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Post by Deleted on Jul 7, 2017 11:39:28 GMT -5
After 6 months of being semi-retired/working part time...next week I start covering for summer vacations. Going from working 24 hrs/week to 60hrs/week...UGH! Getting too old for this. At least when I go back to 24 hrs/week it will feel wonderful again.
I do feel fortunate that I do have this option and not have to work 50 hr weeks all the time anymore.
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Post by Rob Allen on Jul 7, 2017 14:10:20 GMT -5
Courtesy of the good people at Hogan's Alley magazine, here's a collection of photos from the recent National Cartoonists Society event here in Portland. Lots of famous names, primarily from the world of newspaper strips, but also Matt Groening, Lynda Barry, and some Mad magazine folks: cartoonician.com/westward-ho-the-2017-reuben-awards-weekend-in-pictures/Some of the photos are from the public sketching-&-signing event that I went to, but I don't seem to be in any of them.
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Post by LovesGilKane on Jul 7, 2017 19:39:23 GMT -5
Courtesy of the good people at Hogan's Alley magazine, here's a collection of photos from the recent National Cartoonists Society event here in Portland. Lots of famous names, primarily from the world of newspaper strips, but also Matt Groening, Lynda Barry, and some Mad magazine folks: cartoonician.com/westward-ho-the-2017-reuben-awards-weekend-in-pictures/Some of the photos are from the public sketching-&-signing event that I went to, but I don't seem to be in any of them. Lovely pics, I hope they all had a delicious day
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jul 9, 2017 11:32:09 GMT -5
Ode to my two-wheeled pal, producing zero carbon emission, allowing me to avoid traffic jams. It is what Silver is to the Lone Ranger, Hero to the Phantom, Tornado to Zorro... (not quite Jolly Jumper to Lucky Luke, as my bicycle doesn't talk). Light as a feather, swift as a bird, its sturdy aluminum frame doesn't bend when you put torque on the pedal, the way cheaper bikes I've owned did... every watt of power you put in goes to the wheel. None of that "clank-clank" noise telling you that the gears aren't tight or the chain is loose. I admit I'd prefer its shifters not to be indexed, but I admit they're really cool in any case. My friend allows me to commute to work from April to December, saving me hundreds of dollars in gas and parking fees. It wakes me up in the morning, pumping me up for the coming day; in the evening, it allows me to work out the day's frustration and reminding me that work is not all there is. Messing around with its gears and cables teaches me patience (or, well, it should...) It gives me a few zen moments each day. Its tires are not as wide as those of a hybrid, so it's not that great off-road... but on a trail or on the street, I wouldn't ride anything else. Long may it go!
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Post by Mormel on Jul 9, 2017 14:59:39 GMT -5
^How long does the commute take, RR? It looks like it can take you pretty far. Totally agree on travelling to and from work by bike-- in the morning, it helps give you a kick in the rear, in the evening it lets you unwind.
I find there's a lot of value in good suspension; I've owned some very rigid bikes that make you feel every unevenness in the road. It's like a mobile self-torture device!
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jul 9, 2017 17:04:07 GMT -5
^How long does the commute take, RR? It looks like it can take you pretty far. Totally agree on travelling to and from work by bike-- in the morning, it helps give you a kick in the rear, in the evening it lets you unwind. I find there's a lot of value in good suspension; I've owned some very rigid bikes that make you feel every unevenness in the road. It's like a mobile self-torture device! Especially on bad streets, I agree! No, I don't have any kind of suspension... which might be why my back went bad last year! My commute is a short one nowadays: half an hour each way. Back in the US, since I couldn't afford the rent closer to work, it was about 75 minutes. In Germany it was an hour on the way in, forty-five minutes on the way back; I worked on top of a mountain! But whatever the distance, I always found that it was worth it.
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Post by The Captain on Jul 9, 2017 19:27:33 GMT -5
I attended the All-Americon in the thriving metropolis of Youngstown, OH yesterday, and it was probably the best convention I've ever been to. No, it wasn't the biggest, nor did it have the flashiest guest list, but I got to spend the entire day with my older daughter as she got to attend her first real show.
We started the day at Dunkin' Donuts for a little breakfast, which turned out to be our first fun moment of the day. The store by our house gives out one free doughnut to all kids 12 and under, but when we went to the counter and ordered, they did not credit off one of my daughter's; I chalked it up to her being almost 5'3", so I mentioned something to the kid at the register. He said they changed the limit to 10 and under, at which point my daughter said, "I bet you wish you brought Chloe (her younger sister, who is 9), don't you?" We both laughed and headed out to the car after I paid for all of our doughnuts for the first time with her ever.
