tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-238298032009-07-14T14:31:04.071-04:00Synd-ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049998548754501378noreply@blogger.comBlogger844125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23829803.post-60379729601975396932009-07-14T08:20:00.000-04:002009-07-14T08:20:01.116-04:00

+ For the linguists, semioticians, and generally geeky out there: 13 Alien Languages You Can Actually Read.+ Latest addition to my podcast diet: The Ink Panthers Show!, featuring two of my favorite cartoonists: Alex Robinson (Box Office Poison, Too Cool to Be Forgotten) and Mike Dawson (Freddie & Me, Ace Face).+ Someone else shares my interest in ugly signs and bad design: Your Logo Makes Me Barf

Synd-ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049998548754501378noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23829803.post-73016414047770495282009-07-10T03:42:00.000-04:002009-07-10T03:42:00.221-04:00

Original AVQ&A*: After looking at last week’s A.V. Club Q&A (lifetime passes), are there any actors, directors, etc. who you now consider blacklisted because of a particular work or group of works? Is there anyone you will take a lifetime pass on?SPCHQ A: I've been baffled and repulsed by Michael Douglas's film career since the 1980s. He's a terribly over-the-top hammy actor who doesn't just chew

Synd-ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049998548754501378noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23829803.post-6603879713800480002009-07-08T07:28:00.001-04:002009-07-08T07:28:02.345-04:00

EGG is a great name for detective comics, especially "Hard-boiled Stories" like these. EGG #1 is a collaborative effort - all stories are written and colored by Eric Skillman, and drawn by various artists (a la Harvey Pekar). The comics range from three to eight pages each, each one a complete noir tale. It takes talent to develop characters and tell a tight story in a few pages, but EGG has no

Synd-ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049998548754501378noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23829803.post-16342966694974003992009-07-06T00:07:00.000-04:002009-07-06T00:07:01.603-04:00

(Overheard at the Columbus Farmers Market, in Columbus NJ.)Today I was cajoled into taking a drive to the Columbus Farmers Market in lovely Columbus, NJ. Oh hell, who am I kidding. I didn't need to be cajoled. The Columbus Farmers Market is a mix of produce, used junk, cheap clothing, and everything else. I am not sure if these places are unique to the East coast, specifically PA, NJ, and MD, or

Synd-ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049998548754501378noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23829803.post-59820527377908148002009-07-03T17:37:00.000-04:002009-07-03T17:38:40.179-04:00

Spotted today in Delaware County.

Synd-ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049998548754501378noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23829803.post-84921477286815565992009-07-02T01:07:00.000-04:002009-07-02T01:07:00.824-04:00

"I've got nothing left to beDo you have some plans for me?""Plans", Dinosaur Jr.In heavy rotation is the newest album from Dinosaur Jr., FARM. It's a wonderful sludgy mess and I can't stop listening to it. Sure, it could have been a bit shorter (maybe lop off 2 or 3 songs), but otherwise one of the highlights of 2009 so far.FARM just makes me want to dig out and put on my grossest jeans, thermal

Synd-ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049998548754501378noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23829803.post-30676059937029039792009-07-01T08:46:00.001-04:002009-07-01T08:46:02.442-04:00

Since the indie/minicomics scene is large, scattered all over the world, and lacks any sort of central review/new issue announcement location (like the old Factsheet 5 was for zines), it's very easy to completely miss good comics. Even just looking at other people's hauls from MoCCA, I wondered if I attended the same event. Of course, there's comics that I've been hearing about for a while, but

Synd-ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049998548754501378noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23829803.post-39289162205080145342009-06-27T23:17:00.001-04:002009-06-29T19:57:43.583-04:00

+ Libraries are expected to "weed" their collections on a regular basis, discarding outdated, useless books. Some of these books may be sent to special, historic or archival collections, but most of them are either sold at library sales or tossed. Unfortunately, some libraries don't practice regular weeding, either due to staff shortage, lack of know-how, or pure laziness. In those cases, books

