Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
***
In this week in 1981, a world record was smashed as the Queen officially opened the Humber Bridge in East Yorkshire.
It may have lacked the glamour of the Golden Gate but the structure was, at the time, the longest single-span suspension bridge on the planet and enabled those dwelling south of the river to venture into the realm of Northumbria without having to get their feet wet.
Once, the people of Grimsby could only dream of visiting Hull. Now they could do so with ease.
And, once they'd entered that ancient realm, did they ever leave it again?
It's hard to believe they'd want to.
I've no idea who the mystery villain is.
Then again, he's a mystery villain. So, how could I know?
Then againer, to be honest, I don't have that much idea who Killer Shrike is. I know the name and feel it's a great one but, as far as I can recall, I've never actually read a tale with him in it.
The origin of Woodgod appears to be rumbling on, with him having reached the stage where he takes on Del Tremens' flying attack squad.
Needless to say, it doesn't stand a chance against the cloven-footed clobberer
But that's not all the excitement we get this week because we're also witness to the destruction of Hydropolis, when the Hulk breaks free.
I'm assuming Hydropolis ends up flooding, based on the fact it's at the bottom of the sea.
I also suspect the ending of the Captain Omen story, where everyone explodes, will not be repeated.
Stilt-Man's on the loose and the man who gets beaten up, every few months, by Daredevil is confident he's got what it takes to bring down Marvel's mightiest hero. You know, the one who once chased off Galactus?
I'm suspecting Stilty's optimism may prove to be unfounded.
Captain America, the Fantastic Four and the Dazzler are also in this issue.
I don't have a clue what any of them are up to.
I do know, though, that Iron Man's still trying to stop the Hulk, following Tony Stark's disastrous attempt to cure Bruce Banner.
I'm not too sure what the Panther's moodying his way up to but I do know Daredevil's got plenty to be in a sulk about because the silly police are firing bullets at him, in the belief he's actually the villainous Death's Head.
Once that problem's dealt with, DD reveals he's worked out that fiend is actually Karen's father.
But what is that? Over there? As the fight reaches its stunning climax? A conveniently placed vat of deadly something or other?
Why do I get the feeling its placement's going to prove to be bad news for the skullsational scoundrel?
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57 comments:
Does Marvel Super Adventure have only two strips and Captain America five? All very odd.
'Spider-man & Hulk Weekly' # 437
This comic's the first of my final 3 'Spider-man & Hulks'! This week's issue has only 3 stories, so each title gets a reasonable number of pages. Spidey gets 12 pages, Hulk gets 8, and Woodgod gets 6. So, to paraphrase 'Animal Farm', some titles' page counts are more reasonable than others! But - all this - and the comic's still 1p cheaper than the other 2 weeklies!
Characters from the animal world figure prominently, this week. A 'Killer Shrike' is a butcher bird; the Hulk faces the Batrachian man - basically frogs & toads; and Woodgod's got a bit of goat in him.
Other themes? Not much, really. In comics, possibly a story's laziest ending is to have the villain's complex being either about to explode/or burn to the ground. This happened with almost every deserted city Conan ever visited. The only writer to make the villain's exploding complex plot device to work was Chris Claremont, with Magneto's volcano.
In this comic, 2 out of the 3 stories use that silly trope/plot device. Shame on you, Marvel!
The cover. This has no bearing on anything - the Hulk's ripping a sheet, or something. Although I must admit, he does have a yellow backdrop! Claiming Woodgod's taking on the army is a swiz, as no tanks or normal soldiers feature in the story. It's just Del Tremens & co.
The inside cover. Above, an ad for 'Time Bandits' - and below, and ad for a Space Invaders game.
'Spider-man'
This story lacks credits, but Jim Mooney's clearly heavily involved. The tale involves Killer Shrike, that Whiplash lookalike villain whom, along with Modular Man, Spidey & the Beast defeated, in 'Team-up'.
Another character is Dr. Marla Madison yet, strangely, the Spider-slayer plays no part in the story whatsoever - for a change!
Also, for the purpose of this tale, Killer Shrike's costume is rebranded a "battle-suit" - to sound more impressive!
