They Made It! Wahoo!

I was hoping the Girl Genius Kickstarter would hit at least $220,000, then when it hit that, I hoped for them to hit $300,000 so they can hire financial help. Well, they've made the goal with more than two days left in the kickstarter! Congrats to the GG team!

Another Linkdump

I'm rooting for the Girl Genius Kickstarter to hit at least $220,000 so I'll get all the wallpapers (and see a video of Phil and Kaja fainting).

This is a great 3-minute video from space, and the Canadian Space Agency has other neat videos with Chris Hadfield as well. If you've only seen his music video, you haven't seen anything.

Boing Boing has a great video from when the New Zealand parliament voted for marriage equality.

We've all gone a bit far with our fear of terrorism. Check out Act of Terror, a seven-minute documentary about videotaping police and getting in trouble for it.

I'm not sure I'm willing to try any of these 9 exercises you can do with your cats. Inkwell might shred me.

A software company had an awesome idea of how to handle piracy.

Monday Dump of Links

Here's 10 Spectacular Photos of Animals. The seahorse and the owl impress me the most.

The Girl Genius novels are being released in the UK, but I really don't know what to make of those covers.

I found this article to be a fascinating look at saving languages. Languages are like keys to culture, and preserving them is worth the effort.

Know your rights, a booklet in multiple languages that explains what rights you do and do not have when dealing with law enforcement.

Warning, I've put the politics behind the cut. Some folks will just want to skip 'em.

The Hugo Nominations!

Hi, everybody. Co-blogger Eric here. Laura wants me to post the news that the nominations for the Hugo Awards have been announced. So, here it goes: The Hugo Award nominations are up on the web. Three Doctor Who stories were nominated for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form: "Vincent and the Doctor", "The Pandorica Opens"/"The Big Bang", and "A Christmas Carol". Also nominated in the Best Related Works category is the great little book of Whovian essays, Chicks Dig Time Lords. And Girl Genius got another nomination for Volume 10: Agatha Heterodyne and the Guardian Muse in the Best Graphic Story category.

A Sunday Review

TV this week:

• Timeslip: "The Day of the Clone" - Final story of the series. All the various strings come working their way back together, and I get totally confused. I have a number of questions that might have been more clear if I'd seen the series closer together instead of spread out. Still, surprisingly satisfying series even after all these years.


• Primeval: "Series 4 Episode 3" - People come out of the anomaly into a theatre, followed by monsters. I'm really getting curious as to what Matt is up to. But I enjoyed the episode.
• Primeval: "Series 4 Episode 4" - Revenge of the nerds, as Connor becomes a role model in a high school incursion. That was one HUGE school. It was cool they could tap into the school's security cameras. Pity about the victims.
• Primeval: "Series 4 Episode 5" - The setting was great in this one. Beautiful cliffs and coast. And the cave was a neat trick usually read about in children's adventure series, not seen concealing a "worm". The science in this one was interesting too, and showed Connor's value in the field. But Connor already spilled the beans on Philip's outside projects to at least two people before he was warned not to... interesting.


• Being Human (US): "There Goes the Neighborhood, Part 1" - Definitely not the same as the British series. For one thing, Doomsday is a vampire. I like how his origin is changed from WWI to the Revolutionary War. And a quick intro to the werewolf's family. I wonder if the ghost's backstory will be the same as in the UK version.
• Being Human (US): "There Goes the Neighborhood, Part 2" - Good cliffhanger on the first episode, nicely resolved at the beginning of the second. But I was having deja vu, as the whole thing happened in the UK series. Things are happening much more quickly in this series. It's not a problem for me, since I know the set up, but I wonder if newer viewers will have trouble keeping up.


• Batman: The Brave and the Bold: "The Knights of Tomorrow!" - An Elseworlds tale, sort of. I really enjoyed this one, as we see the future of Batman... or do we?
• Batman: The Brave and the Bold: "The Malicious Mr. Mind" - The Monster Society of Evil. I like Shazam and company, but I don't love 'em. And watching them battle it out just didn't do it for me. I was terribly amused by Batman's regression, though. Fun voices.


• Young Justice: "Welcome to Happy Harbor" - I really thought for a moment that Speedy would join the crew. I liked how Aqualad handled himself in this story, and I'm really looking forward to seeing more of him in action. Definitely an interesting addition to the Aqua-family. Finally, a calm character from the sea.

