Things You Should Be... Friday!

Things You Should Be Listening to...

The Howard Stern Show- Like a fine wine, The Stern Show just keeps getting better with age. It doesn't even matter whether or not they have a hot celeb interview, they keep it entertaining every day. It's my constant source for news and celeb gossip, and every once in a while Benjy does something very entertaining, like throwing himself down a flight of stairs while dressed as a horse or bringing a little lightheartedness to a press conference (Anthony Wiener anyone?). Stick around after The Stern Show for The Wrap Up Show as well, where you'll get a full recap of everything that happened on The Stern Show that day by the guys who work behind the scenes.

Things You Should Be Watching...

Archer- Now that Summer is here, it's a great time to be watching all of those awesome shows you didn't know about during the regular season. Archer is an animated spy-series TV show that features the voice talents of H. Jon Benjamin, Aiysha Tyler, Chris Parnell and like, half the cast of "Arrested Development". It's hilarious.




Sharktopus- Half shark, half octopus, all blood thirsty. This SyFy original movie will blow you away with its horrendous acting and shitty CG. Watch Eric Roberts shed his last ounce of dignity on this "it's so bad it's good" Summer must watch!




Things You Should Be Reading...

The Magneto Testament- One the most amazing Marvel stories I've ever read. If you enjoy a dramatic story, are a history geek like me, and love the X-Men, this is the story for you. Set in Nazi occupied Germany in WWII, the story tells the amazing origin of one of Marvels most beloved antiheroes. After reading this book I thought that there should be a copy of it in every high school history in the country.

Star Wars Role Playing Game Species and Classes Edition- This one is more for myself than you guys, lol. We're balls deep into the "Star Wars" role playing game right now, and being the bad nerd I am, I've never seen "Star Wars".... Now I have to create a back story for my character, and I'm not sure how well that's going to go... She's a Roodian soldier, if anyone wants to help me out with that one ;-)

She looks like this, only a sexy lady version

J.K. Rowling Makes Big (?) Announcement

 The owls have been gathering for about a week now, and J.K. gives us (some) of the information we were looking for... Check out the article I wrote for BSR HERE to see what Pottermore is all about!

Nerding 101: Cycle Counting

It's that time of year again! The time of year where the days are getting longer and hotter, and the kids are home from school. Over here in our household, that means only one thing- cycle counting time! I don't know how I did it, but I just managed to make that sound waaaaaay more exciting than it is.

Cycle counting is when you take alllllll of the comic books you own and go through each and every one. Since The Editor and I have our super spiffy database, we start by printing out a summary of all of the comics we own, and then try to make the summary match what is in the boxes.

We generally do the cycle twice a year. It takes close to five hours for us to do completely, but this time will vary depending on how many comics you own. The Editor and I have somewhere around 8-10k, I believe. Cycle counting is a perfect time to pull any comics that you don't want anymore. Some people have a hard time getting rid of comics, but if you have a series you didn't like as much as you thought you would, or some oddball numbered comics just hanging around, it's better to weed out the old to make room for the new. Nobody likes a hoarder.

After you've pulled out the comics that you would like to get rid of, you can put together a list of what you have and put it up for auction on Atomic Avenue to make a little cash, so you can buy MORE comics. ;-)

Cycle counting is also the perfect time to check the conditions of your bags and boards. If the comics are looking a little beaten, perhaps it's time to get some new protection for them. And if you're one of those people who has unprotected comics, you might as well just put them ALL on Atomic Avenue and start to collect digital comics, because Carly is disappointed in you (I'm sure you're soooooo heartbroken about that).

Anyhoo, that about sums it up. As a comic collector, cycle counting just makes life a little easier knowing what you have in stock. If you have any questions, or are totally lost on what I'm talking about, let me know in the comments! :-)

P.S. Since it's new comic book day, if you're interested in what I'm reading or if you'd like to see some of the new titles for the week, click HERE.

Guess Who is on Twitter?

Answer? ME! After months and months of kicking the idea around, I have finally decided to join the wide world of Twitter. I would like a round of applause for me finally entering a new era of awesomeness. I'm still super new, and really have NO idea what I'm doing on it yet, so be patient. Tips and suggestions of who to follow would be greatly appreciated!

Follow me!

Game of Thrones Season Finale Review

Hey guys! Since I gave you a little "Red Riding Hood" review yesterday, I thought I'd throw a little "Game of Thrones" love towards Big Shiny Robot today. Below is the link to my article for the season finale review! Caution: Spoilers ahead!

Game of Thrones Season Finale

Movie Review: Red Riding Hood

Okay, so I finally got around to watching "Red Riding Hood". I wanted to see it in the theaters, but as we all know, it's VERY difficult, if not impossible to get the Carlymonster into an actual theater to see a movie. Also, the reviews came back saying it was TERRIBLE, so I put if off for a while. Low expectations are the key to being pleasantly surprised.

I was surprised by two things when I was done watching this movie; 1) that I ended up liking it as much as I did, and 2) that "Twilight" got a better IMDB rating than this. The acting wasn't great, but I think Amanda Seyfried is an infinitely more talented actress than the cardboard-like Kristen Stewart, whose acting skills range from looking like she's confused, to looking like she's holding in a fart.

"Wait, what?"

Although the acting was less than stellar, I still found the story to be really fun. It was a pretty awesome take on a classic fairy tale. It's basically a supernatural whodoneit with werewolves. Of course there is a pretty girl who is torn between two boys, but I still find that kind of story cute.

Honestly, and I never thought I'd ever say this, the movie could have used more violence. I'm used to watching HBO, where they have no problem showing a horse getting it's head lobbed off, so the ridiculous killing scenes fell a little flat with me. But that's what you get with a PG-13 teen-drama-horror movie. "30 Days of Night" it is not, but I still enjoyed it.

The scenes were very pretty too, which is no surprise since Catherine Hardwicke directed it. Catherine is the person who directed the first "Twilight" movie, and the cinematography was the ONLY thing I liked about that steaming pile.

I wanted to get a boys opinion on the movie, but The Editor was at hockey this evening, and I wouldn't subject him to it anyway. I think if you like vampire and werewolf stories, and you're willing to offer a little forgiveness in the acting department, you'll like this. Especially if you're a girl.

P.S. You can dress her up, and give her all the serious roles in the world, but Amanda Seyfried will always be Karen Smith to me....

Happy Father's Day!

To all of those dad's, like my super awesome dad, Dave (Hi dad!) and dad's-to-be, like my super awesome better half (Hey! to The Editor) I'd like to say thank you for all you do, and all you've made us. If it weren't for these two kick ass guys in my life I wouldn't have had the courage or confidence to be as awesome as I am today. Heck, I wouldn't even have been able to start this blog. Happy Father's Day from all of us here at Carly on Comics!