There’s no truth that I am in Romania looking at the Bran Castle looking at a way to make Dracula’s home a summer retreat if I am ever allowed back into the former Communist state. In 1897, Bram Stoker’s described a dream vacation house—a historic castle that offers 360-degree views as it “sits on the very edge of a terrific precipice.” This nature lover’s paradise offers plenty of privacy because “as far as the eye can reach is a sea of green tree tops,” and “here and there are silver threads where the rivers wind in deep gorges through the forests.” them famous to accompany their riches and somehow wipe away a few of their abuses aimed as journalists and (gulp) media people. However you slice it, it will cost you in the neighborhood of $60 million Euro.

And, I may or may not be in San Francisco waving goodbye to the sport’s most beloved voice. Yes, the poetic golden voice of Vin Scully is officially retired from baseball (see his tour de force in the 1988 World Series below.).

One of my biggest thrills in the photography world was the ceremony renaming Stadium Way to Vin Scully Avenue, on the official address where where Dodger Stadium sits overlooking Los Angeles. Now, after 67 years poetically reporting baseball games, he turned his microphone off. He will be missed. I could try to sum up his career, but the New York Times, sums it up the best…

“Vin Scully’s final game on Sunday was something close to a miracle in sportscasting — an 88-year-old man performing a solo act, conversing with us for more than three hours, keeping track of the game while telling stories, invoking memories and reminding us that he did this single job for 67 consecutive seasons. 

“How many men or women his age have ever performed so ably, so publicly, with no safety net? Think of two announcers often thought of as baseball’s greatest before Vincent Edward Scully succeeded them. 

“Red Barber, Scully’s mentor, was 58 when he was fired by the Yankees. Mel Allen was 51 when the Yankees broke his heart by dismissing him. Imagine if they had worked for 30 more years — would they have maintained their abilities as Scully has? Would they have been as fortunate as Ernie Harwell, who retired at 84 but would have been able to work as long as Scully has? 

“Scully’s working alone was a gift to all of us. He could carry games by himself, as he proved every day. 

“And oh, that voice, so melodic and with a pace ideally suited for baseball.”

Okay, so where am I?, you ask again…what I can tell you is that the flight attendants on Air Berlin are delightful…especially in business class and they make a mean vodka tonic. My non-stop flight from LAX to Düsseldorf literally flew by and my private pod give me a nice rest after only sleeping one hour the night before I flew to Germany and prior to waking 30,000 steps a day inside the history-laden country. (More on Air Berlin and Germany itself later this month…)

When I was wine tasting in the Rheingau, it occurred to me that it’s been over a year since we caught up with Daniela, our favorite flight girl (again that’s want she likes to be called – don’t shoot the messenger fellow Fempire builders), with an update on the latest in air travel…

Daniela says kisses from the cockpit.

FLIGHT GIRL DANIELA: I know you are all exciting about the business class seat on your Air Berlin flight. But what you probably didn’t know was that airplane seat have come a long way. The early ones were made of wicker and yet people forget and complain constantly about their seat. Sheesh, they should be sitting on straight wicker — spoiled brats!

MEDIA GUY: Are there better seats than others? How can non-Media Guy nab those spots for themselves?

FGD: I get bribed on nearly every flight with chocolates or homemade baked goods: “I’d love it if you could find me a better seat,” they say with a wink-wink. So where are the best seats? If you’re lucky, you may get an economy seat that allows for a slight recline feature of a few inches or legroom in bulkhead seat or emergency exit row. Yes, we can upgrade you to business class or first class after the airplane’s doors close. No, we don’t do it very often, partly because on some airlines we have to file a report explaining why we did it, partly because there has to be a meal for you, and partly because the forward cabins are often full. Who do we upgrade? Not the slob who’s dressed in a dirty tank top. It helps if you’re extremely nice, well dressed, pregnant, very tall, good looking, one of our friends, or all of the above.

MG: Doesn’t the blue and glue-green tones of the plan interiors soothe the savage airline traveller?

FGD: Every detail in a commercial aircraft cabin is intentional. The typical hues you speak of are chosen with color psychology in mind as these tones are universally reputed for being universally liked and calming. It doesn’t always work on cranky passengers, though.

MG: If I’m stuck in economy, how can I get served sooner?

Don’t act like you’ve never seen a therapy turkey going through airport security.

FGD: Jiggling you’re your glass of ice at me won’t make me dash to the galley for a refill. In fact, it makes me want to scream. Service usually starts at the front of the cabin,. Some airlines vary the service depending on whether the flight is flying east versus west or north versus south. For premium cabins, some airlines actually let you pre-order meals on their website. The front-to-back service can add to the disadvantage of sitting in the rear. When I ask you what you’d like to drink and you ask me “Well, what do you have?” I want to answer “Not a lot of time.” But you wouldn’t like that.

