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The Lonely Cache

Posted on September 7, 2024 by Bruce

The Second Happiest Place on Earth – Day 6 “Leg Godt”

Posted on March 16, 2024 by Bruce

Friday: 4.26 miles

I warn you ahead of time- where most of these posts have been short- the wonderful folks at LEGO House packed a lot into today so this is going to a big post- with lots of photos. To start it will be easier to just share what LEGO House sent us instead of trying to retell it in my words:

“You will be joining a group of 25 passionate LEGO fans with 10 different nationalities, for a guided tour of the LEGO company, LEGO House and other amazing LEGO sites that are normally only accessible to LEGO employees – and some of them not even accessible for LEGO employees.
What have you signed up for?

LEGO House takes you on a unique 1-day tour ‘behind the scenes’ of the LEGO Group. Listen to the sound of LEGO bricks being molded at our factory, visit the home of our founder Ole Kirk Kristiansen, and rediscover the LEGO sets of your childhood in our internal museum. Last but (absolutely) not least, we will take you on an inspiring guided tour of the awesome LEGO House, where you can see giant LEGO models up close, and finally, you will get 2 hours of exclusive after-hours playtime at LEGO House. Note: The tour even includes tickets to return to LEGO House next day on your own.

More about your day:
We have created a program for you that we are sure you will love. Herewith, I send you the details so that you know what to expect from the day.  We can make minor changes if other opportunities come up to ensure that you will have the best day possible.

Your adventure will take off at the LEGO House and rocket you into the LEGO universe.   Here are further details:
08.15 – Doors are open
 08.30 – Welcome, Introduction and Play
 09.30 – Guided tour in LEGO Idea House  
11.20 – Lunch in LEGO House
12.15 – Introduction to the LEGO Factory 
12.30 – Bus drive to the LEGO Factory
 12.50 – LEGO Factory tour  
14.15 – Coffee break  
14.30 – Guided tour in LEGO House  
15.50 – Farewell  
16.10 – After-hours play in LEGO House Experience Zones  
17.00 – LEGO House Retail Store closes  
18.00 – End of Play 
Please note that you are required to wear closed shoes (no sandals, etc.) for the factory tour.”

We got up early and had a great breakfast wondering if anyone else at breakfast in our hotel was going on the tour with us – nope, none that were there when we were. We then took a bit of a stroll around the area (again) picking up a few more Adventure Lab stages and thinking about what the day will bring.

“Where does he get those wonderful toys?”

We arrived at LEGO house and wandered a bit since we had about 15 minutes until we were actually supposed to be there. What?!? I was excited land anxious, so I followed the “if you are on time, you’re late” rule. 24 people from 9 different countries were in the group, first thing- build a minifig representing yourself. At each seat was a gift (the first of many). We chatted with Brandon and Rob from Las Vegas who were at our table before formal introductions- name, where do you live, favorite LEGO set or theme. Lena, Mads, and Jonathan were our guides which started in the LEGO Idea House, the original home of Ole Kirk Christiansen the founder of the LEGO Group. While there we went through the history of the company from a simple carpenter shop to what it is today. We also had a chance to visit… THE VAULT. (play dramatic music). The vault is home to one copy of every LEGO product produced for retail since the beginning of time. Like everyone I searched for certain sets from my childhood. From there it was fun to explore the sets made during what AFOLs call the “Dark Age” the time after I gave up LEGO play as a child to when I picked it up again as an adult. It was a dark time for the LEGO Group also as they were trying everything and moving further and further away from their core. That was all covered in the next part of our tour at LEGO Idea House, the history of the company, which was fascinating even to a guy who has read two books on the subject. We received a special minifig when we left.

The Vault holds one of everything the LEGO group has produced fro retail.

The infamous duck. As the story goes a young Godtfred Kirk Christiansen was finishing up a set of ducks for shipment. He proudly went to his father Ole to inform him that the ducks were done and at the train station. He had even saved the company money by using only two coats of lacquer instead of three. His father was upset and made him retrieve the ducks and finish the job- correctly. Hence the “Only the best is good enough” motto.

LEGO did not invent the plastic brick, but they did improve on the design making it possible to build much more than before. They also didn’t create a “toy” they created a system of play. Every piece in the LEGO system can work with any other piece. A DUPLO brick can be used to build with system bricks. System bricks can integrate with Technic.

One of the hidden rooms showcasing special themes… The first one I saw was Technic, but the panorama didn’t turn out right- something about a great disturbance in the Force…

Building your Lunch

We then headed to lunch at LEGO House which is a unique way to order and receive food. First you pull out a menu and a bag of LEGO bricks. Each brick determines a part of your meal. Adult (yes, I’m considered an adult) use four bricks to build their meal kids three (and a special kid brick for a surprise). You place your build on a tray under a display screen at your table. It is then scanned and your order is sent to the kitchen for the robot chefs to make. When it is ready a large LEGO box comes down a conveyor belt and you are alerted that it is ready and what color box you should look for. You get to keep all the bricks you used for lunch.

Off to the Factory…

After lunch we head off to the factory to see where LEGO bricks come from. The Billund factory makes bricks but doesn’t do any of the post production. What that means is the bricks aren’t packaged for sale here, that happens in the Czech Republic. Bricks for the U.S. come from Mexico for the most part anyway. As with most factories, there were robots, and no photography is allowed. We had our phones locked up so we couldn’t take pictures of the process. It was amazing to see how it all works and the shear number of elements produced. I guess there is a need for a billion or two purple minifig hands… We received an engraved 2×4 brick when we left as proof that we had actually set foot into the factory.

The Factory as seen from a photo of a photo taken by photographer in a plane

Finally, Exploring LEGO House

We returned to LEGO House for a whirlwind tour of the place given by Mike Ganderton, one of the people responsible for the design of the place… but first a break, some amazing apple cake, and tea (or water, or coffee). So… what is LEGO House? It is the epicenter of all things LEGO. It is the clubhouse for LEGO fans of all ages. It is an activity center for children divided into sections, each focused of a key LEGO ideal with activities developed for children and adults emphasizing the importance of play. Remember: The LEGO Group has a companywide Play Day in which everything shuts down so people can take a day to play. Having worked at a LEGO Store we came back after hours and were paid to play.

The Tree of Creativity & Monkeys

I apologize ahead of time… There was so much to look at while being told about all the other things to look at, so I’m sure I missed something. In the center of LEGO House is a massive LEGO tree. built of millions of bricks it highlights everything that is, was, and will be, and monkeys. It seems that during the design process it was discussed about having animals in the tree. Birds, squirrels, wombats, whatever. Mike suggested monkeys and it stuck so now “Mike’s Monkeys” live on the tree. you can find them in every vignette. For the AFOL these are mocs using the monkey from Creator 3 in 1 LEGO Set 31019 as a base. For the non-AFOL, these are LEGO monkeys. Each branch covers a theme important to the LEGO group. The top of the tree is unfinished and has a LEGO crane so that is shows that we are never done creating.

