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Monday, 3 November 2008
Wizard World Texas - Record Number of Exhibitors
Topic: Wizard World Texas

Man-oh-man, Wizard World rolls into Texas this Friday.  It'll be a busy week here on the blog getting ready for it, so stay tuned for updates.

FreakAngels illustrator Paul Duffield will be at WWTX.  Duffield is an amazing talent,  his work strikingly beautiful.  He'll be teaching classes at Wizard World:

Paul is doing some very cool art classes that are free to people that buy copies of the FA TPB or HC at the booth. See the man work his magic live! The classes only hold 28 people, and he is doing 1 per day, so those will probably all fill up very fast. 

Seems a bit crappy though to limit access to only those people who buy a book.  Truly, I despise such cavalier use of the word "free."

Big time Spawn artist Whilce Portacio will also be kicking it at the con.  This is Portacio's first visit to WWTX.

According to the press release, Wizard World has sold out the dealer room floor with a "record number of exhibitors."  I don't want to be critical, but I am going to be a skeptic on this one. 

Looking at the retailer and exhibitor list, it appears a bit slim to me in comparison to previous shows.  There are some notable names absent from that list.  Houston's Bedrock City Comics ain't there - and maybe Hurricane Ike has something to do with that?  That doesn't explain the mysterious lack of Austin Books.  Last Year, AB owner Brad said they had a very profitiable weekend and were hoping for more of the same in 2008.

Here's what's REALLY telling.  Local giant Lone Star Comics is not on the roster.  Last year, they were HUGE at Wizard World.  This year?  Not even on the list.  WTF?!

Joining forces with Fear Fest has limited some of the space WWTX has utilized in the past for its comics and popculture focus, I'd imagine.  So comparing this year to previous years is not really an apples-to-apples algorithm. 

I am eagerly awaiting the pleasant surprise of the dealer room, while the skeptic in me frets.

Aron Head
www.EvilBastard.net
Twitter + AronHead 


Posted by Aron Head at 8:20 AM CST
Updated: Sunday, 2 November 2008 9:34 PM CDT
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Sunday, 2 November 2008
Last Week In Pictures - Week Ending November 2, 2008
Topic: Personal Commentary

Lots of images captured last week.  Woot!

Reid bought a new house, greeting his visitors at the door.

Suzanne had the piano tuned on Friday.  Cecil, our Maine Coon Cat, kept her company. 

On Halloween, the Wife and I sat out in the driveway with a glass of wine and passed out candy to the trick-or-treaters.  Our first visitor was Sassy, the neighborhood cat.  She maintains a remarkably slight figure for a kitty that takes supper at four houses that we're aware of...

...Sassy sat with us for a bit.

Our next visitor was our neighbor Ryan.  Suzanne and I debated what he was dressed as.  She thought perhaps Hugh Hefner.  I maintained he was that John Belushi hibachi samurai character.  Whatever, he was one grumpy guy.  We were his first house and his last house.

The peacock seemed remarkably relaxed being in the company of mass murdering Joker and a feral lycanthope.

Sonic Car Hop Girl was the best costume of the night.  Suzanne and I are still cracking up about that.  The sack served as her treat bag.  Her bit could have only been improved had she given me a peppermint.

I took Bettye to the vet on Saturday morning.  She'd been limping around on her back left leg.  Needed to get that checked out.  Turns out, she has a sprained knee, likely a squirrel-chasing-related injury.  She's on some anti-inflamatory meds for the next few days.  We have to keep her activity restricted as she's at risk for a more serious injury that would lead to surgery.  Nobody wants that.

She's spent some quality time on the couch with us.

Yeah... rehab is hard!

On Sunday, we drove out to Dallas to have brunch with Jake.  I met Jake at Fear the Con last year.  We've kept in touch via the FtB and Podge Cast forums, email, and Twitter.  We also hooked up with Becca, who I also know from Twitter. 
 
Jake was in town for a meditation seminar.  For 11 days he lived as the monks do taking a vow of silence, subsisting on a vegetarian diet, and meditating in an environment that in a lot of respects resembles a sensory deprivation tank.  No music, no books, no writing...
 
