This is the first year in a long time that I think the Star Wars franchise didn't play a big role at Christmas.
It'll come around again, I have no fear.
The 3-D movies are coming.
***********
Best way to watch a football game. DVR, then fast forward all the huddles and time-outs. You don't miss anything but lame commentary, and the game goes whizzing by....
**********
Peace and quiet is probably not something any storekeeper should ever wish for -- but it's kind of nice to come to a quiet and peaceful store after the holiday rush.
**********
I ordered 219 copies of Batgirl #5, instead of the 19 or 21 copies I thought I was ordering.
I think I can return them, but they make it a little difficult, so I'm not looking forward to it. On the other hand, having 600.00 (retail) of extra Batgirls isn't my idea of fun, either.
**********
I'm going to dive into writing tomorrow, and not re-emerge until I've finished the second draft. I've warned Linda I'll be distracted. That I may skip a lot of T.V. shows, and so on. I took most of December off, which was dangerous, but I don't think I had much choice.
So a whole lot of these blog entries will probably be about writing for awhile.
***********
Finally, I think I'll just say I don't know what to think about the "privatization" of the county public works.
It feels like a bad idea. Rife with the possibilities of corruption.
My general sense is to ask -- is this with 'standard practices' for local government? I would think we'd be best off, usually, doing what the general tradition is. (I know, this sounds funny from a guy who tends to reject 'standard practices' when it comes to small business -- but if I'm wrong, it only hurts me.)
I'll leave this discussion open for those who know more about this than me.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
The Star Axe made real.
I got the painting of Star Axe in the mail yesterday.
I tried to save up all year for it, but couldn't quite get there. So we finally decided that it would be the only Christmas present, and took the money out of savings. There is just no way I couldn't buy it.
The arrival was very exciting. I made a customer and Boyd, the mailman, wait around while I opened it. And opened it. And opened it. The packing was dense, to say the least.
But I finally freed the picture.....and it is magnificent. It is very Frazetta, Royo, Vallejos. But, more accurately, it's a sword and sorcery cover, which is what the publisher labeled my book. (I thought of it more as Heroic Fantasy, but, hey -- they were the ones writing the checks.)
Anyway, the painting was much bigger than I expected -- if it had been any bigger I wouldn't be able to display it in my store.
The details just pop out. Up to now, I've only had a picture the size of a paperback to judge it by. And of course, the writing on the cover of the title and that pesky author obscured some of the picture.
There is nothing like an original oil painting to see the depth and textures.
I didn't choose the artist or the image, but I was very happy when I first saw it, and I've always pretty much liked it since.
I also bought a giglee of Star Axe from the artist, Romas Kukalis. (Signed, #23 of a 100 print run. I think he probably turned around and made a printing because I asked for a copy.) I took it down the street to High Desert Framing. The framing is going to cost 2.5 times the actual print, but I picked deluxe design and materials.
Since it's going to take 10 days or so for the framing to be done, I decided to hang the original painting at the store for a month or two. Not much longer than that, because I'm worried about exposing the work to the constant florescent lights. Eventually, I'll take it home and put up in my office, and replace it with the giglee at the store.
For context, I put my book on a little stand next to the picture.
Anyway, it's a pretty impressive painting.
Come in and see it, everyone!
I tried to save up all year for it, but couldn't quite get there. So we finally decided that it would be the only Christmas present, and took the money out of savings. There is just no way I couldn't buy it.
The arrival was very exciting. I made a customer and Boyd, the mailman, wait around while I opened it. And opened it. And opened it. The packing was dense, to say the least.
But I finally freed the picture.....and it is magnificent. It is very Frazetta, Royo, Vallejos. But, more accurately, it's a sword and sorcery cover, which is what the publisher labeled my book. (I thought of it more as Heroic Fantasy, but, hey -- they were the ones writing the checks.)
Anyway, the painting was much bigger than I expected -- if it had been any bigger I wouldn't be able to display it in my store.
The details just pop out. Up to now, I've only had a picture the size of a paperback to judge it by. And of course, the writing on the cover of the title and that pesky author obscured some of the picture.
There is nothing like an original oil painting to see the depth and textures.
I didn't choose the artist or the image, but I was very happy when I first saw it, and I've always pretty much liked it since.
I also bought a giglee of Star Axe from the artist, Romas Kukalis. (Signed, #23 of a 100 print run. I think he probably turned around and made a printing because I asked for a copy.) I took it down the street to High Desert Framing. The framing is going to cost 2.5 times the actual print, but I picked deluxe design and materials.
