"A scientist in the UK has proposed that the unique pattern inside each individual's ear could be used as a biometric identifier, in the same way fingerprints are used."
Sunday, July 31, 2005
Looking for an exotic taste?
Feeling adventurous? Try eating at Khublai Khans in Edinburgh or Glasgow:From their website:
Keep the weekend fun going by Visiting the UKs only Restaurnt where you can create your own dishes selecting such exotic delicacies as WILD BOAR, OSTRICH, SHARK, VENISON, SPRINGBOK, KANGAROO, and ZEBRA, as well as more mundane meats and loads of veg.
The menu:
SHOL - Please ask your waiter for today's freshly made vegetarian soup.
GAHAINY MAH - Roasted yak ribs (deceptively similar to pork!) in a rich sticky barbecue sauce.
LI MAK - Shark and prawn puffs with a lemon and chilli mayo.
TUNG LOH - Zebra enchiladas with a sour cream dip.
RI - Vegetable spring rolls served with a sweet chilli dipping sauce.
PAK LOI - Chilli and lemon marinated chicken breast served with a tangy mint coulis.
WA NIK - Tender strips of marinated kangaroo steak with a cranberry and orange relish and mixed leaf salad.
Or take out in 5 easy steps!:
1. Select from one of the recipe ideas below.
2. Choose one of the following meats or seafood:- Chicken
- Lamb
- Beef
- Mussels
- Wild Boar
- Venison
- Springbok
- Kangaroo
- Ostrich
- Zebra
- Shark
- Prawns
3. Select either rice or noodles to complement your dish.
4. We'll add a selection of fresh veg (please let us know if you're allergic to anything).
5. Take away and enjoy!
Saturday, July 30, 2005
Thoughts on the recent DC "Crisis" storyline
Brian Cronin does a good job of summing it up here. Warning! Spoilers in the link!
GTA: San Andreas banned due to sexual content
"Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, has effectively been banned in Australia because of hidden sex scenes.
"Shops have been ordered to stop selling the blockbuster game after the country's ratings board stripped it of its official classification.
"The row is over graphic sexual content in the game which can be unlocked with software created by a fan."
They're fine about a game about boosting cars, but when it comes to sex it's not okay? What kind of message are they sending to kids? That it's all right to steal but having sex is bad?
DC Kids and DC Superheroes #16
DC Superheroes #16 contains part 1 of JLA: Syndicate Rules by Kurt Busiek, Ron Garney and Dan Green, part 4 of Superman/Batman: Public Enemies by Jeph Loeb, Ed McGuinness and Dexter Vines, part 4 of Batman: Broken City by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso. It also has an interview with Jim Cliffe, the writer/director of Tomorrow's Memoir.
DC Kids #16 reprints Teen Titans Go! #16 by J. Torres and Mike Norton; and Justice League Adventures #33 by Matthew Manning, Tim Levins and Robin Riggs. It also reports on the recent Toycon and the just concluded Versus Tournament.
Friday, July 29, 2005
Free Beer!
"The Danes love their beer, but increasingly they are looking beyond the old Danish standby, Carlsberg, to quench their thirst.
"Students from the Information Technology University in Copenhagen is trying to help by releasing what they are calling the world's first open source beer recipe."
Only the finger made it
"BERLIN (Reuters) - A German man's severed finger traveled 60 kilometers by rail after its owner trapped his hand in the door trying to board a train at the last minute, police said Tuesday.
"Passengers traveling from Freiburg to Cologne Sunday noticed the finger lying on the carriage floor and alerted police.
"Officers collected it at the next station.
"Doctors said they were confident they could reattach the finger to its 34-year-old owner after it was rushed back to Freiburg in an ambulance."
Moral of the story: If you don't make the train, wait for the next one!
Measuring Gas
"DAVIS, Calif. - In a white, tent-like "bio-bubble" on a farm near Davis, eight pregnant Holsteins are eating, chewing and pooping — for science. "The ladies," as they're called by University of California researcher Frank Mitloehner, are doing their part to answer a question plaguing one of California's largest agricultural industries: How much gas does a cow emit?
"The findings will be used to write the state's first air quality regulations for dairies and could affect regulations nationwide.
"But before he explains how it works, Mitloehner wants one thing to be clear.
"We're not talking about flatulence," he says.
