Notes Category

Incredible Combinations

A wrestler-fairy? A nerd-werewolf? A caveman-pirate? All these and more in Creebobby's second Archetype Times Table.

Just Under 9 Minutes of Wong Fei-Hung

Wong Fei-Hung's been on my mind lately. Luckily, Kung Fu Cinema has a nice video (scroll down) of Wong Fei-Hung in the movies from Kwan Tak-Hing to Gordon Liu, Jet Li as well as Jackie Chan and actress Angie Tsang Tze-Man's portrayals of young Wong Fei-Hung. There's also a detailed companion article tracing the historical and fictional Wong Fei-Hung through newspaper pulps, radio, tv and film. 

The Daily Grind, Videogame Edition

"It's common practice for one of those guys, in a single day, to chainsaw his way out of the belly of a giant worm, take a detour through a zombie shantytown, euthanise his long-lost wife, and spend hours in a sewer trawling through blood and waste, with monsters leaping up at his face and depositing their brain matter on his boots."

Hit Self-Destruct again, on what life's like for videogame heroes.

Long Overdue Court Case

The Deleted Scenes webcomic takes a look at W. E. Coyote v. ACME Corporation.

"That Yellow-Shirted Such-and-Such"

Frank Miller's Charlie Brown, Thumbsuckers.

Romantic Zoetrope

The couples on category romance covers in motion. Laura's Vivanco has more including a comparison to the morphing women in "Women In Art" so make sure to scroll down. (via Teach Me tonight)

Ricky Gervais vs. Elmo

At the low-key yet awesome See Monkey blog, Marc Hirsh writes about his fear that any moment Ricky Gervais could descend into schtick, becoming a painful parody of himself. But more importantly, he's got a video of those Ricky Gervais/Elmo interview outtakes with good quality sound.

So Awful It Moves Past Parody

Vaniel found some awful description in a fantasy novel: "Really, all I could think was, 'I have got to scan this tomorrow because no one will believe how awful it is." It's so awful it's gone back around to being good again--but for all the wrong reasons.'  It's astonishingly awful. It should win an award. There's a man named Spikenard. Make sure to check out the fan art and dramatic reading provided. (via Smart Bitches)

Rules of Engagement

At Hit Self-Destruct, Duncan writes about Far Cry 2, Call of Duty 4, rules of engagement and civilian deaths: "Where there are no civilians, there are no mistakes, there's no collateral damage and it starts to feel safe. It changes from war into a murder mystery vacation. Maybe there isn't a morally unimpeachable way to make a entertaining game about atrocities, but I'd feel better if those games didn't try and make me feel so good."

Soft Ordinance

A fleece, wool and felt AK-47, Uzi pistol or M1A1 bazooka? It's Soft Corps' artsy-craftsy arsenal.(thanks, Steve!)

Saturday Morning Watchmen

Get out your favorite milk-dying sugar saturated cereal, it's "Saturday Morning Watchmen!" Dr.Manhattan turns into a car. That's tight.

It's like Math but more Fun

What is Robot x Ninja? Or, Platypus x Lincoln? Creebobby's Comics Archetype Times Table has the answers. It's like math, but more fun. (thanks, James!)

Stick to the Man in his Regions!

The Man got you down? Too focused on his "Regions?" Won't let you watch US content outside the US? Saving your searches? Well, I'm not recommending anything. Just saying Hotspot Shield might've done some good and it might help you watch some fine programming here and here.  And don't forget here.

Wrangling Watchmen

Read everything you wanted to about the Watchmen movie? Let us wrangle you a little more. Marc Hirsch argues for the comic as its own form and Andrew O'Hehir is shocked to be writing that it "way out-darks The Dark Knight and immediately leaps near the top of the list of apocalyptic pop-culture operas." Meanwhile, here's an interview with Alan Moore not talking about Watchmen.

The Office Romance

Does shipping undermine romance? "The shipper-oriented vision of romance, in which it's all nothing-nothing-nothing-BOOM! KISSING! has a tendency to devalue actually being happy in favor of being constantly stimulated by drama." Linda Talks more about love, "Jam" and The Office (US) here.

Bejeweled Prison of the Mind

Infinite Lives' Darren Zenko is given to understand that "the crack-like qualities of the Bejeweled experience were no accident, but rather the result of the kind of nefarious mind-control alchemy normally attributed in science-fiction thrillers to shadowy organizations bent on world domination.”

Hero Factory

Yes, the Hero Factory is holding out for a hero in more than midi form. Choose your outfits. Female heroes have more hair options. Male heroes have more noses. Just like creating a character in a videogame, but without the pesky missions. (Thanks, 'Col!)

"It's a new world, Arcane."

Andrew O'Hehir tricks us all by writing about Alan Moore and Swamp Thing instead of movies at Salon: "[T]wo things are clear: Moore knows what comics readers want and intends to give it to them, and whether or not they want something more complicated, more tragic and more adult (I know it's a loaded word), he's going to give them that, too."

Blood Red Earth at FEARnet

Feel all the horror of tainted meat as FEARnet streams J.T. Petty's Blood Red Earth, the Lakota-language prequel to The Burrowers. 

Sita, Rama, Annette Hanshaw

Sita Sings the Blues is a multilayered Ramayana, an amazing display of animation prowess and Sita sings in the voice of 1920s jazz singer Annette Hanshaw. It's neater than I make it sound. Make some time.

"Wong Fei-Hung and the Lantern Festival Disturbance"

Wong Fei-Hung defeats three bullies with a rod (not a gat), deals with the Lantern Festival Disturbance and wins a victory at the Sipai Lou in these 1950s film posters.

"The Passage of Light"

Spectacular nebulae, space battles and workaday freight hauling at this amazing gallery of science fiction art.

"You Are My Drawing Monkey"

The Way of the Smock trailer: how illustrated books are made. At least by John Paul Fiorentino and Evan Munday. It seems like a kinda toxic work environment.

Cutting into a Body of Work

The horror. The beauty. Cutting into a body of work to create book sculpture.

A Dance With Fans

George R. R. Martin has a few things he wants to get off his chest. Like he's not lying about A Dance With Dragons completion dates. So deal with it. (via Super Punch)

Bond, Jane Bond

Back in the day, HK studios assumed films with male leads couldn't cut it in the theaters. So during the 1960s spy era, Hong Kong had Jane Bond films featuring masked spies in catsuits way before Maggie Cheung in Irma Vep. TarsTarkas gathers the resources all in one place, all you have to do is slip in and take'em.

See the Fury!

Black and white wuxia? Animated chi? See the devastating fury of Buddha's Palm!

Aerial City 008: Operation Spring

1960s Japanese science fiction Supermarionation. Scary or supercool? (Scroll down for a complete episode of Aerial City 008).

"Everyone Must Be Squished!"

If you look at these pictures of the death trap in Main Balwaan, you'll just wonder why you don't have one already. No pesky heros, just peace and quiet. And guys picking parts out of your death trap. So maybe you shouldn't look if you think it might break your heart...

Commentary Worth Having

Linda Holmes writes about commentary worth listening to in a sort of meta-review of This American Life's second season DVD set.

How do you feel about George?

The People vs. George Lucas

The Man's Got His Tricks

"Since this isn’t the story of someone finding a hidden magical world that the squares don’t know about, it’s the one about people in a story sitting around telling stories." Chris has some things to say about Neil Gaiman in, "This Week in Ink."

"You Complete Me"

Five Un-Romances.  Linda Holmes explains why.

Starting a Film Festival?

"We once programmed a retrospective of old kung fu films at a local theater and our prints looked like a collection of ex-convicts who had been trained to sneak into occupied Europe and assassinate Hitler: scarred, battered, and problematic." Grady Hendrix's advice isn't past its expiry date.

The Last Thakur

It's a good time to like Westerns, especially Asian Westerns, with good-looking movies like, The Last Thakur.

Good Santo, Bad Santo, No Santo at all

Curious about lucha movies but don't know where to start? Todd from Die, Danger, Die, Die, Kill! is here to help out with good movies starring Santo (here and here), good movies with no Santo and some Santo movies "likely to make you want to tear out your own brain and scrub it with industrial cleaning solvents."

Where X-Men Have Gone Before

Wolverine snikkts at Spock!  Gladiator punches the Enterprise!  Star Trek/X-men is crazy! 

Defending Dollhouse

A woman with her personality wiped and a new one programmed in every week? Joss Whedon talks about misogyny, identity and Dollhouse.

Fighting Words

"Struck by the resonances between professional wrestling and comics" at Occasional Superheroine. Mixed Martial Arts vs. "the sweet science of bruising" at Salon.

Titanoboa!

Fear the crocodilian-crushing coils of the mighty Titanoboa!

The Matrix Runs on Windows

"Take the red pill.  Get the blue screen." 

Empire Market Strikes Back

Empire Market's laser checkout system is fully operational in Chad Vader: Dayshift Manager season 2.

Kaiju Shakedown Goes Down Again

Like King Ghidorah, Kaiju Shakedown has succumbed to market forces. Again. Hopefully like King Ghidorah, Kaiju Shakedown will rise again.  Kaiju Shakedown's writer, Grady Hendrix, is taking some time to figure out how.

1910 Is Now

Bully! 1910 is Now with preview pages from The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen--Century: 1910.

Blood Red Earth

Get ready to squirm--there's a prequel to The Burrowers, the sure-to-be-squicky, Lakota-language Blood Red Earth.

Is She Asking For A Challenge?

Yes, Carly Monardo's Whirling Blender Weekly Challenge:  The Avengers + Ashley Wood! Previously, Soul Calibur characters in the style of Bruce Timm, Battle Chasers by Osamu Tezuka and Excalibur as drawn by Gary Baseman.(via Super Punch with props to Stinkoman)

Boo from Rotterdam

Wisit Sasanatieng's haunted room at Rotterdam's International Film Festival. 

Obey!

Michael Moorcock lists 10 dystopias everyone should read in The Guardian's list of 1000 books everyone should read.

"The Existential Angst of a Certain Young Mr. Jon Arbuckle"

Garfield minus Garfield.  (Thanks, John!)

Lunaros

Legal tender drawn from the Central Bank of Moon Republic. (via Warren Ellis)

Bringing Chris Ware Into It

"Chris Ware Can Show Video Games the Path to Manhood."  There's extensive quotation but there's also thoughts, and a link to more thoughts, about games pubescing. Maybe when they're all grown up, they'll realize some of them aren't men. (via Fantagraphics)

Yatterman!

Takashi Miike follows up his smart and fancy family films Great Yokai War and Zebraman with Yatterman. Looks promising--there's a giant dog robot and a lot of leather. (What the hell, trailers for GYW and Zebraman, too).

Before Bruce's Fists of Fury, There Was Ip Man

Donnie Yen plays Wing Chun master--and Bruce Lee's sifu--Ip Man in the eponymous movie.  Asses are kicked, regretfully. But not so regretfully there won't be a sequel where more asses are kicked in Hong Kong. Wong Kar-Wai's Grandmaster Ip Man might show up, well, sometime. You can bet it'll be pretty, though.

Fold Yourself a Crustacean

Recreate crustaceans, cephalopods and even angler fish with pdf origami patterns. If you don't read Japanese, just click on the critter and get going.(Thanks again, Steven!)

The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello

Airships, mysterious islands, satanic scientists, vampiric creatures, tragedy.  All in silhouette in The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello. (Thanks, Steven!)

What'd I miss?

And further to the subject of analyses of opening credits sequences, The Art of the Title is a repository of, well, just that. 

By hook or by crook

We want information! Further to the remembrance of Patrick McGoohan, here's a 12-minute and 19-second analysis of The Prisoner's one-minute, 47-second opening credits sequence. Be seeing you.

Galleries of Destruction and Awesomeness

"Giant monsters attack Flickr!" and Kung Fu Fridays is there to capture it with links anatomical drawings of kaiju and links to other galleries of monsters, Irwin Allen, architecture, 60s pop styles and all kinds of goodness.

Ricardo Montalbán, RIP

Ricardo Montalbán has died. Gutter fans probably remember best his roles in Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, Fantasy Island and Spy Kids, but Montalbán had a long career and also worked hard to combat stereotypical depictions of Latinos. Linda Holmes writes about Montalbán trapped on Fantasy Island in obituaries. In a film geek version of a 21 gun salute, Turner Classic Movies will honor Ricardo Montalbán with a movie marathon.

Patrick McGoohan is a Free Man

Patrick McGoohan has died. He's been in movies from Ice Station Zebra to Scanners to Braveheart.  He turned down a crazy number of roles: The Saint, James Bond, Gandalf and Dumbledore. He directed and starred in some smart tv including Columbo. Most people will remember his dreamy auteur tv show, The Prisoner, a show Glenn Kenny calls in his obituary, "one of the most reliably mind-bending television series ever created." Obituaries here and here.

Real Life Superheroes

Usually, when the media talks about Real Life Superheros they mean firefighters or EMTs or police.  NPR's Monkey See blog means something more awesome: costumed superheroes, featuring the World Superhero Registry. If only they'd included the superheroes' one costumed mad scientist, Professor Widget.

