Sat - December 30, 2006

Sun - December 24, 2006

Brubaker's Criminal Issue #1 Online

Marvel has posted the first issue of Ed Brubaker's new noir/crime book, Criminal, online for free:
[linkage]

Newsarama interviewed him earlier this year:
[newsarama.com]

He's doing a great job taking over Daredevil from Bendis, and this issue of Criminal looks good. I might have to add this book to my pull list.

Posted at 05:18 PM     |

Sun - December 10, 2006

Golden Age Green Lantern Creator, Dead at 91

Sad news Saturday, as Martin Nodell, Golden Age comic creator, probably best known as the creator of the original Green Lantern (the Alan Scott version) passed away.

Didn't realize this until I read it on Wikipedia (so you know it's true ;) ), but Nodell left comics in the 1950s (only to return in the 1980s) to work in advertising. During his advertising stint, he helped create the Pillsbury Doughboy.

He created two American cultural icons and will be missed.

Posted at 05:28 PM     |

Thu - July 6, 2006

Rocketboom: He said/She said

Sad news as Amanda Congdon has left Rocketboom. Even sadder is that her departure has deteriorated into a He Says/She Says debacle with her former partner Andrew Baron. He says she's leaving to pursue her dream of moving to LA for some Hollywood opportunities. She says the move to LA was based on the promise of moving Rocketboom production out there with her. Either way, I think Rocketboom fans are poorer for the whole situation.

See Amanda's goodbye message on her blog:

http://amandaunboomed.blogspot.com/

and (on July 6th, anyway) read Andrew's announcement of her departure on the main page of Rocketboom:

http://www.rocketboom.com

Posted at 09:45 AM     |

Fri - April 21, 2006

Air Force One -Tagged!

Okay, not really, but it looks pretty convincing in this video:

stillfree.com

In fact, once the hoax video started making its rounds on the internets, Air Force officials actually checked to make sure Air Force One wasn't really tagged. [SFGate.com]

Posted at 05:10 PM     |

Wed - February 8, 2006

2006 Mavericks Surf Contest

SFGate.com has some great coverage of the 2006 Mavericks Surf Contest.

They've got photos, video, and a write up of the competition.
Unfortunately a couple of spectators were injured by rocks falling from a cliff.

The coolest thing about the Mavericks competition is that everyone knows it is coming, but no one knows exactly when. Competition organizers scope out projected swells, wind speed, weather, etc. and give about 24 hours notice to the competitors and spectators. The stars aligned for a Tuesday, 8am start yesterday.

Results here.

They report that over 50,000 decided to make Tuesday an unofficial holiday and make their way out to Pillar Point to watch, but I've been on that beach when Mavericks was pumping and that number just seems a little too high.

Posted at 02:50 PM     |

Thu - January 19, 2006

Connor 0, Tooth Fairy 1

I asked the little guy how he lost it:

"Holly hit me with her giant head."

Posted at 09:42 PM     |

Fri - January 13, 2006

Girls #1 up on Newsarama

Continuing the Image promo going on at Newsarama, the Luna Brothers' creepy Girls issue #1 is available for free download.



Warning: Some nudity, so don't d/l if you can't stand the sight of nekkid wimmenz.

I've only read the first trade of Girls, but I'm eagerly waiting for the next one. The story starts out weird and only gets weirder. Reminds me of the X-files episodes where they go to a small town because something mysterious is happening.

Posted at 11:50 PM     |

Wed - January 11, 2006

Battle Pope #1 up on Newsarama

"When he's not leadin' mass, he's out kickin' ass!"

As part of this week's Image promo on newsarama, the debut issue of Robert Kirkman's masterpiece, Battle Pope, is available for free d/l

[Battle Pope]

Posted at 10:31 PM     |

Mon - January 9, 2006

Fell #1 for Free

Issue number one of Warren Ellis new monthly comic Fell is available in its entirety for free on Newsarama.

Issue 1 sold out almost instantly back in September. Fell is unique in a couple of ways. In a time when comics are priced around $3.00 each, it comes in at a cheap $1.99. It's 16 pages of story, densely packed into 9 panels per page. Each issue has a few more pages of sketches, scripts and notes (a la DVD extras.)
The story and artwork are what you would expect from Ellis and artist Ben Templesmith. Each issue is a stand-alone story, but with recurring characters, all set in the creepy town of Snowtown. The title character, Fell, is a good cop that saw something he shouldn't have and ended up transferred to the crumbling town. Three issues in and I'm really liking it. I wish all the titles I read were as entertaining.

Image will be offering a few of their #1 issues on Newsarama:
[Image Comics #1 Week: Fell#1]

Posted at 08:10 PM     |

Fri - January 6, 2006

The Dog Whisperer - Season 2 starts tonight

I'm not a big fan of 'reality' shows, but last season, I really loved watching The Dog Whisperer on the National Geographic channel.

Each episode features two or three 'problem' dogs and their owners. After watching the dogs in action and an interview with the owners, Cesar Millan, a dog behaviorist, works with the dogs (and more importantly, the owners) to work out whatever problems the dogs are having.



It sounds pretty goofy at first, but after watching it a few times, you really start to see how Millan is able to get inside the dog's head. He establishes that he is the 'Alpha dog' and then makes the pooch do exactly what he wants.

In most cases, he has to 're-hab the dog and train the owner,' meaning it's usually something the owners are or aren't doing that is causing the problem. Once they are shown what to change, the 'problem' dog no longer has a problem.

I think what makes it so compelling is seeing the reactions of the owners when they see how easy it is and how happy they are that they can enjoy and share their dog and let it more into their lives.

Usually, by the end of the episodes, the dogs are happy and the owners are so overjoyed they're sometimes crying.

New episodes start tonight on the National Geographic channel.

Posted at 06:53 PM     |

Wed - January 4, 2006

Smoking Gun's 2005 Mug Shots of the Year

The Smoking Gun has their 15 favorite mug shots of 2005 posted on their site.

The rich, the famous and the crazy are all represented, my favorite (from the last category) is this one:


He was busted for huffing spray paint in a hardware store.

Wonder what tipped them off?

[2005 Mug Shots Of The Year]

Posted at 08:57 PM     |

Mon - December 5, 2005

Original Firefly Costumes For Sale on eBay

Original costumes from Firefly Costume Designer, Shawna Trpcic's personal collection are up for auction on eBay.

...and they aren't going cheap. Captain Mal Reynolds' Brown Coat was going for $5215 as of this posting.

Firefly Costumes on eBay

Posted at 05:51 PM     |

Thu - November 24, 2005

D.B. Cooper Days at the Ariel Store and Tavern

Every November the Ariel Store and Tavern on State Highway 503 in Southern Washington celebrates 'D.B. Cooper Days' to commemorate Thanksgiving Eve, 1971 and the hijacking of Northwest Airlines Flight 305. Skyjacker D.B. Cooper parachuted from the 727 into a heavily wooded area between Cowlitz and Clark counties with his $200,000 ransom and was never seen again.

as seen on The Seattlest

Posted at 02:51 AM     |

Mon - November 14, 2005

James Bond's Aston Martin on the auction block

James Bond's 1964 Aston Martin DB5 (as seen in Goldfinger and Thunderball) will be auctioned off by RM Auctions in Arizona.

It still has the rotating license plate frame (useful for evading 'the man'), but no more ejection seat for unruly passengers.
The .30 cal machine guns (props), oil slick nozzle, smoke screen generator and hydraulic ram bumpers ARE still intact.

Also being auctioned off at the same event, Al Capone's 1928 Caddy and a Hank Williams 1964 Bonneville.

Posted at 05:30 PM     |