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My Comic related Kindle book this week was Agatha H and the Airship City by Phil and Kaja Foglio. This is the first book I bought specfically for the Kindle. I purchased it through the Amazon store and paid for it with some Amazon credit I got through the selling links in these reviews. So thank you to everyone who bought something through the links, allowing me to purchase this book and support two of my favorite creators. If you've read the graphic novels, the storyline will be extremely familiar, but the prose adds another layer to the characters even as it loses the joy of the artwork. This book covers the events in the first three collections of the graphic story, so if you've read them you'll find the story to be very familiar. However, there are significant differences, enough to make it more than worthwhile to have the prose book for a big fan of Girl Genius. I highly recommend it as just a great book, but it will definitely have added meaning for fans of the original comics. As with almost all Kindle books, there were some minor formatting issues, but it didn't affect the readability much at all.

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My Kindle book this week was The Witches of Karres by James H. Schmitz. I got this as an eBook from webscription.net a long time ago and finally read it after my mom recommended it to me. I'll note that I have a big pile of eBooks from webscription.net that I've added to my Kindle library and will probably read now that I have something to read them on besides my laptop. It's just way easier on my eyes to read books on the Kindle. Anyway, this book concerns the captain of a ship who rescues three girls from slavery, starting a chain of events that eventually impacts worlds. I loved the humor in this book. It was sometimes subtle, and sometimes whacked you over the head, but it was always funny. Add in a good dose of dramatic tension, fantasy elements hand-in-hand with hard science fiction, and you've got a great little book. Definitely worth a read if you have a chance. No wonder it's considered a classic.

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Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews -- My Wishlist -- My Kindle Wishlist

Linkdump Long Overdue

It's Star Wars Day for Katie.

How to Open a New Book.

Paging The Physician...

Neil Armstrong on the first moon walk, and why it covered such a small area.

Ancient Giant Penguin. Cool. Of course, little penguins can be daring, too.

Some of the most memorable Google Doodles.

Organ Donation.

2,000 Ping Pong Balls and 30 Middle-School Teachers in Zero G.

Evolution.

Dogs Don't Understand Basic Concepts Like Moving. I Made Food! I'm Magical!

The Real Rules of the Blue Moon.

A victim of the overblown hype about Wikileaks posts to reddit.

Creepy Photos at the Tower of London.

If you plan on buying the Girl Genius Novel from Amazon, consider buying it on January 12th, Kaja Foglio's birthday. I would, but I haven't got any money for it.

Another, better, use for tobacco?

I am so far behind on these...

• Comic Book Legends Revealed #276: Thimble Theater, Shadow Lass, and Superman.
• Comic Book Legends Revealed #277: Hobgoblin, Legion of Super-Heroes, and Censored Get Fuzzy.
• Comic Book Legends Revealed #278: Daily Planet Building, Carl Barks' First Duck Tale, and DC's first Graphic Novel.
• Comic Book Legends Revealed #279: The Batcave, Wally Lombego, and Xanshi's destruction.
• The Dreams of Wally Lombego, a supplement from J.M. DeMatteis.
• Star Wars Again, the final page unaltered.
• Comic Book Legends Revealed #280: Crossover in Rutland, Gyro Gearloose, and The Squadron Sinister.
• Comic Book Legends Addendum: Leagion and Star Wars stuff.
• Comic Book Legends Revealed #281: Marvel G.I. Joe comic book, The Archies, and Mister Nobody.
• Comic Book Legends Revealed #282: Fallen Angels, Translated Dan Dare, and Re-Drawn Superman.
• Comic Book Legends Revealed #283: Chuck Dixon's Plans, Squirrel Girl, and Woodcut Etrigan.
• Comic Book Legends Revealed #284: New Mutants Profanity, Flex Mentallo, and Dick Sprang.
• Comic Book Legends Revealed #285: Nudity in the Daily Mirror, Steve Englehart's Farewell to Marvel, and Harlan Ellison badmouthing Michael Fleisher about Spectre.
• Comic Book Legends Revealed #286: Captain Marvel Trademark, Censored Carl Barks, and Robin's Creation.
• Comic Book Legends Revealed #287: The Marvel Ethnic Slur, Captain Shazam, and Atlas/Marvel Comics problems.
• Comic Book Legends Revealed #288: Neil Gaiman Superman/Green Lantern Project, Frank Frazetta's Career, and Wonder Woman's Twirling Lasso.
• Comic Book Legends Revealed #288: Felix the Cat, Wonder Woman TV Series, and The Marvelous Wizard of Oz (with a surprise shout out to my husband's Wizard of Oz site).