The Master Gallery

As you climb the ramp leading past all the monkeys, you end up in the Master Gallery dominated by three Tyrannosaurs. Each is built using a different LEGO system, DUPLO, System, and Technic. Around the gallery in display cases are builds from LEGO master builders from around the world. These builders were chosen and their work is displayed for a year. As with looking at anyone’s builds I get two feelings- first, inspiration to build more, then a feeling that I could never match anything displayed. As with a lot of projects I tend to have lofty goals, instead of just trying things a little bit at a time. The “How do you eat a whale? – One bite at a time.” The displays showed the versatility of Lego bricks, in that they covered a wide range. From small vignettes to a dress and everything in-between. I don’t display at LEGO shows, because I’m still in the build a set, maybe modify it a little. Not the build whatever is in your head. I recall the first time I wanted to display, the person running the show was big on emphasizing “We don’t want a bunch of Cafe Corners” which meant it needs to be unique and original… I disagree. at a show you need to show how you can take a set that everyone has at home and improve it. Then again these were masters at LEGO construction, they were definitely at a different level of building than I am.

Getting into the Zone

LEGO House is divided into zones, each zone focuses on a different part of the LEGO educational philosophy. The Red Zone – Creativity Skills, The Blue Zone – Cognitive Skills, The Green Zone – Social Skills, The Yellow Zone – Emotional Skills. The latest addition was to the Blue Zone called “Build the Change” in which visitors are given a challenge and must build it. Each challenge is unique to the visitor and deals with creating something that will address a current issue in the world. The challenges are multitiered but have an element of fun to them.

We did spend a little time in each zone, and had a 7 minute building challenge in the Red Zone. The one thing they wanted to do was not just replicate what people can do at LEGO shows so while there are bins of bricks around every corner, it wasn’t just build, build, build… This was the one time I thought about what I would have brought back to school for my kids if I was still teaching. So many amazingly awesome ideas.

The Red Zone- build whatever you would like.

Now it’s time to say goodbye…

After the guided tour we came back and found a bag full of stuff at our table. We I had been a little disappointed when I walked into the LEGO House LEGO Store, there were two sets I had wanted… OK fine, there were a lot of sets I wanted, but two sets I was looking for weren’t there. The three dinosaurs from the Master Gallery and the Tree of Creativity. They also didn’t have the Moulding Machine, but I was kind of fine with that. What was in our goodie bag?!? The DINOSAURS! so I was really happy!

I said goodbye to everyone and did get Cecil’s photo with Mike so he could join his band of monkeys. Our stuff was safe as we headed out on our own to explore for a bit after hours.

The store was open for an hour after closing so, of course that’s where pretty much every one headed. It didn’t help that LEGO set designers happen to be present signing their sets, including the new exclusive set released at the beginning of the month. Those who know me know I’m not usually one who is big on exclusives, or autographs, but… I think Cecil is still not happy that I didn’t get his picture taken with them. Because of the designers signing things they had also put out the Tree of Creativity Set for sale at the store! Of course now we just had to figure out how to get it all home…

SO you and 24 of your new friends have some time at LEGO House without anyone else around, what do you do? Play and explore some more. Our first stop the basement and the history display. After visiting and seeing everything at the LEGO Idea House earlier in the day seeing the public version at LEGO House was interesting. We did this during our free time I think the most interesting part was how they added a way for the blind to experience the exhibits. it was basically a circle the exterior was displays of LEGO products and innovations throughout the years, the inside of the ring was devoted to displays for the blind. headphones t help focus on the exhibit and eliminate background noise, and then large touchable displays of whatever the focus was, so there were large LEGO bricks, a large minifig, a large mini doll, etc.

We then headed back upstairs and looked around playing with some of the simpler activities… like make a minifig… then we took that mini fig and added it to a stop motion movie- because I kind have a thing for animation. We then spent a what time we had left playing with the robots, because old habits die hard. Fortunately we had a wristband for tomorrow so we could keep exploring.

LEGO Moulds are pretty much a super duper industrial secret… So what do you do when you are done with them? put them in the foundation of a new LEGO Building.

Wristbands

In the US when you go someplace that requires a wristband for entry they usually are near impossible to get off without destroying the thing. When we visited the Strong Museum of Play in Rochester, NY we were given wristbands with RFID chips in them in an exhibit to keep track of our progress that we had to return. LEGO House, your wristband is used in a similar manner. It is your entry, and exit key, it collects and saves the activities you complete so you don’t have kids screaming about wanting to take home whatever they built. the other thing (as an American) I found fascinating was, you could take it off without destroying it. When you get home you log in using the code on your wristband and you can pull up photos of the things you built or did throughout your day. Since we were rushed we didn’t get much done, but that was OK- because we can come back tomorrow!

The smallest LEGO Moulding Factory is onsite in which you get 6 2×4 bricks and a challenge to build one of the over 915,000,000 combinations that can be made with just 6 LEGO bricks

Build your own Minifig and then what should you do with it? Why make a short film with it!

So here’s my “Finished” stop motion film… If only I had a $200 million dollar budget!

Sue’s stop motion film… She took greater care (since you can’t see her had in any of the film. The images and videos were downloadable from our wristbands. along with this amazing photo!

I cannot say again how wonderful this day was! Line, Mads, and Johnathan did an amazing job of herding cats and getting us where we needed to be while making sure we were taken care of. Our group of 24 experienced a full day of LEGO awesomeness and I look forward to doing it again sometime soon. Having been in charge of 35 years worth of classroom field trips I know how difficult it can be, and they were exemplary.

The Second Happiest Place on Earth – Day 5 “Troll Hunting”

Posted on March 15, 2024 by Bruce

Thursday: Walked 6.27 miles

Yes, I said troll hunting!!! After a quick discussion in the morning we decided to go troll hunting by doing an adventure lab focused on the trolls created by artist Thomas Dambo we found one early on and decided to skip a few of the touristy spots to go walking and looking for trolls. It didn’t influence our decision at all that there was an adventure lab connected to finding the Trolls… nope, not at all.

Being married for over 30 years there gets to be a bit of mutual martyrdom, especially when traveling. Neither of us wants to have the other one do things they don’t like… or if we do at least in moderation. I’ll spend time in a yarn or fabric shop and Sue will spend time at a comic book shop or LEGO Store. It’s a trade off but we each feel as if we are getting the better end of the deal. Trollhunting was my idea, but since they were tied to Adventure Labs and a few geocaches I hope it evened out. The one thing we both realized was just how out of shape we are. We may have only walked six and a quarter miles, but it was over various terrain, something it looked like the Danes were used to, and we weren’t.

So today we squelched through mud, and walked on trails to answer questions about five different trolls hidden in the Danish countryside. There is a 6th “bonus troll” but we decided not to back track to hunt him, we were tired and wanted to head to Billund. We did decide that (like many of our trips) that we really enjoyed Denmark even being here on the off season. We’ve already talked about not spending enough time in Copenhagen and how we really want to return sometime when everything is open. I’ve also decided that I really want to make sure that I use my passport at least once a year. I guess I just added a #71 to the bucket list. Tomorrow is the actual reason for the trip… the LEGO House Fan Tour.

Note: The Troll Map shows that there are actually a few trolls near us, in Ohio and Kentucky. I’m also checking out other places we will be heading out over the summer, the troll hunt never ends… The ones in Chicago were removed and Indiana is too scary a place for trolls to inhabit. 😢

The Week(s) in Comics (My Pull Lists for 3/6/24 & 3/13/24)

Posted on March 14, 2024 by Bruce

Oh the joys of being out of town… it means you have twice the comics to read when you come back!

