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| Uhura tricords the heck out of this alien landscape |
more Nichelle Nichols...
Film. Comics. Sci-Fi. Superheroes. Pulp. Noir. History. Superman. 20th Century Archaeology.
Monday, April 8, 2013
Your Daily Dose of Good Cheer: Nichelle Nichols
more Nichelle Nichols...
Annette Funicello Merges with The Infinite
It seems that original Mouseketeer, beach movie fixture and boomer icon, Annette Funicello, has passed.
I knew Annette from her 80's-era TV appearances and also as the girl that, apparently, men of my Dad's generation all grew up having a crush on. Annette Funicello was going through a sort of nostalgia-tour renaissance when I was a kid, in peanut butter commercials, guest appearances, etc.. at a time when we also happened to have the Disney Channel, which would rerun the old Mickey Mouse Club episodes (but not in order, because that would be nuts). And I was just the kind of kid who was cool enough to think a good afternoon included Mr. Ed and Mickey Mouse Club re-runs.
Sunday, April 7, 2013
10th Anniversary Round-Up
Back on March 30th, this blogger marked his 10th Anniversary of writing. We want to thank everyone who had an opportunity to send something in!
If we missed your email or message, let me know, as we'd love to include you in this celebration. Also, feel free to send something in any time if you'd planned to do something but got busy.
Here are some links to the posts as they are now. Thanks again so much to all of you.
My own thoughts
If we missed your email or message, let me know, as we'd love to include you in this celebration. Also, feel free to send something in any time if you'd planned to do something but got busy.
Here are some links to the posts as they are now. Thanks again so much to all of you.
My own thoughts
Saturday, April 6, 2013
So, That Online Course I'm Taking - Gender Through Comic Books
Just as an FYI - I intentionally wrote my piece on portrayals in women in comics earlier this week before getting into the reading for the course I'm taking.
The course is: Gender Through Comics Books at Canvas.net and originating at Ball State.
Anyway, I work in higher education, currently in libraries, but from 1997-2006 I worked in Distance Education at large public research universities, UT Austin and Arizona State University. From 2007-2008, I worked at a smaller eLearning company here in Austin that developed mostly corporate training materials with the occasional foray into creating materials for educators.
When I left university distance learning, it wasn't because I was tired of the field. I thought eLearning was in its toddler-hood, but we were taking a leap to return from Arizona to Austin, and there weren't/ aren't that many positions out there for this, even with my sterling credentials. Working in a media shop developing stuff for corporations was a great experience in many ways, and I learned a tremendous amount I doubt I would have gained at The Academy (as we like to say when we're wearing tweed and drinking hot tea from small cups).
Back in 1999 or so, I remember watching a clip from 60 Minutes on The Future of Education. At the time, University of Phoenix was a rising star and talking heads were proclaiming that UofP had cracked the code. In a few years we'd all be taking our courses through them, and there was no point in resisting progress. They predicted (and were clearly relishing the term way, way too much) the concept of "rock star faculty", folks who would be THE faculty voice for a generation talking about America History 101, etc... Nobody was sure how it would work, but they were certain it was just around the corner.
It didn't happen.
The course is: Gender Through Comics Books at Canvas.net and originating at Ball State.
Anyway, I work in higher education, currently in libraries, but from 1997-2006 I worked in Distance Education at large public research universities, UT Austin and Arizona State University. From 2007-2008, I worked at a smaller eLearning company here in Austin that developed mostly corporate training materials with the occasional foray into creating materials for educators.
When I left university distance learning, it wasn't because I was tired of the field. I thought eLearning was in its toddler-hood, but we were taking a leap to return from Arizona to Austin, and there weren't/ aren't that many positions out there for this, even with my sterling credentials. Working in a media shop developing stuff for corporations was a great experience in many ways, and I learned a tremendous amount I doubt I would have gained at The Academy (as we like to say when we're wearing tweed and drinking hot tea from small cups).
Back in 1999 or so, I remember watching a clip from 60 Minutes on The Future of Education. At the time, University of Phoenix was a rising star and talking heads were proclaiming that UofP had cracked the code. In a few years we'd all be taking our courses through them, and there was no point in resisting progress. They predicted (and were clearly relishing the term way, way too much) the concept of "rock star faculty", folks who would be THE faculty voice for a generation talking about America History 101, etc... Nobody was sure how it would work, but they were certain it was just around the corner.
It didn't happen.
Reed chimes in on the whole 10 Years of Blogging Business
I've known Reed since... man, probably 1984 or so. If anyone was there when I passed the curve from "mild interest" in comics to full blown comics nerd, it was he. He was also the guy i knew who actually owned copies of Death in the Family, and so, one day while he and Jason were listening to Van Halen albums or something, I sat on his bed and read the whole run.
Anyway, Reed has been with the blog for years, though he only usually chimes in to defend his beloved Texas A&M Aggies (who are having a pretty good time of it these days). But he's always around... somewhere....
Congratulations on 10 years of blogging!!! It's hard to believe. It's hard to believe my oldest will turn 8 in 2 months, that Jas and I are 40 years old, and that my dad is 70! My dad turning 70 is actually the hardest to come to grips with.