Our next stop was McDonald's, as she'd been asking for a frappe all week, and finally I broke down and got her one. She got back into the car and happily sipped away at it for the next 80 minutes as we drove to the convention site. It was cool seeing my "little" girl acting all grown-up, sitting in the passenger seat drinking her coffee and reading comic books on the way to the show.
Once we got there and got inside, her head just about exploded. Right past the tables where we paid and got our wristbands, the first vendor had nothing but Funko Pop! figures, and while she didn't see anything she really wanted (they had a bunch of Harry Potter ones, but she either had them or wasn't terribly interested in the others), I did pick up the exclusive Morbius figure from the Marvel Collector Corps series for myself.
Inside the main room, she was a little hesitant at first, but quickly warmed up and starting acting like a veteran. She had her want list written out and was ready to dive into boxes to hunt for that hidden gold. Her main wants were Marvel Essentials, as she has a large collection of them already, and Doctor Who comics. At the second table we visited, there were four longboxes of Essentials, but she had most of them (at least for the series she is interested in), but she did pick up the last Marvel Two-In-One collection for $5. At each vendor after that, she went all honey badger on the $1 boxes, digging in and grabbing Doctor Who books, checking her list carefully to make sure she didn't grab any duplicates, and she wound up with 20 books in total, 2 from the old Marvel series and the rest from the current IDW series, mostly 11th and 12th Doctors, although she did grab a couple 8th Doctor books as well.
Later in the day, she also picked up a Ginny Weasley Lego figure for her Harry Potter collection. I asked if she was going to make Ginny and Harry kiss, to which I got an eyeroll and a "Daaaaaaaaaaaad! That's gross!", as she buried her head in my shoulder. We wrapped up shortly after that, hit McDonald's again to grab a couple of burgers for the trip back home, then she cracked open the MTIO Essential and read the entire way. She did ask me why #99 wasn't included (the ROM issue), which gave me an opportunity to explain licensing and why Marvel wasn't allowed to reprint it; she replied that she knew that IDW had the rights to ROM now, since they did a ROM cover month that carried over into My Little Pony.
As for me, I had a decent day in getting comics. Not so much volume, as I only got 15 books, most of which were $1 issues of The Flash. However, I did get some cool stuff (a couple of high-grade issues of Incredible Hulk in the 160-170 range and Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #3 with Man-Wolf), and I was able to cross of three big wants from the list. I got Star Wars #'s 42 and 68, which were the last two I needed to complete the series, which was a big win, but the best thing I picked up on the day was a higher-grade (F+ to VF-) copy of Captain America #118 to replace my beat-to-hell copy. Once I figure out what I'm doing as a F-Bucket replacement, I'll get some photos posted.
All in all, it was an incredible day, topped off by the fact that when we got home, my daughter asked if we could do it again sometime. I couldn't be more proud of what a wonderful young lady she's becoming, and I couldn't be happier that she wants to do it again. It was great watching her interacting with the dealers, talking to the other convention-goers, and walking around with a sense of wonder at the newness of the experience, which made it more fun and exciting for me as well instead of just the same old day at a comic book convention that I've had many times before.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,087
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Post by Confessor on Jul 9, 2017 19:47:17 GMT -5
I got Star Wars #'s 42 and 68, which were the last two I needed to complete the series, which was a big win Congrats on completing your run and it's great to hear that you had such a fantastic day with your daughter. Those two issues of SW are the Boba Fett ones, aren't they? With #42 supposedly being the first comic appearance of Fett (it wasn't) and #68 sporting a particularly nice Gene Day drawn Fett cover. I'm always surprised at how over-inflated the prices are for these two books, which I assume is why they've eluded you until now. #42 is obviously a great issue, being part of Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson's ESB adaptation, but #68 is one of my Top 10 favourite original story issues from the series. Be sure to check out my reviews of each issue in my Star Wars at Marvel thread after you've read 'em.
