Saturday, May 29, 2004

Another sketch from the Emerald City Comicon 2004. Suzanne was sitting next to Karin Yamagiwa, and while Karin was willing to try Aquaman, Suzanne was more comfortable with her standard monsters, which she calls "bugs". As a concession to my Aqua-fandom, she made it a water monster... Azal the Aquabug, complete with snorkel and waterwings! One reason to get sketches is to see the creativity of these great artists when they are under pressure. I find the unusual ones, like this one, to be great fun.

AQUABUG
by Suzanne Kaufman
29 February 2004
(permission to post given 29 February 2004 in person)
www.suzannekaufman.com

by Tegan at 10:00 PM Seattle time - Permalink

Thor #79: There's a good chance I would understand this ending better if I'd ever read the beginning. As it is, there just isn't much to recommend this issue. It appears to finally be the end of the eternal arc, but it's a whole cosmic reset button thing, and it's just not that good. Neutral.

Green Lantern #177: Not much action in this one, as it's more about Kyle picking up the pieces of the life he abandoned when he went off to outer space. At least the cliff-hanger is decent. Mildly recommended.

JLA #99: Yup, I'd say that was one major coloring error. Not that it really matters, since the whole thing is still pretty darn stinky. I suppose this could've been worse... I'm just not sure how. And no, I'm not at all interested in the new Doom Patrol.

Still to review: Demo, Conan, Futurama, New Frontier, Ant, Supreme Power, Common Grounds, Harley & Ivy, Way of the Rat, Angel: The Hollower and Green Lantern/Green Arrow Vol 1.

by Tegan at 5:54 PM Seattle time - Permalink

How about a bunch of 404 errors in other languages? Via The Modulator.

Donald Duck through the ages. Check out all the "raums". Via Hit & Run.

Oh, this one made me laugh for quite some time... Animal Rights Barbecue. heh. Heh. HA! Thanks for the link, Garrett, I'm going to be giggling all day.

Pacific Views (and half the rest of the blogosphere) links to Discovery Channels' silly new ads. I liked the Antlers one, but in the end it was the milk truck that I found funniest.

Sean Collins blog makes it through one year!

Newsarama reports on Even More Fund Comics. Considering how good the first volume was (it was excellent, go get it), this one ought to be a blast too. I'm looking forward to it already. And if you don't have the first volume in your library, your library isn't really complete.

Postmodernbarney manages to thoroughly confuse me in regards to the X-men costume changes, which I have been mostly ignoring. But it sounds like I'm not the only confused person. Dorian then goes into a nice commentary about being comfortable with what you read, which is uncomfortable reading for some. Er. Just go read it. I might be putting more into his words than he meant, but I it made me think. Go read.

Persistent Illusions points us to this Dork Tower strip about spammers.

Polite Dissent frightens us with tales of VA nurses. Oh. My.

Nasty purple TV dinosaur tries to steal domain name from Brit kid by same name. Via Metafilter.

Argh! Another person talking about the Alanis Morrisette Song "Ironic"! I still maintain that virtually all the situations mentioned in the lyrics could be ironic, but we aren't given enough information to be sure. Rain on your wedding day is not ironic. Rain on your wedding day if you moved the date to avoid bad weather is ironic. All the situations in the lyrics are potential ironies, which is in itself ironic.

A new political resource page, the dKosopedia, is a wiki format research center that's growing by leaps and bounds. Although it's linked to a liberal blog, it doesn't seem to lean too far left to me, though I've only spot-checked. I'm sure someone going in looking for something to complain about will find it.

A lot more on Tent City 4 in today's Seattle Times, including the problems they are working on solving. The reporter and his photographer spent two days living the in the camp. There's a few pictures of the camp, and a slightly misleading map (it shows where the church is, not where the camp is). I prefer my map.

by Tegan at 10:04 AM Seattle time - Permalink

Friday, May 28, 2004

Yes, it's that time again... time for "Things in Previews That Look Interesting But I Can't Afford To Get (with a list of things I am getting just for contrast)". I'm going to start with the bulk of the book, and then come back and cover the "big four" at the end. Please remember, I'm listing what looks interesting. My actual purchase list is going to be much smaller. The numbers after each title are usually the page number in Previews Magazine, so you can follow along at home.

Let's start with the covers. The front cover is done in orange-browns, and promotes a new Grant Morrison series. After reading Seaguy, I suspect this series will be truly odd. Described as "The Incredible Journey meets The Terminator", it looks like a very weird, possibly incredibly fun, story. I intent to pass on it... but the cover of Previews will inspire some second looks. The back cover looks so bland that I don't have much to say about it. It's just nothing new.

Moving on, let's hit the Splash Page (8-9). There's news about a Star Wars role-playing game from WOTC. I'm mildly interested in seeing what the figurines look like, but I'm not interested in getting any. The return of merchandise from Nightmare Before Christmas is noted, along with an image of a pretty cool Pumpkin King pewter statue. Beyond those, not much of interest for me.

