Hibou

Looking back at my posts from that night of August 6th into the early morning hours of August 7th is like looking though a kaleidoscope. None of it makes sense but at the same time, I can see what I want to see within it... Monday morning... My wife and I got up and proceeded to go out to a local thrift store where we would routinely go on Monday mornings. On this day of the week, a group would come in and stock the store so it was the ideal time to go in there to see what new items might arrive. In the past, we had found a lot of items there to resell at our antique booth. It's amazing what people toss away or in better terms, donate. Probably the most unique item we found there was this Victorian era religious shadowbox celebrating Pope Pius IX's golden episcopal jubilee. I've actual found two of these, one complete (although one of the pieces has come detached inside the shadowbox and one lone center piece which I have for sale at our booth. Another interesting item that I found here was a complete, unopened fire-engine decanter containing Jim Beam Bourbon from 1978 and this great 1970's Allan Agohobb Charlie Chaplain "Toilets" sign. Here are some other pictures of our booth with some of the items for sale... We would normally get to the thrift store around 10am and on this Monday (August, 7th), it wasn't any different than any of the numerous other Mondays we had gone there. My wife and I had found a lot of items on that morning... we had accumulated a cart full of items that looked promising to resell. I was looking up some comparable pricing on my phone when I got a call from my younger daughter. When we left the house, that morning, she was still sleeping so when I saw her calling, I assumed she wanted us to pick up something for her although normally, she would just text me. It was 10:53 am... (-0 hours : 7 minutes)

... ... To be continued concluded.

The beginning of the end...

So, yes... here we are at Sunday night. (-17 hours : 25 minutes) Sunday Night. I couldn't stop writing... my wife couldn't get to sleep and my daughter kept coming down to ask me ambiguous questions. What was this evening?! I kept writing and this was my last entry to this Dark Knight... ... ... ...

I love that whole video.

"Okay, how in the hell do you go from Glen Campbell to Shane MacGowan?!" Yeah, that is a weird transition, I guess. It's funny hearing this on the Witchita Lineman video... "I'm Glen Campbell and I'm happy to be here."

I just needed to hear that song. ... ... ... So, yes... here we are at Sunday night. (-17 hours : 25 minutes) Sunday Night. I'm so sorry... I need to get this video in before I dive into this. (Rest In Peace, Shane MacGowan)

Please don't try to make "continuity sense" of this. It simply won't work...

(-17 hours : 25 minutes) Sunday Night.

I think in total, I spent about 45 minutes there and so once I left, I figured I still had some time to kill before my daughter would be done with her lunch with her friend, so I proceeded to find my way to another antique shop nearby where I also knew the owner and a vendor there as well. I hadn't been in this place for a while so it was kind of nice to take my time and look around at everything. There was this fabulous 1976 era pay phone (all detailed in bicentennial decor) that I really wanted but it had already been sold according to Bruce, the shop owner. I wandered through the store some more and found a blue Marx Wolfman for $5 which I picked up immediately. A few minutes later, I found 2 Silver Surfer tumbler glasses (classic Kirby) and picked those up. I initially was going to get these for my (step)son and myself. I was about to text him (David) to see if he would like one but I held off. When I looked at the time (it was now around 3:30pm), I knew his schedule and I knew that he was just finishing up his shift at the nearby bar and grill so I didn't want to bother him. Besides, I knew that I had to get a hold of him within the week so we could get together in order for me to show him all of the cool things I had found and bought at PulpFest! So, I decided to save a little bit of money and I only bought the one glass for myself. I figured that I could just go back and pick up the second (reasonably priced) glass, later, if I found out that he would want one. After this purchase and visit at the downtown antique shop, I decided to do something that I had never done in the city that I grown up in... I knew I had a cigar in the Jeep and so I went back there, dropped off my purchases from the antique shop, grabbed the cigar and decided to 'take a stroll through the city, while enjoying a nice cigar... taking in the sights that I hadn't paid attention to in probably 30 years. And so I did. (EST = 4:15pm) These were a few of the pictures I took... My (step)son just got home from work around 15 minutes ago... On this impromptu walking tour that I took, I (sadly) realized that "downtown" had now (and probably forevermore) transformed from a destination point for consumerism... to a place where younger people would live simply work and live. These were the initial sad thoughts I was left with as I realized that the city that I had grown up in - had transformed before my eyes into something else that I could not recognize. My last stop on my impromptu walking tour took me to a trendy vinyl music shop that I've visited on my many occasions, for years on end. I was flipping through their posters when I found this and immediately texted my friend, Rob. He very simply informed me that I had to buy that! Well, I had already formulated that thought before his response but yeah... this was too good to pass up! As I'm buying this, I'm thinking to myself that I'll get in touch with my (step)son this week as this was the last day I had on my authorized vacation. Sadly, I was scheduled to assume my regular work schedule the next evening on Monday, August 7th. It had been a great summer.

