Walt Disney World Honeymoon: Quick Hits

by on November 5, 2013 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Blog, Humor

[dc]A[/dc]s yesterday’s comic post told ya, Stephanie and I returned from our Walt Disney World honeymoon. Yes, we escaped the harsh autumn of Michigan for the harsh sunny and 80 degree weather of central Florida, for ten days.

little mermaid

“Be our guest! …Wait, wrong movie.” Photo by me.

Ten days is a long time to spend anywhere, even more so at Disney World. I don’t mean that in a bad way either. I shot plenty of photos of the Disney parks (Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios), and our adventures took us beyond The Big Four as well (we also visited Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach).

I plan on several posts breaking down most of our Disney World adventures and to show off some photos (because everyone loves photos of Disney World trashcans, RIGHT? You think I’m joking. I’M NOT).

Since I’m still recovering from the trip, and because everyone loves lists, here’s some quick details about our magical honeymoon at Disney World.

  • We stayed at the Saratoga Springs Resort. Which I kept calling, much to Stephanie’s amusement, Sarasota Springs. I got it right by our last day.
  • We made use of our MagicBands and the new Disney World mobile phone app. More on this later, but they were very handy.
  • New Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom looks great (the Little Mermaid photo is from one of the new attractions).
  • We went on the Keys to the Kingdom Tour at the Magic Kingdom. Worth every penny if you are interested in behind the scenes aspects of the park.
  • We went on the Wild Africa Trek at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. A three-hour tour!

Continue Reading

└ Tags: , , , , , , , ,

All Aboard the Fellowship of the Ring [Photo]

by on October 23, 2013 at 7:11 am
Posted In: Blog, News

[dc]I[/dc] finished reading the latest Game of Thrones book, A Dance With Dragons, and decided to go back to the classics for my next read.

fellowship of the ring

Hobbits! Photo by me.

Yes, J. R. R. Tolkien’s Fellowship of the Ring, aka Lord of the Rings Part One aka That Book With the Dudes With The Hairy Feet.  I’m sure this will be even more fun after reading all five Game of Thrones books: “Where’s all the swearing? And how come nobody is getttin’ busy?”

While I read all the Game of Thrones books on my Kindle, I decided to go the “old school” route for Lord of the Rings. I used to have a one volume edition of Lord of the Rings trilogy, but it wasn’t fun to read: too big, too heavy, and the size made it intimidating. I searched high and low for small paperback editions like the one you see above–if I can’t read something on my Kindle, I prefer paperbacks (hardcover novels, while pretty, aren’t always comfortable to read).

Also, I wanted physical copies of the novels on hand if I have friends over (ha!) and a Tom Bombadil debate breaks out. YOU NEVER KNOW

I last read Lord of the Rings before the films opened (yes, I carried around my huge tome for a few years)–so, over ten years ago? Yikes. I’m about 50 pages in of Fellowship of the Ring, and so far so good. I’m curious to see what I think of the novels at 32 versus 21-ish when I read the trilogy the first time around.

Hopefully, the books will inspire me to make more Lord of the Rings-themed comics. Lord knows (sorry), I make enough comics about Game of Thrones.

Today’s Amazon Deals and ThinkGeek Deals
Affiliate Plug: Audible – Download Sci-Fi & Fantasy audiobooks to your iPod or mp3 player for only $7.49!

└ Tags: , , , , , , ,

Friday Six: Boss Monster Card Game, Scenes From a Multiverse eBook, Pacific Rim, Making Comics, Indie Game: The Movie, Missing Homestar Runner

by on October 18, 2013 at 7:27 am
Posted In: Blog, Friday Six, News

[dc]T[/dc]oday on the Friday Six: Boss Monster, Pacific Rim on DVD/Blu-Ray, Scenes From a Multiverse ebook, a comic about making comics, Indie Game: The Movie, and I miss Homestar Runner.

[ ] Geek Thing of the Week: Boss Monster: Master of the Dungeon card game.

boss monster

Fireflowers not included. Image via Amazon.

I love Boss Monster. I contributed to Boss Monster’s Kickstarter campaign months ago, and I keep meaning to write a post about the game (as an original backer, I scored some neato extras). As the cover art shows, Boss Monster is video game inspired—specifically by the side-scrolling games of my youth. Each player is a level boss, like in a video game, and they use cards to build a dungeon (or level) in hopes of killing off ‘hero’ characters for points.

Boss Monster is a lot of fun—and once you get the rules down, it can move very fast. Games can be pretty cut throat too, with the tides quickly turning—as I learned last night ::shakes fist::. I nearly won. NEARLY.

[ ] Elbow Rocket! Pacific Rim is available on Blu-Ray and DVD now.

pacific rim blu ray dvd

Note: not a Go-Bot. Image via Amazon.

As you might recall, I really enjoyed the film.

[ ] Speaking of giant robots: I bought the first Scenes From a Multiverse ebook by Jonathan Rosenberg this week (save $2 with this link). The ebook collection is gorgeous, and has over 100 pages of comics.

This book is the first Scenes From A Multiverse collection ever! With more than five full-color comics to treasure and cherish and someday bequeath to your heirs, SFAM Vol. 1 will literally tear you a new one, several inches to the left of the original one. Contains bunnies, giant robots and measurable quantities of spite.

If you like biting satire mixed with sci-fi, give Scenes From a Multiverse a read.

Continue Reading

└ Tags: , , , , , , ,

It’s Fall, So Here’s a Photo of a Dead Leaf

by on October 16, 2013 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Blog, Humor

[dc]Y[/dc]es, Fall, that harbinger of Michigan’s Eight Months of Good Sledding, is here. And there. And everywhere. This means leaves on the ground (although sadly, not pants on the ground—at least not where I shop).

Leaves (not Leafs) like this one (shot with my trusty 50mm 1.8 lens).

leaf photo daniel j hogan

Yes, yes, the contrast here means SOMETHING. Photo by me.

Nothing makes my daily walk more enjoyable than the constant reminder of mortality crunching under my feet. Then there is the stark juxtaposition of frail nature on top of cold, lifeless concrete. In the end, that is all we are: dead leaves on the road, trod upon by those who follow.

Good grief. I am super-ready for my honeymoon next week if you couldn’t tell (I came across the leaf photo while cleaning out my memory cards). If you think I am bad now, just wait until Winter hits ::frowny face emoticon::.

All Morose, All the Time, that’s me in Winter.

(Why ,oh, why couldn’t it be All Melrose, All the Time? Think of all the awesome mullets.)

Today’s Amazon Deals and ThinkGeek Deals
Affiliate Plug: Gallery Wrap Canvas Photo Prints by Snapfish

└ Tags: , , , ,