I’ve been flying a lot again lately and I have noticed another annoying and slightly gross habit that has infected many in the first class cabin of United Airlines.  I call out United because that’s the airline I fly so all my pictures are from United flights within the United States.  If you want an international rant you’ll have to wait for another day.  So now we can add to the list and here’s a recap in case you lost yours; pajamas that don’t fit…ok pajamas in general, dirty pillows, pillow cases as suitcases, McDonald’s food (smells totally different on a plane, trust me), cell phone militants and shouters, suitcases that are the size of a mini Cooper,  the gasmatic, the hick, the prick, and fatman too.  It’s a hodgepodge of horror that few know like I know.  Well today I give you the new in trend for first class travel: the v-hole.

This traveller figures that his bulkhead seat entitles him and/or her to hoist their feet into the air and share the funk with the rest of us locked in the trunk that is an airline cabin these days.  Perhaps now I am getting old because this really bothers me on many levels.  Let’s dig in…

Ok v-hole you are in public AND sitting in First Class!  Act like a snob not a slob, you are bringing all of our false pretense down to CMT levels.  Ok v-hole wear some respectable socks.  Ok v-hole wear socks!  Is it really that hard to sit in the larger seat sipping free booze and scowling that those who dare to break the curtain to use “our” bathroom.  Sit down coachy and wait for the pay drink cart to roll by, this bathroom is for this cabin, weren’t you listening at the beginning?  Oh nice, he’s wearing sock to the airplane bathroom, soak up the good times with those Sham-Wow socks you got buster.  Did I mention I hate flying now?

The other angle I can’t figure out is when did the public go so “private”?  People dress and behave like their personal space exists where ever they happen to be.  Using my best old guy voice; when I was young we had a thing called manners and outside clothes.  I guess that is old fashioned but at least I didn’t have to see what I see almost everyday now.  The people with least amount of stuff to show off hang it all out in the worst possible ways.  Screaming into cell phones as they drag two pillow cases full of stretch pants and or flannel and Old Spice they woddle onto the plane staring blankly back and forth from their ticket to the seat numbers and letter posted inside the plane.  Then they pull out the McDonalds and apologize as their laundry tumbles out of the overhead during take off.  Am I painting a picture too terrible to bear?

So maybe its not all about the feet, maybe they are the tip of the stinkburg that is flying in the US these days.  Since I have a handy camera on my phone it is now easier than ever to capture some of the fun at 30,000 feet.  In the end I have to blame United because they are so afraid of losing a $300 ticket to say anything.  As a passenger it is a dicey move to confront a fellow passenger unless they pose an actual danger to the aircraft.  So we sit and stink.  Kind of like the Occupy-holes but that too is another rant for another day.

Peace and Leftcoastlove!

I’ve never written about the events of 9/11 but today, on the 10^th anniversary of that horrible day, I think I finally have something to offer.  I am reflecting on the conversations I had as a child with my Grandmother.  During her life she saw the advent of the telephone, airplane, and for time during her youth the world seemed good and safe.  She and her friends would dress in short skirts and dance on the weekends and type away in steno pools during the week.  She eventually married and had a family but she never lost the excitement and wonder of the world and what could be.  My Grandmother also saw that world come apart during World War II.  The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor changed the American way of life and direction for the next fifty plus years.  The world shrank again and people fell into the old ways of aligning themselves by nationality and race.  It was ok to hate other people and the media reminded us of who to hate and why.  It took generations for these ideas to begin to fade.  That was until the morning of September 11, 2001 when a few bad men threw the world once again into utter chaos.

I am old enough to remember the words used to describe our WWII enemies from the movies and comics of that time.  Old movies appeared on TV regularly and old comics were easily had from flea markets and garage sales.  These weren’t nice words so I won’t repeat them today, my point being that we often react in the worst ways to events that make us feel small or powerless.  Fast forward to my generation with men on the moon, cell phones, and the internet once again making the world smaller and better connected.  In 2000 cheap and easy travel was the norm and increased immigration into the US from all points of the globe had me feeling the wonder my Grandmother must have felt as a young woman in NYC during the 1920’s.  It’s taken ten years for me to realize the loss of that wonder and optimism.  I’ve seen the rise of partisan media, the return of hate language, and finally the loss of personal freedom.  It has been a steady path through two wars and lots of protests.  These have been little changes that alone seemed benign but now have a cumulative impact that touches my everyday life. 

I think about how to eventually explain all this to my little girl.  I think about her life and I hope that by the time she reaches adulthood the world is once again moving towards openness and, dare I say, love.  Maybe it’s because I live in San Francisco where people can be themselves and ideas of all types are tolerated that I feel this way.  Maybe there's a little hippie in my DNA.  Even if, today in SF adults without children are not allowed in parks near children and public behavior on buses often gets racial and violent.  Is the world so out of control that the only way people can deal is to act singularly?  “It’s my world and I can control it so f**k everyone else.”  Why else would so many text on their phones while driving, trample others in line to get themselves a cheap tv, or celebrate the lives of Jersey Shore jerk wads?  It’s all about the individual and the rest of the world can just deal with it.

