15 October 2005
[comics] Scans Daily [RSS] — Livejournal Page posting a random assortment of old and new scans from Comic Books.
13 October 2005
[bdj] Weidenfeld & Nicolson Acquire New Book by Belle de Jour … ‘Provisionally entitled THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF BELLE DE JOUR, the deal was closed after a great deal of arm-twisting and financial persuasion…’ [thanks Phil]
11 October 2005
[newspapers] BBC News: How can papers afford to give away DVDs? … ‘The great DVD giveaway is just the latest instalment in Fleet Street’s endless turf war. “It’s digital bingo,” says Greenslade, referring to the period, 20 years ago, when tabloid editors employed prize-winning bingo games to woo new readers.’
[im] Meebo.com — firewall-bursting instant messenging from a website for AIM, MSN, Yahoo and GTalk. [via Waxy’s Links]
10 October 2005
[comics] Official Preview of All-Star Superman #1 …
Morrison: ‘I just read – yesterday in fact – the story ‘Superman’s New Power’ which appeared in Superman #125 from November 1958. And guess what Superman’s new power was in the ‘conservative’ ’50s. That’s right – it’s a teeny-tiny little Superman who shoots out from the palm of the big Superman’s hand and does everything better than Superman himself, leaving the full-size Superman feeling redundant and worthless. Holy analysis, Batman! It’s mindbending, brilliant and eerie work. This is what it would be like if Charlie Kaufmann wrote and directed the Superman movie and it’s far from goofy or childish, it’s genuinely affecting and slightly disturbing to read Superman saying stuff like ‘Everyone’s impressed except ME! Don’t they understand how I feel — playing second fiddle to a miniature duplicate of myself…a sort of SUPER-IMP?’ And people think I’M weird? I %$%$^ wish I was weird like this! I wish pop comics today had the balls to be as poetic and poignant and truly ‘all-ages’ again, and a little less self-conscious. I feel a little ashamed for not even daring to think of a magnificent tiny Superman who makes the real Superman feel inadequate every time he springs from his hand.’ 9 October 2005
[comics] Doctor Doom’s Top 10 Euphemisms for Sex — from Mike Sterling’s Progressive Ruin … ’10. “Unleashing the Doombots”‘
8 October 2005
[games] Edward Castronova on ‘The Average Gamer‘: ‘The average age is 30. For the most part it’s a lower-middle-class phenomenon. If you’re too poor you can’t afford the online access. And these games require absolute top end. But people who are very successful in the real world don’t have the leisure. You need a mix of a lot of time, fairly advanced literacy, enough money to get the equipment and then you have to be, sort of, not very invested in the real world. It’s pathetic in a way. So I think the typical player might be, for example, a parts manager at an office-supply store.’ [thanks Phil]
7 October 2005
[comics] Challenging Graphic Novels for an 11 year-old? — Ask Mefi discuss Graphic Novels for Children.
[ebay] How to be an online auction professional — eBay guide from The Times. Worth Noting: ‘…Sunday evenings between 6pm and 10pm are our busiest times, so timing your auctions to end then should give you more bang for your buck.’
6 October 2005
[history] Heroic Relics — The Guardian on Nelson: ‘What kind of strange nation would revere, two centuries after his death, a 5ft 4in, one-eyed, one-armed reprobate who shamelessly abandoned his family and lived in a bizarre ménage? Good question. England, naturally.’
[comics] Battle Action — fan site for the classic war comic from the 70’s/80’s … ‘Gott in Himmel! Die you Britisher Pigs!!!’
[apple] Video iPod UK Launch at the BBC? — according to Radio 6: ‘Apple is set to unveil a new video iPod at the BBC Television Centre in London on October the 12th…’
5 October 2005
[bdj] The shape I’m in: Belle de Jour — Health and Fitness Q&A with Belle de Jour … ‘Q: Which alternative remedies do you swear by? A: I don’t go in for the ooey-wooey…’
4 October 2005
[politics] Steve Bell: ‘Dinner Dinner Dinner Dinner B.A.T.Bloke!’
[comics] General Zod – 2008 Presidential Candidate … ‘In 2008 I shall restore your dignity and make you servants worthy of my rule. This new government shall become a tool of my oppression. Instead of hidden agendas and waffling policies, I offer you direct candor and brutal certainty. I only ask for your tribute, your lives, and your vote.’ [via Linkbunnies]
3 October 2005
[comics] Page 227 from A History of Violence — a scan from John Wagner’s and Vince Locke’s comic from 1997. ‘… there does seem to be an elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about, in regards to the source material.’
