The PERHAPANAUTS are going to ALBUQUERQUE~!

okay...

so craig and i are packing our bags and heading out wests where we'll be guests this coming weekend--june 21rd-23rd--at the ALBUQUERQUE COMIC EXPO in beautiful Albuquerque New Mexico! we'll be staying with some old friends of ours--walter and jesse...bazinga! that'd be cool though...

but we are heading out a day early to try to take in some of the sights and soak up some of that awesome southwest vibe! 

if you're in the area, of course, we hope you'll stop by and see us! we'll have all the trades and packages of all five DANGER DOWN UNDER!s and assorted other Perhapa-shwag--as well as some all-new HAPS bumper stickers for you to slap on your car and let everyone know you support the paranormal!

i'm really looking forward to meeting and getting a chance to chat with folks from the new mexico/arizona area. aside from a few shows years ago in texas, i really haven't spent much time in the southwest. craig and i are hoping that maybe we can find a few new perhapa-fans to add to our ever-growing family. so come on out and say hey!

hope to see ya there!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

though i try not to mention sad things too much here on the blog, we lost my dad about this time last year. and, though it has made this past year a little lonelier, i know that he was itchin' to meet up with my mom, who had taken the journey 6 years before him.

and while i was somewhat pre-occupied this past weekend with the albany comic con, it still made father's day an extra sad event for me and my brother. we miss him. dad is on our minds a lot.

but it's my mother who has been in my mind these past few weeks even moreso.  

my mom was a wonderful person; just a very positive, very loving, very friendly person. she was a warm and compassionate mom--truly, my best friend and supporter growing up--an active member of her community, and a school teacher whose former students remember her with happy smiles and stories.

so you wouldn't think that sweet, silver-haired sandy dezago would have a dark secret...but she did.

mom loved true crime. a voracious reader, mom would buzz through three books a week, easy. and while she'd enjoy various bestsellers and works of fiction from time to time, her deepest passion was for true crime, namely the factual accounts of murders and murder investigations. years before CSI and the nationwide fascination with forensics and crime scene investigations came into vogue, my mom already knew how to do all of that stuff. she was on the cutting edge of the latest evidence gathering techniques when the oj trial was in full swing. me, my brother and my dad would turn to look at this strange woman who was sitting in our living room, rattling off names of chemicals and scientific procedures as she 'solved' the case ahead of time. i truly believe in an after-life and i believe that, in it, we are free to pursue the things we are passionate about. if that is the case, i'm sure that my mom's solving crimes in heaven. *   (*yes, i know that brings up some interesting questions, but lemme go with this.)

in the past few weeks, however, my mom has been 'possessing' me--the good kind, i mean. like when molly takes over some unconscious person. my mom's been tweaking my own fascination with true crime and mystery, steering me towards some unsettling tv shows and documentaries, making me want to watch the biography channel a lot. 

like most people, mom was horrified by the crimes, astounded by the techniques that talented police and law enforcement officials used to track down and capture these disturbed individuals...but also, fascinated and intrigued by what led these deviants to carry out their twisted nightmares. isn't that what we all wonder when we read these reports; where is that line and what made them cross it...?

lately i've dvr'd and watched reports on;

ed gein

ted bundy

the green river killer

the btw killer

and found myself on the edge of my seat with each of these chilling documentaries.

and it's all mom's fault.

i love her for it, of course, and feel her watching with me. weird topic to be bonding with my mom over, i know. and, naturally, i have a ka-billion other memories of my mother that are nothing but bright happy days of laughter and love. but whenever i get that urge to look in on the dark side of humanity, i know that my curious mom is right there with me.

   

'kay--i gotta go pack for the trip!

as that super-70s poet, keith partridge once sang; "point me in the direction of albuquerque..."

have a great weekend!

 smell ya later!

 todd

the results are in...!

okay...

our winner this week, with a perfect score, is our pal, BRIAN MULCAHY!
brian was down in charlotte this past weekend enjoying HeroesCon and so i waited 'til this morning to make the announcement.
brian's prizes are on their way to him already. they include the wonderful WEIRD LAS VEGAS and Nevada as well as a copy of karl p.n. shukar's The Search for the Last Undiscovered Animals, the beasts that hide from man.
congratulations, brian--Hope you dig 'em!

and, oh yeah...here are the answers...


FIVE FOR FRIDAY!

1. irwin hasen, the creator of the original green lantern, was also (co-)responsible for a newspaper strip featuring the adventures of a young boy which ran in papers nationwide from 1955 to 1986. what was the boy's name (and title of the comic strip)?

Dondi

2. what is the name of the last letter of the greek alphabet?

Omega

3. who wrote such literary masterpieces as sirens of titan, galapagos, and cat's cradle?

Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

4. what band had hits with songs wild horses, paint it black, and gimme shelter?

