Indy 500 Festival Parade 2014 Photos, Part 3 of 5: Some of Your Qualifying Drivers

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

This year marked the fourth time my wife and I attended the Indy 500 Festival Parade in downtown Indianapolis. The next five entries (to be posted over the next three days as quickly as time and endurance permit) represent a fraction of the pics my wife and I snapped. In many cases, encores and additional takes of specific subjects may be available if anyone out there is interested in seeing more, or is looking for a loved one who was in one of the many marching bands that day. For first-time MCC visitors, please note my wife and I are relative amateurs, obviously not trained professional photographers, sharing these from a hobbyist standpoint because fun and joy.

Part One featured the singers, actors, and other celebrities who joined this year’s parade. Part Two featured glimpses of all the marching bands who rocked the streets. Here in Part Three, some of the thirty-three drivers in this year’s Indy 500. Since today was too busy for me to complete this entry before the race finished, the following is our collection of driver photos that came out least-worst, organized in the order in which they finished the 2014 Indianapolis 500.

This year’s winner: Ryan Hunter-Reay! This was his first Indy 500 victory.

Ryan Hunter-Reay

Click here for more drivers, their families, their hats and their sunglasses!

Indy 500 Festival Parade Photos 2014, Part 2 of 5: Marching Bands and Other Groups

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

This year marked the fourth time my wife and I attended the Indy 500 Festival Parade in downtown Indianapolis. The next five entries (to be posted over the next three days as quickly as time and endurance permit) represent a fraction of the pics my wife and I snapped. In many cases, encores and additional takes of specific subjects may be available if anyone out there is interested in seeing more, or is looking for a loved one who was in one of the many marching bands that day. For first-time MCC visitors, please note my wife and I are relative amateurs, obviously not trained professional photographers, sharing these from a hobbyist standpoint because fun and joy.

Part One featured the singers, actors, and other celebrities who joined this year’s parade. Here in Part Two: a sampling of each of the marching bands who brought us the gift of music and the sacrifice of wearing heavy uniforms in rising temperatures. My wife knows your pain from experience, folks.

Repeated for special emphasis in the case of this particular entry: if you’re in, or know someone who’s in, one of the following bands and would like to see more photos of them, please let us know. Either leave me a note in the comments section below or use the MCC Contact form located up in the masthead. We’re used to receiving a few such requests every year and we’re more than happy to help out band members and their supporters. Between the two of us, though, we took nearly four hundred photos today. I’m not going into photo overkill mode for this entry until I know someone besides us is genuinely interested.

That being said: the following marching bands performed at the 2014 Indianapolis 500 Festival Parade:

* The Spirit of Muncie Band and Guard from Muncie Central High School. They’re leading off this entry along with a knowing nod from myself to regular MCC readers who’ve been following along with our recent Muncie photo series.

The Spirit of Muncie!

Right this way for eleven more bands and one Walking Flag!

Indy 500 Festival Parade 2014 Photos, Part 1 of 5: the Special Guests

Florence Henderson!

Florence Henderson, TV’s Carol Brady, Hoosier and patron saint of the Indy 500 Festival Parade.

This year marked the fourth time my wife and I attended the Indy 500 Festival Parade in downtown Indianapolis. It’s become an annual date tradition for us — partly to see the floats and high school marching bands (including our own alma mater), partly for the famous names (even if we’ve never heard of them), and partly because I love the sight of a bustling downtown Indianapolis (which needs to happen a lot more often).

The next five entries (to be posted over the next three days as quickly as time and endurance permit) represent a fraction of the pics my wife and I snapped. In many cases, encores and additional takes of specific subjects may be available if anyone out there is interested in seeing more, or is looking for a loved one who was in one of the many marching bands that day. For first-time MCC visitors, please note my wife and I are relative amateurs, obviously not trained professional photographers, sharing these from a hobbyist standpoint because fun and joy.

First up: publicly known faces who came to town for the occasion. Indianapolis was most excited to see the quickly appointed Grand Marshal of the Parade, Indianapolis resident Josh Kaufman, winner of the sixth and most recent season of NBC’s The Voice.

Josh Kaufman!

Click here for athletes, reality stars, singers, and more Mrs. Brady!

“Revolution” 5/21/2014 (spoilers): Lights Out for Good

Monroe Defeats Davis!

For anyone who’s ever wanted to see a Hollywood caricature of George W. Bush threatened by an unhinged former despot, Revolution has just the finale for you!

The end is here!

