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February 2010
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| Editor/Webmaster Rina is a harrassed working mother of 4 who is married to Daniel Shelton, creator of "BEN". She posts regularly on, among other things, what's new with Daniel, his family life, and the world of "BEN". |
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Find us on Facebook
By Rina on January 27th, 2010
I've created a page for "BEN" there and it's a great place for readers to leave their comments. I have also started a discussions page there for fans to interact. And Daniel is working on his own profile page so that he can interact with readers. Don't forget to tell your other friends on Facebook about our website! |
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Q & A with Daniel
By Rina on January 26th, 2010
I've made a new page of information all about Daniel and "BEN", it can be found if you click on the "about" link in the navigation bar. |
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Brrrr, it's cold!
By Rina on January 15th, 2010
I've lived in Canada for almost 20 years now and only in the last part of it have I mastered the art of dressing for winter. My first decade here I was utterly miserable, not wearing the proper coats and going hatless, yet wondering why I was so cold. Now I never leave the house without hat, gloves, scarf and good winter boots. The only problem with this is for those couple of minutes that I am nice and toasty walking outside to the car, starting it and waiting for it to warm up, after that while sitting in the car I get so hot and dizzy that I end up having to take all my accessories off.
I have this theory that certain Canadians who have been here for generations have developed the ability to adjust their body temperature to whatever is required at the time. This would explain how some people (you see them in the mall or restaurant etc.) can calmly walk around fully bundled in hat and scarf indoors where it is room temperature and then go outside in sub-zero weather yet remain looking unperturbed by the change in temperature. Daniel is such a person and it amazes me to see him in something like a Santa Claus parade, minus 25 with the wind chill and yet while I am shivering and hunched over, he stands unaffected. Then we go into the Community center for some hot chocolate and after just a couple of minutes I am peeling off my scarf and feeling dizzy from the warmth of the room and gasping for air and yet there he stands, still fully dressed, scarf wound tightly around his neck and coat zipped all the way up, yet looking just as comfortable as he did outside. And he can stay that way for a long time, as in a two hour drive when after five minutes I have had to remove my coat and drink continuously from a water bottle because of the heater in the car. Yet when we get to our destination and I am scrambling to put coat, hat, gloves and scarf back on to step outside (only to freeze in that short walk to the house), Daniel hops out, cool as a cucumber, doesn't even shiver as he strolls to ring the bell. How else to explain this? It must be an animal-like ability that has evolved in certain people. I sure wish I had it. |
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Random Pet Peeves
By Rina on January 8th, 2010
Watching a cooking show with someone who is wearing long sleeves drives me crazy. I wish I could reach into the tv screen and roll their sleeves up off their wrists or something. Why do a cooking show when half the time you are worried about getting food on the sleeves of your fancy silk blouse and you are being all careful cutting stuff up, and holding your arms away from the pots when you put the food in? Half the time they look like they don't even want to handle the food!
Of course in contrast to that is someone like Jamie Oliver who plays so much with his food that he looks like a kid in nursery smearing finger paint everywhere. Before it's cooked is all right but afterwards when he's preparing the plates and he's using his hands to put every single bit of food on the plate...I almost expect him to cup his two palms together to spoon the soup in bowls.
That show "Chopped!" is entertaining, but I must admit feeling a bit sorry for those judges who have to eat the stuff being served. The red-faced chefs are sweating buckets all over the food they are preparing, you can actually see the perspiration dripping into the dishes as time is running out and they are feverishly trying to pull everything together. It's enough to make one feel queasy sometimes.
One more annoying thing: those shows were everything is measured perfectly ahead of time in these glass bowls, no mess or preparation, just dump the ingredients in the pot and stir, I mean even down to the 1/4 tsp of salt in a little bowl, what is that about? That's cheating, that's what! It doesn't give any kind of idea or feeling about actual cooking.
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Happy New Year!
By Rina on January 4th, 2010
One of the funniest books I've read is "The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, age 13 3/4" by British author Sue Townsend. It starts like this:
These are my New Year's resolutions:
1. I will help the blind across the road.
2. I will hang my trousers up.
3. I will put the sleeves back on my records.
4. I will not start smoking.
5. I will stop squeezing my spots.
6. I will be kind to the dog.
7. I will help the poor and ignorant.
8. After hearing the disgusting noises from downstairs last night, I have also vowed never to drink alcohol.
So with apologies to Sue Townsend, here is my New Year's resolution list:
1. I will upload today's comic before 9 am.
2. I will drink 6 glasses of water a day and eat more fruit and vegetables (yeah right!).
3. I will triple-check the hockey schedule so that I can bring my son to the correct arena and at the right time.
4. I will make muffins more often than once every 3 months.
5. I will not forget teacher gifts.
6. I will not let the loads of laundry which need to be folded pile up in our bedroom so that it looks like a bargain sale bin at Old Navy.
