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OSJ

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Everything posted by OSJ

  1. Many years ago when in high school there was this long-ass staircase that one had to walk down to get to the beach in Seattle (if you're from the area and I say "Golden Gardens" you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. Anyway, considering it was like 80-90 some stairs to troop down to reach the switch-back trail going the rest of the way, the end of the stairs was the perfect place to fire up a bowl or two. There was a little concrete landing with a metal garbage can, quite handy to bring a six-pack and be eco-friendly. Then for odd reason, some overly-officious Park Dept. employee had taken the initiative to chain the garbage can to the metal hand-railing of the stairs and paint in as close an approximation of Century Bold as they could get on the side of the garbage can "DO NOT REMOVE CAN". Yes, the nimrod actually underlined REMOVE. Now we would never in a million years have thought of removing the garbage can. It wasn't bothering us and was rather a convenience. This was years before the Internetz, but then as now all caps means you are YELLING, well if you are stupid enough to yell at a quite possibly drug/alcohol impaired Irishman in absentia (thus depriving him of a chance to yell back.) So failing that, he must respond in another manner... You can bet your bottom dollar that we twisted that thing until the chain broke and tossed the can off the nearby bluff. Seemed like a good idea at the time...
  2. He has the "Fuck you, feed me!" look down pat. I assume that he ignored the other neighborhood cats because they were just vanilla midgets that couldn't take his spot.
  3. Things I enjoy Jericho talking about: 1. Wrestling 2. Uhhh... give me a minute here... Things I don't enjoy Jericho talking about: 1. Trump 2. MAGA 3. His shitty band 4. His generally shitty taste in music 5. Anything else
  4. Photo to come later, but having sold off my personal set of the first 18 Axolotl Press books (red-leather bound contributor copies) and the dozen Silver Salamander Press leather-bound Copy #1 of 50 bound thusly for a cool $10K, it is time to reorganize the office. Now that I've emptied half a shelving unit, I will move the Masters of Science Fiction series (my own personal imprint at Centipede Press) and the relevant volumes of Masters of the Weird Tale to the currently empty shelves. Soon to be filled with: Fritz Leiber - MOSF Fritz Leiber - MOTWT (2 Volumes) Richard Wilson - MOSF Kate Wilhelm - MOSF (2 Volumes) Jack Dann - MOSF Lisa Tuttle - MOTWT Ramsey Campbell - MOTWT (2 Volumes) Frank Belknap Long - MOTWT Frank Belknap Long - MOSF David Case - MOTWT George Zebrowski - MOSF Silvia Moreno-Garcia - MOTWT Carl Jacobi - MOTWT Robert Sheckley - MOOSF Albert Cowdrey - MOSF Damn, I didn't realize that I'd done so many books... ? Also found the display case that I had made for my custom action figures, they don't all fit, so I'm leaving the MLJ and Fawcett figures in the bedroom. What I have on this unit: Top of unit: Bushmaster, Scorpion, Death Adder (all custom guys with long tails) Red Skull (skinny guy sans tail, group needs a mastermind) Top Row in Case: Whirlwind, Original Powerman, Unicorn, Basilisk (all custom), Spymaster (for some reason I think he's custom, but sure looks factory to me. Lastly Blizzard, factory. Second Row Masters of Evil sans Zemo: Black Knight, Executioner, Enchantress, Radioactive Man, Melter (all custom) Third Row: Tiger Shark, Red Guardian (male), Batroc, Scarecrow, Original Plant-Man (all custom, Tiger Shark thoughtfully reflects 7ft height. Bottom Row Grim Reaper not sure as to origin), Living Laser (original) Speed Demon, Kang (factory), Daiken, (custom), and finally; Zemo (custom) No room for Eel, Klaw, (both factory). Need to replace Blackout and Cobra both are pretty feeble characters, but look cool as fuck, both figures severely damaged by Spike and Arya dragging them off the shelf and chewing on them. I have most of the male figures in the Serpent Society, but they are strategically placed throughout the ofice. Anyway, got to finish an introduction, then time for some photos.
  5. Good Lord! Tenryu had entire YEARS post-50 where he didn't have anything less than *** matches. Then of course, our favorite Alabama Junior Heavyweight Champion, Mike Jackson is still pretty spry at 72.
  6. I'm Irish as fuck and I can't stand the sonofabitch. He needs to be repeatedly fisted by Jimmy Saville.
  7. Think that this may have been the point where most fans started to realize that Conor was missing at least the bubble & squeak from his full breakfast. Maybe missing the black pudding too...
