Folks, today is the Best Day Ever Of All Time. Why? Because:
It’s Free Comic Book Day.
It’s The Avengers opening weekend.
It’s Cinco de Mayo.
It’s Kentucky Derby day.
My nerdy self is having a Major Squee(tm) and I’m a-gonna be a little busy today. Have a good one. Open thread.
MikeJ
Norwich just equalized against Arsenal. Chelsea Liverpool up at 9am.
Walker
Never mind. Realized my mistake.
geg6
Meh. None of that interests me. I used to go to the Derby every year in my younger days. A more drunken bacchanalia has never been seen, especially if you’re in the infield. Too old to enjoy that anymore and that was the only reason I ever went.
However, a good friend is running in the Pittsburgh Marathon tomorrow. Now THAT is a good time (not the running, but the party every neighborhood in the city throws, especially in Bloomfield). I’ll be there to cheer her on, eat as much great ethnic food as possible, and dance in the street to the bands. It’s Julie’s first marathon and I’m excited for her.
As for today, it’s grocery shopping, picking up some illegal substance from my buddy Flip, yard work, and making chicken piccata for dinner.
Kirbster
…And, the copy of Rachel Maddow’s Drift that I reserved at my public library is ready for pick-up.
burnspbesq
Arsenal may have blown qualifying for the Champions League with that result.
Also on tap, a full weekend of conference championship games in college lacrosse, with NCAA Tournament bids at stake. First up is the Big East, Syracuse against St. John’s, at noon. St. john’s pulled the biggest upset of the season when they beat Notre Dame on Thursday.
Tom Johnson
It’s even better because it rained a buttload last night and the Derby infield is going to be a mud pit. Wet t-shirt contests!
Jim Kakalios
And the new season of Sherlock begins on PBS this Sunday! Perfect way to end out the weekend!
Your Friendly Neighborhood Physics Professor,
Jim Kakalios
Jay in Oregon
If you must pick up only one (free) comic book today, make it Atomic Robo.
It’s consistently funny and clever, and all-ages in a good way.
More free stuff from them can be read online at http://www.atomic-robo.com/free-comics/
Schlemizel
last spring we had rain darn near every day until a very dry summer hit. This year is starting to look as bad. Rain & gloom every weekend & nearly every weekday. Its good for weeding the garden but I’ve done that & am quite sick of being limited to things we can do in the rain.
Scott S.
@Jay in Oregon: Atomic Robo is the best damn comic in the universe. And every single FCBD, the Robo books are the very first ones to disappear. :/
Joey Maloney
Today is also – hard on the heels of Star Wars Day yesterday – International Lame-Ass Prequel Day: Revenge of the Fifth.
Villago Delenda Est
The only way this day could be improved is if George Lucas announced that “OK, I totally screwed up the prequel trilogy, so I’m going to remake it with two major changes in the production: a decent script writer and a decent director, and they will proceed to throw Jar Jar Binks into the Sarlac pit at the opening of Episode 1.”
rikyrah
parties…good Mexican food….the first summer movie….
good times, people.
quannlace
And tonight is the night of the Super Moon! The full moon will be the largest and the brightest of the year. Now if only it would clear up.
Raven
Yea, another phony trumped up reason to drink! And, as usual, dumbass motherfuckers will get caught in the dui checkpoints they have set up.
Cathyx
All I can say about that best day ever list is wow.
bago
The Avengers made me forget Star Wars. You know how Harrison Ford won the 70’s-80’s with Han Solo and Indiana Jones? RDJ is the new Harrison Ford, and Joss Whedon is the new Spielberg. They also found the perfect Hulk. If you own even the tiniest slice of the spectra of nerddom, see this movie. This is one you will own on blu-ray, zune, and PSN.
I liked it, is what I’m trying to say.
Villago Delenda Est
@Raven:
The IMPORTANT thing is that they’ll likely be drinking blended margaritas, not green beer.
YellowJournalism
Villago, you forgot about him finally releasing the original trilogy on BluRay with Han shooting first.
Irving
Team USA is coming home after the absolutely stunning Battle of the Nations tournament. Live steel medival swordsmanship competition, as historically accurate as can be managed. First time the US competed. Here’s my favorite fight:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTUxnFC29oo
Next year’s fight is in Jerusalem. Watch for it.
Xecky Gilchrist
I’m right there with you on the first three, but I haven’t yet cultivated a geekiness for the Derby. I too will sub the “Sherlock starts tomorrow!” squee, knowing that if I were a real fan I’d have bought cable and watched them on BBC.
Ellen
Today is also Taste of Pinellas at Vinoy Park, St. Pete – benefiting All Children’s Hospital. If you are in the area come out for a great time – Ziggy on stage at 6:30 & Sheryl Crow at 8:30! Looking forward to watching the super moon come up over Tampa Bay this evening!
