The Story

For those of you following the DGR Twitter feed, you are probably aware (whether you care to be or not) of my summer decree: learn to feed self.  Seriously, it’s like I just moved out of my parents house.  I realize how juvenile it may sound, but 12 years of living alone and working hours that almost never allow for a self-prepared meal make for some pretty stupid eating habits.  Fortunately, my job provides some down time in the summer, which I will use this year in what will surely be an embarrassing, if not exciting, attempt to learn how to cook.  And I mean REALLY cook.

Of course, there is  the running joke on the Robot Panic site about me asking John how to cook SpaghettiOs in college.  Sadly, while slightly misrepresented (barely), it is mostly true… entirely.  Since that time, I had learned to make my own pasta noodles, ravioli, various sauces, seafood, etc., but those are extremely time intensive meals that only appear for special occasions.  In the meantime, I was throwing away piles of produce that I couldn’t eat before it went bad and stocking up on processed food (because it lasted forever), which is terrible for your health.  After spending some time with a few people who genuinely cared about their food, I began to develop an appreciation for eating better and also noticing the general benefits that followed: higher energy levels, improved physical health, etc.

All that aside, I have begun with a few new tools and am about five weeks into my little, but increasingly expensive experiment.  Fortunately, it’s worth every penny.  Probably by a factor of ten, if I can keep it going.  So far, I am very much enjoying the change of pace and loving the results.  The first purchases were the following:

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Hello again, dearest Robot Panic readers. I have returned from my far too long hiatus that may or may not have involved secret ninja training, world domination planning or seeing how many bags of Goldfish brand crackers I could ingest before my stomach ruptured. During my awesome and very hush hush ninja training, I have discovered something that I felt I need to share with all of you. It is a book, nay, a tome of collected literature/art hybrids. I shall call them…”comics”.

This particular collection is dubbed “Wednesday Comics”. A little backstory, if I may. About one year ago, a bunch of DC wiseguys put their artsy fartsy heads together and came up with an idea that would harken back to the early 1920′s and 1930′s, when a reader of the daily or in those days, weekend, newspaper would be entertained by pages of adventure comics featuring superheroes and other various kinds of heroes. This concept proved to be hugely successful, that is until it stopped being successful and became unsuccessful. So like many people before them that have fallen victim to the old addage of “History repeats itself”, DC has decided to bring back a form of entertainment that has been the way of Gary Coleman (too soon?) for decades. So DC decided to bring some of their most popular characters, with a few less popular, give each a team of great writers and artists, print each issue on shitty classic newsprint paper and ship em out every Wednesday for 12 weeks straight. It was a huge success and as of this day no word on whether or not another series will happen again. (I guess that DC doesn’t like money.)

Enclosed in this HUGE hardcover book, are the originally released 15 character based stories, plus 2 unreleased stories. And who might these characters be? Well, has anyone ever heard of Metamorpho? Or the Metal Men? Or Kamandi? Yes! These DC flagship characters are all in this collection, featuring new stories and collaborations from the top writers and artists that DC keeps locked inside a small, poorly lit basement surrounded by a chicken wire fence at an undisclosed location. Oh, and some jerks like Bat-something, Superbro and the Green…um…Giant are also in there, but no one cares about them. They suck and will probably never be heard from again after this. (more…)

Bloom County represents one of those comics that has always seemed a part of my childhood days, even though I didn’t understand a lick of what I was reading at the time. Berkely Breathed’s seminal comic strip of the 1980′s lampooned just about every facet of entertainment and politics of that decade. While Opus and Co. were taking jabs at Reaganomics, the Iran Contra Affair and Jimmy Swagert’s infidelities, I was simply entertained by a talking Penguin and a guy in a wheelchair who pretended to be playing out Star Trek. I remember two of my uncles were big fans of Bloom County and I would take time at family gatherings to pour over the collections that sat in their bookshelves. As such, when it comes to the culture of the 80′s it seems pretty well captured in every line of Bloom County. Now, thanks to IDW and their fantastic new hardcover series, I get to have the whole series from the very start.

