Place your bets here...

So Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, famous for accidentally removing credibility from the McCain campaign (sorry, Palin fans, its true) has resigned her post as Governor.

My guess is that Palin received an opportunity for a lucrative television contract. Something along the lines of a talk show (isn't the modern dream to be Oprah Winfrey?) or something on Fox.

But, I also have no doubt that its all part of her plans for 2012. If that's the case, this voter is really looking forward to the primaries.

Any other theories?

Perhaps this recent Vanity Fair article could shed some light...

thanks to Randy for starting this whole conversation

Jeff Wilson (aka: Crackbass)

I am reminded that its now been three years since the passing of Jeff Wilson. Jeff, Sigmund and Kim were struck on July 3rd, and Jeff passed several days later.



Let's keep Mandy and Jeff's family (by blood and otherwise) in our thoughts this holiday weekend. And keep Jeff in mind, too.

It was a dark and stormy night...

If you've never heard of the Bulwer-Lytton contest, its a competition wherein folks submit a single sentence. The sentence is intended to be the start of a novel. A particularly bad novel that does not exist (yet).

I only remember this contest every few years, but I suggest perusing .

Here.

If the contest does not give an aspiring writer a moment of pause when they look upon their own prose, they either lack the self-awareness and insight into their own work enough to be a writer or they have an unhealthy level of self-confidence.

Two of my favorites:

Darnell knew he was getting hung out to dry when the D.A. made him come clean by airing other people's dirty laundry; the plea deal was a new wrinkle and there were still issues to iron out, but he hoped it would all come out in the wash - otherwise he had folded like a cheap suit for nothing.

Lynn Lamousin
Baton Rouge, LA

No man is an island, so they say, although the small crustaceans and the bird which sat impassively on Dirk Manhope's chest as he floated lazily in the pool would probably disagree.

Glen Robins
Brighton, East Sussex, U.K.

That second one sounds terribly likely in modern fiction.

Tip o' the hat to Unloveable.

Happy B-Day, USA

Not sure what the weekend holds for posting, so I want to take a minute to salute the U.S. of A.

Whenever I might get a little down about the way our nation is headed, I get a little reminder, such as our friends in Iran, who are now in a struggle to see justice done, to be able to believe their voices and themselves and their ideals are known by their leaders and government. The past few weeks should be a reminder to us Americans and to our government that the government should never be too far from being us, that it should exist and operate with our consent. And when we challenge that government's will or authority, we are so, so astoundingly lucky to live in a nation where our government does not take to the air suggesting that voices raised in defiance should be permanently silenced.

But we're far from perfect. We receive daily and weekly reminders of the failures of government. I'm still keeping my eye on the events in Ft. Worth, which fell on the anniversary of Stonewall. Its not even surprising any more when governments cease-up as our politicians who run on their moral convictions disappear for long weekends over-seas with their mistresses. Our states go bankrupt (well done, California). That's this week's news.

At the end of the day, though, we are not our government. While I celebrate the ideals embodied in the constitution, even that document wasn't ratified until well after July 4th, 1776 (but that time for honest discussion did lead to the Bill of Rights, of course). If we're going to celebrate the day, I celebrate what, despite our differences, we do when we do it together. It doesn't matter if it's watching fireworks while the local symphony puts on its annual performance of the 1812 Overture, or whether its voices raised together as we mumble our way through the National Anthem. Or showing up at the food pantry, or to walk together to raise money for a cause. We're all of that, too.

It's foolish to buy the lines thrown around during elections when one politician suggests the other doesn't love his country because someone said the nation has a past of which it ought not necessarily be entirely proud. Its in seeing the flaws, the broken dreams and lost lives as counter-measure to what good the country has done that you can see the promise of what we'd like to offer every person within these borders and beyond. It tells us what we can do better. And when we live through a time in which we feel the government has steered wrong, we can imagine that the winds of change will blow and the ship will find its course.

I need to see more of the country. I'd very much like to see its capitols and landmarks. Its parks, and its beaches. See what my fellow Americans are like in places like Boston and Los Angeles. I don't get out enough.

But... Happy B-Day, America. Hopefully we won't accidentally set you on fire with a bottle rocket.


like everything else iconic in history, this didn't really happen, either

It's Christmas (Talk) in July! aka: The League Holiday Special

So, of course, part of the problem is that my idea for a Holiday Special was pretty much what Colbert did in 2008. Talented and amazing The League may be, but we strongly suspect that we're not going to outdo Colbert on this thing.

I'm thinking a 10 minute video (anything longer suggests effort), but we'll see. Could be longer or shorter. Might not get around to it at all.

But here's the thing: It's going to be a lot more fun if I can get you guys to participate.

I know that July 1st might seem a spot early to bring this up, but we'll probably start producing this thing as early as October. So that's, really, like 3 or four months away.


...our benchmark for quality

Some rules...

A) This is a family show, Leaguers. I don't mind a few swears, but The KareBear and Judy are going to watch this thing. So, you know...
B) Anything sent in needs to be fairly decent quality. By that I mean, if the camera is laying on its side, or we can't actually hear you, then I'm probably not going to be able to use it. Don't worry, we're going to have issues here, too.
C) It HAS to be about the Holidays in some way. It can be about Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, etc... We're working with a theme here, Leaguers.


