Saturday, February 28, 2009

DCU Online Preview with Doomsday

DC is working with Sony Online entertainment to create a massive multi-player game, similar to World of Warcraft.

I'm very excited about the game despite the fact that playing means I will need either a new computer or a PS3. It looks like everything I was hoping City of Heroes would be, but because it didn't employ DC (or Marvel) characters or storylines, I just never got all that into CoH in the 6 months or so I played.

The latest out of the DCU Online dispatches is a trailer for a scenario in the game in which Luthor's team tries to liberate Doomsday from STAR Labs. I'm no gamer, so don't go buying the thing on my say-so, but it's neat to look at.

New Krypton

In case you haven't been following the Superman books, here's the nickel catch-up.

Brainiac came to Earth, Superman beat him and disabled his ship. In the proces, he freed Kandor, the lost city of Krypton.

What Superman didn't know was just about anything about Krypton or Kryptonians, and its been a rocky ride since. Kandor took to the other side of the solar system with a new world (using that nifty crystal technology you remember from Superman: The Movie and Superman Returns). They've dubbed the world New Krypton.

DC has put together a snazzy video trailer for the upcoming story arc. Here.

New Leaguer: samax

hey all. I've been chatting a bit in an old comments section with a guy from here in Texas who goes by the handle of "samax". Apparently, we're both fans of Amanda Waller.

I was looking at samax's user profile on blogger, and I encourage you to check out the sites with which he's associated. samax is a writer, an artist, a movie fan/ critic, a gentleman, a scholar, and into comics, and we salute him.

Anyhoo, wanted to extend a welcome and give samax's blog(s) a plug.

Friday, February 27, 2009

The League Re-Watches: The Breakfast Club

Another sign I am getting old:
I watched about 80% of the seminal 1980's teen movie "The Breakfast Club" on cable last night. And I found myself identifying far more with Dick Vernon than those crazy kids.

My first thought when tuning in was whether, in this day and age, anyone would cast a movie about teen-agers in an American high school with such a lily white cast. Or keep issues such as sexual identity completely off the table.

It's almost pointless to critique a movie more than 20 years and when its aimed at a much younger, more cloistered audience who more closely resemble the five characters. I recall liking the movie quite a bit myself, watching it repeatedly into high school, but its been years since I watched more than a snippet on TV. The film isn't aimed at 30+ state employees, but at kids who do believe in the trials and hardships of being upper-middle class and showing up for school (b-o-o, h-o-o).



And I also came to the startling revelation that I have no idea what the title "The Breakfast Club" means. Is it a little used term? Does it have historical connotations? Did it just sound good? I have no clue. Someone throw me a bone.

I will give Hughes credit. When one sees the endless parade of assembly line teen comedies and tween-aimed movies starring teen-agers, which were just as common in the 80's, its a miracle anyone ever bothered to take a look at high schoolers as people. But one also finds the ending of the movie to be more than a little pat.

The jock and basket case find romance? Based on what? The prom queen sneaks into the closet with the thug and possibly has sex with him? And the principal accepts one, single-page paper which would seem stunningly out of context for ol' Dick Vernon?

There's a huge amount of fantasy that creeps in around the edges of The Breakfast Club, and that's okay. The intended audience is more likely to buy it, and it helps to cement the notion of the film that we've all got something in common once you move outside of your tribal identity. And believing it can end in smooching isn't so bad, I guess (unless you're "The Brain", in which case, no smooch for you).

Its easy to be cynical with so much water under the bridge, and looking back at your own high school career with what feels like a permanently etched wince.

I guess what struck me on this viewing was how much the script stacked the deck for John Bender. Nobody ever really challenges Bender, aside from Vernon, who more or less seems to freak him out completely. In most ways, he's a bully who dominates the conversation through shouts, an actual threat of serious physical violence, and often random humiliation. But as he's a bit charming, the audience is meant to root for him. Right up to the point when Molly Ringwald, who he's badgered, berated and made unwanted sexual advances upon for the duration, for some reason slips into the supply closet to make special time with Judd Nelson.

It speaks poorly for "Claire" as written that, apparently, any attention at all seems to be enough, and she seems to be heading into what will surely be an emotionally one-sided and possibly emotionally abusive relationship by film's end.

Brian, who admits to suicidal feelings, is more or less dismissed because he didn't do it this time. But what happens when he can't light the next elephant lamp?

