| | Cindy Sheehan, the public face that galvanized the anti-war movement, is hanging up her spurs. Considering that protesting against George Bush must be like hitting yourself in the head repeatedly with a hammer, I can't say I blame her. The man is, after all, delusional. It's gotten to a point that I honestly believe that if a physical embodiment of the American people were to walk up to him and say, "We want no more war," his response would be to flash that idiotic grin and say, "More war? That's just plum fantastic! I got this plan for Iran I want ya'll to take a look at it." Either that or he'd scream, "Terrorist!" In the end, George Bush is what you get when we elect a man who wants to be a war hero, but never served in the army.
Speaking of delusional, the only person in Colorado that may be a bigger dick than Ward Churchill is his lawyer. But for anyone not from Colorado, I may be getting ahead of myself. Churchill is a professor at the University of Colorado that made some rather dickish comments in an essay he wrote in 2001. At the heart of the essay was the simple idea that people are, to a greater or lesser extent, responsible for the actions of their government. Really not that far out there. However, Churchill willfully chose such inflammatory language that it eventually made him the most hated man in Colorado. Considering that he wallowed in obscurity for four years before these things came to light, that's pretty impressive.
Regardless, the response to his comments was an academic witch hunt that led many to pour over his past records and research. Unfortunately for Churchill, there was plenty to find. He lied about his service in Vietnam, he lied about his radical political work in the 60s, and, most importantly, he committed acts of plagiarism and fraud. Now his lawyer is preparing a federal lawsuit saying that, "They've wanted to fire Ward Churchill since he made his comments. They've spent two years looking for excuses." It's good to know that some people consider serial lying as an excuse. I don't care about Ward Churchill, but I am concerned that he wasn't fired before 2001.
Another entry for the Comic Book Challenge has been finalized. You can see it right over there in the Mojo Smith & Grandma Crow section. |
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| Now even microwave popcorn is bad for you. Typically, this type of news doesn't bother me. However, I do find it unsettling that a chemical that is possibly a carcinogen is present in the blood of every U.S. citizen, including the youngest. While, to date, there no known human effects to being exposed, if such effects were to surface, what exactly would we do then? Most likely, we'd begin to die en masse. It's always good to know that we're building the plagues of tomorrow today.
On the bright side, at least we aren't being invaded by raccoons.
Updates will be a bit sparse this week as I am preparing several entries for the 2007 Comic Book Challenge. Part of the selection process is actually putting the entries up for an open vote, so I'm sure it won't be the last you hear of this from me. You can check out one of the sample pages for the Underside project over there. |
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| In what might be the least surprising news piece ever, Charles Manson has been denied parole. That makes eleven times. I would send him something to commemorate the occasion, but I don't think they make 'You're going to die in jail' greeting cards.
Another development of the blindingly obvious; the Pope has admitted that the conversion of the indigenous people of South America to Catholicism was perhaps not the love-fest that he had made it out to be in previous statements. Apparently, the people who actually live in South America have a slightly different interpretation of what happened when Spanish colonizers arrived. Something about having to make a decision between "the cross and the sword".
There's new art in the Project Menagerie section. Brant Fowler has agreed to letter the project, so hopefully there will be words to go with the pictures soon. That just might make it a complete story. |
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| Grandma revolutionaries! Viva la revolución blanda!
I don't know how this slipped past me, but Lloyd Alexander died on May 18th. Mr. Alexander was a great storyteller, and the author of one of my childhood favorites The Chronicles of Prydain. Prydain was one of those book series that seemed to grow up as the reader did; very much a children's story in the beginning, but at the end with The High King it had become a mature tale of loss, redemption and hope. While the chronicles may have been most famous in its Disney film incarnation, The Black Cauldron, those familiar with it only through the film are at a loss.
Needless to say, Mr. Alexander left this world a brighter place than he found it. If we all could only say the same thing.
In the hopes of moving in Lloyd's shadow I present you with a prelimiary page 6 of Mojo Smith. |
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| Bruce Campbell continues to kick ass.
In other news, Israel comes bearing gifts of peace to the people of Gaza. It's amazing what having a common enemy will accomplish.
Speaking of which, Newt Gingrich is considering running for president in 2008. This man is possible the finest example of how individuals poison both religion and politics by mixing the two together. He doesn't believe in the principals that the Christian religion is founded on. I mean, the guy served his wife with divorce papers while she was recovering from cancer. Yet he is allowed to stand in front of the devoted at Jerry Falwell's university and tell them how secular radicals are coming to take them away. If that's not using religion for divisive political reasons, then I don't know what is.
