Archive Sept. 16 - Oct. 2 2003
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Thursday, October 2
Bow your heads before the Cthulhu handpuppet.

The brave man and women of at the vanguard of scientific progress have had a busy week. They are on the brink of unlocking the mystery of dark matter, and set to probe parallel universes, and, most importantly, now know why cookies crumble.

Assorted Blips from the Blogosphere:
Funniest thing I've seen this week: The Compleat Diagram of Strange Persons 2003.
Need a good song lyric to inspire you? Visit Rock Wisdom.com.
My next trip to Providence will include a stop at the Diner exhibit at the Culinary Museum.
The mighty Primus on going back on tour this autumn.
And don't forget that there's a new episode of Justice League on Saturday.

Wednesday, October 1
It is October.
The God of the Month is Trickster, God of A Thousand Names.
The Quantum Muse Artist of the Month is Anne El-Habre.
The Molecule of the Month is Dimethyl Mercury.
The Pagan Chant of the Month is Cerridwen.
The Needlepoint Stitch of the Month is the Clematis Square.
The Washington Post Bartender of the Month is Sam Harris.
Carry on.

The Free State Project has chosen New Hampshire for its great experiment. More coverage from the SF Gate and WMUR.

Recommended Readin': At Scientific American Michael Shermer mourns the over 100 billion humans that have died throughout history (and discusses alternatives).
David Salt of Discovery tells us smart people live longer.
At Better Humans John Gochenouer compares DNA to source code.
Jeet Heer of the Boston Globe looks back at the copyright war waged by the Mouse Liberation Front, while Chet Raymo admits he couldn't help but buy a new computer.

Comic Stuff: Comic Book Resources chats with artist Phil Jiminez while Steven Grant talks about getting into the biz.
Slush Factory talks to artist Mike Zeck.
Newsarama previews the biography of comic legend Otto Binder.
SF Crowsnest updates us on the CGI Alien Legion project.
Digital Webbing tells us about Operation Comix Relief which sends comics to our troops.
The Comic Fanatic previews the anthology book It Was a Dark and Silly Night.

Tuesday, September 30
Recommended Readin': In the pages of Tech Central Station bio-ethicist Yuval Levin criticizes what he calls "libertarian techno-utopians" (which I guess would be me). Fortunately James Pinkerton comes quickly to the defense.
Also at TCS Arnold Kling compares libertarianism with the welfare state.
At Technology Review Bruce Sterling gives us ten technologies that deserve to die.
Phil Pullman writing for the Guardian says education is breeding a generation that feels nothing but hostility towards literature.
Jack Gardner at SOLO HQ calls for a moral war on religious dogma.

I'm talking to the fanboys for a minute: One of the stranger items I found while flipping through the latest Diamond Comics catalog was a set of motivational lithographs featuring Marvel Comic heroes and villains and patterned after those corporate posters (which are beautifully parodied at Despair.com and Something Awful). While I applaud any and all gimmicks to get comics more visible in the mainstream, I personally find it a little creepy to take life-and-goal affirming inspiration from the Punisher (who basically kills everyone), and Thor (who recently decimated New York and took over the world). Still, I thought it would be great if there were prints with more interesting characters, so I made some of my own. 

Readers of the novel Jennifer Government by Max Berry will shudder a bit at this story.

Monday, September 29 
The first inklings of an autumn King Crimson U.S. tour are hitting the web.

Recommended Readin': Cathy Young at the Boston Globe reminds us that some Bush- bashers are just hurting the cause.
Matt Welch at Reason frowns upon the vocation of Ombudsman.
George Dvorsky at Better Humans fills us in on the religious battle against gay marriage.
Phil Mole of Butterflies & Wheels asks: "Are All Religions Identical?"
Jayme Lynn Blaschke of Strange Horizons interviews singularity-monger Vernor Vinge.

Assorted Items: The movie/philosophy site Metaphilm probes the Abrahamic underpinings of the Powerpuff Girls. In the real world it seems little girls take the inspriration for their actions from other sources.
Eric Campos of Film Threat lists his Favorite Movie Assholes.
The SciFi.com Webguide points us to Evil Eyes: The Encyclopedia of Villains.

