Flex Mentallo

Progress on other fronts as well. I was able to send Tuku sufficient funds to lay the floor of her new house and I'm hopeful she will be able to move in before Christmas... ..and Lucina's younger sister Lilufar now has the funds to enable her to give up her atrociously paid teaching job and sign up for a 'basic-to-advanced' college I.T. Course... Thankfully, I do not miss the books I sold to achieve these simple goals.

By the way, I was hugely touched by two fellow boardies who, quite independently of each other, paid me more than my asking price for a couple of cherished items sold to help raise the costs of her trip. Lucina has promised a full report on her return.

Damyang has a famous bamboo forest.

She is in the midst of making her preparations to attend the World Bamboo Conference in Damyang in September. [brother ciorac gave me some helpful advice about South Korean culture to pass on to her. Bill, as a result she will be getting some calling cards printed!]

Through the scorching hot Bengal summer, Lucina has continued with her fieldwork.

As it turns out, I broke my humerus in four places. Eight weeks on, physiotherapy continues to be a daily nightmare, 25 exercises, well over an hour of self-inflicted torture, but a necessary process to ensure a full recovery. It's a fairly common injury, so no doubt some of you will have experienced it. Meanwhile, I remain in constant touch with family in the village, where they recently celebrated Eid-al-Fitr, one of the most important Muslim festivals.

Shall we move over? http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=8780988#Post8780988

My take on this. You post the best emoticons!

. I still don't understand the details of bobs dispute with you. In the past I have asked you to explain your position on the lobby card deal which involved the time travelers 1964...and an other card. I have yet to recive a response .... So here is my question to you again have you paid bob for the two sf lobby' cards that he sent you, if not why not? I await your response..... Mitch, I think we are all just plain tired of this, and it's really a shame to divert such a wonderful thread away from it's true purpose. Can we please do as nearmint requests and get back to posting books here? There really isn't anywhere else to go with this.