I’m not sure which comics are from which week so I’m not even going to try to figure that out, but there were some awesome comics released!

While on my trip I happened to stumble into a comic shop in Odense that was pretty amazing, it had a bit of everything, but it made me realize just how lost I am when it comes to European comics. This hole in my knowledge base I intend to fix, but it will take time. First place to start, there’s TinTin. I’ve read some of Hergé’s masterpiece and even sat through the film. Our first geocache, before Sue took over the ProfessorZoom caching name was “TinTin & Snowy” at a nearby dog park. It was archived at the beginning of 2024. 🙁

Faraos Cigarer as seen from my hotel room in Odense.

While I’d love to blabber on about my lack of knowledge when it comes to European comics Nothing Special Volume One – Through the Elder Woods the book came out while I was a away and I’d love to take a moment to blabber on about this amazing comic and all three volumes that hopefully will be coming out in paper form more sooner than later. First of all Katie Cook is amazing (amazingly amazing). Her style is cartoony (which I like) and she has been a standard at conventions for years. I have a cartoon of Hemi (bestest cat in the world) done by her and I own a few of her drawings and strips. Due to personal stuff she vanished for a couple years (starting around COVID and things piled on after that) and is now coming back. I found her at C2E2 years ago and started reading Gronk, her Webcomic at the time. When Webtoon started up they gave her the opportunity to tell another story in their format which is like having an infinite scroll. Nothing Special is the story of a teenage girl, Callie, who lives between worlds. Her father spends most of his time in a fairyland with magic and cools stuff, while she is in our world. It’s senior year and she stumbles upon DeClan who has carried a torch for her since kindergarten. They actually connect (over dead plants- it makes sense… really it does) and when her father goes missing on her birthday Callie heads out to find him with DeClan a perfectly “normal human boy” coming along to help. I don’t want to give too much away, but it is one of the stories from Webtoon that I followed religiously until towards the end of the third season, life got complicated for Katie and it took a hiatus. Having taken a hiatus (or two or three, myself I can’t complain). Nothing Special is especially funny, clever, and just a great read. If you don’t like it… we might need to discuss our friendship. 😉

This Week’s Comics Minus Nothing Special (see above):

Ultimate X-Men #1 – As the Ultimate Comics relaunches after the issues of the Maker in Ultimate Invasion & the stuff that followed it’s time to figure out what happened to the X-Men. We have Ultimate Spider-Man, which I enjoy. Ultimate Black Panther, which I don’t follow… I know I really should. Now Ultimate X-Men, which having not really followed and X-men comic since the last Ultimate X-Men and before that John Byrne and Chris Claremont were the creative team. I’m trying to piece it all together and it looks like this might take some time. The artwork is beautiful, and the story pasted with emotion, but I need to give it s few issues to figure out what is going on.

Love Everlasting #13 – We now get to see the first time the Cowboy had to deal with Joan… and it seems like its all part of a organized effort focused on Joan…but why?

Batman # 145 – Batman, Batman, Batman… Can you stop trying to confuse me? after that brief intermission, we are back dealing with Zur-En-Arrh the Batman personality that now is running Failsafe, the Batman robot Batman built for that moment when he might do something wrong, like kill. So mBatman is locked up with a joker who is physically incapacitated and Zur is going around cleaning up the city, and being a better Batman than Batman… When will Bat-Mite come back and save the day?!? What does Ace, the Bathound, think of all this?

Action Comics #1063 – Superman teams up with Bizarro Joker to solve the whole Bizarro problem… but at what cost? Can Superman trust the Joker? I can say, a “sane” joker is almost scarier than the crazy one.

Speed Force # 5 – Am I just getting old? Maybe it’s jet lag. Maybe it’s my lack on knowledge or interest in music… It looks like Wallace and Avery are figuring out what needs to be done to save the world of teenagers addicted to an app just as congress tries to outlaw TikTok (life imitates art?). SO how is the Speedforce, and Magic being used to create this (insert modern slang for crisis)? Can they stop it in time?

Wesley Dodds Sandman #6 – The conclusion 😢 of this adventure, will the Sandman be able to recover his notebook filled with formulas that in the wrong hands (the military) could create havoc across the world? Didn’t this guys learn anything from watching Oppenheimer? Ultimate weapons just lead to ultimater weapons that lead to ultimatest weapons, that lead to… you get the idea. Well, I guess if you are a weapon manufacturer all that matters is profits.

Spectacular Spider-Men #1 – SO Peter Parker and Miles Morales decide to take some time and just chill. every Wednesday meet at a coffee shop and talk over life as your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. What could go wrong? If you’ve ever read a Spider-Man comic, you know the answer. Humberto Ramos is doing the art, so I had to buy it. I’m just hoping that I won’t get confused since I’m already reading a handful of Spider-Man titles that just got out of Gang War.

Captain America #7 – Has Captain America now become the Patriotic Sorcerer Supreme? int eh last arc he was fighting a demon that tried to cause problems in pre-WWII New York and now present day. So issue seven we get to deal with the repercussions of actions… by visiting The Front Door, a theater macabre or is that theatre… Spell check says they are both correct. then again is it macabre?

The Amazing Spider-Man #45 – So Gang War is over? Finally? What happens now? This is what could be called a “filler Issue” in which we set ourselves up for whatever comes next while tying up some loose ends fhat may have been forgotten over the past issues. Can we get MJ’s Aunt out of the asylum? What is going on with airplane mode around a ginormous green brain (did the Leader have a full lobotomy and no one told me?) And what about those not quite so mysterious fellows on the last page? I’m sure they are planning something nefarious like hijacking a truck load of Girl Scout cookies! Oh the horror! Oh the Thin Mints!

Batman First Knight Book One – Detective Comics #27 started things off for the Bat-Man. Bill Finger and Bob Kane created this character and comics at that time had multiple stories that were pretty quick reads, only a few pages. This takes us back to those simpler times, but expands the story with more details, and some stunning artwork. Missing is Alfred since he wasn’t in those early comics. The mystery- who is going around killing corrupt politicians (Oh, like our generation invented the concept of corrupt politicians- go watch Mr. Smith Goes to Washington). Then again there is something strange about the killers…

Dark Ride #11 – So we’ve established that We have an amusement park of horror run by a guy who made a deal with the devil. He’s done everything he can to not let the devil collect his soul… His son was last seen running into a ride to rescue his daughter. Now after much mayhem, there is a family ruin, I mean reunion, as a new ride is unveiled, a giant kaiju sized animatronic devil, who will be sacrificed? When will Mickey and a gang of lawyers come and save the day?

I Hate Fairyland #12 – A retelling of the Tale of the Billy Goats Gruff as only Scottie Young & Gert can do it…

Adventureman Ghost Lights #2 of 2 – Will Adventure get rescued and save the day? Will the ghosts win? What will the effects of the Super-serum be on Adventureman’s friends? Frankly, this is one of those series that you almost need to read the entire arc in one sitting. So much going on, but all of it amazing.

