Coke will drop 'Classic' from label | ajc.com

Coke will drop 'Classic' from label | ajc.com: "Coca-Cola Co. said Friday it plans to drop the “Classic” tag from its top-selling soda — providing a final chapter to the New Coke debacle."

The Fantastic Photo World of Jack Kirby

Bully Says: Comics Oughta Be Fun!: The Fantastic Photo World of Jack Kirby

Comics get political - NYDN

Comics get political Check out ten recent examples of politics in comics.

Movie Channel to Debut on Web As Distribution Talks Continue - WSJ.com

Movie Channel to Debut on Web As Distribution Talks Continue - WSJ.com: "A trio of studios attempting to create a movie channel plans an early push onto the Web in May as the consortium battles to score key distribution deals on cable and satellite television.

The joint venture of Viacom Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. and Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. disclosed long-awaited details of the channel -- including a name, Epix -- signaling that the studios are forging ahead"

Found in Translation: How a Thirteenth Century Islamic Poet Conquered America | Media/Culture | ReligionDispatches

Found in Translation: How a Thirteenth Century Islamic Poet Conquered America | Media/Culture | ReligionDispatches: "The best-selling poet in America today was born in Afghanistan, practiced a form of Islam that originated in Iraq, and has been dead for 800 years. How did a white man from Tennessee, who doesn't read a lick of Persian, make Rumi accessible to mainstream America?"

New Rules Make It Tougher to Publish New Comic-Book Titles - NYTimes.com

New Rules Make It Tougher to Publish New Comic-Book Titles - NYTimes.com: "Is this the end of independent comic books?

That was the fear around the comics blogosphere last week when word spread of a policy change from Diamond Comic Distributors, the world’s dominant distributor of English-language comic books. The company has decided to raise the minimum advance order it needs from comic-book stores before it will agree to distribute a title. The figure, called the purchase order benchmark, has increased to $2,500 from $1,500.

It may seem like a minor matter, but this is life or death for many small, struggling comic book companies."

An Appraisal - John Updike, Intuitive and Precise, Mapped America’s Mysteries - NYTimes.com

An Appraisal - John Updike, Intuitive and Precise, Mapped America’s Mysteries - NYTimes.com: "Endowed with an art student’s pictorial imagination, a journalist’s sociological eye and a poet’s gift for metaphor, John Updike — who died on Tuesday at 76 — was arguably this country’s one true all-around man of letters. He moved fluently from fiction to criticism, from light verse to short stories to the long-distance form of the novel: a literary decathlete in our age of electronic distraction and willful specialization, Victorian in his industriousness and almost blogger-like in his determination to turn every scrap of knowledge and experience into words."

The Best Comics You'll (Probably) Never Read - PW

The Best Comics You'll (Probably) Never Read - 1/26/2009 3:39:00 PM - Publishers Weekly: "If your favorite director makes a movie but never gets past shooting the first few scenes, you'll probably never see it. If a novelist you like couldn't sell his latest project, you won't get a look at it until he's dead and academics are pillaging his attic. But if a comic book gets derailed halfway through, chances are at least part of it was already out on the stands, ready for the curious to page through it.

So here are ten tales of comicus interruptus—unfinished stories that might have changed the medium if they'd ever gotten onto the page, or, in a couple of cases, managed to change the medium in spite of perils like imploding publishers, nasty divorces, and freestyle bookkeeping. None of these series have been concluded yet, but all of them are in back-issue bins and on eBay for those who are still curious."

Why Hollywood Loves the Comics - PW

Why Hollywood Loves the Comics - 1/26/2009 2:04:00 PM - Publishers Weekly: "The hits just keep coming—which is to say that there seemed to be even more wildly successful Hollywood movies based on comics released in the past year. There was Iron Man, the Hulk, Wanted and of course, The Dark Knight, which has somehow managed to raise the ante by receiving an Oscar nomination for Heath Ledger’s singular performance. Hollywood has long focused its attention on the comics medium—periodically and sporadically—but the current love affair seems to have no end in sight."

Neil Gaiman’s ‘Graveyard Book’ Wins Newbery Medal - NYTimes.com

Neil Gaiman’s ‘Graveyard Book’ Wins Newbery Medal - NYTimes.com: "Neil Gaiman, a renowned author of science fiction, fantasy, graphic novels and comics aimed at adults, won the John Newbery Medal for the year’s most outstanding contribution to children’s literature on Monday.

Mr. Gaiman, 48, won for “The Graveyard Book,” a story about a boy who is raised in a cemetery by ghosts after his family is killed in the opening pages of the novel."

Google plans to make PCs history - Observer

Google plans to make PCs history | The Observer: "Google is to launch a service that would enable users to access their personal computer from any internet connection, according to industry reports. But campaigners warn that it would give the online behemoth unprecedented control over individuals' personal data.

The Google Drive, or 'GDrive', could kill off the desktop computer, which relies on a powerful hard drive. Instead a user's personal files and operating system could be stored on Google's own servers and accessed via the internet.

The long-rumoured GDrive is expected to be launched this year, according to the technology news website TG Daily, which described it as 'the most anticipated Google product so far'. It is seen as a paradigm shift away from Microsoft's Windows operating system, which runs inside most of the world's computers, in favour of 'cloud computing', where the processing and storage is done thousands of miles away in remote data centres."