Anyway, here is what I have appreciated the most about The Signal Watch (and The League of Melbotis):
* Your captions with photos and images. Whether it's crazy 1950-60s Superman covers, photos of your family, or images from Hollywood, you have the best captions!
* Your commentary and dialogue about your family (especially with and about your brother). I always check the comments section. Of course, I'm biased having known your family for so long.
* Daily Dose of Good Cheer formerly Dames in the Media That The League Once Dug. I never realized that it was originally done to increase web traffic on your blog. Regardless of the reasons, I'm a big fan.
* Your movie reviews. You have helped keep me from making poor decisions at the movies. Especially when you pan comic book movies. That usually seals it for me.
* I stopped collecting comics after I graduated high school so it's been nice to stay in the general loop of the industry through your blog.
* Your general writing. I am constantly amazed at not only the quantity, but the quality of the writing and how you keep things fresh on your blog for over 340+ days a year (you rarely take days off from your blog).
Again, congratulations on 10 years and here's to 10 more. Thanks for providing an entertaining break during my work day.
Anyway, Reed has been with the blog for years, though he only usually chimes in to defend his beloved Texas A&M Aggies (who are having a pretty good time of it these days). But he's always around... somewhere....
Congratulations on 10 years of blogging!!! It's hard to believe. It's hard to believe my oldest will turn 8 in 2 months, that Jas and I are 40 years old, and that my dad is 70! My dad turning 70 is actually the hardest to come to grips with.
Anyway, here is what I have appreciated the most about The Signal Watch (and The League of Melbotis):
* Your captions with photos and images. Whether it's crazy 1950-60s Superman covers, photos of your family, or images from Hollywood, you have the best captions!
* Your commentary and dialogue about your family (especially with and about your brother). I always check the comments section. Of course, I'm biased having known your family for so long.
* Daily Dose of Good Cheer formerly Dames in the Media That The League Once Dug. I never realized that it was originally done to increase web traffic on your blog. Regardless of the reasons, I'm a big fan.
* Your movie reviews. You have helped keep me from making poor decisions at the movies. Especially when you pan comic book movies. That usually seals it for me.
* I stopped collecting comics after I graduated high school so it's been nice to stay in the general loop of the industry through your blog.
* Your general writing. I am constantly amazed at not only the quantity, but the quality of the writing and how you keep things fresh on your blog for over 340+ days a year (you rarely take days off from your blog).
Again, congratulations on 10 years and here's to 10 more. Thanks for providing an entertaining break during my work day.
Friday, April 5, 2013
Oh, Did You Just Figure Out That Maybe Disney Buying Star Wars Means Everything You Liked About Star Wars is Going to Getting Demolished?
Shoemaker sent me this article from i09. It's basically about how, the afterglow of Disney's purchase of Star Wars and the sudden lay-offs, etc... start to settle in, someone realized that Disney probably doesn't give two Jawa farts about the Star Wars Expanded Universe.
As I said in my email response to Shoemaker: no kidding
Even when the first Expanded Universe stuff hit the shelf when I was in high school, I didn't read it. I guess by the time those books arrived, I was pretty well aware that studio executives weren't going to care that some sci-fi authors wanted to write Star Wars books when it came time to make new movies, and those studio execs were going to include George Lucas and his associates. When movies that moved past the conclusion of Return of the Jedi did happen, they'd be so much bigger than a series of fantasy books, that the books would just sort of disappear into the ether as non-canonical, leaving a herd of nerds wondering how to reconcile the irreconcilable, narratively speaking, in their minds.
Of course, for two decades we had Uncle George backing up the books - which I doubted he ever read, but he knew that without his stamp, those books wouldn't be taken seriously nor purchased by Star Wars fans. And that meant less dough, so best to just approve them and worry on it later.
As I said in my email response to Shoemaker: no kidding
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| once again, your avatar for what will happen to everything you once loved |
Even when the first Expanded Universe stuff hit the shelf when I was in high school, I didn't read it. I guess by the time those books arrived, I was pretty well aware that studio executives weren't going to care that some sci-fi authors wanted to write Star Wars books when it came time to make new movies, and those studio execs were going to include George Lucas and his associates. When movies that moved past the conclusion of Return of the Jedi did happen, they'd be so much bigger than a series of fantasy books, that the books would just sort of disappear into the ether as non-canonical, leaving a herd of nerds wondering how to reconcile the irreconcilable, narratively speaking, in their minds.
Of course, for two decades we had Uncle George backing up the books - which I doubted he ever read, but he knew that without his stamp, those books wouldn't be taken seriously nor purchased by Star Wars fans. And that meant less dough, so best to just approve them and worry on it later.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Carmine Infantino Races into The Infinite
Reports are coming out that Carmine Infantino, original artist of the Silver Age Flash comics - and so, so many other comics - has passed.
If you can, pick up the Flash Chronicles books or the Showcase Presents: The Flash collections. It's not just the stories that are great (and they are), but it's Infantino's visualizations of Barry Allen's powers brought to life, managing the panel-by-panel aspect of comics to keep the reader on pace with Barry when necessary and coming up with other techniques - like the "many Flashes in a single panel" technique that was even spoofed in an early episode of The Big Bang Theory.
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