The New DCU: August 31, 2011 - A Simulblog

The following is a simulblog with Chad P. of Political Jesus, Josh Toulouse of Fat Train, and Arthur of Arthur the Lesser. You ought to be forewarned: there will be spoilers.

Chad's article, "Savage Nerdery: The New Genesis of DC Comics, A Simulblog," can be found here.

Josh's article, "The New DCU: August 31, 2011, A Simulblog," can be found here.

And Arthur's article, "Why I Can't Simulblog," can be found here.

In the scheme of things, I don't know much about the old DC universe. And maybe that means that this new DCU was created for me. As a matter of fact, if it weren't for the influence of Josh Toulouse, Arthur, Amy Bolan and Chad P., I'd probably still be shouting out, "Make mine Marvel" and reading every single X-Men-based comic since 1963. (I've made it all the way to the last months of 1988. That's 25 years of comics.) Since I'm not exactly the oldest supporter of DC comics, I thought I'd lay it all out for you. I've read select Batman stories from 1987's Batman: Year One to 1993's Batman: Knightfall, select Green Lantern stories from the destruction of Coast City in the 1990s to the last few comics before Blackest Night, some stand-alone stories like Elseworld Batman tales and All-Star Superman, and I've been present for several conversations regarding the DCU. The only thing I know about Flash or Wonder Woman is what I learn in cross-overs like Final Crisis. I am a noob to the DCU, and this is the perspective that I am bringing to this simulblog series.

I believe that it is significant that Justice League #1 is the first comic book to be released in the new DCU. With a release date of August 31, 2011, it is the only comic book of the new 52 that doesn't have a September release. Furthermore, its permanent spot on the release schedule is the third week, with Justice League #2 coming out on October 19, 2011. Justice League's September release came out almost a full month early. I think this points to one of the most interesting architectural changes the DCU has ever seen. Whereas the original DCU began with independent heroes isolated to their particular city and acting out independent stories with independent sets of villains only to be brought together somewhat awkwardly a couple decades later, the new DCU begins with unity. The old DCU set up its borders, whereas the new DCU begins with heroes crossing borders. Justice League #1 begins with the Green Lantern of Coast City crossing into Batman's Gotham City and it ends with both heroes crossing into Superman's Metropolis. Hal Jordan comments that the entire space sector belongs to him, but his concept of dominion is soon changed when Superman knocks him flat on his butt.

This serves as a good segue-way into a discussion of who's who in the Justice League, and what the purpose and effect of the Justice League will be in the new DCU. Already we've met Batman, Green Lantern, and Superman. (Since these three are the main characters of the first issue, does this mean that the Big Three of the old DCU, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, are about to be overthrown?) Batman is somewhat insular and brainy, and when he meets Hal Jordan he almost seems as if he's something of a socially inept geek. Of course, he wows Green Lantern by his crime-fighting prowess despite his lack of super powers. Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern, is incredibly over-confident, and it seems clear that he has yet to be knocked down a few pegs by a truly good villain (or by Superman). Batman makes it clear that if he keeps shining his light everywhere he's going to get people killed. Some things never change. Superman is perceived as a rogue alien from Metropolis, and despite the confidence of both Batman and Green Lantern it seems to me that the two heroes are merely covering over the fact that they're kind of terrified of this Kryptonian powerhouse.

The first words that Geoff Johns writes in Justice League #1 are: "There was a time when the world didn't call them its greatest super heroes. There was a time when the world didn't know what a super-hero was." Clearly, by "them" Johns intends to name the Justice League. One is lead to believe that the time when the world didn't value or know of super-heroes includes the events of this issue, which happened five years ago. Not only were the members of the Justice League unknown; they were downright feared. The first part of the story features the Gotham City Police Department indiscriminately firing upon both Batman and the alien that he is chasing (and later Green Lantern). One officer communicates over the radio, "Is it one of them?" and is answered, "The way they're leaping twenty feet at a time? I'd say yes." This leads one to believe that the humans are scared of what in the old DCU would be called metas, individuals with super powers. (Ironically, the GCPD considers Batman "one of them," a meta.) The second part of the story features a Superman who may not stand for truth, justice and the American way, who may not have taken to heart all the simple country values of his Smallville origin and the responsibility that his powers entail. This may just be a self-serving Superman, and he may just be the reason why the world is up in arms against metas. Of course, this is only the state of events from five years ago, a dark period in the history of the new DCU perhaps, but in this same opening we are given hope. Johns suggests that the Justice League will become the greatest heroes, and perhaps just as importantly, the world will recognize them as such.

