Pride?

A few months ago, Angie and I decided to spend an afternoon checking out the Iowa Hall of Pride.  We had both heard of it and walked past it several times but didn't know too much about it.  It was not quite what I was expecting.  I was expecting a celebration of all the great things about Iowa, a combination museum and visitors center...

I was expecting some of these:

• Famous and important people from Iowa
• Made even Iowa portrayed in fiction and the movies (because seriously nearly every "going to the big city character" comes from Iowa)
• Fun Iowa facts
• Iowa history
• Iowa's and Iowan's contribution to the world
• Info on how Iowa compares to other states (and countries) and where we excel
• Interesting sites and places around the state
• Things to do and things to see
• How Iowa has changed
• A "Made in Iowa" gift shop

What I got:

• Iowa high school sports
• Other famous Iowans

Here is the layout from what I remember: over 3/4 quarters of the space dedicated to high school sports and activities and a small section for everyone else from Iowa.

Might not be 100% accurate...because it was months ago, and I didn't think I  would have to remember.
The essence, however, is accurate.

I found this very disappointing and a little depressing.  It made it seem like everyone in Iowa peeked in high school.  Surprisingly (to no one), I didn't really participate in high school activities or sports...so I really didn't relate to any of these displays except for "Yep, we had football at our school."

Besides me disagreeing with the focus of the entire place, I still had many issues with the Hall of Pride.  I was a nice area, the overall design of the hall and the few art pieces were really nice.  However, the exhibit and "High Tech" portion with the interactive displays left much to be desired.  It was a good idea...but the implementation was poor:  

Exhibits looked cool and interesting from afar...but were boring
and all the monitors had burn-in images.

• All the screens had burnt in images of the main menu...really?  You are supposed to be high tech and didn't build in a screen saver?  It was annoying and really made the place have a kind of dumpy feel, like an old arcade where everything is run down and beat up.
• The menu systems were terrible and it didn't really explain what anything was...just had a bunch of things that you could push and some would be obvious like sound bytes or videos but then you would have weird labels and I never had any idea what it was until I touched them.  I can't think of a specific one right off hand, but they would take you to trivia games or sport rules or state winners, etc...but that is not how they were listed on most screens.
• The menus made it too interactive...but not in a fun way.  If you wanted to hear a Shawn Johnson speech, you would think that you could pick "Speeches" then chose one of the various speeches.  Which is what you did, but once you chose a speech it was then broken down into twenty 30 second sound bytes...and there was no option to "Play all"...you would chose a sound byte like "Inspiration", wait for it to load, watch for 30 seconds, wait for the menu to load and then choose another sound byte...repeat.  And of course, you had to remember what you just watched in the list (and the titles didn't always match up great with the section of the speech) because it did not tell you which one you just watched or which was next.  There were just columns of various titles....and which order did they go in - did you go across the row and then down to the next row, or did you go down one column before starting the next?  These sound bytes were supposed to be independent but I also think there was something missing by not being able to watch the entire speech in the correct order.
• There was no good way to navigate the museum and hit everything.  It is nice to be able to bounce around from one exhibit to the next without following a mapped out route (especially if it is busy), but it is also nice to be able to follow a route and hit everything...there was just not a clear cut route.  We were always jumping from one wall to a middle exhibit, to around the exhibit, back to the wall.  It felt very easy to miss things.
• The displays were equally disorganized and boring.  Things like "hear the roar of the crowd" or "learn about the difference wrestling positions"...stuff that I think could be a nice add-on to a good exhibit, but not a major feature of an exhibit.  The main part of most exhibits was reading...page after page of info.  Not really that interactive. Unless you were really interested in the minute details of a sport it was just boring.  I just wanted to see highlights or exciting moments (and told why they were exciting...because I didn't always get the ones that they did have).
• Physical displays were often not labeled.  Was this uniform worn by someone famous?  An All-State champ or is it just an example of what a uniform looks like?  And if it is an example, what school is it from?  Random jerseys, cleats, and helmets abounded...with no label as to what it was.  I kind of felt like I was in a sporting goods store.
• The "fun" interactive displays didn't always work...like at one of the fitness kiosks "Run for 2 minutes and then check your heart health" - I ran but then the machine did nothing as far as feedback.  There was some vaguely interesting ideas to have video cameras scan you and put you in a game (like trying to get a basketball tip off) but the tech seemed really old and wonky compared to the Kinect in my living room.
• Some of the interactive games/exhibits cost money.  You would get $2 worth of tokens for each paid entrance...but I guess I didn't see the point of making some of the games free and some cost a token or two.

