This morning I stayed up for something wonderful, I was one of those goofy geeks who didn’t go to sleep until he knew the fate of the Curiosity rover. I had been hyping the landing on my school’s Facebook page and getting pretty excited about the whole thing and the “Seven Minutes of Terror.” If you don’t know (since my local newspaper seems to think the Colt’s kicker’s decorating tips is more important than landing a robot on another planet)- NASA sent another robot to Mars to take a look around. Curiosity is about the length of a Mini Cooper and had a very complex series of things that needed to happen so it could land safely. The issue to me was FTL communication (the Ansible, if you read Orson Scott Card) hasn’t been invented or stolen from aliens yet, so it takes around 14 minutes to talk between Earth and Mars. While watching the pregame and then the whole (as someone put it) nerdspeak, it seemed like they were setting us up for failure. They kept mentioning how difficult it was and how without communication we wouldn’t know what was happening. Luckily, the stars were in alignment, careful planning worked out and amazingly there was a happy ending. While many people stood out (mohawk guy) it was a great demonstration of geeks in action and the power of getting enough dreamers in one room. Following the ustream broadcast (I have 300 channels and NASA TV isn’t one of them?!?! How did this happen?) along with Facebook & Twitter it seemed like almost everyone was either sleeping or nervously following what was going on. Some tweets more serious than others:
It would cost $60 billion to start a human Mars colony. Our wars in Iraq, Afghanistan & Pakistan have cost over $3.4 trillion. @dresdencodak
Once more, without the clear dust cover. Here’s the “fisheye” pic from my rear Hazcam http://twitpic.com/ag43lt @MarsCuriosity
Internet, you win this round. I’ll be back later, but thanks so much. Now going to celebrate with all my friends and team! @tweetsoutloud
There is a lot of really bad hair at NASA. @dbwildo
“Oh, you won a gold medal for running 100 meters? We just landed a car on Mars.” Nerds:1 Jocks:0 RT@christopheeerrr
Whoa. Whoa. Did that guy just say “go to Europa?” I distinctly remember being told in 2010 to “attempt no landings there.” @pvponline
I have never been happier for a room full of strangers as I am for these JPL engineers. @davekellett
I’m safely on the surface of Mars. GALE CRATER I AM IN YOU!!! @MarsCuriosity
Man! Real time CG graphics! To think: we went to the Moon with the computing power of an abacus rubbed vigorously on a shag carpet… @AH_AdamHughes
It does seem weird that Earth is sending a flying saucer to Mars. RT@AH_AdamHughes
Technology (and geekdom) brought this event to life. As someone pondered- What would be possible if NASA could get $30 billion through Kickstarter? All I kept thinking about was being a kid in Boy Scouts and visiting JPL right after Viking landed. The great thing about kids is their sense of wonder & imagination, the sad thing about kids is their lack of understanding when it comes to making something happen. I thought when my dad was trying to explain how difficult it was to get a probe to Mars, “It must not have been that hard- launch a rocket, have it land.” I didn’t have the experience of watching failed launches or memories of Apollo 1 or even Apollo 13. That perspective is important, but needs to be combined with youthful optimism. Last night I saw a room full of little kids who had grown up but never lost the spark. I am shocked to say that some times I am proud to be an inhabitant of the Earth, and sometimes interesting times are amazing.
While I proclaim myself a geek and I do love movies, I tend not to have the time to go out and see anything in the theater. Yesterday when Sue was heading out for a “Girl’s Night Out” I decided to go and see “The Dark Knight Rises” the final film in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy. This is not a spoiler filled review. It was a good film. In comic book land it took elements of “No Man’s Land” and “Knight Fall” included some nice twists and turns that having read nothing about it beforehand made for a good story. Yes, I had to suspend belief (that’s what you do in movies) to ignore some holes in the plot, but I would see it again. As Ty Templeton said Anne Hathaway is the “Best Catwoman Ever”
My movie viewing habit comes from growing up in Los Angeles. I have been trained to show up to the theater in time to wait in the queue for tickets, then wait in the line to get in, then wait in the line for popcorn. You rarely went alone because then you wouldn’t get a good seat. One person got the seats while the other got popcorn, Red Vines, & a drink. So I tend to show up early. In the case of the Dark Knight it was only 30 minutes. So I got to watch the pre-game commercials. Then the trailers. they told me twice to silence my cell phone. Then something I hadn’t seen happened. A commercial for the importance of seeing movies in a Movie Theater.
The screen showed all the monumental scenes of explosions, special effects, and action and slowly shrank. It shrank to the size of a TV, then some tagline about seeing movies in a theater where you get everything. Even with 3D and IMAX and IMAX 3D along with the cost I wondered what I actually received for my theater going experience. I did not see the film with any bells or whistles, just a regular multiplex. I figured even with the matinee/twilight ticket and the $12.00 for a medium popcorn and medium drink I could have gone out for a nice dinner. So what does the theater experience give you? There were maybe 30 people in the theater so it wasn’t sharing the moment with the crowd. If anything the guy three seats away checking his silent cell phone during the film was annoying. That combined with the people who decided to be silent during the trailers by start talking during the opening credits were things to keep me at home. So why see a film at a regular theater?
