Gweek is a weekly podcast where the editors and friends of Boing Boing talk about comic books, science fiction and fantasy, video games, board games, tools, gadgets, apps, and other neat stuff.

My hosts on episode 37 are cartoonist Ruben Bolling, whose comic, Tom the Dancing Bug, premieres weekly on Boing Boing, and Dean Putney, Boing Boing’s coding and development wizard, and Maggie Koerth-Baker, Boing Boing's science editor. Like last week, we talked about a bunch of stuff. Listen to the episode here.

Below is a list of the things we talked about in Gweek episode 37. (Sure, you could just click on the links below to learn about them without listening to the podcast, but then you will miss out on the sleazy gossip we shared between recommendations.)

If you enjoy Gweek, please rate it in the iTunes Store -- thanks!

Amazon Mechanical Turk -- Dean has been taking articles and paying people a dollar to record audio versions of them. Excerpt of article that Dean got someone to read for him. Should Dean ask Mechanical Turk to read James Joyce's dirty letters to Nora?

Maggie describes what she learned at a video making workshop at Science Online 2012.

Ruben explains why NY Mets knuckleball pitcher R.A. Dickey is a cool geek.

Mark tells Dean how to make coconut coffee, using the Magic Bullet, and the Aeropress. This is based on the recipe on The Bulletproof Executive.

Maggie likes Garth Ennis's The Boys comic book series about CIA operatives who are tasked with keeping corrupt superheroes in check, but she has reservations about it: "I enjoy it, but at the same time I feel like Ennis is so obviously working so hard to make me feel offended and scandalized and it seems like the harder he works at it, the less it works. It’s like telegraphing a punch. I’m starting to just feel bad for him."

Maggie reviews The Power of Habit, which is "about why we have habits and what you can actually do to change them."

Ruben reviews the 368-page Spy vs. Spy Omnibus, which has every "Spy vs. Spy" comic that Antonio Prohias did for MAD magazine since the 1960s.

Ruben gets his hands on a copy of Donald Duck: Lost in the Andes, the first volume of Fantagraphics' The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library. (Spoiler: it's superb.)

Mark review's Mackenzie Phillip's autobiography, High on Arrival. I'm glad she survived a surreal and often hellish half-century.

Ruben recommends Cartoon Brew, a great cartoon news and analysis site.

One of Cartoon Brew's editors, Amid Amidi, wrote a wonderful book about 1950s animation called Cartoon Modern.

Mark plugs a new podcast he launched called Make: Talk, which has interviews with makers from MAKE magazine as well as news from the world of MAKE, Maker Faire, Make: Online, and Maker Shed.

Dean previews a new app for iPhone called Clear, a "very slick app for to-do items."

We'd like to give a special thanks to EdgeCast Networks, our bandwidth provider and sponsor!

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Gweek is on Stitcher!

Gweek is a weekly podcast where the editors and friends of Boing Boing talk about comic books, science fiction and fantasy, video games, board games, tools, gadgets, apps, and other neat stuff.

My hosts on episode 36 are cartoonist Ruben Bolling, whose comic, Tom the Dancing Bug, premieres weekly on Boing Boing, and Dean Putney, Boing Boing’s coding and development wizard. We had a great time talking about a bunch of different stuff this time. Listen to the episode here.

Below is a list of the things we talked about in Gweek episode 36. (Sure, you could just click on the links below to learn about them without listening to the podcast, but then you will miss out on the scintillating conversation we had about these remarkable curios.)

If you enjoy Gweek, please rate it in the iTunes Store -- thanks!

Tom the Dancing Bug

Jonathan Coulton

Doc Fermento Discovers the World podcast

The Bulletproof Executive

Writing Movies for Fun and Profit: How We Made a Billion Dollars at the Box Office and You Can, Too!, by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon

Jack Davis: Drawing American Pop Culture: A Career Retrospective

The Adventures of Tintin

Crudbump: Real Art

Toothpaste for Dinner

Young Adult

Big Blog of Kids’ Comics!

Hey Skinny! Great Advertisements from the Golden Age of Comic Books

Nothing to Do With Arbroath

Kinotopic

Boing Boing’s B-Side

iSimple

Weider Adjustable Kettle Bell

We'd like to give a special thanks to EdgeCast Networks, our bandwidth provider and sponsor!