Perhaps 2 hours is too little time to fit in any exploration of the more-or-less real-life issues (although I still have no idea what was supposed to be up with Ally Sheedy. She's never really given any story), but its surprising how well the movie has succeeded despite the fact it doesn't really try to close the loop on the situations thrown out to move the characters beyond their stereotypes.

Perhaps the staying power stems from the fact its a movie that acknowledges its intended audience as having an inner-emotional life that isn't the usual, cheesy fair one sees in after achool specials, or that goes beyond the "will the cheerleaders win the cheer-off?" plots that most teen-oriented films contain, the film has held up for over two decades.

The movie acknowledges sex, overbearing/ suffocating parents, finding out someone gets hit at home... a lot of the messy stuff that pops up in high school but for which the audience doesn't have a serious tool-kit yet for managing. And so, in many ways, its appropriate that we don't know what happens on Monday morning, or even Saturday night with these characters. There's no American Graffitti style conclusion.

I wish today's kids the best with the movie. They'll never believe the soundtrack sold like crazy, or that the Molly Ringwald dance became sort of a thing, but there you go. But I would honestly like to see the movie re-made. Or something along those lines, if for no other reason than so that maybe teen-agers can see some reflection of high school on the screen that doesn't come from "The Hills", "Gossip Girl", or the latest teen-sex romp. It'd be nice to acknowledge at that age that you're a human, and not just so you can be marketed to, pitched a lifestyle, or given some small thrills with your cheap laughs.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Action #1 on the Auction Block



Time to start shopping for my birthday

NTT pointed it out, so I should mention that Action Comics #1 is going on the auction block.

In case you don't know (and I find it hard to believe you've been reading this site for any length of time and somehow missed it, but whatever...) Action Comics #1 is the first appearance of Superman from 1938. Its not the first appearance of a super-hero, in my opinion, but it DID manage to launch 70 years of superheroes as a part of American pop culture, and, I'd argue, culture in general (remember how Spidey is hitting Broadway?)

Here's an article that manages to incorporate a screen-grab of Superman Homepage, which we mention here from time to time. It gets a little into the restored/ unrestored issue in collectible comics.

So, if I had the $400,000, would I buy this comic?

Well, no. I like my Superman comics, but, come on... give me a little credit. If I had a few extra million lying around, probably not even then. It's just a very different thing than, say, my Jimmy Olsens, which I pick up anywhere from $4 - $15 and I doubt are ever going to turn me a huge profit. That's my personal enjoyment from both a story and collector's perspective, not an investment.

And you may not have my Jimmy Olsens anyway.

My co-workers accidentally opened up a whole can of worms yesterday when they asked me a few leading questions about Superman. Anyway, it ended poorly (for them). But, at least they now know better than to ask about that one again.

But, hey, now they know all about the publishing history of Superman, and perhaps that will serve them well in the future.

What is funny is how people have such strong opinions of Superman as a character, even if they really haven't ever touched the character in anything but the most tangential ways. And nobody is ever shy about telling you what's wrong with Superman. I don't know if its years and years of articles, pre-Superman Returns, that seemed intent on instructing why Superman was irrelevant. And with the Watchmen movie hitting the screen and the press trying to explain the relevance of the original Watchmen comic, its easy enough to imagine that Watchmen was a cosmic shift from the hands-on-hips goofiness of the 1950's and that Superman comics hadn't really changed in that whole time, which is both true and not true (Superman was very firmly a kid's book until the mid-80's. I'd still hand a kid a modern Superman comic, but I'd want them to be fourth grade or so.).

Anyhow, as a dime comic it somehow seems fitting as a reminder of the value of inexpensive fantasy can have in troubled times, 70 years on.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

We're ready to believe you!

I think the reason I've failed to get my ghost-hunting career off the ground is that I haven't been treating it like a business. Or, in fact, actually turned it into a business.

I've never owned my own business, so I'm not sure all what I'd have to do.

But

A) what kind of insurance do I buy for a ghost hunting enterprise?
B) can I incorporate my ghost hunting business?
C) do I list it as an entertainment business so as to avoid suits in the rare occurrence when I'm unable to locate a ghost?
D) how much is a TV ad? I sort of think I'm more likely to get business through a TV blitz driving people to my easy-to-use web site.

What else should I be thinking of? Franchise opportunities? Merchandising? Telvision rights?

I'm thinking of it a bit like the professional palm reader. How do they get set up in a business of which many are skeptical?