Pages 12-15 have the books for Free Comic Book Day, and once again I urge those of you who have good retailers with whom you are friendly to go to your retailer and chip in a few dollars towards the purchase of the "free" comics. They are not free for the retailers, with prices ranging from 10-90 cents. If you chip in, it'll ease the burden on the retailer and allow more people to get free comics. Consider it! I contributed $20 and asked that my retailer give me a single copy of each book in the Gold and Silver range. If everything comes, that's 31 books! You can't beat that for $20, and she seemed surprised I contributed that much.

Skipping over the Premier Comics section, I'm now at page 198, the featured items for general Comics & Graphic Novels. Pretty much nothing on the four featured pages really catches my eye, so on to the main section.

The first publisher to stop me from flipping to the next page is every blogger's favorite, AIT/Planet Lar (210). First up is Bad Mojo, a book about baseball! Well, no, it's about a witch cursing a baseball player. Hmmm. I'm not sure. Also solicited, and highly recommended, is Demo #9.

Amaze Ink/Slave Labor has a book that looks mildly interesting called 15 Minutes #1 (212). This appears to be set in a superhero universe, and has two stories. I'm probably not going to get it, but it's worth pointing out.

Antarctic Press's Dictator series is moving on from Hitler to Hussein. That's right, a two-issue series called Dictators: Saddam Hussein (217) is starting, with the first chapter entitled "The Rising".

Two books I noticed are coming from Arcana Studio (224). 100 Girls #1 is about a 13 year old girl with a power just beginning to awaken inside here. Starkweather #1 is about a man with prophetic dreams who decides to act on those dreams to save a life. Both books have previews available at the website.

Archangel Studios (224) lists three collections of The Red Star.

Blind Wolf Studios (242) has a book that looks kind of cute: Jack & Jack #1. The solicit is a nicely confusing read.

Bloodfire Studios (242) solicits the fourth and final issue of Kindergoth. It's another odd, cute, but not overly-cute book.

Bries (244) is putting out what looks like a truly fascinating little book called The Exlibris. I wish I could justify getting it, but it's too expensive to make the list, I'm afraid.

Committed Comics (254) is soliciting the second issue of Java, set in Neo Seattle in the year 2073.

CrossGen still has a section, and still is soliciting books. Should it still exist, I'll certainly be getting Abadazad #6 (259) from them.

There's a book that looks vaguely different coming from Digital Noize. The book is called Delete #1 (279) and is about a future in which demons use the 'net to hunt for souls until a hero arises who can use technology against them. Could be fun.

Don't forget to order Digital Webbing Presents #17 (279) from Digital Webbing. Blogger Kevin Melrose has another magic mob story in it. Definitely worth checking out.

Monkeysuit Press has the second issue of Adventures of Mia (320), which is making me regret not ordering the first. It looks like a good series...

And I'm through the main comics section. It feels like there is a lot less than usual this month. Ah well.

In the toys section, there's a Justice League Watchtower Playset (436), based on the satellite in the cartoon. Um. Wow.

WizKids Games has more baseball figures coming out in an expansion pack this September (527). I like Sportsclix, and I've enjoyed trying to collect all the M's figures.

Jumping back to the Premier Comics section, first I'll note that Wizard Magazine is once again doing a strange numbering, with this issue being Wizard X (188). I'm not sure what that's in aid of, but it appears to be the regular issue for the month. Green Lantern fans may want to get this issue, as it has an "exclusive" preview of Green Lantern's Rebirth.

Marvel Comics (180) is next up, with the usual ordering from the shipping list. This month we see Thor #83, possibly Doctor Spectrum #1, although I don't want to get this since it's not by JMS and there are no promises that Marvel won't run another Supreme Power knock-off before this mini is through. Ahem. My friend who buys Thor is interested in Thor: Son of Asgard, and might be inclined to pick it up starting with issue seven. I'll be getting Amazing Spider-Man #70 and Powers #3.

From Image Comics this month, just Noble Causes #2 (145). I really like the alternate cover by Rodolfo Migliari, and I hope my store manages to get that one in.

I'll cover Dark Horse Comics next so I can finish with the company I order most of my stuff from. GoGirl! Volume 1: The Time Team (27) is new material. I enjoyed the original book, I think I'll proabaly like this one. Usagi Yojimbo #78 is a no-brainer. I can't think of anything, off-hand, that would make me not order it.

And now it's time for DC Comics. DC has rearranged their solicits in Diamond, giving us an all-new Direct Currents to flip through. The change is jolting at first, but it wasn't as hard as I'd feared it would be to get used to.