  8. I'll have to admit that the whole Jocasta concept left me flat, as did Sleepwalker for that matter.
  9. Good call! Songbird's evolution from Screaming Mimi is one of the better face turns in comics. I don't particularly like what they did with the Destroyer, but at least they did provide a logical arc to the character. I missed the issue, but I'm given to understand that there was a Captain America issue that dwelt on the Angel in retirement. Granted, the character's name was usurped by Warren Worthington, but for such a prolific character you would think he'd have merited a bigger send-off. I could be wrong, but in terms of GA appearances I think that after the big three, (Torch, Namor, & Cap) you have the Angel, Vision, & the Destroyer as your next tier. Obviously, only the Vision was really pushed in the modern era. In fact, it would be fair to say that the modern incarnation of the Vision was by far more significant a character than his GA counterpart who was a popular back-up strip. Popular, yes; but still a back-up feature which meant 6-8 page stories, heavy on the action and light on the plotting or character development. It's rather amusing that the era that wound up being called "the Golden Age" was, for the most part, utter shit. Simple-minded plotting, ghastly crude artwork for the most part. For all the accolades tossed around Simon & Kirby, the reality is that 1940s Jack Kirby doesn't even begin to come close to 1960s Jack Kirby. After all, the man had twenty years to hone his craft and he certainly spent his time well growing as an artist. There are only a few cases where we get to see an artist's growth over a period of twenty-thirty years. I think you could have a pretty good career study of Joe Kubert, Gil Kane, and perhaps Carmine Infantino, though in all three cases you would be looking at a ten-twenty year career as opposed to the twenty-thirty year career that we got to observe with Kirby. Certainly we need to look at Steve Ditko and John Romita as major influences, though it is really somewhat shocking to see how short Ditko's actual career was... Nor was Romita's career much longer in comparison...
  10. Interesting... We're usually pretty close on this stuff, but there's a few spots that I'd debate... As an example, Asuka, even the de-fanged version we have in WWE is still top-5 in the world. Either you're seeing something that I'm missing completely in Himeka, or I'm giving her opponents too much credit. She has a bunch of nice matches with Takase, (both as a partner and as an opponent), but I'd make the point that it's pretty hard to NOT have a good match with Takase, she's just one of those people who makes everyone around her better. That said, I have nothing but respect for a woman who proudly carries the nickname of "Jumbo". Still, I think she's sort of the Sting of modern joshi; in that it is to say no better or worse than whoever she's working with. Eminently carriable, but not at the point of taking the ring general role herself (close, but not quite there yet). I was going to say that the lovely and talented Dr. Baker should be higher, but there are legit reasons to rank her behind Ryo and Giulia. On the other hand, I think you've got Utami taking the spot that belongs to Asuka, which would then leave the #8 spot open for Thunder Rosa, who has been quite impressive of late. I don't know what to make of Maki Ito, it just seems like there's something missing that I can't quite articulate what it is. Maybe I need to watch more of her work. You really need to make room for Abadon, if I had to make a major change it would probably be bumping Arisa off the list entirely. Maybe I'm being cranky but not only do I think that Nakajima is way too high at #5, I'd be inclined to say that she doesn't really belong in the top ten at all. I think there are several ladies who are better representatives of the sport than Maki Ito or Queen Amanita.
  11. Tentacles is best viewed while eating a big ol' plate of calamari! Just as Jaws is a great dinner movie with shark steaks as the main course. (Shark steaks aren't really all that and a bag of chips, but I'm real big on eating things that would (given the chance) eat you.) How is it possible that I've never seen SHARKTOPUS VS. WOLFWHALE~? And why is it that no one has thought to make a film with giant moray eels running amok? I mean they're rather hideous and surly creatures from the get-go, doesn't take too much imagination to kick the nastiness up to the next level. Also, what about a giant hellbender raising a ruckus in the Great Lakes? Maybe that's what really happened to the Edmund Fitzgerald...
  12. ^This. In a sport where assholes abound, both of these guys are so damn likable that you could see yourself chatting with either at the local and having a fine time. It could easily go either way, I don't see Stipe making the same sort of mistake that Overeem did. (Let's face it, 'Reem is notorious for leaving himself open for shots like that.) If Francis can land a bomb early in Rd 1 he should take it, the longer the fight goes the more the balance tips to Stipe.
  13. Ah, Japan George... Somewhere I still have a poster of a blood-soaked and tearful Onita showing off his fighting spirit in a burning ring where he has just defeated Mr. Pogo. I think George talked me into spending $40 for the thing. I don't even want to think about how much I overspent on VHS tapes of FMW from him. ? Good times!
  14. I nominate the Blazing Skull. Great backstory, covers the time between WWII and present day with no potential conflicts. Character is portrayed as borderline batshit insane with an interesting back-up power to his super strength (which hasn't been clearly defined), we know he's super-strong, but like Spiderman, we aren't sure just how strong that is. The back-up power of being impervious to flame is certainly a useful one and rather unique. So why isn't more done with the character? I don't know, definitely one of the Golden Age heroes that a good deal more could be done with. He's certainly got a lot more potential than someone like the Challenger or the Thunderer (for those unfamiliar with the latter, his gimmick was a portable microphone which was useful in startling the evil-doers; so uh, yeah... He pretty much terrified criminals by yelling at them...) But I digress... Whether brought back only to be written out or "retired" (the Angel), mis-used (the Destroyer), re-imagined (the Jim Hammond version of the Human Torch), most of the Timely Comics characters have been dealt with fairly effectively, even those with ridiculously limited potential (Mister E, the Phantom Reporter, the Witness, etc.), but the Blazing Skull has been brought into modern continuity only to be seemingly forgotten by the current crop of writers. Thoughts?
