T-shirt #239 - Superman - Classic Logo

T-shirt #239 - Superman - Classic Logo

Welcome to Comic Book Friday. Though the new comics go out for sale each week on Wednesday, my schedule does not allow me to stop by Fanfare and purchase them until Thursday or Friday of each week, either way I have been consistently sharing my weekly comics lists on Fridays for many weeks in a row. I am not going to count. If you really want a number, check out the Lists-Weekly Comics Stack category. Okay, it's twenty-one weeks.


I bought this shirt a few weeks ago (T-shirt #218). I realized that I did not have a traditional Superman logo T-shirt, and I needed one. I wanted to feature the traditional symbol shirt. But I really do not have new Superman content to share. If interested in past Superman content, I have created a Superman Related category, which, once this shirt joins the group, contains seven posts. However, I will endeavor to share some Superman content, at least in regards to recent Superman comic books.

I am hoping to feel renewed Superman love before my blog is over. I already wrote about the Superman movie (in T-shirt #110), and though not included in the Superman related category, I wrote about the Superman Unchained comic book in past weekly comics roundups. Superman Unchained started out well but did not sustain the punch of the first three issues in the fourth issue (as I reported last week in T-shirt #232). Recently, the other two main Superman books (Action Comics and Superman) have been dreadful.

I am shocked that a comic book company can have a moderately decent blockbuster summer movie and run out issue after issue of total dreck in its wake, when capitalizing on sales should be paramount.

I discuss Superman issues frequently at Fanfare with one of the managers, Bill Artis, who is a HUGE Superman fan. Even he admits that the recent Superman comics have been horribly bad. And then last week Action Comics #25 came out. It was quite refreshing. Though there were some flaws, it was a good story from Superman's earliest years as part of DC's current ZERO YEAR theme. I am hoping this comic signals better Superman content to come.

"Everyone is the age of his/her heart." Guatemalan Proverb

Today, Liesel and I took the puppy for a walk. This is something of a special occasion, though it really should not be. We got on the subject of Jung's Process of Individuation because of some comment Liesel made about people she knows and my recent teaching experiences last week both at University of Phoenix and WMU. I remarked that many people remain stuck in the earliest stages in the Process of Individuation because not everyone lives at a deeper level; a lot of people live a surface existence (though I would suspect that no one reading these sentences fits that description).

Liesel made a very true comment that nailed the issue (as she so often does): "people are afraid to individuate." 

I seized on this remark immediately. As the "Bene Gesserit" said in the book Dune, which I just finished reading, "fear is the mind killer."

Fear shuts down the system. There's no growth in the grip of fear. As I have written before, this blog came to be in the face of fear. My initial dismissal of the idea was based on fear of being labeled narcissistic or overly self-involved. I doubted that people would care, which is a kind of self-immolating fear.

But then my attitude changed after I learned I had cancer, and so I went forward with the blog, dismissing the fear. So what? So what if people labeled me a narcissist or worse? Writing makes me happy. Thus, I realized that writing the blog would make me happy, and so far, it has been a rousing success.

Liesel and I veered into a discussion of conformity next. Why do we live in a world that encourages conformity rather than difference? We assessed that some of those people who are encouraged to chart their own course, to blaze a new trail through new territory, do not have the courage to sustain the new course and surrender to the social pressures to conform. Here's the second part of the fear. A person afraid of being different projects that fear as loathing on to other people for being different. Those so threatened may take an easy route and simply avoid what makes them afraid, but others will actively judge or seek to eradicate the difference. This enforcement of normal is best seen in the microcosm of most pre-college schools, in which conformity is the highest value, and those who are different are bullied into submission. Those trying to be individuals are faced with either being social outcasts on the fringe with the others so bullied (which is often a lonely and solitary place depending how the bullying is perpetrated and if the fringe accepts the bullied one) or the individual tries to conform and fit into the dominant social group. For some, "fitting in" is impossible due to physical appearance or something else that's unalterable. Others simply do not wish to conform and prefer to be outcast, whether they can find other outcasts to form a fringe group or whether they have to go on their own way, alone, it does not matter.

