Tags: Bestiality, Game shows, Picture of the day, Television
Tags: Bestiality, Game shows, Picture of the day, Television
Who likey the R.E.M.? Me do! If you want a free copy of R.E.M.’s double live album, R.E.M. Live At The Olympia, all you gotta do is read this post and figure out the magic secret!
The two-CD set, produced by Jacknife Lee, features 39 songs that capture the best moments from the band’s 2007 working rehearsals at Dublin¹s fabled Olympia club, where singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, and bassist Mike Mills tested out new songs for R.E.M.’s 2008 studio album Accelerate.
The material was tested for five nights before fired-up, capacity crowds comprised of fan-club members, friends, family, and fans from all over the world.
R.E.M. have always been an impressive live band. This should be a great release.
Okay, you’ve read this far so I’ll tell you. If you want to win the free copy, drop me a comment or send me an e-mail with “R.E.M. Contest” on the subject line. Then, check your e-mail in a week when I send out a random e-mail to someone telling them they win if they send me their mailing address within 24 hours.
That’s it!
To whet your appetite, here’s a little R.E.M. for ya . . .
I Will Survive (Gaynor cover)-R.E.M. (alt link)
You Are the Everything (R.E.M.)-Redbird (alt link)
Star Me Kitten (REM)-Blitzen Trapper (alt link)
Trailer (not) for The Shining.
Tags: Horror, Video of the day
Tom Beland
2002-Present.
Amazingly, an indie autobiographical comic that’s not about an urban slacker. Beland tells a touching love story about how he met and married Lily Garcia from Puerto Rico, and does it without ever getting mushy or sappy… a romance comic even the most macho guy would be okay with reading. I think Beland is one of the best old-school cartoonists to emerge in the last decade and the fact that he writes, draws, inks and letters his book all by himself gives his work an organic feel that nothing else on the stands can match.
-Greg of Fridays With Hatcher
Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra
2002-08
And finally, a book that doesn’t revolve around super powers! Unless you count “being the only human male on earth to survive a deadly pandemic” as a super power.
Our hero, Yorick, finds himself to be the last man standing, quite literally, after all the other males on Earth mysteriously die. “One man to billions of women” may sound like a dream ratio to some, but it’s more of a nightmare to Yorick, whose goal of reconnecting with his long-distance lover is constantly thwarted by…having to save humanity.
This series is a definite page-turner, so if you like the first collected volume, you may as well pick up the remaining nine, because it never lets up.
Miguel of TheHeroBlog.com
Mark Millar/Bryan Hitch.
2002
The entire Millar run (Ultimates 1 and 2) has been bound in a phonebook-sized hardcover that sells for about a hundy. It’s worth every penny. The art, from pencils to colors, is brilliant. It feels like the book is constantly in motion. And the story is the best Marvel movie never made, treating the heroes like they’re real, from “crazy Thor” to “racist Cap,” the book never lags, never slows down, and never gets old. Most people like U2 better than U1, and I admit that U2 had more of a “story” to it, but U1 is where the seeds are planted: It’s more about getting to know and understand these characters, who don’t act anything like what we’re used to. Cap is a bully. The Wasp is a great leader, but terribly insecure. Iron Man is, well, basically an asshole. And Nick Fury is a nanny. The Ultimates deconstructed Marvel myths in a way that Ultimate Spider-Man, which was a great book, too, never even tried to do.
-Ekko
Warren Ellis (writer), with various artists
2002-04
I wish this had run more than twelve issues. but they are twelve AMAZING issues. Warren Ellis’ terrific science-fiction spin on the old “Mission: Impossible” premise was probably my favorite thing he did in the last decade, and when you’re talking Warren Ellis that’s a very tough competition. Ellis is one of the few writers in comics that takes care to get the science more or less right in his science fiction and it doesn’t slow him down at all — he’s got one of the wildest conceptual minds in comics.
- Greg of Fridays With Hatcher
2003-Present
I am obsessed with Zombies. So much so I’ve worked on two separate books dealing with the subject. (Zombie from the Marvel MAX line and Deadworld: Frozen Over from Desperado Publishing) Every single time this book comes out I am compelled to put it at the top of my stack and find out what’s happening with Rick and the gang… and to be honest I keep waiting for Rick to buy it. And that’s why I keep coming back to it as my favorite. I never know what’s going down next.
-Mike Raicht, author of The Stuff of Legend
Note from Ekko: Frank (“The Mist”) Darabont is rumored to be developing a “The Walking Dead” movie. So, read it now, so you can say you dug it before it was cool
Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert
2003
Ultimates is great, yeah, because it’s cool to see what might have happened if the coming of the capes had been more recent, in a modern world. In 2003, Neil Gaiman, with the help of the son of the greatest comic book arist of the prior era, answered the question what if superheroes had come to be during the formation of the The New World. Gaiman is one of my favorite writers of all time, and seeing him take on The Marvel Universe is just plain brilliant.
-Mysterioius Comic Book Guy.
