He's the Question Mark Suit guy

Barb writes:

OK. I'll bite. Who's Matthew Lesko?

Who indeed?

---

Famed more for his dress and ridiculous advertisements, DC native Matthew Lesko has made his mark on American culture by staring into a camera and repeatedly shouting "FREE MONEY!"



Any avid watcher of late-night basic cable, or mid-day Sci-Fi channel has seen his shtick. The suit, the shoes, the screaming; all to push his book, or website, or whatever he's got these days.
---

There's more than a few people online angrily "outing" Lesko as a fraud, which I think is in poor taste. Of course the man is a fraud! He makes his living jumping around on TV in a question-mark suit with multi-colored socks screaming that you can get free money from the government, for goodness sake. Out him if you must but I really don't feel like he deserves the vitriolic fervor that is laid upon him. He's just a guy trying to make living like everyone else -- he just does it with books of fake information and a Riddler motif.
---

So that's Matthew Lesko. If I ever see him around DC (and I am told he wears the question-mark suit all the time) I will be sure to get an autograph.

Blog Horse

Fell off the blog horse this week. Work got very hectic, and the weather took a famous turn around these parts. Between the ice, the editing, and everything else I just couldn't keep up.

My reflections on the inauguration are forthcoming. I started working on it last week and realized it could be even better than I anticipated. Look forward to it!

In the meantime, here are some things I think you should know about.
---

George Herriman has finally been immortalized and digitized. Take a look at this fascinating digital shrine to him and his seminal creation: Krazy Kat.

For those unaware, Krazy Kat is a delightfully surreal comic strip from the 30's/40's based around a simple premise: Ignatz the mouse throws bricks at Krazy Kat, which Krazy takes as signs of affection, and Offica Pup tries to intervene on Krazy's behalf to win her heart.

With this simple, Sisyphusian triangle at its core Herriman was able to experiment wildly with the setting and the dialogue eventually creating a bizarre desert world with it's own inflected language for the residents. Like Pogo, Lil' Abner, and the writings of Mark Twain, the language and setting become almost as important (if not more so) than the stories themselves.


---

From out of nowhere comes SPACE GIRL! In the proud tradition of newspaper adventure comics (see: Flash Gordon, Prince Valiant) Travis Charest (who I know I have seen the art of, but can't remember where) gives us a beautiful side project that is sure to please. Though it has older, prouder roots, I cannot help being reminded of the occasional Calvin and Hobbes feature SPACE MAN SPIFF! In fact, I am almost certain that Waterson did a panel identical to Space Girl! #3.

It's a hoot.


---
Noted friend and artist Kris Jacque has a moving reflection on the end of VHS casettes. The only thing I can add is:

Remember duplicating bootleg anime tapes to exchange with friends? Remember taping every episode of the Simpsons between 1991 and 1998? I do.
---
Gorgeous photos of the most destructive devices made by humanity. Beautiful and terrifying. A must-see.


---
And to cleanse your pallet: a car covered in singing fish. It even has a conductor.

The Inauguration Pt. 1

Part one? Is he making promises he can't keep again?

I hope not! I'm just incredibly tired from my adventures today, and I want to put up something worth reading -- not just something off the cuff.

To tide you over, here are some vital links.

More than one person told us that more than anything, the sight they wanted to see at the inauguration was George Bush flying away via helicopter. I can't say it didn't make me happy to see him get outta town, but I was non-plused by some of the booing in the crowd during the swearing in.

Out in the field, we had only hearsay and rumors to work off of. For instance, I learned via text message and rumor that two people had been killed when they fell onto the tracks of the metro around the China Town stop. I was relieved to learn that while one woman did fall on to the tracks, she was not struck and did not die. A pretty harrowing tale.

As of right now, just under one million people used the Metro today. That's amazing; especially because Metro has said that the system can only move one million when running at full capacity for an entire day. Personally, I think we're going to pass that figure before the day is out.

Possibly the most amazing thing that happened today: Obama receives the nuclear launch codes.

How crowded was it on The Mall today? CNN has an interactive satellite photo, but you can take it from this eyewitness that it doesn't look right. I think this picture was taken well before the crowds started to come in.

