Before Apple even announced their new iPhone OS and it’s multitasking capabilities, MLB’s AtBat application worked around the issue of keeping things going while using your phone for other tasks. Thanks to Kevin, I discovered that the audio feeds from AtBat can be left running in the background using Safari/Quicktime in the 2010 version of the application. This allowed us to continue our text message conversation while listening to the game.

AtBat was already rocking my world in that I no longer hate day games that I can’t attend. I’ll be able to listen to the next Phillies day game on 4/28 against the Giants while I work. I don’t need to be at my desk checking updates on a computer or within ear shot of my speakers to know what’s going on. I can’t believe I’m this impressed with what is essentially the same technology as AM radio.

Another special treat: there’s currently an ad running in the app that reads “AtBat is the #1 Sports App. Thank you. Enjoy MLB.TV for FREE on 4/24 and 4/25 (BLACKOUT RESTRICTIONS APPLY).” I would never buy an MLB.TV subscription since the blackout restrictions wouldn’t allow me to watch the Phillies, but I’ll check out a free game any time.

X-Men: Second Coming Chapter ø4 is in stores now, and the book did not disappoint. Spoilers below.

The New Mutants’ victory over The Right comes at a price, though not the one I expected. While Karma is seriously wounded, the real sacrifice is that Warlock is forced to make an impossible choice and take several lives to save his friends. This is dangerous territory for any character, but given the warlike nature of his species, it could be enough to send him spiraling out of control. The fact that the decision came at the urging of his most trusted friend, Doug Ramsey, might not help their relationship going forward.

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Every day, I now get to stare at a Post-it note portrait created by my co-workers. Notice the resemblance?

I avoided seeing Avatar for a number of reasons (including Angie and my own first hand experiences) but when I realized it would be leaving our local theater last month to make room for Alice in Wonderland, I thought I should give it a shot. I even declined a screening of Hot Tub Time Machine to give it a chance. With the DVD available this Thursday, I’m ready to talk about it.

I like most of James Cameron’s movies. Although I wasn’t crazy about Titanic, I have to give him credit for showing every recorded death from the event on screen. Unfortunately, Titanic has become something bigger than a movie and that turns a lot people off. The same thing happened to Avatar and I know it was part of what kept me (and Angie) away.

I had heard a lot of mixed reactions going in. I even had people telling me “you have to see it in 3D” or “you have to see it on IMAX in 3D,” so we went whole hog and saw it under the optimal conditions leaving no reason to think it wasn’t what it was supposed to be or any question about what it could have been.

Did it live up to the hype? I think that’s impossible after hearing it touted as the greatest achievement in the history of film. Was is good? I think I can say yes. It wasn’t great, it didn’t change my life, but it was decent.

Was it worth $30 for the two of us? That’s debatable. On one hand, we couldn’t see it on that screen in 3D any other way, so for the experience we had to pay that much. On the merits of the film itself, ignoring the technological marvel that it was, it wasn’t worth more than any other movie.

Coming out of the theater, five things stayed with me:

1. Michelle Rodriguez in no way hurts this movie.
2. “Papa Dragon” was perfect as a villain. He was vile, completely unredeemable and played masterfully.
3. The exposition regarding the central conflict was incredibly heavy handed. “The people with the technology come in to an untouched paradise and want to take what’s under the ground and turn it into a parking lot after having destroyed their own world.” I thought it was a little on the nose until I heard the name for what was under the ground.
4. Unobtainium. Seriously? Why not just call it “Can’t-get-it-ite”?
5. I could have done without the 3D arrows. The majority of the movie used the 3D technology brilliantly, but they just couldn’t resist poking at the audience’s eyes in the final scenes.

I won’t be buying the DVD. I don’t know that I’d watch the movie again if the opportunity presented itself. I know for certain that I’m not interested in having 3D in my home. A lot of movies are going this route, but the technology’s just not there yet for any of them. Even Alice in Wonderland looked dank and grey through those glasses.

Death in comics has become an annoyance. Both for the characters and the readers. There used to be this unwritten rule that death in comics was permanent in only three cases: Jason Todd (Robin II), Captain America’s sidekick Bucky, and Barry Allen (the Flash II). These were characters that were dead 20 years ago and that everyone generally agreed would stay dead indefinitely.

DC and Marvel have brought them all back to life in recent years. The end result being when a major character is killed at the end of one of the big two companies’ major events, readers at this point just shrug. Death has no weight in comics today. I’m not sure why we even bother pretending otherwise.

Which brings us to last week’s launch of the Flash #1, which was the debut of recently-back-from-the-dead Barry Allen’s new ongoing series. Barry has been back for awhile now having starred in two mini-series and playing a prominent role in the Blackest Night mega-event. Here’s a secret I’ve learned about him over the last year: he has NO character. He’s a bland guy who used to wear a bow-tie and was always late for everything. That’s it.

The recent Flash: Rebirth miniseries, which was plagued by delays, did nothing to establish his character, nor did the Blackest Night tie-in Flash mini-series. Writer Geoff Johns has done nothing to show us why Barry is so great that DC NEEDED to resurrect him. He had a great death and it should have been left alone.

On top of all of that, I should disclose that I harbor some resentment against this series based on the fact that it stole the creative team behind Adventure Comics after only six issues; a book that was really establishing itself as one of DC’s stronger offerings.

You may ask why I even bothered reading a book that I’m so clearly biased against…? Well DC promised me a little plastic toy Flash ring if I did.

And guess what! My store didn’t even have any. Jerks.

What’s that you ask? No, I’m not six years old.

So what did I think about Flash #1?

It kind of rocked. This book was pitched as superheroes meets CSI. It’s an interesting concept that is barely touched on in issue 1, but you can see the groundwork being laid out.

The real hero behind this book though is artist Francis Manapul. The sequence featuring Barry disassembling a car at super speed to keep it from killing some construction workers and a child is STUNNING. There’s also a page featuring the Rogues that looks like something out of a recent issue of J.H. Williams’ Detective Comics. Really strong stuff.

And the twist at the end, is a nice change of pace from the typical comic book death.

Unfortunately Barry Allen still has no personality, but I’ll give Johns a few more months to try to find it.