Just added Tommy Lee Edwards' site to the "creators" section of the blogroll. Of special note is an ongoing story of which he has the first chapter up: it's called Teddy Grant, Soldier of Fortune, which seems to be, so far, a bit of a blend of the stylings of Toth (especially Bravo For Adventure) and Caniff with Raiders of the Lost Ark and X-Files. Go forth and viddy it, O my brothers and sisters.

Unconscious Mutterings again:

I say ... and you think ... ?

Miss America:: Styx. They did a song by that name that my high school rock band covered. Still can't listen to that frigging song, and the band thing didn't turn out all that great either.
Cherubs:: angels (sorry..can't think of anything else)
Shark Week:: Discovery Channel
Sunflowers:: Beach Boys
Sorority:: girls
Grilled chicken: Wendy's
100:: Bullets
Tickle monster:: Elmo
Veronica:: Lodge
Slurpee:: Cherry


Looks like this is all the posting I'll be doing today...I'm still working on the Vinyl-O, but it's gonna be a big'un and it takes time, something I can't seem to find a lot of right now.

See ya later, and like the Stones once sang: "May every song you sing be your favorite tune".

Speaking of Wizard World Chicago, the best news I've heard so far:

Howard Victor Chaykin is going to do the Challengers of the Unknown. Can't wait.

Via Newsarama by way of !Journalista!.

Update: Please see the comments section for more about recent Chaykin stuff from me.

You know, I should check Newsarama more often...though Neilalien I found the announcement that none other than my old fave Tommy Lee Edwards, whom you may recall from my Gemini Blood description in my "12 Comics You Should Read" list, will be illustrating the new adventures of fan-favorite character the Question. Originally created, written and illustrated by Steve Ditko as sort of a no-nonsense Spirit knockoff for Charlton Comics, the Question was one of a group of characters that DC acquired when Charlton went out of business back in the 80s. His gimmick was a mask that he wore, which had no facial features, hence the name. He always seemed to be accompanied by a lot of that trademark Ditkoesque swirly smoke. DC then published a Question comic for what seemed like a hell of a long time, with scripts by Dennis O'Neil and art by Denys Cowan, and while I was initially intrigued, I was completely underwhelmed by it so I stopped buying after about 6 issues. I've never had much affection for the characters, so believe me when I tell you that Edwards art is the only thing that could get me to buy a Question comic.

Here's another one of those quizzes where if you have any familiarity at all with the subject you can skew it towards any result you want...but what the heck.


You are "Uncle Black"


Which Mark Ryden Painting Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Hey, any excuse to post a Mark Ryden piece. Chris, aka the lucky bastard that got to go to Wizard World Chicago, you should take this quiz.

Poached from Very Black, by the way.

Went to see Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl Saturday. About all I can say is that it's better than Cutthroat Island, though not by much, and Johnny Depp is almost as pretty as Geena Davis was...and it's Depp, like Davis, that makes the film worthwhile.

Don't know what moved Depp to play his Jack Sparrow (Captain Jack Sparrow, I can hear him say) as some kind of mincing mix of Tim Curry, Errol Flynn and RuPaul, but I can guess: other than Sparrow, the most colorful character is Geoffrey Rush's scowling Captain Barbossa and the script is a by-the-numbers pirate adventure, badly needing some spice- which Depp provides by the barrelful. He seems to be having a large time, wisely kidding the material, and as a result the viewer has a large time along with him. His performance is the best reason to see this film. Rush gives a fine, nuanced performance too, and Orlando (Legolas) Bloom is OK in a role which, despite the fact that his character is pivotal to the goings-on, isn't asked to do very much acting-wise. The special FX are fine, especially the scenes with the ghostly, decomposing buccaneers by moonlight...as they swordfight with living opponents, I couldn't help but flash back on the recent Ray Harryhausen documentary I saw on TCM and how difficult it was for the Master to pull off the Jason vs. the skeletons scenes. We've come a long way, I suppose. There's a lot of nice scenery, not all of it being chewed by Depp and Rush, and the period detail appears to be very nicely done. One or two of the action scenes work as well as they're supposed to. Director Gore Verbinski, with whose The Ring I was unimpressed, does a fine job, free of the noisy and annoying MTV-ish tricks he brought to his previous effort.

