Summer Adventures 2019

It's no secret that Summer is by far the least popular season on this site. That statement seems unbelievable on a wondrous night such as this but much of the past month has been an oppressive, bug-infested, sauna with very little to keep things interesting. As usual I found myself getting a big old case of the blahs which meant I needed an adventure, something to refresh mind and spirit. Thus a day trip was planned to hit some of the stranger outlying towns to visit antique and thrift stores, & maybe take in some local cuisine along the way. Last Wednesday I actually woke up at a semi-regular hour and set out in hopes of finding adventure and of course I wanted to chronicle the trip for you all.

One sadly unavoidable element to our journey was the heat. Michigan was at the time in the grip of almost primordial temperatures. We’re talking heat indexes in the triple digits with maxed out humidity. While I’m sure some poor soul in a desert could gatekeep in this situation, keep in mind that we are chilly northern folk, the sort who still crave ice cream when the needle dips below zero. Birds were reluctant to chirp, doors had swelled to the point of being difficult to open and close, clothing dragged the wearer down to the pavement. It was just damn hot. Still; adventure does not wait for perfect weather, especially when there's no end in sight. With grim determination we set out for our first destination.

The town of Nashville Michigan is a tiny, tiny place whose small scale is at least offset by the even smaller nearby pocket of Vermontville. The most notable detail of the town is the Mooville creamery which pumps out plentiful amounts of milk and, as expected for this state, ice cream. What brought us there were two antique stores located practically across the street from each other. We began with 66 Unique Antiques. At first I wasn't feeling the place with most of the vendors veering towards more decorative baubles that I have little space to accommodate. Thankfully more fun and meaty material began to appear further in. At first it was just the occasional bit of old stereo equipment or a bizarre wood carved picture of Camelot, then I hit the second level.

Seemingly all of my interests had been relegated to the upstairs, appearing at first on the stairway itself in the form of old soda advertisements for the likes of Dr. Pepper and Coca-Cola. The upper level itself had all manner of funky treasures from old pop coolers and Halloween decorations to Alf party supplies and a still sealed box of Super Stars trading cards. Then I found what was easily my favorite vendor wedged in the back corner. Here was an absolute mecca of vinyl records, comic books, and my favorite failed media format, CED. Sitting in the front of a record box was something that was clearly 80's metal, better than that it was Japanese hair metal. No way was I gonna pass that up. This spot was absolute heaven and I could have stayed there forever if not for one unfortunate factor. Remember how hot it was that day? Well these antique stores weren't well equipped to handle the weather with a selection of fans and window units struggling to battle the overbearing heat. Despite being next to an open window this corner was a stagnate dead zone. The human body simply wasn't built to shop in such conditions. Still I escaped with my record, grabbed another item from a different vendor, and began making plans to return during a more temperate time of year.

We crossed the street and entered the local pharmacy in order to grab some water and man do I regret not nabbing a photo of the place. It was so humble it felt unreal. That done we moseyed down the road to our next stop, Boardroom Antiques. Inside we found a store that was a bit cleaner than the last and more strictly organized as I believe everything was under the same owner rather than a vendor system. Right after the entrance was a massive glass case of old toys and collectibles while taking a right turn brought us to items like jewelry and classic cameras. Once again it was a back corner that yelled the greatest surprise.

The reason this place is called Boardroom Antiques is because of this room where there walls are lined with classic tabletop games. There was some nice stuff here like the original version of Survive and Krull. These were a little pricier than I would like but there were a few decent deals mixed in as well. What truly thrilled me was the KB Toys sign hanging from the door that brought back a flood of lovely materialistic memories. It's definitely something I'd like to revisit with more pocket money. As for the rest of the store there were some very cool items ranging from an old police storage box and even some WWII items. Also failed to nab a picture of this enormous textured globe made for teaching blind students geography. Some really good items here and a neat atmosphere but you've gotta be prepared for a higher price.

