Laura "Tegan" Gjovaag
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Laura "Tegan" Gjovaag |
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The Oogs are here in force. We had a small crowd last night and showed the Shirley Temple "Land of Oz" and had popcorn. A handful stayed the night, then Eric and I (mostly Eric) frantically cleaned while our overnighters went out to a chocolate factory in hopes of getting a tour (they didn't). Because we told everyone they could show up early, instead of saying they should arrive around 2 pm as usual, most people arrived at about 2 pm instead of 3-4 pm. Go figure. One of our special guests is David Maxine, who comic fans might better recognize as Hungry Tiger Press, the publishing company of Eric Shanower's works. David is in town to see Wagner's Ring, and is apparently staying with Ed Brubaker. Unfortunately, he has to leave very soon to go to the opera. There are around a dozen wild and crazy Oogaboos wandering around our living room. I won't mention the discussion topics, since they range far and wide and much have nothing to do with Oz. I'm hearing a lone voice from the back... what's that? What's an Oogaboo? Ah... Oogaboos live in the Northwest corner of Oz, as seen in Tik-Tok of Oz. As the Oz fandom in the United States tend to congregate in groupings by geography, when the Northwest group first formed, they called themselves Oogaboos. They are the only Oz group that I know of that has regular quarterly gatherings (we call them Oogaboo Rendezvous) and they are a fairly tight-knit group. When I married Eric, I married into the Oogaboos. Oogaboo Rendezvous tend to be mild meetings. The Oogs gather at somebody's house (Eric hosts at least one, sometimes two a year) and bring food for a potluck (including one time when everyone brought pie) and chat and bring in books to sell to each other and sometimes watch a video and bring show-and-tell stuff that's Oz-related. For this meeting I set out all the comic books we've gotten recently that have an Oz theme or are slightly Oz related (Oddly Normal was a big hit). They are now gathering to take "the quiz" which will be played on the Home Jeopardy set Eric has. He put in a bunch of Oz questions and the gathering has been divided into three teams for the tournament. I'm trying to convince Eric to put the questions and answers up on the Oz Blog, but I think he's considering saving them for a later Oz convention. Sadly, I just took another dose of the anti-nausea medication because I was beginning to feel the room weave and wave around me. In less than an hour I'm likely to be unconscious from the stuff. I hope I wake up before the party ends. -by Tegan at 3:12 PM Seattle time - Permalink
The latest of our quarterly Oogaboo Rendezvous has started at the Casa Gjovaag tonight. It will go into tomorrow, and end sometime tomorrow evening. At this event, we are celebrating the birthday of Ozma of Oz, who's birthday is the 21st of August. The Comics Reporter points us to this way-cool article about my favorite superhero. Yes, I know some people are really enjoying the latest Aquaman issues. I hope they continue to enjoy it. Dave Ex Machina linkblogs. Go see.  Hubby-Eric is quite taken with Pastafarianism, the new religion that is having a growing influence on the internet community... including its own wikipedia entry and a $250,000 challenge. I would tell you all about the great Flying Spaghetti Monster, but since I'd have to dress up in full pirate regalia first, I think I'll pass on an explanation today. You'll just have to visit the links. Arrrr.Speaking of pirates, there's a serious suggestion linked from MetaFilter that suggests that Terrorists be classified, for the purpose of international law, as pirates: More than 2,000 years ago, Marcus Tullius Cicero defined pirates in Roman law as hostis humani generis, "enemies of the human race." From that day until now, pirates have held a unique status in the law as international criminals subject to universal jurisdiction - meaning that they may be captured wherever they are found, by any person who finds them. The ongoing war against pirates is the only known example of state vs. nonstate conflict until the advent of the war on terror, and its history is long and notable. More important, there are enormous potential benefits of applying this legal definition to contemporary terrorism. Attack of the Killer Whale. What amazes me is that the whale apparently broke off the attack, then apologized to the kid for the mistake! In any case, that's one lucky kid. Blogging makes you smart. Penguins in Parliament. heh. I want one. Need to practice another language? MetaFilter's got the answer. 85 years ago, women got the right to vote. Rock on, grandma. Bush is number one! In vacation days over an 8-year term. And he did it in only four and a half years. What an achiever! Elayne directs us to this video, which really ought to get the patriotic blood pumping, as this one tells what it really means to be American. -by Tegan at 9:02 PM Seattle time - Permalink
Here's mine...
