DESIGN FETISH: Gridness

A fantastic blog centered around the grid in graphic design.

(Found via Bully.)

No new THE RACK today, but…

…you can soothe your fevered brow by downloading free PDFs of the first two volumes of Ed Piskor’s excellent ode to the early days of computer hackery, Wizzywig. Here’s what I wrote about the first volume and here’s a brief mention of the second.

THE RACK: Beauty

DIPLOMACY!

SHE DIED IN TERREBONNE: Episode 12

THE RACK: Wardrobe Malfunction

It’s that time of the month.

THE LONELIEST ASTRONAUTS: A Holiday Adventure, Part 1

Dan rings in the holiday season.

THE RACK: Staff Picks for the Week of December 16, 2009

Here’s some nice comic books that you might buy and enjoy this week.

DESIGN FETISH: “Nørrebro station, CPH” by Serene Careaga Gordon

I’m taking a train to New York in the morning and won’t be updating as much this week, so here’s a nice photo by my friend Serene.

THE RACK: Who’s Who

Jerry and Danny discuss the new DC.

A Twitter Conversation with Larry Doherty, owner of Larry’s Comics in Lowell, MA

So, a local comics show and indie-friendy crafts festival was held by my local comics shop this weekend.  Also attending this event was Larry Doherty and some of the employees from Larry’s Comics, based in Lowell Massachusetts.  Larry has been the subject of internet controversy recently, and I actually made several posts about his email newsletter without mentioning the business name.  Larry went around offering Drake’s snack cakes to people and it was a nice gesture that I didn’t particularly want to take advantage of because I don’t actually like them and I wasn’t hungry at the time.  I was checking messages on my phone when he came around and I shook my head and mouthed “No” at him.

His response?  To inform me that I’d obviously “had my share of donuts” before, then lifting up his shirt to expose his stomach and chest to me and Ming, whom I was sharing a table with.  I was baffled at his actions and had other people at the table, so I let Larry walk off and continue his deliveries.  After Ming and I had dinner, I came home and made a comment about the incident on twitter.  What follows are my tweets from tonight, along with his comments back, which I’ve put in red for your convenience.

So, @larryscomics insulted me then showed me and @mingdoyle his bare chest and stomach. That was something.
about 8 hours ago from web

(I refused a Drake’s snack cake; he said “C’mon, you’ve had your share of donuts before!” and then said “ME TOO!” and flashed us.)
about 8 hours ago from web

(Yes, @larryscomics, I am fat. You’re a shithead. I win.)
about 8 hours ago from web

@BeaucoupKevin Hey Kevin. Your not much of a “personality” in person BUT your a powerhouse at home on the Internet. Hope you had fun today
about 6 hours ago from Echofon in reply to BeaucoupKevin

@BeaucoupKevin typical. At the show Kevin was a gentleman. At home he has nasty musings to share. Wanted that Twinkie didn’t ya big boy??
about 6 hours ago from Echofon in reply to BeaucoupKevin

Really, @LarrysComics? You interrupt me and insult me when I’m checking my messages and I’m supposed to be a personality for you?
about 6 hours ago from web

And, @LarrysComics? Maybe I reserve my personality for people who don’t represent every worst aspect of comics-fan-as-retailer.
about 6 hours ago from web

.@LarrysComics Larry, I was polite because there were other people there. Unlike you, I have consideration for third parties.
about 6 hours ago from web

And yeah, @larryscomics, I’m a “big boy.” At least people weren’t asking which table was mine so they could avoid it.
about 6 hours ago from web

@BeaucoupKevin I think you were pissed because like most shows I attend I was surrounded by family and friends including the promoters
about 6 hours ago from Echofon in reply to BeaucoupKevin

@BeaucoupKevin your from new England chump. You know damn well how my shop ranks, and what it stands for. Ask YOUR retailer what they think
about 6 hours ago from Echofon in reply to BeaucoupKevin.

.@LarrysComics Really. You really do have the most remarkable powers of self-delusion. If you were doing so well, why’d you leave at 3:30?
about 6 hours ago from web

.@LarrysComics I’m not going to use other people as a reference point. I simply said what you did and how you acted. You insulted me.
about 6 hours ago from web

@BeaucoupKevin sold my stock to Patrick Jamal. Then went to Arlington and bought a warehouse. Confirm THAT with any of the 3 promoters
about 6 hours ago from Echofon in reply to BeaucoupKevin

@BeaucoupKevin Kevin is pissed because I was handing out snacks to small press like I have done for 20 years!? I AM a douchebag
about 6 hours ago from Echofon in reply to BeaucoupKevin

.@LarrysComics Good for your business. You still insulted me and then flashed me and the woman I shared a table with.
about 6 hours ago from web

I don’t know why @LarrysComics keeps thinking I need to ask my friends how well his business was doing at the show.
about 6 hours ago from web

