From the Think Progress blog comes this Onion-like headline and news item:

I weep for the next generation.

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.

Castle in the Sky: Special Edition

Promo copy:

Introduce your entire family to Castle In The Sky, featuring a timeless story of courage and friendship with stunning animation from acclaimed Academy Award–winning director Hayao Miyazaki (2002, Best Animated Feature, Spirited Away). Plus, this special edition DVD includes never-before-seen bonus features that transport you deeper into the film’s amazing world! This high-flying adventure begins when Pazu, an engineer’s apprentice, finds a young girl, Sheeta, floating down from the sky, wearing a glowing pendant. Together, they discover both are searching for a legendary floating castle, Laputa, and vow to unravel the mystery of the luminous crystal around Sheeta’s neck. Their quest won’t be easy, however. There are greedy air pirates, secret government agents, and astounding obstacles to keep them from the truth—and from each other. Add Castle In The Sky to your DVD library, and this magical and uplifting classic from Studio Ghibli and Disney will thrill and amaze your family for years to come.

My Neighbor Totoro

Promo copy:

Visionary and Academy Award–winning director Hayao Miyazaki (2002, Best Animated Feature, Spirited Away) has created a heartwarming, music-filled, and wonderful world in My Neighbor Totoro, a delightfully animated family adventure. And now, exclusively in this special edition DVD, never-before-seen bonus features reveal even more of Totoro’s fantastic world! Follow the adventures of Satsuki and her four-year-old sister Mei when they move into a new home in the countryside. To their delight, they discover that their new neighbor is a mysterious forest spirit called Totoro—who can be seen only through the eyes of a child. Totoro introduces them to extraordinary characters—including a cat that doubles as a bus!—and takes them on an incredible journey. Bring home My Neighbor Totoro from Studio Ghibli and Disney for your family’s DVD library and experience the timeless classic film Roger Ebert calls “one of the very few that come along that are magical for all ages.”

Kiki’s Delivery Service: Special Edition

Promo copy:

Discover Kiki’s Delivery Service, a fantastic coming-of-age tale full of magic, adventure, and self-discovery from the sensational imagination of Academy Award–winning director Hayao Miyazaki (2002, Best Animated Feature, Spirited Away). And now you can explore even more of Kiki’s amazing world through never-before-seen bonus features—exclusively in this special edition DVD! Kiki is an enterprising young girl who must follow tradition to become a full-fledged witch. Venturing out with only her chatty black cat, Jiji, Kiki flies off for the adventure of a lifetime. Landing in a far-off city, she sets up a high-flying delivery service and begins a wonderful experience of independence and responsibility as she finds her place in the world. Bring home Kiki’s Delivery Service from Studio Ghibli and Disney for your family’s DVD library and share Kiki’s high-flying adventure again and again.

Ponyo

Promo copy:

Welcome to a world where anything is possible! Academy Award® winning director Hayao Miyazaki (2002, Best Animated Feature, Spirited Away) and legendary filmmaker John Lasseter together with Disney bring to life a heartwarming and imaginative telling of Hans Christian Andersen s classic fairy tale The Little Mermaid. A young boy named Sosuke rescues a goldfish named Ponyo, and they embark on a fantastic journey of friendship and discovery before Ponyo’s father, a powerful sorcerer, forces her to return to her home in the sea. But Ponyo’s desire to be human upsets the delicate balance of nature and triggers a gigantic storm. Only Ponyo’s mother, a beautiful sea goddess, can restore nature s balance and make Ponyo s dreams come true. Ponyo will delight your family with its magnificent animation and timeless story.

YOWZA!

My coverage of the 2010 STAPLE! appears in the March 10 issue of the San Antonio Current.

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.

The Complete Drive-In by Joe R. Lansdale

Promo copy:

Friday night at the Orbit Drive-in: a circus of noise, sex, teenage hormones, B-movie blood, and popcorn. On a cool, crisp summer night, with the Texas stars shining down like rattlesnake eyes, movie-goers for the All-Night Horror Show are trapped in the drive-in by a demonic-looking comet. Then the fun begins. If the movie-goers try to leave, their bodies dissolve into goo. Cowboys are reduced to tears. Lovers quarrel. Bikini-clad women let their stomachs’ sag, having lost the ambition to hold them in. The world outside the six monstrous screens fades to black while the movie-goers spiral into base humanity, resorting to fighting, murdering, crucifying, and cannibalizing to survive. Part dark comedy part horror show, Lansdale’s cult Drive-In books are as shocking and entertaining today as they were 20 years ago.

