Well, since my knee went catty-wompus on me tonight I'm up and in pain. Thought I'd give it a whorl of trying to kick this out before I had too many thing stacked up.
Beware! Zombies Ahead!
An industrious hacker had a bit of fun in Austin Monday. They apparently reprogrammed construction signs near the University of Texas to read, "Caution! Zombies Ahead!” and “Nazi Zombies! Run!!!” Our Keep Austin Weird slogan never fails to live up to the hype. Don't believe me? Check it out.
Comics
Well, DC Comics Final Crisis came to a conclusion on Wednesday. I know, I know I kept complaining that it didn't make much sense, but since then I've reread: ALL of Jack Kirby's Fourth World stuff, Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers, Batman RIP and the entire Final Crisis miniseries. Well, now it all comes together for me. With only close to 150 comics before you read it, I am completely sure it will make perfect sense to you too. Either that or you could read Grant Morrison's exit interview with Blog@Newsarama. Where Morrison explains how Kirby's Fourth World was ripped off to make Star Wars and most especially that movie of movies He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. I shit you not.
In other "scratching your head and saying WTF?" news. DC Comics also released the wrong picture to Previewsordering catalog. (The catalog comes out with "Previews" of what's going to be on the stands or in stores in three months time.) Thereby really fucking up their big summer cross-over Green Lantern:Blackest Night. Now the picture they were supposed to release should have been this: For those of you not in the know, other Lanterns are now in the Universe. Red (Rage), (forthcoming) Orange, Yellow (Fear), Blue (Hope) Violet (Love) and also forthcoming Black (Death). Now, Black had yet to be unveiled. It had been leaked that the Black Lanterns were all going to be reanimated zombies (wow that is TWO Zombie things), but no one knew that identity of the first Black Lantern. Well, check out the picture that was actually published in Previews this month: That's correct folks. Earth-2's Superman (Basically the archetype for all the heroes in the DC Universe. The one that came out in 1938) who died saving the Universe (all 52 of 'em) is going to be reanimated to be the first evil Black Lantern for Blackest Night. Sometimes I really think that the editors at DC just Twitter all day and don't really pay attention that much. The fanboys/girls at The Green Lantern Corps Forum were nonplussed to say the least.
While on the subject of GL. How big of a geek are you? Big enough to fashion a wooden replica of Hal Jordan's ring? You can if you go here.
And yet again in the I Shit You Not category, a British man apparently killed his wife over her changing her Facebook status from married to single. Whole story at Breitbart.com.
Darwin completely forgot that some people's gene pool is shallow and full of piss.
I've figured out that I may be what I've termed a "Binge-Blogger." I go for almost a month without saying boo, and then I make an "Interesting Bits," post and about 3 or 4 others on the same day. I reckon I need to start spreading these out a bit. Anyway, here's another IB post this week, but not as long as most so it's a .five.
Oscar Nominations 2009
The Oscar nominations came out this week, and there were a few surprises. Best Motion Picture:
Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight (2008) (Sentiment plays a big roll in these, look at John Wayne winning for The Shootist a month or two before he died)
A woman has been decapitated by a fellow student at Virginia Tech, the scene of the worst school shooting in US history in 2007.
They say she was decapitated with a knife. Not a machete, not a broadsword, a knife. This guy had enough time to decapitate a woman with a regular knife and people watching. Our world scares me.
Audio Stuff
Okay, I'll admit I really dig audio books, podcasts and anything I can listen to at my lesiure on my IPod. Now these people at Pendant Productions do radio dramas in the flavour of old radio broadcasts. The really cool things is that they're not bad at all. Kinda fun actually. Considering they do not to my knowledge have a license to do these and make no money besides donations, they're still worth giving a listen to. Their current dramas include:
In the, "Why the Hell Do the Japanese Get Cooler Trailers?" front. Here are the new Japanese trailers for Watchmen, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Terminator: Salvation.
I'm writing to tell you how sorry I am for ignoring you since the 24th of December. Things have been rather hectic on all fronts and it came down to what could I stop doing and keep my sanity. Unfortunately my darlin', that was you. I am back now though, and I'm glad you made it through New Year's without me. I'll try to do better.
Interesting Bits VIII
I hope that everyone had a great New Year's and still hasn't broken their resolutions. Would you believe the real reason I haven't written anything is because nothing interesting has happened since 12/24? No, didn't think so. Anyways, here we go....
