No Thing Today

So, here's the thing.....

OK, sorry. No thing. Not today.

Maybe tomorrow?  

Maybe tomorrow there will be a thing?

Maybe...

Weird Ass Kirby: OMAC

This past Monday, August 28th, was the 100th anniversary of the birth of Jack Kirby. 

Millions of words have been written extolling the virtues of the man the comic books fans called the King. The dynamism of his layouts. The power of his pencils. His provocative use of form and function.

Hell, even the man's speed was an extraordinary thing. Jack Kirby could produce about 15 pages of week.

And another thing about Jack Kirby: he had some weird ass ideas. 



A tough but quiet man, a product of a Depression era New York childhood, Kirby had some really far out ideas about the world outside our view, about the future.

And one of Jack's most "weird ass" concepts was O.M.A.C. 

For today's post, I'm going to look at some 2 page spreads from King Kirby's short lived DC series.






Oh my God! See what I mean about "weird ass". That fever dream of a 2 page spread can be found in O.M.A.C.#1. This issue introduces us to non-descript Buddy Blank in a not too distant future, "the world that's coming" as Kirby describes it on the cover.  When zapped by an energy ray from an orbiting satellite called Brother Eye, Blank is transformed into O.M.A.C.: One Man Army Corps.  

Check out this wild spree as O.M.A.C. plunges into a an army of goons!

As way out there as they seemed in 1974, O.M.A.C. was a platform to examine concepts of government, capitalism and social relationships taken to bizarre extremes. Yet those extremes seems oddly prescient if you look out your window in 2017. 

OK, you may not exactly see this strange creature if you look out your window in 2017. (Although  the resemblance to Steve Bannon is uncanny.)  By all accounts, Jack Kirby was a kind sweet man but damn! What kind of nightmare fuel was Kirby on to create this thing?

Another two page spread with Kirby unleashed. an overwrought piece of future tech run amuck! And dig that energy rippling around O.M.A.C.. It's an effect called Kirby Krackle! And there is a rock band out there in the world we live in called Kirby Krackle!


Yes, something Jack Kirby created gave name to a rock band!


How awesome was Jack Kirby? 


How totally freakingly wonderfully weird ass was Jack Kirby? 

 

Sleep Habits

Yesterday was my first day at work in almost 2 weeks. It’s always a bit of an adjustment getting back to work because left to its own devices, my body gets used to taking a nap… whenever. As it has over the last several days.

Rest is important in recovering from an illness or a surgical procedure but I really like to sleep.   

• It’s 9:30. What should I do? How about a nap? Great idea!
• Around 11, before I have lunch, maybe a nap? By all means: nap!
• 1:15 PM and I’m tired out from lunch. Time for a nap? Yep! 
• 3:00 in the afternoon. You know what time it is? Mid-afternoon nap!
• It’s 5:00. Wife due home around 6. Should I take a nap? Oh, I should, I should.
• Around 8:00, it’s time for my early evening nap.

Around 11:00 PM, a whole day of napping has left me exhausted. Time for bed. 

My wife enables me in my napping. “David, you’ve been through surgery. You need to rest and recover.” OK, I’ll go with that but I have to be real: on any given day, I could keep that nap schedule.

“Gee, David. Maybe you have a problem?” you might ask.  “No, I don’t and fuck off,” I respond so eruditely as I roll over to go back to sleep. 

But the fine folks at Cone Hospital tend to agree with you. While going through pre-admission for my recent surgery, some red flags went up that suggested to the hospital that I have sleep apnea.  One of those ref flags was the size of my neck.

Sleep apnea is when you stop breathing in your sleep which kind of puts the kibosh on a full night’s restful sleep.

So I’m on schedule for a sleep study. Normally this involves: 

• Travelling to a place that’s not your home…
• Going into a room that’s not your room and….
• Sleeping in a bed that’s not your bed.

All the while attached to wires that limit your movements including the ability to get up and go pee when you want to. (And readers of this post know how strongly I feel about that.)  

In my case, though, I can get an in-home sleep study package which I will get to use on September 19^th. So another medical thing to go through this year. 

More on that later. For now, I am quite fatigued after a day with no naps. I’m so glad my suffering amuses you.

Until next time, remember to be good to one another.  

Harvey: A Couple of Ways To Help

Today is Monday. This morning, I meet with my surgeon to get my stitches taken out of my left arm and get my butt back to work after more than a week off.