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@geg6:
__
Sounds like the Preakness. Or the Indy 500. Both of which I observed from the stands, having become too old (mid-thirties at the time) to withstand the hangover. What is it about infields?
lamh35
Today is also the first “official” rally for Obama. It’s actually gonna be 2 today right. One in Ohio and another in Virginia. It’s the one where Robmey camp plans to “bracket” the Obama camp.
The OfA website will be live streaming at 11:45 I think
lamh35
@bago: Been telling everyone how awesome this movie is. I seriously think it may have singled-handedly saved The Hulk franchise. Mak Ruffalo played it perfectly!!!
Go see this movie folks!!!
bago
And sometimes I think Captain America had the best superpower.
Vibranium shield that can repel the hammer of Thor? No.
Super strength to pull off some mad parkour and calculate how to catch a flying shield mid flight after braining a baddie? No.
His real super-power was highly competent middle management. Proper resource allocation in the midst of an alien invasion is invaluable.
General Stuck
Best night for howling at the moon
So get out yer yaw yaws, and let er rip.
arguingwithsignposts
@Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason: Or any NASCAR event.
handsmile
@MikeJ: , @burnspbesq:
[Posted some of this at the end of the previous open thread, but now I see some football trash-talking hereabouts….]
With passage to next year’s Champions League in their control, the Arse decides that maybe fifth place and the Europa League wouldn’t be so bad after all. Infuriating doesn’t even begin to describe what it’s been like to be an Arsenal fan this season. Spurs have a comfortable run-in to the end of the campaign and, sentiment overruling sense perhaps, I fancy Newcastle at home tomorrow against Sheikh Mansour’s mercenaries.
Should the all-too-thinkable occur for the Gunners, the final defense of those who insist that Wenger must be coach-for-life (“He’s always taken them to the Champions League”) will at last be scuttled. Finally.
The FA Cup final (at noon EST on FSC) between Liverpool and Chelski should be a tasty affair, what with King Kenny’s job hanging in the balance. BGChi and others who “never walk alone” are going to have an uneasy afternoon.
After gorging on football, tonight brings dinner at a favorite (Turkish) restaurant and the New York Philharmonic. Not a bad balance for a day.
Jay in Oregon
@Scott S.:
Thanks for reminding me; I should make sure to get to my FLCS sooner rather than later.
It won’t be on the FCBD table, but people who enjoy The Avengers movie (and it sounds like a lot of people have so far) might like the new comic series Avengers Assemble; basically, Marvel said “screw it, we want an Avengers roster like the one in the movie” and started a new book to do just that.
(There’s an Avengers vs. X-Men super-crossover going on, but I’d pass; it’s one of those books that’s not going to appeal to you unless you’re well-versed in the past 5-10 years of both series.)
Elizabelle
@lamh35:
Beat me to it.
Some wonderful thoroughbreds out there today, opening up a lead.
Among them, our POTUS.
Look forward to C-Span, the Derby, AND some Cinco de Mayo adult beverages.
Plus, The Daily Show is allegedly trawling a popular Richmond bar for know-nothings to comment on the political scene.
That won’t be hard.
ChristianPinko
One more thing: tonight is Supermoon.
Elizabelle
How could we forget Supermoon?
Beaming down on Cole’s bacchanalia, and on all our homes.
C-Span site: Obama speeches at 12:35 at Ohio State and at 4:35 p at Virginia Commonwealth. (Shaka Smart hosts the pre-party at VCU. Woo woo!)
Villago Delenda Est
@bago:
Steve Rogers obviously does not have an MBA. He probably started out on the line and worked his way up into middle management.
Nethead Jay
For anyone interested in cycling, today is also the day the Giro d’Italia, the first of the 3 big european Tours, starts.
Same as with the Tour de France, the Giro organization like visiting other countries sometimes. And this year, for the first time, they’ve picked Denmark for the first 3 stages. And not just Denmark but my town Herning for the starting Prologue time-trial today and first long stage tomorrow.
Was down in the streets earlier today and man it’s a party. Now watching from my apartment where I’ve got line of sight to both part of the route and one of the big screens. Life is good.
Nicole
@geg6: You clearly were very drunk, as, if you were in the infield, you were actually at the Preakness, two weeks after the Derby.
The Preakness’ main appeal is Made clear by its mascot, Kegasus. Behold.
http://www.baltimorefishbowl.com/stories/kegasus-is-back/
Phylllis
Having a cold one at Spanky’s on River Street in Savannah. The tall ships are in town and the people watching is
the height of entertainment.
