We’re a little under the weather and behind the eightball, so no major postings today.

UPDATE: Hey everyone I do have a Gmail account and use that 95% of the time. I also have Yahoo, Hotmail and what ever else there is. Please take all this energy you have to help me and use it to shoot scud missiles at AOL headquarters.

This morning discovered I have a backlog of about 8 week’s worth of unsent email in my AOL account, which explains why so many people have been rudely not answering my emails. IN reality I have been rudely not answering my emails. If you suddenly get an email wishing you a happy Thanksgiving, that is why.
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The Beat can’t stop playing Battle for Wesnoth. Maybe it’s just avoidance. Maybe it’s the cold weather. We’re trying to beat the dragons in “The Rise of Wesnoth” and it is not easy, let me tell you. Meanwhile we have to stop because not only do we have too much on our plate, but our wrist is giving out. Seriously, there’s a swelling on the side of it from clicking too much!

We have a few things coming up — our year end review, which we’ve skipped for two years, but third time the charm. Our Best Comics list, which we skipped last year, but there was too much going on to ignore this year!

For 2008 we are looking for another intern to do the hard work so we have more time for Wesnoth. Duties will include putting together the events listing and carrying boxes around. This can be a long distance internship (so no box carrying), however, someone from SVA, home of all good interns, probably makes more sense. Email us if you are interested or know someone who is.

And now Posting at The Beat:

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Time to get back to work. Put away the eggnog, the sugarplums, the candy canes, roasted duck, Anchor Christmas beer, cranberry cider and so on. We are back on the path of righteousness.

In wrapping up 2007 (which we haven’t really done yet) we forgot to thank the people who really count: Ben, Trish, Zena, Suzu, Sharon, Dino, Sara, Elim, Amy, Frank 3, Douglas, Jah Furry, Jimmy, Amanda, Eric, Calvin, Mark and, really, a cast of dozens, or perhaps thousands, without whom we couldn’t blog every day. Or at least wouldn’t have as much fun doing it.

We always think we want to shake this up here, but everything we plan gets swept away by the tide of events. For instance, we wanted to start doing reviews, but after reading just two books we had such harsh things to say about former pals that we had to warn them first. But that doesn’t make any sense either. So…we have to ease into it, or something.

We would like to include more original content here — and especially art. Please shoot us your promos and news items. They can even be about you.

We had toyed with the idea of saying something about the comment threads here. Folks, this is not the boards at Newsarama! Please, THINK before you post. And no rumors or gossip in the comments! We will never eliminate the comments as so much additional information is revealed there in, but post with your head, not over it.

Thanks once again for your continued support and encouragement. It means more than we can ever say. Really.

We had a lot of thoughts about this year that just was, but it has all been wiped away by a massive clean up effort at Stately Beat Manor that has dragged us through the 80s and 90s via the wonders of closet cleaning. A few strong impressions of only the past 12 months remain, though.

Our favorite new album: a toss-up between Simian Mobile Disco’s Attack Decay Sustain Release and the Klaxon’s Myths of the Near Future but we don’t actually buy very many albums, so this comes under the realm of preference onle.

Favorite movies: likewise, we didn’t attend enough films to make any kind of informed best of list, but we did enjoy Ratatouille, No Country for Old Men, Super Bad and The Simpsons Movie. We did not see Stardust, Ghost Rider or Beowulf. we did not enjoy Spider-Man 3, FF 2 or Pirates 3.

Also:
This kind of stuff makes us sad.

The Big Dig Ends!

“Don’t taze me, bro.”

And: Please stop superpoking us. Really. We mean it.

Let’s face it, no one wants to work this week, and that even includes us. So we’re still loafing as we gradually get back up to speed.

In the meantime, check out this exclusive footage we found of Chip and Dale* planning how to take out someone named Donald. Fascinating.

* Yes, Chip ‘n’ Dale were chipmunks and these are grey squirrels. Who cares! They are so cute chittering back and forth to each other. And oh! their cunning little hands!

Okay we’re taking the day off from blogging except for a few odds and ends…time to get those last minute gifts and get ready for the trip home. We may have a seasonal greetings over the next few days but basically, we wish you ALL a very safe and happy holiday wherever you may be.

In the meantime, someone sent us the above faux-children’s book last night, and we think it’s just awesome.

News is slowing down and we’ll be coasting along for the next couple of weeks. So don’t expect any fireworks, okay?

