Michael D Hamersky On Comics Presents Vinnie's Take On...    Mount Palomar Observatory

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3836 -    This morning we have another guest blog from my youngest son, Vinnie:

This previous February was half-priced museum month and although we got to catch a few museums, including the USS Midway (blog #3801), we didn't get to see the Hale telescope. However, yesterday, my dad, stepmother Tina, and I went to see it. Located on Palomar Mountain, the 200 inch telescope is quite a spectacle.

We had the chance to go on a tour, which they host at 11:00 AM and 1:30 PM on Saturdays and Sundays. The tour takes you inside the dome, into a place you don't get to see normally, unless on a tour. They have docents to show you around, provide information about the history of the telescope, and answer any questions you might have. The tour was very informative, even explaining how and why they made the mirror in the telescope with a honeycomb pattern, which was to reduce the weight of the glass.

Along with the tour, there is a museum dedicated to George Ellery Hale, the founder of all five telescopes on Palomar Mountain. There is the 200, 60, 48, and 24 inch telescopes which are all still used today, and an 18 inch telescope that was retired. For more information, please visit the Wikipedia page here for more info.

On the way up, we had a stop at a little group of shops; a general store, restaurant, and post office. The general store had a variety of items, my favorite being the music boxes, and the "do it yourself" music box kit. The restaurant, Mother's Kitchen, was a friendly place, but unfortunately, I don't have much to say about it because we had to leave nearly after entering so we could catch our tour. However, if you would like, you can visit their website at this link.

As for the pictures featured at the top of this blog post, the top left is a picture of the whole 12-story telescope dome, and I'm standing in front of it. The top right photo shows the telescope in the "parking position" as the docents called it, which is completely vertical. This helps to minimize pressure on the mirror inside the telescope, so it doesn't strain or crack. In the bottom right picture, you can see a docent explaining to our group how the telescope was used when it first started, and how it's used nowadays, which has changed vastly due to improved technologies. No longer do we need an astronomer sitting at the top of the telescope, as we can have a camera send the video straight to a viewing room. Also, just behind him is a window looking into a room. That room is the farthest you can go to see the telescope if you don't go on the tour. We took more photographs than shown here, and you can see them all at this special photo album at my dad's Facebook fan page.

The whole experience was very fun and informative. I've learned so much, not only about the telescope, but about the planets and other space features, which we able to see in the museum. I'd give the whole thing a comic book grade of Near Mint (NM), a 9.4 out of 10.0 grade scale. It was all thoroughly enjoyable, and a wonderful learning experience. If you live in the area, I would definitely recommend checking it out.   If you are visiting San Diego, be sure to add this one day excursion to your 'to do' list.  You can visit their website for more information, or for scheduling if you do choose to visit at this link.

~ Vinnie

NOTE FROM MICHAEL:  My thanks to Vinnie for blogging about yesterday's day trip to Mount Palomar Observatory, located in North San Diego County.

I remember when I was a kid that science, and then science fiction became a hobby for me.  Especially when I found that there were sci-fi comic books!   Reading those introduced me to stories adapted from Ray Bradbury's books, which led me to other sci-fi books!  But it was comic books that continued to be of more interest to me during those elementary and high school years.

Here's a few links to a few sci-fi titles that I enjoyed when I was a kid:

Tales to Astonish, Tales of Suspense, Strange Tales, and Journey into Mystery!

And yes, there's a lot more, but these were the 'Atlas' (Marvel) Comics ones that I enjoyed most!

Oh, and I do have several sci-fi comics listed for sale at my online comic book shop, ComicBooksCircus.com!

 ~ Michael

NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics:  My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,836 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!   Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button!  And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

Note:  My online 'Local' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!  If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com!     

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written per the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up slightly differently, sorry about that!  The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:  Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!

---------------            

      

In Addition, I started a YouTube Channel just before the 2011 Comic-Con International, where I am slowly uploading videos from conventions or other events that we attend that are also pop culture related.  You are invited to 'subscribe' to that channel also!  As found at 'HamerskyOnComics'!

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Michael D Hamersky On Comics Presents His Take On...    Keywords Pie & Analytics      ComicBookCollectorsBlog.com Chart

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3835 -    I received an e-mail overnight from a fellow blogger, who hasn't had much success in getting his blog 'out there' for others to read.  He asked me if I had any suggestions for him that he could use.

My first thought was to tell him not to worry about the numbers of his readership, as those numbers should grow with how active he blogs,  but being an accountant by trade, I too worry about numbers!

So I told him of a few of the tools that I use...

One of those is a 'Keywords Pie & Analytics' chart / program that is hosted online.  It shows the 'keywords' that I use over and over again.  The chart at the top right is the Pie as of this morning.  It is figured using 'keyword weight'.

What is 'keyword weight'?  Keyword weight shows the significance of the keyword mentioned on a page. Of course, there are a lot of factors that affect the keyword weight. Most search engines take into account the percentage of the keyword in the title and tags, and then calculate the percentage of the keyword in the text of the pag.  They also evaluate bold and italic tags, etc. when doing this process.

