Archive for July, 2004
Yeah, yeah, God blah blah blah…but is it Low Carb?
“Meet the Bible Bar – one of the greatest new products ever introduced to the Christian market. This fantastic-tasting, all natural whole food bar contains the seven foods which the Lord calls good in Deuteronomy 8:8 – Wheat, Barley, Honey, Figs, Olive Oil, Grapes, and Pomegranates.”
If you’re interested in learning more about the wondrous and fascinating world of “biblical nutrition”, go here.
McSweeny’s on Catwoman
From the Lists section of the McSweeny’s website, Things I’d Rather Do Than Go See Catwoman:
- Build a sandcastle for the sole purpose of having it kicked in my face.
- Fall from a reasonably high ledge.
- Swallow several Legos.
- Rip a dollar into three unequal pieces.
- Buy an expensive pair of pants and then spill grape juice all over the crotch.
- Fill out a Mad Libs and then eat it.
- Have a colonoscopy.
- Wake up very early and go running
Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere adapted by Vertigo
From a Newsarama article:
“Vertigo will publish a nine issue adaptation of his novel Neverwhere, scripted by Mike Carey, with art by Glenn Fabry. The miniseries is slated to begin in November.”
“In terms of the working process, while Gaiman is responsible for the source material, his interaction with Carey is quite limited. “They send me Mike’s scripts as a courtesy, and I read them,” Gaiman said. “Not sure that I’ve had anything at all sensible to say so far. Mike’s an excellent writer and I feel like my baby is in safe hands.”
This should be a fun read. I read the US edition of the novel first, then watched the BBC TV series that came before it (you can read my review of it here). Can’t wait to see Glenn Fabry’s visualization of all the characters, though I’ll probably wait and pick it up in the trade format.
San Diego Comic Con odds and ends
From the Newsarama roundup:
“Spotted at the NBM booth, and coming next year, graphic novel series based on The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew adolescent novel series. The first Hardy Boys GN, Hardy Boys: The Ocean of Osyria is written by former X-writer Scott Lobdell, and illustrated by Lea Hernandez; while Nancy Drew: The River Heights Demon is written by Stefan Petrucha and illustrated by Sho Murase.”
“As of mid-afternoon Saturday, Cartoon Books had completely sold out of The Complete Bone copies they had brought with them, both the softcover and the hardcover. Exact numbers will come later, but by all estimates, it was a hell of a lot of copies at $40 and $125 for the softcover and hardcover, respectively.”
Apparently it was a total of 400 books.
Batman/Superman Movie trailer
Remember Hollywood insider and special effects man Sandy Collora and the Batman Vs. Aliens vs. Predator fan film he made to basically get his name out there and try to snag a real Hollywood deal? Well, he’s back with a Batman/Superman short film. Except this time it’s presented as a faux trailer for said movie. Much like his previous film, it’s fun and quite impressive in the context of “this guy made the whole thing on his own dime”. But it’s no masterpiece. Anyway, click here and watch it for yourself.
“Be All You Can Be” also applies to soldiers’ boobies
That’s right, kiddies, your tax dollars are helping some soldiers get bigger jubblies. Ain’t the USA grand?
“The New Yorker magazine reports in its July 26th edition that members of all four branches of the U.S. military can get face-lifts, breast enlargements, liposuction and nose jobs for free — something the military says helps surgeons practice their skills.”
Wanna buy KITT?
Got at least $40,000? Then you could purchase the 437. K.I.T.T. (Knight Industry Two Thousand) car from the Knight Rider TV show.
“This highly-modified 1983 Pontiac Trans Am is an original screen-used hero car used during the second season of the hit TV series. Among the studio modifications done to this car by the Special Effects and Stunt Coordinator:
- A brake differential lock was used and tied into the master cylinder and actuated by a foot switch on the floor. By hitting the switch, stunt drivers such as Jack Gill could disable the front brakes, leaving only the rear brakes operational making those famous “bootleg turns” possible.
- The original 305 c.i. Crossfire V-8 engine was removed (along with emission control equipment) and replaced with a high power Chevy 350 c.i. plant. Major fabrication is evident in the engine bay to make room for extra batteries, special effects items and accessories.
- The factory gas tank was replaced by a two-gallon racing fuel cell in order to minimize the amount of fuel on-board during stunt driving, jumps and high speed passes.
- A heavy-gauge steel skid plate was welded onto the lower frame to the protect the undercarriage, transmission and lower engine from road impact during jumps.
- A special cable with “T” handle was installed in the panel beside the rear passenger seat; when pulled, KITT’s trunk would seemingly open by itself.”
San Diego Comic Con pics
Ah yes, the pictures are starting to flood the Internet comics sites. ComicBookResources has a bunch here.
What’s your ideal job?
Don’t know? Just ask the Job Predictor.
“Dara Naraghi, Your ideal job is a Topless Model.”
Ha! I knew it! In your face, you doubters, in your face. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to get jiggy wid my topless self.
(link courtesy of Gus, whose ideal job apparently is Dietician)
A Softer World
In the tradition of Get Your War On and other avant garde weekly comic strips comes A Softer World. 3 pictures, weird text, eclectic goodness.
(link courtesy of BoingBoing)
Alan Moore on politics at Salon
Salon.com has an extensive interview with Alan Moore titled “The man who invented the future“, not about comics, but rather about politics and social issues. You’ll have to sit through an ad before getting to the article, but it’s well worth it. Here are some great snippets:
“One of the reasons we singled out media in “V for Vendetta” was because it is one of the most useful tools of tyranny.”
“I suppose it’s too early to go into my rant on Ronald Reagan? That would be tasteless. [Laughs.] Well then, OK. You’ve got Ronald Reagan — the much eulogized, recently deceased former president — who everyone seems to have forgotten was regarded as one of the most low and treacherous individuals by those in Hollywood that he sold out to the McCarthy hearings. This is someone whose response to the AIDS epidemic was probably responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide. This is someone who created Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden, or at least set in motion the policies that would create these creatures. This was the architect of much of the world’s present misery. Why did we elect him? Because he had been in a lot of films that some quite liked.”
“I was reading this excellent book called “American Dynasty,” that gives the whole lineage of the rotten bastards all the way back to Prescott Bush, who was dealing with the Third Reich up until 1942. I mean, it’s not that long ago!”
“We don’t have this terrible problem with the religious right that you have over there, and I truly have every sympathy for you. If there’s anything that makes America a laughingstock, it’s those people. America is a huge, surging, relentlessly modern country that will nevertheless send Oral Roberts millions when he tells them that if they don’t, the Lord will send him home. They’ll actually give credence to people who — in any other country of the world except perhaps some of the equally addled fundamentalist Muslim countries — would be laughed at.”
Warren Ellis sez:
“The Direct Market right now really seems to me to have split into two sub-markets — one part supporting the major superhero comics lines and media properties, and one part supporting everything else — and I imagine that’s going to hold true for some time to come.
I kinda wonder how those people are dealing with the comfortable old Elongated Man’s wife being raped and wasted in Brad Meltzer and Rags Morales’ IDENTITY CRISIS right now. But one presumes they’re still masturbating with rolled-up copies of GREEN LANTERN from 1976, so what the hell.”