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New Contributors and Remastered Podcast Interviews

Published

on July 16, 2008

. 0 Comments

Over the weekend, Neal updated our version of WordPress for the AudioShocker blog, and everything went to hell. Neal got it fixed within a few hours. The only thing we lost was 1 gig worth of podcasts that we’ve recorded since October of 2007 (well, more like “deleted from our webspace” than “lost”).

It took me from Saturday to Monday to get the old podcasts back up, but I was glad. Why? Along with making some minor file naming changes, I was able to remaster two of our favorite comic book creator interviews in the process:

Our 2-plus-hour talk with Ross Campbell, creator of Wet Moon and Water Baby, has been remastered. Ross is finishing up Wet Moon 4 as we speak, and we should have him back on our show very soon.
I also remastered our chat with Brandon Thomas, creator of Miranda Mercury and writer of Ambidextrous. This episode was originally a bit rough in terms of levels, but that’s all been fixed.

But I’m not just writing this post about tech issues and old episodes. I’m also here to let you know about two new regular contributors who have joined the AudioShocker:

First up is Shannon, our new books expert, who has already written two fantastic posts for the blog.
Next up is Conrad, who is currently podcasting with me about the AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Movies list. The next episode of this series will be up on Friday, July 18, 2008.

Finally, I’m going to be rolling out a new feature on the AudioShocker starting this Sunday, July 20, 2008. It’s basically going to be the “AudioShocker Song of the Week.” Everything we post will be originally music by artists like Nik Furious, the Unlicensed Attorneys at Law (UAL), Dirty Weekend, Nutsack Supernova, and more. This Sunday will debut a new Nik Furious beat for the upcoming UAL album.

Comic Book Shipping List July 16 2008: Misprints, KY, Tie-Ins, The Bush Administration

Published

nick

on July 16, 2008

in Comics

. 0 Comments

Shipping This Week: JULY 16, 2008

DARK HORSE COMICS

CONAN THE CIMMERIAN #1

Nick: On a serious note, this is fantastic timing by Dark Horse. The new Conan movie teaser poster was just released (presumably due to some sort of secret promotion / announcement at SDCC next week) and now there’s a brand new Conan #1 on the stands. Nothing funny here — just good business.

GHOST TALKERS DAYDREAM TP VOL 01
HELM #1 (OF 4)

DC COMICS

ASTRO CITY THE DARK AGE HC BOOK 01
BATGIRL #1 (OF 6)
BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS #9
BATMAN BLACK AND WHITE STATUE NEAL ADAMS
BATMAN FACES NEW ED TP

Nick: I’m not sure who this “New Ed” character is but I hope he’s a formidable foe for Batman…

BIRDS OF PREY #120
CARTOON NETWORK ACTION PACK #27

Nick: Misprint by Diamond. Should read: “CARTOON NETWORK SIX-PACK #27″

CASEY BLUE BEYOND TOMORROW #3 (OF 6)
CHECKMATE #28
COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS TP VOL 02
DARK KNIGHT BATMAN STATUE
DARK KNIGHT THE JOKER STATUE
DC WILDSTORM DREAMWAR #4 (OF 6)
DOROTHEA VOL 02
FINAL CRISIS ROGUES REVENGE #1 (OF 3)
FLASH #242
HELLBLAZER #246
I HATE YOU MORE THAN ANYONE VOL 05

Nick: Volume five of my epic autobiography has arrived.

JOKERS ASYLUM POISON IVY #1
SCALPED #19

Nick: Nineteen issues deep and I still can’t believe that Head & Shoulders has a licensed series published by DC Comics.

SHOWCASE PRESENTS HAWKMAN TP VOL 02
SIMON DARK #10
SUPERMAN AND THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES HC
TANGENT SUPERMANS REIGN #5 (OF 12)
TEARS OF A LAMB VOL 03

Nick: You may be a bit confused by the title of this book because the first two volumes were titled “TEARS OF A CLOWN.” However, if you remember, the clown was killed off at the end of volume two after he got raped by Dr. Light. Ahh DCU continuity, I love you.

