• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

World News Center

Everything you want to know about anything that's meaningful

  • News
  • Reviews
  • About
  • Contact Us
You are here: Home / Archives for Bill McCormick

Bill McCormick

1,248 Days Featuring 1,036 Posts and I’m Reduced to This

March 12, 2014 by Bill McCormick

This is how Chi-Town rolls!
This is how Chi-Town rolls!
When you start a blog you are imbued with great thoughts. I will write such and such and so and so will see it and the world will change. Peace will encompass the planet and the redhead will want to do many wrong things for all the right reasons. As time goes on you discover that no such great thing will happen, or not during your lifetime anyway, so you start paying attention to who really is reading your stuff. And this is a soul searching moment. Because, while you will find those who enjoy and share your efforts you will also find those who loathe the air you breathe. If you were to die in a horrible accident tomorrow these people wouldn’t be happy until they saw slow motion video of the event. Preferably in 3D with Surround Sound. That’s disconcerting to say the least. If the redhead were just to touch the back of your hand you’d feel better at that point. But then you come to realize that the haters don’t really hate you. They hate everything. They live in fear, hidden from human interaction by self made barriers. They hate themselves, they hate their families, thy hate anyone who doesn’t hate as they do. They would rather embrace a proven lie than even acknowledge simple truths. So you learn to relegate them to background noise, your heart rate stabilizes and you hope that the redhead will hold your hand and kiss you.

We all need hope.

Yesterday I got some news that made me want to write some important stuff. Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan asked, in a very demanding sort of way, that President Obama and anyone else around open all the secrets of Area 51 to the public. This is despite the fact that not one single shred of possible anything points to anything going on there other than military research. You remember military research, right? That stuff that keeps our country safe. President Obama, who is smarter than a box of rocks, has thus far declined to play along. I imagine that will continue to be the response, official or otherwise, until Hell freezes over or the Cubs win the World Series. Whichever comes first.

So why does Reverend Farrakhan want Area 51 turned into a tourist trap?

Farrakhan has often referred to a UFO he calls the Mother Wheel, which according to The New Yorker, he describes as a “heavily armed spaceship the size of a city that will rain destruction upon white America, but save those who embrace the Nation of Islam.”

In his recent sermon Farrakhan said, “We believe our words that we have shared on the presence of the Wheel could help the president and America to avert Allah’s warning of chastisement and destruction if America does not bow down.”

If you hit that New Yorker link copy it into a text editor. That is the most poorly designed web page ever. Which is a shame. It’s a fascinating article.

So, we have a great set up; a clearly delusional man with goo gobs of cash who wants to kill all the white people (hey, who among us hasn’t felt like that?) but who doesn’t realize that he’s a mirror image of the Koch brothers, who are trying to exterminate anyone who isn’t white, and preferably Christian in name only, although without the space ship, and that the world has passed them all by long ago.

Really, it could be interesting.

So what’s filling my inbox today?

“Why does Chicago have such weak ass superheroes?”

Oy.

David Welch, of Technorati, clearly has too much time on his hands or has not met anyone to have sex with. Both could be involved, I guess. One causing the other, as it were.

And, as it turns out, my readers care about this kind of stuff. So, here we go.

Metropolis, Gotham City, and New York City. Superheroes tend to congregate around the major cities in America, fictional and real, that supply them with an endless criminals to beat up and villains to apprehend. After all, you’re not going to find many megalomaniacal geniuses trying to take over the world from Tulsa. But what superheroes can you name hailing from Chicago, Illinois – America’s third most populated city?

While everyone moving to Chicago should know that the city provided the backdrop for Gotham City on both of Christopher Nolan’s first two Batman films, as well as Metropolis on the Lois and Clark television series, it turns out the real Windy City’s roster of superheroes is surprisingly slim.

However, there are still a handful of great heroes representing Chicagoland in the funny books. Here are the top 10.

10. Heavy Duty – This “Real American Hero” serves as heavy ordnance specialist for the G.I. Joe team. A Chicago native, Lamont A. Morris, otherwise known as “Heavy Duty” enjoys cooking, classical guitar, and rapping.