Again, I connected these discussion ideas to Jung and my own recent teaching. I am still working on what The Blog Journey means. This exercise is surely part of my own Process of Individuation. I am not only assessing the work I have done previously in the Process, but acknowledging the work I have left to do. I am accepting the aspects of my personality that relate to one of the most important things in my life: the world of ideas. As I take this Blog Journey (purposeful capitals as I just made a category and wish to distinguish this idea as a proper name), I can move forward by carrying my past and my present with me. I can revel in nostalgia, but I can also frame the memories and the fondness for things past into whom I want to be now and in the future. Most importantly, I can strive to achieve balance. Deeply rooted in Gnosticism and Buddhism and other ideologies, Jung wrote frequently of dualities: the Shadow and the Ego or the Anima and the Animus. By making conscious that which has been made unconscious, Jung says, is the path of growth for the individual and the achievement of "self," the central and unifying principle of individuation, of life.

I love comic books, but I also love fine art, music, and Asian food. All things in balance. Moderation. Deep breaths. There's the framework. Now, I have a great amount of detail to fill in during the weeks to come (exactly 18 weeks today).

And so, FORWARD.

Thank you for reading.

And now today's feature.

THE WEEKLY COMICS LIST

Last week was a good week for comics and reading comics. With the exception of one comic, the last on the list, I read the entire list of comic books from last week. Unlike last week, I am not working ahead, and so I have not read a single comic from this week's list.

Looking back on the week, there are several excellent comics, but one of the greatest standouts (maybe the greatest) was Detective Comics #25. The Zero Year story of an incident early in the career of Jim  Gordon (and consequently Batman), which supplied him with the idea for the signal light, was deftly written and beautifully illustrated by Jason Fabok. Though I have been critical of the Earth Two comic, last week's issue with a new creative team was very well done, and I felt for the first time in months that it was worth my money. I already mentioned Action Comics. I felt that Uber was a bit of a let down, but Cataclysm was well done, and I liked Captain America very much.




This week, The Walking Dead takes its top spot as usual. Batman earns a higher rank based on the strength of the last issue, which I reviewed in T-shirt #217. Justice League always rates highly, but Cataclysm jumps from tenth last week to fourth this week based on the strength of the last issue, earning a place over The All-New X-Men, which is often in the top group (#16 was second in its week and #17 was fifth).

Lastly, I am excited about the Uber hard cover. I did not order it, but after reading Gillen's description of what it contained in the back matter for last week's issue #7, I had to snag it. Gillen is single-handedly re-kindling my interest in World War Two. I already plan to read one of the books he recommends, and I may need to delve more deeply into his research. In this volume, there are issue notes that Gillen had published online, there is an interview with Gillen (which looks to be at least three dozen pages long), and there's an article originally published at Multiversity about the process and pitfalls of writing fiction about Nazis. There's also more juicy back matter with designs, creator bios, script pages, and more. It is one of the best volumes I have ever seen in what it offers readers to enrich their experience beyond the collection of original issues themselves. I cannot wait to sink in my teeth in an extended reading session.

COMICS FOR 1311.13

Walking Dead #116
Batman #25
Justice League #9
Cataclysm: Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man #001
The All-New X-Men #018
Thor: God of Thunder #015
The Superior Spider-Man #021
Batgirl #25
Superman/Wonder Woman #2
Nightwing #25
Avengers Arena #017
The Fearless Defenders #011
Suicide Squad #25
World's Finest: Power Girl and Huntress #17
The Shaolin Cowboy #2

BACK LOG
Astro City #6
CodeName Action #3
Wolverine #011
Rocket Girl #2

SPECIAL PURCHASES

Uber - Collected Hardcover Edition Vol. 1
Locus vol. 71 #5

COUNTDOWN TO THE END OF THE BLOG YEAR: 126 shirts remaining

- chris tower - 1311.15 - 19:05

T-shirt #238 - The Clash

T-shirt #238 - The Clash

After pushing the warp engines to 139% capacity and shedding excess molecular waste which will shorten the longevity of the unit, Grading Robot has powered down to half power.

It has been a rough week for Grading Robot. Other classes queue up now, but time opens like a flower blooming.

How do you spell relief?

It has been a while since I featured some music on the blog. It has been exactly ...

a week.

A week ago today, I showcased T-shirt #231: my CBGB shirt dedicated my post to Lou Reed.

Okay, true enough, a week is not a very long time.

Before that, although I snuck in some music content in T-shirt #209 after my wife discovered Lucius, a great band, the last blog entry with a shirt that featured a musical artist on the actual shirt front was T-shirt #190 for Stereolab. Forty-one days is a long time between music-themed T-shirts. Partially, the reason for the gap is my fear of running out of music shirts. I have fewer music shirts than ultimate-themed or comic- book-themed shirts. Also, I have been holding back some of my music T-shirts because the love letter I want to write will take time and research. Though I have been thinking, perhaps I need to dispense with writing lengthy love letters for EVERYTHING. Right now, I am trying to create an extended posting once a week. With that in mind, this post will not be too elaborate or long. Though how I define "not too long" may be different than how others define it.

