A Misuse of Judgement

Wizard World Philly
(Originally written 6/5/2008)

Yep, I managed to check this out this past Sunday. My awesome girlfriend bought me tickets for our 3 year anniversary, so I was stoked. This is the first WW that I have gone to, despite the fact that I've been a comic collector for the last 18 years of my life. What is wrong with me?

Anyway, I'm glad it was remedied. I went there with the expectation of buying some issues to fill in the gaps in my collection, or picking up some variant covers of cool issues that I'd wanted. What happened, though, was strange. I spent most of the time, and money for that matter, with the artists. I've never really paid attention to buying signed prints, until this show. The first person that we ran into was Greg Horn, who, if you are aware of his work, is an amazing artist. He was such a cool guy to talk to that I got one of his prints, and I guess that got the ball rolling. We ran into Billy Tan, and he and I got into a talk about the New Avengers and how great of a writer Brian Michael Bendis is.

The coolest experience, however, was Billy Tucci. His interactions with the people at his table was off the wall. He seemed like a very subtle weirdo, and he was really cool. My girlfriend purchased an original sketch from him, and we let him take his time. We went back a few hours later and he hadn't finished it yet. That was cool with us so we left and came back and it still wasn't done. No problem. If he wasn't as friendly as he was, we may have had a problem with it; he was a busy guy with the panel he was on and all the attention that he got, so it was understandable. He was also a nice guy so we came back at the end of the show. Needless to say, the sketch was amazing and my girlfriend was really happy with it. I regret not getting a picture with the guy, but he was busy.

We also spent some time checking out the underground, independent stuff. Two of the things that stick out in my head are Freaky Dinkys and Brielle and the Horror, both of which are pretty cool and worth checking out.

Needless to say, we both had a blast. I can't wait until next year to see what other stuff I can pick up. Hopefully, there will be shit just as cool, if not cooler.

Now That's Creativity

I think I've rediscovered Weezer.
(Originally written 5/28/2008)

I'm really digging the new song, 'Pork and Beans.' And the other day, on my way to work, a local radio station played a block of Weezer which included an awesome acoustic version of Jaime. Since then, I've been listening to a CD a friend of mine made with a whole bunch of great Weezer songs.

My favorite song by them has been 'The Good Life' and it still holds up. But I've got a new appreciation for 'Surf Wax America.' Not to mention the song 'American Girl' that they did with Sonic Youth and Cake.

Man, I've never been excited for a new CD release before, but I'm really looking forward to when the Red Album hits stores.

Clit's Costume

The move is done.
(Originally written 5/2/2008)

Yay! We got everything into the new apartment and now comes the task of putting it all away. What a hell the actual move was.

First off, we didn't get started until around 10 AM. It was me, my girlfriend, and my girlfriend's little brother moving everything. We got the furniture into the truck when we learned that we wouldn't be able to get everything in and that we would have to make a second trip. That sucked.

When we got to the new place, a couple of my girlfriend's friends were able to come and help. That was awesome. Where as it took us three hours to get the stuff into the truck, with their help, we got it unloaded in an hour and a half. Afterwards, we went back to get the rest. That went OK, but getting it back up to the new place was terrible. Having to go up to the third floor 20 times in about a hour takes a lot out of a guy.

We finally finished up at around midnight. By the time I dropped off the truck and got back home it was almost 2 in the morning. Then I had to get up at 5:30 to get ready for work. Yeah, working after 3 hours of sleep sucks big time. I don't know how I every did it, especially when it involved a hangover as well.

Anyway, I'm glad it's done. I can get settled and set up all my cool stuff. Now all that's left for me to do is find myself a decent job. At least I will have to time to do that now.

The Pay Off

A great weekend for comic book geeks.
(originally written 4/27/2008)

As 7-11 and Burger King have been making everyone aware, there is this small, independent movie called "Iron Man" opening up this weekend. Now, I cannot say for sure if it will be any good or not, but I'm betting it's going to pull in an ass-load of money. Given the past few movies based on Marvel characters opening in May, well, I think Marvel thinks Iron Man is good enough to premiere in May. Clearly it's not on the level of Ghost Rider or Daredevil (though I didn't mind Daredevil that much.)

In addition to this, however, Saturday is a special time of year. Free Comic Book Day is May 3rd, so everyone celebrate. For those who are unfamiliar with FCBD, what it is is a promotion for the comic book industry in which anyone can walk into a comic book store and get a comic. For free. No money. Not even a penny.

The purpose behind the promotion is to open up the industry to people who aren't familiar with comics. Non-readers may be more inclined to read a comic if it were free. While I don't know how successful in this venture FCBD has been, I certainly enjoy because it's a great idea either way.

Anyway, my point is, go see Iron Man on Friday. Go get a free comic on Saturday. Enjoy the weekend. I know I will.

Suiting Up

Going through a lot of changes.
(Originally written 4/20/2008)

Personally, I mean. By the end of the month, I have to move into my new apartment. So most of my time is consumed by packing a moving shit from one place to another. I also have to find a couple of friends who don't have to work or will be willing to take off from work on a Wednesday to help move the furniture. I doubt that is likely to happen. Source of stress #1.

My new job sucks. Not even a little. It sucks, like, something fierce. Couple that with the fact that my commute to this job is tripled compared to my last job and the non-stop increase in gas prices makes my paltry raise a pay cut, and you have source of stress #2.

The only thing getting me through is that I know the first stress source will be over by the time I get into the new apartment. Then, at least, I can work on finding a new new job and eliminate the second stress. In fact, I have already done some work for this, getting my resume in order and creating a small portfolio booklet that I can send to companies. I would like to try using my over-priced college degree instead of letting all of that money go to waste. I don't think that I will even consider a job that is not in the graphic design or advertising field for this reason, unless, of course, I am offered 80 grand a year. In that case...

Anyway, though I have problems, I know that they are temporary. I'm gonna keep trudging through life, trying to make the most of it.

Creating a Hero

Moonvertising...
(Originally written 3/31/2008)

As I was driving home from work the other week I saw a billboard ad with a message portraying this idea. I thought to myself, "This is a horrible idea. Advertising is far too prevalent. I pay to go to the movies and still I am forced to watch commercials. Now, I can't even look up at the full moon without being assailed by a product ad? What the fuck is wrong with this world?"

Well, I forgot about it for a while, but last week I got around to visiting the site. I guess I was not shocked to find that this whole thing is the brainchild of Ron Stablehorn, the VP of Marketing for Rolling Rock beer.

In the past, Rolling Rock has done some very "in your face" advertising campaigns, most of which revolved around viral marketing. Their most memorable being the inoffensive "Beer Ape" ad. The hook to that ad is the apology that Stablehorn gave for the offensiveness of the ad, which, of course, drove viewers to search out the ad to see why it is so offensive. Clever advertising, many would say. I suppose I would agree, seeing as how I felt the need to find out what the big deal was about the commercial. Let's not forget the Friends of Rolling Rock, a group of loyalists who, after the Beer Ape incident were calling for Stablehorn's head. This, too, was a brainchild of Stablehorn in an attempt to fan the flames of controversy. And now, here he is again, stirring up his newest viral marketing campaign.

What makes this really funny is that, while listening to a local radio station today, they were talking about this. Only one of the five people in the discussion questioned the validity of advertising on the moon. He was, however, quickly ridiculed by the other four. Morons.

I think it's funny how Rolling Rock goes through all of this trouble to advertise their products, when there is one simple thing they can do to increase their customer base...

How about making it not taste like piss?