Watchman Front
Several interesting developments on the status of Watchman. Apparently it will be released on March 6th as planned. Here's what Blog@Newsarama had to say. That's all fine and dandy and I'm glad I'm going to be able to see Watchman on the planned release date. However, I still agree with this guy over at Cracked.com who posted this before the settlement was released: Watchman Fan Cordially Invites Fox to Eat Several Dicks. Also, on Watchman front was this nice behind the scenes that Empire mag put out with the Minutemen, the precursor group to the Watchman in the comics, and Carla Gugino continues to look stunning in.
Ricardo Montalban
Yes, it was sad that he died on the 14th of January, but I did find this interesting at Boing Boing: How Many AAAAA's in Khaaaaaaaan? These are Google results depending on how many A's you wish to place in your search of Ricardo Montalban's most famous role.
Comics
Two comics of note were released on Wednesday, Final Crisis #6 and Amazing Spider-Man #583. Stop reading now if you don't want any SPOILERS! We all good now....good.
Final Crisis #6 came out in DC Comics latest attempt to alienate all fans. I don't even know where to start with the bad things about this book. First off, this book made little to no sense without Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds #3, Superman Beyond #2 and Final Crisis: Revelations #5. Have those books shipped yet? Nope. Plus, we all know how we got royally screwed in Batman: RIP when Dan (Wife? I Don't See Anybody's Wife Here) DiDio told us that RIP didn't actually end in Batman #681 like we were told, but in FC #6. Somewhere between Batman being blown to lil Bat-Chunks at the end of 681 Batman had the time to sneak off, find a new costume, get his God Killin' Gun with it's own God Killin' Bullett and smoke Darkseid. Check out what Topless Robot had to say about this. To make things a perfect clusterfuck, there were 3 pencillers on the issue. JG Jones, Carlos Pacheco and Doug Mahnke. 3 great tastes that do not taste great together, but we did get a great version of "Superman's Dead Body Pose" from Mahnke. If you want to make sense of this series, I'd suggest going here: Rokk's Comic Book Revolution from Rokk Krinn (one of my favourite funny book reviewers on the interwebs) and here from Douglas Wolk (who sent me a terribly nice email offering to explain the parts that didn't make sense to me) Final Crisis Annotations Special thanks to Laura for the Final Crisis Annotations blog.
And then there was Amazing Spider-Man #583. Spider-Man at the Obama swearing in ceremony. This is only an add on to the book that's just 5 pages long. Has that stopped people from going nuts trying to get a copy? Nope. Marvel has already announced a 3rd print going to press. On my last check of Ebay bids for a 1st print there was one for $125 with 4 bids on it (Update! This book went for $210.55). At least this one is signed by Zeb Wells and Todd Nauck. $125 for a comic that came out on Wednesday for $3.99...Americans are so cool about what they spend their money on. We wonder why the rest of the world hates our guts...Oh yeah, and Erik Larsen is accusing Marvel of plagiarizing him with this story. Over at IO9
Here's a montage of David Letterman's Great Moments inPresidential Speeches:
I will of course continue my countdown clock on the right until Tuesday (or whenever I remember to take it down), but I just keep repeating to myself, "January 20th the end of an error." Thank you, Dubya and please don't let the door hit you on the way out.
Because
I can't leave you with his face as the last thing you see when reading this, something lovely and something funny. First up I give you Kitty Lea from Nuts Magazine doing Topless Wii video:
and something funny from Durex Condems with the funniest ad I've seen so far this year:
you can also check out "out takes" on the designers website.
On a personal note I wanted to thank everyone who reads this. The comments mean a lot to me.
...or whatever it is you'll be celebrating this holiday season. This is my son's second Christmas, and whatever feelings I had towards the holiday before him have vanished. It's all about the children in your life, or your friends and family. No matter what you're presently going through we all know that someone is worse off in this world. This is my post to wish you and yours Happy Holidays! And my fondest wish is that you're with the person you love most in this world!
How big of a nerd are you if this fills you with holiday spirit and fond memories of your youth? Okay, maybe the question is, how jacked up was your childhood if this is one of the fond memories of your youth? And yes, Poison Ivy has always been my favourite Batman villian and Bruce Timm captured her to a T in Batman: The Animated Series.
Howdy Boys & Girls. It's your Uncle Bingo. Didja miss me? Well, regardless I've found some pretty interesting links for you. Some you may have seen, and at least one or two I can guarantee that you haven't.
Let's get this show on the road, shall we?
