Tuesday This'n'That

Hey, Eddie Campbell has a new blog!

Thanks to Bob Heer for steering me to it.

______________

I've received a couple more unsigned emails from an old Kubert School classmate, whom we've (yep, I've consulted with a couple of my old cronies) narrowed down to one of two likely classmates of yore.

I know you wish me well, despite the tenor of your judgemental Christian rhetoric, but until you sign your emails, sorry, I'm simply not engaging. It's a curious game you're indulging. Curious, too, how my vocabulary obviously offends you more than our own President's pro-torture, anti-life warmongering seems to.

I love that about America.

_____________

More talk about the draft circling Washington, once again springboarded as a means to discuss the war and the state of our military, resulting in mucho posturing from both parties about how the draft just won't happen -- without discussing what we as a country are going to do as President Bush and his cronies simply refuse to engage with the increasing toll this insane war is taking on our volunteer military and the National Guard.

The toll on the willingness to volunteer is also being sidestepped, with the elephant in the room -- who trusts the standing Commander in Chief enough to volunteer in the numbers needed? -- not being commented upon one whit.

So many core issues being avoided, so many consequences self-evident...

_____________

An observation on the current state of the Iraq War, reflective of my own, as our government and military leaders argue the semantics of the term "Civil War" (which, arguably, we're still engaged in our own over a century later, as the last two Presidential elections demonstrated with the 'Red/Blue State' divides so closely approximating the War Between the States divisions of the 1860s); this from HomeyM of Jamaica, VT this morning:

"I heard an amazing interview with someone just back from the Middle East on Amy Goodman tonight. He pointed out, quite convincingly, that Iraq is in total civil war, in the Middle Eastern mode, with local leaders and militias (i.e., you are not going to make much of an impression unless you have a militia) battling each other for turf. He pointed out that Bush is just one of the "local leaders" with a militia (viz., the U.S. military), but not one of the more powerful or popular ones. Prime Minister Maliki is also a local (Baghdad) militia leader, also of secondary power, lacking widespread popular support. The most powerful militia leader is Moqtada al-Sadr and his "Mehdi Army." Al-Sadr has the support of the Shiite majority. The Kurds are in pretty good shape. The Sunnis are completely outnumbered and will be slaughtered, under any scenario. Saudi Arabia and I believe Egypt and Jordan and Syria are predominantly Sunni, while Iran is Shiite, so there is going to be massive war for as long as a decade ahead, as the Sunni countries come to the support of the beleaguered Sunnis. Ironically, he said, the U.S. will now be seeking to defend the Sunnis (formerly called the "Ba'athists," the people of Saddam Hussein) under pressure to do so by the Saudis. First we set the Shiites on the Sunnis to displace the "Ba'athists," but now will be reversing directions and seeking to support the Sunnis against the Shiites!

He pointed out that anything the U.S. does is absolutely hopeless, and that the only sensible thing is bring back all the troops immediately, as any American killed is truly in vain, for no purpose whatsoever. Might as well save our own boys and pull 'em out of the slaughter fields. There is nothing that can be accomplished by the death of an American soldier in Iraq. He emphasized that the U.S. absolutely and single-handedly caused all this, and that the resultant bloodshed that will proceed for a decade or more in a totally destabilized Middle East is all on the hands of the U.S. We destabilized the Middle East. We are great great geniuses at blundering. We didn't just fail to accomplish a thing, we detonated a whole part of the world into endless war.

It's truly horrible, and the karma that we have created is going to be very ugly for us.
Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis are fleeing with no possessions, hoping that way to sneak into Jordan, etc., i.e., if they carry no bags so they may be able to sneak in unnoticed. No one wants them of course. It will be one of the great refugee crises in the history of the world. Perhaps his most cutting remark: The U.S. did accomplish one thing no one had thought was possible; we have made Saddam Hussein look good."

Having One's Head Up One's --

I reckon I'm just too distracted with the house & moving chores to keep my own head straight. Ah, leave it to Bob Heer (thanks, Bob!) to remind me of the particulars of my own career:

"Actually, there's still the stories you wrote in ANNUAL #4, which could be in the next volume, plus the handful of pre-Alan Moore stories drawn by you and John Totleben that still haven't been reprinted. Plus the first Moore story without you but with Totleben. Not sure if those will ever see reprinting, but a few years ago I wouldn't have thought the Veitch run would be available again (I wonder if they've decided how to handle the end of Veitch's run)."

