SDCC

At BOOM! between 4 and 5, stil nailing down when I'm at DC for Blue Beetle. Hope to see you there.

Eureka!

Just finishing up some filthy paid work, but I did want to address three things.

a.) Eureka premieres tonight. Feel free to discuss here or at our semi-official boards, where I've started a thread. Go give Andy some love.

b.) For the approximately 10,000th time -- no, I am not secretly the Ask A Ninja guy. For starters, he is a ninja. I am a crimefighter. That may well be the best movie review I've ever seen.

c.) Oh no, folks, the image I'm pulling up for psych is far more personally revelatory than a simple reveal that they've duped Vancouver for Santa Barbara. Far more .... disturbing.

Brownout

Excuses excuses. Been catching up on BB #6 and #7, pitching to some actors on a Japanese crime novel adaptation, developing a TV show, and writing two feature scripts -- the wee indie I may direct, and a bigger industry one, a sequel that I'm taking because the cool factor gave me geek-shivers (and it's with an actor my mom will finally recognize, so she'll believe I'm working).

Add to that the imminent wedding of old friend Mike George -- yes, ladies, the dreamy star of the hit CBC series Our Hero is tying the knot, sorry -- and it's been a wee mad. Service should resume Monday with the second freelancing article, and some thoughts on fanfic.

Politics ... we may take a break. I must admit that when looking at current developments, I cannot fight off an incipient queasiness, remniscent of the edge of animal unease that would arrive in darkened parking lots out on the road, deep in the heart of skinhead territory. Even more worrying, that feeling was rarely wrong.

In the meantime, I will recommend Psych, giving it a longer probation period than Warren did because I have faith in the actor chemistry. The mystery on the pilot was weak, but that may be more of a USA issue than a show issue, so I'm going to run it out for a few. There's another trivial tidbit about that show, but I want to see if I can pull up a graphic before I discuss.

Also recommended -- The Folly of Empire by Jurdis. Excellent, accessible history writing about the surge of American imperial (and that's meant literally, not perjoratively) action at the turn of the century. Roosevelt, the Spanish-American War, Christian/American millenialism all drawing a picture that is insanely spooky in its parallels to our modern times. Iraq, as it turns out, is NOT Vietnam. It's the Philippines. Huh. All reinforcing a point I made in the comments tied to a recent post: American exceptionalism is fine and useful, up until the very moment you begin to really believe it. Then it will destroy you.

Black for Setup, Blue for Punchline

Green pen for structure notes, Red for edits. Always the same .05 Rollerball pens. That's how I spent close to twelve years writing standup, in various notebooks. I never worked on my act on a computer. Ever. Amazing how one can channel OCD and a physics degree into creative pursuits.

At the drop of a hat, DJ will tell you how through his various cruelties to my finely honed routine he made me a better comic. Or, much like my rerouting of my pathologies, he will point out the positive results of my career and excuse his cruelties with them. Coincidence is not causality, you bastard.

For those similarly inclined to want the feel of their writing, Ninth Wave Designs sells Moleskine's and has been test-driving various pencils in order to find a replacement for the Blackwing. If you're similarly obsessed, go take a look. (via Boingboing)

30 Second Bunnies

Have new films up, including Brokeback Mountain and Superman.

Hero Con

For those of you who went, just passing a note from Cully -- he had a great time, enjoyed meeting all of you, and says he hasn't had that great a response to a book in 15 years. He and I will be drinking at SDCC. Although he shouldn't be drinking, he should be DRAWING FASTER!!

On a side note -- Warren has repeatedly warned me against the agonies of maintaining a forum, but the nice folk at BOOM! have agreed to toss one up. It's a free-for all, I'm not refereeing, so play nice. The more poll/recommendation-type posts may go up there, and I'll probably do some Blue Beetle pimping.

Another side-note: the Desert Punk voicework is genuinely funny. I love the post-apoc world. The only problem is, well, the nonstop breast jokes. And I mean NONSTOP. As in Howard Stern would grow weary. But the action is cool, I'm finally hearing some new voice actors, and the final theme song -- done Harry Connick style extolling Desert Punk's shotgun and dedication to killing things -- makes me smile on every viewing.

Index-Fu for June

Huh, apprently we're the featured blog over at the Daou Report at SALON. Spiffy. For all you high-falutin' types new to the site (who should also, if you can, drop a buck in the charity bin to the right...):

Conversations with Tyrone (yep, we now get requests):

# 5643: Ju-On, Red State Version
#36679: In Which Bo & Luke Duke Kick a New York Jewish Election Worker to Death
#36679 cont'd: Sophie Mae's Choice
#436: I Love Lucy -- Issue Zero! The Origin Issue!
Lunch Discussions #145: The Crazification Factor (Koufax Finalist)
Lunch Discussions #213: Canaries and Meth
Lunch Discussions #349: And Sometimes The're Non-Starters

Comics and Movie Geekery:

How to Save the Movie Theater Industry
America at 24fps
Blue Beetle Q&A #1
Blue Beetle Q&A #2
Fandamentalism
The famous "Geek Hierarchy" Chart
Moral Advantage: Gamer
Comics: Year of the Bummer
Comics: Womb Crazy!
Wold Newton Universe
Zombie News/ ZOMBIE TALES
Comics: Sweet Four-Color Vengeance
SPOILERS -- the Interview with God
Zombie Tales #1 - Everybody Digs Zombies!