Download Gweek 036 as an MP3 | Subscribe to Gweek via iTunes | Subscribe via RSS | Download single episodes of Gweek as MP3s

Gweek is on Stitcher!

Joining me in the interview is Carla Sinclair, who cofounded the print edition of bOING bOING with me back in 1988!

We sure talked about a lot of things in this episode! Here are the links:

Diana’s Bioluminescent jellyfish dress

Diana’s laser cut T-shirts

Collab in Soho

Hack Factory in Minneapolis

Diana’s Yagi Antennae

Douglas's Umbrella and yarn antenna

I’m Just Here for More Food, by Alton Brown

Super Mario Brothers piano transcription by Philip Kim

Lego Heroica adventure game

Dominion

Entertaining Science Experiments with Everyday Objects

Childcraft Encyclopedia

The Human Body: What It Is and How It Works

Douglas J. Eng Photography

The Transportationist.org

Jelly Shot Test Kitchen

11foot8.com

Giant Jenga

Apps for Kids: Robot Wants Kitty

Mood Ring for iPhone

Here’s the neat stuff we talked about in this episode:

Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

Subscribe to Bullseye on iTunes

Free torrent of entire Sound of Young America archive

MaxFunCon 2012

The Judge John Hodgman Podcast

The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan

The Maker of Universes, by Philip Jose Farmer

Killer Stuff and Tons of Money: Seeking History and Hidden Gems in Flea-Market America by Maureen Stanton

Objective-C Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide by Aaron Hillegass

Said The Gramophone’s best songs of 2011

ASAP Rocky - LiveLoveASAP

Put This On

Film Noir on Archive.org

Khraigslist

Meanwhile

Sword and Laser Podcast

Tom Merritt’s SuBBrilliant News

FourCast podcast

Frame Rate

Tech History Today

Apps for Kids

Triangulation

FSL Tonight

Handmade Music Factory

Bitter Seeds, by Ian Tregillis

IQ84

Simplee

The Perry Bible Fellowship

Wondermark

Temple Run

SpellTower

SmartGo Kifu

Logitech Revue

Tom Merritt’s website and Twitter account

In this episode I am joined by Boing Boing’s technology and coding maestro, Dean Putney, and cartoonist Ruben Bolling, whose comic, Tom the Dancing Bug premieres weekly on Boing Boing.

Our guest today is Veronica Belmont, the co-host of the Revision3 show Tekzilla, the co-host of a science-fiction and fantasy book podcast called Sword and Laser, and the upcoming video game show on the TWiT network, called Game On! She is also a technology writer and blogger and very entertaining tweeter. Welcome to Gweek, Veronica!

Game On! Veronica's upcoming video game show

National Novel Writing Month

Boing Boing’s Submitterator

Young Adult

We Need to Talk About Kevin

The Rum Diary

The Blade Itself, by Joe Abercrombie

1Q84, by Haruki Murakami

Kiss Me Like a Stranger, by Gene Wilder

Peanuts #0

Peanuts Snoopy 50s Version

The Strange Talent of Luther Strode

LensHawk

Paul Krugman’s Blog

MagicHour

Windosill

Pocket Casts

Style Kouncil

We'd like to give a special thanks EdgeCast Networks, our bandwidth provider and sponsor!

Gallery Girls

Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School

Dropbox

Sketchbook Pro

Sketchbook Express

Cartoon Colour Company

Supergods, by Grant Morrison

Mutants and Mystics, by Jeffrey J. Kripal

Dungeon Quest: Book 1, by Joe Daly

Grubhub.com

Pixelovely Gesture Drawing Tool

Love Castle pose reference

Stu Maschwitz's post on storyboarding with an iPad & Penultimate

Wacom Bamboo Stylus

Stephen Silver's Posebook, iPhone & iPad

Zeo Sleep Monitor

Pentel Pocket Brush Pen

Maggie talks about her book, Before the Lights Go Out: Conquering the Energy Crisis Before It Conquers Us, which comes out from Wiley & Sons on April 10.

Rob talks about how great Skyrim is, and why that makes its big flaws stand out even more.