As I think back on “The Dark Knight Rises” I have to think about what made seeing this in a theater better. There were big special effects scenes with explosions, but what brought me to the film was the story. I wanted to know how Christopher Nolan was going to end his take on Batman. I didn’t need a big screen. I could have read the comic book adaptation & been just as happy, I just would have missed some nice performances.
The little commercial about seeing movies in theaters tells me that I’m not the only one thinking this way. I know I might have been more impressed if I had spent more money and seen it in IMAX or 3D. I remember growing up and seeing “Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom” for the first time. I really wasn’t impressed. I then was dragged to see it again in a theater that had it in THX. “Wow!” It didn’t make the story any better, but it made the experience better. I guess to me the story is important, a story that can be told on any size screen. After my grandmother took me to a movie I remember asking her what she thought of it, “It was loud” was her reply. At the time I thought “The Return of the Jedi” was epic… come to think of it maybe I am just getting old.
"Never beam down in a red shirt" words to live by... or not.
So while I’m dealing with stuff & trying to keep the comic updated I have gotten some geeky goodness in the mail. In November I decided to put an order into ANOVOS who had some fantastic Star Trek uniform shirts at ComicCon along with Battle Star Galactica stuff. I ordered my “Expendable Tie” and then decided to go ahead and get a real red shirt. It arrived today… Sue isn’t that happy with it, but then again we have an understanding that we don’t question each others purchases when it comes to our goofy hobbies. So I now am the proud owner of an “Ensign Ricky” and as long as Sue doesn’t have to be seen with me while wearing it everything is fine. Yes, it is silly but I’m old enough to do something silly every once in while…
I know I’ve spoken about Kickstarter before, as a geek, it is a really cool way to support other geeks. Kickstarter is a way that “crowdsourcing” is being used to fund various projects that might otherwise not see the light of day. Many projects have educational value or can be used as demonstration pieces, especially in a STEM environment where engineering & design are an important part of the curriculum. Since each funding level has different rewards I have attempted to pick levels of funding that provided resources for my classroom. Since I started funding projects over a year ago I decided I would share a list of the projects I have supported for use in my classroom & school. Some I’m still waiting on pieces arriving, but you need to give geeks time to create (you know, like this comic strip). Check out some of these and some local projects.
Graphic Novel Library:
I know it has been a while since a new comic has graced this site… Life sadly has gotten in the way, but that will soon change (I know- “Promises, Promises”). Spring Break, C2E2, & taxes while all fun, they also keeping me away from creating anything. Combine that with a massive writer’s block, work, and needing to figure a few things out. I have strips plotted out, so I will be sitting at the drafting table and computer to get the scribbling done and the comics posted.
That all said I thought I would share this cool PSA about reading while you wait to read my comic. It is sad that as a teacher I have many students who are masters at feigning reading. I try to get good books in their hands, but reading just isn’t a priority, it never was from the earliest of ages. I know I wasn’t a voracious reader growing up, or at least I don’t remember reading much beyond comics until I was in middle school. All I can say is If you have kids I hope you are reading to them every night, there is no excuse. The students in my classroom who are really successful are always reading.
Today marks the end of Spring Break for my school district a week where I should have, could have, would have, drawn a couple comics and got them posted, but instead I went on vacation in hopes that I will have some adventures to write about. So that is what I have planned… but I thought I should at least give you the vacation by the numbers (*spoilers*)
States Cached In: Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Delaware.
Caches found: around 61
Average Miles Per Gallon: 32.5
Number of times I said “I miss my cat.”: 137
Travel bugs moved: 1
Pairs of jeans ruined: 1
Number of cold weather clothing items left in hotel rooms: at least 2
Shoes lost: 1
Hours spent in a queue: too many, but it was worth it (to Cecil).
Doctor Who caches found: 1
Historic places visited: lots
Witches burned: 0
So give me some time to put this whole thing together and hopefully I’ll be able to get back to a regular schedule, soon.
I do love TED Talks, they are fantastic, this one was an interesting take on failure.
Last week was the first round of statewide high stakes testing week and the last week of the grading period. Both things take a lot out of teachers or at least me. Hence the hiatus as I regroup and rethink the direction of the comic. My passion has always been teaching… not testing, and testing is what teaching has become since it is now run by politicians, not educators.
On Wednesday afternoon, my students had the opportunity to watch a webcast with three wonderful cartoonists (Kazu Kibuishi, Raina Telgemeier, and Jeff Smith). Technical difficulties caused us to miss out on a part of it, so we started a discussion about graphic storytelling. I used My Geek Odyssey as an example. One of my students asked the question, “If you have this web site, why aren’t you famous?” (Yes, students today are that rude) Then today, I see this TED Talk… and “unless…”
Expect new comics starting March 19. Thank you all for your support. Who knows maybe one day I will be “famous” not just “infamous.”
