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Post by The Captain on Jan 6, 2021 14:14:53 GMT -5
A week until NHL. I am excited and hopeful this season will be better than last (couldn’t be much worse). Hey @needs! Which team in the NHL do you root for?
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Post by The Captain on Jan 4, 2021 6:59:37 GMT -5
First day of my new job today! Already shaved, ate breakfast, had my coffee, and packed a lunch. Put on business casual clothes for the first time in nearly five years (my last job was at a power plant, so it was jeans and pretty much any kind of shirt I wanted for 4+ years, and with COVID last year, I worked remotely from my house in shorts and T-shirts for almost ten months).
Really excited about this opportunity! It's going to be nice working for a "real" company that has a corporate structure, a plan for growth, and a future.
Hope all of you have a great day in whatever you are doing today. Cheers!
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Post by The Captain on Jan 2, 2021 9:13:04 GMT -5
Between getting older and all the upheaval 2020 brought I find myself drawn more and more to the past in things that bring me comfort and joy. Whether it is old comics, old TV shows or just remembering old vacations and holiday celebrations. Part of it has to do with my Mom and her Alzheimer's. She remembers the past better than recent events. I know this feeling very well, my friend. My mom can't remember what she had for breakfast today, but she can tell us all about her high school experiences, which is nice. On New Year's Day, my sister and I poured over our maternal grandmother's photo albums, getting to see people and events that we either haven't seen in years (she took A LOT of photos of us as little kids) or that we didn't even know existed (there is a photo of our 3-Great-Grandmother from the 1870s in there that we'd never seen before). We got to show my daughters pictures of me with a mullet, of me with my prom date, and of their aunt in her dance outfits from when she was a little girl. It was really nice to share those things with them. I've been rewatching the TV show "Angel" the past week, because I saw a book about it at Half-Price Books (it's a verbal history of the show from the creators and stars, from the beginning to the end) and it just triggered a "hey, I should watch that again" response in me. It's why I plan to probably rewatch Buffy after this, and then possibly do a run through Firefly (not that it will take long...sob). Hope 2021 is a better year for you and for all of us!
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Post by The Captain on Jan 1, 2021 12:00:30 GMT -5
Made it just over 1,000 this year, but I should have had far more if not for getting way too sidetracked in the last quarter of the year.
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Post by The Captain on Jan 1, 2021 11:57:46 GMT -5
January 2021 Captain Britain #1 - 13 Mighty Avengers #1 - 8 Mighty World of Marvel #14 - 16 New Avengers #1 - 64, Annual #1 - 2, New Avengers Finale one-shot Saga of the Swamp Thing #23 - 34, Annual #2
Iron Man #5 Marauders #17
January Total: 106
February 2021 Dark Avengers #1 - 16 Mighty Avengers #9 - 36 Saga of the Swamp Thing #35 - 42
Captain America #27 Firefly #25 Iron Man #6 Marauders #18
February Total: 56
March 2021 Captain Britain #1 - 7 Saga of the Swamp Thing #43 - 64, Annual #1 - 2 Sandman #1 - 8
Firefly #26 Green Arrow (New 52) #35 - 52, Annual #1 Iron Man #7
March Total: 60
April 2021 Amazing Spider-Man #53 - 67 Conan the Barbarian #1 - 26 Spectacular Spider-Man Magazine #2 Marvel Super-Heroes #14
Captain America #28 Darkhawk: Heart of the Hawk One-Shot Firefly #27 Iron Man #8 Marauders #19
April Month-To-Date Total: 48
May to July 2021 Amazing Spider-Man #68 - 85, Annual #5 Detective Comics #571 Fables #1 - 93 Sandman #1 - 37
Black Widow (2014) #13 - 20 Captain America #29 - 30 Demon Days: Mariko #1 Demon Days: X-Men #1 Doctor Voodoo #1 - 5 Firefly #28 - 30 Hawkeye (2012) #1 - 11, 14, 16, 18, 20, Annual #1 Iron Man #9 Marauders #19 - 21 M.O.D.O.K. Assassin #1 - 5 Moon Knight #1 Young Avengers Presents #6
May to July Total: 197
August to November 2021 Fantastic Four #1 - 65, Annuals #1 - 3 Fables #95 - 99 Hellblazer #41 - 46, #62 - 67 Sandman #38 - 56
Darkhawk (2021) #1 - 2 Death of Dr. Strange #1 - 2 Demon Days: Cursed Web #1 Fables #100 - 140 Firefly #31 - 33 Marauders #20 - 25 Moon Knight (2021) #2 - 5
December 2021 Fantastic Four #66 - 68, Annuals #4 - 5
Darkhawk (2021) #3 Death of Dr. Strange #3 Firefly #34 Marauders #26
2021 Year-To-Date Total: 639 Classic Comics: 497 Modern Comics: 142 % Classic Comics: 77.8%
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Post by The Captain on Dec 31, 2020 10:01:58 GMT -5
