T-shirt #140: Mage: Joe Phat

T-shirt #140: Mage: Joe Phat: More Grading Robot

This shirt is not a modified replica of a uniform. This is the actual shirt in terms style, cut, and design as worn by the character Joe Phat in the comic book Mage: The Hero Defined, the second series of stories about Kevin Matchstick and his companions begun by Matt Wagner in 1984 and published by Comico. Wagner returned to the world of Mage in 1997 for a second run of issues, The Hero Defined, this time from Image Comics.


This is my second Joe Phat T-shirt.






My first Joe Phat shirt had a hole punched in it. Dissatisfied with this turn of events, I bought another. The original Joe Phat shirt with its hole will surely come up for its own feature some day when I am under the work gun as I am today and need a quickie.

Joe Phat is an avatar of various Native American characters/identities, such as the Coyote and the Raven. There's a great explanation of Joe Phat, via this link to the Comic Vine page. The Mage Wikipedia page is underwhelming, but it does provide some basics. Joe Phat is loosely based on a friend and colleague of Matt Wagner's, comic creator Joe Matt.

I woke up this morning with the thought in my head that this should be the shirt of the day. Originally, I had another shirt planned. But, today, Grading Robot, my alter ego, must channel the essence of Joe Phat. I have to be FAST. I have to be dedicated and disciplined. I have to persevere and overcome and triumph.

I am also going to the county fair with my dad.

And I was going to have a haircut but I needed to save work time, so I am re-scheduling.

Grading Robot must run at full power today.



The Mage books are very good, though as much as I like them, if I am going to recommend comics to a non-comics reader, or even recommend comics to a comics reader who doesn't know the stuff  that I am recommending, Mage would not make the top ten (though it might make the top twenty). Books like Optic Nerve, Concrete, The Tale of One Bad Rat, Strangers in Paradise, Bone, Fables, Y the Last Man, and a few others are the first things to come to mind outside the mainstream.


I have at least two other shirts that will give me a chance to share about Kevin Matchstick and the Mage stories. For now, Grading Robot must cycle up to full velocity and break the quantum barrier between this world and the next.

Have a good day!

- chris tower - 1308.08 - 8:56

PS: I could not stay awake last night as I was reading comic books and listening to the Detroit Tigers game on the radio. When Rondon gave up a run in the bottom of the eighth to make it 4-4, I had to go to sleep. I woke a little after midnight and checked my tablet to see through bleary eyes that the Tigers had won 6-5. I slept happily after seeing that and yet I was not sure of it. I had to check again this morning to make sure I had not dreamed that I had seen a winning score and the eleventh straight, consecutive victory for my favorite. It's a good day to be a Detroit Tigers fan.

PPS: Two covers and a page of interior art to inspire those who do not know the comics that are Mage.

T-shirt #139: KUDL-KUSS-WHITE

T-shirt #139: KUDL-KUSS-WHITE

Hello and welcome to my blog. If this is your first time here, please check out the explanatory nonesuch in yellow directly above as well as the handy lists and fun things along the right side.

Today, I am being a bit self-serving, but this work is for a good cause.






As a league, Kalamazoo Ultimate Disc League, KUDL, is selling left over shirts at bargain prices ($5). I have had many requests for shirts. What sizes? What colors? What fabric? From what years?

Instead of posting the list to Facebook, I thought it would be fun (and self-serving) to direct people here. I can also edit the list shown here as people reserve and/or buy shirts.

I have featured all the KUDL and KUSS years of shirts here on the blog before. To view the different designs, simply go to the labels list on the right. Scroll down to KUDL. Open the KUDL label link in a new tab/window. The smart Blogger program will then sort all of my entries and show you just the ones pertaining to KUDL. You will have to scroll through a lot my stuff (which is sort of the point and the self-serving part) (you should be amused by this self-serving part), and when you get through the first set of posts, you will have to click OLDER POSTS to see more.

Today's shirt is the one most sought after by many players: the vintage KUSS shirt from the league's first year in 2006. These shirts are rare. There are other whites in XL, but I did snag the one seen here and paid my five dollars.