But.

The movie is too damn long by at least 20 minutes because modern scriptwriters, especially when they write action-adventure films, can't resist the urge to pad the story with false endings and unnecessary plot twists. There is at least one too many swordfights as well, among all the other requisite pirate movie trappings, such as battles at sea, and people being washed up on tropical islands. I realize that the prevailing thought is that hey- this is a "Summer action movie", based on a Disney World ride, so we have to make it as much like a roller coaster as we can...with lots of ups and downs and ins and outs and "make you jump" scenes as possible. Fine. But I don't like roller coasters. More negatives: the young actress Kiera Knightley has absolutely zero charisma playing the female lead. None. Her character is given plenty of opportunity to do all sorts of things, and she does them all in the same, low-key way. Even her drunk scene with Depp. A little more spark on her part would have gone a long way towards making this movie a lot more entertaining. There's a lot of exposition, because the story itself is needlessly cluttered, and you have to pay attention (especially at the end) or you'll be confused.

All things considered, though, I thought Pirates was OK. In a lot of ways, I was reminded of late 50s and early 60s Disney films like their version of Treasure Island and The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh. Guess it was the priggish, uptight would-be suitor and captain of the guard, and Knightley's character's clueless father (Jonathan (Brazil) Pryce, always welcome in any film), along with all the redcoats. If this had been made in 1963, it would have been split in two parts and shown on Sunday night on Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. So what the heck...go see Pirates, for Depp if nothing else, and park your brain at the door.

A couple of things from Mark Evanier's website, which always provides a ton of interesting stuff-

A look at why "critically acclaimed but cancelled" titles are still worthwhile, which mentions one of my 12 comics you should read, Bat Lash. This article is almost a year old, and I'm sure many of you have already read it...but it sheds some light on that title. Plus, he reproduces the cover to #2 again...it's definitely the best cover of the series' run, but I'm thinking I should post another issue's cover sometime, just for the heck of it. #2's the only one that ever gets used!

Also, Evanier points us to art from what is now apparently going to be an unused Jay Stephens Teen Titans story. It's very retro, and appears to be set in 1964, is written by the original Titans (and longtime Brave & Bold) cscripter Bob Haney, and looks extremely cool. Hell, I'd buy it, unless it came out as a thirty dollar hardcover...but apparently those enlightened folks at DC say it's "too weird". As Rorschach would say: "Hurm."

Greetings, salutations, felicitations and Bacardi Show Birthday Greetings on this Sunday morning go out to:


Rock/hip-hop/jazz singer Neneh Cherry, 39 today. She hasn't been exactly what you could call a prolific artist, what with only three proper albums (only two released stateside) since 1988...but they've each been of high quality. Hopefully she'll get a new one out before the Aughts are over. Wonder if anybody hangs in the Buffalo Stance anymore...

Also


Everyone's favorite one-legged flautist and rock philosopher Ian Anderson, 56 today. I've always been a fan of Jethro Tull's early albums (pre-1976), as long-time readers may remember. He looks like the sort of fellow who'd "Give up his halo for a horn/and the horn for the hat I once had", doesn't he?

And by the way...he really has both legs. He sometimes played flute standing on one leg. Just in case you were wondering.

BSBdG's today for Agent Scully, aka Gillian Anderson, 35. I know, X-Files is over, and I shouldn't perpetuate typecasting. Apologies. I hope she goes on to bigger and better things as her career progresses.

But I'll still think "what's Agent Scully doing in that period drama?"...

Click on the picture above to go to her official website.

BEST OF THE WEEK

COMICS REVIEWS!
What I bought and what I thought, week of August 6

FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE JUSTICE LEAGUE 2
Honestly, I don't know how I can add to what I've said before: it's like Giffen and Dematteis found a script they had written back in 1986, dusted it off, and turned it in. Highlights this time around: the running joke with Fire, Sue Dibny, and hubby Ralph, the intellectual thugs, and the small, but hilarious Oberon cameo. Small...Oberon...BWAH-HA-HA! Big difference between now and then: Kevin Maguire has grown as an artist...his facial expressions, which were always realistic but sometimes didn't always match the emotions required back in the day are letter-perfect now, and he's gotten looser and more imaginative with his layouts. Only one complaint: colorist Lee Loughridge really needs to rethink his color palette. I suppose if I wanted to be true to this issue's spirit, I'd give it a 9, but instead I'll just stay with the norm and give it an A.

