But not in the Daffy Duck sense. I mean it as in J.C. Hutchin’s new social media project, MINE. It’s that cool announcement I’ve been waiting to tell everyone about!

MINE is your one-stop shop for entertainment news, crazy rumors, Internet memes, whimsical news bites, music, gossip … you name it. We’ve amassed a small army of savvy, slightly-snarky writers — we call them “MINERS” — dedicated to extracting the most fun and interesting stuff from the webscape.

I follow J.C. on Twitter, and when he put the call out, asking for volunteers to blog short, fun news items, I answered! It’s been very fun so far putting together stuff for MINE, and very cool to say that a Z-list blogger and “small w writer” (as in writing for fun) person like myself can have my stories up there with greats such as J.C., Mur Lafferty, Jared Axelrod, and many others!

I don’t get shiny gold rocks, but I do get my blog pimped out with link love and I’m having a blast, which is awesome enough. And if that’s enough for you as well, give a shout to J.C. He’s looking for more people to submit stories, and his site has all the details you need to contact him if you are interested!

So head on over to MINE, check it out, and give us a comment or two.

Technorati tags: mine, j c hutchins, social media

I admit, I had a huge gap in my comic/geek/literary cred until I read Watchmen 10 years ago. I immediately loved it, and like most fans, have gone through a range of emotions since first hearing about the movie that will be released next year. First was the “How will they put it all in one movie! They’ll fuck it up, just like all the other Alan Moore adaptations!”, but then came news from the set. Slowly we were shown pictures that Zack Snyder was trying to make a very faithful adaptation. I’m still skeptical that it can be done in just one movie, but after seeing the trailer before The Dark Knight last week…I am looking forward to seeing it. Watch the trailer, if you haven’t already.

And since this week is Comic-Con, the biggest geekgasm inducing con on the planet, there is a lot of Watchmen going on. There is an Owlship on the Comic-Con floor! Plus there is a Watchmen panel happening, which is promised to have some cool news. One of the interesting things that has come isn’t from SDCC, but is still cool anyway is a “motion comic” you can get at iTunes. As always, the first hit is free, but only for a limited time.

“Warner Premiere’s Motion Comics” draw on a massive amount of source material to bring a visually engaging experience to life through the use of subtle movements, voice-overs, sweeping music scores and stunning comic book artwork. The highly anticipated debut episode of DC Comics’ “Watchmen” is now available exclusively as a free iTunes download for the next two weeks via Entertainment Weekly’s website (EW.com/Watchmen). Beginning August 2, the debut “Watchmen” Motion Comic will be available on the iTunes Store (iTunes.com) for purchase and download for $1.99.

I have yet to check it out, but probably will since it’s free. I have read some comments complaining that there is only one person doing the voices, including the female ones, but I don’t think that’s a very big issue. I listen to many podiobooks, and that’s the norm. I can’t see this being any different, since it’s not a movie or adaptation, just an audio version with some effects on the original comic drawings.

Technorati tags: full of fun fridays, watchmen, comics

When it comes to freedoms and privacy issues, librarians have been on the front line for many years. I’ve been a longtime fan of the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week, and now their most recent endeavor comes in the form of a nationwide campaign to bring attention to privacy and how it impacts library patrons. They call it “Privacy: Is it time for a revolution?”

The ALA’s new campaign wants to 1) educate people, and then 2) turn them into activists. The education component of the three-year program will make people aware, for instance, that “checking out a biography of Osama Bin Laden could prompt seizure of their library records” or that “online searches create traceable records that make them vulnerable to questioning by the FBI.” The ALA also worries about provisions in the law that “gag” the people who are on the receiving end of government orders to turn over these records.

“Law enforcement agencies at every level are exploiting fears about terrorism and child safety to encourage lawmakers to strip away statutory privacy protections for library records,” says the ALA. “This eliminates anonymity in the library, and encourages the mind set that ‘good’ people should have nothing to hide.”

