[Fangirl] Oh, Warren.

Dear Warren Ellis:

You sure know how to make a fangirl smile.

Love,
Mary Sue

[Fangirl] Grownups

Stumbling through my Google reader, I see xkcd mentions they’re selling some signed prints, just in time for Christmas.

I toddle through them, laughing as I am wont to do when reading xkcd, and debating between Journal #2 when really, the one that speaks to me the most is Journal #5, and Duty Calls, because, well, it’s true.

And then I scroll up, and there it is.

Grownups.

And there goes $25. BECAUSE I AM A GROWNUP WITH DISCRETIONARY INCOME! WOO!

Edit, 1:29pm — Yes, it just now hit me I paid $25 for stick figure drawings. Which I am totally okay with.

[Fangirl] I just want to tell you how I’m feeling

This? This is what I get for going to the Oregon Zoo yesterday and watching the baaaaby elephant?

I miss the Greatest Rickroll in History?

Mr. Astley, I tip my cap to you.

[Fangirl] Heroes. Yeeeeah.

I haven’t been watching Heroes all that much lately (TOO MUCH BROODY! NOT ENOUGH ‘SPLODY!), and I really, really tried to watch the episode on Monday just because Seth Green is my little* nerdy god, but there was Petrelli nonsense and I gave up Petrelli nonsense for Little Lent.

Which, according to io9, means I missed the best part, that is when New Comic Wednesday became a plot point.

*The man’s taller than I am, which SAYS A LOT ABOUT HOW SHORT I AM.

[Fangirl] Open Letter to Dan Dido

Dear Dan Dido:

You’re canceling Blue Beetle.

You? Are a jackass.

Also? You do realise canceling Blue Beetle means that you’re canceling the last DC book I regularly buy, right?

Therefore, your sales? Just dropped another 4 bucks.

I’m certain Dark Horse will write you a thank you for sending them my money. Yay! I can now has B.P.R.D.!

No Love,
Mary Sue

[Fangirl] My One and Only Post on Twilight

io9 has the definitive 5 Things you need to know, however this review from their sister site pretty much says all you need to know about the third book:

It’s 754 pages long, its heroine’s dominant personality trait is low self-esteem, and, as Amazon reviewer Eventide points out, nobody really has to give up anything. Even the tedium of immortality is glossed over — these vampires just keep busy with their hobbies. If I had an eternity to read, I still might never pick up this book again.

Everything I know about the Twilight series comes from the lovely and talented Cleolinda. After reading her academic and fan and MST3K commentaries on the series, I will not be reading the books nor will I be watching the film.

But it does my heart good to know that somewhere, way out there, in some universe out there, that there are sparkly vampires.

[Fangirl] Prayers ascending!

Via Rocco, Fr. Andrew Greeley is in the hospital with a serious skull fracture.

Excerpty:

He was lecturing Friday at a convention of the Religious Education Association, which is being held at a hotel near O’Hare Airport, Durkin said.

In his fall, Greeley fractured his skull and the left orbital bone near his eye, his friend and attorney Terry Goggin said.

He suffered bleeding on the brain, and doctors installed a monitor in his skull to gauge pressure on his brain, Goggin said. C-T scans are also being used to monitor his injuries.

Fr. Greeley is the author of many, many, MANY books, most of them mystery novels featuring Bishop Blackie Ryan. Fr. Greeley is also a trained sociologist and one of the best looks into the actual workings of the US Senate comes from his book “The Senator and The Priest” which you should go read right now. Seriously.

[Fangirl] My Top Presidential Movies

This list is totally subjective. And since I’m the subject, they are the AWESOMEST! I HAVE SPOKEN!

Dave: Dude is a presidential impersonator. President has a stroke. Eeeevil VP pulls the impersonator in to play President while they figure out what to do. D’awww factor: High.

The American President: President’s wife died of cancer while he was campaigning. He’s now met a totally awesome woman. And he attempts to date her and be President at the same time. Bonus: Martin Sheen is the bad guy! D’awww factor: Middlin’.

