Thar she blows

Here’s a free PDF of “The Great Sea Serpent” – a cryptozoological text from 1892 which discusses more than 160 sightings of mythical sea serpents – with illustrations.

Warren Ellis on American politics

“I horrified a friend of mine on the phone last night by suggesting that the ideal political battle in 2008 would be Arnold Schwarzenegger vs. Jesse Ventura. Are you telling me you wouldn’t watch that on television?”
Some of the best stuff from my Warren Ellis interview, which I’m now putting together into some digestable form, [...]

The fact of the place

Interview with Ellis was one of the best I’ve ever had. A bit over an hour and a half, and all but the first few minutes just felt like a bull session with an old friend.
If I hadn’t had to come work the night shift back at the office I would have spent another two [...]

Warren Ellis

I’m interviewing Warren Ellis tomorrow over drinks in Charlotte, NC – where he’s hunkered down and preparing for the nerd prom that is Heroes Con.
Ellis, the best-selling writer of Fell, Transmetropolitan, Global Frequency and Nextwave is, bar none, my favorite writer in comics. At the end of high school, when I’d sort of burned out [...]

From "Godless" to "Friend of the Devil" in one move

This is, apparently, an interview with Ann Coulter about why she’s a Deadhead.
No, really.
In it the author of “Godless: The Church of Liberalism” shouts-out Kanye West, The Dave Matthews Band, String Cheese Incident and Blues Traveler. To say nothing of, I swear to God, 50 Cent.
It’s not that I think you have to back someone’s [...]

A Rush of blood to the…er…

Uncle Rush has been busted for having Viagra that wasn’t prescribed to him…er…was prescribed under his doctor’s name for “privacy purposes.”
If Limbaugh can’t get it up on his own with while his party wields all the political power in the nation, I don’t know that there’s any hope for him.
Limbaugh apparently joked on his radio [...]

"I know you best as the scary tattooed guy I ignored on the way in because I thought he was homeless…"

Fox News interview with Henry Rollins about, among other things, his new TV show on IFC.
The best part is when the Fox News Channel Barbie Doll with the giant bleached teeth says to him, with a straight face:
“I know you best as the lead singer of the punk rock band Black Flag back in the [...]

Fun with markers

Just looked in my News & Record mailbox and found a letter to me, c/o the News & Record, from “Alfred E. Newman III.” [sic]
Opening the letter I found it was the Tuesday N&R’s front page, torn out and folded. On it was a short color piece I’d written about the Hurricanes winning the Stanely [...]

Epizootic

I did this story this week on an epidemic (or epizootic – which is, I swear, what it’s called among animals) of rabies in the raccoon population in NC -there have been five confirmed cases in the last two weeks.
Just got the following call about it:
Caller: “My name is — —- and I read [...]

Because "The Nooky Clock" wouldn’t have played in Peoria

Timing is everything.
For couples who want a child – or who want to avoid pregnancy – knowing when the woman is fertile is critical.
As a designer at The Sessions Clock Co. in Forestville , John Paul Jones Jr. helped create The Lady Sessions, a clock designed to track a woman’s menstrual cycle.
“I’d [...]

UNCG laptop initiative

Good piece on the UNCG laptop initiative at The Carolinian, which is operating online throughout the summer.
In development since 2005, the Student Laptop Initiative (SLI) is launching this summer, encouraging incoming freshmen to purchase a Lenovo or Apple laptop with a software package geared toward academic enhancement. Beginning Fall 2007, most freshmen will be required [...]

Pentagon: "Mental health experts? We don’t need no stinking mental health experts!"

WASHINGTON (AP) – A Pentagon document classifies homosexuality as a mental disorder, decades after mental health experts abandoned that position.
The document outlines retirement or other discharge policies for service members with physical disabilities, and in a section on defects lists homosexuality alongside mental retardation and personality disorders.
Critics said the reference underscores the Pentagon’s failing policies [...]

Pope to Scientists: "No, this time it’s totally different…"

HONG KONG (AP) – Famous astrophysicist Stephen Hawking said Thursday that the late Pope John Paul II once told scientists they should not study the beginning of the universe because it was the work of God.
The British author _ who wrote the best-seller “A Brief History of Time” _ said that the pope made the [...]

Hurricanes beat basketball, football to first NC national championship

The Panthers came up short. The Hornets couldn’t do it, and their successors in Charlotte — the Bobcats — haven’t gotten there yet. In the end, the first league championship for a North Carolina major-league sports franchise went to … a hockey team?
–
Read full version here.
Last night I got to go out and write what [...]

Britney looks over Brangelina’s shoulder during test

WINDHOEK, Namibia (AP) — Following in the steps of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, Britney Spears is considering a Namibian birth for her next baby, a government official said Friday.
Deputy Environment and Tourism Minister Leon Jooste said officials have received an inquiry on behalf of the 24-year-old pop star, who has a 9-month-old son, Sean [...]

Munchausen

The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen, unabridged and fully illustrated, online, for free.
I picked up a beautiful, fully illustrated, leather-bound copy of this at Ed McKay’s a few weeks back. Great stuff.

ENTOURAGE OBSESSION MAY LAND FRIENDS IN HOLLYWOOD

Joe KillianStaff WriterThe News & Record
GREENSBORO — It’s Sunday afternoon at Natty Greene’s and Tom Spano and his entourage are still hung over.
As The Rolling Stones’ “Some Girls” plays in the background, Spano is scrolling through the digital pictures on his camera. Suddenly, he looks confused.
“What’s this?” Spano says. “I don’t even remember this.”
“You don’t [...]

"Hey – let’s give them one more excuse not to come to Mass anymore…"

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) — The nation’s Roman Catholic bishops signed off Thursday on a new English translation for the Mass that would change prayers ingrained in the memories of millions of American parishioners.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops voted at its biannual meeting for a new translation after a brief but vigorous debate over [...]

A wolf amidst the sheep

“Behold, I send you forth as sheep amidst the wolves .” – Matthew 10:16.
They never tell you in Sunday School how frightening it can be to be a wolf amidst the sheep. Especially when we’re talking more than 10,000 sheep. But that was, essentially, the position I was in last night when I decided to [...]

The fine line between literature and smut

Slate has dreamed up some classicpulp exploitation covers for Classic Literature.
Some highlights: