ANNOUNCEMENT! The New brockheasley.com!

by Brock Heasley on January 9th, 2012
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Hey Everybody,

Today marks the launch of my new website, brockheasley.com. I’ve been heading towards this for a while now, even if I didn’t realize it. In this day and age, if you’re an author–you need a website. I always saw this site as my hub, but I just don’t think it makes such sense for people looking for a writer to come here to a webcomic site. So, now I have a new site where you can find blogs, news on my book, and even a dedicated page with info on my book.

What does that mean for this site? Well, not much, really. I’m gonna be keeping the more personal stuff over on my new site. That probably means you’ll see an uptick of SuperFogeys-related content here in the blog area, which hopefully is good news to most of you. If you’ve enjoyed some of the blogs I’ve done on stories from my life, I’d encourage you to bookmark my new site or subscribe to it via email. Should be lots of great stuff to come over there.

More importantly, the new site is designed to support my memoir, Raised By a Dead Man. Your comments and visits are the best way you can lend a hand and show your support for my new endeavor and insure that you get to hold it in your hot little hands at some future date!

Also, for those of you that follow me on Twitter, I’ve launched a new SuperFogeys account for all the news and updates SF-related. I’m gonna be slowly backing away from the SF content on my usual Twitter account to make it more accessible to those discovering me through my writing.

Hope to see you all over on the new site! It’s a new era.

Thanks, Brock

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Misc. YouTube Shenanigans

by Brock Heasley on January 5th, 2012
Posted In: Uncategorized

Unfortunately, I can’t embed videos on this blog. Don’t really know why. So, here’s a few links to a few short video pieces I’ve done lately. Enjoy.

SFX Catastrophes

Bad Robot, the production team behind Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol released a handy little app called Action Movie and over the Christmas break I had a lot of fun with it with family and friends. See for yourself at the link above!

SKYWALK!

My wife and her friend planned a double date and Skywalk, the new trampoline arena just outside of town, is where we ended up. So friggin’ much fun. I’ve been back twice more since.

Drive to Work

I was driving to work the other day and the fog was super dense–more dense than what you’ll actually see in this video because it cleared up a bit before I actually pulled out my iPod. This song, “The Devil’s Work” by Miike Snow, came on and the mood was just perfect. I took the video to try to capture that mood. It’s all cars and streets, but I quite like this one.

In other news… it’s looking more and more like I’m gonna need to make an author site to have a place more focused on that side of my creative life. This isn’t quite the site people are expecting to find if they come to know me through my prose and memoir stuff. Not really sure what that means for this blog though. There’s an argument to be made that what I post here should be strictly SuperFogeys related, but I know that a lot of you enjoy the other types of blogs. My hope is that, if you’re a fan, you won’t mind going to both places.

Anyways, just thinking out loud here. I welcome your thoughts.

 

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Top 5 Movies of 2011

by Brock Heasley on January 3rd, 2012
Posted In: Uncategorized

I’m a huge movie buff, but ever since I stopped working at a movie theater those many years ago, I don’t get to see nearly as many movies as I’d like. That’s why this is a Top 5 list instead of Top 10. Even at that, there were some movies that were incredibly difficult to leave off. In order from 5 to my number one pick…

5. The Muppets

I’m a sucker for the Muppets, but I’m shocked to find this movie in my Top 5. If you’ve seen it, you’re not shocked at all. Consistently inventive, funny, and joyful, The Muppets was made by true Muppet fans, including star and co-writer Jason Segel. Sometimes when the fans take over a beloved property, things go haywire. Being a fan of something and knowing WHY the thing works on you the way it does are two different things. Here, they got it right. Kermit and friends get back together for another show and I’m smiling from ear-to-ear the whole time. Can’t ask for much more than that.