FUTURE SHIRTS!
Two things.

1. SHIRTS FOR FALL 2013: If you're in our Facebook group, you may have seen our ongoing discussion about special edition shirts for Fall in any color, short and/or long-sleeve featuring the original bear with the racing stripes design of 2007 (which seems to be the consensus choice). If this is popular, we may do it every year. We're waiting on prices (I will update this text here when I know more), and we are working on two ways to pay (one when you register for fall and another for people not registering for fall).

2. DESIGNS: We are always open to ideas for our next year's design, and though we have a designer who has done great work for us, we are open to consider other designers. So, if you have an idea or are a designer (or both), feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of the page. Thanks!

Anyway, here's the list. Thanks for reading. If you're visiting my blog for the first time, look around. If you find what I am doing overwhelming, I am sensitive to this issue, but I do appreciate you stopping by.

THE SHIRTS AVAILABLE LIST
Letters after color refer to size. All sizes are men's cuts unless noted.

KUDL players. Simply leave a comment for me on this blog page (at the bottom) to reserve a shirt. I will confirm with a return comment that should produce a return email if you add your email when you comment. No comment; no reservation; no confirmation email/comment.

KUSS SHIRTS -2006 (cotton)
Purple = M, M, S
White = XL, XL

KUDL SHIRTS - 2007 (cotton) bear with racing stripe
Green = (youth large), L, XL
Light Blue = M, L, L, XL

KUDL SHIRTS 2009 (cotton) Dancing Bears
Navy Blue = Women's: M, M
Men's = L, L

KUDL SHIRTS 2013 (A4 MATERIAL)
Light Blue = L
Red = S, M
White = XS, XS, M, M
Pink = S, L
Royal Blue = XS, XS, XS
Silver = XS, M, M

That's all....

$5. Cash preferred. I will have the shirts with me at Saturday's Tournament (Aug. 11). I am taking reservations as explained above.

Thank you for your time.

- chris tower - 1307.07 - 9:05

T-shirt #138: Classic Starman

T-shirt #138: Classic Starman

There are so many things to do in this world.
There are so many things to read, to watch, to take in via the ears.

Not like "back in the day."

Back then, there were only three TV stations if your family lived in a good area and had a decent TV. Some people lived in burgeoning metropolitan centers and had access to maybe five TV stations.

Books came from the library more often than from the bookstore. And the Internet?
What's the Internet? Is this something invented by Stark Industries or Advanced Idea Mechanics in Marvel Comics?

Had you told my eleven year old self in the weird year of 1971 that in 40 years I would be creating and publishing a daily journal dedicated to reviewing these past experiences with popular culture and other issues around our identity, our own process of individuation, and that I would be publishing this daily log on a vast computer network used by billions of people every day, I would not have been able to understand you.


Okay, no. Strike that. I was a reader of science fiction, comic books, and an avid viewer of Star Trek, The Time Tunnel, and Dark Shadows all of which featured time travel and some of which featured computers. So, yeah, I would understand you. But I would have been blown away nevertheless.

And I know many of you would agree with me. Even those younger than me, born after the invention of the early Internet (ARPANET - 1971), but before the true proliferation of the Internet among the public at large (commercialized in 1995) may connect to what I am saying and may have similar experiences.

The world was so much smaller then. Bigger is not necessarily better.
In fact, people want to make the world smaller. Smaller is easier to deal with. Bigger is overwhelming.

Even this blog, at times, feels overwhelming. There's so much to say, so much to share, which is why I often write WAY too much. I am trying to get it all in and share with you during your one stop to my page as I always assume is the most common reader, though I know some are visiting more often, and I am humbled by your kind attention. I will try to make your time spent here worthwhile. So I am working to be more focused and less diffused. Long jams that go on for thirty minutes in concerts may inspire some people, but in our fats paced and short attention span culture, sometimes, even 100 words seems like a burden let alone over 3000 words. One of the recent blog entries I am most proud of is T-shirt #128, which clocks in at 3140 words. I just had a nice conversation about that one with my friend Andy "Big" Momotiuk. Thanks Big Andy!

