The buzz today has been all about Kanye West and his behavior during the MTV awards show last night. One has to wonder what he thought he was doing when he took the microphone and interrupted Taylor Swift's acceptance speech. Tonight Jay Leno asked West what his mother might have said to him; West sat silently and never answered the question. One would hope that his mother would have chastised him and asked, "Didn't I teach you any manners?"
Last week we had South Carolina Representative Joe Wilson shouting"You lie!" during President Obama's speech before Congress. Does he think he is some kind of hero for doing something so rudely inappropriate? Or was he somehow confused and thought he was playing the part of the heckler during a nightclub act?
On a local level, I was in the library this afternoon. The new videos are together on one shelf and when I came in there was a woman standing in front of the shelf, blocking it from anyone else as she took video cases one at a time and read them. A second woman approached and was reaching for one of the videos on the shelf when the first woman stopped her and said, "I'm not through looking at these yet." Perhaps someone should explain sharing to her...or at least the concept that you cannot call "dibs" on a shelf full of videos in the library.
When I came out of the library, I noticed a car parked in the traffic lane. Hanging from the mirror was a "handicapped permit." The car was sitting less than ten feet from two handicap parking spaces, but apparently the driver did not feel they were close enough to the library entrance...or just did not care that he/she was inconveniencing anyone else who tried driving into the lot.
How many of us have been sitting in a movie theater and suffered through someone sitting behind us doing a running commentary on the film? And when you asked the person to please be quiet been treated as if you were the offending party?
Have you sent someone a gift and never received an acknowledgement, let a lone a formal thank you note? Or had someone bump into you because they weren't looking and then act like it's your fault?
Whatever happened to "Please," Thank you," "Excuse me," and the like? Maybe instead of worrying about hurting someone's self-esteem, we should reinforce the concept of respecting others and not behaving like a boor on nationwide television or in the Capitol building or even the local library.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Ithacon
Organized and run by the Comic Book Club of Ithaca, Ithacon is a cozy one-day show held in the ("centrally-isolated," as it is called) upstate New York town that is home to Cornell University. I think the first time I attended was because Chuck had friends at Cornell that he wanted to visit and we decided to "double dip." A few years later, both Chuck and Sammi came along when one of Sammi's friends was attending the University. Since then, it's become something of a tradition to make the five-hour drive early on Saturday morning to arrive in time for the 10:00 start, spend the day chatting with fans, friends, and fellow comics pros, and sell off some of the comic books that have accumulated over the year.
This year, with Sammi now living and teaching in Virginia and Chuck attending orientation at NYU (where he'll be going part-time for his MBA, beginning this semester), Laurie volunteered to join me for the trip, especially enthusiastically when I found a nearby orchard where we could pick apples, peaches and vegetables on Sunday. (To be fair, Laurie had intended to go with me two years ago, but while gardening a couple of days prior to the trip, she somehow got a "foreign object" embedded in her knee and ended up with her leg bandaged in such a way that she would not have been able to comfortably sit in the car nor walk around much.)
We were up at about 4:15 and on the road within an hour. The "lingering showers" that were forecast for the morning turned out to be pretty steady rain that stayed with us all the way to Scranton, PA, but then the precipitation stopped and we even had some peeks of sunshine for the rest of the drive. We arrived at just about 10:00, got settled at my table, and had a chance to say hi to some folks, just as the first fans began to arrive.
Among the familiar faces were Roger Stern (writer of Superman and numerous other comics), his wife Carmela (one of the organizers of the show), Tom Peyer (writer and a former DC editor), and Tom Hegeman (fan and fellow member of the Kappa-alpha apa group). Shortly thereafter, we were joined by Jim Shooter, who, depending on your comic book loyalties, is best known for his run as a writer of the Legion of Super-Heroes or his tenure as editor-in-chief at Marvel Comics.
Jim began writing Legion stories in 1965 at the age of 14 and had moved on to work at Marvel by the time I arrived at DC in 1973, so I knew him best from the annual DC/Marvel softball games that we played in Central Park in the mid-70s.
