dream theater and such
Took a weekend jaunt up to the in-law to check out a comic book exposition in Asbury Park. It is the first year for this event, held in an apparently-defunct bowling alley. It was small, with minimal lighting, loud rock music, and a small number of vendors, but there were a few interesting items acquired. Maybe in future years this will grow, but it has a long way to go to reach the scale of the Small Press Expo.
However, this place had something SPX sorely needed -- a 60's-style Batmobile. $5 to sit inside and get your picture taken. We all passed on that, but had a good chat with the builder about it before heading over to the boardwalk (another feature sorely missed at SPX). I got a cap with Tillie on it, which I need partly to help my poor myopic eyes evade glare and partly to keep my balding head from frying. Plus, Tillie. You cannot deny his charm.
Weekend rounded out with the usual great dinner (this time out, at the Navesink Fishery, which rocks), a DVD ("Midnight in Paris", which also largely rocked), and dim sum from carts the next morning (which also, yadda yadda).
The drive, as always, needed audio accompaniment. Four hours each way is a bit long to spend in silence. Normally we run mix CDs, but Kathi hasn't done any new ones in a few years and we're getting a little bored with the older ones, so much of it was albums. Among the CDs screened were Yes' "The Ladder" -- '90s new age power-pop which I had not listened to before and likely never will again; Dream Theater's "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" -- half of which lives at the triple point of prog, metal, and pop, and the other half lives closer to Elfmanesque show tunes; and Yes' "Fragile" -- classic early 70's prog, which Kathi actually managed to find palatable, so yay. Also Devo's "Something For Everybody", which is pretty decent synth-pop.
Halfway through the drive the "Check Engine Soon" light lit up. This was annoying, as I had just had the car in for $1600 in repairs the previous week. The light stayed lit for the rest of the trip. Now it's off, so I'm just going to pretend it never came on la la la while I surreptitiously shop for something new.
However, this place had something SPX sorely needed -- a 60's-style Batmobile. $5 to sit inside and get your picture taken. We all passed on that, but had a good chat with the builder about it before heading over to the boardwalk (another feature sorely missed at SPX). I got a cap with Tillie on it, which I need partly to help my poor myopic eyes evade glare and partly to keep my balding head from frying. Plus, Tillie. You cannot deny his charm.
Weekend rounded out with the usual great dinner (this time out, at the Navesink Fishery, which rocks), a DVD ("Midnight in Paris", which also largely rocked), and dim sum from carts the next morning (which also, yadda yadda).
The drive, as always, needed audio accompaniment. Four hours each way is a bit long to spend in silence. Normally we run mix CDs, but Kathi hasn't done any new ones in a few years and we're getting a little bored with the older ones, so much of it was albums. Among the CDs screened were Yes' "The Ladder" -- '90s new age power-pop which I had not listened to before and likely never will again; Dream Theater's "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" -- half of which lives at the triple point of prog, metal, and pop, and the other half lives closer to Elfmanesque show tunes; and Yes' "Fragile" -- classic early 70's prog, which Kathi actually managed to find palatable, so yay. Also Devo's "Something For Everybody", which is pretty decent synth-pop.
Halfway through the drive the "Check Engine Soon" light lit up. This was annoying, as I had just had the car in for $1600 in repairs the previous week. The light stayed lit for the rest of the trip. Now it's off, so I'm just going to pretend it never came on la la la while I surreptitiously shop for something new.