Meanwhile, a big chunk of Texas is still dealing with Tropical Storm Harvey which continues to drop plenty of rain on regions of the state still underwater beginning when Harvey slammed into Texas as a Category 4 hurricane a couple of days ago.  

If you're looking to offer support to help the devastated people of Texas, there are a couple of optios. Over on News From ME, Mark Evanier suggests Operation USA which is a charity Mark knows to do very good work. Mark notes that "only a tiny fraction of what you give them goes to administrative costs and staff salaries…and I'm not suggesting there aren't other charities where most of your donation dollars don't make it to the needy. But when I give to Operation U.S.A., I know I'm not paying for its CEO's shag carpeting."

And on Twitter, former President Obama offers this course of action to prove aid to those people in need.  

Barack Obama‏ @BarackObama

Doctor Who: Past & Future

A quick Doctor Who post this weekend.

My family enjoyed a trip to Doctor Who's past about two weeks ago with an excursion to see Riff Traxx take ob the 20th anniversary special, The Five Doctors.  

Riff Traxx are performers from the classic Mystery Science Theater 3000. They lead an uproariously laughing audience through a showing of The Five Doctors. While I fondly recall this special episode of the classic series, there were more than a sufficient number of absurdities and lapses in logic to fuel an extremely funny take on the show by the Riff Traxx crew.  

Looking to the future, it looks like incoming producer Chris Chibnall has picked a man old enough to be Jodie Whittaker’s father as a companion to Whittaker’s new Doctor.
The actor is Bradley Walsh, known for his roles on 
Coronation Street and Law & Order UK. 

I had really hoped Jodie Whittaker’s new Doctor would have a traditional young female companion. If it doesn't matter if the Doctor is male or female, why should a change in gender need a change in the companion? I rather hoped to see a young woman companion looking to this new Doctor as a mentor figure, a sort of relationship that doesn't get explored that often in television. The optics of an older man as the companion risks making Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor appear to be subservient. 

OK, tomorrow, I meet with my surgeon to see how my post-surgery recovery has progressed. I'm hoping things get back to something resembling normal around here. 

Until next time, remember to be good to one another.   

BLEH!

OK, it's been a week and a day since surgery on my left arm. It's still a bit stiff and it stings a bit but it's doing much better. 

Now I've got some damn thing going on with  my right foot. It hurts in the arch and the top of the foot. Bad enough to seek medical assistance. After X-Rays found nothing wrong, the answer remains, "We're not sure what's causing that."

All told, I am feeling rather... bleh. No, not bleh. I'm feeling BLEH.  

Off to couch to watch Hurricane Harvey coverage.  

Later.  

Operation Day: The Review

Caution; during the latter part of today's post, I will go into a protracted rant about urination. Just thought I should give you a heads up about it. 

________________________________

So this time last week, I was in the evil clutches... er, gentle hands of the American health care system. 

I arrived at Cone Hospital at 7:30 AM with my wife Andrea for pre-surgery prep work. The admissions part had been handled separately the week before.   

The surgery itself was scheduled for 9:30 AM but I was informed my surgeon, Dr. Handy (I'm not making that up) was ready to go right away so the prep work was off and running. 

Lying in a hospital bed, naked under a pale blue hospital gown with little yellow socks on my feet and a clear shower cap over my hair, I watched bemused as about a half dozen nurses scurried about doing whatever they had to do. 

One was charged with setting up the IV. It's not my favorite thing as a nurse stuck me with the sharpest needle ever in the most sensitive part of my right hand. Having been stuck with lots of needles over the course of 2017, the IV needle is always the worse. 

With the exeption of the cather needle which is stuck in the penis. They did that to me the night in January when I first fell. THEY STUCK. A NEEDLE. IN MY PENIS.

Sorry. Still can't believe they did that.  

Otherwise, the IV needle is the worst. What makes up for it is the bag of happy liquid that gets hooked to a tube which is the hooked to the IV port in my hand and....

Whoa. That feels so good.  

Anyway, met with my anesthesiologist.  Or he may have been a cast member of Grey's Anatomy.  I guess everyone had poked and prodded me within the guidelines set forth by the Affordable Care Act, my wife said goodbye, the wheels on my bed were unlocked and I was off to have my operation. 

