Redartz: Well, here we are again; marking the transition from one year to another. We all know what kind of year we've just been through. And, the times that lie ahead are uncertain. Nevertheless, it's always a bit easier to face the unknown if you are shielded by a sense of optimism. Here at BitBA we like to keep things positive, and in this spirit, our goal this week is to nurture that positivity! How, you may ask? Well, with the help of a few contemplation-inducing questions. Aaaaaaand, here we go...
1. Looking back at this past year, name at least one good thing you've taken from it. Could be societal, could be personal, could be anything.
For me, I gained another grandson this past year! Also, after driving my notorious red bomb for the past ten years, I finally got a better set of wheels. Actually, it's red too, but what else would you expect from ol' Red?
2. Looking ahead to the coming year, name at least one thing you hope to see/ experience / accomplish.
Personally, I hope to resume some travel, and get out a bit. Particularly hoping to rejoin some of you at the Chicago comic con this spring, if it's in the cards.
3. Thinking back to the years of our youth, name a year that sticks with you as being a notably good one. Then share what made it a memorable one...
My pick is 1975. I started high school that year, attended my first real comic convention, and started painting. Plus there were an awful lot of fine comics published that year, imho.
4. Name something you've watched or read this year that really impressed.you.
As we had some extra 'around the house' time this year, my wife and I watched some older classic films. One that we watched, for the first time in my case: "How the West Was Won", a Cinerama epic from 1962. And epic it was; what a cast. Anytime James Stewart makes an appearance, it's bound to be worth a look. Plus John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Gregory Peck and more? Imagine that budget in today's dollars...
5. Gratitude is helpful in maintaining optimism. What Christmas gifts were you graced with this year?
I received numerous very nice gifts; our youngest son gave my wife and I a Nintendo Switch system! And my wife gave me a book of interest: "John Romita, and All that Jazz". Which just goes to show how well she knows her husband's taste in comics.
Don't know about you, but I feel better already. So help us all out, and share your answers to these queries. And, to each of you, best wishes for your health and happiness in 2021, and beyond!
15 comments:
1. Good thing? While at home because of the 'Rona for a month, got to spend some quality bonding time with my son. Like you Red I took advantage of the 0% financing and got my first NEW vehicle in 20 years (but it's blue)!
2. Over the last decade me and some friends would travel to different ballparks to watch the Detroit Tigers play. More about visiting new cities with friends than anything. That streak was broke this year, hope to start it back up in'21.
3.Notable year of my youth? Red '75 would have been a good pick for me also, my comic collecting started right in January. But I think I'll go with '78. A friend and I started our own comic company (we wish) creating heroes and villains and putting their stats on 3x5 index cards. Our cornerstone hero was Captain Universe. Boy were we upset when Marvel "stole" that name the next year!
4.I didn't think I could ever watch and like anything related Star Wars again, then The Mandalorian debuted, and I became a 13 year old all over again.
5.Having both of my kids with me, as corny as it sounds, is all the gifts I needed. They're in there twenties now so anytime with them is cherished.
1) Good Thing: As a result of being furloughed indefinitely (and now fully laid-off) since last July, I found myself with the opportunity to volunteer at a small private parrot sanctuary a couple of days a week-- which allowed me to bond with-- and then foster/adopt-- a 30-year-old double yellow headed Amazon parrot named Jesse. In fact, he was given over to me 'WAY ahead of schedule because no one else was able to handle him. And he has proven to be an almost absurdly terrific, loving, DEMANDING companion-pet for me. He is a raucous-but-totally-hilarious addition to our household. A second benefit is that I was able to get the full left-knee replacement that my wife has been brow-beating me into a few weeks ago. Recovery hasn't been a delight, tbh, but there's no question that this was a long-game big win.
2) Hope for the coming year: OMG-- that live theater will be able to start happening again by this fall, at least. I cannot express how professionally demoralizing this past year has been-- especially since the previous year, both as an actor and as a tech director, was one of the most rewarding I'd ever had on both sides of the curtain.
3) Notable year from youth: I don't think I could pick a "favorite" year, but 1979 was certainly jam-packed with life experiences, no question. Graduated high school after a rollicking senior year; had an unbelievable (and largely unsupervised) summer working AND playing 'way too hard; and then right into the whirlwind of being a college freshman with more hormones than I knew what to do with. . .
4) Best thing watched/read: I could cite the Disney+ broadcast of HAMILTON, and my job would be done. I think it is the best piece of Musical Theater I have ever seen, in NUMEROUS categories. I believe it surpasses WEST SIDE STORY, which is (for me) used to be the artistic benchmark. Other notables would be UNCLE FRANK on AmazonPrime; both seasons of the new THE TICK series (just SO flippin' fun and well-done!); and reading-wise, I've been going back and reading Terry Pratchett's DISCWORLD series from the beginning. . . so that's just always gonna win. . .
