Who is The League?
The League resides in Austin, Texas. He cohabitates with his large dog, Andre, and his lovely wife, Troubles McSteans.
The League attended and graduated from the University of Texas with degrees in Radio-Television-Film and History. He has worked in a wide variety of fields as an IT manager specializing in the higher-ed environment.
In addition to The Signal Watch and League of Melbotis, He has written for Texas Public Radio, the now defunct Film Fodder and other sites. He was producer and host of The Signal Watch PodCast.
Artist's depiction of The League blogging |
For more information and the history of "Why 'The League'?" and "Why 'Melbotis'?", you can click here to learn more.
The Signal Watch is the media-coverage wing of the League of Melbotis blog. Initital posts (April 2003 - December 2009) captured some key years in the life of this blogger. We invite you to visit!
What does "The Signal Watch" mean, anyway?
"The Signal Watch" refers to the watch given by Superman to his pal, Jimmy Olsen, which would emit a super-sonic sound detectable only by Superman, but which was depicted as a "zee zee zee..." in the comics. Jimmy was to use the watch only when faced with mortal danger. Which happened monthly.
We invite you to read other meanings onto the name, as I assure you, we mean those as well.
You
Just as Superman had an extended family, so, too, do we hope that we can make you part of the Signal Watch family.
One thing that a blog can provide that other social media does not is a sense of community and discussion. I can write about this stuff for myself, but it's a lot more fun when you chime in.
What's on this site?
Film
The Signal Watch is the media-coverage wing of the League of Melbotis blog. Initital posts (April 2003 - December 2009) captured some key years in the life of this blogger. We invite you to visit!
In mid-2022, League of Melbotis was revived and is alive and well again as the personal-blog wing of this enterprise.
You can also see our fine work at:
You can also see our fine work at:
What does "The Signal Watch" mean, anyway?
"The Signal Watch" refers to the watch given by Superman to his pal, Jimmy Olsen, which would emit a super-sonic sound detectable only by Superman, but which was depicted as a "zee zee zee..." in the comics. Jimmy was to use the watch only when faced with mortal danger. Which happened monthly.
We invite you to read other meanings onto the name, as I assure you, we mean those as well.
You
Just as Superman had an extended family, so, too, do we hope that we can make you part of the Signal Watch family.
Maybe you can be our very own "Beppo the Super Monkey"! |
One thing that a blog can provide that other social media does not is a sense of community and discussion. I can write about this stuff for myself, but it's a lot more fun when you chime in.
What's on this site?
Film
For several years, we've focused on film at The Signal Watch. We create a post for every film we watch, even if it's just to acknowledge that we did see it. But most of the time, we try to offer some light review, often including personal perspective. While our film consumption isn't as diverse as it could be, we also don't consider this a niche film review site - we aren't just focusing on superhero film, sci-fi or noir.
So, feel free to dig into the archives and see if we've seen that movie you're looking for. And if I haven't seen it, you can recommend it!
The Signal Watch PodCast
For 250+ episodes, we hosted a regular podcast with a rotating group of contributors. The topic was, primarily, movies of all sorts. From time-to-time, we covered other topics. The PodCast stopped operating in October of 2023.
For more information, click here.
Passings and Birthdays
We do cover passing and birthdays of individuals in the media in whom we take particular interest. When it comes to passing, we also try to make note of individuals with impact particular to the interests of the site. Someone has to mark the time.
Superman
The blog will often shine a special spotlight on Superman, the Man of Steel, created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, and first published by National Periodical Publications in 1938. Today, Superman comics, movies, etc... are produced by DC Comics, a division of Time-Warner.
We tend to believe Superman is pretty keen.
Comics
We encourage our family of readers to explore the many different models and genres of comics, from Sunday newspaper strips to literary work, autobiographical work, experimental, historical and everything inbetween.
For a long time, we focused a lot on DC Comics, but in recent years, that picture has changed. But we're still pretty keen on the characters and world of DC Comics.
With the explosion in media based on comics, we tend to integrate discussion of superheroes and other comics-related items in with movies rather than discussing comics themselves. But sometimes, we actually do just talk about those little pamphlets full of art and stories.
The blog will often shine a special spotlight on Superman, the Man of Steel, created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, and first published by National Periodical Publications in 1938. Today, Superman comics, movies, etc... are produced by DC Comics, a division of Time-Warner.
We tend to believe Superman is pretty keen.
Man of Steel and his lady friend |
Comics
We encourage our family of readers to explore the many different models and genres of comics, from Sunday newspaper strips to literary work, autobiographical work, experimental, historical and everything inbetween.
For a long time, we focused a lot on DC Comics, but in recent years, that picture has changed. But we're still pretty keen on the characters and world of DC Comics.
My imaginary friends |
With the explosion in media based on comics, we tend to integrate discussion of superheroes and other comics-related items in with movies rather than discussing comics themselves. But sometimes, we actually do just talk about those little pamphlets full of art and stories.
Occasionally - Television
Same rules apply for TV and film. Especially in this era of television finding new and interesting shapes to take on.
Occasionally - History
You can't know where you're headed if you don't know how you got to where you are now. No matter how much I enjoy the fantastic worlds of film and comics, the real world is always finding ways to be more interesting than anything people make up. Even with crime-fighting aliens and whatnot.
I'm an American, and as such, find American history pretty darn interesting. So, look out for that, I guess. Especially discussions of Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States.
That's my way of saying - at the end of the day, this is my personal webspace, and, sometimes, this site is a personal journal. I know that's not what people do on the internet anymore, but that's how it's gonna be. I hope that's all right.
Same rules apply for TV and film. Especially in this era of television finding new and interesting shapes to take on.
Occasionally - History
You can't know where you're headed if you don't know how you got to where you are now. No matter how much I enjoy the fantastic worlds of film and comics, the real world is always finding ways to be more interesting than anything people make up. Even with crime-fighting aliens and whatnot.
I'm an American, and as such, find American history pretty darn interesting. So, look out for that, I guess. Especially discussions of Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States.
TR after a busy morning digging a few holes to keep in shape |
That's my way of saying - at the end of the day, this is my personal webspace, and, sometimes, this site is a personal journal. I know that's not what people do on the internet anymore, but that's how it's gonna be. I hope that's all right.