More than anything, this is a dumping ground of sites I don't want to forget and/or visit frequently throughout the week. It's is everything I find useful, interesting, and enjoyable on a regular basis. Check back often, as this page updates frequently.
Comics
PvP
Sheldon
General Protection Fault
Sinfest
Bunny
Sluggy Freelance
Commissioned
Penny Arcade
Little Gamers
Ctrl+Alt+Del
Applegeeks
Sam and Fuzzy
Questionable Content
XKCD
Something Positive
Amazing Super Powers
Goats
Least I Could Do
Looking for Group
8-bit Theatre
Order of the Stick
Dr. McNinja
Monster Commute
Bear Nuts
Johnny Wander
Shortpacked
Pictures for Sad Children
A Softer World
Wondermark
Diesel Sweeties
Octopus Pie
Freakangels
All Knowledge is Strange
Candi
Eeire Cuties
Sister Claire
Penny and Aggie
Marry Me
Courting Disaster
Patches
Necessary Monsters
The Rule of Death
Copper
Perry Bible Fellowship
Nobody Scores!
Nozzman
Anders Loves Maria*
Menage a 3*
John and John*
Chopping Block*
Cyanide and Happiness*
My Bad Thoughts*
Mac Hall
Men in Hats
Minus
Beaver and Steve
Ugly Hill
Damnation
Boxer Hockey
Too Similar
Angry Zen Master
Cectic
Yon Kuma
Suburban Tribe
Kukukburi
Evil Inc.
Three Panel Soul
Good Ship Chronicles
Extra Life
Orneryboy
Boy on a Stick and Slither
Overcompensating
Jonny Subconscious
The Devil's Panties
Brainfuzz
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
A Slice of Life
Flaky Pastry
Reckless Youth
Erfworld
Gunnerkrigg Court
Girls With Slingshots
Lovecraft is Missing
Goblins
Dawn of Time
Abominable Charles Christopher
Mint Condition
Rob and Elliot
No Reason
Bad Gods
Wigu
VG Cats
Wasted Talent
The Librarianist
The Blogenning
My best friend since I was 9 or 10 year old, this is my brother. Genetics can screw itself, we're from the same family. It also happens that he's an amazing artist who is a "Jack of all Frickin' Trades" (thanks for the quote Jaco) when it comes to graphics. The things this guy can create using his mind and a Wacom tablet are absolutely astounding. The plan is for us to begin a webcomic sometime soon. Hopefully something good will come of that. For now, here's the site he's currently using.
My roomate and one of my best friends. Most of our conversations devolve in to rants about music (usually while listening to records) or philosphy (again, usually while listening to records). He is, as I am, a renaissance man, so there's a little bit of everything discussed at all times within the greater conversation. The other benefit of his page, aside from all of his great content, is that it's a blog that I contribute to, so you can find some of our banter and some more posts of my own about topics not found on this site.
My older sister from another mother, Rachel is one of the most talented and incredible people I have ever met. The web pages she builds make me ashamed to call myself even an amateur web designer. She is also a brilliant writer, artist, and musician, and will hopefully be collaborating with me on some projects in the near future. Make sure to check out anything and everything you can find by her.
I met Tom Quinn doing National Novel Writing Month here in Boston. Conveniently he lives just a couple of blocks from me, and is one fascinating individual. You really want to click this link. Perpare for you mind to be lovingly caressed by his eloquent comments.
Yet another National Novel Writing Month friend, and yet another incredible individual. (Lesson of the day kids: if you want to meet interesting people in Boston, do NaNoWriMo.) Belynda is a phenomenal writer and excels at everything she puts her mind to. What are you waiting for? Click already!
One of my older friends in Boston, and my newest roomate, Dave has set himself apart as someone who's opinion should be thoroguhly considered. Dave's a rather quiet guy, but when he does say something, you'd better pay attention.
