Thursday, May 02, 2024
May is officially here!
Wednesday, May 01, 2024
New month resolution
Saturday, April 27, 2024
We are the Desperate Dan appreciation society
'Ere you are, your 'ighness
It's Wonder Woman #28, cover-dated March 1989. It's the post-Crisis re-imagining of DC's superheroes. Fans were variously excited or disgusted by it at the time, but I was entirely oblivious. As I documented a few blog posts ago, I wasn't into superheroes at all just yet; that would take a couple of years to happen. But that time was definitely approaching, and this one might have put me off them completely if I'd seen it! It's not really that great, I'm afraid.
You get the idea. Meanwhile, Wonder Woman is living in Boston at this point (the fake Boston in America, not the real one in Lincolnshire, England) and hanging out with a large supporting cast including Hermes the god while she tries to find her stolen magical lasso. It had also been decided to add Wonder Woman to the cast of DC's new "Justice League Europe" comic as a part-time member who would take part in their adventures when the ongoing plot of her own comic permitted. What this meant in practice is that she appears in the first issue of Justice League Europe, it's mentioned in this issue of her own comic, and then someone must have changed their mind about the whole idea, because her membership in the Justice League is never even mentioned again.
The London Star gets sold in Nottingham, apparently. Or maybe they have it specially delivered to the building that's interchangeably referred to as a 'mansion' or a 'castle'. Since it's the only building we see in Nottingham in this comic - one solitary mansion surrounded by foggy moors - the postman probably doesn't have much trouble finding it. Even when bringing a letter addressed to Prof Minerva, [indecipherable squiggle], Nottingham, England.
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Chess nuts
I also have always had a reputation for being good at chess, just because I'm that kind of person, but am actually not terribly good at it. This even goes back to my schooldays, when on the rare occasion anyone outside of our chess-club clique heard that I was on the school chess team, they'd probably just nod and think that made sense, since I was the kind of person who would be. Nobody really knew just how unsuccessful our chess team was, but suffice to say there'd never be an announcement in assembly or anything to say we'd won something.
Saturday, April 20, 2024
My lady love, my dove
Monday, April 08, 2024
The vast unknown powers of the sun and moon
Friday, April 05, 2024
The Bendertaker
Sunday, March 31, 2024
An Actor's Life For Me
Friday, March 29, 2024
A good Friday
Thursday, March 28, 2024
I came 53rd
Tuesday, March 26, 2024
How to excel at Excel
I don't think I've got worse at it; there are more people competing this year who are really good at it. But this is something I need to work on, and it's all about speed and technique. I'd really like to do with this what I did with memorising cards, and devise a way to solve problems using Excel more quickly and efficiently than has ever been done before. I don't know if that's possible. You can't invent new Excel formulas. But Excel has a LOT of formulas, most of which nobody in the world ever uses. There's scope for believing that if I can get familiar with them all, and how to apply them... it's definitely possible.
=SUM(ABS(OFFSET(Customers!$B$2:$F$2,MATCH(G169,Customers!$A$3:$A$102,0),0)-OFFSET(Wines!$B$2:$F$2,MATCH(H169,Wines!$A$3:$A$102,0),0)))
Sunday, March 24, 2024
Strong men and nude frogs
But now, let's put all this unnecessary girlishness behind us, and talk about Men. Specifically, Strong Man, Cuckoo Man, Tornado Man, Rope Man and Diaper Man - the Mighty Heroes!
Saturday, March 23, 2024
I still want a hula-hoop
Dell comics weren't like most American comics of the time, which had a separate numbering for each title. This was no. 1042 in a long, long series of one-off comics based on cartoons, films, all sorts. Number 1041 was Sea Hunt, starring Lloyd Bridges. Number 1043 was The Three Stooges, showcasing their new lineup of Moe, Larry and Curly Joe, which is probably what led to the chipmunk issue getting the unique title "The Three Chipmunks", the only time the trio is described in exactly that way. I recommend ComicBook+ if you want to read all the Dell comics that don't feature copyrighted characters (and maybe Disney and Warner Bros will allow them to include the rest, one day).
Alvin's harmonica, subject of the chipmunks' latest hit single, gets a starring role in most of the stories. There are a lot of elements that have stayed constant over the sixty years of adventures - Alvin as well as his typical antics is distinguished by wearing a hat, and there's a consistent colour scheme for each chipmunk, albeit an unfamiliar one. The red-blue-green colours came about for The Alvin show. And the generic cartoon exploits they get up to, usually with a musical theme, are the kind of stories you'll still see in the latest 21st-century cartoon episodes. It's nice when things stick to the classics.
Wednesday, March 20, 2024
Nations
Saturday, March 16, 2024
Sophisticated entertainment
Sunday, March 03, 2024
How to become a superhero comic fan
Saturday, March 02, 2024
Weak links
Monday, February 19, 2024
Mathematical games!
We hope this message finds you well, and radiating with the same enthusiasm you brought to the Mathematical and Logical Games last year.
We are thrilled to announce the return of the challenge: the British Finals 2024 will again be held at Coventry University.
With this e-mail we are extending to you our personal invitation to dive back into the world of puzzles, problem-solving, and the pure joy of mathematics.
Please find enclosed a poster with all the details. If you know someone who shares your passion for mathematics and puzzles, or who is just curious, please invite them to join our community.
Thank you, and looking forward to seeing you at the Games (and our fun training sessions).
https://bfmg.maths.coventry.domains/
To participate, and for further information, just drop an email to info@bfmg.maths.coventry.domains with your name, surname, town, date of birth, and category.
With warmest regards,
The Organizing Committee
Sunday, February 18, 2024
Bromance
Whatever. Now take a seat, my compadre, and get your game face on! Today, we have an army to defeat!
Next day at school, Alvin gets lumbered with showing a new kid around, and quickly hands over the nerdy Jamie to Simon, who shows him his International Space Station model.
The two of them hit it off right away and now when Alvin has a moment in his busy calendar for video games, Simon is texting Jamie and not interested.
As seen in the obligatory musical montage, the two of them stay up all night exchanging funny text messages, play video games together, spend all their time hanging out and even develop their own cool science-gang handshake. It's really awesome.
Simon even cheerfully tells Dave Jamie is the best friend he's ever had. It's heartbreaking! It ends up with Simon and Jamie signing up for a dance class, Jamie getting out of it and inviting Alvin to the cinema. Jamie ducks around a corner to avoid Simon and then runs after Alvin...