On the surface it appears that Darkseid is going to be the villain who unites the Justice League and allows them to rise to their rightful place in the new DCU. The alien that Batman tracked through his detective skills and that Green Lantern tracked with the alien-detecting device known as his Green Lantern power ring mentioned the villain before self-detonating. The alien that it took both Batman and Green Lantern to defeat was merely a minion of a higher power, the power of Darkseid. Darkseid and his army of followers are certainly a big enough threat to require the combined power of the world's heroes. Of course, this would be too simple. When the heroes duke it out in Metropolis, they do so in a demolition zone, a site that is being prepared for Lexcorp construction. The sign promises that Lexcorp is "building the city of tomorrow today." An astute reader will notice this and wonder if Lex Luthor is the true villain behind the events that will assemble the Justice League. Of course, this is a new universe: perhaps Lex Luthor is to the Justice League what Professor Charles Xavier is to the X-Men in the Marvel Universe (or what Nick Fury is to the Avengers in the Marvel Cinematic Universe).

Overall, the new DCU appears to be focusing on subtle storytelling rather than flashy new adventures. Of course, that may just be Geoff Johns, but with Justice League as the flagship comic book, it would seem that other writers will be pushed to do the same with their titles. Not only will the new DCU be populated with new and interesting takes on characters, but it appears that a large span of time will be populated with new and interesting takes on the stories that these characters enact. Already, we have a look at what the world looks like five years ago in Justice League #1. I think we can assume that some titles will start their stories now whereas other titles might plunge back even further. We have met Batman, Green Lantern, and Superman, but we don't know how they come to be heroes. I'm not 100% certain where Johns is going with the Victor Stone/Cyborg story, but it seems interesting. It looks to me like Vic's father is spending all of his time studying metas so that his football playing son might some day walk among them as an equal. Of course, there's always that chance that Vic Stone might be transformed into Cyborg as a means of humanity fighting against the metas. Oh, and I'm sure that we'll see Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Flash at some point, too. After all, they are on the cover...

Next week, I intend to read every single new release. That means I will be reading Action Comics #1 (with Grant Morrison!), Animal Man #1, Batgirl #1 (I'm really interested to see how this one plays out), Batwing #1, Detective Comics #1, Green Arrow #1, Hawk and Dove #1, Justice League International #1, Men of War #1, O.M.A.C. #1, Static Shock #1, Storm Watch #1, and Swamp Thing #1. Of course, since I don't believe I could possibly read every DC comic for the rest of my life, I'll probably start crossing comics off the list if they don't interest me as much. Until then, however, read Chad P.'s article, "Savage Nerdery," Josh Toulouse's article, "The New DCU," and Arthur's article, "Why I Can't Simulblog."  And don't forget to leave your own opinion on the new DCU.

Cavemen Go in the News

In the last week, Cavemen Go has gotten mentions on two blogs. I want to send out a special thanks to Joshua Toulouse of Fat Train and Amy Bolan of If It Bleeds...

Josh mentioned Cavemen Go in a new Blog column he's developed titled "Best of My Buddies." On July 26, he published the post "Best of My Buddies - Part One, Green Lantern Corps and Creative Cosplay." Featured in that post were Chad P. of Political Jesus for his tweet regarding the fantastic footage from the upcoming Green Lantern Corps animated television program (which is available on Josh's post) and yours truly for the post "Cosplay Gallery: Rise of the Machines." It is an honor to be recognized, and I hope to write even more content worthy of Josh's "Best of My Buddies."

Amy didn't so much mention the blog as she mentioned me. You see, in case you haven't heard, Amy Bolan is my girlfriend. So, when you read her July 28 post "Big Talk - Big Talk," and I'm sure most of you already have, the boyfriend in question is me. Amy decided to quote a discussion of ours comparing the bands Big Talk, The Killers, and The Cars. The first time I ever gave The Killers more than a cursory radio single listen was they released the 2006 album Sam's Town. My original judgment was that The Killers were overrated and should just turn into a The Cars cover band. (At the time, The Cars weren't touring with Ric Ocasek.) For clarification, Big Talk reminded Amy of The Cars, but they reminded me of The Killers, who reminded me of The Cars, and thus, through the transitive property, Amy and I came to the same conclusion. As for Amy, I love any time she finds me interesting enough to mention on If It Bleeds... and shall try to prove myself even more interesting in the future.

