picture pages

I have a Facebook account that I mostly use to post goofy, context-free pictures of whatever happens to pass my scanner at any given moment, and as FB makes it easy to do so I tend to do it more there than I do here. But I feel bad not giving LJ the love, so here are some pix.



unretouched scene from AIM FOR THE ACE



CANDY CANDY guide for girls, includes beauty tips, crafts, rollerskating safety



those wacky Americans and their wacky fads



day jobs



Goro (from Albegas) likes him some Captain Harlock

lol'ing at holo-man and the holo-squad

This week Mister Kitty takes a two-pronged attack on one of America's most beloved super-hero characters, Holo-Man. What, you never heard of Holo-Man? The superhero with ALL the AMAZING POWERS of HOLOGRAPHY?



Well, he's real, and in his rainbow-colored suit he's making a statement whether he wants to or not. You can check out the Holo-Man comic at STUPID COMICS, and then you can listen along with the action as we play the 45rpm "record" part of this "book and record set" at Found Sound! Warning: record is scratchy as all hell. Some kid must have really enjoyed listening to Holo-Man's amazing adventures.

kevin lillard's blues

The short version is that Kevin has lost his job, he's lost his home, he's living out of his car, and he's out of money. He needs help. You can PayPal him some money if you've got some to spare; if you live in the Indianapolis area and you know of jobs or homes or situations that can help him out, please do so. Find out more:

http://acparadise.livejournal.com/195941.html

https://www.facebook.com/kevin.lillard/posts/10152210075685574

If you were in anime fandom from 1998-2008 you remember A Fan's View, Kevin's anime convention site of cosplay photos and convention coverage. The site was influential in fandom at that time, and is, or was, one of the quirks of the anime scene that something so popular - at a time when the medium was gaining attention and popularity and becoming an industry - that something as popular as Fan's View couldn't make the transition into generating an income or becoming a business or otherwise turning into something that paid Kevin back for all the time he put into it. (see also Ironkat)

I don't know the details of Kevin's situation, though in this economy (didn't he work for a newspaper?) it's not a unique story. I would like for fans, particularly the 20-somethings out there who are having fun going to cons, to remember that they need to make sure their actual job-having, bill-paying life is in order BEFORE they devote any time or energy to costuming or fan-subbing or whatever it is that they do that makes them fans.

When I was a teenager getting into fandom, observing the adults around me at conventions and fan clubs, there was no shortage of adult losers, drifting from security-guard job to telemarketing job, from apartment shared with two other guys to different apartment shared with two other guys, who never had cash for gas or medical checkups or meals more elaborate than pizza or McDonalds, but by God, they never missed a SF convention or the latest issue of STARLOG or X-MEN or FURRLOUGH. And that's a lifestyle you can get away with for a year or two in your 20s. When you get into your 30s and 40s you need to have in some way doped out a lifestyle that includes medical coverage, job skills and employment that goes beyond a string of minimum wage jobs, and something set aside that resembles equity (investments, savings, real estate, whatever). If you don't, then you wind up working the same terrible minimum wage jobs, living in the same shared apartments, surrounded by a big stack of crap you've spent the past 20 years accumulating that all gets thrown in the dumpster when you get evicted.

Take care of yourself, is what I'm saying. Fandom doesn't have a retirement plan.