Sean Howe, whose history of Marvel Comics in the ’70s, Marvel Comics: The Untold Story, was one of my favorite reads of the year—how could it not be? I was there—shared this poster the other day for Phil Seuling’s 1970 Comic Art Convention.

I hadn’t seen it in decades, and boy, did it bring back memories. Because as I’ve already told you, I was there, too.

It was my first convention, one at which I met many who would eventually become part of my karass.

And now you’ll have to to excuse me … I think I’ve got something in my eye …

Yesterday, Bradley Gene Smith, manager at Next, tweeted the first pic of preparation for the restaurant’s first 2013 menu—The Hunt.

Whether taking a look at the whimsical photo below leaves you happy or sad will depend on how lucky you were over the last couple of days. Did you manage to score season tickets for next year’s three offerings (the way I did)—or will you end up spending 2013 on the outside looking in?

As for me, I’m happy … and stoked!

As those of you who’ve read about my visits to Chicago for Next’s Sicily and Kyoto menus know, the restaurant is not only unique—completely reinventing its cuisine three times each year—but also extremely difficult to get into. Thousands more people want to dine there than can. As Eater quoted co-owner Nick Kokonas back in February:

” … the queue reached 1,500 within 10 seconds of turning the sales page on … so in reality you had to be there within 8-10 seconds to have a shot at season tix.”

I very much wanted to be part of Next’s Brigadoon-like magic again next year, and through careful (and sometimes exhausting) attention to the restaurant’s updates on its Facebook page, I managed to become a season ticket holder for 2013.

So here’s what I’m in for: (more…)

I’ve got a foot in many different worlds. I’ve got a foot in the science fiction world, a foot in the comic book world, a foot in the foodie world, a foot in the ukulele world …

Wait! That’s far too many feet.

In any case, sometimes these worlds overlap, such as when I’m at a science fiction convention and take my friends along on foodie expeditions. Or when some other friend brings a ukulele to one of those same cons and we get to jam. But for the first time, comics and the ukulele have formed their own Venn diagram, overlapping to result in this.

That’s right—a George Formby comic strip.

Thanks to Steve Thompson of BookSteve’s Library for pointing me to Lew Stringer’s blog, Blimey!, where Stringer posted this page from the December 26th 1953 issue of Film Fun.

I’ve no idea how many of these there were, but it looks like George’s Christmas turned out nice again!

So Irene spent part of her day poring through her comic book collection, which meant that when I stepped into her office late this afternoon, I saw the cover to Action Comics #196—and with a cover like this, you know I had to pick it up.

I don’t think I’d ever seen that issue, which would have gone on sale a couple of months earlier than its September 1954 cover date during the year before I was born. But far more interesting than the story that cover was touting was an ad advising kids how not to catch polio. (more…)

As a result of my Saturday night dinner at Range, Bryan Voltaggio’s new restaurant, I was interviewed yesterday by Amy McKeever of Eater about what that first pre-opening preview night was like from the perspective of a customer. Since she’d spent the day and night following the staff around, she needed some input on how it all seemed on the other side of the tables.

Her article was published late this afternoon, and reading it not only brought the meal back to life, it also made me want to get back there again soon so I can order the beef shin!

Irene and I can be seen as a teeny, tiny couple through Range’s long curved glass exterior in one of Amy’s many photos. Can you spot us below (after clicking makes it a little bit bigger, of course)?

See us?

If you look toward the right side of the photo and can find two guys standing side by side, that’s Irene forward of and directly between them, and I’m seated to her right/your left. Our dining companions, who were across from us, are unfortunately obscured by another couple closer to the camera.

Oh, and one last thing—get yourself to Range! But leave some of that beef shin for me, OK?

So three weekends back (yeah, it’s taken me awhile to find the time to get to this), I did one of the craziest, most extravagant things I’ve ever done. I flew to Chicago. For a meal.

