Ha! He's finally aging!

I picked the wrong day to stop taking botox...


It's finally happening! Superboy is aging! Look!





Oh... Wait a second. Now he's even better looking. Fuck me...

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them...

I picked the wrong day to give up finding cool bumper stickers...


Found this one in Anheim Hills of all places.

Comic-Con but Very Few Comics

I picked the wrong day to stop reading Ray Bradbury...


It's been at least 5 years since I've been to any type of comic convention. As the name implies when you go to one you usually see lots of, well... Comics! That wasn't the case at Comic-Con 2008. I searched long and hard. Finally in the back of the main show floor there were some tables selling classic books. Funny thing was, for all my searching when I finally found them, I wasn't that interested. The medium has changed and so have I. Truth be told I haven't set foot into a comic book store in a few years now. Fed up with the attitude of comic store owners I became a disgruntled customer. That plus the lack of consistent product not to mention being a father of four have kept me away. By the way, comic book store owners HATE kids. I don't know what it is but I've seen kids berated and shamed out of stores on more than one occasion. No wonder kids switched their allegiance to anime and manga. All very ironic.

For the pass several years I have began digitally downloading my comics on a frequent basis. Now this is not exactly the most legal of activities but the medium has refused to change with the times. I should qualify that when I see a series that I enjoyed I will buy it in Trade Paper Back form at a Borders or Barnes and Noble. At least there I don't have to deal with the comic book store attitude.

So this is my open plea to the comic industry. PLEASE start offering you comics every Wednesday for digital download. I will GLADLY pay for this privilege. If you don't know how to make it happen talk to Apple. They seem to have it down to a science. Hell, I'll even pay for what I've already downloaded. Take a lesson from the recording industry which is now in shambles because it refused to adapt. I know Marvel has its "Digital Comics" on Marvel.com but the service is lousy and has little choices. I want ALL the titles to be available. Not just the selected ones from last month. And not just a handful of selected back issues either.

DCP and Minutemen (two underground comic scanning organizations) are so far ahead of you it's ridiculous. They have practically the entire medium in digital format at this point. Going back to the early 20th centry. They are on the forefront of the future of distribution for comics. Agree with them or not, the people have spoken.

For the final nail in the coffin the largest paper book seller in the world, Amazon.com, has introduced a digital downloading wireles reading device called a Kindle. Amazon Kindles are flying off the shelf. Great name if you think about it. To kindle is to catch fire. Quite the tripple entendre there Amazon!

Never leave your 5 year old son alone in a wedding party limo with 25 year olds OR Guess what I just found on the camera roll?

The legacy of this weekend's wedding continues...

Before the limo.




And after...

Nice day for a white wedding

I picked the wrong day to go to rehab...

On Saturday I wound up at a wedding for my niece (on the inlaw side) way out in Riverside, California. The wedding was held in this beautiful castle which was run and maintained by Teen Challenge. Teen Challenge is a faith based rehab that appears to do incredible work. One of the programs they run is a residential program where they put the over 18 people to work at events. Sure enough there were many clean cut kids who served us our food and drinks. I wound up talking to a couple of them and I was impressed by their manners and openess. At the same time, as there was no alcohol or loud music present at this venue, all I could think of was the words of the immortal Artie Lange. "Man, a year ago this would have all been one hell of a party."

So the wedding was very nice and the setting gorgeous. A tear almost came to my eye seeing these young people taking their vows. I first met my neice when she was 13 and I never imagined seeing such a day so soon. The time really flies. So of course my serenty was all broken when my 13 year old daughter catches the fucking bouquette!




And don't think I didn't catch the the guy who caught the garter belt licking his chops for a few minutes. Luckily that tradition was overlooked this time. There was about to be a beat down in Riverside, yo.

Comic-Con 2008

I picked the wrong day to stop carrying my new camera with me.

Well I now understand why Comic-Con is spread out over 4 days. Trying to do it all in one day is an exercise in futility and exhaustion. Still, I had a blast! There aren't many places where I can speak my theories of comic book lore out loud and not feel like everyone is secretly laughing at me. Next year I'll definitely do all four days.