Iron Man's the bodyguard of Tony Stark (the head of Stark International). Well, that's nothing - Killer Shrike's the bodyguard of James Melvin (head of the Brand Corporation). Is Killer Shrike James Melvin in disguise, then? No - that's a stretch too far; he's just some guy named 'Simmons'. Anyway, someone - or something - has taken control of Killer Shrike's "battle-suit" (costume) & is operating it against his will. Is Justin Hammer up to his old tricks again? No - once more, that's a stretch too far!
Well, let's crack on! The mysterious force compels Killer Shrike to abduct Marla Madison from a high society cocktail party, and take her to the Brand Corporation's "Special Powers Lab". Is that like Project Pegasus? I don't know, but it sounds exciting!
Unfortunately, Marvel UK's panels - to start with - seem printed in the wrong order. Thus, after Killer Shrike's taken Marla Madison to the lab, we get the next panel with J Jonah Jameson, at the party (Peter Parker's there, too), ranting at Killer Shrike as he flies off with Marla. This panel arrangement means the story's running backwards, not forwards! Maybe it's an unintroduced flashback scene. Either way, the story's been hacked up, by Marvel UK.
Back at the "Special Powers Lab", the mysterious force makes Killer Shrike write on a blackboard, "Please help me", in front of Dr.Madison.
James Melvin, head of the Brand Corp, was also at the high society party, and witnessed his man, Killer Shrike, abduct Marla. He hightails it back to Brand Corp, with Spidey clinging to his limousine.
Melvin finds Killer Shrike in the "Special Powers Lab", and starts chewing him out for abducting Marla in front of witnesses, and taking her to a top secret facility. The mysterious force, not in the mood for a rollicking, directs Killer Shrike's blasters at Melvin & Spidey. Spidey isn't impressed, and knocks Killer Shrike out with one punch!
Spidey turns his back on Killer Shrike, suggesting to Marla Madison they get out of Dodge. To Spidey's surprise, Marla refuses, citing important work she must complete. she even denies Killer shrike abducted her (a quibbling distinction, it being the mysterious force, not the Shrike himself).
Spidey's surprise increases further, when his spider-sense tingles, despite Killer Shrike being unconscious behind him. The point being, the mysterious force's ability to activate Killer Shrike's blasters, even though Simmons is unconscious.
Forewarned by his spider-sense, Spidey dodges. Strangely, in Spidey's thought bubble, Marvel UK's black marker pen has replaced some unknown word with the word "stupid", and replaced another word with "but". This used to happen in ROM, in 'Forces in Combat', too. Why couldn't Marvel UK type the replacement word, and stick it over? Is it just laziness? What could the missing words be? Answers on a postcard.
Spidey gets behind Shrike, holding him in a near half-nelson, whereupon Marla remarks, "You're holding two men there!" At this point, Will o-the-wisp exits Killer Shrike, and enters Marla's "induction grid" - whatever that is. She's also got a "magno-condenser" - sheesh! Quoting Thomas Dolby, "She blinded me with science".
Spidey asks Marla if help's required, as he knows about science, and he owes wispy a life- debt. Suddenly, the massive lab's barn-sized doors opens, revealing boss Melvin, and his guards. Artistically, this 'camera angle' reminds me of that ROM story, in which Dr. Rachel Sweet's massive lab door opens, revealing guards, just before ROM shoots her with his neutralizer. But, I digress.
Killer Shrike has now regained consciousness, without wispy inside him, and attacks. Spidey knocks him out, for a second time, and webs up all the guards.
Marla tells Spidey her machine's losing voltage, so Spidey aims the unconscious Killer Shrike's blaster at the machine, and fires a jolt of electrical energy. Incidentally, when Spidey & the Beast last encountered Killer Shrike, they also activated his blasters whilst he was unconscious, firing them at Modular Man (acting like King Kong, up a skyscraper). Seems to be an occupational hazard for Killer Shrike.
Anyway, Marla's machine works, and wispy materializes in front of them. Once again, Spidey suggests they get out of Dodge, but Wispy refuses, saying he intends to destroy the place. As Wisp changes form, his light effect paralyzes/hypnotizes Marla, leaving Spidey to rescue her, the guards, & Killer Shrike from the burning building.