A handful of recent pick ups

Question: has a member been "banned" to the hall of shame and ever let back in this fourm? who would we appeal to? To what end Mitch? For him to flame out here all over again and get rebanned? Until he changes his behaviour there is only one way for this story to end A chance to say his side...there are always the two sides to the story...and the cgc or anybody else should not be afraid to let Bob speak out...you know there is information that is not being put on the boards...I say BBB-bring bob back....one last time...let him address steve, and richard and everybody else.... Once again Mitch you are conveniently oblivious to the facts and it really gets tiresome. You can continue to carry your torch for Bob but it just puts your own credibility and judgement into question. Look, I have explained my feelings on this. my judgement is sound. Bob has been at the forefront of comic book fandom and bought more collections than you can count...his clients George Lucas, Coppola, crumb( even part of the crumb movie was filmed there at his store), robin williams, danny glover ...the stories and adventures will all be lost when bob passes away. The importance of this man, the many contacts he made and interviews for the history of comic books...well priceless. When you have been in business for 40 years you are of course not gonna get it right all the time, and some are better than others . We are passing thru history...bob has passed thru 10 lifetimes worth. And now you want to bury this guy, put him in the hall of shame...well there should be a special at least 12 hours long of the history of comic book fandom which is gonna get lost here. nobody is perfect, not bob, me of you....I have made many mistakes that I would like to take back...but to act as though he is dead...banning him from the boards is an act of indecency. WE are the losers here...like "tears in rain"...lost forever...... But bob has had his whole world turned upside down in many different ways. His where house flood which cost 1 million comic books..that right 1M comic books and priceless art, including the unpublished Zap comics cover #1...are gone, the insurance company screwed bob by using a "underinsured clause" and put him into BK for 5 years...at the time he was ahead of every other dealer...today the loss would be 25 million, over 1000 pages of comic book art in 3 1/2 feet of water which came from the roof....you whole life ruined and kicked out of Pier 39 because of selling underground comic books..it goes on and on. Ok, my credibility is at stake...how about all of comic book fandom credibility and what we stand to lose. I have been trying to help bob resolve some the issues that he currently has...that is the best I can do for a guy whom I have know since I was 12. Is everybody gonna be happy...no...just do the best we can...I am afraid...my real friends are dropping like flies bruce hamilton falling out of a hospital bed after losing on a bad investment, John Barrett the nicest guy you ever had the choice to meet to cancer, Bob Sidebottom a pioneer who took no Shiiiii from anybody, Gary/SF comic book company who helped the underground comic movement and created one of the first stores in SF...I can go on and on.... Bob is trying to hang in there, imperfect as we all are, the only thing I am asking is bring him back and let you the reader decide what is true or not. Shutting him out is like telling your own grandpa to go to the old folks home and shut up. Mitch, you know that I'd join with you in support of Bob just for the sake of human decency if that was all there was to it. I've known Bob Beerbohm a long time, going back to the Southwestern conventions in the late sixties & early seventies. There is no question that Bob is one of the pioneers of early comics fandom and his contributions to the hobby deserve to be acknowledged and ...within limits... respected. Unfortunately, Bob has been the worst steward of his own legacy imaginable. Over time his tales became so convoluted, his posturing so defensive, his attitude so bellicose, that no one could trust his version of events with certainty. Then there's the personal vitriol he spewed at every opportunity and his own questionable business practices. Folks bent over backward for him numerous times, but he returned generosity by kicking more sand in folks faces than a Charles Atlas ad. I suspect that it wasn't a lack of compassion that got Bob banned from the boards (pleas for sympathy over his and his daughter's health issues didn't fall on deaf ears). Realistically, how many times should moderators have been expected to look the other way while he threw tantrums or railed against the business that keeps these forums running? How many times should he be afforded the opportunity to abuse the good graces of folks who help him? How many broken promises and failed deliveries are excusable? How many hurled insults? The weight of things that the forum's hosts gave Bob a pass-on demonstrated a lot of tolerance IMO. But it apparently reached a point where it was deemed necessary, perhaps even merciful, to pull the plug permanently. I'm pretty sure that it wasn't just one issue that led up to Bob's becoming personae non grata, it was probably an accumulation of aggressively anti-social behaviors. Like you say, none of us are perfect. I'll be the first to admit that I have my own personal baggage and foibles that occasionally rubs folks the wrong way, but most of us figure out where the limits are and how to navigate around those we differ with without resorting to bullying tactics. Bob isn't a child and shouldn't require infinite coddling to interact with his peers. It's very late. The stout ale I imbibed earlier is beginning to wear off and I need some sleep, so I bid all here adieu. Great response, as usual... The difficulty lies in that both our points are very valid. So when that is the case...we have to come to some point in the middle. The board can handle BOB...no question they handle me, you, gator...etc. But to shut him but shutting him out is not the solution, that is what the ignore button is for. Don't make the decision for me.....it a choice of freedom or the type tv program you want. I think is presence would make the board more interesting than it is currently. Will people get pissed off at him..they have been for the last 40 years. The board should not be afraid of him, put him in the hall of shame..for what,disagreeing with the whole world. Our cgc forum is not better without bob. and give the members freedom and credit to listen or believe what they want on this board. The history about which you wax so lyrical will be of more significance to some than to others, but how can you can separate the history you want to cherish from the history you'd like the boards to forgive and - so to speak - forget? "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" George Santayana “I've got news for Mr. Santayana: we're doomed to repeat the past no matter what. That's what it is to be alive. It's pretty dense kids who haven't figured that out by the time they're ten....” Kurt Vonnegut, Bluebeard Humanitarian action aims to alleviate suffering, but by inadvertently sustaining conflict it potentially prolongs it. However much we may hate to accept it, some outcomes are inevitable.

We all want a 33, but How about a nice 40 instead? my 33 doesn't make my top-10 list, but it would make my top-10 raboy cover list, so, seeing that as special dispensation [catholic upbringing], I offer it here. I'm sure we'd all willingly give you a catholic dispensation to post your top ten Raboys. I might even offer to sell you an Indulgence at a cut price rate.

