Category: Aside

This is for asides.

Aside

It’s just vanishingly possible I’ve mentioned my appreciation for Scott Morse‘s art on the blog in the past. Given that I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that he’s doing a crazy online comic called The Shogunaut, which he’s been updating regularly. He’s up to 25 pages as I type this, and will likelly complete it soon. It’s kind of a Jack Kirby-meets-Maurice-Noble thing–perhaps not for most people, but if it’s the kind of thing you like, it’s really the kind of thing you’ll like.

Aside

While I’m mildly interested in the medical issues surrounding tire dust and latex allergies that Peter Montague raises in his piece “Tire Dust“, I’m much more interested in the history of automotive cabals explicitly destroying electric public transit, as that’s something I was previously unfamiliar with (and frankly, from this one source I don’t have enough to know if it’s something that can be tarred with the “conspiracy theory” brush, despite having footnotes ). Certainly the idea that Los Angeles was once a paragon of clean public transit, and ended up how it did by conscious planning, not by chance, is something that I’m going to have to look into.

Aside

Well, the wikipedia cop jargon entry is a bit on the dry side… but I did find a lovely guide to some UK cop slang. My favourite is probably ‘not carnival related’.

Aside

So, it seems Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Jane Yolen (it might be more than 5 now–I don’t keep track) is doing a YA graphic novel with comics publisher Dark Horse. I think this will be her 10,576th (this is a rough figure) published work. And it’s certainly something I’ll be picking up and reading with my daughter.

Aside

See, this is the kind of thing I read popular science articles for: not only do we have single-celled organisms the size of grapes (!), and the seemingly ridiculous possibility that they move under their own power, but the consequent possibility that the entirety of conventional wisdom about the fossil record can be called into question. All in around 7 paragraphs.

Aside

My wife has been known to comment on her preference for the mass market paperback over the hardcover book, on the basis that it’s easier to read without tiring yourself out. As a collector, I do tend to prefer the hardback for books that I want to keep in the collection, but I certainly know what she’s talking about–reading Stephenson’s Baroque Cycle could give a guy tennis elbow. One hesitates to wonder what her reaction would be to the new limited edition of Agatha Christie’s Complete Miss Marple. (I love that it comes with a carrying case.)

Aside

Man, AECL’s Chalk River Lab has really been going down the tubes since I left. Or really, ever since I completed my part in the three-generation tradition of my family working there.

Aside

So, for reasons perhaps best described as “masochistic”, I’m watching a DVD of The Spirit right now. I kind of knew it was going to be bad, but this… this is a whole other thing.

Considering this as an attempt to adapt Eisner’s work, and speaking as someone who owns & has read the entire Eisner Spirit oeuvre (in the DC Archives editions) this is an abomination upon the face of the Earth.

Considering this as just an action movie, and not thinking about it as an adaptation of anything, it’s still a terrible, terrible movie. (And I liked Sin City, except for Clive’s voice overs).

The phrase “directorially self-indulgent” pops to mind.

Lots of cute women, though.

Aside

Finally, someone has realized how to use the power of the web to expose the deep power of GOP economic thinking to the masses on the web. Pop over to the GOP Problem Solver to find out how to solve all your problems. (The second stage joke actually made me laugh out loud.)

Aside

That was the 1500th post. That seems utterly ridiculous.

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Canada
This work by Chris McLaren is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Canada.