One month ends, and another begins, so let’s see what treats my subconscious left me in July, shall we? I was visited by Andre the Giant, John Kessel, Kevin Sorbo, David Hartwell, Harlan Ellison, Snookie, and more.

July 2012 Dreams

I dreamt I arrived late to acting class, and my partner, who wasn’t happy, had to explain the teacher’s instructions about our coming scene. 30 Jul

I dreamt I was in a room with two identical incarnations of my mother. I tried and failed to figure out which needed to go to the hospital. 30 Jul

I dreamt I was on staff at Marvel Comics discussing Cosmic Cube variations — Cosmic Cone, anyone? — with Danny Fingeroth. 30 Jul

I dreamt that as I walked a city street, David Hartwell approached, accompanied by Andre the Giant. I never learned why they were together. 30 Jul

I dreamt I arrived at a play to find the OTHER Scott Edelman’s name already on a volunteer sign-up, which I feared would lead to confusion. 30 Jul

I dreamt that as Stephen Colbert ran through a blooming lotus garden, I jogged a path alongside it, until we met at garden’s end. 30 Jul

I dreamt that as a I wandered a city, large dogs would stop and attempt to deliver a message. But sadly, I could not decipher their speech. 29 Jul

I dreamt I was being hunted by those towering X-Men Sentinels. No idea why they were after me — I wasn’t a mutant — but I hid anyway. 29 Jul

I dreamt I jogged through a city, and after several blocks, realized — Hey! I’ve never been able to run this well before! So I woke up. 28 Jul

I dreamt that at the end of a bad day, I remembered that though I cancelled that morning’s trip, I never called the airline about my flight. 28 Jul (more…)

If there’s one thing we all know about the TARDIS, it’s that it’s bigger on the inside. But what I was horrified to learn recently when Irene and I visited two famous Frank Lloyd Wright buildings is that whatever the man designed was smaller on the inside.

Irene and always wanted to see Fallingwater, and so last week we took a vacation day and traveled there, also taking in the nearby Wright home Kentuck Knob. Up until our tours, we’d only known of these places from their beautiful exteriors. So we were stunned on Friday to discover how uncomfortable, unfriendly, and positively inhuman the interiors of these properties were.

What first disconcerted me when we moved inside Fallingwater was that there wasn’t a single spot in which I would feel comfortable simply sitting and reading a book … except outside on one of the terraces, and then only during daylight hours. Inside, all of the lighting was indirect and of low wattage. In one of the bedrooms, the tour guide actually told us that it was Wright’s intention that when you entered that room, you’d feel closed in, and your gaze would immediately be drawn outside. So these rooms were being made intentionally uncomfortable in some insane bid to bring one closer to Nature.

The interior of Kentuck Knob was, depressingly, even more unfit for human habitation. Dark, dreary, with some of the corridors only 21″ wide. While a few of the rooms in these houses were bearable, none of them seemed warm or inviting. I continually felt a sense of oppressiveness as the walls and ceilings pressed down upon me. (more…)

You’ve read about what I plan to eat while I’m in Chicago—but how about what I’ll be doing at Chicon 7, which is what’s bringing me to that city in the first place?

The Chicon 7 Programming Department just released its preliminary schedule, and this is where you might end up seeing me, depending on how things work out between now and the time things are finalized.

Friday, Aug. 31, 10:00 a.m.
Reading

Friday Aug. 31, 12:00 p.m.
Autographing

Friday, Aug. 31, 7:30 p.m.
Marvel Comics Super-Heroes from the 1960s
In less than a decade (1961-1969), Stan Lee’s Marvel Comics created iconic super-heroes that have only grown in popularity over the decades. What was unique about the Marvel super-heroes that have led to them becoming such a phenomenon?

Saturday, Sept. 1, 12:00 p.m.
The 50 Year Old Teenager
In 2012, Spider-Man turned 50 with the appearance of a new film, various comic titles, television titles, and a musical playing on Broadway. This panel looks at Peter Parker’s perennial appeal, reminisces about his adventures and relationships, and just fangeeks all over the webslinger.

Sunday Sept. 2, 1:30 p.m.
Kaffeeklatsche

Check back between now and the con to see how my schedule settles out.

You would probably not have liked hanging out with me during these past 36 hours. That’s because I was so giddy about getting tickets to the Chicago restaurant Alinea that wherever my conversations with Irene headed, they always looped back to some aspect of the restaurant, whether it was the quest to get a table, the kind of food served there, or how thrilled I was to have actually scored tickets.

As I told you last month when I was first contemplating where’d I’d be eating during the Chicago Worldcon next month:

There are a few other gastronomical wonders I’m hoping for, such as the playground that is Alinea and the apparent perfection that is Next, but neither of those is a certainty. In fact, far from being locks, they may be impossibilities. But I can dream, can’t I?