Question: has a member been "banned" to the hall of shame and ever let back in this fourm? who would we appeal to? To what end Mitch? For him to flame out here all over again and get rebanned? Until he changes his behaviour there is only one way for this story to end A chance to say his side...there are always the two sides to the story...and the cgc or anybody else should not be afraid to let Bob speak out...you know there is information that is not being put on the boards...I say BBB-bring bob back....one last time...let him address steve, and richard and everybody else.... Once again Mitch you are conveniently oblivious to the facts and it really gets tiresome. You can continue to carry your torch for Bob but it just puts your own credibility and judgement into question. Look, I have explained my feelings on this. my judgement is sound. Bob has been at the forefront of comic book fandom and bought more collections than you can count...his clients George Lucas, Coppola, crumb( even part of the crumb movie was filmed there at his store), robin williams, danny glover ...the stories and adventures will all be lost when bob passes away. The importance of this man, the many contacts he made and interviews for the history of comic books...well priceless. When you have been in business for 40 years you are of course not gonna get it right all the time, and some are better than others . We are passing thru history...bob has passed thru 10 lifetimes worth. And now you want to bury this guy, put him in the hall of shame...well there should be a special at least 12 hours long of the history of comic book fandom which is gonna get lost here. nobody is perfect, not bob, me of you....I have made many mistakes that I would like to take back...but to act as though he is dead...banning him from the boards is an act of indecency. WE are the losers here...like "tears in rain"...lost forever...... But bob has had his whole world turned upside down in many different ways. His where house flood which cost 1 million comic books..that right 1M comic books and priceless art, including the unpublished Zap comics cover #1...are gone, the insurance company screwed bob by using a "underinsured clause" and put him into BK for 5 years...at the time he was ahead of every other dealer...today the loss would be 25 million, over 1000 pages of comic book art in 3 1/2 feet of water which came from the roof....you whole life ruined and kicked out of Pier 39 because of selling underground comic books..it goes on and on. Ok, my credibility is at stake...how about all of comic book fandom credibility and what we stand to lose. I have been trying to help bob resolve some the issues that he currently has...that is the best I can do for a guy whom I have know since I was 12. Is everybody gonna be happy...no...just do the best we can...I am afraid...my real friends are dropping like flies bruce hamilton falling out of a hospital bed after losing on a bad investment, John Barrett the nicest guy you ever had the choice to meet to cancer, Bob Sidebottom a pioneer who took no Shiiiii from anybody, Gary/SF comic book company who helped the underground comic movement and created one of the first stores in SF...I can go on and on.... Bob is trying to hang in there, imperfect as we all are, the only thing I am asking is bring him back and let you the reader decide what is true or not. Shutting him out is like telling your own grandpa to go to the old folks home and shut up. Mitch, you know that I'd join with you in support of Bob just for the sake of human decency if that was all there was to it. I've known Bob Beerbohm a long time, going back to the Southwestern conventions in the late sixties & early seventies. There is no question that Bob is one of the pioneers of early comics fandom and his contributions to the hobby deserve to be acknowledged and ...within limits... respected. Unfortunately, Bob has been the worst steward of his own legacy imaginable. Over time his tales became so convoluted, his posturing so defensive, his attitude so bellicose, that no one could trust his version of events with certainty. Then there's the personal vitriol he spewed at every opportunity and his own questionable business practices. Folks bent over backward for him numerous times, but he returned generosity by kicking more sand in folks faces than a Charles Atlas ad. I suspect that it wasn't a lack of compassion that got Bob banned from the boards (pleas for sympathy over his and his daughter's health issues didn't fall on deaf ears). Realistically, how many times should moderators have been expected to look the other way while he threw tantrums or railed against the business that keeps these forums running? How many times should he be afforded the opportunity to abuse the good graces of folks who help him? How many broken promises and failed deliveries are excusable? How many hurled insults? The weight of things that the forum's hosts gave Bob a pass-on demonstrated a lot of tolerance IMO. But it apparently reached a point where it was deemed necessary, perhaps even merciful, to pull the plug permanently. I'm pretty sure that it wasn't just one issue that led up to Bob's becoming personae non grata, it was probably an accumulation of aggressively anti-social behaviors. Like you say, none of us are perfect. I'll be the first to admit that I have my own personal baggage and foibles that occasionally rubs folks the wrong way, but most of us figure out where the limits are and how to navigate around those we differ with without resorting to bullying tactics. Bob isn't a child and shouldn't require infinite coddling to interact with his peers. It's very late. The stout ale I imbibed earlier is beginning to wear off and I need some sleep, so I bid all here adieu. As well reasoned as any summary one could wish for.

Never gonna happen

Selling half my collection doesn't make this any easier.

as we know, the entrance of even 1 or 2 serious collectors for these type books can affect the entire market (positively)...a single exiting collector will typically not affect the market negatively, as there are generally enough seekers to prop up, but if multiple collectors exit, future uncertain ..., at the current moment, the emergence of some new interest, has caused an uptick in demand, and hence prices (I think that was obvious at sdcc this past weeks) without question much of the appeal has to be the artists (covers as well as their corresponding interior work)... I believe that, along with great scarcity, is a premium determinant of demand So - and I'm being serious here - prices can surge or stall on a whim? What price Price Guide in this reality?

I am a little green man. Oh, you mean Bedrock.