AWESOME noir webcomic i read about on io9. as promised, very lynchian (or daniel clowesian, more like). i’m totally drawn in – start here.
found this linked from my new obsession, sydney padua’s ada lovelace & charles babbage steampunk (sort-of) comic which is fascinating in and of itself, but also due to the extensive footnoting she includes. i’ve just read in charles babbage’s autobiography how he went for a little hike inside vesuvius as it was active and i’m totally in love with the guy. who btw can’t stand whisky or street music. also ada lovelace was the only legitimate child of lord byron and her mother took her away from him and had her raised by scientists and mathematicians in order to quell any possible poetical tendencies she might have inherited from lord byron, who was – well, lord byron.
there were some really spectacular costumes at comic-con, and io9 has photos of the best: masquerade winners. my personal favorite is the samurai jack father-son costume.
at comic-con, they had a cute video display at the top shelf booth showing the new owly cartoon! it is so so so cute. if you don’t already know owly, he is totally the best. i took a video of the whole cartoon just in case, but here it is online: owly in 3D!
crystal caste
- awesome 12mm copper dwarven metal d20 – nice weight in the hand, and i can confirm it rolls spectacularly, as i had to chase it across the convention floor
dark horse comics
- domo kun qee blind box – red! plus a part for the collect-all-6-and-make-a-clear-domo: a little foot.
- hellboy qee – includes wee good samaritan
top shelf
- owly: a time to be brave – signed by andy runton!
- super spy by matt kindt – looks really cool and fun. i’ll probably read this one first.
- 2 sisters by matt kindt
slave labor graphics
- eating steve by j. marc schmidt
- rex libris, vol. 1: i, librarian by james turner
- agnes quill: an anthology of mystery by dave roman
quirk
- all three of their interactive mystery books:
- dracula’s heir by sam stall
- the crimes of dr. watson by duane swierczynski
- batman: murder at wayne manor by duane swierczynski
- free sense and sensibility and sea monsters poster
drawn & quarterly
- berlin, book one: city of stones by jason lutes
- curses by kevin huizenga
- free d&q tote bag – cute!
telltale games
- sam & max promo button that is totally cute
burn notice
- sdcc 2009 tshirt with giant awesome half-tone michael westen head. i gave this to mark as a thank you gift for letting me stay at his place.
psych
- magic psychic ball – green magic 8 ball with such enlightening responses as, “yeppers”, “lookin’ good”, “definitely dude”, “wait for iiiit!” and “nooooooooo”
- psych comic book, issue #0
24
- 24-branded travel clock/alarm
true blood
- red tshirt that reads, “it hurts so good”
- true blood-branded paperback of ‘living dead in dallas’
- true blood-branded notebook
- coupon for the true blood drink! totally buying some of this for our next viewing party.
- true blood drawstring bag
lost
- poster
fringe
- the new york news – reproduction of the newspaper seen in william bell’s office during the season finale
got back home a bit ago, exhausted from the post-con traffic (and some truck trailer that apparently caught on fire) and 4 days of dealing with crowds, waiting in lines for hours, and an average of 4 hours of sleep per night. i have tons of photos of panelists, videos of most of the ‘the big bang theory’ panel, and tons of neat new books, but the high point was definitely seeing nathan fillion at his surprise signing today, just before i left. more to come – photos and videos will trickle out over the next week or so.
via wired via eric, but i’m just quoting the whole thing here because it’s brilliant.
- Sea mammal blowhole. Any animal that spends appreciable time in the ocean should be able to extract oxygen from water via gills. Enlarging the lungs and moving a nostril to the back of the head is a poor work-around.
- Hyena clitoris. When engorged, this “pseudopenis,” which doubles as the birth canal, becomes so hard it can crush babies to death during exit.
- Kangaroo teat. In order to nurse, the just-born joey, a frail and squishy jellybean, must clamber up Mom’s torso and into her pouch for a nipple.
- Giraffe birth canal. Mama giraffes stand up while giving birth, so baby’s entry into the world is a 5-foot drop. Wheeee! Crack.
- Goliath bird-eating spider exoskeleton. This giant spider can climb trees to hunt very mobile prey. Yet it has a shell so fragile it practically explodes when it falls? Well, at least it can produce silk to make a sail. Oh, wait — it can’t!
- Shark-fetus teeth. A few shark species have live births (instead of laying eggs). The Jaws juniors grow teeth in the womb. The first sibling or two to mature sometimes eat their siblings in utero. Mmm … siblings.
- Human stomach. People can digest a lot — except for cellulose, the primary component of plant matter. Why don’t we have commensal bacteria in our guts to do it? They’re busy helping termites.
- Slug genitalia. Some hermaphroditic species breed by wrapping their sex organs around each other. If one of said members gets stuck, the slug simply chews it off. What. The. Hell?
- Quadrupeds. Let’s say you’re a four-footed animal. Now let’s say you get a wound on your back, or an itch, or a bug wandering up there. Tough luck, kid. You probably can’t do much about it. Hope there’s a low branch around.
- Narwhal tusk. The unicorn-like protuberance on a male narwhal’s head is actually a tooth that erupts through the front of the jaw and keeps on growing, up to 9 feet. Narwhal: “Doc, I have a toothache.” Dentist: “Indeed.”