NERDS AROUND TOWN

Nerds Around Town: Nerd Holiday shopping guide, piracy and libraries

Nov 27, 2019, 8:15 am

ART BY JESUS RODRIGUEZ

Born with a comic book in one hand and a remote control in the other, Cory DLG is the talent of Conroe's very own Nerd Thug Radio and Sports. Check out the podcast replay of the FM radio show at www.nerdthugradio.com!

GOOD DEED OF THE DAY

For the next two weeks I'm going to be pointing to the charity called "Let's Bring 'Em Home." They buy plane tickets for active duty enlisted guys and fly them home for the holidays. On December 13^th, Nerd Thug Radio and The Adventure Begins will be teaming up and holding the Nerd Thug Takeover to benefit this wonderful organization. Starting at 6pm, proceeds from sales will be going to this 501c registered charity and will be helping to try and bring some enlisted people home for the holidays so they can see their families.

GREAT NERD GIFTS

So I hate that this is a thing but it's a real thing so it bears doing. This week has also become Christmas shopping kick off weekend, with all kinds of crazy Black Friday deals and a lot of people buy most of their gifts during this weekend so I suppose I owe it to the nerds around town to make some suggestions for people. So here are my five nerd gifts suggestions: 5. Watchmen Deluxe Edition 4. We're not always grim and gritty, maybe a little light hearted Superman and Batman statue 3. Black Science Premiere Hardcover, it's not just superheroes anymore 2. Bloodshot Deluxe Edition, in anticipation of this movie coming out next year and 1. Either "DCeased" or "Batman Who Laughs" they're both equally worthy of the top spot.

PIRATING COMICS

The hot topic of pirating broke out this week on Comic's twitter as the creator of Image comic "Crowded" got irritated when he saw roughly 90k reads of his 10 issue book but he as a starving artist is worried about his book being cancelled. I remember being a kid who illegally swapped music files when that stuff first came out and Lars of Metallica fame came out and went after Napster for stealing from artists. At the time, as a kid not understanding how stuff works I thought he was such a chump for that. Now as a creator who pays his own bills, I recognize the courage and the strength he had to come out and say, "if you're a fan of my music, then you need to buy it." The reality is that paying creatives for their work is the right thing to do. My grandmother passed away early this year and she had asked specific people to speak at her funeral service and after the fact there were conversations amongst the family members that they were surprised some of them took money for coming to speak. I know there are specifics that make this hard to explain well, and it wasn't that my family didn't want her to have a nice service, there was just surprise about the business of it. What wound up coming out of the conversation though is that this is their living, this is how they pay their bills and are able to continue their good works, by asking for and receiving money for their work. IF you like something, pay for it, I'm not saying pay everything for it, I make comics and I literally let people pay me personally whatever they want for a PDF of my comic. I'm not expecting to get rich doing this, but I have to receive value for my work or I can't keep doing it, the same is true for everyone else in this industry.

LIBRARIES BAD?

During the conversation about piracy, a village idiot from the "wise minds" of the Comicsgate community suggested Libraries and piracy are the same thing. This is vastly incorrect and an idiots take on a big idea. Yes libraries only may buy one copy of your work and then let tons of other people read it at no added benefit directly to you. But first of all, they bought A COPY, secondly libraries are the poor person's option to enrich their lives through the arts. You don't get mad that people use libraries, you get thrilled. Reading is the backbone of all modern societies through all of human history that mattered. Passing knowledge freely from person to person in a way that is respectful to the process is exactly what we should want everyone around the world to be doing. We certainly don't get mad at libraries loaning books out for free, that is just stupid. Also from a capitalism standpoint, if you sell your books to the estimated 100k libraries across America, you made a lot more sales than the estimated 2k comic shops across America, just a math thought.

NOT THAT YOU ASKED

Work is progressing on issue #2 of Another Day at the Office and I'm super excited but the real question is, what's the best way to market it? How exactly should I handle the release of issue #2? These are the big things I'm pondering this holiday.

Feel free to check out my brand-new comic book Another Day at the Office or buy a shirt from Side Hustle Ts where some proceeds help people struggling with cancer or listen to Nerd Thug Radio. Thoughts, complaints, events and comments can be sent to corydlg@gmail.com.

holiday gifts nerds around town

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BROWNS BEAT TEXANS

11 observations from Texans' 31-21 loss to Browns

Texans fall to Browns. Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images.

The Houston Texans kept it closer than the experts thought they would, but couldn't pull out a victory. Here are 11 observations from the loss in Cleveland to the Browns.

1. The game looks totally different if Texans quarterback Tyrod Taylor finishes the game. Taylor left at halftime with a hamstring injury. He was playing exceptionally well against his former team. Taylor is not expected to play Thursday according to NFL Network.

2. Davis Mills had a rocky NFL debut which was to be expected. Mills looked to have the wrong elements of a few plays. He also couldn't hit backup wideout Andre Roberts over the middle and threw an interception. It was a fine performance considering what Mills showed he could do in the preseason.

3. Mills didn't work with a full load of offensive weapons in the second half. Rookie wideout Nico Collins didn't return to the game after his lone catch and big run early in the game. Veteran slot receiver Danny Amendola left the game with an injury. Tight end Anthony Auclair left with an eye injury. The Texans entered the game without wide receiver Anthony Miller who was inactive.

4. Brandin Cooks is a monster through two games. He is the most dangerous skill position player on the team, and defenses still have trouble covering him and staying with him. Cooks turned in yet another impressive day for this team and hauled in a Davis Mills touchdown pass.

5. The Browns did a solid job against the ground game of the Texans. Mark Ingram averaged under three yards per carry and Tyrod Taylor was the only rusher to have a big play on the ground. This led to a fair number of third-and-long situations which the Texans usually had trouble converting.

6. Justin Reid was set to increase his payday on his next contract with his early play. Reid forced a fumble and had an interception in the first half. Unfortunately, Reid would leave the game multiple times with injuries. The knock on Reid has always been his health.

7. The Texans were worn down by the Browns rushing attack all day. Once Cleveland committed to the run they saw the success of their work culminating in a 26-yard scamper by Nick Chubb for a touchdown. The Browns didn't run as much as I excepted them to run early.

8. Tim Kelly had another nice day calling plays. Kelly remains creative in finding ways to get the ball out of Taylor's hands quickly as well as manufacturing matchups where the Texans can win and pick up yards. He even got creative to get Davis Mills a passing touchdown late in the game. Kelly has been very impressive through two games.

9. Andre Roberts was inexcusably bad today. The Texans defense held on the opening drive and his muffed punt eliminated the momentum from the defensive stand. He also had poor returns on kickoffs. His lone job is to be a solid returner, and he failed at that on Sunday.

10. David Culley had a head-scratching decision foregoing an offsides call on a third down. The head coach opted for the result of the third down, and a punt on fourth down, instead of another third down. He did not explain himself well postgame on the decision either.

11. The Texans hung tough and should feel solid about where they could have been without the injury to their quarterback. With no Taylor in the short week, it will not be easy to beat the Panthers who upset the Saints on Sunday.

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