In honor of the day that most retailers plan their 4th quarter earning projections around Black Friday! This site either has on it or has links to over 40 stores and their sales for Nov 28th. To those of you with money, Happy shopping!
"There must be some kind of way out of here, said the joker to the thief."
Below is the promo for the second half of the fourth and final season of Battlestar: Galactica. I personally believe SciFi screwed up separating the first and second half. Battlestar has constantly lost people in the middle of their seasons, but has always managed to bring the whole thing back together and blow people away by the end. I'm sure that they will do it again this time. It just seemed an asinine move and may have cost viewers. You know, not me, but maybe some people. Decide for yourselves January 16, '09. Also, if you just feel the need to speculate your lil' asses off before then, stop by IO9. They've done a two part series on what's happened in season 4 and what may possibly happen. Check 'em out.
This little tidbit of your tax dollars at work I saw last week on Countdown:With Kieth Olbermann, unfortunately I forgot which day so no video for you, but thankfully Boing Boing was nice enough to do an article on it too. "If we add in the Citi bailout, the total cost now exceeds $4.6165 trillion dollars. People have a hard time conceptualizing very large numbers, so let’s give this some context. The current Credit Crisis bailout is now the largest outlay In American history. Crunching the inflation adjusted numbers, we find the bailout has cost more than all of these big budget government expenditures – combined" • Marshall Plan: Cost: $12.7 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $115.3 billion • Louisiana Purchase: Cost: $15 million, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $217 billion • Race to the Moon: Cost: $36.4 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $237 billion • S&L Crisis: Cost: $153 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $256 billion • Korean War: Cost: $54 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $454 billion • The New Deal: Cost: $32 billion (Est), Inflation Adjusted Cost: $500 billion (Est) • Invasion of Iraq: Cost: $551b, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $597 billion • Vietnam War: Cost: $111 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $698 billion • NASA: Cost: $416.7 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $851.2 billion
TOTAL: $3.92 trillion" COMBINED!!!!
MTV's Splash Page has a great article on Neil Gaiman stepping up to the plate to help defend this poor bastard in Iowa that local authorities are trying to throw in the pokey on obscenity charges based on his PRIVATE collection. The CBLGF is one of those really worthwhile organisations, but only if you think the First Amendment was a good idea. Give til it hurts, people!
CNN's American Morning reported this on Monday the 24th:"CNN’s Joe Johns and legal expert Sonny Hostin reported that President Bush may issue preemptive pardons for George Tenet, Alberto Gonzales, and Donald Rumsfeld." How I loathe this little bastard. Check out the video here at Raw Replay.
One of the two spiders recently flown up to the International Space Station have apparently taken it upon itself to go walkies. Oh yeah, and the experiment itself which had something to do with arachnid life-cycles has gone tits up as well. The spiders instead of making nice neat webs that the researchers expected have been doing MC Escher meets Kandinsky type webs. "more a tangled, disorganized-looking web than a Charlotte's Web kind of web." (via ABC News)
Trapped in a cubical all day? Maybe you're an artist who listens to more movies/TV than watches? Here's a site for you. Listentoamovie.com has 1452 movies to listen to and 284 television shows. Plus, it has a stealth button in case the boss comes by to where if you click the button it looks like a spreadsheet. My-Tee-Spiffy!
New artist that I've found named Su Blackwell. She does book cut sculptures that look absolutely amazing! Can't post one here, but please click the link...they truly are one of a kind.
Anyone out there who wishes to get me a Christmas/Solstice/Kawanzaa I've found the perfect gift for the person who was everything. Which isn't me obviously, but I'm sure I can figure out some trouble to get in with it:
Now, onto Grant Morrison's latest story arc that has left almost every fanboy/girl scratching their heads and saying, Huh? I'm referring of course to Batman: RIP. Oh yeah, *SPOILERS BABY*
To start off here's what Wikipedia says to sum up the storyline so far: At an unknown location, a group of international supervillains gather at the behest of the Black Glove, represented by Dr. Simon Hurt, the man responsible for the isolation chamber experiment that nearly ended Batman's career and for the creation of the three replacement Batmen. ...Meanwhile Commissioner Gordon tries to stop a Gotham newspaper from running a story on a dossier allegedly compiled by a detective hired by the parents of Martha Wayne, which contains many shocking allegations: testimony that Thomas Wayne was a drunk who addicted his wife to heroin, insinuations that Alfred Pennyworth is Bruce Wayne's true biological father, and photographs depicting an orgy involving Thomas and Martha Wayne, Alfred, and the stars of John Mayhew's noir film "The Black Glove" and the theory that Thomas Wayne may still be alive, the "murder" of the Waynes was in truth an elaborate hoax, arranged by Thomas Wayne in order to kill his unfaithful wife and fake his own death.
