Agent Palmer

Every year on Dec. 31, people start contemplating what they’ll strive for in the coming year.

I’ll quit smoking. I’ll lose weight. I’ll save money.

Yeah, sure you will, until the second week of January when you say, “Screw it,” and just wait to make the same resolutions next year.

Here is a list of the resolutions that most of us geeks have every year, only they aren’t resolutions, they’re goals!

Recently, I attended the Philly Non-Sports Card Show. I didn’t quite know what to expect. I had been to “CCG” shows, but they’re universally labelled as such. So I headed out, having very little idea of what might be in store for me.

When I arrived there was a line of about 100 people waiting to get in. It wasn’t quite a comic con crowd, but there were some characters, an equal mix of genders and a very wide range of ages.

Now before I explain what I saw at the show, let me explain all I know about Non-Sports Cards.

It’s been a hot one. Not just this summer, but this year. It’s going to be one of the hottest in history… That’s what they’re saying anyway. I understand the consequences, this heat has also been accompanied by drought and fire. When it does rain, it’s a thunderstorm that doesn’t seem to drop the humidity and cool everything off like we’re used to.

But I’m not going to talk about the negative effects on farming and the destruction of property from the fires. I’m going to talk about us.

I am so very impressed with The Muppets. I grew up with them, in fact, I’m in the last group of kids who watched new episodes of Jim Henson’s legacy. Nickelodeon, was still playing original episodes of “The Muppet Show” and “Fraggle Rock” were still alive and well. So for something that I grew up with to still impress me, feels like a big deal.

And what Disney has done, and I’m not the biggest Disney fan (far from it), socially through the use of available technologies to make The Muppets relevant again, is truely a masterpiece.

Day 2, my return to the Great Allentown Comic Con 2011. In my mind, and apparently in many others, there was an anticipation at arrival of noon to come. Because at noon, Mr. Peter Mayhew, Chewbacca himself would be speaking on a panel with Tom Kane, the voice of Yoda in Clone Wars.

The room was packed, or at least for a con of this size, and compared to the panels that I attended on day one.