The first thing to notice is that every solicit gets a full page, a half-page, or a quarter page. That makes each item a little easier to identify and recognize. Preview pages show up after the solicit for the book they are from. Any longer articles simply take the form of more wordy solicits. Everything is together, instead of a separate section at the front with promotional articles.

The listings have now been completely divided into their main sections, even the backlists. So all the Batman books including relists are on pages 59-65, and all the Superman books including relists are on pages 66-75.

They've also updated the shipping list from being a simple alphabetical list to listing books by section and shipping date. It's a little cleaner, and (IMHO) easier to read than past shipping lists.

Because of the more clear divisions, I'm going to go through the listings the way they are laid out. I'm not sure if this will reduce the number of items I comment on. We'll see how it goes the next few months.

Starting with the Batman section, the main attraction is Batman: The 12-Cent Adventure (59). Once again, DC is kicking off a long arc with an ultra-cheap book. The next two pages list the first eight parts of the story, which seems to thread through every Bat-book there is. I'll get the 12 cent book, but I don't intend to buy any of the rest. The next spotlight is on Batman/Catwoman: Trail of the Gun #1 (62). I'm not at all interested in the story, but it's got art by Ethan Van Sciver so it'll probably be good. There's a PDF preview at DC's website. Other boks listed that we're likely to get are Batman Adventures #17 (63), Birds of Prey #71, and Birds of Prey #72.

Moving on to the Superman section... there's nothing. Nothing I'm interested in, at least.

So it's on to the DC Universe section. Do I even have to say I'm getting Aquaman #21? (77) This is part one of a new three-part arc, and I'm looking forward to seeing what the new status quo will be like. I have to wonder how long Pfeifer intends to keep Aquaman located in San Diego. Maybe I'll ask him sometime.

Moving on, Bloodhound #2 (78) gets a half-page solicit and also makes our list. We'll just have to see if it lives up to expectations.

The next set of books all appear on page 79: DC Comics Presents: The Atom #1, DC Comics Presents: The Flash #1, DC Comics Presents: Justice League of America #1, and DC Comics Presents: Superman #1. Yes, we're getting all of them. When they come out, I hope somebody puts scans of the new covers next to scans of the old so everyone can compare.

Next on the list is Fallen Angel #14 (80). This issue appears to be a stand-alone, which could be a lot of fun. Moving on... Green Arrow #41 (82), Green Lantern #180, Identity Crisis #3 (84)... I notice that Deathstroke is getting involved in this mini now. He's got some recognition now, thanks to the Teen Titans cartoon. I wonder if that aspect can be played up by savvy retailers?

H-E-R-O #19 (84) is part one of a new four-part arc. We've already seen what a serial killer would do with the power of the device, now Robby has to clean up the mess. JSA #64 has to do with the search for Sandman. JLA #103 and JLA #104 (85) continue the single-character focus of the last couple of issues. These could be good, but I'm not holding out much hope. Maybe they'll seem better if my expectations are low enough. JSA: Strange Adventures #1 looks cool. It's set in the Golden Age, and features the original JSA. Six-issue mini. I'm getting it.

Justice League Adventures #34 (89) is the final issue. I'm not sure why the books based on the animated series don't do well. I've generally enjoyed them a lot, sometimes much more than the "real" books. We'll also be getting Outsiders #15 (92), and Plastic Man #9.

Teen Titans Go! #10 (93) makes the list only because of the appearance of "teen hearthrob Aqualad". Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. We'll also likely get Weird Secret Origins 80-Page Giant. Original origins of Dr Fate, Enchantress, Animal Man, Congorilla, El Diablo, Bizarro, and The Spectre? Yeah, don't want to miss this one.

Nothing in the Beyond the Universe section drew me in, but the Astro City Special (106) in the Wildstorm section is a definite yes.

In the Vertigo section, The Sandman: Endless Nights Softcover (115) sure looks like a good buy. Very, very tempting. I will be getting Swamp Thing #6 (117), as it's the end of the first arc.

Finishing up, the DC Direct section continues to have the neat Japanese Imports... I like the design on the Riddler figure (127), but I don't like the look of the figure itself. Beyond that, nothing jumped out at me.

So that's it for this month's "Things in Previews That Look Interesting But I Can't Afford To Get (with a list of things I am getting just for contrast)". Comments? Questions? Did I miss any really cool books that you know about and would like to point out? Do you disagree with something I wrote, and want to correct me? There's the comments, right below. Post something. And, yes, I accept review copies. I'm willing to give almost anything a try.

by Tegan at 4:54 PM Seattle time - Permalink

• Weight = Still no reading
  
• Change From Last Week = No reading (no scale, no number, sorry)
  
• Met Exercise Goal? Yes
  Goal was ten minutes a day (walk/bike/swim) at least four days.
  
• Current Exercise Goal = ten minutes a day (walk/bike/swim) at least six days.
  
