My pal Karl Strandfeldt is featured in the San Francisco Examiner today in their "Meet Your Mixologist" section. "The last time we had dinner at McCormick & Kuleto’s, darn it if we weren’t star-struck when the San Francisco Twins trotted past our table. Yes, San Francisco royalty prances through this palatial eatery on a regular basis, but none of them are as regal as Karl Strandfeldt, the establishment’s revered bartender. One of the most knowledgeable guys we’ve ever met, Strandfeldt got his start at Henry Africa’s, one of The City’s first and most famous 'fern bars.' Besides learning the ins and outs of making a fine cocktail, Strandfeldt steadily built an artillery of entertaining anecdotes, which he might share if you’re lucky."

Nice one, Karl! You're still the only guy whose wedding I was ever at who poured and toasted me with a smooth bit of Irish whisky.

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...and Rescued By Nerds has a drunken Iron Man review by good ol' Ash, who illustrates his verbiage with a pic snapped at my birthday, last year:



Man, that Tony Stark really does hit the sauce, doesn't he?

I suppose it isn't that much of a secret that Rescued By Nerds has let me spout off on things that grab my attention in a column called I Gots Me Some Enthusiasm. First one's up today, and new ones every Thursday at 3 pm or so.

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...and a special shout-out to mi amigo Rob Lavender, who became a Dad last night at 11:22, right between Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Smooches to Cathy and a big hail-fellow-well-met to Baby Boy Lavender. Welcome to the world, Little Dude.

Shannon Denton, the mastermind behind Aces: Curse of the Red Baron, has an interview posted up on Comic Book Resources: "Denton describes Aces: Curse of the Red Baron as 'an adventure romp buddy comedy' that 'just happens to be set in the period near the close of the First World War.' More directly, the story focuses on a Royal Air Force pilot and American infantryman, who pry the Red Baron's treasure map from his cold, dead hand, leading to perilous adventure across enemy lines and a confrontation with the ghost of the Red Baron himself.

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That beautiful and unique snowflake Jason McNamara is interviewed over at Blogarama, and the J-Mac wildman is always worth your attention.

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Greg Burgas and the folks over at Comics Should be Good shine the light on the July Previews for you: "Larry and Mimi offer Dugout on page 205, a story of a baseball team in 1960 that is sinking in debt and tries to break their star pitcher out of prison so he can help keep them afloat. Oh, it sounds quite wacky! As usual with AiT/Planet Lar, you might not like the book, but you know it will be interesting!"

Come on, people; that's awesome. If we've got things to the point where you can read a blurb and know what you're getting when you buy one of our books, well... Well, that's just cool AiT has such a strong brand awareness.

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Sean Kleefeld finds hidden golden backlist treasure in the full Colonia story: "The story is somewhat reminiscent of other fanciful, stranger-in-a-strange-land stories like Wizard of Oz or Abadazad. One of the twists here, though, is that the bizarre qualities of this new world aren't as immediately apparent and even those that are noticed are initially written off by the protagonists as eccentricities. What's easier to believe, after all: that you've been captured by time-displaced pirates or that you've been captured by some modern pirates who dress up in 17th century style clothing? That you've been talking to a six-foot tall man with fish for his heads, hands and feet or that you bumped your head on a rock when you washed ashore?"

Hmmm. Kinda reminds me of Lost, that.

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...and if you're not checking in to Rescued By Nerds at least once a week, you're missing cool stuff like this Mike Carey interview.