And how much should I think of charging so I can make a tidy profit?
Spider-Man: The Musical

I thought I'd talked about this before, but given Jamie and Jason's reaction to my mention of the show at Freebird's this evening (mmmm.... Freebirds...), I may have neglected to talk about the upcoming big-budget Broadway musical.

So... yeah. It sounds like Spidey is coming to the Great White Way. And the music is being written by U2.

I'm going to point you to The Beat, as Heidi's got a nice bit on the musical today.

So, if I wanted more hits, I'd write some column complaining about a Spidey musical
and how it kind of figured that U2 was finally making their way to Broadway... But I'm sort of oddly, cautiously optimistic about this thing. I have no idea what the musical will be about, but I'm imagining a scenery-chewing solo performance by the Green Goblin as he sings his plans for ol' Web-Head. I love that kind of stuff.

What I may be less excited about is someone trying to sing through a mask. But, hey, we'll see.

As per special FX: I don't think they'd be doing this unless they were going to make it pretty cool. And I'm sure they've figured out how to make Mary Poppins fly on Broadway, so Spidey should be possible.

Travelin' Man

I am hitting the road next week. Don't look for me in Austin from Tuesday to Saturday. I am headed for the Texas Tri-fecta of Denton, Dallas and Lubbock. That's a lot of miles on old Babar, and I am going to be pondering audio books to help me kill the time between towns.

Wonder Woman on DVD next week

Turn down your audio before clicking here...

Just a reminder that the Wonder Woman DVD arrives (or as the kids, say, DROPS) next week. Don't worry, I'll do some sort of review once I've watched it. I love the way they drew Diana already, though.

My Friends are Falling Apart

First Nicole had some sort of canoe-related injury that I wasn't clear on, but landed her some nifty pain killers. Randy has had complaints of late. Thanks to his karate, Matt is almost always injured. And now Juan G. has a herniated disc that could keep him from going to France next week.

Jesus, we're getting old. When Lauren begins complaining about the vapors or some such, I'll know we're all really cooked.

I, myself, am fine. Which has just doomed me. My only complaint is that my hands are so baby-soft from my job at a computer that the little bit of work I did left two, stigmata-esque marks/ blister on my palms.

New B Baby

Cousin John and his wife, Julie, have had a kid. Little Ben will be joining John, Julie and Brandy. Very happy for them, but I don't think most of you know them, so this is just a little "huzzah" for me.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Some stuff

I did post. It's just over at Comic Fodder.

Its, honestly, the post I'm least happy with to date. But I just haven't felt the comic-blogging vibe that much of late. So no link to it.


Preview for this week's Batman: brave & the Bold


This is the cartoon for kiddies. I need to do a post on it.

I love the retro-Batman stuff, and this episode seems to be making the most of the Dick Sprang inspired look of the show.

Here.

Obamafied

Watched the State of the Union. Did not watch the post-speech spin-doctoring. I'll catch the highlights tomorrow on The Daily Show.

I more or less am in the bag for the guy right now, so the speech worked for me and hit the points I wanted to hear.

The real question is: what will they be saying about Michelle's dress...?

Monday, February 23, 2009

Hurm



No post. Spent the time I usually give over to the hypergraphia to re-reading Watchmen.

The edition I'm reading is the Absolute Edition, a slip-cased hard-cover printed on oversized, very high quality paper. I own it, and I still treat it like its someone else's artifact. It's heavy, and cumbersome, but the the details in Gibbons' art are just phenomenal.

Its been a few years since I read this thing, and like all good books, movies, etc... I can't believe how much is there that you let slip away between reads. Sure, once you know how it ends, it reads totally differently. Glad I'm taking the time before I inevitably end up seeing the movie.

I've said it before and I'll say it again... It is so of its medium, I cannot see how Snyder will translate this thing to film. Plus, man... how do you translate Rorschach for a mainstream audience looking for a superhero romp? Or The #$%^ing Comedian?



Fun Moore reading tip of the day: I recommend his run on "Supreme".

It's the Silver Age Superman story DC probably never would have let him tell.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

2 things before bed

(1) A Confession:

My dream job? Game show host.


(2) From Mel's Birthday party last year.

Quote of the week:

"Kim Kardashian is soooooo pretty!"
-irony-free anonymous co-ed in library (at TAMU)


Every celebrity is somebody's hero. Which means somebody out there is really into Steve Guttenberg. And that is amazing.

Leaguers, what can I say but that this week was really... a week.

To TAMU and back. Work was jam-packed from Monday through Friday. Friday night we headed out to Guero's to assist Steven in celebrating his freedom from grad scool applications, and we toasted Steven with a few cocktails.

