Dwayne McDuffie, 1962-2011

From CBR:

CBR News has learned that comic writer, animation producer and respected industry veteran Dwayne McDuffie passed away. The cause of death and specific details are unknown at this time.

A native of Detroit, McDuffie officially joined the comics industry as part of Marvel Comics editorial in the late '80s. While working on special projects for the publisher, he quickly made his name as a writer creating series such as "Damage Control" and helping to redefine the Deathlok character to fan and critical acclaim. He soon left the staff to become a full time freelance writer, becoming a voice in the industry for diversity, particularly fighting against stereotypical portrayals of people of color on the comic book page.

In 1993, McDuffie co-founded Milestone Media along with creators Denys Cowan, Michael Davis and Derek T. Dingle. The company's mission statement involved expanding the role of minorities in comics both on the page and off, and they launched (through DC Comics) a line of superheroes that included "Static," "Icon" and Xombi" – all of which McDuffie had a hand in creating.

Over the years, the writer contributed to scores of notable comic book launches and series, always with a keen eye on character, regardless of race. In 2000, his character, Static, made the leap totelevision in the Saturday morning cartoon "Static Shock." In 2003, an episode of the show dealing with gun violence earned the writer the Humanitas Prize.

In recent years, McDuffie pursued dual tracks in animation and comics writing. He served as story editor for the popular "Justice League Unlimited" animated series and wrote a number of DC's recent direct-to-DVD animated films. McDuffie had notable runs on comic series "Fantastic Four" and "Justice League of America," often incorporating Black characters into the core of the fabled franchises.

McDuffie's latest work was the script for the "All Star Superman" animated adaptation, which went on sale today in stores across America. CBR ran a lengthy interview with McDuffie about that project last week and caught up with him, looking in good health and acting jovial, last week at the Paley Center's Los Angeles premier for the film. McDuffie's last known public statement was a post to his Facebook page Sunday at 12:17 PM Pacific. He was scheduled to sign at Golden Apple Comics tomorrow evening as part of Reggie Hudlin's Reggie's World launch party.

The writer is survived by his wife, though at this point no further details are available on what exactly happened to McDuffie. The staff of Comic Book Resources offers our deepest condolences to his family and friends.

# # #

Updates to the originals story are available here.

Rich Johnston at Bleeding Cool also posted a rather touching tribute to the man.  It's worth reading.  Chances are, if you have kids, they (and by proxy you) have probably watched more than a few McDuffie cartoons.

Eric Powell's poignant and heartfelt reflections on the state of modern creator-owned comics (UPDATED)

Well, so to speak.

The collective sphincter of the creator-owned comic book artists has been stretched to the size of Nebraska, thanks to the Galactus-sized member of the superhero monopoly.

It goes downhill from there.  While The Creators Front for Diversity in Comics did valiantly try to bleep out the swear words, it's kind of like trying to blur out the boobs in "Human Centipede."  Eric Powell paints a gruesome picture of the miserable life of a creator-owned artist trying to make his way in an industry dominated by what amounts to two giant corporations trying to squeeze every red cent out of their intellectual properties.  And, being Eric Powell, he does so in a way reminiscent of his life as a historical consultant on the set of "Deliverance."  But he does also make a hell of a point.

This one's probaly not safe for kids.  Or Republicans.





UPDATE --  Annnd... the video's been taken down.  Aparently it raised a few too many eyebrows.  Here's Powell's explanation from his Facebook page:

The video I released last week in an attempt to draw attention to the lopsided tendencies of our industry has clearly become a divisive force instead of the unifying positive one I intended it to be. For that reason I've taken it down.

I work in satire and humor. Apparently those aspects of the video were lost on some people. If anyone misconstrued the meaning, my exact quote at the end of the video was, "We have to make original creator owned content just as vital to sustaining this industry as the Marvel and DC super hero books." And that's exactly what I meant and feel. At no point did I say or even allude that no one should buy Super Hero comics. I believe diversification is the only way to keep this industry vital and strong. Our country just went through a major "TOO BIG TO FAIL" scenario. Marvel and DC control 70% of the market and there are plenty of reasons that the corporations that own them could find to stop producing comics and use those super hero properties in more profitable ventures. I still believe that to be a legitimate fear. I need no more confirmation of my beliefs than that Shelton Drum, one of the best retailers in the business and the person who runs Heroes Con, agrees with me that we need diversification.
The video came from noble aspirations and the most genuine part of my heart. I love the art form of comics. And my wishes were only to make this industry stronger and create a better atmosphere for it's creators. For that I have no apologies.
"Be the Change you want to see in the world." -Gandhi
"But I tried, didn't I? Goddamnit, at least I did that." -R.P. McMurphy
Thanks,
Eric Powell

 

Bat-Jong Il!

