OK, really, I am going on break but first a word from Alvin...

Blogleave

Going to Rome, to roam. Back in a while.

Steve Gerber Rest In Pissed-Offness

Steve Gerber, who died at 60 this past Sunday, went out with his writing boots on. Check his blog for some of his last entries.

He affected many of us at an impressionable age, with stories like "The Kid's Night Out" in Giant Size Man-Thing #4. Here is a link to The Comics Journal coverage.

From the Wiki: "Gerber initially penned standard superhero stories for titles such as Daredevil and Sub-Mariner, but soon developed an individual voice that mixed adventure with social satire and absurdist humor. In one issue of The Defenders, for example, a group of supervillains, tired of always being beaten by the good guys, seeks out a self-help guru for motivation."

More:
I keep thinking about "The Kid's Night Out" when I try to think of what it meant to be reading Steve's stuff as a kid. But it's more than that and it's part of my life. What a great gift those comics were. I remember being bugged by my hebrew school teacher b/c I was reading a copy of Man-Thing instead of studying my Bar-Mitzvah material. HA! That mediocre teacher didn't impart a fraction of the morality, humor, meaning and even, yes, Jewish values that Gerber's comics did in those days.

Here is a link to The Comics Journal's interview with Steve Gerber in the late 70's.

"They dig a hole. And they put you in it." Ah, we will miss you, Steve.

Rest in peace.

Hayoung Shin's Yokocho Illustrations Now Online

Hayoung Shin does these illustrations at Village Yokocho. She has finally posted a bunch of these and other drawings online. Check it out.

I always like the disgruntled or terrified foodstuffs, animals and veggies on her menus.

Here Comes The Clutter

I still like Yahoo, and if I had a spare 40 zillion or whatever, maybe I would help them out of this mess. If I were Jerry Yang I would have some kind of poison pill to prevent Microsoft from Hotmailing my simple, usable interface. (Note that the wiki says "see also Pyrrhic victory".)

Here is what I think they should do when Ballmer comes knocking (more ideas here).
For me, it is not about business, it is about a company coming by and ruining some tools that I use everyday. When Hotmail was purchased by Microsoft, it turned almost unusable with crap plastered all over a once simple UI.

And, yeah, I have a Gmail account, but their way of doing things isn't always right. (Try sending yourself a script and having Google decide it might be a virus--hey, I sent the damn thing to ME).

As long as the 6B pencil and blank index cards are still available, I will survive...