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Post by The Captain on Jul 9, 2017 20:06:55 GMT -5
I got Star Wars #'s 42 and 68, which were the last two I needed to complete the series, which was a big win Congrats on completing your run and it's great to hear that you had such a fantastic day with your daughter. Those two issues of SW are the Boba Fett ones, aren't they? With #42 supposedly being the first comic appearance of Fett (it wasn't) and #68 sporting a particularly nice Gene Day drawn Fett cover. I'm always surprised at how over-inflated the prices are for these two books, which I assume is why they've eluded you until now. #42 is obviously a great issue, being part of Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson's ESB adaptation, but #68 is one of my Top 10 favourite original story issues from the series. Be sure to check out my reviews of each issue in my Star Wars at Marvel thread after you've read 'em. Thanks! It really was a wonderful day all-around. Yeah, those are the Boba Fett issues, and I'd avoided pulling the trigger because of the cost. I got them both from the same dealer, although I did it as my last purchases of the day. I'd stopped by his table early in the morning and saw the #42 at a reasonable price (which I still felt was a little high, but if I wanted to complete the run, I was going to have to pony up at some point), so I made a mental note to stop back. When I went back, it was still there, and he said that a number of other people had told him they might be back for it, to which I told him they were going to be disappointed, as I pulled out my wallet and handed him the cash. I turned to my daughter and said "Just one more to go for this series", to which he asked which one; I told him it was #68, and he said he had a pile of SW books with him that he'd picked up earlier in the week but had processed yet. He got them out and lo and behold, there was #68, with a slight defect, in that the lower right corner had that gentle bend/slope (but not crease) that comic books get sometimes if they aren't boarded and they sort of slide down in the box they're in. We both pulled out our phones to figure out a price, with him asking for a little more than the going rate on eBay, and when I countered at $5 less (which was just about the average price for a completed auction on eBay), he said that was a fair offer considering what I'd just paid for the #42, so I was able to get it done. Odd thing is, I had almost a complete run of Star Wars years ago before the books mysteriously went missing from my parents' house, but I never had either of these issues then, even though the price on them was considerably less than it is now. Had those books never disappeared, I would have completed the series a long time ago, as I only needed about 12 issues or so at that point. As for the reviews, I read them when you posted them, even though I'd never read the issues. That was a great review thread you put together, for both the books I'd read and those I hadn't.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,087
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Post by Confessor on Jul 9, 2017 20:10:42 GMT -5
^^ Great that you got a reasonable deal on those books. Out of interest, is it a series that your daughter is interested in reading or is it really not her thing?
Oh, and thanks for the compliment about my review thread. It was a labour of love for me, so I'm glad you enjoyed it too.
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Post by The Captain on Jul 9, 2017 20:13:09 GMT -5
^^ Great that you got a reasonable deal on those books. Out of interest, is it a series that your daughter is interested in reading or is it really not her thing? Oh, and thanks for the compliment about my review thread. It was a labour of love for me, so I'm glad you enjoyed it too. She might read it. She hasn't seen the original movies, but she loved TFA and keeps bugging me about Rogue One, so I know she is interested in the SW universe.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jul 9, 2017 20:19:29 GMT -5
Looks like a BRILLIANT day, Captain! Glad you enjoyed it!!!
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Post by Cei-U! on Jul 9, 2017 20:32:55 GMT -5
There's nothing like seeing a con through the eyes of a child experiencing it for the first time to put the gloss back on. I've been through it with several. My great-nephew went to the tiny Jet City show with me last November. He couldn't have been more excited if we'd gone to ComicCon.
Cei-U! I summon the reminder of what fun collecting should be!
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Post by Icctrombone on Jul 9, 2017 20:40:46 GMT -5
Just a delicious write up of your experience with your daughter, The Captain. It made me feel like I was there with you. I still get the thrill of the hunt at my age.
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Post by LovesGilKane on Jul 9, 2017 22:31:14 GMT -5
Ode to my two-wheeled pal, producing zero carbon emission, allowing me to avoid traffic jams. It is what Silver is to the Lone Ranger, Hero to the Phantom, Tornado to Zorro... (not quite Jolly Jumper to Lucky Luke, as my bicycle doesn't talk). Light as a feather, swift as a bird, its sturdy aluminum frame doesn't bend when you put torque on the pedal, the way cheaper bikes I've owned did... every watt of power you put in goes to the wheel. None of that "clank-clank" noise telling you that the gears aren't tight or the chain is loose. I admit I'd prefer its shifters not to be indexed, but I admit they're really cool in any case. My friend allows me to commute to work from April to December, saving me hundreds of dollars in gas and parking fees. It wakes me up in the morning, pumping me up for the coming day; in the evening, it allows me to work out the day's frustration and reminding me that work is not all there is. Messing around with its gears and cables teaches me patience (or, well, it should...) It gives me a few zen moments each day. Its tires are not as wide as those of a hybrid, so it's not that great off-road... but on a trail or on the street, I wouldn't ride anything else. Long may it go! I hope your friend was given a name, and I hope that name was 'Druillet'.
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