The Post-Holiday Re-awakening: The Ingrate Speaks!
It's a difficult transition back to the workaday grind -- it's always stunningly frightening how any stretch of time off from work goes. Here we are again, on the far side of a rare, rare block of time off, head whirling with how it could have become now so soon. An old, familiar story.
Still, that's another set of issues. What I'm here for now is an overdue end-cap to the December 25th post, something I should have gotten to in one or two installments during the holiday stretch as they involved holiday gifts and kindnesses that didn't roll around until days after Christmas.
Chicago-based buddy Grant sent me one of the Super Rare (always looks and sounds silly, but that's its technical rarity class) pieces I'd missed pulling from the Heroclix Arkham Asylum set -- The Flash.
It's a fun Jay Garrick sculpt complete with his Cosmic Treadmill. I'm one of those who could have done without the extra bit of visual baggage, but that's not a huge issue for me; I'm not one of those who rushed to modify it by removing the treadmill.
It was one of my big wants from the set so, of course, it was one of the few pieces I didn't pull. Happily, Grant stepped in and filled that gap, so my Justice Society team (well, hey, he's a neat addition to the Scientist team, too) is looking better than ever.
For the curious, here are the dial mechanics:
It's not a perfect combination - he's a little too easy to tag with a hit, at least on his first and final three clicks, he's still too hampered by terrain for most of his dial (for all of it when it comes to any action in which he wants to attack) and given last summer's -2 Speed modification when using the Carry option I'd prefer if he was a bit faster on those early clicks - but he's generally a fun improvement and provides an interpretation much closer to what I'd wanted. The potential action boost from an opening click of Leadership may come in handy, and (providing he's not knocked past them) the two clicks of Probability Control on clicks 2 and 3 are definitely an asset.
Thanks again, Grant!
Twice over the holiday stretch Crypt Leak and Abbygal (who's working diligently to become Dr. Abbygal over the next few years) were kind enough to have me over for food, drink and some relaxed fun. The first time was the Saturday after Christmas, when Eric and Back-from-Texas Jason were also over. The second was New Year's Eve, when Social Calendar Action Jason couldn't make it, but Eric could.
CL & A came up with a mix of Christmas items for me, including an odd assortment of comics (which, amazingly, I didn't have any of) I've yet to do more than quickly look over. Honestly, that applies to most of the holiday additions, which is really how it should be: A sudden infusion of new items to be gradually appreciated over the months and more that follow.
One of the items was an unabridged reading (on seven CDs) of Blaze. This rediscovered Stephen King novel, written back in 1973 only to be left unpublished and forgotten by King as he didn't consider it salable. It turned up in papers donated to a university library, prompting King to give it a second look. He largely rewrote and edited it and decided to release it under his defunct pseudonym, Richard Bachman.
This was a pleasant surprise all the moreso because I'd missed mention of this even existing. I eventually cross paths with King's works as a familiar fall-back, but I'm not one who anxiously awaits the latest release.
The current plan is to load the discs onto a hard drive and then copying the files to my portable player. Having just read King's latest short story collection, Just After Sunset (another holiday gift mentioned back on the 25th, which I'll try to eventually muster some comment on) I don't want to immediately rush into another, though I may start to listen to it within the next week or so.
The remaining items were odder still, ranging from a "hits" disc of The Troggs (attempting to answer the question of whether or not they really did anything other than Wild Thing), to a study of Cold War era posters and a bizarre study of painted works featuring circus elements.
I haven't cracked the cellophane on the Troggs disc case yet, taking it slowly and casually. Possibly this upcoming weekend. I'm a little curious to see if one or two of the pop hits on the disc (such as Love Is All Around) are ones I'll recognize.
Posters of the Cold War, by David Crowley, was of more immediate interest.
Combing through international resources, including not only the purely political but even the commercial -- movies sometimes had strong overt or covert Cold War themes, whether via a depiction of the other side as a threat or by ascribing a bold and positive future as the product of a (then-)current political ideology.
The succinct, iconic nature of posters demonstrated with almost every page as the ideological battle is fought image by image.
As a side, but definitely related issue -- Looking over the various works presented I become worried all over again at how increasingly restrictive intellectual property laws would probably make more than a couple of the works presented here legally actionable.
Circus: Looking At Painting is a fairly thin but informative trade. (I've decided to use a Goya work from the interior -- The Strolling Players -- rather than the book's chosen cover image, Chagall's Clown On A Horse, which is very two-dimensional and, to me, uninteresting.
It encompasses a light overview of works covering the theme from the 17th through late 20th centuries, examining them both for the superficial subject matter (specifics as to reference subjects) and, where applicable, an examination of the artist's message. Along the way a surprising amount of history of the development of the modern circus is doled out.
Technically it's part of an education series for children, but it's reasonably sophisticated in text and themes -- it definitely doesn't talk down to the reader. With sub-subjects such as clowns and sideshow freaks the works sometimes walk a weird, even creepy line.
