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A complicated pop culture construct made from podcasts, words and gnomes, based in Edmonton, AB.

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AuthorBrandon Schatz

Elsewhere // The Retailer’s View: Rebirthing Problems

February 15, 2016 /

If you’ve hit the comic book news sites lately, you’ve probably heard rumblings about something called Rebirth. A quick explanation: DC will be supposedly relaunching their line-up in June with brand new first issues. Over at The Comics Beat, I elaborate on the potential shape of things to come, and what DC should do if they are aiming for a relaunch.

An except:

I’m more than a little afraid that DC’s big Rebirth announcement will be born more from a place of panic than laying the foundations down for a better tomorrow. The confirmation of twice-monthly shipping is a bit of a tip off for that. While I can’t argue with the financial boon having Batman shipping twice a month would provide, I can argue that doing so does more long-term harm than it provides short-term gain. All one has to do is take a look at Marvel’s current publishing line to see the effects of this publishing practice. While having your flagship Avengers title ship twice a month ensures a certain sales level that books like, say Vision won’t ever hope to hit in a million years, it also softens the highs that a book like Avengers can have. People are often more shy about taking a chance on a book that will cost them $8 a month (or $11.20 Canadian) to keep up with, which shaves down the audience. In addition to that, retailers are a little more gun-shy about ordering above and beyond for books that routinely circumvent the Final Order Cut-Off process. Currently, if a book ships monthly, you’ll usually have at least 4-11 days worth of sales data before you have to finalize your numbers for the next issue. Shipping twice a month means that orders for issue #3 will be due around the time numbers for issue #1 are finally rolling in – and armed with zero sales information for issue #2, most retailers will play it safe and keep things tight on the shelf. So yes, sales would be fairly stable, but there would be no chance to grab new readers, which is what DC so desperately needs to do at this point.

There’s quite a bit more where that came from, and you can head off to the full article for more, including a tidbit or two about how the Canadian dollar is affecting things as well.

Draggin’

February 15, 2016 /

Stop draggin

For a little context, here’s a uh… perplexing panel from CyberRad #3:

Puss draggin

The Douglas Adams Project

February 12, 2016 /

I wrote something about this a little while back, but then completely neglected to share it when I dove down into a deep dark feelings pit. Things often get forgotten in the feelings pit, like the shape of a smile or the sound of genuine laughter. I feel like I’m already getting off track.

Last year, I read a staggeringly small amount of actual prose books. I think the number topped out at around… three and a half, which is terrible. In that time, I know I bought more than three and a half prose books, which becomes problematic when you’re trying to live a fairly minimalistic life.

So, at the start of the year, I came up with several goals, some of which apply here. One was to read more books. Another was to buy less. A third was to look at our already populate shelves when the mood to read prose strikes, which would in turn help with that second goal. These goals ended up colliding with the feelings pit, and a very specific project came about: The Douglas Adams Project.

The idea is simple: over the course of 2016, I’ll be working my way through the works of Douglas Adams, starting with The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series, and rolling straight into Dirk Gently. If some time remains on the clock after those seven, I’m going to extend the exercise into the sixth Hitchhiker’s book, The Salmon of Doubt, and the novelization of Adams’ unproduced Doctor Who script Shana. I will likely read these books regardless of whether or not I get to them in 2016, but I enjoy the idea of having stretch goals for this challenge. But anyway.

I chose Douglas Adams because when I was starting to fall into the feelings pit at the beginning of the year, my brain started pumping out fond memories of reading The Hitchhiker’s Guide, and that coupled with the thought that I had owned the complete set for ages, but had never gotten around to reading the rest. Reading them all would serve several purposes, and hopefully pull myself out of the doldrums.

At this point in the project, I’ve just wrapped Hitchhiker’s once more, and the experience was as pleasurable as I remember it being the first time around. There’s a small chance that I got a bit more out of it now that I’m a bit older and wiser and can pull out more wonderful story structure things from it, but that’s a post for another day. (Next week, in fact.)

So yes. There it is. A task for 2016, already on its way to completion. I suspect there will be several road blocks to come, including breaks to read other things that tickle my fancy, combined with the general fact that I rarely see projects like this through to the end. Which is actually another goal for 2016: try and actually get things done. I’ll let you know how that goes as well.

Doctor Whooch // Episode 081 // Space Babies

February 11, 2016 /

In which we fawn over the Last Centurion. That dude is dreamy. As. FUCK.

On this week’s episode, Danica and Brandon are starting a project that will take them twisting all the way through 2016: The River Song Timeline Re-Watch. Or whatever it was we said when we were drunk. If we even said anything. It all starts with “A Good Man Goes To War” (Series 6, Episode 7) and then goes straight into other things on television. Or rather, it stumbles there. We were preeeeetttty drunk, you guys.

Outro music is “Formation” by Beyoncé.
Podcast picture is by GIRL NAMED SHIRL PHOTOGRAPHY.

Subscribe to Doctor Whooch on iTunes

Brandon Schatz // Twitter // Facebook 
Danica LeBlanc // Twitter

Elsewhere // 124th Street Dining

February 10, 2016 /

When we were looking to open Variant Edition, we had a very short list of areas we wanted to open in – and one of them (which seemed a little out of our reach) was the 124th Street Area. As luck would have it, we found a great location nestled in behind 124th (and still in the business district) and we couldn’t be happier. The area is filled with great local businesses and restaurants, and being able to work and live this close to all that awesomeness is pretty great.