"He emphasizes the point because his research has been dismissed as "fart science," a label he says doesn't do justice to the seriousness of his work."
Aren't you glad you don't have his job?
Read the rest of the article to find out what causes some of the air pollution. Surprisingly, it's not the poop.
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Kejie the Samurai
written by Jon Zuluaga; art by Jim Jimenez
This was part of an aborted local anthology. Kejie the Samurai was created by Jim as part of Psicom's line of coloring and activity books:
I had Jon write a short, self-contained story, and this is what he came up with. Read the rest of the story here.
Police want porn too
"NEW DELHI - While the police in United States and the United Kingdom keep a special lookout for men hauling rucksacks, in India, especially the metros, they have been peering into people's cell phones.
"The long arm of the law silently watches over the shoulders of people to catch them "red-handed" watching porn, which is not illegal, but any form of promotion by forwarding/hosting (the technical word is multimedia messaging or MMS) can invite a jail sentence and a heavy fine.
"Reports are trickling in from everywhere - outside discos, pubs, bus-stops, pavements, colleges. Some policemen have been brazen enough to catch anybody with a cell phone, which is quite easy as there are more than 50 million users in India, and ask to be shown all files, hidden or not, even though this might be beyond the law itself.
"With other transgressions, such as jumping a red stop light or breaking the speed barrier, a little sweet-talking and a few dollars will see the transgressor go free.
"But when it comes to an obsession that has gripped a huge number of mobile phone users in the county - to surf or download porn on the mobile phone - the police are going about their duties with exceptional zeal, and with an unaccustomed determination to view all of the "evidence"."
Good Comic: Middleman
Another comic you should be reading. Turns out the writer of Lost can make good comics.From the Viper Comics website:
Your reality is a sham. Your way of life is constantly under attack by monsters, aliens and talking primates - and the reason you and the rest of the pink-skinned normal world don’t know it? THE MIDDLEMAN. Working in absurd secrecy, aided by talented amateur Wendy Watson, the Middleman stares down threats extra- infra- and juxta-terrestrial with a big gun and a have-a-nice-day grin. The Middleman: he fights evil, so you don't have to!
Issue 01 (of 04)
Written by Javier Grillo-Marxuach
Illustrated by Les McClaine
Cover colored by Dean Trippe
The Temporary Employment Sanction
Wendy Watson thought she had it tough as a struggling young artist working a string of meaningless McJobs... until she met The Middleman. Now her life is filled with monsters, mindless destruction and one life-altering choice: to join or not to join the never-ending battle for truth, justice, and the other thing!
32 pages, B&W
Diamond Previews item code: MAY05 3063
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Comic Book Writer meets Politician
What the-? Mike Defensor was the classmate of Will Pfeifer?!
"As far as the hallowed class of '85 stacked up, the professions spanned the usual array of white and blue collar jobs, with at least one lawyer and a doctor thrown into the mix. A few teachers, couple of folks in sales, an engineer or two. I was the only comic book writer, and my chosen profession surprised some people (though it was predicted in this embarrassing photo long, long ago.) The real surprise (to me, at least) was our class' foreign exchange student. He didn't make the reunion, but that must be because his job as Secretary of the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources of the Philipines (!) keeps him busy."
Goth Life
Anne Rice is writing your life. Go you goth girl, go.
Which Author's Fiction are You?
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American God
You are American Gods! You are mysterious, intelligent, and creative. To the rest of the world you may seem a little standoffish, but really youre just a quiet person. You're sort of bookish and are intrigued by mythology and fairy tales. You might be Wiccan or Pagan, either that or you're unreligious. You have a sarcastic sense of humor and are the kind of person people like to talk to because you're such a good listener.*~Which Neil Gaiman book are you?~*
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Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Dating a Star
"Does it really matter whether Brian Herzlinger got his date or not? What matters is the aspiring film-maker's quest to get together over dinner with the Charlie's Angels star Drew Barrymore. And the hilarious, heart-tugging film he put together on the subject looks like it is about to turn him into a star.
"For the past 15 months, My Date With Drew has been doing the rounds at film festivals in north America, not making much money but winning prizes, drawing rave reviews - and at least once creating enough buzz to send its website crashing from a surfeit of hits."
Hm. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this sounds like Quark Henares' "A Date with Jao Mapa", doesn't it?
