Jim Ottaviani's Blog, page 18

Swim, bike, run.

For some reason[1:] I decided I should attempt a sprint triathlon this year, so with a month to prepare[2:] I entered one in nearby Sylvania, OH. 

If running off a beach into the water with over 100 other people, all of whom are aiming for the same point out in the middle of a lake, sounds like a good idea to you[3:], if swimming like mad and then running back up the beach and then onto asphalt to your bike[4:] where you stuff your sandy, wet feet into socks and shoes and then ride a long way see...

Does the world need another book?

If you read yesterday's entry, you might wonder. And should it be about Richard Feynman? Leland Myrick (artist), First Second (publisher), and I (writer) think so. We hope you do too. 

...coming in 2011.

129,864,880 and counting...

How many books are there? Here's Google's answer du jour. 

(In a day or so I'll give you a peek at number 129,864,881...or would be if it was coming out tomorrow. It isn't, but it will be worth the wait.)

The shoulders of a giant: Harvey Pekar, 1939-2010

I met Harvey a few times, spoke with him on the phone a few more times, did him a couple of favors, interviewed him, and had dinner with him once. In other words I was a bit player in his life, at most. But as a writer who decided that not being able to draw comics to professional standards wasn't going to get in my way...well, he wouldn't spell out for you what that meant, so I won't either. 

I'm sad that he's gone. But there's some hope mixed in with the sadness, since he's one guy for whom...

Nina Paley explains the LHC

Image by tsmall via Flickr

Nina Paley does great work, and has for years. Nina's Adventures, Fluff, and most recently Sita Sings the Blues are all terrific. I link directly to Sita because you really want to see this movie, and learn its history. Really really. 

But science? Who knew? You do, now! Go look. 

Art on the moon?

If you've read any of my previous posts on space, you know that Alan Bean is the only artist who has been to another planet. But, did he unknowingly carry some art with him on his trip? Watch some PBS...

Jim Ottaviani at Kids Read Comics!, June 12-13 in Dearborn

A local show! Focused on kids! Roger Langridge! Raina Telgemeier! Dave Roman! Katie Cook! Jef Mallett! Matt Feazell! Tara Tallan! Michelangelo Cicerone! And that's just the guests I can list off the top of my head...there are more, and they're all great.

And your cost? Nothing at all -- attending Kids Read Comics! is free.

You should come.

Are you taking requests?

Bands playing along the road during races are great. Music gets you out of your own head for a while, and if you're like me, you don't want to be in my head for a half-marathon's worth of running.

But. If I hear "Eye of the Tiger" one more time at a race, I'm going to run off the course and pull all the power cords out of all the amplifiers and then where will you and your power chords be?

Yeah, I won't do that. At about mile 10 I have enough energy to groan and run, and at mile 12 I have enoug...

Moon Zoo

Image via Wikipedia

Do you need to take some time off from real work? Would you feel less guilty about procrastinating on your current graphic novel (ahem) if you were helping real lunar science get done? Can you point and click on craters, boulders, and spacecraft?

If you answered yes to any of the above, you should be helping map the lunar surface via Moon Zoo. What you'll be doing is looking at images from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO),  including features as small as 50 cm (abo...

Skepticality!

Trust me, that's a real word. In fact, it's the official name of the official podcast of Skeptic Magazine. I mention it because I was just a guest on show #131. Swoopy, the host, asked me excellent questions and I talked on and on and on.

If you'd like to hear that, head on over to Skepticality now and download and/or stream to your heart's content. If you're not reading this in late May, 2010 and I'm no longer front page news, you can click on the "past episodes" link and you'll find it in t...