Sick of Going Green

Nothing too revolutionary but here is a fun little article on Hollywood & capitalism's hypocrisy in regards to "environmentalism".

Now the question is how do we articulate a realistic alternative that does NOT come off as jaded and/or unconcerned?

WonderCon 2008

Perhaps my favorite event of the year: San Francisco's WonderCon!
This year I went both Saturday Feb.23 and Sunday Feb.24.

We started Saturday off with a massive panel for Get Smart (it also featured White supremacy fantasy flick, 10,000 BC). All that really mattered was that Steve Carell was present and was funny as expected.

I skipped The X-Files panel due to the crowds but David Ducovny, Gillian anderson, and Chris Carter were all there.

The main exhibition room was jam packed and it made it difficult to take in all the wonderful toys, busts, t-shirts, boobs-a-plenty, art, psuedo-celebrities, and comic books.










On Sunday, I started with the completely worthless 'Trailer Park' preeview trailer section.
Then, I primarily concentrated on autographs. It seemed like I dug heavily into my collection circa 1984.
Comico's Grendel #3 got signed by a nice Mr. Matt Wagner (is that guy a bear?).

Groo #1 got signed by the one and only Sergio Aragones.

Arthur Adams is one of my all time favorites and I seem to be working on getting all my favorite classic X-Men he pencilled signed by him but he isn't very friendly.

I attended a Brian Wood / Becky Cloonan panel that was rather boring. Their Demo title is moving to Vertigo. When I took my Channel Zero graphic novel and one shot for Brian Wood to sign, he got hyped. He checked them out to see that they were first editions and then I asked him about the obvious straight-edge imagery. He told me he used to be involved in the New York hardcore scene. It was awesome. I even got him to put a little 'NYHC' symbol with his signature small sketch!

To see all of my photos, go to my Flickr! account.

Wolverine & The X-Men (and Foo Fighters)

I have been seeing reports about the new X-Men cartoon but haven't posted about it because Marvel removed all video links. Well, I finally found a video of the preview trailer (it may disappear soon):

It seems to be another kinda re-imagining of The X-Men universe with somewhat complex (aka adult?) themes.

(And yes, The Foo Fighters sued over the use of their cheezy ass music.)
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In related X-man news, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is getting underway. A lot of peripheral characters from Wolvie's history will be represented:
Dominic Monaghan as Barnell/Beak
Daniel Henney as Agent Zero/Maverick
wil i. am as John Wraith/Kestrel
Lynn Collins as Silver Fox
Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool
Liev Schreiber as Sabretooth
Danny Huston as Stryker
Taylor Kitsch as Gambit

Deathstroke in The Dark Knight?!?!?!

It came as a minor surprise that Two-Face would play a major role in The Dark Knight (or that the Joker may be a more minor character than we have been led to believe). However a HUGE surprise may be the inclusion of Deathstroke in the Batman movie!
Mattel revealed a Deathstroke action figure from The Dark Knight film line.

In other comic book toy news: How is it that DC is light years ahead of any Marvel toy line??

Rihanna + Klaxons

Cool (aside from the obvious pre-recorded vocal track) and obscure enough to post:

Berkeley v. USMC part 3

As I noted earlier, The Berkeley City Council withdrew their slightly impolite letter to the USMC recruitment office in Berkeley BEFORE THEY EVEN SENT IT.

Well, that just isn't good enough for the right-wing fucks in Sacramento and DC.
After flooding Berkeley with non-local military recruitment supporters and all around fascist nuts, the right-wing still insists on some sort of "apology" for something that never happened.

Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., introduced the Semper Fi Act on Feb. 6 to rescind more than $2 million earmarked for Berkeley in the 2008 fiscal year. The bill would transfer the money to the Marine Corps! In a statement Wednesday, DeMint said he had no intentions to pull the legislation. I guess South Carolina will now decide the fate of Berkeley, CA.

Congressman John Campbell, R-Calif., has introduced a companion bill to the Semper Fi Act in the House of Representatives; that bill has 71 co-sponsors.

Assemblyman Guy Houston, R-San Ramon said Wednesday that he is not dropping plans to push forward with a bill to punish Berkeley's stance against Marine recruiting by withholding $3.3 million in state funds from the city.

These assholes will not stop until they blackmail The City Of Berkeley or harm its children by imposing foreign will on the city.
Millions of dollars for Berkeley's children is at stake here!
Liberal, progressive, and radical forces need to join together to ensure that liberal or perhaps slightly progressive stances in our Bay Area communities have the strength to stand against these attacks!