Seems to me like this is a good idea for a regular blog post, especially if comics blogs keep appearing at the rate they've appeared recently. Heh. Anyway, I think I got at least ten in up there. So, anyone done their own blogaround recently? Have any thoughts on the blogs I visited? -by Tegan at 8:01 AM Seattle time - Permalink
Here's to all the comic book bloggers out there, who seem to multiply on a daily basis! This is a challenge. I'm throwing the gauntlet down. If you are a genuine comic book blogger, you ought to be able to spare one post for this challenge. So this goes out to each and every comic book blogger, regardless of how often you blog or how much traffic you get on your blog. Here's what you gotta do. Go to the Comics Weblog Update-A-Tron 3000 and click through to at least ten comic book blogs. You can do more, but ten is the minimum. I would also stick with blogs that have been updated within the last couple of weeks, but that's not a hard and fast rule. As another loose rule, go for blogs you haven't visited before, if you can. The goal of this challenge is to meet new bloggers and see new stuff. Visit each blog. Look at it. Form an impression about it. Then write a short bit about it. Then repeat until you have ten. Be sure to link to the blog when you talk about it. Positive, or at least constructive, thoughts are encouraged. If you don't like the blog, don't include it, go on to another one. If you let me know, I'll link to your blogaround in a future post and in updates to this one. If you don't let me know and I find it, I'll still link. If you don't let me know and I don't find it... well, we're all out of luck, then, aren't we? I'll do my blogaround tomorrow morning (I hope, unless the medication puts me out for the count again). I'll add links to other people's blogarounds on this post, if anyone is brave enough to take me up on the challenge. And here's some to look at:
-by Tegan at 7:25 PM Seattle time - Permalink
G.I.Spy: This is another Boom! Studios review copy, and it lives up to the studio name if nothing else. I love Matt Haley's artwork, but the story was a little disjointed for my tastes. It never seemed to pull together into a narrative that I wanted to read. I could follow the story, but I didn't really enjoy it. Fun, nice art, but ultimately something I would probably pass on.  Green Lantern #3: "Flight Delay": Still not connecting with this one. I want to say "oh cool!" with the bad guys, but they don't evoke any response on the emotional level. I want to like this book, but I'm just not feeling anything from it. Maybe the next arc will be better? Detective Comics #810: "A Consequence of Truth: War Crimes part 3": Ok, Spoiler is definitely dead. I got that much from this one. Greg Burgas kindly explained to me why the last issue departed so dramatically from the storyline I was expecting to see, otherwise I'd still be saying "What happened to Bruce being deep undercover?!?" As it is, I'm still left wondering where the second part of this story appeared. Not that I really care, because it's a stupid crossover that not only is giving only part of the story to anyone who only reads Detective, the stupid crossover also screwed up a very long on-going story in this title. If I was getting this book for myself, I would have dropped it immediately. At least the back-up story was mildly chilling.  Seven Soldiers: Klarion #3: "The Deviant Ones": While Klarion is nasty, the crowd he's fallen in with is nastier in many ways. I don't like Klarion much, and I'm not really enjoying this book all that much, either. I think I'm going to drop Seven Soldiers and hope that if it's really good I can get collections. Genie #2: "First Wish part two: The Burning Arm of Xanda": I like how this story is developing. I'm particularly amused at the wish that gets granted. Xanda appears to really enjoy being a Genie, which seems only natural when you consider the character we met in the first issue. I'm certainly looking forward to reading more of this.  Birds of Prey #85: "A New Morning's Resolution": Ok, so I was wrong about everything being tied up in the last issue. Things got tied up in this issue. I'm not sure about the cliffhanger, though. We've been through this whole thing a number of times. What's the result going to be this time? Anyway... I like Oracle's surgical team, and the curiousity of the JSA was a good touch. But with everything so neatly tied up and finished, what's going to happen in the next issue? What Were They Thinking?!: This is another Boom! Studios review copy, due to hit stands near you on the 24th. This is a rather frightening remix of an old Wally Wood War comic... original artwork but all new words by Keith Giffn and Mike Leib. Folks who have any sort of thin-skin will want to avoid this one, as it hits a lot of somewhat non-PC themes. I think my favorite story was the "Hearts and Minds" one, about a group of natives under attack from the Japanese during WWII who try desperately to get rid of their obnoxious American "hero". Certainly worth a look if you want a laugh. 
