Oh woe is us! Scans Daily has been suspended by LiveJournal, probably because of copyright violations.
There's been an outcry of sadness and/or joy from the comic book blogosphere. Some, like me, wondered why it hadn't happened long ago. Others were dismayed because so many people knew about it, including some pros, and it was a great community for review and commentary on comic books. Some were simply delighted that those rotten thieves were finally shut down.
For non comic book fans, Scans Daily was a place where people posted scans from comic books and commented on them. No problem, right? Bloggers like me do this all the time. As long as you don't post too much of the book and make sure your commentary is all about the pages you are posting, then it falls in that grey area of Fair Use and everything is peachy keen.
Except Scans Daily often just posted more than a few images or even a few pages. There was a "rule" that you couldn't post more than half the book... but unless you are commenting on every single piece of action in those pages half a book is WAY too much to post. In addition, the "commentary" often consisted of summaries of the action in the pages NOT posted, essentially spoiling the entire book.
This was the reason I stopped reading Scans Daily. I enjoyed the posts that actually made intelligent comments on the books (or sometimes really bad but wonderful jokes), but there was a significant percentage of those annoying spoiler posts and it was pretty much impossible to avoid seeing the spoilers (someone always forgets to put spoilers behind a cut). There were even some people that seemed to be competing to be the first person to spoil a book, so spoilers were often posted before my shop was even open on new comic book day. I had a choice to either not read any of my LJ friends the day or so before new comics came out or to remove Scans Daily, so I dumped Scans Daily.
Oh, I missed the good posts. But there was enough bad it just wasn't worth the effort (I'll note that in addition to the spoiler posts there was a portion of adult content posts that also just weren't my cuppa).
And now it's been shut down. Reportedly, a well-known and generally well-liked comic book pro was "responsible" for the shutdown. Well, no... the folks posting too much copyrighted material are responsible. If the moderators had insisted on making an effort for Fair Use, instead of becoming lax and allowing people to post way too much of a book with not enough real commentary, it would still be around on LJ (I'm told they were about to instate new, stricter rules: so the revival, when it appears, will no doubt be more careful). I certainly don't blame any copyright holder for doing what they are supposed to do to protect their copyright.
And, in the case of the above mentioned comic book pro, the book that was posted was just published and the scans that were posted included the final page and all plot twists in the book. In short, you could find out what had happened in the entire book just by reading the post. Worse, the person who posted the spoilers also The comments on the post included inflammatory "commentary" including telling the writer of the book to "die in a fire". Typical internet hyperbole, true, but this is a guy who has been stalked and threatened in the past and knew a person who died in a fire. That sort of hyperbole is uncalled for no matter how much you hate the book. It probably made him more inclined to simply report the problem. After all, do you really want to politely ask someone who told you to die in a fire to remove their post?
Anyway, I'm half sorry to see it go and half glad that folks who were posting too much and pretending it was Fair Use got whack-a-moled. I'll probably not say any more about this topic, but I realized I had to post this on my own blog when it started out as a comment on another comic book fan's blog that kept growing until it was too much for one comment.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Scans Daily
Friday, February 27, 2009
Short Linkdump
I'm not feeling well today, so here's just a few links, with a rant because... well, I'm not feeling well.
When the hive mind works, it's a beautiful thing.
Wow. I thought everyone knew that freecreditreport.com is a scam. Apparently not. The correct address to get your free annual credit reports is annualcreditreport.com. Which reminds me, I need to get my next free one on March 1st. I get one from one of the three companies every four months and make Eric do the same.
Huh. Lousiana Gov Bobby Jindal thinks volcano monitoring is wasteful spending. (sarcasm on) Well, I live in the shadow of Mount Saint Helens, and I think hurricane monitoring is wasteful spending, since I've never seen a hurricane around here. (sarcasm off) Is Jindal an idiot?
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Movie Night!
For the first time in ages, hubby-Eric and I actually went out and saw a movie! Movie-going experience in Churchville is very different than in Western Washington. The theater in Churchville is surprisingly high tech for being in the middle of nowhere, but the crowds were pretty much non-existent. True, it's not the weekend, but we had the theater to ourselves most of the time (another group entered just as the movie started, but they left at some point during the show, and not during the credits I don't think). Price was ... comparable to when I last went to a movie. But that was a few years ago. I'm not sure what a weeknight movie costs in the Seattle area anymore.
Anyway, it was a fantastic evening that we haven't had in a long time. We had such a good time I'm actually not too guilty about spending the money on the movie (no, we didn't get any refreshments).
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Links
Comic Book Legends Revealed #195: Herb Trimpe, Nightwing the Groom, and John Byrne's non-existent penis. No, really.
If Magenta isn't a color... then what is it?
Bully gets noticed.
Help NASA Name a Space Station Node.
Obama Sushi.
Save Money with Regular Home Maintenance. I wish every house came with a user guide.
Speaking of money, want to see where it's going in the stimulus package? Check out recovery.gov.
Eh, I just don't answer anonymous calls. I don't need a system to reveal the caller.
Should You Actually Eat That?
Monday, February 23, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
A Sunday Review
TV this week:
- Heroes: "Trust and Blood" - Well, not quite "Lost" I guess. The new status quo is nothing to cheer about, though. While Nathan has a point, the clumsy, even stupid, way he's gone about dealing with it is a stark contrast to the two previous organizations that were trying to do the exact same thing. I want to like this show. But right now I'm only mildly interested in it.
- Numb3rs: "Guilt Trip" - Hey, it's Spike! And then Facebook. I find Charlie's desire to prevent crimes with mathematics to be slightly disturbing. You can't change human nature, but can you alter circumstances enough to prevent crime?
- Heroes: "Building 26" - Claire finds Aquaman. yay. I don't like Nathan's second-in-command. I hope he bites it in an appropriately ironic way.
- Ghost Hunters International: "Spanish Scares" - Oooh, a 14th Century Spanish Castle! Yay! And good debunking in this one. And in the second castle as well. I think I liked the look of the first castle more. The caretakers for both castles were disappointed by the results.
- Batman: The Brave and the Bold: "Return of the Fearsome Fangs!" - Interesting revamping here. I wasn't sure what to make of Bronze Tiger, but the three animal dudes made sense. Another fun episode... but I'm really looking forward to the next two episodes.
