Okay, there were a number of comments on this month's Please Hold For Dave Sim, and one of them highlighted for me that I missed something, so I'ma gonna go through them real quick. (Don't worry if you don't wanna read this crap, I'm running some Form & Void for the rest of you...)
Well. Deni and I have very different takes on The Wave. When I've experienced it, it was always when there was basically nothing going on in the game and the bored fans were desperate for something to liven things up a bit.The wave is for newbies, and little kids. After your second game or you turn twelve The Wave has no reason to be a thing you WANT to do...
The wave was, and remains, stupid.See above re: The Wave.
But, she was excited to be at Dodgers Stadium--the fourth best stadium in baseball.
Matt, not to be pedantic,
Riiiiiiiiiggggggghhhhttt...
but: You, like so many other people, mistake schizophrenia for multiple personality disorder. People who have schizophrenia do not have or pretend to have more than one personality; they lose touch with reality in an extreme way.You made me listen to the sound of my own voice.
You, in part one, near the end of that segment, were referring to the characteristics of people who have Multiple Personality Disorder.
Sorry. It's sort of a pet peeve that I have.
Bastard.
Anyway, this reminds me that I forgot to link to the Peter David article I was talking with Dave about.
The bit I was thinking of, was:
Key piece of material: Harlan Ellison faxed me a textbook definition of a psychological phenomenon called “paralogia,” a condition characterized by the subject’s inability to produce coherent logic. It was the single most damning piece of evidence I had outside of Todd’s own words. At the debate, I wound up only reading two of the five index cards I had on the subject, and it was enough to reduce the audience to hysterics since—at least on the surface—it all applied to Todd. Particularly when I cited the case study in which one patient concluded that he was, in fact, Switzerland, using the following reasoning: “Switzerland loves freedom. I love freedom. I am Switzerland.” I then pointed in Todd’s direction and said, “Ladies and gentlemen: Switzerland.” Which prompted Todd to acknowledge—echoing my own words about him—”He’s good.”The whole article is here.
As to your point, thinking you, your cat, that guy over there, that cop behind those bushes,... are all God is what I would call "lose(ing) touch with reality in an extreme way". But that might just be me.
Besides, I obviously meant Paralogia...
I agree with Jesse Herndon and his comments around that obscenely high priced Regency Edition (Jeff Seiler - you missed that bullet!). The edition has nothing to indicate it is a limited edition of 25 copies (I got number 49...not exactly a premium). And that extra sized poster is absolutely worth that extra $100.
I feel that Bill didn't mean that last sentence... (Or he forgot his "Sarcastic weeping" emoji...)
I am very very disappointed with the cost compared to value. As aside...Waverly in all their understanding of my complaint let me know I was welcome to a refund. Dagon is a...special kind of person (rolls eyes).
Aside from all the AMOC folks who get all sorts of graft from Waverly
Well, I think we all know where I land on the question of "Graft: Boon or Blessing?"...
(Open the Box! Open the Box!), I'm not sure anyone who isn't receiving "gifts" each month are at all happy with Waverly Press and their practices.
Well folks, as R. Lee Ermey said: "Sound off like you got a pair!" If you're like Bill and aren't happy with your dealings with the Waverly Press, post in the comments. I'll forward them to all concerned parties.
Personally, I'm a whole hell of a lot more prosaic about what I spend my miscellaneous Cerebus-allocated funds on. If I can't afford it, I let it go (you're welcome guy who outbid me on those original Beavers strips by ten bucks...). I'd LOVE to have a Regency Edition. But knowing that they were limited, and since I didn't really NEED it, I let it go, so somebody who does had a shot. Same deal with the Spawn #10 Halloween books. I didn't NEED them, so I didn't buy them (that some nice anonymous person decided to buy me a set is one of those things I cling to in the middle of the night when the comment section is filling up with hate and spite.) Heck, I skipped CAN8 cause I didn't have the $100 at the time.
Cerebus isn't Pokemon. You DON'T have to "catch them all"...
Exactly, Bill R. I take the time to make sure I'm there ready and waiting to get one of those 25, spend the extra money and end up getting #161 with a larger print. Rip-Off Press is more like it.
Here's a fun fact: I'm moderating the comments because "Censorship is inexcusable. Only overweight faggots censor others.", and I didn't approve Anon's comment. Which means he OR she is on the very short list of people who can bypass moderation. How sort is the list? I can count it on one hand. "VERY INTERESTING, but stupid" as they say...
Part 6 ~ the best part for the month!! ~ cuts out a little early.If it's not at the start of part seven it's because I'm a bad Audio/Visual editor and really should be fired and replaced as soon as possible. (I guarantee that it's all in the audio portion...)