In the third of those games, Jim hit a ball so far that it landed on an adjoining field, where a player there picked it up and threw it back. It was clearly a home run and so Jim was not going all out to get around the bases, but the DC outfielder suddenly found himself holding the ball with Jim just rounding third base. Thinking that he had a chance to get an out, he fired the ball towards home plate. Jodi Saviuk, the DC catcher, attempted to catch the ball, but it glanced off her glove and hit her in the eye. Jim, just crossing home plate, caught her as she started to fall. (Jodi ended up with a black eye, but no more serious injuries.)
The "eyewitness accounts" of the incident are quite varied, however. Some people insist that there really was a play on Jim and that had Jodi caught the ball, she would have tagged him out. Some say that Jim ran into her to prevent her from catching it and that it was his elbow, not the ball, that caused the black eye. One version, that Jim has heard, was that he was the one who threw the ball, despite the fact that it made no sense.
Though we had some time during the show to chat, it was at the dinner hosted by the Comic Book Club afterwards where we really had time to swap stories. Jim recounted his very early days in the business, working for Mort Weisinger, and his first visit to the DC offices and Mort's home in Great Neck, LI. We shared stories about Julie Schwartz, Murray Boltinoff, and other editors, writers and artists of comics' "first generation."
One of the oft-told stories of DC's early days is about a freelancer and one of the editors. In virtually every version, a freelancer comes to the office to deliver his work and pick up a check. The editor for whom he has done the job is on vacation and the check is in the hands of another editor. Rather than just hand over the check, said editor starts going through and criticizing the work, demanding changes before he will release the check. The freelancer becomes enraged, picks up the editor and threatens to toss him out the window if he does not hand over the check.
Just as with the softball game story mentioned above, the details vary, depending on the version of the story told.
In some, the freelancer is a writer, while in others it is an artist. The version I'd heard, told to me by Julie Schwartz, was that it was Dave Vern, one of his writers; Jim's, recounted to him by artist Jack Abel, was that it was artist Alex Toth and that the editor had actually ripped one of the pages of art in half. Some versions have the editor being held out the window by the ankles, while others have him bent backwards over the window sill. One, taking into account that the windows did not open (depending on which DC office the story is supposed to have taken place), has the freelancer holding the editor over his head and threatening to throw him through the glass.
Perhaps the only "fact" all the variations we've heard have in common was pointed out by Roger. "The editor is always (Robert) Kanigher."
Our post-dinner conversation went on for more than an hour and probably would have continued much longer, but since Laurie and I had been up since the wee hours of the morning, we were wearing down and needed to get back our motel.
We were up bright and early -- well, 8:00 instead of 4:15 -- yesterday morning, made our way to the orchard, and picked half a bushel of apples, twenty pounds of peaches, and fifteen pounds of tomatoes and peppers. After a stop at Chuck and Rebecca's (and a road-construction-necessitated "scenic tour" of Jersey City) to share the bounty, we were back home some 580 miles and thirty-six hours after we left.
And that was our 2009 Ithacon adventure.
This year, with Sammi now living and teaching in Virginia and Chuck attending orientation at NYU (where he'll be going part-time for his MBA, beginning this semester), Laurie volunteered to join me for the trip, especially enthusiastically when I found a nearby orchard where we could pick apples, peaches and vegetables on Sunday. (To be fair, Laurie had intended to go with me two years ago, but while gardening a couple of days prior to the trip, she somehow got a "foreign object" embedded in her knee and ended up with her leg bandaged in such a way that she would not have been able to comfortably sit in the car nor walk around much.)
We were up at about 4:15 and on the road within an hour. The "lingering showers" that were forecast for the morning turned out to be pretty steady rain that stayed with us all the way to Scranton, PA, but then the precipitation stopped and we even had some peeks of sunshine for the rest of the drive. We arrived at just about 10:00, got settled at my table, and had a chance to say hi to some folks, just as the first fans began to arrive.
Among the familiar faces were Roger Stern (writer of Superman and numerous other comics), his wife Carmela (one of the organizers of the show), Tom Peyer (writer and a former DC editor), and Tom Hegeman (fan and fellow member of the Kappa-alpha apa group). Shortly thereafter, we were joined by Jim Shooter, who, depending on your comic book loyalties, is best known for his run as a writer of the Legion of Super-Heroes or his tenure as editor-in-chief at Marvel Comics.
