Should auld acquaintance...

A happy, blessed, and prosperous New Year to All and Sundry. My family and friends have made 2012 a joy, my somewhat-less-than-friends have at least made it interesting.

Thank you for the business. Thank you, even, for those who Gave Me the Business, as that can be character-building.

Enjoy the evening, be safe, and prepare for the joyless grind of 2013... ;)

*Arm flail* "GUNS!!!" *Arm flail*

For the clever folk who assert that "The Framers had muskets in mind when they wrote the Second Amendment.", I suggest that the Framers had parity in mind. The Government had muskets; the citizenry had muskets. That parity rolled forward through history. Today, the government has amazingly high-powered stuff. So should the citizenry. That is the only way to assure protection from tyranny, which in the historical context of the Second Amendment, is its raison d'etre.

Let us now praise famous men

Photo from The Guardian

 There are men who have a vision for their lives and work, and there are men who have that vision thrust upon them. Gerry Anderson was an up-and-coming film director with a small company doing commercials and TV pilots in the '50s, when the video frontier was still rough-and-ready. A children's author approached them about doing some puppet shows, and a future was a-borning. From doing Roberta Leigh's "Adventures of Twizzle", and "Torchy the Battery Boy", the man who wanted to do Big Things in film proceeded to carve out his own miniature empire with "Four Feather Falls", a quirky Western marionette series; "Supercar", about the coolest vehicle EVAR;  "Fireball XL5", the only Anderson "SUPERMARIONATION" series network broadcast here in the US; "Stingray" (the first color series in Great Britain) about the World Aquanaut Security Patrol and the crew of the submarine Stingray; "Thunderbirds", the series that made fiberglass and wood into international stars; "Captain Scarlet" about the war against the Mysterons, and a cautionary tale about an itchy trigger finger; "Joe 90" the most diabolical of the series, a study in turning a nine-year-old into a Cold War superspy; "The Secret Service", a clever combo of live-action and marionette work about a Cold War spy, who happens to be an Anglican priest who trades on his honest demeanor to have miscreants confide in him, and who uses doubletalk (the voice actor Stanley Unwin's "Unwinese") to get out of tight situations.

Other series are

UFO (1970–71) - Outstanding lve-action SF thriller about a secret organization combating the UFO menace
The Protectors (1972–74) Live action crime drama with Robert Vaughn
Space: 1999 (1975–77) Live action SF series with actors made of wood.
Terrahawks (1983–84, 1986) Glove puppet return to the fold, the less said about, the better.
Dick Spanner, P.I. (1987) Fun stop-motion detective romp
Space Precinct (1994–95) Do-badders beware! Space cops are afoot!
Lavender Castle (1999–2000) Charming stop-motion and CG kids fantasy
Firestorm (2003) Hey. I like anime.
Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet (2005) Good CG and mocap reboot of the original.

There are other things Anderson did, but these form the massive edifice of his work.

He and his crew brought joy and wonder to my life, and the lives of countless others. The excellence of their productions still hold up beautifully. My paean to SUPERCAR is here.

Mr. Anderson, thank you.
You shall be missed.

One man honors one day, another, many....

I hope that you guys had a delightsome Christmas day. We rejoice in the Gift that God bestowed upon our silent planet.

Had most of the kinder home, and we were indeed the Kings of Christmas! The stockings are the Thing, and they had peanuts, Russell Stover Christmas-ey candies (marshmallow santas, Maple Cream snowmen, like that) , candy Legos (think Sweetarts you can build with), Jelly Babies (candy shaped like babies, that you eat!), and then the goodies, like a little square cast-iron griddle, big enough for one grilled cheese for lunch, Jack Daniel's habanero hot sauce, USB hub shaped like a mini power-strip, a classic bottle opener, a mini Stonehenge set, a 2001-A Space Odyssey monolith action figure (with ZERO points of articulation!), fun stuff like that.

The Dread Dormomoo, the kids and I will email suggestion notes early on as guidelines. I received:



A model kit that I love! Now if I can just work on some models.

A very cosy 100% cotton hoodie.

A camo potholder and a camo hot mitt. (These are VERY welcome)

A Spider (good for draining fried goodies)



A MASSIVE shot glass from a local antique store. Has white level marks, and enough glass to induce blunt force trauma from a distance.