Is there nothing The Onion can't improve upon?  Full disclosure; Batman is my favorite comic book character.  And Kim Jong Il is my favorite crazy despot.  A combination of the two would be glorious.  Glorious!

Kim Jong Il Ends Nuclear Program For Lead In Next 'Batman'

Here are a few stills of the oil paintings (from Bleeding Cool):

The Portugal Effect

In 2000, faced with enormous drug abuse and addiction rates, Portugal decided as a nation to decriminalize drug use of all kinds.  Minor possession and use of drugs were no longer a criminal offense.  Police focused on cracking down on dealers instead of users.

As the sweeping reforms went into effect nine years ago, some in Portugal prepared themselves for the worst. They worried that the country would become a junkie nirvana, that many neighborhoods would soon resemble Casal Ventoso, and that tourists would come to Portugal for one reason only: to get high. “We promise sun, beaches, and any drug you like,” complained one fearful politician at the time.

So almost ten years later, how's that working out for Portugal?

Well... drug use is down, the number of addicts in treatment is way up, and drug seizures are up by almost 500%.  Not too shabby.  Maybe California was on to something.  Read the full story here.  (Via Kottke.)

Apocolypse WOW!

I'm by no means an Armageddon enthusiast.  But I'll be the first to admit the potential for dual suns in 2012 is pretty badass.

Earth could be getting a second sun, at least temporarily.

Dr. Brad Carter, Senior Lecturer of Physics at the University of Southern Queensland, outlined the scenario to news.com.au. Betelgeuse, one of the night sky's brightest stars, is losing mass, indicating it is collapsing. It could run out of fuel and go super-nova at any time.



Probably even cooler in real life.

 So let's have a rundown of crazy/creepy/cool phenomena leading up to the End of the World:

The Mayan calendar, the solstice eclipse, droves of dead animals, Zodiac repositioning, global warming, super quakes, CERN's particle collider, snuggies, super flu, the Lethal Weapon relaunch, Sarah Palin running for president in 2012, high tides and mudslides.




As far as apocalypses apocali (thanks Richard) go, I feel like this one's shaping up nicely.

Any other signs of the End Times I've missed?

White Lightnin'!

So I'm a bit behind the times on this issue.  Further proof, I suppose, that I should be reading Penny Arcade on a regular basis (and watching the weekly videos).


Because white actors need more roles!  Ugh.

 Anywho, on to the issue in question;  Thor.  As you probably know, there's a film version of the longtime Marvel comic book that will soon be hitting the big screens (directed by Kenneth Branagh!).  As a longtime Thor fan, I've been decently excited about the upcoming film (although I am a little wary of the costumes), and so a link to an article about a movement to boycott the Thor movie caught my eye.  Full disclosure; at first I thought the controversy was religious, due to the teaser at Bleeding Cool.  I guessed that Christian groups were mad about a movie glorifying a false idol.  Turns out they were just mad about one of the supporting characters being played by a black guy.  Even better.

Boycott Thor's outrage stems from the fact that Heimdall, the all-seeing Norse guardian of the Rainbow Bridge and Asgardian watchman extraordinaire, is being played by African-American actor Idris Elba.  Since the Nordic myths are pretty white-centric, site runner Kyle Rogers sees the portrayal of a traditionally white mythological figure by a black actor as an outrage, as well as further proof of a sinister Leftist agenda in the mainstream.

Personally, I agree with the Penny Arcade guys, as well as Terry Bartley and Cody Walker.  In a very strict, very narrow sense, Rogers could maybe have a point.  If the upcoming Thor movie was supposed to be some kind of accurate retelling of an ancient myth (the concept itself being something of an oxymoron), then yeah, maybe it would make sense to cast a Nordic fella as Heimdall.

But it's not.  It's a movie based on comic books.  Taking place in the modern world.  So what if Heimdall's black?  The movie stars a giant wrestler who runs around with giant bird wings on his helmet.  That's not exactly historically accurate.  And that's the point.  Thor's a Marvel movie loosely based on a Marvel comic book, which in turn is loosely based on Nordic myth.  Nothing's set in stone here, nor should it be. 

