minitotoro Bacon… frosting?? I’m not sure whether to be delighted or disgusted. http://t.co/kzN8EtBm #maybeboth

jramboz @minitotoro That sits nicely at the intersection of “things I am horrified to find actually exist” and “things that I must have.”

minitotoro Thanks to @jramboz this now requires a Venn diagram.  http://t.co/VqmN2lOU

jramboz @minitotoro Everything is better with Venn diagrams!

minitotoro @jramboz YES. :)

And thus this was born. All credit for the wording goes to Jason Ramboz, of course.

Also, you’re welcome.

Mosey on over there and give it a look. It’s good stuff. And don’t forget to enter the haiku contest to win five lovely books.

Needless to say, it does take some funding for all this to happen. That is where the auction comes in. Each item in the auction was donated to help offset some of these operating costs. So, if you love listening to podcasts and would like to support the recognition of some of the best speculative fiction podcasts out there, please think about participating in this event. There’s only about a day and a half left, so hurry up and make those bids!

This year I donated my Gorgalthumper stuffed animal. As of this writing, it has one bid. Plus! Free shipping! Really, you can’t go wrong.

There are also a handful of other wonderful donations, such as this lovely print of the space shuttle launching (among others) by Laura Burns. There are no bids yet, but you’d better hurry up. Something like this probably won’t last much longer. Not only will you be helping out the Parsec’s, but you’ll be getting some pretty nice items to boot!

If you are one of the three people who haven’t discovered the magnificence of Axe Cop yet, you really must go and check it out right now. Now I say. Go!

Basically it’s about a cop with an axe that was created by Malachai Nicolle (five years old at the time, currently seven as of Monday, Happy Birthday!) and drawn by his older brother Ethan Nicolle. Yes, the comic is written by Malachai. You can just imagine the crazy stuff that he comes up with. On second thought, no you can’t. It has to be experienced first hand. You know why? Because it’s PURE KID MADNESS. And PURE AWESOME. And just when you couldn’t think the Axe Cop PURE KID AWESOME MADNESS couldn’t get any better, it does. It does because Ethan’s artwork is fantastic and captures the crazy Axe Cop universe perfectly.

Unibaby, a pet Tyrannosaurus rex with machine gun arms (and can breath fire and can turn into a dragon when he wants to and lives on a diet of bad guys), excessive head chopping, talking dogs with super powers, giant robots, evil aliens, more secret powers, ninja moon werewolf and vampire; these are but a small selection of what makes Axe Cop so great.

Check it out. And! The first graphic novel volume is out too if you prefer dead tree format (the trees were humanly killed by having their tree heads chopped off).

Also, they were at Emerald City Comic Con this past weekend, and I have to say, of all the creators at the con, hands down, Malachai and Ethan had the best time out of everyone. The crowd around the Axe Cop table was dense, but the huge grins on those two as they talked with their fans was unmisktakable.

Recently Paul of Storm of Paul and Storm interviewed Ethan about the comic. So also be sure to check that out to get a fun behind the scenes interview.

At any rate, this is a wonderful and beautifully drawn webcomic. Its industrial era charm mixed with a headstrong female protagonist and fast paced action centered around a tantalizing mystery makes for a page-turning read. I highly recommend you check it out. For your convenience I’ll even point you to the first page in the series.

I know I am looking forward to the next installment of Ellie Connelly’s adventures.

But wait! There’s more! If you enjoy the comic and would like your very own shiny copy of Ellie’s adventures, the first couple of chapters are available in pretty pretty PDF and CBZ format over here for the incredibly low price of $.99! Macaroni… and CHEESE!

]]> http://www.thefuzzyslug.com/2011/03/awesomeness-the-adventures-of-ellie-connelly/feed/ 0 http://www.thefuzzyslug.com/2011/02/edmund-finney-guest-comic/ http://www.thefuzzyslug.com/2011/02/edmund-finney-guest-comic/#comments Tue, 01 Feb 2011 23:10:44 +0000 Natalie http://www.thefuzzyslug.com/?p=1807 If I may direct your attention to the little teaser thumbnail to your left. That’s a bit of the guest comic I did for Edmund Finney’s Quest to Find the Meaning of Life. If you haven’t stumbled upon this delightful comic already, I highly suggest you do so right away.

