Astonishing X-Men Issue 2

2nd Issue
The story picks up right were it left off.  Our heroes on their way to downtown Manhattan to deal with the hostage crisis.  Meanwhile Dr Kavita Rao just announced to the world that she has found the cure for mutancy.  She parades the little girl from the very first scene in issue one to the crowd and informs them that she will be their lab rat for their new vaccine.  At the exact same moment the X-Men have arrived on the scene and are considering their options.  The gun totting thugs didn't concern them but they were concerned about the big villain whom none of them had seen before.  We quickly discover that the hostage taking was only a ploy to draw the X-Men out.  Before the group of bad guys know what's happening they X-Men have already made their move.  Kitty Pride stealthy fazing people through the floor while Emma Frost plays game with the minds of the weaker assailants.  And while they are distracted Beast crashes through a window while Cyclops and Wolverine burst through the walls crawls out and optic blast blazing.  followed by Emma Frost whose in her diamond form.  They quickly make short work of the thugs and find themselves face to face with the big bad.  A fight ensues and they get their butts handed to them by this alien bad guy whose clearly an alien.  Things were looking bleak when reinforcements unexpected arrived in the form of Lockheed, Kitty's pet dragon.  He burns the alien bad guy by breathing fire on him.  Later the X-Men are standing before the press answering dumb questions.  Back at the Xavier School for the gifted where news of the cure have reached the students.  And emotions range from elation to terrified and confused.  Of course Emma's first thought is to kill Dr Kavita Rao, an opinion seconded by Wolverine.  Emma's all to aware of the implications while the others don't seem to concerned.  This begins the tension between Emma and Kitty.  She tells Kitty that she's back with the X-Men because she asked that she be there.  She tells here that she need someone on the team she hadn't fought alongside,  Someone who would be inclined to watch her if she ever went astray.  Kitty lets her know that she would keep an eye on her anyway before phasing through a wall-so cool.
Meanwhile Beast sneaks into Benetech to see his old friend and colleague and friend Dr Kavita Rao.  She justifies her reasoning for creating the cure. Beast true reason for visiting her was to find out if the cure really works.  Thus concludes the 2nd issue.  This was another strong issue.  The art has really grown on me.  We're seeing the dynamics of the new team starting to play out.  A team where Emma Frost seems firmly entrenched in the role of second in command- filling the void left by Jean Grey.  I find the story so far to be very compelling as it builds to something much bigger.  And what that something is I can't wait to find out.

The Astonishing X-Men

1st Issue.
This 25 issue run was done by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday.  It was the first comic I bought after a 10 year abscence.  This story arc pics up months after the Grant Morrison's New X-Men run.  I strong advise you check that out as well.  If your not a Grant Morrison fan already you will be after that run.  With the dust settled and the Xavier School for the gifted rebuilt things have once again taken on a sense of normacy.  Our heroes still reeled from the loss of Jean Grey, who was killed by Magneto, posing as Xorn who was in turn killed by Cyclops.  Two of the Stepford Cuckoos, Esme and Sophie also lost their lives.  The new arc opens with a young girl suffering from a nightmare where she has apparently killed her mother and now about to do the same to her father.  The little girl wakes up from the nightmare and is comforted by someone who appears to be a doctor.  We then move to Kitty Pride returning to the Xavier school. She relives different memories( good and bad) as she makes her way from the drive way to the inside of the manison.   She then phases through a wall and into the auditorium when a assembly is in progress.  I'm not sure if it's the first time they have met.  We find out that Emma Frost and Scott Summer aka Cyclops are the acting heads of the school while Professor Xavier recovers from his last ordeal.  Ms Frost is giving a speech letting the new class know what to expect when giant sententials crash into the auditorium.  Come to find out it was a hologram cursity of Emma Frost. Who over the course of the New X-Men came to be one of my favorite characters.  Her cool, icy personae, she swag, beauty and intelligence make a dynamic character.  What I love about her character is that she's not the cookie cutter goody two shoes that Cyclops and the rest of the X-Men are.  She was the only survivor of the massacre that occurred in Gonisa where 16 million mutants were murdered.  I probably should have done a review of New X-Men before doing this one and I just might.  Her morals are adaptable which have caused her to come into conflict with the other X-Men on more than one occasion.  I'm going to have to check and find out when she first joined the team.  Seeing her as an X-Men now is still a bit jarring.   She may have went a little overboard but she wanted to see how many of the students were looking for a fight.  However it didn't sit well with the other X-Men.  The next scene sees Emma and Scott in bed together which makes the next scene hilarious.  Wolverine sits hunched on the foot of the bed staring at them while they sleep.  He apparently doesn't approve of Emma and Scott's relationship.  A super human fight ensues on the school lawn for all the students and staff to see.  Even though she's dead Jean Grey still cast a giant shadow that Emma can't escape from.  Once tempers have calm Scott calls a meeting with Emma, Wolverine, Kitty Pride and Beast in attendance.  He then tells them that because of the negative light that's been cast on mutants lately he wants to reform the X-Men in a attempt to change public opinion on mutants.  He then informs Kitty that she was chosen because of her mutant ability, a non aggressive ability that wouldn't frighten people.    Meanwhile Dr Kavita Rao is holding a press conference.  Also at the same time a high society party is high-jacked by a group of armed thugs.   We then show a scene of Scott listening to the news and griping the  bridge of his nose with his thumb and index fingers.  He clearly has the weight of the world on his shoulders as he contemplates his next decision.  The next scenes show the doctor giving a press conference, followed by one of the unknown villain that hijacked the party.  Finally we come the iconic, defining scenes of the volume of the newly reformed X-Men suiting up.  "We have to Astonishing them," Scott's words to Wolverine.  Thus ends the first issue.

