You’ve heard all about the wonderful time Bruce had at C2E2 in Chicago earlier this month. I did tag along but my experience was much different than Bruce’s! The comic did show generally what I did while in Chicago – went geocaching, spent time reading, and visited an amazing knitting shop in the Loop!
I finished a very large project at the office on Thursday so I was really ready for a break by the time we left for Chicago. Geocaching was a great way to get back outside for a bit after being cooped up at my desk! Found about 10 on Friday afternoon including making a stop at the place where the Chicago Fire started. It’s interesting that the Chicago Fire Department Training Academy is now at the site!
Kicking back was my primary goal so, thanks to the nice people at Hyatt McCormick Place, we had a corner room with an amazing view of the skyline. It was a great place to catch up on some reading and knitting!
But, while Bruce was tremendously excited about the copies of Mouse Guard he bought, I was excited to visit Loopy Yarns – in the Loop, of course! The shop is about 4 blocks from the Hilton on Michigan Ave. in the Printer’s Row area.
When I walked in the shop was packed – no, not crowded, PACKED! I asked the woman at the counter what was up and she told me it was a crochet group doing a tour of Chicago area yarn shops called, “Chain on the Train.” Fortunately they were making purchases and then heading off to lunch so the shop did clear out.
The shop itself is small but has a full basement. I did the basement first while the group did their thing upstairs – it was all classrooms and sale yarns. Bummer. In looking around I noticed they had Koigu sock yarns 50% off! I have a scarf made of this gorgeous yarn so spent quite a bit of time selecting some colors to add to my stash.
Back upstairs, they had a fair number of interesting things I’d not seen before including a very, very thick alpaca yarn (rope?) that is knit with knitting needles that could double as broomsticks! Also there were fibers I’d not seen before including one made of mink! Make Mine Mink by Jade Sapphire is actually made by combing the little critters and then spinning the yarn. I was sorely tempted but resisted – this time.
So, in all, I purchased five skeins of Koigu, a skein of Tosh Marino wool in Tomato, a button for a jacket I recently bought but didn’t care for the button it came with, and a sock monkey project bag. All around not too bad.
Oh, and that comic event, I think Bruce had a good time, too!
Cecil prepares for a weekend @ C2E2
So what happens at a “Comic & Entertainment Expo”? I guess it matters who you are. For me I learned a bit more than I intended, spent a lot more than I intended, and embraced my inner geek a bit more than I should have.
It all started Friday (Yes, I took a much needed personal business day) and headed up to Chicago with Sue. I was dropped off as Sue ran for the hills – Actually to do some geocaching. I on the other hand heading to registration & the first session of the day. I have mentioned before that when I was young and first started going to these things I tended to go to the dealer room, spend money, and go home. I was kind of a geek mall with a cover charge. Now I actually spend time doing other things (and spend time in the dealer room).
The first (& sadly only) session I went to on Friday was “Reading with Pictures” which dealt with using comics in the classroom. While it was interesting & I did get some ideas, It seemed like it was the same old information. It seems like the idea is if you say “Comics promote reading” enough times people might believe it. Sadly at a comic book convention you are preaching to the choir. The thing that (as of this posting) makes it sad is the organization Reading with Pictures has produced a wonderful anthology, but that’s about it. Their website (which has the potential to be a great resource) has nothing new since before the anthology was published- months ago. SO while I support their work- I’m not impressed with the follow through. Session Ideas- Not so new but still: create a comic club at school devoted to the reading & creation of comics. Really look at the standards as set forth by the State and see which comics (or portions) could be used to enhance the study & understanding for students. I’ve done this, but not in a systematic way, something to focus on over the summer in between cruises on my yacht.
One of the many colorful characters at C2E2... I'm still trying to figure out "Who" he's dressed up as.
Saturday was a lazy day, but I actually spent more time in sessions than in the hall. Attending two DC Comics sessions & one specifically devoted to Webcomics. Again, I tend to shy away from the sessions dealing with upcoming movies, or TV shows. I like hearing from the folks in the comic field and seeing if I can gain a bit of knowledge from what they say. The DC Panels were nice, helping to see what the next big crisis (that isn’t a crisis- since DC has overused that word) is going to be. “Flashpoint” will involve one of my favorite characters “The Flash” who, since he has been brought back from the dead after 20+ years, is dealing with some trouble of time/space continuum shattering proportions (but NOT a crisis). It does look interesting even though I have sworn off any all “events.”
