Monday, August 20, 2012

Tattoo Time

This weekend, I got more work on my back piece.  Phil continues to amaze me with his interpretation of color and style.

He finished the exhaust pretty quickly, and so with the rest of the time he added in the black of space.  I had really had all that I could take after that, so he’ll color in the voids with stars and nebulae next time.

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Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Well, you know...

The spheroidal hydrogen fusion furnace which we orbit seemed exceptionally productive of visible light photons this morning.

But it was surely nice to spend the night in my own bed.

Recently I've read a few comic hardbacks.  Two were Batman graphic novels and one was a collection of a four-issue mini-series.

Last night I read Batman: Death by Design.  The story was pretty good, but I had trouble placing when exactly ti was taking place.  It seemed like it was the 20s or 30s, but every now and then the technology or the dialogue seemed modern.  The art was incredible, and when I read at the end of the book that it was all done with pencil and graphite with computers only used to add color and glow effects, I was pretty blown away.

Another I have recently read and I thoroughly enjoyed was Batman: Noel.  Again some incredible artwork, but the story was what I enjoyed so much in this one.  First off, let me say that this book was set aside with the pile of comics that I had net been reading, so that's why it's a little out of date.  It was a retelling of A Christmas Carol with Batman as Scrooge.  Now, yes, it does sound kind of corny, but it was creatively done, and very entertaining.  Plus it had both Superman and the Joker in it, so that gave it an additional boost too.

And finally, I recently read the collected Flex Mentallo.  To preface, this is a book written by Grant Morrison; surreal doesn't begin to describe it.  Even the introduction is made up.  Upon hearing the title and seeing the cover, Jennifer asked me if it was about a muscleman with mental powers, and I said, essentially, yes.  When he flexes different muscles, specific powers are activated.  But that's just the glaze on a huge mix of Morrison fruitcake.  Oh, did I mention Flex Mentallo came as a spin-off from Morrison's run on The Doom Patrol?  If that doesn't tell you what to expect, then nothing will.  It is definitely a book that will require multiple readings.  I enjoyed it, but it was a lot to absorb.

Wednesday, August 08, 2012

Flashbacks

I re-experienced two things that week that threw my mind back in time:  Lava soap and a Master combination lock (and that lock on the home page is the lock that I got).

We got some Lava soap for the office down in Santa Cruz where we’ll be working for a few months.  the first strange bit was that it was in pump form, so I wasn’t expecting the scent.  But the scent was exactly the same as I remembered.  And I remembered it from 40 years ago.  My Dad’s father was a mechanic.  He worked on cars before they ad computers in them.  And so he had oil and grease worked into his fingers all the time.  And the bathroom at Granny’s always had a bar of Lava soap for Papaw to clean his hands.

The combination lock almost sent me back as far because I used to use one to lock my bicycle up at elementary school.  I remember drilling those three numbers into my head so that I would not forget them.  Later, I got another one because the old one had died due to rain and grit.  The second combination lock had a number that by the time I got it had actual significance: 0-18-12.  The War of 1812 was a fun war to learn about in school, so the number stuck. It makes me wish I still had the lock.

Thursday, August 02, 2012

Why Physics, Why?

So I go out to a gathering with Jennifer, and what grabs my attention?

People danicibg? No.

The food? Okay, a little.

How about the play of fire across the metal mesh of the patio heater? Oh, absolutely.

I was fascinated with the parts of the mesh that would turn orange with the flame played across it and then fade to dark when the flame moved away.

Okay, so I've never been much of a dancer. Yes, I have actively avoided it sometimes, but tonight a release before the beginning of a long term field job might have been nice.

Still not into it though.