Got all that?
Well, here's what Topless Robot had this to say about the story: "So in #681, Batman meets the Black Glove and it's...Thomas Wayne. His daddy.
Or he says he is. I have little doubt this will be retconned in the next six months, year tops. But for now, Wayne has announced that he hired Joe Chill to kill his wife and little Bruce and fake his own death, but that Chill couldn't go through with killing a kid. Which make Papa Wayne evil, Joe Chill the guy who saved Bruce's life, and Bruce's reasons for being Batman totally null and void. Oh, and then Batman appears to die in a helicopter with his dad, although Batman is wandering around "Final Crisis" like six months later. No one knows what's going on there.
Many Bat-fans are, of course, freaking the fuck out. They hate that this negates Batman's whole reason for being, but of course that was exactly the point. I think it's a hell of a cool idea, and it certainly takes Batman in a place he's never been before."
That's one POV. Here's anotherfrom Rich over at Comic by Comic (and I really think I'm more on his wavelength on this): And Dr Hurt...well, he may be Thomas Wayne, he may be Mangrove Pierce...but more likely he's the evil that men do. Or, y'know, the Devil, and Bruce has the darkness in side himself. And the Black Glove always wins. As Batman's hand smashes through the window of the helicopter.And nothing, but NOTHING is fully resolved. Honestly, I think we may all be figments of Grant Morrison right now...
Especially the bit about it being Grant's world and we're all just figments of his imagination. If nothing else, it is worth the read because the repercussions of this are going to go through all of the Bat-Books (Wait. How many are there now with all the cancellations?) in the foreseeable future.
Speaking of funny books, Details Magazine had something semi-complimentry to say about the lot of us (I would've included the cover, but it's of that ass clown Tom Cruise, you know the Whole reason I'm giving Valkyrie a pass):
He lives in his parents’ basement and sometimes wears a cape—but the much-mocked comic-book geek possesses the ass studio execs must kiss to hit superhero-movie gold. Thanks to favorable early buzz, Iron Man and The Dark Knight banked more than $575 million and more than $990 million, respectively, making them the top-grossing films of 2008. It’s no coincidence the producers and casts of these smash hits made the same pit stop on the road to box-office dominance: the Comic-Con International festival in San Diego, where they schmoozed the nerdy throngs, sat on panels, debuted Joker-laden teaser trailers, and forced Robert Downey Jr. to smile and wave like a homecoming queen. There’s a reason that Zack Snyder, director of 300 and next year’s Watchmen, says each of these rabid conventiongoers is “worth 20 normal fans.”
The magazine is due on newsstands December 2.
BTW, I moved out of the basement at least two years ago!
I knew that Nosmokingintheskullcave's architect, Becca had a style that reminded me of someone. Paul Pope. Check her stuff out and tell me if I'm wrong. And if you're reading this Becca this is a total compliment from me.
And to round out this shitfully long version of Interesting Bits I give you:
"GhibliWorld reports that Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy will produce the English vocalization of Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, with a cast that includes Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Cate Blanchett, Liam Neeson, Lily Tomlin, Betty White, Fankie Jonas, Noah Cyrys and Cloris Leachman.
Gake no ue no Ponyo draws from his relationship with his son, Goro to tell the tale of a five year old boy's friendship with a gold fish who wants to become a human, employing a watercolor based look inspired by time that Miyazaki spent on a rental house by sea cliff.
Speculation is abound on when the movie will hit North American treaters. GhibliWorld says that test screenings are currently being held, the final version will screen in US theaters in 2009.
ICV2 notes that there is evident that Disney may release Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo on a Cliff By the Sea theatrically in North America in first quarter 2009. The article sites that Amazon.com is listing Viz Media’s The Art of Ponyo on a Cliff By the Sea for release on March 3rd, and AAA Anime has the release of the first volume of the Ponyo on a Cliff By the Sea Film Comic set for early April.
2005 when Miyazaki’s previous movie, Howl’s Moving Castle, debuted in theaters on June 10th, Viz Media released The Art of Howl’s Moving Castle on the 5th of July and The Howl’s Moving Castle Film Comic in August. In 2002 when Miyazaki’s Spirited Away premiered in theaters on September 20th, Viz Media released The Art of Spirited Away in October.
