>> 

• Wired 14.05: START - Free Spidey!
  Editorial on why comics should be made available digitally. Contains this deeply suspect quote: "Most piracy doesn't spring from the desire to get free content. It comes from a desire to get it in a specific way."
  (tags: comics webcomics p2p bittorrent wired marvel dccomics)

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• :: rogerebert.com :: Editor's Notes :: 101 Movies You Must See Before... (xhtml)
  For someone who's seen as few canonical movies as myself, any semi-authoritative list will do as a starting point. Adding all the unseen flicks to my Netflix queue now...
  (tags: lists film movies netflix rogerebert)
• Yelling 'Fire' on a Hot Planet - New York Times
  "Adaptation to climate extremes has long been derided (as a public-relations strategy) ... (but it) may help people focus on the reality of what is coming — and that may motivate them to cut emissions to limit chances of bigger changes to come."
  (tags: environment globalwarming science nyt)
• Is living in NYC environmentally superior to the suburbs? | Ask MetaFilter
  My AskMefi question for the week.
  (tags: environment energy nyc askmefi suburbs)
• Museum of the Moving Image - Altman Retrospective
  Starts Saturday, runs into June. I should make a point of seeing some of these.
  (tags: film movies nyc astoria todo robertaltman)

>> 

• And You Thought Abercrombie & Fitch Was Pushing It? - New York Times
  Profile of Dov Charney and American Apparel in the Sunday magazine. I'm torn about AA -- I love their clothes, and their labor ethic, but am distinctly turned off by their oversexualization -- and I am not all that square about sex, believe me...
  (tags: fashion shopping clothing sex nyt)

>> The man that I was is no more. I have turned over a new leaf. There's been a rebirth, a renewal, a regenesis. A brand new chapter in my life has begun. From here on out, everything is changed, everything is different. Not a trace of my old self remains.

Today, I ordered a new item from the menu at Taco Bell, for the first time in five years.

WHO IS THIS MAN THAT STARES BACK AT ME FROM THE MIRROR?

>> 

• Daring Fireball: Initiative
  My favorite Mac weblog has gone full-time. I bought a shirt (the plain grey logo one), and I wish him good luck...
  (tags: blogs mac technology tshirt)
• Hack Attack: Become a Gmail master - Lifehacker
  I really should learn the Gmail keyboard shortcuts. And I'd use the labels more if it was easier to filter e-mail based on labels...
  (tags: gmail google organization howto software email productivity)

>> 

• Dieter Steffmann @ typOasis
  Lots of free fonts. I like Sans Serif Shaded, and must remember to download it when I get home.
  (tags: fonts typography)

>> OK, this has been bugging me for a while, but I keep forgetting to actually write a post about it. Every morning, when del.icio.us outputs my daily links to my Movable Type blog, the CSS style information never gets applied. It's right there in the code that's sent to Movable Type, and it's all right and proper in the stylesheet, but for some reason I have to open MT and re-save the entry that del.icio.us created before things look right. What is going on there? If you've come to my site within an hour of the new linkslog entry being posted, I'm sure you've seen how hideous and unstyled it is, and I'd like to avoid it, but I'm not seeing any way to do so... I tried to set all my entries as drafts by default, so that it wouldn't show on the page until I was ready to make sure it looked right, but del.icio.us ignored and overrode that. Sucks! What's up?

>> 

• Batman and Superman Break Up (Emo!)
  Wowee wow wow. (The music is key, so be sure to have your sound turned on.)
  (tags: batman superman dccomics humor comics gay)
• Shot For Meat - comics and illustration by John Cei Douglas
  The excellent illustration, art, and comics of a Barbelith regular. I want an ENEMIES OF FUN STAND DOWN! t-shirt as soon as possible.
  (tags: comics art barbelith)
• The Birth of a Queer Nation | MetaFilter
  There's a sovereign gay and lesbian kingdom in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Australia. I am not making this up.
  (tags: gay politics australia geography mefi)
• Morrissey gigography
  Startlingly detailed write-up of the Morrissey gig I saw on Oct. 9th, 2004 at Radio City Music Hall.
  (tags: music morrissey concerts nyc)

>> 

• Pitchfork: Daily Music News - The Knife sign to Mute
  Was just listening to an admittedly ripped copy of SILENT SHOUT on the subway this morning. I'll probably cough up for a decently-priced domestic version. (Scroll down this page for a Twilight Singers update, too.)
  (tags: music theknife twilightsingers)
• Popjustice - Stupid video
  The exceptional new video for the Pet Shop Boys' "I'm With Stupid." The dunce caps are back!
  (tags: music video petshopboys pop popjustice)
• YouTube - Secret Wars Re-Enactment Society
  This is brilliant. If you're a nerd, you can figure out what it is from the title alone. If you're not, well, it won't be very brilliant for you. Stick around until the end, the money shot's worth it.
  (tags: comics geek video humor marvel dccomics)

