We’re Montreal-bound today so, rather than keep you waiting on a blog entry, I thought I’d post early and give you all a head start on your holiday planning.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, digital advance copies of Dark Matter #1 went out to the various online sites.  The reviews are starting to come in.  Two to start:

Review:Dark Matter from Dark Horse comics

Review: Dark Matter #1 – Rebirth | BAMFAS.com :: Entertainment …

So far, so good.

Also, over on the Dark Horse site, a little Q&A with yours truly:

5 Questions with a Writer – Joseph Malozzi: Dark Matter :: Blog …

And, in the unlikely event you’re wondering “What the heck is Dark Matter?”:

December 14, 2011: Dark (Matter) Developments!

I’ve got about a dozen more interviews lined up.  It’s going to be a busy couple of weeks!

Fabulously Festive Furball Fotos…

Visions of sugar plums...

Are you looking at me? Are YOU looking at ME?!

Yesterday, I asked you all to send in pics and links to your ugliest Christmas ornaments.  I kicked things off with four of my own.  I thought they were mighty hideous – but, as it turns out, downright resplendent in comparison to the entry my lil sis sent in.  Feast your eyes on THIS –

Think you can beat that?

39 thoughts on “December 23, 2011: Travel Day! Early Reviews of Dark Matter #1! Fabulously Festive Furball Fotos! Show off your hideous Christmas ornaments!

  1. Wow, that’s um, quite an ornament.
    Merry Christmas to all!

  2. Hands down winning ornament!

    Although, I bet Tim Burton would appreciate its artistic take on yultide ornamental decor.

    Have a great Christmas, Maximus! Keep Joe off Santa’s naughty list.

  3. That ornament is horrible. My son said “the worstest”. What’s killing me is there’s no sense of scale in the photo, so I don’t know which size of this abomination will visit my nightmares.

  4. Hi Joe,

    I haven’t caught much of your blog in the past while, but I’m sorry to read about Max.

    As always you have done everything you can for the little guy, and I hope he manages to enjoy the holidays with you. Give him a cuddle from me.

    I hope you and yours have a happy Christmas.

  5. Merry Christmas everybody!

    Thoughts to Maximus, he’s looking good on the video.
    Sun!!! I want some sun. It’s been raining for almost 3 weeks where I’m living (Besançon, France). But this fall, the weather was great, so you can’t have everything.

    Have a nice day or night!

  6. This morning my son came down the stairs, blinked sleepily and said, “It’s a fairly light-hearted season so far on ‘Super Sentai.'” He couldn’t understand why I was laughing. There are no normal people in MY house!

  7. Love the photos, especially Bubba and Jelly Angel. Damn, they are adorable! Daughter’s home, son’s on his way sans girlfriend, so it’ll be just the 4 of us for a few days. It’s been ages since that was the case, so we’re all looking forward to it. Have a safe trip and a wonderful Christmas! Much love to you, Akemi and the family, furry and otherwise. 🙂

  8. i clicked on the image thinking that Joe’s sister pulled some sort of prank and taped his face onto the ornament… maybe next year… haha

    Nice to see those positive reviews on Dark Matter. Makes me want to read it.

  9. Not much could beat your sister’s entry 😉 .
    I’m looking forward to pictures of your mom’s food.
    Have a good trip!

  10. hope you and the dogs have a very good christmas mate. hope all is well and i’m very sorry to hear about Maximus.

    just one or two things

    Would the destiny crew have ever gotten home?

    have you thought about any other comicbooks/books to

    have you read Y the last man? what do you think of it?

    Have a very good christmas!

    Cheers

  11. Biopsy went well, just having some minor issues to work out with it.

    I am going to read this later because I have to start working, but I wanted to send you ALL a Christmas card. I don’t know if this is going to work, but let me try. Somebody please try it and let me know. If it doesn’t, I’ll try tinyurl to shorten it. Make sure you read the tag on the gift when it shows up in the animation.

    I consider you all friends. This little group and Joe are so special. You’ve kept me sane this year. Much love to you.

    http://www.hallmark.com/PickUp/ViewECard?RecipientEmail=HildaBowen%40comcast.net&ConfirmationId=EG11999990694207

  12. Hope your travel day was a good one. Have loads of fun with your family, blessings for all of you. Max is certainly in my thoughts, positive ones! Way to go with Dark Matter, we knew it would be good for you and Paul. Make sure you eat too much while you are away.

