Our 7th Anniversary

Rereading that last post, it almost sounds like our vacation sucked, but that’s just work filtering through and tainting my perspective. We had a great time, the most “quality time” we’ve had together since…hell, Spain in 2000, right before Isaac was born?

I was thinking about the past 7 years the other day, and what’s changed since July 18, 1998:

1) Bill Clinton was President and was somewhere in the process of being impeached for the whole Monica Lewinsky psuedo-scandal. George W. Bush was Governor of Texas and netted $14 million from the sale of the Texas Rangers, a nice profit from his $600,000 investment…with borrowed money!

2) The first Gulf War had still not been officially declared over, and I was still in the NJ National Guard.

3) A month after our wedding, I was on the Nuyorican Poets Café’s only National Poetry Slam Championship team, and had just started running a little bit louder a couple of months before that.

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Bourbon Street Stinks!

How come no one warned me? Bourbon Street at night is like everything I hate about Hoboken, magnified 10 times over, plus strip clubs! And it stinks like a mix of old alcohol and stale mop water. For all its unappealing skankiness, though, we did have fun people-watching the first two nights; and while I don't believe they're really 180 Proof, the Hand Grenade is a mighty tasty drink. ;-) The French Quarter itself, and our trip overall, was a whole lot of fun. The humidity, as expected, was brutal at times, but for being on vacation instead of going…

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INFO: Free Comic Book Day 2006

Diamond Comic Distributors has announced this weekend in San Diego that Free Comic Book Day 2006 will take place on Saturday, May 6th, the second consecutive year the event will take place separate from the release of a comic book-based movie. Marketing will be in full swing for the summer slate of comic book-inspired movies, though, including Zoom's Academy, scheduled for release the following weekend, May 12th; X3, May 23rd; and Superman Returns, June 30th.It also won't fall on Mother's Day weekend again, a poor bit of scheduling that made it difficult for some fathers **ahem** to fully participate in…

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Try Something Different: 7/20/05

Support Independent Comics!Independent comics (and manga) being released tomorrow, 7/20/05, courtesy of ComicList. Not all of these titles will actually arrive in all stores. If your LCBS offers a pre-ordering service, be sure to take advantage of it.Recommendations, sometimes blind, in BOLD. Which ones are YOU reading?ACTIVE IMAGES Gunpowder Girl & Outlaw Squaw GN, $12.95A. D. VISION Chrono Crusade Manga Vol 6 TPB, $9.99 Cromartie High School Manga Vol 3 TPB, $10.95 Yotsuba Manga Vol 2 TPB, $9.99ALIAS ENTERPRISES LLC Killer Stunts Inc #3 (Of 4), $2.99ANGEL GATE PRESS 10th Muse #1-6 Coll Pack, $6.00ANTARCTIC PRESS AP How To Draw…

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Batman Begins vs. Fantastic Four: Different Paths to Success

The friendly rivalry between Marvel and DC knows no boundaries. What started decades ago in print has now spilled over onto celluloid. About a month apart in their release dates, the iconic figures of Batman in DC's Batman Begins, and Marvel's Fantastic Four battle it out for comic book supremacy on film. Two different paths, two different beginnings, but ultimately, both will win.Batman Begins got off on the right foot from the start by signing its director, Chris Nolan. The film was the beneficiary of a lot of buzz before its release, followed by positive reviews from critics and fanboys…

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You Can’t Serve Two Masters

There's a passage somewhere in the Bible to that effect, the equivalent of the more recent "can't have your cake and eat it, too."The whole poetry & comics thing is one example, where a couple of months back I was inspired to get back into the scene and start performing again, only to be cockblocked by life's twisty little turns. In the meantime, comic books have swallowed the majority of my free time, not to mention storage space, as my writing for Buzzscope has taken on a life of its own. (Check out my latest feature here.) There's just not…

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Industry Buzz #1: The Kids Are Alright

My latest feature over at Buzzscope is a column called Industry Buzz, a monthly roundtable featuring some of the most outspoken creators, retailers, pundits and advocates in comics commenting on the issues affecting the comics industry. Check it out and add your two cents to the discussion!The ParticipantsRonée Garcia Bourgeois - National VP / PR, Friends Of LuluJohanna Draper Carlson - Reviewer, Comics Worth ReadingGerry Gladston - President, Midtown ComicsBrian Scot Johnson - Proprietor, Khepri.comFrank Miller - Proprietor, Richmond ComixChris Pitzer - Publisher, AdHouse BooksJason Rodriguez - Editor, Hoarse & BuggyRose Vess - Reviewer, Shrew ReviewScott Wherle - Writer, BlacklightPlus,…

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