At the conclusion Jameson arrives, and Marla can only remember that Spider-man was involved in it, somehow. She also refuses to work for Melvin. Spidey wonders about the fate of Will o' the wisp. The end.
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An advert for UK Summer Specials
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'Hulk'
This story lacks credits, but Alfredo Alcala's clearly involved, although it's not as dark & intense as "Feeding Billy" (then again, what is?) - see MWOM # 299.
Basically, the plot's 'Moonraker'. Rypel, the villain, will destroy the old world and, out of the ashes, create a new one, from his undersea city, Hydropolis.
The villain's brother (yes, that brothers theme again), Jeremy, is the Batrachian man - a Creature from the Black Lagoon-type being, who lives in an aquarium under Hydropolis. "Batrachian" means a tailless amphibian, like a frog or toad (but the Batrachian man doesn't look like a frog or toad).
Bruce Banner finds the Batrachian man whilst Rypel, his brother, is confronted by the escaped prisoners/resistance, who tell him the jig's up. Rypel orders the Batrachian man to kill Banner who - obviously - transforms into the Hulk. Strangely, rather than beating up the Batrachian man, the Hulk persuades him that Rypel is his enemy, for experimenting on him. Both the characterization & the dialogue are odd in this story, to say the least.
With Rypel knocked unconscious, the Hulk tells the Batrachian man to leave, as Hydropolis is about to explode. Nearby, the escaped prisoners/resistance are trying to escape in a malfunctioning submarine - so they ask the Hulk to launch it. He does - successfully - but then the base explodes.
At first, Sheila - the leader of the gang - thinks the Hulk's died a hero's death. But, on the surface, she sees Banner clinging to some wreckage. The end. This story is decidedly unsatisfactory, somehow - like a bad episode of 'The Man From Atlantis'.
'Woodgod'
About 6 weeks ago, when I last reviewed this title, Woodgod was fighting Del Tremens, in a story resembling 'The Andromeda Strain'. 6 weeks later, nothing seems to have changed!
There's no credits, but Keith Giffen is the artist (I think).
There's not much to say, really. Woodgod gets angry, and knocks 3 of Del's Sky-sled Floaters out of the air. That's about it. We learn Woodgod can withstand mortar fire, at close range - so he's a bad hombre. Possibly more invulnerable than the Thing (who isn't that invulnerable), but not as invulnerable as the Hulk. A lone scientist speaks up for Woodgod - but is ignored. We get this in Blockbuster's Inhumans too, next month. Oh - at the end, we learn Woodgod's father's some guy named 'Pace' - but none of this is explained. This story would benefit from more exposition.
At the comic's end, you get a double page spread, with the letters page, a check-list (which might be a useful crib-sheet for Steve, but it's incredibly basic), and the Bullpen Bedlam funny.
Phillip
'door opens' or 'doors open' - nouns & verbs agreement! Damn typos!
Phillip, thanks for another gigantic summary.
Looking back on it, I think the theme of that Woodgod story was something to do with alcoholism - hence the bad guy being called Del Tremens and the only protection against the leaked poison gas being drunkenness. It was all very odd.
Dangermash, I do believe those figures are correct, yes.
The Humber bridge features at the start of the BBC (rather than offical) video of The Housemartins' 'Think for a minute' single.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ywznu5DBjbM
I prefer this version to the proper video. Early appearances of Paul Heaton (Beautiful South) and Norman Cook (Fat Boy Slim). But everyone knew that didn't they?
DW
Well of course these days the longest suspension bridges are in Asia, Steve. The current British government planned to take back the record with a world beating bridge to Ireland, but it seems they're opting for a tunnel instead.
www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/boris-johnson-wants-to-build-roundabout-under-the-isle-of-man
It all sounds a bit far-fetched to me given they can't even transport sausages across the Irish Sea.
Based on your previous posts I would guess that in Marvel Action the Fantastic Four are about to go up against Ego, from the two parter that began in FF #234.
And "moodiest solo stars" on that Marvel Super Adventure cover means the Black Panther is now in the immediate post-Kirby era. Not that those stories were especially moody, but compared to King Solomon's Frog...