Comics this week:
- Hikaru No Go Vol 13 - GLEE! Just when I thought everything was going smoothly, and I figured I knew what would happen next, the whole thing is turned... well, not upside-down but DEFINITELY a direction I wasn't expecting. Man, I really want to see the end of this game. This is the game we've been waiting for since the series began. Let's hope the players' internet connection remains up!
- Showcase Presents: Aquaman Vol 3 - Reprinting in glorious black and white, Aquaman #24-39, Brave and the Bold #73 (Atom team-up), and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #115. I'll admit that Aquababy's sudden growth spurt isn't as dramatic when you can't see the colors of his uniform echoing Aquaman's. But it's another good package of classic DC tales, and inexpensive enough for everyone to go buy it.
- Green Lantern Corps #33 - Ah man, my respect for Natu just dropped. She's refrigerator-bound now. The short story at the end is almost funny in a sick kind of "let's foreshadow until the fans throw up" way.
- Supergirl #3 - Great, even Supergirl is slammin' on Aquaman. I'm not impressed with this series. Just not my type of humor.
- Super Friends #12 - Aquaman against the Super Friends! Yay! And Starro never looked better than as a goofy pirate. But, my, this is one talkative Starro. I don't recall him ever having so many words.
- DMZ #39 - Oh my. What's Matty got himself into this time? That's a bit much of a piece of merchandise for our boy to be handling.
- Captain Britain and MI 13 #10 - I feel like I'm reading chunks of four or five different tales, and I want a little more from each of them. I did NOT like the cliffhanger at all.
- Sir Apropos of Nothing #4 - Showing a little competence? Nah, just seeming to show some. And I kind of figured out what was going to have to happen almost as soon as Apropos set foot in the castle.
- Wonderful Wizard of Oz #3 - They aren't leaving anything out. Even the bit where the Lion goes off in the forest alone to get food is in there. And the Queen of the Field Mice and everything! Way better than that ol' MGM movie.
- Doctor Who Classics Series 2 #3 - Ah yes. I did remember how that story ended. Urg. Not my favorite of the series. The Asimov space trip one is a little better.
- Castle Waiting #14 - For a book that seems like nothing is happening, there sure is an awful lot packed into this. There's a LOT going on in this castle. Want more issues!
- PS238 #37 - Ah, the old student essay trick. Gives us an idea of what's going through each child's mind AND reintroduces the main characters. Poor Tyler. Nobody believes him and yet everyone seems to look up to him. And Toby's story... the implied adventure was just great. Want more issues!
My library book this week was The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. The Newbery announcement got me to put this on the library hold list, and the line was very short. I was able to get it very quickly, and the book itself is a quick read. This is a great book. There's a powerful coming-of-age tale in there, and great fantasy moments. The moments really make this tale. The dance, the attempt to make a gravestone, the true identity of Silas. It's amazing how well Gaiman can flesh out a lot of ghosts. I don't have much more to say about this that hasn't been said better by other people. All I can add is that this is one worth checking out.
No movie nor Agatha Christie this week.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Tegan's Coin Box
I'm a coin collector. Not one of those people who collects valuable coins, but a person who loves the interesting and unique of the coin world. If you know anything about a coin I post here, please use the comments link to let me know more about it. Note: due to lighting issues, some coins may appear gold when they are really silver. I can't seem to fix it with my poor equipment, sorry.
This is a single coin, I'm showing both sides. On one side is says "East Africa 1952" with a value of 5. The other side actually says "Five Cents" and also "GEORGIVS SEXTVS REX". I have two of these, one has notches roughly hacked into it at three points near the top. I don't have any idea why, or if it has any significance.
The tails side says "Three Pence" with two different years on the two different coins, but the heads side is much more interesting text-wise. "GEORGIVS VI D:G:BR:OMN:REX F:D:IND:IMP." Anyone know what that long string means?
Friday, February 20, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
What Would I Do? Part II
If you haven't read the first part, go and do so now. Thanks.
Now I've got my books. My central Nine Titles and the mini-series that float around them. What next? Oh yeah, READERS.
How does a publishing company attract new readers? The only way is to get books into potential readers' hands and get them interested. But that's REALLY expensive. Advertising doesn't really seem to work (not that DC does much advertising for their comic books outside of other comic books). So, as queen of DC I've got to find a way to promote the product. What to do?
Well, there's this newfangled device called the "world wide web" that seems to be pretty popular with the kids these days (sarcasm off). Of course I'd use the internet to promote! It's a no-brainer!
What's more complicated is HOW to effectively promote via the internet. Here are my simple ideas, based on the streamlining of the titles I've already proposed and my views as a fan who uses the 'net a lot.
1) The web address is the icon. Put it everywhere. Put it on the cover of every book published by the company. Put it on buttons. Put it on stickers. Put it in every ad. Put it on the bottom of the last page of every story. Make the web address seem like the company name to people.
2) Make the main page of the website friendly and usable. No Flash, no Java, no extra crap. Make it pretty but SIMPLE. The rest of the page you can jazz up, but the main page MUST be accessible when people go there. Nothing turns off a potential reader as much as something they cannot read because of technical errors (and it doesn't matter whose fault the technical errors are).
3) Promote each title on its own, bookmarkable, page. People should be able to link to a page for a title from their own blog/twitter/whatever and direct other people easily to the page. So each of the main titles needs its own page with a permanent web address. Mini-series need them too... they will eventually be collected and the page will become the promotional page for the collection.
a) Every promotional page should have some minimal information like the artists and writers, the shipping dates and price.
b) Promotional pages should also have images from the book. A small sample of interior art as well as cover art.
c) These pages should also link to full on-line stories. More on that next.
d) Promotional pages should be updated as needed, but information should NOT be removed. Original ship dates should be preserved, along with original promotional artwork. Why? Because I said so and I'm the queen of DC in this exercise (and I'm a bit of a historian, so removal of data irritates me).
4) Offer full stories on the website. Not every story, but full stories. Even better, offer stories from the catalog of backstock. Use the web to reprint stories that otherwise aren't likely to be seen.