Since it's going to take 10 days or so for the framing to be done, I decided to hang the original painting at the store for a month or two. Not much longer than that, because I'm worried about exposing the work to the constant florescent lights. Eventually, I'll take it home and put up in my office, and replace it with the giglee at the store.
For context, I put my book on a little stand next to the picture.
Anyway, it's a pretty impressive painting.
Come in and see it, everyone!
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
No -- what you know is wrong.
An interesting discussion over on The Beat, where a statistical analysis of the New 52 DC comics has "proven" that the venture was unsuccessful at increasing sales or readership.
To which, several of us retailers pipe up and say, "That's not right. It was very successful."
Then it gets kind of funny, because they come back with, "I assure you, Sir, you were not successful with the New 52" to which they might as well add, "And your name isn't Duncan."
Heh.
More seriously, what accounts for the discrepancy between the statistics and the retailers' experiences? Are we deluding ourselves?
First of all, the statistics have a variable or two that I think most of us retailers wouldn't count. For instance, the "returns" on issues 3 and 4. I'm not returning a single issue, because by the time the 3rd issue rolled in, I had refined my orders to normal numbers.
Secondly, it's possible that me and the other retailers who responded are the exceptions. I don't believe that. There are always a few stores who miss the boat, but this should be a constant. So I don't think that's it.
Third, I'm seeing sales in context. I'd been losing subscribers for about a year, and the New 52 brought us right back to previous numbers. Just as Obama is going to have to try to prove that the economy would have been worse without his efforts, I'd have to try to prove that comic sales would have been worse without the New 52.
In looking at the numbers in the four months preceding the New 52, our comic sales were down about 15% from the previous year (worse than I thought, because they had been covered by my increased sales in books and games). The increase in the first four months of the New 52 is up 20%. So that is a 35% swing.
But I can see how a statistician might just see a 15 or 20% increase, add the variable of returns and (whatever the other variables were, I couldn't figure out; one of the miracles of my college education was I passed a Statistics course without understanding a thing....) and the increase might be reduced to marginal numbers.
But that's not how it felt in the real world.
Fourth, I'm gauging overall interest. Even though I'd been losing subscribers, my actual sales hadn't been dropping comparatively. And yet -- it wasn't a good sign. Subscribers are strongly interested in getting their comics, and sales off the counter are more incidental. I'd say that the New 52 rejuvenated interest in comics, even among the Marvel and independents readers.
Fifth, for me the boost in DC sales was just what I needed, bringing my discount level up another notch, and allowing me to reinvest in DC graphic novels, thus allowing the possibility of increased sales in the future.
Sixth, the new readership is there, but they simply took the place of lapsed readership, so it isn't noticeable. Still, new readership is what our industry needs. It shows that it can be done. That and bringing back former readers.
So I see the New 52 as spectacularly successful.
But I must be wrong.
To which, several of us retailers pipe up and say, "That's not right. It was very successful."
Then it gets kind of funny, because they come back with, "I assure you, Sir, you were not successful with the New 52" to which they might as well add, "And your name isn't Duncan."
Heh.
More seriously, what accounts for the discrepancy between the statistics and the retailers' experiences? Are we deluding ourselves?
First of all, the statistics have a variable or two that I think most of us retailers wouldn't count. For instance, the "returns" on issues 3 and 4. I'm not returning a single issue, because by the time the 3rd issue rolled in, I had refined my orders to normal numbers.
Secondly, it's possible that me and the other retailers who responded are the exceptions. I don't believe that. There are always a few stores who miss the boat, but this should be a constant. So I don't think that's it.
Third, I'm seeing sales in context. I'd been losing subscribers for about a year, and the New 52 brought us right back to previous numbers. Just as Obama is going to have to try to prove that the economy would have been worse without his efforts, I'd have to try to prove that comic sales would have been worse without the New 52.
In looking at the numbers in the four months preceding the New 52, our comic sales were down about 15% from the previous year (worse than I thought, because they had been covered by my increased sales in books and games). The increase in the first four months of the New 52 is up 20%. So that is a 35% swing.
But I can see how a statistician might just see a 15 or 20% increase, add the variable of returns and (whatever the other variables were, I couldn't figure out; one of the miracles of my college education was I passed a Statistics course without understanding a thing....) and the increase might be reduced to marginal numbers.
But that's not how it felt in the real world.
Fourth, I'm gauging overall interest. Even though I'd been losing subscribers, my actual sales hadn't been dropping comparatively. And yet -- it wasn't a good sign. Subscribers are strongly interested in getting their comics, and sales off the counter are more incidental. I'd say that the New 52 rejuvenated interest in comics, even among the Marvel and independents readers.