9. Toy Boy – This super-powered prankster is a member of the Honor Brigade and star of his own title published by Indie comic creator Tom Stilwell. Toy Boy defends Chicago with an arsenal of hilarious gadgets and witty quips.

8. The Spaceknights – Almost nothing is known about this team of government sanctioned superheroes created during the Fifty States Initiative and designated to defend Illinois with super-human muscle. The member roster has not been revealed, but just knowing that an entire team is looking out for Chicagoans earns it a spot on this list.

7. Reuben Flagg – Born on Mars, the protagonist of American Flagg! Lives battles a giant, interplanetary union of corporate and government interests called the Plex in a futuristic, sci-fi Chicago.

6. Katar Hol and Shayera Thal – This incarnation of the superhero alien of Thanagar, Hawkman, was sent to Earth with Hawkgirl, Shayera, where they fought against Chicago’s Netherworld – a neighborhood of metahumans, paranormals, psychics, and mutants in the old Union Stock Yards on the south side of the city.

5. Jimmy Corrigan – This titular “smartest kid on Earth” isn’t exactly a superhero, but is the star of a widely-acclaimed graphic novel by Chris Ware. Jimmy escapes the unhappiness of his lonely, middle-aged life with an active imagination that gets him into awkward situations.

4. Tigra – Greer Grant was born in Chicago where she attended UIC before a lab experiment gave her the combination of science, magic, and mental energy of the Cat people. Now as Tigra, she sports a sleek coat of orange fur and black stripes and uses her feline powers to help the Avengers.

3. Luke Cage – Although not a Chicago native, Power Man had a brief stint in Chicago during the 90s as a Hero for Hire. In the Windy City, Cage teamed up with detective Dakota North and uses his superhuman strength and durability to clean the streets of Chicago.

2. James Gordon – Batman’s resourceful police commissioner buddy wasn’t always a resident of Gotham City. According to his character back story, Jim spent more than 15 years with the CPD foiling criminals and acquiring the incredible detective skills that would make him one of the Caped Crusader’s greatest allies when he returned to Gotham.

1. Savage Dragon – Big. Green. Finned. The Savage Dragon isn’t your typical Chicago cop, but he’s got the emerald muscle to take on Chicago’s mutants and superfreaks. Considered to be one of the greatest comic characters of all time, Erik Larsen’s Savage Dragon has been defending the Windy City for nearly 20 years.

Now that you are familiar with Chicago’s finest meta-humans, you’ll fit right in at the Chicago Comic Con. But am I leaving out any major heroes in this list? The comment section below is your chance to correct me with your superior comic book knowledge.

Okay, in some semblance of order. first we have to straighten out the facts. Comic Con is called Wizard World and is held in Rosemont. It caters to the more conservative fans of graphic novels. Anyone with a pulse knows that the real comic book celebration in Chicago is C2E2 which is held in the city, features local, as well as national, artists and is where the two cosplayers at the top of this page came from.

Tigra helps the Avengers in New Freaking York and Billy Corrigan’s super power is to bore people to death. The only people reading that self absorbed piece of crap were pot smoking pseudo-intellectuals. You know the kind, 13 years in college with no degree and no job.

Anyway, one thing I do know is that David is white, painfully so judging by that article, and lives on the North Side of the city. God knows the poor bastard may be a Cubs fan too.

Well, let’s not pile on.

Anyway, way back in 1999 a guy named Jiba Molei Anderson began a company called Griot enterprises which began releasing work from African American comic book artists. In 2002 he began releasing the company’s seminal series, Horsemen, and after it began hitting the streets it began garnering a huge following.

Now, transparency alert. I have been a fan of Jiba’s work for a long time and have been asked to be a contributing writer on the re-boot that is coming this summer.

That being said, Chicago has been the stage for many Marvel & DC stories. The Blue Beetle is from here.