Damned Russian interference, I'm sure.
Steve
Please, is there some way to improve the sound quality on these? I know it's a 'for fun' thing and Manly Matt isn't an audio engineer, but there must be... right? It's just borderline intolerable to attempt to listen to any of these recordings. Dave at the far end of a staticky tunnel and Matt RIGHT THERE NEXT TO YOU. I appreciate the attempts and think there must be interesting discussions, but...
I've tried. It's my shitty tablet I use to record these things. The audio I record for the podcast on my old phone is much better. I'd try downloading the app for the tablet, but I'm a-scared that something'll go wrng and I'll lose the files and have to get Dave to type it up as a fax...
I have another idea...
OK - I want to follow up on my post about the audio quality. This is Jason T, by the way, and I want to own up to my post instead of have it be anon. I don't want it to come across as "rude" when I'm more like "exasperated". This is the kind of content that, if recorded well, I would be very interested in listening to AND even paying for (if it was posted on Patreon, say). As it is, I can barely listening to five minutes of it and only if I am very interested in the initial question. Just wanted to make my thoughts more clear and throw my two cents in.Well Jason, I COULD try uploading the Audio files to YouTube and making the videos from that, the Audio SHOULD be better, but you won't see the AMOC Cave.
Next month?
Jason T, have you listened to the podcast version? As the official transcriber of PHfDS, I can say with utmost certainty the sound is much better there than the YT videos (well, not drastically better, but better enough that it makes my job of transcribing them far easier since the switch to podcast format).
Well, if I get of my ass and finish the transcripts book, Jason can READ the whole thing over and over like Pete and Paul's letters in the Bible. (The best bits...)
One of these days...
Well, that's the end of the comments, but I had more Form & Void pages, so...enjoy I guess?
Signed Power Comics #1. (Help Bill Loebs out guys...)
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Okay.
Thanks for stopping by.
Always nice to see ya.
Next Time: The Please Hold "Columbo " post "Just one more thing..."
12 comments:
Dave is never at his best when he tries to discuss science, is he? He literally doesn't understand how it works. Hint: it's not a matter of belief, Dave. And it was a completely unexpected surprise when he agreed with himself and saw evidence for his own correctness everywhere. What was Jeff S. saying about schizophrenia in the phone call? (I don't listen to those things.)
-- Damian
Hi Matt and JLH, Thanks for letting me know (reminding me?) that the audio only Soundcloud version is there and that it sounds better. I didn't know that, but should have tried before posting my comments.
To the PHDS Official Transcriber, I hope you are simply downloading the youtube auto generated subtitle file and making corrections and edits, rather than actually transcribing everything (just saying in case you aren't, if you aren't you should be).
Damian, get off your ass and listen to the thing yourself.
Manly, has broken Please Hold down into segments for those who want to get in and get out. Check Saturday’s (July 3rd) AMOC post.
I'll say it again - for the HS:RE. the final product is stellar on pretty much all fronts. The reproduction is crisp, the paper stock is of an extremely high quality, and the binding and slipcover are beautifully designed and sturdily constructed. For this alone, Waverly has my business in the future when I a) want the product being offered and b) can justify the expense.
While I feel there can definitely be improvements made regarding the advertising, fundraising, communications, and online portal aspects, I find the repeated assertions that Waverly is some kind of fly-by-night rip-off organization run without any kind of ethical guidelines (I'm paraphrasing, here) to have simply no basis in any evidence. And the accusations of those in Dave's circle who received stuff 'gratis' from Waverly being shills for the company sound more like sour grapes than anything else. To take Margaret as an example (and she can obviously speak for herself but may be tired of having to defend against exactly nothing); clearly it's not a gift. She's a major contributor to the execution of the product, having scanned all of the notebooks, which form the basis of the appendix. I'm assuming she did all of it without any remuneration, and even if she had, as a contributor to the edition she'd of course be entitled to a copy.
Dave Kopperman...you make fair points. I've been possibly the most frequent critic of Waverly (on AMOC, with Dave and with Dagon). Maybe narcissism on my part, but I think many of your post points are directed to me.
My primary criticism of Waverly is they seem to seek a collector premium audience and then disrespect that relationship (or less nefariously, fail to appreciate what that audience is expecting). When one (ok ok, me) pays $500 for a 25 copy limited edition I've been led to believe that there is something that supports the limited nature (beyond my purchase receipt). At this point, I'm 1 of PRINT RUN. Disappointing (and I believe misleading by Waverly). I can cite similar prior "get this limited thing" only to have the final thing be something less (or incomplete).