The second DC Panel dealt with their “Vertigo” imprint which tends to cover things in a more mature way. One of my favorite titles is “Fables” by Bill Willingham which just finished up issue 100. The basics are all our “Fairy Tale” characters are real and are refugees on our mundane world. I won’t go into details, but recommend to those who can read “mature” stuff that you pick up one of the trades and check it out.
My last panel of the day was the “Webcomics Roundtable” I attended this last year and enjoyed the frank honesty of the panel. This year was no different, the panel was just a bit smaller. It was an open mic where you could ask whatever questions you might have. The questions ranged from “How do I start a webcomic?” Answer: start drawing. All the way to How do I increase and maintain readership?” The funny thing is there seem to be two camps (maybe more) when it comes to Webcomics. This group was much more grounded… which I liked, but also made me feel a bit embarrassed.
That brings us to today- I ran into the hall, bought two lovely handmade notebooks (one for Sue, and one for me) and took two pictures and ran out to head home.
So compared to last year’s C2E2 (the inaugural one), I would have to say still a great convention. I really preferred this location to last year. While still downtown at the McCormick Place it seemed like it was closer to things like food, and the hotel. It seemed a lot more crowded this year than last year, but some areas had shrunk- (the WebComics area for instance). I’d be interested to see some final numbers as for attendance. For me no Neil Gaiman, Jeff Smith or Dr. Who premiere made it not as exciting. I did miss out on Quidditch which was new this year. It seemed that the focus for big name guests was more in Movies & TV. One thing that I am wondering how it worked was the impression of being nickeled & dimed for some things. The special packages so you can get this autograph, etc. I may be wrong, but it seemed like there was a lot more of that this year. Then again it may be that I wasn’t interested in the some of the guests requiring this added fee so every email seemed to be one too many.
As for general programming- in my opinion last year had a lot more sessions on Friday geared to educators & librarians. While there were a number of session they seemed to be clumped. As an elementary teacher I have gotten burned too many times going to sessions in any conference only to find that the speaker brings nothing to the table that I can use. I looked at the session descriptions and most were for middle, high, or college levels- and avoided them spending my time in the Hall.
Cecil collapses on all the stuff from the first day... yes, just the first day of C2E2
After spending time in the Hall I did end up with some nice things… Some original artwork for my classroom, and lots & lots of books for my students. I’ll post pictures throughout the week since this is going to be the story arc for the week. Which will include more details and geek craziness!
We have had some storms and varied weather out here in the midwest so it has been a pretty nice way to test the viability of the solution I went with for the Dr. Who Cache Series containers. Long story short, it kind of worked.
What I was going to do was use a sticker to wrap the decon container, the problem was not the sticker, it was my design. Those people who have encountered this type of cache container know that it has rounded corners. This is fine until you get to a corner. While it did stay on the container, in most places, it didn’t work along the bottom. It seems that the sticker could adhere on one curved surface, add a second curve and it has difficulty. So, with this newfound knowledge I head back to the drawing board to redesign the wrap so that when finished the edges will end up resting on a flat surface.
There is a silver lining to this whole thing- the more I looked at my designs the more I knew I could do better. So I have redesigned the doctors & have also redesigned the TARDIS. Seeing how the original design printed some of the lines were too thin and some detail was lost. I now have a better idea on how to make the design work, which makes me happy.
Am I running out of time? Nope (I have a time machine). I have ordered a special pathtag to go with this series, when that pathtag arrives… then I am behind schedule. Until then I’m right on schedule!
A friend found this (I can’t find everything on my own) and I thought I should share it since films can be a geeky thing… talk to any true film buff and you’ll understand. Some films do inspire… the Dude abides- even if he didn’t make the cut.
Before I get on to today’s topic, there are a couple of loops I need to close. You see, I recently went back and re-read all my previous posts!
First, last time I talked about my new slippers. I also mentioned slippers back in March 2010 – should I darn the hole or make new ones? Well, to clarify, yes, I darned the green ones back then and they made it another nine months. Last month the time had finally come to make the new ones which I am happily wearing right now.
Next, I’ve shared several photos of gorgeous yarns I’ve bought and I realized I’ve not followed up with things I’ve made. There’s a reason – most are still safely sitting on the shelf waiting for me to do something with them! I have gone back to the photo of the yarns I purchased over the holidays and promise I will post updates on everything made from those!