For instance: DC has now acknowledged that Aquaman was created by Paul Norris. But, except for a recolored reprint of his first story, have fans had a chance to read stories drawn by Paul Norris? If a current Aquaman story appears in one of the Nine Titles, then at the end of the story put an ad that says to go to the website to read a classic Golden Age Aquaman tale. Put the tale up, and leave it up. Let people read it.
Some of those old stories will never been seen again unless they can be reprinted very cheaply. Except for establishing the rights, the web is probably the cheapest place you'll find to publish. And there are some truly fantastic Golden Age tales... characters like the Spectre and Johnny Quick, that new readers might just really like.
And if you put some of the stories into context, with perhaps a short history lesson about the era the story took place in and what was happening in the world at that time, you can even pretend it's an educational initiative!
But I'd also expect some new stories. From current books on the stands. Perhaps hold the final pages until the pull date, but give the readers a taste. Consider it the advertising budget. You cannot make money without spending it. This is spending, but has the potential to make a lot of money.
5) Do not try to "protect" stories on the web. It will just make it harder for people to read and won't actually stop pirates anyway.
DC and Marvel are very concerned about protecting their assets, for which I cannot blame them. But they are so concerned that they lean too far toward technical solutions to moral problems. People will be honest if given the opportunity. But if they see a story online and cannot read it because it requires them to install something extra or because their computer can't handle the DRM, they will look elsewhere. Some will find a free pirated copy of the story, but most will simply not read it and as a result, you will lose that reader. If it happens enough times, the reader will ignore your company.
As for stopping pirates... well, you can't. It's simply impossible. Oh, I grant that if you put in enough protection most pirates will go somewhere else. But as soon as you have that much protection, it will be difficult for normal law-abiding people to read it, so they will go somewhere else as well. As a company doing business on the internet you have two choices: accept reality or fight senselessly until you lose everything.
Accepting reality means, in this case, that my DC initiative would put up high quality images of the stories in a non-protected format. Each page would have copyright information (and the web address!) both on the page in a footer and encoded in the file. And that would be the extent of the protection.
It's better to have "unauthorized" copies of your work out there that are high quality with a copyright and the URL of your site than a crappy scan done by a pirate who simply wants to "honor" of being the first person to post your story to the torrents.
Again, going back to #4, I'm not advocating posting every story. But I would not object to it either. Eventually, every story will be scanned and posted anyway. Best to make official copies that LOOK right and have a copyright notice.
6) Add new, original stories to web-only or web-first format. These would be teaser stories, tales that pull in new readers. These would be heavily promoted. DC would put them on Facebook and MySpace, even encourage comic websites to put them on their own pages. They would feature main and secondary DC characters in original adventures that are done-in-one and short. The Golden Age managed full stories in 6 pages, these would be something similar. They would show off the strengths of the characters. If Batman is featured, show him using his detective skills. These would be portraits of the modern characters that both introduce and add to the DC universe.
7) Collect and publish works promoted on the web.
You'd think that people wouldn't want to buy something they can get for free. You'd think that. But the truth is, most people love having a paper copy of that story they read online. Particularly a collection. So even if you are posting things for free, and leaving up free archives of stuff: collections work. Especially if people love the work. Look at where most webcomics artists are making their money. It's not in the advertising, although they get profit from that. It's from selling collections of their work and merchandise based on the work.
I firmly believe that it would work for DC as well.
Ok, so that concludes my main changes while I'm queen of DC. I don't have any idea if my ideas would work. I do know that publishing as an industry is going through some major changes, and in a few years we'll have a better idea of what will work and what doesn't. Perhaps I'm completely wrong and this plan is a recipe for disaster. But I don't think the industry can keep on like it has been going forever while its fandom shrinks.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
What Would I Do?
There's a sort of meme going around about what YOU would do if you were put in charge of DC or Marvel. I'm no businesswoman, and I sincerely doubt anyone would listen to my business advice, but if I were in charge? Hmmmm. This is all off the top of my head, first draft, so PLEASE feel free to criticize.
I pick DC since I'm an Aquaman fan.
What does DC have going for it?
1) History... literally generations worth.
2) A backstock of stories that fills rooms, many of it published only once.
3) Iconic characters that are instantly recognized by much of the world.
4) A solid group of writers and artists that turn out great works every year.
What does DC have going against it?
1) History... too much for a new fan to absorb.
2) Continuity, the need keep iconic characters static, or return them to the status quo by the end of a story, thus stifling development.
3) Fans that demand too much and give too little in return.
4) The high cost of publishing, including getting rights to republish that massive backstock in new formats.
What are the challenges DC faces over the next few years? Loss of audience, lack of profit on the publishing side, and keeping the master corporation happy, I guess.
Loss of audience means loss of profits, so the number one initiative would be to rebuild the audience. What kind of audience does DC want? Obviously, a demographic with money to spend is the best, but they also want to build the future. So they need to appeal to teenagers and college-age adults.
Rebuilding an audience is not a simple task. You can't just put the current books into new hands and expect them to start picking up the book. In fact, the way the current books are written, you are unlikely to get many fans with any initiative that relies on just getting books into people's hands. Advertising is not going to cut it. In addition to getting new readers to look at the books, DC also must appeal to new readers.
DC's clumsy attempts to get new readers so far have included new lines with completely new characters and new lines with old characters re-imagined. The first takes advantage of only one of DC's strengths, the second grabs at three of them. The biggest problem with DC's reimaginings so far is that they've concentrated on a very young audience. The "Johnny DC" books are fine for building future fans in a long-term way, but aren't going to do much for the immediate bottom line.
If I were in charge, books with new characters would be put at a low priority. No translated Manga, no new girls' line. Vertigo and all would keep their place, but they would not be part of this initiative. Johnny DC would also keep its place, including the Super Friends and Titans for kids. Those books are what I'd consider a good start on future readers... they just need more exposure to potential readers. More on that later.
So, I'm looking at DC's main line of books. We've got your Superman, your Batman, and the rest of the books. That's pretty much how DC sorts them.
So as "queen of DC" in this exercise, the first thing I would do is trim Superman and Batman to two books each. Superman gets ACTION COMICS and SUPERMAN. Batman gets DETECTIVE COMICS and BATMAN. The main story will be carried in the title bearing the name of the character, with back-up stories in each issue. ACTION and DETECTIVE will only have one-off tales or some multi-part stories featuring characters from the Superman and Batman families. Page counts will be increased, but each book will only be a monthly.