Greetings and salutations.  As spring approaches the nice weather starts to bring out all sorts of people whom you don't see during the cold weather.  I've recently started to workout with a good friend.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to take on a workout partner and especially a workout partner whom I would have to train and supervise.  But we just finished our second workout and it has actually gone well.  She willing excepts my instruction but we'll see how long that last lol.  I love seeing people self improve and I especially love taking part in someone's positive transformation.  I can't wait to get this work week over with.  Now I have to eliminate more sugar from my diet but it's proving to be extremely difficult.  A friend of mine from work has been without sugar for three days now.  I'm a little afraid and taking some time to think things through.  I need to kick caffeine too but that will be a pain in the ass too.  The last time I kicked it I had the worst headache for three days.  I have recently received more good news in regards to my hard work over the years.  Things are starting to pay off.  We had to change the name of our podcast to Xen Talk.  We have decided to gear our podcast toward television shows, video games and comic books.  We've been reviewing iZombie, Star Gate SG1, The Flash and Arrow.  If you have a show that you think should be on our radar please reach out to me.  Our new podcast in Xen Talk.  We're on iTunes and Podcast Republic.
Until the next time amigos and amigas.

Wednesday: Hump Day

Gals and guys.  I see that people are actually reading my posts and it encourages me to write more.  I just want to say thank you.  It's because of you that I do this.  Today I got up two hours earlier then I normally would and it was very difficult but my motivation overpowered my tiredness.  Too be totally honest it was my Sheba that forced me to rise earlier but I could have easily laid back down but I didn't.  Yay me.  I studied Spanish for two hours, US History for another hour and worked out for a hour in a half.  As another weekend approaches It's important to remain focused on the short term goals we have set for this week.  Goals like being awesome at everything we do from work to cleaning our living spaces.  Today was so beautiful that I couldn't help but be in a good mood.  If you can't enjoy a day like today than your already dead inside lol.  Sheba enjoyed it as well, it was all I could do to get her back in the house and I couldn't blame her.  I feel recharged, this must be how Green Lantern feels when he recharges his power ring.  Today I don't really have a clear message in mind but I just wanted to ramble off something positive.  If you don't have a daily checklist you should make yourself one.  Here's my checklist
1. Have a Positive attitude
2. Clean up your surroundings
3. Be awesome at everything you do
4. Remove yourself from the presence of negative people and surround yourself with positive people.
5. Set Goals
6.  Figure out the best ways to achieve those goals.
7. Learn something new
8. Don't be afraid to fail
Seeking advice from those whom you admire and find out what their positive habits and traits consists of.  Just don't become a copy cat.  Go outside, take a deep breathe and just enjoy the rest of your day.  Oh and for god sake please avoid senseless arguments at all costs-especially arguments with a stupid person.   Start listening to motivational podcast, find them if you don't know of any.  I personally like listen to The Joe Rogan Experience, I try to model my very own podcast after his since it's what's inspired me.

