Davenport

Half-way into Robert Charles Wilson's Spin, first of a trilogy. Best Novel/Hugo winner, so I thought I'd give it a go. "Axis" and "Vortex" are the other two in the series. Not sure where it's going yet, but some damn fine writing.

Just started Crichton's final work "Micro" that was finished posthumously. Seems like it will be fun. In a "Land of the Giants" or "Fantastic Voyage" sort of way.

I quit World War Z too and I'm not sure if I'll bother finishing. I thought it was because I started right on the heels of reading those Day By Day Armageddon books, which were excellent. Just finished Deeper by Jeff Long. A hollow-earth tale with some extremely dark and visceral themes.

Just finished "Legacy of Kings" by C.S. Friedman, the final book of the Magister trilogy. Good stuff I hated to see end. Felt the same way about her Coldfire trilogy. Starting "World War Z".

The first question we ask is what of these 10 characters has a good origin? The second question we ask is how would these translate in modern media like video games or movies? Unfortunately other than Airboy or maybe Black Terror these characters don`t look like they would translate well for the modern audience. Any thoughts to prove me wrong? We could certainly use American Crusader right about now... Except "crusader" is a politically super-charged word these days and the guy sports a pentagram on his costume. But other than that... Kick some anti-democracy azz American Crusader!!

I settled on The Magicians and The Magician King. These get tagged as Harry Potter for adults, but that really doesn't do them justice. Incredibly weird and satisfying.

Cool find. Here's a web image of one in the package. 1966 Marx mini license plate.

Thanks. John Carter goes on the list for a re-visit. Thinking about past books I've enjoyed, portal-worlds is a theme that repeats. Good ones are just scarce, surprisingly. One that came to mind was Lumley's Necroscope trilogy. The third volume had some portal to a vampire realm that was interesting and weird enough it has stayed with me. I guess the portal doesn't matter, star-gate, magic mirror, deep coma, elven sinkhole, whatever. It's the alien world-exploring I seem to enjoy.

Anyone know of good "between worlds" type novels, where a character from the real world goes into a fantasy world? I'd like to read some world-exploring fiction, but most seem juvenile or old. Oz, Alice, Narnia or Thomas Covenant's coma, just not much appeal. Can anyone recommend something modern, fresh and adult?

Thank you for recommending The Infection. (thumbs u I'm right at the center point, mid-book. If the 1st half was strange and stressful, the author just cranked it up about 10 more notches. Sweet. The last book I finished was The Anubis Gates (maybe recommended for this thread). While I really enjoyed it, I think it's almost beyond description. Kind of a time travel, steam punk, body swapping, sorcery wielding, monster mash-up. With historical poets. Sort of. Best thread on the board! Thanks again for all the recommendations.

I blew through Patrick Lee's The Breach in one day, and now half-way though Ghost Country. Thanks to whoever recommended them earlier in this thread. (thumbs u

A certified gift certificate from a certification company? Unavailable. You could buy a NGC certificate that comes with some money and spend that on comics.

Now that's a sketch Junk. Literally. What are the odds Bill was just dickin' with someone?

Here's an Excel spreadsheet of Ewert books: http://home.mchsi.com/~bpmdu/ewert.xls How long? Two thousand eight hundred and seventy entries.

I had a cat that brought in feas. I tried everything, but it was more 'manage' than the 'nuke once and forever' riddance I wanted. Until... Off the shelf, cheap-o "Raid" in a purple can. It's not a fog. You turn it upside down and sorta swing your arm while lightly misting the carpet (with emphasis on baseboard areas). Do a room, walk out and let it dry a short time. I didn't bother with closets. Never saw another flea. Not a single one. "Raid" was some truly serious . (thumbs u I know it doesn't answer you question about fogging, other than you may not have to.

SWEET MOTHER OF PEARL!!!! I'm off to Ikea and Toys R Us A heads-up... The Ikea website has the Detolf "foil finish" glass cabinets listed as a one-day only, Dec. 29th, special of $19.99 (regular $59, limit one per customer). Ikea Sales

This thread seems an echo of the CGC inconsistent lately? thread from a couple of months ago. Except for all the warm welcoming and voices from seasoned highly respected hobby professionals, it's a similar rant.

This psychotic Joker illustration is pretty good. What's it the cover to?

Ciegrimite Hercules 4 I thought this was going to be some Teenage Mutant Ninja Snail. Seriously.

And a souvenir shop... with T-shirts?

I can understand, up to a point. Institutional conservators probably deal mainly with grant money (guessing), while private practitioners are in the service industry. Still, too much secrecy, one could argue, leads to amature experimentation for education's sake (like this thread) and general confusion and misinformation about the topic. Great question! I think (just guessing) that curls and light NCB creases are probably two different animals. The creases (like Ze was wondering about) may still have a "weakened fibers" area, even though re-flattened. That may cause the area to "crease" again if the paper is flexed while handeling. Curls may be (still guessing) susceptible to that "dryness" mentioned. If the overly dry conditions reappear the fibers may "contract" (curl) again. These are the type things comic resto pros could discuss in detail without giving away the farm. Just because people can read information about dropping a transmission doesn't mean they're going to slide under the car and start loosening bolts. Some might, but most people have a respect for their own limitations and the expertise of skilled professionals.

Nah, I just think it's bizarre the striking difference between artifact conservators and the comic book world. One is required to document and present procedures like any other academic discipline, then with comic pros everything is a "trade secret". Why? (I have a sneaking suspicion it's because on does what's best for the artifacts, and the other does what's best for wallets.) I thought this was interesting, and sort of speaks to Ze's questions about flattened creases (before his post disappeared). http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind9704e&L=museum-l&T=0&P=3625 "*very important point here. The conservators here at the Ransom Center have always made this point about paper--it tends to have a memory. One wonders quite seriously whether folded and curled documents or photographs might not be apt to curling back up later on even after they're relaxed--paper has a memory, and dry conditions can cause tightness in many media." The "Ransom Center" refers to the Harry Ransom Center... "one of the premier research libraries in the world." It houses one of the original Gutenberg Bibles and the The First Photograph, 1826 http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/

What happened to Ze's post/pictures? In the meantime here's a conservator's "portfolio of work" web site. http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~awilker/papertreatments.htm Under "Paper Treatments" you can view both a "Treatment Report" and before and after "Photo Documentation" of various projects. Shows techniques like flattening, fills, inpainting, humidification and dry clean in a lab setting. "During treatment: Dry cleaning" (3. Dry cleaned both sides of the document with medium grain Staedtler Mars Plastic Eraser crumbs and a soot sponge, avoiding the orange seal (45 min) Good stuff for getting a sense of how conservation and restoration is applied, and part of the broader UT "Kilgarlin Center for Preservation" student portfolio site. http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/kilgarlin/portfolios.php

What a great thread! I keep holding on to this one, even though someone wrote on the cover.