Sounds in Three Dimensions

The sound of electricity, the sound of water. Artist Atsushi Fukunaga creates sculptures with giongo or manga's onomatopoeic sound effects. ( via One Inch Punch and thanks, Mr. Dave!)

Tales from Ursula

Did you know Ursula Le Guin worked on an Earthsea screenplay with Peeping Tom and Black Narcissus' Michael Powell? I didn't. There's more in her Vice Magazine interview. (via Kaiju Shakedown)

An Ultima Gift

Origin Museum director, Joe Garrity, writes the Artful Gamer about building Richard "Lord British" Garriott an Ultima reagent box:  "The Reagent Box ended up to be a 2-year effort in finding the individual reagents and binding each to a velvet base with brass wire, presenting them with a 19th-century-scientific look."

Fun with Kaiju Shakedown

Every day is fun day at Kaiju Shakedown. This time:  chibi Watchmen, awesome criterion-type designs for Chinese movies and a trailer for Cat Head Theatre's upcoming samurai film.

American Elf Stuck in Vermont

American Elf James Kochalka is stuck in Vermont. Watch it.

The First Talkie In Toronto

"No doubt the audience in the plush seats of the Tivoli was enthralled. For the first time in a feature film, they could hear the creaking of the stairs, the ghostly wind and the voices of the characters. Even the credits were spoken."  Eric Veillette writes about The Terror and talkies in Toronto.

Lady Bullseye and Lady Snowblood

Richie muses on Lady Snowblood in manga and film and a little on Lady Bullseye: "That a samurai revenge film from thirty years ago manages to be significantly less exploitative than anything around now speaks volumes. It is, ironically, an excellent twenty first century samurai movie, which keeps the best parts of the genre while moving beyond the shitty sexual politics. It just happens to be from 1979."

Best of Comics 2008

Three sites for best of 2008 comics lists: Blair Butler (here and here), Jog the Blog and a million lists by a million artists.  Plus, Thought Balloonists' 2008 highlights. Spoiler: Love is strong for Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's, All-Star Superman.

“You say that you have enjoyed my stories for years."

Robert Heinlein took efficiency to whole new levels by having one reproduceable letter to respond to any inquiry. It's worth clicking through just to see the letter's checklist of responses. (via Occasional Superheroine and Cool Aggregator).

Edd Cartier, RIP

The Shadow wouldn't have been The Shadow and pulp wouldn't have been pulp without Edd Cartier, who died at 94 on Christmas Day. People at Penciljack have posted art and links to his art.

Radio Free Monster Island

Surrounded on all sides by awesome monsters, monstruos and kaiju, Eegah, Tabonga and Rodan do the only thing they can. They make groovy mp3's sampling monster movie soundtracks from all over including Hammer, Toho, American International and anything a go-go or defeated by Santo.

Ichthyo

Radiographs from a Smithsonian exhibit reveal the austere and lovely architecture of fish. Potato Benevolence has 4 images and a response.

Don't Open the Forbidden Door

You really don't want to open the forbidden door, but it couldn't hurt to peek at the trailer, stills and poster for Joko Anwar's Forbidden Door / Pintu Terlarang. (new working link). 

Au Revoir, Eartha

Eartha Kitt was a great singer, a fine actress and the best Catwoman ever. Entertainment Weekly has more clips.

The Yellow Peril Seduces Unshaven, Middle Aged White Men

"She came from the Orient to seduce middle-aged white men who don't shave."  Grady has a few things to say about the Zhang Ziyi and Dennis Quaid film, The Horsemen.

Ong-Bak 2, Ong-Bak 3 and International Tensions

So not only is Ong-Bak 2 open, Ong-Bak 3 is already confirmed, starring Tony Jaa and Dan Chupong most recently from Queen of Langkasuka). Meanwhile, Grady talks about "boneless condition" in Ong-Bak 3 and various people ponder how Cambodians will see the use of a Khmer palace in a Thai movie. Others, like me, ponder Tony Jaa's wearing a Khmer scarf .

Voltron in Oil

Voltron's splendor is revealed in this time lapse film of Robert Burden painting. Enjoy the emo giant robot music.  See Burden's toy paintings and flags here.

Batrachian Holiday Cheer

"It's Beginning to Look A Like Fishmen."  Yes, it sure is, especially after enjoying all the HP Lovecraft Historical Society's Solstice classics!

Coraline's Crafty Marketing

Artsy craftiness prevails in Coraline's marketing with sweater patterns, secret handmade boxes, sheet music and a cat puppet.

More Killer Jellies!

"When jellyfish populations run wild, they may jam thousands of square miles with their pulsating, gelatinous bodies..." Arm yourself with knowledge! Also, pictures!

Mainlining the Xmas Spirit

CSI: North Pole? Christmas cards starring a disturbed Santa and Chad Vader? Blame Society Productions mainlines the Xmas spirit.

Bettie Page Is Dead

Bettie Page is dead, but she won't ever really be gone.  There's an obituary and remembrances at her website. 

Crocheted Dalek Doom!

Crochet your own dalek with amdown's pattern--or planetjune's modifications--force humans to hollow out the earth so you can drive it around the universe. Daleks conquer and destroy!

The Atlas of True Names

They may say they are inspired by Tolkien, but it looks like a lark, of an etymological nature, to me! The Atlas of True Names converts place names into their original meanings. It's like a whole different world.

Wouldn't It Be Nice

Oh, to live in the era of the Regency Romance or the epic medieval adventure! Oh, except that life would suck: "No painless dentistry, eccentric provision for sewage, no penicillin and no concept of asepsis, and the condition of most women was not one that I aspire to."

Too Many Books?

Is it really true? "You can never have too many books"? Try out Book View Cafe and find out.

Bad Day for a Hitman

It's a bad day for the hitmen in Fewdio's Marie, starring Gutter Guest John Crye, and Curse, co-written by John.  But I guess it's a good day for John.

Mario Kart Love Song

"Mario Kart Love Song." blinktwice4y's song about Mario Kart and Love. The 'stache makes it, though.

¡Los Monstruos Resucitados!

¡Los monstruos resucitados! or at least monsters live again in Destroy All Monstruos' gallery of Mexican movie posters.

Artsy Game Incubator

Artsy Games Incubator, because art + games = fun.

Creepy Christmas

Creepy Christmas, a short film advent calendar with fancy directors kinda like Gothtober and Fewdio, but Christmas. (thanks, Colin!)

Triangle

Triangle's a film made in a relay. The trailer is here.

The Yakuza is not Your Friend

"Yakuza movies will always rock, and their heroes will always be the old-style yakuza, living and dying by their code of honor, but in real life the heroes are 603 normal people in the Kurume who are doing what the cops and the government will not: standing up to the yakuza and trying to run them out of town."  Grady Hendrix has a lot more to say at Kaiju Shakedown.

The Wolverines, 24 Years Later

John Plotz re-watches Red Dawn and sees a different movie: "Red Dawn did not conjure up the chest-swelling patriotism I felt as a 14-year-old. Instead, it turned out to be disturbing in an entirely unexpected way."

Flame On!

Calling all True Believers, the Fantastic Four is on the air starring Bill Murray as the voice of Johnny Storm, the Human Torch.

Batman vs. Batman, Turkey

“The royalty of the name ‘Batman’ belongs to us … There is only one Batman in the world. The American producers used the name of our city without informing us[.]"  The city of Batman in Turkey plans to sue Christopher Nolan. (via Lady, That's My Skull)  

Electric Dragon 80,000 Volts

Electric Dragon 80,000 Volts: Filled with Electricity! Filled with Emotion!  Conversing with dragons and creatures, is a man!  Dragon Eye Morrison!" (Thanks, Colin!)

Everybody Dies, Jim Munroe Style

Don't bother guessing the verb, just click here to play Former Games Editor Jim Munroe's Everybody Dies which just took 3rd place at the 2008 Interactive Fiction Competition. You can also learn more about the process of writing interactive fiction and see Michael Cho's sweet illustrations.

First Second's Prince of Persia

Jog writes a meditation about time, movement and water in Prince of Persia, the game and graphic novel. It's nice. You might like it.

Watch the Skies!

The Telegraph watches the skies with 140 years of UFO photographs.

LOLthots

oh, hai! Jay Dixit ponders the humanity in lolcats (and talks to The New Yorker's cartoons editor about them):

"By articulating profound feelings through cats and marine mammals speaking garbled English, we're able to shroud genuine emotions in pseudo-irony -- which means those animals can evoke deeper emotions without fear of mockery or cheapness."

Narrative and Interactivity

The Artful Gamer ponders interactivity, engagement and narrative in videogames: "Instead of beating our collective heads against the wall as we try to design games that let players live out their wildest desires, we should be developing worlds that encourage players to explore them as living, breathing, places."

Red Heroine

Before there were Hong Kong movies, there were Shanghai movies. 1929's Red Heroine is the only surviving silent kung fu feature from Shanghai's golden age. The Devil's Music Ensemble provides live accompaniment.  Hopefully, they'll tour. Wise Kwai has more information and a trailer.

SpyCast!

Get the skinny on spying with the International Spy Museum's SpyCast.  The Background Briefings about East Germany's "Romeo agents" and "Spies of the Kaiser" are pretty neat, too.

Cerise and Girl-Wonder Join Forces

Girls play games and boy are they pissed:  Cerise Magazine and Girl Wonder.org join forces for a women, comics and games special issue. 

Beggar So, Zhao Wen-Zhou and Chiu Man-Chuk

Chiu Man-Chuk aka Zhao Wen-Zhou is playing drunken Taoist folk hero Beggar So in  Yuen Woo-Ping's True Legend.  Colin at Kung Fu Fridays has more, including some reminiscences about Chiu Man-Chuk and a very cool anti-poaching ad at the bottom.

Go To DMC!

Go to Detroit Metal City! Or at least go to the creditless opening for the anime series... and maybe the trailer for the same series.

Lordi's Deadache

Latex Metal menace and 2006 Eurovision song contest winner Lordi talk KISS and costumes with Artisan News Service.  (Mr. Lordi was held up in traffic). Here's Lordi at Eurovision.

Let The Right One In

In 1970s Sweden a bullied boy falls for a girl who's been 12 for a long time. Enjoy elegant effects and nice winter shots in Let The Right One In.

Bubba Nosferatu Rises from the Grave!

Bubba Nosferatu and the Curse of the She-Vampires has risen from the grave with Ron Perlman taking over as Elvis. Or at least it's a little closer to risen than it was. The official site's here.  Taste the blood of Bubba Nosferatu! (Yeah, I like Hammer Horror titles).

Presidential Futurism

Slate surveys African-American presidents in tv and film--with clips! Salon looks at "Black Presidents We Have Known," looking at DW Griffith, the year 2228, Sammy Davis, Jr. and 24 along the way. Meanwhile, Io9 urges you to choose Nixon as your dystopian president. (updated!)

Opus Goes to his Final Rest

Opus the penguin goes to his final rest (last panel here).  Berkeley Breathed explains why Opus needs to go. "Satire we'll have. Rather, the real dearth in our world will be sweetness, comfort, thoughtfulness and civility."

Vargel Geroth, Monster from Hell

Vargel Geroth, Monster from Hell. (A special short from Fewdio).

"oh man, I could barely make it through this one"

Visions of Terror haunt a woman chased by a horror fanboy. Oh man, he can barely make it through this one.

23 Variations on the Vampire

From Sesame Street's the Count to Swamp Thing's aquatic vampires to The Lost Boys, hopping vampires and Richard Matheson, the AV Club has 23 variations on the vampire.

FEARnet does Halloween up right

In fact, FEARnet does Halloween up right with all their FEAR Fest treats:  Streets of Fear, a review of Haunted houses and tricks of the costume trade.

66.6 Seconds of Fear

FEARnet brings you 66.6 seconds of fear. Horror movies stripped down to their basics.

The Business of Reviewing

Amazon takes down its biggest gun: Harriet Klausner falls from #1 reviewer on the site all the way down to #442, due to some ranking changes.

Scientists and TV

What's going on with science in TV shows? Cocktail Party Physics takes a look, and The Mentalist comes out the clear favourite.

Gothtober 2008

Explore the mysterious mission de las calaveras in Gothtober's 2008 Halloween advent calendar.

Spooky Old Time Radio

Listen to the Mercury Theater of the Air's 1938 War of the Worlds broadcast and fear the impending Martian Invasion. And for more Halloween fun, listen to the chilling horror of shows like Suspense, The Inner Sanctum and The Strange Doctor Weird (who also sells hats).

Ong Bak 2: "Real Fight is Back!"

Tony Jaa lives in a mixed martial arts village, befriends the elephants and takes people apart in this new Ong Bak 2 trailer. He's much better than Mowgli.

Yeti Prints In the Snow

Yeti footprints have been discovered in Nepal by Yeti Project Japan. (Yeti Project Japan translated into English).

Revelation 3-D

Eye-popping End Times! Basil Wolverton's Book of Revelation--in 3-D!

Italian Spiderman

Italian Spiderman: now my new favorite thing ever, too. (Thanks, John!)

