Month: January 2010

Y’know, I haven’t watched “The Tonight Show” in ages, but I’ve started tuning in since the entire blow-up with NBC. Glad I did. The bit with “30 Rock’s” Kenneth the Page last night was absolutely golden.

Personally I think if Leno’s smart–and he is–he’s gotta say at this point that he’s passing on returning to 11:30. It’s the only way out of this no-win scenario that (admittedly) NBC has gotten itself into. They should never have promised Conan “The Tonight Show” back in 2005 but, hey, they did. They should never have put Leno on five days a week but, hey, they did. From a PR point of view, from a “Can’t we all just get along?” view, Leno’s best move is to say basically, “Hey, we tried a 10 PM slot, it didn’t work, that’s the way that goes, but there’s no reason to force Conan out just because my show didn’t cut the mustard.”

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Out this week is the trade collection of the four part “Fallen Angel Reborn” featuring Illyria from Joss Whedon’s “Angel” series. So if you missed that the first time around, you have a chance to give it a go. Plus other, less important titles came out as well.

Interview with JK Woodward about the trade here

(Following is a press release courtesy of JK Woodward)

The Comic Creator’s Alliance is a project founded by Lora Innes(The Dreamer,IDW 2009)
as a way of raising Money for the purpose of ending human trafficking in the world today.
It started as a group of web comic creators coming together and donating art.
Shortly after announcing the project on an episode of popular comicbook podcast
Comic Geek Speak, Peter David and J.K.Woodward , along with other print comic creators
started getting involved as well.

Over 80 came together to donate illustrations of their female protagonists which have been assembled in one incredible illustration. This hi-res illustration will be available as a downloadable wallpaper for those who donate to the fund raising drive.

The Donations Drive will last for two weeks, from January 11th – 24th. All proceeds will be split evenly between Love146 and Gracehaven House- two organizations working on rehabilitation of victims and prevention of this crime.

There are currently 27 million enslaved people worldwide. UNICEF estimates that 1.2 million
children every year are sold into slavery, most of it sexual. You can help and get one hëll of a collaborative work of art while your at it!

Check out the Comic Alliance link here: to learn more and get a preview of some of the artwork.

It has been noted for some months now that President Obama tends to use the phrase “extremists” or at worst “violent extremists” rather than “terrorists.” This has been a sharp contrast to the Bushian “War on terror” mantra, and naturally been used as a slam against Obama, as if he were endeavoring either to ignore threats against America or–even better–placate America’s enemies.

Normally I’m not a big supporter of the watering down of our language. In this instance, though, it seems incredibly obvious to me why Obama has embraced this change in terminology: It’s because there’s no reason for him to do the job of America’s enemies for them.

Being a terrorist isn’t just about blowing stuff and people up. It’s about getting people to live in a state of constant fear and edginess. Bush thoroughly cooperated with this mindset, readily speaking the language of terror during every speech, every debate, every public appearance, keeping Americans in a constant state of unease and war footing so that…well, so that he could stay in office, I suppose. Just as Cheney and would-be GOP presidential candidates continue to remind Americans why they should be terrified, doubtlessly delighting bin Laden and his ilk in the process. “Extremists,” even “violent extremists,” is simply a less scary term. Obama appears to have made the conscious decision not to encourage Americans to be in a constant state of fear. At the very least, he doesn’t seem to want to contribute to it through word choice that emphasizes terror, terror, terror. I think he deserves praise for that, not condemnation.

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President Obama made repeated promises during the campaign about more transparency in government, including specifying that health care debates would be televised on C-Span. But now the Senate wants to have the final discussion behind closed doors, and for the sake of expediency, Obama is not opposing that. Of course, if he DID oppose it, then that opposition alone would probably result in weeks of arguments with Nancy Pelosi et al, which Obama might or might not win, and either way it guarantees that he won’t have a bill to sign by the State of the Union. So Obama renegs on the campaign promise and a field day ensues. Not only is he hearing it from the Usual Suspects, but even his most stalwart defenders are hard-pressed to find an upside to such a blatant disregard for his repeatedly given word.

Basically Obama has just gone all-in on this particular hand. If the result of this gambit is a health care reform bill that improves the life of American people overall, then this is going to be a blip on the radar and nothing more. If someone’s child can receive proper medical care without the family facing bankruptcy in 2011, they won’t give care a crap that C-Span was shut out in 2010. It puts Obama in a position of being able to say during his reelection run, “I regret that I had to go back on my promise, but the result was needed health care reform.” But if this thing falls apart and Obama has nothing to show for it, then this becomes his “Read my lips: No new taxes,” the oft-repeated broken pledge that helped to sink George H.W. Bush’s bid for a second term.

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With the incessant snow and the global-warming-defying cold snap across the country, it seems a good time for thoughts to turn to spring and baseball in as positive and uplifting a manner as only a Mets fan can summon.

So: Jason Bay. Just signed with the Mets. Thirty one years old. $66 million over four years. Three-time All Star. Right-handed pull hitter with thirty-plus home runs. Wants to try and make 2009 nothing more than a distant, bad memory.

Here’s the question: How long will it be until Bay winds up on the DL?

My instinct is that he’ll blow out a tricep waving to the crowd on opening day, but I’ll be generous and give him until May 15. I figure a blown hamstring from slipping on a banana peel dropped on the dugout steps. Kathleen gives him until Flag Day when one of the jets that typically does a flyover the field on that day has a piece break off and falls on him.

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“Nation X: X-Factor,” the one-shot that features our detective heroes showing up for a meet and greet on Utopia, is in the stores this week. Amazingly, they’ve also bothered to put out a few other books as well.

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