Complete with this quote under PRAISE FOR THE DRIVE-IN:

[b]Blood of the Mantis (Shadows of the Apt 3) by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Promo copy:

Driven by the ghosts of the Darakyon, Achaeos has tracked the stolen Shadow Box to the marsh-town of Jerez, but he has only days before the magical box is lost to him forever. Meanwhile, the forces of the Empire are mustering over winter for their great offensive, gathering their soldiers and perfecting their new weapons. Stenwold and his followers have only a short time to gather what allies they can before the Wasp armies march again, conquering everything in their path. If they cannot throw back the Wasps this spring then the imperial black-and-gold flag will fly over every city in the Lowlands before the year’s end. In Jerez begins a fierce struggle over the Shadow Box, as lake creatures, secret police and renegade magicians compete to take possession. If it falls into the hands of the Wasp Emperor, however, then no amount of fighting will suffice to save the world from his relentless ambition.

Hating Perfection: A Subtle Search for the Best Possible World by John F. Williams

Promo copy:

The best heaven and the worst hell are the same place. Travel with author John F. Williams into the jungles of Laos and into a new understanding of existence.

In lively short stories, Hating Perfection shows the everyday world as uncanny, equally strange as the imaginary worlds of Borges or Kafka. This engrossing, strikingly original book invites you to experience your life in a new way.

Hating Perfection weaves its stories together with an elegant logic. Our hateful world –painful, unjust, ruthless, fatal –stands revealed as the best of all possible worlds, flooded everywhere by a perfection both alien and addicting. What we want is different from what we get. But the reason why has a divine splendor.

Stand beside the author for a time, and look in the direction he is looking. Your troubles may still be your troubles, but the world will be more than it was.

The Devil in Green (Dark Age, Book 1) by Mark Chadbourn

Promo copy:

Humanity has emerged, blinking, from the Age of Misrule into a world substantially changed: cities lie devasted, communications are limited, anarchy rages across the land. Society has been thrown into a new Dark Age where superstition holds sway. The Tuatha De Danaan roam the land once more, their terrible powers dwarfing anything mortals have to offer. And in their wake come all the creatures of myth and legend, no longer confined to the shadows. Fighting to find their place in this new world, the last remnants of the Christian Church call for a group of heroes: a new Knights Templar to guard the priesthood as they set out on their quest for souls. But as everything begin to fall apart, the Knights begin to realise their only hope is to call on the pagan gods of Celtic myth for help.

It’s got a gorgeous John Picacio cover. What more do you need to know?

The Men Who Stare At Goats

Promo copy:

In this comedic look at real life events that are almost too bizarre to believe, reporter Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) discovers an experimental top-secret wing of the U.S. military called The New Earth Army, trained to change the ways wars are fought through New Age psychic power. In search of his next big story, Wilton tracks down Lyn Cassady (Academy Award® winner George Clooney), a shadowy figure who claims to be a member of this legion of “Warrior Monks” with unparalleled psychic powers who can read the enemy’s thoughts, pass through walls, and even kill a goat simply by staring at it.

Let’s take a quick look to see what I picked up STAPLE! 2010.

Atomic Robo TPB Volume 1: Atomic Robo & the Fightin’ Scientists of Tesladyne Written by Brian Clevinger Art by Scott Wegener

Promo copy:

In 1923, Nikola Tesla’s career is in its twilight until he unveils a robot with automatic intelligence — ATOMIC ROBO! After decades of dealing with all manner of weirdness, ATOMIC ROBO and the so-called ACTION SCIENTISTS of TESLADYNE became the go-to defense force against the unexplained. See ROBO take on Nazis, giant ants, clockwork mummies, walking pyramids, Mars, cyborgs and his nemesis, Baron von Helsingard, in his first trade paperback graphic novel. This edition collects the hard-to-find, sold-out, debut issues of ATOMIC ROBO #1 through #6, complete with cover gallery, pin-ups, concept sketches and bonus stories. Created by Brian Clevinger of 8-BIT THEATER fame.

Great adventure comic that is sure to appeal to fans of Invincible and Hellboy. You’ll be hearing more about this from me in the coming months.

Buffalo Speedway Volume 1 by Yehudi Mercado

Promo copy:

Every pizza Boy has a story.

Figgs is a lifer. He’s 23 years old, he’s been delivering for Houston’s Turbo Pizza for eight grueling years, he lives with his dead-beat best friend, Super Cheese, and he’s got a supreme crush on his Friday Regular, a rich girl named Pia. Life sucks, but it’s about to get suckier. This day is June 17th 1994. Today the Rockets will battle the Knicks in the NBA Finals, America will host the World Cup and OJ Simpson will lead the LAPD on a slow speed chase. These will cause a perfect storm of events, keeping a nation at home, watching TV, resulting in the BUSIEST PIZZA DAY EVER.

