The Penguin

Howdy, y'all - I know it's been a while. Honestly things have been so in flux in my life lately, I couldn't focus on any one thing long enough to blog about it. Maybe eventually I'll blog an update on all the changes happening. I'll just say this: things are good. Not easy - in fact, it's been like climbing a mountain in a meteor shower - but exhilarating. I think I'm finally able to manage constant, unresolved challenges without breaking down and getting depressed; this is a huge milestone for me. It helps that I have such a great group of friends, especially my girlfriend Mandy, my buddy/editor/housemate Joe, friend Emma, and coworker Jason. One thing that stood out for me was a recent bout of illness - probably just a very bad cold, but it was about the worst I've been sick in several years; Mandy had it too, and Emma was just poleaxed by it...the infection starts in the lower sinuses, abates for a while, and then latches onto the upper airway and b

Yo. End of post. But seriously, folks, I'm exhausticated but feeling in good spirits, as sometimes happens: a little slaphappy, a little sore, willing to put up with this crick in my neck just a little bit longer, so as to make the bed-lying so much sweeter. Only thing I wish I had was a bathtub, so's I can take a loooong soak. Maybe some bath beads. And that pistachio-pie looking face stuff with the cucumbers over the eyes. Ya just sink into the hot water till yer butt squeaks against the bottom of the tub. Ahhhhhh What was I saying? Yes! Updates. Gotta tell everybody what all's going on in my oh-so-interesting life. Tidbits follow: 1) Job. Job is challenging and sometimes exasperating, but on the whole pretty rewarding (although I keep that quiet around the shop). I feel like the only one who gets a sense of accomplishment at the print shop; everybody else is always kvetching about this and that and the other. Not that I'm Saint Forbearance here

On the Road (2012) Directed by Walter Salles Screenplay by Jose Rivera Based on the book by Jack Kerouac The Beats have undergone a second revival in recent years, owing to the questioning and adventurousness of the current generation. With their glorification of the lower classes, drug use, and casting aside of social and sexual norms, the so-called Beat Writers serve as unwitting guides and mentors to a set of young people determined to toss out the rulebook and start over. Say what you want about Millenial motivations for seeking out these writers; the fascination remains deep and profound. Unfortunately, the true meaning of Beatness has never adequately translated into film. Perhaps it is for the best that its essence is uncapturable, but Hollywood has proven particularly brain dead in its attempts - especially where writing, the main expression of Beatness, is concerned. Kill Your Darlings (John Krokidas, 2013) turned the events surrounding the murder of David Kammerer i

Galileo's Middle Finger Alice Dreger (Penguin) (Note: this review covers some controversial ground, especially in the discussion of transgenderism). From the title, I thought this was another "so you think you know history" book, a glib volume of bawdy historical incidents (like the time Galileo flipped off the Pope, apparently?) What I found instead was at first simply baffling - what the hell did this have to do with the 15th-century astronomer and his erstwhile digit? - But ended up being utterly engrossing. By the end of this book I was amused, outraged, and zealous for truth at all cost...but also unnerved and unmoored by a simple question: how can we believe anything we read - even this book itself? Galileo's Middle Finger is hard to pigeonhole; it seems to lie somewhere between a memoir and an expose, with a bit of personal defense thrown in. Alice Dreger is a bioethicist, author, and part-time activist who specializes in some of the most tendentio

Rapedome Alan Houston ( Astronaut Books ) (Full disclosure: the author of this novel is the ex-husband of a good friend of mine. This review is purely for my own interest, and not intended for promotional purposes). I'm not a huge fan of shock fiction - you read one Chuck Palahniuk novel, you can plot out the next ones fairly easily. And while I appreciate postmodernism, I find most of the efforts in that direction dubious at best. Pynchon is an attention-starved bore; Vonnegut had a moment of brilliance and then got tweedy; Tom Robbins is annoyingly self-righteous and earnest. David Foster Wallace is a shining exception, but even he gets off on his own cleverness at times. Ultimately the cardinal sin of these authors is that, for all their razzle-dazzle, they forget to just shut up and tell a story. Rapedome is different. Out of obscurity comes an author who finally makes postmodern literature fun. Just from the title, you can tell Houston is here to rattle some

That's an odd name for a post, and I'm aware that my amateur status opens me up for all kinds of criticism; I'm a dabbler, not a scientist. The reader could also infer a sort of "mammalian chauvinism", i.e. the concept of evolution that divides nature into "higher" and "lower" forms, with the "lower" forms all striving to become more mammal (read: human )-like. This is the sort of 19th-century thinking that produced the "evolutionary dead-end" fallacy about dinosaurs, arguing that the most successful and long-lived tetrapod family on the face of the earth was simply too dim-witted and sluggish to survive. We now know these creatures to have been intelligent, dynamic, and adaptable in their own right - in fact, they live among us today in bird form. Our mammalian ascendancy, when you get down to it, is down to sheer luck. At the same time, as I survey the record of life, I can't help but notice some odd patterns emergin

I'm back to reviewing stuff! That's right, folks...every so often, whenever I feel like it, I review some comics or books or movies or whatever that I think are either really good, really bad, or just important. For my first review in a long time, here's Wet Moon by Sophie Campbell. Wet Moon Book 1: Feeble Wanderings Sophie Campbell Oni Press I was handed Wet Moon Book 1: Feeble Wanderings by a friend with little introduction except a mysterious look, a kind of sidelong glance that could indicate mischief or apprehension. Glancing at the cover, I was immediately struck by the fact that, despite showing its main character, this image and title gave away absolutely nothing. Who is this cute, pudgy goth babe? Why does she appear to be shrinking from encroaching blackness, yet leaning forward with a hungry, curious look? What the heck does "Wet Moon" mean? Whatever it means, this is one hell of a weird, funny, haunting comic...and gives new meaning to th

