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Showing posts from March, 2013

Misinformation and the "Monsanto Protection Act"

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"Sec. 733. In the event that a determination of non-regulated status made pursuant to section 411 of the Plant Protection Act is or has been invalidated or vacated, the Secretary of Agriculture shall, notwithstanding any other provision of law, upon request by a farmer, grower, farm operator, or producer, immediately grant temporary permit(s) or temporary deregulation in part, subject to necessary and appropriate conditions consistent with section 411(a) or 412(c) of the Plant Protection Act, which interim conditions shall authorize the movement, introduction, continued cultivation, commercialization and other specifically enumerated activities and requirements, including measures designed to mitigate or minimize potential adverse environmental effects, if any, relevant to the Secretary's evaluation of the petition for non-regulated status, while ensuring that growers or other users are able to move, plant, cultivate, introduce into commerce and carry out other authorized a

Saturday Smodcast Share Time: Walt Flanagan Draws pt. 1

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This week I thought we should share a comic related tidbit. Walt Flanagan does a SIT show called Walt Flanagan Draws. Here we see Walt render and tells us about some of his favorite heroes and villains. I'm a Deadshot fan love his design as Walt points out, his design is of Boba Fett greatness. I love the character and his pencil thin mustache. I dig the full Deadshot mask as opposed to his current TV and video game renditions, where he has an open mouth more like Batman. I like how in Batman comics he's sort of a Bizarro version of Batman. Only his obsession isn't the bat in the window but the barrel of the gun. Batmite is a fun character and in the hands of a great writer like Grant Morrison or Pa ul Di ni the character can really work. For an amazing Fatman on Batman view on the character check out the the Diedrich B ader episodes . The Joker is of course the villain of all villains in comic books. His design is so pimp and yet creepy, while

Burning Bush: Lettermania PT. 3

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Lettermania rolls on for the third week in a row, but it's such great material I just can't help myself.

COMICBOOK REVIEW: Justice League of America Issues 1 & 2 and also Justice League #18

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 In Justice League of America #1 Geoff Johns and David Finch take us through the introduction of the American wing of the Justice League. The driving force of this first arc seems to be the machinations of a Secret Society of super-villains. The issue is basically centered around Steve Trevor (Wonder Woman's one time love interest) working under Amanda Waller (who I'm disappointed to see in her new 52 incarnation is now a thin woman). Waller wants the JLA to form as a balance of power in case the actual Justice League gets too powerful and tries to conquer the world or something. The issue has the choosing and breakdown of the team. Trevor and Waller design a team to match up with every members power set.

Saturday Smodcast Share Time: Officially Unofficial

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This one of the greatest smodco cartoons, with the Justice League's good old fish pal Aquaman . If you're an Aquaman fan and your not reading Geoff Johns current run on Aquaman stop what you;re doing and buy those comics. Geoff and Kevin even met up and did  some sw eet podcasts, for Fatman on Batman. Now, to blend official smodco goodness with unofficial but equally as awesome smodco goodness, another smodimation about Willy Wonka and his willy.

Burning Bush: Lettermania PT. 2

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Here's some more fantastic David Letterman bits at Bush's expense.

COMICBOOK REVIEW: VIBE #1 and 2

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I enjoyed the heck out of Vibe #1. To be honest, I'm a huge Geoff Johns fan, and have recently realized I'm apparently also a fan of Andrew Kreisberg . I enjoyed Andrew's work on Green Arrow/ Black Canary where he introduced a pretty cool villainess named Cupid . Here Kreisberg and Geoff are trying to reinvigorate the most wacky character of the Justice League Detroit crew of the 70's (for more info on that check out comics 101 here ). I also have dug his work on Mission Hill, Eli Stone, The Simpsons, and Justice League to name a few. The writers embrace the wacky world of Vibe and set the book in modern day Detroit. The book ties in with the first storyline of the new 52's Justice League when they stopped an incursion by Darkseid into their world. Vibe was born from this event. Being caught in the blast of a boom tube granted him with special gifts and abilities which make him uniquely suited to finding and stopping Darkseid's threats. This book was so g

COMICBOOK REVIEW: Sledge-Hammer 44 and Hellboy in Hell

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I don't pick up too many Darkhorse comics at the moment, but I will always give a chance to a new Mike Mignola comic. Sledge-Hammer 44 #1 is a World War 2 comic that could be boiled down to robot vs. Nazi robot. In this first issue there isn't much dialogue for the titular character of Sledge-Hammer. He basically gets dropped in to a battlefield hidden in a bomb. He fries some Nazi's with some electrical bolts, kicks some ass, then gets bested by an even bigger more retro looking Nazi-robot, and then gets saved by his back up, a platoon of American soldiers.

Saturday Smodcast Share Time: More Bry

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Another Bry-centric edition of Saturday Smodcast Share Time. First a smodco cartoon show with audio from the TESD podcast. Now the epic continuation of the Why Bry? Tale of how Bryan Johnson bedded his girlfriends unattractive yet felatially oriented mother.

Burning Bush: Lettermania PT. 1

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Wow, so David Letterman and his talented writing staff are gods at finding great Bush gaffes. Enjoy.

Saturday Smodcast Share Time: Groovy Cartoon Movie

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This week on share time we are showing a trailer for a feature length smodco cartoon. Jay and Silent Bob's Super Groovy Cartoon Movie, which debuts fittingly on April 20th in Atlanta. I hope the tour makes it down somewhere in Florida so I can catch it live. I love the trailer's energy. McChris wrote new songs for the movie and I'm very excited to hear them full out. The animation by Steve Stark is dependable and without seeing how he deals with a full story it's hard to critique on this blog. I totally dig all the Tim Burton Batman references in the film and I'm sure whatever Bane does will be pure gold. Check out this sweet video for the mcchris song used in the trailer called part one.

Burning Bush: Speechery

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I love this amazing fantasy Bush speech they assembled. This would be to honest for him, I think. I'm not a Letterman fan per se, but I enjoy the way he can rip on Bush. 

Miami Int'l Film Festival REVIEW: "Viva Cuba Libre: Rap is War"

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This past Saturday, I was privileged enough to attend the WORLD PREMIERE of a movie at the Miami International Film Festival entitled "Viva Cuba Libre: Rap is War."  The film follows Cuban activist hip hop duo Los Aldeanos as they struggle to spread their revolutionary music and message throughout the island country from the capital city of Havana--hometown of both members of Los Aldeanos--to the remote rural areas like HolguĂ­n--where two brothers were beaten and arrested for listening to Los Aldeanos.  The film was also preceded by a short film entitled "Lost Country" which documents the ideological roots that took hold during the Cuban Revolution of 1959 and Fidel Castro's subsequent rise to power.

POP CULTURE HEROES: Kevin Smith's Intimate session

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Kevin Smith is one of my favorite pop-culture icons. On my personal Mount Rushmore of directors that influence me he's got the Abe Lincoln spot. As you can tell from previous blogs , I really dig his smodcast internet radio network. I first discovered him as a filmmaker though. The first time a Kevin Smith project caught my eye was Mallrats. I was nine years old at the time and I saw tv spots for the film. I instantly thought it was cool and looked like something I had to see. I wouldn't see it for another 4 years. Cut to the year 1999 my brother Gabby and his then girlfriend Jeanette who practically lived at the movie theatre every weekend at this time. Head out on a date to see it. I remember asking them about the movie after their return. It must of been somewhere in their response that I learned about the filmmaker Kevin Smith and Jay and Silent Bob the stoner heroes who are in four major feature films. That Christmas of '99 my mom asked me for help buying gif