The Spaghetti Western Orchestra

Got enough Ennio Morricone in your life? I thought not. Presenting the Spaghetti Western Orchestra performing, "The Good, The Bad, The Ugly."  Their website's here. (thanks, Colin!)

Dr. Julius T. Roundbottom, Scientist and Philosopher

Dr. Julius T. Roundbottom, gentleman of science, reports on a paper he delivered to the Adventurer's Club a pack of "close-minded fools more interested in the rush of adrenaline than actual science." (thanks, Steven!)

Missing the Point in Ashes of Time

Grady Hendrix writes about missing the point in martial arts and action movies, especially Ashes of Time: "Character, dialogue and subtext are important parts of the moviegoing experience, but there's another more primal language that's harder to parse and that's the language of action."

Welcome Home, Brother Charles Rap

Scroll down for some rap based on Welcome Home, Brother Charles, a film about a Black man castrated by a white cop who gets revenge when his penis grows back.

Another Asian (Stealth) Western

"I've been on the road so long. I want a home." My favorite trailer for Johnnie To's stealth Western, Exiled.

Daredevil's STD is Danger

Blair Butler explains that Daredevil's STD is danger. Karen Healey has a few things to say about new Daredevil nemesis Lady Bullseye. 

The Towel Trick and the Red Ring of Death

Playing Viva Pinata, Darren Zenko faces the Red Ring of Death, and wins. (thanks, gentleman jim!)

Tammy Faye Bakker's Puppet Songs

You knew evangelist and Queer icon Tammy Faye Bakker used to have a puppet show, right? And her puppets weren't muppets, they were scary, shellac-headed hand puppets. Way Out Junk has Oops! There Comes a Smile, a collection of Tammy Faye's puppet songs and stories.

A Little More Weird Western

How about a little more of Kim Ji-Woon's The Good, The Bad and the Weird, my favorite Western, weird or not, in a while. Look at Jung Woo-Sung ride! (And watch out for some horse-tripping).

The Burrowers Trailer

Some say The Burrowers is like The Searchers. Kinda is. The Burrowers is also a weird western and it hit me hard. Here's the trailer.

Tony Jaa Found! Full of News!

Muay Thai and now mixed martial arts machine Tony Jaa is still found and still working on Ong-Bak 2.  He also has a sword and a Khmer palace and an interview up at his official site. (via Kaiju Shakedown).

Past, Present and Retro-Future Collide--in 3-D!

A 1953 3-D comic online? My brain doesn't have the power to contain the glory of past, present and retro-future colliding in Brain Power!

JJ Sonny Chiba, Ph.D.

Kyoto University of Art and Design's newest teacher is none other than JJ Sonny Chiba. Prof. Chiba will be teaching film acting and swordfighting. And I bet ninjitsu, but secretly. (via Kaiju Shakedown)

DC Nixes Minx

No more Plain Janes from DC. It's nixing Minx, it's line directed at girls. Shannon Smith breaks it down in bookstore terms.  When Fangirls Attack has more. 

Giant Razorbacks, "Reluctant Superstuds" and Jimmy Wang Yu

Let your cursor drift to the right and all the way down for Ozploitation trailer goodness like a giant razorback, a postapocalyptic drive-in, erection jokes as well as Donald Pleasance, George Lazenby and Jimmy Wang Yu at Flyp magazine's look at Not Quite Hollywood.

Vampirella Make-Over

Vampirella's been needing a make-over for a long time.  Project: Rooftop has original Vampirella costume designer and feminist historian Trina Robbins judge the results.

Imperial Fleet Week

Imperial Fleet Week in San Francisco. (Or possibly an occupation).

Robots of the Deep

First, robotic flying manta ray. Now, robotic flying jellyfish. (thanks, Dave!)

"The Joker is Us"

"No wonder we crave an entertainment like The Dark Knight, where every topic we’re unable to quit not-thinking about is whirled into a cognitively dissonant milkshake of rage, fear and, finally, absolving confusion." Jonathan Lethem writes about The Dark Knight and America.

New Hammer Horror!

New Hammer Horror is on the horizon with The Wake Wood.  No Crypts, no capes, but plenty of rural Ireland. Find out more at their fancily corporate website. (via Twitch)

Peace through Kung Fu

Jackie Chan lectures rival Timorese martial arts clans, contributes to world peace. Warring clans come together into one fist.

Dear Mr. Comic Book Writer Guy

Correspondence between Heather Anne and her favorite Comic Book Writer Guy:

"10 days ago, this comic shop owner man sold me your first trade paperback. I rolled my eyes at him on account of I READ JANE AUSTEN. Okay? I don’t need books with pictures. Then I liked your story pretty good so I went back and got a couple more of The Trades." (via Comics Should Be Good)

Zombies are Coming

During a zombie outbreak should you avoid public facilities? Can zombies sense of smell be used against them? Do zombies have a sense of smell? Do you have a plan for a zombie plague? Think too much about zombies and zombie plans? Zombies Are Coming might be for you.

Andre is a Black Nerd

Andre is a proud, certified Black nerd. And he's awesome. (He's also going to buy him a Wii).

Buffy: The Animated Series

"A few years ago, as Buffy The Vampire Slayer was wrapping up its seven year run, creator Joss Whedon announced that there was a Fox animated series in development that would feature the characters back in High School, and include the character of Dawn[.]" The clip looks really good. So good I'm kinda sad now...

A Kaiju A Week

There's a kaiju a week at August Ragone site dedicated to Godzilla, Toho and the rubber-suited menace. Here's his entry on an early incarnation of the three-headed fan favorite, King Ghidorah. (Warning: extreme kaiju knowledge!)

Incredible Change!

Chee-choo-chee-chuck! It's a trailer for The Incredible Change-bots--more than just machines!

JeeJa Yanin vs. Street Fighter

Chocolate's JeeJa Yanin fights Street Fighter characters! On stage! On Thai Game Show 2008! She is the World Fighter!

Drive-Ins in Oz

Drive-Ins Down Under is all about, well, drive-ins down under.

Hey Oscar Wilde! It's clobberin' time!!!

Comic artists draw their favourite literary figures/authors/characters at Hey Oscar Wilde! It's clobberin' time!!!

Rapping about particle acceleration

Rapping about CERN's Large Hadron Collider. The things it discovers will rock you in the head. (thanks, paulie!)

"A Red-Headed Woman is an Armful of Trouble"

Some scans from gentleman's true crime magazines:

"Joyce took a cigarette from her pocketbook.  That was the signal."

Giant Intelligent Communist Apes!

"Giant Intelligent Commie Apes!" Just what it says.

All Star Batman in nine goddamn panels

All Star Batman in nine goddamn panels. Courtesy of the ironically-named I Love Rob Liefeld blog. 

X-Men: Occult Heroes

Bully for The League of Paranatural Persons, aka, "Old Timey X-Men!" 

Catwoman 82

With issue 82, Catwoman's time as a title is done.  At least for now.  Devon at Rack Raids has a nice little testimonial. 

Making It In Hollywood

Fewdio member John Crye explains it all in his podcast, "You Will Not Make It In Hollywood." He also talks about geekery, fan films and reminsces about a crappy movie. (And Carol warning: two segments are from "Godzilla vs. MechaRealism" and "Frank Miller's Hot Gates").

Villain Cage Match

Trapped in a cage! Battling to the end!  Io9's Villain Cage Match. (A little late, but still kinda fun).

Fu Manchu, Mr. Moto and Firefly

Lisa Katayama at MangoBot: "Yellow peril science fiction was never large enough to be a genre in and of itself, but I decided it was worth traveling back in time to revisit the trend in its historical context." (thanks, Chuck!)

Marie Curie's Chemical Party

Here at the Cultural Gutter we have a proven fondness for edutainment from the EU.  So here's a chemical party showing elements making out and fighting. (thanks, Steven!)

7) Everyone has cancer.

"16) If you have a nosebleed, you most definitely have cancer. And you have no money to pay for the surgery that will save your life. And your liver is missing. We're not sure where it went, but it's making your cancer progress faster."

Everything Mark Russell needs to know about life he learned from Korean tv dramas.

Response to Harassment in the Geek World

Comic Con Anti-Harassment Project and further discussion of the post we posted from Bully. Also, the Open Source Women Back Each Other Up Project, here and here. (thanks, Elizabeth!)

Ninjas Strike!

Ninjas strike with "justified yet merciful force" in New Jersey and are arrested by the police.

Cake

Looks like Photoshop? This San Andreas birthday cake for a four-year-old has to be seen to be believed....

Efficiency!

What happens when even playing Solitaire at the office has to be done more efficiently?

Seriousness at ComicCon

Bully talks about sexual harassment at ComicCon. Pass it on.

Lady in the Dark

It's a late night phone call and a lady in the dark in Fewdio's latest short.

Learning from the Best

Everything you need to know, you can learn from Arnold Drake and Doom Patrol. (via Comics Should Be Good).

Ftang, man! It's Cthulhu

Ia! Ia! Cthulhu ftaghn! Ia Tori Spelling! (Thanks, Tera!)

South Korean Action

Just some quick trailers: capoeira, stuntmen and actors gone bad in South Korea.

"The Doors of Vast Airlocks Opened"

"The doors of vast airlocks opened." Some nice 1930s pulp illustrations with the swell captions of the day.  Art by Elliot Dold here and here.  Art by M. Marchioni here and here.

Zombie Zombie's The Thing

I just can't convey the awesomeness of stop-motion GI Joes performing John Carpenter's The Thing. (via Dirty Robot).

Crying Wolf

You like her articles, now check out Romance Editor Chris Szego's award-winning, super fantastic short story, "Cry Wolf." 

Missing Scenes, Missing Places

"These are more and more not the movies I fell in love with and I wonder if people watching them ten years from now will even be seeing the same film I did, or if Greedo will forever be shooting first, if PEKING OPERA BLUES will end with a long pause instead of title cards telling us the fate of the main characters and if Tony Leung will drink his coffee in silence?"  Grady Hendrix writes a little elegy for the missing.

Welcome to Nightmare House

Remember The Easter Bunny Is Eating My Candy? Now there's the excellent Creep, at Fewdio's new horror anthology website, Nightmare House.

Thai Spirits Explained at Kung Fu Fridays

Worried you don't know a Banana Ghost from a flying vampire head? Here's a clip with the low down on Thai ghosts.

Just Digging Lego Batman

That's right. Just digging Lego Batman. And Lego Poison Ivy. And, surprisingly, Lego Nightwing.

Killer Panda!

Worse than killer bees or killer jellyfish are pandas! Deadly, bitey pandas that must by shot by white men on safari!  Behold and shudder: scans of "Facing Death in a Panda's Mouth!" 

Where is Tony Jaa?

First Dave Chappelle, now Tony Jaa? The Midnight Madness blog has the story.  Hope it's not as sad as it seems.

"If this is Gotham, get me a one-way ticket to Metropolis."

Mel at Bluestocking Banter smells some Frank Miller in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight:  "Dark, sure. Violent, yes. But fascist? Maybe."

Ranting, Harshly

Geralt, the randy hero of the Polish RPG The Witcher, takes a beating courteous of Twenty Sided: "I picture him getting up each morning and looking at his pasty withered mug in the mirror while thinking, “Yeah baby, I still got it“.

Viral Muppets

It might be the best thing ever, muppets uploading video on YouTube:  Beaker as meepmeepmeepow, Sam the Eagle as patrioticeagle, the Swedish Chef as deumnborkborkbork, the Great Gonzo as weirdowhatever and Statler and Waldorf respond to videos as heckle247.

"Narration would kill the effect; disorientation is key."

Some smartypants analysis of DC's Final Crisis at the ever-smart, Thought Balloonists: "I can’t decide whether this tone of emotional vacancy is meant to underscore, by contrast, the mounting horror of what is clearly intended to be a dark tale, or whether Final Crisis simply reflects the Pop wisdom that trying too hard or caring too obviously equals uncool."

2008 Madness Begins

The 2008 Midnight Madness films have been announced.  If you're in Toronto then, you'll have a chance to see movies like Chocolate, Detroit Metal City, JCVD and The Burrowers (no trailer) on the big screen. I'ma be there.

Respectable Newspaper, All Geek

The Austin Chronicle's the paper of the future with an all science fiction edition.  News, books, music, everything. (I'm especially excited about the music--The Day the Earth Stood Still and afronauts).

Just Talking about the Dark Knight

Kehr and Uhlich are just talking about the Dark Knight.  And the war on terror.  Can you dig it? (via Salon)

Soundtracks! Listen!

The Sparrow soundtrack is as smooth and cool as Simon Yam in a relaxed fit suit.  Grady Hendrix agrees, and then adds Bollywood for your immediate listening pleasure.  Immediate in the sense of clicking through.

Jeff Smith, Respectable

Bone artist Jeff Smith was interviewed on PBS' Newshour and is on exhibit at Ohio State University's Wexner Center for the Arts.  What could be more respectable?  Slide show and viewer questions for Jeff here. Art Center coolness here. 

Kung Fu, Gangsters, Etc.

