Today's phrase of the day is "magnum opus."

Via theBerry

Magnum Opus

a great work, esp. the chief work of a writer or artist: Proust's magnum opus is Remembrance of Things Past.

Everywhere I go, I'm asked if I think the universities stifle writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them. There's many a best seller that could have been prevented by a good teacher. 

- Flannery O'Connor

First the tattoo that was signed by Stan Lee (found here):

Via 2adults1child

This week's comic we'll be looking at is John Layman & Rob Guillory's Chew.

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Today's word of the day is "incongruous."

Via Uphaa

Incongruous

1. out of keeping or place; inappropriate; unbecoming: an incongruous effect; incongruous behavior.
2. not harmonious in character; inconsonant; lacking harmony of parts: an incongruous mixture of architectural styles.
3. inconsistent: actions that were incongruous with their professed principles.

The past is past, the future unformed. There is only the moment, and that is where he prefers to be. 

- William Gibson

The internet has become the frontlines for innovations in geek culture and comedy.  So when these two things collide on the premier website for supervillainy, only good can come from it right?  And so it is that The ISS (that's International Society of Supervillains) has birthed its first book - an instructional text on how to become a supervillain appropriately titled Hate You Forever.

The fact of the matter is that, at 172 pages (incl. many illustrations) and only $13, the book - full title being Hate You Forever: How to Channel Your Rage Into Effective Supervillainy - is definitely a quick read.  But that's not a negative thing at all.  In fact, it points to the powers of pithiness that King Oblivion, Ph.D. (a/k/a MD Wilson) employs in his writing.  He gets in, establishes various jokes (include some great running gags) and then gets out before the whole thing becomes stale and annoying.  True, some of the humor may be aimed more towards a certain demographic (let's call them the "indoor kids"), but by and large this is a very entertaining read for people who love absurdity and flights of (fearful) fancy.

Oblivion outlines all the various aspects of supervillainy - persona, goals, base of operations, costumes, personnel, and varios other tropes that have cropped up previously.  With a Tony Robbins approach to the outlandish antics of costumed rogues, Oblivion is able to present the absurdity of global domination as another mundane avenue for realizing one's potential.  Combined with the black humor of someone who delights in the pain and anguish of others (especially henchmen), it makes for a hilarious bout of cognitive dissonance.

True, some of this material has been covered elsewhere.  If you're a fan of The Venture Brothers, Frisky Dingo, Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog or Joe Meno's The Boy Detective Fails, then this may seem like well-worn subject matter.  But it doesn't have the melancholy aspects that all of those projects seem to include.  As opposed to realizing the depressing futility of being a constantly losing supervillain, Hate You Forever delights in the prospect of waging war against heroes - even at the cost of a few punches in the face. 

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Today's word of the day is "brobdingnagian."

Brobdingnagian

of huge size; gigantic; tremendous.

Forget about winning and losing; forget about pride and pain. Let your opponent graze your skin and you smash into his flesh; let him smash into your flesh and you fracture his bones; let him fracture your bones and you take his life. Do not be concerned with escaping safely — lay your life before him. 

- Bruce Lee

Song: "Girls" by The Beastie Boys

Event: Childhood vacation/Faulty Memories

I have both a great memory and a terrible memory.  I can recall lines of dialogue, useless facts and other tidbits of trivia with ease.  I tend to remember the placement of items, the speeches of others and other outward displays of behavior.

What I can't do is remember dates well.  Or ages well, either.  I don't mean the difference between the Jurassic and cretaceous period.  I mean, I can never acutely recall how old I was when I experienced something.  I have vague understandings of when it occurred - and I can usually trace the event back to whatever grade I was in at the time.  But it's hard for me to definitively say I was X years old when Y occurred.

This may cause some uneasiness for readers of this feature - a feature that deals exclusively with my memories.

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Today's word of the day is "bewilder."

Via The Daily What

Bewilder

to confuse or puzzle completely; perplex: These shifting attitudes bewilder me.

People ask me to predict the future, when all I want to do is prevent it. Better yet, build it. Predicting the future is much too easy, anyway. You look at the people around you, the street you stand on, the visible air you breathe, and predict more of the same. To hell with more. I want better.

- Ray Bradbury

Today's word of the day is "blunder."

Via Picture is Unrelated

Blunder

(noun)

1. a gross, stupid, or careless mistake: That's your second blunder this morning.

(verb without object)

1. to move or act blindly, stupidly, or without direction or steady guidance: Without my glasses I blundered into the wrong room.
2. to make a gross or stupid mistake, esp. through carelessness or mental confusion: Just pray that he doesn't blunder again and get the names wrong.

(verb with object)

1. to bungle; botch: Several of the accounts were blundered by that new assistant.
2. to utter thoughtlessly; blurt out: He blundered his surprise at their winning the award.

When you're young, you look at television and think, There's a conspiracy. The networks have conspired to dumb us down. But when you get a little older, you realize that's not true. The networks are in business to give people exactly what they want. That's a far more depressing thought. Conspiracy is optimistic! You can shoot the bastards! We can have a revolution! But the networks are really in business to give people what they want. It's the truth. 

- Steve Jobs

The Maxx fights some Isz on a guy's Leg

Today's comic book of the day is Crogan's Vengeance by Chris Schweizer!

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