About a decade ago, a masked vigilante called Phoenix Jones began to prowl the streets of Seattle, breaking up bar fights and other small-scale crimes in his self-proclaimed role as the world's first "real-life superhero." Jones eventually inspired a whole real life superhero movement, even spearheading an Avengers/Justice League-esque organization called the Rain City Superhero Movement, featuring costumed heroes such as Midnight Jack, Purple Reign, SkyMan and El Caballero. — Read the rest
Seattle superhero Phoenix Jones (previously) has purged the membership of Rain City Superheroes, dissolving and reforming the superhero group with new, stringent membership requirements, including the ability to do five pull-ups and 25 sit-ups in two minutes.
Former prosecutor turned novelist Allison Leotta has a blog where she reviews recent episodes of Law and Order: SVU, rating them for their technical accuracy based on her own experience prosecuting sex crimes. A recent entry takes a look at "Street Justice," an episode about masked vigilante crimefighters. — Read the rest
A protester holds a Guy Fawkes masked teddy bear during May Day demonstrations in Los Angeles. Below, more photos from demonstrations around the world today (Canada, Germany, Spain, Colombia, Costa Rica, Honduras, and more) in support of workers' rights and economic justice. — Read the rest
Seattle prosecutors decided not to press charges against Seattle superhero Phoenix Jones. As I posted yesterday, Jones was arrested over the weekend for allegedly pepper spraying a group of people. His "spokesman" says he was attempting to break up a fight. — Read the rest
On Sunday morning, Seattle superhero Phoenix Jones, whose secret identity has been revealed as 23-year-old Benjamin John Francis Fodor, was arrested for allegedly pepper spraying a group of people. Don't-miss-footage of the scene is above. From Reuters:
According to a police report, the group were walking to their car, "dancing and having a good time," when Fodor "came up from behind and pepper-sprayed the group."
Lazy Teenage Superheroes is an extremely funny, extremely well-executed 13-minute rude little superhero movie, made by Michael Ashton for a mere $300. It's full of cussin', lewd speculative scenarios involving the private lives of slacker teen supes who are mostly interested in using their powers to get loaded and/or laid. — Read the rest
Cosplay with a purpose in Seattle, WA, over the holidays: "A local man said he came within seconds of having his car broken into, and perhaps stolen, until a real-life "superhero" came to his aid, wearing tights, a mask and a skin-tight super suit." — Read the rest
In this episode of Gweek, David and I speak with Jon Ronson, a journalist, documentary filmmaker, and the author of the bestselling books, 