Continue reading ‘Comic Book Shipping List July 16 2008: Misprints, KY, Tie-Ins, The Bush Administration’

Podcast Episode 039

Published

nick

on July 15, 2008

in Interviews and Podcast Episodes

. 3 Comments

Double interview action kicks off as Neal and Nick talk with author Marc Tyler Nobleman about his new Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster illustrated biography, Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman, and his proposed biography on Bill Finger, the uncredited co-creator of Batman. Next up, Nick talks with Josh Blair about his latest minicomics anthology, Candy or Medicine Volume Three. And then Justique, Neal, and Nick take it home after the end theme as they share their feelings about Hellboy II: The Golden Army.

AudioShocker #39 [37:15m]: Play Now | Download

I Have Fallen in Love With: The Host by Stephanie Meyer

Published

shannon

on July 14, 2008

in Books

. 2 Comments

Lately it’s been hard for me to find books that I love. I’ve read plenty that are pretty good, that I might recommend if someone asked me for a reading suggestion, but there hasn’t been anything recently that has made me want to go around telling people, “You HAVE to read this.” This past weekend, I think I found the book that has broken that dry spell: The Host by Stephanie Meyer.

Meyer found fame five years ago, with the first installment of her vampire saga, Twilight. I remember hearing about her books, which were becoming immensely popular, several years ago, but I never picked one up, since they were targeted to a teen audience. Then last summer she published Eclipse, the third book in the Twilight series, and it knocked Harry Potter out of the number one best-seller spot.

This week, Entertainment Weekly’s cover featured the actors who will star in the movie adaptation of the Twilight series, and I decided to read the article. There were a few sentences about The Host, saying it was her first adult novel and is a blend of science fiction and romance. Oh, yeah, it also sold for $600,000 at auction and debuted at No. 1. Which means that Meyer is a rockstar in the literary world.

I haven’t read science fiction in a very long time, not since I fell in love with The Giver and A Wrinkle in Time when I was young, and I am happy that Meyer renewed my interest. The Host is interesting, thoughtful, and wildly imaginative. Unlike a lot of what I read, where my facination with the characters generates my interest in the novel’s plot, the plot of this novel is making me interested in the characters. Which is so refreshing. Reading something where the plot is so crazily inventive is a great change of pace from character study (though that is defintely not to say that Meyer doesn’t have an equally insightful take on what, literally, makes up the human soul. In this book, alien “souls” take possession of human, plant, and animal “host” bodies. The “soul” that is the focus of the book can’t subdue the mind of the human body it has possessed).

I’m only about 100 pages in, and I’m happy there are 500 more to go. If Meyer can create a dynamic, crisp, intricate world in the first sliver of her book, I can’t wait to see where she goes from here.

Girls I Want to Stick It to - Cute Female Vocalist

Published

neal

on July 14, 2008

in Misc and Music

. 5 Comments

me: I think I found my next Girl I Want To Stick It To
ro: Oh yeah?
ro: Who
neal: Cute Female Vocalist aka Sara Bareilles / Aimee Mann / Fiona Apple / Regina Spektor
neal: well ok, Aimee Mann isn’t really “cute”
ro: CFV…where do you come up with this stuff?

Sara Bareilles may have a strong nose, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing and her music is accessible - which I like in my female vocalists. She writes songs that aren’t atrocious, spiked with vocoder, or full of the screechy notes that R&B divas are infatuated with.

Aimee Mann’s music is like Valium, and that combined with a shot of Jack Daniels is how I get through winter. Thanks Chris, (my roommate from freshman year) for introducing me.

Fiona Apple recorded the best music she ever would when she was 16, but it took me till I was 25 to realize it. That record gets a lot of play according to my iTunes stats. Fiona is sort of the antithesis of a PPG but that pout is pretty attractive.

And Regina! Regina Spektor is too cute for words and it’s disarming. One minute you’re listening to these sweet love songs and then BAM! she’s cursing like a sailor, singing about about ODing, and belting out funny ditties about people fucking to her music.

The conversation ended pretty abruptly since Ro was busy last week, but you get the point. Female vocalists and particularly those who play the piano, (do you play Aimee?), rank pretty high in my book. My friend Evan came to the same conclusion a year or two before I did and he won’t let me forget it.

Cute Female Vocalist, I’d love to help you warm up before the show. Don’t get it? How about this: I’d like to stick it to you.

FNMTV - Zooey Deschanel and Doppelganger Fail to Impress

Published

neal

on July 13, 2008

in Music and TV

. 0 Comments

FNMTV is back like cooked crack. Unfortunately for the 2 of you that got that reference, Juelz Santana is nowhere to be found. Once again scraping the bottom of the barrel, I bring you MTV’s newest video premieres in “quickie” review style.

