I’ve never really given much thought about what I would consider the perfect crime. I’m not exactly ambitious so it probably wouldn’t extend much further then trying to purchase comics for my collection without Anna’s knowledge. She watches the movies and the Wii games like a hawk after all, so if I want to buy something perfectly crappy without having to listen to her grumble to me about it comics are really my only legitimate avenue of deception. Hey, I already feel guilty about buying Spider-Man comics, I don’t need her adding to my own self-imposed lecture.

Now sure, I found the whole Brand New Day storyline interesting at first, as writing out Mary Jane was the kind of huge shakeup that might recover the comic from the truly terrible Civil War storylines I had previously suffered through. But the whole concept has quickly stagnated, resulting in what now appears as nothing more then a blatant attempt at erasing everything J Michael Straczynski had written over the length of his tenure.

Now I know JMS wasn’t exactly popular with the Marvel fanboys. I mean really, attempting to add more depth to a character that was over 40 years old was simply unacceptable. Marvel and its fans simply would rather have numerous Spider-Man books that follow a basic plot by numbers arc rather then suffer through something that might actually result in a new experience for both the character and the reader.

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Now I have been fairly slow to hop on the High Def bandwagon for many reasons. I don’t like being forced into buying a new technology, nor have I fallen for the claims of how HD is the new standard bearer. HD still is vastly inferior to film, and no amount of campaigning by Sony is going to change that fact. But that all being said when it comes to home viewing HD is the best option. And my 25 inch analog set has hit 15 years old and is ready for a well earned retirement, leading me to have a less then ideal home viewing environment for the oodles of movies I watch on a weekly basis. So while I wasn’t ready to proclaim my undying love for all things HD, that didn’t change the fact that I needed a new television set.

So this week Anna and I have begun to do some shopping. Unlike most shopping, for example the kind where I have to find clothes that I don’t particularly like but try on simply because a certain someone thinks I look good in them only to discover that I feel even less attractive and by the third or fourth trip to the dressing room I have what could only be described as a meltdown in which I threaten to buy a Family Guy t-shirt or some other ridiculous advertisement of stupidity if I am not allowed to immediately leave the store, I quite enjoy shopping for televisions and home theaters. Probably because I don’t feel the need to immediately go on a diet after completing the entire ordeal.

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