Rick Warren and The (Necessary) Narcissism of Faith | RD Blog: The Devil's Advocate | ReligionDispatches

Rick Warren and The (Necessary) Narcissism of Faith | RD Blog: The Devil's Advocate | ReligionDispatches: "Warren's prayer began with all of us, narrowed itself to the Judeo-Christian monotheist, then more narrowly still on the Christian, then more narrowly still on that faith as experienced by Rick Warren himself. A stunning rhetorical achievement."

'Slumdog' takes top nod at SAG Awards

'Slumdog' takes top nod at SAG Awards: "sement to 'Slumdog Millionaire' on Sunday night, handing it the prize for outstanding movie cast.

When it came to the two top acting film acting prizes, though, the 15th annual SAG Awards took a different route than the recent Golden Globe Awards, giving trophies to Sean Penn for playing a gay activist in 'Milk' and Meryl Streep for her performance as a fiercely certain nun in 'Doubt.' As for the supporting roles, SAG joined the gathering consensus by remembering Heath Ledger for his villainous turn in 'The Dark Knight' and Kate Winslet for her appearance as a German woman harboring secrets in 'The Reader.'"

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall - Errol Morris Blog - NYTimes.com

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall - Errol Morris Blog - NYTimes.com: "The traveling pool of press photographers that follows presidents includes representatives from three wire services — AP (The Associated Press), AFP (Agence France-Presse) and Thomson Reuters. During the last week of the Bush administration, I asked the head photo editors of these news services — Vincent Amalvy (AFP), Santiago Lyon (AP) and Jim Bourg (Reuters) — to pick the photographs of the president that they believe captured the character of the man and of his administration. There are overlapping pictures — of the president with a bullhorn at Ground Zero, of the president looking out the window of Air Force One over New Orleans, of the president receiving the news on the morning of 9/11. It is interesting that these pictures are different. They may be of the same scene, but they have different content. They speak in a different way."

Fascinating collection of news photos of the Bush presidency. Be sure to scroll all the way to the last ones.

'U.S. News' Launching Digital Newsweekly - Media Blog - Jeff Bercovici - Mixed Media - Portfolio.com

'U.S. News' Launching Digital Newsweekly - Media Blog - Jeff Bercovici - Mixed Media - Portfolio.com: "There's been a lot of talk lately about the decline and fall of newsweeklies, some of it fueled by the shift of U.S. News & World Report to biweekly, and then monthly, publication. But U.S. News hasn't given up on the idea of the weekly news digest. In fact, later today, in a soft launch, it will rolling out a new product: a 'digital newsweekly' that reproduces, in pixels, what the magazine once did in ink and paper.

'We're creating a tailored product for readers that does what the old newsweeklies did, which was to stop time for people and say 'What the heck happened over the last week?' and make sense of it,' says editor Brian Kelly."

Film - Is That You, Sherlock? A Holmes Who’s Up for a Fight, in a Film From Guy Ritchie Featuring Robert Downey Jr. - NYTimes.com

Film - Is That You, Sherlock? A Holmes Who’s Up for a Fight, in a Film From Guy Ritchie Featuring Robert Downey Jr. - NYTimes.com: "IN a filthy, dank labyrinth of rooms below the streets of the East End, Sherlock Holmes was solving a case. That is, Robert Downey Jr., playing Holmes in the forthcoming film “Sherlock Holmes,” was engaged in hand-to-hand, foot-to-stomach combat with a very big and very bad villain (Robert Maillet). Bam! Pow! Ouch! Both characters would end up knocked out on the floor, along with Holmes’s trusty sidekick, Dr. John Watson, played by Jude Law.

Filmed in December, the scene presented a sharp corrective to the popular cinematic view of Holmes, at least the one propagated by the old films featuring the wonderfully named British actor Basil Rathbone."

Evanier: Mad Magazine cutting back

news from me - ARCHIVES - January 23, 2009: "We are dismayed at the news out of New York this morning: MAD Magazine — the most successful humor publication in the history of mankind if you don't count The Washington Post — is downsizing. Its frequency of publication is being slashed from monthly to quarterly and all its ancillary publications, like MAD for Kids and the reprint books — are being axed. There is or will be a corresponding cut in its staff."

Google & the Future of Books - The New York Review of Books

Google & the Future of Books - The New York Review of Books: "How can we navigate through the information landscape that is only beginning to come into view? The question is more urgent than ever following the recent settlement between Google and the authors and publishers who were suing it for alleged breach of copyright. For the last four years, Google has been digitizing millions of books, including many covered by copyright, from the collections of major research libraries, and making the texts searchable online. The authors and publishers objected that digitizing constituted a violation of their copyrights. After lengthy negotiations, the plaintiffs and Google agreed on a settlement, which will have a profound effect on the way books reach readers for the foreseeable future. What will that future be?

No one knows, because the settlement is so complex that it is difficult to perceive the legal and economic contours in the new lay of the land. But those of us who are responsible for research libraries have a clear view of a common goal: we want to open up our collections and make them available to readers everywhere. How to get there? The only workable tactic may be vigilance: see as far ahead as you can; and while you keep your eye on the road, remember to look in the rearview mirror."

Church can be model for Obama team, McCurry says - UMC.org

Church can be model for Obama team, McCurry says - UMC.org: "President Barack Obama is ushering in a time of “great awakening,” and faith will play a big role in his presidency, said former White House press secretary Mike McCurry.