Ruben and Mark agree that The Hobbit is wonderful and The Lord of the Rings is boring. They can hardly wait for the abusive comments they'll receive in the comments.

Maggie recommends Oglaf the “extremely well-done sex farce comic set in a stereotypical fantasy world.”

Mark reviews the upcoming movie John Carter based solely on the trailer. Ruben and Mark agree that A Princess of Mars is a very good novel.

Mark recounts a personal story involving Edgar Rice Burroughs and his biography.

Maggie reveals a spoiler from the first season of The Walking Dead, but for a very good reason.

Ruben recommends the Spider-Man Marvel Masterworks Vols. 12 and 13 (1972-1973) anthologies, which feature Spider-Man in his heyday, as “written” by Stan Lee and drawn by John Romita.

Maggie talks about a Carl Zimmer’s Science Ink --- a coffee table photo book of awesome science-themed tattoos.

Maggie discusses The Third Industrial Revolution, by Jeremy Rifkin -- "a book about the future of energy where I totally agree with the big-picture points and disagree with the details," she says. "It’s also reminding me of why I get twitchy around 'true believers.'"

Gweek listener Barry Barker recommend’s Fisher Space Pens' Bullet models.

Maggie tells Ruben how much she loved Ruben's comic about Ulysses, which she read when she was 17. (It should be on the front page of Ruben's site by the time you read this).

Jon’s  latest work is a very short book, or long article, available as an ebook, called The Amazing Adventures of Phoenix Jones, which explores the growing phenomenon of real life superheroes.  It’s available as an eBook through Amazon and other online ebooksellers. (Photo of Jon Ronson by Barney Poole)

Here's Jon's descriptions of his interests:

Most of all, I suppose, I write about mysterious worlds. I write about them in as human a way as I can. These worlds have included powerful secret societies like Bohemian Grove and The Bilderberg Group (I infiltrated them in my book Them), extremist communities - Islamic militants, politically correct Klansmen (also in Them), people who believe the world is ruled by 12-foot shape-shifting lizards (Them), and Military Intelligence chiefs who believe it possibe to pass through walls and kill goats just by staring at them (The Men Who Stare At Goats). In Goats, I also look at how these crazy ideas have mutated themselves and live on in the War on Terror.

Here's what we talked about:

The Domino Project: Seth's partnership with Amazon to publish short books loaded with useful ideas

Searching for an adjustable standing desk that doesn't cost a fortune

Test driving the Mitsubishi i electric car

The undiscovered or overlooked or underappreciated work of John Taylor Gatto, eduction reformer

A wonderful how to book called Handmade Music Factory: The Ultimate Guide to Making Foot-Stompin'-Good Instruments

Penguin Magic Shop: An online magic trick store with good video demos

Sasha Dichter: Reflections on generosity, philanthropy and social change

Collin's Lab: excellent introductory videos to electronics

Bizarro comics

Seth's fondness for buckwheat soba noodles

Bobo Explores Light: A swell iPad app that teaches kids about light

Rising Card: A great $0.99 iPhone magic trick

Kaweco Liliput Ballpoint Pen from JetPens

Sous Vide Turkey for Thanksgiving

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In this episode of Gweek, I'm joined by Boing Boing’s managing editor, Rob Beschizza, and Joel Johnson, editorial director of Kotaku.

Here's what we talked about: The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim Rob has been playing it incessantly but says it feels "like walking around a ren faire where everyone is heavily medicated." Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure Starter Pack Minecraft is going 1.0 Kotaku’s upcoming gift guides Make’s Ultimate Kit Guide Joel read The Postmortal tng_s8 Mixel - a free iPad collage app Mark's Dungeon Raid addiction relapse Mophie Juice Pack Plus Outdoor Edition iPhone 4S and Siri

