it's a damn good day to like comic books . . . i should know

there used to be a time where when you said you liked comic books, you elicited a variety of responses from the people you were speaking to.  some would laugh, some would laugh at you, some would demure quietly (because they were among the shamed masses too), and some would act out.

comics were a medium made for children in our recent history.

but . . . a lot has changed, hasn't it?  a lot.  i would say that the first murmur of hope for the shadow people happened with spider-man.  many of you would say it was x-men, but let's face it . . . most people don't give a shit about x-men, even if it's critically acclaimed.  spider-man has done a lot for us comic nerds.  he solidified me as a fan when i looked at my dad's books and reprints of amazing fantasy #15.

i fell in love with peter parker because he was like me.  he was skinny, smart, and had a mouth.  notice the dates on amazing fantasy #15.  the staying power of the character is golden.  people fell in love with the spider, then accepted mutants, and finally found a new, realistic batman.  thanks, christian bale.

chris nolan made the new batman series feel emotionally relevant for "normal people" to deal with.  he made the tech more realistic and made comics feel more visceral than before.

all of this brings me to now . . . which i believe is the best time to be a comic book fan.

let's get the easy stuff out of the way:  the dark knight has a sequel.

for marvel fans, though, i'd like to examine what we have going on:

marvel began producing it's own films with iron man.  they co-produced some quality work, but iron man represented a new era.  they decided to stop letting others decide what to do with their characters and handle their own.  for those of you that read comics, the term multiverse will be familiar.  the multiverse is a string theory dependent comic book term that focuses on choices made at certain times making new universes: all with super heroes with slightly different backstories.  when marvel made iron man, they decided to make a movie multiverse.  that opened a lot of continuity options for marvel movies.  the iron man movie had an easter egg for the avengers and the new hulk reboot.  the second was open about the avengers and had a thor easter egg.  we are facing a thor, captain america, iron man, and avengers movie plus many more if things go well.  btw . . . these movies haven't sucked so far.  they also have used comic book parts in new and modern ways.  it's great.

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also, comics themselves are in of a bit of a restart time now.  marvel just finished a huge, serious storyline starting with house of m and the civil war, going all the way through dark reign and siege.  now they are in a more lighthearted time called the heroic age.  everything is more like the status quo, like '70s swashbuckling comics.  the avengers seems like a great read here.

also it's nice, because a famous character like daredevil didn't get the m.o. and is still hardcore.  they are currently having to fight him and his ninjas in hell's kitchen.

dc comics is getting ready to see the return of bruce wayne with batman inc.  apparently he is franchising . . . stay tuned.

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it's a good thing when an industry can laugh at itself.  the renaissance is here with kick-ass and scott pilgrim.  ironic comic book movies that poke fun at their own stereotypes now have a life of their own.  before hit-girl, i never really saw the reality of a tween murder machine trained by a normal aged "hero."  now i'm not sure i need to live in their world.

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things will only get better and more mainstream as the new marvel pics come out.  plus, smaller hero shows are in the works like the runaways and a nick fury solo.  damn it feels good to be a nerd.

now let's see a huge crossover event happen like secret invasion, civil war, or the infinity saga on film. 

cooking with mike - chicken and mixed veggies with sticky rice

photo by Stephanie

so, i fancy myself a sort of amateur chef and enjoy cooking for others.  i might as well share some of the success stories here for my faithful readers.

i just bought a new wok at IKEA ($4.99 regular price, not sale) and was looking forward to trying it out.  we had all of the sauces we needed for stir fry and some chicken tenderloin, so i went out and bought some carrots, broccoli, a white onion, a yellow bell, and a couple of vine ripened tomatoes.

i don't measure at all, so i'm not going to be able to give you any exacts on the recipe.  but here is the gist of the thing.

for the chicken marinade:
soy sauce -tamari, not shoyu (it's what i had)
apple cider vinegar (because i didn't have rice wine vinegar)
lemon juice
sugar
peanut butter
miso paste
garlic
onion powder

for the "pot sauce:"
1 part soy sauce
3 parts pineapple juice

i marinated the chicken from the time i ate leftovers for lunch until dinner time.

