Saturday, March 04, 2006
Live-Action Simpsons
Friday, March 03, 2006
Still More Random Thoughts
There's another roundup of Aquaman reviews over on my Aquaman site. Besides the reviews, I'm reading message board posts and such. The overwheming majority are favorable to slightly favorable. There's been fewer than a handful that don't like it or see potential in it so far. I'm befuddled by the ones who claim the book was confusing, though. Apparently they are attempting to read more into it? I don't know. The plot seemed pretty straightforward to me.
It's not nice, but somebody took people's MySpace profiles and compared them to DC characters. I'm particularly amused to see King Shark in there. Via The Beat.
Brill Building links us to NEW/OLD footage of four of the Monty Python members at a PBS Fund Drive. There's an iPod ready downloadable format version at The Sound of Young America, but I wish they'd just make a regular version for the rest of us.
Yay! Another Comic Book Urban Legends!
Silver Age Comics looks at a letter to the editor, and what happened to the very next issue. Ouch.
The M's got crushed in a Spring Training game. ouch.
So, we're running out of fossil fuels... but wait! Japanese scientists may have found a new source! May I just say that this is a bit gross?
I really like this idea for a MMORPG. Can you imagine a game where all the players are working on helping out in an epidemic? Or disaster? One that maybe slyly teaches first aid and emergency preparedness? If someone could make a game like that fun, it would be the first one I'd want to play since I got out of college.
Oh hey, Look at these power outlets.
This story defies commenting by me. I didn't know there was a punk band called "This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb". And what follows... I got nothing.
You can no longer trust your Caller ID.
It's not nice, but somebody took people's MySpace profiles and compared them to DC characters. I'm particularly amused to see King Shark in there. Via The Beat.
Brill Building links us to NEW/OLD footage of four of the Monty Python members at a PBS Fund Drive. There's an iPod ready downloadable format version at The Sound of Young America, but I wish they'd just make a regular version for the rest of us.
Yay! Another Comic Book Urban Legends!
Silver Age Comics looks at a letter to the editor, and what happened to the very next issue. Ouch.
The M's got crushed in a Spring Training game. ouch.
So, we're running out of fossil fuels... but wait! Japanese scientists may have found a new source! May I just say that this is a bit gross?
I really like this idea for a MMORPG. Can you imagine a game where all the players are working on helping out in an epidemic? Or disaster? One that maybe slyly teaches first aid and emergency preparedness? If someone could make a game like that fun, it would be the first one I'd want to play since I got out of college.
Oh hey, Look at these power outlets.
This story defies commenting by me. I didn't know there was a punk band called "This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb". And what follows... I got nothing.
You can no longer trust your Caller ID.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
More Random Thoughts
I didn't give you enough links yesterday, so here's some more.
My Aquaman site has a little round-up of reviews coming in for Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis #40... as well as a piece of advice on what to look for if you read the book.
OOOOH! Firefly is available at Amazon.com for $20 (maybe for a limited time?). Buy it with the movie Serenity for about $40... I really would like to buy it...
Chocolate is good for you. Particularly dark chocolate.
But this thing probably isn't very good for you. That's a German Pancake. Yum.
Florida Police threaten people who ask for complaint forms. One of the cops involved attempted to sue CBS to keep the story from airing (if you can, watch the video). Who watches the Watchmen?
These fraternal twins are a million to one.
Stupid kids pull stupid stunt to attempt to prove a point about speed limit laws. I've heard of this being done elsewhere, and all it does is irritate the drivers behind you. The laws don't get changed. And in this case, the dangers are shown when a van nearly wrecks with a car stopped on the shoulder trying to get around the kids. My favorite comment in the discussion thread: "The US is broken in weird little ways when you look too closely." Heh.
The Museum of Hoaxes has a bit on the Turkish wrist walkers, who appear to be developmentally damaged. Scientists have differing opinions on the whole thing, but it's very interesting. Well, to me, at least. YMMV.
Here's yet another vicious lie about a service station. Whoever started the rumor should be liable for damages done to the station owner.
Ya know, I don't much like abstract art, either, but this is inexcusable. At 12 years, a kid should know better than to vandalize a painting in a freaking museum. They should give the kid a bill for the repair work and make him pay it off out of his future earnings.