Download Gweek 026 as an MP3 | Subscribe to Gweek via iTunes | Subscribe via RSS | Download single episodes of Gweek as MP3s]]> Mon, 14 Nov 2011 11:54:30 -0800 Video Games http://wpc.500b.edgecastcdn.net/00500B/gweek/Gweek_026.mp3 Boing Boing Mark Frauenfelder is joined by Boing Boing’s managing editor, Rob Beschizza, and Joel Johnson, editorial director of Kotaku. NOTE: If you did not get Gweek episodes 24 - 26, then please <a href="http://wpc.500b.edgecastcdn.net/00500B/gweek/rss.xml">re-subscribe using this feed URL</a>. <P>In this episode of Gweek, I'm joined by Boing Boing’s managing editor, Rob Beschizza, and Joel Johnson, editorial director of <a href="http://kotaku.com/">Kotaku</a>. <P>Here's what we talked about: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B004HYK956/boingboing">The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim</a> Rob has been playing it incessantly but says it feels "like walking around a ren faire where everyone is heavily medicated." <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B004VQENY8/boingboing">Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure Starter Pack</a> <a href="http://www.minecraft.net/">Minecraft</a> is going 1.0 <a href="http://kotaku.com/">Kotaku</a>’s upcoming gift guides Make’s Ultimate Kit Guide Joel read <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0143119826/boingboing">The Postmortal</a> <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/tng_s8">tng_s8</a> <a href="http://mixel.cc/">Mixel</a> - a free iPad collage app Mark's <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dungeon-raid/id403090531?mt=8">Dungeon Raid</a> addiction relapse <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B005ZIBO5M/boingboing">Mophie Juice Pack Plus Outdoor Edition</a> <a href="http://www.apple.com/iphone/">iPhone 4S</a> and <a href="http://boingboing.net/2011/10/18/a-duet-with-siri.html">Siri</a> <P><a href="http://wpc.500b.edgecastcdn.net/00500B/gweek/Gweek_026.mp3">Download Gweek 026 as an MP3</a> | <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/boing-boing-gweek/id435622533">Subscribe to Gweek via iTunes</a> | <a href="http://wpc.500b.edgecastcdn.net/00500B/gweek/rss.xml">Subscribe via RSS</a> | <A href="http://gweek.net">Download single episodes of Gweek as MP3s</a> books,scifi,games,comics,geeks,videogames no 56:51 http://www.gweek.net Michael Kupperman, who has a hilarious new book out, called Mark Twain's Autobiography 1910-2010. Ruben interviewed Michael about his work and then the three of us went on to talk about the folllowing things:

I got rid of my standing desk last week and am looking for a better solution.

