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dover

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Journal Entries posted by dover

  1. dover

    A moment in time ..... Topography of Terror

    By dover,


    Moments in time...
    Visiting Berlin I came upon the outside portion of the museum called the Topography of Terror. It is a history of the rise of the National Socialist Party in Germany leading up to War World II. And while that history is never easy to learn, or learn again, it is a must to see and read. Being outside brings on to feel the elements on the body while the soul is forced to encounter the deeds. While no claims of the most unjust can ever be made, I found this picture, this moment in time, to be the foundation of terror in deed. It struck me hard and weakened my stance. And I was left frozen, over and over again. The picture and its text tell the story. All I can do is add my words in a small homage, fit of despair, silent scream to the heavens. 
     
    I write the words I cannot speak, I find myself far too weak.
    While I confess the need to scream, tears fill the voice in steady stream.
    How could it be and happened then, came to pass by hands of men.
    Evil grew upon this earth, such fury, violent, it had no worth.
    We let it be a score of years, and now we have a million tears.
    Death became a welcome friend, but many found a quicker end.
    Unperfect in the demon’s eye, brought to end we have not why.
    Just the act of being born, to know not love but only scorn.
    I wish the horror could find the note, but no banshee could wail the wrote.
    I sit in silence to the world outside, humbled, lost and dark inside.
    Find the light of a glory day, never again we all must say.
    I have set aside a place for prayer, remember-you is always there.

  4. dover

    Books I want to own....... drooling on the cover....Peanuts 4

    By dover,


    Books I would like to own
    I am a rather devoted Neal Adams collector, but I have a fondness for Peanuts books as well. My earliest recollection is from when I started to get back into comic books in 1994. I was at a convention in Detroit, the first one I had ever attended. And there, I found a dealer selling a raw copy of this issue. I instantly had to have it and it started my journey back into comic books. I later went on to have it graded and it came back a CGC 9.4. When I sold my first collection, I sold it as well. Sadly, very sadly. Now that I am back into collecting for the umpteenth time, I realize I need to have this book back in my life. While I would love to have my 9.4 back, if I am going to dream and dream big: full on drool then why not go for the 9.6.
    Absolutely the #1 Peanuts cover of all time. 

  5. dover

    Books I want to own....... drooling on the cover....Superboy 160

    By dover,


    Books I would like to own
    This journal is nothing but my own adventure in what books I absolutely want to own. My way of tracking images I find and keeping a record. 
    I found this on Heritage. It is a book I would really like to own someday. I have a nice 9.6 but it does not have a very nice cover wrap. But I can dream about this one. 

  8. dover

    Collecting - thoughts and views - BLED & HOOH treatments

    By dover,


    Collecting thoughts and views
    If you follow any of the FB pressing threads, you will see what is going on now in the hobby and specifically in the CPR field. The new chemical treatments and light exposure "cleaning" books means that sooner or later, I will end up with one of these books. I would like to avoid this, but I am not sure that will be an option. What will it look like in 5 years? Will the paper deteriorate? It just does not seem right. Regardless of whether if CGC can detect or not, how will this chemically cleaned book react over time? 
    It just does not seem like a good thing. 
     
     
     

  9. dover

    Collecting Thoughts and Views - packaging

    By dover,


    Collecting thoughts and views
    I am constantly amazed when a seller packages and ships raw books with the cover(s) facing out towards any protective piece of cardboard or worse to bubble wrap. Most know to use cardboard, larger than the books. Most are learning about taping, using painter's tape or leaving a tab to make pulling easy. Most know it is very helpful to use an external bag and place the comics inside so no tape goes onto the actual bag of the comic. Some think about not taping along the spine. But I cannot understand putting a comic in a bag with a backing board and then packaging on the cover side. If there are (2) or more books, place them cover-to-cover! Set the backing boards to the outside. And even more amazing, getting a group of books and the most expensive one is on top with the cover facing the protective cardboard.  
    Maybe it's just me but the most expensive books would be towards the middle of the stack, cover to cover and work out always ending with the backing board placed to face out towards the packaging. 
    Just a thought
  10. dover
    I found two stores well worth the visit in the area between San Fran and San Jose. Easy to stop and shop on the way to the airport.
    Heroes - 24 E Campbell Ave, Campbell, CA 95008 - Heroes
    Heroes and Champions Comics - 574 E El Camino Real, Sunnyvale, CA 94087 
    I started at the 24 E location and found a large amount of high grade Marvel horror from the 70's as well as Epic Illustrated I needed but most of all, a nice Conan 37 CGC 9.6 WP Adams book. After buying a large stack, they told me about their sister store and I headed there as well. And of course bought some more books. Both stores have a large amount of wall books with, perhaps, Heroes having more pre-70's books in raw and graded. The 574 E store had a larger selection of high grade raw from the late 70's thru 2000's. I was easily able to find books I needed (and books I did not realize I needed).
    Good stuff and great staff.