Thats the best I can do on the comics. Not very helpful is it?
-sean
I tell ya Phil, "Woodgod"...
If Marvel had handled that character right, if they knew what the heck to do with him, he coulda been bigger than Wonder Warthog.
T-shirts, a cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy maybe, the whole magilla.
M.P.
Hello, oh my brothers.
Seeing Stilt-Man battling Thor on the the cover on the American issue made that a "instant buy". I maybe wrong, but I think he had adamantanium armor.
Hail Stilt-Man!!!
M.P.-
Wonder Warthog was one of my favorite underground comics characters, outside of the Freak Brothers, Polka Dot Demon, Fritz the Cat, and Leather Nun.
K.D., let's not forget Mickey Rat.
On another note, surely, this was Stilt-Man's finest hour. He lasted five minutes with Thor. As you say K.D., "instant buy." You just gotta pull that one off the spinner rack.
But when I first saw this cat, it was in Marvel Adventures, which reprinted old Daredevil comics back in the mid '70's. Stilt-Man struck my young mind as a formidable character. He was big, armored, and managed to knock out Spider-Man with a knock-out gas bomb of some kind. It wasn't until years later that I learned he was "the subject of fun".
As a kid, I thought he was genuinely scary!
Sean, I think it was a disgrace the way John Byrne depicted Ego in the Fantastic Four. One lousy issue, and he got beat and apparently destroyed!
Shabby treatment, for the Living Planet.
M.P.
Hi, KD, nice to know you're still with us. :)
Sean, I'm pretty sure that, at one point, Johnson was bigging up the idea of a bridge across the English Channel, as well. He does love a bad bridge, does Boris.
MP, KD, I have confidence the Stilt-Man will have the last laugh, one day.
DW, thanks for that Housemartins link. The drizzly greyness of it brought me comfort in this time of excess heat.
Here's a David Bowie interview, with Paxman. Concentrate on the video, not the statue:
https://www.teemingbrain.com/2021/07/16/its-an-alien-life-form-davie-bowie-on-the-internets-exhilarating-and-terrifying-potential/
Phillip
Apologies for going off topic. I must wear sack cloth & ashes. Nevertheless, Charlie will like it. After the Humber bridge opened, my sister & brother-in-law took my brother & myself for a visit. The Humber bridge, at the time, was a big deal.
As well as opening up Hull, I suppose it also opened up Barton-on-the-Humber, on the other side. I always imagine poet Henry Treece in Barton, slaving away at those Viking novels for kids. I read one at junior school, and liked it.
DW - As well as the Housemartins, Hull's also famous for Everything But the Girl (named after a Hull shop) & Roland Gift, from The Fine Young Cannibals. You probably know all this already.
M.P. & KD - At first, Adamantium, being virtually indestructible, was almost impossible to forge, and only a very few could do this. Later, however, everyone & his dog was using Adamantium. Kind of took the shine off it.
Looking in vain for the Humber bridge in my 1981 diary, my entry for Thursday was "Today it was the first of It Ain't Half Hot Mum." The day before was "Today we watched The Clash of the Titans". Today - i.e. Friday - was "Today we got a colour tv set". Basically, as a kid, I must have been square eyed!
Phillip
I had my second vaccine jab this morning AND the Tokyo Olympics begins today AND it's the 10th anniversary of the death of Amy Winehouse.
You don't hear the name Henry Treece much these days, Phillip.
He was a poet? I had no idea. I read those Viking novels back then too - Viking Dawn, Road to Miklagard - and Legions of the Eagle and The Golden Strangers.
Not sure how well they'd hold up now, but at the time they were great if you were a kid who hadn't read anything by Michael Moorcock yet.
-sean
Sean - Maybe our common reading habits were influenced by watching 'The Island on Top of the World' as kids. Who knows?
Phillip
Not suggesting you're "common", Sean. I'm sure flat caps & whippets played no part in your upbringing.
Phillip
I remember 'The Island At The Top Of the World' too but I've never heard of Henry Treece or his Viking novels. Woe is me.
Colin - If, despite watching 'The Island at the Top of the World', you've never read Moorcock, either, you've completely disproved my theory!
