Ayn Rand Valentines

Great Freemasons: Grant DeVolson Wood (February 13, 1891 – February 12, 1942)

(Self-portrait, 1932)

All the good ideas I ever had came to me while I was milking a cow.
Grant Wood

Grant DeVolson Wood (February 13, 1891 – February 12, 1942) was an American painter born four miles (6 km) east of Anamosa, Iowa. He is best known for his paintings depicting the rural American Midwest, particularly the painting American Gothic, an iconic image of the 20th century.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grant_Wood

(Grant Wood, American Gothic (1930), Art Institute of Chicago)

(Mount Hermon Lodge 363, IA)

Happy Lincoln's Birthday!

Yes...My Master...

BUT WHO WILL BUILD THE ROADS?

Ayn Rand (February 2, 1905 – March 6, 1982)

Theirs is the banner in my hand. And I wish I had the power to tell them that the despair of their hearts was not to be final, and their night was not without hope. For the battle they lost can never be lost. For that which they died to save can never perish. Through all the darkness, through all the shame of which men are capable, the spirit of man will remain alive on this earth. It may sleep, but it will awaken. It may wear chains, but it will break through. And man will go on. Man, not men.
Equality 7-2521 (as Prometheus), Ayn Rand, "Anthem" pgs 103-104”


(Art by Jorge Molina)

Ayn Rand (February 2, 1905 – March 6, 1982)

Have you ever looked for the root of production? Take a look at an electric generator and dare tell yourself that it was created by the muscular effort of unthinking brutes. Try to grow a seed of wheat without the knowledge left to you by men who had to discover it for the first time. Try to obtain your food by means of nothing but physical motions--and you'll learn that man's mind is the root of all the goods produced and of all the wealth that has ever existed on earth.
Francisco D'Anconia, "Atlas Shrugged," Ayn Rand


(Art by Francis Manapul; Colors by deffectx)

Penn Jillette on Democracy

Kurt Russell quote

Problem: Economy

Great Freemasons: Charles Williams Nash (January 28, 1864 — June 6, 1948)

Years of experience have taught me that there are three highly important factors entering into the success of any large manufacturing organization, and these factors are machinery, methods, and men. And the last is, perhaps, the most important of all.
Charles Williams Nash (January 28, 1864 — June 6, 1948)

Charles Williams Nash was a United States automobile entrepreneur and served as an executive in the automotive industry.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Williams_Nash

(Flint Lodge 23, Flint, Michigan)

Han Solo - Libertarian

Great Freemasons: Samuel Gompers (January 27, 1850 – December 13, 1924)

What does labor want? We want more schoolhouses and less jails; more books and less arsenals; more learning and less vice; more leisure and less greed; more justice and less revenge; in fact, more of the opportunities to cultivate our better natures.
Samuel Gompers (January 27, 1850 – December 13, 1924)

Samuel Gompers was an English-born American cigar maker who became a Georgist labor union leader and a key figure in American labor history. Gompers founded the American Federation of Labor (AFL), and served as the organization's president from 1886 to 1894 and from 1895 until his death in 1924. He promoted harmony among the different craft unions that comprised the AFL, trying to minimize jurisdictional battles. He promoted thorough organization and collective bargaining to secure shorter hours and higher wages, the first essential steps, he believed, to emancipating labor. He also encouraged the AFL to take political action to "elect their friends" and "defeat their enemies". During World War I, Gompers and the AFL openly supported the war effort, attempting to avoid strikes and boost morale while raising wage rates and expanding membership.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Gompers

(Dawson Lodge 16, Washington, DC)

If You've Been Called....

Keith Ward - Why There Almost Certainly Is A God

What If I Told You

Anarcho-Keynesianism

Computer Models Predict Climate Change!

If You Don't Like the Economy Controlled by the 1%...

Austrian Economics is Crazy

Game of Thrones 2016

"Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose..."

Connecticut ComiCONN 2014 - Part III: Art and Celebrities!

Here is just a quick collection of some of the celebrities we saw, as well as a few of the great artists we saw and some of the art we picked up, and an extra random photo or two.

(The central area was packed with vendors, artists, vehicles, cosplayers, and celebrities.)

(Nicholas Brendan and the author.)

(Maximiliano Hernandez from Captain America: Winter Soldier.)