Fifth, for me the boost in DC sales was just what I needed, bringing my discount level up another notch, and allowing me to reinvest in DC graphic novels, thus allowing the possibility of increased sales in the future.
Sixth, the new readership is there, but they simply took the place of lapsed readership, so it isn't noticeable. Still, new readership is what our industry needs. It shows that it can be done. That and bringing back former readers.
So I see the New 52 as spectacularly successful.
But I must be wrong.
Sons of Anarchy (**Spoilers**)
Finished the second season of S.O.A.
A veritable symphony of bad Irish accents. Our movies and T.V. are full of British and Irish and Aussie and New Zealander actors who do convincing American accents. (Jax is an English actor, for instance.) But Americans often do lame foreign accents. (Meryl Streep excepted, of course.)
I figured out last night, that the world of motorcycles is like a Settlers of Catan game. The resources are drugs, guns, porn and extortion. The players are the Latin gangs, the Black gangs, the White gangs, the Irish gangs, the Cop gangs -- and, the S.O.A.
I have a suggestion for T.V. writers -- "Lockdowns" are obviously inconvenient for your plotting, so don't do them. Don't send off the "Queen" and the "Princess" on a stupid tampon shopping trip, with one guard, if that's what you need to do, and pretend it's sensible. (I looking at you, too, Terra Nova -- either it's a lockdown or it isn't...)
I don't know why, what gave it away -- but I sensed that Numbnuts was doomed a couple of episodes in advance. I turned to Linda and said, "He's wearing a red shirt..."
Finally, if all you are going to do is pop the bad guys in the end -- then why do you make a big deal out of "being smart" and "setting them up?" The shooting them in the head option is always there, but they are wildly inconsistent about when they apply that solution.
As long as I'm complaining, I've just about had it with Hell on Wheels. What bugs me is that it is supposed to be a show centered on building a railroad, but they make zero effort to make that believable. Seriously, if they had the same plot and same actors and same costumes -- but actually made a half-assed effort to show the 'working on the railroad' part in the background in a believable way -- it would be a decent show.
I'm trying to winnow down my T.V. watching, so I'm through with Hell on Wheels.
I've suggested to Linda that we write down a list of "Unmissable" shows, DVR just them, and contain our watching to just a couple of nights a week. I don't think that will work when Linda will watch any rerun of N.C.I.S. or Bones and especially Law and Order, and I'm a sucker for any Nova or Frontline or Masterpiece Theater that comes along.
I realize that we watch too much T.V., but there really are a bunch of very good shows on these days, especially on the premium channels. Network T.V.? Not so much. House and Mentalist both are pretty mediocre these days -- the only exception is The Good Wife, which is consistently great. I'm going to drop Persons of Interest -- it's O.K., but that isn't good enough. C.S.I. Las Vegas is barely hanging in there, as the major characters drop away one by one. Grimm falls short of being a good show. Mentalist is hanging by the thin thread of charm. So I'm willing to drop those, as well. Maybe only The Good Wife is truly unmissable, for me. And The Walking Dead.
And the cable shows: Dexter, True Blood, Boardwalk Empire.
A veritable symphony of bad Irish accents. Our movies and T.V. are full of British and Irish and Aussie and New Zealander actors who do convincing American accents. (Jax is an English actor, for instance.) But Americans often do lame foreign accents. (Meryl Streep excepted, of course.)
I figured out last night, that the world of motorcycles is like a Settlers of Catan game. The resources are drugs, guns, porn and extortion. The players are the Latin gangs, the Black gangs, the White gangs, the Irish gangs, the Cop gangs -- and, the S.O.A.
I have a suggestion for T.V. writers -- "Lockdowns" are obviously inconvenient for your plotting, so don't do them. Don't send off the "Queen" and the "Princess" on a stupid tampon shopping trip, with one guard, if that's what you need to do, and pretend it's sensible. (I looking at you, too, Terra Nova -- either it's a lockdown or it isn't...)
I don't know why, what gave it away -- but I sensed that Numbnuts was doomed a couple of episodes in advance. I turned to Linda and said, "He's wearing a red shirt..."
Finally, if all you are going to do is pop the bad guys in the end -- then why do you make a big deal out of "being smart" and "setting them up?" The shooting them in the head option is always there, but they are wildly inconsistent about when they apply that solution.