Two stores down we commenced northward for Lake Odessa. Fun bit of trivia for you all, despite the name, the surrounding lakes are actually called Jordan and Tupper. This is yet another small town that is often passed by on the way to somewhere else. Not this day however as we headed to the heart of downtown. Hunger had settled in by this time which facilitated a stop at Penny's Five Star Pizza where we naturally ordered subs and burritos. Overall alright meal, nothing groundbreaking but it tasted decent and settled well-enough. After eating we had only a few minutes to check out 2 Sisters Antiques which didn't seem to have a ton in my realm of interest. They're much more tailored to those looking for glassware and decorative items. My sister claimed the prices were on the high side but I failed to notice. On that same slab of land was The Consignment Shop but we chose to forgo a visit in order to have a full hour over at Bonanza Antiques.

More than any of our stops Bonanza felt the most like what I want from an antique store. There was plenty of good old beer and cigarette advertising, an old slot machine, crazy old Halloween items, and the selection vinyl records was great. A lot of vendors would put together stashes of notable records so their costumers don't have to dig through countless old christian and polka albums to find the good stuff. There were cookies and coffee and just a good vibe. While they had the same cooling problems as our previous stops the building seemed to breath better than others and had a very cool basement. Grabbed another album here but some more money could have resulted in a big haul including a PBR lamp and this Winston clock that put some sort of tacky spell over me. Really enjoyed this place a lot and definitely giving it a mark for a revisit in the future.

Finally we reached the Lake Odessa Antique Mall where we were at a major disadvantage. An entire day of antiques and heat had left us nearly shopping blind by this point. Compounding that issue was just how big this place was. The main floor was separated into three different wings and there were two basements along with two upstairs areas to shop as well. It wasn't up to the level of the Mega Mall we checked out last year but after a full day we were on autopilot. It's a shame as they had the best scary items with some freaky clowns and oddly placed bits of taxidermy. It's a neat place but it requires more energy than we had left.

Heading home I finally felt a sense of peace wash over me. In recent years shopping at regular stores has become more of a chore so outings like this are the only way to truly subdue the materialistic beast within. I brought home three wonderful items. Hurricane Eyes by Loudness which turned out to be some awesome hair metal. Prologue by Deodato, another entry in my CTI record collection that sounds like the sort of music you'd play at a sleazy late 70s New Years party. Then there's Dark Wolf: The Hell Warrior, an ash can comic that I've yet to browse but assume will make for a solid article further down the line.

Wednesday wasn't my only adventure as Saturday brought rushed visits to the grandmother in order to save her fridge food from a power outage followed by a baseball game. That latter part didn't provide much in the way of thrills for someone who is bored by most sports but it was still a unique experience to fill my belly with pulled-pork and coleslaw mere feet away from the players warm-up area.

These little adventures have worked wonders. The Summertime blues have dissipated and my mind is now filled with ideas for stories, board games, and handyman projects for Halloween. As if to cement this new-found optimism the temperatures have dropped and the night beckons for a moped ride to get some job apps. That is where I will leave you all for tonight. Hopefully this entry has inspired some outings for you all, which I hope you will share in return. We might as well make the most of this season as we await the excellent months to come.

Journey to Wisconsin, ACD Games Day, and a Trip to the Emergency Room.

Dear readership, have I ever the story to tell you. You may recall me finishing the previous post with news of how I was going on a trip for a few days. Such an outing would usually be enough to excuse some inactivity on the blogging front, only it was far from the only thing keeping me from this keyboard. If you've a mind for tales of travel, trade shows, and emergency vet visits then boy do I ever have some stories for you.

It all began with an invitation to attend the ACD Games Day trade show in Madison, Wisconsin. ACD is a board game distribution company and this is their yearly convention for stores to attend seminars and presentations along with nabbing goodies at the warehouse. What’s that you ask? Do I own or even work at game store? Nope, I help one occasionally but you shouldn’t sweat such petty details. Fact was I haven’t been out of the state in almost two-years and have never stepped foot in Wisconsin, so for whatever reason I opted to go along with the store owner and another lad.