My next memory was waking up in post-op. It was like my life was a TV show. I'm wheeled off to surgery, we cut away for commercials and we come back and find out what went down during the ad break. 

The surgery took longer than expected but ultimately was successful. Yes, I am now the woman I always dreamed I could be.  

No, just kidding. I'll save that for the next surgery. (Still kidding.)

The bone mass was excised and apparently while Dr. Handy was in there, my fore arm was... lengthened for... reasons? It was all explained to me by a physical therapist and it's all good. 

The plan was for this procedure to be out-patient but instead I would be a guest of the hospital for the night to make sure my pain medication was sufficient to regulate my pain.  So I would be off to a room.  

Meanwhile, hanging out in post-op, there were a couple of delays.  

• My room wasn't ready as the staff that was supposed to be doing that were at lunch. 
• Andrea couldn't be found. Turned out she was at lunch so there's that.  
• My post op nurse was very pleasant with me but she was a bit cranky as she had not had lunch yet.  
• Still a bit swimmy headed coming out of the anesthesia, the last thing I wanted to think about lunch. 

With happy juice still in my veins, I was one copacetic dude. 

I was chill. 

I was chill as fuck. 

I closed my eyes and eventually things got done, placing me in a room. And it was the exact same room I was in after my elbow surgery back in January. Not close, not similar. The exact same room. 

As I'n being wired into equipment in my hospital room, I realize,  I NEED TO PEE!

As I've gotten older, this how peeing works for me now.  

• Do I need to pee? No, I'm good. I can wait.  
• Do I need to pee? No, I'm good. I can wait.  
• Do I need to pee? No, I'm good. I can wait.  
• Do I need to pee? OH MY GOD! I NEED TO PEE! AND I I NEED TO PEE NOW!!!

There is no transitional moment, nothing like...

• Do I need to pee? A little but nothing urgent. I can wait.  
• Do I need to pee? Yeah, kind of. Next chance I get, I should probably go to the restroom.  

Nope. Straight from "no, I'm good" to Code Orange Terror ALERT I NEED TO PEE NOW!!!

In my room, the side of my bed and the door to my restroom is two feet away. From the door, another two feet more or less to the toilet. 

But the nurses tell me because I'm still recovering from surgery and coming off anesthesia, I'n not allowed to stand, let alone walk. No, I will have to pee lying in bed into a plastic container or they will have to cath me. 

Flashback to January: THEY STUCK. A NEEDLE. IN MY PENIS.

Suffice to say I was not chill as fuck. 

I was not chill in any capacity. 

I was no longer a copacetic dude. 

They gave me this plastic container thing for me to pee in while lying in bed. So under my blanket and under my hospital gown, I'm sticking my penis in a plastic pitcher.  

Desdpite being in a Code Orange Terror Alert I NEED TO PEE NOW state of mind, I can't urinate. Despite my urgent need, a half century of my body knowing not to pee while lying down could not be overridden.  I'm lying in bed, holding this container over my penis, desperate to urinate and my body refusing to cooperate. This was most frustrating and to add to that, I'm very tired from the surgery, the anesthesia and pain meds. I wanted nothing more than to just give into all that and just rest. If I could only fucking pee into this plastic bottle thing. 

I was whiney about this but I damn well deserved to be. After nearly two hours, I was finally able to produce some urine into the container. Which I promptly spilled on the bed sheets between my legs. 

I push the call button, explained why I needed help. Nurses come in who do not look happy with me. I'm sure one was thinking, "He's a man! Men can pee into a bottle? Why is this bozo making it so fucking difficult?"  

One of the nurses suggests to let's see if I can stand, then taking it very carefully and slowly, they would guide  me to the toilet. 

Which was a very good idea and I thought so 2 hours earlier when I suggested it. 

Oh hell yeah, let's see if I can stand!

Cautiously, I am helped to my feet to a standing position. 

Carefully and slowly, I shuffle my feet, IV in tow, towards the toilet. Standing over the toilet like a triumphant colossus, I let go with a torrent of urine like a damn roaring river. 

I'm peeing like a fucking boss. 

I called out "Yoo-hoo!"

This was, in that moment, dignity. Not fumbling with a plastic bottle lying in a bed, that's not fucking dignity. There's not a lot to be dignified about in a hospital; you check a lot of your shame at the door. But don't deny a man a chance to retain a shred of dignity by denying him a chance to stand on his own feet to fucking pee in a fucking toilet. 