Anyways, after talking with the owner of the business for a bit, I collected our check and proceeded to look over our booth, straighten up a bit, and then decided to browse through the building to see what new items might've been brought in by the other vendors. Again, with time to kill, I figured I'd take advantage of this opportunity. This one vendor had this vintage NFL helmet on display and well... I guess I'll call it serendipity. He was there in his booth and I asked him what he'd take for it. Based on everything that had just happened with me, up to this point, it seemed like an obvious decision on what to do here. Forty dollars later, I now owned a vintage Pittsburgh Steelers helmet. And yes, probably from Sears!

I'll try it again. Sunday morning... I had been on the boards here, updating my journal a little bit on that previous night. This is how that looked back then... So, that Sunday morning, on August the 6th, I waken up relatively early because I had my union meeting that I needed to attend. It was scheduled for 9am and I arrived there just in time. It was a packed parking lot so I had to park down the road a bit as did other 'last minute' arrivals did too. Unfortunately, once inside, I saw that the entire hall was filled and all the seats were taken so I took residency along a wall and listened to the speakers telling everyone in attendance how this new contract would go if we were to vote and agree to it. It took nearly the entire meeting for them to get to the part that had caused me so much distress in Uniontown, PA. Once I heard the words that nothing would change in terms of my pay, I was absolutely thrilled and immediately sent a text to my Sister-In-Law. She had just recently retired from the company and she was very helpful in terms of helping me understand the inner workings of this company as she had been employed there for over 30 years. After the meeting concluded, I left there feeling like I had just won the lottery and decided to make a quick stop at our local flea market. Once there, I picked up a few things to resell at our antique booth... nothing of particular interest. I came home and told my wife the great news. Once again, another win that just had me thinking that I was really pressing my luck here. How many good things could go right?! I knew ahead of time that my younger daughter had plans to go out for lunch with one of her friends and asked me if I could drive her to the restaurant, downtown at 2:00pm. I was completely free for the rest of the day so this wasn't any problem at all. Just before 2pm, my daughter and I left the house, as I told my wife that I'd probably be out for a while. I figured I would drop off my daughter and then stop at our antique booth to pick up our check for last month's sales. I was kind of excited about that because, we actually had a really good month and this check would cover about half of what I spent at PulpFest! And so, I dropped off my daughter and headed to the antique store. I thought to myself that I had at least a few hours to kill. When I got there I mingled among the employees for a little bit and then got our check from the owner. I knew that he was a huge Pittsburgh Steelers fan and I was happy to talk to him about my trip down there. All of the areas that I had mentioned, he knew intimately as apparently (this, I did not know) he's from that area. I told him that it seemed like every single person I encountered down there was so friendly and accommodating. This was about the moment that he told me what it's like to be a Steelers fan down there. In his words, it's like one big tent and all are welcome... he said it's not like other stadiums. When he told this to me, I had to laugh inside as I immediately had a PTSD moment where I was 11 again. In 1980, my parents took me to a Rams v. Bills game at Rich Stadium in Buffalo, NY. This was in 1980, the year after the Rams lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in SuperBowl XIV. It was a cold and dreary day and I was wearing my Rams poncho (probably from Sears) during that game. Well, unfortunately, the Rams lost the game in overtime 10-7 and the fans (I guess they're now known as Bills Mafia) wanted to make sure that this 11 year old never forgot who won. To this day, this event still pisses off my father who had to try to safely escort his son out of enemy territory. Over the years, this has been a great family story to tell so ultimately, there's no bad blood. (Not the Sears NFL Poncho, but If You Know, You Know...)