Pink Tentacle's coverage of Top 60 popular Japanese words/phrases of 2008 puts a Ponyo reference at the 20 spot. 20. “Ponyo, ponyo ponyo, the fish kid” (ponyo, ponyo ponyo, sakana no ko): This is a line from the theme song for anime filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki’s “Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea.” Performed by Fujioka-Fujimaki (famous duo Takaaki Fujioka and Naoya Fujimaki) and eight-year-old Nozomi Ohashi, the song reached No.3 on the Oricon Weekly Charts in August.
Let me just say that if you don't like Hayao Miyazaki then you just don't like Anime. This man is rightfully referred to as the "Godfather of Anime." I LOVE that he let's no more than 10 % of CGI in his films. I am kinda worried that Pixar director John Lasseter isn't involved in this one of his English adaptation, but I'll be there regardless. Here's a list of Miyazaki-san's works:
This man is a living genius. Whoops. I promised a link you probably hadn't seen, huh? Okay, how about getting this for that special someone/gimp in your life?
Latex Vac-Bed bondage restraint
This Latex Vac-Bed is a bondage restraint that connects to a household vacuum cleaner. It immobilizes the individual between two layers of 14 gauge latex rubber by sucking out the air between the "sheets." It's $640. From JT's Stockroom: To use the Vac-Bed, place your bondage partner inside and check to see that they can breathe safely thru the breathing hole. (We recommend using a hollow gag so that there is no chance of the breathing hole slipping and restricting the flow of air.) Close the zipper that runs along the side of the Vac-Bed, and make sure that your bondage buddy is comfortable before attaching the vacuum cleaner to the connector at the bottom. The 1½” PVC connector will fit most household vacuum cleaners. (via Boing Boing)
This is my (hopefully) weekly post on things I found of interest while sifting through the minutia of the interwebs....
It appears that all wasn't sweetness and light between the McCain and Palin camps during their recent failed attempt at the nation's highest office. In today's LA Times article it appears what some news outlets are calling "Fashiongate," (gods the American media is witty, isn't it?) was one of the main sticking points. A RNC lawyer was told to go to Alaska and inventory the clothes still in her possession and then to retrieve them. These clothes, reportedly in excess of $150,000 shot Palin's image of a Good Ol' Girl Hockey Mom in the ass. "Fox News reported Wednesday that Palin's lack of knowledge on some topics also strained relations. Carl Cameron reported that campaign sources told him Palin had resisted coaching before her faltering Katie Couric interviews; did not understand that Africa was a continent rather than a country; and could not name the three nations that are part of the North American Free Trade Agreement -- the United States, Canada and Mexico." Not to mention she couldn't get the really tough question right. My personal favourite that she missed of 4 separate tries interspersed between several months, "What does a Vice President do, Gov Palin?" If this lady (I use this term in it's loosest sense) makes herself the senior senator from Alaska lots of people are going to be most unhappy. Not to mention John McCain.
Also in election news, Jon Stewart had Fox News anchor Chris Wallace on The Daily Show last night. To say it was uncomfortable is putting it mildly. Uncomfortable, but funny as hell.
Now, on to the lighter side of the webs. Via Den of the Geek the writer of the article handicaps the "Who Will Replace David Tennant on Dr. Who?" The contenders run the gambit from front runners David Morrissey (5/2 odds) & (my favourite) Paterson Joseph to long shots Wanted'sJames McAvoy & Hugh Grant . The article goes on to mention the pros and cons of these 4 and 9 others. Although Tennant told BBC Breakfast on the 3rd that he doesn't know what he's going to do: ‘I had a meeting with Steven (Moffat)and that was difficult because I love his writing,’ he went on to state that, ‘Now I know some of his ideas I was tempted to change my mind. Who knows what might happen in the future? The door isn't necessarily closed forever.’ So, this may all be academic.
Ready for Joss Whedon's new show Dollhouse? Fox announced today that it will be premiering Feb 13, 2009. It seems as though Fox already has it in for the show since it's putting it on it's lowest rated night as it did with Whedon's acclaimed show Firefly. The lead in will be Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles which wouldn't be terrible if this were last January, but Terminator's ratings have dropped off by a third this season. The trailer appeared today on Sci Fi.com's Sci-Fi Wire:
Finally, it appears. Kevin Smith's Batman 3 part miniseries Batman: Cacophony seems to be finally becoming a reality, or at least the first 6 pages are. Check 'em out at MySpace.