Tags: Best of the Decade, Spider-Man, Superheroes, Zombies
When I’m talking about Bend Sinister today, I’m not talking about the classic EP by The Fall. I’m talking about the band that just released, “Tales of Lovers Stories of Brothers, Tales of Lovers,” a wonderfully complicated, fresh and vital prog-rock-and-roll. Take the Queen-like loud-crash-into-light-piano-and-back-again extended intro of “The News,” which begins with a lyrical tribute to the Beatles, mix in “Brothers of Humankind,” which features whirling keyboard and sax riffs that combine to form heavy metal Springsteen, and then jump to lighters-up anthem, “Jimmy Brown,” and you’ve got a recipe for stadium rock like you haven’t heard since The Darkness believed in a thing called love. Think of the band as an experimental version of Gaslight Anthem–or a straight version of Elton John. Or an edgy Manfred Mann. Or something you need to hear but haven’t in a long time.
I’ve read that this band was dropped by their first label, and I can’t imagine why. If this kind of big music can’t succeed in the modern world, then rock really is dead. If I gave out stars, this record would get five for five. It gets my highest recommendation.
Still Crazy After All These Years (paul simon)-Deer Tick (alt link)
Mostly, when someone wants to give you something for free, it’s because the product either sucks or isn’t finished. But The Grynch‘s eight-song EP “Chemistry” is the exception to the rule. This is a set I’d pay money for. Grynch, a.k.a. The King of Ballard (Avenue, in Seattle), has a smoove and e-z flow, versatile vocabulary, and a knack for hitting the beat in just the right way. He raps about serious topics with a light heart, mostly about the struggle to make it in rap. And by “make it,” it’s not all about money to Grynch. It’s about skill. And the beats are funkin’ amazing. In his own words, from the title single: “Bound to be world renowned, I’m sick/Everybody from the burbs to the hood feeling me/Dope beats, dope rhymes, good chemistry.”
Easily one of the best EPs of the year.
Get this EP on GetGrynch.com.
Tags: Free Album!, Hip Hop
This website has been all about indie rock and underground rap since 2004. But this year on Berkeley Place, we began running regular features about our other long time love: Comics. In the process, we’ve become acquainted with a few folks who share that passion. Since the decade is winding down, we thought a retrospective of funnybooks for the past 10 years was in order. But how to ensure that it isn’t just our narrow interests that are reflected? How to capture the breadth of some of the brands we don’t read, like westerns, war books, and most D.C. comics? Easy. We asked our friends.
Over the course of this multi-post articles, you’ll find the selections of me, Ekko, your regular emcee, as well as the following distinguished luminaries:
Chris Daly is the proprietor of Les Enfants Terribles, which is primarily a music site, and the author of semi-regular articles about comics for Berkeley Place.
Ekko is me.
Greg Hatcher does the weekly “Fridays With Hatcher” at CBR’s Comics Should Be Good, and has taught comics and cartooning for fifteen years as part of the AfterSchool Arts program in Seattle Public Schools. He picked ten books for this post, with disclaimer: “Well, you have to bear in mind two things — one, I don’t read everything. And two, my tastes tend to skew towards adventure material.” He added that he’s a Grant Morrison fan “but the comics that really blew me out of my chair in the 2000s weren’t from Mr. Morrison.” He concluded: “I could keep going for another ten, easily — comics are in a great place creatively right now and there’s a lot of good stuff out there if you’re willing to look outside the capes-and-tights crowd a little.”
Mike Raicht is the co-writer, with Brian Smith, of “The Stuff of Legend #1 and 2,” with amazing art by Charles Paul Wilson III and beautiful design and coloring by Jon Conkling and Mike Devito. It comes out through Th3rd World Studios. You can order it directly from Th3rd Wolrd by going to www.th3rdworld.com and then clicking on their STORE. You can also check out MIKE RAICHT’S CREATURE FEATURE #1-3, tales of 70′s and 80′s horror from some of today’s best writers (Chris Yost, Moore and Reppion, CB Cebulski, Stuart Moore, Brian Smith) and some great up and coming artists. A fun little horror anthology where humor and horror collide. In December, you can find him in What If? World War Hulk #1 and Batman: 80 Page Giant. But as the editor of this website, I’m gonna take the liberty to say that “Stuff of Legend” is tremendously good and you should check it out.
Miguel Rodriguez runs TheHeroBlog.com, which has superhero news updated daily. He “read[s] a lot of comic books.” You should check him out.
Mysterious Comic Book Guy has nothing to promote, and he writes for a Major Comic Book Blog. He doesn’t want to let on that he’s writing for this little blog, but he’s a cool dude who wanted to add to your X-Mas shopping list. So we welcome him.
John Barringer has been reading comics for over 13 years now and is currently the creator and contributor to A Comic Book Blog.
Let’s begin!