It wasn't all bad, there were a few things that I liked...the problem was that most of what I liked didn't really fit with what I was expecting:

• Some interactive exhibits were kind of fun...like the baseball umpire game, where you would look through a device and would get an umpire's view of a pitcher.  You would then have to tell if it was a strike or ball.  Kind of fun once or twice.

Sliding Electronic Screen - good idea poor execution.

• The sliding electronic screen in the heroes hall.  This screen road along rails in the wall and would sense which Iowa hero it was over.  The screen would then bring up more information on that particular person.  A neat idea..  The problem was that all the info that it brought up was 90% text with (maybe) a couple photos.  This screen could have been put to much better use with video, talking presentations, diagrams, etc...
• The arcade...of course I would like the arcade, but it seemed odd to me.  Yes, they were all sports based games (so it fit in with the High School Sports theme kind of).  This is the only part of the entire hall that seemed really fun.  It was nothing special - just several basketball toss games, a football toss game and the like.  The outstanding highlight was the Silver Strike Bowling.  This particular game you stood on a piece of bowling lane that ran under the game cabinet and then curved 90 degrees and ran up to the ceiling.  This affected the game play in no way, but it was a very cool presentation.  So Angie and I had $4 worth of tokens and we were pretty much bored with the games after $2 worth.  They just were not anything special (to me)...they might be to young kids though.
• The introduction theater - where you watch a 5 minute movie before entering the hall was really nice.  It should be put to better use.

Change Tab to IHSAA and this is how
the Hall of Pride feels...but not smiling.

I don't know who their audience is, but by focusing so much on high school sports...I think it is really limited.  I mean, would travelers from out of state want to visit the Hall?  I can't imagine they would.  It seems specifically built for school field trips...but really doesn't add much to learning about Iowa besides sports.  I think the Iowa High School Athletic Association was the biggest donor and supporter of the Hall of Pride and it shows...too much.  It was like "Hey its Iowa - we have High School Sports! You like High School Sports, right?  Because we got them...the High School Sports.  Did you hear about High School Sports in Iowa?  Oh yeah, did I mention High School Sports?  You know, we have lots of things to be proud of in Iowa...like High School Sports!" It really didn't fill me with pride for the state.  I wanted to be awed and amazed and learn cool things about Iowa, instead I was bored by sports (and high school sports at that).  Iowa Hall of Pride, I wish I had more hands to give you more thumbs down.  I learned more and felt more proud of my state after viewing the "Iowa Nice" video. Be proud and watch Iowa Nice below:

The Last Few Weeks

Diabolical Deeds

On Saturday, one of Des Moines' newest rock bands, No Good Deed,  made their live debut.

This show was a little special for me...my brother, Kelly, just happens to be one of the guitarists in No Good Deed (and I had previously met several other members over the years).  Kelly has been messing around on guitar for over 20 years now.  I say messing around because I don't think he really had much drive to be in a band, he just liked playing guitar.  And despite having to listen the intro of Sweet Child O' Mine being mangled time after time in 1990-1991, you could tell that he had a good ear and picked up the guitar relatively quickly (we are not talking prodigy here, but given the same amount of practice he would be better than the average person).  It was a hobby that came and went.  He would play a lot for a couple years and then the guitar would virtually disappear for a couple...but it never went completely away.  Kelly's talent increased over the years and although told by many, many people he never joined a band.  I always imagined this response:

 I understand.  I am lazy too and doubt my talents for all things.  Its good, if you are happy you can do what you want, but I always felt that it was a shame.  Not necessarily that he wasn't in a band, but more because guitar was mainly a solitary activity for him...I don't know a lot about music (I have no talent myself) but I have seen the joy that group of people playing together and creating something larger than themselves can bring.  I was glad when he started playing with a couple of the guys from NGD a few years ago.  I really didn't think anything would come of it, but I was hoping he was getting that feeling of melding musically.  The band was off and on again a few times over the past couple years (depending on how hectic everyone's lives were).

