Disney Buys Marvel

I'm a giant Marvel Comics fan. I've been reading 5+ Marvel series since the beginning of the Civil War, and I'm always willing to pick up and read any comic published under the Marvel moniker, knowing that I will almost always enjoy the contents. This predilection for quality is the main source of the success of the Marvel franchise. That's why this news story has me fearful.

On August 28, Disney announced that they were acquiring Marvel Comics for $4 billion. Both companies stand to profit from the merger - Marvel gains the advertising weight of Disney, Disney gains access to the thousands of characters in the Marvel universe. But Disney scares me. They've run the entire gamut on quality, from straight to DVD movies destroying amazing franchises (Hunchback 2, Little Mermaid 2, etc.), to their entire array of classics that shaped many of my generations childhoods. I don't want the Marvel identity to be absorbed into the Disney money machine.

There is some silver lining, however. It seems, at least for the short term, that while Marvel will be part of the growing Disney media conglomerate, they will retain as certain degree of autonomy as Marvel's CEO, Ike Perlmutter, is currently slated to stay on to continue overseeing the Marvel franchises. As long as Marvel can remain largely separate from the Disney behemoth, and avoid being monetized to death, we can depend on them to continue producing the high quality product we've come to expect.

Read more on Ars Technica.

~Andrew "Ciono" Leonard

Never Forget

Thinking. Thinking is dangerous.

I used to run away from it, I won't lie. Used to avoid thinking about things. And by thinking I really mean ... 'remembering.' For a long while there, if I had any down time, I would fill it with this, that, or the other, never giving myself so much as a minute of free time. I was afraid of what remembering would bring on, what feelings I would have to deal with. Sometimes though, maybe after a thought provoking or sad movie, maybe after a song comes on the radio, I'd remember some detail of her life. Some little half glimmer of a memory of a life gone way too soon. Then I'd dwell in that moment, remembering little details, remembering smiles, laughter, jokes. Invariably I wipe away a tear as the moment passes.

I don't run from those moments anymore. I embrace them, enjoying the chance to remember the times we had. Never forget. Each person lives on in every persons life they touched, no matter how small the gesture or action. Never forget.

"There's a somebody I'm longin' to see
I hope that she, turns out to be
Someone who'll watch over me"
-Someone To Watch Over Me

~Andrew "Ciono" Leonard

The Art of Listening

Found this great website with a lot of really inspirational blog posts on it. One that jumped out at me (especially in light of my previous post): http://www.zenmoments.org/art-of-listening/

~Andrew "Ciono" Leonard

On Friends

"If I know what love is, it is because of you." -Herman Hesse

There's a point, I suppose, in any person's life when they look back and realize just how influential other people have been in their life. You may recall that aggravating adage from our parents age - "You are the company you keep." As much as we hate to admit it, in many areas our parents did know better than us, and from what I can tell, this was one such area. (I can only hope my father doesn't read this, else he'll start feeling smug.)

Think back on your life. You no doubt acknowledge, at some subconscious level, that others have shaped you to be the way you are, but you probably underestimate the influence. At least that was the case with me. I think back now at how I progressed through middle school, high school, and much of college. When it came to friends and acquaintances, I really only skimmed the surface; I never got very involved with any one group of people. I never opened up to people, despite the fact people often opened up to me. I feel kind of hypocritical now, but that was how I had learned to protect myself.

Things have changed - I've opened up for the first time in my life. And I've looked around to find that I've been surrounded by such amazing people. Where I used to spend all my time with a single person (read: the girlfriend of the day/week/month), I've spent the last couple of months spending time with a wide range of people. Getting to know each person, and letting them get to know me, I found myself genuinely happy. Being able to open up was a huge step for me, but I owe a lot to the friends that spent time with me, asking after my well being, keeping me in high spirits. Their efforts not only helped me out of the funk that was my summer, but have also made me analyze how I structured my social life.

That being said, I acknowledge that I haven't always been the best friend in the world. Don't let me go back to that. If I'm not being a good enough friend, call me on it. Make demands on my time. The only reason I will reject is prior commitments or obscene amounts of homework. And if you want to know, ask me questions about what's going on, how I'm doing - I'll be more than happy to answer. Expect deep questions in return, though:

Friendship is a two-way thing.

~Andrew "Ciono" Leonard

The LHC and The End Of The World

Interesting thought: If the world did in fact end tomorrow as a product of the LHC being online, would you be happy with your life up to this point? Would you regret anything?

I guess I'm just in the right place right now to be having these deeper thoughts, or maybe it's the hour. Either way, it's a profoundly interesting thought experiment.

What if the world ended tomorrow? Obviously, I'm not advocating 'Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you might die', but merely living each day to its fullest. Enjoy each and every day. Make decisions that you won't regret if you can't take them back. Sing loudly. And always remember to love.

I personally try to live each day so that, at the end of it all, I can say:

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award me on that day." 2 Timothy 7-8

~Andrew "Ciono" Leonard

Final E3?

Formerly the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), the E3 Media and Business Summit went down over the weekend. Sponsored by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the three day event was, in the past, the premiere computer and video game conference. Last year, however, the conference was drastically scaled back, going to an invitation only structure. This year was no different, with more companies deciding that they were not willing to spend the money to have a booth at the conference. 

Rumors on the street (and by the street, I mean the interwebs) has it that this years E3 is likely to be the final E3. There is evidence everywhere to this effect: the lackluster announcements from Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft (the "Big 3"), the lack of any major game announcements (save FFXII on the XBox 360). More importantly, what worked for the E3 of yesteryear - massive crowds, lavish booths, gaming kiosks - have been absorbed into other conventions that sprang up the fill the void left by E3. The Entertainment for All (E for All) and Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) are the two biggest, to my knowledge, and they have both pulled and pooled a large following, including much support from large, 3rd party developers. The only thing holding these back from becoming E3 is the major announcements done by the "Big 3". If they come to support either E for All or PAX, the ESA will have shot themselves in the foot. Or perhaps that was the intention, to pass the job of organizing a major video game conference off to another group.

~Andrew "Ciono" Leonard

Ciono is twittering: Blog time

As many of you might have noticed from my facebook status, I twitter quite a bit. Those that aren't familiar with twitter (www.twitter.com), it functions on the idea of mini-blogging - what you're doing/thinking from moment to moment. It's good for keeping people posted with what you're doing (useful in a business setting - "out at lunch, back by 1:00"), or for linking interesting sites and blogs and what not. I 'follow' a number of people, from a tech news blogger, to webcomic artists. It's quite interesting, especially considering each persons twitter feed can be tracked by rss (hello Google Reader).

Anyway, enough product placement. I'm writing this blog to find out if anyone I know is using twitter. If you are, feel free to 'follow' me, and I'll return the favor. Twitter seems to be more fun when people are actually looking at your updates. :-)

Ciono is twittering: Over and out.