Matthew McElroy > Recent Status Updates

This has been pretty disappointing. Rogue is mostly interesting, Gambit is incredibly dull. Like everyone else, I thought Gambit and Rogue were the power couple of the 90s. But looking back at it, most of that is Rogue's Lycra outfit and Gambit being cool, in the way that the coolest guy in high school was cool.

There isn't much to this story- seems like a pretty traditional "get the Maguffin".

There are so many excellent vignettes, and none of them tell the same story. Some of them overlap, of course. Everyone exposed to Ali comes away with strong feelings.
I loved the Davis Miller story. He's a former prizefighter (though not a boxer). So his insight into Ali's current state is different from everyone else's.
I was shocked to learn that at 47, Ali was already experiencing the effects of Parkinson's.

Pretty comprehensive work on what you should wear if you are planning to swim. I also appreciate that he didn't demand everyone buy the most expensive gear possible.
Folks- you can learn to swim at any age. It's the only sport that will save your life. And it is one of the leading causes of death in children.
https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/20...

Storm is probably the most important Marvel character who never had her own comic. My recollection is that Claremont gave her some very strong stories in the 70s and 80s. But for someone who helped rejuvenate the X-Men, she never even got the respect of the overly muscled, overly weaponized Liefield characters of the late 80s and early 90s.
That being said, it's nice to see Storm get a chance to lead a story.

I'm a big guy, who enjoys outdoor swimming. But cold water swimming; the water is below 60 seems insane. The author makes it clear that it shouldn't be a workout- it is more of a mood builder and community time. But I don't know many people who have the time to schedule a ten minute workout with an hour of chit chat. Or even 30 minutes of chit chat.
Maybe we should have that time. But I don't think many of us do.

I like open water swimming. Not as much as the author does, but I like it. I grew up splitting my time in the water between a YMCA and Lake Michigan.
When we moved east (and as a child) open water swimming wasn't really an option.

Griffiths is doling out advice and encouragement to potential and novice open water swimmers. He's got a lot of insight and seems committed to involving people from all walks of life.

Spider-Man is the best comic character because you can write his character in a totally normal way. He just has the ability to crawl up walls and sling webs.
I am completely digging the whole different perspectives story telling.

I think i was in junior high when Generation X came out. Monet St. Croix was both fascinating and irritating. She was gorgeous, she was brilliant, she was incredibly powerful and she was so gosh-darned mean and entitled.
She was also introduced with a silent teammate named Penance.
Sometime in the last 25 years, they became one. Unless I was very stupid as a teenager.
Which is certainly a possibility.

Strange to see women as the focal point of an X-Men story. Emma Frost is the lead hero, but maybe that's just because it is the Hellfire Gala. Does she ever go by White Queen anymore? And Moira is the focal villain, even if there are other forces at play.

I had heard Moira McTaggart had gone evil. But I didn't realize HOW evil.

Comic book fight scenes can be superfluous. Lots of punching and lasers and all of that. This one was pretty good.
How many war captains are there? And if Krakoa is an island where all Mutants are bound, why did it take so long for them to assemble?

That was the weak chapter. I am not entirely sure what we learned.

Though I didn't realize Northstar has become a powerhouse.

Whoa! Did not see THAT coming.

I remember reading an article a long time ago that put forth the idea that Doctor Strange and Thor were ideal comic book characters, because they dwelled in a different realm from ours. Their existence was inherently fantastic, unlike Spider-Man or the X-Men who were humans thrust into a protector role.

We get a good dose of that in this section.

The Scarlet Witch is dead- not a spoiler, unless you count what happens on the first page.
I like what they do with Magneto when he is fighting for Wanda's resurrection- his face becomes invisible and disappears within the darkness of his helmet.
I am not entirely up to date on what has happened in the Krakoan era, but I like the reunion of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Iykyk.

I love swimming. As far as I know, it is part of the reason my parents are together. A small part, but it definitely had a role. But in a story that many people know, there weren't many people who liked like me and my brothers on our local teams. And we are LIGHT.
Tsui's book is excellent- it's both a study of swimming historically, geographically, socially, all of it.