Today's shirt, quite obviously, features ONE OF THE GREATEST BANDS EVER: The Clash.

I could write a HUGE entry about the Clash, my experiences with their music, basics on their history. But I will restrict myself to a couple anecdotes and connections.

Every time I think of the Clash, I think about how when I was in college, I met a guy named George Constas, better known as "γιώργος" or "yiorgos" in Greek (which are both Greek for George). He was from Greece (obviously). He could drink like a fish, and he only liked The Clash and the Psychedelic Furs, of which he would remind us frequently when drunk by yelling "Play the Clash!" or "Play the Furs!" George's English was all right but not fantastic. I never spoke down to him or tried to simplify things so that he might understand them (or talk louder or slower, which is what some people stupidly do with people who do not know English well). I just spoke normally, at my normal speed, with my normal vocabulary, which in my early years of college was extra-pretentious. George always responded with the same one liner: "you stupid fucking Americans; you don't know shit." George was a classic. And he loved the Clash.

These pictures are a bit of a cheat, but I like props. I don't really play the guitar, but my wife and step-son do, and so we have a lot of guitars around the house.

THE CLASH ON WIKI

The Clash was one of the greatest bands ever and certainly one of the greatest punk bands of all time. I would argue that the Clash is the single greatest punk band ever and one of the top five greatest bands of all time (Beatles, Stones, Who, Led Zep, the Jam... I know that's six then and leaves out Radiohead, Talking Heads, Pink Floyd, and so many others... I may need to work on this list.)

After starting in 1976, the Clash disbanded in 1986. The band's lead vocalist and spiritual center, Joe Strummer, died in 2002, dashing forever the hope of a Clash reunion and robbing the world of a musical giant.

The Clash are best known for their third album London Calling, which by unanimous agreement sits at eighth place on Rolling Stone's Top 100 Albums of all time list. It's great. Though I love dozens of Clash songs, in picking some videos to share (I was going to just share three and it grew to five before I cut myself off), four of the five are from London Calling.

I saw The Clash in 1984 in Chicago after Mick Jones had left the group.

The music speaks for itself.

The Clash are amazing. I am sure that most of my readers already know their music well.

Last comment on today's shirt: Like my memory of George, which is an instructive anecdote, I always remember Rule of Chris Number Two when talking about the Clash, as I did each semester when I made them one of the featured artists in my women's studies course. I have only written about the Rules of Chris twice before: T-shirt #64: Embrace Uncertainty and T-shirt #103: Aloha. Rule of Chris #1 is the Golden Rule because it's the abiding principle of life and living. But Rule of Chris #2 is "always have a book." Before the modern age when I gained the ability to carry around a computer that fits in the palm of my hand with five times more computing power than my first two computers combined (at least), I needed a book more desperately. Now, I carry a Kindle, which is a computer containing many books, though I often have an old-fashioned, paper book anyway.

I was reading Gravity's Rainbow for a class when I saw the Clash in concert, and I toted a huge, trade paperback sized tome in the pocket of my Army fatigue cargo pants and read many pages while standing in line to get in to the concert. I wanted to get a picture of the book, but I can't find it. If I ever do, I may update here. On a side note, I read Moby Dick between Santana and the Rolling Stones at the Pontiac Silverdome. There was a two hour wait in the three act concert (Iggy Pop, Santana, and the Rolling Stones). This was in 1981. I spent a lot of time reading that damn Moby Dick book.

Hence...

RULE OF CHRIS #2: Always have a book to read; one never knows when one has to wait a long time for someone or something.

Here are my five favorite Clash songs (though  it was a close call with "Straight to Hell" and "Clash City Rockers" and several others... basically the entire London Calling album).

The Clash - London Calling

Lost in the supermarket - the clash

The Clash - Magnificent Seven - Tom Synder Show 1981

The Clash - Death Or Glory

The Clash - Clampdown 1980

COUNTDOWN TO THE END OF THE YEAR: 127 shirts remaining

- chris tower - 1311.14 - 18:46

T-shirt #237 - KUDL Retro 2007 Logo Purple Long Sleeved T-shirt

T-shirt #237 - KUDL Retro 2007 Logo Purple Long Sleeved T-shirt

It is getting to the point that I do not remember which shirts I have featured in some categories. I just took a picture of myself, which I might as well share, in a shirt I have already featured.

