This blog should be sub-titled: a journal of my life in geek.
I get my geek on with things about which I am geeky: comic books, Baseball, Ultimate, science fiction, my favorite bands, books I have read and loved, and Jungian psychology to name some of the most frequently traversed subjects.
I began this project simply as a way to count my T-shirts. I own a lot of T-shirts. But how many do I have? Do I have 365? We shall find out.
When I started this blog, I thought about how each T-shirt means something to me. I bought it for a reason, after all. I set myself the task to post an entry about a new T-shirt every day as a way to simply write something every day, a warm up for writing fiction, which is my passion. Writing is like exercise. Warm ups are good for exercise. But after completing a month of blogging about T-shirts, I have learned that this blog serves as a journal; it documents my life in geek, sort of a tour of my interests in pop culture. The blog serves as a tool for self-inventory, for assessment and analysis of self and the origins of self, for stepping through the process of individuation in catalogues, lists, and ranks.
The blog also made me aware that I have some serious gaps in my T-shirt ownership, and I am in the process of collecting some new T-shirts for several of the great popular culture icons that I truly love. Stay tuned.
I was also a bit surprised that people checked out my blog and continue to check it, read it, and even comment on it. I am very appreciative of this readership. Please feel free to share your thoughts in my comments section. I will respond.
Also, please note that I have moved the original introductory text to the side bar. And now, I present to you the most recent entry of 365 T-shirts: a journal of my life in geek. Thank you for reading.
(Second Update - 1310.24. First Update - 1306.05 Originally Posted - 1304.25.)
I had the pleasure of being asked to speak at a rally for Take Back the Night in 2005.
When I spoke, I was teaching a course in media studies in the Gender and Women's Studies department at Western Michigan University.
I was a bit surprised to be asked.
I was humbled and honored to be asked as well.
My ten years of tenure as the instructor of the course Media and the Sexes (should have been called Gender and the Media) was the best job I have ever held. I did my best teaching work in that course. I feel like I made a difference.
T-shirt #36: Kraftwerk: Dedicated to GRADING ROBOT
I am Grading Robot.
Though I have been a college instructor for almost 30 years [gulp: how did that happen], and though I have graded my way through thousands of papers in my career, I did not start calling myself GRADING ROBOT until I started teaching for various online universities in 2009.
Currently, I teach for four schools, and three of them are online schools. With my current course load, I have a maximum of about 160 assignments to grade per week. This number represents a potential maximum, and actual numbers are much lower. For instance, this week I graded two sets of assignments for my main school early in the week. With 30 students in each class, I generated about 60 comments for those sets, but the comments are all much the same and the classroom activity system generates scores for me. Easy Peasy. Posting the comments for the first two sets takes around two hours total time. I had discussion assignments to grade at another school, but these can also be completed quickly. With lower enrollment numbers, I worked through about eighteen assignments for one class and ten for the other class; but not all the students completed the discussion, so actual numbers of comments I must concoct are probably closer to fourteen and six or twenty total. Next up, I had written assignments at the main school, which could be another sixty assignments, but actual numbers totaled only 30. Yes, HALF the students do not submit the written work (at least not on time). Still, this is the most time consuming part of my week. I still have three more sets of written work at the other school to grade by Sunday (though I am supposed to be done by Saturday but so far this has proven to be a soft deadline), and a new set of assignments at the one ground campus school (but this is a class of four people) to grade by next Wednesday. The second school has an extra set of assignments for the week, which will bring my total to around thirty-six assignments, accounting for attrition, to complete by Sunday (as I said, the soft deadline).
And then I get to do it all over again next week!
See what I mean? Grading robot. The only way to survive such a work load is to streamline the process, find ways to speed up the repetitive feedback, and watch the clock. It's all about rhythm, repetition, and a certain tempo. Even so, grading written assignments can be quite time consuming as each student receives individual feedback. Yet, the process is much like Kraftwerk's music. Clockwork grading machine. Machine, Machine.
"We are the robots."
GRADING ROBOT.
So, this Kraftwerk shirt really calls to mind the idea of my work as Grading Robot; this is one of Kraftwerk's robot shirts. (I have another; stay tuned.) The shirt's image is just the kind of thing I love. It would be even better if Kraftwerk's name was not on the shirt. The image speaks volumes.
Damn, I love this shirt.
I have reams of material to assault your senses about Kraftwerk, but today's post is dedicated to how I think of myself as Grading Robot when I wear this shirt (and often when I am not wearing this shirt). In perspective, I am operating on--at best--six hours of sleep. I got up at 5 a.m. this morning to finish grades due at 9 a.m., which sounds easy enough, and it is when I am not so exhausted. But the work is repetitive and only takes a small portion of my brain capacity.
To close today's entry, a few random Kraftwerk facts.
1. My first Kraftwerk album was a used copy of Trans Europe Express, though I may have heard Computer World at my friend Steve's house (Steve Curl as mentioned in T-shirt #32: D&D) before purchasing that LP.
