Uglydoll to the Stars

For no particular reason, we spend another day looking back on San Diego Comic-Con 2015, where Star Trek-themed Uglydolls went where no plushie has gone before—sold out, if I rightly recall, before the convention ended.

In the Featured Image, Power Ice-Bat rises above a sea of OX. The companion capture presents Ice-Bat as Scotty—and the Red Shirt who defied the odds episode after episode during the three seasons. Red Shirt has become a euphemism for a pulp-media character who is killed soon after his or her introduction. On Star Trek the Original Series, they dressed in a specific color.

Living by Joe WilcoxJan 18, 202410:26 pm

When Comic-Con was Fun

San Diego Comic-Con is still six months away (July 25-28). Late last year, I missed the first chance for a 2024 pass and skipped the second opportunity. My attendance days long ago ended when the convention chose not to renew my press credentials (and when I was still a working journalist). Subsequently, I wasn’t (supposedly) randomly chosen to purchase a pass.

On this fine Thursday evening, for no particular reason, let’s peek at what was SDCC before the culturally woke put to sleep my interests in participating. The Con is gone, or at least as I remember it.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 17, 202410:08 pm

Is the Bird in Hand Better?

Earlier today, Galaxy S24 Ultra launched. Unfortunately, rumors were right. Samsung replaced the 10x optical zoom with 5x; the previous reach remains available, synthetically: artificial intelligence plus 115mm (film equivalent) optical lens and software.

That 230mm (film equivalent) telephoto set apart the two previous Ultras—S22 and S23—from Apple and Google flagships. But the f/4.9 aperture really limited low-light shots at 10x. I hoped for something much better. I am not jumping jacks with excitement over S24 Ultra’s f/3.4 at 5x, particularly when iPhone 15 Pro Max and Pixel 8 Pro are f/2.8.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 16, 20249:32 pm

What the Devil?

Neither Bing nor Google search could identify the symbol in the Featured Image. ChatGPT-powered Microsoft Copilot came up with nothing, too. So much for the intelligence portion of AI.

Continuing the investigation, I stuck with Copilot, wondering if perhaps a crop that included phone number and symbol would identify something. Part of the response: “If you can provide the complete number or more context, I might be able to assist you further”. So I sent the entire photo with text “more context as required”.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 15, 202410:29 pm

In Another Universe…

I like to reminisce and imagine that someone rescued an injured cat, nursed him to health, and kept him—slightly disabled—indoors. If such alternate-universe scenario were true, we wouldn’t know. Kuma wasn’t microchipped, an oversight I have long regretted. He disappeared on this date 12 years ago.

While we lived in the apartment that was Kuma’s home, I looked for him long after city workers found his collar in a nearby canyon, strongly suggesting that a coyote snatched him. When we moved to another part of the neighborhood, in October 2017, I stopped searching and started dreaming of his escape and rescue.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 14, 20249:52 pm

‘Talkin’ ’bout a Revolution’

These posters suddenly are all about my San Diego neighborhood of University Heights. Ah, do these people not know the killing machine that is communism? I did some quick Googling this evening seeking an answer.

Marking a century since the 1917 revolution, Wall Street Journal published, on Nov. 6, 2017: “100 Years of Communism—and 100 Million Dead“. Dek: “The Bolshevik plague that began in Russia was the greatest catastrophe in human history”. Same year, October 28, from Cato Institute: “100 Years of Communism: Death and Deprivation“.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 13, 20249:14 pm

The New Normal

Hillcrest is San Diego’s gay neighborhood—and I don’t mean happy. Judging by the many miserable-looking homeless folks sprawled across sidewalks, gay describes something other than disposition.

Rainbow flags are everywhere. During June, some fire hydrants are similarly repainted. An inclusive church presents each color on its own door. So I shouldn’t have been so surprised, today, to find a new manifestation: Rainbow crosswalk—and more. There are two. In succession. One is the straight color motif, and the other adds the trans flag. Depending on your opinion about this kind of thing, the colored crosswalks are either appropriately, or ironically, placed at Normal Street.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 12, 20249:24 pm

When We Wed

Thirty-five years ago, today, Annie and I joined 1,274 other couples in our blessed marriage ceremony. We drank holy wine, signifying change of lineage; marched in procession for sprinkling of holy water; and acknowledged our wedding vows.

As explained in the three previous installments, between Jan. 9-12, 1989, we were matched by the True Parent, became acquainted, and got to know one another—all in Yongin, Korea.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 11, 20249:35 pm

Where We Posed

The third of four installments for our 35th blessed marriage anniversary is a bit out of sequence. Annie wears a ring in the Featured Image, so the ceremony already had taken place. The official wedding photo, she in her gown, comes tomorrow.

We were matched, became acquainted, and were wed in Yongin, Korea, which is about 43 km (26 miles) south of Seoul. I don’t much remember the locale.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 10, 20249:52 pm

When We Were Acquainted

Annie smiles for the camera in a portrait probably taken by me. You do remember when film shooting was the only option—not the nostalgia thing that it is today, yes?

We were a newly matched couple in Yongin, Korea. My guess on the date for the Featured Image: Jan. 10, 1989, maybe the 11th. We would be blessed in marriage with 1,274 other couples on January 12. I will share more about that event, and our 35th wedding anniversary, in two days.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 9, 20248:06 pm

When We Met

Today, Annie and I celebrate 35 years since our matching during a religious gathering in Yongin, Korea. We were no more than a few hours together when someone shot the Featured Image for us.

The companion capture is a day or two later, possible Jan. 10, 1989 or the 11th. We each hold a bottle of McCol, a carbonated barley drink that, honestly, I disliked. The photographer is unknown for both pictures, although he and/or she used one of our film cameras (no digital shooters back then).

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 8, 202410:25 pm

The Vine Wall

Several properties in my San Diego neighborhood of University Heights are undergoing or have undergone major renovations lasting years. Some started before or during SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2)/COVID-19 lockdowns. Post-pandemic, construction delays, increased building costs, and lingering supply shortages could explain why these projects take so long.

Today, I stopped to gawk at a magnificently striking overgrown wall that had previously gone unnoticed. The main house and front lawn area have been a noisy construction zone for so long that I either walked by briskly or on the other side of the street. What an overlooked visual treat! Neither the Featured Image, nor the companion photo, adequately capture the scene.