Saturday, January 21, 2006
How About A Little Linkdump
Free Comic Book Day Sponsors have been announced. DC once again really missed the boat by not putting out a sampler or something with a little new material. I think they should have put in a very short JLU story along with little previews of some of their other books. Oh well. As usual, I recommend that if you are already a regular customer of your local shop that you offer to help the owner with the costs of Free Comic Book Day by buying your Free Books. Not only will you be more likely to get all of them, the owner will be able to give more away. It goes against instinct, I know, but the books are NOT free to the shop owners. Support the industry, support your local shop.
Mark Evanier's latest There's No Such Website wasn't too hard. Both Eric and I got the answer on the first try.
Aaron Williams directs us to a very scary Japanese Spider-Man show. You absolutely MUST watch the opening credits and read the translations.
Johnny B's penultimate NFL picks. Let's hope he's right about the Seahawks, cuz then Eric and I can plan to pay off the bet.
Thank you to Elayne and Neilalien, who blogged the Aquaversary.
Batman LEGO sets. Ok, I think I want Two-Face. But then, I wanted the Spidey LEGO, and I don't think I got any of those.
Another reason to listen to Barenaked Ladies (besides them doing a song that mentioned Aquaman): They understand what copyright is really for, and support sensible solutions instead of kneejerk suing and stupidity. Via dewline.
Quite possibly the first positive review of the Aquaman video game I've seen.
Dave talks about Movie Theaters, and how crappy the moviegoing experience often is. I agree with him. I usually have poor moviegoing experiences, regardless of how good the movie is, because theaters are so badly mismanaged nowadays.
Mark Evanier's latest There's No Such Website wasn't too hard. Both Eric and I got the answer on the first try.
Aaron Williams directs us to a very scary Japanese Spider-Man show. You absolutely MUST watch the opening credits and read the translations.
Johnny B's penultimate NFL picks. Let's hope he's right about the Seahawks, cuz then Eric and I can plan to pay off the bet.
Thank you to Elayne and Neilalien, who blogged the Aquaversary.
Batman LEGO sets. Ok, I think I want Two-Face. But then, I wanted the Spidey LEGO, and I don't think I got any of those.
Another reason to listen to Barenaked Ladies (besides them doing a song that mentioned Aquaman): They understand what copyright is really for, and support sensible solutions instead of kneejerk suing and stupidity. Via dewline.
Quite possibly the first positive review of the Aquaman video game I've seen.
Dave talks about Movie Theaters, and how crappy the moviegoing experience often is. I agree with him. I usually have poor moviegoing experiences, regardless of how good the movie is, because theaters are so badly mismanaged nowadays.
Happy Birthday!
So I celebrated my birthday yesterday, and it turned out quite nice thanks to a friend who brought over a gift certificate to go out to dinner. Today... today it's my husband's birthday! Happy birthday, Eric! May your students behave today, and may you get your carbonara meal tonight!
Friday, January 20, 2006
Ten Years Ago...
Ten years ago, very close to my birthday of January 20th and with very little knowledge of websites or HTML, I put up a page devoted to Aquaman in the hopes of attracting fellow fans who could help me learn more about the character and his history. It worked far better than I ever expected, and lasted far longer than just about any other endeavor I've tried (with the notable exception of my marriage).
Ten... years...
*ahem* Happy birthday to me, and happy anniversary to the Aquaman Website.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Gary Downie
Outpost Gallifrey is reporting that Gary Downie died this morning. Downie worked on a number of British shows, including Doctor Who, and I met him at a convention in Chicago. In fact, I have a little story.
I can't remember the exact circumstances, but I was stuck in a room and hadn't had any food for awhile. Gary had an apple, but he wasn't going to eat it. When I mentioned that I was hungry, he offered me the apple, which I gratefully took. Later, when he signed my yearbook, he drew a little apple with a bite out of it.