Sunday, September 28
Recommended Readin': Paul Johnson of Forbes looks at Europe's Utopian hangover.
Bryan Sykes of the Taipei Times tells us that all men are doomed, but that's okay because Barbara Ellen of The Guardian says women prefer cats anyway.
Dave Barry faces off with a digital scale.
And, because we live in the future, Wired points us to Zagat's Guide to Wi-Fi.

Saturday, September 27
Assorted Items: Mike Sangiacomo of Newsarama looks ahead at some of the classic and affordable collections forthcoming from Checker Publications.
Red Nova counts us down to tonight's launch of the European SMART 1 lunar probe. 
John MacGregor of Raw Vision enters a house designed by schizophrenic architect Karl Junker (via Exclamation Mark) which rivals the Giger Museum Bar for weird coolness.

Friday, September 26
The exhumation of dead SF TV continues as it's announced that Doctor Who is returning.
In other strange British TV news: apparently there are too many blacks on the telly.

Recommended Readin':
James Paul of the Guardian lovingly remembers 40 years of cassette tapes.
Chet Raymo of the Boston Globe asks some questions raised by medical advances.
At Comic Book Resources James Sime leaves some comics on a train, while Mark Millar looks back at Orson Welles' plans for a Batman movie. Your heart will break reading it.
Friday means a new James Randi column.

The Gods Walk Among Us: Monty Python mainstay Eric Idle is embarking on a US tour.

Both Comic Book Resources and Newsarama have extensive reports on the shakeup at Crossgen Entertainment. I'm an avid reader of Ruse and this month's debut of El Cazador got off to a good start.

Thursday, September 25   
There is Much Rejoicing: I just learned that SCTV will be coming to DVD in January.
In other TV news, the ill-advised yet fast-approaching revivals of Blake's Seven and Battle-star Galactica have thrown opened the floodgates. The latest is a planned relaunch of Lost in Space. It's only a matter of time before the criminally dreadful Voyagers and The Powers of Matthew Star return to pollute our screens.
In the meantime, still no word on Farscape. Sigh.

Weird Sex: Cup of Chicha posted a link to my favorite site of the week: Zombie Pinups. 
Nerve put up its list of the 50 Unsexiest Things. Oh, and Warren Ellis found this device.

Comic Stuff: Tony Whitt of Cinescape asks if comics are an appropriate political forum.
At Comic Book Resources Steven Grant questions the wisdom of revamping old properties.
411Mania profiles artist Christopher Moeller, whose Iron Empires will soon be collected.
Graham McMillan of Broken Frontier looks at the upcoming Sandman Library editions.
Wordfire has a preview of Robert Teranishi's sweet, sweet art for Kevin. J. Anderson's Saga of the Seven Veils graphic novel.
At Newsarama Matt Brady looks at Waid and Kitson's Empire, which you should be reading.
90 Holiday Shopping Days Left: How cool is this bust of Jack Kirby by Randy Bowen?

Philosophy Stuff: Tibor Machan of SOLO HQ looks at the myriad similarities between criminal and political minds.
Walter Williams at Capmag asks: "Should the government force us to associate with those we wish not to associate?"  
Bettijane Levine of the LA Times looks at the growing trend of pop philosophy. 
Carlin Romano of Chronicle reports from the World Congress of Philosophy in Istanbul. 

Wednesday, September 24
Here's a quote: "You seem to be under the impression that you and your child are the centre
of the universe." 
How about this: "Why oh why do women choose to breed with slugs? They pick some loser with no ambition, or sense of responsibility and figure 'Let's have a baby with this guy' then wonder why he doesn't automatically morph into the ideal father/breadwinner/husband."
These and other much-needed barbs can be found on the website of Childfree Abby.

Recommended Readin': Edward Hudgins of The Objectivist Center blames France's collectivism for the death of 15,000 people in this summer's heatwave.
Niall McKay of Wired tells us how termites are inspiring future technology.
Wade Roush of Technology Review listens in on plans to rebuild the internet.
Matt Munday of the Sunday Times Magazine looks at the impact of pirate radio (reprinted). 

Tuesday, September 23  First Day of Autumn
Newsarama had a chat with author Ray Bradbury about his new graphic novel collection and the influence of comics in his life.

There are photos at Figures.com of some upcoming Outer Limits figures. Pricey, but cool.

Monday, September 22
Future Shock: This morning I woke up in a world powered by tidal motions and nuts.