That argument always pisses me off. Just because I’m not doing anything wrong or illegal doesn’t mean anyone, especially the government, has the right to know every detail about my life, listen to my phone conversations, know what books, movies, music, video games, etc I own. Think of it the way that the awesome Cory Doctorow put it when he spoke to the ALA:

[P]eople have all sorts of behaviors for which they want “privacy,” even if these behaviors aren’t “secret.” When someone heads off to the bathroom, for instance, and closes the door, their behavior isn’t a “secret,” but it is “private.” And everyone’s parents engaged in at least one nonsecret but private activity to produce a child.

So if anyone says they don’t mind being monitored and have nothing to hide, ask if they are willing to have cameras installed in their house, in their car, at their work that will record 24/7. And when the technology comes around that starts recording people’s thoughts? See if they will be the first ones to volunteer.

Getting librarians involved in this issue is a natural fit. I hope their campaign is a success. There aren’t enough people speaking out about this issue. At least ones who politicians listen to. Finally, head over to the ALA site and take their privacy survey!

Technorati tags: american library association, privacy

There are going to be spoilers, so if you haven’t seen it yet…go see it, then come back and read this.

Hubby and I got to see The Dark Knight on opening weekend. Christian Bale did just a great job in Batman Begins, and of course I wanted to see if the hype surrounding Heath Ledger was warranted, or just because he had died so tragically. Heath was AMAZING. He actually made the Joker fucking scary and creepy as hell. Best movie villain in a long time, and up there with Hannibal Lecter. Overall, I really enjoyed the movie and will see it again when it makes it to DVD and/or cable. So what is my complaint? It’s nothing to do with the physics, or how Batman can take such a beating with him being a regular human and all. It has to do with the character Rachel Dawes.

In the first Batman reboot Batman Begins, she was a tough Assistant District Attorney. She kicked ass in the courtroom, and was a great, strong female character. In The Dark Knight, her character changed. She became nothing more than another woman in a refrigerator. Gone is her powerful personality, instead left only to serve as girlfriend to Harvey and an object of sadness for Bruce in being “what could be”.

Only one time did she seem like a strong woman. During the party scene, when the Joker crashes Bruce’s party to get Harvey Dent, Rachel did stand up to him. She gave the Joker a verbal lashing, which was all well and good, but I expected more. In my head, the end of her speech said “And as Gotham’s Assistant DA, I will make sure you and your crew pay for your crimes” or something similar. I mean, she took on the mob, so that “thug” as he was referred to numerous times in the movie, should have gotten that threat right? Oh, but I guess taking on crime is Harvey’s job, while she just sat back and looked pretty as his girlfriend. And no, I don’t count her not freaking out and crying after she was tied to a chair in the room full of bombs as being strong. She fully believed that she was going to be saved, so really had no reason to break down. It was only a second or two she had for it to sink in that Harvey was saved anyway.

She was important to the plot though. When she was kidnapped and Gordon didn’t save her in time, she serves as Harvey’s motivation for revenge as Two-Face. Patrick over at The Hathor Network puts it simply:

Then, yes, Rachel is kidnapped and tied up next to a time bomb. As is Harvey, with Batman given only enough time to save one. At this point I’m still willing to give the film a pass, because of the equal-opportunity hostage crisis. But while Batman saves Harvey (mostly), Gordon fails to get to Rachel on time, and…

Refrigerators: 1, Women: 0.

Actually, I suppose that should count as two points for the refrigators, since thanks to the love triangle Rachel’s death serves to motivate both Batman and Harvey. In fact, Rachel’s death, rather than his disfigurement, is made the primary factor behind Harvey’s transformation into Two-Face. In short, she has a bigger effect on the plot dead than alive.

Do check out his full post. There aren’t many out there on this topic yet, and I searched.

It wouldn’t have taken much to turn Rachel’s character into more than just a woman in a refrigerator here. She could have easily kept her strong personality and high powered job like she did in the first movie before she was killed. I could have watched just another 5 or 10 min of movie for that.