Can't Act? Try Poker
"Career fading? Can't get a decent acting job? Last week, Jennifer Tilly followed the Ben Affleck career swerve into professional gambling, stunning industry observers by winning The World Series of Poker's No Limits Texas Hold 'Em Ladies Event at the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas. She walked away with a cool $157,652 (£90,000), having beaten off 600 challengers.
"This is better than an Oscar," the Canadian-born actress (and Oscar nominee for Bullets Over Broadway) gushed after being handed the prize. Later, she also told a journalist: "I'd rather do this than be in some crappy movie that will end up on cable." She's even bought a flat in Las Vegas to move her career further towards professional card playing."
If only more crappy actors would get into poker, then TV and movies would be more enjoyable to watch. Especially here in our country.
Higher IQ leads to death sentence
"A CONVICTED murderer spared from Death Row because he was judged to be mentally retarded could now face execution after his IQ was found to have risen by at least 15 points.
"Daryl Atkins, 27, who had an IQ of 59 in 1998, scored a historic victory in the United States Supreme Court three years ago when judges ruled that executing mentally retarded criminals was unconstitutional.
"His legal campaign helped spare dozens of prisoners from Death Row.
"Now, however, he could face death by lethal injection after he recorded a higher test score of at least 74, placing him just above Virginia's threshold of 70."
A Mars a Day...
"CONFECTIONERY giant Mars today claimed its research on cocoa compounds has led to a breakthrough that could lead to new treatments for diabetes, strokes and vascular disease.
"The company was today announcing that it has discovered how to replicate the compounds, known as flavanols, which may lead to "a potential major new class of medications" to be developed by the pharmaceutical industry.
"Mars said it was already in "serious discussions" to license pharmaceutical companies as developers of these synthesised flavanols."
Criminals Steal Toilet Paper
"Unidentified criminals dressed in the police uniform stole three wagons loaded with toilet paper. According to information received from the police department of St.Petersburg, three truck drivers addressed to the police and reported larceny. The three men said that unidentified men, dressed as policemen, stopped their trucks for a document check. The trucks loaded with toilet paper were traveling to Moscow.
"When the drivers stopped their vehicles and presented the documents to the “policemen,” a group of camouflaged men approached them and told the drivers to get in their car. The criminals took the truck drivers away from the scene in an unknown direction. They were disembarked from the car in the woods in a suburban town on the outskirts of St.Petersburg, Interfax reports."
RSS Digest
If you notice down by the left hand side of this blog, there's a section entitled 'Headlines!' It's a list of recent posts by some sites I like to vist -- The Blurb, Santomon's Name, Best Viewed With Eyes Wide Open, Thoughts of Universal Randomness, Komikero Journal, Comic Book Resources, Neil Gaiman, Warren Ellis -- gathered together by RSS Digest. It's a convenient tool to keep track of recent posts by other people.
Ancient phallus unearthed
A sculpted and polished phallus found in a German cave is among the earliest representations of male sexuality ever uncovered, researchers say.
The 20cm-long, 3cm-wide stone object, which is dated to be about 28,000 years old, was buried in the famous Hohle Fels Cave near Ulm in the Swabian Jura.
The prehistoric "tool" was reassembled from 14 fragments of siltstone.
Its life size suggests it may well have been used as a sex aid by its Ice Age makers, scientists report.
Click on the link above for the full story.
Monday, July 25, 2005
Of Mice and Chicks
"Supersize" mice are eating seabird chicks alive on Gough Island, one of the most important seabird colonies in the world, UK conservationists report.The rodents are taking out one million petrels, shearwaters and albatrosses each year on the UK Overseas Territory, in the South Atlantic.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds says the mice infestation puts some species in danger of extinction.
Modern Day Romeo and Juliet?
"The daughter of an Indian man accused by the US of having links to al-Qaeda has married the son of one of Pakistan's most famous cricketers.
"Dawood Ibrahim was not present to see his daughter Mahrukh marry Junaid Miandad, son of cricketer Javed Miandad at a lavish ceremony in Dubai.
"Mr Ibrahim is wanted in India over a series of bombs in Mumbai (Bombay) that killed about 300 people in 1993."
Crash-ing Out
Taga-Ilog posts a sort-of-farewell note on his deviantart account.
Culture Crash was arguably the most successful local comic anthology that was in the market. And if the market cannot sustain a comic such as theirs, what does that mean for the local comics industry in general? Not a pretty picture, in my opinion.
