T-shirt #214: Gaia Ultimate Gear: Sleeveless White

T-shirt #214: Gaia Ultimate Gear: Sleeveless White

Happy Monday.

Am I too optimistic?

Do I start too many posts with a "happy day" greeting?

I believe in the power of attraction, the power of positive energy.

Today's blog is short on text because I am just featuring photos with captions. Starting the work week and took off most of yesterday, so I did not work ahead as much as I hoped. Still, as my wife has told me, more people would read my blog if the entries were not so long, to which I replied that I had been managing many shorter entries, had she not noticed? :-)

Oh... and how do you like my Smokey the Bear hat?

Today's shirt pairs with T-shirt #208. Both purchased at a very cool ultimate tournament in Lexington, Kentucky that I attended in either 2001 or 2002.

CAVEAT: It occurred to me yesterday while scrolling through Instagram that I have many friends who are fantastic photographers (such as my amazing wife). If you have not figured this fact out by the 214st day, the photography element is not the point of this blog. I could take better pictures, take more care with pictures, spend more time setting up shots, but I do not care as much about the photographs. This blog is devoted to writing. I care about the writing. Even though today features a dearth of writing.

IMAGES

Some shots from the trip both Portland and Hawaii shots. Meeting the Fraziers, who are UBER cool. Then shots from yesterday's restful and lazy Sunday with the puppy.

Me and Liesel in the
Bridgeport Brewing Company
in Portland, OR 1310.07

Liesel and her friend Stephanie
in a little Mexican place in Oahu

Me and Stephanie's husband Pali
in that Mexican place in Oahu
I can't do that thing with the fingers

me at steam vents
at Volcano National Park
day before government shutdown
ruined our exploration of it
(Park closed)
And yes, it was COLD!
1309.30

Me atop Mauna Kea among astronomical
observatories.
The HYDRA shirt is under that coat
COLD.

Satchel puppy's morning nap - 1310.20
Taken with new Samsung Galaxy S4

Satchel thinking about meaning of the universe
deciding it's "42" - 1310.20
Taken with new Samsung Galaxy S4

Satchel puppy: "You must play with me!
You cannot read!
You must play towel tugging game!!
NOW!"
 - 1310.20
Taken with new Samsung Galaxy S4

Satchel puppy gives up trying to play
crashes for afternoon nap  on dad's
legs while he fills out
comic book order (note catalog)- 1310.20
Taken with new Samsung Galaxy S4

Satchel puppy's second afternoon nap -
Does she not look serene and content?
1310.20
Taken with new Samsung Galaxy S4

- chris tower - 1310.21 - 9:50

T-shirt #213: Bitch Magazine

T-shirt #213: Bitch Magazine

Today's shirt is black for mourning.

Today's shirt is dedicated to bitching, though I may not bitch. I am really not that upset that the Tigers lost the ALCS. I had a bad feeling from the start of the ALCS. The Tigers won Game One handily, but my bad feeling was not dispelled. The troubled feeling I had seemed confirmed by Games Two and Three, both of which they should have won. Had they won those games, with a 3-0 lead, they would have won the series.

Do I want to bitch here? I could bitch about Jim Leyland's use of pitchers in Game Two. I could bitch about the lack of offense to support for Verlander's awesome pitching in Game Three. I could complain about Cabrera running through a stop sign in Game Four. I could criticize Prince Fielder's anemic hitting for the series.

But you know what?

It's hard. Baseball is a difficult game. Hitting a major league fastball is possibly the hardest thing to do in sports. Remember what I wrote about expectations in T-shirt #203 and again in T-shirt #205? It's all right to hope that the Tigers win the World Series. But to expect a win? It's difficult enough to get to the World Series. The Tigers have made it there twice in the last eight years. Currently, the Tigers are the only AL team to get to the ALCS the last three years in a row. The NL team that matches this record is the St. Louis Cardinals.

Is this a terrible thing? Hardly. I can lay blame all over the place with managers, coaches, and players. But the fact of the matter is that it is very difficult to reach the World Series, let alone win it. Maybe now, Tigers fans will temper their expectations because maybe the fault this year is with the fans. Expectations were way too high. I cannot count the number of people I have heard say that they will accept nothing less than winning it all in 2013. That's too much pressure. That's an unreasonable expectation.

That's like buying five lottery tickets and expecting to win the grand prize and nothing less is failure, even if one of those tickets wins $5000.