Sons of Star Trek #1 – Those of us old enough to remember there was a time when we were trying to figure out life, the universe, everything. We tried to decide our path and wouldn’t listen to any advice. As I look back on it and look at how my life worked out I can’t say I made a bad decision, although I’m sure I made a bunch. The thing is I like who I am, if I learned anything from ingesting decades of science fiction and loving time travel stories it’s that one change, no matter how minor could change things in a drastic way. (Watch It’s a Wonderful Life for an example. Gosh, I’m just full of Frank Capra references today) Here we have three sons of major Star Trek characters – Jake Sisko (Son of Captain Benjamin Sisko), Nog (Son of Grand Nagus Rom), and Alexander Rozhenko (Son of Worf, son of Mogh, House of Martok, son of Sergei, House of Rozhenko, Bane to the Duras Family, slayer of Gowron. maker of chamomile tea.) All are at a turning point. So who comes along to help them out but… Q or as he calls himself son of Q or QJ (for Q Jr.). Now these three are in an alternate universe where things are… different. Morn is in a Star Feet Uniform, Tuvix is still around as is Jadzia Dax… It looks like Mariner, and Shaw are also on the crew of this ship… I’m sure I’m missing others. I’m also very curious as to what series of events happened to create this alternate timeline. This is going to be either a train wreck or a wonderfully wild ride… I’m hoping for the latter.

No/One #8 – The plot thickens… and I need to go back and reread all the past issues. The gun used in the current string of murders has been tied to a past killing that was controversial… Gee a militant white supremacy social club (we wouldn’t want to call them a gang) has decided to take matters in their own hands… and No/One… <spoilers>

Fishflies #5 – It looks like we are getting to a conclusion, but, I could be wrong. Francis and bug have met a couple of nice old folks who are not shocked or surprised by seeing a giant bug with a little girl… shouldn’t this send up some red flags? Some research is being done at the library (why you should always support your local library- who knows when you might be researching similarities between events in the past). And our helpful police man who has been removed from duty decides to do the right thing… will he be too late?

The Seventh Happiest Place on Earth – Day 4 “Bork, bork, bork!”

Posted on March 14, 2024 by Bruce

Wednesday: Walked 8.24 miles

Today we had decided to take the train to Malmo, Sweden. Copenhagen is close and I had never been to the land of 50% of my ancestors. It started off a bit drizzly, but a little rain didn’t stop my Viking ancestors, so why should it stop me? As I have have said before caching and Adventure Labs are a nice way to discover an area. Besides it also allows Sue to color in another country on her geocaching map 🙄. Trying to figure things out in another language can be “fun” and by “fun” I mean stressful. Fortunately our hotel was across the street from the train station and the train went directly into Malmo. So once we were on the train, my fretting over did I mess this up and we are now going someplace else vanished.

We emerged from the station and checked the geocaching app to see what was around us. There were a few adventure lab stages to get us going and then we headed into the older part of town. One thing Sue and I have noticed is the amount of space dedicated to pedestrians. Yes, there are cars, but so much is pretty much for people walking or cyclists. We stopped into the Form/Design Center a museum focused on design in its many forms had a quick snack and then viewed a few exhibits…one focused on open spaces and how cities over the centuries have planned for it and are still planning for it. I hope that the Monument Circle area of Indianapolis becomes something like this.

One thing we try to do every trip abroad is to pick up one thing for the house. Sweden is known for Dala horses. Sue, having spent time in Sweden has a few, they are wooden and have a traditional painted pattern on them. I bring this up because in GUSTUS, the adjacent gallery, an artist had made their’s in clay and had glazed them in unique patterns. We decided to go ahead and buy one. (Sue has since named him “Mo”) I also bought a ceramic dragon… these are our first purchases of the trip outside of snacks. The drizzling stopped and we walked around a bit more this time around the old castle that had been turned into a prison, and now the art museum. Yes, this was part of an adventure lab. We then headed to the science and maritime museum. I discovered something interesting… I had no desire to go in. Yes, I love science & STEM stuff, it’s been a major part of my life for over 30 years but not being a teacher and having an overwhelming feeling that if I bought anything for anyone it would just get thrown in a box. So the majority of the day was just taking in Malmo, which was a great way to spend the day.

The view from our Hotel in Osterport. Yes, we were near the tracks

We went back into the old town area for lunch, this has a bit of anxiety with it even though it really hasn’t play out poorly. We could have gone to the T.G.I. Fridays but instead ended up in a nice little place called “Ruth’s” you look at a menu in a foreign language that you have little or no experience with and I know I freeze. Fortunately I have discovered that most places everyone speaks a little English – because American’s haven’t, until recently felt the need to learn another language. Some still won’t 🙄 back to lunch- Sue had a wonderful salad and I decided to go with braised ox cheek with carrots, lentils and horseradish sauce. According to my last physical only half of what I ate will kill me, but as Ian Fleming would say “You only live twice.” I also had a local IPA since I’m on vacation, I’m an adult, and I’m no longer a teacher therefore needing to be a “moral exemplar.”

We heading back in the mid to late afternoon and decided to stop at the central train station to wander around the city center of Copenhagen a bit while it was still light out. One of the big tourist attractions is Tivoli Gardens which doesn’t open for about a month…. Sue had done more research on this area and knew near one of the entrances to Tivoli was… a LEGO Store. It wasn’t massive like some I’ve seen, but it did have a Mini Figure Factory, so I made a custom Mini Figure. When you do this you get to design the torso of a LEGO Mini Figure. It seems that most stores that have one also have some unique design exclusive to their store. Not all LEGO Stores have one, but this was a way for LEGO Stores to deal with “Kidult” Fans of LEGO who complained about going to stores in other cities and having nothing special to show for it except a stamp in their LEGO Passport. So I made one (and got a stamp or two in my LEGO Passport too). We then walked over to the city center. Took some pictures and picked up a few AL stages.

No Rollercoasters for Cecil! Tivoli was closed.

One thing we decided while wandering was the need to return to Copenhagen for more than our brief stay. There was a lot we missed. I think Sue and I both decided while visiting Kronborg castle was nice, perhaps spending that time in Copenhagen would have been better… then again with it being the off season, it might have been for the best. Yes, we didn’t see “The Little Mermaid” and other iconic Copenhagen sites… which is why we want to return. “We headed back to the hotel and discussed the day, and what tomorrow might bring… basically What were we going to do tomorrow on our way back to Billund?

Note: Sue has decided that for long days of walking she isn’t enamored with cobblestones.