About a month ago, Kelly sent me a message to save the date...March 3rd, the band was playing their first show.  I had heard talk of "the band" many times over the years, but had never actually heard them play.  I wasn't even sure what type of music they would play...Kelly and I both enjoy a pretty wide gambit of musical tastes.  Of course, I was going.  Kelly and I have gone to hundreds of shows together, the least I could do would be to show up for his gig.  Plus, the concert poster they made was awesome.  Even if I had never heard of the bands, I would have gone to this show based on the poster alone.  Good advertising pays off.

Love this poster

The location wasn't the best for live music - The Fremont.  I didn't know The Fremont had live music, they actually do have a smaller side room where bands and other performances take place.  I had no idea...and once I got there I knew why.  It was small.  But still good for a beginning band.  I guess the sound system wasn't great either and No Good Deed ended up setting up their own PA.  There were many obstacles to overcome to play a decent set...but the die was cast and a show there would be.

Fellow local band Hath No Fury opened and played a short but decent set.  Finally, No Good Deed took the (very small) stage.  Unfortunately, I know that several people didn't realize this and missed the show because they were in the bar's main room.  Its too bad, because for a debut show No Good Deed did a pretty good job.  They were a little loud for the size of room they were in and I felt a little bad for all the people that didn't have ear plugs (I always have mine).  You could somewhat tell that they were new to performing - lots of sweat, and sometimes looking a little scared to move too much.  They encountered and overcame small technical glitches and kept the show going at a good pace.  Communication between band members needs to be worked on and they need to get a little more comfortable on stage.  But for a first show...it was good.

Kelly, Rob, and Doug - rocking

No Good Deed sounded decent and tight (for the most part) and played a wide variety of music - half original, half covers.  How to categorize?  Well the best category is just general Rock.  Their original songs reminded me of a little heavier Jimmy Eats World...that isn't quite right, but it was the first thing that popped into my mind. Being a relatively new band (only 5 practices with the bass player before Saturday's show), NGD don't quite have their own cohesive sound developed...but they do have talent and I was impressed by their original songs.  I am really looking forward to seeing them progress as they perform more.  I don't think they are going to huge rockstars or anything like that (since so few do) but I think they can have a pretty good past-time/side career playing local gigs.  This is the type of band that I would enjoy going to see often (even if I wasn't related).  Check out original song "Feeling Better" below...and check out more on their Reverb Nation page.  I think you will enjoy.

Paranormal

A couple weeks ago I felt like going to the bookstore.  I love bookstores but don't go to often because A) I already have a huge pile of books to read, B) end up spending too much money...and books are often cheaper online, C) end up spending a lot of time there, and D) I am trying to read more on my Kindle to keep my home a little less cluttered.  However, the bookstore shopping experience cannot be replicated online.  Browsing the covers, picking up a book and flipping through it, staff recommendations, just seeing the shelves and shelves of books.  It's a much more rich and satisfying experience than shopping for books online.  To me, it is all pretty glorious, I had a wonderful evening checking out books.

I have previously mentioned my like of young adult literature here.  Walking into a bookstore and seeing the huge space for young adult literature makes me really happy on the inside.  I am envious of the kids that get to grow up with such an array of choices...it seemed in my day it was Judy Bloom, the Hardy Boys, a handful of classics like Tom Sawyer or Treasure Island and that was about it.  I know there was more - I got into Lloyd Alexander and the Three Investigators books to name a few...but it was no where near the amount that is available today.  There seemed to be a big jump, you books for young kids and then you had books for high school age, but this middle school years 4th-8th grade level books had pretty slim pickings.  I remember going to a bookstores and them having one, maybe two shelves of young adult lit...and there was nothing over 250 pages, even 200 pages was hard to find.  I am envious that kids now get sweeping seven book sagas where they get thicker each volume, the final volume ending up being nearly 800 pages.  That would have been so awesome to me back then.

