By The Hammer Of THOR!!!

It's Sunday, and I am at work, all alone. It is fun to pee at work with the bathroom door open, however.

I stopped by the Big Apple Comic-Con this morning. After three circuits of the joint and an hour-and-a-half of searching for something, anything, or anyone to connect with, I left. It is a depressing event. Walter Koenig (Chekov from Star Trek) was there, however. He was sipping something intently from a styrofoam cup. He is a little cutie. There are lots of 2nd-tier celebrities, tons of stuff to buy, and many artists, though none that I cared about. I'm trying to avoid clutter, so buying stuff was out of the question.

Allergies

Jewmongous

I avoided Michael Chabon's latest, The Yiddish Policemen's Union, for a time out of allegiance to what might be my favorite book of all time, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. How could it compare? An idle moment at the library near the new release stack led me to pick up TYPU and check it out before thinking, and now I find it's about two of my favorite things, Jews and alternate history. It's a modern day detective story, set in a remote section of Alaska where the Jews have been allowed to settle after the collapse of Israel in 1948. Temporarily allowed to settle, that is. There's lots of chess, and it is very good, though not in the sweeping, romantic way that Kavalier & Clay is. But I recommend.

Ever since throwing my hat into the webcomic ring (updating twice a week on Mondays and Fridays now, mind you), I've been checking out a lot of others. The best thing I've seen is, without a doubt, Vulcan & Vishnu. Check it out.
On a political note, I know Ron Paul might be bat-shit crazy and apparently has some support from hate groups, but I so hope for a Obama vs. Paul race as opposed to the Clinton vs. Giuliani contest that the press has all but ordained. Hearing Paul extoll the virtues of and rail against the transgressions upon our Constitution almost makes me willing to risk a Dept. of Education-hating Libertarian as president. In the venn diagram of priorities between he and a modern congress, you might be able to push through merely the benefits (a sane international policy, some reigning in of spending) with few of the detriments (i.e. abortion ban, dismantling of all social programs).

VH1 Hip Hop Honors Total Fucking Access

First you get the money.
Then you get the power.
Then you get the press credentials!

Once a year, hip hop gets a red carpet and this time around, the Internets Celebrities felt the need to grace it with their presence. In this video, we cover every square inch of the VH1 Hip Hop Honors Awards show: From the stairways to the press room, from the free cold snacks to the free hot food, from backstage to the main stage, get your TOTAL FUCKING ACCESS PASS with the Internets Celebrities and go deep on a great night for Hip Hop.



Internets Celebrities: Dallas Penn and Rafi Kam
Director: Casimir Nozkowski
Camera/Editing: Terrence Elenteny
Original Music: Jon Davis

Chea to Eskay for the press access!

Quit While You're Ahead

It's day three of my unemployed adventure. It's been five days since I actually stopped being officially employed but only three business days have gone by in that timespan. So far, I'm just processing the new feeling of a summer vacation following the longest semester of my life. Like any academic semester, there were a ton of great things that happened and a huge amount of self-improvement. The summer break I'm in right now feels earned and that feeling is rare for me. I never deserve a break.

Certainly, I can't pat myself on the back too much though. It's a privilege to be able to stop the daily grind for someone else's company and switch gears solely to my own enterprises. I hope I honor my opportunity.

My first epiphany is that I miss my co-workers. I've worked with wonderful people who I look forward to harassing from the comfort of my new corner office (read: the tiny room in my apartment to the left of my bedroom). It's going to be hard to manufacture the daily stimulation from the creative energy present in my former office.

One thing that's a definite positive change: I now have a window. Having spent most of the last four years in windowless edits, it is soul-transforming to have sunlight lightly grazing at least one side of my face once more.

Blah Blah - let's get to work:

Blood Brothers Episode 3

I haven't actually seen Amistad.

Blood Brothers Episode 4

Nothing against Scientology, but did you have to ensnare Beck?

Keep your eyes peeled for Episode 5 in which a vampire gives birth to a mummy.