Gunsmith Cats, one of the better anime cartoons around, is set here. If you read the story I’m not sure that the authors have been here but that could also just be difficult translations. They do feature a ton of beautiful sky line shots and a hot mustang.

I like Mustangs. My first car was a 1973 Stang.

And, last year, Batman’s favorite Robin, a/k/a Nightwing, moved here and took up crime fighting. Well, not everyone knows how to make pizza.

And Power Man a/k/a Luke Cage and Iron Fist seem to like our Chicago style dogs and deep dish pie as well. Their Heroes for Hire pairing spent a long time here.

And, of course, Supergirl, the occasional sex partner of her clone Powergirl, lives here and takes the Metra to Union station.

While it’s most certainly true that Chicago has not seen the plethora of heroes that New York, both fictionalized and not, has seen it isn’t like we’ve been ignored.

Plus, if you ever wondered how Superman could leap a tall building (pre-flying era), or what the effects of gravity and wind would be on the Flash, you would need to come to Chicago, where all the coolest and smartest people are, to listen to Dr. James Kakalios, from the University of Minnesota but we don’t hold that against him, explain it all at Fermi Lab.

While you’re laughing, I’ll take this moment to remind you that Miguel Alcubierre came up with the math for faster than light travel by watching Star Trek.

Oh, and while I knew most of this I was able to fill in the blanks using Google in under 10 minutes.

)

Listen to Bill McCormick on WBIG (FOX! Sports) every Friday around 9:10 AM.
Visit us on Rebel Mouse for even more fun!
contact Bill McCormick
Your Ad Can Be Here Now!

Filed Under: Reviews

Happy VD Ya’ll

February 14, 2014 by Bill McCormick

faithgirlprintartI wrote the below column a year ago today. Since nothing lasts on the Internet I have been asked to repost it. And I’m happy to oblige. Each year Valentine’s Day brings its own unique set of challenges. Especially to us single dudes. You don’t want to do too much for fear of coming off like a stalker but you don’t want to do to little for fear of appearing disinterested. And it’s not just guys. If my email is to be believed women are just as insecure as men. While I may be the last person who you should go to for advice in this case I’m the one you’re reading so here goes; be comfortable and be there. You don’t need to bust out the zillion dollar gift. If your significant other cares about you at all not blowing them off is a great start. Dinner is a very good beginning. Yesterday the Chicago Tribune, that well heralded bastion of of romance, posted a lengthy article about how cheeseburgers can be romantic. Unless you keep kosher or halal in which case just use that advice as a guideline and not as gospel. As it were. The point is that if you’re important to a person then be there for that person. The rest will sort itself out. Romance is not stuff, it’s caring. That may be the greatest gift of all.
[Read more…] about Happy VD Ya’ll

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Girl Power!

January 29, 2014 by Bill McCormick

Why don't more women dress like this?
Why don’t more women dress like this?
Diana is the daughter of Queen Hippolyta, the first child born on Paradise Island in the three thousand year history that the immortal Amazons lived there. The Amazons had been created around 1200 B.C. when the Greek goddesses drew forth the souls of all women who had been murdered by men. One soul was left behind, the one that would be born as Diana. That soul originally belonged to the unborn daughter of the first woman murdered by a man (whom Hippolyta was the reincarnation of). In the late 20th Century, Hippolyta was instructed to mold some clay from the shores of Paradise Island into the form of a baby girl. Six members of the Greek Pantheon then bonded the soul to the clay, giving it life. Each of the six also granted Diana a gift: Demeter, great strength; Athena, wisdom and courage; Artemis, a hunter’s heart and a communion with animals; Aphrodite, beauty and a loving heart; Hestia, sisterhood with fire; Hermes, speed and the power of flight. [Read more…] about Girl Power!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Things to Do This Winter