So as you can see by the chart above, I use several words in this blog over and over.  You can see that I blog about the word 'comic book' 15.7% of the time. Followed by 'comic book shop' 14.8% of the time.

Then the following keywords:

comic books   - 9.3%

collectors        - 9.3%

Comic Con      - 7.4%

Blog Posts      - 7.4%

Blog Post        - 7.4%

...and so forth, with 'Tv Shows' and 'comic con' coming in last at 1.9%.

So you would assume that online readers looking for those 'keywords' would more likely find my blog to read.  However, that info is usually what you have to pay for in a service.  So when you check for blog stats to use, be sure to see what sort of analytics are also provided.

I figured that the above info would make a good blog today, which is the reason why I am posting it here.

Any questions you may have on this topic... Feel free to email me! 

~ Michael

NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics:  My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,835 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!   Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button!  And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

Note:  My online 'Local' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!  If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com!     

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written per the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up slightly differently, sorry about that!  The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:  Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!

---------------            

      

In Addition, I started a YouTube Channel just before the 2011 Comic-Con International, where I am slowly uploading videos from conventions or other events that we attend that are also pop culture related.  You are invited to 'subscribe' to that channel also!  As found at 'HamerskyOnComics'!

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Michael D Hamersky On Comics Presents His Take On...    Robyn Hood Volume One   From Zenescope Entertainment

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3834 -    This TPB (trade paperback) contains issues #1 - 5 of the comic book series titled 'Grimm Fairy Tales Presents Robyn Hood'.

I had already read a couple of the individual comic books, but not the whole limited series.  This TPB started right off catching my attention with a nice cover, as seen at the top right of this blog post!

So before I begin 'My Take' on this TPB, what's this storyline about? 

Here's the pitch:  "In the land of Myst, a tryant rules the city of Bree with an iron fist, leaving its citizens living in fear and terror. But all hope is not lost as a young orphan girl from another world discovers her destiny and becomes the legend she was meant to be. The creators of Grimm Fairy Tales, Wonderland, and Neverland bring you the next great hero in the Grimm Universe!"

Okay, the above might seem just a little bit 'corny'.  But from what I had already so far in the individual issues, it wasn't.

Neither is this collected volume one.  The storyline by Pat Shand is well written!  I actually enjoyed reading the five comic books collected into this TPB.

And yes... I was okay with Robyn Hood being a female instead of a male Robin Hood.  This was a nicely written twist.  The bouncing between dimensions is a little strange, but I got over that quickly.  There is a bit more violence in the fifth chapter (issue).  Some persons reading this may not like it as much due to the volence.

The artwork wasn't entirely over the top.  Yes there was some additional violent scenes, but this is not a kid's publication to read. The artwork flowed with the storyline, and both worked well together.  And yes, there is some sexy outfits in this series... But this is a Zenescope Entertainment comic book, which does feature sexy outfits for the most part.

The coloring was done by different people, but it too worked fine with the artwork and the storyline.

The only thing that I didn't like about this Volume One, is that there will be a Volume Two, as the last page of the 5th issue says 'End', but the storyline shows that this story will be continued...

Oh, and there is a special section at the end of the TPB, which features the variant covers that Zenescope used when publishing the five issues.  I'm not a fan of variant covers for the most part, but for this review blog, I'm only reviewing the TPB.

Other than that, I've got to give this TPB a Near Mint Minus (NM-) 9.2 out of a possible 10.0 comic book grading scale.  The storyline and art was a 'total package' in reading for me. 

Here is the Facebook Fan Page for Zenescope Entertainment. That way you can check out what else this company has in store for future publications.

If your Local Comic Book Shop doesn't have this TBP in stock, feel free to check out this online source to purchase from:  Grimm Fairy Tales: Robyn Hood (Grimm Fairy Tales Presents)!

That's it for 'My Take' on this TPB! 

~ Michael

NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics:  My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,834 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!   Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button!  And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

Note:  My online 'Local' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!  If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com!     

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written per the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up slightly differently, sorry about that!  The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:  Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!

---------------            

      

In Addition, I started a YouTube Channel just before the 2011 Comic-Con International, where I am slowly uploading videos from conventions or other events that we attend that are also pop culture related.  You are invited to 'subscribe' to that channel also!  As found at 'HamerskyOnComics'!

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Michael D Hamersky On Comics Presents My Take On...    Dallas   Season Two & the Season Two Finale

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3833 -    This morning I had another blog all ready to go for posting...

But after last night's Season Finale for Dallas, the new TV Show, I just woke up and had to blog about that Finale and my thoughts on the 2nd Season.  And No... I wasn't dreaming!  (See top left photo for that!)

Why a blog on this TV show?

Well... I'm a fan of the Original Dallas TV Show.  Yes, that one that ran from April 2, 1978 – May 3, 1991 for fourteen seasons!  See photo of that cast at the top right bottom photo.