For the rest of the DC Universe, I would bring back ADVENTURE COMICS with a rotating cast of main characters. I'd anchor it with Green Lantern and the Flash, making it their monthly book, and put at least two other stories in it that would rotate according to popularity and what the company wants to promote. I would also bring back ALL STAR COMICS anchored with Wonder Woman and the JSA. Again, rotating stories would fill out the books. Three other books would be the JUSTICE LEAGUE, TITANS, and LEGION. They would each have back-up stories as well.
In short, I'd make every single DC main line book an anthology with a higher page count.
But wait, there's more!
Naturally you aren't going to be able to fit everything DC wants to publish in those nine titles. So I would also allow mini-series. With a big caveat. Every mini-series must have a definite beginning, middle, and end. You see, the biggest problem with DC comics is that the characters have no end. It's a strength in some ways, but it becomes a weakness when the readers feel like they've read everything there is to read about a particular character. The character doesn't progress, doesn't move forward... nothing happens. And there are only so many ways to tell the same Superman story. Which is why there MUST be back-up stories introducing readers to other characters that can be allowed to develop.
So, to drag this back to my point, I would allow for mini-series to be published but they must conform to standard storytelling. They've got to be going somewhere. They must add to the universe.
*whew* That's a lot of thinking for one post. I think I'll finish this thing tomorrow. Feel free to comment, but keep in mind there's more coming... including how to attract readers like bees to flowers.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Linkdump
I agree: "motion comics" are not comics. It's a form of animation. That doesn't make it inferior or anything, it's just not comics.
Best story from NYCC: Daniel Dae Kim, better known as Jin off of "Lost", also attending the New York Comic Convention this weekend, in his capacity of being in "Lost," "24," "Enterprise," "Angel," "Hulk," "Crusade" and all that. But he also wanted to walk around the show, buy comics, meet creators etc, without getting mobbed. So someone found him a "V For Vendetta" mask, letting Daniel walk around untouched for hours.
So, how are comic shops going to get back-issues of Manga to attract all the kids to their shops?
Marv makes me almost willing to travel by plane again. It's amazing how a handful of slight improvements makes the journey sound so much more pleasant.
Doctor Who: The Anime. Unofficial, but clearly a labor of love. And very much in the tradition of Anime with scantily clad female characters.
Mickey Mouse Dalek. Dalek Hoop Dress Costume (I would wear this, in a color other than pink). Doctor Who Valentines.
Burglary Victim Steals Burglars' Van. Hubby-Eric saw this story and we giggled over it well before it got Boing Boing'ed.
A good suggestion... when newsmakers say they were 'stupid', substitute the word 'greedy'. Alex Rodriguez claims he was "young and stupid" but it ought to be "young and greedy".
Here's an outrage for you. A 12-year-old girl is accused of assaulting plainclothes police officers who grabbed her from an unmarked van, called her a "whore", and beat her so badly she required hospitalization. They then waited a few weeks before arresting her while she was at school. There have been two mistrials so far. But if anyone should be on trial, it's the police officers who attacked a little girl then tried to cover up their mistake by charging her with assault.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Linkdump for a Holiday
Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #194: Heinlein, Cap Meets Duke, and Superman by Morrison/Miller/Waid/Peyer.
Star Wars Yoga.
Microsoft Malware. Seriously, what business does Microsoft have making an extension for Firefox that is secretly installed and can't be deleted?
An example of Poe's Law: "Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor, it is impossible to create a parody of Fundamentalism that SOMEONE won't mistake for the real thing."
Oo De Lally.
Giant Spider Attacks Liverpool! Be sure to check out the pictures.
The classic game Oregon Trail coming soon to an iPhone near you.
The Seattle Sketcher sketches the Sounders Football Club Billboard. I'm pretty excited about real football coming to Seattle, and almost wish I could go to a game. Maybe if I still lived in the Seattle area. *sigh*
Ten Privacy Settings Every Facebook User Should Know About, and which everyone who is concerned about professional appearances should have activated.
A good soldier who did her job with honor is spit on by the military and stripped of her benefits because of a vindictive moron who hated her because she is gay. She did NOTHING wrong in her job at all, but she was still punished because of her private life. This is sick injustice, and needs to stop. What makes people so perverted that they concern themselves with what other people do in bed? (via)
And, to calm me down after that last outburst, here's a Pug for the in-Laws.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
A Sunday Review
TV this week:
- Smallville: "Requiem" - Toyman. And... Lex wins? This one is a bit too over-dramatic at the end for me. Yeah, dramatic moments and all, but this series goes to that well too much, making it all same old, same old.
- Ghost Hunters International: "Unknown Soldiers" - Wow, the Phillipines. The first place was depressing. Whether or not what they found was supernatural or, more likely, a product of the active fauna of the area, their farewell at the hospital was a classy moment. Interesting debunking with the magnetic field in the second investigation. And finding a squatter was a nice moment as well. Maybe not for the squatter. But, is it just me or does GHI always seem to have the results the client wants?
- Numb3rs: "Sneakerhead" - I can't criticize shoe collectors when I collect Aquaman stuff. But those shoes had one convoluted journey, didn't they? I enjoyed this one, a bit of a fluff ep, but fun with a little bit of math.
- Supernanny: "Davis Family" - The father in this one was frightening. He might as well wear furs and carry a club. I wanted to see some sincerity in his eyes, but I just saw cluelessness. If there is a Supernanny follow-up years later, this is one family that MUST be a part of it.
- Food Detectives - They tackle MSG, and somewhat disprove the effects of it on regular healthy people. They also find an ice cream that sticks to the cone. And they compare caffeine levels of different drinks. The MSG was the most interesting story for me, and I loved the way they tested the effects on a control group.
No comics this week, nothing until Tuesday. I'm rereading Hikaru No Go because I finally got my hands on the 13th volume. I'd forgotten how much I love this series. The fun bits still make me laugh aloud. I particularly like Sai's glee whenever he gets a chance to play the game. This is one Manga series definitely worth finding. Adjusting to reading the "wrong way" can be a little difficult. I found during my reread that if I got interrupted, I would usually flip a page the wrong way when I got back to the book and get totally confused for a moment because I was suddenly ahead of myself instead of reviewing. But I think it's good mental exercise to learn to read Manga like this.