In shows I can't stop watching news:
"A fan site for Alexz Johnson has confirmed the Canadian pop singer and actress will play Saturn Girl in an upcoming episode of Smallville, written by Geoff Johns. The episode, titled “Legion,” also features Cosmic Boy and Lightning Lad. The three come from a future where Clark is the greatest hero.“Legion” is scheduled to air on Nov. 27 on The CW.
Wrapping up, in comic book stores today, A Tribute to Michael Turner came out. An 80 page $8.99 comic with benefits going to The American Cancer Society and The Make-A-Wish Foundation. On June 27th Mike Turner died of complications from chondrosarcoma a bone cancer that attacks cartilage. He was only 37 years old. Mike had already had a surgery to remove a tumor in March of 2000. It cost him 4 lbs. of bone from his right hip. Before this, besides being a comic book artist, Mike was a competion level water skiier and 3rd level red sash martial arts instructor.
In 1995 Mike became co-creator on Top Cow Comic'sWitchblade. A few months earlier in 1995 I had started managing a comic book store and selling original comic art. One of the owners, Phillip, arranged for comics legend Bernie Wrightson to come in and do a signing on Saturday. Now, Phillip was in Dallas because there was a teeny tiny convention up there that he was selling art at. He was driving back to Austin to pick up Bernie after the signing and take him up to Dallas to sit at our table and sign there for the Sunday part of the convention. This left me in charge of the signing. I had never met Bernie, nor organised a signing before, nor taken care of a "Legend's" ego. Shockingly, the signing came off without a hitch. To reward me Phillip decided to take me to Dallas with Bernie for my first convention.
We arrived at the hotel and got up at 6 AM for the show (okay Bernie got up at 11). I was underwhelmed to say the least when we got there. The convention "hall" was half the size of my high school basketball gym. Bernie was the only artist in sight and there were more dealers than fans there. We suffered through most of the day hardly making enough money to pay for our hotel rooms when Phillip tells me to take a break. I had brought along my sketch book from the previous day so that Bernie could finish the sketch he started for me. Since he had tons of time he had finished it hours earlier, and since the rumour was that there were other artist there I decided to rome around with it. While going out to have a cigarrette I happened upon this young guy by the door. He was at a folding table saying hi and smiling at people as they came in. I didn't think anyone knew he was an artist because A) he was so young (24 at the time) and B) he was wearing a name tag that said, "Hi. My name is: Mike," and C)he was so friendly. I only noticed because he seemed out of place and I saw the pens and sketchbook.
I went out to have the cigarrette first, but stopped by his table when I came back in. I asked him what he had worked on since he was only 3 years older than me, and he told me that he was the penciller on Witchblade...had I seen it? Seen it? Seen it??? I pimped that book so hard when it had come out we had to reorder it 3 times. I was completely blown away by the art in it. Was there any chance he was doing sketches? He give me a huge smile and said, "yeah, I'm supposed to be, but you're the first guy to ask me in the 3 hours I've been here. "I was gonna try and charge people $20 per sketch, but I'm so glad to be doing one that yours is free." I told him that no, this was my first show, but I knew that this was how they made spare money. He wouldn't take it. We argued nicely for a few minutes before he said, "Let me do the sketch. If you like it, you can pay me." He opens my book and since I had just bought it the week before, Bernie's sketch is the first one. "When did you meet Bernie Wrightson??" "Yesterday when he did a signing at the store I manage. We drove up here together. He's at my table sketching and signing stuff." Mike flipped. He was so excited. He asked if I would introduce him. It was so funny because he was so serious about it. I told him that it wasn't a problem and we went over.
After the show was over and Mike had finished my sketch (he never did take my $20) we all went to dinner. Just my boss Phillip, Bernie Wrightson, Mike Turner and me. No matter how bad the convention was I'll never forget it, and I'll never forget meeting Mike Turner. He was such a down to earth genuine person. Reading the remembrances from his friends, apparently that held true his entire life.
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To use the Vac-Bed, place your bondage partner inside and check to see that they can breathe safely thru the breathing hole. (We recommend using a hollow gag so that there is no chance of the breathing hole slipping and restricting the flow of air.) Close the zipper that runs along the side of the Vac-Bed, and make sure that your bondage buddy is comfortable before attaching the vacuum cleaner to the connector at the bottom. The 1½” PVC connector will fit most household vacuum cleaners. 