Bowie and Crosby got nothing on my Leaguers

Here's what we're looking for:

1) Volunteers for guest appearances. If you'd like to actually appear in a portion of the video, lemme know. That would require a few hours on some weekend. We may require you to sing and dance. No, seriously.

2) Send in your video. This isn't a call for random people to send me a video. You pretty much MUST QUALIFY AS A LEAGUER (you know who you are. Exceptions granted for Lynda Carter, Christina Hendricks, Shatner or other non-Leaguers of note. In fact, those three are welcome to come over any time.).
I'm not placing any restrictions on what you send in. If you make a jerk of yourself, you make a jerk of yourself.
However... Keep it short. No longer than 1 minute. Unless you're sending in the best video of all time. Then we can negotiate.

3) Original Songs. If you want to send in a song for The League to sing, we're up for that. Or you can sing it yourself. But... it should be about 90 seconds.

4) Poems, stories, etc... I don't really know what I mean by this, but send your stuff in, and we'll see if we can't figure out how to squeeze it in.

So if you're wondering: No. I don't have a script yet. I kind of want to see what we get, to an extent. But I'm starting to get some ideas together, thinking about how to put a song or two together, that sort of thing. And, of course, planning to decorate for Christmas early this year, if need be.

Anyhow, I hope you guys want to participate in some way.

So, let's make it a Jolly Holiday.



The League is looking out for your Holiday Season

Tell 'Em That it's Human Nature

somewhere I have a vinyl record of Michael Jackson reading the story of E.T. This image was included in the packaging.



I really wanted to put this image on our wedding invitation. Did not happen.

The Maxx

The Maxx that I cared about in the 1990's was not the soda shop frequented by the "Saved By The Bell" kids.

I had not read Sam Keith's comic when The Maxx debuted on MTV circa 1994. It was part of the Image onslaught of comics that my wallet couldn't handle, and too many of which focused on art over story or substance in an era when Neil Gaiman was writing Sandman, Grant Morrison was writing The Invisibles, Garth Ennis was starting to make some noise in the US, and ideas like "Kid Eternity" were a viable part of the comic landscape (and, I should mention, Marvel had just done the Clone Wars deal and was close to filing for bankruptcy).

And then, between Beastie Boys videos, I saw the ads for The Maxx.

The Maxx

As it happens once in a while, I was a fan of the cartoon before I was a fan of the comic. I enjoy the Hulk movies, but never get too far with the comics. Same for Iron Man. I suppose one could say I was a fan of the Superman movies and cartoons prior to my interest in the comics, so I guess it applies here, to an extent.

It would be fairly far into the episodes of The Maxx that it would become clear to me that The Maxx was never really intended to be about dimension-hopping superheroics and, instead, was much more about somebody's (I'd suggest Sam Keith's) issues with women. If Superman was the man the Clark Kents of the world wished they could be to impress their Lois, then The Maxx was somebody working out their feelings both about who they wished they could be (still oddly grotesque and sort of slow), mixed in equal parts with who they strongly suspected they appeared to be to the world (a badly dressed hobo in a box with violent tendencies).

The series didn't make it as a cartoon on MTV (and I mourn the loss of an MTV that was trying new things all the time, from The Maxx to Aeon Flux). It did run as a fairly successful creator-owned series at Image for about 35 issues, plus spin-off's and tie-ins'.


The Maxx does not care to debate what the definition of what "Isz" is.

I'm not sure a literal reading of The Maxx, no matter how surreal the material and art, is what Keith had in mind. But its also difficult at times to discern exactly what he was trying to do, exactly, other than create an access point to approach certain characters and stories he wanted to work through. Were the "Isz" the ugly truth trying to drag down The Maxx? If the Outback wasn't real, and the "real world" wasn't real, then...

Anyway, it was a beautiful use of the medium as storytelling device, and the art and layout astoundingly handled, with no choice made arbitrarily.

At one point I had a fairly complete Maxx collection, but I believe it disappeared during a purge a while back. It's a fun read, but I decided to just hang on to the trade apperback collections released a few years ago and available at quality comic shops (and online) from DC.

Its been a long, long time since I read much in the way of The Maxx, but MTV has recently brought the entire cartoon series online. The cartoons are exact panels from the comics, with what I'd consider to be good voice acting. It's a bit of a trippy cartoon. But in the 1990's, when I was surprised if a comic character's costume was even the right color, seeing a comic so literally translated out of the comic format was an absolute revelation.

Click here to see the series online.

The series does touch on subject matter that has become a bit verboten in the ensuing years, at least in part because some of Julie's origin specifics became overused in less than well-handled fashion. But it was also an interesting mix of people behaving like people and a cracked out world of superheroes, wild psychic landscapes and flying whales. All fitting within a specific vision.

Keith would go on to do other series, like Zero Girl, Four Women and others, including a Batman comic series or two. I still feel, when I read his independent work, that he's working his way through something.

Years and years ago, a Maxx Christmas ornament was my first eBay purchase (and visitors to League HQ during the Holiday season can find it on the tree). And a Maxx action figure (with Isz) resides on my desk.

It may be about time I re-watched the cartoon and/ or re-read the series.