Fade In Int. Allyn’s Bedroom. Night Allyn is laying in bed, his head resting on a stack of pillows, hands not just behind his head but beneath one of the pillows as well. The lights are out, though his bedroom is partially illuminated by a street lamp somewhere beyond the window. His eyes are closed. … Continue reading Fade In… Gutenberg Blocks and Styles
Author: Allyn Gibson
A writer, editor, journalist, sometimes coder, occasional historian, and all-around scholar, Allyn Gibson is the writer for Diamond Comic Distributors' monthly PREVIEWS catalog, used by comic book shops and throughout the comics industry, and the editor for its monthly order forms. In his over ten years in the industry, Allyn has interviewed comics creators and pop culture celebrities, covered conventions, analyzed industry revenue trends, and written copy for comics, toys, and other pop culture merchandise. Allyn is also known for his short fiction (including the Star Trek story "Make-Believe,"the Doctor Who short story "The Spindle of Necessity," and the ReDeus story "The Ginger Kid"). Allyn has been blogging regularly with WordPress since 2004.
At Midsummer’s Eve, a visitor to my apartment complex arrived, an orange tabby cat the neighborhood kids dubbed Tiger. He was waiting for me when I arrived home from work tonight, laying down against my front porch step. He saw me coming up the walk, stood, met me halfway, then followed me back to the … Continue reading A Feline Visitor
Yesterday morning I decided I wanted to go to a baseball game. I’d not been to one in three weeks, work had been overwhelming, and my soul was missing green fields, blue skies, the crack of the bat, the smell of grilling meats. But Harrisburg (first choice) was out of town, York (second choice) was … Continue reading Baseball Night in Aberdeen
Driving home, north on 74, the moon was over my shoulder. It was eerie through the light clouds, and just to the east, shining brightly, was Jupiter. Astronomical pictures from a smartphone often fail. More luck than skill that anything turned out at all.
If the first book in Alessandro Gatti’s Sherlock, Lupin & Me series, The Dark Lady was the secret origin (ie., how they met) of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Irene Adler, and Arsène Lupin as teenagers, the next two (The Soprano’s Last Song and The Mystery of the Scarlet Rose) are in the main Sherlock … Continue reading The Cathedral of Fear
While looking through the Library of Congress’ website yesterday, I found this vintage 1852 image of Washington, DC, done by the same company that did the map of Baltimore of 1868. “Oh, wow,” I said. “This is cool. There’s the Smithsonian Castle, designed by James Renwick. There’s Trinity Episcopal, also designed by Renwick. There’s the … Continue reading The Washington That Never Was
Yesterday afternoon, Howard Weinstein shared an interesting find on Facebook, E. Sachse, & Co.’s 1868 map of Baltimore City. Weinstein is writing an historical novel set in Baltimore about a decade later, and he said it would be helpful in his research, and perhaps to others as well. I had ancestors in Baltimore in 1868 … Continue reading Exploring an Old Baltimore Map
A couple of weeks ago Facebook showed me an ad. Usually I ignore ads on Facebook, but this one caught my attention. A Snoopy t-shirt commemorating the Apollo 11 landing! Fifty years ago come Saturday! The shirt is, naturally, unlicensed and unofficial. The Charles Schulz estate is receiving nothing from this shirt. And Snoopy, frankly, … Continue reading Boldly Going Where No Beagle Has Gone Before
Saturday morning, while browsing Facebook, I found an interested an unexpected article — Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables is being translated into Scots Gaelic. The Canadian dialect of Gaelic was spoken on Prince Edward Island, though in declining numbers, at the time Montgomery’s novels were set, and I did not know that Montgomery … Continue reading Anne of Green Gables, in Gaelic
Last week, I bought Funko POP! figure — Teddy, one of the Washington Nationals’ racing presidents. This was only the second Funko POP! figure I’ve ever bought. The first time I would have written about these stylized figures would have been in August 2010, specifically for figures of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and The Joker, … Continue reading Funko’s Teddy Roosevelt POP! Figure
Tuesday night after work I went to a college baseball game. The Baltimore Redbirds, the team in the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League, I followed for the last three seasons folded after last season, but the same field the Redbirds used, Carlo Crispino Stadium at Calvert Hall High School in Towson, is used for teams … Continue reading A Nice Evening for Baseball
Last night after work I stopped by the nearby Target. I needed a new pair of shoes — the soles to the pair I bought when Payless went into liquidation had already worn through to the insole — and Target was convenient. Fortunately, I found a pair I liked. I also found some camping-themed story … Continue reading As Seen in Target