Month: January 2012

Introducing The Comics Observer

Tomorrow morning, The Comics Observer will go live. I hope you’ll check it out if you have any curiosity about comic books, graphic novels, manga or the like. I’ve put a lot of work into structuring a site that will hopefully be more unique than the standard comics news site or blog. My aim is to post content for people with differing levels of interest in and experience with comics. Some of what’s up there now will give you an idea of what I’m talking about, but it will hopefully be more evident going forward.

The Comics Observer also has its own Facebook and Twitter accounts. Please like and/or follow, respectively.

Everything that I’ve posted here under the Dig Comics category will be there as well, along with accompanying comments and what-not. I haven’t decided yet whether I’ll remove them from here. It’s kind of redundant to have them in both places, but there are a number of sites linking back here to specific articles and I haven’t figured out a way to automatically forward/redirect visitors without redirecting the entire CoreyBlake.com site to ComicsObserver.com. Since CoreyBlake.com will remain active, that obviously won’t work. So I guess for now, doubles is what we get.

Anyway, thank you to everyone who has visited and followed my comics writing so far and I hope you’ll enjoy the new site. See you over there!

Caturday: Kitteh and Puppeh Make Out Edition

Coming back to life after getting walloped by a killer cold this past week. Finally feeling like I might be able to string together enough words to form some semblance of a thought.

Next week, my new comics blog launches! The name? The Comics Observer. You’ll be able to check it out next Wednesday at ComicsObserver.com. If you’ve enjoyed my comics coverage here, like the Facebook page or follow on Twitter to learn more and keep up with the latest.

Cynical Musical Snob Says…

Did you see that an over-produced remix of a Shania Twain song is up for a Grammy? Oh wait, that’s a Lady Gaga song. Well, at least she’s moved on from imitating Madonna.

(Disclaimer: Actually I don’t mind Lady Gaga, but when I first heard this song, I couldn’t believe how much it felt like a ’90s country/pop song with modern flourishes. I didn’t even notice that it samples Queen’s “We Will Rock You” and even features Brian May on electric guitar.)

Caturday: Anomymous Kitteh Edition

Yes, the “Friday is Brought to You by ___ Kitteh” has been moved to Saturdays because Saturdays are Caturdays.

If you’re in LA, there’s an improv comedy show with the Magic Meathands, teaming up with Darwin’s A-Team, tonight at 8 PM at the Mary Pickford Studio. Details are on the Magic Meathands blog and our Facebook page.

Corey Blake protests SOPA/PIPA

If you stopped by here yesterday, you might’ve noticed that the whole site was blacked out to protest some pending legislation.

Here’s yesterday’s statement:

Many websites are blacked out today to protest proposed U.S. legislation that threatens internet freedom: the Stop Internet Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA). From personal blogs to giants like WordPress and Wikipedia, sites all over the web — including this one — are asking you to help stop this dangerous legislation from being passed. Please watch the video below to learn how this legislation will affect internet freedom, then scroll down to take action.

While the activism got a lot of sponsors of the bills to switch positions or agree to rethink their strategy, the fight is not yet won. SOPA will be reintroduced next month.

You can write Congress here and here. I also highly encourage calling your representatives, as that type of input can make the biggest difference.

Sorting Some Things Out

Yes I actually took a weekday off from blogging yesterday. Were you lonely? Did you miss me?

I converted CoreyBlake.com into the current blog format back in April 2008. For a while, I mostly blogged on a “whenever” schedule (sometimes daily, sometimes weekly, sometimes a few times a month). But thanks to the encouragement of my friend and coach Cindy Marie Jenkins, I committed to blogging Monday through Friday. Since November 2010 that’s just what I’ve done (OK, with the exception of a couple days off for Thanksgiving in November 2010, the lost week in January 2011 from a computer crash, and yesterday). A little over a year isn’t really that long, but for the Internet, I think it’s worth mentioning.

