Via h+ Editor in Chief, RU Sirius:

The Fall Issue of h+ magazine is now online: featuring Erik Davis on Dollhouse, Tweaking Your Neurons, The Psychedelic Transhumanists, Sex and the Singularity, Jonathan Coulton?

I have been a longtime Harvey Pekar fan, discovering him—along with the great Brother Theodore—during the early years of David Letterman’s show in the 1980s. He was always totally hilarious and curmudgeonly on his Letterman appearances. I view Pekar as original of a self creation as Groucho Marx, Charles Bukowski or his friend Robert Crumb. American Splendor, the film about Pekar’s life, starring the always wonderful Paul Giamatti as Harvey and featuring Harvey as himself, is one of my top, top favorite movies of all time, it’s a masterpiece.

Now Harvey Pekar is collaborating with four artists on a weekly web comic on the Smith website:

Pekar Project seeds were planted when Pekar discovered artist Tara Seibel, a fellow Clevelander. They began collaborating on stories for her blog, Rock Cityy Comix. For The Pekar Project, Pekar has formed a band including editor Jeff Newelt and four artists: Seibel, Joseph Remnant, Rick Parker, and Sean Pryor. Just as Duke Ellington composed pieces with a particular featured soloist in mind, Pekar is tailoring each true-life tale to these artists?

Over at the Film Freak Central blog, Jefferson Robbins was stymied in his efforts to write about his favorite television series Mad Med. What can you say about Mad Men that’s not already been said a million times? The result was this interesting video love letter to Mad Men which focuses on the cinematography of the series and Alfred Hitchcock’s influence on the show.

Via Joel Johnson’s Twitter

The Viral Factory advertising agency produced this brilliant ad for Diesel. I’m not exactly of the target demo for Diesel products, but I’m certainly impressed by their smart branding efforts and ability to talent scout awesome designers, like whoever is responsible for this amazing bedding:

 
Meet the stars of Freej, Dubai’s first 3-D animated series.  If you’re wondering which of the above four grannies plays the “Cartman,” rest assured these ladies get nowhere near Satan, J-Lo, or even Casa Bonita.  The humor here instead “tackles hot topics like wedding traditions and bribery in a distinctly Arab way, sometimes merely hinting at issues.”

But this is not to say series creator, 31-year-old Mohammed Saeed Harib, shies completely away from button-pushing.  In Freej’s first season, an episode alluded to Islamic extremism.  It was pulled from repeat broadcasts, but managed to later wind up on DVD.

 
In the NYT: Dubai Superheroes: Little Old Grannies Who Wear Veils

Trailer for one of the campier Hammer films of the seventies (and that is saying a lot), Dracula A.D. 1972. Starring Christopher Lee as Dracula, Peter Cushing as a Van Helsing descendant and pre-Dynasty Stephanie Beacham (she played Sable) and scream queen supreme Caroline Munro as the requisite Carnaby Street dolly birds.

“He’ll freak you out! Right out of this world!”

Striking images from Max Papeschi’s upcoming show at the Mondo Bizzarro Gallery in Rome.

Via Who Killed Bambi?

From Good Magazine:

Self-preservation is something that most humans take quite seriously, and that a few take to extremes. Faced with the real or imagined threat of attacks levied by nuclear, biological, and chemical weaponry, some people opt to head 25 feet underground, surrounded by concrete and complex air-filtration systems, surviving off rations and waiting, so to speak, for the end of the world.

That?

 
While I never came down with Idol fever (I do, though, still dream of being a contestant—c’mon, Simon, that was, like, Sex Beat?), my hat’s off to the incredibly brave people who, in sheer defiance of Muslim law, try out for and compete in Afghan Star.  After watching the below trailer for the upcoming documentary on the show, I’m not sure what, if anything, the final prize amounts to.  I’m not sure it matters.  After 30 years of the Taliban—and despite numerous death threats—these kids simply want to sing.

 
From Reuters: New US Deaths Make 2009 Afghan War’s Deadliest

Richard Metzger interviews outgoing Timelord David Tennant and former Doctor Who executive producer Russell T. Davies at the Langham Hotel in Pasadena, CA for Boing Boing Video.

“I’m one of those guys who downloads Doctor Who and Torchwood within seconds of them hitting the torrent trackers. Just a few hours after they air in the UK, I’m watching them in Los Angeles. My wife asked me what I wanted for Christmas last year and I said “A new Doctor Who episode, but I’m getting that already.” That’s how much I love the show (She’s a fan too, but drew the line at me using the TARDIS landing for my ring tone).

“So it was great fun for me to meet Russell and David. A real treat. They’re both friendly, charismatic guys who who were really easy to interview. They clearly enjoy each others company and there was a nice, loose banter between them that I think will be fun for the fans to watch here. They’ve got their double act down pat, let’s just say.

“This interview took place at an interesting moment in time for both men as they’ve only just left behind their respective starring roles in one of the biggest television successes in the world today. As difficult as that may sound, you can only imagine how much pressure is off them after four years of practically non-stop work. I think it shows in this interview, as they’re both very relaxed and jovial. David had just come from Comic Con where he was treated with fan adulation bordering on Beatlemania and Russell is starting a new phase of his life here in Los Angeles. The week we shot this he was just coming off the double whammy career high of Torchwood practically *taking over* British television for an entire week with his brilliant Children of Earth mini-series (read my review here) and then seeing it launch BBC America’s new HD service with a resounding success right afterward here. How lucky Hollywood is to have Britain’s answer to Rod Serling in such close proximity these days and I’m sure it won’t be long before we’re reading in Variety what David Tennant will do next. He’s an interesting actor and a lot of big people will want to work with him, so expect that it will be something worth watching! Like I say, I think it’s an interesting glimpse into a transitional time for both David and Russell and these were the questions that I wanted to ask them, not as a journalist on assignment, but as a big Doctor Who fan (“David, isn’t leaving Doctor Who like Sean Connery quitting James Bond?”), so I hope other Who fans around the world will enjoy this as much as I did.”