I think I'm caught up. Whew. How long has it been since I've done a proper linkdump?

Pug puppy for the in-laws

A Sunday Review

TV this week:

• History Detectives: "Andrew Jackson’s Mouth, Barton Letter, Spybook" - The fact that they were able to confirm the origin of the mouth is cool, the fact that it's going to be reunited with the head is cooler. I was a little disappointed that Clara Barton herself didn't sign the letter, but the stories around it were powerful. The Spy booklet had some amazing history related to it. I have chatted with grandparents about the war, and they say that it was such a different time that we wouldn't understand. Artifacts like this tell that story.
• History Detectives: "Cromwell Dixon, Bartlett Sketchbook, Duke Ellington Plates" - I can't imagine being a pilot in those times. I have enough trouble with heights as it is, that plane she sat on that was completely open would scare me too much to endure. Ok, finding that sketchbook is something like a fantasy. I'd love to run across something like that. That is a find of a lifetime, and priceless to boot. The last one was a repeat, so we didn't rewatch it.
• History Detectives: "Korean War Letter, Diana, Lookout Mt. Painting" - The war letter is a surprising look at the forgotten war. My generation knows the war entirely from MASH. This little moment of the war is a powerful reminder of what we lost in those years. The Diana book is one that I suddenly want to read. All about being a complete outsider, to the point that you might even be illegal, it sounds right up my alley. And the painting takes us back to the Civil War yet again. The reaction of the great-granddaughter to seeing one of her ancestor's paintings in person made the whole segment. The next episode appears to be all repeats, so we may skip that.


• Battlestar Galactica: "The Eye of Jupiter" - Another intense episode that ends just when everything gets really exciting. I actually wanted to watch the next episode immediately. After all, with Starbuck down and Cylons right there... wow.
• Battlestar Galactica: "Rapture" - So, that's it for Lucy Lawless, eh? She's been "boxed" because she found out something she wasn't supposed to know. At least, that's how I interpret Dean Stockwell's performance. I really wonder who she saw. The fact that she knew the person means it's a main character, right?
• Battlestar Galactica: "Taking a Break from All Your Worries" - A pretty grim episode for such a light-hearted title. Torture. Not good. And driving Baltar even further over the edge is scary. If they even had a notion of the soup inside his mind, they wouldn't have dared try that trick.


• Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated: "Beware The Beast from Below" - I started to watch this based entirely on this review. The in-jokes in this made hubby-Eric and I giggle throughout, when we weren't wincing from the sheer silliness. I loved that the work crew stated outright that they were being stupid by investigating the barrels, but did it anyway. I'm not sure the show is improved by adding the parents, the locale, and lowering the age of our heroes to high school (I always figured they were just out of high school and on a road trip before college). And the love thing between Shaggy and Velma is pretty annoying. But it's got a cheeky sense of humor that makes it worth watching.
• Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated: "The Creeping Creatures" - In this second episode, the crew are sent to investigate a mystery in Gatorsburg, a ghost town that died off when the gators did. Again, the self-aware humor makes this whole thing work. I find myself enjoying it despite all the cringe-worthy moments.
• Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated: "Secret of the Ghost Rig" - Wow, Fred is utterly clueless in this one. Moreso than he ever was in the original. I guess I miss the tag-team of a smart Fred and Velma with their hanger-ons. Still, the way this show fails to take itself too seriously allows it to work.


• Stephen Fry in America: "New World" - Stephen visits the Northeastern United States and tells about almost being born American. This is a pretty cool look at the US from the outside. I particulary like the visit with an Englishman in New York.
• Stephen Fry in America: "Deep South" - Stephen finds the Mason-Dixon line then travels south, heading down a coal mine and visiting a distillery. Then he gets a haircut at a genuine barbershop. I think the body farm visit was the most strange locale. His horse ride was great.


• Being Human: "Series 2, Episode 1" - The chopped up version that BBC America shows is a little irritating, particular in their odd choices of what to blur out and silence. I am really tempted to go find an uncut version to watch and hope it makes more sense.