Jim began writing Legion stories in 1965 at the age of 14 and had moved on to work at Marvel by the time I arrived at DC in 1973, so I knew him best from the annual DC/Marvel softball games that we played in Central Park in the mid-70s.
In the third of those games, Jim hit a ball so far that it landed on an adjoining field, where a player there picked it up and threw it back. It was clearly a home run and so Jim was not going all out to get around the bases, but the DC outfielder suddenly found himself holding the ball with Jim just rounding third base. Thinking that he had a chance to get an out, he fired the ball towards home plate. Jodi Saviuk, the DC catcher, attempted to catch the ball, but it glanced off her glove and hit her in the eye. Jim, just crossing home plate, caught her as she started to fall. (Jodi ended up with a black eye, but no more serious injuries.)
The "eyewitness accounts" of the incident are quite varied, however. Some people insist that there really was a play on Jim and that had Jodi caught the ball, she would have tagged him out. Some say that Jim ran into her to prevent her from catching it and that it was his elbow, not the ball, that caused the black eye. One version, that Jim has heard, was that he was the one who threw the ball, despite the fact that it made no sense.
Though we had some time during the show to chat, it was at the dinner hosted by the Comic Book Club afterwards where we really had time to swap stories. Jim recounted his very early days in the business, working for Mort Weisinger, and his first visit to the DC offices and Mort's home in Great Neck, LI. We shared stories about Julie Schwartz, Murray Boltinoff, and other editors, writers and artists of comics' "first generation."
One of the oft-told stories of DC's early days is about a freelancer and one of the editors. In virtually every version, a freelancer comes to the office to deliver his work and pick up a check. The editor for whom he has done the job is on vacation and the check is in the hands of another editor. Rather than just hand over the check, said editor starts going through and criticizing the work, demanding changes before he will release the check. The freelancer becomes enraged, picks up the editor and threatens to toss him out the window if he does not hand over the check.
Just as with the softball game story mentioned above, the details vary, depending on the version of the story told.
In some, the freelancer is a writer, while in others it is an artist. The version I'd heard, told to me by Julie Schwartz, was that it was Dave Vern, one of his writers; Jim's, recounted to him by artist Jack Abel, was that it was artist Alex Toth and that the editor had actually ripped one of the pages of art in half. Some versions have the editor being held out the window by the ankles, while others have him bent backwards over the window sill. One, taking into account that the windows did not open (depending on which DC office the story is supposed to have taken place), has the freelancer holding the editor over his head and threatening to throw him through the glass.
Perhaps the only "fact" all the variations we've heard have in common was pointed out by Roger. "The editor is always (Robert) Kanigher."
Our post-dinner conversation went on for more than an hour and probably would have continued much longer, but since Laurie and I had been up since the wee hours of the morning, we were wearing down and needed to get back our motel.
We were up bright and early -- well, 8:00 instead of 4:15 -- yesterday morning, made our way to the orchard, and picked half a bushel of apples, twenty pounds of peaches, and fifteen pounds of tomatoes and peppers. After a stop at Chuck and Rebecca's (and a road-construction-necessitated "scenic tour" of Jersey City) to share the bounty, we were back home some 580 miles and thirty-six hours after we left.
And that was our 2009 Ithacon adventure.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Three Day Weekends
Almost everyone loves a three-day weekend, but there are those who prefer the day off to be a Friday and those who are supporters of Monday holidays. Count me as one of those in the latter category.
Every weekend has its collection of regular chores to be done and the usual times that they get done. If I have Friday off, I'll tend to push a couple of chores up, but still have the others to do on Saturday and Sunday. As a result, I feel like I don't have a day off. On the other hand, if the holiday is on Monday, all the regular weekend chores are finished as usual and we have an entire day to do what we want. Of course, that is sometimes some bigger chores that we put off "until we have time."
Case in point was the just-passed Labor Day weekend. Laundry, vacuuming, pool maintenance, bill-paying, et al were done on Saturday and Sunday, leaving us with Monday free. So what did we do? Laurie went to Lowe's and picked up some plants for the front of the house...and a container of driveway sealant.
