Wednesday, November 4, 2009

A Friendly Nudge

Are you thinking of going to the Comic-Con International in San Diego next July? Are you thinking of going for all four days? Well then, you'll need a four-day pass. They're still for sale at the convention website.

The last sentence of that paragraph will not be true for long.

• Posted at 9:40 PM · LINK

Today's Political Musing

One thing that I increasingly believe about elections in this country is that they're all about the "hot button" issues — bank bailouts, health care, gay marriage, etc. — and nothing else. If you ask the average voter, "Do you think the moral integrity of the candidate is important?," they invariably say yes. If you ask them, "Do you think it's important that a candidate be competent and knowledgeable?", they all answer in the affirmative. Absolutely, positively yes. Those two qualities are vital, they'll say.

And then, when it comes time to pick the candidate they'll vote for, they pick whoever says the "right" things about gun control, immigration and the death penalty — and that's about it. The other stuff either gets ignored or assumed...

They ignore the fact that the candidate might not know how to do the job or accomplish the goals. They assume that because he or she says the right things, he or she must be smart enough to make things happen.

They ignore the fact that the candidate might be lacking in honesty and integrity. They assume that because he or she says the right things, he or she must be a pillar of virtue, at least compared to the moral degenerates who have different views.

Maybe this dawned on you a long time ago. But the other day on CNN, I saw someone going on and on about the genius and high ethics of the candidate they're voting for...and all I could think was, "You don't really believe that about him. You just think a vote for him is a vote against Obama."

• Posted at 9:31 PM · LINK

Today's Video Link

Here's a clip of Lou Goldstein, who made a helluva career off the simplest of kids' games — Simon Says. I believe he honed his skill working resorts in the Catskills and later took the act all over the world, entertaining at conventions and sporting events and anywhere a crowd turned out. There have been other guys who've done this routine but Lou seems to have made himself into the Tiger Woods of Simon Says, and I hear he's still at it...

• Posted at 3:55 PM · LINK

Vegas, Baby

That's where I'll be this Saturday...for the comic book section of the Valley Vegas Book Festival. The part we care about takes place at the Clark County Library, located at 1401 E. Flamingo Road. I'll be moderating a Batman panel at 11 AM, participating in a panel on comic book history (ominously entitled, "We Know Where the Bodies Are Buried") at 12:15 PM...and then at 2 PM, I'll be talking, as I do so often, about Jack Kirby. Oh, and I see here on the schedule they just sent me that I'll be signing something — I have no idea what — from 3:15 to 3:45. There are also events that don't involve me so you may find something to your liking, and it's all free and open to the public from 11 AM 'til 4 PM. See some of you there.

• Posted at 3:09 PM · LINK

Remembering Shel

Obits and tributes pour in for our friend Shel Dorf — and by "our friend," I mean he was a friend to everyone who ever cared about comic books or strips, whether they knew him or not. The San Diego Union-Tribune has a good obituary and others I know are coming. The Comic-Con website has a particularly meaningful proclamation...

Shel Dorf's love for comic books and their creators had no equal. It was his appreciation of this art form and his keen foresight that helped to create what it Comic-Con.

It is with a heavy heart that we -- the Board of Directors, Committee, Staff and Volunteers of Comic-Con -- mourn the passing of our dear friend.

And while I was typing the above, I was interrupted by a phone call from the Los Angeles Times, which is prepping an obit and needed info. (It's been a busy day here in the Supplying Obit Info division. I spoke to them this morning about Carl Ballantine.)

Shel's funeral was this afternoon. I had to take my mother to a doctor's appointment so I was unable to get down there for it. If I'd been there, I would have said all the same things everyone else is saying...because they're all true.

• Posted at 3:01 PM · LINK