“We are rediscovering a prophetic big-based voice on the left, on the center left, to match what I think has been common on the religious right for some time,” he said in an interview with United Methodist News Service. “The Democratic Party and the progressive side of our political movement moved away from religion and politics during the 1970s and 80s.”

McCurry served as press secretary under President Bill Clinton and is a member of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Kensington, Md."

Spokesman says Obama is keeping his BlackBerry | ajc.com

Spokesman says Obama is keeping his BlackBerry | ajc.com: "President Barack Obama is keeping his cherished BlackBerry, becoming the first sitting president to use e-mail.

'The president has a BlackBerry through a compromise that allows him to stay in touch with senior staff and a small group of personal friends,' White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Thursday. He did not say with whom the compromise was struck.

Gibbs said the president will limit its use, and security has been enhanced to ensure that Obama can communicate in a way that's protected.

Previous presidents chose not to use e-mail because it can be subpoenaed by Congress and courts and may be subject to public records laws."

At the Inauguration - The Famous Fingers Were Live, but Their Sound Was Recorded - NYTimes.com

At the Inauguration - The Famous Fingers Were Live, but Their Sound Was Recorded - NYTimes.com: "The somber, elegiac tones before President Obama’s oath of office at the inauguration on Tuesday came from the instruments of Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman and two colleagues. But what the millions on the Mall and watching on television heard was in fact a recording, made two days earlier by the quartet and matched tone for tone by the musicians playing along.

The players and the inauguration organizing committee said the arrangement was necessary because of the extreme cold and wind during Tuesday’s ceremony. The conditions raised the possibility of broken piano strings, cracked instruments and wacky intonation minutes before the president’s swearing in (which had problems of its own)."

Obama Staff Arrives to White House Stuck in Dark Ages of Technology - washingtonpost.com

Obama Staff Arrives to White House Stuck in Dark Ages of Technology - washingtonpost.com: "Two years after launching the most technologically savvy presidential campaign in history, Obama officials ran smack into the constraints of the federal bureaucracy yesterday, encountering a jumble of disconnected phone lines, old computer software, and security regulations forbidding outside e-mail accounts.

What does that mean in 21st-century terms? No Facebook to communicate with supporters. No outside e-mail log-ins. No instant messaging. Hard adjustments for a staff that helped sweep Obama to power through, among other things, relentless online social networking.

'It is kind of like going from an Xbox to an Atari,' Obama spokesman Bill Burton said of his new digs."

Details interviews Stan Lee

STAN LEE: DETAILS Article on men.style.com: "In our extended Q&A, the comic-book legend talks about Paris Hilton's secret powers, bridge-builder envy, and his very own action figure."

Ruth Clokey, producer of "Davy and Goliath," dies

News Service: "Ruth Parkander Clokey Goodell, producer of the animated television series, 'Davey and Goliath,' died Dec. 28, 2008, from Alzheimer's disease. She was 85. A memorial service was held Jan. 7.

Clokey was also known as Ruth Clokey Goodell and Ruth Clokey. She was given story editor credit as Ruth Goodell on episodes of 'The Gumby Show.' Clokey was married to Art Clokey, and both were responsible for the stop-motion animation production of Davey and Goliath -- now a property of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)."

The Raw Story | Whistleblower: NSA spied on everyone, targeted journalists

The Raw Story | Whistleblower: NSA spied on <i>everyone,</i> targeted journalists: "Former National Security Agency analyst Russell Tice, who helped expose the NSA's warrantless wiretapping in December 2005, has now come forward with even more startling allegations. Tice told MSNBC's Keith Olbermann on Wednesday that the programs that spied on Americans were not only much broader than previously acknowledged but specifically targeted journalists.

'The National Security Agency had access to all Americans' communications -- faxes, phone calls, and their computer communications,' Tice claimed. 'It didn't matter whether you were in Kansas, in the middle of the country, and you never made foreign communications at all. They monitored all communications.'"

`Button' takes 13 Oscar noms, 'Slumdog' gets 10 - Yahoo! News

`Button' takes 13 Oscar noms, 'Slumdog' gets 10 - Yahoo! News: "The romantic fantasy 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' led Academy Awards contenders Thursday with 13 nominations, among them best picture and acting honors for Brad Pitt and Taraji P. Henson, and a directing slot for David Fincher.
Other best-picture nominees are 'Frost/Nixon,' 'Milk,' 'The Reader' and 'Slumdog Millionaire.'
As expected, Heath Ledger had a supporting-actor nomination for 'The Dark Knight' on the one-year anniversary of his death from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs. But the Batman blockbuster was shut out from other top categories such as best picture and director."

Apple Reports Strong Quarter Despite Economy - NYTimes.com

Apple Reports Strong Quarter Despite Economy - NYTimes.com: "Amid a deepening recession and an intensifying controversy over the health of its chief executive, Apple reported strong first-quarter profits on Wednesday that surprised analysts and handily beat Wall Street’s expectations."

Obama and Roberts Try the Presidential Oath of Office Again - NYTimes.com

Obama and Roberts Try the Presidential Oath of Office Again - NYTimes.com: "Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. re-administered the oath to Mr. Obama on Wednesday evening, one day after the two men stumbled over each other’s words during the inauguration ceremony at the Capitol.