Phillip
Phillip, I can confirm that I've never read Moorcock either. I've heard of Elric of Melnibone but only because he teamed up with Conan the Barbarian in one of the early Conan comics.
Colin - At juniors, did you read Willard Price books?
Phillip
No worries on the "common" thing Phillip. Its a well known fact that everyone on these islands not from the north of England (and who didn't go to Eton) is a metropolitan elitist enemy of the people, so it was obvious what you meant.
-sean
Can someone tell me what exactly the Black Panther is doing on the cover?
Has there eve been a more impressive looking pair of villains - Stiltman and Gladiator - who got there asses handed to them more easily?
And we may have discussed this, but didn't those two team up? I thought there was some banter about Gladiator slicing Stiltie's legs off?
Steve - we never heard your professional opinion on the Britsh Grand Prix! Did Hamilton squeeze out Max in the turn? I have to admit I was all adrenaline watching the start of that race... never saw anything like it... until "it" happened a few minutes in. And man was I deflated, hard, because it was really insanity for a start.
MP - We have grey skies for days... I assume worse for you... allegedly due to the fires burning 2000 miles west of Chicago.
Charlie, I didn't see the British Grand Prix and can, thus, make no comment upon it.
On that cover, the Panther is sitting in a tree, being moody.
Colin, congratulations on your 2nd jab. I hope you've experienced no side-effects.
The Panther would look moodier on that cover if his anatomical proportions were at all correct, Steve. Its Daredevil that I'm not sure about, hovering slightly over that branch - is he tiny, or far away?
-sean
Charlie, I think on this blog I once pointed out the possibility or probability of the Gladiator accidently cutting HIS OWN legs off or at least severing a femoral artery, with those high-speed circular blades strapped to his wrists.
I used to have a job where I ran a table saw, and it's a minor miracle I still have all my digits.
Ray wasn't so lucky, but that might have been karma for stealing people's cigarettes outta their coat pockets during breaks.
And yeah, it's pretty hazy over here. It's gonna be a full moon tomorrow and it would be interesting to see it rise, with all the smoke in the air. I assume it might be colorful, but in town you only see it when it gets higher.
The guy on this radio station today said it will be a "Full-Buck Moon". I had never heard that before. Apparently, around the time of the full moon in July is when new antlers emerge from the heads of bucks, or male deer. I looked it up and it also said the Anglo-Saxons called it a "Hay Moon", a time for gathering hay, or a "Wort Moon", a time for gathering herbs (worts). Does that ring a bell for you guys in the U.K.?
Like the Greeks, you guys had a word for everything!
M.P.
(a font of useless knowledge today)
MP.!
I’m pretty certain that I have more worthless trivia in my head than you do. If for no other reason then I think I’m about eight years older than you.
The moon here is essentially a full moon but it is orange. It’s been orange the last several days due to the burning fires.
It’s worth pondering… If a burning fire 2000 miles away causes hazy skies and orange moons, What the hell is going to happen when that volcano finally blows at Yellowstone park?
It's gonna be assholes and elbows, Charlie. Every sucker for himself.
Can you imagine the squabble when Vesuvius blew?
Multiply that by a hundred...
The last time it blew, maybe 12 million years ago, it wiped out a good deal of the major fauna in North America.
There used to be camels and rhinos in Nebraska.
M.P.
Yep. If Yellowstone goes full-omega, there's a good chance that insects will get their chance to evolve and be the predominant species.
Steve-
Sorry about the absence, oh my brother. Between tweeking around Green Hell since I got her back, and helping my hillbilly family deal with multiple fallen trees, my buzzsawed brain has been kinda distracted.
M.P-
Yeah! Mickey Rat! And EZ Wolf! Oh the days of buying comics at the head-shop while picking up a pipe, or flavored rolling papers.:)
I kinda remember that Stilt-Man died, and they had a funeral/wake in "the bar with no name", and it was raided by the Punished. Am I wrong?
Meant "Punisher", folks.
MP, I've never heard of a Hay Moon nor a Wort Moon. I fear I'm too urban for such things.
Charlie, the moon's also been orange in Britain. Whether that's down to what's happening in America, I don't know.