Synd-ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049998548754501378noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23829803.post-58912941771071363562009-06-25T12:30:00.000-04:002009-06-25T12:32:09.804-04:00

Original AVQ&A**: This question was prompted by a commenter in the post about Ryan Adams and Mandy Moore. He mentioned that Moore got a pass for doing Saved! In your case, which artist gets a lifetime pass from you, whatever else he/she may do?SPCHQ A: Nicolas Cage gets a "lifetime pass" from me. Given that he's made many truly horrible movies, that's a monster-sized lifetime pass. Maybe it's

Synd-ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049998548754501378noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23829803.post-32895113820954730212009-06-23T21:53:00.001-04:002009-06-24T16:05:07.279-04:00

More MoCCA Fest reviews. (See the mocca2009 tag for all coverage.)The Boston Comics Roundtable just published INbound #3, another collection from Boston-area cartoonists. The happy dancing cover is by former Boston resident Matthew Reidsma of High Maintenance Machine, and there's lots of great contributions including "Fear" by Chris O'Neill, the quantum physics laced "From Afar" by Dan Mazur, and

Synd-ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049998548754501378noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23829803.post-77019336063935322742009-06-22T23:35:00.001-04:002009-06-22T23:35:11.045-04:00

+ 10 Pretty Computers!+ Vintage Computer Festival: VCF East 6.0 is scheduled for September 12 & 13 at the InfoAge Science Center in Wall, NJ. InfoAge is located on the grounds of the historic Camp Evans, a geek paradise.+ I want to go to there: Retro Arcade Museum, Beacon NY. While the collection of retro cabinet games is impressive, they also have displays of historic console games and early

Synd-ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049998548754501378noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23829803.post-58418880479560659222009-06-21T19:06:00.005-04:002009-06-21T19:13:12.049-04:00

Wizard World Philly (WWP) had the misfortune of receiving the short end of the convention stick this weekend, with the popular Heroes Con in North Carolina happening at the same time. While there were Marvel and DC panels at WWP, there was no exhibitor presence. In fact, the only larger (not indie/alternative) publishers that exhibited were Dynamite, Aspen, Avatar, Terminal Press (with their

Synd-ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049998548754501378noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23829803.post-17799447534503813972009-06-19T20:13:00.002-04:002009-06-19T20:18:18.721-04:00

Eric Maruscak working on this year's chalk art.Vintage video game cartridges for sale at the VGXPO part of the show. Amazing stuff!Get 'em while they're hot! I bought them for every member of my conservative family, a little gift from their favorite lil' leftist.

Synd-ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049998548754501378noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23829803.post-76465710285779979512009-06-19T10:12:00.003-04:002009-06-19T10:14:05.674-04:00

Not just once, but twice!(Spotted at F.Y.E. store in the Gallery mall, Philadelphia.)

Synd-ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049998548754501378noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23829803.post-31648713693294679392009-06-18T15:27:00.001-04:002009-06-18T15:31:32.272-04:00

Unfortunately, I won't be attending San Diego Comic-Con this year. Instead, I've been attending smaller cons that aren't the crush that SDCC has become. For indie comics, there was MoCCA Fest a few weeks ago, the Small Press Expo in September, and possibly the Alternative Press Expo in October. To get my mainstream-y, popular culture fix, I'm attending Wizard World Philadelphia this weekend.The

Synd-ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049998548754501378noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23829803.post-29917267695336956712009-06-17T02:37:00.001-04:002009-06-17T06:26:55.359-04:00

Continuing commentary on comic purchases at MoCCA Fest 2009.My Every Single Thought (What I think about being single) by Corinne Mucha."What is the opposite of single? Double, Unsingle, Coupled, "Taken", "In a Relationship", "Seeing Someone", Attached, "Involved in a complicated way you wouldn't understand"... all of the above?"Last year at SPX, I purchased SHITHOLE (The story of my first

Synd-ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049998548754501378noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23829803.post-46427501039545657422009-06-14T04:26:00.000-04:002009-06-14T04:26:01.279-04:00

