The Dice — 022

Alright, before we get into it, let’s reset and clear our headspace with this fresh perspective on life. Go ahead, The Dice will be here when you get back. Purple! I’m going to have that clip handy as the weeks ahead are not going to be kind to our anxiety levels and stress. Hours could seem like days. As I write this there are 372 hours until November 5th. Hang in there!

Ready to go when you are.

Betty Cartledge voted for the first time in her life at the young age of 81. “She had never voted before because her husband did not think she should. He died last year.” What an asshat, it’s a shame he lasted so long. Betty didn’t think her vote would count but after casting her first ballot she said “It was neat, it was good. If I’m here, I’ll be back again.” This is a great reminder that it’s not a matter of whether your vote counts but that you exercised your right to make a choice.

Meanwhile, Kamala Harris soundly defeated Donald Trump, 57.2% to 28.2%, by the inmates of San Quentin prison in a mock election overseen by the League of Women Voters and volunteers from Mount Tamalpais College. Let’s hope this is a sign of things to come.

The first holiday of the season is upon us and by now Rob Weychert is halfway through his annual horror film cinephilia event, Robtober. “This year I seem to be nostalgic for the age of Satanic panic, as I’ll be doing concurrent, chronological deep dives on The Exorcist and The Omen, two franchises with doe-eyed children in the grip of the devil, both of which started in the ’70s and both of which introduced new installments in the last year.” If you are not entertained by satan stuff, then consider these Halloween movie lists from IMDB and Turner Classic Movies. 

On the lighter side of Satanic worship, the funeral of The Prince of Sorrow, Azrael Abyss aka Todd.

Blazo Kovacevic, associate professor of art and design at the University of Delaware is using LEGOs and his design skills to create sets that portray events related to illegal immigration. In this interview with Steven Heller, Blazo says, “I decided to use LEGO brick as a medium for social commentary. At the forefront of all these projects is the effort to place us in the shoes of others, to not simply ignore problems because they do not personally affect us. This work encourages us to initiate a dialogue around personal privacy and the dehumanizing process of immigration and displacement. These issues, albeit uncomfortable to confront, offer opportunities for meaningful interaction and personal transformation.”

There are four kits complete—Human Trafficking, Border Wall, Migrant Boat and Migrant Raft—and more are in progress.

This week I learned that Switzerland used to be called Confoederatio Helvetica when it was established in 1848. This is why the country’s territorial domain ending is .ch which was always weird to me until now. The type family, Helvetica, got its name from Linotype when it renamed Neue Haas Grotesk after its country of origin. And now you know the rest of the story. If you knew this already then I would like to know why this never came up in conversation.

Also, Helvetica still sucks. It is the type of choice of people with bland taste. Those are not my words, but I stand behind them 100%. By the way, when was the last time you watched the documentary?

Apparently, this is the week I’m catching up on old news because I missed the story about the Penguin Books vending machine. The book publisher has a history of book vending beginning with the “Penguincubator, which appeared in London in 1937. Conceived by Allen Lane, the founder of Penguin Books, the Penguincubator dispensed classic literature in paperback form for about the same price as a pack of cigarettes.” I see awesome things like this and immediately think I’m not living in the right place.

On the subject of mobile media, The Criterion Closet is hitting the road in a sweet-looking, modified Freightliner MT45 step van. Inside is a replica of the closet which you may remember from The Dice–016. Visitors will get three minutes to visit the space and select up to three films which they can buy at a 40% discount to celebrate forty years of the collection.

I don’t know about you, but after decades of consuming Batman stories, I’m pretty burned out on the Bruce Wayne universe. I have some favorite storylines like Night of the Owls and Christopher Nolan’s trilogy, but nothing since has caught my attention. So, when I saw the first issue of Absolute Batman a few weeks ago I blew right past it. Then I caught news that it was going into a third printing so I looked it up on Comixology to find 800+ five-star reviews. I don’t recall seeing a new Batman book receive such accolades in such a short time. After buying the first issue I have to agree with every review the book has received. Absolute Batman is the story this franchise needs. Scott Synder’s writing is solid and Nick Dragotta's art is gorgeous for this big reset. Highly recommended.

In another sign that DC might finally have its shit together, they’re bringing back the Vertigo label in 2025. This news combined with James Gunn’s work should make for some interesting and entertaining stories in the future.

Published in Tacoma, Washington while listening to U2's new track Country Mile and Achtung Baby.