He cheated a bit, though, stealing a pen and jotting some thoughts on paper towels.  He'd do well in prison, I think.
 
For 11 days, he went without meat of any kind.  And wow, did he miss it.
 
We were there for the cheeseburger meatgasm...

Seriously, you've never seen such joy.  And wow... the brother can eat.  He scarfed the burger, the fries, and a HUGE slice of pie with ice cream and caramel sauce.  
 
Great visit.  Jake's good people.
 
When I got back home, I had time to enjoy a cigar and a couple of beers...

...Walter joined me...

...Homer did, too.
 
The covered portion of our patio has Spanish tile.  The tile is cool for the dogs in the summer, but I've had some concerns about winter.  A few week ago, I built a wooden frame for a dog bed.  Today I filled it with hay.

As expected, Pearl was the first one in!
Good dog!
 
Aron Head
www.EvilBastard.net
Twitter + AronHead

Posted by Aron Head at 7:26 PM CDT
Updated: Sunday, 2 November 2008 7:40 PM CDT
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Friday, 31 October 2008
Somebody's Dad
Topic: Personal Commentary

UPDATED with Reid's picture...

Our friend Mark and his little boy, Reid, came over tonight. Reid's a year old and was dressed as a penguin for Halloween.  The adults drank beers, chatting between intermittent runs to the door passing out candy.

Reid frequently joined me, standing to my side as I doled out treats to the ghouls, pirates, and Sith Lords.

"You have a cute little boy," One kid said.

"Thanks!" I instantly grinned.

It was cool, I realized, feeling for a brief moment like somebody's dad.  I smiled down at the boy.  Reid's gaze met my own, knowing something I didn't.  His blues eyes were deep with meaning telling me what he lacked the words to actually say.

This fine boy said to me: "You'd make somebody a GREAT dad."

I looked into the next room where Suzanne and Mark were visiting. Maybe... Maybe Suzanne and I should explore that?

Maybe it's time?

Lord, we hadn't really seriously ever... But maybe?

I took a deep breath.

"Dear God," I nearly choked at the realization.

All too frequently, that which is labeled wisdom is in reality a loaded diaper.

Beware the wisdom of children.

Aron Head
www.EvilBastard.net 


Posted by Aron Head at 11:21 PM CDT
Updated: Saturday, 1 November 2008 8:59 AM CDT
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Tuesday, 28 October 2008
Wizard World Texas - And the Winner Is... The Fans
Topic: Wizard World Texas

Wow, less than ten days to Wizard World Texas and all kinds of news to share.  For instance, Single Edge Studio's Leigh Kellogg and Jason Janicki, the nice folks who bring you Wayfarer's Moon are expected to discontinue - or at least pause -  their efforts at global extortion/destruction to attend the con.

Top Cow's Phil Hester has drawn up a special variant cover of The Darkness #7.  The comic will be available for sale at WWTX the proceeds of which will benefit The Hero Initiative, a charity that helps comic creators in need.

I really dig Phil Hester.  I'm angling for a Green Arrow sketch.  I loved his work on the Archer's Quest book with Brad Meltzer.

Also in benefit of the Hero Initiative Wizard World will play host to geek themed Match Game styled "Game Show Night."  From the press release:

Ethan Van Sciver, Terry Moore, Sean McKeever, Shane Davis, Phil Hester and others will grab their pen and paper and fill in the blanks during a rousing comic-book-tinted version of the classic game show, "Match Game." These superstar creators have worked on a veritable who's who of huge characters including Spider-Man, Captain America, Superman and Batman. Trying to match the creators will be numerous lucky fans who will have the chance to get onstage if the ticket they purchased is drawn. All proceeds from ticket and admission sales go to benefit the Hero Initiative and the lucky winners will receive original artwork and other memorabilia donated by the contestants and other top name creators. 

Game Show Night is scheduled for Saturday evening, November 8th.

By the way, the entire program guide is now available on the Wizard site.  At first pass, there's evening programming both Friday and Saturday nights.  Way to go, Wizard people!  That truly is excellent news.  There's always lots of grumbling on the part of the fans about the early evening end of the con each night.  Nice to know you guys are listening.