The big question is: Was Matthew Lesko at the inauguration? From the "Manifest Destiny" blog.

MOST EXCITINGLY: I'm pretty sure I saw Matthew Lesko walking down my street as I returned home. I mean, okay, it could have been someone else. But whoever it was, he was wearing a leather jacket emblazoned with question marks, pants with question marks on the back pocket, a question mark hat, and ludicrous shoes (which seem likely to have also involved punctuation symbols of one sort or another).

Inauguration and Packages (non-stimilus)

For those unawares, I'm going to the inauguration on Tuesday. Claire's dad is coming in and staying with us for a few days, so we figured we'd give it a shot and try to get down to The Mall.

It will be cold, it will be crowded. But I'm probably never going to have another chance to see a presidential inaugural, let alone one I care about.

Pictures to follow. Tweeting will likely be limited on the day of, due to the huge bandwidth draw of so many people.
---

The USPS lost some serious business today, since they closed at 1pm on Saturday. Who does anything before one on Satuday? Nobody, that's who. I'll bet you $50 that the post office didn't even bother opening today, since no one would show up anyway. Jerks.

As a result, the UPS store down the street got a lot of business out of me today.

IF YOU LIVE IN THE FOLLOWING CITIES, YOU'RE RECEIVING A PACKAGE FROM ME

LONGMONT
CORVALIS
ANN ARBOR

---

Have you ever wondered what Archaeologists think of tv and movies vaguely related to archaeology? WELL, NOW YOU CAN FIND OUT! (Hint: They tend not to like them.)

If I ever need this, I can just show the movie Troy to Claire again. Hilarity ensues.
---

The Greek Orthodox Church has a wiki. That's kinda cool, actually.

Patrick McGoohan

Wired has an excellent obituary on the late great actor/writer/director Patrick McGoohan, who was apparently born an American and adopted the UK.

While many probably know him from Ice Station Zebra, I believe McGoohan made his mark with the incredible 1967 television series The Prisoner. In this 17-episode series, a nameless former spy (called #6 by his captors) is kidnapped and taken to a mysterious place called The Village where he is to spend the rest of his life. Isolated from the world and controlled by omnipotent yet unseen forces, the Village is a place of terrifying mindless existence which #6 struggles against.

He also fights against a large, white weather balloon named Rover. This show is amazing.

As I've blogged before, it's also being remade with Ian McKellan as the nefarious #2. A nifty by-product of this remake effort is that all 17 episodes are available for viewing online.

You should watch them now.
---

I first saw The Prisoner at my uncle Gary's apartment in Detroit. Mom was very excited by it, and I'd like to say that I was instantly enraptured by the series but it lacked spaceships so I played on the computer instead.

Up until pretty recently, the presence of spaceships was my benchmark for quality.

However, I have grown to love the series as a touchstone for how powerful television can be. It is remarkable that 31 years after it's original run, these few episodes are still celebrated. I can think of few things that have accomplished so much.

So watch it.
---

It also has the most amazing intro.

Barb and Gary on NPR

Barb and Gary Ratner, my dear aunt and uncle, appeared in a recent story on NPR about the wide-spread effects of the economic collapse.

Listen to it here.

Maybe I am just being protective of my family, but I am a little miffed about the rather unsympathetic tone of the comments. Personally, I don't think it matters how much money you have; anytime the situation is such that you need to eat the money you've set aside, rich or poor, it's unfortunate.
---

Regardless of what the Internet thinks, my aunt and uncle (and their dog) are smart, loving people in a tough spot. Both of them have had a tremendous influence on my life -- instilling a love of Douglas Adams, river freighters, the Prisoner, Pogo, and the Detroit Tigers among other things. They're good folks, and I sincerely hope they have a change of fortunes.
---

Need a painting? Call my aunt!
---

Also, Patrick McGoohan, creator and star of The Prisoner, died the other day. Ricardo Montalbán, too.

Bowling for Mason Proper

Some of the Gargkids (read: the new staff) took out 3/5 of popular band Mason Proper bowling in order to produce an article and a very neat video.