On a side note, I am coming up with all kinds of way to misspell "shirt." I doubt too many of these make it through; however, when I have short instead of shirt, the spell check will not catch it.

Anyway, I had wanted to save the purple retro-2007 shirt for next week to get more candid photos out in the world and tell the story of the shirt order saga, which is still ongoing. I will still tell the story. But it may wait for next week.

I may find by year's end that the more amazing thing is not how many shirts I own, but how many KUDL specific shirts I own.

How many do I really need?

This is short today. Grading Robot's deadline is tomorrow morning. Grading Robot would have an easier time if everything else stopped, and all Grading Robot would have to do is the work Grading Robot is designed to do.

Alas, this is not the case.

Stop the world. I want to get off.

Almost done re-reading Ender's Game.

Loaded up on Greek Mythology video last night and had a good discussion about the mythology of ETs and UFOs.

Woke up in the middle of the night by malfunctioning smoke detector, adding one more thing to my to do list, which is quite long a brutal. Luckily, the break for grading robot should allow for completion of many of these tasks.

For your edification and amusement, I present again a former grading robot content, which I had already presented a second time in T-shirt #208. And now for a third time, content from the classic T-shirt #36.

Thanks for reading. See you tomorrow once Grading Robot has powered down to half power (as there are still four other classes that need grades).

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.

Grading robot.

Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot.

Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. 

Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. 

Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. 

Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. 

Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. 

Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. 

Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot. Robot.

Robot. Robot. Robot.

Robot. Robot.
Robot.

COUNTDOWN TO THE END OF THE YEAR: 128 shirts remaining

- chris tower - 1311.13 - 11:16

T-shirt #236 - Happy Ending Massage Parlor

T-shirt #236 - Happy Ending Massage Parlor

Remember my "no bullshit on the blog" policy? If not, read T-shirt #231. I made the claim that I would not engage in bullshit on this blog. Only the unvarnished truth will appear here. Okay, that's bullshit. I use varnish, sometimes A LOT of varnish. But I am about to make a claim that people will think is bullshit, but it's not.

Honestly, I did not know the "true" meaning of this shirt and why the massage parlor is called "Happy Ending" when I bought this shirt. No lie. I can be quite naive. And I swear to you all, on the sanctity of my no bullshit policy, that I did not "get" the joke with this shirt until long after I bought it. I see some of you are nodding and musing "yeah, right." But it is a real and true thing.

I bought this shirt during one of my trips to New York. I was looking for a shirt that had something to do with Chinatown, and I spotted this shirt. Now, I did notice the semi-racist nature of the "happy Asian" in the t-shirt's image, but I was okay with that stereotype. I bought this t-shirt before I started teaching the women's studies course at WMU and fully realized the danger of promoting those stereotypes.




Given the flat thud an anecdote about my college days and a young Korean struggling with his L-letter and R-letter substitutions had with a small group not long ago, I am still learning that I play a part in perpetuating those racist stereotypes even when I have the best of intentions and feel I am coming from a place of love and respect.

Even before I realized the true joke of this shirt, it did not leave my closet. And once I caught on to the sex industry connection, the shirt definitely did not leave my closet.

But I am a fan of massage. I have been a semi-regular massage customer for close to 20 years now. I find a sixty minute, full body massage to be incredibly therapeutic. It's definitely part of my self-care. I strongly recommend it, though true certified professionals do not engage in the prostitution alluded to in this shirt. In fact, so ashamed am I for owning it that I almost did not share it because I do not want to offend anyone, especially massage therapists I know. And yet, I can use the shirt to reveal and denounce the stereotypes and to raise awareness of the damage racist stereotypes can cause to our culture.

Short post today. Grading Robot is chugging at maximum power and these warp engines need to be pushed to 129% yield.

So, I am going to admit A LOT of shame at owning this shirt, which I dug out of the back of my closet, and this shirt may certainly be bound for the massive purge of shirts that may take place in March because, after all, do I really need to own 365 t-shirts?

COUNTDOWN TO THE END OF THE YEAR: 129 shirts remaining.

- chris tower - 1311.12 - 8:25

T-shirt #235 - Fantastic Four Long-Sleeve #1 - comic book news

T-shirt #235 - Fantastic Four Long-Sleeve #1 - comic book news

Greetings comic book fans!!

Busy times for Mr. Grading Robot man. This will be my cant, over and over, same old same old.

Same as it ever was.

And so it goes.

Not only is Grading Robot at full gyro, high-capacity neural radiance, but a plumbing emergency caused me to miss WMU classes again today for the second Monday in a row, just in case anyone from WMU is reading. I feel awful about it, but it was quite unavoidable.

