Jimmy's Juke Joint

Blurb Worthy

I've been doing the podcast Comic News Insider for some time now. We review comic books and on occasion, someone thinks my word means something. I've done a few blurbs for folks for their websites and press releases. But, for the first time I'm actually on the back of a book for all to see! What is that book, you ask? No? You didn't ask? Well, ask damn it! It's none other than...

Jesus Hates Zombies featuring Lincoln Hates Werewolves by Stephen Lindsay and Steve Cobb. Here's the official breakdown:

Following on the heels of the independent smash-hit JESUS HATES ZOMBIES: Those Slack-Jaw Blues, writer/creator Stephen Lindsay is back with the J-Man and a new friend: Abraham Lincoln! Starring in a new four-part ongoing straight-to-trade series, Jesus along with Laz, his loyal zombie sidekick, must figure out a way to unite the remaining humans to stand up and defeat the zombie menace. But zombies won't be their only problem - werewolves abound and it's up to another bearded man to defeat these dastardly beasts! Abraham Lincoln to be exact! With a time-traveling Lincoln at their side and a zombified Angel hot on their heels, can this mish-mash of heroes save humanity... and themselves?

Sounds zany and crazy. I know! Stephen's first book, Jesus Hates Zombies: Those Slack-Jaw Blues was really fun and I championed it for some time on the show. Go buy it. I'll wait. Got it? Good. Well, Stephen and I started corresponding more and officially met at various comic conventions. When he announced the sequel JHZ, he asked if I'd write a blurb for it. So, I did. And it's on the back cover, bitches! And it goes a little something like this:

WWJD? (What Would Jesus Do?) He'd kick some zombie ass! Jesus Hates Zombies is a fun, action packed romp full of both hilarity and drama. Who knew Jesus was such an ass kicking, no cheek turning, zombie destroyer? Stephen Lindsay, that's who!
-Jimmy Aquino (Comic News Insider)

Start lining up, kids. Send in your requests and I'll gladly start blurbing all over your face! I mean, your book. Hell, I'll even try my hand at a Foreword and even an Afterword. Many one day I'll actually get to finishing the books I'm working on as well. Oh, and if you don't believe me about the blurb, suck on this.

Bitches.

Interviewing "Kyle Piccolo", Part 2

With all of the crazy Anime/Manga and tech goddess goodness this week, I completely forgot to put up Part 2 of my episode of Kyle Piccolo. If you haven't seen part 1, then go back and watch it! And if you're unfamiliar, then keep up! I basically played myself or a version of myself. Yes, I acted a bit! I was brilliant. Genius. Magnificent. Effusive. Loquacious. Moronic. Wait...not that one. Actually, yeah, probably that one. Enjoy.

New York Anime Fest & Far East to East Showcase

I attended my very first Anime convention yesterday with the New York Anime Fest. I've certainly seen some Anime. Mostly TV shows. A few Anime films. Read very little Manga. (Japanese comics). So, it was a bit of a learning experience for me. I was quite confused as to whom were most of the cosplayers. Some I figured out, but others...no clue. It took a small area of the convention center. Only 5 aisles. I walked it through twice and saw a ton of Manga, Anime, clothing, art, toys and a creepy little life-like robot girl called Project Aiko. It seems as though the culture is bigger than the actual product. As in all of the various types of clothing and weapons/toys that were on sale.

What did I get out of it? Truthfully, very little. Yet, I still enjoyed it. There were a TON of cosplayers and most were in their tweens. It was a bit disturbing seeing some of the very young ladies so scantilly clad with their MOTHERS RIGHT NEXT TO THEM. Like obsessed stage mothers in a kiddie beauty pageant.

I didn't purchase much, if anything. I found a comic in the tiny artist alley that looked interesting and picked up 6 issues of it. There were some incredible artists in the alley. Again, all very young. Quite impressive! I took their cards to look up later and perhaps get in touch.