Steve, I believe here in the States "our" full moons are named after native American folklore. Worm moon, Hunter moon, etc.
I saw the full moon just above the horizon on Thursday night and it looked golden to me.
Phil, I didn't read any Willard Price books either. I remember reading a series of books about the Blue Pirate when I was in junior school and I also loved The Three Investigators, The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew mysteries. There was a library right next to the school which we visited once a week and I always searched for those mystery books.
Steve, no side effects from my second jab except a slightly sore arm. I was more bothered by having to walk to the local leisure centre/vaccine distribution HQ in a heatwave :D
Colin - I remember The Three Investigators - in particular, 'The Mystery of the Dancing Devil'which, like yourself, I read at juniors. Later on, I learned that Alfred Hitchcock didn't write any of them - what a swiz! A school & library together's a match made in heaven. Smaller places find more innovative solutions, perhaps. In the early 80s, my sister lived in a village outside Sheffield (Thorpe Hesley), where she said there was a lot more going on than when she lived in Sheffield itself (well, her bit, I suppose!) I don't know the Blue Pirate, so will have to look it up (albeit avoiding the connotations of 'blue'!)
KD, Charles & M.P. - In America, you call it a Hunter's Moon. In Yorkshire, it's a Dog stealing Moon! ;D
Phillip
Colin - That being said, my sister's previous place in Sheffield was pretty good, too. It was a flat right next to a fantastic park, with an interesting water tower, nearby. Not like rabbit warren Ranmoor, where I briefly lived in Sheffield!
Phillip
Weird... is there more than one "Hunter's Moon?"
I thought it was always October and the nomenclature passed from the Indians to the French who pretty much were the only Europeans in Illinois, Indiana and westward and down the Mississippi.
Where I went to University in Lafayette Indiana (Purdue) there was a reconstructed French fort and they always had a "French Voyagers" celebration at the time of the Hunters Moon which I took to be exclusively in October.
And then there was another little French fort down the beach from me on Lake Michigan referred to as "Petit Fort" (Little Fort).
And then to think the French conquered England in 1066.
Man... those French sure did like to roam about!
Charlie - I just saw a convenient joke. Honestly, I know nothing about it.
Phillip
Philip! Let the jokes fly! We all need to laugh!
KD - Please send me a picture of that car once you are done! Does it still look like it does up top or is it now in competition with the Odd Rod stickers from the late 60s / early 70s that we loved so dearly!
MP - All I know is if the terrorist attack again, I'm driving your way buddy! There's a bunch of nuclear reactors around us in Chicago land. But Yellowstone Volcano? Go east and south!
Well, only Charlie is doing his laundry. Do you guys do laundry in England? I figure seldom since it is cool and rainy and you probably never sweat?
Charlie - Yes! The weekend's a good time for pegging stuff out on the washing line. My bro's visiting at the moment, however, so he was doing his! Can't mix 'em up! In the U.S., don't you call pegs (traditionally wooden) something different?
Phillip
We call the pegs “clothes pins.” Some
Are wooden and some are fancy spring-loaded plastic jobbers!
Historically frugal Charlie used a drying rack in the house and that works fine in winter because of very low humidity and outside in summer. But when in-climate weather was around we would use the dryer.
Where I am mostly we use natural gas run directly to the house for drying clothes, heating water, cooking, and heating the house. A much smaller percentage use electricity for that and pay dearly.
The reason most of Chicagoland and much of the industrialized North has natural gas running to the homes is simply because huge pipe lines were run to the cities to support the heavy industry and it was small potatoes two then extend that to the housing
Charlie - Yeah, the plastic pegs are over here, too - but they break more easily! We use gas for cooking & heating over here, as well. A lot of people have driers for clothes, but try to dry them on the line first, anyway (frugality, like you say.)