MG: I’ve been hearing a lot lately about what not to wear on a plane. What’s your thought?

FGD: I realize some of you have been in Europe for two weeks, you’ve only packed so much, and you’ve run out of clean pants and shirts. It may be tempting to throw on something that more or less passes the sniff test and head off to the airport. But remember: Odors are intensified on a plane, where passengers are cramped in close quarters and stale air is recycled throughout the cabin. The perfect seatmate is one who doesn’t smell like anything. To

Have a single drink and keep those shoes on!

achieve a zen-like lack of scent, be sure to reserve a clean outfit for the plane ride home. And go easy on the cologne. Better yet, don’t wear any. Scent is subjective. You may adore the delicate bouquet of Armani, but your seatmate could find its aroma noxious. Me too!

Speaking odors, your feet should be as unobtrusive as possible to everyone else (so don’t prop them on top of a seatback, or wriggle them into the gap between the wall of the plane and the poor person in the seat in front of you who just wants to lean against the window without getting a faceful of your bare toes). Put your shoes back on before you go to the lavatory (because ew). And finally, if you know you’re prone to smelly feet, be considerate and leave your shoes on.

More from the Media Guy and Flight Girl Daniela:
Nicki Minaj took my seat in business class, plus a visit with Flight Girl Daniela!
Daniela:::Deux
Flying the Friendly Skies

Vin Scully’s call of Kirk Gibson’s 1988 World Series historic home run:

The post Castle Shopping with Daniela the Flight Girl appeared first on Media Guy Struggles.

Get in touch with your inner 19th century French side and think of it this way:

• The Bourgeoisie are those who own the land, the factories, the resources, the materials, and who employ the proletariat. However, they are disconnected from the production process while gaining from the output of the proletariat. 
• The Petite Bourgeoisie are the people who may employ the labor of others, but are also working themselves. They may be shopkeepers or professionals. They may have resources, but do not profit exclusively from the labor of others.
• The Proletariat is the working class, people who sell their labor. 

So where am I? Tonight I’ll be at the Baltimore Orioles-Kansas City Royals American League Championship Opener for one of the Big Four networks dining on some delectable crab cakes in the press box (**** – See Andrew Zimmerman’s recipe at the bottom for some homemade treats). Yes, good copy editors are hard to find and sometime I get a plum assignment or two. Yet, I digress.

Press Box Crab Cakes – Yum!

This morning I am at ComicCon in the land were a Twitter tweet can stop a union run commercial shoot, New York City. Yes, the Big Apple knows how to cater the Bourgeoisie and the common nerd. Regulars to the Media Struggles know my appreciation of Comics–to the Batman Media Conglomerate, to getting a College Degree to International Read A Comic in Public Day–this under appreciated artform is the backbone of American entertainment. I caught up with Bryan Menegus, a noted expert and writer in the field and he said, “While comics may have started as disposable entertainment, it’s no secret that many books can fetch a hefty sum based on their rarity, CGC grade*, illustrator, and/or characters that may have first appeared in them.”

The Proletariat has become The Bourgeoisie it seems. So without further delay, here are some of the most expensive items and what made them so pricy:

All twelve original Star Wars figures from Palitoy.

“They’re the first 12 [figures] that came out back in the 1970s and these were done by Palitoy Corp. which was over in England. They weren’t available in the United States and the Palitoy Cards — the packaging from Palitoy — is extremely valuable right now.”

The comics that gave is the Ninja Turtles

“Gobbledygook is very sought-after because it’s the book that Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird put together to get the funding so they could produce Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1. So they did 50 of them… and distributed [them] within the Massachusetts area, where the guys were from. Once they were gone, they were gone. Up until the Internet, they were super hard to find. Some people classify it as the first appearance of the Turtles, so it sort of depends on your feeling on that.”

Yes, that’s a swastika – 1941 was a strange time for comics.

“What makes this book popular is that it’s the first Archie. Most people don’t realize that Archie has been around for a very long time. Not only is this the first Archie, but it’s extremely rare. There’s only 10 restored copies and 10 unrestored copies ever graded by the CGC, so that’s 20. I’m sure there’s more than 20 people on planet Earth that would like to have the first appearance of Archie.”

Have you heard of Dr. Strange? If not you soon will…

“It’s the first appearance of Doctor Strange and Marvel is doing a new movie, so that’s increased the price. Doctor Strange basically doubled in price in the last year since the movie announcement.”

Too rich for your blood? Keep on truckin’…

“Robert Crumb is probably the greatest living illustrator, internationally. He’s in museum holdings like the Museum of Modern Art, he’s represented by the world’s most important gallerist, David Zwirner. He’s an underground comics legend and godfather. One of the most important American artists.”