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Here are reviews of the DCBS comic book shipment that arrived this week, of books originally released July 8th and 14th:

• Girl Genius Volume 9 Hardcover - The fact that I've already read everything in the book online didn't make rereading it any less fun. In fact, I caught quite a few things I'd missed on the first read. Now I want to read the entire series from the beginning... again.
• Brightest Day #5 - Aquaman and Mera take on BP? I already mused that deep water oil drilling wouldn't be allowed by Atlanteans in the DC Universe, I guess I was only partly right.
• JSA All-Stars #8 - Cyclone... the Oz character is in a bit of a jam. Her love life and her life both messed up at the same time. The back-up story continues to confuse me, but it's oddly good.
• Demo Vol 2 #6 - Last issue, and a doozy. Hit this one out of the park with a story of two people who can't live together but can't live apart. Wow. Intense stuff!
• Astro City: Silver Agent #1 - Nice look into the origins of what used to be the most mysterious hero of all of Astro City. I'm glad to see this story come out, because it means I'm a longtime fan who is getting what she demanded. heh.


• Birds of Prey #3 - Wait, who's the villain?
• Super Friends #29 - NOOOO!!!!! NOOOO!!! DC NOOO!!! YOU CAN'T CANCEL THIS BOOK!!!!! NO!!!!! WAH!!!!!! *ahem* Fun little issue, especially the bits with Aquaman. But DC, why did you cancel it? WAH!
• DMZ #55 - I'm not sure what to make of this book any more. Part of me thinks it's about time it ends, but then an issue like this one comes along that highlights a deeper truth, and I just want it to keep going.
• Doctor Who Annual 2010 - I liked the first three stories, but the last one was related to the current storyline in the book and did nothing at all for me. Pity.

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My library book this week was Mennyms Alive by Sylvia Waugh. I had to wait on this last volume as the local library system no longer has a copy. This is the final Mennyms book, taking them from the unexpected events of the last book into an uncertain but certainly promising future. As with all the others, the problems seem minor, yet are still exciting to work out. Figuring out what will happen next is the joy of this series, and Waugh manages to twist and turn it enough that you're never quite sure. And so the series ends, but I'd still love to see some final visit to the family. In any case, it was a fun ride, and a good read.

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Agatha Christie this week was Cat Among the Pigeons from 1959. Teachers are being murdered at an exclusive girls' school, and Poirot is the only one who can solve it. This one has so many twists and turns, most of them before Poirot even shows up, that it's almost difficult to follow. But it all works out eventually, as these books always do. I didn't get the murderer. I follow a red herring, and realized that I was being fed the herring and couldn't figure out who it was even though I knew I was wrong. I'm going to have to wait on interlibrary loan for the next books, so it may be awhile.

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Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews -- My Wishlist

Linkers

Darryl Cunningham Investigates Homeopathy, which sounds even more nuts now that I know what it is, exactly.

Timespace's Finest.

AT-AT Afternoon (YouTube).

Girl Genius Volume One is now in COLOR! (And yes, there is some Wizard of Oz style coloring going on in the first few pages, just keep reading).

Oscar the Bionic Cat.

F.lux helps you deal with computer screen glow... and I've been using it for awhile now, and it has helped with getting to sleep at night after my final internet session.

I'm only linking to this because of the "Send her to the dry cleaners." line.

The Bacon Trampoline.

LOLCat Theology.

Donate to Help Cheyenne, Get Cool Wallpapers

The new Girl Genius Wallpapers are up, and the proceeds are going to help pay for Cheyenne Wright's hospital bills. Yes, I put in my little bit.

Girl Genius Hugo Acceptance Speech

And be sure to actually visit the comic to see Cheyenne Wright's own little acceptance comic.

A Sunday Review

TV this week:

• Heroes: "Into Asylum" - Whatever the producers have done, they've managed to recapture a lot of what made this show great originally. I wanted more Hiro and Ando, but even without them this was an ok episode.
• Ghost Hunters: "Club Dead" - The first location, the Cuba Club, was very nice. The flashlight evidence was (if not faked) nicely compelling. Sounds never convince me, though, so the other evidence was nothing. The clinic under renovation is spooky in the daylight. I like how the "meat grinder" turned out to be a sterilizer.

