at 81° in my office and was at 88° by 3 pm. The A/C came on then, and by 6, it was down to all of 84°. My sinuses were exploding by 10 this morning; they don't do well (nor do I) in high heat and high humidity.

On the other hand, I was actually productive at work in spite of the heat and pain. I got my processes numbered so I don't have to keep figuring out what to run next. It's great stuff. I can hardly wait to get all of this stuff automated.

My small group (the small group I attend -- I don't own it or anything) was pretty good tonight, even if it was small in number. We've been studying Discovering God's Will, a series by Andy Stanley. It's been quite interesting. Tonight's "episode" was about specific things we can do to know God's will. Rather than looking for things that make us feel good (which is the point of life) or for promises that we can somehow force God into upholding for us because we have Him in our grip, we should look for principles to live by and guide our lives. Makes sense to me.

Life, Houston, and Everything

Last Monday, I watched most of the Miracle Workers show on ABC. One family was praying, but the doctor refused to even bow his head. Everything turned out great, of course, because the ultimate goal in life is to feel good, right? It seems so many doctors think they are God, with the power of life and death.

Yet, we're not so much different, are we? While we don't think we wield the power of life and death in our every action, we do attach extreme significance to our every thought, and we act like it's all about us.

So, anyway, after watching the show, I thought, "too bad there's not a simple procedure to fix what's wrong with me". And I guess there is; it's total submission to God. Anyone got any pointers on easing that transition from being totally self-reliant?

Last night, I went to Comedy Sportz (kind of like "Whose Line is It Anyway?" but far superior). As usual, it was a blast. It was a special show in which high school students did the games. While it was good, I do prefer the regular players. The level of intensity the students reached by the end of the match is about where the regular players start. Don't get me wrong, the students are still better than what I could do, but I still prefer the regulars. In time, though, I have no doubt they'll be at that level.

Work is busy, as usual. I'm so close to making some pretty significant breakthroughs in the database work I'm doing. When done, it will rock completely. A lot of it has to do with having programs generated and run by other programs (yes, a program-writing program). Then, the process just becomes something anyone can do by entering some data through a simple interface (Access, command line, HMTL), and voila, the program can run without intervention.

Of course, this doesn't help in the initial data setup. We get data from our clients in bizarre formats, usually requiring several hours of clean up. I've somewhat automated large sections of the cleanup, at least having scripts for running these pieces so I don't have to recreate it every time. But I don't have the process down enough to have a single program that I can kick off and be done with it a couple of minutes later (which is all it will take when completed) — there are still way too many exceptions. I still need to develop a great legitimate address recognizer, an address splitter. I've just about got the DBA (doing business as) name splitting down.

Oh well, enough blathering for now. I'm going birthday shopping soon (like minutes away).