January 23, 2014 by Bill McCormick

I can afford this hobby.
I can afford this hobby.
First off, before we begin, I’d like to clarify something that came out in the Eric Snowden documents. Former Canadian Cabinet Minister Paul Hellyer is one of those fun people who believes in UFOs and claims aliens are living here. He, for reasons that make sense to some not named me, is quoted by the NSA in their records. That led some people to jump to the logical conclusion that Adolf Hitler helped tall white aliens take over the U.S. government. Which led the U.S. Government to issue a denial. Which, of course, is proof of the conspiracy. Yeah. Just go with it. Also in the land of the fun is a 40 year old guy who changed his name to Dick Chibbles and starred in the epic film Clown Porn. As you might imagine this led him to an exciting new career and multiple adult film awards which led to, the obvious career highlight, him doing Chewbacca drag in Star Wars XXX. A little something you might want to watch while you’re avoiding the cold.

But what if you’re like me. Still legal in over 23 states. What if you say “Up yours winter, I’m gong to ….” Well, what? You go to Germany, rip off all your clothes and throw yourself down a giant hill.

Well, that’s what I’d do.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Telegraph UK introduces us to the Naked Sledding World Championship.

Have you ever fancied getting all your kit off (well almost all your kit off) and hurtling down a hill on a toboggan watched by some 25,000 people?

No? Can’t say I blame you.

Yes? Well next month you have a chance to make your dream come true by taking part in what must be the most eccentric alternative winter olympics event ever devised – the Naked Sledding World Championship, now being hosted for the fifth time.

The event takes place – surprise, surprise – in Germany, a country famed for its love of all activities that involve FKK – Freikörperkultur (Free Body Culture, or plain nudity to you and me), and will be staged on Saturday February 15 on the slopes above the spa town of Braunlage in the picturesque Harz Mountains.

Held on a bi-annual basis, the Naked Sledding World Championship involves two races – one for men and one for women – the winner of each receiving a prize of €1,000 (£830) – and the prestige of being the best in the world for ballsy displays of bravado on the toboganning front. Given what they are doing – racing down a 90-metre-long iced piste – the dress code is helmets, boots – and underpants. But apart from that, those taking part are starkers (or should that be stark raving bonkers?).

In the past, contestants have been drawn from countries including Germany, Norway and Austria, but this year, those behind the event – the local RTL 89.0 radio station – are inviting two entries from Britain.

Competition for places will be tough. In the last championship, in 2012, from 5,000 entrants, only 30 were selected. And those that were certainly needed to be good sports: a crowd of 25,000 cheered them on as they raced down the mountain and even more are expected for this year’s event.

“This is not a race for the shy and retiring,” said a spokesman for chillisauce.co.uk, a UK-based event agency that specialises in arranging stag, hen and activity weekends away and which is inviting applications. “We’re looking for contestants who are up for a laugh. And although the selection policy in the past seems to be slightly skewed toward those who look good naked, don’t let that put you off.”

For those more interested in watching rather than participating, chillisauce.co.uk plans to lay on a trip to Braunlage for the weekend of February 15/16.

Bottoms up!

Chilli Sauce are the nice people who ran a dating bus that visited toilets. Well, a lot of my dates in the 80’s started that way so I can see the allure. If you click on their name it will take you to a page where you can learn to play soccer in swim fins or get a girl to lick your ….. lollipop.

Not for the shy.

Oh well, never let it be said that you came to this site and walked away bored.

Now get out there and get sledding!

contact Bill McCormick
Your Ad Can Be Here Now!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Triskaidekaphobia Revisited

December 13, 2013 by Bill McCormick

Mu hu ha ha ha
I am going to celebrate the birthday of a dude who wasn’t born now or anywhere near now. In other words, I am off to celebrate a superstition. That is appropriate on many levels. Today is Friday the 13th. A horror that has haunted humans for millenia. Well, numerous centuries. Okay, for a little bit. I wrote this on Friday the 13th in April of 2012. It’s still true today.

