Comic-Con 2007 - Souvenir Book Submissions

The submission guidelines for the Comic-Con 2007's Souvenir Book are posted. You have only two weeks left to get your illustrations, articles, tributes submitted.

Last year, Comic-Con - and it's Souvenir Book - celebrated the 100th birthday of Conan creator Robert E. Howard - read the rabbit + crow Robert E. Howard tribute) - the 75th anniversary of "Dick Tracy", and the 50th anniversary of the debut of The Flash - which some would argue begins the so-called "Silver Age" of American comic books.

A few themes of this year's convention, which runs from July 26 - 29, to be featured in the Souvenir Book:

• 100th Birthday of artist Milton Caniff, creator of "Terry and the Pirates" and "Steve Canyon"
• 100th Birthday of Tintin creator, Hergé
• 100th Birthday of sci-fi author Robert A. Heinlein
• 30th anniversary of "Star Wars", which is a movie from the 70's
• 25th Anniversary of the the Hernandez Bros. indy comic "Love and Rockets"

"For 38 years, Comic-Con has produced a Souvenir Book that commemorates the event. Over the past few years this book has grown to be a 160-page wonder, chockfull of articles, art, special guests' biographies, and more. Best of all, it's given free to all attendees, along with the separate show schedule, the all-important Events Guide.

Each year, Comic-Con solicits articles and artwork from professionals and fans alike, based on the anniversaries and themes we're celebrating (see the list above).

The deadline for submissions is April 16, 2007. Artwork and text pieces cannot be accepted after April 16."

Get on it!

Shoot Camera Not Peoples

I have two articles due next week for a major European broadcasting publication.

But I'm not writing them.

Why not?

Could it be that I just don't care about the money?

Or is it more than that?

Some might say I'm "procrastinating", but you know what I say to them?

I say: "Stop using the word PROCRASTINATING! You learned that word in fifth grade and since then you haven't been able to leave it alone! It made you sound smart for about two weeks. Now it makes me want to smack you."

No. No. It's not procrastination. In fact ... could it be ...

... could it be that, actually ... I have great Wisdom? Could it be that I see a way that my article about High Definition cameras might, just might, resolve the violence in the Middle East?

Some people say I'm being being over-ambitious in wanting to achieve peace in the Middle East through my High Definition camera articles. Others have called me arrogant, presumptuous. Others have called me a "silly ass".

Yet, I believe we must try to strive to attempt toward peace in the world, through whatever it is our daily works. My daily works - at least this week - is to write these two articles, one of which - as I said - is about HD cameras.

That Grass Valley Viper is one helluva camera.

I guess I'm a little intimidated. That's it. I'm nervous. I don't really have an angle on how the Viper can help achieve peace in the Middle East. But I know it can. I know it can.

If living these many years in the United States of the Americas has taught me one thing, it's that technology is our only hope for peace. It is a historical fact that less technologically developed nations are more barbaric and less peace-loving than those countries that embrace new technological technology solutions.

I suppose that's the angle that I have to take.

Maybe I'll try to demonstrate in my article how top-end HD cameras rate in terms of their "peace powerfulness". One star for the least peaceful-making cameras (Panasonic!) and five stars for the most peaceful-making cameras (Grass Valley Viper FilmStream??).

Yes. Yes.

I will call the article ...

"Shoot Cameras Not People".

Yeah.

"Shoot Cameras Not People".

Good. That's a real relief. Because I really want to get this whole Middle East trouble out the way sooner rather than later.

10 Pornographic Items at a Hydraulics Co.

What with being a writer and artist, it has been essential to take various kinds of alternative employment from time to time.

The reason for this is not financial, of course. As any artist will tell you, the financial rewards one reaps in the creativity arts are humbling in the extreme. No, the reason for keeping a hand in with the rest of the wretched work force is RESEARCH.

Yes, RESEARCH - meaning "to search and search again and again and again".

What the search is for is never quite clear.

I am reminded of a hydraulics company where I once did some light filing. This place sold pipes and hoses and tubes and ducts and associated paraphernalia for a wide variety of industrial applications - from cooking equipment to aircraft parts, from train engines to chemical weapons manufacturing.

All day long a trio of blue-shirted, neck-tied men sold these various parts to those in need of them. Offers were made, deals were cut, all with a kind of admirable, boisterous devotion to customer service.

The RESEARCH-worthy element of the job - and the one that made me giggle like a ten year old - was the fact that when liquids are conveyed from one place to another, when a tube is inserted into an opening so that fluids may be deposited therein, whether such a thing happens in industry or in nature, certain types of descriptive language begin to emerge.

So as one lightly filed, one would begin to hear - made with dire, blue-shirted, fluorescent lit gravity - the most hilarious turns of phrase.

Absolutely unadulterated, exactly as they came to me:

10 Product Names I Was Exposed To
At A Hydraulics Supply Company

1. tube nuts
2. screw type coupling probe
3. rigid female connector
4. 2-way hose ball bib cock
5. full bore ball valves
6. M/F bleeder
7. SS male plug
8. flange seal
9. GH436-16 hose assy
10. straight male stud coupling

... and one of my favorites, but which belongs more to D&D than S&M:

• swage ferrule for spiral hydra

Scanodon Polar Swamp

Each week, we try to present an image from the sci-fi site, Cyclopedia Of Worlds. This week, a view of the stinking polar swampland of the planet Scanodon:

Grinder House

So attack cat sent us a coffee grinder as a housewarming gift.

Why did he do that?

Because he is cool. That's why.

Feed Me, Seymour-Crow!

In an effort to make it even easier for you to worship us ... yes ... to worship us! ...

... or alternatively, to keep tabs on us so you can call the cops if necessary, the r + c blog is introducing an RSS-feed-by-mail system "powered by FeedBlitz!".

In plain language this means you can sign up to get new rabbit + crow blog posts delivered directly to your email, rather than having to come here to the site to check for updates.

Of course, there are advantages to coming here - boosting our traffic, for one - but, to tell you the truth, if I was a rabbit + crow blog reader - and I am, I'm not ashamed to say it - I'd want the option of having posts sent to me rather than having to do all the legwork myself.

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The Cyclopedia Of Worlds