Thanksgiving weekend - also, political comic books

Had Thanksgiving at The Buttery. It was pretty typical, which is to say wonderful. The food and company were both enjoyable and plentiful. I cooked my "traditional" chili, which, as some of you know, has mutated to the point where it bears little resemblance to what people normally think of as chili. On its own terms, however, I think it's quite good, and Marion really likes it. She kept the leftovers :-)

I am thinking of trying a new chili recipe for New Year's, however, that I got from russkay. It is more recognizable as chili, though still somewhat eccentric. One of its excellent qualities is that it is *very* filling. Eat a small bowl, and you feel like you've had a full meal. This is quite in contrast to my own chili, which is rather *under*-filling. On the other hand, while "filling" is an excellent quality for food at most parties, for our national Holiday of Gluttony, not so much.

Went over to the Buttery again the next day, for leftovers and gaming. I only stayed for a bit, but I did play a round of Quiddler with Marion and Beth. It's a good card-based word game, and fairly short. As expected, Marion won :) The score ranking stayed the same through the entire game, which I thought well demonstrated that the element of chance was dominated by skill. kestrell wants to get a set and braille the cards, so she can play.

On Saturday, met my folks for lunch. An enjoyable visit, but not much to report. Kes and I had meant to go see The Incredibles after, but a scheduling error on my part led to us punting. One of these days...

Spent this morning doing my Christmas shopping, in my bathrobe. I *love* the 21st century!

While meeting the folks, I also picked up about 5 weeks worth of comics from The Outer Limits. Over breakfast this morning, I read the latest issue (#6) of Ex Machina. For those who aren't following it, it's the adventures of New York City's first super-powered mayor. But it's really mostly a political story, with the super-hero thing being a sub-plot. The last three pages of #6 were quite a kicker:

First page of the sequence: Mayor's Assistant A mentions that Assistant B's brother would like the mayor to officate at his wedding. Assistant B demurs, saying he doesn't want to inconvenience the mayor. The mayor says something to the effect of: "Wait, isn't this your brother the *fireman*? After 9/11, I said I'd do anything I could for them and I meant it. I'd be happy to marry him!" Assistant B says, well, yeah, but see, my brother wants to marry his *boyfriend*.

The penultimate page: four silent shots of the mayor thinking it over, the 'camera' moving slowly in towards his face.

Last page: full page shot of the mayor, turning to his assistant with a big smile on his face, like a man ready to face a challenge to Do the Right Thing, and says, "So?"

I'm *really* looking forward to the next issue. And hoping that some reporter hears about this during a slow news day. I suspect that the surrounding publicity would *net* them increased sales, though there'd be some severe regional polarization.

Thanksgiving weekend - also, political comic books

Had Thanksgiving at The Buttery. It was pretty typical, which is to say wonderful. The food and company were both enjoyable and plentiful. I cooked my "traditional" chili, which, as some of you know, has mutated to the point where it bears little resemblance to what people normally think of as chili. On its own terms, however, I think it's quite good, and Marion really likes it. She kept the leftovers :-)

I am thinking of trying a new chili recipe for New Year's, however, that I got from russkay. It is more recognizable as chili, though still somewhat eccentric. One of its excellent qualities is that it is *very* filling. Eat a small bowl, and you feel like you've had a full meal. This is quite in contrast to my own chili, which is rather *under*-filling. On the other hand, while "filling" is an excellent quality for food at most parties, for our national Holiday of Gluttony, not so much.

Went over to the Buttery again the next day, for leftovers and gaming. I only stayed for a bit, but I did play a round of Quiddler with Marion and Beth. It's a good card-based word game, and fairly short. As expected, Marion won :) The score ranking stayed the same through the entire game, which I thought well demonstrated that the element of chance was dominated by skill. kestrell wants to get a set and braille the cards, so she can play.

On Saturday, met my folks for lunch. An enjoyable visit, but not much to report. Kes and I had meant to go see The Incredibles after, but a scheduling error on my part led to us punting. One of these days...

Spent this morning doing my Christmas shopping, in my bathrobe. I *love* the 21st century!

While meeting the folks, I also picked up about 5 weeks worth of comics from The Outer Limits. Over breakfast this morning, I read the latest issue (#6) of Ex Machina. For those who aren't following it, it's the adventures of New York City's first super-powered mayor. But it's really mostly a political story, with the super-hero thing being a sub-plot. The last three pages of #6 were quite a kicker:

First page of the sequence: Mayor's Assistant A mentions that Assistant B's brother would like the mayor to officate at his wedding. Assistant B demurs, saying he doesn't want to inconvenience the mayor. The mayor says something to the effect of: "Wait, isn't this your brother the *fireman*? After 9/11, I said I'd do anything I could for them and I meant it. I'd be happy to marry him!" Assistant B says, well, yeah, but see, my brother wants to marry his *boyfriend*.

The penultimate page: four silent shots of the mayor thinking it over, the 'camera' moving slowly in towards his face.

Last page: full page shot of the mayor, turning to his assistant with a big smile on his face, like a man ready to face a challenge to Do the Right Thing, and says, "So?"

I'm *really* looking forward to the next issue. And hoping that some reporter hears about this during a slow news day. I suspect that the surrounding publicity would *net* them increased sales, though there'd be some severe regional polarization.