Linkdump

The blob is causing the strange weather in Washington state. Also, it's NOT simply global warming run rampant.

Aquaman? Seriously, copy-editing is an important skill. I feel sorry for the writer, who probably had little to do with the headline.

Yes, I admit it. I bought the new Lois McMaster Bujold novella literally the first day it was available. And yes, I've read it. I will read it again soon. It's very good. It will be on my Hugo nominees list.

I'd like to get my hubby a copy of this role playing game. Sadly, I can't get to Sasquan.

Ah, the infamous Max Headroom hack, right in the middle of one of my favorite episodes of Doctor Who, The Horror of Fang Rock.

I'm delighted by the Eisner Award Winners, particularly Beasts of Burden and Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland. Generally speaking, the list of nominees is a good "recommended reading" list, as well.

I must say, I'm looking forward to this crossover, and I really hope Jeff Parker gets to write it.

The reaction of Ursula Vernon to being put on the World Fantasy shortlist is lovely, but the best line is definitely "three times--there had been rum". Congrats Ursula! Jackalope Wives deserves the nomination!

Adam Savage had a special guest cosplayer with him at San Diego this year:

Linkdump

Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #129 and Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #130.

Gail Simone in the New York Times. Go Gail!

Thank you, Brian.

Bully on what is lost when you wait for the trade.

Please Order Now: Spider-Man Family #7 is a tribute to Mike Wieringo.

ARGH. Diamond is screwing around with their website again, making things harder to find if you are used to direct links to, say, the Shipping Lists.

The Numb3rs production crew have good manners. I'm going to go through that episode much more closely to see if I can recognize any publishers.

Fox has found writers for 24 (YouTube) during the strike. Speaking of, reports indicate that the strike talks are going well, but there is no confirmation yet.

AWWWWW! How Sweet! How Romantic! Neil Gaiman rocks! Watch the video:

I have been meaning to learn Dvorak for some time. This zine has me trying again. I got the link from Boing Boing, be sure to read the comments for lots of pros and cons about trying Dvorak. If nothing else, learning Dvorak would be a fun mental exercise, which would be my main reason for learning it.

People believe that NASA is funded as well as the military, which might explain why some are idiotically opposed to NASA despite its tiny impact on the national budget.

Cheap, printable solar power is on the way. I'll believe it when it's powering my house, but I live in hope.

Just Go Look. Very cool images.

First, read this, then read this. I want one now. Ok, not now, but someday.

Monopoly saved lives in WWII.

Two-minute football game. Time-lapse photography of a game at Lambeau Field. Halftime was interesting.

How to Stop Restaurant Tip Fraud. I was unaware it was going on, personally, since I don't really go out that much. Be sure to read the comments, in particular this one.

Smile.

A week later, and Scoble isn't as impressed with Kindle anymore.

Zombie Kitty!

Linkdump

Still slowly catching up with my blog reading from the last few weeks....

Jeff Parker's short Hallowe'en story.

The second origin of the second Two-Face. Going a bit far in those twos, aren't they?

The Bad Astronomer shows off his telescope. You have to click the thumbnail to see the full picture, if you dare.

Fun football play: Trinity TX Laterals Their Way to Division III Win. You have to watch an annoying ad before the play starts, but it's still fun.

How to drive in snow, timely advice from Making Light.

Surplus Sodium dumped in a lake after WWII. Wow.

Invasion of the Garden Gnomes. This story was worth it entirely for the quote from Capt. Richard Harrison, "We need to get them out of here. Every time I leave my office they're sitting in my chair, working on my computer. I can't seem to get rid of the darn things."

I need to see this episode of Mythbusters.

Remember Card Catalogs? Now you can generate your own. I have this whelming urge to make these for all the stuff in my home. Luckily, it's not overwhelming.

What time of day should you take your medicine? Currently, medical testing doesn't take into account the time of day.

The Twitter Cookbook.

Project Download. Click to help. I'm just curious to see if MegaUpload will actually pay out. So spread the link around and let's see if we can't get the downloads up to five million.

Another click you can do: CBGXtra has a banner ad to donate 10 cents to HERO. Go click!

You can play the Doctor Who interactive game Attack of the Graske on-line, Morgan tells us how.

In other Doctor Who "news": The Pumpkin of Rassilon, huzzah!

More Doctor Who: The Ten Doctor, a fan comic that is WELL WORTH following. It's at 65 pages and counting. Thanks Garret!

Eh, let's continue the Doctor Who: Steampunk Dalek!

And lastly... for the in-laws: Wanna go to the Pug Party?

Random Comic Book Stuff

A couple of years ago in San Diego, I went to the big comic book con with a very little sketchbook. Starting with Ramona Fradon and ending with Neal Adams, I got artists to fill 42 pages of the book, all the way to the end (I had 22 pages from other cons) with mostly sketches of Aquaman.

One of my favorite sketches in the book is a fantastic rendition of Aquaman in silhouette, seen from below, swimming with a shark. The sketch was done by Jeff Parker, whose name stayed in my mind because of the quality and originality of the sketch.

Well, the name recently came up in a thread on Comicon.com. Seems he's doing a book called The Interman.

Because of the fantastic sketch, I felt obliged to at least read the 8-page preview on Parker's website. After reading the preview, I decided that I wanted to try the book. Luckily, my hubby agreed and we're going to add it to our November order.

After seeing the preview, I kind of wonder what Jeff could do with Aquaman (or better yet, Tempest)...

In other comic book news, there is a nice preview of the Aquaman origin from JLA: Secret Origins coming out on November 13th. I find it interesting that it's the Silver Age origin, but at the same time, I'm pleased. I like the Silver Age origin, despite also being a fan of the current version. This will be an interesting book... I really wonder what the captions on this art will say.

I think that Alex Ross' Aquaman tends to hold his chin too high, but the art is so interesting that I'll forgive that little nit.

Wow, I've got a wait ahead of me for new Aquaman stuff, actually. The next issue of JLA isn't due out for 19 days (but at least the preview Aquaman story by Rick Veitch will come out that same week), I've already seen next week's Aquaman preview, and now I've seen a small version of the artwork from the Secret Origins.

The week of November 20th is scheduled for a triple-whammy, at least. JLA #75, the final bit of Obsidian Age, is due out, and should feature plenty of Aqua-action. JLA/JSA Secret Files #1 is due out, with the preview story of the Aquaman series by Cerdian (as told to Rick Veitch). And the Classic Aquaman Statue is also due out that week.

Two meager weeks later, the animated version of Aquaman will be guesting in Justice League Adventures.

Then a week after that... Aquaman #1!

These are good times to be an Aquaman fan. There's been news also weekly for months, and there is so much stuff coming out it's hard to believe it all. With my website doing a decent job covering the current stuff and John Schwirian's Aquaman Chronicles filling the gaps I leave, the fan side is very busy too. What a great time to be a fan!