7. I will go to bed at a decent time so that when I catch my reflection in a store window I won't wonder who that haggard-looking woman is. |
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The Meaning of Christmas
By Rina on December 15th, 2009
Usually it is that time of year when I feel exactly like Charlie Brown in his Christmas special. You all know what I mean. The endless barrage of materialism that runs rampant during the approaching holidays makes you question what Christmas is really all about. Yet you can't help but be caught in its wave and join in the running around and the shopping, and then it feels even more depressing. In past years I would attempt to go against this tide. Grinch-like, I grumbled about the importance placed on gifts and Santa. I gritted my teeth at the endless references to presents and toys and Boxing Day specials and what seemed like a lack of other holiday traditions.
Where I grew up, Christmas was all about midnight mass, caroling, visiting relatives and eating. I received one gift from my parents and sometimes an uncle or aunt would remember me. So when I had kids of my own, I was not prepared for the sheer attention paid to buying gifts and the pressure that came with that. For years I was bitter and snobbish about the whole thing.
Then somewhere along the way I realized that my refusing this part of Christmas made me no better than those who only saw Christmas as a chance to get gifts. It doesn't have to be one or the other. The materialism that is familiar and a tradition for many can co-exist with the spiritual and family values I remembered. I stopped trying to recreate my own childhood and started making our own traditions that married both Daniel's and my upbringing. Now I even appreciate the mayhem of gift-giving, I guess I have just accepted it and have a serenity about it now.
This year was even more meaningful because our family stumbled upon a production right here in our small town. Apparently thousands of visitors have been coming over the past 5 years to something less than 2 km away from our house. It is called "A Walk to Bethlehem". It is a re-enactment of the Christmas story by about a hundred members of a local church. This is from their website:
Walk To Bethlehem is a theatrical excursion back to the time just before Christ’s birth, two-thousand years ago. You will be escorted through Bethlehem by one of our friendly guides, who will protect you from Roman soldiers, beggars and thieves. You will meet Shepherds, Wiseman, and even Angels before finding the Baby Jesus in the Manger.
There were times when it felt a bit uncomfortable, almost like preaching, especially the final scene when they have you visit Jesus's crucifixion (empty cross, people mourning) and reminded you that the whole reason Jesus was born was so he could die for us. I felt it was a very literal interpretation. And yet, recalling Linus speaking to Charlie Brown, it's a kind of truth that makes you feel guilty, like your mom letting you know you forgot to call her on Mother's Day. Towards the end when our group reached the stable (complete with donkey and sheep), we were invited to sing "Silent Night" with the choir. It was poignant and touching. The kids (who like us hadn't known what to expect) were quite impressed and it was the perfect start to this holiday season to temper the materialism that is so tied in with the meaning of Christmas. |
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H1N1
By Rina on December 3rd, 2009
I thought this week's comics about the flu were appropriate during this whole H1N1/swine flu business! |
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Japanese Internment Camp
By Rina on November 28th, 2009
 In the archives section of our website we have a storyline about Nathan's father George Tokoname and how as a boy he was placed in a Canadian internment camp for Japanese-Canadians during World War II. Daniel chose the name "Tokoname" from a famous bonsai pot maker and in the comics he showcases his love for bonsai and suiseki (the art and display of viewing stones). Daniel has a collection of bonsai which he has been tending for 10 years.
After the events of Sept. 11, 2001 and the backlash towards Muslim communities around the world, Daniel felt it important to look at a chapter in American and Canadian history when citizens were rounded up based purely on their racial background. The series was much praised by the Japanese community and we received many letters (as far away as Japan). |
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Star Trek
By Rina on November 25th, 2009
My two sisters and I were part of the wave that discovered Star Trek during its resurgence in the late 1980s when "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" was a big hit in theatres and "Star Trek: The Next Generation" made its debut on tv. We were impressionable teens who had never seen any of the classic show before and we started catching up big time on cable. My sister Miel was so impressed with William Shatner that she even watched "TJ Hooker" and loved to imitate him running in that funny chubby way he had and would...SPEAK...the way he...SPOKE... We called each other Bones, Scotty and Jim. We even (and I am a little embarrassed to say this) attended a convention in New York City where my sister Lisa's highlight was getting James Doohan's autograph.
It was around this time that Daniel and I met and as usual, he was bemused by the whole thing. We were both attending the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art in New Jersey and while he was sharing a house with some other students, I was renting a room in a pretty seedy part of town. I wasn't allowed to use the kitchen or have visitors by the cranky old lady who rented me the room so made do with cans of Chef Boyardee and a hot plate and on Friday evenings my dad would pick me up for the weekend and I would gorge on my mom's cooking. Star Trek reruns were my constant companion during this lonely time until I was able to get a place in a house with other students. Throughout that whole year I managed to watch each episode a number of times. But "The Next Generation" looked very dull by comparison and we never got into it till years later. |
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| Blog archive for October and November 2009 |
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We would really love to hear from you. Let us know what you think of the new look and content. Ask Daniel some questions and look for your answers in an interview page I am preparing. Tell us what kinds of things you would like to see in our website.
letters@bencomicstrip.com
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