The Rolling Stones

5. match the creature with the town, country, or region it is associated with;

a. point pleasant, west virginia                        g. mothman

b. bluff creek, california                                  i. bigfoot

c. dover, massachusetts                                   f. dover demon    

d. capiz, the philippines                                   j. the aswang

e. canovanas, puerto rico                                h. chupacabra 



be here next time for more trivia fun and perhaps-news!
smell ya later!
 todd

"five for friday~!"

okay...

first and foremost, a big HELLO to everyone heading out this weekend to the big HEROESCON in beautiful Charlotte NC! sorry i can't make it this time, but be sure to stop by and see craig who will be surrounded by all kindsa cool perhapa-shwag!! he'll be doing sketches and signing copies of DANGER DOWN UNDER! and having all sorts fun! don't miss it!

so...sorry for the delay in getting the five for friday out this morning--much to do around here today for some reason...

anyway, the questions are below and i ask you to please, please, please DON'T post your answers in the comments section provided, but MAIL them to me at

todd@perhapanauts.com

thank you.


the first person to send in the most correct answers wins this week's prize!
what is it, jay?

from the weird new jersey guys it's
WEIRD LAS VEGAS and Nevada

let's get to it!

FIVE FOR FRIDAY!

1. irwin hasen, the creator of the original green lantern, was also (co-)responsible for a newspaper strip featuring the adventures of a young boy which ran in papers nationwide from 1955 to 1986. what was the boy's name (and title of the comic strip)?

2. what is the name of the last letter of the greek alphabet?

3. who wrote such literary masterpieces as sirens of titan, galapagos, and cat's cradle?

4. what band had hits with songs wild horses, paint it black, and gimme shelter?

5. match the creature with the town, country, or region it is associated with;

a. point pleasant, west virginia                        f. dover demon

b. bluff creek, california                                  g. mothman

c. dover, massachusetts                                   h. chupacabra    

d. capiz, the philippines                                   i. bigfoot

e. canovanas, puerto rico                                j. the aswang




have a great weekend!
smell ya later!
todd

singing eric's praises~!

okay...

i've written this several times before, but when i say that we just can't thank him enough, i am not kidding.

thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you

to eric henson, who graciously and generously came in an offered his talents, support, and enthusiasm to help us make Danger Down Under! come out sooner and look sharper than we ever could've hoped for! eric's dedication and productivity were highly inspiration to both craig and i and we count ourselves very lucky to have him on the team and in the 'family'.

thank you, eric.
fantastic job!

and so, now that the final issue has finally hit the stands, i can post here eric's both beautiful and hilarious back cover. since we had been posting all the other covers online and with the solicitations, i wanted desperately to have something be a surprise (i love surprises!) and so i held onto these various and very cool back covers which, i think, are some of the most exciting and creative pieces we have!
lauren monardo-gramprey's 1930s pulp style "Famous Perhapanauts Mysteries" cover--
matt wieringo and christian d. leaf's wanted poster for "Choopie and Karl in the Wild Wild West" cover (colors by dean trippe)--
daniel warren's lushy painted family portrait, "The Perhapanauts"--
and matt tyree's hollywood-ready "Perhapanauts Montage" (colors by andrew cramer)--

love 'em all!

so it is with great excitement and pride that i present to you eric's awesome piece, simply entitled...

with colors by the very talented alex sollazzo, i can't tell you how hard i laughed when eric sent this over, complete and ready for publication. i love, Love, LOVE a good homage--or parody--and this absolutely nails the texture and terror of the original poster (now somewhat passé after years of being a cultural reference point) and the humorous timbre of a mad magazine.

i couldn't love it more!

so, thanks, eric--and alex--for a great final image for our fantastic final issue.

there'll be more trivia here tomorrow--a bit more manageable than last week's, i assure you.

and prizes. and some talk about our very unexpected conclusion.

smell ya later!

 todd

The Answers... and the Winner!

okay...

so, i guess, after being away (from the "five for friday") for a while--and playing some serious trivia each week for the past few months--i came back a little too hard core. sorry gang--i didn't mean to make the questions that hard...i'll do better next time...

that said, the person with the most answers correct was our pal, warren newsom! warren sent his answers in certain that he wouldn't make the cut, but that's how it works sometimes., so always stick with it! warren's prizes are on their way to him as we speak and we'll have more great stuff to give away from the perhapanauts archives in upcoming weeks!

here are the answers;


"FIVE FOR FRIDAY!"