BAD GIRLS 1
What we have here is really nothing different than the sort of TV movies you see on the Disney Channel all the time, and since I watch Kim Possible whenever I can, I see plenty of that sort of thing on that network. Strong Buffy vibe, too. It's also reminiscent of theatrical releases like Zapped!, The Craft, or Clockstoppers. Or if we must compare it to comics, perhaps H-E-R-O combined with Will Pfiefer and Jill Thompson's recent miniseries Finals. A teenage nerd creates a serum which gives the four "Heathers" of his school super-powers, and it definitely doesn't appear as though they'll use them responsibly. This was an engaging read, despite the second-handedness of its plot, and well drawn by newcomer (to me, anyway) Jennifer Graves, who inks herself this time but I read where personal fave Jason Bone will do the tracing honors next issue, which is just fine with me. Still, I'm glad I got to see her own inks, and I'll be interested in what she does next. Gotta give a special mention to the nice Darwyn Cooke cover, which induced me to pick this up in the first place. Again, murkily colored by Lee Loughridge, who really should take that colorblindness test I had to take years ago for my graphics jobs... A-

ARKHAM ASYLUM: LIVING HELL 4
Moody and fast-paced, as usual, and Wade Von Grawbadger is a much better inker for Ryan Sook than the guy they got last time...but the story jumps around from place to place and flashback to flashback, often making it hard to follow, and I'm not sure if the focus didn't shift from the "Fish" too soon. The Demon's coming up, and all hell promises to literally break loose, so I'm still interested. B+

SOCK MONKEY Vol. 4 2
I still like Tony Millionaire's oddball sense of humor, and his excellent re-creation of the turn-of-the-century cartooning style...but his last few Sock Monkey stories have sported downbeat, glum endings which don't reward the faithful reader at all and definitely tempers my enjoyment and appreciation of his efforts. I'm not one that expects to be uplifted and favorably entertained every time out, but geez...misery doesn't always love company, you know. B+

STRANGERS IN PARADISE Vol.3 59
How typical of Terry Moore to finish his most involving issue in months with that hoariest of hoary comic-book cliches, the bitter victim of parental abuse. In this ever changing world in which we live, I suppose it should be reassuring to know that Mr. Moore will always be counted upon to do the melodramatic and cliche without fail whenever presented with the opportunity.
B-

Great post/appreciation of Bruce Campbell over at Big Sunny D's, along with a link to the upcoming film Bubba Ho-Tep, which sounds like one can't-miss oddball flick. Boy, I miss The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr....

Blogging's probably going to be light for me the next couple of days...many things to do this afternoon, and they're showing several James Cagney movies back to back on TCM...must...watch...Cagney...(one had Joan Blondell!) plus tomorrow will bring a doctor's appointment and a possible "Loser's Luncheon", so that's gonna minimize my quality time with the ol' iMac. I still need to post reviews of the new comics I picked up yesterday, plus I still have that overdue Vinyl-O, so don't despair. Like I'm sure you were. Despairing, that is. Whatever.

Once in a while I'll use this Bacardi Show Birthday Greetings conceit simply as an excuse to post pitchers of purty girls. Today, 28 years ago, Charlize Theron was born. Happy happy to ya, Ms. Theron.

More random musings about (everybody repeat after me) everything in general and nothing in particular.

Maybe I could organize a flash mob event where everyone repeats that phrase then disperses. Actually, I've been seeing the occasional article and blog post about this phenomenon, and it sounds interesting. I find myself wondering what Warren Ellis thinks of it for some reason. Anywho, the most recent blogpost/article link I found was over at Susan's. Go! Read! Return!

A serious note: the truly scary outcome of the Jesus Castillo case, as reported by Dirk Deppey and others. Scary, more for the precedent it sets than anything else. If this sort of transaction, to an adult with no children present, and the book in question having been found in a section clearly marked "adult", can cause this sort of legal trouble...then what's next? The definition of "porn" is a subjective one, at least the way it's set up in the USA, and all sorts of hell can be raised using this very shortsighted and ignorant ruling as an example. I know what they say about Texas justice, but this goes beyond the pale and is a dark blot on an already dark record.