Erica is an accomplished writer, currently writing for the Technology Review. Her fiction, too, is lovely, and most recently, her story, "Home to Perfect" was included in The Best of Every Day Fiction Two anthology. I met Erica during NaNoWriMo 2008, and she's a lovely person. She's also a great mind to pick on all things writerly, so click on over and see what you'll learn.
Friends
Another of my National Nover Writing Month friends (and one of the two Municipal Liasons for Boston's NaNoWriMo group), Travis is a fascinating and entertaining conversationalist, as well as being an exception photographer. This site is a photo of the day project Travis has set up, and contains some brilliant images.
You want to click this link. You see, Marji is an accomplished animator, currently animating for Soup2Nuts, and this blog is chock full of drawings, sketches and the occasional animation. What are you waiting for? Go look already!
What is there to say about ZSN? Run by Tom and HP, every update is a little piece of pent up insanity and hilarity waiting to explode in your face. They're Cooking with Wilbur, why aren't you?
Leander is, simply put, my mad scientist friend. If the end of the world starts in Berkeley, I'm pretty sure leander will be the cause. He's always building something impressive, and is always a font of interesting geek tidbits, so watch his site to see what he's turned his mind to now.
News and Blogs
There's far too much to say here for this to hope to be and effective summary, but in short this is the personal blog of my favorite, and I think the best, active Graphic Novelist. He is also one of the most well informed people I have encountered, linking to anyhting and everything that's interesting from a multitude of disciplines and interests. If it's here, it is worth checking out, even if it happens to be about severe body modifications.
Cory Doctorow and Mark Frauenfelder's blog of sorts. Though highly biased at times towards their own perspectives, it's a great source of interesting links and information about the modern wired culture.
"Taunting the Tauntable since 1998." This is the mostly daily blog of John Scalzi, professional science-fiction writer, and a dedicated science-fiction fan. This is full of everything from updates about his own work, to reviews of other work, links to the work of other awesome writers, and general posts about random things that I find of interest. Be sure to skim through the blog a bit, and go out and pick up some of his books.
Wil Wheaton is a geek's geek and an awesome writer. His book The Happiest Days of our Lives has become one of my favorites, and is simply him telling all of his favorite stories. It is one of the most endearing and joyful things I have ever read. Some of you will no doubt remember him playing Wesley Crusher on "Star Trek: The Next Generation", but he's since made the transition to full time writer, and awesome person extraordinaire.
If you don't know who Neil Gaiman is, you should be ashamed of yourself. This wonderful writer is responsible for far too many incredible works to name, but most recently, "The Graveyard Book" has been a critical and fan darling, and has won a number of awards including the John Newbury Medal and a Hugo. Go see what's Neil is up to.
In 2007, Gary Arndt set out to travel the world. He has yet to stop. Everything Everywhere is a travel blog of Gary's incredible trip. It's got great overviews of the places he's visited, as well as some truly fantastic photographs.
The best collection of well written and well researched articles on tech culture available. Though they may not touch as many subjects as quickly, if you find something here, it is almost guaranteed to be well done and insightful.
Ars Technica is a great resource for tech news. I open it a few times a day to keep track of major developments in the industry, and to enjoy their well written reviews and analysis of digital culture.
The name kind of gives this one away. This site is a dumping ground of everything you could ever want to know about how to optimize your life.
This is simply a collection of short fiction of sundry forms. Good for a brief respite from the daily grind, or for a nights reading for the attention challenged.
A collection of the odd, and the awesome, the mustaches of doom, and the octobee, and, of course, Eliza Gauger and company Going Like This.
"A love letter to alternative culture, written in an era where alt culture no longer exists. On paper and on the web, a collection of articles, interviews, rants, musings & imagery showcasing the planet's bravest explorers of Ye Olde Future.".
Lore Sjoberg proprietor. This is a dumping ground of links not only to the many works of Lore Sjoberg, professional sarcast extraordinaire, but to other things he find around the internet. From his long running Alt-Text column on wired news, to his odd postings on Bad Gods, to his recommendation of tremendous things like the lovable Anders Loves Maria, this site is sure to provide a good time.
