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Wed, May. 14th, 2008, 08:23 pm
Yahoo Mail Is Hosed -- At Least, Mine Is
Big, big problem. If you've sent me e-mail since, say, 5:00 pm Wednesday, I'm having Cthulhu's own trouble getting in. I'll let you know. Meanwhile, anything vital, please post here. Wed, May. 14th, 2008, 07:28 pm
Music or Politi- er, Cake or Death?
I could've spent the entire day just snarling about the political bullshit of the day -- Dubya's sacrifice of giving up golf (about which Keith will have a Special Comment tonight), and his reiteration that leaving Iraq will embolden the terrorists, and Rumsfeld saying we need a good attack to bolster Chimpy's reputation, and the shithead in Georgia selling "Obama 08" shirts with Curious George on them, and, and, and... I just couldn't be bothered. But I am pleased this evening. For John Edwards has finally endorsed Barack Obama (here's some liveblogging with video), and Hillary Clinton has finally said either she or Obama is way better than John McCain. I am trying to make some music for this weekend, at least two songs for posting here and one more for next Tuesday's FuMP. What are you doing in anticipation of your weekend? Wed, May. 14th, 2008, 03:44 pm
Forever Cars
Tue, May. 13th, 2008, 07:01 am
Bomm Pa Dom Paaaaah, Bomm Pa Dommmmm....
DVD Day. Special edition of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Sold separately, so you don't have to buy Temple of Dumb. Also Last Crusade, but that can wait until after MarCon. Anything else we need to know about? ETA: Okay. First, Kmart has Raiders for $12.99, same price as Amazon. And they sell popcorn! Second, Jayzus H. Crisco. The main screen video for the DVD is one of the coolest I've ever seen. They use a -- nope, nope, not even gonna tell you. Just get it.
Mon, May. 12th, 2008, 05:55 pm
Hubba Hubba Zoot Zoot
A nom nom. Thanks, ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) huskiebear. It happens that today is the birthday of Edward Lear. Got any links to other fine nonsense?
Mon, May. 12th, 2008, 10:42 am
MarCon
A whole bunch of stuff is shaping up in a big hurry for MarCon next weekend in Columbus, OH, and a little advance notice seemed a good thing. - I will have a 75-minute concert, signed by the wonderful judifilksign, Friday at 7:00 in Union E.
- I will also have a half-hour concert in the hall near Registration and the Franklin Rooms Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
- I will have a table in the Dealers' Room, shared with lukeski. The two of us and huskiebear will likely be there a lot -- come by and say Hi!
I originally made a reservation for two rooms, Thursday through Sunday nights. Two of the people I thought might be coming will not be, so we don't need one of the rooms. If you need a room reservation, let me know, and we can likely work it out. Seems saner than just cancelling, anyway.
I'll repeat this post as we get closer. Anything cool that you're involved in at MarCon that we need to know about?
Mon, May. 12th, 2008, 08:05 am
Ahhh, Spring
Two members of our online extended family got engaged over the weekend (not to each other) -- pixelene (details here) and trumanburbank (audio -- no, really -- here). Many congratulations to Carrie & Josh and Grant & Suzie! Sun, May. 11th, 2008, 07:15 pm
Werewulf, Master of Momitude
You'll forgive me, I hope, if this is a touch self-indulgent. It's another video, this one a bit esoteric. It'll mean more to those who know the lady involved. See, it was a commissioned song for one of our very own superheroes -- werewulf, Master of Momitude! Many thanks to tdjewell for the link.
Sun, May. 11th, 2008, 02:44 pm
Gene Colan Is Very Sick
Mark Evanier informs us that comics legend Gene Colan, one of my very favorite artists, is not well. If you're not familiar with Colan's work, well, click that second link above. Dude's been in comics for sixty years, and he's done some of the most fantastic work we've ever seen -- the Tomb of Dracula stuff, Howard the Duck, Iron Man, Daredevil, you name it. Thing is, most of the great artists have a specialty, something they do better than anyone else. With Kirby it was breadth of imagination; with Kane it was sheer vibrant power. With Colan, it's mood... to be specific, darkness. Very few artists have ever approached Colan's ability to make everything seem ominous, especially some of the Howard the Duck stories where the humor jarred more because of the horrific backdrop. And reading those Dracula stories again is like watching fine old woodcuts start moving, coming to life with modern details in a way that a simple novel, comic book, or film cannot convey. Many good and hopeful thoughts for the speedy recovery of Mr. Colan, and hugs and good wishes to his family and friends. Any particular Colan stories you like? I've simply got too many to list.