Go on. I’ll wait.

All done? Excellent! Thanks for coming back.

It’s pretty awesome right? Poor Edmund has some of the most unique, ridiculous, and hilarious travels of any explorer I know. Now you can see why I couldn’t pass up the chance to play in that universe when creator Dan Long made the call for guest comics. While my comic didn’t make it into the official guest comic slots while he took a break from the site for a month, he did honor me with an honorable mention in today’s blog. Huzzah! Check it out.

Thanks Dan! It was a fun ride. :)

In honor of this ancient time honored tradition, I present you with my selection of lovely creepy and scary books that would make excellent All Hallow’s Read gifts this season.

1.) Anything by H.P. Lovecraft – Quaint, strange, and creepy tales of yesteryear. Now would be an excellent time to introduce your loved ones to the Great Old Ones. Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn!

2) Ancestor by Scott Sigler – Juicy, blood and entrails soaked monstery goodness. This is what happens when genetic engineering goes so very horribly wrong. This is recommended for adults that have a strong stomach, and love some good ol’ monster crunching fun.

3) Soulless by Gail Carriger – OK, so this isn’t a “scary” book, per se, but it does contain a plethora of werewolves, vampires, and evil mad scientists. Plus, it’s brilliantly amusing and dreadfully entertaining. One of the most satisfying books I’ve read in a long time. I would recommend this for your lady friends and definitely someone of mature persuasions since there is some nookie at the end.

4) Scary Stories to Tell in The Dark by Alvin Schwartz – A creepy and gross collection of scary short stories for the younger audience. This is a set of a stories I enjoyed in my youth. These stories would be good for the young teenager, but probably not for the very young.

5) The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman – A fabulous novel about a boy who is raised by the ghosts of a graveyard. A charming and wonderful read. While there are a few scary parts that might upset the very young, this story works well for all ages. What I love about this book (aside from the excellent story) is that each chapter can stand on its own as a short story which would make it an excellent choice for bedtime reading fun.

6) B.R.P.D. Comic Series by Mike Mignola et al. – Side tales from the Hellboy universe, this series deals with creepy story about the secret agency B.R.P.D. and its occult threats. Recommended for the comic book and Lovecraft mythos lovers.

7) Personal Effects: Dark Art by J.C. Hutchins – A dark and creepy psychological thriller. This is fascinating story about an art therapist for the extreme mentally messed up. His latest patient is seriously creepy with the weirdness creeping into the therapists non-work life. This is recommended for adults who like some mind twisting mayhem.

8) The Gashlycrumb Tinies by Edward Gorey – A lovely, albeit morbid, alphabet book about the unfortunate and unusual misfortunes and maladies of some very dire children. Personally, I loved this book with its humorous, yet fatal, child accidents, and its delightful pen illustrations. However, I was a very odd child, so it’s probably best to judge for yourself on whether this would be appropriate for young ones. Still, it’s a delightfully Hallowe’enie masterpiece.

9) The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling – Really, I shouldn’t have to explain this one. If one of your friends or family hasn’t read these yet, now would be a most excellent time to get them hooked on the series. Expecto Patronum!

10) There’s a Zombie In My Treehouse by Ken Plume et al. – A chuckle inducing children’s story with a family that meets a mysterious end. What would you do if you suspected that there was a zombie in your treehouse? What would any of us do? We would warn, of course, but do you think that would help? A delightful story with wonderful illustrations by Len Peralta.

And with that, have a very happy and scary story filled All Hallow’s Read, everyone!

See that really bright spot at the top middle? That’s our galactic center. Pretty awesome, eh? Despite the mind blowing vastness of space, there is a lot of space stuff (mostly dust) between us and the center of our galaxy. If all that stuff wasn’t there, the center would be incredibly bright. You know what’s also pretty awesome? This photo was my husband’s first attempt at taking a star field photo. Impressive, I know, right? I was too busy enjoying the scenery to muck up my night vision on the attempt myself. I am glad that he decided to go for it and attempt these shots. Excellent work, Andy. :)

Technical Details
Aperture Value: f/3.5
Focal Length: 18mm
ISO: 400
Shutter Speed Value: 61 sec.
Location: Mauna Kea, Hawaii – Sept. 8, 2010

Thank you.