LL Cool J - Baby
Mr. Smith brings the ennui with a vocoder chorus, weak rhymes, terrible attempts at dancing, graphic Ts, and endorsements of drunk driving.

She and Him - Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?
Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward spin us a macabre acid trip with a subdued soundtrack. She gets axed a few times, there are some sort of Pacman-esque ghosts, and then I’m not sure what happens. It sort of kills me to watch this since Zooey is capable of so much better.

Daughtry - What About Now: 90 Second Preview
Is this supposed to be a PSA or a reimagining of Van Halen’s Right Now? Either way, it’s so boring that even MTV could only stomach 90 seconds of it.

Katy Perry - I Kissed A Girl (Live)
Zooey Deschanel doppelganger hops around in a short floral print jumper singing her crappy song. Nothing to see here folks. Seriously.

Wordpress Update!

Published

neal

on July 12, 2008

in Behind the Scenes

. 1 Comment

So, after a hiccup where I lost the entire blog, we are now running Wordpress 2.5.1. I also updated K2 and that seems to have caused some ongoing problems as well. Old podcasts should be available again sometime tomorrow. Basically, I lost deleted them… I am never updating wordpress ever again. Not exactly how I wanted to spend my entire Saturday…

Seriously Ladies, Stop Wearing Gladiator Sandals

Published

neal

on July 12, 2008

in Misc

. 2 Comments

I think I am a somewhat well dressed fellow considering that I live in a Midwest sinkhole. I don’t rock sweatpants outside the house, my belt matches my shoes, I don’t have a mullet, and I am aware of trends before they appear at Old Navy. I am definitely no Sartorialist, but no one has ever said “Wow Neal you look like shit today” either. I believe this qualifies me to say the following: gladiator sandals are ugly.

I chose to bring this up now that we are in the heat of summer. Everywhere I go, girls are rocking these ridiculous things. It reeks of Crocs. I don’t understand the appeal, or the practicality of fastening and unfastening upwards of 5 buckles. They come in heels, boots, knee highs, flats, etc too. The message is: no matter what kind of shoes you like, we can make them ugly.

You need perfect legs to make the look even remotely palatable - like this, and if the shoes don’t match the outfit - forget it. I imagine this trend is costing American’s hundreds in pedicures. There go all those stimulus checks! Less important, considering what women will endure in the name of fashion, is the total lack of arch support. Perhaps one of our readers can inform me as to how comfortable it is to walk around in these.

I’m not a foot person and neither are most dudes I know, so your shiny complicated shoes are just a big distraction. Wouldn’t you rather that people looked at your smiling face and not your poorly maintained cuticles?

Here’s a mantra: 2 buckles or a T-strap - it looks like crap.

Hellboy 2 - TXT Message Review

Published

neal

on July 11, 2008

in Movies

. 1 Comment

After seeing the trailers for the past couple months, I had to see the new Hellboy movie. Guillermo Del Toro’s first attempt was kind of lackluster - but once I saw that the effects mirrored Pan’s Labyrinth I was sold. I skated out of work around 3 and caught the show at 4. Here is my post-mortem txt to Nick:

visuals were great but they went by too fast. character development was poor. won’t win any awards.

Want to know more? Tune in the the podcast!

The Top 9 Reasons This Week’s List Isn’t The Top 9 Best Synthesizer Solos

Published

nick

on July 11, 2008

in Music and The Top 9

. 2 Comments

At the end of last week’s Top 9 list, I thought I’d throw readers for a curve and announce this week’s list as “The Top 9 Best Synthesizer Solos.” I should have planned more carefully before I wrote that. Here’s the Top 9 reasons why that list just isn’t going to happen:

9. What I consider to be a genius synth solo just won’t cut it for most people.
8. Do you know how many synthesizer solos there are out there? Exactly, neither do I.
7. Most of my favorite synth lines are actually background parts or repetitive riffs.
6. Almost every single solo on the list would have been played by George Duke.
5. While Raydio has some of the best synth lines ever, they rarely happen as a solo.
4. Do Daft Punk synth parts count as solos or not? They loop them so damn much.
3. The solo from “One Hundred Ways” sounds better sampled in “Rhymes Like Dimes.”
2. Synths get used so much now that your favorite flute solo might actually be synth.
1. The only solo locked down on my list was #1: “Blow Your Head” by Fred Wesley & the JB’s.