Sun, May. 11th, 2008, 09:18 am
Happy Mother's Day
A very fine day to everybody, of course, but especially today to those of our bunch who are of the maternal persuasion, including my Mom, Gert, and Heather. Also Karen, Kate, and all the rest of you -- you know who you are. I sent my mom an e-card, but I'm saving her actual gift for a week from now when she comes to visit. What are you all doing for your moms today, if anything? Or, if you're a mom, what are you doing for yourself? Fri, May. 9th, 2008, 05:42 pm
STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS Trailer
Aug. 15. Looks better than the rest of the increasingly misnamed prequel "trilogy", and it's got at least some of the voices, but it still takes itself so damn seriously. Thoughts?
Fri, May. 9th, 2008, 07:15 am
Shiny
We saw Iron Man yesterday. I loved the hell out of it. Great superhero movie, good movie overall, which is of course the real trick. Agreement with the rest of the FList: If you haven't seen it, GO already! Speaking of "GO", it's one of the tags for the next big summer movie, opening today. Unfortunately, the consensus on Speed Racer seems to be "YES, GO ALREADY! YOU DANG KIDS TURN THAT CRAP DOWN!" I still might see it, if only for Goodman and slobber pant drool Ricci. You? What's your moviegoing/DVD-watching weekend looking like?
Thu, May. 8th, 2008, 04:26 am
I Can Has AnthroCon Concert
Thursday night, June 26. I also may do some performing in the dealer's room. Not to mention seeing Alexander James twice in a month. So. Who's planning to be at Anthro?
Wed, May. 7th, 2008, 07:07 pm
Ooooh... Ahhhh... Wow
These pictures should blow you away. Thanks to firedrake_mor for the heads-up. Any particularly cool images you've seen lately? I nominate the work of huskiebear and maiac.
Wed, May. 7th, 2008, 07:58 am
Game Of The Day
Ohhh, I'm gonna be spending some time at this site: the Game of the Day Blog (not to be confused with the nearly comatose Game Giveaway of the Day Weekend). Reviews of, and links to, freeware games for to be knocking your socks off. The guy's only had it going for a couple of months, so it's not that arduous to go all the way to the beginning, and it's worth it. Also, EA's Sims 3 page is live. Any good games or freeware you've recently just discovered that we need to know about?
Tue, May. 6th, 2008, 07:54 pm
WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN Trailer
Four-minute promo for a new animated series. It looks decent, but I am sick to death of Marvel sticking Wolverine in every frickin' thing. And how many animated versions of the same universe do we need? So, what comics do you buy (or want to buy collections of)? I'm looking at the JMS-written Thor, a few more Fables collections, and catching up on reprints of classics like Journey and Dr. Strange.
Tue, May. 6th, 2008, 06:47 am
DVD Day
Our long national $125+ on eBay nightmare is over. Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie is re-released on DVD today. Anything else on disk we need to know about? ETA: Rand Bellavia sent me a link to the upcoming DVD release of Simon Pegg's start, the BBC series Spaced.
Tue, May. 6th, 2008, 06:34 am
Which Votes Count
Teh Keith Explains It All: Thanks to John Cole at Balloon Juice.
Mon, May. 5th, 2008, 08:56 pm
Hey, Cleveland! Eat Pizza, Help Kids
Heads-up to anyone reading this who lives in Cleveland: Apparently Papa John's made some T-shirts that insulted LeBron James, and he got all testy, and Papa John's said We're Sorry and decided to make it up to Cleveland by selling Clevelanders a large one-item 'za for 23¢, and then donating all those cents plus another $10K to the Cavaliers Youth Fund. Cleveland, you will never have a better reason to blow a quarter. Heck, you'll get change. I know we must've done this at one point or another, but what do you like on a pizza? I've gotta have pepperoni, with optional mushrooms or pineapple... although I also like plain cheese now and again, as well as CPK's Thai Chicken. Mon, May. 5th, 2008, 06:19 pm
Yet Another Reason We Fight For Rights For Ever-Damn-Body
Mind-boggling. By way of Athenae at First Draft.