A capricious NBC allowed Revolution to remain on the air until tonight’s finale, “Declaration of Independence”, but didn’t officially cancel it until it was too late for the showrunners to alter their course, aim for closure, and/or toss in some last-minute nods to us stubborn, longtime fans. The season-long arc with Willoughby and the Patriots limps toward its anticlimax, alliances change too late, plot points are dumped by the roadside, and all the Revolution fanfic writers out there (if any) receive the parting gift of a permanently unresolved cliffhanger that could serve as a pretty bouncy springboard for any number of Revolution Season-3 NaNoWriMo novels.

This way to bid Our Heroes farewell…

Top 10 Greatest “Star Wars Episode VII” Leaked Set Photos

The filmmaking process for every Star Wars movie in the modern era has its traditions, and none refuse to die more irritatingly than the part where professional paparazzi, busybody neighbors, and travel-happy geeks pool together their collective talents and impatience, set up base camps all around the official closed sets, take pictures of everything that moves, and hope they catch a glimpse of something that’ll ruin the entire movie for everyone.

These photos are usually out of focus, distantly shot, wildly off-center, totally out of context, filled with restless inaction, and/or bereft of the CG work and color timing that’ll make the up-close, unadorned reality look watchable and actually interesting on the big screen a year later. Many movie sites treat such unauthorized, amateurish, slapdash, eminently deletable results as useful content. Every time without fail, enough fans and enough clicks reinforce their theory. Goody.

Now that Star Wars Episode VII finally hired a cast to act out its hopefully finished script and has allegedly begun shooting, it’s only a matter of minutes before we begin seeing photos of stunt doubles in Jedi robes, puppeteers catching a cigarette break outside a rear entrance, or empty yogurt cups that some muckraking blogger scavenged from Carrie Fisher’s trash. We, the public, will be expected to treat these offerings as Movie News.

So why not go with the flow? We here at Midlife Crisis Crossover gave in to peer pressure, did some digging without due diligence, and came across a stash of photos that we’re 30% certain were recently, surreptitiously snapped on location in London while J.J. Abrams and his spoiler sentries weren’t looking. Seems like a reasonable ploy. They have to sleep sometime, right? So we’re kinda sure these are legit. By the time we’re all done overanalyzing them, we can skip watching Episode VII altogether and move on to overanalyzing blurry set pics from The Justice League Movie instead.

From the Home Office in Indianapolis, IN: Top 10 Greatest Star Wars Episode VII Leaked Set Photos:

10. Peter Mayhew, a.k.a. Chewbacca, hanging out between takes with his manager. Or the head of his entourage. Or the guy who’s playing his son Lumpy, which would mean Abrams’ team has decided The Star Wars Holiday Special should be canonized by unpopular demand. Maybe now it’ll see a long-overdue Blu-ray release that will include much-needed extras such as a commentary by all the actors taking turns explaining exactly what the heck.

The Real Peter Mayhew, a.k.a. Chewbacca!

This way for nine more spoilers! Or probably not!

The Great Comics/Sci-Fi Invasion of the Fall 2014 TV Season

Grant Gustin IS The Flash!

Grant Gustin stares down the competition as the Flash, who hopefully won’t spend ten seasons moping and being called “The Red and Yellow Blur”.

With Community, Revolution, and Almost Human cancelled, I’m finding myself with extra holes in my schedule for the fall 2014 TV season. Mind you, I’m not interested in watching three hours’ worth every night. Even two-hour TV time blocks make me a little edgy and take time away from other activities (e.g., MCC, sleeping). Apparently I’m in luck — four of the five broadcast networks are launching new fantasy/sci-fi series geared for anyone who’s not interested in crime-drama franchises. (The fifth network, CBS, boasts a lineup whose star rookies will be their third NCIS and their fourth CSI. Yes, really. Not making these up. At most, both should handily restock the internet’s dwindling supply of CBS punchlines.)

But what’s a guy like me to watch? Oh, decisions, decisions. The networks released previews this week for the following newcomers, a few of which are based on comic books from my collection:

Right this way for super-heroes, demon hunters, and America’s next instant cancellations!

“Revolution” 5/14/2014 (spoilers): Preamble to the Cancellation

Revolution steam engine!

Folks in WIlloughby knew their days were numbered when the Cancellation Bear drove a runaway train through their town.