4. Thor

This is a movie that I don’t think gets nearly as much love as it should. For my money, it’s the most successful movie Marvel has made thus far. Director Kenneth Branagh showed a real understanding of how to bring the elevated speech of Thor and his world down to a level that’s relatable to the rest of us. It’s a fun, clever and imminently rewatchable movie with great scene after great scene. And the two lead performances by Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Tom Hiddleston as Loki leave me very, very excited for what comes next for them in this year’s The Avengers.

3. Hanna

This is the sad case of an action movie that flew way, way under the radar–probably because its star is a 16-year-old girl. WHO. WILL. KNOCK. YOU. FLAT. Director Joe Wright is a guy who, like Steven Spielberg, always knows where to put the camera. His compositions tell as much of the story as any dialogue. Go back and watch his Pride & Prejudice if you don’t believe me. But what really grabs me with Hanna is the way he edited the film and the kinetic energy he put into the action scenes. Wow. You’ve never seen anything like it. Plus: soundtrack by The Chemical Brothers!

2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

I have a hard time respecting any Top 10 list of 2011 movies that doesn’t put this movie in there somewhere. Yeah, it’s the 8th film in the series. But, this is where Harry Potter fully grows up and he takes the filmmaking right along with him. This is the whole package, from design to costuming to cinematography to acting to directing. Only one other film in 2011 thrilled me and moved me as much as this one. That’s the only reason this is number 2.

1. Warrior

It’s criminal that this movie is so underseen. You’d think a sports movie with action this great and with a heart this big would be a MONSTER hit. It deserves to be. I don’t even like sports. I have no use for UFC or MMA or any of that. My wife even less so. And we both loved this movie. That you know the climax of the film within the first 10 minutes doesn’t matter one bit. It’s the character revelations and performances along the way that keep you hooked. This story of two brothers and their recovering alcoholic father devastated me in the best possible way. See this. See this now.

That’s it!

For the sake of information, here’s a list of all the other movies released in 2011 that I saw (some that are not on this list I still intend to see, like Moneyball and War Horse). Also, please note that some of these were seen under duress:

Green Hornet, The Company Men*, The Way Back, Just Go With It, Adjustment Bureau, Rango, Limitless, The Lincoln Lawyer*, Source Code, Arthur, Soul Surfer, Rio, Fast Five, Something Borrowed, The Beaver**, Bridesmaids*, Midnight in Paris**, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Tree of Life, X-Men: First Class, Super 8, Green Lantern, Bad Teacher*, Cars 2, Prom, Of Gods and Men, POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, Pearl Jam Twenty, Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon, Winnie the Pooh, Captain America: The First Avenger, Cowboys & Aliens, Crazy Stupid Love**, Rise of the Planet of the Apes**, The Help, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn

* = I saw an edited version of the movie.

** = Movies that just missed my Top 5.

What’s your Top 5?

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The Asthma Killer, Part Four (of 4)

by Brock Heasley on December 29th, 2011
Posted In: Uncategorized

Many moons ago, I wrote a blog called “From Behind the Light.” It was mostly personal stories. Some comics. This is one of the better entries, rewritten for your enjoyment. 

You can read Part One of “The Asthma Killer” here.

You can read Part Two of “The Asthma Killer” here.

You can read Part Three of “The Asthma Killer” here.

With the healing effects of the caramelized onion coursing through their bodies, the room started to glow and light shot from the tips of their fingers as their bodies were lifted magically into the air and spun. Once set back down again, they each stated in turn, “I’m cured.”

Except of course for Pete who said, “Whoa. I can’t breathe.”

Okay, so that didn’t happen.

What did happen was precisely nothing. Aside from the horrible tastes in their mouths and the stink produced by their exhaling, neither my wife Erin, nor our friends Danny and Pete them reported any difference that night whatsoever.

As soon as it was over, we ate the dessert and pointed and laughed at them. Just as we had planned.

10 YEARS LATER:

Today the effects of that night can be easily observed by a quick survey of the participants.

DANNY: It’s been several years since we’ve talked to Danny. He reported no asthma-related symptoms for 3 weeks after that night, but soon enough he did experience a shortness of breath and an attack or two. As far as I know he suffers from asthma to this day.

