i

Bind.

 

 

  

elebrity Rant

pleasure, much like me, you know

who Spencer Pratt is. In fact, chances
are, even if you don’t watch The Hills,
you know who Spencer is. He’s known for
being a drama-king, a gossip, overtly rude
and the overall villain of the show.

I, however, beg to differ. I have to
partially base this argument around the fact
that I genuinely believe Spencer acts like a
different person in front of the camera than
he truly is, because no one in their right
mind would spend time with him if he
always acted the way he does on the show.

If you put aside your pity for poor,

|: any of you watch The Hills as a guilty

 

 

poor Lauren Conrad and her whole sex
tape debacle (she claims Spencer spread a
rumour about her having a sex tape) and
think about a lot of the things he says, you
will find he actually makes a lot of sense.
Granted, the fashion in which he makes
his points and the tone he uses is often
offensive.

For example, a few episodes ago,
he really gives his sister, Stephanie,
a hard time about not having seen
their grandmother in two years. He
tears a strip off of her right in front of
their grandmother which is cruel and
embarrassing and not the way to let your
opinion be known... but, he’s right! If you
live 20 minutes away from your granny,

   

Spencer Pratt: The Hills’ villain or just a realist?

By Chloé Bach, Arts Editor

there is absolutely no excuse not to have
seen her on a more regular basis.

Another example is when Heidi’s
(who is now his wife) sister Holly initially
moves in with them “temporarily” to get
her bearings in Los Angeles. You know,
to get a job and find a place to live and so
forth. But Holly ends up staying at their
place for weeks with no demonstrated
attempts to establish her own life and
space.

After several requests from Spencer
to have her sister find a place to live, he
finally gives Heidi the ultimatum of him
moving out if Holly will not. Now, maybe
an ultimatum wasn’t the way to approach
this; after all blood is thicker than water,

but I really don’t think that’s an unfair
request. Nothing is more annoying than
a guest who overstays their welcome

and takes advantage of your amenities,
food and so forth—which is exactly what
happened in this case.

I mean, sure, the guy lacks couth
but give what he has to say a listen and
then imagine someone eloquent, say like
Barack Obama, saying the exact same
thing and you will probably find that it
makes more sense than you might have
thought. In fact, Spencer Pratt might be the
most logical person on reality television.

 

MS

 

What the Hell is the Vancouver Comicon?

January 18" at Heritage Hall
$4 admission

n January 18",
Heritage Hall on
Main Street was

invaded by men trying

to find lost youth amidst

precious yellowing pages
wrapped in mylar. It is a common misconception that
the majority of comic collectors are 12 years old. No,
friend, that is a myth. A few of the peeps had vaginas,
but the majority of those in attendance stood up to pee
and had just seen their 36" birthday.

Collectors were questing for all different types
of treasure. Many tables included graphic novels;
collected versions of the originals designed more for
reading than investment. New “modern age” comics
were in abundance. Although they contain quality
art and stories, high print runs will never allow them

“achieve high dollar values. The real golden eggs that
this goose was producing were Golden and Silver Age
comics.

For those who were born thinking that only
Jessica Simpson was Daisy Duke, Golden Age or
Silver Age comics are those produced from 1938-
1955 and 1956-1969 respectively. This was a more
innocent era; superheroes did not wear leather, swear
or deal with issues like drugs or death. Comics were
colourful and simplistic and the stories portrayed a
view of the world that was driven by homemade apple

18

 

 

 

mam .

pie and landing on the moon.
The other kicker is that due to limited print runs
and the wear and tear that these:issues have suffered

over the years they are rare and highly valuable.
Today, print runs can be in the millions. In 1966,
Marvel’s biggest print run would be 95,000 comics
for a more popular book. Once the books were in
circulation and had been read, very few people
actually made any effort to actually collect them. In
fact, the vast majority of these comic books were
used as writing paper, toilet paper, to start a camp
fire or maybe a papier-maché creation. Therefore,
the number of issues left from particular print runs
may only be in the hundreds such as the 1940 classic
Superman #1. At auction this year a copy rated 5.0
out of 10 went for $121,000. Ridiculous.

Most of these issues that are up for sale come
from private collections; so if someone doesn’t want
to sell, there is nothing to buy. There was a huge
variety of Golden and Silver Age issues, however,
in comparison to some of the newer series’ that were
available they were few and far between. A gem that
I discovered was Journey into Mystery #95, which
is the twelfth appearance of Thor for the low price
of $100. Also available were Showcase #17 (the first
appearance of Adam Strange) for only three-hundo,
Strange Tales #110 (first appearance of Doctor
Strange) for $550 and Tales to Astonish #34 for the
low, low price of $600.

The smell of mildew and dreams still linger in
my nostrils, but the treasures that were found are
priceless.

Priceless in this case was the $200 my girlfriend
allowed me to spend.

JL