Random Access

Monday – 17 June 2019
Yesterday was Father’s Day. My day started with Team DiVa and Evie waking me up for breakfast – after I got to sleep in. (Not a bad way to kick off a day, to be honest.) For breakfast, I had French Toast, eggs, bacon, and fresh berries. I was then told to get dressed and get ready for a series of adventures that Team DiVa had planned for me. I was intrigued.

Our first stop was a Bonwood Bowl. Somehow, the little ladies had decided that I would really like to go bowling. (They weren’t wrong.) A frame or two into the first game, I realized that my bowling balls and my hands weren’t going to be friends and wound up having to switch to a house ball. My first game wasn’t great, but it was fun; I had a better second game. From there, I was taken to a (relatively) nearby Baskin-Robbins for ice cream. Double-scoop waffle cone. Aw, yeah.

Back home for a little down time, while Sara and the girls prepared lunch. Let me clarify that: I was told that downstairs would be a good place for me to be while they got things ready. When I was finally able to come back upstairs, there was no one there. That was… odd. Turns out that they had set up a picnic in the backyard: Ham, roast beef, pretzels, and berries. It was very cute and sweet.

The rest of the afternoon was rather full of doing lots of nothing. I also played a little Skyrim involved, as the ladies played LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2.

Later, we headed off to dinner with Sara’s side of the family. Then back home, to get the ladies ready for bed. Once they were down and out, Sara and I headed to the backyard for cigars and drinks, which was an excellent way to wind up the day. And, after all of that, I found myself back in Skyrim again for a couple of hours before calling it a good day.

And, my Father’s Day presents included some fun items:

• Sideshow Collectibles Sixth-Scale Luke Cage
• Mythic Legions Thallyn Frostbow, Shadow Elf Ranger, and Ragna Stormforger, and
• DC Collectibles DC Multiverse Wonder Woman (Lynda Carter)

It was a very good day, indeed.

Tuesday – 04 June 2019
Do you like coffee?
Do you like comics?
Do you like places where everyone – and I do mean “EVERYONE” – is made to feel welcome and included?

Oh, here’s a good one: Do you like supporting small/local businesses?

If you answered “Yes” to one or more of these, I would like to introduce you to Watchtower Coffee and Comics, a shop in Salt Lake City owned and managed by Cori Christine and Mike Tuiasoa. I’ve been fortunate enough to know Mike and Cori for a few years. They are not only wonderful people and good friends, but they also love the community that they serve.

Cori and Mike – (c) Darby Doyle

In their own words:

Watchtower Coffee & Comics is part coffee shop, part comic book store, part art gallery, part gaming space. It’s a community center for fans of any age, orientation, gender, race, or culture who want to meet up and geek out together over a tasty beverage.

We named the shop after the headquarters of The Justice League, a reference to the place where heroes gather together and stand as beacon of hope and safety.

That sums it up nicely… and still doesn’t say enough.

Why should this matter to you? Because Watchtower has grown to the point where they need to move locations to better serve the community and they need your help. They have opened a Kickstarter to help support this move. It’s down to just under the last 48 hours and is close to hitting their goal, but needs just a little more of a push to get funded.

If you’re able, please helpthem to continue to support the community and to do so in a space better suited to filling that need.

Thank you.

Monday – 27 May 2019
Today is Memorial Day in the U.S.

 

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Remembering the sacrifice of those who gave their lives defending the freedoms that we enjoy… and sometimes take for granted. #coffee #?? #morningcoffee #ActionFigureTheatre #1028 #MemorialDay @usarmy @usnavy @usairforce @usmarinecorps @uscg #Spartans #BravoSquad #CaptainKeyes @halo @xbox @mcfarlane_toys_official #articulatedcomicbookart #acba #actionfigures #toys #actionfigurephotography #toyphotography #toysofinstagram #tinyplasticfriends

A post shared by Rob (@shadorunr) on May 27, 2019 at 9:58am PDT

Here are a couple more tidbits of Food for Thought for the day, with a big tip of the hat to my cousin, Vivicca Whitsett, for pointing them out:

• Memorial Day: America’s strained salute to its black veterans

• Groundbreaking World War II unit of black women honored decades after their service

Friday – 29 March 2019
A friend posted a link to a Tweet with this image in it.

For SOME reason, it triggered thoughts NOT of I Dream of Jeannie, Aladdin, or even Magic Mongo, but rather Christina Aguilera’s Genie in a Bottle… which has apparently been covered by Agents of SHIELD and Marvel Rising‘s Dove Cameron. Huh. Who knew?