Still when I go into a bookstore, I am awed by the immensity of the young adult section...bookcase after bookcase, shelf after shelf.  It is all great...except for this:

Now, I don't hate this in and of itself...I just hate how big of a chunk of the young adult section that it actually takes up. 4 and a half bookcases worth.  I understand why - Twilight was huge and people want to cash in on some of that.  And just like the horrible romance novels for adults, these romance novels exist for teens.  But it disturbs me that it has to be paranormal romance.  A few are fine, but it disturbs me a that there are so many more paranormal versus regular romance tales for young adults.  I know not every girl is going to have unrealistic expectations because of these, but I am sure some will.  How will they every be happy if they don't find their vegetarian vampire, werewolf with a heart of gold, or angel that gives it all up for love?  And what about for guys...some have to feel some pressure to live up to an imaginary standard (similar to how girls feel pressured by society super skinny or super beautiful.  Sure it is all in there minds, but that type of thing could sure mess with you if you had low self-esteem.  I myself had enough problems comparing myself to knights and war heroes...and they were just people.  I know it was all in my mind now, but when I was younger there were times when I just didn't feel good enough for whatever girl I happened to like, because I hadn't done anything special.  At least my goals of being special were humanly possible.

Admittedly, I haven't read these books, so I could be mistaken...and I doubt most kids and teens take them seriously, but still that can sink into your subconscious.  I'm just saying, step out of the paranormal romance section once in a while, try some normal fiction or romance - don't dream of something that doesn't exist.

I also found this hilarious.  The paranormal romance bookcase is right next to the non-fiction bookcase...the only problem is that the romance spills over an covers 3/4 of the non-fiction.  2 measly shelves for non-fiction.

I'm glad the kids and teens of today have this great selection of books.  I found it sad that I couldn't find most of the books that I enjoyed as a kid.  There were a few scattered about and it made me smile to see them, but they seemed almost quaint next to the modern teen books...books that can be amazing and dark.  Darkness didn't much exist in the majority of books for young adults when I was in the age bracket (which is probably why I started reading Stephen King so young).  Hunger Games, with kids killing and dying all over the place?  There is no way that would have existed 20 years ago.  It is nice to see the gritty worlds that authors have now come up with.  I look forward to reading through more of you in the near future.

The Grey

****Spoilers Below****

If you haven't seen the movie The Grey with Liam Neeson and want to, you may want to skip this post as it is bound to have some spoilers

Sidenote: I haven't had an art class since 6th grade...and even then I was not great.  However, I've kind of felt like drawing a little bit, so I figured I would try it out for the blog.  I would like to learn to draw better, so I figure the best way is to just draw a little bit...even if it is stick figures.  So below are some of my (awesome) illustrations.

Nearly every week, my friend Cam and I (and whoever else will join us) go to a movie.  This started with Billy Joes...and although we haven't found a good place to replicate that experience but we still usually have a good time - good movie or bad.

A couple weeks ago we went to see The Grey.  I think we all walked out thinking that it was an OK...nothing spectacular but a decent action flick.  The Grey is just full of horrible and disturbing situations to make the characters and audience feel uncomfortable. For example...

Isolation and loneliness in the middle of nowhere:

 A plane crash:

Possibly freezing to death:

Wolves:

Watching friends die and/or get eaten by wolves:

Lost in huge forest in the middle of nowhere:

But the scariest, most disturbing part of the movie:

Liam Neeson's Toe Thumbs.  I don't think Liam actually has toe thumbs (unless there was some kind of light saber accident on the set of Phantom Menace) but it definitely looks like he does.  Unfortunately, once you see them you can't stop seeing them.  They are forever burned in my brain and I think that will be all that I will now see of Liam.  Hopefully not.  I really enjoy him as an actor...but I don't like close ups of his thumbs.

Awful Advertisements

Am I the only one that does care to see animated
babies with diapers full of shit?

