Randy’s Blog

A couple of months ago, I was doing some grocery shopping at Woodman's when, to my great surprise, I saw this:

A close-up of the sign:

"WOW" is right! When was the last time you saw comic books at a grocery store? I was thrilled to see it. I got interested in comics because they used to be sold at grocery stores. The first comic I ever bought was Ghost Rider #14, which I got at a Reasor's in Oklahoma. I still have it:

I'm not too familiar with the history of the industry, but at some point it seems the powers that be decided comic books could only be purchased at comic book stores, which is a shame, in my opinion. The more places they're sold, the more likely people will get interested in them! And surely that would increase traffic to comic book stores, not decrease it. In my experience, there are fewer comic book shops these days; I have to drive a lot farther to find one than I used to.

All of this is why I was so surprised to see the comic book display at Woodman's. There are several things to note:

• It's only for DC Comics.
• All of the issues are individually shrink-wrapped. So you can't read comics while your parents are grocery shopping.
• All of the comics are issue #1 of popular storylines, some of which were originally published several decades ago. And they are reprints of that issue, not the original.

As is usual when I'm around comics, it was a struggle to not buy all of them. Thankfully, I resisted the urge. A month later, I finally caved in and bought one:

I enjoyed reading it. It's not at all surprising that the only ads in the issue are for DC graphic novels and DC's digital comics platform.

Yesterday I went back to Woodman's and was glad to see there were noticeably fewer comics in the display. Not a lot fewer, but definitely fewer. Hopefully they've managed to draw in new comic book fans.

A few years ago we were at the Phoenix Zoo, and as we were going through the gift shop at the end of our visit, I realized I was starving. The only thing I could find to eat was a chocolate bar, so I bought it. Maybe it was because I was so hungry, but the chocolate was delicious! I was amazed at how good it was.

That gave me a tasty idea: whenever we go on trips and visit touristy places, I should start buying their chocolate bars and comparing them. I could even write a blog post about it. So I started doing that. However, it didn't take long to discover that none of the gift-shop chocolate was any good. I remember buying a "prickly pear" chocolate bar someplace else in Arizona that was just terrible. It probably was hunger that made the zoo chocolate so good. I was disappointed and gave up on the idea.

A couple of weeks ago, Wendy and I went to the Anderson Japanese Gardens in Rockford. We had been there once before, 20 years ago, but didn't remember much about it. It's a beautiful place and has a really good restaurant as well. 

On our way out, we stopped at the gift shop, where I found a book of Japanese ghost stories I couldn't pass up:

They also had some fancy-looking chocolate bars made by a brand called Deux Cranes. I picked one that was milk chocolate with ginger, sesame, and buckwheat. I forgot to take a picture, so here's one from the official website:

I have to say that I really liked it (and I wasn't starving when I tried it). The combination of flavors was really unique. If I had a fancy culinary vocabulary I could use more words to describe it, but since I don't, I'll quote from the product page on the website which describes it as zesty, savory, and nutty. I also liked that it was formed into little geometric designs that made it easy to break off small pieces.

Wendy got the Hōjicha Caramel Milk Chocolate bar, which is based on a roasted Japanese green tea. It's also good, but I like the other one better.

These bars easily win the prize for best gift-shop chocolate that I've tasted so far. You can read more about Deux Cranes on their About page, which concludes with this line:

We strive to elevate the chocolate and confectionery tradition in the US by combining our rich heritage as Japanese women to present our new interpretation of this historic industry.

Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio that has been around for decades and is known for making top-notch animated films. Some of their movies have been re-released in theaters this year for limited runs. I happened to see an article about it this spring, and have gone to see each one. These are the movies I've seen so far:

• Princess Mononoke
• Kiki's Delivery Service
• The Secret World of Arrietty
• My Neighbor Totoro
• Grave of the Fireflies

Of these, the best by far is Grave of the Fireflies. But my goodness, if it's not the saddest movie ever made, it is at least a very strong contender. Longtime readers of this blog, who also have an excellent memory, might recall I wrote about this movie in a blog post from 11 years ago. (That was in the second month of this blog's existence; I can't believe it's been that long!) The movie follows a boy and his young sister as they try to survive on their own after their town is bombed during World War II. For most of the movie, they battle hunger and malnutrition. It sounds grim, and it is, but it is also a powerful and well-made film.

In this year's theatrical run, there's a very short interview after the credits with director Isao Takahata that adds a lot of interesting context. The movie is based in part on the director's personal experience. He was 10 years old in 1945 when his hometown in Japan was bombed. His house was destroyed by fire and he and his older sister escaped but ran the wrong way -- towards the city. It took two days for them to be reunited with their family, and he said it was the most horrifying experience of his life.