And after spending a while on the Boycott Thor page, it's pretty evident that Rogers is using the issue to push his racist ideals.  The sooner this guy's fifteen minutes expire, the better.

Rooftop gardens

Huffpost ran a really interesting little piece about Ben Flanner, a New York resident working on establishing urban gardens on rooftops around the city.  Motives behind the rooftop gardens, aside from being a great use of space, include growing organic crops locally and selling them to residents and restaurants, reducing carbon footprints by having a local source of vegetation instead of relying on vegetation being trucked in, and keeping the agricultural tradition alive in places you'd least expect.  Here's a link to Flanner's site, it's got all kinds of cool stuff.  And here's a quick little video showcasing some of Flanner's work in preparation for the 2011 growing year.



This is such a cool fusion of urban and rural life.  I'm seriously tempted to hit up my landlord and see if they'll let me start looking in to planting a garden on top of the apartments.

Locally, the new Lightcatcher Museum features a green roof.  Although it's more an experiment in ecology than in agriculture, according to a post on the Herald's Politics Blog.  Still, it's pretty damn cool.




Picture from the Bellingham Herald's politics blog.




Picture from the Bellingham Herald's politics blog.



Picture from the Bellingham Herald's politics blog.



A Disease of Language

We are insensate molecules, assembled from the accidental code engraved upon our genes.

Mud that sat up.

Chemicals mingle in our sediment and in their interactions and combustions we suppose we feel, suppose we love.

We reproduce, mathematically predictable as spores within a petri dish.

We function briefly, then subside once more to the unknowing silt.

We are a blind contingency, an unimportant restlessness of dirt and yet Rossetti paints his dead Elizabeth, head tilted back on her impossibly slim throat, eyes closed against the golden light surrounding her.

Clay looks on clay, and understands that it is beautiful.

Through us, the cosmos gazes on itself, adores itself, breaks its own heart.

Through us, matter stares slack-jawed at its own star-dusted countenance and knows, incredulously, that it knows.

And knows that it is universe.

This is a segment from Alan Moore's "Snakes and Ladders" visual monologue, reprinted and illustrated by Eddie Campbell in A Disease of Language.  Disease is a collection of two psychogeographic monologues ("Snakes" and "The Birthing Caul") and an extended interview with Campbell, all of which serve to paint a pretty amazing picture of Moore the Hierophant and Magician.

It's also worth noting, I think, that A Disease of Language (the title of which comes from one of Aleister Crowley's definitions of magic) is pretty damn beautiful in general.  A bit overwhelming, maybe, but anything else would be a disappointment.  I can't recommend this highly enough.

Sebastián and the City

All the hoopla about shifting astrological signs has reminded me about a post I’ve been meaning to throw up since last fall.

Last year Bellingham got to play host to the sculptures of renowned Mexican artist Sebastián. Fourteen of his pieces were placed on display around the downtown area, forming a walking tour of both the artist’s work and Bellingham’s cultural district. The exhibit went up in march and was scheduled to go into October, although I think it had to move on a month early (blame Canada).

The sculptures themselves, these huge geometric works of metal and color (most of which represented a Zodiacal sign, hence the connection) were a real treat to see as I walked and drove around the downtown area last year. On the night before the sculptures left, Kristen and I went downtown and walked the full tour, taking photos of each piece.

It was a little chilly and a little rainy that night, and I had to scrounge around for a seemingly absurd amount of time to find some damn batteries for my camera, but I’m really glad we were able to spend a little time at each piece while they were there. Here’s hoping the City, Allied Arts of Whatcom County and Washington State Tourism will do it again some time. If Bellingham could be described as a beautiful woman, Sebastián’s sculptures could no doubt have been seen as the brightly-colored earrings that that complimented her perfectly.



Libra, on Grand and Flora



Escorpion, on Grand and Central

Piscis, on Grand and Lottie



Leo, on Commercial and Lottie




Sagitario, on the other side of Commercial and Lottie



Virgo, on Commercial



Cancer, on Commercial and Central

Acuario, on Commercial and Flora

Aries, on Commercial and Champion(ish)

Roseta, on Commercial and Champion(ish)

Gemini, on Grand and Champion

Tauro, on Champion (also, taking pictures of black statues at night is hard)

Esfera, on Prospect

Capricornio, on Prospect and Flora

  

Comics Industry Postmortems and Predictions

Bleeding Cool's Rich Johnston posted an interesting look back on comic book sales trends from 2010, as well as a few predictions about the comics industry in the new year.  "Interesting" might be a bit of a subjective term on this one, so I'll qualify it by saying that it's probably more interesting to those of us who read at least a half-dozen different comic book titles every month, from a variety of publishers.  For instance:

As the end of the year approached, the impossible happened and for December DC, buoyed by orders for David Finch’s The Dark Knight topped marketshare over Marvel in terms of dollars for the first time since Superman karked it, though Marvel still kept the title for individual comics sold.