Frank Miller and Lynn Varley
2000
Seen the movie? No? Good. The book is much better. Back in the 1980s, Miller was one of the first to turn superhero stories into something adult, tackling child abuse, drug addiction, love and murder with maturity and depth, without sacrificing excitement. He was also the prime mover from drawing comics the Marvel way to making them gritty, and not suitable for all ages. Then, all the way back in 2000, Miller managed to combine history, myth, and fact, seamlessly, into a brilliant and beautiful work of art. Hardcover independent comics aren’t so strange now, but this was one of the first. Is there any question that this deserves to be the first book listed in this “Best of The Decade” retrospective?
-Ekko
Robin: Year OneChuck Dixon and Scott Beatty
2001
At the beginning of the century, Dick Grayson had been around so long, he wasn’t even Robin anymore. As a legend, Batman’s sidekick had been presented in countless TV shows, cartoons, comics, novels, and gay jokes. Let’s face it, he was getting stale. He needed a relaunch. But another lazy retelling wouldn’t do.
Everyone’s doing a “Year One” nowadays, but that wasn’t the case in ’01 when Chuck Dixon and Scott Beatty teamed up to tell the tale of an orphan becoming the ward of Gotham City’s most frightening character. The nice thing about Robin: Year One is that it doesn’t spend a lot of time on Batman. It’s truly about Robin: What it was like for him to lose his parents and get adopted by a creepy millionaire, how his early days with Alfred were less than easy, and how Dick Grayson managed to stay chipper—or at least, happier than his dark, brooding patron. It’s a nice companion piece to Frank Miller’s All Star Batman and Robin. Unlike the Miller stories, though, this one has a less-than-melancholy mood. It’s nice to see a Batstory with optimism.
-Ekko
Various creators
2001-08
I’m a bit biased on this one. I was an assistant on this book and then eventually took over as Editor. I also wrote an Exiles special called Exiles: Days of then and now. But that being said, this book is still one of my favorites to go back and read. Especially those first two or three years of the book. It was a place where anything could happen and in those first few years of the book anything did. We killed characters, brought new ones in, destroyed worlds, killed heroes, saved civilizations, got rid of the main character, Blink, and then brought her back. It was a book I was proud to be a part of and I think a lot of the run still holds up today. In an era of crossovers and big events, Exiles had those every month, and to experience the whole Marvel Universe all you had to do was read this one book.
-Mike Raicht, author of The Stuff of Legend
Sure, this title is really just an excuse to string together a bunch of “What If”?s. But what sets this series apart from its alternate-reality-visiting sibling is Judd Winick’s character development amidst an ever-revolving team roster. You never know when one of your favorite (or least favorite) members will be sent back to their own reality – making the team dynamic very…dynamic. Heroes that seemed like bit players suddenly become leaders, and leaders who you thought were staples suddenly disappear. Truthfully, this title is hit and miss throughout its run. But the high points definitely outweigh the lows. The big payoff comes around issue 70 with the “World Tour” storyline. Our band of heroes jump from alternate reality to alternate reality in an attempt to stop the evil, body-snatching Proteus. New Exiles join, established Exiles die, and the team feels the ramifications of their losses for some time.
-Miguel of TheHeroBlog.com
Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly (and other artists)
2001-04
Starting with issue 114 and running through issue 154, Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely turn the book’s focus away from “mutant super-team” and instead zero in on the X-men’s roles as teachers at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. We quickly find that the threats from within the school are worse than the threats from without. Drug use, rebellious youth, Emma Frost, the death of a couple of major characters, and the tragedy at Genosha all play a part of this epic run.
-Miguel of TheHeroBlog.com
Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale
2001 and 2005
Before this relaunch of the Daredevil series, the character’s origin was a rare example of an origin that had not been told and retold to death. But the comic series had been cancelled, a victim of bad sales and lackadaisical creative teams. There’s nothing really new here, but it’s told through a series of letters from Matt Murdock to Karen Page, deceased, the first woman he loved. It’s touching and powerful, and provides insight into DD that even Frank Miller had never bothered with. Continuing on the path of psychological exposition is Hulk: Gray, which retells the origin of The Strongest One There Is via a series of conversations between Banner and his shrink, Doc Samson. And both series feature the art of Tim Sale, who is particularly adept in Hulk: Gray, at juxtaposing an almost cartoonish Bruce Banner against his monstrously thick giant alter ego. Actually, you won’t go wrong with any of Loeb and Sale’s “color” books. All good stuff. These two are just my personal faves.
-Ekko
Mark Farmer/Alan Davis
2001
A two-issue mini on D.C.’s “Elseworlds” banner, Superboy’s Legion tells the story that would have happened if Jor-El drove drunk, programming his baby refugee’s rocket to hit an asteriod instead of Earth, where it sat until the millionaire who funded The Legion of Super-Heroes (in our reality) found it. It’s a cool story, and since most What If?s suck, it’s worth a vote from me.
-Mysterious Comic Book Guy
NEXT: 2002 through 2003! Same bat-blog, same bat-web address!
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Tags: Best of the Decade, Comic books, Superheroes
I dunno fer sure if this is legit, but if it is, and I lived in Cali, I’d be an Arnold supporter. Just on principle.
Tags: Picture of the day