  11. dover

    Comic Book store - Comics N Stuff in the San Diego area

    By dover,


    Comic Books stores I find
    Comics-N-Stuff
    Multiple stores in San Diego area. My store of choice was located at 1020 El Cajon Blvd. The stores is very large. They have a large selection of modern / Copper books and some decent bronze books as well. I was able to find some Neal Adams stuff so that was great. They also have manga, POP figures and lots of merch in the comic / anime genres.
    1020 El Cajon Blvd.
    El Cajon, CA 92020
    Comics N Stuff locations






  12. dover

    Countries I have seen

    By dover,


    Travel
    Not sure I have ever done this but no time like the present. I have done some traveling, seen a few things and met a few people. I am on my 4th passport and a million+ miles.
    Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, China, India
    Germany, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Poland, Belgium (French and native), Netherlands, Sweden, UK
    Mexico, Belize, Brazil, Bahamas, Canada
    Australia
    I have seen the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort of Agra. I have walked the Forbidden City and smiled at Mt Fuji. I have walked the Tokyo fish market and driven through the Alps in two different crossings without elephants. I have found my way to countless city squares and knelt kindly on their blessings. I have ridden through a cattle drive led by a person that knows their names and I have had tea served by an ancient artisan. I have viewed the symbol of Hitler in its natural setting with no fear attached. I have strolled streets and towns at all hours of the cycle and breathed the air they make. I have eaten at bakeries of every kind and savored their sweets. I have plunged the Blue hole and swam with sharks a plenty. I have been inspected thoroughly by an innocent fish protecting their coral. I have left a perfectly good airplane and landed on my feet and I thrilled at the ground's approach to my reach. I have seen poverty so normal that I could not comprehend, and I have wept upon leaving as I could not see and end. I have found comfort in the distant steeples like an old friend waving in the far and driven at excess to get to the next. I have had coffee from all sorts of people and shared its elixir at all times of day. I've had foods I can know and many more that I don't served with laughter and cheer and many with beer while the water "mit gasse" is my fondest of all. And I have enjoyed it all.
    ...to be continued.
     
     
     
  13. dover
    This is about my daughter, Sarah.
    Sarah was accepted to ECU, Eastern Carolina University. This will be her first acceptance. She was excited but hesitant. In her words as I remember (some added), and they are glorious:
    “I was accepted but overall it seems a bit shady. See, they accepted me but they have a long list of things I need to do in order to be really accepted. I still have to finish school, send in my transcripts, keep my grades up (do not commit a felony) and all the things I am doing now. So, accepted but……am I really accepted?”
    I had to laugh at that, even from a hotel room in Germany, that is classic destruction of the message in the wake of good news. She has a way of interpreting things in a manner that I would tend to run right by; she does not read the basic words as I see them. I am sure, to a teenager, the letter should have read, "hey, come to campus next year." Instead, she hears, "you can come to campus next year if you can complete a series of tasks laid out in front of you that do not include sitting on the couch and doing nothing for long periods of time. Literally, this is Thor, looking at Banner and saying, "is it though?".
     
  15. dover
    November 7, 2021
    Happy Birthday dad.
    For all the good and all the bad that were the most of Us
    The smiles and sads along the path were filled with all the fuss.
    Disney joy and corvette summer, home away from home
    At times I find myself within and feeling all alone. 
    I hope you're well, aloft, on high looking down and me
    At times I glance and squint the sun if only I could see.
    Michael
  16. dover
    Your first job as a parent is to prepare your child to leave. This is typically a 18+ year journey and the results of your efforts are a long time in coming. I recently got a first glimpse into my teaching and preparation after learning about some of my son's college life. 
    His daily routine includes getting up everyday at 7:30 (AM), working out and finishing with a cold shower before getting ready for his 11:00 classes. He only drinks water (for the most part) and looks for healthy food as best he can. Quite a routine to have in a young person at college. He spent half of his first year in virtual learning from the dorm and then at home for the second semester. So this is his first real time at college and he seems to be adapting well. Even has very good grades at the moment and is doing extra work when allowed for given assignments. He seems to be challenging himself. 
    Outside the norm. I like it. I hope where he has come from allows him to make the most of where he is going. I am excited to watch the journey.
     