The opening leg of any trip is always the worst part. Not only is there the knowledge that you have to go all the way there and back, but with each second you get further away from home, unable to go-back on your decision. Add to this a concern for my cat with pisser problems and the initial drive was rather unnerving. Even so, I’d decided to take on this bizarre journey and there was an entire household of adults back home to care for the kitty.

Indiana was the same as always, nothing all that special. Even in parts of that state I find fascinating like Kokomo, it always seems like something is missing. Still I hold no grudge towards the place. Illinois on the other hand I believe should be surgically removed from the map. Traveling through there is already torture and in this case we had to go through Chicago. I haven’t been within the city proper for close to twenty years and it’s even more of a hole than I remember. I’m sure there must be some decent people within the metro but by god what a hideous facade of dirt, utmost cruelty towards the homeless, plenty of rust, and a surprising amount of barbed wire. It’s as if a war-zone were dropped on top of the Midwest.

Finally finding myself in Wisconsin I couldn’t help but note it’s not all that terribly different from Michigan save for a few odd tidbits. For instance what is with all the traffic roundabouts as highway on/off ramps? Perhaps that was just a string of lousy luck on our part. Getting into Madison it seemed like a very nice city though I'd have to wait til the following day to explore. For now it was all convention antics.

I've never been to this sort of trade show format before and the thing I found most unique is how spending multiple days in close proximity to the same people creates a tiny community. Before you know it, folks you'd never have met under normal circumstances are your breakfast group. The first two people I saw were the pair of Frenchmen from Blue Orange Games who would later demo some decent games to me and the one would make the mistake of patting me on my sweaty back, sorry dude! A little people watching and you can learn who likes who, who's new to this, it's good sociological study that thankfully keeps you from feeling too alone away from home.

Another big part of a gathering like this is company seminars. These ran the gamut from horrifically dull, sloppy yet interesting, or in a few cases actually worth attending. Of the showcases I hit up Calliope Games won hands down. What put them over the top? Easy, beer and free games. The least interesting award goes to CMON who actually put people to sleep with their self-aggrandizing corporate jargon.

Meals were provided throughout the event with items varying from decent to downright bizarre. Consider how the first meal paired roasted asparagus dip, Swedish meatballs, and some brie cranberry bake with all he consistency and flavor of sugary snot. Oddball menus were simply a fact life throughout the trip such as Thursday nights, 2 salad, two potato, rare roast beef, champagne capital, and a freezer full of chaco tacos. It was possible to wash these down with some proper hooch though the bar was cash only for some god-forsaken reason. Mercifully each I.D. pouch came with 2 freebies at least so I was able to put down the saltiest gin martini in history.

On Thursday afternoon there was an exhibition hall where each company displayed their current hot titles and networking became a major point of conversation. Even brought home a few business cards myself from folks who I discussed game design with. While I certainly enjoyed learing over new games as company reps attempted to impress me into stocking their goods I was haunted by one question; “what's with the green dot?” Turns out being the one guy at a convention with a hazelnut allergy makes you the one asshole out of hundreds with a green sticker attached to your I.D.

At a few points on Thursday I was allowed some time to explore Madison which very much lives up to its reputation as one of the most pedestrian friendly cities in the U.S. Overall I’d say it is a pretty damn nice town though not without its issues including one that as a resident of Michigan I never though I could levy against another place. What is with all the white people? I mean the place is just a bit lacking for social diversity to the extant that it made a cracker like me self-aware. I even checked the census numbers and now understand the the percentages that take a place from regular to scary white. Furthermore the ease of access for walkers and bikers allows so many people the opportunity to constantly work-out in some form plus the lakes provide for water sports. So you have a lot of physically active people but ya know what else Madison is known for? It’s often listed among the top ten drinking cities in the country. Add it all up and you get my big issue, You are surrounded, by fit, drunk, white boys all the time. That may be just fine for some people, not quite my style though. Still it is a nice place and I wouldn't dissuade anyone from vising.

