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Monday, 25 January 2010
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EVERYBODY!  Evelin Fate. Dutchess. 11:42:09 |
 | Hi. Everybody doesn't like this site and only some people visit it. I'm often online. I can't be alwayas online. But I see you. Still see you.  |
| |  1 answer | Add comment |
Sunday, 20 December 2009
Wednesday, 3 June 2009
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| Tony's Online Tips for 2/16/09 Tony Isabella 09:19:55 |
| | Today in TONY'S ONLINE TIPS...
Ditkomania!
Plus:
Steve Ditko and Me
You can read the column here:
http://www.worldfamouscomics.com/tony/back20090216.shtml
Tony Isabella
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Sunday, 22 March 2009
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| Tony's Tips Xtra for 3/23/09 Tony Isabella 01:24:56 |
| | Twice a week on average, I post new reviews at the Comics Buyer's
Guide forums.
Monday's reviews...
New Avengers: Secret Invasion Book One
Secret Invasion: Front Line
Secret Invasion: Thunderbolts
You can read the reviews here:
http://www.cbgxtra.com/Default.aspx?tabid=42&view=topic&forumid=28&postid=49889
Tony Isabella
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Friday, 20 March 2009
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| Tony's Online Tips for 3/20/09 Tony Isabella 16:39:21 |
| | Today in TONY'S ONLINE TIPS...
I review The Joker: The Greatest Stories Ever Told and answer another
FAQ about Black Lightning.
You can read the column here:
http://www.worldfamouscomics.com/tony/back20090320.shtml
If you'd like to see the return of the Tony Polls, cast your vote
here:
http://www.worldfamouscomics.com/tony/poll
Have a happy and safe weekend!
Tony Isabella
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Thursday, 19 March 2009
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| Tony's Online Tips for 3/19/09 Tony Isabella 15:59:03 |
| | Today in TONY'S ONLINE TIPS...
I review Marvel Masterworks Atlas Era Journey Into Mystery Volume 1
and answer one more Black Lightning Year One question.
You can read the column here:
http://www.worldfamouscomics.com/tony/back20090319.shtml
Tony Isabella
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| Tony's Tips Xtra for 3/19/09 Tony Isabella 15:14:08 |
| | Twice a week on average, I post new reviews at the Comics Buyer's
Guide forums.
Thursday's review...
Creepy Archives Volume One
You can read the review here:
http://www.cbgxtra.com/Default.aspx?tabid=42&view=topic&forumid=28&postid=49840
Tony Isabella
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Wednesday, 18 March 2009
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| Tony's Online Tips for 3/18/09 Tony Isabella 15:43:09 |
| | Today in TONY'S ONLINE TIPS...
I review the BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD series and answer an
anonymous coward's Black Lightning-related question.
You can read the column here:
http://www.worldfamouscomics.com/tony/back20090318.shtml
Tony Isabella
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Tuesday, 17 March 2009
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| Tony's Online Tips for 3/17/09 Tony Isabella 15:22:48 |
| | Today in TONY'S ONLINE TIPS...
How to save Betty and Veronica Spectacular.
Plus: the answer to the FAQ of how I felt about Black Lightning's
appearance on Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
You can read the column here:
http://www.worldfamouscomics.com/tony/back20090317.shtml
Tony Isabella
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Monday, 16 March 2009
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| Tony's Online Tips for 3/16/09 Tony Isabella 16:44:04 |
| | TONY'S ONLINE TIPS is back from hiatus.
In Monday's column...
I review DC Universe: Last Will and Testament, discuss my forthcoming
1000 Comic Books You Must Read, and answer the frequently-asked
question of what I think about Black Lightning: Year One.
You can read the column here:
http://www.worldfamouscomics.com/tony/back20090316.shtml
Tony Isabella
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| Tony's Tips Xtra for 3/16/09 Tony Isabella 15:20:36 |
| | TONY'S TIPS XTRA is back from hiatus.
Twice a week on average, I post new reviews at the Comics Buyer's
Guide forums.
Monday's reviews...
