It's so clear, it's like I'm talking to you in person, isn it?

OK.

comic strips, anyone?

When I was little, I really enjoyed reading the Garfield comic strip collections, and still do occasionally. I also enjoyed reading the Peanuts books, and definitely enjoy the Calvin and Hobbes books quite a bit. http://www.ucomics.com/calvinandhobbes

I've been wondering when the next interesting comic strip might pop up, and it looks like I may have found it...

(well, more accurately, it was sent to me by a friend of mine)

It's a comic strip called The Perry Bible Fellowship. No, it's NOT a Christian-themed strip, which, in my mind, makes it pretty bad name for the strip. But, whatever.

Moreover, the guy that makes it, Nicholas Gurewitch, is only 22 years old!

It's only in a handul of newspapers right now, but that'll probably pick up. The only obstacle I see to that is the raciness the strip has at times.

But, luckily, all of the comic strips are on his webpage:

http://www.cheston.com/pbf/

This strip seems to represent more of what I'd call a 'modern absurdism' that has come to characterize a lot of the humor that many members of my generation really enjoy and relate to.

Click on the guy in the middle if you want to read them.

OR, you can look at these following links, which are the ones I particularly enjoy:

http://www.cheston.com/pbf/PBF013BCBetterLuckNextTime.html
http//www.cheston.com/pbf/PBF056BCPuppyWish.html
http://www.cheston.com/pbf/PBF050BCHeyGoat.html
http://www.cheston.com/pbf/PBF039BCSpaceLove.html
http://www.cheston.com/pbf/PBF017BCMasterYoshi.html
http://www.cheston.com/pbf/PBF037BCBananaScientists.html
http://www.cheston.com/pbf/PBF036BCFallingDream.html
http://www.cheston.com/pbf/PBF031BCKindergartenTeacher.html
http://www.cheston.com/pbf/PBF016BCTurtleCity.html
http://www.cheston.com/pbf/PBF015BCSweetCandyIncorporated.html
http://www.cheston.com/pbf/PBF009BCWeeaboo.html
http://www.cheston.com/pbf/PBF006BCBallerinaSlippers.html
http://www.cheston.com/pbf/PBF002ADQPIInterview.html
http://www.cheston.com/pbf/PBF005ADNoSurvivors.html
http://www.cheston.com/pbf/PBF011ADHammerScrewed.html
http://www.cheston.com/pbf/PBF012ADGotchaTheClown.html
http://www.cheston.com/pbf/PBF015ADFreakingVortex.html
http://www.cheston.com/pbf/PBF023ADEscapedRhino.html
http://www.cheston.com/pbf/PBF026ADTheyAreBack.html

Let me know what you think!

Oh great.

Well, I HAD a new entry, but, it's gone.

GONE!!!!!!!!!

So, here's a summary:

I've been spending most of my time these last couple weeks or so on two things:

1. Music for a short CD
2. Ad campaign ideas for the Lupus Foundation benefit concert this Spring

The CD should be pretty interesting, assuming my minidisc recorder, my still-borrowed stereo mic (thanks again, Steve) and a good-sounding room with a good piano [both of which I'm not supposed to have access to] all work out well enough to lead to a good enough recording.

But before all of that comes the music, which I'm still working on. hahaha

But I can project a CD out of it because right now I have four new potential pieces which I'm excited about. Maybe it'll be a little more than that by the time it's all said and done, but what I have is enough to make something out of.

The reason I don't have a CD (and part of the reason I'm still not going to have a full-length CD,) is that I'm very, VERY serious about having the right sound quality as WELL as the right performance conditions as WELL as the right performances. Of course, nothing's going to be perfect, but it's very important that I'm at least close to all three of those things for a full-length CD.

So, when I really want to give someone a 'demo', I give them a video, which is basically me performing in front of a stationary camera. It's a pretty good video, and it's definitely led to some interest.

[speaking of this, that video will be coming to you, Lee, as promised, just having a little duplication trouble right now]

BUT, I recognize that a CD is the media standard for someone who makes music, so, I need to have one. I hoping that this can start to bridge that gap...even though I woudn't say that that's the main reason why I'm making this CD.

The artwork for the CD should be pretty neat, too, so, I'll keep you posted.

I've turned into a walking ad agency for this benefit concert.

It's a lot of fun! I'm trying to come up with as many strategies as I can to promote this concert this Spring.

To re-cap, I'll be performing a benefit concert this Spring for the Missouri Chapter of the Lupus Foundation.

It's going to be really neat. I've come up with some interesting ideas already...but there's much more to do, and the work hasn't even really started yet.