New Media Writing (Rage against the Studio Machines, Baby):

4th Generation Media
Video Ipod: 4GM Baby Steps
Where Anime Gets it Right
4GM: Perception Wars

Writing:

Writing Life
Writing: Beginning
Writing: Whose Viewpoint?
Eternity Has Residuals
Writing: Adaptation (Pt.1)
Writing: Adaptation (Pt. 2)
Writing: Adaptation (Pt. 3)
TV: Corner Gas
Writing: Adaptation (Pt.4)
Writing: Software
Writing: Adaptation (Pt. 5)
Writing: Plot and Story
Writing: How Small a World?
Writing: Q&A #1
Writing: Q&A #1 Followup
Writing: You Don't Need Pg. 11
Writing: Agents & Managers
Writing: The Pitch
Writing: The Pilot Pitch - Background
Writing: The Pilot Pitch - Prep
Writing: The Pilot Pitch - The Room
Writing: Screenwriting The Sequence Approach - Book Review
Writing: Action Sequences
Writing: Characters and Race
Writing: The Freelance Episode #1

Our attempt at screenwriting academia:
TV Jargon Preservation (Pt.1)
TV Jargon Preservation (Pt. 2)
TV Jargon Preservation (Pt. 3)
TV Jargon Preservation (Pt. 4)

Global Frequency

It's a "Global" Frequency Now
Miranda is ... annoyed
One Last GF Question
GF wow
GF Reviews and E-mails
GF Update #1

The True Geek Conversations(tm)

#3892: Batman vs. Punisher
#651: Catwoman Edition
# 5643: Ju-On, Red State Version
#36679: In Which Bo & Luke Duke Kick a New York Jewish Election Worker to Death
#36679 cont'd: Sophie Mae's Choice
#436: I Love Lucy -- Issue Zero! The Origin Issue!

Politics:

The Latest Rants:

Lions led by Donkeys (the most viewed post here, I believe)

Flunking Out of the Electoral College
Electoral College #2: I Hate That Goddam Map
Electoral College #3

FISA in One Syllable Words
Colbert Commentary: Why Tell the Jokes?
Pull-Out in 2007
Defense Against Celebrity Marriage Amendment
Lunch Discussions #145: The Crazification Factor
One Angry Feingold
Rule of Law? Over There, Behind My Socks
Al-Quaker
The George Who Cried Wolf
Oversight
New Year's Resolution
The Half-Assed President

The "Liberal Hollywood, Not Quite" Series:

I WISH Hollywood Was That Organized
Just. Stay. Down.

The Rest:

Who's Your Daddy, Broward County?
I Miss Republicans (nominated for a Koufax, spiffy!)
Spongiform Sexuality
Win Kamchatka, Win the World
Oh. Oh, Canada.
Gay Marriage
Activist Judges
Will of the People - (the inter-racial marriage/gay marriage polling stats)
I will Punch Florida in the Goddam Neck
SPOILERS! -- the Interview with God
Swearingen for Senate
You Can Know Jesus ...
Learn to Say Ain't
Senate Quicksand
Learn to Say Ain't - Feedback & Criticism
That Ironic Smell
"Toxic Spiritual Nature" ...
The Groom Grinds a 360!
The President and Intelligent Design
Hybrids and Hypotheses
Iraq and Roll
Booming Babies Still Want Bidey
57% of Americans are Traitors
I'm All Out of Reasonable
'ellllooooo Clinton!
Somehow We Have Grown Too Small for our Britches
Commander in Chief
"You are on the Global Photoshop"
Bernard McGuirk is a BIG MAN

Fundraising

Army Emergency Fund - Total
Katrina Relief - Total
Pakistan earthquake Relief - Total

The semi-famous LOST: You Uncurious Motherf*ckers

... and, just because it was always my favorite:

Top 10 John Wayne Titles That Could Also Be Porn Titles.

Thanks for visiting. And leave with the assurance that anything you find interesting or amusing -- that was an accident.

Lunch Conversations #349: And Sometimes, They're Non-Starters

John: I do believe George W. Bush wll be considered by historians as the worst American President.

Tyrone: That's hardly a controversial idea.

John: I am including Jefferson Davis in that list.

Tyrone: ...

Tyrone: ... as intriguing as this sounds, I'm not going to help you with this one.

John: Cool.

LUCHA ...

... VAVOOOOOMMMMM!!!!


Shhh. Daddy has ... a headache. Shhhhhh.

But damn, that's a fine night out.

Guitar Heroics

For my friends who are as sadly addicted as I, Penny Arcade today links to some updates in Guitar Hero 2.

I'm not playing as much, though, since the moment I realized that the amount of effort it would take someone with my limited manual dexterity to become truly good at the game would be only slightly less than the effort it would take for me to learn to actually play the guitar.

It is far easier for me to, in order to unlock more bitchin' tunes, invite over Mike Alan Nelson. Besides being a bohunk novelist, currently writing the filthily well-reviewed War of the Worlds: Second Wave and X-Isle, he is also a real-world-plays-in-a-band Guitar Hero. His performance of Smoke on the Water was so flawless he actually unlocked the secret bonus ending where a CGI Keith Richards and you do blow off Farah Fawcett's ass while Lynda Carter and the Green Chick from Star Trek have a dance-off.