Confessions of a Superhero
V For Vendetta
You can read the reviews here:
http://www.cbgxtra.com/default.aspx?tabid=42&view=topic&forumid=28&postid=49768
Tony Isabella
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Friday, 6 March 2009
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| RANT: Dave's Late Capsules for March 5, 2009 Dave Van Domelen 01:22:13 |
| | Dave's "Diamond Comics Distribution Can Bite Me" Capsules Special
March 5, 2009
Another couple of comics picked up from Hastings because Diamond can't
be arsed to ship what my store orders.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Movie Prequel: Defiance #2 (of 4):
IDW - We see more of what external force changed Megatron from a jerk into a
tyrant, but at this point I have to wonder if there will be a Big Reveal
anywhere in this series...since the full revelation may be a plot point for
the movie. There's also some retconning to make Earth a little more focal to
the Autobot/Decepticon conflict rather than the random battleground implied
in the first movie. Mowry's writing is competent, and the art by Khanna and
Griffith is pretty good, although Josh Perez's coloring is sometimes a bit
overdone. Mildly recommended. $3.99
Doctor Doom and the Masters of Evil #2 (of 4): Marvel - The cover has
Masters of Evil crossed out and Circus of Crime painted in. On the other
hand, this issue the Masters of Evil do actually show up (Amora, Skurge,
Melter, Zemo, Radioactive Man). The Circus is used pretty well, although the
more All-Ages tone of the book does make for some fairly tepid evil being
mastered around here. Recommended. $2.99
Awards:
"I Blame The Goa'uld, Myself" Award to TF:RotF Defiance #2 (of 4)
"It's A Bug AND A Feature" Award to Doctor Doom and the Masters of Evil #2
(of 4)
Dave Van Domelen, nothing really worth quoting.
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Thursday, 26 February 2009
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| [RANT] Dave's Capsules & Awards for Feb 25, 2009 Dave Van Domelen 01:20:43 |
| | Dave's Unspoilt Capsules and Awards
The Week's Picks and Pans, plus Awards of Dubious Merit
Standard Disclaimers: Please set appropriate followups. Recommendation does
not factor in price. Not all books will have arrived in your area this week.
Pizza sauce can blister knuckles. Ow. An archive can be found on my
homepage, http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/Rants
Okay, in what's either their most astonishing display of incompetence
yet, or part of an attempt to drive my local store out of business, Diamond
not only shorted the store on the now-usual half dozen or so titles, it also
failed to send PREVIEWS MAGAZINE. It's own catalog. They sent the retailer
copy and that's it.
"Other Media" Capsules:
Things that are comics-related but not necessarily comics
(i.e. comics-based movies like Iron Man or Hulk), or that aren't going to be
available via comic shops (like comic pack-ins with DVDs) will go in this
section when I have any to mention. They may not be as timely as comic
reviews, especially if I decide to review novels that take me a week or two
(or ten) to get around to.
Marvel Universe Iron Man action figure: Hasbro - Well, it was only a
matter of time, what with DC's entry into the "4-inch action figure for the
price of a 6-inch figure" field. The Marvel Universe line is not quite the
same as the Superhero Showdown figures of a few years back, and they're a
little better than those cut-down versions of Legends molds. The figures
include SHIELD files and SHRA registrstion (trading) cards for the
characters, although they can't decide who's in charge...Iron Man's dossier
has him as head of SHIELD, but the cardback shows Nick Fury. There's also
online content I haven't bothered to check.
Anyway, the Iron Man figure is pretty well articulated, with universal
joints on the shoulders, elbows, mid-torso, knees and ankles; ball joint neck
and hips; swivel wrists. There's a clear plastic energy blast accessory that
clips on to the wrist and looks...so-so. The joints are kinda loose, and
while there's peg holes in the feet there's no base included, so the figure
doesn't really stand well. The paint job is mostly metallic yellow and red,
and looks pretty good. While the shoulderpads simply clip onto the shoulders
(like the first wave Iron Man movie figures), they stay put pretty well. All
in all, if this were a $5 figure I might suggest grabbing it, but at the
actual price ($7.99 at Toys R Us, $8.99 at K-Mart) I'd say to hold off.
As a side note, a Wolverine and the X-Men cartoon action figure line is
also out, same price and size, but a different sculpt style and several of
the figures lack significan articulation.
Comics Capsules:
Short, relatively spoiler-free reviews of books I actually bring home
(as opposed to reading in preview form in the shop or online). If I get a
book late due to distributor foulups or whatever, I'll put it in the Missing
section.
Books of Note (Strongly Recommended or otherwise worthy): None.
Ninja High School #167: Antarctic Press - The rest of Anna Feeple's life
story is presented as flashbacks in between Dimension X "present time"
scenes, emphasizing the hard choices she's had to make over the years. Some
of the present time stuff is a bit disjointed, plus it looks like Dunn is
playing around with changing his style in the middle of the issue. Not just
between time periods, but one of the present time scenes looked enough
different from the one before it that I wondered if we'd had some new
characters introduced at first. Still, recommended for the Anna story.