[blogs] Eggbaconchipsandbeans Book Deal … great news from one of my favourite blogs … ‘This strange little site has morphed into a strange little book. Due out the middle of October and already being discounted by Amazon. Which may not bode well.’ [via Pete’s Linklog | EBCB on Amazon UK]
2 October 2005
[film] His ‘Secret’ Movie Trailer Is No Secret Anymore — NYT on the remixed Shining trailer … ‘The challenge? Take any movie and cut a new trailer for it — but in an entirely different genre. Only the sound and dialogue could be modified, not the visuals, he said. Mr. Ryang chose “The Shining,” Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 horror film starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall. In his hands, it became a saccharine comedy — about a writer struggling to find his muse and a boy lonely for a father. Gilding the lily, he even set it against “Solsbury Hill,” the way-too-overused Peter Gabriel song heard in comedies billed as life-changing experiences’
30 September 2005
[film] Shining Trailer — a new family film from Stanley Kubrick … ‘Sometimes… what we need the most is just around the corner.’
29 September 2005
[food] What’s the best way to cook a giant squid? — with apologies to Squid Lovers.
“Famed Fish Chef” Aldo Zilli: ‘You would boil it. You need the largest pot in the world. Boil it for 10 hours with lots of wine corks to tenderise the squid – and I don’t mean plastic corks, I mean cork corks – then leave it in the same water for five hours to cool down. Take it out, cut it up in small pieces – you’ll need a very, very, very sharp knife. Soak the tentacles separately in cold, salted water for a couple of hours, because that’s where the sand is. Boil those as well; red wine is a good source of tenderising, so use a couple of bottles of chianti and leave to rest in the juice. Take it out, cut it up, then sauté in garlic and chilli and serve with coriander and a nice sauvignon blanc.’
[comics] Tintin ventures into India’s rural markets — BBC News looks at the success of Tintin in India … ‘For the curious, Captain Haddock’s “blistering barnacles” translates unexpectedly as “bhadakte hue baingan” (literally, “angry aubergines”). “Thundering typhoons” comes out as “toofani lehren”.’
28 September 2005
[lists] McSweeney’s Internet Tendency: 7 Habits of Highly Successful People. [via Kottke’s Remaindered Links]
[blogs] Blogging vs. Dogging … ‘More people know what dogging is than blogging, according to a survey which suggests that Brits are not as tech-savvy as might be expected. Most metrosexuals will know that blogging about their podcasting is perhaps a bit passé, while flashmobbing is decidedly retro.’
27 September 2005
[ipod] The Guardian asks: Is it OK to have more than one iPod? … ‘Apple has to avoid giving the impression that its products are built to obsolesce, that anything you buy now, however pretty and functional it seems, will be superseded. (Consider Apple’s “clamshell” laptops, praised when released, but comical now. Even 2003’s iPod Mini seems like yesterday’s toy.) This is why reports that the Nano scratches easily are a potential PR disaster – especially for Apple, whose designs target an especially anally retentive, perfectionistic personality strain, exemplified by founder Steve Jobs.’
[tech] Mini-Microsoft — anonymous Microsoft insiders blog … ‘Let’s slim down Microsoft into a lean, mean, efficient customer pleasing profit making machine!’
26 September 2005
[tech] Skyfex Remote Assistant — useful remote desktop viewer for supporting Windows desktops over Broadband connections and behind firewalls. [via Yoz]
[comics] Daniel Clowes Interview — the interview is posted at Suicide Girls so NSFW … On David Boring: ‘I was kind of making fun of the fact that I was taking so long in between episodes. I had these absurd cliffhangers in between each episode. Like the first chapter ends with a bullet heading towards the reader. Then the next issue came out like eleven months later or something. It’s the world’s slowest bullet.’
25 September 2005
[comics] Dave’s Long Box: ‘I’m the Goddamn Batman.’
[tech] What to do when a PC goes Wrong — nice consumer guide from Technovia … ‘If the goods are over £100, always, always buy on credit card (NOT a debit card). This gives you additional rights, as the credit card company becomes equally responsible for faulty goods.’
24 September 2005
[tv] The TV Hit That No One Watches — the Guardian on Monk … ‘Working from a memorably high-concept tagline – “Obsessive. Compulsive. Detective” – the scriptwriters contrive all manner of amusing plot twists. Faced with a chaotic crime scene, Monk’s immediate instinct is to tidy it up. His fear of heights – his irrational terrors also include milk, crowds, needles, lifts and mushrooms – is no get-out when he has to investigate a murder on a ferris wheel. Or when he has to join the customary chase up a fire escape (after much torment, he pulls down his sleeves to protect his hands from the grimy rails). Part of the charm is how the series mines his condition for incidental humour rather than mocking it outright. Part of it is watching [Tony] Shalhoub, a consummate character actor, working with his co-stars…’
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