The Second Happiest Place on Earth – Day 3 “Alas Poor Yorick”

Posted on March 13, 2024 by Bruce

Tuesday: Walked 5.48 miles

We did a lot today starting with a Troll hunt. There is an artist who makes giant trolls around the world. A bunch are in Denmark, one was on our way to Helsingor (Elsinore) and the castle Shakespeare used as inspiration for Hamlet. Also on the way were a number of caches and adventure lab stages. I dropped off the first of my travel bugs- let’s see what happens. Geocachers know that in the U.S. travel bugs and geocoins tend to go missing. I even did a comic about Cecil’s collection. In Europe, that is not the case, While not the general rule I have found (anecdotal evidence) that even when the attached object goes missing the tag will still travel from cache to cache or event to event and be logged. I brought two Trackables with me- A MINI Cooper Hot Wheels , and a Geocoin that I had picked up at a local Leap Day event. I decided more than that would be overkill and add stress to the trip. (Update: the Trackable MINI was picked up while we were still in Denmark🤞that it will get moved around)

There were some caches and an Adventure Lab around Krønborg before and after we toured the castle we were able to get the AL completed. Remember: a lot of things don’t open until April so a number of the things that would be open were just starting to get ready. If you’ve toured a large historic house in the U.S. or another castle in Europe you might understand the way things go- it’s a big house with history. There is a reason why this spot was picked. Who the heroes and who are the villains change and what time period they want showcase can determine that. All this does is make me realize how much I don’t know when it comes to other country’s history. By the law of Tourists in Europe we had now completed the requirements by visisting a cathedral and now a castle, the tourist police cannot arrest us- one less anxiety I have to deal with.

After handling the cold (it’s next to the ocean- sea breezes bring about cold.) we headed for the hotel with a minor detour to Denmark’s oldest geocache located near one of Sue’s favorite places, a bog. We walked the geopath and signed the log. Cecil dropped off the last of the trackables he had and we headed to Copenhagen and the hotel to defrost, rest up and get ready for whatever tomorrow will bring.

The Second Happiest Place on Earth – Day 2 The Bellybutton of Denmark and Beyond

Posted on March 12, 2024 by Bruce

Monday: walked 6.41 miles

I learned in my research a couple of things- first, museums are closed on Mondays and Sue told me LEGOland doesn’t open until the end of the month. 😢 This turned Monday into a “play it by ear” day… which means catering to our whims. After waking up and then crashing again… I’m glad that elephant was on guard. I looked around our room and realized that we had just let our suitcases explode and after a knock on the door from the cleaning crew, decided we may need to get our act together. because we were off to Odense where I had booked the next hotel… but what circuitous route should we take?

Using Geocaching & Adventure Labs (AL) as ways to explore unknown areas.

I’m not too fond of geocaching to just get numbers or color in a map or grid (That’s Sue). That’s why I don’t cache that much around home. I have returned to attending local events, but mostly that’s what I do unless we are traveling. When traveling geocaching opens the area to me unlike so many other things. It’s like having a local show you around. Once we checked out of the hotel we decided to take a bit of a walk around Billund before leaving. I think I did well choosing a hotel walking distance from LEGO House. This will make getting to Friday’s Tour easier. We wandered the area around LEGO House to make sure we had an idea of our environment (no guard elephants to keep us safe now). We popped into LEGO House and decided to leave before I got to the point of just staying, or buying stuff. So instead we picked up a few AL stages and an actual cache before heading to Jelling to do a bit of the same. Why Jelling? Jelling is home to a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a Viking Museum (see note about Museums & Mondays). After wandering around Jelling doing one of the ALs and picking up at least one geocache we realized that we were cold, and that we had been smart bringing cold weather gear, just not smart enough to put it on. We then headed to our stop for evening, Odense.

Interestingly today was planned specifically as a day of acclimation. For us to get used to being outside and walking in late winter, early spring temperatures, but also to get a feeling of how long it takes to get from place to place. In the U.S. if I’m planning a long drive I tend to divide the distance by 60 to get a conservative idea of how long it will take. We found in England, that wasn’t the case. It took longer, maybe it was because we were not on major roads for a lot of it, but the anxiety in me decided that having a day to figure things out might be good. What did we discover? That we are going places “off the beaten path” so plan for more time than you think. Sue got the car, so Sue was the driver… it was out of my control.

After Jelling we arrived in Odense, parked the car and headed to the hotel. The hotel had given us parking recommendations, so the lot was just around the corner. Check in wasn’t until 16:00 but we thought we’d check to see if we get in at around 14:00. We could, and we plopped in the room for a few minutes before heading out. We were told “turn right” to get to pretty much everything so we did, so as to get the lay of the land. We then started hunting around to see about caches and Adventure Labs leading us to the cathedral of St. Canute. The hard part was the entire adventure lab was in Danish! It required me to flex my tech muscles and use Google Translate and then special characters when typing in answers. We still haven’t figured out one part… so we can’t complete it. Not to worry, there are other AL that we haven’t finished and probably won’t. You see early on the default was to create a sequential route. You couldn’t move on to the next stage until you answered the question. Most AL didn’t have a reason to have an order, so it just gets in the way and makes you retrace your steps a larger scale version of the old “drunken bee dance.” One thing that was awesome about Odense was the lack of cars in the city center. It’s all either bikes or pedestrians. The bikes are fast, so you need to keep alert, but it was nice to not have to worry so much. Wish it had not been Monday, I would have liked to visit the Hans Christian Andersen Museum… maybe another time.

While we did eat in Amsterdam, Spicy Korean Fries at BrewDog, our first real meal was at a nice cafe towards the end of the afternoon. The experience was a bit different compared to the U.S.- order and pay first at the bar. Sue had a stir fry thing and I had a “spicy sandwich.” Both were excellent but not Danish cuisine. Sometimes you just want “food.”

Afterwards, we camped out for a bit in the room, but decided the one thing we didn’t want to do was go to sleep too early. I looked out the window and tried to figure out what was going on in a building across the street. Tables and bright colored stuff on the wall. First thought, it was some kind of a Sue store- it sold fabrics, yarn and sundries. I kept looking and saw what looked like a dragon head on the wall. Later Sue got tired of me puzzling over it and decided we needed to pick up provisions for tomorrow which would require a walk by the building. It was a geek store- by which I mean games, comics, books, cosplay/LARP (Faraos Cigarer a chain of stores throughout Denmark- the name comes from TinTin). I decided to quietly walk in and check it out… oh my! I really need to brush up on my TinTin and other European comics! After a while decided to head out… checking their hours for tomorrow, I saw on the door they were actually closed! The door was open for the gaming group, not customers! 😳🙄 At the local grocery store we picked up snacks for the road and some drinks- the Danish version of Vitamin Water. Then it was off to bed to be ready for the drama and tragedy the next day would bring.

The view from our window at the Grand Hotel, Odense

The Second Happiest Place on Earth – Day 1

Posted on March 11, 2024 by Bruce

Or at least that’s what I learned during pub trivia the Monday before we left. On a “whim” (because that’s what we do) I signed up for the LEGO House Fan Tour back in November which necessitated a trip to Denmark. So Sue and I started planning things out but leaving time for unplanned stuff. First thing we found out… March is still the off season. Museums are closed on Mondays. LEGOland does open until the end of the month, same for the famous Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen. This is one of the by products of acting on a whim, but I’m not sure with Sue’s work schedule we would have been able to pull it off any other time.

We arrived about a week before the tour to give us time to explore at least part of the country. We decided to visit a few places: Odense – home of Hans Christian Anderson, Copenhagen, Helsingør – home of Kronborg Castle where Hamlet’s set, Malmo, Sweden (because it’s just across the bridge) and Jelling – home of a UNESCO world heritage site dealing with Vikings and Bluetooth before exploring Billund and LEGO House.

