So… in the State of The Union Address, George W. Bush announced that the United States has an “oil addiction,” and that we need to do something about it.
I couldn’t agree more.
But I don’t think we should be wasting our time with solar, hydroelectric, wind, or “zero-emission” coal. All of those are messy, expensive, and ugly. I want nukes. (more…)
The following comes from Adam Askins of Dim Bulb Comics:
Nearly two years ago, I emailed you a request for permission to drop Schlock and Ennesby into the background of one of my strips as a way of showing my love for your work. You graciously allowed me the use of the characters and, since then, I’ve been meaning to get around to thanking you for it.
Finally, after a couple years of off and on contemplation, I came up with this. I’ve included links to the poster version and the drawing without the poster bits because I’m apparently vain enough that it bothers me that I had to obscure parts of the drawing with text.
Once again, thanks for keeping the Schlock coming and good luck with it in the years to come.
Sincerely,
Adam Askins
Thanks, Adam! Sorry it took so long to get this up.
My 8-year-old spent some of his allowance on a collection of “Sonic the Hedgehog” games for our Gamecube. I watch him and the other kids play these older games, and I realize that their enjoyment does not depend on pixel density, polygon counts, or anything else the console manufacturers would have us spend money on. It’s about PLAY.
A little less retro: I got a copy of Thief: Deadly Shadows for the XBox (for $3.71 — what a bargain!) and noticed that the animation and control was kind of clunky compared to other, newer XBox games I’ve got. But the game has PLAY — it engages me. The story is interesting, and while the interface has more than its share of klunk and kludge, I’m not going to complain about a three-dollar and seventy-one cent investment that has captured 250 minutes of my time so far.
(Well, I am going to complain, but that’s because I was up until three AM last night, and I’ve got work to do today.)
(Edit: Did I say 250 minutes? It’s more like 1200, but who’s counting?)
I’m not saying I don’t enjoy the newer, faster, higher-resolution games, too. I guess my point is that I don’t feel a pressing need to have the latest console or the latest titles. I play to relax, I play to escape, I play to have fun. None of that is affected in any way by what anybody else happens to be playing.
It would appear that alchoholic beverages are linked to several kinds of cancers (link). Doctor Paolo Boffetta of the International Agency for Research on Cancer announced the results of studies showing the link, and said “Given the linear dose-response relation between alcohol intake and risk of cancer, control of heavy drinking remains the main target for cancer control.”
That’s pretty damning if you’re a whiskey. “Linear dose-response relation” is science talk for “the bigger the dose, the bigger the response,” and since the response in this case is cancer, a zero-dose would be safest.
But Boffetta and his team aren’t advocating teetotaling, because a LITTLE bit of alchohol offers some protection against cardiovascular disease. And here’s where I think they blow it with the numbers game:
I like to be able to plug the things that my BlogAds sponsors are advertising. If it’s a blog, I’ll read it. If it’s merchandise, I’ll sample it.
Sadly, the latest sponsor is offering a service I can’t try out for you — worldwide satellite internet access.
I know there are world travellers among my readers. Have a look over there in the left column, check out “Satellite Internet.” These folks may just have what you’ve been looking for (especially if you’ve been “looking” via Google over a 28.8 dial-up line somewhere in western Africa).
There’s this snippet of dialog in the “Objects in Space” episode of Firefly, in which Wash says “that sounds like science fiction.” Zoe responds “You live on a spaceship, dear.” Well… look around you, folks. We’ve got robots on Mars, and internet access via satellite. I can say “that sounds like science fiction,” and my wife can say “you make your living providing content via a global network of computers, dear.”
So… Satellite Internet. Check it out.
Last year you people did something cool for Sandra’s birthday. At my request, you raided her Amazon Wish List, and provided stuff that my current income couldn’t. It really was wonderful.
A month later at Sandra’s request, some of you who follow her Live Journal or the Nightstar Forums raided MY Amazon Wish List. Again, you provided what our family’s income could not.
Naturally both Sandra and I blogged about your generosity. And between us our blogs reach well over 10,000 people.
A couple of months later, I forget exactly when, we noticed that there was a wish list for “Sandra Tayler” in Pleasanton California. Between April 1st and April 4th of 2005 it got filled with 88 items, and the list has not been updated since. Most of these items looked like “guy” stuff. Now I’m not going to rule out the possibility that there is a guy in Pleasanton whose name is Sandra Tayler, but I’m leaning heavily towards “somebody is trying to misappropriate the generosity of my fans.”
If you want to have a look for yourself, by all means, you be the judge.
I’m not asking you to buy stuff — Sandra’s birthday has passed, and we got on just fine without piles of goodies. But if you ever DO decide you want to buy stuff for Sandra Tayler, please make sure you’ve got the right one. I’d hate to think that your act of kindness is getting hijacked by some greedy, no-account punk who doesn’t want to have to pay for his X-box habit.
Today is Lewis Carroll’s birthday, and per Internet Tradition, writers, bloggers, and Live Journalers are supposed to write something that takes their readers “down the rabbit hole.”
I’m pretty sure this means “write fiction that features the writer as a character.”
Sandra did a nice one. I point you at it because today is also HER birthday. She’s 33, and even more the love of my life than she was when we first married (back when she was 20.)
(Note: “Gleek” is a code-name for our about-to-turn-five-years-old daughter.)
Rob at PureHero.com liked my plug almost as much as I liked my new favorite shirt. He liked it so much he decided to extend a 15% discount to Schlockers — just use the promo code “schlock” when placing your order.
A couple of days ago my “Punisher” shirt arrived from PureHero — these are the guys helping to sponsor your daily Schlock fix with the Blog Ad to the left. The shirt is made out of a very fine polyester mesh (not “big-hole” mesh like gym clothes, but mesh just the same) with a monstrous latex skull on the front.
I’ll sum it up in three words: New Favorite Shirt.
In the photograph here I’ve got a black undershirt beneath my Pure Hero Punisher Crew, and I’m sporting black jeans, New Rock boots, one o’ them Hot Topic black belts, and a 50-year-old dark wool overcoat.
I wore this ensemble to The Movie Trading Company where our Friday night gamemaster works. His boss took one look at it and said something to the effect of “looks great… but you’re not packing are you?” No, my Frank Castle fantasy stops well short of me carrying submachine guns and large-bore assault pistols (to the video store.)
To be sure, Frank Castle would never wear this shirt. It’s too comfortable. Too STYLISH. His shirts need to be scratchy, and full of things like metal filings and dried paint.
Anyway, if you’re wondering whether the PureHero merchandise is worth the money (this was about twice the cost of a regular cotton tee-shirt), I assure you it is. Because, as I said, “NEW FAVORITE SHIRT.”
–Howard
See, THIS is why I hang out with the Blank Label Comics crew. They’ve got the inside track on EVERYTHING.
Sure, Keenspot announced a television deal for one of their properties back in September, but there’s no actual Keenspot Comic on TV yet. That’s the SLOW track. Fast track? Have a beautiful actress haul your comic onto the set, and BAM! Your strip is on TV.
Alyson Hannigan, that red-headed goddess familiar to geek-boys everywhere, took her copy of Pure Ducky Goodness right onto the set with her in Monday Night’s episode of How I Met Your Mother. And that’s a wrap, folks — Blank Label Comics is the first collective to get a webcomic on TV.
(Okay, so this is a little like claiming to be the first person on Mars by swabbing Opportunity’s wheels with a drop of your blood, but hey… those were YOUR bodily fluids on those wheels, not your competitors’, so PHBBBTBTB!)