And because of back-logged work, I finished yesterday's blog today and must keep this one short to stay on schedule.

UPDATE ON 1402.28 - The story that follows is not true. See truth below.

Today's shirt is a fun project. A DIY, sort of. I had someone sew the Fantastic Four patch to this blue shirt, but I actually have two. How do I have two, you may wonder? I had two patches but when I came across the second patch, I had quite forgotten that I had already had a shirt made with the first patch. I forgot that there were two patches. So, now I have two identical shirts. This duality resulted from the same problem as when I go in to a room, once I get there, I forget why I am in the room and what I intended to do. This happens to me a lot. The shirt thing is quite similar.

THE TRUTH: My other Fantastic Four long sleeve has the logo printed on it, which means that, yes, this one is a DIY, and I did it, made it, with a patch, AND THEN Marvel licensed one and had it printed, and so of course I bought it.

NOTE the Quisp watch; see T-shirt #90.

Today's blog will feature recent news items that I have collected about comic books written by other people and several images, none of which have ANYTHING to do with the Fantastic Four. I already hit them with some love (just search the Marvel Comics category), and I will again. At the very least, I have another identical shirt to this one.



MARVEL ANNOUNCES NEW MS. MARVEL SERIES

First up is the new "Ms. Marvel." The Marvel Comics Company must renew trademarks, and with the previous Ms. Marvel (who has been known by many names) taking the mantle of Captain Marvel (a smart move given her history), it's time for a new Ms. Marvel. Nerd magnet Stephen Colbert satirized a reaction in a link farther below, shared by Charles Skaggs.

FROM WORD OF THE NERD ONLINE (see link):

Ms. Marvel will center on 16-year-old Kamala Khan, a Muslim-American teenager living in Jersey City, New Jersey.  Like any teenager, all of her opportunities are in front her and she is full of potential, but her parents’ high expectations come with tons of pressure and has led Kamala to carve out a future that she has little interest in.

 “At her core, Kamala is just a 16-year-old girl, exploring the many facets of her identity when she is suddenly bestowed with super-human powers that send her on the adventure of a lifetime,” says Marvel Comics Editor In Chief Axel Alonso.

 The series, and its central character, are brought to life by an all-star creative team, led by acclaimed novelist and multi-Eisner nominee, G. Willow Wilson (Air, Mystic, Alif The Unseen). Her writings about modern religion have appeared in such outlets as New York Times’ Magazine and The Atlantic.  Critically-acclaimed artist Adrian Alphona (Runaways, Uncanny X-Force) brings his vivid artistry to the project capturing the vibrantly rich and kinetic world in which Kamala lives.

NERD SACRILEGE: I have never been a big fan of Stephen Colbert. See link below. The guy bugs me the same way David Spade bugs me. This is a subject to explore in more depth in later blogs. I just wanted to put it out there, so people could gasp in dismay at my nerdy blasphemy.

Agents of SHIELD To Debut Prominent LGBTQ Character

WORD OF THE NERD also shares in the link above the debut (tomorrow night?) of a gay character in the Marvel Agents of SHIELD show. Though WORD OF THE NERD is one of my new favorite places for nerd news, I find it a bit silly that the acronym LGBTQ was used as an adjective for "character." I doubt that the character of Victoria Hand is Lesbian, Gay, BiSexual, Transgendered, AND Queer. I am sure she is just queer, the "L Word," as another show proclaimed.
However, I have been impressed with the amount of gay characters in comic books in the last few years and now in a comic book themed TV show. Maybe I am behind the times being so didactic and literal with the acronym. But gee wiz. Why not just write that the show will debut a gay character unless she is Bi-sexual or Transgendered.

Anyway, I have about five episodes of Marvel Agents of SHIELD to watch. So little time.

Charles Skaggs has been on overdrive. There's great news in the links below, including the Stephen Colbert thing I referenced twice. The BIG news is the deal Marvel made with Netflix for a bunch of live action programs that will begin to debut in 2015.

I am also quite excited about the possibility of Jaimie Alexander as Wonder Woman, as she seems like a good choice, assuming she is over six feet tall and as strong as Superman.

All from DAMN GOOD COFFEE... AND HOT!

DAREDEVIL, IRON FIST, LUKE CAGE, JESSICA JONES & THE DEFENDERS Coming to Netflix

THE COLBERT REPORT Warns of Muslim Ms. Marvel

CW Developing DC Comics' HOURMAN for TV

Jaimie Alexander in Talks with Warner Bros. for Wonder Woman?

