Not a nightmare. Not a joke. A real product, people.

Baby’s first podcasts…coming soon

Head over to Comix Underworld to read about the upcoming (no, really) podcast interviews with some of comics’ biggest names and a brief synopsis of what I talked about with each.
Luckily, each of these guys has been a great interview so far. Warren Ellis told me he twice passed up the chance to meet Hunter [...]

Why my dad talked me out of joining the Marines

Interesting blogosphere discussion since Matt Hill Comer and company’s anti-Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell demonstration.
In a VERY long thread over at Ed Cone’s blog I stated that I didn’t see how anyone who had gay friends could argue that they shouldn’t be allowed to serve openly in the armed forces – or that the “don’t [...]

Because this name change was the only way this band could be any more lame…

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) — There’s enough Supernova for everyone.
At least according to the settlement reached by a Southern California punk band called Supernova and the CBS reality show “Rock Star: Supernova.”
Under the agreement, announced Thursday, the punk band will keep its original name and the TV band will be known as “Rock Star Supernova.”
The [...]

Inside the head of Wired’s editor-in-chief

Great interview with Wired editor-in-chief Chris Anderson at Reason Online.

Not everybody looks so good in cuffs…

Don’t Ask, Don’t tell?
Don’t think so…
Matt Hill Comer and company are carried away in cuffs after trying to enlist in the armed forces as openly gay Americans.
A good day to be the education reporter. Am going to have to hear the behind-the-scenes story from Lanita at the office later today.

Rabies cases at record high

Rabies infections in Guilford County are at a record high.
With three new cases confirmed Tuesday, the total for 2006 stands at 27. That is the highest annual number for the county since it began keeping track in 1990.
The previous record, set in 1998, was 25.Pam Spence, health educator with the Guilford County Department of Public [...]

PRIDE OF BAGHDAD

Over at Comix Underworld I posted a short review of Brian K. Vaughan’s first graphic novel, PRIDE OF BAGHDAD, based on the true story of a family of lions who escaped from the Baghdad zoo during the U.S. bombings in 2003.
I’m not much for allegory, but this one got me. Worth picking up.

"The Purge"

Lorraine Ahearn’s front page N&R piece about the 1957 roundup of 32 men accused of being homosexual for private consensual sex acts deemed “crimes against nature”:
On Feb. 4, 1957, a Guilford County grand jury emerged from its closed session and issued a bundle of indictments of a scope unlike any before or since — against [...]

The rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated…

A friend of mine called today to make sure I was still alive. I hadn’t blogged in a few days.
Have been busy writing and undergoing two days of diversity training at work that turned my schedule on its head. It was a nice peek at a 9 – 5 lifestyle and I enjoyed it, but [...]

HA! Chris took pictures with his BRAIN! His BRAIN!

My friend Chris Lowrance produces Framed, a monthly feature-story-as-comic that runs in the local alt-weekly, Yes! Weekly.
This week’s comic is Chris’ take on the gun and knife show we attended at the Coliseum a few weekends ago. You might remember my post about wandering around in awe of all of the deadly weaponry, domestic terrorism [...]

Because gay guys needed one more reason to love Brad Pitt…

NEW YORK (AP) — Brad Pitt, ever the social activist, says he won’t be marrying Angelina Jolie until the restrictions on who can marry whom are dropped. “Angie and I will consider tying the knot when everyone else in the country who wants to be married is legally able,” the 42-year-old actor reveals in Esquire [...]

Ha-Ha- Harder than it looks…

GREENSBORO — The first rule of improvisational comedy is “Don’t try to be funny.”
The second rule is: “Don’t try to be funny.”
This is easier said than done.
I am, after all, in an empty classroom at UNCG, surrounded by freshman and sophomore acting students, auditioning for the Idiot Box improv comedy troupe.
At 24, [...]

Must be hanging out with those guys from The Onion…

Is it just me, or have the CNN online headlines been getting stranger and snarkier lately?
This story’s headline: “High price for back-door beauty.”
Gretchen has decided that when she sees a headline like this, she’s simply not going to click it. Whatever the story is actually about can’t possibly measure up to what she’s imagining.

Writing about words and pictures…for the Web

Well, the comics blog/podcast project I’ve been working on is finally under way.
It’s called Comix Underworld and N&R Operations Manager Herb Everett is helping me with the tech bits I don’t understand (most of it) – but we should have our first podcasts (my interviews with NYT best-seller Brad Meltzer (Justice League, Identity Crisis) and [...]

You don’t pitch it. You throw it.

My family loves to camp.
I’m more a room serice and hotel bar kinda guy.
But before our next camping trip I’m going to get one of these, a tent that goes up in seconds and can be broken back down in a little under a minute.
That shoudl take the edge off a bit.