Meanwhile.... Pt. 2

[Rob Allen]

Hello everybody! I've been away for a while. It was a surprisingly exhausting vacation, with my wife being sick as well as emotionally fragile. We were at our usual place on the Oregon coast, and I discovered that there are no comics shops on the Oregon coast. On Free Comic Book Day I drove about 100 miles round-trip to visit Matt's Cavalcade of Comics in Corvallis. As several people noted, those were some of the most expensive free comics ever. This store's policy was to limit the number of freebies based on how much money you spent. Luckily the store was well-stocked and I had no trouble finding things to buy. I ended up with A Contract with God and other stories by Will Eisner, which I read the first chapter of years ago and always wanted to finish, and Book 1 of Age of Bronze by Eric Shanower. I've really liked everything I've seen by Shanower so I'm looking forward to that. Among the freebies, I got the Prince Valiant, Buck Rogers, the Bongo free-for-all, the Marvel Hulk/Avengers cartoon, the Archie digest, the one with adaptations of L'Amour and Kellerman novels, and The Tick. Then I went across the street to a supermarket that had some comics on the magazine rack and bought the first issue of Bongo's Professor Frink (the character from the Simpsons). That was a good day. I've been back at work since Monday and am still catching up with threads here.

[Drusilla lives!]

... Then I went across the street to a supermarket that had some comics on the magazine rack and bought the first issue of Bongo's Professor Frink (the character from the Simpsons). That was a good day. I've been back at work since Monday and am still catching up with threads here.

Loved that Frink comic. The 3D was spot on too... not only in implementation, but in its integration into the story line.

And it's good to see you back in one piece Rob, sounded like one hell of a vacation... but at least you lost some weight.

[dr chimp]

, and Book 1 of Age of Bronze by Eric Shanower. I've really liked everything I've seen by Shanower so I'm looking forward to that.

In The Elsewhere Prince which he drew there is a spread with fisheye perspective in it - spent so long looking at it thinking how on earth has he done this and just how long did it take him - the man is first class

[zryson]

Over the past week I have been putting together a stack of comics to donate comics to young inmates locked up in detention facilities. There is a mixture of humor, science fiction and superhero as well as graphic novels. Yesterday I gave away another stack of comics from the silver age thru bronze age and it was fun. The person who received the comics was surprised and very excited so that was kind of cool. To make another person happy, if only just for a moment.

[Roquefort Raider]

Saw the new Star Trek film with my son yestrday... It was all manners of cool. The movie itself is a lot of fun, but seeing how the kid is now a kid no longer but an adult I'm proud of and appy to be with is priceless.

[MRP]

Sigh, our dog Patches is recovering very well, but we lost one of the feline members of our family this week, as Sita (named after the Princess in the Ramayana) succumbed to the ravages of feline cancer this week. Sita joined our family just after my wife and I started dating, so had been with us nearly 12 years). Rest easy princess, you will be missed. We still think of her as a kitten, but she was getting older, just as we are-and our denial of that I think is part of why we still thought of her as a kitten. Sadness from the loss and reality check all at the same time is a double gut punch.

-M

[Roquefort Raider]

Sigh, our dog Patches is recovering very well, but we lost one of the feline members of our family this week, as Sita (named after the Princess in the Ramayana) succumbed to the ravages of feline cancer this week. Sita joined our family just after my wife and I started dating, so had been with us nearly 12 years). Rest easy princess, you will be missed. We still think of her as a kitten, but she was getting older, just as we are-and our denial of that I think is part of why we still thought of her as a kitten. Sadness from the loss and reality check all at the same time is a double gut punch.

The four-pawed members of our families have shorter lives than we do, but even if we know it intellectually it's always hard to have to let them go at some point. I never could accept it, and I miss each of our cats cruelly. (My sister's dog too, come to think of it). My condolences, MRP. Twelve years with a loved one is no small thing.

[dan bailey]

So sorry to hear it, MRP. I'll hug one of mine for Sita (I'd hug the other, too, but Sophie rarely puts up with being held).

[Jezebel Bond]

Does anyone have any 'unofficial' pets?

We have a family of 'possums, one that surprised the hell out of me by eluding our dogs, coming in doors through an open window, sitting on the carpet and showing me his ass. I can understand why they come around, some contractors have taken to cutting down their grassy forest homes from the hills to build high rise apartments/hotels so they come looking for any gardens that look comfortable with trees, grass and a safe place to stay.

I named one agrippina, she likes roast pork and cheddar cheese. They also tend to be wild-meat delicacies for locals but I don't want anyone near them.

[dan bailey]

The feral cats I feed in my yard -- around a dozen -- qualify as "unofficial" pets, I'd say. I've given names to about half of them; only one, a tawny male I call Nobie, is sociable. I'd move him into the house if I didn't think the two already here (both originally ferals themselves, of course) would have heart attacks.

[Roquefort Raider]

We have two unofficial cats on top of our "real" one. The First is an old white tom we named Leo; he lived in the neighbourhood before we arrived here ten years ago, and he knows he'll always find food at our door. (He saks for it when the porch's bowl is empty; he has a very sweet voice for such a scarred old guy). He doesn't mind being petted and purrs when we do so, but he doesn't really asks for it. The second, a black and white male we named Clochard ("bum") arrived here as a very young kitten one autumn; he seemed thoroughly unprepared to face life on his own. He doesn't like human contact but at least he comes here to eat and has grown quite big. (But man, is he dirty!!!)

We also have a family of raccoons who take advantage of the stray cats' food; we didn't name any of them, but there are six pups and their mother. They don't like our presence, but if we don't make any sudden move they tolerate us looking at them through the screen door.