Archive August 29 - Sept. 15 2003
Gravity Lens Main Page
Monday, September 15
The youth of today look at me like I'm already senile when I speak of old cartoons like Super President and Roger Ramjet. Now I can point them to Toon Tracker: The Home of Lost Cartoons to prove that there was life before the mind-numbing shitfest of Rainbow Bright and He Man. There's even a Courageous Cat & Minute Mouse page.

Robert Roy Britt of Space.com investigates the burdgeoning star naming industry.

Sunday, September 14
Who knew possible presidential hopeful Gen. Wesley Clark was a science fiction reader?

Recommended Readin': Christopher Hitchens doesn't do diets. Jody Callahan tells us what it's like to be an atheist in the bible-belt. James Randi defends David Blaine. Scott Kirsner introduces us to the Robot Air Corps. Jeff Berkwits shows us what happens when science fiction authors make music.

Some of the cooler items bouncing around the blogosphere this week included this gallery of old Sideshow Banners, the Modern Ruins photo site, and, my personal favorite, a retro kitcsh site call Tack-o-Rama full of goodies from yesteryear. 
New stuff coming soon to the Links Page. Under "Artists": Omni regular Michael Parkes, dino-man William Stout, the intense lines of Jean-Claude Gal, and the bright colors of Claudio Castellini (I'm looking for any online work by Warren artist Ramon Torrents).
Also found this sweet Elric gallery.
Under "My Favorite Women" I'm posting Kiva Kahl and Anna Jack a.k.a. Grinder Girl and Hula Hoop Girl from the Letterman show

Saturday, September 13
Weekend Time Waster: Here's an applet for a nifty 4-D tesseract Rubik's Cube.

Friday, September 12
A moment of silence, please, for Johnny Cash and John Ritter.

Maybe it's me, but when I read science news stories about astronomers gazing deep into the universe's dark side, black holes singing new stars into existence, and strange miasmas undulating in the heavens, it makes a fake headline like "Giant Space Spiders Will Save Earth" sound downright logical.

Comic Stuff: Comic Book Resources talks to Kurt Busiek about sword & sorcery.
We don't get to see Zonker ride a sandworm, but there's some funny stuff at Dunesburry.
The last issue of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen came out this week. I'm anxiously waiting for Jess Nevins to provide his annotations. I need a fix, man!
Slush Factory chats with artist Bryan Hitch.
James Sime testifies to the power of comic book retailing.

Assorted Items: 
The Map Room impresses me again by finding Neu York, a creepy alternate map of NYC imagined after a German victory in WWII.
Warren Ellis links to The Gallery of Hippie Horrors. He also skewers the new Enterprise.
Cup of Chica shows us where to go if we need to sell our soul.

Thursday, September 11
Gravity Lens is today's Sci Fi.com Webguide Cool Pick.

Assorted Items:
Retrocrush presents us with a gallery of truly horrifying 80's make up.
Modern Drunkard takes at look at advertising back in the glorious days When Drunkards Ruled the Earth.
Best Name for a Science Fiction Convention Ever: They Came and Shaved Us.

I have been taken to task (and rightly so) by an anonymous reader for not doing enough music entries. With that in mind I am pleased to tell you that tours have recently been announced for Bill Bruford's Earthworks, guitar maestro Mike Keneally, and the unstoppable Killing Joke. The big news, though, is the announcement that the mighty Pixies are reuniting for a tour next year. So profound is this turn of events that even the ever-irrelevant MTV posted a story about it.

My copy of Robota is in! The story's by Orson Scott Card and the amazing art is by Doug Chiang. It is, in my opinion, the best story/art book since Dinotopia or Galactic Geographic.
Support quality graphic science fiction. Go buy one.

Wednesday, September 10
Assorted items: It's official: There will be a Free Comic Book Day 2004.
Warren Ellis now has a book deal.
From Reuters in Tokyo: In a fresh sign of the rapid aging of Japan's population, the number of people aged 100 or older is expected to reach a record high of 20,561 by the end of September. Leon Kass must be pissed.