PETE: He never did get asthma, but he did receive our admiration. He married a few years later and travels the world with his wife as often as possible, breathing all kinds of air with no trouble whatsoever.

ERIN: After dealing with asthma and asthma attacks all of her life, since that night Erin has not had even a hint of lung power loss. She never used her inhaler again and has never been to a doctor or to the hospital for any asthma-related reason. Her last attack was shortly before ingesting the sugar onion and there were a string of severe attacks before that, but none since. No one is more surprised than she, and it’s not something she really likes to talk about because the only explanation we have sounds so ridiculous. However, she is my wife and I have been able to personally observe her and I can confirm that it is true.

Make of it what you will.

THE END

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The Asthma Killer, Part Three (of 4)

by Brock Heasley on December 28th, 2011
Posted In: Uncategorized

Many moons ago, I wrote a blog called “From Behind the Light.” It was mostly personal stories. Some comics. This is one of the better entries, rewritten for your enjoyment. 

You can read Part One of “The Asthma Killer” here.

You can read Part Two of “The Asthma Killer” here.

It was decided that we would all meet in a couple of weeks to try the cure. We knew it was going to be tough on Danny and Erin to do this disgusting thing, and we all wanted to be there to support them and take pictures and point and laugh.

There was one of our number who took pity on them, however. He alone saw the test they were about to endure and knew the opportunities it presented. Only he had the clarity of vision to understand the very specific nature of the party we were planning and what it could mean for him personally.

Pete knew it could be another notch in his belt of “Strange things I have ingested in my life.”

Pete and I became friends during High School and prior to getting married, Pete was my roommate in college. It was during the time we were living together that he ate what was hands-down the most disgusting of all the things he’d ever eaten.

It was my first attempt at spaghetti and it had been in the fridge for eight months. Time enough to become sentient. A living, breathing, moldy civilization had formed beneath the plastic wrap and the beginnings of a revolutionary plot to seize our apartment was being organized from within. If we’d had the proper equipment, I’m sure communication would have possible and some sort of peaceful agreement reached. Instead, Pete opted to simply destroy the entire spaghetti world by stabbing it with a fork and ingesting the purple, hairy mass. I nearly threw up just watching him do it. Pete’s reaction? “Not bad.”

So Pete surprised no one at Game Night when he volunteered:

Pete: I’ll do it too.

Me: But you don’t even have asthma.

Pete: So? I wanna try it.

Me: That’s gross.

His working theory was that if onions and sugar cured asthma in those who had it, maybe the combination would GIVE asthma to those who didn’t.  (I don’t think I should have to remind you that there is no science in this story.)  In any case, Pete was willing to find out.

The following week, everyone gathered once again at our apartment. Michelle and Ryan, Aaron and Amy—about a dozen people showed up to watch the spectacle.

Danny, Erin and Pete had each selected their onion. Pete’s was the biggest, followed by Erin’s. Danny’s was the smallest. We wondered if the size differentials would affect the results and figured it was worth testing it out. Pete’s thinking on choosing the biggest may have been a little different. The more disgusting the better.

Before we could do anything, we had to decide how exactly to prepare the onion with only Danny’s vague recollections of Paco Jose’s story to go by. Do they eat the half with the baked, caramelized sugar AND the spare half? Or just the half with the sugar?

We decided that eating a half onion with the carved bowl of sugar in the middle would be enough. We wrapped foil around it to insure stability while it was in the oven. Once the onions were done cooking, we brought them out to the coffee table in the living room and everyone gathered around the test subjects as they readied themselves for consumption.

Danny’s wife Danielle had prepared an elaborate, seven-layered dessert just for the occasion. A concoction of chocolate, whipped cream and graham cracker crumbs, it was to be the delicious reward for out test subjects for getting through the ordeal.

“GO! GO! GO! GO!” we chanted as the three of them chowed down and ate and ate. They cried, they winced, they smelled awful. To their credit, they each got through it.

To be concluded with the results…

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