What's my point? I am promising a bit more focus and spacing out the big essays with shorter posts. I suspect today is sort of medium-sized.

The long term exploration here will be in the subject of how the world is different today. I know it's obvious that the world is different, but I am interesting in exploring how this works for how identity shaped by popular culture works. Back in the day, I watched a lot of crap or read some crap simply because there was nothing else to read or watch. My choices were limited. Do I love a show like Gilligan's Island because it was very good or because I had little choice but to watch it if I wanted to watch something because it was on every day.

So, today is dedicated to a quick little round up of a half dozen things of interest, all of which are things to read.

But first, two quick comments.

1. Today's shirt is the Classic Starman (Ted Knight circa 1941). I am ashamed to say that I had thought the shirt was Kurt Busiek's Samaritan from Astro City (great comic). But when I searched images online, no, actually this is the original Starman. I am not exploring the subject of Starman today. DC has put the character through many iterations, but the comic by James Robinson and Tony Harris that ran from 1994 to 2001 featuring Jack Knight was some DC's best recent stuff. I actually own a shirt from the Robinson/Harris comic and a watch, so I can devote more text to this great comic then. For now, on to other subjects.

2. Valiant in Yahoo news??  UNITY ARTICLE. I spend mornings on Yahoo going through sports stuff. Sometimes I look at other things. The other day, glancing at Yahoo's entertainment news feed, there was an article about Joss Whedon's SHIELD TV show (because Yahoo is now linked with ABC news) , something about Miley Cyrus, and this article about a new Valiant comic.

VALIANT? I consider myself a big comic geek, but even I cannot read everything. I read Valiant books when Jim Shooter launched them in 1989-1990, but then I lost interest and did not return when the company rebooted in 2005.

But here's the puzzling thing: there were THREE stories in the feed from Yahoo and one was about Valiant. Is this because the vast social media network knows I like comics and the feed is tailored OR is it just that even the smaller comic companies are making big news now that Comic Con is one of the biggest entertainment events of the year (up there with the Oscars and the Emmy's for media attention).

Review OPTIC NERVE #13

Drawn and Quarterly Blog announces OPTIC NERVE #13

I wrote about Optic Nerve in T-shirt #98.

I have been raving in my local comic shop (Fanfare) about Adrian Tomine and Optic Nerve.  And then the issue comes out and the style is much than some of the more realistic panels and pages I posted when I did the send up in #98. Still, despite Tomine's more cartoony work for this issue, the story is just as strong as the other work (mostly to be found in collected editions).

"Go Owls," the main story of issue 13, is described on the D&Q blog as  "a dark comedy about 12-step programs, drug dealing, and minor league baseball."

The story is just as strong as Tomine's other efforts. The art appears ultra cartoony but has great depth and nuance. Tomine also takes guff from readers who want to see his work on the Internet in digital form as seen in this panel included here.

So far this book is only available in paper form either for shipping from a comic vendor online or from your favorite local shop assuming they ordered some copies. It's $5.95, but it's well worth the cost for such a rich and complex story that features no super-heroes at all.

Because all these comics do not have to be about super-heroes or fantastic things, right?

Review of Lazarus

Another fantastic comic book that I want to recommend by singing its praises is Lazarus by Rucka and Lark.

I know I say that I am "a huge fan" of some thing quite often, but I really am a huge fan of Gotham Central from DC (2003-2006) that featured the last pairing of Rucka and Lark (and Ed Brubaker co-wrote the series with Rucka).

Image has been hitting it out of the park lately with some of the best comics in the business. I cannot possibly read everything being published even from the major companies, but I have added several excellent Image books to monthly orders, including Mind the Gap, Saga, Mara, Clone, Great Pacific, America's Got Powers, Satellite Sam, Fatale, Ten Grand, Jupiter's Legacy, and now, also, Lazarus.

