Matt Fraction asks: How soon is too soon for Mad Monster Party?
There is no such thing as too soon for Mad Monster Party?, Matt.
BEHOLD!
Category: Film
it’s the only way to be sure
So it turns out that I do, in fact, have a sinus infection. Because it’s the first one post-sinus surgery, my doctor decided that the best course of action would be to blast off and nuke the site from orbit.
I asked him if maybe we could do something a little less extreme, but he assured me that it was the only way to be sure. Since my sneezes weren’t going “achoo!” like they’re supposed to, but going “Ftagn!” instead, I’ve decided to follow his advice, and I’m on Prednisone + Zithromax for the next five days.
I’m already feeling better, if not entirely back to normal, but I’m looking forward to getting my command and control systems back online within the next 24 hours. I have this overwhelming urge to blast my quads and rip out my delts, but I understand that will go away IN JUST A FUCKING MINUTE GODDAMMIT WHAT?!
Oh. Um. Sorry. Meds talking and whatnot.
In place of an actual blog entry, here are a few things that have been on my mind:
I was going to write this myself, but Charlie Stross explains why I won’t be using Google Chrome better than I can. He even manages to avoid the phrase EPIC FAIL which I wouldn’t have been able to do. Competing with IE = good. Competing with Firefox = profoundly stupid. Having the most abusive EULA I’ve seen in years? That’s just fucking priceles, Google. Nice work on that one. I’d like to amend this paragraph, after hours of consideration and lengthy discussion with other people. Apparently, Google claims the EULA was “boilerplate” and they’re going to update it. If they update it, great. But does anyone really believe that a company like Google puts out a new browser, one that is as highly-anticipated as Chrome, and doesn’t fully vet the EULA? What did they do, borrow lawyers from John McCain? If Google is going to change their EULA to something less evil, that’s fantastic, but I don’t believe for a moment that this was a mistake. Google isn’t that incompetent. As for my statement: “Competing with IE = good. Competing with Firefox = profoundly stupid.” Yeah. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking. I’d like to blame the sinus meds, but that’s a pretty 80s excuse, isn’t it? I haven’t felt well for several days, and I typed without really thinking things through. Competition, as a commenter said, is very good, even (and maybe especially) for Open Source products. I hope I’ve earned the right over the years to ask for a little slack. If I haven’t, I’d like to point out that this mountain is covered with wolves, and the bar is right over there. Thanks.
Cory Doctorow has a really good idea for publishers.
Today is one of those days where it’s 97 outside, 81 inside, and only Miles Davis can keep the inside of my house cool.
Coilhouse has a fascinating article about a Modern Pirate Utopia in Hong Kong that has to be read to be believed. Coilhouse kind of rules. I highly recommend their magazine.
Doctor Horrible @ checked me on Twitter. I don’t think this should make me as excited as it does, but OMGOMGOMG! The Doctor Horrible soundtrack is #2 on iTunes US, #1 in the UK and Australia. The number one album in the US is some rap thing that makes me stabby just to look at. Come on, American geeks, let’s show the rest of the world what we’re made of! (Also, the soundtrack is really awesome and fun to listen to.)
Moe’s just isn’t the same since he got rid of the dank. Come on, Moe! The dank!
I played a little bit of D&D 4e with Jerry, Mike, The Other Mike, and Scott Kurtz when I was at PAX. I got to play a Tiefling Rogue who was trying out to be the new intern at Acquisitions, Incorporated. It was massively fun, and it made me want to play D&D about as badly as I’ve ever wanted. I’m taking advantage of my . . . current condition . . . to read all of Keep on the Shadowfell in the hopes that I’ll be able to convince Nolan and some of his friends to let me run it for them.
I got an insanely cool D&D thing via John Kovalic, but I’m forbidden to reveal it until he does.
I was mentioned rather favorably, in some very nice company, by one of the executive producers on Criminal Minds! “…we have scary locations and amazing guest stars like Jason Alexander, Luke Perry and Wil Wheaton.” OMGOMGOMGOMG.