Scroll down to see scans of Colin Geddes' Fantasia Hong Kong film poster exhibit at Cinematheque Quebecoise: The Magnificent Butcher, Twelve Deadly Coins, 36th Chamber of Shaolin, City on Fire, Exiled, Triangle. Sammo Hung, Cheng Pei-Pei, Ti Lung, Donnie Yen, Chow Yun-Fat, Anthony Wong.

"I Wish to Christ I could stop Grinning"

Ever wonder what the Kool-Aid Man would be like as a veteran of the San Francisco Beat poetry scene?  Alan Moore and Peter Bagge know the score.

Oh Hai LOLBiznez!

Running computers on LOLCode and translating the Bible into LOLcat. Oh Noes?

Your Own Private FanTasia

Sad you didn't make it to Montreal's Fantasia Film Festival?  Ease the pain with an interview with Gordon Liu. (Thanks, Colin!)

The End Justifies the Means

From kids tricked into destroying the earth when they think they're destroying Venus to inch high Martians to a time traveling Benedict Arnold, every writing workshop should teach these "Ten Ways To End A Story."

A Million Different Earths, A Million Different Movies

Grady Hendrix muses on the alternate cuts of films for different festivals, different countries and different regions.  "A million different earths, and on every one of them, an alternate cut of Days of Being Wild." 

Indy Rocks, Indy 1 That Is

Perhaps it's the inevitable problem of sequels, after a movie like Raiders of the Lost Ark that's structured very tightly:

"Therefore, he can't begin his journey with the motivation of "keeping the Ark's power out of the hands of the Nazis", because he simple doesn't believe there's any power to be had from it."

"Laughter is Just a Slowed Down Scream of Terror"

Elizabeth Hand remembers Thomas Disch: "An openly gay man for most of his working life, Disch wrote mysteries, historical novels and neo-gothic satires; children's books, including 'The Brave Little Toaster' and its sequel; at least five collections of short fiction; 15 volumes of poetry, always as Tom Disch; plays and libretti; four volumes of nonfiction; screen adaptations, novelizations and one of the first interactive computer games."

Art and Games

"I do believe that games can be a form of artistic expression, a co-collaboration between player and designer. We have yet to prove we can do meaningful things with this form of expression, but I believe we are at the cusp of a Cambrian explosion of possibilities." Read more of what game designer Will Wright thinks (and see Jim Munroe's "Trip to Liberty City" Wright refers to). 

Ong Bak 2

Tony Jaa's been bit by the mixed martial arts bug and Twitch has the proof. Plus a fight on elephants. (via Kung Fu Fridays).

Chocolate: Ass-Kicking, Autism, Revenge

"Autism:  Blessing or Curse?" the trailer for Prachya Pinkaew's Chocolate asks. Instead of being a mathematical prodigy or cattle- whisperer,  Jeeja Vismistananda stars as an autistic woman who's learned "every fighting move recorded." 

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Everybody loves a supervillain. Especially a low-end one. Especially me. Here's a teaser for Joss Whedon's Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. And here's the crosspromotional Captain Hammer comic.

The Vizigraph

It's a reprinted letters page from the Golden Age magazine, Planet Comics.(And more Futura scans). 

100 Hulks Charity Auction Gallery

Predictably enough, you get to see The Hulk smash. But he also pets a kitten. Recreates the Pieta. Feeds a deer. Is afraid of a bug. Whitewashes a fence. And does much, much, more - all for charity - at the 100 Hulks Charity Auction Gallery. Also, Part II. Also, Part III.

Welcome To Monster Camp

All the other players were male. Half the monsters were female.  Samara Hayley Steele writes about her Live Action Roleplaying experience.

Hellboy and the Hobbit

Guillermo del Toro has a lot to say about Hellboy and hobbits at the L.A. Film Festival. (Really, it's an hour interview).

Chad Vader Trains His Staff

In honor of the Gutter's trip to Madison, we present, Chad Vader Training Videos here and here. If you haven't seen the Chad Vader, Day Shift Manager episodes, looky here. (And yes, I saw the food co-op where it's shot).

Afrofuturism

Preserved from usenet, Mark Dery's 1994 essay on Afrofuturism:

"Hack this: Why do so few African-Americans write science fiction, a genre whose close encounters with the Other---the stranger in a strange land---would seem uniquely suited to the concerns of African-American novelists? .... This is especially perplexing in light of the fact that African-Americans are, in a very real sense, the descendants of alien abductees."

Mothership Connection

It's a history of Afronauts in music, from Rev. A.W. Nix to Sun Ra to Lil Wayne.

MK vs DCU screenshots: Dark Knight vs Ninja!

Always wanted to see the Dark Knight go ninja a ninja with Scorpion? Newsarama has screenshots from the Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe game.

Good Old Photoshop

Retro Gaming on real backgrounds - the dojo and the skyscraper are both particularly good.

Re-enacting Dark Shadows

Dark Shadows + dolls = fun! (via Quiddity)

Is reading this making you stupid?

"Never has a communications system played so many roles in our lives—or exerted such broad influence over our thoughts—as the Internet does today. Yet, for all that’s been written about the Net, there’s been little consideration of how, exactly, it’s reprogramming us. The Net’s intellectual ethic remains obscure." And that's just the tip of the iceberg in this Atlantic Monthly article, which is too long to read.

Spies in the Catskills

Annalee Newitz has a pretty interesting article about Get Smart and Don't Mess with the Zohan, "Can Old-School Jewish Humor Survive in the Future?"

Aliens need earth ladies--earth ladies fight back!

Sleestak has an overview of Planet Comics, which published some Fletcher Hanks stories. Even better, he has scans of Futura, an Alex Raymond-influenced space opera about a secretary kidnapped because aliens need earth ladies!  "Over the course of her story Futura quickly becomes less of a victim and her journey from frightened breeding stock to strong, independent woman is a fun and interesting one."

Antarctica and John Carpenter's The Thing

Big Dead Place, a website devoted to Antarctica, offers a whole section devoted to reviews (and one boardgame version) of John Carpenter's The Thing. (Actually, the whole site is swell).

The Modern Master of Suitmation

It's a little Minoru Kawasaki retrospective:  Calamari Wrestler (2004); Executive Koala (2005); Beetle, The Horn King (2005); Kani Goalkeeper (2006); The World Sinks Except Japan (2006).

2 Critics Hate 2 Movies

The Incredible Hulk reviewed in Hulk-speak:  "Roth get injected with serum.... Smash cars. Tanks. Only with no trousers. Roth groin area ambiguous. Groin area look lumpy. Bumpy. Perhaps odd penis. Perhaps odd trousers. Critic ... not sure."

And a deliberately spoiler-rich review of The Happening:  "I'm offering an alternative: A dozen and a half of the most mind-bendingly ridiculous elements of the film, which will enable you to marvel at its anti-genius." (thanks, Elizabeth!)

Space Monster Guilala Awakens!

After a space sabbatical of over 30 years, Space Monster Guilala returns in Minoru Kawasaki's Monster X Strikes Back:  Attack the G8 Summit, aka Guilala's Counterattack the Toyako Summit One-Shot Crisis.  The Guilala song, the suitmation, the kaiju movie white guy--It makes me feel good in too many ways to count. More here. (via Kaiju Shakedown).

Spoilers: Galactica Mini-Finale

Abigail Nussbaum thinks the recent Battlestar Galactica mini-finale would have been good, if not for the following:

"With very few alterations, many of Battlestar Galactica's episodes during the second half of its second season and the entirety of its third season could be jettisoned, and the result would not only make sense as a story, but would probably be tighter and more compelling."

Death Race 2000 Remake

Well, it's not Robosaurus rampaging through Burning Man and it doesn't have David Carradine assassinating the man, but Death Race does have modified mustangs. Pictures and a trailer from the upcoming Death Race. (via io9)

Manager or Agent Provocateur?

Meme, hoax or fact, I don't really care. This 1944 CIA manual on sabotaging workplaces is hilarious. (thanks, chuck!)

A CGI Godzilla that doesn't suck

CGI almost catches up with the awesomeness of Gojira. And check out the Ifukube score, too.

Wil Used to be with Starfleet

"Wesley stands up straight, deepens his voice, and declares, 'I'm with Starfleet. We don't lie.'

Ah, Wesley may be able to save the ship, but he sure can't save bad dialogue."

Wil Wheaton reviews Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes. (thanks, paulie!)

Hong Kong Fisticuffs

Over at Kung Fu Fridays, Colin has scans of a 1973 manhua that sure looks like Tony Wong's Little Rascals / Siu Lau Man.  (Prepare for a disturbing blend of Triad violence and manga-influenced figures).  And if that's not enough 1973 Hong Kong fisticuffs for you, he's got a short of fighting Bruce Lee and Shih Kien (Shek Kin) action figures.    

Good, Weird, no Bad

Tears of the Black Tiger, Sukiyaki Western Django and now Kim Jee-woon's The Good, the Bad and the Weird, starring Song Kang-ho, Lee Byung-hun and Jung Woo-sung.  Asian Westerns are where it's at.

Dragon Emperor looks better than Crystal Skulls

Michelle Yeoh, Jet Li, Wu Jing, Anthony Wong Chau-Sang and... Brendan Fraser?  That's right, it's The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.  Who knew the Qin Emperor was a shapeshifter?  (via Kaiju Shakedown)

Grant Morrison Sighted Off The Coast of Japan

Grant Morrison's character designs for 2 Japanese superhero teams, "Big Science Action" and "Super Young Team," are up at Scans Daily.  "Most Excellent Super What?" and "Morrison, what the hell?" ask stunned manga, anime and tokusatsu fans.

Sebastian Faulk's License to Kill

Chandler had his Poodle Springs. Ian Fleming might have his Devil May Care. Sebastian Faulk takes up James Bond on his centenary. Excerpt here.

Boring or Brilliant Out of Context? You Decide...

In the Youtube age, you can see all of the cutscenes from the entire Metal Gear Solid series, just to prep for excessively long cutscenes in the upcoming 4th title.

Derived from Indigo Prophecy

Step 3 of "How to Write Your Videogame Plot" is apparently: "Eat peyote"! Derived from Indigo Prophecy - the four pages of spoilers are outrageous too.

Good News and Bad News about Steampunk

The New York Times fashion and style folk have noticed steampunk. Good? Bad? One thing, though, the photo slide show is nice. (Here's a mirror link for readers who don't want the Gray Lady knowing anything about them).

Ants Attack Electrical Equipment!

No it's not a science-fiction plot.  Crazy Rasperry Ants are invading Houston, Texas and they are attracted to electronics.

Tabletop Gaming

From the personal experience - "a person who knows you, and your gaming group well, is carefully structuring an experience for your pleasure" - to the impersonal: "there are no in-game rewards, in an MMO, for anything other than the level grind." Wouldn't you prefer the first?

And this is a good example: "Awesome Women Kicking Ass"

Top Shelf Powers up to 2.0

Top Shelf rolls out their new webcomic anthology thingamajiggy, Top Shelf 2.0, including Kagan McLeod's Infinite Kung Fu among other awesomeness.

Hit A With Yr Fist!

NES controller coffee table. It works, holds snacks and makes players feel tiny. (Thanks, Mr. Dave!) 

"Science Fiction Serving the National Interest"

"Science Fiction Serving the National Interest."  I don't even know what to say about the crazy reported here in National Defense Magazine. (via Fusion Dispatches)

Evil, but so soft...

Pet the horror at the Chenille Beasts Gallery. (Thanks, spookymonkey!)

"Weapon of Mass Defacement"

The Graffiti Research Lab reports on Dutch taggers and their RV-mounted tagging laser. And if you're interested, there's open source code.

"Porn's reality is... uncanny"

Behold, Susannah Breslin's The Unporny Valley! And Grand Theft Auto IV in "Return to the Unporny Valley."

Invisibility, Flight and Ira Glass

I admit it. I'm a sucker for This American Life. The second season of their television is starting, so in celebration here's a link to a 2006 radio show with a theme worthy of the Gutter: "Superpowers."  (And here's a preview of season 2).

Venture Bros., season 3

Fresh and toasty from the New York Comic Con, it's the Venture Bros. season 3 promo with clips a-plenty! (thanks, tera!)

"Guillermo del Toro to make Hobbit films: bleah!"

Andrew O'Hehir is here to tell you that Guillermo del Toro making The Hobbit--and a sequel to The Hobbit--for Peter Jackson is not a good idea.

Infocom's Lost Drive

A blogger got ahold of a network drive from Infocom circa 1989, which has the behind-the-scenes story -- and a tiny playable demo -- of the failed sequel to the Hitchhikers' Guide to the Universe, reconstructed from emails and other digital artefacts. Most of the text-game greats chime in in the comments.

Interview with Jackie Chan and Jet Li

Speaking of Forbidden Kingdom, Jackie Chan and Jet Li are interviewed together at wu-jing.org.

Revenge of the Lady Fighter

With the ladies of Forbidden Kingdom looking a little... lackluster, here's some of the original white-haired bride, Brigitte Lin (Bride with White Hair and The East Is Red) and the original Golden Swallow, Cheng Pei-Pei (Come Drink With Me and The Lady Hermit).  And here's some Angela Mao just for the hell of it. (Scroll down).