Saturday we headed to Auditorium Shores park with Jason and Cassidy, attempted to go to the new Mighty Fine location down off Brodie Lane, only to learn it had been co-opted as a "suburban family friendly cool" location. Which means that, for what's really a pretty standard burger and fries operation, the place was crammed with our local nuclear families, far past the point of reason.

Good for Mighty Fine's business, bad for me ever trying the place again on a Saturday.

I might mention, and I know this is heresy, but I'm not a fan of In'n'Out. We had them scattered across Arizona, and I was actually very excited to try my first In'n'Out, but wound up severely disappointed. It is, no matter the ingredients, legacy, what-have-you, a fairly standard burger. And I didn't care at all for their fries. But, holy smokes, does that place have a reputation, so beware being the one guy in the crowd who is "meh" on In'n'Out, for it has developed its own brand of acolytes and followers.

Seriously, I thought it tasted a bit like "Short Stop" here in Austin, and which I don't care for, either.

We then headed to San Marcos to visit Jamie's folks and watch the UT/ OU basketball game. Which, huzzah, UT won. But, of course, Jamie's folks are die-hard Sooners fans. So... we were as polite and gracious as possible about UT's upset of the #2 ranked Sooners.

Today we ate breakfast, gathered ousrselves and went to Lowe's. It being so nice out, I wanted to plant a tree in the back and flowers in the front. I am now the owner of a Chinese Elm I have named "Chairman Mao", who I hope survives his first Texas summer. We also have several petunias and whatnot dotting our front flower beds.

Chariman Mao, while deeply respectable, will need counter-parts, so next week I will head back to pick up a couple of Live Oaks, a true Central Texas tree if there ever were one. Our neighborhood is actually named "Grand Oaks" thanks to the large Oaks they left when they developed the area.

Planting a tree is a bit daunting. The tree may live or not. It may be a poor choice for your yard. And if it is healthy, it will grow at an incredibly slow rate, reaching maturation just about the time I begin pondering retirement. I like that idea. Being in this house to watch the trees grow to their full height and then spread wide as shade trees. Forgetting exactly which year I planted Chairman Mao, Zapata and Khan, but knowing it was in the first years I lived in the house, as I'm on my third or forth fence. But we'll look at pictures and say "when we moved in, everyone had just one tree in their yard that the builder put there," and it will look bare. And then we will get in our aero-cars and fly to the moon for space-burgers.

But RHPT has gazed into the crystal ball and found my future. Not for those who dislike naughty words, etc...

Here.

Sorry if we did not call you back this weekend, Nicole. We would like to see you this week, though. Or at least before Matt disappears to the Far East.

I hope everyone's weekend was lovely and relaxing. I am happy springtime is here. we're ready for the winter to pass.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Lovely Out

It is freakishly beautiful in Austin today. 70 degrees, clear sky, low humidity, a stiff wind. Went to Auditorium Shores with the dogs. Lucy was like a little black comet, flying all over the place in large elliptical orbits.

It is a Maxfield Parrish kind of day.



Despite what I understood to be a general snobbery concerning Parrish's work, I used to keep this poster on my wall in college. It was nice to have a bit of Parrish sunlight to remind you of days like today.

Blogging will recommence when it is not sunny and/ or very, very nice outside.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

A whole mess of stuff

Sorry about the lack of blogging. I was back at College Station again on Tuesday. Its been a busy week already.

Steven applies himself

After several months of working on his grad school applications, he's now hit "submit" on the form. He's applied to a serious Research 1 university or two, and these days, that's a lot more than merely filling out a bubble sheet with your GPA.

Here.

The League is actually very interested in seeking graduate education himself in the next few years, and so we're watching Steven with marked interest. We've both been rejected by good graduate schools and accepted by less-good graduate programs. And actually walked away from a graduate degree a few years back when we had a moment of clarity and realized we did not want the degree nor career path we were headed towards.

We hope to once again actually feel its okay to not tempt Steven and Lauren with distraction. But it occurs to us that its now all the more pressing that we get as much Steven and Lauren time as possible fit in as we may be losing them come the fall.

Hmmm. That seems like a poor option.

Nannerpuss

I @#$%ing love Nannerpuss.



That is all.

Keeping Exotic Animals

I was going to write something kind of mean about the events in Stamford where a woman was attacked by her friend's chimp.

