A cheesy family heirloom

Here's a story about 117-year-old piece of cheese.
I should not have to say anything further to entice you to go read this article.

One of my favorite album covers

From XTC's "Mayor of Simpleton" err .. uhh .. were these called "EPs?" I forget. I am getting old and stuff.

Al Williamson, remembered

Here's a nice remembrance of Al Williamson, courtesy of comicbookresources.com.
Here's how the site introduces the article:

With his passing, Al Williamson left behind a legacy that will continue to live on well into the future. We spoke with Mark Schultz, George Lucas and others about their personal and professional memories of the artist.

Always good when someone interviews the supremely-talented writer and artist Mark Schultz, of "Xenozoic Tales" fame, about anything.

There's lots of cool art to look at, too.

I'd like to write a whole bunch of stuff about Al Williamson, but I doubt I'd have much to add that this story doesn't already cover. He was a brilliant artist, who captured flowing anatomy along with perfect pacing and wonderful use of black and white spaces. Heavily influenced by Alex Raymond, his pages played out dramatically like no others.

I have read many things he drew, including his EC science fiction comics from the '50s, a few westerns, his work on Star Wars in the 1980s, as well as his inking of John Romita Jr. and others in the 1990s.

As an inker, almost nobody could create such fine, flowing brush lines. He always enhanced the pencil art he was given, no matter how different the penciller's style was from his.

Anytime I saw Willimason's name in a comic book's credits, I always gave it a look.

There are lots of "Art of Al Williamson" type books out there, including a beautiful volume that collects his "Flash Gordon" work, from across several decades. I'd recommend anything he did.

I went to Costco yesterday and didn't buy a thing!

How unusual is that?

Sure it's comedy, but is it funny?

Illegal immigrant farm worker hearings in Congress aren't funny ... or are they?

They might be funny, if the chairman invited Stephen Colbert, because of a segment from his show on the topic.
How strange.

The subcommittee chairman invited the Comedy Central personality to testify at the hearing, which addressed the possibility of offering illegal immigrant farm workers a path to citizenship. Colbert’s “expertise” in the arena of immigration and farm labor stems from a July 2010 episode of his TV show “The Colbert Report,” during which he joined subcommittee chairwoman Rep. Zoe Lofgren to spend a day doing the work of an agriculture laborer.

Maybe next, he'll get invited to speak at a Tea Party rally, because of his expertise as a no-comprimise conservative commentator!

James Rainey of he LA Times gives us a little more information:

It turns out that the real joke was not on Congress but by Congress, or at least some of its members. They and their fellow travelers in the punditocracy wouldn't or couldn't wrap their minds around the idea that satirists are citizens too. And that they are often the citizens with a way of cutting right to the guts of a matter.

Of course, Fox News thinks it was inappropriate. Does this surprise anyone?

If Democratic leaders were trying to bring national attention to migrant farm labor by inviting comedian Stephen Colbert to a House panel hearing on Friday, they appear to have succeeded, but Colbert's performance didn't leave many lawmakers laughing.

John Conyers was one, says Fox:

Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich, chairman of the committee, tried to kick Colbert out before he could testify.
"I'm asking you to leave the committee room completely, and submit your statement," he said.

Of course, Nancy Pelosi liked it, which explains further why Fox hated it:

... House Speaker Nancy Pelosi didn't think Colbert was out of line.
"Of course I think it's appropriate," she said. "He's an American. He can bring attention to an important issue. I think it's great."

As usual, Mark Evanier summed it up perfectly on his weblog:

I suppose that Colbert did some good in that he got some attention for an issue that many wish to demagogue but few wish to actually fix. But I don't see that he did anything that would get us closer to fixing it. Then again, probably nothing that happens these days before a Congressional subcommittee is going to get us any closer.

Personally, Congress hasn't been any fun since Jim Traficant was sent to jail. They should bring him back to testify about something.

Some good Usagi news

Here's a nice article from comicbookresources.com about some upcoming "Usagi Yojimbo" stuff.
In October, Fantagraphics - the first publisher to offer an ongoing "Usagi Yojimbo" series - will release "Usagi Yojimbo: The Special Edition," a two-hardcover slipcased collection of the original run, currently available as seven trade paperbacks. Meanwhile, Dark Horse, Usagi's current home, continues to publish the adventures of Sakai's anthropomorphic hero monthly, in what are mostly one or two-issue self-contained stories.
With this little post is a page from an upcoming issue of "Usagi," #132, in fact.
Let me be clear: Usagi is one of my favorite comics of all time. I have been reading it since 1995, and thanks to the Fantagraphics trades and back issue scouring, I have just about every issue ever published.
I probably won't buy the deluxe edition hardcover, because I already have all the material in it. But for anyone who has never seen this material, a giant hardcover collection would be a wonderful way to get started on the adventures of the rabbit bodyguard.
The character has changed in appearance a little bit since the early issues, and Sakai's skill as an artist has grown considerably, so what you'll get in the hardcover will be a little different that what you'd see in the current monthly comics.
Simply put: every month, we see that Sakai is one of the greatest cartoonists out there. He has a sense of storytelling that is simple, and at the same time perfectly expressive for his stories. You can pick up any issue at any time and not be lost in the backstory.
And, as this collection proves, there is plenty of Usagi out there for people who want more.