We’re back, but we’re on European time, so posting will be dazed and confused for a while. We’re catching up on hundreds and hundreds of emails, and thousands of links in our RSS and to be honest, we’re probably just going to shine it on.

As for my trip, my head is swimming with castles and ghosts and tombs. I stayed at a haunted medieval inn in Birmingham, and should you have cause to go there, I highly recommend staying at the Old Crown. The ghost in the room kept switching on the light, one time when I was staring directly at it. We also visited Warwick Castle, (where there photos accompanying this were taken.) While it’s now run by Tussauds, in the off season there were few jugglers and other costumed types running around, allowing us to enjoy just wandering around a castle.

In London, the highlight was Westminster Abbey. They now charge £10 to get in (as, oddly, it “receives no funding from the Crown or the Church and only occasional project support from the State”) but it was worth every penny to see history — the Coronation chair, the tombs of Queen Elizabeth I, Richard II, Henry VII, Dryden, Handel and even Aphra Behn — sprawling before you.

In the end, this very nearly internetless and phoneless vacation was quite refreshing and has left The Beat refreshed for the battles that lie ahead. Many thanks to Mark Coale and Anne Ishii for keeping things going here. Mark even graduated to posting the sales charts! While it is always good to go away, it is always good to be back.

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While we’re away Mark Coale will be manning the ship. We’re happy to announce that will be guest posting next week, as well. Treat them nice! And have a great holiday.

We’re going crazy here at Stately Beat Manor! How crazy? We’re going away and WE’RE NOT TAKING OUR COMPUTER! Totally nuts, right? We’ve got it figured out however. This is going to be so smooth. You’ll see.

In the meantime, we’re really to busy to post today anyway. So let’s just wish everyone a VERY happy and healthy Thanksgiving holiday and leave it at that, okay?

Sorry for the brief hiatus. While we’ve been recovering from various birthday related celebrations, the truth is we’re also just too damned busy. We have way too many projects in the works, a bad back, a stiff neck, AND we’re going away for a week starting Wednesday. And WE’RE NOT TAKING OUR LAPTOP. That’s a first but a necessity. (Plus the last time we took it abroad it got stolen, so…)

Anyway, there will be a posting dearth for the next while, and while we’ll try not to be totally derelict in our duties, we just can’t help it. We do have a guest blogger or two lined up for our vacation, however. More on that later.

As for our birthday weekend, we had a get together following yesterday’s Big Apple National. It was a festive gathering that morphed into a Valiant reunion party. We had an entire floor to ourselves, which was good so we didn’t scare too many civilians ith our antics. Also, when we booked the joint, we had no idea that it turned into a karaoke party at 10. So that was either the perfect capper to the evening or the greatest disaster in comics history. Karaoke is a you-had-to-be-there affair, but we really have to call out Steve Bunche for his renditions of “Thunderball” and “From Russia with Love,” Billy Tucci for “Daydream Believer” and Nicky Barrucci for “Sweet Caroline.” Alex Segura, MoCCA’s Matt Murray, Rodney Ramos and Michael Gaydos also stepped into the fray. The show was really stolen by two people: first, the infamous Nelson, who also hosts Arlene’s Live R&R Karaoke, meaning he’s a total ringer. Above you see Nelson and my pal Amy rocking out on “Sister Christian.” The other ringer was MoCCA’s Jennifer Babcock, who not only draws a webcomic, C’est Le Vie, but sang Bjork’s “It’s Oh So Quiet” complete with squalls. She is a lady to watch!

The evening was completed with an episode we’ll call “The Purloined Backpack,” starring Laura Hudson and Rich Johnston!

Anyhoo, everyone seemed to have a pretty good time. But now, back to normal, albeit a harried and hard pressed normal. A huge huge thank you to everyone who called or emailed or came out; if I didn’t respond individually, rest assured every message was much appreciated. But now, back to the grindstone!

We’re a little under the weather here at Stately Beat Manor, so despite the many lively and thrilling discussions raging on over many vital issues, we will put off examining them for yet another day. Painful, but necessary.

We haven’t had a chance to go through the mail, either. Many interesting links, and we apologize.

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Not only are we recovering from Halloween Week, but a) it’s quiet out there and b) we have to pack up and move to a new cube at work which, considering our previous experiment in the cubic footage and mass in graphic novels it would take to completely fill a cubicle, is a long, painful process. Finding our truss is the #1 goal. So with all that in mind, we’re taking the rest of the day off. However, here’s a picture from last night of The Beat, Colleen Doran, Trish Mulvihill, Elim Mak and Amanda Conner.