For anyone who doesn't know what this Manga series is about... it's pretty simple. A typical kid, Hikaru, is rummaging in his grandfather's attic one day, looking for something to sell for pocket change, when he comes across an oddly bloodstained Go board. But the board is haunted by the ghost of a Go player from 1000 years ago, who enters Hikaru's consciousness. The ghost, Sai, awakens Hikaru's interest in the game of Go, and guides him on the way to becoming a professional Go player. No superheroes in this one, but certainly a lot of story. Beyond Sai's existence as a ghost, the book is very down-to-earth and real, and a lot of research went into making it as authentic as possible. The art is by Takeshi Obata, possibly best known in US comic circles as the artist on Death Note. The writer is Yumi Hotta.
And, hey, if you've got Netflix, could you put Hikaru No Go Volume 1 in your queue? The problem is that they don't actually seem to HAVE a copy right now. Perhaps if enough people requested it, they'd get it. I would really like to see the Anime series from the beginning, but at the moment Netflix is probably my only possibility (unless someone feels like buying it for me from my wishlist, but frankly I'd rather Netflix bought another copy so more people can enjoy it).
This week's movie was Once. Eric picked it out for Valentine's Day. Not the best Valentine movie, but terribly beautiful and surprisingly happy despite the ending. This is a slice of life movie, and doesn't have much action (although the opening scene has a little)... not tragedy nor comedy, it's just life with some really strong music. If you don't like music or slow-moving love stories, you might find this one not to your tastes. But I loved it. The dialogue was sometimes difficult to follow with the Irish and Czech accents (not to mention the actual Czech at times), but I caught enough to keep up with it. A gorgeous movie that was both sad and happy at once. Speaking of... the title refers to people who plan to succeed at what they want to do in life once they get everything else sorted out, and as a result, they never do.
My library book this week was Gifts by Ursula K Le Guin. It's been a long time since I read any fiction by Le Guin, and this is the first of a new young adult series she started a few years ago. All the things that make her a fantastic writer are in here, and none of the stuff that made me so disappointed in Tehanu, which was the last Le Guin novel I read. This book concerns a youngster growing up in a feudal land where lords with "gifts" protect their clans and battle with rival clans. Orrec's gift is a powerful and horrible one, and he waits impatiently for it to manifest. But when it does, the power isn't what he expected or wanted. The book follows him as he grows from a terrified boy into a man following a dark path... literally. It's a good book, and worth checking out if you have the time and inclination.
No Agatha Christie this week. Inter-library loan has failed to find the next two books published in 1934 so far. We're still looking.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Happy Valentine's Day
Not so long ago, I was lamenting the onset of Valentine's Day, because it reminded me that I didn't have anyone special in my life.
Then I found Laura. And every Valentine's Day since then has been unlamentable.
Here's a recent music video that explains just how I feel about her on this day.
I love you very much, Laura, even when we have our problems. Let's continue to have many more happy Valentine's Days together.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
If You Can Help...
My cousin is attempting to adopt two children from an orphanage in Haiti. One of the heartbreaking discoveries she's made during the process is just how horrible quality of life is there, especially for unwanted children (it's actually considerably more complicated than "unwanted", but I'll leave that word in for this post). She's been raising money to improve conditions at the orphanage that has her children, including selling work on Etsy and auctioning off handmade Obama cards on eBay. She has a group on Facebook, if you'd like to lend a little moral support (just joining the group will help).
You can read more about their journeys on their blog, including a story about water filters that will save many lives.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Weather
So. We expected some snow out here in the desert, and sure enough, we got a little snow last night. Enough to cover the lawns and dust the sidewalks, but not enough to stick to the streets. In Western Washington, they have a bit more. Last night as I drove Eric to the airport for his Gates meeting, we even saw a snow plow out patrolling the freeway. A snow plow! I don't know that Seattle even has any snow plows. I know that I lived my entire life in Western Washington and had never seen a snow plow until I moved out here.
Unless we get a ton of snow today, which doesn't look likely as what is out there is melting, I'm not going to have any difficulty picking Eric up tonight.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Links For Tuesday Night
To my crushing disappointment, Kindle 2.0 doesn't have an SD slot. That's a killer for me. The SD slot was actually one of the things that made me more interested in the Kindle (I can plug in a card with my stuff on it instead of having to sync it up). Now my interest in Kindle 2.0 has dimmed considerably. The good news is maybe I can get a cheap used Kindle 1.0?
Comic Book Grammar. For those who don't find it obvious.
Unshelved links to one of my favorite Muppet skits ever. As a kid I was a little freaked out by the man-size muppets, and the fact that one of them DIES. But I still loved it.
Speaking of, here's Mental Floss Muppet Facts. Some of which I knew, some I didn't, and some I had wrong.
How about the Small Plate Movement? They note that modern dinner plates have a larger diameter than ones from even a couple of decades ago. This means you fit more food on them, and tend to eat more. I measured, our dinner plates are 10 inches. So we've already beat the challenge.
Kate Orman quotes and links to commentary that all female characters written by females are considered "Mary Sue" characters. That makes it hard for female writers to write about strong women, because if they do, they'll just be accused of writing Mary Sue.
Vintage Seattle posted a nice classic image of JFK in Seattle (with Governor Rosellini).
If you haven't heard them yet, Mark Evanier links to coverage of the conversations between the Air Traffic Controllers and the pilot of U.S. Airways flight 1549. Truly impressive how calm Sully remains even when he realizes they have to go in the river.
Here's a really stupid idea to save the newspaper industry. So, maybe we should've bailed out the buggy whip industry, too?
The new children's toys safety law is just ambiguous enough that some businesses are closing rather than risk prosecution for selling possibly unsafe toys.
Monday, February 09, 2009
Monday Linkdumpage
WANT: Kindle 2.0. "The Kindle 2 costs you $359 USD and is going to be available for sale on February 24th, 2009". More info here. Pre-ordering starts today. If I had any money... well, I'd use it for paying debts. But if I had extra money, I would DEFINITELY get this.
Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #193: Garbage Pail Kids, the Falcon, and Bob Dylan's Salvation Run Joke (read the comments if you don't get the joke).
I love the final lines of this little story about an artist meeting a kid.
Can you name all the Disney ducks? Bet you can't.
Can you figure out where this photo was taken? It doesn't look like Seattle to me (sidewalk are too wide).
What are we waiting for? Let's start sinking those bales in the ocean right now!
Yikes! Bad Astronomy points out evidence that the Autism/Vaccine link was faked originally. It's since been disproven repeatedly, but that initial study has caused tons of suffering. Even worse if the whole thing was fake, don't you think?
They knew the peanuts were salmonella tainted but they kept shipping them anyway. So, if corporations have the rights of individuals, this means the corporation should be charged for murder, since 8 people died, right?
It's a Poirot Cat!
Sunday, February 08, 2009
A Sunday Review
TV this week:
- Smallville: "Power" - Y-A-W-N. The introduction of Mercy was slightly interesting, but then Lana returned to the show and the whole thing got boring again. Somebody put this out of its misery.
- Battlestar Galactica: "Fragged" - Again, keeping up the intensity. No Starbuck and Helo in this one, which was a little disappointing, but then... do we really want more of them chillin' in Starbuck's old pad? The reaction of the Twelve to President Roslin's statement about the prophecies was interesting.
- Ghost Hunters International: "Buried Alive" - Nice place in Denmark! I like old forts and such, and this was a place I wouldn't mind visiting. As for the place in Rio, nice debunking for the most part.
- Heroes: "A Clear and Present Danger" - I hate the shaky camera shots. Hate 'em. Now... is this show becoming Lost?
- Batman: The Brave and the Bold: "The Eyes of Despero!" - NO LICKING! I love G'nort's different oaths. It was cringe-worthy, but hilarious as well. I didn't really like the voices in this one, but otherwise it was very good.
- Supernanny: "Costello Family" - This one was really bad. Ten kids, and a mother who wants an even dozen kids but can't handle the ones she already has. A father with a terrible problem that hurts all of them, and doesn't want any more children (no wonder!). I can't see having more than three kids at the absolute most, personally.
- Primeval: "Episode 13" - Leak is a piece of work, isn't he? "Piece" being the operative word, now. Not how I expected this to end, but then, it's nice to have a series that I have no idea what will happen next in it. Season 3 starts next week in Britain. I may have to find a source for it.
- Battlestar Galactica: "Resistance" - A lot happens in this one. We even get to see them playing pyramid (which I seem to recall seeing in the original series (under a different name)). I do wonder what the significance of Sharon's eight is. And if that's in the whole fleet, that's a lot of people to cover.
Comics this week:
- Green Lantern #37 - If you couldn't see this one coming with all the hints that were dropped within the story, you need to turn in your fan card.
- Justice Society of America #23 - A comic book with Ma Hunkel on the second page can't be all bad. Still, it's very continuity laden, even moreso than usual. This issue holds together ok, but I wouldn't recommend it to someone who hasn't read the rest of the series.
- Justice League of America #29 - Wow, a Justice League story that's actually got some of the fun and wonder of the Silver Age in it. I was beginning to think fun and wonder were extinct in modern DC comics. Should I even mention that Aquaman's role in this one amused me?
- Batman: The Brave and the Bold #1 - Another egotistical Aquaman as the "pre-credits" opener in this one, then ... Power Girl? I like this take on her. Emphasize the intelligence as well as the brawn.
- Tiny Titans #12 - "Faces of Mischief"?? Tiny Titans spoofing the main line? I love it! And I haven't even gotten past the cover yet! And the spoof continues inside! WAHOO! This was very amusing.
- Northlanders #14 - Well, now we know why he didn't finish it. Yikes. And I wonder now who is driving it on, him or her?
- Fallen Angel #33 - I'm not sure if that was a happy ending or the worst possible ending to this series. But then, I've been unsure about this series from day one. And yet I kept reading it. Huh.
- Land of Oz Manga: Return to Emerald City #2 - I love how they restuff the Scarecrow, and I love how Glinda gets to the heart of the problem. I almost wish I didn't know how the story goes, because I'd love the discovery of Ozma to be a complete surprise to me.
- Doctor Who: The Forgotten #6 - OH! Whew, that made much more sense! And I bet hubby-Eric got a kick out of all the Oz references. I just wish Pia had drawn it. Nothing against the replacement artist, but I really like Pia's work and would've loved to see her double-page spread of all of them.
- Usagi Yojimbo #117 - I had to do some flipping back and forth of pages to figure out the battle on the first few pages. I couldn't quite figure out which army was which. The second part of the story seemed to have no relation to the first, but then... this is Usagi, we know it will be good. And this is one of those very rare issues where the story goes all the way to the inside back cover.
My library book this week was Classic Victorian & Edwardian Ghost Stories as selected by Rex Collings. While this is a pretty good collection of some very solid ghost stories, I do wonder why a couple of them got into this book. The Story of Mary Ancel (William Makepeace Thackeray) has no ghosts in it, nor does The Traveller's Story of a Terribly Strange Bed (Wilkie Collins). In the Cliff Land of the Dane (Howard Pease) makes a little more sense, as there is an implied haunting, but still... no proper ghost! There are a couple of old classics, like The Tell-Tale Heart (Poe) and The Phantom Coach (Amelia B Edwards). I originally picked this collection up to read The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde. It's definitely the lightest story in the book. Throughout the book there are two characters with my given name... both of them die. Lovely. The scariest two tales are probably To Be Taken with a Grain of Salt (Dickens) and Man-Size in Marble (E Nesbit). I could probably say something good about every story in the book without much effort, but I'm a lazy reviewer. Altogether, a fantastic collection of ghost tales, worth a peruse especially around Hallowe'en time. As for me, I was eager to get back to a nice clean murder mystery by Agatha Christie after reading this book of haunts.
Agatha Christie this week was Why Didn't They Ask Evans? from 1934. Also published as "The Boomerang Clue". I got this one! I figured it out! Well... halfway. Well... figuring out an Agatha Christie mystery halfway is as good as not figuring it out at all, so I guess I did get it at all. Two new characters in this one (Bobby and Frankie), who solve the mystery with a lot of research and disguises and fake accidents. Yup, a nice change from ghost stories! And the title question... I really like how its significance was revealed.
