DC Comics revamps Batwoman as Lesbian

Alison Flood
guardian.co.uk

Fans at Comic Con in New York this week were treated to a sneak preview of DC Comics's highest profile gay superhero, Batwoman, described by her creator as "the kind of sexy that makes you think of a succubus with a very bad attitude".

With fiery red hair, a skin-tight leather cat suit and knee-high red stiletto boots - complete with a blood red bat symbol on her ample chest - Batwoman, the alter ego of Kathy Kane, is set to make her debut on bookshelves this June in Detective Comics 854. Her appearance follows the shock – apparent – demise of Bruce Wayne, the multi-millionaire philanthropist who has protected the streets of Gotham City as Batman since 1939.

Writer Greg Rucka said that Batwoman - who first appeared in 1957 but was killed off in 1979 - was "exceptionally cool".

"Yes, she's a lesbian. She's also a redhead. It is an element of her character. It is not her character. If people are going to have problems with it, that's their issue," he told Comic Book Resources. "Frankly, she should be judged on her merits."

Kane was first outed in 2006 when it was revealed that she was the former lover of Gotham detective Renee Montoya. She has made passing appearances in the comics since, with June's outing to be her most high-profile.

"Nobody has really seen her. They don't really know who this person is," said Rucka. "You are going to figure out what she does, why she does it and who she has to help her. I obviously get into what makes her different than Batman. They share a lot, more than including a bat. But they have different techniques and different approaches."

He expects readers to be shocked when they read the first issue. "I think people are going to fall out of their seats," he said, providing the first few pages of the comic at his blog.

Rihanna Gets Beat Up by Chris Brown

Brown Sugar How Come You Taste So Good?? This is one Rollingstones song you wont hear in Rihanna's set list when she comes back to sing.

All jokes aside, I feel really bad for the young singer songstress. I am not a huge fan of R&B and Rap but her single "Umbrella" has intoxicating honey drenched hook enough to tranquilize a horse. Rihanna had to be treated by a doctor after Chris Brown beat her up according to reports.

Wow what a bad way to tarnish a young musician's career especially when his audience is predominantly young girls. Like always, the case could be affected by how much Rihanna is willing to forgive her boyfriend. Brown will no longer participate in their All-Star Game events in Phoenix this weekend, while Rihanna backed out of a Friday night concert in Malaysia. The abuse allegations will have a long-lasting impact on Brown's career.

Who wants to bet they release a statement that they love each other and are going to work it out? I hope Rihanna gets help and is ok.

Starsailor

Solarcade is excited about the new Starsailor album. I fell in love with these guys with "Love is Here" way back when. You can hear some of Starsailor's haunting melodic influence in Solarcade's "Silent Photographer".



“All The Plans” takes a break from the rock-infused “On The Outside” and gets back to the basics that drew fans to them in the first place. The band’s fourth studio album is both its first with Virgin Records and with Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Woods. The result is a cohesive blend of solid beats and fantastic harmonies. Starsailor is one of the MOST underrated bands around. The intense songwriting and thoughtful arrangements certainly summon up grandeur images of grammy awards on their fireplace mantles.



Starsailor doesn’t break any new ground, but it’s clear from interviews and blog posts that the band didn’t intend to. I love it!! Nothing was ever broke so they intended on not addressing the unbroken. Quiet your inner music critic for a moment and feel the emotion beneath the tracks, you’ll find an album that makes you remember why you love music in the first place. Bands like Starsailor make it worthwhile for Solarcade!

Michael Phelps: Can't We all Just Get A Bong?!?

Hypocrisy: The Measure of Michael Phelps Success Reflected in the Picture of a Bong Hit?The Michael Phelps bong incident, sometimes jokingly referred to as Bong-gate, seems to have taken hold and ripped out the common sense of some people. The guy was out having a bit of fun, some opport

Michael Phelps Bong Hit: Support Your National Pot Smoker
unistic (and now probably rich) "friend" snapped a picture of him, and the backlash of the publication of the photo has led to a major sponsor dropping him and a 3-month suspension from competition by USA Swimming. If that wasn't bad enough, Richland County Sheriff's office, in whose jurisdiction the pot-smoking allegedly took place, is contemplating criminal charges against the 23-year-old Olympic gold medallist.But Subway, the sandwich-making company, has decided to stand behind its sponsorship of Michael Phelps, according to the Mercury News. In a statement, the company said, "Like most Americans, and like Michael Phelps himself, we were disappointed in his behavior. Also like most Americans, we accept his apology. Moving forward, he remains in our plans."

Christian Bale, star of "The Dark Knight" and a now infamous audiotape where he unleashes a torrent of abuse on a co-worker, said, "Please, Michael Phelps, swim in the next Olympics. This guy has a God-given talent. So he smoked a bit of weed; plenty of our presidents have."And Christian Bale has a point. Michael Phelps has fallen victim to the kind of hypocritical double-standard that Americans seem to be particularly good at: castigating someone for doing something that many often surreptitiously engage in. Like smoking pot.

NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) cites Kathleen Parker of the Washington Post and Stanton Peele of the Wall Street Journal who have called for change in the excessively punitive marijuana laws extant in the United States in the wake of the Michael Phelps fiasco. As NORML points out, nearly half of Americans 18 years of age and older admitted to smoking marijuana at least once (CNN/Time and 72% of Americans believe that if marijuana is to remain illegal, that possession of it should be met with fines and not jail time.