See?  Interesting*!

Pete Postlethwaite, 1946-2011

From The Guardian:

The actor Pete Postlethwaite has died at the age of 64. Friends said he passed away peacefully in hospital in Shropshire yesterday having suffered from cancer for some time.

Postlethwaite was once described by the film director Steven Spielberg as "probably the best actor in the world today".

He worked with Spielberg on two films in 1997 – the fantasy adventure film The Lost World: Jurrassic Park, and Amistad, about a slave mutiny on a ship.

The craggy-featured actor received an Oscar nomination for his performance as Guiseppe Conlon in the 1993 film In The Name Of The Father, about the wrongful convictions of the Guildford Four.

His notable films included the 1996 film Brassed Off, in which he played the leader of colliery band in a Yorkshire community devastated by mine closures. The film was a favourite of the former deputy prime minister John Prescott, and became the inspiration for a coalfield regeneration programme.

Postlethwaite also played the menacing criminal mastermind Kobayashi in the 1995 hit film The Usual Suspects.

In recent years Postlethwaite became known as much for his political activism as his acting. He was the front man in the climate change film The Age of Stupid, arriving at the 2009 London premiere on a bicycle.

After the film's release he threatened to hand back the OBE he was awarded in 2004 in protest at the government's controversial decision to give the go-ahead for Kingsnorth coal-fired power station in Kent.

He also adapted his home to become environmentally responsible, installing a wind turbine and other features.

In 2003 he marched against the war in Iraq and was a vocal supporter of the Make Poverty History campaign.

Born in Warrington, Postlethwaite had originally planned to be a priest. He became a teacher but eventually took to the stage, beginning his career at the Everyman theatre in Liverpool. In 2008 he returned to the Everyman to play the lead in King Lear, a role he had always wanted to play. The performance was one of the highlights of Liverpool's year as the European Capital of Culture.

He is survived by his wife, Jacqui, his son, Will, and daughter, Lily.

Favorite Reads/Listens of 2010

As I've often said before, one of the joys of my day job (aside from bringing women flowers) is the time it affords to devote to listening to audiobooks.  Since moving to Bellingham I have become an audiobook junkie.  Big, small, I listen to them all.  And aside from helping to pass the time, my audiobook addiction is doing its part to keep me pretty well-read.  So here are my top 10 favorite reads/listens for the year.



1. Ulysses by James Joyce.

This is how I spent my summer. The Old Pacific Highway, a makeshift bed in the back of my truck, and 40 disks of Joycian prose. Easily the most challenging work I’ve ever attempted. Also easily the most rewarding. Although I’ll admit I listened to each of the disks an average of 2.4 times and had to pick up a Cliff Notes guide to keep all the characters straight and even now there are still some fuzzy patches (‘Oxen of the Sun’). But this is the kind of book that indelibly changes the reader, setting new watermarks in literature, beauty and life. At least it did for me.



2. Assassination Vacation and Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell.

Vowell has this intensely personal method of relating American history that I find irresistible. These are stories of geeky trips to memorial sites with her sister and nephew, of conversations with B&B proprietors who lay claim to a Confederate heritage, of Ronald Reagan/JFK/John Winthrop inspirational speech mashups. But as far-out as Vowell gets (like the sexual practices of a group of colonial teapot makers, say), it’s always with a mindful eye of history as a whole. She’s a master of laying out a wide net and subtly connecting the dots to reveal a fascinating portrait of the subject at hand. Assassination is a look at the history of America’s first three assassinations (Lincoln, McKinley and Garfield), and Wordy deals with the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Also, the audio books are read by the author herself, who has one of the best radio voices ever (Remember the movie “The Incredibles?” The invisible daughter, Vi? She was voiced by Sarah Vowell), and historical passages within each book are read by a variety of celebrities (including Conan O’Brien).



3. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov.

I feel guilty for taking 28 years to get around to reading this. The audiobook I found was read by the esteemed Jeremy Irons. “She groped for words. I supplied them mentally (‘He broke my heart. You merely broke my life.’)” What an amazing book.






