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We have received word that Equality and Freedom Seeking Students (DAB) Behrouz Karimizadeh and Majid Majedi are now out of jail, which is a very positive development. They were apparently released in mid-April. Of course, "freedom" in today's Iran is a very relative term and it is important to remember that our friends continue to suffer from the physical and mental consequences of their detention and torture. Further, they are awaiting trial on very serious charges and these charges carry significant penalties in the event that convictions are returned. Moreover, as of this date, some DAB students remain imprisoned under harsh conditions.
Our friends need our support now more than ever!
We say "NO" to repressive theocracy AND to U.S. Imperialism!
Tonight I finally got to see Billy Joel live. Finally...after all these years of being a closet Billy Joel fan. He was at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus. Thomai bought me the tickets as an early birthday present. It was pretty terrific. One of the highlights of he show was when he threw a serious bone to all of the "Buckeyes" in the crowd. Now, you know I am not a big Ohio State fan, but it was pretty awesome that Billy broke into "Hang on Sloopy" right in the middle of the song "River of Dreams." The place went absolutely crazy and everybody was doing that O-H-I-O thing. When it was all over and the band went back into "River of Dreams," I screamed like a girl because it was just so awesome. A little freaking girl, Nate.
There is no shame in this despite the fact that I am still very much a metalhead. You see, halfway through the show, Billy turned the mic over to a guitar roadie they call "Chainsaw" and he led the band in a HUGE performance of AC/DC's "Highway to Hell." Man, it was tremendous. Seriously. My throat totally hurts from screaming "WHOOOO!" Thomai said the woman next to me was giving me crappy looks because of how much I was freaking out. I think I accidentally stepped on that woman's foot a couple of times, though. Whatever.
It was just awesome. Well worth the wait, I must say.
It's been a busy week or so as I've been balancing quite a bit in my "down time." I have been writing a bit on theIranian studentsfor some other sites and at the same time, I have been building a web archive of material related to theGreat Patriotic War(more on that project soon), plus I've devoted a bit of time todefending a blog articleI wrote for our site way back in April 2006. Now, it does tend bother me when I go too long without posting new material and I know we don't have a vast readership here, but now and again folks drop me a line to check on things if I'm too quiet. So, while I don't have anything terribly important to add to greeklish.org tonight, I will take a break from my other projects to post a few pictures...
Here's old Domino, fast asleep:
If you've never had the pleasure of meeting Domino, I will point out here that she is a big dog. She currently weighs about 65 pounds. You might notice that she has crammed her entire body into a dog bed that is actually intended for a 10 to 15 pound dog. The small bed belongs to Stupsi who weighs about 12 pounds or so. Domino's rather large bed is on the floor right next to Stupsi's bed. You can see it in the picture. It is completely empty. Sure, Domino could get up and plant herself on her own bed, which is probably much more comfortable because it is designed for a dog her size. But this is clearly a matter of principle. Stupsi is out of the picture, fast asleep on the cold, hard floor. Domino is still very much in charge of things around here.
Here's my desk after several nights of writing about the Iranian students, the Great Patriotic War and Dr. R.'s lecture:
1. The Teaching Company's Legacies of Great Economists lecture series on audiocassette 2. Marxism: Philosophy and Economics by Thomas Sowell 3. A History of the USSR, Part Three (Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1948) 4. History of the USSR, Part III (Progress Publishers, 1982) 5. Herr Vogt: A Spy in the Workers' Movement by Karl Marx (New Park, 1982) 6. Smokin' Banana Peels CD by The Dead Milkmen 7. Post card featuring the famous quote by Dom Helder Camara: "When I gave food to the poor, they called me a saint. When I asked why the poor were hungry, they called me a communist." 8. Soviet-era museum placard featuring the slogan "Death to the fascist hordes!" (underneath are the books What is Dialectical Materialism? by O. Yakhot and Peace and Greece, Speeches by Dr. Ales Bebler) 9. Bumper sticker: "I'd rather be smashing imperialism" 10. Soviet Calendar: Thirty Years of the Soviet State (Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1948) 11. Rey Mysterio: The Biggest Little Man DVD set
Sunday, April 6 was the annual Gem City Comic Con at Wright State University. Because of some changes in my priorities and in my cash flow, I haven’t been buying as many comics as usual for a while now and I was really looking forward to this event. And because the convention is sponsored by Fearless Readers, I knew it would be a good one.
I didn’t have quite the wad of spending money this time around, but I had enough to land a few nice books as well as an impulse buy or two. I brought my short “want list” along like I usually do for stuff like this, but this time around, I also printed out my entire inventory...or at least the 1/3 or my collection that I have been able to catalog thus far. Turns out it was a big help to have all that extra information when it came time to look for material to fill gaps some of my favorite titles like Power Man and Iron Fist. I also had the foresight to pack both volumes of History of the DC Universe in hopes that I might get the chance to get an autograph or two from Marv Wolfman, who was a special guest at the con.
Airboy Comics vol. 8, number 1; Feb. 1951
As usual, I was a bit over-stimulated when I hit the door, so I had to take a minute to look at my list and get focused. I even keep a “Most Wanted” page on the front of my inventory list binder that includes scans of the covers from some of my most sought-after books (although most of these – like Human Torch #37 (Timely) and Racket Squad #1 – will be financially out of my reach for a while). Right off the bat, I found a guy who was really looking to deal. He offered my a nice copy of Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #17 and Tales to Astonish #38 (Egghead’s first appearance) for combined total that was an absolute steal (no dollar amounts here, but I will say that I wanted both books very much and that the price he quoted me was 50% off his total sticker price). But this was only 5 minutes into my time at the con and I couldn’t drop any cash without scouting the whole room.
