Return of the Random Thoughts

Tony's Tips tackles Aquaman, then follows up.

David Carter of Yet Another Comics Blog has improved the Comic Series Wiki a LOT and also linked to it. I'd say he's put in at least twice as much time as I have on it, maybe a lot more.

More zombies attack American Idol Auditions... and get to be on TV. "The Austin Police Department says there is no history of zombie-related crime in the city."

Beatrix Potter wrote horror stories. Who knew?

Those silly guys are Mercury Studios are talking about Pink Floyd and Oz.

The Emerald City Comicon has sent out the first e-mail update, and while there's not much news yet, I'm still looking forward to it.

Ouch. Bad name for a town.

The Spriggan Mirror is completely paid for, so go read it without fear of never getting to read the ending. And if you like it, donate so he'll write more books.

Speaking of free books on-line, the entire first volume of Girl Genius is available now, starting here. The second volume is now being posted, three pages a week.

No movement is any good without its detractors. In the meantime, Georgia Tech has been touched by his noodly appendage. Note: The whole point of Pastafarianism is that FSM is just as scientific as ID is. If you think ID is scientific, then you haven't got a clue about science.

5.25" floppies make great CD sleeves. I think I still have some of those kicking around somewhere.

Boing Boing links to a fascinating "Freedom Primer".

Five snarky reasons not to use LINUX. Via slashdot.

A pair of Ruby Slippers from the MGM Wizard of Oz movie have been stolen from the museum they were on display at.

Saturn has a moon with an atmosphere that shoots vapor out of its South pole. Hmmm. Lots of joke potential there.

Would you eat Vat-Grown Meat? I would. I've been reading about it in science fiction books for years. It's about time science caught up.

RassaFrakin' busybodies want to regulate basic cable. Good grief, people. If you don't like what's on cable, don't subscribe to it/demand a change in service from the cable company/learn how to use your v-chip... but DON'T force your morality on everybody else.

Hmmm, maybe I won't buy a new computer when the new Windows OS is released.

The lawyer fighting the RIAA says he'll win, and he'll defend anyone from the RIAA.

Hurricane Thoughts:

In 2001, Federal Emergency Management Agency ranked a major hurricane strike on New Orleans as among the three likeliest, most castastrophic disasters facing this country. Read this article and know that some folks saw it coming. Via Think Progress. More at TalkLeft.

Let me just say: I think looting is awful. It's the meanest side of human nature taking over... theft at one of its lowest points. HOWEVER. Running around in a disaster area to get food is not, in my opinion, looting. Stealing to survive is forgivable. That said, Atrios nails it with these pictures and their contrasting captions. The media disgusts me. It's only looting if your skin is dark? Also picked up by Boing Boing.

Filkertom points us to WWL TV in New Orleans who have some solid first-hand reporting of the disaster. Also, nola.com (Everything New Orleans) has many many pictures and a lot of information. Also, Making Light continues to have link roundups.

Animals caught in the disaster zone pose a huge threat to humans. Aid groups are on it.

The Seattle Times links to charities accepting money to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

On a lighter note, I never knew that "Wasn't That A Mighty Day?" was about the Galveston Hurricane of 1900. The version of the song that I know is a parody about ... um... the Space Needle falling down. Wow, that seems rather trivial compared to the original.

And lastly, I was watching the Weather Channel (least sensationalist of all the news coverage) and saw a piece by Jim Cantore, who left Biloxi right before the storm hit after first considering staying there at the Coliseum during the storm. He showed images of the Coliseum flooding during the surge and again thanked the guy who offered him and his crew a place at the armed forces retirement home.