up, up and away
Click through to a bit on Dean’s blog about the Rocketship opening, and to see the picture a little larger.
August 5, 2005
August 3, 2005
still a stick in the mud after all these years
Here I go, quoting from other blogs again. Ron is a friend of mine, if that makes any difference. (Note the sly succubus reference in his post. Coincidence?)
Anyway, legendary crankypants James Randi has made his Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural available online. You know, for when the crackpots invade your living room.
Man, I remember James Randi from back when he’d show up regularly in DYNAMITE magazine with his longstanding offer of big winnings for anyone who could prove “scientifically” that any of that stuff was real. Back then, ten grand was at stake. I believe the kitty is up to a million now. What a funwrecker!
The tradition of the debunking magician is a long and esteemed one, popularized (if not started; my history on these things is a little rusty) by my main man Houdini. Penn & Teller keep the flame alive these days with their wonderfully provocative series BULLSHIT! (definitely worth watching). So, least you think I’m getting defensive, here… believe me, it’s all good. My quibbles with such folks are minor, and twofold. First of all, the… zeal, shall we say, of their pursuits can border on the freakish. Personally, I don’t think such behavior helps anybody’s case. Second, some of us are a little more spiritually minded than others. It’s not all about making a buck, and sometimes the skeptics can’t tell the difference. Oh, but wait — I’m just fooling myself because I accept the forces outside of me that I can’t explain as “real”, right? Well, they can call me deluded if they really have to — the cold hard fact is that my life is infinitely richer thanks to my spiritual side. Period.
(By the by, if anyone out there has old copies of DYNAMITE magazine that they wouldn’t mind parting with, leave a comment immediately. Not kidding.)
August 2, 2005
word balloon
Word Balloon is a new site featuring free audio interviews with comics creators, including our friend Jeff Parker.
Host John Siuntres assures us that the site will be updated regularly with more interviews.
mia: sense of humor
Trisha Sebastian of Saucy Goose Press (the folks behind SMUT PEDDLER) passed along this little gem, by way of Harris O’Malley:
On the floor at Comic-Con, amid the dark, the erotic, and the just plain weird, a few booths tried to function as cities on hills. The Christian Comics Arts Society (CCAS) had for the ninth year set up a small table that displayed mostly evangelical-style comics. A book rack held titles like Eric Jansen’s The Christ of Prophecy; Robert Flores’ The Graphical Epistle of John, James & Jude; and Proverbs & Parables, a thick compilation of illustrated Bible stories by Christian artists, some of whom have worked for secular comic publishers like DC and Marvel.
Formed in 1984, CCAS locates and links Christians who are interested or active in the comic-book and comic-strip medium and functions as a loose fellowship for writers and illustrators, both accomplished and aspiring, working in mainstream or niche comic publishing. Over the years it has gained better convention-hall placement and overcome some industry skepticism. But one table over, writer/illustrator Harris O’Malley of Austin, Texas, propped up a couple of issues of Smut Peddler, a collection of erotic comics. “They’re intended to be positive, female-friendly, and funny adult comics,” Mr. O’Malley told WORLD, “as opposed to your reading them and thinking, OK, my brain is soiled forever now.”
Right.
SMUT PEDDLER is floating around out there, though it looks like the website really needs some volume-3-friendly updates. Here’s a bit more about it from one of the editors, Johanna of Comics Worth Reading.
August 1, 2005
wal-mart: untapped poet hangout
Normally I try to avoid posting stuff here that can be found on other commonly read blogs, but this, this I cannot resist:
Students read ‘guerilla’ poetry at Wal-mart
‘Drunk and Unpublished’ works to share art
By David A. Nosko | Indiana Daily Student | Thursday, July 28, 2005
Poetry is found within town on local bookstore shelves and poets are often spotted stumbling across Kirkwood Avenue spewing words that otherwise possess no meaning. Frustrated with their perceived community lack of poetry appreciation, a local group decided to take its prose to the city streets.
Drunk and Unpublished, “an unofficial poetry organization,” conducted their second session of guerilla poetry Monday night. Their target audience: Wal-Mart patrons.
“the hill was tight like a belly eight months gone…”
A little while ago, I’d asked Charity Larrison to lend her mad arty skills to a short project. Unfortunately, she had to decline, because she’s working on this, with writer Kieron Gillen:
I was disappointed, sure, but look what we’re getting instead! (My own story wound up with amazing art by my husband-to-be, so all’s well that ends well.)
Click through to the preview art, and you’ll see the beginnings of what promises to be a glorious tale of when the fairy circus comes to town…
No estimated release date yet, but do keep an eye out.
the 2005 hugo nominees, in exhaustive detail
Behold, a page with a review of everything that’s up for a Hugo this year.
Whew.