Good night everyone

Developing and maintaining good habits

Hello once again gals and guys.  I have a theory that a better, stronger society is only possible by having less losers.  The best way to accomplish that is by teaching each individual how to be self reliant.  The best way to do that is by making yourself smarter and stronger.  Smarter by educating yourself and stronger by proper dieting and exercising.  Stagnation is death.  Objects that stay in motion remain in motion.  Or at least I think it's one of the laws of physics.  I heard it on a commercial a long time ago once.  You aren't going to accomplish anything if you just remain on the couch watching television or playing video games.  Those things can't be all that you ever do.  Falling into predictable habits and becoming one dimensional leads to stagnation which leads to death.  Animals in the wild who fail to adapt will perish  100% percent of the time.  Even in most 3rd world countries citizens who fail to adapt most often perish.  The same principal applies to most inner city neighborhoods.  While most of your situations may not be as dire it's still imperative that you break the chains of monotony.  I know you may get tired of me saying this but diet and exercise is very key to becoming a better human being.  By becoming more self reliant we become less dependent on the government and others around us and hopefully teach others how to become more self reliant.  Each one teach one and so on and on.  Unfortunately you can't teach motivation, I think you are either born with it or not.  I could be wrong and please feel free to correct me if you have a different opinion.  But for those of you who are motivated just start being awesome at everything you do.  Work, school, sports etc.  Stop hanging around with people who don't want to get better because they will not support you.  They may even make fun of you.  The high road is often the road less traveled.  Don't lose hope if desired results aren't immediate and others don't seem to notice even when you do.  This leads me to my next point.  Don't allow other people to dictate you happiness.  Don't ever give another person that much power over you.  There are enough things that are out of our control without having to worry about if other people approve of what we're doing or if they really like us.
Have a great week people.

Greetings everyone.  I know that's it's been a while since my last post and I honestly don't have an excuse other than my life being a total bore.  Who wants to hear about creating a budget and sticking with it?  I have made strides financially and in my personal life.  However I will give you a quick recap.  I gained a roommate, lost a roommate and gained another roommate.   Sheba had another surgery back in September and she came through with flying colors.  And there are no signs of tumors reappearing(fingers crossed).  I do love that dog :-)
I recently turned 40, hello middle age.  My kid sister and mom put on a birthday party where some of my closest friends and family attended.  There were plenty of gifts and the cake was delicious as well.  But sticking with the plan I put into effect more than three years ago I have managed to gain some form of financial security.  It wasn't easy and sacrifices were made but in the end it was all worth it.  I'm nowhere near where I want to be but I'm closer.  And before I forget, I started a podcast with a friend of mine from work.  So far we have done four podcast with one scheduled for tomorrow.  To be totally honest we don't have many listeners and we don't seem to be developing a following but in truth I'm having fun.  It's cool to have someone that I can bounce my ideas off of and vice versa.  It occurred to me that I could use my blog as a platform to promote my podcast and vice versa.  Don't worry I'm not going to shamelessly plug our talking life podcast talkinglife@facebook.com.
I couldn't help but notice that in my absence I had more than a 1,000 views.  That's more than I would have thought possible.  If I this correctly my blog and podcast will perfectly compliment each other.  I can further delve into the topics that are brought up on either platform.  The Talking Life Podcast is still in it's infant stages and we don't know exactly what we're going to be but that's where you the listeners come in.  Let us know what you think, what topics you want discussed.  My writer's rust is evident as I write this article but that's what happens to your skills when you don't practice them.  I really want to make a positive impact in the world and I have teamed up with someone that has the same aspirations.  No matter how hard I try we try we can't do it without you.  My life has taken so many positives turns in the last couple of years.  I've learned many lessons.  Lessons that I'm very grateful to have.  lessons I can't wait to share.  Well it'a late and I have to get up super early tomorrow.  It's great to be back peeps.

Talk to you later.

Stay cool and hydrated this summer

Hydration is Sexy


Summer time is upon us and with that comes extremely hot weather. If you have to go outside there are 3 things to remember.

1. Wear a hot to keep your head shaded.
2. Don't engage in activities that are to strenuous.
3. And most importantly remember to drink lots of water. Keep a full bottle of water with you.

If you have a elderly neighbor who lives alone be sure to check on them from time to time.