Expectations must be managed properly. Unlike many other Tigers fans, I am not despondent today, I did not lose sleep last night (in fact I turned off the game just before the Tigers scored two runs to make the score 2-1 at least for an inning), and I did not have indigestion because of the Tigers losing the ALCS. I did not expect them to win.

The lesson here is the same as in life. When I expect too much, I am disappointed. The world is disappointing. People are disappointing. The government is disappointing. So many things disappoint me. I am crushed by this disappointment if I let myself be. If I keep my expectations in check, if I accept an "ordinary level of misery" to life (because life is full of misery), then I can be happy, I can be grateful for the things and people and stuff that do not disappoint me. Then, I survive and thrive and indulge in a bit of jive. After all, what else are we going to do?

Wallow?

I do not choose to wallow.

ONWARD.

Today's shirt is dedicated to one of my favourite magazines: Bitch Magazine. Find the current issue (see image, left) and back issues at the link.

Bitch bills itself as a feminist response to popular culture. I used the magazine's content extensively during my years teaching media studies in the women's studies department at WMU. Now, Bitch has a very active online presence. I watch the RSS feed of its blog for interesting content all the time.

The sticker I am holding in the picture above demonstrates that I am a member of the B-Hive, a subscriber and giver of donations.

Bitch is now BITCH MEDIA with a blog, activism, podcasts, mixed tapes, video, Facebook, Flickr, and much more in its social media tapestry.

The site has searchable content. For instance, here's a great link for a Popaganda Episode, a podcast about
"nerdery." It is described this way on the site: "Nerds are the kings of our culture these days—but what is a nerd, exactly, and who gets to call themselves one? This show digs into gender, race, and nerdery with an organizer of GeekGirlCon, comedy nerd Phoebe Robinson, music nerd turned Yale lecturer Allyson McCabe, and (of course!) a rigorous discussion of feminism in Star Trek with two hardcore Trekkies. Listen in!"

Sticking with comic book related content, here's two more great links from BITCH MEDIA.

Is Wonder Woman too muscular for the silver screen?

and

Marvel debuts a new series: the all women X-Men


One of the articles I liked best in using Bitch  resources in the class room was one dedicated to the concept of "Women in Refrigerators," just one of the horrors to which women comic book characters have been subjected in what appears to be a clear example of misogyny in action. Though possibly apocryphal, a DC editor reportedly told Alan Moore to "cripple the bitch" when he (Moore) had the idea to have the Joker shoot Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl, in the Killing Joke special edition comic book.

Ashley McCallister revisited this territory in 2010 in "And Then There Was Oracle."

Some of my readers may be surprised that as a comic book lover I would invite such abject criticism of the genre. But criticism is what keeps an art form vital. And comic books are hardly paragons of virtue and the avant garde. And if that story about what the editor said is true (and I think it is) then comics DESERVE criticism.

Here's one of the best things I ever shared via Bitch Magazine, which it seems the folks at Bitch update frequently.

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Feminism But Were Afraid to Ask

For those who eschew the "feminist" label, this is an excellent article that smartly positions feminism in a broader and more open context.

Feminism is not a dirty word.

Bitch Magazine  has some great content on more than just comic books as well, as the world of popular culture is vast and densely populated with things begging to be analyzed and criticized from a feminist perspective.

Years ago, while teaching WMS, I tried to buy a Bitch T-shirt to wear to class. I was choosy in those days about which shirt I wore each day and often matched shirts to featured musical artists, many of which I have yet to feature on this blog, though one example is here at T-shirt #121. I am all about being recursive.

I am happy to say that Bitch has realized it has many readers, which include men, and thus needs to sell shirts in men's sizes (also aware that some women prefer men's cuts or men's sizes).

This book cover to the left is not directly related to Bitch Magazine, but since it's also called Bitch, I wanted to share it today as I always shared the cover and told its story in my classes every semester.

The story may also be apocryphal. That's okay. There's no Wikipedia page for this book, which is odd. Elizabeth Wurtzel's page does little more than list  the book as a published credit. My understanding is that Wurtzel took a lot of flack from some feminists for appearing in a super sexy, naked shot on the cover of her book. Her response is to those critics can be found on the cover in that image. I think it's great. Apparently, the controversy or the "adult" nature of the cover was too much for the publisher who insisted on a different cover for the paperback edition (with text that covered the tattoo on her shoulder).

Now 45, Elizabeth Wurtzel is still living life on her own terms and giving the finger to those who criticize her.

It's impressive.

Here's some content new and old.

1998 interview with Elizabeth Wurtzel on cinema

DEAR ELIZABETH WURTZEL, NO ONE CARES THAT YOU STILL GET IT ON - VICE.com

"Fuck you, Vice.com."