Advertisers usually don't understand me...or at least they do not make ads and commercials that appeal to me. In fact, not only do they not attract me to the product, but they actively turn me against the product.  I don't hate commercials.  Yes, I often skip them as much as possible when watching shows on DVR, but I am also known to rewind and watch a commercial if something catches my eye.  However, instead of making me want to buy a product commercials today often make me avoid it instead (and if I really like a commercial, I will probably support the product - that just doesn't happen often).  A good example would be the Hardees commercials where basically they insinuate you are not a man if you aren't eating their thickburger, mega-four patty burger with a pound of cheese and bacon.  I guess I am not man, because I could never eat that much.  I loved the slider mini-burgers that Hardees offered, but once the new ad campaign started Hardees never entered my mind because I didn't want the thickburger.  I didn't feel like the customer that they wanted (and I believe they discontinued the sliders shortly thereafter because they didn't fit in their new manly approach).

The current* commercial that drives me nuts...LUVS.  Of course not having a child, I am not the audience that they are trying to reach...but I really can't imagine who this ad is supposed to entice.  It is mildly more entertaining than a traditional diaper commercial...the first time...but it filled me with anger once the initial shock was over.

I thought this was a new ad, but I guess it has been around for over a year.

Yes, you heard that right..."Poop, there it is."  And the babies are having a shitting contest.  "What happens in diapers, should stay in diapers."  "Heavy Dooty Blowout Protection." Really Luvs?  Everything about this ad is distasteful to me.  I respect you for trying something new, but this doesn't quite do it.  I'm glad I didn't have to see a diaper having blue liquid poured into it, but listening to a modified Tag Team song is even worse.  I hate this commercial so much.

I am not the only one either...doing a quick search this ad made many "Worst Ad of 2011" lists...I just had not seen it until a few days ago.

*One of many...the AT&T cell phone "So 46 seconds ago" commercials make me want to punch people in the face. Charmin bears piss me off because everyone knows that bears use rabbits. Those ads on facebook that say "Bet you are too dumb to pass this quiz."  Anything with the Carfox. etc...

I Laugh So That I Don't Cry (not really)

I logged onto the interwebicon this morning and up pops Yahoo! (one of the 3 options dictated by work), I was confronted by the following image:

All I could think was "Ughhh."  I am not the biggest Motley Crue fan in the world, but I do enjoy them (except their cover of Anarchy in the U.K. - really Vince, could you say  the end "DESTROY" in a less tough sounding way?).  Escpecially, I enjoy the song Kickstart My Heart.  That song does exactly what it says, it is just like a feel good, make you get going song.  It is energizing.

I knew this commercial was going to have this song...what else could it be.  Now, I don't hate the Kia Optima...it seems like a decent, cheap mid-sized sedan.  However, it is not the car that would ever pop into my mind when I think of Kickstart My Heart.  Full of trepidation, I click the link and watch the video.  It is actually pretty funny and at least there wasn't dancing hamsters.  I'm not gonna say they sold out...because that is just dumb, if I had the chance, I would totally be Wayne's World and be going "Nuprin? Little.  Yellow.  Different." every single chance I got.  Not a sell out, good job making money, I say to the Crue.  It is just a strange fit to my mind, but then I guess people don't really write songs about low end, midsize sedans.  I guess I do have to say thanks to Kia for not using Train's Hey Soul Sister (as that has been in way to many commercials) or Limp Bizkit's Nookie (as that is one of the worst songs of all time).

Snoopy...Drop the Weapon and Put Your Hands Up!

I hate inflatable holiday decorations...OK, that is not completely true.  I don't mind if someone has like one tasteful one (ie...not Santa riding a Harley).  However, one seems to be rare to find.  Once a person puts up one inflatable holiday decoration, it seems that they feel the compulsion to put up 2 or 3 more...or even worse be like my grandma's neighbor who had no less than 11 inflatables on the lawn this Christmas.

But this isn't a story about why I don't care for the inflatables (lazy, unoriginal, gaudy), this is a story about me being completely confused by one.  I was shopping at Sears (damn straight I was seeing the softer side...in the tool aisle) when I saw a shelf of this inflatable Snoopy in the holiday clearance section.

Awww...isn't that cute.  Santa Snoopy.  I walk past, head for the check out and all of a sudden my brain goes "What the fuck was he holding?"  Seriously,  what is it....

