Baby, It’s Cold Outside, by Martha Thomases
Convention season is over. The days are short, and dark, and cold. I don’t have to leave the house very often except to get food, or yarn, or comics. I have much time in which to brood. Here’s a few thoughts …
* Comics came out on Thursday this week instead of Wednesday, and threw off my entire sense of rhythm. The reason, I’m told, is that UPS was closed on Friday because of the Thanksgiving holiday. Was this a surprise? Doesn’t Thanksgiving always fall on a Thursday? Get it together, people! I don’t know what day it is if I haven’t read (and cursed at) Countdown!
* I’m finding I like a weekly comic book as a format, just as I liked Hill Street Blues, St. Elsewhere, Homicide, Buffy and other soapy serialized dramas. It’s a shame they have to wreck the comic with fight scenes, when we could just have sordid interpersonal scandals, instead. Tamper with a few paternity tests, and you won’t need those pesky parallel universes anymore.
* Comic books stores can be great places to buy gifts. Really, I’ve counted on them for years – not too crowded, unusual items you can’t find elsewhere easily. However, either my friends and family have become significantly less geeky, or the market has left us behind. There are DC Direct toys for comics I haven’t read, and I read almost everything DC does. Who is buying this stuff?
* Thanks to our glorious leaders, the U.S. dollar is almost worthless. Not only does this mean that the champagne I like is even more expensive, but it also means there are ever more tourists in my city. Some of them are from foreign countries, like England or Oklahoma, where they think that when a street sign says “Don’t Walk,” they are supposed to stay on the curb. They do this even when there are no cars coming. If the Sudanese can flog someone for naming a Teddy Bear Mohammed, I should be able to flog people who don’t walk.
* With the Writers Guild still on strike in part because of disagreements about royalties on DVD sales, is it appropriate to buy TV shows for holiday gifts? The writers often didn’t get paid a fair percentage, and they often have to provide extra material for the sets for free. I want to do the right thing, but I’m not sure what that is in this case. I’m looking at you.
* Not to pander to despicable stereotypes or anything, but there should be a rule against Hanukkah being so much earlier than Christmas. I’m not ready. The stores have not even begun their panicked mark-downs yet, and I face the prospect of paying close to full retail.
* Even worse, I am somehow involved in a very long-term committed relationship, one which has now involved 30 Hanukkahs (not to mention birthdays, anniversaries, Valentines Days etc), which means we’ve bought each other well over 300 gifts. Luckily, the universe has rewarded our fidelity with Amazon.
Dakota North creator Martha Thomases happily remains media goddess and designated adult of ComicMix.
'Tis true. 'Tis pity. And pity 'tis, 'tis true. Or words to that effect, I'm so sure.
I'm laying off DVD sales until the strike is over.
Times like this I'm glad I'm living with a permanent European tourist. :) I actually like the fact that Chanukah comes during my celebratory week (starting with my birthday, then our anniversary two days later, then Robin's birthday) this year rather than at Christmas and Boxing Day.More and more I'm finding I prefer to "wait for the collection" with comics just as I "wait for the DVD" with movies and "wait for the paperback" with books. That said, I probably still find I have far more serialized magazines than collections.
Elayne, I know the birthdays of two of my cats and they're in the same week as mine. So I just assigned the other cat a birthday in there and we have birthday week.
Stupid tourists! Don't they know half the fun is playing chicken with the taxi drivers? :-)
I can't imagine why anyone would curse at Countdown…
I, too, am enjoying the weekly comic book.I think the official reason Diamond offered for the comics coming out on Thursday was that UPS couldn't promise delivery to all comics stores across the country on the regular Wednesday delivery day, so they delayed it to be fair to all. I don't believe that because I think they were just letting the Canadians get theirs on time as a make-up gesture for the prices as marked for Canada being too high. ;) Canadian prices seem to be 21% higher than US prices even though the dollar exchange is actually favorable to Canada for the first time in 30 years.
I suppose the tourists are to you as the farmers are to me out here in small town America. A green light means approach the intersection cautiously, then ride the brake in case the light turns yellow so you have time to stop.I think most of them have DNA from Iowa.
Now, we strongly suggest that tourists follow the lights (and cross at corners) in my city's Old Town. It's not Williamsburg and they're crossing a main state route.
It's not that I'm anti-tourist. I'm not, really. I enjoy being a tourist, and seeking out new places. However, when I do, I try to blend in and not attract attention to my tourististness. For example, in San Diego, I do stop on the sidewalk when the signal says, "Don't Walk."
We're sufficiently worried about tourists that in the Old Town section, on the main route, there are lights in the asphalt that flash when someone is standing on the corner. They're to warn the drivers to slow down.
' the Sudanese can flog someone for naming a Teddy Bear Mohammed, I should be able to flog people who don’t walk.'I was going to write a piece about that but I didn't want to sleep with my guns on my bed. I'm a firm believer that people should be able to worship anyway they want but come on! Those kids LOVED that Teddy Bear. That’s why THEY named it Mohammed. OUT OF LOVE! For doing something out of LOVE some wanted this teacher put to death.And these people wonder why they are looked upon as fanatics.