1. what cosmic event is named after the greek goddess of the dawn?

aurora borealis

2. four presidents were assassinated in office; lincoln, garfield, mckinley, and kennedy. how many other presidents had attempts made on their lives while in office?

the answer is four

andrew jackson

harry s. truman

gerald ford

ronald reagan

both theodore roosevelt and franklin d. roosevelt had attempts made on their lives, but not while in office. (teddy while campaigning for president and then later as a former president and franklin while he was still president-elect)

3. what state is known as "the show-me state"?

missouri

4. what classic television show theme song featured the line "i get allergic smelling hay"?

green acres

5. name the movies which featured the following stars;

a.  jack nicholson, sarah jessica parker (1996)

mars attacks!

b.  tina fey, brad pitt (2010)

megamind

c. robert deniro, al pacino (1974)

the godfather part 2

d. helen mirren, john malkovich (2010)

reds

e. ben stiller, william h. macy (1999)

mystery men

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

as you undoubtedly know, The PERHAPANAUTS: DANGER DOWN UNDER! no.5 hits stores THIS WEDNESDAY, so we're telling everyone to get out their books and re-read Issues 1 through 4, just to refresh themselves (after that loooong, unfortunate break).
read 1 and 2 tonight, 3 and 4 tomorrow...!

stay tuned for more updates...and more trivia!
smell ya later!
 todd

Maybe I should clarify...

okay...

I have not received a lot of answers for the Five for Friday.

Maybe they're too hard.

But, also, maybe I should clarify.

The person with THE MOST correct answers will be named the winner!!!

So, even if you only got one or two ort of the five (and, yes, I cheated--9)--send 'em in, Perhapa-Dudes!

Send 'em in!

FIVE FOR FRIDAY~!

okay...

so we're makin' it real up in here now...
the five for friday is gonna have some prizes and so i'd like to state right now that we're kinda on the honor system here. any true trivia contest is one that tests YOUR knowledge of useless information...NOT your ability to look it up on the internet. i am hoping that you will participate in the spirit of fun competition and rely on your brain power rather than your google power.

we will be featuring a five for friday throughout the summer (excluding a couple weeks when i'll be on vacation or craig and i will be in new mexico--ALBUQUERQUE COMIC EXPO, y'all--june 21-23!!!) the prizes will be listed ahead of time and are drawn from our personal collection of wild and wacky curios, books and dvds--call it the perhapanaut archives. some are cool, some bizarre, some will make you not want to win again. i will ship them out asap after the winner each week is announced.
good luck!

as stated wednesday, there is a prize for the winner of today's quiz. along with a copy of marc sceurman and mark moran's WEIRD US, the first person to send in their submission of the answers correctly gets a copy of the dvd bigfoot: the mysterious monster, narrated by peter graves (mission: impossible). it's a treat!

(not actual cover)

this is being posted on friday, may 31, at 10:00 a.m.

please do not post your answers in the comments section.

answers are to be sent to me at    todd@perhapanauts.com

the first person to send in their list of the correct answers wins.

winner will be announced saturday morning.

cool?

 so let's get to it!

"FIVE FOR FRIDAY!"

1. what cosmic event is named after the greek goddess of the dawn?

2. four presidents were assassinated in office; lincoln, garfield, mckinley, and kennedy. how many other presidents had attempts made on their lives while in office?

3. what state is known as "the show-me state"?

4. what classic television show theme song featured the line "i get allergic smelling hay"?

5. name the movies which featured the following stars;

a.  jack nicholson, sarah jessica parker (1996)

b.  tina fey, brad pitt (2010)

c. robert deniro, al pacino (1974)

d. helen mirren, john malkovich (2010)

e. ben stiller, william h. macy (1999)


have a great weekend!
smell ya later!
todd

some fascinating animals from rich~! and the return of "FIVE FOR FRIDAY!"

okay...

so, in an effort to recapture the golden age of the perhaps-blog, i thought it would be fun to post and talk a bit about some stuff that's not directly linked to the perhapanauts, but plays around the edges of what we find interesting. 

cryptozoology is the study of "hidden animals", ones who's existence has yet to be verified by modern science. we're all eagerly awaiting the day when solid, documented proof of bigfoot or the loch ness monster appears on the front page of the new york times or the wall street journal.

until then, let's take a look at some animals that are already here! i thought i'd seen just about every animal we've share this planet with until rich woodall sent me this link of these awesome--and strange--creatures that, frankly, i had never seen before. a long-legged wolf?! a deer with dracula fangs?!?!

here area  couple, but go to

http://imgur.com/a/Jexvo 

to see a bunch more and find out where they live and what they're all about.

fossa

gerenuk

maned wolf

tufted deer

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

we will, once again, begin running the "FIVE FOR FRIDAY" trivia this friday, with a new added incentive...prizes!

yep, that's right--your knowledge of completely useless info could actually win you something.

for the past few months, i've been meeting up with a passel of old high school pals every tuesday night for some hard-hitting trivia and i've been accumulating questions for the express purpose of getting this joint jumping again.

it's called "five for friday" (though sometimes the questions are in parts, so it could be more...) and this week you could win yourself a very cool copy of "WEIRD US" vol.1 with your big smart brain!

the first person to send in an email with the correct answers gets the prize (along with a couple other weird, wacky, wild, and weird items from our cabinet of paranormal nonsense) to show off how brilliant you are!

since this will be a 'first sent in, first win' kinda contest, i will be posting the perhapablog at exactly 10:00 am eastern standard time, so that everyone has the same start time advantage.

don't let your brain let you down!
see ya friday!
smell ya later!
 todd