People asked him why he wanted to make a movie about that experience. "No one will want to see it," they said. He understood that, but said he thought there was a place for the story in animation, and that it could help expand the horizons of animated film. Boy, did it ever! In my blog post I mentioned earlier, I quoted Roger Ebert who said the movie "is an emotional experience so powerful that it forces a rethinking of animation" and he goes on to agree with other film critics who compare the movie to Schindler's List.

On a MUCH lighter note, I was absolutely delighted with the movie Kiki's Delivery Service. I had never heard of it before and it is incredibly charming from start to finish. I liked it so much that I bought a copy of it I found at Half-Price Books.

Finally, here's the schedule of theatrical runs of Studio Ghibli movies for the rest of the year:

• Ponyo: August 23-27
• Howl's Moving Castle: September 20-24
• Spirited Away: October 18-22
• The Boy and the Heron: November 15-19

None of these are as serious as Grave of the Fireflies, thankfully. I'm planning to see each one in the theater, and I'm very much looking forward to Spirited Away. I watched it once many years ago and loved it. Check these out if you get the chance!

A few months ago I did not know what an Author Clock was, but I'm happy to report that I am now the proud owner of one! An Author Clock is a clock with an e-ink display that tells the time in a most unusual way. Every minute it displays a quote from a book that refers to the current time. A picture is worth a thousand words, so here's what it looks like when the time is 12:20:

And at 3:58:

Every single minute it displays a new quote from a book!

I discovered this device earlier this summer while I was at the Milwaukee airport. There's a really nice used bookstore there and it had one of these on display. I asked the clerk about it, but she didn't know what it was called or why they had it there. After a bit of internet searching, I discovered the website for it:

https://www.authorclock.com/

A month or so later, Wendy got me one as a birthday gift!

The clock comes in two sizes which they refer to as Vol1 (cell-phone sized) and Vol2 (tablet sized). I have the tablet-sized one, which is the way to go, in my opinion, since my eyesight is not as sharp as it used to be.

Apparently the makers of the clock crowd-sourced finding quotes that refer to the time, and they have amassed a database of over 13,000 quotes, which means there are multiple quotes for all 1,440 minutes of the day. Very cool! The clock will randomly choose a quote among the options, so you may or may not see the same quote when that minute happens again.

Here are a couple more photos of the clock in action:

Sometimes I'll stand in front of the clock for minutes at a time to see what the next quote will be. It's dorky, but a lot of fun! 

The summer heat finally abated for a few days, bringing much nicer weather. Unfortunately, the Canadian wildfire smoke arrived with it. Still, we did manage to go for a bike ride today along the Prairie Trail and enjoy the cooler temps.

Check out this dancing skunk from the trail cam!

When I first watched it, I felt like I was in the Matrix, watching Neo the Skunk dodge little skunk bullets.

Just off camera is the basement window. I wonder if one of our cats was on the window sill and startled the skunk through the glass. Who knows.

Apparently there is a species of spotted skunk known for doing handstands to intimidate predators. That almost looks like what the skunk starts to do at one point. It's clearly a striped skunk, though, not a spotted one.

Anyway, those are some crazy moves!

In last Sunday's Chicago Tribune, the comics section had not one, not two, but three different comics about UFOs and extraterrestrials.

One was Brewster Rockit:

Another was Bound and Gagged:

And finally was Dogs of C-Kennel:

I guess this was just coincidence. I did a quick check to see if May 18th was some sort of national UFO day, but didn't find anything.

Brewster Rockit is quite funny and has quickly become my favorite comic since I subscribed to the Tribune (see my Newspapers blog post if you need a refresher). It's sort of retro sci-fi that Wikipedia describes as "the misadventures of the dim-witted Brewster Rockit, captain of the space station R.U. Sirius, and his crew."

A few weeks ago it had an even funnier comic about alien abduction:

Check it out if you get a chance!

A few days ago I checked the trail cam for the first time in a couple of weeks, and I was amazed at the variety of wildlife it captured! Below are some blurry frames for you to admire.

First up, some rabbits:

Next, a cat. This cat has been terrorizing Chili and Jalapeno for weeks, because every time it comes through our yard, they start hissing at it for infringing upon their territory. And it comes through our yard a lot!

A construction worker. Some underground electric cables were being replaced at the corner of our property.

A fox. I don't see them very often, so it's always exciting when they appear.