"Investing, entrepreneurship, music, reading, life. Sometimes its better off the beaten path." This is the personal blog of Ed Daciuk, Managing Director of Pivot Solutions, and all around good guy. This site is dedicated to stepping off the beaten path, and looking for the unique and the interesting. It's a place to see what's going on in the world without the aid of clever marketing or coercion, in those places so often overrun by just those tactics. Most of all it's a place to go to be excited and thoughtful about the new and unknown.
The blog of writer/director Kevin Smith, that silent fat man from New Jersey, and creator of such wonderful moves as Clerks, Chasing Amy, Dogma, and Clerks II. This is a record of his life and work, so go read it you shoe-polish smelling mother-f***er.
Pillowpants 4 Life!
A collection of picture, videos, and interviews concerning street art around the world.
Shorpy is dedicated to preserving and digitizing some truly fantastic old photographs. If you want a quick break to look at some gorgeous images, I suggest clicking over.
Social Networks
Warren Ellis' current message board is chock full of pretty much everything to appeal to the most eclectic of interests. It is a place to discuss interesting happenings in the world, and also the kind of things seen on warrenellis.com. There are sections focussing on artwork done in print and visual media, as well as music, science, internet happenings, and a place called the London Zoo for everything random and not categorizable. It can be a blast, and it's full of intelligent and interesting people, and benevolent moderators who keep the trolling riff-raff out.
A nifty little site that allows you to keep track of the books you have read, are currently reading, and plan to read. You can also hook up with friends to keep track of what's going on in their literary world, and write recommendations about books in your own.
Spirituality
Brad Warner is an "ordained" Japanese Soto Zen Priest, who grew up as a punk rocker in Ohio. For a while, he made Japanese monster movies (Go Ultraman!), on top of writing and running a weekly zazen class in Santa Monica, California. He has a no-nonsense approach to Zen, and always has interesting insights on common questions or problems that arise in Zen practice. Make sure to check out his books Hardcore Zen, Sit Down and Shut Up, and Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate.
Question authority. Question society. Question reality. Question yourself.
A nickname once given to Brad Warner, this is another one of his blogs that deals specifically with how Zen practice can help and applies in the life of sex abuse survivors. It's only just getting under way, but it should be relevant to all trauma survivors, not just sex abuse survivors, as well as being an interesting read for anyone who wants to looks at the far reaching impacts that Zen practice can have (which is where my interest lies, since I'm not a trauma survivor).
Master Gudo Nishijima is renowned for his no-nonsense approach to Zen practice, and as a world class scholar and translator of the works of Master Dogen Zenji. This blog serves as a forum for people to ask questions and for him to provide them guidance, and answers when possible. It should also be mentioned that, during his time in Japan, Brad Warner studied under Nishijima Sensei, and there are a lot of similarities in their ideas and practice styles.
Miscelaneous Entertainment
It's Foamy the Squirrel as brought to you in the series Neurotically Yours. He's an angsty little tree dwelling rodent that serves up an interesting slice of social or cultural commentary, with a liberal smathering of insanity every other week.
Completely randomly insane animations done by the man who brough us the Badgers looping flash. Check out his random toons as well as Weebl and Bob for some random amusement and insanity to brighten your day.
Cute cats and other animals + amusing captions with cute, incorrect grammar = new internet meme. Why not?
Pictures with a religious theme + amusing blasphemous captions with cute, incorrect grammar = new internet meme. Not for everyone certainly, but as far as religion and spirituality go, I think everyone should laugh at their own religion every now and again. Life is about having fun in everything you do.
New, impressive, and often hilarious failings in everyday life.