(Art by Modhero.)

(Art and book by Casey Caracciolo.)

 (A few signed prints by the great Neal Adams - the Green Lantern/Green Arrow on the right is also signed by Denny O'Neil, who wrote that issue.)

 

(Signed print by Bob Layton, the quintessential Iron Man artist.)

(Some of the great Billy Tucci's work (Creator of "Shi"). I've been wanting to pick up this Cap print for a couple of years now. And of course, since it was such a deal, we threw in the Bat and the Cat.)

(That's Keith Giffen, Colleen Doran, and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez.)

(Art by Frank McLaughlin.)

(Frank McLaughlin.)

(Franco, artist of Tiny Titans, among others.)

(Jerry Ordway with a great Captain America he drew for us)

(Art by Jerry Ordway)

(Art by Ordway)

(Jerry Ordway)

(Frank McLaughlin and Jerry Ordway)

(William Katt, The Greatest American Hero, as well as my wife, and me)

(Ready to head out in my new truck. Ever since Cap shut down SHIELD, the stuff has been really cheap.)

(All Photos by Fashion and Action)

Connecticut ComiCONN 2014 - Part II: Panels!

    
     One of my favorite parts of any comic book convention is always the Panels. Here, we often get to see the top writers/artists/editors in their respective crafts share real experiences, ideas, and sometimes, new stuff in the Nerd Kingdom.

     I believe this is the first year that Connecticut ComiCONN had any panels, but these were some of the best panels I have been to in my many years of comic con panel-hopping.

     The first panel we attended was the Charlton Comics Panel (yes I am a geek about geekdom, and love the old stories about this "great" business). Charlton was a comic book company that was based right here in Connecticut, over in Derby.

      The panel consisted of Paul Kupperberg, who is the guy doing all those wild and amazing things you've been hearing about over at Archie Comics; illustration GOD Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez; Frank McLaughlin, creator of Judo Master; the great Iron Man artist among other things, Bob Layton; and my hero, comic book writer, editor, and general sequential art sifu Dennis O'Neil.

      Silver Age comic book history as told by the men who were there. Tales of cheap editors, dirty deals, and a bunch of guys completely without adult supervision, free to create and develop great characters that are still around to this day. One of those characters happens to be one of my favorite characters of all time, the Question, created by the great Steve Ditko and revisited by Denny in the 80s.

(From left to right: Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Frank McLaughlin, Paul Kupperberg, Dennis O'Neil, and Bob Layton)

I finally got to attend one of Arlen Schumer's Panels -- This one was calleed"Art and Comic Book Art," and yes, this man is one heck of a public speaker and he knows art and comic books like nobody else. He entertained and he enthralled as he shared his knowledge and ideas about the various connections between fine are at the greatest comic book art -- and there are many. When the revised edition of his book, the Silver Age of Comic Book Art, comes out, I'll be raving about it.

http://www.arlenschumer.com/

Moments before Arlen Schumer testified about art and comics. None walked away unchanged.

Then, I got to see Dennis O'Neil and Danny Fingeroth deliver a "writing for comics" panel -- not a lot of new territory, but listening to masters speak is always a thrill. Many years ago, I took just such a class from Denny at the School of Visual Arts in NYC. Danny was the editor of the entire Spider-Man group back in the 80s, which for Spidey fans was an "amazing" time for the character. The term "Amazing Eighties" was not my coinage. It's out there.

      (Denny O'Neil and Danny Fingeroth)           

     Denny O'Neill and I have history. The man, together with Neal Adams, changed my life and outlook on everything at the ripe old age of eight years old when I read the "Green Lantern/Green Arrow" series. It was at that moment I became an anarchist, and that made all the difference. Mix that with Captain America and you get a PATRIOTIC anarchist, so there.
      Anyway I grew up and years later took a class with this maker of heroes, where he got to know me as that pain in the ass who never shut up (ask Mark Mazz over at Atlas Unleashed). Now, years later, it was great seeing him again.
      Of course, most of my writing involves little more than arguing with people on the internet about the nature and function of government in a free society, but hey, the structure of a good argument isn't that different from the structure of a good story, and I learned that from a true master of the art.

Denny and me. Can I be your sidekick?

Next: Art and Celebrities!