For a start, the collection is presented in a beautiful hardbound book with heavy weight paper that really shows off the comic strips nicely. The book is the kind of thing that would look fantastic on your coffee table. The comics are laid out in chronological order with a few that have never been in print or haven’t been seen since the seventies. The books begins with a brief interview with Berkely Breathed regarding the start of the series and even has some of his old comics from his college strip to show where some of the Bloom County characters originated.

Admittedly, some of the early comics don’t look as fantastic as those in other collections you might already own. The Calvin and Hobbes books are a few that come to mind. Both Breathed and the editor mention this in the preface to the book as well. The reason for this is that many of these old strips had to be pieced together after being found in old newspaper archives. For something as awesome and important as this comic was, it’s almost shocking to find out that Breathed never took care to save his Bloom County work. Many of the comics in the collection had to be pulled from cardboard boxes in the creators garage. The result of this is a collection of comics that visually appear uneven throughout the book. Nothing that makes it unreadable or not worth the price. However, for those looking for a pristine presentation, you’re not going to find a set without visual flaws here.

However, I’m of the opinion that these visual faults actually work in favor of the set. Breathed’s early work is a study in inconsistancy and creative direction finding. Breathed himself notes this in many of the sidebar comments he’s added on every page. Many of these comics were finished on the plane ride to the editor as he made a last second dash to meet his deadline. Many of the jokes and characters are complete rip-offs of early Doonsbury, one of Breathed’s biggest influences. The great part is, he doesn’t hide it and even takes great pains to tell you just how rough and early these comics are. I think one of the greatest things about this collection is how much of an open window this is into a creators mind as he develops his work in the early stages. It’s candid, raw and ultimately brilliant.

A great study in the early run of Bloom County and a must own for any fan of the comics scene in the 80′s, IDW did a fantastic job on this set. The best part is that we get more volumes in which we see the true zenith of Bloom County. Rumor has it that Breathed’s follow up, Outland, will also be getting a similar treatment. We can only hope.

The best price for this book can be found at Amazon.com. Follow the link below to check it out:

Bloom County: The Complete Library, Vol. 1: 1980-1982 (Library of American Comics)

I guess it’s no secret that I’m a pretty big audio junkie and when it comes to recording things my curiosity seems to be insatiable. Ever since we started doing our little experiement, I’ve become obsessed with the idea of recording sounds. So this book was right up my alley and it’s one of the more candid looks at the art of sound recording.

For those who don’t know the name (and I was one of them), Bruce Swedien is a five time Grammy award winning audio engineer who has worked on almost all of Michael Jackson’s seminal recordings, including the ground breaking “Thriller” album. I don’t know where you were in 1984, but I remember “Thriller” hitting like a damn hammer when it hit the airwaves. To this day, it has one of the most distinctive sounds and it’s sonic impact has not diminished one bit over time. That sonic impact is the direct result of Bruce Swedien’s work and in his book “In the Studio with Michael Jackson”, he tells you exactly how he did it.

If you’re a gear head and are interested in the tools of the audio trade, particularly those now classic analog pieces that were used in the early eighties, Bruce devotes a section dissecting everything from the microphones used to the compressors and reverb units that went into creating some of the best sounds laid to tape. If you’ve ever wondered how the “Thriller” album comes by that distinctive sonic presence and how it has managed to retain it’s poignancy over 25 years later, Bruce devotes page after page to the subject. For the aspiring audio devotee, the secrets that Bruce reveals so willingly and candidly are akin to going to school with the most gifted teacher you can imagine. With little held back, Bruce paints the picture of a group of creators at the top of their game and invites you along for the ride.

However, if audio isn’t your thing but you just can’t get enough of Michael Jackson, then this book relates some very interesting and endearing stories regarding the King of Pop. From candid stories about the recording and creation of his greatest songs to tales of the young man’s interaction with other musicians and fellow pop stars, Bruce tells them all with a warmth and honesty that is rare in any book on Jackson. If you’re looking for any of the “freak show” accounts of Michael Jackson’s life, you won’t find it here. This book is a simple testament to Jackson as an artist and it really gives you a window into a master craftsman at the top of his game.