At this point, inter-library loan has failed me completely, so I'm not sure when the next Agatha Christie book will reach me. I may end up with some gaps here and there as I wait for books to arrive at the local library.
This week's movie was The Dark Knight via Netflix. This was the first time I'd seen this movie, having missed it when it was in theaters (in part because we couldn't afford to go, and in part because I hate going to movie theaters). I'm glad I saw it at home, because I could more easily hide in hubby-Eric's arms when the Joker was being particularly scary. And he was. Over and over again. This was by far the creepiest Joker I've ever seen. By far the most menacing. He terrorized simply by existing. He didn't even have to do anything to be scary once he'd established himself. A look, and I wanted to hide behind the sofa. This was a brutal, frightening movie. I'm not sure what I was expecting from it, but it surpassed any expectations. I wouldn't show this one to children. It was good, but very very Dark.
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Miss Piggy and the Wii Fit?
We were watching the Theresa Brewer episode of the Muppet Show today. In this one, Miss Piggy goes on a diet after overhearing Kermit state that he's canceling one of her performances because she's porky.
At one point, she starts working out to a TV fitness program. At which point hubby-Eric suggested that an updated version would have her working out on a Wii Fit. And no doubt the Wii Fit being much the worse for it by the end.
This random thought brought to you by the Muppet Show DVDs. I hope we can someday afford the Season 3 set.
Close Encounter of the Pug Kind
Here's one for my parents:
As good as Monsters, Inc. is, wouldn't it have been even better if they'd thrown in a pug encounter like this? (Okay, maybe not...)
Friday, February 06, 2009
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Thursday? Already?
Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #192: Archie Parodies, Spider-Man Costuming, and Riddle Me This.
I honestly thought that this article was an Onion parody when I first read it.
I agree with a commenter, it's probably just a scape goat.
Is Access more important than Ownership? To be honest, I love Netflix. It's access without ownership. I love the library. Again, access without ownership. I'd rather have less junk in my life. There are things I want to own, but many things I just want easy access to. Room for both in my life. Access and Ownership.
Phil finds an image made of awesome if you grew up in the 70's. Yeah, I recognize a LOT of them.
Cash4Gold scammers are bribing bloggers to kill unfavorable stories about them. C'mon, Cash4Gold, offer me some money and I'll remove this link! Really!
Can a teacher destroy students' class notes? I wouldn't turn mine over. If the teacher insisted, I would copy and distribute them out of spite (normally I would not share my notes). I wrote them, they are mine. Perhaps the teacher should write better tests if they think class notes will allow future students to cheat.
Speaking of saving stuff for the future, we are in danger of losing our memories because so much of what we now have is stored in digital formats that may eventually become obsolete. What good are digital photos if you can't look at them?
If you are lost or stranded, stay put. Don't wander around. Find shelter, or stay with your car. "You can live three or more weeks without food, you might be able to last three days without water, but it's tough to survive three hours without shelter."
This post by Kate Orman jumped out at me. It seems that most of our politicians these days come from that parallel country of the rich. Perhaps we should require anyone seeking public office to live for a year on food stamps in a trailer park, without any of the perks of high office or wealth, so they at least are in touch with reality. I suspect it wouldn't work, though, without rigid enforcement to prevent cheating.
And, for the in-laws: baby pug, pajama pug, and Global Pugsitioning Unit.
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Your Data Is Not Safe
US Passports with RFID tags can be stolen with equipment costing less than $250.
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Generator Fun
Hubby-Eric started playing with the Bus Sign Generator last night and came up with some good ones. Unfortunately, he didn't obey his mean wife when she told him to post them here, so she's had to try to remember his genius and duplicate his hilarious signs. So here is my version of his great signs...
Monday, February 02, 2009
Kiva!
I didn't get any Kiva.org gift certificates for Christmas or my birthday this year, but that's ok. I still was able to re-invest some of the money that's been paid back into new loans. Check out my loans if you want. And maybe join. For $25 you can help somebody out.
The Continuing M&Ms Challenge
I'm still collecting data for this, and will continue to collect for the foreseeable future, so if you feel like participating, please just:
1) Get yourself a bag of Milk Chocolate M&Ms.
2) Note the size of the bag (in oz or g or both)
3) Open bag. Do not eat any (yet).
4) Count the number of Green M&Ms. Do not eat any (yet).
5) Count the TOTAL number of M&Ms (including green). Ok, you can eat them now.
6) Post the size of the bag, the number of green M&Ms and the total number of M&Ms.
7) FUN!
Note: Counts for other types of M&Ms are welcome, but please indicate what the type is when you post the information. Silliness is fine, but please make sure the data is true.
Sunday, February 01, 2009
A Sunday Review
TV this week:
- Battlestar Galactica: "Scattered" - Yay! The first episode of season 2! No quick fixes in this episode. I wasn't sure about the flashbacks... when we watched the deleted scenes the flashbacks made MUCH more sense.
- Smallville: "Bulletproof" - Clark gets into uniform! This one actually has a bit of a moral depth to it. Just a bit.
- Numb3rs: "Trouble In Chinatown" - If he was really a psychic, he would have seen it coming. And Don is becoming Fortean. I like how Larry clears up the custom that was perverted at the end of the episode.
- Ghost Hunters International: "Restless Souls of Sweden" - Nice location for the first hunt, not in the middle of a city like the last few. Good stories, too. The second place... 650-year-old hair! I like the debunking in this one. Well done.
- Batman: The Brave and the Bold: "Journey to the Center of the Bat!" - I'm still not loving this version of Aquaman. His superego is annoying to watch. But every once in awhile he breaks through with a moment that I can see my Aquaman in there. So I don't hate him. Just find him mildly annoying.
- Primeval: "Episode 12" - Familiar name writing it... and wow, lots happen in this one. And fantastic cliffhanger as well. I wanna see next week's episode now! (I suppose I could download it, but where's the fun in that?)
- Battlestar Galactica: "Valley of Darkness" - Keeping up the intensity. I'm constantly surprised by the pace of this show. It's exhausting to watch at times. Again, watching the deleted scenes on the DVD made the episode make more sense.