Many rains past – and, if we’re being honest… still – it amused me to think of that song paired with Johnny Gill’s Rub You the Right Way, which immediately came back to mind after the above thought. (Welcome to my personal Circle of Hell.)

What other songs can you think of that would make interesting song pairs/suites when played back to back?

Go!

Tuesday – 05 March 2019
It’s happened. Sideshow Collectibles has put out another figure that I’m 99.999% sure will wind up in my display case. Soon. Well, soon-ish. The funny thing is: I wasn’t even aware that it existed until yesterday.

What is it?

Marvel’s Luke Cage Sixth Scale Figure.

Luke Cage – (c) Sideshow Collectibles

Luke Cage – (c) Sideshow Collectibles

Bad. Ass.

There are two versions: The “Collector’s Edition” and the “Exclusive.” The difference is that the “Exclusive” comes with two additional hands, with brass knuckles rings that spell out “Luke” and “Cage.”

Luke Cage – (c) Sideshow Collectibles

I don’t know that I “need” the knuckle dusters, but the price difference is $5.00 USD, so… *shrug* We’ll see. Either way, it will look just fine next to my Nick Fury.

Thursday – 28 February 2019
This year, I opted not to do a month-long Black History Month series of posts. I did a post on February 1st on Facebook, but I think that last year’s run of Black Panther posts – while fun – may have burned me out a little.

I was going through old blog posts and wound up stumbling upon part of an entry from nine years ago – nine years ago today, in fact – that I thought bore being brought to light once more:

Chew on This: Food for Thought – Black History Month

Today is the last day of February and, as such, the last day of Black History Month in the United States and Canada. Of all the things that we’ve looked at over the past twenty-seven days, one question has not been asked: “Why do we have a Black History Month?”

The remembrance was founded in 1926 by United States historian Carter G. Woodson as “Negro History Week”. Woodson chose the second week of February because it marked the birthdays of two Americans who greatly influenced the lives and social condition of African Americans: former President Abraham Lincoln and abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass.

The celebration was expanded to a month in 1976, the nation’s bicentennial. President Gerald R. Ford urged Americans to seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.

While I believe that it is good to set aside time to recognize the achievements and pitfalls of the past, we still have “…miles to go before [we] sleep.” Black history – and any ethnic group’s history, for that matter – shouldn’t be relegated to just one month of the year. In the same way that America was known as a melting pot of cultures and ethnicities, our history is an amalgamation of those peoples’ struggles and stories. These are things that should be studied and celebrated throughout the year, as a common history of the people of the United States of America.

Quite frankly, that seems like the perfect coda for this month.

Wednesday – 30 January 2019
I’m going to tell you a story about a friend of mine named Jason.

Jason

I first met Jason in almost 20 years ago, when he was dating the daughter of the person I was dating at the time. He was quick-witted and funny, and like many late teens/early twenty-year-olds you’d meet: Ready to take on anyone and anything that stepped up to him.

After that, we mostly stayed in touch via IRC; I managed a Utah-specific channel of which Jason was a member. I lost track of him over the years, but our paths crossed again at my local comic shop, when he came in to play a game that I was judging. I didn’t recognize him at first, as it had been close to – if not more than – ten years since we’d seen each other. Once we put two and two together, there were a lot of wide eyes and dropped jaws in the store, as we recounted the story of how we knew each other.

Once again, Life took us in different directions, but I’d see Jason from time to time. He was still taking on the world his way, now he was writing, directing, and producing independent horror films.

Jason, on the set of Day Zero

I ran into him a few weeks ago, at the Jim Lee signing event at my comic shop. He even got a picture of me in the background, while he was getting something signed.

Jim Lee and Jason

I ran into him again a few days ago, while Sara, the girls, and I were out shopping.

Last night, I heard from another friend that Jason died yesterday. From an overdose. Needless to say, I was stunned. I had no idea that he was using, let alone struggling with addiction. My heart goes out to his family and friends.

That being said, if you are struggling – be it with addiction, depression, anxiety, “Life, the Universe, and Everything,” or just…”whatever” – you are not alone. In a time when so many things around us make us feel isolated and different, let me just say that if you need to talk, go out for coffee, or just sit somewhere until things feel a little better, let me know.

In a strange bit of serendipity, this morning, Facebook presented me with a memory from a couple of years ago. Jason made the second comment on that post. Well played, Universe.

Please be good to yourself and to those around you.

Namaste.

Sunday – 20 January 2019
Tonight, there was a lunar eclipse, visible from North America. The skies were clear enough that we were able to see it; we also let Team DiVa stay up to see it. Sara and the girls went outside a little before nine to see what it looked like. I opted for the warmth of “staying inside.”