  13. Sis’ scary ornament beats anything I have.

    Love the curly tongue on Lulu and all the other pics as well.

    Can’t wait for Dark Matter! So where is my digital preview, Joe? Eh?

    I hope your travels are safe and easy!

  14. Safe journey! Pass the hugs around from me.

    My sailor nephew is home for a few days, he came over to visit and have a beer. We had a good long chat about everything family and Navy and so on, just us two. Nicest gift ever.

  15. Regarding the Ornament of Festive Horror – what is that even supposed to BE?

    Great dog pics! Hope your trip East goes/went well!

  16. I think that ornament’s more creepy than ugly.

    Hope you, Akemi, and Maximus had a nice flight!

  17. Very cool thing on Facebook yesterday dark horse posted about dark matter and your interview cant wait to get my first copy enjoy Montreal and have a merry Christmas.

  18. Hope you had a good flight!

    Nothing new to report here. Weird day. Worked half a day, did some grocery shopping and ran into 250 people I haven’t seen in a year, so talked too much and wasted a bunch of time, and didn’t have dinner until 9 pm. Just a weird day. Also, Mr. Das insisted on buying me a flat screen tv which, of course, doesn’t give me as good as picture as my old tube tv because I haven’t upgraded my satellite to HD (because it’s gonna cost me like $300+ bucks to set up, and I have to cut down a tree for the HD dish). The tv is okay, but I think it’s a waste of money. I would much rather have gone out for a fancy dinner somewhere.

    I just feel all weird. My routine was totally thrown out of whack, and the weather was strange (warm and damp and cloudy), and I’m worrying about stuff (cat, money, strange new tv, weight, end of the year paperwork, etc.). I feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone, or something. I kinda would have been okay if today just didn’t happen.

    das

  19. Hey Joe,

    I cannot remember what process to use to post a picture…so here I go with a couple of choices.

    That looks down right…way too long.

    http://i869.photobucket.com/albums/ab253/cherluvya/2c1982a4.jpg

    That looks better…but the ornament…is well…NOT mine. It hangs on the tree at my daughter’s home. I am visiting for Christmas. All of MY ornaments were cute or beautiful. But…they have long since been passed on to my children.

    Best to you Joe..little A and the pups,
    Cheryl

  20. Okay…so THAT really long code didn’t post…ha…so short is better. I will remember for next time I decide to share. *smiles*

  21. Oh…and here in Oklahoma they refer to that as a booty. In California I only remember booty as “Booty Call”….BUT in all my imagination…I cannot imagine anyone calling on THAT booty.

  22. Game over. Your sister wins. Even though cherluvya’s ornament reminds me of that hideous lamp shade in A Christmas Story, your sister still wins. In all fairness to Christmas ornaments, can we see the most beautiful or charming?

    Did you have a nice flight? How’s mom and everyone?

  23. Max is so cute, and amazing. I hope you had a comfortable flight and are settling in for the Holiday’s.

    And yes, your sister’s is the best ugliest ornament I’ve ever seen. But strangely alluring. I couldn’t stop staring at it.

    A very belated but heartfelt Thank You Joe, and everyone here for your kind thoughts. It means a lot.

    Doc’s still can’t figure what I have, so scrooge it. I’ve got next week off and plan to dive into big bags of artery choking theater popcorn (with accompanying movies), visiting friends and couch plopping.

    Big {{HUGS}} for Max. And my Best Wishes to you, Akemi and your wonderful family for a fabulous Christmas!

    And wishing everyone here a fantastic Holiday Season!!

  24. @PBMom:

    Glad to hear that the biopsy went well!

    And the card was cute…

    Merry Christmas to you, Jeff and Patrick!

    And Merry Christmas to Joe, Akemi, the pups and his Mum and Sis, and all the readers here; hoping everyone has a wonderful new year as well.