Lazarus is a great near future thriller about a world in which the wealth is even more consolidated in the hands of a very, very few. Here's the preface blurb: "The world now lies divided not amongst political or geographical boundaries but amongst financial ones. Wealth is power, and that power rests with only a handful of FAMILIES. The few who provide a service for their ruling Family are cared for. All others are waste. In each Family, there is one person given the best they can offer, training and technology and assets, every scientific advantage. This person is named their Family's sword and shield, their protector, their LAZARUS. In the Family Carlyle, the LAZARUS is called Forever. This is her story."

The first issue told a compelling story, only providing enough background on this new world to aid the immediate set of scenes. The same style of storytelling (less background, more direct mimesis) held true in the second issue. The first issue did come with a long afterword written by Rucka explaining how the book came to be; the second issue contained more letters but a short newsy bit on how current tech predicts what is being shown in LAZARUS.

Some of the vital stats help put the book into perspective along with startling imagery by Lark:
Los Angeles, Family: Carlyle
Population [Family]: 3 (2 permanent)
[Serf]: 322,274
[Waste]: 2,874,500 (estimated)

As an extrapolation of our current state of affairs, Lazarus is even more compelling, thought-provoking,. and worthy of discussion. Possibly Image is proving itself capable of better work than any of the other big name companies. This book is well worth your time.

Comic Book Resources on Lazarus

"Ultimately, Rucka wanted to emphasize that while "Lazarus" is a book set in a new and different world, the story really boils down to character.

"Look," Rucka said, "I don't like books that are polemics and I don't like reading something that feels like I'm being lectured to," Rucka said. "We talked about the economic divide and things like that, but the fact is, this is an adventure story, this is a story about a woman, it's about Forever Carlyle. Everything else is backdrop. Just the opportunity to do this story the way we want, how we want, man, I love it. I'm so excited. I'm so excited that we finally get to show people what we've been working on for so long. i really hope folks will dig it, I really do. I think Michael has done some of the best work of his career on issue one certainly and I am having a blast. That's what I've got to offer'"(Comic Book Resources on Lazarus, 2013).

BLEEDING COOL ON LAZARUS

"Lazarus by Greg Rucka and Michael Lark is (by the author’s own admission) “hard sci-fi” but it’s also as frightening as it is exciting. Frightening like the fear that comes with knowledge, the more you learn the more you know and the more you know the more you fear. Knowledge may be power but it’s also goddamn unsettling" (BLEEDING COOL ON LAZARUS, 2013).

DAMN Good Comics: Charles Skaggs on Lazarus
SPOILER ALERT! Don't read the next quote if you want to avoid it.

"This first issue opens with a demonstration of said resurrection ability as Forever is shot three times and left for dead, only to rise a minute or two later and swiftly kill all three of her attackers.  As Forever relays the details of what happened to her doctor James, we get our first glimpse inside her head with hints that she isn't entirely satisfied being her Family's protector against people who are only looking for something to eat" (DAMN Good Comics: Charles Skaggs on Lazarus, 2013).

Review of Ocean at the End of the Lane

REVIEW FROM GOODREADS: Simple truths: Neil Gaiman is an excellent writer. Neil Gaiman's books are always excellent and enjoyable. I am giving this book five stars simply because I cannot give it 4.5 stars. It's excellent and well worth reading. But I am suffering from symptoms of wanting something more. Like _The Graveyard Book_, this story is entertaining and chimerical. Gaiman is smart enough to leave much of the explanations to our imaginations, which is a wonderful technique to increase my enjoyment of the book. But I want something into which I can sink my teeth all the way, something like _American Gods_, and so news that he is writing a sequel to coincide with the projected six-season HBO show is more exciting to me than this book as excellent as it is. If you want to give it a try, do the audio. Neil Himself (his Twitter handle) narrates, and it is an excellent way to read the book, much like his wife's experience, for whom he wrote the book, and to whom he read each day's pages in bed before sleep. I recommend a similar method of ingesting this story.

KamerTunes Blog

I found this other blogger doing something similar to what I am doing. Instead of working his way through his T-shirt collection, he is working his way through his music collection, tackling one musical artist[s] at a time.

I made the header above the link.