If you haven’t noticed My Geek Odyssey has started to become somewhat random when it comes to being published. If you haven’t, then I’m better with smoke & mirrors than I thought. I’ve started to miss a few days which is something I really never had the intention of doing. Some times the real world gets in the way of our plans and schemes. Right now I’ve hit a wall, with the high stakes statewide test starting this week, report cards and other things going on I feel overwhelmed and something has got to give. This year has been difficult with a number of changes that would make an already full time job, more so. So for the short term everything that I have spent the past three years constructing is going to have to be put on pause. I’m hoping it will only be for a couple of weeks so I can get a few things straightened out in the real world, but I don’t know. For those who have stuck with the comic through thick & thin, I thank you & I’m sorry that I just can’t seem to keep all the balls in the air right now. We will be back, I’ve been considering some changes, so look for them upon the our return.
When I first started putting this comic together my goal for year two was to create a storefront to sell stuff. This would help defray the cost of the whole thing and maybe make me part of the 1%… You see I started doing design work in high school and college it was mostly for shirts since my parents owned a small store that imprinted stuff on shirts (don’t ask it was the late 70’s and people did this sort of thing. I started a store front on both Zazzle & CafePress to see which one I liked more. Each as their pros & cons so the jury is still out. I have just added a few designs to the Zazzle shop for you to have a look at, as for my return I presently get a modest 10% of each sale which I tend to turn around and use to buy the shirts I want to wear (I only design things I would wear). Here are the latest designs:
THis design is based on DaVinci but also the artwork I used for the background of the Renaissance Cacher Challenge.
For those wanting to become one of Cecil’s minions the best place to start would be getting a MINION Training Dept. shirt.
Some of the excuses I use when I’m not in the mood to cache… has the phrase “Not a Die Hard Cacher” on the back.
The “My Geek Odyssey” logo shirt in navy blue.
Similar to the one I have in the CafePress Shop… this one has the QR Code on the back.
Most of these designs are available on any kind of thing you would like to make… just don’t blame me if they end up looking bad.
I’m sitting here the last day of 2011, thinking about this year and what 2012 will bring (the zombie apocalypse) so I decided to rehash it all here.
Going over some of the old strips last week I am amazed at the number of people who have commented about how the strip has evolved. All twelve people (thank you all) who read this comic and I have spoken to, tell me how much growth and change they have seen. Hopefully it will bring more readers (c’mon lucky number 13!), but I go back to the reason I really do this whole thing: Fortune & Glory… actually to keep me out of an asylum.
My family asks every once in a while- if (or better yet- WHEN) I’m going to make some money from the comic. Since we all know that there is money in comics- just look around at all the cartoonists in the list of wealthiest people in the world (no wait- he throws a ball around & he forecloses on family’s dreams & he…). I did not start this to make money. I started this so I wouldn’t go crazy- so I could do something I had always wanted. I hope it makes you laugh or think or both, but if it doesn’t maybe it was just an idea that had been bouncing around in my head and finally escaped.
2011 wasn’t too bad- The biggest highlight being getting a Professional Badge for Comic-Con in San Diego- it was a shocker for me. You see I suffer (like many creative people) from low self esteem… that’s why I became a teacher- no one ever says any thing nice about teachers so I knew that was the perfect vocation. Then after 20 years I decided to try out being a cartoonist. When I turned in my application I was doing it on a lark. I didn’t think it would happen, but it did. To me it was a big deal… I still look at that badge hanging above my desk and think someone is going to burst through the door and take it away- “You are not worthy.” The actual convention was nice, but that badge, that honor to me, made it something special.
Besides that work, was work (and is just getting to be more so), the economy isn’t great, the crazy folks we elected to govern are doing crazy things and acting like spoiled toddlers (but will promise us they will change so they can elected again)… the world itself isn’t great, but I have a professional badge from Comic-Con which means, I’m a counted as a professional in something I have always wanted to do. *squee*
Besides that Cecil (yes, I consider him a separate entity) topped off his year with an accolade of a different kind- as you might have known Cecil was awarded the 50th Indy Magic Man geocoin which in the Indiana Geocaching world is kind of a big deal. While many think of Cecil as just an extension of me… he is and he isn’t (I do the comic to keep me out of the asylum). Many geocachers have figured out that I am just the guy who carries Cecil around… If I were to show up to an event without the monkey (I did once… once) it would be considered weird. So Cecil was awarded an honor not for being a great cacher. No, he got it for being a character… and that was a wonderful highlight for the year.
So what does 2012 look like? Rainy, with a chance of snow… a cold start. Besides that I have some plans- my biggest goal is what a I have been trying since I started- to be on time with each comic. Will there be more long arcs or will I be going back to shorter stories… I don’t know, I have some ideas, but I need to see how everything plays out. MINI Takes The States is suppose to happen this year, but timing (as always) might be an issue. My little brother is getting married… that might be fun- but it might not be such a good idea to make fun of my family. GeoWoodstock is going to be in Louisville this year (they claim Indiana, but everything I see and hear says its happening in Kentucky). So there is a lot of fodder besides just everyday life to get three comics a week in- if Hemi will ignore me enough to get it done. Lots of projects that I will go on endlessly about at a later date.
So as I close out 2011 I’m glad I survived it and hope you and yours a wonderful 2012 (until the Zombie Apocalypse).