That's right, actually -- how is it I forgot completely the "Fungus Amongus" Batman crossover story (my sole Pat Broderick collaborative effort) and the rather sweet little backup story Mike Hoffman illustrated? Stupid, stupid Bissette creature! [Stupider still, I originally misidentified the artists in this post -- Bob cleared me up on that, too, see comments -- stupider, stupider Bissette creature!]

As for the earlier work -- I doubt any of that will ever see light of day, but you never know. Actually, John started working on SOTST with Yeates with issue #2 -- uncredited -- and did some later credited work on the series. I laid out SOTST #8 uncredited (though Tom snuck my signature under the tail of one of the battling dinos on the splash page -- turn it upside-down, and there's my sig) and worked on one later one (#13, I think), credited. John and I began doing the art chores from Marty Pasko's scripts with SOTST #16, and it was Dan Day who pencilled Alan Moore's first script with John T. inking (and redrawing) much -- all that in SOTST #20, which paves the way for the historic #21, "The Anatomy Lesson." (Alas, though there's some solid work there, those first 20 issues just aren't particularly good reads as a whole, but you never know what DC might decide to do down the road.)

Bob continues:

"On the other hand, next year they'll be reprinting their WHO'S WHO series, which will include most of the other stray published Swamp Thing drawings you did."

Cool, I had no idea that was coming up. Reckon that leaves our promo work -- just a couple of pieces, though those were solid (one of which I scripted) -- and our Comics Journal cover, which led to all the painted covers that followed.

Thanks for the corrections (and trip down memory lane), Bob!

Mon-Daze

The move, the house, the house, the bank, the realtor -- the process!

Process uber alle, and no time to do much of anything else here today.

One item of note:
My final contribution to the Saga of the Swamp Thing series is now out in graphic novel format as DC approaches the end of reprint volumes covering Rick Veitch's tenure on the series. Book 9 of Vertigo/DC's ongoing compilation series, Swamp Thing: Infernal Triangles, is just out, collecting Rick Veitch's penultimate arc of Swamp Thing stories and art (reprinting Saga of the Swamp Thing -- hereafter SOTST -- #77-81, 1988, and Annual #3, 1987). These also include Jamie Delano's guest-scripting the book's title story (for SOTST #77) and my rebirth tale "To Sow One's Seed in the Wind" (SOTST #78, November 1988) -- and yes, the masturbatory reference was deliberate. Swamp Thing organically gives 'rebirth' to himself, a conceit that allowed me to phantasmagorically vent/reinvent my own impressions of homebirth (both daughter Maia and son Daniel were born at home) and bid a fond adieu to Abby and Swamp Thing that felt correct at the time. It was also a valentine to my son Dan, reflecting the experience of his birth three years earlier.

The story was conceived in part as an answer, a companion and an inversion of my prior Swamp Thing script effort, "Reunion" (SOTST # 59, April 1987, with art by Veitch & Alcala; reprinted in Swamp Thing Book 6: Reunion, 2003). That script, written to my daughter Maia (now old enough to appreciate it, I hope), presented a first-person view of aging, death and bidding life and one's loved ones farewell via the return of Abby's father Gregori Arcane -- aka The Patchwork Man, victim of brother Anton Arcane's Frankensteinian experiments in the original Len Wein/Berni Wrightson series -- just in time to bid his daughter farewell before he disintegrated completely. That story was set in part in a nursing home that consciously echoed my own teenage years in Colbyville, VT, living between two nursing homes.

If anyone cares, I might also mention the final entry in what became a meditative trilogy on birth and death: my one-shot script for Dark Horse's Species mini-series, which I don't have right at hand at the moment; that experience proved unsatisfactory (due primarily to publisher Mike Richardson's eleventh-hour edit of a key story point), though it was a hoot to at last work with my pal Mark Nelson on something. "To Sow One's Seed in the Wind" allowed me to collaborate with fellow Kubert School alumnis Tom Mandrake, and that was fun. Tom's art arguably wasn't up to the high standards of his later Spectre work (which was, to my mind, real breakthrough stuff), Tom did a nifty job, as did series inker Alfredo Alcala. Of course, all these birth/life/death/parenting concerns were ultimately channeled into Tyrant, as well as -- well, life. The Ultimate comicbook.

In any case, nice to see the story again. This also means that everything I did for DC on the character (save for the art I did for the DC indexing miniseries and various promotional art and art & text; all the narrative work is what I'm referring to) is now back in print in the US. I believe Midnight Days (featuring John Totleben's and my own farewell to the character, via Neil Gaiman's script "Jack-in-the-Green") is still available and in print; correct me, please, if I'm wrong. It's all in reach at last!

