Gareth S. Young - - 1000 Trillion Suns

Before your eyes roll back into your skull with boredom, let me ask you a question: Did you know there used to be 27 letters in the alphabet? Did you know YE ...as in Ye Olde Tea Shoppe...is not a thing? Did you know that people are pushing for NEW letters of the alphabet? No? Well, read on my friend... 27th Letter of the alphabet Today's emoticon-heavy, text messaging generation fully understand the benefits of brevity and a good smiley. This is not a new thing. Not so long ago, in the middle 1800's, English speakers used 27 letters of the alphabet. After Z came  & (ampersand) So why is & called ampersand and not just and? When the alphabet was recited, with & after Z, it would sound confusing... W, X, Y, Z, and and. Instead, it was spoken like this: W, X, Y, Z and per se and. Per se meaning "by itself" Over the years, "and per se and" was smooshed together and became ampersand. So, for a while & was the 27th letter of the alphabet....

Pop-stars People often ask, "what type of music do you like?" If pushed, the first thing I'll say is pop, but that's like saying I read books with words in them. Pop is generally interpreted as the colorful, shallow, but totally catchy stuff that dominates the music charts. Pop-stars are seen as empty shells with pretty faces, unable to play their own instruments and programmed to generate screaming fan-bases. The songs are written by mysterious, faceless, mole-people and shared out amongst the talent, turning all music into one nebulous, well-choreographed mass of annoying howler monkeys. Pop Music Well, that's not really fair. Pop is just popular music. Taylor Swift and Beyoncé are pop artists. Miss Swift arrived via country music and Mrs Z is often considered R&B, which nowadays incorporates everything from Hip-Hop to Soul. The Beatles, Marvin Gaye, Rod Stewart, Queen, The Eagles and Fleetwood Mac are all basically pop-stars. They write four-minute songs...

Music is a thread that has stitched together my entire life. From my dad playing "Moonshadow" on his acoustic guitar, to my mum cranking up Earth, Wind and Fire on the hi-fi. From my P4 music teacher making the class tap out the rhythm of "Mars: Bringer of War," to learning "Sur le Pont D'Avingnon" during piano lessons. From 70's disco, to 80's pop, to 90's alternative, to movie soundtracks, to the songs I wrote in my bedroom, music has always been a massive part of my life. After sharing some song selections on Facebook, I thought I'd dive further in. I've decided to go through the alphabet A-Z, sharing favorites and maybe introducing some interesting or little-known artists along the way. And I promise it won't all be disco music. :) It occurred to me that not all bands start with a letter; some have numbers. I figured that would be as good a place as any to start... 10cc - "I'm Not in Love" (1975) If you were...

part 3 of the Born Again story arc by Miller/Mazzucchelli One of the most thankless tasks, in any profession, is following someone regarded as the best. In comic books, following Frank Miller in the 80's would be like following Einstein at a comedy club after he's finished his set with the punchline: E=mc². Or something. You get my drift. Either way, Miller moved from Marvel's Daredevil to write the career defining Batman series "The Dark Knight Returns" for DC. He also left after writing probably the most well known and loved Daredevil story ever: Born Again. Ann Nocenti, editor of Uncanny X-Men, got the call to take over from Miller. Often forgotten, sandwiched between superstars like Miller, Kevin Smith (yes, Kevin Smith the movie director) and Brian Michael Bendis, I believe Nocenti wrote some of the best Daredevil stories ever. She moved away from Miller's noirish crime stories to tackle more societal issues, managing to broaden the scope of the chara...

One of the lucky ones Superheroes used to be better-known for their four-color shenanigans in comic books than their hi-definition antics down at your local IMAX theater. In fact, comic books almost faded into obscurity as comic book shops closed, print runs declined and the only people who cared about them were a generation of fans hanging onto their childhoods. I don't deny I am one of those people. I am one of the lucky ones, born at just the right time to see comics change from kids entertainment to mature, grown-up storytelling. The Golden Age Yours for a paltry $3.2 million... The first appearance of Superman (1938) is regarded by collectors as the beginning of The Golden Age of comics. Batman (1939), Captain America (1941) & Wonder Woman (1941) were also born during this period. The recent  $3.2 million sale of the "holy grail" copy of Action Comics #1  shows that interest in these characters is still through the roof, although most people know the...

Today, author Michael G. Munz is stopping by on his book tour...  ...so, without further ado, heeeeeeeeere's Michael!! Hi everyone! It's great to be here on 1000 Trillion Suns! In honor of the release of my new comedic fantasy novel Zeus Is Dead: A Monstrously Inconvenient Adventure , the powers-that-be have tasked me with giving you a list of five things you absolutely cannot leave home without when embarking on an adventure (monstrously inconvenient or otherwise). And so, in no particular order, because that's the kind of indecisive guy I am… Some Manner of Companion-beast What kind? It really depends on your particular needs. A dog, a dragon, a robot, a gardener, etc. Each has its uses. They can get you out of a jam (locked cell, socially awkward situation, Death Star trash compactor), they can carry your stuff, and the right ones can even go berserk at a comically appropriate time and kick three times as much ass as you ever could. Just make sure you t...

Greetings, Earthlings... So, this week I watched a handful of movies and thought I'd share some thoughts with you. If you follow me on  TWITTER , you probably already know that I enjoy all kinds of stuff (and things) with movies being up there amongst my favorites. If you don't follow me on Twitter...why not?? You're missing the brilliant comedic styling of @Spartagus: *instals calories* *updates mood* Thank for installing Spartan 3.0 *sigh of relief* & Watching #Noah ...and Noah has just been punched in the head by a rock monster...so...there's that. The first tweet is me being...well, me. And the second tweet refers to the movie I watched last night...and I'll get to that in next week's post. For now though, let's start with  Guardians of the Galaxy ... So, you take Marvel's box of toys and Disney's marketing machine and what you end up with is a colossal $95M opening weekend for a movie with a talking Raccoon ...