No More Screaming

Hammer Studios and Corman horror star, Hazel Court, died Wednesday.  She starred with icons like Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Peter Lorre--and even Patrick McGoohan (Danger Man) and Rock Hudson on television. 

Who Wouldn't Elope With Chewbacca?

The first paragraph alone does it for me in Heather Havrilevsky's reviews of Friday Night Lights and the new reality-dance show, Step It Up and Dance: "When my sister and I were kids, we made our Star Wars action figures go on dates with each other. First we'd take turns picking our favorite action figures, then we'd set up "apartments" for each of them. (We knew from "Three's Company" that single people always lived in apartments.)"

Israeli SS She-Wolf Pulps

Stalags are SS She-Wolf pulp fiction. From Israel.  Think I'm gonna lie down for a while.

Iron Man is Anti-Linux

So. Tony Stark is anti-Linux. Does Marvel like breaking the hearts of Iron Man fans? (Thanks, Chuck!)

You want comics? We got comics. Like, all of them.

Curious what the cover of Doom Patrol #89 (August, 1964, first appearance of The Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man) looks like? Or any other comic, for that matter? Check out the bottomless treasure trove that is the Grand Comic Book Database, home to over 150,000 scanned comic book covers and counting.

Red Shirt Deaths

Ah, the internet, what we would do without distractions like Analytics According to Captain Kirk: "When Captain Kirk meets an alien woman and "makes contact" the survival rate of the red-shirted crewmen increases by 84%."

44 YEARS OF MAD FOLD-INS

This fascinating NY Times interview with Mad Magazine artist Al Jaffee reveals the origin of the Mad Fold-In and the process Jaffee has used to create every one since 1964 (he still doesn't use a computer). It also includes a great slideshow of Fold-Ins past and present. What, me hyperlink?

Bollywood 2050

Love Story 2050.  It's Bollywood. There are robots.  Dance, robot, dance! (via Kaiju Shakedown, again).

Five Years After Leslie Cheung's Death

Grady Hendrix has some thoughts about Leslie Cheung on the fifth anniversary of his death.

Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula

The year is 1890.  The city, London. Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula: Is there anything more to say? (Oh, yeah, it's a radio drama).

An Obtuse Sword and Urashima Taro

In the news, crazy old Japanese animation from 1917 and 1918 has been recovered. 

Killer Jellyfish! Invading!

Worse than Killer Bees!  Killer jellies!  On the move!

Lulu Eightball

I picked up Emily Flake's Lulu Eightball collection at the Buffalo Small Press Fair and I couldn't be happier.  Desperate millipedes, hammers with heft and a slanty take on our friend the observational humor comic strip. The weekly strips are here and here.  Her illustration work is nice, too.

The Gotham Times

It's The Gotham Times, promotional but still neat.

Love and Change-bots

Comic artist Jeffrey Brown's badly cropped on SexTV, but the interview is still worth seeing. And while we're at it, see him transform like an Incredible Change-bot in a Washington Post interview at the 2007 Small Press Book Expo.

"The Easter Bunny Is Eating My Candy"

Is it ever too late for a horror short about the Easter Bunny? (An alternate link)

"Secret Skin: An essay in unitard theory"

Michael Chabon traces the secret origins of the superhero costume in Secret Skin: An essay in unitard theory, in which he proposes "a fundamental truth: like the being who wears it, the superhero costume is, by definition, an impossible object. It cannot exist."

Momotaro Kicks Up Against Mickey

Mickey Mouse attacks and Japanese characters fight back.  But in this cartoon, Momotaro might be using the master's tools to tear down the master's house.  (Thanks, Heather!)

"Violence without pretence, an endless hobgoblin holocaust"

Erik Sofge writes on roleplaying games and Gary Gygax's legacy: "There is a way to wring real creativity, and possibly even artistic merit, from this bizarre medium—and it has nothing to do with Gygax and his tradition of sociopathic storytelling." (Moira Redmond reports on the resulting fray).

Harlan Ellison's a funny, weird old guy

"I look at it as a movie about this funny, weird old guy. And I think, 'That's a funny, weird old guy. I'd love to know him. He's really funny.'
Harlan Ellison talks about Dreams With Sharp Teeth, a new documentary about him. (Salon article, here)

JCVD is Jean-Claude Van Damme

Jean-Claude Van Damme is Jean-Claude Van Damme in JCVD. Watch the trailer. Seriously.

Why Is Miike Smirking?

Takashi Miike smirks, and I shudder.

World Domination is Fun

Dr. Steel builds the robots, creates propaganda and issues manifestos. Plus, he has a band.

Shutting Down the Obvious

Rudy Rucker, on his excellent photoblog / scifi-stream- of-consciousness, talks about virtual reality (with responses): "My whole point is to wake people up to the fact that the physical, daily world is inconceivably rich."

"Cured of Being a Tomboy"

Sleestak explores those strange girls in comics, tomboys from Romance comics to Disney.

"I'm a sucker for a girl with a metallic lower jaw"

Metal mandibles and elongating limbs--it's the Top Ten Sexiest Comic Book Robots! (by Amazing Challengers of Unknown Mystery's Evan Munday)

Crochet Hypberbolics and the Nubbly Universe

At The Institute for Figuring, Dr. Donna Taimina brings "abstract mathematics into the realm of tactile experience" with her crocheted models of hyperbolic space. (Model galleries are along the sidebar).

Battlefield Asia

Looking for movies that combine big battles with the pain of Chinese history? How about: The Warlords, with Jet Li, Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro; the rape-free Mongol, with Tadanobu Asano as Temujin/Genghis Khan; An Empress and the Warriors, with Donnie Yen, Kelly Chen and Leon Lai; and after being roughed up by Hollywood John Woo returns like a dove to its roost with, The Battle of Red Cliff, starring Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and Zhang Fengyi. (watch out--horse-tripping and one shirt ripping).

The Pathos of Dave Sim

Tired Fairy discusses why she doesn't want to talk with Dave Sim about his gender beliefs at Sequential Tart. And it's not just that he's kind of, well, sad.

Appropriate Technology for Making Monsters

In this clip seems like Dave Eggers and Spike Jonze have been up to awesome with their film adaptation of Where The Wild Things Are.

Difendi!

Looks like Italian neo-Fascist political party Alleanza Nazionale like them some 300. The candidate, Andrea De Priamo, has taken it off his site. (thanks, Sparky!)

My Borg Pony

Six of Seven says, "You will curry us."

Cuz No One Talks About It

Money! Scalzi gives advice, stirs up the pot: "when it comes to money — and specifically their own money — writers have as much sense as chimps on crack."

The Mainstream Notices Us, Head Explodes

Forbes gets worried - World of Warcraft will create "offline political forces". Charles Stross' Halting State has a lot to say about this stuff, including a fun, opposing theory: we've never been contacted by aliens because they're probably too addicted to some advanced MMO game to worry about reality anymore!

A Nasty Little Piece of Work, Just Perfect in Fact

It's a game called "Blood Car! 2000! Delux!" and it's just about everything the title says it is.

Sympathy for the Yellow Peril

In this crazy racist 1930s Mystery Men comic, Chen Chang "embarks on a trail gutted with blood and sudden, horrible death, as he carries on his vendetta against the white race," and dragon lady River Lily and I end up shouting, "Get him Black Lightning! Tramp down the white man!" (via Kaiju Shakedown).

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am that deranged millionaire."

In 2006 John Hodgman reported a deranged millionaire had challenged They Might Be Giants to create a song for every venue they played on their tour, or lose their magical song-writing talisman forever.  See the deranged millionaire and hear the songs for yourself.  You can also see animated videos of TMBG songs by Brendon Small, LAIKA, Divya Srinivasan and John Linnell.

It's the only way to resolve differences.

The Thing and the Hulk clobber and smash each other in mixed media. It's the only way to resolve differences.  (Make sure to follow the link through to the Stan Lee Excelsior Exhibit entries).

Canadians Have Known For a Long Time Of Course: Pingu!

An ode to the wonders of Pingu! With lots of Youtube links.

Everybody Freeze

Hit by a freeze ray? Lost in time? It's Frozen Grand Central.

Sammo Hung and Wu Jing, Together Again

With Wu Jing, Simon Yam and Sammo Hung all grim, Fatal Move looks like an SPL reunion, with Johnnie To regulars like Wong Tin-lam and Lam Suet dropping by. Scroll down a bit for the trailer. Does Donnie feel left out?

The Gill-Man in Love

Is it the human or the not-human that terrifies people in The Creature from the Black Lagoon?  Frank Wu writes about the Gill-Man, the Uncanny Valley and "the human and inhuman at war within ourselves." (Thanks, Chuck!)

You Suck at Photoshop #4: Paths and Masks

"You Suck at Photoshop"--depressing, educational and hilarious. Here's #4 via Boing Boing 'cause the comments on it at YouTube are too sexist for me.

Born to Front

Born to front and without a syllabus, MC Frontalot rhymes over a Messiaz' beat at G4's Freestyle 101. (Thanks, Ms. Paula!)

North Korea's PEE Ensemble

Behold North Korea's Ponchobo Electronic Ensemble:

"The musical style is a lunatic mash-up of oompah-band beer garden beats, operatic vocals cranked up like power drills and buggy, sparking electronic organs squeezed and tortured until they short circuit in a sonic eruption of bleeps and blarts. Every note is clearly played by people who've not only received the Manchurian treatment but are also bombed out of their minds on a powerful pharmaceutical cocktail of super-strength Prozac and military-grade speed."

Andy Lau Ain't Nothing to Mess With

Don't let his Cantonese popsongs and slick style fool you--Andy Lau ain't nothing to mess with.

Ask Golden Age Wonder Woman

"Golden Age Wonder Woman is a Doctor of Philosophy, professional advice columnist, and Super-Heroine of note.  Her column, 'Ask Golden Age Wonder Woman' is syndicated in over 350 newspapers nationwide." Read her and wonder at Again With The Comics. 

New Elric Omnibus

A new omnibus printing of Michael Moorcock's Elric is being released by Del Rey in February 2008 - finally presenting these stories in the order they were originally written.

Ballooneering with Shaun Tan

Thought Balloonists, the fancy new comics criticism blog, takes off with a discussion of Shaun Tan's The Arrival, a heartbreakingly beautiful picture book.

SimLibrary

In the history of games that train you for the real world, have we ever seen one about... libraries?!

Indie Games Smorgasbord

Jayisgames has the best indie games of 2007, with some instant classics like The Tall Stump and Grow Island on the list. And Tales of the Rampant Coyote gets worried about the addictive nature of Flash Element TD2.

Vampira Dies

Maila Nurmi, aka Vampira, died January 10th. She was the first horror televistion host, a master of the corset, a friend of James Dean and featured in Plan 9 from Outer Space. Learn more about her here.

More Goddamn Batman (and Robin, Age 12)

Confined Space collects a chain of fan art from the "Goddamn Batman" meme.  My favorite: Law and Order: Goddamn Batman. Protoclown read All-Star Batman and Robin--the start of the damned and batty--so you wouldn't have to.

All About Gu Long

It's all about ladies, booze and mysteries for Gu Long and his most famous character, the Bondesque swordsman detective, Chu Liu-xiang.  "When you hear 'martial arts novels,' you can think of several famous writers of Chinese literature.  But when you hear 'mystery martial arts novels,' only one name can pop in your mind: Gu Long."

Waiting for the Goddamn Batman to get the Goddamn Joke

Though he's not much for superhero comics, Marc Sobel gets the joke that inspired so much "righteous, nerd rage":

"Ultimately, the Joker's rebirth is a physical manifestation of the creative process... accompanied by a profound sense of disillusionment that none of it matters, for the cycle will begin anew before too long.... The ultimate irony, of course, is that Batman has not been granted such self-awareness, and, as the Joker points out in his endless frustration, all he wants is for "the goddamn Batman to finally get the goddamn joke.'"

Movies in 2008

SF Signal collects some movie trailers for 2008.

Birth of an Internet Meme

Good old comics controversy: Spider-Man gets rebooted (back to 1971!), and the response: "It's magic, we don't have to explain it!" You can already buy the t-shirt.

My Mousefinger's Worn Out

A minimal, clever, innovative videogame... is it redundant to mention it's Japanese? All hail Cursor*10!

Early implanters rejoice!

Nextgen humans Annalee Newitz and Charlie Anders have launched a terrific new sci-fi blog for Gawker called io9, which has a great origin story: "io9s were marketed as cheap time machines in the 2070s. They were actually just low-grade input/output devices for the brain that tuned tachyon waves and gave users vivid images of possible futures. The things were so addictive, and drove so many people insane, that io9s were eventually outlawed."

Animating Louis Koo's Inner World

Here's a sample of the fine animation in Sylvia Chang's new Triad drama, Run Papa Run. The link slides straight into an English-subtitled trailer. (Thanks again to Kaiju Shakedown).