shaxper , I've been waiting all week for this thread to pop up, as it's one of my favorite things to do on either New Year's Eve or New Year's Day. Buying GoalsThe only floppie I am actively searching in 2021 is Conan the Barbarian #14. The first Epic Collection has issues #1-13, and I have #15-115 in floppies, so I want to complete the circuit and then get down to reading. I play to buy 1 TPB of either Saga of the Swamp Thing (probably just the remaining three Alan Moore collections) or Hellblazer (I have a handful of these already) or a Marvel Epic Collection each month in 2021. Going to try to limit the $1/$2 bin books to maybe some Batman and Detective, but they have to be from the same general time period as the ones I already have. Not looking to get the whole run, just build around the stories I already own. Reading GoalsAiming for another 1,000 this year, which I just barely made in 2020 (spent WAY TOO MUCH time playing video games in Q4 and only crossed the threshold on December 30). Specific books I want to read are: Amazing Spider-Man from #53 - 123, which is where my Epic Collections end. They will eventually publish the next edition, which will cover #124 - #140, and then I can read straight through to #400. Conan the Barbarian, #1 - 115 - after I find a copy of #14 Saga of the Swamp Thing - the Alan Moore issues Hellblazer - going to be working on these from Delano issues as they come in Wonder Woman - I have the first four George Perez TPBs that I want to get through Daredevil - I plan to pick this back up from issue #65 and work through it as I did with Iron Man this year Reviewing GoalsAnother year went by without a post in my Captain America review thread. I'm hoping to revive this in 2021, but it's going to depend a lot on how busy my new job is. That's it. Modest goals for 2021, as I feel I can achieve them and have a sense of accomplishment, rather than shooting for the moon and being disappointed.
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Post by The Captain on Dec 29, 2020 19:30:29 GMT -5
Haven't been buying much lately, especially not floppies, but I did pick up the following since Christmas. Saw this at Half-Price Books this past Saturday, for the first time ever anywhere. It was only $8 and is very lightly used, so how could I walk away? After receiving the first part of my gift from Secret Santa, I made a little trip to my LCS and grabbed these two books. I think there are six total in the set, so I will plan to buy one per month over the next three months to complete the run.
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Post by The Captain on Dec 29, 2020 19:26:28 GMT -5
The second part of my gift arrived today, so here they are: I've only ever read one issue of Moore's Swamp Thing (The Anatomy Lesson, which DC reprinted as a $1 book a few years back), but it's always intrigued me, so that was an exciting find. As for the Superman, I have read probably no more than 10 issues featuring Superman in my life (excluding JLA), so I'm coming at this with no background whatsoever. I like both Len Wein and Jim Starlin, so I'm looking forward to getting into this as well. Thanks Santa!!
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Post by The Captain on Dec 29, 2020 19:18:37 GMT -5
This was a hard Christmas for me. Since my ex and I cannot play nice, I decided not to try to do something together this time around and to let her have my girls for Christmas since it fell out on her days with the kids (we share 50/50 custody) and then give them a second Christmas when I get them back on Monday. It's a little weird watching the world wind down from Christmas when mine hasn't started yet. Just catching up here and saw this. Sorry that you had to go through this, but it was probably for the best that you didn't try to force something with your ex and ruin the day for your girls. Knowing you as I do, I'm sure what you planned for them on Monday was AWESOME. Sadly, I'm going through the same sort of thing, just on the other end. My sister and I have vowed to never put our parents in the same room with one another unless it's for one of my girls' weddings or one of them is room temperature, so we have to coordinate two holidays (at least the major ones). Due to COVID and my mom being locked down at her residence (if she left for anything non-medical related between 12/23 and 1/3, she had to subject herself to a 14-day quarantine, so she spent Christmas alone (as she did for Thanksgiving), while my dad got to come and celebrate with us. We did FaceTime with my mom so she could see the girls, but we were only on for like 30 minutes, and then I went to see her the next day for about an hour (she's only allowed 1 guest per day right now). Going forward, not sure what we're going to do about birthdays and the lesser holidays, but it's going to be a mess and someone is going to be hurt no matter how we handle it. Hang in there, my friend. This is a season, and it shall eventually pass.