In the One Bad Day tradition of Harlod and Kumar Go to White Castle, Clerks, and Do the Right Thing, we gp deep inside the dangerous world of pizza delivery drivers.

They’re fast, they’re furious, they’re f***ing your wife!

Creator Yehudi Mercado offered the most inspired promotion of the show: pizza gift certificates with a purchase Buffalo Speedway.

Hit Point High Sneak Preview Written by Paul Benjamin & Yehudi Mercado Art by Mercado

Promo copy:

Hit Point High is the realm’s preeminent adventurer’s academy. The students will one day be the greatest warriors of Midway Earth, battling the darkest evil and protecting the righteous. This is not the hero’s story. This is the tale about Kenny (a centaur) and Booney (a minotaur), the other guys. The underachievers who would rather get high in the boy’s room than protect the highlands from barbarians. The only quest that Kenny and Booney will accept involve getting stoned or gettin’ slayed.

More mythical high school hijinks with the creator of Pantheon High. Though unlike the previous, High Point High is definitely NOT for young adults.

STAPLE! The Independent Media Expo Official Program March 6, 2010

Handed out to each attendee, this 24-page, staple-bound program book offers far more than just a schedule of events and map of the exhibitor hall. Uncle Staple and his crew wisely included 14 pages of fresh alternative comics. Like the show itself, the STAPLE! The Independent Media Expo Official Program showcases a diverse cross-section of the cartooning world.

The most important and coolest Central Texas comic book happening of the year occurs tomorrow with the sixth annual STAPLE!, "the independent media expo." Begun in March, 2005 after Chris "Uncle Staple" Nicholas, co-creator of You Chose Right The First Time, realized that the Austin area offered enough talent "to put on a pretty good indie comics show" but none in the region. By combining a focus on independent, alternative, and small press media with independent-friendly comic book shop sponsorship and an affordable entrance fee (only 5 bucks!), STAPLE! succeeded like no similar Central Texas event before.

This year’s event features over 85 exhibitors and several top notch special guests including Guy Davis (BPRD, The Marquis), Andy Runton (Owly), Chris Schweizer (Crogan’s Adventures), and Jason Neulander (The Intergalactic Nemesis).

The one day STAPLE! even has some pretty exciting programming planned. It starts off with two Q&A sessions: Guy Davis at noon, Andy Runton at 1:30. Next up is a presentation by Chris Schweizer entitled “Twenty Common Cartooning Mistakes, and How to Avoid Them”, at 3pm. Last, but certainly not least, at 4:30 it’s an amazing performance of The Intergalactic Nemesis: The Living Comic Book.

If all the above wasn’t enough, an Official STAPLE! program with original comics is given to every attendee! As part of my bi-weekly column Nexus Graphica, I reviewed last year’s program.

Can’t wait for tomorrow’s festivities then be sure to stop by Austin Books tonight at 8:00 PM for the STAPLE! pre-party.

I know I’ll be at both events. Hope to see you there!

For Moving Pictures, I reviewed the crime film Brooklyn’s Finest.

Check out the entire review at Moving Pictures.

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.

Gardens of the Sun by Paul McAuley

Promo copy:

The Quiet War is over. The city states of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn have fallen to the Three Powers Alliance of Greater Brazil, the European Union and the Pacific Community. A century of enlightenment, rational utopianism and exploration of new ways of being human has fallen dark. Outers are herded into prison camps and forced to collaborate in the systematic plundering of their great archives of scientific and technical knowledge, while Earth’s forces loot their cities, settlements and ships, and plan a final solution to the ‘Outer problem’. But Earth’s victory is fragile, and riven by vicious internal politics. While seeking out and trying to anatomise the strange gardens abandoned in place by Avernus, the Outers’ greatest genius, the gene wizard Sri Hong-Owen is embroiled in the plots and counterplots of the family that employs her. The diplomat Loc Ifrahim soon discovers that profiting from victory isn’t as easy as he thought. And in Greater Brazil, the Outers’ democratic traditions have infected a population eager to escape the tyranny of the great families who rule them. After a conflict fought to contain the expansionist, posthuman ambitions of the Outers, the future is as uncertain as ever. Only one thing is clear. No one can escape the consequences of war – especially the victors.

Blood of the Demon (Kara Gillian, Book 2) by Diana Rowland

Promo copy:

BETWEEN HEAVEN AND HELL, MAN AND DEMON, SHE’S ABOUT TO FACE THE ONE THING SHE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO SURVIVE.