We five or ten remaining Revolution viewers heard the unsurprising news late last week: NBC is pulling the plug on what’s left of its electricity after forty-two episodes. I joked in a previous entry that perhaps the show could’ve forestalled cancellation if it had jumped to CBS and been retitled CSI: Future Texas. While waiting for the penultimate episode to begin, I came up with other useful ideas for new names if creator Eric Kripke can convince the studio to shop it elsewhere — to, say, the CW or Spike TV or Investigation Discovery or maybe TV Land. If someone bites, they could try rebranding it as:

Law & Order: Overthrow
Matheson, Texas Rebel
Charlie and the Soldier Factory
Everybody Hates Bass
Neville’s Advocate
Post-Apocalypse Idol
A Stop at Willoughby (and Other Twilight Zone References My Wife Will Love)
The Day the Nanoz Took Over
The Big Bang Dreary
Abandoned JJ Abrams Project #232
America vs. Nature
All Steam, No Punk
Mustache Dad and His Amazing Friends
Death Death Revolution
Mel Gibson’s The Patriot: 2029
Blackout is the New Orange

…none of which has anything to do with tonight’s new episode, “Memorial Day”, in which trainjackers try trainjacking a train from another group of trainjackers who were there first. Also, someone gets slapped and angry. But I had to keep my spirits up somehow.

This way for another weekly recap, now with 75% more futility!

Yes, There’s a Commercial During the “Amazing Spider-Man 2” End Credits

Pow! Zap! CG Spider-Man vs. CG Electro!

The avatars of Andrew Garfield and Jamie Foxx duel for CG supremacy in this cutscene from the new Amazing Spider-Man 2 video game. Wait, no, my fault, this is from the movie.

At long last, the sequel to the reboot of the film series based on the comics is here! In the jam-packed Amazing Spider-Man 2 director Marc Webb’s trilogy continues with more villains, more angst, more money for special effects, more merchandising tie-ins, more credited screenwriters, less closure, and much lower expectations because of all of the above elements that have made many a super-hero sequel unwatchable.

This way for frenetic web-swinging action!

Will “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” Be the Best Even-Numbered Film in the Series?

Caesar!

Anyone wanna tell them “No”?

Today marked the premiere of the first full-length trailer for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the next entry in the apocalyptic series that’s so far been rebooted twice for theaters, this time with a bit more success. The new one comes from director Matt Reeves, who previously tinkered with disaster in Cloverfield; features MOCAP king Andy Serkis once again as Caesar, lord of the apes and probably their best public speaker; and includes human roles for the likes of The Gary Oldman, Fringe‘s Kirk Acevedo, and Jason Clarke, who was Zero Dark Thirty‘s friendly interrogator but seems much more stressed out here in this trailer than he was on the war front.

This way for the trailer and my pet theory about the numbering…

“Revolution” 5/7/2014 (spoilers): Beware the Yellow Peril

Revolution 2.20

“The mustard is coming! The mustard is coming! THE MUSTARD, CARL!”

On tonight’s new Revolution episode, “Tomorrowland”, the desperate Patriots change up their tactics a bit. Guns weren’t getting results, poison oranges only stay fresh for so long, and brainwashed cadets were expensive to feed. Thus they unleash their newest secret weapon: mustard gas! Bright yellow cloudy death is a-comin’ to Willoughby!

This way for better dying through chemistry…

Free Comic Book Day 2014 Results, Part 2 of 2: the Other Half of the Stack

Batman Beyond IN "Futures End"

Batman Beyond vs. Batwingbot and Squirebot in DC’s apocalyptic Futures End. Art by Patrick Zircher.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

…my wife and I had a ball on Free Comic Book Day 2014 this past Saturday. Readers of multiple demographics, especially a heartening number of youngsters, flocked to our local stores and had the opportunity to enjoy samplers from all the major comic companies and dozens of indie publishers.

How did the finished works do? Did they present an enjoyable, self-contained experience? Were they welcoming to new readers? Did they adhere to the old adage that every comic is someone’s first?

Part One was an overview of my favorites from this year’s haul. Covered here are the rest, from those nearly good enough to those I wish I’d left behind. On with the countdown:

This way to skim The Rest!

Free Comic Book Day Results, Part 1 of 2: the Better Half of the Stack

Avatar vs. Fantasy Dudebros

Even in the world of Avatar: the Last Airbender. some guys think they gotta dominate everything. Art by Faith Erin Hicks.

As previously recounted, my wife and I had a ball on Free Comic Book Day 2014 this past Saturday. Readers of multiple demographics, especially a heartening number of youngsters, flocked to our local stores and had the opportunity to enjoy samplers from all the major comic companies and dozens of indie publishers.

How did the finished works do? Did they present an enjoyable, self-contained experience? Were they welcoming to new readers? Did they adhere to the old adage that every comic is someone’s first?

Of the nearly five dozen items offered to retailers nationwide, my wife and I carried away twenty-five in all, in addition to numerous other items I purchased using money instead of good will. My favorites from my FCBD 2014 reading pile were the following:

This way for this year’s Top 12!