• Kept food diary? Yes.

by Tegan at 10:39 AM Seattle time - Permalink

Thursday, May 27, 2004

by Tegan at 3:42 PM Seattle time - Permalink

Worksafe Classic Art. "If you've ever walked into a musuem with your child, you were certainly shocked at the flagrant nudity being touted around for pure shock value. Whatever happened to morals?" This photoshopping contest required the entries to cover up a classic nude.

If that wasn't enough, there's also a Superhero Day Jobs contest at the same site. Yes, Aquaman is in this one. I can't say I'm too impressed... only a couple were really well-done.

Both photoshop contests via Boing Boing.

An old booklet on How to make friends by Telephone has emerged, been scanned, and is posted for your perusal. Via Metafilter.

The latest health craze is... a video game? Via Various and Sundry.

by Tegan at 10:44 AM Seattle time - Permalink

Wednesday, May 26, 2004

From Seattle to Marysville to Bellingham to Bothell to Tent City to Comic Shop in Kenmore to Seattle again...

Well, I told you that my little sister got sick, an ear infection we think. She had vertigo. Anyway, she doesn't feel safe enough to drive, but since she lives in Renton and goes to school at Western Washington University in Bellingham (almost 90 miles away), that is a big problem. Luckily, she only has two days of classes each week (Monday and Wednesday).

I was asked last last week if I would be willing to drive Lisa up to school. I was a little hesitant, since I *am* supposed to be watching the house and the grandparents. However, the grandparents were all for it, and so I went ahead and agreed to take her one way. So Monday evening I picked her up from her classes.

By Tuesday she still wasn't feeling well, so I agreed to take her up to school Wednesday morning. And I've just returned from that trip.

We got started a bit early so we could walk up to the fruit stand so Lisa could get some Grape Nehi to try. Luckily, they were open. It was pouring rain, so we both got rather damp. Regardless, we decided to set out early to make sure we got there in time. So after saying good-bye to the grandparents, we were off!

The trip to Bellingham is a fairly easy one. It's a straight shot up Interstate 5 toward the Canadian border. From Seattle, it's only about 75 miles. I'm not real happy about making the trip twice in one week, but that's what Lisa's been doing this last quarter as she finishes up school.

We stopped in Marysville to get gas, as we figured it would be cheaper than in Seattle (it was). Lisa was curious to see where my hubby-Eric works. Since it's not far from the freeway I drove up to the school. We turned around in their parking lot, and headed back to I-5. (Hey, Eric, you never told me that they'd ripped up State Street that much, did you? It looks completely different.)

Anyway, we went back to the freeway and the rest of the trip to B'ham was mostly uneventful. Well, except for the stretch of road when the rain came down so hard I couldn't see the highway, only the lights of the car in front of me, and that barely. Luckily, that lasted less than a minute, and then it eased up enough for safe driving.

Once in B'ham, we stopped at the main grocery store to pick up "supplies". Since Lisa doesn't have a car, she wanted to make sure she had lunch and dinner. I also wanted to grab something to take to the folks at Tent City. I bought a couple of boxes of granola bars, and Lisa pitched in with a box of Rice Krispies Treats. I'm wearing my "I'm blogging this." T-shirt, and the checker at the grocery store asked what it meant. Heh. Now she's been blogged.

I then drove her up to her first class, then waited until she was done, then dropped her off at her second class across campus at Fairhaven College. The rest of her classes are also at Fairhaven, so she doesn't have to walk long distances while she's still sick.

Bidding her good-bye, I headed off to my own little adventure. As I drove down out of Bellingham, I noticed the clouds were moving rapidly through the hills. It looked like the trees were on fire, as the clouds moved through, trailing like smoke. It was a compelling scene, but I had to keep my eyes on the road.

There were LOTS of trucks, and the road was very wet, so visibility was poor. Add in the crazy Canadian drivers (I swear, all Canadians lose their minds once they cross the border into the United States) and it was a bit of a gripping ride. The worst Canadian drivers are ones that drive white vans. I don't know what it is about white mini-vans, but if you see one with Canadian plates, steer well clear. Back when I was still attending WWU, there were several trips that nearly ended when a white van with Canadian plates swerved without warning at the car I was riding in. It happened once again. I didn't notice the Canadian plates until after the guy almost ran me down. Luckily there was a hard shoulder at that point on the road, or I would've ended up crashed somewhere between Everett and B'ham.

Once I got home, shaken and stirred, I calmed down for a bit at my own house in Bothell. Then I went up to the Tent City for another short visit.

It had stopped raining when I went up. I didn't see any police cars or officers at all this time. I brought my poor donations up to them, and checked out the differences in the camp from last week.

