Banksy

A great website by a political street artist in the UK.

Street Art

Boston find new lead singer - on MySpace

I didn't know that Boston was missing a singer. Of course it has been a very, very long time since I listened to a song by them.

File this one under Dreams Do Come True: Tommy DeCarlo, unknown singer from Charlotte, North Carolina, just joined his favorite group, Boston, and he has MySpace to thank for it.

DeCarlo, 43, who up until recently was working as a credit manager at his local Home Depot, put MP3's of himself singing Boston songs in tribute to original lead singer Brad Delp, who committed suicide last year, on his MySpace page. A fan contacted DeCarlo and suggested he send it to the band's management.

Just A Band!

And now I pass along the infection to you:

True20: D&D With a Twist

For a lot of gamers, Dungeons & Dragons serves as something of a default game system. Certainly, it is by far the most popular, though some would argue the system suffers in comparison to other RPGs. After all, there are countless systems out there, some of them very different than D&D. For instance, game designer Jonathan Tweet created Over The Edge, a system with no skills or attributes, as well as Everway, a game with no dice. Of course, fans of the White Wolf's World of Darkness series of games prefer their system, and GURPS-players like theirs.

However, in the end, D&D's ubiquity won out. Wisely, D&D publisher Wizards of the Coast licensed out the game system, calling it d20 and inviting small publishers to design products for it. The terms of the agreement, called the Open Gaming License (OGL) even allows publishers to tinker with the rules.

True20 started as a d20 variant designed for use in Blue Rose: The Roleplaying Game of Romantic Fantasy. In the True20 rulebook's introduction, developer Steve Kenson describes the game this way: 'The idea behind Blue Rose was to introduce new players to fantasy roleplaying with an untapped genre and a simpler, more self-contained system than is currently available under the Open Gaming License.'

Abney Park

McGuinn’s Folk Den

Do you like folks music? Real folk music that stretches back into history for hundreds of years? Then check out Roger McGuinn's (if I have to explain who he is I am going to be disappointed in you) folk tradition website.

If you don't know who he is, I leave that as an exercise for the student.

This song is what lead me to his site:

That's Cab Calloway singing though.

WotC at GenCon Indy

Well, it looks like the worries of D&D fans can be put back into their pockets. WotC will be in attendance at Gen Con this year.

Gen Con is pleased to announce that once again Wizards of the Coast, will be a co-sponsor of Gen Con Indy. Fans of all ages come to Gen Con each year to see and experience the latest in analog and digital gaming, and Wizards’ participation is a highlight for many fans. This year, Wizards of the Coast will be showing off their latest offerings, including the release of Dungeons & Dragons® 4th Edition.

Matt Fraction/Casanove Interview Podcast

If you aren't reading Casanova the question that you should be asking yourself is "Why Not?"

Matt Fraction interview

Go out and get it and come back. I'll wait.

Ohio State "Super" Collection

In comic book terms, it might be on the scale of a merger of the X-Men and the Justice League of America: two collections combining to form what's believed to be the world's largest treasury of cartoon art.

Ohio State University's Cartoon Research Library said it's acquiring and plans to display the collection of the International Museum of Cartoon Art, about 200,000 works that have been in limbo since the museum's last physical location closed six years ago.

The museum's original drawings for comic books, comic strips and animated cartoons, as well as display figures, toys, collectibles and films, will double the size of the library's cartoon art collection, said Lucy Shelton Caswell, the library's curator.