iPhone users seem to like games. At the Apple App Store, they have the top five places among paid apps, and capture seven out of the top 10 sellers, with Sega’s “Super Monkey Ball” in the top spot, followed by Texas Hold Em’”. Among the free apps games also rule, with “Tap Tap Revenge,” similar to “Guitar Hero,” topping the chart. Major game developers are looking to the iPhone, with both EA and THQ Wireless set to release games for the phone.
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So I’ve been hinting about Super Secret Project X for a very long time. At this point it has been over a year. The delays were many and for reasons too boring to think about but now everything is straightened out and ready to be revealed. SSPX is actually the return in podcast form of my radio show Reality Break. In order to make kind of a splash and get some attention here at the beginning, I opted to go straight for a big guest for the first episode so I am starting off with my 1998 interview with Will Eisner. Check it out and let me know what you think.
Rather than the freeform chaos of EGC, the whole Reality Break program is designed to run like a machine. Every two weeks on Saturday night I will post new episodes, beginning on June 29th. It is more sponsorship friendly than EGC, so if you want to sponsor the show or may know someone that does, drop me a line. This should be a lot of fun. I have over 200 interviews on tape from the 1992 - 1998 time frame with science fiction writers, fantasy writers, comic book writers and artists and more. My plan is to alternate newly produced episodes with ones from the archives although that may not be a hard and fast rule. The mix may change but there is a huge boatload of material I want to get back in the public sphere.
Many thanks to a few people behind the scenes who helped out. One is actor, writer and musician Bill Mumy, who was kind enough to license me the Reality Break theme music. That’s another reason to sponsor the show - Bill has a piece of the action too so help some brothers out! Bill is a great musician and songwriter, and from the first moment I heard the Reality Break song at the Heroes Convention in 1991 where Seduction of the Innocent played, I knew I one day wanted that as a theme for a show. It sets a fun happy tone that just makes everything great.
Another person I must thank is my long time friend Mike Fisher, who did the CGI logo. I’ve known Mike since I was a teenager working in a comic shop in Augusta GA. Mike did the original Reality Break logo and as the state of the art advances, he did another fantastic updated one for this incarnation of the show. Mike does great videos so I really encourage you to go to his site and get his comics or his DVD. I have it and it is a real hoot, fun for the whole family.
I’m very excited and very nervous to finally unveil this project. Everything is not perfect yet and the timing could be better but I’ve been delaying so long for so many different details that I just opted to go with it. It’s now or never, so let’s make it now! I have an audio promo available for the show, and I’d really appreciate if you would play it in your programs. Whatever karma I may have built up in this world so far, I need to draw on some of it now. I’ve been involved in this project in one way or another for the last 15 years and I’m delighted to be able to give this material a new airing and to get back in the studio and do new interviews with my favorite people. As I always said on the show, “Who can’t use a Reality Break now and then?” Come take one with me.
I desperately want to celebrate Bullet Sunday with a Chalupa Supreme (no beef, add rice) and a side of Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes, but am entirely too lazy to drive the 20 minutes to Taco Bell. Waaah!
• Pizza! I'm officially done. I've tried every frozen cheese pizza on the market and hate them all. It doesn't matter whether it's from a famous chef like Wolfgang Puck, a famous restaurant like California Pizza Kitchen, a hot new brand like Freschetta, a critical favorite like DiGiorno, or a pizza staple like Red Baron. They're all terrible. So I've finally decided that I'm not going to pay $4.00 to $8.00 for a pizza I despise... I'm just going to buy a cheap-ass 99¢ Totino's or Jenos (whichever is on sale). If I'm going to hate it no matter how much it costs, I might as well go for the least expensive option. The only scary part about eating those 99¢ brands is the "cheese" they use. It sticks to the knife like glue, and won't rinse off. You have to take a brush a scrub it off. If it's doing this to a knife, what's it doing to my digestive system? I don't think I want to know.