4. Biocentrism by Robert Lanza.

What came first, reality or consciousness? Consciousness, according to Lanza. Part exploration of quantum mechanics, part Intelligent Design for Buddhists, Lanza’s work is currently the authoritative text behind the idea that life engineered existence retroactively. It’s a pretty fascinating concept, one that Lanza goes to great pains to connect with the scientific world.





5. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell and The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke.

Clarke has created a self-contained and meticulously-detailed world reminiscent of the pains Tolkien took in creating Middle Earth. Both Jonathan Strange and Grace Adieu were a treat to read. Looking for the next great fantasy world now that Rowling’s wrapped up all things Harry Potter? Look no further than Clarke's opus, a ten-year labor of love.  Although I hope she picks up the pace a little, I'm eager for more stories out of magical Victorian England.






6. The Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson.

After reading this book I started scouring the internet for journalism jobs in Puerto Rico. The longing persists. I want to live this novel. Maybe without getting beaten up by the cops. But I’ll take the beating if there’s no other way around it. Anyone out there have any Puerto Rican connections?  And when the hell will the Rum Diary movie ever come out?







7. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.

This book is long. Really long. But also really good. There’s something to be said about the intimate relationship that develops between the reader and the character after 1500 pages (or in my case, 51 disks). Set in the turbulent times of Russia’s military engagements with Napoleon and France, the story revolves around several families and their struggle for survival in an increasingly hostile environment (both in times of war and peace). I got a little glossy-eyed over the historical essays after a while, but this is still an excellent read if you have the time.





8. Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon

My first attempt at reading Pynchon several years ago ended in tears. Or at least frustration. Gravity’s Rainbow was not kind to me. I abandoned it after roughly 100 pages, vowing someday to return and try again. Since then, I’ve always been strangely intimidated by Pynchon’s canon. Everything looked and sounded great, but I just couldn’t commit to another Pynchon endeavor. I finally talked myself into trying his latest, Inherent Vice, on audiobook. So glad I did. This has turned out to be one of my all-time favorite mysteries. I love the content (murder, dentists, Atlantis, drugs), I love the setting (Southern California in the early 70s), I love the actor who read it and his pitch-perfect surfer dialect (Ron McLarty) and all the crazy music references and songs from the time. Granted, from what I understand, Inherent Vice is considered ‘Pynchon Light’ for true fans. And that may be true. But I can’t think of a better jumping-on point for the uninitiated.



9. Charlie Wilson’s War by George Crile.

This should be required reading for anyone even remotely interested in the USA’s ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. Actually, I’ll take that one step further and say that this should be required reading for anyone planning on receiving a high school diploma. I haven’t seen the movie yet, does anyone know how it compares to the book?





10. Breakfast of Champions and Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut.

Again, these are books where I’m ashamed to admit I’ve waited so long to read. Both were incredible. I am now a devout Bukononite, for what it’s worth. Also, the audiobook version of Breakfast of Champions is read by Stanley Tucci, and is available for free temporary downloads for Washington state residents with library cards. Although you may want to pick up a copy of the book as well, Vonnegut’s pictures are great.





Honorable mentions

Moby Dick by Herman Melville.

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess.

Our Sentence is Up by Patrick Meaney.

Watership Down by Richard Adams.

Last Evenings on Earth and 2666 (which I haven’t finished quite yet but am really digging) by Roberto Bolaño.

A History of Inequity by Jorge Luis Borges.

The Book of Thoth by Aleister Crowley.

The Blight Way by Patrick F. McManus.

The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer.

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.





Now. Who’s got recommendations for 2011?

Batman and the Rightwingers

The American Right is really weird when it comes to comic books.  The Right is inclined think that since comic books and their respective characters are intrinsically American icons (a sentiment I'm inclined to agree with), and since the Right as a whole sees itself as the "Heartbeat of America" (a sentiment I'm inclined to laugh at), that therefore comic books and characters should be reflective of all things Rightwing.



Pants-wearing Commie!

 This is ridiculous, but it has been a reoccurring theme over the past year.  For instance, there was the minor furor raised when Tea Party protesters were depicted in an unflattering manner (and by that I mean 'realistic') in the pages of Captain America.  And then there was the outrage led by Fox News when Wonderwoman got a newer, supposedly less patriotic costume. 

Now I'll be the first to admit that a good portion of the hooplaw probably had to do with slow news days and Fox's 24-hour news cycle.  When you've gotta generate content nonstop, you can't stop for little things along the way like common sense.  But even taking hyperbolic marketing tactics into consideration, the small portion of the Right that pays attention to comics tends to get very, very upset when a comic book or character does something contrary to its political ideal.