I can't remember the exact circumstances, but I was stuck in a room and hadn't had any food for awhile. Gary had an apple, but he wasn't going to eat it. When I mentioned that I was hungry, he offered me the apple, which I gratefully took. Later, when he signed my yearbook, he drew a little apple with a bite out of it.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
More on Women in Comics
The second part of The Tit Grab Heard 'Round the World has been posted, and the usual idiots immediately came out of the woodwork. The first was an idiot who said "*Yawn* Can we get back to comics?" I'd just like to say that people like that are actively supporting scum who abuse and harrass women. If you whine that the subject isn't important, then you are guilty of helping molesters get away with their crimes. I can understand the desire to not talk about it, but if you are in that camp: just don't talk about it. Don't imply that people who do talk about it are boring, just say nothing and move along. You will still be guilty of ignoring the problem, but you won't be guilty of supporting the scum who abuse and harrass.
There were other, much worse comments. But I consider people who try to shout down the folks who have the courage to complain as guilty of the lesser crime of supporting abusers. For all I know, those writing the worse comments could well be the abusers themselves. They sure act like it.
The Beat weighs in. The "next entry" she is talking about is this.
Lea Hernandez has a lot more on comic book culture.
Elayne Riggs on entering the clubhouse.
I appear to have made Carnival of the Feminists #7.
There were other, much worse comments. But I consider people who try to shout down the folks who have the courage to complain as guilty of the lesser crime of supporting abusers. For all I know, those writing the worse comments could well be the abusers themselves. They sure act like it.
The Beat weighs in. The "next entry" she is talking about is this.
Lea Hernandez has a lot more on comic book culture.
Elayne Riggs on entering the clubhouse.
I appear to have made Carnival of the Feminists #7.
Rubik's Cube
CNN is reporting that a new record has been set in solving the Rubik's Cube. I suppose I should be impressed, but I'm not, really.
See, when I was in high school, the Rubik's Cube craze had died down quite a bit but was still around. I found a little book that explained how to solve the Rubik's Cube. It took me awhile to understand it, but I eventually worked it out and was able to solve the cube without help in a few minutes.
Flash forward a little, to an assignment in one of my classes. It was all about world problems. The group that got terrorism put on a little play and held the class hostage. My group got world hunger. There's not a lot you can do with world hunger in a high school class, and the rest of my group seemed perfectly willing to take a fail in this rather than make a serious effort. So we pulled together a presentation that made a big deal of the fact that we saw starving kids on the TV so much that we had all become jaded. But we needed an opening that would really get everyone's attention. So I suggested that I solve the Rubik's Cube in front of the class.
To open our presentation, I went to the front of the class holding the cube, then handed it to someone in the front row and said "mix that up good for me, will you?" Then while she was working at it, I gave the start of the presentation, the boring statistics and such. When she had mixed it up, I still wasn't finished, so I handed it to another person and said, "make really sure it's mixed up good," and finished the stats and such. As I had expected, most people were paying more attention to the people mixing up the cube than to me. As I am a lousy public speaker, I had been counting on that.
After I finished the stats, I took the cube back and started a little speech about how world problems are like a Rubik's Cube, hard to solve and seemingly impossible when you first look at it. Only, you can't just rip the stickers off the world and fix it that way (that got a laugh). Then I started to solve the Rubik's Cube. While I solved, I dithered on about how hard it was to get food into places that were wartorn, and how raising money wasn't the most difficult part. At one point I completely messed up the cube and had to start over. When I did that, I said, "and sometimes we'll fail, and have to start over," then continued on. After I did each level, I would hold up the cube and say, "it looks better, but to fix it, I'm going to have to make it look worse," then start in on the next level, and sure enough, it would look like I'd messed it up again.
As I got to the final bit, I looked at the class and talked about the possibilities of solving world hunger, and I stopped looking at my hands. I just did the moves the book had taught. I heard someone say to a neighboring student "she's not even looking at the cube!" Yeah, because it was a lot easier if I didn't look at what I was doing.
I finished solving it and showed it to the class. Then I said, in my typically pompous high school know-it-all way, "these problems can be solved! It just takes a willingness to see it through and a guiding force that knows it can be done." The class applauded, the rest of my group came on and we did the rest of the presentation. It wasn't very good. World hunger isn't a topic that can be made thrilling by a bunch of disinterested high school kids.
I got a decent grade for my part in the presentation, but it was forever after known as Laura's excuse to solve the Rubik's Cube in class.