After finding the World of Kamandi over at The Map Room I did a little hunting. My search yielded such ficticious cartographical entries (of varying quality, mind you) as The Land that Time Forgot, Barsoom, Pellucidar, Hyboria, Melnibone, Arrakis, Krypton, Gotham City, Latveria, Asgard, the Earths of Marvel and DC, Dunwich, Innsmouth, Arkham and the Simpson's Springfield. Update: Find more such maps at Fuddlefog.com.
I'm seeking maps of Skartaris from Warlord, as well as the world from Ditko's Stalker.
I wouldn't mind a map of Lidsville, either. Clearly I need help.

I'm also looking for reports from readers in the real cities of Seattle, Vegas, or New York who may have visited a Sci Fi Cafe location. Was it halfway decent, or just sad? What were some of the theme menu-items? What do the wait staff wear?

Tuesday, September 9
Incoming Signals found this great site of aircraft that never flew.

Author Spider Robinson wrote a piece for the Globe & Mail pondering why readers are abandoning science fiction for fantasy. I do not completely agree with him, given the number of SF books in my Anticipations column over on the right.
In other SF news, SciFi.com has an interview with Ben Bova.

Larry Sechrest of Free Radical hits home explaining why libertarians need romance.

Monday, September 8
A moment of silence, please, for Mister Warren Zevon.

What the Internet was Meant for: The Map Room found this great online map of the world from Kamandi: Last Boy on Earth.

Recommended Readin':
Simon Smith of Better Humans tips his hat to the pioneers of human redesign.
Tim Cavanaugh of Reason Online looks at the New Anti-Catholicism.
Fouad Ajami of Foreign Policy looks at the New Anti-Americanism.
Elan Journo & Yaron Brook of ARI tell us why the war on terrorism is failing.
Tim Radford of The Guardian asks "Why do so many scientists believe in God?"
At Small Times Chris Phoenix & Mike Treder say nanotechnology is closer than we think.
Edward Hudgins of The Objectivist Center takes Al Franken to task.
Howard Gardner of The Boston Globe looks at the shortcomings of modern education.

Sunday, September 7
As a number of dead science fiction franchises are exhumed for further study, Metafilter posted this link to Steam Trek, a gaming site where the five year mission is reworked as a Victorian adventure. Very clever. Unfortunately we'll never get to see anything this imaginative realized from the dying Trek franchise. Even the fan fiction seems focused on bad things happening to Wesley Crusher.

A few items going up on the Links Page shortly: The International Catalogue of Super Heroes, Nostalgia Central, and the Oxford Bottled Beer Index. 

Friday, September 5
My deep-seated intolerance of idiots rejoices: Russell Madden of SOLO HQ uses Harlan Ellison's recent comments about the events at this year's Odyssey Workshop to decry what he calls the appeasement of the less worthy and the redistribution of virtue.

Assorted items:
James Randi takes on the ten commandments among other subjects in his weekly column.
The Jesus Museum brings us this Antichrist calculator.
Something Awful's Photoshop Phriday: Indiana Jones & the Crossovers of Doom.
Seth McFarlane has told Cinescape that a Family Guy movie is in the works.

I do not know which is more terrifying: the fact that our beloved sun is producing large quantities of antimatter, or the fact that "entertainer/cosmonaut" Lance Bass is the spokesperson for World Space Week.

Thursday, September 4
George Dvorsky sends along this delightful little tale of a man who kept his wife's body in the freezer (along with many cats) awaiting the day he could bring her back to life. Yum.

The legendary Frank Gorshin is portraying George Burns at the Hartford Stage next to the TV station I work for and we have had several sightings. Here's a piece from the Hartford Courant about the play, and here's a piece from the archives of Acid Logic when they crowned the esteemed Mr. Gorshin as an Interesting Motherfucker.