Indianapolis Wins at Free Comic Book Day 2014

Free Comic Book Day 2014 for Kids!

Happy Free Comic Book Day! The thirteenth annual celebration of graphic storytelling narratives and/or floppy funnybooks was a rousing success, judging by the sights my wife and I saw at the three Indianapolis stores we visited. This year’s intent rightly wasn’t to reward the adults for sticking with the hobby through thick and thin. As you can tell by the above photo, including and entertaining today’s children was a major priority. Sure, many of them were based on beloved properties from other media, but those who looked carefully could find some original creations seeking their attention as well.

This way for photos! And cosplay! And more comics!

Free Comic Book Day 2014 is Nigh!

Free Comic Book Day 2014That magical day is here once again! the thirteenth annual Free Comic Book Day is happening this Saturday, May 3rd, coinciding with the long-awaited U.S. theatrical release of Amazing Spider-Man 2. What better way to maximize your otherworldly weekend experience than to have your favorite media teaming up against the forces of illiteracy and doldrums?

For those just joining us: every year since 2002, the greatest American comic book shops participate in the hobby’s largest outreach effort to alert the world that comic books are a viable force for expression and entertainment, have plenty to offer, aren’t just for kids, aren’t just for lusty young-adult males, and aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

The overriding message here, especially if you consider the wide assortment up for grabs this year:

Comics Are For Everyone.

This way for links and advice and a short video!

“Revolution” 4/30/2014 (spoilers): Miles Beneath the Surface

Secret Agent Miles

Miles Matheson, Agent of R.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.

Four weeks after it latest Major Character Death, Revolution returned at last with tonight’s new episode, “$#!& Happens”. That’s the actual title, character-for-character. I think it’s pronounced “Dollarsharptokand Happens” and may be a reference to an old Sigur Ros album.

In this grim installment: Miles falls from grace; Charlie breaks some bad news to the last person in the world she needs to see; Bass and Rachel finally find common ground; and Aaron introduces the nanobots to ’80s Top-40 rock. It’s anyone’s guess as to who tonight’s biggest loser was.

This way down into the hole!

The MCC C2E2 Archive, 2011-2013

C2E2 banner, Chicago

Stop me if you’ve heard me mention C2E2 one too many times. Well, you can try to stop me.

My wife and I are now in scenic downtown Chicago, having spent the evening enjoying some non-geek quality time before our big Saturday arrives. While we decompress and charge our devices, please enjoy this collected library of our last three C2E2 experiences as previously relayed here on MCC. New photos and stories from this year’s experience will be uploaded and shared starting on Sunday as soon as time and physical limitations permit. Cheers!

* Our C2E2 2011 Photo Archive, Part 1 of 2: Heroes in Chicago
* Our C2E2 2011 Photo Archive, Part 2 of 2: Villains in Chicago

* Our C2E2 2012 Photo Archive, Part 1 of 3: the Movie Tributes
* Our C2E2 2012 Photo Archive, Part 2 of 3: the Marvel and DC Tributes
* Our C2E2 2012 Photo Archive, Part 3 of 3: the TV and Video Game Tributes

* Comic Book Company Resurrection Scorecard, Part 1 of 2: the Valiant Return of Valiant
* Comic Book Company Resurrection Scorecard, Part 2 of 2: First Things First for First

* C2E2 2013 Photos, part 1 of 6: Costume Contest Winners and the Doctor Who Milieu Revue
* C2E2 2013 Photos, Part 2 of 6: Costumes from Screens Big and Small
* C2E2 2013 Photos, Part 3 of 6: Costumes from Marvel, Image, and Other Comics
* C2E2 2013 Photos, Part 4 of 6: Geek Culture Settings and Artifacts
* C2E2 2013 Photos, Part 5 of 6: Actors and Creators Who Made Our Day
* C2E2 2013 Photos, Part 6 of 6: Robots, Games, Misfits and Honorable Mentions

* The Fable of Why This Blog is C2E2′s Fault
* Behold the Future of Chicago Sun-Times Photojournalism (includes some C2E2 2013 Marvel panel material)
* The C2E2 2013 Music Panel: Our Disappointing Photo Collection

My 2013 in Comic Books: the Procrastinated Year in Review

Hawkeye #11, Hawkguy, Lucky, PIzza Dog

It’s Hawkguy vs. Hawkeye, and Pizza Dog’s life hangs in the balance! More or less. Maybe a little. (Art by David Aja.)


