(no subject)

I was introduced to some very cool things yesterday.

Shortly after, but otherwise unrelated to, theferrett's announcement of the Second Annual Talk Like Brian Michael Bendis Day, I found via BoingBoing The Breakfast of the Gods, which is an online comic formatted like a print comic with excellent art, layout and a very, very Bendis-y feel.

...except that all of the characters are old school cereal mascots.

Seriously, read it. You'll never look at Frankenberry the same way again.

Then, at rigel's urging, choose_again and I went out with a gaggle of friends to see Jonathan Coulton and Paul and Storm (formerly of DaVinci's Notebook) play at Johnny D's, a great little restaurant/concert venue that's like dinner theater for music.

Artists and crowd alike had a great time, since both acts could best be described as "geek folk" and, well, Cambridge. Yeah. Both groups release their music under a creative commons license and sell all their stuff online as mp3 downloads (which I wish I'd known before I spent more on the plastic versions I'm just going to rip and then put in a box). Coulton is great, with this odd mix of adult-contemporary folk songs that are sung completely seriously but are about mad scientists and cyborgs ("Skullcrusher Mountain" and "The Future Soon", respectively, on his songs page).

However, in my own ever so humble opinion, I think Paul and Storm stole the show. First, their show involves a lot of great audience participation stuff, which I'm always a sucker for. Their style also gets straight to the funny, while Coulton has this strange mix of the serious and the absurd. I guess I wasn't in a very subtle mood last night.

Anyway, 'twas all good stuff. If y'all on the west coast hear about either group heading your way, do check them out.