A skunk:

A coyote:

A turkey. We think this must be a banner year for turkeys, because we've spotted them all over the county this spring.

A deer. It's always shocking to see one on the trail cam because they're so much bigger than all the other animals that typically appear.

A raccoon:

And let's not forget the ever-present squirrels and birds!

That was more variety than I normally see when checking the camera. About the only animal I didn't see was a possum. Speak of the possum, though, and it appears, because when I checked the trail cam this evening there was a video of one:

That wasn't all, though, because I also captured over a dozen videos from last night of a deer that was eating out of the bird feeder! It came by twice, for about 7-8 minutes each time. Here it is:

I have long suspected something like this happens, and it is in fact the reason I got the trail cam in the first place. See my Household Mysteries post from 4 years ago where I wondered how a bunch of bird food disappeared overnight.

Mystery solved?

Last month there was a lunar eclipse that reached totality around 1:30am central time. Since the forecast called for clear skies, I decided it was worth it to wake up in the early hours and take a look.

That was my plan, at least. That evening, the OU men's basketball team played a late game. It came down to the last few seconds, and OU lost in spectacular fashion. It was another gut-punch loss in a season full of them. When it was over, I realized I wasn't going to fall asleep any time soon, so I might as well stay up until the eclipse.

Coincidentally, the two books I was reading at the time were both moon-related:

I read a bit of both books while waiting for 1:30am to roll around. Every so often I peeked outside to see how the eclipse was progressing. Finally, totality arrived and I stood on the deck for 20 or 30 minutes, shivering a bit in my pajamas and jacket, and taking in the view. I tried taking pictures with my phone, but they didn't turn out great. These were the two best ones I got:

It was kind of awesome to be out there in the middle of the night, gazing up at a blood-red moon. I enjoyed it, and reminded myself to always check out a lunar eclipse when given the opportunity. I was very tired the next day, but it was worth it!

Now about those books:

The Moons At Your Door is a collection of weird/supernatural fiction short stories, which as you might imagine is highly relevant to my interests. It has stories from a few authors I'm familiar with (Algernon Blackwood, for example) and some I'm not, which is very exciting. I'm slowly working my way through the book.

Our Moon is an epic nonfiction book covering every aspect of the moon you can think of. There was much I learned, including how the ingredients for life on Earth developed because of the moon (thanks to the tides) and how fish crawled out of the sea because of the moon (again, tides). Also, the moon helps keep Earth's climate stable; without it, Jupiter and Saturn's gravity would cause wild swings in the Earth's tilt. In short, not only is Earth in the goldilocks zone of distance from the Sun, but it also has a goldilocks moon. I used to think the universe was teeming with life: if life can form here, it can form anywhere. This book has really made me question that belief. Life may be far more rare than I'd ever considered before.

That's a sobering thought to ponder while gazing up at the moon.

A couple of months ago, I was scrolling through articles on my phone, as one does, and came across this headline:

The Secret Ingredient for Making Movie Theater Popcorn at Home

As I clicked on it, I said to Wendy: "I'm going to learn the secret ingredient for making movie theater popcorn!" She immediately replied "It's almost certainly Flavacol." I was disappointed because 1) it turned out she was right, 2) she spoiled the surprise, and 3) we have Flavacol, and I tried it and didn't like it. Oh well.

Then I saw the next headline:

The British Way to Make Hot Chocolate 10x Better

As I clicked on it, I said "Okay, smarty pants, what's the British way to make hot chocolate 10 times better?" I could tell she didn't know this one. She made a couple of guesses but they were wrong. Ha! I'd stumped her! Finally, she said "I don't know. Earl grey tea."

Reader, I am here to tell you she was right.

I couldn't believe it. She couldn't, either. She said she just guessed something ridiculous, but then added that thinking about it further, she thought the floral notes of the tea would pair well with the chocolate, which is exactly what the article said. She was right again. I was dismayed.

At any rate, having never heard of Earl Grey Hot Chocolate, I decided I should try it at some point.

About a week later, I got an email from Twinings (see my recent Twinings post) about National Hot Chocolate Day. It included a timely recipe for "Earl Grey Lavendar Hot Chocolate", so one night I gave it a try.

The recipe called for using white chocolate chips, but we didn't have any, so I used the bittersweet chocolate chips we had. To be honest, it wasn't very good. The next time I went to the store I bought white chocolate chips and tried again. This time it was actually very good! I would definitely make it again.

Here's the full recipe in case you're interested:

If you try it, let me know what you think!