+++++++++++++++++++

If you happen to be a prestidigitating paraskevidekatriaphobic then today is wrought with horrible magic for you. For the rest of us it’s another day that’s just as good or bad as any other. Today, if you watch the news, you will be assaulted with lists of all the horrible things that have happened on Friday the 13th through the years. The first will be the fall of the Knights Templar at the duplicitous hands of King Philip IV of France and Pope Clement V on Friday the 13th in October of 1307. That one’s a juicy one since it features the only publically recorded curse attributed to God. Jacques de Molay, as he was about to be burned at the stake, claimed that God would strike both Philip and Clement dead for their deeds and, indeed, both men were dead within less than two months.

You will also hear from many noodle headed experts who will claim this is an ancient tradition, some will say dating back to the bible. These people are, using the technical term, deluded morons. Fridays have been bad news for a while, even Chaucer wrote disparagingly about them in his Canterbury Tales back in the 1400’s. And the number 13 has, for reasons lost in the mists of time, been one to avoid since Babylon reigned supreme in the Middle East. It is even highly likely that Jesus knew about the superstition and selected the number of His apostles to prove the belief baseless. That would fit well with many of His reality based teachings.

But for any reference specific to Friday the 13th you need to be far more modern.

In 1907 an author named Thomas Lawson released a novel called “Friday the 13th.” In it a man uses superstition and greed to con a bunch of people and manipulate the stock market and cause it to crash. It was a popular book at the time and is also the first recorded use of Friday the 13th. So much for ancient and mystical. If you’re over 50, your grandparents could have had a slightly used copy of this book.

They may have even noted the eerie similarities in his book to the real stock market crash of 1929.

Still other featherheads will point to the 1993 study published in the British Medical Journal which compared the number of auto accidents on any given Friday the 6th versus Friday the 13th and said “Friday the 13th is unlucky for some. The risk of hospital admission as a result of a transport accident may be increased by as much as 52 percent. Staying home is recommended.”

Smart people just went “Hey, wait a minute, that research is horribly flawed.” And they are 100% right. When you compare Friday the 13th with other stressful days such as tax day, major holidays and so on, the accident rate falls right into the norm. In other words, events that cause people to stress out also cause them to become distracted and those distractions lead to accidents.

You know that phrase “It’s all in your head?” Well, in this case it’s true.

Just FYI, the word paraskevidekatriaphobic comes from the Greek; Paraskevi means Friday and dekatreis means 13. You can also call the fear of Friday the 13th Friggatriskaidekaphobia in honor of the Norse God Frigga whose name is where the word Friday comes from.

Yeah, a little etymology to brighten your day.

Okay, now for some meaningless fun.

In Spanish speaking countries, people fear Tuesday the Thirteenth or Martes Trece as it is called. The reason is that that was the day that Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Empire. That tradition does date back hundreds of years and is well documented.

In Italy, home of the Catholic Church and what many believe to be the root of the superstition, the number 13 is considered lucky and the day they avoid is Friday the 17th. So, go figure.

Some folks can’t resist tweaking their noses at superstitions. Black Sabbath released their debut album on Friday the 13th in February of 1970 and they did okay. The 13th book of A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket (a/k/a Daniel Handler) was released on Friday, October 13th, 2006 and he’s made goo-gobs (that’s a financial term) of money. And Adventure/Quest World, an online video game featuring the music of one of my faves, Voltaire, features famous guests every Friday the 13th.

This year there will be three Friday the 13ths and they are spaced 13 weeks apart.

Heh.

But, far be it for me to deny you something legitimate to worry about. On April 13, 2029 (a Friday), the asteroid 99942 Apophis (named after an angry Egyptian god) will come so close to the earth that it will be closer to our atmosphere than our man made satellites. If it gets caught in our gravity well it could do damage of apocalyptic proportions.

Or it could just ricochet harmlessly off into space.


Listen to Bill McCormick on WBIG (FOX! Sports) every Friday around 9:10 AM.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Go to page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 32
  • Go to page 33
  • Go to page 34
  • Go to page 35
  • Go to page 36
  • Go to page 37
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Archives

  • March 2023
  • October 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • December 2021
  • October 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • April 2021
  • November 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • September 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010

Copyright © 2023 · Metro Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in