I did run across some pricey copies of Airboy and Air Fighters (including the first and second appearances of Valkyrie, which commanded hundreds of dollars a piece) at several booths and I usually look to land at least 1 or 2 Hillman books when I go to a convention. I was a little surprised that I didn’t run across any Real Clue or Headline Comics issues as I browsed around, but I really wasn’t looking that hard for them this time around.
A little while later, my pal Bill from Fearless Readers grabbed me and walked me over to a booth where the seller had a nice handful of “reader” copies of Airboy from the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. This is the stuff I like. So long as the issues are complete and the covers are largely intact with little writing and no big ink stamps, I am always interested in stuff like this. I ended up working out a deal with the seller for two of the Airboy books and I returned later for a third issue.
Along the way, I picked up about 8 issues of Power Man and Iron Fist as I hope to assemble the full run of this title for my collection someday. I was also on the lookout for issues from the short lived Iron Fist solo title and I was surprised to see individual issues commanding some high price tags. I did end up snagging a nice copy of Iron Fist #4.
I took a break from browsing and stopped by Marv Wolfman’s table. I was kind of surprised that there wasn’t a large line or a throng of folks around him. Wolfman is one of my all-time favorite comic writers and I wanted to ask him a few questions, but he didn’t seem like he was too interested in chatting. I tried to ask him a little about a GI Joe episode that he had scripted in the late 1980’s and the conversation didn’t go anywhere. He just kind of said that he had scripted a handful of episodes and that was that. But I was happy that he signed my copies of History of the DC Universe.
I was surprised to see one booth full of pro wrestling stuff, including huge boxes of vintage wrestling magazines like Pro Wrestling Illustrated and Inside Wrestling. There were a ton of issues from the 1980’s – the good old days of independent promotions and territories – and all the magazines were just $1 a piece. I couldn’t resist grabbing 10 of these and I picked the ones with some of the best covers some of which included pictures of greats like Ric Flair and Jerry Lawler. I can’t say I went into the con looking for these, but I was so glad to find them!
Songs of the Pogo 1968
My big purchase for this year’s comic con ended up being a pure impulse buy...something I didn’t know I wanted until I laid eyes on it. I am something of a Walt Kelly & Pogo fan, but I don’t have a huge amount of this kind of stuff in my collection. From time to time, I will pick up some paperback anthologies of Pogo strips, but I don’t actively seek this material out. Sometimes, the stuff manages to “find” me, though. Shortly after I had bought my third Airboy issue of the day, I was browsing an adjacent booth when I noticed a huge Pogo book called Songs of the Pogo on the wall. I asked the vendor how much the book was and he didn’t remember what he had written on the tag, so he got it down for a look. It was a first printing of the paperback edition. He told me the sticker price and then he offered it to me for $10 less. I was interested, but I also remembered the Hero for Hire and Tales to Astonish issues I had seen early on. I thanked him and went back to the other guy to see if the Marvel books were still there. They were indeed still up for grabs, but the longer I thought about it, I figured that it wasn’t every day that I got to pick up such a nice Pogo volume and I ultimately made up my mind to return and purchase it. The seller got it down for me again and took it out of the bag so I could have a look. It was really an irresistible piece, full of music, lyrics, drawings and stories. The seller and I traded a few stories about our fondness for Walt Kelly’s work and I was on my way. I have done little research since Sunday and I’ve learned that the book was a companion to an album of songs performed by Walt Kelly. Moreover, the album is now available on CD so I need to pick up a copy of it soon.
I left WSU feeling pretty good about some of my great finds...I even got a few things for the girls, including a pack of Hannah Montanta trading cards. I am sure the guy at that booth knew I was somebody’s dad. All in all, it was another great comic con and I’ll have some great reading material to keep me busy for a while.
March 30 was a pretty good day for wrestling fans – unless, of course, you are one of those unlucky folks who got hit by fireworks at the end of the show that night. I can't let Wrestlemania XXIV go by without writing just a bit on the production and its aftermath. There were some not-so-good moments in the show, but thankfully the Mayweather vs. Big Show match was not as bad as I had expected. My favorite matches of the night were (in ascending order): the Money in the Bank Ladder Match, Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels and Undertaker vs. Edge.
I had kind of figured that CM Punk would win MITB and I had hoped that would happen because he is one of my favorites. But to read the online gossip rags, one might be led to believe that Punk is kind of on the outs with some important folks in WWE. The fact that he is now "Mr. Money in the Bank" means he will probably get some really good promos and matches coming his way for at least a few months. Punk had a teriffic match with Jericho last night that seemed to indicate there is some infinished business between the two.
Flair's final match with Michaels really did steal the show, just like everyone expected. My favorite spot was when Michaels attempted a huge moonsault off the ring apron and ropes and missed Flair, obliterating a ringside announcers' table. In the end, it was all very well done and Flair's retirement ceremony on last night's Raw capped things nicely.
Now truth be told, I am not really a big fan of the Undertaker. It was fairly predictable that his Wrestlemania streak would not be broken, but the match was so exciting and well-done that I can't complain too much. I really don't get these folks to complain about Edge and say things like they're "sick of his character," et cetera. Like I said before...Sorry guys, but we can't all be Cena fans, eh?
Love him or hate him...he'll be the champ again someday, people!
We have received word that Equality and Freedom Seeking Students (DAB) Behrouz Karimizadeh and Majid Majedi are now out of jail, which is a very positive development. They were apparently released in mid-April. Of course, "freedom" in today's Iran is a very relative term and it is important to remember that our friends continue to suffer from the physical and mental consequences of their detention and torture. Further, they are awaiting trial on very serious charges and these charges carry significant penalties in the event that convictions are returned. Moreover, as of this date, some DAB students remain imprisoned under harsh conditions.