My Fellow Americans: Two former Presidents go on the lam trying to clear their names as the current administration frames them for… something. I don’t remember. It’s been a while since I watched this movie. It’s cute. D’awww factor: decent.

Air Force One: “GET. OFF. MY. PLANE!” D’aww factor: low, but made up for by the ass-kicking factor.

[Fangirl] The History of the Republican Party

It’s available here. Good read. You should read it.

You’re not going to read it, are you.

*sighs* FINE! Excerpty!

The early Republican Party was shaped by political conscience and regionalism. Throughout the early and mid-nineteenth century, states in the North and South were bitterly divided over the issues of slavery and state sovereignty. In 1854 the enactment of the KANSAS-NEBRASKA ACT inflamed political passions. Under the act residents of the new territories of Kansas and Nebraska could decide whether to permit slavery in their regions. In effect, the act invalidated the MISSOURI COMPROMISE OF 1820, which prohibited the extension of slavery in new areas of the United States. Opponents of slavery condemned the measure, and violence erupted in Kansas.

Antislavery parties had already sprung up in the United States. The abolitionist Liberty Party began in 1840, and the FREE SOIL PARTY was formed in 1848. In much the same spirit, the Republican Party arose to protest the Nebraska-Kansas Act. The new group drew support from third parties and disaffected Democrats and Whigs. After organizational meetings in 1854 in Ripon, Wisconsin, and Jackson, Michigan, the Republican Party was born.

And if you’re interested, here’s the history of the Democratic Party, which is, of course, a descendant of the Democratic-Republican Party.

And since it’s my blog and if you don’t like the content, you can kiss my natural beige behind, here’s the history of the Green Party, of which I am a member.

Excerpty!

[Ralph] Nader and [Winona] LaDuke ran again in the 2000 presidential election, again on the Green party platform. Nader raised more than $8 million for the campaign, about $30 million less than REFORM PARTY candidate PAT BUCHANAN. Nader received the third highest number of votes with 2,882,955, representing 2.74 percent of the total vote. By comparison, Buchanan received a total of 448,895.

[Fangirl] Man being sued for owning comic books

HT to the incomparable Neil Gaiman for the heads up.

I quite literally have no words for this breach of a private citizen’s First Amendment rights.

From here:

Handley, 38, faces penalties under the PROTECT Act (18 U.S.C. Section 1466A) for allegedly possessing manga that the government claims to be obscene. The government alleges that the material includes drawings that they claim appear to be depictions of minors engaging in sexual conduct. No photographic content is at issue in Handley’s case.

“Handley’s case is deeply troubling, because the government is prosecuting a private collector for possession of art,” says CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein. “In the past, CBLDF has had to defend the First Amendment rights of retailers and artists, but never before have we experienced the Federal Government attempting to strip a citizen of his freedom because he owned comic books. We will bring our best resources to bear in aiding Mr. Handley’s counsel as they defend his freedom and the First Amendment rights of every art-loving citizen in this country.”

Mr. Handley’s case began in May 2006 when he received an express mail package from Japan that contained seven Japanese comic books. That package was intercepted by the Postal Inspector, who applied for a search warrant after determining that the package contained cartoon images of objectionable content. Unaware that his materials were searched, Handley drove away from the post office and was followed by various law enforcement officers, who pulled him over and followed him to his home. Once there, agents from the Postal Inspector’s office, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, Special Agents from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, and officers from the Glenwood Police Department seized Handley’s collection of over 1,200 manga books or publications; and hundreds of DVDs, VHS tapes, laser disks; seven computers, and other documents. Though Handley’s collection was comprised of hundreds of comics covering a wide spectrum of manga, the government is prosecuting images appearing in a small handful.

This case, if they get stupid judges, could have serious impact not just on comic writers and comic book owners, but all authors, and especially fanfic authors (you know who you are!)

I get paid tomorrow. I’m signing up as a member of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund then.