Once in a while, I find myself awake at odd hours. Often, I'll sit and watch VH1's Insomniac Music Theatre, just to see that rarest of rare birds: a music video. Found myself doing just that the other night, and I'll mention a few in an effort to demonstrate to you people that my musical tastes are not stuck in 1974. I found myself enjoying several videos both on VH1 and (wonder of wonders) MTV, including Liz Phair's new one and a truly nutty crazy video for a dance song by a pair of Danes who go by Junior and Senior. It's called "Move Your Feet", and it features graphics which look like old Atari 2600 video games. It's catchy, silly, and totally fun, like the B-52's were when they started. Phair has caught a lot of crap for the new direction she's taken, for sure, and I can see why- the song I heard, "Why Can't I", sounded a lot like something from the Vanessa Carlton/Michelle Branch/Avril Levigne school...and while it wasn't bad in and of itself, quite catchy, actually- we all know she's capable of much more so it disappoints a bit. Still, I'm sure she's a bit tired of being a cult artist and this was the way she decided she could perhaps break out, so best of luck to her. The video, though, for this song is very imaginative and clever- it featured Phair and her band performing the song, which each scene aping album cover graphics- an interest of mine, hence my particular enjoyment of the clip, I'd say. Also, I caught the video for my favorite song on Coldplay's Rush of Blood to the Head, "The Scientist", and while it's not an interpretation I would have chosen, it's still a somewhat haunting depiction of the aftermath of a car crash in reverse. If you ever see it, you'll see what I mean, and I hope I haven't spoiled it for you.

I watched a really odd film the other night, as well...Flamingo Road, starring a by-then-long-in-the-tooth Joan Crawford playing a carnival dancer (she looks ridiculous in her carny costume) who becomes romantically involved with a young small-town deputy sheriff who is being groomed for state governorship by Titus Semple, played by Sydney (Maltese Falcon) Greenstreet, the corrupt, evil sheriff who pretty much has his way in both local and state affairs. Of course, Titus can't have his governor-to-be snogging an ex-carny girl, so he makes life miserable for Joan, eventually framing her for a crime and geting her sent away. When she returns, she gets a job at the local roadhouse and hooks up with another of Titus' political circle, the only one poweful enough to stand up to him. Much soapy melodramatic stuff ensues, before the somewhat contrived ending. Still, this was an interesting film, if nothing else than for Greenstreet's malevolent scenery-chewing. He had his difficulties with the southern accent, predictably for a trained Shakespearean actor, but he was otherwise excellent. Joan has her moments...no one could express indignant rage like she could. But jeez Louise- she had no business in a role that should have been played by someone half her age then.

The White Sox won the second game of the series with the Royals last night, so I'm feeling a bit better about them for now. It sounds like they came ready to play and didn't get out-hustled too much, which is what they're going to have to do to hold off the gutty Royals.

On the job hunt front, I got a phone call screening yesterday evening from a hiring manager from Phototype, a prepress operation based in Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio. It went pretty well, I suppose, even though I think my lack of experience with Flexo printing might be a drawback there. I have a passing familiarity with it, but I get the impression they need someone who can hit the ground running. Still, their classified ad that I responded to a while back stated that they needed several positions, not all of them Flexo related, and he hadn't looked at my resume yet, so who knows. Ohio's a lot closer than Nebraska, but the Nebraska gig sounds better. Stay tuned...

Taking a look at the Diamond Shipping List for today, I'll have the following waiting for me when I get down to the store:

TONY MILLIONAIRE SOCK MONKEY #2
ARKHAM ASYLUM LIVING HELL #4
FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE JUSTICE LEAGUE #2
STRANGERS IN PARADISE VOL III #59

I also see where BAD GIRLS #1, with a sweet Darwyn Cooke cover, is coming out...since my haul looks light I might pick it up too. The softcover TPB of HUMAN TARGET: FINAL CUT is supposed to come out, and I might stick a copy back to buy later.

OK, I'm done for now. Gotta go buy a birthday cake. Everyone have a great day and hopefully I'll post more later on.

