The trailer looks like a Philip Glass video, and you have to blink a few times before you realize you’re looking at in-game footage and not live video of New York City. Yes kids, this is the first trailer for the forthcoming Grand Theft Auto IV. And I have to say, I’ve never seen an video game city look this impressive. From what I can tell this is a scale rendering of NYC.

I’ve always been a fan of the series, albeit an unenthusiastic one. I understand that it’s a bunch of Brits and their American thralls at Rockstar Games having a laugh at the expense of American prudes. GTA has always been a pretty sophisticated social satire mixed with lowbrow humor and gratuitous sex and violence. The first few hours are amusing in a “I can’t believe they did that” kind of way, but eventually the GTA games lose their fun factor. I’ve never finished one, always getting bored by around the 15 hour mark. Maybe this one will be different?

Have a look at the trailer:

The General Services Administration (GSA), according to Wikipedia “is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. The GSA supplies products and communications for U.S. government offices, provides transportation and office space to federal employees, and develops governmentwide cost-minimizing policies, among other management tasks. Its stated mission is to ‘help federal agencies better serve the public by offering, at best value, superior workplaces, expert solutions, acquisition services and management policies.’”

However, it appears that lately the GSA has been used for partisan political purposes to help secure Republican pick-ups in the 2008 elections. During the Clinton years, much was made about Bill Clinton renting out the Lincoln bedroom to the highest bidder, which is bad enough, but here we have a White House using political appointees to force non-partisan Federal to advance the GOP agenda.

Lurita Doan, Administrator of the GSA, appeared before the House today to address the charges against her. In the following testimony, watch her dodge and weave and lose her memory when faced with overwhelming evidence of corruption.

I’m not quite sure just how much of the federal bureaucracy — funded by tax payers and supposedly non-partisan — has been subverted to further the White House’s political agenda. The more I hear of this, the more I find myself incapable of supporting any GOP candidate in the future. At this point, I think I must back whatever Democrat (or independent) has a viable shot at the White House — our country cannot survive an additional four years of such blatant corruption and subversion of our laws.

So, season three of Battlestar Galactica is over, finishing up with last night’s episode, “Crossroads.” I wish I could say it was a great season, but overall it was incredibly uneven. Not as bad as season six of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or most of your average scif television shows, but it was definitely a low for the series. It hurts to say that, because the New Caprica storyline at the start of the season was probably the best arc of the entire series, but left RDM and his team of writers groping around for a way to get back on track. Alas, it took the three-part finale centered around “The Trial of Baltar” to do it.

What I liked best: Lee Adama’s testimony and Bill Adama’s final decision. The fate of Baltar at the end. The revelation of the four of the final five Cylons (or maybe not). And the reappearance of an old friend. Oh yes, and the song they heard — “All Along the Watchtower” by Mr. Bob Dylan.

Now we only have to wait eight months for season four …

I have to say, there’s something compellingly tragic about John and Elizabeth Edwards. The loss of their eldest son, Wade, their decision to have two children to try to live again, John’s decision to run for President as a testimony to his son, and now his wife’s struggle with breast cancer.

These are people who have faced adversity, who fight to survive on a daily basis. Republicans who attack Edwards as a wealthy “trial lawyer, often forget that he was a child of the working class, a man who has always been faithful to his wife of thirty years. He has been successful, but he worked for that success. Of all the candidates on either ticket, John Edwards most represents the experiences of the average American.

Hearing his decision to continue his run despite Elizabeth’s illness fills me with great hope for his candidacy. I liked him last time, but opted to support the more exciting campaign of Howard Dean. This time, I have no choice but to support John Edwards. Of all the candidates, he is most in tune with real Americans, he is the guy who gets what we’re going through, because he has experienced it himself. I believe he has the temperment and the values of a President. Even if Al Gore enters the race, I will support Edwards in the primary.

While Hillary and Obama snipe at each other, creating an almost inevitable sense of mutually assured destruction, John and Elizabeth are out there addressing the issues of regular people. Anyone who has written him off thus far are sorely mistaken. Edwards can beat the two top-tier candidates, and he can win the presidency.

Pitchfork reports that Isaac Brock, front man for Modest Mouse, cut himself with a pocket knife several times while on stage at a recent show.

I can’t describe how sad this makes me feel. I am a big fan of Modest Mouse, and the thought of Isaac imploding like similar artists before him as he approaches a supernova of stardom is very disheartening.

I suppose the lesson here is that artists — true artists who channel themselves through their work — are often very troubled people. Art is often an expression of depression and other issues. I hope Isaac gets better — his unique voice is too important to lose.

So, the President came out today saying that he will not allow any White House or administration staff to be questioned publically and under oath by the Democratic congress about the U.S. attorney firings.

My question is: if there was no wrongdoing, then why not just submit to questions? The Republicans claim that Democrats won’t stop until they get Karl Rove — but if Rove did nothing wrong, then why are they so afraid of them? What’s so scary about subpoenas if Karl Rove is innocent?

For an administration that talks tough, they seem increasingly incapable of dealing with any criticism or public scrutiny.