During my adventures around town I sought out a few Frank Lloyd-Wright locations as my sister is a big fan. The convention center itself is one of his designs, boasting a rooftop garden featuring a memorial plaque for Otis Redding who died in a plane crash in Lake Monona. The most troublesome part of sightseeing came from the Rob Lamp house which eluded me until I realized it was dead center in a city block surrounded by other houses, an apartment complex, and even a damn hotel. Never before in my life have I wanted to shout to the heavens “the fuck are you, house?”

I returned to the convention center in time for game demos. The whole exhibition area had been stripped down and reformatted to accommodate a massive amount of game tables. During my time there I tried out a couple of excellent titles like Cursed Court which is a great betting and bluffing game that I'm very enamored with. An upcoming title called Blue Lagoon also tickled me by providing a nice mix of area control and resource collecting. Of course there was some rubbish in the mix as well but I'm not here to tear down a bunch of games I got to try for free. And while it can be disheartening to see some lousy stuff hit the market, it provides some hope that there's a spot for one of my own designs someday.

While demoing I witnessed a line forming for a display at the far end of the hall. Seems this particular show has a system where you gather tickets from demoing games only to turn them in for raffles or free games randomly put out on a table or behind doors. My first go through nabbed me some fairly uninteresting items but I was hooked and went out to get another full stash of six tickets. Unfortunately while waiting in line the prizes ran out and I was forced to enter the raffles which as you can assume I didn't win. On the upside I got to trade my items with fellow travelers and took home some stuff I actually wanted. I mean sure role-playing books are cool but if you never play em it's a bit of a crap shoot. Still, this portion of the show solidified a few feelings I've been having on the topic of tabletop games. That's a topic for another day when we cover what I brought back from the show.

After Breakfast and more presentations Friday afternoon marked the time to clear out of the hotel and head to the ACD distribution warehouse for some shopping. Taken on its own, the experience of combing through a warehouse full of board games and toys is the stuff of dreams. It'd be easy for an impulsive buyer to loose their shirt when surrounded by so many goodies. Unfortunately the warehouse itself lacked for climate control as it was filled to capacity on a sunny 80-odd degree day. I've seen sauna with less sweat than this place. Everyone was cooking in their own juices. Suffice to say it wasn't a pretty sight.

The trip home went off without much issue save for more classic Chicago traffic. We even had a chance to stop for some donuts. Once I got home however, things got more complicated. Turns out the cat situation had only worsened in my absence. What followed was a period of extreme stress as I did my best to care for the critter before we finally made a family agreement to take him to the expensive, and well worth it, emergency vet. A massive weight was lifted from my shoulders thanks to caregivers who actually seemed to know what they were talking about. Within mere house we knew more about what was going on with him than we had for months. He's been there for a few nights and should be home later today.

With both the adventure to Wisconsin and the cat problem dealt with I've finally been able to get working on writing, school crap, and getting out to see Solo. All in all it has been one of the nuttiest, most draining weeks I can remember. Sure most of these experiences were good for me. I got out of my comfort zone, met new people, saw another bit of the globe. That being said I am looking forward to staying home with my animals for a real long time.

CosmicSparky Visits Kokomo, Indiana.

There's a certain beauty to following a line of events to it's inevitable conclusion. Back in early 2015 I took up an interest in subscription boxes which lead to trying out the whole My Toy Box service, which when combined with YouTube videos about said boxes and Funko pops resulted in a slight rekindling of my admiration for toys. Eventually I started to buy Funko Pops and a few of them were bought from a store called Kokomo Toys located in, shocking twist, Kokomo Indiana. I rather enjoyed ordering from them thanks to good prices and quick shipping, especially since being so close means items arrive at my house between blinks. After some studying I found the town was much more than just a cool toy store. If we really traced this back to square one we can blame this entire journey on Johnny Tellez. During my time working the Alzheimer home I couldn't wait to treat myself to a trip and visit this odd hamlet, with my recently renewed freedom I finally got to do just that.

A little background. Kokomo, Indiana is a town that essentially had it's head kicked in by a combo of corporate greed and violent acts of natures. For years it had been a place for innovation and plentiful manufacturing jobs, then those jobs turned tail for cheaper pastures. Adding to that insult was an equal bounty of tornadoes and flooding.