Various images that have been collecting on my system. Captions tell the tale. See you all tomorrow.

Alex Ross' Avengers 50th anniversary print

Rogue and the X-Men by Chris Bachalo

Not sure where this came from and I cannot
read the credits, but gee, aren't they cute?

COUNTDOWN TO THE END OF THE YEAR: 130 shirts remaining.

- chris tower - 1311.11 - 19:10

T-shirt #234 - Long Sleeve People's Food Co-Op - Making Kimchi

T-shirt #234 - Long Sleeve People's Food Co-Op - Making Kimchi

Greetings. I have been backed up with work. So this was originally published incomplete. No longer.

On Friday, 1311.08, I made Kimchi with my dear friend Chris Dilley. I thought this shirt was appropriate for the Kimchi making as we were doing something food-related, and I might not know Chris Dilley if not for my service on the board of the People's Food Co-op of Kalamazoo, on which I served from 2006-2010. I loved my time on the PFC board. I met many awesome people and made many dear friends. I went to a PFC meeting the day I met (actually re-met, but that's a story for another time) my wife, and the boardies can all attest that I was flying higher than a satellite that day.
Satellite of LOVE.

Even though I left the board in 2010 as my work and family demands had become too much to continue to devote the time needed to the board of directors (let alone my position as vice president), I have remained friends with all of my fellow board workers, especially Mr. Chris Dilley, General Manager of the PFC. I originally wrote about the co-op all the way back in T-shirt #9 and again for my adventures in Hawaiian food in T-shirt #199.

Chris and I share many geeky interests, which I did not realize the first few years we knew each other. I admire Chris enormously. I wrote about him in T-shirt #54. Chris is a super good guy, one of the best I know. As someone with great experience in food and the food industry (and co-ops and communication and Chinese, but it's a long story to explain his brilliance), he had actually sung the praises to me before of fermented and/or pickled vegetables, especially Kimchi, which we both love. Chris originally lent me the book pictured here by Sandor Ellix Katz that describes fermenting many things, including vegetables. I had the book on loan for a few months when Chris needed it back, and I never fermented anything. So I asked for the book and a crock for Christmas last year, and Liesel gifted both to me.

I made my first batch of Kimchi in February or March (I think March) of this year (2013), right before I started this blog. After I ate it all up, I had the note on my to-do-list to make a second batch. And then Chris wrote to me and wanted me to send him the recipe for Kimchi, so that he could make another batch.
Without easy copy facilities, I proposed that we make our batches together. It took us a few weeks to work out the logistics as we are both crazy busy worker bees, but we finally met for Kimchi creation on Friday November eighth.

Chris was kind enough to assemble all the ingredients for our Kimchi, and we gathered at his place while his little boy napped. Since we had so many vegetables, I made A TON MORE Kimchi than Chris as evidenced by our jars in pictures farther below.

I am not going to reproduce the entire recipe here. For the full saga of how to make your own Kimchi, buy Katz's book. I like cabbage AND root vegetables, so my Kimchi is an amalgam of two recipes: Baechu (cabbage) Kimchi and Radish/Root Kimchi, the pride of which is Daikon Radishes. Add cabbage, bok choy, carrots, leeks, garlic, ginger, shallots, and turnips together with a chili pepper paste, liberally mixed with sriracha sauce and other spicy goodness, and yummy pleasures await those who pickle well and often.

I like to pickle.
I like pickles.
I like to be pickled.
Go figure.

Our work in progress. The blurred, action knife photo, left. Carrots in process above. Below, the mixing pot before we loaded the jar and the crock.

I let mine soak for 24 hours in the brine before I mixed in the red peppery paste and sriracha and then put the mix in jars, filled to the top with the brine. I am fermenting for a week in the kitchen and will decide at that time if I want to pour off the brine or leave it in.

If  you do not know what Kimchi is, for shame. It's delicious. It's Korean, though often misrepresented or misunderstood to be Chinese. It's Korean spicy pickles.







In Korea (North and South), Kimchi is a national passion. Though Kimchi is made by the food industry and mass-produced (big groceries will have it), three quarters of all Korean Kimchi eaten in Korea is still made in the home, like in our set-up here.

Chris Dilley's big ole jar of Kimchi is the left picture and my pre-brine, pre-sauce crock is the right picture.

During the making of the Kimchi, we drank a beer and some Fennel Liquor, Chris had made with vodka.

Above, the finished pickles of my labor (like fruits of labor but with pickles). Four quart jars of Kimchi in brine and a hot sauce mixture.