We all went out around 9:20. A small crescent of the moon was still unobscured. The girls were also excited to show me the constellation Orion. (Hey, they’re not usually up and outside when it’s late enough to see it and they REALLY wanted to make sure I saw it. That was an easy “win.”) After looking up at the stars and moon, we headed back inside.

At 9:35, we ventured back outside. The moon had the tiniest of fragments that was still getting direct sunlight, but it was losing ground. Quickly. About this point Vanessa commented that the moon wasn’t really that red. (Tough crowd, what can I say?) Unimpressed, she decided to go in and finish getting ready for bed. Diana wasn’t far behind her. Sara and I followed.

After tucking the ladies in, Sara and I returned outside and looked at the moon – whose red had deepened a little – and appreciated the view for a few minutes.

Eclipse

Eclipse – EMBIGGENED!

And then, not surprisingly, we came inside.

Sunday – 20 January 2019
Every once in a while your kids will come up with something that surprises and impresses you. A few minutes ago, I had one of those “onces.”

Team DiVa came to my office to play a little LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 before dinner. They looked up at the shelves around my television and noticed my Legion of Super-Heroes figures.

Ferro Lad (between Matter-Eater Lad and Timber Wolf)

Out of the blue, Diana asked “Why does Ferro Lad have an ‘Fe’ on his shirt? What does that mean?”

I responded that ‘Fe,’ in this case, stood for “Iron,” which he could turn into. (He died many, many issues past…)

She then retorted, “He was a twin. He and his brother had the same powers.”

I was stunned and it apparently showed on my face.

Diana very calmly said, “I read it in one of our books.”

Proud geek father moment: CHECK.

Friday – 18 January 2019
We’re that much closer to the weekend.

Need a little something to get over the post-lunch/pre-clocking out slump? I’ve got you covered:

Just Loud – Soul Train

Jungle – Casio

Some of you might remember that my affinity for Jungle started with Busy Earnin’… which I’ll add as a bonus track:

Jungle – Busy Earnin’

Thursday – 17 January 2019
In my Instagram feed this morning, one company I follow posted a picture – over 100 years old! – of a rail line that passed through the town in which my father grew up and just shy of the town where my mother grew up. I decided to try and see if I could figure out where the picture was, by way of Google Maps. (Hint: I wasn’t quite, but I got close enough to sate my curiosity. 100 years is kind of a long time, after all.)

Something else happened however…

I wound up using Google Maps and Street View to “drive” down the road that I rode and drove on for decades to get to my grandparents’ house. It was interesting to see what was still the same and what had changed. In doing the math, I also realized that I hadn’t driven down that road since well before I moved out west. I followed the road all the way to the best view of the house that I could get. It was a nice nostalgic moment.

I “rode” further down the road, to find the house in which my mother grew up, but there was no Street View available for it.  I can’t say that I’m terribly surprised by that, though.

Still, I got to see a part of the country – and places that evoke a lot of good memories – that I haven’t been to in a very long time.

And that’s not a bad thing at all.

Tuesday – 15 January 2019
Today is the anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.‘s birthday.

When Simon and Garfunkel sang about a Hazy Shade of Winter, they must have been talking about the Salt Lake Valley. The air here has been atrocious over the past few weeks.

There’s supposed to be a weather system moving through tonight that will hopefully help move some of the chewy air out of the valley.

Stray Toasters

• Team DiVa has decided to undertake “spy training.” Last week, they spent days working on “being stealthy” and “using camouflage” to hide from Evie. (I didn’t have the heart to tell them that she could see – and just as easily smell – them, all the same.) Last night, after getting home from school, they asked me how much a motorcycle costs… because they need two of them (with two seats) to be spies. When I showed them a couple of options from BMW and Harley-Davidson, they asked if they’d have enough to buy them if they sold our house.YeahbuhWHAT?!

  Sara and I told them that, while they’d have enough to buy the motorcycles, that they’d have no place to live. At this point, Kid Logic kicked in, as they told us that they didn’t mean right now… but in a few years.

• Men Are Mad Online Because of a New Gillette Commercial
• A Son’s Race To Give His Dying Father Artificial Immortality
• A friend asked me if, when I say that I am adding something to “The Covet List,” I am adding items to an actual list. I told him, “Yes,” and that there are actually two lists. (I really need to see to it that they mirror each other more accurately.)
• How Our Cruelty Killed Hootie and the Blowfish – and Damaged Our Souls

There might be a fair bit more that I could say, but for now… I’m ready to call it a night.

Tuesday – 25 December 2018

Christmas 2018 (Click for original image)

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