When Gamespot did that recent piece on the new practice mode being introduced in the sequel, I was hoping there'd be a couple track announcements to go alongside - it was not to be. Luckily, IGN just dropped some coverage of an Australian event where three new songs are being made available - Anthrax ("Madhouse") and Stone Temple Pilots ("Trippin' On A Hole In A Paper Heart"), to say nothing of that most Motley of Croos ("Shout At The Devil"). They have videos of each one, but these aren't straight gameplay vids - they're more promotional vehicles. The one for STP is probably the best of the three from a raw information perspective, and the song looks to have some exceedingly tender gameplay.

The announcement was felt in the gut, viscerally, at first. Other sensations would follow, but the body remembers.

Online ticket sales for PAX were scheduled to end on the 1st of August. We've decided to go ahead and extend that a few days. Now you can purchase your tickets for PAX online until August 3rd at 6 PM PST. Also, we've finally selected a prize for the Omegathon. It was hard coming up with something that could top last year's giant NES collection. I'm pretty confident we did it.

We’ve had some web site issues recently and it meant that my announcement regarding the new Laser Cel was not visible to everyone that came to the site. I think everything is good now and so I wanted to make one more post and let everyone know that we still have some Cels left.

The Dr. Raven Darktalon Blood Cel is now on sale. The first batch went live at 9 AM PST and the second batch will go up at 3 PM PST. Get them while they’re hot!

Grabbed an import copy of Loco Roco, and - after searching for almost twenty minutes to find my Playstation Portable's disused charger - sank then into the strange scenery which spun from the UMD.

The Dr. Raven Darktalon Blood print will go on sale tomorrow morning in our online store. The first batch will go up at 9 AM PST and the second batch will go up at 3 PM PST.

While we languished in the terminal awaiting news of our delayed flight, we devoured any kind of stimuli - including expensive airport magazines. I believe the advertisement we present you with today is from Wired originally, but there were many such magazines, and after six days engaged in various kinds of labor I must say they ran together.

We're about to send out the passes to everybody who pre-registered, but if you have moved or something, we are afraid you won't receive the pass.  We are so worried that sometimes we can't sleep. 

Have you moved?  Please let Mike Fehlauer, our resident lorekeeper, know what your new address is so that it may be entered into the codex.  Drop him a line with the subject line "PAX Address Change."  If you click that link there, I have already filled that shit out. 

Have you pre-registered, but are not unable to come for some reason?  First, know that I will pour out a small portion of Bawls upon the baking sidewalk in your fond remembrance.  Next, please mail refunds@acteva.com so that you can get your moneys back.

We talked a little bit about PAX and other stuff when GameTrailers came by the booth at San Diego.  I was having a hard time at the beginning because I had only eaten lemonade and cookies all morning, and when she kept asking how things were going, each time I used the opportunity to hatch some new plot.  I am sorry!  Sometimes I do not take things seriously.

(CW)TB

I've checked out virtually every "Blank Label Comics" product at one time or another, but after watching them interact - secretly, and with some curiosity this year - I began to move through their considerable holdings again when I returned from that strange place. 

I'd gotten to Ugly Hill when, looking down at  Paul's post, I saw Mike Mignola's unmistakable art.  I had heard from our own editor at Dark horse that Mike was doing something completely unexpected, something called The Amazing Screw on Head, and it's apparently leapt from comics to animation.  Let me echo Ugly Hill's own desperate plea:  watch this pilot.  Fill out their survey.  I wonder if getting the type of television we want is actually as easy as telling them. 

(CW)TB

Having arrived home during the darkest hour of the night, this update is not exactly timely. I hope that one more bout of self-indulgence - heaped, as it is, upon the others, piled above shoulder-height - will not mar the union we have so long cherished.

I have some bad news for those of you hoping to get your hands on our new book “Epic Legends of the Magic Sword Kings” this weekend at Comic Con. We found out late this afternoon that the books would not be making it to the convention. This is the last uppercut in a “killer combo” that started Wednesday when we arrived at the show.

Most people aren't aware, and why would they be, but by the end of a convention our table is usually covered with sketches of various kinds. Often these sketches will include snips of dialogue (or simply just dialogue itself, on my side of the table) that sometimes becomes actual comics - it seemed like we could make that nascent product available to a wider audience. The "actual" sketch is on the upper left, the one about shaking scary hands, which is sort of an occupational hazard I suppose. Other weird ideas (such as Punisher Guy at the bottom and "George Lucas as an Ewok" in the lower left) are not included in their entirety. Simply know that it is sketches, sketches everywhere that the table is not covered by glossies for startlingly good webcomics or some crude instrument of our retail operation.

Most of the recent flights we've taken, I've turned to prescription anti-anxiety medication in order to make those experiences something less than psyche-shredding death jaunts. I meant to discuss it, but it never came up, because the time that I would usually employ describing a harrowing flight in soporific detail was spent thinking, man, about how each human civilization really is like a lighthouse.

Comic Con starts this week and I wanted to give you all a look at what you’ll find should you swing by our booth.

Reading over some Transformers set reports from Ain't It Cool, we began to feel concerns about the film very deeply. Not that I can actually see movies these days, my clambering heir's domination of my life being absolutely complete. But for you, dear reader. For you. We are concerned that you will not enjoy yourselves. It is this fraternal bond that makes us lash out, quick and searing, like a solar flare.