Bee very quiet

So, today, I was playing with the children in the back yard, when I saw a bee on the railing of the deck.
The bee wasn't moving hardly at all. It was only dragging itself along the wood, very slowly.
Thinking I'd never really have a chance to observe a bee at such close range, I watched him for a while. It kept moving along very slowly, and was using its antennae to feel the wood in front of it as it sat and looked at me.
Eventually, it dawned on me that I should take some pictures while I could get so close without fear of retribution or at least a nasty sting.
So, here for your viewing pleasure are the pictures of a very quiet bee in my back yard.

Water you talking about?

Why, I am talking about a new video from Paul and Storm!
"Because there just wasn’t enough going on at PAX already, we decided to make a video featuring ourselves, 68 last-minute volunteers, five geek superstars, and a bottle of water."

If it ain't broken, don't fix it. But, what if it is?

This is a very interesting article from the New Yorker a few weeks ago about the United States Senate.
It's really long, but very enlightening.
I think the most salient passage is this:

Encumbered with aides, prodded by hourly jolts from electronic media, racing from the hearing room to the caucus lunch to the Power Hour to the airport, senators no longer have the time, or perhaps the inclination, to get to know one another—least of all, members of the other party. Friendships across party lines are more likely among the few spouses who live in Washington. After Udall joined the Senate, last year, he was invited to dinner by Alexander, because Jill Cooper Udall and Honey Alexander had become friends through a women’s social club. It remains the only time Udall has set foot in the house of a Republican senator. (Vice-President Joe Biden, in his autobiography, recalls that, in the seventies, a bipartisan group of senators and their wives hosted a monthly dinner: “In those days Democrats and Republicans actually enjoyed each other’s company.”) When I asked Chris Dodd how well he knew, for example, Jim DeMint, Dodd said, “Not at all. Whereas Jesse Helms and I knew each other pretty well.” He repeated something that Jon Kyl, the Republican whip, from Arizona, had recently said to him: “There’s no trust.” Dodd, whose father was a senator, went on, “That’s really all there is—this place really operates on that. I don’t think anyone would argue with that conclusion. And if that’s missing . . . ”

I don't know that much about the Senate, but it sure seems like this sums up modern politics: Never agree with the other guy, never admit you are wrong and never, ever try to reach a middle ground with anyone. About anything. Did I mention never?
And, by extension, don't build alliances with anyone except people who think exactly like you do.
Try applying this philosophy to your everyday life for a month and see how well it works.
Probably about as well as it seems to be working in the Senate.

What was Google doing the other day?

By now, you may know already about Google Instant.
If not, you can click on that link and go see.

Vote early, vote often!

Over here at Spike TV, you can go vote for your favorite science fiction, fantasy and comic book related movies and other stuff from the past year in the "Scream 2010" contest.
One of the cool things is that you can vote for Jill Thompson for her art on Beasts of Burden.
I'd love to see all my readers stuff the ballot box.
(Or, is that "all of my reader stuff the ballot box?" Something like that, anyway.)
You can also go vote for Mike Mignola for best writer (even though I'd also think he could be a nominee for best artist) on "Hellboy," and other comics.
There's lots of other non-comic book material to vote on there too, mostly based around movies like "Avatar" and "Inception," and "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus."
When in doubt, I voted for a whole bunch of "True Blood" stuff for Hallie.
Anyway, go look. You'll probably have fun voting.

(A side note: the opening page of that Mike Mignola Web site is really cool. Go take a look even if you don't care about Hellboy or Spike TV's contests.)

Don an angus chapeau

Ok, this is silly, but it's a Web site I visited a long time ago but I always seem to think of when I think of silly Web sites: Hats of Meat.
I'd love to add some kind of silly comment, but there is nothing I could say that could possibly top the pathos you can find by simply clicking on that little link.
Have fun.

Well, fry mah hide!

Seems to be a theme here for the last few days, but the Internet also has brought us back daily "Lil Abner" strips. Modern newspapers lack this: a comic strip so strong in its appeal that people buy the paper just to read it. Remember "Steve Canyon," "Flash Gordon," and many others?
Daily newspaper strips and so small now that even being in color doesn't make them very enticing.
Ah well, here's a "Lil Abner" sample, as any fool can plainly see:
(An official tip of theIndians' cap to the person who knows and posts the correct punch line to " ... as any fool can plainly see.")

