I’m not sure what I can really say about this. I took the picture because I was fascinated that they needed to cover something. What could they POSSIBLY be covering with that “Finest Food”? And how bad could it have been that they think this looks better and more enticing? And China Too? Too?…..hmmmmmm…

It wasn’t difficult, but you could see this coming a few weeks ago. The New Jersey Nets are about to break the NBA record for consecutive losses to start a season at 18 (this should happen after tonight’s loss to the Dallas Mavericks, but you never know). Since the last post on the matter, I did some research and it’s crazy how bad a team can get so fast in the NBA.

The Nets were in the NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003 losing to the Kobe/Shaq era Lakers.  While that feels like a lifetime ago, the Nets also won Atlantic Division in 2004 and 2006 and went to the playoffs in 2005.  Granted they didn’t win the Eastern Conference Championship those seasons, but until Boston got Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen they were a top conference playoff team.

Lots of personnel changes will also drastically change a team’s fortunes as Jason Kidd, Richard Jefferson and Vince Carter are all gone from the roster.  Looking at who’s still in town, there’s no indication that things are going to change anytime soon. The Nets might be a part of the LeBron Lottery after this season, but why would he want to come to the team at this point?  Move to Brooklyn or not, this team could be in long term trouble. Like Knicks-level trouble.

In the interest of fairness, it’s also worth looking at some other NBA teams that have already distinguished themselves so far this season:

Minnesota Timberwolves, 2-15.  If not for an opening night win against The Nets, this team could have been the Nets.

New York Knicks, 4-14.  No matter how hard this team tries, they just can’t seem to get it together.  One of those wins is against the Nets and one is against the 14-4 Phoenix Suns.

Philadelphia 76ers, 5-13.  The best part of this season is that it’s highly unlikely that the Sixers will be the team the Nets finally beat.  They’d have to go 0-41 through January 31st for that to happen.  They can’t be that bad…

Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited subscriptions were 30% off yesterday in celebration of “Cyber Monday.”  I just signed up.  I’m not buying into whatever “Cyber Monday” is supposed to be, but it provided a discount so I’m going to try it.

As an experiment, there are some titles I’m going to stop buying in print and see if I ever get to them online.  There’s current’y at least a six month delay between the print release of Marvel’s comics and their availability through DCU (this acronym  confused Angie initially, but I think she sees the humor in it now).  If past experience is any indication, I may never read a single book that I’m “waiting” on (I just can’t help but think about the three years worth of Generation X, X-Force, X-Man and Cable issues I purchased years ago and never read after falling behind).

That being said, I do have an interest in reading the Rogue and Nightcrawler titles that came out in 2004 and they’re both available. Anyone else out there subscribing to this service?

You probably think there’s some mistake and this is Angie’s post. It’s not. I’ll admit I saw some of the Gossip Girl Thanksgiving show. In my defense, I was reading a comic book while it was on (it was an issue of Ms. Marvel so maybe that doesn’t help my case too much). This episode had more drama than usual if you can believe it, culminating in not one, but a groundbreaking FOUR characters storming away from the dinner table. All of this happened while some ridiculous song that I believe was used in the finale of the O.C. (I’ve only seen the SNL parody so I can’t be sure) was playing in the background.

Gossip Girl airs Mondays on the CW. Angie would watch it every day if she could, and I have plenty of comic books to read.

After hearing a lot of good things about this show and Angie and I finally had some time to check it out last week using the magic of Hulu.

The first four episodes were great.  I really like the premise that the entire planet experienced a simultaneous vision of their future on a specific date at a specific time.  The repercussions of something like that make for great story opportunities.  The destruction caused by everyone losing consciousness for two minutes, the threat of it happening again, and the worldwide reaction to what they saw is really interesting.  Unfortunately, the emotional aspects of the story (the alcoholism, lesbianism, etc.) are really clunky and heavy handed.  To be honest, they take something away from the show.

Despite this, things were moving along nicely, and while I didn’t notice it in episodes 1-4, episodes 5 and 6 ended with ridiculous music accompaniment.  Episode 5 really moved the story along, but was effectively ruined for me by the music in the final minutes of the show.  It’s a shame too, because the closing scene featuring the attacks on the investigation team was great if not for the music taking me right out of the moment.

I’m planning to give this show a few more chances to hook me, but the rumors of rewrites and production delays do not bode well.  Flash Forward airs Thursdays on ABC for the time being.