"Since Wednesday"

"Let me tell you 'bout my squirrel friend,

'Cause he's the only one I got.

(Chit, chit, chit, chit!)

Sticks his head

Into my pocket

'Cause he knows

I gotta

Wala-

Nut

There!"


"Hello? Weird Al? I think I've got another hit for you!"


Yes. Sadly, I definately hear TOO MUCH AM Radio at work. Still it's better than country...Not much, mind you...but some. At least I no longer hear, "Your beautiful!" every fifteen minutes anymore. (But what's this "1973" crap??? I don't think that guy was even born by then, so what does HE know about it?!?)

Sometimes it's better just to turn the darn thing off and have some peace and quiet around there. But, since things have slowed down a bit this time of the year, it also gets one pretty bored without some sort of background noise.


Got out in the yard this afternoon and for the second time this Autumn, and raked the yard. The leaves were too wet, & too large of piles for me to mulch-up this time with the mower, so I emptied everything out of our city garbage can and wheeled it around to the various piles, crammed it full and hauled them off to the brush pile in the back. Did this twice before it started raining a bit too hard and I got a bit too chilled from the dampness and decided to call it a day. But got them all save for the two piles at the rear of the house which I'll finish off hopefully tomorrow. This new system of filling up the garbage can has replaced my old one of spreading out a large tarp and raking the leaves onto it, then dragging them to the brush pile. I'm afraid that way too many seasons of using that tarp has torn large holes in it and I lose as many leaves as I dispose. I figure I'll more than likely have to re-rake and haul off leaves at least two...maybe three more times before that chores over for this year. Worked on that a couple of hours. (Oh yeah. I also got out the ladder, got on the roof and emptied out the leaves from all of the gutters.)
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COMIC BOOK REVIEWS: It's not really DC's fault. Will Eisner is an almost impossible act to follow. So when I heard that DC was going to do a new title of "The Spirit", I set my hopes high, but expected a low. This series falls somewhere inbetween those expectations. Some issues have been much better than others. But I'm afraid there's no real consistency of good quality per issue.

I just read issues #'s 6 thru 10, catching up on what I'd missed. One issue would be pretty good, and the next pretty dismal. It started out with the story about "Blue" in #6 being very entertaining, but I'm afraid the "Summer Special" trilogy in #7 left me cold. (Even Kyle Baker's work was a disapointment.) #8 was a little better with the return of "the Octopus" and "Satin", and #9 wasn't all that bad with "El Morte". Then #10 came along and broke that string with a pretty bland story.

I'm not sure how long DC can take this title before fans of the character ... And of Will Eisner ... simply stop buying it. Personally I think it'd been a better choice to have just reprinted Eisner's originals, two or three Sunday sections to an issue like Kitchen Sink did, only this time in color, because it's beginning to feel like a bad remake of a classic movie. Overall I would have to give this title (at least, presently), no more than a "C".


DESOLATION JONES (Wildstorm) #'s 1 thru 5. Now this is a difficult review, because I'm biased. I want to automatically just give this comic an "A+++!!!" and tell you just to buy it and forget any reviews because I don't want you to think about it. And that's because it's by one of the most perfect creative teamups around,i.e., Warren Ellis and J.H. Williams III.

But I can't do that. I need to be honest about a review. What perplexes me is that the first storyline in this series lasted 6 issues, and I have read only the first five. I'll just have to tell you what I think about what I've been able to read so far.

"Desolation Jones" is an ex-secret operative turned private investigator who gets hired by an aging, old, rich adventurer to recover a reel of porn film made by Adolf Hitler (and starring said insane "would-be-world-conqueror), only to discover that there's another secret hidden within the canister of film. The story has several sub plots as well; a delicate web of intrigue that the best compliment I can give this series is that I really want to find a copy of issue #6 that concludes this storyline. (Yep. I'll still give it my highest of ratings./Wednesday:10/24/07)


Today I got outside and worked on raking up the leaves again. After the wind last night you couldn't even tell I'd worked on it yesterday. I filled up that can to the brim of wet leaves 3 times, each load weighing probably 100 lbs., and hauled them off to the brush pile. Then cleaned out the rain gutter at my sidewalk, and swept off the walkway. Yet another 2 or 3 hours trying to make this place look a little better.