In the years since those disasters, the town has worked towards digging itself out of the pits and becoming something notable again. As you can probably guess there's still plenty of evidence leftover from their troubles. Damaged buildings, beat down & dingy little house, and more old factories than the place knows what to do with. That being said, the town still has a ton to offer. I mean we're talking about a place with both local specialty stores as well as national standbys, a mall, something like 30 parks, museums, YMCA, a sizable downtown with actual stores, on and on. There's a lot of stuff for a place I'm sure many people have never heard of.

After the fairly uneventful three-hour drive we kicked things off in what the town refers to as geek street, a block of Sycamore featuring a comic, toy, and game store. Think I saw a record store as well but neglected to check it out. First up was Comics Cubed in a nifty little corner building. Despite my love for comics, most stores based around the topic tend to give me the creepy crawlies generally due to the customer base. Sorry fellow comic fans, but you know what I'm getting at. While the store is fairly small and subsequently a little cramped they've got lots of stock and good stuff at that. It's about 85% comics with a bit of games and collectibles for added flavor. It's the sort of place I could definitely see going to for weekly releases. The owner was friendly which made up for a couple of his customers coming off a tad rude. One of my favorite parts was that they'd tie whole miniseries or runs on a book all together for a lower price than buying individual issues. Didn't get any pictures but the place is colorful and cool. So far so good.

Next up was my main event. Kokomo Toys, a holy place for toy lovers. While it didn't exceed my expectations it met them perfectly. There's so much to take in I actually had to repeat some aisles just to take in all my options. Here's a wee picture to give you an idea.

It was odd to note price differences from the ebay and physical store. For instance Funko pops have a range of prices on ebay to make up for the free shipping. In store they're only eight bucks each which is a fantastic price. Likewise I saw items that were more expensive in store than ebay but with the offerings on each front being surprisingly different there's a good reason for both to exist.

If you do visit be prepared for an odd smell. They stash a lot of old collectibles in box which makes for a sort of moist, musky odor. I didn't mind it but my more whiny companions did.

Still the selection is great and the prices are really fair. I tried to limit myself to somewhere between $50 and $75 but lord almighty I could have easily spent over a hundred. I left behind items like a Metaluna Mutant doll, Soulcalibur figures, those NECA videogame figures, Street Sharks, and most of all I passed up a still in box Draco the Dragon from Dragonheart. That was one of my all time favorite toys but with my limitations I went another way. If you're a toy person in any way shape or form, you really must check this place out sometime.

Wrapping up geek street I visited Goblin Games real quick. Actually having a local tabletop store these days it's neat to compare and contrast. This place had a lot of playing room and nice prices on their games, but not as much stock as my local joint. Not bad, but not as memorable as the neighboring stores.

Before we headed out to other sections of town we headed over to the storybook express convenience store. It's one of several buildings put together by a development company with a love for reusing old materials and making everything look unique. Don't be fooled though, the inside is still a fairly typical party store though this one has a few more excessive items like bongs and friend chicken.

Needing a wee boost of sugar we headed to Gingerbread House Bakery which was a great decision. While the donuts I had was just good, everything else was practically orgasmic. The peanut butter cups alone are worth a visit. There's a brewery moving in across the street and a pizza joint down the block which means this spot will soon be a refuge for the glutinous.

After that we checked out the opalescent glass factory. Nice stuff but as you can guess incredibly expensive. Then it was time to take in a few odd sights. We'd already seen the kokomantis, a big metal praying mantis, so it was time to seek out the two literal giants. I'm talking about Old Ben, the largest Steer in the world, who's stuffed corpse is kept in highland park next to the world's largest sycamore tree stump. Yea all of this stuff is very kitschy but god help me I love it. There's just something inherently endearing about monster livestock or oversized bug statues.

Feeling the need for proper food we decided to hit one of several drive-in's and ended up at a local joint named Rays. I'd looked into this place as it has some fame for it's big tenderloin burger. True to what I'd heard this was a good sized tenderloin and it wasn't half bad though everything there was just too damn basic. There wasn't anything special about any of it save for size. Likewise the atmosphere could definitely use a boost. Service was good though, points earned there.