Someone told her that Dawn dishwashing detergent is the product of choice to get oil stains off the macadam -- the sealant won't adhere to the oil -- so she poured it on and used a scrub brush to clean them. (After seeing how Dawn works on the driveway, I'm ready to do a testimonial for them, by the way.) Laurie moved on to do her planting and I finished hosing down the driveway.
Since we had to then wait for the driveway to dry, we retired to the back yard and the pool.
Over the past couple of months, we have talked about the fact that the deck needed a fresh coat of water sealant. This requires renting a power sander and, more importantly, a week of dry weather beforehand. As those of us who live in the Northeast can attest, this was far from the driest summer ever. (Three months of April!) As a result, we never got to doing it.
Though the sanding job would now be postponed till next spring, we decided that putting a coat of sealant on now couldn't hurt. Laurie's plan was to do the driveway yesterday and then the deck today, but once we had her set up on the former, I figured I might as well tackle the latter. So, while Laurie "painted" the driveway (as it was described by the little girl next door), I "painted" the deck. And now we have two big chores out of the way.
Who says we don't know how to have fun on a three-day weekend? (Okay, in addition to the chores, I played beach volleyball Friday night, we went to a dinner party on Saturday, and had our friend Janice over on Sunday. And there was plenty of time in and beside the pool!)
Every weekend has its collection of regular chores to be done and the usual times that they get done. If I have Friday off, I'll tend to push a couple of chores up, but still have the others to do on Saturday and Sunday. As a result, I feel like I don't have a day off. On the other hand, if the holiday is on Monday, all the regular weekend chores are finished as usual and we have an entire day to do what we want. Of course, that is sometimes some bigger chores that we put off "until we have time."
Case in point was the just-passed Labor Day weekend. Laundry, vacuuming, pool maintenance, bill-paying, et al were done on Saturday and Sunday, leaving us with Monday free. So what did we do? Laurie went to Lowe's and picked up some plants for the front of the house...and a container of driveway sealant.
Someone told her that Dawn dishwashing detergent is the product of choice to get oil stains off the macadam -- the sealant won't adhere to the oil -- so she poured it on and used a scrub brush to clean them. (After seeing how Dawn works on the driveway, I'm ready to do a testimonial for them, by the way.) Laurie moved on to do her planting and I finished hosing down the driveway.
Since we had to then wait for the driveway to dry, we retired to the back yard and the pool.
Over the past couple of months, we have talked about the fact that the deck needed a fresh coat of water sealant. This requires renting a power sander and, more importantly, a week of dry weather beforehand. As those of us who live in the Northeast can attest, this was far from the driest summer ever. (Three months of April!) As a result, we never got to doing it.
Though the sanding job would now be postponed till next spring, we decided that putting a coat of sealant on now couldn't hurt. Laurie's plan was to do the driveway yesterday and then the deck today, but once we had her set up on the former, I figured I might as well tackle the latter. So, while Laurie "painted" the driveway (as it was described by the little girl next door), I "painted" the deck. And now we have two big chores out of the way.
Who says we don't know how to have fun on a three-day weekend? (Okay, in addition to the chores, I played beach volleyball Friday night, we went to a dinner party on Saturday, and had our friend Janice over on Sunday. And there was plenty of time in and beside the pool!)
Friday, September 4, 2009
Worst Movie Ever?
Laurie and I went to see "Inglourious Basterds" last night. Our pal Bob Greenberger gave it a thumbs-up so, despite the fact that Laurie does not like Quentin Tarantino's films, we gave it a shot. Laurie made it about halfway through before departing for another theatre in the multi-plex. (You can find her review over on her blog.)
On the way home, we were talking about the worst movie we have ever seen, It is actually a tough question, because there have been a number of movies we have started watching and never finished. I think the first one we rented that fell into that category was "Dune." There have been numerous others over the years, most of them borrowed from the library; we tend to give movies that we can see for free a try, figuring that if they are bad, they're worth every penny we paid.
Certainly, there plenty of bad movies have been made. In a separate category are ones like "Plan 9 From Outer Space," which is soooo bad that you have to watch it . And others, like the original "Invaders from Mars," which scared the bejeebers out of us as kids, are now almost comical.