Right now, Rich Kamerman is touring through XTC with very lengthy essays on each album and the tracks of each album. It's well worth reading if you like XTC and pop music in general. Recently, he also toured through Alice Cooper, Neil Young, and PJ Harvey.

Check out his blog!

GUN MACHINE by Warren Ellis (and the DEAD PIG COLLECTOR)


My Gun Machine review from GOODREADS: SPOILER ALERT!! Do not read my review if you intend to read this book. Finished! I wanted to give this book five stars. I really did. I am a big fan of Warren Ellis' work. He is a big part of my daily life. I receive his Twitters. I follow his web site. I get his Gun Machine emails. I read and have read pretty much everything he's done. This book is a great read. It's fast paced, clever, intriguing, and well written. The characters are vivid. The situations are realistic. The premise is imaginative and quite puzzling. Ellis unfolds the story with great pacing and elegant design.

Two aspects held back my fifth star. His use of figurative language is at times a bit over-wrought, and this is coming from Mr. Gorpy Baroque himself. But sometimes, Ellis' figurative word play just doesn't work. It reads like he's trying too hard. Some of these tropes work in Twitter messages. In prose, not so much.

But it's really the ending that held back the fifth star. As I was about twenty pages from the end, I wondered how he could possibly wrap up all these loose ends in so few pages. Well, he didn't completely wrap them all to my satisfaction (not the caveat: "my satisfaction") and the whole ending plays out in a very hasty way. The trap the main character, Tallow, lays for the antagonist, The Hunter, is a good one and that plays well, but the rest is too rushed and disappointing given the slow build-up of the investigation. But the crown to the disappointment tree came with the easy explanation of the gun machine, given by the villain no less, after coming back to himself after being pumped full of anti-psychotic drugs. It reads like an after thought and is very anti-climactic after the 280 pages of build up. Knowing that Ellis was writing to a set maximum (perhaps set by the publisher) because I watched him work toward it daily (and complain about it), I may be biased into thinking the ending is rushed. But then again, I think I could make the argument with anyone that the book could have benefited from at least another 25 pages and possibly a few more.

Still, I loved it. I love Ellis' work. The book deserves its accolades. The book deserves to be read. If you read this far, I hope I have not spoiled it all too much.

Diegesis-Mimesis: DESIGN FICTION

The other night in bed I was reading the links I posted the other day about Ellis and his recent story Dead Pig Collector.

Warren Ellis Talks About His New Novella And Living In A Science Fiction Present

'Dead Pig Collector': Eight Questions With Author Warren Ellis [INTERVIEW]

In the Forbes interview, Ellis mentions "Design Fiction," which is a new art form championed by Bruce Sterling, which led me to a posting on SLATE:

Sci-Fi Writer Bruce Sterling Explains the Intriguing New Concept of Design Fiction

In turn that article led me to explore diegesis and mimesis in relation to Design Fiction. More products of this thought process to come. Meanwhile, if you are interested, check out the Slate article and the cool article because as Ellis mentioned some of the most intriguing fiction work today is being done in Design Fiction video.

- chris tower - 1308.06 - time

T-shirt #137: KUDL - KUSS - Purple -2006

T-shirt #137: KUDL - KUSS - Purple - 2006

I questioned the wisdom of presenting another KUDL shirt for the third day in a row. But it is KUDL Monday, and it's a very special Monday. Today, August 5th, marks the last Monday of the KUDL 2013 summer season.

Also, tonight we will host the first two games of our 2013 tournament, playing the rest of the games on Saturday, August 10th.

So far in the history of this blog, I have featured 14 KUDL shirts or Ultimate shirts with KUDL related photos. I have featured shirts from every year of KUDL (2007-2013), except the very first year, when we were called KUSS: Kalamazoo Ultimate Summer Syndicate (2006).

I drafted what I thought was a rocking and awesome team, but somehow, through no my fault of my own (or at least that is my story), we did not win a single game. Not one. I do not remember too many more details of whether we played close games or how often we were blown out. I do not remember scores or statistics from our year of loss. But I do have some nifty photos. And in keeping with the short and fun posts, I present another series of photos. Don't say that I did not warn you.