Year End at Kaiju Shakedown

Hong Kong was winner of the year and Thailand was loser of the year over at Kaiju Shakedown. But in a world with Johnnie To in it, we're all winners.

Superhero Make-Over

Sure, Project: Rooftop is intended to help "improve costume design in the industry," but in the recent Wonder Woman Wardrobe War, all I care about is the invisible pony. (Thanks, Sparky!)

The Whisperer in Darkness

All the best films are shot in Mythoscope. 

5 minutes of Cloverfield (and Bruce Campbell)

Twitch has 5 minutes of Cloverfield, the kaiju in New York movie that seems more like The Host than any monster movie featuring Minilla. There's a plug in that one.  And they have a trailer for the much sillier My Name Is Bruce, a movie where fans convince Bruce Campbell to fight an Ancient Evil because he's, well, Bruce Campbell.  

Speaking of Jonathon Coulton...

What would we all be without free stuff on the internet? There's still a couple weeks to give financial support to the Creative Commons for 2007. Sure, they didn't bring us a skateboarding dog or that dramatic squirrel, but there's still Jim Munroe's movie, Infest Wisely, and Jonathon Coulton.

We're not unreasonable, I mean, no one's going to eat your eyes

Re: your brains, by sf songster Jonathan Coulton, has been having its way with my headmeat like -- well -- the zombie who sings it would like to. Despite zombie fatigue, the corporate culture stuff is sharp.

Onomatoplaya

How many games can you play while doing the activity depicted? Margaret Robertson comes up with a grand total of... Chocolate Castle!

Preparing for the Zombie Apocalypse

Over at FirstSecond books, comic artist George O'Connor shares his "Preparations for the Imminent Zombie Apocalypse."

The Golden Compass: Mechanized Magic

Stephanie Zacharek reviews The Golden Compass:

"Most of what's magical about Pullman's novel has been mechanized, obviously at great expense: It must cost a heap of dough to make animal figures look like they're talking, and there's barely an instant in The Golden Compass when you can't hear the money gears turning."

Fossilized Dino Discovered

Speaking of dinosaurs, paleontologists have discovered a dinosaur with nearly intact skin.  Preliminary analysis indicates that the hadrosaur was likely striped and its butt was 25% larger than previously thought, which might mean that Godzilla's butt is 25% more realistic than previously thought. 

Tips

Making an indie videogame? Some advice about graphics, starting with this basic tip:

"If you are a programmer and can only make squares, make a game that uses squares as graphics. It worked for
Tetris and it can work for you."

Giant Critters, So Tasty!

"In early ’90s Japan, mobs of hungry primeval men hunted gigantic prehistoric creatures in a series of fanciful 'Cup Noodle' commercials featuring stop-motion animation by Kim Blanchette." And Pink Tentacle has video!

Repent for Free!

Read 61 pages of post-Rapture Chicago with a Raven and a Mummy from Therefore, Repent!, a graphic novel written by the Gutter's founding editor and former Evil Overlord, Jim Munroe. 

Going All the Way with Beowulf

Are you geeky? Geeky enough to enjoy Beowulf in any form?  Geeky enough to hear it recited in Old English?  Geeky enough to watch Benjamin Bagby accompany his recitation with the Anglo-Saxon lyre? Dang, I'm impressed! Thanks to Greg Kamiya and his Salon essay, Beowulf vs. The Lord of the Rings. Kamiya writes, "There's no real reason to take on Beowulf unless you want to go all the way."

Stardust Returns

"Almost like a crazy person is holding the pencil."  My God, Mike Allred has created a comic featuring Fletcher Hanks' disturbing and punitive hero Stardust. (Thanks to Again With The Comics)

Multiple Advice Columnists, One Chthonic Deity

Ask Cthulhu.  Ask Plush Cthulhu; he's crabbier.

Who Is The Superest?

There can only be one Superest: "Player 1 draws a character with a power. Player 2 then draws a character whose power cancels the power of that previous character. Repeat."

Cosmonauts Love It

Listen and learn all about Vyachaslav Mescherin's Soviet E-Z listening, the first music transmitted from orbit--by Sputnik.  Cosmonauts love electro-musical instruments. Scroll down to the bottom of the Third Coast Festival's 2004 archive.

Mazen Kerbaj

French comics publisher L'Association is showing some of Mazen Kerbaj's drawings and that's a good excuse to put up a link for them. Kerbaj's blog, Kerblog, is here.

Spoiler Warning!

Check out Half-Life 1 and 2 in 60 seconds - with a just a few spoilers ;)

Inside Science Monster

Science Monster might not be pretty, but with monsters, it's what's on the inside that counts.  Two things are inside Science Monster that I really, really like:  old pulps periodicals and comics and old audio like science fiction radio serials and the Peanuts, aka, the foot tall fairies from the Mothra movies.  

Try Autonibble

"You awaken in a large complex, slightly disoriented. Glowing dots hover mouth level near you in every direction. Off in the distance you hear the faint howling of what you can only imagine must be some sort of ghost or several ghosts."

It's the Pac-Man text adventure!

Cartoon Osteology

Peer deep inside the anatomy of cartoon characters, right to the bone, with Dia de los Muertos Looney Toons at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Michael Paulus' osteological Hello Kitty and Peanuts drawings and Hyungkoo Lee's rascally, Animatus sculpture. (via Boing Boing)

Collect'em All, Kill'em All

Ever feel kind of sick reflecting on a game you enjoy?  Flak Magazine's James Norton does some soul-searching over Adult Swim's almost Peckinpah flash game, Viva Caligula!

"You personify the mad emperor Caligula as he goes on a neighborhood - to - neighborhood killing spree through Rome, taking down senators, housewives, gladiators, prostitutes and basically everyone else who crosses his path. And you have fun in the process, at least until your conscience catches up and you feel a bit sick about the scenario you've just created." 

Gothtober

Gothtober is a sort of online Halloween advent calendar. Click on the S.S. Gothtober and see a new short everyday.

Nutcracker Suite

Ever wanted a comprehensive collection of comic book "nadshots"? Ah, the good old internet. (Thanks Ezra).

Nonlinear Theater

Make your own space opera with Nonlinear Theater, the random movie generator at Chinese Jet Pilot.

Hip Hop Grue

You are likely to be eaten by a Grue. Don't say we didn't warn you. Nerdcore hip hop visionary MC Frontalot is on tour and soon to be in the documentary, Nerdcore Rising.

Robert Jordan Remembered

Some words for Robert Jordan's passing, and on the series he left unfinished:

"Jordan stretched his ambitious tale even further, to a dozen books, until it was not just a Dark Tower but a literary Tower of Babel possessing all of the attendant frenzied hubris such an analogy demands."

MC Chris Retrospective

With MC Chris (aka, "MC Pee Pants" from Aqua Teen Hunger Force) about to go on tour, now seems like a good time to revisit his Kingdom Hearts/Resident Evil 4 rant. And, well, how about Baddd Spellah's "Fett's Vette" remix, too?

Blame Society in France

Matt Sloan of Blame Society Productions went to a film festival in France and made two films, including one that uses a "popular web translation site" for its dialog. (Here's the other one, about his coup de ville).

Not that Rhino!

Joe Kubert illustrated a preventative maintenance manual for the U.S. military. Click here to maintain your vehicles--and see the art. (Thanks to Sleestak at Lady, That's My Skull!)

Deja Vu?

A videogamer visits San Francisco and gets a serious case of deja vu -- with pictures.

Crime, Punishment and Batman

In reprinting, Batman by Dostoyevsky, Brian Hughes reveals an existential truth: "Everything's better with Batman." (Make sure to follow his Kafkaesque Superboy link, too).

Readings

Charles Stross talks Tools of the Trade: Readings: "Rule #1 is that the audience is not your enemy."

Recreating Aliens

Rock, Paper, Shotgun revisits the classic shooter, Aliens vs. Predator, and finds one moment to match the Aliens movie:

"I don't need to fight the Alien queen, to control a powerloader or take off and nuke the entire site from orbit -- I just need to be the last Marine left alive, fighting to the inevitable end."

I only came for the fights.

This is a nice mash up of wuxia, kung fu and (mostly) HK gun action.

Sammo's Sweet Site

Man, the offical Sammo Hung site is worth it for the opening alone.

Peering into a Den of Sin and Depravity

Looking at Thomas Allen's pulp fiction photographs is like peering through a peephole into a raunchy 3-D diorama of femmes fatales, nameless gunslingers and sailors looking for trouble on a one day pass. Online you don't even have to drop a nickel, just click on the gallery. (Thanks, Craig!)

No Bubba, No She-Vampires, No Nosferatu

Looks like no sequel to Bubba Ho-Tep. Bruce Campbell is bowing out of Bubba Nosferatu to avoid wrecking his friendship with director Don Coscarelli. Damn it, I was looking forward to Paul Giamatti's Col. Tom Parker, too. (Thanks, Colin!)

Mileage may vary.

The "When Musicians Play Interactive Fiction" article on Grand Text Auto made me smile, as did Ryan North's new IF inspired shirt, but hey, I'm a child of Infocom.

Getting the Damn Book to Work

Trouble with your Bookes? Watch medieval technical support--now with English subtitles! Just ignore the clip's laugh track.

Venture Bros. Duet

Henchmen 21 and 24 offer this beautiful duet on the occasion of the Monarch's wedding to Dr. Fiancee.

Diving in the Cartoon Dump

Cartoon Dump is the best fake children's show featuring damaged hosts Moodsy the Clinically Depressed Owl (played by Frank Conniff of MST3K and Invader Zim), Compost Brite and Buf Badger and disturbing cartoons curated by Jerry Beck you'll ever see.

Retro Maakies

Miss the old Maakies cartoons now that Drinky Crow has his own show? Maakies creator Tony Millionaire can hook you up with a page of aired and unaired cartoons.

Steam Wars

The US Steam Force wants you!

Boulder POV

Must! Crush! Indiana! Jones! This hilarious game was made in 4 days: "You play as the infamous rolling boulder. Roll over the archeologists and protect the honor of the golden idols of fertility."

Reverse Engineering William Gibson

William Gibson talks to Salon.com about his new novel, Spook Country, writing the recent past and the dangers of looking into mirrors like Node Magazine, "a doorway into the spooks within Spook Country" including maps, links and reverse engineering.

Whedon, at Length

What has Joss Whedon been up to these days? Comic books, development hell (in the movies), and regaining an even keel: "I've had more luck than any 10 guys I know. I've been able to tell my story more than a few times, and that's the greatest gift."

Darth Vader's Had Enough

Akjak's Vader Sessions might be a little old but it's well before its expiration date. "We'd like to maintain the current level of Black representation on the committee--so, let's go for a stroll."

Psychedelic Spies and Swanky Podcasts

Like your spies swank, Sixties and psychedelic? Jiangtou from Spiltpopcorn found The Pschedelic Spy, a 5-part BBC radio drama over at Greylodge, where there's a whole lotta podcast swank going on.

Gojira To Kitty Cats

20 years ago, his job was demolition. Now Godzilla's a web designer in Portland. This is his story. Or at least the first episode. (Thanks, Flusty!)

Game Types

A breakdown of different types of games, including:

"Casual: You encounter a ferocious Grickle-Grak. Match three candies of the same type to satisfy his appetite and make him your friend."

And: "Rhythm Game: You encounter a ferocious Grickle-Grak. Match his mad raps with the right beats to defeat him!"

Slush Survivors

A slush reader profiles 14 opening lines that kept him reading: "I put most stories down after the first page. The writers fail to grab me. You must grab the editor on page one."

Hiding Harry Potter

"Do you love Harry Potter, but think you're too old and too awesome to be seen reading the books?" Pointless Waste of Time.com is here to help with some printready covers of some awesome phallicly-oriented fictional books.

Radio Coolness

TUN3R.com, click on the squares and play or mash up radio stations from all over the world.

Relative Dimensions

So much geekiness is at your disposal with Jeff Russell's Starship Dimensions. Now you can conveniently view the relative sizes of Farscape's Moya, a Vorlon transport from Babylon 5, the Eagle from Space 1999 and a rebel medical frigate from Star Wars. And that's not even bringing in Star Trek, Serenity or the Tardis. It's like the promise of the internet fulfilled. (Thanks, miss paula!)

Un-gamelike

The un-game? Real Lives is a simulation of life for most people in the world, kind of like an educational version of The Sims: "In my latest game, however, I've been born as a girl to an extremely poor family in rural China, and things are going to be difficult."

Fred Saberhagen, RIP

City on Fire and Days of Atonement author Walter Jon Williams has a eulogy up at his blog for Fred Saberhagen, who died a little over a week ago. Williams writes about Saberhagen's unacknowledged influence on fantasy, science fiction and horror. And he tells a couple of nice stories too.

More Shatner in More Media

ShatnerVision: William Shatner's videoblog. You know best whether you want to click it or not.

Alter Ego

Curious about the people behind that mech armor and those cute anime ponytails? Here's a neat slideshow with commentary for Alter Ego: Avatars and Their Creators a photography book of people side-by-side with their avatars. (Thanks to jane at gamegirladvance).