More later -- on something else -- time permitting --

Meanwhile, In Mark Martin Land --

Though I have been incredibly busy of late (see today's catch-up post, directly below), I have still found the time to

try to save my friend Mike Dobbs's life,

only to stupidly decapitate him somehow.

I'm still not sure how this happened; maybe I'll find out eventually. I'm told there's more coming, hopefully with more gut-splattering hi-larity ensuing.

To read the whole Blogopera strip thus far, check out

Mark's Jabberous blog, which is always linked on my links menu at right. Always. The Blogopera started in late October, see Mark's archive links.

Of course, you can visit Mark's entire online universe here, where the L'il Condi Rice face lurks.

There's a little Condi everywhere, I'm told.

Ah, Snow on the Ground at Last...

It's true, it snowed here Sunday night -- a light, crisp snow -- and there's some of it still on the ground, but only here in the higher elevations.

Anyhoot, sorry I've been away so long. It's been a hectic week since my last post, hence the very late blog entry. Much to report, but little time at hand; here it comes!

________________

The move to Windsor, VT continues, and that has been most preoccupying. Apart from the work I must have done week-to-week (Center for Cartoon Studies teaching, freelance, etc.), the purchase of the new home in Windsor, the prep for the selling of our existing home in Marlboro, and the seemingly interminable moving process is all-consuming. The movers have been contracted for late December -- by their calculations, I have (ahem) literally ten tons of stuff to move!

With that momentous reality always first and foremost, I've been moving loads north almost two to three times a week to our storage facility closer to our new digs.

This past weekend, a group of the CCS students pitched in (in exchange for gas money and -- most importantly -- a fabulous home-cooked meal prepared by Marge) and we got all but four boxes of the entire SpiderBaby Grafix backstock (half the second floor of our garage, mind you!) and about three rooms worth of books and items moved in one afternoon, which was a Herculean feat. This put us nicely on track for all that lies ahead, though the prep/packing for this weekend event ate up all of last week. It was great, though, and Marge and I send our undying love, gratitude and thanks to all who pitched in!

_________________

Part and parcel of this process, too, has been renewed and vigorous shipments of my collection to

the Bissette Collection at HUIE Library/Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas

-- over forty boxes out in the past week alone.

This isn't just a process of boxing up and shipping -- I type up extensive notes on the contents of each package, which allows Lea Ann Alexander, Hope Warner and the student volunteers to prepare every shipment for the collection: storage, access, display, archiving, etc. It's an ongoing and no doubt daunting task, especially given the loopy diversity of what's already in their hands. It only gets loopier.

Here's a sample ship list:

Shipping 10/30/06:

* 1963 Merchandizing: Two (2) T-shirts (circa 1993, Graffiti Designs) featuring MYSTERY INCORPORATED (Rick Veitch art) and NO ONE ESCAPES... THE FURY! (Bissette art) -- these were the only two designs used and merchandized. I believe I’ve sent some of these to the collection, but -- well, here’s two more, size small.

BISSETTE DVDs!: Both of the following DVD releases feature my art, and that of my son Daniel (HEAD TRAUMA) and the first DVD minicomic packaged with the Center for Cartoon Studies students:

* THE LAST BROADCAST (Heretic Films/Wavelength Releasing, Sept. 26, 2006 street date; the movie itself is circa 1998) - The debut collaborative feature by Stefan Avalos and Lance Weiler is also the world’s first all-digital feature that was digitally projected theatrically -- not only that, but projected theatrically via satellite feed! In content, it predates THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT and was arguably ripped off FOR the BLAIR WITCH film; it’s digital filmmaking pioneer status also predate George Lucas’s much-ballyhooed digital projection via satellite release of STAR WARS I: THE PHANTOM MENACE by over a year and a half. I’ve detailed my association with Stefan and Lance (during my video store/VSDA/NEBG years) elsewhere in my notes for this collection. However, this brand-new release of THE LAST BROADCAST also features (a) an inside-cover color painting by myself, designed and delivered as the cover art -- I’ve no idea why they made the decision they did -- and (b) a JERSEY DEVIL minicomic and LAST BROADCAST booklet in its packaging, which I had a hand in packaging. Some of my own art appears on every page, but only individual panels. Working with the credited Center for Cartoon Studies students -- Elizabeth Chasalow, Alexis Frederick-Frost, Jacob Jarvela, Sean Morgan, Lauren O’Connell, Caitlin Plovnick, Adam Staffaroni, Josie Whitmore, with a panel by Rich Tommaso and script contributions by Sarah Stewart Taylor and Peter Money -- I conceived and executed the minicomic with the CCS Year One student team in May-June 2005. I also wrote THE LAST BROADCAST essay in the booklet, immediately following the minicomic and map key. AND -- I wrote the back cover copy for the DVD itself!