I think it also shows that the candidates that social conservatives pick have nothing to do with whether or not those candidates genuinely share their values. Sure, we'll back Gingrich, but Hell no on McCain. Why is that? McCain is a never divorced, church-going man. Why not pick Gingrich instead of him? The answer is simple; there's a chance that McCain may decide to keep his balls and stick to his own principals rather than toe the line. And, by God, when you're fighting off those dirty secular radicals, you can't have that. As the late Mr. Falwell once said, good little Christians ask no questions.
New reviews over in the reading section. If you'd like to drop me a line, I take requests. |
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| James Dobson, leader of Focus on the Family, says that he cannot support Rudy Guiliani should he win the presidential nomination. Dobson has already burned his bridge with the other front runner, John McCain and says that Fred Thompson isn't devout enough. I assume that not being devout enough means that Thompson hasn't spent enough time worshipping at the altar of Dobson.
This is great news for anyone who isn't an evangelical Christian. If Dobson sticks to his word and his peers follow suit, it could take the wind out of the social conservative movement. We might actually be able to have an election about issues that are important to running the country rather than about who's devout enough to represent the American people.
On a scary note; if Hillary Clinton wins the presidential election, it result in 24 years of rule by someone named Bush or Clinton. 28 if she wins re-election.
In completely unrelated news, my age is showing in new and interesting ways. Evrything that comes on the radio lately sounds the same. It seems that the selection method for what is distributed guarantees a certain amount of blandness. There's also the fact that most of the "new" music I hear on the radio is three or four years old. There should be a statute of limitations on what you can call new music.
If you spend a good deal of time in front of your computer, I highly suggest you check out Pandora Radio. While Pandora plays music like any other radio station, the method of song selection is unique. You go to the site and enter in a band or song title you enjoy. It then analyzes that song for various attributes and plays other songs that you might enjoy. Amazingly, it actually seems to work.
Naturally, this means the powers that be are trying to stamp it out. However, a few more level headed legislatures are trying to undo the damage done by the Copyright Royalties Board. If you enjoy net radio you might want to take a few moments to call your senator.
New art in the Project Menagerie section. Enjoy. |
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| Truly the Democratic Party is the people's party.
While the Iron Man movie is more than a summer away, Marvel is releasing the occasional set photo. While the old Iron Man could look a little goofy they've managed to update the outfit while still retaining the industrial aspects that made the first Iron Man suit easily identifiable. | | New reviews in the reading section. Those will continue to appear throughout the rest of the week. |
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| So I was reading Dan Abnett's Damnation Crusade. It's a good read if you were ever a fan of Warhammer 40,000 or just enjoy military science-fiction. I happen to enjoy the Hell out of both, so the book got me in the mood for more. For my next fix, I turned to Dawn of War. Typically I'm not huge fan of real time strategy games, but this one had enough detail to be very engrossing. As a result, there are no updates today. I am a lazy bastard. |
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| Two schools of thought have developed when it comes to the disappearance of Royal Daniel. However, before I get into that, there are a number of things that are important. |
| • | After his disappearance, his dog was left behind and a pair of his sunglasses was found, broken. |
| • | The day Daniel vanished he gave his girlfriend his house key. He also left her with his jogging suit and snow boots, saying he wouldn't need them for awhile. |
| • | Daniel is in debt and is under tax liens. |
| • | Daniel has been accused of playing a shell game with over $500,000 of his clients' money. |
| • | In the past, Daniel's has used his clients' money to cover his own short term debt. |
| • | He renewed his passport in December, saying he would need to travel in April of 2007. |
| • | Daniel's personal and business back accounts currently hold $234,000. |
| Friends of Daniel, despite the warrant issued for his arrest, believe that he is innocent. This brings up the first idea; that he has been taken against his will, most likely in order to coerce from him the escrow money that he was holding for clients. The other line of thinking is that Daniel has fled the U.S., most likely to Brazil where he has many friends, in order to avoid the crushing debt that he was under.
I'm leaning in the direction of the latter theory. Not because I know Mr. Daniel or his mind, but of simple human nature. One of the reasons that he is in such financial trouble is because he often worked for poor clients from whom he refused to accept payment. When people who have spent their lives doing good works find themselves in financial problems, they are often able to rationalize immoral and illegal acts by saying, "I've been good, I've done the right things. I deserve to be happy." This justification, combined with desperation, often gets people to do some pretty crazy things.
There's new art in the Project Menagerie section. Check it out. |
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| One of the reasons that I am such a news junkie is because, well. . . there's so much of it. As information becomes more and more accessible, what you can find becomes more diverse and more ludicrous. Anyone who has ever been to Fark can attest to this. I find it to be a great source of inspiration when it comes to story ideas.