$2.99
Dark Reign Files: Marvel - Another themed OHOTMU, this is more along the
lines of the 198 Files, with three entries per page covering a lot of
ground. Unfortunately, it's also an "in story" piece, so it lacks
information like first appearances or anything that Norman Osborne would not
be expected to know. Still, plenty of "where are they now" info, worth
picking up even if you're not really following Dark Reign. Recommended.
$4.99
Wolverine First Class #12: Marvel - I was wavering on getting this,
especially given the heavy week I was supposed to have, but Diamond "helped"
by not shipping about 90 minutes' worth of potential reading material, so on
the strength of the preview in MA Avengers last week, I grabbed this. Of
course, it's the last Van Lente issue, but next issue is Peter David, so I'll
keep it on my pull for a bit. Anyway, this story is set during the X-Men's
time on R'yleh...er, the island Magneto pulled up from the depths and used
for his base in Uncanny X-Men #150. And Van Lente has fun not only playing
around with the Mythos aspects that Claremont and Cockrum largely left as
color, but also doing a compare-and-contrast between Wolverine and Cyclops as
teachers. Recommended. $2.99
Ms. Marvel #36: Marvel - Dark Reign banner. Lots of flashing back and
forward and sideways, and the main action finally catches up to the last
scene of the final Secret Invasion issue of the title. It also explains
several danglers and nagging questions, as is appropriate for the penultimate
issue of an arc. The story's okay, the art is crap. Mildly recommended.
$2.99
Avengers the Initiative #22: Marvel - Dark Reign banner. It looks like
the guy doing the finished art over Ramos was trying to imitate Sienkiewicz
or something. Mainly a big fight scene with the occasional "meanwhile" with
the Shadow Initiative team. Some decent bits, but nothing special. Mildly
recommended. $2.99
The Mighty Avengers #22: Marvel - Dark Reign banner. A bit of infodump,
but mostly the ad-hoc team breaks down into bickering and generally has no
positive effect on things. Slott's writing is a bit off his usual levels
here, and Pham's art doesn't really improve. Mildly recommended. $2.99
She-Hulk v2 #38: Marvel - "DOUBLE SIZE FINAL ISSUE!" banner. Peter
David manages to wrap up the short term plots and literally wipes the board
of the longer term stuff so that other writers don't have to worry about
danglers. It's a bit heavy on the wink-and-nod in the last scene, though,
even for PAD. Good art from Steve Scott. Recommended. $3.99
The Incredible Hercules #126: Marvel - "DOUBLE SIZE! THE ORIGIN OF
HERCULES!" banner. The lead story weaves together various Hercules/Heracles
myths and tells a story of where he went from hero to godling, learning of
and accepting his divine heritage. And getting his current costume. 
There's a short Saga-style summary after that, mainly focused on recent
events in this title. Finally, Amadeus Cho has the backup position and a
coming of age story...of sorts. Recommended. $3.99
Justice Society of America #24: DC - Origins & Omens banner. Big tie-in
to the old Power of Shazam GN, appropriate given that Ordway draws this
issue. Stargirl also finally gets more than two lines, and her relationship
with Billy Batson gets front-burnered. In other words, she's finally doing
more than carrying a spear. Mary Marvel seems to have fallen prey to Zweig's
Law (with an upsurge of power comes a turn to the dark side and appalling
fashion sense) in a big way, though. The O&O backup is yet another round of
"the old guys worry aboutt he younger generation and recruit more legacies",
whee. Mildly recommended. $2.99
Batman the Brave and the Bold #2: DC - No grok-bokking crossover banner
at all. Unfortunately, while this issue had so much going for it in
principle (some nifty ideas, Phil Moy on art, Blue Beetle in the story), and
it still manages to suck quite badly. Matt Wayne's story is crap, and Moy is
trying too hard to draw like the cartoon, resulting in a bad imitation of
that style and a total loss of his own style. Avoid. $2.50
Blue Beetle #36: DC - Final issue, no banner. Big fight scene, a plot
device that happens more or less at the middle of the fight rather than the
end, and probably a bit more death and destruction than might have happened
were this merely the end of an arc rather than of the title. It's a pity the
title has been cancelled and Jaime shuffled off to the Titans suckfest,
Sturges shows a lot of stuff here that would have made for interesting
setup. Recommended. $2.99
Eureka #2 (of 4): Boom! Studios - I got cover B. Plot-wise, almost
nothing actually happens this issue. Characters find out a bit more of what
the reader already knows or suspects, but are still largely in the dark. The
Joe/Taggart romantic dance is about the only thing that advances, and that by
only a little. And the final page reveal is a bit weak for anyone who hasn't
seen the pilot episode enough to memorize it. Really good banter, but it's
not in service of much that wasn't already shown in #1. Recommended fluff.