Take the latest stink raised by the Batman/Nightrunner fiasco.  While the details are a bit complex, I'll try to keep it simple for you non-comic book readers.  Basically controversy stems from the ongoing "Batman, Inc." storyline, in which Bruce Wayne decides to take the idea of Batman to a global audience, in an effort to better fight the idea of crime.  Basically this means that there will be more Batmen, or Batman-esque characters around the world, holding down their respective forts in the ongoing battle against crime.  This is still a relatively new phase in the Batman mythos, and thus far there have only been a handful of initiates, but one of the recent additions is the French Batman, a newly-created character by the name of Nightrunner.  Nightrunner is a French Muslim, of Algerian decent.

Cue angry Rightwing response.

I've been thinking about putting something together in an attempt to highlight the ridiculousness of the Right's newfound rage against Batman and Muslims, but web Comic Shortpacked! beat me to it.  This pretty much encapsulates all my feelings (and more) about the issue I've just decided to dub "Bat-hammad-gate."

New Year Resolution # 2666: Seek Out Imperfection

The mention of Trakl made Amalfitano think, as he went through the motions of teaching a class, about a drugstore near where he lived in Barcelona, a place he used to go when he needed medicine for Rosa.  One of the employees was a young pharmacist, barely out of his teens, extremely thin and with big glasses, who would sit up at night reading a book when the pharmacy was open twenty-four hours.  One night, while the kid was scanning the shelves, Amalfitano asked him what books he liked and what book he was reading, just to make conversation.  Without turning, the pharmacist answered that he liked books like The Metamorphosis, Bartleby, A Simple Heart, A Christmas Carol.  And he said that he was reading Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's.  Leaving aside the fact that A Simple Heart and A Christmas Carol were stories, not books, there was something revelatory about the taste of this bookish young pharmacist, who in another life might have been Trakl or who in this life might still be writing poems as desperate as those of his distant Austrian counterpart, and who clearly and inarguably preferred minor works to major ones.  He chose The Metamorphosis over The Trial, he chose Bartleby over Moby-Dick, he chose A Simple Heart over Bouvard and Pécuchet, and A Christmas Carol over A Tale of Two Cities or The Pickwick Papers.  What a sad paradox, thought Amalfitano.  Now even bookish pharmacists are afraid to take on the great, imperfect, torrential works, books that blaze paths into the unknown.  They choose the perfect exercises of the great masters.  Or what amounts to the same thing:  they want to watch the great masters spar, but they have no interest in real combat, when the great masters struggle against that something, that something that terrifies us all, that something that cows us and spurs us on, amid blood and mortal wounds and stench.

-- Roberto Bolaño, 2666

Spider-Man: The Musical

No, seriously.



My initial reaction upon hearing that U2's Bono and The Edge were working on a Broadway version of Spider-Man was pretty grim.  While I love Spider-Man and generally get a kick out of musicals, the pairing sounded disastrous.  Adding in a couple of pretentious sellout "rockers" was like adding stale croutons onto a shit salad (full disclosure -- I actually used to love U2, and still think the Joshua Tree is one of the best rock albums of my lifetime.  We parted ways after high school though, and these days I kind of just hate them in general).

But after watching this trailer, I'm actually really excited to see more.  Those villain masks look amazing, the fluidity of the set is eyebrow-raising, and the music is not unbearable (which is about as kind as I can be). 

My revised reaction; this has the potential to be awesome.



Photo by Annie Leibovitz



Auntie Matter's come to town!

There were so many interesting news stories out there today in the collective consciousness we've dubbed the Internet.  Briefly, here's the news that snagged my attention on this chilly November day:

Coolest news first; ladies and gentlemen, we have antimatter!  Which, apparently we've actually been able to create for a while now, but never for more than an instant or two.

Scientists have long been able to create individual particles of antimatter such as anti-protons, anti-neutrons and positrons – the opposite of electrons. Since 2002, they have also managed to lump these particles together to form anti-atoms, but until recently none could be trapped for long enough to study them, because atoms made of antimatter and matter annihilate each other in a burst of energy upon contact.


Me being the comic book fan that I am, I naturally start thinking of the Anti Monitor as the next logical step in the antimatter journey.

Anti Monitor!

Also, if anyone can come up with a better pun about antimatter and/or dark matter, leave me a comment.  "Auntie Matter" took an embarrassingly long time to come up with.