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This week's comic book related review is Girl Genius. I've been reading this one since it was a print comic, and enjoying it all along. I was delighted when it went to the web, because that meant I was certain to get it regularly. Three times a week instead of whenever they managed to produce an issue. And, to make it even better, we'd still get print collections.

My delight was not misplaced. The comic has been consistently excellent, and the story has continued to move along nicely. The collections are wonderful, particularly the hardcovers.

As for the story, it's about a girl named Agatha who has consistently failed at the university. But when a strange event causes her to duck down an alley, her life changes completely. The story slides through a steampunk Europe where geniuses are called "Sparks" and are able to alter reality. Throw in lost heroes, the remnants of a devastating war, and a talking cat... and you have everything a girl like me could want in a comic book.

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My library book this week was Lavinia by Ursula K Le Guin. If you already know the tale of Aeneas, you know who Lavinia is and why there was a war over her. If you don't know the Aeneid, don't fret. There's plenty of context in the story to give you all you need to know. This is a book from the point of view of a minor character in a poem, and the strange thing about it is that the character knows that she's fiction. It's a jolting kind of read, to recognize her spirituality is all about acceptance, including accepting that she isn't real. Not that her fictionality is a focus of the book. On the contrary, the reader is drawn into Lavinia's world, which is based on the world of Italy before it became Italy and before Rome existed. It's a very good telling of how people may have lived and worshipped in those days, and covers the way they dealt with their neighbors and strangers as well. And it's a love story, though we never really get to know Aeneas. Certainly a fascinating book. I checked out this book because of this review.

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Agatha Christie this week was The ABC Murders from 1936. This is a very different mystery, with what appears to be a straightforward solution. Christie plays well on the readers' expectations, and at the end we only want to know why. Again, I didn't see the reveal coming, and yet all the clues were there. I just don't think with my little grey cells like Poirot. I hate to say it, but I'm more like Hastings. *shudder*

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Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews -- My Wishlist

A Sunday Review

TV this week:

• How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? - It came down to the two that Eric called at the very beginning. And either of them would be great in the role. However, Eric's favorite was NOT the winner. I was surprised.
• Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives: "Bar Foods" - Didn't really see much in this one that made me hungry. I guess I'm not much of a bar girl.
• Food Detectives: "5-Second Rule" - Not much I didn't know in the first two segments: milk is best for combatting spicy food burn, and the 5-second rule is bunk. The final segment, on activated charcoal versus baking soda, was new to me. But it's a fun show, and I'll enjoy it if we can continue to watch it.
• History Detectives - Another good episode with the Hindenburg disaster and the Bonus Army. I thought we'd seen the last segment before, but the first two seemed new to us.
• The Next Food Network Star: "Finale" - The mini-pilots made me a believer. All three could put on a good show, and I wouldn't be surprised if the two who didn't win get picked up by Food Network or some other channel. We actually put the new show into the TiVo, that's how impressed we were by the finale.
• Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives: "Burgers and Dogs" - I would eat at any of those places, to be completely honest with you, and probably not complain. Well, except about being too full to try everything.

Comics this week:

• Girl Genius Vol 7 - I originally intended to just flip through it to check the quality, having already read the whole thing online. An hour later I lifted my head to realize I'd been reading steadily. Yeah, get this. Get all the volumes.
• Supernatural Law #45 - The Toxic Avenger gets sued, so guess who is on the case? Not bad at all.
• Green Lantern #33 - Despite it all, I'm actually beginning to get drawn into this story.
• Justice Society of America Annual #1 - Mmmm, Earth-2 yummy goodness.
• Northlanders #8 - Huh, not the ending I was expecting from this one. I wonder what will happen next?
• Fantastic Four: True Story #1 - This is a meta-tale of fictional characters taking a dive into fiction. Seems very Doctor Who to me... which is just as well, as Doctor Who writer Paul Cornell is responsible for it.

This week's library movie was A Mighty Wind. We walked down to the library and browsed the sparse DVD shelf. This was the only movie that stood out enough to pick up. And it's very good! It was funny and nicely musical. A good light comedy for a stressful time for us.

