DJ Coffman posted this yesterday, and I just got around to reading it now. Pretty lousy news. If you haven’t been reading Hero By Night, it’s really good stuff–DJ has really made an effort to re-capture the fun-ness of Kirby-era superheroes. Show some support for DJ and the HBN–go buy all the back-issues you can get your hands on. Probably too late to make any real difference, but at least you’ll have a stack of high quality reading.
My passion for WHAT?!
If you are logged in on eBay, the front page has this bit that says “Fuel your passion for _____” and then fills that blank with your most recent eBay purchase and lists several related items. That’s great and all, but my most recent eBay purchase was a one-shot Goon comic by Eric Powell entitled “Satan’s Sodomy Baby.” This results in an unfortunate and disturbing choice of words.
If I truly had a passion for Satan’s Sodomy Baby, I doubt that any fueling of said passion would be wise or, in fact, necessary.
Harvey will kick your entire ass.
So, I’m going to take a second to plug this band, Harvey, on account of their ability to kick all kinds of ass. Three of these guys are former students of mine, but I can’t claim any credit for their prodigious talent–they were awesome before I ever met them. I saw them perform a few weeks back at Mosaics in Belleville and they put on a great show. If you’re in the Alton area Sat. night, go to the shindig there. I can’t make it, but you totally should. They rock socks.
Tom Waits’ True Confessions
So Tom Waits is my MySpace friend, right? (I know! How cool am I?) Anyhow, I just read this bulletin and quite enjoyed it. I think my favorite bit was the “words to live by.”
I just upgraded to the latest WordPress and ComicPress and am in the middle of tweaking things, so please forgive me if it all gets jacked up for a bit. Very busy w/ end-of-the-school-year junk, so it might be awhile ’til it’s all ironed out.
Art on the Square
Like always, the #1 ranked art fair in the nation had lots of art and lots of food. Big variety of media, genres, and food. I got a gyro and some ice cream, but didn’t buy any art. One of the crumby things about being an art teacher is that I can’t afford to actually buy any original art.
Last year, one artist really stood out, and I was happy to see him there again this year. Cbabi Bayoc is a painter/illustrator and his work is so much fun to look at. If you get a chance to see his work in person, you should–the pics on his website don’t do justice to the color intensity in the original paintings.
There was also a lot of food.
Third Degree Glass Factory
Last night I went to the Third Degree Glass Factory on Delmar in St. Louis for the open house thing they do the 3rd Friday of every month. My wife, Sarah, went last month, but this was my first time there. Very cool stuff–live band, glassblowing, fire juggling, beer, and one of the neatest men’s rooms I’ve ever seen. They have a glassblowing program at SIUE, but I never got a chance to take a class while I was there. Anyhow, if you’re near St. Louis on June 20, go check out Third Degree.
Oh, by the way–Belleville’s Art on the Square (ranked # 1 art fair in the nation!) is this weekend. Lots of art and really good food (the line for the gyros is usually long but always worth it). I think we’re headed there tomorrow.
Drink and Draw TONIGHT!
So if you know about the Drink and Draw Social Club, then you know it sounds pretty sweet. Well, there’s this place in Belleville, Illinois, just minutes east of St. Louis, called Mosaics on Main, and they’re trying to start up a local chapter TONIGHT. I’ma go check it out and encourage you to do the same if you are in the area. I’ll try to post something about it tomorrow.
The Comic Book Challenge…
…is advertising HERE! Check that stuff out, man! I was pretty excited to see that D.J. Coffman’s Hero by Night bid on advertising here, but now the contest that turned D.J. from a comics curmudgeon into a giddy comics superstar has also chosen to use my humble site to promote itself. Very cool. So check them out (last years’s winner, Jorge Vega’s Gunplay, is super-cool, too), and enter your own comic–before the end of the month!
The Felice Brothers
Have you heard these guys? Check out the song “Frankie’s Gun” and tell me if it isn’t the awesomest. I’ve been listening to it almost constantly for several weeks now. It makes me think of Eric Powell’s The Goon, and I don’t think that’s just because of the name “Frankie.” Although maybe it is.
Happy Frakkin’ Birthday, Chris!
I was a big fan of Battlestar Galactica when I was a kid. Loved the show, wanted to be Starbuck: chomping on cigars, mackin’ on the ladies, raking in the cubits playing cards, and shooting down Cylon Raiders in my Viper.
Then Sci Fi did the whole re-imagining thing and I had mixed feelings about it. I wanted it to give me the same kind of childlike joy that the original series did, and after George Lucas had so thoroughly and repeatedly disappointed me on that count, I was fairly certain that the network that had given us dubious programming like “Stan Lee’s Lightspeed” and “Mansquito” would fail miserably. So, I didn’t even give it a chance. My friend Chris told me a few times to watch it, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.
Anyhow, a couple weeks ago my wife read a quote from Joss Whedon saying that Battlestar Galactica was the best science fiction show on TV. Given the fact that Joss Whedon is my master now, I knew I had to watch. So here I am, just as the fourth and final season is starting, completely lost but wanting to know just what Joss thinks is so awesome.
So Chris comes to the rescue, loaning me the season one DVDs, and once again I’m late to the party but happy to be here, spending hours glued to the TV catching up on the first 3 seasons. Today’s Chris’s birthday, so just thought I’d give him this shout-out to say, “Thanks for the DVD loan–I wish I had listened to you in the first place.” Happy birthday, man.