There are a lot more tents, and they've filled in the inner chain link fence with slats, and added another wall, this one of canvas, to block the view from the road. The kitchen was set up and has power. It's in a large canopy, the kind that people get to protect their mobile homes. They have a microwave and coffee makers, but no refrigerator. They are using lots of ice to keep food fresh. Like last time, everything was clean. I should have asked if they have a litter patrol going yet, but I didn't have the nerve.

I asked what they needed, and they handed me a printout of this webpage. The woman I was talking with also said they have a serious shortage of nice work clothes for men. From what she said, their needs change quickly as the community finds out about one need and fills it. A man at the donation tent said sticking with the list is safest. They still need water, but there are several businesses that have been doing an excellent job of providing enough clean water for drinking. Again they had a pile as big as a car of bottled water.

I think for next week's visit (and yes, I think I'm going to visit weekly and donate something, even if it's only granola bars) I'm going to try to borrow a camera from someone and ask if I can take pictures. One thing I'd like to do is take a few pictures of the whole area, and then take some more pictures after the Tent City leaves in August to show what kind of land they were living on. It really is miserable bumpy land that no one would want to camp on if they had a choice.

After chatting for a bit, I headed off toward the pugless house again.

I stopped at the comic shop on the way back and got this week's haul. I took the extra copy of Demo #6 that resulted from Larry Young's generousity and after some discussion we put it in another customer's box, paid for, as a gift. I wrote a little note. I hope I'll get some feedback. By the way, Larry: The shop owner, Paige, says that Diamond actually shorted us. She'd got the order in on time, they just didn't give us all the copies. Carol, the employee, says it happens frequently to our shop. They have the copies, they just don't send them out for whatever reason. It's annoying. It's one of the pitfalls of working with a monopoly like Diamond.

In any case, I safelly arrived back at the pugless house of not-so-many horrors, said hello to the grandparents, and headed upstairs to my computer, where I sat down and started to type about my road trip. So you're all caught up, or at least as caught up as you want to be, and I'm going to take a nap. Driving all those miles is tough when you aren't used to it.

by Tegan at 4:40 PM Seattle time - Permalink

Angel [1-11]: Somnambulist: I figured that Angel's nightmares had little or nothing to do with the current Angel's actions. In fact, within moments of seeing the first nightmare I figured that he must be seeing through the eyes of another vampire. The link to Angelus made perfect sense, and the taunting "worst you can imagine" things was effective. I particularly like the bit where Cordelia figures out that she's facing a vampire. For a self-absorbed looney she sure is able to think on her feet. I'm not sure I get how Angel survives being staked. I don't think I know all the rules of the Buffy-verse vampires. Wesley is still an idiot, but he shows signs of native intelligence. And of course, any episode in which Angel is chained to a bed is a good episode.

Angel [1-12]: Expecting: I was thinking "instant karma". I suppose that Cordelia didn't really deserve it, but then, for a person in her line of work she tends to be quite naive. Wesley was better in this one, still fumbling around, but he figured out the details about the demon while Angel was off finding out where it lived. And Wesley's little "I've come to fight you one on one" bit was hilarious. I liked the reappearance of Cordelia's ghost, and how he cared for her. It was a touching. In a sense. Nothing super spectacular about this, but it was a good little episode. Interesting to see Cordelia sum up what she learned at the end, too.

More on the way. I've been on an Angel-watching marathon.

by Tegan at 7:34 AM Seattle time - Permalink

Tuesday, May 25, 2004

The Mars Society has folks living like they are on Mars, only in Utah and the Canadian Tundra. A journalist got selected to be part of the experiment, and Slate is posting his journal from his two weeks on "Mars".

I'm still waiting and hoping for news on why Diamond has cancelled Dork Storm Press books Nodwick and PS238, and when the books will be resolicited. PS238 is just about the best superhero related kids book I've ever seen, bar none, and I would hate to see it go away. Anyone? Are there no comics journalists with actual sources who can look into this? I've e-mailed a few folks, but haven't gotten any responses yet. Anyone spotted an article I may have missed? Anyone?

Also, with the news of Bob Haney suffering a stroke, I'm ever more curious if DC will ever do the right thing and publish The Teen Titans Swingin' Elseworld Special. Bob Haney did a lot of Aquaman, too. I hope he recovers.

Fanboy Rampage is reporting a rumor that CrossGen is closing its doors this week. We'll have to see if it happens or not, eh? I will seriously miss Abadazad, if it does.

Kevin Melrose of Thought Balloons points out that his next story appears in Digital Webbing Presents #17, which now has a Diamond Order Code: JUN04 2442. It'll be out in August, and it's a 40 page, B&W and no ads, book with a cover price of only $2.95. Kevin sent me Digital Webbing Presents #11, which, despite it's not-terribly-exciting name, was quite good.

Near Mint Heroes has gone on a spat of link-blogging, and you should check them out. Lots of stuff I haven't seen linked to elsewhere in the comics blogosphere.

