eav's New Writeups

Rolled spine (thing)

2002-11-19T15:15:42Z

Also know as spine roll, it is a condition where the left edge of a comic book curves toward the front or back; caused by folding back each page as the comic was read.

A rolled spine can seriously reduce the value of a comic book.

Comic book grading (idea)

2002-11-18T22:51:29Z

Comics are commonly graded using either a numeric scale running from 1 to 100 or on a verbal scale, using the terms Mint, Near Mint, Very Fine, Fine, Very Good, Good, Fair and Poor. There are variations on both these scales.

COMIC BOOK GRADES

Mint - Nearly perfect in every way. No printing defects. No bindery defects. Cover is flat with no surface wear. Cover inks are bright with minimal fading. Comic has the original staples and they are centered, clean and without rust. Paper is supple and like new. Spine is tight and flat (no spine roll). No soiling, staining, or other discoloration. Looks "As if it was just purchased from the newsstand." Equivalent of a Numeric grade of 100 to 98.
Near Mint – Only the most minor imperfections are allowed. Including tiny corner creases or staple stress lines. Cover is flat with no surface wear. Cover inks are bright with the minimum of fading. Has the original staples and

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Osechi ryori (thing)

2002-10-30T17:20:58Z

To the Japanese the first day of the New Year is the most important and auspicious. It symbolizes the year to come and the day should be full of joy and without stress, conflict or anger. In times past no work was to be done by anyone; this includes cleaning, washing dishes and other household tasks.

Osechi-ryori is the traditional Japanese food prepared to celebrate the New Years. Traditionally the meals are prepared ahead of time, supposedly so that the mother of the house can share in the joys of oshogatsu without spending all her time in the kitchen. However many Japanese now purchase Osechi-ryori meals neatly packed in a jubako, a 3 to 5-tiered lunch box. Most items are prepared in such a way that they can be stored without refrigeration for the up to four days the festivities usually last.

A real jubako set, comes with three to five layers of shallow boxes in black or vermilion lacquer decorated with gilt patterns ranging from natural elements to modern abstracts,…

Tits on a keyboard (thing)

2002-08-22T13:37:49Z

I once had a user complain that her computer would just randomly do weird things when she was just sitting there doing nothing. I could not figure it out until I went to her office.

I tested the keyboard but was unable to duplicate the problem. However as soon as I had her sit at her desk the problem became clear. She had huge breasts that hung down and rested on the keyboard; using heroic restraint to keep from laughing out loud, I as diplomatically as possible explained the cause of her problems.

Alice, Texas (place)

2002-08-12T17:04:07Z

Alice, Texas is a small dusty town in southeastern Texas. My dad was born in Alice and I remember spending parts of my summers there in the 1960's. The main thing to know about Alice is there is not much to do there. The town has been slowly dying for as long as I can remember. In the 1950's the population reached as high as 25,000, currently it is under 20,000.

What I remember most about Alice is the heat. It's the heat that gets you in Alice, hot and dry for the most part despite being less than 50 miles from the coast. We stayed at my grandmother's house, she did not have air conditioning grandma was tough. Grandma was also tight; she did not want air conditioning because she did not want to pay the electric bill for air conditioning. We finally bought her a big window unit and told her we would pay her electric bill.

Alice could be beautiful; the streets are wide and well laid out, most of the buildings were well designed, it's just too hot, dry and dusty, there is…

A Circus of Hells (thing)

2002-08-11T02:51:53Z

"A Circus of Hells is a novel written by Poul Anderson in 1970. In the Polesotechnic League continuity it is the second novel to feature Dominic Flandry.

This is one weird novel, not as straightforward as Ensign Flandry; it features Flandry as a junior lieutenant, stationed on a world the empire no longer cares about. Flandry irked that the empire does nothing about the Merseian encroachment on this part of imperial space, accepts a million-credit bribe to undertake an illegal voyage to a world long forgotten by the empire; a world supposedly rich in precious ores and metals.

Accompanied by Djana, a deeply religious hooker, who has her own agenda, Flandry reaches the planet Wayland and finds that the computer that ran the mining operations is still very functional and has been building myriad robot species that hunt each other for parts and even engage in combat on massive life-sized chessboards.

Upon leaving Wayland, the Merseians…