>> 

• Muriel Spark, Novelist Who Wrote 'The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,' Dies at 88 - New York Times
  I love, love, love THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE and THE BALLAD OF PECKHAM RYE. R.I.P., Muriel.
  (tags: books obituaries literature nyt)

>> 

• Art School Confidential Sneak Preview! Conversation with director Terry Zwigoff and screenwriter Daniel Clowes! - 92nd Street Y - New York, NY
  Sunday night at Lincoln Center. Sounds good, I'll be there... you?
  (tags: movies comics danclowes art todo nyc)

>> 

• Google Calendar
  Yay! It's in beta! (i.e. as finished as Google will ever bother to make it!) It's pretty sweet! Now to find out if I can synchronize it with iCal...
  (tags: calendar google organization productivity)
• AWN Headline News - Ambiguously Gay Duo & Fellow Saturday TV Funhouse Shorts Special Slated
  Set the TiVo / DVR for Saturday, April 29th -- instead of SNL, they're airing a Best Of Saturday TV Funhouse special. NICE.
  (tags: humor robertsmigel tv snl dvr todo)
• YouTube - Village People - Sex Over the Phone
  This is maybe the most astonishing music video ever made.
  (tags: music video villagepeople gay sex)

>> 

• Goa, India - A New Generation of Pilgrims Hits India's Hippie Trail - New York Times
  Yet another spot on the travel to-do list. I should draw up an official checklist...
  (tags: india travel nyt goa)

>> 

• The Village Voice: Status Ain't Hood
  Very, very funny review of Cam'ron's dreadful-sounding movie, KILLA SEASON.
  (tags: movies reviews humor hiphop)

>> Via Caroline: "What you are supposed to do is copy this entire blog entry and paste it onto a new blog entry that you'll post. Change all the answers so they apply to you, and then publish! Leave a comment if you do this. The theory is that you will learn a lot of little (random) things about your friends, if you did not know them already."

What time did you get up this morning?
11:00 AM. (I was up kinda late last night.)

Diamonds or pearls?
Like Caroline, I dislike both -- and gold, too. Definitely like silver / platinum / titanium / etc. (I also don't wear jewelry, but hey.)

What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
Brick, last weekend. I enjoyed it, but didn't love it with all my heart, though I do appreciate it a little more the more I think about it.

What is your favourite TV show?
I think Arrested Development has finally wrestled that crown away from The X-Files. However, the show I spend the most time watching is Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Because it's ALWAYS ON. Also, it's bizarrely soothing.

What do you usually have for breakfast?
Most frequently, a plain buttered bagel, or a sausage egg and cheese sandwich. (Mmmm.)

Favourite cuisine?
I could eat Mexican food pretty much every day for the rest of my life.

What food do you dislike?
I don't love seafood -- calamari's pretty much the only thing I can enjoy.

What is your favourite CD at the moment?
I'm going to answer this question in terms of current frequency-of-listen, in which case the answer is Prince's 3121. But I'm putting the new Morrissey album through its paces too.

Morning or night person?
Definitely a night person, I'm useless in the mornings. But then, I'm useless at night these days, too. Stupid day job.

Favourite sandwich?
Roast beef, provolone, salt & pepper. Mmm. (Grilled chicken, mozzarella, and pesto is also excellent.)

What characteristic do you despise?
Selfishness, in all its forms.

Favourite item of clothing?
Right now, my black corduroy trucker's jacket. I also know that I have a shirt which, every time I wear it, I'm startled and surprised by how good I look in it, but for some reason I cannot remember which shirt it is. Time to do the laundry, I guess. (I'm not much of a clotheshorse, though I probably would be if I had more money.)

If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would it be?
Australia.

What colour is your bathroom?
Pink and green. Not so much our choice of color scheme.

Favourite brand of clothing?
Don't really have one.

Where would you retire to?
Florida -- back home.

What was your most memorable birthday?
My 21st was "memorable" in that it totally sucked, but I can't remember most of the others, except for this year (24) which was a lot of fun (Peter Luger, karaoke, etc.)

Favourite sport to watch?
Don't really watch sports at all, but in the right mood I can watch football.

[I've omitted the next three questions, as they're boring and meme-related.]

When is your birthday?
March 23.

What is your shoe size?
13. Not sure what that is in international terms.

Pets?
Not at the moment. I love dogs, but New York and a tiny apartment make keeping one exceptionally difficult.

Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with us?
Sadly, not really. Nothing that can be printed here, anyway.

What did you want to be when you were little?
A paleontologist.

What is your favourite flower?
Don't really care about flowers, but I do like hibiscus and gardenias when I see them. And roses, I guess. Yeah, don't really care about flowers.

What date on the calendar are you looking forward to?
It was yesterday, the day I got my wisdom-teeth stitches out. Now?... I dunno. My next day off work?