Saturday & Sunday: walked 6.48 miles

The flight from Indianapolis to Billund (via Detroit with a layover in Amsterdam). You may already know how anxious I get when travel somewhere. Especially by airplane. So I was already dreading this part of the trip… it’s just the way I am. It has nothing to do with the science of flight, it has to do with passengers. The nurse practitioner basically saying I should wear a mask throughout the trip (or I could get the plague and die) didn’t help matters. Someone posted an article dealing their anxiety which dealt with just not wanting to get in other people’s way. On a flight they would gather their stuff and rush out as fast as possible. This fits with my feelings flying and when people invite me to come over or stay with them when I’m in area. I don’t want even a friend or family member to have to deal with me. Meeting for a meal? Sure, but I’ll make sure it is quick, again don’t want to waste anyone’s time.

“One man’s ’simple!’ is another man’s ’huh?’”

When we arrived in Amsterdam we had a 6 hour layover which gave us time to go into the city. We had heard it was “simple” to get there from the airport… it might have been, but exhaustion turns “simple” into an adventure. Due to some misunderstanding – we should have switched trains at the first stop like the person giving us tickets said. We didn’t, we went by the belief that it should be direct. Therefore we ended up at the football stadium on game day. Remember this is Europe, so “soccer”, lots of people with scarves politely queuing. Once we figured out where to go and that our train tickets wouldn’t work on the Metro we bought another ticket to get to the central train station all was good. We wandered, picked up a few caches and an Adventure Lab & stopped by BrewDog (We’ve visited other locations in Las Vegas & Columbus,Ohio so we knew what we were in for) before returning to the airport, which was a lot easier since they had people helping poor lost tourists and our old train tickets allowed us through even when it was the metro. We did have to go through security and I realized I’ve gotten spoiled with TSA pre-check. Having to take off my belt, shoes and making sure my pockets were completely empty (I had my train ticket in my pocket and had to start over)… I had forgotten what a pain it can be and felt stupid holding up the people behind me. 🙄

Sunrise over the Atlantic (Somewhere around Greenland, I think)

The only flight that had any issues was the commuter jet heading to Billund. Sunday night it was oversold and needed at least a dozen people to check their carry-on bags. Upon arriving at the small airport I was surprised that there was no customs to go through, so no passport stamp for me! Sue had arranged our rental (and Audi SUV of some variety) so I played sherpa.
Our hotel was dark when we arrived. While all the information I had gave hours, I must have missed the Sunday hours in which reception closed early. I found our room key in an envelope with my name on it amongst a pile of other keys and we climbed the stairs to our room and crashed. I had not slept on the flight (I don’t usually sleep on flights).

Note: Sue crashed… being in a completely different and inconvenient time zone has made it so she can’t really worry about work. Which tells me we need to figure out a way to this more often. I’ve been only worried about typical anxiety filled social and financial stuff. Not a daily grind of work which is completely different. I believe our Guard Elephant helped make her feel safe from the wild creatures roaming Billund late at night.

Doctor, Doctor, Give Me the News…

Posted on February 29, 2024 by Bruce

Yesterday I went in for my physical… this is the first one since retirement and my doctor of over 30 years is retiring… So I met instead with a very nice nurse practitioner to go over my test results and discovered a few things. A new person means a new set of eyes… and a belief that the information you are being given is to new to you… Therefore is a teachable moment. What I think I learned was pretty simple although I might be exaggerating it. 😉

Anything I currently enjoy eating will kill me- so I should stop eating.
I need to also stop drinking anything except water, unless that water also contains fiber.
If I do not exercise every day I will die.
If I die I can stop taking the majority of the medications I am currently on.

Pretty much it looks like I’m as good as dead, and I have about seven pages of scientific reasoning explaining it all. 🙄 Included in those seven pages are detailed descriptions of what I should be doing (see list above for abbreviated version) Now to see how insurance reacts to this… I’m guessing any treatment that might help won’t be covered. “That class of medication is only for the wealthy, not retired teachers.” Maybe if health insurance also had to pay for funerals it would be different.🤔

I also learned that even when you are asked to fill out page after page of family history… like when you give students a reading assignment, Nobody seems to read it and they ask you questions that you already answered… or had to call some relative to answer- “Was the mole Aunt Marge had on her left hand cancerous?” For the record- I filled out the survey the office sent me, not the one the third party sent me from the hospital that required me to sign a release… Maybe I should have done that, but I had just filled out the one so why do it twice? Isn’t that what computers and AI are for?

I do appreciate the work people in the medical field do to try to keep stupid people like me healthy and alive. I just found it funny they are required now to ask questions about depression BEFORE they go over your test results… I wonder what would happen if they asked them AFTERWARDS. Stay tuned… I’m sure with the way health insurance works in the Untied States things will only get worse… politics are way more important than a healthy or educated populace. You know, we wouldn’t want THOSE people to get free healthcare even though that also means you would too. 🙄

This Week in Comics (My Pull List 2-28-24)

Posted on February 28, 2024 by Bruce

I don’t know what to say this week, so many things are going on… Over the weekend I was able to spend time with some amazing fellow artists and creators- the Indy Webcomics Group. I joined this group years ago and with life and plagues I’d missed meeting with them. It was something I thought I had on my list (I’ll count it as part of Bucket List #22 – Draw everyday) The group is young (by my standards) artists and we hang around and draw, usually at a microbrewery. When I first joined we tried some joint tabling, and even an anthology… but it’s settled into a comfortable groove of meeting & drawing. What they call “Drink & Draw.”

Someone posted something on social media about their perfect book club- we all meet at a bar, and drink and read whatever we want quietly. The idea of like minded people gathering is nice… it doesn’t always mean we have to be social. I think that’s what I like about this group. We might start off talking about related things (this week was people’s feelings about the live action adaptation of The Last Airbender) which was interesting to listen to, but way over my head (That’s the one with the kid with the blue arrow on his forehead). We all just sit around tables and drew stuff. Some on paper, some digitally- it was awesome. There were some new people to group who were a little confused at first, I think when you first come in you think this is going to be a bunch of people talking about comics and art… it is, but it isn’t either. For me I played around with the Draw or Die Club prompts and a piece I’d been ignoring for my Local Comic Shop (still am putting it off a bit). When it comes to drawing I know that I’m fast… not necessarily good, but fast. Last week I talked about some of my weaknesses, I thought I’d work on those, but I didn’t. Instead I worked on a “rabbit with an agenda” and “the last dinosaur.”

Update On My Post Dealing With “Comic” Cons

I found it interesting that one of my favorite comic artists posted that he had dropped out of his Fan Expo appearances and was selling those pieces online. He decided to “readjust his focus to shows with little or NO actors.” I’m still waiting for our “local” Indiana Comic Con to actually announce who will be in artist alley and maybe an actual announcement about comic book artists and creators. With about 20 days to go… they are currently still posting about the celebrities who will be coming and those who have “sadly” pulled out. I even commented on one of their posts… within 48 hours they made a post highlighting three comic creators they had attending. Digging on their website, they have listed around seven people attending who are affiliated with comics… and 31 celebrities, a smattering of authors, cosplayers, and YouTuber/Influencers (panelists)… is this an actual Comic Con? I have nothing against the people who are going there to get autographs and photo-ops I just wish that there was more to it. Then again I was talking with someone at IWG about how expensive Cons have gotten when most people are just paying to shop in the dealer hall. I know there should be more programming, and more things to engage people. Here’s an Idea- a room in which you watch the celebrity’s favorite episode of their show… and they provide commentary as they watch it with you- might be funnier than MST3K. The problem is the celebrity makes a lot more money, sitting at a table signing stuff than they would doing that or worse… what happens if no one shows up? Just to compare, as of February 27th- Baltimore Comic Con doesn’t have any “Media Guests” listed yet, but does have 55 comic artists & creators attending their September show. Heroes Convention in Charlotte, NC has almost 70 artists and creators listed… and nothing so far as for media guests – their con is in June. Indiana “Comic Con”… tell me why (as a “comic book guy”) I should attend? 🙄

Health & Safety Update: On My Post About Curling

Wearing a helmet is a good thing. Also the rubber covers for your shoes come in a XXL size. My shoe uses an XL size. XXL don’t stay on well. Yes, I’m fine.

