[comics] A Comic Book Hero — profile of Dan Clowes from the Guardian … ‘I would never trust anyone else to work with my artwork. I can’t relinquish absolute control. I have an OCD [obsessive compulsive disorder] thing about having drawn every single line in every one of my comics. The great appeal is to be able to say, I did this whole book all by myself. It’s a little module that I created.’

[books] Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest 2005 … Detective Winner: ‘Patricia wrote out the phrase ‘It was a dark and stormy night’ exactly seventy-two times, which was the same number of times she stabbed her now quickly-rotting husband, and the same number of pages she ripped out of ‘He’s Just Not That Into You’ by Greg Behrendt to scatter around the room — not because she was obsessive compulsive, or had any sentimental attachment to the number seventy-two, but because she’d always wanted to give those quacks at CSI a hard time.’

[food] Blogjam’s Garden Snail Risotto — Fraser hunts, farms, kills and eats some lovely creatures from his garden… Sounds Delicious! … ‘And into the pan they go. Reluctantly ignoring their silent snail screams, I boil them gently for ten minutes. Rather strangely, the water turns yellow, but I can’t find any reference to this on the Internet – I’m hoping it’s not some kind of toxic gastropod secretion, but only history will tell…’

[religion] Obscenities Uttered by Jesus Christ … ‘Dad.’

[blogs] The Blogs of War — Wired News covers Bloggers in the American Military … Danjel Bout, aka Thunder 6: ‘Americans are raised on a steady diet of action films and sound bites that slip from one supercharged scene to another, leaving out all the confusing decisions and subtle details where most people actually spend their lives. While that makes for a great story, it doesn’t reveal anything of lasting value. For people to really understand our day-to-day experience here, they need more than the highlights reel. They need to see the world through our eyes for a few minutes.’

[tv] Sky at Night — Recent Real Media Archive of the science TV series Sky at Night presented by Patrick Moore. [via Metafilter]

[tv] After the Crash — preview of Lost from the Guardian (which is just about to be transmitted on on British TV) … ‘Lost […] is a fantasy in which Americans (and, by extension, America) survive a terrible aeroplane incident but the society that results is more savage, suspicious and selfish than what existed before. To sneak so tough and thoughtful a theme into a mainstream drama series that was created by crossing reality TV with a disaster movie must be regarded as a major achievement.’

[archive] Linkage:

• Spotted on Flickr: V for Vendetta Sleeping
• The 50 Worst Hairstyles of all Time … ‘From the old standbys of ugliness like, The Mullet and Comb-Over to new additions to the bad hair lexicon like, The Career Terminator and The Gangsta Pimp- they are all here.’
• Doom Ported to iPod Linux [via Waxy’s Links]
• Wireless hijacking under scrutiny … ‘…the outcome proves that borrowing someone else’s network is not as harmless as the hobbyist wi-fi user might think.’
• Feed Digest … ‘…mix, filter and republish or syndicate feeds to HTML, JavaScript, WAP or PHP, or to a new feed.’
• … and finally: Jesus Swimming.

[comics] On “Liberality” for all — Tom covers an neo-conservative comic called Liberality For All in which Sean Hannity, G. Gordon Liddy (!!) and Oliver North fight ultra-leftism, the United Nations and of course Osama bin Laden … ‘…I’d like to introduce you all to the future of literature for kids – Liberality, an American Neo-Con comic book in the vein of The Authority’

[comics] Two scanned pages [Page 1 | Page 2] from Alan Moore’s Script for V For Vendetta …

[useful] Say No To 0870 — list of cheaper alternative phone numbers for the extortionate 0870 / 0871 / 0845 numbers.