• Christmas! The funny thing about being in the graphic design business is that you are always ahead of the season. Right now, for example, I'm working on Christmas projects. When Christmas rolls around I'll be working on Easter projects, and so on. Because I don't really celebrate any of these holidays, it's no big deal to me, but it's a challenging mindset to be thinking of snowy holidays in the middle of summer. But that's nothing compared to the challenge of finding a live Christmas Tree for a photo shoot next week.
• Jobs! Tomorrow is the opening keynote for Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference. At that time my personal hero and god among men, Steve Jobs, is expected to release the iPhone 2.0 software update which will allow 3rd party applications to run on my iPhone. This is, to put it mildly, super-exciting. Jobs is also expected to announce the new and improved iPhone hardware which is rumored to have a real GPS (thank you!) and faster 3G internet access. The latter bit means that we can all surf for porn several times faster, which is probably a more important function for a phone than making actual phone calls.
• Legion! One of my all-time favorite comic books is The Legion of Super-Heroes. It's a comic about super-powered teens in the far future of the DC Comics Universe. Back in the 1960's the book was looking for a new writer and ended up hiring 14-year-old Jim Shooter for the job. He submitted stories, the editor liked them, and a legend was born. His Legion books were highly successful and memorable, and ended up being a stepping stone to greater things... like when he was editor in chief at Marvel Comics for nearly a decade. Now, 30 years after he left The Legion of Super-Heroes, Shooter is back writing the book. He's five issues into the title now, and I have to say I'm enjoying the heck out of his stories. But I'm nostalgic that way.
Annnnnnnd... I'm spent.
I'm trying to be optimistic, but something tells me this is not going to be a good week.
Technorati Tags: Cheap Pizza, Christmas, iPhone, Jim Shooter, Legion of Super-Heroes, Steve Jobs
Movie Surfers has a short look at Disney’s upcoming computer animated film Bolt. Miley Cyrus gives us a sneak preview at her character and in production footage from the upcoming film. Rumor has it that the first trailer for Bolt will be attached to Pixarâs WALL-E, which hits theaters on June 27th.
For super-dog Bolt (voiced by John Travolta), every day is filled with adventure, danger and intrigue â at least until the cameras stop rolling. When the canine star of a hit TV show is accidentally shipped from his Hollywood soundstage to New York City, he begins his biggest adventure yet â a cross-country journey through the real world. Armed only with the delusions that all his amazing feats and powers are real, and with the help of two unlikely traveling companions â a jaded, abandoned housecat named Mittens (voiced by Susie Essman), and TV-obsessed hamster in a plastic ball named Rhino â Bolt discovers he doesnât need superpowers to be a hero. Miley Cyrus (âHannah Montanaâ) brings her vocal talents to the role of Penny, Boltâs human co-star on the television series.
Bolt will hit theaters on November 26th, 2008 in Disney Digital 3-Dâ¢.
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Heroes Con continues to take over the CNI airwaves! More interviews from this year's con with Danielle Corsetto (Girls With Slingshots), Pat Lewis (The Claws Come Out), Matt Kindt (Super Spy), & Scott Weinstein (After-School Agent). News includes Tony Lee vs. Jimmy in a fashion war, 300 sequel, Hickman at Marvel, Chumblespuzz 2 with Zombie Joe & Jimmy and more!
Pressure by Paramore off the album All We Know Is Falling Blind by Hydrogyn off the album Bombshell Two Words by Anti Hero off the album Unpretty Better Angels by Leslie Gore off the album Ever Since The Fuschia Wall by 50 Foot Wave off the album Free Music Right on Time by Moxie off the album Retrospective Betty by the Lascivious Biddies off the album Get Lucky Candi Divine by Ripped off the album Bloodshot Calendars and Maps by Tara Leigh Cobble off the album Things you can't stop with your hands Black Madonna by Sophia Ramos off the album Her Majesty Â
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Somehow I’d missed this one, though I’d seen people toss the name around (and assumed they were joking). But it seems that yes, the Legion of Super-Heroes did in fact once reject Arm Fall-Off Boy:
Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century #16, out next week.
“I didn’t know Superman, Batman and Captain America were created by Jews.”
The exhibit ZAP! POW! BAM! The Superhero: The Golden Age of Comic Books, 1938-1950, at My Jewish Discovery Place Children’s Museum in Plantation, Florida is bringing comic book heroes back to life for a new generation of fans.