This week’s Nightmare Factory events have been so much fun. On Tuesday, we met up with Colleen for tea, then zipped over to the Zuda party (more coverage of that tomorrow), then met up with Heather Drucker and Hope Innelli from HarperCollins and the rest of the Nightmare Factory crew (Stuart, Joe, Michael) to enjoy some fine Spanish wine and great conversation. The Comic Book Club event was held at the very stylin’ Comix club, which is a great venue for new and established comics (standup division.) There was a god crowd and many laughs. If you have never been to a Comic Book Club, it’s a very well-run and entertaining “live action” talk show about comics, and we give it a full endorsement. Alex, Justin and Pete are very knowledgeable about comics, and keep the show moving along, with room for both laughs and a sharp look at the weeks comics. After the show, we all hung out, some old friends not seen for quite a while were in the house, and much frolic was had.

Last night’s Halloween party at the McNally Robinson bookstore was an ideal way to spend the early part of a Halloween. (We’re way way way over going to the Village parade after numerous years of being crushed like a peanut.) Books, pumpkin beer, clever costumes, NIGHTMARE FACTORY projections, and readings of spooky stories by several talented authors…really couldn’t have asked for a more chilled but fun evening. And we have to give a shout out to Heather, Hope, Jeremy Cesarec and the rest of the folks at HarperCollins. Working with such fine professionals has been a real education in book publishing.

The server seems to have eaten several posts in the night…that never happened before. And of course they were the ones that took the longest to put together. Rassem frassem.

Via Anne Thompson, a link to Variety’s Slanguage Dictionary which this cranky Brit nixes. We were first amused then horrified to see how much of this made up bibble babble we use all the time — “Mark Millar will helm this ep of the Peacock Network skein.” Maybe it’s time to start reading a better class of slang, like the sports page or The National Review.

Wouldn’t you know it, after we were sweating bullets about a month ago to cleanse our 98% full Gmail (resulting in a one day ban from using it due to excessive downloading) now they go and double storage space:

Gmail will increase the free storage gradually in the next days. On October 23, you’ll get 4321 MB of storage, then the growth will slow down until January 4, when you’ll have 6283 MB of storage. From January 4, you’ll receive 3.3 MB every day, that’s 10 times bigger than the current rate of growth.

Another good news is that Google Apps mail accounts will have the same quota as standard Gmail accounts, while Google Apps Premier Edition will have 25 GB mail accounts. Previously, Google Apps accounts had 2 GB of storage, while the business edition offered 10 GB per account.

Given all the previews we get from ******, *** *** and ********, that should last at least six months!

No real posting today because.

By the way, what could possibly be inside a comic with a cover which needs a 27-word balloon to explain that the giant ghost of an armed man rising over a castle is scary?

Apparently it’s sun spots??? Or the UN General assembly. Or the Second Avenue Slasher.

Thanks to all the kind folks who responded to my SPX plea. Trying to work something out now.

I’m looking for a ride from NYC down to Bethesda for this weekend’s Small Press Expo. Normally I would have no problem taking public transport, but I am still wearing an Aircast for my sprained ankle, and the idea of going up and down a lot of stairs from the train station to the Metro, etc., while carrying the extra weight of my luggage just doesn’t fill me with glee. I’m going down Friday coming back Sunday, exact times I’m not picky about, but I do have a panel Sunday morning so can’t leave too early. So if anyone has an extra space in the trunk they could spare, I’m be most appreciative. Contact me at the usual email.

When the cable goes out for nearly 24 hours, it’s hard to blog.

Regular readers may have noticed our irregular posting patterns of late, as opposed to our former machine-like clockwork precision. There are several reasons — changing seasons, a vacation-induced change in sleep patterns, recovering from our sprained ankle, etc etc etc. Another is that we’re STILL trying to cover some stories in greater depth, and that takes a lot of time and thought. We know this daily link blogging thing looks hard, but it isn’t — it’s easy as pie and chips. Thinking, that’s hard.

We’re a bit behind in many stories due to injuries, travel, pancakes, etc etc etc. We’re trying to clear out the queue and we’re just going to stick with the task until the next pancake attack.

Have experienced some travel related “setbacks.” Posting delayed while we ice and elevate.

We’re told the above is how they roll in Atlanta. And we say more power to them.

We’re rolling off for a few days, so we’re a little discombombulated. There may be a lot of posting. Or none at all. That’s how WE roll.