Day: May 24, 2011

Deano’s answer to: “Which Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle has the most physical strength?”

Posted on by Deano in Q & A

All of the turtles are, for their comic universe, quite incredibly strong, with additional “supporting strengths” of high endurance and physical durability.

That said, the most consistent references/occurrences of high physical strength and/or “overall strongmanosity” seem to be in favor of Raphael.

(Lookit those muscles! Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/zak…)

The combination of his rage/anger management issues, and propensity to lunge for the center of the fight, gives Raph more opportunities to use direct brute force/strength, instead of the more subtle, tactically-sound techniques of his brothers.

Still, barring Raphael’s strength stats in later TMNT video games, or various semi-official or fan-sourced expressions of the various turtles’ might in various RPG systems[*] there is very little hard data one way or another.

[* Like this: http://forums.thetechnodrome.com…]

This article originally appeared on Quora: Which Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle has the most physical strength?

Deano’s answer to: “Who was the first comic book superhero?”

Posted on by Deano in Q & A

This is a bit tough… Given the particular wording of your question, I’d go with Superman. He’s the first archetypical “superhero” who appeared in comic book form, at least in the US…

(This is actually just Christopher Reeve chasing me after I keyed his car…)

According to Wikipedia[*], the French once again beat us to the punch with a fella called the “Nyctalope”:

(My doctor says I have to stop eating Nyctalope for breakfast when I hit 40…)

As far as other possible “first placers”, you have all manner of costumed superhumans or “ultimate” humans –

  • The Phantom,
  • The Shadow,
  • The Spider,
  • Doc Savage,
  • Tarzan,
  • Zorro,
  • The Green Hornet,
  • etc…

– all of whom, if they magically dropped out of subspace in the Marvel or DC Universes, would be instantly recognized as “Superheroes”, or possibly “Super villains” in some cases.

Nevertheless, just about all of the other candidates appeared first in print books and magazines, comic strips, and radio dramas, and most did not take a strong stand in the comic book format until well after Superman had led the way as a groundbreaking title in the genre/medium in 1938 in Action Comics #1.

[* It’s actually a great Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sup…]

This answer originally appeared on Quora: What was the first comic book superhero?

Deano’s answer to: “What is the fashion like in the SFBA?”

Posted on by Deano in Q & A

Generally speaking, fashion in the Bay Area is a cross between:

  • flea market “high fashion”,


(Photo snuck quietly off http://www.fashioni.st/2011/04/t…)

  • utilitarian-outdoorsy,


(Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/vid…)

  • and flat-out laziness[*].

(Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/jus…)

Of course, there are many strata to the SFBA, and its fashion subcultures. Generally speaking, however, even the most refined “steampunk bdsm hipster“, “startup khaki cyclist” or “militant vegan go-go dancer“could be easily mistaken for some combination of the above three listed categories… And that doesn’t even include the masses of

  • tourists borifying the place up throughout the year:


(Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/eri…)

  • or the costumed revelers who attend neighborhood festivals and holidays:


(Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/drm…)

[* Frank Chu is on an amazing tireless mission, but let’s face it – he does not dress to impress. Admit it: without the sign, he’d blend in with the SOMA startup doofus crowd]

This answer originally appeared on Quora: What is the fashion like in the SFBA?

Deano’s answer to: “What is the best way to get Japanese knives sharpened in SFBA?”

Posted on by Deano in Q & A

For metal blades – it’s really just a general “where are the best knife sharpening services in the Bay Area”…

(Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/can…)

For that, I would recommend:

  • Hida Tool – www.hidatool.com – 1333 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley
  • Perfect Edge Cutlery – www.perfectedgecutlery.com – 1640 Palm Avenue, San Mateo
  • Critical Edge- a Knife Sharpening Service – (925) 937-3343 – 465 Boyd Road, Pleasant Hill

A lot of folks talk about lucking out with the sharpeners at farmers markets, but read those Yelp reviews carefully, and make sure you’re getting the good one, and not his or her sickday/vacation replacement.

For ceramic blades – you typically need to mail them back to the manufacturer. My wife recently did this with one of our Kyocera knives, and instead of sharpening it, they simply sent us a new knife. Not bad!

(Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/pau…)

This answer originally appeared on Quora: What is the best way to get Japanese knives sharpened in SFBA?