A SURPRISE VISITOR!

Yeah, you all tried to guess who it was going to be and no one got it right. But I set you up for failure. I’m mean like that. Today’s strip kicks Bubbles of Light into high gear. Crazy fun ahead.

THE SUPERFOGEYS AT RECESS

Was hanging out with my daughter Elora (7-years-old now, but the proto-Dictator Tot then) yesterday (as I am wont to do–I pretend to be a good parent and it’s important to keep up appearances). I told her about today’s strip and where I’m going with this whole “Young Spy Gal at Valhalla” thing and she was suitably flugibberbusted.

“Oh my gosh!”

“I know. Crazy, right?”

“That is very surprising! How does that work?”

“You’ll see.”

“I told all my friends at school about SuperFogeys and they’re very interested.”

“You did?”

“Yeah, but they can’t find the website. I told them all about it and they want to find it online.”

“I could give you some bookmarks to take to school. Those have the website printed on them.”

“Oh, cool! Yeah, that would be perfect. We were talking all about it at recess last week.”

“About the SuperFogeys?”

“Yes, it was all they wanted to talk about! I was telling them all about it and the story and they kept asking me lots of questions. They’re very interested to know more. Wait, I can talk about Jerry now?”

“Yeah, that’s out there now. You can talk about it.”

“Okay, good. Yeah, they wanted to know all about Jerry!”

Needless to say, Th3rd World has been putting all its effort into the wrong demographic. There’s a huge, untapped Third Grader market out there.

WEEZER’S “HURLEY” – A TWIT-REVIEW

As I do occasionally with the big new releases, I review Weezer’s excellent new album track-by-track on Twitter. Here’s the rundown:

And now my Twit-review of Weezer’s “Hurley.” The cover: I love it. It’s so unexpected and contrary to what a good album cover should be.

1: Memories – I’ve had this one for a few weeks now and I didn’t like it much at first. A surprise grower as I now sing along–loudly–to it.

2: Ruling Me – Crunchy Guitars represent! Ooh…dang that’s a nice chorus melody. Instant fave. Real 60’s vibe to this one.

3: Trainwrecks – First 30 seconds don’t sound much like Weezer, but then it settles in. More conventional song, but very, very strong.

4: Unspoken – Acoustic! Sounds demo-ish. Man, the melodies are strong on this album. Is that a flute? Strings! Whoa. Guitars come crashing!

5: Where’s My Sex? – Oh, this is terrible. Tell me it gets better. Man, Rivers is annoying on this one. Sloppy song. Skippable.

6: Run Away – I was wrong about Unspoken-THIS starts out as a demo. Changes quickly though. Sounds like Maladroit. It’s okay.

7: Hang On – Back in fine form. Probably the most “pop” song so far, but I dig pop in my rock. Love the hand claps. Good message.

8: Smart Girls – Haha. This cracks me up at the start. Is the guitar saying “Smart Girls?” That’s hilarious. Fun, fun song.

9: Brave New World – Down shift to dark, but it’s Weezer dark–so not so much. Chorus brightens things. Could be a grower. Beautiful bridge.

10: Time Flies – What the heck is this? Weezer by way of Sleigh Bells? Oh, this is fantastic. Love that loud lo-fi. Love, love this song.

Bonus 1: All My Friends Are Insects – Weezer does kids’ music! Seems a little loud for kids’ music. I dig it, though it’s a minor track.

Bonus 2: Viva la Vida – Live track. Yes, it’s a cover of Coldplay. Weezer plays it straight and it basically works. Nothing special.

Bonus 3: I Want to Be Something – Acoustic Demo. Very heartfelt. No idea why this wasn’t made into a full-fledged song. What up, Weezer?

Bonus 4: Represent (Rocked Out Mix) – The non-soccer version of Represent! Sweet! I love this song soooo freakin’ much. I think I’ll swap out “Where’s My Sex?” for this song in the album proper. I make my own track order, Weezer!

HURLEY overall – This is a strong album. Bit of a return to form and some of the melodies are just gorgeous. Weezer did it again.

NEXT WEEK:

On Tuesday, find out if Spy Gal comes back from the dead in the fourth page of her origin! (Hint: she does.)

Then, on Thursday, it’s Old Spy Gal vs. Young Spy Gal!