While I'm still not firing on all cylinders, I'm so much better than this time last week. Basically, I think I'll have a cough and sinus issues for a while, and I don't want to risk 30 minutes on the elliptical til this weekend, but I'm basically back up to firing speed.
SXSW
As we say in Austin, "South By" is on. Tomorrow begins the musical portion, and I will not get to see Bruce Springsteen.
We missed Nathan this year as we were a sick house, and in no condition to get the house prepped, even had I not worried about hacking a lung all over him. From watching him on Facebook, it looks like he had another great few days of coverage of the Film portion.
Some other friends from Seattle (if you knew me back in The Day, you might know them) showed up. The My, Bryan M and their two bandmates. We grabbed a meal with them and then they came to my office this week at work just to see me and see what I'm up to, which cracked me up. Unfortunately I still haven't felt well enough to go out to any of their showcase shows.
Books
I just re-read A Princess of Mars and am starting Gods of Mars, the second John Carter book by Edgar Rice Burroughs. I'd like to read at least the first three novels (especially as they came in a handy, single volume from Simon & Shuster for a really reasonable price). Meanwhile, I decided to countermeasure that by giving 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke a listen as an audio book during my commute.
Yes, I've seen the movie a half-dozen times, but I'd always heard such good things about the book, and I wasn't ready to jump right into Rendevous with Rama. If I like 2001, I will add that one to my bucket list.
Comics
Due to last week's illness, I missed out on picking up my comics, so this week was a double-dip, but its also reflective of how much my comics purchasing on a weekly basis has diminished.
I picked up:
- last week's copy of Action Comics #7 by Grant Morrison and Rags Morales
- iZombie 23
- Saga #1 (by the writer who did Y: The Last Man, Brian K. Vaughn)
- Adventure Time #1 (3rd printing) because I'd failed to pick up this comic to date
- Weird War Tales #124 a back issue that I happened to just look down and see and thought looked nifty, and it wasn't any more than a new comic.
- Tintin: King Ottokar's Sceptre - which I think I special ordered back in January and Diamond finally got them a copy
I really, really liked Saga #1. It feels like there's a lot of promise there. Adventure Time feels exactly like the TV show, so its a worthy add-on if you're going to start moving into other media. And it provided a Tree Trunks-centric backup story, so how can you go wrong?
Last week I figured out that somehow didn't read iZombie 22 even though I bought it, so I'll be reading both 22 & 23 back-to-back this week.
Look, iZombie is pretty great stuff in every issue. If you aren't picking it up and you like comics, go look for the trades. Just a smart, fun read.
Pop-Art
I don't really know why, but in the last few months it seems I've suddenly accumulated new prints which I really like, but I have a tragic lack of wall space.
Most notable among the prints was an early birthday gift I received from my mother-in-law, Judy, this weekend. Judy has always been oddly enabling of my comics habit, in particular my Superman and Wonder Woman fandom. I think she read those comics growing up.
Anyway, she found a copy of a 1977 poster print that was already framed and now I'm most definitely clearing wall space for this:
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| In her satin tights, fighting for our rights! |
Over a month ago, I also happened to get in on a sale at Mondo for a Conquest of the Planet of the Apes poster-print. So I've got that going on.
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| this is the one where @#$% goes down... |
But I actually had planned to get that framed and take it to work as I have a huge, blank wall behind my desk.
Today I was returning from the comics shoppe when I recalled that Mondo had opened their gallery, and I swung by to see what it was going to be like. Little did I know that they would have a War of the Worlds poster-print available.
So, this is going up in the bedroom:
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| (it glows in the dark, too!) |
It'll actually probably go to work with me, too. I just think its super cool.
That's not to mention the two Tim Doyle prints I have that I'm not sure what I'll do with yet.
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| from his "Bladerunner" portraits series |
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| if you're wondering, its Twin Peaks |
So, I have a certain lack of wall space thanks to this newfangled "open floor plan" we live in, but I'm starting to get some ideas.
5 comments:
You lucky bastard. I really wanted to get one of those POTA prints. They go so quickly.
The POTA prints hit some kind of saturation point. I saw on eBay that they're going for justa bout $10-20 more than the original asking price. If you don't need the original film, or you don't need the "Alamo wants you to go Ape!" print, I think the others are pretty attainable.
If I see one come up at the Gallery, I'll let you know immediately.
Yeah, kind of wanted the original. Although the Conquest one is pretty cool too.
Tintin: King Ottokar's Sceptre—perhaps the Tintin volume I've read the most number of times (and that's a lot, the only other contender is The Black Island). Not necessarily b/c it's the best, more because of the accident of when I acquired it, etc. I expect a review. BTW, I'm planning on a post on the "clear line" style soon in honor of the new Joost Swarte collection, which would fit right in . . .
Sure! I love talking Tintin! And I know the name Joost Swarte, but no work immediately leaps to mind. I look forward to your post.
I have a few other books to get thru before I get to Tintin again. But get to it, I shall.
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