The round 3 voting for Comic Book Idol was a real nail-biter! Carlos Rodriguez had the lead from the get-go, but the other five were neck and neck pretty much throughout. An amazing 926 people voted (745 in the second round, 700 in the first). The second through fifth places had 151, 150, 149, and 148 votes respectively! That's seriously about as close as it gets. In any case, Billy Penn, who got the GL ring on the wrong finger but drew a wonderful crowd of bees, didn't make the next round with 125 votes. And Micah Gunnell, who had the best looking bees and by far the best "drugged" panel, was on the wrong end of the tight race with 148 votes. So Jason, Carlos, Larry, and John move on to the next round: a cover for Green Lantern #178.
For anyone who was wondering about my mentioning of Republican Family Values, here's a really good summary of just why I think Jack Ryan's perversion ought to be pointed out. Hypocrisy and bullying don't make for a good leader.
And, as long as I'm talking about politics, go look at the current Electoral Votes Map. Interesting, eh? Ok, click on "Previous report"... and again... go back a few days. I went back a couple of weeks. This election is insane already, and getting moreso. Watching the votes bounce around as new polls are taken is fascinating and more than a little scary.
A nice mystery collected for us on-line: The Mayday Mystery, involving ads placed in the Arizona Wildcat, the school newspaper of the University of Arizona, every May 1st since 1981. Via MetaFilter.
A cool page on the 2004 Summer Olympics, designed for children. I'll bet my husband can win every quiz... Or you can look up Medal Winners from past games. And Daryl Cagle has put together a bunch of Political Cartoons about Olympic Scandals. These links, and a whole bunch more are from the Librarians' Index to the Internet.
The Modulator kindly points us to a wonderful practical joke site: Blinded By The Light. I particularly like the results of the follow-up, when the boss comes back.
Don't forget. July 3rd is the third annual Free Comic Book Day. Visit a comic shop, just about ANY comic shop, and ask (politely) for a free comic book.
In addition, many shops are holding special events. Check with your local shop for details. The shop I buy my comics at is going to have a drawing for a $100 gift certificate. By spreading the news I might be lessening my chances at winning, but if it brings more people into Corner Comics on July 3rd, it's worth it. You have to physically go to the shop on July 3rd to enter the contest, although you don't have to be present during the drawing to win. No purchases are necessary to enter the drawing, but you can get an extra entry for every $50 you spend! So everyone in the Seattle area needs to plan a visit to Kenmore on July 3rd.
As long as we're talking about Free Comic Book Day, I should mention that the comic books are NOT free to the retailers. The books cost anywhere from 10 cents to 75 cents per book for the retailers. So don't expect to get a lot of books unless you go to a generous retailer.