2. I did not see Kraftwerk live until a few years ago at the State Theatre (now the Fillmore) in Detroit: June 3rd 2005. (I updated this date and the pic of the ticket on 1306.13.)
3. I own another Kraftwerk shirt though I do not like it as much as this one.
3.5. Kraftwerk's style of music and live presentation fits my geeky aesthetic perfectly.
4. Since the initial purchase in the 1980s, I have purchased the band's entire catalogue either on compact disc or LP.
-chris tower, 1304.26 11:58
Photo courtesy of Liesel MK Tower
This shirt features the cover art of the debut studio album by the band Joy Division (1976-1980) called Unknown Pleasures. The Manchester label Factory Records issued the album in June of 1979. The iconic image derives from radio waves imagery from the pulsar CP 1919. When the pulsar was first discovered, the regularity of its signal prompted many to propose that it may be a signal from a sentient civilization and thus was nicknamed LGM-1 for Little Green Men. A similar image was also featured in the 1979 film Alien by Ridley Scott, resonating with fans of both.
At the time of its release, Unknown Pleasures failed to chart and was a commercial failure. I did not discover Joy Division until much later, sometime around 1981-82 when the legend of the band had begun to grow and news of them to trickle into America. The band's second album, Closer, was my first experience with Joy Division. I do not have a T-shirt for Closer (at least not yet). Shortly after discovering Closer, I purchased Unknown Pleasures, Still, and the maxi-single for Love Will Tear Us Apart. These were all LPs back then, "in the day," as it were. I did not buy the T-shirt until much later.
I bought this T-shirt after seeing it advertised in a British music magazine. I am mad for British music magazines, such as Mojo and Uncut, the antecedents of classic music publications, such as NME and Melody Maker. I sent away to the U.K. for this shirt and a few other Brit-centric items that will surely be featured in this blog soon. I paid extra in pounds to dollars and shipping only to discover the Joy Division shirt being sold here in the States, even locally. I love the shirt's image and the meaning behind it, even though I love the album Closer more.
As I had shared before in these posts, different T-shirts have different roles in my life. Though this T-shirt, also from the Death of Superman stories back in 1992, has not always been worn at bed time, this is its role now. It's part of my pajamas.
I am not sure that I ever wore this shirt out of the house. It is a bit garish. Also, in the failing memory department, I am not sure that I remember where I was when Superman died since the Man of Steel's death was a story and not an event playing out in all-day, regularly scheduled TV programming pre-empted news broadcasts. It was a big event in comics, but it was hardly akin to the Challenger space shuttle accident or the attacks on the World Trade Center, events that I watched closely via my television.
I did have a black arm band, though. I would display the arm band for you here if I knew where it was. I still have it somewhere. I am sure it is considered a collector's item. Kind of a clever idea actually. DC Comics mass produced a free giveaway (at least, I think they were free) for comic book stores to promote the Death of Superman comics in the form of black arm bands with the Superman logo in glossy red. We could wear the arm bands in mourning for
I like the Golden State Warriors. Yes, you read that right.
Perhaps some Pistons fans will hurl invective at me: "Sacrilege!" and "Aren't you a DETROIT Pistons Fan?"
Can't I like more than one basketball team? Sure, I can.
Back in 2007, I joined the "We Believe" fandom for the Golden State Warriors while also cheering for my Pistons who made it all the way to the Conference Finals versus the Cleveland Cavaliers.
And why not?
The Golden State Warriors play in the West. Though the Warriors and Pistons play two games a year, for the playoffs, they were not yet in competition in 2007. I wanted to see a Pistons-Warriors finals. Instead we were treated to a Spurs-Cavaliers finals.
In 2007, I liked the Golden State players, and I really liked the sea of gold as everyone in the Oracle Arena wore this golden shirt featuring the "We Believe" slogan. It was a free giveaway shirt to anyone who attended the game (sponsored by Comcast). I bid on a short via eBay and won.
I was not totally a band wagon fan. I had always liked the Golden State Warriors, if for the name alone. Though I am not much of a fan of things in California (which may change if I ever actually set foot in California), "Golden State" just sounds cool, and when paired with "Warriors," the name has cool power.
Also, I like underdogs. Golden State was the ultimate underdog for many years. With the advent of the 2006-07 season, Golden State held the ignominious record of the longest time (12 years) without a playoff appearance in the active record (of teams then active).
I liked the players on the 2007 roster: Baron Davis, Jason Richardson (from MSU), Monta Ellis, and Latvian Andris Biedrinš. Then a smart trade created a run-and-gun offense with Al Harrington and Stephen Jackson added to the mix. (Though for the record, I am no Stephen Jackson fan given his involvement in the infamous "Malice at the Palace" event of Nov. 19, 2004.) I liked Don Nelson, their coach, one of the top ten best coaches in NBA history.
Warning! Today's blog entry must be short. It's Monday. Start of the work week. There's work to do.
I am playing Dungeons and Dragons again. This is somewhat of a big deal.
Okay, technically, I am playing PATHFINDER, which is a revision of the core source rules for Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 3.5. But it is what it is. Gamers will stipulate that it is Pathfinder NOT D&D. But to the rest of the world, it's D&D.