* HEAD TRAUMA ((Heretic Films/Lance Weiler, Sept. 26, 2006 street date; the movie itself is circa summer 2006) - The second feature (first solo directorial feature effort) by THE LAST BROADCAST co-director Lance Weiler is even more relevant to the collection, as the film itself features a faux-Christian comic tract that was conceived and co-written by myself and Lance Weiler, and drawn by myself and my then-19-year-old son Daniel Bissette. More on this in a seperate collection item (the art itself), but this was a most pleasurable creative job, working with Lance over about a six month period to create piecemeal the art that appears in the film -- Lance sent me two rough edits of the film during the process, and I was able to both suggest further comics imagery, and integrate the imagery I was drawing organically into the edit of Lance’s film, increasing the comic’s “role” (it indeed becomes a sort of inert character in and of itself) while consciously resonating that imagery with sequences Lance had already filmed and edited. The result was a truly creative collaborative effort integrating comics and film in a way I’ve never seen in a film before. Daniel and I are also interviewed (via phone) for the bonus features, which see, discussing the evolution of the comic art we created for the film. Note, however, Daniel and I ONLY drew the comic art associated with the faux-Christian comic tract; we did not do the other comic art in the film, nor the little 8-pg. minicomic packaged with the DVD.

* EXTRA COPIES (two) of the LAST BROADCAST DVD minicomic/booklet JERSEY DEVIL

BOOKS:

* THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS by Tim Burton (Hyperion Books, New York, 1993) - What it says, the children’s book adaptation from the stop-motion animated feature film; note the acknowledgements on the indicia page, as I’ve no idea if Tim actually wrote and illustrated this book or not.
* Two National Geographic books illustrated by Louis S. Glanzman, brother of Sam Glanzman, one of the cartoonists whose work heavily influenced my own (Sam drew KONA, MONARCH OF MONSTER ISLE, COMBAT, “The Haunted Tank” in G.I. COMBAT, “U.S.S. Stevens” for the 1970s DC war comics, etc.) -- Sam always referred to his brother Louis as the more accomplished artist, and here’s two examples of Louis’s work:
- THE WILD SHORES: AMERICA’S BEGINNINGS by Tee Loftin Snell (The National Geographic Society, 1974; second printing, 1983)
- THE INCREDIBLE INCAS AND THEIR TIMELESS LAND by Loren McIntyre (The National Geographic Society, 1975, first printing)

COMIC COLLECTIBLES:

* MARSUPILAMI stickers (Benedikt Taschen, West Germany, 1989) - Seven missing of 20 total on this sheet
* MARSUPILAMI bendable figure (Disney/Applause, China, 1989)
* MARSUPILAMI key chain (Lanco, Spain, 1989?) - three figures!

DINO COLLECTIBLES:

* BRONTOSAURUS-stamped penny (circa 1980s?) - Anachronistic (Brontosaurus is now known as Apatosaurus) artifact of the old perception of dinosaurs -- from one of those stamping machines that crushes and impresses art on pennies. A tiny collectible, don’t lose it!

MOVIE & TV COLLECTIBLES:

* GODZILLA KING OF THE MONSTERS action figure: MOTHRA (Trendmasters, Inc./Toho Co. Ltd., 1994) (in original packaging, unopened) - This was part of the 1994 US marketed Godzilla action figures from Trendmasters, the first extensive line of Toho monsters licensed and manufactured for the American market.
* GREMLINS ‘deep dish plate’ (paper plates, in original shrinkwrapping, unopened) (Hallmark Cards, Inc./Warner Bros., 1984) - Original merchandizing item from the Joe Dante film GREMLINS. More GREMLINS and GREMLINS 2 merchandizing to follow; my kids and I loved these two Dante films!
* CHAIRRY from PEE WEE’S PLAYHOUSE TV series (Matchbox Toys/Herman Toys Inc., 1988) - It’s Chairry from the Playhouse! This character was voiced by Alison Mork from 1986-1990; cool toy, and the only one of our Pee Wee toys to survive the ‘80s.
* TARZAN gorilla (Trendmasters Inc., 1995) - Big ol’ KONG-sized plastic gorilla from the 1995 TARZAN licensing toy line.