See, when I was in high school, the Rubik's Cube craze had died down quite a bit but was still around. I found a little book that explained how to solve the Rubik's Cube. It took me awhile to understand it, but I eventually worked it out and was able to solve the cube without help in a few minutes.
Flash forward a little, to an assignment in one of my classes. It was all about world problems. The group that got terrorism put on a little play and held the class hostage. My group got world hunger. There's not a lot you can do with world hunger in a high school class, and the rest of my group seemed perfectly willing to take a fail in this rather than make a serious effort. So we pulled together a presentation that made a big deal of the fact that we saw starving kids on the TV so much that we had all become jaded. But we needed an opening that would really get everyone's attention. So I suggested that I solve the Rubik's Cube in front of the class.
To open our presentation, I went to the front of the class holding the cube, then handed it to someone in the front row and said "mix that up good for me, will you?" Then while she was working at it, I gave the start of the presentation, the boring statistics and such. When she had mixed it up, I still wasn't finished, so I handed it to another person and said, "make really sure it's mixed up good," and finished the stats and such. As I had expected, most people were paying more attention to the people mixing up the cube than to me. As I am a lousy public speaker, I had been counting on that.
After I finished the stats, I took the cube back and started a little speech about how world problems are like a Rubik's Cube, hard to solve and seemingly impossible when you first look at it. Only, you can't just rip the stickers off the world and fix it that way (that got a laugh). Then I started to solve the Rubik's Cube. While I solved, I dithered on about how hard it was to get food into places that were wartorn, and how raising money wasn't the most difficult part. At one point I completely messed up the cube and had to start over. When I did that, I said, "and sometimes we'll fail, and have to start over," then continued on. After I did each level, I would hold up the cube and say, "it looks better, but to fix it, I'm going to have to make it look worse," then start in on the next level, and sure enough, it would look like I'd messed it up again.
As I got to the final bit, I looked at the class and talked about the possibilities of solving world hunger, and I stopped looking at my hands. I just did the moves the book had taught. I heard someone say to a neighboring student "she's not even looking at the cube!" Yeah, because it was a lot easier if I didn't look at what I was doing.
I finished solving it and showed it to the class. Then I said, in my typically pompous high school know-it-all way, "these problems can be solved! It just takes a willingness to see it through and a guiding force that knows it can be done." The class applauded, the rest of my group came on and we did the rest of the presentation. It wasn't very good. World hunger isn't a topic that can be made thrilling by a bunch of disinterested high school kids.
I got a decent grade for my part in the presentation, but it was forever after known as Laura's excuse to solve the Rubik's Cube in class.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Aquaman #40 Variant Cover
Comic Book Resources reports on a variant cover for Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis #40, art by Ian Churchill.
I'd just like to say right here that I really hate variant covers, and I feel like a complete and total putz for falling for it, but I HAVE to have this cover. I hope my retailer can score me a copy.
According to the article, retailers can order one copy of the variant for every ten copies of the regular book they've ordered. The order code for the variant is DEC05 8016. The order code for the regular edition is JAN06 0302.
Crossposted from my Aquaman Website.
I'd just like to say right here that I really hate variant covers, and I feel like a complete and total putz for falling for it, but I HAVE to have this cover. I hope my retailer can score me a copy.
According to the article, retailers can order one copy of the variant for every ten copies of the regular book they've ordered. The order code for the variant is DEC05 8016. The order code for the regular edition is JAN06 0302.
Crossposted from my Aquaman Website.
Random Thoughts
The Dreamland Chronicles is now a web comic. The website is too wide for my computer settings, but I can read the pages just fine. This is a book I've been wanting to check out for some time, but haven't bothered to hunt down yet. Now I can check it out without a hunt.
Dorothy's Journal links to another review of Dorothy.
Image for April.
Comics Fairplay gives a lesson on what not to do at cons. I would like to whole-heartily agree, particularly with numbers 1 and 4. When I ask for an autograph anymore, I generally get it in my green autograph book. And when I ask for a sketch, I try to make sure I'm not taking up too much time from other fans. I've never understood why any fan wants every single book in a longbox by one creator signed. It's insane. As for shoving... I'm big enough that if you shove me, I'll take it then shove you right back. I've done it before, and I'll do it again.