So what about ripping? Well, coming out of this week’s ice storm, I thought it was finally time to make myself a pair of Bella’s Mittens. This pattern is based on the mittens the character Bella wore in the Twilight movies (at least that’s what the description says). I made a pair last fall for the fundraising project at the Geocaching Fall Picnic and I’ve wanted a pair ever since.
I chose the green Saphira yarn I got at the after Christmas sale and dove right in. After a few rows I decided that a single strand wasn’t going to make a thick enough fabric and ripped it out to begin again. Much better! These are really thick and should be very wind-proof.
Breezed through the first mitten. The only change I made was to go up one needle size for the hand. When I tried on the other pair I made I thought the hand was just a tad short, my middle finger was right up against the tip of the mitten. By going up a needle size the stitches became just a pinch bigger and it provided enough wiggle room without having to change the pattern. In most patterns, I’d just have added a row or two but due to the cabling it would have thrown the pattern off.
Started the second mitten and was rolling right along when I noticed something. Because this is a variegated yarn, the two strands I held together for the first mitten were rarely the same color giving an overall tweedy appearance. On this mitt the colors were running concurrently so the bottom was very dark and shading lighter as I went up. I kept going but it was just bugging me. Well, I finally made the call. I wasn’t going to be happy with the finished product so 3/4 of the way through, I tore the whole thing out!
Rewound some of the yarn and was much more strategic on how the two strands were held together and begin again. It’s not that I want the two to be in any way identical but there was just too much difference in shading for my taste. Just finished them and the look much better!
On the keeping warm front, I’ve made two Gaptastic Cowls. I mentioned earlier that cowls are hot right now and this pattern was quite easy. The first one was out of the Saphira in grey I got at the after Christmas sale. I was originally going to use it for the soles of the new slippers but I missed the word superwash on the label – it won’t felt! So, I thought I’d substitute it in for this pattern. Now that I’ve done my mittens in this yarn, I think I had the same problem with the cowl – the yarn’s just a bit too fine, I should have doubled it here, too. So while I like it, I knew I could do better. Went out and bought the Wool-Ease Thick & Quick it called for and made another in cream.
The Grey CowlAnd the White one!
Finally, I had one ball of Cashmerino I got on clearance down in Asheville at Yarn Paradise and had no idea what to do with it. The book Cowl Girls (which was ironically purchased at the same shop) came to the rescue! The ‘Need for Tweed’ pattern is a three tiered cowl and the top part was made out of just this yarn! Four repeats of the pattern and I had a super-cute neck warmer that will look great with my office coat. I find it interesting that I really wouldn’t have looked twice at the complete pattern but this one section suited my needs perfectly!
A Cashmerino Neck Warmer
What’s next? Bruce wants a pair of fingerless mittens and I found a perfect pattern from the 1940s! But, that story is for next time . . .
I decided when I started cleaning out a bit that I should go back and reread some of those comics that I decided to keep. So as I go back a reconnect with some of the “good stuff” or at least weird, strange, stuff that I decided I needed regardless of it’s value. I know I still have a few boxes that I’m cataloging in hopes that they will find a good home. Ben (when will I get another comic to him to color?) took a full long box of stuff. For those not in the know a long box is the large cardboard box specifically designed to hold comics (around 200). My hope is that every once in a while I will go back and review some titles or story arcs. This week it’ll be…
Issue #1 of Truth, Justing and the American WayTitle: Truth Justin & the American Way
Published: 2006 by Image Comics
Writer: Aaron Williams & Scott Kurtz
Art: Guiseppe Ferrario
Why I picked it up originally: I was reading PVP and was hearing about this comic project… decided to give it a try.
Why I kept reading it: It tugged at my nostalgic side… for the dopey TV of my childhood.
The story (spoilers included, though I’ve tried to keep them to a minimum): Basically it starts off as a take off of “The Greatest American Hero” one of my favorite TV shows growing up. If you look at the basic storyline guy finds alien suit that gives him great powers if he can figure out how it works… general hilarity ensues. What the comic does is not only twist that basic story, but also infuse it with enough TV references that it not only brings you back to that time, but also makes you try to hunt through the dialogue and art for easter eggs. I won’t give any away here, but some are as simple as the cover being a homage to a movie from that period.