VIDEO PROMO ITEMS:

* FRAILTY pen (Lions Gate Home Entertainment, 2001) - promo pen for the Bill Paxton-directed gem which metaphorically and presciently forecasted the George W. Bush Presidency’s “demon hunting” and fundamentalist proclivities -- brrrrr. This film opened before 9/11, but it’s finger was precisely reading the national pulse.

Now, this is a pretty eclectic collection, folks. Amid the Alan Moore comic scripts and Swamp Thing/Taboo/Tyrant documents, art, sketches, letters and minutae most comics fans/scholars/historians might expect (and there is a lot of that, including all my business records) is the majority of my collection, including my toy collection, artifacts of my writing career, my video store management years, etc.

Lea Ann made it clear they want it all -- and among the boxes shipped this past week were also an ultra-rare collection of French and Belgian fantasy/sf/horror television programs, serials and films I had in safe storage for my dear friend Jean-Marc Lofficier (nineteen boxes of videos!). Upon Jean-Marc's and his wife Randy's 2005 move from their long-time Los Angeles home to their lovely new home in France, I put Lea Ann in contact with the Lofficiers and they arranged for portions of Jean-Marc and Randy's collections to join HUIE Library's growing special collections. These video rarities were among the last to join that collection. I sweetened that shipment with a copy out of my own collection of Merveilleux, Fantastique et Science-Fiction a la Television Francaise by Jacques Baudou and Jean-Jacques Schleret (Huiteime Art/Le Dossiers du 8e Art), which I'd found in Montreal at a shorefront book kiosk a couple of years ago, providing a handy illustrated reference for much of Jean-Marc's video library.

My father's personal military career collection also was accepted by Henderson/HUIE last year, a point of pride for my pop which provides a crucial context for my life and work few know about.

All in all, this ongoing (a little over three years thus far) process has grown exponentially and quite remarkably, and Lea Ann, Hope, Randy Duncan and everyone at HUIE/Henderson have been marvelous to work with, a real joy.

And man, I'm glad I've got somewhere to send most of the collection I've amassed over a lifetime now that we're (choke) moving again!

________________

Amid this hubbub, bub, there's also been much else going on.

* I spoke with Randy Duncan's Henderson State University comic class last Friday, via a phone conference call. A lively conversation was had, with many questions about Taboo, censorship, Tyrant, 1963, and much else -- and as soon as that group conversation was over, I dashed upstairs at CCS to moderate a 90-minute class panel with visiting artist Tara Wray, the writer/director of the new documentary Manhattan, Kansas (2006). Tara's time with the students was as open and insightful as her autobiographical film, leading into a sometimes heated discussion of the differences between the mediums (comics and cinema) and much more. All in all, a great session, and a heady afternoon.

* With the venerable (it originally opened 35 years ago!) worker-owned alternative organic foods Common Ground Restaurant now open for business in Brattleboro, VT, I formally resigned from the Board of Directors. Nice to leave knowing I was part of a Board that indeed got the restaurant back on its feet -- it's all up to the worker/owners now! With Marge and I moving out of the area, it was time to terminate my involvement; bon appetit, Brattleboro!

* I've also been very actively engaged with the Board of an organization I'm moving closer to geographically: WRIF, the White River Independent Film group. We're working toward our spring (April) film festival, and it's been a pretty busy month or so for those of us part of that organization. It'll be nice to live closer after almost a year of three-hour round trip drives for meetings, and to be able to socialize with those I've come to know and love via my involvement. More news as it all comes together.

* I'm working with my daughter Maia and my son Dan on two seperate, short zombie comic pieces for AccentUK, and the Center for Cartoon Studies students interested in contributing are also pulling together their work for that project, too. More later on all this...

* Though I still can't say much about it, the upcoming Fury cell phone game is firming up nicely; just this past week I approved the first images prepared by the gaming company, so progress is underway on that project.

* Speaking gigs will be picking up in 2007, in part due to the fact my October audition for the Vermont Humanities Council to join their lineup of sponsored speakers went well. I was notified a couple of weeks ago that I made the grade, and am now part of the Humanities Council's speaker program with my lecture(s) on comics & graphic novels; special thanks to my old amigo Joe Citro for suggesting me to the Council. This will subsidize many libraries and public venues in the coming years; I've been quite busy the past two years providing such programming based solely on what the respective venues (primarily libraries) can afford, so this is a positive shot in the arm for myself and interested future venues. I'll list upcoming presentations here as the schedule firms up for 2007.