I know I've pointed you all to these blogs several times over, but if you're not consistently checking out Fat Train and If It Bleeds, then you are consistently missing out.

Christian Piatt's Banned Questions About the Bible

It gives me great pleasure whenever someone I know has the fantastic opportunity of being published, and it is because of Christian Piatt and his book Banned Questions About the Bible that my good friend and fellow blogger Josh Toulouse of Fat Train became a published author.

Banned Questions About the Bible responds to a problem that arises in every religious community. Because certain traditions are held as authoritative, people often feel too afraid to ask important and difficult questions that pertain to their own religious journey. Not only does Piatt pose many such questions regarding the Bible, but the many contributors he's gathered together courageously give a variety of possible answers. In the process, readers find a guide to creative thinking rather than an authoritative law book that prohibits further questioning.

Banned Questions About the Bible is available on-line via amazon and also via the Chalice Press web site. (If you order it on Chalice Press, input the promo code "BANNEDQJ" and get 40% off. This code also works for Piatt's upcoming book Banned Questions About Jesus which is available for pre-order on both sites.) It is also available in most Cokesbury book stores. It may not be available in Barnes and Nobles stores but they are able to order it if you call them. (If enough people order this book, Barnes and Nobles will be more likely to stock the book for other readers.)

I have two personal recommendations: 1. that you pick up this book from one of the above places, and 2. that you hop on over to Fat Train and congratulate Josh on his publication.

Thursday Night Madness on Fat Train

You may have noticed that television connoisseur Josh Toulouse of Fat Train hasn't been commenting on the Thursday TV Tournament competition. Well, there's a couple of reasons for that, and he's made those reasons abundantly clear in an article titled "Thursday Night Madness."

Josh's article points out a couple of things that I had meant to clear up from the get-go.

When I began gathering information for the Thursday TV Tournament, I was aware that I was excluding the NBC program Parks and Recreation. The unfortunate fact was that I wouldn't be able to get caught up on the show before the previous season, and I believe that I ought to be caught up on the show to properly judge it. Josh recently reminded me that it is also a travesty that The League was not included. It was unfortunate, but I decided to go ahead with the tournament anyways. As a way of making amends, I intend to get caught up on both Parks and Recreation and The League before the 2011-2012 season begins. Next year, friends, there will be a reckoning.

Furthermore, my method of establishing seeds is imperfect. I based the seeds on which episodes got the best ratings, which is more of a judgment of how good the previous episode was. Also, FX programs like It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and The League can't compete with network programs, and programs on less popular networks like NBC can't compete with programs on more popular networks like CBS. I asked Josh to make suggestions on better methods. He said it might be a better idea to check out IMDB or TV.COM user ratings. If any of you have other suggestions, I am all about hearing better ideas.

That said, it's still a great tournament, pitting the ever-so-popular Big Bang Theory against The Office in Steve Carell's final season, with Community, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and 30 Rock giving good fight too. Next year's tournament will be more comprehensive and perhaps better-seeded. Until then, enjoy some pretty fantastic battle for this year's rankings.

Conan the Barbarian on Fat Train

Above is a picture of the one true Conan the Barbarian. Accept no substitutes. In the 1982 film Conan the Barbarian and the 1984 film Conan the Destroyer, he was played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. In the 2011 remake of Conan the Barbarian he is played by someone called Jason Momoa. I recently saw the trailer for the Conan the Barbarian remake and, polite as I usually am, I actually started booing in the theater after it aired. What was going through the minds of the people who made this movie? Well, Arnold Schwarzenegger is no longer in office, so why don't we make another Conan movie without him... I believe that Kalimdor (Arnold Schwarzenegger's character in Red Sonja) would reply sarcastically, "That's logic."

Conan the Barbarian is part of the underwhelming list of August movies that Josh Toulouse deals with on Fat Train with his article "Thoughts on the Summer Movie Schedule 2011 - Part Four." In this article, he mentions a few sequels of classic Schwarzenegger films that the former Governator ought to partake in now that he is out of office. There have already been rumors that Schwarzenegger is considering scripts for a True Lies 2, and that the Terminator franchise is seriously trying to get Arnold to sign back on. Here are the three projects that I want Arnold Schwarzenegger to get involved in now that he is potentially back in the business.

