Check out Ken Dahl's "Love: A Colossal Waste of Time"... it's 8 pages, and not exactly what you think it'll be...

Just an FYI for peeps who've enjoyed STYX TAXI in the past (and especially those who didn't their hands on a copy of AS ABOVE, SO BELOW), two STYX stories -- "Rosa" and "Dinner Date #9," both with art by my great friend Rami Efal -- are seeing print again in Desperado's August release, NO FORMULA: STORIES FROM THE CHEMISTRY SET. (yay anthology!)

It's available for preorder either through your local retailer (Diamond PREVIEWS order code JUN083849) or on trusty ol' Amazon, and it features lots of standalone stories by ChemSet creators including Kevin Colden, Elizabeth Genco, Chris Arrant, Neil Kleid, and others, and the wraparound cover is by Hyeondo Park.



More about the book here and here. Thanks!

Tags: chemset, hype, styx taxi
Current Location: the kitchen
Current Music: John Cougar Mellencamp, "Jack & Diane"

hey all:

If you've been keeping up (or if you haven't), the latest STYX TAXI story, "Federico," wraps today on the Chemistry Set.

My apologies to Tom Williams (tomix), who's busted his ass week after week and done a fantastic job. I've been really bad about promoting this story as it's been unfolding, but it's a dark, strange little tale and it's been a fun ride telling it with Tom. Feel free to comment, shower Tom with effusive praise, and otherwise let us know what you think, either here or on TCS!

The whole story is available here, and here's the original promo:



I'll have more good news to report about STYX soon!

As part of my workload for my Energy Technology and Policy class, I write weekly blog posts for the Webber Energy Blog, part of the Webber Energy Group (which I'm joining this summer as a research assistant).

Given that most peeps in my life aren't aware of what I'm doing in school so much as that I've disappeared from their lives in order to attend it, it seems only fair to cross-post so you can see what I've been up to.

Here's this past week's post:

Summertime Crude

A piece ran on Reuters this weekend about the different presidential candidates' views on suspending the federal gas tax for the summer to alleviate consumers' fuel price woes. John McCain and Hillary Clinton both are leaning towards suspension, while Barack Obama is wary, claiming suspending the fuel tax will save customers $25 for the entire summer suspension.

Other than scoring points with voters, what effects will a fuel tax suspension actually have?

The federal gas tax serves a pretty important purpose, functioning as a "user fee" for America's highways and roads, where those who use the most gasoline on them contribute the most towards their maintenance. Suspending the gas tax for any period of time means cutting off support for infrastructure at a time when state governments are bemoaning the lack of federal support for highway and bridge renovations. MSNBC ran a story last fall, stating that the Highway Trust Fund, the repository for monies collected from the federal gas tax and which allocates funds for highway projects nationwide, is due to run dry in 2009. While the nominal value of the gas tax has grown four-fold since 1970, the real value of the tax has been declining (i.e., not keeping up with inflation or increased fuel efficiency, which undercuts the mechanism of the tax), currently at about 3/4 its value in 1970.

If Senators McCain and Clinton want to push the U.S. towards a mass transit economy, this feels like a backhanded way to do it, where highways and roads will fall into disrepair and drivers will look for other ways to complete their commutes. If the goal is to save American taxpayers money, it looks like another "rob Paul to pay Peter" example, where taxpayers will save a little money now only to have to pay it later in the form of higher taxes to support infrastructure improvements... ones that will have to be performed as emergencies occur (as with the bridge collapse in Minnesota last year) because repair work wasn't being performed on schedule.

My wife has to gas up our car roughly once a week -- she commutes from East Austin to NW Austin. Given a weekly fill-up for our Honda Civic (which has a 10-gallon tank), costing roughly $3.50/gallon, each fill-up costs us in the neighborhood of $30-35 (assuming current prices). The federal gas tax is currently 18.4 cents per gallon. If the gas tax were lifted for the summer (June-August), we would save $1.84 per fill-up, or $22.08 for three months (12 fill-ups).

Personally, I'd rather the government keep collecting those pennies for infrastructure rehabilitation than granting me savings that will barely cover the cost of a tank of gas. Those pennies will do us all more good in the long run.

More entries from this semester, some fluffier than others:
City management meets future fuels
Modified Saturn to get 80+ miles/gallon
What's Next for Texas?
The EU's Biofuels Ban: Delaying the Inevitable?

If you're in Austin, think about coming out tomorrow and bringing some love (and dollars) for the excellent Paul Maybury, who's doing a signing from 4-7PM at Austin Books (5002 N. Lamar Blvd)! His new book, AQUA LEUNG, is a 230-page undersea odyssey for all ages, and it's a fantastic-looking book.

(If you can't make it to the signing, there's always Amazon...)

I hope my mojo hangs in like it has for these guys.





I've already waxed a bit poetic about R.E.M.'s new album, "Accelerate," but I just got the B-52's new CD, "Funplex," and considering it's their first new record in 16 years (and first on Astralwerks), it's pretty fucking great. Loud, crunchy, danceable as hell... and still full of Athens-harkening lines like "I'm, I'm, I'm looking for some fun/waiting for the bus from Winder to come..."

(Winder isn't far from Athens.)

Despite being caught in the riptide that is midterm season, I'm breaking away to enjoy this year's STAPLE (aka Independent Media Expo) here in Austin, sharing a table with my buds, the just-plain-awesome Paul Maybury (paulmay) and Nikki Cook (heartshapedkey).

What I'm really looking forward to — besides selling, because for some reason, I actually like that part — is kicking back at the live art show afterward. Paul's on the bill for this year's, and I'm sure Nikki'll get in on that action as well. Basically, artists attack canvas or paper with markers, paint, whatever they feel like, and the results are auctioned off to the crowd, and the DJs are usually pretty sweet.

If you're in Austin, drop on by... it's on Saturday, from 11-5 or so, and we'll be at table 65! (Click the giant stapler for event info!)

Not the strongest track they could've picked for a first single, let alone one that's the public's first exposure to them in four years after a wildly lackluster album... BUT. It's new and they sound tighter than they have in a while. From the Dublin "working rehearsals," I remember thinking this was one of the weakest songs of the lot — it's about teenagers at a seance and Stipe thought about titling it "Ghost Lover" — and it turned out pretty decently.

Here's hoping the rest of "Accelerate" lives up to the hype... "Living Well's the Best Revenge," "Accelerate," "Houston" and "Horse to Water" are the ones I'm dying to hear.

(If you have no idea what I'm babbling about, look behind the cut for the live versions.)

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