Doctor Cataclysm

I mentioned Doctor Cataclysm, and his blog A Villain's Life, in sort of an offhand way, but it really deserves a full, proper post. If you haven't read it, go read it now, so far it's very short. (I further recommend that you add it to your feed, and if you don't have a feed, to get one, but now we're shading into irrelevancy.)

I'm really quite taken with it. I have a mild obsession with non-standard storytelling, and I've been interested in the idea of fictional blogging for a while. And, of course, superheroes are cool. Supervillains even more so--especially mad scientists.

That's all certainly part of it. But Doctor Cataclysm himself is really quite charming. He's a super villain, but he's not psychotic. When he's not engaging in (excellent) supervillainy, he occasionally stops muggers, and worries about being "too much of a moocher." The villainy is entertaining, but it seems like a cross between a job and a hobby, (love your work, I guess) and less like destroy-the-world craziness.

Which is good. It's relatable. And, at times, very sweet. (Though I recommend running through the previous posts before hitting that last.)

My favorite thing about this is that it's not fiction in blog form. It is, in fact, a fictional blog. In addition to recounting his villainy, he blogs about movies, politics, and YouTube videos. The politics and the videos are fictional, which is probably necessary, (though the videos might make an interesting project) but the movies are real, which is excellent.

The only trouble is that there's not very much of it, yet. Which is great for me, and you, and everyone getting into it right now, because there's not much to get into before we're up to speed. But I sure hope it keeps up, at the same level of quality, because it sure is a lot of fun.

(I can think of one other nitpick--the most generic of the generic blog templates. But in some ways, that adds to its charm, and I can't fault a brand new blog for not having figured out it's look yet. I still haven't really figured out mine.)

Oh, and a thank you to Neitherworld Stories, for linking to A Villain's Life in the first place. From there I have also learned of Velvet Marauder, but haven't yet had quite the chunk of time I'd like to get through it.

Links Ahoy!

Now here's an interesting website: 9 Degrees of Bloggeration. Scott Duster blogs about the blogs he finds as he chains through the links, Kevin Bacon style. So far, there's a lot of Spain.

In the spirit of the thing, I found this blog through Today's Rock Stars, which tracks the profligate use of rock star metaphors to describe people decidedly non-rock star. Which I found through a link from the proprietor's other blog, the Silent Penultimate Panel Watch, which tracks the overuse of the silent penultimate panel in newspaper cartoons. Which I found through Narbonic. Actually, the director's cut, but you don't want to go there if you haven't read the original strip.

Trust me. You want to start with the first strip and just keep on going. There be plots ahead!

For the Love of Lex Luthor

I've picked up a new catch phrase.

FOOLS! I HAVE NO USE FOR YOUR PITIFUL CURRENCY! I WISH ONLY TO ATTRACT THE ATTENTION OF . . .

SUPERMAN!


I just replace "currency" with whatever I'm talking about at the time, and hey! Instant comeback! So far "education" is my favorite.

I got it off this excellent website. I am all about the mad science.