I'm awfully excited to see that DC Sales VP Bob Wayne will be in the hizzy to host the DC Nation Panel.  Bob is always fun and this year, I get to snag his autograph on my Time Masters tpb.  Woot!

Not so excited to note that Marvel Comics - once again - has thumbed its nose at Texas.  No real Marvel presence at all this year.  Boo.  Hiss.

That's okay, though.  

Plenty of other cool comics out there.  So suck it, Marvel!

In the coming days, I'll highlight more cool stuff from the program schedule.  I can barely stop myself from giggling!

Aron Head
www.EvilBastard.net
 


Posted by Aron Head at 9:20 PM CDT
Updated: Tuesday, 28 October 2008 9:21 PM CDT
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Monday, 27 October 2008
Last Week In Pictures - Week Ending October 25, 2008
Topic: Personal Commentary

This is something that I've had on my mind for awhile.  I take a lot of pictures, you see, and I thought it would be nice to provide a weekly digest of the week prior with the images I captured along the way.  This will likely be a Sunday evening post from here on out, but for this first one?  You get it on Monday.

Rainy Wednesday, working from home.
 

 Mark (Kemosabe to my Tonto over on the soon to be released MarkAndrewPopeCast) and I went to see Ben Folds last Thursday at the Palladium Ballroom in Dallas.  Without a doubt, the best concert I have seen since Oingo Boingo back in the early '90s.  A most excellent show. 
 
Sadly, though, rockin' is for the young.  My Thursday night experience rolled into Friday morning.  I got three-and-a-half hours of sleep before I had to go to work.  Geezle-lou, that was a rough day. 
 
Worth it.  I'm still humming Rockin' The Suburbs.

Suzanne and I went to Nagoya Friday night with the Dewberrys...

I drank Kirin Ichiban...

...while watching the onion erupt!

Ate half of this crappy sandwich at Oliver's on Saturday...

...And built these guys Saturday night...

Don't mess with the mutha-frakkin' Frontier Batallion, yo!
 
Aron Head
www.EvilBastard.net 
 

Posted by Aron Head at 9:04 PM CDT
Updated: Monday, 27 October 2008 9:10 PM CDT
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Saturday, 25 October 2008
Sheriff Taylor and The Fonz Want You to Vote for Obama!
Topic: Personal Commentary

I think it's great that characters from some of the whitest white shows in American TV history can unite in their support of Barack Obama.

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die
 
This can only escalate.  Next we'll see Archie Bunker and Carol Brady coming out in support of McCain.
 
By the way, Ron Howard has the most unattractive bald head of anyone ever.  Please, please, keep the cap on.
 
Aron Head
www.EvilBastard.net 

Posted by Aron Head at 10:47 AM CDT
Updated: Saturday, 25 October 2008 10:51 AM CDT
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Monday, 20 October 2008
Wizard World Texas - Programming, Panels, & 12 Inches
Topic: Wizard World Texas

Lots of Wizard World Texas news to share...

Wizard has provided a sneak peak at the programming guide cover.  One thing I have always disliked about WWTX is that there was no evening programming.  Last year, they had a screening or some such.  This year, Wizard World  boasts of the FearJam Rock Concert in addition to a screening of Futurama: Bender's Game.  

Scheduled panels include:

  • The Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane panel complete with original writer Sean McKeever and new creative team Terry Moore, who has agreed to do "a lot of panels," and Craig Rousseau
  • A roundtable discussion about creator-owned comics with Moore, Rousseau, Matt Wagner, Frank Cho and Billy Tucci
  • Numerous Wizard Schools including daily workshops with Paul Duffield and a lesson on drawing sexy women with Frank Cho.  I attended Michael Golden's last year, which was 50% boring as all hell and 50% brilliant.  I prefer to remember the brilliant part.  Wizard School's fun.  Looking forward to these panels.
  • Dr. Scott (not Gene, but that guy from Polite Dissent) will be lecturing in the Wizard University track.