Polite Dissent is a must-read for comic fans who are at all interested in how accurate the medical bits are in the books you read. Some of the stuff he finds is just... cool. I swear I learn something about medicine every time I visit the page.

As some of you know, Newsarama has coverage of Mike Allred's Golden Plates Project, complete with the requisite Mormon bashing in the thread that follows. I suspect Allred and anyone who actually supports this project will have to put up with a lot of that in the months to follow, as too many people would rather waste time attacking other people's religions instead of working on making themselves better people. Go figure. After making a few stupid comments on Allred's board, I think I'm just going to stay out of it too. I should learn to keep my trap shut, sometimes.

Anyway, the Newsarama article includes four samples from the work, including Nephi shocking his brothers, Samuel the Lamanite, Moroni taking the records to bury them, and Mormon and Moroni during one of the final battles. Members of the LDS church will know exactly what these stories are. I'm hoping that this project will allow my husband to experience some of the stories I grew up with, without pressuring him with the religious side of it. Anyway, my only complaint with the project so far is that Samuel's skin ought to be darker.

There was a bit more on Tent City in the Seattle Times today. The article talks about tent city residents with outstanding warrants. Apparently two resident were arrested, and one was kicked out. Said a Tent City res: "We have never been asked to screen for warrants before. We only screen for sex offenders." There is also the information that the city hearing on whether or not it is legal for the church to host the Tent City on their land will be June 9 and 10. I don't intend to get involved in that, as it really is a purely legal question, even if the motivations of the people filing suit might not have been as pure as possible. According to this FAQ about Seattle's Tent City, such suits have always been thrown out of court before.

Another article from Friday's paper indicate that crime rates generally don't change when Tent City is in the neighborhood: The longest stay for the group — six months in 2000 — was at Beacon Hill's El Centro de la Raza, a Latino advocacy organization. During those six months, the neighborhood around the site reported about 12 crimes per month. A year later, when the tent city was no longer there, the El Centro area had 13 incidents each month. Crime went up when the tent city left?

Also from that article: Tent-city campers are subject to expulsion if they violate a code of conduct that prohibits drug or alcohol use, weapons or violence, abusive language, loitering and disturbing neighbors. So alcohol is prohibited. I also found this bit encouraging: Michael Ostrogorsky, co-manager of GreenWing Gardens and Parrot Cafe in Haller Lake, said he misses the litter patrols that cleaned up the neighborhood each morning. "They picked up everybody's trash, whether it was theirs or not. I was actually sorry to see them go," Ostrogorsky said. There's an awful lot of litter in our neighborhood, usually from the Sunday church-goers who seem to think that emptying their trash into the blackberry bushes on somebody's yard is acceptable behavior. I would be happy to see a litter patrol.

I plan on visiting Tent City tomorrow, probably with some granola bars or something, if I can afford any. If anyone has any serious suggestions for questions to ask, I'd be delighted to give it a shot. I wish I had a camera. Tomorrow, by the way, is supposed to be very wet. I suspect I'll see the downside of having to camp. I wish I could afford to go out and buy some tarps and lamps for them. If you haven't, please read my account of my first visit.

WARNING - POLITICS AHEAD

Via Crooked Timber, you can get a free sticker from MoveOn. As usual, Bush-supporters won't want to bother following this link.

END POLITICS

by Tegan at 6:57 PM Seattle time - Permalink

Angel [1-09]: Hero: I knew that Doyle died at some point in the series. The episode in the fifth season that I caught, in which Cordelia returns, made that fact pretty clear. But I didn't expect it to be so soon into the series. Nor did I expect it to hit as hard as this did. This episode also builds on the previous in a way that I hadn't seen in the first eight episodes, with Angel starting out hurting badly from the events of the last episode, and nobody having any idea why. I suspected, when Doyle kissed Cordelia, that something was being passed on (the special effect there gave it away, really). It was a powerful little episode. Having two powerful episodes in a row like that was actually pretty darn effective.

Angel [1-10]: Parting Gifts: Thanks to the series finale, I knew what gift Doyle had passed on to Cordelia. I just didn't expect any of the fun events that quickly followed after. Amazing how, when a big loss occurs in Cordelia's life, an empath suddenly shows up and helps her through it. Anyway, this one is fun despite some slightly glaring plot holes. But the big shocker for me was Wesley. I sort of knew that he'd shown up in Buffy. I didn't realize that he knew both Cordelia and Angel. And I had absolutely no idea that he was such an idiot. From the little bit I saw of the final season of Angel, Wesley was a powerhouse of a character. Seeing him like this was like looking at an old High School yearbook and being shocked at how much a person had changed. This was definitely one of the more odd moments in my viewing of Angel.