  25. Joe – that is a truly hideous ornament. The pugs look very festive.

    PBMom – Love the card. Happy to be one of “the gang”.

    dasndanger – got the hubster a new 70″ LED television. It is amazing. Yes, we have high def, and the picture is astounding. It’s better than being at the theatre. We hardly get out anymore with his health, so getting this for him was a really big deal.

  26. Awwwwww!! Looks like your doggies are ready for Christmas! 🙂 I’m sure they have been very good pups. May be Santa will bring them something nice! 🙂

    Merry Christmas Joe, Akemi, and the doggie troop! 😀

  27. PBmom: very cute card!

    Das: I hope today goes better for ya! New TV? Wowzer! We upgraded our Satellite to HD but the old receiver’s picture looked fine to me.
    At least your hubby decided what to buy for you. My hubby was paralyzed by the thought of picking something out for me this year. (work stress) If he was going to be that stressed over it, I told him to just to forget buying me anything. It seemed easier and I’ve got enough stuff.
    Those new flat screens are so light, also. Much easier to move around. Try to focus on the positives.
    You could do Netflix… They have Midsomer Muders up to the 75th episode now. They only about 12 shows of Inspector Lewis though.

    Mr. M: I hope you had a smooth trip. I pray Max is doing well! Enjoy your Mum’s wonderful food! Please post pictures/recipes of her favorite dishes. She could start her own food blog for sure!

    Sinus infection and a migraine today but I’m going to beat it! A big Thank you to my Dr friend that called in a prescription for me after I found my dr’s office was closed.

    Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all out there!

  28. Joe, Akemi, Mom, Sis, all your blog followers
    and all of the family lil ones
    Mele Kalikimaka

  29. RE: The Television.

    Firstly, this wasn’t a Christmas gift. It wasn’t a gift at all. We had decided that, if we were getting a new tv for ‘my’ room (he has a larger flat screen in ‘his’ room, so it’s not like this was a necessity), then we would wait until just before the Stupid Bowl, since that’s when television prices are usually at their lowest. No, this was purely an impulse buy on my husband’s part, and I wonder what happened to our deal to wait until the sale prices next month (esp. considering our financial situation). I hate this time of year because all the commercialism and greed and hype and ‘must haves’ makes people buy stuff they don’t need, and that’s exactly what happened. I’m immune to it all, but Mr. Das is easy. (How else do you think I was able to catch myself such a handsome husband? 😉 )

    Secondly, my old Daewoo tv worked just fine, and had a good picture. I was happy with it. I told him a million times I was happy with it. I wanted to wait for the thing to die before replacing it. Without HD, this new one just isn’t as good, unless you’re sitting directly in front of it about 6 foot away. Also, because it’s so lightweight, it shakes every time you walk through the room.

    Thirdly, the sound is crap. Tinny, and hollow…like, tin can tinny. I’ve adjusted the bass and treble, but it’s still tinny.

    He’s as equally disappointed in it as I am, so we haven’t decided yet whether to keep it, or not. I think he’s also disappointed that I’m not happy with it, but since we were together when he bought it, he knew well in advance that I was against the purchase in the first place. Like I said, this wasn’t a gift, this was a joint decision on purchasing a household item. I went along with it because it was his money, and his decision on how to use it.

    And don’t get me wrong, I’m not mad at Mr. Das. I’m mad at the ever-changing technology that makes people feel that they HAVE to get new stuff all the time, even when the old is working just fine. I don’t like constant change and am happy and content with the old. Except for men…those I prefer a bit younger….

    😀

    das

  30. PS: The tv is only a 24″ – so don’t get any crazy ideas that we’re big spenders. It’s just that every penny counts these days and I hate using it for something I really don’t need.

    das

  31. Thanks, PBMom for the cute e-card! And, a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and everyone else here as well! And of course to Joe, Akemi and the rest of his clan.

    @Das: That’s the problem – you need to go at least to 42″, along with the full DVD set of all three Stargate series! Blu-ray if possible. 😉

  32. @ gforce – You’re not helping. 😛 To go with the 42″, I’d have to get new furniture (since it wouldn’t fit in my 1970-something entertainment thingy…which I don’t want to part with since it’s sold wood), and probaby a new room (since the room it’s in is only 10’x12′.

    Also…what is Blu-ray?

    😉

    das

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