TBideon

What I liked about Punisher: War Zone was that it really matches the style and feel of the comic, in particular the MAX series, closely. Movies like Spiderman and Dark Knight are pretty good in their own right, but I see them more as movies that feature comic book characters rather than being true adaptions. I felt that the nitty grittiness, silliness, and over-the-top exaggerated reality of the Punisher comics were well adapted into the sequel. The film felt surreal, a kind of hyper-reality. It really is a proper translation of the comic book material that I haven't seen in too many other films.

I got into comics in the early 90s when the Xmen and Batman animated series were running strong. I read them off and on, usually at a Borders or Barnes & Noble, and presently try to follow some of the major storylines i.e. Death of Captain America, Blackest Night. Just a few of my favorites and why: Captain America (Steve Rogers): There have been maybe 9 or 10 Captain Americas, but I've always liked the Steve Rogers version the most. He's basically Marvel's copy of Superman: American colors, idealistic, dual personalities (until a few years ago), larger than life, highly moral, etc. Hitman: Hitman is a now dead character in the DC universe, but his comics in the 90s were dark, funny, and always entertaining as hell. It's about...well..a hitman who has some rarely used superpowers. The Boys: In this world, superheroes are basically no better than supervillains and so there is a small CIA organized group called The Boys who police the superhero community. And by police I mean ripping their faces off and killing them sometimes. It's a very graphic series and features tons of allegories to Marvel and DC characters. Watchmen: The movie was boring junk save for the first 15 minutes, but the originally series is simply flawless. It's on everyone's best list for a reason. Plastic Man: Plastic Man is a strange character in that everyone has heard of him, he's had cartoons and his own (failed) comic series, is HILARIOUS, and has great powers. But for some reason he doesn't have a real presence in the DC universe and is very much ignored in major story arcs. Strange. Ultimate Spiderman: This is probably Marvel's best series and feature a teenage Spiderman. I like it due to its consistency - never a bad story arc - and while the Marvel Ultimates line has become a bit of a failure, this one still rocks! Punisher: One of my favorites, he kills and tortures people unapologetically. There is a lot of humor and fun characters. Also, Punisher: War Zone is one of the best comic book films I have ever seen as it really matches the comic closely. Wanted: Awful, awful movie that had nothing to do with the comic. But the series, which features a rapist-murderer-Eminem-superhuman-protagonist fighting slightly worse supervillains, all of whom are (like in the Boys) noticeable allegories to mainstream supervillains, has perfect art, the greatest last page in the history of all comics, and has a real magic to it. Just a few. I'm curious what other people think.

What a despicable man.

As I recall, there are several other superheros who call Cleveland their own. The infamous Howard the Duck is one. Jack Monroe aka Nomad aka the third Bucky (Captain America's sidekick) aka the second Scourge of the Underworld is another.