The report mentioned that the first superhero - Superman - was created in 1938 by two Jewish boys, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Bob Kane and Bill Finger, also Jewish, created Batman in 1939. Then came Captain America in 1940 from Jewish artists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. Florida exhibit showcases Jewish artists’ role in comic books Most were created during the economic and political turmoil of the 1930s and ’40s. For Jews it was a way of confronting Hitler, who became the superheroes’ nemesis in many comic books, as World War II and the Holocaust ravaged Europe.”
Ah yes. The Jews’ idea of um…”cartoons.” Fearless, timeless, lovable warriors: Fighting Evil.
Hmmm. I wonder if the “students” know down at the Saudi Academy in Virginia that some of our most famous and fearless defenders were created by none other than…shhhhhh..”Jews”.
Oh, wait. They don’t cotton to cartoons. Never mind..before a bldg. blows up or something.
What do you suppose is the secret behind the longevity and success of these amazing comics.
What lies beneath mankindâs need for a hero?
Do we not all fantasize about someone to save the world, someone strong and courageous enought to battle evil and do it all before itâs too late.
Some comics can even be a window into our spiritual life. -The passion for Truth, Justice. -The ethics of service to mankind.
Long around you sweet friends. Are we not all secretly longing for a Rescuer?
Come to think of it…………..If you were a superhero...What would be your Powers — or better yet...your Superhero name?
To all of you: fighting the good fight.
And magically linking with my superpowers to The Virtuous Republic, 123beta, Right Truth, DragonLady’s World, Stuck On Stupid, Leaning Straight Up, Democrat=Socialist, Conservative Cat, Pursuing Holiness, third world county, Nuke Gingrich, McCain Blogs, The World According to Carl, Pirate’s Cove, Gulf Coast Hurricane Tracker, and , thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.
Guitar Hero. The legendary game series that sold over 14 million units, earning over US$1 billion, since it was first released on PlayStation 2 in 2005. The franchise has made a significant cultural impact, such that it became a cultural phenomenon, making regular appearances in parties and locales. Several bars in the United States are offering "Guitar Hero nights" as an alternative to karaoke. Even an entire South Park episode was dedicated to the game!
Such a popular game is bound to have some clones. Well, in fact we found 14 of them! Surely there must be more, and if you know please comment, but we found Frets On Fire to be the best. It's simply the most advanced; It has a built-in song editor that allows editing and creating songs, it works on Windows, Mac, and Linux - last but not least - it's open source. Please indulge:
Let me begin by asserting that I am not a fan of comics. I haven't read more than a handful, not even the "important" graphic novels. I went to see Iron Man with Dave, but I missed the latest Spiderman, and don't feel any lasting sorrow. But! But! These little "Heroes" toys are making me crazy! I "want them all" in a way that is quite unhealthy.
In addition to the predictable Marvel sets (Spiderman, Iron Man, Fantastic Four) there exists a Ghost Rider:
Plus Very Cute Star Wars "Galactic" Heroes:
Best of all they have JONES action figures, which is what Julian bought with allowance money:
Of course, I had to get some for me too ... I don't even know anything about the characters, but they are such pretty colors! Check out "Invisible Woman" -- translucent feet! And nifty flame-hand on "Super Skrull"!
Video courtesy of my gorgeous wife, the exquisite Ravenelle Zugzwang
I love experiencing exceptional stuff in Second Life, and this is an exception among exceptions! Disclosure: Iâm beta-testing Damien Fateâs newest creations, the Loco Pocos, which effectively translates to âCrazy Tiniesâ from Spanish. What a catchy name, and a nice guy: he graciously gave my wife and me a tour of the forthcoming Loco Pocos Island, and you can learn more at the Loco Pocos website.
So why I am I gushing so much over these beautiful creatures? Simply put, they excel on many levels: Iâve known many SL products which were great in some ways, but felt like they were missing quality in others, and would benefit from a collaboration or further development on the part of the maker. For example, a well-crafted club which lacks event hosts so itâs always empty, or a brilliantly-scripted device which looks like crap. (What I say: canât do it yourself? Team up with a friend⦠or friend-to-be!)