During the CTY portion of my summers, we see a lot of bad movies. We have a special discount on Tuesday nights at the local Chester 5 movie theater and many of the staffers will go and see whichever summer blockbusters are playing. Good or bad, for $5 (or in the first few years, $4), it was a nice break for us all. In fact, it got to be routine that if someone complained about a movie being particularly lousy, I would say, "Yes, but it only cost you $4."
One particular evening we saw what pretty much everyone agreed was the worst movie we'd ever seen during a CTY summer. It was so bad that my fellow instructor Chuck started mumbling to our dorm mate Joe, "If Bob says, 'Well, it only cost $4,' I'm going to hit him!"
Joe took this as a challenge and during the ride back to the campus, he kept saying, "Boy, that movie was really bad. What do you think, Bob? Wasn't that movie really bad?" At first, I just agreed with him. Then he said, "Yeah, that might be the worst movie we've ever seen, but as you always say..."
"It only cost $4," I said.
At which point, Chuck yelled, "Arrrgh!"
And hit Joe.
Needless to say, we've sat through some pretty terrible movies over the years at the Chester 5. (To be fair, we've also seen some very good ones!) There have been weeks when none of the five offerings seem worth it, but since I am the one who made the deal with the theatre owners for the discount, I feel obligated to make use of it. One week a few summers ago, only two of us went to see a movie about giant spiders; it turned out to be rather entertaining. Since we were expecting it to be bad, we were surprised when it actually had some entertaining moments.
There are a few CTYers who will proclaim that "Miami Vice" is the worst movie we've ever spent a summer evening watching. It certainly had most of us scratching our heads and wondering what the plot was.
But the film that holds the distinction of being "The Worst CTY Movie Ever"? It was one that almost the entire staff went to see, expecting it to be funny and entertaining. It was neither.
And so, if you ask anyone who was there (and even some who weren't), they will say "Legally Blonde 2" is the winner.
But, hey, it only cost $4.
On the way home, we were talking about the worst movie we have ever seen, It is actually a tough question, because there have been a number of movies we have started watching and never finished. I think the first one we rented that fell into that category was "Dune." There have been numerous others over the years, most of them borrowed from the library; we tend to give movies that we can see for free a try, figuring that if they are bad, they're worth every penny we paid.
Certainly, there plenty of bad movies have been made. In a separate category are ones like "Plan 9 From Outer Space," which is soooo bad that you have to watch it . And others, like the original "Invaders from Mars," which scared the bejeebers out of us as kids, are now almost comical.
During the CTY portion of my summers, we see a lot of bad movies. We have a special discount on Tuesday nights at the local Chester 5 movie theater and many of the staffers will go and see whichever summer blockbusters are playing. Good or bad, for $5 (or in the first few years, $4), it was a nice break for us all. In fact, it got to be routine that if someone complained about a movie being particularly lousy, I would say, "Yes, but it only cost you $4."
One particular evening we saw what pretty much everyone agreed was the worst movie we'd ever seen during a CTY summer. It was so bad that my fellow instructor Chuck started mumbling to our dorm mate Joe, "If Bob says, 'Well, it only cost $4,' I'm going to hit him!"
Joe took this as a challenge and during the ride back to the campus, he kept saying, "Boy, that movie was really bad. What do you think, Bob? Wasn't that movie really bad?" At first, I just agreed with him. Then he said, "Yeah, that might be the worst movie we've ever seen, but as you always say..."
"It only cost $4," I said.
At which point, Chuck yelled, "Arrrgh!"
And hit Joe.
Needless to say, we've sat through some pretty terrible movies over the years at the Chester 5. (To be fair, we've also seen some very good ones!) There have been weeks when none of the five offerings seem worth it, but since I am the one who made the deal with the theatre owners for the discount, I feel obligated to make use of it. One week a few summers ago, only two of us went to see a movie about giant spiders; it turned out to be rather entertaining. Since we were expecting it to be bad, we were surprised when it actually had some entertaining moments.
There are a few CTYers who will proclaim that "Miami Vice" is the worst movie we've ever spent a summer evening watching. It certainly had most of us scratching our heads and wondering what the plot was.
But the film that holds the distinction of being "The Worst CTY Movie Ever"? It was one that almost the entire staff went to see, expecting it to be funny and entertaining. It was neither.