Kiss/Met 30
written by Reginald Ting; art by Jim Jimenez
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Clicking the image on the left will take you to the next blog in the Monday Comic Web Ring. Enjoy!
Sunday, July 24, 2005
Solo #7
Written by Mike Allred & Lee Allred
Art and cover by Mike Allred
Join Mike Allred, the creator of Madman and The Atomics, as he takes a whirlwind tour of the DCU! First stop: Hourman, as we find out exactly how much super-heroing a hero can do.
The craziness continues as two super-teams are pitted against each other in "Doom Patrol vs. Teen Titans." In "Batman A-Go-Go!", the Caped Crusader is taken on a kooky psychedelic journey. Allred visits Jack Kirby's Fourth World as Lightray and Orion put Mister Miracle to the test in "Fourth World Wager." Can Scott Free really get out of any trap? And it's all capped off with "Comic Book Clubhouse," featuring just about every DC hero!
On sale October 26 o 48 pg, FC, $4.99 US
How can you not love that cover?
Image from Comic Book Resources.
Saturday, July 23, 2005
Bone Game
Bone is a fantastic all-ages story, and from the report, the game will closely follow the story. It's like living the adventures of Smiley Bone, Fone Bone, and Phoney Bone! The first section is scheduled to come out in September.
From Jeremy Goldstone's report:
For a book that reminds many people of stories from the past, Jeff Smith's "Bone" is looking towards the future. Not only is the series the premiere graphic novel from Scholastic Books' Graphix imprint, but Fone Bone, Phoney Bone, Smiley Bone and all the rest of Smith's characters are soon to be the stars of a series of PC video games from Telltale Games, revealed at a meeting across the street from Comic-Con International in San Diego this past weekend.
Telltale is releasing a series of point-and-click adventure games based on each of the "Bone" chapters over the Internet on their Web site. Despite being only 50 megabyte downloads, the games will feature a full voice cast with dialogue taken directly from the original word balloons.
Read more (plus more screenshots!) here. The official Bone site is here.
Friday, July 22, 2005
Kind of Writer
Since I'm at it:
You're a plotter, someone who carefully crafts an intriguing plot to keep the reader hooked from one scene to the next. You thrive on knowing exactly where your story is going, and what's going to happen along the way. Although you might veer off your original plan for the story, mostly you stick to your carefully planned outline. You're a born storyteller who enjoys sharing your stories with others.
What Kind of a Writer Are You?
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You're a plotter, someone who carefully crafts an intriguing plot to keep the reader hooked from one scene to the next. You thrive on knowing exactly where your story is going, and what's going to happen along the way. Although you might veer off your original plan for the story, mostly you stick to your carefully planned outline. You're a born storyteller who enjoys sharing your stories with others.
What Kind of a Writer Are You?
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Sci-fi writer
 | I am:William GibsonThe chief instigator of the "cyberpunk" wave of the 1980s, his razzle-dazzle futuristic intrigues were, for a while, the most imitated work in science fiction. |
Thursday, July 21, 2005
Pinoy Site Meter
You may have noticed this image on the sidebar on the left. It indicates that this site is part of Pinoy Top Blogs and its ranking amongst other Pinoy bloggers. Pinoy Top Blogs explains:
What do we hope to accomplish with all these?
Well this is a two-pronged project and I hope most of the pinoy bloggers would agree with me on these points.
For Individual Bloggers:
* Provide an independent public metric system to compare blog traffic among fellow pinoy bloggers.
* Enable a feedback system independent of the individual blogs.
* Promotion and additional exposure.
* Independently verified bragging rights. :D
For the Blogging Community:
* We can show everyone that the pinoy blogging community has the numbers and traffic.
* Enable us to collect verifiable metrics to profile the average pinoy blogger.
* Provides an avenue for commercial exposure and potential local revenue for bloggers. (under study)
Jim Aparo
Noted comic book veteran Jim Aparo has died due to illness. He was 72. His most famous work is the story "A Death in the Family", where readers at that time got to vote on whether Robin II (Jason Todd) would live or die at the hands of the Joker.From Mark Evanier:
Also notable about Aparo were his meticulous work habits. Except for a few brief exceptions, he always pencilled, lettered and inked his own work at the rate of one page per day -- no more, no less. He'd pencil that page in the morning, break for lunch, letter it and then almost always have it finished by bedtime. This was possible because editors found him so trustworthy that there was no need to have him show the work in the pencil stage. They could just send him a complete 22 page script and then, 22 workdays later (plus travel time), they had the finished art. In the DC offices, there would sometimes be panic -- "We need to have a script ready for Aparo by Tuesday" -- because he delivered like clockwork.