Amazing, both of those dreams are going to come true!

The reason I’ve been so insufferable is this— (more…)

I know all about Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel’s 1975 letter putting a curse on the company that wouldn’t do right by him. After all, it wasn’t history to me, as I was on staff at Marvel Comics at the time, and we were all well aware of the letter that began—

It has been announced in show business trade papers that a multi-million dollar production based on the Superman comic strip is about to be produced. It has been stated that millions of dollars were paid to the owners of Superman, National Periodical Publications, Inc., for the right to use the famous comic book super-hero in the new movie. The script is by Mario Puzo, who wrote The Godfather and Earthquake. The film is to have a star-filled cast.

I, Jerry Siegel, the co-originator of Superman, put a curse on the Superman movie! I hope it super-bombs. I hope loyal Superman fans stay away from it in droves. I hope the whole world, becoming aware of the stench that surrounds Superman, will avoid the movie like a plague.

And ended—

WHAT AN INFERNAL, SICKENING SUPER-STENCH EMANATES FROM NATIONAL PERIODICAL PUBLICATIONS, INC. We hope the public will never forget this when seeing the Superman character, or National Periodical comic books. Do not patronize Superman because of this injustice.

Amazing, huh? If you want to read the whole thing, you can find it here.

But what I never knew (which surprises me) is that there was also intriguing correspondence out there related to Bill Finger, the man responsible for most of what we like about Batman.

Thankfully, Marc Tyler Nobleman, author of Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman, has enlightened me about those letters and the scenario that spawned them. (more…)

According to a full-page map of the globe (well, half of it, anyway) in the December 19, 1914 issue of The Graphic, “a series of operations … have swept half the world clear of Germans,” “peace in the Pacific has been attained,” and “the commerce of all nations can proceed with safety throughout the vast expanses from the coasts of Mozambique to those of South America.”

Whew! Sure glad Vice-Admiral Sturdee took care of that!

Check out the battle details below.

Aren’t you glad Germany never gave the world any further trouble?

Bryan Voltaggio, the celebrity chef behind Volt, where Irene and I recently celebrated the 38th anniversary of the day we met, opened a new restaurant in Frederick, Maryland at the end of June—Family Meal, named after that meal eaten by restaurant staff before or after a shift. Unlike the tasting menu meals of Volt, Family Meal aims to serve comfort food. And since we were heading over to Maryland to run some errands and see our son, we decided to check it out before that new restaurant shine rubbed off.

After seeing some folks over at Yelp complain about long waits, most of which seemed to occur over dinner, I decided to check whether a reservation was needed for a Saturday lunch. When I called, I was told that they were recommended when possible, and that 25% of tables were set aside for reservations. So we made one for 11:45. We arrived a few minutes early, and were taken to our table immediately. (During the course of our meal, I never noticed more than one or two parties at a time waiting briefly, so there seemed no problem with long lines, at least not during lunch.)

Family Meal is housed in a former car dealership, and as you might expect, that means there’s plenty of parking.

But more important than that—there are crispy pig ears on the menu!

And when there are crispy pig ears on the menu, you eat crispy pig ears! (more…)

A few years ago, Irene and I visited Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, and while it was an amazing experience, I don’t remember our meals being anything like the spread shown in this image from the Christmas 1914 issue of The Graphic.

There’s no indication of exactly which “unimportant tomb” was being invaded for lunch.

Considering the dramatic surroundings, I don’t think I’d have had much of an appetite anyway. I’d have been much too awestruck to eat.

Guess these tourists had no sense of wonder.

I arrived home safely from Readercon this afternoon. Or perhaps I should say … I was delivered home safely.

If that distinction (and the photo above) confuses you, this should clear things up. And this will reveal the story so far.

But here are some further photos to let you see how much fun I had at Readercon. (more…)

It’s “This Season’s New Game”—but what is it?

While flipping through my 1914 bound volume of The Graphic—the same newspaper with those intricate aviation infographics and that ad with endorsements from now-forgotten celebrities—I came across an ad in the December 5th issue for a game called Joy-Ball, an ad which gives no indication of how the heck the game is played.

Oh, sure, it sounds like fun, because it promises—

Strokes like billiards.
Play like Fives.
Speed like Ping-Pong.
Score like tennis.

—but what the heck does that mean?

Any of you have ideas for how one would play the game based on the image above?

No amount of Internet searching on “Joy-Ball” or “John Jaques & Son” or “The Graphic” or “1914” or any combination thereof yields an answer, so it all falls to you.

Can any of my UK pals help a Yank out?

Biff!