And so, if you ask anyone who was there (and even some who weren't), they will say "Legally Blonde 2" is the winner.
But, hey, it only cost $4.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Million$
On any given day, I can find in my mailbox emails from international dignitaries, prominent figures in the financial world, and numerous attorneys. Is it because of my career in the comic book business or some other notable thing I have done?
No, they all write to tell me that I have won an international lottery based solely on my email address... or inherited a fortune from a long-lost relative (mostly in countries in which none of my ancestors have ever lived)... or need my help smuggling out a fortune that they have "appropriated" from the deposed government of some African nation. Of course, I am not the only one who receives these. I'm sure everyone reading this has gotten their share. But you have to wonder, why does anyone actually fall for these scams?
Some months ago, there was an article in The New Yorker (if I recall correctly; if not, I'm sure Laurie will know, as she is the one who found it) about a doctor who got sucked into one. He just kept sending more "handling fees" to the scam artists, somehow convinced that the millions he was going to receive were just one more email away. We were amazed by this story of a seemingly intelligent and well-educated man who was apparently so overcome with greed that he could not see through the scam.
I can understand people getting caught in some of the phishing scams; the scammers have become quite good at faking emails from banks that advise customers of changes in security. Of course, when you get one from a bank you have never even heard of, it should be a heads-up that it's a fake. And there have been enough warnings by now that you wonder why anyone would blindly click on a link that will allow you to "easily update your information."
Recently, I did a tally of just how much money I had "won" or would receive in exchange for helping to smuggle funds out of Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, et al. Seven different lotteries, most of them in Europe, with a grand total of $9.75 million. Plus my share (ranging from 30% to 50%) of another $14.5 million just sitting in secret places around Africa. One man claimed that he was waiting for me at Kennedy Airport with "a cheque for $1 million." Clearly, there is no need to work if I would only take advantage of all this money that is just out there waiting for me.
Perhaps my favorite was one that came from a young woman in England. Seems that her father, a prominent banker, had died and left her several million pounds. His only stipulation for her receiving it before her 30th birthday -- she claimed to be 22 -- was that she had to be married. And of all the people in the world she could have, she chose me. (Let's just ignore all the inherent problems with this.) Now, really, if all it takes to collect her inheritance is to get married, isn't there a guy down the block who'd be willing?
No, they all write to tell me that I have won an international lottery based solely on my email address... or inherited a fortune from a long-lost relative (mostly in countries in which none of my ancestors have ever lived)... or need my help smuggling out a fortune that they have "appropriated" from the deposed government of some African nation. Of course, I am not the only one who receives these. I'm sure everyone reading this has gotten their share. But you have to wonder, why does anyone actually fall for these scams?
Some months ago, there was an article in The New Yorker (if I recall correctly; if not, I'm sure Laurie will know, as she is the one who found it) about a doctor who got sucked into one. He just kept sending more "handling fees" to the scam artists, somehow convinced that the millions he was going to receive were just one more email away. We were amazed by this story of a seemingly intelligent and well-educated man who was apparently so overcome with greed that he could not see through the scam.
I can understand people getting caught in some of the phishing scams; the scammers have become quite good at faking emails from banks that advise customers of changes in security. Of course, when you get one from a bank you have never even heard of, it should be a heads-up that it's a fake. And there have been enough warnings by now that you wonder why anyone would blindly click on a link that will allow you to "easily update your information."
Recently, I did a tally of just how much money I had "won" or would receive in exchange for helping to smuggle funds out of Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, et al. Seven different lotteries, most of them in Europe, with a grand total of $9.75 million. Plus my share (ranging from 30% to 50%) of another $14.5 million just sitting in secret places around Africa. One man claimed that he was waiting for me at Kennedy Airport with "a cheque for $1 million." Clearly, there is no need to work if I would only take advantage of all this money that is just out there waiting for me.
Perhaps my favorite was one that came from a young woman in England. Seems that her father, a prominent banker, had died and left her several million pounds. His only stipulation for her receiving it before her 30th birthday -- she claimed to be 22 -- was that she had to be married. And of all the people in the world she could have, she chose me. (Let's just ignore all the inherent problems with this.) Now, really, if all it takes to collect her inheritance is to get married, isn't there a guy down the block who'd be willing?
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