We’re late to the party on this, but Anne and I have been watching Weeds on Netflix via our Roku box. We’re into the 3rd season (which we had to get on DVD) and I’m not as crazy about it as I was the first two. The acting and writing is wonderful, but the storylines that dominate the 3rd season are leaving me a little cold. I don’t believe a single Nancy does in this season, even though Mary-louise Parker is a phenomenal actor.
Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere is online for free from his publisher. This is one of my favorites, and I heartily recommend it, even though I’m pretty sure most of you reading this have already read it. However, Neil says, “For those people who grumbled about reading American Gods online, here’s Neverwhere. You can read it online, and it’s also downloadable. That’s the good news. The bad news is you don’t get to keep it forever. It’s yours for thirty days from download, and then the pdf file returns to its electrons. But if you’ve ever wondered about Neverwhere or wanted to read it for free, now is your chance. And free is free…”
“America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this.” A-fucking-MEN.
During my panel at PAX, I was asked a great question that I couldn’t answer to my satisfaction: What episode of Next Generation best defines the series? The answer depends heavily on how you’d define the series as a whole, and the best I could come up with is “Star Trek is all about possibilities. It’s about hope, so when you look around our totally fucked up world, you see that there is a better future for us.” Which TNG episode best exemplifies that? Is that even what Star Trek is about? My answer sucked so hard, I can’t even remember what I said. I blame the ConSARS.
A bit of blasphemy: I finally saw Dark Knight, and I was not blown away. Heath Ledger was spectacular, but I felt like the movie climaxed in the first 10 minutes, and was 2 reels too long. Maybe I’ll refine my feelings on subsequent viewings, but it didn’t send me into a Batgasm like Batman Begins did. However, it’s the second act of the trilogy, and if it’s anything like all the other trilogies I’ve seen, it’ll end up being my favorite when the dust settles.
I first became aware of the Xbox 360 game Braid when Buckman mentioned on his blog that the developer licensed a bunch of Magnatune music (which I’ve listened to and love) for the game. Monday night, I couldn’t sleep, so I downloaded the trial. 30 minutes later, I bought the full game, which is similar to Portal in a lot of ways. It’s one of the most visually beautiful games I’ve ever played. Check it out if you’ve got XBLA.
You can listen to one of the artists, Jami Sieber, with this nifty little gizmo:
John Scalzi’s Denise Jones, Super Booker, at Subterranean Online, dovetails brilliantly with Soon I Will Be Invincible, which I am still reading and still loving. And every single time I see, think about, or say the title, my brain fires up a chorus from Pat Benatar’s timeless classic song, “Invincible,” from the, uh, equally-classic film The Legend of Billie Jean .
And now that I’ve put it in your brain also, I’ll sign off for today.
underrated sci-fi movies and the geek group
One of my favorite topics when I was writing Geek in Review was the Guilty Pleasures series. It gave me an excuse to watch movies without feeling like I was slacking off, and always generated entertaining discussions (and more than a few suggestions for other movies to use in future columns.)
When I checked in on The Geek Group at Propeller this morning, I saw something similar: Ten Truly Underrated Sci-Fi Movies.
Take a look, and let me know what you think. I wouldn’t have included Aeon Flux, which tried real hard but couldn’t close the deal, but the rest of them are great, especially Primer, which never gets the respect it deserves.
I think Groups are where Propeller is going to set itself apart from the rest of the social news world, so I really want to build and nurture the Geek group. I think it’s a fantastic resource and if there’s enough participation, could become a wonderful place for geeks to gather and goof off – I already check in several times a day, even when I’m not doing admin work. In support of that effort, I’m going to close comments on this post, so if you’re interested in commenting and stuff, you’ll do it there. (Bonus: the Conversations are a lot of fun, too. D&D geeks need to check out What’s the most audacious thing you’ve gotten away with in D&D?)
fuh. nuh. muh. nul.
So there’s this movie coming out next year. A lot of people want to like it, but an equal number of people are concerned that it may not be as good as they hope. There’s a lot riding on this movie for a lot of people – some would say an entire franchise – so there are a lot of people who get . . . touchy . . . when people like me express opinions about it. The studio’s done a great job clamping down on actual news, so lots of rumors and speculation have filled the resulting vacuum.