5) This was one of our lightest years ever for Christmas gifts-- which wasn't a problem for us at all. We kinda saw it coming, what with quarantine and me being laid-up from surgery. I did get (technically from my Mom) the few missing volumes I needed from the aforementioned DISCWORLD series; a very nice bluetooth speaker I've MUCH been needing from my wife; a Patreon subscription to "Real Life Ghost Stories Podcast" from my daughter-- and mostly thoughtful smaller gifts in general that were incredibly appreciated. [In fact, I just today finished off the big tin of homemade chocolate-dipped potato chips that "Santa" was in the kitchen creating on Christmas Eve. . .!)
INCREDIBLY thankful for the very, very fortunate circumstances of my life, believe me!
HB
Ooo-- and Red. I haven't seen it for many years, but big thumbs-up for How the West Was Won-! You can add Robert Preston to that group of A-listers-- and this was sort of the prime of George Peppard's career as well, I think.
And YOWZA, what a theme and score!
HB
Killraven- congrats on the wheels, enjoy it! And hope you can resume your ballpark tour soon. Aaaand, 1978 was a fine year; good pick. Good music, good films, good comics and that Blizzard!
HB- great tale about your parrot! Has he helped with your knee recovery (like, cheering you on)? Fascinating birds; have to tell my parrot story sometime. Also, here's hoping that things open up for theater soon too. Oh, and my wife and I loved that "Hamilton " broadcast. Wonderful. As was 1979, great time to be starting college. Right on the cusp of the New Wave surge, at least at Art School. And it sounds like your Senior year of high school was a winner! That might be fodder for another post soon. My Senior year was, shall we say, a bit less awesome.
Charlie- This year has certainly been educational, at any rate. I sure hope we, as a nation, have learned some things.
Your Italian excursion sounds excellent! Oh, to visit Pompeii.
So in your 1971 academic excellence, were there any particular subjects that you shone brightest in?
Hi All,
1a) I think Trump, Covid, the election exposed the USA's fault lines. And I think that is a good thing. Reflection is good. We can all improve individually and collectively.
1b) I played Ukulele solo in public (Zoom) the first time in my life. I belong to a French language club and played french Xmas carols for all to sing along too. First time I ever solo'd! (I know... for you actor types it's probably a pale imitation, lol.)
2) Plan to go to France and hang for 3 weeks with a good friend and my brother. Plan to go way down on the bottom of Italy's boot for 3 weeks to hand with some good friends! Hopeful for another C2E2 rally with Red, Colin, Mike, Doug... who else???!!!
3) The year was probably around 1971. Came into my own... had friends, exceled academically.
4) Watching "The Village" a hugely successful French series that ran 7 seasons was really impressive. (It's available at most libraries around me so I assume anyone reading this could find it.) Set from 1940 - 1970 in a village in France. Really causes one to reflect (See 1a above).
5) Xmas gifts... My two young-adult kids. Correspondence (telephone, email, facebook, etc.) with those mentioned above! Comic book gifts from those above as well. All those things bring happiness and smiles.
As a stand alone comment, I (and I imagine all of us who come here) are grateful you've continued with this site Red!
Loving the comments and glad to participate!
1. Getting to spend more time with my family (working/school from home, no commuting). We shared more meals, more TV, movies, music, etc.
2. Live music! I can't wait to again be in a small club holding a plastic cup of overpriced beer listening to a band playing their hearts out onstage and filling my soul.
3. 1978 was the first that came to mind. Star Wars toys were readily accessible, I grabbed more comics, and no complaints about the music.
4. I watched some real gems this year. Top of my head: Hereditary, Knives Out, Midsommar, Day After Tomorrow/Live Die Repeat, Hamilton Live, Cobra Kai, Ted Lasso, so many others!
5. Easy answer: Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Comic Magazine book from my mother-in-law
Happy New Year everyone!
1. My spouse was diagnosed with cancer a few days before Christmas in 2019. She has endured chemo, surgery, and more chemo over the past year (fortunately the surgery took place the week before the virus arrived), but she has come through with flying colors, doing very well. So that's one situation that actually did improve from 2019 into 2020.
2. I hope to experience some normalcy in life. The last few years before 2020 were pretty tough for my family, so I hope to be able to maybe do more traveling.
3. I think maybe 1978 was a memorable year for me. I was a year into high school, lots of success in sports for my school, great experiences as a teenager, getting my driver's license, lots of good comics and music.
4. I read several great books....Marvel Comics: The Untold Story (loved it!), Red, Hot & Blue (a book about Memphis music from the 60's and 70's), Midnight Riders (an Allman Brothers history), and The Liberator (which was also made into a great Netflix series).
