Some of my fellow bloggers invite readers to toss out questions and they get some real interest ones. They also get volume. It seems my small and loyal group learns enough and have little they want to know more about.However, for those who asked, here are the answers:Malnurtured Snay had several:It’s twenty-four hours to get from Cairo to the U.S.? Really? Is there a layover or something?The layover is what kills you. Coming home we flew several hours to Madrid then slept in the airport and wandered the small terminal for something like seven-eight hours before the eight hour flight back to New York. Add in the time change and you’re totally disoriented when you land.Do you get any cool perks for that job?Too few jobs have really cool perks above and beyond the ordinary stuff that most offices offer (bad coffee, for example).Interesting cover. Might I theorize the Riker Twins face-off in a duel to settle who’s better: the Maquis or the Feds?Yes, you might theorize that. Then again, your theory may be wrong. I’ll be writing the actual story in September so be patient.Jim asked:Bob, I am a huge fan of WWN‘s “Matthew Daemon” stories and comics, though sadly I’ve missed a few in their run. Is there any chance of putting them together in an archive collection, say a special edition issue of the WWN or an online archive on your website? The comic strip was intended to be archived on the revamped website but technical delays prevented any comic strip archive from being formed. With the paper now closing, I doubt the archive work will be completed. Should someone company wish to license the material for a collection, that’d certainly be cool. Dick Siegel, who created the feature, Mike Collins, who wrote and drew the strip version, and yours truly all had a ball with the character and his world.Bob asked:And why haven’t the Yankees fired Joe Torre yet?Because firing Joe Torre would not have changed the injuries or the level of play. The potential has always been there for the Yankees to play better than they have. Maybe not at world champion level, but certainly better than being 8-10 game behind Boston. The last week has proven that as the team has slugged their way back into contention. Now it’s a matter of sustaining that.
When AMI purchased Weider Publications in 2002, the staff of Natural Health Magazine saw our future demise. Within months, Corporate had unveiled a complete redesign, including a new logo but sadly, not including us. I was 23 and had worked in print media since I was 15 years old. The news was bittersweet– with the severance, I could take time off to finish a novel, but I was also losing my first Big Important Job.There were a few triumphant months between the purchase and the ax falling when I got to brag a lot. After the sale was announced, I called my mom back in Florida and proudly boasted, “American Media bought us and my boss is named Pecker and they make the Weekly World News!””Bat Boy?” She asked.”Heck yeah, Bat Boy!” I answered.What I’m trying to tell you is that, for those of us with a cynical appreciation for the counterculture, the kitsch, the wacky, the misfit and the sensational, the WWN was an icon. Sharing a parent company in a, tangled-up media family was like having a famous stepsister, and I loved it. When the office copies of our sister pubs came around the office, I inevitably stole the WWN and tacked pictures from it in my cubicle. The WWN’s aesthetic was a refreshing contrast to the vegan health mag where I dumped all my efforts. Plus, it made me laugh.I just wanted to thank you for that. I’d hoped to transfer to the New York or Delray/Boca offices and jockey for a position with your staff. We were pink slipped before I could make it work.Good luck to you. I’ll miss the horoscopes the most.
“Should someone company wish to license the material for a collection, that’d certainly be cool. “What would *really* be cool would be a full WWN print archive on DVD, much like the National Geographic archives.But, err.. not quite as erudite. =)