Magical Girl, Wonder Woman

This pitch by Tin Tin Pantoja reimagining Wonder Woman as a manga-style magical girl is pretty sweet.

Now even more pissed

It's been a little over a year since Girls Read Comics And Boy Are They Pissed began and in honor of the occasion, Karen's committing a whole new pissed analysis to the portrayal of characters who aren't white, heterosexual, able-bodied or young, starting with Onyx.

Fandom?

A piece that's a few years old but still pretty entertaining, The Complex and Terrifying Reality of Star Wars Fandom: "There is a diabolical twist to Star Wars fandom, you see, that defies comprehension, and yet is the life-blood of all Star Wars fans. It is this: Star Wars fans hate Star Wars."

Pullman Backlash

Some snark, and more importantly, alternate recommendations, in response to the news that Philip Pullman's Northern Lights is supposedly the best children's book in the last 70 years.

Abyssal Creatures

Fascinated by the ocean's abyss? There's a gallery of mysterious wonder and beauty--and even more mysterious occasional cuteness--at the website for Claire Nouvian's new book about abyssal species.

Comics Fans, Grow Up!

Over at Salon.com, Douglas Wolk writes a dense article about comics culture, graphic novels, collecting and nostalgia and urges comics fans, whether art or pop, to grow up: "The medium's new enemies are internal: the much less casual snobbery of the commercial mainstream and the art-comics world toward each other, and cartoonists' nostalgic yearning for the badness of the bad old days."

Games x2

Gamers With Jobs looks at the pendulum that's swinging from fantasy back to science fiction: "After ten years of elves and magic, I could use a bit of a change."

And The Escapist is the new home of Shoot Club! Awesomely nerdy dialogue reproduced faithfully, and some insights too: "There's nothing like bald math to undermine a game. The scales fall from my eyes and I cannot bear to earn another XP."

Steam Trek

Steam Trek: The Moving Picture is a silent setting the starship Enterprise in the steam era. In space, no one can hear you--though the music cues are neat. Go here for a full version and here for more information. (Updated and thanks to Hellblazer.net).

The Bar is Set High

Do you think someone can come up with 300 brand-new never-before-used gameplay ideas? In 300 days? Sean Howard is giving it a try!

JLA Songs and Stories

Just hearing the first song on Songs and Stories about the Justice League of America left me stunned. By the second, I decided it might be one of the best things ever with its hammond grooves and swinging Sixties songsters. But the stories are fun too with a villainous Zsa-Zsa Gabor imitator, a lot of plastic and scientific exposition. The only way it might be better is if Ann-Margret played Wonder Woman. Way Out Junk has the whole amazing presumably common domain album here. (Thanks, Ian!)

Kryptonite Discovered!

A mine in Serbia has turned up a sample with the same chemical composition as the fictional Superman-killer. Dr. Stanley was interviewed by BBC News: "Towards the end of my research I searched the web using the mineral's chemical formula -- sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide -- and was amazed to discover that same scientific name, written on a case of rock containing kryptonite stolen by Lex Luthor from a museum in the film Superman Returns." (Thanks, Mr.Dave!)

Listening to Generation Loss

The first chapter of Elizabeth Hand's new novel Generation Loss is available as a mp3 at her website. It's nice listening. She's got just the right voice for desolate punk noir. (According to Boing Boing, it's in honor of April 23rd, International Pixel Stained Technopeasant Day)

This Retro Game is Not Retro Enough!

Okay, Doom is now more than a dozen years old, but apparently it's not old-school enough for some people. Check out this ASCII-only version called DoomRL: "One of the more entertaining things about the game is that, while the graphics are ASCII and the gameplay is turn-based, the sound comes directly from the original game."

Busy, Busy HPLHS

The HP Lovecraft Historical Society has been awfully busy since releasing their Call of Chthulhu silent on DVD a couple years ago. Their next film will be The Whisperer in Darkness shot as a 1930s horror movie. If you need some tiding over till then, you can always listen to their At The Mountains of Madness radio drama, their musical There's a Shoggoth on the Roof or one of their seasonal CDs or just follow the link to Nueva Logia del Tentaculo's e-zine. Don't forget the Expressionist wonder of the Call of Chthulhu trailer

Harryhausen Creatures

Do you miss the days of dynamation? Stopmotion skeletons and Selenites? Mighty Joe Young and the Minoton? Chinese Jet Pilots has a Ray Harryhausen Creature List with clips of nearly every creature Harryhausen made. There's also a link to some nice stopmotion footage. Check out the beetlemen by the lesser known but still swell, Pete Peterson.

BSG Surprise

Spoiler alert! Abigail Nussbaum talks about the finale of season 3 of Battlestar Galactica: "In fact, I find myself dangerously close to the 'but it's not supposed to make any sense' mindset that keeps people watching 24 and Lost."

Knitted Zombie Doom

Behold the power of a knitted Dawn of the Dead, Tom Savini from Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead (see the flickr slideshow
if you'd prefer) and the knitted Shaun of the Dead all created by cakeyvoice. cakeyvoice sells them, too. (All props to jiang tou at spiltpopcorn for the catch)

Incredibly Cool Control Scheme

Instead of an accelerate key you have to make motor noises into a microphone to make your racing car go? Awesome! Clive Thompson takes a look at some very innovative indie games.

"It's a delightful way of breaking outside well-worn control techniques -- buttons, thumbpad, keyboard. This isn't a game I'd play for hours, not least because my cubiclemates would think I've gone out of my mind. But Skinflake gets monster points for uniqueness here."

The ads in Children of Men

One of the many exceptional things about the movie Children of Men were the media bits and bobs featured in the background, from the ads to the government public service announcements. The audience only got subtle glimpses, but you can check out the assets in detail at the website of the company that created them. (Via)

Godzilla on the Inside

Darren Naish at Tetrapod Zoology has a fun article up on Godzilla's biology full of zoological goodness like cartilage pads, bony scutes and "plasma glands." All the fun of science without the responsibility.

Vampires VS Big Pharma: Who's More Evil?

On the subject of Kaiju-biology (monster biology), Peter Watts narrates his brilliant slideshow that explains vampires from an evolutionary perspective, and then explains how humans can profit by harnessing their predators. Watts brings his experience as a scientist and his talent as a science-fiction writer to bear in creating this biting satire.

Game Mega-Wrapup

Game Tunnel, a site for indie games, picks their 10 best for 2006, with a platformer called Gumboy Crazy Adventures taking top honours.

Kottke wrapped up 2006 with a list of addictive little online games, and the new version of Line Rider is mentioned first.

And for those who like big budget PC games, CVG looks at 10 games to watch for in 2007.

Tales from the Vault!

Yearn for pulp fiction about mounties, possible marital infidelity and Winnipeg's pock-marked Frankenstein? Tales from the Vault provides Canadian pulp history in French and English with more than just a gallery of covers. That's right, there are whole issues!

On the Road with Scott McCloud

Scott McCloud is doing a crazy road tour for his new book, Making Comics, complete with family blog and entertaining video podcasts (with interviews of writers and artists) done by his kids.

Science of The Tick

Cocktail Party Physics takes a look at that awesome cartoon character, The Tick: "And there's lots of science! Of a particularly twisted nonsensical sort, granted, but science nonetheless."

Not Cranking Out the Same Old Thing - Is That Good?

After some quite excellent fantasy novels, Lois McMaster Bujold goes for (mostly) romance: "But with this one, she's just gone the Lifetime Channel route."

It's Been Done

Is the "thug life" Grand Theft Auto-style now officially overdone? The Dubious Quality blog ponders Saint's Row, a solid game that feels stale: "For me, though, there was a moment when this genre went from exhilarating to depressing."

Valve Turns It Up Another Notch

Portal is a thinkin' man's first person shooter coming out from Valve, the folks behind Half-Life 2. Talking about HL2, Episode 1 has exceedingly clever in-game commentary that is reviewed and excerpted at Waxy.org.

Ultimate Timewaster?

If you play Civilization IV for three months, your next novel will probably be late -- it happened to Iain M. Banks.

Hip-Hop Videogame

Is there really such a thing as a hip-hop videogame? Watch this convincing video to judge for yourself. A neat mix of arcade culture and hip-hop.

(Keith Schofield also made a pretty awesome pi-related video).

Cultural Appropriation

Naomi Novik makes a stand: "I would rather take my characters to China and Istanbul and Africa and make mistakes and get corrected for them than confine myself to the safe Western European sandbox and pretend the problem doesn't exist."

Her next Temeraire book is set in Africa, and she went there to do research.

Calm Guidelines

How to write a female character in comics in 8 steps, from Girls Read Comics: #6 says '"I hit boys!" is not a strong feminist statement.'

Inevitable Decay

Season 2 slump? Abigail Nussbaum says Lost and Battlestar Galactica had nowhere to go: "they have a story, and they don't know how to handle its ending."

He Can Say This Because He's a Browncoat

Henry Jenkins says Snakes on a Plane might do better than Serenity, two films with comparable prerelease internet buzz, and thinks Whedon should have broken out of the broadcast media mold: "...if he had gone that route, we would have been able to enjoy many more hours of quality science fiction/western action on television, where it belongs, instead of burning up the whole franchise in two hours of big screen excitement."

Black vs White

Incredible. Sony's ad announcing a new white case for the Playstation Portable looks like it's inciting a futuristic race war.

Half-Life Bonanza

The writers over at Gamers with Jobs look at the new Half-Life 2: Episode One, and provide some too-high praise for the original game -- if you want to know why people buy Half-Life games willy-nilly, read this article.

Why Care About Indie Games?

Check out Slate's Why there are no indie video games:"Why should gamers and industry bigwigs care if it's tough for the little guy? Because back when games were cheaper to make, the independents came up with the ideas that moved the business forward."

Ask a Ninja!

A compelling case for the importance of editing in video: compare Ask a Ninja 1: Ninja-Mart Store to the latest, brilliant Ask a Ninja Special Delivery 4: Net Neutrality.

Live Action Mario

A re-enactment of the first level of Super Mario Bros. at a talent show in Massachusetts. Gotta love the black-suited puppeteers sneaking to and fro!

a game for all ages

Before the press conferences of the Big Three at E3 2006, TIME magazine explains why Nintendo's strategy for success is "don't listen to your customers". And given the anticipation for their revolutionary new console, it seems to be working.

Blow Em Up Real Good

Clive Thompson decides to raise hell: "Let us talk openly about how just totally awesome it is to grab a fully loaded railgun in Quake 4 and wade into a mass of gibbering Strogg aliens and kill and kill and kill again, until there are guts on, like, the ceiling."

And he has a point: "After all, we now live in an age where the pop-culture mainstream has decided that games are fascinating -- but only the 'complex,' socially nuanced ones."

Turok Comic

A scathing/affectionate look back at some insanely cheesy Turok comics from the 1990s: "They crash-land in the Lost Land, naturally. There the survivors are attacked by dinosaurs, kidnapped by telepathic aliens with sharp sticks, and menaced by a huge shapeshifting monster made of flesh-melting goo. It is awesome."

Best Webcomix Evar

Nicholas Gurewitch's the Perry Bible Fellowship are my favourite webcomics. They're hilariously sad, outrageous, subtle, grimly clever and will leave you, as the kids say, ROTFL.

IGF Nominees

Gamespy has a handy overview of the Independent Game Festival (IGF) finalists, along with handy download links: "Here's the deal: freed from the constraints of big-budgets and risk-averse giant publishing houses, indie games made on shoestring budgets can actually feature original gameplay or bizarre subject matter."

Gutter Lovers

A spunky site with a similar mandate of taking low culture seriously does romance novel reviews: Come for the Dominican Bitches, Stay for the Man Titty.

Beware A Cylon's Love

For those of you who've just seen the stellar Battlestar Galactica morph from a fascinating West-Wing-In-Space premise into something very very different in the recent season finale, check out this heartfelt commentary.

Scott Adams is a Hydra

This interview with Scott Adams, the text adventure pioneer, has him talking about how he uses several keyboards to set up a Hydra in the multiplayer online world of Everquest II. It's refreshing to hear oldschool game makers talk about their current game obsessions rather than moan about the good ol' days.

SciFi and Nonexistent

A surprisingly lucid and yet still impossibly nerdy look at The Top Ten Sci-FI Films That Never Existed: "There was a movie that perfectly captured the Douglas Adams experience, the combination of bitter sarcasm and sharp imagination, the droll British wit and whale-exploding slapstick that infused his novels. And that movie was Shaun of the Dead."

Conglomerate News

Book-publishing mega-corps getting on your nerves? They're changing. Some are selling to European companies: "Publishing, alas for all the authors among us, is a small business in the scheme of things." And the number-crunching for 2005 says that kid's books and YA are still the hot thing.

"They fuckin' love it all"

Laura Barrett's Robot Ponies is a haunting song with lyrics that would make Philip K. Dick swoon: "They feed on plastic bags, cut up like lettuce right out of your hand..." Click play to hear it.