As the urine continued to blast out, I shouted, "Oh hell yeah! That is THE stuff!" 

My moment of dignity, you damn well better believe it. 

Finally satisfactorily drained of liquid waste, I was directed back to my dry, clean bed where I finally was able to let every cell in my body just give in to a deep and restful slumber which was all I ever wanted to do all along. 

There were other minor challenges and annoyances through the night and into the morning that marred my waking moments before I was released on noon Saturday.  But compared to that whole urination fiasco, I was able to deal. 

As I write this, I'm still limited to the use of one hand. My left arm is coming around post-surgery OK; pain and stiffness are still a thing but getting better. 

So I will halt this narrative at this point for now. Thanks for reading and remember to be good to one another.  

Somebody Need a Hug?

Somebody need a hug?

Well...

...here you go.

Oh. 

My. 

GOD!!!!


Too cute!!!!

TOO CUUUUUUUUUUUUUTE!!!!!

Thank you, Danielle Sepulveres, for posting this on Twitter.

Later, y'all.   

Jerry Lewis, Comic Book Character

This weekend, Jerry Lewis passed away at the age of 91. In his latter years, Jerry became known more for being cantankerous and ill tempered, perhaps an inevitable step for a man who has long outlived the achievements that fueled his ego. 

Granted he had a lot to have an ego about. As an American actor, comedian, singer, film producer, film director and screenwriter, Lewis enjoyed considerable success financially and creatively, earning millions of dollars and a long list of awards and accolades. Eventually, hower Jerry's time came and went but Jerry stuck around, moving from "well regarded" to "human punchline". 

Which got me to wondering about Jerry Lewis, Comic Book Character.  

art credited to Owen Fitzgerald
cover to issue#50

art by Bob Oskner
cover to issue#100

Yes, at DC Comics, Jerry Lewis shared space on the spinner racks with  Batman, Superman, the Flash and Wonder Woman. 

What th...? 

There were a number of comic books that featured real life celebrities in adventures brought to life in comics. No, not characters they played in movies or TV but the actors themselves. Most of those played out in the 1950s. What made Jerry Lewis stand out to me was his longevity. Hus comic book ran 124 issues before coming to an end in 1971. At DC, Green Lantern and Green Arrow were dealing with the impact of drug abuse, Batman was returning to the dark, gritty roots of his origin and a Jerry Lewis comic book was being published. 

Jerry's run as a comic book character began in 1952 with the Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. After the Martin/Lewis comedy act broke up, the title was continued as The Adventures of Jerry Lewis.  

As the 1960s drew to a close and the 70s began in an era of counter cultural revolution and an awakening awareness of relevancy in comics, why was DC still putting out a Jerry Lewis comic book? 

My theory is DC forgot to cancel it. Which, yes, it's a silly idea.  So I asked Mike Sterling for a better idea. He had posted this on Monday in tribute to the passing of Jerry Lewis.  

Replying to @mikesterling

Curious about Jerry Lewis and Bob Hope comics They lasted to the early 70s IIRC. Were they still selling? Or DC just 4got to cancel them?

8:23 AM - 21 Aug 2017

Yesa, I should mention that Bob Hope aloso had a comic book, long after Hope was nop longer reliably filling seats in movie theaters.  

Mike Sterling‏

Replying to @dave_el1938
They must have been, but probably not nearly as well as they had been. BOB HOPE changed its focus to nephew Super-Hip near the end.

So DC did remember they were publishing these comics and they were selling well enough to tinker with the formula to boost sales as opposed to just giving up.   

Click on the link for a write up on Adventures of Jerry Lewis#105 which is a team up with Superman.  

Click on the link for a write up on Adventures of Jerry Lewis#121 which isn't.  

Click on the link for a write up on Adventures of Jerry Lewis#121 which isn't a Superman crossover.    

The links are to Chris On Infinite Earths, described as "Random DC Comics Discussion and Reviews" which has now become a new favorite blog for me to explore.  The pages from AoJL#101 & 121 are from that blog. I hope that's OK, Chris.  

The question "why was DC still putting out a Jerry Lewis comic book" betrays a certain fan-boy snobbishness  as if DC publishing a comic book about Jerry Lewis was inappropriate for beloved medium. AoJL is indicative of a state of comic book publishing lines going back to the beginning of the medium. Super heroes were only part of the equation, sharing the spinner rack with westerns, romance comics, war stories, humor comics and more. 