Sour grapes about the "inner circle"? Possibly. I'm obviously something of a completist so I'm not able to argue against claim that "oh, Ritter is just jealous".
I'll admit that Dave and Waverly have effectively broken me of my desire to buy anything given the sheer volume of something even more limited than the prior limited thing. HEY YOU! Get that book with a print run of 100! Wait, here's a virgin cover of 50! Wait, here's a proof of 25! Wait, here's a distressed proof of 10! Wait, here's ... and over and over. So at this point, I simply don't care to participate in the endless opportunity for limited stuff around Cerebus. I digress...
My only comment around said sour grapes is that the routine defenders of Waverly Press are you (and a few others, some of which defend the practice while not buying anything from them) and the "inner circle". Here and on the Facebook page, the critics are more numerous. I truly have no ill-will for Margaret or Ron or anyone; I find it difficult to believe for those getting gratis their being objective to the issues Waverly is bringing. I accept that the issues may only be perceived from a few loudmouths like me, and that generally Waverly is "ok by so-and-so's opinion".
With respect to Waverly being run without ethical guidelines...personally...I do not think they are run with ethical guidelines; however, they are a corporate entity and frankly the ethics around publishing Cerebus reprints are likely pretty non-existent. Whether Dagon is an ethical person is irrelevant to the issue. However, time and time again Waverly has failed to communicate circumstances that dilute (or appear to dilute) what was communicated in the original (limited) offering. Whether this is unethical or simply sleazy I guess is the opinion of who was or was not burned by the practice, and whether they give a crap about all of this in the first place.
Brian: It seems we represent two sides of the fanbase - you're the collector, I'm the reader. Our takes are going to differ along those lines. I do think that mostly everyone who bought the HS:RE was satisfied, under the assumption that it's far more likely that someone is going to come to an obscure blog to complain that to offer praise. I didn't click on all (any?) of the unboxing tweets that Oliver compiled, but those all strike me as pretty positive - normal, healthy people, in other words. You and I are fans, and fans are inevitably going to have outsized personal reactions to things.
Matt: regarding audio quality, please give something like Zoom or Teams a try. You can do those audio-only, and can record the calls directly. So Dave wouldn't need to do anything on a computer, he could just phone in. I know you're doing a lot, and I for one am grateful for your efforts, but, yeah. The audio is generally poor bordering on inaudible, and there are easy and free fixes that can improve things dramatically.
Dave Kopperman has a very good idea on the Teams or Zoom suggestion. I think Zoom might need a paid subscription for anything over 40 minutes, not sure of Teams. As said, one does not need the computer to join, and the audio recording will be superior. Agree on DK's notes of appreciation for the effort.
Dave K., I got no bones in the High Society Regency Edition debate. None.
Maybe you confused me with Bill Ritter accidentally and used my name instead of his?
My last comment here was meant for my pal Damian.
To Anonymous, I do not use the Youtube auto-captions as a base for my transcriptions. I do it all from scratch (I'm really, really fast). I did use the Zoom call auto-transcripts between Carson and Matt last year for my transcript of that, and spent just about as much time fixing the mistakes (such as, my favorite, Matt calling Eddie Khanna "Daddy") as I would typing it out. But thanks for the suggestion!
Hi. Rich L. here. I appreciate the afterparty post. The audio seems adequate to me on youtube. Not sure what complaint is about. While I don't use headphones my self for these...headphones do work wonders. As does, choosing the best listening environment in your domicile. Wait until the kids go to bed or whatever generators of competing sound is distant or quiet.
Regarding the 25 limited edition. How was it possible that this isn't demarked on the book or as a paper band slipped over the book, or as an "authenticatity" postcard. Laziness? Ignorance? Even in the science fiction publishing field limited run books come marked as such...must often seen as lettered editions. At the very least, couldn't the limited run numbers started at #11? Why not? Why didn't they!
Not happy with Waverly Press. Sloppy. Many, many forced errors. Dave, you going to let the friendly guy kill his/your cash cow? Also, ask yourself...will the "Ham" edition be as valuable as Regency? And while I'm at it...I fully expect Cerebus #2 to be underwhelming. I don't understand that point. In 300 issues, there have to be more eventful/interesting/cool story lines, gags, and art to tempt us into many very simple kickstarters. What is special about #2? The fact that Cerebus wasn't a one off. Anything else.
Thank you Matt for tolerating us rabble. I am a tiny bit jealous for not getting (or was it taking) the opportunity for a white-covered note book.
Reasonably happy Rich L.
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