3rd Quadrant 10/01 '07

The Approval Matrix: Week of October 1, 2007

“Angel: After the Fall”

“Angel,” the WB drama that started as a spin-off of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” is returning in February for a sixth season in comic-book form as “Angel: After the Fall.”

Picking up where Season Five of the fan-favorite TV show ended, the first issue in this maxi-series looks at who lived after that climactic battle, who died, and what happened to all of Los Angeles in its wake. (IDW Publishing)

The fist five pages can be viewed here.

Marc Ecko's Dilemma

Marc Ecko, a fashion desiginer, purchased the baseball for $750,000 and took votes on his website to see what he should do with it:

1. Give the ball to the Baseball Hall of Fame
2. Brand it with an asterisk
3. Blast it into space

Barry Bonds thinks Ecko is wasting his money, according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Voting has ended, and the results will be announced today on the "Today" show.

"¡Ask a Mexican!"

Why do Mexicans use their car horns as a doorbell? Do Mexican children get tamales at Christmas so that they have something to unwrap? The chances are that you will know the answers to some of these questions if you live in the United States and read the wickedly funny "Ask a Mexican!" column .

The brainchild of a Mexican-American reporter, Gustavo Arellano, and his editor at the OC Weekly in Orange County, southern California, the column started out as a prank in 2004. Since then it has become a sleeper hit read by more than a million people from California to New York each week.

The questions -- some addressing Mexicans as "greasers" and "beaners" -- pull no punches, and are met with equally arch slapdowns meant to sneak in an unexpected cultural rapprochement with humor, Arellano said. Through his blunt discussion of stereotypes, he hopes to defend Mexicans and their identity in the United States. (Reuters)

"Bob Pitches A Movie"

Description: Bob Odenkirk really wants to get his film made. But first, he has to sell it to a familiar face.

Robert "Bob" Odenkirk (born October 22, 1962) is an American actor, writer, director and producer. Odenkirk is best known as the co-creator and co-star of the HBO sketch comedy series, "Mr. Show." (Wikipedia)