"I Refuse to Be Grown Up" from the Atlantic April 11 2013

"One Night Stand of a Life" from NeverYetMelted.Com from January 07 2013

"Vashti" from 1998

KIRKUS REVIEW OF BITCH

I toast the bitches of the world. Raise my glass.

Thank Heaven for the bitches.

- chris tower - 1310.20 - 11:23

T-shirt #212: Orange UnderArmor

T-shirt #212: Orange UnderArmor

Greetings. Happy Saturday.

Orange for the best colour of fall, for pumpkins and cinnamon and golden leaves. And for the Detroit Tigers. And that's all I am saying about that subject. No jinx.

Today's shirt is just an orange athletic gear shirt simply chosen to allow me to compose whatever I wish on the blog. Note the Huckleberry Hound toy in the shot. See yesterday's blog for details.

Today is a content-light posting. Yesterday frittered away in errands and some work wrap-up (after the usual Friday at 9 .a.m. monster grading deadline).

I bought a new phone: The Samsung Galaxy S4. I was sold on HTC phones, but learning of upheavals in the HTC company AND just impressed overall with the Samsung phone once I read about it and played with it. What the Hell. I was due for an upgrade and my HTC EVO was acting up badly. EPIC FAIL.

More for my benefit than yours (dear reader) but in case you are phone shopping here's two reviews and one article about the imminent release of Android 4.3, due soon to U.S. customers (others in the world already have it).

SAMSUNG GALAXY REVIEW- techradar

SAMSUNG GALAXY REVIEW- CNET

JELLY BEAN UPDATE DUE SOON

And in further evidence that the kids' dad and I are very simpatico, I learned that he bought this very same phone recently for more or less the same reasons I did.

Today, the blog features a bunch of art that has been clogging up my in box for some time.

I have finished Night Film, but I am not ready to write that review yet.

Plus today is rather busy. After teaching this morning, I am off to Kalamazoo College to see myself in a film that was made back in like 1983 or something by my friend H. James Gilmore, whom I have not seen since he graduated. Then, I am seeing a movie with Piper, though there may be a bit of shopping first. If all goes well and work is completed in a timely manner, I may have the first day off and day to myself to read comics and get ahead on this blog among other things that I have had in over two months (since before the surgery). I need such a day desperately.

Meanwhile, enjoy scrolling through various works of art, starting with an ancient shot of Academy Street, home of Kalamazoo College.

the art of John Buscema

Buscema's Vision

The next three images are from Francesco Francavilla (featured in  T-shirt #206) and his take on Batman circa 1972.

I forget which fan geek site collected these Halloween themed comic book covers, but I like them, so here they are.

Marvel Two in One cover by
George Perez

Mike Mayhew's
take on Jean Grey Phoenix

Classic Buscema splash
as Rick Jones summons
WWII heroes in
Kree-Skrull war
in Avengers

And finally, below, the first two shots with the new phone taken this morning 1310.19. It's the Satchel boo puppy.

- chris tower - 1310.19 - 11:10

T-shirt #211 - HYDRA

T-shirt #211 - HYDRA

Today's shirt features the symbol for the nemesis of Marvel's S.H.I.E.L.D. organization, known as HYDRA. Unlike S.H.I.E.L.D., HYDRA is not an acronym. HYDRA predates the Silver Age of Marvel, which truly began in earnest in 1961 with the launch of the Fantastic Four. HYDRA was first mentioned in a comic book in 1954 (Menace #10) in which the covert organization created a bomb that turned people into monsters. During this time period, the company was known as Atlas Comics and not as Marvel Comics until later (1961).

HYDRA re-surfaced years later in Strange Tales #135 in 1965, in which Jim Steranko began telling tales of Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. playing off the success of the James Bond films and the TV show Man from U.N.C.L.E.

HYDRA RESOURCES

HYDRA WIKIPEDIA

HYDRA MARVEL WIKIA

HYDRA MARVL.COM

I wore the shirt on my trip to Hawaii. Here is a picture of me wearing the shirt taken on October Second, 2013 at Rainbow Falls, in Hilo, Hawaii. Liesel and I are on our way to the top of Mauna Kea but stopped off at the falls for some sight seeing. Liesel bought a basket woven from ti leaves (from the "ti" plant) from a local woman at the falls and later left the basket at an altar to Mauna Kea located at the Gateway to the mountain near the visitor's center at 9000 feet.

