the stuff inside my head that must get out
archives
Fri, 04 Jul 2008
Comics delayed for Independence Day
Due to the holiday, comics will be shipping on Thursday July 10th instead of Wednesday. Don't let the terrorists win. Instead, go celebrate independence by blowing stuff up yourself!
[/topics/store] permanent link
Tue, 01 Jul 2008
programmed to humiliate, then assimilate
But the question remains as to how can you possibly further humiliate someone sad enough to need a $700 robot to play ping pong with?
Wed, 11 Jun 2008
update
After much teeth-knashing and number crunching, it's been decided that every time you purchase a graphic novel, and remember to bring your official Hijinx tote, you'll earn an extra 1% on every bookclub purchase every single time you bring your bag! Offer good for life of the owner or life of the bag. It's our way of encouraging you to use less disposable bags and more pork-themed eco-totes!
[/topics/store] permanent link
Thu, 05 Jun 2008[/topics/arts/animation] permanent link
Sat, 31 May 2008
There will be a memorial service for Rory on June 21st at 7pm at Comic Relief in Berkely which is located at 2026 Shattuck Ave, 94704.
In my mind, the only real battle is between which show had the best theme song. As great as the Batman theme is, The Hornet horns win hands down. It's like Flight of the Bumblebee with a Jazz hook and super-action that never dissapoints. Don't believe me? Tell me this doesn't thrill you:
your Watchmen movie leak of the week
[/topics/arts/movies] permanent link
new comics drop on Thursday May 29th
[/topics/store] permanent link
Rory Root has passed away and the world of comic book retailing just got a lot sadder for me. This page will be black for a while in memory of Rory. I never saw him wear any other color but black so I want to copy him one last time.
I can categorically state that without the example set by Rory and his store, Hijinx would not be the store it is today. Ironically I just had a long conversation with Rory last week about setting up group health care here at the store. Luckily, Rory was smart enough and progressive enough to provide affordable health care to his employees and for himself, so I know he was well cared for when he passed.
In his honor, if you're anywhere near Berkeley, stop in Comic Relief and spend some money there. You won't have a problem finding something to buy, as it's the single finest comic bookstore I've ever seen. Easily eclipsing anything else the bay area has to offer in terms of breadth and depth of selection. Rory's passion for the medium of comics and for the trade of bookselling were unmatched by anyone I've ever known and it shows in ever square inch of his store. I was proud to call him my colleague and friend.
[/topics/store] permanent link
[/topics/arts/music] permanent link
Wed, 14 May 2008[/topics/arts/animation] permanent link
Sun, 11 May 2008[/topics/arts/movies] permanent link
Fri, 09 May 2008
Back when I worked in the software industry I could hit up my bosses to pay my way into conferences like Google I/O coming up later this month. It costs $400 to register as a developer for the two day event in San Francisco, and I really want to go. The new version 2.0 of my retailer software uses a bunch of cool tools that Google has released lately and I think the conference could really help me make the new stuff a real quantum leap ahead of my current system.
So, that brings me to shaking the virtual tin cup. If you care at all about helping me help the comics retail industry escape domination by one or two software vendors, please donate whatever you feel is appropriate. The little progress graph is a good example of one of the great tools Google offers to developers like me that will be integrated into Hijinx 2.0. Thanks!
Send Hijinx to Google I/O:
Thank goodness for the internet and YouTube that we can now see these incredibly funny and beautifully produced cartoons any time we want, we just can't see them on TV with the rest of the focus-group created toy commercials masquerading as cartoons that dominate Saturday mornings today.
[/topics/arts/animation] permanent link
[/topics/arts/animation] permanent link
Sun, 04 May 2008
the secret origin of Race Bannon
However, as cool as Race may have been in a fight, he was far from perfect. Her's another clip from the documentary that goes into some of the more politically incorrect moments of the show, including the famous "racist Bannon" scene where Race dyes himself purple to impersonate a god and proceeds to insult the "heathen monkey" natives. Let's watch:
[/topics/arts/animation] permanent link
Thu, 01 May 2008
beauty and functionality are not mutually exclusive
it takes balls of steel to make it in this biz
[/topics/games] permanent link
Sat, 19 Apr 2008[/topics/arts/music] permanent link
Mon, 14 Apr 2008[/topics/polls] permanent link
Fri, 11 Apr 2008
[/topics/arts/comics] permanent link
Thu, 10 Apr 2008
therapeutic club sold separately
Paro learns to act how you'd like it to by seeking out affectionate petting and more disturbingly, by trying to avoid making patients hit it. Apparently it's sensors know the difference between a loving caress and a brutal beating. There are some people out there who can't tell the difference between those!