I turned around and went back, I looked at it for a few minutes.  I called over Angie to see what she thought about it and she was just as confused as I was.  Here are the things that popped into my head while staring at the box for 20 minutes;

A German Stick Grenade

A Giant Mutant Clove

The Liberty Torch

Marijuana Bud

Some Weird Green Flower

A Sap/Blackjack

Holy Water Sprinkler - I'm sure this has a name but I don't know it.
OK, just looked it up...it is an Aspergillum.

Flashlight

Eventually, I made my purchase and went home without an answer.  This bothered me for days, but suddenly it dawned on me.  A bell.  The answer is so obvious, but yet nothing about that says bell to me.  It's green, it looks like it has petals, etc...  I guess a bell doesn't immediately say Christmas to me...well at least not a handheld bell.  Sure, the Salvation Army uses them, but when I think Christmas and bells it is always like sleigh bells or church steeple bells.  If it was yellow, gold, silver, or grey; I might have thought bell.  I confirmed my suspicions a few days later on a return trip to Sears and then an interwebicon search of the UPC.  Santa Snoopy with Bell.  All, I know is that Snoopy better be darn careful if every confronted by cops.  This sort of confusion is likely to get a beagle shot.

Missing a Stuffed Tiger

Growing up, most newspaper comic strips sucked.  I like Garfield and Peanuts when I was 7-10 years old or so, but I tired of them.  There rest just didn't interest me: B.C., Marmaduke, Rex Morgan MD, Blondie, etc...and then of course The Family Circus is there just waiting to suck.  I would read over all the comics, because I they were comics and I was a kid...I was supposed to like them right?  But I didn't.  Sure some, like Bloom County, were way over my head, but mostly I just didn't think comic strips were funny and was unable to relate to most.  I did not see myself reflected...not even in the all-American Family Circus Keane family.  Thankfully, there was The Far Side to keep me entertained with geek and wiener dog jokes.  But The Far Side wasn't on "the comics" page in our newspaper, so it always seemed separate from the rest.  I read The Far Side and spent about 10 seconds on the rest of the comics page.

That changed when Calvin & Hobbes appeared.  I am not sure when exactly that happened in our local paper, but would guess sometime in 1986.  Calvin made sense...a wild imagination, making huge messes, questioning his parents, often in trouble, and had a best pal stuffed animal (mine was a monkey).  I could easily identify with Calvin and his adventures were a joy to read.  Even more than just relating, Calvin was often times laugh out loud funny.  I read Calvin and Hobbes religiously for years until I went to college.  During college my dorm "house" had a subscription to the paper, but rarely was it actually available...someone always got up early to grab it and check sports scores and it almost never made it back to our lounge for others to read.  I lost touch and only caught a strip here and there.

I was completely shocked when I returned home sometime during my junior year and discovered that Calvin and Hobbes was over.  I didn't know what happened, I thought my paper had canceled it and I was pissed.  It wasn't until I headed back to school that I found out that creator/writer Bill Watterson had retired Calvin and Hobbes before it devolved into an unoriginal, humorless, formulaic strip.  I also recently found out that he lost some interest, too and wanted to try oil painting.  You have to respect and admire someone willing to walk away from a large paycheck in order to keep your art from falling into mediocrity and pursue other interests.  That is a tough thing to do....but it isn't the only time that Bill took a stand.

I can't believe that Charles Schulz
would approve of this shirt that my
friend Dani happened upon (and was
rightly horrified by).

I've always respected Bill for not licensing Calvin and Hobbes (except for a couple calendars in the late 80s).  It made the comic strip special, since it was the only place to see them...you didn't see a stuffed plush Hobbes in the stores, you didn't see the Calvin & Hobbes & Friends cartoon on Saturday morning, you didn't didn't see t-shirts in the mall with Calvin and his G.R.O.S.S. (Get Rid Of Slimy girlS) sign, and you didn't see the Calvin and Hobbes McDonalds Happy Meal toys.  Unfortunately, all you see is bootleg decals of Calvin pissing on one thing or another...or even worse Calvin  praying to the cross (hmmm, promoting your Christianity by using a stolen image...especially of a character that didn't pray in the comic...seems like some kind of hypocrisy).  If you didn't read the comic, you didn't see Calvin and Hobbes - which created a special relationship between the reader and the strip...it was more like being friends that would meet for a few minutes each morning instead of a feeling of being bombarded by merchandising.  At the beginning, I really would have loved a stuffed Hobbes but in the long run, I am glad that my memories solely revolve around the comic strip and not a toy.  Calvin and Hobbes was huge.  Bill Watterson could have made a fortune by licensing Calvin and Hobbes...but he didn't want it to seem like the comic was just to sell toys, he didn't want to cheapen dilute his work, or have it transformed into something that he didn't agree with.  Thanks Bill I really appreciate your strength, it really inspires me to do the right thing instead of taking the easy money route.