As long as I'm complaining, I've just about had it with Hell on Wheels. What bugs me is that it is supposed to be a show centered on building a railroad, but they make zero effort to make that believable. Seriously, if they had the same plot and same actors and same costumes -- but actually made a half-assed effort to show the 'working on the railroad' part in the background in a believable way -- it would be a decent show.
I'm trying to winnow down my T.V. watching, so I'm through with Hell on Wheels.
I've suggested to Linda that we write down a list of "Unmissable" shows, DVR just them, and contain our watching to just a couple of nights a week. I don't think that will work when Linda will watch any rerun of N.C.I.S. or Bones and especially Law and Order, and I'm a sucker for any Nova or Frontline or Masterpiece Theater that comes along.
I realize that we watch too much T.V., but there really are a bunch of very good shows on these days, especially on the premium channels. Network T.V.? Not so much. House and Mentalist both are pretty mediocre these days -- the only exception is The Good Wife, which is consistently great. I'm going to drop Persons of Interest -- it's O.K., but that isn't good enough. C.S.I. Las Vegas is barely hanging in there, as the major characters drop away one by one. Grimm falls short of being a good show. Mentalist is hanging by the thin thread of charm. So I'm willing to drop those, as well. Maybe only The Good Wife is truly unmissable, for me. And The Walking Dead.
And the cable shows: Dexter, True Blood, Boardwalk Empire.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Do I talk about the end of the year, or the beginning?
So they are talking about eliminating the dollar coins.
But what will I put in my piggy bank?
**********
I have to admit, the "uncanny valley" phenomenon was less troubling in the movie Tintin than it was in the trailers. I've noticed before, the contrast is more more extreme when you get it in short bursts and without the context.
Still -- I think I probably spent the first 20% of the movie noticing the differences. It still is distracting.
I think this will wear off, eventually, if they keep using and perfecting this process. It will become something we all just accept.
I hope.
**********
About midway through the second season of Sons of Anarchy, and the show hit its stride.
I was getting pretty fed up with the constant, "Hey, are you O.K." "Yeah, I'm just pissed at Cole" Hamlet-y stuff that was going on. I was beginning to think Jax was the poster child for passive aggressive.
Then, in the course of two shows, they resolved it all -- laid it all out, and refocused.
Hamlet is all well and good, but I'd like a little resolution once in awhile.
***********
I've noticed that a lot of my favorite shows over time have taken a year or two to really hit their stride.
Star Trek: Next Generation. Buffy. X-Files. It's like the actors settle on their tone, and the showrunner has refined the message.
**********
"Do you want to see War Horse, Sherlock Holmes, or Dragon Tattoo?"
"Anything but War Horse. It's about war and horses -- and I don't like horses."
"I see no reason to see Dragon Tattoo -- we've already seen it...."
"I want to see Dragon Tattoo..."
"Sherlock Holmes it is...."
**********
Was totally psyched by the last week of the year. We had a very good week.
Overall, this December was the second best we've ever had. Boardgames beat comics for the first time. Novels beat graphic novels for the first time. It's seasonal, but still a good sign for my diversity efforts.
I also spent a whole bunch, so we probably made about as much profit as last year, but we were a full 20% ahead in sales. Our second half of the year was good enough to pull us over last year in total. Cool.
I'm going to have a lot more to say about all this when I analyze the year-end figures.
But what will I put in my piggy bank?
**********
I have to admit, the "uncanny valley" phenomenon was less troubling in the movie Tintin than it was in the trailers. I've noticed before, the contrast is more more extreme when you get it in short bursts and without the context.
Still -- I think I probably spent the first 20% of the movie noticing the differences. It still is distracting.
I think this will wear off, eventually, if they keep using and perfecting this process. It will become something we all just accept.
I hope.
**********
About midway through the second season of Sons of Anarchy, and the show hit its stride.
I was getting pretty fed up with the constant, "Hey, are you O.K." "Yeah, I'm just pissed at Cole" Hamlet-y stuff that was going on. I was beginning to think Jax was the poster child for passive aggressive.
Then, in the course of two shows, they resolved it all -- laid it all out, and refocused.
Hamlet is all well and good, but I'd like a little resolution once in awhile.
***********
I've noticed that a lot of my favorite shows over time have taken a year or two to really hit their stride.
Star Trek: Next Generation. Buffy. X-Files. It's like the actors settle on their tone, and the showrunner has refined the message.
**********
"Do you want to see War Horse, Sherlock Holmes, or Dragon Tattoo?"
"Anything but War Horse. It's about war and horses -- and I don't like horses."
"I see no reason to see Dragon Tattoo -- we've already seen it...."