Mon, 07 Apr 2008
[/topics/arts/music] permanent link
Thu, 03 Apr 2008
Monsterous, Demented and Scary?
This is a link to what may be the most impressive robot ever built. It's not only able to carry out complex tasks, it also passes the Turing test. It's so top-secret that I can't even embed the video, you must click here to see it, but trust me, it's worth it!
Six is a perfect number, quite literally. A perfect number is one that is the sum of all of it's own positive divisors. 1 + 2 + 3 = 6, it's actually the very first perfect number. The next perfect number is 28, followed by 496 and 8128.
Six similar coins can be arranged around a central coin of the same radius so that each coin makes contact with the central one (and touches both its neighbors without a gap), but seven cannot be so arranged. This makes 6 the answer to the two-dimensional kissing number problem. The densest sphere packing of the plane is obtained by extending this pattern to the hexagonal lattice in which each circle touches just six others. Bees figured this out a few million years ago, we're just catching on.
According to the bible, god created man on the 6th day, and that was so much work even he needed to rest the whole next day. I think he just hung out and watched football. But take 3 sixes and you've got the mark of the beast (also known as the number of man) according to Revelations so three sixes has become the sign of the devil.
Carbon, the fourth most abundant element in the universe and the basis for all known life has an atomic number of six. Without it, not only would we not have life, but we'd also not have pencils, diamonds, or charcoal barbecue and what good would life be without those?
Perhaps most importantly of all, it was 6 years ago today (April 1st) that I bought Hijinx Comics and started the long trip that's lead me here. In that time I've opened, sold and closed other stores, but I know now that I belong here in Willow Glen and I hope I'm here for a good long while to come.
Thank you all for all of your support and encouragement. It makes it all worthwhile and I could not do it without you!
[/topics/store] permanent link
Sun, 30 Mar 2008
In the clip above, Professor Harold Hill engages in the age-old political maneuvers of fear-mongering and scapegoating. He's using a fear of change to whip the town into a frenzy that distracts them from the fact that the true danger in their midst is actually him. He's there to bleed them dry and with nothing more than a little hand waving and a song and dance, they're ready to sign up.
So the next time you see a politician preaching to you about the dangerous choices you need to be prevented from making, think of this. The idea that billiards is healthy and wholesome but pocket pool corrupts the morals of our youth is a pretty powerful analogue to a lot of other discussions going on in the world around us.
I'm stepping off of my soapbox now.
Fri, 28 Mar 2008The Marx Brothers were amazing performers on the stage and screen. Groucho is known all over the world for his amazing wit and wordplay and Harpo is much beloved as a musician and as a pantomime performer. What's even more amazing is that Chico was as good at any of those things as either brother, and was an amazing piano player to boot. Check out his piano stylings and impressive comedy chops in this short clip. Amazing!
[/topics/arts/movies] permanent link
Mon, 24 Mar 2008
like something from my worst nightmares
Usually seeing a cool new robot do something amazing fills me with joy. For some reason this thing scares the heck out of me. Perhaps it's the loping gait, or the headless design that makes it look like some Geiger-esque horror show.
It's crazy to think that just 10 years ago walking robots were considered almost impossible to implement in the real world. Now, thanks to Moore's law and some very determined dorks around the world, it's not a question of if we'll see lifelike autonomous robots in my lifetime, but merely a question of when it will happen. My bet is on soon.
Sat, 15 Mar 2008I didn't have as much time as I wanted to spend at the events and I also didn't really do very much of importance on this robot. It was all the hard work of the students and especially the team mentor Rick Guptill. This guy ate slept and breathed robots to help the team meet the ludicrously short 6 week design cycle mandated by the tournament rules.
The age of hobby robotics is truly upon us, much like hobby computing became realistic and affordable in the seventies and changed the world in the eighties. I have no doubts that this century will see the rise of semi-autonomous robotic armies and unmanned submarines that will change the way war is waged.
What, you thought this was all about robot butlers?
Wed, 12 Mar 2008
Garfield minus Garfield = hilarity
Garfield minus Garfield is an experimental comic strip based on the popular strip by Jim Davis. It simply removes the titular character leaving only what appears to be a lonely and confused man living a life of quiet desperation. That kind of thing makes me smile.