I packed four shirts for the trip that I had not yet featured on the blog. I have already featured two of them since returning (or while on the trip): T-shirt #199: The People's Food Co-Op and T-shirt #207: Fantastic Four. This shirt makes three featured so far. I neglected to get pictures taken with the fourth shirt.

I think I look old and swarthy (tired?) in this photo, but I think my wife looks fantastic and beautiful.

I do not wish to devote any content to last night's Detroit Tigers game, game five of the ALCS. :-(

SIX SUGGESTIONS TO SALVAGE MARVEL'S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.

My favorite and most prolific blogger friend, Charles Skaggs, is up to his Charlesish hijinks again with criticism of Joss Whedon's new TV program: MARVEL'S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. Although I do not consider Joss' work to be off limits to criticism, I cannot wholly agree with Charles' list of items in the article linked above.

Granted, I have only watched two episodes. I actually watched the second episode in Hawaii the night before the picture shown above was taken during the trip to the top of Mauna Kea. I liked that I managed vacation and seeing things like mountains and also watching MARVEL'S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. with my delightful hosts.

Mainly, my rebuttal to Charles is that we need to give it (the show) a chance. Wasn't this the problem with Firefly? People (like network executives) were too quick to judge. Patience is not the greatest virtue for those who run TV networks and even for those who watch TV shows, as the fall-off in ratings attests with MARVEL'S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. However, a show needs time to find its sea legs. Judging Buffy the Vampire Slayer on all of season one is not fair. The show improved progressively, season-to-season. Though some shows, like Firefly, LOST, and Veronica Mars, to name three, are great from the get-go, I think MARVEL'S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. is a good show and needs time to refine its concept. These characters need more screen time to interact and make story, and mainly, people need to have faith in Joss Whedon and his team that a quality product is in the offing, but, apparently, it will not blow minds from the start.

Is this what it takes? If I do not have my mind blown, then something is broken? The show is quick and clever. There's humor, some pathos, great TV moments, and plenty of action. Do I need something else here? I don't think killing off a character to generate melodrama is the answer. Though I do like several of Charles' other suggestions (such as "Embrace the Strange" and "Honor the Source Material") but again, please be patient and have faith,. Joss will deliver.

From Steranko's Strange Tales

WEEKLY COMICS LIST

Viper, aka Madame Hydra

I have been neglecting comics since returning from Hawaii because I was reading Night Film, a fantastic book that I will review on this blog soon. As such, comics have piled up and nearly everything is back logged. So for this week, no listed back log. I will simply list and rank the comics as they would be arranged if I was just reading this stack and no others. So unlike others weeks, this is the most true ranking I have done in some time (maybe ever).

COMICS FOR 1310.16

Fantastic Four #013
Hawkeye #013
Guardians of the Galaxy #007
The Superior Spider-Man #019
Batman/Superman #4
Justice League of America #8
New Avengers #11
Avengers #21
Uncanny X-Men #013 (Battle of the Atom, chapter 8)
Fables #134
Birds of Prey #24
Avengers Arena #016
Hunger #004
The Trial of the Punisher #001
Sheltered #4
Wonder Woman #24

SPECIAL PURCHASE

Huckleberry Hound figure

That's pretty much it for today.
Grading Robot has not yet powered down for the weekend.

Errands to run still remain.

I leave you today with some random HYDRA-related imagery

- chris tower -1310.18 - 14:01

Steranko's Madame Hydra

Cartoony version of Madame Hydra

Baron Zemo tantrum

T-shirt #210: Detroit Tigers 1901 Long-Sleeved White

T-shirt #210: Detroit Tigers 1901 Long-Sleeved White

I must admit that I feel some relief.

I am no longer slicing my toast into two or four pieces. I am eating whole pieces at a go.

No, really, I am feeling relief about last night's Tigers game. Though just writing that comment reminds me that I need to buy more Tums. I like wintergreen.

I was trying not to be nervous. But with the Tigers having lost two games against the Red Sox that they should have won (Game Two in which they led 5-0 and somehow lost 6-5, and Game Three in which Verlander almost no hit the Red Sox except for the one homer he gave up to Napoli and the Tigers lose 1-0), my confidence was shaken. Okay, that's not right. I am not confident because Baseball is a crazy game. Anything can happen. Let's say my optimism was shaken.

And then last night, Game Four...

It was not all Tigers. Some of it was mistakes by Jake Peavy. But even the walks (walking in a run) can be in part attributed to the Tigers who were patient and more relaxed (unlike in Game Three) at the plate. Without the pressure to hit a home run to give the Tigers the lead, Miguel Cabrera could relax and just put the ball in play and drive in runs.