Music Gear
Taylor's craftsman, by way of Guitar Center, have recently provided me with a beautiful little 214ce that's now my primary acoustic. There is a richness and sweetness to the sound of a Taylor that I just can't find in any other guitar. You can't go wrong with either a Taylor or a C.F. Martin guitar (and there are a few other notables as well, of course), but there's something in the way a Taylor feels under your fingers that sets it even farther apart from the rest for me. They can be a bit pricey, but you can usually find a deal of some sort on them, so if you have the means and a chance, consider picking one up yourself.
My first guitar was an Ovation that I still have and love. Though I've moved it in to semi-retirement after getting my Taylor, I can't say enough good thing about Ovation guitars. If you want the acoustic sound but tend to play plugged in more than anything, Ovation is definitely the way to go/ Ther were the pioneers of the Acoustic-Electric guitar, and Ovations have the richest amplified acoustic sound out that I've heard to date. I tend to favor the mid and deep bowl models, as they have a much better unamplified sound than their thinner counterparts, but your really can't go wrong even with a thin one. One thing to keep in mind is that Ovations have rounded, plastic backs, so if you're in the market for a straight up acoustic, this might not be for you. Overall though, ovation makes fantastic all around guitars.
Gibson needs no promotion, you just have to look at the people who play them. B.B. King's Lucille is a custom ES-335. Eric Clapton started with and ES-335, and can you forget his famous Fool SG? The iconic photos of Pete Townshed smashing his equipment show him putting SGs and Les Pauls to rest. Can we forget Jimmy Page and his Les Pauls, or Angus Young and his SGs? I think not. What about me? Well, I'm a Les Paul Studio guy myself.
Epiphone provided me with another of my current electric guitars. In this case it's an awesome little tone junkie Dot Studio, which I bought to satisfy my love for Gibson ES-335 style archtops. I should start by saying I can't recommend everything Epiphone puts out. Epiphone's place in the guitar world is commonly thought of as being Gibson's low-end guitar line. This is partially true in that some of the Gibson models Epiphone re-creates aren't even comparable to their Gibson counterparts. However, Epiphone shouldn't be counted out in any way. There are many artists who prefer Epiphones to Gibsons, and many guitarists will tell you that sometimes buying an Epiphone is the way to go, even just to avoid the "oh look, we're Gibson, we're going to add value and prestige to our guitars by tripling the price people should be paying for them" markup.
When going off to college, I bouth a $300 dollar Ibanez Gio to take with me, figuring I wouldn't mind it taking a beating sitting in a dorm room. 5 years later, that guitar is still going strong, and has stood up to the beating I've put it through. On top of building guitars that can take a beating, Ibanez is known for making artist model guitars for those gods of tone and technique, Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. Their guitars remain modestly priced, and are a great investment for anyone who is looking for a sturdy guitar that drips with tone.
This companies' product line almost falls in to the "awesome gadgets" category. Despite their novel look, when amplified these sound good enough to be used for shows or anything else. I picked up their Ultra-Light model so that I could easily take a guitar with me wherever I go. Now, I can take it to work and play at my desk when I need to mull things over, on the train when commuting, or whenever I have a few minutes to kill waiting to meet someone. Unplugged it is as quiet as an unplugged electric (just loud enough for me to hear and have an idea what I'm doing), but when plugged in to an amp the internal piezo-electric pickup packs a real punch and gives it a rich acoustic sound. Since most of my good ideas for new songs, and general longing to play, seem to come when I'm not at home, having this with me on the road has been great for my song writing, and for getting in that extra bit of practice and refinement as well.
When you're looking for a combo amp that offers tone and versatility, and which you're not afraid to beat up a bit or lug around to shows, it can be a bit tricky. I ended up sitting and playing the VOX Valvetronix series of amps, and was hooked. Light on the wallet, and rocks like a champ.
Some day, I will own a half stack. When I do, it will be a Mesa. Mesa brings to the table a quality of manufacture and tone I this is unparalleled. There's simply no question I'll be getting a Mesa. The only question is, which one?