-by Tegan at 5:24 PM Seattle time - Permalink
It's picture Thursday!
Rose is Rose shows the guilt of reading a comic book. *sigh* -by Tegan at 2:30 PM Seattle time - Permalink
Eh, I should have saved the "tagged" post until today. I learned I have an inner ear infection, and I waited long enough to go to the doctor (because it didn't feel severe) that modern medicine isn't going to help me through it... I just need to wait it out. I got a prescription for anti-nausea medicine, which knocked me out as soon as I took it. Posting might be a bit... dizzy... around here for a few more days. Johnny B tackles V for Vendetta. Yeah. What he said. The movie, in the meantime, has apparently been pushed back to March 2006. Mark Evanier rightfully complains about DVD collections that advertise themselves as "complete" when they aren't... quite. For instance, I'm bitterly disappointed that the Muppet Show Season One DVD set is missing bits, some of them large, from five of the episodes... including my favorite number from the Vincent Price episode (see the Muppet Central review for details on the missing bits). Now, admittedly, everything else on the DVD set is fantastic, but it's very discouraging to be missing parts of five episodes on a collection billed as "complete". Make Chary directs us to a site where you can download all the Simpsons shorts from the Tracy Ullman Show. Will Pfeifer's bulletin board. Hey, I never promised rollicking excitement from this blog, did I? A family in Wyoming just retired from taking 911 calls for 21 years. For free. As a volunteer service. All the time. Via Garrett. Snopes confronts the Walken for President websites. It's a sign of the times that I really couldn't tell if it was a hoax or not. You may have heard the news that our galaxy is a bar spiral galaxy and not just a spiral galaxy as previously thought. Well, filkertom enjoyed the announcement. TangognaT directs us to a couple of cool places, including The Top 5 Bare-Chested Marvel Superheroes. There is no Aquaman movie in our universe... but over in the Entourage Universe... Haven't had a chance to play with this one yet, but check out this MetaFilter thread and link. Reminds me of Bone, Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards. I hate to break it to the folks who complained, but stopping the .xxx domain isn't going to stop the stuff that we want to move over to that domain. *sigh* -by Tegan at 8:14 PM Seattle time - Permalink
Happy b-day to my nephew Jordan! -by Tegan at 7:32 AM Seattle time - Permalink
Shane Bailey tagged me. 1. Ten years ago: A year out of college and married for that time. I had just had my new computer job for a few months and was still trying to figure it out. It hadn't gotten to the soul destroying stage yet because I was only doing documentation at the time. 2. Five years ago: My soul was slowly eroding from the job, and I was beginning to hate it and most of the people I worked with, and pretty much all the customers I dealt with on a daily basis. Going to work was daily torture and I was suffering from severe depression. I was a year away from losing the job, but I was already to the point where I should have quit. If I had quit then, perhaps I would have found a better job... or perhaps not. But I was very near to not wanting to even look at a computer ever again, five years ago. 3. One year ago: I started my second blog Gjoblaag to give me a place to write more boring stuff. I was watching the Olympics on the CBC with hubby-Eric, which I love to do because it's great to see him enjoy it so much. Tent City 4 was in Bothell, and I was recording our experiences with them being just up the street on this blog. 4. Yesterday: Woke up early and did some yard work when the Mormon missionaries arrived to help clear ivy and blackberry from my yard. Overdid it with the work and got really really really sick and felt absolutely miserable for the rest of the day. Spent most of the day browsing the 'net while feeling horrible. 5. Today: Still felt miserable. Since I've been feeling mildly sick for over a week, I called the doctor's office and set up an appointment. I also called in sick to work. Spent most of the day browsing the 'net or sleeping. 6. Tomorrow: Get up, go to doctor, find out what's wrong with me... if it's something wrong and not... um, I'm not goin' there. Anyway. What I do the rest of the day really depends on what the doctor says. I can say that if I don't feel better I'm not inclined to go to work because it's really hard to do retail when you are about to throw up. 7. Five snacks I enjoy: Hrm. I try not to snack. Doesn't mean I don't, I just try not to. I could eat black olives until I make myself sick, but I don't usually get them. I also like cherry tomatoes. On the not-so-good side, I like root beer floats and chocolate chip cookies. I guess my final one would be plums. I love plums. I rarely get plums, but I love them. 8. Five bands I know the lyrics of most of their songs: I don't think I know five bands, much less the lyrics to most of their songs. I tend to enjoy music by the song rather than follow bands. The only groups I tend to "follow" are filk groups. Um, maybe Heather Alexander, Echo's Children, Three Weird Sisters, The Wild Oats, and Tom Smith. 