Thanks again for the mix!
It's a difficult transition back to the workaday grind -- it's always stunningly frightening how any stretch of time off from work goes. Here we are again, on the far side of a rare, rare block of time off, head whirling with how it could have become now so soon. An old, familiar story.
Still, that's another set of issues. What I'm here for now is an overdue end-cap to the December 25th post, something I should have gotten to in one or two installments during the holiday stretch as they involved holiday gifts and kindnesses that didn't roll around until days after Christmas.
Chicago-based buddy Grant sent me one of the Super Rare (always looks and sounds silly, but that's its technical rarity class) pieces I'd missed pulling from the Heroclix Arkham Asylum set -- The Flash.It's a fun Jay Garrick sculpt complete with his Cosmic Treadmill. I'm one of those who could have done without the extra bit of visual baggage, but that's not a huge issue for me; I'm not one of those who rushed to modify it by removing the treadmill.
It was one of my big wants from the set so, of course, it was one of the few pieces I didn't pull. Happily, Grant stepped in and filled that gap, so my Justice Society team (well, hey, he's a neat addition to the Scientist team, too) is looking better than ever.
For the curious, here are the dial mechanics:
It's not a perfect combination - he's a little too easy to tag with a hit, at least on his first and final three clicks, he's still too hampered by terrain for most of his dial (for all of it when it comes to any action in which he wants to attack) and given last summer's -2 Speed modification when using the Carry option I'd prefer if he was a bit faster on those early clicks - but he's generally a fun improvement and provides an interpretation much closer to what I'd wanted. The potential action boost from an opening click of Leadership may come in handy, and (providing he's not knocked past them) the two clicks of Probability Control on clicks 2 and 3 are definitely an asset.
Thanks again, Grant!
Twice over the holiday stretch Crypt Leak and Abbygal (who's working diligently to become Dr. Abbygal over the next few years) were kind enough to have me over for food, drink and some relaxed fun. The first time was the Saturday after Christmas, when Eric and Back-from-Texas Jason were also over. The second was New Year's Eve, when Social Calendar Action Jason couldn't make it, but Eric could.
CL & A came up with a mix of Christmas items for me, including an odd assortment of comics (which, amazingly, I didn't have any of) I've yet to do more than quickly look over. Honestly, that applies to most of the holiday additions, which is really how it should be: A sudden infusion of new items to be gradually appreciated over the months and more that follow.
One of the items was an unabridged reading (on seven CDs) of Blaze. This rediscovered Stephen King novel, written back in 1973 only to be left unpublished and forgotten by King as he didn't consider it salable. It turned up in papers donated to a university library, prompting King to give it a second look. He largely rewrote and edited it and decided to release it under his defunct pseudonym, Richard Bachman.This was a pleasant surprise all the moreso because I'd missed mention of this even existing. I eventually cross paths with King's works as a familiar fall-back, but I'm not one who anxiously awaits the latest release.
The current plan is to load the discs onto a hard drive and then copying the files to my portable player. Having just read King's latest short story collection, Just After Sunset (another holiday gift mentioned back on the 25th, which I'll try to eventually muster some comment on) I don't want to immediately rush into another, though I may start to listen to it within the next week or so.
The remaining items were odder still, ranging from a "hits" disc of The Troggs (attempting to answer the question of whether or not they really did anything other than Wild Thing), to a study of Cold War era posters and a bizarre study of painted works featuring circus elements.
I haven't cracked the cellophane on the Troggs disc case yet, taking it slowly and casually. Possibly this upcoming weekend. I'm a little curious to see if one or two of the pop hits on the disc (such as Love Is All Around) are ones I'll recognize.
Posters of the Cold War, by David Crowley, was of more immediate interest.Combing through international resources, including not only the purely political but even the commercial -- movies sometimes had strong overt or covert Cold War themes, whether via a depiction of the other side as a threat or by ascribing a bold and positive future as the product of a (then-)current political ideology.
The succinct, iconic nature of posters demonstrated with almost every page as the ideological battle is fought image by image.
As a side, but definitely related issue -- Looking over the various works presented I become worried all over again at how increasingly restrictive intellectual property laws would probably make more than a couple of the works presented here legally actionable.
Circus: Looking At Painting is a fairly thin but informative trade. (I've decided to use a Goya work from the interior -- The Strolling Players -- rather than the book's chosen cover image, Chagall's Clown On A Horse, which is very two-dimensional and, to me, uninteresting.It encompasses a light overview of works covering the theme from the 17th through late 20th centuries, examining them both for the superficial subject matter (specifics as to reference subjects) and, where applicable, an examination of the artist's message. Along the way a surprising amount of history of the development of the modern circus is doled out.
Technically it's part of an education series for children, but it's reasonably sophisticated in text and themes -- it definitely doesn't talk down to the reader. With sub-subjects such as clowns and sideshow freaks the works sometimes walk a weird, even creepy line.
Thanks again for the mix!
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