The Four Stages of Lamp Post Caches
Posted on January 30, 2025 by Bruce

A Year in MINIons- MINIon #0704

Posted on July 4, 2015 by Bruce
0704“Good morning. In less than an hour, aircraft from here will join others from around the world. And you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind. “Mankind.” That word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can’t be consumed by our petty differences anymore. We will be united in our common interests. Perhaps it’s fate that today is the Fourth of July, and you will once again be fighting for our freedom… Not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution… but from annihilation. We are fighting for our right to live. To exist. And should we win the day, the Fourth of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day the world declared in one voice: “We will not go quietly into the night!” We’re going to live on! We’re going to survive! Today we celebrate our Independence Day!” – because it was either that or the end of the original Planet of the Apes but that one’s a little depressing. Happy Independence Day! Although with the number of crazy people setting off fireworks in my neighborhood I’d think its more like “Independence Month.”

A Year of MINIons- MINIon #0115

Posted on July 3, 2015 by Bruce
0115Like I said yesterday, this is about the halfway point of my year long challenge.  For those who are wondering what I’m doing here’s a quick recap. Every year I try to challenge myself creatively.  Some examples have been: a Doctor Who series of geocaches, building a pinewood derby car, actually publishing a comic book and tabling at a convention, things like that.  So in January I decided I would create a unique MINIon badge for every day of the year.  This stemmed from creating a series of badges for a group of MINI owners for MINI Takes The States 2014.  Each badge has a hand drawn monkey, a clone of Cecil, on it.  I made some rules that have been bent – each clone wears a fez with the MINIon logo on it.  This has changed to having the MINIon logo somewhere when a fez doesn’t fit into the character I’ve drawn. Like I said this was originally for a group of MINI owners, so the numbers were their choice and I have no idea what the numbers mean for those badges.  Once I had run through those people I started doing other MINIons.  Those the numbers do mean something- usually related to the actual MINIon.  1889 for example was the year VanGogh painted Starry Night, and the self portrait with bandage that I used as inspiration for the MINIon.  With 187 posted so far, I only have 178 to go.  I’ve kept a spreadsheet of the numbers but a few got lost at the beginning.  This happens to be one of those.  The rule for John Cooper Works GP owners- the MINIon is in a racing suit (again there are always exceptions, but I really tried to stick to that rule).  I’m still working on my comic, but for the time being it will post sporadically. SO what does half a year of MINIon badges look like? MINIonscomposite1

A Year in MINIons- MINIon #1123

Posted on July 2, 2015 by Bruce
1123As you get to the halfway point of a year long project you realize that your book keeping might be off… That you might have missed a few MINIons along the way.  For that I apologize, but some times you forget to post.  I don’;t forget the person, but I do forget to post.

A Year in MINIons- MINIon #1889

Posted on June 28, 2015 by Bruce
1889Look at the sky. It’s not dark and black and without character. The black is, in fact deep blue. And over there: lighter blue and blowing through the blues and blackness the winds swirling through the air and then shining, burning, bursting through: the stars! And you see how they roar their light. Everywhere we look, the complex magic of nature blazes before our eyes. (Vincent and the Doctor -2010) Yes, that’s not a real quote, but it is a cool way to see the world. I recall as a kid one time realizing, as I was drawing, that what I was looking at didn’t have a nice neat black outline around it… It kind of freaked me out since I was probably 7ish at the time and had to figure out how I could draw something without a line around it.  So, of course, I took up cartooning.  

A Year in MINIons- MINIon #1952

Posted on June 27, 2015 by Bruce
1952I’m ooking in the rain, just ooking in the rain. When I first came to live in Indiana during college, I first encountered a “summer shower” and realized that the rain I grew up with didn’t really count as “real rain.” I learned why windshield wipers have more than one speed and why some people carry SCUBA gear in their cars during the summer. Just like people in Indiana have no idea what real traffic is, or real fog, as someone raised in Southern California, real rain was a new experience. What I still enjoy is driving along and actually watching the line of rain approaching. That wall of grey the moves closer and closer… giving me time to prepare for the drenching.

A Year in MINIons- MINIon #14-556

Posted on June 26, 2015 by Bruce
14-556Every once in while I go a little political. Unfortunately, as a teacher in Indiana, that can be like taking your life in your hands. An early court case defined teachers as “moral exemplars” which can be hard when society has issues with what their actual morals are- which is Indiana in a nutshell. As for today’s MINIon- I have many close friends who today’s SCOTUS decision impacted. I celebrate with you the only way I can- this monkey’s for you- congratulations! Sue, Cecil, & I love you all.

A Year in MINIons- MINIon #1980 A-Ah!!!

Posted on June 25, 2015 by Bruce
1980I’m sure I’ve mentioned at some time that one of my most memorable comic experiences growing up was Alex Raymond’s “Flash Gordon.”  It started off as far as I can tell with a way for my parents to keep my brother and I quiet as we moved.  I was given volume one and my brother volume two of the original series.  The artwork was amazing , the story was great and for the longest time I tracked down the entire 5 volumes that had been published leading up to Flash, Dale, & Zarkov’s return to Earth.  After that as a kid I figured the story ended.  It wasn’t until later that I discovered that there were more adventures (including a return to Mongo).  This of course after I had lost the original compendiums I had purchased growing up.  And then there’s the film versions… Buster Crabbe’s Serials and the 1980 version which drips of camp, but actually isn’t that bad when it comes to paying homage to the art of Alex Raymond and his ideas of what Mongo looked like.  Tonight I have the chance to see that film again on the big screen as the opening event for Indy Pop Con.  So take a walk with me down memory lane…   Flash – a-ah – saviour of the universe Flash – a-ah – he’ll save everyone of us Flash – a-ah – he’s a miracle Flash – a-ah – king of the impossible He’s for everyone of us Stand for everyone of us He’ll save with a mighty hand Every man every woman Every child – with a mighty flash Flash – a-ah Flash – a-ah – he’ll save everyone of us Just a man With a man’s courage He knows nothing but a man But he can never fail No one but the pure in heart May find the golden grail Oh oh – oh oh Flash If you want a modern take on what really would happen to a spacefaring hero returning to Earth after saving a planet  I highly recommend Mark Millar’s “Starlight.”  Fantastic story, that I hear might become a film in the near future… sadly, I don’t think Queen will be doing the soundtrack.