9. Five things I would do with $100,000,000: Five things, huh? Let's see... 10. Five locations I'd like to run away to: I really don't know. I don't tend to run away. I tend to hide, instead. 11. Five Bad Habits: 12. Five things I like doing: 13. Five TV shows I like: I don't watch a lot of TV. Doctor Who. Smallville. Um. This is getting hard. The Daily Show. Um. Iron Chef. What else... um... can't think of any more. 14. Famous People I'd like to meet, living or dead. I can't think of anybody else. You see, I tend to meet the people I think of as heroes. I suppose I could come up with dead people, but that's just too ... depressing. But between the conventions I've attended and some of my other activities, I've met a lot of celebrities and meeting them just doesn't appeal to me in general anymore. I found that the folks I wanted to meet the most usually turned out to be the people I liked the least. 15. Biggest joys at the moment: Hubby-Eric. Hubby-Eric. And, if you push me on it, I'd have to say hubby-Eric. 16. Favorite toys: Hubby-Eric. Oh wait... TMI. Um... Heroclix, LEGO trains. 17. Five people to tag: Ah... now we get to the heart of it. When I was a little girl in school, a classmate passed me a chain letter one day. I didn't want anything to do with it, so I dropped it in a garbage can. Sometime after that, a different classmate accused me of anonymously giving her a chain letter... I didn't. The handwriting looked nothing like mine at all, but the teacher we called in to mediate claimed it looked like my writing. I was horrified and angry. I'd been dismissive of chain letters before, but after that incident I actively hated them. I swore up and down that I would never pass along a chain letter. Ever. I don't mind being tagged, but I will never tag anyone else. That's entirely too much like passing on a chain letter for my comfort levels. So it just won't happen. -by Tegan at 11:04 PM Seattle time - Permalink
Marvel for November has been posted at Comics Continuum, and there's almost nothing of interest to me. Hubby-Eric and I made the difficult decision to drop Amazing Spider-Man for the duration of the crossover... but better to drop the stupid book then have to buy two more books for three months just to get the whole story. That leaves Powers as the only regular book we're getting from Marvel (since Supreme Power seems to have splintered). The only other book that looks even vaguely tempting is the Marvel Holiday Special 2005... Continuum also has Image for November, and that's another disappointment. The only thing that we'll order from the whole listing is Noble Causes. I'm still interested in Invincible and PvP, but I can't really afford to add any books to the pile at the moment. We've been having to cut back dramatically. Update: Marvel for November at CBR and Image for November at CBR. Of the big four, then, that leaves Dark Horse for November... I'll continue to get the new Conan, just because I really like it. The Perhapanauts sounds really fun, but again, we can't really afford to add books right now. Samurai Executioner hasn't come out for awhile, but I'll continue to order it. I want the whole series. Star Wars: The Comics Companion sounds like a great idea, as the Star Wars comics seem to me to be a vast pool of too many stories to deal with. I won't get it, but it's a great idea. And, of course, I'll get Usagi Yojimbo. In case you missed it, I tackled DC for November here. And one last note. Aquaman's sales, if ICv2's estimates are correct, have now hit the same level where he was cancelled in 2000. Unless DC has another reason to keep Aquaman going, the death-watch for the title is probably on. To offer some hope, there's another possibility that would keep Aquaman swimming: sales have been dropping across the board, so the cancellation threshhold might be lower now, as opposed to five years ago, as well. -by Tegan at 11:12 AM Seattle time - Permalink