Welcome to the world of Kara Gillian, a cop with a gift. Not only does she have the power of “othersight” to see what most people can’t even imagine, but she’s become the exclusive summoner of a demon lord. Or maybe it’s the other way around. The fact is, with two troublesome cases on her docket and a handsome FBI agent under her skin, Kara needs the help of sexy, insatiable Lord Rhyzkahl more than he needs her. Because these two victims, linked by suspicious coincidence, haven’t just been murdered. Something has eaten their souls.

It’s a case with roots in the arcane, but whose evil has flowered among the rich, powerful, and corrupt in Beaulac, Louisiana. And as the killings continue, Kara soon realizes how much there’s still to learn about demons, men, and things that kill in the night—and how little time she has to learn it.

Empire in Black and Gold by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Promo copy:

The city states of the Lowlands have lived in peace for decades, bastions of civilization, prosperity and sophistication, protected by treaties, trade and a belief in the reasonable nature of their neighbors.

But meanwhile, in far-off corners, the Wasp Empire has been devouring city after city with its highly trained armies, its machines, it killing Art . . . And now its hunger for conquest and war has become insatiable.

Only the aging Stenwold Maker, spymaster, artificer and statesman, can see that the long days of peace are over. It falls upon his shoulders to open the eyes of his people, before a black-and-gold tide sweeps down over the Lowlands and burns away everything in its path.

But first he must stop himself from becoming the Empire’s latest victim.

More in Part II

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.

Capitalism: A Love Story

Promo copy:

In presenting a “fireball of a movie that might change your life” (Peter Travers, Rolling Stone), Moore “skewers both major political parties” (Claudia Puig, USA Today) for selling out the millions of people devastated by loss of homes and jobs to the interests of fat cat capitalists. Moore has “dug up some astonishing dirt” (Brian D. Johnson, Macleans), stories told in the faces of the foreclosed and evicted, in the food stamps received by hungry airline pilots, and in the courage of fired factory workers who refuse to go quietly. But more than a cry of despair, Moore’s film raises the possibility of hope. Capitalism: A Love Story is “The most American of films since the populist cinema of Frank Capra (It’s a Wonderful Life)” (Dan Siegel, Huffington Post), “a movie that manages shrewdly, even brilliantly, to capitalize on the populist anger that has been sweeping the nation” (Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal). Capitalism: A Love Story is loaded with over 80 minutes of bonus features and extended scenes, written and directed by Michael Moore!

Abandon the Night by Joss Ware

Promo copy:

Quentin Fielding had everything. Money. Power. Women. But now that civilization is all but annihilated, Quent wants only one thing: revenge. Harnessing a strange new "gift," he embarks on a deadly mission to find the man responsible for the chaos and destruction, the man he should have killed years ago: his father. Only one thing stands in his way—a mysterious, arrow-wielding beauty . . .

Zoë Kapoor is on her own quest for vengeance, searching for the monstrous fiends who murdered her family. Soon she and Quent join together, journeying through the ruins of the world they once knew as a desperate desire builds between them. Drawing closer to an enemy they never imagined, Zoë and Quent must abandon all fear, abandon all regret, abandon the night . . .

Prince of Storms (Book 4 of The Entire and the Rose) by Kay Kenyon

Promo copy:

IN THIS SERIES KAY KENYON HAS CREATED HER MOST VIVID AND COMPELLING SOCIETY YET, THE UNIVERSE ENTIRE. REVIEWERS HAVE CALLED THIS A GRAND WORLD, AN ENORMOUS STAGE, AND A BRAVURA CONCEPT.

Finally in control of the Ascendancy, Titus Quinn has styled himself Regent of the Entire. But his command is fragile. He rules an empire with a technology beyond human understanding; spies lurk in the ancient Magisterium; the Tarig overlords are hamstrung but still malevolent. Worse, his daughter Sen Ni opposes him for control, believing the Earth and its Rose universe must die to sustain the failing Entire. She is aided by one of the mystical pilots of the River Nigh, the space-time transport system. This navitar, alone among all others, can alter future events. He retires into a crystal chamber in the Nigh to weave reality and pit his enemies against each other.

Taking advantage of these chaotic times, the great foe of the Long War, the Jinda ceb Horat, create a settlement in the Entire. Masters of supreme technology, they maintain a lofty distance from the Entire s struggle. They agree, however, that the Tarig must return to the fiery Heart of their origins. With the banishment immanent, some Tarig lords rebel, fleeing to hound the edges of Quinn’s reign.