One word to describe the person who you snaffled this from?
Prolific. ;-)

>> 

• http://homepage.ntlworld.com/fish1000/index/lostcontent/gm-govanpress-12nov76.txt
  Two of my obsessions collide -- a 1976 interview with a 16-year-old Grant Morrison in his local paper about trying to break into comics, with a qute from then-Marvel-UK editor Neil Tennant (later of the Pet Shop Boys). AMAZING. (Via LinkMachineGo)
  (tags: comics grantmorrison interviews petshopboys)

>> 

• NEWSARAMA - 2006 EISNER NOMINEES NAMED
  The comics equivalent of the Oscars. DC leads the nominations as usual (har har). I've actually read something in just about every category this year, so maybe I'll post a nerdy list of who I want to win...
  (tags: comics lists dccomics eisner awards)

>> 

• New Wave Pirates on the Horizon - 4/4/2006 - Publishers Weekly
  Becky Cloonan's totally awesome-sounding OEL book from Tokyopop, EAST COAST RISING -- punk-rock pirates sailing the flooded seas of New York City after the apocalypse. SIGN ME UP.
  (tags: comics pirates beckycloonan tokyopop nyc)
• If Not Peace, Then Justice - New York Times
  How the International Criminal Court, which the U.S. does not recognize, is the only party that can hope to effectively intervene in Darfur. As ridiculous as it sounds, reading this article made me fervently wish that superheroes were real.
  (tags: politics terrorism genocide africa sudan darfur humanrights law nyt)
• comicfoundry.com -
  Holy shit. This might just be the comics magazine I always wanted to start if I won the lottery. GOD DAMN YOU BASTARDS.
  (tags: comics magazines)

>> Embarassing misheard-lyrics confession time!

I've been enjoying Morrissey's new single, "You Have Killed Me," for several weeks now, but only just today got a look at the official lyrics (as I only just today purchased the full album, as it was only just today released, as I was only etc. only etc. etc. etc. and so on). They contain a great little device wherein Morrissey compares himself and his (gasp!) beloved to great Italian film directors -- "Pasolini is me, Accattone you'll be," etc. However, I was somewhat mortified to learn that I'd been mishearing one of the lines in the second verse; when Morrissey sings "Magnani you'll never be," I had been hearing (and often singing myself) "And Yanni you'll never be." Woof!

But now I've given it some thought, and I'm pretty sure I like my line better. For one thing, it's much funnier, and it could even make sense -- it breaks with the director theme, certainly, but the previous line is "Visconti is me," which could (and, in classic Morrissey double-entendre fashion, no doubt does) also refer to the producer of the song and album, musical legend Tony Visconti. So a switch to musicians for the second verse is perfectly plausible. And again, it's a funny line! It's both a backhanded compliment to the subject and/or listener and a forehanded slam to Yanni, and both of those things are always welcomed. So Morrissey, if you're reading, your line was good but mine was better. Please issue a corrected lyrics sheet at your earliest convenience.

(Also, Morrissey, if you're reading, drop me an e-mail. We should get coffee sometime, as I've totally got a crush on you. You're even sort of out now, right? Congratulations! Date me!)

>> 

• MenuCalendarClock - instant calendar and clock
  This looks really, really handy, if overpriced. Oh, to have an unlimited software budget.
  (tags: mac osx software calendar organization)
• Monument Valley: Endless Earth, Infinite Sky - New York Times
  A gentle reminder that there's a lot more of America I still need to see. (And I've even been to Arizona already.)
  (tags: monumentvalley geology travel arizona desert nyt)

>> Holes In Face Update: I'm doing surprisingly well; for some reason I expected to be in a world of discomfort all weekend and really, besides a bit of soreness, I feel fine. I'm not even all that hungry, even though all I've eaten in thirty-six hours is two cups of Swiss Miss butterscotch pudding. Not being "hungry" has not stopped me from craving all kinds of food I can't eat, of course; as I told someone earlier this morning, I'd kill a hobo for a cheesesteak. Or some fried chicken. But alas, it's still gonna be a few more days before I can jump back on that particular horse. Or cow. Or chicken.

In any event, general anesthesia (which I'd never had before) is the coolest thing ever. One minute I was asking the doctor how long it would take for the sedatives to kick in, and the next thing I remember, I'm waking up and it's all over. SPECTACULAR. Getting an IV for the first time was pretty uncool (I have a thing about needles), but since it facilitated such a spectacular surgical experience, I'm over it. (Though the black marks from the goddamn tape won't wash off my arm.) The whole thing has cost me a bit of cash (even with insurance), but it wound up being less than my worst-case scenario estimates pegged it as, and I'm doing startlingly well for money right now, so overall, this has certainly not been the nightmare I'd hypochondriacally (is that a word?) expected it to be. But oh, how I long for a cheesesteak.

Oh! And today is the fifth anniversary of my blog at this URL. So, uh, yay.