This morning, SF Signal linked to an interview with Kevin Smith (I swear, this blog isn’t going to be all Kevin Smith, all the time) where he obliquely discusses a movie that he can’t really talk about:
Host: So thumbs up on The Watchmen, what else you got?
Smith: I saw a movie last night that I cannot talk about.
Host: Was it good?
Smith: It was phenomenal.
Host: Any stars, any break out stars, and do they trek?
Smith: The stars absolutely trek in this film. It is fantastic. Anybody who was worried doesn’t need to be worried–about this film I cannot talk about…It was in very capable hands. The director did a phenomenal job–the director and his crew. Top notch cast and the guy that plays the lead is an instant star. That dude is going to be so famous. He is so wonderful. He picked up a role that I would say is pretty challenging for someone to step into the shoes of, because it is a role that has been played before many times by the same guy.
Host: How do you out Shatner, Shatner?
Smith: I don’t know what you are talking about.
Host: I was just saying that as an expression.
Speaking of Kevin Smith (and, really, I swear this isn’t going to be a regular thing), Anne and I went to the opening of Crazy 4 Cult 2 at Gallery 1988 on Friday night, thanks to an unexpected invite from Jensen, who I believe is the gallery’s owner. It is phenomenal. Let me just say that again, to make my point: fuh. nuh. muh. nul.
I didn’t know that some of my favorite artists are in the show, including Ben Walker (who does awesome work with bears and guns) and Dan Goodsell, who does Mr. Toast. Andy Suriano, who you may have seen play the part of my Russian mail order bride on Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show, also has a piece in the show that’s spectacular. My favorite pieces in the show, though, have got to be Scott Campbell‘s*, including the poster for the show, and Kirk Demaris’s** family portraits.
I was absolutely blown away by this show, and if you’re within . . . let’s say two hours of Los Angeles . . . it’s worth the effort to come into town and see it before it closes. While you’re in the neighborhood, you can buy comics (including the new Star Trek Manga that has my story The Art of War in it, plug plug) at Golden Apple, see a show down the street at ACME, and have dinner at Bulan Thai, the best vegetarian Thai restaurant I’ve ever been to.
* He has a webcomic that’s tremendously entertaining. He also did great showdowns of the 8-bit era for I am 8-bit.
** You could easily lose a few hours enjoying retro culture at Kirk’s Secret Fun Spot.
thirty-seven? in a row?
I met Kevin Smith at Comic-Con, back in 2000 or 2001. The encounter was so incredibly embarrassing, I can’t bring myself to recall it, but can be summed up thusly: I made a complete fool of myself, and as a testament to his kindness, he didn’t make me feel like a total asshole. (Note for the record that I was a total blathering idiot, and also note that I defy every single person reading this to sit on a couch next to Kevin Smith and not lose their shit because you’re sitting next to One of Us who is living the dream.)
I’ve always lamented that I made such a fool out of myself, because if he remembers anything about me at all, it’s probably something like, “Oh man, that guy is an idiot.”
This morning, my inbox was filled with e-mail about this art show Kevin Smith’s doing called Crazy 4 Cult 2 that opens in Hollywood next Saturday, including a link to this fucking awesome painting, that completely owns in the face:
There are a ton of magnificent works on display in Kevin Smith’s blog, but that’s not even the best part of the post, which is this:
I saw “Watchmen.” It’s fucking astounding. The Non-Disclosure Agreement I signed prevents me from saying much, but I can spout the following with complete joygasmic enthusiasm: Snyder and Co. have pulled it off.
Remember that feeling of watching “Sin City” on the big screen and being blown away by what a faithful translation of the source material it was, in terms of both content and visuals? Triple that, and you’ll come close to watching “Watchmen.” Even Alan Moore might be surprised at how close the movie is to the book. March can’t come soon enough.
See? Living the dream.
The show opens on August 22 at Gallery 1988 on Melrose, which is next door to Golden Apple. He says that there were over 1000 people last year, so if you’re going, you should plan on showing up early.