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Post by The Captain on Dec 29, 2020 12:17:23 GMT -5
Generation X was an English punk rock band in the late 1970's that also served as Billy Idol's first professional music outfit. Granted, the name itself was second-hand when the band adopted it, but it fits the topic.
Powerman 5000 was a 1990's American rock band.
Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction holds an interesting place on this list. The first part of their name is based on a series of underground comics created by Spain Rodriguez, while the second part is taken from a lyric in the Bruce Springsteen song "Dancing in the Dark".
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Post by The Captain on Dec 28, 2020 12:49:53 GMT -5
I voted for Brubaker's Captain America (big surprise, I know), but I can also support Indiana Jones. I read that a few years back and really enjoyed it.
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Post by The Captain on Dec 25, 2020 8:39:53 GMT -5
My Santa informed me that the second part of my gift is still on its way, so I'm going to hold off on posting pics, but based on the first part, I'm really excited to see what is coming.
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Post by The Captain on Dec 25, 2020 6:23:36 GMT -5
Merry Christmas to all!
If you are one of our members who don't celebrate Christmas, I hope you and yours have a wonderful experience with whichever (if any) holiday you do celebrate this time of year.
And if you're reading this, Becca, please come back. You're respected, valued and liked, and whatever happened shouldn't be bad enough to push you away. I've gotten more than my fair share of reprimands from the moderators, even having posts deleted, and I'm still here, so please reconsider. This forum is better and stronger with you as a part of it.
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Post by The Captain on Dec 20, 2020 17:30:34 GMT -5
After 19 months, five applications, four phone screens, one onsite interview (pre-COVID), and three online interviews, I have FINALLY gotten a job with this great local company that is 15 minutes and 8 miles down the road from my house. It's a lateral move (same work, same position title, and a whopping .5% raise, although their 401K match is considerably better, making it more like a 3.5% raise), but the future prospects with this company, both for potential promotions (my new manager said he could see me moving into something at a higher level within a couple of years) and security (my current company is going through all kinds of issues and isn't long for this world), are fantastic. Almost every local person that I've told about my switch has said one of two things, either: 1. "I know someone who works there and they say it's a GREAT company to work for.", or; 2. "I've used them when I worked for Company X, and they're a great company to deal with." Just to highlight the differences between the two is something completely small and stupid. I accepted their offer on the 9th, got the thumbs-up for my start date on the 17th, and yesterday (on the 19th), there was a box in my mail that included a company-logo facemask, a Christmas tree ornament, and a bag of candy, along with a note from my manager and the department director (who I've interviewed with three times) telling me how excited they are that I'm coming on board, while in five years at my current employer, I've never gotten ANYTHING for Christmas. Really looking forward to January 4, as that is when I start the next (and hopefully final) chapter in my professional career. Hope my journey will be similar. Friday(18th) was my last day after 19 years, they've packed up and moved their business to Thailand, so theres 150 of us joining the job search sites this week. Have had a couple of interviews at a place near here, but that constant worry of being able to provide doesnt go away. I'll be praying for you. At least this was my choice, whereas you are being forced to find something new. May your search be short and may your next job be satisfying, financially and professionally and personally.
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Post by The Captain on Dec 20, 2020 14:58:50 GMT -5
Whenever I hear someone speak of the "evils" of modern medicine, I have to urge myself not to do anything reprehensible. My mother was one of the first people saved by penicillin in the late '40s, so I wouldn't be here myself but for a medicine advancing. Mind you I once realized that my parents would probably not have met if there'd been no Hitler... so I guess my being around cuts both ways good and bad. My Dad and his mother left Holland after the war for her to join a new Dutch-Canadian sharp shooter husband in Ontario, and eventually they moved west for a job at a creamery out here where Dad met Mom at the rock & roll dances. My dad was one of Jonas Salk's guinea pigs, as he was 8 years old and living in Pittsburgh, PA when the Salk Vaccine was developed and rolled out in 1955.
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