Myriad media makes us mirthful!
Happy lunch break, culture commandos! We trust August is bringing your summer to a refreshing close. On our end, movement has finally begun on the next heroic issue of C-U Confidential – those inclined should note our advertising rates; space is still available! – as well as a related bonus or two to be revealed in due time. C-U Blogfidential remains in near-silence mode as we work hard on those other fronts, but we’d like to recommend a pair of interesting dalliances that are developing as we speak!
Beginning later today, Thursday, August 8, and lasting through Sunday, August 11, yours truly and fellow Champaign publisher Jason “Java” Croft will once again bring the swingin’ Bachelor Pad Magazine to the discerning masses attending the Wizard World Chicago Comic Con at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, 5555 N. River Road, Rosemont, Illinois! Come find us at Booth I24 on the lower level of Hall F, right next to BPM cartoonist Becca Whitaker in Booth I25, and be sure to visit CUBlog pals Kill Vampire Lincoln Productions (Hall F, lower level, Booth K34) and The Cinema Snob (Hall G, upper level, Booth 301) as you traverse this crazy pop culture cornucopia! Show hours for Comic Con 2013 are Thursday 3-8 p.m., Friday 12-7 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.-7 p.m., and Sunday 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Within the next week, an arcane recording made “deep within the earth underneath Champaign, Illinois, U.S.A.” – meaning, of course, the Secret MICRO-FILM Headquarters – will surface via iTunes and Podbean for your listening pleasure. Damian Duffy Hates Everything is a salty-tongued pop culture podcast featuring your humble editor alongside good friends and C-U stalwarts Damian Duffy, a comics creator (The Hole w/John Jennings) and historian/activist (Black Comix: African American Independent Comics, Art, and Culture, also w/Jennings), and Eric Benson, associate professor of graphic design at the University of Illinois and co-founder of Re-nourish, an avenue to explore sustainable practices in communications design. While the upcoming Episode 6 is primarily an excuse for misters Duffy and Benson to razz Mr. JaPan for sitting out Episodes 3-5, it is that run which will give you the best idea of what we’re attempting – quick and snappy conversation with smart (aleck) ideas and a bit of underlying heart. DDHE is a work-in-progress, no doubt, and we will certainly accept your constructive criticism and unabashed fandom in equal measures. Give us a listen when you can!
~ Jason Pankoke