I don’t know why @LarrysComics thinks I care about how well his business is performing. His business has nothing to do with his actions. about 6 hours ago from web

If .@LarrysComics thinks I’m pissed because he was handing out free food and NOT because of how he acted when I refused, boy, I don’t know.
about 6 hours ago from web

@BeaucoupKevin Kevin. YOU commented on my early departure. I told you WHY. You know damn well you were not offedded by me offering you food
about 6 hours ago from Echofon in reply to BeaucoupKevin

.@LarrysComics Wait, you just said this: http://is.gd/5loDX and then you said I wasn’t insulted by that? What?
about 6 hours ago from web

@BeaucoupKevin your just playing up the fact that you met fucking cretin Larry ,bane of the comic book industry.
about 6 hours ago from Echofon in reply to BeaucoupKevin

Seriously, @LarrysComics, best of luck with your business. I’ll just be sure to make sure that people know how you acted.
about 6 hours ago from web

No, @LarrysComics, I didn’t MEET you. You walked up, offered food, I refused, you insulted, flashed your chest and stomach, and left.
about 6 hours ago from web

@BeaucoupKevin I held a box of drakes cakes. You politely pointed to your fat gut to decline. I lifted my shirt showing my gut. All laughed.
about 6 hours ago from Echofon in reply to BeaucoupKevin

.@LarrysComics You’re not telling the truth, Larry. I did not point at my stomach. I shook my head and went back to my messages.
about 6 hours ago from web

@BeaucoupKevin best of luck with your artwork. I’ll be shure to let people know how you acted
about 6 hours ago from Echofon in reply to BeaucoupKevin

.@LarrysComics Be sure to tell people that I refused a snack cake. Go on and do that.
about 6 hours ago from web

@BeaucoupKevin whatever Kevin. You are simply making something out if nothing to draw attention to yourself. Everyone had fun today but you
about 5 hours ago from Echofon in reply to BeaucoupKevin

“Whatever?” You know @LarrysComics, I had a great time today except for our interaction, and I didn’t have to insult anyone!
about 6 hours ago from web

@BeaucoupKevin look in the mirror Kevin. Do you think anyone on the planet will think YOU turned down a fucking Twinkie? That’s a stretch
about 5 hours ago from Echofon in reply to BeaucoupKevin

.@LarrysComics Again with saying that I’m fat. Yes, Larry. We know. I turned down a snack cake from you because I don’t like them or you.
about 5 hours ago from web

@BeaucoupKevin I thought you seemed like a nice guy in person Kevin. Kinda a nasty fellow on the Internet though aintcha??
about 5 hours ago from Echofon in reply to BeaucoupKevin

.@LarrysComics You insult me repeatedly when I say what happened and I’M nasty? OK.
about 5 hours ago from web

Some comments:

• I’m a big guy.  I’m fat.  I know that.  People that have met me know this.  It’s something everyone’s accepted.
• I am a guy who writes things, not an artist.  Some people have paid me to write things.  A significant portion of my day job concerns writing things.
• I was ruder than I should have been with the “shithead” comment.  Poor form, but honestly, the way he acted was beyond rude for someone whom I’d never met before.
• Larry’s Twitter feed shows how he acted to other people when called on his behavior.  Yes, many of them were less-than-polite, following my bad example.

Why make this post?  Well, I think it’s a way to show people who might do business with Larry’s Comics, (whether it be at a comics show or when visiting their business at 66 Lakeview Avenue in Lowell, MA) how he treated someone who refused to eat a fifty-cent snack cake.  You can also do the same with my own behavior and decide you don’t want to read any of the comics I write.

Edited To Add:

Someone sent me screenshots (albeit tiny-ish ones) of Larry’s half of the conversation, just in case it gets deleted.

DESIGN FETISH: The IGA Logo

It varies quite a bit internationally and recently got a remodel that’s in line with current trends (a drop-shadow on the letters with a stroke on the outside) but the bold, simple design of the old-school IGA logo is always going to appeal to me.

THE RACK: Midnight Madness

Yes, that’s a Chemical Brothers reference in the title.

This is why we need Everything Is Terrible.

DESIGN FETISH: “One Tonne of CO2″

Alfio Bonnano and Christophe Cornubert have created an eyecatching piece of public art for this week’s discussions in Copenhagen.

SHE DIED IN TERREBONNE: Act 2

Happy Slightly-Belated 30th Birthday, ST: TMP!

DESIGN FETISH: Dreamtime 79

Fantastic artifacts from an Australian film studio that never existed.

THE RACK: At A Time

Jerry and Danny discuss recent comics events.

DESIGN FETISH: Simone Lueck’s “Cuban Television Sets”

THE LONELIEST ASTRONAUTS: Longfellow

Ming’s back and Dan and Steve are up to something. Again.