Now, the real show was later. The Far East to East Showcase at The Knitting Factory club. About 7 bands were playing starting around 7 p.m. My homies, The Notorious MSG were basically headlining and going on later in the evening. So, I met my friends Mike and Jon there around 9 p.m.

A Japanese band called quaff was starting. They had a heavy blend of hard rock and rap all in Japanese. They fucking rocked the house. Really fun and they clearly were having lots of fun themselves. Even doing a cool cover of Michael Jackson's "Beat It". Yeah, that's right. We dubbed them the Japanese Poison complete with a C.C. DeVille look-a-like!

They were followed by a local group called Echo Stream. I describe them as sort of Bjork meets Evanescence. Very smooth and cool and a great contrast of vocals and music. They also did a fine cover, but it wasn't no Michael Jackson. It was Radiohead's "Creep".

Soon after, the Chinatown boys, The Notorious MSG, took the stage and stormed it with a raucous show full of energy, hilarity and awesome music. They did an unyet heard of song from their upcoming new album. It kicked all sorts of ass! It was great to see them perform live after interviewing them a couple of weeks ago and listening to their music for weeks now. We all thought the show was over, so we went out to the lobby area where some of the bands were hanging out. I got to chat with the MSG boys for a bit as well as some of the others.

We soon realized there was more show as a band took the stage. TsuShiMaMiRe. A 3 girl Japanese rock/punk band. And motherfucker did they kill it! Jon and I were banging our heads along to every unintelligible word. (It was in Japanese...duh!)

I enjoyed the show so much, that I ended up buying CD's for quaff, Echo Stream and all 3 available by TsuShiMaMiRe. You'll soon be hearing about them on Comic News Insider, I'm sure.In the meantime, go click on the links for the and check them out for yourself. Don't be scared of the Asian rock. We know how to kick it like Chan!

More pictures later or check them all out on my flickr page.

Natali & Amber Mac Aftermath

Did you come to the meetup with Natali Del Conte and Amber Macarthur? Well, you missed out! I arrived a little late (surprise, surprise) to a nice small gathering. Natali greeted me and introduced me to Amber right away. Who, as well, is just as lovely and sweet in person as you think she would be. We took over the whole right side of the bar and had a great turnout. Throughout the night, I'd say a good 50-75 people showed. Perhaps more.

I sat with friends and sort of observed everything going on. Since I helped organize it, I didn't want any crazy shenanigans going on at my friend's bar! As expected, a couple of awkward fans showed up, but hey...they were harmless for the most part. Some people lack the social skills. But, it all seemed to go great besides that. Both Natali and Amber are pros and handled it all with great aplomb. I had a great chat with Amber's best friend/roomie, Jenna, and her mother, Myrna. They were so awesome! We might even do a little karaoke tomorrow.

I had a blast hanging with good friends and Vampire Cowboys Theater Company folks Qui Nguyen, Abby Marcus and Jon Hoche. Happy Birthday Abby!

It seemed like everyone had a good time. I look forward to having them both on Comic News Insider in the near future! Natali + Amber = Awesome!

1. Amber Mac & me. 2. Nat & me. 3. Jenna, me, Myrna. 4. Amber Mac goofin'. 5. Qui, birthday girl Abby, me, Jon.

NYC Meet-up with Natali Del Conte & Amber Mac

Come one, come all to meet the Goddesses of Geek. Famed tech journalists Natali Del Conte (Loaded, CBS Early Show) and Amber Macarthur (commandN, Net@Night) are having a gathering to meet fans, viewers, listeners and fellow nerds/geeks in NYC tonight. As you may remember, Natali got a hold of me through Twitter and I helped to organize the whole she-bang. And in return, they've agreed to be on Comic News Insider! Woo hoo! Wins all around!

If you don't follow the tech world, then click on the links to find out about them. As I've mentioned in the past, sure...they're pretty. Duh. Mostly, they're smart, talented, engaging, personable and really know their stuff. So come on out to have a drink or 3 with them (and me too!)

