When I was growing up, most of the kids in my neighborhood were fairly uncreative. Instead of thinking long and hard about what you wanted to be for Halloween, you’d run with your parent to the store at the last minute, and grab a prepackaged costume made by Ben Cooper or Collegeville of some famous character. Superheroes, Monsters, and Star Wars characters were usually the favorites, but every now and then you came across a few gems that really made you scratch your head.
Thanks to David (by way of John) for this timely bit of Americana. Fortunately, I can honestly say I never wore (or even entertained the idea of wearing) any of these costumes in my youth. As a sidebar, this post marks the first time I’ve gotten a URL from John that I could post without fear that others would wretch after clicking on it. 
Sex, Lies & Superheroes features interviews with the writers and artists who have made comic books a medium for sophisticated stories and art. The film explores characters, creators, and medium of this under-appreciated American art form. In the hands of these creators, what began as fantasies for entertaining children evolved into metaphors for modern American life. From superhuman beings in mainstream comics to realistic characters in underground publications, comics are creating a new mythology for American popular culture.
Thanks to Neil Gaiman’s blog for the heads up on this documentary from Constantine Valhouli. Along the same vein, I will also have to pick up Comic Book: The Movie brought to my attention by Kevin Smith and the good folks over at News Askew.
Gregor, Karin & Linford
drew recently put sooz and me on the guest list of over the rhine when they came to town. i enjoyed the concert, not having known the band before. as i remarked to some friends here, i am more on the electronica side and not very fond of guitar music. over the rhine is a band that definitely helps to reduce my bias 
for the curious, they have quite some mp3 online.
Welcome to the ranks of the cool kids G! OTR is one of the finest bands in the world. But damn Drew! Now, I have to out-do him when you come to Vegas for ApacheCon. And, Sigfreid and Roy are out of commission. ***grumbles***
PS: Aside from OTR’s website, you can also check out a variety of MP3’s from them and similarly talented artists at PasteMusic.com.
The MMORPG genre is now in a critical phase. Although a select few are financially successful, none have managed to produce the kind of gameplay that will keep average gamers playing for years. Developers are trying new things to find that magic formula, each citing what the previous generation of games did wrong in an effort to justify their approach. Shadowbane emphasises player guilds and inter-city combat. Anarchy Online boasted a futuristic setting. Dark Age of Camelot offered the player vs. player experience Everquest was lacking. None of these games, however, ever sought to emphasise simplicity or fun. If I’m right, then some time next year, Blizzard will show us all what we’ve been missing.
Hear Hear! McCrea hits this nail squarely on the head. Now, to dredge up the list of MMORPG needs I started working on some months ago.
I came to know of gapingvoid.com by way of Mahmood. Truth, with just a shade of cynicism, delivered on a business card cartoon. I love the Internet! How else would one discover such unique talent?
Hydrogen fuel cells are at last becoming a viable alternative. These are big batteries that run cleanly for as long as hydrogen is supplied, and which might power anything in or around your home—notably, your car. Hydrogen is a fuel that, like electricity, can be made from a variety of sources: fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas, renewables, even nuclear power. Every big car maker now has a fuel-cell programme, and every big oil firm is busy investigating how best to feed these new cars their hydrogen.
Another alternative likely to become available in a few years is “bioethanol”. Many cars (quite a few of them in America) already run on a mixture of petrol and ethanol. The problem here is cost. At the moment, the ethanol has to be heavily subsidised. But that might alter when biotechnology delivers new enzymes that can make ethanol efficiently from just about any sort of plant material. Then, the only limit will be how much plant material is available.
“Teach your children well” - Crosby, Stills & Nash
This article is a shining example of that addage in action. While I am just old enough to remember the Oil Crisis of the 70s, I do remember what a fundamental upheaval it caused in the lives of all Americans. And it does not take a genius to understand our interests in the Middle East are more fundamentally economic than humanitarian. So, it does my heart good to see genuine advancement in alterative energy sources. The minds of tomorrow are shaped today. Keep teaching your children well and oil will become AN option rather than THE option.