Using an hour-timer as a self-check throughout the day

Esther Williams' autobiography, The Million Dollar Mermaid

Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson

Cul de Sac Golden Treasury, by Richard Thompson

Orchid

Twitter

Uni-watch: The Obessive Study of Athletic Aesthetics

Secret Fun Blog

The Walking Dead TV show

The Last Man Alive

Download Gweek 025 as an MP3 | Subscribe to Gweek via iTunes | Subscribe via RSS | Download single episodes of Gweek as MP3s]]> Fri, 04 Nov 2011 19:41:30 -0700 Video Games http://wpc.500b.edgecastcdn.net/00500B/gweek/Gweek_025.mp3 Boing Boing Ruben Bolling and I are joined by the cartoonist and illustrator Michael Kupperman, who has a hilarious new book out, called Mark Twain's Autobiography 1910-2010. In this episode of Gweek, Ruben Bolling and I are joined by the cartoonist and illustrator <a href="http://mkupperman2.wordpress.com/">Michael Kupperman</a>, who has a hilarious new book out, called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1606994913/boingboing">Mark Twain's Autobiography 1910-2010</a>. Ruben interviewed Michael about his work and then the three of us went on to talk about the folllowing things: <p>I got rid of my <a href="http://boingboing.net/2011/04/18/standing-desk-protot.html">standing desk</a> last week and am looking for a better solution. <p>Using <a href="http://www.danpink.com/archives/2011/10/the-power-of-an-hourly-beep">an hour-timer as a self-check</a> throughout the day <p>Esther Williams' autobiography, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B003A02T8I/boingboing">The Million Dollar Mermaid</a> <p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1451648537/boingboing">Steve Jobs</a>, by Walter Isaacson <P><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0054U5862/boingboing">Cul de Sac Golden Treasury</a>, by Richard Thompson <p><a href="http://www.darkhorse.com/Comics/16-912/Orchid-1-Massimo-Carnevale-cover">Orchid</a> <p><a href="http://twitter.com/">Twitter</a> <P><a href="http://www.uni-watch.com/">Uni-watch</a>: The Obessive Study of Athletic Aesthetics <P><a href="http://secretfunspot.blogspot.com/">Secret Fun Blog</a> <p><a href="http://www.amctv.com/shows/the-walking-dead">The Walking Dead</a> TV show <p><a href="http://thelastmanalive.tripod.com/home.html">The Last Man Alive</a> <P><a href="http://wpc.500b.edgecastcdn.net/00500B/gweek/Gweek_025.mp3">Download Gweek 025 as an MP3</a> | <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/boing-boing-gweek/id435622533">Subscribe to Gweek via iTunes</a> | <a href="http://wpc.500b.edgecastcdn.net/00500B/gweek/rss.xml">Subscribe via RSS</a> | <A href="http://gweek.net">Download single episodes of Gweek as MP3s</a> books,scifi,games,comics,geeks,videogames no 1:11:16 http://www.gweek.net Sun, 30 Oct 2011 23:00:00 -0700 Video Games http://wpc.500b.edgecastcdn.net/00500B/gweek/Gweek_024.mp3 Boing Boing John Hodgman talks about his new book, THAT IS ALL, and we discuss our favorite comic book stores, books, and comic books. books,scifi,games,comics,geeks,videogames no 1:09:36 http://gweek.libsyn.com/gweek-023-cool-apps-and-websites Gweek is a podcast where the editors and friends of Boing Boing talk about comic books, science fiction and fantasy, video games, board games, tools, gadgets, apps and other neat stuff.

In episode 023, Boing Boing’s managing editor Rob Beschizza and I spoke with David-Michel Davies, the executive director of The Webby Awards and the chairman & co-founder of Internet Week New York. DMD shared a bunch of recommendations for cool apps and websites, and Rob and I talked about a few of our own favorites. See the list after the jump.

We closed with a terrific song called "KABOOM!" by the 8-bit-happy band I Fight Dragons.

APPS
* Runpee * Siri * Tripit & Flightcaster * Gifshop * Roadside America * Smart.fm * Audubon Guides (image above is from their Guide to Mushrooms) * Flashcards Plus Pro * Eric Carle's My Very First App

WEBSITES
* AsciiFlow * Nerdy Day Trips * Historypin * Gif.tv * Let Me Google That For You * Percolate * Google Hangouts : Whiskey Tastings, Cooking School, Dark Musk Gigcasts, etc. * TinEye Reverse Image Search * Have a Mint * HTML ipsum * Internet Anagram Server * Color Scheme Designer

We'd like to give a special thanks EdgeCast Networks, our bandwidth provider and sponsor!

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Everyday Sunshine is a documentary about the band Fishbone, musical pioneers who have been rocking on the margins of pop culture for the past 25 years. From the streets of South-Central Los Angeles and the competitive Hollywood music scene of the 1980's, the band rose to prominence, only to fall apart when on the verge of "making it." Laurence Fishburne narrates Everyday Sunshine, an entertaining cinematic journey into the personal lives of this unique Black rock band, an untold story of fiercely individual artists in their quest to reclaim their musical legacy while debunking the myths of young Black men from urban America. Highlighting the parallel journeys of a band and their city, EVERYDAY SUNSHINE explores the personal and cultural forces that gave rise to California's legendary Black punk sons that continue to defy categories and expectations. At the heart of the film's story is lead singer Angelo Moore and bassist Norwood Fisher who show how they keep the band rolling, out of pride, desperation and love for their art. To overcome money woes, family strife, and the strain of being aging Punk rockers on the road, Norwood and Angelo are challenged to re-invent themselves in the face of dysfunction and ghosts from a painful past.

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Also!

• Rob presents the Boing Boing redesign -- fewest complaints yet!

• Mark reviews the forthcoming Pogo anthology, and discusses the novelization of The Settlers of Catan, a 612-page novel by Rebecca Gable and published by Amazon Crossing.

• Mark thumbs through the new Wired App Guide, singling out the iOS and Android game Squibble.

• Another song by Darling Pet Munkeee, called “Darling Pet Monkey!”