Take for instance the disappearance of Royal "Scoop" Daniel III. A lawyer in the ski resort town of Breckenridge, Daniel spent most of his time working for the community and trying to help African immigrants get U.S. citizenship. While he has had money troubles and a bitter divorce, few people seem to wish him ill. However, on April 27th, Daniel disappeared.
This, in and of itself, is not that strange. Breckenridge is a somewhat remote community that has a number of deaths and disappearances each year simply due to sporting activities. People get hurt or die skiing, hiking, and rock climbing. However, it is the events of the morning of April 27th that make Daniel's disappearance intriguing.
5:35 a.m. – Daniel is recorded on surveillance tape entering his office with his dog. He spends the next few hours doing routine tasks.
7:30 a.m. – A disc jockey who shares office space with Daniel sees the lawyer. He mentions to police later Daniel seemed preoccupied.
7:48 a.m. – The Summit County police receive a short 911 call from Daniel's cell phone. It is abruptly disconnected.
That is the last time Mr. Daniel was seen by anyone that knows him. So the question becomes, what happen in those eighteen minutes? While the answer is most likely mundane, it certainly piques the imagination. I hope Mr. Daniel is OK and I'll be keeping an eye on this story.
New art in the Mojo Smith & Grandma Crow section. Enjoy. |
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| Man, those South Koreans are crazy. Yesterday concluded the first annual World High Wire Championships. Contestants, eighteen in all, walked across a tight rope spanning the Han River. While the Han is not particularly long, it is extremely broad, being over a kilometer wide in some locations. Some great pictures were taken at the event, but this one is my favorite. | | I haven't been able to find out who won the competition yet, so if you see anything let me know.
Speaking of the Han River, if you haven't seen The Host I highly recommend it. It is one of the best monster movies in years and one of the least Hollywood films I've ever seen.
There's new art in the Mojo Smith & Grandma Crow section. I've found a letterer for the project, so hopefully we'll have words to go with all the pretty pictures soon. |
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| After nine years of being dead, Francys DiStefano-Arsentiev is finally getting buried. Nearly a decade ago, near the summit of Mt. Everest, both Francys and her husband Sergeui died. While Serguei's body was never found, Arventiev died so close to the trail that her body has been in full view of anyone making the climb. One fellow Coloradan, Ellen Miller, commented, "When I was on the Northeast Ridge in 2001, Fran's body was right out there in the open. It was poignant and haunting." Yes, but apparently not haunting enough for Mrs. Miller to do anything about it. I'm sure it will be in her book, though.
Fortunately, an Englishman by the name of Ian Woodall started an ascent on Tuesday with the purpose of burying Aresntiev. Now I realize that mountain climbing is an inherently dangerous sport and that Mt. Everest is one of the most remote locations on Earth. However, it is still unsettling to me to consider she's been unburied up there for nine years despite the numerous expeditions that have gone up during that time. Good on you, Mr. Woodall, for doing the right thing.
In case you missed it yesterday, there's an interview with John Jackson Miller over at Silver Bullet Comics. Also, there's new art in the Project Menagerie section. | Later that same day...
New reviews in the reading section. |
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| And the winner for coolest political party name ever is. . .Bhutan! With a name like the Blue Thunder Dragon party, it was an obvious shoo-in.
After Monday's negative post, I decided to look around and find something a little more cheerful. Bhutan, a forgotten little country south of China, has been an absolute monarchy since 1907. In what one hopes is a display of governmental responsibility,
King Jigme Singye Wangchuck has announced his decision to abdicate the thrown. However, rather than just throwing the kingdom into the usual chaos associated with first time elections, Bhutan is doing a practice run. Yes, they are going out and voting in mock elections. The great thing about it is how bored all of them look. | | However, given the administration and corruption problems that plague most first time elections, I suspect when the real deal happens this fire drill will end up being a good thing. Naturally, the political situation in Bhutan is more complicated than I make it out to be. The Nepali dissidents claim that the entire thing is just a sham to camouflage the problems their ethnic group is having. The Bhutanese themselves seem more than a little skeptical of this new form of government. It's unlikely that the change would even be taking place were it not that the king wants it. The kingdom is an orderly place, where people seem to voluntarily obey rules that most Americans would blanch at. It should be interesting to see how this goes for them.
In more appropriate news for this site, you can now build your own Autobot. Even as someone who is tired of having his childhood repackaged and sold to him, this is still pretty amusing. And yes, I will be going to see the film. My hypocrisy knows no bounds.
New art in the Mojo Smith & Grandma Crow section. I'm looking for a letterer for that and Project Menagerie. If you know anyone, drop me a line. | Later that same day...
John Jackson Miller, the writer behind Dark Horse's Knights of the Old Republic was kind enough to sit down for an interview. Miller has been involved in publishing and comics for a good long time and was kind enough to share his insight. You can read about it over there. |
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