For their do-over, the two men convened in the White House Map Room at 7:35 p.m. for a brief proceeding that was not announced until it was completed successfully."

Inauguration surrounded by prayer - ELO

Episcopal Life Online - NEWS: "Four days of ceremonies and prayers for President Barack Obama's inauguration came to a close January 21 with the traditional National Prayer Service at the Episcopal Washington National Cathedral.
President Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Jill Biden attended the invitation-only service along with members of his administration, Congress, and the diplomatic corps; faith leaders and other invited guests, nearly 3,200 in all.

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori asked God during the service's closing prayer 'strengthen and sustain Barack, our President, that in the days to come he may lead your people with confidence and compassion."

MSNBC Wants to Add a 3rd Prime-Time Show - NYTimes.com

MSNBC Wants to Add a 3rd Prime-Time Show - NYTimes.com: "Building on the momentum of its prime-time hours, MSNBC is developing a 10 p.m. program that would complement its left-leaning evening lineup, the cable news channel’s president said this week.

A new program could increase the competition between MSNBC, a unit of NBC Universal, and its two chief competitors, Fox News Channel and CNN, for news viewers in the time slot. Unlike most major networks, MSNBC’s original programming ends at 10 each weeknight. The 8 p.m. program “Countdown With Keith Olbermann” is rerun at 10 p.m., where it usually ranks third."

Gregg Nations’s Job - Keeping ‘Lost’ on Track - NYTimes.com

TELEVISION - Gregg Nations’s Job - Keeping ‘Lost’ on Track - NYTimes.com: "WHAT ever happened to the four-toed statue? Why do some inhabitants of the island never seem to age? What is the Smoke Monster? And, as one of the time-traveling survivors of the crash of Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 asks in the premiere of the new season of “Lost,” Wednesday on ABC, “When are we now?”

With 34 episodes to go in its two final seasons, the stories of nearly 100 characters to wrap up, several Dharma stations to keep track of and a whole lot of time traveling going on, the writers of “Lost” are doing anything but winding down. Yet their task — untangling the seemingly impenetrable mass of plotlines that have become addictive to some viewers of the show and alienating to others — is relatively simple compared with that of Gregg Nations."

One Day You’re Indispensable, the Next Day... - NYTimes.com

One Day You’re Indispensable, the Next Day... - NYTimes.com: "...the indispensable-man debate was fueled anew last week when Steven P. Jobs said he was taking a leave of absence from Apple until July because his health problems were “more complicated” than he first thought.

Since he returned to Apple in late 1996, Mr. Jobs has been the product team leader, taste arbiter and public face of a company that has been a stylish breath of fresh air in the personal computer business. With the introduction of the iPod, iTunes and the iPhone, Apple has shaken up the music and cellphone industries as well.

What is it, then, that makes someone a candidate for the cloak of indispensability?"

The Past as a Guide for an Inaugural Address That Frames the Moment - NYTimes.com

The Past as a Guide for an Inaugural Address That Frames the Moment - NYTimes.com: "As his family studied Lincoln’s inaugural words, carved into the memorial’s stone, they began discussing Mr. Obama’s own inaugural speech, he told CNN. His 10-year-old daughter, Malia, then turned to him and blurted out: “First African-American president. Better be good.”

That special burden just adds weight to a task that is already daunting — following his eloquent predecessors as he marks the peaceful transfer of power on Tuesday with an Inaugural Address, only the 56th in the nation’s history."

Poll Finds Faith in Obama, Mixed With Patience - NYTimes.com

Poll Finds Faith in Obama, Mixed With Patience - NYTimes.com: "President-elect Barack Obama is riding a powerful wave of optimism into the White House, with Americans confident he can turn the economy around but prepared to give him years to deal with the crush of problems he faces starting Tuesday, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll."

Rejoice! "Watchmen" Deal Reached

Rejoice! "Watchmen" Deal Reached: "The superhero film 'Watchmen' will be watched by audiences after all _ and on time.

Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox settled their nearly yearlong dispute over the movie on Thursday, the studios announced in a joint statement.

The movie will open in theaters as planned on March 6, the statement said. The exact terms of the agreement were not disclosed and will remain confidential."

In letter to King, bishop rejoices over election of nation’s first African-American president - UMC.org

In letter to King, bishop rejoices over election of nation’s first African-American president - UMC.org: "Each year, United Methodist Bishop Woodie W. White writes a “birthday letter” to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. about the progress of racial equality in the United States. Bishop White was the first chief executive of the United Methodist Commission on Religion and Race."

Steve Jobs Leave Of Absence, Tim Cook Stepping In As CEO (VIDEO)

Steve Jobs Leave Of Absence, Tim Cook Stepping In As CEO (VIDEO): "Apple Inc.'s CEO Steve Jobs says he is taking a medical leave of absence until the end of June.

Jobs told employees in an e-mail that his health issues are more complex than he thought.

Last week, Jobs announced he had a hormone deficiency that had caused him to dramatically lose weight.

Apple's chief operating officer, Tim Cook, will take over Jobs' responsibilities while he is on leave."

Prisoner star McGoohan dies at 80

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Prisoner star McGoohan dies at 80: "Emmy-winning actor Patrick McGoohan, best known for starring in cult 1960s TV show The Prisoner, has died at the age of 80."