Coming up in comics reviews this week (assuming everything ships): Demo, Way of the Rat, Conan, Harley & Ivy, New Frontier, Green Lantern, JLA, Common Grounds, Thor, Supreme Power, Ant, and Futurama. Girl Genius is also due to ship, but didn't show up on Diamond's list. I've also got more Angel DVD reviews coming up, as I've finally got a chance to sit and watch some of these. I'll also try to pull together another Random Thoughts post, but news that interests me has been light on the ground so far.

by Tegan at 11:39 AM Seattle time - Permalink

So, it's been two weeks since I moved into the pugless house of not-so-many horrors. Three more weeks to go. What have I learned in my short time here?

Adjusting to the sound of heavy traffic on the street outside is difficult. I didn't have so much trouble the times I've pug-sat before. I'm thinking, MOPPeT (My Own Personal Pet Theory) is that without having to take the pugs on walkies three times a day, I'm just not exhausted enough to fall asleep despite the traffic.

There are few things in life more relaxing than sitting in a hottub watching the stars come out. It's really quite pleasant.

Living in a house with stairs is very different than living in a house with a single step. Going up and down the stairs alone is taking off pounds, I'm sure. At the very least, it's making my knees crackle.

The more I watch Angel on DVD, the more I think my husband looks like David Boreanaz in my memory, and the more I want to see him. My husband, not David Boreanaz.

The Ravenna neighborhood is a very good place for walks, even without the pugs hanging around.

I'm still no good at keeping plants alive, even if they are nicely established and living in a beautiful urban garden. Hands off is the best approach. I hope.

by Tegan at 8:50 AM Seattle time - Permalink

Monday, May 24, 2004

I did not like to hear our race called sheep, and said I did not think they were.

"Still, it is true, lamb," said Satan. "Look at you in war -- what mutton you are, and how ridiculous!"

"In war? How?"

"There has never been a just one, never an honorable one -- on the part of the instigator of the war. I can see a million years ahead, and this rule will never change in so many as half a dozen instances. The loud little handful -- as usual -- will shout for the war. The pulpit will -- warily and cautiously -- object -- at first; the great, big, dull bulk of the nation will rub its sleepy eyes and try to make out why there should be a war, and will say, earnestly and indignantly, "It is unjust and dishonorable, and there is no necessity for it." Then the handful will shout louder. A few fair men on the other side will argue and reason against the war with speech and pen, and at first will have a hearing and be applauded; but it will not last long; those others will outshout them, and presently the anti-war audiences will thin out and lose popularity. Before long you will see this curious thing: the speakers stoned from the platform, and free speech strangled by hordes of furious men who in their secret hearts are still at one with those stoned speakers -- as earlier -- but do not dare to say so. And now the whole nation -- pulpit and all -- will take up the war-cry, and shout itself hoarse, and mob any honest man who ventures to open his mouth; and presently such mouths will cease to open. Next the statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting the blame upon the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing falsities, and will diligently study them, and refuse to examine any refutations of them; and thus he will by and by convince himself that the war is just, and will thank God for the better sleep he enjoys after this process of grotesque self-deception."

- Mark Twain, "The Mysterious Stranger" Chapter 9

by Tegan at 5:13 PM Seattle time - Permalink

Dippin' into the AIT/Planet Lar box yet again. This time it's Scurvy Dogs.

Scurvy Dogs 1-3 by Andrew Boyd and Ryan Yount: Oh my. Um. Well. Yikes. Er. Uh. Eh. Ok. These are... bizarre. As the books say, Pirates are the new Monkeys. You wanna sell a book? Stick a pirate in it. And these books take the premise and run with it. But you wanna know whether or not to buy them, right? That's a toughie. I original thought I was going to say these books are full of low-brow humor. But, although some is low-brow, it's more bizarre than low-brow. And, you know, you can't say that something is low-brow when you've laughed at the jokes... which I did, in some cases. I just can't say I loved it. I didn't hate it, either. And I can't really recommend it. I know a lot of folks who would find these books hilarious and well worth the time to read... but I'm not one of them. So I'm going with a neutral rating on this one.

Moving on, let's hit another series sent to me for review. This is from the Sidekicks series. Also check out my review of the first book.

Sidekicks: Operation Squish (hardcover) by Dan Danko and Tom Mason: The first book was all set-up, despite the cool adventure in space. I see that now. In this second book, our hero gets to take on a Giant Robot and deal with girl troubles. There's also a couple of tantalizing hints of more depth to this universe than even Guy Martin thinks there is. All-in-all, this one makes me want to read the third one even more (it's in my reading pile), and cements my decision to get the fourth book as soon as it comes out. Highly recommended for young readers (ages 9 to 12, says Amazon) and anyone young at heart. I particularly recommend it to people who want a gentle deconstruction of the whole idea of superheroes. Definitely worth a read.

by Tegan at 8:22 AM Seattle time - Permalink

Sunday, May 23, 2004

JMS is reporting that Richard Biggs, who played Dr Stephen Franklin on Babylon 5, has died. He was only 43. My thanks to Mike Sterling for passing on the sad news. I've met Richard Biggs. He pulled a terribly funny joke on Jason Carter at Anglicon one year. Now the joke seems sadly inappropriate. Richard and Jason at Anglicon.