I know it will be amazing. But surely, I will report back.

This is my third and final People's Food Co-Op shirt, unless I buy more. Or receive them as GIFTS. So, you never know...Stay Tuned.

COUNTDOWN TO THE END OF THE YEAR: 131 shirts remaining.

- chris tower - first draft - 1311.10 - 19:54
                     - second draft 1311.11 - 17:15

T-shirt #233: Tower Pinkster Titus Associates Architects

T-shirt #233: Tower Pinkster Titus Associates Architects

I write a lot about heroes on this blog: super heroes, music heroes, sports heroes, and a few others not easily classified. But if I am being honest, the greatest heroes in my life are my family members: my parents, my Wife, my Step-kids, my Sister, assorted cousins, and some deceased folks. Today's blog will be about one such person who is a super hero to me: my Father, Robert Tower.

My Father worked for most of his life in an architectural firm that still bears his name. When we came to town, the firm was called Stapert, Pratt, and Sprau. Soon, it was called Stapert, Pratt, Sprau, and Tower. Soon after, Stapert, Pratt, Sprau, Tower, and Pinkster, and then eventually, it bears the name as seen in the t-shirt: Tower, Pinkster, Titus Associates - Architects, Engineers, and Interior Designers, better known as TPTA.. After these principals retired, the firm decided to keep the name, abbreviated to just Tower Pinkster, as that's all that people usually remembered of it anyway. The featured shirt displays my favorite TPTA logo. I really like the black and white pattern set off by the contrast of the red dot. I am so proud to be the son of such a prestigious and career-accomplished architect like my Father.

Given what my Dad has meant to my life, this shirt should have come up sooner. But the shirts are not ranked.
There's no meaning to why it did not appear until shirt 233. Mainly, we needed time to arrange for the pictures at the current Tower Pinkster location and to have lunch in Sushiya, which is downstairs.

Of all the heroes I can name, my Dad is in the upper echelon, the top tier, the best of the best. I love my Dad. I know that such a statement is not all that original. Sons are supposed to love their fathers. But I am not trying to be original, and I am not interested in doing what I am "supposed to do." I love my Dad very much, and I think he is an extraordinary human being, a great father, and a wonderful husband.

In my sophomore year of college, I took a course in the autobiography at Kalamazoo College, taught by Gail Griffin. I did not do a very good job on my final autobiography project. I had many things happening in my life that quarter that caused distractions. But I did produce some forty pages of story about my life in very rough form, and then, much to Gail's chagrin, I corrected the manuscript in red pen before I submitted this mess to her. Somehow, she read it all. I am amazed by that. As a teacher now myself, I would have returned it to the student unread with a note: "don't waste my time with unprofessional products." But Gail did not do that. She read it, and she felt that my exhortations and grand pronouncements of love for my Father hid a deeper layer of issues with him, with authority, and flaws in our relationship. At the time, I was deeply offended. Who was this person to tell me that I may not be truthful about my feelings toward my Father? Ridiculous. Not everyone has troubles with his/her parents. Some of us actually get along with our parents, live a good life not a dysfunctional one. I do think Gail had identified some pent up feelings that I had not examined too closely. But I also feel that everything I wrote was true: I do love my Father, and I think he's the best father in the whole world.

Is he perfect? No. But then, who is perfect? Robert Tower tried very hard to be perfect and few could match his exacting standards for himself, and so it was impossible to be better at things than he was. He was always busier than any of us and yet able to do more and meet his obligations better. My Dad followed through. My Dad improved on his father's way of fathering. My Dad was the best dad he could be, and our relationship has grown so much throughout my life that I am definitely closer to him now, even though we have always been close.


As I have become a kind of father myself (sort of a father), a step-father, I have grown much, MUCH more appreciative for the kind of father my Father is. I see so much of him in myself, and I always think about how he handled situations with me and our family as I try to determine how to handle situations with my step-kids and with my wife. I do make improvements. My Dad did not handle every situation perfectly. But the few quibbles I would make of his handling of me and our family are things that have changed about him in the man he is today. And the man he is today is even more extraordinary than the man of my childhood.

Chirstmas 2000

My childhood was idyllic. There were wrestling matches. In one, I scratched his cornea with my foot. In another, he broke his hand (or this might be the same one; he may have broken his hand when he slammed it on the floor pissed that I scratched his cornea). He scratched his cornea again getting an icicle for me off the roof that fell into his eye. I guess I think of these injuries of my father's because they are endemic of his sacrifice and his commitment to our family. So there's also the tailbone injury and the hatchet to the leg injury, and the falling off the roof injury, but I will save these for another time.