Amanda in the South Bay
WTF is so nerdy about Cinco de Mayo? Its just a bunch of annoying 20-30 somethings going out and getting drunk.
Cheap Jim
Throughout SE Asia, today was the celebration of the Buddha’s enlightenment. So if the tequila gets on top of you, sit under a tree and think about it.
canuckistani
Free comic day? Check.
Avengers? Check.
5 de mayo? (1/2 price burrito burp) Check.
Kentucky Derby? Hello no, I have comics to read. I have no time for inbred Southern wanna-be aristocrats.
J.W. Hamner
Just salted some duck legs and gonna watch Caps/Rangers. Would like to see The Avengers, but I’m not really an opening weekend kind of guy.
Joe Max
It’s also Beltane (by proper astronomical calculation) and it’s the night of the SuperMoon! (And it’s the night of the Eta Aquarid meteor shower, but we can’t see it due to the damn SuperMoon.)
Woot!
burnspbesq
@handsmile:
“Spurs have a comfortable run-in to the end of the campaign”
Which, being Spurs, they will find a way to make a mess of.
I’m rooting for the combination of results that puts Everton in the Europa League. Just because I like chaos.
Cassidy
The Avengers is amazing. Hands down, it easily surpasses all comic book movies and set the bar so high that Nolan now looks like an amateur.
Brachiator
Saw it Friday, and it was fun, but still dumber than a box of rocks. It’s a great comic book movie, and benefits greatly from Joss Wheedon’s approach in mixing action and humor, but I don’t think it overcomes some key problems.
This is non spoilery, btw.
Ultimately, what the bad guy wants and how he goes about getting it doesn’t make a lick of sense. All of the superheroes, except the Hawk guy and Black Widow, are forced into a kind of super power parity, so as not to upset fans of any particular hero. Robert Downey’s snarky banter gets old after a while, and he is clearly a 15 year old boy’s idea of what a cool dude billionaire would be like, but this is not as much fun if you are an adult.
Worse, Scarlett Johannson is asked to do a lot of the serious acting. Not quite up to it.
Still, the movie is lots of fun, and will make a crapton of money. A couple of fun teases for those who stay past all the credits.
So far, “The Hunger Games” remains the better action film of the super long now starts in April summer movie season.
The new trailer for “Prometheus” looks amazing. I recall that the tag line for “Alien” was “in space, no one can hear you scream.” In the final segment of this trailer, you hear snippets of unseen characters screaming in sheer terror and fear. But you never see the agent of their fear. Very effective.
The trailer for Lawless, about Depression Era Virginia bootleggers, looks interesting. Guy Pierce, as a lawman bad guy, is chilling.
DaddyJ
Today *is* a good day; spouse getting her ten-years-in-the-making Masters degree.
arguingwithsignposts
@Cassidy:
See, you almost stayed out of high trollery until the end.
Brachiator
More good stuff for a May Opening Weekend:
Sherlock, Series 2, on PBS, Sunday.
slag
@Cassidy: Agreed. It was amazing. The plot, the characters, the dialog, the themes. Almost as good as (if not as good as) Shakespeare in the park. Upon leaving the theatre, I wanted to turn right around and watch it again for all the details I know I must have missed. It was surprisingly dense for a superhero movie.
Only downside: 3D. Still not impressed with it. The benefits don’t outweigh the costs for me.
Cassidy
@arguingwithsignposts: Sorry. Nolan got owned.
Brachiator
@Cassidy:
It’s really not a competition.
But even here, if you are talking about sheer filmmaking talent, Joss Wheedon still has much to learn, although his work here is much better in cinematic terms than the vastly overrated Misision Impossible 4, for example. But no, it does not approach the best of The Dark Knight.
Also, I will make a risky bet that the Avengers’ second week will show strong, but not overwhelming box office. I am glad I saw the film, but have no great need to see it a second time. I am not sure how much the film will appeal to people who are not huge fans of the comics.
Cassidy
@Brachiator: shorter Brachiator: “Blah, blah, blah…let me show how cool I am by having something negative to say about The Avengers. Let’s talk about Wes Anderson now.”
Brachiator
@Cassidy: Sorry dude, I have said in a number of posts that the Avengers is an enjoyable film. I respect the film and the people behind it to go out of my way to avoid any major spoilers. I have noted that true fans want to make sure to stay past all the credits. Which is something that I obviously did myself.
You are a bigger fool than I imagined if you think I need to gratuitously bash the Avengers just to score style points.
Dope.
PoliticalHack
Don’t forget “felt guilty about the neighbor pressure-washing their deck while I played games on the computer, so went out to pressure-wash my deck, only to be saved 1/3rd the way through by a thunderstorm and went back to gaming.”