Schroeder Played Real Beethoven in Charles M. Schulz’s ‘Peanuts’ Strip - NYTimes.com

Schroeder Played Real Beethoven in Charles M. Schulz’s ‘Peanuts’ Strip - NYTimes.com: "In the world of “Peanuts,” of course, Schroeder was the Beethoven-obsessed music nerd who lost patience when Lucy interrupted his practice and who called time-outs as a baseball catcher to share composer trivia with the pitcher. Yet musicologists and art curators have learned that there was much more than a punch line to Charles Schulz’s invocation of Beethoven’s music.

“If you don’t read music and you can’t identify the music in the strips, then you lose out on some of the meaning,” said William Meredith, the director of the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies at San Jose State University, who has studied hundreds of Beethoven-themed “Peanuts” strips."

Obama's God Problem - The Daily Beast

Obama's God Problem - The Daily Beast: "When he first emerged in 2004, Barack Obama’s ability to reach out to religious Americans was central to his appeal. Since he began running for president, however, issues of faith have caused nothing but holy hell. Will he ever convert his skeptics?"

Genachowski Tipped as Next FCC Chair - TVWeek - News

Genachowski Tipped as Next FCC Chair - TVWeek - News: "President-elect Barack Obama may about to finally confirm that he is appointing longtime friend Julius Genachowski as the new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.

...During the presidential campaign, Mr. Genachowski helped craft the Obama campaign’s science and technology agenda, which included a considerable amount of language on media issues."

Sasha Frere-Jones: The Buddha Machine

Om.Com: Sasha Frere-Jones: Online Only: The New Yorker: Everything you need to know about this neat retro piece of musical art, one of which I bought several years ago and love. I'm getting the iPhone app now!

TCR: 25 Great Things About Being a Comics Fan

The Comics Reporter: Check 'em out...

FT.com: Stan Lee: Pow factor of a comic-book hero

FT.com / Business Life - Pow factor of a comic-book hero: "The first thing that catches the eye when walking into Stan Lee’s Beverly Hills office is the life-size Spider-Man mannequin crouching in the corner, apparently ready to jump out of the window and scale the wall outside.

The 86-year-old Mr Lee, whose comic-book conceptions include Spider-Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four and The Incredible Hulk, looks similarly sprightly, leaping out of his seat to shake hands. With his tinted glasses and debonair moustache he fits the mould of a Hollywood jet-setter."

Comic books sold well in 2008; graphic novels did, too - USATODAY.com

Comic books sold well in 2008; graphic novels did, too - USATODAY.com: "The comic-book industry, helped by the enormous success of films such as The Dark Knight, showed continued growth in the burgeoning graphic novel category, according to an exclusive look at top sellers.
Total sales remained 'strong' and the graphic-novel category grew by 5%, says Steve Geppi, CEO of Diamond Comics Distributors, which services more than 4,000 comic-book stores nationwide.

'We remain optimistic about the comic-book industry heading into 2009,' he says."

Bishop Robinson to open inaugural weekend - Mike Allen - Politico.com

Gay bishop to open inaugural weekend - Mike Allen - Politico.com: "The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, who was elected the Episcopal Church’s first openly gay bishop in 2003, will deliver the invocation for Sunday’s kickoff inaugural event on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, the Presidential Inaugural Committee said.

President-elect Obama is scheduled to attend the afternoon event, which is free and open to the public."

BondBibleStudy: Can Inaugural Prayer Unite Us?

BondBibleStudy: Can Inaugural Prayer Unite Us? Benjamin Pratt on the history of the inaugural prayer. (I highly recommend his Bond Bible Study book!)

Daily strips now come to you in full color | ajc.com

Daily strips now come to you in full color | ajc.comContinuing its slow deterioration, the Atlanta Journal Constitution drops a page of comics, but puts the rest in color.

Golden Globes go slumming as Indian film wins big | AccessAtlanta

Golden Globes go slumming as Indian film wins big | AccessAtlanta: "Heath Ledger got his Golden Globe, and Kate Winslet came away with two. Yet the Globes otherwise went slumming, with 'Slumdog Millionaire' taking top honors and other key prizes going to a newcomer, an underdog and a poster boy for the classic Hollywood comeback."

CBS Pumps Up TV.com to Create a Destination - NYTimes.com

CBS Pumps Up TV.com to Create a Destination - NYTimes.com: "When the CBS Corporation bought CNet for $1.8 billion last year, it acquired TV.com, a Web site that had little to brag about except a valuable domain name. Now CBS is transforming it into a video destination."

National Endowment for the Arts Report Finds Fiction Reading on the Rise - NYTimes.com

National Endowment for the Arts Report Finds Fiction Reading on the Rise - NYTimes.com: "After years of bemoaning the decline of a literary culture in the United States, the National Endowment for the Arts says in a report that it now believes a quarter-century of precipitous decline in fiction reading has reversed."

To Get on the Web, Turn On Your TV - NYTimes.com

To Get on the Web, Turn On Your TV - NYTimes.com: "If there was one overarching theme from the Consumer Electronics Show here last week, it was that absolutely every device in our lives is becoming a computer connected to the Internet."

Hollywood Finds Headaches in its Big Bet on 3-D - NYTimes.com

Hollywood Finds Headaches in its Big Bet on 3-D - NYTimes.com: "The imminent full-bore return to 3-D filmmaking, upon which the movie industry is placing many of its hopes, is in danger of becoming Hollywood’s latest flub."

