I don’t understand why this is even happening

Photo taken in San Diego, 11-9-10

Mysta of the Moon – Chapter 14

Politics as usual play a large part of this chapter of Mysta of the Moon from Planet Comics #48 (May 1947) as Mysta takes an active hand in public policy. Those following the Mysta story may be surprised by events in this installment as rival political groups comprising members of the Science Council and the Humanist Party clash for control of human civilization. Lies, distortions, back-stabbing, betrayal, terror attacks, manipulation of the media and preying upon the fears of the populace in order to advance their goals are all applied in a power-grab by a certain group of power-hungry insiders.

Mysta, with a little help from Faux-Bron and the Robot eventually figure out the plot and expose the manipulators and change the course of history. By endorsing one party over the other Mysta engages in a little propaganda coup of her own. Mysta sends a clear message that effectively renders one faction ineffective and superfluous, perhaps existing from then on forward only via her tacit approval and support, acting only on her whim or per her agenda.

You think it’s going wrong again but you’re wrong and I know it

Progressive early-80s band After The Fire is one of those musical groups where if you go by what is played on radio or linked to on the internet one would think they have only produced one song. Examples of this would be from performer Annie Lennox and the song Walking on Broken Glass, the Xian band Mercy Me with Goodbye To Self, The Corrs with Summer Sunshine and Duffy with Mercy. This is a bit different than the One Hit Wonder syndrome (though it certainly overlaps) that many bands are categorized with in that regardless of the extent of the catalog the performer holds from the play each song receives in stores, restaurants and the radio someone new to the names would tend to believe the tunes were just extended play ring tones and just as disposable albeit extremely lucrative.

ATF is most popular via their international video hit Der Kommissar but they had other tunes that were enjoyable enough and got some international play way back when. They have a loyal following on a few streaming video sites. Yet one pop tune I appreciate in particular seems to be missing and whenever I break out the cassette tapes the ATF compilation album released in the United States is one I always give a listen to. When friends and innocent strangers hear other tunes from ATF they are always polite if not pleasantly surprised, like when I keep insisting how awesome are the Scottish band Texas and lead Sharleen Spiteri.
   
Music videos from the early days of ATF (with the exception of the over-played Der Kommissar) are rare so I put together the audio for Love Will Always Make You Cry with some other video for this song. It doesn’t really sync up but it isn’t too far off most other videos of the era using concert footage for their MTV entries. I really like that one line from the chorus used for the title of this post and I keep it in the brain file for use whenever I can work it into conversation.

I know there are some ATF fans out there so here you are. Enjoy!

Lazy, rainy Sunday post.

Happy Thanksgiving in 2010

Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #15 (December 1941). Art credit Al Taliaferro.


Since a few people asked what the deal was with the cover because the gag had little context, here is the original cartoon that inspired it as reprinted from the daily newspaper comic strip for Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #12 (September 1941).

Mysta of the Moon – Chapter 13

From March 1947 Planet Comics #47 brings a tale of a space pirate, political intrigue and science-zombies. Much of the action concerns things being personal. Mysta reveals more emotion for Bron and the villain of the piece has something of a personal grudge against Mysta. Powerful forces seem to be allying themselves against Mysta as petty criminals and despots gather considerable resources against her. A member of the the Science Council also makes a short-lived appearance and Bron ends up in need of rescue. 

In reading these stories I have come to speculate that many of the crooks and pirate leaders may have been people of considerable influence before the fall of civilization. Robber barons of the future with strangleholds on various systems and economies, reduced to being small organized crime families, yet with access to large infrastructure of horded supplies and equipment from better times.

It seems unlikely that some minor space pirate would nonetheless have a giant hidden underground base unless they were long established and with resources that remained relatively untouched while humanity dragged themselves back up from the ruins of their civilization.

They have no shield, nothing must be revealed

The Go Go’s version always impressed me as a catchy bubblegum song about high school gossips. The song as interpreted by Fun Boy Three has a scarier, darker appeal that hints at a deeper story than the more energetic grrrl-power version.

Lazy, rainy Sunday post.

Don’t Be Slutty, Girls!

Love Letters #10 (1951).

Dangerous…Active!

By amazing coincidence, my home office cabinet has a rather thick file within it with the same name.

From Girl Comics #12 (January 1952).

You can’t be too careful

Following with interest the news that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been issued a warrant for his arrest by Swedish authorities. I’m not ready to state whether he has been framed, set up, or is guilty but I am going to pay attention to the story. There are only a few people who know what really happened and we have to wait for the evidence to determine who is guilty and who is innocent.

This story has international implications. Assange is notoriously difficult to locate as he is reported to never stay in the same place more than one night. Dangerous men have dangerous enemies and I’m sure the various threats against Assange are very real. There is no telling what region he may visit in his travels. He is a ghost. He could very well be hiding in a motel in New York, Britain, Berlin, Hong Kong or even San Diego.

So just to be on the safe side I’m going to wear a t-shirt with the slogan NOT JULIAN ASSANGE on it whenever I venture out of my home. I’d hate to get tasered by cops when on the way to the mall mistakenly identifying me as Mr. Assange. This is something everyone should be concerned about. Furthermore, my wife is visiting relatives in hated Maryland soon so I have to be ready when I go to the airport to see her off. The t-shirt will divert suspicion from me being Mr. Assange and ensure that there will not occur a case of mistaken identity when I escort my wife to the TSA checkpoint. Look what happened to Frank Morris. If he was wearing one of these T-shirts he’d still be a free man today.

Like it doesn’t bother you

Remaining calm in restaurants is  particularly difficult and can be quite a challenge for the average, normal person. This is because the cutlery is often magnetized through handling, cleaning, jostling and scraping in the storage racks. Trust me, it’s science.

The main problem that occurs from cutlery being magnetized is that it makes lining up the flatware perfectly parallel on the napkin with even spaces on each side and without touching the implements next to it AS IT SHOULD BE extremely difficult for the average restaurant patron. Too close to the  neighboring implement and the fork is subsequently attracted to the adjacent piece of cutlery and then shifts off center and it TOUCHES the knife or spoon. I will not stand for that. No way. If the cutlery is not close enough to the other then the entire setting is NOT LINED UP RIGHT and then they won’t be perfectly even on the napkin AS THEY SHOULD BE and then I get upset and nervous and then that tremble in my chest returns and it won’t go away until I fix the problem.

Oh, man. Just looking at this image is making me want to photoshop them parallel.