Maybe because I was raised with extremely mild-mannered dogs, as well as animals that were just as happy to bite me as take a meal (see: Perry the Python), and gerbils, fish, turtles and whatever... I've always appreciated dogs in particular for their easy ability to fit into a human lifestyle thanks to their deeply embedded pack mentality.

If my cat, who I know loves me (if sleeping by your head and purring loudly isn't love, I don't want to be right), but occasionally goes nuts and does something dumb, like attack my foot or whatever... what on earth makes people think that keeping a 200lb chimp around the house isn't going to eventually end in disaster? Or the story or two that comes up every year of someone with more money and machismo than brains whose tiger escapes its backyard enclosure and mauls either the owner or some unsuspecting neighbor.

Human fear and ideas about justice almost invariably lead to the animals being put down for doing what animals do. Which is always marked down as "suddenly unpredictable", when that's pretty much what most animals are. If they weren't, we'd all have pumas and pandas in our houses.

I'll never know what possesses people to feel they can or should put others at risk for what seems to be vanity or misplaced belief that they're The Beastmaster. I strongly suspect it has something to do with how far we're removed from a world in which we have a legitimate fear of being eaten by wolves and bears.

Thanks to my Dudes

I have to give a shout out to both JMD and RHPT, who always send me good stuff via e-mail. I don't often post those items, but I am publicly saluting you.

Don't ever change.

Watchmen

Countdown to "media critics" freaking out about Watchmen.

As long as we're going to exploit good comics that KIDS SHOULD NOT READ, it kind of makes me wish they'd do:

Frank Miller and Sienkiewicz's Elektra
Miller's Ronin
Morrison's Invisibles
We3 (perhaps one of my favorite comics of all time, for reasons that would be obvious once you'd read it)
Preacher (which is brilliant stuff, but I would be really upset if my mother accidentally read an issue)
Promethea

What did I miss?

Monday, February 16, 2009

Secret Identity Revealed

Anyone who spends more than 2 or 3 days at my house will see I watch an alarming amount of Austin's 24-hour news channel, News8Austin. Its all local news, weather, sports, events, etc... And its run the way I think a news channel should be run. It's mostly commentary free, unless they have "commentator" below someone's name, and the anchors and reporters don't freely editorialize.

But its also a small, shoe-string-budget operation where reporters build their portfolio or settle into News8's somewhat odd culture of "Pet of the Week" installments and showing up every time someone puts more than three folding chairs outside and rents a microphone.

This weekend they were taping the Austin Marathon (which may or may not have featured JAL), when photographer Eddie Garcia caught something entering the atmosphere and seemingly burning up. You can watch the video here.

Some speculated that it was part of the satellites which recently collided in orbit. NASA has dismissed all that. They say it was maybe a meteor.

Well, Leaguers. That was me. Its a little difficult to explain what I was doing in the ionosphere in the first place, but let us just say that wrongs needed righting, and I could not let the schemes of my nemesis, Dr. Nefario (aka: RHPT) come to fruition. Indeed, the fate of the world was at stake.

So, yeah, that's me and Lucy heading back to planetside. I didn't know I lit up like that on re-entry. Neat!

Li'l Leaguers

Due to an excellent suggestion by the League's own JMD, we now have a new category! "Li'l Leaguers" will mostly be about superhero and sci-fi stuff such as books, videos, etc... your kids may enjoy. It will probably also occasionally dole out advice on what you may want to avoid as a cautious parent looking to delve into superherodom.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Li'l Leaguers: Superman and Batman in Kid's Books!

Hey, I know there are a lot of Leaguers out there who've got young super-heroes of their own.

It seems Stone Arch Books is publishing a line of children's superhero books featuring The Man of Steel and the Caped Crusader. Art is in the style of the JLU/ Bruce Timm animated format.

Check them out here.

If you buy them and need help pronouncing villain names like Mr. Mxyzptlk, just lemme know. I would have freaking LOVED these as a kid.
ComicBook.com

I want to salute the guys at ComicBook.com. They're building a new site and are picking up RSS feeds from comic-related websites and blogs. Rather than merely grabbing my RSS feed, they actually wrote me and asked if it was okay.

It is more than okay. I am pleased to see some people with some basic manners working on a comic-related site. So, unless they suddenly do something awful, the guys at ComicBook.com are officially blogrolled here in the Comic Links section, and they have my salute.

Go click on their site and see what's what.

Should be interesting to see how it goes for these guys.

