Wednesday, January 22, 2003

Morning Thoughts


Here's a frightening article: Tourists Seek Middle-earth. Apparently, people visiting major travel sites have been looking for Rivendell and Mordor. Ok, Rivendell isn't so bad, but what kind of sick puppy wants to visit Mordor?

I've been looking at the DC Comics solicitations for April, and I'm horrified and pleased to see that there are four Elseworlds scheduled to come out. Batman: Nevermore is a five issue mini starting in April that has an earlier version of Batman join forces with Edgar Allen Poe. While I'm sick and tired of Batman Elseworlds, I think this one sounds like a perfect fit, and I'm looking forward to reading it. Superman: Red Son is the long-rumored, long-awaited 3 issue mini that has Kal-El's rocket crashing into the Soviet Union instead of the United States. Again, I wish DC would do heroes other than Superman and Batman in the Elseworlds, but this one sounds good, too. Superman & Batman: Generations III continues its twelve issue run with number 4 hitting the shelves in April. And lastly, JLA: Age of Wonder is a two issue series focusing on Superman's debut in the Industrial Revolution. This one looks fun for the other heroes that will support Superman's League of Science.

Many thanks to Franklin's Findings for alerting me to the case of an ISP that has been ordered to turn over the name of a customer who allegedly downloaded 600 MP3 files in one day over Kazaa. The ISP, Verizon, is appealing the decision. But the Recording Industry Association of America seems to think it's only fair. Judge for yourself. How far should a private organization be allowed to go to try and protect its assets from piracy? I'll give you a hint as to my opinion: Not everything that is traded over the net is illegal... how will the RIAA determine what is and what isn't? By looking at every single file? Will they ask to read our e-mail next?

Franklin also pointed out this great article on TV commericals as art. Worth a read, with the Superbowl coming up on Sunday. Yes, I'll be watching it mostly for the ads.

Today is comic book day. I'll be at my shop, Corner Comics sometime this afternoon after I get out of work. Today's list is pretty big, so my reviews will probably be slow in coming. The big item on today's list is the Aquaman Archive. Other books are Crossovers #1, Amazing Spider-Man #49, Castle Waiting #16, Gotham Adventures #58, Birds of Prey #51, Supergirl #78, Titans #49, JLA/Spectre: Soul War #1, and Interman. I hope everything shows up, but don't be surprised if it doesn't. Whenever possible, Diamond tries to mess us up here in Seattle.

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