For starters, just drop the fuckers listed above an email pressuring them to drop their bills taking money away from Berkeley's children. (email links are provided above)
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In a funny side note:
Pro-fascist group, Move America Forward; the largest pro-military group in the country, is "countering Berkeley's shameful conduct," by sending three tons of candy, cookies, coffee and beef jerky to troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
haha

Flashing Lights video

How many times am I gonna say this?..
Kanye has done it AGAIN!

The video for Flashing Lights is up on his blog (and his blog is pretty damn cool). The video is more Duran Duran/Radiohead than Lil' John/Fat Joe. In the end, I don't know if that is better for hip hop but it is sure better than the average hip hop video.

And that beat is so fresh. It bums me out that I am gonna miss Kanye's Glow In The Dark tour.

Berkeley v. USMC part 2: Berkeley Invaded!

The Oakland Tribune called the protest/counter-protest outside The Berkeley City Council " the largest and most raucous protest in recent Berkeley history."

The City of Berkeley has taken back the proposed letter calling the USMC "uninvited and unwelcome intruders." A letter that was never even sent!

The Council passed a new statement recognizing the USMC's right to locate itself in Berkeley and opposing "the recruitment of our young people into this war."
The Council let stand previous items such as:
-one encouraging "all people to avoid cooperation with the Marine Corps recruiting station"
-one asking the city attorney to investigate whether the recruiting station is breaking the city's law against discrimination based on sexual orientation
-two items giving Code Pink a free weekly parking space and sound permit to protest at the Shattuck Avenue recruiting station

People speaking at the meeting against the Berkeley City Council's stand against military recruitment and the US was in Iraq came from as far as Colorado and Arizona!!! How the fuck did they get there?! Who flew these people to a small City Council meeting here?
You should have to be a resident of and/or work in The City of Berkeley to address the City Council!!
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Again, I think all of this shows the ability of the right to mobilize quickly and with powerful orchestrating hands.
I don't put a lot into Berkeley's liberal (non-binding) decrees but it was important for them to address the injustices and oppression of US military actions abroad in the arena available to them. I get a big kick out of the Code Pink permits.
Fuck all those right-wingers who invaded Berkeley.

Berkeley v. USMC

On Jan.29, 2008, the Berkeley City Council approved a resolution calling the U.S. Marines' recruiting office on Shattuck Avenue "uninvited and unwelcome intruders."

The resolution immediately caused a backlash against the city, prompting Republicans in Washington and Sacramento to introduce legislation to take money away from Berkeley schools and other institutions.
The heated right-wing press fueled 24,000 emails to the City Council opposed to the resolution and pressured the Council to back away from the resolution.

The Berkeley City Council is set to revisit the resolution tonite (2/12/08). As early as 6am pro-Marine supporters were protesting in Berkeley. They were met by liberal anti- USMC recruitment groups such as Code Pink and Not In Our Name.
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Perhaps, this is not a big deal. Berkeley liberals love passing non-binding resolutions making themselves feel superior. I also can't imagine the recruitment of Berkeley youth is too high.

However, this does show the power and force with which the right-wing mobilizes to attack Berkeley. Republicans have essentially blackmailed Berkeley. As if a city is not allowed federal support unless they toe the federal line.
You can fuckin' bet state and federal forces don't threaten to withhold school funding when right-wing southern states assert their sovereignty and reject progressive laws/trends! Those same right-wingers also pressure their cities further to the right than is conservatively acceptable.

So, I look at this for what it is: The City Of Berkeley is under attack by blackmailing right-wing lawmakers and outside agitators. Perhaps we should defend Berkeley while asserting a radical solution/agenda.

Conratulations to Egypt and Aboutreika

The Egyptian national team has won the Africa Cup Of Nations for a record 6th time.

The winning goal was scored by Mohamed Aboutreika.
Earlier in the tournament, after scoring a goal, Aboutreika removed his jersey to show a T-shirt reading "Sympathize with Gaza." Aboutreika was given a yellow card for breaking FIFA's rule against displaying political slogans during play, and faces possible further sanctions.

(I had trouble finding the image because Israel pressured Google and Yahoo to remove all images of the shirt.)

Moz: rockstar

I am sure this is nothing compared to other nutty celebs, but I know you kids love Morrissey, so this is a fun read:
I Was Morrissey's Roadie

"It could have been the shirt you were wearing, your haircut, anything. Please don’t take it personally."

Erykah Badu in Israel

Erykah Badu recently performed in Israel.
Badu said she identifies with Palestinian rappers as part of her tribe.
"They use (hip hop) as a form of liberation, as a form of pre-resistance, as a form of therapy."

She should have performed in (or for) Gaza.

What Were They Thinking?

I ran across What Were They Thinking from a now defunt blog. WWTT highlights some seriously classic excerpts from comic books.