Concerns about Free TV Downloads. I can think of a number of ways companies can usefully take advantage of the new paradigm, but I'm sure the various companies involved will instead make clumsy attempts to sue or shut down bittorrent networks. Jim Baen's statement still stands: most people would rather be honest than dishonest. It's up to the company to find a way to satisfy the customer.
Speaking of satisfying the customers, a music company is actively fighting the RIAA and their lawsuits against customers.
The New York Times has an article about a program that turns blogs into books. Really. Real books. Printed. The problem is Blurb. I'm not sure anyone in their right mind would buy a book made up of my blog entries, but it seems like a cool idea for some bloggers.
One reason that I haven't been writing as much lately has been all the celebrity deaths. There isn't much to say about them that hasn't already been said. I will direct you to this article about Octavia Butler. She lived in Lake Forest Park, which is only a few miles from my home. I never knew.
I really like this Simple Proposal. Having congresscritters give up an hour a month to honor war dead might bring home to them just how much is at stake when they play their political games. Not that the proposal itself isn't a political game the way it's stated... but I'd like to see the thing really happen.
My Aquaman site has a little round-up of reviews coming in for Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis #40... as well as a piece of advice on what to look for if you read the book.
OOOOH! Firefly is available at Amazon.com for $20 (maybe for a limited time?). Buy it with the movie Serenity for about $40... I really would like to buy it...
Chocolate is good for you. Particularly dark chocolate.
But this thing probably isn't very good for you. That's a German Pancake. Yum.
Florida Police threaten people who ask for complaint forms. One of the cops involved attempted to sue CBS to keep the story from airing (if you can, watch the video). Who watches the Watchmen?
These fraternal twins are a million to one.
Stupid kids pull stupid stunt to attempt to prove a point about speed limit laws. I've heard of this being done elsewhere, and all it does is irritate the drivers behind you. The laws don't get changed. And in this case, the dangers are shown when a van nearly wrecks with a car stopped on the shoulder trying to get around the kids. My favorite comment in the discussion thread: "The US is broken in weird little ways when you look too closely." Heh.
The Museum of Hoaxes has a bit on the Turkish wrist walkers, who appear to be developmentally damaged. Scientists have differing opinions on the whole thing, but it's very interesting. Well, to me, at least. YMMV.
Here's yet another vicious lie about a service station. Whoever started the rumor should be liable for damages done to the station owner.
Ya know, I don't much like abstract art, either, but this is inexcusable. At 12 years, a kid should know better than to vandalize a painting in a freaking museum. They should give the kid a bill for the repair work and make him pay it off out of his future earnings.
Concerns about Free TV Downloads. I can think of a number of ways companies can usefully take advantage of the new paradigm, but I'm sure the various companies involved will instead make clumsy attempts to sue or shut down bittorrent networks. Jim Baen's statement still stands: most people would rather be honest than dishonest. It's up to the company to find a way to satisfy the customer.
Speaking of satisfying the customers, a music company is actively fighting the RIAA and their lawsuits against customers.
The New York Times has an article about a program that turns blogs into books. Really. Real books. Printed. The problem is Blurb. I'm not sure anyone in their right mind would buy a book made up of my blog entries, but it seems like a cool idea for some bloggers.
One reason that I haven't been writing as much lately has been all the celebrity deaths. There isn't much to say about them that hasn't already been said. I will direct you to this article about Octavia Butler. She lived in Lake Forest Park, which is only a few miles from my home. I never knew.
I really like this Simple Proposal. Having congresscritters give up an hour a month to honor war dead might bring home to them just how much is at stake when they play their political games. Not that the proposal itself isn't a political game the way it's stated... but I'd like to see the thing really happen.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Random Thoughts
Larry Young tells folks how to pitch a story idea. Go, read, and learn.
DC has posted a sneak peak of 52. I'm still not gonna buy it.
Do we live in a parallel universe? One that's about to be eaten by a larger, more coherent, parallel universe? This is an actual scientific theory, not something out of a comic book.
The Beat tackles the fun at the NYCC Comicon.
Mad Magazine Censored.
Peter David can predict the future! PAD's prediction and today's news.
Way cool Nation Archive films now online.