Mon, May. 5th, 2008, 04:18 pm
Up To 10,000 In Myanmar Cyclone
And I don't know what's more horrible: that, that the military junta is resisting any foreign aid besides money, or that the US has only kicked in $250,000, which is about twenty-five bucks a body. As soon as I can find some links to aid agencies that are getting in there, I'll post 'em. If you find 'em first, post 'em here for us. Mon, May. 5th, 2008, 06:34 am
IPSTPD 2.1
A couple of weeks ago was the first anniversary of International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day. I uploaded some songs, which a lot of you got, but some missed, and I thought that, since there wasn't a huge amount of notice, I'd make 'em available again for a couple of days: - A gift song, "Everybody Wants A Barb" (there's also a video on YouTube!)
- Another gift song, "Kate And Jaana"
- "Something Positive", written for Randy Milholland
- "Brothers Under The Skin", commissioned by Anthrozine
- the raw audio from my concert set at EschaCon 08 on March 29 in Philly
They come down at roughly 6:00 am EDT Wednesday, so get 'em while they're hot. :) And, if you do, please leave a comment, mmkay? Thanks. ETA: And they're down (except for the YouTube video). Thanks, everybody! I hope you enjoy the music. Sat, May. 3rd, 2008, 08:49 pm
For Those Who Want A Little Bite In Their Horror
Thanks so much for telling me about this, huskiebear. No, really, actually, thanks. Looks cool. Out on DVD this Tuesday. Likely not work safe, definitely not kid safe. If you were to write/direct a horror film, what would your subject be?
Sat, May. 3rd, 2008, 09:38 am
Freebies
The most pertinent one, of course, is Free Comic Book Day. And rhythminmind.net/signaltonoize.com has some professional-level compressors you might like. And, because everyone was apparently on vacation on International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day (I got at least a half-dozen plaintive Can't I Still Get Them? messages), I'll be repeating my offering on Monday and Tuesday. Can't say you weren't warned. :) And I might even have a new/old song as well. Anything cool and free you've found lately? Fri, May. 2nd, 2008, 09:36 am
Choose Your Own Adventure
Anne turned me on to the group iconzicons, which, among many other talented folks, features the work of mrbnatural. In specific, an ongoing series of Choose Your Own Adventure icons. Not particularly safe for work. What would you like to see as a Choose Your Own Adventure?
Thu, May. 1st, 2008, 09:48 am
Mission Accomplished
It's all over the blogosphere, and even the mainstream media, so I'm not even gonna bother with a link: Today is the fifth anniversary of Dubya declaring "Major combat operations in Iraq are over". Our entire country has been broken because of these bastards. Military, economy, treasury, reputation, etc., etc., etc., etc. The only thing BushCo has ever cared about is money and power for its loyalists -- a sick dream of American empire on the broken bodies of anybody stupid enough to get between the neoconservatives and their "rightful" plunder. And they're likely to get out of office, if they don't finish suspending the Constitution before the election, with their money and their power and the huzzahs of a fawning mass media and adoring punditry, rather than the criminal charges and war crimes trials they deserve. Unless, of course, you think we're better off than we were eight years ago? Four years? One? Anybody here still think anybody in the Bush administration has done anything right? Please provide links.
Thu, May. 1st, 2008, 09:11 am
MAN IN SUIT MAN IN SUIT MAN IN SUIT
Two different flavors, actually. First, Iron Man opens this weekend. Preliminary reports indicate it's pretty good. Second, I got a couple of beloved movies on (cheap!) DVD yesterday from Amazon -- the Toho Master Collection editions of Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster and Invasion of the Astro-Monster (known stateside as Godzilla vs. Monster Zero). Restored, remastered, both original Japanese and U.S. editions, and wonderful tacky fun. Ghidorah is the movie that got me into MST3K years and years before MST3K ever existed -- there's a fantastic scene where Godzilla, Rodan, and baby Mothra sit down and have a conversation about whether or not they should join up to fight Ghidorah, and in the film it's translated by the Mothra Twins but I used to put my little sister into hysterics with our versions of what they were talking about.... What are your favorite giant-monster movies? I could name several, including the fairly recent one that some of you still may not know is a giant-monster movie. Assume that one, the two above, the original Godzilla, the 1933 and 2005 versions of King Kong, War of the Gargantuas, Jurassic Park (and, yes, I did just open it up for dinosaur flicks, go wild)....
Wed, Apr. 30th, 2008, 05:54 pm
And Now, Something Highly Fun, With A Great Hit Of Fanservice
2nd trailer for the reboot of The Incredible Hulk is up. Listen very carefully when the title flashes near the end. ETA: What there is to hear is, the first four notes of the Hulk theme, the music they always played at the end of the Bill Bixby TV show. You know, the one that sounds like "Super Heroes" from Rocky Horror.
