With Great Power, well...

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The Periodic Table of Awesoments

From http://www.dapperstache.com/, I give you the The Periodic Table of Awesoments! (Click pic for a larger view.)

It's like THE DAILY SHOW for your car!

People always ask me about my favorite podcast (just go along with here, okay?) as well as asking why everything is at least 45% funnier if it's British (members of the Commonwealth, such as Canada, get a reflected humor boost of 30%). The answer to the later is "I don't know, but thank god it's true" and the former is THE BUGLE. Produced by The Times (of London), THE BUGLE -- "An Audio Newspaper for a Visual World" is the brainchild of The Daily Show's John Oliver and Andy Salzman. In addition to weekly segments such as "Straight Into the Bin" a listing of features too bizarre to make it into the podcast, and "Hotties from History" a contest for the hottest historical figure, The Bugle features the simple pleasure of listening to two very funny people trying to crack each other up.

The podcast can be found with a simple iTunes search, and the website's at: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/the_bugle/

Comic-Con Saturday and Sunday (with my Con scoop!)

Give me your unwashed masses, yearning to get autographs.


And the award for the most obscure costume goes to... Aquaman villain Black Manta! (although, to be fair, perhaps he should be a tie with Skrull 70s-era Luke Cage)


Don't know why, but I love the 60s Batman, and these two got the costumes PERFECT.


And now, the rest of the Con.

It was definitely less fun than previous years. Partly the lines, which made attending a panel all but impossible unless you lined up an hour ahead of time or sat through the previous panel just to ensure a seat. (This made for some weird audience vibes from people who did not really give two craps about the panel they were attending.) Partly because the writers strike meant there were no new pilots and very little in the way of new footage to screen.

Still, I learned a bunch of interesting facts. For example, Futurama has 3 ph.D's on staff, and they must be working the Simpson staff pretty hard. Their panel, usually one of the funniest at the event, kind of fizzled.

One of the more interesting events was WRITING PRIME TIME ANIMATION, wherein WGA prez Patric Verrone attempted to take us into the writing room of a fictional animated Sopranos spin-off FAT TONY AND THE GUYS. The one thing these panels never can quite capture is the hours and hours of bantering back and forth trying to come up with the funniest gags possible, but it was a good (if truncated) view of the various stages in the animation writing process.

Saturday night was spent hob-nobbing with writers at the Marriott, first at the Animation Writers Reception, then at the bar. I felt an odd sense of deja vu as I met and chatted with various writers, animators, actors, etc. Then it struck me, this was what Comic-Con used to feel like, before the multitudes of ravenous fans made it necessary to put walls of security up between the creators and the unwashed masses.

Sunday the crowds and the madness diminish and it's possible just to show up at the panel you like and actually, you know, be allowed in. My possible favorite panel was Sunday's IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA with -- hey, how about that? -- an actual episode screening. I'm always amazed at how these guys can organically work obscure taboos (such as cannibalism) into a show with a fairly traditional set-up. Also, Rob and Glenn's new pilot BOLDLY GOING NOWHERE, appears to moving forward, and PHILLY season 4 will have a 1776 flashback.

Then, Hamlet 2, a movie I really want to like, but seems too enamored of going for the easy joke. Still, Elizabeth Shue's got a great supporting role as, well, Elizabeth Shue.

And, as always, my Con ends with the STARSHIP SMACKDOWN. For those who've never been, Smackdown consists of several SciFi luminaries (as well as friends, girlfriends, and guys who worked on the luminary's DVD special features) arguing over which starship would win in a fight. I know it sounds silly -- and it is very, very silly -- but I'm always impressed by the panel's ability to argue an absurd point. (Example: maybe Starship Dave could beat BattlestarGalactica, given BSG's proven susceptibility to machines that look human). Still, I'm always miffed that they don't realize the TARDIS could kick any starship's ass.

And now, MY CON SCOOP. On the train ride home, got to meet Scott Thompson from Kids in the Hall. I'm always reluctant to meet my comedy idols. (For example, I've seen Bob Odenkirk several times, but always sense an all-envelopping "don't talk to me" aura.) But Scott turned out to be as nice and as cool as he seems, and he let me know that THE KIDS IN THE HALL are working on a script for a new movie. That's right, a new movie. At least 90 minutes of new KIDS IN THE HALL genius. Lovers of good comedy everywhere may rejoice.

And for those of you worried that the KIDS may have lost their edge, here's a sketch they previewed at a UCLA show I was lucky enough to attend...

Best of the Con Gauntlet

For those wondering about these LONE SAUSAUGE guys I mentioned as the one bright spot in this year's Spike & Mike Gauntlet Show, here's the censored version of one of the videos they screened...



And here's the video that started it all. I remember when this premiered they actually went to the trouble of passing out thousands of 3-D glasses to all the attendees.