* Finally, I should mention I'll be speaking at the Newark Museum on Friday, November 24th at 1:30 PM for about an hour. It's all part of

the Masters of American Comics exhibition the Newark Museum is showcasing (along with Manhattan's The Jewish Museum),

though I'm not listed on the Museum's online program.

But, really, I will be there, presenting an hour-long showcase of early animated cartoons based on the work of the artists in the show, including Windsor McCay, E.C. Segar, George Herriman and others. See some of you there, mayhaps?
_________________

One other thing:

Note that Lance Weiler's DVD release of Head Trauma made the cut this weekend in nothing less than (to quote John Belushi from National Lampoon's Lemmings) the fucking New York Times, man!

Check out this past Sunday’s New York Times Magazine, page 90 -- in a DVD Christmas-season lineup top-heavy with corporate studio product (and a year bulging with major studio horror fare), Lance’s “little film that could” is the only independent film in the section (and only genre listing, too).

I've tooted the horn for Head Trauma for months here, due in part to my and my son's participation in the project (see the HUIE list, above, in case you skipped that part). But this is cool and quite an accomplishment, folks. Lance is internationally reknowned as one of the true pioneers of the digital feature revolution, and has maintained his independence (bucking the corrupt festival circuit scene now, still feistily indy and a remarkable incarnation of the ideal fusion of creative filmmaker and canny businessman -- a rare individual indeed). His knowledge of all aspects of filmmaking and the industry, including the kind of distribution traps and missteps most indy filmmakers succumb to, is incredibly invaluable, and Lance is among the most articulate of his generation in discussing such matters. Lance has successfully self-distributed two films now, nurturing the first (the made-for-$900 The Last Broadcast, in collaboration with Stefan Avalos every step of the way) into a multi-million $ earner which he and Stefan still own and keep in market.

With Head Trauma, Lance was so disgusted with the exploitation of indy filmmakers in the current “indy” festival scene that he bucked the now-usual routes (which cost filmmakers small fortunes, often paying submission fees for festivals their films aren’t accepted for) and mounted a national theatrical tour for his digital-only feature which he personally set up. He negotiated a finite, very beneficial contract with a truly indy DVD label, Heretic, and has now parlayed his indy DVD distribution with a tiny but trustworthy label into -- well, The New York Times.

Congrats to you, Lance, and thanks again for letting Dan and I be part of it.

Of course, the comics community could care less about all this. Ah, retirement.

________________

OK, that's it -- I'm outta here. More to tell, but out of time. Have a great couple of days, hope to post again sooner than I did last time around!

More Rainy Sunday Ramblings...

It's gone from a misty morning to a pissing-rain afternoon, and Marge and I have been packing all day. It's got Marge in a bit of a down mood -- she's a 'nester,' not enjoying this phase of packing boxes of our stuff up knowing the closing on the new house is still a full month away. I've been in full packing (and moving, shuttling boxes and stuff to a storage facility close to our new home) mode for almost two weeks now, and only know to keep nose to grindhouse and grind on ahead, from waking to either break or falling down. It'll be an odd existence for the next month or so, and none to comfortable for anyone in the abode.

The cats, you see, are restless with all this, too. One of our two, Tuco, reacted so promptly to the first sign of boxes being packed that I immediately suspected this process is what led to his landing in the animal shelter. He's constantly seeking our attention and reassurances now, and both cats (Lizzie and Tuco) sleep plastered to our sides or as close as our sleeping bods will permit. They know something's up, and they don't like it one bit. We've already strategized the cats move -- the where and when of it -- to the new house, but until then they'll be as fretful as Marge, if not moreso, and we'll be dreading the momentous long drive in December from Marlboro to Windsor with unhappy (no doubt yowling) cats in carriers in the car.

Maia was going to come by this afternoon to work on the comic story we're jamming on together, and to begin sorting through her boxes from the last move (the 2002 move from Wilmington to Marlboro) -- debris from her last years of high school, etc., in search of winter clothes and in hopes of excavating her beloved manga collection, I reckon. However, the shit weather scotched that; she'll be up tomorrow. I hope to get together with Dan in the AM, too, if all goes well.

Though both are in their 20s, I wonder how this move sits with them -- time will tell, if they don't.

Such are the musings between the boxing and packing -- got to get back to work on the CCS stuff... more later!

Sunday Ketchup for Lunch

Ah, I've been away from computer land -- the move, the new house, and prepping our current home for market has been all-consuming, with the usual weekly workload (prepping today for this week's CCS classes, freelancing, etc.) and our stealing one movie night just to get away (Stephen Frears' The Queen, which was excellent).