Science Fiction Stuff: 
Hal Niedzviecki of the Globe & Mail attended Worldcon in Toronto and filed a report.
SciFi.com interviews author Jerry Pournelle.
SF Revu interviews author Larry Niven, as well as posts the essay Space Opera Redefined by David G. Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer.
SF Crowsnest is following the relaunch of Blake's 7.
Warren Ellis provides us with a preview of Chris Weston's sweet art for Ministry of Space #3.

Science Fact Stuff: 
Dennis Overbye of the NY Times updates us on the search for the theory of everything.
Red Nova reveals plans for a future supercomputer.
D. Allan Bromley and Michael S. Buell examine science's growing political strength.

Recommended Readin':
Ronald Bailey of Reason Online looks at parents who don't get medical care for their kids.
Chet Raymo of the Boston Globe is impressed by the works of early irish surveyors.
James H. Dee of the Statesman is glad there's no afterlife.

And finally, quiver in fear before this giant brain floating in space.

Wednesday, September 3
Comic Stuff: Sequential Tart has an interview with Joe Casey about WILDCATS 3.0
The heroic and encyclopedic Jess Nevins has posted his annotations for both Alan Moore/ Zander Cannon's SMAX and Neil Gaiman's 1602.
Jason Pomerantz of Comic World News also takes a crack at 1602.
From Twisted Toyfare Theater: Daredevil Buys a Car.

Tuesday, September 2
It is September.
The Quantum Muse Artist of the Month is Patrick McEvoy.
The Molecule of the Month is Carnitine.
The God of the Month is Alan Moore's Promethea. 
(In my studio she's located in between Spider Jerusalem and Flaming Carrot atop my action figure shelf.)
Any number of lists of recognized days for this month include a September 25 entry for National Comic Book Day. What is this? Does the industry do anything? Perhaps mature reader comics mailed to congressmen and federal judges? I am looking for more info. 

In an act of weird coolness the Institute of Physics has asked a contemporary dance company to produce a new work marking the centenary of the 1905 publication of Einstein's theory of relativity. An MC square-dance, perhaps?

Recommended Readin':
George Dvorsky of Better Humans explores the deep inherent difficulties of converting innovative ideas into government policy.
Bruce Bower of Science News looks at the possibilities of Cognitive Prosthetics.
Reason Online's Cathy Young cheers the removal of Roy Moore's Ten Commandments, while Phyllis Schlafly of Town Hall condemns secular humanists for cheering.
At The Atlantic Virginia Postrel welcomes the modern age of aesthetic sophistication.

Monday, September 1 (El Jefe turns 41)
And now a moment of silence for Charles Bronson.

Assorted Items: 
Royal Astronomer Sir Martin Rees ponders the question "are we alone in the universe?"
The Washington Post reports on Playboy's upcoming 50th anniversary.
Better Humans has gotten a nifty facelift.
Japanese drum troupe Wadaiko Yamato will tour the US soon.
You've probably seen this elsewhere, but here's a flowchart of the Book of Revelations.
Ain't It Cool News reports that Berkeley Breathed's Opus is returning.

Sunday, August 31
The Hugo awards were handed out Saturday night.

Friday, August 29
BBC has posted a insightful list of history's greatest art heists.

Geneticists have produced "fully human" proteins from yeast, which will, of course, pave the way for the world's first bread-based super hero. UPDATE: Mark Vadnais shames me by reminding me that I have forgotten Powdered Toast Man. Suggest penance here.

Comic Stuff: Comic Book Resources announced that a coda to Alan Moore's From Hell will be published in his upcoming Yuggoth Cultures. Newsarama previews Jerry Beck's Something Wicked. Slush Factory talks to Chuck Dixon and artist Steve Epting about their new pirate book El Cazador. Matthew J. Phillion of Comic World News graciously psychoanalyzes your pull list.







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