A physical copy of this book may be a bit difficult to get your hands on, if you’re interested. The book was published around the same time that Michael Jackson died and was criticized for “cashing in” on the pop star’s death. As such, many stores either didn’t carry it or the supply they did have was bought up in a hurry in the wake of Jackson’s passing. I found mine at a local half-price bookstore and this might be where these things show up after Michael Jackson fans realize it’s more about recording than a biography. If you don’t have one of those near you, I know Amazon has it here: In the Studio with Michael Jackson (Book)

For those of you who consume your books digitally these days, you can also find it for the Kindle here.

I find Twitter to be an amazing thing. What once struck me as a half hearted attempt to cash in on the whole Facebook craze has turned into nothing less than an instrumental communication tool for our podcast, this website and our readers/listeners. While I once struggled with figuring out just what I was supposed to do with Twitter, these days it seems the sky is the limit. That’s what makes this whole One Book, One Twitter idea such an interesting thing.

Jeff Howe, a contributing editor over at Wired Magazine, was inspired by the collective reading exercises in cities such as Seatle and Chicago to create a “book club” of sorts via Twitter. His premise was simple: “What if everyone read the same book?” The theory of these types of things is that by reading the same book, strangers from all walks of life will have something in common. Pretty noble and neat idea, I say.

Well, the voting has been going on for some time as to exactly which book will be read by the Twitter populous and the winner has been announced today. One of my favorite authors, Neil Gaiman, has been selected as the author with his book “American Gods” receiving the most votes.

So, let’s all join in! The book is pretty easy to find, especially if you like reading your books digitally. I know both Amazon the Apple iBook store have copies. I’m sure you can find them readily available at your local bookstores and libraries as well.

If you’re into it, read the book and follow the #1b1t hashtag on Twitter for what other folks are saying. Head on over to Crowdsourcing.com as well for all the information on 1b1t so far, as well as any new information as it happens. You can also follow Jeff on Twitter by hooking up with @crowdsourcing.

Happy reading!

The much anticipated Mass Effect 2 is being released this week and I’ve seen and heard a lot of buzz for the game across the Facebook/Twitter feeds and coworkers/friends. I am at an odd crossroads from where I stand with Mass Effect. In the original game from 2007, I made it about ten hours before I was drowning in an overflowing pool of primary quests, side quests, planet exploring and my horrible obsession to talk with everybody I run into.

I still fondly recall my time with Shepherd and Co. and want to beat it before eventually starting the sequel. However, an attempt to put some progress in finishing one quest several months ago resulted in me picking up several more side quests along the way and just throwing my hands up in the air two hours into that save without finishing a quest.

I did discover two items in the past several months to keep me immersed in the Mass Effect lore, and those are the two novels by Drew Karpyshyn: Revelation and Ascension. Usually I am not one for science fiction (I am just now remembering getting bored and giving up on a Star Trek book report several pages in during the 7^th grade), and was surprised I actually got into the game itself. Just as Bioware’s game reeled me in, as does the novels.Mass Effect

Revelation starts off detailing the origins of humanity’s discovery of Prothean technology that led to the First Contact War against species of the Citadel. Within pages I was instantly hooked because I could not remember for the life of me how much I learned of humanity’s Citadel origins in the game. Revelation does a fantastic job at filling me in about humanity’s place in the Citadel, and almost every other race I recall from the game such as the Protheans, Geth, Turians, Collectors, Krogans and many more.

Revelation primarily revolves around Commander David Anderson, a respected leader of humanity, attempting to track down and rescue Kahlee Sanders, a scientist gone AWOL and suspected for treason as her classified base on Sidon is assaulted and with all her comrades killed in the ensuing carnage. Anderson forms an uneasy alliance with the renowned Spectre, Saren in a attempt to rescue her and track down a mysterious Prothean Artifact another scientist at Sidon was obsessively researching on. Revelation unfolds almost like a stereotypical action movie, but there is something about Karpyshyn’s storytelling and taking in the roots of the Mass Effect lore in the process that makes this first book an addicting page-turner from beginning to end.
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Recently I received a Kindle as an early Christmas gift. Given last week’s talk of e-readers and comic books (and John’s inexplicable urge to put anything I write on this website), I thought I’d give you some impressions.