Wed, Apr. 30th, 2008, 01:18 pm
Women's Voices, Women Vote -- Not
Say there, campers! Got a robo-call from "Lamont Williams" lately? Or some other suspicious foofrah regarding mail-in vote registration? Well, you could be one of the many, many people targeted by a group called "Women's Voices, Women Vote" -- which apparently really sucks and is doing everything it can to confuse, i.e., fucking disenfranchise, voters in numerous states. This is merely one of the results of the win-at-any-cost style of politics has brought us. They keep trying to game our goddamn votes. (Yes, yes, I know about the SCOTUS debacle from the other day. And, yes, yes, I know that Scalia is a particularly vile bucket of scum, as if that's news, but I guess it is to some people.) Are you registered to vote? If not, find out about it now and get registered now. Thanks to Atrios for the heads-up on this one.
Wed, Apr. 30th, 2008, 05:45 am
Perspective
I'm very bitter and hateful towards the election process right now. Because Clinton is screwing up the party and damaging Dems for the fall, no matter who wins. (Hint: It'll be Obama, by the math.) Because the press is giving McCain an absolutely free pass. And because all anybody's been able to talk about for the past month and a fucking half is Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who hasn't made anything easier by putting his foot in his mouth. At least John Cole, recovering Repub, has a little perspective. So does the god Greenwald. Hell, even Andrew Sullivan. How are you feeling politically lately? Not who you're voting for, but your feelings towards both the process and the media.
Mon, Apr. 28th, 2008, 07:51 pm
Tornadoes
There seems to be nasty-ass weather in VA. Not being precisely sure where some of you are, partiallyclips, jannyblue, anybody else out that way? Sound off so we know you're okay. Mon, Apr. 28th, 2008, 05:20 pm
Hey, Comics Fans!
Specifically, billroper, markbernstein, wormquartet, sdelmonte, and several others. But, really, anybody who just likes a fun story. Here's a five-page Riddler story, set in the DCAU (DC Animated Universe) I think you'll like. Any superhero stuff, on- or offline, we need to know about?
Mon, Apr. 28th, 2008, 03:56 pm
FuMP Marketing Question
Okay, I've got a question here for fans of The FuMP. What we want to know is: ( What do you think of this slogan? ) Mon, Apr. 28th, 2008, 07:34 am
Gotta Dance
An Eschaton commenter named Émile Gorgonzola and I started trading way cool dance videos this morning. Here are the first ones we came up with: I could list a bunch more, but that's where you come in. :)
Sun, Apr. 27th, 2008, 04:13 pm
A Day
Nice weather, a little cleaning, a little file copying, a little defragging. You? Sat, Apr. 26th, 2008, 02:02 pm
The Saga Continues In A Bold New Direction
Or, as twfarlan calls it... LolCap.  Sat, Apr. 26th, 2008, 11:52 am
Fucking Hard Drives
Last night, my external HD, the "work" drive, fell over. There was a bit of thunder coming, see, and I had shut down the system and I unplugged the HD, thinking it was resting comfortably on top of my computer case. Nope. Freed from its moorings, it went right the hell over and behind the desk. So I took everything apart and got back behind the desk and got the stupid thing and it seems to be fine but I just don't trust anything these days. I'd been thinking of getting another backup drive anyway; this just made it imperative. So I went to Best Buy this morning. They have a Western Digital 500 GB MyBook, Home Edition, on sale for $129.99. (The one they're hawking in the ads, the Essential Edition, is $159.99 but has a green box rather than blue. No, really. That's it.) Got it home, ascertained I'd have to format it because it's in FAT32 and XP is much happier with NTFS. I looked at the included software, decided I likely didn't want it, but the drive utility had a "Copy Application" function which would "backup the valuable software on this drive". I thought, sure. I'm a sucker for backing up software. I'm a sucker, all right. Fucking thing installed all of it. No option to cancel. So I spent fifteen minutes cleaning my system of its new rude friends, and now I'm nuking the shit out of the drive (their online help says to select Quick Format, which is insane, I'm going from FAT32 to NTFS) and then I'm going to send Western Digital a nasty letter and maybe a dictionary so they learn the difference between "backup" and "install". And how's your computer doing?
Fri, Apr. 25th, 2008, 09:34 am
For A Good Time, Visit "Something Positive"
Randy Milholland, an incredibly nice and talented and funny guy, gives me a shout-out today in his slightly popular comic strip. (Bottom of the second one.) The very least I can do is return the favor, and tell those of you who don't know his stuff to check it out and maybe throw the man a buck or two if you like it. And... you're right, Randy! It does sound dirtier. ;) So. Gang. What do you think sounds dirtier after "For a good time..."?