I saw on our local social media there's a comicon coming up at the Knavesmire (Racecourse) at York. I think it's Aug 1st (?)
https://www.unleashedtickets.co.uk/ourshop/prod_6987895-York-Unleashed-Advance-Day-Tickets.html
The only one of the celebrity guests I recognized was James Cosmo (In 'The Sweeney', he played that Scottish copper who teamed up with Jack Regan, and said Regan was an old "Chuckter" who was only interested in "Hogmagandy". These were Scottish dialect words (coded language) which Regan didn't, at first, understand (insults). Cosmo also played 'Angus' in the first 'Highlander' movie.) Basically, he's a Scottish character actor, with a very long pedigree. It's £10 entry, but what with Covid & the fact that modern stuff doesn't do it for me, I think I'll give it a miss. I've just pasted the link - maybe it's 8 quid - who knows?
Apart from that, in August, a couple of Yorkshire power stations are slated for demolition, and further demolition, one of which my late father worked at, up until the mid 70s.
Phillip
I know discussion here sometimes goes in unexpected directions, but... drying laundry?!?
-sean
Charlie- yes, I recall that reenactment at Lafayette! Went there and had a fine time looking over history. Sadly the line was too long so I didn't get to try the tomahawk throw. But I did get a buffalo burger and French Onion Soup...
As for Yellowstone, it's a fascinating game of chance. What happens first, the volcano, or an earthquake along the New Madrid fault, or an asteroid strike...
Charlie,Phil - I've got a set of clothes pegs which are 100% plastic, no metal in them at all. I bought them around 2004 and they are very tough and durable and none have broken so far.
A few years ago the BBC made a TV drama about the Yellowstone supervolcano erupting. They also made a documentary about the Yellowstone volcano back in the '80s I think, which is how I first heard about it.
Yep, Charles, if Yellowstone blows I'll be heading east at a hundred per. (There was a line from Repo Man, where Harry Dean Stanton says, "When the big one comes down I'll be heading north at a hundred per.")
The problem is, everybody else will have the exact same idea.
The interstate and other major highways are crowded NOW, and road-rage and fatalities abound, even without a super-volcano going off nine hundred miles west of here.
Then again, it might not happen again for another million years.
M.P.
Colin - I really prefer the plastic, spring-loaded clothes pins.
Reasons being:
- The wooden ones tend to get a bit of a dark mold on them b/c it is quite humid in Chi-town.
- They also can be used for closing bags of chips, pretzels
- I also have used them for various other situations where I need a clamp.
That said, my craziest memory of them was when my two children were taking a bath. She was maybe 4 and he was two. There was a clothes pin in the bathtub for some reason and when boy stood up, she just had to see what would happen when she put the clothes pin on the end of his tally-wacker!
It happened so quick... poor boy let out a howl before I could get there in time! All was well though in the end!
Red - It's pretty cool we both saw the Go Gos in Lafayette and Fort Ouitenan as well at the Feast of the Hunters Moon!
Hopefully we can rally at C2E2 this December if the Zeta version of Covid hasn't put us back on lockdown!
Any of you Brits want to do C2E2 in Chicago, I'll put you up! Just two conditions:
1) Show me how you prepare baked beans and toast for breakfast
2) No reading my comics in the crapper.
Other than that, the usual by laws apply... say excuse me after you burp, put the milk back in the fridge, etc.
Red, MP, KD... you know we can just stop worrying about the Yellowstone if we all just move to Seattle? Portland? Some place up wind of the silly thing!
Charlie - Also, 'pegs' was a game! At juniors, my chums & myself leaned 2 pegs against a wall, and placed another peg across the top of the 2, as a cross bar (a bit like cricket wickets).
Each player had 3 turns, to throw a tennis ball (or similar), at the pegs, to knock them over, from a specified distance. If the ball bounced up, and was caught by the opposing team, whose players stood on either side, the player was "out".
Once the pegs were successfully knocked over, to win, a player had to stand the pegs up again, and place the 3rd peg over the top, before the opposing team retrieved the tennis ball (or similar), and threw it at him (usually hard!) Nowadays, this wouldn't be allowed, in case a tennis ball hit a kid's head - or something. Anyway, there was a lot of tactics in the game - and proves that pegs (or clothes pins) had more uses than merely hanging up your washing! Over & out!
Phillip
have not had!
Charlie, can't see regular travel to the US being convenient by December, but thanks for the offer (its the thought that counts).
Good luck with the supervolcano, earthquakes, climate change, and Trump running in '24.
-sean
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