It's kind of uneven. Rose has done a ton of research, and seems like he is desperate for everyone to know how much research he's done. It's filled with numbers about troops and cows and buildings, and much less about the spies. He will happily go pages without mentioning Washington OR the spies. Much of the information doesn't even seem relevant to the story itself.

As we reach the 70s, the focus is the Ali-Frazier fights. Ali seems a bit more thoughtful, or since this is a series of articles, essays and interviews, is portrayed as more thoughtful. The editor, Gerald Early, has found writing by some of the best journalists of the 20th century, and organized it by decade, which is completely logical.
But how would this be different if it had a special section for Black writers?

Norman Mailer, one of the most respected American essayists of the 1900s, vacillates between some incredible stereotyping and some incredible insight. At one point he is talking about the differences between Black fighters and one fighters, at another point, he is explaining why Ali is such a complex individual and can't easily be comprehended by anyone.
But I suppose that's what made Ali the greatest.

It will be hard to find another book that has writing from The Black Scholar, Leroi Jones and Jackie Robinson.
Early didnt just find the most notable writers of the time, which he did. There are excellent pieces from Tom Wolfe, George Plimpton and Jimmy Cannon.
But, I know Leroi Jones as the poet, Amiri Baraka, and father of current Newark mayor, Ras Baraka.

Even Plimpton and Tom Wolfe oversimplified Clay (should I refer to him by his name at the time, or by his name? I'm not a journalist.)
The real recognition of Ali's complexity comes from Leroi Jones (you may know him as Amiri Baraka) and Gordon Parks. They essentially leave judgement out of the discussion and simply discuss what Clay is saying and doing on its own merits.

I love this. Ali is a strange figure for me. I suppose he is for most of America. Or at least he should be. The country sainted him after the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, and he is essentially universally beloved since his passing.
But as a fighter, he was never universally beloved. People have turned him into a representative for all sorts of causes, but his contemporaries didn't see him in that way.

The pages honestly fly by.

We got an unexpected tragedy. But for some reason it doesn't feel out of place. Unexpected is not the same as deus ex machina. This came halfway through the book and the characters are doing some significant developing because of the tragedy. It isnt an event that forces the book to end.

This has been thoroughly enjoyable. Its a book about books, and also about relationships. The most interesting character is Mukesh, who is trying to make his way without his wife (clear from the beginning of the book). His daughters love him, but are overly protective of their mother's legacy and less considerate of their father's needs.
Looking forward to continued reading today.

John Mitchel fits my literary assumptions of an Irish author. He's angry, he loves all of Ireland and he has been aggrieved.
I would definitely read more of his work.

I didnt realize Hiaasen's Skink character had been around for 40 years. I think he may use the exact same intro paragraph about Skink and Tile for every single book, which is very funny.
Does every book about crime in South Florida have a pair of dull-witted brothers?

The second time, even a year later, is much easier to keep the characters straight.
But who is Pinky, and why is he necessary for this story? It seems like there is a wacky (to use a cliché) cast of characters already.

Alright Dave, I got it. Jesse is hot. Like the hottest girl we have ever seen.
And everyone knows it. Yup, all the guys know it.
Seriously folks. Jesse is a smokeshow. Can you believe how she looks in that dress? Soooooo hot.

On another writer, this would be a bad look. From a goofball like Dave Barry, I'll let it slide.

I love books about books. I'm not sure why. Maybe I find comfort knowing that other people think about books, and how they relate, and how they connect and affect their lives.
Naina has passed away leaving Mukesh alone. Naina was a voracious reader, while Mukesh doesn't know how to enter a library (ooooohhhh foreshadowing?!?!). His three daughters love him, but the connection seems strained with out Mom.

It is interesting to read Michael Crichton without any science fiction spin.
As a kid, I loved him.
Jurassic Park was my favorite book for many years. It was so good I overlooked the ridiculous science he used.
So with him telling the story of the Bone Wars, I'm definitely intrigued.