"I want to see Dragon Tattoo..."
"Sherlock Holmes it is...."
**********
Was totally psyched by the last week of the year. We had a very good week.
Overall, this December was the second best we've ever had. Boardgames beat comics for the first time. Novels beat graphic novels for the first time. It's seasonal, but still a good sign for my diversity efforts.
I also spent a whole bunch, so we probably made about as much profit as last year, but we were a full 20% ahead in sales. Our second half of the year was good enough to pull us over last year in total. Cool.
I'm going to have a lot more to say about all this when I analyze the year-end figures.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Never mind the bullets.
I'm not sure what I find most scary.
That a wife could shoot a husband 5 times on purpose and get away with it.
That a wife could shoot a husband 5 times by accident and still have the right to bear arms.
That a wife could shoot a husband 5 times and they couch it as some kind of moral success story.
People are strange.
That a wife could shoot a husband 5 times on purpose and get away with it.
That a wife could shoot a husband 5 times by accident and still have the right to bear arms.
That a wife could shoot a husband 5 times and they couch it as some kind of moral success story.
People are strange.
Happy New Year everyone!
I never make New Year's resolutions because
a. I'm perfect.
b. I'm so flawed that nothing will help.
c. I'm so weak-willed that a New Year's resolution just proves it...and I'm tired of proving it.
d. All the above.
**********
I kept thinking that the villain in Tintin looked like Steven Spielberg, and when I got home and googled it, I only got as far as "Tintin villain lo....." before a bunch of hits came up, so apparently I wasn't the only one.
I enjoyed the movie quite a bit actually. A rollicking adventure.
I sold a bunch of Tintin graphic novels this Christmas.
**********
Somebody set off such a loud boom at midnight, that our kitchen wall clock fell off and broke.
These celebrations are getting louder every year.
I made this mistake of letting the cat out about 11:30 or so, and after all the noise I went looking for her, finally to hear this strange, plaintive meow near the upstairs sliding door. She ran in and hid for awhile. So much meaning in such a simple meow...
**********
We were watching the trailers in front of Tintin, and they're doing a 3-D Titanic and I'm thinking how gorgeous Kate Winslet was in this movie (she's since gotten as thin and angular as all the other actresses, sadly) and the end tag line comes and I unexpectedly feel a tear in my eye. "I'll never let go."
Whenever that happens -- that Hallmark emotion -- I look at Linda, and sure enough she's crying.
I never did want to see Titanic again, because I found it to be very sad.
I never put down that movie, because it was very effective at what it does.
**********
Also watching the lead in graphics to the Imax process and thinking what a teenager from the '60's would think if he was magically transported to today's experience. (Specifically -- ME.)
"What...you still have the clunky glasses?"
"Where's the holodeck?"
"Is that animation? What is that?"
"Who's Steven Spielberg?"
"Movies cost $13.00!!!!"
a. I'm perfect.
b. I'm so flawed that nothing will help.
c. I'm so weak-willed that a New Year's resolution just proves it...and I'm tired of proving it.
d. All the above.
**********
I kept thinking that the villain in Tintin looked like Steven Spielberg, and when I got home and googled it, I only got as far as "Tintin villain lo....." before a bunch of hits came up, so apparently I wasn't the only one.
I enjoyed the movie quite a bit actually. A rollicking adventure.
I sold a bunch of Tintin graphic novels this Christmas.
**********
Somebody set off such a loud boom at midnight, that our kitchen wall clock fell off and broke.
These celebrations are getting louder every year.
I made this mistake of letting the cat out about 11:30 or so, and after all the noise I went looking for her, finally to hear this strange, plaintive meow near the upstairs sliding door. She ran in and hid for awhile. So much meaning in such a simple meow...
**********
We were watching the trailers in front of Tintin, and they're doing a 3-D Titanic and I'm thinking how gorgeous Kate Winslet was in this movie (she's since gotten as thin and angular as all the other actresses, sadly) and the end tag line comes and I unexpectedly feel a tear in my eye. "I'll never let go."
Whenever that happens -- that Hallmark emotion -- I look at Linda, and sure enough she's crying.
I never did want to see Titanic again, because I found it to be very sad.
I never put down that movie, because it was very effective at what it does.
**********
Also watching the lead in graphics to the Imax process and thinking what a teenager from the '60's would think if he was magically transported to today's experience. (Specifically -- ME.)
"What...you still have the clunky glasses?"
"Where's the holodeck?"
"Is that animation? What is that?"
"Who's Steven Spielberg?"
"Movies cost $13.00!!!!"
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