1. King Conan - As Josh has already mentioned, it would be fantastic if Arnold Schwarzenegger would return for one last Conan movie. Every movie has promised that Conan would become a king, but not before a long series of adventures and quests. I think that King Conan should start with the classic picture of Conan sitting on a throne (you know, the picture that the other Conan movies end with). But something pops up that threatens not only Conan's kingdom, but the entire world. (Christian missionaries? The Crusades? No. I think the Conan series happened before all of that. Something even scarier...) In the classic formula of "I'm retired, for Crom's sake" but I can't see the people of this planet suffer, Conan fights his last fight. Oh, and we all forget that the Conan the Barbarian remake (and the planned sequel) never happened.

2. The Expendables 2 - I used to like the idea that the first Expendables movie took place in the regular universe, and that Arnold Schwarzenegger's character was actually Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. After re-watching Commando, however, and seeing how much of Expendables is a direct reference to Schwarzenegger's quintessential one-liner-driven action flick I'd be much happier if Schwarzenegger's character was John Matrix. After his daughter Jenny goes off to college and gets married, John Matrix, with the political clout he has gained through exemplary military service, is trying to be President (and hence the joke in Expendables). Mr. Church (Bruce Willis), who is responsible for the situation in Expendables is the villain of Expendables 2 and John Matrix is the ace in the hole.

3. Commando 2 - Nobody I've pitched this idea to has liked it, but I know it is brilliant so I'll pitch it to you. Remember in Commando where the dude's like, "Hey, I'll leave these dude's to keep you and your daughter safe," and then they are immediately killed? In Commando 2, John Matrix is a grandfather watching Jenny's children because she and her husband were killed in some flood or something. Some situation comes up and there is once again reason for an armed guard. But instead of dying instantly, the threat doesn't arise until nearly halfway through the movie. In the meantime, John Matrix cockily (and hilariously) schools these young men both on how to be a good soldier and how to be a good babysitter. I just imagine Schwarznegger creeping up on them all the time and making them feel like they're in Vietnam, and criticizing them for frightening the children. I don't know why nobody likes the idea of this Arnold Schwarzenegger, Baby-Sitter type of movie (that turns into a heavy action movie), but you, my public, ought to love this idea. Because it is great.

Come join the conversation. What should the next Arnold Schwarzenegger movie be?

Sucker Punch on Fat Train

I went and saw Sucker Punch with a couple of friends recently. The first trailer made it look like visual dribble. The second trailer suggested that it might have a deeper story akin to Pan's Labyrinth. The movie itself was not very good. Whether Zack Snyder was using this movie to show off his craft and audition for other movie franchises or simply to give tribute to those people listed in the credits who recently passed away, the result was a bad movie. Fellow blogger and friend Josh Toulouse recounts our Sucker Punch experience on his blog Fat Train. Click here to read his post titled, "Sucker Punch is What Happens to the Audience."

Directorial Disappointment on Fat Train

If you're a faithful follower, then you know that I was very excited for the March film Battle: Los Angeles. Aaron Eckhart (Harvey Dent!!!!) and Michelle Rodriguez (who has been spot on since they killed her on ***SPOILERS*** LOST) in a movie about an alien invasion - how can it go wrong? Well, it wasn't a very good movie. Luckily, however, my disappointment served the positive purpose of giving Josh Toulouse over at Fat Train an introduction to his post titled "Directorial Disappointment." Check out the post here.

How I Spent St. Patrick's Day Eve

 
I could tell you about my adventures in champagne, cheese, and bread. I could tell you about my encounter with Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus, Shark Attack 3, and Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus. But it would be pretty redundant, because fellow blogger Josh Toulouse beat me to the punch.

Check out Josh's post "Bad Movie Reviews: Spring Break Shark Week" at Fat Train now.

CAVEMENGO EXCLUSIVE: Josh Toulouse on Favre Train

That's right, my response is EXCLUSIVE to Cavemen Go.

And not Charlie Sheen interview exclusive either, actually exclusive to only Cavemen Go.

