Countdown to Kev: 48 Hours

The event I've been anticipating for months will soon be upon me: Kevin Smith in Akron. I'm hosting some of my favorite people from the VA Board: Louiegirl, her boyfriend, JR, and bitteroptimist. In anticipation, I have been cleaning and straightening and generally trying to make ready with the hosting.

Not much else to say, except I can't wait! Kevin is one of my personal heroes, so getting to see him in my own town is sublime. Like a kid anticipating Christmas, I know it will all be over in a few hours, but I'm savoring the experience nonetheless.

I will post a complete recap after Kev's Q&A.

Behold, True Believer: The Geek Room!

It's taken me months to clear out my spare bedroom, clean it after years of disuse and abuse and turn it into a shrine to my obsessions (and infrugal spending -- is infrugal a word?). I'm still tweaking some things, so I may swap out some of these photos as the room develops. This post is pretty graphics-intensive, so give it a chance to load before you start typing whiny complaints :-)

The Geek Room Door
With a sign I bought at Jay & Silent Bob's Secret Stash in Red Bank, New Jersey. It's signed by Walt Flanagan. If you don't know who he is, you're not a Smith fan. I've been trying to find a good "Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here" sign to add.

Inside Entrance
Yes, that's an original Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers poster. The original Rangers rocked! Especially that Red Ranger, Jason. On the left there is a Superman Returns 2007 calendar and a Daredevil movie figure. You can see it from this angle, but there is a Star Wars Episode 1 poster on the right-hand wall, behind the door.

First View
What can I say? Superman was always one of my favorites. The moon chair is for reading and listening to vinyl.

To Your Left...
Movie and comic posters adorn the walls and the doors to the closet. The line of photos above the closet door and around two walls are all signed pictures of actors from comic-inspired movies or TV shows. It has taken me years to get all these together and I'm always seeking opportunities to get more. I'm probably going to swap the Venom black-lite poster for one of the V for Vendetta posters and make that short wall beside the closet all Vendetta.

V for Vendetta Grouping
Currently, I have a photo signed by Hugo Weaving, a V action figure and a V mask. This Alan Moore story has been my favorite for many, many years. I've worn out two copies of the graphic novel.

Long Wall
Sci-fi posters, including the brilliant Serenity and the not-too terrible Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Left Wall Beside Window
More photos and posters. The left portion of the room is also home to my comic book collection.

Bookshelf One
This small bookshelf hold comics-related books, graphic novels, Alan Moore-written comics and some of my larger figures. The wall shelf holds the original series of Star Trek animated starship Christmas ornaments by Hallmark.

To Your Right
Three more bookshelves, including the largest that holds my vinyl LP collection.

Bookshelf Three
Books on sci-fi and Wicca, Star Wars Pez dispensers, various figures, including a Red Power Ranger figure signed by actor Austin St. John.

Bookshelf Four
More Pez dispensers, my Justice Society figures (all unpackaged and worthless -- bite me) and my animatronic Lost In Space robot. And yes, a boxed roll of Spider-Man and Hulk toilet paper.

View-Master Collection
The shelves on the wall above the bookshelves houses my View-Master collection that includes viewers and reels from the 1940's to present. I tend to collect specific topics, like figural viewers, Christmas, science fiction, super-heores, etc.

Work- station
Nothing terribly exciting here, unless you count my Opus the penguin telephone.

Special Emphasis
Original comic art from Astro Boy #1, Astonishing X-Men #1 (two covers) signed by Joss Whedon and other signed items.

Long Boxes
The real measure of the depth of my depravity. Forty long boxes (at 250-300 comics each) and a few short boxes. So many comics... so little time.

So, go ahead, tell me how sick I am...

Random Thoughts

The next time I blog about global warming and how I miss winter, kindly remind me to shut the hell up. Okay, winter was delayed, not cancelled. We've had cold and snow for a couple of weeks now, with the meteorlogical Gods telling us that the cold will become especially bitter this weekend. Yikes.

So, of course, I take a few days of vacation during the coldest period thus far in 2007. I'm using the time to work on my home improvement project. My spare bedroom has almost completed its transformation to Geek Room. I'll post photos when it's done.

Still enjoying re-watching Wonderfalls. Still can't get that friggin' theme song out of my head. Curse you, Andy Partridge! Still building anticipation toward Kevin Smith's appearance here in Akron. Still wanting to go see "Catch and Release" again.

Okay, the battery on my laptop is low, my coffe cup is cold and empty and someone else can probably make better use of my booth here at Panera. Time to sign off.