Fun fact: a few weeks ago, Danica was asked to be a part of a video showcasing a lot of the great food 124th Street has to offer. You can see the video starring Brittney Le Blanc above, as well as Danica and Robyn Wilson.

Brittney has a companion piece to the video on her blog right here.

Finding My Way Back

February 9, 2016 /

These words come after some hard fought weeks and months. They’re not pretty or polished, but at least they convey something and I think at the very least, I need to get the shape of something out there.

I’ve always… I’ve always felt happy, more or less. That sounds like a weird thing to say. It is a weird thing to say, or definitely a privileged thing to say. When I look back at my life, through all the various bits of heartache and pain that have come my way, I feel as though I was always afforded the luxury of knowing things were going to be okay. Some of that comes from my general disposition and body chemistry. A lot of it came from the unending support from my friends and family. I’ve been very lucky. I am very lucky.

But.

Lately, I’ve been battling with something I don’t think I can face. A slow creeping thing that’s tugging at the edges of my heart. A feeling that glues me to the couch, and wills me to live there forever as the day seems to stretch endlessly before me. A potent cocktail of stress and fear are conspiring to render me immobile, and it’s… strange. As shitty and privileged as I’m sure this sounds, I’m… I’m not used to this. I’m not used to feeling an overriding sense of fear or dread. My default is always a big, stupid smile, so much so that I know I’ve pissed off more than a few people with how up I seem to be about things, no matter how hard they might be getting. I think something has caught up to me. I’m not quite sure what to do about it.

To hopefully put a few minds at ease, please know this: I know I will be okay. I have a wonderful wife who has been helping me deal with my things and who thankfully isn’t afraid to call me on my bullshit. We make each other better in so many different ways, and the fact that she’s in my life is what I think is saving me from the worst of it. Even as we stumble inside our own heads, we have a hand to hold on to, and that’s… that’s everything.

I know most of this just lives inside my own head, stress caused from both real and perceived sources. I know that I’m doing better than most. I’ve got a wife, two cats, a stable job and business and some great friends and family. People seem to like what we’re doing at Variant Edition, and that has made the store financially viable.

And yet.

What I’ve decided I need to do, is to start focusing a bit more inwards. So much of my thoughts tend to be external, about trying to control things that I have no ability to control. What I need to do is focus on what is within my own reach, and what I can actually affect. From there, I’m going to extend my fingertips, and see what else I can achieve beyond that. I’m also going to start taking some time to relax a bit more, which is… easier said than done. I’ve been so inside my head that the time that I have to relax has been eaten up with a constant churn of worry, and I need to learn that not thinking about things for a few seconds is actually helpful – that I’m not a bad person because my every waking moment wasn’t used to figure out a problem I’m not even meant to solve.

My hope is that with this new mindset, I’ll be able to pop in here more often and actually accomplish something outside of the store. That’s what I want from this. That’s my goal. But if I can’t do that, I hope that I at least get to a stage where I can be happy with doing nothing at all for a little while, and being okay with that.

Here’s hoping.

Elsewhere // “I Get Really Confused Around Books”

February 9, 2016 /

Last week, the lovely Danica LeBlanc was on episode 25 of Boozy Boob Tube, another great local (drunk) television podcast. The topic?

Agent Carter

This is a show that Danica and I are very diligent about keeping up with – which is a rarity in these early days of running Variant Edition. You can hear Danica and the wonderful women of Boozy Boob Tube share their thoughts here.

As always, feel free to share your thoughts about Agent Carter as well either on our social media, or below in the comment section.

Brandon Schatz // Twitter // Facebook 
Danica LeBlanc // Twitter

Boozy Boob Tube // Website // Twitter

Challenge Yourself

February 8, 2016 /

Challenge Yourself

Doctor Whooch // Episode 080 // Stop Bringing Us Down, Bruce

February 4, 2016 /

In which a useless man fails to do anything well.

On this week’s episode of Doctor Whooch, Brandon experiences an episode he has never seen before: “Love & Monsters”. It’s a pretty good episode until it suddenly, violently isn’t. The whole thing follows a terrible man who is making a YouTube video of some kind where he talks about trying to stalk The Doctor and dancing in his underwear. Then a thing happens and things get really weird. Like… REALLY weird. You just… you kind of have to see it to believe it. Or listen to this episode. Whatever you wish.

Outro music is “Mr Blue Sky” by ELO
Podcast picture is by GIRL NAMED SHIRL PHOTOGRAPHY.
Subscribe to Doctor Whooch on iTunes

Brandon Schatz // Twitter // Facebook 
Danica LeBlanc // Twitter
Doctor Whooch // Twitter

Doctor Whooch // Episode 079 // ‘Cuz DADS

January 29, 2016 /

Bye Felicia!

This week on Doctor Whooch, Danica and Brandon are talking about the BIG NEWS! Moffat is out. Chibnall is in. Also, there’s alcohol. AND SOUND EFFECTS. There’s a lot happening in this episode, including talk about the Chris Chibnall penned episode “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship” (Series 7, Episode 2). Brian Williams is in it! Rory’s dad, that is, not the news anchor. And also, terrible things are said. As always.

Outro music is “Pinball Wizard”

Podcast picture is by GIRL NAMED SHIRL PHOTOGRAPHY.

Subscribe to Doctor Whooch on iTunes

Brandon Schatz // Twitter // Facebook 
Danica LeBlanc // Twitter
Doctor Whooch // Twitter

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