From KUSS costume night with Ed Kenny

From KUSS costume night: team captains (Ryan Kircher not pictured)
L-R: me, Ed Kenny, Kent Elliott, Matt Frayer, and Dan Lipson

Bobby Frantz and Miah Newhouse

L-R: Miah, Van, me, Touchdown Jesus, Tiffany Gleason, Hari Johnson,
Melissa McKim, Stu Gulliver, Bobby Frantz, and ...? I forget

L-R: Hari, TDJ Walters, Van, Craig Schram, Miah, Lanny Potts, mem Stu, ??, ??, Dave Schram

Greg "Van" Isom happy with his award

Watching the KUSS finals and keeping score
Me, Ali Almadari, Van, Ryan TDJ Walters

Team Purple cheers to lift its spirits before another loss.

- chris tower - 1308.05 - 9:37

T-shirt #136: KUDL 2013: Pink

T-shirt #136: KUDL 2013: Pink

Still maintaining the time off time.

What you will find here are some photos of recent events with captions, and a few links of some good, recent blog things that have caught my attention. If you need something to read, check out some of these.

Photos to the right are actually two different photos with very subtle differences.

Today's shirt is the Pink KUDL 2013 shirt. I wanted to have pink as our team color this year but was beaten to it by Will Maddix and his color theft (as I like to tease him). The pink team won no games all season until they beat our Light Blue team by two points two weeks ago. Fitting and ironic.

LINKS


THE TROUBLE WITH TROLLS

WHAT'S IT LIKE TO BE HYPNOTIZED?

DC COMICS: THE NEW 52 AT TWO

THE "I FULLY EXPECT ABUSE" GAMBIT

HOW WOLVERINE'S CLAWS WORK

Warren Ellis on DEAD PIG COLLECTOR

Warren Ellis Talks About His New Novella And Living In A Science Fiction Present

'Dead Pig Collector': Eight Questions With Author Warren Ellis [INTERVIEW]

RECENT PHOTOS

Grading Robot rarely has a day off. A true day off. None of these days (Friday-Sunday, today) have been completely work free, but they have been more work free than usual. Today, Sunday, only a very little work needs to be done, and it is not the kind of work that will require powering up Grading Robot. The man-machine goes back online tomorrow (Monday).

In taking off as much time as possible from work and sort of taking off the weekend from the blog, I managed to attend Day Three of the Fab MagiCelebration in Colon, Michigan on Friday, and I rode about 20 miles of the Kal Haven Trail (about 10 out to Kendall and 10 back) with my friend Chris Dilley yesterday, Saturday. Two Bucket List items down.

BTW, there's a nice little old style general store right off the trail in Kendall. It's awesome. I recommend the ride to the general store and back. I should have taken a picture of the general store. Maybe next time.

Here's some photos (with comments and some captions)...

Here's me posing with this handsome bunny in front the Fab Magic Shop,
not to be confused with Abbott's.

This is Abbott's or MECCA for magicians.
It has not changed much in the last 30 some years.

Here's a beautiful depiction of what's happening in Colon:
Two different magic fests, two different companies,
two different weeks.

This all seems a bit silly that there are TWO different magical conventions and that this silliness has been going on for ten years as this was the 10th annual Fab MagiCelebration is all the more silly.

Silly, silly, SILLY. But it is more magic for people and more business into Colon, so it's not all bad.

For more, info: FAB MAGIC

and

ABBOTT'S MAGIC COMPANY
The Abbott's site has some You Tube clips and there's more on You Tube if you are interested.

ABBOTT'S GET TOGETHER - OFFICIAL SITE

ABBOTT'S GET TOGETHER - WIKIPEDIA

Find other Wiki links off the page above if interested.

Above you will see two different pictures, On the left, a very nice photo of Ivan and me taken by the helpful young man who showed us magic and sold us magic at Abbott's. This is an interior shot of Abbott's.
On the right is a poster display at the third magic shop in Colon: Sterlini, which is next door to Fab Magic on the main drag in Colon: State Street.