Fri, Apr. 25th, 2008, 09:11 am
DSW: First Strike
Thu, Apr. 24th, 2008, 10:20 pm
THE HOBBIT On Track
Finally confirmed: Guillermo del Toro will direct. We've played this casting game before, but it's a good time to play again. Chances are superb that we'll have Ian McKellen back as Gandalf, Ian Holm as Bilbo, Hugo Weaving as Elrond (possibly a cameo by Liv Tyler), and Andy Serkis as Gollum. Very possibly John Rhys-Davies as Gloin (father of Gimli). Who else would you cast?
Thu, Apr. 24th, 2008, 03:14 pm
I Want These NOW
Wed, Apr. 23rd, 2008, 06:47 am
IPSTPD
In case you had forgotten about it, this is the first anniversary of International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day. Dunno if anyone else is doing anything for it, but I am! For today only, you can download a few special goodies: - A gift song, "Everybody Wants A Barb" (there's also a video on YouTube!)
- Another gift song, "Kate And Jaana"
- "Something Positive", written for Randy Milholland
- "Brothers Under The Skin", commissioned by Anthrozine
- the raw audio from my concert set at EschaCon 08 on March 29 in Philly
For once, I'm gonna try to keep a rough head count. If you download something, please comment here. Also, comment if you link to this post. And, of course, link up if you have any of your own works to contribute! :) ETA: My bad. I should've made it clear that the video link above is to a YouTube page. ETA2: And they're down (except for the YouTube video). Thanks, everybody! I hope you enjoy the music.
Mon, Apr. 21st, 2008, 09:27 pm
OOOOOH YEAH!
Copied from lukeski: Current DSW World Champion the great Luke Ski talks some trash about Tom Smith, ShoEboX, and Devo Spice, his competitors for the title belt in the forthcoming click-per-view event "First Strike" at the Friday Night FuMP concert at PenguiCon (Video courtesy of Alchav of Soggy Potato Chips): "Dementia Smackdown Wrestling: First Strike"The season 2 debut event, coming sometime this week to the LJs of wwetuesday, lukeski, and at http://www.myspace.com/dsdwrestling
Mon, Apr. 21st, 2008, 04:08 pm
You Have GOT To Be Kidding Me
Nicked from Atrios.
Mon, Apr. 21st, 2008, 02:57 pm
End-Of-The-Earth Day
Tomorrow is (well, really, every day should be) Earth Day. And tomorrow we'll come up with ways to save the world. But it ain't tomorrow yet. And Yahoo! Movies has a list of some of their favorite cinematic apocalypses. What are some of yours? I'm staggered that they don't list things like the original Godzilla, Triffids, Audrey 2....
Mon, Apr. 21st, 2008, 12:45 pm
A Million In A Minute
Sun, Apr. 20th, 2008, 06:57 pm
Home From PenguiCon
So, getting to PenguiCon sucked. Incredibly bad traffic, construction, bleah. Took over two hours for a drive that should take 1:15, tops. And the Red Roof at 14 Mile and I-75 (where we crashed) had its problems. Fortunately, the weekend improved from there. I'm not even gonna try to name everybody I saw, hugged, or hung out with, 'cause it's, like, half the con, but it was lovely to see Clif and Jordin and Michael and Jim Hines and various others in that bunch. And my mini-set with Frank Hayes early Friday was lots of fun, and the FuMP show later was longer than it should've been but we still had a blast, and I thought I started my solo set Saturday a little shaky but it was rock-solid by the end with a great crowd, and Rob did fantastically and is getting to be a much better performer, and Shoebox rocked like crazy, and Frank's set this morning was fun fun fun, and Luke cranked it out again 'cause that's what Luke does, and Alchav did fine but we're gonna get him on earlier next time, and the All Dementia Roadie Squad kicked keister and thieved identities, and there were hugs and chocolate and ribbons and Tesla coils and Tron suits and corsets and the Monitor Graveyard and what-all. A fine, fine time. And next year it's gonna be at the Crowne Plaza by Metro Airport, the same hotel where ConClave is now. Those of you who were there, how was your con? Those of you who weren't, whatcha doin'? Sun, Apr. 20th, 2008, 09:36 am
Springsteen and Obama... Wrong For America
Nicked from Atrios: ETA: Yes, it is a spoof.
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