  20. dover

    Dover's Travels

    By dover,


    Travel
    11/1/2021:
    If you find yourself in Colorado Springs and decide to drive West to a town called Salida you will drive through the Rockies and be presented with spectacular views of wide open spaces. If you then take a Northern route back to Denver you will see more of the Rockies and find yourself in a snow storm at some point above 9500 feet. The drive is hard from the perspective that at least once every mile you feel as if you should stop to take a picture; it's that nice, that beautiful but after about ten stops you realize you will never make it home, but the views are worth it. The round trip was about 7 hours for 2 hours of work. But that was where the customer was so that is where I went.
    I have now driven into the Rockies from two sides: once from Portland and now from the East out of Denver. I have also driven two different passes through the Alps. Not sure which one I liked better but both were extreme visual treats that forced me to take in as much as I could in the time I had. 
    Some interesting signs and such.
    Land for sale: 120,000 acres. 
    St Elmo's store and Ghost town - 15 miles (and 15 miles of winding gravel / dirt roads.
    Falling rocks. I get that. But I also saw "Fallen Rocks"? So they fell and no one wanted to pick them up so they changed the sign instead. 
    "Purposeful fire ahead - DO NOT REPORT"
    Lots of American flags planted along the road. 






















  21. dover

    In My Tribe - a tribute to a snippet in time

    By dover,


    Moments in time...
    In My Tribe
    I joined a band 10,000 strong devoted to the mirth and song
    I danced and laughed and cried along acting right and acting wrong
    Memories burned and seared branded by emotional tear
    I wondered what’s the Matter often, standing in the rain like Weather
    While I sat, no Talking from the Trees, Joshua Painted the Desert forever
    Jack spoke of Peace from a glory-Train protected by the Gun Shy
    Laying stories by the Campfire, songs to leave us high.
    And in the end the opera sang and Verdi cried a Rose
    A City cast of Angels full of song and prose.
    In My Tribe of Merchants I belong
     
  22. dover

    Moments in Time.... from a room in Thailand with Florence

    By dover,


    Moments in time...
    April 2024: Sitting in a hotel room, somewhere near Pluak Daeng, Thailand. Finding this song, a live recording from Oxegen Festival 2010. 
    An amazing performance. 
    "And I never wanted anything from you
    Except everything you had
    And what was left after that too, oh"
     
    Florence + The Machine - Dog Days Are Over (Lyrics)
    Happiness hit her like a train on a track
    Coming towards her, stuck still no turning back
    She hid around corners, and she hid under beds
    She killed it with kisses, and from it she fled
    With every bubble she sank with a drink
    And washed it away down the kitchen sink
    The dog days are over
    The dog days are done
    The horses are coming
    So you better run
    Run fast for your mother, run fast for your father
    Run for your children, for your sisters and brothers
    Leave all your love and your longing behind
    You can't carry it with you if you want to survive
    The dog days are over
    The dog days are done
    Can you hear the horses?
    'Cause here they come
    And I never wanted anything from you
    Except everything you had
    And what was left after that too, oh
    Happiness hit her like a bullet in the back
    Struck from a great height
    By someone who should have known better than that
    The dog days are over
    The dog days are done
    Can you hear the horses?
    'Cause here they come
    Run fast for your mother, run fast for your father
    Run for your children, for your sisters and brothers
    Leave all your love and your longing behind
    You can't carry it with you if you want to survive
    The dog days are over
    The dog days are done
    Can you hear the horses?
    'Cause here they come
    The dog days are over
    The dog days are done
    Can you hear the horses?
    'Cause here they come
    The dog days are over
    The dog days are gone
    Can you hear the horses?
    'Cause here they come
  23. dover

    Moments in time..... loss

    By dover,


    Moments in time...
    When you lose someone, it is amazing where you find them. 
    The emotions form in the moment and have no guided reason.
    They can be subtle, or they can knock you to the ground.
    But each and every time is a gift of heart-treasure.
  25. dover

    Neal Adams - Archie work

    By dover,


    Neal Adams
    I was sorting through and indexing all of my magazines and I came across the Neal Adams index from 1974. Wow, what fun. But the index does include the Archie work. It is not very defined, but titles are there. Maybe we can all find them together.