Salgood Sam links to an article about comic books in Newsweek. While it's not a horrible article, it makes the stupid beginner's mistake of referring to comic books as a genre instead of a medium, and it spits on superhero comics throughout. Your mileage may vary. Pal Dorian vents. I like his observations. I wonder if I fall into "hyper-sensitive thin-skinned" or "self-appointed arbiters of merit"? I can see both categories in myself at times. When I fall into those traps I have to remind myself repeatedly that I'm doing this whole blogging thing for myself... calm down and enjoy it or stop doing it. At times, that is the hardest thing in the world. Once you think you have an audience, you feel desperate to keep them happy. Augie linkdumps again, and his link to 7 Mistakes for Your First Week of Blogging caught my eye. Personally, the biggest piece of advice I'd give a new blogger is to decide from the get-go how often you want to update, and then stick to it. I may not be the best person to take advice from, however, as I was more worried that I would blog too much than too little. Still, my second blog, Gjoblaag celebrates one year today, so I think I know a little about regular blogging, even if I know nothing about good blogging. Wired covers Brickfest. I winced when I read about the model that got taken apart by airport security. Ouch. In other news, LEGO rep Jake McKee gave some new information about upcoming projects during his keynote address. In short, LEGO is going customizable. People can design their own sets. Did you miss the Perseids? Here's a little animated GIF showing some of the action. Ever wondered how touchscreens work? Well, wonder no more. Home Depot and historical recreation. How to make corsets out of plastic cable ties. Wow. A net.kook has actually been institutionalized. That kind of gives me hope for future fights against my own net.kook/stalker. Maybe that's why I haven't heard from him in a couple of months. I've seen some really nasty American propaganda from WWII... but here's something I've never seen: Japanese propaganda from WWII. I knew it must exist, but this is the first time I've seen it. The "Farewell, American Soldier" pamphlet is particularly nasty. Babies shouldn't fly. Or something like that. Peter David has uncovered the real reason the Iraqi constitution was delayed. Talkleft links to a really frightening analysis of dear leader's behavior that I really hope is wild, completely untrue, rumor. The Washington state Democrats and Republicans are both in really bad financial shape after the contested governor's race... so they send out fundraising letters. What a contrast in styles. Via Evergreen Politics. A Update: Yup, pro-Bush and Republican. Larry Northern hates this country and the troops enough that he attached pipes and chains to his pickup truck to assist in destroying the war memorial and desecrating the U.S. flags attached to the crosses. Note that Kos has pictures of the destroyed crosses and flags, and also points out that counter-protesters left flowers and flags, even though they disagreed with the people who put the crosses up. Chilling recordings of 9/11. -by Tegan at 10:16 AM Seattle time - Permalink
This is one annoyed-looking Aquaman action figure.  Maybe he heard the James Cameron rumor one too many times. -by Tegan at 4:31 PM Seattle time - Permalink
This article and others like it have started a rumor that may never go away. The quote: "Jim Cameron was joking around saying 'We should really do this thing' and everybody's all like we should do Aquaman together", says Wahlberg. Look, it's not going to happen. James Cameron is not directing an Aquaman movie. Mark Wahlberg is not going to star as Aquaman. As funny as the rumor is, it's based on a joke. Laugh at it, yes, but please don't take it seriously. -by Tegan at 12:19 PM Seattle time - Permalink
Happy Birthday big sis! -by Tegan at 6:39 AM Seattle time - Permalink
The DC Solicits for November have appeared on Comics Continuum. Update: and were removed once they figured out they had messed up and put them up early. Update: now they are up officially, at DC Comics, Comic Book Resources, Newsarama, and, yes, Comics Continuum.  I'm almost to the point where I just don't want to read the solicits for Aquaman anymore. I'm always expecting something that will make me cringe. This is no change... I'm cringing as usual. -by Tegan at 8:03 PM Seattle time - Permalink
 We got an update on Dorothy Gale: Journey To Oz direct from the creator. The information is all here for anyone who is interested. The big news, for me, is that the book has a website at Freefall Comics, which I'll be sure to include in future Flipping Through Previews posts.Johnny B updates us on the status of his V for Vendetta review. Heh. Phil Foglio posts Part Four of his San Diego Report. Wow. Kevin Melrose covers the Quill Awards. Sort of. Shane is linkblogging again. Be sure to check out this very odd ad he links to. This story makes me see red. The library had a policy in place that included filters on the computers and walk-throughs, but because the filters and walk-throughs didn't prevent abuse, the LIBRARIAN is being punished?!?? ARGH! Librarians are not babysitters, nor should they be forced into the role of looking over every single person's shoulder while they work. If you don't mind NY Times annoying registration, there's a neat article about new ways to prepare food... by using vacuum sealed bags. -by Tegan at 10:07 AM Seattle time - Permalink
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