Category: Misc.

Happy New Years 2012

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We’re just a little over 6 hours away from 2011 going into the history books and 2012 opening a new chapter in all of our lives.  I like the promise that a new year holds.  Don’t you?  [You’re not one of those “2012: end of times” fanatics are you?  If so, I’ll bet you’re having a hard time getting excited about the promise of the coming year.]

I have to admit though that I’m usually not excited to see a year come to an end.  For one thing it means we’re getting a year older.  That by itself is no biggie.  Who cares about one year coming to an end?  It’s the cumulative effect of all those previous years ending that take their toll.  Plus when a year comes to a close, it signals that all of our unfinished goals, resolutions and projects won’t be finished THAT year.

I do like that New Year’s is a time to pause and reflect on the past year and the blessings that we’ve received or heartache we’ve been spared.  I also enjoy the opportunity to plan for the coming year.  Although I’m not one for resolutions, at least public resolutions, I hope 2012 sees a couple of mine succeed.  While I’m hoping for good things in 2012, let me wish you and yours the best that a new year can bring.  

Jim, Charles, Junior, Charlie and Shawn

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What a great time I had today.  I woke up early, but since I have the next couple of weeks off, I was able to take my time to leisurely get ready for my trip to Orlando to see my buddies, Jim Ivey [in the middle looking like a thin Santa] and Rob Smith, Jr. [on the left, looking like he’s starting a Santa beard himself].  We were joined by Charles Treadwell, who like Jim and Rob, is also an artist. 

We met at Junior’s Diner and for nearly three hours we had breakfast and a lot of fun.  We shared stories from the past, caught up on what has been happening in our lives, and basically shot the bull.  The food was excellent and the company even better.  Since I drove Jim, it was my duty to get him back home, but not without a trip to Charlie’s Bakery for a box of double-chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies to go with the cigars and lottery tickets that I got him for Christmas.  When we got back to Jim’s it was just in time to see his old buddy, Roy, pull in.  Roy was carrying a bag of books and more for Jim.  Christmas indeed came early for Mr. Ivey.

Shawn Surface had planned to attend the breakfast get-together, but obligations at work forced him to cancel.  Shawn told me to swing by his work if I could because he had a sketch he’d drawn for me.  So after dropping off Jim, I called Shawn, who said to come on by.  I did and things were slow enough that Shawn and I were able to hang out for a bit.  We talked about Shawn’s progress on Kuduman, a new series, Shawn plans to debut in 2012.  Shawn also gifted me with a very cool Stallone as Judge Dredd sketch that I’ll post in the coming weeks.

Finally it was time for me to get back on the road for my drive home.  I was smiling the whole way back.  I can’t remember the last time I had such a relaxed, free-flowing day with friends.


Steve Niles’ Photo Blog

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Steve Niles at one time had a photo blog where he shared photos from his collection.  Some were behind-the-scenes pictures like the one above of William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, still in costume, on a break from filming the original Star Trek tv series to check out the latest issue of Mad magazine.

Here’s Frankenstein taking a little “me time” for a smoke and a cup of joe.

And here we have one of the flying monkeys from The Wizard of Oz.  If you’ve read this far, my guess is you’ll dig Steve’s photos.

 

Moon Conspiracy Theories

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TruTV recently posted a piece about called 10 Conspiracies About the Moon (Not Including the Big One).  Here are some tidbits that I thought interesting:

  • “Nostradamus… is believed to be telling of the moon landing… ‘He will come to go into the corner of Luna / Where he will be captured and put in a strange land / The unripe fruits will be the subject of great scandal / Great blame, to one great praise.'”
  • Late in the war, “the Nazis were developing high-tech weaponry and, some believe, space shuttle technology. Theories say that the Nazis could have been the actual winners of the space race in 1942… While there, they set up a base, which is said to have since been frequented by astronauts from other countries. Another rumor suggests that Hitler survived WWII, fled the planet using rocket technology and lived a long life on the Nazi moon base.” [I would love to see a Hellboy story set in the 1960’s based on  Hitler living on the moon with a Nazi army!]
  • There is “alleged Apollo 14 footage of a monkey or dog-like creature moving rapidly across the lunar surface while the astronauts are already back inside the spacecraft.”
  • Some folks “now believe that there are weapons of mass destruction locked and ready to blast off from the moon. But are they pointing at Earth or into space?”
  • The 2011 film Apollo 18 is a mockumentary-style horror flick with the basic concept that we did not return to the moon because of an alien presence the astronauts found there. Or is it a documentary?
  • “According to the UFO Casebook website, NASA has captured images of what are believed to be alien bases on the far side of the moon. In 1994, the US Navy sent a satellite called Clementine to take images of the moon, but found nothing unusual enough to share with the public.
  • “Though 1.8 million images were taken, only 170,000 images were made public. The rest have been classified, which leads many to believe that proof of alien life is being withheld from the public.”
  • Dr. Edgar Mitchell, who was the Lunar Module Pilot for Apollo 14, claimed during a radio interview with Nick Margerrison of Kerrang Radio in 2008 that aliens had made contact with humans many times but that the government has been hiding the truth.”
  • “Another rumor: both Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin saw and filmed an active alien moon base on the far side of the moon during their lunar jaunt. James Lovell of the Apollo 8 mission is also rumored to have seen evidence of alien life.”

i would love for friendly (big smile) intelligent  alien life to be discovered.  Until then, I’m going with the Hitler and Nazi army on a moonbase as my favorite moon conspiracy theory.