But there were plenty of times without injury, too. School projects, like the racing car derby, various science projects with displays aided by his art, and when I started doing magic, we constructed many things, including an elaborate table/storage cabinet with a large dragon cutout of wood and painted bright orange on the front (to be featured in a future blog post). My Dad served as Cub Scout pack leader, for which there were camp outs, projects, sales of Christmas trees, and supervision of meetings. My Father interceded on my behalf when I was being bullied. My Father bought me comic books and read me my first comic books as a small child. And even beyond comic books, he (and my Mother, too) engineered my love of reading with so many books and story times. My love of science fiction comes to me from my Father. My first science fiction book that I tried to read (The Andromeda Strain) in fourth grade came from my Father. Many of the science fiction books I gave him for Christmas and birthdays have become mine and are treasured possessions. There were hugs, family dinners, and glorious vacations. I cannot even describe all the wonderful times and the many memories I cherish in just this one paragraph (and with 132 t-shirts to go in my year, I figure I can come back to this subject).

My Mom and Dad, Wedding Photo, 1958

Throughout my childhood, and in the formative years of college and thereafter, my Father was always there for me. There's so much to say about this, too much. Though he was busy, he always made time for me. When I got into a jam (and  I got into a lot of them), my Father bailed me out (quite literally in one case). My Father helped me buy (or bought for me) cars and so many of the things I cherish most: holiday gifts, my stereo, my camera, my bed (now Ivan's), and especially his old college winter coat, which I wore for many years until it was too small.

I am not sure I can ever repay my Father for all his favors, kindness, generosity, and love let alone the money he actually asked me to repay. And college. Because he was then President of TPTA and Bronson Hospital was the firm's biggest client, he was able to pay for my college education at Kalamazoo College, for which I am forever grateful.

Until recently (when he has become more weepy), I had only seen my Father cry twice. The first time was in a therapy session when I was a child. We met with a therapist because I was being bullied at school. The therapist hit on the fact that though my Father showed his love for me in a million ways, he did not say he loved me. And so the therapist made sure he said it in the session. When I revealed that I was not sure that he did love me, he cried. I was deeply touched to see him cry. More touched on his second cry, which will be described in the next paragraph, but one more thought here before I move on: the guilt trips he inflicted on his family, especially my mother, was the part of the cause for her eventual therapy and now mine. Though this was (not so much anymore) one of his few character flaws, as flaws go, it's not a terrible one to have.

Rotary 2006

I saw my father cry for only the second time in my life when, in the year 2000, our family was rocked and everything changed. My Mother contracted Bacterial Meningitis. Her heart stopped. She stopped breathing. She had to be brought back. She fell into a coma for nine days. When she woke, after surgery, she had lost all use of her left arm and nearly all use of both of legs. Once the finality of what had happened hit my father, I saw him weep, as much as he was trying to be strong, to hold it in. I had never loved my father more than I did at that moment. Throughout his life, in every action, every moment, he showed me how to be an impeccable husband and father, a good man. I am not sure if I measure up to his standards even now, but I have his example to compare with, and I try very hard.

Now, my Father is retired from the firm, and he is my Mother's full-time caregiver as she cannot bathe herself, cannot dress herself, and may not be able to continue to feed herself (though for now she does all right). My Father was known by the ICU nurses at Bronson (where my mother stayed for three months from March-June of 2000) as Saint Bob. The care he gives my Mother is an extraordinary feat of patience and love. I am awed by his commitment to my Mother and our family, and though I may never repay him for all he has given me, I try to support him as much as I am able (as does my sister and our third "child," and "adopted" sister Melanie). The picture above shows a proud moment for my Father as my Mother was awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship by Kalamazoo Rotary, which is quite an honor and a distinction.

Back in June, my Father turned 78 years old, and he is still caring for my Mother, doing architectural side jobs, and running a household. He is an inspiration.

My Father is my rock. Thankfully, now that I am married, he is not my only rock or my number one rock since that distinction belongs to my wife. But I would not be able to get along without him. I rely on him a great deal. He still helps me often with my new role as husband, father, and home-owner. And in return, I try to help him as much as I possibly can. It's never enough. Those old guilt trips still linger, but they are not too onerous.

No short essay about the greatness of my Father would be complete without pictures of his shop. Though I did not talk much about his anal tendencies in this essay, these pictures speak volumes about that subject.

I love you, Dad.

Please live to be over 100 years old, so that we have many, many more years together. :-)

- chris tower - 1311.09 - 9:55