I got another issue of Fortean Times this week, and have already read it through. There's a fantastic article debunking The White Witch of Rose Hall. The Illuminati article was illuminating, if sparse. I love the report on the latest UK UFO sightings, especially how tongue-in-cheek it is. The idea of a wildcat with a spike on its tail is very strange, but the article was solid. As usual, the reviews were good, and I put a couple more books on my "to read" list. Let's hope I can get them through interlibrary loan. My only complaint is that the back cover, featuring a bunch of strategically posed naked people, was a little too risque for my tastes. Now, I hope my subscription will transfer to the new address without difficulties.

Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews

Ow Ow Ow Ow

I had a bad headache/migraine this morning and I find that I'm still sore enough that I don't want to go to the effort of putting together a link post. So just go check out the Hugo Nominees.

Girl Genius

Girl Genius has exceeded the monthly bandwidth for their site, so if you want to read Friday's comic, check out the Girl Genius LiveJournal backup. This is actually good news, as it means their audience has outgrown their server. They are working to get a new provider that offers more bandwidth.

Links

I've got a lot of blogs to try to read and catch up on, and a whole lot of links I want to check out. So here's some ones I've found for the moment. More later.

LOL Doctor Who: The Lost Frisbee. The Many Moods of Oods. Invisibles.

Paul Cornell on his Doctor Who story.

Congrats to Anna for her new store. I hope hubby-Eric and I can stop by on our trip this summer.

If you like Girl Genius, check out Othar Tryggvassen's Twitter Adventures.

I like Elayne's Corny Solution.

If you have a cat that likes to jump on your keyboard, this is for you.

Great reviews of movie trailers by pal Dorian.

You Tube Links:

• Goonies of the Caribbean.
• Steam Trek: The Moving Picture. I know I've seen it before, but it's worth checking out again.
• Women in Art.

Oh. My.

Recordings of Concert Intermissions. Interesting. As a musician, I would be fascinated to hear this.

This is me.

An unusual vacation. I think I wouldn't mind trying it, but not working there.

The Bad Astronomer is a Firefly Fan.

Canadian souvenir is really expensive.

I can understand the cheering ban, but denying diplomas to people who get cheered? Couldn't some jerk arrange to make sure someone doesn't get a diploma just by getting people to cheer for them? It's a stupid punishment aimed at the wrong people.

That's one of the ugliest logos I've ever seen. I like the alternate further down in the article MUCH better.

Um. Duh? Put wheels on kids shoes, some kids will be stupid and end up in hospital. Some kids won't be stupid and will still end up with broken bones. Why is this "news"?

Random Lunks of Dimp

Heh. I just found a post from 2002 in which I predict the success of Emerald City Comicon (as well as describe my problems with a Savage Dragon fan).

Illusive Arts' Emerald City Comicon Photo Parade. You can see me trolling a Borg in this image, while Heidi and I meet a Furry in this image (I'm the fat gal in the blue shirt dead-center). I also adore this image of Rafael Navarro and Chewie.

I found the reason a road was closed when Lisa and I arrived at the con on Saturday morning. They were finishing this installation.

Agatha Heterodyne and the Difficulty of Titling Books.

How did this get past the censors?

More Unscrewed Auctions, which benefit freelancers who can't pay their bills because they've been screwed by publishers not paying debts owed to freelancers.

Colleen Doran lets us know that April is National Financial Literacy Month, and will be posting about financial issues, especially as they affect freelancers, on her blog this month. Check it out.

There's No Such Website! Hubby-Eric got it on the first guess, I got it on the second.

Papercraft R2-D2 Mailboxen.

The War on Science continues.

I'm told that this post at Photographica, a community photojournal, is by my uncle. Go take a look.

Dorothy Temporary Tattoo status: More cracks, more bits missing, still mostly intact.

Catching Up Lunkdimp

Scipio gives 50 Reasons to Buy Aquaman #50.

If you want to hear that song mentioned in Girl Genius yesterday, it's here.

More on the ridiculous JLA #10 cover.

Someone else has started a meme for drawing Power Girl, and all the ones I checked were better than the JLA cover.

Marital help ads in comics. Heh.

Life, it is a Travesty... has a couple of really good links for us, like A 10 day survival pack for your car and How I Became A Music Pirate, written by a music fan disgusted by DRM.