I've also got to get the concert scheduled, and I hope to do that by the end of the month. I have to choose a venue, too, but it looks like it'll be one of two very good ones.

So, that's about it for now.

This is pretty cool. It was posted as a news item on the blogger home page:

http://breakupbabe.blogspot.com/2004_11_01_breakupbabe_archive.html#110012865741777946

I don't know her, or any of her blogs, but, hey, it's pretty cool. Congratulations!

Here's a nicer post. Sorry.

It occured to me that the post before this one is a downer, so, to try to make up for it (and to offer an olive branch to anyone who may have been offended), here's Michael Hilburg, known as 'junior' to his old high school friends (like me), telling a story he famously tells every year. Happy belated Halloween! Take it away, Michael.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Now, onto the story that for some reason has become a cult-Halloween story (I really don’t understand why).

THE APPLE STORY

One Halloween many years ago (during the late 1970's), when my dad was in college at Wash U. (incidentally the same dorm that I lived in for 2 years...), my dad and his roommate were in their room relaxing, preparing to go out on the town, when all of a sudden they heard a knock on the door.

They answered the door, only to be surprised to hear someone say,

"TRICK-OR-TREAT!"

The surprise arose because they lived in a locked dorm. You needed a key to get in and, therefore, they weren't expecting any kids.

So, my father told the kids to hold on while they looked for candy.

Well, they didn’t have any candy, sugar or anything close, so they got him an apple out of the fridge (this incident was occurring at the same time as the razor blade in the food phenomenon was at its height).

So, aware of the dangers of strangers, the kid said,

"How do I know that there's no razor blade in there or anything?"

My dad, trying to defend his family name, replied, instructing the little hooligan that he and his roommate are not that kind of people and that there is no razor in the apple.

"Oh, yeah, well then bite the apple and prove it," said the little brat.

So my dad bit the apple and my dad and spitefully pointed out the munchkin that there still was no razor in the apple.

Then the kid uttered those words, which have immortalized this poor story...

“You knew where to bite! Bite here instead!"

So my dad took the apple and once again took another bite to prove to this little boy that there was never a razor blade in this apple.

Then all of a sudden the kid grabbed the apple, turned around and walked down the hall, never to be seen again.


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This story is truly LEGENDARY among Junior's friends, and I thank him for allowing me to republish it without the exorbitant fee normally allotted.

great last couple of weeks for St. Louis

OH yeah.

Let the good times ROLL, St. Louis...

into your PIT of neverending DESPAIR.

Yes, I am, honestly, being purposely melodramatic. It really didn't upset me that the Cardinals not only lost in the World Series, but were swept, and didn't play like they did during the season (in which they were clearly the best team in baseball). It was pretty easy for me to not get sucked into having actual weighty emotions about a sport.

BUZZZZZ! BUZZZZZ! POLITICS AHEAD! CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED!

Now, seeing John Kerry lose is a little more difficult, but, still, not so much.

Still...

I gotta say:

I just don't see how anyone who voted for Bush and isn't rich can be well-informed.

I'm sorry. I had to say it.

I'm not even a Democrat. Or a Republican, though. I don't identify with either party.

I actually liked some things about both Bush Sr. and Reagan, and, as much as I liked, and still do like, Clinton, I do believe that Lewinsky-gate DID hurt the country and actually helped Bush defeat both Gore and Kerry.

But W???

There's nothing there, folks.

I'm sorry if this offends anyone. I don't mean to, but, there really isn't anything there with that one.

I wish there was, because it would be more easy for me to look forward to politics in these next four years.

I don't blame anyone for feeling some connection to Bush in some way, though. That's the beauty of democracy. Anyone can vote for a candidate for whatever reasons. He IS similar (on the surface) to a lot of the people that voted for him, apparently.

All you have to do is throw out his millionaire status and his tax cuts for other millionaires, his lack of employment until age 4o, his (during which he apparently partied and....nothing else) and....wait.

Aren't those some pretty large differences?

But, yes, a huge part of politics is that connection, and Bush makes it with more people than most politicians.

That's the brains behind the Bush operation. They knew that they could touch on what those large groups of Americans value in a very simple, many even heartfelt, way, while completely pulling the wool over their eyes about the actual issues that will affect them and their children.

How many of them can afford health insurance?

How many of them are going to have social security?

How many of them are sent overseas, or will soon be, to die for a Bush family vendetta?

I guess it must be comforting for some of them if they really think they have their next-door neighbor in the White House.

I actually convinced a friend of mine that he'd been deceived.

Too late for everyone else.