Character wise they seem to be stereotypes (just like when I was a kid)- Justin is your typical nice guy, loser, klutz just trying to get through life and be happy. The plot moves from mishap to mishap with everything being tied up in a nice little box at the end. A simple story about simpler times, when good guys were good guys and bad guys were either the government or communists. If I wanted to be all scholarly I could go through how this follows the basic steps of Campbell’s “Hero’s Journey” Justin leaves his life of goofiness and by the end of the story has matured and as we go issue by issue does end up becoming a “hero.” The format of 80’s sitcom doesn’t always lend itself for this kind of analysis so I’ll leave it there- he grows up (a bit).
This was a five issue series looking at the basics plot points in each issue-
Issue 1- Character introductions, getting the suit and not understanding what is going on.
Issue 2- Bachelor Party, antagonist shows up, gratuitous destruction, flashback & Justin’s confrontation with his fiancée
Issue 3- Destruction, introduction of minor adversary, & cliffhanger ending- calling the wedding off?!?!
Issue 4- Fiancée captured by the government, we learn a few more things about the suit, and the “Justinmobile” is born, ending with rescuing the princess…
Issue 5- The wedding, aliens, destruction, comedic ending with appropriate just desserts served. Leading to the typical 80’s to be continued…
So why’d I keep it? I really can’t say… there are times (when it’s snowing or raining) and you just want to read a fun story that you can lose yourself in- this is pretty close to that. Best story ever? No, but in a classic Mad magazine kind of way it did make me feel like a kid again, and made me want to hunt down some episodes of “The Greatest American Hero.”
I really need to decide on a clever rating system to put here… oh well, maybe another day.
Well, upon recollection maybe the scope of my original idea was a bit too much (at least until summer. That said I am moving ahead with the idea of 11 geocaches placed around in honor of the good doctor… just “the Doctor.” Today I took some time between lunch, grading, & cat brushing to figure out how it was going to work. As I believe Stephanie pointed out- if I have these placed all around the country, what would happen if one goes missing? Since the original plan was to create each cache by hand. I took some time and thought about this and decided to go a hopefully simpler route. I would put a wrap around each decon container that would be the same, yet also illustrate each doctor.
The first mock up of the basic TARDIS geocache. This is the background from which I will add the Doctor.
So with my trusty laptop and black & white printer I came up with this… From this I will add details to make sure that it is as close to what the Doctor in question had as possible. While the chameleon circuit may have been damaged… it is amazing how a number of Doctor’s TARDISes have slightly different exteriors as well as interiors. You would figure that as long as the circuit is broken it would keep the same outside. (logic doesn’t always work in Science Fiction)
So the actual wrap will have something to distinguish one Dr. Who decon from another…
This is the mock up (final) for the 11th Doctor's TARDIS that I have decided I will place. I will not show any of the others so if you want to see them, you'll have to find them.
So as I complete each cache and send it off to be released in the wild I will let you know the GC# and which doctor it is for. If you want to see how it turned out… hunt it down.
I still may go with a fantastic final cache. I still have an idea what I’d like to do (& WHO & therefore WHERE I’d like it placed), but I’d first like to get all 11 doctors out saving mankind.
When I was a kid I would watch match classic films from the golden age of Science Fiction. Things like “Earth vs. The Flying Saucers” & stuff like that. I remember coming home from school and turning on the TV- after I had finished my homework 😉 and one of our local stations would have a weekly theme- Science Fiction, Abbott & Costello, The Marx Brothers, Westerns, etc. If I didn’t like the theme, I could always watch cartoons on another channel. So what about the video above? For those younger readers while George Lucas admits he was inspired by the classic movie serials… this was not one of them. I received a link to this from an old friend & knew I should post it for those who may not have seen it.
I tend to post things on Facebook and then forget to post here- “doh!” So look for more posts in the future from me, and I’ll even post a comic tomorrow (something new & different!). This week has just been fatiguing (reminder word for my students) with lots of kids sick and I just hope I’ve dodged the bullet- but I don’t think I’m that quick.
Usually I try to do this once a year… it has been at least two (maybe three) so this is something that needed to be done, I speak of cleaning out/organizing my comic book collection. My collection is 11 “long boxes” in the basement and then 5 in my office. The ones in my office aren’t filled. I try to pick a day when Sue isn’t home so she doesn’t have to see (or find out) how large my comic book collection is.
I start off bringing up all the boxes and then emptying them out. This way I can consolidate titles and make sure that everything is in order. This move covers the floor of the house in stacks of comics. I then put the comics back into the boxes. While putting them back I decide if there are are any titles I don’t want and move on from there. Seems simple… it is & it isn’t.