[comics] V for Vendetta Annotations — includes an interesting list of pop culture influences which Alan Moore and David Lloyd drew on whilst creating V for Vendetta …

‘Orwell. Huxley. Thomas Disch. Judge Dredd. Harlan Ellison’s “Repent Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman.”, “Catman” and “Prowler in the City at the Edge of the World” by the same author. Vincent Price’s Dr. Phibes and Theatre of Blood. David Bowie. The Shadow. Nightraven. Batman. Farenheit 451. The writings of the New Worlds school of science fiction. Max Ernst’s painting “Europe After the Rains.” Thomas Pynchon. The atmosphere of British Second World War films. The Prisoner. Robin Hood. Dick Turpin…’

[comics] Interview with Dan Clowes — mainly covering his new film Art School Confidential … ‘I had a revelatory moment as a child when I was drawing Superman. He had that insignia on his chest, and I was studying it for hours (I think I was 4 or 5). I saw the negative shapes that define the S, but I didn’t get that it was a letter. I would draw those shapes over and over. Then one day I realized, “It’s an S!” It all fit together. “S for Superman, of course!”‘

[soundboard] The Sewell Sampler — a soundboard of utterings from Brian Sewell … ‘I am an Art Expert…’ [via currybetdotnet

[bb6] The Going, Going Gong Show — Charlie Brooker neatly sums up this years Big Brother. ‘…the prestigious Most Sickening Housemate award, which this year goes to a couple: Maxwell (London’s village idiot) and Saskia (burly, wrathful harridan with a face that could advertise war). Their daily routine consisted of bullying, bellowing, cackling at their own dismal non-jokes, glaring, sniping and discussing their imminent ascent to the toppermost peaks of stardom – until the last week, when, faced with eviction, they settled for sulkily rutting like doomed livestock. The latter surely ranks as the least sexy thing ever broadcast on television. I’d get more aroused watching a dog drown in petrol.’

[comics] Amateur Manga Translators Tell Their Stories — The Comics Journal looks at Manga Scanlations … ‘What is interesting is that there are many, many people working in these scanlation groups, and it takes up an incredible amount of work to put out a single chapter. And they all do it for free. That is an incredible amount of passion.’

[bombings] The World on a Train — Geoff Ryman (author of 253) on the 7/7 Tube Bombings … ‘The philosopher Hannah Arendt concluded that evil lay in the refusal to think. One of the things evil cannot face contemplating is variety. It prefers monolithic simplicity. Reality outstrips simplicity through a constant flowering of unexpected lives.’ [via Londonist]

[macs] Largest Collection of Macintosh Compacts in Belgium — collecting Mac’s taken to the extreme… [thanks Phil]

[trains] Accessible UK Train Timetables … ‘This is an accessible version of the National Rail Enquiries train timetable site, giving access to the information on that site no matter what browser you are using, with no requirement for cookies, JavaScript and iframes. It works by screenscraping the information on the official site…’ [via del.icio.us/blogjam]

[comics] Sushi Comic Books — gallery of comic book covers [via Metafilter]

[wifi] 10 Tips for improving your Wireless Network — from Microsoft but applicable to any Wifi Network … ‘If Microsoft Windows XP ever notifies you about a weak signal, it probably means your connection isn’t as fast or as reliable as it could be. Worse, you might lose your connection entirely in some parts of your home. If you’re looking to improve the signal for your wireless network, try some of these tips’

[strategies] Oblique Strategies — online version of a pack of Cards created by Brian Eno and Peter Schmitdt for help in solving creative problems using cryptic remarks… ‘Repetition is a form of Change.’

[comics] What is a Graphic Novel? — an introduction from Jessica Abel. [via Warren Ellis]

[comics] Gallery told to Drop ‘Gay’ Batman … ‘DC Comics has ordered a New York gallery to remove pictures which show Batman and Robin kissing and embracing.’ [Related: Robin — What Have I done to You?]

[film] Interview with Errol Morris … from the Huffington Post .. On Robert McNamara and The Fog of War: ‘When people say to me, this is just some self-serving account that McNamara has provided, part of my feeling when I hear that is, “Well, yeah, of course it is!” But that’s not all it is. It’s not just a self-serving account, it’s a complicated account. We all have narratives about ourselves, about who we are and why we do what we do. We have accounts of ourselves for ourselves and we have accounts of ourselves for other people to try to convince them about who we are and our underlying motivations. Part of the premise here is that people reveal themselves through their use of language, through talking.’