I won’t be posting anything (or even getting my comics next week) On the road again. I’ll tell you all about it… If I survive… I might bring my curling/bicycle helmet just in case.

According to CLZ the winner for most variants this week is: Red Sonja, Vol. 7 #8 with 21 variants!

This Week’s Comics:

HiLo Book 10: Rise of the Cat – Judd Winick is one of my favorites, his Frumpy the Clown was great, his Barry Ween was amazing, and HiLo is even more amazinger. (My blog, I can use whatever words I want). Some might even say it is “OUTSTANDING!” HiLo tells the story of a boy (robot) who comes to earth to stop the evil plans of Razorwark. Through the series we get silly things going on, but unlike some all ages titles, this is 1. well drawn. 2. Wholesome (even with the silly humor) 3. expands and grows the characters including 😱 strong female characters! 4. Has a really cool magic slinging cat (yes, I have a things for cats). In Book 10 we are dealing with Polly (the really cool magic slinging cat) who has now dealing with the consequences of her actions. This leads to a mystery, and a school of magic, and robots.I look forward to reading it again, and again. I do not look forward to waiting for Book 11, but good things come to those who wait. I gave the series to my niece and nephew… I wonder if they have even cracked them open 🙁

Amazing Spider-Man #44 – Gang War ’nuff said. Really there is only one more issue (Daredevil) before we get to the “Gang War: Aftermath” series for the next two or three months. This one did actually end most of the fighting and resulted in a winner, I’m sure this ordeal will end up being written on the winner’s Tombstone.

Detective Comics #1082 – OK- maybe it was falling and hitting my head on the ice during curling this morning, but this is really getting confusing. How much of this is actually happening, how much of it is just going on in Bruce Wayne’s messed up psyche?

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #17 – No more Gang War! 😁 Miles is also no longer dealing with the Anti-Vigilante law, but that won’t stop Agent Gao, or will it? Then there’s Rabble and let’s not forget the great and mighty Zip Zephyr!

Jay Garrick: The Flash #5 – Jay & Judy keep searching for Doctor Elemental and try to figure out his master plan. A guest appearance by Owl Man? At least the guy’s lair has an owl vibe going… And it wouldn’t be a comic without a damsel in distress! Still liking this title and hoping that bad things don’t happen to good people.

Phantom Road # 9 – We learn a bit more about the back stories of our main characters thanks to MacGuffin creature interaction. Still a bit confusing, still interesting enough for me to want to read more.

Defiant #12 – After soul searching and lots of introspection the crew of the Defiant arrive at Starbase 99 to deliver their prisoners. Starbase 99 makes Starbase 80 look like a five-star Risan Hotel. Wow! Did they pull something out of the past and hopefully tie up a few loose ends that trekkies have been wanting for a while… or maybe it’s just part of a growing “Conspiracy.”

Undiscovered Country #28 – So our heroes reunite and are on the train filled with bounty… will they ever get a break? More puzzle pieces seem to fall into place, as they wish they could just click their heels and go home. No such luck.

The Flash #6 – Just when I thought I was starting to understand what was going on… then this happens. At least it looks like Barry’s back (or is he?). I do like Wally, but this Speed force, multi dimensional whatever is giving me a head ache. Can we just fight super intelligent gorillas? Maybe deal with some teenage angst?

Radiant Black #28 & 28.5 – The third door… Who will deal with it best? Nathan or Marshall? Better yet, will Chicago survive after they are done. It is interesting that the comic is telling the same story in two different multiverses. Seems like either one has issues… Soon the “Catalyst” War might be over, or at least both universes might combine… just not right now.

Quested Season 2 #2- Captured by Jellii King Franz can Jinx escape? Courtroom Drama! Clever twists and turns not to mention legal hijinks! If he survives what horrible thing will he face next as he quests in the Underbraun.

This Week in Comics (My Pull List 2-21-24)

Posted on February 22, 2024 by Bruce

This week’s witty banter has something to do with style, art and mental blocks. You see I have been drawing or “doing art” since I was very young. It has (like comics) been my way to escape. I’ve taken classes but a lot of what I do is self taught & that can be a problem. Over the years there have been times when I draw something and I know it is “good” basically because after I look at it I try to figure out who drew it. A lot of times I try too hard and it ends up just wrong. I have a picture in my head of what I want it to look like… many times it just doesn’t match. I’ve had many people ask me if I ever considered being a serious artist… what is that?!? Van Gogh? Monet? Warhol? Pollock? Lichtenstein? Calder? We all have our muses and mine happens to be a short, pudgy guy named Earl who has a big nose.

I’m currently doing some work for Comic Carnival, my LCS, and I’ve hit that stumbling block with my style… the female form. You see I was teased anytime I attempted to draw the female form so I have a bit of an anxiety about it. It’s something, as an adult I should be able to get over, but it will take practice. Walking around with a sketchbook full of sketches of women just makes me nervous. I’ve taken life drawing classes, I’m just concerned with the reaction when I open my sketchbook of “What kind of a pervert does drawings like this?” It’s something I have to get over. The funny thing is, as an artist and a teacher I tend to look at women in two ways- 1. As subject matter… like a still life. A bowl of fruit, a group of shapes. 2. As a teacher- it goes back to having taught for 35 + years and an old court case which defined a teacher in Indiana as having moral conduct “in all respects exemplary and beyond reproach.”(Crawfordsville vs. Abbie Hayes – 1873) I think of most young women (especially those that many Con attendees drool over aka cosplayers or the ones at booths used to draw in people) as former students… she could have been one of my third graders. Like any teacher with morals beyond reproach would want to get intimate with a student- that’s just yucky.
I’m going to start working on drawing from life and then warping it into my style… whatever that is, but I think for now I’ll stick with whatever Earl comes up with. Side Note: Earl was sick the day they filmed the “I’m Alive” scene in Xanadu where the muses all danced… he’s still a little mad about that- he had a great tap dance/clogging bit choreographed.

This week, the issue with the most variants is: Edge of Spider-Verse, Vol. 4 #1, with 17 variants! After last week it looks like they’re slacking off.

This Week’s Comics:

Edge of the Spider-Verse #1 (for the record I have cover 1A) – An anthology comic with a number of stories from a variety of creative teams. The first story deals with “Weapon VIII” taking its lead from the program that in Marvel comics created Wolverine (Weapon X). It looks like it is all going to end up (if given the chance) in a “Into the Spider-Verse” kind of organization- fighting bad guys, but what if the good guys, aren’t all that good?