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day was nice. Jamie and I don't do much for the day, partially because I'm a little cynical about the industry that seems to double in size every year around the holiday, and partially because (after 13 years of together-ness) I don't think Jamie wants any of the stuff you get at Walgreens. And neither of us want to go to some restaurant and stand around waiting for a table in unpredictable weather for two hours.

We stayed home and Jamie made a wonderful meal. And we got to spend the holiday with Lucy Goose, who was kind of up in our grill because she'd been smelling the spaghetti-preparations all afternoon.

Jamie got a card and a few candy-related items from me. Some of which Lucy Goose got into and ate last night. So... there's that.

Rockin' Sunday

Today was pretty darn lazy. Took Lucy to the park to run her for a while. She Almost immediately lost her ball when she became distracted.

It was sunny, 72 and breezy today, so the park was packed. The past two times we've been I became a little misty eyed as I know how much Mel loved it there, and both times, Lucy has run up to dogs who share Mel's silhouette from afar, only to stop short a few feet from the other dog when she realizes its not him.

I, myself, was a little sad when I said hello to a Golden who wasn't quite as big as Mel, but shared his same, broad shoulders and thick, mid-winter coat. Hit a little close to home, which was odd, because it was triggered completely by touch.

When we got home, I grilled up burgers and Jamie and I watched the end of Star Wars Episodes I and II, and as its been years since I'd watched either one, it was mind-boggling how bad those movies really are.

I did some chores and then headed over to Jason's for a while where Reed, Jason and I played some music. Its been months since I picked up my bass. Honestly, I'd sort of decided it was going to find a home in the back of a closet somewhere or under the bed, but I had a great time this evening. So look for future tours of the band I was informed would be named "Reed, Jason and Platypus".

Friday, February 13, 2009

Cooking with The League

This one is pretty close to how things go down at League HQ on a crazy weekend night. And also fits neatly with how I think about food.

In Brightest Day....

in case you hadn't heard, there's all kinds of colors of Lanterns these days, not just Green ( I also HIGHLY recommend the Green Lantern titles right now). Which color are you?

Go to Quizilla and then report out. Simon and I are Indigo, FYI. Or at least how we see our heroic selves.

I did try it again, and I got "Green", which is awesome, but... anyway, its fun, and its a quick primer on the corps as they stand today

Harry Potter

I am not a "book design" geek, but found this interesting. Stolen from Marshall's blog.

It's just someone goofing around, but its neat.

Hot Velantine's Day Tip

If its getting late and you forgot to get something for that special someone, who doesn't love a good e-Card and a few sticks of Spearmint gum?

Happy Friday the 13th



to my brother!

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Still in Aggieland: Day 2

Today's symposium was really, really good.

I have to go to Minnesota to present, and I had no idea how I was going to frame my presentation, but now I think I know. I'll make KP write it, but whatever.

I remembered today that it can be both a great pleasure and incredibly frustrating to sit in a room full of academics/ scholars and discuss technological applications. However, the climate has changed inexplicably since 1997, when I first started working with faculty to implement technology into their teaching. At the time, e-mail addresses were just becoming common among instructors (they didn't want them, because then students would, you know, TALK AT THEM).

The purpose of the symposium was to discuss the transitional period we're in where traditional print forms of scholarly communication (ex: journals) are coming to an end, and the era of open access (ie: free and Google-able) scholarly communication will be the norm for faculty/ academics/ scholars. Printed journals have always been the mode of communication for presenting research, but higher ed institutions have been shy about what it will mean to have that material exist outside of expensive journal subscriptions that usually only wind up in libraries or professional collections. In short, it means people might actually find and read their work who are not researchers. It means its a lot more likely that in five years that when you Google, say, "Thermopylae", you might get legitimate, peer-reviewed research just past the Wikipedia entry.

Good stuff.

And that's sort of what my organization does, as well as preserving other tools for scholars to use for communicating with other scholars. And, of course, we're a library, so hosted repositories for all this stuff.

Faculty tend to be a bit uneasy about giving up on traditional communication. And they're in a unique position to be as slow to adopt as they like, because they're really their own self-policing organization. But when a top-tier school like Harvard throws down the gauntlet, and they have, it means everyone else will soon fall into line.

What I learned today, which had left me very confused about how all this works, is how the financial picture works. And the reality is, there's a lot less money changing hands in all this journal printing than I'd assumed, so the opportunities for going digital are a lot better than I'd hoped. Which also raises some questions about a possible adoption of an open conference and open manuscript system.

So, anyway, that's what I'm doing for a living these days. Beats digging ditches.