Who Would Jesus Smack Down? - Mark Driscoll, a Pastor with a Macho Conception of Christ - NYTimes.com

Who Would Jesus Smack Down? - Mark Driscoll, a Pastor with a Macho Conception of Christ - NYTimes.com: "Mark Driscoll is American evangelicalism’s b�te noire. In little more than a decade, his ministry has grown from a living-room Bible study to a megachurch that draws about 7,600 visitors to seven campuses around Seattle each Sunday, and his books, blogs and podcasts have made him one of the most admired — and reviled — figures among evangelicals nationwide. Conservatives call Driscoll “the cussing pastor” and wish that he’d trade in his fashionably distressed jeans and taste for indie rock for a suit and tie and placid choral arrangements. Liberals wince at his hellfire theology and insistence that women submit to their husbands. But what is new about Driscoll is that he has resurrected a particular strain of fire and brimstone, one that most Americans assume died out with the Puritans: Calvinism, a theology that makes Pat Robertson seem warm and fuzzy."

Bono - Notes From the Chairman - NYTimes.com

Op-Ed Guest Columnist - Notes From the Chairman - NYTimes.com: U2 frontman Bono writes about Sinatra and the new year.

Warner Brothers and Fox Trying to Settle Their ‘Watchmen’ Dispute - NYTimes.com

Warner Brothers and Fox Trying to Settle Their ‘Watchmen’ Dispute - NYTimes.com: "Warner Brothers and 20th Century Fox are moving toward a settlement of their bitter legal battle over rights to the superhero film “Watchmen,” lawyers for both sides said at a hearing here on Friday morning.

The film has already been shot, at a cost of about $130 million, and Warner Brothers, which made the movie in partnership with Legendary Pictures and Paramount Pictures, is planning to release it on March 6. But even before shooting began, Fox stepped forward, saying it actually owned the rights to the dark, highly regarded graphic novel on which the film was based."

Marvel: Stan Lee writes for Thor comic again

The Thunder God’s legendary creator talks about returning for the epic THOR #600 to heft the hammer once more | Marvel.com News | Marvel.com: "The Thunder God’s legendary creator talks about returning for the epic THOR #600 to heft the hammer once more"

Conason: Al Franken stole the election? Prove it or shut up | Salon

Al Franken stole the election? Prove it or shut up | Salon: "The recount shows that he won the Minnesota Senate race. The lying liars who say otherwise have no evidence of cheating."

The Globes Are Nice, but the Directors Guild May Set the Oscar Pace - NYTimes.com

The Carpetbagger - The Globes Are Nice, but the Directors Guild May Set the Oscar Pace - NYTimes.com: "All eyes are trained on Sunday night, when the Golden Globes will winnow the herd, separating the Oscar contenders from the pretenders in a hail of flashbulbs and perfect teeth and hopelessly unattainable couture. But if you are a serious student of contemporary Oscars — if there is such a thing — you would probably do no better than to take a look at the big awards news from Thursday, when the Directors Guild of America announced its picks for the five best-directed movies of the year: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “Frost/Nixon,” “Milk,” “Slumdog Millionaire” and “The Dark Knight.”"

Happy Birthday, Soupy Sales!

news from me - January 08, 2009Mark Evanier has some background and a video.

TAWOK&C: What's next for Chabon

The Amazing Website of Kavalier & Clay - Chabon Discusses Next Book: "More details about Michael Chabon’s next novel leaked out during a talk he gave Monday in San Francisco.

During the Q&A session, Chabon said he was writing a “naturalistic” novel about two families in Berkeley, author Frances Dinkelspiel wrote on her blog. Dinelspiel speculates that Chabon’s previous writings on Berkeley may suggest what themes may appear in the book, including suburban homogenization.

Chabon previously has said the novel would be set in and around the contemporary Bay Area. “I would like to get a new novel going,” Chabon said during a chat hosted by The Washington Post in 2007. “I would like it to be set in the present day and feel right now the urge to do something more mainstream than my recent work has been.”

The novel has been reported to be tentatively scheduled for 2011.

Chabon also gave an update on the film adaptations of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay and The Mysteries of Pittsburgh. The latter has finally found a distributer and should hit theaters sometime in the future, Dinelspiel says. Kavalier & Clay, on the other hand, “is not going anywhere,” she reports."

Mystery Roar from Faraway Space Detected

SPACE.com -- Mystery Roar from Faraway Space Detected: "Space is typically thought of as a very quiet place. But one team of astronomers has found a strange cosmic noise that booms six times louder than expected.

The roar is from the distant cosmos. Nobody knows what causes it."

Coming soon to cellphones: Free, over-the-air TV - USATODAY.com

Coming soon to cellphones: Free, over-the-air TV - USATODAY.com: "Millions of consumers by year's end should be able to watch free, over-the-air television on cellphones, PDAs and other portable digital devices as the result of initiatives that will be unveiled today by some of the nation's largest TV station owners and electronics manufacturers.
The changes promoting on-the-go viewing are 'quite significant,' says John Eck, president of the NBC TV Network and Media Works. 'If we play it right, it can be a compelling service,' for example, by offering local news, which normally isn't available from cellphone video services."