Recommended Readin': At Butterflies and Wheels Thomas R. DeGregori says those working to curtail science are condemning the less fortunate.
Simon Smith of Better Humans says future posthumans will need guidance from history.
At Wired Richard Dawkins defends godlessness.
Cathy Young of the Boston Globe finds modern environmentalism full of holes.
At Slush Factory John Byrne wants to know why fanboys gotta be so negative?
At Film Threat Paul Goebel A.K.A. the TV Geek from Beat the Geeks reviews the fall season.

Assorted Items:
About a year ago Forbes put out a list of the fifteen wealthiest fictional characters. In looking back at it, there's no way Scrooge McDuck is richer than Thurston Howell III.
Retrocrush serves up a double helping of yumminess with a gallery of vintage hamburger advertising and a pictorial tribute to Erin Gray.
Keyboardist Rick Wakeman is bringing his one man musical comedy show to the U.S.
In other music stuff: Maxx Ziegler sent along the website for Trek punk band The No Kill I, while an unscheduled perusal of the "K" section of the Klezmer Shack website uncovered a band called Klingon Klezmer. I smell a festival.

Sunday, September 21
This is Banned Book Week. Go read one.

At Reason Tim Cavanaugh looks at what constitutes accountability while Ronald Bailey, Christopher Hitchens and others ponder what a libertarian foreign policy might look like.

Saturday, September 20
There's a funny piece at Locus by one "Paoli du Flippi" about future funding for Clarion.

Friday, September 19
Recommended Readin': James Randi responds to recent attacks in his weekly column.
At The Atlantic Paul Davies asks if religion could survive the discovery of extraterrestrial life while Jonathan Rauch wonders if Frankenfood will save the planet.
James Sime of CBR teaches us about guerrilla marketing tactics for comic books.

Yes, me pretties, today is Talk Like A Pirate Day.

Although I am not directly related to Phoberomys Pattersoni, I have often been described as "a weird guinea pig, but huge, with a long tail for balancing on its hind legs and continuously growing teeth." 

Thursday, September 18
Recommended Readin': The new issue Free Inquiry is out. In it Paul Kurtz gives us a brief history of the Secular Humanist movement, Guy Harrison tells us all how he feels about religion, Norene Kelly explores the President's moral relativism, and Gregory S. Paul casts light on Christianity's role in the rise of Nazism.
Over at Mindjack Ian Dawe takes a stroll through the history of indentification technology.

Ain't It Cool News has some pretty screen shots of Thunderbird 3 launching atop Tracy Island from the upcoming Thunderbirds movie. 

I gotta tell ya, my 15 year old self would have wept with uncontrolable excitement upon seeing this sweet George Perez spread from Comics Continuum of every Avenger and JLA member ever. Even as an adult it's pretty cool.

Wednesday, September 17
Your homework: come up with original Batman TV show villains whose insidious schemes would involve breaking into the Toilet Museum, the Toaster Museum, and the Hall of Meteorites. You get extra credit if you cast an actor in the role.

Recommended Readin':
Orson Scott Card discusses file sharing and the RIAA.
Christopher Hitchens defines the moral superiority of atheism.
Nicholas Wade of the NY Times explores the evolutionary origins of music.
Ishtiaq Ahmed of the Daily Times is awaiting an islamic reformation. It's sorely needed.
David Adam of The Guardian wants a ride in a space elevator.
William Speed Weed of Popular Science points out the worst jobs in science.
John Warner of the Morning News interviews Gerald Graff about today's failing academia.
John Giuffo of the Village Voice reviews Neil Gaiman's new Sandman graphic novel.

Tuesday, September 16
There are finally Cthulhu for President 2004 shirts available at Cafe Press. I've been dis-appointed with the web presence for the dark one's campaign. I have found a lot of 2000 campaign sites that are still up and running. Let's update, people.
Oh, and apparently Yog-Sothoth is also running.

Traumatize your children this holiday: get them Pink Floyd The Wall action figures.

Jess Nevin's annotations for League of Extraordinary Gentlemen #6 as well as the second issue of Neil Gaiman's 1602 have been posted.

Recommended Readin': George Dvorsky of Better Humans explains how the disabled will become the first posthumans.
Laura Secor of the Boston Globe examines cultural "declinism."
Eric Baard of the Village Voice tells us of scientists who refuse to let their creations be used for warfare.
Nick Gillespie of Reason tells the music industry to shut up and play their guitar.
Charles Graeber of Wired shows us the latest joyriding craze.







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