The Fantasy Company


I recently spent $12.95 for Comics Journal #277, the 30th anniversary issue, initially because an old FantaCo bud, Tom the Mayor (not to be confused with Tom, the owner) sent me this e-mail:
I do not know if you keep in touch with the comic biz, but in the latest issue of “The Comics Journal”, they have an article on the black and white comics boom of the 1980’s, and they show the cover to “Sold Out” #1, where a character named Roger Green is hunted down by the color police. Poor fellow is probably still in the color concentration camp. Wasn’t Steve McQueen in the “Great Escape”, based on that Green Fellow?

Gee, I co-wrote that story, yet I don’t remember THAT aspect of the plot, but it HAS been 20 years. The artist, BTW, was John Hebert, not John Herbert, as indicated in TCJ.

As it turns out, there are other very interesting things in the magazine, including a piece on the late direct comics distribution guru Phil Seuling that will be VERY useful in the future.

Then, last week, I had breakfast one morning with Mitch Cohn. I worked with Mitch at FantaCo from 1980 until 1983 – he started there a year earlier – and later worked for him at his Midnight Comics store in Albany in the early 1990s. For FantaCo, Mitch edited the excellent Deja Vu and Gates of Eden as well as the Chronicles magazines dealing with Daredevil and the Avengers. (I did the ones for X-Men, the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man.)

Mitch is a middle school English teacher in New York City, and he looks remarkable similar to the guy I last saw about a decade ago. He was in town visiting folks, including our old FantaCo colleague Rocco. Right after I saw Mitch, I happened to walk past 21 Central Avenue, which had been a music store, a couple other things, then some sort of religious center after FantaCo, but had been most recently boarded up. The boards were down, the door was open, and it appears that some new retailer was cleaning up the place in anticipation of yet another venture.

So, it’s been a FantaCo kind of week. FantaCo was started on August 28, 1978, and closed 20 years later, but given the fact that I worked there for 8.5 years, it remains in the DNA.

Please Come to Boston

This post was inspired by GP’s Boston glasses.

My now ex, Zoe, and I were in Boston on Flag Day, 1991, when, pretty much at the last minute, around 5:30 p.m., we decided to go to Fenway Park and see if we could score a couple tickets to the game starting about an hour and a half later. We held little hope, for the game featured the pitching duel of Red Sox’s ace Roger Clemens (whatever happened to him?) and the California Angels’ one-handed wonder Jim Abbott. Surprisingly, not only did we get seats, we got GREAT seats right behind home plate. I’m thinking that someone must have turned in tickets at the last moment.

What I remember about the game is that California was ahead early, Clemens spent too much time keeping Dave Winfield on first base, and that the Red Sox came back to win. The box score of the game is here.

Afterwards, we went to the Howard Johnson nearby, where we stayed. We decided to go down to the hotel bar to get a couple drinks. It was fairly busy, with several people trying to gain the bartender’s attention. At some point, he acknowledged that he saw me and stuck up his index finger in the “just a minute” fashion. But what eventually became apparent is that people who came after me were being served, but I was not. And people who came after them were being served, and I, standing in the front, still was not, only being given “just a minute”. The “interesting” thing about this that only he, I and someone carefully observing the scene would be aware of what was going on. Also, he never didn’t serve me, he only hadn’t “gotten around” to serving me. Any claim of discrimination would have been very difficult to prove.

What I felt was a deep volcano of rage, the kind of furor that if I had had a baseball bat, I would have been sorely tempted to smash all of the glasses hanging over the bar. Of course, I really wouldn’t because 1)I could have hurt an innocent, and 2)I would have been arrested, a black man gone crazy for “no reason”. Or I could have started yelling, demanding service, but that, too, would have likely make me look as though I had wanted preferential treatment.

Zoe and I left the bar, and I complained to the night manager of the hotel, who recommended I write to the day manager. I did write him, and also my credit card company, but never got any satisfaction.

I’ve been to Boston subsequently, had a good time, didn’t have any difficulties. But GP, the Boston form of racism, indeed, the Northern form of racism, tends to be far more subtle, more clever than in there was in the South in the 1950s and 1960s. In fact, from what I can gather from folks I know in the South, folks with racist attitudes have adopted the more subtle forms of discrimination from their Northern brethren (and sisterern). So, GP, keep that gray filter on those rose-colored glasses.
***
Jim Abbott, motivational speaker.

The Lydster, Part 29 Girlfriends


From the pictures I’ve shown, you’d think Lydia was a bit of a loner. Untrue.