(I would go on every single blog ever to talk about this subject, but I figured that might be a little difficult as there are probably billions of blogs out there, many of which are defunct. Therefore, the best I could realistically do is get interviews on about 7 or 8 blogs, and that isn't enough for me to feel really popular with, so we'll stick with the actual term "exclusive", which for everyone except Charlie Sheen still means something.)

My first response to Justin’s recent post was gleeful laughter at the picture that Justin proposes as my new header.

A sacked Brett Favre struggling to cover a fumble while being bear-ed (pun completely intended) down upon by a train is utterly awesome, and, dare I say it, genius.

And the title would allow me to talk about video games, which might be nice.

However, as much as I love video games, I don't know that my desire to talk about them in blog form comes up all that often.

I would say that I probably would want to talk about books even more than video games.

And Favre Train, while giving us the great illustration above, doesn't allow for any talk about television, something that is integral to Fat Train as currently constructed.

So we are left with a bit of a dilemma.

We could tweak the name a little more, something like

FAVRE BE TERRIBLE TRAIN

Film and Video Games/Religion/Entertainment Books Everything Toulouse Regards Reliably Interestingly Brilliantly Loved Equally Thoughts, Reviews, and Interesting News.

But that is a little ridiculous.

And anyway, I have a blog where I can talk about absolutely anything I want, where I am not restricted by my title.

I can write about Min-Centaurs and my desire to play Dungeons and Dragons, TCU and the sick state of the BCS requiring them to move to the Big East, why I’m glad Brandon Sanderson is finishing The Wheel of Time series, as well as on many other sorted subjects.

I have an incredible freedom to blog about whatever I want there…

And yet, I don’t blog too often on that site.

I am a person that needs structure. I need Fat Train to be what it is so that it has purpose.

And maybe, when I do have the desire to talk about Dragon Age 2 or the latest Michael Connelly novel, maybe I’ll return to Retrospective Reflections and show it some love.

The New Fat Train

In a recent post, fellow blogger Josh Toulouse made the following apology for doing a video game-related post on a blog devoted to film and television:

Now, I know that video games don't really fall within the realm of what this blog covers, and I'm not trying to confuse you by adding something new to the mix at this late date (this being my 201st post and all), but there will be a 6 episode web series this summer based on the world introduced to us in Dragon Age Origins, and seeing as how web series are close enough to television for government work, I feel comfortable covering it.

Upon reading this post, I thought that it was incredibly unfortunate that Josh has to place such limits on his posting. What would I do in the same situation? Clearly, judging by my past, I would trash my blog and start a new, unlimited blog titled Cavemengo, but that just isn't an option for Josh. He's got quite a readership that he would be losing in the move.

The answer that came to me seemed simple: Just rename the blog so that its title included video games in the items reviewed. Rather than Fat (Film and Television) Train, I thought Josh would be better served with a name like Favre (Film and Video games/Religion/Entertainment) Train. Upon pitching this idea, Josh expressed a great deal of disgust.

But I knew it was a fantastic idea. Consider this my second pitch to Josh Toulouse. For your consideration, Favre Train:

Stay tuned for an exclusive on Josh's response.

Josh Toulouse's Thoughts on the Oscars

On the day of the Oscars I learned that I would be hosting an Oscars party. (Cue the frantic apartment cleaning montage. Am I right?) Among my guests were the lovely Amy Bolan, Adam Knorr and his lady Corinne Shady, and all-star blogger Josh Toulouse. Amy and I were lucky to be featured in Josh's post titled, "6th Annual My Thoughts As I Had Them During the Oscars." This blog article can be viewed here (and also everywhere else on this post).

Cavemengo Anecdotes - Josh Toulouse

So, Justin, the proprietor of this very blog you are reading, asked me to chime in with an anecdote about his blog to help celebrate the one year anniversary (or blogiversary as he put it) for Cavemen Go.

My first thought was obviously…

Who celebrates blog anniversaries? That’s so weird!

My next thought was…

Blogiversary? Seriously? You’re calling it a blogiversary?

After that I thought…

You know what sounds good? Chocolate. Chocolate sounds good right now.

But then I decided….

Eh, what else do I have going on?

So, I said yes.

That brings us, of course, to the next issue I was faced with, which was what anecdote I could tell to help Justin celebrate the one year anniversary of his blog.