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Best known for his MAD Fold-in, which has appeared on the inside back cover of the magazine since 1964, he’s also the creator of a long running column, "Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions," and my favorite, his dozens and dozens of whimsical inventions that border on the edge of plausibility. Ruben went to Al Jaffee’s studio in New York to talk to him about his remarkable career. It's so great to discover that someone you grew up worshipping turns out to be incredibly nice!

If you admire the work of Al Jaffee like Ruben and I do, here are two books that you will love: The first is The MAD Fold-In Collection: 1964-2010, a gorgeous four-volume set with 410 Fold-Ins, published by Chronicle books. The second is Al Jaffee's Mad Life: A Biography, by Mary-Lou Weisman and illustrated by Al Jaffee. Here's the description:

Jaffee’s inventive work has enlivened the pages of MAD since 1955. To date he has pickled three generations of American kids in the brine of satire, and continues to bring millions of childhoods to untimely ends with the knowledge that parents are hypocrites, teachers are dummies, politicians are liars, and life isn’t fair.

Jaffee’s work for MAD has made him a cultural icon, but the compelling and at times bizarre story of his life has yet to be told. A synopsis of Jaffee’s formative years alone reads like a comic strip of traumatic cliff-hangers with cartoons by Jaffee and captions by Freud. Six-year-old Jaffee was separated from his father, uprooted from his home in Savannah, Georgia, and transplanted by his mother to a shtetl in Lithuania, a nineteenth-century world of kerosene lamps, outhouses, physical abuse, and near starvation. He would be rescued by his father, returned to America, taken yet again by his mother back to the shtetl, and once again rescued by his father, even as Hitler was on the march.

When he finally settled back in America as a twelve-year-old wearing cobbled shoes and speaking his native English with a Yiddish accent, schoolmates called him "greenhorn." He struggled with challenges at least as great as those he had met in Europe. His luck changed, however, when he was chosen to be a member of the first class to attend New York City’s High School of Music and Art. There his artistic ability saved him.

He would go on to forge relationships with Stan Lee, Harvey Kurtzman, and Will Elder, launching a career that would bring him to MAD magazine. There he found himself at the forefront of a movement that would change the face of humor and cartooning in America.

We close the episode with a song called "Sea-Monkeys" by the band Darling Pet Munkee. All the songs on their forthcoming album are based on old comic book ads, and they are all instant garage punk classics.

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I turned to an overcrowded page of fascinating black-and-white drawings; I was captivated It was an ink-smudged window into an unfamiliar realm where gorilla masks peacefully lived among hovercrafts and ventriloquist dummies. A dozen pages later an outfit called the Fun Factory featured another full-page assortment of wonders, and elsewhere in the issue I found a hundred toy soldiers for a buck, an offer for a free million dollar bank note, and an ad for something called Grit.

Like many kids tempted to buy these alluring products, Kirk had wise parents who discouraged him from spending his allowance on them. But Kirk never really stopped thinking about them. A few years ago, he began scouring eBay and other online collectors' sites to purchase the novelties that he’d been denied as a child. These purchases are the basis of his hilarious new book Mail Order Mysteries, which reveals the disappointing truth behind fantastic-sounding products such as X-Ray glasses, voice throwers, 7-foot remote control monsters, and secret spy scopes.

In the introduction to his book, Demarais writes, "For me the collection represents so many things: a series of hard-earned revelations, my remaining sense of wonder, and the coming-of-age discovery that even kids need to be shrewd as serpents lest we get bit by one."

I interviewed Kirk on the phone from his studio in the hills of Arkansas.

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• Rob and Joel talk about the agony and ecstasy of playing the Diablo III beta.

• They go onto to praise Torchlight, a fine Diablo clone that doesn’t require you to be online while playing it.

• Rob and Joel argue over the pronunciation of “Planescape.”

• Rob updates us on Minecraft’s 1.8 Adventure release.

• Joel describes Blockade Runner, "Not Just Minecraft in Space.”

• Rob and Mark engage in a deeply thoughtful critique of Steven Soderbergh's Contagion.

• Joel reviews Feynman a comic book biography by Jim Ottaviani and Leland Myrick.