All I can say is thanks to the way Marvel (Civil War, Secret War, Dark Reign, etc.) & DC (a Universe in constant “Crisis”) have been publishing the past few years I actually felt like I could winnow down my collection a lot.
Why?!? because some of the stories just aren’t good. I’m tired of “universe altering story lines” that end up with nothing being changed. I’m going to still read a lot, but I don’t see the reason to keep as much. I’m dropping completely, Daredevil with the exception of some Frank Miller issues. I’m dropping Captain America, still reading it, just not collecting it. JLA-gone, Titans-gone, Ultimate anything- nope, a lot of my old stuff that I just haven’t kept up with. I was reading the Avengers, but when the Marvel universe came back to being one big happy family, there were just too many to choose from. Was I reading Secret Avengers, Mighty Avengers, New Avengers, New Mighty Secret Avengers? I don’t remember which one I thought was pretty good and which one either the art or the story was not to my liking. So many titles that I thought would be good and ended up either bad, or I just forgot to pick them up and fell behind.
What am I still reading… Hmmm… let me check- The Walking Dead (I’m missing 4 issues, but I will find them). Invincible, JSA, The Flash, Ozma of Oz, Mouse Guard, Teen Titans, I know there are others but it has been a long day. I figure I’ll still bounce around with Batman, but while Superman’s “Walking” storyline is interesting it is starting to wear me down- I can only walk so far. What I am going to do is go back and reread a bunch of my old comics that I rediscovered while cleaning house. I’m looking forward to getting reacquainted with some old friends. Hopefully, by the time I’m done the Heroic Age will have passed and the sun will have set on the Brightest Day.
So if you read comics… what’s your favorite?
I was nosing around Ravelry (the online site for knitters) last week and ran across the group 52in52. Essentially it’s a group for knitters who pledge to make 52 items in a year. Yikes! It’s interesting to see photos of all of the things flying off of people’s needles but I sure don’t want or need that type of pressure!
Another group that I think is much more realistic is one I actually learned about from the Lion Brand Studio Store’s Twitter Feed – the stashbustarmy. This Ravelry group is dedicated to people who are committed to using the yarn they already own rather than going out and buy even more yarn for projects. This is much more my speed!
I took this idea to heart when I wore a hole through the slippers I made myself two years ago.
Holey Slippers!
I grabbed a leftover skein of Lanaloft from Bruce’s slippers for the inner soles (the color is ok but just not my preference), grey Cascade 220 that I used to make wings for the Mochimochi bats and the yellow Cascade 220 that I’d used small bits of on several projects. They knitted up quickly but I did run out of the yellow about 3 rows shy of being done with the second slipper. No problem – I just switched to the grey early and now I’ll always be able to tell the right from the left!
Here are both pairs. The new ones haven't been felted yet so they're much bigger and 'floppier'. You can see the bigger area of grey on the one on the far left.
Tossed them into the washing machine with the towel load earlier today and they’ve felted pretty well. They’re in the dryer as I type so the fabric will firm up even more and soon my toes will be warm again when I putter around the house!
Here they are after being felted. Just out of the washer so they're wet and cold!
Oh, and that comic event, I think Bruce had a good time, too! 
Oh, and that comic event, I think Bruce had a good time, too! 
On the keeping warm front, I’ve made two Gaptastic Cowls. I mentioned earlier that cowls are hot right now and this pattern was quite easy. The first one was out of the Saphira in grey I got at the after Christmas sale. I was originally going to use it for the soles of the new slippers but I missed the word superwash on the label – it won’t felt! So, I thought I’d substitute it in for this pattern. Now that I’ve done my mittens in this yarn, I think I had the same problem with the cowl – the yarn’s just a bit too fine, I should have doubled it here, too. So while I like it, I knew I could do better. Went out and bought the Wool-Ease Thick & Quick it called for and made another in cream.
On the keeping warm front, I’ve made two Gaptastic Cowls. I mentioned earlier that cowls are hot right now and this pattern was quite easy. The first one was out of the Saphira in grey I got at the after Christmas sale. I was originally going to use it for the soles of the new slippers but I missed the word superwash on the label – it won’t felt! So, I thought I’d substitute it in for this pattern. Now that I’ve done my mittens in this yarn, I think I had the same problem with the cowl – the yarn’s just a bit too fine, I should have doubled it here, too. So while I like it, I knew I could do better. Went out and bought the Wool-Ease Thick & Quick it called for and made another in cream.