For those unaware, Matt Thompson (the tall one in circular glasses) is a Garg Alum himself. And I don't know if it's clear from this artistically edited movie, but the entire band is a bunch of really nice guys. They even let me and Keith hangout backstange with them when we saw their show in November -- gave us free beer with them and everything!

Mason Proper at the Black Cat

Oh, and buy their album. Buy it for real, or download from iTunes.
And subscribe to the Gargoyle.

This Post To Be Chiseled Into Solid Rock For A Nominal Fee

This is an interactive display based around a 1000 year old rune stone currently on display in Denmark. Without words, the stone tells the story inscribed on the stone, and then has some cool interactive stuff to boot.
There are not words for how cool this is. WATCH IT. READ ABOUT IT.


---

Get the DMZ trade paperbacks for only $43. It's a good deal, but this series got pretty dull for me by trade #2. It's been called the "best comic of the Bush era," but I hope that's not true. DMZ strikes me as far to self-concious -- so much so, it is occasionally preachy. I think of Pogo, another incredibly pointed comic that took on world politics, and it's truly remarkable how effortless it felt and how forced Wood's work is. But if you like his stuff, you could do worse.
---

This lineup for the Inaugural Concert sounds pretty good, but I am pretty disappointed that Wilco isn't on it. Especially after they did all those concerts for Obama, and shilled for the new Prez on Colbert (1 and 2).
---

The Weather Under (the mason-dixon line)

You can see the music I am listening to, and see what I have been listening to. It's not very surprising if you've met me.
---

I got Spore for Christmas (Thanks, Grandma!), and I adore it. However, Claire has really taken to the game and has used my account to create all sorts of bizarre wonders. Take a gander. The Moa Kuus are mine, everything else is hers.
---

Winter in Virginia is an odd experience. Around late October and through November, it was genuinely cold -- and getting colder! I fully expected to get a little bit of snow come December.

Instead, it just got very, very wet. It sometimes rains for days on end. The temperature also fluctuates greatly. Before Christmas (and I mean, a few days before Christmas) it was 70ºF outside.

In reality: Virginia Winter == Michigan Late Fall/Late Spring.

We've only had one or two frosts here, and they weren't very severe at all. Everything still smells wet and alive. I think the flowers have only died back out of habit or a feeling of obligation.

I'm told that it will get worse come Inauguration time, but honestly I can't imagine it could be bad at all.

---
It's 39º out right now. It's 28º back in Troy, Mi. In Reykjavik Iceland, it's 34º. Has the whole world gone mad?

Oww

This morning I awoke rather happily (despite having a dog on my face). I went to bed before midnight and woke around 9am, so the term "well-rested" applied. However, my dreams of a energetic and productive day were quickly dashed as I attempted to move my head.

After several minutes of painful probing, I confirmed that my neck was not just stiff. During the night, I somehow managed to pull a muscle in my neck. I can turn my head all the way to the right, but not much past 45º to the left. Touching my chin to my chest isn't a problem, but looking up is a bit of a trick.

As you can imagine, getting Tenzing "OH BOY THE WORLD IS EXCITING" Dog to the park was a bit of a trick.

Unfortunately, I've had to scrap my plans to go downtown today. Claire and I had planned to see an exhibit on the art of Pompeii, but that'll have to wait until later. Prayerfully I will quickly be healed. The last time this happened it was because of excessive hole-digging and wheel barrowing. It took three weeks to be right again.
---

Yesterday, I realized that my work computer has two monitor ports. On a whim, I plugged in the old monitor that's been hanging around my office for over a month. To my surprise the computer was able to handle two monitors! Within a lunch break, I had everything set up and was dual-monitoring my way to victory.

For those who've never experienced the joy of two monitors, the second screen acts as an extension of your desktop. Usually, I'd put my media player, or mail client on the second monitor while focusing on the main screen. It's especially hand when you're doing research: you can leave your source on the second screen and type on the main screen.

Anyway, it makes me happy to have this set up. Totally made my Friday.
---

Django is playing in the apartment right now.