DVDs:


Daria
Freakazoid (WB surpassed Animaniacs, somewhat)
A Spy set with episodes from The Prisoner, The Persuaders, The Protectors, and The Champions.

Having a comparatively large family offers unintended dividends!

You CAN go home again!

Hail the conquering hero! The Aardvark hath arriven home.

I packed up a tad early this afternoon (with permission of the sweet lass who was running the dealer's room); a lad came by and asked if I needed help. I told him "People tell me so, but I cope." He looked puzzled. I awarded him a shirt in exchange for bagging the shirts so that I could box them up expeditiously. We were both happy with the exchange. Warm goodbyes were had all around, and I began my seven hour trek home. I sit here with a ferocious case of car lag, happy to be where I belong.

I had set a range of sales figures for the con, and surpassed the lower end, so it was worth the effort. I missed seeing Jay, but am abundantly thankful that he discovered his brake issues timely and in a relatively safe manner. Next time! I was ill-disposed to wander all over Columbus with the weather as it was (I drive fine in snow...it is the people who skid at the sight of a snowflake that concern me.)

It was pleasant to see the pretty Christmas decorations that were my view from the tenth floor. It made up for what I did not see on the drive to Chez 'Vark. I am...concerned...at the paucity of Christmas lights in evidence this year. DC appears not only to have sucked the value from the dollar, but also, the Fed Chairman that Stole Christmas seems to have evacuated the Christmas Spirit from the country. There are a few shining examples of the Festive Art to be seen, the operative word being few. I drove up the my house, and saw our Christmas tree shining a beacon of relative joy at me, and lo, in the front window, The Leg Lamp! Christmas comes but once a year, and mild bad taste still gives us cheer!

So anyway, I am home, safe and sound. Cigars kept me alert, in a savory fashion, but I will be happy to detox over the next few hours, and be rid of Smoky Palate! (I am surprised that no-one has trademarked that one. The cigarette industry, back in the days of Mad Men, would invent maladies that THEIR brand alleviated. "Four out of five doctors agree: Lusties do not cause Smokers Throat!".)





 This from the era when it was perfectly acceptable to give Uncle Fred a red or green foil carton filled with his favorite brand. He could mute the smoke smell with the bottles of Jade East or Hai Karate his nieces and nephews would present him as prezzies under the tree. 






I would sooner dab charcoal lighter behind each ear.

Well, I truly wish that we could all be together to hoist a glass, and gnaw haunch-of-turkey in prandial celebration of Christmas. (I fry a GREAT Cajun turkey! The Dread Dormomoo roasts an amazing stuffing-filled bird as well. We would need to take a vote.) I must settle with wishing all of you a blessed and merry Christmas, and a much-improved New Year, in whatever way improvement would be an improvement.

I took glee in wishing my customers a Merry Christmas. A couple of pagan chicks wished me a good Yule back. Works for me.

Cool Yule, y'all!

I laughed...I cried...

Columbus Friday

Overnight, it snowed in Columbus, Ohio. Not the gladsome snow which brings to memory sleighbells, Grandma's house redolent of holiday comestibles, and mistletoe. No, this was the snow that is wholly inadequate to the task, that renders the world in grey tones, the city become a Christmas gulag.

The Armageddicon did OK for the first day. People liked our offerings, and bought the "I missed the end of the world" shirt with some gusto!

I note in passing that it is a shame how fandom ruins so many fun things. Homestuck, MLP-FIM, like that. Loki freaks make me not want to watch the Avengers movie.

The snow has continued apace, and is becoming credible.

Got a call from Jay. Brake issues prevent his coming to the con. I am sad. Bono pizza must wait for another time. Sorry you had the trouble, but I'm happy you found out in a benign fashion!

There is no appreciable degradation of the earth's dimensional stability. So far.

9PM some-odd. Here is snowy Columbus, again from my room.

On-track, sales-wise. And the world is still here.

Going to Columbus, OH

On to the Armageddicon! Anime Punch is putting on their Doomsday Con, and I will be there. Jay will likely pop in for the festivities, and to see an unsubbed version of Evangelion 3.14159 or whatever. I shall bless him with the benison of Bronydom.

We are printing the con shirt. The picture is NOT it. That is a shirt I am printing to take for giggles. And shekels.



The concept is mine. Riatsila (my middle son) put it all together. I think it has the feel of a local band poster.

On to bed, now.