Games are important. I need games in my life. This is part of self care. Luckily, there others who want to do some gaming, too. I am also gathering with friends to play board games from time to time. But that's a post for another time.
T-shirt #31: The Death of Superman: Bleeding Superman Logo
Superman turned 75 years old on Thursday April 18, the date of the 1938 publication of Action Comics #1. It has taken me a few days to commemorate this event with a T-shirt. I may be a few days late, but still, happy anniversary Superman (or would we consider this a "birthday"?).
The arrival of the 75th anniversary makes me feel old because not only do I remember the 50th anniversary vividly, but I own the commemorative book.
Once again, I am going to plug Charles Skaggs' excellent blog-- Damn Good Coffee...and HOT!--and his post on The Man of Steel: 75 Years of Superman. Charles did a great job writing about the history and significance of Superman, including the Death and Return of Superman stories, various movies including the upcoming Man of Steel film due in June, and TV shows like Smallville and Superman: The Animated Series among others. You can read his blog if you're interested. It's worth your time because I am not going to repeat the same material here.
I don't own very many Superman shirts. In fact, digging through my closet, I first laid hands on just this one, the bleeding logo from Death of Superman story in 1992. I think I may own a traditional logo shirt (blue shirt with the red and yellow logo) somewhere, but it's not a shirt I wear often.
I am not a huge Superman fan unless I am talking to someone who is not a huge Superman fan. Faced with someone dumping on Superman, I become a huge Superman fan and his advocate. Many comic book fans love to malign Superman: "he's a boy scout"; "he's boring"; "he's too powerful"; "all the stories have been told, and there's nothing new"; "He's the first that doesn't make him the best"; and so forth. I react strongly to these criticisms, even though I am not a huge Superman fan when left to my own devices.
It has been a long time since Superman comics graced the top of my stack of comics for the week. I feel this statement deserves explanation, so you know what I mean. Each week, when I bring the new comics home from the comic shop, I put the new comics into the stack of comics that I am currently reading. There are ALWAYS comics already in the stack. I have never cleared out the stack from the previous week, though I do make substantial progress on days when I take time off to relax and read a couple of dozen comics in one lounging. I prioritize comics I want to read IMMEDIATELY first, and these go to the top of the stack. Current faves that go straight to the top of the stack are (in no meaningful order) The Walking Dead, The All New X-Men, The Age of Ultron, Daredevil, Aquaman, Justice League, Fantastic Four, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers, Uncanny Avengers, Uncanny X-Men, Hawkeye, and several more that probably do not leap to mind right now. See? No Superman.
1986 was different. John Byrne's issues graced the top of my stack every week. Not long ago, I enjoyed the run of All-Star Superman. I liked Jim Lee on Superman. I like JMS's run on Superman. And as I have already written in my FreakAngels post #22, I was a big fan of the Team Superman Group-think concept of interlocking issues creating one continuing story of weekly installments despite how many die hard comics fans detested those years (1991-2000ish). Though I do not count Superman even in my top ten of favorite all time heroes, unlike Bill Artis who sells me comics at Fanfare Sports and Entertainment (who is the single biggest Superman fan I know), I do have some Superman love in my deeper past.
This excellent What If story was a great one to start my Superman reading as a child of five years of age. But most of my fond memories of childhood love of Superman are for Superboy and his adventures with the Legion of Superheroes, a future superhero club that I thought was a really cool concept. I also was very influenced by Alan Moore's Superman stories, especially the one from Superman Annual #11 featuring the classic "For the Man Who Has Everything" story.
This shirt in today's blog entry displays the main image from the Death of Superman storyline in 1992. This story seemed like more of a novelty at the time. These days it seems like crossovers and big events are continuous and overlapping with many running at the same time. Back in 1992, big events seemed less frequent, maybe just once a year, and did not seem redundant. I do not recall the comic companies trying a big death of a main hero event before the Death of Superman. Granted, DC Comics killed the Flash in 1985, but this was hardly a main event a huge crossover mini-series. Without doing any research, I do not recall any major superhero death event before the huge (and I do mean HUGE) Superman death event in 1992. The story was so pivotal it inspired me to buy the shirt featured here because to that point I did not own a Superman shirt, not even as a kid (unless my parents will tell me differenly).
I must admit that I am one of the few people on the planet who actually liked the 2006 Bryan Singer film, Superman Returns, with the exception of yet what I consider another failed depiction of Lex Luthor despite the acting talents of Kevin Spacey. I am looking forward to the new film by Zack Snyder. I have liked the way DC has tried to make Superman more gritty, though the stories have failed to intrigue me enough to reach the top of the weekly stack; though do not get me wrong, I am reading both Action Comics and Superman each month or eventually when several issues clog up my stack. Maybe, if DC really wants to re-vitalize the character, the company should consider killing him and leaving him dead for 24 years. It worked for the Flash.
.jpg)
T-shirt #37: Take Back the Night circa 2005
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)