I like that Jim Leyland deflected any credit for the lineup change, which dropped Austin Jackson to eighth, and moved everyone else up one slot: Hunter in leadoff, Cabrera second, Fielder third etc. He said the win was not his doing; it was the players. Hard to want a guy with such humility fired.

JACKSON LEADS REVAMPED DETROIT LINEUP

I am not a die hard Jim Leyland fan. When everyone wanted to give him credit for the 2006 run to the World Series, I did not. I gave credit to the players. After all, when he was brought in to manage, he replaced Alan Trammell, my all-time favorite Baseball player. In the last few years, I am a little more enamoured of Jim Leyland. I think he paces the players through the season better than he did in 2006 and 2007. He seems to be paying more attention to stats. Though he is still a bit too old school, especially with pitching matchups and relievers, he manages the team as well as most any other manager (possible exceptions being Joe Maddon or Kirk Gibson) and better than most.

Here's a few more Game Four factoids.

"• Doug Fister threw six innings of one-run ball, striking out seven while walking one. Detroit's rotation now has a combined 1.00 ERA this series, having allowed three runs in 27 innings.
• The Tigers' five-run second inning was the first time Detroit posted a five spot in a postseason frame since the third inning in Game 3 of the 1987 ALCS vs. the Twins.
ALDS • Miguel Cabrera went 2-for-4 while batting out of the two-spot for the third time and first since 2004. He's 4-for-12 batting second in his career. Cabrera's two RBIs ran his postseason total to 24, a Tigers record.
• Torii Hunter was 1-for-5 while batting leadoff for the first time since 2000. He's 12-for-72 (.167) out of the top spot throughout his career.
• Austin Jackson went 2-for-2 with two walks, reaching base four times for the first time since Aug. 31. He was batting eighth for the first time this postseason after previously hitting leadoff" (FACTS & FIGURES, 2013).

But it's not all cheery rosey land in blogville when it comes to the Tigers. There's a blowhard here in Michigan who writes a blog and hosts a radio show called "The Huge Show." It strikes me as a "huge mistake" by local media outlets to give this numbskull an outlet for his voice. I had not heard of this guy until last night when a friend and fellow Tigers fan told me that he had quit reading this guy's blog to save his blood pressure. This is why I did not know this guy's work. Why would I read ridiculous invective that seems ill informed and rather poorly written? (Not that today's blog features my best grammar and most mellifluous writing to date.)

Here's a sample: THE HUGE SHOW: JIM LEYLAND'S LEGACY.

Obviously, my friend and I are not the only ones who find this guy jejune and banal. (Yes, I am busting out as many college words as I can because I am a snobbish prick and a show-off. I went to college. This guy probably got his college-degree through a mail order catalog.)

I had not even read Bill Simonson's work before. The first thing I read verified that I never want to read anything he writes ever again. I know from experience that it can be difficult to generate unique content of interest to readers every day (though this guy seems to post like once a week, which is a much easier thing). But his criticisms of Jim Leyland (and granted I am rarely defending the guy though I no longer want to see him fired) are inane. THIS series is Leyland's legacy? So the World Series losses of 2006 and 2012, one a sweep and the other all but a sweep (they won one in 2006) and the ALCS failure of 2011 do not define his legacy? Are we arguing that Leyland had NOTHING to do with getting the Tigers to the post season this year? I am no more of a fan of frequent pitching changes than most other Baseball fans, but I have strong doubts that Leyland will not fired or will choose to step down if the Tigers lose this series. Three ALCS' in a row? That's pretty damn good. When's the last time the Tigers had a run like that?

Apparently, I am not the only one who thinks this "writer" is an idiot. From TigerSnark:

Sigh.

You know people say about opinions and assholes, right?

And then if the agony of two straight losses and fears of losing this series were not enough, my wife decided to torment me. Here's her Facebook status from last night:

It's not enough that I suffer as the Tigers lose. It's not enough that I think of Comerica Park as a holy shrine. It's not enough that she knows I listen to and watch nearly every Tigers game all season long. And to add more insult to this injury, she knows I have a strong distaste (one could call it an actual prejudice, real bigotry here) against facial hair. I have told her on many occasions that I love her, and I am willing to do almost anything for her, but one of those things is not growing facial hair. I can't do it. I won't do it. And yet, she torments me with this status. Yeah, not having much of sense of humor about this one, honey.

So, now the Tigers have to win.

Trim those beards.

I hate facial hair, on men that is.

GO TIGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- chris tower - 1310.17 - 17:35