The photo above is of "Sam", three time winner of the World's Most Ugly Dog. You got to admit; that's one really ugly pouch. Something that probably should have been put down out of my misery of having to look at it. But, that point's mute. "Sam" died some time ago. (I could tell you who has the new 1st. Place in that catagoy, but I'd probably be sued by an obnoxious, former co-host of a certain daytime t.v. women's talk show.)


BTW, if you ever see a DVD in the "dollar bin" at your local Wallyworld titled: "V.I.P.: My Brother Superman", it's best to pass on it even if the cover does look sort of interesting. This 80 minute animated flick is by some Award-winning Italian, or Spanish, director, and honestly...it's REALLY bad. Little wonder they're trying to sell it so cheaply. The animation's poor, the writing's even worse.


Was looking thru a copy of Charlton's The Many Ghosts of Dr. Graves #9 (1968) today, which I'd picked up in a deal at the local flea market last weekend. It's got a pretty nice nine page "Dr. Graves" story with Ditko artwork. But the real surprize was the quite lengthly letter by, of all people, Klaus Jansen in the "l.o.c." page. (Maybe I shouldn't make notations when i find such letters. Sumbodi will start digging up all of MY old loc's as well, LOL!)

And, speaking of Charlton Comics,another comic in that "flea market lot" was an issue of DC's G. I. Combat #283 (1986) which features a full-length tale of "The Mercenaries (Soldiers of Fortune)" all drawn by the old Charlton artist, Sam Glanzman. GIC was one of those titles which had a very impressive run, first being published by Quality Comics in 1952 and later taken over by DC around 1957, it ran consecutively until 1987. That's a 35 year run, 30 of which was by DC Comics.

BTW folks...only 2 More Months Till Christmas! (Thursday: 10/25/07)


Today was the usual back to the grind sort of day at work. I wrote up five pages of tools for my section and priced/put them all out, plus did a bunch of price changes, waited on people, worked the cash register, etc., etc. Absolutely "nothing special". I did, however, win a copy of Captain America: The Classic Years Vol. 2 on an auction, which now gives me both volumes and a complete set of the Simon and Kirby Golden Age issues of Captain America Comics (No.'s 1 thru 10). Several of these I've already read, mostly 40 years ago when Marvel reprinted these stories in Fantasy Masterpieces. But there's still some I've never seen, so that will be a treat.

Speaking of which, I recall reading somewhere once that "Tiny Tim", the old singer from the 60's (who was a bit of a weirdie) said in an interview that he owned a full set of the original CAC 1-10. I always wondered what ever became of those? Had they been sold I'd think there'd been "something" about it. I mean, whoever got them would have wanted to brag that they were from "The Tiny Tim Collection", don't you think? Maybe that piece of jailbate he married back then ("Miss Vicki") got them in the divorce settlement. (Who knows?)


For some time now I've been watching all of the news about the California fires. When I see disasters such as this one, or the flooding that was in New Orleans, it makes me glad I live where I do. Oh sure; it's in the middle of Nowheresville, Kentucky. A good thirty some odd miles just to get to some larger city that actually has a shopping mall, or a comic shop, or any sort, of airport of any size (actually, more like 100 miles to such), etc., etc. The closest thing we have to even a third class city around here in 15 miles away where there's a Wal-Mart, a Cinema, and the like. This is just rural, farm community. But we don't have these large natural disasters. We don't have floods, and we don't have uncontrolable fires, and we don't have hurricanes, and really, we don't even have much in the way of tornadoes (more than often, if anything, straight-line winds). There's no volcano looming over our heads, or snow capped mountains ready for an avalanche. Our biggest fear here might be if the power goes off and we don't have any heat or lights. That I can live with, and am grateful that this will be all I ever really have to fear from living where I do. My thoughts are with those who have it worse. (Friday: 10/26/07)