(-35 hours : 50 minutes) Sunday morning...

And now back to this... (-59 hours : 30 minutes) ... ... ... We all got started fairly early that Saturday morning following the trip to Pittsburgh, PA. Again, just as a refresher, we had a performance to go to, that my niece was in and we also had a family birthday party to attend later that afternoon. We got to the school held performance in time and we all really enjoyed their performance of Rock of Ages. My niece is 13 now and she really has taken on a strong liking to drama which I think will serve her well. She really excels at that and finds a lot of satisfaction with it. Following this awesome performance, we all met up back again at my in-laws for a birthday get-together. It was a great afternoon as almost everyone in the family made it there. As the day started to dip into the evening, I thought of giving my (step) son a call but I knew that he had just finished up with work and probably wouldn't want to come over. A bunch of us held an impromptu game of badminton in the large back and yard that was a lot of fun... and funny as well. You see, eventually, this led to a two on two game of badminton but there were only two racquets. Well, sitting outside were two electric fly swatter paddles so yes, we used those two electric fly swatter paddles as badminton racquets! It was hilarious but guess who decided to get curious? Oh yes, that would be me and yes, they do indeed hurt! This is a picture of my wife holding one of these... Yes, I know it's a very blown up image... I was actually on the back deck taking this picture and that's why it's so far away. Ultimately I joined in which is when I felt the full force of the Badminton Fly Destructor! Curiosity got the best of me and I had to push the button while touching the 'netting'... yeah, lesson learned! The day was a blast and it was so nice to spend so much time with our family. Looking back for a moment, my wife immediately felt a strong attraction to a new born relative that she hadn't met before.. her name is Lydia. My wife told me after we left that this little new born girl reminded her of her son... my (step) son. It was a very good day.... Just the perfect bookend to this amazing week that I was now putting behind me. I knew that the next day, Sunday, I had a union meeting scheduled at 11am which would hopefully answer some of those questions that haunted me in Uniontown, PA during our vacation. But the way everything was going and the way that everything had been pointing... I kind of felt that this simply was going to be an afterthought. ... Saturday Night. (-35 hours : 50 minutes)

Of course I saved the best for last, in terms of what Rob got for me this year. He was so excited to find a copy of this book 'in the wild' and frankly, I can't remember finding one in that fashion, either. This copy of The Creature #1 from Dell (1962/1963) is pretty solid. It has some issues on the spine but I don't see any color breaking creases on the front cover (or the back)... nice off white pages. This will definitely be a book I send in with my next submission to CGC. From what I can see, it looks like a solid VG / FN (5.0) to me but it might actually do better. I had to check who did the cover on this one and apparently it is by Vic Prezio.

I forgot how awesome that video was...

I know that we're at Monday, but we can't continue right now. Yes, It's time for intermission...

But there's more... How about a 14" Mego Creature from the Black Lagoon as well as a retro (repro) model?! Thank you again, my friend... these were absolutely awesome to open up in the middle of a 'Snow-Pocalypse'! Here is the Atlantis Models : "Creature from the Black Lagoon" as well as the official Mego: 14" version of The Creature!