A copyright lawsuit between the estates of Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and Warner Bros. is once again moving forward.  The outcome of this case should finally answer the question of who actually owns one of the most iconic creations in American history.  Not to mention set up a precedent for pretty much EVERY other creator/publisher conflict in comic books.  Which could potentially cause chaos on a heretofore unseen level.  Should be interesting.  (I first read about this on Bleeding Cool, for the record.)

NPR is still under fire for, well, firing Juan Williams.  They were the first on the "American Idol, but with Really Important Ramifications," choose-your-own-defund-adventure thing that the Republicans have been working on.  Thankfully, the sneaky defund play was tidily defeated by the lame duck Democratic majority still in the House.  A movement to defund after the new year could be a whole different story.  Hopefully they'll have forgotten about NPR by then and will be back to just hating minorities in general.

It may snow this weekend here in Bellingham.  Possibly even tonight.  Goddammit.

Also in Bellingham, it looks like City Council's going to push the implementation of "traffic safety cameras" onto a half-dozen areas.  They're expected to make an announcement next Monday during the scheduled meeting.  I gotta say, as someone who's been covering this story pretty closely, this really doesn't sound like a good idea.  The monthly operating costs on each of these cameras alone is equivalent to a decent middle-income salary, and it's all going out the door to third-party contractors in Arizona.  Not to mention that both sides of the local political spectrum seem pretty united against the cameras.  This probably won't end well.

So that's what got my attention today.  What'd I miss?

"Your Highness," the redband edition

The redband trailer to "Your Highness" is out, to mixed reactions.  Personally, I can't wait to see this one.  I mean, come on.  A medieval action-comedy from the director of "Pineapple Express," and starring two of the three guys from "Pineapple Express."  How can this be anything but incredible?

Again, this is a redband trailer, so you probably shouldn't watch it at work.  There's lots of cussing and maybe even a little bit of nudity.  So bear that in mind before you click "play."  But then click "play."

Here are some more Your Highness trailers

A People's History of Ada, Oklahoma

One of the perks of my day job (aside from giving girls flowers all day) is I'm generally on the road driving all around the county for four to six hours at a time.  And thanks to the magic of audio books, I've been catching up on all those huge tomes I've been meaning to read for years.  Last Thanksgiving, it was Don Quixote.  April was spent on Moby Dick, which was much more darkly humorous than I had expected.  Over the summer it was Ulysses (seriously, it took about two months).  October was War and Peace, which was actually much less painful than I thought it'd be.



Howard Zinn

 In October I found an MP3 of Howard Zinn's  A People's History of the United States:  The 20th Century.  Read by Matt Damon, The 20th Century focused on the Civil Rights movement, Vietnam, and the first Gulf War.  Toward the end of the Gulf War section, Zinn highlighted some of the activist protests that began springing up across the country in late 1990.  I almost ran off the road when I heard Damon read this:

In Ada, Oklahoma, while East Central Oklahoma State University was "adopting" two National Guard units, two young women sat quietly on top of the concrete entrance gate with signs that read "Teach Peace ... Not War."  One of them, Patricia Biggs, said:  "I don't think we should be over there.  I don't think it's about justice and liberty, I think it's about economics.  The big oil corporations have a lot to do with what is going on over there....  We are risking people's lives for money."

How cool is this?  Ada, Oklahoma and East Central students were mentioned in arguably one of the the most influential history books of the 20th century.  How did I live ten years in this town (and spend five of those years attending classes at East Central) without ever knowing about this?  Hell, I was even a history minor for a while!

Theory v. Law v. Hypotheses

While verbally sparring with a friend online earlier, I stumbled upon a great little site that presents a very clear and concise definition of hypotheses, scientific law and scientific theory.  As anyone who's had these kinds of arguments on a regular basis knows, creationists, climate change deniers and the anti-science crowd in general all love to argue that a theory is really just an idea, not a concrete fact.  Evolutionary theory, quantum theory, chaos theory, string theory, climate change theory and all the rest are mere possibilities and should be treated as such, they claim.  Why?  Because they end in "theory."

Here's a great little explanation from the Wilstar site that helps to explain what a scientific theory actually is:

A scientific law is like a slingshot. A slingshot has but one moving part--the rubber band. If you put a rock in it and draw it back, the rock will fly out at a predictable speed, depending upon the distance the band is drawn back.