Local artist, Jonathon Kimbrell of Napkin Art Studios, will be on deck at the show and will be representin' with the boys from Boomstick Comics.  Jonathon's an amazaing talent.  I can't wait to see his work up close.

At WWTX, you'll be able to check out the new, cool 3D figure from Kaeru Boy.  Twelve inches, my friends. Twelve inches.

Watch this space.  Lots more Wizard World Texas news to follow.

Aron Head
www.EvilBastard.net 

 


Posted by Aron Head at 9:27 PM CDT
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Wednesday, 15 October 2008
Tripod Sucks
Topic: Personal Commentary

Lycos Tripod, the service that hosts the Bastard's Blog, sucks.  My email has been down since yesterday morning.  I filed a help desk ticket early Tuesday.

Wednesday morning, Tripod closed the ticket stating that there was an outage on Tuesday, that all mail was lost, so sorry.

My mail still didn't work.

Twenty minutes after they closed the ticket, I reopened it describing the problem directing them not to close the ticket until... y''know... they've verified that the issue is resolved. 

That was at 9:40 this morning.

No response, yet.

Still no mail.

It's not like this is the first issue I have had with them.  Suzanne's email was hinked up for several weeks and they still have some goofiness going on in her webmail.  On top of that, because of some spam originating from other Tripod users, those of us whose email is hosted here has often been tagged by other servers as spam.

I have hosted my site here for five years.  Never had a problem with them until 2008.  

I have got to move my site, but damn that's a pain in the ass.

Lycos Tripod's customer service sucks.  Their tech support is abyssmal. 

While email is down, you can catch me on Twitter.  You can find me as 'aronhead.'

Aron Head
www.EvilBastard.net 


Posted by Aron Head at 8:00 PM CDT
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Monday, 13 October 2008
Surrendering the Specimen
Topic: Dogs

I took Pearl to the vet on Saturday for her annual well-dog visit. 

The exam - for each of our animals, really - is a tremendous source of stress for me.  Leading up to the appointment, my stomach churns.  During the check-up, I tense up expecting some horrible discovery.  Every time, I brace myself for the "Sorry, Mr. Head..."

It wigs me out so much that Suzanne usually takes them.  I took Pearl and Cecil this time because the Wife needed to work on Saturday.

Cecil and Pearl are both healthy, reported the doc.

Kitty and Beagle each had to surrender stool samples, a process which involves a swizzle-stick-like device being inserted up the critters' back-side.

Immediately following the collection of her specimen, Pearl retreated the corner under the exam table.  She wouldn't look at me or the doctor, so disturbed she was by what had happened.

"In my pooper," I imagined her agitated complaint, "They went into my pooper, man!"

Poor, pitiful Pearl.

Aron Head
www.EvilBastard.net 


Posted by Aron Head at 8:50 PM CDT
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Sunday, 12 October 2008
Wizard World Texas - Less Than One Month Away!
Topic: Wizard World Texas

Dang! 

It's already less than a month away from Wizard World landing right here in DFW.  Sweet.

I don't know if I overlooked this earlier on the guest list or if it was just recently posted, but looking it over tonight I see that Matt Wagner is going to be on deck at WWTX.  That's right, the Mage and Grendel creator himself will be in the hizzouse.  I'd dearly love to snag myself a sketch of Kevin Matchstick.  So choice!

According to the Kaeru Boy site, both  Darrin Stephens and Jorge Vega will be at the big show.

I'm jazzed about several of the guests, yet it seems a bit light.  The exhibitor and retailer lists also seem a bit on the slim side.  I've noted the glaring absence of Bedrock City Comics and Austin Books.  Dudes, c'mon?  You know had a big time in 2007!

Last year, guests were announced all the way up to the week prior to the event.  As there are some significant gaps in the representation of the Big 2, I'm hoping for some meaningful announcements in the coming days.

We've got time.

27 days, right?

Plenty of time...

On another note, Fear Fest has updated their website to reflect the con's partnership with WWTX.   Apparently, there will be a horror rock concert that Friday night (for an additional $20).

Aron Head
www.EvilBastard.net 


Posted by Aron Head at 9:15 PM CDT
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