There was no magnificent game this year. Now yes, I told him in advance that his car would indeed blow up if he didn't guess his gift, but in fact, there wasn't a plan laid in place, after-all. I felt like it It was all a ploy. So, we met and he tried to guess the present based on the clues, but ultimately, I think I was left with the best clues on my gift! He told me NOTHING was related... So. I opened the first gift and then the second gift and ultimately the third gift as I was helplessly searching for a nonexistent clue! There was indeed a theme to match all of this years gifts. I think Rob set it up that way as a joke... kind of a knock at me consistently screwing up all of his games through my uncanny ability to misspell his clues. ... ... ... This is what Rob got me this year with absolutely no known relation to each other... Again, this must've been Rob's attempt at letting me know what it feels like when 'A' can't spell but 'B' certainly can. This is what Rob got me this year and yes, there certainly was a theme! (Both, the Neptunian and Captain Kirk 100% agree to this picture. Rob didn't get those for me... they were just around for the party.) RedBreast 12 plus 2 Creature from the Black Lagoon plastic cups? That equals a total win!!

This is Sunday night. The 7th of January, 2024. It's been exactly 5 months since the worst day of my life and perhaps, forever. I know I'm being extremely evasive here but please understand... I'm trying. The good news is that there was a big break-through that occurred over the course of this past weekend and it was all thanks to our annual get-together with my best friend, Rob, over this holiday season. As the way the end of this year was aiming, it quickly appeared to me that prolonging this get-together wasn't going to help anyone. So... as a strong winter storm was bearing down on our area, Rob and I decided to throw caution to the wind, and we managed to get together for our annual Christmas get-together, regardless! It was probably the best thing I could've done for myself and the dream that I had that night, after falling asleep, only served to validate that thought! (I'll get to that soon enough.) So, last night, I met up with Rob for our Christmas get-together and I didn't expect that I'd be throwing everything at him, that's occurred to me and my family over these past few months... but I did. Sorry. Rob's basically unflappable, though... I could tell him that I'm related to the ranchers near Area 51 as well as being related to Lee Harvey Oswald and he would simply ask what I wanted to drink next, as it was on him. That's Rob in a nutshell.

After leaving Silver Creek, NY, we got back on the NY State Thruway and made our way through some rush hour traffic in Buffalo. I think we made one more quick stop at a McDonald's just past Rochester and ultimately we made it back home before sunset which was exactly as I had hoped. It had been a whirlwind of a day but it was nice to be back. My parents offered to watch our small dog (Chihuahua mix) and I had already planned on picking her up the next day on Saturday morning. As I wrote before, we also had plans on that Saturday to go to my niece's musical that she was involved with and then in the afternoon, we had to go to a family birthday party at my in-laws house. I just figured it would be easier to pick up our dog in the morning before we did all that we had planned.later that day. I unpacked all of my 'treasures' that I picked up and sat down once again to look at the last print I bought at PulpFest and to look through my newly acquired copy The Shadow Magazine. I forgot to mention that when I made that quick stop back in to PulpFest that Friday morning, when I bought the Shadow framed print, I was looking very hard at this one piece. The same guy that sold me the Shadow print also had this at his table. I asked him if he had any information on it and he said he didn't. It had been hanging on his wall in his house for years and he just decided to part with it but didn't know who did it or what it was for. I remember trying to figure if I could spare any more for another big purchase but I stopped myself and just walked away with the Shadow print. I'm still very attracted to this piece though... I just found the picture on my phone as I was going through the album. Anyways, yes, I was very happy with these purchases and once I sat down, I carefully took The Shadow Magazine out of the mylar and flipped though it once again... I opened the book again to this page that is just so good... this double page spread beautifully illustrated by Tom Lovell. This was taken from here: https://theshadowstrikes.tumblr.com/post/149994662497/rip-offs-and-homages-to-the-shadow ,but it shows the distinct similarities between Bob Kane's drawing in Detective Comics #27 and Tom Lovell's in this 1936 issue of The Shadow Magazine. I carefully put the book back and just sat there for a moment before heading off to sleep. This had been a fantastic trip for myself and my family and I couldn't have planned for it to go any better than it had. Thinking back, those past few weeks leading up to PulpFest and then the week of PulpFest was something on another level of greatness - almost like the universe unlocked some door for me to experience all of this in such a short amount of time. It's probably why this has been so difficult for me to get through... (-59 hours : 30 minutes)

Sorry, where were we... (-66 hours : 50 minutes)