Games, Games, Games

Clive Thompson writes up 6 indie games, all free (my fav: RSVP), saying "If you really want to see innovation, there's only one place to go: Off the grid." Peter Butler lists the 10 best free games at Download.com (my pick is Mono). Also making the rounds: the anti-Kinko's simulator, Disaffected! (I'm not sure if I want to try their other stuff though).

Google Robots FAQ

"Google Robots are our human-like machines that walk the earth to record information. They do no harm, and they do not invade your privacy." This satiric FAQ from 2030 nails the GoogleTone: reassuring, occasionally witty, and not above the occasional exclamation mark.

Haldeman on Syriana

Joe Haldeman on Syriana: "I saw it as a kind of modern interpretation of the James Bond film... I don't think the viewer is supposed to totally understand it, either; you sort of absorb it."

Red Prophet now a Graphic Novel

Orson Scott Card's alternate history of the American frontier, Red Prophet, is soon a graphic novel (preview at Newsarama): "We felt that a book set in history like Red Prophet should have a ‘Great Illustrated Classics’ kind of feel to it."

Ninjas vs. Pirates

It's an idea whose time has come: Ninjas vs. Pirates! Sounds homebrew too: "Almost all scenes in NVP were shot in front of 9 sheets of 30-cent green posterboard in a 12'x13' apartment living room, lit with $12 Wal-Mart halogen work lights."

All Psych Studies Stink?

Bill Harris over at Dubious Quality takes himself as the basis for his study of computer gaming causing violence: "After playing 'killing simulators' for decades, how am I not some kind of crazed predator? Why are me and my droogs not out for a bit of ultraviolence?"

Lovely Free Flash Game

Samorost 2 is a point and click adventure puzzle game you can play in your browser. It begins with our protagonist in his nightcap rocketing off to save his kidnapped dog, and he must explore a romantic-industrial planet to do so.

Free Finnish Trek Movie

Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning is a feature length movie that its Finnish creators have released for free. I've only seen the trailer, but its production values are amazing for a zero budget flick and the line it walks between parody and fan film is intriguing.

Red Panda in Yer Ear

I ran across a poster in my neighbourhood advertising Decoder Ring Theatre, and boy, do they deliver the goods! Check out their old-timey radio serial podcasts featuring Red Panda, Canada's Greatest Superhero. It's a pretty dead-on pastiche of '40s dramas like the Green Hornet.

Games for Greybeards

The fabulous new videogame magazine The Escapist takes a look this week at what happens when the first generation of gamers starts to get older, including this gem: "Donna and Jack discovered a fact lost on our culture's anti-game crusaders: Gaming is an extraordinarily effective parenting tool."

kill your phone

Ah, it's not all crappy ports of arcade classics. Rebecca Cannon, Australian DVD zinester is working on a mobile phone game called The Kill Yourself Game which pits you against hordes of enemy yous. Highschool teachers are going to love that one.

Joss and Neil talk Geek

"I always loved, most of all with doing comics, the fact that I knew I was in the gutter. I kind of miss that, even these days, whenever people come up and inform me, oh, you do graphic novels. No. I wrote comic books, for heaven's sake. They're creepy and I was down in the gutter and you despised me. 'No, no, we love you! We want to give you awards! You write graphic novels!' We like it here in the gutter!" Neil Gaiman in discussion with Joss Whedon

Weird Wasteland

The upcoming Tony Hawk game is set in 1980s L.A. with, if the trailers are to be believed, a soundtrack featuring Dead Kennedys and the Pixies. Prominent in the trailers are bike riding and a light rail train, which is cool but also very weird: L.A. is a horrible place to ride transit and bike.

Making the Familiar, Alien

Christina Socorro Yovovich over at Strange Horizons on what drew her to sf: "What kept me reading science fiction was the way it made my immediate surroundings alien, too. Everywhere I looked, something familiar turned new and strange."

Warriors, Come Out and Plaaaay....

Rockstar's doing a videogame based on the 1979 gangsploitation flick The Warriors, but the trailer makes me worry they've been slavishly faithful to the movie. It's great and all, but I didn't watch it for its dramatic oration.

Imagining Robin Williams on Warcraft

Susan Marie Groppi reads the Warcraft forums so you don't have to, and muses on whether celebrities enjoy anonymity online gaming gives them or whether it makes them lose their shit.

New Games Journalism the New Emo?

From the comments after Game Girl Advance's article on the backlash against experiential game reviewing: "New Games Journalism is the new emo. No one wants to be called it, and everyone is accusing everyone else of doing it."

Some preliminary details about a computer game based on the Bone comic: "We plan on executing the story as it is told in the comics. There will be added interactivity and we will take some license, but we are trying to stay true to the comic."

Mike Sterling takes a brief look at the (possibly one-joke) comic, Here Doesn't Come the Flying F---!: "The eponymous hero is a slovenly sort, fighting for truth, justice...well, actually, just fighting for his right to watch television uninterrupted, mostly."

Ah, the perennial music nerd topic, Desert Island Discs. On the Beatles' Help: "This album falls on the trailing edge of their original Beatlemania phase and the beginning of their brief folk-rock/art-pop phase (a phase I wish had lasted a little longer before they went pepperdelic)."

Over at Maisonneuve, Michel Basilières writes a heartfelt appreciation of the career of Fritz Leiber, a writer who "was equally at home with science fiction, modern or urban fantasy, horror stories and sword & sorcery—an expression he coined."

Joystiq reports the clumsiest product displacement yet, where Electronic Arts removed a reference to Sega in House of Pain's anthem "Jump Around" from NBA Street v3. The corporate revisionist megamix in yo face!

The Grumpy Gamer (Ron Gilbert, creator of some great old Lucasarts adventure games) goes off on cutscenes: "There is a very different visual and structural language needed to tell a story in an interactive and malleable environment. You can't just lift that structure from a linear form like movies, cut it up into chunks interspersed between gun-play and call it good."

Nick's Flick Picks puts Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind at the top of the list for 2004: "Popcorn-munchers, digital video enthusiasts, bleeding-heart romantics, dyed-in-the-wool Eeyores, pot-heads, mad hatters, and the Friends of Alexander Pope finally have a movie they can enjoy together."

There's an interesting interview with an actress in ilovebees, a "search opera" run to promote Halo 2 that was more innovative than the shooter itself (probably in no small part due to novelist Sean Stewart's involvement).

The four editors at Revolution SF have their say about What is Best in Life 2004: "It's almost overwhelming, really, to think about how mainstream and blasé everyone has become about Geek Culture... If anything, all of these movies, books, TV shows, and what-not are proof that We Were Right all along."

Robots in the Victorian Era

Hard to believe someone might believe this was real: History of Robots in the Victorian Era. A retrospective of lesser-known sf of the 19th century.

Slate pans Michael Crichton's new book, State of Fear: "Crichton is like a college professor who insists on lecturing 10 minutes after the class period ends, when his students are edging toward the door."

"Delightful Surreal Trip through Geek Culture"

Jamie Friston compares Lucky Wander Boy to Philip K. Dick's VALIS and Haruki Murakami's The Wild Sheep Chase and calls it a "delightful surreal trip through geek culture."

Sequential Tart interviews Erika Moen (Girly Queer Vibrating Comics), who gives this advice: "Don't wait. Do it now. You can't call yourself an artist and then only do art when you're 'in the right mood' or 'have the time.'"

In the ongoing adventures of Shoot Club, Tom Chick gets around to trash talk: "Trash talk is like politics or religion: there's a right time and a right place for it. And even then, you handle it differently with different people."

The screenwriter of the upcoming Doom movie dreams big in this interview: "I never thought of it as a video game movie. I wanted to write first a great movie, then a great science fiction movie and then a video game movie."

What makes a good sex scene? Sara Donati of Storytelling investigates, with the basic rule: "If you can substitute 'and then they had sex,' the scene is useless." With 10 examples.

The cultural gutter indeed! How about an overview of comics based on video games: "This is not what worried parents had in mind. Comic books were bad enough, but reading comic books about games could be likened to brushing one's teeth with icing sugar." [Site has annoying ads]

The latest Rain Taxi says "a fantastic and witty history explodes with a Big Bang" in Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell and that Transmetropolitan: One More Time is "a dynamic conclusion to the story that Warren Ellis and his cabal set out to tell."

The first issue of Graphic Novel Review on Bone: One Volume Edition: "Ignore the larger storyline, the workmanlike High Fantasy backdrop Smith chose to use as an excuse to make us spend time with these characters (we didn't need an excuse). Focus instead on the individual moments, the characters themselves, the joyous, masterful cartooning, and you'll have a blast."

If all stories were written like science fiction stories: "They selected one of the hydrocarbon-powered ground transports from the queue which waited outside the airport. The fee was small enough that it was not paid electronically, but using portable dollar tokens. The driver conducted his car unit into the city; though he drove only at 100 km/hr, it felt much faster since they were only a meter from the concrete road surface."

The Flick Filosopher thinks The Village mistakes a twist ending for good writing: "[Shyamalan] figured Let's go all the way and make a film that's nothing but secret sauce. It makes for a film that is frustrating and tedious and then -- bam! -- slams the audience with the knowledge that they've been had, and maliciously so."

The Flick Filosopher thinks The Village mistakes a twist ending for good writing: "[Shyamalan] figured Let's go all the way and make a film that's nothing but secret sauce. It makes for a film that is frustrating and tedious and then -- bam! -- slams the audience with the knowledge that they've been had, and maliciously so."

...

"I find it sadly ironic that in worlds only limited by our imagination, no one seems to have one." Bill Harris (on his blog on sports videogames, Dubious Quality) talks about why City of Heroes doesn't excite him.

Tee Morris at Strange Horizons worries about elitism in science fiction, gets scathingly rebuked by Nick Mamatas, and less scathingly commented on by Matthew Cheney over at Mumpsimus.

"A sprawling, ambitious form of comic-book meta-fiction"

Zachary Houle writes about Michael Chabon's latest: "The Escapist project is a sprawling, ambitious form of comic-book meta-fiction that bounces back-and-forth between rediscovered potboilers from the '40s to '80s and scholarly essays offering context and academic takes on these works."

Clive Thompson wrote a terrific article on the economics of massive multiplayer online games that goes beyond the usual "people are making money with their hobby!" coverage and explores what virtual economics says about capitalism at large. Wonderfully readable, too.

People who've discovered the joy of stashing a couple of interviews on the mp3 players should check out The Agony Columns archive of interviews with SF writers and beyond like Jonathan Lethem.

Something Awful (whose slogan, The Internet Makes You Stupid, says a lot about the site) has a great parody of videogame hype, Solitaire 2: Solitaire Harder. Sample soundbite: "Authentic card sound effects beautifully recreate the real sounds of playing card games. The sound will be so amazing you'll think tiny demons are shuffling decks of cards inside your brain."

After an intro like this, the game (Onimusha 3) will have to be a let-down. But still, if it has a tenth of the imaginative power it'll tower above most games. And it's not just because I've always wanted to fight zombie samurai within insectile zepplin-esque motherships.

Greg Costikyan tells science fiction writers: "I want to be challenged with interesting ideas, distinctive writing styles, unconventional ways of looking at things, and transportation to a world very different from our own. I don't want to sink into the familiar, I want to be surprised and shaken up." (His blog also has an excellent post about GDC).

Dylan Horrocks writes: "New artforms bring new aesthetic paradigms. Those who fail to recognise this tend to miss the point of the work altogether, dismissing it as frivolous, bad or even dangerous." A long article about comics, videogames, and fantasy novels.

The Mumpimus writes about Stories of Sex and Identity: "Despite a fairly conservative base of readers, SF has been investigating sex and gender since at least the time of Theodore Sturgeon, and a few recent stories which fit into this tradition have caught my attention."

Joe Haldeman interviewed at Strange Horizons: "You'll meet people who grind out really hackneyed crap who read Joyce all the time or keep up with the blue-blood writers. But then again, I'll meet a lot of serious writers in academia who'll confess they read mysteries and even science fiction. A lot of us got into writing because of the intense pleasure we got from it when we were very young."

Not to be navel gazing, but the Toronto Comic Jam discussion board has a lively discussion on the offensiveness of us calling the gutter the gutter.

Richard Scheib on Big Fish: "It is really like Burton has been abducted and replaced by a pod person." Scheib reviews hundreds of obscure B-movies on his site.

Small Beer Press's Gavin Grant does an interview with China Mieville, a fantasy writer who considers what he does "the pulp wing of surrealism."

It's been just over a year since Frisco writer and editor Marc Weidenbaum
founded this stellar blog, a public service to one of his dearest passions. "Writing about comics on the internet is itself a form of reading in public," he says.

"In the '70s and '80s cartoons and consumer electronics were bigger and trashier than ever and freaked kids out... Now these kids are getting older and are freaking everybody else out by using this same throw-away trash." A glimpse at the fucked cartoon genius of PaperRad is worth braving their technicolor website for.

This article on the brilliant Game Girl Advance site begins with the author getting woken up on a weekend for a phone survey, and ends up sparking a great discussion on making a videogame out of Jimmy Corrigan, 100 Years of Solitude, and Battle Royale. Ya give some people lemons...