I could talk about the annoyance I feel when I’m a little behind in my blog reading and I see a blog post from him posted to Facebook that I haven’t gotten around to reading yet (because Justin links his posts to Facebook after they go off of the front page of his blog). In these situations I will immediately start reading the bit on Facebook after the title that had caught my attention, only to get extremely frustrated because it is only the David Bowie song that he has at the top of the blog site. This has to have happened to me at least 30 times. (Sure, you could say that this is my own damn fault and that I should have learned by now, but I prefer to pass the guilt onto others as I feel less guilty that way, and therefore place the blame squarely on Justin for intriguing me and leaving the same damn Bowie song where it is on his blog, thereby getting me EVERY SINGLE TIME, and I also place the blame on Facebook for somehow dumbing me down while I am on their site so that I haven’t learned to realize that this is about to happen to me again each time I look at one of his posts.)

But, that isn’t very exciting, so I probably won’t talk about that.

The next thing that I could anecdote about (I just made anecdote a verb. I wonder if anyone else has ever done that? Or if anyone else will ever do it again? In other words, am I a trendsetter, or just someone who doesn’t understand the basics of English?) would be all the influence that I personally have had on this very blog. For instance, one time I posted a blog entry about possible guest stars that could play Sweet Dee’s baby daddy on the incorrigible comedy It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. This idea came due to a discussion I was having with Justin in which he told me that he was planning a blog entry about possible guest stars that he wanted to see in some of his favorite television shows.

Okay, okay, I see what you’re thinking here…

You’re thinking that it looks more like Justin influenced my blog instead of me influencing his blog. Before you go all judgey judge, let me finish the story…

After I posted my blog, crediting Justin with the idea, Justin had to go ahead and turn this loosely formed idea he had into an actual blog post himself, since I had advertised it on my site.

Due to my post, he included this little paragraph in his post…

I was originally going to sit on this blog idea for a while to see if I could brainstorm more ideas, but yesterday my good friend Josh, whose brilliant blog Fat Train deals with all the best and worst the worlds of television and film have to offer us, put some fire under me. During a class we both attend, he wrote a blog titled It's Always Funny in Philadelphia in which he linked his internet followers to this very blog post before it was even written. I thank Josh for his kind words and for introducing his people to my blog, but I also begrudge him for forcing me to be less lazy with my blogging.

See! I told you my blog has influenced his blog.

Okay. Okay. So maybe that anecdote just highlights the fact that our friendship has occasionally caused each of us to influence the other’s blog.

Hmm…. This is more difficult than I thought it would be.

I don’t know why I agreed to do this anyway. All that I really think about when I think about Cavemen Go is that I need to blog more myself. After all, it’s only been around for a year and there are already over 500 posts? What is that about? Over 500 posts in less than a year!? This is my sixth year of blogging and I’m barely over halfway to 500 posts! Am I just lazy?

Maybe. Maybe I am.

(Okay. I definitely am.)

But part of it is also the fact that many of Justin’s so-called “posts” (do you see what I did there? I called the posts “so-called” thereby implying that they weren’t really posts, and I also put the word “posts” in quotations thereby implying yet again that they weren’t really posts) are just pictures of people, things, tv-shows, movies, or albums. That’s it. No comments about them or anything, just a picture.

Which reminds me…

I have actually influenced Justin’s blog, because in his second year of blogging, he is going to repost each of these simple pictures with his actual thoughts or other comments he may have on the anniversary of when he first posted just the picture. In other words, he is actually going to blog about them.

And he is doing it because he is tired of me complaining about his cheating ways inflating his blog posts.

That’s right. Influence.

That I have had.

On this very blog.

So really, we should be congratulating me on this anniversary.

Or, I guess you could just keep on reading his blog.

Here’s to another year, Cavemen Go.

(And remember, if you ever get bored, you can always visit me at Fat Train. Justin won’t mind.)

Cavemengo: Year One

Much like Batman incorporating all the best of such heroes as Harry Houdini, Zorro and Sherlock Holmes, Cavemengo is nothing if not the product of its predecessors. Here are just a few of the giants whose shoulders I had to stand on in order to make Cavemengo what it is today:

CAPTAIN'S BLOG

Captain's Blog, now defunct, was a strange travelogue (travelblogue?) I kept in order to document any adventure that took me away from home. When the time and the money required to travel disappeared, so also did Captain's Blog. While I continue to post travel pictures on Cavemengo, the most significant contribution from Captain's Blog came in the form of small travel playlists that I turned into mixes.

