Bloggity-Blog-Blog-Blog Archive 16 Oct 2005 to 22 Oct 2005

Bloggity-Blog-Blog-Blog Archive
Laura "Tegan" Gjovaag

Saturday, October 22, 2005

Night Thoughts

Johnny B's full NFL predictions.

Elayne gives me a blogiversary gift. Garrett also mentions it.

Dan Jurgens responds to Aquaman on Smallville. The ratings were good.

Tropical Storm Alpha forms.

The lovely tale of the rat that outsmarted scientists: "Our findings confirm that eliminating a single invading rat is disproportionately difficult." Yeah, I'll say.

Star Wars: A New Hope as an animated GIF.

For fans of Filk, FilkerTom directs us to the list of OVFF winners.

New Trailer for Narnia. Not bad... not bad at all. The animals actually look like real animals.

Jim Henley asks why Rapture is a good name for a kids' bike. Hey, I'm still amused by my old bike's name: Impact. I think that one is worse.

Talk About Comics also mentions the statement by Bob Harris... which leads me to wonder about the ads in comic books. "You are not the media's customer; you are their product. Their only customers are the advertisers." What do the ads in comic books say about us as readers of comic books?

Tom Peyer has a quote for us.

-by Tegan at 10:52 PM Seattle time - Permalink

Three Years...

Tuesday, October 22, 2002:

Hi there.

Way back when, when I first started my first webpage, I tried to do this. This thing that's now called "blog"ing. But I didn't really get what I wanted to do, so every entry was this huge essay that made no sense...

And with those words, I started this weblog three years ago. Later that night I posted the first image on my new blog:

The next day I posted my first Rapid Reviews, which featured Smallville The Comic, Wonder Woman #185, JLA #74, and Green Arrow Secret Files #1.

My first Blogiversary was a bittersweet affair, and I hope the circumstances surrounding it never happen to us again (or, for that matter, anyone else (if you are confused, read the first paragraph of the entry underneath)).

My second Blogiversary was another look back, but it's pretty clear I was depressed that day. *sigh*

I don't think my streak of one entry per day is alive anymore. I think maybe I broke it during the 3-Day. Doesn't matter, does it? I did at least a blog a day for over two years.

Looking back, did I acomplish the goal I set for this blog? I wanted to blog to force myself to write something daily. It was (and is) primarily a writing exercise. Since I really didn't expect to gain an audience beyond my husband, my little sister, and my mom, it was never about who would read it (and I figured my mom and sister would stop reading eventually because the comic book stuff bores them).

I think, overall, I accomplished the main goal. It's kept me writing and kept me thinking about writing, which was a skill I'd lost when I left school. I sometimes find the comments of other bloggers to be really funny, when they talk about situations they are in and how they think "I could blog this"... that's how writers think all the time, that's how I used to think when I had a demanding teacher whose daily writing assignments forced me to come up with usable material all the time. If this blogging trend is doing anything, it's forcing people to think like writers. That's a good thing, in my book.

Eeeuch. I'm blogging about blogging. Best to stop right now... more tomorrow. I suspect I'll be pretty busy most of today.

-by Tegan at 12:45 AM Seattle time - Permalink

Friday, October 21, 2005

Mostly Pointless Thoughts

Johnny B does a little early NFL prediction thanks to the hurricane.

Comic Book Wife announces her comic book husband's new blog: Kirk Jarvinen. Yeah, catchy title, isn't it? In case you don't know, Kirk Jarvinen's big claim to fame in my little world is that he pencilled the excellent "Aquaman: Time & Tide" mini-series by Peter David. Some of my favorite Aquaman artwork ever... I have a Time & Tide promo poster on the wall that I look at every day.

The Emerald City Comicon has overhauled and updated their website so folks can get a better idea of what's coming. I highly recommend this show, which I've attended since it started (2005, 2004, 2003).

The picture on this Boing Boing post just makes me giggle every time I see it.

Fun little bit from Usenet:

Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.dc.universe
Subject: Re: How do you say George Perez?
From: Kurt Busiek

On 2005-10-21 09:46:57 -0700, "Glennsim" said:

> So how do you say "Busiek"?

O-grate-wun.

kdb
--
Read an ASTRO CITY story for FREE, at:
http://www.dccomics.com/features/astro/

Bob Harris makes a point about the media that I just need to put down... "You are not the media's customer; you are their product. Their only customers are the advertisers." I just need to think about that, and the implications of it, some more, so I'm putting it here to remind me.

