• I ended up out at the Twins/White Sox game on Saturday instead of traveling out to Manhattan to the MoCCA Art Fest, but luckily Gary Tyrrell, Rick Marshall and Sean T. Collins blogged about most of the things I would have wanted to see anyway. At the top of that list, of course, is Top Shelf’s Swedish invasion posse who will be showing up at the Nerd City C2E2 party this Saturday in Chicago.

• My Chicago-based pal Brian Crowley launched his new webcomic Hamster Rage this week, and I approve.

• The A.V. Club ran a great rundown of characters from Warren Zevon songs. I talk to people all the time who wish they knew more about Zevon or where to start listening to his oeuvre beyond “Werewolves of London.” This is a great “Zevon for Dummies”-style start.

• Philip Tan draws about the best Beta Ray Bill I’ve seen this month.

• Diesel Sweeties summed up in a provocatively succinct manner what Twitter and the Internet are probably doing to writing as an institution.

• So here’s a decent photo study on Chicago’s “Rockabilly subculture,” which I didn’t know much about prior finding this link on Digg. I was disappointed that these “lifers” don’t include girls in Viking helmets jumping rope as a part of their definition of Rockabilly aesthetic.

• You don’t need to speak Swedish to be able to appreciate this video of Dolph Lundgren singing, beating the tar out of some drums and breaking things with his bare fist. (via @nerdcityonline)

• According to The New York Times, it is not uncommon to be killed in the Philippines for singing Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” on karaoke nights.

• Rene Engström’s webcomic Anders Loves Maria concluded, and I can’t remember another webcomic whose conclusion kicked me in the heart this hard.

• In honor of the Super Bowl yesterday I indulged in the hospitality of my good friend and neighbor, yelled, and wrote a list for MTV’s Splash Page blog of the best comic book-related Super Bowl ads.

• I just got home from guesting on the Episode #78 of the Nerd City podcast. It not posted just yet. Nor will I be as entertaining as Chris Burnham was in Episode #77, but I had a spectacular time, and I hope Ben, Max and Crowley did too.

• Bluewater Productions is headlining a new round of controversy that they’ve since responded to with many words regarding how their talent is and isn’t paid. Comics Worth Reading has responded with a pledge to no longer cover their books, and my friend Chris Ward entered the conversation in the comment thread there. (His Obama comic where he eats a horseshoe with Abraham Lincoln is hilarious and informative, by the way, and I would think so even if I didn’t know Chris.) That said, people, particularly creatives in all industries need to be aware of the contracts they sign and what terms they agree to. Until writers and artists quit agreeing to those contracts, companies are going to continue to base their business models around them. The comics industry is full of contracts that do not prioritize cashflow commensurate with the work hours required of writers and artists. It would be nice to see this standard change, but I don’t have high expectations.

• “There are now around 200 kung fu centres in [Pakistan] and many are located in areas where the army is fighting the Taliban,” according to BBC News.

• Dr. Phil tells a mother what he thinks of her addiction to the game FarmVille.

• I’m not really into musicals, but this film Bran Nue Dae looks pretty amazing.

• T.J. Dietsch made the Zoidberg/Ood connection that I can’t believe I never noticed noticed.

• Complex took a swing at naming the 50 best comic book covers of 2009. There are some absolutely spectacular choices on there, but I was especially happy to see Juan Doe’s Nova #22 nab the top slot.

• We the writers of MTV’s Splash Page blog have named our own top picks of 2009. It really felt like splitting hairs in a few places, but when it came down to the overall picture and multiple strengths of the selections I made, the hairs ultimately split themselves.

• The Beat touches on the health care debate and where it strikes cartoonists. In other news, the reality of the health care situation in America is depressing.

• On his list of less handsome actors suited to revive old movie properties, Chris Ward understands how hilarious Ernest Borgnine can be when used effectively, and this pleases me.

• It really thrills me to know that in a reality not too different from our own David Lynch directed Return of the Jedi.

• There’s a mini-documentary by W magazine up about Ingmar Bergman’s island home of Fårö, which showed up in his films as much as any of his recurring cast members. It’s really haunting to think about the manic notes he wrote down on his bedside table, and it turned my stomach a bit to think that it might be sold to become someone’s summer home. There’s a chance it may be preserved as an artists’ colony, though, which would be a fitting tribute to its place in cinema.

• Whoever this mystery client is who thinks they can get away with using Superman’s emblem to promote their products free of charge, I hope they have lawyers on retainer.

• Please, do not get me anything for Christmas off of this list posted by Chris Ward.

• Christopher Allen interviewed Sean T. Collins about comics criticism and blogging. Among other things, he discusses old times at Wizard and snarky “no-holds-barred criticism.”

• Did you know that Kim Jong-Il‘s “official biography claims that his birth was foretold by a swallow and led to the appearance of a double rainbow along with the emergence of a new star in space.” The Mirror knows.

• I’m only eating Chocolate Marshmallow Cosmos next time I go to San Diego Comic-Con and saving a few bucks, thanks to Rickey Purdin.