Technorati tags: the dark knight, women in refrigerators, feminism

I know, I missed Friday of last week. I was on a plane most of the day, coming home from a conference. This week there are tons of cool things, what with E3 and Dr. Horrible launching, but I wanted to go with something a little different. Enter 826 National:

826 National is a nonprofit tutoring, writing, and publishing organization with locations in seven cities across the country. Our goal is to assist students ages six to eighteen with their writing skills, and to help teachers get their classes excited about writing. Our work is based on the understanding that great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention, and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success.

As cool as this is alone, it’s not what made me want to include them in the Full of Fun Fridays! post. It’s their stores, a different kind in each city:

To raise funds, inspire creativity, and advertise our programs to the local community, most of our centers include a street-front retail store filled with unusual products, entertaining signage, and, of course, our books for sale. San Francisco’s pirate supply store sells glass eyes and one-of-a-kind peglegs, 826NYC’s Superhero Supply Company offers custom-fit capes, Seattle’s Greenwood Space Travel Supply Company sells “rare imports from other planets,” 826 Michigan’s Monsters Union Local specializes in bottling screams, 826LA features a time travel store, there’s a secret agent supply store in Chicago, and a Cryptozoology shop in Boston is in the works!

I almost wish I didn’t find these stores, because now I have tons of stuff to add to my wish list! (Although the 826 Michigan store has turned into Liberty Street Robot Supply & Repair if you go there. Someone needs to update the opening paragraph on the national site. Still waaaay cool though!) I really want to see all of the stores, but unfortunately not all of them are online! The pirate one and the The Echo Park Time Travel Mart are though, and check out some of their stuff I want!

Various Pirate supplies and flags
Echo Park logo t-shirt and time travel ad posters. Those have that retro future look that I love. If only I had room on my walls for them all.

Don’t forget…any purchase goes toward their mission, which is to help kids learn, and love, writing!

Technorati tags: full of fun fridays, 826 national, writing

This is what you get! Sean Tevis decided enough was enough in his conservative state of Kansas, and he is running for State Representative. He has a very unique approach to raise money for his campaign, very much in line with the internet-savy and geek culture. He has taken his requests for donations, and placed them online. Asking for just $8.34 from 3000 people to reach his goal, delivered in a comic xkcd style titled “Running for Office: It’s Like A Flamewar with a Forum Troll, but with an Eventual Winner”. He is already half way to his goal.

As for his positions, the website itself is a little light. I’m not sure about his stance on illegal immigration, but I do like that he said he has updated his thoughts after a discussion on a thread with people. Shows that he will consider changing his opinion on something if given information he may not have considered before. Although from what I’ve read in the comic, it makes it seem his is pro-science, pro-choice, anti-censorship, and for gay rights. That’s something in Kansas. I’d vote for him if he were running in Oklahoma!

I think he’ll make his money raising goal, but the real test will come in November. Anyone living in his district…vote for him! And if you’ve got less than $9 to spare…donate! Even if you don’t live in Kansas, you can donate as long as you are a US Citizen. He even says that if you donate the maximum per donation cycle:

The first cycle ends July 28, 2008 and the second ends December 31, 2008.
So, you and your spouse can donate $1000 now and $1000 after July 28th. I’d probably fly you to Kansas for the victory party if you did that, by the way.

Technorati tags: xkcd, sean tevis, kansas election

Dear Henry,

I have been a fan of yours for almost 20 years. I have several of your books, three of them signed, both music and spoken word CDs, t-shirts, and a signed poster from your 25th anniversary tour. I’ve tried to catch you in your numerous television show appearances over the years, and hope to see you come back in The Henry Rollins Show on IFC. Any movie you’ve been in, no matter how large or small your part, I’ve seen. I can’t count how many times I’ve watched The Chase and Johnny Mnemonic, and I really want to see you return in Feast 2 if at all possible! (I read that even some dead characters will be back.) And movies that were absolutely horrible? I endured and thoroughly enjoyed your character, say like Wrong Turn 2. Hell, I watched (most) of Bad Boys II for crissakes!

I read your dispatches, follow you on Twitter, and receive your email updates.

My favorite times have been when I’ve seen you perform live, both with the Rollins Band and on your own. I’ve been able to catch you each time you’ve been in the same town as me, which is a total of only 5 times over the years. Each time you have released your tour dates I look for a date in my city.