-by Tegan at 3:08 PM Seattle time - Permalink

Rapid Reviews - 5 October 2005 - Part II

Two weeks behind, not a big surprise. This seems to happen to me on a regular basis. I'll just keep writing until I catch up, then...

Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror #11: We get this every year, and every year it's pretty good. This year had some classic horror creators working on it, and as you'd expect, it worked out nice. I hesitate to write much more because it all seemed like "you had to be there" kind of humor to me. If you like the annual Treehouse of Horror episodes of the Simpsons, this is a book worth getting.

Usagi Yojimbo #87: "The Treasure of the Mother of Mountains" part five: There is seriously nothing I can say about this book that hasn't already been said. This issue is another outstanding piece of a great story from one of the best in the business. If you like solid tales with great characters, you should be buying this book. Wiki.

Aquaman #35: "A Walk-On Part In The War": Aquaman gets his taste of the OMACs, and it fits surprisingly well into the storyline. The character that goes OMACy is the right one, and the reactions of both Aquaman and Koryak to the threat are perfect. Now I'm just eager to see what happens next... something that hasn't happened with this book in awhile. Wiki.

-by Tegan at 2:32 PM Seattle time - Permalink

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Aquaman on Smallville...

First thing that came to mind:

Or more exactly:

As compared to this:

There were a lot of great quotes in this one too, lots of wonderful nods to the past. Silver Age origin, with powers from the cartoon (energy/water missiles). I'm not totally impressed with Ritchson's acting, but part of that is the script I'm sure. The explanation for the orange and green was the greatest ever (University of Miami! Ha!).

-by Tegan at 8:29 PM Seattle time - Permalink

No Commentary, Just Thoughts...

There's a little article about Aquaman in the New York Post (reg req). The writer gets the Silver Age origin wrong, but otherwise it's an ok piece.

Ultimate Countdown To Infinity Crisis Wars II. It explains it almost as well as reading the actual books. And hey, if you want to understand the competition's big crossover nonsense, the same guy has also done House of M.

Fox shuts down live Buffy Musical despite Whedon's pleas to let it happen.

WWII soldier frozen in ice.

Watch them go by: Arlene to Wilma. How many more will hit before the end of the hurricane season?

Boing Boing links to National Geographic and a video of hornets fighting bees. Warning: video is graphic and includes bee decapitation.

OpenOffice 2.0 released.

-by Tegan at 4:25 PM Seattle time - Permalink

Happy Birthday Lisa!

A very happy birthday to my favorite little sister, Lisa. Hey, you coming to the Doctor Who party on Saturday?

-by Tegan at 7:40 AM Seattle time - Permalink

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Thoughts, Thoughts, Thoughts...

Wow. Even more evidence that Gail Simone rocks. The words "gracious" and "professional" spring immediately to mind.

New preview up of Dorothy VI. Looks like the Tin Man is on the way.

Polite Scott revisits No Man's Land.

Finder has started as a web comic.

Chezvid has updated the Aquaman/Smallville pages and put up a page of trailer screencaps: Aquaman in Smallville and Trailer Screencaps. I'll note that in the screencaps, AC seems to be forming a water missile like Aquaman used to form in the cartoons. Rock on!

In the meantime, Kryptonsite has The Many Faces of Aquaman. I saw only a few mistakes (including the silly assertion that Aquaman was "only" in back-up stories for the first 20 years... most were anthologies, and Aquaman was a feature. There's a bit of a difference), and it's worth a glance.

Johnny B reports some news that makes me really happy. The wait is over, Castle Waiting is coming back! More directly from Linda here, including the clarification of some of the news that PW misreported.

As if that wasn't enough, there's going to be a Doctor Who spin-off show that actually sounds pretty good. No K-9 and Company here, Torchwood is going to be a bit X-Filesish. Unlike any other potential Who spin-off, I think this one will probably do well based entirely on the creative team they've got making it.

The Nameless Novel has been unveiled as The Penultimate Peril, and the first chapter is up at the website as well.

The Jedi Had It Coming. Via Augie.

The 40 best magazine covers of the past 40 years. Boing Boing has working links.

Nutcase Jack Thompson attempted to get Seattle police to arrest the Penny Arcade crew for "harrassment" because they dared to donate the $10,000 to charity that Thompson promised but refused to deliver. As Gabe points out on the Penny Arcade site: "I think we can all agree that young kids should not play violent videogames. I think we can also agree that they should not watch violent movies or read pornographic magazines. That�s a job for parents not Jack Thompson." Amen, Gabe. Amen.