The torment of dial-up-only access will soon end, as our new Windsor home offers a choice of three possible high-speed providers, but that's still at least a month and a half away... though there's light at the tunnel's end on that matter, at last.

Anyhoot, a few ketchup items I meant to post earlier this week.

* Yep, election day came and went, and we all woke up Wednesday morning (and especially Thursday, once the Democrats had secured a majority in the Senate, too) to a somewhat new reality. Let's see, now, what happens. I'm cynical per usual about the President's claims to bipartisan compromise and partnership (what's he pushing in this final stretch of the Republican-dominated sessions? John Bolton's official installation at the UN -- a recess move Bush made when that was the only opening he saw to putting Bolton at the United Nations -- and his push for fucking tax cuts for the wealthy being made permanent -- do your worst, Fearless Leader!), but hey, we'll see. The Democrats got their votes of confidence from the voting public; let's see if they can do something positive in the next two years. It was heartening event, the first in over a decade.

In VT, our Republican Governor James Douglas was reelected (like NH, VT govs only enjoy two-year terms of office), but he lost veto power with the Democratic sweep in every other key niche of power -- so, again, some ground gained there, too.

* The biggest charge for me on election night was seeing a number of CCS students so passionately engaged with the process that they were still up working until almost 2 AM, habitually checking the election news (via internet news) and reporting to one another and yours truly every time there was something to latch onto. A good number of CCSers voted, though I've heard a number of tales of voter troubles here in VT -- the majority tied to the VT Department of Motor Vehicles failing to follow through on the tie-in of state driver's license renewal & voter registration, which reportedly compromised a number of folks being able to vote at all (with one amigo reporting two attempts, neither yielding results).

More later today -- have a great Sunday --

Voted!

I walked up to the Town Clerk office yesterday afternoon and voted via early ballot; Marge is voting this afternoon, and counting ballots tonight.

It's a little bittersweet -- likely my last vote in the town of Marlboro, since (if all goes well) we'll be living in Windsor before the New Year; my first Town Meeting in our new home will come in March, and I'm looking forward to it already. This is certainly the last time Marge will be on the team of those counting ballots. A momentous election day for us both, personally and as citizens.

So -- what are you waiting for? Get out and vote.
________________

James Owen recently visited CCS, and you can read all about it here.

A fine time was had by all, but James has much to say about the Center for Cartoon Studies, his visit, and more. Give it a read...

And now, I'm off for CCS myself. A full two-day schedule, with cartoonist & musician Ron Rege Jr. visiting us today. See you here by Thursday, if not sooner!

Packing

Marge and I spent the entire weekend packing. Made a dent in the atrocity that is my basement studio, but haven't even touched the books yet -- brrrr. This is going to be a major move; I'm doing the utmost to organize as I pack, so I don't repeat the scattered-like-a-madman's-shit disarray that has characterized my rooms in this abode since our chaotic 2002 move. Wish us luck! A long way to go yet...

Voting

Tomorrow's the day. Vote. There's no excuse for apathy in this country. There's no excuse for not voting. Our lives, and those of our children and grandchildren, are quite literally on the block. Vote.

Saturday Rambles & Brambles

Random posts today, ride with it.

________

Among the workload I've juggled since last fall is serving on the new board of directors for the Common Ground Restaurant in Brattleboro, VT. With Marge's and my pending move to Windsor, I'm stepping away from that task at last, but happily can do so knowing (a) the Common Ground has reopened for business, and (b) based on the comments I've heard and the email exchanges among board members, workers and interested parties, it's debut week(s) have been quite successful. The "First Friday" for November opening celebration last night (champagne all around!) reportedly went really well, and that's music to my ears.

There's a lot left to do and much work ahead, but it's nice to step away knowing we, the board, working in conjunction with the dedicated officers (now managers), succeeded in reviving one of Brattleboro's venerable 30+ year institutions: a worker-owned cooperative restaurant, serving the best in alternative & organic dining.

_________

Among the "First Friday" events last night Marge and Dan and I did manage to take in was my daughter Maia's art exhibition at the Weathervane on Elliott Street, which was great and grand all around, too. Maia's work has developed dramatically, and the show she's hung offers a look at her paintings, photographs and computer graphics from her high school years to present. A brand-new (finished this week) oil pastel/colored pencil piece featuring the Mock Turtle (of Alice in Wonderland) is a real beaut, but all the images are resonant and haunting and sticking with me. Congrats, Maia!

Maia's art will be up at the Weathervane all this month, so if you're in or about Brattleboro after 5 PM any night, stop in and check it all out. Be sure to leave comments in the comment book, too, and enjoy the Weathervane food, drink and vibe while you're at it.