Music today so far: Geri Haliwell-Schizophonic, Coldplay-A Rush of Blood to the Head, Eels-Daisies of the Galaxy, Allman Brothers Band-Eat A Peach, R.E.M.-Reveal (still haven't warmed to this one yet) and David Lindley and El Rayo-X: Win This Record!.

And another, very special BSBdG goes out to my darling daughter Brittany Abigail "Abby" Jones, every bit of 19 years old today. And fellas, she's single!

Bacardi Show Birthday Greetings go out today to ol' Ginger Spice herself, Ms. Geraldine "Geri" Haliwell, allegedly 31 years of age and a bit thinner and a lot blonder since the above picture was made. Still, that's Geri as I liked her best.

Actually, her 1999 solo debut Schizophonic really isn't all that bad. Can't comment on the follow-up Scream If You Wanna Go Faster (cool title), because I never got around to picking it up. Oh well, ces't la vie.

Been checkin' the ol' Site Meter, and I am in a state of shock.

I usually average 40-50 hits per day, sometimes less than that.

As of this writing, I have had 134 hits, and it's just mid-afternoon! At least 50 of these have come from Alan Doane's Comic Book Galaxy link, maybe more...my stat page only goes up to 5 pages. I'm amazed. I've even had some comments from some people whom I haven't heard from in a while.

Anyway, welcome to everyone, and thanks for checkin' me out! I'll try to post some more interesting stuff as the week goes by, so come back often!

134. Wow.

Update 8/6: I ended up with in excess of 180 yesterday. Double wow.

A quickie sports note:

I didn't like White Sox manager Jerry Manuel much before the season started; I like him and his style a lot less after last night's debacle in Chicago.

If the Sox want to win this division, this series is absolutely crucial. But Manuel's low-key, laid-back style has fostered an air of apparent lethargy and indifference in the clubhouse, and his season-long mishandling of his pitching staff was painfully in evidence last night, when he burned four pitchers in one inning, and had his bench coach (Manuel was ejected in the sixth inning with very little protestation, I might add) Joe Nossek leave closer Tom Gordon in for two innings, getting him lit up in the process.

Kansas City Royals manager Tony Pena out-managed, out-motivated and out-hustled him in every conceivable way. The Royals dugout was fired up and ready to play, and they executed flawlessly. I was even more impressed with Pena after outfielder Michael Tucker fouled a pitch off his knee and laid on the ground, writhing in pain...with Pena there, holding his hand as the team trainers examined him. No wonder the Royals have overacheived this season...this is the kind of leader players want to win for. He was animated and up the whole game, clapping his hands and talking to his players, with a lot of help from crazy man pitcher Jose Lima.

I'm a Sox fan, and I want them to win this division and maybe even get in a World Series before I die...but after last night's game I've developed a ton of respect and admiration for the scrappy Royals and their manager, and have nothing but scorn for the knuckleheads calling the shots for the Sox.

And that's your sports for today...now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

While reading Bill Sherman's review of the new show Peacemakers, in which he mentions the early 70s Richard Boone vehicle Hec Ramsey, I was reminded of another show of a year or two earlier, Bearcats! .

I was all of eleven when this show aired in 1971, and I suppose I was just the right age for this sort of thing. Also, it seems that when I get attached to a Western film or TV program, it's usually always an off-the-wall one (Wild Wild West (60s)or Valley of Gwangi, anyone?), and this one certainly qualified. Essentially, Bearcats was a hybrid action-adventure and western series about two soldiers of fortune, played by Rod (Pal's The Time Machine, The Birds) Taylor and Dennis Cole who traveled around the turn-of-the-century American west in a 1914 Stutz Bearcat righting wrongs and looking for adventure. For their services, they insisted on being paid with a blank check.

I wish I could go into a long, detailed explanation of what happened in this show, but hey, let's face it- that was 32 years ago and I just don't remember all that much. I remember one exciting episode in which some nutball ex-WWI German fighter pilot was flying around causing trouble and the Bearcats were hired to shut him down, and did so with the help of a Gatling gun which they mounted on the back of the car. The action scenes, with the pilot swooping down and the guys firing back at him, were pretty darn cool. I know I never missed an episode when I could help it, but it must have been up against some really popular show on another network, because it only ran for 8 months before it was cancelled in December of '71.