Close up of the Doug Henning costume from Broadway's The Magic Show. I did not ask if this is replica or the actual costume. Given its display and prominence, I suspect it may be the original, though there may have been more than one costume.

STERLINI MAGIC

I am going to include all the Amazing Billini pictures even though some are blurred. Even the blurred ones give the effect of the startling magic taking place in the Fab Magic Shop for the free magic show on Friday August 2nd 2013 during the Fab MagiCelebration.

This is funny. Apparently, there is an Amazing Billini in England that is different than this Amazing Billini featured here. The Amazing Billini featured here does not have a web presence that I could find.

Billini doing something amazing with tubes

Billini explaining his grandmother's spirit is
in the book he's holding. Why does that guy have such a big hat on
that blocks my view? ASSHAT!

Ye Olde milk jug trick, though a bit blurry. Probably because
of the asshat with the huge HAT!!
I almost asked him to remove his hat.

Billini did a good olde fashioned kid-centered magic show

Billini's Zombie illusion

Billini was very hot and had to wipe his head a lot
Not that he's doing that in this picture,
but I wanted to mention it.

Billini used many volunteers, which was nice to see.

Finale: Billini magically produced chocolates that he
threw to the audience

Here's some of the most impressive magic we saw Friday night.

Rings & Bowling Ball 2011

- Charlie Frye and Company

-chris tower - 1308.04 - 11:35

T-shirt #135: KUDL Yellow 2007

T-shirt #135: KUDL Yellow 2007

Welcome to Saturday.

For you, it's Saturday. For me, it's still Friday, and I am in the M&M Grill in Colon, Michigan using the free Wi Fi connection and killing time before the evening performance at the Fab MagiCelebration.

This is another of the many shirts I have from KUDL 2007. This one in yellow. It seemed like a good "day off" choice.

Today, today for you, which is Saturday, I am planning to teach two classes (my normal Saturday work routine), and then head off for an hour or so along the Kal-Haven Trail, and then turn around and come back. This is part of the "bucket list" of things I wanted to do before I have surgery on the 16th of August (so expect another blog break then).

But now, after learning what I have learned here in Colon, the thing I really wanted to attend is next week. Clearing two days from the work and family schedules in two consecutive weeks may not be possible. But there is always next year, except for this lingering feeling that my "normal life" will come to an end on the 16th with the surgery, which is not true, but that's how I feel.

But you know, I am keeping this one short. Day off and all that.

Check back tomorrow for pictures from yesterday at the MagiCelebration and today on the bike ride.

Viva la "time off!!"

POSTSCRIPT: I am typing this last bit on Saturday, back home. Being in Colon yesterday was like stepping back in time. After driving home last night, things felt different. The same familiar places around my house and even my house itself felt different. The feeling is starting to fade, but it was still strongly in force this morning as if I had taken a trip back in time. My body returned from the past first, but my consciousness still remained in the past and is returning to the present more slowly.

- chris tower - 1308.03 - 8:55

T-shirt #134: Explore the Secrets of Balloon Anatomy

T-shirt #134: Explore the Secrets of Balloon Anatomy

WE INTERRUPT THIS REGULARLY SCHEDULED BLOG FOR AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After a busy week, Grading Robot is powering down.

ALSO, the little man who runs Grading Robot from the inside is also taking a break.

Since I started this blog, I have realized that it is an EVERY DAY THING. Dedicating myself to 365 T-shirts means that EVERY DAY I have to come up with a post. I have realized that I cannot write a large essay every day. I cannot create a love letter to some beloved popular culture icon every day. And, surely, I cannot expect (do not expect) readers to read every post every day. It all seems a bit much.

And so... I have to figure out ways to manage all of this. One thing I started doing around post #57 is working ahead. I had to start writing the bigger entries in advance or plan them for days so that I had time to render the size of entry I desired. I have been hit and miss with this approach. I have a list through #142 right now with a couple of unnumbered entries logged and queued. And I have been sketching out some of these entries and pushing them back when I am not yet completed with the draft of the content or the thinking through of the content. For a while, I was doing very well with the schedule of sitting down each morning and writing the next day's entry, which gave me plenty of time to think and revise. But I have struggled to maintain this writing in advance system. So, time for a new approach:

MR. T-SHIRT BLOGGER IS TAKING THE WEEKEND OFF!!