If you follow this site, you know that a good percentage of my blogging shifted to covering comic books, graphic novels and the like. My ongoing work with Dig Comics inspired a new direction in my career(s) that has included comics punditry, journalism, consulting and generally spreading the good word of sequential art in its myriad forms. It’s an area that continues to fascinate me. So I’m creating a new site/blog that will be dedicated to what I’ve been doing in that realm here and more. Right now, it looks to be on track for a February 1st launch. I’m very excited and have lots of ideas for the site’s future. I’m starting at what I’m hoping is a manageable level and hope to build up as I’m able. So as I continue to work behind-the-scenes on that, comics coverage here at CoreyBlake.com will take a breather and then resume at the new site next month.

Meanwhile, my performing with the comedy troupe Magic Meathands continues. We do fully improvised shows in and around Los Angeles, and also do community outreach shows for audiences that aren’t able to come to us. I perform with them every chance I get and am also running their blog, which generally updates every Monday. In between posts about upcoming shows (we perform at least 3 times a month), I’m hoping to start spotlighting members, some of the groups that do shows with us, and some of the non-profit organizations that invite us to do shows for them.

Earlier this month, I also launched something for music fans. Ten on the Tenth had a great first month for an idea that popped in my head 5 days before it went live. Based on some feedback I’ve gotten, I’ll be tinkering it a little for February. If you missed it, how it works is I announce a theme (January was “new”) and then on the 10th of every month, people post their list of 10 songs within that theme. Watch for February’s theme to be announced around the 8th.

So with all of that (and more ideas still percolating), what happens with CoreyBlake.com? The frequency of blogging here will probably drop to two to three times a week so I can juggle the other stuff. There will be some self-promotion but that gets boring (for me too), so I’ll also talk about things that catch my eye, and maybe getting back to some of the silly blogging I was trying out in 2008. Otherwise, we’ll just have to see what catches people’s attention. Heck, I’ll even take requests. If you’d like to see me blog about something, let me know.

I’m excited to see where all of this will lead. If you’re still reading, thank you very much for being so interested in what I’m doing. I stopped reading after the first paragraph, so kudos to you.

What Movie Should We See This Weekend?

We’re going to the cinema to see a motion picture this weekend. Maybe we’ll even see a talkie.

So tell me All Knowing Internets, what’s good? What’s worth seeing that’s in theaters right now, this upcoming second weekend of 2012?

A big Hollywood blockbuster? An indie film? A Hollywood blockbuster masquerading as an indie film? A foreign film? An indie foreign film? A Hollywood blockbuster masquerading as an indie foreign film? A documentary? An indie documentary masquerading as a Bollywood film? Porn?

Most compelling argument wins the priceless respect of your peers.

New Carly Simon bio book is pretty bad actually

I don’t talk about this on here too much but I am a big sucker for singer-songwriters from the early 1970s. I love that music. Well, there’s a new biography that just came out about Carly Simon called More Room in a Broken Heart: The True Adventures of Carly Simon. And… it’s got some problems. Plagiarism, messed up facts, lazy writing, rushed to print. I blogged about it on my secret and long neglected singer-songwriter blog here and here. If you’re a Carly Simon fan like me, I would instead highly recommend getting Sheila Weller’s Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon – And the Journey of a Generation, which was made with Carly’s cooperation and is apparently being made into a movie.

(Back to comics soon! I promise! It’s been a wacky week.)

Jump Start 2012 with Improv Comedy!

Get it? “Jump start”? Jump Start? Huh?

Well if you don’t get it now, you will this Saturday night, 8 PM, at the Mary Pickford Studio when Jump Start starts off a two-fer night of fully improvised comedy, followed by us (the Magic Meathands, silly!). Tickets are $7 ($3 for 12 and under).

Find out more about the show on Facebook. And while you’re over there, why not Like the Magic Meathands Facebook page. Then you’ll see all of our show invites, get special status updates fresh from the Meathand factory, and meet and interact with other fans as well as some of the Meathands themselves!

The above was cross-posted on the Magic Meathands blog. I’ve been a member of the Magic Meathands for nearly 3 years, performing well over 100 shows of improvised comedy. If you’re in the Los Angeles area, give yourself a treat and catch one of our shows.