Obama and Spider-Man appear in comic together

Obama and Spider-Man appear in comic together: "Spider-Man has a new sidekick: The president-elect.
Barack Obama collected Spider-Man comics as a child, so Marvel Comics wanted to give him a 'shout-out back' by featuring him in a bonus story, said Joe Quesada, Marvel's editor-in-chief.

'How great is that? The commander in chief to be is actually a nerd in chief,' Quesada said. 'It was really, really cool to see that we had a geek in the White House. We're all thrilled with that.'"

With a New Era in Politics, Fox’s ‘24’ Has a New Focus - NYTimes.com

With a New Era in Politics, Fox’s ‘24’ Has a New Focus - NYTimes.com: "When “24” begins its seventh season on Sunday with a two-night, four-hour premiere, much will have changed in the world since Bauer was last on the job. The show opens with Bauer testifying before a Senate committee investigating the use of torture by his dismantled Counter Terrorist Unit, and the producers face the daunting task of acknowledging that the public’s view of Bauer’s methods might have changed without sacrificing their hero and making him renounce all that he has stood for."

New cosmic map fattens Milky Way | ajc.com

New cosmic map fattens Milky Way | ajc.com: "Take that, Andromeda! For decades, astronomers thought when it came to the major galaxies in Earth’s cosmic neighborhood, our Milky Way was a weak sister to the larger Andromeda. Not anymore.

The Milky Way is considerably larger, bulkier and spinning faster than astronomers once thought, Andromeda’s equal.

Scientists mapped the Milky Way in a more detailed, three-dimensional way and found that it’s 15 percent larger in breadth. More important, it’s denser, with 50 percent more mass. The new findings were presented at the American Astronomical Society’s convention this week in Long Beach, Calif."

Apple Drops Anticopying Measures in iTunes - NYTimes.com

Apple Drops Anticopying Measures in iTunes - NYTimes.com: "In moves that will help shape the online future of the music business, Apple said Tuesday that it would remove anticopying restrictions on all of the songs in its popular iTunes Store and allow record companies to set a range of prices for them."

AMCTV.com to Host Original ‘Prisoner’ - TVWeek - News

AMCTV.com to Host Original ‘Prisoner’ - TVWeek - News: "AMC will make all 17 episodes of the original 1960s series “The Prisoner” available on its Web site, amctv.com.

In addition to full episodes in full screen, the Web site will feature one-minute versions of the episodes, full-episode recaps, behind-the-scenes photos, trivia and a fan forum."

CNN’s Sanjay Gupta in Line for Surgeon General Post - TVWeek - News

CNN’s Sanjay Gupta in Line for Surgeon General Post - TVWeek - News: "CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is in line to be named surgeon general of the United States, according to two reports.

ABC News reported on its Web site that President-elect Barack Obama has made the decision to appoint Dr. Gupta to the position. However, CNN.com was a bit more circumspect as of 1:05 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, saying only that Dr. Gupta 'has been approached' about the role."

DIAL B for BLOG - Challengers of the Fantastic

DIAL B for BLOG - THE WORLD'S GREATEST COMIC BLOGAZINE: "Dial B for BLOG's first-ever issue of Secret Origins exposed the pulp roots of the Lee and Kirby's Fantastic Four! Now, as Dial B for BLOG prepares to end its run (just two new issues to go!), it's only fitting that we revisit the FF's origins -- this time, to reveal a little-known predecessor to the Fabulous FF -- a story that first appeared in Challengers of the Unknown #2 (Aug/Sept 1958), several years before the debut of the FF in November 1961.

The similarities between the two stories are SO strong that many people view the Challengers story as a prototype of the FF story. You be the judge! The Challs story, The Menace of the Invincible Challenger, was written by Dave Wood, with pencils by Jack Kirby and some inks by Jack's wife, Roz Kirby (blacks). The FF story, of course, is by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby."

Wait... Dial B, ending its run? Again!?

Europeans Raise Pressure on Detroit - WSJ.com

Europeans Raise Pressure on Detroit - WSJ.com: "Struggling Big Three auto makers, accustomed to intense competition from their Japanese rivals, face a new challenge from European auto makers.

Sensing opportunity in Detroit's weakness, Volkswagen AG and BMW AG of Germany are gearing up to expand market share in the U.S. in the next few years.

VW is investing in its first U.S. factory in two decades and expects to triple U.S. sales to one million vehicles by 2018. BMW is introducing a new small car and expanding its distribution network."

Franken to be declared victor in Minnesota

The Raw Story | Franken to be declared victor in Minnesota: "Democrat Al Franken will be declared the winner of the tight U.S. Senate contest in Minnesota, emerging from a ballot recount with a slim margin over Republican Norm Coleman, state officials said Sunday."

Steve Jobs has hormone imbalance, will remain CEO - Yahoo! News

Steve Jobs has hormone imbalance, will remain CEO - Yahoo! News: "Apple Inc. founder and Chief Executive Steve Jobs, a survivor of pancreatic cancer, said Monday that a hormonal imbalance is to blame for the weight loss that has prompted worries about his health.
Jobs, 53, said he will undergo a 'relatively simple' treatment and will remain in charge of Apple.
'A hormone imbalance ... has been `robbing' me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy,' Jobs said in a public letter, adding, 'Sophisticated blood tests have confirmed this diagnosis.'"