[/topics/arts/comics] permanent link
Tue, 11 Mar 2008
Dave Stevens died of leukemia today. All I know is, wherever he is a man is a man and the dames are all lookers. Dave seemed to be born a few decades too late, and he never put out a lot of comics, but those he did do are among my very favorite comics of the eighties. I always hoped he'd return to the adventures of Cliff Secord and his stolen rocket pack, but the work he left behind is so great that I'm glad it was never over-exploited.
[/topics/arts/comics] permanent link
Mon, 10 Mar 2008
this is wrong on several levels
Often disregarded as part of any continuity, Li'l Bruce Wayne was a long-running series of light-hearted comic books aimed at children, detailing the life of a young, fantastically wealthy Bruce Wayne (known in the series as "The Happiest Kid On Earth") in the years before the deaths of Thomas and Martha Wayne and his subsequent transformation into Batman
The series was originally created by Bill Finger and Jerry Robinson to fill a gap in DC's publishing schedule after the cancellation of More Fun Comics in 1946, and ran through the majority of the Silver Age despite being regarded by editors and fans alike as being "extremely depressing" [citation needed] and is usually left out of any discussion of the character. It is notable, however, as being the first published comic book work of writer/artist Frank Miller.
[/topics/arts/comics] permanent link
The following video should only be viewed by authorized S.H.I.E.L.D. agents level 9 or above. Unauthorized access is strictly prohibited.
[/topics/arts/comics] permanent link
Fri, 07 Mar 2008[/topics/polls] permanent link
Tue, 04 Mar 2008
The father of role-playing games ran out of hit points and failed a saving throw against death. From his mind millions of imaginary worlds, characters and adventures sprung forth through those who played his games. The entire world is a richer place thanks to his pursuit of his passions, and he will be missed.
Fri, 29 Feb 2008
Ballooning always seemed like it would be pretty fun, but the standard rainbow balloon designs are a little bit femme for my tastes. Now this is how you design a balloon. Imagine the terror your presense could inspire if someone's lack of faith disturbs you!
Mon, 11 Feb 2008
[/topics/arts/comics] permanent link
Sun, 10 Feb 2008
When I first heard they had a team I thought maybe the store could sponsor them a little, since I know that robotics gets expensive. It turns out they already had a few sponsors, but if I had time to help they needed hands more than money. So now the list of sponsors for the team reads:
- Willow Glen Foundation
- B3 Advanced Communication Systems
- ALTA Design and Manufacturing Inc
- Peak Plastics
- Google Inc.
- Lockheed Martin
- Hijinx Comics
[/topics/store] permanent link
Mon, 04 Feb 2008
Check out this ornate mech-spider that is somehow controlled using only 2 servo motors. I can't really tell, but it looks like one servo is set up for continuous rotation to provide locomotion, and the other somehow switches gears to steer the thing. This is an object of love!
Tue, 29 Jan 2008[/topics/polls] permanent link
Edward Tufte is an information / interface design guru who really opened my eyes to what interesting possibilities for rich and intuitive display of complex statistical information exist. That made me excited to hear what he has to say about the Iphone.Yes, I know I'm a nerd.
Sat, 26 Jan 2008
The only US citizen to ever be crowned the world champion of chess died. Checkmate.
Wed, 16 Jan 2008Witness the power of the Disintegrator the world's most awesome rubber band gatling gun. Tremble at it's raw power!
Tue, 15 Jan 2008Here's your chance to make your opinion heard on the new direction of Amazing Spider-Man. In case you didn't know already, it seems Peter Parker struck a deal with Mephisto to erase his marriage from history in exchange for the life of Aunt May. He also managed to gain his secret identity back in the bargain, despite having recently unmasked during the civil war.
Personally, I haven't enjoyed many Spider-Man comics in the last few years, so I'm glad for anything that brings some fun back to what was once my favorite character. I don't think the way it was handled was very elegant, but I guess the upside of such arbitrary revisionism is that they can always just change it back again if they ever get a new Editor In Chief.
But I want to know how you feel about it!
[/topics/polls] permanent link
Fri, 11 Jan 2008
This is yet another invention that's so logical I can't believe it wasn't thought of before now. How many times have I frozen my arse off when having to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night while camping? Too many times, that's how many! Although now that I think about it, the one feature that seems conspicuously absent on this model is a velcro fly.
Fri, 04 Jan 2008I'm shocked that I never heard of this show before. It combines Dungeons & Dragons with the one thing it was never designed to be mixed with: chicks.
Tue, 01 Jan 2008
a simple question for the new year:
Please answer the question in the little box above to determine whether or not you'll see more little boxes with stupid little questions in the near future.
[/topics/store] permanent link