  15. Another Portland boy who made good! There were always EMTs present when he wrestled in Seattle or Portland in case his opponent needed immediate attention after the dreaded heart punch. Stasiak didn't do much, but he did have that heart punch shit down to a fine art form. In the Northwest the measure of a heel's effectiveness was whether or not the grannies in the front row would try and stab said heel with a hat-pin. Stasiak often resembled a veritable pin-cushion on his way out of the ring via the wrestlers' exit. To this day I'm not sure which was the better place to view matches the Portland Rose Garden or Seattle's Masonic Temple, both were delightfully sleazy.
  16. Of course it is, any song that references the great Fritz Leiber ("The Girl with the Hungry Eyes") automatically gets extra coolness points!
  17. A pet peeve of mine in regard to Triton has always been that if your whole thing is based on doing stuff underwater, why would you wear boots?
  18. I know what offends me, but that isn't the issue. The issue is where does the line get drawn? Do we eliminate all footage of Gorgeous George, even though that was late 1940s-1950s TV. By all means, without context his gimmick is offensive as hell. Where will people stand on Adrian Street's character (semi-effeminate ass-kicker)? I don't honestly know where the line should be, but I do know portraying a black man of Nigerian descent wandering around with a spear is about as offensive as anything I've seen on television in the last decade.
  19. Sweet tap-dancing Jeebus! How is this shit even possible in 2021? That's like something out of a 1940s Warner Bros. cartoon. Does VKM really think that modern day Nigerians walk around carrying spears? I tuned out of WWE about the time of the first Saudi tour, so I had no idea that this shit was going on. I know Crews likes getting a paycheck, but this is just beyond awful.
  20. Let me expound just a bit as One Who Was There (isn't that how Stan would have written it?)... Anyway, first issue of Conan the Barbarian hits and we all bought a copy (after all, you always buy the first issue of something even if it looks like crap it will be good trade bait later). We didn't really know what to make of this, the art on everything but the lead character was amazing, but Conan himself just looked a bit, (how should I say this?) a bit, well... too pretty for a barbarian thief. Remember, the 1960s saw the greatest boom in sword and sorcery that we've ever seen. With the exception of the Gray Mouser and Moorcock's doomed heroes, we expected characters that looked like they were painted by Frank Frazetta or Jeff Jones imitating Frazetta. So we didn't know what to make of Barry Smith's version, then issue two with the beastmen came out and boy oh boy did that suck. Roy Thomas did well to avoid conventions the month that came out, he might very well have been lynched. Then we had issue #3 and the loose adaptation of "The Grey God Passes", this hit the like column on every possible level and it was nothing but a warm-up for what came next. #4 featured the "Tower of the Elephant", which may just be the best Conan story ever written and it was as faithful an adaptation of source material as comic books have ever seen. Conan was off and running then with Savage Tales to soon follow...
  21. You really had to be there... We Robert E. Howard fans had been conditioned by years of Frank Frazetta covers on the Conan paperbacks and let's face it, Barry Windsor-Smith is about as un-Frazettalike as you can get. By the time we used to Smith's interpretation of the character (and the fact that everything else he drew in the book was stunning), they switched to John Buscema, who is now considered one of the greats but back in the day got lots of criticism for his horrible anatomy work (putting muscles where people don't have muscles, that sort of thing, if you want a stellar example, check the cover of Sub-Mariner #2, where Namor and Triton look just ridiculous). Anyway, that's sort of a nutshell of the mentality of fans back then.
  22. For Jefferson Starship to ignore things when a billionaire is trying to throw them a bone is like the most Starship thing ever. What a bunch of absolute tools. To think that abortion of a group has its roots in Jefferson Airplane boggles the mind. Take that city that you babble about in that awful song and put it where the sun don't shine.
  23. I'm not a marijuana user (with a scrip for 80mg of oxy per day wtf do I need with pot? haha), but that we don't have it legalized on a national basis is a joke. Let's face it, when New Jersey of all places is taking the lead on something that means the rest of the country is painfully out of step. Now if NY comes around, that's a big indicator that the rest of the country will follow suit. As I'm sure Dolfan knows, we all secretly want to be New Yorkers, being able to smoke pot legally and make jokes about Andrew Cuomo are just added bennies.
  24. I have a new favorite fighter. That looks like my office. He just needs a few hundred books and more robots and he'll have it down.
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