Bigfoot Bounty Withdrawn because the mysterious sponsor, which turns out to have been none other than Wizards Of The Coast, didn't want anyone getting hurt while attempting to capture a cryptid. Too many liability issues involved.

Transparent aluminum is a reality now.

While it sounds slightly icky, this wouldn't be a bad way to end up.

Hurricane Wilma ties the record for most hurricanes in a season. Hurricane season doesn't end until November 30th.

-by Tegan at 11:15 AM Seattle time - Permalink

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Review Copy Review - Giant Monster

Giant Monster by Steve Niles and Nat Jones, from Boom! Studios.

I got a surprise in the mail today, and rather than review comics that have been sitting in my pile for a couple of weeks awaiting my attention, I decided to give this one a go.

This is a monster book. No doubt about it. If you like monsters, you will probably like this book. It's the first issue of two, and it's all monstery set-up. The artwork is fantastic, and the blood and guts fly as the monster forms and becomes a menace. Again, if you like monsters, you will probably really like this book.

Me, I'm not much into monsters most of the time. But I still found it to be a fun little story. It's very straightforward without much suspense or real horror. Lots and lots of blood and guts, though, and an abiding sense of creepiness. Whether this is just a standard horror book or something more impressive will depend a lot on how the story ends.

Shipping date is October 19th, tomorrow. Monster fans should check the shelves for it when you next hit the store.

-by Tegan at 6:58 PM Seattle time - Permalink

Review - The Locals

The Locals: A Contemporary Investigation of the Bigfoot/Sasquatch Phenomenon by Thom Powell. Another book reviewed by The Fortean Times that I wanted to check out, especially since I live in the Seattle area, which is near enough to the heart of bigfoot activity to keep me interested in the topic. And, overall, it's a very well written book with some slight flaws that make it difficult to accept completely.

The first thing that struck me as I started reading this book was the similarities between ghost hunting and bigfoot hunting. Folks tend to not believe in bigfoots or in ghosts until they've had an experience, then they are often convinced. Also, both subjects tend to be really difficult to gather proof for, putting them on the fringes of science, which is more concerned with repeatable evidence. On the science front, I really like how Powell has put together lesson plans for science classes using bigfoot to teach the scientific method (the conclusion, according to the scientific method, is that bigfoots either don't exist, or that we simply don't have enough evidence to prove it).

I also liked how he described the witnesses he'd spoken to who called in bigfoot sightings. I've always figured that I could never be a credible witness, because I have a vivid imagination and an interest in the paranormal. Plus, I've had experiences with ghosts, and I've seen a UFO (which was seen by quite a few people besides me that night and was later identified as a satellite burning up in the atmosphere). While I still think I'd never make a credible witness, I suspect that if I ever did have a real sighting, the folks at BFRO would accept it. As an aside, I'll just point out here that it's really really unlikely for me to have a sighting as I tend to stay in urban or suburban areas that are well-populated and far away from major greenbelts, and I don't go camping often at all.

Unlike other bigfoot books I've read (including Bigfoot! by Loren Coleman), this book sticks mostly to recent sightings and stories. While Powell doesn't neglect the historical aspect, he's more concerned with giving a big picture of the nature of the bigfoot species today, and how people should be reacting to them. The picture he paints is remarkably comforting. Some really general conclusions I took away from the book: bigfoot species tend to travel in groups, not alone; most people who have a bigfoot "sighting" never actually see a bigfoot; bigfoots tend to avoid hurting humans whenever possible, but will use intimidation to scare unwanted humans away; bigfoots are smart enough to figure out when humans are trying to observe them, and will get irritated by guns or cameras; bigfoots know that humans have good food, and have no problem taking it from humans if they can without being seen; if you have bigfoots in the area, you likely don't have other large predators, and that's a good thing.

Powell also answers a question I've had about bigfoot research for a few years now. Not too long ago there was a huge media buzz when it was reported that researchers had found an imprint of a bigfoot body and made a cast of it. While the reporters were pretty dismissive of this possible breakthrough, I was curious. But I never heard anything more about the Skookum cast, and eventually I presumed it had turned out to be something else. Well, Powell was present when the cast was made, and his explanation of how it came to be made me more convinced than ever that the cast was probably genuine. In any case, I now know the hows and whys of the incident, which is more than I got from the media reporting it at the time.