I noticed that Legomancer indicated how many of the top 300 books for April he'd bought, so I decided to check for myself and see how many of them I got. Let's see... At number 4, Marvel 1602. Next would be number 15, Amazing Spider-Man #65. Then numbers 18 and 21, JLA #96 and JLA #97. That's four, I'm already equal to Legomancer's total. I bought the book at 24, Supreme Power #9. And the book at 34, Conan #3, and the book at 42, Outsiders #11. I also got JSA #60 which came in at 44 on the list and Superman: Birthright #9 which was at 53. Green Lantern #176 (56), Green Arrow #37 (59), Birds of Prey #66 (64), Thor #77 (66), Arrowsmith/Astro City (78), Batman: Harley & Ivy #1 (80), Swamp Thing #2 (84), and Aquaman #17 (88). Whew. Seventeen of the top 100 alone. I tried to count what I read out of the remaining 200, but it looks like they included re-orders, so it's hard to tell.

ICv2 has posted a nice archive page of their top 300 comics lists.

Here's a couple more reviews of Aquaman #18: Silver Bullet Comics and Cornwell's Daily Review.

You think your diet is tough? Try these Weight Watchers recipe cards from 1974. Or rather, don't try them. Just look at the pictures and shudder in disbelief. Via OxBlog.

Here's a neat page of puzzles, including some impossible objects. Via Metafilter.

Another person responds to my tent city post, pointing out how hypocritical it is for a Christian school to go into lockdown over new neighbors moving in. Thanks, De. I thought so too.

WARNING POLITICAL RANTS AHEAD

"Controlled studies show that it results in 54% fewer juvenile arrests and 69% fewer juvenile convictions and probation violations. And for every dollar it costs, four dollars are saved in future costs. Why aren't tough-on-crime conservatives all over it?" Visit Respectful of Otters to find out what "it" is. Via Political Animal.

From kitanzi via Garrett Firzgerald: "To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." - Theodore Roosevelt (1918)

This is in response to House Majority leader Tom DeLay claiming that criticism of the President is "putting American lives at risk." The suggestion is that everyone write a nice postcard to Mr. DeLay and let him know that he is acting in an unpatriotic, servile, and morally treasonable way by sending him just the Roosevelt quote.

There was a third rant, but I deleted it. It was too much, even for me.

END POLITICAL RANTS

by Tegan at 1:09 PM Seattle time - Permalink

Powerpuff Girls #50: Hubby had to get this one, as the Powerpuff Girls are transported to another dimension, where the Powerpunk Girls hold sway. Not a lot to say about this one. It was funny, and the story moved along nicely. I didn't have as much of a problem with the "translation" from animated to static form on this one as I did the first couple of issues of the comic. A nice, fun litle read. Powerpuff Girls fans will enjoy it.

I got this next one thanks to an Amazon gift certificate from people being nice enough to buy from Amazon through my bookshop. If you bought anything through my Amazon links in the last six months, this review is for you.

Iron Wok Jan! by Shinji Saijyo. This is the story of Jan Akiyama, the arrogant grandson of the "Master of Chinese Cuisine" in Japan. His grandfather has trained him to be the best chef possible, and has also instilled in him the need to compete. Upon his grandfather's death, Jan goes to the restaurant of his grandfather's greatest rivel, Mutsuju Gobancho, to get work and to prove himself as the best Chinese Chef ever. But first he has to get past Gobancho's granddaughter, Kiriko, who also happens to be an excellent chef. That's the most basic outline of the premise possible. Like all Manga, it's considerably more complicated than that. There's a fairly large staff at the restaurant, but the story focuses on the two rivals for the most part. There's just enough focus on the food to satisfy that part of the story. Some of the chefs explain what they are doing, but I have no idea if the descriptions are accurate. I'm not a cook, much less a chef. This is much more a story of what happens when someone determined to "show them all" comes into a situation where everyone is just trying to do their best. I'm sure Jan and Kiriko must hook up at some point (it is a natural pairing in some ways), but it doesn't happen in this volume. This is a fun little book, and I know many more volumes have been published. This is actually quite a satisfying read on its own, but I wouldn't mind reading more.

Coming on Wednesday, according to the latest shipping list: Conan, Harley & Ivy, New Frontier, Green Lantern, JLA, Thor, Supreme Power, and maybe even Futurama. Who knows. And Previews is also due out, so expect a Flipping Through Previews post sometime in the next week or so.

by Tegan at 10:23 AM Seattle time - Permalink