Turn up the volume: Tom Bakaraoke. Listen to Tom Baker (fourth Doctor on Doctor Who) "sing" Video Killed the Radio Star. You can listen to Tom Baker say other things too. Including Movie Quotes.
Speaking of Doctor Who, writer Paul Cornell reports on the Gallifrey convention. Man, I wish we could go.
Diane Duane's Challenge was met and continues to get attention. For anyone out of the loop, she's writing a book which is being paid for as she writes by the fans. Like Lawrence Watt-Evans The Spriggan Mirror, only with slightly different rules.
How to give a cat a pill. I still want to get a cat.
DC has posted a sneak peak of 52. I'm still not gonna buy it.
Do we live in a parallel universe? One that's about to be eaten by a larger, more coherent, parallel universe? This is an actual scientific theory, not something out of a comic book.
The Beat tackles the fun at the NYCC Comicon.
Mad Magazine Censored.
Peter David can predict the future! PAD's prediction and today's news.
Way cool Nation Archive films now online.
Turn up the volume: Tom Bakaraoke. Listen to Tom Baker (fourth Doctor on Doctor Who) "sing" Video Killed the Radio Star. You can listen to Tom Baker say other things too. Including Movie Quotes.
Speaking of Doctor Who, writer Paul Cornell reports on the Gallifrey convention. Man, I wish we could go.
Diane Duane's Challenge was met and continues to get attention. For anyone out of the loop, she's writing a book which is being paid for as she writes by the fans. Like Lawrence Watt-Evans The Spriggan Mirror, only with slightly different rules.
How to give a cat a pill. I still want to get a cat.
Aquaman #40 Out Today
Thanks to Diamond's usual shenanigans, I didn't get the variant cover today and may have to go elsewhere to find it. I did, however, get the regular issue and REALLY enjoyed it. I mean I really enjoyed this issue. I'm pretty much bursting with glee over it, and I have reread it three times already and keep picking up more references and such each time. I just hope the average fan likes it even half as much as I did, because then they'd be loyal readers for the Busiek run.
GLEE!
Boing Boing Blocked because of Nudity
Boing Boing is being blocked by some poorly designed filtering software because of nudity, and has asked all bloggers that think this sort of censorware is wrong/silly/stupid to post some classic artwork on their blogs. I'm all for it. My blog has been boring enough lately, it's about time for some images anyway...
The first image is of Michelangelo's David sculpture, which is classic smut. The second is of the "Spirit of Justice" statue that Ashcroft was so embarrassed to stand in front of that he had it covered with drapes. The third is Eugene Delacroix' Liberty painting. Smut smut smut!
The first image is of Michelangelo's David sculpture, which is classic smut. The second is of the "Spirit of Justice" statue that Ashcroft was so embarrassed to stand in front of that he had it covered with drapes. The third is Eugene Delacroix' Liberty painting. Smut smut smut!
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Breaking the Chain
Elayne's post has brought back some rather unpleasant memories...
Back in elementary school, a "friend" of mine accused me of giving her a chain letter, which was all the rage at the time. Like most chain letters, it had dire warnings about how if you break the chain your hair will fall out, you'll lose all your money, and etc, etc, illustrated with examples like Mr. Henry Doofus of Nowhere OK broke the chain and his marriage fell apart. Mrs. June Jittery of Abysmal ND broke the chain and lost her job and her husband in one week. In other words, the usual nonsense.
The thing is, I didn't like chain letters, had never gotten one personally, and would not have passed it on if I did. The accusation stung. I told her it wasn't me, but she refused to believe it. I looked at the letter. It was handwritten, and not even in my handwriting. I pointed that out. She still insisted that I had sent the note. So I took the note up to the teacher and asked, "Do you think this is my handwriting?"
To my utter shock and horror, the teacher said that, yes, it looked like my writing. Even though it didn't bear the slightest resemblance to my writing. In my eyes, it looked completely different. I was dumbstruck. My faith in teachers vanished completely in an instant. I hadn't written that note, and the teacher was wrong about the handwriting. And worse, the teacher decided to punish me for passing along a chain letter. Which I hadn't done.