More and more of our lives are controlled by security and verifications of all sorts.  I have lived firsthand the changes at airports and recently my own bank use the term "Patriot Act" to explain their excessive documentation requirements as I dared to cash a check from my account in person at the actual bank.  In the sky rude and gruff flight attendants use the term “Federal Law requires…” as they tell you to pee your pants in an overcrowded coach cabin.  Even the street fairs in San Francisco have metal detectors at their entrances.  The internet that once seemed so promising is now used to bully, swindle, and self promote more than anything else.  The media is just that media.  There is no more real news, only opinion and bluster.  Compromise is lost since no disagreement is ever resolved or over.  It’s just carried on until the winds of change blow back. 

The winds changed during my Grandmother’s life as the enemies of the war became our partners in building the future I grew up in.  She saw the men on the moon and she also saw the excitement in her grandchildren’s eyes as the world once again offered a bright future.  It is my hope we never forget the day or people who were directly hurt but that we also remember it was only a few bad men who decided that their individual feelings and ideals trumped everyone else’s.  This is the danger but it is also the answer.  If everyone at least considered the community and acted as part of a community the world could once again offer opportunity and understanding.  I can see through the storm can you?

That’s my story today September 11, 2011.

Peace and Leftcoastlove

 

I watched as Rob Curley pulled the roll away door down on Sub-City Comics in Dublin, Ireland with a quick tug of the chain.  It was a rainy Saturday evening and Rob held a stack of comic scripts carefully as he checked the lock one last time.  I first met Rob back in 2008 while I was visiting the comic shops of Dublin during a business trip.  At that time there were four shops in the Temple Bar area, sadly today there is only one, Sub-City Comics.  To be fair there is a chain comic shop still operating in Dublin but I don’t count those as true “LCS” or local comic shop since this chain’s base of operation isn’t even in Ireland.  Today Rob has agreed to meet me after work for a pint or five and talk comics and the business of comics in Ireland.

Robert Curley is a comic creator, comic publisher, comic retailer, comic fan, and comic evangelist.  Today Rob has two retail Sub-City locations and a publishing company named Atomic Diner.  I asked Rob about the loss of the other stores in his area and he explained that a combination of rent and economic factors hit all retail hard.  Being a comic fan of course I would notice the missing comic shops but Rob pointed that book stores, record stores, clothing stores and many others were all hit and those shops that managed their rent and customers had the best chance of surviving.  Computers and technology have a place in Rob’s business but he doesn’t follow message boards or listen to internet chatter about comics.  Rob uses the old school method of talking and listening to his customers to understand what he needs to order and what to stock in the two different retail locations.  In fact it was this rapport with his customers that gave Rob the confidence to branch out into creating and publishing comics.

Atomic Diner’s first comic Freakshow was enough of a success to encourage Rob to publish more comics created in Ireland by Irish creators.  Today Rob edits a number of titles for Atomic Diner and he is the creator and writer of The League of Volunteers.  The League of Volunteers is the story of a group of Irish superheroes.  The story mixes Celtic mythology with Irish history, language and location, the result is something uniquely Irish and totally fun.  Add to that Vampires and Nazis and this book really has something for almost every comic fan.  Barry Keegan’s art is clean and developing from issue to issue.  I found the issue #2 pencils much richer and the last splash page has a real Gene Colan feel to it. 

Rob described the two audiences for this book as Irish comic book readers and Irish people who are proud of and support Irish made items.  This comic chronicles the first real homegrown superhero group based in Ireland.  To date League of Volunteers is going to a third printing for issue #1 and that represents 3000 copies sold through Sub-City locations and mail order.  The best part of this success story is how Rob keeps it all local.  The comic is printed locally in Dublin and recently Rob and Barry gave demonstration and instruction on making comics at local elementary schools.  They were not promoting their comic or the store; instead they were promoting comics and sharing their passion with the next generation.  This was done without fanfare or self promotion in and around Dublin.  

Rob and the eleven people he employs share this same focus.  Comics are a business and passion and both have to be in balance.  Rob has managed to thrive in tough times in a tough business.  The basic rules of business haven’t really changed even though the tools we use have.  Rob has found the right mix but always keeps the face to face interactions at the front.  I recommend The League of Volunteers and Freakshow and should you find yourself in Dublin be sure to stop by and say hello to Rob and pick up a few comics.  I want to thank Rob for his friendship over the years and especially for taking time to talk to me and tip a few pints. 

Links:

Atomic Diner Comics - http://www.atomicdiner.com/

Twitter - http://twitter.com/#!/subcitycomics

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/pages/League-Of-Volunteers/134067086605549

Irish Comic News - http://www.irishcomicnews.com/ 

That’s my story for today September 4, 2011.  Peace and Leftcoastlove!