An automobile has many moving parts, all working in unison to perform the chore of transporting someone from one point to another point. An automobile is a complex piece of machinery. Sometimes, improvements are made to one or more component parts. A new set of spark plugs that are composed of a better alloy that can withstand heat better, for example, might replace the existing set. But the function of the automobile as a whole remains unchanged.


A theory is like the automobile. Components of it can be changed or improved upon, without changing the overall truth of the theory as a whole.

Keep this analogy in mind the next time you have to defend evolutionary theory in the public school system (or something along those lines).

'So if I own Mein Kampf I'm a supporter of Hitler?'

I got an interesting comment from a post made about a month ago called "People of the Book."  It was about an article written by Ted Widmer which explored the forgotten and/or ignored presence of Islam during the creation and infancy of our nation.  It's a fascinating article with a lot of interesting information that I didn't know beforehand, such as:

• Founding Fathers John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both owned their own copies of the Quran.
• The earliest documented instance of a copy of the Quran showing up in North America was 1683, almost a century before the Declaration of Independence (and there may have been even earlier instances, but this is the first documented account).
• The Massachusetts Constitution, written at around the same time as another significant Constitution (the drafting of which was assisted by John Adams), has this great bit in it: “the most ample of liberty of conscience” for “Deists, Mahometans, Jews and Christians.”
• 
  Muslims and Catholics were often held in the same "extremely foreign" religion category.
• Thomas Jefferson tried to learn Arabic, and his Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom was meant to protect "the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and the Mahometan, the Hindoo and infidel of every denomination."
• Widmer:  "Jefferson and Adams led many of our early negotiations with the Islamic powers as the United States lurched into existence. A favorable treaty was signed with Morocco, simply because the Moroccans considered the Americans ahl-al-kitab, or 'people of the book,' similar to Muslims, who likewise eschewed the idolatry of Europe’s ornate state religions. When Adams was president, a treaty with Tripoli (Libya) insisted that the United States was 'not in any sense founded upon the Christian religion' and therefore has 'no character of enmity against the laws, religion and tranquility of Mussulmen.'
• Islam may have been a religious belief of up to 1 in every 5 African American slaves before emancipation.
• Washington in a letter to the people of Rhode Island:  "May the children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants; while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and figtree, and there shall be none to make him afraid."

Any way you cut it, Widmer's article shines a light on a little-explored area of American history.

So I was kind of surprised to get a comment on the post this morning from my old friend Steve.  "So if I own Mein kampf I'm a supporter of Hitler?"  My first response was to just write a comment back on the post.  But as I started to type, I had a hard time narrowing my responses down to just one argument.

Ergo, this post.  Feel free to apply one, any or all answers back to your comment, Steve.

• So I guess you didn't read the article, which was about much more than the quote I originally referenced.
• In a Fox News 24-hour spin cycle, you might be.  Look at Van Jones, for instance.  Or Shirley Sherrod.  You owning Mein Kampf could be spun that way.  That's not the truth, I'd imagine.  There's probably a lot more to it, as there was with Jefferson and Adams each owning their own copies.  But if you want to boil it down to a right-wing talking point without exploring the issue at all, then sure.  Heil Steve.
• Interesting how you compare ownership of the Quran to ownership of Mein Kampf.  And by 'interesting,' I mean 'disturbingly telling.'  Why not use another religious tome to make a comparison, like the Bible, the Torah, the Bhagavad Gita, the I-Ching, the Book of Mormon, Hubbard's "Dianetics," or the Zohar?  What makes you think that comparing the holy scripture of an established and widespread religion to an autobiography written by a genocidal fuckhead was accurate in any way?  Imagine I'm cooking dinner for Kristen and I tell you "Kristen loves tomatoes.  I bet she'd really like marinara sauce on her pasta."  And you reply by saying "So if I own Mein Kampf I'm a supporter of Hitler?"  That wouldn't exactly be an appropriate comparison, would it?  Nor is comparing the Quran to Mein Kampf.
• Do you actually own a copy of Mein Kampf?
• No, you're not a supporter of Hitler (that I know of).  And by posting an article about the history of Muslims in Colonial America, I'm not a Jihadist.  Or a historian.
• Did you know before reading my post that Adams and Jefferson personally owned copies of the Quran?  Do you think the majority of the Evangelical Right (or the US population in general) does?
• Your comment almost comes off as threatened by the fact that two of our country's founders owned Qurans.  Does this threaten you?

Eagerly awaiting your reply, Steve.  You should visit my blog more than once a month anyway...