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This sign pairing has been there for years, and we finally picked up enough round tuits to snap a photo of it.

Usually we try to catch funny signs like this as soon as possible. You can bet M’hael’s wasn’t up for very long. But sometimes, as in this case, it’s not something broken, it’s just something odd, and it sticks around for a while.

Even so, we’ve missed a few.

The one that started Katie off on this was a demolished restaurant with only a port-a-potty left standing…and a sign saying “Ask about our banquet facilities.”

I drove past “Victory Foam” every morning for a year and never stopped for it.

Someone scrawled “Life is full of bumps” in loopy text inside the Sepulveda Tunnel under LAX, and I spent months trying to decide if there was a good way to stop safely, or walk in on foot.

KFC swapped out their “Hot & fresh breast meal” really fast, but at least we caught the Hot & Fresh Strips meal!

On a similar note, there was a car billboard on the freeway advertising “The four-crotch crotch rocket.” And a restaurant called “Seaman’s Inn” that Katie saw on a family vacation and couldn’t even comment on it.

It took a decade to catch another “ELF STORAGE” after missing the first one.

Just last month I missed the local Round Table’s Back to the Future reference by a day. (It was a week before the actual date, and I figured they’d keep it up that long. I came back the next day and it had been replaced by a new quote.)

Christmas Aisle in Costco - in early OctoberChristmas strikes deeper into Halloween’s territory, continuing a relentless campaign that began decades ago in response to a 1993 incursion from Halloween Town.

In recent years, Halloween has shored up its position by moving into previously unclaimed parts of the calendar in early October and September, itself running roughshod over tentative efforts by Oktoberfest to establish a foothold. Growth of adult Halloween parties with free-flowing alcohol have ensured that Oktoberfest can only offer one advantage over Halloween: Lederhosen. And you can wear those on Halloween too.

Deadpool ReadingDeadpool leans against a column, reading a magazine about himself. Upside-down.I’ve liked Long Beach Comic Con since it started, but this year was something else. They doubled the amount of floor space from previous years…and filled it. I think they doubled the number of programming tracks as well. And the fans came: I’d swear the place was busier on Sunday afternoon than it was last year on Saturday, and I had trouble finding parking for the first time ever.

TL;DR? Skip to the photo gallery if you must!

Last year I went with very specific goals in mind, because I’d been so aimless the year before. This year I wasn’t sure until Friday whether I’d be able to make it or which day, so I held off on planning, but it worked out.

Keeping Artist’s Alley as the centerpiece of the show has broadened it a bit into a show about comics and art. Continue reading

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