Speaking of pirates, Dan Slott wants comic pirates to stop downloading his comics. Tom Spurgeon makes a point I disagree with. He says that he'd rather get his comics downloaded free than have a paper copy. Sorry, I would hate to read my comics on-line entirely. One to five pages, no problem. Much more than that and you're talking about eyestrain. I'd much rather read a paper copy than an on-line copy, even if the on-line copy is free. That's why I recently previewed Colleen Doran's A Distant Soil on-line, then bought the book with what little was left of my Amazon credit. I couldn't read more than five pages in a row without my head hurting. Luckily for Colleen, that was all it took (combined with her smaller doses of Seasons of Spring) to get me hooked.

Wired reports on You Don't Know Jack! which is now available to play on-line.

Yay! Ghost Hunters is renewed! Yay!

The Librarians' Index to the Internet directs us to this summary of the Battle of Thermopylae that tells the real tale of 300 Spartans.

Scott Adams attempts to improve your sex life.

Ichiro has a TV show, and it's not about baseball.

Slashdot reports that the RIAA is caught up in a web of their own legal lies. Good.

The paradigm has shifted: bloggers go through thousands of pages of dumped documents within hours to find the nice juicy bits. You can't hide behind document dumps any more, not when people are willing to check everything you show them.

Million Dollar Homes being rented for $150 a month to low-income families.

I'm never donating to the Salvation Army again, after reading this tale.

Sad news: Seattle Hostel Closing Down. Well, it was in a prime location, with the ability to show off Seattle's best and worst within just a few blocks.

This story will make your blood boil. Sending a guy to jail because he's a victim of identity theft? ARGH! Our system is broken, and needs some fixing.

Just in case it wasn't already obvious: DON'T BUY PILLS FROM ON-LINE PHARMACIES.

And a bit of cute to end on: IKEA Cat.

Linkdump

Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #90.

Chris has some thoughts on the Girl Genius interview with Phil Foglio.

Owly has a cute website, don't miss the great sketches.

Seattle gets Baby Calder Eagles in its new Sculpture Park. yay!

Bacon Krispy Kreme Burger. Wrong on so many levels. So why do I want to try one?

Speaking of food-like things: Wheel... Of... Food! Enter your zip and spin, and it'll tell you where to go for lunch.

Thursday Linkdump

ACK! The Foglios were burglarized! More here.

The DC Alphabet.

Hmmm... Little Orphan Annie visits Atlantis, and meets a strange scientist with a very familiar looking time machine console. I linked to the first day of the Atlantis trip, so hit the next button to read the rest or just visit here to see the familiar time machine console.

Mike has some notes about the history of Valentine's Day and Valentine's Day in Japan.

Even music executives hate DRM.

This story continues to be insane. Why should a tech-challenged substitute teacher go to jail for 40 years because the school district didn't update their anti-virus and firewall software?!?? ARGH!!! FilkerTom has thoughts on it too. CNN coverage. And a final thought on the problem... if an innocent teacher can get 40 years in prison for these pop-ups, I think the folks who create the pop-ups and infest the internet with them should get life in prison for their part in damaging our youth. Don't you? Life in prison to spammers!!!!

Aaron Williams has some good links as usual. In particular, here's another one for the in-laws. PUG BOWLING:

And for some final fun, more monorail cat.

Linkdump

Oh man, it's so hard dealing with new technology (YouTube link). Go, look. Do you have that problem with opening it? Via Tara Tallan (read Galaxion!).

Comic Book Resources chats with Phil Foglio about the web success of Girl Genius.

Rob at The Aquaman Shrine interviews Norman Alden, the voice of Aquaman in the first few seasons of Super Friends.

Polite Scott provides us with Valentine's Cards from the Legion of Doom and More Valentine's Cards from the Legion of Super-heroes.

John Barrowman & Ruthie Henshall - "Anything You Can Do". Get that gal on Torchwood. Via (postmodern barney). There's a longer clip of backstage stuff with more of John Barrowman, including a bit with Russell Davies, here.

If you want your blood to boil, read some of Lea Hernandez' recent entries about how her new house is coming together... or not, as the case may be. Why do people feel it's ok to steal from someone who already lost everything?

That didn't take long: processing keys for Blu-Ray AND HD-DVD extracted by hackers. Companies waste millions of dollars on trying to create hacker-proof DRM, when they should by figuring out how to make profits in the new paradigm. It's possible, but they're too stuck in the past to adapt to reality.

Stupid cats: Worst Turn Signal Ever and Monorail Cat Animated.