One of the benefits of three trips to Binghamton is that Lydia got to see her friend Kay, twice there and actually once in Albany. Their mothers are great friends, in each other’s weddings (as was I), and the girls are only a couple months apart, so I think the mothers really wanted the girls to bond, and it appears that they have.

Of course, that only goes so far. When we were at our house, I was reading stories to them when Kay got on my lap. Lydia sulked. So I had to put Kay down, put Lydia on one lap, THEN put Kay on the other. And occasionally, there were sharing issues. But they seemto really adore one another.

I’ve never been sure: is this a hug or a chokehold?


Lydia with three of her five-year-old cousins at the Olin family reunion.


This picture in response to those who claim that I only show my daughter smiling. (But the picture at the top happened soon after this one.)


Don’t mess with this child.

Love you, daughter of mine.
***
Before we had Lydia, the Kix cereal registered trademark used to bug me. But now, “Kid-tested, Mother-approved” is starting to really offend. It maintains the stereotype of the caring mother and absent father. Feh.

Another Pleasant Valley weekend, featuring Ms. Julie Hembeck

The first weekend in August, Carol, Lydia and I trekked down to Pleasant Valley, NY, not far from Poughkeepsie (where one picks one’s toes, but that’s for another day). What was interesting about this particular edition of this annual gathering was that there were far more children than usual. Generally, there are one or two, including Lydia, but this time there were over a half dozen. Which made the fact that the adults shooed the kids off the badmitton court even more humorous. They wanted to play a “serious” game. The three-on-three match was competitive, and for reasons not even known to me, I started doing a play-by-play commentary: “Ooh, Klonfas lost that one in the sun”, stuff like that. And it’s not like a network announcer in a booth some distance away; these players were as little as 10 feet away.

The next day, we went to visit Fred, Lynn and Julie. Well, we tried. How does Dutchess County have two such oddly named streets, with one a Road and the other a Drive? Anyway we eventually got there, talked, and ate and swam. Fred and I blathered about obscure television shows and even more obscure music. He played for me a great cover of the entire Revolver album that he had gotten from MOJO magazine, performed by various artists that were unfamiliar to me.


Self-portrait of Julie, stolen from her father’s blog of August 25, 2005

Julie goes through music phases; currently, she is listening to Elton John and especially David Bowie. The most notable thing about Julie’s language is her use of language. She has a near-constant use of “emo”, as in “that’s so emo.” Emo I know what that is, but don’t quite understand it in context. I managed to have totally missed the term 420, but Julie assured me it, at least with her and her friends, does not refer to drugs, even though the original meaning did, but rather something that’s sort of funny. I do recognize that the language is fluid.
Julie did a very good caricature of me, which I should scan one of these days.
Anyway, it’s Julie’s 16th birthday today. Happy birthday; it was great to see you. Oh, and your parents, too. Glad we didn’t get to see the bat.
***
I was playing The Best of Elvis Costello this week, in honor of his 52nd birthday today, and I was thinking:
*I wonder how Diana Krall, one of my wife’s favorite singers, is feeling these days?
*Some days, the last line in the chorus of Oliver’s Army reflects how I feel about work.
*Lots of his early songs could be done in different styles and would work. For a long time, I have thought (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding could/should be done as a doowop song. Really.

Emmys (in August?) QUESTIONS


O.K., if you care about such things, you’ve already kvetched about who has NOT been nominated, so my questions for today are about the Emmys this Sunday, hosted by Conan O’Brien:
1)Who do you want to win?
2)Who do you think will win?
3) You may also indicate who SHOULD win, but I haven’t seen enough to answer that.

Outstanding Comedy Series

Arrested Development, Fox
Curb Your Enthusiasm, HBO
The Office, NBC
Scrubs, NBC
Two and a Half Men, CBS

I watch The Office and Scrubs and watched Arrested Development. Will they give another award to a now-deceased show? Maybe, but I hope not.
WANT: Scrubs. Or The Office.
WILL: Curb Your Enthusiasm

Outstanding Drama Series
Grey’s Anatomy, ABC
House, Fox
The Sopranos, HBO
24, Fox
The West Wing, NBC

With its lead actors not nominated, I think the Sopranos are a mortal lock.
WANT: 24, which really shocked from the first episode this season. I know this despite the fact that I didn’t actually WATCH it, except for about 24 minutes, but did read about it regularly.
WILL: the Sopranos

Outstanding Reality-Competition Program
The Amazing Race, CBS
American Idol, Fox
Dancing with the Stars, ABC
Project Runway, Bravo
Survivor, CBS
Don’t much care.
WANT: Amazing Race, since the Browns like it.
WILL: American Idol, more popular than ever.

Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series
The Colbert Report, Comedy Central
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Comedy Central
Late Night with Conan O’Brien, NBC
Late Show with David Letterman, CBS
Real Time with Bill Maher, HBO
The Presidential roast really lifted Colbert’s visibility.
WANT: Colbert
WILL: Colbert

Outstanding Miniseries
Bleak House, PBS
Elizabeth I, HBO
Into the West, TNT
Sleeper Cell, Showtime
I saw none of them.
WANT: ?
WILL: When in doubt, guess HBO.

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm
Kevin James, The King of Queens
Tony Shalhoub, Monk
Steve Carell, The Office
Charlie Sheen, Two and a Half Men
Since my pick, John Dorian, is not here, let’s go with
WANT: Steve Carell
WILL: Steve Carell

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Christopher Meloni, Law and Order: SVU
Denis Leary, Rescue Me
Peter Krause, Six Feet Under
Kiefer Sutherland, 24
Martin Sheen, The West Wing
Will there be one last send off, for West Wing, or the dying character from Six Feet Under?
WANT: Kiefer Sutherland
WILL: The pity vote splits, and it’s Sutherland

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Lisa Kudrow, The Comeback
Jane Kaczmarek, Malcolm in the Middle
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, The New Adventures of Old Christine
Stockard Channing, Out of Practice
Debra Messing, Will & Grace
I stopped watching Old Christine after a few episodes, Out of Practice after the pilot, two others years ago, and never saw Kudrow.
WANT: Lisa Kudrow
WILL: Debra Messing

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer
Geena Davis, Commander in Chief
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: SVU
Frances Conroy, Six Feet Under
Allison Janney, The West Wing
Please let it not be Alison Janney AGAIN.
WANT: Kyra Sedgwick
WILL: Mariska Hargitay

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Will Arnett, Arrested Development
Jeremy Piven, Entourage
Bryan Cranston, Malcolm in the Middle
Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men
Sean Hayes, Will & Grace
Oh, throw A.D. a bone.
WANT: Will Arnett
WILL: Jeremy Piven

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
William Shatner, Boston Legal
Oliver Platt, Huff
Michael Imperioli, The Sopranos
Gregory Itzin, 24
Alan Alda, The West Wing
WANT: Gregory Itzin, pretty much out of pity. I read a TV Guide article how he goes golfing with Dennis Haysbert who played assassinated President Palmer on the show. They LIKE Palmer, but not Itzin’s character.
WILL: Imperioli, to give an acting award to the Sopranos.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Cheryl Hines, Curb Your Enthusiasm
Alfre Woodard, Desperate Housewives
Jaime Pressly, My Name is Earl
Elizabeth Perkins, Weeds
Megan Mullally, Will & Grace
DON’T Want: a swan song award for Mullally
WANT: Jaime Pressly, the Earl’s ex, who became better defined as the season progressed from a one-note schemer to a much richer character
WILL: Pressly or Hines

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Candice Bergen, Boston Legal
Sandra Oh, Grey’s Anatomy
Chandra Wilson, Grey’s Anatomy
Blythe Danner, Huff
Jean Smart, 24
While Wilson’s supervisor of interns is a great character, I’m leaning towards Smart’s portrayal of the Martha Mitchellesque portrayal of the First Lady. In the last episode, she gave a LOOK after her husband was taken into custody that told volumes.
WANT: Smart or Wilson.
WILL: Smart

What are YOUR thoughts on these or any of the other categories?
***
CBS Sunday Morning did a story this past week on the new Lassie movie coming out this month

“Lassie Comes Home: Lassie is the quintessential screen heroine: strong, courageous and devoted. Now, like so many great stars, Lassie is making a comeback. Producers are hoping modern moviegoers will sit — and stay. CBS News’ Cynthia Bowers reports.”
For More Information: The original, unabridged, edition of Eric Knight’s “Lassie Come-Home” is available through amazon.com, as are many of the Lassie movies & TV shows.
Jon Provost
Canine Companions for Independence
Joan Neidhardt & Cathy Schmidt’s Lassie Fan Club
Dr. Jeff Werber
The official Lassie movie
It also showed this parody clip which I found on YouTube, which you may have seen. (I hadn’t.) Since I’ve never done one of these before, I may be doing this a bit redundantly.

If that doesn’t work, try this.

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