smacky and bucky

It's amazing what a psychological advantage an extra hour gives me. We did so much this weekend. Saturday morning we went to the Apple store and picked up Mac OS X Leopard. Wife wanted it for her Mac, so I loaded it onto mine as well. Just starting to read about what it can do.

I had a 30% off coupon, so I hopped over to Barnes & Noble and picked up Soon I Will Be Invincible. Review forthcoming.

Saturday afternoon I watched some Doctor Who and Torchwood episodes while finishing The Hard Way by Lee Child. Great book, though I'm part of a handful of his fans that knows Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso isn't surrounded by jungle, but is on a plateau with few trees and sandy soil giving way to desert in the north. It's fine though, because it is such an exotic sounding place, I understand why he chose to use it (and I'm aware of what a picky geek I sound like for pointing that out).

Sunday: Extra hour! We went to Whole Foods in the morning and got lots of fresh, exotic items. Had a great lunch, then I went up the street to the mattress place and bought a bed frame, moved the patio furniture into the garage for winter storage, raked up a bag of leaves in the backyard, and we watched a couple episodes of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (got the DVD of seasons 1 and 2 last week).

Oh, last geeky thing I did: I ordered a full run of Rom, Spaceknight. The comic (the entire run, I think) was written by Bill Mantlo. I ordered it because it's something I've wanted to read for over a decade, and Marvel either can't or won't bother clearing the red tape necessary to reprint the issues in a collection. (Final proof of this is in the newest trade of Power Man and Iron Fist, in while it collects issues #50-72 and #74-75. Yes, it skips issue #73. Why? That issue features Rom. Apparently Marvel can't even reprint any issues in which this character appears, not just his own title. LAME!)

I learned only this morning that Rom writer Bill Mantlo, "suffered a debilitating injury while rollerblading in 1992. The long-time Marvel writer suffered severe head trauma when he was struck by a car on a New York street. He currently resides in a brain injury rehabilitation nursing home (link here)." A tribute magazine called MANTLO: A LIFE IN COMICS, was published this year. All proceeds go to paying Bill's healthcare bills. You can read more and order a copy HERE. I ordered one.

Oh, and if you're in Portland, Oregon, you can makes plans for the upcoming Rom: Spaceknight Art Show and Benefit Project, opening December 6. Details HERE. There are plans to publish the art in a comic book-sized book at a later date. A collection of Rom art would be awesome! Again, proceeds go to Mantlo's medical costs.