CORN LIKE AN ANGEL

Also defunct, Corn Like an Angel was a food blog inspired by a quote by Steve Carell as Dan in Dan in Real Life ("This corn is like an angel."). Though the blog nearly got me a writing gig in New York, I shut it down because, like travel, New York cuisine costs money that I didn't have. Since I left New York, I've been able to do some write ups on fantastic food, particularly in Fort Worth, Texas (Love Shack, Charley's, Yucatan, Jesus BBQ, Off the Bone, Five Guys, Mellow Mushroom) and Grand Rapids, Michigan (Mediterranean Grills, San Marcos, Yesterdog, Winchester, Schnitz, Bombay, Jonny B'z), but also occasionally elsewhere (Slows, Skeeter's, American Coney, Czech Stop, Rudy's, Nick's).

ELLIOT MAYO

As the previous subsections witness, I have juggled my fair share of blogs that have narrow purpose and that only last so long as I am still interested in that purpose. The main motivation behind the creation of Cavemengo was when my good friend Elliot Mayo, frustrated with keeping up with all my blog, told me I should combine them all into one. What Elliot didn't know is that I modified my new blog on his Elliot Mayo blog. Like Elliot, I would post on any project I was involved with, be it music, literature or art of any kind. I can say without a doubt that if it weren't for the influence of Elliot Mayo, there would be no Cavemengo.

FAT TRAIN

Though the influence of Fat Train on Cavemengo might not be immediately evident beyond a devotion to popular mass media, its creator Josh Toulouse has been incredibly influential to my blogging. Over the last year I've had the chance to discuss upcoming blog projects (blogjects?) with Josh and get his opinion on my posts. Josh has been one heck of a resource and one heck of a friend. Join me in thanking him by visiting Fat Train often. I know for a fact he's got some great things in store this year!

GET STOP TICKET

Get Stop Ticket is a blog devoted to a Brooklyn band named Get Stop Ticket that I started with friends Elliot Mayo, Becky Prevette, and Fiona Maier. Physically, the group has split up, but we still record music together with the help of the internet and our new guitarist Stephan Mathos. The blog itself has seen better days, but its spirit is carried on in Elliot Mayo's Elliot Mayo, Fiona Maier's A Bjorky Whale, and my Cavemengo. Why don't Becky and Stephan have their own blogs? I don't know, but if you leave enough encouragement here maybe we can convince them to start blogs.

LETTERS TO BOWIE

There is something so creative about my brother Micah Tiemeyer's blog titled Letters to Bowie. In Bowie, practically a folk hero due to our father's obsession with the rock legend, Micah found someone to whom he could confess his freakiest and funkiest thoughts. Following in my younger brother's footsteps, Cavemengo is a response to Bowie's 1972 album Hunky Dory, from the title ("Life on Mars?") to the header ("Oh! You Pretty Things") to the very first post. It was the seed of Bowie, delivered via Micah Tiemeyer, that breathed first life into my blog.

LOST 365

Though Jared Stumpenhorst never accomplished his goal of 365 unique pieces of art based on the hit ABC television program LOST in 365 days, the mere partial undertaking of this enormous project was an inspiration to me. Combined with my brother's sudden Arnold Schwarzenegger obsession upon returning from Vienna, Austria, I had all I needed to start my own year-long project titled Arnold 365. Here's to hoping I can make it to the end.

MUSIC, SWEET MUSIC

If my Denton roommate's web site promoting local music had taken off, my music blog Music, Sweet Music (named after a lyric in the Jimi Hendrix song "Manic Depression") may have earned me my first staff writing position. Like my other previous blogs, Music, Sweet Music can no longer be found on the internet, but my post on Bob Saget covering "Purple Rain" is still available, as are several music related articles inspired by it.

SOQUITCHERBITCHEN

I think Justin Metz was my earliest friend to have a blog, and though he would hardly list it as his greatest accomplishment - Justin's a proud father and husband and, in my opinion, an overall success - I think his music blog Soquitcherbitchen is one of the best things on the net. I've been known to steal a video or two from Justin, if you head over to Soquitcherbitchen more often maybe he'll consider us even...