first, i blanched the carrots and broccoli for color retention and so it would stir fry quickly.  then i sat back and drank some beers while those chilled in the fridge.  then i cooked the chicken until it was basically finished.  i pulled it out and sat it aside.  then i added the carrots and broccoli for a bit alone.  after it got a good coating of oil, i made a pool of the pineapple mixture in a cleared center of the wok.  as it thickened i added the rest of the veggies.  after the tomatoes crushed and became part of the sauce, i added the chicken back and mixed it to serve.

the benefit of removing the chicken and only adding it at the end is that the meat tastes like meat and the vegetables taste like vegetables.  in fresh Chinese cooking, this flavor retention is important and is a key part of the style.

the rice was nothing special.  i am using a Japanese medium grained rice.  i cook it on the stove top, because i don't have a rice cooker.  but, it is really easy to do.  add rice and water 1:1 (a normal serving size for a person is around 1 cup, i add a little extra in case the edges dry out or burn).  cook it around medium until the rice puffs up and you don't see anymore water.  voila!

if you're looking to buy Asian ingredients in Tulsa, most of the time you can look no further than Reasor's (international isle).  i buy my rice and more obscure items at Nam Hai (21st and Garnett).  for laymen, buy rice that is white and has Chinese writing on it.  i prefer medium grain (used for sushi).  short grain ends up looking like couscous when i cook it.  also, don't buy basmati rice unless you're making Indian food.  it's not sticky and often has things like jasmine added in for flavor. 

You may all go to Hell, and I will go to Texas

days two and three were spent in the southern part of the state.  the first day was in New Braunfels at Schlitterban and in the evening San Antonio Riverwalk.  day two was back to San Antonio at the Alamo and then lunch in downtown Austin on our way back to the Ft. Worth area.


Schlitterban is an amazing experience for anyone who likes extreme rides and water.  it is actually three different parks held together by a tram system (for one price).  the original park uses water from the Comal River and is pretty freezing.  it consists of mostly lazy river tube rides.  it's fun but the real bread and butter of the experience comes from the two newer parks: Surfenburg and Blastenhoff.

Surfenburg has a large lazy river and swim up biergarten.  one of the big attractions here is an artificial wave machine for boogie boarding.  i've boogie boarded in the ocean before, but this is a completely different experience.  the ride is shaped like a halfpipe with a large amount of water shooting up it.  i tried it and failed, but i've always wanted to try it and i had fun.  the boy ahead of me was able to get up to a kneel and do all sorts of spins.  but he brought his own board so i think he's done this a bit.  the other big ride was Dragon's Revenge.  it's a new master blaster type ride with a twist; they added fiber-optics and a storyline.  the ride has really great props and makes it a really great experience.  at one point, you are going down a slide into water that's been lit up to look like a dragon's mouth.  Steph and I actually screamed a little.

the third and final park, Blastenhoff, consists mostly of the big slide rides.  we rode two of the three.  one was a solid black tube slide which was pretty fun but nothing to write home about.  the next was the master blaster itself.  it's not the travel channel's best water ride for no reason.  that thing is awesome!  it was really an extreme ride for a waterslide.  the downside is that it had a 90 minute wait.

a Tulsan in Texas

i'm spending a week in Texas this week on a small vacation with Steph.  we are predominantly staying at her parents' place in argyle (close to Ft. Worth).  i'll be reviewing some of the things we do as a road trip review for my favorite Tulsans!



today we went to downtown Dallas to see the JFK assassination site.  i'm a big history buff, so this was a necessity.  we were originally going to go to the 6th floor museum, but they want $14 each to go in.  as i'm a history buff that's balling on a budget, i didn't need to kill the presidents in my pocket to see where one of our greats was shot. 

instead, we walked to the grassy knoll and looked from there.  then we went to Northpark mall in Dallas, which i would really recommend for Tulsa shoppers.  it has all sorts of designer shops from Burberry to LV, the typical stores we are used to, and my personal three favorite stores: American Apparel, Metro-Park, and Urban Outfitters. 

i had soup at Soupman, a franchise made by the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld.  i wanted the lobster bisque but they didn't have it today.  the bisque available was shrimp.  i had it.  it was very good, maybe the best bisque i've ever had (and I've eaten the lobster bisque at the Remington).  unfortunately, the hipster girl working there was in no way comparable to the Nazi and there was no chance to hear, "No soup for you!"