Polite Dissent

The Polite-wide and I had a nice time in St. Louis with my parents. It was their anniversary, so we took them out to dinner at one of their favorite restaurants, The Blue Water Grill, and had an excellent meal. My mother and wife split this enormous chocolate-sampler dessert, and both reported that they could not eat another bite of chocolate (which is one of the signs of the Apocalypse, I believe). We returned to my folk’s house after dinner and caught the end of the NASCAR Pepsi-Cola 400. It was a surprisingly good race. I’ve never been a fan of the restrictor plate races (Daytona, Talladega), because the tracks seem to favor pure chance over skill. The new aero packages and smaller gas tanks seemed have allowed skill and strategy to return, and the race was exciting to watch (plus Bobby Labonte finished in the top 10, keeping him near the top overall).

Managed to stop into a comic shop near my parents yesterday. I was pleased and disappointed. I was pleased that they were plainly offering the FCBD comics (well, the gold ones) — plus what seemed to be some left over from last year. I was disappointed by their selection of comics overall. They had Marvel, DC, Dark Horse and Image. Not much else. Their idea of an independant was Thundercats. I asked for Demo #7, because I didn’t see it on the shelves. I had to patiently explain what it was and who published it. And no, they didn’t have it, because (and I quote here): “Those artsy books don’t sell.” Well, if you don’t offer them, they won’t sell! Buying comics off the internet doesn’t seem so bad now.

This morning, I got up before the crack of dawn and drove to the St. Louis waterfront to run a 10K (6.2 mile) race. It was the fourth 10K I’ve run in downtown St. Louis, and every one has followed a different route. I was pleased with my effort, and my (nearly) daily runs seem to be paying off. Not once during this race did I my usual “Now why did I think this was a good idea?” thought cross my mind. All participants received a commemorative medal too, which was a nice touch.

We drove back to central Illinois tonight, and have been watching the city foreworks from our porch for the last 45 minutes. I can hear them outside the window and they’re still going on now. Pretty good fireworks for such a small town.

Sunday Blog-o-Bits:

1. Check out the CDC’s infectious disease trading cards. (Brought to my attention by the Steve Jackson Games’s Daily Illuminator, the source for interesting links of all sorts.)
2. There is an excellent new illustrated Solomon Kane book out. It collects all of Robert E. Howard’s Kane stories, plus it contains some material I’ve never seen before, such as an alternate version of Solomon Kane’s Homecoming. If you are a Solomon Kane fan, a Howard fan, or just interested in classic pulp fiction, you need to check this book out.
3. It’s Independence Day. When’s the last time you watched 1776?
   My favorite line from the movie: “I have come to the conclusion that one useless man is called a disgrace; that two are called a law firm, and that three or more become a Congress! “