When evaluating Loco Pocos, letâs start with the base judgement of an avatar: how they look. In two words, theyâre fantastic. Sculpted for maximum adorability and loaded with potential personality you can infuse more fun into, itâs hard to gaze at them for longer than a few seconds without going, âAwww!â
Loco Pocos are severely easy-to-use and come in different animal varieties: the Heads-Up Display allows you to easily customize your accessories, which is going to be mighty handy for both (1) newcomers and (2) non-English speakers. Damien even went to great lengths to translate the manual into 7 languages (incl. English), but the HUD itself is primarily visual and works across any tongue. You can even click a part of your body to show its options on the HUD, and wearing an accessory will also bring up the relevant palette. Soon enough, I had gone watermelon (as Iâm expected to).
Next! Within seconds, I was clicking the HUD to activate my body animations. I used to lament why Second Life was missing the particle-enhanced gestural fun that There has, and thereâve been scant leaps forward over the years, but the Loco Pocos package makes animations so simple and rewarding to use: again, just click the HUD to make your Loco Poco emote. From a good belly laugh to bawling your eyes out to Zzzing lazily on the ground, thereâs a fine assortment. And there are both facial and full-body animations.
Loco Pocos also make sound when emoting, and thereâs currently a basic male/female selection. Damienâs planning to do more voice packs, and thatâs got me intrigued. (Since Iâm an aspiring voice actor.)
In a move thatâd make Popeil proud, BUT WAIT, THEREâS MORE! Loco Pocos have a story. Thatâs right, Damien put a lot of thinking into crafting a plot, and Loco Pocos Island will include not just a store (with more accessories), but games to play in mini-modular worlds, too. I tried 3, and while I canât reveal the surprises, each had a different mode of play and was reminiscent of 3D action platformers. One of them did heavily engage our powers of observation, and the end result led to more curiosity â always a good thing if you want your audience to engage the product.
That being said, it looks like the Loco Pocos marketing is similarly awesome. On top of all the preceding elements, how is anyone going to enjoy your creation if they donât know about it? The packages in the store were well-designed and evoke memories of the cartoony fun I had in Taco years ago. I hope word-of-mouth spreads massively here; it really deserves to, like how it benefited the spread of the earliest tiny culture.
Tiny culture is an abundantly cute part of Second Life, but itâs also overflowing with innovation. From Wynx Whiplash & ExtroVirtualâs initial accomplishments, to the advanced Japanese refinements of form, to these Loco Pocos â thereâs a lot to celebrate!
^ Oh, and that points to why I hope fantabulous machinima is made with them. My wife remarked, âThey look so 3D!â, referring to my post-processing having brought out the cyber-natural sheen of the Loco Pocos such that they could be in a Pixar film. Sculpted prims are really suited for these curvy, plush avatar bodies, and Iâm eager to see what creations come in kind.
A "metaphorical body" helped build Barack Obama's triumph so far, in George Lakoff's scientific reading. That tall, supple, smiling Obama figure, standing tall, fires up good feelings through the "mirror neurons" in our brains. "Up and forward" is the effect we feel, as Lakoff puts it in conversation. So what is the effect on our political minds of what feels now like an uncertain Obama shuffle to the center or the right? "Bad things" are transmitted by the same mirror neurons to our embodied brains, Lakoff says, when the gifted candidate's "metaphorical body" seems to waffle -- on phone-company immunity for illegal wiretapping, for example, or even on the use of churches as public social agencies.