_____________

We also popped in at the Tea Lounge (on Main Street, across from the Latchis Theater, downstairs from Caper's) for the Trees & Hills exhibition -- Dan's and my art wasn't there (it's traveling with Colin, or malingering in his apartment as he travels), but there was still some choice art from the new Trees & Hills and Friends mini-comic in view. Dan Barlow was there, along with Michelle and Zach (howdy!), and it was fun seeing a comics event as part of the "First Friday" gallery scene.

As my grade school bud Jay Harvey used to quip, "Mighty oafs from tiny acorns grow..."

__________________

Damn it, though, I think I lost the minicomic Zach gave me (signed to me) at the Tea Lounge. I must have left it behind during one of our restaurant encounters. Marge, Dan and I were seated and ignored at two restaurants, and were frankly starving by the time we were finally dining at The India Palace. Anyhoot, somewhere among the craving and frustrations, I accidently lost the comic Zach blessed me with. I'm calling all three eateries today, and hopeful, but -- well, sorry, Zach. I really want to read your comic!

VOTE!

I held off posting a couple of days to avoid simply venting my outrage at the recent flap over a botched turn of phrase from John Kerry which the GOP, Fox News and every other media news venue (including, shamefully, NPR) spun endlessly this past week. At least when the same tactics were applied against Howard Dean, he was fucking running for office.

Hearing the ceaseless sound bytes of none other than churlish Dick Cheney savoring Kerry's faux pas, after all the blatant lies, misstatements, and outright bullshit he, Rumsfeld, Rice, Snow and Bush (who should be pilloried daily by the press for his ongoing inability to string two coherent words together) on every news venue in the US just goes to show how completely "the media" is in the GOP's pocket, and what a complete lie the "liberal media" myth really is. If that were so, Bush's verbal gymnastics would be daily fodder for ridicule, quite deservedly so. Last week, it was painfully made clear anew via Bush's own stumble-bum rhetoric that he has no idea what the difference between "strategy" and "tactic" might be -- unsurprising from the President who declared open war on a tactic (shame on the US and the rest of the world for even accepting "The War on Terror" as anything grounded in proper English, much less a fundamental grasp of reality).

The desperation is palpable from the Republicans, but what's really fascinating is the corporate media's fumbling coverage of the issues in every arena: the transparency of their own self-interests is betraying some curious divisions and conflicts. It's getting tougher to buy for a nanosecond into Bush's "them Dems are going to raise your taxes!" when it's increasingly evident, day by day, that whoever is in the White House after these jackals cut and run will be paying dearly for Bush's irresponsible, American-economy-depleting abuses (note, for instance, that even as Bush bullishly pushes this line of shit on the campaign trail, his own policies since 2001 ensure that Americans earning $75,000-$500,000 per year will enjoy raised income taxes starting next year, thanks to the alternative minimum tax laws and Bush's championing new tax cuts for the rich while failing to address the consequences of those cuts; Congress failed to address the necessary revamp of alternative tax issues, too).

The race against time isn't just this coming week's election -- it's Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice et al racing to stay ahead of any consequences for their policies, actions and inactions, hot to accomplish their goals (stated and unstated) before it's time to truly pay the piper for the tax cuts Bush still insists should be made permanent... not to mention the unprovoked pre-emptive war(s), the complete squandering of the budget surplus and ever-mounting deficit, shirking any culpability for the lack of any concerted effort to address the devastation of the Gulf Coast in Katrina's wake, ignoring Korea, Durfur, Global Warming, and other international issues completely, etc. etc. etc..

The toll is steadily rising.

The strategy: leave that hotseat for the next President and administration, and bully them from the sidelines; how long with the American public fall for this shell game?

Ramping up the verbal beatings of whipping horse "candidates" who aren't even candidates (in this case Kerry, a neat companion to the cheapshot end-of-summer attacks on Clinton) and endless homophobia (the 21st Century racism of choice for this pack of dogs and those Americans stupid enough to play along) may be playing in some sectors, but it sure looks like flopsweat to me.

As if the whole Foley/Hastert brohaha in't enough, this just surfaced minutes ago (as of my 7 AM posting),

adding to the ongoing splitting-at-the-seams fear-based GOP election week mania.

If you vote based on the Republicans's ongoing fear-mongering, well -- what can I say. Remember Katrina, October's record body count of US GIs in Iraq, and the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan (The War That Bush Forgot!), and tell me we're safer and the War is going well.

Whatever you do, though, however you vote -- VOTE.