U & I #1 – This month I got hit with three comics written by some of my favorites: Kirkman (Fire Power), Busiek (Arrowsmith) and Stracyzynski (U & I). Stracyzynski created a universe in which the world is hit with a plague (right around when COVID hit). This plague was similar to the one that happened in George R.R. Martin’s Wild Card stories. People got super powers, got a burst of super powers- then died, died (These people are called Moths), or had nothing happen. The comics deal with the world’s reaction to this event. I highly recommend them and will not spoil the stories here. in U & I we are just starting to learn about these characters… We start off discovering the first person we meet has powers, basically a super healing factor. He’s also a bit delusional. Our second character is a bit more of a mystery and all we know is that her name is Isabelle and was kicked out by her uncle’s family who has control of her money. She’s living on the streets and, while surviving, on the run from not so nice people. So what happens when these two meet up? We’ll find out next issue.

Batman #144 Joker Year 1 Part 3 – This looks like it was a simple three issue arc. Telling the origin of the joker intwined with a modern story dealing with the Joker basically turning everyone crazy using harmonics… As part of the origin timeline we also get to learn more about Jim Gordon dealing with the corruption in the GCPD as he started out and how the Joker manipulated so much even early on.

Superman #11 – With Superman and Action Comics (Bizarro storyline), things like this get confusing… Lex Luthor is in prison. He gave Lex Corp to Superman to do good in the world. Bad guys who hate Lex are trying to kill him and destroy everything he has created. They’ve done a bunch of stuff (like send Superman into the wild west of 1800’s) now we find out who all the players are and which team they actually are on. We also find out about all the rainbow of fruit flavors that kryptonite can come in (I swear after “Crisis on Infinite Earth” kryptonite only came in green- but I must not have been absent or just not paying attention at some point there have been a lot of “multiverse shattering” events over the last few decades). How will this end up? Will Lex die? Will Superman kill him? Will the entire population of the Earth die? Am I being overly dramatic?

Titans #8 – I did not read the Beast Wars crossover event… I’m too old to do that. From what I can tell people turned into animals, other people died, and the world has issues with Beast Boy. So after that kind of thing what would you do? Bring in one of the original big bad guys from Titans’ history… and plan for a double cross. Oh my…

Mech Cadets #6 – I’m guessing final issue in this arc… Can the Mech Cadets save the world from the Shard invasion being lead by one of their own? Will they continue working for the evil general who doesn’t like them (not one little bit). How does the military control giant robots that have bonded to their pilots if their pilots won’t follow orders?

Man’s Best #1 (Ashcan) – Spaceship, heading to another planet to colonize. A scientist has her two dogs and a cat with her (emotional support animals?) who have been augmented and can operate various machines. This is only part of issue one which will be released in a couple weeks. It’s an interesting story being told not only through the eyes of the humans, but also through the animals. I’m looking forward to reading more.

For those confused- “Ashcan” was a term used to describe a prerelease comic usually printed cheaply and given out to hook readers to a new title or concept.

Fire Power #30 (Final Issue) – For the last 30 issues we’ve followed Owen Johnson as he comes to grips with a bunch of stuff. Now he’s finally pulling together everyone (still alive) and saving the world. One thing I like about Robert Kirkman is his stories seem to have an end to them. The Walking Dead, Invincible, and now Fire Power. Some, like The Walking Dead I didn’t last through… others like Invincible the last few issues were a great way to celebrate the character and end the story in a nice way so those who read it can sleep knowing that sometimes, characters do get their happily ever afters. It’s also nice to see a series end without a ? and the possibility of continuation. Yes, there could be more… but there doesn’t have to be. We don’t need it.

Star Trek #17 – Oh boy, Dinosaurs, Romulans, possible intergalactic war, and undercover shenanigans (get your mind out of the gutter didn’t you read my intro?). It does look like things will be coming to an end, but is it the end of the Theseus and her crew? (non-Ensign) Harry Kim, Sisko, Scotty, and Data all have threads weaving together to hopefully bring this all to a world shattering (or not) conclusion.

Midlife #5 – So our hero does some saving and introspection while trying to figure out what to do next. After, of course talking with the kidnapped special agent responsible for dealing with fire demons. He learns about his past and his father… but not enough for us to know too much and we will need to tune in next month to find out more.

Spider-Boy #4 – The story of Bailey unfolds even more as he tries to find out his place in the world. Unfortunately his creator (the “They called me ‘MAD’ at the University) scientist creates another version of him (Boy-Spider) to draw him out, and give him a more problems. He’s also wrestling (like most kids) with strong emotions and these play a part in how Boy-Spider acts.

Ultimate Spider-Man #2 – Peter Parker, what have you done now?!? Imagine a world where most of the marvel heroes never existed. Then somehow they are given the choice to gain their powers. Peter Parker who has: married MJ, had two kids (Richard & May) now has powers and is trying to figure them out. He’s also learning just how trusting he is… which can lead to some issues. I’m enjoying this take on Spider-man almost as much as I did when the first (and second) versions of ultimate Spider-Man came out. It’s nice to see old heroes being taken in a different direction.

Arrowsmith – So Smart in Their Fine Uniforms Trade paperback vol. 1 – Imagine another world… there are many great writers who reimagine the world or a time period to meet the needs of their narrative. Kurt Busiek has done this a few times masterfully. In Astro City he focused on character driven storytelling in a super hero inhabited world. Many stories focused on the ordinary people, but the world was filled with twists and turns and Easter eggs galore. In Arrowsmith, he goes back in time to World War 1, but the twist is- magic and magical folk are real. Things like airplanes have not needed to be invented, because men can use dragonets (small dragons) and magic to fly. Here we find a young man Fletcher Arrowsmith from what we would call the Midwest, it’s part of the United States of Columbia, Fletcher joins up to help in the war effort in Europe prior to the U.S. joining in. This is his story. This first volume goes through his early days and his discovery that “War is Hell.” I highly recommend it especially if you are into “what if” or alternate history type stories. There are only two volumes in this series due to the untimely death of one of the creators.

Latest Comics

Friday: 4.26 miles

“Where does he get those wonderful toys?”

Building your Lunch

Off to the Factory…

Finally, Exploring LEGO House

The Tree of Creativity & Monkeys

The Master Gallery

Getting into the Zone

Now it’s time to say goodbye…

Wristbands

Thursday: Walked 6.27 miles

This Week’s Comics Minus Nothing Special (see above):

Wednesday: Walked 8.24 miles

Tuesday: Walked 5.48 miles

Monday: walked 6.41 miles

Using Geocaching & Adventure Labs (AL) as ways to explore unknown areas.

Saturday & Sunday: walked 6.48 miles

“One man’s ’simple!’ is another man’s ’huh?’”

Update On My Post Dealing With “Comic” Cons

Health & Safety Update: On My Post About Curling

I won’t be posting anything (or even getting my comics next week) On the road again. I’ll tell you all about it… If I survive… I might bring my curling/bicycle helmet just in case.

This Week’s Comics:

This Week’s Comics:

Just Being Social…