So a quick synopsis of the Warehouse District night-time scene from my perspective. Last night, I arrive at 9:30pm with my girlfriend, and the street is utterly dead. In fact, I would say there are more police officers and bouncers than actual patrons on the street and sidewalks. We head to Velvet Dog and notice the entire bar save for upper deck patio is closed. What the heck? That's incredibly lame. We leave before 10 and and head to D'Vine Wine Bar which is technically not on W6. On the way, there are clearly more people on W6 but still, even at the relative early hour, it's quite a bit emptier than in years past around this time. D'Vine is awesome, and we meet with several of my super smart PhD friends, one of whom I find out just moved to E.55/Lakeside. I guess they have apartments by the lake there. Around 11:30 or so, we leave and head back to W6. Outside of a brief moment where a couple jerk-types start staring me down (they're standing at the outdoor patio of Paninis and I stare right back), there are no incidents. This isn't a big deal - my girlfriend is Dominican-Cuban whereas I'm Turkish-Russian - and so we do kind of stand out a bit when together. The physical street itself has very light foot and auto traffic; come to think of it, I can't remember any cars driving down W6 though I don't think the street was blocked off. The clubs seem to be a little light on the outside, as Sin, Lust, and Bar Fly have no lines and very few people are hanging around outside the actual clubs. Again I chalk this to the early hour, but still, 11:30pm is probably a good time for people to start coming. We go to Barley House, which is just packed. So that's where everyone is. There is a fairly high meathead to girl ratio, but it's all in good fun generally, and I notice that security there is very very VERY good. Every so often it seems the guys are escorting people out, but in a non-aggressive, calming manner. Plus the bouncers have cool ear-pieces. Also, that one older guy who always shows up in a suit shows up. You know who I'm talking about, tan skin, mustache, early 50s, looks like he's in real estate, bleached teeth, perpetual smile. Nice guy and works the cornball angle well enough to get constantly greeted and hugged by girls. I say hi as I take a break from the outdoor patio and say hey as well. Looking outside, I see the cops are being a bit over flirty with the girls, but it's all in good fun. About 12:45 we leave (yeah it's early, but we started early). Looking outside, W6 has a nice presence of people of apparent legal age on the streets and bars, but again it isn't as crowded as it was last year around this time. There are no significant lines outside the clubs, at least from my view at Barley House; getting into Bar Fly or Blind Pig or Liquid/Fusion wouldn't be a problem; then again, I wasn't looking that hard. Leaving I notice there are virtually no people at the club adjacent to Lakeside across from Liquid/Fusion. I'm not even sure if that place is open tonight. And that's that. I will say that there were a lot of cops and bouncers making an outdoor presence. I wish I had walked by Lust again to see if there were large crowds of obnoxious kids - maybe next time. I also would have liked to stay past 2 when I could more accurately judge whether or not the PD is all hyperbole; while I've heard enough accounts of the area to determine there probably are problems, I'd prefer to see it with my own eyes. Still, the area seemed pretty safe and relatively quiet from 9:30-1am, that's for sure.

I don't know if we're in war with the world's Muslims. They, or at least a huge contingent, certaintly act like we are

Perhaps a lot of Germans were quitely infuriated with the Nazis who were smaller in number. Should we have just gone to war with these Nazi 'extremists' so not to villify all Germans?

I have no interest in giving the benefit of the doubt to that Hamas sympathiser and his motivations for putting in a mosque right dab in the middle of where major pieces of the plane engines fell.. Legally, I suppose it's within his rights to build the center just as it is for the Klan to march in Skokie or for NAMBLA members to have annual conventions or for the pastor to burn the Koran. Morally, they are all dispecable acts. And another thing. This idea of moderate international Islam is ridiculous. Show me one Islamist country where women are not treated as glorified slaves. Even the Emerates possess misogynic laws that are just appaling

I don't think cold stone is really contributing to our nation's obesity problems. Rather, cheap fast food Is more responsible as it is prevalent, especially in poorer areas where you might see higher rates of obesity than wealthier. 8 or 9 bucks/dessert serving is simply too expensive for most people to have regularly when I'm in westlake or strongsville, both of which are affluent areas and have cold stone stores, I just don't see that many fat people compared to poorer suburbs. I also don't see as many fast good chains on every corner. There is clearly some correlation.. Think of it this way - how many obese people go to XO or Hyde Park compared to Wendys or IHOP.

God almighty is this team horrible

I was just reading some articles about Mayor Daley's leaving Chicago and what has happened under his reign since '89. Comparing Frank to him is apples and oranges, but man oh man does it seem Daley was a lot more involved in his city than Frank be it response to crime, involvemt in the business community, helping the city go green, being exceptionally proactive in getting what he want, and basically converting a struggling city into a relative metropolis, at least the downtown area and northside.