VRRROOOM! Steve Ditko’s hand touched that piece of paper – I may never wash again!

“The main thing is because Steve Ditko drew it. Steve Ditko is the first person that drew Spider-Man. Pages with Spider-Man on it by Steve Ditko just go for incredible amounts of money. Like at auction, a page from #29 with no Scorpion on it, just Spider-Man swinging, went for $125,000 like three years ago. It’s just supply and demand for this stuff.”

The content and number of an issue can be as important as the artist who drew it.

“Well it’s Spider-Man #300, which is one of the most famous comic issues of the modern era. It’s from Todd McFarlane’s tenth year on Spider-Man, which was a huge fan favorite and a huge top-seller. We sold a different McFarlane cover for around $650,000 a couple years ago. There’s really intense interest in his art. CEOs of companies, doctors, lawyers, people in the financial field, a lot of people in the entertainment industry. Movie directors and such, you know, collect comics.”

Holy lifetime of debt, Batman!

“This is Detective Comics #27, the highest-graded copy in existence. It’s worth this much because this is the origin and first appearance of Batman. It debuted in 1939 and it’s also the first appearance of Commissioner Gordon. Just to give you a little bit of a background, the first Batman — which is Detective #27 — and the first Superman — which is Action Comics #1 — are considered holy grails of comic books. The reason this is only $550,000 is that it is a restored copy. That’s the reason why it’s got a purple label on it. But it is the highest graded copy in existence.”

Proud (and dapper) owner of the most expensive comic book in the world

“Action Comics #1 is so valuable because it is the first appearance of Superman, and Superman is the first superhero. So without Superman there’d be no Batman, there’d be no Spider-Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Flash, Green Lantern — none of them. Superman is the character that started it all. He is the archetype from which all other superheroes are derived. There are less than a hundred copies known to exist in the world, and very few of them in unrestored condition. This copy happens to be the highest-graded copy — in 9.0 condition — with white pages. We just purchased it for $3.2 million and we’re extremely excited about it. We feel this book has a lot of upside potential… we will be selling this and making a profit. I can guarantee that. We’re not in a position where we desperately need to sell it. If we were we would not have bought it. But it’d go for north of $3.2 million, obviously.”

****Baltimore-Style Crab Cakes

CONTRIBUTED BY ANDREW ZIMMERN
ACTIVE: 25 MIN
TOTAL TIME: 1 HR 25 MIN
SERVINGS: 4

This is the best crab cake recipe you will ever find. If you don’t overmix, and don’t pack your mounds too tightly, you will experience pure, unadulterated crab cake heaven. Seriously, they are that good. Follow the steps to the letter and you will be making these cakes every opportunity you have. For years I searched for a great crab cake recipe. I wanted one that didn’t have a lot of filler, had no minced red pepper, no parsley—none of the usual crap that chefs typically ruin a good crab cake with. There is, in fact, a right and a wrong way to cook some foods, and putting a lot of junk in a crab cake is one of the biggest transgressions I find in American cookery. Anyway, one night about 20 years ago, my best friend’s wife (who is from Baltimore) shared her mother’s secret “country club” recipe for crab cakes. This is it, verbatim. I make these in double batches and put the leftovers in the fridge. If you haven’t eaten a cold crab cake on toast with sliced tomato and Russian dressing, then you are really missing out.

I also make these as a master batch: Instead of just eight, I make 24 to 26 mini donut-hole-size crab cakes for parties.

Team these with homemade slaw, a warm potato salad and some fruit salad, and watch your family go to it like a swarm of locusts. Guaranteed.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 large egg, beaten
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
1 pound jumbo lump crab meat, picked over
20 saltine crackers, finely crushed
1/4 cup canola oil
Lemon wedges, for serving

PREP

1. In a small bowl, whisk the mayonnaise with the egg, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce until smooth.

2. In a medium bowl, lightly toss the crabmeat with the cracker crumbs. Gently fold in the mayonnaise mixture. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

3. Scoop the crab mixture into eight 1/3-cup mounds; lightly pack into 8 patties, about 1 1/2 inches thick. In a large skillet, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the crab cakes and cook over moderately high heat until deeply golden and heated through, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer the crab cakes to plates and serve with lemon wedges.

On the field, prepping for game one of the ALCS…

Eutaw Street marker of Rafael Palmeiro’s 413′ homer in 1998.

Press box – replete with bad phones!

The Babe Ruth statue is just short of breathtaking.

**Restoration can be accomplished in a number of ways including conservation (removal of dirt, debris, or stains) leaf casting (which fills in missing paper that may have rotted away) and color touch (recoloring worn pages). The process can be quite expensive, and restored comics are usually worth less than a blue labelled version of the same book.  


**ComicCon picture credits: Bryan Menegus 

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