Our bellies weighed down with meat and taters, we headed out to some less specialized locations like a local goodwill as we made our way to my last major stop. The night before the trip I decided to search for any good retro game stores and lo & behold I found The Gaming HQ. Very lucky I did since this was such a neat store. I've seen classic game stores with more items than this but they still had a fine selection and generally fair prices. Best of all it was really organized. Color me impressed. Similar to Kokomo Toys I could have spent plenty of geenbacks but I behaved and only brought home a couple items. What really tickled me were the glass cases with high-quality, and moderately rare games. It was essentially my old gaming collection that I'd sold off over the years to maintain a certain level of living. We're talking Suikoden, Parasite Eve, Mega Man Legends, Lunar, etc. Absolutely give these guys a shot if you love video games.

After that we started to wrap up and head back to the glove. Sure enough, I could tell I was back in my home turf when the scenery took a noticeable turn towards Tales from the Darkside atmosphere.

So what do I think of Kokomo, you ask? Well it's certainly an odd duck. For one it's got this strange mix of being a small town yet being quite large in scale. It's got all the shrinky-dink nonsense of villages across the country yet there's a population just shy of 40,000 with all the commerce needed to support that. Those people are a unique batch as well. There are tons of good ole boys and girls from the manufacturing days living out their days within the city. With so many folks like that together in one area it almost feels like a trip through time. These people lived in a time when you could just work at a factory, raise a family, and call it a day. Later in the day I couldn't help but notice how few young folk I saw. Obviously I saw a few teenagers and twenty somethings, just not many. This stuck out all the more the next day when running errands in my wee town of 9,000 people I saw more young attractive woman than I did all day in Kokomo. Maybe they were hiding down at the water park, I can't say.

Would I go back one day? Maybe. I loved Kokomo Toys, The Gaming HQ, Gingerbread House Bakery and Comics Cubed. Plus I'm sure there are many other oddities hiding among the many streets. At the same time it's a somewhat depressing area as it's a living embodiment of the American dream taking a shit and leaving people with the task of digging their way out. There's still a ton of visible damage from everything that hit the place yet there's a good supply of people aiming to make new businesses and make the it more livable.

That's enough dramatics about the failings of America for now. I did indulge in some good old fashioned consumerism, so let's look at my haul.

At Comics Cubed I grabbed an issue of The Incredible Hulk featuring my favorite swamp dweller, Man-Thing. That's another guest appearance down, something like 70 more to go.

I also nabbed this big pack of issues of The Legend of Kamui. I'd only vaguely heard of the title before, and honestly there's a lack of decent info on the internet. Still this seemed like something worth getting. Even better, it was marked as issues #1-26 for $9.99 but it actually 27, 28, 36, and 37 as well. Perhaps you'll see more about this one later on.

At Kokomo Toys I grabbed Cerberus from the Final Fantasy VIII Guardian Force series. Despite my love for this franchise I own almost no trinkets or memorabilia so this was a nice way to patch that hole. Then I picked up the new Dr. Strange Funko Pop, a Yubi Godzilla mystery mini, and since I needed to grab something classic, I picked up a Thundercats Slith figure.

Since I was behaving by that point in the day, the only things I got from the Gaming HQ were two shooters published by Working Designs (god do I ever miss those guys). Gungriffen Blaze was developed by Game Arts, the crew behind titles like Grandia and Lunar. Second is Silpheed: The Lost Planet which is those same guys teamed up with Treasure which makes it a instant buy. I also picked up a Val Lewton double Feature at the Goodwill store. These are out of print and sort of pricey these days so it's a nice find.

So that was my big reward, making up for the months of nonsense I put up with at the Alzheimer home. Now with the special trip out of the way I'm officially back to work on making something of my life, what a drag. I'm actually going to try and have another article cooked up for you all this weekend while I work on a massive pile of backlogged writing. See you again soon.