The Johnny Bacardi Show

Gonna ramble, in best Dickie Betts and Steve Martin style.

Mrs. B, a month or so ago, found a half-dead kitten in our driveway, took him in, and nursed him back to health. Dino, as we have named him, is now a feisty and mean little shit who likes to snooze all day and romp all night, even to the point of jumping in our bed and pawing at our faces and biting our arms. He also likes to aggrivate our dog, who l ikes to sleep at the foot of our bed, and the ensuing struggles wake us up without fail. I have a difficult time at best going back to sleep after I've been awakened so I wind up getting out of bed and watching movies and videos and ESPN news during the wee hours. Right now, I'm sleeping for a couple of hours, getting up and staying up till 5:30-6 AM, going back to bed while Mrs. B is getting ready for work (at least one of us still has a job), sleeping till 10:30-11 AM, and having no time to do much of anything at all during the day, or being rushed whenever I try to do something, which mostly consists of running errands and posting on this here blog. Plus, when I get up, I always feel muzzy-headed and tired...so if my ramblings make less sense and have more typos than usual, then this is an explanation of sorts. Bear with me, cats and kittens. The little guy's so cute that you can't get too mad at him, but this shit is getting old.

So I was up at 4:45 this morning and thought to go outside to look for Mars. Maybe I missed the peak viewing time, or maybe it was so hazy and humid outside (ain't nothin' like Kentucky humidity, let me tell you) that the brilliance of the Red Planet was diminshed, I don't know...but it was disappointing. I've seen brighter morning and evening stars.

When I was a kid- oh, 8-10, I was fascinated by astronomy. Of course, it was back in the heyday of the space race and NASA and all that, but I just loved (and still do) going outside and looking at the stars. I had my little pocket field guide to all the constellations, and I would spend hours finding them all, in all sorts of weather. I knew all the names of the major stars in each of them, and hoped to someday, perhaps, be an astronomer if I couldn't be a comic book artist or rock star. Of course, I grew older and found out how much math one had to know to become an astronomer, and that pretty much knocked that in the head. I am proud to say, though, that I made an A in my college astronomy class.

I was one of the "fortunate' ones who read Ian Ungstad's fill-in All The Rage column Sunday afternoon at Silver Bullet Comics.com. It was a smarmy, innuendo-filled report that read more like the Enquirer than a comics column, and I was a little repulsed by it. Especially because he listed the things he did and (wisely) did not name a single name...which has the same annoying effect as the asshole, and we all have encountered them, who comes up to you or a group you're in and says "I know something that would curl your hair if you heard it", then says "But I can't tell you!". I would link to it, but it's been removed, thank God. Read about the removal over at ADD's. Mr. Doane has also recently posted a list of active creators and their works that he considers to be essential, and it's a good one, although I (like many of my fellow Team Comics bloggers) am completely unfamiliar with that Paul Hornschemeier fellow. His Forlorn Funnies looks interesting, so he's definitely a subject for further research. I don't know if I'm up to a list of my own like this, but I know I would add Paul Grist to it if I were.

Spencer Warren over at the Claremont Institute has compiled a list of great Westerns. What a great idea! I might have to do something similar soon. But I have a mighty strange idea of a good Western, and I liked Wyatt Earp, so look out! And for the record, I thought Dennis Quaid made a much better Doc Holliday than Val Kilmer. Heresy! Found over at Forager 23...I wonder if he took his name from the Kirby New Gods character?

EveTushnet has posted several interesting articles lately about Scott McCloud's Understanding and Reinventing Comics. I haven't read the latter, but I agree with her in several places on the former.

On the job hunt front, still no word from Cabela's, and the second phone interview with Donnelley was another screening call. The HR lady was unaware that I had already had one interview, and her tone changed notably when I told her so (she asked, by the way)...so I have a feeling that she's contacted the Glasgow division, been told why I haven't been rehired yet, and I won't hear from her again. But she left me her phone number, so I'll probably call it eventually.

All right, I'm finished for now. Gotta drive south and buy me some floppy pamphlets. Ta ta.