$3.99
Gone Missing:
Stuff that came out some places this week and that I wanted to buy, but
couldn't find for whatever reason, so people don't have to email me asking
"Why didn't you review X?" (If it's neither here nor in the section above,
though, feel free to ask, I might have forgotten about it!)
Current list as of 2/25/09: Official Handbook of the Gold Digger
Universe #22, Transformers Maximum Dinobots #1 and 2, Transformers Revenge of
the Fallen: Alliance #2, Jersey Gods #1, Booster Gold #17, Gen13 v4 #27.
(Diamond didn't come through on any of the missing titles from last week, I
got them at Hastings.) And because they must have known I was able to pick
up some comics they didn't want me to have, add the following titles to the
missed list: Transformers Maximum Dinobots #3, Beanworld volume 1 hardcover,
Dynamo5 #20, Cthulhu Tales #12, Doctor Doom and the Masters of Evil #2.
Awards:
"Now With Energy Dunce Cap!" Award to Marvel Universe Iron Man figure
"Time To Found A New Tradition, Then" Award to Ninja High School #167
"Galactus Is Rated As Extremely Expendable? Good Luck With THAT" Award to
Dark Reign Files
"Code Of Uniform Justice" Award to Wolverine First Class #12
"Well, Norman Gets A Good Line, At Least" Award to Ms. Marvel #36
"Baron Grin It" Award to Avengers the Initiative #22
"Repair Me Some More, Baby" Award to Mighty Avengers #22
"You Just Can't Keep Ignoring The Elephant In The Room" Award to She-Hulk
v2 #38
"Argeia Could've Warned Megara, At Least" Award to The Incredible Hercules
#126
"Seriously, What Part Of J-Pop Hell Did Mary Marvel Sink Into?" Award to
Justice Society of America #24
"By Next Week, Everyone Will Have That Cap" Award to Batman the Brave and
the Bold #2
"Blue Beetle Screen Of Death" Award to Blue Beetle #36
"But How's The Fantasy League Going?" Award to Eureka #2 (of 4)
Dave Van Domelen, "But I'm a busy man, and I can't be micromanaging
details, like whether or not she's still breathing." - Norman Osborn,
Ms. Marvel #36
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Friday, 20 February 2009
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| [RANT] Dave's Capsules Extra - TF:RotF, REBELS, Invincible Dave Van Domelen 01:18:43 |
| | Dave's "Diamond Comics Distribution Can Bite Me" Capsules Special
February 19, 2009
Okay, "normal" Diamond errors tend to involve the little companies, from
Antarctic on down in size. I'm used to that. But lately, they've been
neglecting to ship stuff from Marvel, DC, Image and IDW, all supposedly major
companies. And they haven't shown any real sign of reshipping to stores that
got shorted.
Hastings, a regional media chain (i.e. books, music, movies, etc) has a
decent newsstand comic section, and since they buy directly from the
publishers (as far as I know) they don't have to worry about Diamond. On the
other hand, they don't do pulls or order a given title every month. Still, I
was able to make a dent in my missing stack. Sadly, by the time I decided to
do this, they'd already sold out of TF:RotF Alliance #2, so I'm still missing
that. I read it from the rack last month, though, so I'm caught up.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Movie Prequel: Alliance #1 (of 4):
IDW - One of two prequel minis. Both presumably four issues, but being IDW
they don't say so anywhere on the comic...wait, what's this? On the inside
front cover they actually say "of four," wow. Also, henceforth, "TF:RotF"
will stand for everything before "Alliance" so I don't have to keep typing
it. Maybe Diamond's computers simply choked on the title, explaining why
they never shipped it or its companion series. Anyway, this series picks up
from the end of Reign of Starscream and takes some of the threads laid down
both there (the human-built Landmine et al, Starscream's faux AllSpark) and
in the first movie's prequel comic (Wreckage, who got horribly jobbed, is
back). Of course, to do all this, it actually starts a few months before the
main action of the movie, since there's a lot of Wreckage retconning to do.
And Dispensor, perhaps the most sinister of the AllSpark Babies, gets a brief
appearance. The Dispensor scene makes it clear that the Legends of the
AllSpark miniseries is not in the same continuity, since that had a different
fate for Dispensor. And a lot more of this issue involves establishing how
the end of the first movie wasn't necessarily what it appeared to be, thereby
opening up some wiggle room for the sequel to go in slightly different
directions. Mowry's writing and Milne's art are both passable, although I'm
starting to think that no one can really write Ratchet without it sounding
like they're trying way too hard to be funny. Mildly recommended. $3.99.