Overall: The new Kindle is about as thick as a cheap pocket calculator and roughly the size of a larger paperback. For an easy reference based on this audience, roughly the length and width of the paperback zombie survival guide. The viewable screen is about 2/3s of that, meaning you can get as much on a page as you would with a cheap paperback. A large version is available, which has more buttons and such, but that’s about all I got on it.

Cases are available, but I’ve had mine bouncing around in my manpurse with a netbook and a number of notebooks, power adapters, etc. and it’s held up just fine. The screen is slightly recessed from the outside casing, meaning that something is much more likely to come against the white plastic case or (relatively scratch resistant) metallic backing. Overall the device is pleasing to the eye and inoffensive, which is what you want from something you’re going to stare at for hours. I got a number of impressed comments while reading in line.

The USB cable with power outlet dongle is also slim and easy to store. Kindle can charge off the wall socket or your PC. I let the power adapter live on my nightstand because I never really plan on merging my Kindle and PC.
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“How’re you feeling about the PSP comic store/digital comics in general? Me? I think I’m sticking with paper. I’m fuckin old school!”

-John via Twitter

I think publications on PSP are a great idea. I’d totally get into books and such again if they were actually available on devices I’m always carrying on me. Does the iPhone do ebooks? Probably some kind of rigged app or a few standalone apps, but on no universal book reader, right? I can settle for comics. One thing on comics is I like to sit there and examine the art in great detail. The PSP comic viewer let’s me do that. I can zoom out or in as I please and pan the page around to study every which way. There’s even this Autoflow thing where mashing L & R Buttons automatically zeroes in on all the relevant screen placements, making reading these things as lazy as you wish. Button config is even available.

A massive plus is the custom soundtracks function that somewhat works with this comic viewer. Too many times I’m walkin’ somewhere with my PSP music goin’, then when I go to sit down and switch to a game, I have to stop the good sounds for crappy game music from R-Type Command. Say I’m in a podcast I want to listen to but don’t want to sit there and stare at the wall, I can whip out a comic instead without holding up my audio. The music player is limited though. There’s no fast forward function for picking up where you left off in a long track and it doesn’t support PSPgo very well, so the player can only read from the system storage but not from the expandable cards (where I keep all my music). I’m not even sure it supports playlists. Thanks Japan!

Either way, the big draw for me on PSP comics is portability and hiding what I got. I work with baby boomers. They’re not very smart. I got the heavy stink eye when I sat in the public commons and had a lunch while reading Watchmen. I’d much prefer masking what I’m looking at and maintain the privacy. Sure I’m 20-something years old and it’s not a big deal for me to defend what I’m into, but I also value solo downtime above most things, so avoiding possibility of needless conflict with nosy old people idiots with high judging and poor listening skills is a selling point. Since I don’t do a lot of reading when I’m at home, I pretty much have to bring whatever I intend to read with me somewhere else. At home I’d prefer the music, gaming, or time with the pre-wife, so books are right-out. I’m not owning a man-purse ever, so that leaves me with whatever fits in my pocket. PSP works, a tube hanging out a foot above my back pocket doesn’t.

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The Holiday Season is well under way, and those of with kids might feel overwhelmed with countless adventures in Toys R’ Us and Wal-Mart.  It wasn’t too long ago that I remember fighting massive crowds of crabby, frustrated parents looking for that last Tickle Me Elmo.  So this year, why not do your kid a favor and prepare them for the Zombie Apocalypse in a fun and education way by purchasing Plume and Robinson’s book “There’s a Zombie in my Treehouse.”  I first heard about this book on “Night of the Living Podcast,” and all I can say is…it’s BAD ASS! 

The story is pretty simple, our hero, Johnny, has an amazing tree house where he spends many happy days pretending to be a knight in shining armor, a cowboy, or other heroic figure.  But then one day we seem Johnny sulking on the curb.  When asked why he isn’t playing in the treehouse he explains, “Because there is a zombie in my treehouse.”  Several people try to console the young boy, explaining that the zombie is all in his imagination.  So one by one they ascend into the treehouse (and this is the BEST part) never to be seen again.  There are no gory scenes, no explanation, they just simply disappear.    

The story is cute, easy to read, and has some great artwork from Len Peralta.  Perhaps I am a horrible Father, but I wish I could have read this book to Tiny when he was younger instead of “Goodnight Moon” for the 100^th time.  So if you want a unique gift for a zombie loving parent, visit http://www.zombieinmytreehouse.com and pick up a copy of this book!

