All Signs Point To No

Was talking to Mike this morning after golf about whether each of us will be attending the Chicago Wizard Con this year. As for me, I said that unless my full-time job situation improves between now and this August—which is always possible—I’d have to decline.

But honestly, outside of missing a chance to hob-nob with independent artists at the con, I doubt I’ll miss much. After all, when the show is seemingly dedicated to pro wrestlers as much as comic artists, writers, and dealers it is definitely losing its way.

Not that I have anything against wrestlers (Jerry “The King” Lawler will be at WizardCon this year, a favorite of mine), but if I wanted to check them out I’d attend a WWE event.

Hopefully, next year will be a better one for con-going in my neck ‘o the woods, as Reed Entertainment--manager of the annual New York Comic Con--will be staging the inaugural Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2) in April 2010 at the city’s massive McCormick Place. The event’s Guest of Honor has already been selected in Alex Ross, whom I hope will allow me (and the rest of us) to breathe the same air in which his greatness basks.

Anyhow, it should be interesting to attend on my usual Sunday.

Unless I’m at an out-of-town comic con (e.g. San Diego), I refuse to go to for all three days. It’s far too exhausting an experience to walk in circles for so long, passing the same dealer tables time and again.

Yeah, that's what I figured too...

A Very Brief Review: "Drag Me To Hell"

So the moral of the story is never to piss off old crones with false teeth and access to ancient curses. Otherwise, where the hell was the Bruce Campbell cameo I expected?

Et tu, Sam? Et tu?

Chilly Withdrawal

Well, it's over.

Despite my predictions to the contrary, the Blackhawks fell last night in five games to the Detroit Red Wings who again won the Western Conference Campbell Trophy. However, to say the progress the Hawks have made in the past two years (going from the NHL's basement to the doorstep of the Stanley Cup) has been incredible is an understatement.

And personally, I'm already looking forward to next season beginning like...tomorrow, which is odd for me as I've been a lifetime baseball fan, and right now don't care a lot about the game, or at least not as long as the MLB's utterly spineless Bud Selig is league commissioner. All I want to know now is how the Hawks will resign Khabibulin and Havlat, and dispose of their dead wood (Campbell) in an upcoming trade.

Truly, my heart has turned to freon and ice, and it couldn't possibly feel better.

History Tells Us....

...that one of the biggest early fanbases for Stanley Kubrick's 1969 film adaptation of "2001" were drug-users, both hardcore and weekend-variety. And looking at Jack Kirby's own version of the story, it's not hard to see history's point. It's almost like a how-to manual for dropping out, man.

My God, it's full of shrooms....

Nothing To See Here

Several people have been inquiring about my job situation (as in finding a new one since being laid off three weeks ago), and thus far, it's been fairly quiet.

I am collecting unemployment, and have a part-time gig to help bring in extra bucks (not to mention give my week some kind of structure, which is mentally important), but despite inquiring into several online job postings, there isn't much to talk about regarding new prospects. Yahoo News reported today that over 14,000 people lost their jobs in the Chicago area in the 1Q of 2009, ranking just behind the always struggling city of Detroit in terms of layoffs. For me, that can't be good. However, my job skills are nichey, and something has always surfaced in the past during spates of unemployment, usually in a sudden way.

For now, I'm able to cover basic expenses (mortgage, car, etc) after receiving an inheritance shortly after my job loss that enabled me to kill off several nagging bills. Had that not happened, I'd be in serious trouble right now. So all things considered, I feel pretty decent about where I am for the moment.

But this said, I'm expecting this period of joblessness to last a while, probably longer than my personal record for being out of work after a full-time job cut (ten weeks in 2003) since my professional working career began in 1997.

Retraction

Barring a miracle comeback a la Team USA versus the Soviets in the 1980 Olympics, the Hawks (after today's debacle down 3-1) have proven to be no match for Detroit in their Western Conference Finals match-up, which is extremely disappointing considering how well they played against Calgary and Vancouver in prior rounds.

But God, watching today's 6-1 shellacking was just awful.

A Very Brief Review: "Terminator: Salvation"

Although its received its share of negative press, the fourth “Terminator” film is not bad by any stretch of the imagination – set during the post-apocalyptic early days of John Connor’s (Christian Bale’s) time in the human resistance as he fights to rescue his father, a young Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin, who also appears in the new “Trek” as Chekov) from extermination, and thus, rescue his own future.

“T4” is a fun yarn with lots of action, new mecha, and a few clever asides to previous episodes in the landmark series created by Jim Cameron.

Graven Images

Thanks to Mark Hine, VP of Student Affairs at the late Rev. Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University, for reminding me why I haven’t regularly attended church in nearly 20 years. That is, because the modern day Protestant Christian church has become so deeply wed to the Republican Party platform that talking points seemingly carry as much weight as holy scripture.

The prompt for this latest reminder is due to Mr. Hine having suddenly refused to recognize Liberty’s on-campus equivalent of the Young Democrats Club for failing to live up to the “pro-life, pro-family” credo the school aspires to. Or in other words, the club does not reject basic reproductive rights for women.

In the following linked article on USA Today, the piece also claims that: “Hine said late Thursday that the university could not sanction an official club that supported Democratic candidates, the newspaper reports, but stresses that ‘we are in no way attempting to stifle free speech’” – which, of course, is complete and utter horseshit.

No, stupid. It's a golden elephant now, not a calf. Haven't you read the RNC memo?