Since I purchesed my Pearl set 5 years ago, I have never even though about looking at others. The major benefit for me was that the construction of these drums is so conducive to tone and richness, that I felt as if I was playing a tonal instrument. The sounds that can be produced from one set can be fine tuned to perfection for a multitude of artists. Strong, versatile, and beautiful, they have served me well for many years, and will for years to come.
I have a love hate relationship with Zildjian. I love half of their cymbals and hate the others. On my current set I have two Zildjian crashes and a ride. All provide amazing tone. The crashes pierce but are not harsh, and the ride is deep and rich with excellent stick response. These really make my set come alive.
I have only one currently, a Fusion Hat which I absolutely adore. However, if my Zildjians ever go, I will probably buy replacements from Sabian. Sabian has managed to produce a number of incomparable cymbals that provide sounds that I have never dreamt of using until I heard them. Now all I can imagine is how those sounds will add to the overall mix of my music. Simply a remarkable company with remarkable products.
Though I only have an electric Casio piano at my disposal currently, my Yamaha baby grand at home is, to borrow a sentiment from Ray Charles and Billy Joel, often better than the best lover. Many will argue with me on this, but I think that the Yamaha baby grand pianos sound richer and have a better feel than comparable Steinway Pianos. Though Steinway is in my estimation hands down the best when it comes to concert grands, you get a much better experience with a Yamaha baby grand.
Music Resources
Since the RIAA threatened the Online Guitar Archive to shut down, this has been my main resource for guitar tabs. It is ridden with pop-ups and annoying banner ads, but the tabs themselves are usually amazing. It has been a long time since I have failed to find a good tab for a song on this site.
This is the only place I buy my gear from now. It may just be the one here in Boston, but they have a great selection and a great staff. I am always able to find what I need there, and so much more that I want that I didn't even know about. They also do great work when it comes to repairs, and will buy your old gear from you. The next time you need gear, see if you can find a Guitar Center near you.
Bands and Labels
Every song they have released has been good. Period. I don't know how they continue to do it, but they have now released two EPs and four LPs without a single track that isn't good. Their best album is Frances the Mute, and it serves as a great introduction to them. Listen to all of it, often, and look forward to their upcoming release The Bedlam in Goliath Fall 2007.
What to say about the Red Hot Chili Peppers? They're the Red Hot Chili Peppers. They've changed a lot over the years, departing from their early funk bad-boy anthems and moving towards a more diverse alt-rock/funk-rock style. Honestly, it's the Red Hot Chili Peppers, just listen to them already. By The Way. Go. Now!
Serj Tankian says it best, "Our music has always been urgent, critical and questioning..." System of a Down is band that never lacks for something important and interesting to say, and presents it wrapped in a prog-metal/hard rock/electronica style that no one else can hope to immitate. Mesmerize/Hypnotize is my favorite, but you would do well to buy their first, self-titled album as well.
Muse is a band that is nearly impossible to describe, but here goes. Take Queen, but exchange Freddie Mercury's crystal clear style for Thom Yorke's, drop Brian May's guitar a few steps, add in some rediculous Jimmy Page guitar solos, crank up the classical piano, and add a healthy dose of electronica. That may give you a vauge idea of their sound. My suggestion is to pick up Absolution and Black Holes and Revelations and flip a coin to decide which to listen to first.
The closest I can come to describing Radiohead is what would happen if Tool, Moby, and Phish managed to have a child. Aside from that I have no idea how to describe it. Go pick up Ok Computer which is one of the greatest albums of all time and listen to it.
The greatest modern rock period. As Dave Grohl attests, it's a little sloppy and f***ed up, the perfect style for any great rock band, showing that Grohl has gone from being a prolific drummer to an amazing songwriter and frontman, handlng his vocal duties with an astoundingly unique flare. He's also done the nearly imporssible, he's done an amazing job covering Pink Floyd's Have a Cigar. Go pick up The Colour and the Shape and rock out for a bit.