I’ve never really talked too much about it here on the Robot Panic, but I’m a pretty huge fan of Lost. My love for the show turned to an out and out obsession as soon as they added one of my favorite conventions, time travel, to the series in force this last season. Something about the idea of time traveling has always grabbed me. Blame Back to the Future and the impressionable age I was in when I first viewed it for that one. At any rate, my obsession with Lost led me to few writers who many consider to be “scholars” on the subject of the ABC hit. Go ahead and laugh if you will, but these guys dig deep into this stuff. While I see these episodes as a fun hour long escapism session, these guys are finding allusions to Greek Mythology and parallels to the religious rites of passage found in ancient Mayan culture. I’m serious. So it was that while reading one of these Lost authoritarians, I was directed to the book Replay by Ken Grimwood.

Published in 1987, Replay tells the story of a 43 year old radio news director named Jeff Winston. One day at work, Jeff dies of a heart attack and rather than finding himself in the “great beyond”, he awakens in his college dorm room in 1963. Not just a dream or a twisted afterlife, Jeff realizes that he is again 19 years old and has his whole life to live over again. Jeff then proceeds on a journey of reliving or “replaying” his life from 1963 to his death in 1988 over and over again. Each time he dies and lives again, he carries with him all the memories from each of his former lives. During the perpetual cycle that his life has become, Jeff tries everything from being with the women he never married to becoming a wealthy billionaire. All the while, Jeff is trying to figure out just what the meaning and purpose of these replays are.

While Replay is a story of time travel, what makes the book stand apart is how the convention is used to tell a much bigger tale of the lives we all lead and what exactly matters. Like all great works of fiction, it’s not so much the tools or the “gimmick” that’s used but how that device is used to tell a much broader story that gives us some great character insight. While the idea of living your life over and over again may make you think of the Harold Ramis classic “Groundhog Day”, the reality is that Replay was written well before that classic film. In fact, many believe that “Groundhog Day” took many of it’s cues from Grimwood’s book. The character of Jeff Winston is a typical American who feared to take the risks necessary to make his dreams come true. In all honestly, his first life may have been lived with his dreams and direction undefined. This is something we all feel and can understand. As Jeff tries his life over and over again, his attempts at taking more risks lead to both success and heartbreak. In the process, his discovery of what his life is about and what matters most becomes more and more apparent.

The book has garnered some rave reviews, including the World Fantasy Award in 1988. Critic Daniel D. Shade encapsulated the themes of the book in his 2001 review:

“Yet in spite of all the pain and anguish we go through as we follow Jeff through his search for an understanding of why he is replaying his life, the book has some important things to say to the reader. First, life is full of endless happenings that we have little control over. We should live our lives with our eyes set upon the horizon and never look back, controlling those things we can and giving no second thought to those events out of our hands. Second, given that we only have one life to live (Jeff is never sure he will replay again with each heart attack) we should live it to the fullest extent possible and with the least regret for our actions. Everybody makes mistakes; the point is not to dwell on them but to pick ourselves up and keep on going. Keep moving ahead. Third, choices must be made—we cannot avoid them. The only failure is to live a life without risks. In fact, I believe Jeff Winston would advise risking everything for those you love and for the life you want for them and with them. To not experience risk is to fail. And what does Replay have to say to a poor, old man like me who is still going though his mid-life crisis? Just this—that every year will be new. Every day a new chance to begin again. There can be no mid-life crisis when we are living each day to the fullest extent possible. From what Jeff Winston has taught me, I would define mid-life crisis as a period of selfishness when we turn inward and think only of ourselves. Jeff inspires us to look outward toward others and think less of ourselves.”

Replay is a fantastic read and one that makes you really think about the direction of your life and the implications of only getting to live it once. For anyone at that point in your life where you’re looking at what direction to take and weighing the risks of a bold new step, I recommend you check this one out. The perspective gained may well be worth the time. Even if you’re settled into a steady life of safety, this book gives a new point of view on which to look at your life. A highly recommended read, and one that’s available for fairly cheap at your local bookstore.