I'm not sure what to think of my life right now. I have a lot to be thankful for. The comic company is finally coming into its own, with a brand new newsletter and Joe stepping up to take some of the burden off my shoulders. I have a girlfriend, too - the lovely Mandy - who puts up with me and always offers encouragement. My brother's getting married. I have a big trip planned for the end of the summer. A lot of things are going my way. The problem is, it's not going my way the way I expected  it to. As of now, it's like I'm coursing down a moderately fast river with a lot of bends and turns...I can steer myself toward the most advantageous part of the stream, but that doesn't mean I'm in control of where it goes. It's exciting to be on the rapids. It's also fraught with peril. I'm not very good at thinking on my feet (although I'm starting to adapt); I like to plan things out in advance, boom boom boom, and not worry about what's goi

**NEW SERIES ANNOUNCEMENT** Blind Alley Comics is proud to present, Tales to Befuddle #1!  This brand-spankin-new comics anthology series will feature the hottest indie comics talent from across the country. Only the zaniest, most flabbergasting stories need apply! Pictured: THE FUTURE. This jaw-dropping, head-spinning, knee-dislocating issue will be available in early June...don't miss it! **EMAIL NEWSLETTER!** The indomitable Laura Carr is heading up our weekly email newsletter campaign, and she's doing a helluva job! This is the easiest way to receive up-to-the-week information on new releases, con appearances, and new business ventures; as well as author/artist profiles, downloadable comic book pages, and lots more. It's even entertaining to read! If you'd like to receive our email newsletter, you can visit  blindalleycomics.com and hit the "Subscribe Now" button, or text "BLINDALLEY" to 22828. Rick Out!

Good God, y'all...your Fearless Blogger (me) has yet again found himself unemployed. It was pretty undramatic; my boss just called me in one Friday and said, "Sorry, we can't justify keeping you on - not enough work to do." That was it. I think he threw a little something extra into my last paycheck, so that was nice, but otherwise it was a bit of a gut-punch. I've got a UIA appointment (that's The Dole in Michigan) next week - casting myself on the tender mercies of the State here - but I'm pretty soured on all that. Anyway, I've got a couple of good job prospects; I'm planning to work for the summer, then take a month off in September and travel. "But what about Blind Alley Comics?" you ask, bodices heaving with hungry anticipation for the latest news. Well, you'll be glad to hear we have some pretty... titillating ...developments. Enough to satiate your unholy lusts, you beasts. 1) Tales to Befuddle #1  - Yes, the amazing new

All right gentlefolks, Blind Alley Comics has a lot of new stuff going on! Here's the low-down, the nitty-gritty, the big skinny, the Real Cheese (is that a thing?): 1) New Series: We've got an anthology coming out called Tales to Befuddle,  featuring weird art and stories from creators all across the US. We'll be firing up the old marketing engine pretty soon, so I'll provide links to all our announcements. 2) Newsletter: We're proud to welcome Laura Carr aboard our leaky raft  the Good Ship BAC! Laura will be handling our newsletter, which will go out to everybody dumb enough to sign our mailing list. This newsletter will be a basic update, detailing our Con appearances, new releases, and other cool stuff we think you should know. 3) We might...I say again, might... have a lead on some distribution. I'm not going to name names, but hopefully we can get something started this summer. We're hoping to start spreading our comics across the Midwest, and t

Sails! Yes, I'm talking about the tall vertebral fins running across the backs of, most famously, Spinosaurus aegypticus and Dimetrodon ssp. These weird structures have driven paleobiologists crazy for years: what were they for? How did they work? What benefit did they impart to the creatures that used them? Two interpretations of Spinosaurus. From the excellent blog Mesozoic Archives. The picture is complicated by the fact that Dimetrodon and Spinosaurus could not have been further apart, taxonomically speaking: Dimetrodon was a synapsid - like mammals - while Spinosaurus and other dinosaurs belonged to the archosaur supergroup, like crocodiles. Their last common ancestor was some kind of primordial lizardy thing, and since then they had nothing to do with each other. They were also separated by 207 million years, which is three times as long  as the span separating dinosaurs and us. Source: Wikimedia Taking an even broader view, things get weirder. Just after Di

[ Disclaimer:  I don't often discuss political or societal issues on this blog. If I do, I try to parse the nuance of an issue, to view it from a different angle, rather than automatically flying to the right or the left. Naturally, I heavily moderate any comments on my blog...I delete, rather than argue. My aim here is not to add to the parakeet squawks of pro- or anti-, but instead to muse, rationally and with as much objectivity as possible, on the implications of the issue at hand. In reading these posts, I only ask that you set aside any preconceived notions you have on the topic. If I can spark some deep thoughts about an issue, I will consider these posts successful.] Our controversial topic for today is the so-called "Snowflake Revolt" occurring on college campuses across America (apologies if this is a partisan term, but I couldn't find a better name for it). This particular sobriquet comes from the dictum, heavily inflected with contempt, that "ever

I'm no influential writer or editor, but I have been around the block a couple of times in both departments. Several obstacles to good writing seem to pop up, over and over again. I've made a quick catalog of the rookie mistakes I've seen, and hopefully my analysis is edifying: 1. Writing Genre The claim: "I don't write [insert genre here]. That's not where my imagination goes." It's all well and good to characterize yourself by the story you prefer. The problem comes in when you're so stuck in a genre rut, and limited by the confines of your particular hobbyhorse. I think the problem here is that writers forget that they write stories,  not genre.  In other words, they confuse the medium with the message. Think of stories as tetrapods - birds, mammals, or reptiles: they might have some huge differences between them, but as you dig down through their anatomy, you'll see that they have all the same basic parts. Whether swine or lizard, th