+ Another one for the Periodic Table Collection: The Periodic Table of Typefaces - also available for sale as prints, wall decals (so cool), and computer wallpaper (that's free).+ Instead of saying the label design on a product is really "confusing, smushed together, and ugly" call it Hyperbolic Bronnerism instead. (And while I know it violates every "rule" of graphic design, it's really tempting

Synd-ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049998548754501378noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23829803.post-67571995455905490212009-06-11T22:08:00.003-04:002009-06-11T22:13:43.194-04:00

"Think about it - toilet paper is really archaic and DISGUSTING!"Yes, this is a REAL product. Sure, I can see it being helpful in some medical cases, but if you're too grossed out to use toilet paper in your hand to wipe, get thee on some Prozac for that OCD.

Synd-ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049998548754501378noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23829803.post-53652685401584313312009-06-10T20:46:00.002-04:002009-06-17T11:03:56.472-04:00

Although I thought I had done a really thorough sweep of the Armory during MoCCA Fest, there were still many comics I just missed completely, most likely because there were too many people in front of their table at the time, and I forgot to stop back. Looking over Alex Robinson's haul from MoCCA Fest, I wondered if we had been at the same event! Still, I've got comics for the summer or maybe

Synd-ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049998548754501378noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23829803.post-32272286103090432512009-06-08T20:55:00.002-04:002009-06-17T11:03:56.472-04:00

This weekend I had a very nice time at the annual MoCCA Art Fest, an event for small and indie press comic makers to hawk their wares. Although Saturday didn't start well - opening was delayed an hour due to delivery problems, leaving us early arrivals to stand out in the sun for an extra hour - in all it was a good small con. I've got a huge stack of comics to read and write about, and really

Synd-ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049998548754501378noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23829803.post-48619960760928921852009-06-02T15:00:00.003-04:002009-06-02T17:15:52.427-04:00

Dear eMusic:When I saw the news earlier this week that eMusic was adding the Sony back catalog, my initial reaction was, as a mainly independent label/alternative music listener, I'll hardly download any tracks from Sony, but if I'm really desperate for a song or two that happens to be on a Sony label, it will be there for me. The NY Times article also noted: "As part of the deal, eMusic says it

Synd-ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049998548754501378noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23829803.post-19646607357914678932009-06-01T17:31:00.000-04:002009-06-01T17:31:00.474-04:00

A few weeks ago, this e-mail from the excellent blogger (and friend) behind She Never Shuts Up dropped in my inbox:Anyway for some reason I read this article and the first thing I thought was, "This is the kind of pop culture thing AJ covers so well! I wish she'd write about this so I can read it, then pretend those were all my thoughts!" Is it possible to make requests, like you're a DJ and I

Synd-ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049998548754501378noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23829803.post-64508058663255496612009-05-31T00:34:00.000-04:002009-05-31T00:34:00.153-04:00

Many years ago, designers lamented losing a square foot of art space when the vinyl record ceded to the 5" x 5" CD case. Now that album covers have basically shrunk to 1" x 1" for display on an MP3 player screen (and slightly larger on the computer scrren), they have all but given up hope. However, it wasn't just LP album covers that had fantastic designs, many 7" sleeves were pretty cool as well

Synd-ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049998548754501378noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23829803.post-27765390598297232432009-05-29T01:51:00.000-04:002009-05-29T01:51:00.654-04:00

+ While I'm frustrated by Marvel Comic's rising cover prices, annoyed by their epic "events" that spread a major story over multiple series ($$$), and completely disgusted by Marvel's "Sex and the City"-influenced Marvel Divas book, it's an almost sure thing I'll be picking up their limited-run Models Inc. later this year, featuring Tim Gunn as a comic book action hero!+ A column I wish had been

Synd-ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049998548754501378noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23829803.post-55515047084477490852009-05-27T18:34:00.000-04:002009-05-27T18:34:01.383-04:00

... from cheapass people buying discount contraception from a Target clearance endcap, apparently.(Again, I should be banned by law from using a cameraphone sometimes.)

Synd-ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049998548754501378noreply@blogger.com2