Now come the troubling bits of the book. There are four problems that Powell tackles, and each one undermines his premise just a little. The first is the intelligence he ascribes to bigfoots. Among other things, he makes it clear that he thinks they know what cameras are for. While this alone isn't a book-breaker, at times he seems to be putting the intelligence level of bigfoots into the supernatural realm. And that's the second problem. The BFRO has had a number of sightings that involved slightly supernatural aspects, particularly the ability of bigfoots to vanish into thin air. He includes those in a chapter and speculates on the possibilities that they might have dimension-bending powers. It's cringe-worthy if you want to think of bigfoot as an undiscovered primate, which is the way I lean, but again, not book-breaking on its own. The third problem is the old UFO chestnut. Again, he devotes a chapter to this aspect and is very sober and logical in how he addresses the issue, but it still makes me cringe inside. The last problem is his worries about a government coverup. I won't say much more about this except his evidence is really shaky, but he clearly knows and accepts that. Still, it's enough to make you roll your eyes and start to dismiss the rest of the book, which would be a shame because overall it's a good book.

So, for the most part, I'd call this a pretty solid book about an interesting topic. This is a must-read if you have had a bigfoot experience yourself, and probably good to read if you live in a rural enough area. And if you are a teacher looking for a good lesson plan to teach the scientific method, you gotta get this book.

-by Tegan at 8:41 AM Seattle time - Permalink

Monday, October 17, 2005

Random Thoughts

I just received a first mix of "Aquaman" by Grandpa Griffith, and it's just as excellent as the preview on the website suggested. I'm looking forward to getting the album. And yes, I already added it to the list.

Interview with Alan Ritchson about playing Aquaman on Smallville. From the spoilers in the interview, I gotta say I think this is going to be a fun version, a mix of the Golden Age and the Cartoon (pre-Superfriends) versions.

Farewell, Rampage. You will be missed. *sigh* Why does saying good-bye to a comic book blogger feel like attending a funeral? It's not like he's dead, just off to regain sanity.

Stuart Hughes on B.D. in Doonesbury.

More on the "Bigfoot Bounty". Note: emphasis on live specimen.

Just one more thing to worry about.

BWAH-HA-HA-HA-HA!!! Note: if you don't know what this is about, check here for more of the story.

Another reason to hate Wal-Mart and the Bush Administration.

-by Tegan at 7:07 PM Seattle time - Permalink

DC for January

...is up at DC Comics. Including a depressing confirmation of exactly what I expected to happen in the Aquaman book. *sigh*

Yeah, Artie. I feel your pain.

Solicits are also at Comic Book Resources and Newsarama.

-by Tegan at 1:56 PM Seattle time - Permalink

Rapid Reviews - Fables

So the first two reviews here were written awhile ago, as I was saving them for a bigger entry. Well, three volumes seems like a good collection of capsule reviews.

Fables: Animal Farm: This volume shows how smart Rose Red is while giving us some rip-roarin' action. The title homage works for this one as well. I do have one major nit to pick with it, though... if the Fables were driven out of their homeland hundreds of years ago, how is it that Fables based on Kipling tales are part of the group? That one threw me off. Oh well. This is a pretty cool series.

Fables: Storybook Love: A bunch of short stories, so it doesn't hold together as well as the first two volumes. On the other hand, it's got some real classics, including a tale illustrated by Linda Medley. Overall, an excellent read.

Fables: March of the Wooden Soldiers: I'm liking the fact that my library is getting these books at a steady pace, as it seems about the right pace to be reading this series. This volume has the first indication that the Adversary the Fables faced in their home has any interest in them in the new world. There is also a big hint as to who the Adversary might be. I continue to enjoy this series, even as I wait for new volumes to be produced.

-by Tegan at 9:09 AM Seattle time - Permalink

Sunday, October 16, 2005

Idle Thoughts

Neilalien on the way discussion in blogs has changed. I think I'll reserve my comments on that topic.

Newsarama does a page by page annotation, sarcastically, of Infinite Crisis.

Gutterninja weighs in on the Crisis.

Ian Brill on comic book piracy. I still think DC and Marvel both need to make their huge backlog of never reprinted comics available in some format... why not on DVD or as downloads using the iTunes model?

The Dorothy folks have updated their site and want folks to know.

Johnny B's Football Predictions. If anyone else feels like predicting, you can always post 'em in the comments, for this week or next, whatever.

Happy Birthday, Larry.

Dave seems disturbed by the rain. He'd never survive a winter in Seattle.

-by Tegan at 4:09 PM Seattle time - Permalink

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