Sunday Funday

On Sunday Funday, I post whatever I want -- usually a collection of inspirations and finished projects from the previous week.  To wit:

I have two new pieces up at Nerdvana this week: one, an article about this very blog, the other, my Fun Find Friday about a Mr. T puzzle!  Check 'em out!

My biggest fanboy obsession this week has been Turtles Forever, the cartoon movie from 2009 that teamed up the Fred Wolf Turtles with the 4Kids Turtles -- and I may have already lost you, but, believe me, the story is very meta.  What amazes me more than the film itself is the idea behind it -- Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman are truly the Siegel and Shuster of our generation, having created a worldwide superhero franchise from their humble dreams of publishing a unique comic book.  Interestingly, for as many TV shows, movies, and comic book series the Turtles have inspired (and for just 30 years, it's been a lot), these different incarnations just end up telling the same story of four brothers, committed to each other, trying to make their father proud.  Sticking to this theme may be the secret to their success.

Also, I've been reading and enjoying The Reticent Heart and Other Stories by Gilbert Hernandez, which I picked up at Half Price Books a few weeks ago for six bucks.  The tales are short and poignant, and especially "An American in Palomar" has that kind of ending I like -- the story is over, but the emotional context lingers, leaving the characters changed and still changing from the experience.

This is why I love MeTV.  I'll probably talk about MeTV a lot on Sunday Funday, but I'll only reference it here because many of the classic TV shows on that channel embraced the power of "the end."  Sure, the episode is over, but it's just one beat short of complete finality, which makes me, the viewer, want more.  For example, I wasn't a huge fan of Mission: Impossible, but I ended up watching a whole episode a week or so ago.  In it, toward the end, Jim Phelps is driving a car rigged to kill him, but he jumps out just in time.  His enemies see the car explode and think their mission accomplished, but in the next scene, Phelps is walking down a hallway with his agents, triumphant.  He opens the door, the camera freezes on his face, and -- the episode ends.  Nothing said -- just that look of perpetual determination.  From that moment on, I've been hooked.

Perhaps perpetuity is the most endearing trait of all --