What does this actually mean? How can I take the weekend off? If I take time off, wouldn't this mean I would not actually produce 365 T-shirts consecutively and fail in my mission? Yes, that's true. So, I am not skipping any days. There will still be posts. But I refer you (if curious) to T-shirts #s 65-67 posted May 25-27th (1305.25-.27) for the last time I took a weekend off for Memorial Day and family time. There were posts.

But they were short and simple. Same concept.

Today, Friday, I am off to Colon, Michigan, better known as the magic capital of the world with my step-son Ivan. Though I do not plan to wear a T-shirt for the day, expect pictures and a future posting detailing our adventure. We are attending the Magic Get Together that is held every year in Colon. It used to be called the Abbott's Magic Get Together after the name of the magic company located in Colon and the reason why Colon is considered the magic capital of the world. Now, I believe, it is called the Fab MagiCelebration after the new name for the Abbott's Company: The Fab Magic Company. (IMPORTANT NOTE: The previous sentences are inaccurate. Keep reading for the real scoop.)

For those who have not learned this nugget yet from my blog, or know it about me, I used to perform magic as as semi- and part-time professional in the late 1970s and early 1980s. I attended several get togethers in Colon back then and performed in the youth talent contest (which I am currently missing as I could not get to Colon in time for it). This is probably my first get together attendance since 1980-1981-ish. I am excited, and I am even more excited to share it with my step-son Ivan.

Expect more information and dedication to this lovely enterprise in a future blog entry.

Tomorrow, I am heading out the Kal-Haven trail on an extended bike ride with my pal Chris Dilley, and Sunday is a day dedicated to my beloved wife, Liesel, and our home. Though I am not idle, my presence here must be light.

Today's T-shirt is a creation of artist Robert Lewis: "Explore the Secrets of Balloon Anatomy."

I worked with Robert at a Kalamazoo-based comic book company called Chiasmus in the mid-1990s.

Robert is an original and brilliant artist, and I adore his work. I have another T-shirt of his which I will feature in the future.

I have lost track of Robert, and his name is too common to produce much in a Facebook search.

I chose today's shirt because balloons are featured prominently in magic shows, as fun sculptures--balloon animals--and as illusions ("magic tricks"), such as penetrating a balloon with a large needle (one of my favorite all time magical effects).

See you all tomorrow but back to full swing next week!

- chris tower - 1308.02 - 10:19

UPDATE: So, here I am, sitting in the World Famous M&M Grill, which is next door to the Fab Magic shop pictured here. They have free Wi Fi. And ice cream. And homemade goulash.

Why am I updating my blog? Well... because I made a HUGE ERROR.

Guess what? The Fab Magic Company and the Abbott's Magic Company are NOT the same thing!! I am embarrassed that I did not better investigate the situation here in Colon before I came down, and I am even more embarrassed that I did not better educate myself before I officially proclaimed the how and the what of my  re-connection with the world of magic on this blog. I furthered my error by suggesting that Abbott's had dropped its historic name and renamed itself. This is not AT ALL what happened as I have now found out by spending part of the day in Colon. In fact, there's not just two different magic shops. There are THREE different magic shops in this little town of Colon, Michigan.

Apparently, some years ago, two gentlemen had a falling out: the owner of Abbott's and the (now) owner of the Fab Magic Company. Now, because these gentlemen cannot get along, the Fab Magic Company and Abbott's both host their own conventions, which this year are one week apart. Currently, Ivan and I are attending day three of the four day Fab MagiCelebration. Next week, the Abbott's Company will host its 76th annual Magic Get Together. After a visit to Abbott's, we learned that next year will be the 80th celebration of Abbott's as a business (as it opened in 1934) and the 77th Get Together.

I am not sure if I will be back next week, though I may try, as the real re-connection would be with the REAL Get Together of my past: The Abbott's Magic Get Together!!

- one again, now updated, by chris tower - 1308.02 - 17:53