Oh, I’ve gone to extremes for high-end dining before, such as my meals at Astrid y Gaston in Lima, Momofuku Shoto in Toronto, and Alinea in Chicago, among others. But all of those meals were a side dish to a pre-existing trip—our visit to Machu Picchu, and my attendance at the World Fantasy and World Science Fiction conventions, respectively.

But this was a trip with the meal as its primary focus. My Sicilian dinner at the ever-changing Next restaurant impressed me so that I wanted to take part in its follow-up offering, Kyoto, and so booked tickets back in September the moment they became available.

Even as I did it, it felt wrong somehow. Fly to another city … for a meal? How decadent!

And yet …

If I had a chance to see Nijinsky dance one more time, or Olivier act again, I’d fly across a continent and feel no shame, but when it comes to food, there’s somehow a twinge of guilt, of … should I really be doing this?

The answer is, when it comes to chefs operating at this level of art on a menu which will be offered for a limited period only to vanish and never return …

Yes. Yes, I should. (more…)

There isn’t much I’d wake up early for on Black Friday. In fact, except for the chance to experience what I experienced last night, I can’t recall ever bothering before.

But Bryan Voltaggio, whose Frederick restaurants Volt, Family Meal, and Lunchbox I’d eaten at and loved before, was opening a new D.C. restaurant, Range. He’d sent out an email to his customers offering a chance to take part in a pre-opening preview dinner, and I wanted in. So there I was, sitting at my computer before 5:00 a.m. on Black Friday, hitting refresh, refresh, refresh until I scored a 5:30 p.m. reservation for four on the first of three preview nights.

After studying Range’s awesome menu, and realizing I wanted to try a far greater variety of dishes than would be possible during a normal dinner, I had a plan—I’d bring along a cooler, order way too much food, practice restraint, and treat the meal as best as I could as a tasting menu, waving away half-eaten dishes and creating tons of leftovers. Which, amazingly, I managed to do, thanks in part to one of the friends who’d joined us, who reminded me now and again of how we’d promised to pace ourselves.

And so, last night at 5:30, Irene and I found ourselves happily seated at a table at Range, looking forward to the wonders chef Bryan Voltaggio’s crew was going to prepare for us.

Our server explained that though the restaurant would be able to deal with 300 customers at full capacity, the first of the preview nights would only serve 130 as the crew got up to speed. We had no problem with being guinea pigs, and because of this found whatever slips in the level of service that occurred (most of which will go unmentioned, because it just wouldn’t be fair) to be endearing rather than troublesome.

And since the food was amazing, everything I hoped it would be, causing quite a few moans that it’s perhaps best one only utters when among friends, I had no problem with being part of helping the crew figure out how to operate in this new environment. In fact, I enjoyed watching the learning process. (more…)

As Carol Ross Joynt wrote in The Washingtonian this morning, “The opening of a new restaurant is like the opening of a Broadway show.” And as those of you who’ve been following my posts on Bryan Voltaggio’s soon-to-open restaurant Range already know, I’m as excited about having nabbed reservations for the first of its pre-opening preview nights as I would be about scoring tickets to the opening night of a new play.

Maybe even more so.

Which is why, with that dinner only five days away, and having already seen the dinner menu, I’ve been wondering—what about dessert? (more…)

I got together with a few other ukulele players this afternoon for a rare jam. Which made me realize it’s been far too many months since I last shared a uke video with you.

As those who haven’t been recoiling from my irregular ukulele news know, I bought my first instrument on Black Friday 2012, so it’s now slightly more than twelve months since I took my first strum. I share this video to show how a year of plodding stubbornness can triumph over a complete lack of natural musical ability.

If there was a uke teacher in my area, I’d sign up for lessons immediately, but sadly, there is none. I’ve been mostly self-taught through YouTube videos, a month or two with a guitar teacher who tried to help me along, and two days at last summer’s Strathmore UkeFest.

Meanwhile, I’ve already signed up for next year’s Strathmore UkeFest, plus this week I committed to attending the March George Formby Society convention in Blackpool.

I have no idea how much more I can learn without one-on-one face-to-face teaching … but this brings me joy, and so, I continue.