Click to listen to Chris's conversation with George Lakoff (50 minutes, 23 mb mp3)
George Lakoff: this is your mind on politics
Far the toughest, most consequential test will be Barack Obama's response to the AIPAC pressures in both branches of Congress to blockade, or swat, or whack Iran in the last days of the Bush-Cheney administration. Obama's mission, Lakoff says, must be to set a unmistakably different direction and tone from the hawkish resolutions now gathering sponsors in the House and Senate -- to reframe the conversation in his own terms of America's interest not only in a just world but in recovering moral force misspent in Iraq. "He has to decide how the resolution is framed, and make sure that Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi carry it out -- and that everybody in the party knows what's at stake. This is where leadership starts, right now." George Lakoff is the most astutely political of the best-selling brain scientists -- like the "predictably irrational" Dan Ariely -- now sharing the fruits of 30 years of revolutionary research on how our minds actually work. On one rapt reading of Lakoff's latest, The Political Mind: Why You Can't Understand 21st Century American Politics with an 18th Century Brain, I had three main questions in this long conversation: how does cognitive science explain (1) the rise of Obama; (2) the mid-summer rattling of Obama and (3) the stakes for Obama and the rest of us in the multiple pressures to "get tough" with Iran.
You have to understand what Obama is up against. First, he's up against a mode of thought that is very common, what's called "optimism bias" in behavioral economics. That is, when you make a plan, you are more likely to think that it will work than that it won't... There's a set of biases that give hawks a better chance in debate, with lines like, "the surge is going to work." Or "it will be a cakewalk," you know, "they'll be throwing roses in front of us," and so on... You also have a cultural narrative -- basically on the hero-villain structure. The villain in this is Ahmadinejad who is inherently evil... It's a dangerous world out there, so the conservatives will say. So the question is, 'What do you do?' and the answer, in the hero/villain plot structure, is the hero has to fight the villain... The assumption is that we're moral and anything we do to fight this villain is going to be moral, and that could be utterly ridiculous. We could create utter catastrophe over there, but the story is what matters in the public mind... and if we stick to it, and we're virtuous, and we're strong, we'll win. That narrative shows up all the time on TV shows, in movies and in political campaigns, and it showed up in the first Gulf War and the Iraq War, and it is being played again. So you've got to undercut it. That is a very tricky thing to do. If you try to undercut it simply with military facts, you've got a problem. That is, you say, 'We can't fight wars on three fronts, we can't even do it on two fronts. We're losing in Afghanistan.' That doesn't make us look very heroic. That doesn't fit with the U.S. as the strong super power, so you've got to fight that idea. What you need is a different idea, and what Obama has done has been very interesting so far... In discussing foreign policy -- for example, in the American Prospect article called the "The Obama Doctrine" -- Obama's idea is not just based on the national interest and being the strongest super power, etc., but also on the idea that we want a just world, that the most difficult problems in the world are not at the level of the state, but at the level of the person: that poverty, hunger, disease, women's rights and so on, are major issues in the world, as well as global warming, and that we have to take a different view of the world, we have to be the world's greatest moral force. I think that's the story that you're going to get from Obama: We have to be the world's greatest moral force again, and we've lost it. We've lost it because we've used our military badly and we've had bad judgment. That's the story and the question is, 'Will it go?' 'Will it fly?'
George Lakoff of Berkeley and The Political Mind in conversation with Chris Lydon, July 10, 2008.
iPhone users seem to like games. At the Apple App Store, they have the top five places among paid apps, and capture seven out of the top 10 sellers, with Sega’s “Super Monkey Ball” in the top spot, followed by Texas Hold Em’”. Among the free apps games also rule, with “Tap Tap Revenge,” similar to “Guitar Hero,” topping the chart. Major game developers are looking to the iPhone, with both EA and THQ Wireless set to release games for the phone. 
I desperately want to celebrate Bullet Sunday with a Chalupa Supreme (no beef, add rice) and a side of Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes, but am entirely too lazy to drive the 20 minutes to Taco Bell. Waaah!
D
Never mind..before a bldg. blows up or something. 
someone strong and courageous enought to battle evil and do it all before itâs too late.
..What would be your Powers — or better yet..
.your Superhero name?
Guitar Hero. The legendary game series that sold over 14 million units, earning over US$1 billion, since it was first released on PlayStation 2 in 2005. The franchise has made a significant cultural impact, such that it became a cultural phenomenon, making regular appearances in parties and locales. Several bars in the United States are offering "Guitar Hero nights" as an alternative to karaoke. Even an entire South Park episode was dedicated to the game!