The key element in the question "why was DC still putting out a Jerry Lewis comic book" is Jerry Lewis himself. I will bet that the average kid who bought an issue of The Adventures of Jerry Lewis back in the day had no idea that Jerry Lewis was a real life person. But their parents who ponied up the spare change for their kids' comic knew who Jerry Lewis was. 

Real life person or not, Jerry Lewis gave DC a chance to tap into the Archie Andrews market with an inept but lovable schmuck. From the pages I've seen,  Adventures of Jerry Lewis evoked a looser and wilder style than the comparatively sedate Archie. AoJL seems more akin to MAD Magazine in humor and style.  

For whatever reason "why was DC still putting out a Jerry Lewis comic book?", the answer became "not any more" when the final issue, #124, dropped in 1971. Maybe the book wasn't selling well enough to pay Jerry to draw a likeness of his young face? Maybe Jerry himself, beginning to see himself more a "filmmaker" than a "comic actor" thought it was time to pull the plug on licensing his mug to DC?
  

Adventures of Jerry Lewis#124 marked more than just the end of a single comic book series. It evoked the end of an era when comic publishers would throw any idea out there. "Let's see if we can make money off a comic book about this crazy idea?"

 A decade later, Marvel and DC had more or less coalesced their publishing super heroes in a shared universe.  

Instead of asking "why was DC still putting out a Jerry Lewis comic book?", we should say "Isn't it a wonderful thing DC put out a Jerry Lewis comic book?" And the answer to that question would be, "yes, it was a wonderful thing".   

Special thanks to 

• Mike Sterling at Progressive Ruin 
• Chris On Infinite Earths 
• and the Grand Comics Database

Until next time, remember to be good to one another.   

The Eclipse of 2017

So did you guys see the 2017 Eclipse?

NO! Don't look right at it! For God's sake, put a filter on it!

Put a filter on it! Put a filter on it! Put a filter on it!

PUT A FILTER ON IT!!!!!!!

Whew! That was close!

OK, I think I see the problem here.  That's a 2017 Mitsubishi Eclipse. And the 2017 eclipse everyone was excited about is that big once in a lifetime solar eclipse that crossed North America yesterday. 

This one.  

Yep, missed it.  The Fortress of Ineptitude is north of the Path of Totality (where the real night time in the day time stuff goes down.)  

And it was raining. 

Of course it was. 

It was already dark from the rain but the light took on more of a hue of dusk.  

Which was probably for the best. I didn't have protective goggles or glasses and I didn't have a virgin sacrifice ready to go. 

I did witness a solar eclipse back in the 1970s. It didn't get night dark as I recall, just darker in a way most peculiar for a cloudless sky. I stole a quick direct glance. My dad told me not to because I could go blind. I did it anyway because he was stupid and it didn't make sense how looking at an eclipse would you make you go blind. There's LESS sunlight to blind you, right? 

To this day, I still think that split second glace contributed to (if not actually caused) my poor eye sight.  

My daughter Randie was disappointed she did not get to witness a more dramatic eclipse effect that others got to witness.  

But she has beautiful eyes that see the world in an amazing perspective, of different colors, shapes and possibilities. 

At least the Eclipse of 2017 did not have the opportunity to endanger those unique and wonderful eyes. 

It did have a chance to endanger another pair of eyes.  

Shortly after this photo of Donald and Melania Trump was taken, the Moron in Chief* removed his protective eyeware.  

Why? Maybe he was thinking, "Because of FAILING Obamacare, the sun is going out. SAD! Maybe I can restart the sun with my heat vision."   

*Will I not let up, even for Solar Eclipse day? No, I will not.

In Carbondale, Illinois, thousands gather to offer up a plaintive entreaty. 

Oh dark devourer of the sun,
We beseech thee:
Take us with you!
Take us with you!

The sky during the solar eclipse as seen from Depoe Bay, Oregon. 

And that is singer Bonnier Tyler who was famous for the song...well, you can see for self.  

And that is that for today.  

Coming up on the blog, I'll bring you up to speed on my surgery, a misadventure with my car and more stuff. 

Also for this weekend's Doctor Who post, Riff-Traxx and The Five Doctors. 

Until next time, remember to be good to one another.