• Mark reviews Optic Nerve #12, by Adrian Tomine

• Mark gushes about Richard Dawkins' new book, The Magic of Reality without having read it.

• Joel gets an MBA in LEGO at the Lego Master Builder academy.

• Rob explains the new Boing Boing redesign!

• We close with a fantastic 1981 song called "Pushing Buttons," from a power pop band called TV Neats & The Experts. The song was written by Bedazzled’s Spike Priggen. You can buy TV Neats & The Experts' album on Amazon and on iTunes.

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This week I interviewed David Hahn, creator of of the comic book, All Nighter, published by Image Comics. David has also drawn for Marvel, DC, and Dark Horse.

The episode closes with another song by The Hokum Scorchers, a duo consisting of artist Amy Crehore and guitar maker Lou Reimuller. The song is called “I got your Ice Cold NuGrape," and it’s on the album Yanna’s Donut.

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Craig was the vice president, general manager and creative director for Jim Henson and the Muppets, and was senior designer at the legendary toy think tank Marvin Glass & Associates. Today Craig is the co-creative director of YOE! Studio, which he runs with his partner, Clizia Gussoni.

As the premier comic book historian in the United States, Craig has edited over 30 books about comic books and illustration, including Krazy Kat & the Art of George Herriman, Amazing 3-D Comics, Archie: A Celebration Of America's Favorite Teenagers, The Golden Collection Of Klassic Krazy Kool Kids Komics, Dan DeCarlo's Jetta, The Art Of Ditko, Boody: The Bizarre Comics Of Boody Rogers, And Secret Identity: The Fetish Art Of Superman's Co-Creator Joe Shuster.

I spoke with Craig in his studio in upstate New York.

At the end of the podcast, The Hokum Scorchersreturn with another song, "Pick Poor Robin Clean."

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Here’s the lineup for episode 14:

Steve Jobs resigns

Tour of a fake vomit factory

Fun book that finds out what those intriguing gadgets advertised in olf comic books actually were: Mail Order Mysteries

A creepy new novel that reminded me of Rosemary's Baby: Bedbugs, by Ben H. Winters

Our favorite end-of-the-world books:

• Level 7

• Kamandi

Peanuts monthly comic book with new material

Rob talks about his nearly full tube of Arctic Silver now 5 years old

Game reviews!

• Space Pirates and Zombies

• Bastion

• Smack That Gugl

Artist Amy Crehore

The Teenar

A song by The Hokum Scorchers

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A few weeks ago on this podcast, I talked about an amazing comic book called Blue Estate. It’s a hardboiled crime series that takes place in modern day Los Angeles. It’s got a sleazy action hero actor with a passing resemblance to Steven Seagal, the Russian Mafia, the Italian Mafia, a geeky fanboy private eye in his 40s, a B-movie actress, drugs, alcohol, strippers, hookers, and seedy establishments. It’s dirty and gritty and a lot of fun, in an LA Confidential way.

Comicbuzz.com called Blue Estate is “one of the best comics on the racks today, not to mention one of the best crime comics ever.”

Our guest on this episode is Viktor Kalvachev, the creator of Blue Estate.

In a recent interview Kalvachev described Blue Estate as a combination of “Pulp Fiction, Snatch, and Get Shorty with a splash of It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World.” Kalvachev paints the covers and they are beautiful. The interiors are drawn by as many as five different artists including Kalvachev.

I spoke to Viktor from his home in Walnut Creek California.

Show notes:

Blue Estate trade paperback anthology

Blue Estate comic book website

Viktor Kalvachev's website

Black Kiss, by Howard Chaykin

The art of Robert McGinnis

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In this episode, we discuss:

GAMES

From Dust

Wurm Online

The Dark Meadow

Diablo 3

Dungeon Hunter II

MOVIES

Project Nim

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

A discussion of ape rights in the New York Times

How to Train Your Dragon

"Dreamworks Face"

COMICS

Carl Barks’ Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge

Interview with Fantagraphics' Gary Groth about The Complete Carl Barks Anthology

The Adventures of Superboy

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Also in this episode:

1. Dwarf Fortress, Rob’s experience with the game.

2. The amazing crime comic book mini series Blue Estate.

3. Boing Boing switches from Movable Type to WordPress and hopefully gets a lot faster.

4. LEGO Mindstorms.

5. Dexter Industries'Sensors for LEGO Mindstorms

6. Six Days, by Philip Webb.

7. Interview with Jonah Weiner, author of Dwarf Fortress article in the NY Times Magazine.

8. 1000 True Fans, by Kevin Kelly.