Anyway, I did a Google search or two for the program so I could write a semi-intelligent post, but I didn't turn up much. Here's TV Tome's entry, which features episode guides, and the link in the above paragraph will take you to another site which provides a little more info. Here's IMDb's entry.

I really wish that TV Land or some other network would rerun these...originally I thought there weren't enough episodes but according to TV Tome.com there were 13, including the two hour pilot. I won't hold my breath.

Part of the fun, or maybe more accurately one of the guilty pleasures, of Blogging is getting namechecks, linkage and such from other bloggers out there in the blogiverse, or blogtopia, or whatever you want to call it. Thanks to Sean Collins, Alan David Doane, and Eve over at Eve-tushnet for mentioning my "comics you should read" list. Thanks, too, Alan, for the linkage! Speaking of linkage, I've added a new semi-comics blogger at right, found at Alan David Doane's, named Michael Paciocco's Mind.

Maybe I should write more lists like that...

Random musings about nothing in particular and everything in general, just like it says in many of my blog descriptions.

First of all, go to Flat Earth for a very nice memorium for the late Warren Kremer, the Harvey artist par excellence who died on July 24. He was one of those creators who I never paid attention to until a recent Comic Book Artist issue devoted to Harvey Comics and realized how many Richie Riches and Hot Stuffs I read when I was a little kid. Steven Wintle doesn't update his site all that often, but when he does it's always worthwhile.

Went to the grocery yesterday, and while in the cereal aisle I was dismayed to note that not only is Cap'n Crunch with Crunchberries now costing FOUR DOLLARS a box, but they're not even crunchberries anymore! Now those succulent little magenta sugar-and-oat bombs are now several alleged fruit flavors, and are not spherical in shape, but are in the form of whatever merchandising tie-in Quaker Oats is trying to push on its consumers. Feh. For four bucks I want CLASSIC MAGENTA, SPHERICAL crunch berries, or I don't buy.

I really wanted to add a Google search box to the Show, but those frigging Mac-phobes over at Google don't offer one. Bastards.

I have rearranged the blogroll at right somewhat, moving up a number of blogs I read more regularly than others and dropping others, who haven't reciprocated my linkage, altogether. If yours wasn't moved up please accept my sincere apologies, I still like you. Nothing personal was intended. I also added the Kinetix smiley, just as I said I would, now linked to a fansite devoted to the character. One little problem- the site hasn't been updated since 1997 and a lot has happened to that character since then- so if I find a better one I'll change the link. This will do for now. In the process, I have also somehow fucked up my template code, and have an extreme excess of white space at the bottom of this webpage. I went to Blogger.com to see if I could copy the original code for this design, but they don't offer it anymore! Gah! Is there anyone else out there who uses this template design and could send me the bottom section of your code? Help a brother out, whydoncha? If I had a job, I'd consider finding a nice webhost somewhere, download some other blogging application like Movable Type and forget Blogger altogether. I'm not that unhappy with Blogger, but little things keep popping up and driving me nuts. Update The excessive white space is gone, but I still have about a quarter inch of white at the bottom which I didn't have before. What's a poor boy to do.

Watched the mega-flop (both critically and at the box office) Eddie Murphy movie The Adventures of Pluto Nash Saturday night. And I guess I'm getting soft in my dotage because I didn't think it was all that bad. Labored and extremely silly, yes. Botched ending, oh my, yes. Retro-styled moon cars? Huh? But heck, Murphy was Murphy- rascally and appealing, Rosario Dawson was fine as the love interest, and even Randy Quaid as the son of Andy Kaufman in Heartbeeps gave me a chuckle or two. I'm sure I won't want to watch this again, but for a ninety-odd minute timewaster you could do worse.

I watched a generous portion of Minority Report earlier Saturday, not long after reading Evan Dorkin's little rant about the Spielberg-Cruise film. When I wrote about it back in March, I was quite impressed, and even though it might have been Oscarworthy. Problem is, Dorkin pointed out several things which I had overlooked or didn't notice, which always bugs me but I gotta admit he's right. The ending, after a second look, was cliched and it's true- the main villian's identity was easy to guess, because that type of character is always the villian in movies like this. Also, Evan asked how Cruise's psy-police intended to police the entire USA (or even, eventually, the world) with only three psychics? It's true that there may be more out there, but it was never mentioned. Oh well. Even with this, I stil thought it was a thought-provoking concept, with excellent and imaginative FX and I was still quite caught up in it until the end, which felt tacked-on. Oscar? Nah. But I still liked it better than Dorkin did.