Garrett directs us to the tale of The Grammarian's Five Daughters.
Virtual Slide Rules.
Dr Eric Larson (no, not that one) tells us that a little exercise can stave of dementia.
The Economist is looking for a few good pranks.
Faster Elevators?
How to make a bottlecap tripod for your camera.
Top 10 Literary Hoaxes.
Slashdot celebrates Benjamin Franklin's 300th Birthday.
Boing Boing has an entry about what a cochlear implant actually sounds like, and the PBS site it links to is now back up so you can hear it for yourself.
Mystery line confuses Londoners. I just like stories like this. When I was going to school in Bellingham, a truck full of paint sprung a leak on I-5 north from Seattle to Bellingham. It left a line of splatters all the way into town, where the truck was pulled over and a portion of the shoulder was covered with paint. It didn't last a very long time, but for quite a few trips it was interesting to watch where the truck had gone, and where it changed lanes.
Dorothy's Journal links to another review of Dorothy.
Image for April.
Comics Fairplay gives a lesson on what not to do at cons. I would like to whole-heartily agree, particularly with numbers 1 and 4. When I ask for an autograph anymore, I generally get it in my green autograph book. And when I ask for a sketch, I try to make sure I'm not taking up too much time from other fans. I've never understood why any fan wants every single book in a longbox by one creator signed. It's insane. As for shoving... I'm big enough that if you shove me, I'll take it then shove you right back. I've done it before, and I'll do it again.
Garrett directs us to the tale of The Grammarian's Five Daughters.
Virtual Slide Rules.
Dr Eric Larson (no, not that one) tells us that a little exercise can stave of dementia.
The Economist is looking for a few good pranks.
Faster Elevators?
How to make a bottlecap tripod for your camera.
Top 10 Literary Hoaxes.
Slashdot celebrates Benjamin Franklin's 300th Birthday.
Boing Boing has an entry about what a cochlear implant actually sounds like, and the PBS site it links to is now back up so you can hear it for yourself.
Mystery line confuses Londoners. I just like stories like this. When I was going to school in Bellingham, a truck full of paint sprung a leak on I-5 north from Seattle to Bellingham. It left a line of splatters all the way into town, where the truck was pulled over and a portion of the shoulder was covered with paint. It didn't last a very long time, but for quite a few trips it was interesting to watch where the truck had gone, and where it changed lanes.
Monday, January 16, 2006
Martin Luthor King Day
Librarian.net has some links for today.
Joss Whedon is my Master Now
Buy Serenity, possibly get more Firefly? Considering how much I'm enjoying the series, I may just have to buy the movie DVD in the hopes of supporting a possibly sequel.
Update: Boing Boing reports that fans of Firefly are trying to raise money for a second season of the show. Hmmmm.
Update: Boing Boing reports that fans of Firefly are trying to raise money for a second season of the show. Hmmmm.
DC for April
Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis #41 is solicited (with spoilers!).
The rest of the DC Solicits can be found at DCComics.com, Newsarama, Comic Book Resources, and Comics Continuum.
The rest of the DC Solicits can be found at DCComics.com, Newsarama, Comic Book Resources, and Comics Continuum.
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Steelers vs Colts game
We turned it on in the third quarter and were stunned to see the Steelers up 21-3. The finish of the game was AMAZING. The Colts lost the game and came back several times, only to finally lose 21-18. I gotta admit, that was one of the best football games I've seen in a long time. It helps that I wasn't rooting for either team, so I was free to just enjoy the drama.
Update: Just watched a good bit of the Panthers/Bears game, and it looks like it's Seahawks against Panthers next Sunday. We'll have to see if hubby-Eric and I get to put our bet into action...
Update: Just watched a good bit of the Panthers/Bears game, and it looks like it's Seahawks against Panthers next Sunday. We'll have to see if hubby-Eric and I get to put our bet into action...
New round of "There's No Such Website"
Mark Evanier has posted the next round of "There's No Such Website". I managed to get it on the first try this time, but it was tough pickings. It also appears that, once again, the game has prompted one site to exceed its limits and not be generally available for now.