Meanwhile, Quinn’s wife Anzi becomes a hostage and penitent among the Jinda ceb, undergoing alterations that expose their secrets, but may estrange her from her husband. As Quinn moves toward a confrontation with the dark navitar, he learns that the stakes of the conflict go far beyond the Rose versus the Entire–extending to a breathtaking dominance. The navitar commands forces that lie at the heart of the Entire’s geo-cosmology, and will use them to alter the calculus of power. As the navitar’s plan approaches consummation, Quinn, Sen Ni, and Anzi are swept up in forces that will leave them forever changed.

In this rousing finale to Kenyon’s celebrated quartet, Titus Quinn meets an inevitable destiny, forced at last to make the unthinkable choice for or against the dictates of his heart, for or against the beloved land.

More in Parts I and III

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.

Oath of Fealty by Elizabeth Moon

Promo copy:

Elizabeth Moon’s bestselling science fiction novels featuring Kylara Vatta have earned her rave reviews and comparison to such giants as Robert Heinlein and Lois McMaster Bujold. But as Moon’s devoted fans know, she started her career as a fantasy writer. The superb trilogy known as The Deed of Paksenarrion is widely judged to be one of the great post-Tolkien fantasies, a masterpiece of sustained world-building and realistic military action. Now Moon returns to this thrilling realm for the first time in nearly twenty years. The result: another classic in the making.

Thanks to Paks’s courage and sacrifice, the long-vanished heir to the half-elven kingdom of Lyonya has been revealed as Kieri Phelan, a formidable mercenary captain who earned a title—and enemies—in the neighboring kingdom of Tsaia. Now, as Kieri ascends a throne he never sought, he must come to terms with his own half-elven heritage while protecting his new kingdom from his old enemies—and those he has not yet discovered.

Meanwhile, in Tsaia, Prince Mikeli prepares for his own coronation. But when an assassination attempt nearly succeeds, Mikeli suddenly faces the threat of a coup. Acting swiftly, Mikeli strikes at the powerful family behind the attack: the Verrakaien, magelords possessing ancient sorcery, steeped in death and evil. Mikeli’s survival—and that of Tsaia—depend on the only Verrakai whose magery is not tainted with innocent blood.

Two kings stand at a pivotal point in the history of their worlds. For dark forces are gathering against them, knit in a secret conspiracy more sinister—and far more ancient—than they can imagine. And even Paks may find her gods-given magic and peerless fighting skills stretched to the limit—and beyond.

Petrodor by Joel Shepherd

Promo copy:

Book two in the quartet A Trial of Blood & Steel picks up the story of the brave and independent heroine, Sasha, now living in the port city of Petrodor. Away from the hills of her Lenayin homeland, Sasha is making a new life in the dark alleys and wealthy houses of Petrodor. An influential trading centre, Petrodor holds the key to preventing the coming war between Lenayin and the mighty Bacosh. Together with her old mentor Kessligh, Sasha attempts to navigate the political intrigues of the port city and find a way to stop the war. It is the serrin, the beautiful but dangerous people from beyond the Bacosh, who will be the pivotal point in this struggle. How much can Sasha trust her old serrin friend Errollyn? And how much can she trust herself?

Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Backlash by Aaron Allston

Promo copy:

Repercussions from the dark side’s fatal seduction of Jacen Solo and the mysterious plague of madness afflicting young Jedi continue to wreak havoc galaxy-wide. Having narrowly escaped the deranged Force worshippers known as the Mind Walkers and a deadly Sith hit squad, Luke and Ben Skywalker are in pursuit of the now Masterless Sith apprentice. It is a chase that leads to the forbidding planet Dathomir, where an enclave of powerful dark side Force-wielders will give Vestara the edge she needs to escape—and where the Skywalkers will be forced into combat for their quarry and their lives.

Meanwhile, Han and Leia have completed their own desperate mission, shuttling madness-stricken Jedi from Coruscant to safe haven in the Transitory Mists and beyond the grasp of Galactic Alliance Chief of State Natasi Daala. But the bold maneuver has intensified Daala’s fury, and she is determined to shatter Jedi Order resistance once and for all.

Yet no greater threat exists than that which still waits in the depths of the distant Maw Cluster: A being of pure, ravenous dark-side energy named Abeloth calls out across the stars to Jedi and Sith alike. For some it may be the ultimate source of answers crucial to their survival. For others it could be the ultimate weapon of conquest. But for all, it is a game-changing—and life-altering—encounter of untold magnitude and a tactical gambit with unimaginable consequences.

More in Parts I and II