Parkour, 30s style

From veryshortlist.com:

Contrary to received wisdom, Johnny Knoxville was not the first human jackass: Just take a look at these anonymous Depression-era daredevils, performing exercises that would put many of today’s stuntmen to shame.
Taken from Howard Smith’s 1977 assemblage of newsreels, Gizmo! (the silly music you’ll hear in the background is part of Smith’s original soundtrack), the clip begins like a spaghetti ad: A mother feeds her son endless amounts of muscle-building pasta — and the son responds by bouncing out of the house, up trees and walls, and onto a moving train. The action — which predates French parkour by a good many decades — seems to culminate in Germany, with a death-defying ride, inside a tire, down the face of a seaside cliff. X-Games, eat your heart out!

Taking 3-D to a new dimension: the TV - Los Angeles Times

Taking 3-D to a new dimension: the TV - Los Angeles Times: "At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, companies such as Panasonic Corp., Samsung and Texas Instruments Inc. will show off TV technology capable of displaying 3-D-like pictures. The industry is billing it as the next big leap in TV technology."

The Times Starts Selling Display Ads on Page 1 - NYTimes.com

The Times Starts Selling Display Ads on Page 1 - NYTimes.com: "In its latest concession to the worst revenue slide since the Depression, The New York Times has begun selling display advertising on its front page, a step that has become increasingly common across the newspaper industry."

2008 Ratings: MSNBC Fastest Growing Once Again - mediabistro.com: TVNewser

2008 Ratings: MSNBC Fastest Growing Once Again - mediabistro.com: TVNewser: "MSNBC was the fastest growing channel in all of television in 2008 when measured in Total Viewers for both total day and prime time. The NBC cable news channel was the third fastest in growth in the A25-54 demo behind BBC America and History International.

The Rachel Maddow Show beat Larry King Live from its premiere-to-date (9/8-12/28) in the demo for second place at 9pmET. Countdown with Keith Olbermann at 8pmET delivered MSNBC its strongest ratings ever at the hour, also finishing second in the demo."

'TONIGHT' IS READY TO MOVE - New York Post

'TONIGHT' IS READY TO MOVE - New York Post: "WHEN Conan O'Brien takes over the 'Tonight Show' in June, it will be the first time in nearly 40 years that the show will get a new home.

Conan is leaving behind the studio in 'beautiful downtown Burbank' that Johnny Carson made famous and moving several miles away into the house that Jack Benny built."

New Book Reveals How Faith is Like a Covert Operation for the Bush Family | RDBook | ReligionDispatches

New Book Reveals How Faith is Like a Covert Operation for the Bush Family | RDBook | ReligionDispatches: "A brand new investigation of the Bush family reveals a religious narrative that strays from the official story circulated to supporters and the press. How many conversions did George W. actually have and why did they choose the one they did? How did a blue blooded Episcopalian family come to represent the evangelicals of America?"

Paul Krugman - Fighting Off Depression - NYTimes.com

Op-Ed Columnist - Fighting Off Depression - NYTimes.com: "“If we don’t act swiftly and boldly,” declared President-elect Barack Obama in his latest weekly address, “we could see a much deeper economic downturn that could lead to double-digit unemployment.” If you ask me, he was understating the case.

The fact is that recent economic numbers have been terrifying, not just in the United States but around the world. Manufacturing, in particular, is plunging everywhere. Banks aren’t lending; businesses and consumers aren’t spending. Let’s not mince words: This looks an awful lot like the beginning of a second Great Depression.

So will we “act swiftly and boldly” enough to stop that from happening? We’ll soon find out."

Hollywood’s Superheroes Save the Day - NYTimes.com

Hollywood’s Superheroes Save the Day - NYTimes.com: "Ticket sales at North American movie theaters totaled $9.6 billion, a decrease of less than 1 percent over the previous year, according to Media by Numbers, a box office tracking company. Although attendance declined 5 percent, to about 1.3 billion, the industry was able to buttress revenue with higher ticket prices and premium 3-D offerings.

...

The results were largely attributable to superheroes, either reinvented ones like “The Dark Knight” (the top moneymaker) or newcomers like “Iron Man” (the runner-up). Four computer-animated movies delivered giant returns, with “Wall-E,” “Kung Fu Panda,” “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” and “Horton Hears a Who” all in the top 10. A new franchise about a well-behaved teenage vampire was born to tiny Summit Entertainment in “Twilight.”"

The New Austerity in Publishing - NYTimes.com

The New Austerity in Publishing - NYTimes.com: Amid a relentless string of layoffs and pay-freeze announcements, book publishers are clamping down on some of the business’s most glittery and cozy traditions.

Google Hopes to Open a Trove of Little-Seen Books - NYTimes.com

Google Hopes to Open a Trove of Little-Seen Books - NYTimes.com: Google’s book search may allow writers to make money from titles that have been out of commercial circulation for years.

Many brands disappeared in 2008 | ajc.com

Many brands disappeared in 2008 | ajc.com: "Shoppers won’t be picking up ornate lamps from the Bombay Co. in the coming year. Or investing with Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns. No flying to Hawaii on Aloha Airlines or buying ultra-cheap tickets on Skybus, either.

All those names vanished last year, victims of the economy, the financial meltdown or other factors. Experts say 2009 could mark the end of more well-known brands as the now-yearlong recession puts more struggling companies on life support.

“I think 2009 is going to be a bloodbath,” said Scott Testa, a marketing professor at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia."