It's Still Going On

A little over a month ago, some She-Hulk fan site linked to me as a bit of a goof.Since then, the post they linked to has gotten about 3/4 of the total hits of any post here.Also, the number one search term people use to find me is "She Hulk Boobs".

I am the #1 Google entry for "She Hulk Boobs."

That is so funny.

Speaking of She-Hulk, I bought the first five issues of John Byrne's run from Midtown Comics.They aren't collected anywhere that I know of and I was interested because I had heard that the book was pretty funny.They were right.The book was funny and the fourth wall stuff was pretty clever.I think I was expecting a Deadpool-esque tactic of addressing the reader and talking about caption boxes.Instead, she not only spoke to the reader, but to Mr. Byrne as well.She also tore through individual pages and walked across ads as part of the story.

The other thing I liked was the idea to use D-list villains.I had never seen Dr. Bong before.My life is much richer now.

As for Peter David's new run?I'm OK with it.I think some ideas, such as having the Absorbing Man accidentally absorb the properties of Legoes, was funny as hell.I do miss the law firm though.The first two Dan Slott She-Hulk trades are all kinds of awesome.I'd easily put at least vol 1( Single Green Female ) in my top 10 favorites.

Ramapo State Forest/Van Slyke Castle Hike

This past weekend, Darrell and I headed out to Ramapo State Forest in Ringwood,NJ for our hiking fix.For a cold, winter day the lot was actually packed.The trails themselves vary greatly in difficulty.The main trails, around Ramapo lake, are fairly flat and easy to navigate.The view at lakeside is great and I can see why it seems to be so popular.

As the trails start to head into the woods, the elvation rises, but the trails still manage to remain pretty low-impact.You are treated to some fantastic views.Here is two of Ramapo lake again, but from halfway up the mountain, and then from the top.

Our ultimate goal this time was to head up to the ruins of Van Slyke Castle (history and details are in the link.)We chose the least direct route to get there, and the trials then started to provide quite the workout.At the very top, you have to climb a low wall and the castle comes into view.

First of all, before we go into the castle, the view from up here is incredible.You can see the NYC skyline from here.I tried to take a picture, but it didn't come out well.(This is not that picture.) Also from here, you can see a tower off in the distance.

We made it there as well, but that picture is coming up later.

The inside of the castle is pretty much wrecked out.

Of course, we had to pose in there.

Those ledges we are standing on were not easy to climb onto, as the floors of this place have long since waved bye-bye.Speaking of which, we left Van Slyke castle and spied some pillars and one last view before we headed to our next target.

A little bit further along there is an old tower, which served as a water tower when the castle was still standing.

It's probably about 20-30 feet high and there is nothing inside of it anymore.With that, we headed out of the woods and onto a long, winding, uphill road to the other tower, which is actually on someone's property.It has also been sold out to various cell phone companies and such.It's a shame.It's a pretty nice building otherwise.

At this point, we had hiked about 7 or 8 miles and were pretty tired, so we headed back down and around the other side of the lake.To my surprise, there was a waterfall there.It went back pretty far, but wasn't that active.I imagine it flows a lot heavier after things melt.I still got a couple of nice pictures out of it though.

All in all, it was a very worthwhile hike.The castle ruins alone were worth the trip.This hiking thing is getting very infectious.I'm already anxious for the next trip.