You have to admire that discipline and dedication. A lot of creators today would do well to follow his example. He will be missed.
The panel image above is from Will Pfeifer.
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Glowing Balls
Apparently, the lead character in Encantadia has four glowing balls, as evidenced by this billboard on EDSA.
Linked from Salamangkiero's Journey.
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
The Summoning
"The Summoning" written by Reginald Ting and illustrated by Mannie Abeleda. Read the rest of this 6-page story in True Philippine Ghost Stories book 12, pictured on the left.
Monday, July 18, 2005
Kiss/Met 27
written by Reginald Ting; art by Jim Jimenez
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Comments are appreciated. Click the image on the left to take you to the next blog in the Monday Comic Web Ring.
Sunday, July 17, 2005
The Spirit meets The Batman
As announced at the SDCC, Jeph Loeb and Darwyn Cooke will take on Batman/The Spirit. Coming soon from DC Comics.
Good Comics
These are good comics that more people should be reading: The Surrogates and Doc Frankenstein. Click on the images to find out more about them.
Sound Bites
For those who want Neil Gaiman's talk at the Writer's Forum at the Music Museum, you can download the mp3s here. (via Budjette.)
If you missed Vin Simbulan and Andrew Drilon talk about comics from their radio interview at Rx93, you can find the mp3s here. (via Azrael.)
If you missed Vin Simbulan and Andrew Drilon talk about comics from their radio interview at Rx93, you can find the mp3s here. (via Azrael.)
Saturday, July 16, 2005
Kids and Comics
At Wizard World Philadelphia last month, Top Cow's Matt Hawkins made an interesting comment during his "Marketing 101" presentation, stating to an audience of aspiring comics creators: "Comics aren't really for kids anymore. Focus on what sells." He cited audience demographics that confirmed the stereotype of the average comic book reader as a middle-class male in his 20s-30s, and he opined that Marvel and DC, as the leaders in the industry, were the only ones capable of shifting the market back towards kid-friendly comics.
Is the comics industry so healthy that it doesn't need an infusion of fresh blood to keep it going? Where does manga fit in? And what about Marvel's 7/11 deal?
Industry Buzz turned to its crack panel of experts for some answers:
Interested? Read more here.
Thanks to Johanna for the link.
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Today's the day that the 6th volume of Harry Potter gets released to the screaming hordes of muggles. I'm not a fanatic but I'm happy that kids all over the world are reading books again.
Me? It's just another book to read in my ever growing stack of reading materials. Don't get me wrong, I liked Sorceror's Stone, disgusted with Chamber of Secrets, liked Prisoner of Azkaban, so-so with Goblet of Fire, and satisfied with Order of the Phoenix. Like always, I'll wait for a friend to lend me their copy of the book.
Because personally, I think this girl can kick Harry's arse any time of day:
Harry Potter image from Amazon.com.
Courtney Crumrin image from Ted Naifeh Online.
Friday, July 15, 2005
Rock Star: INXS
Now this I can get into. I was never able to watch American Idol, primarily because most, if not all, the songs were pop-ish/bitch-in-heat music. Here in Rock Star, the contestants get to audition to be the new frontman for INXS, a band whose original lead singer, Michael Hutchence, committed suicide back in 1997.
After holding world-wide auditions, 15 hopefuls get to show their stuff to INXS (and the world). From the first two episodes, we get to hear songs from Nirvana, Jesus Jones, Bob Dylan, the Eagles, KISS, and much more! From Classic Rock to Contemporary Rock, this is a show I'm presently enjoying.Here in the Philippines, we get a simultaneous broadcast on Star World -- Wednesdays 930AM: the drama in the house, followed by the competition at 10. Viewers then get to vote for their favorite rocker at the official site.
Thursday 930AM: the elimination phase where INXS and Dave Navarro (of Jane's Addiction and Red Hot Chili Peppers fame) send home one of the lowest 3 vote-getters.
If you missed the live telecast, no need to worry; there are replays at 9pm and 1230am the same evening.
Rock on!
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