Date: Friday, September 26th (Today!)
Time: 6:00-9:00 p.m.
Location: O'Flaherty's Ale House - 334 W. 46th St. (b/w 8th & 9th Avenues)

Natali and Amber say, "We're looking forward to meeting up with some fellow geeks, so hope to see you there!"

You heard the ladies! Come on down! Though, on a personal note. If you're a weird creepy socially inept stalker type, then stay home. We'll all be better off. Mwhahaha and all that.

Happy Birthday Paul Pope!

Hey look! It's me and Paul on my birthday back on December 9th! And today is his birthday. So, from mine to yours...happy happy, bud. See ya at the party.

And if you don't know who Paul is, then you've been hiding under a rock. He's one of them there cartoonists. He draw purty and writes stuff too. And designs clothes. And I think, he invented the internet. Though I could be wrong on that one. Check out some of his stuff on his blog. And by stuff, I don't mean his junk. I mean his art and his writing ya sickos! Or maybe you'll get lucky and find a drawing of his junk on his blog. Who knows?

Meanwhile, enjoy some of his art. Here's the Comic News Insider logo he did for me. And a few other ones after that. You're welcome.

CNI 158 - Fall TV!

Comic News Insider: Episode 158 is now available for free download! Click on the link or get it through iTunes! Sponsored by Dynamic Forces.

Reviews: Age of Sentry #1, Greatest Hits #1, DC Universe Decisions #1 

We're recording late and it shows. Yet we still manage to run long. Thankfully, you love us so much it wont matter. Emmy talk, Star Wars: Force Unleashed has consumed Jimmy's dark side, SPX, Baltimore Con, NY Anime Fest and Part 2 of Jimmy's Kyle Piccolo episode is discussed.  News includes The Hulk 100 Project, Image Kid's Line, Toonami, Jim Lee pitching for the O's, Stephen Chow in Green Hornet and more! Feedback, Top 3 and plugs galore. Leave your iTunes comments! 5 stars and nothing but love! Also, get a hold of us!

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Thanks for listening!

Times Square Comedy Barkers

Dear Comedy Club Barkers in Times Square,

Stop asking me, "Do you like to laugh?" I'm either going to say "No" or punch you in the head. Or both.

And what's with the "Ladies get in free" thing? Is it scientifically proven that they laugh any more or less at jokes? Plus, I really don't think the often no-English speaking tourists or ghetto kids or drunk locals cutting through Times Square to bars are the target audience you want.

Just saying.

Emmy Kimmel

The Jimmy Kimmel faux Barbara Walters pre-Emmy Awards special was pretty hilarious. Even the boring Michael Phelps was funny with Kimmel's help. Tracy Morgan had me peeing my pants. And the musical interlude with my future ex-girlfriend Salma Hayek was quite funny too. Mostly because it came out of nowhere and over the fact that she agreed to do it. Check it:

As for The Emmy's themselves? Lame. (Lowest rating in years, I've read). 5 reality guest hosts sucked ass. My boy Michael Emerson got robbed of his Emmy. Josh Groban's horrendous attempt at a theme song medley. A few funny moments like with Ricky Gervais, Don Rickles and....hmmm...yeah, that was about it.

Maybe next year have Kimmel host the awards and bring Adam Carolla with him. They could turn it into a Man Show reunion. At least it would be better ratings! And hey....beer!

Why Yes, Natali Del Conte IS Awesome!

Famed tech journalist and Twitter friend Natali Del Conte swung by my bar last night. And yes, she is awesome. She and her friends (including fellow Loaded producer Mark Licea) had a drink or 2 and headed off into the night.

As you recall, we recently got in touch via Twitter and I've helped to set up a meet-up for Natali and Amber MacArthur with their fans here in NYC! It's Friday, September 26th from 6pm-9pm at O'Flaherty's on 46th St. between 8th & 9th avenues.

This was our first time meeting in person. Oh, internet. You're like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. Bringing 2 great tastes that taste great together. I'm not sure if I'm the chocolate or the peanut butter, but you get the idea.