Part of My Maine Heritage

When people think of Maine usually the things that come to mind are lobster, pine trees, coast line, and Stephen King. Nothing against Stephen King, I do enjoy his work, but Maine actually has more of history than that. Especially when it comes to some of the famous people and various pop culture contributions to come out of Maine. Again don't get me wrong I like Stephen King and there are some days I love the reputation he's given the state about there being ghosts, monsters, supernatural creatures, and deranged loners in the woods that will kill you several different gorey ways. Anyway I've gone off topic.

What many people don't realize is that M*A*S*H came from Maine. I'm a HUGE M*A*S*H fan and enjoy flaunting this fact whenever possible. Dr. Richard Hornberger, who wrote under the pen name Dr. Richard Hooker, wrote the book M*A*S*H which inspired the movie and the series. He was from Breman, Maine and was a thoracic surgeon who practiced in Waterville, Maine.

He based the book on his experience at a M*A*S*H unit in the Korean War and the main character Captain Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce was modeled after himself. Although he never liked Alan Alda's protrayal of the character which is funny since that's who people think of when they think of Hawkeye Pierce.

Dr. Hornberger died of leukemia at 73 in November 1997.

Many people don't even realize that M*A*S*H was a book. I highly recommend the book if you can get your hands on a copy. If you think what Hawkeye and Trapper did on screen for highjinks were crazy they were toned down in comparison to what was done in text. For example, attempting to crucify and burn the protestant priest that was also on camp, but never mentioned in the movie and show. Oh yeah, things like that.
So I just wanted to take a moment to share a bit of pop culture trivia/heritage. See? Learn something new everyday.

Amazing Spider-Man 2 Review

I saw ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’ and as promised here is my 2 cents on it. I gotta do the usual disclaimer which is; this is merely my opinion and I encourage you to go watch the film for yourself to form your own opinion. Also this review contains spoilers so if you don’t wanna know, this is your chance to stop reading.

Still with me? Alright then, here we go.

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. After reading all of the articles and casting I was so afraid that Spider-Man was going to be a jumbled mess of characters. However it wasn’t a jumbled mess. It was a very captivating story with the focus, villain wise, on Electro. And while the other characters that were promised are introduced (Felicia Hardy and Alistair Smythe) they don’t play a huge part and don’t get their costumes.

The aspect that I found most interesting is that the villains in this film make you feel very sympathetic to them. Electro just wanted to be seen and given credit for the work he had done instead of being used. Meanwhile Harry inherited a company that doesn’t want him there for a father who was never there for him. The only villain you don’t feel bad for is Rhino. Granted you don’t see him much, but he’s a Russian mobster who enjoys crime.

Also, yes, the rumors are true. Gwen Stacy does indeed die. The slight change that they made, aside from the location of her demise, is that Spider-Man isn’t responsible. He is just a little too slow in saving her. If you watch the web gets to her, but her head hits the ground before the web pulls her back up.

There are a few things I’m still unsure how I feel about them. The first is the “Osborn curse” as Norman puts it to Harry. Apparently the Osborns have a retro genetic disease which is why Norman founded Oscorp to begin with. Then there’s Richard Parker putting his own DNA into the spiders which is why Peter got powers. The combination of the disease, which is starting to take hold of Harry and Parker’s genetic spiders are how we get Green Goblin. There is also Peter and Harry’s friendship. For being childhood friends you don’t really get that feeling. Their friendship feels sort of forced.

A couple of things they did that I really enjoy is Dennis Leary makes an appearance again as Captain Stacy. No they don’t bring him back to life, but his memory haunts Peter. The other is that Marvel continues the lesson of never fire the CEO and founder of the company. In a Marvel movie whenever a board boots out the head of the company it never goes well for them, and that continues here.

The ending they leave wide open for Rhino to be the next major villain for the third installment. That would be good because otherwise it’s just a waste of Paul Giamatti’s talent. Which was also a concern when I heard the Rhino was only in the film for 4 minutes.

Overall I really enjoyed it and it taught me not to judge a movie based on all of the articles I see about it. In fact, think I’m going to be laying off those a bit. Oh, and one last thing. The scene during the credits is a bit of a disappointment. It’s just a sneak peek scene from ‘X-Men Days of Future Past’. Just to forewarn you.

Let me know what you think of ’The Amazing Spider-Man 2’.

Free Comic Book Day

 Free Comic Book Day is an awesome day for geeks. It’s essentially a geek Christmas. A day filled with geek love and people walking the streets in costume and it’s even a comicon.

For those who are unfamiliar with Free Comic Book Day let me explain. Free Comic Book Day is a day that publishers entice fans into new series by offering a free sample. It’s sort of like Baskin Robbins; you get a taste at no charge, but if you really like it you gotta buy the rest.

Some people have criticized that Free Comic Book Day just brings out the moochers who want something for free. People who may not like comics, but just want to get something for nothing. There’s always one like that in every crowd no matter what it is.

I take pride in that these companies realize that they have this kind of fan base and want to keep them so this geek holiday was created. Besides, what other hobby/pastime has something like this? The music industry doesn’t have free single day. Book publishers don’t have a day of free samples of upcoming books and series. There isn’t a day for knitters where they get free samples of new yarn or new knitting needles. Comic books are the only ones who do this which makes them very unique.

So on Free Comic Book Day wave your geek flag high and proud! Go down to your local participating comic shop and take a look at what’s coming out. If nothing else maybe you’ll find a new series that will catch your interest and give you something new to read.

For more information on Free Comic Book Day just click the link. Hopefully I’ll see a few of you around my local shops.