I think I'll have to check that out

Beautiful shots

I disagree. Completely. Part of what makes a neighborhood desirable for many people are large book chains. Big glaring ones like the Borders on Michigan Av. in Chicago or Broadway in New York are always packed with locals and tourists alike. You're relaxed when going inside, can purchase coffee or any assortment of foods and drinks, can congregate with a study group or simply study in silence, can browse magazines and books for hours without any real need to make a purchase, and so on. Hitting up one of these large book chains is nice to do when you're bored or feel like coffee or just feel like leaving the house. Sure it's a business and not a library, but it's also one that has a great many amenities, and little independent bookstores, which I do love by the way and usually go out of my way to find them when I'm on vacation, do not really have that same kind of leisure. Sometimes you just want somewhere to go and relax on a comfy couch - for that, Borders and Barnes & Noble just work better than Delphi books or that place next to Tommy's. There is simply nothing good about Borders leaving Severance, and I think it is a GREAT loss to inner ring community, Cleveland Heights in particular, who now have to go all the way to Beachwood's branch. And no offense to Home Depot or Wallmart or movie theater or IHOP, but Borders is the true staple of that mall and it's going to be a glaring vacancy.

If you think a large group of 19-year-olds screaming at my girlfriend and her friends, "Yo b-word, give me some of that sloppy p-word" is just innocent catcalling, then you have a lot of growing up to do. It's abusive and harassing and obscene and not typical of entertainment districts in our country, at least reputable and safe ones. In the grand scheme of things, this is an epidemic that needs to be controlled before we lose one of our few entertainment districts in the downtown area. It is serious, and you are taking it way too lightly. Even at their drunkest, none of my friends in high school or college would ever behave that way - this is not normal, acceptable teen behavior.

Good?

Borders at Severance in Cleveland Heights is closing on 10/2. F@#K [url=http://http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2010/09/borders_books_music_closing_cl.html] http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2010/09/borders_books_music_closing_cl.html Borders Books & Music closing Cleveland Heights store on Oct. 2 "LEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio - The Borders Books & Music store at Severance Town Center will close its doors at the end of business at 9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 2. "The Cleveland Heights store did not meet our financial criteria," said spokeswoman Mary Davis. She did not provide any specifics or details about the lease. "

Based on the number of auto-related crimes I know of first hand, I can't say I'm surprised

Whiskey island was packed, parking was a huge pain. Lots of kids on the sandcourts too. I wasn't crazy about that

Actually, I think there's something nice about outdoor shopping at legacy/crocker in the winter. Lights everywhere, music playing on the sidewalk.....it's a nice experience

I'm mostly with you ETC, though I'm not ready to give up on the Warehouse District yet. Still, and I'll tread lightly, it's just shocking that with all of the vast inner city problems, the NAACP and other alleged leaders of the community decide to launch a Velvet Dog press conference about the situation involving those two banking interns and make it about race in order to draw self-pitying attention. THAT'S what the NAACP is focusing on? THAT'S where their priorities seem to lie? Why aren't they having press conferences outside of known local gang hostels? Why not in front of broken schools? Crack houses? Foreclosed homes? Heck, push some of the cameras on the underage kids who are loitering outside the W6 district and ask why aren't you home? No, it has to be a racially charged and prejudicial press conference outside the Velvet Dog about an incident that had nothing to do with race!!! Couldn't they at least wait until more facts came out before throwing out the good ol' race card? It's pathetic and ignorance at its finest. You want to keep W6 safe and vibrant, well, it's not going to stem from the publicity hounds we saw at last week's conference.

I'll be hitting up W6 either Friday or Saturday this week. Will be sure to report what happens. And ccars, I have to disagree with your last statement. A large police presence makes for a safer atmosphere. Maybe it won't prevent all violence, but it certainly improves the overall situation and makes people feel safer. A cop arresting a drunk kid certainly improves the situation as opposed to the drunk kid starting fights left and right if there are no police to stop him.

So my girlfriend and I sent some time at Westlake today and decided to hit up the Lakeview Park which I had shown her for the first time on Friday. Because of construction on Lake St., we soon learned that we'd have to make an unexpected detour. While on the detour, we randomly came across the Rocky River Park along the coast, decided to check it out, and spent the entire afternoon relaxing at this wonderful area. As I've sort of been discovering/rediscovering Cleveland this summer, I am yet again stunned by how incredible the West Side is, especially with it's access to the Lake Erie, and how much there is to learn about the metro area. The only iffy part was that there were some little kids swimming behind the rocks in the lake and the waves got pretty rough at times. Looked like a recipe for injury.

Can't it be both?

Dollar stores