5. I picked up several of the Marvel Masterworks books on Kindle....they were either $0.99 or $1.99, so I got several Spider-Man, Avengers, Fantastic Four, and Daredevil volumes. I've also been on a southern rock kick for a while, so I picked up a couple of live Allman Brothers Band sets, plus a book about their various albums (The Road Goes On Forever). Also, got a Wolverine T-shirt from one of my daughters and several vintage LPs from my other daughter and her husband (who gave me one of their record players earlier in the year). Also got three movies that I've always wanted to see of the cheesy 70's ERB variety (The Land and The People that Time Forgot and At The Earth's Core).
Hi, all. I don't have any good answers to this week's questions, so I'll just wish a happy new year to all present.
Graham-- It is so heartening to hear a story of a serious medical issue heading in an optimistic direction. Thank you for sharing that with us-- and I'm sure I speak for all of us in wishing your wife a continued recovery. (Naturally we're assuming she's a super-hero by now. . . )
Gonna ad a movie to the list, even though we just watched it this afternoon: MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM. Chadwick Boseman had the leading male role in this flippin' brilliant adaptation of the August Wilson play. I have no idea how the Oscars will work this year-- but Chad's performance is breath-taking, mesmerizing, and agonizing. It is a rare performance in a role that I cannot imagine many actors being equal to. It brought the utter heartbreak of his passing right back to the surface again.
Five-star film-- totally recommended.
HB
HB,
Ma Rainey is on my “To Watch” list. Thanks for the review. I heard Boseman was fantastic in it. The lady herself was a force of nature.
I think my wife is a superhero for sure. She’s been through a lot over the past year and has bounced back from everything thrown her way. She will appreciate the thoughts and prayers from all.
Happy New year everyone, lets hope 2021 doesn't make 2020 look good, lol.
1) I could say having an economy that's still chugging along, even after taking serious hits in certain areas (and still is), would be a good thing or having a President that was nominated for 3 (or was it 4?) Nobel Peace prizes....But for me personally, considering I was furloughed in March and laid off in July & my wife is working from home, we're healthy, happy and haven't killed each other, lol. Oh and for the first time in 26years, I was able to clear all my leaves from the yard before the first snowfall, eliminating the Spring mess.
2) I be happy if we can just be done with the mask thing, I find it all rather creepy.
3) I could say 1973, when I started collecting with Avengers 114 (leading into a great Summer, Avenger/Defenders Clash anyone?) or 1974 (those Giant Sizes were awesome), but I will go with 1975, went to my first convention (Mighty Marvel Convention in March) saw Stan Lee announce Jacks back! (even though I didn't realize the significance of it then), spent the Summer in Wildwood NJ & won several Mego figures on the boardwalk (Spidey, Lizard, Falcon & Iron-Man)
4) Never read Manga before, my Son lent me his Berserk set and I really enjoyed it. Modern comics have left me cold and this may be the way to go, back to story and characterization.
5) Lets see, I got "American Comic Book Chronicles 1980's" and "Choke Gasp, the Best of 75 years of EC comics" from my wife, "The Avengers-Emma Peel mega set" from my son and a Spider-Man puzzle (cover of issue 151) and the oversized "Famous First Edition-New Fun #1" from my Daughter. I got some reading to do, yay
Again, Happy New year to you all, hope everyone will continue to keep on keepin on
Joseph- Very good observations; the increased time spent with family at home has been one of the notable bright spots this past year. And regarding your mention of "Knives Out", glad you brought that up. I hadn't heard much about it but found it to be most interesting upon viewing it.
Graham- Sorry not to respond more promptly, but very glad to hear that your wife is doing well. My sincere best wishes to you both.
Your book "Red, Hot and Blue" sounds good; love that Memphis music scene. Also, your vote makes several for 1978, which may make it the winner of the week! And justifiably so; a fine year it was.
Steve DC- thanks for being part of our group therapy here; may your year be a fine one!
HB- that Ma Rainey film is on the 'must see' list. I've heard nothing but greatness about it, and about Chadwick Boseman's performance.
Flamekeeper- you got all your leaves cleared? Boy, you set a high bar for the rest of us! My yard remains a mess, sadly.
And you attended the Marvel Convention? Most impressive indeed! 14 year old Redartz would have been Greenartz with envy. Bet you have some more great memories of that event...
Nice list of gifts there! Enjoy your reading, and enjoy your year!
Graham- Glad to hear your wife is doing well, I lost my parents and a couple of good friends to the Big C. It takes a toll on everyone, best wishes and prayers.
HB- Congrats on the new knee (bionic perhaps?), I expect we will see you on the soccer fields soon. :) How the West Was Won is good stuff!
Thanks Red, oh yeah, plus the fact that it was my 1st trip to the Big Apple made it very memorable indeed. I got some free time if you need some help with your yard, lol
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