This is all lead up to me saying that I finally got around to purchasing The Complete Calvin and Hobbesbook(s).  This book had been on my wishlist since it was published in 2005...but it is not a cheap book, MSRP $150, but usually around $100 on Amazon.  I didn't think $100 for 10 years of comics was a bad deal but still it was tough to justify...so I asked for it for Christmas several years in a row.  No one bit...I was sad but it is understandable, most people don't think of books as great presents.  A couple weeks ago, I randomly happened to notice that the book was available through my credit card rewards program AND I had enough points.  I ordered it and eagerly waited for it to arrive.  Dang media mail...something shipping  from Missouri shouldn't take 2 weeks.  It was torture.  I would rush home every night only to see my front porch empty of boxes.  Finally, just when I was ready to contact the company and say that it never arrived, it showed up.

I wasn't sure what to expect...I had avoided looking at this in the store because I knew that would lead to buying it immediately (and at the $150 price tag).  After opening the box, I immediately regretted not getting this set sooner.  First off, it is huge - 3 volumes weighing in at a total of 22.5 pounds, books are large format at 12.5 x 11 inches.  Comics are spaced out and don't feel cramped.  There is enough space between strips that you will not spoil future strips while reading the current strip.  Each books is a little under 500 pages...think about that, nearly 1500 pages of Calvin and Hobbes.  The quality is pretty good, hardbound, and binding seems strong.  I can't tell if it has a complete stitched binding or if it is glued in sections and then stitched but it seems pretty durable.  The pages themselves are heavy stock paper and feel very solid sturdy.  A well made book and a well laid out collection.  Most pages have 3 daily strips with Sunday strips getting their own page, other C&H art work appear randomly throughout...the kind of drawings that would appear on the covers of the previous collections.  My only complaint is that each book has a square picture on the front and back covers...these are mounted on top of the covers, instead of being inlaid so that they are flush with the covers.  I fear that some day the corners of these pictures will start to catch and peel.

I am very impressed with this collection and even though I have only made it through a couple months worth of strips so far, it evokes a strong feeling of nostalgia.  The introduction by Bill gave a little history about how Calvin & Hobbes came about and developed and why it ended.  It was nice to hear the story from the author and some of his thoughts.  Starting to read Calvin and Hobbes was like slipping back into step with my childhood friends.  Welcome back, you guys were missed.  I look forward to reading all about our adventures we enjoyed together and the ones that I missed.

photo by platypus comix

Next stop...I will be heading to The Complete Far Side .

Please Don't Kill the Interwebicon

The US Senate is considering legislation that could/would destroy the internet as we know it - in the name of helping the entertainment industry fight piracy.  I can sympathize with the entertainment industry...piracy is not a good thing and I am sure it sucks to see something you made being pirated.  But I also don't trust the entertainment industry to be the police of the internet and with the accused afforded no protections. After all, Viacom/MTV sued youtube for videos that they uploaded themselves.  With new legislation any site accused of copyright infringement or even linking to a site with copyright infringement could be shut down.  Permanently.

Of course they say that is not the intent.

The language of the legislation (PIPA and SOPA) is overly broad and vague.  It seems to have been written with little input from experts. When experts and dissenters tried to speak out they were not allowed...or were brushed off. 


Once given the power, it will be used and abused to its utmost.  Just look at the PATRIOT ACT...many of those provisions have been used overwhelmingly for everything besides fighting terrorism and now it seems impossible that we will every be rid of it.  These bills have the power to undo everything that is great about the interwebicon...and do this just to protect the interests of a few extremely rich people who paid congress $94 million dollars to write this legislation.


Please contact your Senators and Representatives.