The floor was probably the most crowded venue I've ever been in. It reminded me of the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty in New York. Wall to wall people and not much room to maneuver. Here's a pic to give you an idea.





The iPhone camera leaves something to be desired. Still it is functional. Really wish I had remembered my camera though.

More thoughts to come. In the mean time my son Mateo had fun with a Obi-Wan and Ahsoka.

Pedro offers you his protection

I picked the wrong day to stop smoking weed...

So in my attempt to win the Step Father of the Millennium award I had a private chat with my daughter about being supportive should she ever need birth control. I think she knows this about me already but I wanted the communication lines to be clear just the same. As we ended the conversation she walked away and I asked her if there was anything she wanted to ask me. She turned to me and said, "I get it: Pedro offers you his protection."

If I can't have the flying car...

I picked the wrong day to stop looking for a new car. Apparently.





Check this amazing thing out. The Volkswagon One Liter Car. 235 MPG. Yes, that's not a typo. Due out in 2010. I can wait. Though I'll have to buy 3 of them to fit the whole family in. It only seats two.




OK Jeorge Jetson. If I can have one of these you're off the hook for the whole flying car promise thing.

Here's a link to the Wired article about the car.
http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/07/laugh-at-high-g.html

Does Not Compute

I picked the wrong day to stop drinking...

This pic will short circuit me. Forget the lousy photoshop job.



My brain can't decide between "nerd mode" or "rico suave mode."

Monkey Business

I picked the wrong day to stop mainlining heroin...


For some reason I've always been the kind of guy who didn't shy away from the thought of commitment or having kids. Even in High School I took parenting advice from our health ed. teacher. I think he also taught a parenting class which I could never seem to get into. Man, talk about an opportunity to get laid! Only boy in a class full of girls who were looking forward to having kids? Oofah!

Anyway, let's fast forward from the late 80's to 1993 when my oldest son was born. On second thought, let's just forward to 2008. That one child has magically split into 4 entities that I call the Ashanti Clan. 4, (count them and weep), 4 kids. And 3 baby mamas (!). So much for planning out a family intelligently. Pure instinct over here!

The kids, when they were younger, were a somewhat managable bunch. If we went out to eat it was a baby and three kids meals. Then the baby became a toddler and it became a 4 kids meals. That's all gone now because I have TEENAGERS...

Scourge of the universe these teens are. They eat a much as an adult and they cost twice the price to maintain. A drain of every mental and physical resource you can imagine. And if you can imagine having to manage monkeys on LSD you might have the right idea. These teens are an infection you must live through even if it will kill you in the long run. And it might just...

So, here's the standings. Two of the kids go into high school in September (I am officially old), one goes into the 5th grade, and the other goes to kindergarten. Quite the spread, eh? This diversity of ages has led to some interesting days off at work since the beginning of the year. My vacation time is shot becasuse of the following reasons, including but not limited to:

Having to call Child Protective Services.
Having to obtain legal custogy.
Having to change schools.
Having to be called into the principals office over hickeys found on a boy's neck.
Having to meet with those boy's parents.
Having to get one son from camp because he got himself kicked out.
Having to call the FBI.

That last one is a doosey. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to write about it.

My message to you all about parenting: Be afraid... Be very afraid...

Bellevue

I picked the wrong day to stop smoking crack...

I just read through my old blog and boy is my head spinning. Am I really that off my fucking rocker? I mean, why hasn't someone locked me up and thrown away the key by now?

Oh and in other news, The Dark Knight was freakin' awesome! Me and the guy above seem to have a lot in common. Minus the whole "need to hurt people" thing.

It's just like starting over

I picked the wrong day to stop sniffing glue...

Instead of picking up where my old blog left off I've decided to start anew. You can check out my old blog at http://itwastheyams.blogspot.com. It has been somewhat decimated by loosing most of its picture links.

I'll have lots to say soon. I've been re-inspired by this guy.




Fuck you too Spider!