Comics this week:
- Green Lantern Corps #32 - Have I mentioned that I'm getting really bored with the GL saga? The only saving grace of this issue is that Soranik appears in it. Unfortunately, it looks like she's destined to hook up with Kyle, so she's headed for a refrigerator. Boo.
- Faces of Evil: Solomon Grundy - Hubby-Eric likes his original GL, so we got this book, since good ol' Grundy is a GL villain. I don't have much to say about the book. Except that I keep thinking "Solomon Grundy want pants too!"
- Captain Britain and MI13 #9 - Do these guys really know what sort of artifacts they are playing with? I get the uneasy feeling that this team is riding on the edge, and I like that feeling with a comic book.
- Supergirl #2 - Um. Right. Ok. Mildly amusing.
- Super Friends #11 - Love the cover. Love the guest appearances. Heh. Jellyfish riding bicycles. Heh.
- The Wonderful Wizard of Oz #2 - This is following closely the book and I love how they've played up the very real concerns of Dorothy as she travels on the road (like food!). Love it.
- Doctor Who Classic Series 2 #2 - I've only read the stories in this one maybe once before, so we're getting near the stuff that's new to me. I recall the final one in this issue having an unhappy ending though.
- DMZ #38 - I really like Wilson. He's got good style. The dude that turns up at the end is bad news for Matty, though. Brian Wood is really putting his character through the grinder here.
And I just want to point out that after finishing these issues, I looked for the next pile of comic books I had to read and discovered that I'd actually caught up on my reading! That's right. Almost the first time since I went to mail order that I'm actually caught up on my comic books. And no more coming until Tuesday. Wow.
This week's movie was Brother Bear. I went into this expecting a typical talking animal movie, so I was a bit surprised when the movie started out as a prehistoric story featuring humans more in the style of Mulan than Jungle Book. However, the movie does turn into a typical talking animal movie, and my interest dropped a little at that point. It wasn't bad, just predictable. Right up until the end. Which wasn't quite as predictable. Until the very end. Which was entirely too Disney for my tastes. So... certainly not a bad movie. Just not a great one.
My library book this week was The Prophet of Yonwood by Jeanne DuPrau. This is the third book in the Book of Ember series, and is a prequel to the previous two books. A very-pre-prequel, set generations before the other books, and a good 50 years before the disasters that caused the City of Ember to be populated. It's a fairly standard children's novel, with strong lead characters who work to solve problems and understand the world around them. It's not hard for me to imagine that last week's novel, The Road, was what happened between this book and City of Ember (although The Road allows for no hope for the future). Not the best book, but not a waste of time. I still want to read the fourth book in the series, so that must be a good sign, right?
Agatha Christie this week was Black Coffee from 1934. This was originally a play, and adapted into novel form by Charles Osborne in 1997. You can tell it's not Agatha writing, but he makes a good effort trying to ape her style. The result is an almost satisfactory Poirot novel. The mystery is all Agatha, but the words aren't quite right. I wouldn't be inclined to recommend it as a taste of Poirot, but it isn't a bad book. It's just not Agatha Christie's writing.
Fortean Times #245, March 2009. The cover story is the tale of the Dyatlov Pass Incident, which is a creepy mystery that I'd read about before (probably in FT). To sum up the story: in 1959 a group of experienced skiers went on a trip up into the Ural Mountains in Russia. When they didn't return, a search was conducted. All nine skiers were found, but in such odd circumstances that no one has been able to totally explain what must have happened to them. The best theory is that an avalanche frightened them from their tent (it was cut open from inside), and they wandered in the freezing temperatures and died there. But four of the bodies were found far away from the tent, with injuries that suggested they couldn't have gotten there on their own *if* they had been injured in an initial avalanche. Perhaps there were multiple avalanches, or something else scared them from the tent first. Add in that high levels of radiation were found on the bodies, and the theories multiply like flies. I tend to believe the causes were completely natural, not supernatural, but it's still a compelling mystery.
Also in this issue... more on Hemingway's cats, and fungi that produce biofuels. The Second Life marriage that failed when the husband was caught cheating (in the game) and a man who wants to marry cartoon characters. A short article on Eugenics discusses the danger of declaring any one trait superior to another in humans. There's an excellent article on a "garden shed forgers" who fooled lots of experts in the art world. Another article talks about sleepwalkers, and superstitions attached to them in the past (I had a sleepwalking roommate in college, and one of my brothers slept-walked out the front door one night, so I found this one to be funny). There is a great article of a man tracking down reports of a feather from the wing of the Archangel Gabriel said to be held as a relic at a monastery; the article demonstrates the process of research beautifully, in my opinion (and no, he didn't find any actual angel feathers, but he found more references to them along with hints of what they actually were). An article on ghosts discusses the many types of hauntings, including ghost cats that have to learn to be three-dimensional. Lots of good reviews, including one of Hellboy II that was far superior to my own weak attempt at reviewing. The Simulacra Corner in this issue is particularly good. All-in-all, another solid issue of this magazine.
And the people! There are no words in this book (at least, none that you and I can read) but the people shine through with a clarity that many novels cannot match. You feel for these people. You feel for the girl caught reading, who escapes her fate to the new land. You feel for the couple who run from the giants. You feel for the man who marched off to war and returned home to nothing. But most of all you feel for the main character, who is away from his wife and daughter in a strange land where he doesn't speak the language and can barely get by. You feel for his confusion at the strange objects and foods. You feel for his search for a job that he can do. You feel for his fear at things that seem partly recognizable (including one moment where the horrors of home seem to return). And you feel for him when he writes to his family.
This book is about new beginnings and hope. It's about people coming together for a greater good. It's about helping each other. And by the end of my reread, I had tears in my eyes, because this book is about humanity and somehow manages to catch the best of it.
This is a book that I would not hesitate to give to a child. They may not understand it, but the images are so strong and beautiful, and the final page so clear, that I think kids would love it. If I had the money, every one of my nieces and nephews would have a copy (regardless of age). You may not love this book as much as I do, but in case you might, go out and find a copy and read it. Library, store, borrow it from an intelligent friend, whatever. Just sit down and linger on this one. It's worth your time.