Flash forward a few months. A different classmate passed me a note on the playground. I opened it and was angry to see a chain letter. I held it up so my classmate could see what I was doing, then I tore it to shreds in front of her. She gasped, clearly thinking I was going to lose my job or my husband or something. But I never got another chain letter during that particular era of stupidity.
And to this day I hate the things with an unrivaled passion. Whether through e-mail or on paper, I detest chain letters.
Back in elementary school, a "friend" of mine accused me of giving her a chain letter, which was all the rage at the time. Like most chain letters, it had dire warnings about how if you break the chain your hair will fall out, you'll lose all your money, and etc, etc, illustrated with examples like Mr. Henry Doofus of Nowhere OK broke the chain and his marriage fell apart. Mrs. June Jittery of Abysmal ND broke the chain and lost her job and her husband in one week. In other words, the usual nonsense.
The thing is, I didn't like chain letters, had never gotten one personally, and would not have passed it on if I did. The accusation stung. I told her it wasn't me, but she refused to believe it. I looked at the letter. It was handwritten, and not even in my handwriting. I pointed that out. She still insisted that I had sent the note. So I took the note up to the teacher and asked, "Do you think this is my handwriting?"
To my utter shock and horror, the teacher said that, yes, it looked like my writing. Even though it didn't bear the slightest resemblance to my writing. In my eyes, it looked completely different. I was dumbstruck. My faith in teachers vanished completely in an instant. I hadn't written that note, and the teacher was wrong about the handwriting. And worse, the teacher decided to punish me for passing along a chain letter. Which I hadn't done.
Flash forward a few months. A different classmate passed me a note on the playground. I opened it and was angry to see a chain letter. I held it up so my classmate could see what I was doing, then I tore it to shreds in front of her. She gasped, clearly thinking I was going to lose my job or my husband or something. But I never got another chain letter during that particular era of stupidity.
And to this day I hate the things with an unrivaled passion. Whether through e-mail or on paper, I detest chain letters.
Monday, February 27, 2006
Disbelief and Disgust
A half a million dollars. That's what it's going to cost to change the King County logo. And for what? For a symbol that will be a target for racists, not to mention the King family themselves who may well decide to charge the county for using MLK's likeness. Instead of using that half a million dollars for programs that MLK would have supported, they are going to waste it utterly on a meaningless gesture that will no doubt be regretted, and that MLK himself would have been disgusted with. There are poor who need food, and the county is wasting HALF A MILLION DOLLARS on changing its logo?
I just hope the design is simple and distinguished. I can imagine all kinds of horrible efforts that won't live up to the man himself, and will only be an embarrassment to the county. But then, if we're stupid enough to waste all that money, I'm sure we're stupid enough to make a design that will look awful.
I really hope I'm wrong about this "gesture". I hope I'm utterly and completely wrong, and that this isn't the colossal waste of taxpayer money I think it is. I hope that Larry Gossett is right, and that this will be a powerful symbol... and not of how governments waste taxpayer money trying to undo the past. And I hope the folks who supported this are doing everything in their power to make up that half million dollars that the people of the county won't get in the form of other services. But I bet that the people that King tried to help the most will be the ones hurt most by this grand triumph of symbolism over real-life problems.
I just hope the design is simple and distinguished. I can imagine all kinds of horrible efforts that won't live up to the man himself, and will only be an embarrassment to the county. But then, if we're stupid enough to waste all that money, I'm sure we're stupid enough to make a design that will look awful.
I really hope I'm wrong about this "gesture". I hope I'm utterly and completely wrong, and that this isn't the colossal waste of taxpayer money I think it is. I hope that Larry Gossett is right, and that this will be a powerful symbol... and not of how governments waste taxpayer money trying to undo the past. And I hope the folks who supported this are doing everything in their power to make up that half million dollars that the people of the county won't get in the form of other services. But I bet that the people that King tried to help the most will be the ones hurt most by this grand triumph of symbolism over real-life problems.
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Persepolis in Seattle
I just got an e-mail from the Branch Manager of the Fremont library in Seattle, letting me know that they are having a program to look at Persepolis from a more comic book slant (instead of autobiographical/historical). If any local comic book fans want to join in, the program will be at the Fremont Library on Saturday, March 11th, 2:00 pm. This is all part of the 2006 Seattle Reads program.