To be honest, the intro to my 2012 comic-books-in-review entry could be swapped into this space and require next to no editing. Though I’ve now been reading and collecting comics for 35 years, the field and I continue to drift apart. The majority of what’s being offered at local shops nowadays too often falls into two categories that aren’t for me: titles susceptible to company-wide crossovers; and adults-only creator-owned works interested in pushing boundaries beyond the limits of what I can leave lying around the house without feeling guilty. The more these categories expand, the more my finicky preferences are marginalized.

That’s not to say my pull list is restricted to Scooby-Doo and Highlights Magazine. Several titles found their way onto my weekly reading stack in 2013, many of them proudly so. I put off spotlighting them here on MCC for a few reasons:

1. Entries about comics consistently draw the least traffic of all subjects.
2. My recurring frustrations with the medium nowadays leave a bitter taste that’s not fun to dwell on.
3. So many other subjects keep snaring and holding my attention first.
4. I reread last year’s summary and depressed myself with how little had changed.

Now that C2E2 is coming up this weekend, what better time to cross this off my to-do list, traffic or no traffic? The following, then, were my favorite comic book series throughout 2013, in no particular order:

This way for my Top 9…

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Internet Rape Threats?

Kenneth Rocafort, Teen Titans #1

The cover heard ’round the world. Art by Kenneth Rocafort.

Other working titles for this entry included “Why I Avoid Comic Book Discussions”, “Comics Industry Spends Easter Week Debating Baseline Human Interaction 101”, “Uppity Chick Dares to Critique Corporate-Approved Pandering”, and “Comic Book Fans Argue in Favor of Exploitative Art and Rape Threats”.

Earlier this week Comic Book Resources published an astute piece by a writer/editor named Janelle Asselin offering thorough, point-by-point analysis of the proposed first-issue cover to DC Comics’ upcoming relaunch of Teen Titans. Of all the aspects she skewered — perspective, anatomy, body language, energy level, demographic narrowcasting, complete lack of salesmanship toward new readers in general — one in particular struck a nerve with the audience at large: incredulity at the portrayal of a teenage character as an improbably shaped fantasy porn object.

Not that this is new to comics, mind you.

The issue in this instance: the complaint wasn’t from a stodgy old guy like me. This time, it was from a lousy dame, clearly speaking out of turn against her male superiors who need their super-heroes to look like this. It’s not enough to have genuine porn at their disposal for their eye-candy needs; they apparently want visual representations of the female figure in all media kept inflated and distorted at all times for the sake of their personal viewing euphoria.

And then it got worse…

Top 13 Ways “Revolution” Hopes to Improve Its Ratings

Aaron and Priscilla Pittman

15 years after the blackout, Aaron and Priscilla Pittman attend a reunion for the few remaining Revolution fans. Or maybe this is a month from now.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

Quick programming note for those MCC readers who follow along with NBC’s Revolution: as previously suspected, the show will be taking three consecutive Wednesdays off so NBC can regale us with an unsightly lineup of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit reruns they think Nielsen commoners would rather watch instead.

We’re now in the second week of its three-week unpaid suspension from the TV force. It’s no secret the ratings have been floating downward pretty much from the pilot onward. Every news outlet remains skeptical about its renewal chances, though I take small comfort in the fact that NBC already renewed the lower-rated Parks & Rec and therefore nothing is foregone. Granted, Parks & Rec is surely cheaper to produce, especially after losing two cast members this season. I’m not convinced the way forward for Revolution is to trim the roster down and shoot twenty-two straight bottle episodes of just Miles, Bass, and Tom arguing in rooms. That tactic isn’t helping Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and it won’t help here.

This way for the surefire keys to winning at Nielsens!

What Buzzfeed Gets Wrong About Your “Geek Number”

Geek Quiz Results

My quiz results don’t tell me how many other geeks I outrank and are therefore useless to include on my resumé.

My Facebook friends love sharing internet quizzes out of the boredom of their heart, but I generally skip them on standoffish principle. Of those few I click on, I rarely finish because sooner or later I encounter a question with no right answer, no close answer, not even an answer I would pretend is right just to finish out the page. Alas, I’ll never know which Frozen character I am, which Hogwarts house would have me, how hipster I am, or which member of One Direction is my secret twin. I don’t want to know these answers, because knowing is half the defeat.

Then someone somewhere in the underground internet clickbait factories switched gears and decided to tempt us with checklists instead of quizzes, because they sound less like schoolwork. As a lifelong list junkie, I have a harder time walking past a checklist without ticking a few boxes, especially if I can pretend it’s for statistical science. And when Buzzfeed posted a checklist called “What’s Your Geek Number?” I’ll admit I was an easy mark. I gave it a whirl and wasn’t surprised at the results, or at the questionable test construction and the myth it perpetuates.

More on that myth this way…