Serial cereal blogging (Or, breakfast at BK)

According to this, Burger King is trying to horn in on McDonald's breakfast business. The fast food giant is adding egg and breakfast meat platters and pancakes, sort of like McDonald's, and some other items.
According to the story:
"Burger King is introducing nine new breakfast items including blueberry biscuits and pancake platters and planning a major breakfast marketing blitz — all with an eye toward eating up some of McDonald's morning business."
According to the AP story:
"THE NEWS: Burger King is introducing nine new breakfast items and planning a major marketing blitz — all with an eye toward eating up some of McDonald's morning business.
THE PUSH: Chief Marketing Officer Mike Kappitt said the company has dabbled in breakfast for years since Burger King introduced breakfast in 1979 but is now making it a major focus with six new television ads.
THE NEW FOOD: The new offerings include platters of pancakes, eggs, sausage and other breakfast items ranging from $2.29 to $4.29 and a ciabatta sandwich with eggs, ham, bacon, tomatoes and cheese for $2.89."
Investorplace.com tells us something interesting about the money involved:
"It’s conspicuous that this menu reformulation comes amid a buyout. That’s because breakfast sales are a measly 12% of total BK revenue – compared to McDonald’s, which pulls in about 25% of its sales first thing in the morning. Clearly there is room to grow, and making a push for breakfast sales makes good business sense for Burger King."
While I have generally preferred BK's hamburgers to McDonald's, their breakfast has never appealed to me much. I like their french toast sticks and their little hash browns, but I am not a big fan of croissants, so many of their breakfast sandwiches just leave me cold.
I do, however, really like McDonald's in the morning. So, if BK can come up with something similar, but better, they can probably win over at least some of my fast-food breakfast business.
So, I'll probably give the new option a try one of these days.
More later, when there's more, later.

Why am I up so early? Googling!

Now, Google's logo is completely gray. And, there's no link yet to tell us why!
What's going on here?
Mashable.com tells us the following:
The Google homepage is sporting a new logo that changes color as you type, and it’s likely a big hint as to what the company will announce at its “can’t miss” search event on Wednesday.
When you arrive on the search giant homepage today, you’ll be greeted with a gray Google doodle. When you start typing a search query though, the color magically returns to Google’s iconic logo. This follows yesterday’s logo, a collection of animated particles that react to the movement of the cursor.

Google balls (Google, in this case, is a verb!)

If you were wondering what Google was doing Tuesday with those little balls in their logo that kept moving away from your mouse, so were a lot of people, including CBS News.
Earlier Tuesday we wrote about the Google homepage illustration (or "doodle," as Google calls these things) that's sparked so many Google searches it popped up in Google Trends. By late morning, variations of "Google balls," "Google logo" and "Google dots" took up five spots on Google Trends' top searches.
The search - about the floating, size-changing, swooping balls that make up the word "Google" on the search page - is still popular Tuesday evening, and Google itself is mostly mum on the doodle's meaning, but the following tweet appeared on Google's official Twitter page by mid-afternoon: "Boisterous doodle today. Maybe it's excited about the week ahead..."
And the Christian Science Monitor.
Says they: Changes to the traditional Google homepage logo are often an attempt to honor artists and important historical figures – or to draw attention to an event such as the Olympics. But today's Google logo – a mass of bright, bouncy colored balls – isn't obviously linked to a birthday or anniversary, and Google has remained mum on the inspiration for the change.
The New York Daily News was asking, too.
The popular search engine has unveiled its latest logo lunacy and Google-philes are getting their giggles playing with the colorful dots.
So was the Washington Post. They added: If merely for the amount of mystery surrounding it, today's "Google Doodle" is officially, already, Comic Riffs's Animation of the Day.
What about Entertainment Weekly?
Or, USA Today?
They were interested, too.
In fact, here's some links from Google News itself.
No word yet from the National Enquirer.
I will continue to monitor developments, as they occur.

Another interesting place for cartoons

Yesterday, I noted "comics.com" as a good place to find comics and editorial cartoons.
Another place is Yahoo News, which has it's own staple of comics, many of which overlap.
Yahoo has a few editorial cartoonists that comics.com doesn't, including Pat Oliphant, which is often featured in Newsweek. Regardless of your politics, the man can draw!
Yahoo also carries "Classic Bloom County," which is fun to see. It's one of my all-tme favorites, and re-running on the Internet, you can read it daily, but it doesn't take newsprint space away from new cartoons.
In fact, there are several re-run comics in Yahoo and elsewhere.

Did you know (TV edition)?

The longest running show on TV is "Meet the Press (NBC News)," which started November 6, 1947.

A lot of people remember that from when Tim Russert died. He hadn't ben on the show for the whole time, but it seemed like he was there for most of it.

The next two oldest shows still on probably would be harder to guess.
There are only two other shows with 60 plus years on TV. They are:
* "CBS Evening News (CBS News)," which started August 14, 1948; and
* "Music and the Spoken Word," a syndicated show that started in October 1949.

Has anyone ever watched "Music and the Spoken Word?"

Get Fuzzy; also some good puns

"Get Fuzzy" is one of those comic strips I don't read daily, but I do buy the big treasury-sized collections when they come out. The author, Darby Conley, often comes up with some clever puns that make me laugh. Here's a strip with a few of them.
By way of a plug, there's lots of newspaper comics and even editorial cartoons available on http://comics.com.

Serial cereal blogging

Today, I didn't feel like eating anything for breakfast. So, I had a little serving of apple sauce. It was the "natural" kind without sugar or cinnamon or anything. I like the kind with pears in it best, because it's usually green.