I’m currently finishing up the last leg of “Accelerando” by Charles Stross, a post-cyberpunk hard science fiction novel that’s full of absolutely insane ideas, but lacks the human element I desire from such books. The plot is mostly incomprehensible, commenting on the ramifications of post-human existance and the forthcoming singularity, but I’m afraid I’m on the opposite side of the issue from Stross (at least, I think I am). Granted, I’m not finished with it, but it lacks a lot of focus, and I don’t see it tying itself up very nicely by the end. I’d mildly recommend it, with the caveat that it’s more interested in ideas than characters or story. It’s definitely in the Neil Stephenson/Thomas Pynchon school.

Season three of Battlestar Galactica proves that the writers aren’t capable of telling a long story well — that 20 episodes is way too much for them, and 13 (which they’re going back to next year) is a much more manageable number. The finale has been far superior to most of the season. In fact, I think you could take the New Caprica storyline from the first half, include the three or four episodes following that which dealt with the fallout from New Caprica and combine them with the finale to make a reasonably good season. Most of the middle — including the absolutely dreadful “Eye of Jupiter” two-parter that was essentially a rehash of the Kobol storyline from Season one and Season two — could be easily amputated.

Unlike others out there in the blogosphere, I actually like what’s been done with Lee Adama (about time if you ask me — he hasn’t been interesting since he took command of the Pegasus in season two), and I’m excited about the revelation of the final five Cylons. In particular, I was very surprised by the identities of at least one of these people — it’s a gutsy move, but I think it sends a clear signal that we’re probably heading into the home stretch. I hope the fact that Galactica is clearly ending its run next January will lead to a continued improvement in overall story quality. I’d hate to continue watching the show flail around as it heads towards an inevitable cancellation, much as my once-beloved Farscape did in its dreadful fourth year.

I downloaded the new Modest Mouse record, “We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank” from iTunes this morning. I haven’t heard it all, but I’m enjoying it immensely so far. “Dashboard” stands up there with the singles from the last record. Although I do think it suffers from overproduction, it still contains enough of what “Modest Mouse” is about to overlook the commercial overtones. It’s interesting to note what an influence new guitarist Johnny Marr (The Smiths, Electronic, etc., etc.) is on the record. His guitar style is very distinctive, and I think it’s safe to say that it blends nicely with the band. It’s weird that an alternative rock guitar legend has joined a perrenial indie favorite two whole generations removed from his glory days, but it works. Kudos to Modest Mouse and Marr for taking a big chance.

I first read about “private military contractors” a few years ago, and I was so bothered by what I’d learned about them, that I included them in my comic book, “The Alberic Heresies.” I find it troubling that mercenary companies, acting under the aegis of being mere providers of “security services,” are filling the role of the traditional military without being held to the high standards of conduct that apply to the U.S. armed forces. Because they’re contractors, they can pretty much act with impunity.

The fact that that they are tied so closely to the Republican party is equally disturbing. Should we really be entrusting our defense to partisan organizations who wage war not for the sake of defending the American people, but for profit? I think this is an important question.

The Nation magazine has posted an extended excerpt from a new book by Jeremy Scahill entitled, Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army . It’s definitely worth a read. Especially revealing is that Blackwater “contractors” were secretly deployed to New Orleans in the wake of Katrine to provide “security.” Am I crazy to be bothered by the thought of American mercenaries taking on the role of the traditional police in the United States? I really don’t think I am.

A number of years ago, my friend Jake and I embarked on a rather ambitious plan to create a comic book in the same mold as some of the great DC horror/fantasy comics from the 1980’s, in a style that I would refer to as “old Vertigo.” I mentioned yesterday that Jake and I decided to kill it. But I suppose there’s more to it than that.

One, we were overly ambitious — a 36 issue series produced on a micro indie budget just isn’t feasible. Jake and I put together 72 pages of “The Alberic Heresies” (including the preview mini-comic, “The Lock,” and the finished, but never released second issue), and although I’m proud of the work, I realize it was far too much of a long-term commitment and incapable of attracting any sort of audience.

That sort of comic, as much as I love it, is dead. In a dying comic book industry, one more pseudo-fantasy comic with super hero elements just isn’t going to cut it.

I’ve known this for quite awhile, even tried to deny it back when we did SPX last year, but the truth of it is that no one but us cares. And for a project like Alberic, you can’t just do it for fun. And honestly, Alberic has been percolating in the back of my mind since the 1990’s. I’m not there anymore — as a writer, as a reader. I’ve grown up and moved on.

Depression overtook me after SPX, and I curled up inside myself and stopped thinking about Alberic, writing in general, or anything that had to do with the humiliation of that show. Although I consider my fiction work to be very modern, a part of me knew that I was chasing nostalgia with Alberic, and that I wasn’t being true to who I am now.

But that dark period is, I think, well behind me. After half a year of locking that part of my life away, I’m ready to move forward, again. “The Purple Girl” needs to be polished re-written, as does my “Zombie” play. And Jake and I have a new idea for a graphic novel, one that’s a lot more realistic for us to succeed in doing. Expectations are low this time, and excitement is high. Grand ideas for anthologies have been put on hold in favor of more doable projects.

I’ve walked through that initial humiliation of a first attempt at presenting my work to the people, and for awhile I nearly set aside what I cared about most because of it. But I’m finding my creative instincts are returning, my synapses flash ideas back and forth inside the wet muck of my gray matter with curious regularity. And that is an exciting thing. Alberic is dead, but our next project will be much, much better. I suppose that’s the greatest lesson of all of this.

And I can finally breath a sigh of relief. Perhaps I can even bring myself to write, again?