9. Dungeons of Dredmor.

10. Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup.

Rob and Mark interview Nate Simpson, creator of the comic book Nonplayer. We also discuss digital cameras, video editing software,  Spotify  music service, and Mark's visit to the Trivia Championships of North America.

Here's what we talked about:

A retro platformer called, VVVVVV(pronounced "vee").

The soundtrack to VVVVVV, called PPPPPP.

Terraria Online, a 2D multiplayer Minecraft.

Project Zomboid, a zombie survival RPG.

Nintendo's head-scratching Wii U.

Sony's new portable game player, the PS Vita

Mobile Minecrafton Sony Ericsson's Xperia Play

A trippy game for Xbox and Playstation that Joel declares to be "very Boing Boing," Child of Eden

Rob's new exclusive flash game for Boing Boing: 9x9RPG

Another game from Boing Boing Gadgets, Low-Altitude Attack Zeppelin

The NBC TV series, Community

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We interview Adam Parfrey and Jodi Wille, proprietors of the non-fiction book publishers, Feral House and Process Media.

Walking Dead TV Series

Standing Desks

The Exterminators (Vol 1, Vol 2, Vol 3, Vol 4, Vol 5)

Leica V-Lux 30

Fear Agent (Vol 1, Vol 2, Vol 3, Vol 4, Vol 5)

Sony Vaio S Laptop

Wacom tablets

Locke & Key

Dan Clowes' Wilson

The Modern Scholar: From Here to Infinity: An Exploration of Science Fiction Literature (on Amazon, study guide)

Nonplayer (Electronic version at Comixology)

Stranger in a Strange Land

Starship Troopers

Jetpens.com

Cursed Pirate Girl

Terraria

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An interview with Amy Stewart, the author of a terrific book about dangerous vegetation called Wicked Plants, and the her new book Wicked Bugs. I asked Amy to tell me about the most dangerous bug, the most disgusting bug, the most fascinating bug, and so on. Then we talk about people who grow gardens filled with "wicked plants," and people who grow opium poppies and coca plants. Amy is a very knowledgeable and funny writer, and I had a lot of fun chatting with her.

NASA's Fermi Telescope Finds Giant Structure in our Galaxy

Facebook hired public relations firm Burson-Marstellar to conduct anti-Google PR smear campaign

Lodsys patent troll shakes down mobile devices

rpgKIDS: a role playing game for kids and parents

Castle Ravenloft


Thank You for Removing Story from the Role-Playing Game, Dungeon Raid

Sword and Sworcery

250 Indie Games You Must Play, by Mike Rose

Dirty Jobs creator on the need for skilled tradespeople in America

Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work

Educational Sloyd

At a Distance: The Best Weird Video Game I Played Yesterday — and Hope You Play Next

AT&T HP Veer 4G

Stitcher podcast player The Sixth Gun

Chester Brown's latest work is a fascinating 280-page memoir called Paying For It: a Comic-Strip Memoir About Being a John, published by Drawn & Quarterly. It's about his experiences being a customer of prostitutes since 1999.

Show Notes for Gweek 002

1. The Final Hours of Portal 2

2. Korg Kaosilator Pro



3. Life, by Keith Richards

3. Korg iElectribe for iPad

4. Tascam Portastudio for iPad

5. The Infinite Vacation

6. Anathem, by Neal Stephenson

7. The Wise Man's Fear, by Patrick Rothfuss

8. The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss

9. The Great Sony Hack

10. 4G Networks Aren't

11. Poor Design of Osama bin Laden's Compound

12. Anomaly Warzone Earth

13. Minecraft add-on called Finite Liquid

14. Dungeon Raid

The complete interview with Ernest Cline, author of the upcoming science fiction novel, Ready Player One. Interviewed in April 2011 by Mark Frauenfelder of boingboing.net.