Which brings me to the main topic of this letter.

You last came to Oklahoma City in 2005, for your 25 Years of Bullshit World Tour. I was there, in the front row. Ever since then, I’ve been patiently waiting for you to return to OKC. I know you are a very busy man, with your tours and your Harmony In My Head radio show plus your various other projects, and you tour almost non-stop around the globe. So when it took until earlier this year for you to come to Tulsa, Oklahoma, I wasn’t surprised. I was, however, not very happy about the show being in Tulsa though, since I could not travel there to see you. My hope that you would make it to OKC returned though, since in an email you mentioned that later in 2008 you would tour some more and return to some cities not hit earlier in the tour.

Then your email came yesterday, and all hope is gone. Oklahoma is not even on the list this time, the closest will be Dallas. Which, incidentally, you went to in the earlier leg of the tour. I understand you have a limited amount of time, and that you can’t hit everywhere, but please, Henry…why won’t you come back to OKC? Did the Bass Pro and Toby Keith’s Bar and Grill really get to you? It gets to some of us, too, and we really would like to hear your show and help celebrate the end of the Bush era. It sucks being in a state where 40% of the people still support that guy.

Anyway, Henry, thanks for your time. I’ll still be in OKC, so if you are able to make it here, I’ll be at the show. If not…well, I guess I’ll have to wait until sometime next year and hope you make it here then. Then it will make it an average of seeing you every 4 years.

Travel well and keep ranting,

Jessika

(also sent via email to Henry)

Technorati tags: henry rollins, oklahoma city

During the 4th of July weekend, we met David and his daughter at the Sam Noble Museum to see all the dinosaur bones and their Supercroc exhibit. It was very cool to finally go to that museum since I’ve never been there. Baby Grrl loved everything, especially if she could get her hands on it. So when we hit the Discovery Room, that was oh so cool to her. She played with bones, got to watch the turtles and salamanders feed, and even got to “dig” in the excavation dig area. Lots of pictures were taken, but here are just a few. (David also has quite a bit at Flikr.)

I love that she’s a curious kid and likes to see how things work. I’m definitely bringing her back to the museum again.

This is how dinosaurs chew

What a big bone!

I want one on my hand

My little excavator

I’ve been kind of slacking lately, but at least I’ve kept up with my Full of Fun Fridays posts. I’ve got a good reason, beyond just busy at work. Instead of writing posts for here, I’ve been writing some stuff contributing to another blog! Once the site goes “live”, I’ll plug my stuff away, but for now just trust me that who I’m working with is very cool, and I’m honored to be able to write for this blog. It’s for free, but hey…it will get me writing a few times a week, and drive some traffic here. I also hope it will poke me into writing more in general, and get my NaNoWriMo story of a couple of years ago out of “I want to work on it” mode and into “rewrites and editing” mode.

So keep an eye out, hopefully in the next week or so I can give more details!

I’ve been hearing about Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog for a month or so, and everything I have heard has been awesome.

During the WGA strike Joss Whedon started writing a three part musical series for the internet. Each of the three episodes will be approximately ten minutes each.

“It’s the story of a low-rent super-villain, the hero who keeps beating him up, and the cute girl from the laundromat he’s too shy to talk to.” says Whedon.

“Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” will star Neil Patrick Harris as Dr. Horrible, Nathan Fillion as Captain Hammer, Felicia Day as Penny and a cast of dozens.”

The teaser trailer is online, and it looks as cool as it sounds! The first part will be online on the 15th, and I can see another Full of Fun Fridays post covering the actual episodes. This one is just to mention the teaser, and to note that you can get started with reading Dark Horse Comics “Captain Hammer: be like me! Nemesis of Doctor Horrible” comic now! It’s up for free at Dark Horse’s MySpace page (yes, MySpace…I know…)

I normally don’t like musicals. There are a few exceptions, and I think this one will end up making it onto my short list of favorites. Check out the teaser!

Teaser from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog on Vimeo.

Technorati tags: full of fun fridays, dr horribles sing-along blog, captain hammer comic