Those of you who are longtime readers o'mine will be aware, I'm sure, of my intense admiration of the art of Vera Brosgol, she of the webcomic Return To Sender and the Pants Press Sketchblog. She recently announced over at RTS that she is...well, I'll just let her explain it:

No update this week. Or next week. Or for a while. Return to Sender is going on hiatus because I am running away from my life to join an animation studio, much like Steven Wolfhard did quite recently. In fact, he's getting me from the train station. And at the end of August I am moving into my new apartment and starting school. Sorry to do this to you but the comic isn't all that high on my list of priorities, and the whole animation thing looks a tad better on the old resume.

I'll miss reading RTS, it's fun even though it's not her best work...her illustration, design and pinup-type stuff is far, far stronger. She's always wanted to get into animation, and she'll be great at it, I'll bet, so best of luck to her. Boy I wish I'd done something like that when I was her age.

You know, actually I did look into attending the Joe Kubert School of Art when I was 18 and just getting out of high school, and all I wanted to be was a comic book artist. Problem was, the guidance conseling at our school left a lot to be desired and was nowhere near as developed as it is today, so I had no idea about how to get financial aid and I didn't think my parents would be able to afford the somewhat pricey Kubert school. So that never happened. I would have been attending at the same time as such later comics luminaries as Steve Bisette, John Totleben, Tom Yeates, and others...ce'st la vie. Sigh.

On the job hunt front (hee-I'm a poet and don't know it), I received an email last week from a recruiter from Printlink.com, who has had my resume on file for several years now, about an opportunity with the catalog production/marketing department of a outdoor gear & hunting/fishing equipment supplier called Cabelas, doing pretty much the same graphics/prepress work I did at Camping World! But...and there's always a "but", you know...this is in Sidney, Nebraska.

Nebraska. That's approximately 1200 miles away. Almost 80 miles north of Denver, closer to the Rockies than the plains, or so they tell me.

Still, it sounds like a great opportunity, they're willing to "relo" (recruiterspeak for relocate...wonder if I could get J-lo?) and I can't not check it out...so Printlink is supposed to set up a telephone interview with me after the 18th, when the hiring manager gets back from vacation. So stay tuned. I've got some other resumes out, but this is the most concrete thing right now. Nebraska. Geez. Here's a little irony for ya- when I was at CW, we used to refer often to Cabelas catalogs, to see what they were selling, for design ideas, prices, what have ya.

Ever since I saw a clever cameo appearance by the Michelin Man in a strip in Heavy Metal magazine, I've loved the character. You can go to the Michelin website, which you can visit by clicking here, and get a swellio bobblehead doll! I want one! I don't remember which HM story it was or who the artist was, either. Sorry. It was from around 1977 or '78, though, if that helps...

I'm thinking about creating a button for this site, so people can link to me with it. I think about a lot of things, including a website for my Pandora Arcana character (the synopsis for which I never did get around to submitting to Mike Carey...I'm sure he's lost a lot of sleep over it) and other things. I have a nifty logo which I created for my would-be cottage industry Psychic Martini Productions (TM, all you theives out there), but it's mighty big and even though it would be perfect for "Johnny Bacardi", when it's reduced as small as I would need it to be reduced, you can't tell what the hell it is...so back to the drawing board. Actually, I have a drawing board, given to me as a gift by Mrs. B back in 1980. I never got around to assembling it, and it's still in my basement some 23 years later. Sigh again.

All right, this is enough. Thanks for reading, now go out and live your lives and be happy and all that stuff. And come back soon.

Music this morning: Johnny Cash-American Recordings, Iris Dement-My Life, Alan Price-O Lucky Man! Soundtrack, The Mothers of Invention-Over-Nite Sensation, Status Quo-Rockin' All Over the World (a really great, forgotten record-bet your ass it will be in the upcoming Vinyl-O), Sandy Denny-Like An Old-Fashioned Waltz.

BSBdGs today go out to poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, who would have been 211 today. Now that would be impressive.