Radiohead wins Grammy for BEST ALT ALBUM

In Rainbows won a grammy for Best Alternative Music Album!!

I am very excited for them. Our band Solarcade has looked at Radiohead for years as the trailblazers and trendsetters (not followers). to me its like if they never won anything and Solarcade got big then the Grammies mean nothing.

I love Thom Yorke's voice ad Johnny Greenwood's soundtrack on "There will Be Blood" was haunting. Good for them. The Allison Kraus and Robert Plant was good but damn I didnt expect the to win so many.

Look like Lil Wayne didnt rack up those 8 wins. If he would have it would have been confirmation that the gramis are about sales reporting and not talent.

Solarcade in Valley Scene Magazine

Solarcade at Cinespace

By Jonathan Weichsel

Solarcade is unabashedly a pop band, but they don't play modern pop. Their music harks back to the seventies and eighties, when pop music had all the power and force of rock and roll. The band is able to channel Goth, psychedelic, and hard rock into their power ballads, pop songs, and prog-rock excursions, creating a sublime aural experience. Just as important as the music is the fact that they put on one of the best shows in L.A.

Solarcade has in Paul Van one of the most talented and eclectic vocalists to hit the pop music scene in many years. Van's voice is able to exhibit vulnerability, as well as strength. Sometimes Van is quirky, and sometimes he lets his voice quaver, but most of the time he belts out his songs, hitting high notes and low with equal clarity, and with a force rivaling some of the greatest singers of the eighties.

Paul Van has the kind of voice that can fill a room of any size. Watching him play the small room at Cinespace, I kept on thinking, "This guy belongs in a stadium." It is difficult to describe what he did to the mostly upscale crowd that turned out Saturday night to hear the band. During the opening acts everybody was standing around, mingling, and chatting at the bar in that way Hollywood types like to chat. But the second Solarcade came out rocking with their new single "Rise," everyone in the room rushed towards the stage and just went wild.

Paul Van had the greatest effect on the females in the audience. Perhaps the women were reacting to Van's lip gloss, or maybe it was the hint of eye liner, but it is most likely that the gals were sent into a state of frenzy by his attitude. Paul Van commanded the stage that evening with all the arrogance and cockiness requisite of good rock and roll. His is a classic rock act, full of romantic gestures and dramatic poses. You have all seen old films of women melting in front of some rock God. It is quite another thing to be in a roomful of melting women.

This is not to say that the women were the only people enjoying the show. Pomilla's guitar work was stunning. Pomilla is just as versatile an artist as Van is, and channels the same musical genres. When he hits a power cord, it lifts the entire room. His solos are not as intricate as one might expect from this type of band, but in place of intricacy is a kind of psychedelic beauty, full of unexpected notes and colors. The drummer Adam Holt added a pounding, danceable beat to the mix.
Solarcade's lyrics are psychedelic, but they don't have the sense of anxiety often associated with psychedelic lyrics. Take for example the opening Solarcade's single, "Rise."

Some kind of reign for us

A thousand hands to slow

The chains that pull me up

I don't want to be the one to fall

I don't want to run. I don't want to hide at all

Paul Van starts out singing with faux-nervous energy, but by the end of this he is bursting with a full-voiced confidence. Rise is a powerful song, about breaking through the chains that keep us down. It is a song about reaching up from the murky depths, and grabbing hold of the light. Perhaps Paul Van is able to express these sentiments with such sincerity because he is himself a rising star, about to break through the chains.

If you would like to learn more about Solarcade, including upcoming shows, visit them at www.my space.com/solarcade. Make sure you check out one of their shows soon, because in a few months they are going to be huge. Solarcarde's new EP, Songs for the Gathering, is being released digitally February 24th.

Dogs Vs. Cats

Paul and i are alike in many ways and we are also different in many ways that may reflect our personalities.

As you know, some people are "dog people" and some people are "cat people". Then there are those "other" people who don't like pets at all. They just don't seem to see the need for a pet, and find them messy, a chore, and unpleasant creatures. Paul has 3 rescued Shih Tzus and his newly rescued one is a boy named Dimitri and I reall like him. He sleeps on a big pillow still clenching his chew toy that is his "security blanket". Dimitri is very comforting. I have 3 Sphynx hairless cats and they bring joy to my life. I first got my first kitten Ripley Biggles in 2003 and a year later I got a female named Cosmopolitan. I had some babies and kept one kitten and named him KooKooKaCho after my favorite Beatles song "I am the Walrus" because he kinda looked like one.

What I've been told by friends is that the difference between dog people and cat people can be summed up in one word: loyalty. A dog can romp outside and will usually (ideally) find their way back to your side, and back home. A cat on the other hand can wander out and may never been seen nor heard from again. Dogs seem by nature to be more loyal companions, whereas with a cat, you have to really work for that loyalty. There has to be patience, love, food, and the proper amount of attention given to a cat for a human to gain loyalty. Dogs seem to express loyalty more freely - often when you feed them and pet them the first time.

What saddens me though are those "others" who hate dogs, cats, guinea pigs, birds... everything and anything. Ultimately, they may hate people as well - I have yet to meet someone who dislikes animals who has a kind heart. Just because someone does not own a pet doesn't mean they hate pets - you know the "others" I'm referring to - those people who pass you on the sidewalk when you're out walking the dog who look down at you like you're walking a scorpion. A wise person once told me never to date someone that didn't love pets because they won't be loving partners. I think that may be very true.

Are you a cat person? A dog person? Both? Is it possible to be one and not the other? Let me know your thoughts.