TF:RotF: Alliance #3 (of 4): IDW - Well, Wreckage got shelved again in
#2, too bad. He served his purpose, however, of showing how an AllSpark
fragment can Do Stuff, like in TF: Animated. Also, it gave a better reason
for Sector 7 to be officially disbanded...namely, Wreckage busting loose and
wreaking havoc. This issue finally catches up to the end of the first movie
and the deep sixing, then moves into intermezzo territory. The coloring
drifts into murk, although several scenes are at night, so it's excusable.
Loads of toy-but-not-movie characters show up and start trouble, so I think
it's safe to say that #4 will rack up something of a body count. Again, the
writing and art are okay, and they do a decent job of stitching together the
gaps. Mildly recommended. $3.99.
TF:RotF: Defiance #1 (of 4): IDW - The other prequel series. And this
is VERY prequelly, being set before the Autobot/Decepticon split, at least
initially. A new threat is introduced, along with implications of a sort of
proto-Decepticon culture lost in archaeological history. Mowry writes this
series too, with Khanna on breakdowns and Griffith on finishes. There's
definitely a different sort of Cybertron here, and it seems like the friction
between Megatron and Optimus Prime would have remained merely that save for
the introduction of a Plot Device. Given that this is billed as a prequel to
Revenge of the Fallen, it's not too big a stretch to posit that this plot
device involves the Fallen. The writing tends towards the expositiony in
places, with characters relating to each other what they already know, and
the visual blocking is more in the style of pinups than storytelling much of
the time. Mildly recommended. $3.99.
REBELS #1: DC - This is actually the second REBELS series, the first
being a followup to LEGION, which also started with Vril Jr. on the run from
his own organization. Some of the people on the cover haven't shown up yet,
and most of the ones who have spend this issue fighting each other or running
from each other. So, we're looking at a team of rivals, I suppose. Much
of the issue leads up to a sort of Rube Goldberg where way too much effort is
taken just to deliver a message, suggesting two possibilities: 1) Bedard was
too in love with a clever idea to see the overwrought nature of it, 2) the
gizmo has other functions that will be revealed next issue, and therefore the
simple way wouldn't have been enough. Still a bit excessive even in case 2,
though. Bedard's one of those writers where I'll generally cut some slack,
but I've been burned before...so this had better improve markedly in the next
couple issues or I'm gone. Mildly recommended. $2.99
Invincible #59: Image - A done-in-one story told from the POV of the
antagonist as he drifts from the role of misguided hero to that of tragic
villain. A nice breather before the big crossover thing coming next month,
to be sure, and a good examination of the sort of fallout Invincible's high-
power adventures can have. Recommended. $2.99
Awards:
"Brand Loyalty" Award to TF:RotF Alliance #1 (of 4)
"What, Exactly, Made Fracture Think That Was A Good Disguise?" Award to
TF:RotF Alliance #3 (of 4)
"The Shadow Over Cybertron" Award to TF:RotF Defiance #1 (of 4)
"But Can He Toast Muffins?" Award to REBELS #1
"The Road To Hell Is Paved With Good Intentions And Conductive Plating"
Award to Invincible #59
Dave Van Domelen, "You know, the last thing I expect from you is
sanctimony." - Querl Dox, showing an astonishing lack of self-awareness about
his genepool, REBELS #1
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Thursday, 19 February 2009
|
| Tony's Online Tips for 2/19/09 Tony Isabella 17:13:43 |
| | Today in TONY'S ONLINE TIPS...
Garfield Minus Garfield
Gearz
Jayson Goes to Hollywood
Thor: Truth of History
You can read the reviews here:
http://www.worldfamouscomics.com/tony/back20090219.shtml
Tony Isabella
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| | Add comment |
|
| Tony's Tips Xtra for 2/19/09 Tony Isabella 14:33:48 |
| | Twice a week, on average, I post a brand-new edition of TONY'S TIPS
XTRA on the Comics Buyer's Guide forums.
Thursday's review...
Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four
Secret Invasion: War Machine
You can read the reviews here:
http://www.cbgxtra.com/default.aspx?tabid=42&view=topic&forumid=28&postid=49498
Tony Isabella
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| | Add comment |
Wednesday, 18 February 2009
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| Tony's Online Tips for 2/18/09 Tony Isabella 15:22:43 |
| | Today in TONY'S ONLINE TIPS...
City of Dust
Dugout
The Freak Brothers Omnibus
You can read these reviews here:
http://www.worldfamouscomics.com/tony/back20090218.shtml
Tony Isabella
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