And No... There wasn't a Dallas Comic Book... But there was a Dallas Newspaper Comic Strip, which ran from February 1st of 1981 to November 24th of 1984!

Anyways... Last night was the Season 2 Finale as I was saying...

TNT ran the last two episodes of the season back to back. (See top right photo for the 2013 cast.)  The second episode basically ended the season 3/4 of the way through the episode.  Which, in my mind, would have been a great place to end the season. 

But no... The producers of the show had to run an extra 15 minutes!

Which kind of ruined the good feeling that the first 45 minutes of the episode ended with.

So yes, there should be a 3rd season.  Unless the poor ratings in some international countries affects that decision making.

I personally have watched this new series since it began airing in 2012.   I found it kind of hard going at first, with the newer cast being unfamilar with me.   It took a while for me to warm up to the new cast, but J.R., Bobby, and Sue Ellen were there to keep me watching.   At least until episode seven of this 2nd season, when J.R. died.

Here's my thoughts on some of the cast.  There are too many to comment on in total:

Josh Henderson as John Ross Ewing III - I can't make up my mind on this role.  John Ross grew on me as the episodes aired, but in the last 15 minutes of the season finale... Well, the role doesn't play well for me.

Jesse Metcalfe as Christopher Ewing - Same with this role.  I know that Christopher is the biological son of Sue Ellen's sister, Kristen Shepherd, but somehow, this player doesn't resound with me.  I like the actor, but the role doesn't seem to fit totally.

Jordana Brewster as Elena Ramos - I couldn't get into this role either this season...

Julie Gonzalo as Pamela Rebecca Barnes -  This role blossomed this year!  Good acting and the role was well written!

Brenda Strong as Ann Ewing -  I'm torn on this role.  At times she is well written, other times not as well.

Emma Bell as Emma Brown - You got to be kidding!  This character has totally gone off wrong this season!

Patrick Duffy as Bobby Ewing -  Well written character this season.  Especially with J.R. dying, someone had to step up to finish the season.  Good job!

Linda Gray as Sue Ellen Ewing -  I enjoyed seeing this character back, even stronger in Season 2.

Larry Hagman as J.R. Ewing -  Well played role by Larry Hagman.  A shame his early death caused the season to change in direction.  But his presence in the remainder of the season was definitely felt!

Well, that's pretty much it for me on this blog... I enjoyed watching the 2nd season of Dallas, and would be receptive to view a 3rd season.   One thing I noticed though... There seems to be a lot more action in this newer version of Dallas over the original version.  With less episodes in a season than in the original version, the new Dallas has to squeeze a lot more in!

If you weren't watching Dallas this year, and were a fan of the orignal series, I'd suggest you catch this serries online, or on DVD to get caught up!

~ Michael

NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics:  My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,833 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!   Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button!  And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

Note:  My online 'Local' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!  If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com!     

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written per the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up slightly differently, sorry about that!  The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:  Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!

---------------            

      

In Addition, I started a YouTube Channel just before the 2011 Comic-Con International, where I am slowly uploading videos from conventions or other events that we attend that are also pop culture related.  You are invited to 'subscribe' to that channel also!  As found at 'HamerskyOnComics'!

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Michael D Hamersky On Comics Presents His Take On The One Woman Fantasy Art Show By...    Barbara Marker, Artist On Saturday, April 13th At The Tierrasanta Public Library in San Diego, California!

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3832 -   I've mentioned at my Facebook Fan Page that I would be attending the One Woman Fantasy Art Show by Barbara Marker Artist on Saturday, April 13th.

Here are just a few pictures from this event.  The event page was at Barbara's Facebook Fan Page.

I'm posting several of the other pics at my special photo album at Facebook.

At the top left of this blog post is Barbara, standing in front of several of the comic books that she colored for Eclipse, Pacific, & Blackthorne Comics, when she worked in the comics industry.

At the top right are just a couple of pics of Barbara with several of the attendees that came during this two hour event.

I've already posted the link to Barbara's Facebook Fan Page.  If you'd like to have her at your convention, or commission her to illustrate for you, feel free to contact her.

I found that her four latest pieces she has drawn to be very well done.  There were approximately two dozen illustrations shown at this event.  I'm kind of partial to her fantasy artwork, although she does illustrate animals, super-heroes, and other genres.  Barbara was in Artists Alley at the recent 2013 WonderCon in Anaheim, California.

My thanks to Barbara Marker for such a nice reception.  In case you missed it, and are or will be in the Greater San Diego Area between now and May 30th, be sure to check the event page so you can check the address / location and drive to go see her artwork up close!

~ Michael 

NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics:  My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,832 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!   Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button!  And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

Note:  My online 'Local' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!  If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com!     

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written per the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up slightly differently, sorry about that!  The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:  Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!

---------------            

      

In Addition, I started a YouTube Channel just before the 2011 Comic-Con International, where I am slowly uploading videos from conventions or other events that we attend that are also pop culture related.  You are invited to 'subscribe' to that channel also!  As found at 'HamerskyOnComics'!

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